The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently released a review of the status of lynx, which were listed as threatened on the Endangered Species list in 2000. Now, in the new world of Trumps fact-free, anti-science, war-on-wildlife administration, the FWS recommends removing lynx from Endangered Species Act protections completely, writing: Considering the available information, we found no reliable information that the current distribution and abundance of resident lynx in the contiguous United States are substantially reduced from historical conditions. The agency does not even attempt to provide the public with an estimated current population number of how many lynx there are because the agency has no idea. Fish and Wildlife Service has no idea how many lynx there are for one simple reason: The agency no longer monitors lynx populations. What the agency, if it was being truthful, should have written in their report is: Because we no longer monitor the population of lynx we have no evidence of how many lynx there are and therefore also have no evidence that lynx numbers are declining or increasing or doing anything at all. Also, because we have decided to ignore all of the historical records of lynx presence, we have no evidence of any change from historic conditions." Seventeen years ago, lynx trapping was outlawed due to the Endangered Species listing, but lynx numbers continued to decline because past and current logging has destroyed the dense mature and old growth forests upon which lynx rely for reproduction and survival. Lynx can no longer be found in the Gallatin Range and lynx numbers are falling in the Seeley-Swan Valley, which is the largest lynx population in Montana. Until 2010 there was also still a resident population of lynx in the Garnet Mountains northeast of Missoula. They had most likely been living there since the last Ice Age, but now they are gone as well. What we do know is that the last estimate of the number of lynx in Montana by Dr. John Squires, a Forest Service lynx scientist, was that there were about 300 lynx in Montana. What the FWS should have done to determine whether the population has declined from historic conditions was ask Montanas Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks, which estimated there were 700 to 1,050 lynx throughout Western Montana in 1994. This means there has certainly been a decline. The Fish and Wildlife Services own scientist, Megan Kosterman, found that 50 percent of each lynx home range must be mature, dense forest to provide optimal habitat for lynx to breed and raise kittens and that no more than 15 percent of each lynx home range should be clearcut. Not a single National Forest is complying with this recommendation. What is the impact of that failure on population trajectories? FWS ignores this issue. The truth is that FWS is only arguing that lynx should be delisted because of a court deadline this week that required that FWS finally, after 17 years of delay, produce a recovery plan for lynx. Rather than produce the court-ordered recovery plan by the deadline, FWS simply filed a document arguing that lynx no longer need any protections under the Endangered Species Act, and therefore FWS does not need to produce a recovery plan. This is a transparent attempt to evade the law. We urge you to contact FWS and demand that they revoke their delisting recommendation and produce the recovery plan that the law and science require. The number of newborns fell to 17.23 million in 2017, from 17.86 million in 2016. The workforce has shrunk by over 5 million units. The social security system is at risk. Tangible signs of the damage of the harsh population control measures adopted by the government in the last forty years. Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - China's demographic picture is starting to look a lot like that of Japan: births are declining, the workforce is getting smaller and the population is aging. This is what the latest official figures from the Beijing government report. While the country's economy grew 6.9% in 2017, from 6.7% in 2016, its demographic statistics are less positive. Despite the national introduction of the two-child policy in 2015, last year the number of new births fell to 17.23 million, from 17.86 million in 2016. This is stated by the National Statistics Bureau. At the same time, the workforce - defined as that between the ages of 16 and 59 - fell by over 5 million in 2017. Meanwhile, the percentage of people over the age of 65 continues to grow. The authorities declare that at the end of 2017 this band represented 11.4% of the total population, increasing compared to 10.8% of the previous year. This means that China has 158.31 million people over the age of 65, a number greater than the entire Russian population. Since rising to power in 2012, Chinese President Xi Jinping has gradually eased population controls. The infamous one-child policy, introduced in 1979 to control population growth, was revised towards the end of 2013, when couples were granted the right to conceive a second child, if one of the parents was an only child. Two years later, the one-child policy ended and all the couples were allowed to have two children. The government's tough population control measures have reduced the number of new births by about 200 million over the last forty years, undermining the country's growth potential. This is what emerges from research conducted by Zhou Tianyong, deputy director of the Institute for International Strategic Studies of the Beijing Central Party School. "If no provision is taken to address it [the population decline] ... it will only increase the cumulative damage resulting from a reduction in the labor force on demand, income and GDP production," says Zhou. The effects of demographic changes are tangible. The government is under increasing pressure as provincial pension funds quickly deplete reserves, as the aging of the population puts a strain on the social security regime. According to a report by the Academy of Social Sciences, about half of the funds are in deficit and the burden of supporting older people is up to the younger workforce. The study reveals that the problem is particularly severe in the north-eastern provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning, where the percentage of retired people has increased, while the workforce has decreased as the workers move elsewhere. The rich coastal areas, like Guangdong, and cities like Beijing have more money to cover pensions because they tend to attract migrant workers. The victims were all Uzbeks. Yesterday, the repatriation of bodies. 30 of them have already been identified. "We still have a lot to do for our people" forced to look for work abroad. Tashkent (AsiaNews / Agencies) - "The tragedy in Aktobe indicates many things, including the fact that we still have a lot to do for our people. People must look for a job in other countries, because we have not created any possibility for them ". This is how Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev comments on the death of 52 Uzbek citizens in a bus explosion on January 18. The Uzbek head of state prayed yesterday for the victims at the Khakimi at-Termez mausoleum (see photo 2). Prayers of condolences were held in all the mosques of the predominantly Muslim country. The "Ikarus" bus caught fire on the 1,068 kilometer of the Samara-Shymkent road in the Irgiz district. On board there were two drivers and 55 passengers, almost all - with the exception of two Kazakh citizens - of Uzbek citizenship. Of the people on board, only five managed to save themselves. At the moment, investigations are still under way, but a malicious origin of the fire has been excluded. Yesterday morning, the plane of the Uzbek Ministry for Emergency situations left the region of Aktobe carrying the 52 bodies, 30 have already been identified. Shukhrat Teshaboyev, Uzbek consul in Kazakhstan, adds that the bodies still lacking in identity will be subjected to DNA tests in Uzbekistan. Hi there, My Australian partner and I are currently living in the UK (I'm British). We had always planned to lodge our partner visa application while in the UK and then when it was granted move over to Aus. However, we've heard recently that you can actually apply for the visa while in Australia, and then be placed onto a bridging visa (and able to work) while it's being processed. The only problem is I've already used up my holiday working visa, and so would only be able to go over on a 3 month tourist visa. Our question is - are you able to lodge a de facto partner application while on a 3 month tourist visa in Australia. Our main concern would be the border authorities being funny about letting someone in on a tourist visa who "plans to apply for a partner visa" and has no return flight back to the UK and essentially not letting me in. Has anyone done this or know if this can be done? Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Two juveniles were taken to the hospital and released after being hit by a school bus in a Legacy High School parking lot early Friday morning. Bismarck Police Sgt. Mark Buschena said police received a report at 7:47 a.m. of two juveniles who had been hit by a bus while walking in the parking lot. An ambulance transported them to a local hospital to be checked and they were released, according to a statement from Bismarck Public Schools spokeswoman Renae Hoffman-Walker. BPS would not confirm that they were students, citing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Both "individuals" were expected to return to school Friday, Hoffman-Walker said. Buschena said the bus driver told police he did not see the juveniles walking in the parking lot toward the school, and he attempted to brake to avoid hitting them, but was unsuccessful. There were no passengers on the bus at the time. The bus driver was not cited, according to Buschena. Revised natural gas numbers released this week show North Dakotas oil industry failed to meet the state gas capture target in October. The latest numbers from the Department of Mineral Resources show the industry flared slightly more than 16 percent of Bakken natural gas produced in October, not 15 percent as the agency reported from preliminary figures. That means the industry did not meet the targets set by the North Dakota Industrial Commission, which requires companies to capture 85 percent of Bakken gas, or flare no more than 15 percent. Overall, the industry flared an average of nearly 348 million cubic feet per day of natural gas in October, the revised numbers show, up from the 320 million cubic feet per day initially reported. The Industrial Commission policy allows regulators to limit oil production for companies that fail to meet gas capture targets. However, the policy also includes many exceptions, making those oil production restrictions rare. For example, regulators do not limit production from wells that already produce less than 100 barrels per day. In October, 11 companies flared more than 15 percent of the natural gas they produced, but none of the companies were ordered to limit oil production because they met one of the conditions in the policy, said Alison Ritter, spokeswoman for the Department of Mineral Resources. The state releases preliminary oil and gas numbers two months after it is produced, then releases revised numbers three months later based on amendments submitted by companies. Gas capture goals are evaluated based upon the preliminary numbers, according to the policy. In September, the state initially reported the industry missed the gas capture target, but revised figures later showed that companies met the goal. In November, natural gas flaring decreased to 282 million cubic feet per day, according to the preliminary figures released this week. The industry flared 13 percent of Bakken natural gas in November, meeting the states target. The gas capture policy is based on flaring from Bakken and Three Forks wells, which represent the majority of production. Overall flaring in November was 14 percent. More investment needed The states gas capture targets are set to become even more aggressive later this year, at 88 percent in November. Director of Mineral Resources Lynn Helms said this week it will take serious investment in natural gas gathering and processing to meet that target. Helms and Justin Kringstad, director of the North Dakota Pipeline Authority, are meeting with the North Dakota Petroleum Council board of directors next week to talk about the need for more infrastructure. Kringstad said the states natural gas production, more than 2 billion cubic feet per day, will soon exceed the capacity of natural gas processing plants. To help meet that demand, Oneok recently filed an application to the Public Service Commission to expand its Bear Creek natural gas processing plant north of Killdeer. The company proposes to expand the plant from a capacity of 80 million cubic feet per day up to 175 million cubic feet per day. Crestwood Equity Partners has also applied to the commission to expand the Arrow Bear Den gas processing plant near Watford City, adding another 120 million cubic feet per day of processing capacity. The Oasis Wild Basin processing plant is expanding to process 345 million cubic feet per day in McKenzie County. A man was killed in a deputy-involved shooting Saturday, according to the Polk County Sheriffs Office. Man accused of shooting at Polk County deputies Deputies responded to home after domestic violence call Deputies returned fire, striking the man Deputies initially responded at about 8 a.m. to a home on Cottage Hill Street in Lake Wales after receiving a domestic violence call. According to deputies, 46-year-old Shannon Cables threatened his 45-year-old wife and 19-year-old daughter with various weapons. His wife told deputies he hit her with in the head with a pool cue and sprayed mace on her and the daughter. Cables then armed himself with a gun, Sheriff Grady Judd said during a news conference. Thats when the 19-year-old actually jumped on the suspect and wrestled and choked him, and somehow, they got the gun away from him, Judd said. The women fled the home and went to a neighbor's house before calling law enforcement. Both women were taken to a hospital for treatment. When deputies arrived, they set up a perimeter around the house. However, they discovered that Cables had fled into the woods nearby. Investigators spent hours searching for Cables but were unable find him. Hours later, deputies escorted both women back to the home. Once inside, one of the women spotted Cables outside the house. He was walking toward the house while holding an AR-15 and a shotgun, deputies said. One of the deputies confronted Cables and told him to put down his weapons. Cables pointed the AR-15 at the deputy and gunfire was exchanged, the Sheriff's Office said. The other deputies who were inside the house came outside and returned fire. Cables was critically injured in the shooting. He was taken to Lake Wales Regional Medical Center where he died. No deputies were injured in the shooting, the Sheriff's Office said. "In one week, two different suspects have chosen to shoot at our deputies," Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement. "Our message is clear--if you point a gun at or shoot at a deputy sheriff, we will shoot back until the threat is eliminated." Four deputies have been placed on administrative leave while the case is investigated, Judd said. The incident remains under investigation. UPDATE: New High Wind Warning for Oregon Coast, More Beach Hazards Published 01/19/2018 at 5:35 PM PDT - Updated 01/21/2018 at 12:35 AM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Oregon Coast) The storms and dangers are not over yet on the Oregon coast. The latest: the National Weather Service (NWS) in Portland has issued a new high wind warning for Saturday evening through Sunday afternoon, with gusts up to 65 mph possible. Sneaker waves and heavy seas will remain a problem throughout the weekend, with wave height sticking around 20 feet or higher at times. (Photo above courtesy Cannon Beach Surf Shop: more than 100-foot-wave towers over Tillamook Rock Lighthouse on Thursday). The high wind warning is from around midnight Saturday to 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, Oregon Coast Beach Connection is advising everyone to stay off all beaches throughout the weekend, even though most tourism organizations are not officially declaring this warning. The NWS said the high wind watch means south winds 30 to 40 mph will accompany gusts up to 65 mph on beaches and headlands. The strongest winds will happen Sunday, the NWS said, and the impact may well be power outages. Strong winds may blow down trees, branches, and power lines, the NWS said. Isolated power outages are possible. A High Wind Watch means hazardous high wind conditions are favorable in and close to the watch area in the next 12 to 48 hours. On Saturday night, combined seas rise to 20 feet with a dominant period of 12 seconds, bringing the likelihood of some big sneaker waves on the beaches. The pattern continues with combined seas 23 to 25 feet on Sunday morning through the day, easing slightly at night. More large waves on the beaches and toppling jetties is in store, with low-lying parking lots still posing some risk once again. Monday, seas drop to 17 feet, while Tuesday sees a further drop to 12 but rising again on Wednesday to 16 feet. Thus, Oregon Coast Beach Connection is still advising people stay off the beaches all beaches until at least Tuesday, with extreme caution in mind on Wednesday. Oregon Coast Lodgings for this event - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours Plenty of interesting things should turn up on the beaches after this set of waves, but it won't be a good time to look for them until wave height subsides to below 15 feet on a regular basis. Even then, smaller beaches like parts of Lincoln City, Gleneden Beach or Oceanside should be avoided. Add Oregon Coast News to Your OWN WEBSITE with the Free News Widget Offshore waters are under a storm watch, likely turning to a storm warning, with heavy winds and choppy seas making for extremely dangerous conditions for seafaring vessels. The rest of the week's forecast for the coastline is for very rainy conditions, with highs and lows in the 40s. See Full Oregon Coast Weather. Also see: Video: Damage, Injuries on Oregon Coast Extensive; One Death More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted GRAND FORKS -- Today marks the one-year anniversary of Donald Trumps presidency, with approval ratings nationwide historically low for much of that time. And among North Dakota and Minnesota leaders, Trumps performance reviews are mixed. Pressed to grade Trumps first year in office, members of both states delegations to Washington gave a range of answers, from 2017 left a lot on the table to (Trump) is on the right agenda. Heres a look at how those leaders rated Trumps inaugural year -- during which Trump chafed at a special prosecutors investigation, was criticized for reportedly profane remarks about foreign countries and signed a significant tax overhaul bill. The presidents report card ranges from a B+ to an incomplete, with multiple instances in which no grade was provided. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D. Grade: Incomplete Its encouraging he has expressed the need for investments in infrastructure, which is important for our state, and he nominated members to the Export-Import Bank Board so the bank can fully operate and support American workers and businesses, Heitkamp said in a statement provided by her office. But Id like to see him focus more on the needs of rural America. Unfortunately, he has advocated for trade policies, like threatening to pull out of NAFTA, that would hurt farmers and ranchers, pushed for a bill that would take health care away from families and children with disabilities, and has proposed large cuts to the federal agency that helps combat opioid abuse. I hope he switches gear on these issues, and Ill press him on them. Sen. John Hoeven, D-N.D. Grade: none provided Rather than simply giving the president a letter grade, I would instead tell you that he is on the right agenda, Hoeven said in a statement provided by his office. That includes regulatory relief, tax relief, judicial appointments who will uphold the law and strong support for the military and veterans. Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. Grade: B+ Given the first year, in one year, to have accomplished the milestones that hes accomplished is incredible, especially in the economic realm, Cramer said, noting a rising stock market and the passage of a tax overhaul bill. Cramer added that hes disappointed that more couldnt be done to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, a failure he said the House, Senate and White House all share. "Phantom Thread" costume designer Mark Bridges created dresses for the film that reflect Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis)' inner turmoil. Photo: Focus Features/HO In "Phantom Thread," Daniel Day-Lewis plays an imperious and eccentric fashion designer named Reynolds Woodcock in 1950s London in the years after World War II. His character approaches fashion as a religion that requires silence and solitude. His various self-indulgences masquerade as near-sacraments. Day-Lewis' character is not meant to represent any real designer, living or dead, but the ecclesiastical nature of his atelier takes inspiration from Cristobal Balenciaga, and his personal quirks call to mind the fastidiousness of Karl Lagerfeld. Woodcock's designs, however, have a look all their own. They are gently beautiful guideposts. But they are not outre, distracting or referential. That is thanks to costume designer Mark Bridges. Because this is a story that revolves around a designer's creative and emotional impulses, one might presume the film would feature any number of extraordinary and memorable ensembles. But there are none. Which doesn't mean there aren't plenty of gorgeous clothes in this film. In a particular moment of exasperation and frustration, Woodcock laments to his sister about a horrible little word: chic. Woodcock spits it out with incredible disdain. The fashion world has gone in search of "chic," he says, and satisfying that obsession has become his burden. But Woodcock has no interest in chasing chic and delivering it to his clients because chic implies that something has been shaped by a fleeting moment or an ephemeral mood. It suggests an aesthetic that has been culturally vetted and agreed upon. Woodcock is aiming for lasting beauty. And so the clothes he creates have a soothing elegance. They are a lovely resting place for the eye as the narrative unfolds. The genesis of each dress is written into the script, Bridges says. "Instead of a light bulb going off and you're creating something," he says, "things in the script dictated what would be made." But much of the script speaks to Woodcock's inner turmoil, his blossoming love for Alma (Vicky Krieps), his fear and anger over her disruptive presence and other notions that are felt but not necessarily seen. Woodcock invests incredible time and mental energy in creating a wedding gown for a longtime client. But in a moment of both physical and mental pain, he declares what looks to be a perfectly elegant gown, ugly. How do you convey those complicated emotions in a dress? By making an especially beautiful gown but one that has subtle references to a garment that Alma has worn earlier in the film. It's not the dress he hates but the way in which Alma has become enmeshed with the most sacred part of his life - his professional world. "We are our own worst critic. You see that in Reynolds. No one else is feeling the weight of Alma in his life," Bridges says. The audience looks at that wedding dress, and "we're like, 'You're crazy, man!' " During an exchange between Alma and Woodcock while he is fitting a dress on her, she notes her dislike of his chosen fabric. The designer doesn't flinch. He simply tells her that she is wrong. That her taste is wrong and that she should change her taste. He is domineering. She is quietly determined to make her point. "That dress is supposed to be part of the spring collection, and you think pastel, silk and cotton voiles, not black and purple and cobalt blue," Bridges says. "She's coming in as a young girl with a fresh eye in this May-December, May-November relationship." The heaviness of the dress reflects the way in which Woodcock relates to fashion and to life. There is no lightness and air in his atelier. It's oppressively grave. Alma is right about the dress; she is also right about his life. The relationship between Alma and Woodcock evolves into a torturous, strange love story. But it begins as an example of how a designer leans on a muse. As Bridges created clothes for the film, he inhabited the mind of Woodcock. And what he learned was that, as a technical matter, Alma would be "a dream to dress because of her physical attributes - the long neck, slim stature, fairly minimal bosom. She really has an ideal figure for the period, for those fashions." "She really took to them well," Bridges adds, referring in a way to both the character and the actress who plays her. "Once the underpinnings are on, she really takes on this air." Which is to say that a muse is not simply a mannequin. An actress eerily becomes her character. And a dress, chic or not, can still tell a story. RATON, N.M. (AP) Five friends, including a Zimbabwean opposition leader, traveling to a ranch in New Mexico died when their helicopter crashed in a remote area. Raton police released 911 recordings Friday from the crash two days earlier in remote northern New Mexico. The recording indicates Zimbabwe opposition leader Roy Bennett was injured but still alive as authorities tried to determine the location of the fiery New Mexico helicopter crash that ultimately killed him, his wife, Heather, and three others. Copter crash victim: 'I'm watching my family burn' Andra Cobb, the 911 caller and the crash's sole survivor, was frantic as she spoke to a dispatcher, saying that she was watching her "family burn." She also said her partner, Charles Burnett III, was alive but suffering from a head wound. Her father, Paul Cobb, was the co-pilot. Bennett owned the ranch where the group was headed for vacation. Both were killed Wednesday. Authorities say pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd also called 911, but later died. Here's more about the prominent people on board: CHARLES RYLAND BURNETT III, 61 Born in England, Burnett was an investor and philanthropist with links to a wide range of businesses and a love of entertaining friends extravagantly. Burnett was based in Houston and listed as an officer in dozens of companies registered with the Texas secretary of state's office. The Guardian newspaper reported in 2009 that he drove a steam-powered car at an average speed of 139.8 miles per hour (225 kilometers per hour), setting a world record. He purchased the Emery Gap Ranch, a sprawling, mountainous property on the Colorado-New Mexico border, in February 2017, said Sam Middleton, a real estate broker in Lubbock, Texas, who worked with Burnett on the purchase. That's where the group was headed Wednesday. Middleton on Thursday recalled being invited to Burnett's 60th birthday party at another ranch he had helped the wealthy businessman purchase. A dance floor and lights powered by a generator were set up on a pasture, with guests brought in by bus and a film crew hired to document the party. "He had a lot of fun, and he had a lot of people around him all the time," Middleton said. He was in a long-term relationship with Andra Cobb, the only survivor of the crash and daughter of Paul Cobb, who was the co-pilot of the helicopter. Burnett was friends with the elder Cobb and the others aboard. ___ PAUL COBB, 67 He was shot down while flying a helicopter in the Vietnam War, according to his wife, Martha. He went on to serve as a police officer for three decades in the Houston suburb of Pasadena, Texas, rising to police chief until his retirement in 2004. Cobb flew a historic Vietnam-era helicopter during an event to celebrate the Fourth of July in 2016, according to Houston television station KTRK. Martyn Hill, Burnett's personal attorney, described Cobb as an experienced, cautious pilot who had "survived many battles." "He was a great person as well," Hill said. Martha Cobb said her daughter told her after the crash that she passed at least one body on the ground as she tried to escape, before the helicopter burst into flames. "She's just very distraught," Cobb said in a telephone interview, her voice breaking. "I'm just glad my daughter is OK, but I hate that my husband of 41 years is gone." ___ JAMIE COLEMAN DODD, 57 He was a decorated search and rescue pilot who plucked people to safety in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and during one flood season, rented a helicopter on his day off to help rescue dogs stranded on rooftops. "He was a natural pilot. He was so good at it. When he was in search and rescue, he saved countless lives," said Jacqueline Dodd, his wife of 25 years, describing him as an adrenaline junky. Her husband, who went by J.C., received the national "Jeep Hero" award in 2006 for his search and rescue efforts. He donated the award, a new Jeep Commander, to a nonprofit organization that helps the homeless, according to the website of the New Mexico Military Institute, where he went in the mid- to late 1970s. "He was the kind of guy that you just wanted to be your friend," Jacqueline Dodd said. "He was above reproach. He was just such a good person." Since September, he had worked as Burnett's private pilot at the Emery Gap Ranch, she said. She and her husband filed separation papers in December after he moved to Trinidad, Colorado, the previous September. "He took that job against all my wishes," said Jacqueline Dodd, who lives in Applegate, California, in the foothills northeast of Sacramento. Her husband enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves in 1979. Dodd transferred to the Army's Warrant Officer Flight School in 1983 and was later assigned to Howard Air Force Base in Panama, flying medical evacuation missions throughout Central and South America, according to New Mexico Military Institute website. Dodd moved back and joined the California Highway Patrol in 1990, where he was a search and rescue helicopter pilot. He was inducted into the institute's Hall of Fame in October 2010. ___ ROY AND HEATHER BENNETT Roy Bennett, 60, was a founding member of Zimbabwe's main opposition party, Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, who angered former President Robert Mugabe by winning a parliamentary seat in a rural constituency despite being white. Bennett, who spoke fluent Shona, was earthy and engaging and won a devoted following of black Zimbabweans for passionately advocating political change. He was known as "Pachedu," meaning "one of us" in Shona and was often called the sharpest thorn in Mugabe's side. At one point, his successful coffee farm in eastern Zimbabwe was seized by war veterans. One of Bennett's farmworkers was killed by the invaders and wife Heather miscarried after the assault. In 2004, Bennett was jailed for a year for assaulting a Cabinet minister who had said Bennett's "forefathers were thieves and murderers" during a debate. He emerged thin and told of prisoners' mistreatment. Bennett fled Zimbabwe after receiving death threats but came back in 2009 after being nominated for the deputy agriculture minister in a coalition government with Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. The strongman accepted other opposition leaders into his Cabinet, but he refused to swear in Bennett. Bennett later returned to South Africa but remained a vocal critic of Mugabe's rule. Yeastar, a Chinese UC, gateway and phone player just announced its Yeastar Cloud PBX will be unveiled at ITEXPO next month in Florida. We are excited to be back at ITEXPO East again this year, said Alan Shen, CEO of Yeastar, We deem ITEXPO a great platform to launch our brand new offering, Yeastar Cloud PBX, to the world. Having been field-tested in the beta program, this profitable multi-instance hosted business voice solution could be a perfect fit for most of the ITEXPO attendees. When we learned the news, the first thing that came to mind was a similar competitive situation last decade. Asian players Huawei and ZTE were competing hard against Nortel in the carrier equipment space. Nortel was outcompeted and went bankrupt. The courts sold their enterprise voice business to Avaya who also went bankrupt. Asian cloud vendors arent very popular in the U.S. so it isnt a given that Yeastar will take a great deal of marketshare in North America. But Yeastar is also well-known internationally. They have websites in five languages. Their distribution is greater than a lot of the domestic United States companies they compete with. The only possible response to this new competitive threat will be for existing cloud players to go upmarket and add features and potentially cost. This is how Nortel competed with Asian competitors. It didnt work too well for them as we know. The UCaaS market is however a different animal because selling to companies takes a lot more resources than selling to carriers because there are so many more customers. The inertia in a company is tough to overcome and switching your UCaaS provider can be painful. New customers however will potentially consider going to an Asian company instead of one from the U.S. It comes down to how commoditized the market is. There is something Yeastar may need to overcome. The name of the service, Yeastar Cloud PBX uses the term PBX which many in the industry have been going away from (at least in the U.S.). Its surprising to hear it used for a new product, even if it is preceded by cloud. Moreover, software is harder for non-U.S. companies to do well. Well see how their offering looks. Finally, from a feature perspective they dont seem to have left much out. Take a look. Business Features AutoCLIP Dial by Name Blacklist/Whitelist Do Not Disturb (DND) Custom Prompt Emergency Number DISA Fax to Email Distinctive Ringtone Feature Code DNIS Queue Music on Hold Ring Group One Touch Recording SIP Forking Paging/Intercom SLA PIN List Speed Dial YMP Features Time Condition Alarm Notifications Video Calls Branded Company Name and Logo Voicemail Create/Delete PBX instance Voice to email Dashboard Web access to voicemail Multi-level User Access Management Schedule Backup Backup and Restore Upgrade Event Center Call Features Image Upgrade Attended Transfer Import/Export Extensions Automated Attendant (IVR) Multi-language System Prompt Blind Transfer Multi-language Web GUI Call Back Multi-level User Access Call Detail Records (CDR) Phone Provisioning Call Forwarding Schedule Backup Call Monitor Troubleshooting Call Parking User Portal Call Permission YMP Security Call Pickup Blacklist Call Routing Fail2ban Call Transfer Dynamic Defense Caller ID Limited Country Access Conference Static Defense So domestic cloud players may be safe for now but whenever new competitors come into a market and they have been successful in adjacent spaces, you need to be concerned. Especially when they have a different cost model. The threat to the market is downward pressure and commoditization. Fighting it is likely best done by adding integration and features and touting solutions as business transformation enablers. This new offering is available as a private or public cloud solution and can be white-labeled. Moreover, the company will be running pre-show seminars on the solution in English and Spanish. The seminar will be on February 13th and ITEXPO starts on the 14th. Among the 200,000 people from El Salvador who will lose their temporary legal immigration status next year are more than a thousand classroom teachers. Earlier this month, the Trump administration announced that these immigrants, who received Temporary Protected Status after earthquakes hit their country in 2001, must return to El Salvador by September 2019 or be subject to deportation. The decision could have severe ramifications for K-12 schools: Thousands of Salvadoran students could be affected , and data from the Center for Migration Studies found that 1,400 Salvadoran teachers in the United States have Temporary Protected Status as well. An additional 1,900 college and university professors in the United States are part of this group. These workers and their families contribute to our economy and our country every day. They teach in our classrooms, care for patients, and serve our communities, said Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, in a statement. See also: Trumps Latest Immigration Move Could Affect Thousands of Salvadoran Students The CMS data dont show where those teachers are located across the country, but there are significant Salvadoran populations in metropolitan areas including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Miami, New York, and the District of Columbia. Over the last 17 years, many of the Salvadoran immigrants with Temporary Protected Status have developed deep roots in their communities, including by having children who are now U.S. citizens. These children may also be aspiring teachers: 10-year-old Gabriella Martinez is a U.S. citizen. Her mother is from El Salvador and is in the country with #TPS . Martinez says she needs her family here to accomplish her dream of becoming an ESL teacher. pic.twitter.com/ogSagCzFWC -- Shannon Dooling (@sdooling) January 10, 2018 Its worth noting that teaching in El Salvador is a dangerous profession: A 2015 report from Reuters found that teachers regularly receive death threats from gang members , and some students are too scared to go to school. And the Los Angeles Daily News reported that dozens of teachers have been killed in recent years by gang members, over actions like disciplining a student or giving a failing grade. One teacher, who was shot by gang members because her colleague confisticated marijuana from a student, said that after the attack, she returned to the classroom: "[My love for teaching] hasnt been taken away from me. Were in the classrooms, trying to reinforce values in the few that remain to be rescued. As my colleague Corey Mitchell reported, the Trump administration has been phasing out Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from several countries, including Haiti and Nicaragua. Honduran immigrants under this program are waiting to hear if theyre next . Previous presidents have also canceled the protection for immigrants from countries across Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Trump has also said he plans to cancel Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which grants temporary deportation reprieves and work permits to people who were brought to the United States illegally as children. That move puts about 8,800 educators at risk for deportation. Photo: CASA de Maryland, an immigration advocacy and assistance organization, holds a rally in Lafayette Park, across from the White House in Washington on Jan. 8, in reaction to the Trump administrations announcement that it will rescind Temporary Protective Status for immigrants from El Salvador. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Reciba en su email: noticias de ultima hora, analisis tecnicos o el cierre de mercado Email no valido Nombre requerido Recibira las informaciones mas relevantes del dia en tiempo real Que informacion desea recibir? Noticias de Ultima hora Boletin Cierre de Mercado Boletin analisis tecnico Boletin Fundsnews Debe seleccionar un tipo de boletin Acepto la Politica de privacidad Debe aceptar la politica de privacidad Responsable EMPRESAS DEL GRUPO WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Finalidad La remision de informacion, novedades y promociones Establecimiento o mantenimiento de Relaciones Comerciales. Legitimacion Consentimiento del interesado. Interes legitimo en el desarrollo de la relacion comercial Destinatario Empresas del Grupo WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Derechos Acceso, rectificacion, supresion, limitacion, oposicion y portabilidad Informacion adicional Politica de Privacidad de nuestra pagina Web + INFORMACION Independent News and Media (INM) chairman Leslie Buckley and a non-executive director will step down from its board, as a major overhaul at the top of the media firm continues, writes Eamon Quinn. INM has been enveloped in an extraordinary corporate row for over a year which led to an ongoing investigation by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, the ODCE. Former chief executive Robert Pitt, who resigned in October, had used whistleblowing legislation as a dispute involving Mr Buckley raged inside the media firm over the potential acquisition of Newstalk. The broadcaster is owned by Denis OBrien, who also holds a large stake in INM. INM named four new non-executive directors, including Murdoch MacLennan, current deputy chairman of the UKs Telegraph Media Group, and former group managing director at Associated Newspapers, the Daily Mail publisher. The other appointments include John Bateson, managing director of Dermot Desmonds International Investment and Underwriting, which has a shareholding in INM; and Fionnuala Duggan, who heads KNect365 Learning. She has enjoyed success in repositioning traditional industries for the digital age, INM said. Seamus Taaffe, a former member of the KPMG Ireland board, will also join the board. INM shares rose over 4%. Despite 90m in the bank, the firm is valued at 141.43m. Mr Buckley thanked colleagues for their support during what has been an eventful and challenging time for the company and for the Irish newspaper industry as a whole. It comes as many UK retail shares slumped in London, led by Carpetright after official data confirmed the slide in the value of sterling since the Brexit vote in mid-2016 had pushed up British prices and damped down retail spending in UK shops over the key Christmas trading period. Shares in Carpetright which has over 500 stores, including over 415 in the UK and 21 in the Republic crashed by more than 40%, to value the firm at only 62.5m (70.8m), after a profits warnings. The British retail rout spread to a wide range of UK-listed retailers, including DFS Furniture, down 3%; Debenhams, down almost 1% at one stage; B&Q-owner Kingfisher, down 2.5%; Dixons Carphone, down almost 3%; and JD Sports, whose shares fell 0.5%. Darren McKinley, senior equity analyst at Merrion, said despite their exposures toconsumer spending in the UK, that Irish-listed companies had shown resilience to the challenges they faced from the slide in sterling over the past 18 months. Nonetheless, many quoted companies, including Ryanair, Dalata Hotel Group, Grafton Group, as well as Greencore and Total Produce, rely on the British market for 20% to40% of their sales. Analysts have said UK consumers are being pinched by the Brexit-driven increase in UK prices, while UK average wages have not increased by the same rate. Data showed British shop sales slid by much more than expected in December. That capped the weakest year for UK retail since 2013. This certainly ties in to much of what we have seen this year, said Colin McLean, managing director at SVM Asset Management. In the past, demand has been quite stable and now its just a bit more fluid. Consumers changing tastes and disruption by online businesses were also putting pressure on the UK high street retailers, Mr McLean said. Carpetright chief executive Wilf Walsh said: Despite a positive start to our third quarter, we have seen a significant deterioration in UK trading during the important post-Christmas trading period. He said: The severity of the decline in footfall over this key trading period and our more cautious view of the outlook for the balance of the year leads to a significant reduction in full-year expectations. UK consumers have got much more nervous about purchasing big-ticket items, said Charles Allen, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst. Dublin will host a gala ball this evening in aid of Haiti. It is still considered one of the poorest countries in the world and has suffered a series of devastating natural disasters, including Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Orlaith Grehan from the charity Haven, outlined what the money raised at tonights event will be used for. "The Haiti Ball basically allows us to do our work in Haiti every year," she said. "This year were launching a new business development programme, and were going to see 60 people in Haiti set up their own new businesses. "Its the support and generosity of the people of the Haiti ball that makes this kind of work possible and help the communities of Haiti that need a hand up at the moment." - Digital desk Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald has been nominated to replace Gerry Adams as party leader. The Dublin Central TD was confirmed as the sole nominee for the position following a party meeting today. "If you wanted this job, youre too late," Mr Adams quipped as he introduced his successor. Mary Lou McDonald will be the new leader of Sinn Fein, succeeding Gerry Adams pic.twitter.com/ZJWbWNqYPk Sky News (@SkyNews) January 20, 2018 Mr Adams announced in November that he was stepping down after 34 years in the role. A special party conference to ratify a new leader will be held on February 10. Nominations for the position closed at 5pm on Friday. Ms McDonald has been a TD for Dublin Central since 2011. Before getting elected to the Dail, she was an MEP representing the Dublin constituency - becoming Sinn Fein's first MEP in the Republic of Ireland in 2004. Many party members have been tweeting their support for Ms McDonald. Fiachra McGuinness, son of the late Martin McGuinness, said his father was a "huge admirer of her ideas, dedication and commitment", and that she was the "ideal candidate to lead Sinn Fein into the future". I am honoured to propose Mary Lou McDonald as next Uachtaran Shinn Fein. @MaryLouMcDonald #shestheone pic.twitter.com/YekZEJidPf Fiachra McGuinness (@fiachramcg) January 17, 2018 - PA Police in the North are appealing for witnesses to a shooting in Belfast. It is after a 24-year-old man was shot in the Whiterock Drive area of the city last night. A march will be held today in Galway protesting against Direct Provision. The scheme which aims is to meet basic needs of asylum seekers in Ireland such as food and shelter, has been criticised by campaigners. A small personal allowance is also paid each week to individuals. "In Galway, there's a couple of hundred people living in Direct Provision, and then across the country there are four to five thousand asylum seekers arriving in centres around the country," said Joe Loughnane from the Galway Anti Racism Network. "Most of these centres are completely secluded, they're cut off from the main towns and communities, and the main issue with all these people living in the centres is that they've no autonomy, they've no independence." - Digital desk After 34 years, the changing of the guard has come - with Mary Lou McDonald set to take over the role of Sinn Fein leader. The Dublin woman has been clear favourite for some time to replace Gerry Adams, one of the longest serving party leaders in the world. She was once described by her party colleague Caral Ni Chuilin as "one of the most formidable women in politics". United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. Kevin JORDAN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SECRETARY, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES, Donald Sawyer, in his individual capacity as Facility Administrator at Florida Civil Commitment Center, Rebecca Jackson, in her individual capacity as Clinical Director at Florida Civil Commitment Center, Mark Snyder, Inspector, Defendants-Appellees. No. 17-11363 Decided: January 19, 2018 Before JORDAN, ROSENBAUM, and FAY, Circuit Judges. Kevin Jordan, Pro Se Pam Bondi, Attorney General's Office, Criminal Division, Tampa, FL, for Defendant-Appellee Secretary, Florida Department of Children and Family Services Gregory A. Kummerlen, Wiederhold Kummerlen & Waronicki, PA, West Palm Beach, FL, for Defendants-Appellees Donald Sawyer, Rebecca Jackson, Mark Snyder Kevin Jordan, an involuntary civil detainee at the Florida Civil Commitment Center (FCCC), proceeding pro se, appeals the district court's order that dismissed, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), his pro se complaint filed under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and Florida state law; and denied his motion for leave to amend his complaint. Jordan was involuntarily committed to the FCCC in 2014 as a sexually violent predator. In March 2015, Mark Snyder, the inspector at the FCCC, initiated criminal charges against Jordan for indecent exposure in the FCCC for exposing himself and masturbating in front of staff. The charges were dismissed, and Snyder later initiated new charges when Jordan allegedly committed indecent exposure again. Based on the filing and prosecution of these charges, Jordan sued (1) Kristina Kanner, the Secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Family Services; (2) Donald Sawyer, the facility administrator at the FCCC; (3) Rebecca Jackson, the clinical director at FCCC; and (4) Snyder in federal district court. He alleged malicious prosecution, due-process violations, Fourteenth Amendment violations, equal-protection violations, negligent hiring and retention of Snyder, and defamation. He did not refute that he had committed indecent exposure in the manner alleged. Defendants-Appellees Sawyer, Jackson, and Snyder moved to dismiss. In response, Jordan moved to amend his complaint. The district court granted Defendants motion to dismiss, denied Jordan's motion to amend his complaint, and dismissed the case. On appeal, Jordan argues that his complaint should not have been dismissed because he was maliciously prosecuted by Snyder, who knew that Jordan could not control his deviant behavior and knew that Jordan had been diagnosed with a sexual illness and could not control himself. Jordan also contends that he was singled out from comparators at the FCCC who also committed indecent exposure but were not prosecuted. In addition, Jordan asserts that Sawyer and Jackson negligently hired and retained Snyder and that Snyder defamed his character by filing criminal charges. Finally, he argues that his motion for leave to amend should have been granted. After careful review, we affirm the district court's dismissal and denial of leave to amend. I. We review de novo the district court's grant of a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), accepting the allegations in the complaint as true and construing them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Leib v. Hillsborough Cty. Pub. Transp. Comm'n, 558 F.3d 1301, 1305 (11th Cir. 2009). Under Rule 12(b)(6), a complaint must allege enough plausible facts, on the face of the complaint, to support the claim stated. Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). We begin with Jordan's malicious-prosecution claims. To establish a federal malicious-prosecution claim under 1983, the plaintiff must prove a violation of his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizures, in addition to the elements of the common-law tort of malicious prosecution. Wood v. Kesler, 323 F.3d 872, 881 (11th Cir. 2003). We have determined that, among other elements, a lack of probable cause for the arrest is a required element of a 1983 malicious-prosecution claim. Id. at 882. Similarly, under Florida law, a plaintiff must establish, among other elements, an absence of probable cause for the original proceeding in order to support a claim of malicious prosecution. Durkin v. Davis, 814 So.2d 1246, 1248 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2002). Here, Jordan's behavior, which he does not deny, fell under the umbrella of indecent exposure as defined by Florida law. See Fla. Stat. 800.03. Under Fla. Stat. 800.03, [i]t is unlawful to expose or exhibit one's sexual organs in public or on the private premises of another, or so near thereto as to be seen from such private premises, in a vulgar or indecent manner, or to be naked in public except in any place provided or set apart for that purpose. Fla. Stat. 800.03. Since Jordan does not deny that he engaged in conduct satisfying this description, probable cause for his arrest and prosecution existed. As a result, Jordan did not have a viable claim for malicious prosecution under Florida law or 1983. See Durkin, 814 So.2d at 1248; Wood, 323 F.3d at 881-8; Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955. And because the arrest was based on probable cause, Jordan's complaint did not sufficiently show that Defendants inflicted mental or physical abuse on him by merely reporting his crime. See Kyle K., 208 F.3d at 943. Jordan's constitutional claims fare no better. We first note that a plausible claim that those charged with the responsibility of providing daily care to an involuntarily civilly committed patient inflicted physical or mental abuse on him does state the denial of a constitutional right for purposes of a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss. Kyle K. v. Chapman, 208 F.3d 940, 943 (11th Cir. 2000). Here, though, Jordan's complaint states no such claim. Concerning the specific rights Jordan alleges were transgressed, we begin with Jordan's equal-protection claim. A plaintiff states an equal-protection class of one claim if he alleges that he has been intentionally treated differently from other people who are similarly situated to him and that no rational basis supports the difference in treatment. Griffin Indus., Inc. v. Irvin, 496 F.3d 1189, 1200-02 (11th Cir. 2007). To be similarly situated, the comparators must be prima facie identical in all relevant respects. Grider v. City of Auburn, 618 F.3d 1240, 1264 (11th Cir. 2010). In addition, a plaintiff must allege more than broad generalities in identifying a comparator. Griffin Indus., 496 F.3d at 1204. Here, Jordan did not provide sufficient facts about comparators to show that they were similarly situated and that he was treated differently from them. See Griffin Indus., Inc., 496 F.3d at 1202-05; Grider, 618 F.3d at 1264. As a result, he did not allege enough plausible facts on the face of the complaint to support the claim stated. See Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955. Turning to Jordan's due-process claim, Jordan bases it on claims of defamation and slander. But injury to reputation, by itself, does not constitute the deprivation of a liberty or property interest protected under the Fourteenth Amendment. Behrens v. Regier, 422 F.3d 1255, 1259 (11th Cir. 2005). In order to invoke the procedural protections of the Due Process Clause, a plaintiff must establish the fact of the defamation plus the violation of some more tangible interest. Paul v. Davis, 424 U.S. 693, 701-02, 96 S.Ct. 1155, 47 L.Ed.2d 405 (1976). Jordan, however, failed to establish even the fact of defamation. See Paul, 424 U.S. at 701-02, 96 S.Ct. 1155. He never described how he was defamed, how his reputation was harmed, or what untrue statement was made about him. See Paul, 424 U.S. at 701-02, 96 S.Ct. 1155; Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955. Nor did he deny that he committed indecent exposure in the way that Snyder reported to police. The district court therefore did not err in dismissing this claim. Finally, we address Jordan's state claims. The supplemental-jurisdiction statute provides that a district court may decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over pendent state-law claims if, in relevant part, the district court has dismissed all claims over which it has original jurisdiction. 28 U.S.C. 1367(c). Under the circumstances of Jordan's case, the district court did not err in dismissing without prejudice the state-law claims. See Leib, 558 F.3d at 1305. Jordan's negligent-hiring-and-retention claim was a state-law claim, and his defamation claim may also be characterized as a state-law claim. See Behrens, 422 F.3d at 1259. Because, as we have discussed, the district court properly dismissed the federal claims, it had the discretion to dismiss the pending state law claims. 28 U.S.C. 1367(c). In short, the district court did not err in dismissing the complaint as to all of Jordan's claims. See Leib, 558 F.3d at 1305. II. We now consider the district court's denial of Jordan's motion to amend. Generally, we review the district court's refusal to grant leave to amend for abuse of discretion, but we exercise de novo review as to the underlying legal conclusion that an amendment to the complaint would be futile. SFM Holdings, Ltd. v. Banc of Am. Sec., LLC, 600 F.3d 1334, 1336 (11th Cir. 2010). Rule 15, Fed. R. Civ. P., states that courts should freely give leave to amend when justice so requires. Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). Nevertheless, a district court need not grant leave to amend where, among other things, the amendment would be futile. Bryant v. Dupree, 252 F.3d 1161, 1163 (11th Cir. 2001). On this record, the district court did not err in concluding that an amendment would be futile. Consequently, it did not abuse its discretion in denying Jordan's motion for leave to amend. See SFM Holdings, Ltd., 600 F.3d at 1336; Bryant, 252 F.3d at 1163. Jordan raised the same claims in a similar manner in his proposed amended complaint as in his original complaint. Notably, in the proposed amended complaint, he did not allege that no probable cause existed for his arrest, did not contend that he did not expose himself to staff or masturbate in front of staff, did not provide comparator information, did not explain how he was defamed, and did not make further arguments as to his state-law claims. As a result, allowing the filing of the proposed amended complaint would have been futile. See SFM Holdings, Ltd., 600 F.3d at 1336; Bryant, 252 F.3d at 1163. For these reasons, we affirm the order of the district court dismissing Jordan's case and denying leave to amend his complaint. AFFIRMED. FOOTNOTES . Kanner was not served. . Jordan also couches his 1983 malicious-prosecution claim as a violation of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment as guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment's due-process clause and as a taking of liberty without due process, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. But even if the filing of charges against a prisoner could, in some circumstances, violate the Eighth Amendmenta question we need not addressas we have explained, here, probable cause supported the charges. And charges supported by probable cause do not violate the Eighth Amendment. Similarly, the mere filing and prosecution of charges supported by probable causewithout moredo not even arguably violate the Fourteenth Amendment. PER CURIAM: by Gordon Deegan An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar said today that he is absolutely certain that it was the right Government decision to give Shannon airport its independence. Speaking at a Shannon Chamber of Commerce event at Dromoland Castle this afternoon, Mr Varadkar said that passenger numbers at Shannon airport have increased from 1.4m to 1.7m per annum since the airport secured independence in January 2013. In his role as Minister for Transport, Mr Varadkar steered the legislation through the Oireachtas giving Shannon its independence from the DAA and he said today that his work on Shannon has given him a personal connection to the Midwest region. In his address, Mr Varadkar stated: I am absolutely certain that it was the right decision to separate Shannon from the other airports and give its independence but I am also absolutely certain that we are only getting started and there is so much more that can be done to develop the area. Mr Varadkar said that the move to independence has rekindled the pioneering spirit at Shannon. He said that the airport should be aiming to hit the 3.5m passengers per annum. Mr Varadkar said that in 2012, there were 40 aviation related companies employing 1,600 in Shannon and this has grown today to 55 companies employing 2,500. The Taoiseach also stated that the Government will remain firm in defending the 12.5% corporation tax rate. He said: It is not going to change. It is Government policy to leave it as it is. Our view is that tax is a national competence and national Governments should set national taxes." He added: "Are we coming under pressure on it? You bet...We will continue to resist. Mr Varadkar also confirmed that the Government will be increasing the number of embassies around the world this year and will be soon have a diplomatic presence in Mumbai in India, New Zealand, Bogota, in Columbia, Santiago in Chile and a presence in Vancouver in Canada and Oman in Jordan. A pilot on a British Airways flight who was suspected of being drunk was arrested at Gatwick Airport on Thursday evening. Police said they received a call at 8.25pm on Thursday regarding "a member of airline staff suspected to have been under the influence of alcohol". The flight, from Gatwick to Mauritius, was scheduled to leave at 8.20pm on Thursday, but the plane was left waiting at the gate while airline staff looked for a third pilot. A 49-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of performing an aviation function while his alcohol level was over the prescribed limit, police said. He was taken into custody and later released under investigation. British Airways said it was taking the matter "extremely seriously". "We are sorry for the delay to our customers," said a spokesperson. "The aircraft remained at the gate until an alternative third pilot joined the crew. "The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority." The airline added that it is assisting police with inquiries. Paul Bocuse, the master chef who defined French cuisine for nearly half a century and put it on tables around the world, has died aged 91, Frances interior minister has announced. Minister Gerard Collomb tweeted that "Mister Paul was France. Simplicity and generosity. Excellence and art de vivre". Mr Bocuses temple to French gastronomy, LAuberge du Pont de Collonges, outside the city of Lyon in south-eastern France, has held three stars - without interruption - since 1965 in the Michelin guide, the bible of gastronomes. Mr Bocuse, who underwent a triple heart bypass in 2005, had also been suffering from Parkinsons disease. Often referred to as the "pope of French cuisine", Mr Bocuse was a tireless pioneer, the first chef to blend the art of cooking with business tactics - branding his cuisine and his image to create an empire of restaurants around the globe. As early as 1982, Mr Bocuse opened a restaurant in the France Pavilion in Walt Disney Worlds Epcot Centre in Orlando, Florida, headed by his son Jerome, also a chef. In recent years, Mr Bocuse even dabbled in fast food with two outlets in his home base of Lyon. "He has been a leader. He took the cook out of the kitchen," said celebrity French chef Alain Ducasse, speaking at a January 2013 gathering to honour Mr Bocuse - then just shy of his 87th birthday. While excelling in the business of cooking, Mr Bocuse never flagged in his devotion to his first love, creating a top class, quintessentially French meal. He eschewed the fads and experiments that have captivated many other top chefs. "In cooking, there are those who are rap and those who are concerto," he told the French newsmagazine LExpress before the publication of his 2005 biography. He added that he tended toward the concerto. In traditional cooking, like his, there is no room for guesswork. "One must be immutable, unattackable, monumental," he declared. Born of a family of cooks that he dates to the 1700s, Mr Bocuse stood guard over the kitchen of his world-famous restaurant even in retirement when he was not travelling, keeping an eye on guests, sometimes greeting them at the table. The red and green Auberge by the Saone River, his name boldly set atop the roof, is a temple to Mr Bocuse - who was born there - and to other great chefs. Born on February 11, 1926, Mr Bocuse entered his first apprenticeship at 16. He worked at the famed La Mere Brazier in Lyon, then spent eight years with one of his culinary idols, Fernand Point, whose cooking was a precursor to Frances nouvelle cuisine movement with his lighter sauces and lightly cooked fresh vegetables. Mr Bocuses career in the kitchen traversed the ages. He went from apprenticeships and cooking "brigades", as kitchen teams are known, when stoves were coal-fired and chefs also served as scullery maids, to the ultra-modern kitchen of his Auberge. - AP US vice president Mike Pence has greeted soldiers at Shannon Airport in Ireland hours after the federal government shutdown in America. Mr Pence shook hands and posed for photos with the troops in the airport terminal during a re-fuelling stop by Air Force Two. United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. L.M.P., ON BEHALF OF E.P., D.P., and K.P., minors, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. SCHOOL BOARD OF BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA, Individual Defendants, et al., Defendants-Appellees. C.C. and P.C., on behalf of A.C., a minor, and on behalf of all other similarly situated disabled children, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. School Board of Broward County, et al., Defendants-Appellees. No. 16-16412, No. 16-16418 Decided: January 19, 2018 Before WILSON and ROSENBAUM, Circuit Judges, and TITUS,* District Judge. Neil D. Kodsi, The Law Offices of Neil D. Kodsi, Miami Shores, FL, Jordan M. Lewis, Jordan Lewis, PA, Fort Lauderdale, FL, David J. Pyper, Law Offices of David J. Pyper, PA, Weston, FL, for PlaintiffsAppellants. Michael Thomas Burke, Hudson Carter Gill, Johnson Anselmo Murdoch Burke Piper & Hochman, PA, Marylin C. BatistaMcNamara, The School Board of Broward County, Florida, Wayne Morris Alder, Fowler White Burnett, PA, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Anastasia Protopapadakis, GrayRobinson, PA, Stuart Isaac Grossman, Levine Kellogg Lehman Schneider Grossman, LLP, Mark A. Hendricks, Lydecker Diaz, LLC, Miami, FL, for DefendantsAppellees. This Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) case comes before this Court after a twelve-year battle by two sets of parents on behalf of their children to receive the specific therapy they believed their children deserved. Beginning in 2005, Appellant L.M.P., a mother of triplets acting individually and on her children's behalf, sought the aid of the courts to force Appellee School Board of Broward County (School Board) to include one-on-one Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy in each child's Individual Education Plan (IEP). Appellants C.C. and C.P., parents acting individually and on their child's behalf, intervened in those efforts to try to achieve the same therapy for their child. Appellants allege that the School Board's refusal to include the desired therapy in the children's IEPs reflects its predetermined policy of never including any ABA-based method or strategy in a child's IEP, in violation of the IDEA, 20 U.S.C. 14001482. But as much as Appellants want to overturn their children's original IEPs based on impermissible predetermination, they do not have standing to challenge the policy that they allege exists. While they argue to the contrary, an ABA-based therapy was, in fact, included in their children's IEPs, albeit not the specific one that they desired, thus defeating their standing to challenge an alleged policy that was not applied to them. The Court will explain how it reached this conclusion through exploration of what ABA is and how it fits into the IDEA framework. 1. Applied Behavioral Analysis 1 ABA is an applied science whose purpose is to produce socially significant changes in behavior. D.E. 549 at 23. ABA is not a method of instruction or method of teaching. Id. at 2. Rather, it is a broad umbrella under which numerous intervention strategies fall. Id. There is no singular technique that must be used in all circumstances. Id. at 5. There are hundreds of different ABA intervention strategies that can be provided. Id. One strategy is called discrete trial training (DTT). Id. DTT is a highly structured form of implementing the principles of reinforcement and stimulus control. Id. Although DTT is often done one-on-one, it can also be done in group settings when appropriate. Id. at 6. Just as DTT is a method under the umbrella of ABA, there are multiple intervention strategies that have been developed under the umbrella of DTT. Id. Different methods of DTT include the Lovaas method, the pivotal response method, and the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) method. Id. PECS is a scientifically-validated ABA-based intervention strategy for teaching communication skills to children with autism. Id. 2. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act The IDEA is a comprehensive statute that sets forth the intent of Congress that children with disabilities be entitled to a free appropriate public education (FAPE). See Winkelman ex rel. Winkelman v. Parma City Sch. Dist., 550 U.S. 516, 523, 127 S.Ct. 1994, 167 L.Ed.2d 904 (2007) (citation omitted). Under Part B of the IDEA, states must provide disabled children between the ages of three and twenty-one with the opportunity to receive a FAPE by offering each student special education and related services under an IEP. 20 U.S.C. 1412. An IEP must include a statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services to be provided to the child. Id. 1414(d)(1)(A)(IV). Determining an IEP is supposed to be the culmination of a collaborative process between parents, teachers, and school administrators outlining the student's disability and his educational needs, with the goal of providing the student with a [FAPE]. R.L. v. Miami-Dade Cty. Sch. Bd., 757 F.3d 1173, 1177 (11th Cir. 2014) (citing 20 U.S.C. 1401(9), 1412(a)(1)(A), 1414(d)(1)(A)(B), (d)(3)). Once an IEP has been determined, it should comply with the procedural and substantive requirements set forth in the IDEA and should be reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits. Id. at 1177 (quoting J.S.K. ex rel. J.K. v. Hendry Cty. Sch. Bd., 941 F.2d 1563, 1571 (11th Cir. 1991)). The IDEA's framework recognizes that not all stakeholders will agree on all aspects of an IEP. Id. The statute thus provides for procedural safeguards through which a child's parents, if they believe that the IEP does not comply with the IDEA's requirements, can challenge the IEP. 20 U.S.C. 1415; R.L., 757 F.3d at 1177. The parents may unilaterally withdraw their child from the school system and pursue alternative placement options. R.L., 757 F.3d at 1177. Even if the parents do not withdraw their child, they, or the state, can file a complaint with the appropriate state administrative agency and get a due process hearing before an [Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ] to resolve the dispute. Id. (citing 20 U.S.C. 1415(f)(1)(A); Fla. Stat. 1003.57(c)). The complaint may be based on any matter relating to the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child, or the provision of a [FAPE] to such child. 20 U.S.C. 1415(b)(6). Either party can then challenge the ALJ's decision by appealing to either a state court or a United States District Court. R.L., 757 F.3d at 1178 (citing 20 U.S.C. 1415(i)(2)(A)). A court has broad discretion to grant the relief it deems appropriate in light of the IDEA's purpose. Id. In reviewing a challenge under the IDEA, the court will conduct a two-part inquiry: First, has the State complied with the procedures set forth in the Act? And second, is the individualized educational program developed through the Act's procedures reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits? Bd. of Educ. of Hendrick Hudson Cent. Sch. Dist. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 20607, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 73 L.Ed.2d 690 (1982) (footnotes omitted). The state must meet both the procedural and substantive prongs of the Rowley test for the court to find the state has complied with the IDEA. See id. at 207, 102 S.Ct. 3034. Only procedural violations that cause a party substantive harm will entitle plaintiffs to relief. See Sch. Bd. of Collier Cty. v. K.C., 285 F.3d 977, 982 (11th Cir. 2002); Doe v. Ala. State Dep't of Educ., 915 F.2d 651, 66063 & nn. 910 (11th Cir. 1990). In this case, Appellants have asserted challenges solely under the procedural prong of Rowley and have explicitly disavowed any challenge under the substantive prong. Appellants' Consol. Reply 6. Thus, any question as to the sufficiency of the IEPs to provide educational benefits to the children of the Appellants is not before this Court. 3. Background and Procedural History 3 This case involves consolidated appeals. Appellant L.M.P. is the mother of E.P., D.P., and K.P. (the Triplets). Appellants C.C. and P.C. are the parents of A.C. The parties all appeal from the same district court order issued after a joint bench trial. The bulk of the factual background pertains to the Triplets as reflected in the district court's factual findings. The Triplets were born on January 4, 2001 and were diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder (autism) in 2003. D.E. 549 at 10. A.C. was also diagnosed with autism at an early age. Id. at 16. Autism is a neurological disorder that results in deficits in social communication and social interaction. Id. at 2. An autistic child qualifies as a child with a disability under the IDEA. 20 U.S.C. 1401(3)(A). In May 2003, shortly after the Triplets' diagnosis, their father had the children examined by David Garcia, the clinical supervisor for Behavioral Analysis, Inc. (BAI). Id. at 10. After the examination, the father hired BAI to provide each child with thirty hours per week of one-on-one ABA-based therapy. Id. On December 8, 2003, a meeting took place between the School Board and the Triplets' parents to discuss the transition of services their children had been receiving at the early intervention stage. Id. at 12. The parents expressed their desire that the Triplets continue receiving the thirty hours per week of one-on-one ABA-based therapy provided by BAI. Id. Carol Bianco, one of the School Board employees present at the meeting, allegedly advised the parents that ABA-based therapy was not provided by the School Board as an intervention service. Id. After the transition meeting, the School Board's team evaluated the Triplets. Id. Following the evaluations, the School Board scheduled a meeting for December 18, 2003 to develop IEPs for the children. Id. at 1213. Before the scheduled meeting, the Triplets' father requested copies of the School Board's evaluations, as a result of which the meeting was postponed until January 5, 2004. Id. at 13. The Triplets' father attended the meeting with a court reporter and Garcia. Id. The father renewed his request for the Triplets to receive thirty hours per week of one-on-one ABA-based therapy. Id. The meeting ended without a resolution, and a continuation was scheduled for February 3, 2004. Id. The parents were notified of the meeting, but did not attend. Id. At the February 3, 2004 meeting, the School Board developed initial, temporary IEPs for the Triplets. Id. at 1314. The initial IEPs stated under the assistive technology section that each child would receive instruction using the PECS method. Id. at 14. The School Board sent a letter including the initial IEPs to the Triplets' parents. Id. On February 5, 2004, the father notified the School Board that the parents did not consent to the IEPs. Id. at 1415. The parents ultimately did not enroll the Triplets in any of the Broward County public schools for the 20042005 academic year. Id. at 15. The Triplets continued to receive one-on-one ABA-based therapy from BAI until July 2004 at their parents' expense. Id. On August 17, 2004, the parents requested a due process hearing, which took place before an ALJ on January 24, 25, 27, and 28, 2005. Id. The parents requested reimbursement for the ABA-based therapy provided to the Triplets since they turned three years old that the parents claimed the state was obligated to cover under the IDEA. Id. On April 25, 2005, the ALJ issued a final order denying any relief to the Triplets and their parents. Id. at 1516. The School Board conducted A.C.s IEP meeting on July 17, 2007. Id. at 16. C.C. and A.C.s private behavioral specialist attended the meeting. Id. The IEP developed for A.C., similar to the Triplets', listed under the assistive technology section picture/symbol communication system. Id. The district court found that this was a reference to the PECS method. Id. L.M.P. filed the original Complaint in this case on May 24, 2005. L.M.P. ex rel. E.P. v. Sch. Bd. of Broward Cty., No. 05-cv-60845-KAM, ECF No. 1. The final version of the Complaint asserted four counts: (1) a claim asserting multiple violations of the IDEA, including that the School Board engaged in improper predetermination regarding the inclusion of ABA therapy in IEPs; (2) a claim under Section 504(a) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 794(a); (3) a claim under Florida Statute 1003.57; and (4) a claim under 42 U.S.C. 1983. D.E. 549 at 17. In essence, Appellants argued that the School Board subjected them to a predetermined policy of always denying ABA services. Id. On January 22, 2008, C.C. and P.C. filed a Motion to Intervene, alleging predetermination issues and other claims similar to those asserted by L.M.P., which the court granted on March 20, 2008. L.M.P., No. 05-cv-60845-KAM, ECF Nos. 177, 190. The court, however, later bifurcated the cases on January 8, 2010. Id. ECF No. 283. After the court disposed of the 1983 claims in both cases on summary judgment in favor of the School Board, the parties agreed to consolidate the cases for trial. D.E. 549 at 1819. The district court held a bench trial on the remaining claims. Id. On September 7, 2016, the district court entered its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. Id. The district court found for the School Board on all counts except for one. Id. at 32. The court found that the School Board had impermissibly excluded the Triplets' parents from attending the initial child study meeting. Id. However, because that procedural violation was harmless, the court only awarded nominal damages of one dollar. Id. at 3233. The School Board did not challenge this finding. The only conclusion Appellants appeal is the district court's finding that Appellants lacked standing to challenge an alleged School Board policy of never including ABA services in IEPs. 4. Standing Appellants challenge the district court's finding that even if the School Board has a policy of not including ABA services on an IEP, [Appellants] in this case lack standing to challenge such a policy because it was not applied to them. D.E. 549 at 28. The relevant question, then, for this Court to decide is narrow: did Appellants suffer harm by the School Board's alleged policy of never including ABA services in an IEP, i.e., did they suffer an injury in fact. Article III of the U.S. Constitution limits the judicial power of the federal courts so that they may only exercise jurisdiction over Cases and Controversies. U.S. Const. art. III, 2; see Lujan v. Defs. of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 559, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992). Accordingly, subject matter jurisdiction requires a justiciable case or controversy within the meaning of Article III. See Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S. 737, 75051, 104 S.Ct. 3315, 82 L.Ed.2d 556 (1984), abrogated on other grounds by Lexmark Int'l, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc., U.S. , 134 S.Ct. 1377, 188 L.Ed.2d 392 (2014). Standing constitutes one component of justiciability. Lujan, 504 U.S. at 56061, 112 S.Ct. 2130. Whether a plaintiff has standing presents a threshold question in every federal case, determining the power of the court to entertain the suit. Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 498, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975). To establish standing, a plaintiff seeking to invoke this Court's jurisdiction bears the burden of demonstrating: (1) an injury in fact; (2) a causal connection between the injury and the alleged misconduct; and (3) a likelihood that the injury will be redressed by a favorable decision. Lujan, 504 U.S. at 56061, 112 S.Ct. 2130. In order to satisfy the first prong, the injury in fact requirement, a plaintiff must show that he or she suffered an invasion of a legally protected interest that is concrete and particularized and actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical. Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, U.S. , 136 S.Ct. 1540, 1548, 194 L.Ed.2d 635 (2016) (quoting Lujan, 504 U.S. at 560, 112 S.Ct. 2130). The Court reviews issues of standing de novo. Eng'g Contractors Ass'n of S. Fla. Inc. v. Metro. Dade Cty., 122 F.3d 895, 903 (11th Cir. 1997). All of the children's IEPs either explicitly listed the PECS method or listed a clear reference to PECS under the assistive technology section. D.E. 549. at 28. This fact is not contested. The district court also found that the PECS method is a scientifically-validated (i.e., effective) ABA-based intervention strategy that is a form of DTT. Id. at 28. Appellants do not challenge the district court's finding that the PECS method is an ABA-based intervention. Instead, they argue that the singular reference to the PECS in the assistive technology portion of the children's IEPs was never meant by the School Board to be anything more than a suggestion to the schoolroom teacher. Appellants' Consol. Br. 52. [A]s written, [they argue that] the parents would be left with no ability to enforce the use of PECS for any particular length or time, or for any particular purpose in educating their Children. Id. Appellants assert that the inclusion of PECS was never intended to be the adoption of the specific ABA-based program the children had been receiving, and thus evinces the School Board's application of its policy of refusing to include ABA-based services, generally. Id. at 53. Despite any possible merit that Appellants' arguments may have as to the substantive quality or sufficiency of the inclusion of the PECS method in the children's IEPs, they are irrelevant under the procedural prong of Rowley. The narrow question here, as stated above, is whether Appellants suffered harm from an alleged procedural violation. Appellants allege that their injury in fact was the denial of their [sic] right of their parents to meaningfully participate in the IEP process, caused by the School Board's alleged predetermined policy of denying ABA-based services across the board. Appellants' Consol. Br. 55. Appellants attempt to show denial of meaningful participation by asserting that the School Board's policy is to presumptively deny the inclusion of all ABA-based services in IEPs. But, as the district court found, each child's IEP in this case included an ABA-based intervention strategy. Therefore, the School Board's inclusion of an ABA-based service in the children's IEPs in this case, regardless of how it was intended to be used or whether it matched the specific services requested by the parents, refutes Appellants' argument that they were denied meaningful participation. Appellants simply were not denied any ABA-based service in their children's IEPs. The question of whether the included ABA-based intervention strategy was comprehensive enough or appropriate for the children's particular needs is a question that falls under the substantive Rowley prong, i.e., whether the way in which the PECS method was utilized in the IEP was reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits. See Rowley, 458 U.S. at 20607, 102 S.Ct. 3034. Appellants could have challenged the IEP on substantive grounds or they could have accepted the IEP and then challenged the sufficiency of the School Board's implementation of the IEP, specifically regarding the implementation of the PECS program. See L.J. ex rel. N.N.J. v. Sch. Bd. of Broward Cty., 850 F.Supp.2d 1315, 1319 (11th Cir. 2012). But they chose not to bring any substantive challenges. Although Appellants may claim to suffer injury because the School Board did not adopt the specific ABA services they were requesting, such a claim is not a cognizable injury in fact under the procedural prong of Rowley because the children's IEPs included an ABA-based service. Therefore, Appellants do not allege any invasion of a legally protected interest that is concrete and particularized and actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical that relates to a procedural violation under Rowley. See Spokeo, 136 S.Ct. at 1548. As such, even if the alleged School Board policy exists, Appellants lack standing to challenge the policy because it was not applied to them. Accordingly, the district court's decision is AFFIRMED. FOOTNOTES . Citations to the IDEA are to the language that is now in effect. A comparison between the language in effect today and the language in effect at the time the conduct at issue took place shows no material change to the provisions relied upon in this case. . Under Part C of the IDEA, states must provide disabled children under three years of age with an individualized family service plan, setting forth specific early intervention services necessary for the toddler or infant and their family. 20 U.S.C. 14321435. . C.C. and P.C.s separate case was docketed under Case No. 10-cv-60032-KAM. . This Court makes no finding as to whether such a policy, in fact, existed. TITUS, District Judge: What are they talking about in Middletown Township? The ADA-accessible playground at Cobalt Ridge Park, home-improvement projects, climate change or the towns female police officer? Actually, all those topics -- and more on the townships own podcast, Middletown Township Talks. It recently celebrated its first anniversary and is doing quite well, say show organizers. Middletown Township Talks provides residents the... Administrators from Interpath Advisory say they will explore a potential sale of lifestyle brand Joules after receiving overwhelming interest in the business, which fell into administration earlier this week. Interpath Advisorys Will Wright, Ryan Grant and Chris Pole were appointed joint administrators of Joules Group and Joules Ltd on November 16. Founded in 1989, Joules is...continue reading At 30, with a degree in liberal arts, a satisfactory job in the United States, a green card and the great American dream staring him in the face, Vikas Jhunjhunwala found himself in the midst of a mid-life crisis a decade earlier than he wouldve perhaps liked. Three quarters back, when HDFC Banks gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratio climbed over a per cent, the hope was that it would only be a one-off blip. But, the bank hasnt been able to regain its sub one per cent level since then. Provisioning and gross NPA ratios have only been climbing up sequentially and the December quarter (Q3) results were no exception. Nagarjuna Oil Corporation Ltd (NOCL) has received an extension of another 90 days for its Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP), even as public sector and private investors get set to bid for control of the company. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the extension, as the process could not be completed within the stipulated 180 days. A single bench of the NCLT issued an order extending the CIRP for 90 days, starting January 21, in response to an application filed by Resolution Professional S Rajendran. The application was filed as per a resolution of the Committee of Creditors (CoC). United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. UNITED STATES of America, Appellant v. Andrew RAMEY No. 17-1339 Decided: January 19, 2018 Before: CHAGARES, VANASKIE, and FUENTES, Circuit Judges. Mark E. Coyne, Esq., Bruce P. Keller, Esq., Office of United States Attorney, Newark, NJ, for Plaintiff-Appellant Alison Brill, Esq., Lisa Van Hoeck, Esq., Office of Federal Public Defender, Trenton, NJ, for Defendant-Appellee OPINION * In this appeal, the Government challenges a sentence imposed by the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Andrew Ramey, the appellee and defendant in the underlying criminal action, argues that the District Court acted within its discretion when it applied a downward variance and sentenced him to 30 days of imprisonment for possession of child pornography. For the reasons stated below, we will vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing. I. As this Opinion is non-precedential and we write mainly for the parties, our factual recitation is abbreviated. In 2012, a law enforcement investigation discovered that Ramey possessed over 250 child pornography videos, some of which involved toddlers. Ramey was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2252A(a)(5)(B). He pleaded guilty to the offense, admitting in his plea agreement that the material involved a prepubescent minor or a minor under the age of 12 and that [t]he offense involved 600 or more images. App. 144. Having accessed the videos via a peer-to-peer file sharing network, Ramey also admitted that his offense involved distribution of child pornography. Id. The Probation Department and the parties agreed that the applicable sentencing range under the United States Sentencing Commission Guidelines (the Guidelines) was 63 to 78 months of imprisonment. At his sentencing hearing, Ramey requested that the District Court apply a variance and sentence him to probation. He argued, inter alia, that the Guidelines are flawed with respect to child pornography cases, that there were no sadistic or masochistic images in his collection, that this is his first offense, and that he had some developmental cognitive issues growing up. App. 1216. Ultimately, the District Court imposed a sentence of only 30 days of imprisonment and a subsequent five-year term of supervised release. Providing an explanation for the variance, the District Court theorized that Congress did not intend to punish defendants like Ramey for the victimization of children in child pornography: The horror of the victims suffering, unfortunately, cannot be visited, addressed with punishment directly to the persons who actually acted out so as to physically assault these children. This is a unique crime because the punishment is directed toward persons such as this defendant who were the viewers, customers who chose to look at the material that was produced from this victimization of these children. So, unfortunately, we do not have before the court for punishment the persons who actually physically injured and assaulted these children. Its a unique situation with child pornography offenses. We have before us somebody who went into his computer and went to software and some mysterious peer-to-peer association and finds images and for months was looking, peering at these images of the horror that the victims were suffering and his offense is the looking, going into his computer to look at this. Now, thats what we have with this kind of offense and the offender in this particular case it would seem to me is probably not the person that Congress had in mind who should be punished for the horror and the suffering that these children went through. App. 2728. The District Courts explanation then concluded with a brief discussion of the four-year gap between Rameys arrest and sentencing, his childhood development, the support of his siblings, the harm that incarceration would inflict on him, and the lack of deterrent value of incarceration under these circumstances. App. 2830. The Government objected and then timely filed this appeal. II. The District Court exercised jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 3231. We have jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 3742(b). We review sentences for abuse of discretion, and review them for both procedural and substantive reasonableness. United States v. Grober, 624 F.3d 592, 599 (3d Cir. 2010) (citing United States v. Tomko, 562 F.3d 558, 567 (3d Cir. 2009) (en banc)). III. Our review of the District Courts sentencing is deferential; however, that deference is not limitless. Although the Guidelines are advisory and there is no mandatory script for sentencing, United States v. Goff, 501 F.3d 250, 256 (3d Cir. 2007), a district court must follow a three-step sentencing process. It must first correctly calculate the defendants Guidelines range. United States v. Merced, 603 F.3d 203, 215 (3d Cir. 2010). Next, it must rule on any motions for departures. Id. Finally, after giving both parties an opportunity to argue for whatever sentence they deem appropriate, the court must exercise its discretion with meaningful consideration of the sentencing factors contained in 18 U.S.C. 3553(a). Id. We have twice reversed this same District Court for extraordinary downward variances in cases involving the possession of child pornography. See Goff, 501 F.3d at 262 ([A] sentence of four months is a drastic reduction and unreasonable in light of the facts and circumstances revealed in the record.); United States v. Lychock, 578 F.3d 214, 229 (3d Cir. 2009) (We conclude that, by ignoring relevant factors and failing to offer a reasoned explanation for its departure from the Guidelines, the District Court once again put at risk the substantive reasonableness of any decision it reached. That risk of unreasonableness was realized, under the particular circumstances of this case, in Lychocks sentence of probation.) (quoting Goff, 501 F.3d at 256). In both Goff and Lychock, we detailed the significant harm caused by possession of child pornography, the seriousness of the offense, and the clarity with which Congress has expressed its view on the matter. On this third occasion to consider the District Courts drastic sentencing reductions, we reiterate that the possession of child pornography alone, even absent any physical contact between the offender and a minor, is an extremely serious crime that causes substantial harm. See United States v. Williams, 553 U.S. 285, 307, 128 S.Ct. 1830, 170 L.Ed.2d 650 (2008) (Child pornography harms and debases the most defenseless of our citizens.). As we noted in Goff, [t]he simple fact that the images have been disseminated perpetuates the abuse initiated by the producer of the materials and [c]onsumers such as Goff who possess child pornography directly contribute to this continuing victimization. 501 F.3d at 259. Moreover, possession creates a market for child pornography that incentivizes further production of such materials. Id. As such, there is no mere or passive act of possessing child pornography. To possess such material is to victimize children in a significant and active manner. A. We first consider procedural unreasonableness. In this analysis, we must ensure that the District Court committed no significant procedural error, such as failing to calculate (or improperly calculating) the Guidelines range, treating the Guidelines as mandatory, failing to consider the 3553(a) factors, selecting a sentence based on clearly erroneous facts, or failing to adequately explain the chosen sentenceincluding an explanation for any deviation from the Guidelines range. Tomko, 562 F.3d at 567 (quoting Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51, 128 S.Ct. 586, 169 L.Ed.2d 445 (2007)). A significant variance from the Guidelines range requires a more significant justification than a minor one. Grober, 624 F.3d at 599 (citing Gall, 552 U.S. at 50, 128 S.Ct. 586). The extraordinary variance here, which is 98% below the bottom of the applicable Guidelines range, necessitates a careful and significant justification; however, the District Court proceeded in a conclusory fashion. The conclusion that Ramey is probably not the person that Congress had in mind who should be punished for the horror and the suffering that these children went through is troubling, particularly because Congress has criminalized possession of child pornography as a separate offense from the physical abuse of children. To the extent that the District Court asserted a policy disagreement with the Guidelines, that reasoning must fail. Although a district court is permitted to vary from the Guidelines based on such a policy disagreement, its rationale should take into account all of the sentencing factors, not just one or two of them in isolation and it must provide sufficiently compelling reasons to justify the variance. Merced, 603 F.3d at 221. Although the District Court offered a brief discussion of the 3553(a) factors, it failed to provide compelling justifications for its sentence based upon the factors as a whole. Instead, the District Court offered vague descriptions of Rameys individual characteristics and largely unsupported conclusions regarding deterrence and the harm of incarceration. App. 2830. Thus, the District Courts sentencing in the instant case was procedurally unreasonable. B. Though we may remand based solely upon our conclusion that the District Courts sentencing was procedurally unreasonable, we will also consider substantive unreasonableness as we did in Goff and Lychock. Our substantive review of a sentence is based upon the totality of the circumstances, Merced, 603 F.3d at 214, and we will vacate a sentence on substantive grounds only if no reasonable sentencing court would have imposed the same sentence on that particular defendant for the reasons the district court provided. Tomko, 562 F.3d at 568. Our consideration of substantive unreasonableness is guided by the 3553(a) factors. Merced, 603 F.3d at 214. Although the District Court relied heavily upon the first 3553(a) factorthe nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendantthat factor does not support the District Courts downward variance. The facts and circumstances here are similar to those in Goff and Lychock: possession of hundreds of child pornography videos, some depicting prepubescent minors or those under the age of 12; limited or nonexistent prior criminal history; and the ready support of family members. In those prior cases, we found that comparable sentencing reductions were substantively unreasonable, and the facts of this case do not warrant a different result. Rameys learning disability and his exhibition of some unusual childhood behaviors do not meaningfully distinguish the case, because while these facts might warrant a reduction in sentencing, they do not support one of this magnitude. In addition, as we recognized in Goff, [s]ubsection (a)(2) requires consideration of the need to provide just punishment, which includes the avoidance of unwarranted sentencing disparities, as required by [subsection] (a)(6). 501 F.3d at 258. Here, the 98% downward variance from the bottom of the applicable Guidelines range would provide little punishment at all and create a significant sentencing disparity, which undercuts the interest in uniform sentencing practices and the perception of fair sentencing. Thus, the second and sixth of the 3553(a) factors gravitate strongly in favor of remand. On balance, these and the remaining factors simply do not support the extreme variance in this case. No reasonable court would impose a sentence of 30 days of imprisonment on these facts. Thus, as we did in Goff and Lychock, we conclude that the District Courts sentence is substantively unreasonable. IV. For the reasons stated above, we will vacate the District Courts sentence and remand for resentencing in accordance with this Opinion. FOOTNOTES . The District Court did not specify how Rameys developmental issues impacted his offense or culpability. At sentencing, the court stated that [t]here was a learning disability that was spotted and that Ramey had an unusual [childhood] behavior of eating pencils and tissues, a predilection for touching walls and photographs in some kind of tactile exploration, fixation, as yet unexplained. App. 29. The court continued, [r]eading through this presentence report there is something that is not the normal development that evidently has never been addressed. Id. . About a month after the Government filed its Notice of Appeal, Ramey submitted a request to the District Court that, in accordance with Local Appellate Rule 3.1, it issue a written amplification of its sentencing decision. The District Court responded on May 26, 2017 with a letter addressed to counsel. App. 12830. The brief letter was untimely as it was filed more than thirty days after the notice of appeal was docketed. See 3d Cir. L.A.R. 3.1. Furthermore, it provided little extra explanation and is insufficient for the same reasons that the justification for the substantial downward variance articulated at the original sentencing was deficient. . A district court need not, however, recite and make findings as to every one of the 3553(a) factors, as long as the record makes clear that the factors have been considered in deciding the sentence. Merced, 603 F.3d at 222. CHAGARES, Circuit Judge. State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will acquire the 51.1 per cent government stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) at a cost of Rs 369.15 billion. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of this month. A Delhi court on Saturday granted bail to suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kapil Mishra. Mishra was summoned by the court as an accused in a defamation case filed by Delhi's Urban Development Minister Satyendra Jain for levelling graft charges against him. The court also asked him to furnish a personal bail bond of Rs. 10,000. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa, another accused in the same case, did not appear before the court. The court has fixed the next date of hearing for March 31. The court had earlier taken cognisance of two complaints filed by Jain, one against Mishra and another criminal complaint against Sirsa. Jain had filed two separate criminal complaints against Sirsa and Mishra alleging that they had made defamatory statements against him in the media. On May 7, 2017, Jain in his complaint said that Mishra, who earlier headed the water department in the Delhi government, had made a statement accusing him of giving a bribe to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on May 5, 2017. He added that said these statements by Mishra had caused irreparable damage to his reputation. As I speak with Shani Himanshu, founder of the fashion label 11.11/eleven eleven, he is heading to Mumbai international airport. For his airport look, he is dressed from head to toe in khadi. I am wearing a kala cotton khadi denim jacket with my track pants, made from fibre sourced from the dev vruksha. This is organic tree cotton, single spindle-spun, with zero count and dyed beautifully in indigo, he says. The garment is very contemporary I imagine it will look just as chic on the streets of Paris as it exudes comfort and convenience at Mumbai airport. And yet, the character remains distinctively, recognisably Indian. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for open defecation-free nation is giving tough time to the residents of Atsalia village of UP's Shahjahanpur district. The villagers are complaining about 'marriages being called off due to lack of toilets in the area.' State-run NMDC Ltd has offered to augment mineral production in Odisha, which is likely to be hit by shortage of due to closure of mines. N Baijendra Kumar, CMD of NMDC, has written to the in this regard, official sources said. A delegation from the company had also recently met Odisha Chief Secretary A P Padhi to discuss the matter. "NMDC is interested to operate three mining leases of OMDC (Orissa Minerals Development Company Ltd) in case allots in favour of NMDC," an official said, adding that the Ministry of Steel had already requested the state government to consider the operation of OMDC leases by NMDC. Operations have been suspended at a number of mines, where leaseholders failed to meet a deadline on 31 December, fixed by the Supreme Court, for paying penalties in connection with alleged illegal mining. In another proposal, NMDC said it has asked the to allot new leases under the government dispensation route, in which the company would conduct exploration work and develop them into operating mines. NMDC has also shown interest to put up a pellet and benificiation plant in the state for which allocation of low grade deposits are sought. This would maximise the utilisation and conservation of iron ore, it said. According to industry sources, nearly 20 million ton of production has been affected since the closure of mines from January 1. A Centre of Excellence on Virtual and Augmented Reality tasked with incubating start-ups and fostering high-end, futuristic research, would start functioning at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bhubaneswar on Saturday. The incubator, the first of the kind in the country, is expected to spur other institutes to set up similar facilities. Two were recovered near the Mahabodhi temple in Bihar's Bodh Gaya, where Tibetian spiritual leader Dalai Lama is camping, prompting authorities to heighten security, police said on Saturday. The bombs were found on Friday night, police said. Police have denied media reports that claimed that the bombs were found inside the Mahabodhi temple. "The explosive materials were found in the vicinity of the Kalachakra ground near the temple and kept far away from the temple," Inspector General of Police, Patna Zone, N.H. Khan said. "Security was already tight in Bodh Gaya but it was further reinforced," he added. Security of foreign monasteries and other sensitive places have also been beefed up and additional security forces have been deployed. #Bihar: Security intensified in and around #Mahabodhi temple at Bodhgaya after recovery of four bombs. pic.twitter.com/FMlRp87uD1 All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) January 20, 2018 A senior police official camping in Bodh Gaya said that three suspected persons have been found roaming in Bodh Gaya. Police will identify them soon, he said. Meanwhile, an NIA team from Delhi will reach Bodh Gaya on Saturday to start probe. A team of FSL from Patna has already reached to investigate the matter. In 2013, a series of bombs exploded at Bodh Gaya's Mahabodhi temple in which two Buddhist monks were injured. The IMF and the World Bank have commended the for its "remarkable progress in strengthening banking supervision" saying the regulation by the central bank has improved in recent years. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank had released two separate main Reports of the 2017 India Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP) in December 2017. In continuation, the IMF and the World Bank yesterday released two detailed assessment reports (DARs) relating to the 2017 India FSAP. The report providing 'Detailed Assessment of Observance Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision' has been released by the IMF and the World Bank. The report providing 'Detailed Assessment of Observance of Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL) Central Counter Party (CCP) and Trade Repository (TR)' was released by the World Bank. Market regulator Sebi in a statement noted that the DAR on the observance of Basel Core Principles commends the Reserve Bank for the remarkable progress in strengthening banking supervision since the last FSAP. "It notes that the supervision and regulation by the Reserve Bank remain strong and have improved in recent years," the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said. The DAR states that the system-wide asset quality review (AQR) and the strengthening of prudential regulations in 2015 testify to the authorities' commitment to transparency and a more accurate recognition of banking risks. The report also notes that most of the Basel III framework (and related guidance) has been implemented and cooperation arrangements, both domestically and cross-border, are now firmly in place. The DAR, Sebi said, acknowledges that banking reforms, including the Indradhanush Plan for revitalising the public sector banks and the Bank Board Bureaus, have helped usher in an era of transparency and improved discipline and will go a long way in resolving the problem of bad loans in India. The DAR relating to the assessment of the CCIL on CCP system and TR systems' benchmarking against the applicable principles of financial market infrastructure concluded that the CCIL systems have a high degree of observance of the principles. A visiting high-level delegation from Italy has evinced interest in investing at the aluminium downstream park at Angul (Odisha). The cluster spreading 240 acres, is being developed jointly by National Aluminium Company (Nalco) and state-owned Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco). Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app. Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006. Curated newsletters on markets, personal finance, policy & politics, start-ups, technology, and more. Pick your 5 favourite companies, get a daily email with all news updates on them. 26 years of website archives. United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. Norman Kevin WILKERSON, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Harold W. CLARKE, Dir. of VDOC, Respondent-Appellee, Commonwealth of Virginia, Respondent. No. 17-7059 Decided: January 19, 2018 Before KEENAN and FLOYD, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Norman Kevin Wilkerson, Appellant Pro Se. Virginia Bidwell Theisen, Senior Assistant Attorney General, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee. Norman Kevin Wilkerson seeks to appeal the district court's order accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. 2254 (2012) petition.* The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. See 28 U.S.C. 2253(c)(1)(A) (2012). A certificate of appealability will not issue absent a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. 28 U.S.C. 2253(c)(2) (2012). When the district court denies relief on the merits, a prisoner satisfies this standard by demonstrating that reasonable jurists would find that the district court's assessment of the constitutional claims is debatable or wrong. Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484, 120 S.Ct. 1595, 146 L.Ed.2d 542 (2000); see Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336-38, 123 S.Ct. 1029, 154 L.Ed.2d 931 (2003). When the district court denies relief on procedural grounds, the prisoner must demonstrate both that the dispositive procedural ruling is debatable, and that the petition states a debatable claim of the denial of a constitutional right. Slack, 529 U.S. at 484-85, 120 S.Ct. 1595. We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Wilkerson has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability, deny leave to proceed in forma pauperis, deny the pending motions, and dismiss the appeal. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process. DISMISSED FOOTNOTES . Wilkerson has also filed a supplemental notice of appeal from the magistrate judge's earlier order denying his motion for release pending review. We may exercise jurisdiction only over final orders, and certain interlocutory and collateral orders, of the district court. See 28 U.S.C. 1291, 1292 (2012). Except when a magistrate judge acts under 28 U.S.C. 636(c) (2012), we lack jurisdiction over appeals from a magistrate judge's order. See United States v. Baxter, 19 F.3d 155, 156-57 (4th Cir. 1994). PER CURIAM: Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. Despite the expected fiscal stimulus and higher government spending due to incremental revenues on account of the GST, the overall investment cycle is unlikely to revive. A high-level meeting of Indian and European stakeholders engaged in the seafood sector is slated to take place later this month in Goa to discuss solutions for complying with food safety regulations in the production and trade of shrimp. Cyber space emerges as the fourth dimension to threats to national security: Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh attends Closing Ceremony of the 8th All India Police Commando Competition at Manesar Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh has said a fourth dimension has been added to threats national security faced till now. Addressing the Closing Ceremony of the 8th All India Police Commando Competition at Manesar, Gurugram in Haryana today, Shri Rajnath Singh said commandos should also train to stamp out threats from the cyber space, apart from conventional threats emanating on the land, emerging from the seas and in the air. Hacking websites and data leaks also indirectly imperil national security, he added. Commending the smart turnout of the Commandos, the Union Home Minister said he is confident that their iron fists can sniff out any evil eye casting aspersions on our soil. A Commando is not only physically agile and deft in firing weapons, but it is the composed mindset to make threat assessment and application of ones resources to overcome the threat that gets into making a Commando out of a soldier, he said. Shri Rajnath Singh said Commandos have made the nation proud, having proved their mettle during the 2001 Parliament attack, 2002 Akshardham temple attack, 2008 Mumbai attack and the recent Pathankot terrorist attack. Union Home Minister declared an honorarium of Rs. 5 crores towards the NSG Welfare Fund. On the occasion, the Union Home Minister released a compendium and a coffee table book. He took salute of the march past and presented medals and trophies to the winners. The week long 8th All India Police Commando Competition was organised by the National Security Guard, wherein 25 teams from different Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and State Police Forces participated. The NSG team won the prestigious competition. The teams from BSF and Maharashtra Police secured second and third positions, respectively. A Sniper Shooting Competition was also introduced first time in the All India Police Commando Competition. An equipment display was organised on the sidelines of the competition where the latest weapons and equipment for the security forces were showcased. Director General, NSG, Shri Sudhir Pratap Singh and Director, IB Shri Rajiv Jain were among the dignitaries present. Defaulter of Income Tax TDS arrested and sent to jail by ?the ?Tis Hazari Court Tis Hazari Court has ordered judicial custody of the Director of a Delhi based Real Estate and IT Solution Company for non-compliance in Income Tax TDS Default case. It was found during investigations that the company had deducted TDS but had not deposited in the Government account despite there being a statutory obligation by the Income Tax Act. This also led to harassment of many innocent persons whose TDS had been deducted but the TDS returns had not been filed by the Real Estate Company. It was found that during FY 2013-14, FY 2014-15 and FY 2015-16, amounts of Rs. 45,68,990/-, Rs. 35,45,290/- and Rs. 33,36,970/- were deducted by the assessee company. The assessee company was found to be defaulting on filing of TDS return statements. Taking into account all defaults, show cause notices were served upon the Director to explain why sanction for prosecution should not be granted under section 278B read with 276B of Income Tax Act for not complying with the provisions of the law in respect of non -deposition of the Income Tax deducted at source. However, during the proceedings, the assessee asked for repeated adjournments, instead of giving reasonable explanations for the defaults during the proceedings. Hence, it was concluded that there is no justifiable reason for the delay in depositing the TDS. This clearly showed the non-serious behaviour of the assessee towards the provisions of deduction and depositions of tax at source. Therefore, TDS Wing in exercise of powers under Section 279(1) of Income Tax Act sanctioned the filing of criminal complaint against the company as well as the Director under Section 276B read with 278B, 278E and 279 of the Act for FY 2013-14, FY 2014-15 and FY 2015-16 in 2017. Non-bailable warrant was issued against the Director in December 2017 for non-compliance with the case proceedings. The Non-bailable warrants returned to the court unexecuted with the report that accused is avoiding execution of the warrants. Hence, on 19 Jan 2018 accused was taken into custody and was remanded to judicial custody. The accused has been sent to Tihar Jail for the same. Fourth India International Science Festival to be held in Lucknow The fourth edition of the India International Science Festival will be held in Lucknow. The exact dates and other details will be decided later. The decision to hold the Festival in Lucknow was taken at the first preparatory meeting for the 4th India International Science Festival (IISF) chaired by Union Minister for Science & Technology, Environment, Forest & Climate Change and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan. Officials of Ministries of Science and Technology, Earth Sciences and DG, CSIR and representatives of Vijnana Bharti (VIBHA), the partner organisation for the festival, were among those who attended the meeting. President of India to Visit Gujarat on January 21 and 22, 2018 The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, will visit Gujarat on January 21 and 22, 2018. On January 21, 2018, the President will grace the 66th annual convocation of Gujarat University in Ahmedabad. On January 22, 2018, the President will address the 66th annual convocation of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. On the same day, the President will grace the 150th anniversary celebrations of Akshar Deri at Gondal, before returning to Delhi. States pledge to galvanise behaviour change efforts to ensure ODF India in 2019 On 19th and 20th January, 2018, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation organized a two-day National Consultation on Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) in Gurugram, Haryana. The Consultation was attended by the senior most officers from States and Swachh Bharat Mission Directors from across the country. The participants focused on a variety of issues related to SBM(G), including progress so far, way forward, with a particular focus on IEC (Information Education Communication) efforts underway in the States. With the SBM entering its pre-final year of implementation, the States shared their plans on achieving an Open Defecation Free status in 2018, with a strong focus on behaviour change communication, delivered through a mixture of targeted inter-personal communication and mass communication. The States shared their plans for sustaining their ODF status after achievement, by ensuring that the toilets constructed under the Mission are used by all members of every household in a village. The State IEC plans for 2018 were presented and discussed with the Ministry. The Ministry also held special sessions on resolving issues faced by the States on a case-to-case basis, with a special focus on the States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha. Young professionals, deployed as Zila Swachh Bharat Preraks in districts, also attended the workshop and interacted with Ministry officials to share the work being done by them at the grassroots and were assured of consistent support by the senior officers of the Ministry in their role as valuable resource persons for the districts and States. Entrepreneurs in the sanitation sector were also invited to make presentations to the States on innovative toilet technologies developed by them that can help scale up the design and production of toilets, and help design toilets that are easier for use by senior citizens and the differently- abled persons . The Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation Shri Parameswaran Iyer in his inaugural address at the workshop, spoke about the long way that the Mission had come since its launch. He shared that 3 lakh villages, 300 districts and 10 States/Union Territories have been declared Open Defecation Free, and that the rural sanitation coverage today stands at over 76%, up from 39% at the time of the launch of the Mission in October 2014. He also expressed confidence that, with the sustained and focused implementation that the Mission was receiving by the State governments, the Prime Minister's vision of a Swachh Bharat by October 2, 2019 would be realized. <><><><><> AR/SNC The Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi felicitated 112 exceptional women achievers in New Delhi today. The Minister of Food Processing Industries, Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Ms. Anupriya Patel were also present on the occasion. These women achievers FIRST LADIES are those who are first to set a milestone in their respective fields like the first female Merchant Navy Captain, first train driver of passenger train, first female fire fighter, first female bus driver, first Indian woman to reach Antarctica among others. Welcoming the First Ladies, the Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi said that the First Ladies are a unique group of women who are the first in their respective fields of achievement and each one deserved to be recognized. " Your achievement will inspire other women to break the glass ceiling and do the women of India proud", she said. Smt Maneka Gandhi said that the WCD Ministry has been organising similar events to recognise women achievers in different ways which has yielded great results. The Minister of Food Processing Industries, Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal congratulated the First Ladies and hoped that their number will grow bigger and bigger. The Minister said that women in India face a number of challenges, and achieving the distinction of being a first in any field would have been truly challenging for most women. " You have shown and proved that it can be done and it will happen" Smt Harsimrat Kaur said. The Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Ms Anupriya Patel appreciated the WCD Ministry for its unique initiative "First Ladies". The initiative is in the spirit of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao programme and the women achievers will act as a role model and inspiration for women across the country. "You have started a journey which will take India forward", the Minister exhorted. China will impose "special emissions restrictions" on enterprises in major industrial sectors in northern China later this year, as it bids to ensure its war on pollution continues once a tough winter anti-smog campaign ends in March. To meet politically crucial air quality targets last year, China forced 28 cities in northern China to cut concentrations of hazardous, breathable particles known as PM2.5 by 10-25 per cent from October 2017-March 2018. But amid concerns that enterprises and local governments could lower their guard once short-term campaigns to meet air quality targets have been completed, China has been trying to "normalise compliance" and put firms under more permanent scrutiny and pressure. In a notice published on its website late on Friday, China's Ministry of Environmental Protection said all new industrial projects in 28 key northern Chinese cities would now have to comply with even tougher emission curbs when undergoing environmental impact assessments from March 1. Existing industrial boilers as well as facilities in sectors like thermal power, steel, petrochemicals, chemicals, non-ferrous metals (excluding aluminium) and cement, will be subject to tougher emission limits for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds beginning from Oct. 1, the notice said. Coking chemical plants will have longer to comply with the new restrictions and will have to renovate by October 2019. The notice said existing enterprises must take effective measures to comply with the new restrictions by the required deadline. If they fail to do so, they can be fined, ordered to restrict output or forced to shut down completely. As part of the winter campaign, the 28 cities were subjected to an unprecedented central government inspection regime and have been under orders to cut industrial output, thin traffic and curb coal use in order to reduce smog build-ups. All 28 met their targets in the final quarter of 2017. China has been aiming to establish a nationwide, real-time, 24-hour monitoring system that puts firms under permanent pressure to comply with environmental rules, and it has also been trying to empower police and courts to take on persistent offenders. Byton, the Chinese electric-car start-up founded by former BMW executives, is seeking about $400 million in a new round of funding, people with knowledge of the matter said. United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Rick E. BROWN & Mary C. Talaga, Defendants-Appellants. Nos. 15-3117 Decided: January 19, 2018 Before Bauer, Easterbrook, and Ripple, Circuit Judges. Joanna K. W. Bowman, Attorney, Ellen Meltzer, Attorney, Department Of Justice, Criminal Division, Fraud Section, Washington, DC, Kevin R. Gingras, Attorney, Department Of Justice, Criminal Division, Washington, DC, PlaintiffAppellee. Carol A. Brook, Attorney, Rosalie L. Guimaraes, Attorney, Office of the Federal Defender Program, for DefendantAppellant. A grand jury indicted Rick E. Brown and Mary C. Talaga with one count of conspiracy to commit health-care fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1349, six counts of health-care fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1347, and three counts of falsifying a matter or providing false statements, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1035(a). A jury convicted them on all counts. The district court sentenced Mr. Brown to eighty-seven months' imprisonment on the health-care fraud counts and terms of sixty months' imprisonment on each of the falsification counts to run concurrently with each other and with the fraud counts. In doing so, the district court explained that a significant sentence was warranted for several reasons, including general deterrence. Ms. Talaga was sentenced to concurrent forty-five-month sentences on all of the ten counts. Both defendants now maintain that the district court erred in imposing their respective sentences. Mr. Brown maintains that the district court's assumptions about the need for general deterrence were unfounded and constituted procedural error. Ms. Talaga argues that, when the district court calculated the amount of loss for which she was responsible, it impermissibly included losses that occurred before she joined the conspiracy. The inclusion of these amounts resulted in a higher loss amount, corresponding to a higher offense level and sentence. Because the district court did not err in its reasoning or in its sentencing determination, we affirm its judgments. I BACKGROUNDA. Medicall Physicians Group, Ltd. (Medicall), a company that provided home physician visits to patients, employed both Mr. Brown and Ms. Talaga. Mr. Brown served as Medicall's office manager, and Ms. Talaga had responsibility for medical billing. Dr. Roger Lucero, a third defendant, was the owner and medical director of the company. He pleaded guilty to the conspiracy count, cooperated with the Government, and testified against both Mr. Brown and Ms. Talaga. Beginning at least as early as January 2007, Mr. Brown and Dr. Lucero began submitting false and fraudulent claims to Medicare. Ms. Talaga, who had been trained as a medical biller, joined Medicall in August 2007. She reported to Mr. Brown and was paid a percentage of Medicall's earnings. According to the evidence, the fraud at Medicall took at least three forms. First, Mr. Brown and Ms. Talaga billed Medicare for prolonged visits, using the prolonged care code, as a way to pay for employees' travel time. Second, regardless whether the patient qualified for, or received, the billed-for care, every patient was billed for Care Plan Oversight, a type of physician supervision for patients requiring complex or multi-disciplinary care. Finally, Mr. Brown and Ms. Talaga billed Medicare for services purportedly provided to deceased patients, as well as services by providers who no longer were associated with Medicall. After hearing the evidence, the jury convicted both defendants on all counts of the indictment. 1. Mr. Brown The probation office prepared a presentence report (PSR) for Mr. Brown. The PSR calculated a base offense level of six under U.S.S.G. 2B1.1(a)(2), and then applied an eighteen-level increase under 2B1.1(b)(1)(J) for an intended loss of approximately $4.3 million. The PSR also applied (1) a two-level increase for a federal health-care offense involving a loss of more than $1 million but less than $7 million; (2) a two-level increase for use of sophisticated means; (3) a four-level increase for being a leader or organizer; and (4) a two-level increase for obstruction of justice because Mr. Brown had testified falsely at trial about his role in the offense. These increases yielded a total offense level of thirty-four that, when combined with Mr. Brown's criminal history category of I, yielded a sentencing range of 151 to 188 months. Mr. Brown objected to various aspects of the PSR's calculation. The district court agreed with Mr. Brown that the fraud did not involve sophisticated means. It also gave Mr. Brown the benefit of the loss table in the new Guidelines, which yielded a sixteen-level increase, as opposed to an eighteen-level increase, for amount of loss. When combined with Mr. Brown's criminal history category, the new calculation yielded a guidelines range of 121 to 151 months. The district court then considered the 3553(a) factors one by one. It also observed that [s]ubsection (a)(2) requires the Court to consider the need for the sentence imposed to accomplish the various purposes of criminal punishment. The first purpose is to reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for the law, and to provide just punishment for the offense. The court considered the crimes to be serious because they occurred over an extended period of time and involved $4.3 million in false claims. The second purpose articulated in 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) is to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct. The court considered this purpose a significant factor because Medicare fraud unfortunately is widespread in this country; and those who are in the medical field and who are tempted to engage in fraud must know, they have to know, that the penalties are severe, particularly given the low likelihood of getting caught. The court stated that it agreed with the Government that people in the healthcare business and in the home healthcare business in particular will know about this sentence, and this sentence has to send a signal. It's not the only consideration, and it's not the most important consideration, but it is a consideration that 3553(a)(2)(B) directs me to consider, and I do have to consider that.[6] Finally, the court noted that, with respect to specific deterrence, it was highly unlikely that Mr. Brown would commit a crime in the future. The court then sentenced Mr. Brown to eighty-seven months' imprisonment. The court reiterated many of these considerations in its oral statement of reasons: I don't think that anything less than 87 months would be sufficient to fulfill the purposes of 3553(a), and here's why: The duration of the scheme. It went on for several years. This wasn't a momentary slip This was a sustained course of knowing criminal conduct. The amount actually stolen, over $1.3 million. That's a lot of money. I'm going to come back to general deterrence. This is a white collar crime, so the sentence imposed here is far more likely to have a deterrent effect on Mr. Brown's cohorts, those also involved in the medical profession, than a sentence in a drug case or an illegal re-entry case. I do agree that people in the healthcare field, people who are businessmen and women who are business people, they engage in a cost/benefit analysis. And the benefit is the benefit if you don't get caught, and the cost is the probability of getting caught multiplied by the sanction. And there's a low probability of getting caught, so the sanction has to be serious. It has to be real, if there's any hope of ensuring that at least when people look at the cost and the benefits, when they're contemplating fraud, that they realize that cost will outweigh the benefits. And finally, there's Mr. Brown's failure to accept responsibility, and in particular his repetition of the claim that he wasn't responsible for the fraud.[8] 2. Ms. Talaga The probation office also prepared a PSR for Ms. Talaga. It set her base offense level at six pursuant to 2B1.1, and applied an eighteen-level increase for the amount of loss (greater than $2.5 million, but less than $7 million). It also included a two-level increase for use of sophisticated means and a two-level increase for a federal health-care offense. These de-terminations yielded an offense level of twenty-eight that, when combined with a criminal history category of I, yielded a guidelines range of seventy-eight to ninety-seven months. Ms. Talaga objected to various aspects of the PSR. Her primary argument was that the intended loss amount should be reduced. She submitted that her intended loss could not have been more than the amount that Medicare actually paid because Ms. Talaga knew that Medicall would not have obtained the full $4M+ that Medicall fraudulently billed. Specifically, she noted that an application note to the fraud guideline states that the aggregate dollar amount of fraudulent bills is evidence sufficient to establish the amount of [the] intended loss, if not rebutted by the defendant. She claimed that [u]nlike co-defendants Rick Brown and Dr. Roger Lucero, [she] was intimately familiar with the billing procedures of the medical practice as well as with 42 U.S.C. 1395w-4(a)(1), which provides that Medicare can never pay any more than the amount determined under the Medicare fee schedule. The Government's own investigation establishes that Ms. Talaga successfully completed Medical Billing, a course at Triton Junior College, and the Medical Billing course syllabus explains than the course is all about Medicare and medical billing problems, but that the course covers mostly Medicare issues. Further, Triton College staff and a Triton Medical Billing course professor confirmed that the course cover[s] in depth the Medicare regulation that Medicare can never pay any more than the Medicare fee schedule. Even aside from Ms. Talaga's schooling, Ms. Talaga would have had to have under-stood Medicare's payment practices because her income was based entirely on Medicare payment amounts with respect to her submitted bills to Medicare. [11] Consequently, she claimed, she had rebutted the Government's prima facie case. Ms. Talaga also argued that the amount of loss should be decreased because she did not recognize that she was committing fraud when she first began at Medicall. Ms. Talaga pointed to the testimony of another biller, Arian Shogren, who testified that Mr. Brown told her that all patients actually were receiving Care Plan Oversight. At first, Shogren stated that she believed Mr. Brown; however, she recognized the fraud at the end of her time working at Medicall. Ms. Talaga submitted that she, similarly, did not recognize the fraud at the outset. The court accepted that, as an experienced biller, she would be familiar with Medicare's reimbursement levels. Therefore, concluded the court, Ms. Talaga should not be responsible for the amount of all the false claims, but only those that fell within the reimbursement schedule set by Medicare. Thus Ms. Talaga's amount of loss was reduced to $3.262 million. The court also reduced Ms. Talaga's loss amount by $222,000 for the few months during the conspiracy that she did not work for Medicall. These reductions, however, did not result in a reduction in offense level. The court rejected Ms. Talaga's argument that she should not be responsible for fraudulent billings from the beginning of her tenure. The court found by the preponderance of the evidence that a seasoned and trained medical biller would have realized, from the outset, that not every single patient was receiving Care Plan Oversight, that the number of hours being billed for Care Plan Oversight could not be reconciled with the number of actual services that Dr. Lucero was performing, and that she did not have the required documentation for the bills that she was submitting. Giving Ms. Talaga the benefit of the upcoming amended schedule, the court calculated a new guidelines range of fifty-one to sixty-three months. After considering the 3553(a) factors, the court imposed a sentence of forty-five months' imprisonment. Both Mr. Brown and Ms. Talaga timely appealed their sentences. II DISCUSSION Both Mr. Brown and Ms. Talaga maintain that the district court committed procedural error when imposing their sentences. Whether a district court followed proper sentencing procedure is a question of law that we review de novo. United States v. Olmeda-Garcia, 613 F.3d 721, 723 (7th Cir. 2010). To ensure that the sentencing judge did not commit any significant procedural error, we examine whether the district court: i) properly calculated the Guidelines range; ii) recognized that the Guidelines range was not mandatory; iii) considered the sentencing factors in 18 U.S.C. 3553(a); iv) selected a sentence based on facts that were not clearly erroneous; and v) adequately explained the chosen sentence including an explanation for any deviation from the Guidelines range. United States v. Lockwood, 840 F.3d 896, 900 (7th Cir. 2016) (quoting Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 53 (2007)). We consider first Mr. Brown's claim of error and then turn to Ms. Talaga's. A. With respect to Mr. Brown, the district court properly calculated the guidelines range, recognized its ability to depart from the Guidelines, considered all of the 3553(a) factors, and imposed a sentence that was thirty-four months below the guidelines rangea sentence that the court characterized as a significant downward variance. The court noted that four factors prevented it from departing further: the duration of the scheme, the amount of the fraud, the need for general deterrence, and Mr. Brown's failure to accept responsibility. All of these factors are legitimate considerations for the court to take into account. See 18 U.S.C. 3553(a). Mr. Brown maintains, however, that the district court committed procedural error because it relied on unfounded assumptions in articulating a need for general deterrence. Specifically, Mr. Brown questions the district court's belief that would-be white-collar criminals engage in cost-benefit analyses in deciding whether to engage in illicit activities. He further questions the court's application of this principle to the health-care context, specifically that, given the low probability of getting caught, a serious penalty was necessary to deter others from engaging in this kind of crime. We previously have endorsed the idea that white-collar criminals act rationally, calculating and comparing the risks and the rewards before deciding whether to engage in criminal activity. United States v. Warner, 792 F.3d 847, 86061 (7th Cir. 2015). They are, therefore, prime candidates for general deterrence. Id. at 860 (quoting United States v. Peppel, 707 F.3d 627, 637 (6th Cir. 2013)). Our approach comports with that of our sister circuits. See United States v. Musgrave, 761 F.3d 602, 609 (6th Cir. 2014) (Because economic and fraud-based crimes are more rational, cool, and calculated than sudden crimes of passion or opportunity, these crimes are prime candidates for general deterrence. (quoting Peppel, 707 F.3d at 637)); United States v. Martin, 455 F.3d 1227, 1240 (11th Cir. 2006) (using language identical to that in Musgrave); cf. United States v. Goffer, 721 F.3d 113, 132 (2d Cir. 2013) (noting that high sentences were necessary to alter the calculus that insider trading was a game worth playing ). The district court, therefore, did not err in relying on such a widely accepted principle. The district court was entitled to conclude that, given that health-care fraud is widespread and that therefore there is a lower likelihood of getting caught, a serious penalty was necessary to ensure deterrence. At sentencing, the Government specifically brought to the district court's attention that the Medicare program has imposed a moratorium on additional companies joining the program to provide home healthcare services because it isthe fraud in the area is so prevalent. Mr. Brown did not dispute this assertion, either by way of argument or contrary evidence. Indeed, in his brief to this court he acknowledges that white collar crimes such as health care fraud, public corruption, and the like, seem to continue unabated. Mr. Brown also submits, however, that [s]ome press re-leases and news articles leading up to Brown's September 2015 sentencing hearing include rather dramatic statistics about the success of intensified law enforcement efforts in the area of Medicare fraud. Given these increased efforts and the publicity they received, Mr. Brown suggests that it is difficult to understand how the district court could have so heartily agreed with the proposition that white-collar offenders in Brown's field are less likely to get caught. Mr. Brown never invited the district court's attention to these press re-leases and articles. Therefore, we can hardly fault the court for not considering them. [S]entencing judges cannot be expected to rely on evidence not before them. United States v. Reibel, 688 F.3d 868, 872 (7th Cir. 2012). Moreover, even if this material had been presented to the district court, it would not have required the court to alter its conclusion that those who engage in Medicare fraud have a low likelihood of getting caught. In determining the importance of deterrence in crafting a sentence, the sentencing court must answer the situation from the perspective of the prospective offender. From that perspective, the likelihood of getting caught depends not simply on the amount of resources that the Government expends on a particular type of crime, but the frequency with which the particular crime is committed and the ease with which it can be committed and go undetected. Indeed, Mr. Brown observed in his brief that health care fraud seem[s] to continue unabated. The vast size and complexity of the Medicare program makes fraud detection especially difficult. Indeed, the unique problems faced in detecting fraud in the home-health-care industry prompted the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to extend its moratorium on new home-health-care agencies in Chicagoa fact specifically brought to the district court's attention. In short, because of the magnitude of the Medicare program, an increase in resources would not necessarily result in a potential offender determining that there is a meaningful increase in the likelihood of detection. The district court did not err, therefore, in resting its conclusion about the need for general deterrence on the basis that there was a low likelihood of getting caught for Medicare fraud. Mr. Brown maintains, however, that his case is indistinguishable from United States v. England, 555 F.3d 616 (7th Cir. 2009), and other cases in which we have found error because the district court based the sentence on unfounded assumptions. In England, the defendant, while incarcerated, threatened witnesses over the telephone and later was convicted of threatening force against a witness, his brother-in-law. At sentencing, the court articulated the belief that, had the defendant been out on bond, he would have armed himself and used what degree of force was necessary to get them to drop the charges against him. Id. at 62021 (internal quotation marks omitted). The district court, therefore, determined that the appropriate guideline was 2A2.1, Assault with Intent to Commit Murder; Attempted Murder, and that the nature of the offense warranted a sentence within the attempted-murder guideline range. Id. at 61819. On appeal, we evaluated whether the district court's findings were sufficiently based on reliable evidence to satisfy due process, or if they amount[ed] to speculation, albeit informed, that f[ell] short of satisfying due process requirements. Id. at 622 (quoting United States v. Santiago, 495 F.3d 820, 824 (7th Cir. 2007)). We explained that [t]he preponderance of the evidence standard satisfies due process in a case, such as this one, where the district court sentences a defendant based on the guideline for a crime the court believes the defendant would have committed if out of prison on bond. Simply put, the question here is whether a preponderance of the evidence supports the court's belief that the defendant would have committed the crime. Adhering to such a standard operates to preclude a sentencing court from sentencing defendants for crimes not sufficiently supported by reliable evidence. Id. In England, we were unable to conclude that a preponderance of the evidence buttresse[d] the court's belief that England would have committed the crime of attempted murder because all of the defendant's family, including the threatened witness, testified that they did not feel threatened by England's statements but that England was merely blowing off steam in issuing threats. Id. at 623. [B]ecause the evidence appear[ed] at least in equipoise, the preponderance of the evidence standard was not met. Id. Mr. Brown's situation stands in stark contrast to the defendant in England. In England, the district court drew conclusions about England's individual conduct, which were not supported by a preponderance of the evidence, to determine England's presumptive guideline range and then sentenced England within that range. Here, however, the factual foundations for the district court's guideline calculation are sound. Moreover, the district court's statements regarding white-collar crime and the prevalence of Medicare fraud are not unfounded assumptions but are grounded in case law, in the record, and in common sense. Here, Mr. Brown faults the district court for not addressing and accepting his policy argument, based on penological studies, that it is the certainty of conviction rather than the length of sentence that serves to deter. In the district court, the only mention of these studies was at the sentencing hearing. Defense counsel stated: I'll just note briefly that the statute only requires adequate deterrence, not maximal deterrence with the sentence the Court imposes. And I would also add that studies have shown that it's really the certainty of punishment that drives people more in terms of deterrence than the actual severity or even the swiftness of the imposition of punishment.[33] For these reasons, counsel urged, even a modest prison term for Mr. Brown could send that adequate message to society that law enforcement can and will investigate you for Medicare fraud. The district court did not have before it any specific studies. Indeed, Mr. Brown did not bring specific studies to this court's attention until his reply brief. There is no question that, from a procedural perspective, the district court addressed and rejected this argument. In its statement of reasons, the court stated that it agree[d] with [Government counsel] that people in the healthcare field engage in a cost/benefit analysis. And the benefit is the benefit if you don't get caught, and the cost is the probability of getting caught multiplied by the sanction. The district court was under no obligation to accept or to comment further on Mr. Brown's deterrence argument. In United States v. Schmitz, 717 F.3d 536, 542 (7th Cir. 2013), the defendant pleaded guilty to mail fraud, and the resulting guidelines sentence was 87 to 108 months. Before the district court, the defendant argued that the recently increased penalties for fraud offenses represented a departure from the philosophy animating the original version of the Guidelines, namely that a short but definite period of incarceration would suffice as a deterrent to most white collar offenders. Id. at 539. The district court, without explicitly addressing this argument, sentenced Schmitz to a term of eighty-four months. On appeal, we determined that Schmitz's argument was not one addressed to his own characteristics and circumstances, but was a categorical challenge to the validity of the fraud guideline, on the ground that the severity of sentences called for by the current incarnation of that guideline is unsupported by any empirical data demonstrating the need for longer sentences. Id. at 542. Because it was a blanket challenge to the guideline rather than one tailored to [the defendant's] unique characteristics and circumstances, it [wa]s not one that the district judge [had to] explicitly address. Id. Moreover, the district court was perfectly entitled to accept the penal philosophy embodied in the current fraud guideline and was not obligated to explain why [it] chose to do so. Id.; see also United States v. Hancock, 825 F.3d 340, 344 (7th Cir. 2016) (quoting Schmitz for the proposition that a district court need not address Hancock's policy argument that the Guidelines' offense-level increases for receipt, transport, possession, or distribution of child-pornography, fit poorly with modern practical realities and specifically reiterating that the district judge was perfectly entitled to accept the penal philosophy embodied in the current [child-pornography] guideline (alteration in original)). Like the district courts in Schmitz and Hancock, here the district court was perfectly entitled to accept the penal philosophy embodied in the Guidelines that societal goals are served by increasing fraud sentences to reflect the amount of loss, as opposed to imposing only nominal sentences. We find no substantive or procedural error in the district court's imposition of sentence on Mr. Brown. B. We turn now to Ms. Talaga's sentence. She takes issue with one of the factual bases on which the court's calculation of loss rests. Specifically, she claims that the district court's calculation of loss should not include amounts for claims dating back to 2007 because the Government did not prove that she was aware at that time that the claims were fraudulent. We review the district court's determination of loss for clear error, see United States v. Diamond, 378 F.3d 720, 726 (7th Cir. 2004), and will reverse the district court only if we are left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake was made, United States v. Bryant, 557 F.3d 489, 497 (7th Cir. 2009) (internal quotation marks omitted). The record supports the district court's conclusion that, in 2007, Ms. Talaga would have known that her submissions were fraudulent. Before the district court, Ms. Talaga argued that she had training in Medicare billing and was intimately familiar with the billing procedures of the medical practice. She also submitted documentation of her successful completion of a course at Triton Junior College on Medical Billing that was all about Medicare and medical billing problems. Consequently, she maintained that her intended loss should be based on what Medicare actually paid, not what was billed, because she knew that Medicall would not have obtained the full $4M+ that [it] fraudulently billed. The district court accepted this argument to reduce Ms. Talaga's amount of loss to $3.262 million. This same evidence supports the district court's conclusion that Ms. Talaga would have recognized from the outset that there was a problem with billing every patient for Care Plan Oversight, that the numbers of hours for Care Plan Oversight could not be reconciled with the number of hours that the physicians spent performing other services, and that there was a lack of documentation to support the claims she was submitting. Having convinced the district court of her expertise, Ms. Talaga now tries to discount the training she received. As we already have noted, however, in addition to her formal education, Ms. Talaga was an experienced Medicare biller when she arrived at Medicall. There was testimony that she performed her work quickly, that she knew how to re-code rejected claims so that they would be paid, and that she trained other staff. The district court reasonably concluded that, based on Ms. Talaga's training and experience, she would have recognized, based on the sheer volume of claims for Care Plan Oversight (totaling up to three weeks per month of Dr. Lucero's time), that these claims were fraudulent. Ms. Talaga also submits that other evidence in the record undermines the court's conclusion that she would have recognized the fraud. Ms. Talaga points to the testimony of another Medicall biller, Arian Shogren, who stated that she initially believed that all patients actually were receiving Care Plan Oversight. However, Shogren did not have experience with Medicare billing before she began working at Medicall. Indeed, when she began working at Medicall, she was a technician who did scheduling, took vitals, and kept track of patients' medications. Later, she performed some billing after receiving training from Ms. Talaga. Consequently, the fact that she did not immediately recognize the fraud does not suggest that Ms. Talaga, an experienced biller, also failed to do so. Second, Ms. Talaga observes that one Government witness, Kelly Hartung, gave conflicting definitions of Care Plan Oversight. In her view, because the Government's own witness could not articulate consistently a definition for Care Plan Oversight, it is unrealistic to expect that she would have been able to recognize that the bills for Care Plan Oversight were fraudulent. However, the fact that Hartung had difficulty articulating the definition of Care Plan Oversight during cross-examination does not negate the fact that Ms. Talaga, as a trained Medicare biller, knew when it was appropriate to bill for Care Plan Oversight and knew that Care Plan Oversight billsin such a high volume that they represented the bulk of Dr. Lucero's timewere fraudulent. Ms. Talaga has not established that the district court committed clear error in holding her responsible for fraudulent claims from the beginning of her tenure with Medicall. We therefore affirm her sentence. Conclusion For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the district court's judgments with respect to the sentences of Mr. Brown and Ms. Talaga. AFFIRMED FOOTNOTES . R.386 (1:13-cr-00854-1) at 95. . Id. at 100. . Id. at 95. . Id. at 100. . Id. . Id. at 101. . Id. . Id. at 10506. . R.242 (1:13-cr-00854-3) at 1. . Id. (quoting U.S.S.G. 2B1.1 cmt. n.3(F)(viii)). . Id. at 34 (footnotes omitted). . See id. at 6. . Id. (footnote omitted). . See R.387 (1:13-cr-00854-3) at 3435. . See id. at 29. . See id. . R.386 (1:13-cr-00854-1) at 103. . See id. at 10506. . Appellant Brown's Br. 35. . R.386 (1:13-cr-00854-1) at 100 (observing that Medicare fraud unfortunately is widespread in this country and that those who are in the medical field and who are tempted to engage in fraud must know that the penalties are severe, particularly given the low likelihood of getting caught). . Id. at 105 ([M]en and women who are businesspeople, they engage in a cost/benefit analysis. And the benefit is the benefit if you don't get caught, and the cost is the probability of getting caught multiplied by the sanction.). . Id. at 71. . Indeed, any such argument by Mr. Brown would have been unfounded because the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services did extend its moratorium on new home health agencies in Chicago, among other metropolitan areas, based on the significant potential for fraud, waste, or abuse. Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Programs: Announcement of the Extension of Temporary Moratoria on Enrollment of Part B Non-Emergency Ground Ambulance Suppliers and Home Health Agencies in Designated Geographic Locations, 82 Fed. Reg. 2363 (Jan. 9, 2017). . Appellant Brown's Br. 41. . Id. at 3738. . Id. at 39. . R.386 (1:13-cr-00854-1) at 100. . Appellant Brown's Br. 41. . The Government Accountability Office continues to designate Medicare as a high-risk program due to its size, complexity, and susceptibility to mismanagement and improper payments. Gov't Accountability Office, High Risk Series 520 (2017), https://www.gao.gov/assets/690/682765.pdf; see also United States v. Kuhlman, 711 F.3d 1321, 1328 (11th Cir. 2013) (observing that deterrence is an important factor in the sentencing calculus because health care fraud is so rampant that the government lacks the resources to reach it all). . See R.386 (1:13-cr-00854-1) at 71. . The other cases on which Mr. Brown relies are equally unhelpful. In United States v. Halliday, 672 F.3d 462 (7th Cir. 2012), the district court, in reviewing 3553(a) factors, stated that Halliday believed [child pornography] was victimless' and that he did not believe any of this is criminal. Id. at 474. However, there was no evidence in the record for the court's conclusions; the statements about Halliday's belief that the crimes at issue were victimless' were pure speculation. Id. at 475. Here, the court's statement about the low likelihood of being caught for health-care fraud is grounded in the fact that Medicare fraud, and specifically home-health-care fraud, is prevalent, a fact that explicitly was raised during sentencing.Similarly in United States v. Bradley, 628 F.3d 394, 395 (7th Cir. 2010), the district court imposed a sentence that was 169 months above the guidelines range. The district court believed a severe penalty was necessary because, according to the court, the defendant had a long, undiscovered history of engaging in sexual activity with minors. However, there was no evidence in the record that the defendant had engaged in sexual activity with any minor except for the victim. In reviewing the sentence, we observed that the district court had made a questionable prediction about future conduct based on rank speculation about other, multiple in-stances of deviant behavior. Id. at 401. Here, the court did not engage in any speculation about the defendant's past or future conduct, and speculation was not used to justify an above-guidelines sentence. Cf. United States v. Martin, 718 F.3d 684, 688 (7th Cir. 2013) (noting that, although we have held that a district court's unfounded speculation that sex offenders are not deterrable may necessitate remand, we have done so only where the court imposed an above-guidelines sentence for purposes of deterrence (citation omitted)). . Brown's Reply Br. 3. . R.386 (1:13-cr-00854-1) at 61. . Id. . See Brown's Reply Br. 34. . R.386 (1:13-cr-00854-1) at 105. . R.242 (1:13-cr-00854-3) at 3 (internal quotation marks omitted). . Id. at 34 (internal quotation marks omitted). . Id. at 1. . See R.387 (1:13-cr-00854-3) at 29. . See R.374 (1:13-cr-00854-3) at 100 (Trial Tr. 346). . See R.265 (1:13-cr-00854-3) at 9 (citing Gov't Trial Ex. 7-S). . See R.375 (1:13-cr-00854-3) at 67 (Trial Tr. 40203). . Id. at 910 (Trial Tr. 40506). . Appellant Talaga's Br. 1011. . See R.373 (1:13-cr-00854-3) at 4049 (Trial Tr. 12736). Ripple, Circuit Judge. The Democrats want a shutdown of the federal government to diminish the "great success" of tax cuts and the booming economy, said US President after his meeting with top Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer failed to reach a deal with the Opposition over spending. Trump said that chances were "not looking good" that talks in Congress would break an impasse over spending and avert a US government shutdown. "Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy," Trump said in a tweet late last night. "Not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the very dangerous Southern Border," Trump said in an indication of the consequences of a government shutdown. Trump's tweet was an indication of the inability of the Republicans and the Democrats to arrive at an agreement to fund the government expenses for a short period of one month. The House of Representatives has already passed it, but it is facing a major hurdle in the Senate, where the Republicans needs at least 60 votes against 51 in its kitty, thus requiring the support of at least nine Democratic Senators. Earlier, Trump held a last-minute meeting with Schumer to avert a government shutdown due to lack of funds. The meeting was held at the request of Trump as part of his efforts to reach a deal with Democrats on at least a short-term extension of government funding, which needs Congressional approval and the current authorisation ends today. "We had a long and detailed meeting. We discussed all of the major outstanding issues, we made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements. The discussions will continue," Senate Minority Leader Schumer said soon after his meeting with Trump at the White House. In the absence of such an authorisation, functioning of the federal government would come to a standstill, with hundreds and thousands of its employees forced to stop work. The last time that a government shutdown happened was in 2013. It was for more than a fortnight. At the Capitol, the Democratic Senators told reporters that the President asked Schumer to work with the Republican Congressional leadership to sort out their differences. "The president told him to go back and talk to (House) Paul Ryan and (Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell and work it out," Senator John Cornyn told reporters. Trump, who was scheduled to fly down to Florida to spend his weekend in Mar-a-Lago, postponed his visit in view of an imminent government shutdown. Earlier in the day, Director of Office of Management of Budget Mick Mulvaney told reporters that efforts are being made to have the government shutdown less impactful than it was in 2013. "We're going to manage the shutdown differently. We are not going to weaponise it. We're not going to try and hurt people, especially people having to work for this federal government. But we still need Congress to appropriate the funds," he said. Giving an insight into the planning purpose, Mulvaney said the military will still go to work; the border will still be patrolled; fire folks will still be fighting the fires; and the parks will be open. But in each of these cases people will not be paid. Fanny and Freddy will be open, the post office will be open, the Transportation Security Administration will be open, but again all of these people will be working for nothing, which is simply not fair, he said. Notably the House of Representative has already approved a short-term extension of government funding for about a month, but the legislation is now stuck in the Senate. Mulvaney slammed the Democrats. "The president stands ready to sign that bill to keep the government functioning and afloat. It appears, unfortunately, that Senate Democrats are entrenched in forcing a shutdown. I think there is obviously a lot of hypocrisy in this town. I think there's some ironies to point out," he said. French President has suggested that Britain is likely to negotiate a unique relationship with the European Union before it leaves the bloc next year, while stressing that any agreement must be consistent with EU rules. In remarks released today, Macron told the BBC's Andrew Marr television programme that Britain cannot maintain its full access to the EU's single market if it doesn't accept the bloc's founding principles, including the free movement of people and the jurisdiction of EU courts. "This special way should be consistent with the preservation of the single market and our collective interests," he said. "And you should understand that you cannot, by definition, have the full access to the single market if you don't tick the box." That means Britain must continue to contribute to the EU budget and accept the four freedoms guaranteed by the bloc "free movement of people, goods, services and capital" if it wants to maintain full access to the single market, Macron said. The full interview will be broadcast tomorrow. The comments undermine the position of some Brexit supporters who want to regain control of the UK's borders and shun the oversight of European courts while retaining access to the single market. It will also dash the hopes of some in Britain who thought Macron might be more flexible than German Chancellor Angela Merkel in negotiating a deal. Macron's influence within the EU is on the rise as Merkel's position weakens following an election in September that eroded her power base. Merkel has still not been able to cobble together a coalition government even after months of talks with other political parties. Macron's comments echo those he made during a meeting Thursday in which he and British Prime Minister Theresa May pledged closer cooperation on defense and border security after Britain leaves the EU in March 2019. Macron said the UK's financial services industry can't keep its coveted access to the EU market unless the country continues playing by EU rules. "As soon as you decide not to join these preconditions, it's not a full access," Macron told the BBC. "What's important is not to make people think, or believe, that it's possible to have" your cake and eat it, he said, accepting Marr's suggestion for the last five words. US Vice President set off for the West Asia for a trip overshadowed by controversy over plans to move the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Pence had been due to travel in December last year, but Arab anger over President Donald Trump's decision to declare Jerusalem Israel's capital saw many planned meetings cancelled. The deadly protests that erupted at the time have subsided, but Pence may still face a cold welcome in some capitals and concern over the fate of the UN aid agency for Palestinians (UNRWA). Washington has delayed a USD 65 million funding package for the cash-strapped body, putting at risk operations to feed, teach and heal thousands of Palestinian refugees. The Palestinian leadership, already stunned and furious over the Jerusalem decision, has denounced the US administration and had already refused to meet Pence during his planned December trip. But Pence's press secretary, Alyssa Farah, said the vice president would still meet the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and Israel on the high-stakes four-day tour. Pence will arrive in Cairo today for a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, heading the following day to Amman for a one-on-one with King Abdullah II. Both these leaders, whose countries have peace deals and diplomatic ties with Israel, would be key players if US mediators ever manage to get a revived Israeli-Palestinian peace process off the ground, as Trump wants. They are also key intelligence-sharing and security partners in America's various covert and overt battles against Islamist extremism in the region and Egypt is a major recipient of aid to help it buy advanced US military hardware. On Monday, he will begin a two-day visit to Israel, where he will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin and deliver a speech to the Knesset. He can expect a warm welcome from local politicians after Trump's decision on Jerusalem, which Israelis and Palestinians alike interpreted as Washington taking Israel's side in the dispute over the city. To the envy of plane-weary travelers everywhere, passengers aboard a flight from New York to London on January 15 were treated to a pleasant surprise: They arrived 53 minutes ahead of schedule, making theirs the fastest transatlantic flight ever recorded on a subsonic commercial aircraft. The final flight time: five hours and 13 minutes. There may be no airliner as recognisable as the Boeing 747, the world's first jumbo jet, with its iconic hump of an upper deck. For aviation fans, the introduction of the Queen of the Skies" was a triumph of engineering and grace: unprecedented size and speed with spiral-staircase glamour. Among the yak herds and Tibetan Buddhism prayer flags dotting the windswept highlands of northwestern China stand the ruins of a remote, hidden city that vanished from the maps in 1958. Defence Secretary Jim Mattison Friday said that America is facing "growing threats" from China and Russia, and warned that the US military's advantages have eroded in recent years. Mattis's assessment came as he unveiled the Pentagon's vision for the future detailed in a document called the national defence strategy. "We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia, nations that seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models," Mattis said as he unveiled the unclassified section of the document. "Our military is still strong, yet our competitive edge has eroded in every domain of warfare -- air, land, sea, space and cyberspace -- and is continually eroding," he added. President Donald Trump and his administration worry that the vast US military force is feeling the effects of years of budget shortfalls and atrophy, and needs a full reboot to restore it to an idealized strength. Part wish list, part blueprint for the coming years, the Pentagon's national defense strategy seeks to increase the size of the military, improve its readiness and work with allies -- all while operating across multiple theaters including in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. "This strategy establishes my intent to pursue urgent change at significant scale," Mattis wrote in the introduction to the strategy. "We must use creative approaches, make sustained investment and be disciplined in execution to field a Joint Force fit for our time, one that competes, deters and wins in this increasingly complex security environment." Elbridge Colby, deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, told reporters that Mattis's strategy seeks to deal with the "erosion" of America's military advantage. "What it is recognizing is that China and Russia in particular have been assiduously working over a number of years to develop their military capabilities to challenge our military advantages," he said. The new defense strategy follows on from Trump's national security strategy that he released last month which, similarly, highlights the role of China and Russia in the global security environment. "China is a strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South China Sea," Mattis wrote. "Russia has violated the borders of nearby nations and pursues veto power over the economic, diplomatic and security decisions of its neighbors," he added, while also pointing a finger at Iran and North Korea for their threats to peace. The two countries reacted furiously to Trump's security strategy, with Beijing accusing Washington of having a "Cold War mentality" while Moscow denounced its "imperialist character." Trump's security strategy contrasts with the friendly nature of his first state visit to Beijing in November, when he received a lavish welcome and repeatedly praised President Xi Jinping. One of the biggest criticisms inside the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill is that the US military is suffering from a lack of readiness, where troops and gear are not getting the training or maintenance they need. Mattis said the United States must be ready to fight a war. "The surest way to prevent war is to be prepared to win one," he said. "Doing so requires a competitive approach to force development and a consistent, multiyear investment to restore war fighting readiness and field a lethal force." Mattis's strategy also calls for greater coordination with allies, who Trump on the campaign trail lambasted for not doing enough to share the burden of defending the post-World War II order. "We expect European allies to fulfill their commitments to increase defense and modernization spending to bolster the alliance in the face of our shared security concerns," Mattis said, in reference to NATO countries paying more into their defense budgets. The document makes no mention of climate change, which under former president Barack Obama was recognized as a national security threat. Trump has claimed climate change is a hoax and pulled the US out of the historic climate accords in Paris. The US Supreme Court has said it will review President Donald Trump's latest travel ban affecting citizens from six Muslim majority countries plus North Korea and Venezuela. In what could prove decisive in a legal battle that has roiled the first year of the Trump administration, the high court will rule on whether the president exceeded his powers and engaged in religious discrimination in the third rendering of the ban. Lower courts in California, Hawaii and other states have repeatedly ruled that Trump's order targets Muslims in violation of the US Constitution. "We have always known this case would ultimately be decided by the United States Supreme Court," said state Attorney General Doug Chin of Hawaii, which has repeatedly fought the travel bans. "This will be an important day for justice and the rule of law. We look forward to the Court hearing the case." The conservative-tilting court last month rejected calls for a freeze on the ban, which targets visitors from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, allowing Trump to implement it while it was being challenged in lower courts. The US administration has rewritten the ban twice, adding more national security justifications in the latest iteration in September and including citizens of North Korea and Venezuela to counter the argument the government was singling out Muslim countries. Trump's initial travel ban, decreed a week after he took office, triggered chaos out at US airports, with travelers detained upon arrival, and nationwide protests against a measure seen as discriminatory -- though Trump said it aimed to keep out extremists. Court challenges have seized upon Trump's repeated comments against Muslims, starting with his campaign vow to ban them from entering the country, to make the case that they were the intended target. The first ban was quickly blocked in court, as was a modified version removing Iraq from the list of countries. Regarding the third version, critics noted that the United States welcomed no more than a handful of annual visitors from North Korea, and in Venezuela's case, the ban was made specific to a number of high-ranking officials in a government already facing US sanctions. One key difference in the latest version of the ban was that it was open-ended, whereas the previous two versions were set for 90 days, ostensibly for the government to review security threats from the countries. The Supreme Court will review those arguments, but also whether Trump has the executive power to order such a ban. "Every version of the ban has been found unconstitutional, illegal, or both by federal trial and appellate courts," said Omar Jadwat, director of the Immigrants' Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, which has supported Hawaii in its court challenge. "The Supreme Court can and should put a definitive end to President Trump's attempt to undermine the constitutional guarantee of religious equality and the basic principles of our immigration laws, including their prohibition of national origin discrimination," Jadwat said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday expressed grief over the death of 17 people in a fire incident at Bawana Industrial Area in the outskirts of Delhi. Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister Modi said, "Deeply anguished by the fire at a factory in Bawana. My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives. May those who are injured recover quickly." Three fire incidents were reported from the Bawana area today, and in two of those, there have been no reports of any casualty so far. Delhi Fire Services Director G.C. Mishra told ANI, "We received 3 calls from Bawana - a plastic factory in Sector 1, a cracker storage in Sector 5 and a furnace oil storage in Sector 3. All casualties are from Sector 5 fire. Fire is completely under control now. We have recovered 17 bodies so far. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Afghanistan's Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Saturday said at least 18 militants were killed during the operations of armed forces in the country's northern Kunduz province. According to the Khaama Press, the operations were carried out in coordination with the Afghan Air Force in Chahar Dara district. Five militants were also injured and three others were arrested, the statement said. During the operation, a vehicle and some weapons belonging to the militants were also destroyed. Earlier this week, 76 Taliban militants were killed in a five-day military operation in the same province. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit. Aror Ark O'DIAH, Plaintiff-Appellant v. UNITED STATES, Defendant-Appellee Aror Ark O'Diah, Plaintiff-Appellant v. United States, Defendant-Appellee 2017-1227, 2017-1534, 2017-2211 Decided: January 16, 2018 Before Newman, Dyk, and Chen, Circuit Judges. Aror Ark O'Diah, Brooklyn, NY, pro se. Kelly A. Krystyniak, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for defendant-appellee. Also represented by Chad A. Readler, Robert E. Kirschman, Jr., Brian A. Mizoguchi. Aror Ark O'Diah appeals from a judgment of the Court of Federal Claims (Claims Court) dismissing his complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. (Nos. 2017-1227 and 2017-1534. ) He also appeals a subsequent order of the Claims Court prohibiting him from filing any additional complaints without first seeking leave to do so from that court's Chief Judge. (No. 2017-2211.) We affirm. Background This is the fourth Claims Court action filed by Mr. O'Diah making largely the same allegations of conspiracy and malfeasance by a variety of state and federal officials and private entities. His first three actions were consolidated and dismissed by the Claims Court, which found that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over most of Mr. O'Diahs claims and that his remaining allegations failed to state a plausible claim for relief. O'Diah v. United States, Nos. 15-332C, -400C, -1000C, 2016 WL 1019251, at *24 (Fed. Cl. Mar. 14, 2016). We dismissed Mr. O'Diahs appeal in those consolidated actions as untimely because his notice of appeal was received by the Claims Court three days after the deadline. O'Diah v. United States, No. 2016-2098, slip op. at 12 (Fed. Cir. July 8, 2016) (per curiam). After Mr. O'Diah filed this fourth action in the Claims Court, the court again determined that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. O'Diah v. United States, No. 16-931C, 2016 WL 6560393, at *23 (Fed. Cl. Nov. 3, 2016). A month later, Mr. O'Diah submitted yet another complaint based on roughly the same set of allegations, and the Claims Court ordered him to show cause why he should not be prohibited from filing future complaints without leave of the court. Mr. O'Diahs response to the show-cause order merely repeated the allegations in his complaints, and the Claims Court proceeded to enjoin Mr. O'Diah from making any additional filings in the Claims Court without first obtaining leave to do so from the Chief Judge of that court. Mr. O'Diah timely appealed from the dismissal of his fourth complaint and the injunction against further filings. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1295(a)(3). Discussion We review de novo a decision by the Claims Court to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Petro-Hunt, L.L.C. v. United States, 862 F.3d 1370, 1378 (Fed. Cir. 2017). The Tucker Act defines the scope of the Claims Court's jurisdiction. 28 U.S.C. 1491. The Tucker Act waives sovereign immunity for and provides Claims Court jurisdiction over any claim against the United States founded either upon the Constitution, or any Act of Congress or any regulation of an executive department, or upon any express or implied contract with the United States, or for liquidated or unliquidated damages in cases not sounding in tort. Id. 1491(a)(1). Mr. O'Diahs complaint contains a multitude of allegations concerning officials and agencies at all levels of government, including several state and federal judges, as well as a number of corporations and private individuals. He alleges malicious prosecutions, unjust convictions, imprisonments, bodily injuries[,] seizures of properties, [and] breaches of implied contract. Compl. 1. As examples of these misdeeds, Mr. O'Diah alleges undelivered and confiscated mail, misrepresented child-support obligations, several physical assaults, exposure to a radioactive substance, discrimination by government agencies on the basis of national origin, and an attempt by a federal judge to have Mr. O'Diah kidnapped or murdered. He also alleges physical injuries and deprivations of rights appearing to stem from time he spent in state custody in New York, as well as the unlawful seizure of his personal property and assets by New York state officials. The Claims Court only has jurisdiction to hear claims against the United States. United States v. Sherwood, 312 U.S. 584, 588, 61 S.Ct. 767, 85 L.Ed. 1058 (1941). To the extent that Mr. O'Diahs complaint seeks relief against defendants other than the United States, including state or local entities and private individuals and corporations, the Claims Court correctly dismissed those claims for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. See id. So far as Mr. O'Diah claims that federal officials conspired to effectuate the harms he attributes to state-level officials, such as the taking of his property and assets, these claims are unsupported by sufficient factual allegations to state a plausible claim for relief. They amount, at most, to bare assertion[s] and legal conclusion[s], which on their own are insufficient to withstand a motion to dismiss. Todd Constr., L.P. v. United States, 656 F.3d 1306, 1316 (Fed. Cir. 2011) (citing Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 67780, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009)). The other allegations with respect to the United States governmentsuch as fraud and the deprivation of civil rightssound in tort, and the Claims Court properly dismissed each of these claims as falling outside of its limited jurisdiction. See, e.g., United States Marine, Inc. v. United States, 722 F.3d 1360, 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2013). The mishandling of mail, a new allegation in this version of Mr. O'Diahs complaint, also sounds in tort and falls outside of the Claims Court's jurisdiction. See, e.g., Webber v. United States, 231 Ct. Cl. 1009, 1009 (1982) (per curiam). The Claims Court also lacks jurisdiction to review actions taken by other federal courts in Mr. O'Diahs other lawsuits. E.g., Harris v. United States, 868 F.3d 1376, 1381 (Fed. Cir. 2017) (per curiam). Although Mr. O'Diah refers to breach of contract in his complaint, nowhere does he allege facts suggesting that he has entered into any contract, express or implied, with the federal government. In short, Mr. O'Diahs complaint asserts no claims falling within the Claims Court's subject-matter jurisdiction. The Claims Court correctly determined that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over Mr. O'Diahs claims. Finally, we review the Claim Court's imposition of a sanction on Mr. O'Diah for abuse of discretion. 1-10 Indus. Assocs., LLC v. United States, 528 F.3d 859, 867 (Fed. Cir. 2008). [C]ourts are particularly cautious about imposing sanctions on a pro se litigant, whose improper conduct may be attributed to ignorance of the law and proper procedures. Finch v. Hughes Aircraft Co., 926 F.2d 1574, 1582 (Fed. Cir. 1991). Nevertheless, we have previously imposed anti-filing sanctions where a pro se litigant has engaged in repeated and frivolous lawsuits. Bergman v. Dep't of Commerce, 3 F.3d 432, 435 (Fed. Cir. 1993); see also In re Powell, 851 F.2d 427, 43031 (D.C. Cir. 1988) (per curiam) (discussing anti-filing injunctions). In this case, the Claims Court reviewed the record and procedural history before imposing a sanction, including Mr. O'Diahs repeated, duplicative filings in that court and elsewhere. The Claims Court was well within its discretion when it ordered the anti-filing sanction in light of Mr. O'Diahs prior filings. Such an injunction will protect judicial resources while ensuring that the courthouse doors are open to Mr. O'Diah should he one day seek to assert other claims that do fall within the Claims Court's jurisdiction. AFFIRMED Costs No costs. FOOTNOTES . Mr. O'Diah filed two notices of appeal related to the dismissal of his complaint: one following the Claims Court's initial dismissal (No. 2017-1227) and another after it denied reconsideration (No. 2017-1534). Per Curiam. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Saturday nabbed two passengers carrying 14 gold bars weighing about 2,365 grams worth approximately Rs 70 lakh at Jorhat Airport. Both the passengers, who concealed the gold bars in their rectums, were identified as Surinder Singh and Pawan Chouhan, who were travelling to Delhi by flight No. 9W-904. The passengers along-with recovered gold bars were handed over to the Customs Officials, Jorhat Airport for further legal action. According to CISF officials, "During pre-embarkation security check at Security Hold Area (SHA), they noticed presences of some metal in the body (rectum area) of two passengers. On suspicion, both were taken for thorough checking at a separate place". "During the inquiry, they revealed that they were carrying gold bars wrapped in balloons inside their rectums. On checking, 14 gold bars, weighing about 2,365 gms were recovered from their possession", the officials added. A case has been registered against the two and an investigation in on. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Foorty bureaucrats were honoured today with Kalam Innovations in Governance Awards (KIGA) for the year 2017-2018. Minister of State for Textiles Ajay Tamta and former Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha Desh Deepak Verma felicitated the awardees. Srijan Pal Singh, Summit Convener and CEO of Dr. A.P. J. Abdul Kalam Centre, said, "The idea of the Dr. Kalam Innovation in Governance Awards is to create agile governance which could define the mega trends of the 21st century India. This will be multi-sectorial and people-centric so that India can not only be an economic superpower but also a socially inclusive and sustainable society." The summit is dedicated to this vision and mission of Dr. Kalam. The summit was attended by 300 officers of various services, civil services society and selected meritorious students from all over India. It is a platform to showcase, ideate, develop and award innovations in various aspects of governance, including education, healthcare, security, public service delivery, environment, technology, distress management, energy and fundamental human rights. Anuradha Mall, CEO of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was awarded for her contribution to women empowerment. Manisha Chandra, Director of Women and Children Development Department in Gujarat was also awarded. Avantika Singh, an official in the administrative department of the Gujarat government was also a recipient. Anuj Dayal , Executive Director (Corporation Communications), DMRC was given the award for his constant efforts to build and sustain the DMRC brand both nationally and internationally. Kundan Kumar, District Collector of Banka (Bihar), was awarded for his project "Jal Sanchay" which focuses on water conservation in Nalanda in Bihar. Tamta said, "I congratulate all the awardees for their exemplary contribution towards the society. Dr Kalam was one person who always thought and did what is best for our nation. We should encourage our youth towards innovation to follow Dr Kalam's ideology. I congratulate Kalam Centre and Srijan Pal for keeping the spirit and ideologies of Dr Kalam. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was not given an opportunity by the Election Commission to explain its stand in the office of profit case. Sisodia said, "There was no hearing, we were not given a chance to explain our stand." He appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind to hear the AAP's views. "We appeal to the President to hear our view too, and (the) MLAs will meet (the) President also." Earlier, the said that the Election Commission (EC) has not followed due process while recommending the disqualification of 20 MLAs from the Delhi Assembly in the office of profit case. Senior leader Sanjay Singh termed the EC's recommendations as 'one-sided' and 'partial'. The ECI on Friday recommended to President Ram Nath Kovind that 20 AAP MLAs should be disqualified from the Delhi Assembly. In cases where petitions are made seeking disqualification of lawmakers, the president sends a reference to the EC which decides on the case by sending back its opinion. In the current scenario, the petition was directed at 21 MLAs, but one MLA, named Jarnail Singh, resigned earlier. He resigned last year, to fight in the Punjab elections against then Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Speaking to ANI, Jarnail Singh said, "I challenge the EC to prove that we got even 1 rupee as salary, or even a house or car. We are ready to go to any court and if there is no option we will go to the people's court." If the president gives his assent, the disqualification of the legislators would pave the way for by-elections in Delhi. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday announced an ex-gratia compensation of Rs. 25 lakh for the family of killed Border Security Force (BSF) Head Constable Jagpal Singh. Singh lost his life in firing from across the border by Pakistan Rangers in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba Sector yesterday. On Friday, an Army soldier, Jagpal Singh and two civilians were killed while 11 others were injured in unprovoked mortar shelling and small arms firing along the International Border and the Line of Control. Following the cross-border firing incident, Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner Syed Haider Shah was summoned by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and conveyed the Indian government's grave concern over continued ceasefire violations and deliberate targeting of innocent civilians by Pakistani forces. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The commencement of preparations for this year's Union Budget has officially begun this morning, with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley performing the traditional 'Halwa Ceremony' at North Block here. Hereafter, finance ministry officials will now spend the next 11 days in the Budget Press office, until the Budget is presented in Parliament on February 1. Around 120 officers and employees will be involved in this budget printing exercise, and will work 24 x 7 in shifts. Around 2500 to 3000 budget copies will be printed this year, down from last year's 13000 copies, and will be administered by the Joint Secretary (Budget). In case of any emergency, the official is required to convey this to the director in-charge, who will then communicate with his/her family, and vice-versa. Furthermore, if an employee has to meet his family in any emergency, he will be accompanied by the Delhi police, Vigilance and IB officials. On the other hand, if any employee is seriously ill or needs urgent medical care, he will be brought to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital here, where a special room has been booked for the same. Here too, officials from the Delhi Police/Vigilance and IB will monitor the employee to make sure no information is leaked on the budget. Additionally, neither the finance minister nor secretary level officer including the finance secretary can go into the budget press without checking. The Joint Secretary, Budget is the only officer who can bring documents inside the budget press and carry them outside. However, under secretary-level officers can move in and out, but after thorough security check. On a related note, the budget will be presented on February 1. The first Budget Session of Parliament will be held from January 29 to February 9, while the second session will be held from March 5 to April 6. This will be the last full-fledged budget that will be presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union Government, and the first post the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will embark on a four-day visit to from January 21, to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) Summit in Davos. During his visit the Andhra Chief Minister will hold 25 bilateral meetings with CEOs of different companies and "Andhra Pradesh has received an invitation specially to attend the Davos World Economic Forum. He is going on January 21 and returning on 25. The focus is to have about 25 bilateral meeting," Andhra Pradesh Government's media advisor Parakala Prabhakar told ANI. "The Chief Minister will sign three MOUs, other than that he is going to speak in three forums in Davos in different sectors like future of food security, agriculture and technology and sustainable agriculture," he added. Naidu is scheduled to return on January 25. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Another civilian was killed on Saturday during a ceasefire violation from across the border in Jammu and Kashmir's R S Pura Sector. Earlier in the day, one civilian was killed and a Border Security Force (BSF) paramilitary soldier was injured. The Pakistan Rangers again resorted to unprovoked firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in the RS Pura and Akhnoor Sectors. The Indian Army is retaliating and cross-border firing is still on as per latest reports. Saturday was the third consecutive day of shelling of civilian areas and border outposts (BoPs) in India by the Pakistan Rangers. On Friday, at least 11 civilians were injured across Jammu and Kashmir in the firing from across the border. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 23-year-old Sepoy was killed in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan rangers in Jammu and Kashmir's Krishna Ghati sector along Line of Control (LoC) today. Sepoy Mandeep Singh belonged to Alampur village in Punjab and is survived by his father Gurnaam Singh. According to an official report, "The Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms and automatics since morning 08:20 am. While the Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively." "However, in the exchange of fire, Sepoy Mandeep Singh was grievously injured and succumbed to his injuries. Mandeep Singh was a brave soldier. The nation will always remain indebted to him for his supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty," statement added. Meanwhile, one civilian was killed and a Border Security Force (BSF) paramilitary soldier was injured. Saturday becomes the third consecutive day of shelling of civilian areas and border outposts (BoPs) in India by the Pakistan Rangers. On Friday, at least 11 civilians were injured across Jammu and Kashmir in the various ceasefires firing from across the border. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The unseeded Indian pair of Leander Paes and Purav Raja bounced back from a set down to book their place in the pre-quarterfinals of the men's doubles event of the Australian Open here on Saturday. After winning the first set, Paes and Raja went down in the second before they rebounded strongly to eventually prevail the English-Brazilian duo of fifth seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares 7-6 (3), 5-7, 7-6 (6) in a clash that lasted two hours and 54 minutes. Despite Paes and Raja struck eight winners less than their opponents' 19, the Indian pair won the first set, which also saw Murray-Soares making five double faults. In the second set, the two teams were more or less evenly matched, but Paes and Raja's failed to convert five break points to lose the set. The match was then forced into a tiebreaker in the third set, where Paes and Raja saved a match point at 5-6 before bringing up one of their own to win the match. The Indian duo will now take on Colombian duo of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah for a place in the quarter-finals. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not only a political party but an ideology, said party President Amit Shah here on Saturday. "Bharatiya Janata Party is not only a political party but an ideology. It is an agitation and under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi it is also a pledge for the making of a new India," Shah said while addressing an occasion held to welcome the new young members of the party. He further said Varanasi was not only the city of Baba Baidyanath, but was also the country's soul and centre of energy. "It is a matter of double pride that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the Member of Parliament from Varanasi," said Shah. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh BJP President Dr. Narendranath Pandey, MLAs of Varanasi district and state BJP office bearers were also present on the occasion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Kummanam Rajasekharan on Saturday urged the Centre to intervene in the matter of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) worker's murder. Speaking to the media here, the BJP leader said, "Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and Popular Front of India (PFI) activists are getting strengthened day by day with the help of Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM). We will take this up at the level and push Centre to interfere in the matter". He added that the Kerala government must take action. Earlier in the day, four Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) activists were arrested by the Kannur Police in connection with the murder of ABVP worker. ABVP activist Shyam Prasad was hacked to death near Kuthuparamba in Kerala's Kannur district yesterday. 24-year-old Prasad, a resident of Peravoor city in Kannur, was a Peravoor Government ITI student who was killed while he was travelling on a bike. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least one person was killed and another injured after their vehicle hit a roadside mine in Paktia province of Afghanistan on Saturday morning. According to the Tolo News, Provincial police chief spokesman Sardar Wali Tabasam has confirmed that the incident took place in Gardez city and said that the investigation into the case is underway. Earlier in October 2017, at least 41 people died and dozens were injured when a suicide car bomber and gunmen attacked a provincial Afghan police training academy. The militants had used a truck and armored vehicle stolen from the security forces to carry out the coordinated attack. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With the Union to be presented in ten days, the Assocham has recommended enhancing the outlay for the education sector, along with greater tax relief for higher education under the Goods and Services Tax (GST). "The Union 2018 would be the first after imposition of GST. A time has come for correcting the distortions which were earlier brought in by repeated amendments in the service tax for education sector. The last amendment brought in March 2017, denying tax relief for listed services for higher educational institutions; needs to be immediately withdrawn and end the untenable discrimination against higher education institutions, '' Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said in a letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The chamber said no clarification was given for the sudden disruption in the age-old parity of higher educational institutions, universities, research institutions all with higher secondary schools in the matter of limited tax exemption made available to primary school upward to higher secondary level. "Educational institutions constitute a composite tree-root, stem, branch, - from primary schools to colleges, professional institutes, universities, research institutions. Together they are all inter-dependant and integrally inter-related for the national education system as a whole. Any distinction to separate the higher education institutions from the building blocks in the pyramid-primarily, middle, secondary and higher secondary schools-would be invidious and untenable," the letter read. The chamber also highlighted that most higher education institutions and numerous private universities which have come up after legislative modifications in the Centre and States in the last decade are facing serious financial problems with their huge capital requirements and non availability of concessional finance. Higher educational institutions have neither the capacity to absorb the new tax burden nor the power to pass on the same by increase in fees to students with external state regulation and risk of agitation in the campus. "From the Kothari Commission to the recent Subramanian Committee (set up after the 2016 National Policy of Education) the expert recommendation and national view had been for a minimum public outlay on education of six percent of GDP," said Assocham in its letter. Actual public expenditure over the years even after the additional revenue garnered through levies of education cess surcharges for education, however, was only around four percent. Therefore, the chamber called for higher public expenditure on education at all levels - from schools to universities, and advanced research institutions. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that no matter what the government does for the families of the defence casualties, it will always seem less as one cannot put a price on a human life. Speaking at the launch of 'Bharat Ke Veer' graphic novel series on slain Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) soldiers, the Union Minister said, "Whatever we do for the families of defence casualties, it will always be less. No matter how much monetary fund we provide, you will agree with me "Manushya ki zindagi ko paise ke aadhar par uski keemat nhi aaki jaa sakti" (One cannot put a price on a human life)". He added that the people of India have pledged their support to 'Bharat Ke Veer' initiative in large numbers. "Each and every citizen of India is a patriot. I believe at least Rs one crore should be given to the families of the deceased soldiers. There are individuals who contribute regularly on Bharat Ke Veer website. Those who have a big heart are the real rich people. People with big hearts work to bring happiness in others' lives", Singh continued. The Union Minister further appealed to the people to contribute to the 'Bharat Ke Veer' initiative and support the families of India's bravehearts. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) "Numerous" child pornographic photos have been found on computers belonging to Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock, revealed the city's sheriff. According to Fox News, Sheriff Joe Lombardo, in his first press conference since October 13 last year, released an 81-page preliminary investigative report on the shooting. Investigators "have gone over 2,000 leads and looked at 21,560 hours of video," the sheriff added," This report won't answer every question, or even the biggest question as to why he did what he did." The report contains new photographs of Paddock's hotel suite and online searches he conducted before the attack, such as for SWAT tactics and other potential public venue targets. Earlier in November it was reported that Lombardo branded Paddock as narcissist and "status-driven" and said his financial decline "may have a determining effect on why he decided to do what he did." However, then too, Lombardo maintained that it is still not clear whether money issues led to the shooting. "What is the reason why?" he asked rhetorically at one point at that time, "We haven't gotten that answer yet." The Las Vegas massacre is the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, claiming the lives of 59 people and injuring 527 others. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Congress spokesperson Sushmita Dev said, "Why is the Prime Minister silent on the issue. In the days to come, he will address the nation through his Mann ki Baat programme. As the Prime Minister, what are the steps he has taken to ensure the security of girls and women? This is the very party (BJP), that asked for the resignations of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dixit when the Nirbhaya rape case took place in December 2012." "Haryana is looking like a rape capital of India. Chief Minister Khattar should be preventing such incidents rather than getting involved in making such political statements," she added. She said, "Rather than giving a one time Rs. 4 lakh to the victim's family, the state government should give a job to one of the family members." Another party member, Kumari Shailaja said that we have demanded imposition of President's rule in Haryana. Haryana has seen at least six cases of alleged rapes in as many days in Jind, Fatehabad, Gurugram and Panchkula. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress on Saturday welcomed Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra's decision to hear the case about the death of CBI judge Justice B.H. Loya. The bench led by Justice Misra will hear the pleas seeking an investigation into the allegedly suspicious death of the CBI judge on January 22. Speaking to ANI, All India Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev said, "If this decision has been taken then we welcome it. There are a lot of controversies associated with it." The development comes days after the four senior-most SC judges in a presser alleged that the CJI, who is the master of the roster, was arbitrarily assigning important cases to select benches headed by junior judges. The case was earlier assigned to Justice Arun Mishra, the 10th most-senior judge of the Supreme Court. Justice Loya, who had been hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh Encounter case, wherein BJP chief Amit Shah was a prime accused, died in alleged suspicious circumstances in 2014. The Supreme Court on January 5 sought the CBI Judge B.H. Loya's postmortem report from Maharashtra government asserting that the "matter is very serious". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two separate cases of harassment were registered in Vasant Kunj Police Station by two students of Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). The first FIR was registered on January 1, by a student union leader, alleging that she was stalked and harassed by a man named Mayank Joshi. Joshi continuously used to text her, asking her to be his friend. The accused even sent the girl an expensive watch. He threatened the girl with dire consequences if she denies his friendship. A case is registered by the police under the sections 354A and 354D of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Meanwhile, the second FIR of harassment and assault has been registered by an Iranian against her classmate. The police has registered a case under sections 354, 354D and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Both the accused have been arrested by the Police. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Twelve-time Grand Slam Champion Novak Djokovic advanced into the pre-quarters of the Australian Open despite an injury scare here on Saturday. Djokovic, who is playing after a six-month injury lay off, defeated Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in straight sets 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. The six-time Australian Open winner received a medical treatment in the second set for an injury but came back strong to close out the match in two hours, 23 minutes. Djokovic will next face South Korean Hyeon Chung in the round of 16. Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova's hopes of a title-winning return to the Australian Open were crushed by Angelique Kerber 1-6, 3-6. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Defending Champion Roger Federer entered the last 16 of the Australian Open with a straight sets victory over Richard Gasquet on Saturday. Nineteen-time Grand Slam winner Federer thrashed Gasquet 6-2, 7-5, 6-4, in an hour and 59 min long match. He will next meet Hungarian world number 89 Marton Fucsovics on Monday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a major setback to the district, Ghaziabad failed to make the cut for Smart City tag in the fourth and the final city list released by Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. The city, which competed in the race for the fourth time, failed to meet the benchmark set by the government. Interestingly, the list included three cities from Uttar Pradesh-Bareilly, Moradabad, and Saharanpur. On Friday, Puri announced the name of nine more smart cities, taking the total to 99. The mission of hundred smart cities was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2015. Silvassa in Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli topped the list of winning cities in this round of competition. The other cities include Erode in Tamil Nadu, Diu in Union Territory of Daman and Diu, Biharsharif in Bihar, Bareilly, Saharanpur and Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh and Kavaratti in Lakshadweep. Briefing reporters in New Delhi, the minister said, the nine cities have proposed an investment of Rs 12,824 crore rupees to develop 409 projects. Giving details of the progress made in smart cities scheme, Puri said, Smart City Centers have become operational in Pune, Surat, Vadodara and Kakinada and work is in progress in another 18 cities. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who fired an employee in August for allegedly "perpetuating gender stereotypes", said he doesn't regret his decision. However, Pichai, in a live conversation with journalists, said that he was taken aback that it was misconstrued to be a politically motivated event, The Verge reported. "The decision to fire James Damore was about ensuring that women at Google felt like the company was committed to creating a welcoming environment. I regret that people misunderstand that we may have made this for a political belief one way or another", he said. In August last year, Damore was fired for allegedly creating gender stereotypes through a memo that claimed women may be biologically less suited to engineering and programming jobs in the tech industry. "To suggest a group of our colleagues have traits that make them less biologically suited to that work is offensive and not OK", Pichai had said in a statement. However, Damore, in his defence, filed a lawsuit against the company accusing it of "discriminating against white male conservatives". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urged the central government to exempt handmade products from the ambit of the Goods and Sales Tax (GST). In a letter addressed to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the chief minister said the move would benefit a large segment of the state's rural population, and give a boost to rural employment and sustainability. The letter follows a representation that was submitted to Siddaramaiah from a committee constituted by Gram Seva Sangh, consisting of noted activists including Ashis Needy, Uzramma and Shyam Benegal. "A detailed representation regarding exempting handmade products produced and marketed by the producer co-operative societies and their federations from GST, including a definition of what constitute handmade products and raising the exemption of registration turnover limit of individuals and self-help groups producing handmade products to Rs.50 lakhs is attached to this letter. It includes a large set of products ranging from handmade butter to paper," the letter read. The chief minister noted that imposition of the GST on such products has had an adverse effect on the livelihood of artisans engaged in producing these, and therefore added that the representation requires urgent consideration and a positive resolution. "This would not only benefit a large segment of our rural population but would also give a boost to rural employment and sustainability. I, therefore, urge you to take this issue on priority basis in the next GST Council meeting and decide favourably benefitting a large segment of rural artisans," he said. Siddaramaiah further assured the finance minister of complete support from his government on the same. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amidst its protest against the release of 'Padmaavat', Rajput Karni Sena has claimed that director Sanjay Leela Bhansali invited them for a special screening of the period drama. Earlier Karni Sena Chief, Lokendra Singh Kalvi, urged the people to impose a curfew in cinema halls to stop the screening of the flick on Tuesday, i.e. January 16. He also appealed to all the social organisations to come together and protest against its release. On January 18, the Supreme Court put a stay order on ban notifications issued by four states - Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Haryana. In its interim order, the Supreme Court said that all states are constitutionally obliged to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incident during the screening of the film after permission has been granted by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The periodical film is based on the legend of Rani Padmini, a 13th-century Rajput queen. She has been mentioned several times in Padmavat, an Awadhi poem written by Sufi poet, Malik Muhammad Jayasi in 1540. The historical-drama has run into trouble many times over since its announcement. Several members of Rajput factions have made allegations against Bhansali of distorting historical facts and showcasing Rani Padmani in a bad light. Bhansali was even attacked and thrashed by Karni Sena during one of its filming schedules. Starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, and Shahid Kapoor in lead roles, the film was cleared by CBFC after suggesting five modifications, one being a change in its title from 'Padmavati' to 'Padmaavat'. The film is set to hit theatres on January 25 worldwide. It will be released in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. Notably, it is going to be the first Indian movie to get a global IMAX 3D release. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Supreme Court lawyer Sangam Lal Pandey has written a letter to the Supreme Court collegium about the arbitrariness in recommending the appointment of judges in various high courts and the apex court. A copy of the letter, exclusively accessed by ANI, said, "It seems total arbitrariness on the basis of the likings and dislikings and ignoring the other chief justices of the high courts from their initial date of appointments while recommending the appointment of judges." The lawyer has mentioned the alleged arbitrariness in the appointment of the then Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice, K. M. Joseph, who was junior to ten other chief justices of their respective high courts. Pandey has also forwarded the four-page letter written by him to the President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and 20 other judges of the Supreme Court. Pandey has prayed to the collegium, the body responsible for recommending the appointment of judges in high courts and the apex court, and sought an explanation as to what criteria has been adopted while making the recommendation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) One civilian was killed and a Border Security Force (BSF) paramilitary soldier was injured during a ceasefire violation from across the border in Jammu and Kashmir's R S Pura Sector on Saturday. Earlier, the Pakistan Rangers again resorted to unprovoked firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in the R S Pura and Akhnoor Sectors. The Indian Army is retaliating and cross-border firing is still on as per latest reports. Saturday was the third consecutive day of shelling of civilian areas and border outposts (BoPs) in India by the Pakistan Rangers. On Friday, at least 11 civilians were injured across Jammu and Kashmir in firing from across the border. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 120 schools, including government and private institutions, across the Line of Control (LoC) in Balakot and Mankote, have been declared closed by the District Development Commissioner (DDC) of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir due to the ceasefire violations by Pakistan. Talking to ANI, DDC Poonch Tariq Ahmed Zargar said, "We have decided to close the schools today keeping the security of children in mind. 120 schools are closed today. We are keeping an eye on every situation. After monitoring the situation, we will take the decision for tomorrow by evening". Meanwhile, Union Minister of State (MoS) Jitendra Singh said, "Civilians in border areas hold strong morals. Matter of concern is statements of those people, who consider themselves mainstream politicians. When in power, they call Kashmir integral part of India but make irresponsible remarks otherwise". Pakistan has violated the ceasefire by resorting to firing at Mendhar, Balakot, and Poonch of Jammu and Kashmir. Residents of Jammu and Kashmir's RS Pura Sector are reportedly fleeing from their homes in the wake of repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan. The Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in the RS Pura and Akhnoor sectors on Saturday. The Indian Army is retaliating and cross-border firing is still on as per latest reports. Saturday was the third consecutive day of shelling of civilian areas and border outposts (BoPs) in India by the Pakistan Rangers. On Friday, at least 11 civilians were injured across Jammu and Kashmir in the firing from across the border. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar said on Saturday that the Supreme Court of Pakistan was an "independent institution", which is completely free from external influences. "Everyone should be proud of an independent judiciary. The judiciary is completely independent and all citizens should be proud of this," CJP Nisar told lawyers of Lahore Bar Association (LBA), as reported by the Express Tribune. The comments by the CJP come at a time when former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif criticised the country's judiciary for colluding with vested interests. He blamed the country's highest court for his removal from the office and stated that the evidence found against him in the Panama Paper leaks case were "false and imaginary". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) (ANI) "Pakistan runs factories to produce terrorists. It provides them training to use against others, including the Baloch. Pakistan forcefully occupied Balochistan on March 27, 1948. Since then, the Pakistan Army and secret agencies are committing atrocities. They abduct, kill and throw mutilated bodies of Baloch on roads so they cannot speak for the freedom of Balochistan", said Mama Qadeer, the Vice Chairman of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons. Mama Qadeer said Pakistan's intelligence agency has paid huge sums of money to Mullah Omar to kidnap Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian businessman from Iran. He said, "It (Pakistan) has produced Hafiz Saeed, (Syed) Salahuddin and Mullah Omar, an Iranian Baloch, who is behind the arrest of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav from Chabahar in Iran". Kulhushan Jadhav was doing business in Iran and he was trapped at the behest of Pakistan's ISI on charges of spying in Balochistan." He said, "Mullah Omar accepted the deal as Pakistan and Iran's shares border and both sides of the border has Baloch population. Mullah Omar and his associates blindfolded Jadhav and brought him from Chabahar to Mashkey in Balochistan and handed over to Pakistan Army" Mama Qadeer said Jadhav was later brought to Quetta and then to army headquarters in Islamabad where he was tortured and his statement was forcefully recorded. He said Jadhav was having no role in spreading violence in Balochistan and anywhere in Pakistan. Mama Qadeer questions Pakistan army's claim of Jadhav's arrest from Balochistan and call it a malicious attempt to blackmail India. He said, "In Balochistan, where the so-called CPEC is under construction, the local residents are not able to roam freely as they have to cross at least four check-posts maintained by Frontier Corps, ISI, Military Intelligence and the army. How can outsider enter into Balochistan and work freely?" He blamed the Pakistan Army and secret agencies for the deteriorating human rights situation in Balochistan. He said, "We have been raising our voices against missing persons in Balochistan. Pakistan's agencies (ISI, MI and FC) are behind the enforced disappearances and the killings of Baloch. They also back radicals to whom they pay money to kidnap and kill the Baloch". He accused the Pakistan Army and its secret agencies of being the real producers of terrorists. He said, "At present, 45,000 Baloch people are missing and we stand in their witness. In 2004, when Balochistan home minister Aftab Sherpao came to Gwadar, he declared to have kidnapped 4,000 Baloch people. This statement was on the record. In 2014-15, home secretary Akbar Durani made a statement that they have arrested 13,000 people. Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti also confessed to have abducted some 9,000 people". Mama Qadeer requested the government to bring the disappeared Baloch to court and prove their guilt, and added that if proved, the authorities could hang them. If not guilty, he said they should be released immediately. "I had received immense life threats and it still continues. As soon I reach Balochistan, I may be abducted or killed. But, we will continue to fight for our rights, no matter we lost of life" said Mama Qadeer whose 35-year-old son Jalil Ahmad Rekhi was brutally killed by secret agencies in 2009. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress Party on Friday won 20 of the 24 wards in Raghogarh Municipal Council elections in Madhya Pradesh's Guna District. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has bagged four wards. Counting of votes is underway where Congress candidate Aarti Sharma is said to be ahead of her BJP rival Mayadevi Agarwal with 4,500 votes. The Congress has been in control of the Raghogarh-Vijaypur Municipal Council for the past two decades. Five districts - Dhar, Barwani, Khandwa, Guna, and Anuppur - held Municipal Council elections on January 17. Counting of votes began at 9 a.m. this morning and is expected to end by the afternoon. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With the cases of swine flu constantly on the rise, Rajasthan Health director VK Singh Mathur on Saturday said that the health department is "well equipped" to control the situation, adding that they are looking for ways to combat it. Speaking to the reporters here, Mathur said, "25 deaths have been reported in Rajasthan within 20 days. Cities like Jodhpur and Jaipur have also been affected to an extreme". "Our health department is well-equipped to control the situation and is finding ways to combat it soon", he added. On January 3, the Rajasthan government announced an alert in the state after more than 400 people were diagnosed positive for the swine flu virus in December 2017. Rapid response teams of the health department were rushed to the areas where people were feared to have been affected by the H1N1 virus. A meeting with senior officials of the health department was held on January 3. According to medical and health department records, 241 swine flu deaths have occurred in the State since January 2017. Nearly 11,721 people were tested for swine flu between January 1, 2017, to December 19, 2017, of which 3,214 were confirmed positive. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rajput Karni Sena and other right-wing groups on Saturday came together in Pune and warned that if film theatres did screen 'Padmaavat' then they would do so at their own risk. "We are appealing to the movie theatres that if they are releasing the film then they should release it at their own responsibility. We also appeal to the public not to come out of their house on January 25," Pune Karni Sena President Om Singh Bhati said while addressing a press conference here. They further said if 'Padmaavat' was allowed to get released on January 25, the day would be recorded as the black day in the history. Earlier in the day, people created a ruckus in Gujarat's Banaskantha and Dhanera while protesting against the film. A ticket counter of a multiplex was also set on fire in Faridabad, Haryana. Meanwhile, Gujarat Multiplex Association Director said they have decided not to screen the movie in Gujarat. "Everyone is scared. No multiplex wants to bear the loss. Why will we bear the loss?" Patel questioned. Earlier on Thursday, the apex court stayed notifications issued by four states - Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat - to ban the release of the film. A Rohingya leader has been shot dead by unknown assailants at a refugee camp in Bangladesh's Ukhiya. According to the Dhaka Tribune, a gang of miscreants opened fire on a 35-year-old Mohammad Yusuf, leaving him critically injured on Friday night. Yusuf was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. Another leader was also reportedly attacked in the same night. The refugees have alleged that a group of Rohingyas opposing repatriation are carrying out the attacks on the leaders of the camps. Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed on a two-year timeframe for the repatriation of Rohingya refugees. The repatriation process is expected to start on January 22. More than 655,000 Rohingyas have crossed into Bangladesh since August 25, 2017, escaping a military crackdown in Rakhine state, which many countries and human rights bodies have described as 'ethnic cleansing'. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A school bus driver mowed down a class one student in Hyderabad on Saturday morning. The child has been identified as Anjali. She was a student of the Prashanti Vidyanikethan School. According to Station House Officer (SHO) of Vanasthalipuram Police Station, "The child was traveling to school when the incident took place. Also, she was standing near door of the bus and the door was open." "When the bus driver slowed at a speed breaker and started immediately again the student slipped and fell out. While the bus went over her and she died on the spot," the SHO added. The body has been shifted to a hospital and sent for post mortem. Child rights activist, Achoot Rao said, "The incident occurred because of the school and the driver's negligence; there should have been an attendant at the bus door. The school should be closed by the government." A case has been registered. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Celebrated chef Paul Bocuse, nicknamed the pope of French gastronomy, has died at the age of 91. "Paul Bocuse is dead. Gastronomy is in mourning. Mister Paul was France. Simplicity and generosity. Excellence and the art of living. The Pope of gourmets is leaving us," France's Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, lettered on Twitter. According to the Guardian, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, branded Bocuse as "the incarnation of French cuisine." "His name alone sums up French gastronomy; his generosity, his respect for traditions but also his innovation," Macron said. The Michelin-starred chef and celebrated master of haute cuisine, Bocuse was born in Lyon where he has several restaurants and a cookery school. He was an early exponent of "nouvelle cuisine", which reinterpreted traditional French cooking using less butter and cream and focusing on fresh ingredients and stylish presentation. Bocuse began cooking at the age of 15. "I love butter, cream and wine," he used to say, and by 1958 he had his first Michelin star. At the time of his death, he had nine restaurants in and around the city of Lyon and several abroad, including in Japan, the US and Switzerland. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States president Donald Trump has addressed the anti-abortion activists at the annual March for Life here. "The March for Life is a movement born out of love ... you love every child born and unborn because you believe every life is sacred, that every child is a precious gift from God," reported the Independent, citing, Trump as saying. On the occasion, Trump also pledged his administration would always defend "the right to life." His appearance on Friday made him the first to join the long-running, annual event by satellite, but the third Republican president to speak to the group. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush both phoned into the conference during their time in office. Trump said the United States "is one of only seven countries to allow elective late-term abortions," mentioning China and North Korea. "It is wrong. It has to change." In addition to this, Trump listed some anti-abortion measures his administration had taken, including an announcement made by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services earlier in the day. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Turkish jets have bombed US-backed Kurdish militia in Syria's Afrin province in a bid to oust the fighters. On that note, Turkey wants to oust the Kurds, which it calls terrorists, from Afrin region that lies across its southern border. According to CNN, the Turkish armed forces said that 108 out of 113 targets had been hit and that all of the dead and wounded brought to hospitals are Kurdish militia members. Turkish military announced that it launched 'Operation Olive Branch' on Saturday at 1400 GMT. Syria decried Turkey's "aggression" and "brutal attack." The attack came after a week of threats by the Turkish government, promising to clear the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG, from Afrin and the surrounding countryside. The YPG is the driving force behind a coalition of north Syrian forces allied with the US to fight Islamic State (IS). The Turkish Prime Minister, Binali Yildirim, stated that the strikes on Afrin marked the start of a campaign to "eliminate the PYD and PKK and Daesh [Arabic acronym for IS] elements in Afrin", referring to the Kurdish Democratic Union Party and the Kurdistan Worker's Party respectively. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Turkish jets destroyed terror check posts of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorist group in northern Syria's Afrin on Saturday. According to Anadolu news agency, Turkish jets were seen flying in southern Hatay province's Reyhanli and Kirikhan districts near the Syrian-Turkish border and attacked the posts with explosives. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced earlier that military operations "actively" started in Afrin. Erdogan added that Turkey had undertaken such an operation, in order to remove terrorists from its borders in the interests of national security. Some reports also mentioned that Russian troops, who were also in Afrin to tackle the PKK, have been ordered by the Russian Defence Ministry to back out from the Turkey-led military operations. The PKK which is based in Turkey, Iraq and parts of Syria has been involved in an armed conflict with Turkey. Its aim is to achieve the objective of creating an independent Kurdish state. It has been listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. The PKK is responsible for the deaths of more than 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians. Turkey has been embroiled in a state of emergency since last year, ever since the failed military coup against Erdogan and subsequent terrorist attacks by local militants and the Islamic State group in the country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United Nations special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, visited a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh's coastal town of Cox's Bazar on Saturday. The Dhaka Tribune reported that Lee interacted with refugees and listened to their accounts of violence carried out against them allegedly by the Myanmar Army. Officials from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and other foreign aid institutions were also present at that time. Lee was also supposed to visit her native Myanmar later on, but the government there unexpectedly banned her from visiting the country. After this visit, she will leave for Thailand on January 24. Bangladesh and Myanmar on Tuesday finalised an agreement, which will facilitate the repatriation of the Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh. Rohingyas are a Muslim minority ethnic group in Myanmar. They have been regarded by many majority Buddhists as illegal migrants from Bangladesh. Also, they have been long persecuted by the Buddhists and the security forces. As of December 2017, an estimated 6,55,000 Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh to avoid the persecution from the security forces that started in Myanmar's Rakhine state in August last year. The United Nations has called the violence against civilians 'ethnic cleansing', but the Myanmarese government has rejected claims like these. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States Congressman Tom Garrett a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee has expressed his concern over gross human rights abuses against ethnic Mohajirs in Karachi. In his comments published in a special The Daily Washington Times supplement, the Republican lawmaker said "President Trump's decision to suspend aid to Pakistan is a clear choice for its leadership on being an ally to the U.S., commitment to dismantle terrorist networks and importantly stop oppression and human rights abuse on Mohajirs in Karachi, Baloch, Pashtuns and other minority communities through its military, paramilitary and intelligence assets." Garrett has acquired a reputation for being vocal on global human rights issues and raising his voice against state atrocities committed by Pakistan against Mohajirs. The Paramilitary Rangers have been conducting a brutal operation in Karachi since 2013 during which hundreds of Mohajirs have been extra-judicially killed and hundreds have gone missing since being taken into custody by security forces. The operation has particularly aimed at the country's most secular political party in Pakistan, MQM. The party's deputy Convener, Harvard-educated Professor Zafar-Hasan Arif was also killed last Sunday after being taken into unlawful custody. His bruised, bleeding body was found on the outskirts of Karachi. The Washington Times published an exclusive news supplement titled 'Free Karachi Campaign.' The supplement highlights the strategic importance of Karachi in South Asia region and growing extremism under the patronage of Pakistan's powerful military and its even more powerful intelligence agency, ISI. The supplement features reports and articles on the persecution of Mohajirs in Karachi and the other urban centers of Sindh Province. Digital Ads of 'Free Karachi' are running on the Washington Times website, urging the U.S. administration and community to save Mohajirs in Pakistan. Earlier this week, the first phase of Free Karachi Campaign was launched in Washington D.C. on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Taxis with the banners of #FreeKarachi took part in the parade to raise awareness on the plight of Mohajirs in Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Star Aviation has finalized its Service Center agreement with Embraer Executive Jets at its full-service state-of-the-art maintenance facility at the Chattanooga Airport, officials said. The agreement is for Embraer Base Maintenance on Phenom 100/300, Legacy 450/500 and Legacy 600/650. The Chattanooga facility will offer interior refurbishment, avionics, avionics installation and repair, inspections, part services, and engine inspections. We are thrilled to be able to accept Embraer customers at all three of our full-service facilities at ALN, GJT, and CHA, said Bob OLeary, Embraer business development manager, West Star Aviation. We are dedicated to the continuous growth of our Embraer capabilities and proud to offer complete maintenance on Embraer Phenom and Legacy models. West Stars Chattanooga location is currently expanding its footprint to include a state-of-the-art paint facility and other updates to the existing current facility to be able to accommodate aircraft up to Lineage 1000 and Lineage 1000E. The paint shop expansion is projected to open September 2018 and will offer full-service paint capabilities on Embraer and other aircraft. Voted #1 Preferred MRO in the 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 Professional Pilot magazine annual Preferences Regarding Aviation Services and Equipment (PRASE) Survey, West Star Aviation specializes in the repair and maintenance of airframes, windows, and engines, as well as major modifications, avionics installation and repair, interior refurbishment, surplus avionics sales, accessory services, paint and parts. Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary has said that Washington has assured that it will not support to any campaign against Pakistan. The Dawn quoted Chaudhary, as saying, "We took it up with the State Department, and they assured us that they continue to support Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity as strongly as they always have." Chaudhary made this remark after taxis lined up with #FreeKarachi banners to participate in the Dr. Martin Luther King Day parade earlier this week in Washington and similar demonstrations were held in New York. The Ambassador Chaudhary further said anti-Pakistan posters and billboards have been removed from New York and Washington. He also mentioned that US Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells had given a similar assurance during her recent visit to Islamabad. Contrary to the Pakistan Ambassador's statement, U.S. Congressman Tom Garrett has expressed his concern over the gross human rights abuses taking place against ethnic Mohajirs in Karachi. In his comments published in a special Washington Times supplement, the Republican lawmaker said "President Trump's decision to suspend aid to Pakistan is a clear choice for its leadership on being an ally to the U.S., commitment to dismantle terrorist networks and importantly stop oppression and human rights abuse on Mohajirs in Karachi, Baloch, Pashtuns and their minority communities through its military, paramilitary and intelligence assets." Garrett has acquired a reputation for being vocal on global human rights issues and raising his voice against state atrocities committed by Pakistan against Mohajirs. The paramilitary Rangers have been conducting a brutal operation in Karachi since 2013 during which hundreds of Mohajirs have been extra-judicially killed and hundreds have gone missing since being taken into custody by security forces. The operation has particularly aimed at the country's most secular political party in Pakistan, MQM. The party's deputy Convener, Harvard-educated Professor Zafar-Hasan Arif was also killed last Sunday after being taken into unlawful custody. His bruised, bleeding body was found on the outskirts of Karachi. The Washington Times published an exclusive news supplement titled 'Free Karachi Campaign.' The supplement highlights the strategic importance of Karachi in South Asia region and growing extremism under the patronage of Pakistan's powerful military and its even more powerful intelligence agency, ISI. The supplement features reports and articles on the persecution of Mohajirs in Karachi and the other urban centers of Sindh Province. Digital Ads of 'Free Karachi' are running on the Washington Times website, urging the U.S. administration and community to save Mohajirs in Pakistan. Earlier this week, the first phase of Free Karachi Campaign was launched in Washington D.C. on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Taxis with the banners of #FreeKarachi took part in the parade to raise awareness on the plight of Mohajirs in Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a path breaking initiative to empower Persons with Disabilities, 100 Accessible websites of various State Governments/UTs under Accessible India Campaign were launched by the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot. Accessible Websites are those websites into which Persons with Disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web. The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) initiated a Website Accessibility Project for State Government/Union Territories under Accessible India Campaign through ERNET India, an autonomous scientific society under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), to make total 917 websites accessible and providing funds for the same. Now 100 accessible websites are made accessible under the project. ERNET India (MEITY) is executing the project which is funded by DEPwD under Accessibility India Campaign so far 917 websites across 27 States & UT have been chosen from the list of websites which have been provided by the State Social Welfare Departments through DEPwD. Accessible Website Design Principles: - Provide appropriate alternative text, Caption video; Provide transcripts for audio; All documents (e.g., PDFs) to be accessible; Do not rely on color alone to convey meaning; and Make sure content is structured, clearly written and easy to read. Current Status of Accessible Websites: -Total no. of websites: 917; Under Development: 244; Developed and Internally Audited: 208; and Live: 100 Web content accessibility guidelines -WCAG 2.0 :- Websites are made accessible by complying it as per Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the main international standard organisation for the World Wide Web. The guideline establish three levels of accessibility on basis of which websites are designed, namely:- Level A: This Indicates the basic level of accessibility that any web page must have Level AA: This indicates an intermediate level of accessibility that any web page should have Level AAA: This indicates the highest level of accessibility that any web page can achieve The founding principles of the guidelines state information and user interface components must be presentable to user in ways they can perceive, user interface components and navigation must be operable and information and the operation of user interface must be understandable. Moreover, content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have released two Detailed Assessment Reports (DARs) relating to the 2017 India Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP). The Report providing 'Detailed Assessment of ObservanceBasel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision' has been released by the IMF and the World Bank and the Report providing 'Detailed Assessment of Observance of Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL) Central Counter Party (CCP) and Trade Repository (TR)', was released by the World Bank. The DAR on the observance of Basel Core Principles (BCP) commends the Reserve Bank of India for the remarkable progress in strengthening banking supervision since the last FSAP. It notes that the supervision and regulation by the Reserve Bank remain strong and have improved in recent years. Most of the Basel III framework (and related guidance) has been implemented and cooperation arrangements, both domestically and cross-border, are now firmly in place. It states that the system-wide asset quality review (AQR) and the strengthening of prudential regulations in 2015 testify to the authorities' commitment to transparency and a more accurate recognition of banking risks. A special mention is made of the implementation of a risk-based supervisory approach, in particular the Supervisory Program for Assessment of Risk and Capital (SPARC); as also the phasing-in of the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) and large exposure limits and states that the recently established Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC), will provide RBI with a robust supervisory enforcement framework. It acknowledges that banking reforms, including the Indradhanush Plan for revitalizing the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and the Bank Board Bureaus (BBBs) have helped usher in an era of transparency and improved discipline and will go a long way in resolving the problem of bad loans in India. The DAR on the BCP was prepared before the announcement of the recapitalization of Rs. 2.11 trillion (about US$32 billion) and the under-capitalization of PSBs mentioned in the Report has since been effectively addressed by this Plan. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) On 6 February 2018 International Combustion (India) will hold a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company on 6 February 2018. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two crude bombs were recovered near the Mahabodhi temple in Bihar's Bodh Gaya district, where Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is camping, prompting authorities to heighten security. An NIA team was at the site on Saturday to probe the incident. The bombs were found on Friday night, police said. According to district officials, a low intensity bomb blast had taken place near the site where the two crude bombs were recovered on Friday night. Police denied media reports that claimed the bombs were found inside the revered Mahabodhi temple. "The explosive materials were found in the vicinity of the Kalachakra ground near the temple and kept far away from the temple," Inspector General of Police, Patna Zone, N.H. Khan said. A senior police official in Bodh Gaya said three suspected persons have been found roaming in Bodh Gaya. Police will identify them soon, he said. The NIA team is to defuse the two crude bombs, police said. "A team of NIA reached Bodh Gaya and visited the Mahabodhi temple to probe the incident," a district police official said. A forensic team from Patna was also in Bodh Gaya to investigate the matter. "We have given all the information to the NIA team. And if it requires more information, the state police will provide it," a senior police officer camping in Bodh Gaya said. Security of foreign monasteries and other sensitive places has also been beefed up and additional security forces deployed. Thousands of the Dalai Lama's devotees, including Hollywood star Richard Gere, and hundreds of foreign tourists have been staying in Bodh Gaya, where it is peak tourist season now. In 2013, a series of bombs exploded at Bodh Gaya's Mahabodhi temple in which two Buddhist monks were injured. --IANS ik/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Despite the ripple effect of the United States shutdown across the world, no flights from India to America had been cancelled, according to sources. Though travellers were not impacted immediately, industry players said that if the government shutdown was prolonged, it would have an effect in the near future. "The US government shutdown will have no impact on those travelling from India. Airlines are functioning as per their schedules, the air traffic control, immigration and customs services which are deemed as essential services are not covered by the shutdown," said Karan Anand, Head of Relationships at Cox & Kings. "The government shutdown could impact travellers planning a trip to the US in the foreseeable future," said Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C) at Yatra.com, adding that "while there will be a minuscule impact on air traffic controllers, visa processing will certainly face some delay. Also, passport processing for the US citizens visiting India or other foreign nations might also get delayed." The US government began shutting down on Saturday, putting thousands of workers on unpaid leave after the Senate failed to pass a stopgap budget. Air India has not cancelled or postponed any flights to the US, a source familiar with the matter said. Air India flies to four US cities daily -- San Francisco, Chicago, Washington and New York, In New York, it flies to two airports Newark and John F. Kennedy. The shutdown marked the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration. It is the first shutdown in US history to happen while the same ruling party controlled both House of Congress and the Senate. Despite last-minute bipartisan meetings, the bill to fund the government until February 16, did not receive the required number of 60 votes in the Senate. The budget proposal presented by the Republicans on Friday night got more votes in favour (50) than against (48), but they were insufficient to approve funds. Four Republicans voted against the bill while five Democrats broke rank to support it. Veteran actor Anupam Kher is set to attend the 24th Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards taking place in Los Angeles and reunite with the team of his Hollywood film "The Big Sick". "The Big Sick" has been nominated under two categories -- Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role. The awards ceremony will take place on Sunday. Anupam essayed a Pakistani father in the film. "On my way to Los Angeles for the shoot of an exciting film (512th). And of course for SAG awards. Looking forwarding to reuniting with the wonderful team of 'The Big Sick' movie," Anupam tweeted. Directed by Michael Showalter, "The Big Sick" is about the real life story of comedian Kumail Nanjiani, who not just features in the lead role but has also penned the film's screenplay with wife Emily Gordon. It also stars Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano and Adeel Akhtar apart from Anupam. The film is loosely based on the real-life romance between Nanjiani and Gordon. It follows an interracial couple who must deal with cultural differences after Emily (played by Kazan in the film) becomes ill. On the home front, Anupam will next be seen in "The Accidental Prime Minister", "Aiyaary" and "Hotel Mumbai". --IANS ks/sug/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Cairo, Jan 20 (IANS/WAM) Arab Parliament Speaker Meshal Faham M. Alsulami will lead a delegation to China from January 22 to 24 for talks to enhance relations between the Arab world and Beijing. Alsulami's visit comes at the invitation of Chinese top legislator Zhang Dejiang, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. The Speaker said the visit will also shed light on the major strategic and important issues of the Arab world, especially the developments in Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories. --IANS/WAM soni/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Book: Why I Am A Hindu; Author: Shashi Tharoor; Publisher: Aleph Book Company; Pages: 302; Price: Rs 699 Shashi Tharoor's new book on Hinduism -- the religion followed by a majority of Indians -- comes at a crucial juncture when there is an upsurge in fringe elements that practise and propagate the ideology of Hindutva. The book, therefore, was being thought of as Tharoor's response to Hindutva. However, limiting "Why I Am A Hindu" to the debate between Hinduism and Hindutva will be a grave injustice to this riveting offering as the book is much more than the sum total of this debate. At the onset, it is a layman's account of his journey of discovering the "extraordinary wisdom and virtues of the faith" that he has practised for over six decades. Tharoor himself makes it clear in the Author's Note that he is neither a Sanskritist nor a scholar of Hinduism and, thus, did not set out to write a "scholarly exposition of the religion". The book comes across as the author's attempt to understand the religion that he follows, calling it a self-discovery of sorts will be accurate. Tharoor's exposition travels between personal accounts and his understanding of the religious scriptures as well as the values propagated by the likes of Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Pramahamsa and others in the league whom he refers to as the "Great Souls of Hinduism". It is thus imperative for the reader to have a clear state of consciousness before setting on to read the book because more than anything else, it is about Hinduism, a religion, and religions are, after all the reasons behind most conflicts. The book is divided into three sections, the first of which is titled "My Hinduism". This answers the question raised by the title of the book: Why I Am A Hindu? Admitting as sincerely as is expected of a liberal intellectual as Tharoor, he sets the record straight and confides that he is Hindu "because I was born one", and goes on to elaborate that religion is selected for most people at birth, "by the accident of geography and their parents' cultural moorings". But this analogy is not to suggest that he is not a proud Hindu. "I was never anything else: I was born a Hindu, grew up as one, and have considered myself one all my life." The section talks at length about Tharoor's early days, highlighting how his personal understanding of the religion developed with time. "My Hinduism was a lived faith; it was a Hinduism of experience and upbringing, a Hinduism of observation and conversation, not one anchored in deep religious study," he points out. The section also explains at length what he calls "My Truth," where he describes the reasons why he is "happy to describe" himself as a "believing Hindu", before going on to present a fair perspective on the values propagated by the "Great Souls of Hinduism." The second section is titled "Political Hinduism" and this is where Hindutva comes into play. It is interesting to note that the author takes 140 pages (about half of the book) to reach to the burning debate of our times and in doing so, he succeeds in providing a background on his belief of the religion, supplemented by the values propagated by the likes of Swami Vivekananda before explaining Hindutva. He begins this section by providing a clear distinction between Hinduism and Hindutva. For Hinduism, he presents an imagery of a banyan tree, in whose shade, "a great variety of flora and fauna, thought and action, flourishes". From here, he moves to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its ideologues -- Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and M.S. Golwalkar, explaining their perspectives on Hindutva. Using original quotes, he mentions Savarkar's assertion: "Hinduism is only a derivative, a fraction, a part of Hindutva." The book then moves, at an incredible pace, to the advent of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and the Bhartiya Jana Sangh and then to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Tharoor then devotes 40 pages decoding the philosophies of Hindutva -- not as he perceives it but exactly how its ideologues propagated it. Contrary to all expectations, he does not criticise them or counter their views, at least at this stage. It is from page 183 of the 302-page book, that he unleashes a storm of arguments on "the politics of division" that has led to "a travesty of Hinduism". Next, the author eloquently elaborates on the uses and abuses of Hindu culture and history in the contemporary scenario, resulting from "the politics of division" that he early mentions. The 28-page-long last section of the book is all that he spends on addressing what most would have expected from the entire book: "Taking Back Hinduism". Beginning with a reference to former US President Barack Obama's speech where he mentioned that "India will succeed so long as it is not split along the lines of religious faiths," he elaborates on the "travesty of Hinduism" in the contemporary times. Tharoor is brutal in his criticism of the saffron brigade but equally accommodating when it comes to presenting their views. "Why I Am A Hindu" is a well-researched exposition and is yet a charming personal account -- and it floats seamlessly in rich prose and diction synonymous with one of the most widely-read and revered authors of our times. (Saket Suman can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in) --IANS ss/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Border Security Force (BSF) trooper and three civilians were injured on Saturday in fresh firing by Pakistan Rangers on the international border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir. "From Akhnoor to R.S. Pura, Pakistan Rangers carried out indiscriminate shelling and firing to target civilian and security facilities. "A BSF trooper sustained injuries in the firing in Pargwal area while three civilians, including a minor girl sustained injuries in Kanachak area of Akhnoor sector," a police officer said. The injured have been shifted to hospital. "The BSF is effectively retaliating at all these places," he added. Shelling and firing continued from the Pakistani side in Arnia, Hira Nagar, Ramgarh and Samba sectors till last reports came in. More than 10,000 residents of border villages have during the last two days migrated from their villages, leaving behind cattle, agricultural fields and homes. Two security personnel, including an army soldier and a BSF trooper, and two civilians were killed on Friday in similar unprovoked firing on the LoC and the international border by Pakistan, police said. Twenty-four others including two BSF troopers and 22 civilians were also injured. --IANS sq/qd/in/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) This is the blog of China defense, where professional analysts and serious defense enthusiasts share findings on a rising military power. China's gender imbalance was further reduced in 2017 due to the introduction of the "second-child policy", experts said on Saturday. At the end of 2017, China had 32.66 million more males than females as opposed to 33.59 million a year earlier, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the data by the National Bureau of Statistics. The gender imbalance continued to decline over the last five years, dropping by around 1.2 million annually, with the largest reduction seen in 2017, official data showed. Chen Jian, deputy head with China Society of Economic Reform, attributed the improvement in China's gender balance to the introduction of the "second-child policy", which helped reduce the number of selective abortions in regions where boys are preferred over girls. About 17.23 million babies were born in 2017, of which 51 per cent have an older sibling, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission. However, the total number of births fell by about 630,000 compared with 2016 while percentage of the population aged over 60 rose from 16.7 per cent in 2016 to 17.3 per cent in 2017. China should roll out more supportive policies to encourage couples to have children in order to help the country deal with the ageing society issue, said James Liang, a professor with Peking University. The government could reduce taxes or offer subsidies for families to help cover the costs for raising multiple children, Liang suggested. --IANS soni/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress Chloe Sevigny says she would 'probably not work with Oscar-winning director Woody Allen again. From "Boys Don't Cry" to "American Psycho", Sevigny has had one of the most prolific resumes of character parts in independent movies. In 2004, she appeared in the Allen's comedy "Melinda and Melinda". Now, Sevigny has expressed reservations about collaborating with the director, reports variety.com. "I have my own turmoil that I'm grappling with over that decision," Sevigny said. "Would I work with him again? Probably not." Sevigny joins a chorus of actors who have either donated their salaries from Allen's movies to the Time's Up campaign, including Rebecca Hall and Timothee Chalamet, or expressed regret in agreeing to co-star in one of his projects. In 2014, Allen's daughter Dylan Farrow published a letter in the New York Times, where she said that she was sexually assaulted by him at the age of 7. Allen has denied any wrongdoing. --IANS sug/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The opposition Conference (NC) on Saturday created ruckus in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly to protest the "failure of the government to protect civilian lives in border villages". Four people, including two civilians and two security personnel, were killed on Friday in Pakistani firing on the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border. "BJP Hai, Hai, RSS Hai, Hai (Down with BJP, RSS)," NC MLAs led by senior leader, Ali Muhammad Sagar, shouted slogans to interrupt the proceedings of the state assembly. They demanded a statement from the government on the recent civilian killings in Pakistani firing on the border. "You (BJP) said we will behead 10 enemy heads if our one soldier is beheaded. Where is you 56-inch wide chest (a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi)," the opposition legislators shouted before walking out from the House in protest. Abdul Majid Larmi, NC MLA, jumped into the Well of the House to protest the setting up of an army camp in Shamsipora village of his south Kashmir Homeshalibugh constituency. Abdul Rehman Veeri, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, tried to calm the agitating MLA saying the concerned district magistrate had been ordered to amicably resolve the issue. A Class 12 student allegedly shot dead the principal of his school in Haryana's Yamunanagar on Saturday, police said. The victim, Rita Chhabra, was sitting in her office when the alleged assailant came and opened fire on her from close range from his weapon. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she died. The student, police sources said, was upset over being rusticated from the school. The accused, who was overpowered by school staff, was handed over to the police and was being questioned. Yamunanagar is around 100 km from here. --IANS js/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress in Kerala on Saturday slammed the CPI-M for "playing spoilsport" in the effort to form a secular front to fight the BJP. Speaking to IANS, state Congress president M.M. Hassan said it is very clear that a section of the CPI-M in Kerala appears adamant that there should be no such front to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "CPI-M party veteran V.S. Achuthanandan has written to the party General Secretary Sitaram Yechury that they should decide on working with the Congress, but Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is all supreme in the party now, does not want it. This is being done purposely to please the BJP, as his SNC Lavalin case has now come up in the Supreme Court. He (Vijayan) is also hoping that by taking this stand, he will get the Centre to help Kerala when it comes to assistance," said Hassan. The CPI-M central committee meeting is currently underway in Kolkata, and the single point of discussion currently is should they engage in any tie up with the Congress. While Yechury wants it, his predecessor Prakash Karat and the Kerala unit of the party is dead against the idea. "Just look at the discussions going on in their party meetings, where they are praising China and North Korea, which is ridiculous. All along the CPI-M has been critical of the economic policies of the Congress party here. While the policies in China and North Korea are acceptable to them, they feel allergic to the policies of the Congress party. We really fail to understand the logic of the CPI-M. We feel that they have lost connect with reality," said Hassan, and added that there's a "B team" of the BJP in the CPI-M here. --IANS sg/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Appealing to the state's angry debt-ridden farming community, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday urged them to shun the path of agitation and said his government could not afford to waive off any more of their debts at the present juncture. Reiterating that his government was committed to alleviating all their woes at the earliest, Amarinder Singh said that despite the severe financial crunch faced by the state government, Punjab had waived off more debts of its farmers than the other states. He cited the examples of Maharashtra (up to Rs 1.5 lakh), Uttar Pradesh (up to Rs 1 lakh), Rajasthan (up to Rs 50,000), Madhya Pradesh (up to Rs 1 lakh) and Karnataka (up to Rs 50,000) to point to the extent to which his government had stretched itself to fulfill this important promise of the Congress to the farming community. He urged the protesting farmers to appreciate the government's efforts. The Chief Minister appealed to the farmers not to be misled by the opposition parties and some Kisan Unions, who he said were spreading false propaganda on the issue of farm debt waiver in order to promote their vested political interests. "Considering the financial problems which my government had inherited from the Akalis, and also considering the lack of support on the issue from the central government, it is not possible, at present, to extend the debt waiver scheme to more farmers or to waive off more than Rs 2 lakh," Amarinder Singh said in a statement here. The Chief Minister sought more time from the farmers to implement farm debt waiver in toto, saying his government was working towards reviving the state's economy so that all sections of the society could be brought back on the track of development. "The thrust, at the moment, is on helping out the worst affected small and marginal farmers," Singh said, adding that all the farmers would eventually be covered by the debt waiver scheme, once the state's economy starts stabilizing. Observing that the state exchequer had a debt of Rs 46,000 crore when he demitted office after his earlier stint in 2007, the Chief Minister said that his government was hit by a debt trap of over Rs 2 lakh crore when it took over from the SAD-BJP government in 2017. "This has prevented his government from full implementation of its farm debt waiver promise in one go," he added. "Nevertheless, of the 10.25 lakh farmers who are eligible to be covered under the debt waiver scheme announced by his government in its maiden budget, 5.63 lakh were slated to benefit in the first phase itself," he pointed out, adding that his government had somehow managed to generate Rs 2,700 crore needed in this phase. "Unfortunately, however, the government is not in a position to garner more funds in the prevailing circumstances, and hence could not accept the demand of the farmers for total waiver," he added. The Chief Minister said that only the big ones among the 17.5 lakh farming families in the state had so far been left out of the waiver scheme, and they were the ones who were quite capable of taking care of themselves. --IANS js/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Four people, including three civilians and an Indian Army soldier, were killed and over a dozen others injured on Saturday on the International Border and the Line of Control (LoC) in relentless ceasefire violations by Pakistan. A soldier, identified as Sepoy Mandeep Singh, was killed in Pakistani firing in the Krishna Ghati (KG) sector of Poonch district. District authorities in Jammu confirmed the deaths of three civilians in Pakistani shelling on the International Border. "Pakistan ceasefire violations on the LoC started at 8.20 a.m. They used small arms and automatics to target Indian positions. Our troops retaliated effectively. However, Sepoy Mandeep Singh, 23, belonging to Punjab, was grievously injured. He later succumbed to his injuries," Defence Ministry officials said. A BSF officer injured in the border shelling in R S Pura Sector, being treated at a Government Hospital at R S Pura about 25km from Jammu | PTI Photo Earlier, a Border Security Force (BSF) trooper and three civilians were injured in fresh firing by Pakistan Rangers on the IB of the state. Police sources confirmed that over a dozen others, including civilians and security personnel, have been injured in Saturday's escalated violence in the border. "From Akhnoor to R.S. Pura, Pakistan Rangers carried out indiscriminate shelling and firing to target civilian and security facilities. "A BSF trooper sustained injuries in the firing in Pargwal area while three civilians, including a minor girl, sustained injuries in Kanachak area of Akhnoor sector," a police officer said. The injured have been shifted to hospital. More than 10,000 residents of border villages have during the last two days migrated from their villages, leaving behind cattle, agricultural fields and homes. On Friday, two security personnel, including an army soldier, and two civilians were killed in ceasefire violations by Pakistan on the LoC and the International Border. Twenty-four others, including two BSF troopers and 22 civilians, were injured in Friday's shelling and firing by Pakistan troops. An owner of a car registered in neighbouring Karnataka learnt that not he but the Goa Police was the 'boss' in the coastal state when he was challaned for sporting the word 'BOSS' on the registration number plate of the vehicle. Director General of Police Dr Muktesh Chander tweeted after the Traffic Department fined the owner. Posting a picture of the challaned offender, Chander tweeted late Saturday: "Spotted a car in Goa belonging to some self-proclaimed 'boss' from Karnataka. He was challaned for defective number plate. Hope he understands who is the boss around. Traffic rules are to be obeyed by bosses also." --IANS maya/tsb (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Goa's tourist taxi drivers on Saturday decided to extend their strike to the third day on Sunday, as Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar declined to consider their demand to not make mandatory installation of speed governors in their vehicles. "Unlike what some of the taxi operators may believe, the state government has not made speed governors mandatory. It has been done by a Supreme Court-appointed committee. It is the law. Their demand to do away with speed governors can't be accepted," Parrikar told reporters in Panaji. "Why do taxi operators in Goa alone have a problem with speed governors, when taxi operators from Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi do not have a problem," the Chief Minister said, adding that over 4,000 taxi operators in Goa had already installed the device. The tourist taxis, which do not get speed governors installed by February 24 this year, would be automatically rendered unfit for public carriage, according to the government order. Taxi operator unions on Saturday resolved to extend their strike to the third day, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition government of not even attempting to engage them in a dialogue. "We are not going to give in. The strike will continue until the state government agrees to our demands," a spokesperson for the taxi operators said. The strike, which began on Friday, had been called by tourist taxi associations in North Goa and South Goa districts, protesting against compulsory installation of speed governors in cabs, and alleged harassment by Transport Department and police officials. The strike has rendered thousands of tourists taxis off the state's roads, leaving both locals as well as tourists in a quandary. Over six million tourists visit the coastal state every year. --IANS maya/nir/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India is putting together this year its largest entourage of ministers, policymakers and business leaders for the World Economic Forum's annual meeting at Davos -- with the Prime Minister addressing the opening plenary session at the prime event. The Davos meeting marks attendance of the richest and most powerful among the elite from across the world to discuss global economics and politics. This year's theme is "Creating a shared future in a fractured world", highlighting the need for collaborative and integrated action to address the multitudinal scale of challenges that our world faces today. Forums with international repute evolve over a period of time, just like other organisations. The World Economic Forum (WEF) too has widened its ambit since 1971 -- from discussions limited to global economic change to include political and social change as well. This broadening has been brought by an emphasis on dialogue and consensus between conflicting agendas. The growing unification within the world economy has helped India establish itself as an emerging market economy to a considerable extent. With elite economic powers now recognising India's presence worldwide in major sectors, it is useful to understand the stature of our participation in forums at the global level in view of erratic global developments that have become a common spectacle today. It is after a gap of 20 years that an Indian Prime Minister will be attending WEF's annual meeting, the last being H.D. Deve Gowda in 1997. With recent economic reforms as the background and the Goods & Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation as the front-runners, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to echo his vision of a new and transformed India by 2022 at this global stage while taking on issues relating to economic imbalances, terrorism, and cyber threats. He is the chief marketing person of India's narrative on national and foreign policies, entrusted with the responsibility of making sure that the message is received. The accompanying ministers, businessmen and civil society leaders too would be elaborating on the efforts made in the last three-and-a-half-years in several sessions. This move comes at a time when there's optimism surrounding the Indian sentiment towards economic growth and social advancement. The insightful interactions with top-notch world leaders at forums like the WEF make room for some of the best learnings and showcasing one's own experiences to foster greater connectivity and cordial relations. While targeting global forums, India can lay out its position in today's world order; represent the willingness to take the lead and send out a categorical message across the global community regarding the creation of a conducive environment for doing business, and emerge as a potential partner in steering global economic growth. Reflecting upon this view, the government is preparing for the commemorative two-day Indo-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit to be led by Narendra Modi in Delhi on from January 25. The summit will see the participation of all 10 ASEAN countries. This can prove to be an opportunity for our country to present itself as a powerful confederate to these countries in areas of strategic regional connectivity and target global positioning as well. However, India decided to give a miss at the Asian Financial Forum (AFF), the 11th edition of which (in Hong Kong ealier this week). The AFF features the world's most powerful business and financial players discussing ideas and the developments in dynamic Asian markets. It is not to say that non-participation at the AFF this year reflects India's weak stance on intensifying its global presence as the reasons for non-participation are not clear. If we look at the ramifications of such global and national forums, one can assert that these conversations and dialogues help in moving one step forward towards higher integration of thoughts and experiences. There are several other platforms even at the national level, like the National Competitiveness Forum, aiming to drive India's productivity, competitiveness and leadership in global markets through its activities, and Thinkers Sandbox, a thought leadership platform, to name a few. Forums like these can help our country commandeer a resilient narrative both nationally and internationally. The average Indian here would think and say: "What's the point in all this?" He may have never heard of a place like Davos and is very likely to think that it is nothing but a scheme by the world's most powerful elite. As a matter of fact, there may not be big boost decisions affecting his routine activities from such dialogues. Sill, in a place where global tensions arise with a blink of an eye, it is a solace that there are neutral platforms where discussions will not turn unpleasant. (Dr. Amit Kapoor is chair, Institute for Competitiveness, India. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at amit.kapoor@competitiveness.in and tweets @kautiliya. Bhawna Kakkar is researcher, Institute for Competitiveness, India) --IANS amit-bhawna/vm/hs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Reports from Thursday claims that Beijing has finally developed a new "landing ship" that could be "possibly" used in future wars involving islands. Prior to the report, the news follows a story last month as a Chinese official threatened that the communist nation would invade Taiwan if a U.S. warship visited the self-ruling island. Furthermore, the Chinese state media have recently played up coverage of "island encirclement" exercises near the democratic island, including showing a Chinese bomber. "China is developing Type 071 ships to meet requirements of possible wars involved with islands in the future, which could help it gain advantages in solving disputes on islands as well as questions involved with Taiwan," Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert, was quoted as telling the Beijing-controlled Global Times newspaper this week. Meanwhile, the report about the new amphibious warship was republished Thursday on China Military Online, the news website of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. "It could also deliver the navy and the army to the target island," Song added. "The expanding number of this type of ships could greatly enhance the PLA Navy's amphibious warfare capability." It is also reported last month that the Chinese military had conducted at least 16 rounds of exercises close to Taiwan in roughly the past year. "I think they are looking realistically to get Taiwan back in the near future," Denny Roy, an Asia Pacific security expert and senior fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu told CNBC Thursday. The think tank's defense expert said Beijing's strategy may be to effectively "frighten Taiwan into submitting without a fight." However, the Chinese military is believed to have at least four amphibious ships as well as two aircraft carriers, including the domestically-built Liaoning that launched last year. In comparison, the U.S. has 10 carriers in its fleet and around 16 of the largest class of amphibious assault ships. Furthermore, late last year, Beijing announced it planned to quadruple the size of its naval fighting force. "If you're going to multiply the size of your naval infantry force by four, it follows that you're going to have a lot more amphibious ships," said Dean Cheng, a defense expert and senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based conservative think tank. Dean Cheng have also told other news sources that Beijing's naval buildup could put Taiwan at risk. Beyond those increases, China is also spending more on its air force, which include developing advanced fighters. The air force and navy forces, on the other hand, could potentially be used to conduct a blockade of Taiwan. "They keep saying that, 'we have to be prepared to retake Taiwan,'" said Cheng. "But they've never really invested in the naval infantry, over-the-shore capabilities that would be required. Now we're seeing them do it as almost the last block being put in place." Though it is still not clear on how many Type 075 assault ships China intends to build, the vessel is roughly 40,000-ton and will afford the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) significant power projection capabilities. On the other hand, the war-ship will be able to carry 30 helicopters onboard-six of which would be able to takeoff simultaneously from the flight deck. In addition to that, massive 820-foot long-with a 98.4-foot beam-vessels will also feature a well-deck for launching ship-to-shore connectors and amphibious vehicles of various types. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India's entry into the elite nuclear clubs, including Australia Group, has reaffirmed the country's non-proliferation credentials and its commitment to global peace and security. "Over the last two years, India's membership of MTCR, Wassenaar Arrangement and Australia Group reaffirms India's strong non-proliferation credentials and also our commitment to global peace and security," Narendra Modi tweeted. He thanked Australia and other members of the Australia Group for supporting India's entry in the club on Friday. The Australia Group admitted India as the 43rd member through a consensus decision. It is the third export control group India has joined. It is already a member of Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies. With this, India has strengthened it case further for NSG membership that China has blocked. The government in a statement on Friday said India joined the Australia Group after internal procedures for joining the club were completed. --IANS sar/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian Railways' plan to convert Mumbai's iconic Chhatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) building into a museum may well be derailed. A report by the Mumbai chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has listed several hurdles to the move, even as sections within the national transporter seem to be opposed to the idea. Designed by British architect Frederick William Stevens, the 129-year-old building, earlier called Victoria Terminus, is currently the headquarters of Central Railway. The Railways had earlier moved a proposal to shift the headquarters of Central Railway to another place in the city and convert the building -- which is Mumbai's only Unesco World Heritage Site -- into a state-of-the-art museum. "UNESCO has become very strict about interventions to World Heritage Sites. First and foremost, it is important to write to UNESCO, apprising them of the intention to convert the site into a museum," INTACH Mumbai chapter said in its report, submitted to the Railways last week. INTACH's Mumbai chapter was asked to prepare a report on the proposed museum project and, accordingly, the document was submitted -- drawing the Railways authorities' attention to the complex issue. "UNESCO requires a heritage impact assessment report to be prepared by an expert. The Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) must be approached for permissions," INTACH Mumbai chapter maintained in its report. It is also learnt that the move is facing resistance within the Railways hierachy as a section is not in favour of moving the Central Railway HQ from the iconic landmark as the project would cost the cash-starved public transporter about Rs 153 crore -- Rs 68 crore for museum and Rs 85 crore for the new headquarters. Apart from UNESCO and MHCC permissions, which seem to be difficult, railway unions have also raised the red flag to the project, opposing vehemently the idea of shifting from the building which got the UNESCO World Heritage Site tag in 2004. It seems any move on the project without the nod from UNESCO would mean the building would lose the World Heritage Site tag. Every day, more than three million suburban commuters use the station, still referred to by its old initials "VT". The building also houses some 400 employees of Central Railway, including the General Manager's office. Currently, Railway officials are busy in preparing budget proposals and it is understood that no forward movement has been made in the project so far after receiving the INTACH report. (Arun Kumar Das is a senior Delhi-based freelance journalist. He can be contacted at akdas2005@gmail.com) --IANS arundas/sac (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jammu and Kashmir Government announced in the state assembly on Saturday that the Station House Officer of Hiranagar police station in Jammu will be suspended till the magisterial probe into a minor girl's gruesome murder is completed. The opposition National Conference legislators disrupted the proceedings of the assembly saying unless the SHO and Deputy Superintendent of Police were suspended, they would not allow the house to function. The National Conference MLAs said when the minor 8-year old 'Bakerwal' girl had gone missing on January 12, why did the concerned police officers wait till her body was discovered? The government said a minor boy has been arrested in this incident and he has confessed to the crime before the police. The opposition raised serious doubts on the government's statement arguing as to how a minor boy could kidnap the girl and keep her in his custody for a week without other accomplices. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Abdul Rehman Veeri told the assembly that the government has decided to suspend the concerned SHO till the magisterial probe will be completed. --IANS sq/ahm/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A day after CPI State Secretary Kanam Rajendran flayed the Kerala Congress (Mani), veteran legislator K.M. Mani on Saturday hit back at the Left party dubbing it as "lying in the graveyard". "The Communist Party of India (CPI) has always been known for its stalwarts, but at present leaders like Rajendran have brought a bad name to it. The CPI is scared of losing its present status and hence attacking us. We have not applied for entry to any political front in Kerala," Mani told media persons here. In August 2016, Mani's KC(M) left the United Democratic Front, of which the party was a constituent for close to over three decades, as he held a section of the Congress responsible for the UDF rout in the May 2016 assembly polls. The Kerala Congress (Mani) has six legislators in the present assembly and acts as an independent bloc in the house. Mani's son Jose K. Mani is the Lok Sabha member from Kottayam. On Friday, CPI leader Rajendran said that the Left Democratic Front is not a ventilator for parties on the death bed. "It's strange that a party like the CPI, which is lying in the graveyard, is saying that other political parties are on ventilator. The CPI, if acting alone, will not win even a single seat in Kerala. At the moment, we are not looking for entry into any front in the state. Let me make it clear that I am not going to join any front, but will cooperate with those who share our ideology," said Mani, who set a record last year by completing 50 years as legislator from Pala constituency. Mani came under a cloud over the infamous bar scam case, wherein a bar owner alleged that he paid Mani Rs 1 crore to reopen closed bars in 2014. Following the then Left opposition's demand, and after adverse remarks from the Kerala High Court, Mani stepped down in November 2015. Ever since Mani left the UDF, the CPI-Marxist has been eyeing his party. The Vigilance, which probed the bar scam case, on Wednesday submitted a preliminary report to say there was no evidence to implicate Mani. For the past two days, the CPI-M leadership has been giving clear signals in favour of Mani. The CPI-M and the CPI, of late, do not enjoy the best of relations. A by-election has been necessitated for Chengannur seat after the death of CPI-M legislator K.K. Ramachandran on Sunday. The CPI-M knows Mani's party has a good hold in the assembly constituency and could be of use. --IANS sg/tsb/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Shahid Kapoor feels his daughter Misha is trying to take away his shoes from him. On Saturday, Shahid shared a photograph of his one-year-old, capturing a moment of her standing in his shoes, on his Instagram account. The image shows Misha looking into the lens directly with confidence, dressed in a fluorescent orange frock. He captioned the image saying: "Guess she has decided to take over." -*- Pritish Nandy lauds Prakash Raaj for speaking up Film producer Pritish Nandy lauded actor Prakash Raaj for speaking up on issues that "concern all Indians". On Thursday, Prakash said at a conclave that "he was not anti-Hindu as alleged by critics but only anti-Modi". The actor went on to say that those who support "killers" cannot be called Hindus. He said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained silent when he appealed to him to speak out when some Modi supporters celebrated the killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh. Praising the guts of the actor to speak out publically without fear, Nandy posted on his Twitter account: "I like the courage and dignity of Prakash Raaj who speaks up on issues that concern all Indians. And he speaks softly and firmly, without the slightest fear." --IANS ks/sug/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed grief over the death of 17 people in a huge fire at a plastic warehouse in west Delhi's Bawana area. "Deeply anguished by the fire at a factory in Bawana. My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives. May those who are injured recover quickly," Modi said in a tweet on Saturday. As many as 17 people, including 10 women, were burnt alive or asphyxiated and 30 others were injured on Saturday in a massive fire at a plastic warehouse in Bawana. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain has ordered a probe into the incident. "Learnt about a serious fire incident in a private factory at Bawana. Several casualties reported. Monitoring the situation. Ordered enquiry," Jain said in a tweet. --IANS aks/pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A five-day-long film festival titled Iranian Film Festival, will be held in Mumbai to celebrate the culture and cinema of India and Iran. The film fest will begin from January 22 and continue till January 26. Five films have been selected for the screening at the festival including the Indo-Iran collaborative film "Hello Mumbai" featuring Bollywood actress Dia Mirza and popular Iranian actor Mohammad Reza Golzar. Interacting with the media on Friday, Mahdi Zare, the Director of the Culture House of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said: "The idea of organising this festival is to create a platform for cultural exchange between two countries -- India and Iran." The screening will take place at the Ravindra Mini Theatre. "While it is a positive sign how Iranian people are taking interest in Indian films, it is great to observe how Indian film lovers are also watching Iranian cinema," Mahdi Zare said. "Through this festival, we want to spread out the beauty of Iranian cinema to the people of Mumbai. Every cinema manifest the society and culture of its country. During the inaugural programme, we will also show a 20-minute film on Iran to give an overview of the country and Iranian culture, society. We are looking forward to host cine lovers to watch films." The festival has been organised by the Culture House of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Federation of Film Societies of India. Asked about the reception of Indian films in Iran, a young filmmaker Azar Faramarzi said that like any other country, the common people prefer to watch "masala films" in Iran and, therefore, "they like Bollywood". "In Iran, common people love to watch Indian cinema because of its song-dance saga. They like watching vibrant colours, festival, celebration that most of the mainstream Bollywood show us." "Small budget, story-driven art house films are for students, festival moviegoers and people like us," said Azar who travelled to cities like Mumbai, Pune and Agra and currently planning to make a film set in India. "This festival will create a platform to start a conversation between two countries not only on creative collaboration but also business networking. Whether it is Majid Majidi's 'Beyond the cloud', Ghorban Mohammadpour's 'Hello Mumbai', the opportunity for collaboration is opening," she added. --IANS aru/pgh/qd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nine persons, including three security personnel, were killed and over 40 others injured in escalated violence along the LoC and the International Border between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir in the past two days, police said on Saturday. "One soldier and four civilians were killed on Saturday in Pakistani shelling and firing along the Line of Control and the International Border while one soldier and one Border Security Force trooper and two civilians were killed on Friday," police said here. "From Akhnoor to R.S. Pura, Pakistan Rangers carried out indiscriminate shelling and firing to target civilian and security facilities for two days," police said. Over 40 others, including civilians and security personnel, were injured. The injured have been shifted to various hospitals. Over a dozen cattle too perished in heavy shelling of civilian facilities by Pakistan Rangers. BSF sources said Indian troops inflicted heavy damage on Pakistani troops, killing seven Rangers and destroying four border posts of Pakistan across the International Border. Around 10,000 residents of border villages in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts have migrated, leaving behind their homes, fields and cattle. "Makeshift accommodation has been arranged for these people in government buildings and schools in R.S. Pura, Samba and Hiranagar," provincial administration officials here said. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti expressed concern over the loss of civilian lives. "Distraught to hear of three more civilians caught in the crossfire on the border. The people of Jammu and Kashmir are the worst victims of the acrimony between the two neighbouring countries. I pray that the hostility on the borders ends soon," she tweeted. Defence sources said Sepoy Mandeep Singh was killed in Pakistani firing in the Krishna Ghati Sector of Poonch district on Saturday while Jammu district authorities confirmed the deaths of four civilians along the International Border. "Pakistan ceasefire violations on the LoC started at 8.20 a.m. They used small arms and automatics to target Indian positions. Our troops retaliated effectively. However, Sepoy Mandeep Singh, 23, belonging to Punjab, was grievously injured. He later succumbed to his injuries," Defence Ministry officials said. --IANS sq/tsb/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Film: "Nirdosh"; Directors: Subroto Paul, Pradeep Rangwani; Cast: Manjari Fadnis, Arbaaz Khan, Ashmit Patel, Mahek Chahal, Mukul Dev; Rating: ** "Nirdosh" is a predictable yet engaging whodunnit drama. Shinaya Grover (Manjari Fadnis) is arrested for the murder of her neighbour Rana (Mukul Dev). Evidence at the crime scene implicates Shinaya. She is arrested and taken to prison. The media and everyone else claim that she has not killed Rana. Shinaya too cries hoarse, pleading that she is not guilty of the murder. Then steps in Crime Branch officer Lokhande, who, with his cheesy lines, claims that he can prove that Shinaya is the culprit. The entire second act indulges in investigating the murder mystery. Some truths are exposed. Gautam Grover (Ashmit Patel) -- Shinaya's husband, Ada (Mahek Chahal) -- their paying guest, Robin -- Ada's rich boyfriend, Rana's wife and Raj -- his brother-in-law, are all suspects. In the course of the police interrogations, Ada goes missing and is later found dead. So, to cut a long story short, this is a case of double-murder and the police are hell bent to nail the murderer. Though it is a no-brainer, how Shinaya absolves herself of the crime, forms the crux of the tale. The performances of the main leads are fairly underrated and perfunctory. Manjari Fadnis as Shinaya is natural and effortless. Mahek Chahal as the aspiring actor Ada adds the glamour quotient while Ashmit Patel is expressionless and Arbaaz Khan is flat toned and uninspiring. The only actors who breathe life into their characters are Mukul Dev as Rana and the actor who plays Raj. Both with shades of noir to their characters and distinct accents -- Rana in Haryanvi and Raj as the Maharashtrian, politically affiliated local hoodlum -- make interesting characters and they definitely stand out. The story written by Amit Khan is a well-etched, run-of-the-mill tale. The writing is simply mediocre and unexciting. But like any crime thriller, you are glued to the screen to unravel the mystery. The action sequences are well-choreographed, especially the chase scene where the police is chasing Robin. It is like watching a gazelle being chased by a panther. Despite being mounted with moderate production values, the production quality of the film seems fairly decent. Overall, "Nirdosh" is a crime drama that is a few notches better than the television crime programmes. However, it does lack depth and finesse. --IANS troy/sug/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Odisha government on Saturday said the export turnover of Odisha may touch Rs one lakh crore before 2025. Inaugurating the "Raptani Bhawan" here, MSME Minister Prafulla Samal said Odisha is going to have a new Export Strategy, which is being prepared in consultation with Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO). With opening and shifting of all export related organisations under a single roof, exporters will be able to get services at a common point. It will help furthering the growth of exports, said the Minister. Directorate of EPM, Odisha and FIEO have started functioning at the Raptani Bhawan immediately. Marine Products Exports Development Authority (MPEDA) and office of Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) will start their functioning very soon. MSME Secretary L.N. Gupta said that because of the highest growth rate of 114 per cent amongst all the states achieved by Odisha during 2016-17, the Centre has recognised the state as "Champion State". He added that a trend of increase in Odisha export continues, which is reflected in the export turnover of nearly Rs 26,000 crore by November, 2017. Gupta said the new export strategy will focus on improvement in standards of quality and products, value addition in traditional exportable products, products and market diversification, downstream and ancillarisation of industries, unleashing the potential of e-commerce and development of eco-tourism in the state. He added that in order to improve the quality of products and services, MSMEs should register themselves under the Zero Effect-Zero Defect (ZEZD) Programme offered by the Quality Council of India. Gupta hoped that with commencement of commercial operations by the Quality Control Laboratory of MPEDA and Testing Laboratory of Export Inspection Agency (EIA), standard and quality of exports would get further improved. Omkar Rai, Director General, STPI said that there is a vast potential of IT and ITES services exports from Odisha. Last year, IT & ITES exports from Odisha was of the order of Rs 3,500 crore, which are likely to increase this year. He added that exports of IT & ITES from the state by October, 2017 has been of the order of Rs 2,600 crore. --IANS cd/ahm/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) This domain was recently registered at Namecheap.com. Please check back later! State-run ONGC will acquire the government's 51.11 per cent equity share-holding in HPCL for Rs 36,915 crore, helping it exceed its divestment target for the current financial year. The stake sale would also help the government boost state revenue and bridge the fiscal deficit at a time when shortfall in GST collections led to India's fiscal deficit for the first eight months of 2017-18 reaching Rs 6.12 lakh crore or 112 per cent of the full year's target. "The Government of India has entered into an agreement with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) today (Saturday) for strategic sale of its 51.11 per cent equity share-holding in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) at a consideration of Rs 36,915 crore," an official statement said. Through the single share sale, the Centre would be able to meet half of its disinvestment target of Rs 72,500 crore through a single action taking the total receipts close to Rs 92,000 crore. According to the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management data, the government had earned total receipts worth Rs 54,337.60 crore before this deal out of the total budgeted receipts of Rs 72,500 crore. With quite a few other disinvestment proposals lined up in the coming months, the target may be revised to over Rs one lakh crore. The government said that ONGC had proposed to acquire the Centre's existing equity shareholding in HPCL in line with the budget announcement. Accordingly, the Union Cabinet, in its meeting held in July last year, gave "in-principle" approval to the proposal and decided to set up an alternative mechanism to decide on the price, timing and the terms and conditions of the strategic sale. "The Alternative mechanism under the Chairmanship of Finance Minister (Arun Jaitley) in its meeting today (Saturday) approved the price bid of ONGC and the terms and conditions of the sale," it said. Through this acquisition, ONGC will become India's first vertically integrated "oil major" company, having presence across the entire value chain. According to the statement, the integrated entity will have advantage of having enhanced capacity to bear higher risks, take higher investment decisions and neutralising the impact of volatility of global crude oil prices. "In this process, ONGC has acquired significant mid-stream and downstream capacity and will attain economies of scale at various levels of operations," it said. Through this economic consolidation, HPCL will join as a member of an integrated oil and gas major group. This will help it in further leveraging synergy at various levels of vertical value chains and look for economic consolidation within and outside the group. HPCL will continue to be a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE). In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had underlined the need of efficient management of government investments in CPSEs during the review in February 2016. The Centre accordingly expanded the approach from disinvestment to investment and public asset management. As part of investment management strategy, Government decided to explore possibilities of consolidation, mergers and acquisitions within CPSE space. --IANS vv/vsc/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahead of the February 18 polls, over 230 officials, including 10 returning officers, besides police, have been transferred in Tripura to comply with the poll panel's orders, an official said here on Saturday. In total 180 police officials, 58 civil administration officials, including 10 returning officers, have been transferred since last week in the state, in keeping with the Election Commission's (EC) orders and the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The MCC was enforced by the EC on Thursday. On Friday night, 58 civil administration officials were transferred and asked to join their new postings within 24 hours, an Election official said here. Of the 58, other than the 10 returning officers, six were sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs). Earlier last week, the Tripura Police Authority transferred 180 police officers, including 20 Officers-in-Charge (OCs) of police stations and 29 Deputy Superintendent of Police rank officers. Tripura Chief Electoral Officer Sriram Taranikanti said that altogether 40 all-women polling stations would be set up in 40 of the 60 assembly constituencies in eight districts of the state. "This is the first time in Tripura that so many polling stations would be set up for exclusive deployment of women polling staffs," the official told the media. Polling will be held in 3,214 polling stations across Tripura. A two-member EC team led by Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain held a series of meetings with senior officials, including Director General of Police Akhil Kumar Sukhla, since Thursday and reviewed the poll preparations. The EC team, which visited all the eight districts during the last three days, left here on Saturday for New Delhi. The poll panel also asked the state authorities to arrest all those persons against whom warrants were pending. --IANS sc/in/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Even after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the states to screen Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Padmaavat', multiplex owners in Gujarat will meet on Monday to take a final call on screening the movie in the state. "After receiving eight representations from various groups, I have decided not to screen the movie in my multiplex," Rakesh Patel, owner of Wide Angle multiplex in Ahmedabad, told media persons. "No one would like to take risk of trouble or damage to his or her property." However, Patel said, it was his decision and he was unsure about other owners taking the same path. Information was doing the rounds on social media about all multiplex owners toeing this line of action. Several Gujarat multiplexes in the past have refrained from screening Bollywood movies like Aamir Khan-starrer 'Fanna' and Ravindra Dholakia-directed 'Parzania' due to controversies surrounding them at the time of their release. A meeting of the Gujarat Multiplex Owners Association, with a membership of owners of over 125 multiplexes, has been convened on Monday afternoon. Patel said a final decision on screening of 'Padmaavat' across these multiplexes would be taken at this meeting. "There appears to be some misunderstanding and so news is doing the rounds that the movie will not be screened by all the multiplexes across the state." The apex court had asked Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat -- which had banned the movie's screening -- to ensure its screening and ensure adequate security. These states banned the movie after several groups claiming to fight for the dignity of mediaeval queen, Rani Padmavati, on whose life the movie is said to be based, demanded that the film be banned. Some burnt tyres on national highways in Gujarat on Friday and Saturday, and blocked vehicular traffic that led to long-drawn jams. The movie -- starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, and Shahid Kapoor and originally titled 'Padmavati' -- has faced protests from the Rajput community ever since its making. It is after much controversy that the movie received a green signal from the Central Board of Film Certification. However, it has failed to pacify certain groups opposing the movie's content. --IANS amit/tsb/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At a high-level Security Council meeting, Pakistan has raised the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, whom Islamabad has accused of being an Indian spy and given him a death sentence. "Those who speak of changing mindsets (about terrorism) need to look within and their own record of subversion against my country as our capture of an Indian spy has amply demonstrated and proved beyond any shadow of doubt," Pakistan's Permanent Representative Maleeha Lodhi said during Council meeting on Afghanistan. She did not mention his name. Her statement was response to India's statement in the Council meeting on Afghanistan that India is a victim of the same Pakistani "mindset" that promotes terrorist attacks everyday in Afghanistan. India has denied that Jadhav, a retired navy officer, worked for the government and said that he was abducted by Pakistan from Iran to stage a show-trial. Denying that Pakistan was giving terrorists a safe haven or support, Lodhi also took a swipe at the US saying it needed a "reality check." The administration of President Donald Trump suspended security aid to Pakistan this month citing its provision of sanctuaries and assistance to terrorists attacking Afghanistan. Jadhav was captured by Pakistan in 2016 and was sentenced to death by a military court martial last year. India appealed to the International Court of Justice against his sentence and the court has stayed his execution. Lodhi was originally listed to address the Council two spots before India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin, but she chose to speak later and amended her prepared speech with the response to him. Akbaruddin said that after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Lahore in December 2015 in a bid to promote peace with Pakistan, "a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack" was launched on the Pathankot airbase in a week's time by "the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day." "These mindsets differentiate between 'good' and bad terrorists," he said. "These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace." "These mindsets,a Akbaruddin declared, "need to change." Lodhi said that Pakistan was against terrorism, being itself a a victim. She blamed the conditions in Afghanistan and the drug trade, which she said brings terrorists $400 million every year, for the insurgency and asserted that they didn't need outside support or sanctuaries because "over 40 per cent of the country is under insurgent control, contested or ungoverned." "Afghanistan and its partners, especially the US, need to address these challenged inside Afghanistan rather than shift the onus for ending the conflict on to others," she said. "Those who imagine sanctuaries outside (Afghanistan) need a reality check," she added. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in) --IANS al/qd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan on Saturday again summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh to condemn "unprovoked ceasefire violations" by India, which it said had killed five civilians and injured 22 others over the past three days. The Foreign Ministry said Indian forces continued firing along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border on Saturday, which killed an elderly civilian and injured two girls. "The number of casualties at international border has also risen due to unprovoked and indiscriminate firing by the Indian forces. Four more innocent civilians were killed, while 20 were injured on January 18 and 19," the statement added. On Friday too, the Indian Deputy High Commissioner had been summoned by the Foreign Office to protest the deaths of a civilian and injuries to nine others in cross-border firing. Pakistan and India had declared ceasefire along the LoC and International Border in 2003. Both, however, routinely accuse each other of violating the ceasefire. --IANS ahm/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) People wearing black clothes were not allowed to attend a public rally here to be addressed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. According to a police officer, the move was to prevent any protests from "troublesome elements". The police, however, did not explain why even media persons were also stopped from entering the premises. Shah and Adityanath are in Varanasi to attend an event named 'Yuva Udghosh' which is an attempt by the party to connect with 17,000 first time voters. Angry youngsters said they found the move objectionable as they were humiliated and barred from attending the event. Over thirty students have also been detained and barred from attending the event, an official confirmed. State BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey and State Organisational Secretary Sunil Bansal are also attending the high-profile event. Heavy security arrangements have been made at the venue of the event as Congress workers are learnt to be preparing for a massive protest against the BJP leaders, accusing them of letting down the people of Varanasi. Anti-BJP pamphlets were distributed by Congress workers on the Sigra square on Friday evening. The pamphlet holds Shah responsible for Justice Loya's death and also referred to him as a 'tadipaar' (Barred from entering the city). Owing to the apprehensions of protests, massive security arrangements have already been made and 12 Assistant Superintendent rank officials, 35 Deputy Superintendents, seven SHO's, 350 Sub Inspectors, 2,128 constables and nine companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary have been deployed for the event. --IANS md/qd/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Calling former Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Vinod Rai a "murderer", former Union Telecom Minister A. Raja on Saturday said Rai should be prosecuted for "cheating". "There was a big conspiracy that has to be probed. Vinod Rai should be prosecuted for cheating," Raja said here at the launch of his book "2G Saga Unfolds", wherein he has presented "my side of the story". Raja was last month acquitted by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in the alleged 2G spectrum allocation scam. He held Rai guilty of his "political murder" as it was an adverse report by Rai in 2010 as the then CAG that pegged the loss to exchequer due to underselling of spectrum at Rs 1.76 lakh crore and which resulted in massive public anger against the Manmohan Singh-led UPA-II government. Rai's report said the licences allocated by the Telecom Ministry in 2008, then headed by A. Raja, were based on 2001 prices, causing the exchequer a massive revenue loss. Subsequently, the Supreme Court cancelled all the licences issued to telecom companies, an FIR was lodged by the CBI and Raja was jailed along with DMK patriarch Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi and others. Raja said in his view the 2G scandal was initially a corporate war which then turned into a political war, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had been the biggest beneficiary of this war. Asked why he had not criticised the BJP or any of its leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, scathingly in the book, although he conceded that the BJP had been its biggest beneficiary, Raja said: "I have criticised Arun Jaitley and Murli Manohar Joshi but why should I jump to Narendra Modi who was sitting in Gujarat?" Refuting allegations of going soft on the BJP, he also ruled out any friendship with the pro-Hindutva party in near future as "DMK believes in social secularism" and he could "say it with conviction". Raja admitted that he had a "grievance" against Congress leaders P. Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee for not coming out in his defence although, though both of them knew the "facts". However, Raja bears no ill feeling for then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who also distanced himself from Raja and his Ministry at the peak of the 2G controversy. "In the then prevailing situation, the Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) could not do anything. I think three things were responsible for it -- adverse comments from the Supreme Court, some Cabinet colleagues filling his ears and pressure from the media," Raja said. "But I made it a point to present the first copy of this book to Dr. Manmohan Singh. It was only through his cooperation that I was able to break the telecom operators' cartel and bring down the tariffs. When I went to see him, he embraced me and almost broke down. He realised that wrong had been done to A. Raja," Raja added. He said that the book should be read without any political spectacles, with just "reading glasses", to be able to see merit in his arguments. Raja said that his acquittal by the court had been a "relief" for the Congress but a "boon" for his party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). --IANS mak/nir/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least one person was killed in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan's Paktia province on Saturday, the police said. "One civilian lost his life and another was injured when the car they were travelling in ran over a mine on a road in Gardez city," police spokesman of the province Sardar Wali told Xinhua news agency. An investigation into the incident was underway, the official said. --IANS soni/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh on Saturday asked for guarantees that their safety and security would be protected and that they would be granted Myanmar citizenship before being repatriated to Rakhine state. Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed earlier this week to complete the refugees' return process within two years. Rohingya community leader Sirajul Mostafa, who lives in Bangladesh's Kutupalong refugee camp, told Efe news that his community was demanding the "complete" implementation of the recommendations made by an advisory commission on Rakhine state led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan before being repatriated. The commission proposed addressing the rights of Rohingyas to resolve sectarian violence in Myanmar's western Rakhine state, including measures such as speeding up the verification process for citizenship and granting citizenship by naturalisation. "We are not here to stay, we want our rights back. If we had seen that peace was restored in Myanmar, there would no problem. People would go back directly," Mostafa said, adding that the Myanmar Army was still allegedly carrying out torture as part of an ongoing campaign. He added that no one from the mostly Muslim minority had yet been asked to prepare for repatriation. A Rohingya activist said: "We need citizenship and that our houses be rebuilt. We must be allowed to live in our houses. We have to be recognized as an ethnic group and those who carried out barbaric attacks against us must be brought to justice," he said. The Rohingya demand for these preconditions comes as the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, is on a visit to Bangladesh. Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an agreement on November 23 to repatriate the Rohingyas, hundreds of thousands of whom have fled sectarian violence in Rakhine state in Myanmar since August. According to the latest figures released by the UN, more than 665,500 have crossed into Bangladesh since last summer. According to the agreement, the repatriation process must start within two months of the agreement's signing and be completed within two years. Amnesty International has said the plans to repatriate the Rohingya were "alarmingly premature" and warned that any "forcible returns would be a violation of international law". The current crisis erupted on August 25, when the Myanmar Army launched an operation in Rakhine, where around 1 million Rohingyas were living, in retaliation against an attack on multiple government outposts by a Rohingya insurgent group. The UN and various human rights organisations have said there was clear evidence of abuses in Myanmar, with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights calling the Army's operations "ethnic cleansing". --IANS soni/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The principal of one of the leading schools in Haryana's Yamunanagar was on Saturday shot dead by a Class 12 student in the school, police said. Principal Ritu Chhabra was shot at thrice by the suspended Class 12 student during a meeting with his parents in the premises of Swami Vivekanand Public School in the city. The student had been recently suspended and expelled from the school. Police said the boy's father is a financier and the pistol used in the incident belonged to the father and is a licensed one. "School staff, students and teachers caught the accused while he was trying to escape and handed him over to police," said a senior police officer. Police said that prima facie investigations suggest that the boy was accompanied by at least one of his friends. More than five rounds were fired, triggering panic and horror among the school staff, teachers and students. The injured principal was rushed to hospital and declared dead by doctors after some time. --IANS pradeep/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on Security Council reform, who were recently in India for consultations, have announced a schedule of five meetings starting with the first on February 1 and 2 to move the long-stalled process forward. In a letter to all the member countries forwarded by General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak, the co-chairs asked for feedback and specific proposals on reforms with a view to having a frank dialogue. Permanent Representatives Kaha Imnadze of Georgia and Lana Zaki Nusseibeh of the United Arab Emirates, who were appointed co-chairs of the IGN by Lajcak, visited India earlier this week to consult with Indian leaders about the reform process. They met with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Minister of State MJ Akbar and Ruchi Ghanshyam, Secretary for West in the ministry. Afterwards Imnadze tweeted that it was a "constructive trip" with discussions on Council reforms and broader multilateral issues. In their letter to member nations, Imnadze and Nusseibh invited them "to engage in a frank dialogue on the assessment of the intergovernmental negotiations, and to offer feedback and specific proposals on how to move forward" during the current Assembly session. India is seeking a permanent seat on the Council through the reform process. The negotiations for reforms have been stalled for over a decade mainly because of opposition from a group countries known as United for Consensus, which is led by Italy and includes Pakistan. The IGN has so far been unable to even adopt a negotiating text to base the discussions on reform. Lajcak, who is trying to breathe new life into the negotiations told reporters last month, "We need to move this process forward, because there are high expectations from this process" as it is the most visible reform process to the outside world. "What we want to now see is the debate, the dialogue whose aim would be to bring the positions of the countries or the groups of countries closer together," he said. "We are seeking convergence." (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in) --IANS al/qd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior journalist and Indian Journalists Association Secretary Anindya Sengupta, noted for sharp political and economic reporting, died at a city private hospital on Saturday after a month-long battle with lung cancer, family and sources said. Sengupta, 52, is survived by his wife and a daughter. During his over two-decade-long journalistic career, Sengupta made a mark with his insightful coverage, and impartial reporting, and penned a large number of investigative stories which earned him acclaim. He started off with Bengali daily 'Bartamaan', and subsequently worked for English dailies 'The Statesman' and 'The Telegraph'. Known for organisational skills, Sengupta served as Secretary of the Press Club, Kolkata, for six terms. At the time of his death, he was Secretary of the IJA. Condoling Sengupta's demise, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said it was an "irreparable loss" for the fraternity, and extended heartfelt sympathies to his family. Wreaths were placed on Sengupta's body by Information Minister Indranil Sen and various journalistic organisations. Hundreds of fellow journalists and public relations professionals bid a tearful farewell later in the day to Sengupta, whose body was kept for some time at the Press Club, Kolkata. --IANS ssp/tsb/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A court here on Saturday send six men to the gallows in the honour killings of three Dalit youths in Ahmednagar district five years ago. On January 15, Nashik District and Sessions Court Judge Rajendrakumar R. Vaishnav pronounced six of the seven accused guilty for the brutal murder of Sachin S. Gharu and two others on January 1, 2013. Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said the convicts have also been ordered to pay a fine of Rs 20,000 each and directed the government to compensate the victims' families. Some of the compensation has already been paid. Those who have been awarded the capital punishment include: Popat V. Darandale, Ganesh P. Darandale, Prakash V. Darandale, Ramesh V. Darandale, Ashok S. Navgire and Sandeep M. Kurhe. Gharu, 24, had fallen in love with an upper caste Maratha girl of the Darandale family from Sonai village. The lovers planned to marry against her family's wishes. The convicts include the girl's father, Popat V. Darandale, her brother Ganesh, other relatives and friends of the family. All six would be hanged for various crimes including murder, criminal conspiracy, etc. One of the co-accused in the case Ashok R. Phalke was acquitted for lack of sufficient evidence, which was handed over to the state CID by the then state Home Minister, the late R.R. Patil. Besides Gharu, his friends Sandeep Thanvar, 25, and Rahul Kandhare, 20, were also killed and their bodies disposed off. Gharu, Thanvar and Kandhare, who belonged to the Mehtar caste, worked as conservancy staffers in Trimurti Pawan Pratisthan's High School and Junior College, in Newasa, around 30 km from Sonai, the investigation report said. On learning of the love-affair of the girl, who was a student, with a lower-caste boy, her family called the three Dalit youths to their home on New Year, ostensibly to clean their septic tank. First the girl's family eliminated Gharu. They chopped his head and limbs off the body with a sickle and dumped the pieces inside the septic tank. Then they attacked Thanvar and Kandhare with spades. They took their bodies outside the village where they were buried in a dry well. After the three suddenly "disappeared", on the basis of complaints registered by their families, the police launched a search and finally recovered Gharu's rotting body pieces from the septic tank after more than 24 hours, and the remains of the other two after 72 hours. A total of 54 witnesses were examined during the trial, lasting nearly five years in one of the most high-profile cases of honour killings in Maharashtra. While Nikam argued that it was "a rarest of rare cases as it was a very gory and gruesome crime and with larger ramifications for society", defence lawyer S.S. Adas pleaded for leniency on grounds that while one accused (Ganesh P. Darandale) was very young, the others were of advanced age. Pronouncing the verdict, Judge Vaishnav observed that the manner in which the convicts had killed the three victims, "they had forgotten to understand the feelings of others". "Such people have no right to live in society and hence hanging them till death is the only way to save the society," Judge Vaishnav ruled. Making a forceful argument for death sentence for all the convicts, Nikam said that the "girl's family, which opposed the inter-caste affair hatched a conspiracy and brutally killed the three Dalit youths". "The judgement by the court is very important. The prosecution argued the entire case based on circumstantial evidence since there were no eyewitnesses. Yet, we managed to link the sequence of events," said Nikam. --IANS qn/in/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Indian Army soldier was killed on Saturday in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, an official said. The Pakistani Army violated the ceasefire in the Krishna Ghati (KG) sector in Poonch district on Saturday, the Defence Ministry official said. "The ceasefire violation started at 8.20 a.m. They used small arms and automatics to target Indian positions. Our troops retaliated effectively. However, Sepoy Mandeep Singh, 23, belonging to Punjab, was grievously injured. He later succumbed to his injuries," the official added. Earlier, a Border Security Force (BSF) trooper and three civilians were injured in fresh firing by Pakistan Rangers on the international border (IB) of the state. "From Akhnoor to R.S. Pura, Pakistan Rangers carried out indiscriminate shelling and firing to target civilian and security facilities. "A BSF trooper sustained injuries in the firing in Pargwal area while three civilians, including a minor girl sustained injuries in Kanachak area of Akhnoor sector," a police officer said. The injured have been shifted to hospital. More than 10,000 residents of border villages have during the last two days migrated from their villages, leaving behind cattle, agricultural fields and homes. Two security personnel, including an army soldier and a BSF trooper, and two civilians were killed on Friday in similar unprovoked firing on the LoC and the international border by Pakistan, police said. Twenty-four others including two BSF troopers and 22 civilians were also injured. --IANS sq/qd/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More and more kids are hooked on to screens, parents are worried how to create homework-play balance and tech giants in Silicon Valley are in a huddle, deliberating over how to help children cut . Two key Apple shareholders this month requested the Cupertino-based iPhone maker to take urgent steps to safeguard young users from the ill-effects of iPhone addiction. In a letter, Jana Partners and the California State Teachers' Retirement System told Apple to make its products safer for the younger users. "We have reviewed the evidence and we believe there is a clear need for Apple to offer parents more choices and tools to help them ensure that young consumers are using your products in an optimal manner," the letter read. Facebook, which has over two billion users, is making drastic changes to its News Feed that will allow users to see more updates from family and friends than posts from businesses, brands and media. According to its CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook has got a feedback from the community that public content -- posts from businesses, brands and media -- is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other. Zuckerberg admits that the new changes might not pay off at first, but believes it is important that users have more meaningful social interactions. The decision may result in a massive $23 billion revenue loss for Facebook as advertisers are not happy about being shooed away from their biggest online market on Earth. This is not the first time such fears have come out in the open from the global tech industry. Microsoft founder-turned-philanthropist Bill Gates, in an interview to the Mirror last year, said he has set strict rules for how his three kids grew up "in a home that forbade cell phones until age 14, banned cell-phone use at the dinner table, and set limits on how close to bedtime kids could use their phones". "You're always looking at how it can be used in a great way -- homework and staying in touch with friends -- and also where it has gotten to excess," Gates told the Mirror. Late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs never let his kids use iPads at home. "We limit how much our kids use at home," Jobs had told The New York Times. According to Sean Parker, one of Facebook founders, the digital world's addictive qualities "exploit a vulnerability in human psychology... God only knows what it's doing to our children's brains". To buttress their point, Apple shareholders, in their letter, cited latest research that linked depression to smartphone use among students. However, a December study from the University of Michigan suggests that how children use the devices -- not how much time they spend on them -- is the strongest predictor of emotional or social problems connected with . "Typically, researchers and clinicians quantify or consider the amount of screen time as of paramount importance in determining what is normal or not normal or healthy or unhealthy," said lead author Sarah Domoff. "Our study has demonstrated that there is more to it than number of hours. What matters most is whether screen use causes problems in other areas of life or has become an all-consuming activity," she added. Some of the warning signs include if screen time interferes with daily activities, causes conflict for the child or in the family, or is the only activity that brings the child joy. It's now a familiar sight in the majority of families including in India -- young children bent over a screen for hours, texting or gaming, lost in a digital world -- with parents worrying how much screen time is too much. The awakening in the tech world is just another discussion point -- this time among those who built it in the first place. However, with billions of devices now being used in homes across the world, it is practically impossible to turn the clock back and tell kids to stop using gadgets. The onus lies on parents who can learn from Gates and Jobs how to minimise screen time cautiously and judiciously -- without making our kids angrier and more stubborn. Meanwhile, Apple CEO Tim Cook wants all primary school children to be taught coding alongside the alphabet. For him, coding is "just another language, and just like any other language, it should be taught in schools". It is possibly time to buy a device with high-performance computing capabilities for your kids at home. Two persons, including a manager of a private telecom major, were arrested on Saturday for alleged involvement in a murderous attack on a senior journalist in the state capital, police said. Those arrested and booked under various charges, including Section 307 (attempt to murder), of the Indian Penal Code are Vaibhav Singh, 24, and Neeraj Dixit, 25. Senior journalist Navalkant Sinha was chased and beaten up on Friday night by the two and threatened with more attacks. Journalist groups on Saturday demanded immediate arrest of the culprits after which police went looking for them. Journalists have since demanded that they be booked under the National Security Act. The case is being monitored by senior Home Department and police officials. Informed sources said Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar has directed Lucknow Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar to take strictest possible action as per law against the accused. After attack on several journalists in the past few months under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rule, scribes have demanded the government ensure their safety and security. Senior state BJP leaders also went to the police station, pressing for action against the accused and directed officials to ensure proper patrolling. --IANS md/tsb (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Saturday said Uttar Pradesh will top developmental charts by 2022 when the state elects the next assembly. Speaking at the 'Yuva Udghosh' programme of the party in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP President said the fact that 17,000 first-time voters were getting bonded to the party during the event showed the expression of solidarity and faith in the BJP. Addressing the gathering of young voters at the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth, Shah said the BJP now has governments in 19 states and was serving 80 per cent of the country and boasted of a base of 11 crore workers. He termed the BJP not a party but a "movement" committed to creating a new India. Shah said it was possible only in a party like the BJP where an ordinary booth worker could rise through the ranks to become the party President and a tea-seller could become the Prime Minister. Earlier, tight security was put in place before the arrival of Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the temple town, as Congress workers had distributed pamphlets only a day earlier, alleging Shah's hand in the death of Central Bureau of Investigation Special Judge Justice B.H. Loya. More than four dozen youngsters, mostly from the Youth Congress, were detained by the police before the rally. People, including journalists, sporting black clothes were barred from entering the venue as police feared they could be misused to protest. Former Congress legislator Ajay Rai, who unsuccessfully contested against Modi from Varanasi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, staged a sit-in against the BJP chief. Congress workers alleged that Shah was not only behind Justice Loya's sudden death but also billed him 'tadipaar' (one banished by court from entering Gujarat). --IANS md/tsb/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC) on Saturday said the shut-down of the US Federal government will hit exports to the country which is among the largest destinations for Indian exports. The US government began shutting down on Saturday for the first time in more than four years after Senate Democrats blocked consideration of a stopgap spending measure to keep the government operating. "The shutdown of the US Federal government is certainly bad news for the Indian exporters since the American economy is among the largest destinations for exports," EEPC India Chairman Ravi P. Sehgal said. He further reiterated that for the engineering sector the "US is the number one export destination, giving a robust growth in the current financial year". Between April-December period of the current fiscal, engineering exports to the US grew by over 50 per cent to $7.5 billion, Sehgal said. "With as many as 60,000 employees of the US Commerce and Transportation departments being furloughed, the port operations as also the clearing would be hit," he noted with concern. --IANS bdc/ahm/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US government began shutting down on Saturday, putting thousands of workers on unpaid leave, after the Senate failed to pass a stopgap budget. The shutdown marked the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration, media reports said. It is the first shutdown in US history to happen while the same party controls both chambers of Congress and the White House, the BBC reported. Despite last minute bipartisan meetings, the bill to fund the government until February 16, did not receive the required 60 votes. The budget proposal presented by the Republicans on Friday night got more votes in favour (50) than against (48), but they were insufficient to approve funds. Four Republicans voted against the bill while five Democrats broke rank to support it. Earlier on Thursday night, the House of Representatives voted 230-197 to extend funding until February. Minutes before the midnight deadline expired, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders blamed Senate Democrats on Twitter for the "Schumer Shutdown", the New York Times report said. (Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, is seen as the prime opponent to the stopgap budget). "Tonight, they put over our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country's ability to serve all Americans," Sanders said. "We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands. "This is the behaviour of obstructionist losers, not legislators," she added. Sanders said "the President and his administration will fight for and protect" the American people during the "politically manufactured" shutdown. The rejection of the funding bill by the Senate meant many government services would close down until the budget was agreed upon. The last US shutdown was in 2013 during the Barrack Obama administration. It lasted for 16 days when many federal employees were forced to take leave of absence. On Saturday, Trump wrote on Twitter: "Not looking good for our great Military or Safety and Security on the very dangerous Southern Border. Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy." According to a report in The Guardian, federal law requires agencies to shut down if Congress has not appropriated money to fund them. In previous shutdowns, services deemed "essential", such as the work of the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, have continued. --IANS qd/in/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US government began shutting down on Saturday for the first time in more than four years after Senate Democrats blocked consideration of a stopgap spending measure to keep the government operating. The shutdown, which comes on the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration, set off a new round of partisan disagreements and posed risks for both parties, the New York Times reported. This is the first modern government shutdown with Congress and the White House controlled by the same party and it came after a fruitless last-minute negotiating session at the White House between Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader. Trump's White House however immediately blamed Democrats for the shutdown. "Tonight, they put above our national security, military families, vulnerable children and our country's ability to serve all Americans," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement on Friday moments before midnight. Democrats are demanding a budget deal should include protections for young immigrants known as "Dreamers" brought to US as children, yet Republicans have shown no signs of including a "Dreamers" protection in the bill. "We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands," Sanders said. Trump and his representatives had been labelling the event the "Schumer shutdown" after Schumer, but the New York Democrat was quick to call it "the Trump shutdown". "It's almost as if you were rooting for a shutdown," Schumer said from the Senate floor. "And now we will have one. And the blame should crash entirely on President Trump's shoulders," he added. Sixty votes were needed to advance the bill to fund the government until February 16. Republicans only control 51 seats, so GOP leaders needed Democratic votes to cross that threshold. It failed 50-49. The budget proposal presented by the Republicans on Friday night got more votes in favour (50) than against (48), but they were insufficient to approve funds. Four Republicans voted against the bill while five Democrats broke rank to support it. Earlier on Thursday night, the House of Representatives voted 230-197 to extend funding until February. Officials said that now over one million active-duty military personnel will serve with no lapse, but could not be paid until the shutdown ends. Agencies like the Energy Department that have funding that is not subject to annual appropriations can use that money to stay open, the officials said. Entitlements such as Social Security that are automatically funded can continue without disruption. Officials said Trump may travel on Air Force One to carry out his constitutional responsibilities, including a planned trip next week to Davos, Switzerland -- although it was unclear whether trips to Mar-a-Lago -- his exclusive club in Florida would fall into that category. Trump cancelled his plans to travel to his resort due to the crisis, a White House official said. On Saturday, the President wrote on Twitter: "Not looking good for our great military or safety and security on the very dangerous southern border. Dems want a shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the tax cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy." The last US shutdown was in 2013 during the Barrack Obama administration. It lasted for 16 days when many federal employees were forced to take leave of absence. --IANS soni/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Iran's deputy envoy to the UN has said the US-led military coalition had failed to make Afghanistan a safer nation, Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday. The security in Afghanistan has continued to deteriorate since the US invasion in 2001, Eshaq Al-e-Habib was quoted as saying. More than a decade after the US-led military invasion, Afghanistan, the region and the world are not any safer, he said. "Building regional partnerships and cooperation, not only in Afghanistan and Central Asia but in all regions around the world, serve as the most appropriate model to reinforce the inseparable nexus between security and development," he stressed. --IANS ahm/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US Defence Secretary James Mattis has said competition between great powers, not terrorism, is now the main focus of America's national security. The US faced "growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia", he said, unveiling the national defence strategy, BBC reported on Friday. In an apparent reference to Russia, he warned against "threaten(ing) America's experiment in democracy". "If you challenge us, it will be your longest and worst day," he warned. The US has been gripped by ongoing investigations into alleged collusion between the Trump 2016 election campaign and Russia. Speaking in Washington, Mattis also appealed to Congress to fund the military adequately and refrain from "indiscriminate and automatic cuts" to the US federal budget. US President Donald Trump is seeking to boost defence spending by 10 per cent, or $54 billion, in his proposed budget plan for this year, and hopes to recoup that sum through deep cuts elsewhere, including to foreign aid. --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Election Commission's (EC) decision to disqualify 20 MLAs for holding office of profit, was its chief, A. K. Jyoti's parting gift to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior leader Gopal Rai said here on Saturday. Addressing media, Rai also said that the party will launch a campaign against BJP's decisions to allow FDI in retail and the sealing drive in the city. On Friday, the EC recommended to President Ram Nath Kovind to disqualify 20 MLAs for holding offices of profit as Parliamentary Secretaries, triggering calls for resignation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The President is bound to act in accordance with the poll panel's recommendation. Here are top 10 developments 1. CEC AK Jyoti is an agent of BJP: AAP Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh on Saturday alleged the Chief Election Commissioner AK Jyoti 'working for his boss PM Modi', and he asserted that in many instances members holding the office of profit were never disqualified. Sanjay Singh, said "There have been many instances where members holding an office of profit were never disqualified. It has happened during Congress rule in Delhi, it has happened in Bengal and Jharkhand as well. This proves that the EC is working at the behest of BJP." "CEC AK Jyoti is working for his boss PM Modi. He has a bungalow in Gujarat. Just 3 days before his retirement, he has shown his true face as an agent of BJP. I demand Narendra Modi's resignation, he said. 2. Kejriwal to address meeting at his residence Aam Admi Party Chief Arvind Kejriwal will address a party meeting at his residence at 4:30 pm today. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that "hurdles naturally come when one walks the path of truth". "Hurdles do come when one walks the path of truth and honesty. This is natural. But all the visible and invisible powers of the universe help you. God supports you, because you don't work for yourself but for the nation and the society," Kejriwal posted on Twitter. , Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 19, 2018 "History is witness that it is truth that wins in the end," the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Convenor added. 3. What is happening is dangerous for the country: Gopal Rai "What is happening is dangerous for the country... for a democracy. The country will have to pay. PM Modi is breaking down all institutions," AAP leader Gopal Rai said. 4.'Delhi Congress begins planning for possiblebypolls' Spurred by the news of Election Commission's recommendation for disqualification of 20 ruling AAP MLAs in the office of profit case, the Delhi Congress on Friday got down to planning for possible by-polls in the affected constituencies, party sources said. A meeting attended by Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken and AICC in-charge of the state unit PC Chacko, the party functionaries discussed the emerging scenario and possible elections in the 20 Assembly segments. Kejriwal has no right to continue. Half of his cabinet ministers removed on corruption charges! 20 MLAs who were enjoying ministerial perks would be disqualified! Where is Lokpal? The MLAs and Ministers enjoying perks of power and foreign travel-Where is political probity? Ajay Maken (@ajaymaken) January 19, 2018 5. EC's touched a new low, says angry AAP "The discussions centred around the disqualification of 20 MLAs and by-polls in the affected constituencies. It was decided to hold conventions in all the 20 constituencies in coming days," said a senior party leader who attended the meeting. The Delhi Congress will also hold a demonstration against the Kejriwal government on the issue of "corruption" on Tuesday, he said. Hitting out at the Election Commission, the Aam Aadmi Party alleged on Friday that "the vindictive recommendation was made at the behest of the BJP-led central government", adding chief election commissioner A K Joti was "repaying the debt" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi before his retirement. - , , ?#PoliticalVendettaAgainstAAP pic.twitter.com/qccnoxP4s4 AAP (@AamAadmiParty) January 20, 2018 AAP Delhi chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said: "A K Joti was the principal secretary under (the then Gujarat chief minister) Narendra Modi and then the chief secretary of Gujarat. He is retiring on Monday. So you want to repay Modiji's debt. You are mortgaging a constitutional post like the EC." AAP, whose government in the city will not face any threat even after its 20 MLAs are disqualified, claimed, "EC has touched the lowest point in its history" as it did not give the party MLAs any chance to present their case. 6. Twitter was abuzz with reactions We parted ways the day Arvind Kejriwal formed Aam Aadmi Party. We are not in contact anymore. I had told him not to form a party. Nation can't be served by forming a party, had that been the case, the scenario would have been different in 70 years of independence: Anna Hazare pic.twitter.com/LGz8oi6MkU ANI (@ANI) January 19, 2018 EC's decision to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs for Office of Profit is on expected lines as per routine course of law but also a delayed one. These appointments were not just a technical violation of constitutional norms, but also a serious case of political immorality by Mr. Kejriwal. Anupam (@AnupamConnects) January 19, 2018 Why Kejriwal allowed to appoint those very doctors who were challenging the Governments decision on Max Hospital in the committee for fixation of medical fees & form guidelines for private hospitals. #KejriwalMustGo Jyoti Katharia (@jyotikatharia) January 20, 2018 Good news: EC recommends disqualification of 20 AAP MLA's to President. Solid proof of office of profit found against them. Massive setback to Kejriwal but will he resign on moral ground. Totlani Krishan (@kktotlani) January 19, 2018 Kind attention everyone, Tomorrow Twitter may crash! Because Kejriwal's tweet about 'Modi Conspiracy' on disqualification of AAP MLA's will go too much heavy for Twitter to bear! Ankit Singh (@ankitbcet) January 19, 2018 7. BJP welcomes move BJP leader and leader of Opposition in the Delhi assembly Vijender Gupta tweeted: Better late than never, EC Election disqualifies 20 AAP MLAs for holding office of profit. The AAP govt has much to answer to the public for their political impropriety as Delhi is headed for mid-term #elections. Will request Honble President for speedy approval. Those who started their political journey against corruption are themselves corrupt. The journey of AAP has been from 'India against corruption' to 'I AM CORRUPTION: Dr. @sambitswaraj on EC's decision to disqualify 20 MLAs of Aam Aadmi Party. https://t.co/WRxD7d7L2L BJP (@BJP4India) January 19, 2018 In a second tweet, he demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal: Disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs is a huge moral defeat for CM @ArvindKejriwal. It has put his leadership in peril. He must resign on ethical grounds. Meanwhile AAP leaders are now huddled at Arvind Kejriwal's residence to device the party's next move following the election commission's decision to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs. Lage raho!!!! Priti Gandhi (@MrsGandhi) January 19, 2018 8. Mamata Banerjee backs Kejriwal Priti Gandhi, the executive member of the BJP, tweeted: Election Commission disqualifies 20 AAP MLAs for holding office of profit, sends recommendation to President. Egg on the face of pseudo-Krantikaris! A Constitutional body cannot be used for political vendetta. The 20 AAP MLAs were not even given a hearing by the Hon EC. Most unfortunate. This goes against the principles of natural justice. At this hour we are strongly with @arvindkejriwal and his team Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) January 19, 2018 West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee supported Kejriwal. She tweeted: A Constitutional body cannot be used for political vendetta. The 20 AAP MLAs were not even given a hearing by the Honble Election Commission. Most unfortunate. This goes against the principles of natural justice. At this hour we are strongly with @arvindkejriwal and his team. 9. AAP approaches Delhi High Court The AAP meanwhile approached the Delhi High Court in a bid to stave off the impending action against its MLAs but the court refused any relief saying there was no Commission order and it cannot act on media reports. The matter will come up again on Monday. 10. What next? The move will pave the way for by-polls in Delhi for 20 constituencies of the 70-member assembly. The AAP at present has officially 66 members in the House although some have turned dissidents. The other four seats are held by the BJP. Even if 20 MLAs are disqualified, the ruling party will still have a comfortable majority in the Delhi Assembly. But by-elections, if called, will put to test Kejriwal's grip on Delhi. 10. List of 20 AAP legislators who face office of profit Kailash Gahlot: Najafgarh legislator Kailash Gahlot was appointed as parliamentary secretary to ministry of law. Naresh Yadav: Mehrauli legislator Naresh Yadav was appointed as parliamentary secretary to labour ministry. Som Dutt: Sadar Bazar legislator Som Dutt was appointed as parliamentary secretary to industries ministry. Praveen Kumar: Jangpura legislator Praveen Kumar was appointed as parliamentary secretary to education ministry. Nitin Tyagi: Laxmi Nagar legislator Nitin Tyagi was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to Ministry of Women and Child and Social Welfare. Adarsh Shastri: Dwarka legislator Adarsh Shastri was appointed as parliamentary secretary to information and technology ministry. Sanjeev Jha: Burari legislator Sanjeev Jha was appointed as parliamentary secretary to transport ministry. Jarnail Singh: Tilak Nagar legislator Jarnail Singh was appointed as parliamentary secretary to the Development Ministry. Sukhvir Singh: Mundka legislator Sukhvir Singh was appointed as parliamentary secretary to the ministry of languages and welfare of SC/ST/OBC. Madan Lal: Kasturba Nagar legislator Madan Lal was appointed as parliamentary secretary to vigilance ministry. Sarita Singh: Rohtas Nagar legislator Sarita Singh was appointed as parliamentary secretary to employment ministry. Alka Lamba: Chandni Chowk legislator Alka Lamba was appointed as parliamentary secretary to ministry of tourism. Rajesh Rishi: Janakpuri legislator Rajesh Rishi was appointed as parliamentary secretary to health ministry. Anil Kumar Bajpai: Gandhi Nagar legislator Anil Kumar Bajpai was appointed as parliamentary secretary to health ministry. Manoj Kumar: Kondli legislator Manoj Kumar was appointed as parliamentary secretary to ministry of food and civil supplies. Avtar Singh: Kalkaji legislator Avtar Singh was appointed as parliamentary secretary to ministry of gurdwara elections. Vijendar Garg Vijay: Rajinder Nagar legislator Vijendar Garg Vijay was appointed as parliamentary secretary to ministry of PWD. Rajesh Gupta: Wazirpur legislator was appointed as parliamentary secretary to health ministry. Sharad Kumar: Narela legislator was appointed as parliamentary secretary to revenue ministry. Shiv Charan Goel: Moti Nagar legislator Shiv Charan Goel was appointed was appointed as parliamentary secretary to finance ministry. The panel last year in October issued a notice to the AAP MLAs seeking an explanation after rejecting their pleas to drop the 'office of profit' case against them. In March 2015, the AAP government passed an amendment to the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) Act, 1997, to exempt the posts of Parliamentary Secretary from the definition of office of profit with retrospective effect. But then President Mukherjee refused to give assent, following which the appointments were set aside by the Delhi High Court in September 2016, declaring them illegal since the order had been passed "without concurrence/approval of the Lt Governor". My basic nature is to convert adversity into opportunity, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an interview, while talking about his initial lack of experience in foreign policies after assuming the charge in 2014 and turning this deficiency into his strength and using the same for growing India's stature on world stage. "When I became Prime Minister then I had no experience of foreign policy protocols, but my basic nature is to convert adversity into opportunity. I am a common man, I will admit that I was not too well versed with the protocols, so I behaved like a common person without getting too formal. My inexperience actually helped me as the world liked openness of a common man," Prime Minister Modi said in an exclusive interview given to Zee News, on Friday. When asked whether India had become a global power, the Prime Minister said, "Earlier the world was divided into two camps but today the situation has changed. Every nation has friendly relations with other nations despite disputes on some issues. The world today is interconnected." In the interview, the Prime Minister also recalled how India raised the issue of corruption in the G20 summit. "Today corruption has become a major issue at G20. India has called world's attention over terrorism. (Former) US President Barack Obama had also praised India's role on global warming," the Prime Minister said. Replying to another question, Prime Minister Modi said the declaration of International Yoga Day by the United Nations (UN) was another achievement of India. Seventeen Indian fishermen have been arrested for allegedly illegally fishing in Pakistani waters and a court here remanded them into custody today. A police official at the docks police station has said the Indian nationals appeared before a magistrate who sent them to jail on remand. "These fishermen were handed over to us by the Maritime Security last night for further legal process," he said. He said most of the fishermen belonged to Gujarat. The 17 Indian fishermen were arrested for fishing in Pakistan's territorial waters, according to the Maritime Security Force. "They were fishing in the Arabian sea in our territory and they were detained and their three boats seized," he said. The arrests come after the release of 145 Indian fishermen on December 28. An official of the Pakistan Maritime Security Force said that since late November the number of Indian fishermen detained for fishing in Pakistani waters was around 185. A total of 438 Indian fishermen were released in 12 days time in December 2016-January 2017 by the Pakistani authorities from the Landhi and Malir jails in Karachi. Pakistan and India frequently arrest fishermen as there is no clear demarcation of the maritime border in the Arabian Sea and these fishermen do not have boats equipped with the technology to know their precise location. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Six persons including three juveniles were today arrested from the southern part of Kolkata for their alleged involvement in the gangrape of a woman, police said today. The woman who was visiting a relative's place, was gangraped yesterday afternoon inside an abandoned staff quarter of Kolkata Port Trust in Taratala area. Sources in the Kolkata Police said medical tests confirmed gangrape of the woman. "The incident took place at around 12.30 pm when a 27-year-old woman, who went to fetch chicken from a local shop, was taken to an abandoned house by a boy working there," the officer said. Other accused persons reached there and some of them raped her while others clicked photos and videos on their mobile phones, he said. "They threatened her not to reveal the incident to anybody and left," he added. The woman lodged a complaint with Taratala police station on the basis of which the six accused were arrested. While three juveniles were sent to juvenile home, the other three were sent to judicial custody till February 3, the officer said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Four people, including a BSF jawan, were injured after Pakistan violated ceasefire for the third consecutive day today in three districts of Jammu and Kashmir along the International Border, officials said. Pakistan rangers targeted villages along the IB from Chenab river (Akhnoor) to R S Pura throughout the night in heavy unprovoked shelling and firing, a BSF officer told PTI. The firing and shelling were still underway when the reports last came in this morning, he said. The officer said Pakistan was targeting civilian villages to cause death and destruction and added that the BSF was giving them a befitting reply. He said a BSF jawan in Pargwal sector was injured in the heavy firing and shelling and was later hospitalised. The Pakistan rangers continued to fire and launch shells along the IB in Arnia, Ramgarh, Samba and Hiranagar sectors till 5 am, a police official said. Two people were injured in Kanachak sector of Akhnoor, and a girl sustained minor splinter injuries, the official said. Between 8,000 to 9,000 people living along the IB migrated to safer places and most of them were living with their relatives, the official said. Over 1,000 people are housed in camps in R S Pura, Samba and Kathua areas, he said. Educational institutes have been closed for next three days along the IB and the LoC in Jammu region by authorities in wake of increased tension along the Indo-Pak border, officials said. Two security forces jawans and as many civilians were killed and 35 others injured in mortar shelling by the Pakistani troops on civilian areas and BoPs along the InternationalBorder and the LoC in four districts yesterday, officials said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a horrifying incident, a seven- year-old boy was brutally attacked and mauled to death by half-a-dozen stray dogs in Himachal Pradesh's Sirmaur district, the police said today. Vikki, a son of a migrant labour from Uttar Pradesh, was attacked by the dogs while he was returning home from a near- by market in Amarkot village under Paonta sub division, they said. Hearing his cries, villagers rushed to his rescue and three of them also got injured by the aggressive dogs. The boy sustained multiple injuries on his head, throat, neck and stomach, they said, adding he succumbed to his injuries on the way to a hospital. A case has been registered in this matter, DSP Paonta Pramod Chauhan said. A sum of Rs 20,000 has been given to the bereaved family members, SDM Paonta H S Rana said. According to the Amarkot village head, Rakesh Mehraloo, the administration was informed many a time in the recent past about the stray dogs attacking people, but it turned deaf ear to their complaints. Theincident has frightened the villagers, who are now not sending their wards to schools, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An octogenarian woman was raped by an unidentified man when she was alone at home near Talwade village, 25 km from Pune, the district police said today. The alleged incident took place on the intervening night of January 12 and 13. The case was registered yesterday after the 80-year-old woman narrated the incident to her son, who is a driver, Dehu Road police said. According to the woman, an unidentified man sneaked into her house and raped her when her son was away. "The woman narrated the incident to her son when he returned. He took her to Sassoon Hospital. Hospital authorities informed us about the case," said a police officer. Police have registered a case under section 376 of the IPC (rape) and probe is on, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BJP in Kerala today pressed for its demand to ban on SDPI, after four members of the outfit, the political wing of Popular Front of India, were arrested in connection with the killing of an ABVP activist in Kannur. "Outfits like SDPI should be banned. Even parties like Indian Union Muslim League have made such a demand", BJP state unit president Kummanam Rajasekharan told reporters here. He said the BJP would approach the Central government seeking the ban on Social Democratic Party of India if the state government failed to take action against it. A member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Shyam Prasad, was allegedly hacked to death by a three-member gang at Kommeri in Kannur when he was going to his house at Koothuparamba on his motorcycle last evening. Four persons, allegedly SDPI activists, were today arrested in connection with the incident. The ABVP has alleged that Popular Front of India was behind the killing and demanded that the outfit be banned. Shyam Raj, State Secretary of the BJP students' wing, had said in a statement yesterday that the 'terror' face of PFI has come out in open once again with the killing of Shyam Prasad. He said the ABVP would ask the Centre to ban PFI by pointing to its activities, including alleged recruitment to the IS. The BJP is today observing a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Kannur district from 6 am in protest against the killing. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A replica of the iconic Qutub Minar made out of municipal waste, costing Rs 16 lakh, has been erected in a newly-created street roundabout near the Delhi international airport, officials said. Lt Governor Anil Baijal today inaugurated the project, alongside a beautified site underneath the Mahipalpur flyover in south Delhi, ahead of the Indo-ASEAN summit here. "The most important feature of the development project is that the replica of the Qutab Minar has been produced from the waste material lying at SDMC stores. "Termed 'Waste to Art', it is one-of-its-kind installation in the capital. The cost of replica is Rs 16 lakh whereas the total cost of the beautification and development is Rs 3.50 crore," the SDMC said in a statement. In an unprecedented event, leaders from all 10 ASEAN countries will be attending the Republic Day celebrations at Rajpath on January 26. A host of commemorative events are being organised to mark 25 years of Indo-ASEAN ties. The summit is slated to be held on January 25. "Since the road is under the jurisdiction of the NHAI, a request was made to allow the SDMC to undertake the redevelopment of the space under the Mahipalpur flyover and the rotary leading to the IGIA. "The plan, involving construction of boundary wall with designer grills, internal walkways, fixing of 750 bollards & and 800 floodlights, landscaping, plantation, etc., was agreed to be provided at the site," the statement said. "The work on the entire project, spanning an area of 2.34 acres has been completed in 17 days, the SDMC claimed. The AIADMK on Saturday said it would seek disqualification of ruling Congress and DMK legislators in Puducherry "for holding office of profit," in view of the Election Commission's decision to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs in New Delhi on similar grounds. Addressing reporters here, the party's legislature wing leader A Anbalagan said the 'office of profit' axe has fallen on 20 AAP MLAs in New Delhi with EC sending its recommendation to the President, suggesting their disqualification. "The development in New Delhi is directly applicable to Puducherry where the legislators belonging to the ruling Congress and its ally the DMK are holding 'office of profits' such as chairmen of government-owned undertakings and Parliamentary Secretary," he alleged. Anbalagan said AIADMK will give 15 days time to the MLAs "to relieve themselves of posts of chairmen and Parliamentary Secretary so as to remain only as legislators as my intention is not to disturb them." The party would send a petition to ECI after the lapse of 15 day-deadline, he added. While one Congress legislator is the parliamentary secretary to Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, two DMK members and five belonging to the Congress had been appointed chairmen of statutory bodies here. The Election Commission had yesterday recommended to the President the disqualification of 20 MLAs of Aam Aadmi Party for holding office of profit, setting the stage for their ouster from the New Delhi Assembly. Questioning the move to associate Puducherry BJP President V Saminathan with the inauguration of a Passport office in Karaikal, the AIADMK leader said, "Narayanasamy had not registered protest against inclusion of the name of BJP president in both the official invitation and also the plaque erected at the venue of the function." External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had unveiled the plaque of the Post Office Passport Seva Kendra in Karaikal yesterday. Anbalagan also claimed that there were several lapses in the protocol to be adopted in a government function. has delivered 176 aircraft to China in 2017, its eighth consecutive year of more than 100 deliveries, the company said. One fourth of the Airbus' total global deliveries went to China in 2017, which include 141 single-aisle A320 plane, 32 medium-size A330s, and three A350XWB wide-body aircraft, it said in a statement yesterday. "2017 marks an incredible year for as we created a new record of global deliveries of 718. For Airbus, China is a crucial market and a strategic partner with win-win cooperation," said George Xu, China CEO. On January 9, Airbus signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Development and Reform Commission on industrial cooperation in Tianjin, north China's port city. Airbus and its Chinese partners also signed a framework agreement to raise A320 production at the final assembly line in Tianjin to six aircraft per month from four per month at present. Since, Airbus set up a representative office in China in 1994, it has made rapid progress with cooperation worth about USD 600 million in 2017 and a target of USD one billion dollars per year by 2020, state run Xinhua news agency reported. China introduced the first Airbus aircraft in 1985. Now over 1,500 are being operated by Chinese airlines, accounting for around half of the total fleet of aircraft over 100 seats in the country. Last year, Airbus rival Boeing has started construction of its first overseas facility in Chinese port city of Zhoushan as part of its plans to produce 737 planes. The construction will consist of two parts -- a Boeing 737 completion centre and the delivery centre. It is scheduled to be completed this year. Following its completion, the facility will deliver 8 to 10 planes each month, with an annual production of up to 100 aircraft, according to the plan announced by Boeing. A Boeing forecast last year said China will need 6,810 new aircraft in the next 20 years at an estimated cost of USD one trillion. The Army today bid farewell to a soldier who lost his life in Pakistani firing in Sunderbani sector of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir yesterday. A wreath laying ceremony was organised in honour of Lance Naik Sam Abraham at Jammu-based White Knight Corps, a defence spokesman said. He said a military send-off was organised, wherein, General Officer Commanding Crossed Swords Division among other military dignitaries, laid wreaths on behalf of Army Commander, Northern Command, Lt Gen D Anbu, and GOC White Knight Corps Lt Gen Saranjeet Singh. Lance Naik Abraham, aged 34 years, belonged to village Poonakam of Allepey district in Kerala and is survived by wife Anu Mathew anddaughter aged 1 year and 10 months. "Abraham was a dedicated, brave and sincere soldier and a thorough professional. The nation will remain indebted to him for the supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty. He will continue to motivate the future generations," the spokesman said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three people, including an Army jawan, were killed and six injured in firing by Pakistani troops along the International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu division for the third day on Saturday police said. Nine persons have been killed so far in ceasefire violations over three days, police officials said. An Army jawan was today killed after being hit by a bullet during cross-border firing in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district, the officials said. A defence spokesman identified the slain soldier as sepoy Mandeep Singh (23), a resident of Alampur village of Sangroor in Punjab. He said the Pakistani Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms and automatics form 0820 hours in Krishna Ghati sector, resulting in grievous injuries to Singh who later succumbed. The Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively, the spokesman said. The officials said two civilians, Gaura Ram (17) of Kapur R S Pura and Gour Singh (45) of Abdullian, were killed and five others injured in firing by Pakistani rangers along the IB in Jammu district. A BSF spokesman said cross-border firing was underway in the area from Octroi to Chenab (Akhnoor) in Suchetgarh sector of R S Pura from this morning. He said the firing in R S Pura sector stopped around 1.30 am but resumed again after four hours. He said a BSF jawan in Pargwal sector was injured in the heavy firing and shelling and was later hospitalised. The BSF is retaliating and the exchange of fire between the two sides was underway till the last reports were received. A jawan of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) was injured in cross border shelling in Jammu, officials said. The jawan, constable Lallu Ram, was evacuated to a nearby hospital and was said to be stable. The jawan, who belongs to the 14th battalion of the force, was deployed for rendering law and order duties along with the Jammu and Kashmir Police at the Kanachak police station, when he was hit by splinters of a mortar shell that landed in the area. While a BSF jawan and a teenaged girl were killed on Thursday, four people--two civilians and one BSF jawan and an Army jawan--were killed and over 40 others, including two BSF personnel, injured in the Pakistani firing yesterday. The heavy firing had forced thousands of border residents to flee their homes and authorities announced closure of educational institutions for three days along the LoC and IB. Between 8,000 to 9,000 people living along the IB have migrated to safer places and most of them were living with their relatives, officials said. Over 1,000 people are housed in camps in R S Pura, Samba and Kathua areas, they said. The Jammu and Kashmir government today said elaborate arrangements have been made to deal with the situation arising after the intense firing by Pakistan along the borders over the past few days. In different cross-border firing incidents along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) since Thursday, nine people, including two Army and as many BSF jawans, were killed and 46 injured. The health department has made elaborate arrangements to deal with the situation and adequate doctors (specialists) and paramedics along with necessary life saving drugs and equipment have been kept available round the clock in all health institutions, Health and Medical Education Minister Bali Bhagat said. "In addition, 197 Ambulances, including critical care ambulance have been deployed to meet the situation," Bhagat said. Making a suo-moto statement in the Legislative Assembly, he said all injured have been admitted in the Government Medical College Hospital and other local hospitals where they were undergoing treatment. He said the authorities have already issued an alert for the population living along the borders to move to the safer places in view of the constant firing along the border. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh thanked the Centre for increasing the quantum of ex gratia and other reliefs especially for the cross-border firing victims. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Bihar Police has launched a probe after two bombs were found last night at Bodh Gaya where the Dalai Lama is at present on a visit, a top police official said today. A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team is likely to join the investigation shortly, Inspector General of Police, Patna zone, N H Khan said. The two bombs were found from the pilgrimage centre after an explosion-like sound was heard amid stringent security measures in view of the Dalai Lama's stay. "We have thoroughly sanitised the area where high security measures have already been there in view of the importance of the place. CCTV footages are being collected for investigation. "The matter is being thoroughly probed by the ATS. Moreover, a team of the NIA is likely to reach Bodh Gaya soon," Khan told PTI. The bombs were found in the vicinity of the Kalachakra ground during an intensive combing operation by a police team led by DIG (Patna Range) Vinay Kumar, Khan had earlier said. The explosion-like sound was heard shortly after the Dalai Lama completed his discourse and retired for the day at a Tibetan monastery, he said. "During the operation, a burst thermos flask was found at the kitchen. This might have caused the sound," the IGP said. Khan also said the bombs have been secured at a "secluded spot" where they will be defused by a bomb disposal squad. "The two suspected explosive devices have been taken to a secluded spot where they could be defused safely. A bomb disposal squad has been rushed to Bodh Gaya. It is not yet known what material these suspected explosive devices are made of but experts available locally have said they were unlikely to detonate on their own," Khan said. The Tibetan spiritual leader had arrived in Bodh Gaya on January 1 and he is likely to stay there for a month. A host of key personalities, including Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Hollywood actor Richard Gere, visited Bodh Gaya recently to get the blessings of the Buddhist monk. In 2013, the Maha Bodhi temple, situated at the spot where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, was rocked by a series of explosions in which five people, including two monks, were injured. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gunmen killed at least five people and wounded eight in an attack on Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel, an official said on Sunday, as the eleven hours-long siege continues. "Five are dead," an official with the Afghan spy agency told AFP, adding 100 hostages have been released. At least four gunmen attacked Kabul's landmark Intercontinental Hotel in a night-time raid and started shooting at guests and staff, officials said, in an hours-long assault that was still ongoing at the time of reporting. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack in the Afghan capital that followed a series of security warnings in recent days to avoid hotels and other locations frequented by foreigners. "Four attackers are inside the building," an official at the National Directorate of Security (NDS) spy agency told AFP. They are "shooting at guests", he said. According to local media reports, the ongoing attack has entered its eleventh hour. Desperate guests and staff trying to escape from burning #Kabul Intercontinental Hotel as siege enters 11th hour. pic.twitter.com/MZrty8WIa3 TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) January 21, 2018 A guest hiding in a room told AFP he could hear gunfire inside the 1960s hilltop hotel where dozens of people attending an information technology conference on Sunday were staying. "I don't know if the attackers are inside the hotel but I can hear gunfire from somewhere near the first floor," the man, who did not want to be named, said by telephone. "We are hiding in our rooms. I beg the security forces to rescue us as soon as possible before they reach and kill us." His phone was switched off when AFP tried to contact him again. Another official said the attackers were armed with small weapons and rocket-propelled grenades when they blasted their way into the hotel, which often hosts weddings, conferences, and political gatherings. "Seven wounded people have been taken to hospital," interior ministry deputy spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told AFP, adding two attackers have been killed. "Some other guests have been rescued. We will be able to release casualty figures once the operation ends." Rahimi said the first and second floors of the hotel have been secured by security forces, who are now trying to clear the fourth and fifth floors. Special forces were being lowered by helicopters onto the rooftop of the hotel, he added. Afghan media is reporting multiple casualties in the attack. The fourth floor of the hotel, which boasts several restaurants and an outdoor swimming pool, had been set on fire during the raid, the NDS official said. "The operation will soon end and the attackers will be killed," interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP. Authorities are already investigating how the attackers got past security which was taken over by a private company two weeks ago, Danish said. "They probably used a back door in the kitchen to enter," he said. Abdullah Sabet, an official at the communications and information technology ministry, said IT officials from around the country were staying at the hotel ahead of a conference today. "There were 40 of them in the hotel. We don't know if any of them have been killed or wounded," Sabet said. Security at the Intercontinental, which is not part of the global InterContinental chain, is relatively lax compared with other high-end hotels in Kabul. A conference on Afghanistan-China relations was held in one of its function rooms earlier on Saturday, attended by the Chinese embassy's political counsellor Zhang Zhixin. An AFP reporter who attended the conference passed through two vehicle security checkpoints. At the entrance to the building, there was a physical inspection that could be easily evaded by scaling a low-level barrier and entering the lobby. Security alerts sent in recent days to foreigners living in Kabul warned that "extremist groups may be planning an attack against hotels in Kabul" as well as public gatherings and other locations "where foreigners are known to congregate". The Intercontinental was last targeted in June 2011 when a suicide attack claimed by the Taliban killed 21 people, including 10 civilians. Security in Kabul has been tightened since May 31 when a massive truck bomb ripped through the diplomatic quarter, killing some 150 people and wounding around 400 -- mostly civilians. No group has yet claimed that attack. The Islamic State group has claimed most of the recent attacks in the Afghan capital, but authorities suspect that the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network has been involved in some of them. The deadliest of the recent attacks happened at a Shiite cultural centre on December 29 when a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing more than 40 people. A 14-month-old girl was mauled to death by stray dogs here today, police said. The horrific incident took place in Anupam Nagar area today morning when the girl was playing outside her house, a police official told PTI. CCTV footage of the spot showed the child, Riya Sahu, crawling on the street when two stray dogs attacked her, he said. The dogs bit her severely before other residents of the area rushed and drove them away, he said. Riya was taken to a local government hospital where she was declared dead. Horilal Sahu, her father, who works as a labouer, had come to Raipur with his wife and two children from Sarsinwa village in Balodabazar district a few months ago in search of work. The couple were away for some work while Riya and her five-year-old brother were at home, police said. Enraged local residents accused the municipal corporation of failing to control the stray dog menace in the area. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Bajrang Dal activist here has been arrested on the charge of kidnapping a girl from Mumbai, who had allegedly eloped from here with a Muslim man and married him last year. The girls husband Mohammed Iqbal Choudhary had filed a habeas corpus petition in the Bombay High Court a few days after she was allegedly abducted from Mumbai. Police said Bajranj Dal activist Sunil Pumpwell was arrested by Mumbai police on January 18. He allegedly brought the girl along with her parents from Mumbai to Mangaluru in a car in the second week of last month. Sangh Parivar outfits alleged that the girls elopement was part of Love Jihad.' They had submitted a memorandum to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking her intervention on the issue when she visited the city on December 29. The girl, daughter of a Sangh outfit leader, had been staying in a rented house within Mangaluru East police stationlimits. Chaudhary had befriended her on social media three years back. They fell in love and eloped to Mumbai and gotmarried in July last year, police said. She had then submitted an affidavit in the police station here stating that she was living with her lover on her own volition and had not been forced by anyone, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The tragic fire accident in Delhi's Bawana area tonight also assumed political hues, as several leaders from the BJP, visited the site, even as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the family of the deceased. AAP chief Kejriwal, who visited the site late tonight, said the truth will come out only after the inquiry, which has been ordered by the government. A compensation of Rs five lakh each will be given to the next of kin of those who have lost their lives and Rs one lakh each to the two injured persons, he told reporters. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain also visited the site and met the two survivors at the hospital. "Prima facie it appears packaging of the fire crackers were going on, but no machines have been found," he said. Prior to Kejriwal, Union ministers Harsh Vardhan, Vijay Goel and party's Delhi unit president Manoj Tiwari headed to Bawana following the fire incident in a fire cracker factory that claimed 17 lives. "Visited the site of #BawanaFire and #MahirshiValmikiHospital at Pooth Khurd, where two of the injured are being treated 24-year-old Roop Prakash and 45- year-old Sunita. Both have fractures on their legs and would require surgical interventions. Appear to be out of danger," Vardhan tweeted. "Saddened at the loss of 17 lives in the Bawana cracker factory fire. My thoughts are with the families of the persons killed in the mishap. Government should enforce strict safety regulations to such hazardous industries to avoid at least future accidents," Vardhan said. North Delhi Mayor Preety Agarwal also visited the site and took a swipe at Kejriwal as the area falls under DSIIDC. "He calls himself messiah of the poor. Where is he now. Where is the AAP MLA of Bawana," she had said earlier, before Kejriwal reached the site. Entire local BJP Unit led by district president Neel Daman Khatri and North Delhi Mayor Preety Agarwal were working to ensure relief for victims, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor had earlier said. The Delhi BJP spokesperson also questioned the "delay" by the ruling AAP's leaders in visiting the affected site and the people. "Almost 5 hours have gone by after the accident and from local AAP MLA to the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, none have yet reached out to victims for help," Kapoor said earlier. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee today said the state government is spending Rs 17,000 crore towards the salary of employees of state-aided schools, the teachers should be more conscious about their duties. Addressing a gathering on the 200th year celebration of the Hindu School here, Chatterjee said teachers should impart proper to students so that they can excel both in academic field and as complete human beings. "Presently the government is spending Rs 17,000 crore towards payment of teachers' salaries. The teachers should work towards elevating all state-aided schools to higher standard," he said. To a request by Hindu School authorities to introduce teaching in English medium, Chatterjee said it can be done on an experimental basis along with the existing Bengali medium in state schools. "In the past 25 years English had been abolished. That explains lack of spoken English teacher in your institution," he said hinting at the decision of the erstwhile Left Front government to stop teaching English at the primary level. The minister expressed regret that "A section of people is trying to malign the teaching community by different means and malign the institution. This is not done." On the recent agitations at Presidency University and Jadavpur University, he said, "The academic atmosphere of both JU and Presidency is getting harmed because of five-six students. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ruling BJP and opposition Congress today won nine posts of presidents of local bodies each in Madhya Pradesh. The elections to 19 local bodies were held on January 17. One seat was won by an independent, a State Election Commission officer said here. BJP candidates for president's post won at Peethampur Municipality and nagar parishads of Dahi, Kukshi, Dhamnod, Pansemal, Rajpur, Palsud and Omkareshwar. The BJP also won, unoppoed, the post of president of Sendhwa Municipality. Congress won the president's post at the municipalities of former chief minister Digvijay Singh's stronghold Raghogarh, Barwani, Manawar and Dhar, besides nagar parishads at Anjad, Khetia, Sardarpur, Rajgarh and Dharampuri. The president's post in Jaithari Nagar Parishad was won by an independent candidate. Across these 19 local bodies, BJP won 194 seats of corporators while the Congress won 145. Independent candidates claimed 13 seats. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan attributed his party's disappointing performance to rebel candidates. Rebel candidates marred the BJP's chances in many places, Chouhan told reporters at Mandsaur. Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh said the Congress has snatched seven local body seats from the ruling BJP. "These results have shown that people are disillusioned with the BJP government. The BJP failed despite misusing government's money in fighting the elections," he alleged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bodh Gaya was today put on high alert after two bombs were found in the pilgrimage town where the Dalai Lama is at present on a visit, even as an NIA team reached this evening to join the probe, top police officials said. "A team of the National Investigation Agency reached Bodh Gaya late this evening. It will aid in investigations by the Anti Terrorist Squad of the Bihar Police which is camping at Bodh Gaya," Additional Director General of Police Vinay Kumar told PTI. The two bombs were found from the town after an explosion-like sound was heard amid stringent security measures in view of the Dalai Lama's stay. "Our team of forensic experts and a bomb disposal squad had reached Bodh Gaya last night. They removed the suspected explosive devices from the spot and kept them at a secluded spot where they will be defused later," the police official said. "Although our experts have examined the devices, they are waiting for the central agency to have a look at the same before they are defused," he added. Inspector General of Police, Patna zone, N H Khan said, "The entire pilgrim town has been put on high alert in view of the presence of the Dalai Lama and the constant influx of high-profile visitors who wish to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader." He said that an FIR has been lodged at the Bodh Gaya police station in connection with the recovery of the bombs. The bombs were found in the vicinity of the Kalachakra ground during an intensive combing operation by a police team led by DIG (Patna Range) Vinay Kumar, Khan had earlier said. The explosion-like sound was heard shortly after the Dalai Lama completed his discourse and retired for the day at a Tibetan monastery, he said. "During the operation, a burst thermos flask was found at a refershments stall. This might have caused the sound," the IGP had earlier said. An NIA spokesperson earlier said the agency has sent a team, including a superintendent of police-ranked officer and an explosives' expert, to visit the site. "It is said that the blast happened in a flask kept under a generator at a tea shop opposite the ground. The police found some wires coming out. Later, searches were conducted in the vicinity by the police and two objects suspected to be improvised explosive devices were recovered," he said in a statement. The Tibetan spiritual leader had arrived in Bodh Gaya on January 1 and he is likely to stay there for a month. A host of key personalities, including Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Hollywood actor Richard Gere, visited Bodh Gaya recently to get the blessings of the Buddhist monk. "CCTV footages are being examined by forensic experts. Suspicious-looking persons are being thoroughly frisked and interrogated. Entry of vehicles is being allowed only after they are thoroughly checked," Khan said, adding that no arrest has been made so far. In 2013, the Maha Bodhi temple, situated at the spot where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, was rocked by a series of explosions in which five people, including two monks, were injured. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The bus fare hike in Tamil Nadu drew all round flak from political parties, including the main opposition DMK, which accused the government of being 'sadistic' and giving a 'thunderbolt' to the people. The parties demanded that the fares be immediately rolled back. The Tamil Nadu government last night hiked the fares of buses under State run transport corporations and private entities approximately by 20 to 54.54 per cent, after a six year gap, saying it was inevitable. DMK working President M K Stalin today accused the Palaniswami-led government of being "sadist" and said the steep hike to the tune of Rs 3,600 crore a year was unacceptable and was a 'thunderbolt' imposed on the people. "I strongly condemn the AIADMK government for imposing this heavy burden on the people, whose buying power has already been diminished," he said Stalin, Leader of Opposition in the State assembly, blamed the government for the losses suffered by State-run transport corporations and alleged that the hike had been effected to hide it's 'administrative ineffiency'. This also raised a question on whether the move was to help private operators, he said. The government had said yesterday that State run transport corporations had incurred a recurring loss of Rs 20,488 crore. Also, during the past seven years, the State had provided a subsidy of Rs 12,059.17 crore to transport corporations to help them tackle the fund crunch, it said. Stalin also charged the government with not taking any "steps" to increase revenue from non-fare modes like operating courier service, motels and advertisements on buses. He also flayed the government for effecting a nearly 100 per cent hike in salaries for MLAs and now going in for an increase in bus fare, a view echoed by PMK chief Ramadoss. The PMK said a state-wide protest demonstration would be held on January 25, seeking immediate roll back of hike. He said Omni bus operators already charge higher fares and that they planned to further increase it. The hike was to facilitate profiteering by private operators, he alleged. Sidelined AIADMK leader and RK Nagar MLA T T V Dhinakaran also demanded that the hike be withdrawn. "People will not accept the bus fare hike. The government should withdraw the hike," he told reporters. Dhinakaran loyalist and former state transport minister Senthil Balaji said the hike was not justifiable now, given that there was a decline in industrial growth and no employment generation. CPI(M) State Secretary G Ramakrishnan said the party would stage dharnas and hold protest demonstrations across Tamil Nadu on January 22 against the bus fare hike. Seeking an immediate rollback, he said the government's announcment of forming a committee to look at restructuring the fare structure in future was 'a big betrayal' of people. The government while hiking the bus fares last night,also announced a fund for accident compensation and prevention, besides a panel to go into restructuring of fares in future. Effective today, the fare has been hiked for buses across categories viz moffusil, city, ordinary, express, deluxe, bypass-non-stop, ultra deluxe, airconditioned and Volvo modes, an official release said. While the minimum hike is in moffusil ordinary category, where the fare of Rs 5 for 10 km would now be Rs 6 (20 per cent hike), the highest is in Volvo buses, where the fare of Rs 33 for 30 km will now go up to Rs 51 (54.54 per cent hike). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pope Francis' top adviser on clerical sex abuse implicitly rebuked the pontiff over his accusations of slander against Chilean abuse victims, saying today that his words were "a source of great pain for survivors of sexual abuse." Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the archbishop of Boston, said he couldn't explain why Francis "chose the particular words he used" and that such expressions had the effect of abandoning victims and relegating them to "discredited exile." In an extraordinary effort at damage control, O'Malley insisted in a statement that Francis "fully recognizes the egregious failures of the church and its clergy who abused children and the devastating impact those crimes have had on survivors and their loved ones." Francis set off a national uproar upon leaving Chile on Thursday when he accused victims of the country's most notorious pedophile priest of having slandered another bishop, Juan Barros. The victims say Barros knew of the abuse by the Rev. Fernando Karadima but did nothing to stop it, a charge Barros denies. "The day they bring me proof against Bishop Barros, I'll speak," Francis told Chilean journalists in the northern city of Iquique. "There is not one shred of proof against him. It's all calumny. Is that clear?" The remarks shocked Chileans, drew immediate rebuke from victims and their advocates and once again raised the question of whether the 81-year-old Argentine Jesuit "gets it" about sex abuse. The Karadima scandal has devastated the credibility of the Roman Catholic Church in Chile, and Francis' comments will likely haunt it for the foreseeable future. O'Malley's carefully worded critique was remarkable since it is rare for a cardinal to publicly rebuke the pope in such terms. But Francis' remarks were so potentially toxic to the Vatican's years-long effort to turn the tide on decades of clerical sex abuse and cover-up that he clearly felt he had to respond. O'Malley headed Francis' much-touted committee for the protection of minors until it lapsed last month after its initial three-year mandate expired. Francis has not named new members, and the committee's future remains unclear. "It is understandable that Pope Francis' statements ... were a source of great pain for survivors of sexual abuse by clergy or any other perpetrator," O'Malley said in the statement. "Words that convey the message 'if you cannot prove your claims then you will not be believed' abandon those who have suffered reprehensible criminal violations of their human dignity and relegate survivors to discredited exile." Francis' comments were all the more problematic because Karadima's victims were deemed so credible by the Vatican that it sentenced him to a lifetime of "penance and prayer" in 2011. A Chilean judge also found the victims to be credible, saying that while she had to drop criminal charges against Karadima because too much time had passed, proof of his crimes wasn't lacking. Those same victims accused Barros of witnessing the abuse. Yet Francis said he considered their accusations "all calumny" and that he wouldn't believe them without proof. Catholic officials for years sought to discredit victims of abuse by accusing them of slandering and attacking the church with their claims. But many in the church and the Vatican have come to reluctantly acknowledge that victims usually told the truth and that the church had wrongly sought to protect its own by demonizing and discrediting the most vulnerable of its flock. O'Malley said he couldn't fully address the Barros case because he didn't know the details and wasn't involved. But he insisted the pope "gets it" and is committed to "zero tolerance" for abuse. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China on Saturday accused the US of trespassing its territorial waters and warned taking "necessary measures" to firmly safeguard its sovereignty after an American missile destroyer sailed close to a shoal in the disputed South China Sea to assert freedom of navigation. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the naval ship USS Hopper sailed within 12 nautical miles of Huangyan Dao on January 17 without China's permission. Huangyan Dao is also known as Scarborough Shoal, the ring of reefs which lies about 230 kilometres from the Philippines in the South China Sea (SCS), where Beijing's claims are hotly contested by other nations. "The naval ship USS Hopper sailed within 12 nautical miles off Huangyan Dao, widely known Scarborough Shoal on January 17 without gaining permission from the Chinese government," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement. He said the Chinese Navy carried out identification and verification procedures in accordance with law and asked the US vessel to leave. "What the US vessel did violated China's sovereignty and security interests, put the safety of Chinese vessels and personnel who were in the relevant waters for official duties under grave threat, and contravened the basic norms for relations," Lu said. "China is strongly dissatisfied with that and will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty," he added. China, which has been reinforcing its hold on the disputed SCS with military installations in the shoals and reclaimed islands, claims sovereignty over almost all of it. Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims over SCS. In a bid to question China's claims over the area, the US has been pressing naval ships and air force planes frequently to pass through the area, through which trillions of dollars of trade takes place to assert freedom of navigation. Lu, in the statement, said "China has indisputable sovereignty over Huangyan Dao and the adjacent waters". "China always respects and safeguards the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea all countries are entitled to under the law. But we firmly oppose any country using navigation and overflight freedom as an excuse to hurt China's sovereignty and security interests," he said. "We strongly urge the US side to immediately correct its mistake and stop making such provocative moves so as to avoid undermining China-US relations and regional peace and stability," he said. The Congress today demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his "silence" on a series of rape incidents in Haryana, alleging that the state was turning into "rape capital". Targeting the BJP-led state government, All India Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev questioned whether the NDA government's slogan of 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' was merely a 'jumla' (gimmick). She also said that Modi should speak on the issue in his 'Mann Ki Baat' radio programme. Speaking at a press conference here, she alleged that Haryana was fast becoming the "rape capital of the country" and what was more distressing was the "arrogant and insensitive" attitude of its Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. As many as 10 rape cases were reported in last 12 days from Haryana. But Khattar, who also holds the home portfolio, is playing blame game rather than acting on these heinous crimes, she said. "I want to ask Prime Minister Narendra Modiji why he is silent on this issue. He should speak on it in his 'Mann Ki Baat' programme. Is 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' slogan merely a jumla," Sushmita asked. The All India Mahila Congress chief was accompanied by Congress leaders Kumar Selja and Kiran Choudhry. Two minor Dalit girls were allegedly raped and killed in separate incidents in Haryana recently, barely a month after a similar case involving a six-year-old girl shook the state. One of the girls, a 15-year-old school student, had been brutally assaulted and her private parts mutilated. The CPI(M) Central Committee is expected to go for a voting tomorrow after it failed to reach a consensus on the number of draft resolutions that should be sent to the upcoming party congress for discussion. The three-day central committee meeting began here yesterday to finalise the political and tactical resolutions to be adopted at the party congress in Hyderabad in April. Today, the meeting witnessed heated debates and discussions among leaders of Bengal and Kerala units with the former in favour of sending two drafts to the party congress. The CPI(M) top brass is trying to avoid voting on this issue and an urgent Politburo meeting was called to decide on the matter tonight. Party sources said two draft resolutions were placed in the central committee meeting. One draft favoured adjustment with the Congress to stop the BJP and has the support of party General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, and the CPI(M) West Bengal unit and a large section of Tripura unit are in its favour. It proposed that CPI(M) should be open to a UPA-1 like political adjustment when the party had extended outside support to the Congress government at the Centre. Another draft is against any alliance with the Congress and proposed broader unity of the Left parties to stop the BJP-RSS. It is supported by former general secretary Prakash Karat and the party's Kerala unit, the sources said. "A large section of leaders from Bengal are in favour of sending two drafts to the party congress for further discussion as they think it is the biggest platform to take a call on it. "However, the Kerala lobby feels that only one draft should go, as sending two drafts to the party congress would send out a message that CPI(M) is divided," said a senior CPI(M) leader. If the central committee fails to reach a consensus on the matter, it is most likely that a voting will take place, the leader said. Yechury and the Bengal unit of CPI(M), which is in favour of aligning with the Congress, received a shot in the arm yesterday when veteran CPI(M) leader V S Achuthanandan in an email to the party leadership advocated for "forming a greater unity of the Left, secular and democratic forces including Congress". A senior CPI(M) leader said despite internal differences, everybody in the party agreed that the BJP-RSS is the "biggest threat the country is facing presently". The political tactical line adopted by the CPI(M) in the last party congress was against any adjustment with the Congress or the BJP. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union minister has claimed that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution of man was "scientifically wrong" and it needs to be changed in school and college curriculum. Singh, the Minister of State for Human Resource Development, said our ancestors have nowhere mentioned that they saw an ape turning into a man. "Darwin's theory (of evolution of humans) is scientifically wrong. It needs to change in school and college curriculum. Since the man is seen on Earth he has always been a man," he said while speaking to reporters on Friday. The IPS officer-turned-politician was in this central Maharashtra city to attend the 'All India Vaidik Sammelan.' "Nobody, including our ancestors, in written or oral, have said they saw an ape turning into a man," he said. "No books we have read or the tales told to us by our grandparents had such a mention," the minister added. Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution that states that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. It was developed by Darwin, a 19th-century English naturalist, and others. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today urged the Centre to declare the birthdays of Swami Vivekananda and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as national holidays. Banerejee said in a tweet that she has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard. "Swami Vivekananda and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose are national and international icons. I have written a letter to the PM urging the GOI to declare both their birthdays as national holidays," she tweeted. Swami Vivekananda's birthday is on January 12 while Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's birthday is on January 23. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh today joined senior BSF officers at a wreath laying ceremony here to bid farewell to a border guard who lost his life in Pakistani firing in Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir yesterday. The wreath laying ceremony was held at frontier headquarters of the BSF at Paloura and rich tributes were paid to Head Constable Jagpal Singh. The deputy chief minister, Inspector General of BSF Ram Awtar and others paid floral tributes to the jawan, a spokesman of the force said. "The jawan commanded his duty post valiantly by giving a befitting reply to the enemy fire and sustained bullet injury on the upper thigh yesterday. He was immediately evacuated to a hospital where he later succumbed to injuries," the spokesman said. The cremation will be done at his native village in Bhaisrli Nasipur in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh tomorrow, he said. Deputy Chief Minister Singh said that "as a peaceful country, we never initiated fire from our side but will never hesitate to give befitting reply if compelled". He said the BSF has a history of bravery and this brave act had once again proved that the bordermen were always ready to sacrifice their lives when it comes to national security. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tis Hazari Court has ordered judicial custody of the Director of a Delhi-based real estate and IT solution company for non-compliance in TDS default case, the finance ministry said in a statement today. This year the Principal Chief Commissionerate-New Delhi has sanctioned prosecution in approximately 240 cases "which clearly shows" the strict attitude of the Income Tax Department towards the defaulters, the ministry said. The ministry said that during investigations it was found that the real estate company had deducted TDS but had not deposited in the government account despite there being a statutory obligation by the Income Tax Act. "This also led to harassment of many innocent persons whose TDS had been deducted but the TDS returns had not been filed by the real estate company," the release said. Giving details, the ministry said the investigations had found that during financial years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015- 16, amounts of Rs 45,68,990, Rs 35,45,290 and Rs 33,36,970, respectively, were deducted by the company. "The assessee company was found to be defaulting on filing of TDS return statements," the ministry said. Later, show-cause notices were served upon the director of the company to explain why sanction for prosecution should not be granted for not complying with the provisions of the law in respect of non-deposition of the Income Tax deducted at source. However, during the proceedings, the assessee asked for repeated adjournments, instead of giving reasonable explanations for the defaults during the proceedings, it said. "Hence, it was concluded that there is no justifiable reason for the delay in depositing the TDS. "This clearly showed the non-serious behaviour of the assessee towards the provisions of deduction and depositions of tax at source," the ministry said. TDS Wing in the revenue department sanctioned the filing of criminal complaint against the company as well as the director. The release further said non-bailable warrant was issued against the director in December 2017 for non-compliance with the case proceedings. The warrants returned to the court unexecuted with the report that accused is avoiding execution of the warrants. "Hence, on January 19, 2018 accused was taken into custody and was remanded to judicial custody. The accused has been sent to Tihar Jail for the same," the release said, without disclosing the name of the company or the director. Principle Chief Commissioner of Income Tax-Delhi, S S Rathore said that the tax department is "very serious" about timely depositing of the TDS deducted by the employers. It is reiterated that the TDS is government money which has to be deposited in Treasury on timely basis, the ministry said adding, failure to deposit the tax deducted will lead to criminal prosecution with imprisonment from 3 months to 7 years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Election Commission "helped" the AAP by delaying its recommendation for disqualifying 20 of the party's MLAs for holding offices of profit and enabled it in sending three candidates to the Rajya Sabha, the Congress today alleged. Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken also tried to suggest that the BJP had a role in the delay but offered no evidence. "The EC on the instance of the BJP delayed its recommendation by a month and helped the Aam Aadmi Party. Had the recommendation come before the Rajya Sabha election, the AAP would have split due to internal rift," Maken claimed. For the second day in a row, Maken attacked the AAP after the EC recommended that 20 AAP legislators be disqualified for holding offices of profit. Yesterday, Maken had demanded Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's resignation on moral grounds. Today, he said the AAP faced opposition from within over its nominees for the Rajya Sabha and the party would have possibly split had the EC's recommendation was announced last month when the party had decided the nominees. "We want to ask Arvind Kejriwal about the connivance between him and the BJP, which was behind the delay in disqualification recommendation," he said. The AAP leadership's decision to send two new faces to the Rajya Sabha, along with party leader Sanjay Singh, was resented by its senior leader Kumar Vishwas. Maken also claimed that the 20 MLAs, who were appointed as parliamentary secretaries, enjoyed facilities such as office space and remuneration. He gave copies of Delhi government's chief secretaries communication with the EC, saying the MLAs were alloted rooms in the Assembly. "IT department informed that Dwarka MLA Adarsh Shastri, who was parliamentary secretary to IT minister, was paid Rs 15,479 for attending a meeting," he said citing the papers. According to highly-placed sources, in its opinion sent to President Ram Nath Kovind, the EC has said the MLAs, by occupying the post of parliamentary secretaries between March 13, 2015 and September 8, 2016, held offices of profit, and were liable to be disqualified as legislators. Once the president accepts the opinion, by-elections will have to be held for the 20 Assembly seats. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today said that Turkey had "de-facto" launched a new operation on the ground to oust Kurdish militia from a northern Syrian enclave, defying US warnings that the action risked destabilising the area. Turkey has in recent days sent dozens of military vehicles to the border area and readied pro-Ankara Syria rebels amid repeated threats from top officials the operation on the town of Afrin was imminent. The Turkish army has over the last two days shelled camps and refuges used by the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia in response to fire from the militia group, which Turkey deems to be a terror organisation. "The Afrin operation has de-facto been started on the ground," Erdogan said in a televised speech in the city of Kutahya, without elaborating. "This will be followed by Manbij," he added, referring to another Kurdish-controlled Syrian town to the east. Turkey accuses the YPG of being the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has waged a rebellion in the Turkish southeast for more than three decades and is regarded as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies. But the YPG has been the key ally of Turkey's fellow NATO member the United States in the fight against Islamic State jihadists, playing a key role in pushing the extremists out of their Syrian strongholds. AFP correspondents in the area around the Turkish border village of Sugedigi in Hatay province saw several more Turkish military vehicles heading south to the border. But it was still unclear what form a Turkish ground operation will take amid considerable political and military risks. Turkey from August 2016 to March 2017 pushed into Syria in its more than half-year Euphrates Shield operation in an area to the east of Afrin against both YPG and IS. Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad warned on Thursday that the Syrian air force could destroy any Turkish warplanes used in the new offensive. Analysts say that crucial for any major ground operation will be approval from Moscow which has a military presence in the area and a cordial relationship with the YPG. With conspicuous timing, Turkey's army chief General Hulusi Akar and spy chief Hakan Fidan were in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian counterparts on Syria. "A full Turkish air and ground offensive will not take place without Moscow's blessing," said Anthony Skinner, Director MENA at global risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, adding a full Turkish campaign is "not inevitable". Turkey's state-run Anadolu agency reported yesterday afternoon that Russian military personnel in the Afrin area were withdrawing from their positions but Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later issued a strong denial. Meanwhile, the Turkish threats of an intervention have also raised eyebrows in Washington, which has backed the YPG as it dislodged IS and gained control of the swathe of northern Syria up to the Iraqi border. The YPG-held enclave of Afrin marks the westernmost extent of its control and Turkey wants to make sure it is kept well to the east of the Euphrates River. "We do not believe that a military operation... serves the cause of regional stability, Syrian stability, or indeed Turkish concerns about the security of their border," a senior US State Department official said yesterday. Skinner said a Turkish operation would be a "serious blow" for the US-led coalition in Syria which still depended heavily on the YPG to stabilise the area after the ousting of IS from major towns. But Erdogan accused the United States of not keeping its past promises that the YPG would clear out of Manbij. "The promises made to us over Manbij were not kept. So nobody can object if we do what is necessary," said Erdogan, threatening to pursue the operations up to the Iraqi border. Erdogan had reacted furiously this week to an announcement of plans to create a US-backed 30,000-strong border security force in northern Syria composed partly of YPG fighters, describing it as an "army of terror". US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson later said the "entire situation has been mis-portrayed, mis-described", admitting "we owe them (Turkey) an explanation. But Erdogan appeared to scoff at the mixed messages and lashed out at American military support for the YPG. "We don't care what they say," he warned. "They will learn how wrong it is to trust a terror organisation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi government has ordered an inquiry into the blaze at a private factory in outer Delhi's Bawana industrial area this evening in which seventeen people are fear dead, even as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he is keeping a "close watch" on the rescue operations. A massive fire ripped through the two-storeyed factory. According to a Delhi fire services officials, the blaze started from a firecracker factory which has a rubber factory atop it on the second storey. The police have so far confirmed nine deaths in the fire. Expressing his grief over the "large number of casualties" in the fire, chief minister Kejriwal said he is keeping a "close watch" on the rescue operations. "V(ery) sad to hear abt large no of casualties. Keeping a close watch on rescue operations," Kejriwal said in a tweet. According to the Delhi Fire Services officials, seventeen people were feared dead in the blaze that engulfed a building in Bawana industrial area, housing a cracker and rubber manufacturing units. Delhi Urban Development minister Satyendar Jain said an inquiry has been ordered into the incident. "Learnt about a serious fire incident in a private factory at Bawana. Several casualties reported. Monitoring the situation. Ordered enquiry," Jain tweeted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan needs to change its "mindset" of differentiating between good and bad terrorists, India has told the UN Security Council, urging it to focus on challenges posed by terrorism emanating from the safe havens from across the border. Indian Ambassador to the UN Syed Akbaruddin told the Security Council it is India's vision that Afghanistan regain its place and New Delhi remain committed to work closely with its regional and international partners to bring peace, security, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan. "There is a common Afghan saying that roughly translates as "If water is muddied downstream, don't waste your time filtering it; better to go upstream to clean it," Akbaruddin said during a special ministerial meeting on Afghanistan. Underlining that support for voices of peace in Afghanistan alone is not enough, Akbaruddin said, "We must focus on addressing the challenges posed by cross border terrorism emanating from safe havens and sanctuaries to our region and especially to Afghanistan". "If we do so, the decay, which has been inflicted on Afghanistan, can be made reversible," he added. It is India's vision that Afghanistan regain its place and New Delhi remain committed to work closely with its regional and international partners to bring peace, security, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan. "It is with this in mind that our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Afghanistan on December 24, 2015 to inaugurate the Parliament building, stopped over in Lahore, Pakistan," he said. "Unfortunately, these visits were followed by a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase on January 1, 2016, perpetrated and planned by the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day," he added. "These mind sets differentiate between good and bad terrorists. These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace. They are mindsets that are reluctant to join hands in moving the region forward to build a shared future for our people and our youth. These mindsets, Mr. President, need to change," Akbaruddin said. The police have arrested four persons, including a police driver, from Burdwan for attempting to sell a "genie in a bottle" to a resident of Baguiati near Kolkata. The incident began when the Baguiati resident, Tapas Roy Choudhury, received a call from a friend informing him that a ghost, which would do anything for him and turn all his wishes into reality, was available for sale, police said today. The friend also said that he could introduce Roy Choudhury to the seller, if he was interested. Roy Choudhury discussed the matter with another friend Basudeb Kundu and decided to have a look at the ghost. He then informed the friend about his willingness to purchase it. The seller himself then called up Roy Choudhury and told him that the price of the ghost is Rs 10 lakh, police said. An appointment was fixed, and Roy Choudhury and Kundu came to Burdwan town. Four persons escorted them from Ullas More to a hotel in a vehicle bearing a police sticker. The four showed them a small soft drink bottle with a Re 1 coin in it and said the ghost was inside the bottle. They also demanded the price for the ghost. When Roy Choudhury told them that he had no money, the four forcibly took Rs 600, all the cash Choudhury and his friend had at that time, and locked them up in the hotel room. Police said Roy Choudhury somehow managed to contact a friend who informed the Burdwan police and the four were arrested. One of the four is a police driver. The arrests were made on Thursday night and a local court released them on bail yesterday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jammu and Kashmir Forest minister Choudhary Lal Singh today said that the fund allocation for the sector was "highly inadequate" and it amounted to just 0.04 per cent of the total state Budget. The minister was speaking during a debate on 'Demand for Grants of the Forest, Ecology, and allied departments' in the state Legislative Assembly. There is a requirement of around Rs 10,000 crore for treating 9,00,000 hectares of degraded forest area of the state and at the rate of present funding, it would take more than 350 years to rehabilitate the area, Singh claimed. "Keeping in view the massive mandate of the department including protection and conservation of flora and fauna and the goods and services being provided along with the ecological security of the state, the fund allocation for the forest sector is highly inadequate. It amounts to 0.04 per cent of the total state Budget," he said On January 11, Finance minister Haseeb Drabu unveiled a Rs 80,313 crore budget for the 2018-19 financial year and of this, Rs 29,128 crore was for capital spending. The House today passed grants of Rs 79,909.69 lakh for the forest, ecology and department. Listing the targets achieved for restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's forest cover, ecological balance and revival of wildlife,the minister informed the House that in past one year the department had retrieved around 1.35 lakh kanal of encroached forest land. The department has also planted 2 cr saplings to revitalise degraded forests and minimise human intervention, he said. Citing statistics, Singh said that as on date out of the 20,230 sq km forest area, about 9,000 sq km of area was degraded due to unabated human intervention. He said 19,100 hectares of forest area was under encroachment as on April 1, 2016,of which 1.35 lakh kanal had been retrieved till December 2017. In a first, the department has brought Chinar to Jammu province by planting around 40,000 saplings raised by the State Forest Research Institute, Jammu, Singh said. To effectively deal with forest fires and minimise the damage, he said the department has provided modern equipment along with fire proof uniforms to its staff. He said that due to close coordination among all the wings of the department and quick response, forest fire incidents have reduced in the last two years. Listing major achievement of Wildlife Protection Department, the minister said that after six decades, the Sheep Breeding Farm located at the Dachigam National Park in Srinagar has been shifted, thereby restoring 2,000 kanalof land back to the reserve. "The restored area is being developed as a core habitat for Hangul (stag) where about 1 lakh fruit bearing and conifer species have been planted. The sheep farm was a major impediment for the Hangul and its breeding," he said. The department is also considering to declare the Tral area as a wildlife sanctuary for the conservation of Hangul by way of connecting natural corridors, Singh said. He said that the department is in the process of developing the Jambu and Pahalgam zoos at an estimate cost of Rs 121 cr and Rs 100 cr respectively. The House was informed that 401 kanal of land in the Gharana Wetland Reserve had also been identified and demarcated in consultation with the revenue department thereby paving its restoration. Emphasis has been laid on revival and restoration of wetlands particularly in Hokersar, Shallabugh and Hygamand, he said. Incidents of human-animal conflicts have shown a downward trend as compared to previous years and 41 control rooms have been established to effectively deal with such situations, Singh said. The minister said 98 per cent demarcation of the Wullar Lake has also been completed. In Ladakh, various steps have been taken for habitat management of key species including Black Necked cranes and snow leopard besides,four rescue centres at Poonch, Kathua, Kishtwar and Leh will also be established. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government is all set to cross annual disinvestment target this fiscal for the first with ONGC buying the Centre's entire 51 per cent stake in HPCL for Rs 36,915 crore. Total disinvestment proceeds during the current financial year 2017-18 stood at Rs 54,337.60 crore (as on January 11, 2018). With its stake sale in HPCL, the government's disinvestment receipt will work out to be Rs 91,252.6 crore. The higher receipt from disinvestment will help the government in sticking to its fiscal deficit target of 3.2 per cent of the GDP this financial year, which may see lower collections from the newly introduced Goods and Services Tax. In the Union Budget presented on February 1 last year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had set the target of disinvestment in public sector units at Rs 72,500 crore. This include Rs 46,500 crore as disinvestment of CPSEs, Rs 15,000 crore from strategic disinvestment and Rs 11,000 crore from listing of insurance companies. The government reduced its stake in several PSUs this year, including HUDCO, EIL, NTPC, NALCO and OIL. Two state- owned insurance companies, GIC and New India Assurance were listed on stock exchanges this fiscal. In the last fiscal, the government had raised a record Rs 46,247 crore. In the Budget for 2016-17, it had set a target of Rs 56,500 crore from disinvestment. Later in the the Revised Estimates, the target was scaled down to Rs 45,000 crore. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) today announced acquisition of the government's entire 51.11 per cent stake in oil refiner HPCL for Rs 36,915 crore, paying a premium of over 10 per cent. Earlier in the month, the government had announced to curtail its additional market borrowing programme by 60 per cent to Rs 20,000 crore. The decision to lower additional borrowing, which was taken after a review of revenue receipts and expenditure, will help contain fiscal deficit that has come under stress on account of lower GST mop up. In the Budget, the government had announced the fiscal deficit target for fiscal ending March 2018 at 3.2 per cent of the GDP. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today said that after restarting the process for the purchase of bajra and sunflower seeds on minimum support price, it has now been decided to purchase maize also on MSP. Bajra and maize purchased on MSP would be used for public distribution system (PDS) stock, he added. Khattar was addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of new cooperative sugar mill here. He said with the setting up of a new cooperative sugar mill, 60 lakh quintals of sugarcane would be crushed during the crushing season besides generating 15 MW of electricity. Out of the total electricity produced by this mill, 10.50 MW would be sold to power utilities which would generate an additional income of Rs 15 crore to the sugar mill, he said. While describing today as a historical day for the people of the area, the chief minister said that a sum of Rs 225 crore would be spent on this mill and it would benefit the farmers of 232 villages of Karnal and Panipat districts where sugarcane cultivation has been done over 20,000 acres this year. This sugar mill would be made operational within one-and-a-half year, the chief minister added. He said that new sugar mill would have a capacity of 3,500 tonnes of cane per day (TPD) where crushing of 60 lakh quintals of sugarcane would be made thus benefiting the farmers of the area in a big way. The CM said this new sugar mill would be different from other mills as sugar produced in this mill would be more refined. He further said the state government has prepared a scheme to achieve the target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make double the income of farmers by the year 2022. Khattar said that capacity of all those sugar mills would be enhanced which are running under-capacity in the state. The sugar mill at Panipat would be shifted to a new place and its capacity would be enhanced up to 5,000 MCD, he said. Similarly, the crushing capacity of 1,600 tonnes of sugarcane per day of Sonipat sugar mill would be enhanced to 2,200 tonnes of sugarcane per day, the CM said. This would help in increasing the sugarcane cultivation and also prevent the farmers from distress sale, he said. The government is making efforts to ensure that the farmers earn income of Rs one lakh per acre, Khattar added. He said that the state government is giving sugarcane rate of Rs 330 per quintal which is highest in the country. The CM said with a view to ensure that the farmers sell their produce online in any part of the state and on remunerative prices, the state government has made 54 mandis online whereas the remaining 54 mandis would soon be made online. Khattar also exhorted the farmers to switch over to micro irrigation to flood irrigation to save water and added that the subsidy on micro irrigation has been increased from 60 per cent to 80 per cent. He also listed out various other schemes implemented for the welfare of farmers including Bhavantar Bharpai Yonja and Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The AAP government has informed the Delhi High Court that it has issued a direction to all the hospitals run by it or by autonomous bodies to install CCTVs to ensure the safety of its staff and patients, especially women. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar was further informed that the Delhi government's Director General Health Services has also asked the hospitals run by it that non-functional CCTV camera in their premises be repaired and the same be installed wherever required. Delhi government's additional standing counsel Gautam Narayan further informed the court that a total of 2,613 were installed in over 30 city government's hospitals, of which 2,372 cameras were functional. The AAP government was responding to a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking directions for installation of and deputing of security guards at all government hospitals under its jurisdiction. The court had issued notices to the authorities concerned on the plea by a former staff nurse who alleged that she was stalked by a patient in the hospital where she worked and this would not have happened if had been installed. In her plea filed through advocate Rajesh Sharma, she has said that an FIR was registered against the accused in connection with the case. The PIL said that the authorities should be directed to take steps towards providing security to women staff working in government hospitals, dispensaries and other health institutions, organisations and mohalla clinics here. Responding to the same, the Delhi government in its affidavit said, "A total of 2,207 security guards have been deployed in the hospitals run by them, these include female security guards as well as those who are posted in sensitive areas. "Separate counters exist for women at registration and pharmacies. Further separate wards exist for female patients at each of the hospitals. Sexual harassment committees have been constituted in each of the hospitals," the affidavit said. It further said that adequate screens were made available in examination areas as required in each of their hospitals. "Separate washrooms are available for women in all hospitals. Adequate lightening is ensured in all hospitals. Training sessions and soft skill sessions are held to sensitise staff," it added. The Delhi government counsel further submitted that the Director General of Health Services had issued directions to all directors, medical superintendents and principals of hospitals under their control, including those run by autonomous bodies to ensure the security of its staff and patients, particularly women. It has further directed that CCTV cameras which are not functioning be repaired and further CCTV cameras be installed whenever required. The plea has said that it is the "responsibility of municipal body, police and the hospital to comply with the Vishaka guidelines for the formation of a committee to investigate cases of sexual harassment against women at workplace and provide safety and security to the petitioner." "The authorities concerned are responsible for installing CCTV cameras in all hospitals, but they failed to do so," the plea said. The nurse also claimed in her plea that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in his poll manifesto had committed to work for security and safety of women in Delhi by way of installing CCTV cameras and private guards, but after becoming the CM he failed to act in this direction. Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa today undertook two sorties in a MiG-21 aircraft during his three- day visit to the Jaisalmer Air Force station in Rajasthan. The Indian Air Force chief visited various operational as well as welfare facilities, defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Ojha said. During his interaction with station personnel, he exhorted them to maintain the highest standards of professionalism and the need to be vigilant, with regards to security of assets and information. Dhanoa reached the Jaisalmer Air Force Station on January 18 where he was received by station commander Group Captain M Bandopadhyay. He was briefed on the operational status of the station, Ojha said in a release. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India's entry into elite nuclear groups in the recent past has reaffirmed the country's strict non-proliferation commitments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today. His remarks come in the backdrop of India becoming a member of the 'Australia Group' (AG), a move that is expected to raise New Delhi's stature in the field of non-proliferation and also help it acquire critical technologies. "I thank Australia and other members of the Australia Group for export control for supporting India's entry in it," Modi tweeted. He said over the last two years, India's membership of the MTCR, Wassenaar Arrangement and Australia Group reaffirmed the country's "strong non-proliferation credentials also our commitment to global peace and security". India is now a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) as well as AG, three of four non-proliferation regimes. The only one remaining is the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Advocating for restarting the peace process between India and Pakistan and end border skirmishes, the Jammu and Kashmir government said today the hostility between the two nations has a direct bearing on the people of the state. "We want the restart of the process initiated by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to restore peace. This is the stand of our party as is the people of Jammu and Kashmir who are the worst sufferers (of border skirmishes)," Parliamentary Affairs Minister A R Veeri said in the Legislative Assembly. Veeri made the statement in response to concerns expressed by House members over the loss of human lives, livestock and damage to properties in border shelling. Nine people, including four security personnel, were killed in intense Pakistani shelling over the past three days. The shelling also forced residents to flee their homes close to the International Border and the Line of Control in Jammu division. Minister Veeri said the forward areas in five districts in the division were affected by the sudden spurt in cross- border firing, even as administration was taking all possible steps to avoid further loss of lives and damage to properties. Later talking to reporters outside the House, Veeri said: "It is our bad luck that we are caught in such a situation." "The happenings on the border have a direct impact on the people of Jammu and Kashmir. We want the peace process started by Vajpayee carried forward so that peace is restored on the borders and people of the two countries live in peace," he said. He said the situation near border areas was being monitored. He said Rs 50 lakh has been provided out of the Chief Minister's Relief Fund for meeting the cost of treatment and medicines for the livestock injured in the Pakistani shelling. The minister said an ex-gratia amount of Rs 1 lakh has been sanctioned for the family of each of the deceased in Jammu district, while an ex-gratia amount of Rs 5,000 each has been sanctioned for those injured as immediate assistance. He said 129 animals have died and 93 animals injured in the firing along the IB in Jammu, whereas more than 700 people were evacuated to safer places. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was today rocked with protests by the Opposition over the killing of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua district, prompting the government to order suspension of a police officer. The Opposition members created uproar over the incident, a day after the government informed the state Assembly that a 15-year-old boy was apprehended in connection with the killing of the minor girl. The government has already order a magisterial probe into the incident and said it will inform the House about its findings. The body of the girl was recovered from Rassana forest in Hiranagar area of Kathua district on January 17, a week after she went missing while grazing horses in the forest area. A special investigation team (SIT) of police in the case apprehended the teenage boy for her murder and said the accused strangulated the victim after she resisted his attempt to rape her in captivity. "We have ordered a magisterial inquiry into the brutal abduction and killing of the girl. We will inform the House about the findings of the inquiry and nobody will be spared," Minister for Revenue and Parliamentary Affairs Abdul Rehman Veeri said amid uproar in the house. Veeri made the statement after the opposition repeatedly trooped into the Well of the House shouting slogans such as : "we want justice and hang the culprit". The issue was raised by Congress MLA Usman Majeed and the entire Opposition comprising the Congress and National Conference members rose on their feet demanding stern action against the culprit and the police officers for "dereliction of duty". BJP MLA Kathua Rajiv Jasrotia criticised the Opposition, leading to vociferous protests by the NC and Congress members who demanded a direction from the Chair to the government to suspend the police officers for their failure to trace the girl before her murder. "The government should immediately put under suspension the police officers concerned keeping in mind the seriousness of the crime to restore the confidence of the people," senior NC legislator Ali Mohammad Sagar said amid calls from other members who warned that they would not allow the House to function till justice is done to the girl. Amid the protests, Relief and rehabilitation minister Javaid Mustafa Mir intervened, saying: "We are very much concerned as we too have daughters. There will be no compromise and justice will be done." As the opposition continued their protests, Veeri announced suspension of Station House Officer of the concerned police station till further inquiry, leading restoration of the order in the house. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The second offshore patrol vessel (OPV) built by the Larsen and Toubro Shipyard near here for the Indian Coast Guard was launched today. The indigenously built vessel 'Vijaya', equipped with state-of art radar, navigational and communication system, will be utilised for day and night patrol and surveillance, anti-terrorist, anti-smuggling operations and coastal security, the Coast Guard said. According to a Rs 1,432 crore contract signed with the Defence Ministry, the L&T Shipyard at Kattupalli, about 45 km from here, would indigenously design and build seven OPVs. The first OPV, the country's first-ever such defence craft to be built in a private shipyard, was launched in October 2017. Launching of an vessel is an auspicious occasion as the ship touches the water for the first time. At a function held at Kattupalli Shipyard, Ennore, here, the second OPV was launched in the presence of Coast Guard (Western seaboard), Commander, Additional Director General, K Natarajan, an official release said. Speaking on the occasion, he said Coast Guard was on the path of rapid expansion which require a large number of ships and aircraft to strengthen the maritime security mechanism. Asset requirements were being met by adding new ships and replenishment of ageing existing OPV class of ships in a phased manner, he said. After completing necessary trials on 'fitted equipment and machineries', the first OPV would be inducted into service by March 2018. The OPV launched today was expected to be inducted into service by September 2018 after trials on the equipment. The vessel is fitted with 30 mm automatic gun with Fire Control System (FCS) and two units of 12.7 mm gun with FCS. The navigation and communication system were capable of operating in tropical conditions. The 98 metre long and 14.8 metres wide ship with a gross tonnage of 2,100 tonnes has an endurance of 5,000 nautical miles with a cruising speed of 12-14 knots which can be increased to 26 knots. The ship is fitted with two units of diesel driven engines of 9,000 kw each with low fuel consumption. It also has the capacity to carry one integral twin engine helicopter which would further enhance the operational, surveillance, search and rescue capability. The OPV would be manned by 102 crew, including 14 officers, it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) American aerospace and defence major has proposed to manufacture custom-built F-16 fighter jets in India, which its officials say will give Indian industry a unique opportunity to become part of the world's largest fighter aircraft ecosystem. "We plan to introduce two new words into the lexicon of international fighter aircraft manufacturing: 'India' and 'exclusive'," Vivek Lall, vice president, strategy and business development, at Aeronautics told PTI in an interview. "India-specific state-of-the-art fighter production in India will be exclusive, something that has never before been presented by any other fighter aircraft manufacturer, past or present. There will also be a significant export market available for Indian-made fighters," he said. Lall, an Indian American who last year was instrumental in the decision of the Trump administration to sell top-of- the-line unarmed drones from General Atomics, in his previous capacity. Noting that the India-specific fighter on offer and its programme's size, scope and success will enable Indian industry to take advantage of unprecedented manufacturing, upgrade and sustainment opportunities well into the future, Lall said the platform will give Indian industry a unique opportunity to become a part of the world's largest fighter aircraft ecosystem. "We intend to create far more than an assembly line in India," he said. Lall claimed no other advanced fourth generation platform even comes close to matching the record of real-world combat experience and proven operational effectiveness. "The fighter being offered specifically to India is uniquely the best state-of-the-art fighter," he said adding that all three variants of the F-35 are single-engine aircraft. Many of the systems used on the India-specific platform are derived from key lessons learned and technologies from Lockheed Martin's F-22 and the F-35, the world's only operational fifth generation fighters, he said. Northrop Grumman's advanced APG-83 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar on the F-16 Block 70 provides F-16s with fifth generation fighter radar capabilities by leveraging hardware and software commonality with F-22 and F-35 AESA radars, he added. The APG-83 radar shares more than 95 per cent software commonality with the F-35 radar and more than 70 per cent hardware commonality. Lall said the F-16 provides the path to business relationships with Lockheed Martin, the only company in the world that has designed, developed and produced operational fifth generation fighter aircraft. Technology improvements will also continue to flow between the F-16, F-22 and F-35 for decades, at a fraction of the cost to F-16 operators, he said. The platform being offered provides unmatched opportunities for Indian of all sizes, including micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs) and suppliers throughout India, to establish new business relationships with and other industry leaders in the US and around the globe, Lall said giving an insight into the offer being made by his company. Asserting that approximately half of the Indian fighter supply chain will be common with the fifth generation F-22 and F-35, Lall said the aircraft brings the most modern avionics, a proven AESA radar, modernised cockpit, advanced weapons, longer range with conformal fuel tanks, auto ground collision avoidance capability, and an advanced engine with an extended service life. Even with the addition of targeting systems and two 2,000 pound (lb) class Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), the aircraft has a mission radius exceeding 1,300 kms 30 per cent greater than that of its closest competitor, he said. "Many of the advances in systems on the aircraft India would get draw directly from key lessons learned from Lockheed Martin's work on the F-22 and the F-35," he said. "The AESA radar is the result of over two decades of investment, use and experience with AESA technology, and it's fully operational today," Lall said. ASHLAND There are a few useful ways to guess how many mountain lions roam the Pine Ridge area. You can perform several rounds of sedating and collaring big cats with GPS-tracking devices. You can spend five days a week for several summer months traversing the escarpment with a dog trained to sniff for big cat scat to DNA test. Sam Wilson, program manager of furbearers and carnivores for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, told commissioners he and his staff used both methods to establish a number he shared Friday during the group's meeting at Mahoney State Park. The Pine Ridge, which stretches across Sioux, Sheridan and Dawes counties, is populated by 59 mountain lions, give or take. And that could lead to a vote on another regulated mountain lion hunt, though that decision is months from being made. Wilsons presentation summarized a data-collection effort that took place last May and June, in which he and his staff hiked miles and miles of the Pine Ridge. They collected likely mountain lion scat samples to be DNA tested and also captured cats and counted whether they had been previously captured and collared or were caught and released for the first time. We use mathematical principles and proven techniques to estimate the number of mountain lions that are likely in the area beyond those that we actually detected, Wilson said. Our population estimates here are not a count. Wilson said the two methods the team used produced the same estimate of 59. That number is for the Pine Ridge area only and not a statewide estimate, he said. Currently, 17 big cats eight females, nine males are collared and tracked using GPS. Sixteen of them inhabit the Pine Ridge area, with one male venturing off to Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area. Previous estimates have shown 22 to 33 mountain lions in the Pine Ridge. The population data likely does support opening a harvest season in Pine Ridge, Wilson told the commission. But he said he's months from making that recommendation to the commission. Wilson said the staff will schedule a public informational meeting in the Pine Ridge area to share the survey information, as well as go over the management program created in October. The management programs tenets include a recognition that mountain lions are key to the states biodiversity, as well as a promise to track mountain lion populations and allow for hunting to manage them when appropriate. It also authorizes Game and Parks staff to kill mountain lions known to have killed bighorn sheep. Two mountain lions were killed in 2017 following incidents after they killed livestock two goats in one instance; a calf in the other Wilson said. Wilson said his staff will make a recommendation on whether to allow hunting of mountain lions. The commission would have to approve any hunt by vote. Five mountain lions were killed in 2014 during the states lone approved hunt. Irritated by the quarrel between his daughter and her husband, a man has hacked his son-in-law to death in Ganjam district, police said today. Forty-year-old T Manu Reddy, father of two children, had gone to in-laws' house in Jhadabai village where his wife was staying for some days. While Reddy was quarrelling with his wife last night, his father-in-law attacked him with a sharp weapon killing him on the spot, police said. The accused was detained. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi Police suspects that a 30-year-old man shot dead in Rohini's Prashant Vihar area on Monday by a gangster and his men was killed as he was leaking information about them to the police, a senior officer said today. Ravi Bhardwaj was shot dead by Jatinder alias Gogi, one of Delhi's most-wanted criminals, and his accomplices while he was having food at a roadside eatery in Prashant Vihar. A CCTV camera footage showed Gogi and his men firing indiscriminately at Bhardwaj, who received at least 20 bullet wounds on his head, chest and abdomen. The district police, crime branch and special cell are investigating the case. A senior officer, privy to the investigation, said Gogi and Bhardwaj were co-accused in a 2014 attempt to murder case. On the day of his death, Bhardwaj had gone to Rohini Court in connection with a hearing in the case. Gogi was also supposed to attend the hearing but he did not come, he added. After the hearing concluded, Bhardwaj and his friends were having food when the accused came in a car and attacked him. A police probe has revealed that Gogi suspected Bhardwaj was leaking information about him to the police. He had learnt that the police was prodding Bhardwaj to provide information about Gogi. Police said one of Gogi's accomplices has been identified as Kuldeep. Gogi had escaped from the custody of Delhi Armed Police personnel from a bus near Bahadurgah when he was being taken to a court from the Tihar Jail in July 2016. His escape was facilitated by nearly a dozen of his associates who had also looted a MP5 submachine gun of the police. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Trump administration's first defence strategy seeks to maintain a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region and prepare America for a power competition with Russia and China, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis has said. Unveiling the new defence strategy, Mattis told a Washington audience great power competitionnot terrorismis now the primary focus of America's national security. As a result he sought to increase the lethality of the American military. In an apparent reference to Russia, he warned against "threaten[ing] America's experiment in democracy". "If you challenge us, it will be your longest and worst day," he warned during his speech at the John Hopkins. "We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists, but great power competitionnot terrorismis now the primary focus of US national security," he said. "This strategy is fit for our timeproviding the American people the military required to protect our way of life, stand with our allies, and live up to our responsibility to pass intact to the next generation those freedoms we enjoy today," he said. Rogue regimes like North Korea & Iran persist in taking outlaw actions that threaten regional and even global stability, he said, adding that oppressing their own people and shredding their dignity and human rights, they push their warped views outward. And despite the defeat of the Islamic State's physical caliphate, violent extremist organisations like the Lebanese Hezbollah, ISIS, and Al Qaeda continue to sow hatred, destroying peace and murdering innocents across the globe, the Defence Secretary asserted. "We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia, nations that seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian modelspursuing veto authority over other nation's economic, diplomatic, and security decisions," he said. As part of the defence strategy, he said the US is going to build a more lethal force, will strengthen traditional alliances while building new partnerships with other nations. Asserting that "everything we do must contribute to the lethality of our military", Mattis said changing US forces' posture will prioritise readiness for war fighting for major combat, making it strategically predictable for the allies and operationally unpredictable for any adversary. The 14-page unclassified version of the national defence strategy said that one of its objective is maintaining favourable regional balances of power in the Indo-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and the Western Hemisphere. "A free and open Indo-Pacific region provides prosperity and security for all. We will strengthen our alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific to a networked security architecture capable of deterring aggression, maintaining stability, and ensuring free access to common domains," the strategy said. Without specifically mentioning India, Japan or other countries in the region, the strategy says with key countries in the region, the US will bring together bilateral and multilateral security relationships to preserve the free and open international system. China, it said, is leveraging military modernisation, influence operations, and "predatory economics to coerce neighbouring countries" to reorder the Indo-Pacific region to their advantage. As China continues its economic and military ascendance, asserting power through an all-of-nation long-term strategy, it will continue to pursue a military modernisation program that seeks Indo-Pacific regional hegemony in the near-term and displacement of the United States to achieve global preeminence in the future. The most far-reaching objective of this defence strategy is to set the military relationship between our two countries on a path of transparency and non-aggression, the strategy said. "Concurrently, Russia seeks veto authority over nations on its periphery in terms of their governmental, economic, and diplomatic decisions, to shatter the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and change European and Middle East security and economic structures to its favour," it said. The use of emerging technologies to discredit and subvert democratic processes in Georgia, Crimea, and eastern Ukraine is concern enough, but when coupled with its expanding and modernising nuclear arsenal the challenge is clear, the strategy said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The AAP today claimed it was being "victimised" as its 20 MLAs face disqualification for holding offices of profit, even as it asserted that the party was "not afraid of elections". In a blow to the ruling party, the Election Commission had yesterday asked President Ram Nath Kovind to disqualify 20 of its MLAs, setting the stage for their ouster from the assembly. The Commission said the party MLAs, by occupying the post of parliamentary secretaries between March 13, 2015 and September 8, 2016, held offices of profit, and were liable to be disqualified as legislators, highly-placed sources said. AAP Delhi unit chief Gopal Rai alleged that the poll panel failed to give the party a hearing before sending its recommendations to the president. "It is an undemocratic step. They are taking revenge from people of Delhi, the government and the Chief Minister of Delhi," he said. The AAP leader said the appointment of parliamentary secretaries had come up in various other states including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Rajasthan, but only AAP was "being targeted". "This is double standard. Doesn't the constitution apply to all? We are being victimised. It is worse than the British Raj," he said. The case of disqualification of AAP MLAs is up for hearing at the Delhi High Court on Monday. "We will go to all democratic fora seeking justice," he said. "They talk of holding an office of profit...the Delhi government has not given a single penny to any of the parliamentary secretaries or even a chair, let alone any office space," Rai claimed. Underlining the AAP's connect with people, the party's Delhi unit chief said, "We are not afraid of elections. People decide our destiny". Rai said the issue was not "merely that of parliamentary secretaries" but the very "credibility" of democratic institutions, which he alleged was "being compromised". The AAP leader announced that a state-level meeting would be convened at its office here tomorrow to chalk out a plan for launching a mass agitation against the ongoing sealing drive in the city and the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). "We will take to the streets in large numbers for the traders, who are being harassed, first through demonetisation, then GST implementation and now the sealing drive," Rai added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) today took a Nepal-based man into custody for his alleged involvement in drugs smuggling and seized nearly 65 gram smack from him, officials said. The accused, identified as Subhash Sharma (23), was caught during a routine check on the Indo-Nepal border last evening, the Commandant of SSB, Shiv Dayal said. Sharma was then handed over to the local police, they said. During interrogation, he admitted that he had brought the smack from India and also disclosed his links with drug smugglers here, Dayal added. A case under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act has been registered against the accused at Sonauli police station, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Rabale MIDC police in Navi Mumbai today arrested a Nepali national within hours after he allegedly killed another man who hailed from his hometown. Prem Bahadhur Ramkhadka (52), who hailed from Nepal and worked as a security guard in Sathenagar area, was stoned to death late last night, police said. Police probe zeroed in on Rudrabahadur Sherbahadur Gurang (42), who was tracked down and arrested from a hotel in Manmad while he was on his way to his home country, said an officer. Gurung, who worked as a sweeper at a hotel, and Ramkhadka often quarrelled, and yesterday they had another spat, police said. In a fit of rage, Gurung hit Ramkhadka with a stone, they added. Further probe is on. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) German luxury car manufacturer Audi today launched new second generation Audi Q5 in the region, with eight per cent increase in power delivery and 20 per cent increase in fuel efficiency than the previous model. Priced at Rs 53.25 lakh, the new Audi Q5 proves to be the perfect vehicle in its segment and delivery of the car in India will be from March onwards, Audi Coimbatore General Manager, Vivek told at the launch. It was expected to sell 20 to 25 vehicles during this year, as against the usual average 15 to 18 previous model, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Investigation Agency today dispatched a team to visit the blast site in Bodh Gaya where a small explosion took place in a flask at a tea shop. Two bombs were also found from the vicinity of the Kaalchakra ground, where the Dalai Lama has been holding discourses, during a combing operation by a police team, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Patna Zone, N H Khan had said yesterday. The NIA has dispatched a team including a superintendent of police-ranked officer and an explosives' expert to the site, the agency spokesperson said in a statement. "It is said that the blast happened in a flask kept under a generator at a tea shop opposite the ground. The police found some wires coming out. Later, searches were conducted in the vicinity by the police and two objects suspected to be improvised explosive devices were recovered," the NIA spokesperson said. He said on receiving the information, a team of NIA officials, including an SP and one explosives' expert, has been dispacthed to visit the site. The Tibetan spiritual leader had arrived in Bodh Gayaon January 1 and he is likely to stay there for a month. A host of key personalities, including Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Hollywood actor Richard Gere, have visited Bodh Gaya recently to get the blessings of the Buddhist monk. In 2013, the Maha Bodhi temple, situated at the place where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, was rocked by a series of explosions in which five people, including two monks, were injured. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The RBI today said it does not have any official posted at the Bank Note Press in Dewas, where a person has been apprehended allegedly for stealing currency. In a statement, the central bank said it has been reported in a section of the media that an RBI officer has been apprehended by CISF for stealing printed currency at the RBI printing facility at Dewas. However, the Bank Note Press (BNP), Dewas is a unit of the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd which is not under the control of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), it said. Further, RBI "does not have any official placed" with BNP, Dewas, it said. "The reports, thus, are not based on facts. RBI regrets to note that the facts were not verified before publishing the reports," it added. As per the reports, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) caught a senior officer at BNP facility allegedly stealing newly printed currency notes. Currency notes worth about Rs 90 lakh were recovered from his possession which he reportedly stole over a period of time. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A man allegedly went on a stabbing spree killing one person and injuring three others when they tried to intervene during a quarrel betwee him and his wife, the police said here today. The incident occurred at Siruvathur last night. They said the 45-year-old man suspected his wife's fidelity and allegedly started stabbing her. Hearing her screams, his three neighbours, including a woman, tried to separate the couple. However, this made the man more angry and he allegedly stabbed all of them, the police said. While one person died on the spot, the other three, including his wife, were rushed to a government hospital. The man is absconding, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) LINCOLN A second death row inmate has been notified by the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services of the lethal injection drugs that would be used in his potential execution. Prisons Director Scott Frakes notified Carey Dean Moore that diazepam, fentanyl citrate, cisatracurium besylate and potassium chloride are to be used and were on hand, as of Oct. 10, and an additional supply of diazepam and fentanyl were received Friday. The drug supply already owned by the department has been tested, and the new shipment will be tested, according to department spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith. They are the same drugs to be used in the potential execution of condemned killer Jose Sandoval, who was notified of the drugs on Nov. 9. The Nebraska death penalty protocol requires the director to provide notice to the condemned inmate at least 60 days prior to the attorney generals request to the Nebraska Supreme Court for an execution warrant. Moore, 60, was sentenced to death on two counts of first-degree murder in Douglas County in the 1979 deaths of two Omaha cab drivers. He is housed at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution. Moore has had multiple execution dates, the latest in 2007 and 2011, and all of them were stayed. Nine months after the 2007 date, execution by electric chair was declared unconstitutional by the Nebraska Supreme Court. Before the June 2011 date, the state's high court issued a stay after his lawyer challenged the purchase of one of the lethal injection drugs to be used and the lethal injection law itself. The department again on Friday refused to disclose the supplier of the lethal injection drugs, as it did in November. The ACLU of Nebraska filed a lawsuit in December, asking a judge to find that the department had violated the state's open records laws and to force Frakes to release the records. A coalition of Nebraska newspapers and broadcasters, including the Lincoln Journal Star, has joined the legal battle for release of the information. The combination of drugs chosen by the department for the two executions has never been used for that purpose. Nevada has chosen three of the drugs for its execution protocol: Fentanyl, a painkiller and anesthetic; diazepam, a sedative better known as Valium; and cisatracurium, a muscle relaxant that causes paralysis. Nebraska's fourth drug, potassium chloride, is used to stop the heart. In November, the New York pharmaceutical company Pfizer asked Nevada officials to return its fentanyl and diazepam, saying their policies prohibit the use of their drugs in executions, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal. A spokeswoman for the Nevada Department of Corrections said the agency was under no obligation to return the drugs because they were purchased from a wholesale pharmaceutical distributor. ACLU Executive Director Danielle Conrad said Friday that issuing a notice of execution in the wake of ongoing litigation is a waste of taxpayer dollars. All individuals sentenced to death in Nebraska are involved in multiple legal challenges about the nature of Nebraska's execution protocols, she said. The state can't obtain an execution warrant while the claims are outstanding. No date has been set for the execution of Moore or Sandoval, which Attorney General Doug Peterson would request. "Nebraskans have a right to know what is happening with their taxpayer dollars and are left to wonder what the Department of Corrections and Governor Pete Ricketts are hiding," she said. Nebraska has not executed a condemned prisoner for 20 years. After the Legislature repealed the state's death penalty in 2015, a referendum petition drive and subsequent vote of the people in November 2016 nullified the repeal. A year later Frakes issued the first notification of lethal injection drugs to Sandoval, and two months after that to Moore. Longtime death penalty opponent, Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, criticized Ricketts and Peterson, saying they used the notifications as a chip to play in their re-election bids. "This is a media ploy to make it appear that they are being tough on crime, protecting the public, delivering on campaign promises and the rest of it," he said. There are far deeper, more serious issues involved that a court would grapple with should a request be made that it issue a death warrant, Chambers said. "But I think in the state of confusion that exists now in reference to drugs, the court is not going to issue a death warrant," he said. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) today announced acquisition of government's entire 51.11 per cent stake in oil refiner HPCL for Rs 36,915 crore, paying a premium of over 10 per cent. ONGC will pay Rs 473.97 per share for 77.8 crore shares of the government in Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), the company said in a stock exchange filing. The price it is paying is 14 per cent higher than Friday's closing price of HPCL and over 10 per cent of the 60 -day weighted average of the scrip. The transaction, which will help the government cross its annual sell-off (disinvestment) target for the first time ever, has been executed through an off-market deal. While the government started off talks for selling controlling stake in the country's third largest oil refining and fuel marketing company, seeking about Rs 1 lakh crore on grounds that an open sale would fetch no less than that, what ONGC paid was far less. ONGC's own valuation adviser EY had put HPCL's valuation at Rs 475 a share plus a premium for getting the controlling stake, sources privy to the negotiations said. The outside advise the company took from Citi put the price at Rs 500 per share. ONGC negotiated hard and brought down the acquisition price, they said adding the company would do short-term borrowing to fund the acquisition that would be an all cash- deal to be completed by end of the month. Also, the company has cash reserves of about Rs 12,000 crore. Sources said ONGC has already taken board approval for raising borrowing limit to Rs 35,000 crore from the previous approval of Rs 25,000 crore. Also, it has loan commitments from domestic and foreign lenders totalling roughly double the acquisition prices and the company would draw from them to make the payments in next one week, they said. Based on Friday's closing price of Rs 416.55, HPCL has a market capitalisation of about Rs 63,475 crore. At this price, the government's 51.11 per cent stake is worth Rs 32,442 crore. "Government of India has entered into an agreement with ONGC today for strategic sale of its 51.11 per cent equity share-holding in HPCL at a consideration of Rs 36,915 crore," the finance ministry tweeted. The ministry reasoned the merger to the February 2016 review called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi where he "underlined the need of efficient management of government investments in central public sector enterprises (CPSEs)". The government accordingly expanded the approach from of disinvestment to investment and public asset management. "Accordingly, as part of investment management strategy, the Government of India decided to explore possibilities of consolidation, mergers and acquisitions within CPSE space. An announcement in this regard was also made by the finance minister in his Budget speech of 2017-18," it said. In line with the finance minister's Budget announcement, ONGC proposed to acquire the government's existing 51.11 per cent equity shareholding in HPCL. The Union Cabinet, in its meeting held on July 19 last year, gave 'in-principle' approval to the said proposal and decided to set up an alternative mechanism under the finance minister to decide on the price, timing and the terms and conditions of the strategic sale. "The alternative mechanism under the chairmanship of finance minister in its meeting today approved the price bid of ONGC and the terms and conditions of the sale," it said. Through this acquisition, ONGC will become India's first vertically integrated 'oil major' company, having presence across the entire value chain. The integrated entity will have advantage of having enhanced capacity to bear higher risks and take higher investment decisions etc. In this process, ONGC has acquired significant mid-stream and downstream capacity and will attain economies of scale at various levels of operations. With a turnover of Rs 2,13,489 crore and profit of Rs 6,502 crore during 2016-17, HPCL ranks at 384th position in Fortune Global 500 and 48th place in Platts 250 Global Energy Companies. HPCL markets around 35.2 million tonnes of petroleum products with a market share of about 21 per cent and is number one lube marketer in the country. It has refineries at Mumbai and Visakhapatnam and a joint venture refinery at Bhatinda. It owns the biggest Lube refinery in India and the second largest cross country product pipeline network of about 3,500 km. HPCL has a vast marketing network spread across the length and breadth of the country with terminals, depots, LPG bottling plants, Lube blending plants, aviation fuel stations and around 15,000 petrol pumps. "ONGC Board on January 19, 2018 considered the proposal and approved acquisition of the entire 51.11 per cent shareholding (778,845,375 equity shares) of the President of India, at a cash purchase consideration of INR 473.97 per share with a total acquisition cost of Rs 36,915 crore," the company said. ONGC is the largest producer of crude oil and natural gas in India, contributing around 70 per cent of domestic production. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The opposition National Conference and Congress members today staged a walkout from the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly over the alleged failure of the government to protect the lives of the border residents in the ceasefire violations by Pakistan. Three civilians, two BSF personnel and an Army jawan, were killed and over 40 others injured in the heavy shelling by Pakistan along the International Border and Line of Control (LoC) in the Jammu region since Thursday. Soon after Speaker Kavinder Gupta took the chair, the opposition members started shouting slogans against the Centre and state government and staged a walk out to protest the killings in Pakistani firing. BJP legislators, led by state president Sat Sharma, raised anti-Pakistan slogans, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), attempted to pacify the opposition by promising a detailed statement on the ceasefire violations after the Question Hour. "A comprehensive report is being prepared to inform the House," Relief and Revenue Minister Javaid Mustafa Mir said, adding that he had already directed the home commissioner to prepare a report. NC's Ali Mohammad Sagar criticised the statement of Union minister Jitendra Singh and said the opposition raised the ceasefire violations issue thrice in the House yesterday and had sought a statement from the government. Singh, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had yesterday said, "Kashmir-centric Pakistan apologists owe an explanation to the nation and that there can be no pardon for them when they continue to shamelessly speak on behalf of Paksitan even on the day when the heavy civilian casualties have been inflicted on the borders by unprovoked Pakistani firing." Sagar alleged that the union minister tried to "mislead" people over the ceasefire violation by "baseless statements". "The government was apologetic for not issuing any statement on the issue yesterday," he told reporters. Congress legislature party leader Nawang Rigzin Jora also criticised the statement of the union minister and blamed the alleged "inconsistent policy" of the Centre for the frequent ceasefire violations. "This government, both at the Centre and state, is confused. The state government, in particular, is in chaos and involved in infighting. In such a situation when we do not have a stable government in the state and Centre is indulged in flip-flops, Pakistan will continue the shelling to its benefit," he said. "Where has the 56-inch chest gone? Our people are getting killed and displaced daily and the BJP leaders are doing over the miseries of the people," Congress legislator Wakar Rasool told reporters outside the House. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Odisha government has signed an agreement with Software Technology Park of India (STPI), philanthropist Sushmita Bagchi, and IIT Bhubaneswar, for setting up an incubator for promoting research. The Centre of Excellence for Virtual & Augmented Reality (VARCoE) will be be set up at the campus of IIT, Bhubaneswar, as per the agreement signed yesterday. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who was present during the signing of the agreement, appreciated the efforts of Startup Odisha Initiative. The centre is being set up with a unique collaborative partnership between the state government, Government of India through STPI and an IIT. Patnaik added that the incubator on Virtual Augmented Reality at IIT, Bhubaneswar, will be a landmark initiative for promoting research, technology incubation and product development in the country. The centre will cater to the startups and new generation entrepreneurs working in the area of Virtual Augmented Reality for immersive visualisation and allied areas, he said. A cheque of Rs 2.5 crore was handed over to Director, IIT, Bhubaneswar as contribution from the state governments 'Startup Odisha Initiative' for setting up the centre. Odisha's MSME Minister Prafulla Samal said that the proposed incubator at the IIT will focus on futuristic field of Virtual and Augmented Reality. Susmita Bagchi, a philanthropist, who contributed Rs 2.5 crore to Director IIT for the purpose, hoped that the VARCoE will be one-of-its-kind in the country to promote research and technology development for the benefit of industry and the society. Prof. R V Rajakumar, Director, IIT, Bhubaneswar while speaking on the occasion, stated that the VARCoE will be a state-of-the-art incubator for the benefit of the startups, researchers, faculty and budding entrepreneurs. STPI Director General Omkar Rai said that STPI could encourage the incubatees and startups graduating from the IIT-Bhubaneswar to join the STPI. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said today the state government would approach the Supreme Court to stop the release of the controversial film "Padmaavat". Speaking to reporters after a programme here, Chouhan said: "We would once again knock on the apex court's doors." He didn't elaborate. In November, after meeting Rajput community leaders, Chouhan had announced that the film would not be allowed to release in the state. The Supreme Court has stayed the orders/notifications issued by the Rajasthan and Gujarat governments prohibiting the screening of "Padmaavat", and restrained other state governments from issuing similar orders. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) While the Supreme Court has cleared the decks for the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Padmaavat", there is uncertainty over whether it would be screened in Madhya Pradesh, especially in single-screen theatres, a distributor said here. "Since the state government has not yet clarified its stand, there is atmosphere of uncertainty, especially for single-screen cinema owners," Central Cine Circuit Association's former general secretary Jitendra Jain told PTI. Jain, himself a prominent film distributor, said the film could be shown in multiplexes, but for single-screen cinemas security is a major concern. As to the release in multiplexes, the decision would be taken by multiplex companies based in Mumbai, he said. "Five days are left for the release of the film, and if the state government assures that it will provide security to single-screen theatres, the film can be exhibited in these theatres," said Jain. The Supreme Court earlier this week stayed notifications issued by some states which banned the release of the controversial film, and restrained other states from issuing such orders. Some Rajput organisations are opposing the film vehemently for alleged distortion of facts. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said yesterday that the advocate general has been asked to study the court's order. "After this, we will see if we have to say something in the honourable apex court. We have not taken any decision so far," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Veteran Leander Paes and Purav Raja fought off a match point to shock formidable fifth seeds Bruno Soares and Jamie Murray and progress to the men's doubles third round at the Australian Open here today. The unseeded Indians overcame the Brazilian-Briton team 7-6(3) 5-7 7-6(6) after battling hard for close to three hours. Left-handed Murray, world number 9 in doubles and Soares, number 10, were one of the most consistent performers in the 2017 season but it was Raja who stood out with his superlative net play today. It was a tight contest from the beginning and after splitting the first two sets, the third set was locked 5-5 in the tie-breaker when Murray earned his side a match point on his second serve. Raja, though came serving extremely well to not only save that match point but also earned a match point for the Indians with excellent hands at the net. Soares served down a match point and Raja delivered a stunning backhand return winner to seal the issue. Paes and Raja, who won two Challenger level titles to close the 2017 season, are playing their second Grand Slam together. At the 2017 US Open, they fell in the second round. Now they will fight it out with Colombian 11th seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah for a place in the quarterfinals. The last time 44-year-old Paes played a quarterfinal at a Grand Slam was in 2016 at French Open where he and Marcin Matkowski had lost to Mike and Bob Bryan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan raked up the issue of Indian death-row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav in the UN Security Council after it was accused by India, the US and Afghanistan, for providing safe havens to terrorists. Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN Maleeha Lodhi was responding to Indian Ambassador to the UN Syed Akbaruddin who said Pakistan needs to change its "mindset" of differentiating between good and bad terrorists. India urged the UN Security Council to focus on challenges posed by terrorism emanating from the safe havens from across the border. In response to India, Lodhi raked up the case of Jadhav, who was captured in March last year and sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted. "Those who talk of changing mindset need to look within, at their own record of subversion against my country as our capture of an Indian spy has proven beyond doubt," Lodhi told the members of the UN Security Council, without naming Jadhav. Earlier, the US told the UN Security Council that the status quo regarding continues terrorist safe havens in Pakistan is not acceptable. The US has said that the status quo regarding continued terror safe havens in Pakistan is not acceptable and insisted that Islamabad join its efforts to bring a resolution to the conflict. "We seek to work cohesively and effectively with Pakistan, but cannot be successful if the status quo, one where terrorist organisations are given sanctuary inside the country's borders, is allowed to continue," US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan told the ministerial meeting. And the Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai reiterated the presence of terrorist safe haven across the border. But Lodhi continued to be in denial. "Indeed, with its safe havens inside the country and income from the narcotics trade, the insurgency does not really need any outside assistance or support centers to sustain its efforts," Lodhi said during a ministerial debate on Afghanistan. "Afghanistan and its partners, especially the United States therefore need to address these challenges inside Afghanistan rather than shifts the onus for ending the conflict on to others," Lodhi said. Afghanistan needed to address the challenges inside the country rather than shifting the onus for ending the conflict to others, she alleged. "Those who imagine sanctuaries outside really need a reality check," she said But there were no takers for Lodhi's claims that there are no terrorist safe havens inside Pakistan. None of the more than two dozen speakers came out in support of the Pakistani argument in this regard. US Vice President Mike Pence arrived in Egypt today to begin a delayed Middle East tour overshadowed by anger in the Arab world over Washington's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Controversy over President Donald Trump's decision to move the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem had led to the cancellation of a number of planned meetings ahead of the trip originally scheduled for December. While the deadly protests that erupted in the Palestinian territories at the time have subsided, concerns are mounting over the future of the UN aid agency for Palestinians (UNRWA). Washington has frozen tens of millions of dollars of funding for the cash-strapped body, putting at risk operations to feed, teach and heal hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees. The Palestinian leadership, already furious over the Jerusalem decision, has denounced the US administration and had already refused to meet Pence in December. But the vice president's press secretary, Alyssa Farah, said he would still meet the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and Israel on the high-stakes four-day tour. Pence is scheduled to hold talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi today before travelling to Amman for a one-on-one meeting with King Abdullah II tomorrow. The trip had been pushed back in December as a crunch tax vote loomed on Capitol Hill. The leaders of both countries, the only Arab states that have peace treaties with Israel, would be key players if US mediators ever manage to get a revived Israeli-Palestinian peace process off the ground, as Trump says he wants. They are also key intelligence-sharing and security partners in America's various covert and overt battles against Islamist extremism in the region and Egypt is a major recipient of aid to help it buy advanced US military hardware. Sisi, one of Trump's closest allies in the region, had urged the US president before his Jerusalem declaration "not to complicate the situation in the region by taking measures that jeopardise the chances of peace in the Middle East". Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Egypt's highest institution of Sunni Islam, cancelled a meeting with Pence in protest at the Jerusalem decision. The head of Egypt's Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II, did the same, saying Trump's move "did not take into account the feelings of millions of Arab people." After Jordan -- the custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem -- Pence will head to Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. He will also deliver a speech to parliament and meet President Reuven Rivlin during the two-day visit. Pence can expect a warm welcome after Trump's decision on Jerusalem, which Israelis and Palestinians alike interpreted as Washington taking Israel's side in the dispute over the city. Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 and later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognised by the international community. Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its united capital, while the Palestinians see the eastern sector as the capital of their future state. The international community considers east Jerusalem illegally occupied by Israel and currently all countries have their embassies in the commercial capital Tel Aviv. The State Department has begun to plan the sensitive move of the US embassy to Jerusalem, a process that US diplomats say may take years to complete. This week reports surfaced that Washington may temporarily designate the US consulate general in Jerusalem as the embassy while the search for a secure and practical site for a long-term mission continues. This could prove just as controversial as building a new embassy, however, as the building currently serves as the US mission to the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. And the facility sits astride the "Green Line" that divides Jerusalem. A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has yet to make a decision on either a permanent or interim location for the mission. "That is a process that takes, anywhere in the world, time. Time for appropriate design, time for execution. It is a matter of years and not weeks or months," he said. Pence -- himself a devout Christian -- will visit the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites of Judaism in Jerusalem's Old City, and pay his respects at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed anguish at the death of people in a fire at a factory in Delhi's Bawana today. "Deeply anguished by the fire at a factory in Bawana. My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives. May those who are injured recover quickly," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted quoting Modi. A Delhi Fire Services official said 17 people are feared dead as the fire ripped through a two-storeyed factory in outer Delhi's Bawana industrial area this evening. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A policeman was today injured after Naxals triggered an improvised explosive device near a market in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Dantewada district. A local police official told PTI that assistant constable Jagat Ram Karma was near a weekly market in Chhote Tumnar village under Geedam police station when the incident occurred. Karma, posted at Bijapur's Nelasnar police station, was rushed to a hospital in Bijapur and he is currently out of danger, the official informed. Combing operations have been launchedinthe region to track down the ultras, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Presidency Mentor Group Chair Prof Sugata Bose today said that he has requested West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to dissolve the group as it has served its purpose. The mentor group was formed by Mamata Banerjee in 2011 and was chartered to provide recommendations and a roadmap to establishing Presidency University as a pre-eminent institution of learning. Each of the mentor group members, consisting eminent academicians, have served the mentor group in all these years, Bose said at the closing ceremony of Bicentennial Celebration of the Presidency University here. Bose, an eminent historian, said, "We have sent the report of the Mentor Group to the Chief Minister where we have also suggested while there are 2-3 heritage aspects involving sentiments of all stakeholders of Presidency, it is also very important what we should choose what to retain and what to discard. "Now that other statutory bodies of the university is functioning, we feel that our work is done," Bose said in his address before the Vice Chancellor Anuradha Lohia, poet Sankha Ghosh and others. Ghosh said the members of the group will continue to offer informal advice whenever sought. The ceremony was organised by Presidency Alumni Association and Presidency University Kolkata. Bose said the Main building -- Baker building of the 200-year old institution -- has been beautifully renovated keeping the heritage aspects in mind. About the students' agitation surrounding the closure of Eden Hindu Hostel for renovation, Bose said, "After inspecting the building we had submitted in our report that it was in a squalid condition without minimum hygiene facilities and I also believe this hostel should not be saddled with the religious tag (Hindu) which refers to casteism." Sankha Ghosh also called for improving teacher-student relationship in institutions. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In an exquisite display of confluence of culture, artistes from the South-East Asian region today performed the epic of Ramayana here in their traditional storytelling format. The event, hosted at the Kamani Auditorium in central Delhi, was part of the five-day 'Ramayana Festival' that began today, to mark 25 years of Indo-ASEAN ties, organisers said. Dressed in costumes of different golden hues and sporting colourful masks, the audience in the national capital, otherwise accustomed to see Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshmana, in Indian dresses, were treated to a dramatic retelling of the epic in Thai style. The masked dance-drama ('Khon') of the Ramakien, the Thai Ramayana, was performed to the accompaniment of traditional percussion instruments, leaving the crowd enthralled. One of the iconic episodes portrayed was 'the Chase of the Golden Stag' with characters of Phra Ram (Rama), Nang Seeda (Sita) and Phra Lak (Lakshmana) in the Ramakien. The Ramakien or Rammakian, pronounced literally 'Glory of Rama' is the Thai epic, derived from the Indian Ramayana. It is said, the Ramayana came to South-East Asia by means of Indian traders and scholars who traded with the ancient kingdoms of Thailand, with whom the Indians shared close economic and cultural ties. The event is being organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). The festival will include performances by groups from ASEAN members. In an unprecedented event, leaders from all 10 ASEAN countries will be attending the Republic Day celebrations at Rajpath on January 26. A host of commemorative events are being organise to mark the ties. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vice Admiral Timothy W Barrett, Chief of Royal Australian Navy (RAN), accompanied by a four member Australian naval delegation, visited the Southern Naval Command here. During their two-day visit which began yesterday, the Chief of RAN had discussions with Vice Admiral A R Karve, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, SNC, wherein both sides discussed topics of mutual interest, including training conducted by the Indian Navy and exchanged crests, a Defence release said here today. The Australian delegation also visited the Water Survival Training Facility and the Flight and Tactical Simulator at the Naval Base. The delegation had earlier visited the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala. They had also participated in the Raisina Dialogue at New Delhi, to consolidate the existing strong bilateral naval relations between the two countries, the release said. The delegation departed for Mumbai today. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Livid at being reprimanded, a class 12 student today allegedly pumped four bullets into his school principal with his father's licensed .32 bore revolver here, police said. Critically injured, 47-year-old Ritu Chhabra, principal of Swami Vivekanand school, was rushed to a hospital where she succumbed to her injuries, they said. The four bullets hit her in the chest, stomach and shoulder, Yamunanagar Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kalia told PTI over the phone. The incident took place between 11:30 and 12 noon today. After shooting the school principal, the 18-year-old commerce student tried to flee. However, a couple of parents, who were present for the parents-teachers meet in the school premises, caught hold him of with the help of locals, the SP said. The student was thrashed by angry locals and then handed over to the police, an official said. During preliminary investigation, the accused student told the police that he was upset with the school principal for allegedly reprimanding him a couple of times. "He had a grudge against the school principal for reprimanding him few times in front of his class mates on the complaint of teachers," the SP said adding that he was not attending school for the past few days. The SP said the police were also investigating whether the accused was taking drugs. "He was supposed to attend his tutions today. But rather than going to tutions, he went to the school," the officer said. As he was a school student, he was allowed to meet the school principal, SP Kalia said. "He talked to the Principal for some time and then came out. He then again entered the principal's room and opened fire at her with the revolver," said the SP. During investigation, it came to light that the student stole his father's licensed revolver by breaking the wooden Almirah at his home. He took the revolver without the knowledge of his parents, Kalia said. The accused student's father is a financier and a landlord in Yamunanagar, he said. "He has confessed to his crime and weapon has also been recovered. He will be presented before the court the tomorrow," he said. The accused student has been booked for murder under section 302 of the IPC, said the police. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday told a Delhi court that a Rs 4.14 billion fine was recently imposed on Young Indian Pvt Ltd by the Income Tax department in connection with the Herald case filed by him against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others. Swamy submitted before Metropolitan Magistrate Ambika Singh that the I-T department had launched a probe against Gandhis, YI, and four other accused after taking note of his complaint in the case. The court directed that the I-T department documents submitted by Swamy be kept in a sealed cover till further orders. Swamy, in a private criminal complaint, has accused the Gandhis and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying just Rs 50,00,000, through which YI obtained the right to recover Rs 902.5 million which Associate Journals Ltd owed to the Congress. "The I-T department took notice of the facts in my complaint and launched an investigation against the seven accused. A Rs 4.14 billion fine was imposed on YI for withholding information," Swamy said in the court. He said that he found the documents related to the I-T department's December 27, 2017 order lying along with newspapers at his doorstep recently. The counsel for the accused persons opposed the BJP leader's submission alleging that the I-T documents were in "unauthorised and unlawful possession of Swamy" and they should not be taken on record. "He (Swamy) can't be in possession of such documents. Let him file an affidavit about how he got these documents. This can't be taken on record," the counsel, appearing for the Gandhis, said. The counsel said that an application will be filed in the court by the accused in this regard. The magistrate then gave the direction for keeping the documents in a sealed cover. During the proceedings, Swamy also told the court that certain documents filed by him, whose authenticity was challenged by the accused, were filed before the Supreme Court by Sonia Gandhi herself. "In the petition challenging the Delhi High Court decision by which an appeal against the trial court order summoning the accused was dismissed, she (Sonia Gandhi) herself had filed these documents. Now they cannot say they will not admit or deny these papers," Swamy contended. The court posted the matter for further hearing on March 27. The Gandhis and the other accused -- senior party leaders Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda -- have denied the allegations levelled against them in the case. The court had summoned the accused persons, besides YI, on June 26, 2014. On December 19, 2015, it had granted bail to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Vora, Fernandes and Dubey, who had appeared before it pursuant to the summonses. Pitroda was granted bail on February 20, 2016 when he had appeared in the court. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Vora (AICC treasurer), Fernandes (AICC general secretary), Dubey and Pitroda were summoned for the alleged offences of misappropriation of property, criminal breach of trust and cheating, read with criminal conspiracy of the Indian Penal Code. The Delhi government has directed all alcohol vends in the city to ensure sale of liquor through scanning from next month, officials said. The excise department has issued directives to all liquor vends in the city, warning them of strict action if alcohol is sold without scanning bar codes after February 15. According to an official, the move is aimed at plugging tax loopholes. The official, however, said liquor was normally sold at all alcohol vends after scanning of barcodes except on a few occasions when rules were flouted on the pretext of poor Internet connectivity. "All the incharge of liquor vends have been directed to put their system in place to ensure 100 per cent sale through scanning after February 15," another senior government official said. The sale of liquor without scanning would attract penal action as per terms and conditions of the licence, he added. "After February 15, excise department's teams will visit liquor vends to check whether the order is being followed. "If they (liquor vends) fail to comply, strict action, including cancellation of licence, can be taken against them," the official said. In April last year, the excise department directed all distributors to maintain one week's stock of all approved brands for sale in order to ensure "uninterrupted" supply to the liquor outlets across the city. Besides, liquor distributors were also asked to submit information about their stock to the department on the first working day of every week so that supply of liquor is not affected in the city. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab BJP chief Vijay Sampla has asked the SGPC to ensure that Dalit Sikhs do not face discrimination in future, after it emerged that a family from the community was allegedly not allowed to hold 'Antim Ardaas Bhog' (the last rituals) at a village gurdwara in Sangrur. In a release today, Sampla, also the Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, urged Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Gobind Singh Longowal to ensure that there is no recurrence of such incident. A Dalit family in village Maanwala under Dhuri Tehsil of Sangrur was denied permission to hold 'Antim Ardaas Bhog' in the village gurdwara about a week ago, Sampla said. Sampla claimed one Kaka Singh, and his wife Ranjit Kaur of Maanwala village, were allegedly stopped from performing the last rites of their mother in the gurdwara. According to the BJP leader the reason as to why few villagers, including a Panchayat member, denied the permission was because of them being Dalits. They were asked to hold the rituals in their own gurdwara, Sampla said. "Not only was the Dalit couple denied permission to hold the Antim Ardaas, they were also refused the utensils. Forced, the Dalit family had to perform the Bhog at their home the next day," he claimed. Sampla expressed hope that the SGPC chief will not only amicably solve the matter, but will also ensure that such incidents do not take place in future. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) There is no excuse for the exploitation of millions of children to produce wealth at the cost of their childhood, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi said, calling upon the global film fraternity to make greater efforts towards ending child trafficking and slavery. The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner made the remarks at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival in the US state of Utah where a documentary made on his life was premiered. "Slavery is an assault on humanity. There is no excuse for the exploitation of millions of children to produce wealth at the cost of their childhood and freedom, especially in this day and age," Satyarthi said in Park City last night. "I have never left any stone unturned in this fight, therefore I call upon the power of audiences at Sundance to join me and amplify the message against child trafficking and slavery that we must end in our lifetime. This is the place, today is the time and you are the people," he said, according to a statement by his office. The 92 minute-film by director Derek Doneen and producers Davis Guggenheim and Sarah Anthony, "Kailash", a feature- length documentary on his life and work, opened the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday night, it said. "The film highlights his organisation's efforts to rehabilitate, educate and re-unify children with their families in an overall mission to break the cycle of poverty and abuse," the statement added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court has set aside an order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court by which action was recommended against a judicial officer for granting bail to an accused within four days of rejection of his pre-arrest bail by a higher court. The high court had termed the action of the magistrate as "judicial impropriety" and "gross indiscipline" and recommended the chief justice to take appropriate action on the administrative side. It had set aside the order of magistrate and cancelled the bail plea of an accused, arrested for allegedly giving fake educational degrees to students for money. A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said the approach of the high court was "erroneous in law" and set aside the order of single judge of the high court. "Merely, because an application for anticipatory bail preferred by the appellant was rejected, it could not be said that thereafter the magistrate was precluded from even considering the application for grant of regular bail," the bench said. The top court said, "The grounds for grant of anticipatory bail are altogether different from that of regular bail." "No doubt, anticipatory bail was rejected on August 26, 2016 and within four days thereafter regular bail was granted. However, the high court could not have cancelled the bail, only on the ground that the anticipatory bail was rejected," it said. It said that the high court was also wrong in observing that in the circumstances the only remedy for the accused was to approach the high court alone "as if he was precluded from filing an application for regular bail before the magistrate". Advocate D K Thakur, appearing for the Himachal Pradesh government, claimed that the accused had threatened the complainant immediately after coming out on bail. The top court said it was an event that occurred after the accused came out on bail and could be a ground which could be raised by the complainant before a trial court for cancellation of bail. An FIR was lodged at Dharamshala police station of Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh. The accused Chander Kant was charged with the offences of forgery, criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and other sections of IPC. After registration of the FIR and when the probe was pending, the accused had moved high court seeking anticipatory bail, which was dismissed on August 26, 2016. Thereafter, the accused was arrested and taken into police custody. After his police remand got over, he moved a regular bail application, which the judicial officer allowed and enlarged him on bail on August 30, 2016. The complainant challenged the order of magistrate granting bail to the accused before the high court, which on June 2, 2017, after seeking explanation, passed various strictures against the judicial officer. The judicial officer in her explanation to the high court had said there were "direct or indirect directions to grant bail liberally. Taking into consideration that anticipatory bail has been rejected but now as the accused remanded to custody and opportunity was given to police for custodial interrogation and recovery, I considered it to be a changed circumstance". However, the single judge in his order said, "To my mind, the action of the magistrate is clearly subversive to judicial discipline and amounts to gross impropriety because so long the order passed by this court was in force, the magistrate could not have entertained the application for bail much less granted the bail." The high court said, "Judicial discipline requires decorum known to law which warrants that the appellate directions should be followed in the hierarchical system by the court which exists in this country." "It is necessary for each lower tier to accept loyally the decisions of the higher tier. The judicial system only works if someone is allowed to have the last word and if that last word, once spoken, is loyally accepted," the bench had said. It had said that once the judgement rendered by the high court was absolutely clear and the bail granted to the accused had been rejected by a detailed order, then judicial comity, discipline, concomitance, pragmatism, poignantly point, per force to observe constitutional propriety and adhere to the decision, so rendered by the high court. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A class 12 student allegedly shot dead the principal of his school today, police said. The accused student fired four shots at principal Ritu Chhabra, who was in her office, with a .32 bore gun and critically injured her, they said. Chhabra succumbed to her injuries in the hospital, said Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Desh Raj. The boy was caught by locals and handed him over to the police, officials said. The incident took place between 11:30 am and 12 noon, police said. The student, police sources said, was upset over being rusticated from the school. Yamunanagar is around 100 km from here. Zaira Wasim starrer "Secret Superstar" made a big splash in China on the first day of its release, grossing USD 6.4 million. The opening day figure is the highest by any Indian movie, including "Dangal", starring Aamir Khan who is also the producer of "Secret Superstar". Two of China's top film and ticketing websites, that tracks the film revenues all over the country, said the movie did well. "'Secret Superstar' opened in first place on Friday with an estimated 41 million yuan (USD 6.4 million), easily besting 'Dangal's 15 million yuan opening day to score the biggest debut ever for an Indian film in China," stated the China Box office website. Another ticketing website Maoyan also said the movie was well received. "Secret Superstar" was released all over China yesterday. Aamir became a household name in China after the success of Dangal last year which raked up over Rs. 1100 crores since it was released in China. Aamir's "3 Idiots" was also a success in China, especially with school and college kids, as it dwelled on the theme of monotonous approach towards education focusing just on academic success. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maria Sharapova says she is inspired by the likes of thirtysomethings Serena Williams and Roger Federer to get back to the top after her doping ban. The Russian, back in the top 50 after 15 months on the sidelines, had her progress at the Australian Open ruthlessly snuffed out by 2016 champion Angelique Kerber in the third round Saturday. "I'm here because I'm motivated to get better at my craft. I really do believe that I can otherwise I wouldn't be here," said the five-time Grand Slam champion after losing 6- 1, 6-3 in 64 minutes. "I definitely take great examples of a Federer or a Nadal or a Serena and Venus that have continued to have the motivation that they do at this age," said Sharapova who turns 31 in April. "It's not just walking through a Grand Slam tunnel and getting on court. "There's so much more to it. I have a lot of admiration for that because I know what goes into creating those moments and getting to that stage. "Yeah, that definitely inspires me, absolutely." Sharapova, one of the highest earners in women's sport, suffered a string of early defeats after her comeback last April for taking performance-enhancing meldonium but has been working her way back up the rankings since. "I think there are a lot of things that I need to get better at and improve on. But looking at the overall picture, the first thing is that I'm healthy," a clearly disappointed Sharapova told reporters. "That, to me, is a big thing because I'll be back on the practice court, I'm not starting from zero." It was Sharapova's second Grand Slam appearance since her doping ban. In her first at the US Open last year, as a wildcard she was beaten in the fourth round by Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova. But she turned the tables against the Melbourne Park 14th seed two days ago winning 6-1 7-6 (7/4). "There's a lot to build from," said Sharapova. "It's a lot of things that take time. To be able to get these matches, players that are playing this well, I'm going to face a lot of them this year. I'll have to bring it. "Today was not enough. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gold biscuits worth Rs 18.17 lakh were seized from a passenger who arrived at Thiruvananthapuram airport, Customs officials said here today. Officers of Air Intelligence Unit, Air Customs, International Airport Thiruvananthapuram, intercepted the passenger, Jubin Thomas Mathew, when he arrived by Silk Air Flight No MI 492 at 9:46 pm yesterday, they said. Six gold biscuits, totally weighing 600 grams, were found concealed in the inner tube of the trolley handles in his two checked-in baggages, Customs Commissioner Sumit Kumar said. The officials also seized high valued cameras and their lenses (4 camera lenses each) and one full camera, totally valued at Rs 16.73 lakh. The total value of the items seized is Rs 39.40 lakh, Kumar said. The man was arrested today under the Customs Act, 1962, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Six convicts were today sentenced to death by a court here for the murder of three Dalit men over an inter-caste love affair in Sonai village of Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra in January 2013. Additional District and Sessions Court Judge R R Vaishnav also slapped a fine of Rs 20,000 on each of the convicts. Their "brutal" act was a "disgrace for humanity", worse than a "devil's act", and, therefore, they had forfeited the right to live, Special Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told reporters quoting the verdict. He said the court awarded the capital punishment, as demanded by the prosecution, considering the brutality involved in the crime. Half of the fine amount will be given to the victims' kin as financial aid, Nikam said. The police had beefed up the security around the court premises since morning as a large number of people gathered there for the verdict. On January 15, the court had convicted Popat alias Raghunath Darandale(52), Ramesh Darandale (42), Prakash Darandale (38), Ganesh alias Pravin Darandale (23), Ashok Navgire (32) and Sandeep Kurhe (37) for the offences of criminal conspiracy and murder under the Indian Penal Code, among other charges. Ashok R Falke was acquitted by the court as the prosecution could not prove the conspiracy charge against him. Sachin Sohanlal Gharu (24), Sandeep Thanvar (25) and Rahul Kandare (20) were killed at Sonai village on January 1, 2013 and their mutilated bodies were found in a septic tank. According to the prosecution, the convicts were irked by a lover affair between Sachin, a Dalit, and a girl from the Darandale family, who are upper-caste Marathas. The convicts include the father, elder brother and other relatives of the girl. The victims belonged to the Mehtar community. Sachin and his friends, who worked as sweepers, were summoned by the Darandale family on January 1 evening, ostensibly to clean a septic tank. The police found Sachin's decapitated body, with limbs severed, the next evening. The mutilated bodies of Sandeep and Rahul were found on January 3. The killings created an uproar in Maharashtra and then state home minister R R Patil handed over the case to the Criminal Investigation Department. The CID eventually filed a 982-page charge sheet. The trial was transferred to the Nashik court as the victims' families said a free and fair trial may not be possible in Ahmednagar district. Altogether 54 witnesses were examined in the case. While convicting the six persons, the court mainly relied on circumstantial evidence, prosecutor Nikam had earlier said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Spain's maritime rescue service says it has saved 56 migrants trying to make the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea from Africa to European shores. The service says two boats were intercepted by its search craft this morning. One boat was carrying 23 men in the Strait of Gibraltar. The second boat with 33 men of sub-Saharan origin was located east of the Strait near Alboran Island. Europe's border watchdog said yesterday that 22,880 migrants had arrived in Spain last year by sea, up from 10,231 in 2016. It also warned it expects the number of migrants using the western Mediterranean route to Europe to increase this year. The Organisation for Migration says 2,583 migrants entered Europe by sea this year through Wednesday, and 199 died en route. A 22-year-old special police officer (SPO) fled with his service rifle in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting a man hunt to trace him, a senior police official said. Mohammad Yaseen, posted at the Marwah police station, was missing with an AK-47 rifle since last night, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Doda-Kishwar-Ramban range, Basant Kumar Rath told PTI. Yaseen hails from Shishnan village, he said, adding that efforts were on to locate him. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Swedish national and his Indian girlfriend were today detained by intelligence sleuths after locals complained that they were loitering around an ancient church in Cantonment area here in a suspecting manner, police said. However, they were let-off after hours of intensive interrogation by the military intelligence, state and local intelligence and police, they added. "Swedish national Andrea Mitchell Olf along with his girlfriend Shreyal Sadana, a resident of Kakadev area ( Kanpur), who works with a multinational company in Gurgaon, had reached Kanpur today. "Shreyal had accompanied Olf to Saint Mary School where she had studied, and an ancient Church situated adjacent to the school. There some visitors informed the military intelligence sleuths that they were loitering around the area in a suspecting manner," Superintendent of Police (East), Anurag Arya, said. The military intelligence officials visited the spot and questioned the Swedish national and his girlfriend. "They were immediately taken to Cantonment police station where were questioned intensively. But police did not find anything suspicious," Deputy SP (LIU), Vijay Tirpathi told PTI. They were let-off when the intelligence sleuths found valid documents including passport and visa, which confirmed that the Swedish national had come to India on December 28, on one-month-long tourist visa. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taxi operators today kept their vehicles off the roads in Goa for the second day, despite the state government invoking the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) prohibiting the strike. "The strike continues even today and not a single taxi will operate in the state. We have been protesting peacefully. The strike will continue," Vinayak Nanoskar, General Secretary, North Goa Tourist Taxi Association told PTI. Due to the strike, which started yesterday, around 18,000-odd taxis and 350 yellow and black pre-paid taxis are not operating even today. The tourist taxi operators in Goa are protesting against state government's decision asking them to install speed governor on their vehicles as per the directives of the Supreme Court. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has refused to cede the taxi operators' demand. Installation of speed governor was part the Supreme Court's directives, he said yesterday. The BJP-led government has invoked ESMA, but no action was taken against taxi operators yesterday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Billy Bob Thornton, Carla Juri, and Charlie Hunnam have joined the cast of "A Million Little Pieces". The actors join Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Giovanni Ribisi in the detox drama, reported Variety. The film is adapted from James Frey's bestseller "A Million Little Pieces" by director Sam Taylor-Johnson and her actor husband Aaron. The book, published as a memoir in 2003, chronicles Frey's battle with drug addiction. It's big screen adaptation was in works at the Warner Bros studio but following revelation by the Smoking Gun website, which accused of Frey of fabrication, the project was shelved. However, the project is back in works with Sam as director and Aaron in the lead role. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The said it launched new strikes today against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia in northern Syria, amid mounting expectations of a cross-border ground operation. The army said it hit in "legitimate self-defence" camps and refuges used by the YPG in response to fire coming from the Afrin region controlled by the militia group, which Turkey deems to be a terror organisation. Similar strikes had also taken place yesterday, it confirmed. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly threatened over the last days to launch a ground operation, also including pro-Ankara Syrian rebels, to oust the YPG from Afrin and the area. Turkey accuses the YPG of being the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has waged a rebellion in the Turkish southeast for more than three decades and is regarded as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies. But the YPG has been the key ally of Turkey's fellow NATO member the United States in the fight against Islamic State jihadists, playing a key role in pushing the extremists out of their Syrian strongholds. Turkish Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli said yesterday that the operation had "de-facto begun" because of the shelling but confirmed that Turkish troops had not yet crossed over into Syria. Analysts say that crucial for any major ground operation will be approval from Moscow which has a military presence in the area and a cordial relationship with the YPG. Turkey's army chief General Hulusi Akar and spy chief Hakan Fidan were in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian counterparts on Syria. Turkish war planes today launched air strikes on positions of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia in Syria, the prime minister said, as Ankara launched a new operation against the group. Units of pro-Ankara rebels known by Turkey as the Free Syrian Army (FSA) also began moving into the Afrin area of Syria which is controlled by the YPG, the state-run Anadolu agency said. "Our armed forces have started an air campaign in order to destroy elements" of the YPG, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in a televised speech. An AFP correspondent on the Turkish side of the border saw two war planes launch air strikes inside Syrian territory, sending huge white plumes of smoke up into the early evening sky. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier that Turkey had "de-facto" launched the operation that Ankara had threatened for days in defiance of warnings from the United States. But these were the first reports from on the ground that the operation had begun in earnest. A Turkish foreign ministry official said in the wake of the announcement of the air strikes that Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held talks with US counterpart Rex Tillerson, at Washington's request. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two people died and seven were injured in a fire that hit a hotel in central Prague today, rescuers said. "I can confirm we could not help two people," Prague ambulance spokeswoman Jana Postova told AFP, declining to give details about the victims. "We are treating seven people, of them three are in a serious condition. Two needed lung ventilation," she said, adding about 40 people had to be evacuated from the four-star Eurostars David hotel in the Czech capital's centre. Martin Kavka, spokesman for the Prague fire brigade, told AFP the blaze was reported after 1700 GMT and that firefighters had it under control about two hours later. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Police today arrested two persons and seized 94.60 kg ganja valued at around Rs 10.55 lakh from their possession during a vehicle check in Bihar's Purnea district. Baisi Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Sunita Kumari said that a police team led by Baisi police station SHO Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh seized 94.60 kg of ganja valued at Rs 10.55 lakh during a vehicle checking drive. The police seized the contraband from a car at Baisi Purab chowk on NH 31 of the district, the SDPO said adding that the two arrested smugglers have been identified as Awadh Kishore Pandey and Tony Deb Burman. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two Naxals have surrendered in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, police said today. The cadres turned themselves in along with weapons before senior police officials at the district headquarter yesterday, a top police official told PTI. They were identified as Nelliram Kashyap, hailing from Orchha area of Narayanpur, and Munna Ista (30) of Barsoor area of Dantewada, he said adding both were active as janmilitia members of Maoists. Kashyap surrendered along with one muzzle loading gun, one tiffin bomb, explosive powder, Maoists pamphlets and crackers. Ista surrendered along with one muzzle loading gun, the officer added. He said the rebels had expressed disillusionment with "hollow" ideology of the Naxal movement and were impressed with the surrender and rehabilitation policy of the state government. A cash of Rs 10,000 were also given to each of the two as encouragement money. Further, they will be facilitated as per the surrender and rehabilitation policy, the official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Britain could take part in a new model of European cooperation after Brexit but is unlikely to rejoin the EU in its current form, a senior minister has said. Cabinet Office minister David Lidington, who chairs several Brexit ministerial committees, said the suggestion by some EU leaders that Britain might change its mind about leaving the bloc was a "red herring". "Having taken a decision by a referendum, I don't see that changing," he told the Daily Telegraph newspaper in an interview. However, he added: "We may be looking in a generation's time at an EU that is configured differently from what it is today. "And the exact nature of the relationship between the United Kingdom and that future system -- whatever it turns out to be -- of European cooperation is something that future parliaments, future generations will have to consider." Lidington was appointed earlier this month to his post, which involves standing in for Prime Minister Theresa May in parliament and deputy chairing cabinet meetings. He opposed Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum, but said most Britons did not want to be part of the EU as it stands -- and were unlikely to change their minds as the bloc moves towards greater economic and political integration. But he added: "There's going to be a need for a system of cooperation within the continent of Europe including the UK, that covers both economic and political cooperation." He noted that Britain will remain part of the NATO military alliance, the Organization for Security and Co- operation in Europe, and the Council of Europe human rights watchdog. "I can't predict sitting here today what that network of organisations and alliances including the EU, how that will change or is going to look in 10 years or 20 years time," he said. EU President Donald Tusk said this week that the bloc's "hearts are open" to Britain changing its mind. European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker followed up by offering to back any British attempt to rejoin, even after it leaves. Britain began the two-year Brexit process last year, putting it on course to end its four-decade membership of the EU on March 29, 2019. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An assistant Block Development Officer, posted at the Kamasin block in this district of Uttar Pradesh, was today found dead at his residence under mysterious circumstances. According to Banda SP Shalini, the officer, Lalmani Yadav (52) was posted for the past one-and-half years at the Kamasin block development office. His body was found hanging. The SP said it will only be clear after the post mortem whether Yadav committed suicide or he was murdered. The district panchayati raj officer, KK Singh Chauhan, said the deceased was a resident of Allahabad, and used to live alone at his government residence. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today announced financial aid of Rs 20 lakh for the wife and Rs 5 lakh for the parents of a BSF jawan killed in ceasefire violations by Pakistan, an official said. BSF head constable Jagpal Singh (49), a resident of Bulandshahr district, succumbed to injuries sustained during cross-border firing in Samba sector along the IB yesterday. UP Transport Minister Swatantra Dev Singh will today reach the residence of the deceased to express condolences to the family on behalf of the UP chief minister, an official spokesman said. Singh, posted with the Alpha company of the 173rd Battalion of the force deployed for border guarding, had joined the BSF in 1988. He is survived by a daughter and a son. Four people, including a BSF jawan, were injured after Pakistan violated ceasefire for the third consecutive day today in three districts of Jammu and Kashmir along the International Border, officials said. Two security forces jawans and as many civilians were killed and 35 others injured in mortar shelling by the Pakistani troops on civilian areas and BoPs along the InternationalBorder and the LoC in four districts yesterday, they added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US government officially shutdown today for the first time in five years after the Senate rejected a short-term spending bill to keep the federal government running, marking a chaotic end to Donald Trump's first year as president. The shutdown began at 12:01 am (local time) after a few Republicans joined Democrats in blocking the crucial measure would have provided short-term funding for the Pentagon and other federal agencies. Trump blamed the Democrats for the shutdown which comes exactly a year after he was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. "Dems want a shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the tax cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy," he said. Despite last minute bipartisan meetings, the bill to fund the government until February 16 did not receive the required 60 votes. The Senate voted 50-48 to block the stopgap funding measure. The short-term spending bill was passed by the House on Thursday. This is part of the Democrats strategy to force President Trump and the Republicans to negotiate with them on illegal immigrants who are facing deportation. The effect of the shutdown would be felt most from Monday when the federal government employees would not be able to join for their work and be forced to stay at home without pay. It is estimated that more than 800,000 federal employees would be furloughed. Only the essential services would be open. The last time that a government shutdown happened was in 2013. Earlier in the day, the Office of Management of Budget said it was preparing for "what we're calling the Schumer Shutdown". The Director of Office of Management of Budget Mick Mulvaney told reporters that efforts were being made to have the government shutdown less impactful than it was in 2013. "We're going to manage the shutdown differently. We are not going to weaponize it. We're not going to try and hurt people, especially people having to work for this federal government. But we still need Congress to appropriate the funds," he said. Military will still go to work, the border will still be patrolled, fire folks will still be fighting the fires and the parks will be open. But in each of these cases people will not be paid, Mulvaney said. Fanny and Freddy will be open, the post office will be open, the TSA will be open, but again all of these people will be working for nothing, which is simply not fair, he said. US Postal Services would be working. The last government shutdown lasted for 16 days in October 2013. The previous shutdown before that was for 21 days that ended on January 6, 1996. However, this is for the first time in recent history that a shutdown has taken place when both the House and the Senate as well as the White House is controlled by the same party. "This is completely unfair and uncompassionate for my Democratic colleagues to filibuster government funding, harm our troops, and jeopardise health coverage for nine million children because extreme elements of their base want illegal immigration to crowd out every other priority," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. He argued that immigration reform needed to be handled separately from the spending bill. Trump has cancelled his scheduled weekend trip to Mar-a- Lago in Florida. However, he would continue with his trip to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum meeting next week. "Democrats can't shut down the booming Trump economy. Are they now so desperate they'll shut down the government instead?" said White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and described it as a "Schumer shutdown". Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer is the Senate Minority Leader. "Senate Democrats own the Schumer Shutdown. Tonight, they put above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country's ability to serve all Americans," Sanders said. "We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands. This is the behaviour of obstructionist losers, not legislators," Sanders said in a statement. "When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform. During this politically manufactured Schumer Shutdown, the President and his Administration will fight for and protect the American people," the White House said. Earlier, Trump held a last-minute meeting with Schumer to avert a government shutdown. "We had a long and detailed meeting. We discussed all of the major outstanding issues, we made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements. The discussions will continue," Schumer said soon after his meeting with Trump. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US government officially shutdown today for the first time in five years after lawmakers failed to agree on a spending deal. US President Donald Trump blamed Democrats for the shutdown which comes exactly a year after he was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. The shutdown began at 12:01 am (local time) soon after the Senate rejected a short-term spending bill to keep federal government running. The bill was passed by the House on Thursday. This is part of the Democrats strategy to force President Trump and the Republicans to negotiate with them on illegal immigrants who are facing deportation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As the search resumes for a new superintendent, the public is invited to attend a community focus group discussion on Jan. 29 to offer input on the direction of the South Middleton School District. Professional search consultant Tom Templeton will facilitate the discussion scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. in the Brenneman Auditorium of Boiling Springs High School. The event was rescheduled from the Jan. 16 event that was canceled due to inclement weather. The purpose of the event is to hear public comment on strengths and challenges facing the school district. The intent is to review issues that need to be addressed in the next year and beyond and determine what critical skills will be needed in the next superintendent. The school board reopened its search for a superintendent in early November after it was unable to reach an agreement with an unnamed candidate for the position. The board had launched an expedited search in July after Al Moyer announced his plan to step down as the district superintendent effective Aug. 18. Since November, Templeton Advantage of Newport has posted the vacancy on professional websites through the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators. This gave the search more of a regional and national reach, board president Randy Varner said in early January. Varner outlined a timetable that has all the applications due by the end of this month followed by interviews in mid-February. A second round of interviews could happen in late February or early March. The goal is to have a new superintendent in place before July 1, which is the start of the 2018-19 school year. The board would like to name a successor much earlier than that to give the new person an opportunity to train under acting superintendent Bruce Deveney. The US government officially shutdown today for the first time in five years after the Senate rejected a short-term spending bill to keep the federal government running, marking a chaotic end to Donald Trump's first year as president. Military will still go to work, the border will still be patrolled, fire folks will be fighting the fires and the parks will be open. But in each of these cases people will not be paid, Director of Office of Management of Budget Mick Mulvaney said. The shutdown began at 12:01 am (local time) after a few Republicans joined Democrats in blocking the crucial measure would have provided short-term funding for the Pentagon and other federal agencies. Trump blamed the Democrats for the shutdown which comes exactly a year after he was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMoreRepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 "Dems want a shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the tax cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy," he said. "This is the one year anniversary of my presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present," Trump said. This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present. #DemocratShutdown Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 "DemocratShutdown. Democrats are holding our military hostage over their desire to have unchecked illegal immigration. Can't let that happen!" he said in another tweet indicating that he has toughened his position against the Opposition Democratic party. "For those asking, the Republicans only have 51 votes in the Senate, and they need 60. That is why we need to win more Republicans in 2018 election! We can then be even tougher on crime (and border), and even better to our military and veterans!" Trump said. Despite last minute bipartisan meetings, the bill to fund the government until February 16 did not receive the required 60 votes. The Senate voted 50-48 to block the stopgap funding measure. While the Republcian party enjoys a majority of 51 votes in the 100-member Senate, a procedural issue that requires 60 votes for legislations to move forward prevented the shirt- term spending bill pass through the Senate. The short-term spending bill was passed by the House on Thursday. This is part of the Democrats strategy to force President Trump and the Republicans to negotiate with them on illegal immigrants who are facing deportation. The effect of the shutdown would be felt most from Monday when the federal government employees would not be able to join for their work and be forced to stay at home without pay. It is estimated that more than 800,000 federal employees would be furloughed. Only the essential services would be open. The last time that a government shutdown happened was in 2013. The White House said it has taken measures so that there is less impact of the government shutdown, but hundreds and thousands of federal government employees are now forced to stay at home till the time the Congress passes the short-term spending bill. For this to happen, the Republican, the Democrats and the White House need to agree on a deal. US Vice President Mike Pence, who is on a trip to the Middle East, said that his administration worked in good faith to put a bipartisan deal on the table that would strengthen our borders, end chain migration, eliminate the visa lottery, and deal compassionately with DACA. "But rather than solve problems, Democratic leadership preferred a shutdown that has dangerous consequences for our national defence. Their action tonight or lack thereof is unconscionable," he said. "Our administration will do everything within our power to support the brave men and women in uniform who stand on the frontlines of freedom. But as of tonight, due to a completely avoidable government shutdown, they'll stand their post without pay," Pence said. But the Democrats blamed Trump for the shutdown. "Tonight, on the eve of the first anniversary of his inauguration, President Trump earned an 'F' for failure in leadership," said Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. "President Trump and Congressional Republicans' obsession with passing a tax scam to benefit the wealthiest and corporations has blinded them to their responsibilities to the American people. "Despite controlling the House, Senate and White House, the Republicans are so incompetent, so negligent that they couldn't get it together to keep government open," she said. In a memorandum to the Department of Defence, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis reassured the nation of taking all necessary steps to protect the nation during the time of government shutdown. The White House said that the military will be working without pay. "We will continue to execute daily operations around the world - ships and submarines will remain at sea, our aircraft will continue to fly and our warfighters will continue to pursue terrorists throughout the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. "While training for reservists must be curtailed, active forces will stay at their posts adapting their training to achieve the least negative impact on our readiness to fight, Mattis said. "I recognize the consequences of a government shutdown. You have my personal commitment that the Department's leadership will do our best to mitigate the impacts of the disruptions and any financial burdens to you and your families," Mattis said. Earlier, the Office of Management of Budget said it was preparing for "what we're calling the Schumer Shutdown". Mulvaney said that Fanny and Freddy will be open, the post office will be open, the TSA will be open, but again all of these people will be working for nothing, which is simply not fair, he said. The last government shutdown lasted for 16 days in October 2013. The previous shutdown before that was for 21 days that ended on January 6, 1996. However, this is for the first time in recent history that a shutdown has taken place when both the House and the Senate and the White House is controlled by the same party. Trump has cancelled his scheduled weekend trip to Mar-a- Lago in Florida. However, he would continue with his trip to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum meeting next week. "Democrats can't shut down the booming Trump economy. Are they now so desperate they'll shut down the government instead?" said White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and described it as a "Schumer shutdown". Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer is the Senate Minority Leader. (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.) By Tabita Diela and Nyimas Laula JAKARTA/KUTA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesian authorities are investigating the use of bitcoin in the holiday island of Bali, amid warnings by the central bank in Southeast Asia's biggest economy over the risks posed by virtual currencies, an official said. The probe started after the central bank on Dec. 7, 2017 issued a regulation banning the use of cryptocurrencies in payment systems, said Causa Iman Karana, head of Bank Indonesia's representative office in Bali. "We found out from some postings on social media that Bali appeared to have become a haven for bitcoin transactions," said Karana. Central bank officials and police went undercover at the end of 2017 to investigate scores of businesses in Bali advertising online that they offered bitcoin payment services, said Karana. The team found two cafes still using bitcoin as a means of payment, but 44 businesses including car rental outlets, hotels, travel companies and jewellery stores, previously offering the service, had now stopped, he said. One of the cafes used bitcoin only for transactions of more than 243,000 rupiah, or about 0.001 bitcoin. A single transaction took about 1 1/2 hours to be processed and included a fee of 123,000 rupiah so this had discouraged its wider use for payments, said Karana. The official declined to name the businesses because he was still waiting for further instructions from Bank Indonesia in Jakarta. "The next step is we will ban them as mandated by the law. We ask them not to use it anymore. Along with the Directorate of Special Crime Investigation unit, we will enforce the rule that all transactions in Indonesia must use rupiah." Some locals in Bali said bitcoin was being used mainly by foreigners on the island, which is Indonesia's tourism hub and has a large expatriate community. Bank Indonesia has called ownership of virtual currencies high risk and prone to speculation, because no authority takes responsibility or officially administers them and because there is no underlying asset to be the basis for the price. Virtual currencies could also be used in money laundering and terrorism funding, and could have an impact on the stability of the financial system and causes losses for society, it has said. While trading has not be regulated so far, the central bank has said it was looking into the issue. Regulators around the world have been grappling with how to address risks posed by cryptocurrencies, as bitcoin, the world's most popular virtual currency, soared more than 1,700 percent last year. Prices have plummeted since South Korea said last week it may ban domestic cryptocurrency exchanges. Bitcoin.co.id, an Indonesian online cryptocurrency exchange, said on its website that bitcoin was trading at 162.70 million rupiah ($12,247) per unit after losing around a quarter of it value this week. ($1 = 13,285.0000 rupiah) (Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Michael Perry) (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's ministry has put restrictions on the imports of petroleum coke in the capital Delhi and its surrounding region, in the latest effort to curb rising air pollution. Cement plants in the national capital region which use petroleum coke as a fuel would need to obtain permission from the state pollution control board to continue operations, the ministry of environment, forest and climate change said in a notification issued late on Friday. The ministry has also banned imports of petroleum coke for trading purposes in the capital region, the notice said, adding that even industrial units allowed to use petcoke will not be allowed to store more than three months worth of their consumption. India will also track the trade of the commodity, and has asked both sellers and consumers to submit monthly reports on petcoke-related transactions. India is the world's biggest consumer of petroleum coke, better known as petcoke, which is a dark solid carbon material that emits 11 percent more greenhouse gases than coal, according to the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy. India's government is in favour of imposing a wider ban on the import of petcoke, according to a government affidavit filed with its top court in December, a ruling on which is expected next month. India, the world's largest consumer of petcoke, imports over half its annual petcoke consumption of about 27 million tonnes, mainly from the United States. Local producers include Indian Oil Corp, Reliance Industries and Bharat Petroleum Corp. (Reporting by Aditi Shah and Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Andrew Bolton) (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) (Reuters) - Greg Abel, considered by many investors the top contender to succeed Warren Buffett as Berkshire Hathaway Inc's chief executive officer, on Friday reported owning about $2.1 million of the conglomerate's stock. Abel, who along with Ajit Jain was named a Berkshire vice chairman and director last week, disclosed his stake a day after Jain reported a $109 million ownership stake. The stakes were disclosed in regulatory filings. Abel, 55, who has run the Berkshire Hathaway Energy unit, was appointed vice chairman to oversee non-insurance operations such as the BNSF railroad, Dairy Queen ice cream, Fruit of the Loom underwear and NetJets planes. Jain, 66, Berkshire's top reinsurance executive and the other strong contender to succeed Buffett, was appointed vice chairman to oversee insurance operations such as Geico auto insurance and General Re reinsurance. Abel reported holding his Berkshire stake indirectly for the benefit of his family. Berkshire Hathaway Energy said about a year ago that Abel owned a stake in that unit that could be converted into Berkshire stock worth more than $400 million at the time. Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire said last week that relevant factors in its succession planning were that both possess "integrity, business savvy, an owner-oriented attitude and a deep genuine interest in Berkshire." Buffett, 87, has run Berkshire since 1965 and has not signalled any plans to leave soon. He owns roughly one-sixth of the company, comprising most of what Forbes magazine said on Friday is his $91.6 billion fortune. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States mistakenly supported China's membership of the World Trade Organization in 2001 on terms that have failed to force Beijing to open its economy, the Trump administration said on Friday as it prepares to clamp down on Chinese trade. "It seems clear that the United States erred in supporting China's entry into the WTO on terms that have proven to be ineffective in securing China's embrace of an open, market-orientated trade regime," the administration said in an annual report to Congress on China's compliance with WTO commitments. "It is now clear that the WTO rules are not sufficient to constrain China's market-distorting behaviour," the report said. While the annual report from the U.S. Trade Representative's office has long taken China to task for unfair trade practices, the first such review under U.S. President Donald Trump takes a harsher tone against Beijing. It comes amid worsening trade tensions between the world's two largest economies and as the administration prepares actions to curb China's alleged theft of intellectual property. A decision in the so-called "Section 301" investigation is expected in the coming weeks. The report also points at Russia's behaviour, saying Moscow had no intention of complying with its WTO obligations, a trend the administration said was "very troubling." A White House official said despite consultations with China, it had failed to follow through on promises of moving more towards a market-orientated economy and playing by international trading rules. "The president and his principal advisor are united in the belief that this is a problem that has gone on for too long and needs to be addressed," the official said. "In the past, conversations have focussed more on discreet opening for discreet products, and what we're saying is systematically we're not going to tolerate broad-based policy that attempts to promote state-led enterprises," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Trump told in an interview this week he was considering a big "fine" against China for forcing U.S. companies to transfer their intellectual property to China as a cost of doing business there. While the administration is also looking at whether foreign imports of steel, aluminium, washing machines and solar panels are harming U.S businesses, China's alleged theft of intellectual property is a particular concern to Trump because it affects a large swath of American firms, the official said. Trump did not specify what he meant by a "fine" against China, but the 1974 trade law that authorized an investigation into China's alleged theft of U.S. intellectual property allows him to impose retaliatory tariffs on Chinese goods or other trade sanctions until China changes its policies. In Beijing, many experts believe Washington is unwilling to pay the heavy economic price needed to upset prevailing trade dynamics between the two countries. In the report released on Friday, Trump's trade envoy, Robert Lighthizer, said the global economy was threatened by major economies who undermined the global trading system. "The global trading system is threatened by major economies who do not intend to open their markets to trade and participate fairly," Lighthizer said. "This practice is incompatible with the market-based approach expressly envisioned by WTO members and contrary to the fundamental principles of the WTO." The Trump administration has already pledged to transform 164-member trade body and has blocked WTO judicial appointments in a move to win WTO reforms. "What we want to do is see countries behave responsibly within the international trading system," the White House official said. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; editing by Clive McKeef) (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Countering the allegation that his had reneged on the promise of creating 10 million jobs a year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi quoted a recent study showing seven million jobs had been created in the formal sector alone in the current financial year. This data of seven million jobs is not like building castles in the air. It has been calculated by an independent agency on the basis of EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Organisation) figures, Modi said in a television interview, days before leaving for Davos to attend the World Economic Forum meet. One should also count the opportunities that were being created in the informal sector, he added. As many as 100 million people have taken loans from the Prime Minister Mudra Yojana without any bank guarantee. Loans to the tune of Rs 4 trillion have been disbursed. New entrepreneurs are being created. Wont you count these figures as job creation? he asked. One can counter these figures on the political lines, but these numbers are not based on just wishful thinking, he said. We are on the right track so far as job creation is concerned. According to a study authored by SBI Group Chief Economic Advisor Soumya Kanti Ghosh and IIM Bangalore professor Pulak Ghosh, 590,000 jobs had been generated every month until November in the current financial year. This means that seven million jobs will be created in the formal sector in 2017-18 if one expands the trend on a pro-rata basis. The study, titled Towards a Payroll Reporting in India, calculated the number of jobs in enterprises from the membership of the EPFO, the Employees State Insurance Corporation, the General Provident Fund, and the National Pension System (NPS). So far as data from the EPFO is concerned, the study estimated that 3.68 million jobs were generated till November of FY18, which would imply 5.5 million in the entire year. This would be higher than the 4.5 million created the previous financial year, a period which saw disruption from demonetisation. When asked as to what kind of Budget, the last full one of the Narendra Modi government, it will be, the prime minister said the mantra of his was development. Whether this is the last or the first Budget, whether there are elections or not, the mantra of Modi is only development, development and development. The mantra of the Bharatiya Janata Party is only development. Sabka sath, sabka vikas (Cooperation from all, development for all). The PM spoke at length about the need for simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls. He said there was a need for increased debate on the issue. This cannot be the agenda of one political party or individual. It isnt Modis or BJPs agenda only. There is a need for discussion on this, he said. Modi said the country remaining in the perennial election mode not only affected governance, but also hurt the federal structure of the country. Talking about how elections lead to war of words between political rivals, Modi likened elections to the festival of Holi. Holi, he said, was celebrated on a particular day where it was acceptable to throw colours or mud on people. Similarly, the Lok Sabha and assembly elections should take place at a fixed time, for example in the second week of February. Modi said expenditure on the 2009 Lok Sabha elections was Rs 11.1 billion, which increased to Rs 40 billion in 2014. He also highlighted the enormous manpower that was deployed to conduct elections, and how it interfered in governance. On agriculture, he said his had an ambitious programme to double the farmers' income by 2022 through Prime Minister's crop insurance scheme, value addition of farm produce, irrigation programme etc. On the criticism related to demonetisation and the goods and services tax (GST), Modi said his governments achievements were much beyond these two reforms. If you consider only these two things as my government's work, it will be a big injustice to me, he said. While the previous UPA government did not take care of states' concerns over the GST, his government addressed those worries, he said, adding one had to adjust when such big reforms were undertaken. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was scheduled to be one of the key speakers at the India-specific sessions at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, but he will now not be travelling to the Swiss town. A finance ministry source said the change in plan was because the FM was needed in New Delhi to devote time to the . The Reserve Bank of India stated it has not posted any official at the Bank Note Press in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, after an official was apprehended by CISF here allegedly for stealing currency. In a statement, the central bank said it has been reported in a section of the media that an RBI officer has been apprehended by CISF for stealing printed currency at the RBI printing facility at Dewas. However, the Bank Note Press (BNP), Dewas is a unit of the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL) which is not under the control of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), it said. Further, RBI "does not have any official placed" with BNP, Dewas, it said. "The reports, thus, are not based on facts. RBI regrets to note that the facts were not verified before publishing the news reports," it added. According to the reports, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) nabbed a senior officer by the name of Manohar Verma at the BNP facility allegedly stealing newly printed currency notes. Verma was the deputy control officer in the Note Verification section of the high-security press. He was caught with Rs 200 currency notes worth Rs 40,000 hidden in his shoes. Currency notes worth about Rs 90 lakh were recovered from his possession which he reportedly stole over a period of time. The seized notes are believed to be the ones which were rejected due to minor defects. These notes could be easily used in open markets as the defects are too minute to detect. Such notes are supposed to be disposed off inside the press and cannot be taken. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) on Saturday announced acquisition of government's entire 51.11 per cent stake in oil refiner HPCL for Rs 36,915 crore, paying a premium of over 10 per cent. ONGC will pay Rs 473.97 per share for 77.8 crore shares of the government in Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), the company said in a stock exchange filing. The price it is paying is 14 per cent higher than Friday's closing price of HPCL and over 10 per cent of the 60-day weighted average of the scrip. The transaction, which will help the government cross its annual sell-off (disinvestment) target for the first time ever, has been executed through an off-market deal. While the government started off talks for selling controlling stake in the country's third largest oil refining and fuel marketing company, seeking about Rs 1 lakh crore on grounds that an open sale would fetch no less than that, what ONGC paid was far less. ONGC's own valuation adviser EY had put HPCL's valuation at Rs 475 a share plus a premium for getting the controlling stake, sources privy to the negotiations said. The outside advise the company took from Citi put the price at Rs 500 per share. ONGC negotiated hard and brought down the acquisition price, they said adding the company would do short-term borrowing to fund the acquisition that would be an all cash- deal to be completed by end of the month. Also, the company has cash reserves of about Rs 12,000 crore. Sources said ONGC has already taken board approval for raising borrowing limit to Rs 35,000 crore from the previous approval of Rs 25,000 crore. Also, it has loan commitments from domestic and foreign lenders totalling roughly double the acquisition prices and the company would draw from them to make the payments in next one week, they said. Based on Friday's closing price of Rs 416.55, HPCL has a market capitalisation of about Rs 63,475 crore. At this price, the government's 51.11 per cent stake is worth Rs 32,442 crore. "Government of India has entered into an agreement with ONGC today for strategic sale of its 51.11 per cent equity share-holding in HPCL at a consideration of Rs 36,915 crore," the finance ministry tweeted. The ministry reasoned the merger to the February 2016 review called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi where he "underlined the need of efficient management of government investments in central public sector enterprises (CPSEs)". The government accordingly expanded the approach from of disinvestment to investment and public asset management. "Accordingly, as part of investment management strategy, the Government of India decided to explore possibilities of consolidation, mergers and acquisitions within CPSE space. An announcement in this regard was also made by the finance minister in his Budget speech of 2017-18," it said. In line with the finance minister's Budget announcement, ONGC proposed to acquire the government's existing 51.11 per cent equity shareholding in HPCL. The Union Cabinet, in its meeting held on July 19 last year, gave 'in-principle' approval to the said proposal and decided to set up an alternative mechanism under the finance minister to decide on the price, timing and the terms and conditions of the strategic sale. "The alternative mechanism under the chairmanship of finance minister in its meeting today approved the price bid of ONGC and the terms and conditions of the sale," it said. Through this acquisition, ONGC will become India's first vertically integrated 'oil major' company, having presence across the entire value chain. The integrated entity will have advantage of having enhanced capacity to bear higher risks and take higher investment decisions etc. In this process, ONGC has acquired significant mid-stream and downstream capacity and will attain economies of scale at various levels of operations. With a turnover of Rs 2,13,489 crore and profit of Rs 6,502 crore during 2016-17, HPCL ranks at 384th position in Fortune Global 500 and 48th place in Platts 250 Global Energy Companies. HPCL markets around 35.2 million tonnes of petroleum products with a market share of about 21 per cent and is number one lube marketer in the country. It has refineries at Mumbai and Visakhapatnam and a joint venture refinery at Bhatinda. It owns the biggest Lube refinery in India and the second largest cross country product pipeline network of about 3,500 km. HPCL has a vast marketing network spread across the length and breadth of the country with terminals, depots, LPG bottling plants, Lube blending plants, aviation fuel stations and around 15,000 petrol pumps. "ONGC Board on January 19, 2018 considered the proposal and approved acquisition of the entire 51.11 per cent shareholding (778,845,375 equity shares) of the President of India, at a cash purchase consideration of INR 473.97 per share with a total acquisition cost of Rs 36,915 crore," the company said. ONGC is the largest producer of crude oil and natural gas in India, contributing around 70 per cent of domestic production. Congressman Scott Perry, who represents Adams, York, and part of Cumberland County, has come under fire from his own party for comments made on Fox News regarding the Las Vegas shooting. On Friday afternoon, Republican Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada posted on Twitter that Rep. Scott Perrys comments on the Oct. 1st shooting in Las Vegas are inexcusable. On Thursday evening, Perry, also a Republican, was a guest of Fox host Tucker Carlson. When the discussion circled to the Las Vegas shooting, Perry said nothings adding up. Its been four months they said hes a lone gunman, lone shooter, yet we cant get the autopsy results. But even more troubling than that, recently, Ive been made aware of what I believe to be credible evidence or credible information regarding potential terrorist infiltration through the southern border, regarding this incident, Perry said. Stephen Paddock killed 58 people after opening fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas. When pressed by Carlson for further elaboration, Perry seemed to maintain that a conspiracy is credible because no one has yet proved it isnt. Well, they could be, well, lets face it, ISIS twice before the attack, ISIS warned the United States that they would attack Las Vegas by, I think, in June and August, and then after the attack claimed responsibility four times, Perry said. Meanwhile, the local law enforcement investigative services are telling us there is no terrorist connection, lone gunman. Again, somethings not adding up. Las Vegas authorities held a news conference on Friday to discuss further details of the case. Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo was asked about Perrys comments, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times, and retorted Id like to see the evidence. There was one shooter in the massacre, Lombardo said, according to the Times. There was only one person responsible, and that was Stephen Paddock. On Twitter, Heller said, I applaud Sheriff Lombardos leadership and I fully support our local law enforcement who have been working tirelessly on this investigation. Even before Hellers rebuke, however, Perry faced scrutiny by a number of media outlets for being unable to source such a serious claim. A Washington Post article noted that Perrys comments appeared to mirror conspiracy theories that have been floated on far-right websites since the October shooting. Many of these theories follow a pattern, in which a white male offender can commit gun crimes only if under duress from outside forces. A link between terrorism and the southern border, as Perry put it, also helps to bolster the case for a wall on the Mexican border, a key point for conservative hard-liners The House Freedom Caucus, of which Perry is a member, supported a short-term funding resolution on Thursday night only under the condition that immigration policy be included in a separate vote on the so-called Goodlatte-Labrador bill, according to reporting by The Hill. That bill would extend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children to stay in the country under certain conditions. But it would also restrict other immigration programs and provide $30 billion for a border wall with Mexico. President Donald Trump relentlessly congratulates himself for the healthy state of the U.S. economy, with its steady growth, low unemployment, busier factories and confident consumers. But in the year since Trumps inauguration, most analysts tend to agree on this: The economy remains essentially the same sturdy one he inherited from Barack Obama. Growth has picked up, but its not yet clear if it can sustain a faster expansion. Hiring and wage growth actually slowed slightly from Obamas last year in office. Consumers and businesses are much more optimistic, but their spending has yet to move meaningfully higher. I dont see any noticeable break over the past year, said Michael Strain, an economist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. We tend to overstate the degree to which the president has the ability to control the economy. The U.S. public appears to have a similar view, according to a Quinnipiac University poll last week. It found that two-thirds of American voters say the economy is excellent or good, the highest since the poll started asking about the economy in 2001. Yet 49 percent of respondents credited Obama for the economys health, compared with 40 percent who credited Trump. Trumps successful push for income and corporate tax cuts and his steps to loosen regulations have helped drive a surging stock market rally fueled by the prospect of higher corporate profits. And most economists are optimistic that growth will continue at a solid pace this year. We have created more than 2 million new jobs since the election, Trump said last week in Nashville, Tennessee. Economic growth has surged past 3 percent, something that wasnt supposed to happen for a long time. Were way ahead of schedule. Unemployment is at a 17-year low. Those trends arent very different from what came before. Employers added more jobs in Obamas last year in office 2.2 million in 2016 and nearly 3 million in 2014. Economic growth did top 3 percent at an annual rate during the second and third quarters of 2017. But it had surged above 4 percent in the second and third quarters of 2014. The unemployment rate fell from 4.8 percent when Trump took office to 4.1 percent now. It fell by the same amount or more in 2013, 2014 and 2015. During the presidential campaign, Trump portrayed the economy as floundering and called the unemployment rate one of the biggest hoaxes in modern politics. Now he accepts the governments data at face value. When the government reports growth for the October-December quarter next week, it may show the economy expanded at a 3 percent or higher annual rate for the third straight quarter. That could lift growth in 2017 to the fastest pace since it reached 2.9 percent in 2015. Some of that growth may reflect greater spending by consumers or businesses in anticipation of tax cuts. But most economists expect it will take time for Trumps deregulatory and tax policies to have their full effect. Theres no question that businesses and consumers are more optimistic. The Conference Boards consumer confidence index jumped to a 17-year high in November before slipping a bit last month. That hasnt yet resulted in more Americans opening their wallets, though. Spending growth in the first nine months of 2017 was slightly slower than in the previous year. Some economists are growing skeptical of consumer sentiment surveys because the responses seem increasingly skewed by political leanings. People in counties that voted for Trump reported a much brighter outlook on the economy after the election than did people in Clinton counties, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. People in Trump-voting counties were much more likely just after the election to say their financial situation had improved in the past year, the New York Fed said, long before any of Trumps policies were in place. But the change in sentiment didnt produce changes in consumer spending, the report said. It does somewhat undermine the message from the confidence surveys, said Jim OSullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics. American companies have stepped up their investments in machinery, software, and office towers this year after sluggish spending in 2015 and 2016. Such spending increased about 6.2 percent at an annual rate in the first nine months of the year. Still, business investment topped 9 percent in the first three quarters of 2014. In both cases, rising oil prices played an outsized role in spurring more corporate spending. When oil prices increase, drilling firms tend to buy more steel pipe and other goods that are used in drilling rigs. Dean Baker, an economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, points out that when mining and oil and gas are excluded, investment spending has increased an anemic 3.3 percent this year. Many economists expect growth to perk up in 2018, with the impact of tax cuts and the Trump administrations deregulatory efforts spurring corporate investment and consumer spending. So far, 15 regulations that were put in place by the Obama administration have been overturned by Congress. The administration has put dozens of others on hold. Theres just generally the feeling that theres more pro-growth policy coming from Washington, OSullivan said. OSullivan forecasts that growth will reach 2.8 percent for all of this year, roughly in line with other projections. 2017 was largely an Obama economy, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moodys Analytics, said. But going forward it will definitely be a Trump economy. Other factors besides tax cuts and deregulation are playing a role. For the first time since the most recent major recession ended in 2009, the global economy is enjoying widespread growth. That kind of broad expansion helps boost spending on U.S. exports of factory goods, a boon to manufacturers, and also lifts the stock market because it increases profits for U.S. multinational corporations. Germanys economy expanded 2.2 percent in 2017, the fastest in six years. Business sentiment in Japan is at the highest level in 11 years. China is still growing at nearly a 7 percent annual rate. Manufacturing executives appear highly optimistic and welcome the attention Trump has lavished on their industry. Factories added 196,000 jobs last year after shedding workers in 2016. Still, manufacturing added 208,000 in 2014 and 207,000 in 2011. And most of the jobs that have been added this year were outside the Midwestern Rust Belt states that swung for Trump in the election. Instead, some of the states with the biggest gains are in the South, Southwest and Northwest. Factory jobs grew 4 percent in South Carolina from January through November, the largest gain nationwide, followed by South Dakota with 3.9 percent. Iowa, Rhode Island and Texas were next, followed by Wisconsin, which enjoyed a 3.2 percent gain. Florida, Oregon, Oklahoma, and Arkansas closed out the top 10. Meanwhile, Michigans manufacturing employment was flat last year, while factory jobs rose just 0.5 percent in Ohio. Pennsylvania lost manufacturing jobs. Fiat Chrysler said last week that it is moving production of some pickup trucks from Mexico to a factory in Warren, Michigan, near Detroit, which will be expanded. The move will employ 2,500 people. And Toyota and Mazda said they will build a factory in Huntsville, Alabama, that will add 4,000 jobs. At the same time, 215 more workers were laid off last week at the Carrier Corp. factory in Indianapolis where Trump touted a deal early in his presidency that prevented the plants closure. There are still jobs headed overseas, no question about it, Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, said. You cant tweet jobs back into existence. Friday, January 19, 2018 at 9:22PM This might be what your weekend needs. Reddit user CrazedEli or Ville Salminen in real life built and shared on the r/television subreddit his newest site called Flixable. Its basically a search engine for Netflix that shows you whats popular, original, or leaving the streaming service. Itll let you browse by genre or IMDb rating as well as filter searches based on release date. Salminen said he built the site as a hobby to teach him more about programming but he also realized it addressed a need people still had: how to look for content beyond what Netflixs algorithm suggestswhich admittedly looks like most of their original content but not much of the other content they offer. For now, it catalogs whats available on Netflix in the US, but he says hell be expanding this to include other countries as well. According to Salminen, With Flixable, I had one aim. To build a site that would make it easier for Netflix subscribers to choose what to watch on a movie night. He previously created a similar browsing site for Netflix called AllFlicks but he sold that to Reelgood in November 2017. This new site is basically building on his dream of rebuilding AllFlicks from scratch. He is in talks with Hulu representatives to make a similar site for the service. Source: Mashable "With the strong financial support from this Fellowship and the ANU Futures Scheme, my team will address some of the most fundamental questions about the immune system and will design new therapies for infections and a range of diseases," he said. "The range of roadworks across the Gungahlin district impact the travel patterns of drivers through the network, so full appreciation of the impact and effectiveness of the intersection improvements will not be clear until these works are completed." "A treaty is an acknowledgment that we are the first peoples of this nation, we're the oldest living culture in the history of mankind and it's about respecting that," Mr Devow said. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, there is the structural: under changes introduced by Rudd in 2013, it is a lot tougher to change Labor leaders than it used to be. Not only do both federal MPs and the party's membership now get a say in the leadership (requiring a campaign and a postal ballot), but 60 per cent of the caucus has to agree to have a leadership spill in the first place. "Nevertheless, given the Prime Minister's position of overall responsibility for the national intelligence community, it is not inappropriate that this power should be retained. In the case of the Attorney-General, this consideration does not apply," Ms Stone said. "The fire was described as 'lively' and difficult to contain. Twenty-four hours later, the RFS and planes are still on the job. To all those who give their time, their experience gained from hours of voluntary training, and disrupt their own (and their families lives) to protect us, we offer heartfelt thanks. Truly local heroes." Reflecting on last years Womens March that took place in D.C. and around the country, this one sign really stood out for me. It was a reminder that fighting for rights isnt once-and-done women who were marching in the 60s joined their daughters and granddaughters at last years Womens March and many have taken to the streets once again this year. In 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Connecticut law that actually prohibited married couples from using birth control. Subsequently, with the Jan. 22, 1973, landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court again affirmed that the Constitution protects every persons right to privacy in their health care decision-making, in this case, whether to have an abortion. We have made great progress in this country in reducing unintended pregnancies, due largely to expanded access to birth control, including a historic low of pregnancy among teens. Even with this progress, I believe, as do a majority of Americans, that people have a right to make their own decisions about their bodies, their families, and their lifes path, without political interference. Yet, here we are in 2018 facing some of the biggest threats to womens health and rights since birth control became legal more than 50 years ago. Undermining access to contraception is just one aspect of this administrations broader attack against equal rights and womens ability to fully participate in the workforce and pursue their life goals. Access to birth control is more than just a health issue. Its about health, rights and economic equality. Across the nation, over the past year, we have seen legislators and regulators try to undo provisions that enhance access to birth control by getting rid of programs that help low-income women access birth control, eliminating no-copay insurance coverage for birth control, and even prohibiting health care providers from giving women information about birth control and abortion. And since 2010, states have adopted more than 300 abortion restrictions 30 percent of all abortion restrictions enacted since Roe v. Wade. Birth control and abortion are personal medical choices that should be decided among patients and doctors, not politicians. Its time to stop criminalizing womens health care, interfering with the personal decisions of women, and substituting political agendas for the expertise of health care professionals. But despite these attacks on health care, I feel encouraged. More women will take to the streets to hold protest signs and head to the voting booths to support choice and run for office to advocate for womens health. We are sending a message that we will not tire from holding up our signs we will not give up. In the words of Golden Globe award winner Bruce Miller for The Handmaids Tale (a terrifying cautionary tale about a future without reproductive rights, including contraception and abortion): To all the people in the world who stopped The Handmaids Tale from becoming real: keep doing that. Groupe PSA has plans to return to the United States and the company will lean heavily on Opel engineers who previously helped General Motors bring the Cascada and Insignia to America as Buicks. Speaking at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit, PSA CEO Carlos Tavares revealed the company has a three-pronged plan to return to America. The company kicked off its return early last year with the launch of its Free2Move service in Seattle. Free2Move is a mobility app which allows residents to book various transportation options including offerings from Car2Go, Lime Bike, and Zipcar. Reuters reports the second phase will involve ride services using vehicles from PSA. This will help to build customer awareness ahead of the third phase which involves selling PSA vehicles to customers in the United States. The company declined to say which brand will be offered in the United States but PSA North America CEO Larry Dominique has previously said the company has already decided which brand will come to the U.S. and it might not be DS. Regardless of which brand comes to America, Tavares said its vehicles will be designed with the assistance of Opel engineers because they can ensure the future products for this market will be fully U.S. compliant both in terms of regulations and consumer tastes. Tavares went on to say the cars are already in development but theres still no word on when they will arrive. In related news, Tavares said the company will be 100 percent electrified by 2025 but later clarified his statement by saying an electric or hybrid powertrain will be offered on all models by then. He also said that by 2030, 10 percent of PSA vehicles will be capable of autonomous driving while another 80 percent will be able to drive themselves under certain conditions. This seems to suggest 10 percent of the companys lineup will have a Level 5 system by 2030 while the others will have a less advanced system which is Level 3 or lower. Photo Gallery Nora Twomeys animated feature The Breadwinner made a strong showing this week at the Canadian Screen Awards, picking up a total of six nominations, including for best motion picture. It marks only the second time in the history of the award, which has been presented in various iterations since 1949, that an animated feature has been nominated for the events top prize. The other instance was in 2005, when Sylvain Chomets The Triplets of Belleville was nominated for and won film of the year. While The Breadwinner originates out of Irelands Cartoon Saloon, the film is eligible for the Canadian Screen Awards because it is an international co-production that has the involvement of multiple Canadian firms. One of its producers is Aircraft Pictures, while Guru Studio contributed artistically to the films production. (Both Aircraft and Guru are located in Toronto.) Canada once again shows the world it is a leader for world peace by hosting a conference in Vancouver January 16 to advocate for an aggressive diplomatic campaign designed to force the rogue regime (North Korea) to the negotiation table and avoid devastating military action. "We continue to find ways to advance the pressure campaign against North Korea, and send a unified message from the international community: 'We will not accept you as nuclear weapons nation' said U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson." Wasnt there another message sent by the international community, a treaty initiated by a Nobel Prize-winning organization (ICAN), and endorsed by 122 nations at the UN last July which said We do not accept any nuclear weapons nations? Which Canadian ally, after leading a three year war which destroyed North Korea and killed 20 percent of its population, has been threatening nuclear annihilation of North Korea for decades, long before a North Korean nuclear program existed? Which country is implementing a trillion plus dollar program to modernize their nuclear arsenal to make their nukes more useable? What if Russia repeatedly massed 300,000 troops along the Ukraine border, conducted fly-overs with stealth and nuclear weapons capable aircraft and announced plans for regime change as the US continues to do in the case of Korea, what would Chrystia Freeland have to say? Finally, though North Korea is labeled as a bellicose dictatorship, human rights violator and practitioner of cruel and unusual punishment of political dissidents isnt this description far more justly applied to Washingtons principal Arab ally Saudi Arabia, the place where 14 billion dollars worth of Justins jeeps are headed? Mark Haley The Kelowna Mission Group will be before City Council on January 23rd requesting a height variance on the towers to be built on the Aqua development. The OCP has approved a height of 6 storeys, the Mission Group are requesting 12-16 storeys. The lakefront is no place for towers and will have the ultimate effect of spoiling our city for the permanent residents. The OCP is there for a reason, it reflects the citizens wishes. Now we have a chance to make our voices heard - so please let us make the most of this opportunity. Dates of note January 18th. at the Hotel Eldorado Open House on the Aqua Project. January 23rd. at City Hall. Mission Group presenting application for variances to tower heights. Time of meeting 6.00pm Janet Smith Photo: CTV Vancouver police say a 53-year-old man who decided to piggyback through a fare gate in plain view of officers ended up travelling straight to jail. Police say the man was stopped when officers spotted him following another passenger through a fare gate without paying on Wednesday. When officers checked police databases, they found the man was wanted on eight outstanding warrants from five jurisdictions in the Metro Vancouver area for charges including theft under $5,000. Police say Walter Craft has made his first court appearance and been remanded in custody until his next appearance on Jan. 25. Photo: The Canadian Press A young cougar, orphaned when its mother was hit by a vehicle, is recovering from frostbite and hunger in Williams Lake. Conservation officer Ron LeBlanc went to a home on Monday to find the animal hiding under some lawn furniture on the deck. He says officers set up a live trap, using sardines and lamb as enticements, and within hours the hungry cat had been caught. LeBlanc says the homeowner thought his dog may have tangled with the cat, but other than having frostbite on his ear tips and being skinny and dehydrated, the cougar was in pretty good shape. There are no facilities in Canada that rehabilitate cougar kittens to go back to the wild, but LeBlanc says the Greater Vancouver Zoo was willing to take in the animal, and it will be transferred there next week. LeBlanc says at two to three months old, the cat was probably close to being weaned and has a very healthy appetite for meat. Photo: CTV Some tense moments in Richmond Thursday when police were called to a possible hostage situation and a man with a gun. Cpl. Dennis Hwang said shortly before 8 p.m. Jan. 18, RCMP responded to a business in the 10,000 block of No. 3 Road for a call of shots fired and a man brandishing a firearm, possibly with hostages. Multiple Richmond RCMP officers surrounded the business and established a security perimeter around the area. A 32-year old male, who was a patron of the business, was assaulted by a suspect dressed in dark clothing and wearing a balaclava. The victim was allegedly struck in the head with part of a firearm, believed to be a shotgun. The suspect then fled in a light-coloured vehicle occupied by multiple suspects. The victim appeared to be specifically targeted, said Hwang. An immediate broadcast was sent to all neighbouring law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for a light-coloured vehicle with multiple suspects and to exercise caution as they may be armed and dangerous. Members of the Vancouver Police Department located the suspect vehicle at 9 p.m. near Ross Street and Marine Drive. VPD officers, including those from their Emergency Response Team provided assistance to Richmond RCMP. A 19-year old male and a 22-year old male are currently in custody in Richmond. The crime vehicle has been seized awaiting further analysis and investigation. The victim was transported to hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries. He has not been co-operative with investigators. The victim and suspects are known to police, said Hwang. Richmond RCMP is continuing their investigation and other arrests may be forthcoming. This is the second incident in Richmond in as many weeks where a firearm has been reported. "Our investigators were able to confirm that no shots were fired, nor were any hostages involved," said Hwang. "These types of incidents are always treated very seriously and illustrate the dynamic and fluid circumstances that police must contend with on a daily basis. Further, it highlights the importance of accurate information. Photo: Contributed A new four-bed luxury recovery centre is opening its doors near Cawston along the Similkameen River. The Healing River Centre is located at the former VineGlass Vineyard resort on Sumac Rd. The 18 acre property will also provide many of the ingredients in meals for clients. The centres executive director Mark Stevens has a Masters Degree and two decades of clinical experience. He will oversee a team of counsellors and therapists. Dixon Terbasket has also been hired as a Syilx cultural co-ordinator and consultant. Owner Roger Hol says the centre will use evidence based treatments that have been scientifically proven to be effective. Hol is also a grape grower, and will continue to operate his vineyard business separately from the recovery centre. Healing River will start by offering 90-day residential treatment, followed a nine month maintenance program treating most types of addiction. More information can be found here. Photo: Contributed Police are announcing charges against an Okanagan Falls man after a traffic stop resulted in the seizure of a loaded firearm. The Penticton South Okanagan Similkameen Targeted Enforcement Unit pulled over a vehicle on Main street in Okaganan Falls Wednesday. Inside the vehicle, officers found a loaded, sawed-off double-barrel shotgun. "Police find this incident alarming as it is the second time in a week they have located a loaded firearm in a vehicle," Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said in a news release. Samuel Prescott-Perreault, 30, appeared in Penticton court Friday on 11 firearms charges. He has several previous convictions dating back to 2014 for break and enter, breach of probation and weapons charges. DEAR ABBY: I'm 18 and was best friends with "Sam" for two years until we started dating 10 months ago. It has been so much fun. He is the first person I have truly loved. When we first started dating we weren't exclusive, and he hooked up with my best friend. We all go to school together and see each other every day. Since then, I'm uncomfortable being around her. I have expressed my feelings to Sam, but there's nothing we can do. I often feel hot and cold about our relationship and get close to breaking up with him. I have considered therapy, but my family can't afford it. What can I do so I don't hurt myself and him? -- HURTING IN CALIFORNIA DEAR HURTING: You didn't mention what you and this young man plan to do in the fall, but if it involves continuing your education, your paths may diverge at that time. In the meantime, you and Sam should be free to see others because, if your emotional needs were being met, you wouldn't be blowing hot and cold about the relationship. DEAR ABBY: I started sucking my thumb when I was 1. My parents tried for years to break my bad habit, but it wasn't until I started going to slumber parties at 16 that I stopped. I am now 27, and a few months ago I woke up with my thumb in my mouth. Since then I have caught myself sucking my thumb in the middle of the night. It seems to happen when I'm really tired. I am now in a committed relationship and would die of embarrassment if my boyfriend saw me doing it. How can I stop once and for all? -- WET THUMB IN THE SOUTH DEAR W.T.: I have heard from other adults who suck their thumbs, so comfort yourself with the thought that it's not all that unusual. One way to fix the problem would be to not allow yourself to get overly tired. Another would be to coat your thumbs with a bitter or bad-tasting substance at bedtime. (Some people find the taste of nail polish deters them from thumb-sucking.) You could also apply hand cream and wear cotton gloves to bed. However, if that doesn't do the trick, simply level with your boyfriend and ask him if it's a deal-breaker. P.S. You were able to quit the habit for 11 years. Something triggered your return to it. Consider keeping a journal to identify what is going on before your thumb-sucking episodes so you can gain insight into what may be causing them. DEAR ABBY: I haven't been in a relationship since 1995. Is it true when they say, "Use it or lose it," and does it hold true for women also? -- WANTS TO KNOW IN INDIANA DEAR WANTS TO KNOW: I think the answer to your question may depend upon what "it" is. DEAR ABBY: I co-signed a college loan for my grandson. Unfortunately, he didn't earn passing grades and was kicked out. He frequently misses loan payments, and I end up getting a late payment letter. I am afraid his inattention to this debt will adversely affect my credit. I can make the late payment or pull the money out of my savings and pay off the loan. If I pay off the loan, I plan to deduct that amount from his inheritance. He's very apologetic about it when I talk to him, but I'm tired of it hanging over my head. How should I handle this? -- TIRED OF PAYING DEAR TIRED OF PAYING: Your grandson's irresponsibility WILL reflect on your credit if it hasn't already. Pay off the loan and do not co-sign for him again. He should repay the money he borrowed from you as well as any penalties when he begins earning his own money. However, if he doesn't, you are within your rights to deduct the amount from his inheritance. DEAR ABBY: I have become completely unemotional. I don't feel sad when there is a death. I feel no joy when I see a baby and, in fact, think people are selfish for having children in the world we live in today. When a couple gets married, I also feel -- nothing. I'm 66 and have a great life with no health or financial problems. I'm friendly when I'm out in public, although I'd rather be left alone. I'm not miserable. I am just burned out on human beings and feel numb. What's up with me? -- ABNORMAL IN ARKANSAS DEAR ABNORMAL: Have you seen your doctor during the past year? If not, you should, to rule out a physical illness. If there's nothing physically wrong, you may be describing something called "ennui" -- a kind of world-weariness. (An old song performed by Peggy Lee titled "Is That All There Is?" which you can find on YouTube, expresses it perfectly.) A change in your routine may give you the jolt you need. If you aren't in the habit of doing it, 30 minutes of brisk daily exercise might give you a lift. However, if that doesn't help your malaise, some sessions with a licensed mental health professional may help you understand why you've been feeling the way you do. DEAR ABBY: Can you and some of your readers give me an answer to a pressing question? I recently remarried, and I still feel like I'm visiting instead of living in my new home. None of my husband's late wife's furniture has been removed to make room for mine. Only a few minor changes have been made. When I suggest any changes, they are ignored. How can I tactfully make my feelings known? -- LIVING WITH A GHOST IN ALABAMA DEAR LIVING WITH A GHOST: Do that by stating your feelings CLEARLY. This is something the two of you should have reached an understanding about BEFORE your wedding. If your husband continues to ignore you after that, work it out with him with the help of a licensed marriage and family therapist or other mediator. DEAR ABBY: I am a tween and I'm scared about getting a disease or sickness. It started when I watched the news one night last month waiting for a show to come on. The news had all these terrible crimes and diseases, and that's when I started freaking out. My friend says I'm crazy, and I'm afraid she's right. All this worrying has me really feeling out of it. What should I do to quit worrying about diseases? -- SOUTHERN GIRL DEAR SOUTHERN GIRL: There's a saying in the news business, "If it bleeds, it leads." It means the more shocking a story is, the more attention it will grab and the more people will watch. Quieting your fears may be as simple as talking with your parents about what's scaring you, or having them schedule a visit with your pediatrician. DEAR ABBY: I've been seeking the answer to this for years. My husband is deceased. Am I still related to his family? How do I introduce them? -- IN LIMBO IN PENNSYLVANIA DEAR IN LIMBO: You are as related to them as you WANT to be. Introduce them by their names or as your former in-laws. DEAR ABBY: I am president and co-founder of the Wildlife Center of Virginia, one of the leading teaching and research hospitals for wildlife medicine in the world. We have treated more than 70,000 wild patients since our organization was established 35 years ago. Like the reader ("An Apple a Day," Aug. 11) who is under the impression that throwing an apple core out the car window is doing something positive for the Earth, many individuals make "little" decisions without considering the unintended consequences. The example of the apple core has been at the heart of our education program for more than three decades. Before throwing that apple core out the window believing that some small animal will come finish what's left, people should consider what will happen if the animal coming to eat their scraps happens to be on the other side of the road. Throwing out that apple core will lure that creature into harm's way. Countless opossums, raccoons, skunks and other small mammals are killed every day because of human food waste on the shoulder of the road. And it doesn't stop there. Predators like owls also suffer. They hunt along the side of the road, not because they eat apple cores, but because they eat the mice, voles and other small animals who are attracted to feed on that apple core. Then, when the opossum, raccoon or owl is killed by a car, scavengers are attracted to the pavement, where their lives, too, are at risk. If readers want to help the Earth, they should take their waste home and dispose of it or recycle it properly. The small act of throwing an apple core out of a car window can cost the lives of the very creatures they claim to want to help. -- EDWARD CLARK, WAYNESBORO, VA. DEAR MR. CLARK: When that letter appeared, I received a flurry of mail about it. Many readers touched on some of the points you have expressed. Thank you for writing so eloquently to educate my readers -- and me. Lesson learned. DEAR ABBY: I'm 29 and I'm having trouble holding down a steady job. I am a college graduate, and it's not because I don't like to work. My problem is I have a strong personality and I tend to butt heads with management. Deep down, I think I'll only be satisfied with a job if I'm the boss or own my own business. Do you have any suggestions about positions for someone who can't handle having a boss? -- MISS INDEPENDENT IN THE BRONX DEAR MISS INDEPENDENT: No. Unless someone has rich parents or a magic lamp, most people have to work for -- or with -- others until they build enough capital to start a business. Even then, business owners must interact with clients they don't always agree with. Because you tend to butt heads with those in management positions, you would be wise to start working on becoming more patient and less dogmatic. Both qualities will help you in the future if you can develop them. DEAR ABBY: The winter months are hard for me. They remind me that another year has gone by without my father and my younger sister. Dad had been a smoker since his teens and died from pancreatic cancer at 39. I was 13, and my siblings were younger. In those days, we didn't know that smoking was a risk factor for pancreatic cancer. My sister smoked from the time she was 13. She died from lung cancer at 44, leaving behind two young sons. Neither my father nor my sister got to experience the wonderful family milestones and celebrations we have had. Their grandchildren will never know them. Each year during the holidays, I feel a sadness in my heart. I urge every smoker to make a vow to quit and carry it through, not only for their own sake but also their family's. Stay determined to quit so you won't cause your loved ones sadness and won't miss out on their futures. With all my heart, I wish smokers the best of luck in quitting. -- MISSING DAD AND SIS IN SACRAMENTO DEAR MISSING: I'm glad you wrote because the American Cancer Society's annual Great American Smokeout will be held on Nov. 16. It's a day when millions of smokers put down their cigarettes -- just for one day -- with the conviction that if they can go 24 hours without one, then they can do it for 48 hours, 72 hours, and stop smoking for good. The idea grew out of a 1970 event in Randolph, Massachusetts, and became a national event in 1977. Readers, I'm not going to harangue you with death threats. We are all aware of the grim statistics associated with cancer-related deaths caused by tobacco. If you're interested in quitting, this is a perfect opportunity. Call (800) 227-2345 to be connected with counseling services in your community, provided with self-help materials offering information and strategies on quitting for good, and to receive information about medications available to help you quit. This service is free and provided 24/7. Or go online to cancer.org. DEAR ABBY: I need your help. Over the past few weeks, I have been vacationing at my mother-in-law's home. The other day I was browsing on her computer and accidentally opened her browsing history. It turns out that she regularly looks at and responds to Craigslist personals. I was shocked when I read some of the perverted requests she has responded to. The language she used would make a sailor blush. Keep in mind, my mother-in-law is a married woman. I don't know how to react. Should I tell my wife? Keep it to myself? Make a fake Craigslist post and catch her in the act? -- KINKS IN THE FAMILY DEAR KINKS: If you disclose this to your wife, it could damage her relationship with her mother. If she tells her mother what you found, it will create a breach in the family. If you trap the woman by creating a fake Craigslist post and she realizes she has been made a fool of, it will not -- to put it mildly -- endear you to her. Let it lie. DEAR ABBY: I am in a predicament. My therapist is great, but sometimes I think she shares too much. Last time I went, she was running late. When I finally got into her office, she told me the previous patient was nonverbal and had painted her nails during the session. Later in the session, she confided that years ago she had been date raped. Abby, I am in counseling because my father raped me when I was 15 (I am now 24). Her sharing has me worried because I don't want her telling others what I say or do during counseling. Further, her story of the date rape scared me. She described a situation that is not uncommon for me to be in, and it caused something almost like a flashback in me. I think what she did was insensitive, to say the least. I have nobody else to ask, so what should I do? I'm getting counseling for free now due to my income, and it took months to get set up with a counselor. Should I report her or accept that this was a mistake and say nothing? If I need to report her, how would I go about doing that? -- CONFLICTED ABOUT IT DEAR CONFLICTED: You should change therapists because it appears this one has more problems than you do. As to what agency you should report her breach of professional ethics to, contact the state organization that has licensed her to practice. Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069 Photo: CTV Firefighters in Surrey have turned to technology in the battle against opioid overdoses. The fire department has partnered with Vancouver-based software developer GINQO to create a program that mines data from dispatch calls in real-time to identify clusters of overdoses. Those clusters can be a sign that a batch of tainted drugs is circulating on the streets and the program can alert first responders to a potentially escalating situation. The software kicks in automatically when data from emergency calls corresponds with specific criteria, such as more than three overdoses within one square kilometre in a four-hour period. The Surrey Fire Service started using the program late last June and has since received 10 alerts about overdose clusters. Fire Chief Len Garis says when the department gets an alert, they can make sure they have the resources available to respond properly. "We were basically sitting and waiting for things to happen and now we can see the surges coming and we can adapt to it," he said. The department was inspired to take action after 17 overdoses over a 72-hour period in December 2016, Garis said. The overdoses were later linked to what appeared to be tainted batches of crack cocaine and pure cocaine, he said. The firefighters responded to an average of 7.5 overdose calls per day in Surrey last year. "There's a huge strain on our first responders because we've been running pillar to post trying to address this," Garis said. The department has also formed a partnership with Statistics Canada aimed at trying to determine a typology on individuals who are overdosing. Officials and software developers are working to make the alert program predictive so it can say when and where overdoses may occur. That will help first responders become proactive instead of reactive, allowing them to prevent overdoses, Garis said. "It's giving us some hope that we're trying to get in front of this thing," he said. Photo: Pilot PMR Sunniva Inc., which is planning to build BC's largest medical cannabis facility on Osoyoos Indian Band land, is working with OK College to set up a training program for future employees. Sunniva Inc., the company owned by Tony Holler that is proposing to build a 700,000 square-foot medical marijuana greenhouse near Oliver, is in discussion with Okanagan College about setting up a training curriculum for its future employees. "It would be a new offering for sure," Dennis Silvestrone said, OK College's director of continuing studies corporate development. The idea was first sparked in the fall when the involved parties met, according to Silvestrone. "Since then, a couple of my colleagues have been working with members of (Sunniva's developers), to scope out a training program for folks that would be working in the greenhouse," he said. "They've been developing job descriptions, we've been looking at competency, skills and knowledge that would be required for those positions." He said the program would likely be a course of 300-400 hours of theory and practice, with work experience involved at the Sunniva greenhouse to train people for skilled labour positions. The school also anticipates that some current course offerings in horticulture would be included to the new program relating to cannabis. Holler said he expects his cannabis greenhouse would employ about 200 people. It's not the only new marijuana greenhouse planned in the Okanagan; a Vernon-based medicinal marijuana company is building a similar facility in Lumby. With the cannabis industry budding, Silvestrone said he believes there will be good student interest if a related curriculum is set up with OK College. "This could be a significant economic driver for the Okanagan, if we look forward over the next three to five years," he said. "I would anticipate there will be a significant demand for skilled labour, in a number of areas related to the supply chain for cannabis." Silvestrone said he knows of a few schools in eastern Canada that have set up similar training programs for the cannabis industry, adding OK College has a "progressive stance" on training for that field. "For us, it's exciting to be part of a start-up of what could be quite a large business in the South Okanagan, and to be able to support that and create good jobs for people who live in the area," he said. "We're happy to be able to support (Sunniva's project)... and look forward to ways we can work with other similar companies across the Okanagan." Photo: Facebook B.C.'s education minister is joining calls for a school board member to step down after the trustee blasted education policies aimed at supporting LGBTQ students as "child abuse." The Chilliwack Board of Education passed a motion Thursday asking trustee Barry Neufeld to resign over the Facebook rants, saying Neufeld has lost the confidence of the board and partners in learning. Education Minister Rob Fleming echoed the call Friday in a Facebook post, saying Neufeld's comments were hurtful and offensive, and undermine the goals of the school board and the ministry. Neufeld declined comment on the board's motion or Fleming's remarks when reached by phone on Friday but the board's statement says Neufeld has stated he intends to continue in the position. In October, Neufeld criticized proposed changes to the board's Safe Schools Policy that align with the B.C. Human Rights Code ensuring all students are free of harassment, including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer. He later apologized for his comments in a statement, saying he believes in a safe learning environment, but added that educational resources should be reviewed by parents and teachers before they're implemented. In an interview with The Canadian Press in October, Neufeld said he believes the district's Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity program encourages children to question their biological gender and consider gender transition. "Throwing that out there for Grade 4 children to consider, to me, that is not wise and it infringes on the rights of parents to make these decisions,'' he said. "While individuals are entitled to their opinions, Mr. Neufeld has jeopardized student safety, divided his school community, and acted against board and ministry policies," Fleming said in a statement. He noted that an education minister does not have the authority to dismiss an individual trustee, but he does not believe that Neufeld should continue in his role. "Its time for him to now do the right thing for the Chilliwack school community and step down," the minister said. Neufeld has been a trustee for two decades. Photo: The Canadian Press FILE - In this Oct. 16, 2009, file photo, shows Senior Zimbabwean MDC opposition official Roy Bennett, left, and his wife Heather, relax at a friends home in Mutare about 200 km east of Harare, Andra Cobb was frantic when she called for help, telling an emergency operator that a helicopter she was riding in with her father, longtime partner and others had crashed in a remote part of New Mexico and that she was watching her "family burn." Police released 911 recordings Friday from the crash near the Colorado-New Mexico line that killed five people, including Zimbabwean opposition leader Roy Bennett, and his wife, Heather. Cobb, 39, was the sole survivor, escaping with broken bones before the helicopter burst into flames. Her father, Paul Cobb, the co-pilot, and her longtime partner, Charles Burnett III, a Texas-based investor who owned the ranch where the group of friends was headed, also were killed in the crash Wednesday, along with pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd. "I'm watching my family burn in a fire," Andra Cobb screamed on the call. "I don't know what to do. There's a big fire. I'm covered in gasoline." Dodd also called 911 before he later died. He told authorities immediately after the crash that there were three victims and three survivors him, Andra Cobb and Roy Bennett, who was suffering from a head wound as authorities tried to determine their location. Officials launched a search but said the response was slow because of the rugged terrain and lack of access. Andra Cobb remained on the call for about an hour as she waited for authorities to arrive. Bennett's death was met with an outpouring of grief in Zimbabwe. A white man who spoke fluent Shona and drew the wrath of former President Robert Mugabe, Bennett had won a devoted following of black Zimbabweans for passionately advocating political change. Photo: The Canadian Press Sen. Charles Schumer walks to the chamber after a closed meeting with fellow democrats on Capitol Hill, Friday. The federal government shut down at the stroke of midnight Friday, halting all but the most essential operations and marring the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration in a striking display of Washington dysfunction. Last-minute negotiations crumbled as Senate Democrats blocked a four-week stopgap extension in a late-night vote, causing the fourth government shutdown in a quarter century. Behind the scenes, however, leading Republicans and Democrats were already moving toward a next step, trying to work out a compromise to avert a lengthy shutdown. Since the shutdown began at the start of a weekend, many of the immediate effects will be muted for most Americans. But any damage could build quickly if the closure is prolonged. And it comes with no shortage of embarrassment for the president and political risk for both parties, as they wager that voters will punish the other at the ballot box in November. Social Security and most other safety net programs are unaffected by the lapse in federal spending authority. Critical government functions will continue, with uniformed service members, health inspectors and law enforcement officers set to work without pay. But if no deal is brokered before Monday, hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be furloughed. After hours of closed-door meetings and phone calls, the Senate scheduled its late-night vote on a House-passed plan. It gained 50 votes to proceed to 49 against, but 60 were needed to break a Democratic filibuster. A handful of red-state Democrats crossed the aisle to support the measure, rather than take a politically risky vote. Four Republicans voted in opposition. In an unusual move, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell allowed the roll call to exceed 90 minutes instead of the usual 20 or so and run past midnight, seemingly accommodating the numerous discussions among leaders and other lawmakers. Still as midnight passed and the calendar turned, there was no obvious off-ramp to the political stalemate. Even before the vote, Trump was pessimistic, tweeting that Democrats actually wanted the shutdown "to help diminish the success" of the tax bill he and fellow Republicans pushed through last month. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders later termed the Democrats "obstructionist losers." Democrats balked on the measure in an effort to pressure on the White House to cut a deal to protect "dreamer" immigrants who were brought to the country as children and are now here illegally before their legal protection runs out in March. The president watched the results from the White House residence, dialing up allies and affirming his belief that Democrats would take the blame for the shutdown, said a person familiar with his conversations but not authorized to discuss them publicly. Predictably, both parties moved swiftly to blame one another. Democrats laid fault with Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress and the White House and have struggled with building internal consensus. Republicans declared Democrats responsible, after they declined to provide the votes needed to overcome a filibuster over their desire to force the passage of legislation to protect some 700,000 younger immigrants from deportation. Republicans branded the confrontation a "Schumer shutdown" and argued that Democrats were harming fellow Americans to protect "illegal immigrants." Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said a "Trump shutdown" was more accurate. Photo: Contributed Dozens of communities across Canada will host women's marches today, a year after the historic rallies that coincided with Donald Trump's inauguration as U.S. president. Dozens of communities across Canada will host women's marches today, a year after the historic rallies that coincided with Donald Trump's inauguration as U.S. president. Organizers say they feel a sense of momentum they could not have predicted when they first took to the streets a year ago. At that time, more than half a million women converged on the U.S. capital to protest Trump, whose remarks about women included boasts about sexual assault on a leaked recording. Participants in the original marches say their fears about the incoming administration have materialized, but the cause they marched for may be further ahead than it was a year ago. Activists including Sara Bingham of Women's March Canada point to the "Me Too" movement as one example of the way women's voices are being heard. At least 38 communities across Canada will host marches, rallies or other events on the one-year anniversary of Trump's inauguration. Photo: File photo Russian police had an unexpected encounter while searching a house in St. Petersburg a crocodile in the basement. The Fontanka.ru news portal said the incident happened Thursday while detectives were looking for undeclared weapons in the house of a man involved in staging reconstructions of historic military battles with period uniforms and antique weaponry. When they went down, they saw a crocodile resting in a small pool of water dug in the concrete basement. The owner of the house explained that he got the crocodile years ago. City prosecutors said Friday they were checking whether the man was complying with local laws. Photo: timesofindia.indiatimes.com Thousands of Indian troops battled for hours a huge fire emanating from a highly polluted lake, causing panic among thousands of people in the southern city of Bangalore, the army said Saturday. Nearly 5,000 soldiers swung into action on Friday after the fire threatened a military area with huge clouds of smoke billowing from the lake filled with sewage, chemical effluents and construction debris and choked with water hyacinth, an army statement said. The army said the efforts prevented the fire from engulfing civilian areas of Banagalore, one of India's key information technology hubs. Fire engines and water bowsers from nearby civilian areas also assisted in controlling the fire. A huge smoke was still rising from the area on Saturday morning with firefighters trying to douse it completely. In 2015, a toxic froth spilled over to some of Bangalore's streets due to extreme levels of pollution in the Bellandur Lake. Tests found extremely high amounts of phosphorous and other inorganic chemical compounds in the lake. Authorities have been trying to repair a barrier that was supposed to keep sewage from flowing into the lake, depleting its oxygen. Another Bangalore lake caught fire in May last year when garbage was set ablaze on its bed. It's not a popular thing to defend Paul Manafort, the international influence peddler who ran Donald Trump's presidential campaign for a short time in 2016. Just search for "Manafort" and, say, "sleazeball," and see what comes up. But even bad guys have a case sometimes. And Manafort has a case in his lawsuit against Trump-Russia special counsel Robert Mueller. Mueller sent Manafort a strong message last July, when FBI agents working for Mueller, guns drawn, broke into Manafort's house in the pre-dawn hours while Manafort and his wife slept inside. Mueller sent another message last October, when he indicted Manafort on eight counts (out of a total of 12) that targeted allegedly criminal acts that ended in 2014 or 2015, before Manafort's participation in the Trump campaign. None of the counts concerned alleged collusion during the 2016 campaign between Trump or his associates and Russia. Now, Manafort has pushed back with a lawsuit against Mueller. Manafort argues that the Justice Department gave Mueller overbroad powers, and that, as a result, the investigation of Manafort, and the resulting indictment, has ventured "beyond the scope of (Mueller's) authority" granted to him by deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein. Some legal analysts have characterized Manafort's lawsuit as frivolous. If Manafort were really serious, they say, he would have filed a motion with the court that will try the case against him. Or he would have made a different legal argument. This is not to argue with that legal thinking. But everything in the Trump-Russia affair operates on two levels, the legal level and the political level. And on the political setting, Manafort has made a strong case that he is being treated unfairly. Rosenstein authorized Mueller to investigate three things. First was "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump." Second was "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation." Third was crimes like perjury or obstruction of justice that occurred "in the course of, and with intent to interfere with, the Special Counsel's investigation." Manafort's objection is to the second part of Mueller's charge, "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation." Manafort's argument is that virtually invited Mueller to venture far afield from the Trump-Russia topic -- and violated those Justice Department regulations guiding special counsels. The regulations specify that the special counsel "will be provided with a specific factual statement of the matter to be investigated." That's what Rosenstein did when assigning Mueller to probe alleged coordination between Trump and Russia. Manafort does not object. But the regulations go on to say that if the special counsel feels the need to go beyond his original charge, he "shall consult with the Attorney General," who will decide whether that request should be granted. Manafort argues that some of the charges against him -- for example, that he failed to file reports on his interest in foreign bank accounts in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, as well as that he failed to register as a foreign agent between 2008 and 2014 -- not only have nothing to do with the Trump-Russia affair but allegedly began and ended before Manafort's association with the Trump campaign. They clearly do not fall under the first part of Mueller's charge. If Mueller wanted to pursue those matters, Manafort argues, Justice Department regulations require that he "consult with the attorney general" (or in this case, the deputy attorney general), to get permission to broaden the scope of his investigation. But Mueller did not have to do that because Rosenstein had already given him an overly broad appointment by granting him the authority to pursue "any matters that arose or may arise directly from" that investigation. "That exceeds the scope of Mr. Rosenstein's authority to appoint special counsel as well as specific restrictions on the scope of such appointments," Manafort's suit argues. "Indeed, the Appointment Order in effect purports to grant Mr. Mueller carte blanche to investigate and pursue criminal charges in connection with anything he stumbles across while investigating, no matter how remote from the specific matter identified as the subject of the Appointment Order." There is plenty of legal arcana in the suit, and many legal objections to be made to it. And Mueller and Rosenstein could moot the whole thing by explicitly expanding Mueller's authority to include specific activities that have no connection to the Trump-Russia affair. But as a political case, Manafort makes a strong point: Mueller is prosecuting people (Manafort and associate Rick Gates) for alleged crimes that have nothing to do with Donald Trump, Russia and the 2016 election. That political argument may be heard more and more as the Mueller investigation goes on. Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner. Photo: Brandon Beal A crash about 20 kilometres west of Revelstoke has a section of Highway 1 down to alternating single-lane traffic. UPDATE: 12:50 p.m. Another crash has slowed traffic along the Trans-Canada Highway about 20 kilometres west of Revelstoke, according to a motorist. Brandon Beal said the highway was blocked off for a short time but traffic is now moving through an alternating single-lane. Beal said it's the third closure along Highway 1 he has endured today, as he is commuting from Cochrane, Alta. to Abbotsford. "I sat at the last scene for over an hour, and for 45 minutes at the accident scene prior to that," he told Castanet. Single-lane alternating traffic is also still in effect west of Golden, where DriveBC reported an accident closed the highway for about an hour in both directions. - with files from Colton Davies UPDATE 10:56 a.m. A motorist says Highway 1 is now open west of Golden. UPDATE 10 a.m. Highway 1 will be closed in both directions 18 km west of Golden to 17 km west of Golden because of a vehicle recovery. The road is expected to reopen at 11 a.m. with single-lane alternating traffic until 1 p.m. An accident has closed the eastbound lanes of Highway 1 near Golden. According to DriveBC, the highway is closed 11 kilometres east of the city and no detour is available. There is no word on when the eastbound lanes will reopen. Photo: Facebook Half-empty shelves show the amount of whisky confiscated from Fets Whisky Kitchen in Vancouver. In a prohibition-style move, government officials raided B.C. businesses and confiscated hundreds of bottles of whisky. Odai Sirri, vice-president of operations for the Grand Hotel in Nanaimo, said he was shocked when 11 bottles of specialty whisky were confiscated. "Our hotel was part of a co-ordinated raid that the liquor board had done across the island and in Metro Vancouver," said Sirri. "At 10 a.m., we were hit along with other hotels and bars that serve the kind of high-end unique whisky products that we do. "It's 2018 and it shines another spotlight on how archaic the liquor laws are in British Columbia. Year after year the issue does not get addressed. We're talking about a year where marijuana is being legalized, and the government is spending resources on whisky." He said the business is still unclear why the products were seized, but all were obtained from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society of Canada, not provincial liquor suppliers. Fets Whisky Kitchen in Vancouver, had hundreds of bottles seized. "The government inventoried, catalogued, sealed and removed 242 bottles of whisky from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society worth about $40K," the business said. B.C.'s Ministry of Attorney General provided a statement to CTV News on Friday that did not specifically comment on the seizures, but indicated the products were confiscated because they weren't purchased through the Liquor Distribution Branch. "The (Liquor Control and Licencing Board) operates independently in terms of the General Manager's supervision of licensees, and enforcement decisions cannot be directed by the Attorney General," the ministry said. It added that all liquor sold by bars and restaurants must be purchased through the branch and must be documented in the establishment's liquor register. - with files from CTV Vancouver Island Photo: Google Maps Two Canadians and two Americans who were kidnapped in Nigeria's north-central Kaduna state on Tuesday have been freed and are in good condition, police said Saturday. Police and a special anti-kidnapping squad rescued the foreigners in the Kagarko local government area Friday night after a massive manhunt, state police commissioner Agyole Abeh said. "No ransom was paid. It was the efforts of the police through the directives of the Inspector General of Police that led to their release," he said. One suspect was arrested in connection with the kidnapping and police were on the trail of remaining suspects, Abeh said. The foreigners have been taken to the capital, Abuja, Kaduna state police spokesman Mukhtar Aliyu said. "They are in good condition but due to trauma they have to undergo medical observation." Aliyu said. Gunmen ambushed the foreigners Tuesday as they travelled from Kafanchan in Kaduna state to Abuja. Two police escorts were killed in what police called a "fierce gun battle." The Americans and Canadians have not been publicly identified. Aliyu earlier said they are investors setting up solar stations in villages around Kafanchan. Elizabeth Reid, a spokeswoman for Global Affairs Canada, said Canadian officials worked closely on the ground with the Nigerian government. She said in an email that they have "been in regular contact with the Canadian families and the employer to provide assistance and support." Kidnapping for ransom is common in Nigeria, especially on the Kaduna to Abuja highway. Two German archaeologists were seized at gunpoint last year less than 100 kilometres northeast of Abuja and later freed unharmed. Sierra Leone's deputy high commissioner was taken at gunpoint on the highway in 2016 and held for five days before he was let go. Victims typically are released unharmed after ransom is paid, though security forces have rescued a few high-profile abductees. A number of bandits, including herdsmen, have been arrested. Photo: The Canadian Press Members of the movement Laicos de Osorno sing while holding up images showing the Rev. Fernando Karadima, and his protege Juan Barros, bishop of Osorno, with a message that reads in Spanish: "A bishop who covers up cannot be a priest," during a vigil in front of the Cathedral of Santiago, Chile. Pope Francis' top adviser on clerical sex abuse implicitly rebuked the pontiff over his accusations of slander against Chilean abuse victims, saying Saturday that his words were "a source of great pain for survivors of sexual abuse." Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the archbishop of Boston, said he couldn't explain why Francis "chose the particular words he used" and that such expressions had the effect of abandoning victims and relegating them to "discredited exile." In an extraordinary effort at damage control, O'Malley insisted in a statement that Francis "fully recognizes the egregious failures of the church and its clergy who abused children and the devastating impact those crimes have had on survivors and their loved ones." Francis set off a national uproar upon leaving Chile on Thursday when he accused victims of the country's most notorious pedophile priest of having slandered another bishop, Juan Barros. The victims say Barros knew of the abuse by the Rev. Fernando Karadima but did nothing to stop it a charge Barros denies. "The day they bring me proof against Bishop Barros, I'll speak," Francis told Chilean journalists in the northern city of Iquique. "There is not one shred of proof against him. It's all calumny. Is that clear?" The remarks shocked Chileans, drew immediate rebuke from victims and their advocates and once again raised the question of whether the 81-year-old Argentine Jesuit "gets it" about sex abuse. The Karadima scandal has devastated the credibility of the Roman Catholic Church in Chile, and Francis' comments will likely haunt it for the foreseeable future. O'Malley's carefully worded critique was remarkable since it is rare for a cardinal to publicly rebuke the pope in such terms. But Francis' remarks were so potentially toxic to the Vatican's years-long effort to turn the tide on decades of clerical sex abuse and coverup that he clearly felt he had to respond. O'Malley headed Francis' much-touted committee for the protection of minors until it lapsed last month after its initial three-year mandate expired. Francis has not named new members, and the committee's future remains unclear. "It is understandable that Pope Francis' statements ... were a source of great pain for survivors of sexual abuse by clergy or any other perpetrator," O'Malley said in the statement. "Words that convey the message 'if you cannot prove your claims then you will not be believed' abandon those who have suffered reprehensible criminal violations of their human dignity and relegate survivors to discredited exile." Francis' comments were all the more problematic because Karadima's victims were deemed so credible by the Vatican that it sentenced him to a lifetime of "penance and prayer" in 2011. A Chilean judge also found the victims to be credible, saying that while she had to drop criminal charges against Karadima because too much time had passed, proof of his crimes wasn't lacking. Those same victims accused Barros of witnessing the abuse. Yet Francis said he considered their accusations "all calumny" and that he wouldn't believe them without proof. Catholic officials for years sought to discredit victims of abuse by accusing them of slandering and attacking the church with their claims. But many in the church and the Vatican have come to reluctantly acknowledge that victims usually told the truth and that the church had wrongly sought to protect its own by demonizing and discrediting the most vulnerable of its flock. O'Malley said he couldn't fully address the Barros case because he didn't know the details and wasn't involved. But he insisted the pope "gets it" and is committed to "zero tolerance" for abuse. Photo: Contributed An Afghan official says that a group of gunmen have attacked the Intercontinental Hotel in the capital Kabul. An Afghan official says that a group of gunmen have attacked the Intercontinental Hotel in the capital Kabul. Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish confirmed Saturday that the hotel came under attack at around 9 p.m. local time, but could not provide additional details. Afghan Special Forces arrived at the hotel in response to the attack, Danish added. Nasrat Rahimi, a deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, confirmed that there were four attackers. One was killed by Afghan security forces and three others are still battling the forces from inside the hotel, he added. He only said three people are reported wounded so far, but that the number of casualties might rise. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Photo: CTV UPDATE: 2:15 p.m. IHIT has identified the victim of a fatal shooting in Abbotsford on Friday to be 24-year-old Lovepreet Singh Dhaliwal. In a news release, IHIT also identified a vehicle that was observed leaving the scene after the shooting, which was later found burnt out in a rural area of Langley. The vehicle, described as a black Acura TL, was found in the 22300 block of 61st Avenue. Cpl. Frank Jang urged anyone with information on Dhaliwal's death to speak to investigators. There are people who knew Mr. Dhaliwal that may have information that could help us solve his murder. I urge these individuals to come forward," Jang said. Dhaliwal was found dead in a van in the area of Promontory Court and Ridgeview Drive. Officers said he was pronounced dead at the scene when they arrived at 6:30 p.m. Police said he sustained several gunshot wounds, and his killing is believed to have been targeted. IHIT said they are working with the BC Coroners Service and Abbotsford Police Department to gather evidence. ORIGINAL: 12:35 p.m. A man in his mid-20s is dead after he was the victim of a shooting in Abbotsford on Friday night, which police said was targeted. Abbotsford Police Department responded at about 6:30 p.m. to shots fired in the 3500 block of Promontory Court. Upon arrival, officers found a man inside a van who had been gunned down. Witnesses told CTV they heard up to eight gunshots. The shooting was on the same street where an innocent bystander was killed in 2015 standing outside of his home, after his neighbour's house was targeted. That incident was related to gang violence, police said. It's unclear if the two shootings on the street are connected. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has taken over the investigation. - with files from CTV Vancouver Photo: The Canadian Press Hundreds of people have turned out to salute a speedy border collie that became an internet sensation for keeping a northern Michigan airport free of wildlife. People lined up to get inside City Opera House in Traverse City for a memorial service for Piper. The 9-year-old dog was euthanized Jan. 3 after battling prostate cancer. Piper's owner, Brian Edwards, choked up at times as he talked about the dog while photos were displayed on a large screen. Piper was a wildlife-control canine at Cherry Capital Airport the nemesis of geese, ducks and even snowy owls. Edwards says there's "no book on how to be an airport canine." He says it took "hard work." Images of Piper on the job, wearing his airport vest, ear muffs and goggles, made their way onto online social forum Reddit. He quickly became a top hit. Country Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Canada Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cuba, Republic of Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Dominican Republic Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Haiti, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Jamaica Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Mexico, United Mexican States Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu US Virgin Islands Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Dispatch tells us Odessa Fire Rescue is in route to respond to a major fire at 12372 West Love Drive in Odessa. No word yet on the cause of the fire or if there are any injuries. CBS 7 News will continue to update you as more information becomes available. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Steven Barney Layne Bryant, 60, of Cleveland, Tennessee, passed away on January 18, 2018. He was son of the late Buster and Princess Clark Bryant on Feb. 1, 1957. He was born and raised in Bradley County and was a truck driver for Bradley Concrete at the time of his passing. Steve enjoyed watching NASCAR and fishing; however, nothing compared to how much he loved spending time with his grandson, Fletcher Galloway. Steve leaves behind to cherish his memory his daughter Tailer Galloway (Christopher), grandson Fletcher Galloway of Fort Wayne, IN; sister Renae Edwards (Ted) of Gillette Wyoming; twin brother Stan Bryant; brother Tim Bryant (Sherry); mother of his daughter Cheryl Bryant and her friend Tony Chase all of Cleveland. Steve also leaves behind numerous nieces, nephews, and extended family members and friends such as Kelly Harris, as well as his special friends from The Village: Kelly, Nina, Jason, Ashley and Justin. The Bryant family would also like to extend their appreciation to Hospice of Chattanooga for the extraordinary care given to Barney in his final days. The family will receive friends from 5-7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 22, at Companion Funeral Home located at 2419 Georgetown Road NW, Cleveland, Tn. 37311. A celebration of life service will be held at 7 p.m. at the funeral home. You are invited to share a personal memory of Steve or your condolences with his family at his online memorial located at www.companionfunerals.com. Companion Funeral and Cremation Service and the Cody family are honored to assist the Bryant family with these arrangements. Colombian midfielder and Chicago Fire transfer target Juan Quintero will not sign with the MLS club, sources have told 90 Minutes. Quintero, 25, has signed a season-long loan deal, with a mandatory option to buy a percentage of his rights, with Argentinian club River Plate. Advertisement The Fire had offered a loan deal with an option to buy, and agreed personal terms with the player. Portuguese club Porto, owner of Quinteros rights, had been unwilling to loan the player once again after his latest loan spell at Independiente Medellin of the Colombian league. Chicago, negotiating only with the player and his agent, and never directly with Porto, informed them of its unwillingness to pay the transfer fee in December, and negotiations with Quintero broke down. Advertisement Two weeks ago, Quinteros agent met with people from River Plate, and opened up the possibility for Quintero to join the Argentinian club, with the possibility of playing the 2018 Copa Libertadores with one of the top clubs in Argentina and South America. Porto and River Plate agreed on the aforementioned deal days after the initial meeting. 90 Minutes also learned that Quinteros camp always viewed a move to Chicago as a last resort throughout the whole process, in case no other options were available, but never having a real interest in joining the MLS side. River Plate is set to officially annonuce the acquisition of Quintero in the coming days. Susie-Mae Woods, plays bingo at St. Bernard Hospital in Chicago as nursing medical assistant Lisa Brown talks to her after checking her blood pressure. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) It wasnt long ago that Charles Holland was giving opening-day tours of the gleaming outpatient center at St. Bernard Hospital in the Englewood neighborhood, built to bring a bevy of health care services and optimism to a community in need of both. A year and a half later, the carpets still look brand-new, but the CEOs tour is tinged with great anxiety about the future of the 114-year-old hospital. Advertisement As the state revamps an outdated formula that distributes hospital Medicaid funding, many hospitals like St. Bernard whose budgets rely heavily on the money are bracing for a financial hit they say they cant afford. We cant be cut a dollar, said Holland, who last year laid off more than 20 managers and instituted a pay and hiring freeze to control costs amid rising expenses. In fact, I need more money to keep the hospital viable for the future. Advertisement St. Bernard is among the states 22 safety net hospitals those where more than half of patient stays are covered by Medicaid. Across the Chicago area, those institutions are worried that the revised funding formula will cut deeply into their budgets. They say the prospect of mass layoffs, reduced services or outright closures of their facilities will be devastating to the communities they serve, which already lack adequate health care and jobs. Its just unconscionable; its detrimental to our very being, said George Miller, president and CEO of the 189-bed Loretto Hospital, where about 68 percent of inpatient stays are for Medicaid patients. Loretto is the largest employer in the Austin neighborhood, where the unemployment rate is nearly 20 percent, and 40 percent of its 585 employees live in the community, Miller said. At issue is the states hospital assessment program, which distributes about $3.5 billion in Medicaid funding to 200 hospitals across Illinois. Thats more than half of the institutions total Medicaid money. The program requires nearly all of the states hospitals to put money into a fund, which is then grown through a federal match before it is redistributed to the hospitals based on a complex formula that takes into account the size of their Medicaid population as well as their dependency on Medicaid funding. For some hospitals with mostly Medicaid patients, the assessment program makes up nearly half of their budget, while for others with many patients on private insurance, its a much smaller portion of their funding. The problem is that the formula hasnt been updated in over a decade and still bases the amount hospitals pay and receive on 2005 inpatient data and 2009 outpatient data, which officials say doesnt reflect how and where Medicaid recipients are currently getting their care. A decline in hospital stays, growth in outpatient services, population shifts and an expansion of Medicaid to include some 680,000 more Illinois adults has spread the Medicaid market to more hospitals than were serving the population a decade ago. The current assessment program expires after June 30, and the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, a trade group representing all the hospitals, has developed a model to modernize the formula. It has been working with the states Department of Healthcare and Family Services, plus the bipartisan Medicaid working group in the state legislature, to get a bill drafted. Thats proving to be a race against the clock, as the plan has to be approved by the General Assembly before being sent to the federal Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services for final approval and implementation. Lawmakers are expected to vote on the redesigned plan by the end of January or early February. Advertisement If July arrives without the new plan in place, some hospitals will not be able to pay their bills or keep their doors open. To guard against that scenario, crafters of the bill hope to include a bridge provision that would keep the current assessment plan in place until the new one is approved, though that plan also has to get the OK from the Medicaid agency. The formula changes havent been finalized, so it isnt clear how much more or less money each hospital will receive, but payments will increasingly reflect actual patient and procedure volume, rather than allocating a fixed sum. And the new formula will be based on Medicaid services provided by the hospitals in 2015, with regular updates to keep the data current. Hospitals that have seen a decline in Medicaid patients since 2005 could see reduced reimbursement, though the complexity of the formula means its not so clear-cut. For example, a hospital that has seen an increase in Medicaid patients could still get less money under the new plan if its share of the statewide Medicaid population has declined. To cash-strapped safety net hospitals that call the assessment their lifeblood, the notion that their funding could be reduced is flabbergasting. There are providers that are making profits that are earmarked to take our money, said Tim Egan, CEO of Roseland Hospital. The far South Side hospital laid off 35 of its 500 employees in December and instituted a pay cut for executives and all nonunion staff, while Egan himself wont collect a salary for at least 60 days. Advertisement Roseland gets $23 million from the assessment program, about half of its budget, and the most recent draft of the proposed changes has it losing $6.6 million of that money, Egan said. That would lead to certain closure of the only hospital within 7 miles in the high-violence community, he said. He calls the situation absolutely immoral. State statistics showing declines in patient volume dont tell the full story, he added. The state is increasingly moving people into Medicaid managed care organizations, which have higher rates of denying patient claims, and those denied patients are not counted in the states Medicaid statistics even though they are still treated. Egan says well over 60 percent of Roselands patients are on Medicaid, though the state lists the rate at 53 percent. But non-safety net hospitals that have seen dramatic growth in Medicaid patients over the last decade also need adequate funding to cover those rising expenses, officials said. Big hospital systems, like Advocate Health and Presence Health, with large patient volumes are among those that could get funding bumps. While the assessment hasnt been finalized, we support a new program that is based on updated data in which funds more closely follow Medicaid patients and the services they receive, Meghan Woltman, vice president of government and community relations at Advocate Health Care, said in a statement. Advocate, the largest system in the state, has 12 hospitals in Illinois. In addition to Medicaid beneficiaries, these dollars are critical to the health care infrastructure of the state, she said. Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, a member of the Medicaid working group, said legislators have twin goals: Giving stability to safety net and critical-access rural hospitals, which also are disproportionately affected by the changes, while putting more money where more patients are going. Advertisement At the start of discussions, the working group asked the states biggest hospital systems if it would be good or bad for them if the safety nets closed, and all said it would be bad, because they dont have the capacity to absorb tens of thousands of new patients, he said. Its good public policy to be sure that as we set this up for the next five to six years we are sending money to support the transformation of health care to more efficient models but also protecting access to health care, Harris said. To support hospitals that will lose money, there is a proposed funding pool of several hundred million dollars to help them adapt to the changing needs of their communities, such as by converting underused facilities to address growing needs like behavioral health, substance abuse and senior rehabilitation. We dont want to put hospitals out of business, said Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, a member of the legislatures Medicaid working group. We want to make sure health care providers are available in communities to provide the care they need. A critical point of contention as the redesign unfolds is how much money the state should be trying to get from the federal government to swell the assessment pot. The Illinois Health and Hospital Association, as well as the Association of Safety Net Hospitals, a lobbying group, are pushing the state to pursue more one consultant estimated $300 million more could be available. There is a limit to how much money the state can receive from the federal government, though determining that limit involves still more complex calculations. Advertisement We are working diligently to ensure that we maximize the funding for this Medicaid program to allow all of our hospitals to fulfill their mission of caring for their communities, said A.J. Wilhelmi, CEO of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association. John Hoffman, spokesman for the Department of Health and Family Services, said in a statement that the department is committed to drawing down as much federal revenue as it can, within the boundaries of what is permissible under federal law, to support our hospitals. We remain strong advocates of our safety net hospitals and will continue to work with the IHA to ensure their viability to support our communities in the years ahead. The 22 safety net hospitals in Illinois, most in the Chicago area, together employ 25,000 people, according to the Association of Safety Net Hospitals. Many are independent community hospitals like Norwegian-American Hospital in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, which sees 112,000 patients a year. Nearly 80 percent of its patient population is on Medicaid and it receives $31 million from the assessment, according to state figures. About 60 percent of its 900 employees live in the community. The hospitals CEO, Jose R. Sanchez, is not confident the state has its back. There is no support for safety net hospitals, there is no concern for poor communities right now, he said. Advertisement The safety net hospitals argue their community service provides value beyond a balance sheet. Dr. Angeles Valdes, director of Norwegians wound clinic, is a native of Puerto Rico, like many residents of the neighborhood, and said patients travel there for care from throughout Chicagos Hispanic community. We are not only bilingual but multicultural, said Valdes, who works to save limbs in the high-diabetes community. We have patients who come in from everywhere because they are looking for hope, she said. St. Bernard Hospital is the largest employer in Englewood, where economic and safety challenges have driven the population down 35 percent since 2000. Three hundred of its 850 workers live in the neighborhood or surrounding areas, filling cafeteria, cleaning, security and nursing jobs. The assessment funding constitutes a third of St. Bernards budget, and the $1.7 million decrease it is facing would force serious decisions about layoffs and service cuts after so much effort to improve services, Holland said. It recently opened a behavioral health outpatient practice that includes a methadone clinic that sees 220 patients a day. Advertisement The $33 million outpatient center it opened in June 2016, financed entirely by the religious order that has operated St. Bernard since 1904, is the best evidence of the hospitals efforts to respond to the needs of its community. An immediate care clinic, full of waiting families, has helped cut emergency room visits, and specialists like cardiologists have designated hours so people dont have to travel far for care. Dr. Daria Terrell, an orthopedic surgeon at the hospital, said the proximity is a huge relief for her many patients who walk with canes or crutches, while others come from hours away because they cant find another hospital that takes their insurance. The opening of the sunny building, on a lot that had been vacant for 40 years, was also a symbol that youre not giving up on the neighborhood, and the prospect of a closure would be psychologically damaging, she said. Advertisement The hospital doesnt limit its role to health care. In a conference room designated for community events, it has held mass baby showers for new moms who didnt have baby showers themselves, collecting gift donations from staff. It also hosts a monthly senior bingo night, where players can get their blood pressure taken between games. Its just something to do, get out of the house, and have fun and mingle with other people, said Olivia Taylor, 78, who walks the block from her home to attend. I look forward to it. Advertisement To Holland, the debate about how to fund hospitals like his shouldnt be about complex calculations. Its a compassion issue, Holland said. Where is the compassion? aelejalderuiz@chicagotribune.com Twitter @alexiaer Hats off to the folks who headed to Chicago on Saturday to take part in the Women's March. I applaud them. I admire them. But I did not join them. And for that reason I sit here today, toiling with feelings of inadequacy, with guilt and with more than a little curiosity. Advertisement Truth be told, I may tip my chapeau to them, but I also regard protesters in much the same way I think of headwear itself: I love a hat on others, especially ladies. I've just never felt comfortable wearing one myself. And I say that with my head hung low. Advertisement It's not that I don't get riled up over what has happened to our country the past year. No matter your politics, there's no question we have become one nation divided by a leader who is a master at adding fuel to the fire (and fury) that has changed the landscape of politics and family dinners. Yes, I do plenty of ranting. And cursing. I shake my head in disbelief. I even have thrown pillows at the TV while listening to what comes out of the mouth of this president. But unlike the legions of women across this country who have knitted hats and held up signs and knocked on doors and run for office, I've stayed on the sideline. And I confessed as much to a few of the people who marched on Chicago on Saturday, hoping they could help me understand my passive resistance at such an important crossroads in our nation's history. Perhaps, I secretly thought, these good folks might even offer something akin to forgiveness for the fact I chose to watch Netflix and clean toilets on Saturday instead of joining their efforts. Unlike other confessions I've uttered when it comes to my sins, I offered no excuses, including the fact I have a broken toe that screams bloody murder when I put on shoes. But bless her heart, protester Christine Foley I got to know her after writing a column about her experience with Hawaii's false missile alert tried to provide me with a few. She suggested that perhaps it was a fear of crowds or of getting hurt at these emotionally charged gatherings that kept me from attending. No, I told her. I hate crowds and violence but have no problem inserting myself into tightly packed or awkward or potentially volatile situations. And I can't even use the excuse that journalists are not allowed to take on active roles in these events because I know, deep in my heart, that's not the reason I shunned several invitations to join marchers last year and this year. Retired Naperville educator and community activist Dianne McGuire, who helped organize a group of about 60 women and "male allies" for this march, came awfully close to assuaging my guilt, reminding me it's never too late to become a catalyst for change. "Don't be so hard on yourself," she said. "Your time is coming." Advertisement Marchers head to, then out of, Grant Park for the Women's March 2018 On Jan. 20, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune) (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune) But the more I listened to her exuberance, enthusiasm and passion, the more I decided that yep, she's got different DNA than me. So does Mavis Bates, an environmental activist from Aurora who also attended the march and believes that as a community organizer it is her job to get those like me off the platform and into the pool. Although she hates to use the word "judge," she said, "I do urgently feel the need to organize those who are passionate but still don't do anything." Said Bates, "You are the fire lighter, I have the box of matches. ...We try to find you. But you have to want to be found." By the way, it's not just women whose compelling words, not to mention actions, put me to shame. Vincent Martin, an IT engineer from Aurora who is African-American, attended the Chicago Women's March for a second year "because we all have a dog in this fight." And he's "more charged-up than ever" because "we can't accept Trump's first year in office as the new normal." Advertisement "We must," he said, "let the world know that not all Americans, by any stretch of the imagination, feel the way he does." And if it's energy I'm lacking, Martin said, "there's nothing like standing in a crowd of 300,000" to get the batteries charged again. I did perk up considerably when I called Stephanie Weber, who attended last year's protest, and found out she did not go to the march on Saturday. "I think it is a cool thing," said Weber, the longtime executive director of Suicide Prevention Services in Batavia. "But with my limited ability and energy " She paused. And I felt my heart do a little flippity-flip. Might I finally have found an explanation to my passivity? One I could live with? "I've gotten involved in Chris Kennedy's campaign," she said. "I am trying to use my limited spare time to do what I believe can be more impactful." Advertisement And there you have it. "Not everyone is made to march," said Bates, adding that perhaps I just need to find the right activity that will get me involved. "Maybe it's stuffing envelopes," she kindly said, "or making phone calls or knocking on doors." Or throwing pillows. At least for now. dcrosby@tribpub.com Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army fighters shout slogans before heading towards the Syrian border, in Kirikhan, Turkey, on Jan. 21, 2018. (Furkan Arslanoglu / AP) HASSA, Turkey Turkish troops and Syrian opposition forces attacked a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria on Sunday in their bid to oust from the area a U.S.-allied Kurdish militia, which responded with a hail of rockets on Turkish towns killing at least one refugee. The Turkish offensive on Afrin, codenamed Operation Olive Branch, started Saturday and has heightened tensions in the already complicated Syrian conflict, threatening to further strain ties between NATO allies Turkey and the United States. Advertisement On Sunday, the United States urged Turkey to exercise restraint and ensure that the offensive is "limited in scope and duration." A statement by State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert also asked Turkey to be "scrupulous to avoid civilian casualties," adding that all parties involved in Syria should focus on defeating the Islamic State group. The Syrian government, Iran and Egypt condemned the attack, which activists said has killed at least 18 civilians in the Kurdish-held enclave, Afrin, in the first 24 hours. Turkish officials say 11 rockets launched from Syria have landed in Turkish towns along the border, killing at least one Syrian refugee and injuring 47. Advertisement France called for an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss the developments there and urged Turkish authorities "to act with restraint in a context where the humanitarian situation is deteriorating in several regions of Syria." Turkish officials said the troops entered Afrin a day after dozens of Turkish jets and artillery units at the border pounded Syrian Kurdish targets. A spokesman for the Kurdish fighters said the attack was repelled. Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish militia, known as the People's Protection Units, or YPG, a terror organization and a security threat because of its affiliation with Kurdish rebels fighting in southeastern Turkey. The group controls Afrin, in Syria's northwestern Aleppo province, as well as nearly 25 percent of Syrian territory, to the east along Turkey's border. The YPG also forms the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main U.S. ally against the Islamic State group in Syria. U.S. support for the Kurdish militia has been a cause of perpetual conflict between Ankara and Washington, which has backed the Kurdish militia. U.S. officials have said that the administration had appealed to Turkey not to go ahead with the offensive. A Turkish operation there could have an impact on U.S. operations further east in Syria, the officials said. The operation, for which Turkey has also rallied nearly 10,000 Syrian opposition fighters, could spill into a wider Turkish-Kurdish confrontation inside Turkey. There is an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 Kurdish fighters in the Afrin district, the Turkish prime minister said. The operation also includes airstrikes on the district, threatening to create another humanitarian disaster in the region. The Afrin district houses no less than 800,000 civilians, including displaced people from earlier years of the Syrian war. Russia pulled back troops that had been deployed near Afrin after it was briefed on the operation by Turkey. Advertisement Kurdish officials said Russian military officials have proposed handing over Afrin to the Syrian government to avert a Turkey military offensive. They said they refused the proposal. Badran Ciya Kurd, an adviser to the Kurdish administration in northern Syria who meets regularly with Russian and US officials, told The Associated Press Sunday that Russian officials suggested that handing over the enclave, encircled by Syrian government and its rival Turkey and Syrian fighters it backs, would avert the Turkish offensive. It was not immediately possible to reach Russian officials. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told a group of journalists that Turkey aims to create a 20-mile deep "secure zone" in Afrin. On Sunday, the state-run Anadolu Agency said the Turkish-backed fighters had penetrated 3 miles into Afrin as part of the offensive. At least one person, a Syrian refugee in Turkey, was killed when Reyhanli, a Turkish border town, came under a hail of rockets Sunday. It was the second Turkish town to come under attack. Earlier, the rockets fired from Syria targeted the border town of Kilis, but there were no casualties. Advertisement In a statement, the Syrian opposition fighters battling alongside the Turkish troops said the combined force seized Shinkal, a village on the northwestern edge of Afrin district. A Syrian rebel commander said the clashes with the YPG fighters were intense, but that the Turkey-backed forces would fight to "eliminate terrorism" from the area. SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali denied that Turkish troops had entered Afrin, saying Kurdish forces have been repelling attacks since Saturday. Bali said the SDF sent reinforcements to Afrin. The YPG said meanwhile that it had destroyed two Turkish tanks. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Kurdish militia and Turkish forces clashed on the northern and western edges of Afrin. It said the Turkey-backed forces entered Shinkal and Adah Manli to the west. It added that the Turkey-backed forces captured three YPG fighters. The Observatory said airstrikes killed eight in Afrin's southeast, bringing the total of civilians killed since the attack began to 18. Sepan Jan, a journalist in Afrin, said stores and services were operating normally. Residents in border villages were taking precautions against the bombings, he said. The only road out of Afrin, leading to government-controlled Aleppo, has been closed for security reasons, he added. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to expand the offensive to Manbij, a town to the east that Kurdish forces seized from IS in a costly battle with the aid of the U.S.-led coalition. The town has since emerged as a model for U.S.-backed Kurdish rule of largely Arab areas. A Turkish dvance on Manbij would further strains relations with Washington, which has troops operating in the Manbij area. Advertisement Turkish troops first crossed into Syria after the Kurds captured Manbij in 2016, in part to prevent them from expanding westward and linking territory to Afrin. At least 70 Turkish soldiers were killed, most in battles with IS militants, which have since been driven from nearly all the territory it once held in Syria. Syria's government had vowed to shoot down any Turkish fighter jets over Afrin, calling it an "aggressive act." On Sunday, President Bashar Assad condemned the "brutal aggression" on Afrin but didn't repeat the threat. He said Turkey has always supported "terrorists" in Syria. Iran, a close ally of Assad, also condemned the Turkish assault and called on Turkey to end it. "The continuing crisis in Afrin may boost terrorist groups again in the northern parts of Syria," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said according to Iran's official IRNA news agency. Egypt, which maintains security coordination with Syria and is at odds with Turkey, said the military offensive threatened political negotiations. Turkey has prepared around 10,000 Syrian fighters to storm Afrin, according Rami Abdurrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Some were stationed in Azaz, on the eastern edge of Afrin and others in Atmeh to the south. Advertisement El Deeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey contributed to this report. I simply will not tell you that Chicagos City Hall has been smooching the behind of Amazon boss Jeff Bezos. No. I just wont do it. Advertisement And I wont say that the civic leaders of the other 19 cities still in the Great Amazon Headquarters Sweepstakes are smooching Bezos behind, either. No, no. No. Advertisement Theres been so much hype and political/media baby-talk about the Amazon sweepstakes all for the promise of 50,000 jobs and $5 billion in investments that the headquarters would bring that some of you might be making a mistake. You might think that some epic smooching is going on. Yet only a chumbolone would think so. And youre no chumbolone. Yes, the mayors of the competing cities, including Chicagos Rahm Emanuel, are fawning over Amazon boss Bezos, the richest man in the world, who also owns The Washington Post. And theyre groveling, flattering, cajoling and sucking up like crazy. About the only thing I havent seen is mayors dressing up like jesters and performing medieval egg dances for Bezos pleasure. But theyve got time. Yet the one thing theyre not doing is smooching Bezos behind. Thats not their job. Advertisement Thats your job. Local governments are pushing taxpayers right up close to the Bezos tuchis, using their official taxing powers to give commands to your lips to begin kissing that Bezos behind. You might not like it. You might not like the word behind, either. But there are other words, including bum, keister, rump, tushie, hind end, backside, buttocks, rump, haunch, and gluteus maximus. Or, my new favorite: fundament. There are many words for it, so pick the one that works best for you. But fundament is a good, solid choice, one not ruined by overuse. Advertisement Because if Bezos selects your town, and local politicians begin clapping and dancing, then you immediately drop to one knee and begin kissing the Bezotian fundament. Why? Because each city, Chicago included, is offering selective tax incentives, tax breaks, this sweetener and that one, to make their pitch more attractive. Not lower taxes for all businesses, but just for Bezos. Chicagos package offers more than $2 billion in tax incentives, a nice tidy sum. Illinois, Chicago and Cook County teamed up to offer more than $2 billion in incentives to Amazon, and offered 10 proposed sites. But as billions of dollars in incentives are offered to the favored, the cost of government doesnt go down. Somebody has to make up the difference. So guess who gets to kiss it? Advertisement If youre a Chicago shopkeeper, or you own some other small business, youd probably love to get smooched in this fashion. Small businesses create most of the jobs. They pay taxes and dont have top politicians as their tax reduction specialists, yet theyre often forced to beg for government services that theyve already paid for. Theyre just not big enough to demand respect. But Bezos is big. Illinois problem is that the city is broke and the state is broke, with billions in unfunded public worker pension liabilities, and taxes are going up again all over. There arent enough cops in the city, and in the suburbs, the property taxes are out of control. And people flee the state to lush, exotic locations like Indiana. Advertisement And though taxpayers will subsidize the Amazon deal, they wont get so much as an All-Pro wide receiver out of it. Cheerleaders for the project meaning mouthpieces will say I dont know what Im talking about and that by the time this great project is finished, it will probably pay for itself. Theyre probably right. They probably know everything. But do they also know robotics? Weve been told that automation will replace most of the jobs out there in a few years. And driverless truck technology, meaning driverless trucks, is coming even sooner than the robots, meaning even more jobs will be eliminated. So wholl be left to pay the Bezos tax in Illinois? Just the trial lawyers, public union bosses, tax reduction attorneys and politicians? Advertisement Oh, they wont stick around. Theyll be living large at some poolside club in the Cayman Islands, with cold rum drinks, laughing at J.B. Pritzkers jokes about the plumbers. Thats probably why the other big push in local government lately is to legalize pot and other drugs. Its a good idea. Because with jobs gone and taxes climbing, the people must be encouraged to drug themselves into a compliant stupor. Its better than revolution. The Amazon headquarters is indeed a massive project. And whatever city wins, politicos will puff out their chests, cut ribbons, dig into the ground with their famous silver shovels and smile for the cameras. The line about how itll pay for itself will be repeated and repeated again, by political hacks doing interviews on TV, and reporters nodding sagely because they dont know what else to do, until everybody says itll pay for itself the way sheep say baaaa. The 2016 Chicago Olympics was going to pay for itself too, remember? Advertisement We were told by politicians that the Olympics were great for Chicago and the city really needed the Olympics and anyone who didnt like the Olympics was mean, stupid, short-sighted and hated Chicago. Happily, Chicago taxpayers lost the Olympics, and now the Brazilians are paying for it instead. Im all for creating jobs. And 50,000 jobs are nothing to scoff at. But compelling taxpayers to smooch the Bezos fundament probably isnt the best way to stimulate economic development. Its simply fundament-al. Listen to "The Chicago Way" podcast with John Kass and Jeff Carlin at http://wgnradio.com/category/wgn-plus/thechicagoway. Advertisement jskass@chicagotribune.com Twitter @John_Kass RELATED [ Chicago made Amazons short list. Theres still plenty of competition ] [ Amazon HQ2 contenders include Chicago; Rauner, Emanuel react by trading jabs ] [ Chicago's competition: A look at the 20 bids for Amazon's HQ2 ] Get your knickers out of your asscrack snotnose....1st nobody owes me jack-**** because I served in Vietnam....2nd I said that the voting age should stay at 18 if you are on active duty and 3rd I meant because I was denied the right to vote when I was in combat because I was not old enough does not bother me... My generation (effin Hippies excluded) was not a bunch of snowflakes who whined and sniveled about every little perceived slight....We were able to suck it up and understand that life ain't fair....and then you die... Jaime Hauad was resentenced to time served and was released from the Graham Correctional Center in downstate Hillsboro, Ill., on Jan. 19, 2018. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) Jaime Hauad left home for the last time on a spring morning in 1997, kissing his mom goodbye as she still lay in bed. Later that day, he was picked up by Chicago police for questioning in a double murder in the 3100 block of West George Street. Advertisement Hauad, just 17 at the time, never went back home. Within days, he was charged. A conviction followed. A life sentence. Advertisement On Friday afternoon at 12:59 p.m., Hauad, who for two decades has alleged that police coerced a statement from him by threatening to cut his toes off in a paper cutter, walked out of Graham Correctional Center in Hillsboro, Ill., and into his mothers arms. When I was in prison, the people that went home before me like Juan Rivera other people who proved their wrongful convictions inspired me, Hauad said in a telephone interview Friday as he drove past small rolling hills and trees of Central Illinois. And I just hope that my story inspires people who are still in prison ... who are fighting. In a surprise decision this week, the Cook County states attorneys office agreed to reduce Hauads sentence to time served, granting him an immediate release from the Illinois Department of Corrections. Hauad had already been resentenced once, in 2016, after a Supreme Court ruling dictated that juveniles cant be sentenced to life. Hauad still had 14 years pending on that sentence as of Thursday morning, when Cook County Judge William Gamboney ordered the release, based in large part on a recommendation from Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx's office, which had reviewed the case. The decision did not affect Hauads conviction on the murders, and he and his legal team plan to continue to fight for his exoneration. Central to Foxxs decision to agree to the release was the finding in 2017 by the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission of sufficient evidence to support Hauads allegations of abuse which include the dramatic story that he was forced to put his feet in an office paper cutter as detectives threatened to cut his toes and sliced at the tips of his sneakers. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 7 Anabel Perez addresses the commissioners about her incarcerated son, Jaime Hauad, during a meeting of the Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission at the Thompson Center on Sept. 21, 2016, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune) Since it allegedly happened, Hauad has shared that story with his mother, his criminal defense attorney and, finally, attorneys at Northwestern law schools Bluhm Legal Clinic, which took up his case along with attorneys from the DLA Piper and Jones Day law firms in Chicago. Critical to their legal fight was that the torture commission was able to document Hauads seemingly outlandish story through police lineup photos. Hauad, who sat through two lineups, was wearing his Fila sneakers with the tips intact in the first. In the second, he is wearing a different pair of shoes and a friend is wearing the now-damaged Filas. Advertisement After Hauad was allegedly made to put his feet in the paper cutter, police took the shoes from him, he has said. A short time later, he saw the shoes in a hallway and grabbed them. He quickly gave them to the friend, who was also at the detective area that day under arrest. Hauad asked him to switch shoes and take the damaged Filas to his mother when he got released. The two switched shoes, and the friend delivered the Filas to Perez. She gave them to her sons defense attorney though the allegation never came up at trial. For the first time Friday, Hauad was able to recount to the news media the dramatic story himself. When I went to the second lineup, the first person I seen was a person I know from the streets, Hauad said. And one of the first questions he asked me was, What happened to your shoes? That was when I was able to tell him, This is what they are doing to me. Get these to my mom. And let her know. Hauad, speaking on his lawyers cellphone from the backseat of the car as he traveled home, recounted how his friend initially balked. His only hangup was he got some brand new (Nike Scottie) Pippens, Hauad said. He said, Man, I just got these. Advertisement It wasnt until years later that Hauad figured out how to document the incredible story. While in an IDOC law library, he saw another inmate with lineup photos and gently asked how he got them. He slid me a Freedom of Information form and told me if I write to headquarters of the Chicago Police Department they will send me that, Hauad said, referring to the state law that requires public bodies to release information upon request. I never knew that. That is all I did. The return of the photos was emotional for Hauad not only because he immediately saw that he finally had photo evidence of the damaged shoes but also because of how young he looked in the photo arrays. It was emotional for me to see how young I was, he said. It brought me to tears. I was a kid standing there. It was sad for me to see. Hauad, when asked about the abuse, said he recalled how one officer held his feet on the board while the other worked the blade. He was not convinced they were really going to cut his feet, he said. But he said he believes they were trying to scare him into confessing to the murders, which he maintains he did not do. Hauad never confessed to police, but his attorneys have argued in court filings that any statements he gave including an alibi that was later determined to be bogus were coerced. Advertisement They were trying to get me to sign some papers, he said. To be honest, I didnt think they were going (to go) that far (to cut him). But these were tactics they used to get you to confess to sign whatever documents they had to strengthen their case. I was a kid. And I got life. Hauad's attorneys are not aware of any internal investigation into the allegations against the officers, or discipline. In a statement, the Fraternal Order of Police called the decision to release Hauad a "betrayal of the criminal justice system." Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > On Friday afternoon Hauad, who left prison in a gray sweatsuit and with an envelope filled with paperwork, was on his way home to a relatives home near Chicago. One of the lawyers who worked on the case, Rachel Cowen of DLA Piper, said, "Watching him come out and embrace his mother was probably the most rewarding part of process." Though Hauad is also coming home to a wife whom he married while in prison she is not living in the Chicago area, which makes her home ineligible as a residence for an Illinois parolee. Because his release came up somewhat quickly, Hauad said he has not figured out exactly what his next move will be other than that he is looking forward to his first real job. Advertisement As for the streets he left behind Hauad said he has no intention of returning to the life he was living as a teenager. Unfortunately I joined a gang at an early age and was running with the wrong crowd, he said. I learned that bad company corrupts good behavior. I am going to be a law-abiding citizen. asweeney@chicagotribune.com @Annie1221 [ RELATED: Man convicted of double murder as juvenile is freed after 21 years in prison ] Last February, Antwon Golatte shows off the bullet wounds and injuries he suffered from a police shooting in 2015, with help from his attorney L. Chris Stewart. Last February, Antwon Golatte shows off the bullet wounds and injuries he suffered from a police shooting in 2015, with help from his attorney L. Chris Stewart. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune) Bucking a recommendation that two officers be fired, the Chicago Police Board suspended them without pay for a year each for firing into a moving car against department policy and wounding an unarmed man. But Officer Jaime Gaeta and Harry Matheos, since promoted to detective, could be back on street duties next month, since both were suspended when Superintendent Eddie Johnson brought department charges against them last February, said police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. Advertisement In a 5-1 vote at its monthly meeting Thursday night at police headquarters, the police board found that the two violated the departments use-of-deadly-force policy by shooting at a moving car that posed no immediate threat. But the police board balked at firing them, as Johnson recommended. Antwon Golatte was shot in the abdomen as he tried to flee during a traffic stop on the Far South Side, police alleged. He had been working as an informant for police for several years before the shooting in February 2015, according to a report issued in 2016 by the citys police oversight agency. Advertisement In its 27-page decision issued Friday, the police board said the officers never had the authority to make the traffic stop. The two officers had claimed to witness Golatte make a hand-to-hand drug deal, but while testifying at a police board hearing last year, both admitted they were were 250 to 275 yards away and didnt use binoculars. They admit that they did not observe any drugs, did not see the actual transaction, did not recall what anyone was wearing, and that the transaction coincidentally occurred right after they began their surveillance, according to the board. Max Caproni, the police boards executive director, said the now-defunct Independent Police Review Authority recommended that both officers be fired, but Johnson at first sided with the officers, finding their actions did not violate department policy. A three-member panel of the police board, however, then recommended the officers be fired, Caproni said, leading Johnson to file departmental charges against the two and recommend their firing. In the meantime, Golatte was acquitted early last year by a Cook County jury of felony charges connected to the afternoon shooting near 115th Street and Princeton Avenue in the Roseland neighborhood, court records show. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > According to IPRAs report of its investigation, Gaeta and Matheos said Golatte drove toward them before the two fired their service weapons at him. Gaeta, an 18-year department veteran, fired three times, and Matheos, on the force for 22 years, fired twice. IPRAs analysis of the bullet trajectories from the officers guns showed both opened fire while standing next to Golattes vehicle instead of in front of it, according to the report. That proved to be crucial evidence in IPRAs determination that the two violated departmental policy that prohibits officers from shooting at moving vehicles if the vehicle is the only weapon being used in the confrontation. As Officer Gaeta had time to react to (Golatte) manipulating the gear shift, reversing his vehicle, manipulating the gear shift again, turning his wheel, and then driving forward, it is reasonable to believe that he had the time and opportunity to move out of the vehicles path, as mandated by the general order, IPRA said in its report. Advertisement During his interview with IPRA, Matheos said that before he opened fire, he believed Golatte had struck another police officer with his vehicle while trying to escape. Matheos would be allowed to shoot Golatte if the other officer was in imminent threat of danger, but IPRA said it was unclear if that was the case. However, even if Officer Matheos subjective belief was reasonable, his conduct would still fall outside of CPD policy which clearly prohibits firing at or into a moving vehicle under the circumstances described here, IPRA said. jgorner@chicagotribune.com Twitter @JeremyGorner [ RELATED: Man shot by police in 2015 sues city, officers ] [ Cook County prosecutors decline charges in fatal Chicago police shooting of teen ] [ Chicago police watchdog rules 2015 shooting of Quintonio LeGrier and Bettie Jones was unjustified ] A man was shot in the leg in the 10200 block of South Commercial Avenue on Jan. 19, 2018. (Madeline Buckley / Chicago Tribune) Updated Jan. 23, 2018 4:20 p.m. She was in the middle of the 911 call when the gunshots rang out for a second time. The woman heard a few loud pops a moment before, then silence. But the gunfire resumed, and this time, the shots were louder and lasted longer. Advertisement Another silence. Then, she heard her son screaming. Advertisement A 29-year-old man was shot in the leg around 11:20 p.m. in a house in the 10200 block of South Commercial Avenue in the Southeast Sides South Deering neighborhood, Chicago police said. He was taken to Advocate Trinity Hospital where he was stabilized. The 50-year-old woman, who declined to give her name, said her son was shot in front of his three children when someone fired on the house. Police confirmed this, based on preliminary information. Im worried about my grandchildren, she said. She rushed outside after the shooting and saw her son getting into an ambulance, accompanied by his wife. She took the three children, 2, 4 and 8 years old, to her house. The woman later carried a small dog out of her sons house and brought it inside her home, while police walked in and out of the residence. Evidence markers sat near bullet casings on the street in front of the small, white house. The woman said her son will be OK. Shes thankful the children were unhurt. They peered out of her front window, watching the flickering blue lights of the squad car. Advertisement The man was among six people shot, one fatally, throughout the city Friday. In the homicide, a man was shot in the back of the head by someone who ran out of a liquor store while the man was standing in front of it, police said. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > The gunman wore a camouflage jacket with a black hooded sweatshirt underneath. The man, 29, was shot about 6:35 p.m. in the 2900 block of East 79th Street in the South Shore neighborhood on the South Side and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for treatment, according to a police media notification, which corrected earlier information that the man was shot on Escanaba Avenue. He was later pronounced dead. The shooter ran north on Escanaba following the shooting, according to police. In other shootings: Advertisement A 40-year-old man was shot in the ankle around 3 a.m. Saturday by someone in a passing car while he was exiting a vehicle in the 5500 block of South Congress Parkway in the West Sides South Austin neighborhood, police said. He was taken to the University of Illinois Medical Center in good condition. Two men, 25 and 43, were injured around 9:55 p.m. Friday in the 400 block of West 86th Place in the South Sides Gresham neighborhood when someone approached them on the sidewalk and fired shots, police said. The men were stabilized at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. One was shot in the leg, and the other was grazed in the ribs. Earlier, a 33-year-old man was in good condition at Stroger Hospital after he was wounded in an unrelated shooting in the East Garfield Park neighborhood, police said in a media notification. The man suffered a gunshot wound to the hand about 3:30 p.m. in the 700 block of North Central Park Avenue, according to police. The man told police he was walking on the block when someone he didnt know came up on foot and shot him. An elderly woman was found dead in a Cabrini-Green neighborhood apartment Friday night after the high-rise buildings automatic sprinkler system put out a fire there, officials said. Fire crews were called to the building at 544 W. Oak St. about 7:10 p.m. following a call for a fire in a high-rise, said Cmdr. Frank Velez, a fire department spokesman. The woman was dead on the scene. Advertisement It was the second fatal fire of the day, after a man died in an apartment fire Friday morning in the South Shore neighborhood. At the Near North Side building, when firefighters arrived they were able to locate the apartment where the fire had started using a fire alarm control panel, Velez said. Advertisement When crews went to the apartment, they found the fire had been confined to one room, and that the buildings automatic sprinkler system had extinguished the blaze, but found the elderly woman in the room, dead, Velez said. Smoke detectors in the apartment also were working. The Fire Departments Office of Fire Investigation was investigating the cause. An autopsy was expected to be performed Saturday to determine the womans cause of death. Police are investigating a police-involved shooting in the 7600 block of South Ada Street on Jan. 20, 2017. (Madeline Buckley / Chicago Tribune) Chicago police officers shot and injured a man who was attacking a woman early Saturday on the South Side, according to police officials. The shooting happened around 5:40 a.m. in the 7600 block of South Ada Street in the Gresham neighborhood, according to Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. Advertisement Guglielmi said officers shot the man after they were called to a home for a domestic disturbance and arrived to find the man attacking the woman. The man and woman were rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in serious condition, but they have been stabilized. Advertisement The woman is being treated for injuries she suffered during the attack, police said. She may have been stabbed, according to Guglielmi. The attack began inside and moved outdoors, police said. Family members said the woman called family asking for help. She called me and said, My husband is trying to kill me, the womans daughter, Pamela McClurge, told the Tribune. McClurge called 911 and rushed to her mothers home. By the time she got there, police had roped off the house. This is crazy, McClurge said. Check back for updates. Police respond to an incident in a train at the Argyle Avenue Red Line station the evening of Jan. 18, 2018. (WGN-TV) A CTA Red Line rider splashed paint thinner on another passenger, then set himself and several seats in a train car on fire before burning a Chicago police officers shoes in an arson that caused about $10,000 in damage, prosecutors said Saturday. David M. Ferguson, 28, was ordered held without bail Saturday in a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building. Advertisement Ferguson faces charges of aggravated arson, aggravated battery to a police officer and aggravated battery after he set himself, the train car and the officers shoes on fire about 5:20 p.m. on a southbound Red Line train near the Argyle Avenue station. Ferguson, of the 2900 block of West Cullom Avenue, remains hospitalized with third-degree burns, prosecutors said. The trains operator was treated for smoke inhalation, and the officer who police said at the time was not injured by the fire also went to the hospital for an injury he suffered to his right knee and shoulder, authorities said. Advertisement A woman who was riding in the same train car as the man who set the fire told the Tribune she was doused with liquid by the man before the fire was set. Prosecutors said Ferguson doused the floor and his clothing with paint thinner and threatened to kill himself in front of witnesses. During a brief standoff, a police officer tried to knock out of Fergusons hands the plastic bottle containing the chemical and a lighter Ferguson was holding, but Ferguson managed to ignite the chemicals during the struggle, authorities said. A hearing was scheduled for next week. Marilyn Hartman, 66, was arrested after getting onto an airplane at O'Hare without a ticket and flying to London, according to police. (Chicago police photo) A woman notorious for stowing away on commercial airplanes made it past two Transportation Security Administration agents at OHare International Airport by hiding her face with her hair, then stayed overnight at the airport before sneaking onto a plane and flying to London this week, prosecutors said Saturday. Marilyn Hartman, 66, faces a felony theft charge in connection with flying to the United Kingdom on a British Airways jet without a $2,400 plane ticket and a misdemeanor trespass charge in connection with getting into the airport illegally. In a hearing Saturday afternoon, a judge ordered her released on her own recognizance, but ordered her to undergo psychiatric treatment and stay away from OHare and any British Airways planes. Advertisement Hartman also will be required to have an ankle monitor until the conclusion of her case. There is no pun intended for your client, but she is a flight risk given the number of offenses, Judge Stephanie K. Miller said to Hartmans court-appointed attorney. Advertisement Dressed in a dark gray sweater and wearing black-framed eyeglasses, Hartman said nothing during the hearing, but her lips curled into a smile after the judge granted her release. Hartman used her hair to hide her face and walk past two federal TSA Precheck agents who were checking boarding passes around 2 p.m. on Jan. 14 at O'Hare, prosecutors said Saturday. After entering a security checkpoint, she then went to a terminal and tried to board a plane to Connecticut, but as she tried to dart around another passenger in line, she was stopped by a flight agent and told to sit down, Assistant States Attorney Maria McCarthy told the court. Hartman got onto a shuttle bus to the International Terminal and slept there overnight, prosecutors said. The next day, Hartman managed to get past British Airways ticket agents and a Customs and Border Patrol officer, and onto a plane, prosecutors said. She sat in an empty seat and flew to Londons Heathrow Airport, but when she showed her documents to a Customs agent, she was identified as someone who entered England without proper documentation, McCarthy said. Hartman, of the 100 block of Hamelitz Court in Grayslake, was flown back to OHare, and Chicago police and other officials were waiting for her when she arrived, prosecutors said. She later admitted to boarding the London-bound flight without buying a ticket, McCarthy added. Hartmans movements through the airport were captured on high-definition surveillance video, according to authorities. The TSA is investigating how Hartman was able to get through security, a spokesman said in a statement Friday. Advertisement This matter is subject to an ongoing investigation and TSA is working closely with our law enforcement and airline partners in that effort, according to the statement. During the initial investigation it was determined that the passenger was screened at the security checkpoint before boarding a flight. Upon learning of the incident TSA, and its aviation partners took immediate action to review security practices throughout the airport. This is Hartmans first arrest in Chicago since 2016, but she has a long history of trying to sneak onto airplanes. Hartman was given probation when she originally was sentenced after pleading guilty in a February 2016 trespassing charge, but she was sentenced to 364 days in jail a few weeks later, according to court records. She was credited for 23 days already served and could have spent less than six months in jail if given credit for good behavior, according to court records. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > At the time she was sentenced to jail, Hartman had been living at a mental health facility on the Near North Side before violating the terms of her probation by leaving the facility and going to OHare. Hartman has been detained several times across the country for trying to bypass airport security. In a court filing after her arrest in July 2015 at O'Hare on trespass charges, Cook County prosecutors described Hartman as a "serial stowaway." She told NBC-Ch. 5 in December 2015 that she "may have" boarded planes without a ticket eight times. Hartman also has three misdemeanor convictions for similar crimes in California, McCarthy said. Advertisement wlee@chicagotribune.com lford@chicagotribune.com Twitter @MidNoirCowboy Twitter @ltaford Marilyn Hartman, 66, was arrested after getting onto an airplane at O'Hare without a ticket and flying to London, according to police. (Chicago police photo) A woman notorious for sneaking onto commercial airplanes has once again been arrested this time after making her way through a federal checkpoint at OHare International Airport and onto a plane that flew her to London, authorities said. Marilyn Hartman, 66, is believed to have gotten through airport security without a boarding pass or passport, flown to Londons Heathrow Airport and was detained by British Customs officials when she landed Monday, according to a news release from Chicago police. Hartman was sent back to Chicago and landed at OHare on Thursday. She now faces a felony theft charge and a misdemeanor criminal trespass charge, according to police. Advertisement Hartman, of Hamelitz Court in Grayslake, was expected to appear in court Saturday. The Transportation Security Administration is investigating how Hartman was able to get through security, a spokesman said in a statement Friday. Advertisement This matter is subject to an ongoing investigation and TSA is working closely with our law enforcement and airline partners in that effort, according to the statement. During the initial investigation it was determined that the passenger was screened at the security checkpoint before boarding a flight. Upon learning of the incident TSA, and its aviation partners took immediate action to review security practices throughout the airport. This is Hartmans first arrest in Chicago since 2016, but she has a long history of trying to sneak onto airplanes. Hartman was given probation when she originally was sentenced after pleading guilty in a February 2016 trespassing charge, she was sentenced to 364 days in jail a few weeks later, according to court records. She was credited for 23 days already served and could have spent less than six months in jail if given credit for good behavior, according to court records. At the time she was sentenced to jail, Hartman had been living at a mental health facility on the Near North Side before violating the terms of her probation by leaving the facility and going to OHare. Hartman has been detained several times across the country for trying to bypass airport security. In a court filing after her arrest in July 2015 at O'Hare on trespass charges, Cook County prosecutors described Hartman as a "serial stowaway." She told NBC-Ch. 5 in December 2015 that she "may have" boarded planes without a ticket eight times. Myron Liggins, 20, and Marcus Johnson, 25, were charged after being arrested running away when they crashed a stolen lime green Ford Mustang (main photo) that police had followed for about 10 miles early Jan. 19, 2018. (Madeline Buckley / Chicago police booking photos) Two men accused of stealing a lime green Ford Mustang convertible at gunpoint before leading Chicago and Illinois State police on a high-speed chase faced a Cook County judge Saturday. Myron Liggins, 20, and Marcus Johnson, 25, were each charged in connection with the pursuit of the Mustang that crisscrossed the South Side before the car crashed in the Gresham neighborhood early Friday morning. In court, prosecutors said the fleeing car traveled as fast as 94 mph on the northbound Dan Ryan Expressway. Advertisement Liggins, of the 8300 block of South Ada Street, faces charges of aggravated armed vehicular hijacking and armed robbery with a firearm. Johnson, of the 2400 block of East 77th Street, was charged with aggravated fleeing from the police over 21 mph for the second time and aggravated possession of a stolen motor vehicle. Both men appeared side by side during a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Saturday. Judge Stephanie K. Miller ordered Liggins currently on parole for a 2015 aggravated fleeing conviction held without bail, but released Johnson on electronic monitoring. Advertisement A third man, James Lee, 33, faces a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery and was ordered released on his own recognizance Friday. It's unclear exactly what his role was in the case. The incident began Thursday night when two brothers called one of the defendants, looking to purchase marijuana, according to prosecutors. The brothers agreed to meet one of the men in the 11600 block of South Church Street in the Morgan Park neighborhood. The brothers arrived in the Mustang and were accosted by Liggins, who ordered the two out of the vehicle and took their wallets. Johnson got into the Mustang, and he and Liggins fled the scene, according to Assistant State's Attorney Kevin Sobczyk. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > An Illinois State Police trooper began following the Mustang early Friday near Lake Shore Drive and Chicago Avenue but lost it near Grand Avenue, Chicago police said. A Chicago police helicopter kept watch on the fleeing vehicle, Sobczyk said. The chase resumed on the West Side when Chicago police officers spotted the car near Blue Island and Damen avenues in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood, authorities said. The officers pursued the car across several police districts and neighborhoods until it crashed into a parked SUV in the 8700 block of South Union Avenue in the Gresham neighborhood on the South Side, police said. Both men bailed out of the car, but were quickly captured by police. After initially losing track of it, police spotted the car near Blue Island and Damen avenues, then pursued it until it crashed into a parked SUV about 10 miles away in the 8700 block of South Union Avenue in the Gresham neighborhood on the South Side, police said. The car originally had been stolen around 9:15 p.m. Thursday in the Morgan Park neighborhood on the Far South Side, according to police. Two men, 21 and 22, were sitting in the Mustang in the 11600 block of South Church Street when someone forced them from the car at gunpoint. Advertisement Check back for more details. To recap: Today a man who has five children by three different women, who cheated on all of them, had sex with a **** start right after his last child was born, bragged about committing sexual assault, said he'd date his own daughter if he wasn't her father, gave a lecture on morality. Tens of thousands of people participated in the Women's March Chicago on Jan. 20, 2018. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune) (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune) The women of Chicago came out in force once again, with an estimated crowd of 300,000 rallying for equal rights and against the Trump administration at the second Women's March Chicago on Saturday. "The energy we saw throughout the year and continuing through today demonstrates once and for all that we are experiencing a resurgence in the women's movement," said organizer Jessica Scheller. "Only time will tell how much we can accomplish through it." Advertisement Last year's event unexpectedly shut down parts of the Loop with what organizers said was a quarter-million participants flooding Grant Park the day after President Donald Trump's inauguration. While some wondered if momentum might wane over time, many marchers said cultural movements like the #MeToo and Time's Up campaigns against sexual misconduct as well as Trump's policies only increased their fervor this year. "I'm marching for the women before us, the women of today and the women of the future," said Lindsey Vaught Kerr, 29, of the Roscoe Village neighborhood, who carried a hand-made sign that read "We won't stop until it rains glass." Advertisement Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 31 Demonstrators march near Federal Plaza on Dearborn Street during the Women's March Chicago on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. (Lou Foglia/Chicago Tribune) (Lou Foglia / Chicago Tribune) The event, dubbed March to the Polls, was held in solidarity this weekend with hundreds of similar marches in Washington D.C. and across the globe that are projected to draw millions. Organizers said the focus this year has shifted from resistance against the Trump administration to influencing upcoming local, state and midterm elections. They estimated some 300,000 attended Saturday's rally and march in downtown Chicago, exceeding last year's attendance. City officials wouldn't release official numbers Saturday. Hundreds of marchers, many wearing the event's signature pink knit hat, began lining the perimeter of Grant Park before programming was scheduled to beginand before the rally area was even open at 9 a.m. The weather was chilly but sunny with clear skies as music pulsed from the stage. Eighty-year-old Sandra Whitmore of Northbrook came with her four children. She said she's been attending protests since her first in 1968 in San Francisco. Marchers head to, then out of, Grant Park for the Women's March 2018 On Jan. 20, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune) (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune) The experience then was so intoxicating, Whitmore said, that she's attended dozens of protests in the five decades since. Her sign read: "My arms are getting tired from hold'n this sign since the 1960s." Cast members from "Hamilton" and Second City's "She the People" made appearances. Speakers included Democratic politicians such as Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer and City Clerk Anna Valencia. "I am female. I am Latina. I am queer," actress Monica Raymund of the TV show "Chicago Fire" told the crowd, drawing cheers. "I am their worst nightmare. And so are you. And that's OK, we'll be fine." Officials from the Chicago Foundation for Women, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Emily's List also addressed the crowd. Advertisement "This year is simple. This year is about right versus wrong," said speaker Tom Steyer, a billionaire activist funding a drive to impeach Trump. "The United States of America is not going to go backward." Transgender activist Channyn Lynne Parker talked about growing outrage at sexism in the work force. "For every woman who has had to fend off sexual harassment in the workplace, claw her way to the top and fight for equal pay, no more," she said. Groups and individuals sponsored portable restrooms labeled with signs that said "S**HOLE," a slightly coy nod to Trump's alleged comments about immigrants, describing Haiti, El Salvador and African nations this month. "When the government shuts down, women still march," event emcee Fawzia Mirza told the crowd, referring to the partial federal government shutdown that began Saturday. A little after noon, throngs of marchers chanting "we lead with love" and "this is what democracy looks like" started to slowly make their way from Grant Park to Federal Plaza. The city closed several streets from late Friday to Saturday evening in anticipation of the march, with Metra and the Chicago Transit Authority providing extra service to accommodate the crowds. Advertisement Even at 8 months pregnant, Chloe Pedersen of Brookfield said she had to take part. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 19 Protesters, part of a 500,000 strong crowd, attended the Women's Rally on the one-year anniversary of the first Women's March in Los Angeles on Jan. 20, 2018. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images) "I couldn't not go. It's too important," she said, and then motioned to her belly. "Certainly if there's a little girl in here, I want her to know I was here today." Lisa D'Angelo of Evanston said she slipped on a patch of ice and broke her left leg a few days before the event, but borrowed a wheelchair from a friend so she could join the march. "People need to still come out," she said. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Charity Weishar, of the Edgewater neighborhood, marched for the first time because she was overseas during last year's event and had to experience the 2017 rally second-hand on social media. "The energy here is electric. It's like a big warm hug," she said. Advertisement By early afternoon, pink hats dotted the Loop as the marchers began to disperse. Some left their signs along Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive, visible to traffic and passersby. One was written by a 5-year-old boy named Liam, who scrawled "No Trump Noooo. You ar bad" in crayon. "We remain incredibly proud of the women of the city of Chicago who continue to demonstrate this city is a thought leader in the civil rights movement," Scheller said. "Chicago has a long and storied history of activism and what we saw today was a continuation of that proud history." Women's March 2018: Follow live updates from our reporters and photographers Women will march around the globe today in show of political force Democratic State Senator Donne Trotter, seen here in 2013, is retiring after 30 years in the General Assembly. Democratic State Senator Donne Trotter, seen here in 2013, is retiring after 30 years in the General Assembly. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune) SPRINGFIELD A Democratic senator known for his expertise on the state budget as much as his sharp sense of style announced Friday that he is leaving office after 30 years in the General Assembly. Sen. Donne Trotter, whose district stretched from the South Side to parts of Will and Kankakee counties, said last years large wave of resignations convinced him it was time to allow a new generation to serve. Advertisement Trotter said Senate President John Cullerton always says there are three ways to leave: in a casket, because you lost or to walk out because its the right time. And I think its the right time. The resignation was effective immediately. Its likely that state Reps. Marcus Evans or Elgie Sims, who were both mentored by Trotter, would be appointed to fill his seat. Advertisement Like a proud father, I am not taking sides, Trotter said. But I think our team that weve developed and nurtured here in the district certainly qualify to go forward. Trotter, 67, first became a member of the Illinois House in 1988, before joining the Senate in 1993. He is a longtime member of the Senate Democratic leadership team and often was relied on to help shape the states annual spending plan. The lawmaker was a key advocate for expanding health care coverage for low-income families and sponsored legislation that allows parents to legally abandon newborn children at a hospital, fire station or emergency medical facility. He frequently stood out on the Senate floor, wearing patterned shirts and bow ties while colleagues were dressed in black or navy. I will miss his leadership, his counsel, his wisdom, his calm, his experience and, to top it all, his fantastic sense of fashion, Cullerton said in a statement. I wish him nothing but the best, and am honored to have worked with him and to consider him my friend. Trotter also was an outspoken supporter of gun control measures and had long opposed concealed carry in Illinois. He voted in favor of concealed carry legislation in 2014 after a federal court struck down the states ban, though he later opposed the effort to override Gov. Pat Quinns veto of the bill. In 2012, Trotter was arrested for trying to board a flight with a handgun in his carry-on luggage. He eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of reckless conduct. At the time, Trotter was seeking to succeed outgoing U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., but dropped out of the contest a few weeks after his arrest. Despite political differences, Trotter was praised by leaders on both sides of the aisle who described him as a calm voice of reason though he was sometimes left apologizing for his statements. Advertisement Angry over health care cuts, Trotter once likened Quinns support for Department of Healthcare and Family Services head Julie Hamos to Adolf Hitlers support for Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels. Hamos is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, and Trotter later said his comments were inappropriate and wrong. More recently, Trotter compared Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner to an Islamic State warrior after the governor proposed major budget cuts. Trotter said he might have made some wrong comments or things that were taken wrongly, but he was proud of his ability to work with colleagues in both parties to get things done. He lamented an increasingly polarized environment thats led to gridlock and dysfunction in Springfield. Everything begins with a conversation, and I have always tried to be part of a conversation, he said. Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady said that while an aisle may have separated us politically, he and Trotter shared a passion to serve the people of Illinois, and to make our state a better place. Trotter said he plans to push for policy changes on the national level to expand access to health care and mental health services. He is eligible for annual pension payments of 85 percent of his final legislative salary, which is nearly $88,500. Advertisement mcgarcia@chicagotribune.com Twitter @moniquegarcia In this Nov. 14, 2017, photo, Glenn R. Simpson, co-founder of Fusion GPS, arrives for an appearance before a closed House Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill. A document produced by the House Intelligence Committee's GOP majority focuses on discrediting Fusion GPS, according to sources. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP) A document described by House Republicans as a top-secret memo about surveillance "abuse" contains talking points focused on discrediting Fusion GPS, the firm that hired a British ex-spy to compile intelligence reports about alleged connections between President Donald Trump's associates and the Kremlin, according to people who have read it. It suggests that the former spy, Christopher Steele, lied to FBI agents who interviewed him during their probe of the 2016 election and that this purported lie was included in a successful application for a federal court order to conduct electronic surveillance on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, said these individuals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing the material's sensitivity. Advertisement The document was produced by the House Intelligence Committee's GOP majority, which voted Thursday to make it available to the entire House membership, though not to the public. The panel's Democrats all opposed the move. In a statement issued Thursday, the committee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., called the document "profoundly misleading," saying it was "drafted by Republican staff attacking the FBI." He did not discuss the document's contents. Advertisement "Rife with factual inaccuracies and referencing highly classified materials that most Republican Intelligence Committee members were forced to acknowledge they had never read, this is meant only to give Republican House members a distorted view of the FBI," Schiff said. "This may help carry White House water, but it is a deep disservice to our law enforcement professionals." Conservative Republicans are increasingly calling for the document's public release after first declaring it should remain classified. Several have taken to social media, conservative television and radio outlets, and even the House floor, to demand the public be able to see what they've read. "Americans deserve the truth," said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., the head of the House Freedom Caucus. The hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo trended shortly after Meadows and other House conservatives tweeted it. According to Hamilton 68, which tracks Russian-linked Twitter accounts, #ReleaseTheMemo was the top hashtag being promoted Thursday and Friday by such accounts. Rep. K. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, who heads the Intelligence Committee's probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, described the memo as a list of "problems we have discovered with FISA," which is short for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the law governing the collection of foreign intelligence on U.S. soil. A senior committee official, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said the talking points, which were based on classified material made available to the committee by the FBI and the Justice Department, mischaracterize the work of the intelligence community and law enforcement "in a way that is damaging as well as false." One of the document's talking points suggests that the government's application for a wiretap order on Page includes a reference to Steele assuring the FBI he did not speak to reporters about the allegations of collusion between Trump associates and Russia - although Steele later acknowledged in a separate civil lawsuit that he had talked to reporters before the 2016 election, said the individuals familiar with the document. Current and former law enforcement officials have said the surveillance application relied on far more information than just Steele's research. Advertisement In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Glenn Simpson, a Fusion GPS co-founder, said the FBI had other sources offering information about possible Russian interference in the U.S. election who raised concerns similar to Steele's, according to a transcript released this month. "We all know [the Republicans] are engaged in complete and total warfare against the FBI," said the committee official, who did not discuss the memo's contents. "They're trying to tie all of that to Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele as some unholy seed." In conservative media, the document has already renewed pundits' calls for special counsel Robert Mueller III, who has taken over the FBI's probe, to shut down his investigation. On Thursday, Sean Hannity opened his Fox News show by declaring the memo's contents would end the probe. "I have a message tonight for the special counsel, Robert Mueller III: Your witch hunt is now over," Hannity said. "Time to close the doors." The talking points have nothing to do with Section 702, a controversial surveillance power that Congress just voted to renew, said individuals familiar with the content. But some lawmakers who opposed renewing the program without stronger privacy protections sought to use the document to urge Trump to delay signing the bill into law. "I believe that the information that is contained in the top-secret memo would have been critical to know before the reauthorization," said Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas. On Friday afternoon, Trump rebuked the Section 702 critics, tweeting that he had just signed the renewal. "This is NOT the same FISA law that was so wrongly abused during the election," he said on Twitter, referencing conservatives' claims of surveillance abuse. Advertisement The House Intelligence Committee official called such claims "irresponsible - a way of poisoning the well" of Mueller's probe. The Washington Post's David Weigel and Erica Werner contributed to this report. The government is shutting down for the first time in more than four years, and President Donald Trump has spent days trying to lay the blame on the Democrats. Friday he tweeted: Not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the very dangerous Southern Border. Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy. But there is a strong case to be made that it's the president's actions (and lack thereof) that caused, or at least greatly exacerbated, the shutdown. In other words, Trump shares a sizable chunk of the blame. Here's why: 1. All of this is happening on his watch: This is the first shutdown with one party controlling all of Washington. Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House, so how could Trump not get some of the blame for a shutdown? He's (ostensibly) in control of his party. A politically potent symbol to drive home that point: The government shut down on the first anniversary of his presidency. When you layer on what Trump has said about shutdowns, it is fair to wonder if Trump actually wants one, or at least is OK with one if it happens. My colleagues reported in November he told confidants a shutdown could be good for him politically; a chance to flex his hard-line muscles on immigration. He's also tweeted stuff like this: Either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51%. Our country needs a good "shutdown" in September to fix mess! The president's aides said Friday that Trump was instrumental in bringing conservative House Republicans on board with the spending bill, and that he was "actively working " to prevent a shutdown. He invited Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) to the White House on Friday to talk about a deal. Schumer said he "even put a border wall on the table," suggesting Trump could get money for the U.S.-Mexico border wall in exchange for keeping the government open. But Schumer said Saturday that Trump rejected that deal, the second bipartisan immigration deal in a week he's rejected. 2. No one in Washington seems to know what he wants: So, wait, if the president said in private he would be OK with a shutdown, but in public decried one, what did he actually want? That is a mystery to even his allies in Congress. This week, Trump cast doubt on whether he would sign a short-term spending bill to keep the government's lights on for another month, hours after his spokeswoman said he would. Hours before a precarious vote in the House of Representatives to avoid such a scenario, Trump pulled the rug out from under GOP leaders, taking away their only leverage to get Democrats on board: funding the Children's Health Insurance Program. Trump also pushed back on his chief of staff's statements by suggesting he had not backed off the notion of a border wall covering most of the 2,000 miles along the U.S.-Mexico border. He tweeted: The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it. Parts will be, of necessity, see through and it was never intended to be built in areas where there is natural protection such as mountains, wastelands or tough rivers or water. 3. He torpedoed a deal on immigration right when it mattered most: Trump has also been extraordinarily inconsistent on what he wants on an issue that is impossible to separate from this shutdown: preventing the deportation of immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children, known as "dreamers." He ended the Obama-era dreamer protections in September, tossing it to Congress to fix. Then he switched his position several times on whether he wanted Congress to find a permanent solution and/or what he wanted in exchange for it. (A border wall? Would a fence be OK? Ending the visa lottery program?) Senators came up with a bipartisan deal they thought he could support. It included some money for a barrier on the border. In phone calls earlier in the day, these senators thought he was on board. When they went to the White House to present the deal, Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., told the New York Times he found Trump almost automatically opposed to any deal. Then the president reportedly asked why the deal had to let in people from "shithole countries" like Haiti, El Salvador and African nations, and then you-know-what really hit the fan. 4. "Shithole countries": With two words, Trump caused an international stir and made it much more difficult for Democrats to negotiate with the president on even the shortest of spending deals. Their base was already frustrated Democrats did not extract dreamer protections in a December spending deal. Suddenly, a vote even on a short-term spending bill without protections for young undocumented immigrants could be interpreted by liberals as a capitulation to Trump. This isn't to say Trump is the only one who will get blamed for this shutdown. Republicans have spent the past few days casting Democrats as the villains. They are willing to vote against a spending bill over an unrelated issue, immigration. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted: The choice to fund the government by Friday is simple.1) pass a noncontroversial, bipartisan bill to keep the government open OR 2) Democrats manufacture a crisis & force a government shutdown over an unrelated issue that we have until at least March to resolve. Josh Holmes, a former top aide to McConnell, R-Ky., points to recent history to make the case that Democrats are the ones to blame: In 2013, conservative Republicans refused to vote for a spending bill that did not defund Obamacare. The government shut down for 16 days, and polls showed a majority of Americans blamed Republicans. "You take the party label off and watch how that's played out," Holmes said. "It's never been good for the party that's blocking the funding for reasons irrelevant to the funding." For right now, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll showed the opposite. On the eve of this shutdown, Americans say they'll blame Republicans and Trump over Democrats. The reasons Trump is to blame are pretty clear. He told an emergency room physician he had a liking for raw fish - specifically, salmon sashimi. It's what the 30-year-old man, from Fresno, California, suspected had landed him in the bathroom with stomach cramps and bloody diarrhea. But what he did not anticipate was the moment he spotted something hanging from his rear end, and he naturally assumed the worst. "He was like, 'Oh my goodness, my guts are coming out from me,' " said Kenny Banh, the emergency physician at the University of California at San Francisco, in Fresno, who treated him. Banh recounted what the man told him on the podcast "This Won't Hurt A Bit" earlier this month. He gave it a pull, Banh said, and it kept coming. "He picks it up and looks at it and what does it do? It starts moving," he said. "He was like, 'That's a worm.' " It was a Monday in August 2017 when the man showed up in the emergency room of UCSF Fresno's Community Regional Medical Center clutching a plastic grocery bag and asking doctors to treat him for tapeworms - parasites that can invade the digestive tract of animals and humans. Banh said he didn't think too much of it; he had heard patients express similar concerns about tapeworms in the past. Banh opened the sack. Inside, he said, was a cardboard toilet paper tube - with a tapeworm wrapped around it. Banh said the worm was dead when he saw it but noted the man told him "it was alive when he pulled it out and it was wiggling in his hand." Banh stretched it out on ER floor and measured it - all 5 feet of it, he said in an interview Friday with The Washington Post. "It got long enough that some of it was sneaking out of him," he said about the parasite. Banh said it's not certain which species of tapeworm it was or how long it had been inside the patient. He said his patient was convinced he got the tapeworm from eating raw fish. Banh said given the fact that the man had not recently traveled or been drinking questionable water - and the fact that he said he ate sushi or sashimi almost daily - he is "almost positive" that the self-assessment is correct. However, Banh said, there are risks with any type of food. "You have to be aware," he said, explaining that the concern is not with the sushi or sashimi as such but with whether it is properly prepared. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has released guidelines for controlling parasites that may live in seafood - by cooking the food or freezing it at certain temperatures for certain amounts of time. That said,in January 2017, a study published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's journal Emerging Infectious Diseases noted that wild salmon caught in Alaska's icy waters were found to be infected by a Japanese tapeworm known as Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense. As The Post's Ben Guarino reported at the time: "The researchers behind the study, tapeworm experts from the Czech Academy of Sciences and biologists at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, concluded that "salmon from the American and Asian Pacific coasts and elsewhere pose potential dangers for persons who eat these fish raw." They hunted for the tapeworm larva via microscope, and confirmed it was the Japanese species using a recently developed molecular technique. "The fish species in the study involved several types of wild Alaskan salmon: chinook, coho, pink and sockeye salmon, as well as rainbow trout. They found a Japanese broad tapeworm burrowed in the muscles of a Pacific pink salmon, near the fish's spine." Experts say Diphyllobothrium latum are among the most common - and largest - of the tapeworms that can take up residence in human bellies. They can grow up to 30 feet, according to the CDC. In addition, the agency noted, they can live for years. The CDC states that humans get Diphyllobothrium most often by eating uncooked or undercooked fish, such as salmon, that is infected with tapeworm larvae. Once inside the host, the larvae then grow. The Post's Sarah Kaplan put it best: "The life of a tapeworm unfolds over three stages. First, their larvae, which dwell in some animals' muscle, are swallowed by another unsuspecting host. With hooks or suckers, they cling to the lining of the gut and get fat off nutrients predigested by the host as they develop. When it comes time to procreate, these hermaphroditic creatures make use of the full suite of male and female reproductive organs packed into their rear ends - they can self-fertilize or mate with another individual. Their eggs are swept out into the world via the host's bowel movements, then swallowed by another host, when the cycle begins again." "It's not like every single piece of raw fish is infected," said Janine Caira, a distinguished professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut. Although, she noted, every day a person eats it, he or she is increasing the odds of getting a parasite. But aside from the sheer horror of it, tapeworms do not typically do much damage to their hosts. Infections are usually asymptomatic, although they can cause abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting, according to the CDC. And, doctors say, they are treated pretty easily with medication. The patient was given medication to kill any other tapeworms, Banh said, but no others came out. "He swore off sushi after this," Banh said, but predicted that eventually his patient will eat it again. Democratic governor candidate J.B. Pritzker defends his secretly recorded conversations with now-imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Pritzker and fellow candidates Daniel Biss, Bob Daiber, Tio Hardiman, Chris Kennedy and Robert Marshall met with the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board on Jan. 19, 2018. (Roger Morales and Kayli Plotner/Chicago Tribune) (Roger Morales And Kayli Plotner / Chicago Tribune) Six Democratic candidates for governor met with the Tribune Editorial Board on Friday to debate the issues, answer (or swerve clear of) our questions, and seek our endorsement. It was lively. You can watch an archived version at chicagotribune.com/demgov. We tipped our hand with our first question: Were distressed about residents fleeing Illinois and employers avoiding the state because of its anti-employer reputation. If the entire 75 minutes had been a discussion of how to save Illinois and attract projects like Amazons second headquarters, wed have applauded. Advertisement Spoiler alert: We held our applause because none of the six wowed us with a rescue plan for Illinois to recover from its mediocre jobs climate and public finance crisis. Props to candidate Chris Kennedy, though, for recognizing that Illinois has so many problems it seems to be circling the drain. Like us, Kennedy isnt anti-Illinois. Hes like many residents and employers who fear for the future of a state that cant pass balanced budgets, or agree on a pension fix, or keep taxpayers and jobs from fleeing. Yet Illinois already has one of the highest state and local tax burdens in the country, we reminded the candidates, so before you tell us your solution involves raising taxes even further ... Advertisement Most of these candidates see more tax revenue, via progressive income tax rates, as part of the solution. The hard truth is many other states manage smarter, operating governments in stable, more cost-effective and employer-friendly ways. No one disagreed with the premise that Illinois is in trouble. Weve got to create jobs in the state in order to expand the amount of (tax) revenue, candidate J.B. Pritzker said. When you dont have a budget and youve got complete uncertainty in the state, no one wants to invest in the state, no one wants to create jobs in the state. Not only is Pritzker correct, his comment was a lot more forthright than the members of his party who control the General Assembly and have smothered Republican Gov. Bruce Rauners turnaround agenda. You dont hear House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton talking about radically changing tax and budget systems to solve Illinois debt crisis. Theyve got their constituency and their agenda, which includes sticking it to Rauner. Our beef is that Madigan, Cullerton & Co. refuse to focus on making Illinois attractive to investment, to employers and to the thousands of taxpayers who are leaving. Employers want certainty. Residents dont want to be overburdened by taxation. Everyone in Illinois politics should be fighting for new opportunity. For growth. For prosperity. Daniel Biss, a state senator whos voted in favor of some of those terrible budgets, said they were the best of bad options. As governor, though, Biss told us, hed negotiate with the General Assembly or use line item vetoes to create smarter budgets. He agreed that bad budgets are job killers because they scare off employers and investment. We have a fundamentally unsustainable budget, which makes it hard for anyone to have a sense of what the state is going to be like in 10 years, he said. Therefore, people say, Well, Im not going to figure out what its like now, because they assume its going to be worse in a decade anyhow. What we didnt hear: unprompted ideas on how to subdue Squeezy the Pension Python, or promises to cut regulatory red tape on employers. Three other candidates joined us: downstate schools official Bob Daiber, Chicago activist Tio Hardiman and Robert Marshall of Burr Ridge. Each of the six professed his commitment to improving Illinois. In the United States today, people want educated young people, Kennedy said. If we give the world highly educated high school and college kids, the world will give us its jobs. But if Amazons Jeff Bezos called you, we asked the six, what would you say youll do as governor to make Illinois, so mired in dysfunction, the place to invest his billions? Advertisement Biss didnt deny the dire reality here which isnt yet Illinois, change or die, but is flirting with that: When Im governor, were going to be making the hard choices to actually have a budget and a financial system and a tax system that works for people, and hes going to want to be here. The admission of Illinois plight is striking to hear from Democratic candidates for governor. Its candor that so many Democratic legislators whove helped create todays Illinois wont voice. What these six say matters. One of them could, 12 months from now, be governor of Illinois. Two men have been charged with the armed robbery of a 38-year-old Aurora man outside his home on the city's Far East Side. Ameen Salaam, 23, of the 15000 block of Oak Street, Dolton, and George Pittman, 24, of the 100 block of North Menard, Chicago, are both charged with single felony counts of armed robbery with a firearm. Salaam is also charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance. Both were present at bond hearings Friday, are listed in custody at the DuPage County jail and are next due in court Feb. 8. Advertisement Orders signed by DuPage County Circuit Judge George J. Bakalis set Salaam's bail at $150,000, and Pittman's bail at $250,000, with each needing to post 10 percent to apply for bond. The man said he parked in his driveway on the 2700 block of Preston Court after getting off work and had just got out of his car shortly before 11:30 p.m. Wednesday when two men approached him. One of the men had a handgun, police said. Advertisement When the man saw the gun, he made a lot of noise and ran away toward his front door, he told police. "It appears the two men were alarmed by all the noise the victim was making," police said in their statement, noting that after stealing a pair of shoes from the man's car, the men ran to their own vehicle parked near Preston Court on Prairieview Lane. The man they'd robbed said he heard gunshots before the men left the area and decided to follow them in his car, police said. The robbers reportedly shot at the man more than once from their car before losing control of their vehicle and driving into a ditch near Butterfield Road and DuPage Parkway, then running away into a wooded area, police said. Within an hour, police found Salaam walking near Butterfield and Hedgerow, with about 3.5 grams of cocaine on him, they said. Special operations investigators found Pittman inside a car they'd followed from the area of the robbery to Orchard and Interstate 88 and took him into custody without incident, police said. The driver was not charged, police said. Police said investigators believe at least two other people were in the suspect vehicle when it crashed. No injuries were reported and police did not find anything struck by the gunfire or locate a gun, police said. The stolen shoes, however, were found near DuPage Parkway and Blue Spruce Lane, police said. "The robbery is not a random act and detectives are crediting area residents for supplying key information that was passed along to the police," according to the police statement. Aurora police announced the charges, which were authorized by the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office, Friday on Facebook. DuPage County Sheriff's deputies and Illinois State Police assisted Aurora police, they said. Advertisement hleone@tribpub.com Twitter @hannahmleone A longtime Corvallis attorney is under investigation by the Oregon State Bar for allegedly misusing funds in her position at a private law firm. Pamela Hediger worked for Evashevski, Elliott, Cihak & Hediger, PC for about 15 years, said President Thomas Elliott. She has been fired and her name has been removed from the firms name, Elliott said. Phone calls to Hediger for comment were not returned. The law firm sent letters to all of Hedigers clients on Dec. 21, stating that during a routine examination of its books, the firm found reason to believe that Hediger has improperly used firm funds and the funds of some clients for her own benefit. Elliott said the firm does not yet know the amount of funds that may have been misused or how many clients were affected. He said he is confident that no other firm employees were aware of or involved in Hedigers alleged misuse of funds, and that there has been no financial impropriety since her actions were discovered. Everybody has been shocked, he said. No one at the firm knew that this was going on. In its letter to clients, the firm expressed disappointment in Hediger. Since opening our firm in 1984, we have taken immense pride in being transparent with our clients and putting their interests ahead of ours, states the letter, which was signed by Elliott, as well as Vice President Steven Adkins and Secretary Joel Howe. While this was and is a shocking discovery, we are resolved to do everything that we can in order to maintain your trust. Elliott said the firm reported the alleged misappropriation to the Oregon State Bar, the statewide agency that regulates the legal profession. The firm also alerted the Benton County District Attorneys Office. Further, the firm is performing an audit of its trust account, he said. Elliott said that when the investigation is complete the firm will compensate clients for their losses. District Attorney John Haroldson said he received a letter from the firm in December regarding Hedigers alleged actions. Hediger previously worked at the prosecuting office as a deputy district attorney in the 1990s. To avoid a potential conflict of interest, Haroldson said he immediately turned the case over to the state Attorney Generals office, which is reviewing the matter for criminal misconduct. As of Friday, no criminal charges had been filed against Hediger. Haroldson said he has no reason to believe any funds were misused by Hediger during her time at the District Attorneys office. He said that district attorneys offices typically have a great amount of oversight and that deputy district attorneys do not have discretionary access to funds. One of Hedigers clients submitted a complaint to the Oregon State Bar on Jan. 3. The complaint, filed by Lebanon resident Cyndee McNeal, accuses Hediger of using funds from McNeals personal injury claims for her own benefit. In the complaint, McNeal states she was in a motorcycle accident in October 2014 in which a dog hit her motorcycle. She states the homeowner submitted a claim to his homeowners insurance and received compensation of about $100,000. McNeal states she began working with Hediger in January 2015 and that Hediger was filing an uninsured/underinsured motorist claim to her motorcycle insurance for $100,000. McNeal states Hediger informed her there was a lien on the money, and that she was negotiating with the hospital to write-off medical bills. Lebanon attorney John "Tre" Kennedy, who is now representing McNeal, said it is his understanding the personal injury claim had settled and that there was money being held in the trust account for McNeal. But, Hediger allegedly gave McNeal various reasons why it was not accessible. McNeal states she was scheduled to meet with Hediger on Dec. 21, but that Hediger called the day before to cancel. McNeal then called the law firm and was informed by Elliott of Hedigers alleged actions. I would like her to be held accountable financially and professionally, McNeal states. The state bar has opened an investigation into Hediger for allegedly violating the Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct, often referred to as the ethics rules, said the agencys spokesperson Kateri Walsh. Lawyers are bound to abide by the rules, Walsh said. She said the agency will investigate the alleged misconduct and present its findings to the State Professional Responsibility Board. That group will review the investigative results and determine whether the matter should be dismissed or proceed to formal ethics charges, Walsh said. If the matter advances, it would go to a trial hearing with a three-person panel of a statewide adjudicator, an attorney and a non-lawyer member. The bar would present its evidence and Hediger could present a defense, Walsh said. The panel would render a decision regarding guilt and, if Hediger were found guilty, the panel would recommend a sanction, she said. The sanction could range from public reprimand to a short or lengthy suspension of the law license, to permanent disbarment, Walsh said. According to documents filed in Benton County Circuit Court, a Corvallis property Hediger owned went into foreclosure last year. An Indiana man has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for illegally selling firearms and ammunition in Chicago and the south suburbs, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago. Darick Hudson, 47, of Michigan City, Ind., had previously pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a firearm by a felon, according to a news release from the attorney. He was sentenced Jan. 10. Advertisement Hudson sold six firearms and ammunition on three occasions in October and November of 2015, but the buyer was cooperating with law enforcement, according to the release. One of the sales allegedly took place in Lansing and another in Calumet City, according to the release. A fourth sale was supposed to have taken place in Calumet City but when Chicago police approached his vehicle, Hudson fled into Indiana, where he was apprehended, according to the release. Lincoln-Way officials will seek appraisers to determine what the closed North High School in Frankfort Township would be worth. (Daily Southtown / Gary Middendorf ) Lincoln-Way High School District 210 officials has taken the first step toward possibly selling the shuttered Lincoln-Way North High School by agreeing to seek appraisers for the building. The board will send out requests for qualifications from firms to find out what it would cost to have the shuttered two-story school appraised and what is the highest and best use for it. Advertisement Assistant Superintendent of Business Brad Cauffman determined that the cost of the district's outstanding bonds for the construction of North is at least $100 million. Any potential sale would have to cover the cost of the bonds, Superintendent Scott Tingley said. Advertisement The school was opened in 2008 and was closed in June 2016 after the district landed on the state's financial watch list. Tingley said when it closed that the district needed time to stabilize and figure out what it cost to operate North, parts of which are being used by the Frankfort Square Park District for its programs. A district spokeswoman said that, if the school were rented out, it would cost $2 million annually to operate it. The building costs the district $300,000 to maintain while closed, the spokeswoman said. The superintendent on Thursday night also presented enrollment projections, which indicated that over the next five years, the student population will decline by 340. The number of students currently housed in the district's three high schools is 6,943, but that could drop by 340 students to 6,600 by the fall of 2022, the study showed. The numbers do not include special education students who attend classes off campus in other facilities; about 80 to 100 students. Enrollment in the fall of 2016 was 6,971. The district used the Cohort-Survival Method to calculate enrollment, which is based on grade progressions from year to year, Cauffman said. The data is most accurate for the next two years, he said, which shows 6,880 in the fall of 2018, and 6,745 in 2019. Advertisement The functional capacity of the district's school are 2,300 at West High School, and 3,370 each at Central and East high schools, Tingley said. As long as each school has an enrollment of about 2,000, it can maintain its academic programs without having students travel to other campuses for classes, he said. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > District enrollment reached a peak in the fall of 2010 of 7,288 and has steadily dropped over the years, despite an increase in building permits over the years. The study showed that there have been more than 400 building permits issued in each of the past four years, but that has no impact on high school population. Permits for new homes have steadily increased in the district since hitting a low of 117 in 2010. Housing permits doubled from 2011 to 2012, from 158 to 315, according to the study. In other matters, the board again agreed to extend the due diligence period for Woodman's Market, which wants to buy the district's land at 191st and Harlem Avenue. This is the third time the district has amended its sales agreement with the grocery store, and delayed the closing on the land. The previous deadline of Dec. 15 has now been extended to March 6. Tingley said Woodman's wanted to lower the purchase price to $3.6 million, from $4.5 million, but that is not an option because the district would have to go through the entire bid process again. Advertisement Instead, the retail grocer will work with the village of Tinley Park on other possible incentives, he said. Due to floodplain issues, the future landowner can only have one outlot on the site, instead of four or five, which reduces the potential revenue, Tingley said. Woodman's is "committed to making this work," and the district wants to close on the land deal in this fiscal year, he said. One week after voting to remove its president for alleged misconduct and performance deficiencies, the Calumet School District 132 board Thursday chose a replacement. Karen Ivey, who had served as board president from May 2015 to April 2017, was reappointed to the post. Corliss Smith, who briefly ascended to the presidency upon removal of board president Patricia Carr earlier this month, was reappointed as vice president. Advertisement Carr, who was stripped of her board president title at the Jan. 11 meeting over what she claims are illegitimate and personal reasons, attempted to nominate an alternative to Ivey, but was rebuffed by her own nominee. Board member Ernestine Stover, who declined Carr's nomination, said she did not want her name associated with "this mess," referring to the board's recent upheaval. As a result, the board voted 4-3 to appoint Ivey as president. According to her bio on the district website, Ivey, who declined comment on her appointment, has served on the Calumet school board since 2001. Advertisement During her previous tenure as board president, Ivey, along with other board members at the time, came under fire from residents for attending out-of-state conferences on the district's dime. A 2017 Daily Southtown investigation into the school board's spending on conferences found that Ivey had attended three out-of-state conferences within the past year and accounted for about one-third of the $34,092 that the seven-member board had spent on conferences between April 2016 and March 2017. Carr, who had been critical of the board's spending on conferences, replaced Ivey as president at the board's reorganization in late April 2017, days after the Southtown article was published. Synathia Harris, another critic of the board's conference spending who was elected last year on a reform platform, was appointed secretary at the same meeting. The board majority has since spent more than $20,000 to launch misconduct investigations into both Carr and Harris, who claim the queries are politically motivated. The first board-initiated probe into the pair was conducted by an independent investigator who failed to substantiate the charges against either, concluding that their behavior did not amount to harassment, according to a copy of his report obtained by the Daily Southtown. Shortly after the independent investigator provided the board his report on Carr and Harris, it voted to launch a second misconduct investigation this time into only Carr to be conducted by James Petrungaro, the board attorney whose law firm Carr had sought unsuccessfully to replace four months earlier. None of the accusations leveled at Carr involved criminal conduct. Most dealt with conflicts over her personal style and her alleged penchant for taking action on board matters while refusing to honor the will of the majority. One of the charges against Carr involved her alleged refusal to grant Ivey's request to attend a conference in New Orleans last September. Advertisement According to Petrungaro's report, Ivey and another board member asked Carr to place an item on the board's August agenda regarding their approval to attend the conference, but Carr refused. She then issued a memo asking that all board members refrain from traveling and show more restraint with district resources. "We as a board (have) recently been in the newspaper for extravagant spending on travel. Allow this negative view of our board members to quietly slip away," reads the memo, which is attached as an exhibit in Petrungaro's report. As a result of Carr's alleged refusal to consider additional board travel in her memo she states that board members are already approved to attend two upcoming conferences Ivey and two other board members convened a special meeting where they approved their attendance at the New Orleans conference. In December, the board passed a resolution supporting the removal of Carr as board president, citing 12 administrative charges of "misconduct and performance deficiencies," that had been investigated and sustained by the board's attorney. She was officially stripped of the board presidency by a 4-3 vote earlier this month, but has stated her intention to challenge the legality of the board's action in court. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > Since the Illinois School Code does not address a board's removal of one of its own officers, and there is no court precedent on the permissibility of such an action, it's unclear whether Carr's ouster will withstand a legal challenge. Advertisement Her attorney Steven Glink, who said he believes the board's actions were illegal, intends to soon file a declaratory action and a separate emergency motion for a temporary restraining order, in the hope that a judge will move swiftly to reverse Carr's removal. "There is no question she was elected president and has a two-year term, and there's no dispute that the school code does not give other board members the express authority to do what they did," he said. "The only question is whether they have implied or inherent authority to do what they did." District Superintendent Elizabeth Reynolds said the district had no comment on Carr's threatened lawsuit. "If a lawsuit is filed, the Board of Education will review the allegations, consider all of its options for responding to that lawsuit and will make a decision it deems best for the entire School District community," she said in an emailed statement. "As is the case with any disagreement someone has with a decision made by the school board, we hope that the School District will not be forced into litigation." zkoeske@tribpub.com Twitter @ZakKoeske The village of New Lenox will soon tear down this house it owns at 102 W. Haven Ave., with plans to improve the S-curve intersection at Haven Avenue and Cedar Road. (Susan DeMar Lafferty/Daily Southtown ) The two-story blue house on the corner of Cedar Road and Haven Avenue in New Lenox will be torn down soon, creating an opportunity to improve a S-curve intersection, possibly with a roundabout, officials said. The village bought the home at 102 W. Haven in 2003, thinking the land might be needed in the future to straighten out that roadway. Advertisement It housed the village's cable TV studio until the current village hall opened in 2007. At that time, officials hired an engineering firm to design some options to improve the traffic flow at that intersection, but no action was taken. Over the years, officials have grappled with the best solution for that busy, curvy intersection. Advertisement Now that the village made its final payment on the home just last year, talks are resurfacing about what to do with that funky corner, officials said. At a recent village board meeting, trustees awarded a contract for $15,700 to Bechstein Construction Co., of Tinley Park to tear the house down when weather permits. "It's great that we are making this first move," said Mayor Tim Baldermann in a video of the Jan. 8 village board when Bechstein was hired. "This is an ideal location for a roundabout," he said, adding that the village officials will discuss their options. A roundabout is a circular intersection, usually without traffic signals, which allows motorists to move in a counter-clockwise direction around an island at a slower speed, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Roundabouts have been proven safer and more efficient than other types of circular intersections, but it doesn't have to be a perfect circle and can be adapted to its specific location, the USDOT website said. While a plan has yet to be drawn up, it is likely that more land will be needed to accommodate a roundabout specifically land on the northeast corner, owned by the Oral Motor Clinic, 105 E. Haven Ave., a privately owned speech and language therapy center, New Lenox officials said. Cars parked in the clinic's lot often interfere with the line of sight for motorists northbound on Cedar Road, or westbound on Haven, Baldermann said. Advertisement Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > "The roundabout is one of the options for the intersection. We do not have formal plans," said Village Administrator Kurt Carroll in an email response. "I anticipate we will have further discussion during the comprehensive plan update about what direction we will take to clean up that intersection, which is in progress. Until we know exactly which plan will be used, we do not know how much right of way will be needed," he wrote. But trustees seemed to be enthused about the roundabout idea. "We looked into a roundabout years ago. It's a great idea," said Trustee Dave Smith, in the video. "A roundabout would work, once people get used to them," said Trustee Dave Butterfield in the video, noting that this traffic method has worked well in other areas, such as Wisconsin. slafferty@tribpub.com Advertisement Twitter @SusanLaff At 90, Hildegard Popoff is ready to retire and sell her specialty shop, All Small Miniatures in Frankfort, seen Jan. 11, 2018, is now up for sale. (Gary Middendorf / Daily Southtown ) It may be a small world, after all, but for Hildegard Popoff, it has been a big, wonderful run. Retirement looms for the 90-year-old Hildegard, who grew up in the Black Forest of Germany and traveled halfway around the world to eventually open her own shop in south suburban Frankfort where she sells the dollhouses and miniatures she came to love as a child. Advertisement The survivor of World War II and, more recently, a nasty pedestrian knock-down that broke her leg and hip in five places says, "It's time." It's time to hand the keys of All Small Miniatures to someone who is younger, more agile and who, hopefully, will love every minute of working there as much as she has. Advertisement "I have to take care of this and that, and I have to sell," Hildegard said. "So, now I am looking for somebody who would like to buy it." A somebody, she adds, who appreciates tiny replicas that pay big attention to detail. Items like the vintage miniature of a Gutenberg printing press that "actually works," she said. Or like the wagon hauling a European version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that her brother gave her to replace the one he'd broken when they were children. Or like the more modern fairy doors that sparkle with glitter and LED lighting and are said to be an invitation for fairy folk to visit. "All of it is so nice to play with," she said, surveying the displays inside the specialty shop on Ash Street. "How can you not love it?" Born in Immendingen, Germany, in 1927, Hildegard lost her father when she was just an infant. She has fond memories of her mother feeding her passion for miniatures and dollhouses. Advertisement "I always wanted small things; the smaller the better," she said. Times were tough, she said, but her mother was resourceful and could turn a shoe box into an enchanted kitchen or baby's room. "During the war we couldn't get anything. But she always found a way," she said. Her mother was good at sewing and often made doll clothing and accessories for Hildegard to use in her shoe box scenes. After the war, Hildegard went to work for the French government that occupied western Germany. It was there she met her husband, Nick Popoff, a Russian refugee who'd been sent with his parents, brother and sister-in-law to Germany after the war. Nick and his family applied for and were accepted to emigrate to the United States. It was a long process, Hildegard recalled, that included lots of health checkups, lots of questioning and her marriage to Nick. They were wed in January of 1951 and made the move to Wilmette, Ill., seven months later. Hildegard Popoff and her husband, Nicholas, moved to America shortly after World War II. Eventually they settled in Frankfort where Hildegard opened her store All Small Miniatures. (Gary Middendorf / Daily Southtown ) "We have never in my life met so many nice people than here in the United States. You cannot imagine. You're standing there and you don't know anything or anyone and they come to you. They were absolutely kind. Compared to how it was living through the war, everybody here was so friendly," she said. Advertisement The Popoffs lived for a time with the north suburban family who sponsored their journey to America. Hildegard worked as a maid and Nick took a job in Chicago and classes at night. In 1952, Nick was drafted into the U.S. Army. Because he spoke four languages, including Russian and Serbian, he was assigned to Intelligence work at Fort Meade, Maryland, and thus avoided being sent to the Korean front, he said. "He was very proud to be a soldier for the people who took his family in," Hildegard recalled. When Nick returned to the Chicago area two years later, the family who'd sponsored them lent the Popoffs money to buy their first home in Evanston. Ten years later, they moved to Glenview. Nick worked as an engineer and Hildegard raised the couple's two children, Steven, professor and chairperson of the department of anatomy and cell biology at Temple University in Philadelphia, and Susan, a nurse practitioner who recently finished her doctorate. In 1974, about a year after Nick's company was bought by a Park Forest company, the couple moved south to Frankfort. Advertisement One day while shopping with her daughter, Hildegard came across a miniatures shop in the village's Grainery shopping center. The owner was impressed by Hildegard's love for tiny replicas and offered her a job. With both her children in school, Hildegard accepted the offer. After a fire destroyed much of the Grainery in 1985, Hildegard bought the miniatures business. Over the years, the store has moved several times but has always remained in Frankfort. At 32 years old, the Popoffs believe it is the oldest shop in the village. "Once I bought it, it was just up, up, up. I had a lot of fun. I was just happy," she said. "I have loved it. It is not a big money maker but it was nice for me." The shop sells pieces and collections, many custom-made, some shipped from Europe. There are houses and furnishings, miniature appliances, clothing and detailed miniatures, such as suitcases, mirrors, jewelry and a wallet with credit cards. Hildegard Popoff shows her display of hand-crafted miniatures at her store All Small Miniatures in Frankfort on Jan. 11, 2018. (Gary Middendorf / Daily Southtown ) Sharon Mackie provides restoration work on old and broken dollhouses, some of which are brought to the store in pieces, she said. Advertisement Nick, 88, helps by adding electricity and even a hot tub, when requested. And now, battery-operated LED lights are all the rage, Hildegard said. How has she been able to keep working for so long? "I don't know," Hildegard said. "But I always felt if you could do something you enjoy doing, it is not really like work." Hildegard said her biggest competition has been the Internet. She used to attend trade shows but her leg injury, which left her with a permanent limp, now prevents her from going. Among the most rewarding moments, she said, are when customers who came in as children return with children of their own. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > Beverly Slager, of Orland Park, has been a customer at the shop for five years. Advertisement "I'm going to miss seeing her," said Slager, who owns three dollhouses. She said Hildegard helped her understand how to install electricity into her houses. "She helped me with a lot of stuff," she said. But mostly, she added, "she would sit with you and tell you stories about growing up in Germany. She's a very nice lady." "It is a good feeling," Hildegard said, "to do something for somebody and make them happy." dvickroy@tribpub.com Twitter @dvickroy The first of what could be several solar farms in Will County was unanimously approved by the county board Thursday. Cypress Creek will install solar panels on a 48-acre parcel on Goodenow Road in Crete Township, and sell the energy it generates to Commonwealth Edison. Cypress will lease the land from the owner and has the option to renew the lease for four terms of five years each, which would allow the solar facility to operate for up to 40 years, according to county officials. Advertisement Before approving its first solar farm, and knowing there were more requests in the pipeline, the county board last month invited solar experts to make a presentation to explain this new energy source. Developers in Illinois are prompted by the Future Energy Jobs Act, which offers incentives for solar power production, in addition to federal tax credits, Samantha Bluemer, of the county's land use department, previously told the board. Advertisement To qualify for the incentive program, a company must have a county permit, an agreement with ComEd and a lease with the landowner. Once they are accepted, they must build the facility within 18 months, officials said. County officials placed 16 conditions on the special use permit for the Cypress Creek operation, which addresses maintenance, an emergency plan, and decommissioning the site restoring it to farmland. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > It also required a 30-foot vegetated buffer along the north side, which abuts the Forest Preserve District of Will County, and enclosing the site with a chain link fence with landscaping in front of it, including four to five-foot evergreens every 30 feet along the roadway. Outdoor lighting is prohibited. The panels cannot exceed 25 feet in height at maximum tilt. The county also required that if the solar farm is not used for 12 months after installation, it will be decommissioned. It also requires the developer to provide some form of financial surety to cover the cost of decommissioning before receiving a permit. While the county can regulate zoning and land uses, the operation of the solar farm would be overseen by the Illinois Power Agency, officials said. Board member Judy Ogalla, R-Monee, in whose district the solar farm will be located, said the county board went through a "very detailed effort" in reviewing this project, and the company provided "good information" to the residents and the board. "I hope other solar developers are as easy to work with as Cypress Creek," she said. slafferty@tribpub.com Advertisement Twitter @SusanLaff Pat Rinkenberger, of Homewood, (left with flags) and Elaine Gillies, of Homewood, (with sign) wait for the Metra train in Homewood to take them to Chicago for the second Womens March on Saturday. (Frank Vaisvilas / Daily Southtown) Holding signs with messages that included "Respect yourself" and "It's 2018, not 1958," dozens of women lined the Homewood Metra station Saturday morning on their way to Grant Park in Chicago for the second Women's March. Organizers of this year's march said about 11:30 a.m. that the City of Chicago had informed them they had exceeded last year's crowd of 250,000. This year's theme for the march and rally is "march to the polls" as organizers hope to encourage people to vote in November. Advertisement "We all just want to be a unified voice," said Mary Pat Meehan, of Homewood, who was waiting for a train. She carried a sign with a quote from author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel reading, "The opposite of love is not hate. It is indifference." Advertisement Meehan said she went to the rally last year, when many marchers had been motivated to attend by the election of President Donald Trump. But she said the rally turned out to be positive and many were marching for kindness, generosity and inclusion, values she said are lacking in the current political climate. "It's not so much being against something. It's about being for something," Meehan said. She said she planned to meet her sister-in-law and several nieces from around the Chicago area at the rally. Near her was Irene van der Hoek, also of Homewood, who was holding a sign keeping to the theme of the march while also taking a dig at Trump. It read, "Grab 'em by the polls," referencing an obscene comment Trump made about women on audio tape during an "Access Hollywood" interview. "We need to keep on fighting for not just women's rights but on all issues like immigration," van der Hoek said. She last year's march that she attended was "awesome" and "very empowering." Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 31 Demonstrators march near Federal Plaza on Dearborn Street during the Women's March Chicago on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. (Lou Foglia/Chicago Tribune) (Lou Foglia / Chicago Tribune) Pat Rinkenberger, of Homewood, who also was waiting for a train to Grant Park, said she went to the rally last year in Washington, D.C. She said she never used to go to events with large crowds but when she attended last year's rally of more than a half-million people, it was "life-changing." Rinkenberger said she's going this year not to protest but to help protect programs she cares about, programs that she said protect the environment, education and health care. Advertisement Lori Saulters of Dyer, Ind., said she and three other women held their own women's march rally in Ludington, Mich., last year. She said the rally, although small, was powerful. But she said she wants to experience the march in Grant Park this year. Fewer people were waiting for the train to Chicago at the Tinley Park Metra station, but those there were just as enthusiastic about going to the march. Cynthia Boyna, of Tinley Park, said she didn't go to the rally last year but wanted to experience it this year with her granddaughter. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > "I'm more aware, now," Boyna said. She said she wanted to stand up for women because of the comments the president has made regarding women. She said she finds him crude and insulting. Alice Mossman, of Midlothian, also was waiting at the Tinley Park station and said she was meeting up with a few friends at the rally. She said they're mostly against Trump but they're also hoping to inspire people to get out and vote. "I just wanted to be a part of something greater than myself," Mossman said. Advertisement At the rally itself, Tinley Park resident Peggy Killacky came dressed as a dinosaur, something she said was intended to show her interest in environmental causes. "I don't want to go extinct," she said. "I'm marching for my grandchildren." Daily Southtown reporter Anne Halston contributed. Frank Vaisvilas is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown. Barrington residents Chris Mitchell, from left, Cara Richardson and Jake Mitchell, 17, attended the Womens March in downtown Chicago on Saturday as a family. (Anne Halston / Elgin Courier-News) Elgin resident Debbie Soulier joined thousands of others marching in downtown Chicago a year ago advocating for women's rights and protesting against the election of President Donald Trump. The inaugural march was "amazing, absolutely amazing," Soulier said. "It was empowering." Advertisement So Soulier got up early on Saturday morning to board a Metra train from Elgin to Chicago to once again participate in the Women's March, held in Grant Park. This time, her sister-in-law, Sandi Wozniak, joined her. "The electricity running through me feels like I could charge a phone," Soulier said. "It is so exciting." Advertisement Soulier and Wozniak were the only people on an 8 a.m. train car from Elgin to the city, but they would soon join thousands of others at the march. The two met a group of family and friends at Union Station, where they were surrounded by more women holding signs and wearing pink hats, a symbol of the Women's March. Organizers said Saturday's attendance topped last year's Women's March, which was estimated at 250,000 people. This year, the Chicago's Women's March focused on getting more women registered to vote, getting the women's vote out and encouraging women to run for public office. Hundreds of marches were held throughout the country. Barrington residents Chris Mitchell, Cara Richardson and Jake Mitchell, 17, attended the Chicago march as a family. Chris Mitchell and son Jake Mitchell wrote a sign telling men not to be jerks on the train in from Barrington that had dozens of people asking to take their picture. "As a family, we talk about the issues about what's going on in this country, Chris Mitchell said. A Barrington High School senior, 17-year-old Jake Mitchell said he believes it's important to march to be a part of history. "This is history in the making," he said. "You don't want to sit on the sidelines while it happens." As for Wozniak, she couldn't make last year's march. Soulier attended with her husband, a firefighter, and other family members, as a result of what she called the "horror of the election of Donald Trump." Wozniak, who protested the Vietnam War as a teenager, feels the movement has already helped women. Advertisement "I think women are walking more proudly and with their heads up," she said. Soulier said she has always been an activist. Her passion for politics began as a teen growing up in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The islands are a U.S. territory, but residents cannot vote for U.S. presidents. She recalls the first time her family members were able to vote: for the islands' governor. Soulier said her mother bought a special dress from a JC Penney catalog and new high heels for the occasion. She said she also had the day off of school in celebration of the first election. The experience reinforced her appreciation for her right to vote, she said. "I realize how important it is to use your voice," Soulier said. "People have fought and died for women and people of color to vote. It's your responsibility to vote as an American citizen. To me, voting is sacramental," she said. But the movement cannot just be just for one day, Soulier and Wozniak said. "It's not just the march," Wozniak said. "It's what you do afterwards. Speak up, America." Advertisement Debbie Soulier, left, and her sister-in-law, Sandi Wozniak, both of Elgin, were among thousands attending Chicagos Womens March on Saturday. (Gloria Casas / Elgin Courier-News) Courier-News reporter Anne Halston contributed. Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News. North Chicago fire Chief Dell Urban and Battalion Chief Josh Rickabaugh show some of the bags that Urban will hand out to the homeless when she goes to Chicago on Saturday for the Womens March. (Frank Abderholden / News-Sun ) Inspired by last year's Women's March Chicago, Dell Urban is going again Saturday, but while there she plans to pass out 100 bags filled with toiletries, food and clothes to homeless people in Chicago. Urban, the North Chicago fire chief, attended the January 2017 march that drew so many people it had to be moved from its original location to the lakefront. This week, she recalled how she almost didn't go. Advertisement "We didn't have any plans," she said of her and her girlfriend. "But it was such a beautiful day, and I love photography, so we decided to go. "We were overwhelmed by the number of people. We went to the wrong spot at first, but a police officer directed us to the lakefront. They found a platform with a bird's-eye view of the rally, and they embraced the energy of the crowd. It was amazing." Advertisement Urban added with a laugh that some of the fun was just looking at the protest signs some people had made. "People can be so creative," she said, though she noted that not all of the signs were necessarily family-friendly. All told, she added, "I'm so glad I went," saying participants in the march fed off everyone's energy. Urban planned to attend this year's Women's March Chicago, but before Christmas she was moved by several news stories she read and saw about how homeless people were being cleared out of some viaducts in Chicago. She said one older woman really touched her heart when the woman told a reporter that she lost everything she had, even Christmas presents. "That struck me," Urban said. "Here was someone that had nothing but was still willing to give." So Urban decided to collect toiletries, food and clothing that she could bring to Chicago to hand out to the homeless before going to the march in an effort to show them someone cares. "We were going to deliver the bags and then go and be a part of history," she said. She posted on Facebook and let people know what she was doing, and before she knew it, there were items coming from everywhere, including friends and relatives. Advertisement "I had no idea it would turn into such a movement. I've heard from childhood friends in Wisconsin, friends in Wadsworth and other fire departments, even from people I didn't even know," Urban said. "I have a niece in Alaska (who) sent a huge care package that she and her people at her work had put together for me." North Chicago fire Chief Dell Urban said she enjoyed the energy and camaraderie of the 2017 Womens March Chicago, where the photography buff took lots of pictures. She even ordered some of the posters she saw to decorate her home, like this one in front of Roosevelt University. (Dell Urban) According to Urban, the donations for the homeless are "filling my house, garage and car." She enlisted her friends to help pack the bags and get them ready for distribution. Urban began her career in the fire service in an odd way. "My brother Lonnie dragged me over to the Newport Fire Protection District, and that was it. Thank goodness I listened to him for once," she said with a laugh. Her brother is a retired Lake County sheriff's deputy. This year marks Urban's 30th year in the fire service, and despite being one of the trailblazers as a woman chief and some of the bumps that had to be overcome, she said she wouldn't change it for the world. That's one of things she likes about the march. Advertisement "It helps the younger generation by encouraging them to have confidence," she said. "It empowers them." A guide for residents going to the march can be found at: www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-women-march-chicago-2018-details-htmlstory.html. fabderholden@tribpub.com Twitter @abderholden SWEET HOME Think youve got a good eye for picking out your familys Christmas tree? Do you love exploring the great outdoors, especially the Willamette National Forest? Well, the Sweet Home Ranger District has a challenge for you: Find the perfect tree to become the 2018 Capitol Christmas Tree that will grace the west lawn of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Each year since 1970 the Capitol Tree has come from of the countrys national forests. The 2013 tree came from Washington State, and in 2002 the tree came from the Umpqua National Forest in Oregon. Friday morning, on the historic Weddle Covered Bridge in Sankey Park, forest officials urged the public to head into the Sweet Home Ranger District with camera and GPS in hand to search for the Douglas-fir or noble fir tree they think should represent Oregon. We are super excited to be here, Nikki Swanson, Sweet Home District Ranger said, flanked by two trees decorated with ornaments made by district employees. We are thrilled about this honor. Swanson said that in addition to the 65- to 85-foot tree, another 75 trees will also come from the forest and will be used to decorate other government buildings in Washington, D.C. Swanson added that individuals and families can also participate by making ornaments to decorate the trees. We will need 10,000 ornaments handmade by the people of Oregon for the peoples Christmas tree, Swanson said. She encouraged families and groups to get together for ornament making events. The first local event will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Sweet Home Boys & Girls Club, 890 18th Ave. Diane Guidry, Region 6 Deputy Regional Forester, said that national forests in Oregon and Washington issue more than 56,000 Christmas tree permits annually in addition to providing numerous recreational opportunities, harvesting timber to construct homes and offering habitat for a broad range of wildlife species. She encouraged the public to visit their public lands and to enjoy the great outdoors. Mayor Greg Mahler said the selection of the tree from the Sweet Home Ranger District will provide the community with numerous opportunities to show others what a wonderful community Sweet Home is. As a community we can come together to help make the ornaments; maybe hold a parade in November as the tree begins its journey to Washington, D.C., Mahler said. We can hold our tree lighting event simultaneously with the White House and have the opportunity to build partnerships on a national level. This is a great opportunity we can show the country just how great our little town is. Linn County Commissioner Will Tucker said his family plans to travel along with the tree as it makes a reverse Oregon Trail journey to the nations capital. The tree will leave Oregon in November and make numerous stops in communities along the way. Oregonians are invited to sign a banner that will adorn the trees trailer creating a Christmas card from Oregon. The public can follow its journey at www.capitolchristmastree.com. This years theme is Find Your Trail!, in recognition of two 2018 anniversaries: the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System Act, and the 175th commemoration of the Oregon Trail. This will allow us to show others how we grow some of the best timber in the world, while cleaning the air, sequestering carbon and restoring habitat, Tucker said. We can showcase how our Christmas trees often Douglas-firs are farmed, cut, wrapped and send around the world. Oregon trees are recognized for their color, fragrance, shape and freshness. Tucker said Christmas tree farms are a $90 million annual industry in Oregon and 92 percent of those trees are shipped out of state. Tucker said he hopes the national tree will cause many people to talk with Oregonians about the importance of timber-oriented jobs, plus new technologies such as cross-laminated lumber for buildings. Other guest speakers were Juine Chada of Sen. Ron Wydens office, Linea Gagliano, director of Global Communications with Travel Oregon and Bruce Ward, director of Choose Outdoors. People walk north on LaSalle Street during the Women's March on Chicago on Jan. 21, 2017. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune) The inaugural Women's March Chicago last year inspired Naperville residents to band together in civic and politically minded groups. The march this year is motivating those groups to join forces to change the community. While some Naperville activists feared the march's momentum might fade over the months, many Naperville organizations are reaping the benefit of increased numbers and involvement. Advertisement As the former Naperville Township Democratic Organization chair, Dianne McGuire recalls the difficulty they used to have in finding people to help on campaigns or attend meet-the-candidate events. In May, roughly 200 people showed up to an Indivisible Naperville meeting, a group McGuire co-founded, to listen to Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker outline his platform. Advertisement While numbers wax and wane depending on the topic, McGuire said interest in Indivisible Naperville remains strong. "I'm not searching for volunteers; they're calling me now," she said. Lifeless in recent years, Will County NOW was resuscitated a year ago with the help Naperville's Laura Welch, who serves as the group's president. Welch said the energy she experienced at the march never diminished. "It is just the opposite," Welch said. "It's exploded into an amazing revolution." Like many Naperville area organizations, NOW spent the past year studying the issues and talking to government officials to become informed citizens. Members now are applying that knowledge to developing programs to pursue various issues. In the coming months, the group will offer a safety fair for young women who will be headed off to college in the fall. Welch said they need to learn how to protect themselves against sexual assault and what to do and where to turn should an assault occur either to them or a friend. "If anything, we want to empower them not to be a bystander," Welch said. Advertisement Along the same vein, NOW members also might develop talks for teen boys. "A big part of (the #MeToo movement) is shedding light on locker-room talk and what's wrong with it, and that cat-calling is not OK," she said. "We need to teach (young men) that no means no." Welch said NOW is looking at giving young girls the tools to develop self-confidence "before they start getting smacked down." To that end, the group plans to create a Rebel Girls Book Club based on the "Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls" children's book. The book features 100 bedtime stories about the life of 100 extraordinary women from the past and the present. Will County NOW is able to get more accomplished because her members are able to band together with other organizations with like-minded missions, Welch said. "The change I see is people are working together," she said. Advertisement One of the groups NOW has been working with is the League of Women Voters of Naperville. The two sponsored a showing of the documentary film, "Equal Means Equal," which focuses on how women today are treated in America. In addition, NOW members frequently attend the nonpartisan league's events, which have included community forums for residents to speak with their congressmen; citizen watchdog and school government training; book clubs and forums on women's issues; and marches or walks in support of science and community unity. Because of the influx of people who've joined the league in the past year, the group also was able to revive a Birthday Box program that previously had been suspended because of the lack of bodies to assemble the boxes. When local teens turn age 18, league members provide the young adults with a box with filled with voting materials to encourage them to become informed voters and register to vote. Organizers say they wouldn't be able to accomplish nearly as much as they do without the help of social media, websites and other forms of electronic communication. Advertisement "When I ran for state representative in 2008, I don't recall much of a Facebook presence," McGuire said. She said mailings to home addresses aren't nearly as effective as emails or social media posts. "Email addresses are like gold," McGuire said. Local groups also anticipate the added infusion of energy from Saturday's march will spark more of a push to alter the political scene at the county, state and federal levels. A leader of the Coalition for a Better Illinois 6th says the 2017 Women's March had a direct impact on the organization. "Most of the groups that are part of the coalition are led by women who had not been involved in politics or community organizing up until the women's march last year," said Reid McCollum, a leader with the Coalition for a Better Illinois 6th, a network of 24 grassroots groups working in Illinois' 6th Congressional District to inform and engage the public. McCollum went to the Washington, D.C., Women's March last year where he was inspired to get involved. "My story is similar to most of our leaders," McCollum said. Advertisement He sees the coalition's timeline beginning with the call to action of last year's women's marches, followed by the Indivisible guide and the Feb. 4 protest in Palatine outside a meeting between Republican U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam of Wheaton and Palatine Township Republicans. Since its inception, the coalition hasn't seen any lull in involvement in the past year, McCollum said. "There are people who weren't involved last year who are going to march this year," McCollum said. "More people showing up now to this saying, 'I'm here and ready to go.'" And the motivations to march this year haven't changed from last year's. "Nothing that needed to change has changed yet," McCollum said. "People who marched last year, we're now organized. There's no less reason to march." Naperville Sun reporter Erin Hegarity contributed. subaker@tribpub.com Advertisement Twitter @SBakerSun1 A large group of protesters, some wearing pink hats and others carrying signs, board a Metra train at the Route 59 station on their way to the Womens March Chicago on Saturday morning. (Diane Moca / Naperville Sun) Some wore pink hats. Some held signs. Some showed no outward hint they were part of a protest. But all seemed to have the same resolve as they joined dozens of others at the Route 59 Metra station heading to the Women's March in Chicago, one of hundreds of cities around the world that swelled with protesters Saturday for the second year in a row. "It's not a bunch of people being angry, but about something that needs to be addressed," said Celeste Jenkins, of Warrenville, about this year's Women's March, held for the second time in Grant Park in downtown Chicago. Jenkins said she and her family saw an even bigger crowd in 2017 when they took the Metra train to attend last year's event, organized in response to President Donald Trump's election. A Metra employee said this year more trains were added to the schedule to accommodate the anticipated uptick in riders on Saturday. Advertisement James Piehl, an 18-year-old College of DuPage student from Naperville, said he thinks it's important for men to attend events like the Women's March. "Feminism is an ideology that everybody should believe in," Piehl said. "I benefit from the current system, and I don't think it should be that way." Advertisement The Women's March was dubbed "Power to the Polls" by national organizers, who hope it will motivate people to vote for candidates supporting women's issues and will encourage more women to seek elected office. Organizers at the Chicago march said this year's attendance had at least reached that of last year's, which was estimated at 250,000. "People making most decisions affecting women are not women. I think the march was the beginning of women getting the confidence to come together and speak out more," said Maureen Kublin-Heffernan, of Oswego. She and others at the Naperville train station said the impact has already been felt since the first Women's March. This year, 29 women in Illinois are running for statewide or federal elected office, compared to 19 women just four years ago, according to Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer, who traveled to the National Mall to join the epicenter of the protest in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. Earlier this month, she said the first march gave women the support needed to overcome the fear of running for office and the courage needed to join the subsequent #MeToo movement by sharing a personal experience with sexual harassment or assault. Courtney Boyda Madden, of Aurora, said last year's march "does have an impact ... people feel more empowered to speak out." While local participants said this year's event did not focus as much on opposition to the president, Suzanne Apgar, of Naperville, said Trump "helped to spark" the movement, which drew an unexpectedly large crowd in 2017 in Chicago and worldwide. "I think, given his attitude, this has spurred more women to stand up and speak their minds. Since we got the vote in 1920 ... not enough has changed," Apgar said. "I was there in the '60s. I didn't have the guts to march. I didn't have the guts to speak up. My parents would've killed me." But some still expressed anxiety about sharing their beliefs. One woman waiting to join the rally didn't want herself, or even her sign, to be photographed because she feared repercussions at her job. Kublin-Heffernan's 13-year-old son, Oliver Heffernan, didn't worry about any push-back from others. He said he was joining his mom at the march while his sister was home with the flu because it's "the right thing to do. I have a little sister and mom and aunt and friends." Heffernan said he went to last year's march with his parents, two siblings and an aunt. Advertisement As she waited for the train to take her to the rally, Madden said she didn't attend last year's march because she was pregnant with her daughter, but she treasures the picture of her newborn in the hospital wearing a pink pussy hat. "Women's voices need to be heard. It's time for us to stand up and show we're not going to be quiet. It has to do with recognizing women for what they do. It's ridiculous we don't have equal pay. We don't have statues of women. We're not recognized, and we need to be," said Madden, adding that she hopes her infant daughter will "live in a world where what she says has the same weight that a man says, not weighted based on her gender or race." Its important to show support for women and womens issues, said Patty Schaffer, who lived in Naperville for 28 years and now lives in Chicago. Schaffer attended the Womens March in Chicago on Saturday, Jan. 20. This year, were here because things need to change and we want to be a part of that change. Her daughter, Meghan Schaffer, 28, said she experienced sexism while growing up in Naperville. It is a town for the nuclear family, where the man works and the women dont. (Anne Halston / Naperville Sun) Janice Wunsch, of Naperville, was one of many people at the train station who said they were marching because of others. "I have five granddaughters. I want them to have equal rights. We don't now," said Wunsch, who attended last year. "I'm a senior citizen doing this for my granddaughters and grandson," Apgar said. "I want this world to be a better place for them. If it teaches young men to be more respectful of women, that's accomplish(ing) something too. It's a start." Patricia Davoust, of Warrenville, said she's participating a second year in a row because we "still need awareness in a huge public way, especially men, who need the message." Advertisement Jenkins said she plans to attend the Women's March every year with her sister and parents in the hopes that "we won't have to march like this" when she reaches the age of her mother. Hill Middle School student Chloe Pettigrew, 12, attended last year's event and was excited to be able to march again this year. "By being here, I learn that women should be treated the same way as men and have all the same rights," the Naperville sixth-grader said. Naperville Sun reporter Anne Halston contributed. Diane Moca is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun. Seven residents who have had prior involvement with the Park Ridge Farmers Market have been appointed to a new city committee tasked with running the annual outdoor event. The Park Ridge City Council on Jan. 16 approved mayoral recommendations to appoint David Arena, Roman Berko, Jay Crowley, Karen Grunschel, Lisa Keller, Deanna Madigan, and Eileen Manning to the Farmers Market Committee, which was created by the city last year. Advertisement The terms of Crowley, Keller and Madigan will end on Jan. 31, 2020; the terms of Arena and Berko will end on Jan. 31, 2021; and the terms of Manning and Grunschel will end on Jan. 31, 2022, according to the city. The committee will be asked to select two of its members to be "market masters," charged with administering the Farmers Market and enforcing its rules and regulations, the city's Farmer's Market ordinance says. Advertisement Each resident named to the new committee indicated on applications that they had previously volunteered with the Farmers Market Committee before its members were subject to formal appointment by the mayor with approval by the City Council. The appointment requirement was among changes the City Council made to the city's Farmers Market ordinance last year. The running of the Farmers Market had long been part of the city's municipal code, with volunteers assisting since the market started in 1991. But management responsibilities previously handled by city staff were taken on by volunteers when a designated city employee retired in 2012, Grunschel said. Support to the Farmers Market Committee will now be provided by the city's Department of Community Preservation and Development, aldermen decided last year. According to the city's meeting calendar, the new Farmers Market Committee is scheduled to meet on Feb. 15. The Park Ridge Farmers Market is held each Saturday, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., from Memorial Day weekend through the end of October, at 15 Prairie Ave. in Uptown. Aldermen have called upon the market to be "self-sustaining," without additional costs to the city. The city pays a $1,150 lease for parking in a lot owned by AT&T and holds insurance coverage for the market, City Manager Joe Gilmore said last year. Advertisement jjohnson@pioneerlocal.com Twitter: @Jen_Tribune A padlock keeps the lead-contaminated West Calumet Housing Complex secure on 151st Street at Gladiola Avenue in East Chicago. (Joe Puchek / Post-Tribune) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has deemed East Chicago's now-vacant West Calumet Housing Complex as a contaminated site that's ripe for redevelopment. The EPA on Wednesday released a list of Superfund sites across the country ideal for a "redevelopment focus list," according to a press release. While the EPA says the redevelopment of the West Calumet Housing Complex and old Carrie Gosch School is pending remediation in the area, residents want some guarantees before the site is given a new use. Advertisement "EPA is more than a collaborative partner to remediate the nation's most contaminated sites, we're also working to successfully integrate Superfund sites back into communities across the country," EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said, in a statement Wednesday. "Today's redevelopment list incorporates Superfund sites ready to become catalysts for economic growth and revitalization." Debbie Chizewer, of Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law's Environmental Advocacy Center which is working with the East Chicago Calumet Coalition, said it's important for the EPA to clean a site in a way that protects human health. Advertisement Chizewer said she sees that Pruitt's EPA wants to get sites into use, but that remediation should be done right. "I think it's most important to get the perspective of the people living there," Chizewer said. The EPA's Superfund Task Force report said future uses of these sites should be planned with community input, Chizewer said. "It's important to have the community at the table," Chizewer said. In December, Pruitt put the U.S.S. Lead Superfund site, which encompasses East Chicago's Calumet neighborhood, on a list of 21 sites across the county in need of immediate and intense attention, according to a press release. "This 70-acre site includes the former West Calumet Housing Complex, a city park and the Carrie Gosch School," the EPA said in its site description. "The school is available for reuse and the city has said the housing complex parcel will be zoned for residential use." "The EPA is re-evaluating cleanup options for Zone 1 in coordination with the city and the school district," the EPA added. East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland in July 2016 told West Calumet residents they should move because of the high levels of lead and arsenic contamination at the site. The East Chicago School Corp. shuttered the Carrie Gosch School, moving students to the former West Side Junior High at 4001 Indianapolis Blvd. Advertisement Copeland has asked the EPA repeatedly to clean the site to residential standards as the reuse of the site is now being explored. The remediation alternatives and ultimate plan to remove the contaminated material will follow what the future use of the site will be, according to the EPA. Once the new plans are developed, the EPA will release those alternatives and collect public feedback. The EPA's initial record of decision, released in 2012, planned to remediate the contaminated soil at the housing complex without displacing residents or tearing down any buildings. The intention to simply dig out the soil was the plan funded through the 2014 consent decree. When Copeland notified residents in July 2016 that they would have to move and he intended to have the complex demolished, the EPA had to revisit that plan. The West Calumet Housing Complex is now vacant, the last resident moving out in June 2017, and waiting demolition. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development gave the East Chicago Housing Authority permission to demolish the complex in September. Advertisement The approval HUD gave the East Chicago Housing Authority only allows the demolition of the buildings and removal of roadways, sidewalks and foundations, according to HUD. HUD blocked plans to remove underground utilities, according to the final decision issued by the federal housing agency. clyons@post-trib.com Twitter @craigalyons River Forest police are investigating after a Friday carjacking involving two people armed with guns in the 500 block of Monroe Avenue. The driver reported he had pulled his SUV into a driveway just before 6 p.m. Friday when two gunmen described as young men or boys approached, River Forest police said in a news release issued Saturday afternoon. The two then got into the SUV and drove away toward eastbound Lake Street, police said. Advertisement A second car, which police believe drove the gunmen to the area, was described as a maroon four-door Chevy Impala, police said. Officers from River Forest, Oak Park, Forest Park and Chicago searched for both cars in the area immediately after the carjacking but were unable to find the vehicles. Both suspects are described as possibly juveniles, with each standing 5-foot-8 with slim builds and wearing ski-style hats, police said. Advertisement Because of a rise in reported carjackings in the area, River Forest police said they have increased the number of uniform and plain-clothes officers operating in the village in recent weeks. According to police, recent carjackings appear to be crimes of opportunity, and police ask residents to be aware of their surroundings, keep doors locked, keep windows rolled up and keep watch for people who may be following or approaching your car. Police said victims should not argue or fight with the carjacker, instead recommending they leave their car and belongings and call 911 immediately. Anyone with information about can contact the River Forest Police Department at 708-366-7125. sschering@pioneerlocal.com Twitter @steveschering Renderings of antennas and transmitter equipment that can be attached to municipal light poles to boost cell phone reception. (Village of Vernon Hills) Cellular data antennas mounted on light poles are set to flood public right-of-ways across Illinois, and Vernon Hills is moving to create enforcement plans for the moment Gov. Bruce Rauner signs the bill authorizing their use. The antennas would be about 30 inches tall and contain an additional processor, according Building Commissioner Mike Atkinson. He said the devices would be used to boost service within existing coverage areas. Advertisement As technology evolves, the need for data capacity evolves, Atkinson told village trustees during a Jan. 9 committee meeting. What number (of them) would we have moving into the future? Its really hard to determine, but theyre coming and its easy to estimate that it wouldnt be a small number. If the bill is signed into law, municipalities will not be able to limit the number of antennas wireless providers can install, Atkinson said. The devices would be permitted on all utility poles in public right-of-ways, he added. Advertisement Public right-of-ways are typically the few feet of land between roads and sidewalks that local governments reserve for utilities the entire public benefits from. Vernon Hills has around 5,000 light poles that stand approximately 180 feet apart, according Dave Brown, director of public works. There are certain allowances that were placed in there that . . . gives our village the opportunity to have a certain level of control, not the amount that we want, but a certain level of control, Atkinson said. Versions of the bill passed both chambers of the General Assembly last year, and at some point after returning to session on Jan. 30 the Senate is supposed to revote in consideration of changes made in the House. Originally proposed by state Sen. Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills) in February 2017, the bill did not give municipalities much control, but Atkinson said recent revisions negotiated by the Illinois Municipal League do grant some local power. The bill, in its current form, would require communities to pass local ordinances mirroring the state law in order to gain those controls, he said. As soon as we know theyre not going to make any more changes, then well have the public hearing, Atkinson said Thursday. It could happen as early as February, but we dont know for sure. Once the act is signed into law by the governor we can react quickly by getting in front of our board for final review and approval. We dont want any window of opportunity or ambiguity. Vernon Hills first considered their own ordinance in September when a contractor for Verizon Wireless approached the village about installing a few antennas due to service issues that needed to be resolved. Hawthorn Middle School North was one of the areas in need. Advertisement On Jan. 9, Atkinsons update focused on how to acquire the limited oversight abilities municipalities could receive when the bill is signed. One of the things that was added into the act was that we can now ask for a structural analysis and we can get specifications on the equipment, Atkinson told trustees. So, we can verify if the pole can handle the additional load. Another new provision says local governments can make wireless providers install the antennas as far as 100 feet away from their desired location if it is intrusive to a home or business. Fees were also added into the bill. Atkinson said local government can charge $350 for applications in bunches of up to 25 locations, $650 for applications involving just one antenna intended for an existing pole, and $1,000 for any antenna going on a newly erected utility pole that only serves the applicant. Allowing for new utility poles goes against underground utility policies Vernon Hills and other communities created for developers as part of community beautification efforts. Advertisement We have a number of subdivisions with no utility poles, so in those areas were going to see requests for new poles because theres nothing to put them on, Atkinson said. The proposed bill would limit the antennas to no more than 10 feet above the desired existing pole, and new utility poles plus antennas can only be 45 feet above ground or at the same height of any existing pole within 200 feet of the desired location, according to Atkinsons report. Its definitely a need for our residents and business owners who increasingly rely on this technology, Atkinson said Thursday. You dont want to say no to them, but its just a question of coming up with reasonable regulations for placement of these things. In an effort to limit the intrusiveness or aesthetic impact, Atkinson said Vernon Hills ordinance will also cover private poles, such as lighting structures in commercial parking lots and parks where its easier to hide these small cell sites. Mayor Roger Byrne asked if private property owners could make money leasing space on their structures. They can, we wouldnt get in their way, Atkinson said. What wed do is regulate through zoning how they could appropriately place them. Advertisement rkambic@pioneerlocal.com Twitter @Rick_Kambic Adam Frisch not sure if he'll run against Boebert in CD3 in 2024 Frisch filed paperwork for a 2024 bid for CD3 this week, but he said it was in case he needed to fundraise for a potential legal defense for this election. LEBANON POLICE Injury wreck 11:23 a.m. Wednesday, intersection of Main and Milton streets. Lebanon police responded to a collision near the intersection between a Toyota Sequoia and a Toyota Camry. Medics were dispatched to see to a 40-year-old female involved in the crash who complained of back pain. Marisa Lyn Headley, 45, was cited for following too closely. Vehicle recovered 7:41 a.m. Wednesday, South Fifth Street. Police recovered a green Honda Accord that had been reported stolen out of Albany. It was returned to the registered owner. Pedestrian struck 7:35 a.m. Wednesday, intersection of Seventh Street and Airport Road. Police responded to a report of a vehicle striking a high school student who was walking to school. The student was crossing Airport Road, headed north on Seventh Street, when a red pickup truck hit him. The male driver stopped and spoke with the student but no information was exchanged. The student declined medical treatment and the parent was notified. LINN COUNTY SHERIFF Dumped logs 9:37 a.m. Friday, intersection of Waterloo and Berlin roads. Linn County deputies responded to a report of a semi crashing into a power pole, overturning and losing a load of logs. No one was injured. The pole provided electricity to Hamilton Creek School, which was out of power until about 1 p.m. School officials invited parents to pick up their children if they chose, but said many of the approximately 300 students were on a field trip that day, anyway, so not many families took advantage of the option. The sheriff's office said the log truck company removed the logs and the power company was notified of the incident. No citations were listed. SWEET HOME POLICE Assault 9:41 a.m., 1641 Long Street. Police received a report of a student assaulted at Sweet Home High School and needing stitches. A 15-year-old female was referred to the Linn County Juvenile Department, where she was released to parents. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi signed a series of agreements, during Netanyahu's visit to India, the first in fifteen years, aimed at deepening cooperation in the areas of energy, the film industry, aviation, cyber and investment. These agreements come as India is starting to plan a free trade pact with Israel, and Indian energy companies are looking to explore oil and gas in the Mediterranean. The welcoming of Netanyahu to India signifies a long term strategic change in culture in India. India and Israel started to develop strategic ties ever since the war on terror started, which only increased during the ghastly 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. And then Narendra Modi, himself a right-wing nationalist, went to visit Israel to solidify the alignment. "This is the dawn of a new era in the great friendship between India and Israel that began with Prime Minister Modi's historic visit to Israel, which created tremendous enthusiasm. It continues with my visit here, which I must say is deeply moving for my wife and me, and for the entire people of Israel. And I think it heralds a flourishing of our partnership to bring prosperity and peace and progress for both our people," Netanyahu was quoted as saying. He brings with him, the little kid, who was the only survivor in the horrific attack in Mumbai, who was saved by her Christian nanny, who is considered a heroine in Israel. The ties between India and Israel are complicated. Indian academia remains deeply anti-Israel, given India's post-colonial role. India consistently supported the Palestinian cause, and in later years a two-state solution, which is essentially dead after Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Netanyahu said as much, during his visit. He said that Israel was disappointed that India supported the UN motion against Jerusalem, but also added that one vote isn't a sign of the trends in Indo-Israeli ties. Netanyahu also said two more significant things. First he mentioned that India is a world power, when asked about the presence of the Indian navy in the Mediterranean. He also said, and this was missed by the majority of the news reports, but is immensely significant, that Israel would try and mediate if needed, between China and India, should there be any dispute, and should it be required. While, it possibly shall not be required, as India and China both prefer bilateral solutions to any problem, it is a remarkable gesture, as Israel shares good offices with China. And finally, he said that Israel will help in technological advancement in India. Israel is one of the most tech advanced nations in the world, and Israeli tech might help India's nascent modern armament industry, as well as its farming sector, particularly with India's huge and growing population. It's important to remember a few things. First of all, India's relationship with Israel is purely tactical. India, given its post-colonial history, is loath to fall into any alliance. That will be evident, when India tries its balancing act with Israel. While there are massive shared aligned interests, in two significant sectors, Israeli and Indian interests differ. First, the issue of Palestine. Second, an even bigger headache, in Iran. India and Iran share historic ties and India has always relied on Iran as a counterbalance to Sunni Jihadism in Afghanistan and Pakistan. India is also developing ports in Iran as a counterbalance to the Pakistani ports used by China. Iran also happens to be the mortal enemy of Israel. What if push comes to shove, and there's a war in Middle east? The nightmarish scenario is difficult to ponder. That said, Indian PM Modi shares a personal camaraderie with right wing nationalist parties, and Israel is no different. But this visit shouldn't be given too much importance, as while the rhetoric maybe high, the real politics remains complicated. Sumantra Maitra is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SumantraMaitra.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Events coming up in the next few days Foreign Minister Wang to visit Chile and Uruguay China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, will undertake official visits to Chile and Uruguay from January 21 to 25, the Foreign Ministry announced. Wang will also lead a delegation to the Second Ministerial Meeting of the Forum of China and Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in Santiago, Chile, from January 19 to 22. I am a retired newspaperman. I am 69 and live in Poca, WV, with my wife of 45 years, Lou Ann. We grew up in Cleveland. Three kids. Grandfather. More on who I am is here. Report all errors to DonSurber@GMail.com I had the privilege or reading a pre-release version of "God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church." Here are 20 quotes from the book, which you should pick up. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NEW YORK - An employee is severely depressed and unable to complete a task. Or has mood swings and outbursts, unnerving colleagues and disrupting the workplace. These are some of the hardest situations small-business owners and managers can face. John Crossman has had employees at his commercial real estate company whose personal problems made it hard for them get work done. He's sympathetic, because he's struggled with depression and sought counseling in the past. When he sees an employee in emotional distress, he asks, "Is there something we can do to be helpful?" At the same time, "you have to decide, what business boundary are you going to put up," says Crossman, whose eponymous company is based in Orlando, Fla. Small-business owners juggle competing concerns when they're dealing with employees' mental health issues, and it can be particularly difficult for the many owners who don't have a dedicated human resources staff. They may be worried on a personal level about a troubled staffer's well-being, but they also have a business to run. If employees cannot get their work done properly or on time, revenue can suffer. In cases where a staffer has angry outbursts, co-workers might complain of a hostile work environment or might quit. If staffers alienate customers or vendors, an owner will have to repair the relationships. Owners also must comply with federal, state and local laws. The Americans with Disabilities Act, which applies to companies with 15 or more employees, prohibits discrimination against workers with disabilities including mental illness and requires employers to make reasonable accommodations to help staffers work. The Family and Medical Leave Act, which provides for up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for medical conditions including mental illness, applies to companies with 50 or more employees. Some state laws offer employees even more protection. And workers who feel discriminated against because of emotional issues might file charges with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. At Maple Holistics' warehouse, one worker suffered from severe social anxiety. He couldn't always make it into work on time, and he didn't communicate well with his nine co-workers. Managers at the Farmingdale, N.J.-based company that manufactures maple food and personal care products knew they had to make accommodations. "I knew he was not necessarily going to make it in from 9 to 5 every day," marketing manager Craig Eckersley says. "I was never critical because I knew it was something he had to deal with." The staffer, who worked on an hourly basis, wasn't paid for the time he missed. But he also wasn't disciplined. Eckersley and other Maple Holistics bosses helped other staffers understand that their co-worker needed compassion. While some initially asked, "What's up with this guy?" they grew to welcome him. "He carved out his niche and people got to work well with him," Eckersley says. Crossman believes helping a staffer in trouble will help his company as well. In one case, an employee was struggling to cope after being served with divorce papers in the office. Crossman suggested the man take time off, and he did. When another employee had emotional problems, Crossman persuaded her to start working with the counselor he had seen, and when she couldn't afford the sessions, he paid part of the cost. Crossman sees dealing with troubled staffers as a fact of life as a business owner. "We live in a world where there are so many broken people," he says. Some owners might want an emotionally troubled staffer to seek treatment. But the laws about medical and mental conditions also protect staffers' privacy. So a boss can't tell an employee, "You're having emotional problems and you have to see a therapist," or ask if they're on medication. "But if the employee says, I've got depression, or I've got bipolar personality disorder, whatever the case is, the employer would be able to have a dialogue with the employee and say, 'OK, what can we do to help you?' " says Jonathan Yarbrough, an employment law attorney with Constangy Brooks Smith Prophete in Asheville, N.C. Once employers are aware of workers' medical conditions, bosses can be required to make some accommodations for them. The answer may be that an emotionally troubled staffer needs a schedule change or to have time away from work to see a mental health provider. But owners must also address any impact that staffers' behavioral issues have on co-workers, says Jay Starkman, CEO of Engage PEO, an HR provider based in Hollywood, Fla. "An employer has an absolute obligation to provide a workplace that is safe for other employees and to provide a workplace that is not a hostile working environment. Those two things trump everything," Starkman says. Owners should get advice from an HR professional or employment law attorney on how to address a staffer's emotional or mental problems, and to ensure the company is complying with federal, state and local laws. Even if staffers acknowledge they're suffering from an emotional problem or mental illness, if they're not able to do their work despite the owners' attempts to make accommodations, the company can consider disciplinary action, Starkman says. "You have a right as an employer to have performance at an acceptable level," he says. In Britain, which also has laws to protect people with disabilities including emotional problems, Lisa Forde wants to be sure her 11 staffers don't feel they'll be judged harshly if they contend with emotional issues. "We want people to be open. If they're having a bad day and we know that, we can make allowances," says Forde, owner of Dotty About Paper, a stationery and invitation company in Bridgnorth, Shropshire. When one staffer was depressed and the company faced a project deadline, Forde structured the workload so the staffer had manageable portions each day. She also made sure other employees were willing to help. Forde, who has been in business for 14 years, says it's inevitable that she'll deal with staffers' emotional needs. "We've seen a lot of things over time, and since we're a small business, we've become much more aware of them," she says. BALTIMORE - A wealthy investor who credits his success to studying philosophy in college has given $75 million to the philosophy department at Johns Hopkins University. Johns Hopkins announced the donation from William "Bill" Miller III. The university says the gift will help the department increase its full-time faculty and create endowed faculty positions and endowed support for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. Miller, 67, enrolled in a doctoral philosophy program at Johns Hopkins before leaving to pursue investment management. He says he credits much of his business success to philosophy studies. WASHINGTON - The owners of a Trump-branded hotel in Panama sued President Donald Trump's family-owned company in federal court this month, alleging that the namesake business committed mismanagement and fraud. The lawsuit includes previously confidential arbitration filings before the International Chamber of Commerce. It alleges that Trump Hotels tried to "bully, intimidate and harass" its way out of a $15 million arbitration claim. The owners, led by investment firm Ithaca Capital Management, are seeking to fire Trump's company and abandon the Trump brand. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, was intended to terminate Trump's 20-year contract, and alleged "gross negligence and potentially fraudulent conduct" by the Trump Organization, including "looted" bank accounts. The hotel currently carries a $1.9 million deficit in its reserve accounts, Trump's opponents allege, because of improper use of funds. Trump's hotel company, meanwhile, alleged in arbitration filings that Ithaca and other hotel unit owners committed fraud and racketeering. That claim on behalf of Trump International Hotels Management argued that the owners acted in bad faith and lacked the authority to terminate the contract. The Trump claim also alleged that Ithaca's managing director, Orestes Fintiklis, falsely promised to support the hotel's management before undertaking "a lawless coup" in the building. At stake in the dispute is control over the operations of the Trump International Hotel in Panama City, a 70-story luxury waterfront high-rise. The hotel has been struggling, with occupancy in recent days - a period considered peak high season - ranging from just 26 to 28 percent. Ithaca and its allies among the unit owners blame that performance on mismanagement and damage to Trump's brand since he assumed the presidency. Trump attorney Alan Garten, meanwhile, blames a widespread downturn in Panama's hotel business. Earlier this month, the Associated Press reported that staff at the hotel ran off a team of Marriott executives invited to visit the property as part of the owners' search for a company to take over the hotel's operation from Trump. The head of Trump Hotels later called the head of Marriott to discuss the visit. Garten said the call was friendly. "We have a great relationship with Marriott," Garten said. "They were appreciative that we let them know that we have a valid contract." Marriott generally steers clear of properties facing ownership and management disputes. But the call from a senior Trump executive to the CEO of Marriott, which manages more than 6,000 hotels, raised the awkward matter of how American companies interact with a business owned by the president. Marriott, like most major international companies, has significant business and public policy interests before the Trump administration. Federal employees who travel and hold government conferences pay to use its properties, and Marriott has been lobbying the administration and Congress over U.S. tourism, trade and legal restrictions against property ownership in Cuba, disclosures to consumers about resort fees, and other issues. A spokeswoman for Marriott declined to comment. The dispute between Ithaca and Trump's hotel business was previously known only due to the feuding parties' communications with individual hotel unit owners. "Our investment has no future so long as the hotel is managed by an incompetent operator whose brand has been tarnished beyond repair," Fintiklis, the managing partner of Miami-based Ithaca Capital Partners, wrote in a letter. Trump Hotels accused Ithaca of deceiving its fellow hotel owners and illegally terminating the Trump contract. "Unfortunately, it is YOU, the unit owners, who will ultimately be the ones to bear responsibility for the bad acts of Mr. Fintiklis and his cohorts," Trump Hotels executive vice president Jeff Wagoner said in an earlier letter to the owners last week. The effort to remove Trump hotels from managing the hybrid condo-hotel units on the property began last year, after Ithaca Capital Group purchased 202 unsold hotel units from the building's struggling developer. After buying the units in August with Trump Hotels' blessing, Ithaca quickly turned sour on the brand. Fintiklis did not respond to emails from the AP seeking comment. Al Monstavicius, a retired Nevada doctor who owns a penthouse hotel unit in the building, said Trump's statements regarding Mexicans and his determination to strip hundreds of thousands of Central Americans in the U.S. of protection from deportation have made Trump's brand toxic in Panama. If the owners in Panama succeed, it won't be the first time Trump has been ousted there. In 2015, amid the early months of Trump's presidential campaign, the owners of apartments and other businesses in the same building voted to fire Trump's management company over budget issues and allegations of misspent funds. Since then, the property's overall finances have improved. Its annual deficits, which exceeded $1 million, have since turned into a surplus, according to financial documents provided to the AP by an owner. The chief executive officers of Alphabet's Google and YouTube pledged to scour videos and other content more closely for misleading news and inappropriate messages on their web services ahead of elections in the U.S later this year. "We have more elections coming, so we're all working harder," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said during an interview at an event in San Francisco on Friday hosted by MSNBC and Recode. "We feel a huge sense of responsibility." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Fiction 1. The Woman in the Window: By A.J. Finn. A recluse who drinks heavily and takes prescription drugs may have witnessed a crime across from her Harlem townhouse. 2. Origin: By Dan Brown. A symbology professor goes on a perilous quest with a beautiful museum director. 3. The Rooster Bar: By John Grisham. Three students at a sleazy for-profit law school hope to expose the student-loan banker who runs it. 4. Little Fires Everywhere: By Celeste Ng. An artist upends a quiet town outside Cleveland. 5. Sing, Unburied, Sing: By Jesmyn Ward. A 13-year-old boy comes of age in Mississippi while his black mother takes him and his toddler sister to pick up their white father, who is getting released from the state penitentiary. 6. Robicheaux: By James Lee Burke. A bereaved detective confronts his past and works to clear his name when he becomes a suspect during an investigation into the murder of the man who killed his wife. 7. Unbound: By Stuart Woods. The 44th book in the Stone Barrington series. 8. The People vs. Alex Cross: By James Patterson. Detective Alex Cross takes on a case even though he has been suspended from the department and taken to federal court to stand trial on murder charges. 9. The Midnight Line: By Lee Child. Jack Reacher tracks down the owner of a pawned West Point class ring and stumbles upon a large criminal enterprise. 10. Before We Were Yours: By Lisa Wingate. A South Carolina lawyer learns about the questionable practices of a Tennessee orphanage. Nonfiction 1. Fire and Fury: By Michael Wolff. A journalist offers an inside account of the first year of the Trump White House. 2. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry: By Neil deGrasse Tyson. A straightforward, easy-to-understand introduction to the universe. 3. Leonardo Da Vinci: By Walter Isaacson. A biography of the Italian Renaissance polymath that connects his work in various disciplines. 4. Grant: By Ron Chernow. A biography of the Union general of the Civil War and two-term president of the United States. 5. Promise Me, Dad: By Joe Biden. The former vice president recalls his toughest year in office, as his son battled brain cancer. 6. Let Trump Be Trump: By Corey R. Lewandowski and David N. Bossie. Insider accounts of the Republican presidential campaign and its outcome. 7. Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans: By Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger. Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson takes on the British in Louisiana. 8. The Last Black Unicorn: By Tiffany Haddish. The comedian recounts growing up in South Central Los Angeles, exacting revenge on an ex-boyfriend and finding success after a period of homelessness. 9. Killers of the Flower Moon: By David Grann. The story of a murder spree in 1920s Oklahoma that targeted Osage Indians. 10. Hillbilly Elegy: By J.D. Vance. A Yale Law School graduate examines white working-class struggles. New York Times This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate As the federal government prepared for a potential shutdown Friday, David Todd wondered what he would do on Saturday. Todd, who lives in The Woodlands, is president of a coalition that's working to repair flood-damaged trails at Sam Houston National Forest. He'd planned to spend part of the weekend in the Huntsville-area forest re-covering tree roots that were exposed when Hurricane Harvey's floods washed away soil and sediment. But if federal functions ground to a halt at midnight, he said, "I'm curious if we're going to be allowed to do volunteer work" there. He wasn't the person uncertain on Friday. RELATED STORY: 2,900 Johnson Space Center workers could go without pay during shutdown A shutdown loomed at midnight if the Senate failed to pass a bill to continue funding the federal government. And if every government-funded agency suspended operations, Todd's plans might be canceled along with the plans of anyone who wanted to visit national forests, parks, recreation areas or monuments. Or maybe not. Late this week, the Trump administration was looking for ways to keep national parks and monuments at least partially open to the public in the event of a shutdown. In previous shutdowns, national parks have closed, barring visitors altogether. But this time, the U.S. Department of the Interior planned to give visitors access to the facilities that don't require government staffing. That means some parks, monuments, trails and historic sites could stay open, though without any staffing by federal employees. On Friday, what that might look like was unclear. Would the gates be open at national forests like Sam Houston? Could visitors come in to hike, fish and camp even if rangers and other employees were absent? Todd remembers the Bill Clinton-era government shutdown, which lasted nearly a month in 1995 and early 1996. He had plans then to hunt at the Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana. He'd heard about the shutdown, but Todd drove 150 miles from Shreveport, not expecting the refuge to really be closed. "The thought of the government shutting down didn't mean that much to me, so we went up there," he said. "And sure enough, they had the gates closed and they had law enforcement and they were enforcing the closure. They wouldn't allow us into the area." That might not happen Saturday, but he's not sure what to expect. Jacob Rutherford likes to hunt in Sam Houston National Forest. In fact, he helped start a Facebook group about three years ago for people who like to hunt the forest. The group is now more than 1,600 members strong. In a government shutdown, Rutherford said, "I think the forest will be fine." There might not be rangers or anyone to collect trash, he said, but "I don't think it would affect anybody going out to the forest to actually hunt or go fishing or things like that." Furthermore, he wonders, can you really close a national forest? Sam Houston has so many entry points, hikers might enter federal territory without even realizing it, Todd said. "There are so many access points," he said. "If they were to say, 'OK, the trails are closed, we're shutting down, we're going to take the day off,' they really can't stop anybody from going on the hiking trails." Besides, he pointed out, almost two-thirds of the trails at Sam Houston are still closed from Harvey's damage. Those trails will have a gate in front of them anyway, whether the government shuts down or not. Meanwhile, Texas state parks aren't bracing for any big bump in visitors, said Kevin Good, special assistant to the director of state parks. The last time the government shut down in 2013, he said, "we had a very small bump in visitation but it wasn't any large migration" from national to state parks. Alyson Ward can be reached at alyson.ward@chron.com or @alysonward. I've always resisted the idea of taking a guided tour on my annual visits to Japan. My interests are pretty niche, and I know Tokyo well enough that friends there have trouble suggesting new things to see. This year I decided to try two guides offering personalized tours. One, Lee Chapman, is a photographer who specializes in older neighborhoods. The other, Mark Hobold, writes a history blog called Japan This! that is sometimes too geeky even for me. Chapman says he takes guests to "an interesting, slightly grittier side of Tokyo that you never see in the media or guidebooks." This is clear from the start: Meeting in the touristy Asakusa neighborhood, we quickly leave the well-trodden areas for a block with street seating for a bar and eateries where people are already drinking and watching horse racing at 10 a.m. Sunday. More Information If you go LEE CHAPMAN: Tours $181-$316 for up to four people; leechapman.photos/tokyo-photowalk-tours. MARK HOBOLD: Tours start at $450 for up to six people; japanthis.com/japan-this-tours. See More Collapse Chapman, an Englishman, has lived in Tokyo since 1998. Many of his photos show buildings in fascinating, beautiful states of decay - a fairly common sight despite Tokyo's image of futuristic newness. "I've realized from Instagram that a lot of people find that really interesting," he says. "But you won't see that in the Japanese media because they think it's a bad image." He specializes in street shots of ordinary people, and ordinary life is what we see walking through these old residential neighborhoods. "It's where people live their lives. Especially in these areas, a lot of them have lived there their whole lives," he says. "There's a sense of community, with people talking with the shop owners and running into people on the street and chatting." In fact, they stopped to chat with Chapman, who's fluent in Japanese, more than once, like when we were contemplating a caged chicken outside a bar. A local explained it was there for good luck. I could have learned a lot about photography from Chapman, but I was too distracted by his stories. Although when he took me to photograph an old restaurant that I'd particularly loved on his blog, that was a lesson about skilled professionals versus the rest of us. His photo was magical. Mine, despite repeated attempts, was a snapshot of an old building. My tour with Hobold started at Nezu Shrine, a place I've visited dozens of times, but where I immediately learned new things. One was that a nondescript pile of stones was a monument for the burial of the afterbirth of the sixth shogun Tokugawa Ienobu, whose residence had been next to the shrine. "All the shoguns have these monuments," he said. Noted. Hobold, an American who's lived in Japan since 2005, knows more Japanese history than even most Japanese care about. Once, for a meet-up with his "Japanese history nerd friends," his Japanese wife tagged along. "She left after 20 minutes, bored to tears," he says. So he knows that, as he says, "I have to grade my geekiness to the appropriate category." Customers find him via his blog, so they realize what they're getting into, but they have different backgrounds. "Some have a decent grasp of Japanese history. They have a context. Others have zero context," he says. For the latter, he says, he gives fewer names and dates and more stories, and makes familiar connections, like explaining to an American that something happened "around the time of the (U.S.) Civil War." Why do people tour with him if they aren't that obsessed with samurai history? "Some are interested in history in general," he says. "If they go to another country they want to come away with an idea of the history. And they're genuinely curious people." Photographers also book him: "They want Japanese-looking stuff that other people don't have." Despite their differences, the tours had some similarities, like a focus on places that are gone: an old shoemaker's shop that Chapman once photographed, since torn down, or a long-vanished castle, now a park full of gnarled trees. Both tours also concentrated on areas that were not conventionally scenic. Both guides also had a real depth of knowledge. Not tied to a canned, memorized spiel, we could spontaneously go off course if something caught my interest. At one point Hobold and I, drawn by the smell of a stand selling grilled octopus, headed to a temple that wasn't on the plan. After claiming he had nothing to say about it, he talked at some length about the legend of the resident goddess. He and a girlfriend had scoffed at the superstition that visiting the goddess' temples causes couples to split, but they broke up shortly after going to one. Because they're so specialized, Chapman and Hobold also charge more than the more generic tours advertised on sites like Vayable and Airbnb's Experiences. Both guides taught me ways of seeing the city that stuck with me. Hobold mentioned that a shrine in certain districts suggests there was once a samurai residence there. I remembered this later when I saw a small old shrine in upscale Omotesando that seemed out of place amid fashionable modern shops. From Chapman's photography I've learned to peer, discreetly, past the showrooms of old-style stores to see the tatami-matted living areas behind, relics of a quickly vanishing city where life was once very different. NEW YORK - A senior executive at Bank of America in New York departed last week after an internal investigation into a young female banker's accusation of inappropriate sexual conduct, according to people at the bank who were briefed on the investigation. Omeed Malik, 38, was a powerful figure in the hedge fund world. He was a managing director and helped run the prime brokerage business that raises money for hedge funds. Among his roles, Malik was an adviser to Jon S. Corzine, a former New Jersey governor and U.S. senator, as Corzine started a hedge fund, and he was a speaker at a high-profile hedge fund conference organized by Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly was White House communications director last year. Malik, a former lawyer at Weil Gotshal & Manges, a prominent New York firm, also was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. While a wave of sexual harassment allegations has roiled Hollywood, Silicon Valley, the media world and Washington, until now Wall Street, an industry long dominated by men, had remained relatively insulated from the #MeToo movement. The details of the conduct that led to Malik's departure are unclear. Malik and his lawyer, Mark Lerner, did not respond to requests for comment on Friday. The young woman, who is an analyst at Bank of America, complained about Malik within the past several weeks, said the people briefed on the investigation, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The bank then opened an investigation. Officials from human resources interviewed as many as a dozen people who have worked with Malik. Allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination have cropped up at Bank of America in the past. Two years ago, it reached a settlement with a female managing director who had filed a lawsuit claiming the bank fostered a "bros' club" culture, mistreated female employees and paid them less than men in comparable jobs. The terms of that settlement were not disclosed. It's been just over six years since the last Ford Ranger pickup rolled off the assembly line, and Ford Motor Co. is ready to make the small-size truck for North American markets again. But this time, it's a midsize pickup, and it looks a lot more like the current F-150 than the former Ranger. Production on the new truck will begin in late 2018 for the 2019 model year. It will be powered by Ford's 2.3-liter EcoBoost gasoline engine and mated to the company's 10-speed automatic transmission. The new Ranger will be available in both two-wheel- and four-wheel-drive configurations. Making the announcement on the eve of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Ford truck marketing manager Todd Eckert said the new pickup, while based on the Ranger the company has sold in the global market since 2011, features an all-new exterior design, chassis and powertrain developed specifically for the North American truck market. "We're not just bringing the global Ranger here and dropping it into the U.S. market," Eckert said. "The powertrain and the off-road packages are both unique to the U.S. market." That means that, unlike Ford's bigger trucks, the new Ranger will not be offered with a diesel engine - at least not at first - or with a manual transmission. The reinvented Ranger will allow Ford, which dominates the full-size truck market but has not had anything to offer in the competitive midsize segment, to sell against Toyota's Tacoma, Chevy's Colorado, Nissan's Frontier and GMC's Canyon. It's about time, said Kelley Blue Book senior analyst Karl Brauer. "The old Ranger was kind of an enigma as the last compact truck on the market, after the Tacoma, the Frontier and the Canyon all got bigger," Brauer said. "The new one is not little anymore, so it has finally caught up with the midsize trucks." Like its larger F-150 sibling, the Ranger will feature a high-strength steel frame paired with frame-mounted steel bumpers. It will feature some aluminum parts, also like the F-150, including the hood and tailgate. Eckert said the reinvented Ranger is expected to offer best-in-class torque and payload. The new Ranger will be built in the Wayne, Mich., factory that currently builds the Focus. Ford is shifting production of that vehicle to plants in China and will use the freed-up factory space to make Rangers starting this year and new Broncos starting in 2019. Eckert said the truck will come standard with driver assist technology like automatic emergency braking. Safety features including blind spot detection, lane-keep assist and lane-departure warning will be available on higher trim levels. The truck will be compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The FX4 Off-Road Package will include skid plates, off-road shocks and suspension, and heavy-duty tires. To be sold in supercab and supercrew configurations, the Ranger will be available in three trim lines - the entry level XL, the mid-level XLT and the high-end Lariat. It also will be offered with a Ranger-specific off-road package. Other key details, such as pricing, payload, fuel economy and towing capacities, have not been revealed. The truck itself will be on display at the Ford exhibit during the Detroit Auto Show, which runs through next week. A Nigerian immigrant has been convicted in Fort Bend County in the 2015 stabbing death of his fiancee. After deliberating for some 13 hours, a jury late Friday afternoon convicted 59-year-old Osa Alohaneke in the slaying of Evelyne Ebane Epiepang, 52. Alohaneke looked down and showed no emotion when the verdict was read in court. Prosecutors alleged that Alohaneke used a kitchen knife to attack Epiepang, his fiancee, and her friend, Veronica Taku. Alohaneke, who was living at the time in a section of southwest Houston that lies in Fort Bend County, was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Jurors acquitted Alohaneke of the assault charges. Epiepang was stabbed more than 30 times and died as she called 911 operators for help. Screams echoed in the courtroom for more than four minutes when prosecutors played the 911 call for jurors last week. When police arrived, Alohaneke was on the phone with an attorney, his hands covered in blood. Blood was splatted on his arms up to his elbows, Assistant District Attorney Amanda Bolin told jurors during her closing arguments. "His mission was pain and devastation and he accomplished his mission," Bolin said. Defense attorney Eric Ashford pointed to what he said were weaknesses in the case against Alohaneke, many of which he alleged were caused by a haphazard investigation by the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office. "Was this case taken seriously by investigators? They didn't even do the forensic analysis needed to determine the murder weapon," Ashford told jurors. Ashford told jurors that detectives took several knives from the scene but that no testing was done to figure out which was used in the killing. In addition, the attorney said, detectives took Alahoneke's clothes when he was arrested but never tested them for blood or DNA. Neither were fingernail scrapings were taken from the victim. Also, he noted that detectives took Alahoneke's phone but that jurors were never shown text messages as proof he was involved in the attack. Ashford also attacked the credibility of Taku, the only witness to the killing. She had testified she saw Alohaneke "turn white like a ghost after the murder". "This could have been a hallucination," Ashford told jurors. "But did detectives investigate Taku's mental status? No, during testimony they said they didn't think it was important." Jurors now begin the penalty phase. Alohaneke faces a sentence of up to life in prison. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Thousands of homes in Galveston were still dealing with frozen and busted pipes on Friday after a two-day stretch of freezing weather, with the rest of the city remaining under a water conservation advisory that could last through the weekend. City Manager Brian Maxwell said the city had received 4,000 to 5,000 calls as of Friday morning, running the gamut from frozen or broken pipes to water leaks. The city issued a water conservation advisory on Thursday after its water tanks had dropped to below 60 percent of capacity. Maxwell said Friday the tanks were back up above 60 percent, and that the city was getting hourly updates on water level readings. A determination as to whether to lift the water conservation advisory was to be made later Friday. "We're feeling a lot better about it now," Maxwell said. "That being said, we still have a lot of leaks out there because even though [Galveston's] tanks are being filled back up, [the city is] still drawing maximum capacity from the Gulf Coast Water Authority, which isn't something we want to do either." City public works staffers have been working around the clock but are well beyond the capacity to deal with the magnitude of water issues across the island. Nearby cities, including Dickinson and League City, have provided staffing help, and Galveston has emergency contractors working to repair several water main breaks. A combination of factors contributed to the water crisis in Galveston, including aging pipes, residents leaving their water running to avoid pipe freezes, and even a cruise ship that docked on the island on Thursday and used a part of the city's water supply. Maxwell said he hadn't seen a freeze of this magnitude on the island in 35 years, the difference now being that many of the homes on the island are vacant second homes or vacation rentals, where homeowners may not be aware of a piping issue. Still, he was encouraged by the all-hands-on-deck approach of plumbers across the region aiding residents, noting that several Houston-area plumbers were also lending a hand. "It's a great time to be a plumber," Maxwell said. Sandra Melgar, a 57-year-old widow convicted of killing her husband, Jaime Melgar, in 2012, is the subject of a new "Dateline" episode airing Friday. In one of Houston's more bizarre cases in recent years, a jury found Sandra guilty in August 2017 of stabbing her husband to death, staging a home invasion, and tying herself up in a closet in her northwest Harris County home. All of this was done the day before a party celebrating the couple's 32nd wedding anniversary. People gathered at The Overlook in Atascocita, Friday, Jan. 19, during the annual Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce Awards Extravaganza to recognize business leaders who demonstrated commendable work in the community. The event was emceed by KHOU reporter Brandi Smith, who received immediate wide-spread media attention when she and photographer Mario Sandoval helped save the life of Robert Roberson, a truck driver trapped in rising floodwater during Hurricane Harvey. After Smith and Sandoval were rescued from the overpass they had been stranded on for 26 hours, they stayed in Candlewood Suites in Kingwood for three days covering the evacuations in the Lake Houston area. "Seeing the incredible response from your community, and I know that gets a lot of attention, but so should what so many of you in this room did and what so many in this community as a whole did to step up and help when that call came it was incredible," Smith said. "It was absolutely incredible to watch." The 2017 Haden McKay M.D. Citizen of the Year was city of Humble Mayor Merle Aaron. During his acceptance speech, he commended the community as a whole and all who have helped with post-Harvey needs. Aaron keeps an inspirational day calendar on his desk. He made a habit of ripping off the previous day's paper and reading the quote of each day. However, on April 12, he stopped because he was so inspired by that day's quote. "It says, 'Those who suffer belong to all of us, and if all of us will respond, there is hope,'" Aaron said. "I truly believe that. I believe everyone in this room was affected in some way by Hurricane Harvey, and I believe that everyone in this room because I can look and see people who I've seen in the communities, whether they were in Kingwood, or Humble, or Huffman, or Dayton, or Spring that responded to someone's need. That responded because there was someone suffering. That's a good quality. We're going to come through this thing called Harvey, and we're going to come out of it stronger because we know that we have each other." Corinn Price, along with Insperity, was given the Lake Houston Impact Award for efforts to help alleviate storm-related needs in the Lake Houston area. "This year, the Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce board found the need to create a special award a one-time recognition to a very deserving person and business," said Jerry Martin, 2017 chamber chairman. Price is Insperity's director of community involvement. After the devastation from Hurricane Harvey, Price saw the need for a relief fund, similar to the city of Houston's relief fund, but specific to the Lake Houston area to help residents and businesses with recovery efforts. Insperity's management agreed to help finance the initiative, known now as the Lake Houston Area Relief Fund. The effort raised $1.6 million. "Three and a half months later, those funds have been distributed to 400 families and countless businesses in the Lake Houston Area to help them rebuild their lives and their livelihood," Martin said. "This was a tremendous response in our community." Price is also the 2018 chair of the chamber's board of directors. Other 2017 honorees: Clo Lewis, FFG Strategic Consulting Chairman's Award Bradley O'Dell, Merrill Taylor and Associates Rising Star Award Sam Schrade, DNA Studios Spirit of the Chamber Award For more information, visit www.lakehouston.org. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate High school students in the Katy Independent School District will be able to read a popular young adult book about racism and police brutality, providing their parents approve. But "The Hate U Give" will continue to be off-limits as part of a curriculum for younger students. In November, the district set off a social media firestorm when it was reported they had banned the critically acclaimed novel by Angie Thomas. Katy ISD officials said the only step they took was to temporarily pull it pending a review. Now district officials said the book is back on the shelves at all high schools in Katy. "I've read the whole book. I'll tell you this: It's a good book," said Katy ISD Superintendent Lance Hindt. "It is practical and it is relevant today." He said the content of the novel was never the issue. It follows a 16-year-old girl from a poor neighborhood who feels she lives a double life attending a suburban preparatory school. The main character later sees an unarmed friend being fatally shot by police during a routine traffic stop. The problem was what Hindt called the "pervasive" profanity in the novel. "I can't use the language in this meeting that's written in this book," Hindt said during a Jan. 15 school board work session. "It is our job as educators to determine what is age appropriate content." The book was pulled when Anthony Downs, whose children attend Memorial Junior High and Taylor High, took his complaints about the book to the Nov. 6 Katy ISD board meeting. Downs told trustees he read 13 pages of the book and was unable to read further because of the language. Katy teenager Ny'Shira Lundy is now being home schooled but was attending an area prep school when she first came across "The Hate U Give." "I was shocked. For the time I was able to truly see myself in a book character," Lundy said. "It made me feel confident. I shouldn't be afraid to embrace who I am." Lundy, 15, started a petition addressed to Katy ISD officials to reinstate the book. She said 4,000 people signed it. "Today, I'm here to thank you for placing "The Hate U Give" back on the school shelves with parental consent," Lundy told trustees. Victoria Orepitan, a pre-AP English teacher at Cinco Ranch High School, told board members her students are used to tackling uncomfortable material and had just finished reading the Athenian tragedy "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles. "It is a difficult and complex and sometimes controversial story," Orepitan said. " What students gain from it is both an understanding of the world they live in, the world Oedipus lived in and the rules of our society." She said it would be wrong to deny students the opportunity to learn about modern society by removing books simply because the language may be objectionable. "None of us think our kids are going to become wizards because they read Harry Potter," Orepitan said. Hindt said he read "The Hate U Give" twice and likely will see the recently announced movie version. "But it will be an R rated movie. It will not be available for kids that are 17 or younger unless they are with a parent or guardian," Hindt said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate It's been four years, but the FBI still wants to arrest an allegedly violent pimp who's a wanted fugitive for aiding a sex trafficking ring that amassed millions by brutally forcing women and girls to sell themselves in Houston cantinas. The madam who ran the gritty establishment, Hortencia Medeles-Arguello aka Raquel Medeles Garcia, or "Tencha," is now serving a life sentence and 13 other defendants have been convicted for aiding the operation, but Alfonso "Poncho" or "El Grenas" Diaz-Juarez--who is believed to be one of the most violent members of the crew--has eluded arrest. Federal agents are offering $50,000 for information that leads to his capture. "I don't believe he's in the United States," said Alfred T. Tribble Jr., an FBI supervisor who oversees the human trafficking unit for the Houston area. "It's going to take an international law enforcement effort to capture this individual." Diaz-Juarez has ties to Mexico, Texas and Florida, officials said. He is a Mexican national. Tribble described him as ruthless, the type of criminal known among law enforcement as a "guerrilla pimp" because he inflicts violence on victims. "He beats women and has been very vicious," he said. Diaz-Juarez is being sought for conspiring with other to commit sex trafficking and harbor undocumented immigrants. He was indicted in October 2013, Diaz-Juarez, a Mexican national, was indicted with 13 other co-conspirators for running an international sex-trafficking organization. The sex-trafficking scheme he is alleged to have helped ran from 1999 through 2013. Women and girls were brought to the cantina brothels with the help of "padrotes," or pimps. The victims were forced or coerced to performing commercial sex acts in a warren of locked back rooms Diaz-Juarez is accused of using force or violence to punish and control these young women prostituted in the Houston area and harboring undocumented immigrants. Federal agents issued a warrant for his arrest on Oct. 10, 2013. But six months before then, in April 2013, he was released from Harris County Jail after a conviction for a similar crime. He had been serving time for compelling prostitution - a state crime associated with human trafficking. A criminal complaint from 2010 alleged he'd repeatedly threatened and beaten his victim, even while she was pregnant, and held her infant son hostage to force her to sell herself in a cantina for nearly two years. "The defendant forced her to prostitute herself at La Costenita Bar until she was 5 to 6 months pregnant (June/July 2008). She then was returned to the bar in March of 2009 by the defendant and forced to prostitute herself under the same threats of bodily injury, actual physical violence and the holding of her infant son until she returned with the monies that she obtained," the criminal complaint says. In January 2013, Diaz-Juarez was sentenced to one year in the Harris County case. He got a plea deal and that offense was reduced to a misdemeanor. By April of that year, he was released from jail. A Spring woman who is allegedly a major cocaine supplier in the Cypress Station area was arrested recently, the Harris County Sheriff's Office reports. Sheretta Shaunta Washington, 39, faces numerous drug dealing charges in Harris County, according to a Jan. 19 news release. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Fort Bend County jury ruled a Nigerian immigrant was guilty in the 2015 stabbing death of his fiance on Friday. Osa Alohaneke, 59, was living in an area of southwest Houston located in Fort Bend County with his fiance, 52-year-old Evelyne Ebane Epiepang, when he allegedly attacked her and her friend, Veronica Taku, with a kitchen knife. Alohaneke was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Jurors acquitted Alohaneke of the assault charges. Epiepang was stabbed more than 30 times and died as she called 911 operators for help. Screams echoed in the courtroom when prosecutors played the 911 call for the jurors last week. When police arrived, Alohaneke was on the phone with his attorney, his arms covered in blood to his elbows, assistant District Attorney Amanda Bolin told jurors during her closing statement. "His mission was pain and devastation and he accomplished is mission," Bolin said. During his closing arguments, defense attorney Eric Ashford pointed out weaknesses in the case against Alohaneke, many of which he said were caused by a haphazard investigation by the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Department. "Was this case taken seriously by investigators? They didn't even do the forensic analysis needed to determine the murder weapon," Ashford told jurors and pointed out detectives took several knives from the scene but no testing was done to figure out which was used in the murder. In addition, detectives took Alahoneke's clothes when he was arrested but never tested them for blood. DNA and fingernail scrapings taken from the victim were also never tested for DNA or blood evidence, Ashford said. Also, Alahoneke's phone was taken by detectives but jurors were never shown texts as proof he was involved in the murder. Ashford also attacked the credibility of Taku, the only witness to the alleged murder who testified she saw Alohaneke "turn white like a ghost after the murder." "This could have been a hallucination," Ashford told jurors. "But, did detectives investigate Taku's mental status? No, during testimony they said they didn't think it was important." Jurors deliberated 13 hours before returning with their unanimous decision shortly before 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 19. Alohaneke look down and showed no emotion when the verdict was read in court. Jurors are now tasked with deciding the penalty phase of the trial. Alohaneke now faces a sentence of five to 99 years or life in prison. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When it comes to drinking, bartenders have seen it all. Anthem Black, head bartender for The Refuge Bar & Bistro, made his way to The Woodlands from New York where he said everyone is "overly assertive and no nonsense." Black said bartending in New York was great because it was more his speed. As a fast talker and a fast moving person, he fit right in. However, he said he really enjoyed the more relaxed atmosphere working in The Woodlands. "Once you get past your 20s and your 30s when you're going, going, going, you have to relax," he said. Bartending is all about the environment, and for Black it's always been a fun one. "People are drinking. Their guard is down and they're enjoying themselves. This is a great place," he said. Now Playing: Anthem Black, a bartender at the Refuge Bar & Bistro, makes one of the restaurant's signature drinks. Video shot by Staff Writer Patricia Dillon. Video: Houston Chronicle Black has been bartending off and on since the age of 21 and has been at The Refuge for two years. Black described it as the most challenging position he's held, but that he loves every minute of it. More Information Essential tools for an at-home bar according to Anthem Black: Strainer - is a must Shaker - the difference between stirring and shaking is huge A jigger - keeps the drink from being a boozy, get messed up kind of drink King cube maker - a time released water machine that keeps whiskey from being too watery See More Collapse "This is a level of bartending I've never had to do before. It's crazy. Nothing is premixed. Even sweet and sours are lemon juice, simple syrup and egg whites-shaken-per drink," Black said. "It's challenging, which is really fun." Black said his favorite part of the job is showing off for the customers. He enjoys being able to take something simple like lighting absinthe on fire in a glass and wowing the crowd with his expertise. "It's super chill, but it allows for a little bit of flair," he explained. "Super simple. Something that freaked me out when I first saw it and did not want to try, but actually it's super chill." Like most bartenders, Black has his own signature drink-Daddy's Snow Cone. The drink is not on the restaurant menu, but according to Black it is absolutely delicious. It consists of whiskey made out of hibiscus and honey bourbon that is distilled by the owner of Refuge, melded with orange and lime and then poured over crushed ice. "It's not for kids, but it's so tasty," Black explained about why he chose the name. "Have to cut yourself off after about three." Black said that the most popular drink request is for an Old Fashioned. The bar makes a variety of the old-time cocktail, including a tequila Old Fashioned and the Refuge Creekside Old Fashioned. "Any spin we can do on Old Fashioneds is amazing," he said, adding that the bartenders will compete to see who can make a better version. During the interview, The Villager asked Black to divulge some of the best and worst about patrons who visit the bar. What's the worst pickup line you've heard? Black: "Hey, weren't we just on Tinder?" Guys will try it because girls will sit and be on Tinder biding time and you'll see some random guy come up to her and say "Hey, didn't we just meet on tinder?," which makes the person stop and have to acknowledge them. It works but it gets you in trouble sometimes because "No, that's my wife sitting next to me," will be the response. What's one of the best pickup lines? Black: We have a live band that comes in on Fridays and Saturdays so just asking people to dance is the best pickup line here. "Hey, you look like you're moving. Let's go." And that's great. But, the best pickup line: "Is this guy bothering you?" It works because sometimes the response is "Of course not. We're friends." And then you're introducing. Best pickup line ever. Tell me one of the worst things you've seen someone do because they drank too much? Black: Fall asleep at the bar. Actually, it turned out to be the sweetest story. There was this one guy and something happened with his mom and he wasn't feeling too well about it. He was drinking but then he started to fall asleep. Apparently he had been drinking before so he started to fall asleep at the bar and he was 7'2". Huge guy and I could see it happening and was like, "man, if he falls asleep I can't pick him up." So I just went, "hey, man you can't fall asleep," and he goes "I wasn't, I wasn't." He goes, "My mom's real sick." So I said, "I'm sorry." He goes, "I just really came in here for a hug." So asked, "Do you want a hug?" We just hugged each other and he asked, "Was I falling asleep?" And I nodded yes. He paid and then he left but it was just so sweet and genuine. I mean he just wanted some people time. Do people ever pour their hearts out to you, or is that strictly Hollywood? Black: Oh, no, all the time. It happens. We've had a couple customers who have gone on dates and they'll come in with them for the thumbs up or thumbs down from the bartenders. We've had people come in late at night for a bachelorette party and then they'll just start talking about men. Why are men so difficult or why don't they understand? It's super fun to be on this side of the bar. CPR TRAINING OFFERED The Woodlands Township Neighborhood Watch be offering a series of "hands-only" CPR training sessions, with the sessions free of charge. The sessions begin in February, with the first session set for Saturday Feb. 3. at The Woodlands Fire Department Station No. 7 on Kuykendahl Road. Besides learning life-saving skills, people attending the sessions will earn a point for their village of residence. The top three villages will receive a cash donation for their scholarship fund provided by Woodlands North Houston Heart Center. The sessions are free and take about 20 minutes. The training sessions will also include blood pressure checks, a raffle to be a "Doctor for a Day" by CHI St. Luke's Hospital, as well as crime prevention information. Full Schedule: Feb. 3: 10 a.m. 1 p.m. Station 7, 26722 Kuykendahl Road Feb. 17: 10 a.m. noon Station 1, 9951 Grogan's Mill Road Feb. 17: 24 p.m. Station 3, 1522 Sawdust Road March 3: 10 a.m. noon Station 8, 11800 Gosling Road March 3: 24 p.m. Station No. 5, 10100 Branch Crossing Drive March 24: 10 a.m.noon Station No. 6, 1100 Windsor Lakes Blvd. April 7: 10 a.m. noon Station No. 4, 7900 Bay Branch Drive April 7: 2 4 p.m. Station No. 2, 9303 Gosling Road Additional training events can be scheduled for groups or organizations by contacting The Woodlands Township Neighborhood Watch at 281-210-3800 or at neighbor@thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov. BOARD OF DIRECTORS TO MEET IN SPECIAL SESSION, THEN REGULAR MEETING The Woodlands Township Board of Directors is scheduled to meet in a special planning session, then will gather in their regular board meeting Wednesday. Jan. 24. During the planning session, set to begin at 4 p.m., the board will again discuss incorporation matters and the consulting companies that made a "short list" for an incorporation study. The board will then meet in its regular session at 6 p.m. where it's possible they'll select the company to do the work. TOWNSHIP OFFERS FREE BIKE-SHARING RIDES Township officials want to spread the word that if you haven't tried out the new Mobike bike-sharing program yet, you can get your first three rides for free. To do so, download the @Mobike app with promo code: The Woodlands. The code expires Jan. 29, but once redeemed, it's valid for 30 days. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Jim Kuykendall, the 3-time mayor of Oak Ridge North, has announced he's running for reelection. Kuykendall was joined in his announcement by two members of the Oak Ridge North City Council-Alex Jones and Paul Bond-who said in separate email messages to the Villager they intend to seek re-election, too. Kuykendall said on Thursday, Jan. 18, he would be seeking a fourth term to lead the tiny city of more than 3,000 residents that straddles The Woodlands Township and Shenandoah. "I still have some things that I want to get done," Kuykendall said, adding that as far as he knows, he didn't have a running opponent. "I think for the most part, people are pretty happy with the way things are going and I hope that is a good sign for me." Kuykendall was originally appointed to fill a mayoral vacancy created when former mayor Joe Michels became a member of the Conroe Independent School Board of Trustees in 2010. Since Kuykendall took office, the property tax rate in Oak Ridge North has dropped or stayed the same seven years in a row, going from 64 cents per $100 valuation to 46 cents per $100 valuation. But the mayor doesn't take all the credit for low tax rates. "They were working on this before with the previous mayor, Joe Michels," Kuykendall said. "With the council's help, we have been able to do it. My commitment was to keep the highest quality services for the lowest tax rate." If elected for a fourth term, Kuykendall said he would continue working with the state and Montgomery County on "mobility issues" throughout the city, including planned work on The Woodlands Parkway Overpass project. Kuykendall blames developer issues for the falling through of a planned Crowne Plaza Hotel and that of an Oak Ridge North Conference Center. The mayor is not the only city official up for reelection this year in Oak Ridge North. Positions held by council members Paul Bond and Alex Jones are set to expire this May. In response to email questions inquiring about their status for another term, both Bond and Jones confirmed they would be seeking re-election. Bond, who is seeking re-election to his Position 1 seat on the city council, said he hoped voters recognize how invested he is in his home city. "I do intend to file for re-election. I have a full year of experience on council now. It's a real privilege to serve the residents of the City of Oak Ridge North, and I look forward to the opportunity to serve a full term if elected," Bond said in an email message. "(I) Hope that the residents of Oak Ridge North feel I am worth the investment. My family and I are vested in this city. My wife and I have lived in this area since 1973, parents live here, and our son's family lives here also. (I) Cannot imagine living anywhere else." Jones, who holds the Position 3 seat on the council, said he believes the city has unfinished goals he wants to help make a reality if re-elected. "The City is making slow but steady progress towards resolving several critical problems for our residents, such as traffic congestion, aging water lines, and more recently drainage issues," Jones said in an email message. "I've worked diligently with our City Council, Mayor, and City employees to find solutions that we can afford as a small city, and alternate means of funding for critical those projects that are more costly to address." According to City Secretary Elizabeth Harrell no candidates-either current or in opposition-had filed for candidacy in Oak Ridge North as of midday Thursday, Jan. 18. NO CANDIDATES YET IN SHENANDOAH Meanwhile in Shenandoah, city council position 1 and 5, as well as the mayor's seat are also set to expire in May. The candidates in those seats are Ron Raymaker, Mike McLeod and Mayor Ritch Wheeler, respectively. Shenandoah Interim City Secretary Courtney Clary said that as of Thursday, Jan. 18, no one had filed for candidacy. Requests for comment from the three Shenandoah candidates was not returned by press time. The first day to apply for ballot by mail was Jan. 1, while the first day to file for a place on the ballot was Jan. 17. The last day to file is Feb. 16. City council elections for the cities in Texas is scheduled for May 5. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The Woodlands Township Board of Directors is moving forward with an evaluation of possible incorporation with board members likely selecting a consulting firm this week to help in the process. The township's Board of Directors is set to meet in a special planning session at 4 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 24. That meeting will be followed by a regular meeting of the board scheduled for 6 p.m. Board of Directors Chairman Gordy Bunch said, "it is expected" the board will pick one of the four competing firms, although that decision could still be pushed back. "Of course, things can change and any board member can request to table the item," Bunch said in an email Friday. "Staff is completing due diligence on the firms that presented and our ad Hoc Incorporation Committee consisting of Secretary (Ann) Snyder, Vice Chairman (John) McMullan and myself will meet prior to the schedule meeting and anticipate providing the board with a recommendation." The expected decision comes after board members heard from four different consulting firms during their meeting Wednesday. Those firms were selected as finalists to conduct the incorporation study. The firms-Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC), BerryDunn, Matrix Consulting Group and the Novak Consulting Group-were chosen after a township task force had evaluated proposals from seven firms that had originally applied for the job. During a Jan. 17 meeting, board members heard presentations and questioned representatives of the various firms, who told the board that a long list of matters has to be evaluated, including the condition of local roadways, law enforcement, public education and other issues. The costs of what was termed "inheriting" local infrastructure and services is one of the matters to be considered in regard to possible incorporation. Another consideration is finding new sources of revenue. Board of Directors Member John McMullan noted during the presentation that the firm selected would have to advise the board on, "'This is what we think it costs.''' CONTRACT FOR DRAINAGE STUDY APPROVED Also during Wednesday's meeting, board members unanimously approved a $150,000 contract for engineering and design firm Moffat & Nichol to conduct a study on the drainage and flooding issues along Spring Creek. The study will come after hundreds of homes were damaged when the creek flooded during Hurricane Harvey. Board of Directors Member Bruce Rieser, who also heads up the township's Drainage Task Force Committee, noted the Katy-based firm has also been named by Harris-Montgomery Counties Municipal Utility District 386 to conduct a flood study. "After we selected Moffat & Nichol, MUD 386 also selected Moffat & Nichol to do their independent engineering analysis of Creekside Park," Rieser said. "I've talked to the president of (MUD) 386, Rich Jakovac, and there's no conflict of what we're asking them to do and what they're asking them to do," Rieser added. ANOTHER NEW MEMBER NAMED TO DSC Also during the Wednesday meeting, the board named a new member to serve on the Development Standards Committee, the third new member to join the committee in a little more than a month. The board unanimously selected Robert Adams to fill the spot of a committee member who had recently retired and stepped down from the DSC. Adams is a licensed architect, which fulfills a requirement that at least five members of the committee have experience in architecture, engineering, contracting, building code enforcement or related fields. Adams will join Brian Boniface and John Anthony Brown, who are also serve on the township's Board of Directors, and were named to the committee in December. ...... Houston ISD officials said Saturday the district will need to cut about $200 million from its 2018-19 budget to bring spending in line with an increasingly gloomy financial outlook. In an equally momentous move, Houston ISD officials also proposed far-reaching changes to how the district operates its magnet and school choice systems, some of the boldest moves to date by second-year Superintendent Richard Carranza. Still reeling from Hurricane Harvey, Houston Independent School District officials revealed at a board meeting Saturday that the district is facing a double whammy: A multimillion-dollar, state-mandated "recapture" payment requiring districts with high property values to "share the wealth," and an expected drop in enrollment and tax revenue because of the devastating storm, which severely damaged schools and delayed the start of classes by two weeks. Now Playing: HISD plans to reopen four school on Monday Video: Fox 26 Houston The proposed cuts come at an inopportune time, with the district battling to stave off a potential state takeover because of 10 chronically under-performing schools. Although the measures outlined Saturday are preliminary and could change significantly before HISD's board votes on them, officials acknowledged that the district is entering an uncertain time. "It's a sea change for HISD," said Rene Barajas, the district's chief financial officer. "But at the end of the day, from a budgetary perspective, we're still going to get the job done. It's just going to be harder." Leveling out staffing District officials said about 44 percent of necessary spending cuts could come from schools, while about 56 percent could be from central administration, maintenance and operations. Among the biggest proposals: Centralizing school funding and standardizing staffing based on student-to-staff ratios. HISD: Trustee Rhonda Skillern-Jones elected board president amid many challenges Barajas proposed scaling back the practice of giving schools a pot of money each year through per-unit allocations, known as the PUA system. As the funding system exists now, each school is given a certain amount of money by the district, and principals have almost complete discretion to spend that money on staffing, programs and other needs and wants. Under the proposed new system, each school would have set staffing levels based on student-to-staff ratios, which would be paid for by the district's central administration rather than the school's checkbook. For example, at the middle-school level, each school would have one teacher per 30 students and one counselor per school or for every 500 students. Now, there is no codified staffing system for the district, and some schools have as many as 15 assistant principals while others have one or two. The staffing standardization would mean the district's largest schools, such as Bellaire and Lamar high schools, could see a large number of teachers cut, while under-enrolled schools such as Kashmere High would likely see cuts on a smaller scale. Barajas recommended centralizing schools' substitute teachers, athletics departments, special education, career technical programs and campus stipends. That would save schools and the district money, he said. District officials also called for cutting about $116 million from spending on central administration, operations and facilities. Barajas said HISD's budget situation is the result of a perfect storm growing recapture payments, a projected loss of tax revenue due to lower property values after Hurricane Harvey, fewer students (also due to the hurricane) and a slew of other issues. And though Houston ISD can lessen the amount it owes for "recapture" because of the storm, the district still stands to lose more than it will gain because of potentially lower tax revenues, thanks to hundreds of thousands of flooded buildings. He said it's as if HISD lost $10 in local taxes but its recapture payment was only $2 less. "That means I'm still short $8," Barajas said. Deep cuts loom Houston ISD Chief Operating Officer Brian Busby said that in his 20 years with the district, he's never seen cuts so deep that they would affect every level of the district. "This is a different kind of cut. We've had cuts where we had to cut food service staff because of a shortfall, but we always had a way we could get out," he said. "We always had CFOs who could come in say, 'We'll help you this time but won't help again,' and they would go in fund balance or the superintendent's account. "But now there is no fund balance, there is no superintendent's account to go to for this, because there's never been a cut at this level," he said. Andy Dewey, executive vice president for the Houston Teachers Federation, said it seems to make sense to change the way schools are funded and to standardize some positions instead of giving principals power and little oversight to make those decisions. But he worried about what potential staffing cuts could mean for classrooms. "I want to see how the new funding system will affect our biggest schools like Bellaire and Lamar," Dewey said. "We can't go back to 40- and 45-kid class sizes in high school. If that's going to happen, it has to be looked at." He also said the district should be ready for a "major battle" when it comes to changing magnet programs, although he initially agreed with some potential changes, such as creating feeder pattern magnets and more closely examining which programs are attracting students and which are not. The proposed changes to magnet and school choice systems arose from the recommendations of a study committee composed of magnet and neighborhood school principals, parents, university experts and district staff, according to Mark Smith, HISD's chief student support officer. CHRONICLE INVESTIGATION: Houston ISD's special education numbers still low despite changes Under the current magnet system, schools have significant freedom to create magnet programs and fund them as they see fit. There are about 115 different magnet programs and schools throughout the district, and at many of the most sought-after magnet schools including the High School for Performing and Visual Arts and DeBakey High School for Health Professions there are far higher rates of white and affluent students than are enrolled across the district. Two types of magnets The proposed new system would create two types of magnet schools: unique magnet campuses that enroll students from across the district, and feeder magnets that would establish magnet programs in elementary, middle and high schools that feed into one another. It calls for creating four school choice/magnet quadrants. Each geographic quadrant would offer schools with the same magnet themes, perhaps including but not limited to performing and visual arts, dual language, early college, career technical programs and special education programs. There would be an elementary, middle and high school of each magnet theme in each quadrant. Vanguard programs and schools, including Carnegie Vanguard High School, would lose their magnet designation and would become schools and programs of choice. That means they would lose their additional magnet funding, although the state already gives schools extra money for every gifted and talented student they educate. Carnegie Vanguard High would continue to offer open enrollment to students from across the district and would still likely offer transportation to all its students. Smith said the committee also recommended giving some preference to students from economically disadvantaged families and neighborhoods when considering admissions to the districts' most sought-after open-enrollment magnet schools, and suggested eliminating many academic and test-score requirements that students must clear before they can be entered into a magnet or school choice lottery. Ultimately, the potential changes would likely cut the number of magnet programs and schools district-wide from about 115 to about 85 and would codify a system for reviewing, starting and ending magnet programs and schools. Smith said student applications for magnet programs may need to be reopened in March for students who applied to magnet programs that may cease to exist come August. Carranza shelved plans to drastically cut magnet funding in 2016 after facing pushback from some parents. He said that proposal was flawed because his administration had failed to get feedback from parents and did not do a good job of communicating how the changes would affect existing schools and programs. He stressed that the committee's recommendations are far from final and that the district will reach out to parents and school communities in the coming months to get feedback and tinker with their ideas. "We never went in with a lens to destroy magnets that's not our goal," Carranza said. "Our goal take a serious look at our portfolio of schools, identify areas that need improvement and start a conversation with the board to see what needs to change to ensure equitable access." Companies held responsible for cleaning up the San Jacinto Superfund site have disclosed involvement in three supposedly independent groups that popped up to protest an Environmental Protection Agency plan to permanently remove hazardous paper mill wastes from the capped pits east of Houston, according to a letter their attorneys provided to a Harris County judge. Representatives of groups called Keep it Capped, Galveston Maritime Business Association and the San Jacinto Citizens Against Pollution have attended meetings, organized events and launched a website to support keeping the waste pit sites capped, even though the river front site frequently floods and leaked cancer-causing dioxin after Hurricane Harvey. But the revelation of what attorneys called "significant participation" in those protest groups by at least one of the corporations required to fund EPA-ordered Superfund clean-up activities came to light only after Jackie Young, a long-time community leader and executive director of the Texas Health and Environmental Alliance, formally complained that she had been harassed by the groups. "This is outrageous," Young said. "Such well-funded efforts distracted the Superfund process and could have drowned out the voices of our residents that received no funding from the responsible parties in this mess." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Michael Paulsen/Staff Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Courtesy Harris County Show More Show Less 3 of 3 The San Jacinto Waste pits, adjacent to the Interstate 10 bridge that links Channelview and the town of Highlands, were filled up with paper mill wastes in the 1960s and forgotten. The leaking pits were rediscovered after fish in the lower San Jacinto River were found to be poisoned with dioxin; the site was designated for Superfund status by the EPA in 2008. A temporary cap installed in 2011 has required repeated repairs. The plan to permanently remove about 212,000 cubic yards of material laced with dioxin, a known human carcinogen, won approval from the EPA in October 2017 after government divers confirmed cancer-causing dioxins had again escaped the pits after Hurricane Harvey battered the site. The plan is supported by Young's group and a long list of environmental organizations as well as local and state government leaders. But it's been opposed by the corporations charged with cleaning up the pits, Waste Management of Texas and McGinnes Industrial Maintenance Corporation or MIMC. The connection between corporate PR efforts and the supposedly independent groups protesting removal was revealed in a recent filing in a Harris County waste pit lawsuit. The pending civil lawsuit involves more than 600 people who believe their health and property were damaged by long-term exposure to dioxin from paper mill wastes stored in the pits that leached into the river. Young's nonprofit is not part of the civil lawsuit. But her complaints came during a hearing last year when she described how the corporate defendants' subpoenas for records in the case have caused a crippling amount of work for her tiny organization and that she'd also been harassed by independent organizations she believed to be tied to the corporations. In the hearing, attorneys initially denied any connection with the three protest groups. But the attorneys later advised the court that they'd just learned about PR efforts that included "significant participation" and "involvement" in keepitcapped.org, the Galveston Maritime Business Association and the San Jacinto Citizens Against Pollution, according to information provided to the court. In a statement, Waste Management of Texas acknowledged Friday that attorneys for both firms in December "learned that an additional PR firm had been retained to assist MIMC with advice and community outreach efforts relating to the proposed EPA remedy for the San Jacinto Superfund site." "The companies do not believe that the community outreach efforts are relevant to the personal injury or property claims involved in the pending litigation," Waste Management said in its statement Friday. But in response to the disclosures, Young has requested a full explanation from the companies and sanctions from the judge overseeing the civil case. LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The man accused of tackling U.S. Sen. Rand Paul in the Kentucky lawmaker's yard has been charged with assaulting a member of Congress as part of a federal plea agreement. And his lawyer confirmed what's long been suggested by neighbors: The attack stemmed from a dispute about yard maintenance. No date has been set for Rene Boucher's guilty plea for the attack on the Republican senator, said Josh J. Minkler, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. "Assaulting a member of Congress is an offense we take very seriously," Minkler said in a release. "Those who choose to commit such an act will be held accountable." Boucher faces possible prison time for the attack, which his attorney says "he's very regretful" about and had to do with the upkeep of their yards. "This is over a matter that most people would regard as trivial," Boucher's attorney, Matt Baker, said in a phone interview Friday. "It has to do with yards and the maintenance of those." Boucher is "very meticulous" about how he maintains his yard, while Paul takes "a much different approach" to the upkeep of his property, Baker said. "It all goes to large piles of leaves and branches and yard clutter that were placed on the property line," Baker said. Some neighbors had speculated the attack was motivated by a dispute over yard debris. But Paul's office has rejected that. Paul told Fox News in November that ultimately, the motive does not matter. Boucher, a retired anesthesiologist, faces a misdemeanor assault charge in Kentucky state court. He pleaded not guilty to that charge. Paul and Boucher are longtime neighbors. Boucher faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine in the federal case. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump directly contradicted his own chief of staff on Thursday and said his position on building a wall between the United States and Mexico had not "evolved." Trump's chief of staff, John F. Kelly, told some Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday that Trump had "evolved" on the issue of the wall, and that the president was not "fully informed" when he promised to build such a barrier last year. In an early morning Twitter post, Trump took the unusual step of publicly pushing back against his own White House, signaling a disconnect between the president and his staff at a critical time of negotiations with Congress to avoid a government shutdown. He wrote: "The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it. Parts will be, of necessity, see through and it was never intended to be built in areas where there is natural protection such as mountains, wastelands or tough rivers or water....." He continued: ".... The Wall will be paid for, directly or indirectly, or through longer term reimbursement, by Mexico, which has a ridiculous $71 billion dollar trade surplus with the U.S. The $20 billion dollar Wall is "peanuts" compared to what Mexico makes from the U.S. NAFTA is a bad joke!" Kelly's comments on Wednesday, which he made at a meeting with members of the Hispanic Caucus, were unusual as well. It is rare to see a White House chief of staff undercut a president's public statements. But during a factory visit in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, Trump praised his chief of staff. "He is great, I think he is doing a great job," Trump said of Kelly. "I think General Kelly is doing a really great job. He is a very special guy." Asked whether he minded Kelly telling lawmakers he had not been fully informed about immigration, Trump said: "No, he did not say that. He didn't say it the way you would like him to say it." But according to one person familiar with the president's thinking, Trump was livid when he learned that Kelly had described him as "evolving" in his immigration position. Throughout the evening on Wednesday, Trump fielded calls from allies who described Kelly's comments to Congress as undermining the president, stoking Trump's fury. Lawmakers who attended the meeting on Wednesday described Kelly's remarks. Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, D-Ill., who was at the meeting, said Kelly told the group that "a 50-foot wall from sea to shining sea isn't what we're going to build." Gutierrez told reporters that Kelly referenced Trump's campaign promises to build a wall and said, "There were statements made about the wall that were not informed statements." The first Hispanic woman to go to space who later went on to log almost 1,000 hours in orbit and become director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston is retiring in May. A center spokeswoman confirmed Friday that Director Ellen Ochoa informed employees earlier that same morning of her impending retirement during an internal meeting. Ochoa, a veteran astronaut originally from California, is the 11th director of Johnson and only the second female to run NASA's human space flight hub, which had a budget of $4.5 billion in fiscal year 2017 and employs more than 3,000 people. In an email to employees, Ochoa said that this year will be her 30th at NASA, and her youngest of two sons turns 18, so it is "a natural point for our family in which to move on to the next phase." "It's a really tough decision to determine when to make that transition; for me, it comes down to my personal situation," she wrote. "We'll move to Boise, ID, and I intend to be involved with a number of activities that interest me (including getting back to playing flute, which I once considered for a career!)" Ochoa, now 59, was not available for comment Friday. In 1988, Ochoa joined NASA as research engineer at Ames Research Center in California and two years later moved to the Houston center when she was selected as an astronaut. By 1993, she became the first Hispanic woman to go to space. She has flown four times, according to NASA's website, logging almost 1,000 hours in space. Ochoa became the center's deputy director in 2007, and replaced Michael Coats as center director in 2012. Then-NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement at the time that "Ellen's enthusiasm, experience and leadership, including her superb job as deputy director, make her a terrific successor to Mike as director of JSC. Herb Baker, who retired last year from NASA, said Ochoa is one of the best center directors he's worked with in his 42 years at the agency. "I just think the world of her," Baker said. "She's very accessible and she's very smart -- no surprises there -- and she cared deeply about the people who worked out there" at Johnson. Baker also called her brave: she made decisions, such as combining the astronaut and mission control offices, that others before her would have been hesitant to do. Center director "is not easy job, as you might guess. There's a lot of responsibility there," Baker added. "The center director is responsible for people's lives. The decisions they make impact life and death, literally." As center director, Ochoa oversaw the nation's astronaut corps, the Orion program and mission operations for the International Space Station, among other things. MORE CONTENT: JSC'S ELLEN OCHOA WILL JOIN ASTRONAUT HALL OF FAME. Last year, Ochoa was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame and she has received the Distinguished Service Medal, NASA's highest award. Additionally, five schools, including one in Texas, have been named after her. The search for her replacement will be conducted by NASA headquarters, but center officials said they do not have a timeline for when that will occur. Ochoa said in her Friday email that more information about center leadership will be announced by acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot "later in the spring." When Ochoa became center director in 2012, her appointment was announced the same day Coats, her predecessor, announced his retirement. MORE CONTENT: JOHNSON SPACE CENTER DIRECTOR ANNOUNCES HIS RETIREMENT. "We're fortunate to have a team of excellent leaders here at JSC, so I know I'll be leaving JSC in good hands," Ochoa wrote to her employees Friday. "I have several months to go as Center Director, and you can count on me to continue to be fully committed to our mission and our people here." Alex Stuckey covers NASA and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey. KABUL - At least four gunmen stormed a major international hotel complex in the Afghan capital Saturday, touching off gun battles and sending guests and staff fleeing for cover, officials and staff said. There were no immediate reports on the extent of casualties from the clashes at the hilltop Inter-Continental Hotel, one of the city's main sites for foreign visitors, envoys and other guests. At least two attackers were killed, said Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid, but clashes were ongoing hours after the group entered the hotel and portions of the building were ablaze. There also was no immediate claim of responsibility. The Taliban and Islamic State have each waged attacks in the past against diplomatic targets and other sites in Kabul. The attack was the latest strike on a high-profile target in Kabul, deepening worries about the ability of militants to strike at the heart of Afghanistan's leadership. The hotel was hosting a meeting of more than 30 directors of communication and information technology companies from across the country. On Thursday, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul issued a warning about "reports that extremist groups may be planning an attack against hotels in Kabul." It gave no specifics on possible targets or how the intelligence was gathered. The spokesman for Afghanistan's Interior Ministry, Najib Danish, said the number of casualties was not clear. But another Interior Ministry official, Nasrat Rahimi, said several people had been killed, according to the Associated Press. The attackers managed to slip through security cordons and entered the hotel through the kitchen, Danish said. They appeared to include suicide bombers, he added. One witness, quoted by the Reuters News Agency, said the assailants took some hotel staff and guests as hostages. Wahid Majrooh, ministry of public health spokesman, said police and army ambulances were used to transport the injured. In 2011, Taliban suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the Inter-Continental in a siege that lasted more than five hours. At least 11 people were killed, including hotel staff and visitors. The hotel has not been affiliated with the InterContinental Hotels Group for decades but continues to use a variation of the name. ELKO -- Cowboy artists from around the world have long been fascinated with the work of legendary saddlemaker and silversmith G.S. Garcia. Now, 111 years after it was constructed, visitors will be able to step into history and see his workshop in the newly restored building that is the new home of the Cowboy Arts and Gear Museum, which will also feature cowboy arts and culture. The grand opening of the museum is set for 2-4 p.m. Feb. 2 at 542 Commercial St. Hosted by NV Energy, the reception will offer drinks, appetizers and refreshments. Built about 1907 for the Garcia Harness and Saddle Shop, the building was remodeled to house offices for the Elko-Lamoille Power Co. and, later, NV Energy until 2016. Work began in 2017 to restore and repurpose the building to become a museum in partnership with the NV Energy Foundation. It was restored to look like it did in 1907, right down to the pressed tin brick facade, said Cowboy Arts and Gear Museum director Jan Petersen. Inside, visitors will get a feel of what Garcias shop looked like more than a century ago, replicated from photographs, said Sue Wright, one of the gear museums board members. Eventually, well have a display of a saddle in the progress stages, Wright said. Garcia bits and spurs will also be displayed in the original cases that J.M. Capriola bought when the shop closed in 1938. People will also see the model horse Garcia used when he crafted his gold-medal saddle and a Garcia saddle on loan from the Northeastern Nevada Museum. For the 34th annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, a small Basque exhibit will celebrate this years festival theme, Petersen said. Petersen explained that the opening of the museum in G.S. Garcias old shop was a dream she shared with Paula and Doug Wright, former owners of J.M. Capriola Co., and something they talked about frequently. We fantasized about having it in the original building, but NV Energy was fully ensconced in it at the time, Petersen said. I think this building was something Paula always wanted to do, Wright said. I still cant believe were in here. When NV Energy announced its move to a newly constructed operations center on Ruby Vista Drive, the company offered the building to a group of people to form a nonprofit organization. Museum board members include Petersen, Mike and Tana Gallagher, Mary Simmons and John and Sue Wright of Capriola. This whole project couldnt have been done without the assistance and support of NV Energy, Petersen said. They are ardent community supporters. Petersen said there are plans for the building to apply for a Nevada historic designation. One step at a time, she said. The museums first exhibitors will be photographer Nicole Poyos series on the Winecup Gamble Ranch and Merrilee Morrell Dosss One Mans" collection of bits and spurs. A website, www.cowboyartsandgearmuseum.org, will be launched before the grand opening, and the museum can be found on Facebook. The organization also welcomes local involvement and financial support. The opening of the museum in downtown Elko marks an exciting time because it could be the start of making Elko a center of history, art and culture enthusiasts, Petersen said. What were planning on with the addition of the cowboy museum is that Elko will become a history destination, Petersen said. We have the Western Folklife Center, the California Trail Center, the Northeastern Nevada Museum, which is the hub of it all, and a new Shoshone museum, the Newe Gahnee, to open in the Elko Indian Colony. Five destinations become a destination to celebrate all traditions, cultures and heritages from the first inhabitants to the most recent, she said. Petersen also sees the Cowboy Arts and Gear Museum as being another link to Elkos past when the business district was on both sides of the railroad tracks. We are enthusiastically looking forward to being a part of the renewed interest in downtown, Petersen said. Commercial and Railroad streets were the focus of business. This was and still is the heart of Elko. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Saturday officially marks the anniversary of Donald Trump's first year in office. Looking back at the first 365 days, there's no doubting Trump has brought a lot of changes to the presidency, but none may be as clear as the Commander-in-chief's daily tweeting. Socialbearing, a Twitter analysis tool, reveals that Trump sent out roughly 2,500 tweets (which includes Trump sharing tweets with other people) during his first year. That works out to an average of 6 to 7 tweets a day. HOUSTON: Trump's comments cloud King celebration in Midtown Now Playing: Women came out in force a year ago to protest after US President Donald Trump's inauguration, and a this Sunday they intend to stage a similar massive show of force, this time without the pink 'pussy hats'. That is because a year on America's women realise the scale of assault on their rights this president seems prepared to endorse. What's more, Trump's election appears to have had a galvanising effect on women everywhere, amplified since by the #MeToo and TimesUp movement "Womens' March Global can have an immense historical part in this because what we've seen on the global side is that while the #MeToo and TimesUp movements have been widely recognised in the United States, globally they have not translated and so it's not...when Asia Argento came out in Italy she recieved a tremendous amount of backlash and recieved death threats, enough for her to leave Italy because of those death threats. We see in France actresses and women coming out against the #MeToo movement. So there's still a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done globally to make the #MeToo and TimesUp movements inclusive and intrasectional and ensure that women of all backgrounds are being heard and that their stories are being believed, and while that has happened in the US, it hasn't happened globally", says the Head of Field Operations Women's March Global, Uma Mishra-Newbery. Women in at least 34 countries will march on Sunday, many of them impatient to see the American depth and scale of female revolt in their homelands. Video: Euronews The routine tweets have become such a staple of the Trump presidency, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he asks his staff to print out the president's tweets in order to help plan American policy. During his first year in office, Trump used the word "great" and the hashtag "MAGA" the most. MAGA is an acronym of Trump's campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again." In total, Trump's tweets were shared more than 48 million times by users. See the 20 Trump tweets that got the most retweets during his first year in office. Fernando Ramirez is a reporter for Chron.com and the Houston Chronicle. You can read more of his stories here and follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN -- Two leading Democrats running for governor on Saturday called for universal background checks for Texas gun buyers, a move surely to run afoul of Republican supporters of the Second Amendment. During an afternoon forum during an AFL-CIO political committee convention, both Houston entrepreneur Andrew White and former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez said they support the universal checks to keep people from buying guns who would be dangerous to have them. "Why should I be able to buy a gun without a background check?" White -- who has said he is a firm supporter of the constitutional right to bear arms -- told the audience, calling it "common sense" change in current law. They were the only two of nine Democratic candidates who were invite to speak to the meeting. Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy opened the forum by saying that Republican Greg Abbott, never a close friend of unions, was not invited. Union leaders are expected to endorse one of the two candidates. Speaking to the Houston Chronicle after the program, Valdez and White said Abbott should be pushing harder to get the Republican-controlled Congress in Washington to approve the next allocation of Harvey recovery funding. Amid partisan bickering over a budget deadlock that shut down the federal government, Congress failed to approve the next installment of $81 billion in disaster relief funds -- some of which is destined to come to Texas. "You'd think the Republicans could talk to them selves and get it done," White said, echoing comments from Valdez that Abbott needs to push harder with legislative leaders in Washington to get Texans the next installment of badly needed relief funding. In the past two months, as the relief funding bills have been delayed and stalled, Abbott has expressed increasing frustration with Congress for not approving the money. "This election is one of the most important in our lifetimes," White told the crowd, noting that the retirement of House Speaker Joe Straus -- a moderate on some issues who is credited with blocking passage of the bathroom bill among other controversial issues -- will leave much-more-conservative Republicans like Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. "I'm the candidate who can beat Greg Abbott," White said, blasting the governor and other state GOP leaders for being "part of the Donald Trump school of government." Valdez, a San Antonio native and daughter of migrant farm workers, said she is the candidate who will stand up for average Texans. "I have fought for and will continue to fight for the common folk," she said. During a question-and-answer session that came after they made brief speeches, both were asked how they stand a chance at winning when Abbott has more than $43.3 million in his campaign war chest and Republicans have won all statewide offices for two decades. In their first few weeks of campaigning, White has reported he raised about $219,000 and Valdez reported raising $46,000 -- small amounts compared to the millions that previous Democratic Party gubernatorial candidates have raised, with just eight weeks to go before the Democratic primary election. Both insisted they can win. "Is someone trying to buy the (election)?" Valdez responded to Abbott's record fund-raising haul. Valdez said the upcoming primary "is all about energizing the base" and not so much about having large sums of campaign cash on hand. White said Democrats need a candidate for the general election "who can convince the reasonable Republicans to vote for a Democrat" -- noting that many of those Republicans probably used to be Democrats. "Is someone trying to buy the (election)?" Valdez responded to Abbott's record fund-raising haul. The candidates' comments mostly drew light applause from the friendly crowd, a change from past years when the conventions gave rousing support to Democratic candidates. ELKO Jurors took one hour to decide Dr. Gary Wright was not medically negligent for burning a hole in a patients bowel in 2013. The jury returned its verdict Jan. 19 to Judge Al Kacin, one hour after the court recessed for lunch and deliberations. The trial started Jan. 10 in Elko District Court. Jessica Van Hoy sought $275,000 in damages from Wright in a lawsuit alleging that he was neglectful in his medical care and treatment of her when she underwent an exploratory laparoscopy to find the source of abdominal pain. Wright, a former OB/GYN at Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital, performed the procedure on Van Hoy on April 3, 2013. During the lapaorscopy, he removed an adhesion, and in the process, burned the serosa tissue using a Kleppinger bipolar electrocautery tool too close to her bowel, causing a perforation in her bowel. Wright told Van Hoy and her husband about the burn after the surgery and sent her home, advising her to contact him if she had pain, which he said may occur in three to four days. Van Hoy said she was in pain, sweating profusely and suffering with nausea 15 minutes after leaving the hospital and called Wright, who advised pain medication. She returned to the hospital that afternoon and underwent a second surgery performed by Dr. Christopher Ward the next day to repair the perforation. Van Hoy was hospitalized for nine days. Charles Spann, representing Van Hoy, told the jury that their side had the burden to prove by a preponderance of evidence that Wright did not obtain a second opinion before concluding the surgery; did not convert the laparoscopy to a full-open procedure to check for damage on the bowel; and sent her home rather than keep her in the hospital for observation. During the trial, Ward was called to testify. During closing arguments Friday, Spann reminded the jury of Wards testimony, in which Ward explained there was no way to tell if fluid was going to start leaking in the perforated bowel in a laparoscopy unless the patient was opened up to run the bowel. Ward was a reluctant witness who had no special interest in the case, Spann said. Wrights attorney, Anthony Lauria, said the fact that the hole was recognized, treated appropriately and resolved fairly quickly with no long-term problems was undisputed evidence. All the medical experts who testified agreed that the thermal spread that occurred by using the Kleppinger tool was something that could happen when the surgery is done properly, Lauria said, referring to testimony provided by Dr. Haydee Docasar and Dr. Mark Dodson. All experts agree that it does not mean Wright was negligent, Lauria said. It is a recognized risk and potential complication of electrocautery. Lauria also reminded the jury to remember the plaintiff had the burden to prove that Wrights conduct departed from standard medical care and was the proximate cause of injury, which is the basis to award damages. He also told the jury that you cannot create your own standard of care or assert that Wright should have decided to open her up if that wasnt required. [You] cant say Dr. Wright should have done the [full-open] surgery because no one said he should have, Lauria said. The 10-member jury consisted of eight jurors and two alternates. For civil matters, three-fourths of the eight-member jury, or six jurors, can determine the verdict. The jury was asked to determine if there was negligence, if the negligence was a proximate cause of any personal injury to the plaintiff, and if damages should be awarded. Only if youre convinced there is evidence for negligence and proximate cause, then you can award damages, Lauria said. Van Hoy asked for $250,000 for past pain, physical and mental pain and anguish, disfigurement and disability between April and June 2013, and $25,000 for future physical pain and disfigurement, referring to a nine-inch scar on her abdomen. Wright moved to Elko in 2005, opened his own practice at the Pinion Road Medical Clinic and was the department chair of the OB/GYN unit from 2010 to 2013. He moved to Texas in 2016. RENO A winter storm moving into eastern Nevada after dumping a foot of snow in the Sierra has set a precipitation record in the north-central part of the state. The National Weather Service reported Friday the liquid equivalent of .41 inches recorded at the Eureka Airport about 250 miles east of Reno broke the old record of 0.3 set in 1983. The liquid equivalent is the water left over from rain and melted snow. The storm headed into Utah Friday, off its expected path north of U.S. Interstate 80, and was following an area along U.S. Highway 50 through southern Lander, Eureka and White Pine counties. The weather service cancelled a winter weather advisory for northern Elko County but issued a winter storm warning in effect until 4 a.m. Saturday for the central region, including the Ruby Mountains south of Elko and Great Basin National Park east of Ely along the Utah line, where up to a foot of snow is possible in the mountains. Here is a selection of stories curated by AP editors to keep you informed as you start your weekend. Editor: On January 16, 2018, I read a news story titled; "California couple's ordinary home held torture chamber." The story was about 13 siblings held captive by their own parents. Kids, that were allowed to shower twice a year and allowed to eat only once a day. Kids that were chained and never allowed to leave their home. America's national media has posted far too many news stories about single parents or parents who beat, molest and murder their own siblings, this, in a country where these types of incidents are not supposed to occur? Should America strengthen laws, build stronger and more severe Child Welfare Programs? Then of course, you look at the kids/teens now days, most of their parents don't follow them, care what they say, do, or act, they simply say; "kids will be kids." Of course, if you attack their siblings you'll probably find yourself locked up. Most kids/teens have no clue of how lucky they are, most don't care, and these are the type of kids who walk all over their parents, lie, steal, drink and just do whatever, because they know their parents will be there for them. Always on their cell, always texting, always boasting and bragging about everything they have and how new it is, and then you find that they are the ones who love bullying others. Is there a solution? How do you tone down a society that advocates racial hate or thinks that bullying is OK? How do stop anything when theres so much corruption going on, where theres so much crime and sexual crimes occurring? If people do not like kids, children, or teens, why do they figure that they should get married and have their own? People who become sick or insane need help, but where would that help come from? I wish I knew, Im not smart enough to know the answer but something has to be done. Larry Kibby Elko We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. Fundatia de Binefacere Caritas Moldova solicita oferte de pret de la companii cu privire la dezvoltarea designului pentru Sala Events & Sufragerie AKRON, Ohio -- An Akron man was indicted Thursday on charges in connection to carjacking a 24-year-old man in Akron's North Hill neighborhood. Marcus Kidd, 18, is charged with aggravated robbery, receiving stolen property, failure to comply with order or signal of police, receiving stolen property and obstructing official business, court documents say. Kidd posted 10 percent of his $10,000 bond Thursday, records show. The carjacking happened about 10:30 p.m. Dec. 19 on Cranz Place near Dayton Street, police said. The man told police he was sitting in a driveway in his 2014 Dodge Charger when three men approached. One of them pulled him out of his car and punched him in the face. Another man fired shots before they stole the car and drove west towards Dayton Street, police said. An officer saw the car minutes later at East Cuyahoga Falls Avenue and Dayton Street. The men led police on a chase before they took off from the car at Fouse Avenue and Ranney Street, police said. Kidd was taken into custody after they found him hiding behind a garage on Floyd Street near Dan Street, according to the police report. Police did not say if Kidd had the gun or if he was the one that pulled the man out of his car and punched him. Police also did not return messages asking if the other two men were charged. If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Friday's crime and courts comments section. MEDINA, Ohio - The Medina City Schools Board of Education is expected to vote on a $750,000 settlement with former Superintendent Randolph Stepp at its meeting Monday night. Former Medina City Schools Superintendent Randolph Stepp Stepp sued the school board for breach of contract, defamation and invasion of privacy after he was fired in 2013 in the wake of a state audit that found more than $4,000 in "illegal spending" by Stepp and more than $1.5 million in spending that wasn't properly documented or had no clear public purpose. The audit was requested after public outcry over an $83,000 bonus and payment of $172,000 in Stepp's student loans approved by previous school board members. None of the current school board members served during that time. Current Superintendent Aaron Sable is recommending that the school board accept the settlement agreement and mutual release of claims between Stepp and the school board. The $750,000 payment would be paid by the school board's insurers, Liberty Mutual, to Stepp and his attorneys, Buckingham, Doolittle and Burroughs LLC. None of the settlement amount will come out of school district coffers, according to a press release from the district. The press release noted that "most of the information regarding the case and settlement is confidential and not official until the board votes." The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Middle Auditorium at Medina High School. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Charter school critics cheered the vote Thursday night to shut down the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) online charter school, while State Rep. Andrew Brenner and ECOT backers blasted the state for forcing the closure mid-year. "What a relief!" said State Rep. Teresa Fedor, a longtime opponent of charters and critic of ECOT's poor report cards. "Finally, education officials are standing up for our children and taxpayers." And Steve Dyer, the former state representative who works with the Ohio Education Association on charter issues, said the vote should have come far sooner. "Everyone who could have done something about this school for 18 years should be ashamed of their failure," he said. Even national charter supporters who want better quality schools applauded the decision. Nina Rees, head of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, called it "a good day for those who believe in the importance of closing poor-performing schools." But supporters of charters and the school say the state should not have forced the budget problems that led ECOT's sponsor, the Educational Service Center of Lake Erie West, to withdraw support Thursday and immediately stop operations. Two Ohio Department of Education investigations found that many students at the 12,000 student school, who take classes from home on computer, spent little time signed on to ECOT's online system and barely participated in their classes. As a result, the department is deducting money from the school to recover $60 million in overpayments to the school for 2015-16 and $20 million for 2016-17. ECOT is challenging those findings to the Ohio Supreme Court, which will hear oral arguments on the case Feb. 13. With ECOT saying it will be bankrupt by March if those repayments continue, the ESC pulled the plug while the school still has enough money to meet its payroll and debts. Brenner, a longtime supporter of ECOT and of online schools, said the state should have worked out a payment plan. He was angry that 12,000 students have to seek new schools mid-year, as well as at the state seemingly cutting off a way to recover all $80 million. "I want the state of Ohio to recover the money," Brenner said. "The only way to do that is to set up a better repayment plan with ECOT." That would mean spreading payments over a few years and charged the school interest, or even just making sure ECOT could finish this school year. He also asked the department to release ECOT's offer to restructure payments - one the department denied Thursday just before the ESC's vote. The Plain Dealer has asked the department since Wednesday for that offer, but the department has only said it will respond in a "reasonable" time, as required by law. Ron Adler, who heads the charter school advocacy group the Ohio Council for Quality Education, called the department's stance "shameful" and "far too politicized," saying that the department "needs to be reeled-in by the General Assembly." "They seem to believe that closing charter schools is more important than helping them," Adler said. "And they refused to alter their demands that could help nearly 3,000 students to graduate this spring - feeling it more important to extract maximum punishment on ECOT. The Department would never dream of treating a traditional district school in this appalling manner." ECOT spokesman Neil Clark questioned the state's refusal to accept a payment compromise right after Thursday's vote. "By rejecting an offer that would have allowed our current students to finish the year, Governor Kasich, State Superintendent Paolo DeMaria, (ODE lawyer) Diane Lease, and company showed they were more interested in settling a political score than in doing what's best for students," Clark wrote in a press release. "These bureaucrats wanted blood for ECOT challenging them on their illegal and retro-active rule-making," he added, referring to ECOT's main argument in its appeal to the Supreme Court. ECOT maintains that the state illegally changed how it funds e-schools - from just using enrollment as it had for years, to requiring participation in classes. Kasich, though, told media this week that he has not been involved in any negotiations over EOCT and staying afloat. "We don't believe it's our job to do that," he said. "It's not appropriate." Rees defended the decision because the state tracked how well students were participating in class. She hoped the state would "strengthen" its funding and accountability system so that mid-year closures like this are rare. And State Sen. Peggy Lehner, who heads the Senate Education Committee, said the school is to blame, not the state. "It is a real tragedy that thousands of Ohio children are scrambing today to find a new school," Lehner said. "However after court after court has determined, ECOT's failure to educate thousands of children entrusted to its care has brought us to this point." She added: "We now have a moral obligation to help the children affected find a suitable school as quickly as possible." Students can simply re-enroll in their home school districts, which have said they would welcome students back. But others note that many won't, since they and their families already became disillusioned with those schools, leading them to enroll in ECOT. Click here to see how many ECOT students are from your district. Other online schools are an option. Apryl Morin, who heads charter oversight for the ESC of Lake Erie West, told the board Thursday night that Ohio Virtual Academy, the state's largest e-school now that ECOT is closed, was able to accept all ECOT students. Ohio Connections Academy, the next-largest, was ready to accept 300 students immediately, Morin said, and was looking at hiring more teachers to add more students. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A man now faces the death penalty after jurors on Saturday found him guilty of slaying two men in a downtown Cleveland apartment building in 2016 James Johnson, 31, was convicted of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary and other counts in the Jan. 21, 2016 slayings of Rashaad Bandy, 35, and Brandon James, 27, in their eighth-floor apartment in the Archer building on West 9th Street. He carried out the killings as part of a course of conduct and while committing aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery and felonious assault, specifications that make him eligible for the death penalty, jurors found. The sequestered jury deliberated until after 8 p.m. Friday, and returned about 8 a.m. Saturday and deliberated for less than an hour before reaching their verdict. The penalty phase of the trial will begin Thursday, where jurors will decide whether to recommend that Judge Kathleen Sutula, who oversaw the trial, should impose the death penalty. Johnson smile as he was led into the courtroom by deputies before the verdict. He showed no emotion during the hearing, and saluted to a group of people gathered seated to support him as he was led back to a holding cell after his conviction. Johnson and a man who has yet to be identified were let into the apartment building about 7:30 p.m. by a friend of Bandy and James. The building manager at the security desk wrote down that one of the men gave his last name as "Johnson" and that he was there to see his uncle, prosecutors said. Johnson and Bandy grew up together and were so close that Johnson referred to Bandy as his "uncle," lawyers said. Johnson and the unknown assailant then went to the eighth floor, burst into the apartment, and Johnson fired a shot into the wall, prosecutors said. James took off running, and Johnson fired a fatal shot into his back, prosecutors said. Johnson then executed Bandy with a single shot to the back of his head, prosecutors said. The men then left with two duffel bags and everyone in the room's cellphones, but left six pounds of marijuana and a loaded handgun. Johnson then skipped Bandy's funeral and went to Michigan, where he was arrested after leading police there on a chase and giving them a fake name. Witnesses, including the building's manager, a man inside the apartment at the time of the killings, identified Johnson in part because he has a lazy eye. Another key piece of evidence was Johnson's uncle, a Cleveland fire department arson investigator, who happened to see Johnson the morning after the killings dump a pair of Timberland boots into a dumpster at a gas station on Cleveland's East Side. Johnson's DNA was also found on the door handle of an apartment down the hallway, which prosecutors said he inadvertently opened as he tried to run from the scene of the killing. To comment on this story, please visit Saturday's crime and courts comments page. ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- Officials in Rocky River are warning residents of possible flooding over the weekend as the temperatures rise and snow melts. The mercury in the thermometer (digi-centric youngsters will have to Google that reference) could stretch into the 40s throughout the weekend across Northeast Ohio after weeks of snow and bone-chilling cold. Rain is likely on Sunday - and combined with melting snow - could cause some flooding. Rocky River is warning residents to be prepared to evacuate their homes if necessary and to be cautious while walking in water deeper than six inches. "The ice in the west channel and at the mouth of the Rocky River may prohibit water from moving predictably and rain - compounded with snow melt - could raise river levels quickly," the city said in a news release. If flooding occurs, residents should not wait to leave their homes, the city says. The city offered the following tips if flooding happens: Plan where to go if evacuating Pack important insurance paperwork, photographs and items of value, phone charger, etc. for easy removal from your home including an overnight bag Make a point to unplug electronics, move items off the floor and possibly turn the power off to your home before evacuating if warm weather allows. For questions or concerns, please contact Public Safety Director at Mary Kay Costello at (440) 331-0600 or call the Rocky River Police Department during after business hours at (440) 331-1234 ext. 0. If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Friday's crime and courts comments section. WASHINGTON - If President Trump and squabbling congressional Democrats and Republicans can't reach a deal to fund the federal government by midnight, it will shut down. That's happened several times in recent memory, though it's never occurred when the same political party controls the House of Representatives, Senate and White House. Shutdowns affect different agencies in a variety of ways. Here's a quick rundown of what happens to some of the more visible federal functions during a shutdown: Post office: Post offices stay open, and mail delivery continues. Social Security: Checks for existing benefits will be issued, but processing new applications may be delayed. National parks: Facilities that require staffing would close but visitors could still access some memorials and open-air parks where staffing isn't required. NASA Glenn Research Center: During past shutdowns, all workers were furloughed except for security staffers and a few safety-related employees. Federal courts: Federal courts usually have enough money on hand from court filings and other fees to stay open for several weeks during shutdowns. After that, they curtail services. Federal prisons stay open. Government Funding Bill past last night in the House of Representatives. Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate - but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2018 Passports: Passport processing is suspended during shutdowns, but there may be some exceptions for emergencies. Travel: Air traffic controllers, luggage screeners and customs agents remain on the job as their work is deemed vital for national security. National Weather Service: Weather forecasting is a safety issue, so it would stay open. Veterans: Veterans administration hospitals stay open and benefit checks are issued, but new benefit applications and pending clams aren't processed. Active duty military: During shutdowns, military personnel continue to work, but they don't get paid until Congress provides funding. Some civilian military employees are furloughed. Smithsonian: Closed. The Cleveland Metroparks has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed last summer by a half-dozen rangers, who claim they were shortchanged for time they worked caring for dogs in the K-9 unit. The suit also says they are owed about seven hours of pay for every week they housed the dogs at home and that the Metroparks failed to make, keep and preserve records of the hours worked by the rangers in the K-9 unit. Last month, the Metroparks agreed (pending final approvals) to settle the suit for $190,000 PLUS back wages, which could amount to thousands of dollars per ranger. I asked the Metroparks for an estimate of how much is owed to the rangers. I'll update this post when the Metroparks responds. Speaking of the Metroparks: Don't expect to find Chief Marketing Officer Sanaa Julien back in the park system. You may recall that the Group Plan Commission, which manages Cleveland's Public Square and other spaces, appointed Julien in 2016 as a loaned executive from the Metroparks to guide branding and event planning for the newly renovated square. The agreement between Metroparks and GPC expires Feb. 28, 2018. The Metroparks said Julien is not coming back and her position has long been filled. Under the loaned-executive agreement, the GPC pays her salary and the Metroparks provides health benefits and pays contributions toward her retirement. Tony Coyne, chairman of the GPC, said Julien has been a godsend and the commission is working out details to keep her as its own. Racial tension rising in party: The Cuyahoga County Democratic Party's executive committee, which includes hundreds of party insiders and elected officials, will gather Saturday morning at Euclid High School to endorse candidates in the May primary. Most of the action will be centered on a handful of judicial races and the contest for Ohio Senate District 23, which pits state representatives Nickie Antonio and Martin J. Sweeney against one another. (You can read my column on that race here.) Last weekend, the party's ward and city leaders made recommendations in the races, which set off some soul-searching and bickering. Why? No black or Hispanic candidate in judicial races received the formal recommendation of ward and city leaders. As a result, some members of the local Black Lives Matter network plan to picket the endorsement meeting tomorrow morning. In the party's endorsement battles, connections are far more important than qualifications. Most candidates take their campaign for the endorsement seriously because the prize is the party's get-out-the-vote machine. Candidates work the phones, organize mini teams and host dinners and mail letters. In the end, some candidates end up working nearly as hard for the endorsement as they do in the general election, where they often cruise to victory thanks to a Democratic-leaning electorate. Amazon speak: Cleveland's bid to win Amazon's second headquarters has introduced a new line of doublethink that would make George Orwell blush. As you know by now, the city's civic and political leaders don't want to share any details about their losing bid, which they say is so good that revealing it could harm the future of mankind. Anyway, below is the news release from Team Neo, the private nonprofit that organized and sheltered the bid from public scrutiny. It remains committed to not sharing the bid details while still boasting of its greatness. "In a few short weeks last fall, the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County joined the Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP), JobsOhio, the State of Ohio, the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA), the Downtown Cleveland Alliance and other groups to portray the vision and vitality that are transforming the region. The data compiled will play an ongoing role in the region's business attraction and retention efforts." (Read the entire release below.) Clevelanders step forward: Hours after cleveland.com announced that it is partnering with Open Table -- a non-profit that organizes tables of advisers to help guide individuals trying to break free of poverty's grip -- more than 70 people stepped forward to join the effort. Many more are welcome. The partnership is a part of cleveland.com's A Greater Cleveland series that documents the lives of the poor. You can read more about Open Table and cleveland.com's call to action here. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Shockingly, the plan sort of ... worked? The two men got the poison in his ear, but Mashal's bodyguards saw it and chased them down. The remaining agents fled to the Israeli embassy, which was quickly surrounded by troops. It turned out that squirting poison into a political leader's ear and running away was not as subtle as they'd hoped. The five would-be assassins tried to blend in by falling back on their cover as Canadian tourists, their hopes hanging entirely on people believing that Canadians were so stupid that they would seek shelter in a completely different country's embassy. And boy howdy, these men were especially not Canadian. They didn't know basic facts about the country, couldn't sing its national anthem, and each wrote "FUCK YOU THIS IS CRAZY" next to pictures of milk in bags. They didn't even know about the Toronto Blue Jays, who had recently won back-to-back World Series. They knew so little about Canada that they might have been trying to invent a fake country and accidentally landed on three syllables that happened to be a real one. Continue Reading Below Advertisement The king of Jordan, dying of cancer at the time, was not amused in the slightest by these -- to be fair, highly amusing -- antics, and put Israel through the wringer. Not only did they have to provide the antidote to cure Mashal, but they were also forced to free a bunch of political prisoners. They failed so hard at assassination that they wound up with a net positive for the living. It was an absolutely humiliating loss, and Benjamin Netanyahu had to fly to Jordan to publicly apologize to Crown Prince Hassan, swearing it would never be repeated. Hassan later said it was one of the most bizarre things he had ever experienced. We're inclined to agree. BRIDGEPORT One of the states highest mill or tax rates 54 mills. A current fiscal year budget deficit of between $14 million and $17 million. Estimated long-term debts totaling $1.08 billion. Connecticuts largest municipality may not have recently been on the brink of bankruptcy like the capital, Hartford. But Bridgeport is eligible to participate in a just-launched initiative allowing the state to help manage financially challenged cities. The new state Municipal Accountability Review Board (MARB) is taking applications. So could Bridgeport join Hartford, whose troubles lead to the MARBs creation, and another taker West Haven, and ask for such intervention? Bridgeport would meet eligibility criteria for MARB, confirmed Chris McClure, a spokesman for the state budget office. Its not as though Bridgeport is in the same situation as Hartford, (but) they would be in the same eligibility criteria as Hartford. If Bridgeport applied, the MARB could: Review and make recommendations about the citys annual budget, which Mayor Joe Ganim will submit to the City Council this spring; similarly review and recommend ways to tackle the municipal debt; and approve labor agreements and arbitration awards. In exchange Bridgeport could tap into a total of $55 million set aside over the next two years for MARB participants. I have thought from Day 1 that Bridgeport very much should be looking at the possibility of entering MARB, said state Rep. Steven Stafstrom, a Democrat like Ganim who represents Bridgeports highly-taxed Black Rock neighborhood. Stafstrom has been lobbying Ganim, who first ran the city in the 1990s, to accept independent budget assistance since voters returned the ex-mayor to office in November, 2015. With a mill rate of 54 and the unfunded liabilities the city has, how can you not be at least considering this? Stafstrom said. Ganims office as of Friday did not provide comment for this story, but at least one city union sees the MARB in Bridgeports future. Ahead of last weeks failed vote on a new police contract, union leaders circulated a power point urging the deal be approved. The power point warned some studies show Bridgeport in worse condition than Hartford and that union members have an interest in avoiding MARB. Stafstrom said that in conversations the Ganim administration has expressed caution about the MARB: I dont know theyve flatly said no, but I havent seen an application submitted yet, lets put it that way. Budgeting and politicking Ganim in spring 2016 dismissed the idea of a state takeover of Bridgeports finances even as he complained about inheriting a $20 million deficit from former Mayor Bill Finch: We inherited a terrible mess and were working through it. The message from the Ganim and Finch administrations Finch held office for eight years has been that City Hall has steadily reduced Bridgeports debt. Labor contracts, for example, have increased employee health costs and phased out retiree health care. Ganims budget staff has said about $12 million of the current fiscal years $14 million to $17 million deficit is covered. The Ganim administration, with help from Stafstrom and the citys legislative delegation, recently orchestrated a financial maneuver to pay $96 million toward $200 million in pension debt, while saving $2 million annually in interest over three decades. This is the kind of outside the box thinking we need to tackle our short and long term fiscal challenges, Ganim said in December. The returned mayor has had prior experience with state budget oversight. Ganim was first elected in 1991 when Bridgeport was already operating under the auspices of a state financial review board. The board dissolved itself in 1995. Lennie Grimaldi is an author and runs the Only in Bridgeport website. During the 1990s he was Ganims chief political adviser, having previously been communications director for ex-Mayor Tom Bucci when the state finance board was created. Grimaldi recalled that the state offered no money to Bridgeport, but that the review board forced some tough medicine that really helped crystallize how to make some tougher decisions, pare back the size of government and get stronger union concessions. Still, Grimaldi said, given Connecticuts budget woes, entrusting the MARB to right things in Bridgeport could be like the blind leading the blind. He said the state has to have a better plan for its urban centers and do more to invest in them. Ganim, who is running for governor, is claiming his years in charge of Bridgeport 14 total between his first and current terms make him the candidate to turn the cities and state around. And that means participating in the MARB could hurt that campaign message, according to Ronald Schurin, an associate professor of political science at the University of Connecticut. What Ganim has going for him is his claim he saved Bridgeports finances 20 some odd years ago and is in a position to save the state, Schurin said. Were he to look for state oversight and bailout (for Bridgeport), it would be a very negative strike. It could also take away one contrast with Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, a Democrat who is weighing a run for governor. David Walker, a Republican gubernatorial candidate and Bridgeport resident, is concerned the MARB would not go far enough in Bridgeport, and believes Ganims candidacy is clearly a factor in the mayors reluctance to apply. It would be a tangible admission that the city is in worse condition than hes been willing to admit in the past, Walker said. BRIDGEPORT Just three months after a divided City Council relinquished its authority to approve tax breaks for developers, leaving those decisions in the executive branchs hands, two members hope to reverse that decision. I dont think our power should be given to a department (the economic development office) to fulfill the duties we are elected to fulfill, said Councilwoman Eneida Martinez. Martinez and Councilman Ernest Newton, who represent the East End, have cosponsored a resolution to reverse a council vote that limited the length of tax subsidies to a maximum of 20 years and established clearer guidelines for approval, but eliminated the legislative bodys power to vote on such deals. I dont think theres checks and balances, Newton said. That mid-October vote was 10 in favor, 8 against. Newton was not yet a member, while Martinez, an incumbent, left the meeting early and did not vote. Of the group of council members that were in favor, half are gone, either because they were not re-elected or did not seek another term. Newton, a council president in the 1980s, and Martinez are expecting some of their fellow freshman to also support their effort. When I was running that was one of my main points that we need to bring the power back to the council, said new member Marcus Brown. I advised everyone that when I got there, thats one of the things Id be trying to reverse. If businesses want to come here, then they should come before this council to make an argument for tax incentives, Brown said. The tax break redo will be considered by the councils ordinance committee, co-chaired by Brown and Martinez. Rowena White, a spokesman for Mayor Joe Ganim, said the administration will not be discussing this resolution with the media prior to discussion with the City Council. City Hall is likely not happy with the effort given how hard Ganims staff lobbied to alter the tax subsidy process. And one of the reasons for that was to address ongoing concerns from council members about how tax breaks are awarded. That debate started in 2015 when then-Mayor Bill Finchs administration sought 35-year and 40-year subsidies for a mixed-income housing development on the East Side. Ganim, who had been mayor in the 1990s,successfully challenged Finch in the 2015 Democratic primary in part by criticizing the length of the tax breaks offered by the Finch administration. There is general agreement among city officials that in order to compete with other municipalities Bridgeport has to be willing to give something to developers. So what the returned Ganims economic development staff presented to the council in October established a more formal process for issuing subsidies and limited their length to 10 or 20 years. But, in exchange, the Ganim administration wanted sole authority to negotiate and authorize such deals, taking the council out of the mix. City Hall argued that would give developers more certainty and remove the politics from the process. Newton said he likes most of the safeguards that were part of those October changes That protects the city very well and just wants to restore the legislative bodys right for a vote. New Council President Aidee Nieves voted for the changes last fall believing they would help attract more investment to Bridgeport. Nieves has reservations about reversing them so soon. We havent even crossed that bridge yet to say this doesnt work, Nieves said. Were repealing it without even trying it. Martinez does not want to wait. We need to nip it in the bud now, while its fresh, she said. Mickey Herbert, head of the Bridgeport Regional Business Council, wants the changes left be. It seems like the decision made in October was a good one and it doesnt seem to make a lot of sense to have it (control) return to the council, Herbert said. Its a challenge to get people to invest in Bridgeport in the first instance. It seems like the last thing we need to do is introduce additional uncertainty into the process. Its official. March 29th is permanently recognized as National Vietnam War Veterans Day. The statute was signed into law by President Trump. Please dont be upset when I tell you the Council and staff will be in my opinion, working night and day to put a city tax on Netflix and probably 11 percent. Assemblymember Sebastian Ridley-Thomass bill in Sacramento to prevent local government from putting a tax on Netflix until 2023 was stopped cold, so get out your check book. Oscar Meyer said it will no longer add nitrates and artificial preservatives to its hot dogs. While messing around one of our file cabinets I came across the Culver City newsletter of the Friends of the Library from June 2003 which I thought was particularly interesting. During 2002 the executive board allocated or spent $5000 for public computers, $1200 for large print books, $3000 for childrens books, $500 for the Judaica collection, $500 for the Spanish language collection, $500 for Black History month, $1000 for Civil Service test books, $50000 for the Audio-Visual collection, and $500 for a photocopier for library work and $1050 for this years Summer Reading Program. It was noted our Friends group is one of the largest in the Los Angeles County System; 71 percent of our elected Culver City officials are members; and 80 percent of the elected members of the Board of Education are also members. Your Friends had a Logo contest, a monthly newsletter and a quarterly membership meeting. Officers of the Friends Executive Board Offices Names President Neil Rubenstein Vice President Herb Rosenberg Treasurer Mayor Scott Malsin Corresponding Secretary Diane Rosenberg Historian Efrem Violin Book Store Wayne Pulian Board Member at Large Pat Lundgren The drone problem in Australia as it relates to eagle attacks is so acute the State of Queensland recently held the World of Drones Congress and gave Boeing almost $780,000 for drone testing. Drones costing as much as $80,000 are increasingly favored by big landowners such as mine and cattle ranchers. In the past three years a mining company lost 12 drones to eagle attacks at a cost of $210,000. If you are an active or retired educator I just bet you have had a few sleepless nights. awhile back I read in the Long Beach Press Telegram about California schools are on the hook for $24 billion in future health care costs for their retirees, a mountain of debt forcing some districts to curb benefits or spend less on teacher salaries and classroom equipment. Chew on this, the Los Angeles Unified School District boasts a whopping 56 percent share -or $13.5 billion of the liabilities; California teacher pension fund is facing nearly $100 billion in future payments it cant currently afford. Do you have extra money in your checking account? If you do please send it to Governor Brown at State Capitol Sacramento, California. It just seems all those estimators working on the bullet train misjudged the construction costs for a 119-mile segment in the Central Valley. Originally figured to cost $6.3 billion it is now $1.7 billion, or a 27 percent overrun, and some feel it could zip up to $9.5 billion. Are you wondering whatever happened to Harriet Tubman and her face on the $20 bill replacing a slave holding President Andrew Jackson? Tubman not only escaped from bondage but rescued hundreds of people from enslavement as a conductor on the Underground Railroad; she also served in the Union Army as a nurse, an armed scout and as a spy. If you are into the Los Angeles Punk Music scene then check out the Grammy Museum, 800 West Olympic Blvd. (grammymuseum.org) 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday through March 2018. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first drug ever for Sickle Cell. Endari will be available in November 2017 for patients over five years of age. If we only subscribed to one magazine it would be Worst Pills, Best Pills News published by Public Citizen. Diabetes drug can gliflozin doubles risk of amputations the FDA warns in a drug safety communication issued on May 16, 2017. Also, being investigated the recently approved diabetes drug Invokana for increased risk of amputations. Has anyone other than Maria AKA Wild Gypsy Lady noticed all those U-Haul trailers heading East on Interstate 10? It could be a active job market or perhaps its a new city ordinance eliminating jail time and reducing penalties for having small amounts of marijuana that will allow officers to focus on violent crimes, Police Chief Erika Shields of Atlanta said awhile back those cited by Las Cruces police for driving without a current license can pay the ticket with 80 ounces of peanut butter from October 23 through October 27, 2017. The peanut butter donation will go to the New Mexico College food bank. For those who missed an article, all my commentaries can be found at http://www.culvercityobserver.com; strolling down the page and underneath Opinion look for Rubenstein. 19 Ocak 2018 Cuma, 10:33 Following the rights violation ruling the Constitutional Court passed on Can Dundar and Erdem Gul, Mr Erdogan said that he did not recognise the ruling. He did not stop at this, and asserted that the first-instance court did not have to comply with the Constitutional Courts ruling. This was in a period in which the state of emergency regime had yet to be established and Mr Erdogans wishes and suggestions found no take up. That is, in spite of everything, the judiciary had relative independence. However, nowadays, let alone the judiciary sticking up for its independence, even expecting it to comply with the minimum conditions of the rule of law is a flight of fancy. The decisions of judges and prosecutors who fear they may be dismissed at any time and know they may be detained display, not justice, but simply their determination to protect themselves. The flouting by the first-instance courts of the ruling the Constitutional Court passed on Sahin Alpay and Mehmet Altan is a result of this climate of political pressure. Unfortunately, the judicial organs do not have much choice apart from complying with the instructions that politicians blatantly give them in full view of the public. OK, let me repeat at the risk of being boring. Article 153 of the Constitution says that Constitutional Court decisions shall be binding on the legislative, executive, and judicial organs, on the administrative authorities, and on persons and corporate bodies. Article 138 of the Constitution, in turn, regulates the obligation for the legislative and executive organs and the administration to comply with court decisions and that they may not alter decisions or delay the execution of decisions. In and after the referendum in which individual application to the Constitutional Court was introduced, no additional regulation was incorporated into these articles of the Constitution. There thus exist no different constitutional provisions between rulings the Constitutional Court issues on other matters and rulings it issues on individual applications as to their bindingness. That is, the rulings the Constitutional Court passes on individual applications are final and binding. The decisions that the first-instance courts have issued under the pressure of the state of emergency political climate are contrary to the Constitution. Through these decisions, these courts have most probably also deprived the Constitutional Court of being an effective means of recourse with the European Court of Human Rights. Article 90 of the Constitution, for its part, states that in the case of a conflict between international agreements on human rights and statutes, international agreements will be applied. One of the main justifications for enabling individual application to the Constitutional Court was decreasing applications to the European Court of Human Rights and remedying rights violations within national law. The flouting of Constitutional Court rulings by the first-instance courts has rendered this justification and, essentially, the individual application mechanism meaningless. Problems that we cannot remedy under national law will go before the European Court of Human Rights; the court will most probably rule that Turkey has violated the European Convention on Human Rights and award damages to the applicants. It was not for nothing that Turkey was the 2016 compensation record holder. Following the Dundar and Gul ruling, Mr Erdogan announced that only damages would be paid under a probable European Court of Human Rights rights violation and damages ruling. This comes down to however much it is, we will pay the money, but we will release nobody if a rights violation is declared. Such a situation will chart a path that may lead as far as Turkeys expulsion from the Council of Europe. The legitimacy crisis that comes from being a state that does not comply with its own constitution is an added bonus Is all this part of the ruling partys conscious strategy to break away? Or, has the power poisoning caused by state of emergency conditions well and truly robbed the ruling party of its sense? Patrons stand in line at the food court in the Oak Court mall. Although the main incident over the break occurred at the Wolfchase Galleria, Oak Court, which is the mall closest to campus, has had its share of criminal activity. Movie theaters, schools and churches these are just some of the places where high-profile shootings have occurred over recent years. Over the past year, malls were added to the list of locations shootings have taken place, with shoppers shot at, injured or killed in New York, Florida and Missouri malls. Shortly before the new year arrived, Tennessee became another state impacted by a mall shooting. On Dec. 26, 2017, gunshots were fired at the Wolfchase Galleria Mall, resulting in four injured victims and the arrest of Marquice Lester. Lester was charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of unlawful possession of a weapon, according to Shelby County Court documents. Six teenagers were charged with disorderly conduct and unlawful possession of a weapon, according to Memphis police. The shooting was not the first act of violence at Wolfchase Galleria the mall closed after a fight in 2014 and after another in 2016. Michael Gurley, a forensic psychologist and crime scene expert, said the lack of resources in Memphis is the reason many minors are involved in this type of behavior. Social media and a lack of juvenile intervention programs has a lot to do with this continuing problem, Gurley said. Gurley also said he thinks minors are following the violence they see every day in Memphis. The juvenile population in Memphis is affected by the crime rate in Memphis and the social media perception of Memphis, Gurley said. Juveniles follow a social movement and a cultural movement. When surrounded by violence, the result is violence. Gurley said the presence of the Wolfchase shooting serves as a reminder that the community should step up and prevent these incidents from happening. This can be done by recognizing all cultures and sub-communities within the city as equal, Gurley said. You cant have impoverished portions of the city that are suffering from violence and a violent response. Gurley also said the violence in Wolfchase defies the preconceived notion that violence only happens in South Memphis and Orange Mound. Violence sees no economic value its human response is based on developmental traits in life, Gurley said. Put bad fuel in a car, it runs bad. Put good fuel in a child, and they develop into a great adult. Other malls in Memphis, like the Oak Court Mall, have taken action as a result of the Wolfchase shooting by implementing a Parental Escort Policy. Oak Court Malls policy states anyone under the age of 18 must be with a parent or legal guardian. Guests who refuse to leave the mall when asked by security officers can be prosecuted for trespassing. The malls officials also stated the policy can be implemented at any day and time when it is deemed necessary by management, security or local authorities. Simon Property Group, Wolfchase Gallerias owner and public relations team, did not specify if they are adding extra security measures. As always, our primary concern is for the safety of our customers and employees, the company said in a public statement. Patrons stand in line at the food court in the Oak Court mall. Although the main incident over the break occurred at the Wolfchase Galleria, Oak Court, which is the mall closest to campus, has had its share of criminal activity. The Oak Court mall remained fairly quiet over the Christmas season. This mall closest to the U of M campus has seen its share of robberies and gun-related crimes recently. One main entrance to the Wolfchase Galleria mall leads to the carousel. Shots fired at the mall on Dec. 26, 2017, leave some patrons worried about their safety when visiting the Cordova area mall. Outside the doors of The Cheesecake Factory is where shots were reported on Dec. 26, 2017. This shooting worries some patrons and makes them wonder if this mall is the best place for shopping. Theyre calling it The Big Match the wedding of the year on FA Cup final day. And now its getting the big-screen treatment. When Prince Harry marries Meghan Markle on May 19 at St Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle, dozens of charitable donors and supporters many from the US will watch on giant TV screens at the couples Kensington Palace home. Supporters of Sentebale, the charity founded by Prince Harry in 2006 to help vulnerable children in Lesotho and Botswana, have received emails alerting them to the exclusive celebration, which will feature a reception and a viewing party, an American term for a big-screen gathering popular for events such as the Oscars. Prince Harry has sent emails to friends and charity workers to invite them to Kensington Palace to watch the Royal wedding on big screens The Kensington Palace event is perhaps a nod to the former Suits actresss Hollywood background. A Royal source said: Harry and Meghan are strictly limited to the numbers they can invite to the actual wedding so we understand this is a way of saying thank you to donors. St Georges Chapel seats about 800 people, compared with the 1,900 guests who were able to attend Prince Williams 2011 marriage to Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey. The charity workers and friends of the Royal couple will attend a 'viewing party' where they will be able to watch the wedding on a big-screen The source added: If you cant be at the wedding, you can watch it in a palace, which is the next best thing. A viewing party is a way of having an exclusive gathering, celebrating and feeling special even if you are not actually at the main event. Guests will be able to watch events unfold on giant screens, while mingling with an exclusive crowd. They can say they went to Kensington Palace for the wedding. To Americans, thats a big deal. A spokesman for Kensington Palace declined to comment. An 11-year-old girl from became convinced that she was hearing the devil's voice with insects crawling all over her body after she took Tamiflu last year. Lindsay Ellis's father, Charles, decided to go public with her harrowing story yesterday after reports emerged that another girl - a six-year-old in Allen, Texas - tried to jump out of a window under the influence of the flu treatment. Already this year, 30 children have died of the flu, and parents are turning to Tamiflu to treat their young ones at the first signs of sickness. But, in rare cases, Tamiflu has been linked to hallucinations like this one, from Indianapolis, Indiana, whose delusions subsided after she was taken off of the drug. Lindsay Ellis, then 11, was incoherent when her father took her to the hospital, where she had to stay for three months last year before recovering from a reaction to Tamiflu The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that anyone for whom the flu might pose serious health risks including children younger than five get flu shots, and start taking flu antiviral drugs. Tamiflu, or the generic oseltamivir, is one of three such drugs the CDC has endorsed for treating this year's flu. But every year, reports of terrifying neurological side effects emerge. The Food and Drug Administration ( FDA) says on its website that 'children and teenagers with the flu may be at a higher risk for seizures, confusion, or abnormal behavior early during their illness.' It says that these symptoms can happen in untreated flu sufferers or in those who have recently taken Tamiflu, but that that the latter group 'should be watched for signs of unusual behavior.' 'These serious side effects are not common but may result in accidental injury to the patient,' the site warns. This was very nearly the case for Lindsay Ellis. Linsday's father, Charles (center) is calling for better warnings of the dangerous potential side effects of Tamiflu (right) like those that his daughter(left) experienced Lindsay's brothers visited her in hospital in February, while she was absent from home and school last year When Lindsay, now 12, tested positive for flu at a local clinic, they prescribed her Tamiflu immediately, but did not mention any possible neuropsychotic side effects. Three days into the five day course, Charles's daughter started acting 'loopy.' While his cousin was watching her, he called Charles, who was at work at Kroger manufacturing, to tell him he needed to pick up Lindsday, who said she had 'things crawling all over her.' In the car, Lindsay spoke in a high-pitched voice, saying '"hi Daddy,' real weird, like somebody out of The Exorcist,' Charles says. Then she started screaming, 'oh my god, oh my god, daddy, get it off me, it hurts!' 'She said she saw a portal to hell, she could hear the devil, and she was going to resurrect my soul,' Charles says. She begged him to read to her from the Bible, and Charles realized that her delusions were based on her greatest fears. Her father rushed her to the hospital, where her spinal tap and brain activity tests were clear, but she continued to hallucinate for six hours, 'and then her body shut down,' Charles says, as if to escape her antiviral nightmare. Lindsay's mother, Jessica Martin, shared a picture of Lindsay as she began to recover in February, but Lindsay had a long road ahead, learning to talk and walk again The doctors told Charles Lindsay must have had a severe reaction to the Tamiflu. 'She looked like a vegetable,' Charles says. From that day, January 19, 2017 until March 10, 2017, she stayed more or less that way. Finally, Lindsay was released, but had to relearn to walk, talk and use a spoon - which she did, in a 'miraculous' three weeks, her father says. Lindsay eventually recovered, though she still suffers occasional tremors. Tamiflu's informational does include a warning about 'neuropsychiatric events.' However, the label says that the 'contribution of Tamiflu to these events has not been established,' dismissing them as possible symptoms of the flu itself. The insert says that the 'reports (mostly from Japan) of delirium and abnormal behavior leading to injury, and in some cases resulting in fatal outcomes.' But the insert says that it is too difficult to quantify these 'voluntary' reports, and that its own data suggests they are rare. Japan, where most of the reports of dangerous hallucinations have come from, banned the drug for children and teens after a disturbing number of young people jumped from windows and vehicles and tried to commit suicide two of whom completed the act. Charles says he wishes the US would do the same, or at least, that there were more clear warnings about the drug. 'Isn't it our d**** right for doctors to explain what could happen to your child?' he asks. While everyone was poring over the details of Donald Trumps medical examination, one insight into the Presidents life was largely overlooked: Mr Trump is going bald. Sure, this might be obvious from his unusual coiffure which is clearly intended to cover up a thinning thatch, but the Presidents medical report showed that he is taking an anti-hairloss drug, finasteride. Despite presenting himself as so cocksure and confident, deep down Mr Trump is clearly very unhappy about his appearance. Finasteride has been around for about 20 years, yet it is far from being a magic pill. It only causes re-growth of hair in a small number of people (in most, it simply slows the rate of loss), with 30 per cent improvement in hair loss over six months. Going bald is bound up with a loss of virility and masculinity in a way that the menopause is often linked to a loss of femininity for women Furthermore, the positive effects on your hair only last as long as you take it, and the potential side-effects can include impotence and breast growth. Its wildly popular, though. At least four of my friends are taking it and thats just those who have confided in me. I suspect there are many more, but they feel unable to discuss it because hair loss is such a sensitive issue for so many men. In fact, I think society fails to grasp quite the level of distress hair loss can cause men. Those who try to do something are mocked for being vain, while those who are balding are ridiculed for being old and unattractive. Going bald is bound up with a loss of virility and masculinity in a way that the menopause is often linked to a loss of femininity for women. For many young men who find theyre thinning on top, the image of the fat, bald man strikes horror. But theres more to it than simply being laughed at. Hair loss can result in a variety of psychological and emotional problems associated with how we perceive ourselves and how we think others view us. There is a sense of powerlessness and impotence, and a feeling of our bodies being out of control. I have seen many men who have become clinically depressed as a result of starting to lose their hair, and several have tried to kill themselves because it made them so low and desperate. Yet still we struggle to appreciate the impact it can have on a mans life. For while women will openly talk about the menopause, and support each other, men are notorious for bottling up their feelings so they remain hidden and unacknowledged. Just this week I went for a drink with friend who is a builder. He earns a modest amount but was telling me how he had been doing extra shifts to save money. What for? I asked, assuming it was something like a deposit for a flat. For a hair transplant, he said. I was amazed. Ive known him years and I dont think hes ever spoken to me about his appearance before. Sure, hes thinning on top but it never occurred to me that he was worried about it and certainly not worried enough to be saving 15,000 for surgery. I think about it constantly, he told me when I expressed surprise. I hate it and on bad days when its really on my mind, I dont want to go out in public. This admission was clearly a huge step for him, and I suspect he only told me because he knows I work in mental health. When I suggested he talk to his girlfriend about it, he shook his head. Id die of embarrassment, he said. Of course many men are able to embrace their thinning hair and, as Prince William did this week, opt for a closely shaved look. Even then, there is a whole emerging market for men who dont want to appear to be going bald despite shaving their head and some opt to have the stubble tattooed onto their heads. This can look very good. Another friend had this done a few years ago and his wife, whom he met later, still doesnt know that his stubble is in fact a clever tattoo. But even this goes to underline how all this is going on in the shadows. Men dont feel able to talk about it because they think it makes them seem unmanly. For many young men who find theyre thinning on top, the image of the fat, bald man strikes horror But the distress they experience is real, and I think many would benefit from psychotherapy to help them come to terms with this natural process. No intervention surgical or pharmacological offers a total solution to hair loss, whereas psychotherapy can liberate men to embrace whats happening rather than trying to fight it. Its perhaps easier to change whats happening inside your head than whats happening on top of it. The care homes that just don't care A Which? report this week suggested that half the major care home providers are failing residents in a quarter of their homes. But what particularly struck me was that small care homes are more likely to achieve a good rating than larger ones. Ive often thought the term care home is utterly inappropriate. For too many residents, these places fail to provide care and are certainly not a home in any sense that you or I would recognise. Many of them are little more than holding pens where people are sent to wait to die. There should be no place for the profit principle in providing care to the elderly and the vulnerable yet, increasingly, care homes are seen only as a source of income. More and more homes are being bought up by private equity firms who care not a jot about the welfare of the residents: they are only interested in their balance sheet. For them, the residents are just a figure on their bottom line. Over the past few years, two care homes have closed for every new one thats opened. At first, this sounds odd. Surely, with our ageing population, we need more care homes, not fewer? In fact, whats really happening is that smaller care homes are closing and being replaced with large, factory-style care homes, with some housing 60 or more residents. (In the medical profession they are often referred to as granny farms.) This is because, just as with factory farming, theyre deemed more efficient and cheaper. But as the Which? analysis shows, the care is grossly inferior. We know that living in large, characterless institutions is dehumanising, and there are increased rates of neglect and abuse. This is part of the reason that the old Victorian asylums were closed in the Nineties. You simply cannot provide care on an industrial scale. It makes my blood boil. Keep sexuality private Controversial plans for GPs and hospitals to ask all patients about their sexual orientation come into force this April. Many doctors have described these plans as intrusive and insulting, and I completely agree. Its another example of insidious state invasion into our private lives. But most importantly, it also risks alienating patients and encouraging them to give false information. I was treating a young female Muslim patient transferred from another service. Her previous therapist had asked about her sexuality and, put on the spot, she had said she was straight. She was actually gay, and her problems stemmed from this and her deeply homophobic upbringing. But she spent the next six months in therapy never saying what was really the problem. She told me only after Id been seeing her for months and she felt she could trust me. These sorts of plans are cooked up by a metropolitan elite who cannot get it into their heads that outside of Central London not everyone is waving a rainbow flag. And asking people if they are straight or gay before they volunteer that information themselves will damage the doctor-patient relationship. How we fail our brave ex soldiers Controversial plans for GPs and hospitals to ask all patients about their sexual orientation come into force this April. Many doctors have described these plans as intrusive and insulting, and I completely agree. Its another example of insidious state invasion into our private lives. But most importantly, it also risks alienating patients and encouraging them to give false information. I was treating a young female Muslim patient transferred from another service. Her previous therapist had asked about her sexuality and, put on the spot, she had said she was straight. She was actually gay, and her problems stemmed from this and her deeply homophobic upbringing. But she spent the next six months in therapy never saying what was really the problem. She told me only after Id been seeing her for months and she felt she could trust me. These sorts of plans are cooked up by a metropolitan elite who cannot get it into their heads that outside of Central London not everyone is waving a rainbow flag. And asking people if they are straight or gay before they volunteer that information themselves will damage the doctor-patient relationship. Health chiefs have ordered Britons with the flu to stay at home as new figures confirmed the worst outbreak in seven years. The number of cases rose by 40 per cent in a week and GP surgeries are heaving under the strain. But the fact that at least 120 people have died as a result of the flu so far this year means the advice to do without medical help might seem worrying and confusing. Here, I answer a few of the questions asked by rightly concerned patients in my clinic Surgical masks are popular in Japan and with celebrities such as Katy Perry (left) and Nicki Minaj (right) Surgical masks prevent you from touching something with the virus, then putting your fingers in your mouth or nose. Supermodel Naomi Campbell, pictured, knows that The official line is stay at home if you have the flu, and do not go to your GP. Is that safe? Yes, for those who are otherwise healthy and not in one of the high-risk groups vulnerable to the more severe complications that can arise from flu, such as sepsis or pneumonia. Children under five, those over 65 and pregnant women are all considered high-risk, as is anyone with diabetes or respiratory, heart, liver and kidney diseases. If this is you and you develop flu symptoms a fever, a cold and sore throat, aches and pains and feeling totally exhausted speak to your GP or call 111 for advice about what to do next. For everyone else, staying at home and resting will protect yourself and other people, as you are less likely to spread the virus. If symptoms do not improve, or they evolve or worsen after seven days, then seek medical attention. OK, how do I know when its time to call a doctor? Everyone should be aware of symptoms which may indicate something more serious: for example, difficulty breathing or passing water infrequently, despite drinking water, could indicate sepsis, a potentially fatal condition which can arise from flu. Flu doesnt generally cause vomiting or diarrhoea, so if these occur it should also be a cause for concern, as are symptoms such as chest pain, a prominent, focused headache, confusion and dizziness. A fast resting heartbeat or a temperature over 38C which doesnt come down with paracetamol and ibuprofen can indicate pneumonia. If you notice these symptoms, seek urgent medical attention either an out-of-hours GP, urgent care centre or A&E. How can I tell Ive got the flu and not something else just a cold, or something more serious, like meningitis, for instance? Most adults do not get a temperature with a cold. With flu, we typically see a sudden high temperature of over 38C. With meningitis, patients may also experience bad headaches and a sensitivity to light. The advice is that if there are symptoms that dont fit the flu mould, seek medical advice. GP's jab may not save you Vaccinations that are trivalent (protecting against three strains of the flu virus) and quadrivalent (protecting against four strains, including Japanese B Yamagata strain) are recommended by Public Health England. But whether youll be able to get the quadrivalent vaccine from your NHS GP is less clear. It is the choice of local clinical commissioning groups who control GP budgets as to which vaccine they buy. NHS England were unable to say which GP practices have the more expensive vaccine. Reports suggest many have opted for the trivalent vaccine. Quadrivalent jabs are routinely given to children as the Japanese strain is more common in youngsters. Although incidences of this flu are rising, doctors advise that the symptoms are less severe than the common A strains which the trivalent vaccine protects you against. Superdrug, some local pharmacies and some Boots branches offer the quadrivalent vaccine, which costs up to 12.99. Advertisement What can I do to protect myself from getting flu, and others if I have it? The main method of prevention is the flu vaccine. But there are steps you can take to minimise the risk. Flu isnt just transmitted by sneezing or coughing. The virus can live on surfaces such as door handles and bus handrails. You touch these, then touch yourself and the flu gets into your body. Regular hand-washing and sanitising will help. Surgical masks popular in Japan and with celebrities will also work, as they prevent you from touching something with the virus, then putting your fingers in your mouth or nose. People are mostly infectious in the first five days, so if someone at home has flu, a face mask is a wise investment. Who gets it on the NHS, and who has to pay? All the risk groups outlined above can get the free vaccine on the NHS from their GP and high street pharmacies. Children up to eight get it free at school. Carers also get it free; everyone else has to pay. The NHS offers the flu vaccine until March. Ive already had the flu this year. Can I get it again? At any one time, we think three or four strains circulate. So you can get one type, and then another. Ive read some vaccines dont protect against this years most common strain, the Japanese flu. How do I get the right one? Each year vaccines are developed against the most commonly circulating strains of flu. This year, the three-strain jab does not protect against Japanese flu, but there is a four-strain one that does (see above). Is Your Job Making You Ill?, by Dr Ellie Cannon, is published by Piatkus at 14.99. With a merlot-swilling depressed heroine suffering alcohol-induced memory lapses, a grisly murder and a series of riveting plot twists, The Woman In The Window has already had ecstatic reviews comparing it to Girl On A Train or Gone Girl. For author Daniel Mallory, a 38-year-old former publishing executive with a love of Hitchcock, film noir and Agatha Christie, the acclaim surrounding his debut novel is welcome if a little intimidating. Being called this years Gone Girl is flattering beyond belief, the soft-spoken author says, sitting in a cosy bar not far from his home in New Yorks trendy Chelsea neighbourhood, but theres always a danger when a book gets so much advanced buzz going that it wont live up to the hype. Daniel Mallory's debut novel was inspired by his love of Hitchcock, film noir and Agatha Christie For Oxford-educated Mallory, a lifelong love of classic cinema and Hitchcockian suspense led to him unashamedly tapping into the genre that has taken the publishing world by storm over the past few years. When Gillian Flynn published Gone Girl in 2012 she inducted a mass readership into a genre that had been around for decades, all the way back to Patricia Highsmith and Ruth Rendell. Gone Girl proved there was a modern mass market for it. I knew I had a psychological thriller in me but I didnt want to cough one up simply for the sake of striking while the iron was hot. As a publisher I can tell when an author is phoning it in. Mallory, a senior editor at William Morrow, wrote his suspense-laden thriller under the nom de plume A J Finn. A well-known figure in the literary world, he was terrified everyone would hate it and Id end up with egg on my face. Instead, the reverse has happened, and he is predicted to be this years breakout star. Dan Mallory: People dont necessarily want to read about depression, but they do like thrillers..' His heroine, Dr Anna Fox, is an agoraphobic child psychologist living in Manhattan. She spends most of her days downing vast goblets of wine and handfuls of prescription pills while spying on her neighbours through the lens of her Nikon camera. The rest of the time she bemoans the loss of her husband and eight-year-old daughter and watches countless black-and-white movies: Gaslight, Rebecca, Strangers On A Train. Then she witnesses a murder. Or does she? Throw in a handsome tenant in the basement, a troubled teen who lives across the street and a plot that twists and turns at giddying speed and Mallory believes he has a recipe for global success. Handsome, witty and erudite, Mallory could pass for a hero of romantic fiction. He says his happiest years were spent at Oxford University, where he developed his passion for English history and literature. As a publishing executive he represented authors Karin Slaughter, Peter Robinson, Val McDermid and Nicci French, and his literary agent is Felicity Blunt, sister of Girl On The Train actress Emily Blunt. I have some celebrity friends, but Ive never wanted to be famous, he says. Mallory, the oldest son of Wall Street banker John and mother Pamela, wrote the 90,000-word novel in a year of long weekends and nights while holding down his day job Part of the publishers pitch for The Woman In The Window is that Mallory, like his heroine, battled crippling depression for years before it was finally diagnosed and treated. I struggled from the age of 21. I tried everything drugs, therapy. There were days I couldnt get out of bed. Nothing worked. Id been misdiagnosed. When I finally got the right doctor he diagnosed bipolar disorder and put me on the correct medication. Within six weeks I was restored and transformed. It was the summer of 2015 and thats when I started thinking about writing a book. Once I was diagnosed I felt a hell of a lot better and I wanted to give this a shot. One thing I love so much about suspense fiction is it can be enjoyed on the surface or, if you want, you can take it to a deeper level. The most important thing to me was that my book was well written, furiously paced and spring-loaded with whip-crack turns. It also gave me a chance to write about depression, which I know so much about. People dont necessarily want to read about depression, but they do like thrillers, and I hope I give a sense of what depression is like through my book. Theres a stigma surrounding depression, particularly for men. Hopefully this will help get the dialogue going. He says Princes William and Harry talking about the depression they felt over the death of their mother has improved the situation. Its a healthy thing. For years men have been conditioned not to talk about depression. Growing up I felt isolated and lonely so I threw myself into books. Mallory, the oldest son of Wall Street banker John and mother Pamela, wrote the 90,000-word novel in a year of long weekends and nights while holding down his day job. Last September, the book was put up for auction. I was flying from New York to LA. By the time I landed, offers were rolling in from all over the world. The publishing rights sold for in excess of a million dollars. The next phone call was from Mallorys agent. She said Fox Studios had an exploding offer, one I had to accept right then, or it would go away. I asked what it was. She replied: Its a million dollars. I said Yes please, and we hung up. Is he living proof of the American dream? If you work hard and have a great idea you can have all your dreams come true. Whodun 'em? The best new thrillers of 2018 Girl In Snow Danya Kukalka Picador, Jan 11 The murder of a high-school princess seen through the eyes of the boy who was obsessed with her, maybe to a dangerous degree... A cliched title belies a dark and elegant thriller set in smalltown America. The Confession Jo Spain Quercus, Jan 11 A banker is beaten to death in front of his wife. The killer confesses, but doesnt say why he did it. Spains blackly comic touch who hasnt wanted to kill a banker? pulls us through a brilliantly dark tale. Girl In Snow by Danya Kukalka; The Confession by Jo Spain The Chalk Man C J Tudor Michael Joseph, Jan 11 Spooky English murder mystery. Chalk men start appearing on the walls of a cathedral city and then people start dying. The ideas here are stronger than the prose this is one that may work better on screen. Fear Dirk Kurbjuweit Orion, Jan 25 Chilling German thriller based on its authors real experience of having his family stalked by the downstairs neighbour. Kurbjuweit takes you right into the heart of the darkness. In film terms, its an arthouse chiller, not a blockbuster. The Chalk Man by C J Tudor; Fear by Dirk Kurbjuweit; Need To Know by Karen Cleveland Need To Know Karen Cleveland Bantam, Jan 25 Ex-CIA analyst Cleveland has written her debut thriller about a CIA analyst who discovers her husband is a Russian spy. Impressively compelling if highly unlikely, this is probably the banker among the New Year crop thanks to its sheer page-turning readability. John Williams Advertisement He has yet to splurge on any major purchases but dreams of buying a home in London. Throughout my career Ive seen books acquired very expensively only for them to fizzle and sink. I am constitutionally cautious. Kate Winslet is reportedly vying for the lead role in the Fox film, to be produced by Scott Rudin, the man behind movies such as Clueless, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Queen, though Mallory says: I didnt write the character with anyone in mind. He chose the alias A J Finn after a favourite cousin, Alice Jane, and a French bulldog called Finn, owned by another cousin. Critics are already raving. The book has shot to the top of The New York Times bestseller chart, with Stephen King calling it un-put-down-able. Gillian Flynn, the author who started it all with Gone Girl, calls it astounding and thrilling. I feel charmed and lucky beyond description, says Mallory. Will it become a blockbuster? I certainly hope so! The Woman In The Window is published by HarperCollins on Jan 25, priced 12.99. Offer price 10.39 (20 per cent discount) until Feb 4. Order at mailshop.co.uk/books or call 0844 571 0640; p&p is free on orders over 15. Daniel Mallory will be appearing at Waterstones Piccadilly in London at 6.30pm on Jan 24 to discuss the psychological thriller with fellow authors Ruth Ware and Stephanie Merritt. For tickets click here How would you endure months on end in knee-high mud, assailed by mortar attacks and surrounded by ravenous rats and the terrible stench of death? For British actor Sam Claflin, star of the Hunger Games films, the unlikely answer is by playing a medley of Busted and McFly songs to the army of make-up girls who are beavering away on the shell-shocked actors in Pinewood Studio Wales, just a few miles outside of Cardiff. The actor is trying to keep his spirits up amid one of the toughest shoots of his career. Generally, its the way that I deal with intensity, he explains. No wonder: hes working on Journeys End, a new British movie of R C Sherriffs 1928 World War I play, one of the most devastating dramas ever written about life in the trenches. The film is looking to bring its terrors to a new generation. Asa Butterfield stars in Journeys End, a new British movie of R C Sherriffs 1928 World War I play, one of the most devastating dramas ever written about life in the trenches It follows the success of last years Dunkirk, with One Direction star Harry Styles helping the World War II movie towards box-office takings of 385 million. Now the Journeys End team are aiming for the same, casting heart-throb Claflin alongside the equally popular Asa Butterfield (Hugo, Enders Game) and Tom Sturridge (The Hollow Crown). I dont care if younger women go and see the film because they love Sam Claflin, says producer Guy de Beaujeu. Once theyre in and watching it, they will have an experience theyve not had before. I want them to leave being able to talk more about World War I, a topic that is really so far away from their level of interest. There hasnt been a good WWI story since the days of Blackadder Goes Forth in the late Eighties. The poignant last episode (clearly borrowed from Sherriffs play), when Rowan Atkinsons Captain Blackadder and his men go over the top, brought home the horrors of the trenches to millions. I dont feel like my generation has had that Blackadder moment, says Butterfield, 20, who plays the naive soldier Raleigh. We dont really appreciate the First World War as maybe we should, or remember it as we should. Stephen Graham and Tom Sturridge in a scene from the film. There hasnt been a good WWI story since the days of Blackadder Goes Forth in the late Eighties Asa Butterfield; Sam Claflin and Paul Bettany in another scene. With this years centenary of the end of WWI, Journeys End couldnt be released at a more apt time A trench scene. Set largely in the rain-and mud-sodden dugout belonging to the British Army C Company, nerves are frayed and the stench of death lingers in the air Paul Bettany, the British star of The Avengers, plays Lieut Osborne, a dependable father-figure to the younger characters With this years centenary of the end of WWI, Journeys End couldnt be released at a more apt time. A harrowing but humane tale of six British soldiers in the trenches in Aisne, France, it unfolds over a few days in the run-up to the 1918 Spring Offensive, the series of devastating German attacks along the Western Front. Set largely in the rain-and mud-sodden dugout belonging to the British Army C Company, nerves are frayed and the stench of death lingers in the air, with these men little more than sacrificial lambs, there to slow down the German charge. When Journeys End director Saul Dibb read it, he was immediately hooked. It was completely fresh to me, he says. I guess I was struck by how honest it felt, and truthful. I felt like I was there with those characters. For the actors, its been a difficult journey. I got progressively more tired and broken as the filming went on, says Claflin, whose character Captain Stanhope spirals towards an alcohol-infused nervous breakdown. Dibbs film aims to capture the psychological impact of war of those on the front line. First staged in 1928, Journeys End has been frequently revived in theatres, yet despite a cast including Toby Jones, Stephen Graham and Robert Glenister, de Beaujeu struggled to get this film off the ground. World War I is part of our national consciousness, he says, and yet there is a perception that it doesnt make for good cinema. Films such as Testament Of Youth and dramas Birdsong and Parades End underperformed, but de Beaujeu is on a mission. We are making Band Of Brothers for World War I. While Sherriffs play was all interiors, Dibb expands the story, taking viewers into the battlefield notably in a scene when C Company raids the German trenches to bring back a prisoner. The raid is to try and get more detailed information about the advance, explains Paul Bettany, the British star of The Avengers, who plays Lieut Osborne, a dependable father-figure looked up to by Grahams Private Trotter and Joness cook Mason. On the studio set, the dugout is cramped and gloomy, emphasising the terrible conditions WWI soldiers endured. Taller actors keep knocking their heads. Im up to five, groans Bettany. Two weeks were also spent near Ipswich, where exterior scenes were shot in pre-existing trenches used for re-enactments. Nobody had filmed there for a while, says Dibb. So a lot of it started to disintegrate. We embraced what was already there: the rot, the mildew, the half-collapsed trenches leaning over. It made it feel that much more real. Dibb points out that on previous WWI films, such as Stanley Kubricks 1957 classic Paths Of Glory, the trenches were linear, to allow lumbering cameras to run along on tracks. Before we started this film, we thought, Oh, trenches are straight. Theyre not straight. Theyve all got kinks in them. The reason being if a bomb hits, the whole trench wont collapse. But on Journeys End, using manoeuvrable lightweight cameras, these muddy channels could be more labyrinth-like. Certainly our ambition was to be completely authentic. Best of British: Next up in 2018 Early Man (January 26) Aardmans Nick Park does One Million Years BC in this stop-motion animation comedy about a caveman who discovers football. Eddie Redmayne is on vocal duty. Aardmans Nick Park does One Million Years BC in this stop-motion animation comedy about a caveman who discovers football On Chesil Beach (June 15) Saoirse Ronan and rising star Billy Howle take centre stage in Ian McEwans novel about a young couple in the Sixties whose relationship unravels on honeymoon. Robin Hood (September tbc) Kingsman star Taron Egerton gets to play Nottinghams favourite outlaw in this gritty geezer take on the classic myth. Jamie Dornan and Jamie Foxx co-star. This years major-league period drama, Saoirse Ronan (above) plays Mary Stuart amid her attempts to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (September tbc) It collapsed mid-shoot years ago, but now Terry Gilliams long-awaited spin on Cervantes classic novel is coming. Jonathan Pryce stars. Mary Queen Of Scots (November tbc) This years major-league period drama, Saoirse Ronan (above) plays Mary Stuart amid her attempts to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie). Advertisement During the run-up to the shoot, the cast did a military boot camp marching, weapons training, even history lessons though even that didnt prepare them for filming in muddy, sub-zero conditions. It allows you to try to understand what it had been like, says Butterfield. And we were able to come back home afterwards and have a shower and have a bed to sleep in. Theres nothing to complain about when you realise what these guys were actually going through. It makes you appreciate how tough they were. Combat Stress, the charity dedicated to war veterans mental health, introduced the actors to three soldiers who had all suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. One had lost a leg in Afghanistan, another had fought in every British Army conflict since the Falklands. Talking with the PTSD sufferers made me appreciate soldiers in a very different way, says Bettany. The moment you take away all of the politics of whatever ghastly war was being fought, there are human beings at the very sharp end of that stick who can be devastated by it. Claflin, whose shell-shocked character would today be classed as a PTSD sufferer, adds: Whats great about the people we met is theyre getting help. Certainly, the human toll that war takes is why modern audiences will relate to Journeys End, adds de Beaujeu. This film is utterly relevant to today. Were making a film about six guys living on the front line. Their relationships, their hopes, their fears, their mental instability that could be anywhere now. Dibb nods. Its also about understanding how lucky we are to have peace. That is not something that should be taken for granted. Journeys End opens on February 2 The Post Cert: 12A 1hr 56min Rating: Every year theres a big film that underperforms come awards time, and this year its beginning to look as if it might be The Post. Despite starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks and being directed by the great Steven Spielberg, it won no Golden Globes (it was nominated for six) and failed to secure a single nomination either for the Baftas or the Screen Actors Guild awards, which are handed out tonight. All, however, is not yet lost: the Oscar nominations are announced on Tuesday and in a normal year Streep has to do little more than cough to get herself on the list. Maybe The Post will be the film that comes with a late run maybe. Nevertheless, I braced myself for disappointment as I finally got to see it myself. And you can soon see the problem, particularly facing British audiences. This is a very American story involving American newspapers (The Washington Post, in particular), American politics and an American war (Vietnam), all of which came together almost five decades ago. The Posts finest hour the Watergate scandal may still have been to come but, nevertheless, this remains a serious, important and, for the most part, well executed film Given that its set during the troubled presidency of Richard Nixon, the obvious comparison is with All The Presidents Men, the film about that other great Nixon-era scandal, Watergate. But that picture, starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford as Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, was released just two years after Nixon finally resigned. Superficially, The Post has nothing like the same immediacy. But only superficially, because what The Post undoubtedly has is context really powerful context. Forty-seven years after The Washington Post published the so-called Pentagon Papers, there is another paranoid bully in the White House, press freedom is under real threat and the US capital is awash with lies, slander and allegations of fake news. Nixon would have felt at home. Its this contemporary resonance that gives The Post its oomph. Despite starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks (above) and being directed by the great Steven Spielberg, it won no Golden Globes (it was nominated for six) So what were the Pentagon Papers? Essentially, they were made up of a hugely sensitive piece of political research which showed that the American White House, under a succession of presidents, had not only known that the Vietnam War was unwinnable but had actively and secretly expanded the scope of the war during that time. Given that there was scarcely a family in America that hadnt sent a father, son or brother to the war, tens of thousands of whom had been killed or injured and that the war was still being fought, this was incendiary stuff. No wonder the papers were stolen by an appalled whistleblower, no wonder Nixon wanted to keep them out of the newspapers, and no wonder the soon-to-be-legendary Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee was determined to publish them. IT'S A FACT Ben Bradlee's sister-in-law had an affair with JFK, revealed in her diary. In his memoir, Bradlee wrote that he conspired with the CIA to destroy the diary. Advertisement This is a film that will delight newspaper journalists. Like Spotlight, the Oscar-winning picture from 2015 about the The Boston Globes expose of a Catholic Church sex-abuse scandal, The Post captures not only the excitement of a paper on the trail of a big story My God, the fun, Bradlee enthuses but also evokes a bygone era of typewriters, hot metal and those strange vacuum tubes that used to whizz our carefully sub-edited copy down to the composing room. I can see that a civilian audience might be at least one star less excited, despite the undoubted quality of Hankss likeable performance as Bradlee. I warmed less to Streeps, as the well-connected owner and publisher of the Post, Katharine Graham. Its a characteristically mannered, nervy, twitchy Streep turn, portraying a woman short on confidence, long on indecision and constantly bullied by her male subordinates. Its a characteristically mannered, nervy, twitchy Streep turn, portraying a woman short on confidence, long on indecision and constantly bullied by her male subordinates Its no doubt accurate Graham admitted to such shortcomings in her autobiography but one of the reasons its being ignored so far by award juries may be that it feels like the wrong performance for these angry #MeToo times, a million miles away, for instance, from Frances McDormands feisty, kick-male-a** turn in Three Billboards Theres another problem too. In making the Pentagon Papers the focus rather than Graham (now theres a film that could have chimed with the times), an already complex and challenging screenplay has had to accommodate the fact that it was actually The New York Times that broke the story first. The Post only jumped in after Nixon had served the NYT with an injunction. Spielberg, despite occasionally directing with a slightly heavy hand, does a good job of disguising this inconvenient truth, helped undeniably by Streep as she builds to her big moment. The Posts finest hour the Watergate scandal may still have been to come but, nevertheless, this remains a serious, important and, for the most part, well executed film. But its the context of today that makes it. SECOND SCREEN Coco (PG) Rating: The Final Year (12A) Rating: The Commuter (15) Rating: In Coco, the latest offering from Pixar, our young Mexican hero Miguel has grown up in a family where music has been banned since his great-great-grandfather, legendary musician Ernesto de la Cruz, chose fame over family and ran off. Which is a shame for Miguel, as he is a born musician who loves the songs his forebear made famous and dreams of enjoying similar success himself. In Coco our young Mexican hero Miguel has grown up in a family where music has been banned since his great-great-grandfather chose fame over family and ran off So he secretly enters a music competition on the Day of the Dead, tries to borrow his great-great-grandfathers guitar from his elaborate tomb and ends up in the Land of the Dead himself. Which, of course, is where the great Ernesto can be found. Might he be able to help Miguel become a musician? Complicated? Yes, and a little slow, too. But the animation is as colourful as the story and emotions do eventually reach the desired level. So much has happened in the year since Donald Trump entered the White House that The Final Year , charting the last 12 months of the Obama administration, feels as if it has missed its time So much has happened in the year since Donald Trump entered the White House that The Final Year, charting the last 12 months of the Obama administration, feels as if it has missed its time. Neeson as an ex-cop in The Commuter Of the three key Obama aides that Greg Barker focuses his camera on, only John Kerry will be familiar to British audiences. But do look out for the agonising moment when Samantha Power, US Ambassador to the United Nations, invites 37 of the UNs female ambassadors to an election-night party where she expects them to share in the pleasure of watching Americas first female president being elected. Liam Neeson, left, reinvented himself as an action hero with Taken. Since then, the quality of his output has been variable, but one thing is certain: he will never make a worse movie than The Commuter. Neeson plays an ex-cop who is approached by a woman on a train. We know its going to be more complicated than that; what we dont know is how ridiculous the story is going to get. The Birthday Party Harold Pinter Theatre, London Until Apr 14 2hrs 10mins Rating: When the young Harold Pinter went to see his play without a ticket, an usherette stopped him. But Im the author, he protested. The woman, who knew a dying show when she saw it, replied: Oh, you poor chap. The house is presided over by a dim landlady called Meg, played nicely here by Zoe Wanamaker (above with Toby Jones), her hair crimped and her tea like gravy Sixty years ago this play was a resounding flop that lasted just one week in London. Now its regarded as a post-war classic, staged here in the theatre thats been renamed after the grumpy writer whose strange, pause-laden plays dont have the courtesy to tell us whats going on. We are definitely somewhere by the sea. Probably the sort of run-down resort, as Keith Waterhouse once said of Brighton, that looks as if its helping the police with their inquiries. The brown doors and bulging wallpaper resemble the gruesome digs that Pinter stayed in when he was a young actor in rep. He often played heavies in tatty old thrillers of the sort that this drama deliberately echoes. Mr Goldberg is played with an insincere smile by Stephen Mangan The house is presided over by a dim landlady called Meg, played nicely here by Zoe Wanamaker, her hair crimped and her tea like gravy. Megs idea of a slap-up breakfast is corn flakes and sour milk followed by a cremated slice of fried bread. Her husband is the benign Petey (the excellent Peter Wight), who stacks deckchairs on the seafront. Meg fusses over the resident Stanley, a seedy former piano player who could do with a wash. Hes played with squinting suspicion by Toby Jones in a pair of revoltingly stained trousers. In due course, two sinister gents in smart suits turn up, their mission to terrify Stanley and take him away in their car. But first they organise a deeply sinister birthday party for Stanley, whose possible betrayal of these gangsters or their syndicate is left unexplained. One, the Jewish Mr Goldberg, is played with an insincere smile by Stephen Mangan and is all charm until he turns sadistic. Tom Vaughan-Lawlor is his biddable Irish sidekick McCann, also very nasty. Pinter invests this B-movie plot with lots of bullying coercion beneath the non-sequiturs and the aggressive exchanges. A game of blind mans buff is memorably horrid; the party, no celebration, is clearly a prelude to a very sticky end for Stanley. The writing is like a sinister musical score and the plays airless intensity makes you want to take a stroll on the seafront, here vividly evoked by the sound of gulls and breaking waves. IT'S A FACT In the Fifties, Harold Pinter was an actor with the stage name David Baron who also worked as a waiter, postman, bouncer and snow-clearer. Advertisement Director Ian Rickson and his starry cast stage it all with great care and it gets laughs where it should. I loved the way Meg looks revolted by the use of succulent, as if its a dirty word. But I cant be alone in sitting through this cruel, rather godforsaken play with respect but precious little affection. Teddy Watermill Theatre, Bangor, Berkshire Until Feb 10 (then touring until May 6) 2hrs 15mins Rating: This new rock n roll musical is set among the bomb sites of south London. Its 1956 and young Teddy with frock coat and greased hair meets ice-cool blonde Josie. Both are broke and need a few bob to see Johnny Valentine, the Casanova of Cool (Dylan Wood, left), on tour in the UK. His four-piece band blasts out Dougal Irvines sound-a-like hits eg Shake, Rattle And Rail in the manner of Bill Haley, Elvis and Gene Vincent, the sort of music that drove teenagers like John Lennon wild. This new rock n roll musical is set among the bomb sites of south London. Its 1956 and young Teddy with frock coat and greased hair meets ice-cool blonde Josie George Parker and Molly Chesworth, as the two delinquents on the tiles, move like panthers to the music. Like the band, theyre on stage all the time. Tristan Bernayss clever rhyming script features lots of swearing and grievous bodily harm in an evening ponging of nightclub sweat and spilt beer. But its all atmosphere. Snappy though Eleanor Rhodes production is, theres nothing much to this story of two youths who start out, and remain, utterly opaque. Good moves and a cracking live band help cover up the cracks. snapdragonproductions.com Rita, Sue and Bob Too Royal Court, London Until Sat (touring till Feb 17) 1hr 20mins Rating: This play was written in 1982 by Andrea Dunbar when she was 19 and living on a sink estate in Bradford. Pregnant at the age of 15, the author had three babies by different fathers and died from her rough life at 29. This play was written in 1982 by Andrea Dunbar when she was 19 and living on a sink estate in Bradford. Pregnant at the age of 15, the author had three babies Her unvarnished, northern, working-class voice was one of the great theatrical finds of the Eighties. Even so, the Royal Court recently considered withdrawing this revival a co-production with the Out Of Joint theatre company and the Octagon Theatre Bolton after its director, Max Stafford-Clark, was accused of sexual misconduct. It was Stafford-Clark who had originally brought the play which features scenes of two underage girls having sex with a 27-year-old man in his car to the Royal Court. IT'S A FACT Andrea Dunbar disowned the 1987 film, starring three future Emmerdale actors. She later died in the very pub used in the movie, in beacon. Advertisement Actually a lot of female laughter and friendship fills this untamed, very sweary play, which pays no heed to todays new puritanism. It never even gets round to condemning the randy Bob (James Atherton), and the sex is treated as something that pals Rita and Sue (touchingly played by Taj Atwal and Gemma Dobson) look forward to. Its a shame that the uncertain direction of the recently instated Kate Wasserberg often feels cartoonishly grim oop North. Memorable, though, are Samantha Robinson as Bobs betrayed wife Michelle, David Walker as Sues drunken slob dad, and Sally Bankes as her mum a bulldozer in hair-curlers. The Here And This And Now Southwark Playhouse, London Until Feb 10 1hr 20mins Rating: Glenn Waldrons clever black comedy opens with a team of sales reps on an away-day. They work for a second-rate pharma company that makes a second-rate treatment for liver spots. Theyre honing the cheesy patter meant to schmooze them past receptionists and in to see the senior consultants who hold the purse strings. If they do well and stick it for a few years, they might make the promised land of head office in Woking. Glenn Waldrons clever black comedy opens with a team of sales reps on an away-day. They work for a second-rate pharma compan. Above: Andy Rush as Robbie Team leader Niall (Simon Darwen) drums into the reps the need to Captivate! Associate! Detonate! Kill! when delivering their spiel. Some are better at it than others, and its clear that the awkward Helen (Becci Gemmell) just hasnt got the right stuff. Meanwhile, in between practising their pitches, Robbie (Andy Rush) and Gemma (Tala Gouveia) flirt and are on the brink of a relationship. Flash-forward to a dystopian future in which a virus has wiped out huge swathes of the global population, probably because the pharmaceutical industry has been uninterested in researching an unprofitable area. Niall and nervy Helen meet again in very different and disturbing circumstances. Performed in the Playhouses small studio space, the play certainly in the first act might benefit from a less spartan set, and its a little too evident that the comedy is the spoonful of sugar that helps the message go down. Nevertheless, its funny and thought-provoking and, if not quite a panacea, could be just what the doctor ordered as an effective remedy for the mid-winter blues. Neil Armstrong Let's get one thing straight. Whisky is not, as I recently overheard at a reputable tasting, fighting fuel for idiots. Whisky is actually perfect for wine lovers. Burns Night this Thursday is a chance to revel in the splendour of whisky finished in port pipes, sherry butts, sauternes casks and more. Time to pick your dream dram for the slicing of the haggis, that Great chieftain o the puddin-race. On setting out from my grandparents home in Falkirk when I was just 18, the first distillery I ever visited was Glenmorangie on the shores of the Dornoch Firth. The copper stills as tall as giraffes and the sweet scent of maturing casks is still an inspiring memory for me. The Lasanta whisky Ive picked out, above, translates from Gaelic as warmth and passion exactly what every whisky fan feels about their favourite tipple selected from Scotlands exquisite regional diversity, from smoky, burly island bottlings to the elvish purity and grace of Speyside. Glengoyne has the rarity of being situated both in the Highlands (distillery) and Lowlands (warehouse) and I reckon has wide appeal try its 17-year-old for an absolute treat. I warmly recommend specialist stockists such as masterofmalt.com or thewhiskyexchange.com, which stocks Cragganmore 2004 Distillers Edition: it blew my mind with its gorgeous sweet port finish. Nab a handy sample 3cl bottle for 6.75 to see if you agree. Fighting fuel for idiots? No, it's great for wine fans For similar samples, whisky-me.com is a new online service from 7, with whisky delivered in 5cl pouches through the post. As for own labels, try M&S Highland 12-year-old Single Malt for 30, or Berrys Own Miltonduff Cask 701547 2009 Single Malt, for 45 at bbr.com for spicy splendour. And for big-name blends, Johnnie Walker Blue Label is highly sought-after only one in 10,000 casks makes the cut 134.74 from masterofmalt.com. But their Black Label is the best all-rounder, to reflect Burnss shunning of watery stuff Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware. Slainte! Star man: Engineering tycoon Elon Musk Can Elon Musk be human? He might sound like a dodgy brand of men's aftershave, but there is growing consensus the engineering tycoon might in fact be an artificial cyborg, created by science to save mankind. There seems no other way to explain the relentless work ethic behind this peculiar South African, 46, whose drive and ambition is simply beyond the reach of mere mortals. Musk is the pioneering architect of three separate billion-dollar companies, all attuned to his singular mission of dragging us into a braver, safer future. There is Tesla motors, which makes affordable, battery-operated cars that he says will help reduce global warming. There is energy firm Solar City, which he hopes will break our reliance on Middle Eastern oil. And there is Space X, an aerospace manufacturer which is redefining the space travel industry, making the rockets we blast into orbit cheaper and more efficient. Appearance-wise, the Musk autobot has benefited from extensive physical upgrades since his arrival on American soil, some 20-odd years after his creation in Pretoria. Once a roly-poly ball of cookie-dough, his exoskeleton boasts sharper, more defined lines. His hair, once a threadbare hotch-potch, is now bushier. His geeky uniform of plaid shirts and ill-fitting chinos has been replaced by snug T-shirts, designer jeans and pointy shoes. His creators, Maye, a leggy model, and Errol, an engineer, noted little Elon's ability to absorb information at an early age. When his father bought him his first computer, Elon mastered the coding within three days. He told a friend he wished he didn't have to waste time refuelling on food so he could work more. Early programming glitches meant he was not like the other school children. He would zone out and be uncommunicative. Bullies beat him mercilessly. Musk still does not understand why. Emotion remains an Achilles' heel. When his parents separated he went to live with Errol, whom he says was not a nice man. Musk will not elaborate. Talking about his father makes Musk sad. Green cred: Musk unveils the Tesla Roadster 2 in November 16,last year. The firm makes affordable, battery-operated cars that he says will help reduce global warming He has tried marriage on three occasions, without success. His met his first wife Justine, with whom he has triplets and twins, at Queen's University in Canada, where he enrolled after leaving South Africa aged 17. She compared his wooing technique to Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator he simply would not stop. Musk had lots of money by the time they divorced eight years later. Living in California he'd set up Zip2, an online Yellow Pages for the newspaper industry, which he sold his stake in for 15million. Then he set up X.com, an email payment firm which ended up merging with Paypal. Musk didn't mix well with the Paypal bunch who found him difficult and controlling (a common gripe) so removed him as chief executive. When it was sold to Ebay for 1billion, Musk made 120million but would rather have still had control of his company. He used the money to invest in his electric cars and space rockets. He wishes Tesla could be a private company like Space X. Tesla is the most shorted stock in the US. Musk worries it will be taken away from him, like Paypal. Armed with a 17billion fortune, he lives in a 12million home in Bel Air, California. Google founder Larry Page is his good buddy. But not Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos. Bezos lured vital Space X employees to work on his own intergalactic programme Blue Origin. He remarried in 2010 to British actress Talulah Riley, 32, who he met in London bar Whisky Mist, where they talked about spaceships. They divorced, remarried, then divorced again. Musk's eyes are really only on the stars. He wants to make rockets which take us from New York to London in 30 minutes and space pods in which we can all travel to Mars by 2024. Would you bet against him? Like The Terminator, Musk can't be bargained with. He can't be reasoned with. And he absolutely will not stop ever, until he succeeds. There is no room for complacency about the impact of the Carillion implosion on private sector involvement in government projects and the reputation of the City. Among those paying the heaviest price will be the 30,000 smaller firms and their employees who face ruin because of the catastrophic management of Carillion and bungling oversight in Whitehall. These firms are the bedrock of our free enterprise economy and it is their energy and resilience which enabled Britain to bounce back quickly from the financial crisis. Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects have been far from ideal as a National Audit Office report indicated this week. Among those paying the heaviest price of the Carillion collapse will be the 30,000 smaller firms and their employees who face ruin because c the firm's catastrophic management But we should be careful about buying into the assertion of Royal Bank of Scotland chairman Sir Howard Davies that PFI has been a fraud on the people. It is a suggestion which could have come out of the mouth of Jeremy Corbyn. Has Davies forgotten that the bank he heads survives because of a 45billion direct bail-out from taxpayers and advocated that customers of its recovery arm should be allowed to hang themselves? Yes, PFI contracts may cost more than direct borrowing by the Government. But that is because the public sector is paying for the more efficient execution of business. The Corbyn condemnation of PFI as an outsourcing racket, justifying bringing the contracts back to government, must be resisted. The underlying problem is in Whitehall and at Westminster. It is only too easy for civil servants to sign off on the lowest tender and Carillion were experts at delivering this. A preferable approach would have been to choose a more realistic bid by a better contractor. Instead, civil servants stood back, waited for Carillion to go wrong and claim it wasnt me, guv. Some of the better infrastructure projects of recent times, including the Severn Crossing and the M6 toll road, have been delivered as a result of intelligent private partnership with government, along with many impressive new hospitals. If anyone needs insight into the hopelessness of Whitehall when it comes to delivery, I would suggest they take a look at Arcadia boss Sir Philip Greens 2010 report. Sir Philip may not be to everyones taste but his study highlights inconsistent commercial skills and lack of budgetary discipline across government departments. The idea that repatriating the 700 or so PFI contracts back to government will improve matters is piffle. Just look at far away Venezuela to know how disastrous that might be. Clearly a huge amount of blame for what happened at Carillion must be laid at the door of another Philip Green, the chairman, former chief executive Richard Howson, interim CEO Keith Cochrane and the rest of the board. It is shocking that a contractor and outsourcer of Carillions scale was down to its last pennies when it wrote a begging letter to the government on January 1 asking for a 150million bailout. Until that moment Whitehall seemed only dimly aware of problems even though hedge funds had read the runes long before. All of these issues at Carillion, including pension funds with a black hole of 2.6billion, need to be explored properly. The public can have no confidence in the inquiries so far announced. The Insolvency Service may have the powers to ban and punish rogue directors, but as the BHS investigation (still not finished) shows it struggles with complexity. Faith in the Financial Conduct Authoritys skill as an enforcer is badly shaken by its snail pace enforcement against HBOS executives, a lack of willpower in dealing with RBSs global restructuring unit and failure to clampdown on share price movements on the eve of profit warnings. As for the Financial Reporting Council, it failed miserably in punishing KPMG over the HBOS audit so no one can have any confidence in the probe into the same firms audit at Carillion. Rich company directors and auditors employ best magic circle law firms to plough the ground first, claim privilege and tie regulators in knots. That is why a full judicial inquiry which forces all those involved to testify in public and under oath is demanded. Kicking a huge scandal involving misuse of government and shareholders money into long grass is unacceptable. The public deserves answers speedily. Delay may be politically expedient but is a dereliction of duty. Vulture investors have made a 1.2billion bet against some of the best-known High Street retailers. Hedge funds are tipping the share prices of Debenhams, Sainsbury's and pet supplies chain Pets At Home to plummet as the High Street continues its struggle against online competition. They can make hundreds of millions or even billions of pounds by betting that the businesses' share prices will fall. So-called short-sellers walked away with more than 200million betting on the demise of construction giant Carillion. They did so by carefully analysing details in the firm's annual report and spotting warning signs that ministers seem to have missed. Now they have turned their attention to the High Street. So have they seen something others haven't and should you heed this warning? Russ Mould, of broker AJ Bell, says: 'You've always got to be aware of what they are saying, because they won't take that decision and risk lightly, but it doesn't mean they're always right.' Debenhams is Britain's most shorted stock, highlighting the troubles the 239-year-old department store chain is facing and rival Marks & Spencer is one of the top ten. At the start of January Debenhams issued a profit warning following poor Christmas sales. Analysts blamed poor product pricing, badly designed stores and a failure by the retailer's senior management to differentiate the business from its competitors. The news caused a sharp fall in the share price, which is down 70 per cent in the past five years. In a bid to reassure investors, Debenhams chief executive Sergio Bucher this month announced a 10million cost saving plan but experts say that's not enough. This month broker Liberum Capital reaffirmed its 'Sell' rating for Debenhams while Peel Hunt went from 'Hold' to 'Sell'. Ben Yearsley of adviser Shore Financial Planning says: 'I just can't see where Debenhams fits into today's market. If you've got shares in them it's possibly time to get out.' Hedge funds are shorting more than 10 per cent of Sainsbury's shares. Faced with threats on multiple fronts from discount supermarkets, a recovering Tesco and Amazon's entry into the grocery markets, the vultures smell blood. Debenhams is Britain's most shorted stock, highlighting the troubles the 239-year-old department store chain is facing and rival Marks & Spencer is one of the top ten Over the past year investors have had a bumpy ride with the supermarket's share price hitting a 12-month high of 281.7p before sliding as low as 224.8p. But it has recovered closing up 0.12 per cent, or 0.3p, at 258p a week after announcing decent Christmas trading figures which revealed a 1 per cent boost in clothing sales and 2.3 per cent rise for groceries. Sainsbury's, which serves more than 22m shoppers a week, has also ramped up its same-day grocery delivery service, which is available to 38 per cent of households. However, its general merchandise sales which includes Argos, the catalogue retailer, posted a disappointing 1.4 per cent drop in sales, prompting speculation it was dealing with the threat of Amazon less well than its parent. While the results were mixed, broker opinion suggests it's too early to make a call on Sainsbury's, with four rating the firm 'Neutral' and only one firm each urging investors to 'Strongly Sell' or 'Strongly Buy'. Investors in the pet supplies chain Pets At Home have taken a hammering over the past two and a half years, seeing the value of their investments fall by 43 per cent. However, the firm's share price is up 10 per cent on its low of 160p in November. Like many other names on the High Street, it faces intense competition from online rivals which are able to sell their products more cheaply. A recent round of price slashing on everything from dog leads to pet food has boosted sales but at the expense of profit. The firm's earnings were up 6 per cent to 468million, although profit slid more than 11 per cent to 41million. Despite the dip, two brokers who have published outlook notes on Pets At Home in the past six months have given it a 'Strong Buy' rating. Another said it was 'Neutral', while another issued a 'Strong Sell' rating. Mould added: 'Like many companies, it's facing stiff competition from online but it has taken steps in the short-term to address that by cutting its prices.' Britain's biggest travel agent has launched an overhaul of its business to herald a new era of package holidays. In a multi-million pound revamp Thomas Cook is to transform family holidays by allowing customers to tailor individual bits of their trip to their needs. Families will be able to choose types of rooms, meal options, views, or leg room on flights to make their holiday as swanky or as cheap as they like. So for example, customers will be able to buy a traditional off-the-peg package deal, but then decide not to have full-board if they like to eat out and have a room facing the sea or one that is particularly quiet. Multi-million pound revamp: Thomas Cook is to transform family holidays by allowing customers to tailor individual bits of their trip to their needs Thomas Cook is also investing millions in building hotels, and in offering boutique accommodation for a more luxury break. The overhaul marks a dramatic shift in the battle among Britain's biggest travel firms to fight for business. The industry is rebuilding after fending off the threat of online rival Expedia, but has also had to combat huge changes in consumer demand because of terror threats in North Africa that have even affected bookings in resorts in Turkey. Peter Fankhauser, Thomas Cook's chief executive, said it was part of efforts to 'reboot package holidays for the 21st century'. He added: 'The days of one-size-fits-all package holidays are long gone, and by offering more flexible options in a range of hotels that are carefully tailored to every type of customer we're attracting people who might not have thought a Thomas Cook holiday was for them.' Thomas Cook, which was founded in 1841 as a rail booking service, has already launched a service letting customers choose their hotel room at 50 locations, with plans to expand this to another 250 this summer. The service fronted with a campaign featuring TV presenter and property expert Amanda Lamb is the first of its kind offered by a UK travel agent. The packaged holiday was invented in the 1950s becoming hugely popular in the Seventies as a way for families to have one way of booking everything they needed for a trip. However, the internet has heralded an era in which many travellers want to book flights and hotels themselves. Despite an initial threat from online rivals, travel agents have survived but have acknowledged that they need to be more flexible to keep business. Fankhauser, 57, has sought to modernise the company since joining in 2014. Roots: Thomas Cook was founded in 1841 as a rail booking service The latest plans have emerged as travel operators are in the midst of their busiest month. Thomas Cook expects to take about 25 per cent of its annual bookings in January. Fankhauser has focused on promoting all-inclusive deals and sold thousands of the firm's franchised hotels to focus on quality. He has also launched stylish 'boutique' Casa Cook Hotels, which promote package holidays to a younger generation. Each Casa Cook is designed to be different, with the chain so far having sites on the Greek islands of Kos and Rhodes. The company is planning to build its own hotels for the first time as well. Until now, its own brands including Sunwing, Sentido and Casa Cook have been franchised or managed, with the hotels leased from landlords. But after investing in Swiss property group Aldiana, the partners have agreed to spend about 150million on at least another five hotels which they will own and directly manage. In a separate move, Thomas Cook has partnered with Expedia to let people snap up spare seats on flights or vacant rooms in hotels at a discount. Grim results sent shares in a number of FTSE 250 companies plummeting as much as 50 per cent. Investors nerves were shot as flooring specialist Carpetright and funeral services firm Dignity issued profit warnings. Budget fashion retailer Bonmarche also reported dismal Christmas sales. Shares in Carpetright crashed by 39 per cent, while Dignity plunged by 50 per cent. Bonmarche fell 17 per cent. The hit to Carpetrights share price has wiped more than 40million off the companys value. Analysts said the firms trading, which dropped 3.6 per cent in the 11 weeks to January 13, should be a stark wake-up call for the retailer which also dramatically slashed its profit guidance for the year. Carpetright said fewer customers on the High Street and volatile trading at its European operations had hit business. Dignity revealed full-year results were likely to be far lower than predicted. It has been battling for business from the likes of Co-op Funeralcare, which cut prices in September. Visits to Bonmarches High Street stores slumped by 9.7 per cent in the 13 weeks to December 30 the worst figures from a clothing retailer so far this year. Honor Strachan, a retail analyst at Global Data, said the firm had missed the mark on appealing to its older demographic, with these customers likely to have shopped with retailers like M&S instead. Rumours of a takeover sent Fevertree shares flying as traders speculated a consumer goods giant could make a bid for the business. A Buy rating from analysts at Jefferies started the chatter as the broker said the business was scalable and there was little threat to it from rival Schweppes. Jefferies said that, while there are around 70 copycat tonics on the market, Fevertree is six times the size of its nearest competitor and has the first-mover advantage of strong brand awareness. The premium drinks maker first listed in 2014 and became a fast favourite as sales in supermarkets and bars surged. Lapping it up: Jefferies said that, while there are around 70 copycat tonics on the market, Fevertree is six times the size of its nearest competitor Fevertree, which was valued at 154million at IPO and is worth more than 2.4billion, has tapped into a trend towards top-notch tipples and the so-called gin-naissance. Targeting discerning drinkers with its flavoured tonic waters, it has seen its share price increase 1344 per cent from its flotation price of 134p. But while the Aim-listed firm may well be ripe for a takeover, some commentators think Unilever (up 2.2 per cent, or 88p, to 4108p) which last year staved off a takeover bid from chocolate giant Kraft will not be the one to woo it. Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: Its hard to see how Fevertrees tonic waters and ginger beers would sit alongside Marmite, Pot Noodle and Domestos at Unilever. There would be more logic in a bid from a leading drinks and spirits maker such as Diageo. STOCK WATCH - EASYJET Easyjet flew to the top of the FTSE 100 risers after Morgan Stanley raised its target price on the stock. Analysts said the airline would benefit from the collapse of industry rivals such as Monarch and Air Berlin, which has eased competition in the sector. A stronger euro could also boost its bottom line. The broker said EasyJet was among its preferred stocks for the year, along with budget competitor Ryanair. Shares climbed 4.7 per cent, or 71.5p, to 1584.5p. Diageo (up 0.1 per cent, or 2.5p, to 2621.5p) is certainly no stranger to expensive takeovers last year it bought tequila brand Casamigos, owned by George Clooney, in a deal worth up to 720million. But Mould added: You cant rule out a bid but the price tag may deter companies. Fevertrees market valuation is more than 50 times its forecast profits for 2018. None of the companies have issued a statement on the speculation as yet but the talk alone was enough to send shares soaring 9.7 per cent, or 212p, to 2384p. The FTSE 100 edged up 0.39 per cent, or 29.83 points, to 7730.79 but concerns about consumer spending held back several of the major retailers on the day. Economists had predicted retail sales would grow 3 per cent in 2017, but the actual growth came in at just 1.4 per cent. A major problem is that households are not spending on big-ticket items or home improvements and thats bad news for the likes of Carpetright, which saw its share price plunge 39.5 per cent, or 64.9p, to 99.6p. In whats being dubbed the massacre of the mid-caps, home furnishings retailer DFS dropped 4.3 per cent, or 8.8p, to 197.2p and sofa company ScS sunk 6.3 per cent, or 14p, to 209p. B&Q-owner Kingfisher was also caught up in the fallout, the greatest faller on the FTSE 100 for the day, its shares slipped 2.3 per cent, or 7.9p, to 336.1p. Investment giant BlackRock is the only company with a registered short position on Kingfisher it has a 50million bet against the business, which it placed in November, just days after a trading update from the firm revealed like-for-like sales had fallen 0.5 per cent. Pharma giant Astrazeneca edged up after its ovarian cancer treatment was approved for use in Japan. Lynparza, a tablet taken twice daily, aims to prolong the lives of women whose cancer has returned after chemotherapy. Shares advanced 1.3 per cent, or 62.5p, to 5043p. Shire finally revealed the start date for its new chief financial officer. It was announced back in November that Thomas Dittrich would take up the role, replacing Jeff Poulton who had been at the firm for 14 years. Shire yesterday confirmed Dittrich would assume his post on March 19. Shares gained 0.2 per cent, or 8.5p, to 3461p. Eurotunnel has praised Boris Johnson's idea for building a new English Channel crossing and wants to be involved if the plan goes ahead. The Foreign Secretary's plan for a bridge was branded 'very interesting' by Eurotunnel chiefs. Mr Johnson put forward proposals for a second Channel crossing in meetings at Sandhurst Military Academy with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday. If built, the structure would become Europe's longest bridge at 22 miles in length. A train leaves the Eurotunnel bound for England, at Coquelles in France Mr Johnson is understood to have told aides: They are two of the worlds biggest economies and they are linked by a single railway. It is ridiculous. He had tweeted earlier in the day: So much important work in [the UK-France summit] outcomes, but Im especially pleased we are establishing a panel of experts to look at major projects together. Our economic success depends on good infrastructure and good connections. Should the Channel Tunnel be just a first step? Current Channel Tunnel traffic only runs at about 54 per cent of total capacity but the company has the rights to build any second crossing until 2086. Eurotunnel corporate affairs director John Keefe said it would be 'decades' before the extra capacity was needed, but fluctuating growth rates and changes in technology made it difficult to be more precise. He said: 'It's certainly right to be thinking about it and it's something we consider on a regular basis. Boris Johnson raised the prospect of building a bridge or road tunnel between Britain and France during yesterday's crunch summit with Emmanuel Macron 'We look at the forecasts and we look at where we see traffic growth going and when we have got a stable period ahead of us then we can plan and predict.' He added: 'It's a very interesting idea. We want to be involved if it gets developed, as it gets developed, but we think there is still a bit of growth to do first before it becomes necessary. 'If the economic, political and financial conditions were all favourable we would have first dibs on whether to do it or not. 'If the conditions are right, we want to be there.' A malfunction caused public warning sirens to sound a false alarm Friday near a North Carolina nuclear power plant, authorities said. North Carolina's Department of Public Safety said the sirens around 1pm near the Harris Nuclear Plant were a false alarm. 'There is NO emergency at the Harris Nuclear Plant,' public safety officials said in a tweet. Duke Energy issued a news release saying the sirens malfunctioned, and that the plant southwest of Raleigh was operating safely. A malfunction caused public warning sirens to sound a false alarm Friday near a North Carolina nuclear power plant, authorities said North Carolina's Department of Public Safety said the sirens around 1pm near the Harris Nuclear Plant were a false alarm Spokesman Brandon Thomas said it wasn't immediately clear how many sirens went off and for how long. The system of warning sirens is placed in a 10-mile radius around the plant The sirens were heard near the towns of Apex and Cary. The company said it was investigating the cause along with state and local government officials. Spokesman Brandon Thomas said it wasn't immediately clear how many sirens went off and for how long. The system of warning sirens is placed in a 10-mile radius around the plant. While a test sounding was conducted earlier in the month, no tests had been scheduled for Friday, according to a Duke Energy website. Several residents took to Twitter to voice a mixture of concern and bemusement about hearing the power plant alarms days after a missile warning false alarm in Hawaii. The mishap at the plant had Twitter users posting hilarious memes in response. Hawaii lawmakers were holding a hearing Friday to discuss a false alarm last weekend that warned of a ballistic missile headed for the island state. Hawaii officials apologized repeatedly and said the alert was sent when someone hit the wrong button during a shift change. They vowed to ensure it would never happen again. Japanese public broadcaster NHK issued a false alarm on Tuesday saying North Korea appeared to have launched a missile and urging people to take shelter, but it managed to correct the error within minutes. The North Carolina plant, also known as Shearon Harris for its namesake power executive, has a massive 523-foot cooling tower that can be seen from surrounding highways. The plant in New Hill began generating power in 1987. President Donald Trump on Friday said he signed into law a bill renewing the National Security Agency's warrantless internet surveillance program, sealing a defeat for digital privacy advocates. 'Just signed 702 Bill to reauthorize foreign intelligence collection,' Trump wrote on Twitter, referring to legislation passed by the U.S. Congress that extends Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The law renews for six years and with minimal changes the National Security Agency (NSA) program, which gathers information from foreigners overseas but incidentally collects an unknown amount of communications belonging to Americans. President Donald Trump on Friday signed into law a bill renewing the National Security Agency's warrantless internet surveillance program The measure easily passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week despite mixed signals posted on Twitter by Trump and narrowly avoided a filibuster in the Senate earlier this week that split party lines. The measure had drawn opposition from a coalition of privacy-minded Democrats and libertarian Republicans. In his tweet on Friday, Trump attempted to clarify why he signed the bill despite repeating an unsubstantiated claim that his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, ordered intelligence agencies to eavesdrop on Trump's 2016 Republican presidential campaign. 'This is NOT the same FISA law that was so wrongly abused during the election,' Trump wrote. 'I will always do the right thing for our country and put the safety of the American people first!' Last September, the U.S. Justice Department said in a court filing that it had no evidence to support Trump's claim about improper surveillance during the campaign. Trump appeared to trash the law shortly before a House vote, only to send out a contradictory tweet two hours later Without Trump's signature, Section 702 had been set to expire on Friday, though intelligence officials had said the surveillance program could continue to operate until April. Under the law, the NSA is allowed to eavesdrop on vast amounts of digital communications from foreigners living outside the United States via U.S. companies like Facebook Inc, Verizon Communications Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google. But the program also incidentally scoops up Americans' communications, including when they communicate with a foreign target living overseas, and can search those messages without a warrant. The White House, U.S. intelligence agencies and congressional Republican leaders have said the program is indispensable to national security, vital to protecting U.S. allies and needs little or no revision. Trump claimed another intelligence law was 'wrongly abused' to target his campaign President Donald Trump walks through the Colonnade of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018 Privacy advocates say it allows the NSA and other intelligence agencies to grab data belonging to Americans in a way that represents an affront to the U.S. Constitution. Trump tweeted just before the House vote on the bill last week: 'House votes on controversial FISA ACT today.' This is the act that may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony Dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration and others.' The tweet appeared to undermine the bill, which GOP leaders and the Trump White House supported. Two hours later, Trump tweeted: 'With that being said, I have personally directed the fix to the unmasking process since taking office and today's vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land. We need it! Get smart!' Trump's tweets about the bill raised questions about whether he understood what was being voted on. White House chief of staff John Kelly told Fox News on Thursday that he spoke with Trump between the two tweets. Trump also spoke to House Speaker Paul Ryan before his turnaround. GOP leaders were able to amass the votes needed to get the priority measure through the House. African youths have joined forces behind bars with a renowned prison posse to form a feared 'super gang'. Teenagers from emerging African street gang Menace to Society (MTS) are set to be influenced by the hardened criminals of Prisoners of War (POW) inside Victoria's Barwon and Port Phillip prisons. The collaboration has sparked major concerns among senior prison officials about what will happen when MTS members are released, Herald Sun reported. 'Younger African members will become indoctrinated in the hardcore methods of the POWs,' a prison insider told the publication. Teenagers from emerging African street gang Menace to Society have created a feared partnership with hardened criminals from Prisoners of War inside Victorian prisons. Pictured: MTS tags inside Ecoville Community Park in Tarneit The collaboration has sparked major concerns among senior prison officials about what will happen when MTS members are released. Pictured: MTS tags inside Ecoville Community Park in Tarneit An insider said MTS now have 'structure and goals' under the tutelage of members from POW, which is led by notorious murderer Matthew Johnson (pictured) 'The worry now is that members will stay connected when they are released. Youve got a worrying mix of frontline soldiers and criminal tacticians here.' The insider said MTS now have 'structure and goals' under the tutelage of members from POW, which is led by notorious murderer Matthew Johnson. Johnson has been holding the reigns to the gang from inside Barwon - where he bludgeoned underbelly figure Carl Williams to death with a metal bar from an exercise bike in 2011. A report by a Victorian Ombudsman the following year revealed POW members were 'responsible for a series of violent assaults on prisoners', including an assault on an inmate who was allegedly acting as a police informant. Johnson has been holding the reigns to the gang from inside Barwon Prison (pictured) Johnson bludgeoned underbelly figure Carl Williams (pictured) to death with a metal bar from an exercise bike in 2011 The group's creed - allegedly authored by Johnson and leaked to Facebook - says POW members fight a 'war' inside the prison where they 'bash, stab and slash'. Now discussions are taking place about implementing additional security measures to restrict POW's influence on MTS members. Although, one official said it may already be too late, according to the Herald Sun. 'A member of the new gang, from the MTS, was walking around Barwon telling officers "Youre wasting your time" and "Theres nothing you can do to stop us",' the official said. Discussions are taking place about implementing additional security measures to restrict POW's influence on MTS members. Pictured: POW leader Matthew Johnson The group's creed (pictured) - allegedly authored by Johnson and leaked to Facebook - says POW members fight a 'war' inside the prison where they 'bash, stab and slash' MTS first gained notoriety in December after they trashed the Ecoville Community Park in Tarneit by smashing windows, furniture and walls and spray painting their signature tag across the property. Regular patrols were set up in Tarneit while a mobile police station was created by Victoria Police in an attempt to curb the crime rates. An AirBnB house in Werribee, in Melbourne's west, was also trashed and tagged with 'MTS'. A 32-year-old former father who killed his three children said his 'crimes are unforgivable' in court Friday morning, where he testified in front of his wife and other family members. Robert Hodges, from Sacramento, California, sobbed as he apologized to his family for 'destroying the life we built together and taking the lives of our children,' in the September 2017 killing spree. Hodges pleaded guilty in December to murdering his three children - Kelvin, 11, Julie, 9, and Lucas, 7 months - and to attempting to kill his wife, Mai Sheng Hodges, in their apartment on September 13. 'I'll spend the rest of my life begging Kelvin, Julie, Lucas, Mai Sheng and God for forgiveness,' Hodges said during his testimony. His admission and apology came just hours before he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the Sacramento Bee reported. Robert Hodges, from Sacramento, California, sobbed as he apologized to his family for 'destroying the life we built together and taking the lives of our children,' in a shocking confession after the September 2017 killing spree (Hodges is pictured Friday in court) Hodges pleaded guilty in December to murdering his three children - Kelvin (second from the left), 11, Julie (second from the right), 9, and Lucas, 7 months - and to attempting to kill his wife, Mai Sheng Hodges (far right), in their apartment on September 13 'I'll spend the rest of my life begging Kelvin (left), Julie (right), Lucas (center), Mai Sheng and God for forgiveness,' Hodges said during his testimony 'God may forgive you, but this court does not,' Judge David Rosenberg said during the sentencing, referring to the man as a 'serial killer of his own children.' Rosenberg also said it was the 'darkest, most depraved case' he'd ever worked on. Investigators who responded to the scene said in a preliminary hearing testimony that Hodges admitted to suffocating his youngest child and told them he was in a deep financial crisis. The investigators also said he told them he surprised the two older children from behind and strangled each of them with a leather belt in the following hours. He said he planned on killing his wife and then committing suicide, according to the Bee. His admission and apology came just hours before he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the Sacramento Bee reported Investigators who responded to the scene said in a preliminary hearing testimony that Hodges admitted to suffocating his youngest child and told them he was in a deep financial crisis Hodges attempted to commit suicide by throwing himself into the water south of West Sacramento. When he failed to drown he swam back to shore and was met by police. Detective Eric Palmer said during the preliminary hearing in October that he met Hodges just after the failed suicide attempt when he was soaking wet and in the back of a police cruiser. Days after the vicious attacks, Mai Hodges wrote a Facebook post to say her husband was never physically abusive towards her, according to KCR He said that hours later during interrogation Hodges admitted to killing the children. Hodges also told Palmer that he waited for his wife to come home so he could kill her, too. When she got home and Hodges attempted to strangle her with the belt he said she fought back and begged for mercy, according to Palmer. Hodges also told Palmer during the interrogation that the International Revenue Service (IRS) was after the family for back taxes. He said their credit cards were maxed out and that he'd been thinking about killing himself and his family for a year, according to the Bee. The former father had no prior criminal record other than minor traffic violations, according to court records. Days after the vicious attacks, Mai Hodges wrote a Facebook post to say her husband was never physically abusive towards her, according to KCRA. 'He had always been a caring and loving person,' she wrote. 'But for whatever reason went his mind, heart do do this, I can never imagine why. I ask myself everyday, "why?"' The man accused of attacking Senator Rand Paul in his yard has been charged with the federal crime of assaulting a member of Congress as part of a federal plea agreement. Rene Boucher signed a plea agreement Friday for the November 3 attack on the Republican senator in Kentucky, according to J Minkler, US Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. And Boucher's lawyer confirmed what's long been suggested by neighbors: The attack stemmed from a dispute about yard maintenance. A date has not yet set for his guilty plea for the attack. Scroll down for video Rene Boucher signed a plea agreement Friday for the attack on the Republican senator in Kentucky, according to J Minkler, US Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Boucher faces possible prison time, and his attorney says he is 'very regretful' about the attack and that it had to do with the upkeep of their yards. 'Assaulting a member of Congress is an offense we take very seriously,' Minkler said in a release. 'Those who choose to commit such an act will be held accountable.' Boucher faces possible prison time, and his attorney says he is 'very regretful' about the attack and that it had to do with the upkeep of their yards. Paul and Boucher are longtime neighbors in Bowling Green, Kentucky. 'This is over a matter that most people would regard as trivial,' Boucher's attorney, Matt Baker, said in a phone interview Friday. 'It has to do with yards and the maintenance of those.' Boucher is 'very meticulous' about how he maintains his yard, while Paul takes 'a much different approach' to the upkeep of his property, Baker said. 'It all goes to large piles of leaves and branches and yard clutter that were placed on the property line,' Baker said. Some residents of the gated neighborhood had speculated the attack was motivated by a dispute over yard debris- but Paul's office rejected that. Paul told the Fox News Channel in November that ultimately, the motive does not matter. Boucher is 'very meticulous' about how he maintains his yard, while Paul takes 'a much different approach' to the upkeep of his property, Baker said. Pictured is Boucher's home Some residents of the gated neighborhood had speculated the attack was motivated by a dispute over yard debris- but Paul's office rejected that. Paul's home in Bowling Green, where he was attacked, is pictured Boucher, a retired anesthesiologist in his late 50s, already faces a misdemeanor assault charge in state court in Kentucky. He has pleaded not guilty to that charge. Baker said Friday that he's hopeful the state charge will be dismissed now that Boucher has reached the plea agreement on the federal charge. Paul, a former presidential candidate, was attacked Nov. 3 while mowing his lawn at his home. A close friend of Paul's said the senator had gotten off his riding lawn mower to remove a limb when he was tackled from behind. Paul has said he never saw the attacker because he was facing downhill and wearing ear protection from the noise of his lawn mower. Paul suffered six broken ribs in the attack. He returned to Washington less than two weeks later but developed pneumonia when he returned to Kentucky. Paul has since said he's recovering well from the attack. Baker said Friday the attack was 'completely, 100 percent out of character' for Boucher. He said his client is looking forward to getting the case resolved. Boucher faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine in the federal case. 'He is facing the possibility of incarceration, but I'm hopeful that it won't be anything toward the top end,' Baker said. Minkler's office was assigned the case after a U.S. attorney in Kentucky recused himself. The case was investigated by the FBI's Louisville office. An elderly woman is in critical condition after being struck by a car on a major road in Brisbane's northern suburbs. The pedestrian, believed to be in her 60s, was seriously injured on Saturday morning about 7.18am by a sedan travelling northbound on Gympie Road in Kedron. Emergency crews have shut down northbound lanes as investigators examine the scene of the crash. An elderly woman was seriously injured on Saturday morning about 7.18am by a sedan travelling northbound on Gympie Road in Kedron, in Brisbane's north Emergency crews have shut down northbound lanes as investigators examine the scene of the crash Police could not go into detail about the woman's injuries but revealed she had not been transported to hospital. She was reportedly crossing the road, near the Homebush Road turnoff, when she was hit by the vehicle. Ambulance and Police were unable to comment on the status of the woman's condition. The woman was reportedly crossing the road, near the Homebush Road turnoff, when she was hit by the vehicle Union firebrands and Labour councillors are plotting a fresh campaign of intimidation against Esther McVey Union firebrands and Labour councillors are plotting a fresh campaign of intimidation against Esther McVey. Hard-Left activists behind a vile effort that drove the Cabinet minister out of her Merseyside seat are planning to target her again. The 50-year-old former television presenter was the most high-profile Tory casualty of the 2015 general election when she was ousted in Wirral West. The campaign included threats to lynch her. And it can also be revealed that a Labour member with links to Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has helped co-ordinate online abuse against Miss McVey. She started her ministerial career at the Department for Work and Pensions in 2012. During her three years, the department reformed the sanctions regime for people receiving benefits and changed the fitness to work tests for claimants. Miss McVey returned to the Cabinet last week as Work and Pensions Secretary after replacing George Osborne as the Tory MP for Tatton in Cheshire in last Junes general election. But within hours of her reshuffle promotion, Labour supporters restarted their nasty campaign against her online with a barrage of disgusting messages singling her out for abuse. In November 2014, Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell joked about lynching Miss McVey Now it has emerged that the organisers of the 2015 operation that flooded her constituency with trade unionists and hard-Left activists are looking to replicate their hateful tactics in her new seat. Three years ago, they held marches in her local community and released a protest song that included the lyrics: The wicked witch of the Wirrals had her day. In November 2014, after visiting the area, Mr McDonnell, who was then a backbencher, was recorded at a comedy night celebrating the level of vitriol against her. To applause, he said: I was up in Liverpool a fortnight ago. Alec McFadden, one of our [union] organisers, launched the Sack Esther McVey Day on her birthday. I spoke at a packed public meeting... there was a whole group in the audience that completely kicked off quite critical of the whole concept, because they were arguing Why sack her? Why arent we lynching the bastard? Mr McFadden, who is a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn and organised rallies in support of him during his 2015 leadership campaign when they shared a platform, has launched a new group calling itself: Sack Esther McVey Again. According to its Facebook page, titled Fester McVile Out, the movements steering committee also includes two Labour councillors from Salford, Kate Lewis and Barbara Bentham. Details posted on the website reveal: There are plans for protests in Tatton, a new song and loads of campaign materials. The campaign will begin with a demonstration in Miss McVeys Tatton constituency on April 1 with the theme April Fool Theresa May for appointing Esther McVey. The attacks on Miss McVey have begun already and the Labour member linked to Mr McDonnell has posted dozens of messages about her since her Cabinet return. On Monday evening, the Twitter troll, who uses the pseudonym Red Forever, helped organise a Twitter storm when hundreds of hard-Left activists wrote vile and disgusting tweets with the hashtag #SackEstherMcVey. Red Forever mocked up a picture of Miss McVey wearing a Nazi uniform, branding her evil and a murderess. Other Twitter users suggested that instead of being sacked the former GMTV star should be killed, as they spread smears about how she had caused the deaths of thousands when previously a minister at the DWP. Red Forever is followed on Twitter by Mr McDonnell, Margaret Greenwood (the Labour MP who defeated Miss McVey in Wirral West), and Mr Corbyns brother Piers. While his tweets are included in their Twitter feeds, it is not known whether they saw his specific messages about Miss McVey and there is no suggestion they condone them. Mr Corbyn faced criticism last weekend after he refused to condemn Mr McDonnell for previously calling Miss McVey a stain on humanity. The abuse of Miss McVey exposes Labours hypocrisy after Shadow Cabinet members criticised the appointment of journalist Toby Young to the new university regulator because of unpleasant things he had written online. Mr McFadden last night denied that he was seeking to intimidate Miss McVey. He said he disagreed with calls for her to be lynched. Tory MP Will Quince said: This nasty campaign is the antithesis of what politics should be about and it certainly doesnt chime with the kinder, gentler politics that Corbyn claims to support. Police opened fire after being ambushed by armed migrants trying to head from Belgium to Britain. The clash puts the spotlight on a potentially major new backdoor into the UK as security is tightened at Calais the most popular illegal route to the UK. It came after officers outside Brussels spotted five men trying to enter a lorry at 2am yesterday. The attack on the police officers happened at the Zeebrugge port in Belgium with fears it could become a backdoor for migrants into Britain The migrants fled, only for a gang of 15 to return armed with wooden poles to attack the six officers. As the situation escalated at Groot-Bijgaarden lorry park, police were surrounded by 40 migrants. One officer fired a warning shot after two others were hit with weapons. It is believed migrants based in Brussels target the lorry park 75 miles from the Zeebrugge port in the hope of finding UK-bound vehicles. A police source said: They want to go to their El Dorado and the UK is this place for them. It raises concerns about whether more attention needs to be paid to the crossing between Belgian and UK as Theresa May hands France an extra 45million to bolster security at the port of Calais. Belgian police are understood to be apprehending about 250 migrants trying to use Zeebrugge to get into the UK every month. In 2016, Europol earmarked the port as one of Europes main hotspots for illegal migration. Last year the ports chief executive called for Britain to bolster security suggesting UK officers could be dispatched to patrol. Belgian police are understood to be apprehending about 250 migrants trying to use Zeebrugge to get into the UK every month Belgian officials say that, while violent attacks on lorry drivers had previously been concentrated on Calais, there have been a series of recent incidents indicating that migrants are turning to reckless tactics, often overseen by smuggling gangs. Peter de Waele, of the Belgian Federal Police, said: The incident is more than worrying. They used to walk for the police, now they are attacking. It is clear that these people are very frustrated if their crossing to Great Britain fails or threatens to fail, especially if they have paid large sums of money to people smugglers. In the clash outside Brussels, police managed to arrest 16 migrants who said they were from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan. Officials pointed to another incident in Lille, near Antwerp, two weeks ago when two officers stopped a van holding 30 migrants from Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, who then turned on the policemen. On Thursday, migrants pounced on a lorry driver in a motorway car park at Rotselaar, just outside Brussels. Belgian migration minister Theo Francken said action was needed to protect human rights of drivers, adding: We must continue to take action and send illegals back, otherwise there will be a real battle at our highway car parks. Interior minister Jan Jambon said a hard-line approach would be taken against illegal migration, warning that attacks on police would be severely dealt with. Pictured: Kane Gamble, aged 15, leaving the Old Bailey on Friday A schoolboy hacker impersonated a CIA director to gain access to top secret military reports, a court heard yesterday. Kane Gamble was just 15 when he posed as CIA chief John Brennan from his Leicestershire home, even taking control of his wifes iPad. The teenager gained access to passwords, personal information, security details, contacts lists and sensitive documents about operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Gamble, who founded the pro-Palestinian group Crackas With Attitude, taunted the security service on Twitter about his successes. During the attacks, which spanned from June 2015 to February 2016, he made hoax calls to Mr Brennans family home and took control of his wifes iPad. His other targets included former deputy director of the FBI Mark Giuliano, secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence under Obama. He used the phone numbers he obtained to call and taunt his victims and their families, and take control of their devices. Gamble, who is autistic, boasted about targeting Mr Clappers email account and said: Thats where the juicy s*** is. He also pretended to be Mr Clapper to phone communications company Verizon and set up call-forwarding to divert calls to the Free Palestine movement. Gamble used Clappers email to message other officials. Inconspicuous: The teenager launched the attack on military security experts from the bedroom of his family's modest home in Coalville, Leicestershire While speaking to an accomplice, he said: This email of Clappers is very useful to fool these r****d into thinking Im him. I cant wait lmao [sic]. He also boasted about carrying out the best breach ever after accessing an FBI database to get the names of 1,000 staff, including the officer responsible for the controversial shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The information Gamble collected was later used to carry out a swatting attack on John Holdren, a science and technology adviser to President Barack Obama. Gamble made a hoax call to Massachusetts police, resulting in armed officers being sent to the aides family home. The information Gamble collected was later used to carry out a 'swatting' attack on John Holdren, a science and technology adviser to President Barack Obama In the days before his arrest Gamble accessed the Department of Justice network using compromised details he gained from a former employee. He gathered documents and information relating to offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon and details of more than 9,000 DHA officers and 20,000 FBI members of staff. These details were posted online with the messages This is Free Palestine and Long live Palestine. The Department of Homeland Security spent 40,000 dollars to resolve the problem and suffered substantial reputational damage, the court heard. Gamble was arrested in February 2016 at his council home in Coalville, near Leicester, at the request of the FBI after he hacked into the Department of Justice network. Last October, Gamble, of Linford Crescent, Coalville, pleaded guilty at Leicester Crown Court to eight charges of performing a function with intent to secure unauthorised access to computers and two charges of unauthorised modification of computer material. Prosecutor John Lloyd-Jones QC told a sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey: Kane Gamble gained access to the communications accounts of some very high-ranking US intelligence officials and government employees. The group incorrectly have been referred to as hackers. The group in fact used something known as social engineering, which involves socially manipulating people - call centres or help desks - into performing acts or divulging confidential information. The group frequently bragged on social media and subjected the victims to online harassment and abuse. The court heard Gamble felt particularly strongly about US backed Israeli violence on Palestinians, the shooting of black people by US police, racist violence by the KKK and the bombing of civilians in Iraq and Syria. Mr Justice Haddon-Cave described Gambles activity as torture in the general sense - he got these people in control and played with them to make their lives difficult. Gamble was allowed to sit next to his mother behind his barrister rather than the dock when he appeared at the Old Bailey dressed in a dark blue coat. Gamble also used an anonymous Twitter profile to talk to journalists. Mr Lloyd-Jones said: He told a journalist, It all started by me getting more and more annoyed at how corrupt and cold-blooded the US government are. So I decided to do something about it. He is due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey at a later date. For a moment, imagine a dodgy foreign country where lawmakers, whose epic venality had been exposed by the Press, decided to pass a law to stop newspapers investigating such behaviour in the future. Doubtless you would be comforted, when reading about this appalling action, by the knowledge that youre lucky enough to live in a centuries-old democracy which is impervious to such self-interested manipulation of the law. Well, think again. Last week, just over 200 unelected members of the House of Lords voted to introduce draconian new laws that make it significantly harder for British journalists to investigate corruption and other scandals. Lord Rennard was suspended by Lib Dems in 2013 accused of at least 30 counts of sexual harassment and nicknamed Lord Grope. The former party treasurer was allowed back after apologising to four women for encroaching on their personal space. Quit as party chief executive in 2009 over the expenses scandal Lord Clarke confessed hed fiddled expenses by claiming around 18,000 a year for overnight stays in London when he was lodging with friends for free or returning home to St Albans. Repaid 9,190 and made an apology More than a third of them had previously been involved in major scandals that were originally exposed by the media they are now seeking to muzzle. They include two convicted criminals, 52 who were caught exploiting the expenses system, 18 named in lobbying scandals, and 14 more who have been accused of sexual or financial sleaze. Several have been suspended from the Lords because of their misdemeanours, and more than ten have been required to repay money they wrongly took from the taxpayer. Eleven of them are profiled on these pages, including perhaps the most egregious figure in Westminsters recent history: the disgraced former Labour peer, Baroness Uddin. A former social worker and chum of Cherie Blair, appointed to the Lords in the late Nineties, her name has rightly become associated with corruption. The reason? An expenses scandal first exposed by the sort of dogged investigative journalism she has just voted to undermine. Lord Foulkes pleaded guilty when an MP in the Nineties to being drunk and disorderly and fined 1,050 following a party hosted by the Scotch Whisky Association. More recently, was revealed to have claimed 54,527 in Lords expenses while being paid as a member of the Scottish Parliament. In 2008, newspapers disclosed he was claiming 45,000 to stay in a London flat he inherited from his mother Baroness Uddin was caught fraudulently claiming 123,349 in expenses by saying she lived outside London when her family home was actually in Wapping. After being exposed by a Sunday newspaper, an anti-sleaze committee found her expenses claims were made wrongly and in bad faith. After a police investigation, the Blairite peer avoided prosecution but was suspended from the Lords for a record 18 months, and from the Labour Party It began in 2009, when Sunday newspaper journalists discovered that the property where Uddin officially claimed to be living was a tiny flat in Maidstone, Kent. The residence appeared to be empty and uninhabited, while her actual family home, where she spent almost every night, turned out to be in Londons Wapping. By falsely saying she lived outside the capital, Uddin had been able to claim about 30,000 a year in expenses. In total, it soon emerged that shed helped herself to 123,349 of public money. An anti-sleaze committee looked into the matter, finding that Uddin had acted in bad faith. Then the police investigated. Though she eventually avoided prosecution, the Baroness was suspended from the Lords for a record 18 months in 2010, and also from the Labour Party. In the real world, employees caught with fingers in the till are, quite rightly, sacked. But in British politics, things are different: corrupt parliamentarians are allowed to carry on shaping our laws. So it goes that, after repaying the money shed taken, Uddin was allowed to return to Parliament in 2012. Shes been there ever since, claiming 300 tax-free for each and every day she turns up. Last year, taxpayers gave her 36,300 in attendance allowances. Lord Mackenzie was filmed by undercover journalists offering to set up an influential all-party Parliamentary group in return for payment. Agreed to ask questions and approach ministers in order to bend their ears on behalf of a fictitious solar energy company. The former police chief and Labour peer was suspended for six months Lord Watson was jailed for 16 months for arson after setting fire to curtains during a drunken row at a luxury hotel. The former MSP returned to Parliament and began claiming 300-a-day allowance while still on parole. Clocked-up 30,000 in ten months despite speaking for less than 30 minutes It is, all told, a shameful state of affairs. Then, on Wednesday night, came a chance for Baroness Uddin to exact revenge. She and other members of the Lords voted to tack two anti-Press amendments onto a Data Protection Bill. One will make almost every newspaper pay all the legal costs in data protection court cases even those they win. The other would resurrect the Leveson inquiry, but crucially it would scrap any parts that put the police and politicians under the spotlight and, instead, focus exclusively on alleged misdeeds by the Press. Both measures would severely limit free speech, deal a devastating blow to investigative journalism, and be a boon to the wealthy, powerful, and corrupt, making it immeasurably harder for Fleet Street to hold them to account one of the bulwarks of a free country. No one could impute the motives of the proposers of these two amendments; Baroness Hollins, who has campaigned for tougher controls on the Press since being distressed by newspaper reporting after her daughter was left paralysed in a 2005 knife attack, and Earl Attlee, a Conservative-supporting hereditary peer, grandson of post-war Labour PM Clement Attlee. Twice forced to resign from the Cabinet in disgrace after the Press exposed his questionable financial dealings. Runs a lobbying firm called Global Counsel, which profits from a number of unpleasant foreign regimes, yet uses a loophole in Lords rules to keep its client list secret Lord Blencathra was forced to apologise for breaking Lords rules after The Independent revealed he was paid 12,000 a month to work for the Cayman Islands. He denied being paid to lobby but the paper obtained a copy of his contract, which cited lobbying Parliament as part of his job description No doubt many peers also voted on points of principle. However, given the track record of Uddin and some of the other peers who endorsed these new laws, one might speculate that, for them, such an outcome was exactly the point. They come from every party and political tradition. Take, for example, Lord Blencathra, one of just two Conservatives to support the Press crackdown. Previously known as David Maclean, the former Home Office minister was forced to issue an apology to the House three years ago after The Independent revealed hed signed a 12,000-a-month contract to lobby on behalf of the Government of the Cayman Islands. Then there is Baroness Tonge, ex-Lib Dem and a veteran pro-Palestine activist. She was kicked out of her party in disgrace and forced to sit as an independent after the Jewish Chronicle revealed shed hosted a meeting in Parliament at which a number of anti-Semitic comments were made by the audience. She resigned at the same time. Or consider Labours Lord Truscott, a former energy minister who, in 2009, became the first peer since the English Civil War to be suspended from the House. Hed been caught by undercover Sunday Times reporters offering to work behind the scenes in Parliament to amend Britains laws on behalf of a fictional foreign company in exchange for 72,000. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given their past histories, all three of these politicians whose misdeeds were, remember, exposed by the Press now want to muzzle journalists. Speaking of the cash for influence scandal that brought down Truscott, two fellow Labour peers, Lord Moonie and Lord Snape, were both caught in the same newspaper sting. Though neither was suspended (anti-sleaze watchdogs found in-sufficient evidence to prove guilt), each was ordered to apol-ogise for having taken an inappropriate attitude to the rules governing Parliament. At this stage, I should point out that the two anti-Press laws passed by narrow majorities of 17 and 29 respectively. Its therefore no exaggeration to say that they would not have passed without the support of Lords whose misbehaviour has been exposed by journalists. Baroness Tongue quit Lib Dems when paper revealed shed hosted a meeting in Parliament where it was claimed that Jews had antagonised Hitler, and the Holocaust was caused by Judea declaring war on Germany Former Labour minister Lord Truscott was filmed by undercover journalists offering to work behind the scenes to change the law in exchange for a 72,000 fee. He was suspended for six months. Last year, he claimed 57,000 in allowances and expenses, despite speaking only three times 19,000 for each speech Some of this number may feel they have old scores to settle. They include, for example, Lord (Paddy) Ashdown and Lord (John) Prescott, whose extra-marital affairs were exposed by Fleet Street, and Lord (Peter) Mandelson, who twice had to resign from the Cabinet after financial misdeeds were uncovered by the Press. Others have more recent gripes. In December, Lord Bassam, one of the 180 Labour peers to back last weeks Press crackdown, quit as his partys Chief Whip after being caught claiming 36,366 for overnight stays in London despite commuting from Brighton. Hed also been claiming 6,400 a year in train tickets and cab fares. He denied breaching rules but has agreed to repay more than 40,000. P erhaps inevitably, the most eye-catching opponents of Press freedom also include the notorious Lib Dem, Lord Rennard. His battles with newspapers stretch back to 2009, when he quit as chief executive of his party after it emerged that hed claimed 41,000 in expenses for running a second home despite owning a flat within two miles of Westminster. Rennard was cleared of breaking rules, only for Channel Four News to then reveal in 2013 that multiple female party activists had accused him of sexual harassment. Alleged to have preyed on at least 30 victims, several of whom courageously spoke to the Press, he was suspended from the Lib Dems. He denied wrongdoing, and was eventually readmitted, after apologising for possibly encroaching on the personal space of four of them. When this sexual harassment scandal broke, the Mail revealed a party worker who accused Rennard of wrongdoing had been phoned at home by Lord Stoneham, a senior Lib Dem peer. She claimed to have been aggressively told not to talk to reporters. Lord Bassam resigned as Labour chief whip before Christmas after being caught claiming 36,366 for overnight stays in London despite commuting from Brighton. Hed also been claiming 6,400 a year in rail and cab fares. Denied breaching rules but has agreed to repay more than 40,000 The same Lord Stoneham was one of the 73 Lib Dems (including Rennard) who backed both anti-Press laws last week. All told, around a dozen of the 52 anti-Press peers who were caught up in expenses scandals were ultimately forced to hand back money that had been wrongly claimed. Many are former MPs, including Lord Thurso (who repaid 548 hed over-claimed for council tax) and Baroness (Angela) Smith of Basildon, who over-claimed 1,033 for council tax and services on her flat in South-East London. Thurso has the added distinction of being one of 17 peers ex-posed before Christmas by the Daily Mirror for claiming a com-bined 400,000 in expenses during the previous year, despite having failed to speak in the Lords chamber, sit on a commit-tee, or table a single question. Two other members of this group Scottish ex-Labour MP Baroness Adams and Lord Haworth mustered sufficient energy to make it into the chamber last week in order to vote to muzzle the Press. A further six Peers who backed anti-newspaper amendments have been criticised for exploiting a loophole in Parliamentary rules known as the double bubble whereby married couples who both sit in Parliament are allowed to each claim 165 a night for staying in London, despite living together. They include Baroness Hollis and her partner Lord Howarth, shown to have two main homes next door to each other on the same Norwich street, plus a shared home in Westminster which is mortgage-free. Others with controversial expenses arrangements include Baroness Goudie, a wealthy Labour donor revealed in 2009 to be living in a 1.5 million London home with her husband while simultaneously claiming 230,000 in expenses, partly by claiming her main home was in Glasgow. Following a year-long investigation, the Clerk of the Parlia-ments, Michael Pownall, said he had doubts about the designation of the flat as a main residence, but no further action was taken after Baroness Goudie apologised and voluntarily repaid 5,130.50. A similar controversy enveloped Viscount Falkland, then a Lib Dem peer. He registered a two-bedroom oast house in Kent, owned by his wifes aunt, as his main home, despite not being on the electoral roll there. In reality, he was living in Clapham, South London, just three miles from Westminster. The arrangement allowed him to claim 125,000 in expenses. He, too, voted to muzzle the Press. Meanwhile, the 18 peers caught up in lobbying scandals were all exposed by newspapers or TV documentaries. They include Lord Mackenzie, a former police chief turned Labour peer suspended from the Lords for six months in 2013, and Lord (Jack) Cunningham, the former Blairite minister, who was filmed by undercover Sunday Times reporters appearing to offer a personal lobbying service for 12,000 to a fictitious South Korean energy firm. C unningham was later cleared by the anti-sleaze watchdog as there was insufficient evidence that rules had been broken, but made a profound and unreserved apology. Again, it must be stressed that while its impossible to be sure exactly what motivated these Peers anti-Press votes, not one example of their wrongdoing would ever have been exposed were it not for Fleet Street. All of which brings us to the question of what happens next. The (elected) Government has promised to stop the Lords draconian crackdown on the Press, with Culture Secretary Matthew Hancock calling its amendments a hammer blow that will undermine high quality journalism [and] fail to resolve challenges the media face. But to do that, theyll have to overturn the rules in the Commons. However, the Tories have no majority, and Labour and the Lib Dems have already shown their willingness to back anti-Press measures, however illiberal they may be. Talk about setting the stage alight! A Massachusetts middle school production of James and the Giant Peach was forced to improvise when the lights went out 10 minutes before the end of the show. Audience members at Miles River Middle School in Hamilton, Massachusetts, used their phones to help the students finish their play, last Friday. Kevin Berube, the play's technical director, told the Boston Globe that there were 10 minutes left in the second act when the power failed. 'There wasn't a whole lot more that needed to be done,' said the man responsible for lights, sound and stage directions. 'Everything was chugging along.' Audience members at Miles River Middle School in Hamilton, Massachusetts, used their phones to help the students finish their production of James and the Giant Peach, last Friday And all of a sudden, the lights went out and the room was engulfed in darkness. 'We just lost power completely,' he added. But instead of stopping their performance, the kids continued singing right along with the program. Kevin Berube, the play's technical director, told the Boston Globe that there were 10 minutes left in the second act when the lights went out, last Friday 'They kept going without missing a beat. They didn't stop or look or around or wonder what was happening,' Berube explained. 'And then the narrator, who kind of runs the whole show, just took her entrance and we realized they were not going to stop. They handled it so professionally and so well. It was a big surprise to everybody that they just kept going in the dark.' Soon, phone flashlights began shining on the young actors one by one. Eventually, more than 100 phones would be flashing on the stage. But instead of stopping, the students continued with their play The show's music director, Katie Simko, added that most of her musicians lost power as well, but 'the entire stage was lit'. The director - who rushed to a nearby grand piano to keep the music going - added: 'The audience was willing to get in on that and say, 'Ya, the show is going to go on.' That was really special. Soon, phone flashlights began shining on the young actors one by one. Eventually, more than 100 phones would be flashing on the stage. 'To see the kids continue like that inspired the adults. The kids were the ones who really drove the moment. I think the amazing thing was that all the adults were ready to throw in the towel.' Berube would post a video of the show's curtain call as audience members still shine their phones on the stage and cheer. Chrissy deLima, who directed the play and is a drama and public speaker at the school, said: 'I am so impressed by the professionalism of my students. And how coolly they handled what could have been a very scary and stressful situation.' The sight of all the phones, brought one student to tears, she told CBS Boston. 'It looked like stars,' Margo Tsouvalas said. 'I almost cried. I was holding in a lot of tears because I just thought it was so beautiful.' Brendt Christensen (pictured) is accused of torturing and killing of 26-year-old Yingying Zhang in June 2017 U.S. prosecutors told a judge Friday they will seek the death penalty for a 28-year-old man charged with the kidnapping and killing of a University of Illinois scholar from China. During the same proceedings, prosecutors took the opportunity to raise new allegations that the suspect choked and sexually assaulted someone five years ago. Federal prosecutors filed a notice Friday with the U.S. District Court in central Illinois. It cites, among other factors, that Brendt Christensen's alleged killing of 26-year-old Yingying Zhang involved torture. In a new revelation, the filing accuses Christensen of other serious acts of violence in the past, saying he 'choked and sexually assaulted' someone in central Illinois in 2013. The filing adds that he 'expressed (a) desire to be known as a killer.' Christensen is charged in the kidnapping and death of Zhang, who disappeared June 9 on her way to sign an apartment lease. Federal prosecutors claim that Zhang, who arrived on campus last April, had missed a bus when Christensen lured her into his car. Prosecutors also took the opportunity to raise new allegations that the suspect choked and sexually assaulted someone five years ago (Pictured: Christensen and Yingying Zhang) Christensen also allegedly tried to lure another student into his car on the day Zhang went missing Surveillance video showed her getting into the front seat of a black Saturn Astra the FBI alleges was cleaned in a way to conceal evidence. Zhang's body hasn't been found, but authorities say that have evidence she's dead. Christensen's trial is slated to begin Feb. 27. He has pleaded not guilty. Friday's five-page filing also cites as factors in seeking capital punishment the 'heinous, cruel, or depraved manner' of the crime and that it involved 'planning and premeditation,' as well as what the document says is Christensen's 'lack of remorse.' 'A message seeking comment from Christensen's attorney, Robert Tucker, wasn't immediately returned. In October, the Justice Department filed a new, superseding indictment against him saying the kidnapping directly resulted in her death. Earlier this week, lawyers revealed that Christensen's girlfriend wore a wire to record hours of their conversations in the weeks which followed Zhang's disappearance. Among the conversations was one in which Christensen allegedly confessed to the killing and described how Zhang fought back when he attacked her. Christensen's lawyers did not reveal how the FBI contacted his girlfriend. The suspect's lawyers pleaded with a judge not to allow the taped conversations, recorded over a two week period, into evidence at his trial, claiming the girlfriend was pressured into wearing the wire because she feared charges herself. On one occasion, she was apparently so nervous about wearing it in front of him that she fainted, his lawyers claimed. Christensen also allegedly tried to lure another student into his car on the day Zhang went missing. That student told investigators that he pretended he was a cop to try to get her into his vehicle. She identified him through photographs shown to her by police. In October, the Justice Department filed a new, superseding indictment against him saying the kidnapping directly resulted in her death. He is also charged with making false statements to the FBI, after he told them he had picked her up in his car and dropped her off. Zhang's family traveled to the US from her native China after she disappeared. Her grieving father was still in the country in November last year after authorities said she was presumed dead. He walked the route to her apartment from campus every day, he said, because it gave him comfort. At the time, her mother said: 'We don't know where she is, and I don't know how to spend the rest of my life without my daughter. 'I can't really sleep well at night. I often dream of my daughter, and she's right there with me. 'I want to ask the mother of the suspect, please talk to her son and ask him what he did to my daughter. Where is she now? I want to know the answer.' Diane Abbott, appointed Shadow Home Secretary by her former lover Jeremy Corbyn, has not always displayed the greatest of ease when discussing figures. She memorably declared during an LBC interview in last year's election campaign that a Labour government would hire an additional 10,000 officers for 300,000 meaning that each officer would be paid 30 a year. So it's intriguing to see the latest set of accounts for the Diane Abbott Foundation, the charity which 64-year-old Abbott incorporated four years ago. These show that the Foundation's 17,183.57 income for 2016 was swallowed almost whole by the cost of hosting a party for London Schools And The Black Child a non-charitable campaign organisation which Abbott set up in 1999 to raise the achievement level of black pupils. It's intriguing to see the latest set of accounts for the Diane Abbott Foundation, the charity which 64-year-old Abbott (pictured attending the Grenfell Silent Walk in west London last week) incorporated four years ago, writes Sebastian Shakespeare A breakdown of the charity's costs records, in turn, that 210 was spent on printing, 130.59 on plaques, 2,352 on design and production, and a sumptuous 13,447.52 on catering and room hire. This is an interesting contrast with the Foundation's stated purposes, as outlined on the Charity Commission website, which are listed as: 'Makes grants to organisations; provides services; provides advocacy/advice/information; sponsors or undertakes research.' The Foundation's expenditure for the previous year disclosed that catering costs were 3,149.55. A spokeswoman from Abbott's parliamentary office says that the massive increase in catering and room hire costs was caused by hiring a venue for the party, which the previous year was held in the grace-and-favour Westminster apartments of another of Abbott's old pals, House of Commons Speaker John Bercow. These show that the Foundation's 17,183.57 income for 2016 was swallowed almost whole by the cost of hosting a party for London Schools And The Black Child a non-charitable campaign organisation which Abbott set up in 1999 to raise the achievement level of black pupils The Foundation has given services to those it supports 'at a cost of zero', adds the spokeswoman. Eminent law firm Linklaters, which gave 10,000 to the Foundation, declines to comment on how its money was spent, but says that it is eager to enable 'a more diverse range of young people to explore opportunities within the legal profession'. The spokeswoman at Abbott's Westminster office adds that the Foundation did not host a party in 2017, which will have given plenty of scope for a grant, perhaps for 16,731 the cost of a year's fees at City of London School, the private school to which Abbott sent her son. Abbott stood down for a few days following her election gaffes, subsequently explaining that she has type-2 diabetes and her 'blood sugar was out of control'. Britain could end up back in the European Union in a generation, a senior Cabinet minister has hinted. Theresa May's de facto deputy prime minster David Lidington suggested it might be something for future parliaments to consider. The politician said it was impossible to predict what the EU might look like in '10 or 20 years' time'. Mr Lidington, who campaigned for Remain during the EU Referendum, said he had not changed his views on Brexit but as a democrat it was his job to implement the will of the people. Theresa May's de facto deputy prime minster David Lidington suggested it might be something for future parliaments to consider The former Europe minister chairs key Cabinet sub-committees on Brexit after taking over responsibilities from Damian Green who resigned in December. The bloc is likely to be configured differently and that 'is something that future parliaments, future generations, will have to consider', the Cabinet Office Minister said. Mr Lidington told The Daily Telegraph: 'I think that the EU itself is going to change, and I think it is almost inevitable that the dynamic of the single currency is going to drive at least some of the current members of the EU towards much closer economic and, to a degree, political integration in the future. I don't think the EU in 20 years' time is going to look the same as the EU of today 'And I can't see the UK wanting to go back into that sort of arrangement. 'But we may be looking in a generation's time at an EU that is also configured differently from what it is today, and the exact nature of the relationship between the UK and that future system - whatever it turns out to be - of European co-operation is something that future parliaments, future generations, will have to consider. 'I don't think the EU in 20 years' time is going to look the same as the EU of today.' Mr Lidington said there will be a need for a system of economic and political co-operation. He added: 'I think it's a red herring to be saying 'perhaps we'll change our minds about going back into the EU in something that looks at all like the thing we're leaving today. I don't see that as happening.' It comes after former Cabinet minister Justine Greening said a future generation of MPs will 'improve or undo' Brexit. 'When they take their place here they will seek to improve or undo what we've done and make it work for them,' she told the Commons. A deadly dog disease which has been described as 'insidious' in nature is rapidly spreading across Australia. The canine parovirus - which causes lethargy, vomiting, fever and bloody diarrhea - can kill puppies and young dogs if left untreated. Animal experts at the University of Queensland have warned pet owners to have their dog treated immediately if it exhibits symptoms as the virus expands through the state. Scroll down for video The canine parovirus - which causes lethargy, vomiting, fever and bloody diarrhoea - can kill puppies and young dogs if left untreated Animal experts at the University of Queensland have warned pet owners to have their dog treated immediately if it exhibits symptoms as the virus expands through the state (Stock image) 'Dog owners should vaccinate their pets against this insidious infection, and anyone who suspects their dogs might have the disease should have them treated or hospitalised without delay,' postdoctoral research fellow Dr Nicholas Clark said. The UQ VETS Small Animal Hospital reported a spike in cases of the virus (also known as canine parvo) in the local Gatton community. Treatment of parovirus is simple however the growing number of anti-vax campaigners who refuse to vaccinate their pets are are threatening to tip the strain into an epidemic. 'We need ongoing monitoring programs to detect new variants and make informed recommendations to develop reliable detection and vaccine methods,' Dr Clarke added. The UQ VETS Small Animal Hospital reported a spike in cases of the virus (also known as canine parvo) (pictured) in the local Gatton community Treatment of parovirus is simple however the growing number of anti-vax campaigners who refuse to vaccinate their pets are are threatening to tip the strain into an epidemic (Stock image) 'We could work harder at animal vaccination awareness just as we do for humans.' The parovirus was first detected in the 1970s and two new strains began circulating in the 1980s. Dogs who succumb to the deadly infection die 'horrific' deaths and contract the illness through feces, infected soil, or fomites that carry the virus. One Colorado new's anchor couldn't control her giggles when talking about Bison Hump Day. Denver ABC 7's Molly Hendrickson was all the laughs as she tried to explain the National Western Stock show's effort to raise awareness on bison. 'Something special at the National Western Stock show,' she said during the segment on Thursday. 'Today is Bison Hump Day.' Denver ABC 7's Molly Hendrickson was all the laughs as she tried to explain the National Western Stock show's effort to raise awareness on bison But soon Hendrickson wouldn't be able to stifle her laughs. 'Ranchers will meet ahead of the show to talk about ways to improve,' she attempted to explain before giggling. Out of camera focus, Mitch Jelniker appears to be saying something to make the anchor laugh uncontrollably. Hendrickson tries to add more, laughing in between remarks, and stated: 'Ways to improve the Bison population as some of the talk will be conservation. 'Something special at the National Western Stock show,' she said during the segment on Thursday. 'Today is Bison Hump Day' 'Some will talk new technology to manage the herd.' And nearing the end of her statement, Hendrickson closes with some facts on the large animal. 'This is all a part of the Rowing to Success campaign that aims to increase bison population from 400,000 to more than animals,' she said before cackling. 'I am done. I am done with the script.' Jelniker cracks one more joke to his co-anchor and adds 'You're having a hard time this morning!' But when posting the clip on her Instagram later that day, Hendrickson was still full of jokes over the whole ordeal. She said: 'And they thought I could hold it together??' A British Airways pilot has been hauled from a packed flight by armed police seconds from take-off after his cabin crew suspected he was drunk. Staff on the 300-passenger flight who thought they could smell alcohol on him and feared for the safety of those on board called 999. The first officer on the Boeing 777 flight 2063 to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, which takes 11 hours, was arrested and led away. A British Airways pilot has been hauled from a packed flight by armed police seconds from take-off after his cabin crew suspected he was drunk Cops rushed onto the plane and headed straight for the cockpit, an airline source told the Sun. The first officer was cuffed and led away. A number of passengers were open-mouthed. Its terrifying to think what mightve happened. The flight was due to leave Gatwick Airport at 8.20pm on Thursday but was delayed until 10.56pm when a replacement pilot was found. It landed in Mauritius at 2.07pm local time yesterday. A British Airways spokesman said the company was taking the matter extremely seriously and was helping police with their enquiries. We are sorry for the delay to our customers. The aircraft remained at the gate until an alternative third pilot joined the flight crew, they added. The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority. Sussex Police told the Sun they had been called at 8.25pm to the airports South Terminal Gate 17 and confirmed a 49-year-old man, from Harmondsworth, West London, remained in custody yesterday. Kelsee Flatland (pictured), 27, also plead guilty to one count of felony injury on a child in July A mother in Idaho who served time in jail after she was convicted of manslaughter following her daughter's drowning death has broken her silence about what happened. Kelsee Flatland, 27, also plead guilty to one count of felony injury on a child in July after her 13-month-old daughter, Zyra Flatland died while taking a bath in September 2016. Flatland had left the infant along with her two-year-old son inside the tub as she went downstairs to pay a cellphone bill. An affidavit shows that flatland 'had been using her phone for a period of at least 35 minutes and possibly more than 50 minutes from the time she left the bathroom and the time she returned,' according to EastIdahoNews.com. In an interview scheduled to air this Sunday on East Idaho Newsmakers, Flatland said the day started off with a fun breakfast in the morning. 'I tried to make apple puff pancakes but we didn't have apples so we did peaches,' Flatland recalls. 'It turned more into a peach cobbler so for breakfast we had peach cobbler with ice cream and bacon.' Flatland had left the infant along with her two-year-old son inside the tub as she went downstairs to pay a cellphone bill (Pictured: Zyra Flatland) Flatland says the meal 'got really messy' so she decided to give both her kids a bath. 'They were playing around and I thought this would be a good time to grab my cell phone, pay the bill and then I'll be right back up,' Flatland says. 'From there, it was cell phone epidemic. You get distracted, lose track of time and you don't realize how many minutes have passed. I just got distracted.' Paul Flatland, Kelsee's ex-husband, said that he was playing video games at the time of the incident and told authorities he did not know they were in the bathroom. Flatland said that after returning back to the bathroom, she found Zyra completely submerged under water. 'I pulled her out of the bathtub and hit her back,' Flatland says. 'I tried to clear her airways and started CPR. Paul came in and he took over and told me to call 911. I called 911 and I ended up re-taking over CPR while I was on the phone with the ambulance.' In an interview scheduled to air this Sunday on East Idaho Newsmakers, Flatland said the day started off with a fun breakfast in the morning The toddler was immediately rushed to Regional Medical Center where doctors discovered she had suffered extensive brain damage The toddler was immediately rushed to Regional Medical Center by emergency medical units where doctors discovered she had suffered extensive brain damage. 'They tried for 40 minutes to resuscitate her and decided they were going to try one last time. If they didn't get her heart beating, they would pronounce her dead,' Flatland says. 'That one last time her heart started beating.' The Flatlands decided to make an agonizing decision and take the 13-month-old baby girl off life support, donating her organs to others in need. Paul Flatland (pictured), Kelsee's ex-husband, said that he was playing video games at the time of the incident and told authorities he did not know they were in the bathroom According to KSL.com, a little boy received Zyra's heart, a young girl received her liver and a father of eight children received her kidney. Soon after burying her infant daughter, Flatland became pregnant again, giving birth to Serenity Flatland 14 weeks early at Primary Children's Hospital in July. Flatland would begin her sentence less than a week later. 'I had her on a Wednesday and I was sentenced the next Monday,' Flatland says. 'It was frustrating because I had this tiny baby in the hospital and I wanted to be there for her. It felt a little unfair but at the same time, I knew there had to be consequences for my actions.' Flatland completed her sentence just before Christmas and will be on probation for seven more years. Serenity remains in the ICU at Primary Children's and Flatland visits her every Wednesday and on weekends, according to East Idaho News. She is currently living with her mother and making ends meet working as a waitress at a local restaurant. Her ex-husband currently has custody of their young son. 'Don't take the little things for granted,' she says. 'I was on my cell phone a while back looking at videos and I heard Zyra's cry. Back then I thought, "Oh my gosh, I wish this baby would stop crying" but now it's "I wish I could hear that baby cry again." Don't take the little things for granted.' Births in China fell last year even though the world's most populous country has relaxed its infamous one-child policy. The country saw 17.23 million births in 2017, against 17.86 million the previous year. The fall was caused by the declining population of women of childbearing age and couples having children later in life, statisticians said. Births in China fell last year even though the world's most populous country has relaxed its infamous one-child policy (stock photo) The 1.39 billion-strong nation began to phase out its one-child policy in 2015 because of the economic impact of its ageing population and shrinking workforce. The policy dates from the 1970s and restricted most couples to one child, with violators facing fines and even forced abortions. Studies have predicted the loosening of the one-child policy would bring only a relatively small increase in population growth. The country saw 17.23 million births in 2017, against 17.86 million the previous year (stock photo) Experts have recommended the country increase its retirement age to address an expected labour shortage and declining economic vitality. The burden of looking after aging parents is one reason not to have a second child, said housewife Zeng Jialin, who was waiting to pick up her 6-year-old son outside a school in downtown Beijing on Friday. 'They helped us look after one child, but we would have to babysit the second one ourselves. Also, there would be so many things to take care of in terms of time management, economic conditions and pressure,' Zeng said. Wang Jianjun, the father of an 8-year-old boy, said he was undecided about having another child, but time and financial concerns weighed heavily. The fall was caused by the declining population of women of childbearing age and couples having children later in life, statisticians said (stock photo) 'Helping with schoolwork takes a lot of time. And until the young one is 2, mother won't be able to work which means a big loss of income that we're not prepared for,' Wang said. While last year marked a decline, an unnamed official from the National Health and Family Planning Commission said in a statement the number of births remained 'at a relatively high level'. 'Socioeconomic factors have more obviously influenced people's willingness to give birth and child-bearing behaviour,' it said, citing financial costs, lack of childcare services and women's career development pressure as three major reasons. While overall births fell, the proportion of newborns born to parents who already had a first child rose to 51 percent in 2017, five percentage points higher than 2016, commission said. After a number of prosecutions for sexual offences failed to reach a conclusion, Lord Judge (pictured) is concerned future juries might not convict people for fear they have not been given all the right evidence The collapse of a string of high-profile rape cases could put genuine victims at risk of not getting the justice they deserve, the ex-head of the judiciary has warned. After a number of prosecutions for sexual offences failed to reach a conclusion, Lord Judge is concerned future juries might not convict people for fear they have not been given all the right evidence. The former Lord Chief Justice, who was the most senior judge in England and Wales between 2008 and 2013, described the failings as 'alarming'. His comments come after sexual assault charges against Oxford University student Oliver Mears, 19, were dropped just days before his trial. A case against Greenwich University student Liam Allan, 22, was dropped in December, days before another prosecution against Isaac Itiary, 25, collapsed. More recently, Samson Makele, 28, was accused of raping a woman he met at Notting Hill Carnival in London, but the trial collapsed on Monday. Lord Judge told The Times: 'The recent examples in cases involving alleged sexual crime are alarming, both for all the individuals concerned and for public confidence in the administration of criminal justice generally. His comments come after sexual assault charges against Oxford University student Oliver Mears (pictured), 19, were dropped just days before his trial 'It is at least possible that from time to time juries, alarmed as everyone else by these cases, may wonder, even in an apparently strong case, whether they have been provided with all the admissible evidence. 'These events may reduce the prospects of conviction even when the allegation is genuine.' Surrey Police became the second force to announce a review all of its rape cases on Friday, after a judge criticised how allegations against Oxford student Mr Mears were handled. He had spent two years on bail after being accused of raping and assaulting a woman in July 2015. But the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped the case after fresh evidence, including a diary that supported his case, was passed to them last week. Surrey Police admitted there were 'flaws in the investigation' after it failed to examine the woman's digital media, which was only handed to prosecutors on Monday, or follow 'a reasonable line of enquiry'. Scotland Yard also announced a review of its sex crime investigations after the collapse of two rape trials in a week in December. The trial of Liam Allan, 22, was halted at Croydon Crown Court in December, while days later another prosecution collapsed against Isaac Itiary at Inner London Crown Court. A third rape trial against Samson Makele collapsed at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday. A case against Greenwich University student Liam Allan (pictured), 22, was dropped in December The 28-year-old was accused of raping a woman he met after the Notting Hill Carnival in 2016, but was thrown out after more than a dozen pictures emerged of the pair apparently cuddling in bed. Prosecutor Sarah Lindop told Guildford Crown Court on Friday the case against Mr Mears was 'finely balanced' from the start and the new material 'tips the balance' in favour of the teenager. Judge Jonathan Black demanded that the head of the CPS Rape and Sexual Offences unit write to him within 28 days 'with a full explanation of what went wrong' before he decides whether any action is required 'at CPS or police level'. He said: 'It seems to me in a case which is as finely balanced as you say it was, there have been unnecessary delays in investigating... leading to what seems to be a completely unnecessary last-minute decision in this case. 'Both Oliver Mears and the complainant have had this matter hanging over their heads for two years in circumstances, had the investigation been carried out properly in the first instance, that would not have led to this position.' Surrey Police said the case was dropped for 'a number of reasons', only one of which related to the force. 'This is an investigative issue and not related to disclosure,' a statement said. 'We accept that there were flaws in the initial investigation. 'It was not expedient and the investigator did not examine the victim's digital media during the initial stages of the investigation or follow what we would consider to be a reasonable line of enquiry.' The force has launched a joint investigation with the CPS. Long-lost tapes reveal details of a foiled plan by the Jewish Avengers to kill six million Germans by poisoning the country's water supply in revenge for the Holocaust. Film maker Avi Merkado found ten tapes, buried in a museum in Israel, which detailed how a band of Jewish partisans formed after the Second World War. The recordings - which have never been heard in public - are at the heart of a new documentary entitled Holocaust: The Revenge Plot, due to air on January 27. A group shot of the Avengers probably taken in Vilnius, Lithuania, in the mid-1940s - with Abba Kovner centre-back Abba Kovner (pictured in his Avengers uniform in Vilnius in the 1940s) was the leader of the group Researchers from the documentary tracked down the son of Avengers Avi and Leopold Vassiman, known as Poldeck (pictured), now 93, who was responsible for financing the operation Recorded in 1985, when their leader Vilnius Ghetto survivor and Israeli poet Abba Kovner, was dying of cancer, they provide the most detailed account of the groups 1946 plans. The tapes describe how The Avengers, led by Kovner and Pasha Reichmann, funded their activities with 5 notes, forged by Jews in concentration camps and exchanged on the black market. They claim that the late Israeli Presidents, Chaim Weizmann and Ephraim Katzir, were instrumental in helping the Avengers acquire the poison they needed for their audacious plot. They describe how Avengers agents infiltrated the waterworks of four German cities - Hamburg, Nuremberg, Frankfurt and Munich but plans to poison the water supplies were foiled when Kovner was arrested at sea. The Channel 4 documentary Holocaust: The Revenge Plot, to be screened on January 27 The programme will include interviews six of the remaining Avengers, including Auschwitz survivor Yehuda Maimon and Simcha Rotem And they talk about their second mass murder attempt to poison the bread of 50,000 SS officers in Prisoner of War camps in Nuremberg and Munich, which was more successful, striking down up to 2,000 victims. Mr Merkado told MailOnline: The story of the tapes started a few years ago with Kovners grandson Nimrod. He was moving into his grandfathers old house and boxes of his possessions were taken to the Museum. After talking to Avi Avidov, who was Pasha Reichmanns son, who taught me my BA, I found a tape in a box of his old things. I thought there must be more, so I went to the Museum and went through his stuff and eventually found ten tapes. It was a Eureka moment. I was especially interested in the interview with Abba Kovner at the beginning when he explained how they did it and why they felt it necessary to make a response to the horrors. This still is from a drama reconstruction of the Avengers meeting in Vilnius during the war Survivor of the Vilnius ghetto Liebke Distel (depicted in drama reconstruction above) can be seen hiding from soldiers in a Nuremberg bakery The Channel 4 documentary Holocaust: The Revenge Plot, to be screened on January 27, interviews six of the remaining Avengers, including Auschwitz survivor Yehuda Maimon, Simcha Rotem - the last survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising - and Hasia Warshawski, a woman so traumatised by events that she has never spoken before in public. They have also tracked down Kovners son Michael, and the son of Avengers Avi and Leopold Vassiman, known as Poldeck, who is now 93 and was responsible for financing the operation. Avenger member Ideck also shared his experiences of being in the group for the programme Rachel Glicksman was a member of the controversial group and took part in the Channel 4 filming Poldeck (left) was filmed in Tel Aviv and Kazik (right) in Jerusalem for the fascinating documentary Hasia Warshawski (left) was so traumatised by events that she has never spoken before in public. Joseph Harmatz (right) was also a member of the Avengers The son of Abba Kovner (left) was tracked down for the Channel 4 documentary. Avenger Rachel Glicksman (right) is pictured in her student years He came up with the ingenious and ironic - source of cash, buying 5 notes, which had been forged in concentration camps, in Germany and selling them on the Italian black market. The difference we got between the buying and the selling rates paid for our living expenses, he revealed. Executive co-producer Dinah Lord said: This is an incredible story that very few people will know, told from the first-hand perspective of the last survivors directly involved and based on extensive research which has unearthed remarkable new evidence. Commissioning editor Rob Coldstream added: We are proud to have this remarkable film. Both intensely moving and deeply shocking it packs a real emotional punch - and by flipping the traditional Holocaust narrative on its head asks profound questions about the nature of justice. :: Holocaust: The Revenge Plot, is screened at 9pm on Holocaust Memorial Day, January 27, on Channel 4 Their chimes are the quintessential sound of village life, which has been under attack from disgruntled neighbours. But church bells are set to be protected under new planning rules that will stop people silencing them, ministers have confirmed. Even though their bells have chimed for centuries, churches across the country have been slapped with night-time noise abatement orders after complaints from just a handful of neighbours. Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, promised new measures to protect church bells Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, promised new measures to protect the historic landmarks. 'Churches have been part of British life in towns and villages for centuries,' he told the Daily Telegraph. 'Their bells should not be silenced by new housing going up which is why planning policy will be strengthened to ensure it will be up to developers building new properties nearby to identify and tackle noise problems.' It comes after the bells at St Peter's Church in Sandwich, Kent, were silenced between 11pm and 7am in November 2017 after a single neighbour complained. Even though more than 4,000 people signed a petition to keep the bells tolling, the council said it had a 'statutory duty to investigate noise complaints'. Bells have chimed at the Norman church, which was built in the 13th century, every 15 minutes since 1779. Local MP Craig Mackinlay started campaigning to keep the bells ringing on behalf of his constituents and welcomed the news. He told the Telegraph: 'The bell has tolled for local meddlers who want to silence the chimes and local councils who too frequently put common sense and centuries of tradition aside to come to decisions that are held in respect by local people.' This comes after the bells at St Peter's Church (pictured) in Sandwich, Kent, were silenced between 11pm and 7am in November 2017 after a single neighbour complained A Whitehall source also told the paper current planning rules state that requests cannot be unreasonable. They added that historic buildings should have precedence over newer businesses that complain about the noise. In recent years a handful of churches across England have been forced to silence their bells because of night-time noise abatement orders. In September a church in the Lake District was forced to silence its bells overnight when tourists staying in the local pub complained of the noise. St Andrew's Church in Coniston came under fire from guests at the Yewdale Inn, who said they couldn't sleep because of the regular tolls. While outraged neighbours claimed the bells were the sound of village life, the council fitted a timer to stop the bells chiming between 11pm and 7am. Pope Francis may be infallible but his Fiat 500 is not. The Bishop of Rome was delayed for a meeting with the president of Peru by a puncture on the way from Lima airport. After his motorcade came to a halt, the first South American Pope calmly exited the car while his security detail surveyed the damage. Without missing a beat, he got into a black, unmarked security car behind him and continued the ride to the presidential palace. Breakdown on the road the Lima: Pope Francis may be infallible but his Fiat 500 (pictured when it was forced to stop) is not The Bishop of Rome was delayed for a meeting with the president of Peru by a puncture on the way from Lima airport Francis (pictured on Friday) has shunned the bulletproof limousines used by his predecessors, opting for simple cars both in Rome and on his overseas travels Pope Francis, wearing gifts, leaves after a meeting with representatives of indigenous communities of the Amazon basin from Peru Francis has shunned the bulletproof limousines used by his predecessors, opting for simple cars both in Rome and on his overseas travels. Vatican spokesman Greg Burke confirmed the change of plans in a message to journalists. He said the tyre started losing air a few miles from the presidential palace, where Francis was due to meet with Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. The pope used the meeting and subsequent speech to Peruvian authorities to denounce corruption as a 'social virus' that infects all aspects of life and must be combatted. Earlier in the trip Francis warned that the Amazon and its population are under threat and that big businesses want to get their hands on their gold. He made the stark warning in a speech to thousands of tribe members on the edge of the rainforest in Peru during a visit on Friday. In the powerful communication, he said the Amazon and its peoples bore 'deep wounds' and had 'never been so threatened'. Pope Francis has warned that the Amazon and its population are under threat and that big businesses want to get their hands on their gold Pope Francis blesses a baby during a meeting with an indigenous group from the Amazon basin He made the stark warning in a speech to thousands of tribe members on the edge of the rainforest in Peru during a visit on Friday He also lamented 'the pressure being exerted by great business interests that want to lay hands on its petroleum, gas, lumber, gold and forms of agro-industrial monocultivation'. Amazonian indigenous leaders in Peru are urging Pope Francis to help them protect the world's largest rainforest from an onslaught of new threats that are dramatically changing the biome. One of the leaders, Hector Sueyo, told the Pope that native peoples are worried about the Amazon as trees disappear, fish die and rivers become contaminated. Sueyo said that 'the sky is angry and is crying because we are destroying the planet.' Indigenous leaders had hoped the Pope would deliver a forceful message encouraging the government to recognize their land rights and clean up rivers contaminated by illegal mining. Francis has previously spoken about the need to protect the Amazon, which he likens to one of the 'lungs of our planet.' Pope Francis waves to the crowds as he attends the mass meeting in the Peruvian city of Puerto Maldonado In a speech to thousands of tribe members on the edge of the rainforest in Peru, he said the Amazon and its peoples bore 'deep wounds' He also lamented 'the pressure being exerted by great business interests that want to lay hands on its petroleum, gas, lumber, gold and forms of agro-industrial monocultivation' And thousands of indigenous men, women and children traveled to meet the pontiff from throughout the Amazon basin region of Peru, Brazil and Bolivia Bare-chested tribesmen, their bodies painted and their heads crowned with colourful feathers, danced and sung for the pope when he arrived in the Peruvian city of Puerto Maldonado Supporters lined the streets to greet him before his meeting with the indigenous people. Tribesmen gathered in a coliseum to hear him speak And thousands of indigenous men, women and children traveled to meet the pontiff from throughout the Amazon basin region of Peru, Brazil and Bolivia. Bare-chested tribesmen, their bodies painted and their heads crowned with colourful feathers, danced and sung for the pope when he arrived in the Peruvian city of Puerto Maldonado. They then gathered in a coliseum to hear him speak. Supporters lined the streets to greet him before his meeting with the indigenous people. Some spectators ran up alongside his motorcade carrying Vatican-coloured yellow and white balloons, while others cheered and waved as he passed. Members of one of the tribes presented the pope with a bow and arrow in a symbolic gesture aimed at urging him to defend land rights they say they have been stripped of. Members of one of the tribes presented the pope with a bow and arrow in a symbolic gesture aimed at urging him to defend land rights they say they have been stripped of. He was also shown a beautiful painting by tribesmen (pictured) Some spectators ran up alongside his motorcade carrying Vatican-coloured yellow and white balloons, while others cheered and waved as he passed. During his warm welcome, the Pope blessed a child outside the Apostolic Nuncio in Lima (pictured) 'The native Amazonian peoples have probably never been so threatened on their own lands as they are at present,' said the pope, who appeared visibly moved by the reception. 'Amazonia is being disputed on various fronts. 'The problems strangle her peoples and provoke the migration of the young due to the lack of local alternatives. 'We have to break with the historical paradigm that views Amazonia as an inexhaustible source of supplies for other countries without concern for its inhabitants.' The Pope's warm welcome in Peru stands in stark contrast to his reception earlier this week in Chile, where he drew smaller crowds and his presence provoked protests. He accused victims of Chile's most notorious paedophile - Reverend Fernando Karadima - of slander after it was claimed Bishop Juan Barros had helped cover up his crimes. Francis branded the accusations 'all calumny', sparking outrage in the country. Amazonian indigenous leaders in Peru are urging Pope Francis to help them protect the world's largest rainforest from an onslaught of new threats that are dramatically changing the biome Andra Cobb, the sole survivor of a horrific helicopter crash in a remote part of New Mexico, was frantic and screaming as she described the scene to a 911 operator. Police in Raton released the audio recording on Friday, two days after five people were killed when their helicopter crashed and then erupted in flames. 'I'm watching my family burn in a fire,' Cobb yelled on the phone, hysterical. 'I don't know what to do. There's a big fire. I'm covered in gasoline.' Cobb, Zimbabwean opposition leader Roy Bennett and pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd survived the initial crash. Andra Cobb (pictured on the right with her boyfriend Charles Burnett III) is the sole survivor of a helicopter crash that killed five people. Cobb (pictured on right posing next to Burnett) watched in horror as her friends and family burned to death in the Wednesday night crash Dodd also called 911 telling the operator that he had broken his pelvis and was trying to move away from the flames. Dodd died before authorities could get to their location. Bennett, who was suffering from head wounds, also died as police searched for crash site. Wealthy businessman and action lover Charles Burnett III (pictured) was killed in a helicopter accident on Wednesday Cobb, 39, remains in the hospital with several broken bones. She's expected to survive. 'She's just very distraught,' her mother Martha Cobb told the Associated Press in a phone interview. 'I'm just glad my daughter is OK, but I hate that my husband of 41 years is gone.' Cobb remained on the phone with the 911 operator for about an hour before help arrived. At one point during the call she was heard telling Bennett to breathe. 'I'm very, very cold,' she told the operator. Police said the rugged terrain and lack of access slowed down their response time. Officials also said when the helicopter crashed it sparked a grass fire. An investigation has been launched to determine what caused the crash. Cobb said the helicopter was in the air only three to five minutes before it went down. The group of friends, which also included Cobb's longtime partner Charles Burnett III, her father and co-pilot Paul Cobb and Bennett's wife Heather, were traveling to New Mexico to spend their vacation at Burnett's ranch when their Huey UH-1 went down Wednesday night. Burnett's friends, pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd (pictured) of Colorado was also killed while ferrying the group over New Mexico An investigation has been launched to determine what caused the helicopter crash Paul Cobb, Burnett and Heather all died in the crash. A citizen of the United States, Canada and England, Burnett was an investor and businessman based out of Houston. He also headed the Notsew Orm Sands Foundation, funding a wide variety of causes, including medical research and education. Co-pilot Paul Cobb also perished in the crash. He was Andra Cobb's father Known for his love of everything fast, he achieved a variety of world records using catamarans and mono-hulls powered by diesel and petrol. He made the Guinness Book of World Records in 1999 for an offshore water speed record of 137mph. He later set another Guinness record by successfully breaking the land speed record for a steam powered vehicle which has stood for 100 years achieving a speed of 151mph in August 2009. The entrepreneurial Texan and CCS manager also set up Vulture Ventures, a UK-based offshore boat racing team, which soon became known as the world's most successful team in the sport. Dodd was a long-time helicopter pilot and aviation manager at Boyert Shooting Center. The former Marine corporal was flying over the mountains, about 15 miles east of the small city of Raton, near the Colorado state line, at around 6pm when the helicopter went down. Bennett, 60, treasurer-general of the Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change opposition party, won a devoted following of black Zimbabweans for passionately advocating political change. Senior Zimbabwean MDC opposition official Roy Bennett, left, and his wife Heather, relax at a friend's home in Mutare about 200 km east of Harare, Zimbabwe Oct. 16, 2009. They were both killed in the crash Bennett, a white man who spoke fluent Shona and drew the wrath of former President Robert Mugabe, survived a traumatic year in jail and death threats over his work. He was known as 'Pachedu,' meaning 'one of us' in Shona and was often called the sharpest thorn in Mugabe's side. Obert Gutu, spokesman for the MDC-T party, described Bennett's death as a 'huge and tragic loss'. The group was heading to the Emery Gap Ranch, a mountainous property on the Colorado-New Mexico border. Burnett bought it in February 2017, said Sam Middleton, a real estate broker in Lubbock, Texas, who helped with the purchase. A drunk driver unwittingly filmed her own car crash after speeding and using Snapchat behind the wheel. The woman, from Warrnambool, Victoria, was videoing her dangerous drive on the photo-sharing app when she veered off the road and crashed into a pole. The seconds-long footage shows the driver zooming down a dark road before she suddenly careered off to the side, luckily escaping without serious injury. Scroll down for video The woman, from Warrnambool, Victoria, was videoing her dangerous joyride on the photo-sharing app when she veered off the road and crashed into a pole Victoria Police shared the Snapchat footage from the woman's mobile phone, which had been smashed and left with a Mazda symbol imprint from the force of the airbag. 'Oh snap! This is footage of a driver's Snapchat video taken seconds before she ran off the road and crashed, thankfully without serious injury,' the caption read. 'The phone's screen bears the imprint of a Mazda logo which crash investigators believe was caused by the deployment of the airbag.' Police used the footage as damning evidence to charge the woman with a number of driving offences. Victoria Police shared the ill-fated Snapchat footage from the woman's mobile phone, which had been smashed and left with a Mazda symbol imprint from the force of the airbag The driver was was charged with speeding, careless driving, a blood alcohol reading of 0.164 and using a mobile phone while driving. The cautionary post attracted thousands of reactions from appalled social media users who slammed the woman for her actions. 'She's lucky she didn't end up with the Mazda logo indented in her skull,' one person said. 'If you don't care about your own life (obviously if you're stupid enough to do this) then find another way of endangering yourself without risking innocent people around you,' another wrote. Two fires ripping through the Royal National Park in Sydney have been downgraded. NSW Rural Fire Service confirmed the fires had been downgraded to Watch and Act status on Saturday afternoon. One fire is burning on Sir Bertram Stevens Drive and the other, south of Wattamolla Road. Scroll down for video Two bushfires are raging in the NSW Royal National Park, near Bundeena Authorities have said beaches may provide safety for people who are unable to leave Australia's south-east is currently sweltering through a summer heatwave with temperatures soaring past 40C in some parts of the country The fire was seen burning in the background at Nelune Foundation Raceday at Royal Randwick Racecourse on Saturday (pictured) The fires earlier forced the closure of the Royal National Park south of Bundeena. Private boat owners and surf lifesavers have joined efforts to rescue people stranded on beaches as bushfires swept Sydney's Royal National Park. An emergency warning for the two out of control fires south of Sydney was downgraded to a watch and act alert on Saturday evening. However a number of visitors stranded by fire had been rescued on beaches adjacent the national park, NSW Rural Fire Service said. 'There are a number of boats being utilised by surf lifesavers, NSW Police Force and some private citizens that are picking some people up from beaches in the area,' RFS spokesman James Morris said earlier in the evening. Mr Morris said those caught up in the drama had found the park's many beaches to be the best places to take cover. An out-of-control fire burning out of control Walumarra Fire Trail near Bundeena Visitors were urged to move to safety onto the beach away from the blazing fire 'They're providing the best protection given the fact a lot of the escape routes are through the middle of the bushland which isn't safe at the moment given the intensity of that fire.' More than 100 firefighters battled the blaze on Saturday evening, supported by water bombers and aircraft. While 200 people were escorted from popular tourist spot Wattamola Beach to Bundeena by RFS crews, Mr Morris said a large number were still being observed on walking tracks by circling planes. 'There is still a significant number of people in there,' he said. Given the limited mobile coverage in the Royal National Park, Mr Morris said many people in the bushland were 'unlikely' to have received emergency text warnings. Authorities have said beaches may provide safety for people who are unable to leave and the park is now closed to the public. The fires are causing significant amounts of smoke over the area which can be seen from the city. The park has been closed and authorities are urging people to avoid the area This map shows the size of the fire burning in the Royal National Park Those at Little Garie, Garie, North Era, South Era or Burning Palms have been urged to stay in place. Walking tracks are being patrolled to ensure no one is trapped. Elsewhere, rural properties in the area of Alders and Crees Road in Bannaby may soon come under threat by a blaze burning through grass in the area, the NSW Rural Fire Service says. The 90-hectare fire is at a watch act alert level with firefighters and an aircraft on the scene to try and slow the spread of the fire. Firefighters supported by waterbombing aircraft and heavy plant are working to slow the spread of the fire. Further south, firefighters from the ACT have been sent into NSW to protect houses threatened by another bushfire in the Southern Tablelands. Three heavy tankers, backed up by smaller crews, were deployed to the 274 hectare Braidwood blaze on Saturday morning after it burned through the night. 'Their objectives are to protect properties, attack and contain the main fire and contain spot fires,' the ACT Emergency Services Agency said. Meanwhile, firefighters continue to battle with a bushfire that's burnt about 20,000 hectares in the Pilliga Forest between Coonabarabran and Narrabri. The fire is at an advice level with no homes are under threat, but residents are being urged to monitor conditions. A third blaze is threatening homes across central Victoria and is travelling north (pictured) An emergency warning has been issued for Campbelltown, Strathlea, Cotswold, Glengower, Moolort, Smeaton and Ullin More than 30 fire trucks and seven water bombers are battling the huge grassfire (pictured) The grassfire began in Smeaton before 3pm Saturday where 'dry growth' caused the fire to spread quickly Locals affected by blaze were told by firefighters it was now too late to leave their homes Firefighters are currently conducting backburning operations in the area and the Newell Highway has been shut between Narrabri and Coonabarabran and is likely to remain closed on Saturday. The huge blaze threatening homes across central Victoria is travelling north towards Campbelltown and Strathlea. Cotswold, Glengower, Moolort, Smeaton and Ullina have been issued with emergency warnings as more than 30 fire trucks and seven water bombers battle the fire. The grassfire began in Smeaton before 3pm Saturday where 'dry growth' caused the fire to spread quickly, a CFA spokesman told Herald Sun. The horrific blaze can be seen from Sydney - pictured is the view from Barangaroo Waterbombing aircraft being used to help slow large fire burning in Royal National Park Three heavy tankers, backed up by smaller crews, were deployed to the 274 hectare Braidwood blaze on Saturday morning after it burned through the night The fire is at an advice level with no homes are under threat, but residents are being urged to monitor conditions Firefighters are currently conducting backburning operations in the area and the Newell Highway has been shut between Narrabri and Coonabarabran and is likely to remain closed on Saturday British holidaymakers in Jamaica were urged last night to remain in their resorts as the military launched a crackdown on armed gangs. The Foreign Office warned tourists of 'intensive law enforcement activities' after a state of emergency was declared on Thursday, following a string of killings. The Montego Bay area home to several popular luxury resorts has been hardest hit by gang-related violence, with 335 murders in 2017. British holidaymakers in Jamaica were urged last night to remain in their resorts as the military launched a crackdown on armed gangs in the Montego Bay area - home to several luxury resorts (stock photo) Around 200,000 Britons visit Jamaica each year, with many drawn to Montego Bay by its luxury resorts and white sandy beaches, however the surrounding parish has seen a surge in gang-related killing and violence, according to authorities. The FCO has said holidaymakers should limit their movements outside their resorts in the area, especially if travelling at night. Travellers arriving and departing were also urged to only use transport booked through their hotels. The Foreign Office has said holidaymakers should limit their movements outside their resorts in the area, especially if travelling at night (stock photo) Jamaica Constabulary Force Police Commissioner George Quallo told the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) that 335 murders were recorded in St James Parish in 2017, almost double other parishes, with 'numerous gangs' operating in the area. Major General Rocky Meade, Chief of Defence Staff of the Jamaican Defence Force, told the JIS: 'All citizens of Jamaica, including the violence producers, can feel safe in the hands of the military, as long as you are not threatening the troops. 'We are ensuring that we enforce the rule of law, that we disrupt gang activities, and the particular focus is on those that are responsible for murders, lotto scamming, trafficking of arms and guns, and extortion.' The Montego Bay area is home to several popular luxury resorts and has been hardest hit by gang-related violence, with 335 murders in 2017 (stock photo) Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said that the crackdown was being undertaken with the support of local tourism industry. 'Several stakeholders, including those in the tourism industry, have written to me to say that they would support the necessary actions to bring the parish of St James under control and restore public safety,' he said. Mr Holness said the government had been planning the operation 'for some time'. The Canadian government has also warned its citizens to stay in their resorts. The federal government shut down at the stroke of midnight Friday - halting all but the most essential operations and marring the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration in a striking display of Washington dysfunction. Senate Republicans fell far short of passing a procedural motion that would have kept the federal government funded, causing the fourth government shutdown in a quarter century. The final vote was 50-49. Five Democrats who represent Trump-country red states crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans, but the GOP lost four of its own, erasing any doubts about the state of partisan bickering in the US Capitol. While the clerk held the vote open Republicans John McCain and Mitch McConnell refrained from voting so nothing could be finalized a bipartisan group of 15 senators huddled on the Senate floor to discuss a path forward. The recalcitrant Democrats included four who are up for re-election this year Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Claire McCaskill of Missouri along with Alabamian Doug Jones, who took his Senate seat just days ago in a bright red state. Despite hours of attempted negotiations, talks failed and the shutdown was finalized, and quickly the blame game began. Just after midnight on Saturday morning the White House released a statement, calling Democrats 'obstructionist losers' who 'put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country's ability to serve all Americans'. 'We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands. This is the behavior of obstructionist losers, not legislators,' the statement reads, before promising that during the shutdown Trump will continue to work for the American people. Scroll down for video Senate Republicans fell far short of passing a procedural motion that could have kept the federal government funded past midnight on Friday, failing to attract the 60 votes they needed and hurtling the nation toward a partial government shutdown Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky sequestered themselves in a far-away corner, negotiating an endgame. The pair are pictured together Wednesday While the clerk held the vote open Republicans John McCain and Mitch McConnell refrained from voting so nothing could be finalized a bipartisan group of 15 senators huddled on the Senate floor to discuss a path forward. After dinner, President Donald Trump seemed resigned to presiding over the first shutdown since 2013 President Trump's latest tweet comes just hours after he attempted to stave off the shutdown when he met with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer Friday evening. After the meeting he said he was 'making progress' on a deal to prevent the shutdown Republicans pressed the vote anyway, positioning their foes as obstructionists in a classic battle over who would shoulder the blame, despite evidence showing the contrary. Pictured is Lindsey Graham speaking with reporters in Washington just before the vote Vice President Mike Pence also weighed in on his way to Israel - blasting Senate Democrats for the congressional failure to keep the government open. In a statement he said: 'Our administration will do everything within our power to support the brave men and women in uniform who stand on the frontlines of freedom. But as of tonight, due to a completely avoidable government shutdown, theyll stand their post without pay.' McConnell and Schumer each took the floor after the shutdown was finalized Friday night - with each lawmaker attempting to paint the opposition party as guilty. 'The decision by Senate Democrats to shove aside millions of Americans for the sake of irresponsible political gain was 100 percent avoidable,' McConnell said. He claimed that the Democrats held the opposition party 'hostage' 'over the completely unrelated issue of illegal immigration.' 'We're gonna keep on voting. The government may be headed into a shutdown, but the Senate is not shutting down. The American people expect better from us than this.' Schumer took the floor just after his opponent - immediately blaming McConnell for pushing through the vote when he knew he didn't have the numbers to back it up. The seasoned Democrat explained that he met with Trump earlier in the day, saying he'd put the border wall on the table for discussion in exchange for DACA protections. 'But even that wasn't enough,' he said. 'The American people know this party is not capable of governing. This will be called the Trump shutdown, because no one deserves blame for the position we find ourselves in other than President Trump.' But despite Trump's attempts to paint democrats as the guilty party - recent polls show Republicans and President Trump will bear most of the blame. A national ABC News/Washington Post poll released Friday found 48 percent of people surveyed say they will blame Trump and the GOP for a shutdown, while only 28 percent will blame Democrats. And another survey by Quinnipiac had similar results - with 32 percent saying they would blame Republicans, 21 percent blaming Trump, and 34 percent blaming Democrats. Since the shutdown began at the start of a weekend, many of the immediate effects will be muted for most Americans. But any damage could build quickly if the closure is prolonged. And it comes with no shortage of embarrassment for the president and political risk for both parties, as they wager that voters will punish the other at the ballot box in November. Even before the vote, President Donald Trump was pessimistic - seeming resigned to presiding over the first shutdown since 2013. 'Not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the dangerous Southern Border,' Trump tweeted, referring to the hit the Homeland Security Department would take in the event the government's wheels grind to a halt. 'Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy,' the president claimed. With the Friday's late-night voting failure, Congress will have failed to keep the lights on in Washington for just the fourth time in a quarter-century. The recalcitrant Democrats included four who are up for re-election this year Joe Manchin of West Virginia (pictured), Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Claire McCaskill of Missouri along with Alabamian Doug Jones, who took his Senate seat just days ago in a bright red state Democrats in the Senate had emerged from their mid-evening meeting largely united, and predicting that the funding measure a modest bill funding the government for only four weeks would go down to defeat. Schumer and Senator Tom Carper are pictured after the meeting The New Yorkers broke off talks without an agreement. But they said in separate statements that 'progress' had been made on a deal President Donald Trump suggested Friday morning that a government shutdown might be coming by day's end, and prepared to blame Democrats in the Senate who are threatening to block the latest stopgap funding bill White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders was one of the first to use the hashtag Friday night, claiming that Democrats voted against the bill to undermine Trump's new tax law Marc Short, center, White House director for legislative affairs, grimaces as he answers reporters questions on Friday night. With the Friday's late-night voting failure, Congress will have failed to keep the lights on in Washington for just the fourth time in a quarter-century WHITE HOUSE'S FULL STATEMENT AFTER FRIDAY NIGHT'S SHUTDOWN Senate Democrats own the Shumer Shutdown. Tonight, they put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country's ability to serve all Americans. We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands. This is the behavior of obstructionist losers, not legislators. When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform. During this politically manufactured Schumer Shutdown, the President and his Administration will fight for and protect the American people. Advertisement The White House risks being blamed for the mess that will result as letter-carriers, military contractors and park rangers wonder whether to come to work and doubt they'll be paid. Democrats, too, risk being called obstructionists as the GOP branded the confrontation a 'Schumer shutdown' and carped that liberals were holding the entire government's budget hostage to a demand that 'illegal immigrants' receive special treatment. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders was one of the first to use the hashtag Friday night, claiming that Democrats voted against the bill to undermine Trump's new tax law. 'Democrats can't shut down the booming Trump economy. Are they now so desperate they'll shut down the government instead? #SchumerShutdown,' she tweeted just before midnight. Democrats are insisting on a permanent recognition of legal status for hundreds of thousands of people brought to the US illegally as minors, a move that perplexed Republicans since there was no legislative language available that could accomplish it. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an Obama-era relic, guarantees protection from deportation for so-called 'DREAMers.' Trump summoned Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to the White House Friday afternoon in the hope of cutting a deal. But the two New Yorkers emerged without an agreement. 'We made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements,' Schumer said when he returned to Capitol Hill. The president called off a planned weekend in Florida where he was to attend a big-ticket gala commemorating his first year in office. The event at his private Mar-a-Lago resort club commanded as much as $250,000 per couple for Republican campaign coffers. His sons Donald Jr. and Eric are expected to attend in his place. But ultimately a broad range of federal operations would be curtailed, although food inspections, law enforcement, airport security and other vital services would continue, along with Social Security and military operations. House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland told reporters that 'if there's any good news, it's a weekend. If we act tomorrow as I think we could, and I think we should, and reach compromises, then we could pass something before the weekend ends and the impact would be minimal.' CONGRESS HAS SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT: NOW WHAT? The US government shutdown began at midnight Friday as Democrats and Republicans failed to resolve a standoff over immigration and spending. Here's a look at what the parties are fighting over and what it means to shut down the government. WHAT ARE LAWMAKERS FIGHTING ABOUT? Since the end of the fiscal year in September, the government has been operating on temporary funding measures. The current one expired at midnight. Republicans and Democrats have not been able to agree on spending levels for the rest of the year, so another short-term measure is the most likely solution. The House has passed a four-week bill Thursday that also extends funding for a children's health insurance program. But Democrats have been saying for weeks they want a funding measure to be tied to an immigration deal that protects the thousands of young immigrants facing deportation. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is set to expire March 5, and members of both parties have been working on an extension that would also beef up border protection. That deal has not come together, and Democrats have decided to dig in. They blocked the House-passed bill. Both sides were still negotiating early Saturday. Shutdown: Police tape marks a secured area of the Capitol, Friday in Washington THEY'VE BLOWN THE DEADLINE. NOW WHAT? The government begins to shut down. But not all of the government. The air traffic control system, food inspection, Medicare, veterans' health care and many other essential government programs will run as usual. The Social Security Administration will not only send out benefits but will also continue to take applications though replacements for lost Social Security cards could have to wait. The Postal Service, which is self-funded, will keep delivering the mail. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will continue to respond to last year's spate of disasters. The Interior Department says national parks and other public lands will remain as accessible as possible. The stance is a change from previous shutdowns when most parks were closed and became high-profile symbols. Spokeswoman Heather Swifts says the American public especially veterans who come to the nation's capital should find war memorials and open-air parks open to visitors. Swift says many national parks and wildlife refuges nationwide will also be open with limited access when possible. The Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo will stay open through the weekend but close Monday. DO FEDERAL WORKERS GET PAID? While they can be kept on the job, federal workers can't get paid for days worked during a lapse in funding. In the past, however, they have been repaid retroactively even if they were ordered to stay home. Rush hour in downtown Washington, meanwhile, becomes a breeze. Tens of thousands of federal workers are off the roads. HOW OFTEN DID THIS HAPPEN IN THE PAST? Way back in the day, shutdowns usually weren't that big a deal. They happened every year when Jimmy Carter was president, averaging 11 days each. During Ronald Reagan's two terms, there were six shutdowns, typically just one or two days apiece. Deals got cut. Everybody moved on. The last one was a 16-day partial shuttering of the government in 2013, which came as tea party conservatives, cheered on by outside groups like Heritage Action, demanded that language to block implementation of President Barack Obama's health care law be added to a must-do funding bill. WHO WILL GET THE BLAME? In a 1995-96 political battle, President Bill Clinton bested House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his band of budget-slashing conservatives, who were determined to use a shutdown to force Clinton to sign onto a balanced budget agreement. Republicans were saddled with the blame, but most Americans suffered relatively minor inconveniences like closed parks and delays in processing passport applications. The fight bolstered Clinton's popularity and he sailed to re-election that November. In 2013, the tea party Republicans forced the shutdown over the better judgment of GOP leaders like then-Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. Republicans tried to fund the government piecemeal for example, by forcing through legislation to ensure military service members got paid. But a broader effort faltered, and Republicans eventually backed down and supported a round of budget talks led by Paul Ryan, R-Wis., then chairman of the House Budget Committee. Republicans are calling the current standoff the 'Schumer Shutdown,' arguing that there's nothing in the bill that Democrats oppose, while a short-term extension would give lawmakers time to work out differences on issues like protecting young immigrants and disaster assistance. Schumer says the GOP's unwillingness to compromise has brought Congress to this point. A Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted earlier this week found 48 percent view Trump and congressional Republicans as mainly responsible for the situation while 28 percent fault Democrats. If the shutdown drags on for long, it could give voters another reason to turn away from incumbents of both parties in a mid-term election. Advertisement Jesse 'Smiley' Rutland (Pictured) died at Kings County Hospital on December 10 after an assailant broke into his Brooklyn home on Glenwood Road One of the founding members of a dance crew credited with developing 'The Harlem Shake' phenomenon was found slain his New York home last month. Jesse 'Smiley' Rutland died at Kings County Hospital on December 10 after an assailant broke into his Brooklyn home on Glenwood Road near Brooklyn Ave. in East Flatbush and shot him to death, according to investigators. Police said that Kumar Reid, 29, was placed into custody on the same day of the incident and was being held at the Kings County Jail. Reid was later charged with second-degree murder in the case. His defense attorney, Jay Schwitzman, entered a not guilty plea on his behalf at his Supreme Court arraignment on Friday, according to The New York Daily News. Police said that Kumar Reid, 29, was placed into custody on the same day of the incident and was being held at the Kings County Jail The 'Harlem Shake' late found a second life as an Internet meme online, with searches producing countless videos and images for the term (Rutland pictured with his wife- name unknown) Rutland, 37, was a part of the Crazy Boyz Dance Crew, the group credited with kicking off the world wide dance phenomenon the 'Harlem Shake" that dominated hip-hop videos and armature YouTube clips during the early 2010s. Originally started in the 1980s, the dance involves mostly upper-body gyrations based on an Ethiopian dance called Eskista. The dance became mainstream in 2001 when featured the Harlem shake in his music video 'Let's Get It,' Rutland later died at Kings County Hospital (pictured) after sustaining a gun shot wound early on December 10 The 'Harlem Shake' late found a second life as an Internet meme online, with searches producing countless videos and images for the term. Maurice Strayhorn, founding member of the dance crew, posted a heartfelt message to the 'Original Harlem Shakers' Facebook page on December 16, lamenting the loss of his friend. 'My beloved brother and one of the Original Founding Members of the group Crazy Boyz (Go Crazy Boyz) creators of the dance craze The Harlem Shake ...Jesse "Smiley" Rutland has been senselessly murdered on in his home with his children nearby,' Strayhor wrote. 'He was shot at 7.35am. His 6 year old son attempted to revive him and ran out in the snow seeking help from a neighbor. Unfortunately my beloved beautiful brother passed away at 8.30am at Kings County Hospital Sunday Morning,' the post added. A cursory search for 'Harlem Shake' videos turn up clips and images that have garnered millions of views worldwide, a testament to the huge popularity of the dance sensation. Motive for the shooting still remains unknown. Rutland leaves behind a wife and young son. The search is on for two young brothers who disappeared from a medical centre three days ago. Nathan Marr, eight, and his brother Cody, six, were last seen at the facility on Main Road East, St Albans, in Melbourne's west, about 9.15am Wednesday. Police said they are concerned for the children's welfare due to their ages and the length of their disappearance. The search is on for Nathan Marr (left), eight, and his brother Cody (right), six, who have been missing since Wednesday The children are believed to have been travelling with their grandmother since leaving the medical centre. Police said they may frequent nearby suburbs Keilor Downs, Melton and Sydenham. An image of the children has been released by police in the hope they may be recognised by the public. Police have also urged anyone with information regarding their whereabouts to come forward. A legal feud over the will of infamous Sydney bikie identity, Ricky Ciano, has erupted between his widow and ex wife. Surfers Paradise former model, Rachel Elizabeth Ciano, and NSW Central Coast woman Bianca Barnier, have begun disputing what the former Rebels president intended to leave them, and his daughter, Imogen. Ms Ciano claimed the final will, which she said left everything to her besides $10,000 for his daughter, was lost in the clean-up of his unit, Gold Coast Bulletin reports. In the lead up to Ms Ciano applying for probate of the will, Ms Barnier informed the courts of her intention to challenge its validity. A legal feud over the will of infamous Sydney bikie identity, Ricky Ciano (left), has erupted between his widow Rachel Elizabeth Ciano (right) and ex wife, Bianca Barnier In the lead up to Ms Ciano applying for probate of the will, Bianca Barnier (pictured) informed the courts of her intention to challenge its validity Police are still investigating how the 35-year-old died, who killed him, and why She believes Mr Ciano would not have made a will leaving just $10,000 to Imogen. Ms Ciano accused her deceased partner's ex wife of being a 'scab' in text messages filed as part of the case in the Supreme Court in Brisbane. She slammed Ms Barnier, the mother of Mr Ciano's six-year-old daughter, saying she 'was calling people the day after (Ciano) was found dead about what payouts she could get.' The stay-at-home mother also accused Ms Barnier of taking a $7000 bed and other items from Mr Ciano's Sydney bolthole after he died. Mrs Ciano (left) claimed the final will, which she said left everything to her besides $10,000 for his daughter, was lost in the clean-up of his unit Ciano reportedly left the Rebels bikie gang in 2015 when he moved from Sydney to the Gold Coast for a lifestyle change Mrs Ciano (right) accused her deceased partner's ex wife of being a 'scab' in text messages filed as part of the case in the Supreme Court in Brisbane The stay-at-home mother (right) also accused Ms Barnier of taking a $7000 bed and other items from Mr Ciano's Sydney bolthole after he died She complained in text messages to a friend saying she had to purchase a new bed because Ms Barnier was too lazy to get a job and buy her own. 'Everyone just want to scab every little thing they can!' Ms Ciano wrote. Ms Barnier, who was married to Mr Ciano for seven years, told the court her ex husband had 'taken out a $1 million insurance policy' about a year before he died which was to be split between Imogen and Ms Ciano. She said Ms Ciano told her after Mr Ciano died that the policy had lapsed. She also accused Ms Ciano of not including expensive Rolex watches and other jewelery items in his list of assets. Ms Barnier (pictured) told the court her ex husband had 'taken out a $1 million insurance policy' about a year before he died which was to be split between Imogen and Ms Ciano Ms Ciano (right) accused her deceased partner's ex wife of being a 'scab' in text messages Mr Ciano's body was found partially decomposing in his $130,000 BMW sports car. It was believed he had been there for a couple of days before being found Mr Ciano's decomposing body was found in the back of his $130,000 BMW on February 14 last year near Oberon, in the NSW Central Tablelands, two days after his wife reported him missing. The 35-year-old and his wife, who married in 2015, were expecting a baby boy, after two years and ten rounds of IVF when he died. Police have still not revealed how Ciano died, however were treating his death as suspicious when they found his body. Ricky Ciano left behind four children and an unborn son to his pregnant wife, Rachel Ms Barnier also accused Ms Ciano of not including expensive Rolex watches and other jewelery items in his list of assets A 57-year-old man (pictured) turned himself into police on Friday night after he was caught on camera allegedly stealing donations for an autistic child from a Melbourne church A man has turned himself in to police after he was caught on camera allegedly stealing donations for an autistic child whose father had died. The 57-year-old is accused of taking envelopes containing an estimated $4,000 during a funeral procession at a church in Avondale Heights, in Melbourne's north-west, on January 12. He allegedly snatched the money while the casket of four-year-old Kai's father was being carried away. Kai's father Shane, 43, died after suffering a severe asthma attack on New Year's Eve, 9 News reported. Shane's family hoped to raise money for ongoing specialist care for Kai, who has high-range autism and is non-verbal. The accused thief turned himself in after he was captured on CCTV allegedly loitering in the church lobby and eyeing-off the money. He allegedly snatched the money while the casket of four-year-old Kai's father Shane, 43, (pictured) was being carried away Shane died after suffering a severe asthma attack on New Year's Eve He is accused of then taking the donation box from the church's sign-in table. Police charged him on Friday night with two counts of theft and one count of burglary. He has been bailed to appear in Werribee Magistrates' Court in June. Shane's brother Kevin said the funeral will be forever tainted by the 'despicable act', Herald Sun reported. Shane's family hoped to raise money for ongoing specialist care for Kai, who has high-range autism and is non-verbal The accused thief turned himself in after he was captured on CCTV allegedly loitering in the church lobby and eyeing-off the money 'I'm not sure if in years to come if I can ever remember this funeral for anything else,' he said. The alleged theft was also labelled as one of the worst crimes senior constable Joey Micallef had seen in eight years as a policeman. 'Its a completely despicable, spineless act I cant seem to get my head around it,' he told the publication. He added: 'Its absolutely imperative this person is held accountable for his actions.' An elderly woman, nicknamed 'serial stowaway' for repeatedly sneaking onto airplanes, was arrested at a Chicago airport after getting all the way to London - with no boarding pass or passport. Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Marilyn Hartman was flown back to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Thursday night and taken into custody once she arrived. She's charged with felony theft and a misdemeanor count of criminal trespassing. Marilyn Hartman, 66, was arrested on Thursday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport for sneaking onto a plane and flying to London It's believed she spent nearly 24 hours at the airport before she boarded the flight with no ticket Hartman has been charged with felony theft and a misdemeanor count of criminal trespassing Guglielmi said the 66-year-old woman got through a federal Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at a domestic terminal without a ticket before taking a shuttle to the international terminal. Hartman was arrested in the past for similar incidents It's believed she spent nearly 24 hours inside the airport before boarding a British Airways flight to London. According to NBC5, police think Hartman was able to get on the plane by mixing in with a large group. Once on the plane, flight attendants realized she didn't have a ticket and alerted authorities. British Customs officials refused to let her enter London and made arrangements for her to fly back to Chicago. TSA said its investigating how she was able to get through security, the Chicago Tribune reports. During the initial investigation it was determined that the passenger was screened at the security checkpoint before boarding a flight, a statement read. Upon learning of the incident TSA, and its aviation partners took immediate action to review security practices throughout the airport. Hartman has been detained several times across the country for trying to board flights without a pass. In December 2015, she told NBC5 that she 'may have' boarded planes without a ticket eight times. She's expected to appear in court on Saturday. Advertisement A California couple opted to forego a traditional wedding to instead spread good will in Africa. Instead of throwing a lavish ceremony to celebrate their lifelong commitment to each other, Meylia and Neal engaged in fellowship with the Tanzanian locals for 10 days. The newlyweds brought along travel and wedding photographer B.A. Van Sise to capture the essence of their love, and the trip of a lifetime. Meylia and Neal brought along travel and wedding photographer BA Van Sise to capture the essence of their love, and the trip of a lifetime Instead of throwing a lavish ceremony to celebrate their lifelong commitment to each other, Meylia and Neal of California engaged in fellowship with Tanzanian locals for 10 days A California couple opted to forego a traditional wedding to instead spread good will in Africa The couple's non-traditional wedding party included a few close friends The couple's non-traditional wedding party included a few close friends. The group of about half a dozen joined them on the trek to Tanzania, where Meylia's parents are heavily involved in charitable works. The small group of loved ones embraced their opportunity to do as much good as possible with the pair's wedding budget, by visiting orphanages, a center for the deaf and differently abled, and Maasai schools. The Maasai are a semi-nomadic group of people that inhabit Tanzania and Kenya, and are well-known for living off the land, having an almost exclusively oral language and hunting lions. Meylia's parents are heavily involved in charitable works in the African nation The group of about half a dozen joined them on the trek to Tanzania The newlyweds brought along travel and wedding photographer BA Van Sise to capture the essence of their love, and the trip The small group of loved ones embraced their opportunity to do as much good as possible with the pair's wedding budget California's Meylia and Neal skipped a pricey wedding and instead engaged in fellowship surrounding their wedding in Africa The group spent their trip visiting orphanages, a center for the deaf and differently abled, and Maasai schools The Maasai are a semi-nomadic group of people that inhabit Tanzania and Kenya, and are well-known for living off the land, having an almost exclusively oral language and hunting lions The energy can be felt through Van Sise's images, where the faces of the wedding party and the locals radiate with joy. He captured the wedding of Meylia and Neal beautifully, blending the prolonged candid experience with the short-but-sweet marriage ceremony to tell their fairy tale. The highly engaging photo collection shows the vivid colors of the Tanzanian landscape and its rich culture. One image showcases the bride and groom embracing in a clearing, surrounded by zebras. Van Sise told The Modern Met he found the unique nuptial experience unforgettable. Van Sise told The Modern Met he found the unique nuptial experience unforgettable 'I shoot a lot of weddings, meet a lot of wonderful people, and I adore the pageantry of it and the joy of it, but there's something kinda neat about the idea of using it as an excuse to better people's lives,' Van Sise said 'We spend so much money on weddings, often with the primary motivation of showing off wealth; there's something great about the idea of saying, "Well, maybe this could be better utilized elsewhere,"' Van Sise said 'I shoot a lot of weddings, meet a lot of wonderful people, and I adore the pageantry of it and the joy of it, but there's something kinda neat about the idea of using it as an excuse to better people's lives,' he said. 'We spend so much money on weddings, often with the primary motivation of showing off wealth; there's something great about the idea of saying, "Well, maybe this could be better utilized elsewhere."' When it was all said and done, Meylia and Neal were married, and made memories worth a lot more than some fancy party. And Van Sise captured it all, on camera. The energy can be felt through Van Sise's images, where the faces of the wedding party and the locals radiate with joy Van Sise captured the wedding of Meylia and Neal beautifully, blending experience and ceremony to tell their fairy tale The highly engaging photo collection shows the vivid colors of the Tanzanian landscape and its rich culture Four men, including two Colombians, have been arrested for allegedly attempting to import 30kg of cocaine into Brisbane. Mark Dumenil, Hashanth Kulatunge and Columbian brothers Giovani and Wilmar Buitrago Aguilar are accused of trying to import the large amount of cocaine - which has a street value of $9million - by stashing it in the railing of a shipping container. Police swooped on the group, aged between 45 and 52, when two men tried to collect their cache after it was delivered on Friday. Four men, including two Colombians, will remain behind bars after their attempt to import 30kg of cocaine (pictured) into Brisbane was unravelled by in a police sting Australian Border Force officers detected the cocaine ten days earlier but allowed the container to be delivered to trap the alleged importers. 'The federal police actually substituted the cocaine for an inert substitute,' police prosecutor Trevor Perry said. ABF Queensland Commander Terry Price said the sizeable seizure was a significant blow to the illegal drugs trade. 'Even using unique concealments like this, importers are no match for our highly trained officers and cutting-edge x-ray technology,' he said. The four men made a brief appearance at Brisbane Magistrates Court on Saturday. They were charged with importing and possessing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, an offence that carries a maximum of life imprisonment. They did not apply for bail and are expected in court on February 4. An Oklahoma boy was trying to rescue his paralyzed father after their house went up in flames but neither one was able to make it out, police said. Love County Sheriff Marty Grisham said a fire broke out around 1am on Wednesday at a mobile home on Renick Road in Marietta. Two children, a 13-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl, were home at the time with their 60-year-old father. Thomas JayVance Cummins (left), 13, and his father James Cummins (right), 60, were killed in a house fire. Thomas was trying to save his father, who is paralyzed Police said the fire started around 1am on Wednesday at the Marietta home. Thomas and his 16-year-old sister were sleeping in the living room, where the fire started, when the house went up in flames Police said Thomas and James were overcome by smoke and by the time firefighters put the blaze out it was too late Police said the daughter and son were sleeping in the living room when the girl woke up and saw that the room was on fire, the Sun Herald reports. She ran across the street to a neighbor's house for help, while her brother tried to get their paralyzed father into a wheelchair but they were overcome by smoke. By the time firefighters managed to put the fire out, it was too late. 'Upon arrival the deputies found the house engulfed in flames,' Grisham said. '(They) attempted to enter the house, couldn't make it through the front due to the fire and couldn't make it to the back also due to fire and debris.' The father has been identified as James Cummins and the 13-year-old boy was Thomas JayVance Cummins. The daughter's identity has not revealed. Grisham said the father had been paralyzed in an accident that happened several years ago. According to KXII, the mother was at the store when the fire broke out. 'This family is just sleeping and the son is doing what he can to protect and save his dad,' Grisham said. 'It's a very sad story.' 'This family is just sleeping and the son is doing what he can to protect and save his dad. It's a very sad story,' Love County Sheriff Marty Grisham said Investigators said multiple space heaters were in the home to keep it warm and they believe that's what started the fire The fire has been ruled as an accident but an official cause is still being determined Investigators said multiple space heaters were in the home to keep it warm. An official cause of the fire is still being determined, but police believe the heaters contributed to the blaze. 'The blaze appeared to have originated in the living room area, however due to the amount of damage, I was unable to determine whether the cause was electrical or the space heaters,' Oklahoma Fire Marshall investigator Judah Shepard told the Daily Ardmorette. 'The on-scene investigation ruled the fire was accidental.' A GoFundMe account has been set up seeking $10,000 to help the family with funeral expenses and living arrangements. Police said the mother and daughter are currently staying with relatives. The teenager accused of shooting a former friend in west Sydney overnight has been identified as Youssef Elsamad. The 19-year-old has been charged with fatally shooting his former friend in front of a public housing complex in Merrylands on Friday. Mohamed Salihy who was shot dead at point-blank range, had been on the radar of counter-terrorism officers, according to the Daily Telegraph. Elsamad, who was found in a neighbour's backyard, has reportedly told police he was he's innocent and was hiding from an unidentified shooter, according to court documents. Youssef Elsamad (pictured) has been charged with fatally shooting his former friend Police were called to an apartment in Merrylands, Sydney's west on Friday night where it is alleged Elsamad (pictured) shot Mohamed Salihy In 2014, Mr Salihy came to the attention of police after a raid of the countrys biggest terrorism cells, but was never charged. Elsamad, an unemployed tiler who was on bail at the time of the alleged shooting, did not appear when his matter came before Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday. His lawyer told the court he would not apply for bail. In papers tendered to the court, police allege the victim had driven with a friend to the 19-year-old's residence to resolve a dispute. Elsamad (pictured) told police an 'unknown person' shot the victim and he had been running away When Mr Salihy and his friend arrived at Eddy Street about 10pm they were met by Elsamad who was waiting outside the garage of a villa, while a number of friends remained gathered inside. The 19-year-old allegedly approached the victim and his friend, saying 'I'm sick of this shit', before entering his home and re-emerging two minutes with a sawn-off shot gun. He then shot Mr Salihy point blank in the chest, leaving him face down on the floor bleeding profusely, police allege. Youssef Elsamad, 19, has been charged with fatally shooting his acquaintance Mohamed Salihy, 22, at a Merrylands complex Friday night but says he didn't do it Elsamad told police he was innocent and was hiding from an unidentified shooter, according to court documents A crime scene was established at the address with officers erecting police tape outside home The 22-year-old died at the scene while the accused fled, sparking a police search using a helicopter, which spotted him hiding in his neighbour's backyard, the document said. Elsamad told police an 'unknown person' shot the victim and he had been running away and hiding because he was being chased by the shooter, the court documents state. He told police a cut on his finger was the result of being shot, the documents said. The matter has been adjourned to January 31 in Parramatta District Court. In 2011 an innocent family narrowly avoided being sprayed with bullets after gunmen shot at a home that cousins of Kings Cross nightclub identity John Ibrahim previously lived in This is the moment a man trying to meet an underage girl for sex is snared by paedophile hunters. Former engineer Christopher Wise, 42, thought he was having illicit conversations on the internet with two girls aged 14 and 15 over social media site Scout last summer. But he had in fact been duped by groups Dark Justice and Guardians of the North who set up fake online profiles to track down adults looking for sex with children. Wise was confronted on July 3 last year when he arrived to meet the 15-year-old on Newcastle's quayside area. He had told the 14-year-old's profile, who asked to meet him on the same day, that they would have to 'postpone' their date. But the paedophile hunters were lying in wait. Footage shows them peering into Wise's car and ask: 'Do you know the consent laws in this country, sir?' 'Yes, I do,' he responds. 'What is it then?' they challenge him. 'Fourteen, fifteen,' he says, before warning another of the paedophile hunters to shut his car door because it's getting cold. This is the moment a man trying to meet an underage girl for sex is snared by paedophile hunters Former engineer Christopher Wise, 42, thought he was having illicit conversations on the internet with two girls aged 14 and 15 over social media site Scout last summer Conversing with what he thought were two underage girls, Wise wrote that he wanted to have sex with them. He told the 15-year-old, who claimed to be a virgin, horse riding schoolgirl, she was old enough to consent to sex and sent her a picture of his penis. The predator also told the 14-year-old she would experience 'enjoyment and ecstasy' if they met and had sex. Prosecutor Neil Pallister told Newcastle Crown Court that Wise had mentioned the existence of paedophile hunter groups while chatting and knew the risks he was taking. 'The defendant appears not to have been able to help himself,' said Mr Pallister. 'He actually said 'there are loads of people, I think, trying to catch people meeting up with underage lasses, people trying to catch people, younger lasses meeting older men.' But he had in fact been duped by groups Dark Justice and Guardians of the North who set up fake online profiles to track down adults looking for sex with children Mr Pallister added: 'The defendant, at the time, clearly believed he was talking to 14 and 15-year-old girls and clearly went to meet one of them.' Wise, of Brigham Avenue, Newcastle, admitted two charges of attempting to meet a child after sexual grooming. Judge Tim Gittins sentenced him to 14 months behind bars with ten years on the sex offenders register and a sexual harm prevention order. 'You began two separate series of conversations, grooming conversations, with girls you believed were 15 and 14,' the judge told him. 'Very early in the conversations it was made clear to you the age of the purported girl and nontheless you continued to engage with them, quickly descending into sexual discussions and centring on you wanting to meet them to have penetrative sexual intercourse, full sexual intercourse. 'In fact, it transpired, one of the profiles was being operated by a group self-styled as Dark Justice, and the other, self-styled group Guardians of the North, who created such profiles with the intention of ensnaring those who would wish to meet with real children under the age of consent. Wise, of Brigham Avenue, Newcastle, admitted two charges of attempting to meet a child after sexual grooming 'Ultimately, you attended the arranged location on July 3. 'It was clearly a surprise to you that you had not been corresponding, in fact, with children but with individuals from those organisations. 'You knew the risk you were taking, not just with the girls underage but the risk of being caught by organisations such as those that were involved with you.' Judge Gittins said Wise had displayed an 'unnatural urge to gain sexual gratification' by interacting with the underage girls. Adam Birkby, defending, said Wise has no history of sexual offending but has mental health and other problems. Mr Birkby urged the judge to allow Wise to keep his freedom and receive treatment. He added: 'It is better to give him the opportunity to change and show that he can.' Advertisement The Fast and Furious Live Show dazzled audiences at London's O2 Arena on Friday night as it began its world tour. Stars of the popular movie franchise walked the red carpet in style at the much-anticipated premier, which promised to provide the 'ultimate adrenaline rush' which comes from watching 'physics-defying stunts'. Featuring high octane stunts performed by a string of super cars, the unforgettable live action show didn't disappoint. Scroll down for video The Fast and Furious Live Show dazzled audiences at London's O2 Arena on Friday night as it began its much-anticipated world tour Stars of the popular movie franchise walked the red carpet in style at the much-anticipated premier, which promised to provide the 'ultimate adrenaline rush' which comes from watching 'physics-defying stunts' Featuring high octane stunts performed by a string of super cars, the unforgettable live action show didn't disappoint A flaming fuel tanker that bounces, a souped-up Dodge Charger and a bright orange Lamborghini are just a few over-the-top displays which wowed spectators at the launch. Audiences were also treated to a Honda Civic EJ1s chasing a jack-knifed lorry and a submarine crashing through ice as 11 stunt drivers got behind the wheel to impress in stunning replicas of the cars from the movies. And the ultimate treat for fans? Several original cars from the films also made an appearance. The two-hour show, featuring innovative special effects and 3D projection mapping, saw 18 real stunts from the films recreated on stage. Earlier in the evening, stars including Vin Diesel, Elysia Wren and Mark Ebulue walked the glamorous red carpet for the hotly-anticipated opening night. Vin Diesel, who stars as Dominic Toretto in the Fast And Furious films, was in jovial mood at the show's world premiere, beaming ear to ear British actor Elysia Wren, who plays the live show's alpha female despite being only a year out of drama school, dazzled in a revealing red dress at the opening night Mark Ebulue, who stars as federal agent Jimmy Dawson, looked suave in a sleek grey suit as he posed at the red carpet premier Love Island star Olivia Buckland attended the glamorous night, dressing down in a pair of high-waisted black jeans and off-the-shoulder white top, completing her look with a classy checked scarf Singer Nicola Roberts stepped out in a revealing black trouser suit embroidered with what looks like a tiger and its tamer X Factor star Amelia Lily put in an appearance at the hotly-anticipated premier, dressing down in a polka dot white dress topped with a retro leather jacket and heeled boots TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp wrapped up warm for the occasion, slipping into a beautiful knee-length black dress and elegant black coat, and completing her look with a stunning bronze scarf Actress Shireen Jathoonia (left) and model Kayla Cadorna cosied up on the red carpet in two very striking looks. Both opted for revealing cut-out frocks, with Shireen choosing a daring red slit dress and Kayla a more conservative little black dress TOWIE stars James Lock and Yazmin Oukhellou looked smouldering at the glamourous event. James dressed head to toe in black, while Yazmin's pastel jumpsuit and gold clutch bag added some colour to their ensemble Footballer Jamie O'Hara looked jubilant on the red carpet, giving photographers the thumbs up as he posed in a classic white shirt teamed with a subtle brown suit jacket Dancer Karen Clifton stepped out in a pair of over-the-knee black boots which showed off her toned pins and a summery black and red dress Magician Dynamo walked the red carpet in an all-black ensemble, layering up a black shirt, hoodie and leather jacket Mark Ebulue and Elysia Wren looked thrilled to be at the opening night of the enormously popular franchise's live show The show, which took five years to perfect, was developed by Chris Hughes and James Cooke-Priest - who along with writer/director Rowland French - were part of the time behind Top Gear Live. It will visit 22 more cities in a total of 14 European countries before hitting the US, central and south America in 2019-20, China and Asia in 2021, then return to Europe in 2022. Next in line are the Liverpool Arena, Belfast SSE Arena, Arena Birmingham, Glasgow SSE Hydro, Manchester Arena, Newcastle Metro Radio Arena and Sheffield FlyDSA Arena. The scale of the project was enormous, with 15 million spent on stunts and 10 million taking the show on tour, according to producers. During the tour, 36 trucks will transport 41 vehicles, 67 crew members and 70 tonnes of rigging. A flaming fuel tanker that bounces, a souped-up Dodge Charger and a bright orange Lamborghini are just a few over-the-top displays which wowed spectators at the launch Audiences were also treated to a Honda Civic EJ1s chasing a jack-knifed lorry and a submarine crashing through ice Eleven stunt drivers got behind the wheel to impress in stunning replicas of the cars from the movies. Several original cars from the films also made an appearance The show, which took five years to perfect, was developed by Chris Hughes and James Cooke-Priest - who along with writer/director Rowland French - were part of the time behind Top Gear Live It will visit 22 more cities in a total of 14 European countries before hitting the US, central and south America in 2019-20, China and Asia in 2021, then return to Europe in 2022 Next in line are the Liverpool Arena, Belfast SSE Arena, Arena Birmingham, Glasgow SSE Hydro, Manchester Arena, Newcastle Metro Radio Arena and Sheffield FlyDSA Arena The scale of the project was enormous, with 15 million spent on stunts and 10 million taking the show on tour, according to producers Elysia Wren (above) dazzled as the show's alpha female, languishing on the bonnets of incredible cars and keeping the audience entertained Vin Diesel (above), wearing a pair of his trademark dark sunglasses, took to the stage during the live show, giving spectators a thrill Two days before a retired teacher was allegedly murdered he told friends 'Hallelujah, I'm feeling a lot better'. Before his mysterious death Peter Farquhar, 69 was nursed by two former students Ben Field, 27 and Martyn Smith, 31 who were 'like sons to him'. The two men were arrested this week on suspicion of his murder as well as the murder of a second pensioner who lived three doors down the road in a Buckinghamshire village. Ben Field who was suspected of poisoning an elderly bachelor was one of the main beneficiaries of his will, it emerged on Thursday. Scroll down for video Author: Peter Farquhar with one of his novels He was given the right to live in 69-year-old Peter Farquhars 300,000 home in a Buckinghamshire village for as long as he wished. He was also handed cash, jewellery and a valuable book collection as well as being given responsibility for tending his friends grave. A friend of Mr Farquhar claimed that before his death he was suffering from a urinary tract infection and complained of restlessness and 'bad thoughts' at night. Mr Farquhar, an evangelical Christian, emailed his friends two days before his death saying that while he had been through a 'rough patch' during a spiritual battle he was feeling much better. Suspects: Church warden Ben Field, 27 (left), from Towcester, Northamptonshire, and magician Martyn Smith, 31 (right) from Redruth, Cornwall, were arrested on suspicion of two counts of murder, two counts of conspiracy to murder, two counts of suspicion of fraud by false representation, conspiracy to defraud and one count of burglary Details of the contents of the will emerged days after Mr Field and a second man were arrested on suspicion of murdering the pensioner and his 83-year-old neighbour, Ann Moore-Martin. It emerged last night that the second suspect, Martyn Smith - a 31-year-old part-time magician - had been living with a 100-year-old woman for several months after he and Mr Farquhar were introduced by Mr Field. A third man, aged 22, from Milton Keynes, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud, conspiring to commit fraud by false representation and fraud by false representation. The centenarian told The Daily Telegraph that she had met Mr Smith and Mr Field through her friendship with Mr Farquhar. Ben Field, 27 (pictured), was given the right to live in 69-year-old Peter Farquhars 300,000 home in a Buckinghamshire village for as long as he wished The pensioners lived only three doors from each other on a street in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire She said that Mr Field suggested that Mr Smith move in with her to help him concentrate for upcoming exams. Mr Field a charismatic church preacher who describes himself as a lecturer in Companies House records was appointed as one of three executors of Mr Farquhars will controlling his 500,000 estate weeks before his sudden death. He was also made literary executor and given powers over the retired English teachers collection of unpublished manuscripts. Cambridge-educated Mr Farquhar spent three decades teaching at 12,000-a-year Manchester Grammar School before moving to Stowe public school in Buckinghamshire and settling in the village of Maids Moreton. He also lectured in English literature at the University of Buckingham and published several novels including A Bitter Heart. He also lectured in English literature at the University of Buckingham and published several novels including A Bitter Heart. The will sets out how Mr Field the son of a Baptist minister should be allowed to remain in the three-bedroom detached property in Maids Moreton after Mr Farquhars death. The only condition was that he maintained it in good condition, paid the bills and ensured the contents were adequately insured. However, it appears that Mr Field, who spoke at Mr Farquhars funeral, gave up his lodgings within a year before paying cash for a 97,500 flat in Towcester, Northamptonshire. As a result, Mr Farquhars two young nephews appear to have benefited from the bulk of the sale of their uncles property. A new and unconnected family now occupy the house, which public records show they bought for 290,000 in December 2016. The will, signed at a local solicitors firm on September 11, 2015, gives a fascinating insight into Mr Farquhars lifestyle. Among its provisions, Mr Farquhar directed that Mr Field and others should share his extensive literary library, preferably over a meal paid for by my estate. He added: Any remaining books can be offered to Stowe school library or Buckingham University library. How writer handed out his estate The will also sets out how Mr Farquhar kept an extensive journal throughout his life which he gave to his brother and nephews. Pictured: Mr Farquhar signing one of his books Ben Field was to have the right to live at Peter Farquhars 300,000 home for as long as he wished. A piano, oak desks and glass bookcases were to be left in the home for Mr Field to enjoy. A silver wine bottle holder, a gold signet ring and a vintage edition of the complete works of Charles Dickens, worth up to 700, were also left to him. Antique furniture, including a William Morris dining table, a Chesterfield settee and Hepplewhite chairs, should be passed to relatives. Mr Field was given control of a 1,000 fund to tend Mr Farquhars grave, including ensuring the lettering remains legible and flowers are laid. Several original paintings, including one of Florence by a former colleague at Buckinghamshire public school Stowe, were to be retained by his family. Advertisement The will also sets out how Mr Farquhar kept an extensive journal throughout his life which he gave to his brother and nephews. The retired scholar insisted it should not be broken up and that Mr Field should be appointed literary agent should it be considered for publication. Mr Field was also bequeathed a silver wine bottle holder, gold signet ring and a vintage edition of the complete works of Charles Dickens, worth up to 700. Detectives from Thames Valley Police continued to question Mr Field and Mr Smith last night on suspicion of conspiracy to murder, fraud and burglary after being given another 36 hours to do so. They are at the centre of an investigation into the deaths of Mr Farquhar and Miss Moore-Martin. It has shocked the village, where both residents were described as pillars of the community. It is understood police were first alerted by friends at her church who suspected she was being groomed to change her will Mr Farquhar died unexpectedly on October 26, 2015, from acute alcohol intoxication, while Miss Moore-Martin, a retired headmistress, who lived three doors down from Mr Farquhar, died in May last year. Police launched a fraud inquiry as she became seriously ill. They have been unable to determine what led to her death. It is understood police were first alerted by friends at her church who suspected she was being groomed to change her will. Mr Field and Mr Smith lived with Mr Farquhar, and his neighbour, rent-free after meeting him at the University of Buckingham, where both were students. Solicitor Paula Myers, a partner at Irwin Mitchell, confirmed that Mr Farquhars will gave Mr Field a life interest in his property. But she said anyone convicted of killing an individual cannot benefit because it will be forfeited by the courts. The expert on wills and probate added: In that case, the gift will then pass to the other beneficiaries named in the will. Miss Moore-Martin, a devout Roman Catholic, made a new will just three months before her unexplained death. In it, she appointed her sister-in-law as executor of her 380,000 estate and asked for her body to be buried with her mother in Buckingham Cemetery. Both Mr Field and Mr Smith have been released on bail. Zoe Wanamaker joked she was p****d off no one tried it on with her when she was a young actress in the 1970s. The actress, 68, said sexual harassment was widespread at the BBC and ITV when she started out in television. But even though the My Family star claimed sex pests can be found in every industry, she branded the Me Too movement a witch hunt. Zoe Wanamaker joked she was p****d off no one tried it on with her when she was a young actress in the 1970s Ive got a girlfriend who was a script editor and she was constantly being touched up, she told the Daily Mirror. I was just p****d off that nobody ever tried it on with me. Miss Wanamaker added: This is in every business. I dont think its just showbusiness. But now Im upset because its a witch-hunt you can gain something out of it by just, after 50 years, coming out and saying, Oh, I was raped. You think, What took you so long? The actress, said the movement could be likened to the McCarthy witch hunts, when writers and actors in the US in the 1950s were blacklisted if they had any Soviet links. Miss Wanamaker started acting in the mid-1970s and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company until 1984. The actress (pictured, in Sky Atlantic series Britannia), 68, said sexual harassment was widespread at the BBC and ITV when she started out in television The actress became a household name when she starred in My Family and won a legion of younger fans when she played Madame Hooch in Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. Her comments come after Brigitte Bardot criticised hypocritical actresses for flirting with movie producers. The veteran French actress said that she had never been a victim of sexual harassment but rather found compliments about her appearance nice. When asked what she thought of actresses denouncing harassment in the film industry, the 83-year-old said: In the vast majority of cases they are being hypocritical, ridiculous, uninteresting. Wanamaker (left, alongside Robert Lindsay in My Family and right, claimed sex pests can be found in every industry, she branded the Me Too movement a witch hunt There are many actresses who flirt with producers in order to get a role. Then, in order to be talked about, they will say they have been harassed. In reality, rather than benefiting them, it harms them. Miss Bardot, a sex symbol of the Sixties, said she enjoyed the attention she got when she was younger and working in the film business. The actress told French magazine Paris Match: Me, I was never the victim of sexual harassment and I found it charming when I was told that I was beautiful or I had a nice little backside. This kind of compliment is nice. Schools in Germany are asking naughty and hyperactive children to wear heavy sand-filled vests to calm them down and keep them in their seats. The controversial sand vests, weighing between 2.7 and 13Ib, are used by 200 schools in the country - despite reservations of some parents and psychiatrists. Supporters of the vests, which cost between 124 and 150, say they are very effective at curbing children's restlessness in many cases. Controversial sand vests, weighing between 2.7 and 13Ib, are being used by 200 schools in Germany to calm down hyperactive children Increasingly more children are being diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) each year in Germany, as elsewhere. Schools using the vests say they are a straightforward way of tackling the problem and a kinder and less complex form of therapy than drugs such as Ritalin. Gerhild de Wall, head of the inclusion unit at the Grumbrechtstrasse school in the Harburg district of Hamburg, says children love wearing the vests and they are never forced into putting them on. She first came across them while teaching in the United States, where they are referred to as 'compression vests' or 'squeeze jackets' and sometimes used for autistic children. Supporters of the vests, which cost between 124 and 150, say they are very effective at curbing children's restlessness in many cases. But critics say they are similar to straitjackets worn by violent patients in psychiatric hospitals and could stigmatise their wearers De Wall thinks the vests help children feel centred and concentrate better rather than acting as a constraint. But she says that even though the weight is evenly spread over the child's upper body, they should not be worn for more than 30 minutes at a time. Barbara Truller-Voigt, whose nine-year-old son Frederick has worn a 2kg sand vest at his Hamburg school for the past three years to treat his ADHD, said her son thinks it helps him and doesn't mind wearing it. 'He can concentrate better and is more able to take an active part in lessons because he's not spending the whole time trying to keep his arms and legs under control,' she said. One parent said she thought people had 'lost the plot' and the vests were being used as a 'punishment'. She said schools should avoid 'such torture methods' But critics say they are similar to straitjackets worn by violent patients in psychiatric hospitals and could stigmatise their wearers. One parent said she thought people had 'lost the plot', writing on Facebook: 'It would be best if we avoided such torture methods. 'How can you say to a child, 'You're sick, and as a punishment you have to wear this sand-filled jacket which is not only physical agony but will make you look like an idiot in front of the rest of the class.'' And many psychiatrists are sceptical about the vests, especially because the long-term effects of wearing them are unknown. Michael Schulte-Markwort, director at the Child and Youth Psychiatry University Clinic in Eppendorf, Hamburg, told German newspaper Die Tageszeitung they were 'ethically questionable'. He also said they could be seen as a one-size-fits-all remedy for attention deficiency disorders and schools should instead focus on the child's individual problems. The wife of Ukip leader Henry Bolton has slammed her estranged husband for 'wining and dining' his mistress while she raises their two young daughters. Mr Bolton walked out on wife Tatiana Smurova-Bolton, 42, and their children for topless model Jo Marney, 25, just days before Christmas. After leaving his wife, it emerged the politician called his time with his new beau his happiest in many years. Scroll down for video The wife of Ukip leader Henry Bolton,Tatiana Smurova-Bolton, 42, has slammed her estranged husband for 'wining and dining' his mistress while she raises their two young daughters Mr Bolton walked out on wife Mrs Smurova-Bolton, 42, and their children for topless model Jo Marney, 25, just days before Christmas But hurt by his words, the Russian born mother-of-two said he was happy because Mr Bolton had dropped his responsibilities in order to schmooze his new lover. 'You didnt have to provide for your family,' she said about him in an interview with The Telegraph. Adding that he didn't have to worry about paying off debts and keeping the young family afloat, she said: 'The maximum he had to worry about was where to wine and dine his mistress.' Discussing the former soldier's operations abroad, she said she felt betrayed after supporting him during his time in Afghanistan and when in his unsuccessful attempt to become police and crime commissioner. Adding: 'I was always there for him because I loved him. I was very proud of him. Now Im ashamed I am in this scandal that he dragged me into.' Mrs Smurova-Bolton's words come after Mr Bolton was forced to admit he had ended his relationship with his new girlfriend following her alleged racist remarks. After being spotted together enjoying drinks in Leicester Square with Ms Marney, many Ukip members are suspicious of Mr Bolton's insistence, despite this week, insisting he had ended their relationship to concentrate on politics But after being spotted together enjoying drinks in Leicester Square with Ms Marney, many Ukip members are suspicious of Mr Bolton's insistence, despite this week, insisting he had ended their relationship to concentrate on politics. A source told MailOnline: 'Party members are fuming after he told them the relationship was over. He promised he would stop seeing her. The relationship looks awful and it's dragging him and the party down. 'But now they feel misled because he saw her last night despite the damage it is doing to him and to the party. They think he's been foolish On Monday, Mr Bolton said he had ended his relationship with Miss Marney, which he said was 'obviously quite incompatible' with his leader role. But the pair were seen dining together at London's National Liberal Club last night, where members said they were holding hands. Ms Marney was suspended by Ukip after vile messages claiming Meghan Markle's 'seed' would taint the Royal Family. Discussing the former soldier's operations abroad, she said she felt betrayed after supporting him during his time in Afghanistan and when in his unsuccessful attempt to become police and crime commissioner She also said she would never have sex with a 'negro' because they were 'ugly'. In social media posts she branded Grenfell tower a 'nest of illegal immigrants' and also criticised the victims of Harvey Weinstein. In a statement earlier this week, Jo Marney said: 'I apologise unreservedly for the shocking language I used. 'The opinions I expressed were deliberately exaggerated in order to make a point and have, to an extent, been taken out of context. Yet I fully recognise the offence they have caused. 'No offence was intended and, again, I apologise unreservedly for any such offence or hurt that my messages have caused to members of the public, members of Ukip my friends, family and loved ones.' In an interview with ITV's Good Morning Britain, Mr Bolton said: 'I don't defend these comments whatsoever and indeed Jo has been suspended pending an investigation under the normal rules of the party for such things, and it is against the constitution for the party to be racist in any way.' Mr Bolton's estranged wife Tatiana Smurnova was reported to be pleased Bolton has dumped the controversial model. French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that Britain will not be able to 'cherry-pick' the parts of the EU it prefers following Brexit. Although the leader opened the door to a bespoke trade deal with the UK, he insisted full access to the single market without accepting its rules was 'not feasible'. In an interview with Andrew Marr he was asked whether a special trade agreement with Britain was possible. He explained that while it was on the cards Britain would have to first accept certain 'preconditions' in order to benefit from the single market. Scroll down for video French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that Britain will not be able to 'cherry-pick' the parts of the EU it prefers following Brexit. Although the leader opened the door to a bespoke trade deal with the UK, he insisted full access to the single market without accepting its rules first was 'not feasible' He said: 'Sure, but ... this special way should be consistent with the preservation of the single market and our collective interests. 'And you should understand that you cannot, by definition, have the full access to the single market if you don't tick the box.' Mr Macron's comments came during his first visit to the UK since becoming French president, where he held talks with Prime Minister Theresa May. In the interview, to be broadcast on Sunday, Mr Macron said that Britain would not be able to gain access to the single market without first agreeing to 'preconditions' - such as freedom of movement across the EU, the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice - Europe's top court - as well as budget contributions. Mr Macron's comments came during his first visit to the UK since becoming French president, where he held talks with Prime Minister Theresa May In an interview with Andrew Marr he was asked whether a bespoke trade agreement was possible and explained that while it was on the cards, Britain would have to accept certain 'preconditions' 'There should be no cherry-picking in the single market because that's a dismantling of the single market,' he said. 'As soon as you decide not to join the [EU] preconditions it's not a full access. What is important is to not make people believe that it is possible to [have your cake and eat it].' Before doubling down that access to the single market for the UK's financial services sector was 'not feasible' if the UK did not accept the obligations set out by the EU. But that he did not want to 'unplug' the City from the EU, explaining that it would be counter productive for both parties. In an interview to be broadcast on Sunday, Mr Macron said the Britain would not be able to gain access to the single market without first agreeing to 'preconditions' - such as freedom of movement across the EU, the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice - Europe's top court - and budget contributions Moving the discussion on to the 2016 referendum, Macron described the vote as a 'mistake' - adding that while he respected the vote, he does regret the offer of a 'yes' or 'no' outcome 'It doesn't make sense,' he told Marr. 'Because it's part of the whole financing of our European Union.' Moving the discussion on to the 2016 referendum, Macron described the vote as a 'mistake' - adding that while he respected the vote, he does regret the offer of a 'yes' or 'no' outcome. He said: 'I do respect this vote, I do regret this vote, and I would love to welcome you again,' he said. 'It's a mistake when you just ask 'yes' or 'no' when you don't ask people how to improve the situation and explain how to improve it.' Three separate bloodbaths at Russian schools recently are all linked by the alleged teenage attackers 'worshipping' the perpetrators of the Columbine massacre in the U.S. 18 years ago. In the latest outrage on Friday, axe-wielding masked suspect Anton Bichivin, 16, wore a T-shirt linked to German band KMFDM as did sinister Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. The shirt was visible as the blood-drenched Russian was detained in the snow by military police, and in an ambulance as he was rushed to hospital. Scroll down for video Columbine attacker Eric Harris (left) and Dylan Klebold (right) both wore KMFDM T-shirts Anton Bichivin at the time of his arrest by police officers - he too was allegedly wearing a T-shirt linked to German band KMFDM Both Anton Bichivin (left) and Lev Bidzhakov (right) carried out horrific attacks and both are believed to have been unduly interested in the Columbine massacre Lev Bidzhakov, 17, (left, in a social media and, right, being detained) allegedly praised the Columbine massacre on his social media account Lev Bidzhakov (pictured) is also believed to have had fascist sympathies Four months ago student Mikhail Pivnev, then 15, threw smoke bombs and struck a teacher with an axe at a school near Moscow - he too was an admirer of the Columbine shooters and had Nazi sympathies Columbine attackers Harris and Klebold (above) murdered 12 pupils and one teacher, injuring 24 more Teacher Irina Ramenskaya was hit in the head with an axe, but was able to give an account of the attack to journalists The axe allegedly used by Anton Bichivin to hack pupils as they fled their burning classroom was recovered by police Bichivin is under investigation for attempted murder for firebombing a Russian literature class, then cracking open the heads of two pupils and a teacher - and injuring five others - as they tried to flee a high school in the Siberian region of Buryatia. He and accomplice Alexander Rogalsky, 16, are believed to hold Nazi sympathies and gave themselves fascist names before staging the attack, law enforcement officers have revealed. In an earlier horrific attack on Monday this week, nine pupils and 'hero' teacher Natalia Shagulina suffered knife wounds when two teenagers went on the rampage in a classroom in the Urals city of Perm. Suspects Lev Bidzhakov and Alexander Buslidze - also 16 - intended a murder spree based on the Columbine High School massacre in in 1999, Russian law enforcement officers believe. It was reported that Bidzhakov had material on his social media accounts linked to the U.S. attack in which two senior students, Harris and Klebold, murdered 12 pupils and one teacher, injuring 24 more. Four months ago a student Mikhail Pivnev, then 15, threw smoke bombs and struck teacher Lyubov Kalmykova, 39, with an axe at a school near Moscow. He too was an admirer of the Columbine shooters and had Nazi sympathies, law enforcement officers say. Detectives are examining whether there are any firmer connections between the incidents amid fears of further classroom attacks, it was reported. Teacher Natalia Shagulia (pictured) was badly wounded as she fought off the knife attackers to defend her young students at the school The two children and their teacher are fighting for their lives and are in a 'grave condition' after the Friday attack. Classmates Alexandra Bortsova and Maya Bazhenova, both 13, had their skulls cracked open by the axe attack, reported the Russian media citing law enforcement sources said. In all, five pupils and two teachers were wounded in the carnage. Alexandra was reported to be in a coma and her relatives made a plea for blood to save her. She is due to undergo surgery on Saturday. A classmate called Liza said: 'We were in a literature lesson. 'Suddenly some boy came in and threw a burning substance against the wall. 'It caught fire. 'We ran out of the classroom, and the attackers started to chop up one of the girls, Maya Bazhenova.' One of Maya's fingers was severed by the axe-wielding student. Another finger was badly crushed and she suffered a shoulder injury when she was struck. Teacher Irina Ramenskaya, 41, is also being treated for an open head wound after being struck by the axe. Anton Bichivin was said to be a fan of violent video games and had images such as this one on his social media profiles She told journalists: 'I got a blow into my head, but I didn't even feel the impact. 'There was smoke and I started to take out the children. 'But when I went out by myself, I saw this figure just chopping the kids with an axe. 'I began to bring them back into the classroom, but everything was burning there.' Anton Kulikov, 13, was wounded in the neck and spine while his female classmate Konstantsia Yatsunenko, 13, received a blow to her shoulder blade. Boys Konstantsia Yatsunenko, 13, and Vladislav Danilov, 12, were both badly wounded in the school outrage. Another teacher Irina Zbritskaya, 44, is surviving from severe psychological trauma after the attack. The teenage ringleader of the attack then smashed windows in the room, stabbed himself in the chest and jumped from a second floor window. He was detained by armed military police after falling on the snow below. One pupil, called Kristina, said of the suspect and his friends: 'They did not take drugs. They were into Nazism.' Before the attack they renamed themselves on social media using names of obscure Russian fascists. Bichivin's stepbrother said: 'He is fond of computer games - GTA, Call of Duty, and Painkiller. 'When something goes not according to his wish he becomes nervous, shouts, freaks out.' Another witness said she saw a boy 'hit with an axe on the back of his neck. 'A girl was axed in the neck and then another student had one or two fingers severed'. She saw teacher Irina Zbritskaya give a wounded pupil her fur coat in the aftermath of the carnage as victims fled outside into the-24C cold. Moments later she collapsed. Two fishermen are feared dead after prawn trawler capsized on a Scottish loch. Captain Duncan MacDougall, 46, and Przemek Krawczyk, went missing after the Nancy Glen sunk while out on Loch Fyne, in Argyll. A major search and rescue operation was launched after the boat's crew made a distress call at around 6pm on Thursday. Trawlers on Loch Fyne, in Argyll, where two fishermen went missing after their boat capsized Duncan MacDougall, 46, and Przemek Krawczyk, went missing after the Nancy Glen sunk while out on Loch Fyne, in Argyll (pictured, an RNLI crew out on the loch) John Miller, 34, who was pulled from the water by a fishing vessel, told rescuers his two crewmates were still missing. But more than 24 hours later the search operation, focused on waters north of the village of Tarbert, was scaled back yesterday with no trace of the men found. A witness said crew from the CalMac ferry tied a cable to the stricken vessel in an effort to stop it capsizing, the Scottish Sun reported. But the sink severed and the boat plunged into the water and sunk. The witness said: 'It was a heroic attempt to save the boat. 'The only thing that could be seen of the Nancy Glen was the hull. Suddenly, the bow of the boat sank and only the stern could be seen.' It was later reported that a Royal Navy crane was on its way to steady the vessel but could not reach the trawler in time. Mr Miller was taken to hospital in Lochgilphead, Argyll, where staff described his condition as 'stable'. A major search operation was launched on Thursday, but it has since been scaled back Mr MacDougall's uncle, Thomas, who lives in Petts Wood, south London, said the family were 'distraught' by the 'terribly upsetting' news. The fishing port of Tarbert, which is home to all three men, has been left reeling by the tragedy. Free Church minister the Rev Robert Macleod, said: 'The community is clearly in shock, it's a very sombre place today, the families involved are waiting for confirmation. 'Both the Church of Scotland and ourselves, we have opened up our church for people who want to go in for quiet and reflection. 'There are people involved directly, there are still people involved in the search and rescue part of it and there are the families, those who are struggling. 'Something like this touches everybody, it's a very sad and solemn place.' Fishing boat operator John MacAlister, from Oban, Argyll, said Mr MacDougall comes from a well-known Tarbert fishing family who owned the Nancy Glen. He added: 'It is very sad. I have known the MacDougall family since I was a kid and Mr Krawczyk has lived in the village for a while.' Tarbert councillor Anne Horn, a neighbour of Polish-born Mr Krawczyk and his wife Gosia, said: 'They are a lovely family, they have lived here for some years. 'All the men involved are from nice families and are all experienced fishermen.' An RNLI crew heads out on the loch as the search for the missing men continues She said villagers were doing all they could to help those affected, adding: 'It's a very sad community and our love and prayers are for the families. There are young children involved and our hearts go out to them.' A number of Coastguard teams, police divers, RNLI lifeboats, a Coastguard helicopter and local boats were all involved in the search yesterday. A Coastguard spokesman said: 'Attempts were made last night with a remotely operated underwater vehicle to investigate the fishing vessel which has come to rest on the sea floor. 'However, poor visibility hampered those efforts.' RNLI spokesman Henry Weaver said four of its lifeboats had been involved in the search. He added: 'It has been a really good community effort search-wise, there have been a lot of local boats out helping.' A friend of Mr MacDougall, who did not wish to be named, said: 'As many boats as could go out went out.' Describing the former Tarbert Academy pupil as 'a nice, decent guy', they added: 'They were a nice family, you would always see Duncan and his wife Dawn together. 'He clearly adored his children and Dawn they had been going out together since they were young.' Investigations into the cause of the accident are now taking place. A Police Scotland spokesman said the search for the missing men was due to resume this morning. A luxurious day on the water has turned into a nightmare for one woman who is undergoing surgery after she got caught in a propeller. The woman in her late 40s received serious injuries to her legs and groin shortly after midday at the Gold Coast. The woman and her husband were at Wave Break Island, off the coast of popular theme park Sea World, when the boat reversed into a mooring, 9 News reported. A luxurious day on the water has turned into a nightmare for one woman who is undergoing surgery after she got caught in a propeller (paramedics at scene pictured) The woman in her late 40s received serious injuries to her legs and groin shortly after midday at the Gold Coast (pictured) The woman and her husband were at Wave Break Island, off the coast of popular theme park Sea World, when the boat (pictured) reversed into a mooring, 9 News reported The moving propeller cut the woman's legs, leaving her with 'extensive' cuts and fractures to both legs. Quick thinking bystanders helped the woman, who was standing in waist deep water, before Volunteer Marine Rescue took the woman to shore, Gold Coast Bulletin reported. Paramedics treated the woman at the boat ramp where she was given a blood transfusion. Queensland Ambulance Service inspector Pat Berry (pictured) told media the woman had 'serious lower leg injuries, deep lacerations' The woman was rushed to Gold Coast University Hospital where she remains in a critical condition with non-life threatening injuries after incident off Water Break Island (pictured) Six medical crews stabilised the woman whose injuries were described as 'horrendous' by VMR Martin Hood. Queensland Ambulance Service inspector Pat Berry told media the woman had 'serious lower leg injuries, deep lacerations'. The woman was rushed to Gold Coast University Hospital in a serious condition where she remains in a critical condition with non-life threatening injuries. Inspector Berry said the husband was treated for shock and also condemned the efforts of bystanders for what would have been 'quite confronting'. The couple's boat was ferried to shore by Water Police. Pope Francis has held a huge outdoor mass - attended by about 200,000 people - in a northern coastal region of Peru struggling to rebuild in the wake of devastating floods last year. The Pontiff consoled Peruvians who lost their homes and livelihoods in devastating floods last year, telling them that they can overcome all of life's 'storms' by coming together as a community and stamping out the violence that plagues their part of the country. Pope Francis travelled to an area of northern Peru that is frequently hit by 'El Nino' storms and was inundated in 2017 by flooding that killed more than 150 people and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes. Some residents are still living in tents. Pope Francis wearing typical Peruvian cap - an Uchu - greets a boy in Plaza de Armas square in Buenos Aires neighborhood, southeast of Peruvian city Trujillo Thousands of people waited for the arrival of Pope Francis at Huanchaco beach, on the outskirts of the Peruvian city of Trujillo The Popemobile made its way through adoring crowds on the beach, ahead of the Pontiff celebrating a mass on the shores of the Pacific Ocean The Pontiff is in Peru for an official and apostolic three-day visit which in places has attracted huge crowds Thousands of excited people waited for the arrival of Pope Francis at Huanchaco beach The Pontiff is in the north of Peru to console people who lost their homes and livelihoods in devastating floods last year Pope Francis waves to the crowd from the Popemobile as he arrived to officiate at the open-air mass at the beach resort town of Huanchaco Pope Francis personally greeted and blessed people shortly after disembarking from his plane at the city of Trujillo earlier on Saturday The plane carrying Pope Francis is escorted shortly before landing at the beach resort town of Huanchaco - north-west of the city of Trujillo At a seaside Mass for some 200,000 faithful, Francis said he wanted to come to the area to pray with those who lost everything and who must also contend with the 'other storms that can hit these coasts, with devastating effects on the lives of the children of these lands.' His visit to Trujillo province, some 350 miles north of Lima, was a change of pace after a politically charged first day in the Latin American country where he condemned 'great business interests' for endangering the Amazon and its tribes. The Pontiff warned President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and other leaders of another more subtle form of degradation which he said was pervading society: corruption. Pope Francis hugs a boy at the Apostolic Nunciature in the Peruvian capital Lima on Friday Pope Francis (C) greets locals upon his arrival for a meeting with native peoples, in Puerto Maldonado, on Friday Pope Francis, wearing gifts, leaves after a meeting with representatives of indigenous communities of the Amazon basin from Peru, Brazil and Bolivia, in the Peruvian city of Puerto Maldonado, on Friday 'How much evil is done to our Latin American people and the democracies of this content by this social virus?' the pope asked. 'Everything being done to combat this social scourge deserves our utmost attention.' On Thursday Pope Francis created controversy in Chile, when he accused victims of the country's most notorious paedophile of slander. He made the astonishing claim at the end of a visit meant to help heal the wounds of a sex abuse scandal that has cost the Catholic Church its credibility in the country. Impromptu airline marriage questioned A day after Pope Francis hit the world's headlines by marrying two flight attendants while flying 36,000 feet over Chile, conservative Roman Catholics have queried the validity of the impromptu ceremony. They argued that such spontaneous ceremonies harm other people's marriage preparations. 'Do you know what's a `marriage' ripe for annulment?' tweeted the traditionalist blogger Rorate Caeli. 'One celebrated apparently on a whim in an airplane whose celebrant cannot even be sure if parties are validly baptized.' The Vatican however said the marriage of flight attendants Paula Podest and Carlos Ciuffardi was doctrinally and canonically legitimate. The happy couple were in fact married civilly in 2010, but that their plans for a church wedding fell through when an earthquake hit. As Ciuffardi explained, the Pope proposed that he marry the couple right there, in part to motivate other couples to contract a church wedding at a time when more and more couples are merely cohabitating in contravention of Roman Catholic teachings. Advertisement The Pope said that until he sees proof that Bishop Juan Barros was complicit in covering up sex crimes of the Reverend Fernando Karadima, accusations against Barros are 'all calumny.' Saturday's mass in Peru is taking place on a wide swathe of beach able to accommodate 500,000 people, in the historic town of Huanchaco. It is popular with surfers and known for its distinctive reed watercraft. Crowds began to assemble at the venue on Friday night ahead of the pontiff's appearance, despite persistent drizzle. Pope Francis will then go to the town's poor 'Buenos Aires' neighborhood which was especially hard hit by last April's flooding. More than 130 people were killed across Peru in heavy rains, floods and landslides fuelled by the El Nino weather phenomenon between January and April 2017, which also left at least 300,000 homeless. The pope is also due to preside over a ceremony in the town square before some 35,000 followers and meet members of the clergy. On Friday, he cautioned about the future of the rainforest and tribe members, saying they had 'never been so threatened.' Bare-chested tribesmen danced and sang for the pope when he arrived in the Peruvian city of Puerto Maldonado. Thousands of indigenous people had traveled to meet the Pontiff from throughout the Amazon basin region of Peru, Brazil and Bolivia. Pope Francis, 81, arrived Thursday afternoon in Peru, the second and last leg of a week-long South American visit. During the first part of his visit, in Chile, Francis highlighted the plight of vulnerable immigrants, offered an apology to victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests, prayed with survivors of Augusto Pinochet's brutal dictatorship, and called for protection of Chile's persecuted indigenous communities. Sinn Fein's deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald will succeed Gerry Adams as the leader of the party. The party's deputy leader was the only candidate to succeed Mr Adams when nominations closed this morning, Sky News reported. In Belfast, Mr Adams, the Sinn Fein party president for three decades, said: 'We need to have a party that's fit for purpose, we need to have a plan. Scroll down for video Sinn Fein's deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald will succeed Gerry Adams as the leader of the party. The party's deputy leader was the only candidate to succeed Mr Adams when nominations closed this morning ahead of the special party election come February 10, 2018 'We need a party that thinks and acts strategically...that builds alliances with other of like mind. 'Doing nothing is not an option.' Speaking at the meeting Ms McDonald said she believes her leadership will mark a defining chapter in the achievement of a United Ireland. 'I believe Irish unity is the best solution for all of our people, including our unionist brothers and sisters. I know we have a job to do to convince them of that, but I know we are more than fit for that task,' she said. Ms McDonald added: 'Some of you have said to me 'you have very big shoes to fill'. 'Well, the truth is that no one will ever fill Gerry Adams's shoes. The truth is, my friends, I won't fill Gerry's shoes. But the news is that I brought my own. So I will fill my shoes. 'I will walk in my shoes and we together over the coming years will walk a journey that is full of opportunities, full of challenges, but I believe which marks a defining chapter in our achievement of a United Ireland and the ending of partition. 'As Gerry has said, that's not a pipe dream, that is the road we are on.' Ms McDonald said that she grew up watching Gerry Adams on the television and had never expected that one day she would replace him as leader. Speaking at the meeting Ms McDonald said she believes her leadership will mark a defining chapter in the achievement of a United Ireland 'Little was I to know at that time that I would come to know and work so closely with Gerry and the entire leadership and to have him as such a close friend. 'But I certainly never would have guessed that come February 10 2018 that I would be the boss of him,' she said. Ms McDonald added that Sinn Fein is 'probably the most exemplary party when it comes to girl power at this stage in Irish politics'. Earlier Mr Adams told members that the party must devise strategies and win support for a referendum on Irish unity. 'And we need to campaign for this. We also need to win that referendum... Don't believe the naysayers and begrudgers... who claim that a United Ireland is a pipe dream. Ms McDonald said that she grew up watching Gerry Adams on the television and had never expected that one day she would replace him as leader 'It isn't. It's very real. It's very achievable. We can do it,' he added. Mr Adams announced in November that he was stepping down as Sinn Fein president after 34 years in the role. A special party conference to ratify Ms McDonald as leader will be held on February 10. Ms McDonald has been a TD for Dublin Central since 2011. Before getting elected to the Dail (parliament) she was an MEP representing the Dublin constituency - becoming Sinn Fein's first MEP in the Republic of Ireland in 2004. Before getting elected to the Dail (parliament) she was an MEP representing the Dublin constituency - becoming Sinn Fein's first MEP in the Republic of Ireland in 2004 Many party members have been tweeting their support for Ms McDonald. Fiachra McGuinness, son of the late Martin McGuinness, tweeted a video message on Friday announcing that he was 'proud and honoured' to endorse Ms McDonald. He said his father was a 'huge admirer of her ideas, dedication and commitment', and that she was the 'ideal candidate to lead Sinn Fein into the future'. Since 1983, Adams has gone before the Ard Fheis to seek re-election and he was duly anointed again by the party faithful. But upon announcing his decision to not stand for the role in November, he said: 'I want to thank everyone who has welcomed me into their homes and communities and have made me part of countless campaigns, countless elections and countless negotiations.' He received rapturous applause from the audience, adding: 'We are going to continue to go forward.' A top East London primary school has backed down just days after it banned girls under eight from wearing hijabs. St Stephen's primary school in Newham had said it was making the change to make pupils feel more integrated but now appears to have changed course. A note on the school's website on Friday said that the school now had a 'deeper understanding of the matter' and had 'decided to reverse our position with immediate effect', according to the Guardian. The chair of the school's governing body, Arif Qawi, also resigned after a backlash against the ban which he had championed. St Stephen's primary school in Newham had said it was banning hijabs for girls aged under eight but now appears to have changed course The school, rated 'outstanding', has since updated its website to say: 'The school's uniform policy is based on the health, safety and welfare of our children. 'The school has taken the decision to make changes to this policy with immediate effect and this follows on from conversations with our school community. 'We will work with our school community to continue to review this policy going forward in the best interests of our children.' The school's headteacher, Neena Lall (pictured), had supported the change in a bid to make pupils feel more integrated Mr Qawi resigned after a petition calling for his departure had said the hijab ban was 'dictating freedom of choice' and curbing freedom of religious expression. 'This is victimisation and with immediate effect we demand that Arif Qawi is removed from his position. The school's headteacher, Neena Lall, had supported the change in a move to make pupils more integrated. She said she had found that very few pupils felt they were British when she asked those who did to put their hands up. Mr Qawi had also called for a ban on fasting at school, saying pupils should observe the fast at holidays and weekends. A representative for the Muslim Council of Britain said that the decision 'did not appear to target adherents of other faiths'. However Amina Lone, a supporter of the ban, wrote on Twitter that it was a 'terribly sad day for a secular democracy'. Students were left dumbstruck after moving into the 'house from hell' where the property was so damp their shoes turned green and bedroom drawers were scattered with toenail clippings. Liverpool University student Hannah Sillett, 22, moved into her off-campus digs last summer - but when she arrived she claims the property was in a 'dire state'. Hannah and her three housemates were also horrified to later find the terraced house was riddled with persistent damp. A group of students at Liverpool University moved into the 'house from hell' where bedroom drawers were scattered with toenail clippings and the property was so damp their shoes turned green The final year dental student claims the girls have repeatedly complained about damp in the property - after first alerting their letting agency Top Property in October. Top Property claim they tried to establish access to the property at the end of October to fit air vents, but that the tenants failed to cooperate. However, Hannah said the letting agency never specified what they were requesting access for, and that air vents were not mentioned when Top Property asked for access. Top Property emailed the tenants stating work to address the damp problem in the house has been arranged to be carried out next week, provided access is permitted. Hannah and her three housemates were also horrified to later find the terraced house was riddled with persistent damp She claimed the damp conditions in the house are 'absolutely horrific', and that the tenants' clothing and possessions have been ruined by the problems. Stomach-churning photos taken inside the property show pairs of shoes and a Mulberry handbag coated in green mould, as well as huge patches of damp on the walls. Hannah said: 'The house smells - it's embarrassing. You can't smell your own clothes and when I went home for Christmas I opened my case and I was mortified. 'If I'm out and about smelling like that I'm mortified.' She added: 'I pulled out my bed the other day and it was just black - my duvet was there all just soaking.' Describing the property as a 'house from hell', Hannah also claimed the issue is affecting the girls' kitchen, after she placed a piece of dry pasta in a kitchen cupboard and returned two days later to find it turned had brown and was 'growing spores'. Despite repeatedly reporting the problem to Top Property, Hannah claims the agency blamed the damp on 'ventilation and lifestyle issues' and advised the tenants to open windows and dry their clothes outside. Top Property also advised the girls to 'go to environmental health' if they were unhappy with how the issues were being dealt with. The tenants said they complained about the 'dire state' of the property when they moved in. Hannah said: 'It hadn't been cleaned - there were toenails in the drawers.' Top Property claimed the cleanliness of the property when the girls moved in was down to a short turn-around time between the past tenants leaving and new tenants arriving. Hannah and her housemates pay 360 a month each for their rooms - but they have been left bitterly disappointed by the state of their uni digs. The girls' contract at the property ends in July, but Hannah said they are so frustrated by the ongoing issues they want to be allowed to move out. She said: 'We're in fifth year, it's our last semester of uni ever and we don't want to be dealing with this.' The tenants said they complained about the 'dire state' of the property when they moved in. Hannah said: 'It hadn't been cleaned - there were toenails in the drawers.' A Top Property spokesman said: 'We are aware of an issue at the property in question. We attended in late October 2017 when the issue was first reported. We identified it as condensation caused by lack of airflow which is a common problem in Victorian terraced property used for student accommodation. 'Liverpool Council's advice for dealing with mould issues caused by poor ventilation was given to the tenants. The claim that the property is dripping wet is incorrect. 'We recommended to the landlord that it would be a good idea to improve airflow by fitting additional ventilation to two bedrooms and the lounge. Hannah and her housemates pay 360 a month each for their rooms - but they have been left bitterly disappointed by the state of their uni digs. The girls' contract at the property ends in July, but Hannah said they are so frustrated by the ongoing issues they want to be allowed to move out We arranged for a contractor to attend at the end of October and access was requested in writing from all tenants. 'All four tenants failed to grant access despite numerous requests. This is an ongoing issue with the cooperation of the tenants as it has taken protracted discussions to gain access for any maintenance visits.' Adding: 'We are committed to the health and safety of our tenants and work with tenants and landlords to ensure issues are resolved as quickly as possible and trust that we can work with the current tenants to resolve the issues raised.' Paul Bocuse, one of the greatest French chefs of all time, has died aged 91, the country's interior minister said on Saturday. Dubbed the 'pope' of French cuisine, Bocuse helped shake up the food world in the 1970s with the Nouvelle Cuisine revolution and created the idea of the celebrity chef. 'Monsieur Paul was France. The pope of gourmets has left us,' tweeted Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, announcing the chef's death after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. 'He was one of the greatest figures of French gastronomy, the General Charles de Gaulle of cuisine,' said French food critic Francois Simon, comparing him to France's wartime saviour and dominant postwar leader. Paul Bocuse, one of the greatest French chefs of all time, has died aged 91, the country's interior minister said on Saturday (pictured in 1987) Bocuse died on Saturday at Collonges-au-Mont-d'or, the place where he was born and had his restaurant, French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement. A giant in a nation that prides itself as the beating heart of gastronomy, Bocuse was France's only chef to keep the Michelin food bible's coveted three-star rating through more than four decades. He slept in the same room where he was born, and managed to maintain a relationship with his wife Raymonde and at least two lovers. 'I love women and we live too long these days to spend one's entire life with just one,' Bocuse said in 2005. The heart of his empire, L'Auberge de Collonges au Mont D'Or, his father's village inn near Lyon in food-obsessed southeastern France, earned three stars in 1965, and never lost a single one. Dubbed the 'pope' of French cuisine, Bocuse helped shake up the food world in the 1970s with the Nouvelle Cuisine revolution and created the idea of the celebrity chef Bocuse (pictured in 1976) was France's only chef to keep the Michelin food bible's coveted three-star rating through more than four decades In a statement, President Macron underlined Bocuse's 'generosity, his respect for traditions as well as his inventiveness', and praised his 'fidelity' to his home town. Bocuse helped train French and foreign chefs up to his last few days, said Mr Macron, who was not yet born when Bocuse earned his three-star rating. The French president said: 'French gastronomy loses a mythical figure ... The chefs cry in their kitchens, at the Elysee and everywhere in France.' 'Monsieur Paul,' as he was known, was named 'chef of the century' by Michelin's rival guide, the Gault-Millau in 1989, and again by The Culinary Institute of America in 2011. Born in 1926 to a family of cooks since 1765, Bocuse began his apprenticeship at the age of 16 and came to epitomise a certain type of French epicurean - a lover of fine wine, food and women. Bocuse died on Saturday at Collonges-au-Mont-d'or (pictured), the place where he was born and had his restaurant, French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement Paul Bocuse is celebrated with the Legion d'Honneur by then-French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing (right) at a ceremony in 1975 Bocuse, born in 1926 to family who had been cooks since 1765, poses with a waxwork of himself at the Grevin museum in Paris While Bocuse's kitchens were meticulously in order, his personal life was on the unorthodox side. He acknowledged in a 2005 biography that he had been quietly sharing his life with three women - simultaneously - each with a pivotal role in his life. 'I think cuisine and sex have lots of common points,' Bocuse said in an interview before publication of 'Paul Bocuse: The Sacred Fire.' 'Even if it seems a bit macho, I love women.' 'The Sacred Fire' was written by Eve-Marie Zizza-Lalu - daughter of the most recent woman in his life, Patricia, whom he met in 1972. Yet it is his wife Raymonde, with whom Bocuse had a daughter, Francoise, who helps watch over his restaurant. In a book published in 2006 shortly after yet another heart operation, Bocuse was quoted as summing up: "I have three stars. I have had three bypasses. And I still have three women." A mural of Paul Bocuse outside his restaurant L'Auberge de Collonges au Mont D'Or which earned three Michelin stars in 1965 and has never lost them Bocuse became a driving force behind the Nouvelle Cuisine, sweeping away the rich and heavy sauces of yesteryear in favour of super-fresh ingredients and sleek aesthetics As a young man he worked at the famed La Mere Brazier in Lyon, then spent eight years with one of his culinary idols, Fernand Point, a forerunner of the Nouvelle Cuisine movement. A great upholder of tradition as well as an innovator, several of his trademark dishes at the Auberge remained unchanged for decades, such as the bass in a pastry crust or the black truffle soup he created for French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing in 1975, who named him a commander in the Legion of Honour. Together with the Gault-Millau guide, Bocuse became a driving force behind the Nouvelle Cuisine, sweeping away the rich and heavy sauces of yesteryear in favour of super-fresh ingredients and sleek aesthetics. In 1982, Bocuse opened a restaurant in the France Pavilion in Walt Disney World's Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida, headed by his son Jerome, also a chef, whom he had with his first mistress Raymone. In recent years, Bocuse even dabbled in fast food with two outlets in his home base of Lyon. His Bocuse d'Or, or gold award - an international competition for young chefs - has grown into a major culinary showcase since 1987. 'Monsieur Paul,' as he was known, was named 'chef of the century' by Michelin's rival guide, the Gault-Millau in 1989, and again by The Culinary Institute of America in 2011 A great upholder of tradition as well as an innovator, several of his trademark dishes at the Auberge remained unchanged for decades Bocuse claimed the term Nouvelle Cuisine was invented by Gault-Millau to describe food he helped prepare for the maiden flight of the Concorde airliner in 1969. Slashing cooking times, paring down menus and paying new attention to health, Nouvelle Cuisine was a craze that fizzled out but left a lasting legacy. 'It was a real revolution,' said Simon. 'They coined a concept that came at exactly the right moment - at a time when gastronomy was a bit dull and heavy, with thick sauces, not sexy at all.' In 2007, more than 80 top chefs flew to France from around the world to celebrate his 81st birthday and his legacy. Despite accolades from the world of gastronomy, Bocuse saw a restaurant's reservation book as the real measure of any chef's talent. 'If the restaurant works, if it's full of clients ... whatever the cuisine, he (the chef) is right,' he said. He is survived by his wife Raymonde, their daughter Francoise and a son, Jerome. President Macron praised Bocuse's 'fidelity' to his village of Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or, near Lyon, where he was born, created his world-famous restaurant (pictured) and died A painting depicting Paul Bocuse adorns the wall near the dining room in his three-star Michelin restaurant L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges The first year of Donald Trump's unorthodox presidency may have been a dizzying ride, but Belinda Miller has never regretted voting for him in 2016. 'My 401(k) and my 403 have soared and, if anybody doesn't realize that, they've been asleep for a year,' said Miller, a 50-year-old emergency room nurse from Audubon, Pennsylvania, referring to her retirement accounts' growth in a booming stock market. 'I look overall not at what he says but what he does. All that other stuff is just rhetoric, smoke and mirrors,' she added. The Philadelphia suburb where Miller lives in Montgomery County was key to Trump's surprising 2016 triumph. In a sign of its importance, his campaign dispatched his daughter Ivanka to the region late in the race to woo women there. In interviews with more than half a dozen Trump supporters in the region, mostly women, his backers remained largely committed to him, citing his immigration policies and a belief that tax reform will create jobs amid a growing economy. Many women in Pennsylvania remain committed to supporting Trump after voting for him, citing his immigration policies and a belief that tax reform will create jobs amid a growing economy (Pictured, supporters wait for Trump in Orlando, Florida, November 2016) Polls show support among Republicans has slipped only slightly over the year, dropping from 84 percent in his first month to 78 percent in the last month (Pictured, supporters wait for Trump in Miami, Florida, November 2016) Some Trump voters have grappled with how to evaluate his policy accomplishments, like the sweeping tax law Republicans passed in December, amid his inflammatory words (Pictured, supporters wait for Trump in Pensacola, Florida, December 2016) Many of them were unfazed by Trump's combative style and provocative language. Trump's strength among his base is reflected in Reuters/Ipsos polls of his approval ratings, which show support among Republicans has slipped only slightly over the year, dropping from 84 percent in his first month to 78 percent in the last month. Carol Markowicz, a 52-year-old Philadelphia resident, said she voted for former Democratic President Barack Obama in 2012 but cast her ballot for Trump, convinced his business background and anti-illegal immigration stance would secure more jobs for Pennsylvanians. 'I really think they need to build a wall,' she said of Trump's proposed Mexican border barrier. 'I think they need to send back all these people that aren't supposed to be here, because they're taking jobs from Americans.' Other Trump voters have grappled with how to evaluate the president's policy accomplishments, like the sweeping tax law Republicans passed in December, amid his inflammatory words. Some, like Miller and Loida Hopkins, a stay-at-home mother in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania, said they focus on his actions, not his language. 'Let's set aside his personality. What about what he's actually doing that is benefiting us?' Hopkins said. Many of the women say they focus on his actions, not his language and that it's just 'rhetoric, smoke and mirrors' (Pictured, a supporter flashes a sign on election night in New York, November 2016) Many women have also revealed that they voted for Trump not because they liked him as a candidate but because they distrusted Hillary Clinton (Pictured, Trump holds a 'Women for Trump' sign in Bethpage, New York, April 2016) However, others say that Trump's behavior has dashed hopes that he would act more 'presidential' in office (Pictured, Trump supporters wait in line for a rally in Hershey, Pennsylvania, November 2016) On paper, Hopkins seems a likely Democratic target: daughter of two illegal immigrants, she collects food stamps, suffers from enormous debt and voted for Obama in 2012. But the devout Christian said she voted in part for Trump because of his opposition to abortion and believes that God put him in the White House for a reason. She also said she was working hard to better herself, unlike other welfare recipients, and did not object that wealthy people and corporations stood to benefit from the tax law. Her husband, she said, is receiving a bonus from his company as a result. Not all Trump voters are sticking with him. Kathleen Kuffel, 74, another Philadelphia suburban resident and a 'die-hard Republican', said she reluctantly voted for Trump due to her distrust of Democrat Hillary Clinton. But his behavior has dashed her hopes that he would act more 'presidential' in office. 'He has some good ideas. Our tax code needs to be revamped, and I agree with some of his policies on immigration,' she said. 'But he needs to learn diplomacy. He needs to learn he is not the only person in the world, and he needs to stop being selfish. He needs to consider that every time he tweets, it's having huge repercussions.' Polling data suggest the recent revelations of sexual abuse by powerful men has done little damage to Trump's standing among Republican women (Pictured, Supporters wave signs while Melania Trump holds an event in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, November 2016) Trump has vehemently denied all allegations and most of women who spoke with Reuters said they did not believe the allegations (Pictured, Trump supports gather outside the Republican National Committee Headquarters in Washington, October 2016) There is a debate that still rages on for many GOP voters: whether to focus on Trump's behavior or his policies (Pictured, a young Trump supporters holds a sign in Raleigh, North Carolina, November 2016) Polling data suggest the recent revelations of sexual abuse by powerful men has done little damage to Trump's standing among Republican women, despite allegations of misconduct from more than a dozen women. Trump has vehemently denied all allegations and most of women who spoke with Reuters said they did not believe the allegations. There is a debate that still rages on for many GOP voters: whether to focus on Trump's behavior or his policies. But that may not sway Trump voters like Belinda Miller and her husband, John, a contractor, especially given the low unemployment rate and the still-growing economy. 'Have you ever gotten a job from a poor person?' John Miller said. 'Poor people don't hire workers. The corporations just needed a break in taxes so they can operate properly.' Anti-vaxxers excluded from day care have come up with an initiative to avoid the new tough No Jab No Play laws - by opening their own centre. As of January 1, unvaccinated children in NSW are prevented from attending day care and directors face a fine of up to $5,500 for dodging the rules. One NSW woman however, who describes herself as a 'vegan mum to a toddler living off grid near Byron Bay', has reportedly called for parents to join 'an affordable day care co-op,' according to the Daily Telegraph. Anti-vaxxer Amy Moffat has come up with an initiative to avoid new No Jab No Play laws As of January 1 unvaccinated children are prevented from attending day care In a post publicly posted to an online community board, Amy Moffat wrote she has been considering sending a message to the government, opting to instead 'do it her own way'. She wrote the mission of 'The Kids Co-op' was 'to provide an affordable, community-run, self-funded childminding co-operative open to all, where no regulations or legalities are imposed by government or funding bodies, and all decisions and operations are decided upon democratically as a community.' Within just three weeks the co-op has garnered interest from 126 members. Ms Moffat declined to comment when she was contacted by Newscorp. The area is known for low vaccination rates with Mullumbimby's rate at just 50 per cent and Byron Bay at just 60 per cent among five year olds. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said any unregulated child care service would face consequences. The NSW woman has reportedly called for 'an affordable day care co-op' 'Now I am aware of what amounts to a crazy insurrection, I will seek legal advice from the department and, if it is possible to prosecute this person, I'm inclined to do so,' Mr Hazzard said. Operating an educational centre for kids without approval invited penalties of up to $100,000, according to Minister for Early Childhood Education Sarah Mitchell, who said to do so would be illegal. 'Setting up a service to intentionally break the law is irresponsible and puts innocent children at risk, and I have absolutely no issue cracking down on any illegal operators.' Mr Hazzard said measures to ensure children in preschools and day care facilities are kept safe will be monitored. Migrants flocked around lorries at a depot in Calais after Emmanuel Macron demanded 45million for extra fencing and CCTV. The men were seen trying to yank open the back door of a HGV this morning, as they loitered around the trucks and tried to avoid French police patrols in the area. Pictures of the group emerge days after the French president called for Theresa May to pledge millions to beef up security in France's ports. Scroll down for video Men loiter around a lorry at a depot in Calais this morning, days after Emmanuel Macron demands Britain sends nearly 45million to beef up security measures One of the men appears to wedging the back door of the lorry open as his friends watch on The men, wearing hooded tops and dark jackets, wandered around in groups of four as they stared at the lorries coming to and from the port The men stare towards fences with rings of barbed wire guarding the truck depot in Calais The men, wearing hooded tops and dark jackets, wandered around in groups of four as they stared at the lorries coming to and from the port. Others were spotted near a small settlement of tents, among trees in a wooded area, near the truck depot. Men carried sleeping bags as they walked among the filthy camp, with litter strewn across the floor. The pictures come as Mrs May said the cash pledged to Calais was in Britain's 'national interests'. However, the move was met with fury by politicians who said enough had already been paid to the French. Mrs May was forced to defend the decision on Thursday, saying: This is in our national interests, it is also in the interests of France to ensure that we have as secure a border as possible at Calais and other ports. In groups of four the men sit on rocks along the roads in and out of the truck depot The men were seen loitering around the HGV trucks this morning, as they tried to avoid French police patrols in the area Other men were spotted near a small settlement of tents among trees in a wooded area near the truck depot She stressed that the deal with the French would enhance the security of our border and would in turn reduce the number of migrants coming to the UK. New plans agreed by the Prime Minister will also see adult migrants seeking to come to the UK via Calais have their applications processed within one month, rather six. Children will see their waiting time slashed from six months to just 25 days, it was announced yesterday. A Downing Street source insisted the plans would reduce the pull factor and by speeding up the process, cases would be thrown out quicker. This would mean there would be less migrants waiting in Calais to see if they can come to the UK and less of a problem at the border. Mr Macron outlined the deal at a joint press conference with Mrs May after an Anglo-Franco summit at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. French President Emmanuel Macron outlined the deal at a joint press conference with Mrs May after an Anglo-Franco summit at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst He said they had agreed upon a Sandhurst Treaty, shaking-up the process for dealing with asylum seekers and migrants camped at Channel ports. He said this was the first joint treaty to be signed on such issues in fifteen years. Mr Macron said the UK and France are making a new tapestry together, as he confirmed plans to loan the Bayeux Tapestry to the UK. The treaties signed today, for me, provide for the framework in which we shall be able in the coming months to bring about a concrete answer so that we no longer have migrants living in Calais, as we were seeing in the spring of 2016, said the President. He said the new treaty would allow him to fulfil his 2016 vow that after Brexit migrants will no longer be in Calais. He said: We can either manage the border together or it will be a disastrous situation. It is not a gift for France. It is some joint management. The French president, making his first visit to Britain since entering the Elysee Palace, was greeted at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, with a guard of honour from the Coldstream Guards. The leaders do not want to see a return of the notorious Jungle Camp, which attracted thousands of migrants from across parts of Africa and Asia. France also wants Britain to take in more migrants from Calais, especially unaccompanied children. Mrs May pointedly declined to give a number of migrants that Britain would take when asked at a joint press conference. Instead she stressed the need to clamp down on people smugglers and take other measures to stop migrants from getting to Calais. Mr Macron said the treaty would mean smarter and more efficient management of the border and a more efficient, humane processing system for migrants. Eleven people were killed and 44 were injured when a bus carrying a group of skiers heading to the slopes crashed into trees at the side of the road. Officials say the bus carrying mostly people going on a ski trip has crashed into trees in Eskisehir province in north-west Turkey, leaving nearly a dozen dead. Governor Ozdemir Cakacak of the province said the bus was travelling from the Turkish capital of Ankara to the western city of Bursa when it crashed on a road in his region early Saturday. Eleven people were killed and 44 were injured when a bus carrying a group of skiers heading to the slopes crashed into trees at the side of the road in the Eskisehir province in north-west Turkey Officials say the bus carrying mostly people going on a ski trip has crashed into trees in Eskisehir province in north-west Turkey, leaving nearly a dozen dead The cause of the crash, which occurred on the first day of a school holiday, was under investigation. Local media reported the bus driver told police that he veered toward the side of the road to avoid what he thought was a stray dog in the road. The injured are currently being treated at three different hospitals, he added. It is not known if there are any children among the victims. Cakacak told the media the injured were currently being treated at three different hospitals. 'I wish Allah's mercy on our citizens who have lost their lives and a speedy recovery to the injured,' he said. Governor Ozdemir Cakacak of the province said the bus was travelling from the Turkish capital of Ankara to the western city of Bursa when it crashed on a road in his region early Saturday Local media reported the bus driver told police that he veered toward the side of the road to avoid what he thought was a stray dog in the road 'The accident is currently under investigation,' he added. The driver and his assistant have been remanded in custody. Turkey has a poor track record in road safety, with more than a million accidents in 2016 and 7,300 deaths, according to official statistics, the AFP news agency reports. One year on, more than 1,000 police officers have admitted to seeking help in the aftermath the Bourke St tragedy in Melbourne. Alleged driver Dimitrious Gargasoulas faces six counts of murder and 38 of attempted murder, over the rampage which has seen an unprecedented influx of force officers seeking support. Victoria's frontline police, experienced detectives, traffic cops and crime scene investigators are believed to be among the personnel seeking assistance, the Herald Sun reported. One year after the Bourke Street tragedy a number of officers still seek support A thousand police officers have admitted to seeking assistance in the aftermath A team of 18 psychologists and a wider support network of more than 50 were assigned to help members in the weeks and months to follow, Victoria Police senior psychologist Alexandra West said. 'We certainly hadn't dealt with anything like that before. The scale and intensity was different to anything many members had ever had to deal with.' She believes there has been more than 1,000 contacts from members seeking assistance. Often the plea for support is communicated by members saying 'I was involved with Bourke St. I need to speak to somebody'. The rampage has seen an unprecedented influx of Victoria's police seeking help Dr West is confident the high amount of callers may be linked to a proactive approach to seeking support encouraged today. She says it is very possible to recover from trauma and emphasis is placed on treatment which supports struggles and encourages returning to work. There is no way to pinpoint how deeply someone may be hurting with often the anniversary of the event re-triggering negative emotions. 'Reactions and impacts are so highly individual, there is no good way to predict who will and who won't be most impacted. We just want the members to recognise the signs and know support is there.' Donations to a legal fund set up to challenge the release of serial rapist John Worboys have doubled in the 24 hours since the government said it would not contest the decision. Former black cab driver Worboys is due to be released from prison less than 10 years after he was jailed for drugging and sexually assaulting 12 women and raping one. Police have said they believe he could have attacked up to 102 victims while lawyers believe there were 105. There are thought to be up to 105 victims of John Worboys, who will be release after serving less that 10 years Justice Secretary David Gauke came under fire for ruling out the Government launching a case because legal advice said it would lose. The Centre for Women's Justice has been seeking donations to fund a legal challenge to the Parole Board's decision on behalf of two of his victims, who want to find out why he was released so they can challenge it. Yesterday afternoon, donations stood at around 18,000 but that has now reached 40,000 as anger mounts over the decision to free Worboys. Solicitors Birnberg Peirce sent a letter to the Parole Board threatening judicial review proceedings on two grounds. They sayParole Board rules which prevent the publication of decisions to free offenders are unlawful and in the Worboys case there is a is an over-riding public interest in understanding the decision. The decision to release the rapist 'in the light of all the known facts surrounding his offence and reports of his progression in prison appears to be wholly irrational', they also argue. Justice Minister has been criticised after deciding not to launch a case because legal advice said the Government would lose The Centre for Women's Justice has seen donations surge as anger mounts over the decision to free the rapist Harriet Wistrich, solicitor at Birnberg Pierce, and also Director of the Centre for Women's Justice said: 'This will be an unprecedented legal challenge. 'Where a decision appears to be so irrational, as it does in this case given all the known facts, there is an arguable basis to challenge the rules preventing publication of reasons. 'If we get access to the reasons then we can explore grounds for challenging a decision which is so insulting and horrific for all the victims concerned.' The two victims the case is being brought on behalf of are known as DSD and NBV. DSD was one of his earliest known victim and he drugged and sexually assaulted her in early 2003, while NBV was drugged and sexually assaulted by him in 2007, his 75th known victim. Former minister Nick Boles tore into the decision not to challenge the release of Worboys In a tweet he attacked the 'timidity and lack of ambition' of Theresa May's government Tory former minister Nick Boles tore into Theresa May's 'pathetic' decision not to order a judicial review into the release of 'vile creature' John Worboys. Mr Boles, who was business minister until July 2016, earlier said on Twitter: 'There is a timidity and lack of ambition about Mrs May's Government which means it constantly disappoints. 'Time to raise your game, Prime Minister. #worboys #HousingCrisis #NHSfunding #etcetc'. Mr Boles told Mail Online: 'I just felt the last straw was the decision not to judicially review the parole board's decision to release this vile creature Worboys. 'I just think it's a pathetic display. 'I don't care what the advice was about the chances of success of a judicial review, I want my Government to stand up for its conviction and to represent me and my constituents. 'Even if we are going to lose the case lets hire the best QC in the country to go into a court and argue on behalf of the government and the British people what we all believe. 'And at least that will reassure people that we know that the system is wrong and we are determined to change it, and that we are utterly appalled and ashamed that this decision has been made in the way it has.' An office worker was stunned to find one of the world's most deadly spiders in a bunch of Asda bananas. Neil Langley, 53, bought the fruit from a branch of the supermarket in Tipton, West Midlands, but didn't notice there was a Brazilian wandering spider hidden among the bunch, until back in his office the next day. The venomous creature can kill their prey within a hour of their bite, but are rarely found outside their natural forest habitats in South America. This Brazilian wandering spider was found in a bunch of bananas bought from a branch of Asda by Neil Langley Mr Langley, 53, bought the fruit from the supermarket, but didn't notice there was a Brazilian wandering spider hidden among the bunch, until back in his office the next day Mr Langley, who works at the Department of Work and Pensions, said that while it was a shock to find the venomous intruder lurking on his fruit, it has not put him off buying bananas. He said: 'I bought a bunch of four or five bananas at the ASDA and put them in a bag but I didn't notice the spider until I was at my desk the next day. 'It was in one of the clear bags you use for fruit and it must have just woken up. 'I was lucky it hadn't crawled out at home or in my work bag. Mr Langley boxed up the creature, which was identified by the RSPCA, and it was donated to Bristol Zoo 'I first saw something moving out of the corner of my eye and it wasn't a normal grey spider you get in this country, it was quite big. I put it in a plastic bag and had a big discussion with my colleagues about what to do with it. We even discussed flushing it down the toilet! 'Eventually a colleague who is an animal lover put it in a cereal box and gave it to the RSPCA, who took it away. It must have made a difference to the cats and dogs they usually get called out to.' Neil added: 'The RPSCA confirmed it was a Brazilian wandering spider in a phone call about an hour-and-a-half later. Some of the effects of its bite are quite horrific. It can be deadly, depending on your reaction.' Mr Langley said that despite his gruesome discovery, he would not stop buying bananas The administrative officer, from Bilston, doesn't feel Asda is to blame for the shock on Thursday - and hasn't been put off his lunchtime fruit. He said: 'I don't think you can put too much blame on ASDA. 'The bananas are imported on from places like Costa Rica and South America and the supermarkets buy them from wholesalers. I told the manager at the store and he promised to look into it. 'I'm going to keep on buying bananas for my lunch but I'll be a bit more circumspect when I get six or seven together.' Nobody was available for comment from Asda today. The supermarket chain has said in the past that such incidents are extremely rare. The retailer has said: 'We sell around one billion bananas every year and each and every one is washed, sprayed and manually checked for quality and stowaways before being transported to the UK. 'We'd like to reassure all our customers that the chance of finding a spider is incredibly low and it's even less likely that a tropical spider could survive outside of their warm climate.' A Texas judge allegedly interrupted a deliberating jury to claim that God told him the defendant is not guilty. Judge Jack Robison reportedly told jurors on Friday in a state district court in Comal County in Texas that Gloria Romero-Perez was not guilty of trafficking her 16-year-old niece for sex. According to the Herald-Zeitung, Judge Robison apologized to jurors for the interruption, but defended his actions by declaring: 'When God tells me I gotta do something, I gotta do it.' Judge Jack Robison (pictured before the incident) allegedly interrupted a deliberating jury state district court in Comal County in Texas to claim that God told him the defendant is not guilty The jury was debating over whether or not Gloria Romero-Perez (pictured) was guilty of trafficking her 16-year-old niece for sex Despite Robison's outburst, the jury found 32-year-old Romano-Perez guilty of continuous trafficking of a person and sentenced her to 25 years in prison. The Herald-Zeitung reported that Robison recused himself before the trials sentencing phase and was replaced by Judge Gary Steele. Defense attorney Sylvia Cavazos said Friday she would attempt to seek a retrial, but her request was denied. According to The Statesman, Judge Robison was disciplined by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct in 2011 for jailing a grandfather who called him a fool over his ruling in a child custody case. The commission decided that Judge Robison failed to give the man advance notice of his ruling and was unfair in how he had the man thrown in jail. However, the jury found Romano-Perez guilty of continuous trafficking of a person and sentenced her to 25 years in prison (Pictured, Comal County Courthouse) Controversy has been sparked by the across Texas with many calling for the judge to be kicked off the bench. Others are outraged that he chose to spoke up during the trial of a child sex trafficking suspect. It is not clear if Judge Robison, who was voted into his position, will be kicked off the bench for his instructions to the jury. Advertisement President Trump ignored the complaints against him and said this of the Women's Marches on Saturday President Trump has weighed in on the Women's March with a tweet that is certain to rile the tens of thousands of fired-up protesters marching against him across the country. As processions of pink, 'pussy' hats and illustrations asking for him to be impeached made their way through the nation's many cities, Trump ignored their complaints about him and said: 'Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March. 'Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. 'Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!' The mass protests commemorate a year since the historic Women's March on January 21, 2017, a day after Trump's inauguration. This year, the marches also take on the momentum of the Me Too and Time's Up movements against sexual misconduct which were sparked with allegations against Hollywood heavyweights. They also coincided with a government shutdown which went into place late on Friday night. Scroll down for video People participate in the Second Annual Women's March in Washington DC, on January 20, 2018. It coincides with the government shutdown Washington DC: There were calls for impeachment at the Lincoln Memorial where some protesters descended Philadelphia: Thousands were in the street in central Philadelphia on Saturday for the march, their pink signs visible for miles On Saturday, the marches were well underway by the time the president chimed in. His remarks angered many and sent others into despair. 'You just don't get it, do you?' was the reply of one exasperated critic. Many questioned whether the president himself actually wrote the tweet. 'One thing about this tweet is that it absolutely wasn't written by Trump (vocabulary and phrasing different) so someone else is using his account purely to troll,' said one critic. On Saturday, Trump was stuck in Washington DC, grounded by the overnight government shutdown, and unable to fly to Mar-a-Lago to attend a celebratory anniversary party to which tickets were sold at $100,000 each. Sources inside the White House said he was 'upset' he would likely miss the event which he was referring to as 'my party', according to The Daily Beast. Some 250 cities across the world were planning to play host to some form of Women's March on Saturday. Washington DC: Protesters at Lincoln Memorial on Saturday with signs denouncing the president as a 'narcissist' Washington DC: Among the protest signs were unflattering illustrations depicting Trump as Putin's baby Washington DC: The president ignored the thousands of signs such as these and encouraged his fans to 'get out' and 'celebrate' all the good he has done for the country Washington DC: In Washington DC, a women holds up her protest sign which poked fun at the president's hair Washington DC: One of the thousands of protest signs in Washington DC on Saturday afternoon Washington DC: A female protester takes a seat at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with her sign Washington DC: Liberal young women were confronted with anti-abortionists at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday Washington DC: A man in a 'pussy' hat takes a break and surveys the crowds while holding up an 'impeach' sign with the White House insignia on it Washington DC: Protesters praised special prosecutor Robert Mueller and repeated calls of the Times Up movement Washington DC: Protesters at the Lincoln Memorial stood behind plastic fencing with signs condemning the president New York City: Tens of thousands of protesters gathered near Central Park for the Manhattan march. The group's Facebook page suggested that as many as 80,000 planned to attend One of the largest protests was in Los Angeles where a gaggle of female starlets gathered to deliver thought-out remarks on sexual misconduct and gender inequality. Both Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman spoke with determination as they vowed to support the 'revolution' at foot. They made reference to their young daughters and told how they had decided to stop 'pandering' to men who suppress how they express 'desire'. In Park City, Utah, Jane Fonda led a snow-dusted march. A number of stars are in the winter resort for the annual Sundance Film Festival. Among them was lawyer Gloria Allred who delighted in joining the Hollywood crowd. She is the subject of a new Netflix documentary. In New York City, Whoopi Goldberg was joined by Padma Lakshmi and Yoko Ono who invoked her lake husband John Lennon's song on a sign which read: 'Imagine peace.' New York City: Protesters in Manhattan held up graphic illustrations including one which showed Trump being groped by the Statue of Liberty New York City: A group of protesters who called themselves Gays Against Guns took part in the march in Manhattan Los Angeles: Some of the many signs in the crowds in Los Angeles were focused on the looming midterms Boston: In Boston, Massachusetts, a small number of counter protesters turned out to support the president. One is pictured Washington DC: A child holds up an illustration depicting Trump's face and hair next to the word 'hate' New York City: A woman marches with a sign reading Mujer in New York City. She was also dressed up as a character from The Handmaid's Tale, the popular Elisabeth Moss show tells a story of female oppression In Los Angeles, actress Scarlett Johansson wore a Time's Up t-shirt to give her speech. Yoko Ono, the former wife of late Beatle John Lennon, invoked his anthemic song Imagine in her sign Pregnant Eva Longoria watched on with Constance Wu as Natalie Portman spoke at the Los Angeles event. Portman called for a world where women can express their 'desire' without feeling physically unsafe Portman breastfeed her young daughter backstage while taking a break from speaking. Her young son and husband were there to support her too Eva Longoria (left) and Scarlett Johansson (right) were happy to mingle among other protesters backstage Stars including Jane Fonda spoke at a rally in Park City, Utah, - where hordes of stars have gathered for the Sundance Film Festival - and Padma Lakshmi gave remarks in New York City. Gloria Allred, the celebrity attorney, was also there to promote the forthcoming documentary about her work Whoopi Goldberg spoke in New York City as did Padma Lakshmi (right) on Saturday afternoon at one of the larger protests Chicago: Actress Viola Davis delivered an impassioned speech in Chicago in front of the crowds there Los Angeles: There were large crowds in Los Angeles where packs of stars gathered to speak in front of crowds Smaller marches were seen in Chattanooga, Tennessee (left) and in St Louis, Missouri (right) Austin, Texas: Women descended on the Texas State Capitol with protest signs for the Women's March Austin, Texas: A group of women dressed up as characters from the series A Handmaid's Tale in a protest against female oppression Cincinnati, Ohio: A different group wore the same costumes and had children dress in them as well in Ohio Cincinnati, Ohio: A large group of protesters walks behind a police car with signs in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Saturday Austin, Texas: Trump supporter Jon Colgin was arrested in Austin after getting into a fight with another man over his Make America Great Again hat. It is not clear if the other man was arrested but Colgin was taken into custody then released In Chicago, Viola Davis gave a rousing speech and in Rome, Asia Argento led a group of marchers through the city. Argento was the first woman to go on the record to accuse the disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of rape in October. Countless women followed with claims against the 65-year-old. Many of the protests were directed towards Trump's immigration policies and his plans for DACA which shut down the government on Friday night when Democrats refused to move forward with talks. 'People were pretty damn mad last year and they're pretty damn mad this year,' said Tamika Mallory, co-president of the Women's March board. Like last year, thousands of marchers donned pink knit 'pussy hats', which were created last year after the president's infamous 'grab them by the p***y' hot mic remark was made public. They became a symbol for the disdain thousands of women carried and still harbor against the president. At Saturday's marches, celebrities acted as guest speakers, particularly in Park City, Utah, where many are attending the Sundance Film Festival. Jane Fonda spoke at the event and was joined by the rapper Common and a host of other stars. Newark, New Jersey: A smaller march took place on the sidewalks of Newark in New Jersey on Saturday New York City: A crowd of pink hats and signs near Central Park on Saturday morning as the march got underway New York City: Many of the signs and chants were geared towards the 2018 midterm elections when more female candidates are standing than ever before New York City: Some of the protesters poked fun at Trump and his comments with their signs New York City: A woman holds a sign reading 'I am 2018' as she marches with crowds in New York City on Saturday New York City: In Manhattan, glamorous protesters held signs calling for an Oprah Winfrey presidency in 2020 after the television legend's recent speech at the Golden Globes New York City: A woman in Manhattan holds a 'resisting b**** face' sign as she marches with fellow protesters New York City: Two NYPD officers watch over crowds as they proceed down Sixth Avenue in Manhattan on Saturday Among those in Saturday's crowds elsewhere in the country were thousands who attended last year's marches. Fourteen-year-old Tanaquil Eltson marched with her mother in Washington DC. She said: 'We went to the first women's march, but we feel like our work isn't done and that there's so much more that we need to fix. The number of participants is likely to fall well short of the estimated 5 million who marched on Jan. 21. 2017 and made that one of the largest mass protests in U.S. history. Despite the more modest expectations this year, organizers hope to build on the raw energy felt by Trump opponents immediately after his surprise election victory and channel it into gains for progressive candidates in November's midterm elections, using the theme 'Power to the Polls.' Specifically, organizers want to register a million new voters and get more strong advocates for women's rights into office. Activists say Trump's policies rolling back birth control and equal pay protections have propelled many women into activism for the first time. New York City: Women stood patiently behind barricades along Central Park West in the mid-morning New York City: Crowds descended on Central Park West in New York City for the march on Saturday morning. Mercifully, it was a warmer in the city than it has been for weeks New York City: Protesters arrive at Columbus Circle in midtown Manhattan to begin the march on Saturday New York City: People take part in the Women's March in Manhattan in New York City, New York, on January 20, 2018 A White House spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the marches. Some critics said this year's march lacked a focus. Targeting an issue such as immigration would have greater impact, said Shikha Dalmia, a senior analyst at the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank. 'Beating the feminist drum just seems to me beside the point. Maybe they are trying to cast as wide a net as possible,' Dalmia said by telephone. The marches will be followed by more events on Sunday, including in Las Vegas, which was chosen by organizers to honor the city where the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history took place last August. Nevada is also a key battleground state in the 2018 midterm elections. The voter registration campaign will target swing states held by Republicans, such as Nevada, and in districts considered a toss-up ahead of November's midterm elections. Philadelphia: protesters held signs calling for the end of nuclear warfare and for Trump to be impeached Philadelphia: Oscar Janicki, six, holds a sign reading 'I'm With Her' as is carried through the crowds on an adult's shoulders Philadelphia: Women give out pink hats on January 20, 2018, the second women's march Advertisement This is the heartbreaking moment an 83-year-old man clutches his pet cat while weeping over the charred remains of his home. Ali Mese, from Ordu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, burned his house down after trying to light his wood stove with gasoline. As everything he loved perished in front of him, he took comfort in cuddling up to his adorable feline friend. These heartbreaking photos capture the moment an 83-year-old man clutches his pet cat while weeping over the charred remains of his home Ali Mese, from Ordu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, burned his house down after trying to light his wood stove with gasoline Neighbours alerted firefighters to Ali's home after noticing the flames. He had been trying to cook on a wood stove but the gasoline he poured on caused it to explode. Thankfully, Ali and his family - and one of his cats, called Sarikiz, translated as 'Blonde Girl' in English - were saved from the blaze and no one suffered serious injuries, local media reported. A team sent by the Bolu Governement is also preparing the new house for the pensioner. International well-wishers have also taken to a GoFundMe page and raised nearly $6000 (4000) for Mese and his family. Ali has always been very fond of cats and had a handful living with him at the time of the tragic accident - but only one managed to get out alive Ali has always been very fond of cats and had a handful living with him at the time of the tragic accident. But only one managed to get out alive. The pensioner also lost almost all of his hens in the blaze. '13 of the 14 hens in the basement died during the fire,' Mese said. Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kaln tweeted that he contacted the governor province where Mese lives and would help address the needs of the pensioner. Ali was taken to the hospital to treat his minor burns and emerged a day later with a heavily-bandaged right hand. But he was then reunited with his beloved cat The inseparable pair looked ecstatic to finally be back together after their horrific ordeal, cuddling up to each other in a blissful embrace Ali was taken to the hospital to treat his minor burns and emerged a day later with a heavily-bandaged right hand. But he was then reunited with his beloved cat. The inseparable pair looked ecstatic to finally be back together after their horrific ordeal. Flash drug dealer Gary Knox, from Bolton was filmed by undercover police as he cruised around town in his white Range Rover making heroin and cocaine deliveries A flash drug dealer was filmed by undercover police as he cruised around town in his white Range Rover making heroin and cocaine deliveries. Gary Knox, from Bolton, has been jailed for 11 years and three months following an investigation which saw more than 14,000, four-and-a-half kilos of heroin and bags of cocaine seized. While his accomplice Mohammed Zubair, 31, was jailed for nine for being found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs. When they swooped on Knox's Evoque Range Rover - registration 'KN07 OXY' - they discovered bundles of cash totalling 14,500. Knox, 42, of Jessop Forge, Bolton, was the leader of drug ring supplying heroin and cocaine throughout Greater Manchester. He admitted supplying class A substances. Four other members of the gang were also sentenced. Mohammed Zubair, 31, of Castle Street, Bolton, was jailed for nine years after being found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs. When they swooped on Knox's Evoque Range Rover - registration 'KN07 OXY' - they discovered bundles of cash totalling 14,500 The court heard how Knox and Zubair ran a drugs ring, supplying thousands of pounds work of heroin and cocaine to a ring of dealers across the region. A lengthy police investigation, involving overt and covert officers finally led to their arrests. Knox was seen driving his Range Rover around Bolton on a number of occasions and was seen meeting with two others: Nadeen Ashiq and Nelso Neish and dropping off carrier bags filled with drugs for them to sell. Knox, 42, of Jessop Forge, Bolton, was the leader of drug ring supplying heroin and cocaine throughout Greater Manchester. He admitted supplying class A substances. His accomplice Mohammed Zubair, 31, was jailed for nine year for conspiracy to supply class A drugs Zubair acted as a go-between for Knox, ensuring those buying drugs from him knew how and where to meet him. Female accomplice Gemma Grundy stored drugs at her home address for Knox's in an attempt to keep his illicit business under wraps. Detective superintendent Jon Chadwick from GMP's Serious and Organised Crime Group said: 'These jail terms come after a lengthy police investigation and mean we have successfully removed drugs, and some of the people who deal them, from our streets. 'Throughout the investigation officers confiscated a total of four-and-a-half kilos of heroin, agents that would be mixed with this drug, smaller quantities of cocaine and over 14,000 in cash from the group. 'These drugs destroy lives, they break up families and they terrorise communities. Those who supply drugs do so purely for their own greed. They have no thought for the people whose lives are affected. 'Knox and other members of this drug dealing ring will now spend years in prison where they can contemplate the lives they have ruined.' Ashiq, 39, of Rhodes Court, Rochdale, was sentenced to five years and seven months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs. The court heard how Knox and Zubair ran a drugs ring, supplying thousands of pounds work of heroin and cocaine to a ring of dealers across the region Neish, 25, of Westbury Road, Crumpsall, was sentenced to three years and five months behind bars after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs Grundy, 30, of Ashford Walk, Bolton, was handed a two year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to possession of class A drugs with intent to supply. Knox had previously been linked to a corrupt police officer in a case eight years ago. In 2010, Knox was sentenced to six years after he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office at the end of a third trial. Disgraced PC, Phil Berry, who admitted the same charge, was jailed for four years. 'Throughout the investigation officers confiscated a total of four-and-a-half kilos of heroin, agents that would be mixed with this drug, smaller quantities of cocaine and over 14,000 in cash from the group' an investigative officer said Berry, who was in debt after having overtime cut by GMP for accessing 'inappropriate' websites at work, sold Knox an A to Z of drug dealers. But in return for the confidential list of dealers and informants he received a 20,000 BMW car, thousands of pounds and tickets to Premier League matches. At the 2010 trial, Knox was acquitted of conspiracy to supply class A and class B substances. But he is now back behind bars after undercover police filmed him making drugs drops in his home town. A New Jersey man who filmed himself confronting his wife when he busted her in bed with her boss and now faces jail time for unlawful surveillance has been deemed worthy of a medal by his lawyer. Howard Greenberg told a jury that his client, Sean Donis, 'deserves a medal' for 'the amount of restraint he showed,' when he stormed into the Rockland County home of Albert Lopez to find the homeowner in bed with his wife, Nancy, back in April 2016, the New York Post reports. Sordid details from the confrontation were revealed in court on Friday as Donis faces up to 15 years in prison for crimes relating to breaking into the man's home and then filming his naked wife and her beau and threatening to distribute the video. Sean Donis (left) found his wife Nancy (right) in bed with Albert Lopez at the latter's home in April 2016. Donis tracked the pair down by following Nancy's iPad location and proceeded to break into Lopez's home, film the naked pair and threaten to distribute video Pictured is Lopez's house, where the incident took place. Donis's lawyer said his client 'deserves a medal' for ''the amount of restraint he showed' during the incident Prosecutors said Donis, who found Nancy by tracking her location via her iPad, did send video of his naked wife to her relatives. 'All on video! Both of you motherf*****s are fired tomorrow,' Donis shouted in video of the altercation, which was shown to the jury. Lopez, per the Post, was the CEO of Gotham City Orthopedics and Nancy was one of Lopez's employees. The CEO ended up escorting Donis, a florist, out of his home. 'All on video! Both of you motherf*****s are fired tomorrow,' Donis shouted in video of the altercation. Prosecutors said Donis did send video of his naked wife to her relatives Later, Donis sent Lopez a threatening Facebook message that read in part: 'Bring it, bro.' The message also read: 'Slept with my wife. Good one fa***t.' Lopez said he 'couldn't go to sleep' for days after the encounter. Nancy had asked her then-husband to watch their 5-year-old son for the evening when she went to Lopez's home to engage in sexual intercourse, the New York Post previously reported. Lopez told the court that Nancy had told him she was separated from her husband. Nancy had apparently told him she was meeting up with friends for dinner in Elizabeth, New Jersey. But he then saw her iPad location as moving towards Lopez's Clifton home. He told the Post he had feared she was having an affair. Nancy filed for divorce from Donis after the encounter. The divorce was finalized earlier this year. Nicolas Cage (pictured, Friday) was once one of Hollywood's top earners with his movies fetching him a $150million fortune before he spent it all Nicolas Cage was once one of Hollywood's top earners, with movies such as 'National Treasure' and 'Leaving Las Vegas' making him an A-List star. Cage, 54, acquired a $150million fortune and soon became the most infamous Hollywood, quickly squandering his fortune. From an $8million castle to $25million homes, from dinosaur skulls to shrunken heads, he soon faced goreclosure on several properties and owing the IRS more than $14million. Now worth around $25million, the Academy Award-winning actor is taking roles left and right to help pay off his debts. Here is a look at some of Cage's craziest purchases: FIFTEEN HOUSES At one point, Cage owned 15 homes, including a $25million waterfront home in Newport Beach, California, a $15.7 million countryside estate in Newport, Rhode Island, and an $8.5 million abode in Las Vegas. Other properties included a chalet in Aspen, Colorado and homes in San Francisco, New York, and Venice Beach. At one point, Cage owned 15 homes, including a $25million waterfront home in Newport Beach, California, and an $8.5million abode in Las Vegas (Pictured, the master bedroom of the La Vegas home previously owned by Cage) He also acquired the infamous LaLaurie mansion (pictured) in New Orleans in 2006 for $3.45million, which allegedly belonged to a socialite serial killer He also acquired the infamous LaLaurie mansion in New Orleans in 2006 for $3.45million. According to legend, the haunted house belonged to a socialite serial killer named Madame LaLaurie, who would kill and torture slaves in the 1800s. PYRAMID TOMB Cage actually had a pyramid tomb constructed for him in New Orleans near his reportedly haunted mansion. This nine-foot tall pyramid tombstone is engraved with 'Omni Ab Uno', Latin for 'Everything From One.' The actor himself has chosen to remain silent about his reasoning for the flamboyant tomb. Some speculate it's an homage to the 'National Treasure' movie franchise. Cage had a nine-foot tall pyramid tomb constructed for him in New Orleans and it is engraved with 'Omni Ab Uno', Latin for 'Everything From One' EXOTIC ANIMALS Cage began collecting animals early in his career. In addition to owning two albino king cobras, which he purchased for $270,000 Cage also owned water-dwelling creatures. He reportedly spent $150,000 on a pet octopus as an 'acting aid'. Cage also owned a shark and a crocodile. Cage purchased a number of animals as pets including an octopus a shark and ntwo albino king cobras (pictured, file image), which he purchased for $270,000 THE SHAH OF IRAN'S LAMBORGHINI Cage purchased the 1971 Lamborghini Miura SVJ for $450,000 at an auction in 1997, hot off the successes of 'Con Ai'r and 'Face/Off'. The car only had one previous owner, the late Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and had fewer than 2,000 miles on it. The Lamborghini was built to Pahlavi's special order and secretly delivered to his St Moritz chalet for a ski vacation before Christmas 1971. Cage purchased the 1971 Lamborghini Miura SVJ (pictured, file image) that previously belonged to the late Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi for $450,000 at an auction in 1997 DINOSAUR SKULL A self-proclaimed history buff, Cage allegedly once outbid fellow actor Leonardo DiCaprio for a seven-million-year-old Tarbosaurus skull. The $276,000 artifact turned out to be stolen, however, and Cage had to return it to the Mongolian government. A self-proclaimed history buff, Cage allegedly once outbid fellow actor Leonardo DiCaprio for a seven-million-year-old Tarbosaurus skull (Pictured, skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus bataar dinosaur) PYGAMY HEADS According to unnamed visitors, Cage has a collection of pygmy shrunken heads on display for unknown purposes. The practice was initially utilized by head hunters so they could keep and show off their trophies. Shrinking the head of an enemy was believed to harness the spirit of that enemy and compel him to serve the shrinker. According to unnamed visitors, Cage has a collection of pygmy shrunken heads (pictured, file image) on display for unknown purposes. COMIC BOOKS Cage had a comic book collection worth more than $1.6million - including Action Comics #1, which marks the very first appearance of Superman. He allegedly spent $150,000 on the purchase. He also reportedly owned Detective Comics #38, which introduced Batman's sidekick, Robin. In 2011, the actor's was forced to sell Action Comics #1. The comic book was stolen from his house in 2000 and found in a storage locker in April 2011. It fetched $2,161,000. Several people have been killed and at least seven wounded after four gunmen stormed Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel wearing suicide vests. The incident unfolded at 9pm local time (4.30pm GMT) with sounds of gunfire, an explosion and reports of armed men 'shooting at guests'. Two of the attackers have been killed, with specialist forces still battling the others inside. Flames engulfed the fourth floor of the hotel, which sits on a hilltop and is heavily protected by security guards. Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi confirmed there have been multiple fatalities. Scroll down for video The Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan is under seige after four gunmen stormed the building Four gunmen believed to be wearing suicide vests attacked the Intercontinental Hotel in the Afghan capital of Kabul The incident unfolded at 9pm local time (4.30pm) with sounds of gunfire and an explosion Armed men are pictured outside the luxury resort as specialist forces take on the attackers inside. Two were shot dead An armed official is pictured by an ambulance outside the Intercontinental hotel complex A member of the Afghan security forces keeps watch of the siege in Kabul He said: 'Seven wounded people have been taken to hospital. 'Some other guests have been rescued. We will be able to release casualty figures once the operation ends.' There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the latest of several in Kabul. Unverified reports say at least 15 people have been killed, but these have not been confirmed. There were foreign visitors among the hotel guests, but it is not clear whether they included any UK residents. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office told MailOnline all British embassy staff are accounted for and they are 'in touch with local authorities and are monitoring the situation closely'. There were foreign visitors among the hotel guests, but it is not clear whether they included any UK residents Two of the attackers have been shot dead, with specialist forces still battling the others inside Local media is reporting 'multiple' casualties and hotel staff and guests being taken hostage Pictured: The five-star Intercontinental Hotel in the Afghan capital of Kabul Firefighters battled to put out the blaze on the fourth floor, which has four restaurants and a swimming pool. Security forces cleared the first and second floors but still had to take on the remaining attackers in those above. UK TRAVEL ADVICE WARNS OF 'REGULAR HOTEL ATTACKS' The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office warns against the risk of staying in hotels in Kabul. It says: 'Hotels and guesthouses used by foreign nationals and the government of Afghanistan are subject to regular threats. 'The British Embassy doesn't allow official visitors to stay in hotels overnight and has placed restaurants and other venues off limits to staff.' Source: FCO travel advice Advertisement It is unclear how they managed to get past security guards, but are believed to have entered through the kitchen. A man who escaped the attack told Wall Street Journal reporter Ehsanullah Amiri he saw 'four dead bodies outside the hotel'. He also claimed the men were shouting 'Allah-u-Akbar' and 'throwing people from windows of upper floors'. A guest hiding in his room said he could hear gunfire. Electricity was cut out. He told AFP: 'I don't know if the attackers are inside the hotel but I can hear gunfire from somewhere near the first floor. 'We are hiding in our rooms. I beg the security forces to rescue us as soon as possible before they reach and kill us.' The hotel, one of two main luxury resorts in the city, was previously attacked by Taliban fighters in 2011, killing 21 people, including 10 civilians. The hotel (pictured), one of two main luxury resorts in the city, was previously attacked by Taliban fighters in 2011 It is often used for events including conferences attended by government officials. A conference on Afghan-Chinese relations was held at the hotel earlier today, attended by the Chinese embassy's political counsellor Zhang Zhixin. It is believed an IT conference of provincial officials was taking place at the time of the attack, before the men opened fire. On Thursday the US embassy in Kabul issued a warning to American citizens in the city that 'extremist groups may be planning an attack against hotels in Kabul'. Tonight an official at the National Directorate of Security (NDS) told ADP: 'Four attackers are inside the building. They are shooting at guests.' Another official said the attackers were armed with small weapons and rocket-propelled grenades when they entered the hotel, which often hosts weddings, conferences and political gatherings. 'They are now on the third and fourth floors fighting with our forces. We don't know the details of casualties yet but they set the kitchen on fire,' Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said. Mr Danish added: 'Our special forces are in the area. The operation will soon end and the attackers will be killed.' The hotel, one of two main luxury resorts in the city, was previously attacked (pictured) by Taliban fighters in 2011, killing 21 people, including 10 civilians. Pictured: The Intercontinental Hotel was last attacked by the Taliban in 2011 While it shares the same name, the Kabul Intercontinental is not part of the global Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) and is instead state-owned. The hotel issued a statement after the attacks in 2011 saying that 'the hotel Inter-continental in Kabul is not part of IHG and has not been since 1980'. Security in the Afghan capital has been tightened since May 31 last year when a massive truck bomb ripped through the diplomatic quarter, killing some 150 people and wounding around 400 others - mostly civilians. No group has yet claimed that attack. The Islamic State group has claimed most of the recent attacks in the Afghan capital, but authorities suspect that the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network has been involved in some of the assaults. The deadliest of the recent attacks happened at a Shiite cultural centre on December 29 when a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing more than 40 people. Volunteers are to be deployed as counter-terror officers in a controversial new scheme which has prompted accusations of policing on the cheap. Twenty Special Constables will work with Scotland Yards elite SO15 unit just one of dozens of examples uncovered by The Mail on Sunday of unpaid personnel being recruited. The counter-terror volunteers will help with major incident investigations and also on the highly sensitive Prevent scheme, which combats radicalisation. Other law-and-order projects most of which are funded by the Home Office involving members of the public include: Prostitutes being engaged as volunteers to provide safety advice to other sex workers; Criminals, bankrupts and those who have committed military misdemeanours being allowed to help out police forces; Children joining uniformed Mini Police teams to spot speeding motorists and look out for yobs; Dog walkers and cyclists gathering intelligence for police. Teenage cadets have gone out on anti-social behaviour patrols as one of a number of controversial projects to involve more citizens in policing (Pictured: Thetford Police Cadets) The revelations come after this newspaper revealed last month how a Dads Army of unpaid border guards will be used to monitor marinas, harbours and airfields. Critics say that the growing number of volunteers is simply an attempt to disguise huge cuts to police strength. The number of frontline officers is at its lowest level in 30 years, despite rising crime. 15,000 for prostitutes in 'community engagement' Prostitutes are being recruited to work with police in the North East to help keep other sex workers safe. Under the scheme, they will keep in touch with vulnerable women who would normally try to stay out of the way of officers. Northumbria Constabulary has been given 15,000 by the Home Office to develop the project, which is known as Walking In Their Shoes, with local charity Bright Futures. A document seen by The Mail on Sunday states: The pilot project will specifically trial a model of engaging sex workers as volunteers, to support improved community engagement and safeguarding. The pilot project will trial a small-scale case study of engagement of sex workers as volunteers. Recruitment will start next month, and 10,000 has been allocated to evaluate the scheme. Advertisement Official figures show there are currently about 38,000 volunteers in policing, including 11,000 teenage cadets and 16,000 Special Constables, who are unpaid and work part-time but have full policing powers. Chief constables have set up a national Citizens In Policing strategy to boost these numbers and increase the resources available to achieve social goals and help reduce demands on public services. As part of this plan, they have been given 545,000 from a Home Office innovation fund to deliver 19 pilot projects across England and Wales. This includes the first-ever scheme to place Special Constables in the counter-terrorism fields of policing, testing specifically roles in Prevent and major incident investigation. Documents seen by this newspaper show it will examine a previously unexplored area of specialism for Special Constables and potentially longer term for volunteers with powers. It admits it will test cultural acceptance in one of the most sensitive areas of policing. Initially, the Met will recruit 20 counter-terror specialists from the existing ranks of Specials, but will expand the team if it is deemed a success. Recruitment, vetting and training starts next month and the Specials will start work on major incident investigation and on Prevent working on stopping vulnerable people becoming radicalised from March. Chief constables will also consider giving Specials the power to carry Tasers this year. North Yorkshire Chief Constable Dave Jones (pictured) defended the project saying it is a 'fine example' of volunteers complementing work done by paid employees North Yorkshire Chief Constable Dave Jones insisted last night: The projects being trialled are fine examples of how volunteers can bring experience and insight from other walks of life to complement, rather than replace, the work done by paid employees. But Calum Macleod, new chairman of the Police Federation that represents rank-and-file officers, said: This is yet another step towards policing on the cheap, and a further indication that money is being put before safety and a properly resourced police service. Special Constables provide a valuable service but they should never replace experienced officers in these hare-brained schemes. Former Special Branch detective Chris Hobbs added: This is a long way from being ideal, but has been forced on the Met because of cuts they have a massive shortage of detectives. I would hope volunteers will be vetted properly. Other plans include sending out children to join uniformed Mini Police teams to spot speeding motorists and look out for yobs (Pictured: Durham Constabulary's Mini Police force) Children go on patrol to catch speeding drivers Children are being used to spot speeding motorists and go on night-time patrols. The Mini Police project for those aged nine to 11 was started by Durham Constabulary and is now being taken up across the country. It gives uniforms to pupils in economically deprived areas and invites them to special events. Dog walkers granted power to investigate Dog walkers and cyclists will wear uniforms and gather intelligence for police in Kent. The public are currently being recruited to become Policing Community Volunteers in the west of the county, and will be given some policing powers. They will have the power to request the name and address of someone committing anti-social behaviour; to enter premises to save life and/or prevent serious damage; and some minor traffic control powers, a spokesman for the force said. The idea is that they will help by providing additional visibility and an extra point of contact, while also improving the communication flow to the police and back to the community. Dog walkers will go out with their own pets, usually on their normal routes, while cyclists will ride their own bikes. Advertisement The idea, according to official documents, is that vulnerable children will be given a positive experience of policing and get involved in the local community. But they can also support subtle educational interventions to tackle Serious Organised Crime and gun and gang crime. Units of the Mini Police often go out on community speed watch duty, monitoring passing motorists on busy roads. Some are equipped with speed guns while others hold up digital boards alerting drivers that they are going too fast. The Home Office is contributing 8,000 to an academic assessment of Mini Police, described as the largest-scale primary school youth association delivery model ever led by UK policing. In Norfolk, where all 150 Police Community Support Officers are being axed to save money, police have been accused of putting teenagers at risk in a similar scheme. Acting Inspector Mick Andrew posted online a photo of ten youngsters in high-vis jackets, with the caption: Thetford Police Cadets heading out on [anti-social behaviour] patrols of the town centre. It prompted an incredulous response on Twitter, with solicitor Nicholas Diable warning: Even if theyre tagging along it strikes me that a situation could quickly get out of hand and then youve got a violent situation with PCs having to defend the kids theyre responsible for An exceptionally bad plan. A Norfolk Police spokesman said: All relevant risk assessments were carried out. Dog walkers and cyclists will wear uniforms and gather intelligence for police in Kent after becoming Policing Community Volunteers Deutsche Bank has evidence linking presidential advisor Jared Kushner to suspicious money transactions, and is ready to hand it over to special counsel Robert Mueller, according to a new report. The bank headquartered in Frankfurt has already given German regulators its evidence that Kushner or related companies could have directed suspicious money through Deutsche Bank, Manager Magazin reported on Friday. Kushner, 37, and his wife Ivanka Trump are worth at least $240million, with their holdings potentially exceeding $740million, according to financial disclosure forms. The president's son-in-law made much of his fortune as a real estate investor. Deutsche Bank's compliance officers were 'embarassed' by their investigation into Kushner's transactions, and handed over the information to Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, the new report said. 'Their finding: There are indications that Donald Trump's son-in-law or persons or companies close to him could have channeled suspicious monies through Deutsche Bank as part of their business dealings,' the report states in German translated to English. Jared Kushner is seen leaving his Washington DC house on Friday morning. Deutsche Bank has evidence linking Kushner to suspicious money transactions, a new report says Kushner, 37, and his wife Ivanka Trump are worth at least $240million, with their holdings potentially exceeding $740million, according to financial disclosure forms Deutsche Bank is said to be ready to hand over the information to Mueller in relation to the special counsel's Russian interference probe. The bank gave Kushner Companies a $285million loan last year, and has extended a line of credit valued at up to $25million to Kushner and his mother, the New York Times reported before Christmas. Deutsche has also loaned entities associated with the Trump Organization around $300 million, according to published reports. Deutsche Bank rejected demands in June by US House Democrats to provide details of Trump's finances, citing privacy laws. Earlier this month, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon's prediction that Mueller would target Kushner made headlines when it appeared in the bombshell book Fire and Fury. 'The Kushner s*** is greasy. They're going to go right through that,' Bannon told author Michael Wolff. Deutsche gave Kushner Companies a $285million loan last year, and has extended a line of credit valued at up to $25million to Kushner and his mother Mueller is thought to be zeroing in on money laundering offenses, and a new report suggests Deutsche Bank will hand over evidence of suspicious Kushner transactions to the prope 'It goes through Deutsche Bank and all the Kushner s***,' Bannon said, referencing reports that Mueller has subpoenaed bank records from the German bank. 'This is all about money laundering. Mueller chose [senior prosecutor Andrew] Weissmann first and he is a money-laundering guy. Their path to f***ing Trump goes right through Paul Manafort, Don Jr and Jared Kushner It's as plain as a hair on your face,' he said. So far, the Mueller investigation has charged Paul Manafort and Rick Gates on money laundering charges unrelated to the Trump campaign - they have pleaded not guilty. Two others, George Papadopoulous and Michael Flynn, have pleaded guilty to lying to investigators. Deutsche Bank declined to comment to Manager Magazin and DailyMail.com could not reach Kushner's representatives for comment Saturday. Children are being used to spot speeding motorists and go on night-time patrols. The Mini Police project for those aged nine to 11 was started by Durham Constabulary and is now being taken up across the country. It gives uniforms to pupils in economically deprived areas and invites them to special events. The idea, according to official documents, is that vulnerable children will be given a positive experience of policing and get involved in the local community. Children between nine and 11 are being used to spot speeding motorists and go on night-time patrols under plans for a 'Mini Police' force, started by Durham Constabulary But they can also support subtle educational interventions to tackle Serious Organised Crime and gun and gang crime. Units of the Mini Police often go out on community speed watch duty, monitoring passing motorists on busy roads. Some are equipped with speed guns while others hold up digital boards alerting drivers that they are going too fast. The Home Office is contributing 8,000 to an academic assessment of Mini Police, described as the largest-scale primary school youth association delivery model ever led by UK policing. Acting Inspector Mick Andrew posted this photo on social media with the caption: Thetford Police Cadets heading out on [anti-social behaviour] patrols of the town centre In Norfolk, where all 150 Police Community Support Officers are being axed to save money, police have been accused of putting teenagers at risk in a similar scheme. Acting Inspector Mick Andrew posted online a photo of ten youngsters in high-vis jackets, with the caption: Thetford Police Cadets heading out on [anti-social behaviour] patrols of the town centre. It prompted an incredulous response on Twitter, with solicitor Nicholas Diable warning: Even if theyre tagging along it strikes me that a situation could quickly get out of hand and then youve got a violent situation with PCs having to defend the kids theyre responsible for An exceptionally bad plan. A Norfolk Police spokesman said: All relevant risk assessments were carried out. China will take measures to protect its sovereignty The Chinese government has accused the United States of trespassing in its territorial waters after a US guided missile destroyer sailed near a disputed area in the South China Sea. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China would take 'necessary measures' to protect its sovereignty after the USS Hopper sailed within 12 nautical miles of Scarborough Shoal on Wednesday evening without China's permission. Scarborough is a tiny, uninhabited reef that China seized from the Philippines in 2012. Known in Chinese as Huangyan Island, it lies about 200 kilometres (120 miles) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon, and about 600 kilometres (370 miles) southeast of China. Two U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity said the patrol took place in accordance with international law and was an 'innocent passage,' in which a warship effectively recognizes a territorial sea by crossing it quickly, without stopping. The Chinese government has accused the United States of trespassing in its territorial waters after a US guided missile destroyer sailed near a disputed area (pictured: Chinese Coast Guard ship in Scarborough Shoal in December 2016) Twelve nautical miles is the territorial limit recognized internationally. Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said a Chinese missile frigate moved to identify and verify the US vessel and warned it to leave the area. 'We hope that the US respects China's sovereignty, respects the efforts by regional countries and do not make trouble out of nothing,' Mr Wu said in a statement on the ministry's website. The South China Sea has crucial shipping lanes, rich fishing grounds and potential oil, gas and other mineral deposits. China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and has carried out extensive land reclamation work on many of the islands and reefs it claims, equipping some with air strips and military installations. The United States does not claim territory in the South China Sea, but has declared it has a national interest in ensuring that the territorial disputes there are resolved peacefully in accordance with international law. The Navy regularly sails through the area to assert freedom of navigation. The USS Hopper, pictured in Alaska last April, sailed within 12 nautical miles of Scarborough Shoal on Wednesday evening Lieutenant Commander Nicole Schwegman, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet, said: 'The United States conducts routine and regular FONOPs [Freedom of Navigation Operations], as we have done in the past and will continue to do so in the future.' She added that such operations are 'not about any one country, nor are they about making political statements.' Instead they aim to 'demonstrate our commitment to uphold the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations under international law.' In a statement, the Pentagon did not directly comment on the patrol but said the United States routinely carries out 'freedom of navigation' operations, a summary of which would be released in an annual report. 'All operations are conducted in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows,' Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Logan said. The U.S. military put countering China and Russia at the center of a new national defense strategy unveiled on Friday. Advertisement Turkish jets bombed the Kurdish-controlled city of Afrin in northern Syria on Saturday, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised to expand Turkey's military border operations against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). The raids, which the Turks dubbed 'Operation Olive Branch', came after a week of threats by the Turkish government, promising to clear the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) from Afrin and its surrounding countryside. The Kurdish group has been the US's key Syrian ally in the war on the Islamic State group. The attacks could also complicate Turkey's push to improve ties with Russia. Turkish jets bombed the Kurdish-controlled city of Afrin in northern Syria on Saturday (pictured) as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised to expand Turkey's military border operations against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) From the Turkish border jets were seen bombing positions in the direction of Afrin, as a convoy of armed pick-up trucks and buses believed to be carrying Syrian opposition fighters travelled along the border The raids, which the Turks dubbed 'Operation Olive Branch', came after a week of threats by the Turkish government, promising to clear the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) from Afrin and its surrounding countryside Warplanes pounded parts of Afrin, while there were skirmishes with Turkish forces and their rebel allies at the edge of the city Moscow will demand in the United Nations that Turkey halt the military operation, RIA news reported, citing a member of the Russian parliament's security committee. From the Turkish border jets were seen bombing positions in the direction of Afrin, as a convoy of armed pick-up trucks and buses believed to be carrying Syrian opposition fighters travelled along the border. Turkey says the YPG - a group it considers a terrorist organization - is an extension of an outlawed Kurdish rebel group that it is fighting inside its own borders, and it has found common cause with Syrian opposition groups who view the YPG as a counter-revolutionary force in Syria's multi-sided civil war. 'We are carrying out this operation from land and air,' Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told broadcaster NTV. He said the attacks were being carried out to target the Syrian-Kurdish YPG militia and that no civilians had been hurt. A Turkey-backed rebel group in Syria, the Free Syrian Army, was also providing assistance to the Turkish military's operation in Afrin, a senior Turkish official said. Rojhat Roj, a YPG spokesman, confirmed the strikes, yet he said ten civilians were wounded, three seriously. He added the warplanes pounded parts of Afrin, while there were skirmishes with Turkish forces and their rebel allies at the edge of Afrin. A Turkey-backed rebel group in Syria, the Free Syrian Army (pictured), was also providing assistance to the Turkish military's operation in Afrin, a senior Turkish official said 'We are carrying out this operation from land and air,' Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told broadcaster NTV. He said the attacks were being carried out to target the Syrian-Kurdish YPG militia and that no civilians had been hurt The Turkish military said its operation in Afrin was to provide safety for Turkey's border and to 'eliminate terrorists' Hevi Mustafa, a top member of the civilian administration that governs Afrin, said people were holed up in shelters and several wounded people had arrived in hospitals. The air strikes were accompanied by waves of artillery strikes on the Afrin region. Turkish officials have said the operation is likely to continue toward Manbij. The YPG's growing strength across a swath of northern Syria alarmed Ankara, which fears the creation of an independent Kurdish state on its southern border. Syrian Kurdish leaders say they seek autonomy as part of Syria, not secession. The Turkish military said its operation in Afrin was to provide safety for Turkey's border and to 'eliminate terrorists... and save friends and brothers, the people of the region, from their cruelty.' 'We will destroy the terror corridor gradually as we did in Jarabulus and Al-Bab operations, starting from the west,' Turkey's Erdogan said, referring to previous operations in northern Syria designed to push out Islamic State and check the YPG's advance. Military vehicles are being transported to Syria's Azez district at Oncupinar border gate of Kilis, as part of the 'Operation Olive Branch' The air strikes were accompanied by waves of artillery strikes on the Afrin region. Turkish officials have said the operation is likely to continue toward Manbij Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan inspected a military honour guard before addressing his supporters in Usak, western Turkey. The President has promised to expand Turkey's military border operations against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) The Kurdish group has been the US's key Syrian ally in the war on the Islamic State group Turkey is potentially damaging ties with Russia and US Turkey's new front In Syria against the YPG could add further complications to their relationship with Russia. Tensions between Moscow and Ankara have grown in the last days as Russia seeks wide attendance at a peace conference on Syria at the end of the month. But Turkey insists it will not attend if the YPG is there. Yet executing the operation on the ground - especially against a well-populated urban centre such as Afrin - could still prove much harder. And crucial will be the attitude of Russia. 'Can Ankara dare to attack Afrin without getting a green light from Russia? It's a sure 'no' for me,' said Metin Gurcan, security analyst at Istanbul Policy Center . Turkish intervention may not find the warmest of receptions in Washington either, which has closely cooperated with the YPG as its main ally on the ground in the fight against the Islamic State extremist group. Yet Afrin - which lies to the west of the main Kurdish zone of influence in Syria - may not be a prime concern of Washington which is more interested in the Kurdish-controlled areas stretching east to the Iraqi border. Advertisement Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the strikes on Afrin marked the start of a campaign to 'eliminate the PYD and PKK and Daesh elements in Afrin'. Earlier on Saturday, the military said it hit shelters and hideouts used by the YPG and other Kurdish fighters, saying Kurdish militants had fired on Turkish positions inside Turkey. But the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces - which the YPG spearheads - accused Turkey of using cross-border shelling as a false pretext to launch an offensive in Syria. Differences over Syria policy have further complicated Turkey's already difficult relationship with NATO ally the United States. Washington has backed the YPG, seeing it as an effective partner in the fight against Islamic State. A US State Department official on Friday said military intervention by Turkey in Syria would undermine regional stability and would not help protect Turkey's border security. Instead, the United States has called on Turkey to focus on the fight against Islamic State. Turkey's capital Ankara accuses Washington of using one terrorist group to fight another in Syria. And turkish leaders were infuriated at an announcement made by the US military six days ago that it was going to create a 30,000-strong border force with the Kurdish fighters to secure northern Syria. Days later, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced that the US would maintain a military presence with the Kurds for the foreseeable future. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed the operation with Tillerson by phone on Sunday after the US diplomat requested a conversation, Turkish officials said. They did not provide further details. Any ground operation would entail considerable military and political risk for Ankara Differences over Syria policy have further complicated Turkey's already difficult relationship with NATO ally the United States. Washington has backed the YPG, seeing it as an effective partner in the fight against Islamic State Syrian fighters attend their graduation ceremony near Syria's northeastern city of Hasakeh on January 20, 2018, at the end of a US-led training programme aimed at forming a security force to patrol territory captured from the Islamic State group along the country's northern border Rojhat Roj, a YPG spokesman, confirmed the strikes, yet he said ten civilians were wounded, three seriously. Pictured: An injured PYD/PKK terrorist is seen at a hospital after Turkish jets destroyed observation posts Any ground operation would entail considerable military and political risk for Ankara. Russia was keeping military observers in Afrin and lately firmed up its ties with the YPG, while Syria's government in Damascus said it would shoot down any Turkish jets on raids in the country. The YPG is estimated to have between 8,000 and 10,000 fighters in Afrin. Turkey could also face blowback from the Kurdish insurgency within its own borders. A ground offensive or continued shelling would exacerbate the poor humanitarian situation in Afrin, which is now home to at least 800,000 civilians, including many who arrived fleeing the fighting in other parts of Syria. The Russian Defense Ministry said, meanwhile, that it was pulling back troops that had been deployed near Afrin, two days after Turkey's military and intelligence briefs travelled to Moscow to discuss the planned operation. It said the group of observers was being relocated to another area. It was not immediately clear how many troops were affected by the move. Henry Boltons campaign chief quit in disgust after the beleaguered Ukip leader allegedly boasted of seeing an Italian au pair half his age while his wife was pregnant. Neil Jones claimed that Mr Bolton, 54, was full of himself after he invited striking Chiara Colombo, 27, to campaign with him when he ran as Ukips candidate for Kent police and crime commissioner in January 2016. The allegations pile further pressure on Mr Bolton ahead of an emergency meeting of the partys National Executive Committee today. They come after he left his wife for 25-year-old glamour model Jo Marney on December 23, followed by this newspapers revelations of Ms Marneys racist text messages about Meghan Markle. Mr Bolton met Ms Colombo in Keppels bar at Folkestones Grand Hotel, ironically named after Alice Keppel, Edward VIIs mistress. Henry Bolton's campaign chief Neil Jones quit in disgust after he claims the Ukip leader boasted of seeing Chiara Colombo, pictured, an Italian au pair who is half his age According to Mr Jones, Mr Bolton told friends she later joined him upstairs in the flat he owns in the building. Mr Jones said: We went for Sunday lunch and Henry arrived looking really pleased with himself. He said he was seeing this Italian girl and showed us a picture of her in a yellow bikini. 'He said she was going to come out campaigning with him. I was absolutely disgusted and I let him know exactly what I thought. I resigned a few days later over this woman. Neil Jones claimed that Mr Bolton met Ms Colombo while his third wife Tatiana Smurova (pictured) was away working in Austria. She was five months pregnant at the time The events unfolded while Mr Boltons third wife Tatiana Smurova, 42, was away working in Austria. She was five months pregnant with their second daughter. Yesterday, she spoke of her fury that Mr Bolton did not have the courage to tell me directly, personally about Marney. Mr Jones, pictured, said: Henry didnt say they had slept together or anything but it was implied something was going on Mr Jones said of Bolton and Ms Colombo: Henry didnt say they had slept together or anything but it was implied something was going on. He was full of himself. Speaking from her home near Lake Como in Italy, Ms Colombo denied going to Mr Boltons flat and said although they met a second time for a coffee, there was no romance. He had to go to Maidstone for a radio interview, and he said If you want to come, you can come, she said. Since I know men, I said it is better if I dont go along. I know men can come to me and maybe they want something else. Mr Bolton last night denied Mr Joness claims. His spokesman said he met Ms Colombo twice in Folkestone but added: There was no affair. It was the inspirational story of a tramp who defeated property developers to remain in his ramshackle home in one of Britain's most exclusive neighbourhoods. Now the tale of Harry Hallowes immortalised in last year's film Hampstead, with Diane Keaton and Brendan Gleeson seems to have inspired another makeshift wooden shack in the same North London enclave. But this sequel is likely to have a less happy ending, as Jita Lukka has been ordered to tear down her eyesore property. Ms Lukka bought a plot adjoining Hampstead Heath through her property business, Polar Bren Ltd, in March last year for 700,000 The tale of Harry Hallowes immortalised in last year's film Hampstead (pictured), with Diane Keaton and Brendan Gleeson seems to have inspired another makeshift wooden shack in the same North London enclave 'I suppose this does have similarities with the Harry Hallowes story,' said neighbour Ellen Solomons. 'But at least he had the support of local residents this woman has upset everyone.' Ms Lukka bought a plot adjoining Hampstead Heath through her property business, Polar Bren Ltd, in March last year for 700,000. But the site close to where Rowan Atkinson and Sacha Baron Cohen have homes did not have planning permission, with Camden Council having turned down applications from previous owners. Nevertheless, Ms Lukka employed builders to construct the wooden home under a cover of tarpaulin. The property features a huge metal gate, double glazing, French windows and a wood store. Determined: Ms Lukka Neighbours say Ms Lukka, 55, introduced herself to them and boasted about how proud she was of her 'arty' new home. But while 'Hampstead hermit' Hallowes, who died in 2016 having been granted ownership of his 3.5million plot, won the support of celebrity neighbours including Monty Python star Terry Gilliam, Ms Lukka has prompted only complaints to the local authority. Now the council has given her four months to demolish the house, which they say 'represents inappropriate development' and 'causes harm to the appearance and character of the Hampstead conservation area'. Ms Solomons, from The Vale of Health Society, said: 'This woman has the cheek of the devil we felt we had to take a stand. We couldn't believe anyone would have the brass neck to do such a thing. 'I'm sure there are many people who would like to have a home in such a beautiful location but there are planning regulations. A house there would fetch 5million easily. 'There is a worry that she will appeal and drag out the process then apply for retrospective planning permission.' Ms Lukka, who declined to comment, has until the end of the month to appeal. Jita Lukka has built a wooden house on a site known as South Fairground, adjacent to the Heath, without permission She has been issued with an enforcement notice from Camden council to remove the structure with 4 months The Chinese government has accused the US of trespassing in its territorial waters after a US guided missile destroyer sailed near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. China vowed to take 'necessary measures' to protect its sovereignty after the USS Hopper sailed within 12 nautical miles of Scarborough Shoal on Wednesday evening without China's permission. The complaint came within days of US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' Friday assertion that the US military's top national security priorities are now countering China's rapidly expanding military and an increasingly aggressive Russia. Scarborough is a tiny, uninhabited reef that China seized from the Philippines in 2012 as part of Beijing's dramatic territorial grab and military buildup in the sea. Known in Chinese as Huangyan Island, it lies about 120 miles west of the main Philippine island of Luzon, and about 370 miles southeast of China. The USS Hopper is seen in a file photo from April preparing to moor in Homer, Alaska. The ship angered Beijing on Wednesday by sailing near disputed Scarborough Shoal The Hopper (seen in a file photo) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer currently on independent deployment in the US Navy's 7th Fleet area of operations China Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said a Chinese missile frigate moved to identify and verify the US vessel and warned it to leave the area. 'We hope that the US respects China's sovereignty, respects the efforts by regional countries and do not make trouble out of nothing,' Wu said in a statement on the ministry's website. The Hopper is a multi-mission ship with anti-air warfare, anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare capabilities. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer entered the US Navy's 7th Fleet area of operations on January 4, where the ship is on an 'independent deployment,' the Navy said in a statement. 'This forward presence contributes to freedom of navigation and lawful use of the sea, as well as furthers operational training and enables an exchange of culture, skills, and tactical knowledge,' the Navy said. Scarborough Shoal is seen in a 2015 satellite photo. Beijing has yet to order military construction on the reef, but many analysts believe it is only a matter of time before they do This map shows the location of Scarborough Shoal and competing territorial claims in the sea The United States does not claim territory in the South China Sea but has declared it has a national interest in ensuring that the territorial disputes there are resolved peacefully in accordance with international law. The Navy regularly sails through the area to assert freedom of navigation. 'The United States conducts routine and regular FONOPs, as we have done in the past and will continue to do so in the future,' Lt. Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman, a spokeswoman for the US Navy's Pacific Fleet, said after China's claim. FONOP is the military's term for freedom of navigation operations. She said such operations are 'not about any one country, nor are they about making political statements.' Instead they aim to 'demonstrate our commitment to uphold the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations under international law.' A Filipino fisherman operates around Scarborough Shoal in defiance of a Chinese Coast Guard ship in December 2016. China's 2012 seizure of the territory sparked major tensions The South China Sea has crucial shipping lanes, rich fishing grounds and potential oil, gas and other mineral deposits. China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and has carried out extensive land reclamation work on many of the islands and reefs it claims, equipping some with air strips and military installations. Beijing has yet to order military construction on Scarborough Shoal, but many analysts believe it is only a matter of time before they do. Last year China took the first steps by announcing plans to build an environmental monitoring station on the reef. The reef is home to a major fishery, and China's 2012 seizure of the territory sparked major tensions with Filipino fishermen. The Permanent Court of Arbitration, based in The Hague, denied China's claim over the South China Sea in 2016 and said that China is infringing on the Philippines' traditional fishing rights. China has refused to accept the court ruling. Last night Jo Marney resigned from Ukip after being presented with more evidence from The Mail on Sunday about racist messages she has sent. In an exchange with a friend on social media last year, Ukip leader Henry Boltons former mistress described Muslims as all f****** idiots and said she wouldnt trust any of them with a potato gun. In one Facebook message, she said: If it were Christians who were the threat I would be the first f****** one to say so. It isnt. Its Islam. Glamour model Jo Marney (pictured with Henry Bolton) quit Ukip after racist messages emerged where she called Muslims 'f***ing idiots' and the 'cancer of this earth' Theyre the cancer of this earth. And we need to get rid of them from this country. Before more of us are murdered. Ms Marney then explains why she expresses such shocking views, saying: I will say what I think. 'I have no interest in watering down what I think like some kind of cowardly Tory. In an exchange with a different friend, she wrote: If you took a photo of some random streets in London and showed someone in America and said, where is this, they would probably guess at Turkey or something. Last night, Ms Marney said: I am devastated at the turmoil I have caused and offer my sincere apologies to members. Ms Marney said: I am devastated at the turmoil I have caused and offer my sincere apologies to members' Revealed: Ukip aide quit after leader's boasts about 'seeing' an Italian au pair half his age while wife was pregnant Henry Boltons campaign chief quit in disgust after the beleaguered Ukip leader allegedly boasted of seeing an Italian au pair half his age while his wife was pregnant. Neil Jones claimed that Mr Bolton, 54, was full of himself after he invited striking Chiara Colombo, 27, to campaign with him when he ran as Ukips candidate for Kent police and crime commissioner in January 2016. The allegations pile further pressure on Mr Bolton ahead of an emergency meeting of the partys National Executive Committee today. They come after he left his wife for 25-year-old glamour model Jo Marney on December 23, followed by this newspapers revelations of Ms Marneys racist text messages about Meghan Markle. Mr Bolton met Ms Colombo in Keppels bar at Folkestones Grand Hotel, ironically named after Alice Keppel, Edward VIIs mistress. Henry Bolton's campaign chief Neil Jones quit in disgust after he claims the Ukip leader boasted of seeing Chiara Colombo, pictured, an Italian au pair who is half his age According to Mr Jones, Mr Bolton told friends she later joined him upstairs in the flat he owns in the building. Mr Jones said: We went for Sunday lunch and Henry arrived looking really pleased with himself. He said he was seeing this Italian girl and showed us a picture of her in a yellow bikini. 'He said she was going to come out campaigning with him. I was absolutely disgusted and I let him know exactly what I thought. I resigned a few days later over this woman. Neil Jones claimed that Mr Bolton met Ms Colombo while his third wife Tatiana Smurova (pictured) was away working in Austria. She was five months pregnant at the time The events unfolded while Mr Boltons third wife Tatiana Smurova, 42, was away working in Austria. She was five months pregnant with their second daughter. Yesterday, she spoke of her fury that Mr Bolton did not have the courage to tell me directly, personally about Marney. Mr Jones said of Bolton and Ms Colombo: Henry didnt say they had slept together or anything but it was implied something was going on. He was full of himself. Speaking from her home near Lake Como in Italy, Ms Colombo denied going to Mr Boltons flat and said although they met a second time for a coffee, there was no romance. He had to go to Maidstone for a radio interview, and he said If you want to come, you can come, she said. Since I know men, I said it is better if I dont go along. I know men can come to me and maybe they want something else. Mr Bolton last night denied Mr Joness claims. His spokesman said he met Ms Colombo twice in Folkestone but added: There was no affair. Wealthy businessman and action lover Charles Burnett III (pictured) was killed in a helicopter accident on Wednesday He was the wealthy British eccentric best known for holding the world speed record for a steam-powered car. But The Mail on Sunday can also reveal that Charles Burnett III, killed last week in a horrific helicopter crash, was heir to family interests in Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason, and Primark. His death at the age of 61 brought to a close a life of fabulous excess featuring beautiful women, homes all over the world, a vast collection of tanks, planes, speedboats and fast cars and even a sex dungeon. His main home in Britain was a magnificent Georgian manor house, Newton Park, near Lymington, Hampshire. It boasted a private airstrip on the site of a Second World War RAF base and three hangars one for cars, one for planes and one for boats. Mr Burnett enraged his neighbours by throwing raucous parties, including a birthday celebration in 2007 when a two-seater Harvard plane swooped over the property and mock bombs exploded in the grounds as off-duty soldiers re-enacted battles from the Falklands War. Some of Mr Burnetts friends are questioning whether last Wednesdays fatal crash in New Mexico was accidental. Suspicions have been raised because Roy Bennett, a leading opponent of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, was also killed. The 60-year-old Zimbabwean was treasurer-general of Morgan Tsvangirais Movement for Democratic Change. He had previously received death threats. Charles Burnett III, 61, who broke the land speed record for a steam powered car in 2009 (pictured), was among five people killed in the crash in New Mexico Mr Burnetts girlfriend of 20 years, Andra Cobb (pictured together), was the only person to survive the incident People are highly suspicious about the circumstances of the crash, said a friend of Mr Burnett. The chopper went down on a clear night with two highly qualified pilots on board. There has been talk in private about Charles bankrolling Roys political ambitions. Was he planning to help Roy launch an opposition campaign in Zimbabwe? Mr Burnetts girlfriend of 20 years, Andra Cobb, was the only person to survive the crash. Mr Burnetts polo-playing uncle, Galen Weston, is a close friend of Prince Charles, and his mother Miriam Weston Burnett is said to have given him an allowance of 25 million a year. When she died in 2008 he inherited a fortune. Mr Burnetts home in Houston, Texas, was dubbed Casa del Diablo (House of the Devil) because a maid, horrified at discovering a sex dungeon in the basement, ran out of the property screaming, Diablo! Diablo! But Mr Burnett was best known to the public for driving a steam-powered car at an average of 139mph at Edwards Air Force Base in California in 2009, breaking a record that had stood for 103 years. His main home in Britain was a magnificent Georgian manor house, Newton Park, near Lymington, Hampshire - where he kept tanks (pictured) Those allegedly targeted were ex-Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, former Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell (pictured), and ex-Trade Secretary Peter Lilley. All three last night denied wrongdoing A political storm erupted last night over claims that three former Cabinet Ministers secretly tried to earn thousands of pounds in a 'cash for Brexit' scandal. The senior politicians were lured to a luxury Mayfair office where they were secretly filmed discussing being paid for telling Chinese tycoons how to make money out of Britain leaving the European Union. Those targeted were ex-Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, former Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell, and ex-Trade Secretary Peter Lilley. All three last night denied wrongdoing. Lord Lansley, who is undergoing treatment for cancer, said he had referred himself to the parliamentary anti-sleaze watchdog, and expected his name to be cleared. Mr Lilley said: 'It was a tawdry attempt at entrapment and I did nothing improper whatsoever. I thought it might be a sting from the beginning. Pictured: Former Health Secretary Lord Andrew Lansley (left) and ex-Trade Secretary Peter Lilley (right) 'They said they had a budget of 18,000 but I told them I was already on the advisory board of a Chinese company, that I was comfortably off and I did not pursue the matter.' Mr Mitchell claimed he was 'totally innocent' and had been the victim of 'attempted entrapment'. He revealed he launched his own investigation after suspecting the approach was bogus, fearing Parliament was being targeted by Chinese or Russian agents. Mr Mitchell said he was aided by the 'British authorities', but refused to confirm or deny whether he was referring to MI5. The latest Westminster sleaze claims follow a three-month investigation by Channel 4's Dispatches programme. Producers say their expose would show 'how former Cabinet Ministers are offering themselves to private companies as Brexit advisers'. The trio were lured to Mayfair where they were greeted by a Chinese woman. She gave her name as Fei Liu and claimed to represent Chinese millionaires. They were offered a 'highly attractive remuneration package' and an all-expenses-paid trip to Hong Kong in return for attending four London meetings a year. The money was to 'help navigate the shifting political, regulatory and legislative frameworks in the UK and across Europe after Brexit', they were told. For their 'sting', Channel 4 invited the politicians to an office in the exclusive area of St James's in October to meet Miss Liu, who claimed to be managing director of Tianfen Consulting but was in fact an undercover reporter. The senior politicians were lured to a luxury Mayfair office (pictured) where they were secretly filmed discussing being paid for telling Chinese tycoons how to make money out of Britain leaving the European Union She told each of the politicians their experience would make them an 'ideal candidate to join the international advisory board of Tianfen Consulting' allegedly a 'boutique strategic communications firm' which advised 'high net worth individuals' in Hong Kong and China. Mr Mitchell described how Miss Liu told him that she wanted to use his knowledge to make money out of Brexit. However, Channel 4 and Mr Mitchell disagree over what happened. Both agree he said he charged 6,000 a day to do non-political work; would consider doing 'five or six' days work a year for Tianfen, but would do no lobbying because it was against Commons rules. Mr Mitchell also said he would consult parliamentary chiefs before doing any work for Tianfen. Channel 4 say Mr Mitchell's response showed the 'willingness of MPs and ex-Ministers to enter into consultancy agreements with private clients to boost their incomes against the backdrop of Brexit' and claim that was 'in conflict with his public duties as an MP'. It is also claimed that Mr Mitchell said he would be available 'at any time' to Tianfen, including Christmas, but had failed to offer the same 'instant service' to a voter in his Sutton Coldfield constituency. They were offered a 'highly attractive remuneration package' and an all-expenses-paid trip to Hong Kong (pictured) in return for attending four London meetings a year They said the voter had been forced to wait three weeks for a ten-minute meeting over the business climate. However, the MP has offered a very different version of events. He said he realised within minutes of his meeting with Miss Liu that her approach was bogus. The MP told The Mail on Sunday that he feared it may have been an attempt by Chinese or Russian intelligence, or another 'sinister organisation', to target Parliament. Former banker Mr Mitchell, who has business experience in Hong Kong, got a friend in the former British colony to visit the address of Tianfen Consulting provided by Miss Liu. In writing: The letter inviting Andrew Mitchell to join Tianfen's advisory board He also sought the help of 'British authorities' believed to be MI5 who later told him they had confirmed he had been targeted by a bogus organisation. But since it was not a foreign power nor a threat to British security, they could not help him further. Two months after the initial approach, Mr Mitchell received another email from Miss Liu, informing him that the Tianfen offer had been dropped. He fired off an angry reply, accusing her of 'a flagrant and dishonest attempt to entrap an MP' and threatened to call police. He also made a formal protest to China's ambassador in London, Liu Xiaoming, who said he shared Mr Mitchell's concern about the 'ill intended move of Tianfen Consulting' and hoped it would not undermine Anglo-Chinese relations. A second vote on the EU? Nein, says May Theresa May has sought to kill off lingering hopes of a second EU referendum by declaring in German that Brexit is unstoppable. The Prime Minister used an interview with German newspaper Bild to insist: 'Wir verlassen die EU (We are leaving the EU).' She added in English: 'There will be no second referendum on Britain leaving the EU Parliament gave the British public the choice and they made their decision.' Her vow came after Cabinet colleague David Lidington hinted Britain could one day rejoin a reformed EU, while French President Emmanuel Macron, who visited the UK last week, said he would 'love to welcome' Britain back. Advertisement Mr Mitchell, who resigned from the Cabinet in 2012 over claims that he called a Downing Street policeman a 'pleb', said last night: 'I have done absolutely nothing wrong and behaved with total propriety. The allegations against me are a total distortion. MPs are allowed to have second jobs and my constituents always come first.' He was backed by Sutton Coldfield Conservative chairman Ewan Mackey, who said: 'We think it is a good thing that Andrew has had a foot in the business community when he has not been a Minister. He is a highly respected and effective MP.' Meanwhile, a friend of Lord Lansley's said that the peer had been undergoing chemotherapy for cancer at the time of the sting. His spokesman said: 'Lord Lansley made clear at all times that any work he carries out has to comply with the House of Lords Code of Conduct. 'He has always kept his outside interests separate from his parliamentary duties and at no time did he offer any privileged access, insider information, lobbying activity, parliamentary advice or services.' However, Sir Alistair Graham, former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, told Channel 4 the investigation showed MPs were abusing rules which allow them to have second jobs. Most voters did 'not want their MPs taking on second jobs they want them to concentrate on the public interest,' said Sir Alistair. Mitchell: I smelled a rat... and MI5 agreed By ANDREW MITCHELL, FORMER CABINET MINISTER It was clear to me within minutes of arriving at the meeting in St James's in Mayfair on October 25 that I was the target of a 'sting'. A couple of weeks earlier, I received an email from a woman calling herself Fei Liu purporting to represent Chinese investors via a Hong Kong-based consultancy, seeking advice from those with experience of the financial services sector. Like many other politicians, in addition to my work as a backbench MP I have a few outside interests. I am paid for some, but not all. There are some who argue that MPs should do no outside work at all. I believe that would result in a Commons with less knowledge of the real world. As it happens, my local Conservative Association shares that view. On the face of it, the approach from Fei on behalf of Tianfen Consulting was plausible. I have business experience in Hong Kong. But something didn't ring true. Shortly after our meeting, I surmised that it was a stunt because, when I was asked how much I expected per day and I told them how much, I was told they would pay far more. My suspicions were confirmed: no business offers to pay more than someone asks for. That wasn't the only reason I smelled a rat. When I said I could not do more than five or six days work for them because of my constituency work, they pressed me to do more. When they asked me to lobby for them I said I would do no such thing or anything without consulting the Commons authorities. Fei claimed to represent a company run by her grandfather and suggested I met him when he visited London in December. I went along with it, but only to get to the bottom of what was going on. Of course, the grandfather never came, because, like the fake company, he didn't exist. With all the talk of state meddling in Britain by Russia and possibly China and others with ill intent, I resolved to launch my own investigation. I got a friend in Hong Kong to visit the address given to me for Tianfen Consulting. My friend's verdict was: 'Decidedly dodgy.' I contacted someone I know in what I will call 'the British authorities' and said I was worried I was the target of an attempted entrapment. They eventually came back to me and said I was right, but it was not a foreign power so they had no further interest. On December 5, I complained to the Chinese ambassador in London, Liu Xiaoming. He condemned the 'ill-intended Tianfen Consultancy'. By then, surprise, surprise, Fei had emailed me saying she did not wish to pursue the matter further. I told her a 'flagrant and dishonest' attempt had been made to entrap me and if it happened again I would inform police. Last week I learned for certain it was indeed a media stunt. The media is entitled to investigate MPs. But not mislead. In Fei's initial approach to me, there was a fleeting reference to Brexit. Now I see why. Channel 4 tell me they will not broadcast secret film of my meeting at St James's with Fei. With good reason: if they did it would be clear I acted properly throughout. Much better to use a few carefully chosen quotes from the meeting to smear me. With similar artfulness, I am accused of failing to respond to a constituent who sought my advice at Christmas. In fact, the individual contacted my office on Friday, December 22. I had given my staff the day off for Christmas shopping while I visited a local hospital, Post Office, police and fire station to thank them for all their hard work. I doubt that will be shown on TV. A new book has revealed that Margaret Thatcher (pictured) disliked men with moustaches because they looked like hairdressers and may have quit as Prime Minister because of husband Deniss heavy drinking Margaret Thatcher wanted to push Vietnamese boat people into the sea, loathed Germans, and believed South Africa should become a whites-only state. She disliked men with moustaches because they looked like hairdressers and may have quit as Prime Minister because of husband Deniss heavy drinking. That is the controversial portrait painted of her in a new book by Sir Patrick Wright, who was head of the Diplomatic Service at the end of Thatchers Downing Street years and at the start of John Majors term in office. His diaries give a vivid account of her bitter clashes with her Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe she described him as that old bumbler behind his back. Wrights diaries reveal his shock at the former PMs views on apartheid. She wanted a return to pre-1910 South Africa, with a white mini-state partitioned from neighbouring black states. When I argued this would be an extension of apartheid, she barked, Do you have no concern for our strategic interests? He also claims that Thatcher was at her worst during 1989s Vietnamese boat people crisis. He says Howe told him she favoured a policy of pushing off refusing to allow them to land, oblivious of appalling implications with photographs of sinking boats and drowning children. Months before Thatcher was forced to resign in 1990, Wrights diaries note Whitehall gossip about Deniss heavy drinking and worries that this could be a reason for herto give up early. It hints she may have had a drink problem too. Mrs Thatcher & Me: The uproarious diaries of one of her top diplomats show NOBODY was safe from the Iron Lady's fire The book's writer Sir Patrick Wright, pictured, was the most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office for the turbulent final four years of Margaret Thatchers premiership BY SIR PATRICK WRIGHT, FORMER FOREIGN OFFICE PERMANENT UNDER SECRETARY Sir Patrick Wright was the most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office for the turbulent final four years of Margaret Thatchers premiership. The post gave him a front-row view of Mrs Thatchers many antipathies which included Germans, the Foreign Office and men with moustaches as exposed in his fascinating diaries. Here, the entries begin with her views on apartheid-era South Africa JUNE 20, 1986 One week before taking over as Permanent Under-Secretary from Sir Antony Acland, we were both invited to lunch with Mrs Thatcher. She opened the conversation by thrusting a newspaper cutting about Oliver Tambo [ANC president] in front of us, saying that it proved that we should not be talking to him She continued to express her views about a return to pre-1910 South Africa, with a white mini-state partitioned from their neighbouring black states. When I argued that this would be seen as an extension of apartheid, she barked: Do you have no concern for our strategic interests? JUNE 24 I paid my first call on Geoffrey Howe [Foreign Secretary]. No talk about the Prime Minister, though he was already having a very difficult time with her, particularly on South Africa, where their views were poles apart. JUNE 25 At lunch with Robert Armstrong [Cabinet Secretary], he described relations between the PM and the Foreign Office as worse than he could ever remember with any PM. When discussing her views about another Foreign Office official, Robert replied All right, until 11am, explaining that the PM had emerged from Cabinet to see this official talking to the Foreign Secretary. This was apparently enough to damn anyone. AUGUST 3 At a meeting in the PMs study in No 10 she again started talking about partition as a solution to South Africa. All her (and Deniss) instincts are in favour of the South African Whites. JULY 13, 1987 Lynda Chalker [Minister for Europe] told me this morning that the PM had been heard to refer publicly to Geoffrey Howe as that old bumbler. JULY 13, 1987 Lynda Chalker [Minister for Europe] told me this morning that the PM had been heard to refer publicly to Geoffrey Howe (pictured) as that old bumbler FEBRUARY 20, 1989 After conflicting statements out of Iran on whether Salman Rushdie was still condemned to death, EC foreign ministers met. The French proposed that all EC heads of mission should be withdrawn in protest at Ayatollah Khomenis latest outburst. The PM decided that all UK staff should be withdrawn. (She apparently told Geoffrey that if any of them was harmed, she would hold him personally responsible.) JUNE 22 Virginia [Wrights wife] lunched with Elspeth Howe, who told her that Margaret Thatcher was totally impossible. We should all stick together, and to our guns. She said that it was a pity that all this could not be leaked. 'IF SHE DOESN'T LIKE IT, SHE CAN BLOODY WELL DO IT HERSELF' OCTOBER 29, 1989 At the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Kuala Lumpur, John Major [who had replaced Howe as Foreign Secretary] was invited almost every day to have lunch or dinner with the Thatchers. John showed signs of independence. At one point, when I pointed out that the PM might object to something, he blurted out: If the PM doesnt like it, she can bloody well come and renegotiate it herself. APRIL 16, 1991 John Drew, the European Commissions representative in London, at a reception this evening, told me a good story about a meeting between Jacques Delors [EC president], John Major [still Foreign Secretary] and Mrs Thatcher. At one point, Thatcher had fixed Delors with her basilisk stare and said Mr Delors, I am watching you very carefully, to which Delors had replied: Dont watch me, Mrs Thatcher its this young Prime Minister of yours you need to watch! MEN WITH MOUSTACHES? THEY LOOK LIKE HAIRDRESSERS JUNE 25, 1986 Margaret Thatchers contemptuous opinions of the diplomatic service contrasted strongly with her complimentary views on almost every individual diplomat she met. After almost every foreign trip she made, she appeared to be impressed by the head of mission (particularly if he was tall and good-looking). One of her reservations was beards. When a bearded colleague of mine started a Foreign Office job, I warned him that it might be better, given Mrs Thatchers known prejudices, if he shaved it off. He shaved it off! Moustaches were also a problem. Of one moustached colleague, Margaret Thatcher is reported to have claimed: The trouble is, he looks like a hairdresser. SEPTEMBER 29 Margaret Thatcher, pictured, has been showing signs of her Germanophobia over the past few weeks she seems to be obsessed by a feeling that German-speakers are going to dominate the community NOVEMBER 14, 1990 Douglas Hurd [Foreign Secretary] told me of a talk he has had with the Prime Minister on personnel questions. Her description of a member of the service as twee apparently relates to a suit she once saw him wearing with crocodile-skin shoes. She also reverted to her prejudice for tall men by saying she did not think another member of the service was big enough for a certain post. HER DOUBTS ABOUT THE FRENCH REVOLUTION... ON FRENCH RADIO DECEMBER 1, 1987 Spent most of the morning and lunch with Jurgen Sudhoff, the German Permanent Under-Secretary. One problem is that Helmut Kohl [the German Chancellor] and Thatcher so dislike each other. Sudhoff told me that Kohl had telephoned her after the Brighton bomb, and felt hurt that she had never called him back. FEBRUARY 1, 1988 We seem, as usual, to have become isolated, and the Prime Ministers recent meeting with Mitterrand [French president] and Chirac [French prime minister] was very bad-tempered, with the PM at one point telling Chirac not to threaten her. FEBRUARY 28, 1989 My talks with my Austrian opposite number, Thomas Klestil, were mainly about Austrias application to join the European Community (on which Mrs Thatcher was already showing her dislike of the thought of another German joining the club). JULY 14 Bastille Day, and the economic summit in Paris, preceded by interviews with the PM on French radio, casting fairly offensive doubt on the value of the French Revolution, and claiming in effect that Magna Carta had thought of it first! Why does she always have to go to meetings facing, or provoking, a row? SEPTEMBER 29 Margaret Thatcher has been showing signs of her Germanophobia over the past few weeks she seems to be obsessed by a feeling that German-speakers are going to dominate the community. Any talk of German reunification is anathema to her. FEBRUARY 8, 1990 There was apparently a tempestuous Cabinet meeting today. Len Appleyard [a diplomat] gave us a vivid account, which led Douglas Hurd to remark: Cabinet now consists of three items: parliamentary affairs; home affairs; and xenophobia. FEBRUARY 13 The PM continues to bleat about reunification to all her visitors the Polish PM being the latest. She is also revelling in being the only politician to argue for the lifting of all sanctions against South Africa. APRIL 5 Peter Carrington [former Foreign Secretary] gossiped with me about things Mrs Thatcher had said to him about Germany. I told him of her remark about Munich, saying that she could never bring herself to visit that place, at which Peter commented that she had very little understanding of history: After all, it is not as though she fought in the war. JUNE 4 Peter Middleton [Treasury Permanent Secretary] told me of an extraordinary meeting between the PM and a Treasury team last week. Her loathing of the Germans and the European Commission is such that she apparently started to refer to the Commission as being in Bonn. When corrected, she said: No. I meant Bonn. After all, the Germans are going to take it all over. BLACK MOODS... AND FEARS OVER DENIS'S DRINKING HABITS DECEMBER 20, 1989 Percy Cradock [an adviser to Mrs Thatcher] spoke to me privately today about her health and mood; he suspects that she is taking pills or vitamins for her perpetual colds and combining this with occasional drinks. He is finding her much less lucid than usual. JANUARY 3, 1990 Nicky Gordon Lennox [our former ambassador to Spain] called on retirement from Madrid, and gossiped with me about the Prime Minister and Denis Thatcher. He had been struck by how heavily Denis was now drinking, and referred to worries among Margaret Thatchers close circle that this could become a reason for her to give up early. JANUARY 3, 1990 Nicky Gordon Lennox [our former ambassador to Spain] called on retirement from Madrid, and gossiped with me about the Prime Minister and Denis Thatcher. He had been struck by how heavily Denis (pictured) was now drinking IS THE IRON LADY EYEING UP THE TOP JOB IN HONG KONG? FEBRUARY 13, 1991 I asked Douglas Hurd if there is any background to press stories that Margaret Thatcher might go to Washington as ambassador. He totally rejected it, but said that John Major is worried about her, and thinks that someone should think of a role for her. APRIL 9 Mrs Thatcher is obviously steamed up about the governorship of Hong Kong. I wondered whether she had stimulated a letter in the Telegraph today, proposing her as governor? MAY 30 Stephen Wall [Majors foreign policy adviser] tells me that John Major has now twice called on Mrs Thatcher, but is increasingly irritated by her erratic behaviour. I had seen Major at a state banquet in April. He talked quite angrily about Mrs Thatcher, saying that most of the press attacks on his dithering came directly, or indirectly, from her; he really thought that she had become unbalanced. UNSEEMLY ROW OVER PRINCESS MARGARET'S CHINA TRIP JANUARY 18, 1987 I face a very embarrassing and difficult row with Buckingham Palace, having asked Roger Hervey [a diplomat] to raise with Princess Margarets private secretary Lord Napier the size and cost of her entourage when visiting China. Lord Napier was extremely resistant and thought that Princess Margaret at least would strongly object to being asked to contribute to the cost. JANUARY 20 I spoke to Bill Heseltine [private secretary to the Queen], who reacted robustly, describing the proposal that the Government should pay for Princess Margarets children as quite monstrous, and said he would talk to the Queen. Princess Margaret (right) is pictured with her daughter Sarah in China. The Government of the time faced a row regarding the size of her entourage and its funding A LOYAL ADDRESS FROM THE BUM FROM TUM JULY 16, 1987 At a Buckingham Palace dinner for King Hassan of Morocco, King Simeon of Bulgaria told us that he had been invited to the Palace for lunch, but had fainted as they were going in. The Queen had earlier asked him what his crest was, and he had said Saxe-Coburg ie the same as hers. He had come round lying on the floor, and opened his eyes to see the Saxe-Coburg crest on the ceiling. He thought he must have died and gone to heaven! OCTOBER 20, 1987 Alan Munro [former British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia] told an improbable story about a Nigerian chieftain called the Bum of Tum, who was invited to join a Durbar [reference to a Foreign Office building used for receptions] for the Queen, and to give a loyal address. Unable to attend, he sent a telegram saying: My Loyal Address is PO Box 1, Tum; signed BUM. TROUBLING NEWS ABOUT THE PMS KEY AIDE JANUARY 23, 1989 A worrying letter today from David Goodall about Peter Morrison [ex-deputy chairman of the Conservative Party and Thatchers Parliamentary Private Secretary], who got drunk in Davids residence and poured out offensive attacks against the FCO, saying that we were all useless wimps; hated throughout the Conservative Party; and despised by the PM. NO SYMPATHY FOR VIETNAMESE REFUGEES JUNE 8, 1989 The problem of Vietnamese boat people was discussed this afternoon. The PM was said to have been at her worst, simply failing to listen to any arguments she disagreed with. Geoffrey Howe told me that the PM is moving towards a policy of pushing off [refusing to allow them to land] apparently oblivious of the appalling implications, with photographs reminiscent of Palestinians and Jews in 1947 in sinking boats. A MUDDLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST APRIL 15, 1987 A meeting to brief Geoffrey Howe on my visits to Israel and Turkey. He was shocked by my account of Israeli impediments to Palestinian family reunification, and has asked for further details so he can brief the PM to steer her away from Finchley. After I had criticised several aspects of Israeli life, Geoffrey laughed and said: I see you have maintained your admirable objectivity about the Middle East. APRIL 21, 1988 This evening to the Albert Hall for the 40th anniversary gala of Israels independence, which I had accepted largely to correct The Mail on Sundays impression of anti-Zionists in the FCO. Some difficult moments (eg a reading which referred to the Jews returning to Empty Zion); but otherwise a rather jolly evening of songs and readings. JANUARY 16, 1989 William Waldegraves call on Arafat in Tunis, and his reference to Shamirs [Israeli prime minister] past as a terrorist, has led to a renewed storm in the press about FO twits and anti-Semitism. The PM was said to be furious (no doubt with her Finchley constituents in mind). ...BUT AT LEAST SOMEONE CAN REDUCE HER TO GIGGLES! JULY 7, 1988 To No 10 for Peter Carringtons farewell dinner, at which both the PM and Carrington made excellent speeches, with the PM telling the story of her meeting with the Chinese, at which the latter spoke non-stop for two hours, and Carrington passed her a note saying Margaret, you are talking too much an occasion which he described as the only time he had seen Margaret get the giggles. A teenage bellringer had to be rescued by firemen after being hoisted 40ft into the belfry when he became entangled in his rope. The 17-year-old injured his ankle and shoulder when the practice session went wrong and was lifted almost four storeys up among the mechanics of the bell tower. He became entwined in the knot of ropes high above the floor which was attached to one of the ten bells at the church which has a 1000-year long history. A teenage bellringer had to be rescued by firemen after being hoisted 40ft into the belfry when he became entangled in his rope Firefighters used a rope system because the church's spiral staircase was too steep for a stretcher needed to lower the teenager down Fire fighters and paramedics were called to St Helen's Church, in Abingdon, Oxfordshire to rescue to youngster as experienced bell ringers looked on in horror at 7pm on Friday evening. The learner was with experienced bell ringers for a practice session who immediately called the emergency services. Brian Read, the Tower Captain of St Helen's Church, said an enquiry will be held among the senior figures at the church to minimise another similar incident happening. Mr Read said: 'It is a very rare occurrence but it can happen. Like any activity it cannot be 100 per cent safe. 'There were people there at the time who knew what to do and it if very unfortunate that this young man suffered an injury.' A small amount of damage caused to the mechanics in the belfry that was repaired on Saturday so the bells will be able to ring this weekend. Fire fighters and paramedics were called to St Helen's Church (pictured), in Abingdon, Oxfordshire to rescue to youngster A spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council Fire and Rescue Service said: 'A 17year old male had suffered a number of injuries caused by becoming tangled within the bell ringing ropes. The casualty needed to be lowered over 40 foot to the floor of the church using a rope rescue system.' The Fire and Rescue Service Incident Commander, Station Manager Paul Webster said: 'Due to the steepness of the spiral staircase to the bell ringing room, there was not the option to carry the casualty out of the church on a stretcher. 'Once the casualty was lowered to the floor he was transported to hospital by South Central Ambulance Service. He added: 'This was an excellent example of partnership working with our colleagues in South Central Ambulance Service, this is an unusual incident for the Fire and Rescue Service but another scenario we have to train for, all crews worked well together to achieve a successful outcome as the incident required both specialist rescue knowledge and equipment and medical expertise.' The teenager was on Saturday recovering at home with an ankle and shoulder injury. Church of England bishops have blocked the introduction of a new prayer celebrating a transgender person's change of sex. The House of Bishops was strongly urged to draw up the 'baptism-style' services for sex-change Christians by the Church's 'Parliament', the General Synod, last summer. The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, was among senior figures who implored Synod members to vote for a motion asking the bishops to consider new official liturgies designed to welcome a transgender person under their new name. Church of England bishops have blocked the introduction of a new prayer celebrating a transgender person's change of sex. Pictured: The Synod The Reverend Chris Newlands, who proposed the motion, said it was 'a wonderful opportunity to create a liturgy which speaks powerfully to the particularities of trans people, and make a significant contribution to their well-being and support'. But The Mail on Sunday has learned that the bishops rejected the move at a private meeting at Lambeth Palace last month. One senior member of the Synod said: 'I am surprised that they have decided that new liturgies weren't necessary given the force of the arguments and the feeling of Synod. You need to be able to respond to people's life events. 'We do with birth and marriage and death. When you claim a new identity, that seems to me to be as powerful.' The Reverend Christina Beardsley, a transgender woman and a Church of England chaplain who attended the Synod debate, said she was 'very disappointed'. Dr Beardsley, a member of the transgender group the Sibyls, said many Christians would be hurt by the decision, which showed that the bishops 'don't seem to be engaging with transgender people'. She said the Sibyls had produced prayers that can be used in transgender services, including a version of the Lord's Prayer that begins: 'Heavenly Father, heavenly Mother, Holy and blessed is your true name.' The House of Bishops was strongly urged to draw up the 'baptism-style' services for sex-change Christians by the Church's 'Parliament', the General Synod, last summer. Pictured: John Sentamu Dr Beardsley said she was also worried that conservative campaigners who say people should accept their God-given genders were holding a fringe event at the next General Synod next month. The Church's bishops are already walking a tightrope over the issue of sexuality after a report they produced last year resisting same-sex marriages in church was voted down by the Synod. They have set up a working party to produce a new 'teaching document' on the controversy, but this will not be ready before 2020 and critics say it is a ploy to kick the divisive debate into the long grass. Explaining the bishops' decision to block the transgender prayers, the Bishop of Norwich, Graham James, said that while the Church welcomed transgender people, clergy could adapt services used to affirm baptism or write unofficial versions. A kitten has been saved after she was left to drown in a river with a four-kilogram electric saw tied around her. The six-month-old cat was abandoned in Adelaide's River Torrens on Friday before she was discovered by Good Samaritan Megan Eastaughffe, 41. Ms Eastaughffe said she was feeding her horse at her Fulham home, in the city's west, when she heard a distressed meow, Adelaide Now reported. A six-month-old kitten (pictured) has been saved after she was left to drown in Adelaide's River Torrens on Friday Good Samaritan Megan Eastaughffe, 41, discovered the kitten abandoned in the river and called a friend Jessica Searle (pictured), 22, stepped into the one-metre-deep water to rescue the cat She then spotted the kitten in the water and tried to coax her to swim to the bank, but she wouldn't budge. 'Then I changed my angle ... and saw something was tied to her waist,' she told the publication. Ms Eastaughffe called her friend Jessica Searle, 22, who stepped into the one-metre-deep water to rescue the cat. She then found the cat was being weighed down by a circular saw that was tied around her waist. 'It was just horrendous, I was half sobbing, that was so overwhelming,' Ms Eastaughffe said. Ms Eastaughffe said the kitten immediately warmed to her rescuers, who named her Splash. She found the cat was being weighed down by a circular saw (pictured) that was tied around her waist Ms Eastaughffe said the kitten immediately warmed to her rescuers, who named her Splash Splash was found to still be in healthy condition, but without any identification or microchip, meaning the owner couldn't be tracked down The pair also noticed that Splash's coat, whiskers and eyelashes appeared to be recently clipped. 'If you dont want an animal, why harm a beautiful, innocent creature which only has love to give when you have other options?' Ms Eastaughffe said. Ms Searle took to Facebook after the rescue, saying: 'After what a human had done to her, she was still so loving and trusting which broke my heart even more.' Splash was taken to an emergency vet and was in the care of the RSPCA on Saturday. She was found to still be in healthy condition, but without any identification or microchip, meaning the owner couldn't be tracked down, Adelaide Now reported. RSPCA South Australia inspector Verity Otto confirmed the organisation is investigating the case of animal cruelty. She said the offender could face up to four years in jail or a $50,000 fine. Boris Johnson was involved in more diplomatic intrigue last night over claims that he had snubbed his French counterpart. Sources say the Foreign Secretary pulled out of a scheduled meeting in Paris with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian after Mr Le Drian called off lunch. The pair had been expected to meet in the run-up to Theresa Mays Sandhurst summit with President Emmanuel Macron and then break for lunch. But The Mail on Sunday has been told that on learning that Mr Le Drian was too busy to include lunch in the talks, Mr Johnson abandoned his trip to France altogether. Sources say the Foreign Secretary (right) pulled out of a scheduled meeting in Paris with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (centre) after Mr Le Drian called off lunch. They are pictured at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Camberley, on Thursday Mr Johnson and Mr Le Drian instead spoke to each other by phone ahead of the summit. They are pictured at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Camberley, on Thursday Last night, sources close to Mr Johnson claimed his plans to meet earlier this month were changed due to both Ministers busy diaries . Mr Johnson and Mr Le Drian instead spoke to each other by phone ahead of the summit. Actor Craig McLachlan has broken his silence to deny sexual assault allegations, saying 'does being cheeky and naughty equate with being a bully?' Three women who performed alongside McLachlan on the Rocky Horror Show in 2014 alleged they were 'abused, harassed or assaulted' by the star. McLachlan, 52, has vehemently denied the allegations since the women spoke to media in early January. With his partner Vanessa Scammell by his side, McLachlan this week admitted his sense of humour could be 'naughty' but insisted he was innocent of the allegations. With his partner Vanessa Scammell by his side, McLachlan (pictured together) admitted his sense of humour could be 'naughty' but insisted he was innocent of the allegations 'Does being cheeky and naughty equate with being a bully? No, it does not. The truth will come out,' he told The Daily Telegraph. McLachlan claimed he was less 'filthy' than other members of the cast and crew and said the allegations shocked him. 'Backstage with crews and casts, it's a different, naughty dare I say it politically incorrect world,' he said. McLachlan said theatre was very different to any other workplace, and people did and said things onstage, that would otherwise be inappropriate. Three women who performed alongside McLachlan on the Rocky Horror Show in 2014 alleged they were 'abused, harassed or assaulted' by the star His partner of eight years, orchestra conductor Vanessa Scammell (together), said she would stand by McLachlan as he fought the claims of sexual assault His partner of eight years, orchestra conductor Vanessa Scammell, said she would stand by McLachlan as he fought the sexual harassment allegations. While she supported him, she said the allegations had upturned their lives. 'The havoc that has been wreaked has been devastating,' she said. Ms Scammell said she was shocked and horrified by the 'character assassination' of McLachlan. McLachlan has maintained his innocence since the allegations surfaced in early January. Despite his denial, he was withdrawn from the current production of the Rocky Horror Show. Despite his denial, McLachlan (centre) was withdrawn from the current production of the Rocky Horror Show Actress Erika Heynatz, who once hosted Australia's Next Top Model and had a recurring role on Home And Away, is one of the women who made allegations against McLachlan. According to the Herald, Heynatz alleged that she 'experienced unwanted sexual advances from the star.' Among other claims, the actress said on one occasion McLachlan straddled her on a lounge in a green room and kissed her without permission. Rocky Horror co-stars Christie Whelan Browne and Angela Scundi also made allegations. Christie Whelan Browne arrives ahead of Aladdin opening night at Her Majesty's Theatre on April 20 Two of the three women have taken their case to the Victorian police and all three have sought legal advice in pushing for an investigation. Whelan Browne alleges McLachlan 'indecently assaulted her during the show.' While on stage and only visible to the audience from the waist up, she accused McLachlan of once pulling up her underwear and kissing her buttocks while he was obscured by public view. He has refuted that the incident occurred. Angela Scundi, another woman who appeared in the musical, alleged McLachlan made inappropriate comments about her breasts and exposed himself to her. While Scundi made a 'lengthy statement to police', McLachlan denied the allegation. Angela Scundi (right), another woman who appeared in the musical, alleged McLachlan made inappropriate comments about her breasts and exposed himself to her (Erika Heynatz left) McLachlan played the lead role of transvestite scientist, Dr Frank N. Furter in the Rocky Horror Show production. One of Australia's most iconic actors, Craig McLachlan first appeared in a guest capacity on The Young Doctors, before playing Kylie Minogue's on-screen brother in Neighbours. He won the prestigious Gold Logie Award for Best Personality on Australian Television for his role on the popular soap. For two years in the early 1990s, he starred as Grant Mitchell in Home And Away, and has had recurring roles in beloved Australian dramas McLeod's Daughters and Packed To The Rafters. McLachlan played the lead role of transvestite scientist, Dr Frank N. Furter in the Rocky Horror Show production Craig McLachlan poses with the award for Best Actor in a Musical at the Capitol Theatre on August 18, 2014 in Sydney More recently, the actor appeared in The Wrong Girl and The Doctor Blake Mysteries. McLachlan was raised on the NSW Central Coast and met his first wife Karen Williams during a school theatre production. His second marriage was to Neighbours star Rachel Friend. They divorced after 18 months. He has a teenage son, who lives in the UK. A 2005 newspaper report claimed McLachlan 'regularly visits his son in London' despite living in Australia. British and Canadian tourists vacationing in Jamaica's Montego Bay resort area have been warned to stay in their resorts while the military carries out a crackdown on violent crime. The UK Foreign Office warned vacationers that 'intensive law enforcement activities' were expected in St James Parish after a state of emergency was declared there on Thursday. The Office, also known as the FCO, has said holidaymakers should limit their movements outside their resorts in the area, especially if traveling at night. Travelers arriving and departing were also urged to only use transport booked through their hotels. British and Canadian authorities have warned nationals vacationing in Montego Bay, Jamaica to not venture outside of their resorts. The Jamaican government has declared a state of emergency in St James Parish. Pictured is Sandals Montego Bay, a resort The parish has seen an increase in murderous gang-related activity and the national government has sent in soldiers as part of a crackdown on violent crime Travel Canada issued a similar warning that reads in part: 'If you are staying at a resort in the affected area, restrict your movements beyond resort security perimeters. If you do travel outside these perimeters, use transportation arranged or provided by the resort.' Around 200,000 Britons visit Jamaica each year, with many drawn to Montego Bay by its luxury resorts and white sandy beaches. However, the surrounding parish has seen a surge in gang-related killing and violence, according to authorities. Jamaica Constabulary Force Police Commissioner George Quallo told the Jamaica Information Service that 335 murders were recorded in St James Parish in 2017, almost double other parishes, with 'numerous gangs' operating in the area. The parish has a population of 185,000, per JIS. Major General Rocky Meade, Chief of Defense Staff of the Jamaican Defense Force, told the JIS: 'All citizens of Jamaica, including the violence producers, can feel safe in the hands of the military, as long as you are not threatening the troops. 'We are ensuring that we enforce the rule of law, that we disrupt gang activities, and the particular focus is on those that are responsible for murders, lotto scamming, trafficking of arms and guns, and extortion.' The U.S. has not issued such a warning. As of January 10, its authorities advised tourists to 'exercise increased caution' in areas of Kingston, Montego Bay and Spanish Town. Pictured is an aerial view of Montego Bay The year 2017 saw 335 murders in St James Parish, which has a population of 185,000 Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said that the crackdown was being undertaken with the support of local tourism industry. 'Several stakeholders, including those in the tourism industry, have written to me to say that they would support the necessary actions to bring the parish of St James under control and restore public safety,' he said. Per CNN, he added: 'The declaration of a State of Public Emergency does not mean the suspension of the rule of law. The security forces are expected and have been directed to treat citizens with respect and protect the dignity and safety of all.' Mr Holness said the government had been planning the operation 'for some time'. The United States has not issued an advisory about Jamaica, but its government shut down in the early hours of Saturday, which could have an adverse effect on the goings on of the State Department. As of January 10, Jamaica has a 'Level 2' rating on the U.S. travel advisory, meaning that travelers should 'exercise increased caution' in areas of Kingston, Montego Bay and Spanish Town. The Jamaican government has urged civilians to release any and all information pertaining to criminal activity in the area. Pressure was mounting on defence chiefs last night to improve mental healthcare for traumatised troops after former generals, ex-soldier MPs and the charity Help For Heroes backed a campaign launched by Lord Dannatt and The Mail on Sunday. Former heads of the British Army General Sir Mike Jackson and Field Marshal Lord Guthrie joined our demands for around-the-clock care for shell-shocked soldiers, including a 24/7 helpline which would cost the Ministry of Defence just 2 million. They were joined by former Army officers Johnny Mercer and Dan Jarvis, who now sit on opposite sides of the House of Commons as Conservative and Labour MPs, ex-SAS officer Colonel Tim Collins and former head of the Royal Navy, Admiral Lord West. The Mail on Sunday joined forces with Lord Dannatt following the suspected suicide earlier this month of Royal Engineer Nathan Hunt, 39, who fought alongside Prince Harry in Afghanistan. Pressure is mounting on defence chiefs to improve mental healthcare. Several have backed a Mail on Sunday campaign launched after the suspected suicide of Royal Engineer Nathan Hunt (pictured here crouching alongside Prince Harry) Last week we disclosed how two more members of Prince Harrys desert reconnaissance unit had come forward to say that they too had suffered mental health issues as a direct result of their harrowing experiences in the war zone. Lord Dannatt described the lack of care for traumatised troops as a dereliction of duty by the MoD towards those who defend our country. This week, The Mail on Sunday reveals the disturbing story of a suicidal paratrooper who was so traumatised by his frontline experiences that he volunteered to go back to Afghanistan in the hope he would die in combat. Corporal Rob Fisher, 46, also came close to killing himself in Britain. Last night, General Sir Mike Jackson said: It is self-evident that the current system of providing care is not working. In the sense that there is a problem and it is not being properly addressed, I can only agree and 2 million for a hotline does not sound like an awful lot of money in the general scheme of things. A lot of progress has been made since I was a young officer. Back then, PTSD was acknowledged but not taken as seriously as it should have been. But there is still a lot to do. Under the current system, mental healthcare for troops is offered only during office hours from Monday to Friday. In the evenings and at weekends, any Forces personnel suffering battlefield-induced trauma are expected to contact military charities or go to A&E. Former head of the British Army General Sir Mike Jackson (left), ex-commander of all UK Armed Forces Field Marshal Lord Guthrie (centre), and Admiral Lord West (right) backed the campaign for around-the-clock care for shell-shocked soldiers Ex-SAS officer Colonel Tim Collins and former Army officers Tory MP Johnny Mercer and Labour MP Dan Jarvis have all supported demands to get a 24/7 helpline that would cost just 2million Lord Dannatt approached Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood last year and suggested that a 24/7 helpline should be set up so servicemen and women suffering from PTSD and other conditions could speak directly to clinical experts. MAIL ON SUNDAY CAMPAIGN: Helpline for heroes The Mail on Sunday, backed by former Army chief Lord Dannatt, is demanding that defence chiefs set up a 24/7 helpline for traumatised troops manned by mental healthcare experts in a bid to stem the tide of soldiers committing suicide. Advertisement But, according to Lord Dannatt, Mr Ellwood declined his suggestion on the basis that it was not cost effective the MoD estimated that only 50 soldiers per year were likely to use the helpline and that recruiting an extra 40 mental healthcare experts to run it and a nationwide outreach programme would cost 2 million. Last night, Lord Guthrie told The Mail on Sunday that the helpline would save lives and should be introduced as soon as possible. He said: Living with PTSD isnt an office hours problem. Ministers need to back up their sentiments about soldiers welfare with the appropriate level of funding and in this case to find the money to trial the helpline. Colonel Collins added: Lord Dannatts campaign is crucial. Help For Heroes also backed the campaign. A spokesman said: The Government needs to outline what it plans to do to improve the provision for mental healthcare. An MoD spokesman said: Weve looked very carefully at these proposals and our clinical advice is that an MoD-staffed helpline would only extend the time taken for the individual to access the care that they need in a crisis. Policewoman Simina Muntean (pictured) lost her claim for racial discrimination after she was disciplined for her conduct An 'aggressive and rude' Romanian-born policewoman has lost her claim for racial discrimination after she was disciplined over her behaviour. An employment tribunal heard that PC Simina Muntean was placed on a 'development plan' by a senior officers after a string of complaints. Called to a dispute between a mother and her son, she is said to have called the boy a 'd***head'. On another occasion, she allegedly said she needed to get home for childcare reasons in front of a rape victim. And when she stopped at a car crash in which a passenger had been injured, PC Muntean 'failed to get out of her vehicle' and did not seize a number plate left at the scene, the tribunal heard. She twice failed a driving skills assessment but claimed the instructors were racist. Fellow officers had described her as rude, abrupt and opinionated and when she was finally brought in for a disciplinary hearing, she began screaming and angrily waving her hands in an 'aggressive outburst of emotion'. PC Muntean, a response officer in Wolverhampton who joined West Midlands Police in 2009, claimed there had been a conspiracy against her and that her 'confrontational and challenging personality' was 'inextricably interlinked to her race' that had 'marked her out as a troublemaker'. The tribunal rejected her race discrimination claim. She is still working for the force. Jeremy Corbyn faced a race row last night for making white people pay more than ethnic minorities to hear him deliver a speech. The dispute erupted over a decision by Labour chiefs to charge black and ethnic minority activists 10 less per ticket than white activists to attend a rally next month. Tory MPs last night accused Labour of racism and said it was further evidence that the party had abandoned the white working class. Labour officials defended the decision to make white party members pay 40 to attend the East Midlands Labour gathering in Loughborough on February 17. Tory MPs last night accused Labour of racism and said it was further evidence that the party had abandoned the white working class. Pictured: Jeremy Corbyn holding Labour Party rally in Swindon's New College theatre yesterday Labour officials defended the decision to make white party members pay 40 to attend the gathering. In contrast, the charge for black and minority ethnic (BAME) members is 30 In contrast, the charge for black and minority ethnic (BAME) members is 30. A Labour spokesman said: The basic price of a conference pass is the same for all members but, at the request of our East Midlands Regional Board, the party will subsidise part of the cost of this years conference pass for BAME members to encourage attendance and improve representation. Conservative vice-chairman James Cleverly said: Discriminating against people based on the colour of their skin is totally wrong and Mr Corbyn must end this practice now. Conservative vice-chairman James Cleverly said that 'discriminating against people based on the colour of their skin is totally wrong' Leicestershire Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen added: This is racism. In effect, Labour is levying a tax on the basis of the colour of a persons skin. It shows their contempt for the white working class. Mr Bridgen said the insanity of the idea meant that in theory, wealthy Leicester Labour MP Keith Vaz, whose family has Indian roots, would pay less to attend the event than a much less well-off Labour activist. In Corbyns Orwellian parallel universe we are all equal, but some are more equal than others, he added. She added: 'It was amazing. The roar was a rumble, a wave, a crescendo, an aria. There was a visual element to it as well' Ashley Judd delivered Nina Donavan's 'I Am a Nasty Woman' at the Woman's Day March in Washington D.C. last year (pictured) to a thunderous crowd A year after Ashley Judd delivered the controversial poem 'Nasty Women' at the Women's Day March, the actress has recalled feeling the 'personal, political, and spiritual' energy that was felt by everyone in attendance. To commemorate the anniversary of the Women's March, Glamour highlighted the 'stories, people and issues' surrounding the day when thousands descended unto Washington D.C. The 49-year-old actress recounted practicing 'I Am a Nasty Woman' by Nina Donovan, 19, and how she 'boomed out' the poem in the rental house she had gotten with friends. 'It electrified the entire house for all of us,' shared the Kiss the Girls star. 'We were crying, and we hadnt even left yet. That was the first whisper of the roar.' While backstage at the march, Judd recited the poem on two separate occasions: a few lines for director Callie Khouri - who she worked with on Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood - while waiting in line at a porta-potty and for a male technician after she looked out at the 'gorgeous sea of pink' crowd. Both times, the people cried while she recited the 19-year-old's poem. 'I knew the poem would be unifying from the moment Id heard Nina, a 19-year-old from Tennessee, recite it at a performance by youth poet laureates a month earlier,' explained Judd. 'I knew the poem would be unifying from the moment Id heard Nina, a 19-year-old from Tennessee, recite it at a performance,' she explained 'Her words seared into my brain that night. She slayed me. I bawled my way through Ninas time onstage as she said, I am not as nasty as racism, fraud, conflict of interest, homophobia, sexual assault, transphobia, white supremacy, misogyny...' 'I hadnt even been invited to speak, yet I knew I was going to bring this poem to the march. I knew Nasty Woman belonged to everyone.' The Double Jeopardy actress claimed there was a 'collecive gasp' when she first said 'I am a nasty woman.' She would add that the crowd got increasingly silent as she continued reciting the poem. The Double Jeopardy actress claimed there was a 'collecive gasp' when she first said 'I am a nasty woman' Judd stated: 'The more I let loose Ninas poem, the quieter it got. In that silence I could feel the parts of the poem that resonated in very specific ways: I am not as nasty as a swastika painted on a pride flag. 'And then later: I am not as nasty as electroconversion therapy, the new gas chambers shaming the gay out of America, turning rainbows into suicide notes. I heard grief in that silence.' At that moment, the star noticed a 'rumble from way, way back in the crowd' as she had to repeatedly pause to let the cheering run its course. She added: 'It was amazing. The roar was a rumble, a wave, a crescendo, an aria. There was a visual element to it as well' She asserted that when she got to the portion of the poem about tampons and pads being taxed while Rogaine and Viagra were not, the crowd really went wild. 'They couldnt believe that finally, in this huge public space, on all the television channels from C-SPAN to Fox, we could talk about menstruation,' said Judd. 'Of course, I was wearing white because thats the color of the suffrage movement. And I did that thing we do when we turn around to see if weve seeped through our clothes. She added: 'It was amazing. The roar was a rumble, a wave, a crescendo, an aria. There was a visual element to it as well. 'I could see the crowd react physically just as I could feel myself throwing my body into the performance. That roar was personal, political, and spiritual. It was special.' Judd would continue to briefly mention the harassment she received for reciting the poem, specifically being called mentally ill on Twitter. 'But it was worth it. Far more of us, I know from experience, believe in equality, social justice, collaboration, and peace,' she asserts. 'I heard this with my own ears. I saw it with my own eyes from that stage.' For the star, hearing the young woman's poem that first time brought back all the 'shattering grief' she had felt on election day. The United Nations Goodwill Ambassador said: 'She was so lucidly naming what was going on, and her youth gave me such fierce hope. 'The roar was my signal that the poem had felt that way for others too. A very young woman came up to me at the airline counter after the march and said, Nasty Woman changed my life. It changed mine too. I cherish my memory of the roar.' Last year, Judd's detailed accounts of three times when Harvey Weinstein harassed her helped launch a slue of allegations against the mogul Since the election, Judd states that she feels a 'deepening in my sense of belonging, and in my safety and security in society.' 'I feel more deeply known in my soul. Ive shared my most intimate self with incredible numbers of peopleemotionally, intellectually, and spirituallyand it feels extraordinary,' she added. 'Even as girls and women remain at risk for sexual and gender violence, its clear that our society is changing at a breathless pace. This phenomenon is very dear to me, and I feel exponentially empowered by it. Let the world hear us all.' Last year, Judd's detailed accounts of three times when Harvey Weinstein harassed her helped launch a slue of allegations against the mogul. At a discussion with the University of Kentucky in December, she shared that the fight against sexual misconduct is about 'ending impunity.' Just a few hours before, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Pulvertaft, of the Royal Army Medical Corps, had been engaging in small talk at drinks party in Cairo. But now the 46-year-old was 1,300 miles away near Tunis, having been hauled out of the party by an irascible brigadier, dispatched on a bumpy flight across North Africa, and escorted at gunpoint by two menacing US troops to a large white villa in Carthage. He was whisked into a small bedroom on the ground floor, where he saw an elderly and decidedly portly man lying in bed. He looked desperately ill, the pathologist recalled. I thought he was dying. Pulvertaft had brought along what he called his travelling laboratory of equipment, including a microscope and lamp. He proceeded to take a drop of blood from the mans ear in order to perform a test. The patient seemed impressed by how deftly Pulvertaft obtained the sample. That sir, he said, was competently done. In a way, the period can be seen as dark a time for Churchill (pictured right) as the events of May 1940 depicted in the new movie Darkest Hour, starring Gary Oldman (pictured left) For a vastly experienced pathologist such as Pulvertaft, taking blood samples was routine. But what was anything but routine was the 69-year-old patient himself, the man who both Pulvertaft and the other medical men in attendance strongly suspected was lying on his death bed. The man was Winston Churchill, and he was gravely ill. Whats more, the Prime Minister knew it. The previous night, with his temperature at about 101F, Churchill had confided his fears to his protection officer. I am tired out in body, soul and spirit, he admitted. In what better place could I die than here in the ruins of Carthage? Of course, Churchill would live for another two decades, yet the extraordinary events of the time when he came close to death have never been fully disclosed until now. Thanks to exclusive access to a private memoir written by Pulvertaft, the complete story of how Churchill survived an illness that would have killed most men can be told. It reveals that the credit for his recovery should not just rest with Churchills personal doctor, Lord Moran, but also with the brilliant and eccentric Pulvertaft. In a way, the period can be seen as dark a time for Churchill as the events of May 1940 depicted in the new movie Darkest Hour, starring Gary Oldman. In the film Churchill has to decide between suing for peace with Hitler or fighting on. In fact, Churchills illness in 1943 came at an equally crucial time during the war, with his involvement with strategic planning at the very highest level. At the Tehran Conference towards the end of November, he had met Stalin and Roosevelt to discuss the invasion of northern Europe, and at the Cairo Conference a few days before, Churchill and the American President had met Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek, where they pondered how to beat Japan. It was no time for Churchill to be at deaths door, although by no means the first time he had been seriously unwell. I did not feel so ill in this attack as I had the previous February, he claimed. The February episode Churchill was referring to was a bout of pneumonia that had seen his temperature rise to an alarming 102F. However, according to expert medical opinion, the pneumonia that he was to suffer in December 1943 was far more likely to have killed him. The credit for Churchill's recovery should not just rest with his personal doctor, Lord Moran, but also with the brilliant and eccentric James Pulvertaft (pictured) There was no doubt that he was very seriously ill, says Professor Allister Vale, a clinical pharmacologist at City Hospital, Birmingham, who has made detailed studies of Churchills illnesses. The mortality rate from pneumonia in the early 1940s for a man of Churchills age [he was 69] was 40 per cent, and with treatment it was 20 per cent. For those age 70 and over, the mortality rate was 40 per cent, even with treatment. The truth was that Churchill was overworked and overtired. The crunch came on Saturday December 12, 1943, when he was flying from Cairo to Tunis after attending the gruelling Tehran and Cairo conferences, he had reported feeling unwell. His plan was to spend a night at the villa of General Eisenhower, and then fly to Italy to see Generals Alexander and Montgomery. However, while waiting at an airfield, it was obvious Churchill was ill. Lord Moran noted he had a grey look on his face that I did not like, while protection officer Walter Thompson thought his boss looked ghastly. Even the normally indefatigable Churchill knew that he was seriously unwell, and informed Eisenhower as soon as he arrived. Churchill spent much of the day resting and sleeping, but in the early hours of Sunday morning, he woke Lord Moran, complaining of a pain in his throat and a temperature, which was found to be at 101F. Moran privately noted that Churchill was in a poor shape to face an infection. If he is going to be ill we have nothing here in this God-forsaken spot, he wrote. No nurses, no milk, not even a chemist. Moran knew that he needed help. THE man Moran summoned was Pulvertaft. There was no better pathologist in the whole of North Africa and southern Europe, and deciding to call on him undoubtedly saved Churchills life. There was only one problem: Pulvertaft needed to be flown the 1,300 miles from Cairo to Tunis, the modern city closest to the site of ancient Carthage. A veteran of the First World War, during which he had been in a dogfight against the squadron of none other than Hermann Goering, Pulvertaft was both brave as well as brilliant. A graduate of Cambridge University and St Thomass Hospital in London, he was appointed director of laboratories at Westminster Hospital at the startlingly young age of 34. When war broke out, Pulvertaft who was affectionately known as Bulgy because of his somewhat bulging eyes took command of the Central Laboratory housed in the 15th (Scottish) General Hospital in Cairo. Churchill is pictured right wearing his famous siren suit and a colourful dressing gown while conferring with General Dwight D Eisenhower It was there that he undertook a remarkable series of trials on wounded soldiers with his own form of crude penicillin that he prepared in broths. As penicillin was in short supply, Pulvertafts ingenuity in making a home brewed equivalent saved numerous lives. After Pulvertaft had flown to Churchills bedside and examined the Prime Minister, the pathologist and Moran agreed that the PM was suffering from pneumonia. I spoke with Moran and told him something of the resources of British medicine in North Africa and its deficiencies, Pulvertaft recorded in his hitherto private memoir. The British Army had no portable X-ray apparatus, or electro-cardiograph and no modern up-to-date drugs and I had finished all my penicillin. Pulvertaft decided to head into Carthage to find what he needed. Commandeering a car, he headed to an American hospital, where he encountered a monosyllabic commanding officer. I guess this is breaking security, but Im here doctoring Churchill, Pulvertaft declared. Yes, the officer replied. Have you any sulpha-diazine? Pulvertaft asked, referring to an antibiotic drug. Yes, came the terse reply. Have you a portable X-ray? Yes Have you a portable electro- cardiograph? No. Can you get one? Try anyway. The commanding officer made some calls, and Pulvertaft soon returned to the villa with everything he required. But Pulvertafts contribution did not stop at finding medicine and diagnostic tools. Despite all the care, by Tuesday, Churchills condition was growing worse. The Prime Minister is pictured He was also responsible for summoning two more renowned medics pharmacologist Gladwin Buttle, and Evan Bedford, a top heart specialist, both of whom would help. Despite all the care, by Tuesday, Churchills condition was growing worse. Pulvertaft would record an exchange with the Prime Minister that reveals that he really did fear he was nearing his very darkest hour. Im dying, am I not? Churchill asked him. No sir, you are not. I thought you were, but you are on the way up, Pulvertaft replied. I dont believe you. Pneumonia, Ive got. Osler said it was the old mans friend, said Churchill referring to the august Canadian physician who had coined the phrase. Osler had not got sulpha-diazine, Pulvertaft responded. Its a better friend. Carthage, the Prime Minister then said in a failing voice. Not a bad place for Churchill to die. Dido... burning... Dido... Churchills fatalistic mood was not dampened the following day when he reported to Lord Moran that his heart is doing something funny it feels to be bumping all over the place. The Prime Minister was now suffering from atrial fibrillation, an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate that is commonly associated with pneumonia. A man feels pretty rotten, I imagine, when he fibrillates during pneumonia, but the PM was very good about it, Lord Moran noted in his diary. Although Pulvertaft had been assured that there were no splinters, the following morning at breakfast, Churchill said something very rude indeed, which left those assembled in no doubt that using the commode had been an extremely prickly experience While the condition would be treated with digitalis by Evan Bedford, at Churchills insistence Pulvertaft continued to take blood samples from his ears. You cant have a count every day, Pulvertaft told Churchill. In fact you cant have any more. Never in the history of haematology has such a mess been made of a Prime Ministers ears. Churchill suggested that there were alternative places from which to take blood. Sir, Churchill replied, I have, and readily admit it, but two ears. But sir, let me tell you, I have ten fingers, and, furthermore sir, I have ten toes. And, finally, I have an infinite expanse of arse. It was Pulvertaft who also secured something upon which the prime ministerial posterior could be parked during the night if he needed the lavatory a primitive wooden commode. It was far from impressive, made from packing cases stencilled Dried Milk, he recalled. Although Pulvertaft had been assured that there were no splinters, the following morning at breakfast, Churchill said something very rude indeed, which left those assembled in no doubt that using the commode had been an extremely prickly experience. As the days passed, the effects of the medicines secured by Pulvertaft, Bedford and Buttle took effect, and by December 20, Churchill was beginning to convalesce. On Christmas Day, he was well enough to celebrate while wearing a flamboyant silk Chinese dressing-gown emblazoned with dragons. Speaking of Churchill, pictured, Pulvertaft said: Not long before he died, I saw him again as a patient. He did not recognise me and he had outlived himself' After two weeks at the villa, Pulvertaft returned to Cairo, his job well done. It was a bewildering experience and what I saw was of course greatly distorted by the ominous likelihood of disaster and death, he wrote. What impressed me most about Churchill was his capacity for instant and apparently exclusive concentration on the interest of the moment. After the war, Pulvertaft became the first professor of clinical pathology in London. His own lectures were as popular as they were unorthodox, and heavily laced with laughter, it was observed after his death in 1990. One man would perhaps admire him more than any other Churchill himself. After the war he invited me to dine, Pulvertaft reveals in his memoirs. I excused myself; the anterooms of the great, I felt, were not for me. But the doctor would see Churchill once more. Not long before he died, I saw him again as a patient. He did not recognise me and he had outlived himself, he noted. The moment may have been poignant, but it was thanks to Pulvertaft that his patient had not died in the ruins of Carthage. Finally, this remarkably modest mans contribution to the course of history can now be fully recognised. Last weekends panic-inducing false alarm that warned Hawaiian residents of an incoming ballistic missile has brought to light the catastrophic events that could take place under a real nuclear attack. According to a new report from DefenseOne, a warhead launched by North Korea would likely be far bigger than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The blast alone would cause well over 150,000 deaths if dropped over the capital city Honolulu and, given the landscape and prevalence of wood-frame buildings, experts say an even more devastating firestorm would soon follow. Scroll down for video The hypothetical fireball would have a radius of roughly .5 kilometers (.3 miles). According to Nukemap , the radiation radius would stretch 2.02 kilometers (1.2 miles), while the thermal radiation, which can cause third degree burns, would extend as far as 6.25 km (3.9 miles) WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF A NUCLEAR BOMB? The impact of a single nuclear bomb depends on many factors like the weather, weapon design, geographical layout of where the bomb hits and if it explodes in the air or on the ground. About 35 per cent of the bomb's energy would be released in heat. Flash blindness, from the explosion's blast, could affect people up to 13 miles away on a clear day and 50 miles away on a clear night, they said, if the bomb is 1 megaton. Those closer by would experience burns, with third degree burns affecting those within a 5 mile radius. Most of the bomb's energy is felt in the blast, in a sudden change of air pressure that can crush buildings, which would likely kill anyone when they fell. Winds up to 158 mph would affect people up to 3.7 miles away, causing dangerous objects to fly around. Provided by AsapSCIENCE. Advertisement The false alarm mistakenly issued on Jan 13 highlighted the need for more thorough efforts to educate the public and help them prepare for such an attack, according to DefenseOne. Based on North Koreas demonstration of a roughly 200 kiloton weapon last year, which could reach Honolulu, the Nukemap tool shows a blast at roughly 2,000 feet above the surface could cause over 150,000 deaths. And, there would be over 173,000 injuries. The fireball would have a radius of roughly .5 kilometers (.3 miles) and the effects of radiation would be far more extensive. According to Nukemap, the radiation radius would stretch 2.02 kilometers (1.2 miles), while the thermal radiation, which can cause third degree burns, would extend as far as 6.25 km (3.9 miles). Depending on a number of other factors, the outlook for fatalities could be even worse. Experts say the worst effects may not even come from the blast itself. Last weekends panic-inducing false alarm that warned Hawaiian residents of an incoming ballistic missile has brought to light the catastrophic events that could take place under a real nuclear attack. The mountains will reflect the blast back onto the target, Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at Middlebury Institute of International Studies, told DefenseOne. Most homes in Honolulu are wood-frame construction, so there is a significant chance of a firestorm following the blast which was what really devastated Hiroshima, much more so than the blast.' The fallout would also carry cancer-causing radioisotopes, which would linger for weeks. Based on North Koreas demonstration of a roughly 200 kiloton weapon last year, which could reach Honolulu, the Nukemap tool shows a blast at roughly 2,000 feet above the surface could cause over 150,000 deaths. And, there would be over 173,000 injuries HOW TO SURVIVE A NUCLEAR BOMB Toronto-based YouTubers Gregory Brown and Mitchell Moffit have detailed a number of tips to prepare for a nuclear bomb. Pack an emergency supply kit containing water and non-perishable food items. When a nuclear bomb goes off, it sends out radiation that can ruin your mobile phone and laptop, so preparing battery-powered radios for communication is wise. For the blast, it is important to get as much concrete between you and the blast as possible. For the fall-out it's important to have thick walls and a thick roof, he says, and in a house it is a good idea to blockade all the windows. But if you are outside and know the blast is coming, you might have time to get to a better shelter. First you should get on the ground with your hands behind your head and brace yourself for the blast. Never look at the blast, because it can cause you to go blind temporarily. The, after the blast, you have 30 minutes to get to the best place. Once you get inside remove your clothes and clean yourself straight away and blow your nose, to stop the radioactive materials from spreading, and do not use conditioner. If you cannot have a shower, wipe yourself with a wet cloth. Advertisement According to a new report from DefenseOne, a warhead launched by North Korea would likely be far bigger than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima (shown) and Nagasaki And, it would contaminate the local food and water supply, according to DefenseOne. As nuclear tensions grew this year, experts have increasingly shared tips to help the public prepare for the event of an attack, including ensuring you have an emergency supply kit ready to go. Last year, YouTubers Gregory Brown and Mitchell Moffit explained that the best shelters are those which place as much concrete as possible between you and the blast. For a house, this could be the basement, while those who live in apartments would be advised to go toward the middle, to get away from windows. The American Meteor Society says it received hundreds of reports of a fireball on the night of Tuesday January 16 over Michigan, including many in the Detroit area. Footage of a meteorite falling from the sky was captured by a number of residents throughout Michigan and further afield that evening. A bright light, understood to be the soaring fireball exploding above Michigan, was seen as far away as Chicago and even across the border in Canada. The United States Geological Survey said the equivalent of a 2.0-magnitude earthquake struck the area at the same time.. This would suggest it came crashing down to earth, but there has been no official confirmation of this yet. By the end of the week, meteorite hunters who flocked to Detroit from across the U.S. after a meteor exploded had begun to find the fragments. The 6-foot-wide meteor broke apart Tuesday about 20 miles over Earth, NASA scientists said. Most of the fragments landed in Hamburg Township. Advertisement There's something special about visiting the place where your favourite movie was set. That's how I feel on arriving in the Catskills, a bucolic region of undulating forest 90 minutes north of New York. It's where Patrick Swayze swept Jennifer Grey off her feet in the 1987 movie Dirty Dancing. I'm with my husband Marc and three children twins Nathalie and Gabriel, 14, and Hannah, 12 and the Catskills are the first of three stops on our week-long, action-packed itinerary. Picturesque: Lake Placid offers stunning views of forest and mountains in the distance - just hours from New York City There's no dancing, but we hike, zip-line and visit the Bethel Woods Museum, where the Woodstock festival was held in 1969. The Delaware River runs through the Catskills and acts as a state boundary. Renting kayaks from Lisa at Landers River Trips she tells us that the left bank is New York, the right is Pennsylvania. 'Which is nicer?' I ask. 'New York's classier,' she says. The children relish paddling on a state line and after negotiating some white-water rapids they kayak from bank to bank (the river's only 30ft wide), yelling 'I'm in New York.' Then: 'Now I'm in Pennsylvania.' Deer and woodchucks roam the water's edge. Eagles soar overhead. I have a thought. The river's calm and shallow: the backdrop's very Dirty Dancing. 'Remember the scene where Swayze lifts Grey above his head in the water shall we try it?' I ask Marc. You can imagine his response. The next morning we pack up the car and head 130 miles north-west leaving Swayze fantasies behind. We're heading for Thousand Islands, which even many New Yorkers haven't heard of. I only recognise it because of the salad dressing which hails from here. LOCAL KNOWLEDGE The worlds largest kaleidoscope is in The Catskill Park. At 60ft tall, you can walk through the former grain silo for a show that changes seasonally. Advertisement It takes four hours (mostly on small roads) to reach our destination. There are actually 1,864 islands. They straddle the American/Canadian border in the Saint Lawrence River and we're immediately struck by their remoteness. During a speedboat ride from mainland's Antique Boat Museum, we spot one island with just a cottage on it; another only a tree and a third with a tiny post office. 'There are more deer here than people,' says our captain. We hear a love story that rivals the one in Dirty Dancing. Hotel magnate George Boldt, owner of Manhattan's original Waldorf Astoria, built a fairytale castle on one of the islands for his wife. Heartbreakingly, she died before she could live in it, and a cruise with Uncle Sam Boat Tours allows us to disembark and explore the fortress and grounds. Great outdoors: There are many family-friendly activities in upstate New York, as Jo Kessel discovered with her kids (pictured) Fairytale castle: Thousand Islands, New York, is home to Boldt Castle, built by the original owner of the Waldorf Astoria Dinner that night feels romantic, too, at a restaurant called The Boathouse, overlooking the harbour. A rare, local fish called walleye (similar to perch) is on the menu. It's light, tasty and cooked to perfection. We'd happily stay longer, but one more New York address waits: Lake Placid. The town's famous the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics were hosted here. It's two hours east, a vast, mountainous landscape of lake after shimmering lake. Our hotel overlooks Mirror Lake which has a bijou beach where we relax on our first afternoon before getting stuck in. First we kayak our guide gossips that the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers and Guggenheims all own houses here. Breathtaking views: Whiteface Mountain, one of the Adirondack's tallest peaks, offers a gorgeous panorama of Lake Placid Next, we climb the top portion of Whiteface Mountain, one of the Adirondack's tallest peaks. It's a 20 minute thigh-busting clamber to the summit which has 360- degree views over what looks like Middle-earth an endless panorama of rock-faces and lakes glistening a mile below. TRAVEL FACTS America As You Like It (americaasyoulikeit.com, 020 8742 8299) offers a ten-night New York State Adventure from 1,880 pp, based on two sharing. Includes return Norwegian Air flights to New York, two nights at the William Vale hotel in Brooklyn, three nights at the Villa Roma in the Catskills, two nights at the Hampton Inn, Watertown, Thousand Islands and three nights at the Lake Placid Summit Hotel, plus car hire. For more information, see iloveny.com and visittheusa.co.uk. Advertisement It's not just the terrain which is super-sized. The cuisine is, too. Twice we leave restaurants with doggy bags whose contents prove equally enjoyable for breakfast. By far our most original activity is bobsleighing. Professionals steer our wheeled-sled down a section of the actual Olympic course. We whiz so fast that G-force (not to mention the sled) rattles our bones as we take hairpin bends at 55 mph. The children love every second and fight over who should take first place on the podium at the end. Norwegian Air believes that New York state is such a draw that it's introduced low-fare direct flights from the UK to Stewart International Airport (60 miles north of Manhattan) so British holidaymakers can bypass the Big Apple altogether if they wish. Indeed, we think that New York state is every bit as exhilarating as its most famous city. Advertisement It took two years and 30 filming expeditions for the BBC to capture the amazing images seen in the stunning new series Big Cats. Some wild animals are easier to find than others you'll have a hard time spotting such fantastic beasts as Pallas's cats, Siberian tigers and Amur leopards. But there are places where lions, tigers, leopards and other felines tolerate our presence at least and how awesome they all are. The cost of these trips mostly includes flights, transfers, full board, guides, game drives and activities, but check the small print. King of the jungle: Feeling inspired by BBC's Big Cats series? Try these safaris for (nearly) guaranteed lion spotting BEST FOR LIONS 1. GET UP CLOSE TO THE GIRAFFE KILLERS See the giraffe-killer lions from episode one of Big Cats in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania. Prides are used to vehicles. Expert Africa's six-day Lesser Kudu Fly-in Safari includes five nights at Mwagusi Camp. From 3,345pp, expertafrica.com, 020 3405 6666. 2. ...OR THOSE WITH MORE OF A TASTE FOR BUFFALO Alternatively, visit the famously beefy, buffalo-eating Duba lions as featured in Planet Earth II in Botswana's magnificent Okavango Delta. Aardvark Safaris offers a six-night trip, with three nights at Duba Expedition Camp. From 5,290pp, aardvarksafaris.com, 01980 849160. 3. A PRIVATE VIEWING OF STAR CLAWS Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa is malaria-free and private, so no sharing your lions with dozens of other vehicles. There are black-footed cats, leopards and cheetahs too. Aardvark Safaris has a six-night family safari staying at Morukuru River House, with your own chef. From 3,375pp (four sharing), aardvarksafaris.com. 4. BE CERTAIN OF SEEING THE MANE EVENT Sightings of lions at the 160,000-acre Sabi Sands, one of South Africa's most famous private reserves, are pretty much guaranteed. Abercrombie & Kent's 15-night Classic South Africa trip includes three nights in a riverside luxury lodge, with everything from fine dining to massages. From 6,780pp, abercrombiekent.co.uk, 01242 386 500. Big game: Look for leopards - from a safe distance, of course - during an 11-day walking safari in Zambia's premier wildlife park BEST FOR LEOPARDS 5. STALK YOUR PREY THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY Nothing beats tracking big game on foot, at a safe distance, of course. Mountain Kingdoms offers 11-day walking safaris in Luangwa, Zambia's premier wildlife park renowned for its beautiful leopards. From 5,625pp, www.mountainkingdoms.com, 01453 844400. 6. WELL SPOTTED! A GREAT WAY TO FIND YOUR QUARRY Sri Lanka's Yala National Park reputedly has one of the highest leopard densities in the world, so you've a good chance of seeing one. Luxurious: Sri Lanka's Yala National Park has one of the highest leopard densities in the world. Pictured: Chena Huts, which borders the park itself Modern amenities: Despite being tucked away in the wilderness, Chena Huts offer plenty of creature comforts Red Savannah offers a trip with four nights at Chena Huts, which borders the park, and three at Uga Bay, with flights and B&B. From 2,921pp, redsavannah.com, 01242 787800. 7. IN THE DEAD OF THE NIGHT, THE KILLERS' DARK SIDE Lengthy, after-dark safaris in the north-east of Borneo give you a chance to see rare leopard cats and clouded leopards. Naturetrek's 13-day trip departs April 2 and encompasses Sepilok, the Kinabatangan River, the Gomantong Caves and Tabin Wildlife Resort. From 4,495pp, naturetrek.co.uk, 01962 733051. 8. CHILL OUT... WITH THE SNOW LEOPARDS What wouldn't you give to see a fantastic snow leopard? Head for the remote Ulley Valley in Ladakh, northern India, for a chance to photograph one, escorted by experts and photographer Nick Garbutt, on Wildlife Worldwide's 16-night Snow Leopard In Focus trip. From 6,495pp, wildlifeworldwide.com, 01962 302086. Majestic: One of the best places to spot tigers is in Rajasthan, though Kanha and Pench are also popular among visitors BEST FOR TIGERS 9. ALL THIS ROAR POWER - AND THE TAJ MAHAL TOO The place where I saw most tigers, mostly effortlessly, was Ranthambore in wonderful Rajasthan. Transindus's ten-day Essential India private tour for first-time visitors includes a two-night stop at a wildlife reserve with game drives, as well as visits to the Taj Mahal and Jaipur. From 2,495pp, transindus.com, 020 8566 3739. 10. DRAMA FROM THE PAGES OF THE JUNGLE BOOK Alternative Indian Bengal tiger-spotting hotspots include Kanha and Pench, which reputedly provided inspiration for Kipling's The Jungle Book. Titan's new 12-day Wild India tour encompasses ten safaris in both parks and Tadoba Andhari Reserve. Other excursions include a trip to Mumbai. From 2,699pp, titantravel.co.uk, 0800 988 5873. River cruise: In Brazil, safari goers may opt for a boat tour to see jaguars from the river - they claim an 89% success rate BEST FOR JAGUARS 11. FIVE JAGS... AND A 4x4 The brilliant Projeto Oncafari in Brazil's Pantanal aims to accustomise jaguars to 4WDs, so tourists are likely to spot one I saw five. Last Frontiers' trip includes four nights at the Caiman Ecological Refuge with jaguar-spotting excursions and an introduction to the project, plus one night in Sao Paulo. From 3,510pp, lastfrontiers.com, 01296 653000. 12. GOING WITH THE BIG CAT FLOW Tucan Travel's tailormade 18-day Wildlife Brazil tour includes three nights on a houseboat in the Pantanal and boat trips to see jaguars from the river they claim an 89 per cent success rate. There's an Amazon cruise, too, plus tours to Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls. From 4,029pp, tucantravel.com, 020 8896 1600. High speed: From Namibia to Kenya, several different tour companies offer safaris tailormade for spotting cheetahs BEST FOR CHEETAHS 13. ADMIRE SURVIVORS WHO CHEATED DEATH Namibia is home to Okonjima, a massive private nature reserve with rescued cheetahs you can easily see. It's also home to the AfriCat Foundation big cat charity. Discover The World's 12-day Essential Namibia self-drive itinerary can include a stay here and Etosha National Park for wild cheetah. From 2,208pp, discover-the-world.co.uk, 01737 214291. 14. GAZE AT THE GREAT HUNTERS FROM ON HIGH Alternatively see them in Kenya on a special private charter safari by air. Scenic Air Safaris' nine-day Endangered Species Safari features an unforgettable flight over the Masai Mara, a renowned cheetah and lion habitat. From 7,100pp (ten guests travelling together), scenicairsafaris.com, 020 7978 4534. 15. GET THE REAL STORY WITH A RESEARCHER Treat yourselves to National Geographic Expeditions' and G Adventures' seven-day Explore Kruger National Park trip, which includes going out with a cheetah researcher from the Carnivore Conservation Programme, part of National Geographic's Big Cats Initiative. From 2,074pp (departing April 10), national geographicexpeditions.co.uk, 0800 440 2551. Rare: Spotting an Iberian lynx is not an easy task, but Spain's Sierra Morena offers your best chance for success BEST FOR LYNXES 16. ON THE TRAIL OF A COMPACT KILLER The Iberian lynx is extremely rare but Naturetrek reckons eight out of ten groups taking its special six-day wildlife tour in Spain sees one in Coto Donana National Park on a 4WD drive or from a distance in the Sierra Morena. From 1,995pp, naturetrek.co.uk, 01962 733051. BEST FOR OTHER RARE CATS 17. EYES PEELED FOR THE BIG-EARED BEAUTIES Captivating, big-eared servals like the open grassland of the Serengeti and Masai Mara. But, says Rob Slater of Safari Consultants, they also like Botswana, especially in the northern Kwando and Selina areas. From 5,195pp for seven nights, safari-consultants.com, 01787 888590. 18. SPOT AN OCELOT ON YOUR DAWN PATROL For a slight chance of seeing ocelot and margay, try Costa Rica. Veloso Tours' 14-night Colombus Tour includes three nights in Corcovado National Park, where these not-too-big cats are sometimes spotted at dawn. Keep your eyes peeled during those rainforest hikes. From 3,538pp, veloso.com, 020 8762 0616. Elusive: A South American margay is difficult to spot, but an early-morning safari in Costa Rica's Corcovado National Park may prove just the ticket 19. WANDER IN THE WORLD OF THE PUMA Pumas can be spotted at Torres del Paine in Chile in the company of the right guide, though it is usually secondary to the hiking. Veloso Tours' 14-night Yamana Landmark Tour in Chile and Argentina also takes in Patagonia, plus Peninsula Valdes, Buenos Aires and Santiago. From 4,117pp, veloso.com, 020 8762 0616. 20. RUSTY TV STAR IS ONLY FOR THE LUCKY You may never see the adorable, very elusive rusty spotted cat, star of Big Cats, in the fur, but for a tiny chance try Pettitts' tailor-made 15-day Wild Sri Lanka tour. It takes in some of the national parks where they live, including Udawalawe, which has fishing cats and leopards too. From 2,985pp, pettitts.co.uk, 01892 250 925. They've been going strong for over a year and have been inseparable throughout their idyllic relationship. Yet rapper Stormzy, 24, was reportedly happy to be separated from his girlfriend Maya Jama, 23, for 45 minutes on Thursday when he was said to have refused to join her at the Cadbury's Creme Egg Camp in London, instead waiting in a car outside. Despite having previous attended other star-studded parties, most recently at Idris Elba's Christmas shindig in early December, The Sun report that the 'grumpy' musician stayed in the car while desperate staff tried to lure him inside. Scroll down for video All alone? Yet rapper Stormzy, 24, was reportedly happy to be separated from Maya Jama, 23, for 45 minutes on Thursday when he was said to have refused to join her at the Cadbury's Creme Egg Camp in London , instead waiting in a car outside (Maya, pictured at the event) The publication reports that despite lavish pleas from event staff - which included tempting treats such as food, champagne and the infamous white Creme Egg - the Blinded By Your Grace hitmaker did not budge from his seat. Seemingly spotting the star outside the bash, one partygoer told The Sun: 'Stormzy seemed grumpy and was happier in the back of his car playing on his phone than at the party with free-flowing champagne and chocolate. When Cadbury released its white Creme Eggs, chocolate fans went wild. As they're disguised in normal wrappers, shoppers have been unwrapping the treats in store to find one as they could be worth up to 2,000, yet Stormzy appeared unsold. Making the star's reasons apparent, the source went on: 'He didn't want to be mobbed by fans or have to pose for picture so stayed out of sight... Not impressed: Despite having previously attended other star-studded parties, he was reportedly hesitant to appear at the chocolate themed bash Fishy frolic: While girlfriend Maya had fun inside the sweet treat bash, Stormzy refused to budge, despite lavish pleas from event staff, the Blinded By Your Grace hit-maker did not budge from his seat Eyes on the prize: When Cadbury released its white Creme Eggs, chocolate fans went wild for them. As they're disguised in normal wrappers, shoppers have been unwrapping the treats in store to find one as they could be worth up to 2,000, yet Stormzy appeared unsold 'Everyone was really disappointed as it would have been a real coup to have one of the hottest celebrity couples snapped together at the party.' MailOnline has contacted representatives for Maya and Stormzy for comment. Radio personality Maya instead entered the sweet treat party solo, looking super funky in an oversized logo-clad hoodie, which she teamed with a black skirt. She kept it super comfortable in casual shoes as she posed up a storm and tamed her glossy raven tresses in place with a New York Yankees hat, which complemented her large gold earrings. Maya has been dating the award-winning musician for over a year - with the pair first choosing to keep their relationship private, before going public as an item in 2016. Cosy: Maya instead entered the sweet treat party solo, looking super funky in an oversized logo-clad hoodie, which she teamed with a billowing black skirt Inseparable: Maya has been dating the award-winning musician for over a year - with the pair first choosing to keep their relationship private, before going public as an item in 2016 Fans will have seen Maya in some of Stormzy's music videos, as she makes an appearance in the video for his hit track Big For Your Boots. And the besotted Shut Up rapper even admitted he was keen to marry the model in the future. He told the Sunday Mirror in December: Im still so young but I want to propose, its going to happen and I will do it right. She is so sick, she is the best. She's obviously known for her leggy presence on the catwalk. But on Friday Karlie Kloss cut a far more demure figure, as the model participated in a shoot involving a vintage car. The 25-year-old Victoria's Secret darling rocked a deep burgundy suit, which appeared to be made from velvet. Scroll down for video Gorgeous: Karlie Kloss cut a far more demure figure on Friday, as the model participated in a shoot involving a vintage car The 6ft2in stunner also opted to add even a few more inches to her tall frame with a pair of sky-high silver heels. Her blonde tresses were parted in the middle and fell straight down past her shoulders, while subtle blush and deep crimson lipstick complemented the outfit's unique hue. Accessories appeared limited to some very small hoop-style gold earrings. New style: The 25-year-old Victoria's Secret darling rocked a deep burgundy suit, which appeared to be made from velvet Drink up! Karlie carried a green drink in one hand as she walked through the set of the ritzy BMW commercial Makeup: She made sure to keep a bright red hue swatched across her lips Retro! Her deep burgundy, double breasted suit was perfectly tailored to fit her model frame Skyscraper! The 6ft2in stunner also opted to add even a few more inches to her tall frame with a pair of sky-high silver heels The tall beauty seemed to enjoy the shoot, and tried several poses, including operating a vintage camera, and even getting behind the wheel of the handsome motor. Karlie had to honor of posing with a BMW E9 coupe, which was one of the most beautiful cars manufactured during the 1960s and 1970s. Later, for the same shoot, the blonde bombshell donned a different suit and proceeded to take several selfies. Smile! Later, for the same shoot, the blonde bombshell donned a different suit and proceeded to take several selfies Earth tones: That ensemble was a brown affair, which was layered over a light tan turtleneck Shiny! A somewhat large, jewel-encrusted diamond pendant necklace added a bit of bling That ensemble was a brown affair, which was layered over a light tan turtleneck. A somewhat large, jewel-encrusted diamond pendant necklace added a bit of bling. Meanwhile, the Chicago native participated in a shoot of a very different nature on Thursday. Shutterbug! The tall beauty seemed to enjoy the shoot, and tried several poses, including operating a vintage camera Beep beep! She even got behind the wheel of the handsome motor Dualing beauties! Karlie had to honor of posing with a BMW E9 coupe, which was one of the most beautiful cars manufactured during the 1960s and 1970s The lithe model took some time out of her day to take a few snaps with some members of the United States military. One image, which she posted to Instagram, showed her standing behind a large cargo plane flanked by several servicemen. 'Today I had the privilege of thanking these incredible men for their service,' she said in her caption. She actually looks small! The lithe model took some time out of her day to take a few snaps with some members of the United States military It's been two-and-a-half weeks since she welcomed son Hayes Warren on New Year's Eve. And on Friday, Jessica Alba treated herself to a much-deserved spa day, which she documented on Instagram. The Honest co-founder was her own best advert, as products from her own skincare line were used on her face. Scroll down for video 'Postpartum facial': On Friday, Jessica Alba treated herself to a much-deserved spa day, which she documented on Instagram In the clip, the Dear Eleanor star was seen resting on a massage bed, her glowing skin on full display. 'Guys, I'm gonna get a facial. Postpartum facial. I'm so excited. Getting pampered,' she told her followers. Jessica also received a foot massage as well. 'Skin getting werked': In the clip, the Dear Eleanor star was seen resting on a massage bed, her glowing skin on full display 'Hooking me up': Jessica gave shout-outs to her pamper professionals - Nina (L) the foot massager and Shani Darden (R), her esthetician since 2008 On New Year's Day, the Pomona, California native announced that she welcomed son Hayes on social media. In the photo, the star's little one was seen sleeping soundly. 'Hayes Alba Warren 12/31/17 Best gift to ring in the New Year!! Cash and I feel so blessed. Haven and Honor are already obsessed with their new baby bro. #familyof5, she wrote. Her first son: On New Year's Day, the Pomona, California native announced that she welcomed son Hayes on social media Jessica is mom to daughters Honor, nine, and Haven, six. The actress shares her three children with film producer husband, Cash Warren, 39. In May of this year, the two will celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary. She recently returned from a European vacation with her new boyfriend. But Katharine McPhee looked ready to relax after finding the perfect hammock above the grass in Hawaii on Friday afternoon. The 33-year-old songstress looked sensational in a red-and-pink striped swimsuit as she chatted on her phone without her new beau David Foster, 68. Scroll down for video Unwind: Katharine McPhee looked ready to relax after finding the perfect hammock above the grass in Hawaii on Friday afternoon Katharine's gym-honed body was on full display in the flashy one-piece with black-and-white checkerboard print running along the top. One darling strap swept across her shoulder, with a clear plastic ring holding the suit up above her chest. The American Idol alumna tied her long chocolate brown hair into a high top bun and kept wisps away with a vibrant headband. Cheeky: The 33-year-old songstress looked sensational in a red-and-pink striped swimsuit as she chatted on her phone without her new beau David Foster, 68 Sweet: Katharine's gym-honed body was on full display in the flashy one-piece with black-and-white checkerboard print running along the top Cute: One darling strap swept across her shoulder, with a clear plastic ring holding the suit up above her chest Large golden hoop earrings dangled from her ears as she sported a matching gold choker around her neck. The Scorpion actress swiped a maroon shade of lipstick across her lips with a touch of rosy blush on her cheeks. In between chatting with a few friends on her iPhone, Katharine scrolled through her phone as she relaxed on the hammock. Stylish: The Scorpion actress swiped a maroon shade of lipstick across her lips with a touch of rosy blush on her cheeks Can you hear me now? McPhee searched for the perfect place to make a few phone calls Laugh it up! She seemed to be enjoying a spirited conversation on her cellphone Relax: In between chatting with a few friends on her iPhone, Katharine scrolled through her phone as she relaxed on the hammock Katharine's new boyfriend David Foster was nowhere to be seen, but the couple recently enjoyed vacationing in Paris and Switzerland. David is the ex-husband of Yolanda Hadid and former stepfather to supermodel sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid. After months of speculation, Katharine and David finally confirmed their relationship when they put on a public display of affection during dinner at E Baldi in Beverly Hills at the start of December. The musically-inclined couple has been romantically linked since May after being seen together at Malibu's Nobu restaurant. Sky's the limit: The American Idol alumna tied her long chocolate brown hair into a high top bun and kept wisps away with a vibrant headband She's currently starring on her new body transformation reality show Beach Body SOS after overhauling her own fitness and nutrition routine. And former Geordie Shore star Vicky Pattison moved away from the issues of others to tackle her own body issues in a revealing Instagram post on Friday. In the social media essay, the 30 year-old reality star thrusts her own body insecurities into the spotlight, posting a photo of her at her largest to her lightest and her current form which she insists is her happiest. Scroll down for video 'I became obsessed!': Former Geordie Shore star Vicky Pattison, 30, reflected on her dramatic weight loss and how counting calories as a size 6 became 'detrimental to my health' Writing to her 3.8m followers on the photo sharing site, The Ex On The Beach starlet urged her fans to 'eat cake once in a while'. Her weight-focused collage featured three bikini moments, with her infamous 2013 outing in Marbella, where the star was pictured at a size 16. The second, a noticeably slimmed down Vicky sauntered in a curve hugging yellow bandage dress, while the third showed the present day star leaping out of the pool in a tiny pink bikini. In her long-form message, Vicky detailed her size 16 days, describing herself as 'unfit, unhealthy and most importantly - regardless of my grin - I was unhappy'. 'Unhappy':Writing to her 3.8m followers on the photo sharing site, The Ex On The Beach starlet urged her fans to 'eat cake once in a while' Having trained hard on her fitness DVD in 2013, Vicky dropped down to a size six, but despite her impressive weight loss, it came at a price. She explained: 'I was a size six with no boobs and pretty much no life. I became obsessed, too focused and this in turn was also detrimental to my health.' Her ongoing calorie distraction meant she 'wasn't enjoying the amazing gift of life' after spending more time worrying about 'the content of a blueberry'. Happier in her size 10 physique, the noticeably slender star said she had 'zero apology' about her current weight. Skin-tight: Having trained hard on her fitness DVD in 2013, Vicky dropped down to a size 6, but despite her impressive weight loss, it came at a price 'I train hard, I eat right about 80% of the time but my life doesnt revolve around what the scales say. I listen to my body- and when it says it wants a gin and tonic... I GIVE IT ONE!!!' The TV personality endorsed a life of balance, seeing exercise as a 'celebration of what your body can do not a punishment for what you've ate.' 'Use food as fuel not a means to curb boredom and most importantly: eat the cake once in a while... because life is for living and cake is great.' Her impassioned note read in full: 'Sooooo, I wanted to post this to show a bit of perspective guys!! Here are three wildly different images of my body and they tell a story! In the first pic I was around a size 16, unfit, unhealthy and most importantly- regardless of my grin- I was unhappy. Sun-kissed: Happier in her size 10 physique, the noticeably slender star said she had 'zero apology' about her current weight 'In the second image Id slimmed down with the help of my fitness dvd- I was a size 6 with no boobs and pretty much no life. I became obsessed, too focused and this in turn was also detrimental to my health. 'I wasnt enjoying the amazing gift of life as I was too worried about the calorie content of a blueberry! In the third pic, I am around a size 10, all boobs, bum and zero apology! 'I train hard, I eat right about 80% of the time but my life doesnt revolve around what the scales say! I listen to my body- and when it says it wants a gin and tonic... 'I GIVE IT ONE!!! I am a strong, healthy, realistic woman with a good balance of work and home life. I am in short, HAPPY. And thats what I wanted you to know... Happy now: Staying highly focused on positive healthy energy, the former I'm a Celeb contestant is also heading up the latest MTV reality show - Beach Body SOS - which takes 16 contestants on a dramatic body transformation with the help of seven personal trainers Let them eat cake! The TV personality endorsed a life of balance, seeing exercise as a 'celebration of what your body can do not a punishment for what you've ate' 'Dont allow your happiness to completely hinge on what the scales say! Be happy because youre alive, see exercise as a celebration of what your body can do not a punishment for what youve ate, use food as fuel not a means to curb boredom... 'Most importantly: eat the cake once in a while... because life is for living and cake is great. Love yourselves and have a great weekend'. Staying highly focused on positive healthy energy, the former I'm a Celeb contestant is also heading up the latest MTV reality show - Beach Body SOS - which takes 16 contestants on a dramatic body transformation with the help of seven personal trainers. Each participant will overhaul their fitness, nutrition and confidence levels across a twelve week stint, before they unveil the results of their makeovers in Spain during the grand finale. The domestic battery charge against her was dropped last Friday. And by this Friday, Naya Rivera looked relaxed when she was snapped heading across a parking lot in Los Angeles. The 31-year-old, who filed for divorce from Ryan Dorsey a second time after her arrest for allegedly assaulting him, wore a simple black ensemble and a cross. Scroll down for video On the move: By this Friday, Naya Rivera had a smile on her face when she was snapped heading across a parking lot in Los Angeles Naya kept warm in a flowing sweater, teaming it with a pair of skintight jeans and matching sneakers and slinging on a backpack. The Glee actress shielded her face from the California rays with massive shades, and also accessorized with a round pendant necklace from 21HM. Naya had married actor Ryan in 2014, first filed for divorce in November of 2016. By October of last year, they were giving the relationship another try. Thanksgiving weekend, however, was where the marriage went south again. Weight off her shoulders: The domestic battery charge against her was dropped last Friday After an alleged altercation with Ryan, she was arrested for misdemeanor domestic battery but got out on a bond of $1,000 - and according to US Weekly, it was her father-in-law who collected her from court. The incident took place in Kanawha County, West Virginia, whose local Sherriff's office has said to the magazine that alcohol was involved in the conflict - the subject of which was Ryan and Naya's two-year-old son Josey. On Friday this week, websites including TMZ ran Ryan's police photos after the alleged assault, showing minimal to no actual physical damage to him. Looking snappy: The 31-year-old, who filed for divorce from Ryan Dorsey a second time after her arrest for allegedly assaulting him, wore a simple black ensemble and a cross On December 5, TMZ revealed Naya had filed for divorce again, and that she was being represented by the formidable celeb divorce lawyer Laura Wasser. The Blast have published court documents revealing that Naya and Ryan have temporarily decided on joint custody of their little one. Citing the Kanawha County Magistrate Court's office, TMZ reported this week that the charge against her had been dropped. Apparently, Ryan had opted against pressing charges. EastEnders was impressively moving, surprisingly so in some ways. The life support machine that was switched off belonged to Abi Branning for one thing - never a character you could exactly describe as popular, despite having spent twelve long, long-suffering, years in Albert Square. Even Abi complained (with increasing regularity) that she was mostly an adjunct to her more troubled, better-looking, sister (Lauren) or merely a witness to the disintegration of her family and the marriage of her parents (Tanya and Sex-Mad Max). Scroll down for video Tragic: The life support machine that was switched off belonged to Abi Branning for one thing - never a character you could exactly describe as popular, despite having spent twelve long, long-suffering, years in Albert Square Abi had her problems consequently (she lived in Walford after all) but was never considered important enough to be given a seriously big issue as a result to be made an alcoholic (like Lauren) or a murderer (like another traumatised youngster Bobby Beale). Yes, eventually Abis storylines included faking a pregnancy to keep her relationship with Ben alive and having a fling (and a baby) with her sisters fiancee. But even she found these unconvincing. Her relationship with Steven was so half-hearted it didnt warrant being categorised as an affair (more a con, or two cons as Steven was conning her) and even Ben would have realised Abi wasnt pregnant in the end. Incongruously, the more juicy developments Abi was permitted were the low-points of her life in EastEnders. Gutted: Fridays episode opened with Lauren having become the one opposing switching Abis life support machine off. Maybe we could wait a day or two more, she pleaded She was one of the soaps few boring, ordinary, sensible, characters better suited to looking after a gerbil than as evil Aunt Babes sidekick or helping Steven lie about having a brain tumour by supplying him with packets marked canine anti-inflammatory pills. She was smart enough to go to college/vet school and signed up for a sea turtle conservation scheme in Costa Rica probably the nicest thing anyone from Walford has ever done. This was one of the things that made her demise more affecting. It was also unusually straightforward for EastEnders. There were none of the standard soap melodramatics. Ordeal: Its the dignified thing to do, Max reaffirmed, although dignity wasnt really his forte She hadnt died immediately when she fell off the roof of the Queen Vic on Christmas Day, or regained consciousness intermittently giving Max and us false hope. She had just been lying there, waiting waiting for her turn in the spotlight. Waiting for all the tedious antics from Karen Taylor, Masood, and young Tiffany to die down. We knew Friday night was finally going to be her time. Her doctor at Walford General had given it away when he told Max at the end of the previous show. Max had a complicated week trying to raise 2million to send Abi to America (for treatment not a holiday), showing off his DIY skills by assembling the cot Abi had ordered (before she was brain-dead), and putting most men to shame by doing it when he was drunk, before finally giving up on both projects. Whats wrong with Uncle Max? asked one of Jack Brannings kids as Max sobbed into his hoodie. How long have you got Tear-jerking: Will it hurt? trembled Lauren, seemingly not quite grasping that nothing could hurt Abi anymore Fridays episode opened with Lauren having become the one opposing switching Abis life support machine off. Maybe we could wait a day or two more, she pleaded. Its the dignified thing to do, Max reaffirmed, although dignity wasnt really his forte. The only surprise was he hadnt copped off with any of the medical team looking after Abi, like the nurse who talked him out of it when he barricaded himself in Abis room. Still, give it time How does it happen? Max asked the doctor. Now Im not an expert but just unplug it surely? Will it hurt? trembled Lauren, seemingly not quite grasping that NOTHING could hurt Abi anymore. (That was the whole point.) Touching: Given the option of choosing when the procedure happened, Max showed unexpected attention to detail and need for order by picking 8.32pm the time that Abi was born' Given the option of choosing when the procedure happened, Max showed unexpected attention to detail and need for order by picking 8.32pm the time that Abi was born. With only a few minutes to go, the only problem was the whereabouts of Abis muvver Tanya. She had been mysteriously absent from Abis bedside/the hospital/the programme ever since the fateful accident on Christmas Day, even though her daughter was fighting for her life and had just given birth to a baby girl (prematurely and whilst in a coma). The poor mite still hasnt got a name by the way. Personally Im hoping they call her Maxine. I cant get hold of your mum, Max muttered to Lauren without saying whether he had checked that she hadnt gone back to Waterloo Road. I keep thinking I would give anything to have just one last fight with Abi, Lauren sobbed to her father. One last argument about her nicking my top or something. Or your fiancee Farewell: In the end, Max n Tan, Lauren, Uncle Jack, Dot, and Cora gathered round Abis bed, along with Tanyas sister Raine (with a healing crystal) In the end, Max n Tan, Lauren, Uncle Jack, Dot, and Cora gathered round Abis bed, along with Tanyas sister Raine (with a healing crystal). Raines return served as an unfortunate reminder of the series halcyon days when she and Phil spent weeks drinking vodka and having sex. Or trying to, before they threw up and passed out again. Great times The way Tanya had relented and let Max be present - despite everything he had done was fiercely touching. What were you doing up there on that roof? she had cried not long before when hed found her in the hospital chapel. Taking the cowards way out. And now your own daughter has to die because of you ! You did this. You killed her ! Of course he knew that. It was written all over his face and in his eyes. They had been almost perpetually red all week - from the pain and the crying. The finale was surprisingly powerful. Viewers could have been forgiven for thinking the soap had lost the capacity to affect them any more after such farcical storylines as the recent robbery or James Willmott-Browns pantomime villain plotting. Devastating: The finale was surprisingly powerful. As 8.32pm arrived, Linda rang the bell and the Queen Vic fell silent. In the hospital, Max nodded and the doctor removed the oxygen The show reminded us and perhaps itself how good it can be when it keeps things simple. As 8.32pm arrived, Linda rang the bell and the Queen Vic fell silent. In the hospital, Max nodded and the doctor removed the oxygen. Lauren sobbed, Tanya sobbed, we all sobbed as Abi croaked and was accorded the ultimate EastEnders honour: exiting to a black screen and with no theme music playing over the credits. Rightly so. One thing was for certain when it was over. After enduring such a moving, upsetting, experience we needed a drink as badly as Lauren. She broke up with her Just Tattoo of Us co-star Stephen Bear for the last time in December after splitting up a number of times following 'cheating' claims. And now Geordie Shore star Charlotte Crosby, 27, appeared to be over the mushy Valentine's gestures as she completely destroyed a parade of sweet treats in her latest Instagram video posted to her 6.1m followers on Friday. In the rather violent clip, Charlotte took out her lovelorn anger on a chocolate cake, punching the dessert full throttle with her clenched fists while styling a tiny red mini-dress before turning her attentions to a chocolate fountain. Lovelorn: Charlotte Crosby, 27, destroyed sweet treats in frustrated video following Stephan Bear love woes, with scenes including smearing melted chocolate all over her body Charlotte captioned the video: 'This is how I feel about Valentines Day...', before displaying her true emotions with the help of the plethora of sweet treats. The brunette beauty was seen to throw around the crumbling cake until the floor was covered, before stamping her feet into sloshing mixture. Kicking the crumbs over the barren studio floor, Charlotte dropped the entire cake board onto the messy floor, hiking up her minuscule skirt and dropping her bare bottom into the mixture - in truly vile scenes. A beaming Charlotte turned towards the camera with her brunette tresses lying messily over the face as she appeared to revel in the shock scenes. Making a mess: Charlotte appeared to be over the mushy Valentines gestures as she completely destroyed a parade of sweet treats in her latest Instagram video posted to her 6.1m followers on Friday A big clean-up: Kicking the crumbs over the barren studio floor, Charlotte drops the entire cake board onto the messy floor, hiking up her minuscule skirt and dropping her bare bum into the mixture Over it: A beaming Charlotte turned towards the camera with her brunette tresses lying messily over the face Happy days: She broke up with her Just Tattoo of Us co-star Stephen Bear for the last time in December after splitting up a number of times following 'cheating' claims The Sunderland native didn't stop her battle with the Valentines confectionery, next taking aim at a chocolate fountain. Plunging her arms into the flowing sugary mix, she writhed around in the display, drenching her legs in the gooey chocolate. She slathered on the calorific treat over her face before sweeping away her long tresses and beating her chest. Calorific: The Sunderland native didn't stop her battle with the Valentines confectionery, next taking aim at a chocolate fountain Slather it on: Plunging her arms into the flowing sugary mix, she writhed around in the display, drenching her legs in the gooey chocolate Gooey goodness: The chipper bombshell turned her attention to dancing, throwing some serious shapes while surrounded by a wall of marshmellows and strawberries The chipper bombshell turned her attention to dancing, throwing some serious shapes while surrounded by a wall of marshmellows and strawberries. Before diving in to the high calorie adventure, Charlotte unveiled the results of her early weight loss, telling fans she had already lost five pounds in 12 days. Charlotte's followers rushed to compliment the star on her incredible new look, after she posted a snap of her new figure in the very tight red minidress on Friday. She left little to the imagination in the racy number, which the star wore for the Valentine's Day-themed photoshoot. Sweetest thing: Charlotte busted a move while covered head to toe in chocolate Strike a pose: An excited Charlotte got down and dirty with the photo shoot set, basting herself with chocolate Jaw-dropping: Charlotte unveiled the incredible results of her five pound weight loss on Friday, posting a snap in a skintight red dress on Instagram - she claims it took her 12 days Charlotte captioned the post: 'Shooting a very exciting valentines campaign with @inthestyle But being single ive decided to give you girls an early galentines gift from me!!' The gorgeous star teamed her look with a matching statement red lip, along with a dramatic smoky eye and brows look, with her chocolate brown tresses poker straight. Fans could not hold back their compliments for the stunning Geordie Shore star, with one saying she looked 'better than ever' in her new darker tresses. Another wrote: 'Well looking beautiful' while a third commented: 'Red hot beauty.' Gushing: Fans rushed to comment on Charlotte's snap on how amazing she looks, with one saying she looked 'better than ever' The Heartbreak Diet: Charlotte previously revealed she had lost five pounds in twelve days, posting a snap in skintight gym wear Charlotte unveiled the first results of her weight loss on Thursday, posting a snap in skintight gymwear. She captioned the post: 'day12 of #30DayBlitz smashed 5 pounds down.' The brunette star recently admitted she wanted to 'shape up' following her split from Bear, speaking on This Morning about her plans for the future. She said: 'You have to turn it into a positive, to look the best you can look to get back at them, so they are looking at you going "How did I let them go?'" Moving forward: Charlotte recently revealed she was on a mission to 'shape up' following her split from Stephen Charlotte and Bear enjoyed an 11-month romance before they were plagued by a number of splits - resulting in their acrimonious breakup in December. The couple first hit a crisis after the former scaffold worker was pictured heading home from a Halloween party, with a mystery brunette in tow. Their roller-coaster romance then appeared to come to a screeching halt in October, with the couple being plagued by 'cheating' claims and Charlotte feuding with Bear's family on Twitter. Stephen has been putting his love woes behind him and cosying up to a number of beauties in Bali, since his appeal for a reconciliation with ex Charlotte Crosby was rejected. In December, the Celebrity Big Brother alumni admitted he had 'really messed up' and declared he wanted to 'spend the rest of my life' with Charlotte, in a heartfelt Instagram appeal. She has one of the best bodies out there. And Halle Berry, 51, has decided to share the secrets behind her fabulous form with her fans. The Oscar-winning actress is aiming to connect with her followers through a weekly fitness Q&A, ahead of the relaunch of her website, Hallewood. Scroll down for video Getting ready: Halle Berry, 51, is aiming to connect with her followers through a weekly fitness Q&A, ahead of the relaunch of her website, Hallewood. She shared this photo on Friday 'It's fitness Friday. You asked how to get started? It's simple... you just decide to start!,' began the star, in a message to her fans. 'You decide today that you are worth it!,' she continued. 'Trust me, I know its hard to focus up and dedicate time to working out each day, but with 24 hours in a day you can surely take ONE and dedicate it to YOU! 'You dont need a fancy gym to get started - all you need is a living room, a patio, a kitchen floor, a driveway or a backyard, and a water bottle.' The mother-of-two then encouraged her fans to take just one hour a day for themselves, and introduced her fans to a 'plank pull.' Getting help: The star told informed her fan that she, and fitness trainer Peter Lee Thomas (pictured), would answer one question each week, until Hallewood's relaunch Halle shared a photo of herself in the workout positions, which drew attention to her toned arms. 'This simple exercise is called a plank pull. This starts to strengthen your core, and a strong core has been key to my workouts.' The star told informed her fan that she, and fitness trainer Peter Lee Thomas, would answer one question each week, until Hallewood's relaunch. 'Each week until the launch of hallewood I'm going to pick a question that you ask and Peter and I will do our best to answer. First, we were asked: if you have weight to lose, is it better to lose weight before you start working out? Peter says it's best do them simultaneously.' Pals: She is seen with trainer Peter last week, which was the first week of her fitness Friday inspirational posts 'You can start by walking each day or doing jumping jacks for cardio, while using very light weights, or again holding water bottles in each hand if you don't have weights. And you can also start the plank pulls. Here's to getting started!,' she said. In 2000, Halle launched her fansite, Hallewood, in hopes of getting closer with her fans. She then closed the site when it proved too much for her to handle, most likely due to her packed schedule. But since social media has now become prominent, as a star who's life is constantly in the spotlight, she wants to control the narrative. The beginning: In 2000, Halle launched her fansite, Hallewood, in hopes of getting closer with her fans. She then closed the site when it proved too much for her to handle. She is seen earlier this month January in Beverly Hills 'Social media is empowering in many ways, but the part that is concerning for me, especially with my personal brand, is that that power can be misused, she began, in a previous interview with The Hollywood Reporter. 'It can be a brand killer.' 'If I am having dinner with a friend, and a man comes up and asks to take a picture, most times I will always say, "Of course!" But then that person posts the picture on the social media as if I am dating that person, and suddenly I am dating, like, 100 people.' 'People actually have the power to affect your brand in this day and age, and I have little control over it. And that's the frustrating part.' WARNING: Explicit details A woman claims rapper Too Short sexually assaulted her numerous times while they were working together in 2016, in a lawsuit she filed in Los Angeles on Friday. The 51-year-old rapper's accuser said in court docs that the veteran entertainer forced oral sex, vaginal and anal sex against her will in a suit accusing him of sexual battery, sexual harassment, gender violence, gender discrimination and false imprisonment, TMZ reports. DailyMail.com has reached out to Too Short's representative for comment. Scroll below for video Troubled: Rapper Too Short, 51, has been accused of multiple instances of sexual abuse and harassment, in a lawsuit filed by a woman in LA. The rapper was snapped in LA last June The alleged incidents happened between June of 2016 thru October of that year, the woman's accuser told the court. Too Short's accuser said she first crossed paths with the Gettin' It rapper, whose full name is Todd Anthony Shaw, in December of 2015, paving the path to a working relationship that commenced with the production of an album in April of 2016, according to the outlet. Too Short's accuser said that the rapper started making unwanted advances toward her at that time. Too Short's accuser said that in June of 2016, he forced her onto a bed, ripped the clothing off her body and forced oral sex on her in a downtown Los Angeles hotel room. More assaults followed in hotel rooms or the recording studio, the rapper's accuser said, citing one instance in which she said the rapper pinned her body down and had vaginal intercourse with her, leading her to bleed. The rapper's accuser said Too Short 'brutally sodomized' her after that, TMZ reported. Difficult: The performer, snapped last year in Atlanta, worked with the woman who's accusing him of the multiple offenses, she said in court docs Out and about: Too Short was snapped at The Grove in LA last September In another instance, the rapper's accuser said Too Short tried to cajole her for sex, saying he was 'just going to put the tip [of his penis] in,' and continued despite her protests. It's not the first time accusations have been leveled at Too Short. The rapper was accused of sexual assault last year, by a woman who said she was a virgin, before he allegedly forced sex on her in an incident that took place November 1, 2016 at a Los Angeles residence. The Blow The Whistle rapper told TMZ he 'would never' do such a thing, and that the woman's claims were in retaliation to him cutting her from his label. She keeps her figure in top shape as a former model. But Jamie King took a cheat day as she was spotted leaving a bakery with a bag of snacks in West Hollywood on Friday. The Hart Of Dixie star, 38, cut a sophisticated figure in a monogrammed Burberry poncho leaving hot spot La Conversation. Cheat day: Jamie King, 38, took a cheat day as she was spotted leaving a bakery with a bag of snacks in West Hollywood on Friday Daring to impress, the mother-of-two looked simply stunning in the brown and red wrap that belied her enviable figure. Her gorgeous gams were put on center stage as she slipped into a pair of form-fitting black leggings. As she carried a white paper bag full of baguettes, the natural beauty commanded attention in the tony neighborhood of Los Angeles. She kept her trademark sandy blonde tresses long and loose as they cascaded over her petite shoulders. Chic look: The Hart Of Dixie star cut a sophisticated figure in a monogrammed Burberry poncho leaving hot spot La Conversation Natural beauty: Daring to impress, the mother-of-two looked simply stunning in the brown and red wrap that belied her enviable figure The actress recently weighed in on the Hollywood sexual harassment row, claiming Bob Weinstein - the brother of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein - called her a 'loser' for refusing to participate in a men's magazine shoot. Speaking in October, the Sin City: A Dame to Kill For star tweeted in reference to the Weinstein scandal: 'Bob you called me at home & called me a looser [sic] w/ no career threatening me b/c I refused to do Maxim cover for you. 'And I truly hope that the properties revert to their rightful owners as you/Weinstein board were fully aware & abusive to actors/filmmakers.' Leggy lady: Her gorgeous gams were put on center stage as she slipped into a pair of form-fitting black leggings All eyes on her: As she carried a white paper bag full of baguettes, the natural beauty commanded attention in the tony neighborhood of Los Angeles The Pearl Harbor star recently celebrated her 10-year wedding anniversary with her husband Kyle Newman. The couple met on the set of Fanboys in 2005 and were married at Greystone Park in Beverly Hills on November 23, 2007. The couple have two children together, James Knight, four, and Leo Thames, two. Hair today: She kept her trademark sandy blonde tresses long and loose as they cascaded over her petite shoulders Taylor Swift is the godmother to their youngest son, Leo. Jaime may be busy at home with her two children, but her career has yet to slow down. The mom-of-two starred in the new film B*tch about a housewife that assumes the psyche of a dog as her husband cheats on her and her kids run rampant. The project premiered on November 10, and Jaime has three more films hitting screens in 2018. IMG Model Ashley Graham indulged in a bag of Frito-Lay's Classic potato chips during a late-night pamper session at a Manhattan hair salon on Friday. The 30-year-old body activist praised President Donald Trump's favorite snack for having only three listed ingredients - potatoes, vegetable oil, and salt. According to the nutritional facts, a single serving (about 15 chips) amounts to 10 grams of fat and 160 calories. Scroll down for video Nom nom nom: IMG Model Ashley Graham indulged in a bag of Frito-Lay's Classic potato chips during a late-night pamper session at a Manhattan hair salon on Friday Mmmm: The 30-year-old body activist praised President Donald Trump's favorite snack for having only three listed ingredients - potatoes, vegetable oil, and salt Proving she's no diva, the hungry Cosmopolitan Russia cover girl bought the chips herself at a nearby market while make-up free with foils in her hair. Ashley - who boasts 8.7M social media followers - covered up her size 14, 5ft9in curvaceous figure beneath a black baggy salon smock. Graham's self confidence is aided by regular exercise sessions at New York's The Dogpound as well as her daily affirmation: 'I am bold, I am brilliant, and I am beautiful.' The Nebraska-born, Brooklyn-based brunette was joined Friday by her America's Next Top Model hairstylist, David Lopez. Keeping track: According to the nutritional facts, a single serving (about 15 chips) amounts to 10 grams of fat and 160 calories Snack time: Proving she's no diva, the hungry Cosmopolitan Russia cover girl bought the chips herself at a nearby market while make-up free with foils in her hair Natural beauty: Ashley - who boasts 8.7M social media followers - covered up her size 14, 5ft9in curvaceous figure beneath a black baggy salon smock Graham's self confidence is aided by regular exercise sessions at New York's The Dogpound as well as her daily affirmation: 'I am bold, I am brilliant, and I am beautiful' The Revenge Body guest star co-judges cycle 24 of Tyra Banks' modeling competition - airing Tuesdays on VH1 - alongside image architect Law Roach and Paper creative director Drew Elliot. Ashley described herself as a 'tough judge' on Wednesday's episode of Steve Harvey's daytime talk show. 'I have gotten to where I am in my career because of the people who told me no, because of the people who said you're never going to have it,' Graham told the 61-year-old host. 'So I know what that feels like to have it hurt and sting, but I also know what it feels like to have constructive criticism to get to the top. You have to let them know, if you want to get to the top, it takes a lot of work.' 'Little preview of some upcoming hair looks!' The Nebraska-born, Brooklyn-based brunette was joined Friday by her America's Next Top Model hairstylist, David Lopez (R) Airing Tuesdays on VH1! The Revenge Body guest star co-judges cycle 24 of Tyra Banks' (R) modeling competition alongside Law Roach (L) and Drew Elliot (2-R) The A New Model author has been married to LA-based cinematographer Justin Ervin for nearly eight years after meeting in church back in 2009. 'We are going to totally have kids,' the groundbreaking 2016 SI cover girl told ET back in 2016. 'We are probably going to do it in the next few years. Just another part of my brand building!' 'If you want to get to the top, it takes a lot of work': Ashley described herself as a 'tough judge' on Wednesday's episode of Steve Harvey's daytime talk show She's the Melbourne stunner who shot to fame after appearing on the 2016 season of Married At First Sight. And almost two years on, Clare Verrall is still remembered as one of the franchise's most fiery contestants. On Saturday, however, the blonde babe appeared to be in a softer mood than usual, sharing a nostalgic throwback snap from her days as a curly-haired preschooler. Guess who! An outspoken reality star shared a photo of herself as a cherubic child to Instagram on Saturday... but do YOU know who she is? 'UBER THROWBACK! Rocking my ringlets & making what Im sure was a stunning work of art,' the outspoken star captioned the post which she shared with her 31,500 followers. She added the hashtags '#ChildhoodPhotos' and 'looklikeshirleytemple'. Despite finding fame nearly two years ago, the curly-haired stunner still maintains a strong public presence online. Doomed union: Clare's on-screen marriage to tradie Jono Pittman came to an explosive end The Victorian vixen has kept a following of fans eager to know whether she will ever find Mr Right, after her on-screen marriage to tradie Jono Pittman came to an explosive end. Clare has also gained a legion of admirers for her fearless nature and speaking her mind. After her appearance on Married At First Sight she slammed the franchise 'for using manipulative psychological tactics during filming'. Living her truth! Clare has also gained a legion of admirers for her fearless nature and speaking her mind The star has also bravely gone public about her battle with post-traumatic stress disorder after she was randomly assaulted. In April 2015, she was walking her dog Dutchy near her home in Prahran, Melbourne, when a man jumped out and attacked her. Clare was left with a black eye, a broken nose and a broken toe, but was able to knee her attacker in the groin and kick him before she fled. Her perseverance and upbeat nature has led to her being a beloved personality, with one fan recently writing: 'Great smile lovely lady'. Celebs including Emmy Rossum and Olivia Munn descended on the Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood Saturday evening for a VIP dinner. Stuart Weitzmann creative director Giovanni Morelli and InStyle editor-in-chief Laura Brown - each of whom achieved their present eminences in 2016 - threw the fete. Shameless star Emmy, 31, was a showstopper in a white Michael Kors Collection ensemble made up of an asymmetric hemmed dress, teamed with a sleek blazer in the same color. Scroll down for video Star-studded: Celebs including Emmy Rossum (left) and Olivia Munn (right) descended on the Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood Saturday evening for a VIP dinner The Phantom Of The Opera actress, who married her Mr. Robot creator second husband Sam Esmail last year, balanced on silver-toned ankle-strap heels. A belt emphasized her trim frame, and she had slung an off-white purse from her right shoulder, clashing the outfit against a dark purple slick of lipstick. Meanwhile, Olivia, who last week compered the Critics' Choice Awards, wore a full-sleeved dress flecked with a colorful bird and flower motif. Coordinated: Shameless star Emmy, 31, was a showstopper in a white Michael Kors Collection ensemble made up of an asymmetric hemmed dress, teamed with a sleek blazer in the same color Shimmering: Meanwhile, Olivia, who last week compered the Critics' Choice Awards, wore a full-sleeved dress flecked with a colorful bird and flower motif With a neat collar and cinched-in cuffs, the 37-year-old The Newsroom actress' getup was hemmed high enough to show off her open-toed stilettos. Allison Janney - who this year snagged a Golden Globe for her role in I, Tonya as the title character's mother LaVona Harding - had slid into a black cocktail dress. An elaborate gold and bronze pattern dominated her turtleneck, and she accessorized with a clutch, beaming as she was photographed. Classic elegance: Allison Janney - who this year snagged a Golden Globe for her role in I, Tonya as the title character's mother LaVona Harding - had slid into a black cocktail dress TV stars unite: The 58-year-old - who like Olivia has acted in an Aaron Sorkin series, in Allison's case The West Wing - posed flanked by Olivia and Emmy Scion of Sly: Sistine Stallone, 19, wore an off-the-shoulder beige crop top with a pair of glinting black trousers and a raven-hued pair of open-toed ankle-strap heels The 58-year-old - who like Olivia has starred in an Aaron Sorkin series, in Allison's case The West Wing - posed flanked by Olivia and Emmy. Sistine Stallone, 19, wore an off-the-shoulder beige crop top with a pair of glinting black trousers and a raven-hued pair of open-toed ankle-strap heels. She is the daughter of Sylvester Stallone and that third and current wife of his Jennifer Flavin, by whom Sly also sired Sophia, 21, and Scarlet, 15. Ana De Armas, 29, dressed in all black - frilly mini-skirt, flats, V-neck top and faintly rumpled jacket - along with a glinting necklace. Touch of glitz: Ana De Armas dressed in all black - frilly mini-skirt, flats, V-neck top and faintly rumpled jacket - along with a glinting necklace Match game: One Jordan Duffy stuck to black as well, matching a gleaming top with a pair of high-waisted trousers, a clutch and some open-toed shoes Fringed with lace: Joining the brigade of guests wearing all-black was Madeline Brewer, buttoning herself up into a blazer dress and carrying a clutch of her own One Jordan Duffy stuck to black as well, matching a gleaming top with a pair of high-waisted trousers, a clutch and some open-toed shoes. Joining the brigade of guests wearing all-black was Madeline Brewer, 25, buttoning herself up into a blazer dress and carrying a clutch of her own. Kristin Chenoweth let her wavy blonde hair fall free over her long-sleeved mini-dress, which had streaks of silver floral patterning over a pale pink field. Ana, Kristen, Madeline, Emmy, Allison and Olivia all stood for a group photograph. Broadway baby: Kristin Chenoweth let her wavy blonde hair fall free over her long-sleeved mini-dress, which had streaks of silver floral patterning over a pale pink field On Friday, Catherine Zeta-Jones came to the defense of her husband of 17 years, Michael Douglas, after he was accused of sexual misconduct by a former employee 30 years ago. It was the same day Susan Braudy appeared on TODAY to claim the 73-year-old movie star once 'masturbated in front of her' during her three years working at his company Stonebridge Productions. The two-time Oscar winner had pre-emptively denied Braudy's Me Too Movement offering in a January 9 Deadline article calling it 'a complete lie, fabrication, no truth to it whatsoever.' Scroll down for video Denial: On Friday, Catherine Zeta-Jones came to the defense of her husband of 17 years, Michael Douglas, after he was accused of sexual misconduct by a former employee 30 years ago Me too: It was the same day Susan Braudy appeared on TODAY to claim the 73-year-old movie star once 'masturbated in front of her' during her three years working at his company Stonebridge Productions '[Michael] had to come out pre-emptively because of what he believes in,' the 48-year-old Oscar winner explained on Friday's The View. 'He was articulate, said it from the heart. He was honest, open, and transparent. He now has to take the next step for where he goes from here. It's a question for him. It happened 30 years ago, it was B.C. - before Catherine.' The Traffic co-stars - who have a 25-year age difference - first met in 1996 at the Deauville Film Festival, and they've remained together despite a six-month split in 2013. Regarding sexual harassment, Catherine worries for her 14-year-old daughter Carys, but she didn't express the same sentiment about her 17-year-old son Dylan with Douglas. 'It's what he believes in': The two-time Oscar winner (L) had pre-emptively denied Braudy's Me Too Movement offering in a January 9 Deadline article calling it 'a complete lie, fabrication, no truth to it whatsoever' The 48-year-old Oscar winner explained on Friday's The View: 'He was articulate, said it from the heart. He was honest, open, and transparent. He now has to take the next step for where he goes from here...It happened 30 years ago, it was B.C. - before Catherine' Family: Regarding sexual harassment, Catherine worries for her 14-year-old daughter Carys (L), but she didn't express the same sentiment about her 17-year-old son Dylan (R) with Douglas Zeta-Jones explained: 'I have a daughter. As we battle through now, I hope that this is something she won't even have to think about when she gets into the workplace' She continued: 'Look, I support this movement, Time's Up and #MeToo, 110 percent. Always have since the moment it really opened up to the public because we all know it's been going on for years and not just in our industry. It's been happening across the board everywhere' As for her own experiences with powerful men in Hollywood, the glamorous Welshwoman admitted: 'I hold my heart and thank the Lord, no, no [I was never victimized or attacked]' 'I have a daughter. As we battle through now, I hope that this is something she won't even have to think about when she gets into the workplace,' Zeta-Jones explained. 'Look, I support this movement, Time's Up and #MeToo, 110 percent. Always have since the moment it really opened up to the public because we all know it's been going on for years and not just in our industry. It's been happening across the board everywhere.' As for her own experiences with powerful men in Hollywood, the glamorous Welshwoman admitted: 'I hold my heart and thank the Lord, no, no [I was never victimized or attacked].' The Feud actress will next play real-life Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco in Guillermo Navarro's made-for-TV movie Cocaine Godmother premiering this Saturday on Lifetime. Chloe Sevigny is the latest person to express consternation about having worked with Woody Allen. The 43-year-old actress, who featured in his 2004 film Melinda And Melinda, told Variety: 'I have my own turmoil that Im grappling with over that decision. Would I work with him again? Probably not.' Woody has been accused of sexually assaulting his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow when she was seven years old - an allegation he has denied, but that has resurfaced in the midst of the #MeToo movement. Holding forth: Chloe Sevigny has consternation about having worked with Woody Allen, saying so at the Sundance Film Festival, where she is pictured Dylan, who is now 32, wrote a 2014 open letter in the New York Times leveling the accusation against Woody, iterating it on this Thursday's CBS This Morning. As Variety pointed out, Rebecca Hall and Timothee Chalamet - who acted in Woody's upcoming A Rainy Day In New York - have distanced themselves from him. Both have given the money they made on the film to Time's Up. 'Would I work with him again? Probably not': Chloe, who acted in his 2004 film Melinda And Melinda, told Variety : 'I have my own turmoil that Im grappling with over that decision' Colin Firth, the star of Woody's 2014 movie Magic In The Moonlight, told the Guardian: 'I wouldnt work with him again.' The molestation claim first arose in 1993, the year after the scandalous breakup between Woody and Dylan's adoptive mother Mia Farrow - which resulted from Woody's relationship with Mia's daughter Soon-Yi Previn, now his wife. Back then, after investigation, Woody did not face charges. Sundance Beautys: Chloe Sevigny and Aubrey Plaza Celebrate "Lizzie" at 'Cafe Artois' Stella Artois hosted a cast party of Lizzie, with Chloe Sevigny and Aubrey Plaza 'Cafe Artois' with key cast members Jeff Perry and Dennis OHare and Director, Craig William at Cafe Artois. Festival work: Posing up a storm in front of a backdrop of Stella Artois at the festival Though Connecticut prosecutor Frank Maco claimed 'probable cause' to go forward, he decided not to, citing his and Mia's concern for Dylan's welfare and his aversion to the idea of the little girl's appearing in court, according to the New York Times. Mia's adopted son Moses Farrow - whom, like Dylan, Woody legally co-adopted during his relationship with their mother - has accused Mia of physical abuse in the new book Start to Finish: Woody Allen And The Art Of Moviemaking By Eric Lax. Moses also claimed in the book that, as Woody alleged back in the 1990s, Dylan accused Woody of sex abuse after Mia had trained her to do so. Promotional: Chloe spoke her piece about Woody to Variety at the Sundance Film Festival, where her Lizzie Borden biopic Lizzie held its premiere Friday night Chloe spoke her piece about Woody to Variety at the Sundance Film Festival, where her Lizzie Borden biopic Lizzie held its premiere Friday night. Posing up a storm in front of a backdrop at the festival, she modeled a frilly jacket with a swirling pink and brown pattern, teaming it with jeans and a simple black top. She had a bun at each side of her head, and she kept that do while posing on the black carpet at the Sundance premiere. By the time of the premiere, she was wearing a black dress that featured mesh and gleaming florals, balancing on high-heeled boots. Eye-catching: She had a bun at each side of her head, and she kept that do while posing on the black carpet at the Sundance premiere At times, she wrapped herself in a massive black plush jacket, shooting an unsmiling stare at the camera. Chloe, also a producer on Lizzie, posed in a group photo with the movie's director Craig MacNeill and her fellow actors Jamey Sheridan, Jeff Perry and Denis O'Hare. Kristen Stewart co-stars in Lizzie as the Borden family's Irish maid Bridget - and as Chloe discussed with Variety, the film contains Bridget-Lizzie love scenes. 'There was a little bit of steam. I wish there was more,' Chloe told the magazine. A bit chilly?: At times, she wrapped herself in a massive black plush jacket, shooting an unsmiling stare at the camera In August 1892, Abby and Andrew Borden were butchered with a hatchet in their Falls River, Massachusetts home. Lizzie, then 32 years old, was charged with the crime and went to trial the following June in what became a nationwide media frenzy. Bridget, whom the family purportedly used to call 'Maggie,' was one of the witnesses called, and her testimony is often credited with helping secure Lizzie's acquittal. Though Lizzie was legally off the hook, nobody else has subsequently been charged with the murders, and the case remains cold to this day. Adding to the ensemble: She accessorized with a purse and drop earrings She's known for her glamorous displays, both when gracing London's finest red carpets, and strolling along the streets of England. So it's no wonder Lucy Mecklenburgh put on a sensational display in a dazzling maroon top and a fierce feline coat as she enjoyed a night out in London on Friday. The 26-year-old entrepreneur was no doubt glad of a night out as she has been keeping herself busy with the launch of her revived fitness and nutrition website, Results With Lucy. Scroll down for video Style savvy: Lucy Mecklenburgh, 26, put on a sensational display in a dazzling maroon top and a fierce feline coat as she enjoyed a night out in London on Friday Looking incredibly trendy, the former The Only Way Is Essex star beamed with a radiant glow as she strutted the streets of England's capital. She paired her sparkling semi-sheer top with fitted straight leg jeans while the star bundled up in a statement leopard-print jacket. The Havering native enhanced her natural beauty with minimal makeup - flashy silver eyeshadow, a slash of peach lipstick and lashings of mascara. Accentuating her height with metallic sandal heels, Lucy's ombre locks were curled to perfection as her glossy tresses grazed her shoulders. Feline chic: Opting for a trendy appearance, the former The Only Way Is Essex star beamed with a radiant glow as she strutted the streets of England's capital Sensational: She paired her sparkling semi-sheer top with fitted straight leg jeans while the star bundled up in a statement leopard-print jacket Off shes goes! Accentuating her height with metallic sandal heels, Lucy's ombre locks were curled to perfection as her glossy tresses grazed her shoulders The brunette beauty recently rebooted her online personal training and nutrition website, Results With Lucy as well as her latest food guide. Lucy's career has been going from strength to strength since leaving the cast of TOWIE in 2013. Along with her fitness business, which has subscribers in the six figures, the savvy businesswoman also has her own clothing range with Pretty Little Thing and her own shop, Lucy's Boutique. Keeping herself busy: The brunette beauty recently rebooted her online personal training and nutrition website, Results with Lucy, as well as her latest food guide, The Power Of Plant Based She is currently dating Coronation Street star Ryan Thomas, who she met on Bear Grylls' Celebrity Island, where they were in the midst of water shortages, extreme hunger and tropical storms. After developing a strong bond on the survival show, the pair continued their romance on home turf. The couple got tongues wagging after they were seen posting holiday photographs from the same location on Instagram at the beginning of the summer, despite denying claims they were dating. They were then pictured kissing at London City Airport and marked their first public outing as a couple at the Wimbledon men's semi-finals earlier in July last year. Loved-up: Meanwhile, Lucy has been dating soap star Ryan Thomas after they met on Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls She's a relative unknown who is about to be launched into US network television stardom. Gold Coast native Jessica Green will soon be hitting the small screen, after the 24-year-old nabbed the lead role in new Syfy fantasy series, The Outpost. Speaking to The Gold Coast Bulletin on Sunday, the striking actress admitted she was 'so excited,' to share the news of her big break in Hollywood. The next Margot Robbie? Former Gold Coast actress Jessica Green, 24, has landed her first big American television gig, starring as Talon on the new Syfy series, The Outpost 'Just goes to show never give up on your dreams,' the actress and model said. Jessica added: 'All those years of auditioning, I finally got a "yes".' Jessica will play a character called 'Talon' in the series produced by Dean Devlin, whose film credits also include Independence Day. In the series, Talon is the lone survivor of a race called the Blackbloods, who sets off to the edge of civilisation to track her family's killers. 'All those years of auditioning': The striking 24-year-old will play 'Talon' on Syfy series, The Outpost, which will be her first big gig on US network television While on her journey she discovers she has supernatural powers which she must learn to harness in order to achieve her goals. Jessica also told the publication she was grateful for the opportunity to showcase her acting skills in the 10-episode series, adding that she was looking forward to working with her new colleagues. 'I've been in Utah doing pre-production for the last few weeks but filming begins today (Jan 16),' she said. Big break: The Australian actress starred in the film Red Billabong and first graced screens as Kiki in the tween program, Lightning Point Despite having an uncredited role in last year's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, this will be Jessica's first major plunge into US television. It is also her first time in a lead role - a feat many Australian actors who make the move to Hollywood can only dream of. The raven-haired beauty first graced the Australian small screen on tween program Lightning Point in 2012, before going on to star in her first feature film, Red Billabong in 2016. 'So much fun getting into character': The actress has said she's appreciative to be given the opportunity to work on the 10-episode series Despite her success, the humble actress has kept her down-to-earth attitude, having relocated to America after filming Red Billabong. Speaking to the Gold Coast Bulletin following filming of Pirates of the Caribbean, the actress again showed humility and appreciation. 'I was very fortunate to land two days working on set of Pirates of the Caribbean,' she spilled to the publication in 2015. 'Which was an amazing experience and so much fun getting into character.' Actress and model: The 24-year-old actress doesn't mind flaunting her incredible bikini body to her nearly 300,000 followers on Instagram She's the TV host who bravely battled a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer, which saw her undergo a double mastectomy. But now Sally Obermeder has turned her fight to a different battle, with the 44-year-old vowing to re-discover fun and work on her relationship with husband Marcus. The charming The Daily Edition anchor taking to her Instagram on Saturday to share a candid and personal message to her 85,000 followers. 'Relationships are easy in the beginning': Charming The Daily Show host Sally Obermeder, 44, has taken to Instagram to share a heartfelt post about wanting to work on her relationship husband, Marcus In a post which a number of her followers instantly related to, the stunning brunette referred to the importance of focusing on her marriage, and remaining joyful in her relationships. 'Relationships are easy in the beginning,' she started. 'You have two people with all the time in the world to just focus on each other and have fun,' she continued, before adding, 'Then along the way things get serious.' 'I can finally breathe properly again': The Daily Edition host fought a very public battle with a rare and aggressive form on breast cancer, having been diagnosed just one day after giving birth to her first daughter Showing a great deal of wisdom, the mother-of-two continued to talk in a decidedly philosophical tone about life and relationships. The sensitive post penned under a smiling photograph of herself and husband Marcus, after the couple had gone swimming, with both of them looking very animated. 'Then along the way things get serious. Life throws you some curve balls and if you're not careful you forget to have fun,' she continued. Happy and healthy! The newly blonde Sally is fit and healthy again, taking to Instagram on Saturday to say after a tumultuous few years she's making a commitment to re-discovering fun and joy, here Sally is pictured with her sister Maha Koraiem 'I really noticed last year, that was me. Getting sick, having kids, focusing on work, starting a business all of it meant life became serious and along the way I lost the sense of fun that I had.' The brunette beauty adding finishes her post resolute, 'My aim this year is to get it back.' The post comes after a tumultuous time for the Channel Seven star, who was spoke openly about her 'sigh of relief,' at passing the five-year cancer free milestone in 2016, after facing a difficult uphill battle. 'My gosh, the relief!' The mum-of-told admitted she was ecstatic to receive the 'all-clear' on her five-year cancer scan, when she spoke to Body & Soul last year Her eldest daughter Annabelle, five, was born just one day after her cancer diagnosis and youngest daughter Elyssa was born via surrogacy due to possible health complications. Last year, speaking to Body & Soul, the mother-of-two was ecstatic about being given a clean bill of health. 'I feel like I've been holding my breath for five years and I can finally breathe properly again,' she divulged. 'There's always a low-level anxiety you live with will it come back? Is this going to be it? especially before a scan. I know the routine well but the inner dialogue and emotion is so full on, I was nervous going to that scan and when it came back clear... My gosh, the relief!' Sam Frost has suffered a tumultuous 12 months, with a break-up, job loss and public criticism after nabbing a new gig on Home And Away among her personal woes. But after enlisting the help of a psychologist, the former Bachelorette star admits she's turning her life around. In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph this week, the 28-year-old revealed she had become more positive and resilient than ever. 'In the last 12 months, I've really rediscovered myself': Sam Frost spills on how working with psychologist helped her become more resilent after suffering a horror year 'Certainly in the last 12 months, I've really rediscovered myself,' Sam explained to the publication. 'Working with a psychologist, figuring out all the different parts of my personality that sometimes you might not want to admit you have; or you might bury a lot of emotions.' Sam said that once she learned to let go and accept that criticism or tough times will come her way, it was easier to embrace it, evolve and learn to love herself. The budding actress is even pragmatic about the inevitable negativity that will come with haters denouncing her attempts to shine in her new soap gig. 'I feel now like I've got two choices: I can be consumed by all that negativity and never grow and be stunted as a performer; instead, I'm choosing to accept the fact there will be criticism and not get absorbed by it,' she said. Keep very still Sam! In Home And Away's dramatic finale last year, Sam debuted as new character Jasmine Delaney In Home And Away's dramatic finale last year, Sam debuted as Jasmine Delaney who was involved in a car accident that killed show favourite Kat Chapman (Pia Miller). And while audiences have only had a small glimpse of Sam in Summer Bay, more of the troubled character's past and personality will come to light this year. Sam explained that her character has a 'troubled background' and can at times feel 'anxious and on edge' - emotions that the reality TV personality can relate to after facing relentless public scrutiny. The blonde beauty said she's hoping to channel that experience into portraying the character convincingly. Fired! Sam and on-air partner Rove McManus lost their radio jobs when their show Rove & Sam was axed last year New love! After calling it quits with Sasha Mielczarek, Sam struck up a romance with long-time friend Dave Bashford (left) Over the past 12 months, Sam has suffered a number of ups and downs in her personal life - all while in the spotlight. Sam and Rove McManus publicly lost their radio jobs when their show Rove & Sam was axed. And after meeting on The Bachelorette, Sam and Sasha Mielczarek called time on their relationship after 18 months together. Sam later struck up a romance with long-time friend Dave Bashford who she is currently dating. The high-profile star has also attracted trolls on her social media accounts and has been blasted for her fluctuating weight. It's the hottest reality show on television, with a new season set to light up the screen later this month. But despite Channel Nine's Married at First Sight being popular with viewers, its strike rate at matching up couples is actually pretty dismal. Talking to The Sunday Telegraph this week, executive producers of the show admitted as much, saying the 'social experiment,' doesn't always go to plan. 'The success rate is not as high as we'd like': Married At First Sight producer Tara McWilliams has said the show hasn't ended in happily ever after for singles on the show, with only two couples finding love 'The success rate is not as high as we'd like,' executive producer of the show, Tara McWilliams told the publication. She added: 'However our objective is still as high as ever, which is to find relationships for these singles.' While the strike rate has been low, applications to the show have been high - with 5000 people love seekers attempting to sign up this season. In the past, the show has had some memorable flops, with pairings going significantly haywire. On the money! The greatest success the show has had was with season one couple, Zoe Hendrix and Alex Garner, which the lovebirds welcoming a child, Harper Rose, together On season four, Andrew 'Jonesy' Jones was paired with first wife Lauren who ran away on their wedding night. Meanwhile, the chemistry with second TV 'wife', bikini model Cheryl Maitland also ended in disaster. Even when producers seemingly get their love matches right, a huge issue appears to be distance, which is what happened with fan favourites Perth-based Susan Rawling and Queensland farmer Sean Hollands. Giving it a try! The only other couple who appear to be together is season two pairing Erin Bateman and Bryce Mohr, who have reportedly rekindled their love However, out of the 24 couples to enter the show, only Zoe Hendrix and Alex Garner from season one have seemingly found long-lasting love. The couple welcomed their first child Harper Rose last year. Season two couple Erin Bateman and Bryce Mohr have also reportedly rekindled their love. The new season will start on January 29, with the latest teaser showing season four singleton John Robertson back on the show - after being hilariously mismatched with Deborah Brosnan. He explained despite his 'marriage' to Deborah not working out, he decided to return to the televised romantic experiment because it was 'a good experience'. Second time's a charm: John Robertson has confirmed he is returning for Married At First Sight's new season, after his disastrous pairing with Deborah Brosnan The mature reality star revealed his main hope for the new season is to have 'chemistry' with his matched bride. 'I don't have a type. They can be blonde, brunette, whatever, they've gotta be shorter than me,' he offered. 'I like a nice easy, fun-filled life, so someone laid-back, I don't want someone who is bossy or nagging,' he continued. 'I don't have a type. They can be blonde, brunette, whatever, they've gotta be shorter than me,' he offered She shot to fame after appearing on The Bachelor, only to then enter into a same-sex relationship with fellow contestant Tiffany Scanlon. And while it appears she's moved on with another reality star, handsome Jake Ellis, it hasn't stopped a bikini-clad Megan Marx from showing singletons everywhere what they're missing out on. The blonde starlet took to Instagram on Saturday to post a sizzling snap of herself in high-cut bikini bottoms and a knotted T-shirt, flaunting her taut tummy and slender legs. 'When the light shines out your a**': Bachelor beauty Megan Marx shares racy tropical-themed snap... showing a lot of cheek with her risque caption In the racy snap, the former reality star can be seen standing in tropical surrounds, hanging off a vine-covered pole, presumably after she had been swimming. The photograph was geo-tagged to the Cadlao Resort & Restaurant in the Philippines. The former reality show star showed off her sense of humour, captioning the image: 'When the light shines out your a**.' Did Jake Ellis take this? Megan Marx poses for very raunchy bikini snap while getting out of the pool amid rumours the pair are dating after their Bachelor In Paradise stint It comes after speculation has swirled around Megan and Jake, who previously put on an amorous display in Fiji on the set of Bachelor In Paradise. Former girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon has weighed in on the rumoured romance, giving her blessing to the union. It's been a big week of bikini-related Instagram snaps for the reality TV star, who posted an image of herself on Friday sashaying out of a hotel pool. New beginnings! Even Megan's ex-girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon has given the pair her blessing She appeared to be asking for accommodation advice as she heads on a trip to the Maldives, but very few people in the comments appeared to be answering her query. Instead all eyes were on her stunning body which was glistening as she took a relaxing summer dip. It comes as the reality stars posted individual photos of themselves at the same beach. Is that you Jake? A photo shared to Instagram on Wednesday sees Megan perched on the wooden ledge of a balcony, with a Gold Coast beach in the background. Beaming for the camera, Megan draws attention to her stylish sunglasses, that appears to show the reflection of a shirtless male A snap shared to Instagram on Wednesday shows Megan perched on the wooden ledge of a balcony, with a Gold Coast beach in the background. Revealing her cleavage, slender waist and lean legs in a khaki bikini top and blue patterned skirt, the model has her blonde locks swept into an effortless topknot. Beaming for the camera, Megan drew attention to her stylish sunglasses which showed the reflection of a shirtless male. Meanwhile Jake also posted a photo to Instagram at the same time, which also saw him relaxing on a Gold Coast beach. Perched upright on a towel, the hunk wore a pair of abstract board shorts and a round-rimmed hat. Looking directly at the camera and resting his arms on his knees, Jake captioned the image, appearing to pay tribute to his late mother Robyn who recently passed away from cancer: 'Cherish memories, enjoy every moment and hold on to the things that make you truly happy,' alongside the hash-tag #goldcoast. Same time, same location: Meanwhile Jake also posted a photo to Instagram at the same time, that saw him relaxing on a Gold Coast beach. Perched upright on a towel, the hunk dons a pair of abstract board shorts and a round-rimmed hat She's the Big Brother reject best known for posting selfies on Instagram. So it was no surprise to see Lisa Clark kicking back at the beach and taking bikini photos for the popular social media platform this week. The 33-year-old showcased her bronzed curves in a couple of sizzling images for her 100,000 followers. Golden: It was no surprise to see Lisa Clark kicking back at the beach and taking bikini photos for her Instagram page this week Her revealing display comes just weeks after she opened up about what she really does for a living. The social media model announced that she's now working as a 'food curator' for her very own social media agency. The busy blonde's job involves taking photos of food for companies to post on their Instagram pages. Flaunt it! The 33-year-old showcased her bronzed curves in a couple of sizzling images for her 100,000 followers Taking to her Instagram page, the busty blonde wrote: 'A lot of you ask me what I do for a living, so here it is!' 'Apart from writing for the Australian Commerce of Buisness [sic], I also own a social media company which focuses mainly on restaurants and bars.' Lisa's humble Western Sydney beginnings are a far cry from her current glamorous life as an Eastern Suburbs socialite and Instagram influencer. Working girl: The reality TV reject recently announced that she's now working as a 'food curator' taking photos for Instagram pages Discussing the culture shock she experienced when first moving from Penrith to Bondi, Lisa previously told the Daily Telegraph: 'The girls at the office used to tease me as I spoke with a westie drawl and I ate McDonald's most days for lunch.' 'I decided that I wanted to be more like them so I began to read magazines and teach myself how to dress and speak properly.' In 2015, Lisa made headlines at the Sydney Film Festival, where she posed on the red carpet with one of her breasts partially on display. She recently revealed she is planning more romantic holidays with her beau Jeremy Parisi. And Kelly Brook has lived up to her word as she was enjoying a scenic getaway in Iceland with her boyfriend on Friday. Taking great delight in the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, the stunning brunette posted an array of envy-inducing snaps of her breathtakingly beautiful holiday, which featured a busty image of the star taking a steamy dip in a grand pool. Scroll down for video Busty: Kelly Brook, 39, has lived up to her word to travel more as she is currently enjoying a scenic getaway in Iceland with her boyfriend as shared to Instagram on Friday Pictured with her luscious locks in a slick bun, Kelly commanded attention with her garment's plunging necklace, which could be seen floating on the clear blue water. She opted for a fresh-faced appearance as she captioned the image: 'Washing all our Sins Away (sic).' The Kent native went on to post a gushing snap with her partner, as the pair bundled up against Iceland's extremely chilly climes. The model partially covered her glossy locks under a light pink beanie, while keeping warm in a black puffer coat. Cosy: The Kent native went on to post a gushing snap with her partner, as the pair bundled up against Iceland's extremely chilly climes Still chic! The model partially covered her glossy locks under a light pink beanie, while keeping warm in a black puffer coat Kelly - who has a fashion collection with her SimplyBe - also took to Instagram to share some cosy pictures of the pair relishing in mud masks. The couple have been blissfully happy together since sparks flew when they first started dating in April 2015, and in November, the beauty divulged she would love to get married at the Savoy - despite the pair not being engaged. When asked on Loose Women if she is now betrothed, Kelly responded: 'I'm not engaged, no. But I would love to marry my boyfriend. I'm waiting for him to ask me.' As well as jetting off to France, the pair often spend time together at Kelly's 1million country pile in Kent which boasts of a 600-year-old apple farm where she grows her own vegetables. Animated display: Kelly - who has a fashion collection with her SimplyBe - also took to Instagram to share some cosy pictures of the pair relishing in mud masks Loved-up: The couple have been blissfully happy together since sparks flew when they first started dating in April 2015, and in November, the beauty divulged she would love to get married at the Savoy - despite the pair not being engaged Earlier this week, Kelly showcased her curves in a simple black swimsuit for a social media snap, where she looked delighted while cuddling up to her hunky Italian beau as she revealed they were planning more romantic getaways for the following year. 'Sitting here planning Trips with my Bestie!! Cant wait to explore the world with you in 2018 @jeremyparisi,' a besotted Kelly captioned the snap. The striking brunette couldn't have looked more happier in the loved-up image as she showcased her trim pins while leaning forward to nab a hug from Jeremy. Her boyfriend looked every inch the hunk in a pair of dangerously short swim-shorts as he smiled the camera with his lady love in his arms. Jaclyn Smith is a business woman now thanks to her clothing, accessories and household lines at Kmart. But in the Seventies the brunette bombshell, 72, was one of the biggest pinups in Hollywood. And the Charlie's Angels star reminded her Instagram followers of that as she shared three rare throwback images where she was modeling for Max Factor. Hot stuff: Jaclyn Smith is a business woman now thanks to her Kmart deals. But in the Seventies the brunette bombshell, 72, was one of the biggest pinups in Hollywood Stunning: And the Charlie's Angels star reminded her Instagram followers of that as she shared three rare throwback images where she was modeling for Max Factor Smith's caption read: 'Max Factor shoot from the 70s with my favorite photographer @charlesbushphoto #TBT.' In one image the cover girl wears a red bikini as she is embraced by a handsome man. In another they are in towels as he cuddles her from behind. And in the third shot Jaclyn smiles with delight while in the shower. A babe: Smith's caption read, 'Max Factor shoot from the 70s with my favorite photographer @charlesbushphoto #TBT' The looker is very active on social media, and during the holidays shared a number of intimate photos. The TV actress shared a photo toInstagram where she was wrinkle free and looking half her age. The cover girl wore a plaid shirt and jeans as she held up her dog by a large Christmas tree at home. Youthful: Smith doesn't seem to age. The designer shared a photo to Instagram in December where she was wrinkle free and looking half her age The family: Here she is seen with her husband, far right, and daughter Spencer, who is holding her child she had with her husband, far left The star's caption read: 'My family and I wish you all a holiday filled with loved ones and friends and the memories of those who bring a smile to our face even though they are no longer here. Merry Christmas with much love ' Earlier Smith shared an image of her pup with a sweater on. Her caption read: 'Elizabeth took this shot to remind you not to forget to take a selfie in your favorite ugly sweater to benefit St. Jude patients and families. Just tag @stjude, @kmart & #UglySweaterforBetter, and Kmart will donate $1 for every post up to $50K. Please get out those sweaters and cameras and lets make a difference.' Unforgettable: Smith was on Charlie's Angels for the full five years the show was on the air from 1976 until 1981. Her costars were Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, Ladd and David Doyle, among others And before that she posed in a Christmas sweater as she took a selfie with friends. That caption read: 'There are lots of holiday get togethers coming up, make sure you take photos in your ugly sweater and upload them here on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook with @kmart, @stjude and #uglysweaterforbetter included in your posts. Each post counts as a donation!Lets help give to St. Jude!!' Last week Jaclyn shared a touching photo with her daughter Spencer, 32, and her grandchild. The pinup wrote: 'Can you tell I love being a grandma?' Chained up: The famous Angels In Chains episode with Jaclyn, Farrah and Kate Smith was on Charlie's Angels for the full five years the show was on the air from 1976 until 1981. Her costars were Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, Cheryl Ladd, Shelley Hack and David Doyle, among others. In September Deadline reported that Kristen Stewart may want to do a remake. Wonderful in winter white: Smith at the Women's Guild Annual Spring Luncheon, Los Angeles, in 2016 It was claimed that the Twilight star would play 'one of the members of the female private detective agency' and that Sony was also interested in 'several other big names, including Oscar-winner Lupita Nyongo.' Elizabeth Banks is directing the 2019 film. After Angels, Smith became very rich with her successful clothing, accessories and bedding line for Kmart. The star offers chic work and casual wear for women while staying in budget. Tyga counts models Kylie Jenner, Blac Chyna and Demi Rose Mawby among his ex-girlfriends. And on Saturday, sources claimed to Mirror that the American rapper has been secretly dating British beauty Carla Howe since October. However, insiders claim the Playboy model has allegedly grown tired of Tyga's 'controlling ways' after he requested she delete racy Instagram photos while not being prepared to commit to her. Scroll down for video New flame? According to a new report, Tyga has been secretly dating Playboy model Carla Howe since October The Mirror quote a source close to Carla as saying that Tyga has become 'jealous' and 'possessive' since they first started dating last year. The source said: 'She wasn't sure about him at first because he doesn't have the best reputation, but they talked for a few months and he seemed nice... 'So she met up with him while she was over there in July for a first date, and they started properly dating in October.' The couple saw each other last week, according to the publication, but Carla doesn't believe the father-of-one will commit to her. Rumour mill: The Mirror quote a source close to Carla as saying that Tyga has become 'jealous' and 'possessive' since they first started dating last year Enough is enough: A source claims Carla has grown tired of the American rapper's 'controlling' ways Famous face: The British beauty, who has previously dated Wiz Khalifa, was pictured with Usher last month The dark-haired beauty, who previously dated fellow rapper Wiz Khalifa, has apparently accused Tyga of having double standards. The source said: 'He's quite needy and would message her every day but then she'd see articles about him going out with other girls so she doesn't feel like she can get any more serious with him.' Tyga's most serious relationship to date was with the mother of his child, Blac Chyna, to whom he was engaged for over a year before they split in 2014. End of the road? The source speculated that Tyga's latest relationship may not last if he doesn't change his ways Fatherhood: Tyga's most serious relationship to date was with the mother of his child, Blac Chyna, to whom he was engaged for over a year before they split in 2014 The 28-year-old also had a high profile romance with Kylie Jenner, dating the reality star for three years before they split in April last year. And The Mirror's source speculated that Tyga's latest relationship may not last if he doesn't change his ways. The source said: 'He doesnt want the girl hes seeing to talk to anyone else but he cant be loyal himself, he doesnt understand that he has to be the same.' MailOnline has contacted Tyga's and Carla's representatives for comment. Jersey Shore hasn't been on air since 2012. But cast members from the hit series are back together again for the new spin off series, Jersey Shore Family Vacation. Jennifer 'JWoww' Farley was so overcome with emotion, she began to tear up during a lunch with her castmates Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi, Vinny Guadagnino, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Deena Cortese and Paul 'Pauly D' DelVecchio at Oceans Ten restaurant in Miami on Saturday. Emotional: JWoww began to tear up during a lunch with her Jersey Shore Family Reunion castmates at Oceans Ten restaurant in Miami on Saturday Leading the way: Jennifer 'JWoww' Farley and Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi were spotted filming with their co-stars Vinny Guadagnino, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Deena Cortese and Paul 'Pauly D' DelVecchio in Miami She was seen nursing a jumbo-sized drink before breaking down. JWoww blotted her tears and dried her nose with a tissue as she spoke to her castmates Ronnie and Vinnie besides her. Afterwards, she touched up her makeup with a fluffy powder brush and compact mirror. Shore co-star Mike 'the Situation' Sorrentino, 35, was notably missing from the cast's lunch and drinks filming session during their outdoor meal in the Florida city. No more tears: JWoww blotted her tears and dried her nose with a tissue as she spoke to her castmates Ronnie and Vinnie besides her Sip it up: She was seen nursing a jumbo-sized drink before breaking down Camera ready: Afterwards, she touched up her makeup with a fluffy powder brush and compact mirror The Situation pled guilty to tax fraud; he faces five years jail time and up to $250,000 in fines, according to TMZ. Meanwhile, after the group filmed scenes for the reboot at the restaurant, they were seen heading out. JWoww flaunted her long, sculpted legs in black leggings, adding a cropped T-shirt that read 'Hello lover' with a knotted accent. Having a blast: Cast members from the hit series are back together again for the new spin off series, Jersey Shore Family Vacation; pictured from (l to r) Pauly D, Ronnie and Vinny The mother of two carried a geometric patterned purse while hitting the pavement in pink slides. JWoww pulled her dark locks back into a ponytail with retro sunglasses and pink lipstick. Meanwhile, Snooki, 30, donned a colorful floral printed cover up, featuring red, blue, green and white tones. Looking good: JWoww, 31, flaunted her long, sculpted legs in black leggings, adding a cropped T-shirt that read 'Hello lover' with a knotted accent Looking good: JWoww pulled her dark locks back into a ponytail with retro sunglasses to finish off her casual ensemble Colorful: Meanwhile, Snooki, 30, donned a colorful floral printed cover up, featuring red, blue, green and white tones The star, who is also a mother of two, wore a striped bikini top, polka dot bottoms and textured heels to round out her bold look; she added a Louis Vuitton cross-body handbag. Snooki styled her ombre tresses loose with large sunglasses with a square frame shielding her eyes. Ronnie, Vinny and Pauly D all sported shorts with T-shirts for the filming; they were seen heading inside the restaurant together. Heading out: Snooki styled her ombre tresses loose with large sunglasses with a square frame shielding her eyes; seen with Deena Bright: Snooki added a textured choker to round out her statement making summer look In conversation: The star, who is also a mother of two, wore a striped bikini top, polka dot bottoms and textured heels to round out her bold look; she added a Louis Vuitton cross-body handbag; seen with Ronnie Staying close: Deena donned a leopard printed dress with sky high heels Snooki was seen bursting out into laughter during the afternoon shoot while surrounded by her co-stars on the restaurant's patio for filming. MTV announced the reboot, called Jersey Shore Family Vacation, in late November. The show, which ended six years ago, will debut sometime this year, according to the Huffington Post. Good times: Snooki was seen bursting out into laughter during the afternoon shoot while surrounded by her co-stars on the restaurant's patio for filming Relaxing: Snooki was seen enjoying a large ice beverage What are they looking at? The group was seen focusing on something on the beach Casual: Vinny (l) and Ronnie (r) were seen heading inside the eatery together Trendy: Pauly D followed suit, rocking camouflage patterned shorts with a black tank top She's the model appearing in Bras N Things' latest lingerie campaign. And Brooke Hogan is in good company too - joining the likes of Robyn Lawley and Elyse Knowles in promoting the Australian brand. Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, the 26-year-old said it is a dream come true. Scroll down for video 'It's surreal': Brooke Hogan (pictured) told The Sunday Telegraph it is a dream come true to model for Australian lingerie brand Bras N Things 'I used to look at the girls in the window and admire them,' Brooke said. 'Never did I think something like that would happen to me. It's surreal.' To keep her physique in top condition, Brooke does a mixture of HIIT (high-intensity interval training) training, Pilates and 5km runs during the week. Brooke told the publication she had recently asked her friend Elyse for advice - but it wasn't regarding her modelling career. Renovation tips: Brooke also said she had recently asked her friend Elyse Knowles (pictured) for advice - but it wasn't regarding her modelling career The multi-talented model has plans for renovations with her boyfriend Myles Pitt. Elyse recently won Channel Nine's The Block with her partner Josh Barker, taking home more than half a million dollars in prize money. 'Elyse Knowles is a great friend of mine so I'll be asking her for advice,' she said. New project: Brooke has plans for renovations with her boyfriend Myles Pitt (left) and will seek tips from The Block winner Elyse Meanwhile, it's unlikely she'll be following in Elyse's footsteps into reality television any time soon. Despite Brooke finding fame on Australia's Next Top Model in 2013, she said: 'Right now, I don't know how I feel about having living my whole life in front of TV cameras.' She continued: 'I like to keep some parts of my life private.' She's set to make her debut on The Project next Sunday night. And ahead of Lisa Wilkinson's first appearance on the program, co-host Tommy Little has downplayed rumoured tensions regarding her anticipated arrival. 'Everyone is just excited', the 32-year-old comedian told The Sun-Herald in an interview published on Sunday. No drama! Ahead of Lisa Wilkinson's first appearance on The Project, co-host Tommy Little (left, pictured with Carrie Bickmore) has downplayed any rumoured on-set tensions '(Lisa is) one of the biggest stars in the country and now she is ours and that's great,' Tommy said, adding that 'it's such a friendly team on The Project'. It comes after The Daily Telegraph reported last October that longstanding The Project host Carrie Bickmore was unhappy with Lisa's hefty salary. '(She is) p**sed off at Wilkinson being shipped in to sit alongside her,' insiders allegedly told the publication at the time. New hire! Lisa is set to make her highly-anticipated debut on The Project next Sunday night - however previous reports have suggested her hefty salary has caused tensions The Telegraph observed that Carrie's pay packet of a rumoured $500,000 is almost four times less than what Lisa is said to be earning on The Project. And while he has denied any drama about Lisa's arrival, Tommy told The Sun-Herald he is somewhat intimidated to be sitting next to the veteran journalist. 'She is far warmer and far funnier than me - I fear she may show me up for the idiot that I am,' he joked. A new member is soon to arrive! Pictured: Tommy with fellow panellists on The Project Meanwhile, it appears Lisa is already getting acquainted with another of The Project's panellists, Peter Helliar. On Friday, the pair were seen meeting up while on separate holidays in Hawaii. Prior to her signing with Network Ten, Lisa was a long-serving host on Channel Nine's Today show. Voters and community groups in marginal electorates are collecting tens of millions of dollars more than those in safe seats, according to an analysis of pork barrelling by successive Labor and Coalition governments. Number crunching by Fairfax Media reveals almost 20 per cent worth of $624 million in community grants dished out by the coalition since 2013 have gone to just five marginal seats, which hold just 0.2 per cent of the population. The pattern was the same under Labor, which awarded 40 per cent of $568 million in grants to marginal seats which it held before losing the 2013 election, meaning the electorates raked in six times as much as safer seats. Former Liberal leader John Hewson accused both parties of engaging in a race to the bottom. "The public suspicion of the political process has just been heightened by all these snouts in the trough," he said, calling for the establishment of an independent panel to oversee the grants. Two men who allegedly hid in bushland in far west NSW in an attempt to evade police have been charged with a string of offences. Police engaged in an off-road pursuit after spotting the men driving a stolen car on Thursday afternoon near Dareton but the male driver and his passenger fled on foot into thick scrub sparking an extensive search, police say. The males then allegedly flagged down another car on Friday morning, asking the driver to give them a lift to Dareton. The driver was allegedly assaulted by one of the males when he attempted to slow the car down when he saw police. The males fled back into bushland but one of the men surrendered himself to police due to the extreme heat and the second man gave himself up shortly after. The 28-year-old and 17-year-old were charged with a string of offences including police pursuit - not stop - drive recklessly, malicious damage and assault police in execution of duty. The 28-year-old is due to front Broken Hill Court on Saturday and the teenager is expected to face a local children's court. US Open finalist Madison Keys has sent a message that her 2017 season-end form was no fluke, running roughshod over Romanian Ana Bogdan at the Australian Open. The 20-year-old Keys, the highest-seeded American remaining in the women's draw, didn't drop a single service game against the 102-ranked Bogdan in the 6-3 6-4 demolition on Saturday. Returning to Melbourne Park after wrist surgery sidelined her from last year's Open, the 17th seed blasted her way into the fourth round with 29 winners and six aces on Margaret Court Arena. The Queensland government needs to better manage the state's health system with up to two-thirds of patients not being seen within recommended times at Logan Hospital, the opposition says. Opposition leader Deb Frecklington used recently released statistics about hospital waiting times to attack the government on Saturday, saying the health budget had increased by 8.5 per cent while the level of patients rose by five per cent. "Our hard-working doctors, nurses, they need support and our patients, the critically ill people who are fronting up to hospitals need help," she said. Lauren Davis lost a toenail, three match points and an all-time classic to world No.1 Simona Halep on Saturday, but won the admiration of Melbourne Park. Davis was defeated but not deflated after her 4-6 6-4 15-13 loss to Halep, pushing the top seed all the way at the Australian Open. "I left all that I had out there on the court, and I did all that I could do," the world No.76 said. She also almost left a toenail on Rod Laver Arena. At the height of a dramatic 142-minute third set, Davis required a medical time-out to treat her troubled foot, wincing in pain during the courtside treatment. She needed another time-out at 13-12, before crumpling to lose three straight games - and the match after three hours and 44 minutes. It was a brutal a loss as they come, especially given she was desperately close to reaching her first fourth-round showing at a major with Halep staring down three consecutive match points serving at 11-10 and 0-40 in the deciding set. Still, the 24-year-old remained positive. "I'm very tired. But there is a lot to take away from that match. I played really, really well," Davis said. "I have never played a match like that before where it went so long in the third set. "We were both fighting our hearts out and every point was just super long. "There's a ton of positives ... after this I'm just gonna really focus on all that I did well and just how well I handled myself at this tournament." The rogue toenail crossed a pain threshold on her first match point. "It was very difficult," she said. "I couldn't really put any pressure on them. It also took me by surprise because it came on so suddenly." Given the biggest win of her career was so close, and her chances cruelled by the injury, Davis had every right to be crestfallen. She was not. "Throughout my career I have always struggled with being so critical and being hard on myself," she said. "So I made a commitment to myself before this tournament that I'm going to be my own best friend and just my greatest supporter, and accept all that God has to give me. "I showed myself what I'm capable of ... I'm excited for what the future holds for sure." Victoria's racing industry has honoured 14-year-old Amy "Dolly" Everett, who took her own life to escape online bullying. Race 4 at Flemington on Saturday was renamed Dolly's Dream Handicap. "All the boys came out here today to represent such an amazing girl (gone) too soon," winning apprentice Chris Caserta said afterwards. "It's such a shame that no one really put something in place for this cyber bullying because it's happening all over the world and it's such a terrible thing that's happened," he said. The jockeys wore blue, Dolly's favourite colour, to raise awareness for Dolly's Dream, a foundation established by her family to help prevent bullying and youth suicide. The troubled teen, who as a happy youngster had been the face of an advertising campaign for Akubra hats, had a passion for all animals and a strong connection with horses. The Everett family is closely linked to the racing industry, with Dolly's aunt, Lacey Morrison, a former champion apprentice and trainer in Queensland. Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. The Stars have held their nerve to defeat the Renegades in their Melbourne derby via a super-over countback in a drama-filled WBBL thriller at the MCG. Scores were tied at 6-118 apiece after 20 overs and still locked at 10 runs each after Saturday's nailbiting super-over extension before the Stars claimed the deadlock due to hitting more boundaries (9-8). The epic derby had a little of everything to keep spectators on the edge of their seats. There was the four-wicket super over (including three wickets in three balls) while the Renegades were batting; Amy Satterthwaite's six off Georgia Elwiss' last ball of the 20th over to tie the scores; and a scampered two by Stars opener Lizelle Lee for the second tie of the match. There was also some controversy when Renegades captain Satterthwaite was sent packing and then recalled after the third umpire intervened in a reversed run-out verdict in the 13th over. Satterthwaite appeared to be well short of her ground after a mix-up and duly retreated to the bench, where she removed her helmet and gloves. But when television replays revealed Stars keeper Nicole Faltum had dislodged the bails with her gloves and the ball never made contact with the woodwork, Satterthwaite returned to continue her innings. The Renegades were in the box seat before teenage sensation Annabel Sutherland drastically slowed the scoring rate against her old side, capturing 2-11 off four overs, swinging the momentum back the Stars' way before Satterthwaite's last-ball heave. Earlier, hard-hitting opener Lee smoked two sixes in her belligerent 31 before the Stars' innings stalled. Player-of-the-match Alana King (22) and Anna Lanning (21no) provided some sparks late to give the Stars' some much-needed impetus and, ultimately, deliver a blow to the fifth-placed Renegades' finals aspirations. The Sydney Thunder have jetted to the top of the WBBL ladder after a convincing 37-run win over the Adelaide Strikers at Robertson Oval in Wagga Wagga. After Thunder wicketkeeper Rachel Priest's aggressive half century underpinned the home side's 4-148, the Strikers were never in the hunt, bundled out for 111. With top of the table the prize for the winner of the match, several Strikers batters made good starts but none could go in with the job or prevent the required rate from escalating. Adelaide's top order was skittled by Sam Bates (3-20) and West Indian Stafanie Taylor (2-20) while Nicola Carey (2-14) took care of the tail. Bridget Patterson's breezy 30 was the best for the Strikers but no-one came close to matching Thunder star Priest's 51 off 27 deliveries, which included three sixes. The New Zealander was on track for a big one before she fell in the ninth over. But the Thunder continued on their merry way, with Naomi Stalenberg (41) and Taylor (33 not out) lifting them to what proved a match-winning total. Shunted from Rod Laver Arena, Ashleigh Barty has let slip a huge opportunity to become the first home-grown Australian Open women's quarter-finalist in more than a decade. Barty crashed out of the Open on Saturday after falling victim to some last-minute court reshuffling and the awesome firepower of Japanese prodigy Naomi Osaka. Unseeded Osaka crunched 12 aces and 24 clean winners to remove Australia's last hope in the draw with a crushing 6-4 6-2 third-round defeat on Margaret Court Arena. Osaka's reward is a shot at wounded world No.1 Simona Halep for a place in a grand slam quarter-final for the first time. "I feel really happy but I'm also kind of sorry because I know you guys wanted her to win," the 20-year-old told the local Australian crowd on Melbourne Park's third-biggest show court. "So thank you very much because I've never played in an atmosphere like this before. "I've always wanted to play against an Australian player because on TV it always seems really cool." The marquee match had been slated to start on Rod Laver Arena not before 3.30pm. But with Halep needing almost three-and-a-quarter-hours to subdue American Lauren Davis 4-6 6-4 15-13, and then the men's showdown between Alexander Zverev and Hyeong Chung going five sets, Open officials shifted Barty and Osaka. That was no problem for Osaka. "I just think there would have been a lot more people cheering for her," said the free-swinging world No.70. "So I think it was good for me." Whether or not it was good for Barty will never be known. Inspired by the raucous home crowd, the 21-year-old thrived on Rod Laver Arena in back-to-back comeback wins from a set down in her opening two matches. But officials opted to move Australia's big hope from centre court on Saturday, possibly to avoid a repeat of the drama of exactly decade ago when Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis ended up playing until 4.34 on the Sunday morning. "Some tough battles continuing on #RLA mean matches are going much longer than anticipated," Open tournament director Craig Tiley tweeted. "In the interest of fairness to all players #Barty v #Osaka has been moved to #MCA as it's the earliest available slot." Moving the Barty-Osaka match allowed the night session featuring former world No.1s Maria Sharapova against Angelique Kerber and men's defending champion Roger Federer and Richard Gasquet to start as planned at 7pm. Speaking after the match, Barty insisted the last-minute change didn't have an impact on her performance. "For me, I played on Margaret Court in years before. Knew the court. So no, that had nothing to do with it," she said. "I had phenomenal support in Margaret Court Arena, as well. It's probably a little bit of a late change for everyone to know, but it was still a very full crowd. "I enjoyed playing out there. I would have loved to have come off as a winner, but it wasn't meant to be tonight." Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has called for a nationwide-push to stamp out bullying in schools. Following the death of bullied NT teen Amy "Dolly" Everett, who had been attending a Queensland boarding school, Ms Palaszczuk promised her government would push to put the search for answers to bullying on the national agenda. "We need to raise awareness around this issue and we must have a national conversation and action about how we tackle it as we have done on family and domestic violence," she said. US Vice President Mike Peace's trip to the Middle East was delayed last month because of protests over plans to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem US Vice President Mike Pence set off for the Middle East on Friday for a trip overshadowed by controversy over plans to move the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Pence had been due to travel in December last year, but Arab anger over President Donald Trump's decision to declare Jerusalem Israel's capital saw many planned meetings cancelled. The deadly protests that erupted at the time have subsided, but Pence may still face a cold welcome in some capitals and concern over the fate of the UN aid agency for Palestinians (UNRWA). Washington has delayed a $65 million funding package for the cash-strapped body, putting at risk operations to feed, teach and heal thousands of Palestinian refugees. The Palestinian leadership, already stunned and furious over the Jerusalem decision, has denounced the US administration and had already refused to meet Pence during his planned December trip. But Pence's press secretary, Alyssa Farah, said the vice president would still meet the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and Israel on the high-stakes four-day tour. Pence will arrive in Cairo on Saturday for a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, heading the following day to Amman for a one-on-one with King Abdullah II. Both these leaders, whose countries have peace deals and diplomatic ties with Israel, would be key players if US mediators ever manage to get a revived Israeli-Palestinian peace process off the ground, as Trump wants. They are also key intelligence-sharing and security partners in America's various covert and overt battles against Islamist extremism in the region and Egypt is a major recipient of aid to help it buy advanced US military hardware. On Monday, he will begin a two-day visit to Israel, where he will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin and deliver a speech to the Knesset. He can expect a warm welcome from local politicians after Trump's decision on Jerusalem, which Israelis and Palestinians alike interpreted as Washington taking Israel's side in the dispute over the city. - Embassy move - The State Department has begun to plan the sensitive move of the US embassy to the city, a process that US diplomats say may take years to complete -- unless they adopt an interim solution and re-badge an existing American property in the city. This week reports surfaced that Washington may temporarily designate the US consulate general in Jerusalem as the embassy while the search for a secure and practical site for a long-term mission continues. This could prove just as controversial as building a new embassy, however, as the building currently serves as the US mission to the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. And the facility sits astride the "Green Line" that divides the disputed city. A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that -- contrary to reports -- Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has yet to make a decision on either a permanent or interim location for the mission. "That is a process that takes, anywhere in the world, time. Time for appropriate design, time for execution. It is a matter of years and not weeks or months," he said. "So what you have been seeing, reading, talking about is speculation on decisions still pending, but there was never -- and I want to be very clear on this point -- there was never any policy intent to slow-roll the issue of an embassy move." Pence -- himself a devout Christian -- will visit the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites of Judaism in Jerusalem's Old City, and pay his respects at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. The US state of Illinois, where Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying was believed to be killed, does not have the death penalty but the federal government can request capital punishment for certain crimes US prosecutors announced Friday they will seek the death penalty for a man accused of kidnapping and torture in the death of a visiting scholar from China, after President Donald Trump's administration called for using capital punishment in more cases. Zhang Yingying, 26, was kidnapped on June 9, 2017, after allegedly getting into a car driven by Brendt Christensen in Urbana, Illinois, where she was conducting research at the University of Illinois. Her body remains missing but authorities believe she is dead. Court documents said Christensen, 28, who faces a charge of kidnapping resulting in a death, carried out the crime "in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner, in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse to the victim," and that it occurred after "substantial planning and premeditation." In the United States, homicides are usually tried by the states in which they occur, and Illinois does not have the death penalty. But the federal government can request the death penalty for certain crimes with aggravating circumstances. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently instructed federal prosecutors to push for the death penalty in more cases. Trump recently called for a death sentence for Sayfullo Saipov, an immigrant from Uzbekistan who drove a rented truck down a busy bike and pedestrian path in New York in October, killing eight people and injuring 12. Abdelmoneim Abu Idris Ali, who has worked for AFP in Khartoum for nearly a decade, was covering protests in Sudan when he was detained with two other reporters The United States condemned Sudan's arbitrary detention of journalists Friday after an AFP reporter and two colleagues were arrested covering a street protest. Abdelmoneim Abu Idris Ali of Agence France-Presse and at least two more journalists were taken away by authorities on Wednesday as they reported on a demonstration against rising food prices. They have not been allowed contact with their families or employers and authorities say they are being held "for investigation" by Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS). "We are aware of the detentions and are closely following the reports," US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told AFP. "We condemn the harassment, arbitrary detention and attacks on journalists in Sudan who are doing their jobs and exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression." The United States has had difficult relations with Sudan, on which it once imposed several economic sanctions regimes over its alleged support for terrorism and brutality against the people of Darfur. But last year US officials removed the last of the sanctions as part of a deliberate diplomatic engagement process. Concerns remain, however, about the regime of Omar al-Bashir, who is under indictment by the International Criminal Court accused of ordering mass killings, rape and torture in the Darfur region. "We remain deeply concerned about freedom of expression, including for members of the media, the closing of political space for all Sudanese, and Sudan's poor overall human rights record," Nauert said. "We continue to press Sudan to improve its performance in these areas, and to ensure that those detained are treated humanely and fairly... and that they are allowed access to legal counsel and their families." Idris Ali, a 51-year-old who has worked for AFP for nearly a decade, was covering protests Wednesday in the city of Omdurman, where riot police fired tear gas at some 200 protesters. He was unreachable after the protest and authorities informed AFP the next day that he had been arrested along with two other journalists. Authorities initially said Idris Ali would be released within hours but as of late Friday, more than 48 hours after he was detained, he was still being held. "AFP management strongly condemns the arrest of Mr. Idris Ali and asks Sudanese authorities for his immediate release," the agency said. - Food shortages - Several protesters were also reported to have been detained at the demonstration. Sporadic protests have erupted across Sudan after prices of food, notably bread, surged following a jump in the cost of flour due to a shortage of wheat. Wednesday's rally was called by the main opposition Umma Party, a day after a similar demonstration organized by the Communist Party in Khartoum was broken up by police. Authorities cracked down on similar protests in 2016, and rights groups say dozens were killed by security forces in 2013 protests. Critics have long accused Khartoum of persecuting the media, with watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranking the country 174th out of 180 countries in its 2017 World Press Freedom Index. burs-dc/acb US President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday. He has said he is against 'global special interests' A compelling clash of cultures will unfold in the vertiginous Swiss Alps this week as Donald Trump, just over 12 months into his high-wire presidency, confronts the cheerleaders of globalisation in Davos. Having whipped up working-class resentment of the global elite to devastating effect en route to the White House, the US president's "America First" vision will run headlong into the haughty ambition of the World Economic Forum (WEF) to map out "a shared future in a fractured world". The 2017 gathering ended on the same day as Trump was inaugurated, and many of the discussions during the week dwelt anxiously on what his presidency would portend. China's President Xi Jinping, the star turn in Davos last year, exploited such misgivings to stake out an alternative vision for the international economy with China playing a lead role in both trade and fighting climate change. A year on, Trump will be closing the conference with a speech next Friday. He faced a budget mess at home, where the US government officially shut down on Saturday after lawmakers failed to agree a stop-gap spending deal. The president is relishing his role as apostate-in-chief bent on demolishing the pieties held dear by the WEF, which is drawing some 70 other leaders along with thousands of delegates from the worlds of industry, finance and show business, plus protesters opposed to the US president. The property mogul's final election campaign advertisement of November 2016 made the distinction brutally clear, casting himself as the defender of hard-working Americans against "global special interests", over images of Davos perennials such as financier George Soros and Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein. Both are Jewish, and the ad was assailed as anti-semitic by critics. - Best behaviour? - Trump will adress the World Economic Forum in Davos, though he is no cheerleader for globalisation So why consort in the Swiss Alps with people who are hate figures to his political base? In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump said part of his motivation in becoming the first US president to attend Davos since Bill Clinton in 2000 was to be an unabashed "cheerleader for the country". Trump also pointed to quickening US economic growth and a roaring stock market as reasons to cheer when he and a large part of his cabinet join leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Michel Temer in Switzerland. On Monday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will present in Davos an updated overview of the global economy, which is indeed expanding at a broad and healthy clip. But ahead of the meetings, a WEF survey of nearly 1,000 experts and decision-makers underlined growing anxiety about the risks of environmental disaster and armed conflict -- not least involving North Korea and the United States, after months of bellicose rhetoric from Trump. Douglas Rediker, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington who was appointed by Trump's predecessor Barack Obama to the IMF's executive board, said there was no way to reconcile the WEF's globalist outlook and the Trump dogma. "It will be a jarring visit even if the president is on his best diplomatic behaviour. And that's a big if," Rediker said. - Davos Woman - Trump will be running up against internationalist foils in Davos this week such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Macron, who has subverted one of the US president's signature lines with his own motto of "Make our planet great again". The White House said he plans to meet Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, days after he cancelled a planned trip to London that had cast further doubt on the strength of the vaunted trans-Atlantic "special relationship". Eye to eye?: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President will also be in Davos The organisers, mindful of the globe-trotting but all-male caricature of "Davos Man", are also keen to extol their efforts to promote representation by women, as sexual harassment and the gender pay gap move up the political agenda worldwide. "Davos Women" will account for 21 percent of the total number of delegates this year, the highest ever proportion, if still relatively meagre. They include IMF chief Christine Lagarde, IBM head Ginni Rometty and screen star Cate Blanchett. Cue another clash of visions given the presence of Trump, whose election campaign in 2016 was nearly upended late on by a leaked recording in which he boasted of groping women. And there will be no shortage of movers and shakers from Africa in attendance, should the president wish to explain his recent reported dismissal of countries across Africa as "shitholes". The politicians will join the chiefs of some 1,900 companies to debate a panoply of issues such as the future of work in an age of automation and artificial intelligence, tackling "the next pandemic", and leveraging the potential of virtual currencies. Yet there is no escaping the long shadow cast over the event by Trump, as the convention-shredding president bids to make good on his Davos-baiting promises. WEF founder Klaus Schwab is not giving up hope. "No country alone, no stakeholder alone, no individual alone, can solve the issues on the global agenda. No issue can be solved in an isolated way," he said. Chinese tourists used to come to shop, but now they're getting more interested in European culture Chinese tourists are big spenders and with the numbers visiting Europe set to soar by nearly 70 percent over the next five years, the countries of the Old Continent are rolling out the red carpet to make the guests feel welcome. A total 12.4 million Chinese, mostly in guided tour groups, came to Europe in 2017, according to the European Travel Comission. And the Chinese Tourism Academy (CTA) is expecting the number to reach 20.8 million by 2022. "A few years ago, the Chinese came to Europe solely to do some shopping. Now, they're increasingly keen to get know the culture and the countryside," CTA president Dai Bin told AFP, speaking in Venice, at the launch of the year of tourism between the EU and China. Festivals, cooking courses... "they want to have personal experiences and visit areas where they don't see any other Chinese," said ETC's executive director, Eduardo Santander. Italy is the third most desirable place to visit for Chinese tourists, after France and Germany "They like the cuisine, the music, the blue skies... most of them come from the coast, where pollution is extremely high," Santander said. And some were surprised that they can "breathe without coughing," he added. China is the world's biggest market for foreign tourism -- with 129 million Chinese holidaymakers travelling abroad, they account for one fifth of the total number of tourists globally. And they spend more than twice the amount that, say, US tourists do -- $261 billion in 2016 compared with $123 billion. - Hot water and credit cards - Small gestures can go a long way towards making Chinese tourists feel more at ease in Europe, said Jacopo Sertoli, head of Welcome Chinese, a body that awards certificates to tourism companies catering for Chinese customers. "You can make them very happy by offering them a glass of hot water," he said, noting most Chinese families drink water at that temperature rather than cold. Chinese language television stations and good wifi in hotel rooms are a good idea while payment methods favoured by the Chinese, such as UnionPay, the only credit card issuer in China, WeChatPay or Alipay are a must. CTA chief Dai Bin said Europe should reduce the red tape for its Chinese visitors. "We hope Europe will make is easier for Chinese to get a visa," he said. Clean air and blue skies are a new experience for many Chinese visitors "In a number of eastern European countries, for example, it's easy. But it's very difficult in others. And when Chinese tourists visit Europe, they want to visit several countries, not just one," Dai Bin said. By reciprocation, China would become "more flexible when granting visas and Europeans can stay in Beijing or Shanghai for 144 hours -- or six days -- without a visa," he promised. According to ETC data, France is the number one desired destination in Europe for Chinese tourists, with 61 percent of visitors hoping to go there, followed by Germany with 37 percent and Italy with 28 percent. Nevertheless, that picture has started to change in recent years, and travel to eastern Europe is booming, not least because of the easier allocation of visas and the increased availability of cheap flights. The string of terrorist attacks in France and Germany in recent years is also a factor. In 2016, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Serbia, for example, rose by 173 percent, and numbers were up by nearly 90 percent in Montenegro. But while "the Chinese are very alert to questions of security, they tend to forget more easily than other tourists," Santander said. Popular for perceivedly having deep pockets -- a result of the Chinese tradition of giving presents -- Chinese visitors haven't always enjoyed a reputation for their savoir-vivre. But that's an image which China is itself keen to remedy, with "some tourist agencies offering lessons to customers before they go to Europe," said CTA president Dai Bin. At 17, Dawa Yangzum Sherpa was already guiding tourists on trekking routes When Dawa Yangzum Sherpa first set her sights on being a mountain guide, she was told it was no job for a girl. Now she has proved her doubters wrong, becoming Nepal's first woman to earn a prestigious international qualification. Last month, the 27-year-old completed a rigorous course run by the Swiss-based International Federation of Mountain Guides, often described as a PhD in mountaineering. The prestigious qualification has been awarded to around 6,000 people worldwide and just 50 men in Nepal, despite climbing being a major revenue earner for the impoverished country. Sherpa belongs to the Himalayan ethnic group that has become synonymous with mountain guiding thanks to their reputation for being strong climbers with a natural tolerance for the lack of oxygen at high altitudes. In Nepal, home to eight of the world's highest mountains, climbing remains a man's job But in Nepal -- home to eight of the world's highest mountains -- climbing remains a man's job. "This is a challenging field, even more so if you are a girl. There were people who said this is not a girl's job, that I won't get work or (asked) what will I do if I have kids," Sherpa said. Mountaineering is the lifeblood of Sherpa's home village in Rolwaling valley, which neighbours Mount Everest, and scores of its residents have summited the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) peak. "I knew what I wanted to do. My passion was to be outdoors, to climb. And my family did not discourage me," Sherpa told AFP. At 17, Sherpa was already guiding tourists on trekking routes, and soon after that scaled her first mountain, Nepal's 5,500-metre Yala Peak. Sherpa belongs to the Himalayan ethnic group that has become synonymous with mountain guiding American climber David Gottlieb, who works with US-based expedition operator Alpine Ascents International, remembers Sherpa showing great promise when he roped her in for an ice-climbing trip in the Rolwaling Valley. "It is something else to see that great a promise of ability in a craft that not everybody is good at. And she displayed that immediately," Gottlieb said. - 'Like an addiction' - After racking up a number of summits of smaller mountains, in 2012 Sherpa was selected to join an expedition organised by National Geographic to the world's highest peak. "Everest used to be my aim. I used to think that once I scale Everest it will be enough. But climbing is like an addiction. The more I climbed, the more I wanted to climb," she said. It was after returning from that successful summit that she signed up to become a certified mountain guide. Last year, Sherpa attempted to climb the world's third highest peak, Kangchenjunga on the Nepal-India border In 2014, she was part of the first Nepali women's team to scale Pakistan's K2, considered one of the world's toughest climbs. Last year, she attempted to climb the world's third highest peak, Kangchenjunga on the Nepal-India border, but bad weather forced her to turn back before the summit. "She was already moving forward to become one of the top women mountaineers not just in Nepal but in the world, but this certificate will open many new opportunities for her," said Sunar Bahadur Gurung, President of the Nepal National Mountain Guides Association. "Dawa is very capable but is also extremely determined." Sherpa hopes that she is just the first of many women from Nepal who will look to the fabled peaks of the Himalayas for a career Sherpa is planning to guide a team to North America's highest peak Denali with Alpine Ascents International this June, and will then return home to Nepal where she also works as an instructor at two climbing schools. She hopes that she is just the first of many women from Nepal who will look to the fabled peaks of the Himalayas for a career. "I didn't have anyone to look up to and sometimes doubted if I could do it," she said. "But hopefully my small success will inspire other girls to follow their dreams." A spotted hyena has been sighted in a Gabon national park for the first time in 20 years, conservationists said Friday, the latest large predator to have returned to a region where many had gone locally extinct. The Bateke Plateau National Park lies close to Gabon's border with the Republic of Congo. Its forests and grasslands once teemed with wildlife, including many large mammal predators, but the ecosystem was decimated by decades of poaching. A spotted hyena has been sighted in a Gabon national park for the first time in 20 years, conservationists said Friday, the latest large predator to have returned to a region where many had gone locally extinct Officials said a spotted hyena had been caught on camera traps in the park for the first time in two decades giving hope that more large mammals might return after years of conservation efforts. The sighting comes two years after a lone male lion was photographed by camera traps after returning. 'The return of these large carnivores is a great demonstration that the efforts of our rangers and partners are having a positive effect on Bateke wildlife,' professor Lee White, director of Gabon's National Parks Agency said in a press release. The spotted hyena was so unknown in recent memories that when researchers showed local park rangers the photographs from the camera traps they did not know the species. But village elders in communities north of the park instantly recognised the hyena, researchers said. The sightings are a far cry from when researchers first set up their camera traps in 2001. AS THE SPOTTED HYENA RETURNS TO GABON: WHAT IS IT, AND IS IT IN DANGER? Spotted hyenas are native to Sub-Saharan Africa. File photo The spotted hyena can be found throughout sub-Sahararn Africa. The species, also known as the laughing hyena, is listed as being of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature but, poaching and habitat loss have begun to bring on dramatic population decline. Spotted hyenas are said to be the most common large carnivore in Africa, though it's thought they may have originated in Asia and even ranged through Europe until the Late Pleistocene. In Gabon's Bateke Plateau National Park, where spotted hyenas and other wildlife were once common, decades of poaching have since rendered them locally extinct. Now, one of the creatures has been spotted for the first time in 20 years. Advertisement That year all they photographed in Bateke was a lone antelope and multiple poachers crossing into the park from the Republic of Congo. The lion first spotted in 2015 has since made the park his home. But he has yet to be joined by any others. 'This lion... has been continuously photographed during his three-year reign of the park, but remains alone, calling for a mate,' the researchers said. Members of the press speak with Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, outside the White House The US government officially shut down on Saturday, the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration, after lawmakers failed to agree a stop-gap spending deal. Senators were still negotiating on the Senate floor as the clock turned midnight, but Trump's office issued a statement blaming opposition Democrats for the crisis. Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the Democrats' insistence that the interim measure include protection for undocumented immigrants who arrived as children killed the deal. "Senate Democrats own the Schumer Shutdown," she declared, referring to the minority leader, New York Senator Chuck Schumer, who met with Trump earlier Friday. "Tonight, they put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country's ability to serve all Americans. "We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands," she warned. US federal services and military operations deemed essential will continue, but thousands of government workers will be sent home without pay until the crisis is resolved. Natural disaster, illness and political unrest came together at the turn of the year to take a tragic toll in Kinshasa, at great expense to grieving families In Kinshasa, perhaps just one thing beats the cost of living -- and that's the cost of being dead. Since the start of the year, funerals have become a common sight in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital, the tragic outcome of floods, cholera and political violence. But for many bereaved, the loss of a loved-one also comes with the dread of the astronomical bill -- as much as a year's wages -- for saying farewell to them. The morgue, the wake, the burial, catering for mourners and receiving far-flung relatives... put this lot together, and the bill typically tots up to around $2,500 dollars (2,000 euros). By way of comparison, a supermarket employee in Kinshasa earns between $100 and $150 a month, while the average civil service wage is about $200 a month. The grieving family of Jose Fataki, the humble driver of a motorcycle taxi, has been faced with a heavy burden after he was killed on the sidelines of a protest march on December 31. The dead man's nephew, lawyer Eric Fataki, said relatives raised the equivalent of $620 to pay for the body to be prepared and laid out for mourners in a canvas marquee next to a public hall. In an adjoining area, Martine Mujinga watched over the body of her deceased sister Julie, whose life was claimed by illness. "The hall cost us $520," Mujinga said. "The state takes a share of $20 for every wake" in a public hall, the manager of a venue in the poor Matete district of Kinshasa told AFP. As hundreds of wakes are held every day in the city of some 10 million people, there are rich rewards for venues that are transformed into temporary funeral parlours. "In Kinshasa, there are more than 800 registered halls," according to the provincial minister of finance, Guy Matondo. Such premises also frequently serve for more cheerful activities, such as weddings, concerts and conferences. - Vicious circle of costs - The bill to pay due respect to the dead starts at the morgue. Benoit Kulube, a retired government worker, said he had to pay more than $100 to preserve the body of his 17-year-old son, a victim of the cholera outbreak in Kinshasa, made worse by flooding in unsanitary districts. For the poorest families, a nightmarish vicious circle begins -- they need to pay to keep the body in the morgue while trying to raise enough money for the funeral. As the clock ticks, many turn in desperation to relatives who live and work in the European diaspora, if there are any. To have his son embalmed, currently a trendy practice in Kinshasa, Kulube paid a further $50. Then there was his expenditure for new clothes for the body. Next comes the choice of coffin. The cheapest models sell for about $250, while a luxury casket can cost more than $1,000. The weight of tradition can cost dearly for families who feel compelled to give lavish funerals beyond their means Jose Fataki's family bought a coffin worth $700. "This was thanks to assistance from Kinshasa civic authorities, the church and contributions from family members," Eric explained. But the bill continues to rise. Transporting the body from the morgue to the funeral parlour and then on to the cemetery can cost anything between $100 and $500. Retired civil servant Kulube chose to rent an ordinary vehicle for $22, rather than pay for a hearse, which was "beyond the reach" of his budget. At funerals that draw a large number of mourners, families also rent buses to transport members of the clan and friends from the funeral parlour to the cemetery. During the wake and the days leading up to the burial, sometimes later, the family of the deceased is expected to feed all the guests. "This is the custom," Kulube said. "They (the guests) also chip in financially." - Funerals before medical care? - But there are unwelcome intruders who read the funeral announcements of the day and then show up to tuck into the food and drink. "Most of those who come never knew the deceased closely or distantly," writer Tsitenghe Lubabu raged on the website of news magazine Jeune Afrique. "For them, there is no shame in pinching from the plates, whatever the circumstances," he wrote. Burial doesn't come cheap either. A plot in the cemetery costs $150, with $100 more for the gravediggers and a compulsory tax of 15,000 francs ($10) payable to the Republican Guard, said Kulube, who was planning to bury his son. In many western countries, many funeral parlours offer no-frills options, including an environmentally-friendly wicker casket. But this thinking has a very long way to go in DR Congo, "where people save money to pay for lavish funerals rather than subscribe to medical care," said social historian Zacharie Bababaswe. A first step would be to launch a debate about cremation, "although though this is liable to shock many Congolese people," he said. Yu Wensheng was seized as he left his Beijing apartment to walk his child to school by roughly a dozen people, including a SWAT team, sources told AFP The lawyer of a prominent Chinese human rights attorney detained in Beijing said Saturday that the allegations against his client, who has been charged with disrupting public service, were "absurd". Yu Wensheng was seized as he left his Beijing apartment to walk his child to school by roughly a dozen people, including a SWAT team, sources told AFP on Friday. Hours before his detention, Yu had circulated an open letter calling for five reforms to China's constitution, including the institution of multi-candidate presidential elections. "We believe detaining lawyer Yu for the 'suspected crime of disrupting public service' is absurd," said Huang Hanzhong, Yu's lawyer. "Lawyer Yu's publishing of this recommendation letter on the internet is within his rights as a citizen, it is not illegal," his lawyer said. Police have not allowed Yu to meet his lawyer or family since he has been detained and had searched his office, Huang said. While Yu is in detention, police and prosecutors will likely gather evidence and decide whether or not to bring the case to trial. The crime carries a maximum three-year jail sentence. The charges were "a bit far-fetched" said William Nee, China Researcher at Amnesty International, while noting that authorities could later change them. Yu has been a persistent voice for reform in China, despite the country's sweeping and increasingly severe crackdown on civil society under President Xi Jinping, which has led to the jailing of numerous human rights litigators. Yu has said that in 2014 authorities imprisoned and tortured him for 99 days for allegedly "disturbing public order". He is perhaps best known for being one of six lawyers who attempted to sue the Chinese government over the country's chronic smog. The detention order says Yu is being held at the Beijing Shijingshan Detention Center. The local public security department said they were not clear on the details and referred questions to the Beijing Public Security Bureau, which was not open for media calls on Saturday. Robert "Bobby" Shafran and David Kellman attend the world premiere of "Three Identical Strangers," the true story of three identical triplets separated at birth in what was later discovered to be a dark "nature versus nurture" social experiment If it were a conspiracy thriller it would be dismissed as far-fetched, but Tim Wardell's astonishing story of triplets separated at birth and reunited by pure chance is all too real. His debut feature documentary "Three Identical Strangers," which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, introduces Bobby Shafran, Eddy Galland and David Kellman, who had no idea they were triplets until the age of 19. But don't expect "The Parent Trap," for this altogether darker film shows how the trio's joyous reunion set in motion a chain of events that unearthed a conspiracy that went far beyond their own lives. The amazing saga began in 1980 when Shafran enrolled at Sullivan County Community College, a two-hour drive north of New York, and was told he had a double called Eddy Galland, who had just quit. Shafran tracked down Galland and, sure enough, they were stunned to find they looked exactly alike, and had the same birthday, interests, voices, mannerisms and even hands. The chance reunion of twins separated at birth was enough to make the front pages of the local tabloids but the coverage unearthed a far more intriguing story. Kellman was reading about the newly-acquainted brothers and realized he, too, looked exactly like them, shared their birthday and was also adopted. The men hit it off immediately, moving in together, transferring to the same degree course in international marketing. The public lapped up their inspiring story and they became celebrities in the Manhattan club scene, even making cameo appearances in Madonna's first major movie, "Desperately Seeking Susan." - 'Complete surrealism' - "The initial meeting was just complete surrealism. These things that were happening were just so unreal that they were almost dreamlike," Shafran told AFP. "But then once we got together there was a joy that I had never experienced in my life and it lasted a really long time." They opened a restaurant -- Triplets -- selling Eastern European fare and had a ball in the early days, but eventually tempers began to fray as arguments flared over work responsibilities. Wardle uses a mix of reenactments and interviews with Shafran and Kellman, now 56, to deliver the first bombshell -- a disillusioned Shafran quitting the business. Then the story takes a tragic turn as it is revealed that Galland had become increasingly depressed and unstable, eventually taking his own life at the age of 33. The mystery around their infancy -- why they knew nothing about each other despite growing up within a 100-mile radius -- took another twist as journalist and writer Lawrence Wright made a stunning discovery. The triplets, it turned out, were among a number of identical siblings split up as part of a dark "nature versus nurture" social experiment which began in 1960 and was led by psychoanalyst Peter Neubauer, head of The Child Development Center. Neubaur's center merged in 1963 into the Jewish Board of Guardians, which would later merge with what would become the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services in Manhattan. Visits by researchers throughout their childhoods were explained away as a "child development study," when in reality Neubauer was scrutinizing the brothers' personalities and relationships with their very diverse adoptive families. "We really didn't understand just how egregiously these people behaved," said Kellman, who told AFP all six adoptive parents were angered that they too had been kept in the dark. "As we got older, got married, became parents ourselves, we realized how impactful it was." - 'Victims, not participants' - Wardle, who came across the story while scouting for new documentary ideas and has spent five years on the film, describes the story as "one of most extraordinary" he'd ever heard. "Right from the off they are very characterful, warm people but there was also a degree of mistrust, which I completely understand," he told AFP. "When you hear the full depth of their story and what has happened to them it's quite understandable that they'd be a bit wary of people." The Jewish Board finally agreed to give the surviving brothers access to 100,000 pages of heavily-redacted notes on their evaluations after filming was completed. But these were far from a formal research paper and included no explanation as to what Neubauer was doing and why, or what his researchers had learned. Kellman went on running the restaurant for another five years but with Shafran out of the picture and Eddy no longer alive, the venture lost its luster. He went on to work as an insurance consultant while Shafran became an attorney. No one has ever apologized to Shafran or Kellman, and the Jewish Board declined to take part in the documentary. "The Jewish Board does not endorse the Neubauer Study," a spokeswoman told AFP. She said the organization was "committed to providing identified Neubauer study participants access to their records in a timely and transparent manner." It is not the kind of language that sits easily with the brothers, however. "They refer to us as participants," says Kellman. "We weren't participants, we were victims." Boonchai Bach (L) is the alleged ringleader in a major syndicate trafficking in parts from endangered species used in Vietnamese and Chinese traditional medicine Thai police have arrested an alleged kingpin in Asia's illegal trade in endangered species, dealing a blow to a family-run syndicate that smuggles elephant ivory, rhino horn and tiger parts to Chinese and Vietnamese dealers. Boonchai Bach, 40, a Vietnamese national with Thai citizenship, was arrested on Friday evening over the smuggling of 14 rhino horns worth around $1 million from Africa to Thailand. His downfall follows the December 12 arrest of Nikorn Wongprachan, a Thai National Parks and Wildlife Conservation official, at Bangkok's main airport as he attempted to smuggle the rhino horn from the quarantine section to a nearby apartment. The horn was smuggled into Bangkok by a Chinese man who was arrested a day before on arrival from Johannesburg, South Africa. The police sting led to Boonchai, who financed the network. "This is a major smuggling syndicate and Boonchai is a ringleader," General Chalermkiat Srivorakan, deputy national police chief, told reporters Saturday after the suspect arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport ahead of his remand. "Boonchai admitted he was involved," Chalermkiat said, adding he faces up to four years in jail for smuggling parts of protected animals. For years Boonchai and the Bach family are believed to operated with impunity from Nakhon Phanom in northeast Thailand, bordering Laos -- linchpin players in a multi-million-dollar trade in illegal wildlife. The town is a pivot point in Asia's wildlife trafficking chain, in part because it is the narrowest neck of land for smuggled goods to transit through Thailand, into Laos and onto Vietnam, a major market for animal parts used in traditional medicine. China and Vietnam are among the world's biggest markets for parts from endangered or protected species including tigers, elephants, rhino and pangolins Freeland, a counter-trafficking organisation which works closely with Thai police, said the Bach family are part of a sprawling Southeast Asian crime organisation dubbed "Hydra". The Bachs have "long run the international supply chain of illicit wildlife from Asia and Africa to major dealers in Laos, Vietnam and China," Freeland said in statement following the announcement of Boonchai's arrest. They are believed to work alongside Vixay Keosavang, a Laotian dubbed "the Pablo Escobar of animal trafficking", who orchestrates a major wildlife trafficking ring from the Communist state, bribing officials to allow him to operate. Laos has long been a top transit hub for smuggling wildlife products, with widespread corruption and weak law enforcement allowing the criminal activity to flourish. China and Vietnam are among the world's biggest markets for parts from endangered or protected species including tigers, elephants, rhino and pangolins. The traditional medicine market flourishes despite the total lack of scientific evidence as to their efficacy and government campaigns to end the trade. Former Egyptian armed forces chief of staff Sami Anan (R), who has announced he will challenge President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in a March election, meets then US Central Command chief now Defence Secretary James Mattis in Cairo on March 29, 2011 A former Egyptian armed forces chief of staff said on Saturday that he will challenge fellow military man Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for the presidency in March. General Sami Anan's announcement came just hours after Sisi publicly confirmed he would seek a second term in the March 26-28 election, the third since the 2011 overthrow of longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak. In a video posted on Facebook, Anan said he would seek to correct the "wrong policies" that had been adopted since Sisi ousted elected Islamist president Mohamed Morsi when commander in chief in 2013. He said Egypt faced multiple challenges after the long years of turmoil, including deteriorating living conditions and a jihadist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula. "This is all the result of wrong policies which have put all the responsibilities on the armed forces without rational policies that would enable the civilian sector of the state to carry out its role in full, alongside the role of the armed forces," he said. Anan said he had already put in place a team of civilians to support his bid, including Hisham Geneina, a former head of Egypt's anti-corruption watchdog who was sacked by Sisi in 2016 after publishing a damning report that put the losses from graft at more than $100 billion. Anan served as armed forces chief of staff from 2005 until he was retired by Morsi in 2012 and analysts said his candidacy might attract Egyptians nostalgic for the relative stability of the Mubarak era. When the longtime strongman was forced to step down by the Arab spring protests of 2011, he ceded power to the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), an interim executive made up of 20 generals in which Anan served as number two. The top post was held by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the army commander in chief who was replaced by Sisi at the same time that Anan was retired. Would-be candidates for the presidency must register with the National Elections Authority by January 29. Several prominent figures who had been seen as potential challengers to Sisi had already ruled themselves out even before registrations opened on Saturday. Former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq said on January 7 that he would not stand, reversing a pledge he made from the United Arab Emirates in November. Shafiq had disappeared for 24 hours after being deported to Egypt last month following years in exile in the UAE. On Monday, Mohamed Anwar Sadat, a dissident and nephew of the late president of the same name, said he would not stand because the climate was not right for free elections. Turkey launched air strikes against positions of the People's Protection Units (YPG) positions in Syria in a new offensive against Kurdish militias there Turkey on Saturday launched a new air and ground operation to oust a Kurdish militia from their northern Syrian enclave, defying US warnings that the action risked further destabilising the area after almost seven years of civil war. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had repeatedly vowed that Turkey would root out the "nests of terror" in Syria of the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia which Turkey deems a terror organisation. The launch came despite warnings that the operation could be militarily tough against an already battle-hardened foe and complicate relations with both Washington and Moscow. Turkey's army said operation "Olive Branch" began at 1400 GMT and was aimed at the YPG and Islamic State (IS) jihadists. Map of northwestern Syria showing zones controlled by various factions Among the targets hit was the YPG-held Minnigh military airport north of Aleppo, the army said. It said 108 targets were struck and that all casualties were Kurdish militants. A total of 72 aircraft took part in the initial onslaught, it added, saying all returned safely to base. IS targets were also destroyed, it said. Saturday's attacks killed 10 people, a YPG spokesman in the northern Syrian region of Afrin, an area the militia controls, said. "Seven civilians were killed, including a child, as well as two female fighters and one male fighter," said Birusk Hasakeh, adding that the child was an eight-year-old boy. - Huge plumes of smoke - An AFP correspondent on the Turkish side of the border saw two war planes launch air strikes inside Syrian territory, sending huge white plumes of smoke into the sky. Turkey's army said its new operation in Syria is called "Olive Branch" and was was aimed at the YPG and Islamic State (IS) jihadists Units of pro-Ankara rebels known by Turkey as the Free Syrian Army (FSA) also began moving into the YPG-controlled Afrin area, Anadolu said. There were no reports of Turkish ground troops crossing the border but Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said "ground elements" could be deployed on Sunday. Erdogan said Turkish forces would next seek to oust the YPG from Manbij, a town further east. In a delicate diplomatic situation, the top envoys of Russia, Iran and the United States in Ankara were invited to the foreign ministry to receive a briefing on the operation, the ministry said. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held telephone talks with US counterpart Rex Tillerson while Turkey's top general Hulusi Akar informed his American and Russian counterparts. Turkey accuses the YPG of being the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has waged a rebellion in the Turkish southeast for more than three decades and is regarded as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies. But the YPG has been the key ally of Turkey's fellow NATO member the United States in the fight against IS jihadists, playing a key role in pushing the extremists out of their Syrian strongholds. A senior US State Department official said on Friday that Washington did not believe "a military operation... serves the cause of regional stability". Erdogan had reacted furiously this week to an announcement of plans to create a US-backed 30,000-strong border security force in northern Syria composed partly of YPG fighters, describing it as an "army of terror". Tillerson later said the "entire situation has been mis-portrayed, mis-described", admitting "we owe them (Turkey) an explanation." "We don't care what they say," Erdogan spat back. "They will learn how wrong it is to trust a terror organisation." - 'Russian green light?' - Around 500 Syrian fighters graduated on Saturday from a US-led training course aimed at establishing a controversial "border security force" in the country's north that has raised Turkey's ire Syria warned last week that its air force could destroy any Turkish warplanes used in the new offensive. But Cavusoglu told the 24 TV broadcaster that Turkey was informing Damascus in writing about the operation through its Istanbul consulate, a rare contact between two governments who have been at odds since the civil war began. The Syrian foreign ministry however strongly denied this, denouncing the operation as a "brutal Turkish aggression". Turkey from August 2016 to March 2017 pushed into Syria in its more than half-year Euphrates Shield operation in an area to the east of Afrin against both YPG and IS. Analysts say that crucial for any major new ground operation will be approval from Moscow which has a military presence in the area and a cordial relationship with the YPG. Russia is an ally of the Assad regime which Turkey has opposed since the onset of the war. But both Ankara and Moscow, as well as Tehran, have worked closely on a peace process in the last year. The Russian defence ministry said its troops were withdrawing from the Afrin area to prevent any "provocation" and ensure the security of its troops. Timur Akhmetov, Ankara-based researcher at the Russian International Affairs Council, told AFP that Russia appeared to have given the "green light" to the operation but made clear it should not lead to destabilisation elsewhere. "I don't think Russia will agree to let Turkey occupy the whole Afrin region and insists on keeping the Syrian government in charge," he added. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an umbrella grouping composed mainly of YPG, said in a statement the Turkish operation threatened to "breathe new life" into IS and said it has "no choice but to defend ourselves and our people". A Pakistani policeman fires a teargas shell towards demonstrators protesting against the killing of 27-year-old Naqeebullah Mehsud by police in Karachi Pakistani authorities Saturday suspended a senior police officer over the killing of a man in an alleged staged shootout that sparked anger and protests nationwide. Senior superintendent Rao Anwar and other officers last week killed at least four men during what they claimed was a raid on a suspected Taliban hideout in the port city of Karachi. Relatives of one of the dead men, who was identified as Naqeebullah Mehsud, 27, from South Waziristan tribal district, rejected the claims of militant links and said he was an aspiring model who arrived in Karachi in 2008 in search of job and had been running a shop in the city. The killing led to a national outcry after Mehsud's modelling pictures posted on social media went viral, triggering protest rallies in several cities. A government committee interrogated Anwar on Friday and recommended his immediate removal "to ensure fair and transparent inquiry of the incident and investigation of the case", according to the official notification seen by AFP. The police chief of Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, has also requested a travel ban on Anwar and his team so they cannot leave the country. Pakistan's chief justice has ordered the provincial government to submit a report into the killing within a week. Anwar, along with some other police officers, had been accused of serial fake "encounters", mostly involving Taliban suspects. Paramilitary forces began a sweeping crackdown on alleged militants in Karachi in 2013 that has led to substantial drop in overall levels of violence. But rights groups have accused police and paramilitary troops of carrying out extrajudicial killings in staged gunfights, or "encounter killings". Karachi, a port city of some 20 million and Pakistan's economic hub, is frequently hit by Islamist, political and ethnic violence. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R) welcomes US Vice President Mike Pence at the Presidential Palace in Cairo on January 20, 2018 US Vice President Mike Pence held talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Saturday at the start of a delayed Middle East tour overshadowed by Arab anger over Washington's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Controversy over President Donald Trump's decision to move the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem had led to the cancellation of a number of planned meetings ahead of the trip originally scheduled for December. Jerusalem and the West Bank The Palestinian leadership, already furious over the Jerusalem decision, has denounced the US administration and had already refused to meet Pence in December. A coalition of Arab parties in the Israeli parliament said Saturday it would boycott a speech by Pence on Monday, calling him "dangerous and messianic". Pence held talks with former army chief Sisi in Cairo that were expected to focus on US aid and security, including a jihadist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula. Sisi's office said the talks also covered Jerusalem, with the president stressing Egypt's support for a two-state peace settlement and "the right of the Palestinian people to establish an independent state with east Jerusalem as capital". Pence, for his part, said relations between Cairo and Washington had "never been stronger" thanks to the leadership of Trump and Sisi. Expressing sympathy for deadly jihadist attacks that have targeted both Muslim and Christian places of worship, he said: "We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you in Egypt in the fight against terrorism." The vice president later travelled on to Amman ahead of a one-on-one meeting with King Abdullah II on Sunday before heading to Israel for the final leg of the tour. Pence went ahead with the trip -- which had been pushed back in December as a crunch tax vote loomed on Capitol Hill -- despite the federal government shutdown looming over Washington. - Key security partners - The leaders of both Egypt and Jordan, the only Arab states that have peace treaties with Israel, would be key players if US mediators ever manage to get a revived Israeli-Palestinian peace process off the ground, as Trump says he wants. US Vice President Mike Pence (L) and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly (R) listen as US President Donald Trump speaks to the press on January 18, 2018 in Washington, DC They are also key intelligence-sharing and security partners in America's various covert and overt battles against Islamist extremism in the region, and Egypt is a major recipient of aid to help it buy advanced US military hardware. Sisi, one of Trump's closest allies in the region, had urged the US president before his Jerusalem declaration "not to complicate the situation in the region by taking measures that jeopardise the chances of peace in the Middle East". Egypt's top Muslim cleric and the head of its Coptic Church had both cancelled meetings with Pence in December in protest at the Jerusalem decision. After Jordan -- the custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem -- Pence will head to Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. He will also deliver a speech to parliament and meet President Reuven Rivlin during the two-day visit. Pence can expect a warm welcome after Trump's decision on Jerusalem, which Israelis and Palestinians alike interpreted as Washington taking Israel's side in the dispute over the city. The status of Jerusalem is perhaps the most sensitive issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 and later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognised by the international community. Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its united capital, while the Palestinians see the eastern sector as the capital of their future state. The international community considers east Jerusalem illegally occupied by Israel and currently all countries have their embassies in the commercial capital Tel Aviv. - 'Matter of years' - The State Department has begun to plan the sensitive move of the American embassy to Jerusalem, a process that US diplomats say may take years to complete. This week reports surfaced that Washington may temporarily designate the US consulate general in Jerusalem as the embassy while the search for a secure and practical site for a long-term mission continues. A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has yet to make a decision on either a permanent or interim location for the mission. "That is a process that takes, anywhere in the world, time. Time for appropriate design, time for execution. It is a matter of years and not weeks or months," he said. Pence -- himself a devout Christian -- will visit the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites of Judaism in Jerusalem's Old City, and pay his respects at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. The two fishermen were snatched from their vessel in the waters between the southern Philippines and Malaysia in November 2016 Two Indonesian fishermen have been released by Islamic militants after more than a year in captivity in the southern Philippines, police said Saturday. There were no official comments on the physical condition of the two who were snatched from their fishing vessel in the waters between the southern Philippines and Malaysia in November 2016, a police statement said. The two were reportedly turned over by a "concerned citizen" late Thursday to a former governor on the southern island of Jolo, a longtime haunt of the Abu Sayyaf extremist group, some of whose members have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, the statement added. The ex-governor called the police who picked up the two. Officials would not say if ransom, a frequent motive for such abductions, was paid in this case. The Abu Sayyaf is a loose network of militants formed in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, and has earned millions of dollars from banditry and kidnappings-for-ransom, often targetting foreigners. The group is based in the strife-torn southern islands like Jolo but its members have sometimes crossed the southern maritime borders to carry out attacks in Malaysia. This has prompted Malaysia and Indonesia to join forces with the Philippines in boosting its sea patrols in the area. Indonesian embassy officials could not be contacted for comment. Abu Sayyaf members were among the Muslim armed groups who rampaged through the southern city of Marawi in May, resulting in a five-month long battle that left more than a thousand dead. In another incident in the southern Philippines, about 10 Muslim extremists clashed with soldiers before dawn Saturday, the military said. There was no confirmation of casualties on either side but troops later recovered grenades, rockets and a black IS flag. strs-mm/mtp The Syrian government has been trying to rebuild Aleppo since recapturing the city in December 2016 destroyed buildings in Aleppo's northwest Layramoun industrial district on July 5, 2017. Six months after Syria's army captured the country's one-time economic powerhouse, dozens of manufacturers with small and medium-sized factories are cautiously returning to the city's east, once a stronghold of opposition fighters. Syria's conflict has ravaged the country's economy since it began in March 2011 with anti-government protests, before spiralling into a complex war that has killed over 320,000 people. It is over a year since Bashar al-Assad's regime, with the help of Russian air strikes and barrel bombs, pounded the rebel-held east of Aleppo into submission. Buildings were flattened, those who survived were left terrorised, hungry and filled with despair, and the stench of dead bodies rose up from the rubble as families searched for their loved ones. Now, having largely destroyed the city it sought to control, the Assad regime wants the world to visit what remains: as a tourist destination. This week the Syrian government is advertising Aleppo, along with other destinations in Syria, at the Fitur International Tourism Trade Fair in Madrid, "promoting" the country's attractions to the world. It is the first time Syria has attended the trade fair since 2011, before the war broke out. The damaged Roman amphitheatre in the ancient city of Palmyra after being recaptured by Syrian troops, backed by Russian jets, in March 2017 Along with the ruins of Aleppo, it also encourages people to visit the ancient Roman-era ruins of Palmyra, the UNESCO-listed archaeological site which was twice controlled by the Islamic State (IS) group. IS fighters blew up some of the temples and burial towers before being forced out of the city for the final time last year by Syrian government forces and their Russian backers. "This year is the time to rebuild Syria and our economy," Bassam Barsik, director of marketing at the Syrian Ministry of Tourism, told AFP. Barsik said 1.3 million foreign visitors travelled to Syria last year, although that figure includes those who came from neighbouring Lebanon for only one day. "We're targeting two million visitors this year," he said. He argued that religious destinations, such as the historic Christian town of Maaloula, one of the last places on earth where Aramaic is still spoken, are still a draw to tourists. A portrait of President Bashar al-Assad was held up during a government celebration marking the first anniversary of the retaking of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo in December 2016 Damascus, Tartus, Latakia and the historic Crusader castle of Krak des Chevaliers close to the border with Lebanon, although damaged by bombing, are other possible attractions. "In 2017, the army controlled much of the country, and that was a big help to promote Syria abroad and attract tourist groups again," said Barsik. Most countries advise citizens against all travel to Syria. The war has displaced millions of people and is estimated to have claimed the lives of at least 340,000 people since 2011. Indian villagers run following shelling across the India-Pakistan border Tensions escalated in Kashmir Saturday as a soldier and three civilians were killed in cross-border firing by the Indian and Pakistani armies, officials from the two countries said. The latest wave of violence this week has left at least 21 dead, including soldiers, suspected militants and civilians on both sides of the heavily-militarised border that divides the disputed Himalayan region. Indian Army spokesman Colonel N.N. Joshi said one of their soldiers was killed Saturday by Pakistani fire in Poonch sector along the de facto border, the Line of Control (LoC). Two civilians, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed in a separate cross border assault along a stretch of uncontested frontier between Kashmir and the Pakistani province of Punjab, director general of police Shesh Paul Vaid told AFP. Across the border, Pakistan's foreign office in a statement said Saturday a 60-year-old civilian was killed and two others including a six-year-old were injured in firing by Indian soldiers. Four civilians had died in the firing during the previous two days, the statement added. Both sides regularly trade fire along the border, parts of which are disputed, and civilian casualties are common. But this week has been particularly bloody. Pakistan said four of its soldiers were killed in Indian firing on Monday. Earlier this week Indian soldiers also killed five suspected militants who they said were trying to infiltrate from Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The latest deaths come a day after two Indian soldiers and two civilians were killed Friday when mortars fired by Pakistani soldiers landed in populated areas along the border in R S Pura area. India and Pakistan on Friday summoned each other's diplomats to register protests over the killings with both accusing the other of initiating the cross-border fire. The bitter rivals fought two of their wars over control of Kashmir, which has been divided between the nuclear-armed neighbours since partition in 1947. Protesters, many of them Catholics, called for President Joseph Kabila to step down on at a rally on December 31, 2017 in Kinshasa A pro-democracy movement has called for the release of five of its activists detained in the Democratic Republic of Congo, saying it fears they could be tortured. The activists from the Filimbi movement, whose name means "whistle" in Swahili, are accused of "insulting the head of state and inciting a revolt", according to their lawyer, Chris-Sam Kabeya. Four of the activists were arrested in Kinshasa on December 30 while trying to organise a protest march against the 17-year rule of President Joseph Kabila for the next day, New Year's Eve. All were "detained in total secret since January 1, 2018... at the National Intelligence Agency (ANR) where they would be tortured," according to a statement from the pro-democracy movement received by AFP on Saturday. The fifth activist was held a week earlier in the eastern town of Kindu by the military intelligence service where he "was tortured", said the statement. "To this day, it is difficult for us to confirm that they are still alive," it added. "We condemn with the utmost energy these barbaric acts and demand the unconditional release of our activists." The New Year's Eve anti-Kabila protest descended into violence after the authorities cracked down on demonstrators. Protest organisers said 12 people were killed, while the United Nations gave a toll of at least five dead -- a figure that it said could be "far higher," as its investigators had been barred from visiting morgues, hospitals and detention centres. An AFP reporter at a demonstration in the central city of Kananga saw a man shot in the chest by soldiers who opened fire on worshippers. Members of the Filimbi movement have repeatedly been arrested by the authorities in DR Congo, often for speaking out against Kabila. The new arrests are another sign of rising tensions in the vast central African nation, where the opposition does not want the president's grip on power to continue. Under a Catholic church-brokered 2016 deal, Kabila was allowed to stay in office provided new elections were held in 2017. After months of silence, the authorities said the vote would be held in December 2018 -- a postponement that has angered democracy activists and Western nations. Russian-led peace talks on Syria will be held on January 30 in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia's chief negotiator Aleksandr Lavrentyev said Saturday, quoted by Interfax news agency. Russia, a steadfast supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is set to co-host the summit with regime ally Iran and rebel backer Turkey with the aim of setting up a new constitution for post-war Syria. Organisers had said earlier that the peace talks were planned for January 29 and 30, but Lavrentyev said that the participants would arrive on January 29 and "the forum itself will take place on January 30". Diplomats from Russia, Turkey and Iran have been holding discussions on how to organise the talks behind closed-doors in a Sochi hotel, Russian news agencies reported. "I consider the meeting went well. We managed to agree on lists of participants of the forum," Lavrentyev said. He said invitations would be sent within a few days, quoted by RIA Novosti news agency. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference in New York on Friday that Moscow had invited around 1,500 representatives of the Syrian people "including sheikhs, tribal leaders and representatives of civil society". The talks will come after the latest round of UN-sponsored negotiations in Geneva ended in failure in December. "We want to launch the process of political settlement in order to breath life into the Geneva process," Lavrentyev said. The United Nations itself will host a new round of peace talks on Syria next week in Vienna. The war has displaced millions of people and is estimated to have claimed the lives of at least 340,000 people since 2011. Moscow said it hopes the UN will send its special envoy on Syria, Staffan de Mistura, to the Sochi forum. He said that the United States was also expected to attend as an observer. The January talks were announced during negotiations in Kazakhstan in December sponsored by powerbrokers Russia, Turkey and Iran. A joint statement said the congress would include "all segments of Syrian society". Moscow had earlier said talks would be held in Sochi in November last year. Turkey said Russia had postponed the event because it met with a cool reception from Ankara and its Western allies, but Russia said the date had not been officially announced. A picture from the Iraqi premier's office on January 20, 2018, shows Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (C) meeting Nechirvan Barzani (2nd from L), prime minister of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi met Kurdish regional government counterpart Nechirvan Barzani for the first time on Saturday since the autonomous northern region's failed attempt to secede. Since Kurdish voters returned a resounding "yes" in a referendum on independence last September 25, the federal government in Baghdad has taken retaliatory measures. These include an air blockade of international flights to the Kurdish region's two main airports, to remain in effect until the end of February. Abadi has also sent Iraqi troops to retake areas disputed between Baghdad and Kurdish regional capital Arbil, including oilfields from which the Kurds derived the bulk of their revenue. After a months-long frosty standoff, the two sides are now talking again and Kurdish officials including a minister have visited Baghdad. On Saturday Barzani, accompanied by his deputy premier and the chief of staff of the Kurds' former president Massud Barzani, "discussed the political and security situation and ways of settling disputes" with Abadi, the Iraqi premier's office said. Abadi had strongly opposed the Kurdish referendum, insisting on Iraqi unity and government control of airports and border posts in Kurdistan. Baghdad wants to regain control of the area's three border posts between Iraq and Iran, as well as Fishkhabur on the borders of Iraq, Syria and Turkey, through which Iraqi oil flows to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Later on Saturday, Barzani will visit Iran, which also opposed the independence referendum given its own Kurdish minority. Sirisena (R) has clashed with free-market champion Wickremesinghe (L) over economic policy Sri Lanka's president announced Saturday that he would take control of the island's economy from the prime minister, as relations worsen between the ruling party and its main coalition partner. Maithripala Sirisena said he would directly manage the economy through a special economic council headed by him, taking over the responsibility from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his United National Party (UNP). "Although the UNP was allowed to manage the economy in the past three years, from this month, the President will take it over," his office said in a statement. Sirisena joined hands with the UNP to topple Mahinda Rajapakse in January 2015, ending the strongman president's decade in power. But since then their alliance has fractured, with Sirisena clashing with free-market champion Wickremesinghe over economic policy. There was no immediate reaction from Wickremesinghe to the decision, which came after a heated cabinet meeting in which Sirisena accused the UNP of unleashing a smear campaign against him, according to sources close to the president. Tensions between the coalition partners have escalated over Sirisena's efforts to extend his presidential term by one more year till 2021, a move that was shot down by the Supreme Court last week. The UNP has indicated it may go it alone in the next general election in 2020. Sirisena has publicly accused the UNP of being more corrupt than the Rajapakse regime which they both ousted. During his rule, Rajapakse granted himself greater powers over the police, judiciary and civil servants, excesses which Sirisena pledged to curb upon his election. Parliament voted overwhelmingly in early 2015 to restrict the power of the presidency, restoring a two-term limit and reviving independent bodies to manage key institutions such as the police and the judiciary. In recent weeks, Sirisena has sought to assert his authority, reimposing a four-decade-long ban on women buying liquor, just days after his finance minister and UNP leader Mangala Samaraweera lifted the restriction earlier this month. People gather prior to the second annual National Women's March on January 20, 2018 in New York City Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of US cities on Saturday for a second Women's March opposing President Donald Trump on the first anniversary of his inauguration. The demonstrations come one year after more than three million people turned out nationwide to voice opposition to the president, according to a Washington Post estimate. The flagship rally was held in Washington, with sister protests echoing worldwide. The expectations for this year's marches are more modest than the explosive turnout last year, but the weekend of demonstration aims to keep the momentum of resistance rolling with the theme "Power to the Polls" -- a message designed to drive national voter registration and maximize women's involvement in the 2018 midterm elections, in which a record number of women are standing for election. Marchers gathered en masse in Washington, New York, Chicago, Denver and other cities in the United States Saturday, many donning the famous pink knit "pussy hats," caps referencing Trump's videotaped boasts of being able to grope women with impunity. "We went to the first women's march, but we feel like our work isn't done and that there's so much more that we need to fix," said Tanaquil Eltson, 14, who demonstrated in 2017 and came again for Saturday's march in Washington with her mother. "I know the world around me isn't happy colors; it's scary. But I'm excited to be able to fix it," she said, clad in a red and blue Superwoman outfit. Her mother Vitessa, a retired US army lieutenant colonel, also expressed hope for progress. "I've lived through decades of sexual harassment issues and it's getting better -- but it's nowhere near where it needs to be," she said, sporting a full Wonder Woman costume in coordination with her daughter. "Issues that face women are just not being represented well enough in our country, so it's a privilege to be able to get out here and try to do something from a citizen standpoint." Thousands of protestors hoisted placards with messages including "Fight like a girl" and "A woman's place is in the White House." Another took aim at Trump's government: "I've seen smarter cabinets at IKEA," it said, referring to a furniture store with items requiring often-tedious and time-consuming assembly. More than 300 towns and cities are organizing anniversary marches and rallies, not all of them affiliated with each other. In New York, 82,000 people have registered as "interested" in attending on the event's Facebook page. "I don't know if the attackers are inside the hotel but I can hear gunfire from somewhere near the first floor," a guest at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul (seen in 2011) told AFP January 20, 2017 Four heavily-armed gunmen raided Kabul's landmark Intercontinental Hotel on Saturday, shooting at guests and staff and setting the building on fire, officials said, in an hours-long assault that is still ongoing. Special forces were lowered by helicopters onto the roof of the luxury hilltop hotel during the siege, interior ministry deputy spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told AFP, adding two attackers had been killed. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest assault in the war-torn Afghan capital that followed a series of security warnings in recent days to avoid hotels and other locations frequented by foreigners. It is not clear how many people are still inside the hotel, which was previously attacked by Taliban militants in 2011, or whether any foreigners are among them. "Four attackers are inside the building," an official at the National Directorate of Security (NDS) spy agency told AFP at the beginning of the attack. They are "shooting at guests", he said. A guest hiding in a room told AFP he could hear gunfire inside the 1960s hotel where dozens of people attending an information technology conference on Sunday were staying. "I don't know if the attackers are inside the hotel but I can hear gunfire from somewhere near the first floor," the man, who did not want to be named, said by telephone. "We are hiding in our rooms. I beg the security forces to rescue us as soon as possible before they reach and kill us." His phone was switched off when AFP tried to contact him again. Rahimi said the attackers were armed with small weapons and rocket-propelled grenades when they stormed the hotel, which is a popular venue for weddings, conferences and political gatherings. "Seven wounded people have been taken to hospital," Rahimi said. "Some other guests have been rescued. We will be able to release casualty figures once the operation ends." But several hours after the attack started Afghan security spokesmen switched off their mobile phones or refused to answer AFP's calls for an update. Afghan media is reporting multiple casualties in the attack, which comes days after a UN Security Council delegation visited Kabul for a close-up view of the conflict. The fourth floor of the hotel, which boasts several restaurants and an outdoor swimming pool, had been set on fire during the raid, the NDS official said. - Security questioned - The last major attack on a high-end hotel in Kabul was in March 2014 when four teenage gunmen raided the Serena, killing nine people including an AFP journalist. The Intercontinental was targeted in June 2011 when a suicide attack claimed by the Taliban killed 21 people, including 10 civilians. Afghanistan attack Even before Saturday's attack was over, authorities were questioning how the assailants got past the hotel's security, which was taken over by a private company two weeks ago, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP. "They probably used a back door in the kitchen to enter," he said. Abdullah Sabet, an official at the communications and information technology ministry, said IT officials from around the country were staying at the hotel ahead of a conference on Sunday. "There were 40 of them in the hotel. We don't know if any of them have been killed or wounded," Sabet said. Security at the Intercontinental, which is not part of the global InterContinental chain, is relatively lax compared with other luxury hotels in Kabul. A conference on Afghanistan-China relations was held in one of its function rooms earlier Saturday, attended by the Chinese embassy's political counsellor Zhang Zhixin. An AFP reporter who attended the conference passed through two vehicle security checkpoints. At the entrance to the building, there was a physical inspection that could be easily evaded by scaling a low-level barrier and entering the lobby. Security alerts sent in recent days to foreigners living in the Afghan capital warned that "extremist groups may be planning an attack against hotels in Kabul" as well as public gatherings and other locations "where foreigners are known to congregate". US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said it was not known if any American citizens had been caught up in the attack. Security in Kabul has been tightened since May 31 when a massive truck bomb ripped through the diplomatic quarter, killing some 150 people and wounding around 400 others -- mostly civilians. No group has yet claimed that attack. The Islamic State group has claimed most of the recent attacks in the Afghan capital, but authorities suspect that the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network has been involved in at least some of them. The deadliest of the recent attacks happened at a Shiite cultural centre on December 29 when a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing more than 40 people. US Vice President Mike Pence meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the Presidential Palace in the capital Cairo on January 20, 2018 A coalition of Arab parties in the Israeli parliament said Saturday it will boycott a speech by visiting US Vice President Mike Pence, calling him "dangerous and messianic". Pence, who arrived in Cairo on Saturday to start his first Middle East tour, travels Sunday on to Jordan and to Israel later the same day. He is scheduled to address the Knesset, Israel's parliament, on Monday. The visit by Pence, a devout Christian, comes amid widespread anger in the Arab world over a December 6 decision by US President Donald Trump to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital. His trip had originally been scheduled for December but was postponed because of the furore over the Jerusalem decision, which broke with decades of international diplomacy. The Palestinians have frozen contacts with the Trump administration and have said Pence would not meet any Palestinian leaders. "He is a dangerous man with a messianic vision that includes the destruction of the entire region," Israeli Arab parliamentarian Ayman Odeh said of Pence. Odeh heads the United List of Arab parties, the third largest political group in parliament with 13 seats. "He comes here as the emissary of an even more dangerous man, a political pyromaniac, racist and misogynist who must be prevented from taking control of our region," Odeh said, referring to Trump. "The entire Arab List will boycott his speech." Arab Israelis are descendants of Palestinians who stayed on when Israel was created in 1948. They are Israeli citizens and represent 17.5 percent of the population. A picture taken July 26, 2017 during a tour guided by the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah movement shows a camp for Syrian refugees that was formerly under the control of militants in the mountainous area around Arsal, Lebanon on the Syrian border The number of Syrians who have died trying to flee their war-torn country into neighbouring Lebanon during a snowstorm has risen to at least 13, the United Nations said Saturday. A group of Syrians, including children, had tried to enter neighbouring Lebanon late on Thursday through a smuggling route but were caught in a fierce storm. The Lebanese army and civil defence said on Friday they had retrieved the bodies of 10 Syrians, including two children and six women. But the toll has since increased. Lisa Abou Khaled, a spokeswoman for the UN's refugee agency, said at least 13 Syrians were confirmed to have died in the incident. "The victims were trying to cross an arduous and rugged passage in freezing temperatures," the UNHCR said in a statement. "Others in the group, including a pregnant woman, were discovered in time and assisted by nearby residents and the Lebanese Armed Forces and Civil Defence to reach hospitals before they froze to death." A Lebanese army source told AFP on Saturday that the toll had reached 14. "The army retrieved a total of 12 bodies on Friday, and one person died at the hospital. Another body was found on Saturday, bringing the total to 14," the source said. Lebanon, a country of four million, hosts just under a million Syrians who have sought refuge from the war raging in their neighbouring homeland since 2011. Many live in informal tented settlements in the country's east and struggle to stay warm in the winter. The UN's children's agency UNICEF said on Saturday it was distributing blankets, warm clothes and heating fuel. "More children could be among the dead as residents in the area and the Lebanese authorities continue to look for people who are reportedly trapped in the mountainous in freezing temperatures and snow," a UNICEF statement said. "The brutal wars have to stop and we all need to step up our generosity and assistance for the most affected children. We have no excuse. We cannot continue failing children!" In 2015, Lebanese authorities introduced new restrictions to curb the number of Syrians entering the country. Lebanon and Syria share a rocky 330-kilometre (205 mile) border with no official demarcation at several points. A Syrian rebel fighter in the Tal Malid area north of Aleppo watches smoke rise from a Kurdish YPG position in the Afrin area on January 20, 2018 As soon as Turkish warplanes began bombing raids over Afrin on Saturday, terrified residents of the Syrian Kurdish enclave dashed to take cover in the cellars of their homes. They had been bracing for a Turkish assault over the past week as Ankara escalated its rhetoric against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which controls the area. "My four-year-old son is terrified every time he hears the sound of an airplane," said Nisrin, a housewife in Afrin who asked that her real name not be used. "What crime did he commit, that he has to live in terror? This boy who has seen nothing of life yet?" The YPG said at least 10 people -- seven of them civilians -- were killed and 25 were wounded in Saturday's raids. When the bombing began, Nisrin and her relatives rushed to hide in a lower level of the building, following instructions issued by the Kurdish authorities. Northern Syria "We'd prepared our basements to protect our children and young people, and also stocked up on essentials like milk and medicine for the children and elderly, who can't handle this," Nisrin added. Turkey and allied Syrian rebels on Saturday began an air and ground operation, dubbed operation "Olive Branch", aimed at ousting the YPG from Kurdish-majority Afrin. A reporter inside Afrin contributing to AFP said residents quickly disappeared from the town's streets when the Turkish bombardment began at around 4:30 pm local time (1430 GMT). YPG military vehicles took their place instead. Turkey-backed fighters of the Free Syrian Army hold a position in the Tal Malid area north of Aleppo as they prepare to target Kurdish YPG positions in the Afrin area on January 20, 2018 Local authorities enforced a curfew on Saturday, banning civilians from gathering in public and shuttering businesses and schools. - 'Psychological warfare' - "I don't know how to describe what I felt in the moments after Turkish warplanes began flying over Afrin and bombing civilians," said Randa Mustafa, a teacher in her 40s. "The children are scared. Our men, women, and young people are peaceful. What crime did they commit?" She accused Turkey of trying to sow discord among Syrians and waging "psychological warfare" against the people of Afrin. Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army fighters fire towards YPG positions in the Afrin area on January 20, 2018 Ankara vehemently opposes the YPG, accusing it of being the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has waged a rebellion in southeast Turkey for more than three decades. Turkey said earlier there were casualties, but that they were all Kurdish militants. "We took steps to protect civilians, including digging bomb shelters and tunnels to use during emergency situations," said Heve Mustafa, who co-chairs Afrin's executive council. "The biggest fear we have is that international forces on the ground in Syria which claim they're here to fight terrorism and find a solution to the Syrian problem will turn a blind eye," Mustafa said. Several world powers have deployed forces in northern Syria, among them regime ally Russia. There are also troops from the US-led coalition fighting jihadists. Russia said on Saturday it was withdrawing its soldiers from areas around Afrin. - 'No choice' but resistance - "The only option the autonomous administration has is resistance. Nothing else. We will not allow a Turkish occupation of Syrian territory," Mustafa said on Saturday. A YPG statement echoed this stance, saying the Kurdish fighters had "no choice" but to fight back against Turkey's "barbaric aggression". Afrin was long known for its abundant olive groves and fragrant soap, and as the first area where Kurdish authorities implemented the self-rule model they later used across parts of northern Syria. After regime forces withdrew from Kurdish-majority areas in 2012, local authorities took over and established autonomous institutions, including schools and police forces. Jamil, a 22-year-old communications engineer in Afrin, said he could not believe Turkey had dubbed its assault operation "Olive Branch". "(Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan called it 'Operation Olive Branch' precisely because Afrin is the town of olives and peace," he said. "But by giving it this name, he proved to us that he doesn't want peace or security." White House budget director Mick Mulvaney also said US President Donald Trump will not travel to Florida as planned US President Donald Trump's participation at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland next week could be thrown into question now that the federal government has partially shut down over budget wrangling, the White House said Saturday. "We are taking Davos... on a day by day basis," White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told journalists, without providing further details. The Trump adviser also confirmed the president would not head south to Florida this weekend as initially planned. The annual Davos meeting from January 23-26 brings together the world's political and business leaders at a luxe Swiss ski resort for discussions of key global issues. The last US president to trek to Davos was Democrat Bill Clinton in 2000. KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan's chief justice on Friday ordered a probe into the killing of a 27-year-old man after his family and activists blamed police for what they say was his "stage-managed" death. Mian Saqib Nisar's ruling comes about a week after police in the port city of Karachi killed Naqeeb Ullah, claiming he was linked to Taliban insurgents. Ullah hailed from the South Waziristan tribal region, once a Taliban stronghold. Local residents chant slogans during a rally to condemn the killing of Naqeeb Allah, in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Pakistan's chief justice has ordered a probe into the killing of a 27-year-old man Ullah, after his family and activists blamed police for his death in a "stage-managed" shootout. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil) Ullah's relatives deny he was a Taliban member and are demanding justice. On Friday, residents rallied in Karachi, demanding action against the police officers linked to Ullah's killing. The family of Ullah claims he was detained earlier this month but on Jan. 13 was killed in a "stage-managed shootout" by senior police officer Rao Anwar. Anwar escaped an assassination attempt this week when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up near Anwar's vehicle. Authorities believe it was a Taliban attack. Meanwhile, Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, on Friday confirmed death sentences by military court rulings for 10 militants over their involvement in a series of attacks against security forces, the military said. In a statement, he said the men were involved in the killing of 41 people. ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - Ethiopia's Orthodox Christians have gathered to celebrate Timkat, or Epiphany, a major holiday marking the baptism of Jesus. Priests sprinkle holy water that they have prayed on through the night. The crowds jostle to get some of the water on their faces, an act that symbolizes the renewal of baptismal vows. Other priests hold crosses or beeswax candles, with the smell of frankincense in the air. Streets in the East African nation are packed with thousands of pilgrims gathered around the Tabot. The holy altar slabs are replicas of the Ark of the Covenant. Reverently wrapped in colorful and expensive cloth, the Tabot rests on the head of a senior priest during its journey through the main streets of the capital, Addis Ababa, and back to its church. BERLIN (AP) - Officials have decided to move a data center for the European Union's new satellite navigation system out of Britain because of Brexit. The European Commission says diplomats voted Thursday to relocate the Galileo Security Monitoring Center's backup site from Swanwick to Spain. In a statement Friday, the commission said it was "a consequence of the U.K. withdrawal from the EU." Spain welcomed the decision, which needs formal approval Wednesday, saying it will create about 100 jobs at the new site on the outskirts of Madrid. Galileo is Europe's answer to the U.S. Global Positioning System, or GPS, which has long been the mainstay of satellite navigation devices in cars, planes and mobile phones. Britain has already lost the European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority because of Brexit. CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - A central Indiana woman has pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in the fatal stabbings of her young children after her husband filed for divorce. WISH-TV reports 31-year-old Brandi Worley's plea agreement was accepted Friday in Montgomery Circuit Court. Sentencing is scheduled for March 19. The Nov. 17, 2016, attack killed 7-year-old Tyler and 3-year-old Charlee Worley. Police said Worley called 911, admitting she just killed her children. First responders found the children dead at the family's Darlington home about 40 miles northwest of Indianapolis. Court documents say Worley told police she killed the children because she didn't want her husband to take them. She also was treated for self-inflicted stab wounds to her neck. Her husband, Jason Worley, told officers he was asleep downstairs when the attack occurred. ___ Information from: WISH-TV, http://www.wishtv.com/ An explosion rocked a tugboat while it was docked for repairs in Kentucky, killing three people and injuring several others Friday, authorities said. Work was being done on the vessel and dozens of people were either aboard the boat or at the site when the blast occurred shortly after 9 a.m. CST outside Calvert City, Kentucky State Police Detective Jody Cash said. The explosion appeared to occur inside the boat, resulting in a flash fire, he said. Authorities offered no immediate word about a cause. There was no early indication of foul play, Cash said. Emergency vehicles leave the scene of a boat explosion near Calvert City, Ky. Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Work was being done on the vessel and dozens of people were either aboard the boat or at the site when the blast occurred shortly after 9 a.m. CST State Police Detective Jody Cash said. (Dave Thompson /The Paducah Sun via AP) Some of the injuries were serious, he said. The U.S. Coast Guard responded to the blast, along with numerous local emergency agencies. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration sent an investigator to the scene, Cash said. The boat was still upright and had not sunk after the blast, the detective said. Several other boats were nearby, but damage appeared limited to the tugboat, he said. Repair work was in progress on the tugboat when the explosion occurred, Cash said, but he didn't immediately know what type of work was underway. There were workers from four companies present when the blast occurred, state police said. The preliminary investigation indicated that 41 people were present, though not all were on the tugboat at the time of the explosion. The three victims were pronounced dead at the scene, state police said. They were identified as Timothy L. Wright, 52, of Calvert City; Jerome A. Smith, 56, of Thibodaux, Louisiana; and Quentin J. Stewart, 41, of Opelousas, Louisiana. Autopsies were scheduled for the victims. Six people were taken to hospitals for injuries ranging from minor to serious, state police said. Two of them were taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. The blast occurred on property owned by First Marine along the Tennessee River, state police said. State police identified the owner of the boat as Smithland Towing, while the Coast Guard identified the company as Western Rivers Boat Management. According to records with the Kentucky Secretary of State, the two companies are run by the same officers out of the same address in Paducah. A woman who answered the phone at Western Rivers said the company had no comment. MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexican prosecutors say they have filed extradition requests for a former ruling party governor accused of diverting public funds. The suspect is Cesar Duarte, the former governor of the northern border state of Chihuahua. He is believed to be in the United States. The state's new opposition governor, Javier Corral, accused Duarte of diverting public money to the 2016 electoral campaign of President Enrique Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. In December, authorities in Chihuahua detained a former top PRI official, Alejandro Gutierrez, for allegedly participating in a scheme to divert about 240 million pesos ($12 million) in public funds for political campaigning. The attorney general's office said Friday extradition requests had been entered for Duarte on three charges, including electoral law violations. WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump and Congress failed to reach an agreement on a spending plan by midnight Friday, triggering a partial shutdown of the federal government. Government shutdowns are unusual but not unheard of. The government has partially shut down three times in the past quarter-century - and far more often in decades past. Shutdowns have led to furloughs of several hundred thousand federal employees, required many government activities to be stopped or curtailed and affected wide swaths of the economy. During Jimmy Carter's administration, shutdowns happened nearly every year, averaging 11 days each. During Ronald Reagan's two terms in the 1980s, there were six shutdowns, typically just one or two days apiece. Staffers bring in boxes of barbecue as a bitterly-divided Congress hurtles toward a government shutdown this weekend, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Legal opinions issued in 1980 and 1981 made shutdowns more impactful. Opinions by then-Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti determined that failure to pass new spending bills required government functioning to shut down in whole or in part. Earlier "shutdowns" did not always entail an actual stop to government functioning and often were simply funding gaps will little real-world effect. Here's a look at recent shutdowns, their causes and impact: - October 2013. Sixteen-day partial shutdown, which came as tea party conservatives, cheered on by outside groups, demanded that language to block implementation of President Barack Obama's health care law be added to a must-do funding bill. Then-Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, tried to avoid a shutdown by funding the government piecemeal, but the effort faltered. The shutdown affected most government operations and resulted in the furlough of 850,000 employees, costing the government 6.6 million days of work and more than $2.5 billion in lost productivity, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service. Boehner survived the shutdown but stepped down two years later amid conflict with the hard-right House Freedom Caucus. - December 1995-January 1996. Republicans led by then-Speaker Newt Gingrich, intent on slashing the budget, forced a three-week shutdown in a bid to coerce President Bill Clinton to sign onto a balanced budget agreement. Republicans were saddled with the blame, but most Americans suffered relatively minor inconveniences such as closed parks and delays in processing passport applications. The fight bolstered Clinton's popularity and he sailed to re-election that November. - November 1995. Five-day shutdown after Clinton vetoed an interim spending bill to block Medicare premium increases. Led to longer shutdown a month later. WASHINGTON (AP) - In his first year in office, President Donald Trump has frequently bent Washington to his will. He's shattered long-standing norms that have governed the capital and plunged politics to a new level of corrosiveness. And he's wielding his executive power to start rolling back his predecessor's policies on the environment, education and America's role around the world. But at times, Trump's Washington can also look strikingly similar to the era before presidential directives were delivered by tweet. President Donald Trump congratulates Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., while House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., watches to acknowledge the final passage of tax overhaul legislation by Congress at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) Hyperpartisanship and legislative gridlock still reign. Many of the same issues that bedeviled previous presidents now sit unresolved on Trump's desk, including North Korea's nuclear threats and the fate of millions of people living in the U.S. illegally. WASHINGTON (AP) - The president was angry. He'd been fuming since the previous night, mad at his chief of staff John Kelly for saying on television Wednesday that Trump's views on a border wall had "evolved." To his base, that's a worse offense than shutting down the government, Trump told a confidant. He picked up his phone and began tweeting. In a single, baffling message, he suggested he wasn't on board with his party's plan to avert a government shutdown Friday night. His allies in Congress were confused, frustrated and unnerved by the tweet. Republicans picked up the phones to the White House. This needed fixing. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, center, R-Ky., walks to his office early Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, at the Capitol in Washington. The federal government shut down at the stroke of midnight Friday, halting all but the most essential operations. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) The episode was one of several that eroded trust and derailed negotiations between the White House and lawmakers from both parties in the final run-up to the government shutdown. Lawmakers who wanted to negotiate over a "big deal" on immigration and spending ultimately wound up haggling over how many more days they needed to talk. Cheeseburgers and chats at the White House could not yield lasting progress. The president who promised to be master dealmaker at times looked more like a saboteur. __ The week did not start well for Republicans. Trump officials and a few GOP senators were still struggling to explain whether the president had disparaged African nations as "shithole countries" in a White House meeting last week. The comments fired up liberal activists, who pushed Democrats to dig in on their instance that any budget measure come with protections for the young immigrants known as "dreamers" who are facing deportation. There would be consequences - even primary challenges - for Senate Democrats who balked. By Wednesday, when Senate Democrats huddled behind closed doors in the Capitol to discuss their options, the impact of those efforts was becoming clear. Up to that point, only those Democrats with 2020 ambitions and the more liberal members had supported the bare-knuckles strategy. But faced with a GOP proposal of a four-week funding bill that would keep the talks going, the tide began to turn. Inside the caucus room that day, an almost-organic shift spread across the senators. It felt like Groundhog Day, and few members believed things would be any different four weeks later. They decided to take a stand. When they left the meeting, Schumer announced the party was united in opposition against the GOP's 30-day spending plan. __ Republicans had other problems to tackle first. House conservatives weren't yet backing that temporary deal. Trump worked the phones from Air Force One Thursday afternoon as he traveled to western Pennsylvania to promote the recently-passed tax overhaul. He called Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., the leader of the House Freedom Caucus, who was huddling in the office of Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and a few other like-minded congressmen. The conversation with the president included a pledge to lift the cap on military spending in subsequent legislation, according to a source familiar with the discussion, one of several people who requested anonymity to discuss the budget negotiations because they were not authorized to disclose private deliberations. The White House was clearly proud of Trump's work. After the conversation, Meadows left Jordan's office to share his thoughts with the House Speaker Paul Ryan, stopping to do a CNN interview along the way. By the time he reached the speaker's office, the White House had already notified Ryan that the Freedom Caucus was on board. __ It was shortly after 7:30 p.m. Thursday when the Republican-led House passed the 30-day spending plan, overcoming solid Democratic opposition to approve legislation that included funding for the children's health insurance program, but did nothing to protect the young immigrants. Just six Democrats voted yes. With less than 29 hours until the shutdown deadline, attention quickly shifted to the Senate. Republicans control the chamber, but they would need at least nine Democrats to support the legislation to reach the key 60-vote threshold. In a sign of the trouble to come, the Senate couldn't even agree on when to adjourn for the night. When lawmakers did return Friday morning, a shutdown suddenly seemed more likely than ever. The White House announced that Trump would not travel to his lavish Florida resort, where he was slated to attend a glitzy weekend gala to mark the anniversary of his inauguration. The president had voiced frustration about the cancellation, but signed off on the change, according to a person who spoke with the president. If a deal was struck Friday night to keep the government running, he would depart for Mar-a-Lago on Saturday instead. The White House and Republican lawmakers spent the morning blaming Democrats for putting the country on the brink of a shutdown. Meanwhile, Trump privately reached out to Schumer to discuss the contours of "a big deal," according to a source familiar with the conversation. The two New Yorkers agreed that short-term spending plans were largely a waste of time and agreed to meet in person to discuss a way forward. __ Trump and Schumer each brought just one aide to Friday's Oval Office lunch. The president was flanked by chief of staff John Kelly, while Schumer brought his own chief of staff. Over cheeseburgers, they discussed a broad deal that would include a large increase in defense and border spending in exchange for protections for the young immigrants. Schumer suggested a two- or three-day resolution would give congressional negotiators time to nail down the details. He left the White House without a deal, but believed he had an understanding they were close. As news of the Schumer meeting spread, the White House sought to reassure Republican leaders that Trump wasn't making any major policy concessions. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told reporters Trump had simply told Schumer to work things out with Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. A few hours later, Trump called Schumer - but the conversation had changed. He wanted to talk about an apparent deal for a three-week spending bill he believed had been struck by leaders by both parties. Schumer was confused and said it was the first he had heard of it, according to a person familiar with the conversation. The president encouraged Schumer to work it out with McConnell. McConnell, unsure what Trump might support, encouraged Schumer to work it out with the White House. The White House did not immediately comment on the conversations. Trump called Schumer one more time as the evening turned to night, this time with chief of staff Kelly on the phone. He raised new concerns about the deal they had discussed during lunch. In a subsequent phone call with Schumer, Kelly said the deal was too liberal. __ Trump spent much of the rest of the evening watching cable television coverage of the impending shutdown and talking on the phone with his network of outside advisers. He told one person he was convinced Democrats would take the blame for the shutdown. He also expressed annoyance he was not at Mar-a-Lago. Speaking on the Senate floor after midnight, when the shutdown had formally begun, Schumer expressed disappointment for the deal that almost was. "The same chaos, the same disarray, the same division and discord on the Republican side that's been in the background of these negotiations for months, unfortunately appears endemic," Schumer said. He added, "This is no way to conduct the nation's business." __ Peoples reported from New York. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Julie Pace contributed to this report. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., walks to the chamber after a closed meeting with fellow democrats on Capitol Hill, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., left, and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., walk outside the Senate chamber on Capitol Hill, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., front right, walks as he is questioned by reporters on Capitol Hill, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal government has shut down at the stroke of midnight Friday. That has halted all but the most essential operations and marred the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration in a striking display of Washington dysfunction. Last-minute negotiations crumbled as Senate Democrats blocked a four-week stopgap extension in a late-night vote, causing the fourth government shutdown in a quarter century. Behind the scenes, however, leading Republicans and Democrats were trying to work out a compromise to avert a lengthy shutdown. Congress scheduled an unusual Saturday session to begin considering a three-week version of the short-term spending measure. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., walks to the chamber after a closed meeting with fellow democrats on Capitol Hill, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) With no apparent indications of a breakthrough in the Senate to avoid a government shutdown, the Capitol is illuminated in Washington, Friday evening, Jan. 19, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, is surrounded by reporters following a TV interviewed about a possible government shutdown at the White House, in Washington, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) President Donald Trump waits to be introduced to speak to the March for Life participants from the Rose Garden of the White House, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney, right, and Marc Short, left, White House director for legislative affairs, speak to members of the media in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, about a potential government shutdown this weekend. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., arrives at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, as a bitterly-divided Congress hurtles toward a government shutdown this weekend in a partisan stare-down over demands by Democrats for a solution on politically fraught legislation to protect about 700,000 younger immigrants from being deported. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) LOS ANGELES (AP) - The governor of California once again denied parole Friday for Leslie Van Houten, the youngest follower of murderous cult leader Charles Manson who blamed herself at her parole hearing for letting him control her life. Gov. Jerry Brown said in his decision that Van Houten still lays too much of the blame on Manson, who died two months ago at 83. Brown acknowledged that Van Houten's youth at the time of the crime, her more than four decades as a model prisoner and her abuse at the hands of Manson make it worth considering her release. FILE - In this Sept. 6, 2017, file photo, Leslie Van Houten attends her parole hearing at the California Institution for Women in Corona, Calif. California Gov. Jerry Brown has again denied parole for Van Houten, the youngest follower of murderous cult leader Charles Manson. Brown said in his decision announced Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, that despite Van Houten saying at her parole hearing that she accepts full responsibility for her crimes, she still lays too much of the blame on Manson, who died two months ago. (Stan Lim/Los Angeles Daily News via AP, Pool, File) "However," he wrote in his decision "these factors are outweighed by negative factors that demonstrate she remains unsuitable for parole." The 68-year-old Van Houten is serving life for the murders of wealthy grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, when Van Houten was 19. They were stabbed a day after other Manson followers killed pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four other people in Los Angeles. Van Houten's attorney, Rich Pfeiffer, said Brown's decision shows an unprecedented and unlawful reliance to deny parole based on the circumstances of the crime, rather than the inmate's fitness. "We're going to challenge this in court," Pfeiffer said. "I expect the courts to uphold the law and allow her to be released." Pfeiffer added that he has "dozens of clients who have done much worse deeds than Leslie has done and they're out leading productive lives." Van Houten has long been considered among the most likely candidates among Manson "family" members to be paroled, But Brown, like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger before him, has steadfastly refused to let anyone associated with Manson's killings go free. It's the second time Brown has blocked parole for Van Houten after a state parole panel recommended that she be freed. Brown wrote Friday that Van Houten "played a vital part in the LaBianca murders, one of the most notorious of the Manson family crimes. The devastation and loss experienced by the LaBianca family and all the victims' families continues today." Although she said at her September parole hearing that she accepts full responsibility for her role, Van Houten "still shifted blame for her own actions onto Manson to some extent." Brown recalled Van Houten saying that she takes responsibility for "Manson being able to do what he did to all of us. I allowed it. I accept responsibility that I allowed him to conduct my life in that way." She appeared frail at the parole hearing with her silver hair pulled back in a bun, almost unrecognizable from the young woman who pledged her allegiance to Manson. She said at the hearing that she was devastated when her parents divorced when she was 14. Soon after, she said, she began hanging out with her school's outcast crowd and using drugs in the Los Angeles suburb of Monrovia. When she was 17, she and her boyfriend ran away to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury District during the city' summer of love. She was traveling up and down the California coast when acquaintances led her to Manson, who was holed up at an abandoned movie ranch on the outskirts of Los Angeles where he had recruited what he called a "family" to survive what he insisted would be a race war he would launch by committing a series of random, horrifying murders. At her hearing, Van Houten candidly described how she joined several other members of the group in killing the LaBiancas, carving up Leno LaBianca's body and smearing the couple's blood on the walls. No one who took part in the Tate-LaBianca murders has been released from prison. Manson died of natural causes on Nov. 20 at a California hospital while serving a life sentence. A man who befriended him through letters and another who purports to be his grandson are fighting in court over his body and possessions. BERLIN (AP) - The leaders of Germany's Social Democrats made a final push Saturday to try and convince party members to approve opening talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives on forming a new coalition government, saying it was the best option left on the table. The center-left party, which has governed with Merkel since 2013, was battered in September's election, falling to a post-war low of 20.5 percent support. Leader Martin Schulz had vowed not to enter another coalition, saying his party would regroup in opposition. But he reconsidered after Merkel's attempts to form a coalition with two smaller parties failed. FILE - In this Jan. 17, 2018 file photo Martin Schulz, chairman of the Social Democratic Party, SPD, attends a party meeting in Mainz, Germany. Leaders of Germany's Social Democrats are making their final push to try and convince party members to approve opening talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives on forming a new government. (Andreas Arnold/dpa via AP, file) Now it's up to a party vote in Bonn on Sunday whether to open negotiations, based upon a 28-page agreement on issues hashed out a week ago between the Social Democrats, Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, and her Bavarian-only sister Christian Social Union. Schulz and other leaders face firm resistance, led by the party's youth wing, driven by fears that concessions needed to form another so-called grand coalition of the country's biggest parties will further alienate the Social Democrats' base and lead to a further erosion of support. Many have also expressed concerns that if a coalition is formed, that would leave the anti-migrant nationalist Alternative for Germany the country's largest opposition party. Even if negotiations are approved, party members still need to also sign off on whatever coalition agreement is concluded. But if they vote against negotiations, that leaves only the possibilities that Merkel will form a minority government - which she has indicated she doesn't want - or a new election. Should it come to another election, the latest polls suggest the results would be very similar to those in September - with the Social Democrats possibly faring even a little worse - creating the same situation again. Senior Social Democratic lawmaker Andrea Nahles, told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper she was confident coalition negotiations would be approved, while warning the party would be put on the defensive in any new election campaign. "Please consider what consequences a failure of this government option will have," she said. "New elections are fraught with many risks and side effects... Some believe that the Social Democrats can only renew itself in opposition but that is a fallacy." Right now, it's thought that about a third of the delegates voting Sunday are against opening negotiations with Merkel, a third are for, while a third are undecided. Complicating matters, two of the biggest voting blocs, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, are considering only voting for opening negotiations on the condition that Schulz push for more concessions on labor, health and migration policies with Merkel's conservatives, according to a report in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. The Union bloc, however, has indicated it will not agree to any changes to the document already negotiated. Deputy party leader Olaf Scholz, mayor of the city-state of Hamburg, urged party members to vote for opening formal negotiations and break the political deadlock in Germany, saying Europe was watching. "The decision of this party congress is important for Germany, but affects things far beyond our border," he told the dpa news agency. MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Alexander Zverev has long been touted as a future Grand Slam champion. The problem is he can't seem to get anywhere near the second week of a major, let alone contend for one. The fourth-seeded Zverev made yet another puzzling early exit at a Grand Slam tournament, dropping 12 of the final 15 games in a 5-7, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 loss to fellow rising star Hyeon Chung in the third round of the Australian Open on Saturday. The 20-year-old German player won five ATP tournaments last year, second only to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, but has only reached the fourth round of a major once - at last year's Wimbledon - and has never gone beyond. Germany's Alexander Zverev waves as he leaves Rod Laver Arena after losing his third round to South Korea's Chung Hyeon at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian) More troubling, Zverev has notched multiple wins over top-10 players like Federer, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka at regular ATP tournaments, but has never managed to beat a player ranked in the top 50 at a major. When asked after his match whether his problem in best-of-five-set matches was physical or mental, a downcast Zverev replied, "Definitely not physical." "I have some figuring out to do, what happens to me in deciding moments in Grand Slam," he said. "It happened at Wimbledon. It happened in New York. It happened here." Zverev's Grand Slam record is a paltry 14-11. Among those he's lost to are Borna Coric (second round, 2017 U.S. Open), Dan Evans (second round, 2016 U.S. Open) and Fernando Verdasco (first round, 2017 French Open). Part of the issue, Zverev admitted, was that he puts too much pressure on himself to do well at the slams. "I'm still young, so I got time," he said. "At the other tournaments, my three-set record is pretty decent over the last few years." Zverev said Federer had spoken to him in the locker room after the match and offered him some words of encouragement. Zverev didn't elaborate too much, but Federer was happy to after his third-round win later Saturday. "I just think it's important to sometimes take a step back and actually see the good things you've done, give yourself time, maybe set the bar a bit lower," Federer said "That's what I told Sascha. I said, 'Be patient about it. Don't put yourself under unnecessary pressure. Learn from these mistakes. Whatever happened happened'. I just thought some nice words would maybe cheer him up." Against Chung, Zverev seemed to come apart inexplicably in the fourth set. He played at a high level for the first three sets, hitting 48 winners, including 19 aces, and making 27 unforced errors. He managed just nine winners to 24 unforced errors the rest of the match. "I think game-wise, my level was good. I think I should have won in four sets," he said. Zverev said Chung had dramatically improved in the last year and is playing better than his current ranking of No. 58. "This was a top-10 level match from the start till the end of the fourth set, and for him until the end," he said. "When he plays like that, there are very, very few people who will beat him." Chung went undefeated last November to capture the title at the much-hyped NextGen ATP Finals, a tournament for the best eight players aged 21 and under. Zverev didn't take part because he qualified for the ATP Finals in London. And with his run in Melbourne, Chung becomes the first South Korean man to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open and just the third Korean player (male or female) ever to do it at a Grand Slam. His next opponent is not ranked as high as Zverev, but presents just as daunting a challenge - six-time champion Novak Djokovic. The Serbian player, seeded 14th, beat Chung in straight sets in the first round two years ago. "I have one more chance to play with a great player in the world," he said. "I'm just happy to share the court with Novak." _____ More AP coverage: www.apnews.com/tag/AustralianOpen Germany's Alexander Zverev makes a forehand return to South Korea's Chung Hyeon during their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian) Germany's Alexander Zverev breaks his racket in frustration during his third round match against South Korea's Chung Hyeon at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian) South Korea's Chung Hyeon celebrates after defeating Germany's Alexander Zverev in their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian) MADRID (AP) - Spain's maritime rescue service says it has saved 56 migrants trying to make the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea from Africa to European shores. The service says two boats were intercepted by its search craft Saturday morning. One boat was carrying 23 men in the Strait of Gibraltar. A second boat with 33 men of sub-Saharan origin was located east of the Strait near Alboran Island. Europe's border watchdog said Friday that 22,880 migrants had arrived in Spain last year by sea, up from 10,231 in 2016. It also warned it expects the number of migrants using the western Mediterranean route to Europe to increase this year. In this Friday Jan.19, 2018 photo aid workers from the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms help refugees and migrants to disembark from the rescue vessel, at the port of Pozzallo, in Sicily, Italy. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios) The International Organization for Migration says 2,583 migrants entered Europe by sea this year through Wednesday, and 199 others died en route. In this Thursday Jan. 18, 2018 photo Guillermo Canardo, a doctor from the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms, assists an Eritrean child as the organization's rescue vessel heads to Italy with more than 500 refugees and migrants on board. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios) In this Thursday Jan. 18, 2018 photo a Sub-Saharan baby rests aboard the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms vessel after being rescued off the Libyan coast when they were trying to reach European soil, north of Sabratha, Libya. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios) In this Thursday Jan. 18, 2018 photo a doctor from the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms assists an Eritrean woman as the organization's rescue vessel heads to Italy with more than 300 refugees and migrants on board. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios) In this Friday Jan.19, 2018 photo aid workers from the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms wait to disembark the lifeless bodies of an Eritrean man and 2 babies from the organization's rescue vessel, at the port of Pozzallo, in Sicily, Italy. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios) In this Friday Jan.19, 2018 photo Sub-Saharan refugees and migrants look to the Italian authorities from aboard the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms rescue vessel, at the port of Pozzallo, in Sicily, Italy. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios) In this Tuesday Jan. 16, 2018 photo a wooden boat used by 450 refugees and migrants, mostly from Eritrea, remains abandoned off the Libyan coast after they were rescued by aid workers of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms, 34 miles north of Kasr-El-Karabulli, Libya. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios) In this Friday Jan.19, 2018 photo women and children from Eritrea sing and pray to celebrate their arrival to Europe aboard the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms rescue vessel, Pozzallo, Sicily, Italy. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios) Two Americans and two Canadians who were kidnapped in Nigeria's north-central Kaduna state on Tuesday have been freed and are in good condition, police said Saturday. Police and a special anti-kidnapping squad rescued the foreigners in the Kagarko local government area Friday night after a massive manhunt, state police commissioner Agyole Abeh said. 'No ransom was paid. It was the efforts of the police through the directives of the Inspector General of Police that led to their release,' he said. Police and a special anti-kidnapping squad rescued the four foreigners in the Kagarko local government area Friday night after a massive manhunt. Kafanchan was the area where the people were taken One suspect was arrested in connection with the kidnapping and police were on the trail of remaining suspects, Abeh said. The foreigners have been taken to the capital, Abuja, Kaduna state police spokesman Mukhtar Aliyu said. 'They are in good condition but due to trauma they have to undergo medical observation.' Aliyu said. Gunmen ambushed the foreigners Tuesday as they traveled from Kafanchan in Kaduna state to Abuja. Two police escorts were killed in what police called a 'fierce gun battle.' Gunmen ambushed the foreigners Tuesday as they traveled from Kafanchan in Kaduna state to Abuja The Americans and Canadians have not been publicly identified. Aliyu earlier said they are investors setting up solar stations in villages around Kafanchan. The U.S. State Department said that 'we are aware of reports of two U.S. citizens kidnapped and released in Nigeria. The safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas are among our top priorities. Due to privacy considerations we have no further comment.' Kidnapping for ransom is common in Nigeria, especially on the Kaduna to Abuja highway. Two German archaeologists were seized at gunpoint last year less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Abuja and later freed unharmed. Sierra Leone's deputy high commissioner was taken at gunpoint on the highway in 2016 and held for five days before he was let go. Victims typically are released unharmed after ransom is paid, though security forces have rescued a few high-profile abductees. A number of bandits, including herdsmen, have been arrested. JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Two Indonesian hostages have been released after being held for more than a year in the southern Philippines by their Abu Sayyaf captors, Indonesia's Foreign Ministry said Saturday. The two fishermen, identified as La Utu bin Raali and La Hadi bi La Adi, from the Wakatobi islands in Southeast Sulawesi province were freed Friday in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, the ministry said. They were kidnapped November 5, 2016, from different fishing boats in waters off Sabah, Malaysia. Indonesian officials in the Philippines are arranging their return home with local authorities, the ministry said in a statement. Details about their release were not immediately known. The Abu Sayyaf has been blacklisted as a terrorist organization by the United States and the Philippines for deadly bombings, kidnappings and beheadings. Indonesia and its neighboring countries of Malaysia and the Philippines now conduct joint maritime patrols in in the Sulu Sea to fight pirate attacks and transnational crimes. JACKMAN, Maine (AP) - The town manager of a rural Maine community says he's the leader of a racial segregationist group, and he believes the United States would be better off if people of different races were to "voluntarily separate." Jackman town manager Tom Kawczynski wants to preserve the white majority of northern New England and Atlantic Canada, he has told the Bangor Daily News. He moved to Maine a year ago and launched a group called "New Albion" to promote what he calls "the positive aspects of our European heritage." American Civil Liberties Union of Maine legal director Zachary Heiden said Kawczynski's attitudes and materials are "shockingly racist." Kawczynski has defended his group as "pro-white" without being opposed to other racial groups. But he has also called Islam "the scourge of Western civilization" and incompatible with his view of American society. Kawczynski said he doesn't run town affairs in a way that discriminates against anyone. Jackman Town Office officials did not immediately return a message from The Associated Press. SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel is voicing support for continuing the dialogue between the European Union and Turkey. Merkel said Saturday during a news conference in the Bulgarian capital that "we need to have orderly relations with Turkey." Speaking about EU-Turkey relations, Merkel hailed the idea for a meeting of the leaders of European institutions with Turkey's president in Bulgaria and "to talk openly on all issues." German chancellor Angela Merkel speaks during joint news conference with her Bulgarian counterpart after their meeting in Sofia, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. Merkel is on a one day visit to the country. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova) In Sofia, Merkel discussed with her Bulgarian counterpart, Boyko Borissov, the main issues of the six-month European Council presidency, which the Balkan country assumed at the beginning of this month. Merkel said that the motto of the presidency 'United we stand strong' is "what we all need in the European Union." TRUJILLO, Peru (AP) - The Latest on Pope Francis' visit to Peru (all times local): 4:30 p.m. Pope Francis is denouncing killings of women and other gender-based crimes that have turned Latin America into the most violent place on Earth for women. Pope Francis arrives for a tribute to the Virgen de la Puerta at the Plaza de Armas in Trujillo, Peru, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) At a Marian prayer in the northern Peruvian city of Trujillo, Francis called women, mothers and grandmothers the guiding force for families. But he said women are nevertheless victims of "femicide and many situations of violence that are kept quiet behind so many walls." He called Saturday for legislation protecting women and a new culture "that repudiates every form of violence." It was the second time in as many days that he has spoken out about gender violence, following his strong defense of indigenous women in the Amazon. ___ 1:55 p.m. Authorities in Chile are probing a new church burning that comes after a series of fires at religious buildings following Pope Francis' visit to the nation. The Church of the Virgin of Candelaria is located about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of the capital, Santiago. Officials say it burned to the ground in an overnight blaze. Commander Rodolfo Zuniga of the regional firefighting corps told Bio Bio radio Saturday that investigators are examining the possibility someone instigated the blaze. He did not give details on who may have been responsible. Several churches were damaged by firebombs during the pontiff's visit to Chile earlier this week. Francis left the country Thursday and is currently in neighboring Peru. ___ 12:20 p.m. Pope Francis may not have returned to his native Argentina since becoming pontiff, but he is traveling through a Peruvian town with the same name as his birthplace. People lined the streets Saturday in Buenos Aires, Peru, to greet Francis as he rode through on the pope mobile. Some waved Argentine flags. Like the sprawling, densely populated capital of Argentina, Peru's Buenos Aires is situated on the water. The comparisons might end there, however. The town of about 20,000 people consists mostly of simple one-story homes, many of which were damaged in El Nino storms last year when heavy rains caused by a warming of Pacific Ocean waters left more than 150 dead across the country. The first pope from Latin America has traveled throughout the region since becoming pontiff five years ago but not Argentina. ___ 12:10 p.m. Pope Francis' top adviser on clerical sex abuse has implicitly criticized the pope over his accusations of slander against Chilean abuse victims, saying his words were "a source of great pain for survivors of sexual abuse." Cardinal Sean O'Malley said in a statement Saturday that he couldn't explain why Francis "chose the particular words he used." He insisted that Francis "fully recognizes the egregious failures of the church and its clergy who abused children and the devastating impact those crimes have had on survivors and their loved ones." Francis set off a national uproar upon leaving Chile on Thursday by accusing victims of the country's most notorious pedophile priest of having slandered another bishop by saying he knew of the abuse but did nothing. ___ 10:20 a.m. Pope Francis is consoling Peruvians who lost their homes and livelihoods in devastating floods, telling them they can overcome all of life's "storms" by coming together as a community. Francis travelled Saturday to an area of northern Peru that is frequently affected by El Nino storms and was hit last year by flooding that killed more than 150 people and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes. Some residents are still living in tents. Francis said he wanted to come to Trujillo to pray with those who lost everything and must contend with "other storms that can hit these coasts, with devastating effects on the lives of the children of these lands." He also mentioned organized violence and contract killings, a problem which is particularly acute in northern Peru. He said Peruvians have shown that life's greatest problems can be confronted when the community comes together "to help one another like true brothers and sisters." ___ 10 a.m. Pope Francis has arrived in northern Peru to console residents still reeling from devastating floods nearly a year ago that toppled hundreds of thousands of homes, left streets covered in thick layers of mud and even ripped apart tombs from an above-ground cemetery. Francis is celebrating a seaside Mass near Trujillo, a popular tourist resort town. He will then ride through a hard-hit neighborhood bearing the name of his native Buenos Aires, where thousands are still living in tents after El Nino rains killed more than 150 and sent thousands onto rooftops seeking rescue. On his penultimate day in Peru, Francis also meets with local priests and then celebrates a Marian prayer in the central square. Marian popular piety is enormously important to Peruvian Catholics and the first Latin American pope. Locals arrange an altar of the Virgen de la Puerta during a tribute with Pope Francis, at the Plaza de Armas in Trujillo, Peru, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) Flames engulf the Virgen de la Candelaria church at the Calafquen community of Panguipulli, in Chile, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. In the last week a dozen Catholic churches and chapels have been burned prior to the visit of Pope Francis to the Andean nation. (AP Photo/Jonathan Chandia) Members of the National Police inspect remains the Virgen de la Candelaria church at the Calafquen community of Panguipulli, in Chile, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. In the last week a dozen Catholic churches and chapels have been burned prior to the visit of Pope Francis to the Andean nation. (AP Photo/Jonathan Chandia) Children dressed as angels attend a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis on Huanchaco Beach, near the city of Trujillo, Peru, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. Francis travelled Saturday to an area of northern Peru that is frequently affected by El Nino storms and was hit last year by flooding that killed more than 150 people and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes. Many residents are still living in tents. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) A dove that was released on the arrival of Pope Francis roosts on a section of a red carpet at the airport in Trujillo, Peru, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. Francis travelled Saturday to northern Peru, a region still reeling from devastating floods nearly a year ago. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Pope Francis stands before a statue of Virgin of La Puerta of Otuzco, during a seaside Mass on Huanchaco Beach, near the city of Trujillo, Peru, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. Francis travelled Saturday to northern Peru, a region still reeling from devastating floods nearly a year ago. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) Pope Francis greets Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, after the pontiff celebrated a seaside Mass on Huanchaco Beach, near the city of Trujillo, Peru, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. Francis travelled to an area of northern Peru that is frequently hit by "El Nino" storms and was inundated in 2017 by flooding that killed more than 150 people and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) A group of women wait for the arrival of Pope Francis to celebrate Mass on Huanchaco Beach, near the city of Trujillo, Peru, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. Francis travels Saturday to northern Peru, where the pontiff will celebrate Mass and ride through a hard-hit neighborhood still reeling from disastrous rains that hit nearly a year ago. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) Nuns sing as they wait for the arrival of Pope Francis to celebrate Mass on Huanchaco Beach, near the city of Trujillo, Peru, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. Francis travels Saturday to northern Peru, where the pontiff will celebrate Mass and ride through a hard-hit neighborhood still reeling from disastrous rains that hit nearly a year ago. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) Children dressed as angels wait for the arrival of Pope Francis to celebrate Mass on Huanchaco Beach, near the city of Trujillo, Peru, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. Francis travels Saturday to northern Peru, where the pontiff will celebrate Mass and ride through a hard-hit neighborhood still reeling from disastrous rains that hit nearly a year ago. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) Fisherman paddle in their woven reed vessels known as caballito de Totoras as they wait for the arrival of Pope Francis to celebrate Mass on Huanchaco Beach, near the city of Trujillo, Peru, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. Francis travels Saturday to northern Peru, where the pontiff will celebrate Mass and ride through a hard-hit neighborhood still reeling from disastrous rains that hit nearly a year ago. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) Pope Francis waves from his pope mobile as arrives to celebrate Mass on Huanchaco Beach, near the city of Trujillo, Peru, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. Francis travelled Saturday to northern Peru, a region still reeling from devastating floods nearly a year ago. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) Pope Francis waves from his pope mobile as arrives to celebrate Mass on Huanchaco Beach, near the city of Trujillo, Peru, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. Francis travelled Saturday to northern Peru, a region still reeling from devastating floods nearly a year ago. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) Pope Francis waves from his pope mobile as arrives to celebrate Mass on Huanchaco Beach, near the city of Trujillo, Peru, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. Francis travelled Saturday to northern Peru, a region still reeling from devastating floods nearly a year ago. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Pope Francis waves from his pope mobile as arrives to celebrate Mass on Huanchaco Beach, near the city of Trujillo, Peru, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. Francis travelled Saturday to northern Peru, a region still reeling from devastating floods nearly a year ago. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Fishermen carry a statue of their patron saint, St. Peter through the crowds of faithful waiting for the arrival of Pope Francis to celebrate Mass on Huanchaco Beach, near the city of Trujillo, Peru, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. Francis travelled Saturday to northern Peru, a region still reeling from devastating floods nearly a year ago. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) In a story Jan. 19 about women's marches, The Associated Press misidentified the city of Portsmouth as New Hampshire's state capital, which is Concord. The story also said 1 million marched around the world in rallies protesting President Donald Trump's inauguration; global crowd estimates were in the millions. A corrected version of the story is below: Women will march again with aim to become a political force Activists return to the streets a year after more than 1 million people rallied worldwide for female empowerment, hoping to create an enduring political movement that will elect more women to government office. By MICHELLE L. PRICE and ANITA SNOW Associated Press Activists are returning to the streets a year after more than 1 million people rallied worldwide at marches for female empowerment, hoping to create an enduring political movement that will elect more women to government office. Hundreds of gatherings are planned Saturday and Sunday across the U.S. and in places such as Beijing, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Nairobi, Kenya. A rally Sunday in Las Vegas will launch an effort to register 1 million voters and target swing states in the midterm elections. The 2017 rally in Washington, D.C., and hundreds of similar marches created solidarity for those denouncing President Donald Trump's views on abortion, immigration, LGBT rights and more. Afterward, a wave of women decided to run for elected office and the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct became a cultural phenomenon. "We made a lot of noise," said Elaine Wynn, an organizer. "But now how do we translate that noise into something concrete or fulfilling?" Linda Sarsour, one of the four organizers of last year's Washington march, said Las Vegas was slotted for a major rally because it's a strategic swing state that gave Hillary Clinton a narrow win in the presidential election and will have one of the most competitive Senate races in 2018. Democrats believe they have a good chance of winning the seat held by embattled Republican Sen. Dean Heller and weakening the GOP's hold on the chamber. Organizers say Nevada is also a microcosm of larger national issues such as immigration and gun control after Las Vegas became the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in modern history. Following the October massacre, the Sunday rally is being held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' stadium 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of the famous Strip where a gunman opened fire on a concert, killing 58 people. Authorities have kept details confidential about security for the Sunday rally at the 40,000-seat stadium. Ahead of the Las Vegas rally, Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains will hold a huge voter registration training effort on Saturday as part of a nationwide effort to register over a million voters in 2018. Minnie Wood, a nurse practitioner who participated in the 2017 gathering in Las Vegas, said she was left with a sense of solidarity and "this feeling of almost a quickening, this resistance brewing." It also laid the groundwork for the recent movement that brought a reckoning for powerful men accused of sexual misconduct, Sarsour said. "I think when women see visible women's leadership, bold and fierce, going up against a very racist, sexist, misogynist administration, it gives you a different level of courage that you may not have felt you had," she said. Many women inspired by last year's massive marches went on to seek higher office, such as Mindi Messmer, a 54-year-old environmental scientist from Rye, New Hampshire. Messmer was a state legislator when she attended the 2017 march in Portsmouth. She's now a candidate for the seat held by retiring U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, a fellow Democrat. Other women running for Congress include newcomer Chrissy Houlahan, who hopes to unseat a Republican in suburban Philadelphia, and Sara Jacobs, a former aide to Barack Obama, seeking the Southern California seat held by retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa. Democratic officeholders pledging to elect more progressive candidates in swing states will be among the speakers in Las Vegas. Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood also will address the crowd. Last year's march in Washington sparked debate over inclusion, with some transgender minority women complaining that the event seemed designed for white women born female. Some anti-abortion activists said the event did not welcome them. The organizers for the Sunday rally are striving for greater inclusion this year, with Latina and transgender female speakers, said Carmen Perez, another co-chair of the 2017 Washington march. Women in the U.S. illegally, sex workers and those formerly incarcerated are welcome, she said. Eman Hassaballa Aly, a 38-year-old digital communications manager and activist, said last year's gathering in the Chicago area prompted two Muslim women she knows to run for office - one for state Senate and one for Congress. "It was incredible that all these people came together," said Aly, who addressed the 2017 Chicago event. "We realized how powerful this thing could be." ___ Price reported from Salt Lake City and Snow from Phoenix. Associated Press writers Ken Ritter in Las Vegas, Teresa Crawford and Sara Burnett in Chicago, Jocelyn Noveck in New York and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report. HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - House Speaker Paul Ryan called for an Ethics Committee investigation Saturday after the New York Times reported that U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan used taxpayer money to settle a complaint that stemmed from his hostility toward a former aide who rejected his romantic overtures. The story, published online Saturday, cited unnamed people who said the Republican Pennsylvania representative used thousands of dollars from his congressional office fund to settle the sexual harassment complaint the ex-aide filed last summer to the congressional Office of Compliance. In a statement, Ryan's spokeswoman said the allegations must be investigated "fully and immediately" by the House Ethics Committee and that Meehan would immediately submit himself to the committee's review. Meehan is being removed from his position on the committee, and Ryan told Meehan that he should repay any taxpayer funds that were used to settle the case, Ryan's spokeswoman said. FILE - In this March 20, 2013 file photo, Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. House Speaker Paul Ryan ordered an Ethics Committee investigation Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, after the New York Times reported that Meehan used taxpayer money to settle a complaint that stemmed from his hostility toward a former aide who rejected his romantic overtures. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) The Times did not identify the accuser and said she did not speak to the newspaper. In a statement, the four-term congressman's office denied that Meehan sexually harassed or mistreated the ex-aide. It also said Meehan, the former U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, had asked congressional lawyers who handled the case to ask the ex-aide's lawyer to dissolve the settlement's confidentiality requirements "to ensure a full and open airing of all the facts." "Throughout his career he has always treated his colleagues, male and female, with the utmost respect and professionalism," Meehan's office said. The accuser's lawyer, Alexis Ronickher, called the allegations "well-grounded" and rejected the idea of doing away with confidentiality. Meehan is trying to victimize her client twice by revealing the woman's identity and litigating the case in the media, Ronickher said. Ronickher called it a "dirty political maneuver" by Meehan and an effort to save his political career by making it look like he's being transparent. "Mr. Meehan demanded confidentiality to resolve the matter, presumably so that the public would never know that he entered into a settlement of a serious sexual harassment claim," Ronickher said. Ronickher said the Ethics Committee investigation must include the fact that Meehan, in his Saturday statement responding to the Times article, "knowingly breached confidentiality in his agreement by discussing the case and the terms of any potential settlement agreement." Meehan's office did not respond to questions about whether he used taxpayer money to settle the case or whether he would submit to the Ethics Committee investigation. However, his office said Meehan would only act with advice of House lawyers and in line with House Ethics Committee guidance to resolve any allegation. "Every step of the process was handled ethically and appropriately," Meehan's office said. Meehan represents a closely divided district that Democrat Hillary Clinton narrowly won in the 2016 presidential election. Calls from Democrats for Meehan to resign were immediate, including one from Pennsylvania's Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who said the U.S. House should investigate "how this matter was handled from top to bottom." WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the government shutdown (all times local): 7:30 p.m. A Senate showdown vote on a Republican plan for ending the federal shutdown is on track to occur by early Monday. Democrats say they have the votes to block it. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walks to his office after speaking on the senate floor Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, at Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has proposed a measure financing the government through Feb. 8. Senate Democrats derailed a House-passed measure early Saturday that would have run through Feb. 16. They say they want to provide enough money to keep agency doors open only a few days. They say the shorter time frame puts more pressure on Republicans to cut deals on immigration and the budget. The shutdown began at midnight Friday. The public won't feel its full effects until the next workweek begins Monday. The vote would occur by 1 a.m. EST Monday but could happen earlier. ___ 7 p.m. Hours after shuttering much of the federal government, feuding Democrats and Republicans in Congress spent the day dodging blame for a paralyzing standoff over immigration. The two sides show few signs of progress on negotiations to end it. The finger-pointing has played out in rare weekend proceedings in both the House and Senate, where lawmakers have been eager to show voters they are actively working for a solution - or at least actively making their case why the other party is at fault. Democrats refused to provide the votes needed to reopen the government until they strike a deal with President Donald Trump protecting young immigrants from deportation. They also want more disaster relief and a boost in spending for opioid treatment and other domestic programs. ___ 5:45 p.m. President Donald Trump is "frustrated" by the government shutdown falling on the first anniversary of his inauguration. That's according to budget director Mick Mulvaney, who tells reporters that the White House believes Democrats provoked the fiscal crisis to distract from Trump's accomplishments in his first year in office. Mulvaney says, "The Democrats got the shutdown that they wanted on his anniversary." He adds of Democrats that Trump "kicked their butts for a year" and charges they were looking for a way to embarrass the administration. Mulvaney says it is up to Democrats to decide when the government will reopen, and that the White House won't negotiate on immigration until Democrats agree to turn the lights back on. __ 5:40 p.m. Tensions are rising at the Capitol on the first day of the partial government shutdown. Debate in the House screeched to a halt Saturday after Democrats objected to a comment by Texas Republican congressman Pete Sessions, who referred to the "Schumer shutdown." Republicans are using the phrase to cast blame on Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, but House rules bar floor remarks impugning another lawmaker. After private discussion, Sessions agreed to withdraw the comment. Debate was soon halted again after Alabama GOP congressman Bradley Byrne displayed a poster-size photo of Schumer with a 2013 quote calling a shutdown "the politics of idiocy." Arkansas congressman Steve Womack, the presiding officer, allowed the poster, but Democrats objected and forced a roll call vote. Lawmakers voted, 224-173, to allow the display. ___ 2:55 p.m. Republicans and Democrats appear to be no closer to ending a government shutdown, and the White House is indicating it's waiting for Democrats to drop their demand that a funding bill include protections for younger immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. Budget director Mick Mulvaney and legislative affairs director Marc Short are lobbing verbal attacks at Democrats for blocking a spending bill over the unrelated legislation. Short told reporters Saturday that "it's like a 2-year-old temper tantrum." Mulvaney says the administration is trying to mitigate the impact of the funding lapse, noting many national parks and government offices will be open during the duration. But he says the effects will still be significant. Democrats are blaming the shutdown on Republicans, who control the White House and Congress. ___ 2:40 p.m. The White House says President Donald Trump will not attend a fundraiser at his Florida estate because of the ongoing government shutdown in Washington. Budget director Mick Mulvaney says Trump will not appear at the high-dollar fundraiser Saturday night at his Palm Beach estate. Mulvaney also told reporters during a press briefing Saturday that Trump's participation in the World Economic Forum is up in the air. He says the White House is taking Trump's visit, as well as the planned attendance of much of the Cabinet at the Davos, Switzerland, event, "on a day by day basis." Trump is scheduled to depart Washington for the Swiss Alps on Wednesday evening. A number of White House staffers and agency advance teams are already on the ground awaiting his arrival. ___ 12:40 p.m. A Florida fundraiser celebrating President Donald Trump's first year in office will go on with or without him. That's according to a Trump campaign official who was not authorized to publicly discuss planning and spoke on condition of anonymity. Trump had hoped to spend the anniversary of his inauguration in Florida attending a high-dollar fundraiser taking place Saturday night at his Palm Beach estate. Instead, the president is reckoning with a federal government shutdown brought on by disagreement with lawmakers over what should be included in a government funding bill. Trump scrapped plans to depart Washington on Friday. It remains unclear whether he still plans to attend. Tickets start at $100,000 per couple and $250,000 to attend a round-table. The proceeds benefit a joint committee between Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee. - By Associated Press writer Jill Colvin ___ 12:35 p.m. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi is rejecting a fallback plan by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to pass a short-term spending plan through Feb. 8. Pelosi says "there's no point" in approving a short-term bill unless both sides agree on how to move forward. She and other Democrats said Saturday that they want "parity" on spending increases for defense and domestic programs such as opioid addiction and community health centers. Pelosi says that even without a dispute over immigration, Democrats would not agree to a GOP spending plan unless it pays for domestic programs Democrats consider crucial. Democrats have blamed the shutdown on Republicans, who control Congress and the White House. Republicans say Democrats are "holding our government hostage" to win protections for young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. ___ 12:25 p.m. Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan says the partial government shutdown is "utter madness" and he is blaming it all on Senate Democrats. Ryan said Saturday that the Democrats are "deliberately holding our government hostage" to win protections for younger immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. He blasted Democrats for a filibuster on a House-passed stopgap funding bill that would keep the government open through Feb. 16 and reauthorize a health care program for 9 million children from low-income families. He accused them of "opposing a bill they don't even oppose." Ryan says, "We do some crazy things in Washington, but this is utter madness." Democrats are blaming the shutdown on Republicans, who control Congress and the White House. ___ 11:10 a.m. The White House says President Donald Trump phoned Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to discuss strategies to reopen the government. Deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley says Trump called the Republican Senate leader on Saturday morning. Gidley says chief of staff John Kelly is speaking with lawmakers and congressional leadership, while legislative affairs director Marc Short and budget director Mick Mulvaney are on Capitol Hill. The shutdown is marring the anniversary of Trump's inauguration. For a businessman who made his career selling himself as a deal-maker, he is struggling to find consensus with Congress on a funding agreement. The White House says Trump will not negotiate with Democrats over their demands to provide legal protections for roughly 700,000 young immigrants known as "Dreamers" until the government is reopened. ___ 11 a.m. Junior White House aides are using their out-of-office messages to assign blame to Democrats for the government shutdown. The automatic replies from White House assistant press secretaries Ninio Fetalvo and Natalie Strom say, "Unfortunately, I am out of the office today because congressional Democrats are holding government funding - including funding for our troops and other national security priorities- hostage to an unrelated immigration debate." Hundreds of nonessential White House staffers are barred by law from working during the shutdown. The three deputy press secretaries are still working, however, as is press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. President Donald Trump had been set to leave Friday for a fundraiser Saturday at his Florida estate marking the anniversary of his inauguration but delayed the trip over the shutdown. It's unclear if he will attend. ___ 10:25 a.m. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is giving President Donald Trump an F for "failure in leadership" on the anniversary of his inauguration. Pelosi also slammed congressional Republicans on Saturday as the government shutdown began. In a speech on the House floor, Pelosi said Republicans who control the White House and hold majorities in the House and Senate are "so incompetent and negligent that they couldn't get it together to keep the government open." Pelosi urged Republicans to "get down to business for everyday people in America." She says Trump has tweeted that the country "needs a good shutdown." She says: "Your wish has come true for your one-year anniversary." Republicans have blamed Democrats for the shutdown. ___ 9:50 a.m. The White House says President Donald Trump will not negotiate immigration policy with Congress until the government reopens. Spokesman Hogan Gidley says it's "disgusting" that Senate Democrats "decided to just throw our military under the bus." Some government functions shut down at midnight Friday after the Senate failed to pass a short-term extension of government funding. Some Democrats voted against the bill because it did not include measures to shield from deportation immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Democrats demanded that immigration be included in the funding bill. The White House insists the issues be deal with separately. Trump in a tweet Saturday accused Democrats of being more concerned about immigrants in the country illegally than about the military. ___ 7:35 a.m. President Donald Trump is blaming Democrats for the government shutdown - tweeting that they wanted to give him "a nice present" to mark the one-year anniversary of his inauguration. He says Democrats "could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead." And as part of a series of tweets hours after the shutdown began, the president is trying to make the case for Americans to elect more Republicans in the November elections "in order to power through this mess." Trump is accusing Democrats of being more concerned with "Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous" border with Mexico. He's also noting there are 51 Republicans in the Senate, and it takes 60 votes to move ahead on legislation to keep the government running - so some Democratic support is needed now. In Trump's view, "that is why we need to win more Republicans" in the midterm elections. ___ 2:36 a.m. The federal government has shut down. That means a halt to all but the most essential operations. And the shutdown is marring the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration. It's a striking display of Washington dysfunction. Last-minute negotiations crumbled when Senate Democrats blocked a four-week extension. And that's led to the fourth government shutdown in a quarter-century. Leading Republicans and Democrats are now trying to work out a compromise to avert a lengthy shutdown. Congress has scheduled an unusual Saturday session to begin considering a three-week version of the short-term spending measure. Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney, left, stands as Marc Short, White House director for legislative affairs, speaks during a press briefing the White House, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Bangladesh made it two wins out of two in the triangular one-day international series by thrashing Sri Lanka in Mirpur. Tamim Iqbal made 84 for the second match in succession and Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim both passed 50 to help Bangladesh post 320 for seven from their 50 overs. And Shakib then took three for 47 as Sri Lanka were dismissed for just 157, giving Bangladesh victory by 163 runs, their largest winning margin in one-day internationals. Bangladesh batsman Tamim Iqbal made 84 for the second successive match (John Walton/PA) Thisara Perera top scored for Sri Lanka with 29 from just 14 balls, but wickets fell at regular intervals in an innings lasting only 32.2 overs. Perera had earlier taken three for 60 in Bangladeshs innings, which featured a 99-run partnership between Tamim and Shakib (67 from 63 balls) for the second wicket. A judge who heavily criticised a watchdog probe into alleged police collusion in a notorious loyalist atrocity has been asked to withdraw from the case amid claims he held a subconscious bias. Mr Justice McCloskey delivered a damning judgment against Northern Irelands Police Ombudsman Dr Michael Maguire last month, ruling that he had exceeded his statutory powers by declaring officers guilty of colluding in the Ulster Volunteer Force shootings in Loughinisland, Co Down in 1994. The Ombudsman and relatives of the six Catholic men shot dead have jointly applied for the judge to recuse himself because, as a barrister, he once represented one of the two retired police officers who mounted the judicial review challenge against Dr Maguires findings. The judge, who has insisted he has no memory of representing the officer in the 2002 case related to a separate Police Ombudsmans probe into the 1998 Omagh bomb, said he would take time to consider the application and announce his decision next week. In a landmark 2016 report, Dr Maguire found that Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers colluded in the UVF gun attack in the village of Loughinisland. Two loyalist gunmen burst into the Heights Bar and opened fire on locals watching the Republic of Ireland play Italy in USA 94. Two retired officers took judicial review proceedings against the Ombudsmans findings and judge McCloskey found in their favour in December. He has however yet to complete his judgment in respect of whether the Ombudsmans report should be formally quashed. The joint application for recusal has been submitted ahead of him issuing that decision, which had been expected on Friday. The issues were aired in court during over two hours of legal exchanges on Friday. Fiona Doherty QC, representing the families, said the application was being made with regret and only after careful consideration. She made clear she was not questioning the professional integrity of the judge but said his role in the historic case could lead to public unease about him presiding in the current proceedings. At the very least there is a doubt, she said. Where there is a doubt it should be resolved in favour of recusal. Barra McGrory QC, representing the Ombudsman, faced intense questioning from the judge over the merit of the application. Barra McGrory QC is representing the Ombudsman (Paul Faith/PA) Mr McGrory, Northern Irelands former Director of Public Prosecutions, said a reasoned independent observer might find it difficult to accept the judges assertion that he did not recall his involvement in a case related to such a high-profile atrocity as Omagh. The apprehension of bias, either direct or subconsciously, is all that needs to be established, he said. The judge highlighted that he was bound by a solemn oath to be rigorously impartial and he challenged lawyers to point him toward the slightest whiff of unconscious bias in his judgment. He suggested to Mr McGrory that a DPP would be bound by a similar duty to be impartial in all cases, regardless of who they had represented previously in their legal career. The judge also drew the courts attention to a judgment he had delivered in 2010 where he was highly critical about the conduct of police officers. David McMillen QC, representing the retired officers, said the application was absolutely without foundation. He said the judiciary had a proud record of independence in Northern Ireland, demonstrated during the violent years of the Troubles. A fair-minded observer wouldnt even think for one moment theres a real possibility of bias in this, he said. At the close of oral submissions, Justice McCloskey told the court he was faced with a complex and challenging decision. The effect is that its not possible for the court to indicate its decision now, he said. I regret that greatly because the families are going to be delayed once again. The judge said he would rule on the matter on January 26. He indicated that, if he decided to retain the case, he would then deliver his judgment on the fate of the Ombudsmans report. The men who died at Loughinsland were Adrian Rogan, 34, Malcolm Jenkinson, 53, Barney Green, 87, Daniel McCreanor, 59, Patrick OHare, 35, and Eamon Byrne, 39. Five others were wounded. Family members packed the High Court in Belfast for Fridays hearing. A petition launched by Russell Brand to permanently house the homeless people of Windsor as a wedding gift to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has reached more than 10,000 signatures in less than 24 hours. The comedian kicked off the campaign in response to Windsor and Maidenhead Council leader Simon Dudleys request for police to clear rough sleepers from the town ahead of the marriage of Harry and the American actress in May. Brands wish is for Slough Borough Council to buy an existing building to give to homeless charity SHOC (Slough Homeless Our Concern) in order to help the vulnerable people it supports. Russell Brand petition for homeless charity royal wedding gift tops 10,000 signatures (Andrew Matthews/PA) Within hours, the petition had reached nearly 15,000 signatures. Show love to Harry and Meghan AND help the homeless The petition: https://t.co/hqzVJJviVF pic.twitter.com/JngKdPxRBP Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) January 18, 2018 In a video, posted on Thursday, Brand said: You know Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are getting married, and that councillor guy said Weve got to cleanse all the homeless people off the streets of Windsor in some terrifying sort of eugenics, genocide, burn the books, burn the people-type language. One of the charities that will be affected by that are SHOC, a charity that Ive worked with for ages. They provide day care for homeless people and loads of advice and clothes and help, vital clothes and help. Brand said of course its not Prince Harry and Meghan Markles fault but it is an interesting indication that in order to make this wedding spick and span and spotless, the most vulnerable people in society are being exposed to yet more persecution. A HUGE thank you to the 10,812 of you who have signed the petition already! Let's try and get another 10k to make this happen - please sign and share if you feel inclined to do so. #WeddingPresenthttps://t.co/8euryBl8Eo Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) January 19, 2018 He added: That is why Im suggesting that, as a wedding present to Prince Harry and Meghan, we encourage, insist, push Slough Council to donate a building to SHOC. The building already exists all they have to do is sign a little bit of paper and the building can be used by SHOC to help the homeless that will be affected by this royal wedding and theyre already homeless. He said he hopes that if people group together to support his plea, they can put enough pressure on Slough Council to give the building to the homeless charity. In his petition, launched on Change.org, Brand wrote: It will cost them nothing but the ink in the pen to commit to a change of use for this building you know how easy it is to do that councils have to do it every time they turn an old office block to luxury flats. Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Theresa May said she disagreed with Mr Dudley, who had said that homeless people in Windsor could present the town in a sadly unfavourable light when the royal wedding takes place on May 19. He tweeted that some rough sleepers had made a commercial life choice praying (sic) on residents and tourists. In a letter to police, he complained about aggressive begging and intimidation, and bags and detritus on the streets. Mr Dudley later apologised for his comments and said he was not referring to genuine homeless people, and that he regretted referring to Harry and Ms Markles wedding at the time. A serial sex offender who repeatedly breached orders to stop him from looking at indecent images of children has been jailed for five years. Judge Michael Gledhill QC, sitting at Londons Southwark Crown Court, also told Christopher Wyn Jones, 60, his sentence was being extended to include five years on licence to protect the public from further offences. Wyn Jones, of High Street, Tonypandy, in Wales, was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment for possession of indecent photographs of children to run consecutively to two concurrent 30-month sentences for breaching a sexual harm prevention order. The sentence was handed down at Southwark Crown Court (Sean Dempsey/PA) He had previously pleaded guilty to all charges. Wyn Jones was on licence when these latest offences happened. He had been released after being given sentences totalling four years in 2013 for similar offences. The court was told that police went to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in June 2017 after a report that indecent images were found on his iPad. His carer spotted that Wyn Jones, who is wheelchair-bound and suffering from a degenerative illness similar to Parkinsons disease, had been deleting images on his iPad. Police found an iPad by a settee when they searched his home in October 2017, despite Wyn Jones saying all his electronic devices had previously been taken away by the police. Two graphic indecent movies involving children were found on the iPad. The judge said the videos showed disgusting acts being inflicted against young girls and that Wyn Jones had lied to police about having the images. His first court appearance concerning indecent photographs of children dates back to 2007, the judge said. Prosecutor Andrew Davies described Wyn Jones as a determined person, aged 60, with a clear predilection for watching and contacting young girls. Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh city Peoples Committee Huynh Cach Mang (R) and Director of the French Anti-corruption Agency Charles Duchaine. (Source: VNA) At a reception for FAA Director Charles Duchaine in HCM city on January 18th, the official said the partnership between the two sides is expected to contribute to socio-economic development in each country. Mang expressed his delight at the fruitful development of the Vietnam-France relations, especially after the two countries agreed to lift their ties to a strategic partnership in 2013. The relationship between HCM city and France is also developing strongly, particularly cooperation between southern metropolis and French localities in economy, culture, arts and people-to-people exchange, he said. For his part, Charles Duchaine said that France and Vietnam need to support each other in order to improve their anti-corruption capacity. Lauding the local authoritys political determination in the combat, the FAA Director noted his hope that the FAA and the municipal Inspectorate will implement their cooperation programs and materialise the memorandum of understanding on cooperation in this field signed by the French agency and the Vietnam Government Inspectorate recently./. A coroner has appealed for witnesses to the Ballymurphy killings to come forward. Ten people were shot dead by the Army in west Belfast in August 1971. The inquest is due to begin in September into what relatives of the dead have called the Ballymurphy Massacre. A February 1 event at Belfast Metropolitan Colleges Springvale Campus will allow coroners staff to meet potential new witnesses or receive more information. The victims of the Ballymurphy killings (Ballymurphy Massacre Committee/PA) A statement from the service said: The coroner is appealing for all witnesses to the shootings who have not previously made statements (or those who have made statements and wish to add to those statements) to come forward and provide whatever information they can to assist with the inquest proceedings. An inquest in Belfast is scheduled to begin on September 10 under Justice Siobhan Keegan. A coroners statement said: If you were a witness to the shootings or if you have other information to provide about the shootings, this is an important opportunity for you to assist the inquest. You may also be asked to attend the inquest to give evidence, but the necessary arrangements for that will be made at a later stage. A Catholic priest and a mother of eight were among those gunned down during three days of shooting involving members of the Parachute Regiment in Ballymurphy. The deceased were Francis Quinn; Father Hugh Mullan; Noel Phillips; Joan Connolly; Daniel Teggart; Joseph Murphy; Edward Doherty; John Laverty; Joseph Corr; and John James McKerr. Theresa May and Donald Trump will meet for talks at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, Downing Street said. The Prime Minister and the US President will hold a bilateral meeting on the margins of the Swiss summit due to be attended by leaders including India PM Narendra Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. The White House and Downing Street made the announcement just a day after reports Mr Trump would snub the PM at the gathering. The presidents press secretary, Sarah Sanders, tweeted that Mr Trump was looking forward to the meeting that would further strengthen the US-UK Special Relationship. Mr Trump celebrates his first full year in office on Saturday and is expected to mark the occasion with a gala dinner, while protests are planned in several cities. In London a demonstration by Stand Up To Racism is due to be held outside the new US Embassy in Nine Elms, south London. The new US Embassy opened this month (John Stillwell/PA) Earlier this month Mr Trump scrapped a February visit to the UK when he was expected to open the building. The president blamed the cost of the new embassy and its location south of the River Thames, saying it was a bad deal. His cancellation prompted media speculation that reasons for the snub included that Mr Trump had been offended by perceived slights against him by UK public figures. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson accused London Mayor Sadiq Khan of endangering the so-called special relationship after he said president had got the message from Londoners and would have been met by mass peaceful protests if he went ahead with the visit. The president has endured a turbulent relationship with Mrs May since taking office, with the Prime Minister publicly criticising statements he has made on Muslims, terrorism and climate change. In November the pair fell out spectacularly over his retweeting of anti-Muslim videos posted online by the deputy leader of the far-right Britain First group, Jayda Fransen. Their meeting this week will be the first time they have seen each other in person since the row. A Number 10 spokesman said: The Prime Minister will have a bilateral meeting with President Trump in the margins of the World Economic Forum at Davos in Switzerland next week. .@POTUS looks forward to having a bilateral meeting with @theresa_may in Davos next week to further strengthen the US-UK Special Relationship. Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) January 19, 2018 Mr Trump is thought likely to use his appearance to promote his America First strategy at an event associated with the rise of globalisation. The event takes place at the upmarket ski-resort Davos between January 23 and 26, with business leaders, politicians and representatives from non-government organisations among those attending. Mr Trump will be the first sitting US president to attend the summit in person since Bill Clinton in 2000. US vice president Mike Pence has greeted soldiers at Shannon Airport in Ireland hours after the federal government shutdown in America. Mr Pence shook hands and posed for photos with the troops in the airport terminal during a re-fuelling stop by Air Force Two. Mr Pence told some of the troops: Well get this thing figured out in Washington. Vice President Mike Pence (Susan Walsh/AP) @mike Pence signing autographs for the troops at Shannon airport@ Ireland on our way to @cairo@ Covering Mid East trip .@ Alarabiya pic.twitter.com/s9elaNJXm3 Nadia.Bilbassy (@nadia_bilbassy) January 20, 2018 He is told the soldiers to stay focused on your mission. The vice president is travelling to the Middle East with stops in Egypt, Jordan and Israel. Actor Jake Wood has hailed his EastEnders co-star and on-screen daughter, actress Lorna Fitzgerald, as a grounded and amazing young woman as she bowed out of the soap. Too. Much. Sadness. As Walford says a final goodbye to Abi Branning. pic.twitter.com/FbwF4KAQhz BBC EastEnders (@bbceastenders) January 19, 2018 During Friday nights emotional instalment of the popular BBC One soap, the Branning family said goodbye to Fitzgeralds character, Abi, as her life support was switched off. WARNING: Embargoed for publication until 00:00:01 on 04/01/2018 - Programme Name: EastEnders -January-April 2018 - TX: 02/01/2018 - Episode: EastEnders - January-April 2018 - 5631 (No. 5631) - Picture Shows: Dr Notley (MIRANDA KEELING), Abi Branning (LORNA FITZGERALD), Max Branning (JAKE WOOD) - (C) BBC - Photographer: Jack Barnes Mother Tanya Branning (Jo Joyner) also returned for the episode where she accused her ex-husband, Max Branning (played by Wood) of killing their daughter. As you know @LornaFitz0 I am so proud of all the incredible work youve done over the last 12 years and more importantly of the grounded and amazing young woman youve become in that time. Its truly been an honour to watch you grow and flourish. Love ya x Jake Wood (@mrjakedwood) January 19, 2018 Following the episode, Wood tweeted: As you know @LornaFitz0 I am so proud of all the incredible work youve done over the last 12 years and more importantly of the grounded and amazing young woman youve become in that time. Its truly been an honour to watch you grow and flourish. Love ya x. Fitzgerald, who has been in the soap since 2006, replied saying she couldnt have asked for a better on screen dad!. Couldn't have asked for a better on screen Dad! You truly have been an incredible role model, I've learnt so much from you you're completely forgiven for the roof btw https://t.co/OOHYjDBIDs Lorna Fitzgerald (@LornaFitz0) January 19, 2018 She added: You truly have been an incredible role model, Ive learnt so much from you, jokingly adding a reference to the dramatic Christmas Day episode, writing: youre completely forgiven for the roof btw. The festive instalment saw both Branning sisters Abi and Lauren falling from the roof of the Queen Vic pub, with Lauren surviving. In September last year, EastEnders confirmed both Fitzgerald and Jacqueline Jossa, who plays Lauren, would be leaving the soap. A spokeswoman for the soap said: We can confirm that Jacqueline and Lorna will be leaving EastEnders. They have both been wonderful to work with and we wish them all the best for the future. Veteran broadcaster David Jensen has told of his fear at revealing he has Parkinsons disease, because he thought people might think less of me. The Radio 1 stalwart and DJ, also known by his nickname Kid, has been living with the disease for the past five years. The 67-year-old disclosed his condition in an official statement at the beginning of the week, explaining he wanted to demonstrate that it is possible to continue with so many aspects of ones life. Just seen the David Jensen Story on @itvnews - I had no idea and it made me sad. Lots of love to you David, be strong. One of the nicest people Ive ever worked with, a truly lovely man. X pic.twitter.com/Mywqb2uwvh Steve Penk (@StevePenk) January 16, 2018 In an interview with the Daily Mail, he explained he was afraid to speak out. I thought people might think less of me. He added: If a tremor started in my hands, I became very self-conscious and self-obsessive, worrying the whole world was looking at me. Jensen currently still presents on BBC Local Radio and also hosts another weekend show titled Kid Jensens Flashback 40. He told the paper: I want to show its not a death sentence. That its something you can live with and that there are far worse things that can happen to you than Parkinsons. DJ David Jensen arriving for the Sony Radio Awards in 2003 (PA wire). The Canadian-born radio personality made a name for himself on UK airwaves after he joined Radio Luxembourg in 1968 aged just 18, where he gained his moniker Kid because he was the youngest radio presenter in Europe at that time. In his initial statement, he said: When Billy Connolly and my old colleague, Sky Sports Dave Clark announced they had Parkinsons and started to raise funds for Parkinsons charities, I felt it was time for me, with the support of my friends and family to reveal my situation. I hope to be available to try and raise further awareness of Parkinsons and to be on hand to aid fundraising activities. Parkinsons is a neurological condition that causes problems in the brain and over time gets worse with no cure yet discovered. I am so appreciative of the support I have received from my wife Gudrun, who I have been married to for 43 wonderful years, my three children and seven grandchildren, who are all aware that I have Parkinsons and continue to provide so much love, support and understanding. Tottenham are increasingly confident of winning the race to sign Bordeaux forward Malcom this month. Press Association Sport understands Malcom, who has already scored seven goals in Ligue 1 this term, is keen to secure a Premier League move and wants to play in the Champions League. But a deal is being discussed that would loan the 20-year-old back to Bordeaux, who are fighting relegation and reluctant to lose a key player mid-season. 2eme acte : Relance de Jules Kounde, percee de Malcom et centre parfait pour la finition de Gaetan Laborde ! #ESTACFCGB pic.twitter.com/vEkjsmRwml FC Girondins de Bordeaux (@girondins) January 15, 2018 It is understood Malcom is happy to see the campaign out with his current team. Bordeaux brought the then 18-year-old to Europe from Corinthians only two years ago. Mauricio Pochettino would also struggle to include the Brazilian in his Champions League squad, which already boasts the full allocation of non-home grown players. Pochettino stayed tight-lipped when asked about Malcom on Friday. He has been linked with different clubs, Pochettino said. I dont want to speak about players that are in other clubs. Pochettino is hopeful Hugo Lloris can shake off a virus in time to face Southampton on Sunday, with Michel Vorm ready make his first league appearance in goal since April last year. Here at Spurs. TN - Lloris ill and being assessed, Alderweireld (hamstring) coming towards the end of his rehabilitation. Rose (knee), Winks (ankle) out. pic.twitter.com/wJ6MebcosU Tom Allnutt (@TomAllnutt_) January 19, 2018 Tottenham sit fifth in the table, three points adrift of the top four, having won eight of their last 10 matches. It is also five years ago this week Pochettino replaced Nigel Adkins as Southampton manager, when the Argentinian arrived with no experience in the Premier League. Its so special for me, Pochettino said. Five years ago, we played our first game. We knew only one or two words in English in that moment. Mauricio Pochettino has been a Premier League manager for five years (Yui Mok/PA) Southampton opened the door to England, the Premier League and opened a different language for me. Im so proud after five years how I can talk in front of you, with a few lessons, not too much. Im so proud to be part of the Saints history, it means a lot. A lot of people we love and be sure they love us. After 34 years, the changing of the guard has come with Mary Lou McDonald set to take over the role of Sinn Fein leader. The Dublin woman has been clear favourite for some time to replace Gerry Adams, one of the longest serving party leaders in the world. She was once described by her party colleague Caral Ni Chuilin as one of the most formidable women in politics. Sinn Fein party president, Gerry Adams and President elect Mary Lou McDonald I wont fill @GerryAdamsSF shoes but Ive brought my own and together we will walk a journey that will lead to a United Ireland - @MaryLouMcDonald pic.twitter.com/6tAxALphZk Sinn Fein (@sinnfeinireland) January 20, 2018 Born in 1969, Ms McDonalds background is very different from other leading Sinn Fein politicians. She was raised in the affluent Rathgar area of Dublin and was educated at Notre Dame, a private fee-paying school in the city. She is a graduate of Trinity College, University of Limerick and DCU. Her first formal link to politics was as a consultant and researcher with the Institute of European Affairs, a think tank run by Brendan Halligan, the former Labour TD. Irish unity is the best solution for this island and we will work to convince our unionist friends and neighbours of that - @MaryLouMcDonald Sinn Fein (@sinnfeinireland) January 20, 2018 In the late 1990s, she joined Fianna Fail in Dublin West, defecting to Sinn Fein shortly afterwards. In 2002, Ms McDonald was Sinn Feins candidate in Dublin West, but she failed to win a seat in the Dail (Irish parliament). But two years later, she made history by becoming the partys first MEP. By 2009, she was deputy leader of the party and in 2011 became a member of the Dail for Dublin Central. She is now set to become the partys first ever female leader. Anti-Trump protesters descended on the new site of the United States embassy on Saturday afternoon, declaring the US president a racist bigot and calling for Theresa May to cancel her meeting with him at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week. In a demonstration held to mark the first anniversary of Mr Trumps inauguration as US president, around 20 activists from the campaign group Stand up to Racism pushed over a mock wall they had built in front of the embassys recently opened site in Vauxhall, south London. It came a week after Mr Trump publicly cancelled a visit to Britain to open the new site because, he said, it had been sold for peanuts and was built in an off location of London. Bad deal. [They] Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO! Mr Trump wrote on Twitter at the time. Battling heavy rain, protesters chanted Donald Trump go away, racist, sexist, anti-gay, and from Calais to Mexico, all the walls have got to go. Many activists discussed Mr Trumps recent controversial remarks on immigration, when he was reported to have branded Haiti and some African states shithole countries in a White House meeting. From his attacks on immigrants to the outrageous #Muslimban, we will tear down Donald #Trump's racist wall! Thanks to everyone that turned out for today's protest at the new #USEmbassy pic.twitter.com/xjCOYCJ0QT Stand Up To Racism (@AntiRacismDay) January 20, 2018 Lewis Nielsen, an activist for Stand up to Racism, led much of the crowds chanting, and later said that Mr Trump will be met by the biggest demonstration in British history if he comes to the UK. Today marks a year since Trump came to office, said Mr Nielsen, 24. In that year, hes proved himself to be a racist, sexist bigot. Hes tried to bring in a Muslim ban, hes called the whole of Africa a shithole, he wants to build a wall in Mexico. Its incredibly important we oppose his racism. If a state visit is arranged it will be a huge mistake for the Government, because the city and the country would be shut down by some of the biggest protests. Michael Bradley, 50, who works for Stand up to Racism, said: The mans completely unacceptable and its pushing politics beyond what is acceptable. We think hes a racist and we think the reason he didnt come to Britain is he knows there would have been millions of people out on the streets. If he came to Britain, it would be absolutely unimaginable, the level of protest at every level of British society. The demonstration came on the same day that the US federal government plunged into a shutdown after the Senate could not agree on a new budget. Affecting hundreds of thousands of federal workers, the shutdown is the first in US history to occur while the same party the Republicans controls both Congress and the White House. Activist Ben Studd, 37, added that a Trump visit to London would whip up anti-Muslim prejudice and endanger British Muslims. Every time somebody in the media makes Islamophobic comments, every time theres a terrorist attack, people are attacked in the streets, he said. Anti-Trump protesters outside the new US Embassy in Nine Elms, London (Yui Mok/PA) Saturdays demonstration was one of a number of anti-Trump protests held in Britain since he was elected president in November 2016. In January 2017 thousands took to the streets of London and other British cities to take part in the Womens March. Later that month, thousands of protesters in London, Glasgow, Newcastle, Birmingham, and other cities marched on the streets to protest against Mr Trumps controversial executive order that imposed a 90-day ban on residents from seven Muslim-majority nations. Kyren Wilson stunned Judd Trump with a spectacular comeback as he reached the final of the Dafabet Masters at Alexandra Palace. The 26-year-old Englishman will be chasing the biggest title of his career on Sunday after setting up a clash with Scotlands John Higgins or Northern Irelands Mark Allen, who meet later on Saturday. World number three Trump led 5-2, but Wilson turned the match around, forcing a decider with a 107 break. One of the greatest comebacks in Masters history WHAT a performance from @KyrenWilson, back from 5-2 down to beat Judd Trump for the 2018 @dafabet Masters final! #dafabetmasters pic.twitter.com/UZrcz9rlpA World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) January 20, 2018 Wilson, chasing what would be his first Triple Crown title, took the all-important 11th frame with a run of 72 against the pre-match favourite to secure a memorable 6-5 win. The world number 14, who coasted past twice former Masters winner Mark Williams 6-1 in their quarter-final, looked to be heading out as Trump took control with four half-century breaks to move within one frame of victory. Wilson, though, took inspiration from the late Paul Hunter winner of the Masters title three times between 2001 and 2004 when it was played at Wembley Conference Centre to produce a stirring recovery. People ask why we called @KyrenWilson the warrior... That is why! @WorldSnooker1 Taylor Wilson (@Taylor8wilson) January 20, 2018 Hunter was famous for his Masters fightbacks, and Wilson came up with one of his own. People keep calling me The Warrior and I thought to myself, I havent won a comeback in years, Im going to stick in there and, this venue, funny things can happen here, Wilson said on BBC Two. The late, great Paul Hunter made some awesome comebacks and I was thinking of him a little bit and trying to draw a little bit of inspiration from some of the comebacks he made and I just managed to stick in there. Wilson felt he had been given an opportunity to spark a fightback after Trump took a liberty with a pot attempt when appearing well set to close out victory. Kyren Wilson is chasing a first Triple Crown title after reaching the final of the Dafabet Masters at Alexandra Palace. (Steven Paston/PA Wire) It let me settle and I just needed one frame to get my arm going from 5-2 down to get back into the match, Wilson added. I just thought to myself, Right, I am going to go for it now, and when opportunities came I thought I just had to start taking them, whether taking a risk or not. I just started to grow in confidence and find my game. While pharmaceutical import has maintained a two-digit increase for many consecutive years, the imports of pharmaceutical raw materials have slightly decreased, data from the General Department of Customs showed. Most of Vietnams pharmaceutical supply markets are European countries. France and Germany are the two largest markets with turnovers of USD342 million and USD316 million, respectively, accounting for over 23% of the total. Its noteworthy that imports from India, Vietnams third largest suppliers, grew exponentially to 40 times the volume of the same period in 2016. Insufficient resources to invent new drugs and the limited number of businesses with technology meeting the high standards of the EUs Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) or Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S) are the main cause of the sharp increase in pharmaceutical imports in recent years, according to a report by market research firm Business Monitor International (BMI). With limited manufacturing capability, Vietnam has to import 55% of drugs it needs every year. In 2016, Vietnam imported USD2.5 billion worth of drugs, data from BMI showed. In 2017, domestic sales were expected to reach USD5.2 billion, an increase of about 10% over a year earlier, and expected to maintain a double-digit growth over the next five years, according to BMI. Imports of pharmaceutical products increased from USD2.035 million in 2014 to USD2.32 billion in 2015 and USD2.563 billion in 2016. Vietnamese pharmaceutical market is showing a positive growth with estimated revenues of USD5.2 billion last year, up 10%, and is forecast to achieve double-digit growth over the next five years./. A man and woman in their 20s have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 53-year-old man was found dead at a flat in east Belfast, police have said. The man was found at a property in the London Road area on Saturday morning. He had sustained a number of injuries to his head and face, according to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. A murder investigation has been launched and a post-mortem examination will be carried out to establish the exact cause of death, police said. Police have appealed for witnesses The 25-year-old man and 26-year-old woman were arrested at the scene and were still in custody on Saturday afternoon. Detective Chief Inspector Geoff Boyce, who is leading the murder investigation, said: I am appealing for witnesses, or anyone who may have information about this crime, to get in touch with the investigation team by calling 101, quoting reference 347 of January 20. Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime. The greeting of American soldiers by US Vice President Mike Pence at Shannon Airport raises questions over Irish neutrality, Sinn Fein has said. Aengus O Snodaigh TD said the meeting highlights the erosion of Irish neutrality. Mr Pence shook hands and posed for photographs with the troops in the airport terminal during a re-fuelling stop by Air Force Two on Saturday morning. Mike Pence shook hands and posed for photographs with the troops in the airport terminal (Niall Carson/PA) The soldiers were on their way to Kuwait. Honored to see troops based out of Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado while refueling in Ireland. They are headed to Kuwait for a six month deployment. Its disappointing to every American that Democrats in the Senate would shutdown the gov't when we have troops in harms way. pic.twitter.com/xzCh0H3V8K Vice President Mike Pence Archived (@VP45) January 20, 2018 Mr Pence was travelling to the Middle East with stops in Egypt, Jordan and Israel. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was also at Shannon Airport on Saturday morning to meet officials about the growth in passenger numbers. He did not meet with Mr Pence. It is understood both men were in the airport at different times. Im visiting @ShannonAirport this morning. Delighted to see it doing so well & growing its passenger numbers since it gained independence when I was Transport Minister. Here I am meeting Chairwoman Rose Hynes. pic.twitter.com/E2NW2xy1Za Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) January 20, 2018 Mr Pence later tweeted about his refuelling stop at Shannon. He said: Honoured to see troops based out of Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado while refueling in Ireland. They are headed to Kuwait for a six-month deployment. Mr O Snodaigh said the incident shows how much Irish neutrality has been undermined by successive Irish governments. That the US vice-president could address US soldiers, supposedly on their way to the Middle East, in the civilian airport in Shannon, shows just how much successive Irish governments have undermined Irish neutrality. These images are a stark reminder that the civilian Shannon Airport has virtually become a forward base for the US army to carry out military operations and exercises, he said. Mr O Snodaigh added: Sinn Fein has always stated that the US militarys use of Shannon Airport makes a mockery of Irish neutrality and the Irish Governments supposed commitment to neutrality. He said he is to raise the issue with the defence minister next week. Sergio Aguero scored a hat-trick as Manchester City restored their 12-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 3-1 win over Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium. Aguero glanced home a Kevin De Bruyne cross to break the deadlock in the 34th minute then added his second from the penalty spot midway through the second half. Jacob Murphy gave Newcastle hope with a composed finish to reduce the deficit but Aguero wrapped up victory by firing home after a dazzling piece of work by Leroy Sane. PA Graphics What they said Tweet of the match Aguero completes his hattrick after Sane beats 37 Newcastle defenders. Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) January 20, 2018 Star man Sergio Aguero Aguero maintained his stunning scoring record against Newcastle (Martin Rickett/PA) It was hardly Agueros most vintage display in a light-blue shirt but the Argentine still managed to single-handedly steer City back to winning ways. With the faintest of touches to break the deadlock, a coolly-taken penalty and a fine finish after Leroy Sane did the hard work, Aguero simply underlined that when when his side needs him most, he will always be where it counts. Moment of the match Sane dazzled the Newcastle defence to set up Agueros third (Martin Rickett/PA) Leroy Sanes role in Citys victory was hardly high-profile until his stunning piece of skill confirmed victory late on. With his side looking set to hold out for a nervous 2-1 triumph, Sane dribbled into the left side of the Newcastle box and turned a series of Magpies defenders inside-out before crossing for Aguero to complete his hat-trick. View from the bench Pep Guardiola got the better of his compatriot Rafael Benitez again (Martin Rickett/PA) Pep Guardiola will be the first to acknowledge that it was far from a perfect performance, but after the trauma of last weeks defeat to Liverpool, an ultimately comfortable victory over a defensive-minded Newcastle was exactly what he required. Guardiola will be particularly pleased with the performance of stand-in left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko on his first league start. For Magpies boss Rafael Benitez, one can only predict a bleak short-term future with his side still teetering close to the relegation zone and the apparent collapse of a takeover leaving major questions over his ability to buy his way out of trouble. Ratings Manchester City: Ederson 6, Kyle Walker 7, John Stones 6, Nicolas Otamendi 6, Oleksandr Zinchenko 7, Fernandinho 6, Kevin De Bruyne 8, David Silva 6, Raheem Sterling 7, Leroy Sane 7, Sergio Aguero 8. Subs: Bernardo Silva (for Sterling, 86) 5, Brahim Diaz (for Sane, 87) 5. Newcastle: Karl Darlow 6, Javier Manquillo 6, Jamaal Lascelles 6, Ciaran Clark 7, Paul Dummett 7, Jacob Murphy 8, Jonjo Shelvey 7, Mohamed Diame 7, Isaac Hayden 6, Christian Atsu 6, Joselu 6. Subs: Ayoze Perez (for Atsu, 64) 5, DeAndre Yedlin (for Manquillo, 66) 5, Dwight Gayle (for Joselu, 77) 5. Whos up next? Man City face a Carabao Cup trip to Bristol City (Martin Rickett/PA) Bristol City v Manchester City (Carabao Cup, January 23) Chelsea v Newcastle (FA Cup, January 28) A hotel fire in Prague city centre has killed at least two people and injured dozens more. Prague rescue service spokeswoman Jana Postova said eight people had been rushed to hospital with serious injuries after the blaze broke out in the hotel, named by firefighters as Eurostars David, on Saturday evening. Ms Postova said that three people had to be resuscitated. Firefighters and rescuers work at the scene of the blaze (AP) Prague mayor Adriana Krnacova, who was at the scene, expressed condolences to the relatives of the victims who have not been immediately identified. No further details were available. The hotel is located near the Vltava river in the Prague 2 district, which is walking distance from the citys historical centre. Scarlett Johansson has praised the Me Too movement for bringing hope of equality as she addressed thousands who joined Womens Marches on the anniversary of Donald Trumps inauguration as US president. She told an estimated 500,000 protesters in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday how the Harvey Weinstein revelations led her to consider how she had been treated as a young actress. Wearing a Times Up top, she said: As the rage settled in it gave way to other feelings sadness and, unexpectedly, guilt and grieving. Suddenly I was 19 again and I started to remember all the men Id known who took advantage of the fact I was a young woman who didnt yet have the tools to say no. Johansson says viewers must lead the way (Ian West/PA) Many of her relationships, both personal and professional, had power dynamics so off that she let herself be degraded, she said. I stand before you as someone who is empowered not only by the curiosity about myself and by the active choices that Im finally able to make and stand by, but by the brightness of this movement, the strength and the unity that this movement has provided, she said. It gives me hope that we are moving toward a place where our sense of equality can truly come from within ourselves. She was among Hollywood stars joining marchers marking a year since more than one million people worldwide rallied on Mr Trumps first day in the White House. The latest demonstration comes at a time of reckoning for many powerful men in Hollywood and other industries over their treatment of women, courtesy of the Me Too movement. Viola Davis shared her own experiences to echo the march organisers sentiment to encourage people to sign up to vote in Novembers mid-term elections, which could deal a blow to the president. Im always introduced as an award-winning actor but my testimony is one of poverty, my testimony is one of being sexually assaulted and very much seeing a childhood that was robbed from me, Davis said. I know that the trauma of those events are still with me today and thats what drives me to the voting booth, thats what allows me to listen to the women who are still in silence. Eva Longoria told protesters to seize the Me Too momentum to fight for equality and decried the sexist, racist rhetoric coming out of the White House. As we build upon the momentum of Me Too and Times Up in this movement, we women have the worlds attention so lets seize this moment and catalyse a permanent and cultural shift towards fairer and equal treatment in the workplace, she said. Alfre Woodard said that people must reach across boundaries to fight for a common cause in this dangerous and baffling hour. Many at last years rallies focused their outrage on Mr Trumps policies and alleged behaviour, which includes denied claims of sexual assault by multiple women and his boasting of grabbing women by the pussy. The pink, pointy-eared pussy hats used to mock the commander-in-chief made a popular return. As hundreds of thousands took to the streets, Mr Trump tweeted that it was a perfect day for women to celebrate the economic success and wealth creation of his first year in the White House. The marchers disagreed. Anti-Trump sentiments were strong among the placards, but so were pro-immigrant messages and those in favour of womens rights, including one reading Girls just want to have fun-damental rights. The main march this year was held in Las Vegas, but others took to the streets in cities including New York City and Washington DC. UK cities will hold marches on Sunday including a London demonstration in support of the Times Up initiative. England are considering travelling to Tbilisi during one of the fallow weeks of the NatWest 6 Nations to test their scrum against Georgia. Eddie Jones is examining the options as he looks to repeat the experience of engaging in a live training session with another nation after a successful head to head with Wales in Bristol before last autumns trio of victories at Twickenham. Eddie Jones wants to test his forwards against a better scrum (Adam Davy/PA) Georgia are feared scrummagers and Jones sees the value in uprooting his forwards from their base in Bagshot and exposing them to the expertise of a team desperate to be granted entry into the Six Nations. Tbilisi has a great red wine. Its fantastic. And the meat is good good Roman bars, Jones said. Georgia have a massive scrum and they have the strongest pack in the world. Their babies are born with beards! Tbilisi is a nice place at this time of year so we could potentially go there. We have got plans because we have got a couple of fallow weeks. We have got a good relationship with Scotland, Wales, dont know about Ireland too far to go Ireland Georgia and Italy. So there is potential. .@GeorgianRugby is growing. What's the next step for the proud rugby nation? pic.twitter.com/94rG6EaIF2 World Rugby (@WorldRugby) December 4, 2017 We are looking to improve our training and get a higher quality of opposition. The players absolutely loved it against Wales because when they train they want to get something out of it. If they want to train and just go through the motions they are the wrong players. Our players are developing a great attitude that they want to train to get better. The only way you get better is to scrummage against people who are better than you. Kyle Sinckler is a fiery prop who retains Eddie Jones support (Paul Harding/PA) Wherever in Europe the session takes place, combustible prop Kyle Sinckler will play a full role if he has convinced Jones that he warrants perseverance. Sinckler emerged as a tighthead with a promising future during last years British and Irish Lions tour but has since lost his way in a slump that reached its nadir when he was banned for seven weeks in October for gouging. Now is the test for him how much he really wants it otherwise hes going to become a pantomime character, Jones said. He has got to show he really wants to be a test prop and we are going to back him a hundred percent and give him every opportunity because hes a good kid. Im going to back him to come through. A pilot on a British Airways flight who was suspected of being drunk was arrested at Gatwick Airport on Thursday evening. Sussex Police said they received a call at 8.25pm on Thursday regarding a member of airline staff suspected to have been under the influence of alcohol. The flight, from Gatwick to Mauritius, was scheduled to leave at 8.20pm on Thursday, but the plane was left waiting at the gate while airline staff looked for a third pilot. The flight was due to leave Gatwick for Mauritius A 49-year-old man from Harmondsworth, Hillingdon, was arrested on suspicion of performing an aviation function while his alcohol level was over the prescribed limit, police said. He was taken into custody and later released under investigation. British Airways said it was taking the matter extremely seriously. We are sorry for the delay to our customers, said a spokesperson. The aircraft remained at the gate until an alternative third pilot joined the crew. The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority. The airline added that it is assisting police with inquiries. AFP: Facebook has emerged as the top site for wildlife trafficking in the Philippines, a watchdog said yesterday, with thousands of endangered crocodiles, snakes and turtles illegally traded in just three months. Monitoring network TRAFFIC said Facebook had not done enough to shut down the trade, which saw more than 5,000 reptiles from 115 species put up for sale on its discussion groups from June to August 2015 alone. Facebook is the platform of choice for illegal traders in the Philippines because of its popularity and insufficient internal monitoring enforcement, the report said. This magnitude of commerce in live wild animals online is just mind-boggling, said Serene Chng, TRAFFICs programme officer for Southeast Asia. The groups where live reptile advertisements were posted had more than 350,000 members when the study began, with numbers growing 11 percent in two months. Most transactions were completed using Facebooks Messenger service, the report said, adding that trading continues on the platform despite periodic government raids. Over half the species bought and sold were protected internationally and by the Philippines wildlife act, which carries jail terms and fines. The radiated tortoise, black spotted turtle, Bengal monitor lizard, and Dumerils boa - all threatened with extinction were among them, as well as the critically endangered Philippine crocodile and Philippine forest turtle. In one transaction, a trader also used an unnamed ride-sharing service to deliver wildlife to a buyer. This small snapshot reinforces how social media has taken over as the new epicentre of wildlife trade, Chng said. A statement from Facebooks PR firm said the site does not tolerate wildlife trade and is working with TRAFFIC to tackle the problem. Facebook does not allow the sale and trade of endangered animals and we will not hesitate to remove any material that violates our community standards when it is reported to us, it said. TRAFFICs regional spokeswoman Elizabeth John said that Facebook was seeking additional information in order to take action and that the watchdog was helping it liaise with Philippine authorities. Findings from the study were used to launch raids on suspected illegal traders in Manila and other areas last year, TRAFFIC said, with numerous arrests made. Philippine customs authorities also intercepted packages with illegal wildlife destined for China, Sweden, and the United States. JVP MP Sunil Hadunnetti said yesterday the appointing of a committee headed by Minister Tilak Marapana to recommend action in the event any UNPer was involved in the Central Bank bond scam was worse than appointing the Pitipana Committee to probe bond scam. He said the minister was the first person in the present government to resign from his portfolio because of his alleged involvement in Avant-Garde incident and was a national list MP appointed by UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. Will the minister hold the Prime Minister, who brought him to parliament, responsible for the scam? Mr. Marapanas brother is the lawyer appearing for Perpetual Treasuries Ltd on behalf of Arjun Aloysius. It is like Horage Ammagen Pena Ahanawa Wage How we can expect any justice from him, the MP said. He said any attempt to clear anyone from the bond scam would further establish their involvement in the scam. Every attempt made to get away from the scam has been futile. It will further establish their involvement in the scam. If the recommendations of the Bond Commission were implemented, all the politicians and officials held responsible by the commission would be found guilty, the MP said. He said if the COPE committee had not revealed the scam and made its recommendations, this scam would have been swept under the carpet. (Ajith Siriwardana) Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong would visit Sri Lanka on January 22 on a three-day official visit, at the invitation of President Maithripala Sirisena, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said yesterday. The Singaporean Premier will be received at the Presidential Secretariat on Tuesday morning with an official guard of honour and gun salute that will be followed by official bilateral discussions with President Sirisena. A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Sri Lanka and Singapore will be signed following bilateral talks. During the visit, Prime Minister Lee will also meet Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and discuss economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries. The visiting Prime Minister is also scheduled to attend a Business Forum in which leading businesspersons and investors from both Singapore and Sri Lanka will be present. The Ministry said that this is the first time in 13 years that a Singaporean Prime Minister undertakes an official visit to Sri Lanka. It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the The revenue from operations came in at Rs 6,879 crore, 12 per cent higher than the trailing quarter. New Delhi: Billionnaire Mukesh Ambani's telecom arm Reliance Jio, which has been blamed for the declining profitability in the sector, today broke into profits in just second quarter of commercial operations on the back of its cheap data offerings. Reliance Jio posted net profit of Rs 504 crore for the three months ended December 31, 2017, against a loss of Rs 271 crore in September quarter. Ambani had returned to the telecom sector in September 2016 with Jio's disruptive offerings of free voice and data that weaned away subscribers from established operators. Jio started commercial operations in second quarter of 2017-18 fiscal. It has often been blamed by the industry for falling profits and financial distress in the sector. Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom operator yesterday reported its seventh straight quarter of profit decline. The Sunil Mittal-promoted company reported over 39 per cent fall in its consolidated net profit for the third quarter this fiscal to about Rs 306 crore. Jio today claimed it is world's fastest growing digital services platform and country's largest wireless data subscriber base. "Jio's strong financial result reflects the fundamental strength of the business, significant efficiencies and right strategic initiatives. Jio has demonstrated that it can sustain its strong financial performance," Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries said in a statement. The company is committed to push newer innovative products, which would radically transform customer lives and generate huge societal value, he added. The revenue from operations came in at Rs 6,879 crore, 12 per cent higher than the trailing quarter. The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) jumped 82.1 per cent sequentially to end at Rs 2,628 crore during December quarter. The operating profit margin improved quarter-over-quarter to 38.2 per cent (23.5 per cent in September quarter). Jio's subscriber base as on December 31, 2017 stood at 160.1 million. The gross subscriber addition stood at 27.8 million during the quarter with net subscriber addition at 21.5 million. Jio's average revenue per user was pegged at Rs 154 each subscriber per month. Amongst other operational metrics, Jio logged total wireless data traffic of 431 crore GB (9.6 GB per subscriber per month), while the overall voice traffic was 31,113 crore minutes. The video consumption crossed 200 crore hours per month on the network (13.4 hours of video consumption per subscriber per month), the statement added. The company said it is on track to achieve 99 per cent population coverage during the year. The growth in Jio's subscriber base is getting further accelerated through the launch of JioPhone -- its 4G-enabled feature phone priced at "effective" zero, that wooed low income users with life-long free voice calls and cheap data bundled with the handset. "Reliance Retail is geared to increase capacity of supply of JioPhone, considering the tremendous response from Indians to embrace Digital Life," Jio statement said. Mumbai/New Delhi: A few days back, some Rajput women claimed that they will commit suicide if Padmaavat releases. But it looks like they have taken U-turn, as now they want the director of the film, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, to commit suicide. "Why should those women commit jauhar? It is Bhansali who will have to commit jauhar. Hum Bhansali ki chita jalayenge," Ramwati Kanwar of the Kshatriya Mahila Sangh told Hindustan Times. According to a report on Times Of India, a delegation comprising members of Kshatriya Samaj and an NGO on Friday met the management of two Thane malls and gave them a memorandum requesting them not to screen Padmaavat, which will release on Janaury 25. Dhananjay Singh, president of Kshatriya Samaj, said, We had planned a mega rally against the film release, but denied permission. Hence, we requested the mall authorities not to run the movie. When asked about their plan of action plan if the movie is screened, he said they would take the decision at that time. Not only that, senior advocate Harish Salve, received a death threat. An FIR was filed for the same. The Delhi police on Friday registered an FIR against unknown person for threatening senior advocate Harish Salve. Salve, who represented the producer of Padmaavat in Supreme Court, had earlier alleged that he had received life threats over phone. The callers reportedly claimed that they were from Karni Sena, the group which is protesting against the release of the epic drama. Earlier on Thursday, the apex court stayed notifications issued by four states - Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat - to ban the release of the film 'Padmaavat'. In its interim order, the court said all states are constitutionally obliged to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incident during the screening of the film after permission has been granted by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The flick has run into trouble time and again, as members of several Rajput factions have accused the director of the film, Bhansali of distorting history. Starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor in lead roles, the film is all set to release on January 25. The makers released three dialogue promos from the film. Here they are: Mumbai: Ranveer Singh has impressed many with his transformation as Alaudin Khilji for Padmaavat. The actor gained kilos as his character required the same, but the dedication he showed for that movie, and later for Gully Boy is applaud-worthy. Ranveer in fact shared an image about his physical transformation for both the movies, and theres one word for it wow. Heres the image he shared: The actor has lost as much as 7 kgs for the Zoya Akhtar directorial, and this before-after transformation is something to look forward to. Padmaavat has finally got a solo release and is being appreciated as much as criticized. Now Ranveer is back on the sets of Zoya Akhtars Gully Boy, which also stars Alia Bhatt. Priyanka Chopra on the sets of 'Quantico' in New York. (Photo: Instagram) Mumbai: Despite proving that she is a Desi Girl by shining at numerous events at her recent trip back home, the truth is that Priyanka Chopras second home America is very much her actual home right now. The Global Star headed back straight to the sets of her hit TV series Quantico upon reaching USA and since then, the actress has been shooting back-to-back. While the pictures from the shoot have been going viral, her latest photos have generated the maximum buzz. Priyanka was recently snapped passionately kissing her co-star Alan Powell on the streets of New York for a sequence in the series. Showing off her legs in a black high-slit outfit and furry jacket, the actress is definitely looking sizzling hot. It is not the first time that the actress has shot for steamy scenes for Quantico, with ones in the previous seasons also making headlines. Looking at this picture, we have no doubts that this scene will also set the Internet on fire when the third season hits the screens on April 26. While most quarters have good things to say about Akshays decision to push Pad Mans release, sources claim that it was marked by a little self-interest The Hindi film industry, always portrayed as a harsh and mean world, where each person looks out only for ones own interest, witnessed a rare instance of solidarity on Friday. Akshay Kumar, whose biographical film Pad Man was to release at the same time as Sanjay Leela Bhansalis controversial Padmaavat, deferred the release of his film at the latters request. Much to the Padmaavat teams relief, the film is all set for a solo release on the most lucrative weekend of our Republic Day. While Bhansalis magnum opus has seen the lowest of lows what with the sets being vandalised, the lead actors being threatened and the release being postponed several times, the industry has backed Bhansali right from the start. And this is the most tangible example of Bollywoods solidarity yet. In fact, Akshays entire team is with him on this decision. Says his co-producer Prerna Arora of Kriarj Films, Just a week before our films release, without any prior intimation, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, came to Akshay sir requesting that we postpone Pad Man. It was a very unusual request considering we were just days away from release. But Akshay agreed immediately. Prerna further states that this event sets a precedent for other actors, directors and producers who pit their films against each other in a bid to come out on top. They should learn from this experience. By moving ahead by two weeks at the last minute, Akshay has shown there can be solidarity in the film fraternity, she says. Prernas partner, Arjun N. Kapoor also agrees that this unity is not just welcome but also needed in the industry. The other side of the coin Despite the teams profuse admiration for Akshay, the move isnt as magnanimous as it may seem. While the entire industry is busy commending the actor-producers largesse, the generous gesture was not without a pinch of self-interest. A source in the know informs us, It was a marvellous marketing manoeuvre. In one stroke, Akshay made himself out to be the hero rescuing Padmaavat from its crisis. But look closer. He actually did his own film a favour. His entire marketing team advised him to pull out of the January 25 release slot after Padmaavat came into the picture. With Padmaavat around, Pad Man would have lost at least 45 percent of its intended viewership. Also, with all the threats of violence hovering over Padmaavat, the multiplex theatres screening both Padmaavat and Pad Man would have witnessed a reduction in visitors. Families wary of unrest would have stayed away from both. Furthermore, it is believed Bhansali did not want to be the one to approach Akshay. Hed wanted to send a Viacom 18 representative to do the job. However, the team felt that the request would sound more genuine if it came from the director himself. Whatever their motivations though, it seems that both the much-awaited films have got their share of positive response and limelight from their fans, who are geared up for a couple of power-packed weeks of cinema-going. With inputs from Dyuti Basu and Subhash K. Jha On Thursday, Nandamuri Balakrishna made a surprise announcement at his felicitation ceremony by the Brahmin community. I am planning to play Ramanujacharyas (Hindu theologian) role and want to make the film on my 60th birthday, he said. Though the actor didnt disclose any details about the director or the technicians, he made an announcement about the film as he felt that it was the best occasion to reveal it. The actor, who played Satakarni and Krishnadevaraya in his earlier films, revealed that he wanted to portray Ramanuja. My father did a film on Brahmanaidu, which showed that all people are the same. Ramanuja also said that there is no caste or religion, and that everyone comes under one umbrella, said Balakrishna. Meanwhile, his latest film Jai Simha is doing well at the box-office and a particular scene in the film tells about the importance of Brahmins in society. Pleased by this, the AP and Telangana Brahmin Asosications came forward to felicitate the actor. When we were shown in a bad light, we fought against those films and filmmakers; this film has highlighted us, so we want to give our blessing to the makers, said Dronamraju Ravi Kumar, Secretary of the All India Brahmins Federation. He said that many filmmakers were showing the community in poor light and requested Balakrishna to help prevent the same in the future. To which the actor responded, I will talk to the filmmakers and also the concerned Movie Artistes Association not to degrade the community in the films. Balakrishna also showed his command over the Telugu language by reciting a few poems from the Puranas and explaining the importance of Brahmins. Vikram Sirikonda is making his directorial debut with Touch Chesi Choodu, starring Ravi Teja. Interestingly, he turned writer unexpectedly with the film Konchem Ishtam Konchem Kashtam. Director Dolly is a good friend of mine and asked me to write for that film, says Vikram, who also worked as a screenwriter for the films Mirapakayi and Race Gurram, both of which were hits. When I was working for Mirapakayi, Ravi Teja offered me the directors role, he shares, admitting that it took him quite long to accept the offer. A still from Touch Chesi Choodu Though the basic plot of Touch Chesi Choodu is by writer Vakkantham Vamsi, I told the actor and producer that I wanted to develop the story on my own and give credit to Vamsi. They all agreed, reveals the Chemical Engineering graduate. I even worked in DRDO for a month, but left the job because I am passionate about cinema, he says. Son of Madhava Rao, a popular theatre artiste from Warangal, Vikram shares that he wanted to join films from the beginning. From childhood, I used to go to shootings because of my father, who knew a few people in the industry. I first joined as an associate director to V.V. Vinayak for films like Samba and Bunny, he shares. Talking about writers turning into directors, he says, I wanted to become a director from the beginning, Usually writers dont get credit for a films success as the credit mainly goes to the director and actor. If the film becomes a super success, the director and the lead actors remunerations go up, but not the writers. So I wanted to be a director. Artist, sculptor and engineer - there's very little Ranjan Ramachandran can't do with his hands. 2018 is a special year for the creative colossus: he was chosen to make a model of the Gommateshwara Temple in Shravanabelagola to mark the Mahamasta-kabhisheka here in Bengaluru. His is a remarkable story, marked by the relentless pursuit of his passions. He talks to Ranjani Madhavan about growing up with Kuvempu's son, his life as an engineer and how he made his name in the art world . At 56, Ranjan Ramachandran exudes an unmistakable air of vitality, pacing constantly to balance out a mind bursting with ideas. He awaits us at Lalbagh's Glass House, standing beside his 18-foot-tall creation, the International Mahamastakabhisheka -2018 logo. Bhagwan Bahubali towers up through the middle, his giant body cast in fibre-reinforced plastic and resin. Ramachandran has devoted himself to detail, made visible in the nuances of the idol's expressions, his large years and his curly hair. Water flows from the top, to represent continuous Abhisheka. Held once in 12 years, the Mahamasta kabhisheka held at Shravanabelagola draws crowds from across the country, who throng the spot to bathe and annoint Bahubali's Gomateshwara statue. It is the glory of this scene that Ramachandran has attempted to recreate, in an initiative sponsored by the Mahamastakabhisheka committee. Built to scale, the model is a splendid replica of the hillock in Shravanabelagola, standing at 15-feet tall, 35-feet wide and 60-feet in length from front to back. "Above the hill, the idol measures 15 feet from the waist up," Ranjan explains. "In total, the idol is about 30 feet tall." A project like this would take nearly a couple of months to complete. Not so, however, with Ramachandran and his dream team. Ramachandran led a team of over 100 artists, putting the installation together in a record time of 15 days. "The logo alone woudl normally take about 25 days to make," he remarks. Ramachandran's creative restlessness began when he was a child, fashioning houses out of cardboard. "Even today, I make gift and fancy boxes for corporates and individuals. And no, I didn't learn this from anyone. It comes from within me, difficult as that might be to comprehend. Whatever I am asked for - silk thread earrings, paintings, or embroidery - I can do it all," he says, not without a touch of pride. He pauses to recount a childhood anecdote - the housewarming of his family's new three-storeyed home. "There were a few elderly people invited and they couldn't walk up the stairs," he said. The young Ramachandran, evidently troubled by this, dedicated himself to the task. A month before the function was to be held, he crafted a thermocol replica of the structure. "You could detach each floor and see what the bedrooms and toilets look like. I had painted it entirely and I remember my aunts syaing, 'Oh, this is what your room like', with surprise in their voices. Imagination is everything, it just needs to be tapped," he smiles. His story grows more remarkable as he proceeds. As a young boy, he would slip out to a neighbour's house to play with the young boy there, Tejaswi. His young companion, as it happened, is the son of the Rashtrakavi, Kuvempu! "I would play in his house between 1965 and 1970," he recalls. "Kuvempu would give me his short stories, about 10 pages each, with his autograph. I didn't realise the treasures I was being given because I was only a child then," he says. He regrets not preserving the signed books of Karnataka's most renowned Padma Vibhushan, whom he recalls as being jovial and well-spoken. The opportunity for thanks presented itself in 2017, when Ramachandran was called upon to recreate Kuvempu's Samadhi (memorial) to mark the 50th year since Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa won the Jnanpith award. "The ambience and silence of the burial ground had to be created. We did the ambience so well, people felt they were at a real Samadhi. I don't know what Governor Vajubhai Vala's experiences were personally, but he put flowers on the Samadhi, which we all know was just a box," he remarks. Raised in Harihar, Rama-chandran studied to become a Mechanical Engineer in Tumkur, after which he arrived in Bengaluru. His talents were spotted earlier on: As an engineer in Kirloskar, he invented India's first CNC machine (Computer Numerical Control), used for drilling, milling, glass cutting an dlots more. He's also a man of many talents: Ramachandran deftly flicks his wrist, pulling a coin out of thin air. "I quit my job when I was young and learned magic under a teacher for an entire year. People also say I'm an excellent cook," he grins. "I only cook vegetarian food and people say they love to eat my masala dosas!" The Gommateshwara installation was a three-step process, starting with a 5-foot thick mould made from thermocol. The impression is made from this and placed inside a clay mould before it is reinforced itno the fibre plastic. Years of oustanding creative accomplishment have made him something of a local celebrity. This we understand when Hampa Nagarajaiah, the respected Kannada scholar and Karnataka Sahitya Academy award winner stops by to say hello. Speaking to Rama-chandran like an old friend, Nagarajaiah tells him that everyone think sof him as they stroll through the Glass House. "Nagarajaiah gave me the motivation to do this," he says, as his friend retreats. "There are times when I lack both the money and the inclination - doubt is always debilitating." Does he identify himself as an artist or a sculptor? "There's nothing I can't make," he retorts. "From bags and sweaters to customised head bands, kaleidoscopes, flower pots made of paper and large sets like Gommatesh- wara, I have worked with over 60 materials." Now, when he isn't busy tending to bulk design orders, he manufactures panel coolers for electronic machines. Ramachandran does, however, steer clear of teaching art. "You can't teach it. Do children join an art class out of passion or compulsion? Many people aren't self-motivated and quit their classes - I call this pseudo passion. One needs to have a bug within them to explore this as a career. Michelangelo and Van Gogh didn't go to art college either. Shakespeare didn't even go to school!" THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A railway track that is strong enough to hold loaded trains that weigh more than the combined weight of 220 elephants is now seen as the best bet to prevent wild animals from straying into human settlements. The Railways, as part of their safety protocol, discard rails that are 20 years old. It is these scrapped rails that the Forest Department now wants to erect as elephant fences in problem areas along the fringes of national parks and sanctuaries. We have plans to use rail fences in the Palakkad division, as a pilot of sorts, said Dr Anikumar Bhardwaj, the head of forest force (HOFF) and principal chief conservator of forests. The human-elephant conflict is highest in the Mannarkad division (Palakkad) and in North Wayanad. We have asked our ministry (Ministry of Environment and Forests) to talk to the Railways, he said. Dr Bharadwaj said that rail fences looked better than the normal interventions like trenches and electric fences. Still, he is wary for two reasons; the rail fence has not been tested in the country and it could be costly as the Railways charge high for their scrap. The head of forest force is also worried about the ill-effects of permanent barriers. These could prevent other species, too, from moving between forests and could also prompt them to explore new non-forest areas thus defeating the very purpose of a barrier, Dr Bharadwaj said. Dr P.O. Nameer (professor and head of Centre for Wildlife Studies, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur), who first brought the rail fence to the notice of the Forest Department in 2015, said the rail fence addresses the issue to a large extent. Dr Nameer said that rail fence was ecologically sustainable as it did not hamper the movement of the non-target species. The rail fence will be like two or three parallel railway tracks lifted up and placed vertically, except that the vertical poles will be placed wider apart. The space in between will be too small for an elephant but large enough for other animal species like tiger or fox or bulls or deer to cross from one area to the other, Dr Nameer said. In the case of a trench or a wall or an electric fence, it blocks the movement of all species. The rail-fence is also virtually maintenance-free, he added. However, Dr Nameer, like HOFF Dr Bharadwaj, said that the construction of barriers of whatever type should be considered only as a last resort. The womans father had told police that there is mystery in his daughters death and alleged that his son-in-law used drove her to suicide by constantly fighting with her. Chennai: A 29-year-old software engineer was arrested on charges of abetment to suicide after his wife committed suicide at their residence in Madipakkam on Thursday night. Preliminary investigations have suggested that the woman took the extreme step due to issues in her marital life. The deceased was identified as K. Deepika (27). Deepika got married to Gowtham only five months ago and the couple was staying at an apartment in Ram Nagar (north) in Madipakkam. Gowtham was working in an IT company in Sholinganallur while his wife worked with a private company near Poonamallee. On Thursday, Deepika stayed back at home while Gowtham went to work. Around 10.30 pm, he returned home to find the lights turned off in his apartment. When he went in, Deepika was found hanging from the ceiling. Gowtham alerted the neighbours and her parents, who reside in Porur. Deepika was moved to a hospital nearby where she was declared brought dead. Madipakkam police secured the womans body and moved it to Chromepet government hospital for autopsy. Meanwhile, the womans father, Krishnan Kutty filed a complaint with police against his son-in-law, claiming that he was responsible for her death. The womans father had told police that there is mystery in his daughters death and alleged that his son-in-law used drove her to suicide by constantly fighting with her. Investigations revealed that the couple used to have frequent quarrels about Deepika visiting her parents home often after work. On Friday, Madipakkam police booked Gowtham on charges of abetment to suicide. He was produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody. Since the woman committed suicide within six months of her getting married, an enquiry by the Tambaram Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) has also been recommended, police said. Preeti Bhandari, management head of Little Elly, told the parents that their Hyderabad coordinator was on leave and that they could shift their child to their centre in Gachibowli but offered no response on providing the parents CCTV footage or the insult their child faced. Hyderabad: A four-year-old student was allegedly mentally harassed in front of his peers and teachers at the Little Elly Playschool, Jubilee Hills, because the management had personal vendetta against his parents. After her suggestions during the parent-teacher met, she received a call on January 13 informing her that her son had slapped a new female student and had to be taken away from the school immediately. We demanded the CCTV footage of the incident countless times but were denied the same. They kept giving us excuses like their operator was not in town and it was not working. They were offering us a refund to remove our child from the school. The childs father said, Our child started behaving strangely at home, getting scared easily, apologising whenever someone went close to him and cried uncontrollably a few times saying he was not allowed to even play with his best friend. He was also sent home in soiled pants one day without the ayah even cleaning him up. The parents excha-nged a series of emails with the headquarters of the playschool in Bengaluru. Preeti Bhandari, management head of Little Elly, told the parents that their Hyderabad coordinator was on leave and that they could shift their child to their centre in Gachibowli but offered no response on providing the parents CCTV footage or the insult their child faced. The last mail sent by the management on Friday stated that the school could not cater to the mental and emotional capabilities of the child. They also claimed that they had to speak to the parents of the child in a defensive manner because they were questioned about the facilities in the school. Repeatedly called names by teachers, the four-year-old child suffered at school despite external experts his parents contacted stating that the child was perfectly normal for his age. We even had another parent get in touch with us who explained the religious discrimination that the school shows towards students. They do not provide yoga mats to children of a particular faith, said the mother. However, school authorities denied allegations and said mats had been ordered. The parents approached the police for help in obtaining the CCTV footage and also complained about the cruelty meted out to their student. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday defended his trademark hugs with world leaders, saying he was unaware of laid down protocols as he is a common man and this has become his strength, as his openness was liked by the world leaders. PM Modi also said his basic nature has been "to convert adversity into opportunity". Days after being mocked by the Congress over his hugs, PM Modi said in a TV interview had he been "trained", he too would have followed the laid down protocols of shaking hands and "looking left and right" with world leaders. "I do not know all the protocols as I am a common man. The openness of this common man is liked by the world. Friendly relations come in handy," he said in the interview to Zee news. He further said, "Had I been trained like others...I too would have followed those protocols of looking right and left, had shaken hands. But I am an ordinary person...I only try to ensure that no harm ever happens to my country (due to this)," A few days ago, the Congress had posted a tweet mocking Modi for hugging world leaders, evoking a sharp reaction from the BJP that slammed it as "immature" and demanded an apology. "When I became the prime minister, there was criticism that Modi neither knows nor understands anything which is outside Gujarat...," PM Modi said. "Everybody used to ask me how will I conduct my foreign policy. And in a way, this criticism was right because I did not have any experience. I got the benefit of not having experience. I did not have any baggage," he said. Asked how he feels when he stands next to world leaders, he said, "My only feeling is that it is not Narendra Modi who is standing there but the representative of 1.25 billion people." Speaking to the media in Kochi, the BJP leader said, 'Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and Popular Front of India (PFI) activists are getting strengthened day by day with the help of Communist Party of India (Marxist). We will take this up at the national level and push Centre to interfere in the matter.' (Photo: ANI) Kochi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Kummanam Rajasekharan on Saturday urged the Centre to intervene in the matter of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) worker's murder. Speaking to the media in Kochi, the BJP leader said, "Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and Popular Front of India (PFI) activists are getting strengthened day by day with the help of Communist Party of India (Marxist). We will take this up at the national level and push Centre to interfere in the matter". He added that the Kerala government must take action. Read: Kerala: 24-yr-old ABVP worker Syam Prasad hacked to death by masked assailants Earlier on Saturday, four Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) activists were arrested by the Kannur police in connection with the murder of the ABVP worker. ABVP activist Syam Prasad was hacked to death near Kuthuparamba in Kerala's Kannur district on Friday. 24-year-old Prasad, a resident of Peravoor city in Kannur, was a Peravoor government ITI student who was killed while he was travelling on a bike. The court issued this direction after the public prosecutor informed the court that the Tamil Nadu government had passed an order for conducting jallikattu at Ulagampatti. MADURAI: The Madurai bench of the Madras High court on Friday directed the Dindigul district collector, Mr. T G Vinay to grant permission for conducting jallikattu at Ulagampatti village in connection with St Antonys church festival, which is scheduled on January 22. The court issued this direction after the public prosecutor informed the court that the Tamil Nadu government had passed an order for conducting jallikattu at Ulagampatti. Jesumani from Dindigul in his petition filed before the court said, though the jallikattu festival had been organised for many years during St Antony Church festival, the collector rejected their petition for organising the event on January 22. When the case was heard on Thursday, it was argued that the authorities denied permission because Ulagampatti did not figure in the G.O. passed to facilitate for conducting jallikattu this year (2018). When the case came up for hearing today before Justice V Bharathidasan, the public prosecutor informed the judge that Ulagam-patti venue name was mentioned in the government order. Recording the submission, the judge directed the district collector to grant permission and also make necessary arrangements for conducting the event. The F-16 provides the path to business relationships with Lockheed Martin, the only company in the world that has designed, developed and produced operational fifth generation fighter aircraft. (Representational Image) Washington/New Delhi: American aerospace and defence major Lockheed Martin has proposed to manufacture custom-built F-35 fighter jets in India, which its officials say will give Indian industry a unique opportunity to become part of the world's largest fighter aircraft ecosystem. "We plan to introduce two new words into the lexicon of international fighter aircraft manufacturing: 'India' and 'exclusive'," Vivek Lall, vice president, strategy and business development, at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics said in an interview. "India-specific state-of-the-art fighter production in India will be exclusive, something that has never before been presented by any other fighter aircraft manufacturer, past or present. There will also be a significant export market available for Indian-made fighters," he said. Lall is an Indian-American who last year was instrumental in the decision of the Trump administration to sell top-of-the-line unarmed drones from General Atomics, in his previous capacity. Noting that the India-specific fighter on offer and its programme's size, scope and success will enable Indian industry to take advantage of unprecedented manufacturing, upgrade and sustainment opportunities well into the future, Lall said the platform will give Indian industry a unique opportunity to become a part of the world's largest fighter aircraft ecosystem. "We intend to create far more than an assembly line in India," he said. Lall claimed no other advanced fourth generation platform even comes close to matching the record of real-world combat experience and proven operational effectiveness. "The fighter being offered specifically to India is uniquely the best state-of-the-art fighter," he said adding that all three variants of the F-35 are single-engine aircraft. Many of the systems used on the India-specific platform are derived from key lessons learned and technologies from Lockheed Martin's F-22 and the F-35, the world's only operational fifth generation fighters, he said. Northrop Grumman's advanced APG-83 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar on the F-16 Block 70 provides F-16s with fifth generation fighter radar capabilities by leveraging hardware and software commonality with F-22 and F-35 AESA radars, he added. The APG-83 radar shares more than 95 per cent software commonality with the F-35 radar and more than 70 per cent hardware commonality. Lall said the F-16 provides the path to business relationships with Lockheed Martin, the only company in the world that has designed, developed and produced operational fifth generation fighter aircraft. Technology improvements will also continue to flow between the F-16, F-22 and F-35 for decades, at a fraction of the cost to F-16 operators, he said. The platform being offered provides unmatched opportunities for Indian companies of all sizes, including micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs) and suppliers throughout India, to establish new business relationships with Lockheed Martin and other industry leaders in the US and around the globe, Lall said giving an insight into the offer being made by his company. Asserting that approximately half of the Indian fighter supply chain will be common with the fifth generation F-22 and F-35, Lall said the aircraft brings the most modern avionics, a proven AESA radar, modernised cockpit, advanced weapons, longer range with conformal fuel tanks, auto ground collision avoidance capability, and an advanced engine with an extended service life. Even with the addition of targeting systems and two 2,000 pound (lb) class Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), the aircraft has a mission radius exceeding 1,300 kms 30 per cent greater than that of its closest competitor, he said. "Many of the advances in systems on the aircraft India would get draw directly from key lessons learned from Lockheed Martin's work on the F-22 and the F-35," he said. "The AESA radar is the result of over two decades of investment, use and experience with AESA technology, and it's fully operational today," Lall said. The latest ceasefire violation comes just days after seven Pakistani soldiers were killed by the Indian Army in cross-border firing initiated by Pakistani rangers in Poonch sector. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) Mumbai: Pakistan has a twisted mindset, Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir said on Friday, and asserted India will respond with 10 bullets for every bullet fired by the neighbouring country. "Sending terrorists into India, violating ceasefire has become their (Pakistan's) nature. They have a twisted mindset. Be it our home ministry, defence ministry or the Jammu and Kashmir police, everybody has to keep co-ordinating and give reply to Pakistan's misadventures," Ahir said, speaking to reporters in Yavatmal, Maharashtra. "The home minister has said we should not fire the first bullet. But if one bullet is fired from their side, we should respond with 10," he said. Two civilians and a BSF jawan were killed on Friday and 23 others, including 2 BSF men, were injured in a heavy mortar shelling by Pakistan along the international border in three districts of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. The latest ceasefire violation comes just days after seven Pakistani soldiers were killed by the Indian Army in cross-border firing initiated by Pakistani rangers in Poonch sector. As the situation continues to be tense, over 1,000 people staying on border have been moved and schools in the area will remain closed till further notice. Chennai: Madras high court has rejected a plea from an anti-Hindi agitator, to direct the state government to accord pension under the Tamil Nadu payment of pension to Tamil Scholars Miscellaneous Provision Act, for having participated in the agitations to preserve the Tamil language and imprisoned at least thrice. While dismissing the petition filed by S. Chokalingam, Justice R. Suresh Kumar observed that in order to protect the avowed principle of unity in diversity, it is essential to protect and preserve all languages of this country as each one will have to be cherished for the rich and distinct culture it represents. The petitioner had participated in anti-Hindi agitations in and around Thiruppur and Avinashi and had been imprisoned. The state government had brought a legislation called Tamil Nadu payment of Pension to Tamil Scholars Miscellaneous Provision Act, 1983. Thus, those who participated in anti-Hindi agitation, to safeguard the interest and richness of the Tamil language, were to be given pension, in order to recognize their service to the mother tongue. Accordingly, in 1987 he had submitted an application along with jail certificates, seeking pension. But, there was no response. Ultimately, pursuant to a direction of the court, the authorities had on November 11, 2003, rejected his application, he added. The judge said the state governments move to bring the legislation to give pension to agitators for protecting the Tamil language was viewed seriously by the courts of law and the said move was negated and was not approved by the court of law in the judgments referred to in the very G.O itself. The courts have already taken the view that the government pension or extending any benefit in the name of protecting the language, would amount to encouraging the agitation against the particular language and if this trend continues throughout the country, the unity and integrity of the country will be at stake and one day country will get disintegrated in the name of language, the judge added. Since the government has come forward to stop giving any benefit to those who participated in the agitation in the name of language by issuance of G.O and the said G.O is in force, no order can be passed by any authority including the government, contra to the said G.O which reflects the present policy of the state. New Delhi: Looking to address the concerns of four senior judges, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra has decided to himself hear the former special CBI judge H.B. Loya case on Monday. The decision follows the dramatic recusal of Justice Arun Mishra from hearing the two PILs demanding an independent probe into Loyas mysterious death in December 2014. The high-profile Loya case is seen as the trigger for the top four Supreme Court judges Justices J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph to go public with their criticism of CJI Misra for allocating sensitive cases to junior judges. Hosapete BJP MLA Anand Singh and Ballari district in-charge minister Santosh Lad were spotted travelling in the same car with speculation rife that Mr Singh will join the Congress ahead of the polls. Ballari: Although a picture of Hosapete BJP MLA, B S Anand Singh seated in the official car of Ballari district in- charge Minister, Santosh Lad went viral on social media on Friday, he denied he was considering quitting the saffron party. "My photograph with Santosh Lad is not recent. It could have been taken during last year's Hampi Utsav," he contended, however , admitting that he enjoyed a good relationship with Mr Lad and often travelled with him in his official car for work related to the development of his home constituency. As for speculation about him quitting the BJP, he said although he had some differences with district party leaders, the state leadership had assured him the problems would be sorted out in the next couple of days. But going by party insiders, Mr Singh had gone in Mr Lad's official car to visit Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at his official residence 'Krishna' in Bengaluru on Wednesday to hold talks for over two hours over the possibility of his joining the Congress and contesting on its ticket from Hosapete in the coming Assembly elections. He also reportedly met KPCC president, Dr G Parameshwar and Energy minister, D K Shivakumar and received a positive response from them, said sources. Disgruntled with the BJP, Singh had kept away from the BJP's Parivartana yatra in Hosapete on January 6. Sources reveal that AICC General Secretary, Oscar Fernandes is likely to discuss his joining the party with Congress president, Rahul Gandhi and he may be inducted into the party during the latter's visit to Hosapete end of January. Mr Singh is said to have received feelers from JDS state chief, H D Kumaraswamy as well to join his party, but has sought time to consider the offer. Disgruntled with the BJP, he kept away from its Parivartana yatra when it entered Hosapete on January 6. The MLA is believed to be miffed over BJP MP, Sriramulu and other leaders from Ballari allegedly promoting a local businessman, Kishore Pattikonda as an alternative leader to him in his constituency. And there is speculation that he may be denied a ticket to contest the coming poll for participating in the 'Tipu Sultan Jayanthi' celebrations last year against the party's diktat. Born to a Muslim mother and Rajput father, it is believed he could be paying the price for reportedly proving uncooperative in turning Hosapete into a hot bed of Hindutva politics. A mining businessman, he was once close to the mining barons turned politicians, the Reddy brothers of Ballari and was himself arrested by the CBI in 2013 in connection with the illegal export of iron ore from Belekeri port in Karwar and jailed for 18 months. He is currently out on bail. Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati has enough reasons to be worried with the Congress, along with Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mavani, also posing a serious threat to the BSP vote base. Mayawati who claims to be on the comeback trail in Uttar Pradesh is no longer worried about the BJP making in-roads into her vote base. Behenji has enough ammunition to fire at the BJP which has done nothing for Dalits-in fact under the Modi regime, Dalits have been at the receiving end. From the Rohith Vemula case to the Una killings, Saharanpur clashes and now Bhima Koregaon clashes, the BJP seems to have no answers to the BSP salvo. However, it is the Congress- Mevani alliance that could disturb our plans in UP, said a BSP functionary. According to BSP sources, Mayawati is particularly anxious about reports that Jignesh Mevani will soon be making his political debut in Uttar Pradesh. Apparently, the BSP which has already been losing ground among the youth and lacks a young leadership that can address new voters, sees a major threat from Mevani. The BSP, incidentally, is the only political party in Uttar Pradesh that does not have a youth wing or even a student wing. The BSP has rapidly been losing ground. From getting a 30 per cent vote share in 2007, the partyhas slipped to 26 per cent voters in 2012. Wailing relatives of Ghar Singh, who was killed after Pakistan opened heavy fire and shot mortars along the India Pakistan border, grieve in R.S. Pura Sector on Saturday. (Photo: PTI) Srinagar: Noisy protests by the Opposition over intensified clashes along the borders with Pakistan rocked Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, currently in its budget session in winter capital Jammu, on Saturday. The Opposition alleged that the PDP-BJP government has failed to protect the lives of the border-dwellers. Seven civilians and two soldiers each from the Army and the BSF have been killed and over 30 people, most of them civilians, injured in the Pakistani firing along the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC) in the states Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch districts since Wednesday night. The escalation has forced thousands of border-dwellers to flee their homes and relocate to safer locations. Over a dozen cattle have also perished in the cross border firing and shelling. The Opposition National Conference and Congress members staged a walkout from the House over the alleged failure of the government to protect the lives of the border residents. NC working chief Omar Abdullah, worried at the escalation along the borders called for talks between the national security advisers of India and Pakistan so that this bloodshed comes to an end. If there was a single notable trend in 2017, it was the inroads made by non-IAS officers in positions traditionally considered the turf of the heaven-born. Going by the liberal sprinkling of non-IAS officers at the joint secretary level, it does appear as if the supremacy of the IAS, who for decades considered themselves a cut above the rest of the All India services, is under threat. In March 2017, the government named 16 new joint secretaries in key ministries and departments, including the ministry of home affairs and the department of financial services. Ten of these officers were from services like Indian Forest Service (IFoS), Central Secretariat Service (CSS), Indian Postal Service (IPoS) and Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS). For example, Vinod Kumar Tiwari, a 1986 batch Himachal Pradesh cadre IFoS officer, was appointed as joint secretary in the ministry of tribal affairs in place of Manoj K. Pingua, a 1994 batch Chhattisgarh cadre IAS and Ms Vandita Kaul, a 1989 batch Indian Postal Service (IPoS) officer was made the new joint secretary in the department of financial services in place of A.V. Patil, a 1998 batch Tamil Nadu cadre lAS officer. This was not the odd blip but a precursor to similar appointments. In June, when 21 new joint secretaries were appointed, only four belonged to the IAS. The government made it clear that an officers specialisation had no bearing so far as the appointment of the joint secretaries were concerned. Thus, income tax officer Vipin Chandra (1987 batch IRS-IT) was made the joint secretary in the ministry of earth sciences and Prasanta Kumar Swain, a 1987 batch Indian Postal Service officer, was appointed joint secretary in the department of agriculture, cooperation and farmers' welfare, replacing an IAS Shakil P. Ahammed. Then, in another series of joint secretary appointments in November 2017, 10 of the 20 new joint secretary positions were bagged by the babus from Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS), IRAS, Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS), Indian Economic Service (IES) and Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES). Dharma Reddy Alia, a 1991 batch IDES, was made joint secretary in the ministry of home affairs (MHA) replacing Nagaland cadre IAS, V. Shashank Shekhar. Also, forest service officer Sanjay Kumar Sinha was appointed joint secretary in the department of higher education. The most recent example is the naming of 10 new joint secretaries last month, of which five are from the non-IAS services. They include Amit Mehta (IoFS), K.K. Aggarwal (IRSE), Sanjay Upreti (IRAS), Gopal Krishna Gupta (IRSME) and Sudhir Garg (IRSEE). Sources say that the government has been encouraging such appointments after seeing the reluctance of many state governments to send their IAS babus to the Centre on deputation. Apparently, there are only five IAS officers of the Chhattisgarh cadre in the capital, though the states quota is 31 officers. Similarly, 11 IAS officers of West Bengal cadre are serving in Central deputation whereas the number should have been 56. Whatever may be the reason behind the reluctance of IAS officers to serve at the Centre, it has created space for non-IAS officers to fill the gap. And not just non-IAS officers, the government is increasingly open to hiring specialists from outside bureaucracy to design and implement its key programmes. The heaven-born have all reasons to be increasingly nervous about the increased intrusions into their turf. Will they try to reclaim lost ground, the coming months will reveal. You are a revolutionary leader and you are revolutionising India. You are catapulting this magnificent state into the future, Israels Benjamin Netanyahu said to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week. What could he possibly mean? My dictionary defines revolution as involving or causing a complete or dramatic change. Usually the change a revolutionary seeks is a sort of insurrection against the established order, particularly the state. Since Mr Netanyahu is calling the India state magnificent (it would be fascinating to know why he thinks it is), it is safe to assume that hes not referring to Mr Modis attempts to overthrow that order. So what could he possibly be reaching for? I dont really know, and dont want to speculate. For a moment let us set aside the fact that Mr Netanyahu is here to sell arms to a customer susceptible to flattery. However, it is very true that in one way, Mr Modi is seeking to bring about revolutionary change in the established order. What is this change? I would say it is reform, but not in the way the word is generally used. Let me illustrate this by looking at one of Mr Modis signature initiatives: Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan. Readers will remember how it was launched: with the Prime Minister taking a broom and cleaning public spaces, and encouraging others to do the same and tweet about it. His website explained the purpose of Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan: A clean India would be the best tribute India could pay to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150 birth anniversary in 2019 While leading the mass movement for cleanliness, the Prime Minister exhorted people to fulfill Mahatma Gandhis dream of a clean and hygienic India. Mr Modi himself initiated the cleanliness drive at Mandir Marg Police Station in Delhi. Picking up the broom to clean the dirt, making Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan a mass movement across the nation, the Prime Minister said people should neither litter, nor let others litter. He gave the mantra of Na gandagi karenge, Na karne denge. In the introductory note Mr Modi uses the words clean, cleanliness, litter and littering 21 times. The words toilet and sanitation appear once, in the line that Mr Modi has simultaneously addressed the health problems that roughly half of the Indians families have to deal with due to lack of proper toilets in their homes. This is almost an afterthought, perhaps because it was an extension of earlier programmes and, therefore, uninteresting to Mr Modi. Littering is an eyesore and at the most an aesthetic irritant. It is not a national crisis like sanitation is (38 per cent of our children are stunted at age two, giving them no chance of a fulfilling intellectual and physical life). But Mr Modis focus and his messaging was on littering, because what he was reaching for was a change in the individual Indian citizens character, which he saw as needing behavioural change; an internal transformation. This is reformation of the sort that is usually done by spiritual and religious leaders. It is not in the domain of popular politics. One can similarly understand the motivation for eccentric actions like demonetisation through the same instinct of social reform. Indians must be weaned off black money and the way to do this is by forcing behavioural change and taking away their cash. Whether or not this is ultimately effective; whether or not it affects millions negatively; whether or not people will actually die from this slashing policy stroke; all of that the experts can quibble over later. Mr Modi must act and so he will force (compel) people to do the right thing, or that which he considers right. This is the reform of the father figure, which in many ways Mr Modi has become, given the nature of his popularity and where it springs from. Bollywood director Madhur Bhandarkar recently wrote a piece (When a Prime Minister turned social reformer) referring to the same aspects. He wrote: There are several examples which show how our society is undergoing a major transformation. Initiatives like taking yoga to the masses, banning the use of red beacons to end VIP culture, special schemes for divyangs and sensitising people to their needs, ending the formality of getting forms/certificates attested by gazetted officers, exhorting people to prepare their own manure through composting these may look like small initiatives but their impact is massive. Whether this is what the Prime Minister of India should concentrate on is not something I want to look at here. The point is that this societal change is what he is drawn to. Sometimes he recognises that he may have approached the issue wrongly or hastily. Today the Swachchh Bharat websites, including the one for urban centres, list the toilet and sanitation numbers front and centre and there is little if anything about littering. In his reply to Mr Netanyahus praise, Mr Modi said, I have a reputation for being impatient to get results and so do you. We should expect that his attempts to reform us will continue. The law and order situation in Haryana is deteriorating; reports indicate that six rapes have taken place last week. The principal Opposition, the Congress Party, is up in arms and has demanded the removal of the state chief minister M.L. Khattar. Former chief minister of Haryana and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda speaks to Ashhar Khan on the prevailing situation in the state. You have seen what has happened in your state. You met the Governor in Chandigarh recently. What are your demands? I am deeply pained at what is going on in Haryana. I am also very angry at the state government that the situation has come to this pass. The law and order situation in Haryana is worrisome. Four to five incidents of rape being reported within a span of just 48 hours is shocking. The crime graph has been going up during the past three years of Khattar government rule. We have unequivocally demanded that the CM should step down with immediate effect. We have met the Governor and submitted a memorandum drawing his attention to what all has been happening in the state. We requested him to dismiss the government and impose Presidents rule in the state, in case Mr Khattar does not resign. People have lost faith in this government. The crime graph is rising while the government is watching like a bystander. The Chief Minister has said that these incidents are unfortunate and he will take strict action so that the guilty are not spared. You have to say that he is trying? That is the problem. He has been trying since last three-and-a-half years since this government came to power but unfortunately nothing much has been achieved. They have made Haryana unsafe. Let us just look at the figures: Haryana ranks sixth in the country for crimes against women; 1,187 rapes, 700 sexual harassment cases, 1,860 cases of assault, 2,697 kidnapping and abduction cases, 821 cases involving abduction for forced marriage, 3,314 cases of domestic violence, 260 dowry deaths and 123 cases of abetment to suicide. In 2016 as many as 191 cases of gang rapes were reported. The time to try is over now; the chief minister should just move out. We need to take steps for women safety on an urgent basis. There are reports coming in that the BJP top leadership has pulled up the Haryana Chief Minister and asked him to take action. Do you think that the situation will improve now? As I said earlier that now it is time for Khattarji to go. The BJP government has lost the confidence of people of the state. Hence, there is no need for them to be in power in the state. Let me give you just a brief history of the tenure of this government. Massive violence in Panchkula when the Haryana government allowed people to assemble there in August last year when the verdict was being pronounced in the Dera case. Over 30 people lost their lives in the widespread violence and nearly 250 others were injured. Similarly, during the Jat agitation the BJP and its representatives could not control the situation; some intemperate remarks were made and the situation became worse leading to blockade of national highways. Thirty people died during the agitation; there was massive loss of life and property. In a bid to fool people, the state government formed the Prakash Singh committee to look into the reasons of violence during the Jat agitation. The committee, in its report, has clearly stated that there was a total failure of governance. Officers who should have shown responsibility and leadership abdicated their duties. Apparently they do whatever pleases their political masters. If this is the prevailing situation one can very well imagine what is going on in the administration of the state. If the present Chief Minister does not resign then what will the Congress do? We have made our demands very clear. We met the Governor and apprised him of the situation prevailing in the state. The people of the state, especially farmers, unemployed youth and the common man, are in a miserable condition, while the BJP government seems to be in a deep slumber. We have been trying to wake up the state government for more than three years. We will now have to seek peoples blessings to oust the BJP regime from Haryana. Apart from the law and order situation how do you judge the performance of the present Haryana government? It is shocking that this government has done almost nothing in the last three-and-a-half years. It is just appalling to look at their track record. When I was the Chief Minister, we established five power plants, built national highways measuring nearly 2,000 km, provided 100 square-yard residential plots to 3,82,000 poor families, set up 35 new universities and five medical colleges in the state. However, the present BJP government in Haryana cannot list any concrete achievement. We gave good prices to farmers for their yield; when sugar was at ` 28 rupees per kg we fixed the MSP of sugarcane at Rs 310 rupees. Look at the Dadam Mining Scam; the BJP leaders are so good at digestion that they digested stones! When we were in power we got in the Dal Roti Yojna which benefitted almost 1.26 crore people in the state. To our utter dismay this government has stopped this scheme. This government is only about propaganda and nothing else. What are your political plans for the future? Despite the tall promises, which the BJP had made to the people of Haryana before the polls, during the last three years it failed to take a single decision to give relief to the common man. What they did is only event management. It is not the time for manthan now, it is time to hit the roads and force this government to go. We have already started holding panchayats with dalits, farmers and trader meets. From our interactions with the people we have got to know that no section of the society is happy with the present government. It is indeed surprising. You are undertaking a yatra in February to cover entire Haryana, what is the aim behind such a move? In February I will be taking out a yatra the objective of which is to expose the BJP and its government. The BJP had made 154 promises in its manifesto and not a single promise has been fulfilled. The Khattar government is functioning like an event management company. People from every section of the society are suffering due to the ill-conceived decisions of the BJP government. The objective of my rath yatra will be to highlight the failures of this government and turn the tide against the BJP. For instance, Haryana never charged for sprinkler and drip irrigation system. Now, this government has forced the farmers to pay 18 per cent GST on these. Similarly, the government has increased the tax from 5 per cent to 18 per cent on certain other implements. Sugarcane producers are forced to sell their produce in Uttar Pradesh at much lower rates as they dont get payment for their crop on time. All these issues will be highlighted in my yatra. Alphabet Incs Google has agreed to a patent licensing deal with Tencent Holdings Ltd as it looks for ways to expand in China where many of its products, such as app store, search engine and email service, are blocked by regulators. The US technology company has signed similar agreements before with Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Cisco Systems Inc, but the deal with Tencent is a first with a large Chinese tech firm. Google has previously said that agreements such as these reduce the potential of litigation over patent infringement. The agreement with the Chinese social media and gaming firm Tencent covers a broad range of products and paves the way for collaboration on technology in the future, Google said on Friday, without disclosing any financial terms of the deal. Tencent oversees Chinas top social media and payments app, WeChat, which has close to a billion users. It also oversees one of the countrys most popular app stores and hosts the countrys biggest gaming and live stream platforms. Google did not disclose the scope of the new patent deal and Tencent did not immediately respond to questions about which products the patent agreement will cover. By working together on agreements such as this, tech companies can focus on building better products and services for their users, said Mike Lee, Googles head of patents. Over the past year, Google has indicated that it was looking to increase its presence in the restrictive Chinese market, with the launch of a local AI research lab, introduction of a version of its translation app and expansion into new cities. The company announced this month that it had invested in Chinese live stream gaming app Chushou, which is similar to Googles own YouTube game live streaming services. In December, Google CEO Sundar Pichai spoke at a conference in China hosted by the Cyberspace Administration of China, which oversees censorship in the country. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. It will be powered by Android 8.0 Oreo, which we expect to be masked by Samsungs Oreo-focused custom UI. (Photo: Galaxy J7 Pro) The Galaxy S9 has been in the rumour mill lately, hogging all the attention. However, Samsungs majority of income comes from the budget handsets and it seems that the company might be readying its 2018 challenger for the midrange smartphone segment in the form of the Galaxy J8 (2018). GSMArenas report claims that the successor to the popular Galaxy J7 (2017) has surfaced on Geekbench and GFXBench. The listing reveals that the Galaxy J8 (2018) (codenamed SM-J720F) will be pretty similar to the recently launched Galaxy A8 (2018), albeit with more affordable specifications. For starters, it will be sporting a 5.5-inch 1280 x 720-pixel resolution display and will be powered by a 1.5GHz Exynos 7885 octa-core chipset, accompanied by a Mali-G71 GPU. It will be aided by 4GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. The rear camera will be a 12MP sensor whereas the front camera will be an 8MP unit. Lastly, it will be powered by Android 8.0 Oreo, which we expect to be masked by Samsungs Oreo-focused custom UI. As of now, it is not yet known when the device will reach the market but Samsung seems to have a rather average midrange offering to battle the increasingly stronger rivals in the segment. Stay tuned for all the developments regarding the Samsung Galaxy J8 (2018). Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. One of the biggest criticisms inside the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill is that the US military is suffering from a lack of readiness, where troops and gear are not getting the training or maintenance they need. (Photo: AP) Washington: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Friday that America is facing "growing threats" from China and Russia, and warned that the US military's advantages have eroded in recent years. Mattis's assessment came as he unveiled the Pentagon's vision for the future detailed in a document called the national defense strategy. "We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia, nations that seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models," Mattis said. "Our military is still strong, yet our competitive edge has eroded in every domain of warfare -- air, land, sea, space and cyberspace -- and is continually eroding," he added. President Donald Trump and his administration worry that the vast US military force is feeling the effects of years of budget shortfalls and atrophy, and needs a full reboot to restore it to an idealized strength. Part wish list, part blueprint for the coming years, the Pentagon's national defense strategy seeks to increase the size of the military, improve its readiness and work with allies -- all while operating across multiple theaters including in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. "This strategy establishes my intent to pursue urgent change at significant scale," Mattis wrote in the introduction to the strategy. "We must use creative approaches, make sustained investment and be disciplined in execution to field a Joint Force fit for our time, one that competes, deters and wins in this increasingly complex security environment." Elbridge Colby, deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, told reporters that Mattis's strategy seeks to deal with the "erosion" of America's military advantage. "What it is recognizing is that China and Russia in particular have been assiduously working over a number of years to develop their military capabilities to challenge our military advantages," he said. Strategic competitors The new defense strategy follows on from Trump's national security strategy that he released last month which, similarly, highlights the role of China and Russia in the global security environment. "China is a strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South China Sea," Mattis wrote. "Russia has violated the borders of nearby nations and pursues veto power over the economic, diplomatic and security decisions of its neighbors," he added, while also pointing a finger at Iran and North Korea for their threats to peace. The two countries reacted furiously to Trump's security strategy, with Beijing accusing Washington of having a "Cold War mentality" while Moscow denounced its "imperialist character." Trump's security strategy contrasts with the friendly nature of his first state visit to Beijing in November, when he received a lavish welcome and repeatedly praised President Xi Jinping. One of the biggest criticisms inside the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill is that the US military is suffering from a lack of readiness, where troops and gear are not getting the training or maintenance they need. Mattis said the United States must be ready to fight a war. "The surest way to prevent war is to be prepared to win one," he said. "Doing so requires a competitive approach to force development and a consistent, multiyear investment to restore war fighting readiness and field a lethal force." Mattis's strategy also calls for greater coordination with allies, who Trump on the campaign trail lambasted for not doing enough to share the burden of defending the post-World War II order. "We expect European allies to fulfill their commitments to increase defense and modernization spending to bolster the alliance in the face of our shared security concerns," Mattis said, in reference to NATO countries paying more into their defense budgets. Republican Senator John McCain, who chairs the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee that helps oversee the Pentagon, welcomed Mattis's strategy for getting "the big decisions right." "A new era of great power competition has emerged, and this strategy prioritizes that reality," he said in a statement. The document makes no mention of climate change, which under former president Barack Obama was recognized as a national security threat. Trump has claimed climate change is a hoax and pulled the US out of the historic climate accords in Paris. At UNSC meet Indian Ambassador to the UN Syed Akbaruddin said: We must focus on addressing the challenges posed by cross border terrorism emanating from safe havens and sanctuaries to our region and especially to Afghanistan. (Photo: PTI) United Nations: Pakistan needs to change its "mindset" of differentiating between good and bad terrorists, India has told the UN Security Council, urging it to focus on challenges posed by terrorism emanating from the safe havens from across the border. Indian Ambassador to the UN Syed Akbaruddin told the Security Council it is India's vision that Afghanistan regain its place and New Delhi remain committed to work closely with its regional and international partners to bring peace, security, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan. "There is a common Afghan saying that roughly translates as if water is muddied downstream, don't waste your time filtering it; better to go upstream to clean it," Akbaruddin said during a special ministerial meeting on Afghanistan. Underlining that support for voices of peace in Afghanistan alone is not enough, Akbaruddin said, "We must focus on addressing the challenges posed by cross border terrorism emanating from safe havens and sanctuaries to our region and especially to Afghanistan". "If we do so, the decay, which has been inflicted on Afghanistan, can be made reversible," he added. It is India's vision that Afghanistan regain its place and New Delhi remain committed to work closely with its regional and international partners to bring peace, security, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan. "It is with this in mind that our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Afghanistan on December 24, 2015 to inaugurate the Parliament building, stopped over in Lahore, Pakistan," he said. "Unfortunately, these visits were followed by a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase on January 1, 2016, perpetrated and planned by the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day," he added. "These mindsets differentiate between good and bad terrorists. These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace. They are mindsets that are reluctant to join hands in moving the region forward to build a shared future for our people and our youth. These mindsets, Mr. President, need to change," Akbaruddin said. 'Those who talk of changing mindset need to look within, at their own record of subversion against my country as our capture of an Indian spy has proven beyond doubt,' Permanent Representative of Pak to the UN Maleeha Lodhi said. (Photo: File | AFP) United Nations: Pakistan raked up the issue of Indian death-row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav in the UN Security Council after it was accused by India, the US and Afghanistan, for providing safe havens to terrorists. Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN Maleeha Lodhi was responding to Indian Ambassador to the UN Syed Akbaruddin who said Pakistan needs to change its "mindset" of differentiating between good and bad terrorists. India urged the UN Security Council to focus on challenges posed by terrorism emanating from the safe havens from across the border. Read Also: India targets Pak at UNSC meet, asks to change its mindset on terrorism In response to India, Lodhi raked up the case of Jadhav, who was captured in March 2016 and sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted. "Those who talk of changing mindset need to look within, at their own record of subversion against my country as our capture of an Indian spy has proven beyond doubt," Lodhi told the members of the UN Security Council, without naming Jadhav. Earlier, the US told the UN Security Council that the status quo regarding continues terrorist safe havens in Pakistan is not acceptable. The US has said that the status quo regarding continued terror safe havens in Pakistan is not acceptable and insisted that Islamabad join its efforts to bring a resolution to the conflict. "We seek to work cohesively and effectively with Pakistan, but cannot be successful if the status quo, one where terrorist organisations are given sanctuary inside the countrys borders, is allowed to continue," US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan told the ministerial meeting. And the Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai reiterated the presence of terrorist safe haven across the border. But Lodhi continued to be in denial. "Indeed, with its safe havens inside the country and income from the narcotics trade, the insurgency does not really need any outside assistance or support centers to sustain its efforts," Lodhi said during a ministerial debate on Afghanistan. "Afghanistan and its partners, especially the United States therefore need to address these challenges inside Afghanistan rather than shifts the onus for ending the conflict on to others," Lodhi said. Afghanistan needed to address the challenges inside the country rather than shifting the onus for ending the conflict to others, she alleged. "Those who imagine sanctuaries outside really need a reality check," she said But there were no takers for Lodhi's claims that there are no terrorist safe havens inside Pakistan. None of the more than two dozen speakers came out in support of the Pakistani argument in this regard. This time, about 850,000 workers, out of a total 3.5 million, could be told to stay home -- without pay -- until Congress reaches an agreement. (Photo: File) Washington: Hundreds of thousands of US government defence workers, park rangers and business regulators could be temporarily out of work as Congress fails to pass a budget before a midnight Friday deadline. But the government shutdown due to lack of funding -- which would be the second in five years -- does not mean every office closes its doors. Vital services will still be provided by law enforcement, immigration officers, the central bank, veterans' hospitals and the military. During the two-week shutdown in October 2013, around 800,000 workers were furloughed. This time, about 850,000 workers, out of a total 3.5 million, could be told to stay home -- without pay -- until Congress reaches an agreement, the American Federation of Government Employees estimates. The following is a rundown of who is and isn't affected in a government shutdown: Defense, security and borders The 1.5 million uniformed members of the US military, mostly in the Defense Department but also 40,000 with the Department of Homeland Security, will remain at work. "All military personnel performing active duty will continue in a normal duty status," the Pentagon ordered Thursday. But a large number of civilians in both departments, including about three-fourths of the roughly 740,000 civilians who work for the Pentagon, will stay home. That will slow many operations, and could impact the huge defense private sector, which depends on Pentagon contracts. Officials of the Customs and Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services will remain on the job checking and processing people entering the country by land, sea and air. Key government operations The White House, Congress, federal courts and the Veterans Administration will all continue to operate. The US Postal Service will continue to deliver the mail. The investigation by special prosecutor Robert Mueller into possible collusion between Russians and President Donald Trump's election campaign will remain active. Washington The US capital is funded by the federal budget and will be affected. Trash services and street cleaning will halt and libraries will close. But schools and public transport will continue to operate. Travel The Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees air traffic control, will remain at work, and airports will remain open for travellers. Parks and museums According to tentative plans, national parks and museums will remain open, but some public employees at the parks could be furloughed while private contractors, who supply food and other services, will maintain operations. Health Disease monitoring and prevention will slow. About 61 percent of the staff of the Centers for Disease Control will be furloughed, according to The Washington Post, and much of the research-focused National Institutes of Health will be shuttered. Other public services Other agencies will largely shut down, including the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Education, the Commerce Department, the Labor Department, and the Environmental Protection Agency. That means people and businesses will not get documents and permissions processed, contractors will have difficulty moving ahead on their projects, and disaster relief will slow. Twitter said that it had identified 3,814 IRA-linked accounts, which posted some 176,000 tweets in the 10 weeks preceding the election, and another 50,258 automated accounts connected to the Russian government London: Twitter says it will notify nearly 700,000 users who interacted with accounts the company has identified as potential pieces of a propaganda effort by the Russian government during the 2016 US presidential election, according to reports in The Slate and the Guardian and The Washington Post. The company disclosed thousands of accounts that it said were associated with the Kremlin-linked troll farm, the Internet Research Agency and the Russian government, adding to numbers that it released to Congress in October. Twitter said that it had identified 3,814 IRA-linked accounts, which posted some 176,000 tweets in the 10 weeks preceding the election, and another 50,258 automated accounts connected to the Russian government, which tweeted more than a million times, while acknowledging that such activity represents a challenge to democratic societies everywhere. The disclosures are the latest sign of how widely the effort to disrupt the 2016 election through disinformation permeated the services of social media companies, the media reported. It is yet another instance where Twitter appears to be adjusting its service in the wake of cultural shifts exposed by Russian meddling. US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia conducted a sophisticated campaign intended to affect the outcome of the election. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Visitors could still ride snowmobiles and ski into Yellowstone National Park Saturday to marvel at the geysers and buffalo herds, despite the federal government shutdown. (Photo: AP) Washington: The US government shut down at midnight on Friday after Democrats and Republicans, locked in a bitter dispute over immigration and border security, failed to agree on a last-minute deal to fund its operations February 16. The Bill needed 60 votes in the 100-member Senate but only 50 supported it. Most Democrats opposed the Bill because their efforts to include protections for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants, known as Dreamers, were rejected by President Donald Trump and Republican leaders. Huddled negotiations between Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer were unsuccessful, and the US government technically ran out of money at midnight. While the two men said they remained committed to reaching a deal, the shutdown formally began on Saturday, the first anniversary of President Donald Trumps inauguration. Hamas, which rules the territory, held Ahmad Said Barhoum for several months without trial before handing him over to the family, several of whose members belong to the Islamist movement. (Photo: Representational/AFP) Gaza City: A family in Gaza "executed" one of its own members Friday for passing on information to Israel that led to the deaths of three Hamas militants, Palestinian sources said. Hamas, which rules the territory, held Ahmad Said Barhoum for several months without trial before handing him over to the family, several of whose members belong to the Islamist movement. Witnesses said Barhoum was shot dead in an open area of Rafah in southern Gaza shortly after the handover. The shooting was attended by family members of the three Hamas militants killed in an Israeli air raid in the 2014 Gaza war with Israel. One of the three killed was Mohammad Barhoum, a cousin of the alleged collaborator. All were militants of Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades. "We carried out the punishment against our son Ahmad Said Barhoum after having been assured without a shadow of a doubt that he was implicated in the assassination of the terrorists, the family said in a statement. Hamas, for its part, welcomed what it called "the execution of this criminal". According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Hamas has carried out more than 20 executions and condemned to death over 100 others since it seized control of Gaza in 2007 from rival faction Fatah. Its execution of Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel has stirred international condemnation. The current storm in the Supreme Court traces its roots back to a series of similar upheavals by judicial magistrates. The dent in the image of the judiciary cannot be undone. It would be fair to say that following the initial storm, things are under control but not yet resolved. The four honourable judges, Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph, contended that all important cases were being given to junior judges and the senior judges were being ignored. However, it must be noted that the Chief Justice of India has complete powers to allocate the cases to any bench. The chief justice is first among the equals on the judicial front, but the supreme authority on the administrative front. This can be traced back to the Supreme Court ruling in State of Rajasthan vs Prakash Chand & Ors, 1997. That ruling said, "The judges can hear only those matters which have been allotted to them by the chief justice or under his directions. It, therefore, follows that the judges do not have any general jurisdiction over all the casesaonly to such cases as are allotted to them by the chief justice or under his directions." The Supreme Court ruled that this applies to the apex court as well. It is surprising that such contentions come from judges who themselves have held the office of chief justice of various high courts. Justice Chelameswar was chief justice of Kerala and Gauhati High Courts; Justice Joseph of Himachal Pradesh HC; Justice Gogoi of the Punjab and Haryana High Court; and Justice Lokur was chief justice of Andhra Pradesh HC. What needs to be questioned is the judges' decision to take the drastic step of going to the press with their concerns despite knowing the repercussions. Did they exhaust all other avenues to resolve their issues before doing so? They could have requested the CJI to call a full-court meeting to put forth their concerns; if that did not work, they could have approached the President, who is the appointing authority and is apolitical. If that too failed, they could have resigned from their positions as Justice K S Hegde and Justice H R Khanna had resigned as a matter of principle when they were superseded for appointment as Chief Justice of India in 1973. Recently, Justice Jayant Patel resigned as a judge of the Karnataka High Court when he was transferred to the Allahabad High Court, instead of being named chief justice of Karnataka. The genesis of a divided Supreme Court can be traced back to 1993 and the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record case and Justice M M Punchhi's dissenting opinion. The bench overruled the S P Gupta case and the practice of judges appointing judges began. When an agitated H R Bharadwaj, the then law minister, rushed to the then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao, the latter calmly said, "Why are you so agitated? They cannot handle it. It will come back to us. Wait for some time." This episode is being replayed today. In fact, it is fortunate that the other Supreme Court judges have not so far called a press conference in support of the CJI. The four judges have violated the oath of office and, knowingly or unknowingly, given a political colour to their in-house differences. The curiosity rises with the fact that Justice Chelameswar met CPI leader and Rajya Sabha MP D Raja in these circumstances. If public trust in the judiciary is lost, then where is the question of an independent judiciary. The judiciary needs to work towards restoring public trust. We have to revive faith in our democracy. Judicial turbulence Democracy is alive and functioning in our country. High courts, district courts and lower courts spread across the country are functioning normally and discharging their duties. The armed forces are working. Parliament and state legislatures are functioning. The Executive is accountable to Parliament. This is the message that needs to go out to the world today. Where was the need for the judges to state that democracy had collapsed just because a few cases were not allotted to them? Judicial turbulence is not new. In 2004, 25 judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court went on mass leave as a mark of protest against the then chief justice, Justice Roy. However, the torchbearers of the protest Justice G S Singhvi (author of the Supreme Court 2G judgement in 2012), Justice V K Bali and Justice H S Bedi were summoned by the then Chief Justice of India V N Khare and were 'severely admonished'. All the judges reported for work the next day after the intervention of the Supreme Court. But today, the Supreme Court is itself involved in a similar imbroglio. The seed of the entire controversy is in the practice of judges appointing judges. The Supreme Court did not accept a proposal to set up a National Judicial Commission and struck down the attempt to give the Executive a hand in the appointment of judges. Unless the issue of appointment of judges is set right, the problems of the judiciary will continue to surface in one way or the other. A wound has now been inflicted on the judiciary. The concern now is how to stop the bleeding. The only effective way of healing the wound is to revive trust in the judiciary. And that can be done only by the appointment of judges who display the qualities of statesmanship, foresight and rectitude and duly perform their duties. (The writer is a retired IAS officer and former chairman, Karnataka Appellate Tribunal) Rohingya militants on Saturday hit out at a repatriation plan for refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar set to begin next week, saying it aims to trap the Muslim minority in long-term camps while their ancestral lands are seized. Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to send back around 750,000 refugees who arrived since October 2016 over the next two years, a process set to begin as early as Tuesday. But the deal has been pilloried by many Rohingya refugees who say they do not want to return to Rakhine after fleeing atrocities including murder, rape and arson attacks on their homes. Rights groups and the UN say any repatriations must be voluntary with safety assured in a state where communal hatred still runs sky high. Concerns are also mounting about conditions in Myanmar, where hundreds Rohingya villages have been razed by soldiers and Buddhist mobs, with fears huge numbers of Rohingya will be coralled for the long-term in camps. In a statement circulated on Twitter the Arakan Rohingya Salavation Army (ARSA) said the "deceitfully and crookedly (repatriation) offering" will lock Rohingya in "so-called temporary camps... instead of allowing them to resettle in their own ancestral lands and villages". Citing the tens of thousands of Rohingya IDPs languishing in camps in state capital Sittwe since communal violence in 2012, ARSA said Myanmar's intention is to distribute Rohingya lands to industrial and agricultural projects. The aim is to "ensure a Buddhist majority" in Rakhine meaning Rohingya "will never be able to settle down" in their own homes, the statement on @ARSA_Official handle said. Most Rohingya are denied citizenship in Myanmar as well as free movement and other basic freedoms. They are officially described as "Bengalis" -- Muslim interlopers to a predominantly Buddhist land despite many living there for generations. The group has been driven out in successive waves since the late 1970s. The latest followed deadly co-ordinated attacks by ARSA in late August which sparked an army crackdown that sent 655,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh. They carried with them a cascade of accounts of rape, mass murder and torture. Beyond admitting its troops were involved in shooting dead 10 captured suspects, Myanmar's army has cleared itself of any wider wrongdoing. What the UN and US has described as "ethnic cleansing", the military says is a proportionate response to an attempt by Muslim militants to take over Rakhine. The state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar on Saturday carried photos of one of the reception camps for refugees at Taung Pyo Letwe, in Maungdaw, showing basic wooden structures closed off by high wire fences. The same outlet has this week carried several pages of colour headshot photos of the alleged 1,000 or more wanted "ARSA Terrorists". The photos, which include women and young men, with their names and 'father's names', have been circulated to Bangladeshi authorities urging them to handover the suspects. Dhaka is unhappy at the slow pace of the returns negotiated by Myanmar -- with only a few hundred likely to be processed each day. Pakistan needs to change its "mindset" of differentiating between good and bad terrorists, India has told the UN Security Council, urging it to focus on challenges posed by terrorism emanating from the safe havens from across the border. Indian Ambassador to the UN Syed Akbaruddin told the Security Council it is India's vision that Afghanistan regain its place and New Delhi remain committed to work closely with its regional and international partners to bring peace, security, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan. "There is a common Afghan saying that roughly translates as "If water is muddied downstream, don't waste your time filtering it; better to go upstream to clean it," Akbaruddin said during a special ministerial meeting on Afghanistan. Underlining that support for voices of peace in Afghanistan alone is not enough, Akbaruddin said, "We must focus on addressing the challenges posed by cross border terrorism emanating from safe havens and sanctuaries to our region and especially to Afghanistan". "If we do so, the decay, which has been inflicted on Afghanistan, can be made reversible," he added. It is India's vision that Afghanistan regain its place and New Delhi remain committed to work closely with its regional and international partners to bring peace, security, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan. "It is with this in mind that our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Afghanistan on December 24, 2015 to inaugurate the Parliament building, stopped over in Lahore, Pakistan," he said. "Unfortunately, these visits were followed by a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase on January 1, 2016, perpetrated and planned by the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day," he added. "These mind sets differentiate between good and bad terrorists. These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace. They are mindsets that are reluctant to join hands in moving the region forward to build a shared future for our people and our youth. These mindsets, Mr. President, need to change," Akbaruddin said. Pakistan raked up the issue of Indian death-row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav in the UN Security Council after it was accused by India, the US and Afghanistan, for providing safe havens to terrorists. Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN Maleeha Lodhi was responding to Indian Ambassador to the UN Syed Akbaruddin who said Pakistan needs to change its "mindset" of differentiating between good and bad terrorists. India urged the UN Security Council to focus on challenges posed by terrorism emanating from the safe havens from across the border. In response to India, Lodhi raked up the case of Jadhav, who was captured in March last year and sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted. "Those who talk of changing mindset need to look within, at their own record of subversion against my country as our capture of an Indian spy has proven beyond doubt," Lodhi told the members of the UN Security Council, without naming Jadhav. Earlier, the US told the UN Security Council that it wants to work cohesively and effectively with Pakistan, but the relationship cannot be successful if Pakistan continues to provide safe haven to terror organiations. The US insisted that Islamabad join its efforts to bring a resolution to the conflict. "We seek to work cohesively and effectively with Pakistan, but cannot be successful if the status quo, one where terrorist organisations are given sanctuary inside the countrys borders, is allowed to continue," US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan told the ministerial meeting. And the Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai reiterated the presence of terrorist safe haven across the border. But Lodhi continued to be in denial. "Indeed, with its safe havens inside the country and income from the narcotics trade, the insurgency does not really need any outside assistance or support centers to sustain its efforts," Lodhi said during a ministerial debate on Afghanistan. "Afghanistan and its partners, especially the United States therefore need to address these challenges inside Afghanistan rather than shifts the onus for ending the conflict on to others," Lodhi said. Afghanistan needed to address the challenges inside the country rather than shifting the onus for ending the conflict to others, she alleged. "Those who imagine sanctuaries outside really need a reality check," she said But there were no takers for Lodhi's claims that there are no terrorist safe havens inside Pakistan. None of the more than two dozen speakers came out in support of the Pakistani argument in this regard. The US government officially shutdown on Saturday for the first time in five years after the Senate rejected a short-term spending bill to keep the federal government running, marking a chaotic end to Donald Trump's first year as president. The shutdown began at 12:01 am (local time) (10:31 am IST) after a few Republicans joined Democrats in blocking the crucial measure would have provided short-term funding for the Pentagon and other federal agencies. Trump blamed the Democrats for the shutdown which comes exactly a year after he was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. "Dems want a shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the tax cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy," he said. Despite last-minute bipartisan meetings, the bill to fund the government until February 16 did not receive the required 60 votes. The Senate voted 50-48 to block the stopgap funding measure. The short-term spending bill was passed by the House on Thursday. This is part of the Democrats strategy to force President Trump and the Republicans to negotiate with them on illegal immigrants who are facing deportation. The effect of the shutdown would be felt most from Monday when the federal government employees would not be able to join for their work and be forced to stay at home without pay. It is estimated that more than 800,000 federal employees would be furloughed. Only the essential services would be open. The last time that a government shutdown happened was in 2013. Earlier in the day, the Office of Management of Budget said it was preparing for "what we're calling the Schumer Shutdown". The Director of Office of Management of Budget Mick Mulvaney told reporters that efforts were being made to have the government shutdown less impactful than it was in 2013. "We're going to manage the shutdown differently. We are not going to weaponize it. We're not going to try and hurt people, especially people having to work for this federal government. But we still need Congress to appropriate the funds," he said. Military will still go to work, the border will still be patrolled, fire folks will still be fighting the fires and the parks will be open. But in each of these cases people will not be paid, Mulvaney said. Fanny and Freddy will be open, the post office will be open, the TSA will be open, but again all of these people will be working for nothing, which is simply not fair, he said. US Postal Services would be working. The last government shutdown lasted for 16 days in October 2013. The previous shutdown before that was for 21 days that ended on January 6, 1996. However, this is for the first time in recent history that a shutdown has taken place when both the House and the Senate, as well as the White House, is controlled by the same party. "This is completely unfair and uncompassionate for my Democratic colleagues to filibuster government funding, harm our troops, and jeopardise health coverage for nine million children because extreme elements of their base want illegal immigration to crowd out every other priority," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. He argued that immigration reform needed to be handled separately from the spending bill. Trump has cancelled his scheduled weekend trip to Mar-a- Lago in Florida. However, he would continue with his trip to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum meeting next week. "Democrats can't shut down the booming Trump economy. Are they now so desperate they'll shut down the government instead" said White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and described it as a "Schumer shutdown". Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer is the Senate Minority Leader. "Senate Democrats own the Schumer Shutdown. Tonight, they put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country's ability to serve all Americans," Sanders said. "We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands. This is the behaviour of obstructionist losers, not legislators," Sanders said in a statement. "When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform. During this politically manufactured Schumer Shutdown, the President and his Administration will fight for and protect the American people," the White House said. Earlier, Trump held a last-minute meeting with Schumer to avert a government shutdown. "We had a long and detailed meeting. We discussed all of the major outstanding issues, we made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements. The discussions will continue," Schumer said soon after his meeting with Trump. India's entry into elite nuclear groups in the recent past has reaffirmed the country's strict non-proliferation commitments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today. His remarks come in the backdrop of India becoming a member of the 'Australia Group' (AG), a move that is expected to raise New Delhi's stature in the field of non-proliferation and also help it acquire critical technologies. "I thank Australia and other members of the Australia Group for export control for supporting India's entry in it," Modi tweeted. He said over the last two years, India's membership of the MTCR, Wassenaar Arrangement and Australia Group reaffirmed the country's "strong non-proliferation credentials also our commitment to global peace and security". India is now a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) as well as AG, three of four non-proliferation regimes. The only one remaining is the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). In a fresh push to bestow Bharat Ratna on Siddaganaga seer Shivakumara Swamiji, former chief minister and BJP leader S M Krishna has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking India's highest civilian honour for the centenarian seer. In the letter, a copy of which is available with DH, Krishna has stated, "The 111-year-old Swamiji is rendering service to the society for the past eight decades, uplifting lakhs of needy and downtrodden. The seer, who believes in egalitarian society, has been preaching against the practice of superstition, social evils and discrimination of all kinds." The former chief minister further said, "It is the wish of lakhs of devotees to see Siddaganga seer honoured with Bharat Ratna in recognition of the yeoman services being rendered by the Swamiji." He added that Shivakumara Swamiji richly deserves India's highest civilian honour for his selfless service rendered for the past eight decades. The Supreme Court has set aside an order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court by which action was recommended against a judicial officer for granting bail to an accused within four days of rejection of his pre-arrest bail by a higher court. The high court had termed the action of the magistrate "judicial impropriety" and "gross indiscipline" and recommended the chief justice to take appropriate action on the administrative side. It had set aside the order of the magistrate and cancelled the bail plea of an accused, arrested for reportedly giving fake educational degrees to students for money. A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said the approach of the high court was "erroneous in law" and set aside the order of single judge of the high court. "Merely, because an application for anticipatory bail preferred by the appellant was rejected, it could not be said that thereafter the magistrate was precluded from even considering the application for grant of regular bail," the bench said. The top court said, "The grounds for grant of anticipatory bail are altogether different from that of regular bail." "No doubt, anticipatory bail was rejected on August 26, 2016, and within four days thereafter regular bail was granted. However, the high court could not have cancelled the bail, only on the ground that the anticipatory bail was rejected," it said. It said that the high court was also wrong in observing that in the circumstances the only remedy for the accused was to approach the high court alone "as if he was precluded from filing an application for regular bail before the magistrate". Advocate D K Thakur, appearing for the Himachal Pradesh government, claimed that the accused had threatened the complainant immediately after coming out on bail. The top court said it was an event that occurred after the accused came out on bail and could be a ground which could be raised by the complainant before a trial court for cancellation of bail. An FIR was lodged at Dharamshala police station of Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh. The accused Chander Kant was charged with the offences of forgery, criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and other sections of the IPC. After registration of the FIR and when the probe was pending, the accused had moved high court seeking anticipatory bail, which was dismissed on August 26, 2016. Thereafter, the accused was arrested and taken into police custody. After his police remand got over, he moved a regular bail application, which the judicial officer allowed and enlarged him on bail on August 30, 2016. The complainant challenged the order of magistrate granting bail to the accused before the high court, which on June 2, 2017, after seeking explanation, passed various strictures against the judicial officer. The judicial officer in her explanation to the high court had said there were "direct or indirect directions to grant bail liberally. Taking into consideration that anticipatory bail has been rejected but now as the accused remanded to custody and opportunity was given to police for custodial interrogation and recovery, I considered it to be a changed circumstance". However, the single judge in his order said, "To my mind, the action of the magistrate is clearly subversive to judicial discipline and amounts to gross impropriety because so long the order passed by this court was in force, the magistrate could not have entertained the application for bail much less granted the bail." The high court said, "Judicial discipline requires decorum known to law which warrants that the appellate directions should be followed in the hierarchical system by the court which exists in this country." "It is necessary for each lower tier to accept loyally the decisions of the higher tier. The judicial system only works if someone is allowed to have the last word and if that last word, once spoken, is loyally accepted," the bench had said. It had said that once the judgement rendered by the high court was absolutely clear and the bail granted to the accused had been rejected by a detailed order, then judicial comity, discipline, concomitance, pragmatism, poignantly point, per force to observe constitutional propriety and adhere to the decision, so rendered by the high court. As Pakistani troops continued heavy shelling and firing for the third consecutive day, four people, including a jawan, were killed. The ceasefire violations in the forward areas and border villages of Jammu and Kashmir continued on Saturday, in which a dozen people were also injured. The relentless shelling has been along the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC) along the Jammu region and has claimed 10 people over the three days, which includes six civilians and four soldiers. The fresh shelling has taken place along the IB in R S Pura and Arnia sectors of Jammu district. Three BSF personnel were among those injured on Saturday. Earlier, the army had said that a soldier was killed after Pakistani troopers opened "unprovoked" fire along the LoC in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district. Reports said that almost the entire IB in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts and LoC in the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch faced a war-like situation. On Saturday, more than 10,000 people in RS Pura, Arnia, Ramgarh, Hiranagar, Kanachak and Pargwal sectors moved to safer locations. Some of them moved to the relief camps set up for them by the administration, officials said. Educational institutions close to where the shelling and firing were taking place have been closed for the next three days, they said. Oppn walks out The issue of the continuing ceasefire violations by Pakistan was raised during the ongoing state Assembly session in Jammu. The opposition staged a walkout from the House. National Conference and Congress MLAs questioned the BJP's "inability" to stop the killing of civilians and armed forces on the border and the failure of the NDA's Pakistan policy. With an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, opposition legislators questioned BJP ministers in the House, saying, "Why has the 56-inch chest been reduced to six inches? Where have the tall claims of beheading ten enemies for every single casualty vanished? Go and fight on the border; what are you doing here?" Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti expressed deep anguish and grave concern over the loss of human lives. "Distraught to hear of three more civilians caught in the crossfire on the border. The people of J&K are the worst victims of the acrimony between the two neighbouring countries. I pray that the hostility on the borders ends soon," she tweeted. A day after a massive fire erupted in Bellandur lake, Bengaluru Development Minister K J George on Saturday said that he had requested Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to allocate separate fund for the upkeep of the lake, in the 2018-19 budget. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, George said that the government was forced to resort to this measure, as the Centre had refused to release funds for Bellandur lake. "The BJP has charged that the state government has not cleaned up the lake despite the Centre sanctioning funds for the same. The fact however is that the Centre has not responded to the state's request for funding. It has categorically said that it cannot make separate funding for this purpose," he added. George, however, maintained that the government had taken measures to clean up the lake as directed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). He said that the government had adhered to the NGT orders and that notices had been issued by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board to buildings that were releasing waste water into the lake. George also said that the police had been asked to ascertain how the fires were occurring. He said that it was unlikely the fire was emanating from the lake. Instead it was suspected that the marshy land around the lake was catching fire. "The marshy land has a lot of grass and weed growth. Also, it is replete with ammonium gases, which is causing the fire," he said. Lake visit by BJP leaders BJP leader and Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar is scheduled to pay a visit to the lake at 5 pm today (Saturday). BJP MP P C Mohan, MLA Aravind Limbavali and other party legislators will be accompanying him. Operations still underway Meanwhile, over 100 Fire and Emergency personnel on Saturday continued the operations to douse the fire in Bellandur lake. The Fire personnel have, to an extent, managed to douse the fire but heavy smoke from the fire has filled a vast stretch of the lake. Manoranjan Roy, a soldier of Army Service Corps, was bitten by a snake during the operation to douse fire. He was rushed to the Army Hospital. Fresh fire was spotted on Srinivagalu end of Bellandur lake on Saturday morning. Read also: Bellandur Lake fire under control, says army Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said that he had declined to accept the honorary doctorate proposed by the University of Mysore. In a tongue in cheek reply to media queries, Siddaramaiah said, "I do not hold a PhD. Hence I said no to the doctorate." M S S Kumar, a Syndicate member of the UoM on Friday had said that he had proposed Siddaramaiah's name for the honorary doctorate as the latter was not only an alumnus of the varsity, he had also excelled in political administration and economics despite hailing from a rural background. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday announced a financial aid of Rs 20 lakh for the wife and Rs 5 lakh for the parents of a BSF jawan killed in ceasefire violations by Pakistan, an official said. BSF head constable Jagpal Singh (49) a resident of Bulandshahr district, succumbed to injuries sustained during cross-border firing in Samba sector along the International Border on Friday. Singh, posted with the Alpha company of the 173rd Battalion of the force deployed for border guarding, had joined the BSF in 1988. He is survived by a daughter and a son. Four people, including a BSF jawan, were injured after Pakistan violated ceasefire for the third consecutive day today in three districts of Jammu and Kashmir along the International Border, officials said. Two security forces jawans and as many civilians were killed and 35 others injured in mortar shelling by the Pakistani troops on civilian areas and BoPs along the International Border and the LoC in four districts on Friday, they added. In a one-of-a-kind order, the Supreme Court has ordered removal of pictures of a couple from all social media platforms, leaving them with no footprint of their bitter relationship. A three-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice Dipak Misra allowed the man and the woman to part ways peacefully and dissolved their marriage solemnised in 2013. The court passed its order, exercising its extra-ordinary jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution. The court ordered the man, an IIM graduate, to pay his engineer wife Rs 37 lakh as a full and final settlement. Both the husband and the wife were present in the court. The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, accepted a plea made by advocate Dushyant Parashar, appearing for the woman, to issue directions for removal of the wife's picture from any social media platform by the husband. He said in order to ensure that the woman can move ahead in life, all her pictures from any social media platform or elsewhere should be removed. This would also help in woman's effort to get re-married in future, he said. Advocate Rajesh Mahale, appearing for the man, agreed to the request. It was contended that the marriage had barely lasted for three months as the couple from Maharashtra developed serious differences, resulting in an initiation of 18 civil and criminal proceedings against each other. "Neither the husband nor the wife shall put the photographs of each other in any mode at any place which would also include social media or online," the court directed. The court allowed a plea made by the husband to quash all criminal and civil proceedings against him and his family members. The bench also directed for expunging of all adverse statements made by the couple against each other from records in proceedings before any court. The AIADMK on Saturday said it would seek disqualification of ruling Congress and DMK legislators in Puducherry "for holding office of profit," in view of the Election Commission's decision to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs in New Delhi on similar grounds. Addressing reporters here, the party's legislature wing leader A Anbalagan said the "office of profit" axe has fallen on 20 AAP MLAs in New Delhi with EC sending its recommendation to the President, suggesting their disqualification. "The development in New Delhi is directly applicable to Puducherry where the legislators belonging to the ruling Congress and its ally the DMK are holding 'office of profits' such as chairmen of government-owned undertakings and Parliamentary Secretary," he claimed. Anbalagan said the AIADMK will give 15 days to the MLAs "to relieve themselves of posts of chairmen and Parliamentary Secretary so as to remain only as legislators as my intention is not to disturb them." The party would send a petition to ECI after the lapse of 15 day-deadline, he added. While one Congress legislator is the parliamentary secretary to Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, two DMK members and five belonging to the Congress had been appointed chairmen of statutory bodies here. The Election Commission had on Friday recommended to the President the disqualification of 20 MLAs of the AAP for holding office of profit, setting the stage for their ouster from the New Delhi Assembly. Questioning the move to associate Puducherry BJP president V Saminathan with the inauguration of a Passport office in Karaikal, the AIADMK leader said, "Narayanasamy had not registered protest against inclusion of the name of BJP president in both the official invitation and also the plaque erected at the venue of the function." American aerospace and defence major Lockheed Martin has proposed to manufacture custom-built F-35 fighter jets in India, which its officials say will give Indian industry a unique opportunity to become part of the world's largest fighter aircraft ecosystem. "We plan to introduce two new words into the lexicon of international fighter aircraft manufacturing: 'India' and 'exclusive'," said Vivek Lall, vice president, strategy and business development, at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. "India-specific state-of-the-art fighter production in India will be exclusive, something that has never before been presented by any other fighter aircraft manufacturer, past or present. There will also be a significant export market available for Indian-made fighters," he said. Lall, an Indian American who last year was instrumental in the decision of the Trump administration to sell top-of-the-line unarmed drones from General Atomics, in his previous capacity. Noting that the India-specific fighter on offer and its programme's size, scope and success will enable Indian industry to take advantage of unprecedented manufacturing, upgrade and sustainment opportunities well into the future, Lall said the platform will give Indian industry a unique opportunity to become a part of the world's largest fighter aircraft ecosystem. "We intend to create far more than an assembly line in India," he said. Lall claimed no other advanced fourth generation platform even comes close to matching the record of real-world combat experience and proven operational effectiveness. "The fighter being offered specifically to India is uniquely the best state-of-the-art fighter," he said adding that all three variants of the F-35 are single-engine aircraft. Many of the systems used on the India-specific platform are derived from key lessons learned and technologies from Lockheed Martin's F-22 and the F-35, the world's only operational fifth-generation fighters, he said. Northrop Grumman's advanced APG-83 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar on the F-16 Block 70 provides F-16s with fifth-generation fighter radar capabilities by leveraging hardware and software commonality with F-22 and F-35 AESA radars, he added. The APG-83 radar shares more than 95% software commonality with the F-35 radar and more than 70% hardware commonality. Lall said the F-16 provides the path to business relationships with Lockheed Martin, the only company in the world that has designed, developed and produced operational fifth-generation fighter aircraft. Technology improvements will also continue to flow between the F-16, F-22 and F-35 for decades, at a fraction of the cost to F-16 operators, he said. The platform being offered provides unmatched opportunities for Indian companies of all sizes, including micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs) and suppliers throughout India, to establish new business relationships with Lockheed Martin and other industry leaders in the US and around the globe, Lall said giving an insight into the offer being made by his company. A bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Monday will hear two PILs on seeking an independent probe into the death of Mumbai's special judge B H Loya. Congress sympathiser Tehseen Poonawalla and Maharashtra-based journalist Bandhuraj Sambhaji Lone filed two separate PILs for a fresh probe into Loya's death on December 1, 2014. The judge was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case. BJP president Amit Shah and senior police officers, who faced charges, were exonerated subsequently. According to the Supreme Court's website, the two PILs have been posted under the category of cases "fresh for admission" as item number 45, before the bench of CJI and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud. Notably, both Justices Khanwilkar and Chandrachud are from Maharashtra. The assigning of two PILs before a bench led by Justice Arun Mishra earlier had acted as a trigger for four seniormost judges of the apex court to come out in public against the CJI on January 12. The four judges - Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph - had addressed a press conference, accusing the chief justice of allocating cases with far-reaching consequences to select benches. The two PILs, which were heard two times briefly by Justices Arun Mishra and Justices Mohan M Shantagoundar earlier, were on January 16 directed to be posted before an "appropriate bench". On Friday, after Poonawalla's counsel sought a listing of the matter, the CJI-led bench had said it would be posted before an "appropriate bench as per the roster". Now it has emerged that the matter would be heard by a three-judge bench of CJI and Justices Khanwilkar and Chandrachud. Are you travelling to Mauritius with your parents?" asked the stewardess. "Why, yes, of course!" I beamed. His question surprised me, to say the least. But soon, the plane started to fill up, and what do I see? An entire army of married couples! Across aisles, blood-red bangles jingled on mehendi-laden hands and the gold on wedding bands shone brightly as ever. And there we were - my mom, my dad and me - stuck in a 'honeymooners' aeroplane'. Like aliens in a strange land, we stood out from the crowd. But, a husband in tow or not, I was determined to enjoy my vacation. After all, how often would I get to swim in crystal-clear waters, share a meal with dolphins, relish fresh tropical fruits every day, visit a soon-to-be-active volcano (wait at least 1,000 years for that), or experience a melting pot of cultures and cuisines, and that too, all in one place? Yes, Mauritius isn't just the Indian honeymooners' most-preferred getaway; it is a portal to heaven for all its visitors. The divide Tourists look at Mauritius in two parts: the North and the South. But mind you, you are never too far away from the ocean. North is where the capital city of Port Louis lies, along with Le Caudan Waterfront, a seaside commercial complex that houses many shopping units, eating joints, and a casino. South is where the tallest Shiva statue in the world looks down upon his devotees, a waterfall enlivens the area, and a river snakes through a national park before emptying itself in the ocean. Our Mauritian journey began with the South tour. Fair warning: you have to drive for quite a while to get from point A to point B here. But you will have no reason to complain as the intermittent views of the big blue ocean and green villages and towns will keep you satiated. At 9 on a bright early morning, we found ourselves in a small setup housing wooden miniature boats. At different corners, men were busy at their craft. While one was weaving together threads to connect the mast of the ship to the deck, another one was carving out little windows in a half-finished ship. After the miniature ship factory tour, our wallets were lighter while the bags were heavy. We left the city behind as we headed to our next stop: a dormant volcano crater in Curepipe village. While the crater itself is inaccessible, many come here, to the top of the hill, to enjoy 360-degree views of the town and the coastal plains. Don't leave without an ice-cream or a plate of spicy-sweet fruits. Many generations of Indian families call Mauritius their home. Which is why at around noon, we found ourselves at Grand Bassin, also known as Ganga Talao, a crater lake sitting pretty at 1,800 feet above sea level. Symbolically linked to one of the holiest rivers of India, Ganga Talao is an oasis of calm. Moving on, as our van made its way through hilly terrains, honeymooners got busy clicking selfies. Taking pity on the only 'unhoneymooning' couple in the group, our guide took us on a 'Get to Know Mauritius' talk that brought us a little closer to this wonderful country. "Mauritius is a country dominated by villages, almost 170 in number, and it enjoys a spectacular coastline of 390 sq km. Since ours is a French colony, our main languages are Creole and French," he said. We are in a country whose population is dominated by Hindus, 1.4 billion to be exact. So, don't be surprised to find temples and little shrines in every nook and corner. A quick stop for lunch and we were off to Chamarel, a village located right next to the Black River Gorges National Park. We were there to see Seven-Coloured Earth, a world-famous natural wonder, and Chamarel Waterfalls, a jaw-dropping water beauty. A signboard told me that the 'Seven-Coloured Earth' dunes contain traces of ancient activity of geoclimatic events. The basalt from the intermediate-period lava flow has been leached by the humid climate, leading to gullied clay. The decomposition has left iron and aluminium oxides, which repel each other, resulting in colourful stripes. "Heavy rainfall doesn't erode this unique formation, nor does any plant grow here," said the guide. The waterfall, on the other hand, is dominated by dense vegetation and is apparently perfect in the monsoon. But for now, it's just two narrow strips of water from River St Denis falling from a height of 270 feet. The next day, I couldn't help but think that the North Island tour was mainly targeted at shopaholics. If not, why would anyone want to spend almost four hours at Le Caudan Waterfront, the seaside shopping complex? This spacious conglomerate is also where many actors have proclaimed their love for each other on the silver screen. If you are a shopaholic, this is the perfect place to pick up souvenirs: sugar packets (Mauritius is known for its sugarcane), artefacts, and more. Or, if you are feeling lucky, you can also gamble at the casino here. But don't leave the place without visiting the Blue Penny Museum, a brightly lit setup that will give you a glimpse into the history and art of Mauritius. Behind the lens Now, the sympathetic looks weren't the only disadvantage of travelling with my parents. Since I didn't have a husband fawning over me, I unofficially became the official honeymoon photographer for the group. But I couldn't complain, as I, in return, often got treated to the delicious Mauritian vanilla yoghurt every now and then. As we bid goodbye to this blue jewel of the Indian Ocean, we realised that Mauritius isn't just about beckoning beaches, casuarina-lined coasts or thrilling water-sports adventures. The tiny nation holds within its folds many fascinating cultural aspects that turned our beach vacation into something much more. Be it the Apravasi Ghat, which served as the island's immigration depot for indentured labour from India, or the Champ de Mars Racecourse, which is the oldest horse-racing club in the Southern Hemisphere, or the Rhumerie de Chamarel, a rum distillery whose carefully concocted spirits might just be the cure for all your stress, Mauritius is full of surprises. BJP MP Subramanian Swamy on Saturday produced before a Delhi court an Income Tax assessment order against the Young Indian company, in which majority shares are held by Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The order dated December 27 of last year, served on Young Indian (YI), cancels the tax exemption certificate issued to the firm and declares that it should pay tax for the concealed income gain, amounting to Rs 414 crore. Metropolitan Magistrate Ambika Singh directed that the I-T department documents, which were submitted by Swamy, be kept in a sealed cover till further orders. The court posted the matter for further hearing on March 27. Seeking a speedy trial, Swamy submitted that the I-T department had launched a probe against the Gandhis, Young Indian, and four other accused after taking note of his complaint. Genesis Swamy accused the Gandhis and others of conspiring to misappropriate funds by paying just Rs 50 lakh, through which YI obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore which Associate Journals Ltd owed the Congress. The 105-page order contradicts the Congress party's claim of giving Rs 90 crore loan to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the publisher of the National Herald newspaper. The order adds that the transaction was made to take over Rs 2,000 crore worth of land and building assets of AJL, he said. "The I-T department took notice of the facts in my complaint and launched an investigation against the seven accused. A Rs 414-crore fine was imposed on YI for withholding information," Swamy said in the court. The counsel for the accused persons opposed Swamy's submission alleging that the I-T documents were in "unauthorised and unlawful possession of Swamy" and they should not be taken on record. "He (Swamy) can't be in possession of such documents. Let him file an affidavit about how he got these documents," the counsel appearing for the Gandhis said. Swamy said he found the documents related to the I-T department's December 27 order lying along with newspapers at his doorstep recently. Swamy also told the court that certain documents filed by him, whose authenticity was challenged by the accused, were filed before the Supreme Court by Sonia Gandhi herself. On December 19, 2015, the court had granted bail to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Congress treasurer Vora, CWC member Oscar Fernandes and Gandhi family's friend Suman Dubey, who had appeared before it following summons. Technocrat Sam Pitroda, also an accused, was granted bail on February 20, 2016. In a horrifying incident, a seven- year-old boy was brutally attacked and mauled to death by half-a-dozen stray dogs in Himachal Pradesh's Sirmaur district, the police said today. Vikki, a son of a migrant labour from Uttar Pradesh, was attacked by the dogs while he was returning home from a near- by market in Amarkot village under Paonta sub division, they said. Hearing his cries, villagers rushed to his rescue and three of them also got injured by the aggressive dogs. The boy sustained multiple injuries on his head, throat, neck and stomach, they said, adding he succumbed to his injuries on the way to a hospital. A case has been registered in this matter, DSP Paonta Pramod Chauhan said. A sum of Rs 20,000 has been given to the bereaved family members, SDM Paonta H S Rana said. According to the Amarkot village head, Rakesh Mehraloo, the administration was informed many a time in the recent past about the stray dogs attacking people, but it turned deaf ear to their complaints. The incident has frightened the villagers, who are now not sending their wards to schools, he said. As election draws closer, party-hopping has intensified in the state. Speculations are rife in Congress circles that BJP MLA from Vijayanagara constituency in Ballari district Anand Singh will soon join the Congress. Sources in the party said Singh met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recently and discussed the possibility of his joining the Congress. Ballari district incharge Minister Santosh Lad was also present in the meeting. But it is said that the chief minister has not given him any assurance on the party ticket to contest the coming election from Vijayanagara. The sources said the party high command is averse to inducting any BJP leader who is facing charges of illegal mining. Singh, who was once a close associate of the Reddy brothers in Ballari, is facing a SIT probe in connection with illegal mining. Anand Singh has now distanced himself from the BJP. He did not take part in the Parivarthana Yatra held in Ballari recently. Singh also took part in the government-organised Tipu Jayanti celebrations recently despite the party's stand to oppose it. Anil Chikkamadu, son of late Chikkamadu of the JD(S), is likely to join the Congress. The party is likely to field him as its candidate from HD Kote constituency in Mysuru district in the coming election. HD Kote was represented by Chikkamadu who passed away recently. The sources said Anil, who met Siddaramaiah recently, is upset with the JD(S) for not promising him the ticket to contest the election. The Congress is planning to cash in on the sympathy factor by fielding Anil, the sources pointed out. Hoping to return to power in the next Lok Sabha elections in 2019, the BJP on Saturday launched its 'yuva udghosh' campaign from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency of Varanasi in a bid to connect to the young and first-time voters. BJP president Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressed a meeting of young and first-time voters at the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth ground in Varanasi and sought their support. In his speech, Amit Shah listed the achievements of the Modi government since it came to power in 2014 and said that India had attained respect in the world under Modi. He also said that both the Centre and state government were focusing on the youths and referred to the schemes initiated for them. BJP leaders announced that 'yuva udghosh' meetings would be held in different parts of the country ahead of next year's elections. The campaign, however, witnessed protests from Congress workers, who gathered outside the venue and raised anti-BJP slogans. Over 36 Congress leaders and workers were taken into custody, when they tried to storm the venue, police said. The Congress had decided to stage a protest before Shah in revenge against the BJP's protests in Amethi during Rahul Gandhi's visit there. Union Minister Satyapal Singh has claimed that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution is "scientifically wrong" and needs to be changed in school and college curriculum. Singh, the Minister of State for Human Resource Development, said our ancestors have nowhere mentioned that they saw an ape turning into a man. "Darwin's theory (of the human evolution) is scientifically wrong. It needs to change in school and college curriculum. Since the man is seen on Earth he has always been a man," he said while speaking to reporters on Friday here. The IPS officer-turned-politician was in the central Maharashtra city to attend the 'All India Vaidik Sammelan.' "Nobody, including our ancestors, in written or oral, has said they saw an ape turning into a man," he said. "No books we have read or the tales told to us by our grandparents had such a mention," the minister added. Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution that states that all species arise and develop through natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. It was developed by Charles Darwin, a 19th-century English naturalist, and others. The Shivappa Nayaka Palace in the city will soon the be the world's first museum which displays around 150 iron rockets. Sources in the Archaeology, Museums and Heritage department said presently such rockets are found only in two museums in the world - Firepower: The Royal Artillery Museum in Woolwich in south-east London and the Government Museum, Bengaluru. Two iron rockets which had been designed and developed by Sir William Congreve in 1804, popularly known as Congreve rockets and designed after the Mysore rockets, are on display in London. The Bengaluru museum has a collection of three iron rockets. But they are not displayed for public viewing. According to officials of the department, around 150 iron rockets of various sizes were found in an areca plantation belonging to Nagaraj Rao at Nagara, Hosanagar taluk in the district, while desilting a century-old well. Many believed that they were either shells or explosive materials. At last, retired director of the department of archaeology, museums and heritage H M Siddanna Gowda confirmed they were iron rockets as they are similar to the ones in the Bengaluru museum. R Shejeshwar, assistant director of the archaeology, museums and heritage department, Shivappa Nayaka Palace, told DH, "when we got to know about these rockets, we consulted senior officials of the department and historians. A research was conducted subsequently". He said though it is a known fact that Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore, had used iron rockets for the first time in the world during the Anglo Mysore Wars of the 18th century, such rockets were not found in large numbers anywhere in the world so far. But now, they have been found in Shivamogga district." Nagara in Hosanagar taluk, he said, was the last capital of the Keladi rulers. Earlier, it was known as Bidanoor. In 1763, Hyder Ali, ruler of Mysore, captured the fort in Nagara and renamed the place as Hydernagar. He had set up an armoury there. So, iron rockets may have been found there. Historian Nidin G Olikara said iron rockets of up to seven feet in length and one to three feet in width were found. These rockets contained gun powder and soldiers used to fire them by placing them on a pole, up to a distance of two km. Taking note of the plight of a woman from Uttar Pradesh, forced to live in the terrace portion of her in-law's house without amenities, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC) directed the police to trace her husband and register a case against him. KSHRC acting Chairperson P Mohandas, suo-motu registered a case and directed the Ernakulam district police chief to take steps to find the woman's husband. The commission also ordered a case to be registered against him for defrauding the woman, Jabin Shayaq, an aeronautical engineering diploma holder, by extracting money and cheating her. The woman told the commission that she and Anil Kuruvilla fell in love while pursuing the course at a college in Meerut and got married after graduation, with their parent's approval. They stayed together for four months in Anil's house at Airapuram, Ernakulam district, in Kerala. Thereafter they went back to Uttar Pradesh, where she delivered a baby boy. Some time back Anil left for Kerala after taking Rs six lakh from her, the money was from her share of her family property, after assuring that he will construct a house at his native. He constructed a house at his family property. Thereafter, she had not heard from him, prompting her to go to the village with her son. She found her husband and his parents at his home, but they immediately left locking the door. Jabin said she was now occupying the terrace portion of the building with her schoolgoing child. The commission noted that she had been left in the lurch and said the 'inhuman treatment' meted out to her and the child at the instance of her own husband and in-laws was nothing but a violation of Human Rights. "She has no food, no proper shelter, no water and no electricity. She is living at the mercy of neighbours", it said. It also directed Ernakulam district officials to urgently intervene in the matter and submit a domestic investigation report before the magistrate concerned after interacting with the woman. Following the repair work in Udupi prison at Hiriyadka, all the 91 inmates of the prison have been shifted to Karwar jail on Saturday morning. According to sources, the work on repairing the walls which have developed cracks and the UGD will be taken up in the prison at a cost of Rs 65 lakh. The wall of the kitchen has developed cracks and collapsed and the wall of a barrack has also developed cracks, which will be repaired within 2-3 months. After the repair, all the inmates will be shifted back to the prison in Hiriyadka. The prison staff have also accompanied the inmates to Karwar. The prison is situated on 15 acres of land and has around eight CCTV cameras. Only one or two staff members are likely to stay back in Udupi prison to look into the safety of the prison, said sources. The Udupi prison in Hiriyadka was inaugurated on January 11, 2009. The IMF and the World Bank have commended the Reserve Bank of India for its "remarkable progress in strengthening banking supervision" saying the regulation by the central bank has improved in recent years. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank had released two separate main Reports of the 2017 India Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP) in December 2017. In continuation, the IMF and the World Bank yesterday released two detailed assessment reports (DARs) relating to the 2017 India FSAP. The report providing 'Detailed Assessment of Observance Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision' has been released by the IMF and the World Bank. The report providing 'Detailed Assessment of Observance of Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL) Central Counter Party (CCP) and Trade Repository (TR)' was released by the World Bank. Market regulator Sebi in a statement noted that the DAR on the observance of Basel Core Principles commends the Reserve Bank for the remarkable progress in strengthening banking supervision since the last FSAP. "It notes that the supervision and regulation by the Reserve Bank remain strong and have improved in recent years," the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said. The DAR states that the system-wide asset quality review (AQR) and the strengthening of prudential regulations in 2015 testify to the authorities' commitment to transparency and a more accurate recognition of banking risks. The report also notes that most of the Basel III framework (and related guidance) has been implemented and cooperation arrangements, both domestically and cross-border, are now firmly in place. The DAR, Sebi said, acknowledges that banking reforms, including the Indradhanush Plan for revitalising the public sector banks and the Bank Board Bureaus have helped usher in an era of transparency and improved discipline and will go a long way in resolving the problem of bad loans in India. The DAR relating to the assessment of the CCIL on CCP system and TR systems' benchmarking against the applicable principles of financial market infrastructure concluded that the CCIL systems have a high degree of observance of the principles. A 32-year-old labourer from West Bengal was found dead under suspicious circumstances in Jaipur. According to the police, Sakir Ali, a migrant labourer, died of injuries due to acid burns. The mysterious death comes exactly a month after another migrant worker from West Bengal, Mohammed Afrazul, was murdered in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan by one Shambhulal Regar, who circulated the video of the killing, claiming it to be the price for "love jihad". Virendra Singh, sub inspector, Shastri Nagar police station said the body of Ali was recovered on January 16 from the house in which he and other labourers lived in Shastri Nagar's painter colony. "We conducted a post-mortem on January 17, which revealed he died of acid burns. Rajasthan police sent the body of Ali to his family in Malda district of West Bengal. "The post-mortem revealed that there were internal and external burns," Virendra Singh added. Messaging platform, WhatsApp is set to introduce an Android based business app for the Indian markets next week for hassle free market transactions. The new Whatsapp Business App is aimed to help small businesses for which company has introduced new features dedicated for the same target group. The company had announced the initiative first in September last year. The beta version of this app has already been rolled out in Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, the UK, and the US, with a global rollout scheduled in the coming weeks. "The new app allows the users to create business profiles with details, such as email-ids, website links or store addresses, for easy connections with their customers, quick or automated replies which lets the users save and reuse any message," the company said in a blog. According to data provided by Whatsapp, over 80% of the small businesses from India and Brazil say that they use Whatsapp for easy communications with customers and growing their market share. In India, 84% of the SMBs think that Whatsapp has improved their trade experience with customers. The company claims that this app would further revolutionise trade and communications for both customers and small businesses. "WhatsApp Business changes the way we communicate with our customers, especially with features like quick replies which make our WhatsApp experience easier. This also helps our business profile stand out in the crowd," Harpreet Sharda, who own a three-year old graphic design and video production company said. China's Xiaomi plans to expand its Indian store network as it attempts to grab the lead in a smartphone market which Korea's Samsung has dominated for more than five years. A little over three years after Xiaomi entered India, its cheap, high-spec handsets have helped the start-up, which is now valued at close to $100 billion and plans to list this year, to pull neck-and-neck with Samsung in its biggest market behind China. "If you look at 2017 and 2018 combined, the biggest change in our strategy is our focus on offline," Manu Kumar Jain, Managing Director of Xiaomi India, told Reuters in an interview. Xiaomi opened its first Mi Home, an Apple store-style sales and experience centre, in May and already operates 17 such outlets in India. Jain said Xiaomi is ahead of schedule on its plans to open 100 Mi Home stores by mid-2019 in India and also plans to add more preferred partner stores - multi-brand outlets that stock largely Xiaomi products. In a bid to widen its user base in India, where about a third of its 1.2 billion mobile phone subscribers use smartphones, Xiaomi is looking to strengthen its network beyond online, which accounts for some 70 percent of local revenue. Its strategy in India has so far rested on flash sales on leading homegrown e-commerce player Flipkart and Amazon.com's Indian sites, an approach that helped Xiaomi save on expensive marketing spends and grab market share. Jain, who declined to provide financial metrics, said Xiaomi will launch six to eight new smartphones across key price ranges in 2018. "We want to improve on whatever we launched in 2017 and also launch and plug whatever we think are the big use cases where we are not present," he said. Last year, Xiaomi launched eight smartphones priced from 4,999 Indian rupees ($78) to 32,999 rupees ($516). Samsung, by comparison, offers more than 40 smartphone models in India. Xiaomi also plans to unveil at least one or two new smart products in 2018. It already sells airpurifiers and fitness bands in India and will likely venture into TVs, water purifiers, scooters and rice cookers in the future, Jain said. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday performed the annual 'halwa' ceremony at the Ministry of Finance located in the North Block, before the commencement of the confidential process of printing Budget documents. The Union Budget for 2018-19 is to be presented in Parliament by the FM on February 1, with the session of the two Houses set to begin from January 29. The ceremony, which was performed at the North Block here, marks the inauguration of the formal printing of different documents relating to the Union Budget. As part of the ritual, halwa was prepared in a big kadhai (wok) and served to the entire staff in the ministry. Apart from Jaitley, those present at the ceremony were chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg, and Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla, among others. The halwa ceremony is held to maintain the secrecy of the Budget preparation process with the entire staff of the Finance Ministry not being allowed to leave the building until the presentation of the Budget. After the celebration, over a hundred members of the Finance Ministry descended into the basement of the North Block, where the "Budget press" is located. The printing of documents is guarded closely, as any leakage could lead to the government being accused of compromising on the privileges of Parliament. Among the documents, a blue sheet of paper is said to be the most guarded piece of paper. It contains figures for the Budget, outlining the entire economic planning process. The staff members are not even allowed to contact their near and dear ones through phone or any other form of communication, like email or phone. The basement has one telephone line, which can only receive calls. All communication is in the presence of intelligence officers. Only very senior officials in the Finance Ministry are permitted to go home. Union Minister of State Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said that the Union government will table the Constitution (123rd) Amendment Bill, 2017, in the budget session of Parliament, which seeks to accord constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC). He said on Saturday that although it was tabled in the winter session, it could not be passed. The Centre is firm on according Constitutional status to the Commission. "Economically backward sections of the Upper Class should be given reservation without affecting the existing reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs. A law to give a reservation of 25% in the remaining 50% to those who are not in SC/ST/OBC but have an annual income below Rs 8 lakh, should be made," he added. "Dalit atrocity is a social issue and not a political issue. One of the reasons for the atrocities on Dalits was the feeling among other communities that Dalits have reservation," he said "A proposal has been submitted before the ruling NDA government in this regard. The agitating communities, including the Marathas in Maharashtra, Patels in Gujarat, Jats in Haryana, can be included in the 25% quota," said the minister. The Ministry has conducted over 6,000 camps for disabled persons to distribute various equipment. Nine lakh beneficiaries have benefited from the camps. He added that the NDA government believes in the Constitution of India. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stated that he considers Constitution as 'Dharma Grantha.' To a query on Anant Kumar Hegde's statement on changing the Constitution, Athawale clarified, "Nobody can change the Constitution, there is only a provision for amendment. Nobody can change the preamble of the Constitution. The NDA government has not supported Hegde's statement." 'BJP will win' Predicting the victory of the BJP in the upcoming Assembly election in Karnataka, Athawale said that the people of the state will support the welfare programmes initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Athawale, who is president of Republic Party of India, said "If the BJP shares a few seats with the RPI to contest, then we will have an alliance. Otherwise, the RPI will field its candidates in some constituencies. Wherever we are not fielding our candidates, the RPI will support the BJP. I will discuss the issue with Union Minister Ananth Kumar and BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa." With the Election Commission's recommendation to disqualify 20 Aam Aadmi Party MLAs in Delhi, the future course for such legislators is fraught with legal battles, with little hope of success. After the President's formal assent, which is termed natural, such MLAs, who were appointed parliamentary secretaries, are again going to question the decision in the court. Though the AAP government claimed that such MLAs were not taking a single penny, there are many apparent legal deficiencies as the Delhi government brought the bill in this regard with retrospective effect. The President has then declined assent to the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) Bill, 2015, passed by Delhi assembly in June 2015. It is notable that similar decision by other state governments to appoint MLAs as parliamentary secretaries could not sustain a legal challenge. The Supreme Court's three-judge bench led by Justice J Chelameswar had on July 26, 2017, declared a law passed by Assam Assembly in 2004 for such a purpose as "unconstitutional". "We are of the opinion that the legislature of Assam lacks the competence to make the impugned Act," the bench has said. The Assam Parliamentary Secretaries (Appointment, Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2004 was passed after Parliament enacted amendment as Article 164(1A) of the Constitution. The main arguments against such appointment were that it went against Article 164 (1A) of the Constitution and was repugnant to 91 st Constitutional Amendment, which fixed the ceiling of 10% on the number of Ministers of the total number of seats in the Assembly of a state and union territory. The Punjab and Haryana had on August 12, 2016, quashed a law appointing Chief Parliamentary Secretaries in Punjab, saying it was contrary to the constitutional intent of limiting the number of ministers or the size of the Cabinet. The Meghalaya HC also on November 9, 2017, set aside such a state law for the appointment of parliamentary secretaries. A similar move by the Goa (2009) and the West Bengal government (2015) was quashed by the HCs. The appointment of parliamentary secretaries was seen as nothing but extending the privileges to some of the Member of Legislative Assembly who could not make it to the Council of Ministers. It is also argued that the move is nothing but elevating a good number of MLAs to the position of ministers under the guise of parliamentary secretary in violation of the Constitution. Not just in domestic politics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has invoked Lord Rama in diplomacy as well. With Modi set to host leaders of the 10 ASEAN nations next week, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) has invited artistes from all the South East Asian nations to a Ramayana Festival it is holding in New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow and, of course, Ayodhya. The artistes from Thailand, Myanmar, Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Lao PDR are participating in the Ramayana Festival, which started at Kamani Auditorium in New Delhi on Saturday and will conclude in Ayodhya on Wednesday. "Delighted to know that the Ramayana Festival, with participation of all ten ASEAN countries, begins in Delhi today. This celebrates India's deep civilizational and historical relations with the ASEAN region," the Prime Minister posted on Twitter. Modi will host the leaders of the South East Asian nations for the ASEAN-India summit on January 25 to commemorate 25 years of New Delhi's partnership with the 10-nation bloc. New Delhi is of the view that Ramayana, along with Buddhism, provides a strong cultural bond between India and all the ASEAN countries. The ASEAN leaders will also attend the Republic Day ceremony on January 26 as chief guests. New Delhi has been inviting a foreign leader to the ceremony. But this is the first time that the Heads of State and Governments of 10 nations will join President Ram Nath Kovind in witnessing the parade by the armed forces and the colourful tableaux on Raj Path. "An important part of a series of events to commemorate 25 years of India-ASEAN relations, the Festival is a fitting prelude to the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit on 25th January," Modi tweeted. The connect The ASEAN countries regard Ramayana as a very important theme that connects all of them because the epic is something that is played and enacted today in most of the South-East Asian nations, said Preeti Saran, Secretary (East) at the Ministry of External Affairs, who inaugurated the festival in New Delhi. The masked "Khon" artistes from Thailand performed a dance-drama based on Ramakien (or Ramayana) during the inaugural ceremony. They staged the epic battle between Phra Ram (Rama) and Thotsakan (Ravana) amid applause. Sunita Ksheerasagar of Shakti Colony at Shettar Layout here was not happy with the condition of roads, and collection of waste in the area, while Neelambika Hosmani, a student of Vishwabharati School in Unkal area, stressed the need for installing 'school zone' boards and clearing footpaths for easy pedestrian movement. In reply, Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) Executive Engineer (North) Mahesh Gowda noted that tenders have already been called to develop roads at Shettar Layout, while he would personally inspect the garbage collection, and would rectify the errors. Along with him, Corporator Umeshgouda Kaujageri and Assistant Commissioner of Police (North) A H Pathan assured to take steps to solve the problems mentioned by Neelambika Hosmani. From problems related to a particular location in a certain area, and to larger issues concerning thousands of people, a variety of civic problems were raised by the citizens at the 'Janaspandana' programme, organised by Deccan Herald-Prajavani Group here on Saturday. The People's representatives and officials concerned responded to the issues, by explaining the steps taken or to be taken, and by giving assurances. The event which brought citizens and authorities concerned together for the redressal of public grievances in Hubballi-Dharwad Central Assembly constituency was attended by Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar who represents the constituency, Mayor D K Chavan, Corporators Veerana Savadi, Rajanna Koravi, Pandurang Patil, Mahesh Burli, Umeshgouda Kaujageri, Ashwini Majjagi, Laxmi Uppar, Smitha Jadhav, Menaka Hurali and Beerappa Khandekar. Officials of HDMC, H-D BRTS Company, Karnataka Water Board, NWKRTC, HDUDA and other departments were also present, to answer the queries of the citizens. Damaged condition of roads, pig menace, stray dog menace, improper waste collection, gutters blocked with garbage, open plots causing nuisance, overflowing sewage water, delay in water supply, dust, traffic congestion, lack of parking space, unscientific road humps, liquor shops in residential areas, streetlight problem, burning of waste, and many other issues were raised by the citizens including doctors, other professionals, women and students. A few persons from other constituencies had also come to express their grievances. Officials blamed A S Kulkarni of Vidyanagar lamented that HDMC officials are not responding to the demands of the residents, while Dr K H Jituri noted that unscientific road humps have not been removed even after a court order. Dr G B Sattur noted that officials should have ensured that road humps were not unscientific, while sewage water is not mixed with drinking water. "Shall the citizens go to the court to get these things done," he asked. Citizens should be alert first, and should join hands for the development of the city, he said. D M Shanbhag opined that the HDMC commissioner and H-D BRTS Company Limited managing director should have attended the programme, and he also called them irresponsible officials. Dr M C Sindhur lamented that the officials are not responding to the plea to develop 18-metre wide road from Kamaripet to Unkal Cross Road, under the CRF, though the land required is available as per the CDP. Corporator Veeranna Savadi also noted that HDMC commissioner and deputy commissioner are the authorities who clear the files related to solutions for many public grievances, and they should attend to such programmes. At one point of time, Corporator Pandurang Patil admitted that the HDMC lagged in utilising Solar City project, and it has to be utilised before the funds get lapsed. With growing outrage over the massive fire at Bellandur Lake, government agencies are pointing fingers at one another. The pollution control authorities are slapping notices on two agencies for the conflagration, and are being asked, in turn, to fund the protection and rejuvenation of the lake. Lakshman, chairman of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, told DH the notices were going out on Monday to the Bangalore Development Authority and the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board. Saturday's meeting Lake stakeholders, including the BDA, BWSSB, KSPCB and the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority, met on Saturday. Additional chief secretary Mahendra Jain chaired the meeting. "The BDA and BWSSB have 15 days to reply to our notice. We will ask them to submit a status report on the short- and medium-term measures they have taken," Lakshman said. The smoke and the stench clearly indicate the presence of methane in the atmosphere. The lake is full of garbage and pollutants, he said. Water and air quality The notice is being served under the Water Act, and also because the level of particulate matter has increased 10-fold following the fire on Friday and Saturday, Lakshman said. QUOTES We are struggling to know the cause of the fire. We will request the Pollution Control Board and the Centre to help us out financially. We will also form watch-and-ward groups for 100% vigil, and deploy security guards - Rakesh Singh, BDA commissioner The repeat flare-ups show how badly the lake is polluted - Sonali Singh, Citizens Watch Group The lake is full of sewage. Cameras and boards warning of a Rs 5,000 penalty serve no purpose - Sandeep Sudarshan, resident of Varthur Lake water is at its worst. The government has not implemented any of the measures recommended by our committee - T V Ramachandra, Centre of Ecological Sciences, IISc, and lake expert committee member Residing at Embassy Pristine at the Iblur side of the smoldering Bellandur Lake, Bharathi Mani spent a tensed Friday watching the leaping flames. "Our apartment is just round the corner from the lake and we were worried that the blaze would spread to our building," Bharathi said. Her vigil continued into the early hours of Saturday. Moving into the apartment just three months ago, Bharathi enjoyed the view of the lake. "But on Friday, I wondered if I had made the right decision," she said, hoping that the authorities would study the issue and fix it soon. At another apartment in the Iblur area, Daina Emmanuel sighed in relief watching the wind blow in the other direction. Unlike the fire last year, the bellowing smoke from the lake would not be choking her flat. "We had a tough time as smoke filled our apartment," she recalled. Daina said the authorities just addressed the symptoms with minor weeding and pressing on the sprinklers to control the foam from the lake. "The fire is an indication of the scale of pollution," she said. Close by, Hariprakash Agrawal could not escape the smell of charring toxins despite the smoke not blowing in the direction of his house. "We could smell the smoke though we had closed the doors and windows at the flat. Children kept complaining about the stench," he said. Several meetings with civic agencies failed to solve the problem for good, Agrawal lamented. A day after a massive fire erupted in Bellandur Lake, Bengaluru Development Minister K J George accused the Centre of refusing funds for rejuvenating the Aity's largest waterbody. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, he said the Centre had "categorically turned down" the state government's requests for funds for cleaning Bellandur and other lakes in the city. "The Opposition claims the state government failed to clean the lake in spite of the Centre sanctioning funds for the purpose. This is a blatant lie. The truth is that the Centre didn't respond to the state's requests for funds. It categorically said it cannot sanction separate funds for this purpose," he added. George said he had urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to sanction separate funds for the development of lakes in the state's budget for 2018-19. He insisted that the state government had taken adequate steps to clean the lake as directed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) issued notices to the owners of buildings releasing wastewater into the lake as per the NGT orders, he added. The minister further said the police had been ordered to establish the cause of the fire. He, however, said the fire was unlikely to have originated in the lake. "The marshy area around the lake is full of grass and weeds. It's the breeding ground for ammonium gases that cause the fire," he added. Bengaluru: With the ruling Congress airing concerns over possible tampering of electronic voting machines (EVMs), the Election Commission of India has decided to take up random verification of votes in the upcoming Assembly elections in a bid to quell claims of foul play. The ruling Congress, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, want ballot papers instead of EVMs for the polls. IT Minister Priyank Kharge, too, has shot off a letter to the ECI demanding error-testing of 250 EVMs. The 2018 polls will see the introduction of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines, on which voters can see the votes they cast on a printout. "To raise voter confidence, the Election Commission has taken a decision to tally votes cast on the EVM with the VVPAT. This will be done in one polling booth selected randomly in every constituency," Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar said. "Votes will be tallied in the presence of election agents of different parties. The printouts will be put in a container and they will be tallied with the EVM readings," he added. This was done in 182 polling booths across 182 constituencies in Gujarat last month. Officials said, "there was a 100% match in the results of the EVM and the slips produced by VVPAT machines." According to Kumar, the decision to tally EVM readings with paper trail slips was voluntary. "One of the national parties approached the Supreme Court seeking counting of the paper trail slips. It was prayed that at least one-third of the votes should be counted, but the plea was rejected. But the EC has taken a decision on its own just to show there's no possibility of anything going wrong." Kumar said an EVM has three parts - a processing unit, a ballot unit and the VVPAT. "The VVPAT has a glass window on top. After the vote is cast, the machine prints a physical slip. For six seconds, the slip comes to the surface where the voter can see the vote. They are printed in permanent ink that can be preserved for five years. They can be verified any time during any dispute before a court or the district election officer," Kumar said. In his January 2 letter to Chief Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Jyoti, Kharge proposed an EVM challenge jointly hosted by the state government and the ECI, where stakeholders from the scientific community can test the EVMs. A 40-year-old man having a criminal record died after suffering a cardiac arrest at the Tilak Nagar police station, South Bengaluru, on Saturday. Sadiq Pasha, of Tilak Nagar, was brought to the police station by a constable around 12.30 am. But soon afterwards, he started vomiting. He was taken to a nearby hospital where doctors said he had some heart ailment. He was then taken to the Jayadeva hospital where he died of a cardiac arrest on Saturday evening, police said. Pasha was involved in various vehicle thefts in the locality, according to the police. Senior police officers are looking into the case as part of a procedure laid down to investigate custodial deaths. Country United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Reliance Jio in the black with Rs504-cr Q3 net profit Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, which continued to make losses for almost a year with is low tariffs and price wars has reported a net profit of Rs504 crore for the October-December 2017-18 quarter agains6t a loss of Rs271 crore in the previous quarter. Jio's disruptive launch late in 2016 that sparked a price war in India's cut-throat telecom sector, however, left incumbent telcos deep in the red, driving down margins and forcing consolidation. Reliance Jio, with over 160 million subscribers, turned positive ''in only the second quarter of commercial operations'', logging a net profit of Rs504 crore, RIL said. Reliance Jio has disrupted the telecom industry with free voice calls and cheap data since its launch in September 2016. The telecom start-up, which started commercial operations in Q2 FY18 with a loss of Rs271 crore, has been blamed for falling profits of industry peers. Vodafone India Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd, the second and third among India's top three telecom companies, agreed to merge while Bharti Airtel, India's biggest telecom service provider, reported falling profits for six straight quarters. The Mukesh Ambani-owned company, which upended the market with its initially free voice and data and now much cheaper mobile internet services, has posted a revenue of Rs6,879 crore, up nearly 12 per cent on quarter. Voice calls remain free for life for the 160 million plus subscribers of the operator, which has come out with tariff plans across price ranges and even cash back offers to get more market share. Reliance Jio said it has continued its strong subscriber growth trend with gross adds during the quarter of 27.8 million as against 19.5 million in the trailing quarter. Average revenue per user (ARPU) stood at Rs154 per subscriber per month in December quarter against Rs156.4 in September quarter. Total wireless data traffic of 431 crore GB (9.6 GB per subscriber per month) for quarter ended December 2017. "Jio subscribers continue to demonstrate high activity level with average data consumption per user per month of 9.6 GB and average voice consumption of 694 minutes per user per month; these are both highest in the industry and substantially higher than other operators," the telco said, adding that video consumption has crossed 200 crore hours per month on the network. The telco revealed that its customer churn at 1.4 per cent per month is the lowest in the industry. Editor's note resolves The 76-page report provides a comprehensive review of Irans internet policies and initiatives, in particular, the development and new capabilities of Irans state-controlled National Internet Network (NIN), which gives the government newly expanded abilities to control Iranians access to the internet and monitor online communications. is("Complainant") [: commonly known as "| inta.org]...is("Respondent"), India. Theat issue is... Theto a." On the top right-hand corner of the page is a "Housing Request" form inviting users to book hotel rooms near the meeting venue. The page also includes other information about the meeting, and a disclaimer appears at the very bottom of the page. Complainant states that Respondent is not known by the INTA mark and has no affiliation or association with Complainant, and that Complainant has not consented to Respondent's use of the domain name .... it is Ordered that thedomain name be TRANSFERRED from Respondent to Complainant." (emphasis added) Internet Cut-Off During Recent Unrest in Iran Reveals Tehrans New Cyber Capabilities | Center for Human Rights in Iran | iranhumanrights.org : a major new report,, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) details the advances the Iranian government has made in controlling cyberspace in Iran, and the resulting losses to internet freedom and privacy. Download Guards at the Gate, here HTML ).--former ICANN board member Wolfgang Kleinwachter.Five EU Commissioners threaten to regulate online platforms if they do not remove more illegal content like hate speech-- EURACTIV.com --the famous and glamorous 74-year-old French actressapologized to victims but still stands by the letter she signed , saying she did not like the and unleashed by thecampaign, adding,(# of pageviews Sun-Sat) this past week on I had the flu last week. And, based on anecdotal evidence, you probably did as well. Heres why: Were nice. Let me explain. Have you noticed the maps that come out during flu season? Almost all of them consistently show the worst outbreaks concentrated in the South. On one hand, this shouldnt be. Were pretty rural here. You would think the Northeast would be ravaged by the flu all day, every day. Most often, however, the worst flu outbreaks seem to occur from Texas to Georgia. Why? We love to shake some hands in the South. My dad taught me the importance of a good handshake practically before he stuffed the first spoonful of Gerbers in my mouth. A good, firm handshake, he said, communicates all kinds of desirable virtues. Earnest, sincere, forthright, hard-working, honest. Now, stop laughing and let me explain further. While a handshake may or may not be a good indicator of honesty, it appears to be an incredibly effective germ delivery system. Although all of science is not unanimous on this (all of science is not unanimous on anything apparently), most experts believe that if the flu virus can live on a door knob for a few hours, it can most certainly live on a warmer hand for a while. During our churchs regular greeting time Sunday, our pastor attempted to suggest the fist bump as an acceptable alternative since the flu appeared to be at its peak. Based on my totally unscientific estimate, it was about 32.7 percent effective. I mean, what do you do when a pillar of the church extends his hand for a shake? Are you going to risk losing all status by responding with a fist bump? Maybe just a quick head-nod and a whasup? Of course not. Youre going to shake hands and get the flu. Overall, I prefer the handshake culture over the non-handshake culture. In many northern states, eye contact is expressly forbidden by law. Handshakes are a capital offense. I understand this. During my first trip to Boston about 20 years ago, I was enjoying my first ride on the T. No one looked at anyone, ever. Then, this one man made eye contact with me. My Southern self took over and I said hello. He said hello back. I introduced myself. He introduced himself as . Jesus Christ. He said he recently morphed from a bird to a human after flying to the United States from Guatemala. Everyone else on the T looked at me in derision. Rookie. My Southern self took over again and I said the only thing that seemed appropriate after that. Well, Ill be dog. I think he took me literally. So I think Ill just stick to the South, shake hands and get the flu. - - What Im Reading Ukraine is obliged to continue carrying out reforms in 2018 despite the upcoming elections, including because of its obligation to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), without cooperation with which the country will not be able to fulfil its debt obligations, Head of the Group of Strategic Advisors for Support of Reforms in Ukraine Ivan Miklos has said. "It's normal in democratic countries when politicians do not want to carry out reforms before the elections, because people are afraid of reforms. However, reforms must be continued in 2018, because Ukraine is in a situation where there will be no progress without reforms, and people need progress. [Without reforms] Ukraine will not be able to finance its obligations without a program of the [International] Monetary Fund, and therefore it is necessary that these obligations be fulfilled," Miklos said live on Channel 5 late on Friday, January 19. He noted that one of the most important obligations of Ukraine to the IMF was anti-corruption reform, in particular, the adoption of the bill on the Ant-Corruption Court, "It will be necessary that these prerequisites of the monetary fund be met in spring, that is before the end of May, so as not to create problems in this financing. Therefore, there is still time... However, it is not only necessary to have an anti-corruption court. It is necessary to have a court that will work," Miklos said. Ukrainian Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk has stressed the need to effectively use the funds seized from representatives of the former authorities, in particular, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. "Now the money is in the budget. My task is to make so that it is used effectively. I really do not want anyone to build a political career at the expense of confiscation and the confiscated money to disappear eventually," he said in an interview with Ukraine's Mirror Weekly published on Saturday. Danyliuk believes that it is expedient to use part of the seized funds to repay the state's debt to business for overpayment for profit tax and to ensure the country's defense capability. "In any case, we need to spend it wisely. Many people in our country can waste money, because they were not taught to be responsible for every kopeck. Such transfers to the budget will not be made every year, and their distribution should be treated not as annual manna from heaven, but as one-off income," he said. To build the largest and most complete Amateur Radio community site on the Internet - a "portal" that hams think of as the first place to go for information, to exchange ideas, and be part of whats happening with ham radio on the Internet. eHam.net provides recognition and enjoyment to the people who use, contribute, and build the site. This project involves a management team of volunteers who each take a topic of interest and manage it with passion. The site will stand above all other ham radio sites by employing the latest technology and professional design/programming standards, developed by a team of community programmers who contribute their skills to the effort. The site will be something of which everyone involved can be proud to say they were a part. We welcome your comments. The eHam.net Team, Revision 07/2020. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Davos, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin has said. "Of course, the president will talk with Trump," Klimkin said on the Inter TV channel on Friday evening speaking about the upcoming meetings of the Ukrainian head of state in Davos. Answering the question on whether Poroshenko will speak with Tramp in private or in the format of a general meeting, Klimkin said: "What can they talk about in the format of a general meeting? Of course, they will talk as two presidents. There is no point to discuss sensitive issues in a general meeting format." A policeman injured in Odesa during a shooting on Friday afternoon died in hospital, adviser to Chief of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Odesa region Ruslan Forostiak has said. "A 30-year-old policeman, who was in grave condition, died in hospital," Frostiak wrote on a Facebook page. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said he will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Paris next week. "[I will meet] with Tillerson in Paris. There will be many ministers there. A new initiative to control chemical weapons begins there. There will be a communication there, including with the U.S. delegation," he said live on the Inter television channel late on Friday. He also noted that he planned to meet with many of his foreign colleagues both in Paris and at the international economic forum in Davos. Arriving this weekend are some explosive and heart-stopping films that will be sure to have everyone at the edge of their seat. From gritty cops to brave soldiers, here are some movies everyone should check out this weekend! Den Of Thieves Den of Thieves stars: stars Gerard Butler, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Pablo Schreiber, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Evan Jones, Dawn Olivieri, Mo McRae, and Max Holloway. The film follows members of LAPD and the elite members of the County Sheriff Department who try to stop a crew of thieves from pulling off the ultimate heist. The film may seem cut and dry. However, it has been teased that there will be a twist ending no one will see coming. 12 Strong The latest war-action film tackles the aftermath of the Twin Towers attack. 12 Strong stars Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Pena, Navid Negahban, Trevante Rhodes, Geoff Stults, Thad Luckinbill, William Fichtner, and Rob Riggle. The movie portrays the true story of a special task force that is sent to Afghanistan to help conduct warfare against Taliban forces. Forever My Girl If you want to take a break from crime and action, a new love story will be premiering this weekend based on a best-selling novel. Forever My Girl stars Alex Roe and Jessica Rothe, who were a former couple that were set to get married until Roe's character, Liam Page, left his bride at the altar. Now, Page returns to home to bury his high school friend and also face the consequences of leaving his love behind for fame and fortune. Cocaine Godmother If you're thinking about staying in this weekend, Lifetime may have the perfect film for you. Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones stars in the latest biopic Cocaine Godmother, a film based on the life of notorious Colombian drug lord, Griselda Blanco. The movie will follow Blanco's life at the age of 17 when she met her first husband and obtained a fake passport to enter America. The film also stars Raul Mendez and Juan Pablo Espinosa. Also still in theaters are the films: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, The Commuter, The Post, and The Greatest Showman. Is Kourtney Kardashian preparing to welcome her fourth child with her much-younger boyfriend, model Younes Bendjima? According to a new report, the 38-year-old mother of three is suffering from baby fever after watching her younger sister, Kim Kardashian, welcome her third child, a baby girl, with husband, Kanye West. After holding Kims new baby, Kourtney has baby fever again, a source close to the reality star told Hollywood Life on Jan. 19. Kourtney wants more kids. In addition to Kim's recent addition, two of Kourtney Kardashian's other siblings, Kylie Jenner and Khloe Kardashian, are currently pregnant with their first children. As Khloe recently revealed on Instagram, she is six months pregnant with the child of Cleveland Cavaliers player Tristan Thompson. Meanwhile, Jenner is reportedly nearing the end of her pregnancy, but her due date has yet to be confirmed. Kourt has three kids and she feels like she could easily have three more," the insider continued. "She grew up with five other siblings and would love to give her kids the same experience of having a big family." As Keeping Up with the Kardashians fans well know, Kardashian shares three children, sons Mason, 8, and Reign, 3, and daughter Penelope, 5, with her former boyfriend, Scott Disick. However, despite her busy life, Kardashian has always said that she wants a big family. So at 38-years-old, Kardashian may be in a bit of a time crunch when it comes to welcoming more children. As Kardashian considers a pregnancy with Bendjima, she allegedly made the mistake of telling her former boyfriend, Disick, about the idea, and he completely flipped. As the Hollywood Life insider explained, Disick is jealous of Bendjima and doesn't want to see his ex-girlfriend welcome more children into her family with another man. Disick has expressed his sadness over Kardashian's relationship with Bendjima on Keeping Up with the Kardashians, but when it comes to Kardashian, she doesn't seem to mind. In fact, she's loving life with Bendjima and totally over her past relationship with Disick. Kardashian and Disick dated for nine years prior to their July 2015 split. To see more of Kourtney Kardashian and her family, including sisters Kim and Khloe Kardashian and Kendall and Kylie Jenner, don't miss new episodes of Keeping Up with the Kardashians season 14 on Sundays at 9 p.m. on the E! Network. Kylie Jenner and Tyga split up nearly a year ago but now, as she awaits the birth of her first child, rumors are swirling in regard to a reconciliation. According to a new report, the pregnant Keeping Up With the Kardashians star has not lost touch with her former boyfriend, and while she continues to enjoy the company of rapper Travis Scott, she is allegedly missing the romance they once shared. "They occasionally still text and remain in contact," an insider told Hollywood Life on Jan. 19. "Bad timing was the reason they ended things - Kylie knew she was too young to settle down. She really misses having him around daily." Jenner first began facing rumors of a romance with Tyga when she was just 16 years old. However, as she and the rapper spent tons of time with one another in Los Angeles, she continued to deny that they were romantic. Then, as she celebrated her 18th birthday, she and Tyga finally acknowledged their relationship. Throughout Jenner and Tyga's relationship, the rapper faced allegations of cheating, and at times they enjoyed brief breakups. Then, after their most recent breakup with the rapper in March last year, Jenner began dating her current boyfriend, Scott. A short time later, by May or June of that same year, Jenner and Scott conceived a child. "Kylie is excited about being a mother, but the pregnancy, with her hormones running wild, is also making her miss Tyga's son, King Cairo," the Hollywood Life insider continued. "She knows that having Travis' baby makes reconciling with Tyga difficult right now, but she's still open to rekindling things in the future. She misses Tyga and is keeping the door open for a possible happy ending with her first true love." Jenner is reportedly due to give birth by February and was recently seen having a crib assembled in the driveway of her Calabasas home. As for her relationship with Scott, the couple hasn't been seen together that much in recent months but they attended Kris Jenner's Christmas party together last month. To see more of Kylie Jenner and her growing family, including her sisters Kendall Jenner and Kourtney, Khloe, and Kim Kardashian, don't miss the new episodes of the 14th season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. on the E! Network. Kendall Jenner and Blake Griffin are reportedly on the verge of ending their relationship after just months of dating if they haven't already. According to a new report, the 22-year-old model and Keeping Up With the Kardashians star and her Los Angeles Clippers player boyfriend are cooling off their relationship after first being spotted together in August 2017. Blake considers himself single, an insider told Hollywood Life on Jan. 19. He and Kendall have decided they are on a break that is leaning towards a full breakup. Its not that they are mad at each other or wont see and talk to each other again, but their priorities are career-oriented right now." Jenner was linked to Jordan Clarkson of the Los Angeles Lakers and rapper ASAP Rocky throughout 2016 and early months of 2017, but by August, she seemingly cut ties with both men in lieu of a romance with Griffin. However, just like in the past, Jenner remained silent in regard to the nature of her relationship with Griffin. As Keeping Up With the Kardashians fans well know, Jenner has been infamously private about her dating life for the entirety of her career and doesn't seem to be open to the idea of publicly confirming any of her relationships. She's also kept all of her rumored boyfriends off-camera. "They have decided its best to slow things down and figure out what to do next. If that includes dating other people, they would both be okay with that, the Hollywood Life source added. Earlier this week, after People magazine revealed that Jenner and Griffin were taking a step back from their romance, the outlet revealed that Griffin had recently been spotted out and about with another woman. While the magazine noted that Jenner and Griffin were not officially broken up, an onlooker claimed to have witnessed PDA between Griffin and his mystery girl. They were definitely giving off couple vibes, the onlooker explained of Griffin's outing at Soho Malibu. According to the report, Griffin and the woman were having dinner and drinks with another couple, and at one point during their meal, she placed her hand on Griffin's leg. To see more of Kendall Jenner and her family including sisters Kylie Jenner and Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney Kardashian, tune into new episodes of Keeping Up With the Kardashians Season 14 on Sundays at 9 p.m. on the E! Network. The list of actors that have vowed not to work with Woody Allen again continues to grow. This time, Marion Cotillard has added her name. Midnight In Paris Cotillard previously worked with Allen when he filmed his 2012's Midnight in Paris. The Dark Knight Rises actress starred alongside an all-star cast that includes Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Corey Stoll, Adrien Brody, and Kathy Bates. Six years after the film premiered, Cotillard shared her uncanny experience with the director and screenwriter on the movie set and how she would do a double take if her agent presented her with a potential project from him. "I have to say today, yeah, if he were to ask me again...I don't think it would ever happen because the experience we had together was very odd. I admire some of his work, but we had no connection on set," said Cotillard. Cotillard also mentioned that she knew little about Allen's personal life including the fact that he married one of his adopted daughters. However, Cotillard called it weird, but she could not have any misconceived notions. The Allen Boycott Cotillard is the second Oscar-winning actor to join the growing boycott of Woody Allen. Earlier on Friday, Jan. 19, Colin Firth stated to The Guardian that he would not work with Allen again. Other actors who planned to not work with Allen include Call Me By Your Name actor Timothee Chalamet, Lady Bird director Greta Gerwig, and Mira Sorvino, one of Harvey Weinstein's blacklist survivors and accusers. A Family Feud The Allen boycott could stem from his estranged stepdaughter, Dylan Farrow. Farrow, who wrote a scathing op-ed in the Los Angeles Times in 2017, stated that Hollywood has a double standard as it condemned disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and not Allen. Both Gerwig and Sorvino had publicly apologized to Farrow weeks when they made their vows not to work with Allen again. When CBS This Morning anchor Gayle King plainly asked Farrow if this was a personal vendetta to take down her former stepfather, Farrow responded that she had a right to be angry and was tired of being ignored and tossed aside for years. Hours after Farrow's interview aired on CBS, Allen responded and blamed his ex-wife, Mia Farrow, for brainwashing his former stepdaughter and using their private lives to help move the Time's Up Movement forward. He also proclaimed his innocence. Several Hollywood actors that have questioned the Allen boycott and defended the Blue Jasmine director including Alec Baldwin and Kate Winslet. The editorial titled When Workers Die (EPW, 11 November 2017) has documented the death of 32 workers and grievous injuries to another 100 in a blast that occurred at the thermal power plant operated by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in Unchahar, Raebareli district, Uttar Pradesh, on 1 November 2017. The Delhi Soldiarity Group gives sordid details of this workers tragedy in its report titled A Preliminary Report on Unchahar Tragedy, published in December 2017. This group has visited the site and conducted interviews with various contract workers. The report says, most of the workers at the Unchahar plant are migrants from Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and are hired by contractors. During its interactions with workers, they have revealed that many people are missing from the list of deceased and injured, and that the number of deaths is much higher than what is mentioned by the authorities. It is apprehended by the workers that a number of people are still buried under the ash. The importance of the epoch-making press conference organised by the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court of India on 12 January 2018 cannot be overstated. They have, bypassing the demands of convention and tradition, come forth into the public space and aired their grievances against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, specifically the way in which he has exercised his powers to allocate benches to hear certain cases. Most extraordinarily, they have claimed that this, if not checked or rectified, could put democracy itself in danger. This press conference presents, in many ways, a breaking point for the four senior-most judges of unquestionable integrity, for the institution of the judiciary, and for Indias constitutional system of governance. It is a reaction of not just the four individuals in question; this has nothing to do with any personal grievance they may have. In choosing to come forth and put their reputations and careers on the line by taking their grievance to the public, Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurien Joseph have performed stellar service to the nation. In understanding why this is so important, it is necessary to remember how things got to this point and what happens next. Though there were, no doubt, proximate causes that explain why the judges came forth when they did, a brief overview of what has happened in the Supreme Court in the recent past would show that this was a long time in the making. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus visit to India from 14 to 19 January 2018 completes 25 years since the two countries established full diplomatic relations in 1992, following the victory of the United States (US) over the Soviet Union in the protracted Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Israel from 4 to 6 July 2017 came in a year that marked the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration by the British occupying government in 1917, asserting the objective of establishing a Jewish National Home in Palestine, a promise British imperialism had made to the Zionists. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Zionist leaderships proclamation of the State of Israel on 14 May 1948. Collective memory of colonialism was then quite strong. In those Nehruvian times, India did acknowledge the gross violations of the rights of the Palestinians who were brutally dispossessed and expelled to make way for the creation of Israel. Zionism must be recognised for what it was and isa colonialist and racist ideology that justifies the dispossession and the expulsion of the indigenous population of Arabs and denies their human rights. Anti-Zionism is not anti-Jewishness; it is also not anti-Semitism. In claiming that its brutal actions against the Palestinians are being carried out in the name of the worlds Jews, Israel poses a threat to the humanity of all Jews. Under Zionist leadership, Israel is an occupying force in Palestinian lands. The State of Israel refuses to treat the Palestinians as equals. The Palestinian liberation struggle against Israeli sub-imperialism is part of a wider struggle against imperialism and the reactionary regimes of the Arab world allied with imperialism. With the support of Washington, and in the course of three warsin 1948, 1967, and 1973Israel has gained over time de facto possession of the entire area west of the River Jordan. Furthermore, it has been controlling and limiting access of the Palestinians to their lands, besides subjugating and containing them in a most brutal manner. The venue of meetings of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) for the settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine does not matter for the achievement of results, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said. "Calm down, the venue of the format does not really matter... Unfortunately, we are not moving forward in our process, because Russia does not want to fulfil any obligations, and the reason is very simple they want to preserve occupied Donbas as a Russian colony," Klimkin said live on the Inter television channel late on Friday, January 19. According to Klimkin, Minsk was chosen as a venue for negotiations of the Trilateral Contact Group due to "relative neutrality of Belarus" and good logistics. "If it's Astana, then look where it is. Minsk or any other venue is absolutely not important," he said. On January 18, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested relocating the talks on settling the conflict in eastern Ukraine from the Belarusian capital, Minsk, to another venue. "We said that the 'Minsk-1' process is stalling, that it is in a deadlock, and that 'Minsk-2' is needed. He [Trump] said: 'Let's [hold the talks] in another place.' I said: 'Let's do it,'" Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said at a press conference in New York after a United Nations Security Council meeting on Thursday, January 18. "Generally speaking, it should have taken place in Kazakhstan from the very beginning. I arranged trips in order to gather all parties so that they would meet there. We agreed that we would work on this matter," he added. "In my opinion, the Minsk Agreements are facing a deadlock. Peacekeepers now need to be deployed to Donbas and Luhansk to determine the border. It is necessary to somehow narrow the gap between their positions and help them reach mutual understanding. This mutual understanding does not exist today," Nazarbayev said. That may be something of a tall order. Generally speaking, tax accountants tend to handle one country's taxes or another, but only rarely both. There is also the difference in the tax systems. The US system is one where you have all sorts of choices, and it's up to you (or your tax preparer) to decide which choices will work best to minimize your taxes (or whatever other goal you may have in mind). The French system is a declarative system, where you just put each item of income and expense in the correct box and the it's the Fisc that calculates your taxes based on the information you give them. There are a few "choices" but overall, not many, and only related to certain specific situations. And, despite what folks seem to think, there isn't that much "interplay" between the two tax systems. You report things under the US rules for your US returns, and under the French rules for the French declaration. The amounts you report may be very different for what seems to be the same item. That said, the US Consulate in Paris used to publish a listing of English speaking tax preparers, though that seems to have disappeared along with the IRS office in Paris. Their list of English speaking attorneys generally has several who are tax attorneys, and depending upon the complexity of your finances, might be a better option for preparing both sets of tax documents for you. Tax declaration preparation doesn't seem to be a big "thing" here - unless you have a small business so that your accountant may do your personal declarations along with the business reports and filings. There is also always the option to go in and speak with the local tax office to ask for assistance. Normally takes an appointment, but very often they'll pretty much take you through the process of filling out the forms - for free. (Not at all like the IRS.) Oh, and H&R Block now has an online service specifically for US expats. It's pricey (at least in comparison to their services back in the States) but probably less expensive than a local accountant or tax lawyer. Cheers, Bev Hello everyone I am brand new to the forum. I am British and my partner is French. We are seriously considering relocating to Perpignan in the next 6 months. At the risk of sounding silly, can I bring my Sky dish / Sky boxes etc with me and if I do, will I pick up British tv? If not, is there another way of catching up with my favourite things on UK tv (apart from Youtube etc) - when I'm not at the beach; walking; visiting family etc. Thanks in advance for your time. Lesley :lalala: In France, many groups, clubs and associations are organized through the local mairie. You should definitely check the website for Perpignan and/or the towns in the area (especially if you're going to be living outside Perpignan itself). There may well be other associations and groups organized separately, but start with the mairie and its listing of associations.There will be nothing going on during the summer months - July and August - but in early September, you should look for signs indicating that the towns are holding their "Forums des Associations" which are activity fairs, designed to recruit new participants. This may get you started: Bienvenue sur l'espace associations de Perpignan | l'espace associations de Perpignan Cheers,Bev AUSTIN Gov. Greg Abbott, who asked state education officials to quickly draft a plan to ensure children with special needs get a proper education, wants parents and special interest groups to weigh in. The Texas Education Agency on Thursday released a 13-page plan to hire more special education staff and provide such services to students who were illegally denied in the past under a benchmark that illegally sought to limit the number of students receiving those resources. Gov. Abbott recognizes that fixing special education in Texas is of critical importance and no small task. Although there is much work to be done, he believes this initial action plan is a positive first step in the right direction, said Ciara Matthews, Abbotts spokesman. The TEA issued the plan after the U.S. Department of Education last week found the state illegally set an 8.5 percent benchmark on the number of students receiving special education services, well below the national average of 13 percent. A 2016 Houston Chronicle investigation found the practice led school districts to deny access to special education services to tens of thousands of students with disabilities. The state has since done away with the cap, although federal officials are requiring the state to evaluate students who were denied services and also to determine if students in special education need more academic support. While the federal government asked the TEA to report back with its plan, Abbott told the agency to get its work done in a week. The next step will be to receive important and critical feedback from stakeholders, including parents and special education groups, to ensure those in need are receiving the best education Texas has to offer, Matthews said. As the TEA continues to tinker with the draft plan, questions remain about how the sweeping plan would be paid for. The state agency estimated that implementing its Corrective Action Plan, as its now written, would cost about $84.5 million over six years. But state lawmakers have been reluctant to allocate funds for education, and last year failed to pass school finance reform that would have directed more state dollars to school districts. The spending plan that was passed last year shifted nearly $2 billion in public education costs from the state to local taxpayers. Anne Sung, a Houston ISD trustee who is heading the districts ad hoc committee on special education, said shes glad that a state committee is reviewing ways to overhaul Texas school-funding system in 2019. She hopes finding ways to better fund special education will be part of that process. In speaking with legislators who were involved in drafting (parts of the states funding formulas) way back in the 1980s, they say its time for an update, especially now that we know more about how to serve students (with) special needs. That work is done in schools, and its personnel-intensive, Sung said. I presume the $85 million is not a lot of money within a state budget, so I just hope that this will be a down payment on further improvements. The TEAs draft action plan outlines four main steps and calls for creating 46 new positions within the TEAs special education department. The first step improving the states documentation of how it reviews local special education programs would shift Texas school-district monitoring duties from a school improvement team to a team within the special education department. The TEA says this will provide more capacity to oversee districts. The first corrective action calls for the agency to increase the number of people reviewing districts actions and to publicly release all its reports. That step alone would cost $2.3 million annually, with $500,000 required at the onset. The second step, which would cost $28 million over five years, would have the TEA create a plan and timeline for school districts to identify students eligible for special education services who were denied access in the past. The TEA would contract with a third-party vendor to launch an outreach campaign to inform families of their rights and would expand a special education call center. It would also require school districts to provide require compensatory services to students who are found to need special education services but were denied, and would create a state fund to help school districts shoulder those costs. It would also require districts to identify all students who were in the states dyslexia program for six of more months. The TEA and school districts across Texas had used the states dyslexia services as a cheaper alternative to providing special education services to students who needed them, the Chronicle investigation and the DOE found. That prompted the TEAs third planned corrective action to ensure the states dyslexia programs will no longer be used to delay or deny special education services. To do that, the draft plan calls for a third-party vendor to create a suite of resources for families explaining the differences between the states dyslexia program and special education services that their children might be entitled to. It would require professional development for all educators statewide. That part of the plan would cost $17.5 million upfront and $3.65 million annually. The final step would have the TEA create a timeline to monitor how districts provide special education services. The plan would create a special education escalation team of 17 staffers devoted to helping school districts with the most dire special education needs. The plan calls for spending the first three years focusing on districts with the largest gaps between students identified with special needs and those who should have previously been identified. It would cost $1.5 million to implement initially, and $1.5 million each year after that. Lauren Callahan, a spokeswoman for the TEA, stressed that the plan was a draft and could change in the coming months. She said the agency would create a survey and publish it on its website by Tuesday, and encouraged parents and others to send feedback to TexasSPED@tea.texas.gov. These are specific areas we identified where corrective action should take place, Callahan said. But we want to hear from the field to see if there are different ideas or things we should add to what we submitted. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate JOURDANTON Defense attorneys in the Atascosa County capital murder trial of Shawn Puente, accused of killing a San Antonio police officer, failed Friday to convince a judge to move the trial based on the district attorneys asking local officers for help finding potential jurors who wont be afraid to kill this guy. State District Judge Donna Rayes denied a motion for a change of venue and also rejected a defense motion asking that she throw out a list of potential jurors that District Attorney Audrey Louis admitted sharing with the officers to get their feedback on the names it contained. Two potential jurors who Rayes deemed very credible members of the community gave statements to authorities reporting law enforcement officers in the county had contacted them informally and made them feel, as the defense put it, that they were being hand-picked for the jury. Puente and his girlfriend, who is not yet on trial, both were charged with capital murder in the Dec. 8, 2013 shooting of San Antonio Police Officer Robert Deckard during a highway chase on Interstate 37 that ended in Atascosa County, population 49,000. Deckard, 31 and a father of two, died Dec. 20 at Brooke Army Medical Center. Coincidentally, one of the physicians in the hospitals emergency room was Louis husband. Louis sent an email Jan 12 to five officers, including Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward, and sent a separate note to others on Dec. 18, according to testimony Friday. She asked the officers to review the list of names and provide feedback. Its inconceivable whats going on here, defense attorney Anna Jimenez told the judge Friday. The chances are slim and none that the panel of jurors (would be untainted) by these efforts. It is wrong for law enforcement to contact the jurors, said her co-counsel Gary Taylor. These are partisan people who are out to take a life, not impartial. Louis, who prosecuted white collar crime for former Bexar County DA Susan Reed and also served in the U.S. Attorneys office in San Antonio, told Rayes she was shocked the defense team would be surprised by her language in communicating with officers with whom she deals on a daily basis. Everyone on this side (of the courtroom) knows we want the death penalty, Louis said. Theres no evidence that any potential jurors have been influenced. Theres no collusion to deny Mr. Puente a fair trial. Louis said the county could not afford expensive jury selection consultants whose fees might approach $100,000. Weve got great jury consultants right here, she said, gesturing toward several officers in jeans and cowboy boots who testified during the hearing. A parade of officers including Soward, several of his investigators, and the police chiefs of Pleasanton and Jourdanton, all testified that they received one of the emails. Here is our list of jurors in order with addresses. Will yall please, please go through it and let me know the yess, nos and maybes. Or on a scale of one to 10, whatever you think works best. Ill owe you all a dinner or beverage of your choice! Cant thank you enough! This guy deserves to die, and yall will play a big part in helping by your input. The email Dec. 18 also attached a list of potential jurors and noted, Jury selection is the most critical part of the trial. I dont regret it, and it wasnt unethical, Louis said in a brief statement on the record during an interview. Ive done it before. In jury trials, the prosecution and defense can strike or remove a specified number of people from the jury pool without giving a reason. A sophisticated, nationwide industry provides experts to advise lawyers in this process, often focusing on a persons race, religion, education, parenting, attitudes about police and, in capital murder cases, the death penalty. The issue Friday was not whether police and prosecutors express frank opinions that might shock judicial purists, but the appearance of impropriety by those bound by law to seek impartial justice and not merely convictions, said St. Marys University School of Law professor Gerald Reamey, a former police legal advisor in Irving. Louis likely did not cross a constitutional line, he said, but the email raises the specter that she is saying she wants partisan jurors, people with a predisposition in a (death penalty) case like this. As for officers who might have informally discussed the case with people they knew were in the jury pool, Reamey said: The problem is not what the officer intended, or what the potential juror took away from the conversation, but that the unspoken assumption is that you will be a good juror for the prosecution and can find this person guilty and sentence them to death. You dont want jurors being lobbied by law enforcement. Puente sat beside his lawyers Friday, wearing large dark-framed glasses and a suit. He is being held in Atascosa County Jail in Jourdanton. Several of the officers who testified said they knew they were not supposed to contact prospective jurors, did not do so and did not interpret Louis request as anything unethical. Jake Guerra, the sheriffs departments chief investigator, said he thought the email meant he should research some of the potential jurors criminal histories. Guerra said he saw maybe 10 or 15 people on a list of 196 prospective jurors who may have been involved in criminal activity. Sheriffs Sgt. Albert Garza testified that he ran into a fellow Poteet Independent School District board member last week who told him she was afraid she might be picked for the jury. I told her, Dont worry, youll do fine, he said. Lt. Max Peralta said he glanced over the list and looked for good jurors. When pressed by Taylor, the defense attorney, on what good meant, Peralta replied, Not a drug user, someone with a good job, someone who could listen to the evidence, a good citizen. Soward said he knew better than to contact potential jurors and did not define for his officers what might be a good juror. But I would assume (Louis) was seeking someone who favored the death penalty, he said. Rayes denied defense motions requesting a new jury pool, a change of venue for the trial and a continuance. Jury selection continues Monday and is expected to last at least another four weeks. Attorneys believe the trial may go two to three months. bselcraig@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN A federal judge has ordered Texas to make broad and immediate reforms to the way it cares for children in long-term foster care, despite objections from top state officials who call the mandates unfunded and unnecessary. Roughly seven years after a group of foster children brought the class-action lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack of Corpus Christi issued a final order Friday calling on the state to expand its foster home options, make it easier for children to report abuse and ensure caseworkers visit with their kids each month. On Friday night, after Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed Jacks ruling, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans stayed the ruling until it can hear arguments. Texas has a solemn responsibility to care for children removed from their homes due to neglect and abuse of all kinds, and last year the Legislature approved landmark changes in the foster care system, Paxton said in a statement. When unelected judges improperly assume control of state institutions, Texas officials cannot make the policy theyve been entrusted to make. In a 116-page order, Jack criticized the state, saying leaders completely ignored the courts earlier order to implement policies making sure foster children are free from an unreasonable risk of harm. Jack called the states recent steps admirable but said the reforms havent gone far enough to fix a system she ruled unconstitutional in 2015, finding that foster children in Texas almost uniformly leave state custody more damaged than when they entered. Over two years later, the system remains broken and (the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services) has demonstrated an unwillingness to take tangible steps to fix the broken system, she wrote in Fridays order. The foster system has faced scrutiny for shuffling children among multiple homes, relocating them far away from their own communities and running out of placement options, forcing children to at times sleep in state office buildings. As of October, more than 16,800 children were in foster care statewide, including more than 1,880 in Bexar County, according to DFPS data. Plaintiffs in the case, identified only by their initials, reported suffering sexual abuse from foster parents and siblings, being over-medicated and bouncing between foster homes and a rotating cast of caseworkers. Z.H., an 11-year-old boy at the time the lawsuit was filed, was placed in a residential treatment center 300 miles from his community in San Antonio. An attorney who helped represent Childrens Rights, the New York-based childrens advocacy group that filed the lawsuit, said Jacks decision represents a turning point for Texas foster children. The courts ruling requires the state to provide safe and secure homes, which will protect our most vulnerable children, said Paul Yetter, a Houston attorney. It is a well thought out, comprehensive, careful order that requires across-the-board reform. Jacks order requires the state to implement a plan developed over the past year by court-appointed experts known as special masters. Two of them will, at state expense, monitor compliance with Jacks order and update the court every six months. Jack ordered the state to adopt some reforms immediately, such as setting up a 24-hour hotline for reporting abuse and requiring monthly documented meetings with foster children, some of whom had testified they went months without seeing a caseworker. Though the state has fought the court-ordered reforms at almost every turn, Abbott and the Legislature made improving child protection a priority last year. The recent changes include boosting pay for family members who take in a troubled child and further privatizing foster care in certain areas, including Bexar County, where eventually a contractor will take over case management duties from state workers. In 2016, the state approved $12,000 raises for about 6,000 child-protection workers, meant to help plug a workforce shortage and stop high rates of turnover. Still, state Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, said theres more to be done. Judge Jacks final order will bring a requirement of urgency thats been missing in our effort to reform the foster care system, he said. It wont be easy, and it wont be cheap, but its necessary and it will save kids lives. Some of Jacks mandates could come with a hefty price tag. One caps workloads at 17 children per caseworker, which might force the state to hire more staff. As of November last year, the average caseload was 18.4 children per worker, according to DFPS. The ruling also forces the state to ensure each child has legal representation. Its unclear how many foster kids dont have an attorney because the DFPS doesnt track that information, according to the order. DFPS will likely have to recruit many more foster homes to comply with mandates that, within two years, all children under 13 be placed in family-like settings and that each region has enough foster homes to ensure kids are not placed far away. As of November, almost 18 percent of Bexar County foster children were living outside the region, and some agencies reported a critical shortage of licensed foster homes, according to DFPS data. Allie Morris is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer based in Austin. | amorris@express-news.net | @MorrisReports Ukraine and Georgia are mutually interested in deepening inter-parliamentary ties between the two countries, the press service of the head of the Ukrainian state reported on Friday, January 19, following a meeting between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Georgian Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze as part of his official visit to Ukraine. According to the report, the sides discussed the coordination of positions within international parliamentary assemblies, first and foremost, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), and international organizations. Kobakhidze, in turn, noted that Ukraine and Georgia demonstrated good dynamics in bilateral cooperation. "We are convinced that we have broad prospects for deepening our relations, in particular, political and economic cooperation," he said. The sides emphasized the importance of the implementation of the declaration on the establishment of strategic partnership between Ukraine and Georgia, which was signed during Poroshenko's state visit to Georgia in July 2017. He glares at you from the front page of the newspaper, a plume of cigarette smoke trailing behind his head. In one hand, he holds a gun in the other a knife. This guy is up to no good. San Antonio, meet Mr. Composite Killer. The illustration ran at the top of the page of the Jan. 3, 1954, San Antonio Express to help kick off a series of five articles, Can You Get Away With Murder in S.A.? The first article, written by Staff Writer Howard Hunt, leads with that provocative question and continues: Morally, ministers will tell you no. Legally, San Antonio law enforcement bodies and courts will cite state statutes and constitutional law and tell you that you cannot. But as an editors note states, In this series the facts speak for themselves. You as a reader can draw your own conclusion. The newspaper examined 86 killings over the previous two years and determined that none resulted in a death sentence and only one resulted in life imprisonment. It researched Bexar County grand jury files and those of the district attorneys office and the homicide division of the San Antonio Police Department. The paper concluded that seven of the 86 slayings went unsolved and then presented the outcome of the other 79 in chronological order. That Sundays paper covered the first four months of 1952 and closed with the sentence Murder in May and following months will appear in Mondays Express. But back to that eye-catching illustration. It gives you series of data points that were considered in creating San Antonios murderous amalgamation. The reason he brandishes both bullets and blade is that one or the other were used in 82 percent of the deaths. Mr. Composite Killer is also disheveled, which the artist illustrates with an untucked shirt and unkempt hair. Though the data does not mention smoking, the cigarette smoke adds an air of menace, as does the killers shadow. Perhaps most surprising to modern readers, is the murderers mean weight of 151 pounds. According to the latest report from the Metropolitan Health District, 65 percent of adults in Bexar County are overweight or obese based on their body mass index. The man who compiled and drew Mr. Composite Killer was cartoonist and graphic artist Bob Dale, near the start of his 34-year career at what was then the Express and News. One has to think that if newspapering didnt work out, Dale might have made a name for himself illustrating comics or pulp fiction. In fact, according to his 2015 obituary after his death at age 88, Dale earned a reputation in his later years as a Western artist who strove for historical accuracy in his depictions of cowboys and Indians. The illustration could be considered a prototype for data visualization, in which a large amount of complex data is presented graphically for easier and quicker comprehension. Its still a tool commonly used in newsrooms today, from a simple table to a variety of graphs or charts. As striking an illustration as it was, it may not have been very effective. Its a cool drawing, but it doesnt really tell you anything, Metro Editor Nora Lopez remarked upon inspecting the image. She added, That could be anyone. The response to this survey was overwhelming, with the majority of respondents citing the need for fair access to high quality education, the differences in operation between SOTA and SIDE, and the need to keep children in the regions as being the most concerning issues, she said. Producers who sign up to the voluntary PCAS standards will be required to pay an audit fee ranging from $600 to $850, plus travel fees for the auditor, to ensure that they are eligible to be certified as grass or pasturefed and be able to use those markings in the marketing of their beef. Jason said a cow which calved later in the calving window (week eight or nine), throughout her life compared to one that calves in week one or two, would produce almost the equivalent of two fewer calves (based on calf weight), which at todays prices is close to $2000 less income. Ukraine's future cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) can be discussed following the implementation of the current memorandum, Ukrainian Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk has said. "The new program is not being discussed. What could it include? Remaining items of the current memorandum? But what's the point? We need to achieve the maximum for the country as part of existing cooperation. First and foremost, those are priority reforms required under this program. Only after the implementation of it we can think about next steps in cooperation with the fund," he said in an interview with Ukraine's Mirror Weekly newspaper published on Saturday. Danyliuk pointed out that he puts great efforts into the successful continuation of the IMF program. "Receiving zero tranches this year and getting eliminated from the IMF program are actually synonyms, because the program is concluding in the first quarter of 2019," he said. "There is a certain delay with this tranche, because the parliament did not consider some key bills on time. One of them, on privatization, is being considered this week [the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada passed the bill on January 18]," the finance minister said. Danyliuk said he was confident that Ukraine's cooperation with the IMF is not only about the money. "We're currently at the stage, where reforms cannot be stopped. On the contrary, they must be accelerated. [...] We cannot allow stopping. And if we do that, we can't even raise a questing about the continuation of the IMF program. It's simple, if there are no reforms, there will be no program. Both the president and the prime minister understand this, that's why I'm confident in the progress," he said. As an independent state, Ukraine should be able to work without the IMF, the finance minister said. "Of course, I also want Ukraine to be independent and move forward without outside assistance, but many of those who speak about that now pursue different objectives. They don't want reforms and changes, many people want to get rid of the IMF to preserve the existing situation in order to advance their personal interests," he said. Sophie Turner studied schizophrenia and other mental illnesses before shooting 'X-Men: Dark Phoenix'. Sophie Turner The 21-year-old actress returns to the franchise as psychic Jean Grey in the next outing in the series, and revealed the "amazing superhero story" is also very "personal" and required a lot of research. She said: "Once I got the script through, I realised that not only were we telling this amazing superhero story, but we were also telling a very personal story as well. "One which required research into mental health issues because that is a big part of what drives the story. "I mainly drew inspiration from multiple personality disorder and schizophrenia, as it really is about duality, this movie. "Darkness and light - that's all within her. "This sense of her being a completely other persona and struggling with that." And Sophie admitted the movie has been a huge challenge for her. She said: "I kept saying to Simon (Kinberg, director), 'Oh good, that's nearly done. Now I only have, like, seven huge emotional scenes to go. It was a real challenge." Simon has stepped behind the camera for the first time, having previously been a writer on the saga, but Sophie insisted he didn't seem inexperienced and praised him as one of the "best" directors she's ever worked with. She told Empire magazine: "Simon has been the brain behind 'X-Men' for years and it's really exciting to have what feels like one of our own rise up and take hold of the franchise and direct it in the way that he sees it. "I have to say he's one of the best directors I've ever worked with. He's so passionate and collaborative." Peter Fancinelli and Jennie Garth would have celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary today, had they stayed together, so we reflect on their marriage with some things you might not know about the couple. Peter Facinelli and Jennie Garth (Credit: Famous) 1. Peter Facinelli met fellow actress Jennie Garth on the set of An Unfinished Affair back in 1995. 2. They got married in Santa Barbra, California, on 20th January 2001. 3. The couple wed in a traditional Roman Catholic ceremony in a mission-style church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Montecito, located south of Santa Barbra. 4. Garth converted to Roman Catholic before their big day, even though there was no requirement to do so. 5. Garth wore a wedding dress by Reem Acra. 6. The pair now have three daughters; Luca Bella (1997), Lola Ray (2002) and Fiona Eve (2006). 7. Their daughter Luca Bella who was three when they got married was their flower girl. 8. Instyle magazine featured their big day in its wedding pages. 9. When pregnant, she said; Peter and I feel very blessed with our children. We didn't plan any one of them but higher forces and recognizing priorities helped us along the way. We can't wait to meet this newest addition to our family! (IMDB) 10. When asked about marriages and life, she revealed; Marriages aren't easy, and we're just like any other couple. We have our roadblocks, but we get around them, and our family prevails. We are so happy we have a normal, grounded life to keep us centered. (IMDB) 11. In March 2012, Facinelli filed for divorce from Garth and it was all finalised by June 2013. Garth is now with actor David Abrams after they met on a blind date back in 2014. They got engaged in April 2015 and married in July 2015. Facinelli went on to date actress Jaimie Alexander after they met on the set of Loosies. The couple got engaged in March 2015, however in February 2016, they announced that they had called off their engagement. Source: Wikipedia and IMDB. Textile traders in Surat have sought extension of the online e-way bill generation deadline to March 31 from February 1 due to technical glitches in the goods and service tax (GST) portal. Though the process was trial-launched on January 16 for inter-state movement of goods above Rs 50,000, the traders want that to start after the system works properly.It was reaffirmed in the recent GST Council meeting that the e-way bill system would be rolled out from February 1 and 15 states are on board for obtaining intra-state bill, according to finance minister Arun Jaitley. Textile traders in Surat have sought extension of the online e-way bill generation deadline to March 31 from February 1 due to technical glitches in the goods and service tax (GST) portal. Though the process was trial-launched on January 16 for inter-state movement of goods above Rs 50,000, the traders want that to start after the system works properly.# Though the finance ministry stated that traders and transporters can start using the system on a voluntary basis from January 16, a majority of traders are either unable to upload their details or the system crashes while the details are being filed.The transporters are insisting on the e-way bill details, without which the goods are not loaded for transportation, a report in a top Indian daily quoted leader of the Federation of Surat Textile Traders' Association (FOSTTA) Devkishan Menghani as saying.A large number of textile traders recently gathered at Abhishek Market in the city to convey their problems related to GST to Navsari member of parliament C R Paatil. (DS) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 19, 2018) - eXeBlock Technology Corporation (CSE: XBLK) (the "Company" or "eXeBlock") is pleased to provide a clarification to its news release dated November 15, 2017. Clarification of Pooling Arrangement and Hold Period The Company would like to clarify the terms of the pooling arrangement and hold period applicable to the common shares of the Company issued upon the exchange of subscription receipts subscribed for pursuant to the non-brokered private placement that closed on October 4 and 6, 2017, respectively (the "Exchanged Shares"). The Exchanged Shares are subject to the following pooling arrangement and hold period: The Exchange Shares are subject to a voluntary pooling arrangement. This arrangement provides that the Exchange Shares will be held in trust with the Company's transfer agent, National Issuer Services Ltd., and released from the pooling arrangement as follows: 25% of the Exchanged Shares were released on November 16, 2017, which was the date on which the common shares of the Company were listed for trading on the Canadian Stock Exchange (the "Listing Date"); 25% of the Exchanged Shares will be released on February 16, 2018 (the date that is 3 months following the Listing Date); 25% of the Exchanged Shares will be released on May 16, 2018 (the date that is 6 months following the Listing Date); and 25% of the Exchanged Shares will be released on August 16, 2018 (the date that is 9 months following the Listing Date). Pursuant to applicable securities laws, the Exchanged Shares are subject to a hold period expiring on February 5 or 7, 2018, respectively. After the expiry of this hold period, the Exchanged Shares are freely tradeable and can be sold without a prospectus exemption. Prospectus For more information regarding the Company, including among other things, its business, management, use of proceeds from the subscription receipt financing that closed in October 2017, and capitalization, refer to the Company's prospectus dated November 9, 2017 filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR www.sedar.com and on the Canadian Securities Exchange's ("CSE") website. About eXeBlock Technology Corporation eXeBlock is a designer of custom, state-of-the-art blockchain based software applications that provide profitable, secure and efficient solutions to businesses and markets globally. eXeBlock is one of the first Canadian public companies focused on the development of disruptive decentralized applications (DApps) using blockchain technology. For More Information about the Company, please contact: Ian Klassen President & Chief Executive Officer Email: ian@exeblock.com Tel: 1-604-899-0106 Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION This press release contains forward-looking statements and information that are based on the beliefs of management and reflect the Company's current expectations. When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company with respect to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. There are a number of important risk factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by forward-looking statements and information. Such risk factors include, among others, the Company's limited operating history and expected continued operating losses; failure of the Company's business strategy; inherent risks of the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry; system failures and security risks; government regulation; need for additional financing requirements and access to capital; reliance on key and qualified personnel; dependence on third party relationships; insurance; competition; and intellectual property. Other factors include risks associated with the marketing and sale of securities; dilution; the potential for conflicts of interest among certain officers or directors; and the volatility of the Company's common share price and volume. For a fuller discussion of risk factors, refer to the Company's prospectus dated November 9, 2017 filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR www.sedar.com and on the CSE's website. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of material risk factors is not exhaustive. When relying on the Company's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing risk factors and other uncertainties and potential events. The Company has assumed a certain progression of its business objectives, which may not be realized. It has also assumed that the material factors referred to in the previous paragraph will not cause such forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these risk factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESS RELEASE REPRESENTS THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE COMPANY AS OF THE DATE OF THIS PRESS RELEASE AND, ACCORDINGLY, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AFTER SUCH DATE. READERS SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE IMPORTANCE ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION AND SHOULD NOT RELY UPON THIS INFORMATION AS OF ANY OTHER DATE. WHILE THE COMPANY MAY ELECT TO, IT DOES NOT UNDERTAKE TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME EXCEPT AS REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES Indians love traditions and are known to hold them up dearly. Well, parliamentarians are not an exception to it. The reasons behind many long-standing traditions are not known though. However, these interesting rituals relax the serious-economic jargon of the days leading to and the D-Day. Here some of the customs which have been observed by finance ministry: The briefcase story The picture of the finance minister holding a leather briefcase and posing for shutterbugs as he readies himself to present the Budget to Parliament has become synonymous to the curiosity and excitement evoked by ''the big day'' for Indian economy. According to a Business Today report, the reason behind finance ministers bringing Budget papers in a leather briefcase lies in the word ''Budget'' itself. The word originated from a French word ''bougette'' which literally means a leather bag. The custom of carrying a leather bag on the Budget day, adds the report, has been inherited from British colonial governments. According to NDTV, in the UK, a single briefcase has been passed on from one British finance minister to the next. That is not the case in India though. Here, the all-important Budget briefcase has been varied in colour and shape every year. Change in timing of Budget presentation Have you wondered about this so-called auspicious time? When Yashwant Sinha was finance minister of India, he changed the longstanding colonial tradition of presenting the Budget at the end of the day. Sinha, according to The Indian Express report, in 1999 was in agreement with Finance Ministry officials that it would be sensible to move to a morning timing, which would allow the finance minister to have an informed debate on the Budget. Sinha was instrumental in breaking the ritual that has been in practice since 1947 when he stood up at 11 am on 27 February, 1999 to present the Budget for 1999-2000. Apparently, the precedent to present the Budget at 5 pm was set by Sir Basil Blackett, a British civil servant in colonial India. The halwa ceremony Probably the most interesting among all the Budget traditions is the all-important halwa ceremony where the finance minister is photographed stirring a huge kadhai with the simmering sweet. This ceremony, in fact, marks the process of printing documents for the Budget. Halwa, an Indian dessert is prepared in a big kadhai and served to all finance ministry officials. Locking-up ministry officials In order to maintain and ensuring secrecy, after the halwa ceremony the finance ministry officials who are directly associated with making and printing of the Budget are required to stay in the ministry and are not allowed to contact their family or friends, according to The Economic Times. The staff is isolated in the finance ministry for one week before the roll-out of the Union Budget. Since the Budget comes with big policy announcements and impacts the stock markets, it is feared that those who are in the know of the Budget document can misuse the information for personal benefits. The finance ministry officials are cut-off from the outer world till the finance minister's delivers his Budget speech. For full coverage of Union Budget 2018, click here. Mumbai: Union minister Nitin Gadkari said that the forthcoming budget will see priorities in agriculture and infrastructure investment as country targets to achieve double-digit growth in due course. "After demonetisation and GST, the situation is really changing. Our direct tax collection for this year has gone up by 18 percent compared to last year, and the government borrowings have come down by Rs 30,000 crore as anticipated, keeping out fiscal deficit under control," Gadkari said at an event 'Countdown to Union Budget' in Mumbai. "The growth figure for last quarter has again gone up over 7 percent and our target is double-digit, which may take some time. But the way in which the economy is moving I am confident that in due course of time, we will achieve this," he added. "I hope that the finance minister will give more priority to agri and infrastructure investments in the forthcoming budget. "Our economy is the fastest growing in the world and the credibility has increased. Global investors and stakeholders have tremendous expectations and confidence in our country," he added. The minister said that the government's ambitious infrastructure projects of roads, shipping, ports and inland waterways will be completed with an investment of Rs 8 lakh crore by March 2018. "Infrastructure is very important for our country and we need world-class water, power, transportation and communication infrastructure. The Cabinet has already cleared projects of Rs 7.5 lakh crore under Bharatmala projects and by the end of March 2018, we will complete investment of Rs 8 lakh crore in infrastructure and many of which is from the private sector," Gadkari said. We have increased annual budget for road project from Rs 40,000 crore to Rs 1,30,000 crore annually this year and targeting Rs 1,50,000 crore next year. The road construction would further gather momentum with an average addition of 28 kilometres per day by March this year and 40 kilometres per day by next year, he added. Gadkari said his ministry has sanctioned Rs 1,00,000 crore for irrigation projects in Maharashtra's drought-prone areas. Urging the state governments to adopt new modes of transport like waterways, Gadkari said that 10,000 seaplanes would be brought into operation in the country over the next two years. He also warned that in the next three months rules and regulations should be put in place for operating seaplanes in the country. Stating that the use of petrol, diesel, ethanol, and methanol should be brought down, the minister announced that the Delhi-Mumbai highway would be converted into an "electric route" and the task of preparing a detailed project report (DPR) has been given to the department concerned. New Delhi: It's not unusual that a minor incident, if left overlooked for long, turns into a factor important enough to impede the progress of a political party. The Aam Aadmi Party, which governs Delhi with an overwhelming majority, would surely concur to that. A petition filed in July 2015 by a then little-known lawyer, Prashant Patel, has now led to the Election Commission recommending the disqualification of 20 of AAP legislators in Delhi for holding 'offices of profit'. The development could set the stage for possible bypolls on those 20 seats in Delhi, where AAP has 66 MLAs in the 70-member Assembly. Interestingly, it was the first year of the now 30-year-old lawyer in Delhi, when he petitioned the President in 2015. The lawyer hails from Fatehpur district in Uttar Pradesh. A graduate in Physics and Computer Application, he did his MBA from the Footwear Design and Development Institute, Noida. Patel describes himself as a person who has an urge to work for society. The inclination made him pursue a degree in law from Chaudhary Charan Singh University in Meerut. But how did he get the idea to file a petition to the President in connection with the 'office of profit' matter? Patel said a book 'Delhi Sarkar Ki Shaktiyaan aur Simayen' by SK Sharma, a former secretary in the Delhi Legislative Assembly released in June 2015, has a chapter on it. "I filed an office of profit petition and it got accepted in July 2015. It was not that the BJP and the Congress appointed parliamentary secretaries. Even those appointments were illegal but no one objected to it," he said. Patel dismissed the charge that Election Commission did not provide the AAP an opportunity to hear them out. "There were 11 hearings since July 2016 to March 2017 and each hearing lasted for 2-3 hours," Patel said. Patel had to argue against senior lawyers such as Indira Jaisingh, who represented the Delhi government, and many other top legal eagles representing the BJP and the Congress. The AAP has previously dubbed Patel's petition an action taken by him at the behest of the BJP. Patel dismisses the allegation. "I am a proud Hindu and ardent devotee of Hanuman," he said. "But being a proud Hindu does not make me a BJP man. This is a matter of principles. I have nothing personal against Arvind Kejriwal or these AAP MLAs. In fact, a couple of AAP MLAs have become my friends during the course of hearing," Patel added. Patel had also sought an intervention when JNUSU leader Kanhaiya Kumar had approached the Supreme Court for bail. In 2014, he had filed a case against Aamir Khan and director Rajkumar Hirani for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through their film 'PK'. A lawyer, who deals with criminal and matrimonial cases, Patel practices at the Delhi High Court. On Friday, the Election Commission asked the president to disqualify 20 of AAP legislators for holding offices of profit, setting the stage for their ouster from the Assembly. In its opinion sent to President Ram Nath Kovind, the Election Commission said the MLAs, by occupying the post of parliamentary secretaries between 13 March, 2015 and 8 September, 2016, held offices of profit, and were liable to be disqualified as legislators, highly-placed sources have said. Parliamentary secretaries assist ministers with their work. The AAP insisted that despite holding the office, these legislators did not take any salaries or perks. The development does not yet threaten the AAP government. However, the BJP and the Congress have demanded that Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal resign on moral grounds. The appointment of a new governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) may strengthen Ukraine's positions in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), investment experts have said. "Such a decision will put an end to current uncertainty regarding the candidacy of the head of the central bank... The official appointment may also strengthen Ukraine's positions in its intention to restart cooperation with the IMF," Vladimir Osakovsky, an economist for Russia and the CIS at the Merrill Lynch investment bank, said. He said that since Yakiv Smolii is already a member of the board of the central bank and currently fulfils the duties of the NBU head, his approval in office inspires confidence in the continuity of the central bank's cautious monetary policy. A similar opinion is shared by the head of research at the ICU group, Oleksandr Valchyshen. "The current program of cooperation with the IMF is coming to an end. The Ukrainian economy is in great need of a large creditor in foreign currency, so preparations for a new round of cooperation are overdue. Against this backdrop, the existence of an approved head, rather than an acting one, would be a stronger position in talks with the fund," the expert said. At the same time, the head of research at the Concorde Capital investment company, Oleksandr Parashchiy, believes it is premature to talk about a new program of cooperation with the IMF and about the appointment of a new NBU governor in this context. "The president can introduce Smolii in Davos as an official candidate for the post of NBU head, but Ukraine must first resolve issues on the revision of the current cooperation program. This week we moved to this goal - the Rada adopted a law on privatization, and new initiatives were put forward to address the open question on the price of gas. It is obvious that the Ukrainian authorities will have something to talk about with IMF representatives in Davos," he said. As reported, on January 18, 2018, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko tabled in the Verkhovna Rada draft resolutions on Valeriya Gontareva's dismissal as NBU governor and on Smolii's appointment to this post. Gontareva tendered her resignation in April 2017. Gontareva currently remains on vacation and does not plan to return to work at the NBU. According to the Constitution of Ukraine, the NBU head is appointed by the Verkhovna Rada on the proposal of the president for a period of seven years. Kochi: The BJP in Kerala on Saturday pressed for its demand to ban on SDPI, after four members of the outfit, the political wing of Popular Front of India (PFI), were arrested in connection with the killing of an ABVP activist in Kannur. "Outfits like SDPI should be banned. Even parties like Indian Union Muslim League have made such a demand", BJP state unit president Kummanam Rajasekharan told reporters. He said the BJP would approach the central government seeking the ban on Social Democratic Party of India if the state government failed to take action against it. A member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Shyam Prasad, was allegedly hacked to death by a three-member gang at Kommeri in Kannur when he was going to his house at Koothuparamba on his motorcycle last evening. Four persons, allegedly SDPI activists, were on Saturday arrested in connection with the incident. The ABVP has alleged that Popular Front of India was behind the killing and demanded that the outfit be banned. Shyam Raj, State Secretary of the BJP students' wing, had said in a statement on Friday that the 'terror' face of PFI has come out in open once again with the killing of Shyam Prasad. He said the ABVP would ask the Centre to ban PFI by pointing to its activities, including alleged recruitment to the IS. The BJP is on Saturday observing a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Kannur district from 6 am in protest against the killing. Kannur: The situation in Kannur district, where a BJP-sponsored hartal was being observed on Saturday to protest the killing of an ABVP member, was under control and no untoward incident has been reported so far, police said. A member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Shyam Prasad, was on Friday allegedly hacked to death by a three-member gang in the district when he was going to his house at Koothuparamba on his motorcycle. Tight security arrangements were made, with police personnel from other districts being deployed in strength in vulnerable pockets. "No untoward incident was reported so far," Peravoor Circle inspector Kuttikrishnan said. Four persons, belonging to the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), were taken into custody in connection with the killing and further investigations were underway, he said. The police suspected that the killing could be a sequel to a clash between workers of the SDPI and BJP-RSS combine last week in the area. Vehicles and essential services were exempted from the dawn-to-dusk hartal. Sources in the BJP's Kannur unit said postmortem of Prasad's body was on at the Pariyaram Medical College in Kannur and the funeral will be held later in the evening at his native place. Bengaluru: Black smoke continued to billow from the Bellandur lake on Saturday, hours after a huge fire close to a nearby Army firing range was doused in a massive operation involving more than 5,000 army men and firefighters. "Major fire that was there yesterday has been doused, but there is still smoke emerging in some small pockets," a senior fire department official said. He said they were now trying to ensure that the embers from which the smoke emanated do not reignite due to the wind. Water from the lake was used to put off the fire, the cause of which would be known after investigations, officials said. The blaze started on Friday in the highly-polluted and biggest water body of the city, giving anxious moments to hundreds of residents living nearby before it was doused last night. It had also spread towards the nearby Iblur firing range of the Army, the officials said. The Army last night said the fire, which had spread to the perimeter of its facility, had been doused due to the untiring efforts of more than 5,000 of its personnel and firefighting equipment of the Army Service Corps (ASC) Centre and College. Lieutenant General Vipin Gupta, commandant ASC Centre and College, said today that things were under control. As voices were emerging that the fire may have started due to a methane burst as a result of the accumulation of chemicals and pollutants in the lake, authorities also suspect the involvement of local grass harvesters in starting it. Fire department officials said the reason behind the fire has not yet been determined and their priority was to put off the fire completely. "Later, an investigation will be done to know the cause of the fire," a senior official said. Speaking to reporters after visiting the site this morning, Gupta said: "The area that is close to our camp is absolutely under control, there is nothing. The area which is close to the lake there is still a lot of smoke, but it is under control. "We have a lot of fire tenders there and we are ready for any eventuality," he said. Lieutenant general Gupta said this was the first time the blaze had spread to their camp. "It had never interfered with our activities, but now that it has come very close to us we will definitely take up the case with civil authorities," he said. Asked if the Army will take up the lake's cleaning, he said they were always ready to help the civil administration. But as far as cleaning was concerned "it is a very technical and professional job" for which people were available on the civil side, he added. Spread over 1,000 acres near the infotech hub, the lake is highly contaminated as it receives 60 percent of the sewage generated in the city. It is in a bad shape despite the National Green Tribunal pulling up the government and its various agencies for failing to prevent pollution and not doing enough to restore the lake. The Bellandur lake had caught fire in May 2015 and August 2016 also. In 2015, the lake had turned into a frothy, foam-filled water body due to the high concentration of pollutants in the waters. Foam from the lake spilling onto nearby roads and surrounding areas had become a common sight every time the city received heavy rainfall. The nearby Varthur lake was also in the focus when it caught fire in May 2017. Tensions have soared along the India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir, as the Border and Security Force (BSF) and Pakistan Rangers exchanged cross-border gunfire on Saturday. The BSF, in retaliation to cross-border firing, destroyed six Pakistani posts and killed four rangers, media reports said. #BREAKING -- Pak suffers heavy losses as BSF retaliates to cross-border fire. 6 Pakistani posts have been destroyed, 4 Pak rangers among 10 killed | @islahmufti with more details pic.twitter.com/IVV5pblakB News18 (@CNNnews18) January 20, 2018 According to a report on The Indian Express, two civilians and an army jawan were also killed in unprovoked mortar shelling by Pakistani troops. The report added that the civilians have been identified as Ghara Ram of Kapurpur in RS Pura sector and Ghara Singh of Abdullian village. The recent action by the BSF came after four people, including a BSF jawan, were injured after Pakistan violated ceasefire for the third consecutive day on Saturday in three districts of Jammu and Kashmir along the international border. Responding to the cross-border firings, Union minister of State for home Hansraj Ahir said that Pakistan has a twisted mindset, and asserted that India will "respond with 10 bullets for every bullet fired" by the neighbouring country. "Sending terrorists into India, violating ceasefire has become their (Pakistan's) nature. They have a twisted mindset. Be it our home ministry, defence ministry or the Jammu and Kashmir police, everybody has to keep coordinating and give a reply to Pakistan's misadventures," Ahir said, speaking to reporters in Yavatmal, Maharashtra. Pakistan rangers targeted villages along the border from Chenab river (Akhnoor) to RS Pura throughout the night in heavy unprovoked shelling and firing, a BSF officer told PTI on Saturday. The officer said Pakistan was targeting civilian villages to cause death and destruction and added that the BSF was giving them a befitting reply. Pakistan rangers continued to fire and launch shells along the border in Arnia, Ramgarh, Samba and Hiranagar sectors till 5 am, a police official said. Angered over the rising violence, Pakistan's foreign ministry summoned Indian deputy high commissioner JP Singh on Friday and condemned what it called "unprovoked ceasefire violations". Indian and Pakistan have both accused each other of initiating past border skirmishes and causing civilian and military casualties. The fighting is taking place along a somewhat-defined frontier where each country has a separate paramilitary border force guarding the lower-altitude 200-kilometre boundary separating Kashmir and the Pakistani province of Punjab. The contentious frontier also includes a 740-kilometre rugged and mountainous stretch called the Line of Control that is guarded by the armies of India and Pakistan. With inputs from agencies. Jammu: At least one civilian was killed and four people, including a BSF jawan, were injured after Pakistan violated ceasefire for the third consecutive day on Saturday in three districts of Jammu and Kashmir along the International Border, officials said. Pakistan rangers targeted villages along the IB from Chenab river (Akhnoor) to RS Pura throughout the night in heavy unprovoked shelling and firing, a BSF officer told PTI. The firing and shelling were still underway when the reports last came on Saturday morning, he said. The officer said Pakistan was targeting civilian villages to cause death and destruction and added that the BSF was giving them a befitting reply. He said a BSF jawan in Pargwal sector was injured in the heavy firing and shelling and was later hospitalised. The Pakistan rangers continued to fire and launch shells along the IB in Arnia, Ramgarh, Samba and Hiranagar sectors till 5 am, a police official said. Two people were injured in Kanachak sector of Akhnoor, and a girl sustained minor splinter injuries, the official said. Between 8,000 to 9,000 people living along the IB migrated to safer places and most of them were living with their relatives, the official said. Over 1,000 people are housed in camps in R S Pura, Samba and Kathua areas, he said. Educational institutes have been closed for next three days along the IB and the LoC in Jammu region by authorities in wake of increased tension along the India-Pakistan border, officials said. Two security forces jawans and as many civilians were killed and 35 others injured in mortar shelling by the Pakistani troops on civilian areas and BoPs along the International Border and the LoC in four districts on Friday, officials said. New Delhi: Former telecom minister Andimuthu Raja on Saturday alleged that former CAG Vinod Rai was a "contract killer" hired to kill the UPA-2 government and called for his prosecution for "abusing" the power and "cheating" the nation. Raja went on to say that some forces were working against the UPA-2 and for that they used Rai as a tool. "Vinod Rai should be prosecuted for cheating and abuse of power... (he) was a contract killer... His shoulder was used to kill UPA 2," Raja said during a media interaction following the launch of his book "2G Saga Unfolds". The then comptroller and auditor general (CAG) Rai came out with a report in 2010 which pegged notional loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the national exchequer due to 2G spectrum allocation in 2008 when Raja was the telecom minister. "Some forces wanted to kill UPA (United Progressive Alliance) 2 for which Vinod Rai was used as the gun," Raja said. The former telecom minister said that the Supreme Court got carried away with that CAG report and cancelled 2G telecom licences. Raja accused Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal of conspiring against him to stop new telecom players from entering the market so as to maintain a cartel of a handful of service providers. He, however, praised former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "Because of protection and patronage given by him I was able to break cartel when tariff came down and teledensity went up. He (the former PM) wanted spectrum to be made available for public use," Raja said. The mobile tariff during Raja regime came down to 25 paise per minute from the range of Rs 2-4 a minute. Raja said that he met Singh for half an hour and gave him a copy of book. The former telecom minister, who was recently cleared by the CBI court of all the charges, said, "He (Singh) deeply regretted whatever happened to me. He nearly broke down. I will disclose what went between us at an appropriate time." Raja said there were differences among the cabinet ministers on the spectrum allocation issue. He said that Mittal approached courts against spectrum allocation but failed and also went to the then PM and law minister but again failed to get anything. Mittal "wanted to stall proceedings of my government," Raja said adding that contradictions came from within the UPA ministers and there were instances to prove it. The former telecom minister said objections were raised by the finance ministry and the then Union Cabinet minister Kamal Nath wrote an open letter to (Manmohan) Singh that the matter should be sent to the group of ministers. Stating that the BJP benefited from the 2G controversy, Raja, however, ruled out any possibility of alignment with the saffron party. "We are for secularism. We will go with secular forces. Any change will be decided by the leadership," Raja said. The book "2G saga unfolds" was released by former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah. "The principal of natural justice was not adhered by institutions. Ultimately injustice was done to me not only by individuals but the institutions like CVC (Central Vigilance Commission), CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), CAG, Parliament and sorry to say with due to respect to judiciary, even the Supreme Court," Raja said. Also, he accused media of biased reporting by repeatedly citing documents and instances that accused him. But, the same media, Raja said, did not show his reply to the CBI during court proceedings which went on for 14 days. New Delhi: The Congress on Friday accused the Narendra Modi government of endangering national security due to its "directionless" political actions and policies. Modi Govt's directionless policy on National Security has created a disquiet border-Both at the Eastern & Western frontiers. It's continuous Flip-Flops to the Chinese Misadventure in #Doklam is harming Indias Strategic Interests Our Statement:- pic.twitter.com/zoKqV3fxWf Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) January 19, 2018 Congress communications incharge Randeep Surjewala said the government's "uncertain" foreign policy and continuous "flip-flops" to the Chinese "misadventure" in Doka La is harming India's strategic interests. He asked it to come out of its "slumber" and act. "The Congress is deeply concerned by the present national security situation that has been compromised by the political inactions of the Modi government. The question simply is, when will the Modi government wake up from its deep slumber and act?" he asked. "National security strategy cannot be centered on the prime minister's personal propaganda machinery and instead it should be centered around our armed forces and national interests," he said. Surjewala said while the country's brave and valiant armed forces should be applauded for their valour, "the lack of political direction, strategy and policy on part of the Modi government is harming India's interests". He said the disquiet at two ends of the country's border can be gauged by the series of instances which is a serious cause of concern. Reacting to the external affairs ministry's statement, the Congress leader said it does not say a word about the alleged construction of military infrastructure by the Chinese Army purportedly depicted in satellite imagery produced in recent media reports. "The Modi government cannot have multiple stands on the Chinese misadventure. It will only harm India's interests," he said. "The Congress demands the Modi government take the nation into confidence and disclose the measures it has taken as also its policies for the future," he said in a statement. Talking about the western border, he said that in the period since 26 May, 2014, when the Modi government was inaugurated, 304 security forces personnel and 194 civilians have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir alone. Ceasefire violations from across the border in the past 44 months of Modi government, he said, have increased by an alarming 500 per cent as compared to the last 44 months of the the UPA government led by the Congress. He also said there have been 70 reported ceasefire violations till Thursday along the International Border and the LoC by Pakistan in January alone. New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency on Saturday dispatched a team to visit the blast site in Bodh Gaya where a small explosion took place in a flask at a tea shop. Two bombs were also found from the vicinity of the Kaalchakra ground, where the Dalai Lama has been holding discourses, during a combing operation by a police team, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Patna Zone, NH Khan had said on Friday. The NIA has dispatched a team including a superintendent of police-ranked officers and an explosives' expert to the site, the agency spokesperson said in a statement. "It is said that the blast happened in a flask kept under a generator at a tea shop opposite the ground. The police found some wires coming out. Later, searches were conducted in the vicinity by the police and two objects suspected to be improvised explosive devices were recovered," the NIA spokesperson said. He said on receiving the information, a team of NIA officials, including an SP and one explosives' expert, have been dispatched to visit the site. The Tibetan spiritual leader had arrived in Bodh Gaya on 1 January and he is likely to stay there for a month. A host of key personalities, including Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Hollywood actor Richard Gere, have visited Bodh Gaya recently to get the blessings of the Buddhist monk. In 2013, the Maha Bodhi temple, situated at the place where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, was rocked by a series of explosions in which five people, including two monks, were injured. Seventeen people are feared dead in a blaze which broke out at firecracker factory in Delhi's Bawana area, according to several media reports. Ten fire tenders have been pressed to the spot. Quoting a fire official, ANI reported that the fire has now been contained. The fire is under control now. The fire had broken out around 3.30 pm and was contained around 7. We have contained the fire on the second floor.: Fire Officer pic.twitter.com/A3FFUsxCeq ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2018 The Delhi Fire Service received a call about the fire at the factory around 6.20 pm. CNN-News18 quoted chief fire officer Atul Garg as saying that five to six people are still inside the building. The police have so far confirmed nine deaths in the fire. The rescue operations are underway as more people are suspected to be trapped inside the factory. According to an official, there is a rubber factory on the second storey above the firecracker factory. #SpotVisuals Seventeen killed in a fire which broke out at a plastic godown in Bawana Industrial Area #Delhi pic.twitter.com/GBDRjacBg1 ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2018 North Delhi mayor Preety Agarwal rushed to the spot. "The factory falls in the Delhi State Industrial And Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) area. Agarwal has rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation," a senior NDMc official said. I received information about the incident on phone at around 9 pm & we immediately rushed to the spot. Situation is under control now: North #Delhi Mayor Preety Aggarwal pic.twitter.com/QqeLqtgNtP ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2018 Meanwhile, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal posted a tweet saying that he was keeping a close watch on the rescue operations. The Delhi government has reportedly ordered an investigation into the blaze. V sad to hear abt large no of casualties. Keeping a close watch on rescue operations https://t.co/yHwQAH0bKi Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 20, 2018 According to ANI, Union health minister JP Nadda has directed the health secretary to provide immediate assistance to victims and also requested the AIIMS trauma centre to be on alert. In a tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he was "deeply anguished" by the incident. Deeply anguished by the fire at a factory in Bawana. My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives. May those who are injured recover quickly: PM @narendramodi PMO India (@PMOIndia) January 20, 2018 Congress leader Ashok Gehlot also offered his condolences. Saddened to hear about the death of many people due to fire in #Delhi's #Bawana Industrial Area. My condolences to the grieving families who lost their loved ones in this unfortunate incident....may the injured recover soon. https://t.co/ZbJfr5WmH3 Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) January 20, 2018 On 16 January, a factory in Delhi's Udyog Nagar was gutted in a fire. According to Hindustan Times, the fire fighting operations went on for close to three hours. However, no casualties were reported. Following the Kamala Mills tragedy in Mumbai which claimed 14 lives on 29 December, 2017 officials in Delhi had stepped up measures to ensure that fire and safety regulations are in place. The New Delhi Municipal Council had also asked restaurants to abide by trade license conditions, fire safety norms and sitting capacity regulations or be ready to face cancellation of permits and sealing of premises. With inputs from PTI Ranchi: Former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Yadav appeared in a special CBI court of Ranchi in connection with another fodder scam case over fraudulent withdrawal from a treasury in Ranchi. Besides Lalu Yadav, other accused in the case also appeared in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court. The case relates to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 139.35 crore from Doranda treasury of Ranchi. On Saturday, the court recorded statements of the CBI witnesses. The court has instructed the accused to be present in the court again on January 23. Jailed Lalu Yadav's trial is going on a day-to-day basis in two cases of the fodder scam in the CBI courts of Ranchi. The Supreme Court in May last year had directed completion of the trial in nine months. Lalu Yadav was convicted on 23 December last year in a fodder scam case related to fraudulent withdrawal from Deoghar treasury and he was awarded three-and-half years' imprisonment on 6 January. In the first fodder scam case, he was convicted in 2013 and awarded five years' imprisonment. While the RJD chief stands convicted in two cases, the judgement in the remaining three is likely to be delivered soon. Ukraine has called on UNESCO to take urgent measures to prevent the threat of destruction of the Khan's Palace in Bakhchisaray, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has reported. "The critical situation around the Khan's Palace in Bakhchisaray has become the main topic of a special meeting of the National Commission of Ukraine for UNESCO, which was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 19," the ministry said on Friday, January 19. The event was chaired by the head of the national commission, Serhiy Kyslytsia, and attended by Ukrainian Deputy Culture Minister Tamara Mazur, head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov, representatives of the concerned ministries and departments, experts of the Ukrainian National Committee of ICOMOS, the Ukraine National Blue Shield Committee, and ICCROM Ukraine. The participants in the meeting stated that the situation in the field of culture in Russian-occupied Crimea causes deep concern and indignation over the actions of the Russian occupation authorities, which in fact are carrying out a massive, well-planned attack on unique multiculturalism on the Crimean peninsula. "Such aggressive actions are vividly evidenced by the so-called 'restoration work' on the territory of the monument of national importance of Ukraine, an integral part of the cultural heritage of the Crimean Tatar people - the Khan's Palace in Bakhchisaray, which poses a real threat to the destruction of the historical and cultural value of this monument that was put on the tentative list for inclusion in UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2003," the meeting participants said. Following the discussion of the problem, the participants decided to take additional measures to mobilize international efforts, primarily through UNESCO, to preserve the Khan's Palace in Bakhchisaray. "Go to a porn website and witness the tremendous brutality that is being shown towards the women. Group sex is happening on the screen repeatedly with women being shown with their hands and feet being tied, enjoying orgasm after orgasm with multiple men. Young, vulnerable minds who watch these sites for long periods can end up with serious personality and perceptual disorders." This is the opinion of Dr Rajesh Kumar, heading the Society of Promotion of Youth and Masses and working with juvenile delinquents, rapist and murderers at the Tihar jail. Kumar was commenting on the sharp increase of rape cases in Haryana, often committed by school boys between the ages of 14 and 16. He said, "The time has come for us to introduce porn filters in order to deny young people access to pornography. With free data streaming into their homes from their mobiles, they are downloading information 24x7 which is distorting their lives." He further said, "They do not know the difference between a friendship and a relationship with a girl. In my interactions with RSS leaders, I have requested them to put a block on porn sites as this is distorting the minds of the youth. If China can ban Google, surely the time has come for our government to put a ban on pornography." Kumar also believes parents are no longer attending to the needs of the growing child. He said, "Both parents are busy earning, the schools are not imparting a culture-based value education, especially those schools that are catering to the poorer sections of our society. The moot point then is: Who is going to prove a role model for these young boys ?" "When I asked convicted rapists in Tihar jail (where his organisation is presently working) why they committed these crime, they expressed a sense of regret. Their narratives were so different and society needs to pay greater attention to these," Kumar added. Certainly, the statistics about crimes against women suggest that it is time all members of society step in to address this serious problem. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) states that while 2014 saw 9,019 crimes being committed against women in Haryana, by 2015, the number had gone up to 9,511 and by 2016, it had risen to 9,838. But the alarming rise of rape cases in 2018 in Haryana shows a society imploding from its very roots. Take the statistics. Eight rapes in six days, one more heinous than the other. Haryana tops other states in having the highest number of gangrapes in India. An 11-year-old Dalit girl was gang-raped by two neighbours in a village in Panipat district on the night of 13 January. After the gangrape, the girl was murdered and then her assailants allegedly committed necrophilia for over four hours. The two accused, identified as Pardeep Kumar (27) and Sagar (22), were arrested and booked for the murder and gangrape under various sections of POCSO Act. One day later, a 50-year-old man was arrested for allegedly mutilating the private parts of a 10-year-old girl by inserting a wooden object. This happened near Pinjore. On 16 January, a 15-year-old boy allegedly raped a three-and-a-half-year-old girl in a colony in Hisar district. On 18 January, a 20-year-old married woman was raped by two men at a village in Fatehabad district who the woman alleged were her neighbours. And in yet another horrific reminder of the December 2012 gangrape, a minor girls brutalised body, with her private parts mutilated and liver ruptured, was found in Haryanas Jind. Her body was found near a canal in Budhakhera village of Jinds Safidon town on 13 January. Police said the victim has been identified as a resident of Jhansa village in Kurukshetra. She went missing on 9 January. The body was found without any clothes in the lower parts. It was sent to Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak, for postmortem and Dr SK Dhattarwal, who heads the forensics department, pointed out that the "damage to her private parts seems to have been done after she was drowned and murdered. This was the work of more than one person who failed to sexually assault the victim while she was alive." In Gurugram, a 24-year-old man was arrested for abducting and raping a college student on 15 January. She was abducted by two men, who forced her into a car and then raped her while driving it around. In a similar incident, two men were arrested for abducting and raping a woman in a moving car on Saturday. These incidents have triggered a nationwide outrage, putting the spotlight back on crimes against women in India and how government after government has failed to stem the wave of violence. Jagmati Sangwan, state chief of AIDWA working out of Rohtak, also blames excessive pornography as being a key factor in school kids committing these crimes. "Growing crime, especially rape and sexual crimes being committed by the young, are happening only because these kids have free access to pornography. There is no one around to monitor their viewing and this combined with patriarchy has let hell loose, especially against young, vulnerable women," said Sangwan. At the nationwide level, she questioned the steps the central government had taken to control these viewership habits. "There is big money at stake here. Porn websites attract large amounts of advertising and money is changing hands at many levels," Sangwan maintained. Psychologists also confirm that excessive pornography viewing has an adverse impact on a child/adolescent mind. Clinical psychologist Dr Pulkit Sharma pointed out, "Pornography viewing by young adolescents, and I believe even by adults, is harmful because it makes them treat women as sex objects. Youngsters can be very impulsive and while most of us keep our impulses under check, this is not the case with these people who also can combine extreme narcissism with a complete lack of empathy for others." The unequal sex ratio between men and women has created a scarcity of marriageable women and sociologists believe that is also part of the problem. The Haryana BJP leaders, when they came to power, had promised they would 'import' brides from Bihar. Unfortunately, large number of unemployed men find there are no women available for them to marry. Enakshi Ganguly, co-director of HAQ, feels that as a society, we continue to address the symptoms but not go to the root causes of why society is witnessing increasing levels of violence against women. "After the Nirbhaya case, we tightened the law, looking at it from the victims point of view. But we also need to know what is going on in the minds of these boys who are committing these crimes." "The older answer of blaming patriarchy is not enough. Nor is it enough to invest in technologies and try and put CCTV cameras everywhere. We need to understand what is happening to our boys and how we can help them during their adolescent years," said Ganguly. Police incompetence in Haryana is matched only by the political incompetence of the chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar whose skills as competent administrator are in serious question. The breakdown of official machinery during the Jat agitation in February 2016, in which 30 lives were lost, showed a lack of intelligence failure. Khattars conspicuous softness towards the Dera Sacha Sauda followers because the BJP is beholden to Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for its Haryana victory was shocking, given that Singh is now being tried for committing rape by the women in his Dera. The only silver lining is that the women of Haryana are determined to fight for justice as has been shown in the Varnika Kundu case. Kundu was not intimidated when she went ahead and insisted the police file an FIR against Vikas Barala who is the son of the Haryana BJP president Subhash Barala. United Nations: Pakistan's "mindset" that unleashes terrorist attacks on India and Afghanistan must change, India has told the security council. Only by changing the terror mindset can peace come to Afghanistan, India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin said on Friday during a high-level council meeting dealing with Afghanistan. "Terrorism and externally induced instability pose the gravest threat to Afghanistan's peace, stability and prosperity," he said. "And the growing arc of terrorist violence endangers our entire region." New Delhi has been working with regional and international partners to bring security, peace and development to Afghanistan, he said. To further these objectives and promote peace, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stopped over in Lahore in December 2015 on his way back from inaugurating the Indian-built parliament house in Afghanistan, he said. But "a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack" was launched on the Pathankot airbase in a week's time by "the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day," he said. "These mindsets differentiate between 'good' and bad terrorists," he said. "These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace. They are mindsets that are reluctant to join hands in moving the region forward to build a shared future for our people and our youth." "These mindsets," Akbaruddin declared, "need to change." The high-level council meeting was presided over by Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov and focused on regional cooperation to promote development and security in Afghanistan. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was among those attending the session. Terrorism has taken a huge toll on Afghanistan, Akbaruddin said backing up his assertion with World Bank statistics. Afghanistan recorded a 9.6 percent annual economic growth rate from 2003 to 2014, but it has fallen to 2.2 per cent in 2016 as terrorism increased and it was 2.6 percent last year, according to the bank. Illustrating how terrorism impacts development, he said that a disproportionate amount of resources are diverted from the aid projects to protecting them rather than building more projects. The New Development Partnership between India and Afghanistan cover education, health, agriculture, infrastructure, renewable energy, drinking water supply and human resource development, he said. The recent visits by Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah have given the partnership a boost, he added. India pledged a $1 billion package for Afghanistan last year. New Delhi: India's entry into elite nuclear groups in the recent past has reaffirmed the country's strict non-proliferation commitments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. His remarks come in the backdrop of India becoming a member of the 'Australia Group' (AG), a move that is expected to raise New Delhi's stature in the field of non-proliferation and also help it acquire critical technologies. "I thank Australia and other members of the Australia Group for export control for supporting India's entry in it," Modi tweeted. He said over the last two years, India's membership of the MTCR, Wassenaar Arrangement and Australia Group reaffirmed the country's "strong non-proliferation credentials also our commitment to global peace and security". India is now a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) as well as AG, three of four non-proliferation regimes. The only one remaining is the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). A bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, will hear on Monday the plea seeking an independent probe into the the death of special CBI judge BH Loya, according to CNN-News18. Judge Loya was hearing the case of the staged shootout of Sohrabuddin Sheikh. Justice Arun Mishra's bench not to hear #JudgeLoya case anymore. #CJIDipakMisra assigns it to a new bench, headed by himself. The case will be heard on Monday now. pic.twitter.com/MHRYTcvJmC News18 Courtroom (@News18Courtroom) January 20, 2018 The supplementary cause list issued on Saturday listed the petitions by social activist Tehseen Poonawala and Maharashtra-based journalist Bandhuraj Sambhaji Lone before the bench of Chief Justice of India, Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice DY Chandrachud. The order passed by the court on Friday said it an "appropriate bench" would hear the petitions filed by Congress leader Tehseen Poonawalla and Maharashtra journalist BS Lone. The four senior Supreme Court judges who held an unprecedented press conference airing their concerns over allocation of cases to benches, had specifically mentioned the judge Loya case. Earlier, the two petitions were being heard by the bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra. However, the bench recused itself from hearing the matter on 17 January after the bench directed that all the documents furnished by Maharashtra government to the court pertaining to the death of judge Loya be shared with the petitioners seeking independent probe. Loya, who was hearing the sensitive Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, had allegedly died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on 1 December, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter. The issue of Loya's death had come under the spotlight in November 2017 after media reports quoting his sister had termed the circumstances surrounding his death suspicious. However, Loya's son had on 14 January said in Mumbai that his father died of natural causes and not under suspicious circumstances. The court had earlier termed as a "serious matter" the issue of Loya's death and had asked the Maharashtra government to file certain documents, including the autopsy report. The counsel for the petitioners had told the court that this was a case of an alleged mysterious death of a judge, who was hearing a sensitive case, and an independent probe was required. In his plea, he had claimed that the circumstances revolving around the death of the judge were "questionable, mysterious and contradicting". The other plea filed by the journalist has submitted that a fair probe was needed into the mysterious death of Loya, who was hearing the Sohrabuddin encounter case in which various police officers and BJP president Amit Shah were named as parties. A PIL seeking probe into the judge's death was also filed before the Bombay High Court on 8 January by the Bombay Lawyers' Association. With inputs from agencies A day after a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) was hacked to death by a three-member gang in Kerala's Kannur district, the police has reportedly arrested four Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) activists in connection with the murder. Four SDPI activists have been arrested by police in Kannur in connection with the murder of #ABVP activist Shyam. #Kerala ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2018 The arrested SDPI activists have been identified as Muhammed, Minikkol Salim, Neeveli Ameer, and Shahim, according to The Times of India. Police sources told the newspaper that the four were arrested in Wayanad, after they fled there following the murder. However, ABVP had alleged that Popular Front of India (PFI) was behind the killing and demanded that the outfit be banned. ABVP state secretary Shyam Raj said the "terror" face of PFI has come out in the open once again with the killing of Prasad. Prasad, an ITI student, was going to his house at Koothuparamba on his motorcycle when the unidentified gang came in a car and attacked him at Kommeri around 5.30 pm, the police said. The student tried to flee but the gang chased and hacked him with machetes, seriously injuring him. Though locals rushed him to the government hospital at Koothuparamba, he died on the way, the police said. The BJP has called for a hartal on Saturday to protest the murder. With inputs from PTI A minor girl was allegedly gang-raped by three men on Friday afternoon in a moving car in Faridabad, making it the ninth rape to be reported in the media in seven days in Haryana. #BREAKING -- Another incident of gang rape in Haryana, a minor girl allegedly gang-raped by 3 men yesterday afternoon in moving a car in Faridabad. The girl was walking to the fields with her aunt when a few men in a car abducted her; case has been registered #StopThisShame pic.twitter.com/IFOHWAuS4s News18 (@CNNnews18) January 20, 2018 According to CNN-News18, the girl was walking to a field with her aunt when the men abducted her. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. The incident took place at Sohna Road, reported India Today. While the three accused men have been named in the FIR, their identity has not yet been revealed in media reports. The accused are also believed to be from the same village as the victim. This incident comes after media reports of three rape cases in Haryana on Thursday. In one of the most recent incidents of rape, a 20-year-old married woman was allegedly gang-raped by two men at a village in Fatehabad district. The woman, in her police complaint, alleged that she was raped by her neighbour and another person on Wednesday. She alleged that the two accused barged into her house when she was alone. The men allegedly threatened her with dire consequences if she reported the matter to anyone. The woman got married six months ago, the police said. The Opposition Congress on Wednesday demanded the dismissal of the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana, alleging a complete breakdown of law and order in the state. A Congress delegation, led by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, submitted a memorandum to the governor on Wednesday and sought the imposition of President's Rule in the state. With inputs from PTI Mumbai Police arrested Kamala mills director Ravi Surajmal Bhandari, Fire Brigade officer Rajendra Baban Patil and Utkarsh Vinod Pande, the owner of the hookah company Nirvana, in connection to the Kamala Mills compound fire. The arrests were made over a fortnight after the Kamala Mills compound blaze, which claimed the lives of 14 people and injured another 55. This action occurred after an inquiry report by the Mumbai municipal commissioner confirmed the theory that flying embers from hookah served illegally at Mojo's Bistro was the trigger for the fire. The report also proposed criminal action against the owner of the premises, owners of both the restaurants and concerned architects and interior decorators. A preliminary report by the Mumbai fire brigade had also suggested that flying embers from hookah at Mojo's Bistro started the blaze. Yug Pathak, one of the co-owners of Mojo's Bistro where the fire first erupted, surrendered to the Mumbai police on Tuesday and was formally arrested. Earlier, Yug Pathak, son of a retired DGP level IPS officer KK Pathak, who is Tuli's partner in the pub, was arrested. The three owners of the 1Above pub Kripesh Sanghavi, Jigar Sanghavi and Abhijit Mankar where most of the 14 deaths took place, were also arrested on 10 January. Two managers of 1Above Kevin Bawa and Lisbon Lopez have also been arrested in the same case, taking the total number of arrests in relation to the fire to ten so far. With inputs from agencies The camera can be a bitch. Between awkward pats on the back and other places (US President George W Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel), marooned hands struck in the air (Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin) and pullbacks from the touch (Donald Trumps hand pats and backslaps), VIP greetings have been placed under the microscope often enough. But Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ripped the circumspection of protocol to shreds and his hugs have now become a subject of debate. His greeting of Frances Hollande went viral for its sheer invasion of the person. With Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu visiting India, we look forward to more hugs from PM Modi! #Hugplomacy pic.twitter.com/M3BKK2Mhmf Congress (@INCIndia) January 14, 2018 Should a leader maintain a certain decorum and restraint, or, go for broke as Modi does? In many parts of the world 'touching' each other is considered an impertinence and an imposition. We Indians are a touchy feely people. We hug at births, deaths, marriages (mandatory). We even hug if we meet for lunch, departing after lunch and in between to express our appreciation for an anecdote or joke. Knee-slapping, thigh bashing are our way of showing affection and they are sexless actions. We even touch strangers' children without a thought a familiarity that offends others. I have witnessed an American lady at an airport threatening to call the police because this elderly gentleman was fondling her child. It took a lot of explaining to convince her that the elderly gentleman meant no harm. Indians lie in each other's laps in public and walk hand-in-hand without it being a gender thing, lope arms over each others shoulders and even hold fingers (as opposed to hands) while chatting. Culturally, it is no big deal till it is pointed out. Because then it loses its innocence and turns ugly. Prime minister Modi only exemplifies what is a common conduct for 1.2 billion Indians. Choking Israels Benjamin Netanyahu with a bear hug last week probably eclipsed his 'lift and raise' wrestling hold that probably had UK's David Cameron wondering if he was being taken a hostage. No one would have dared to touch Indira Gandhi or particularly desire to embrace or be embraced by Manmohan Singh. Narasimha Rao abhorred it and Chandra Shekhar never came close. Lal Bahadur Shastri was not just the type and Jawaharlal Nehru was far too formidable for any familiarity of that sort. What happens is that hours or minutes later, the photograph of the moment becomes an editorial indictment and can be mocked. Was Obama being snubbed, was the clumsy handshake between Trump and Japans Shinzo Abe indicative of a frost and other similar interpretations. The awkwardness becomes a joke, an illustration of the pent-up anger, frustration or enmity that marks the occasion and the combatants. Modi roars past all this and it is now a cause to worry if, indeed, he is causing discomfort to his guests. In the upcoming week, with ten chief guests at the Republic Day parade, there is potential for an orgy of hugging. Not all ten inscrutable orientals are going to be comfortable with an effusive welcome. They are far too taciturn and distant. Modi might be advised to pull back a bit. But then again, that is his style so why cramp it? Hug away prime minister, thats the desi welcome. India understands. Just dont explain yourself or justify it. Thats where it goes wrong. Take heart, you trumped Trump and his little pitty patty handclasp with your overwhelming magic circle. Jammu: The Opposition National Conference and Congress members on Saturday staged a walkout from the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly over the alleged failure of the government to protect the lives of the border residents in the ceasefire violations by Pakistan. Three civilians, two BSF personnel and an army jawan, were killed and over 40 others injured in the heavy shelling by Pakistan along the International Border and Line of Control (LoC) in the Jammu region since Thursday. Soon after Speaker Kavinder Gupta took the chair, the Opposition members started shouting slogans against the Centre and state government and staged a walkout to protest the killings in Pakistani firing. BJP legislators, led by state president Sat Sharma, raised anti-Pakistan slogans, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), attempted to pacify the Opposition by promising a detailed statement on the ceasefire violations after the Question Hour. "A comprehensive report is being prepared to inform the House," relief and revenue minister Javaid Mustafa Mir said, adding that he had already directed the home commissioner to prepare a report. National Conference's Ali Mohammad Sagar criticised the statement of Union minister Jitendra Singh and said the Opposition raised the ceasefire violations issue thrice in the House yesterday and had sought a statement from the government. Singh, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had on Friday said, "Kashmir-centric Pakistan apologists owe an explanation to the nation and that there can be no pardon for them when they continue to shamelessly speak on behalf of Pakistan even on the day when the heavy civilian casualties have been inflicted on the borders by unprovoked Pakistani firing." Sagar alleged that the union minister tried to "mislead" people over the ceasefire violation by "baseless statements". "The government was apologetic for not issuing any statement on the issue on Friday," he told reporters. Congress legislature party leader Nawang Rigzin Jora also criticised the statement of the Union minister and blamed the alleged "inconsistent policy" of the Centre for the frequent ceasefire violations. "This government, both at the Centre and state, is confused. The state government, in particular, is in chaos and involved in infighting. In such a situation when we do not have a stable government in the state and Centre is indulged in flip-flops, Pakistan will continue the shelling to its benefit," he said. "Where has the 56-inch chest gone? Our people are getting killed and displaced daily and the BJP leaders are doing politics over the miseries of the people," Congress legislator Wakar Rasool told reporters outside the House. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday defended his trademark hugs with world leaders, saying he was unaware of laid down protocols as he is a common man and this has become his strength, as his openness was liked by the world leaders. Modi also said his basic nature has been "to convert adversity into opportunity". Days after being mocked by the Congress over his hugs, Modi said in a TV interview had he been "trained", he too would have followed the laid down protocols of shaking hands and "looking left and right" with world leaders. "I do not know all the protocols as I am a common man. The openness of this common man is liked by the world. Friendly relations come in handy," he said in the interview to Zee News. He further said, "Had I been trained like others...I too would have followed those protocols of looking right and left, had shaken hands. But I am an ordinary person...I only try to ensure that no harm ever happens to my country (due to this)." A few days ago, the Congress had posted a tweet mocking Modi for hugging world leaders, evoking a sharp reaction from the BJP that slammed it as "immature" and demanded an apology. "When I became the prime minister, there was criticism that Modi neither knows nor understands anything which is outside Gujarat...," Modi said. "Everybody used to ask me how will I conduct my foreign policy. And in a way, this criticism was right because I did not have any experience. I got the benefit of not having experience. I did not have any baggage," he said. Asked how he feels when he stands next to world leaders, he said, "My only feeling is that it is not Narendra Modi who is standing there but the representative of 1.25 billion people". Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Saturday said elaborate arrangements have been made to deal with the situation arising after the intense firing by Pakistan along the borders over the past few days. In different cross-border firing incidents along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border since Thursday, nine people, including two Army and as many BSF jawans, were killed and 46 injured. The health department has made elaborate arrangements to deal with the situation and adequate doctors (specialists) and paramedics along with necessary life saving drugs and equipment have been kept available round the clock in all health institutions, Health and Medical Education Minister Bali Bhagat said. "In addition, 197 Ambulances, including critical care ambulance have been deployed to meet the situation," Bhagat said. Making a suo-moto statement in the Legislative Assembly, he said all injured have been admitted in the Government Medical College Hospital and other local hospitals where they were undergoing treatment. He said the authorities have already issued an alert for the population living along the borders to move to the safer places in view of the constant firing along the border. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh thanked the Centre for increasing the quantum of ex gratia and other reliefs especially for the cross-border firing victims. Islamabad: Pakistan on Saturday again summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh to condemn "unprovoked ceasefire violations" by India, which it said had killed five civilians and injured 22 others over the past three days. The Foreign Ministry said Indian forces continued firing along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border on Saturday, which killed an elderly civilian and injured two girls. "The number of casualties at international border has also risen due to unprovoked and indiscriminate firing by the Indian forces. Four more innocent civilians were killed, while 20 were injured on 18 and 19 January", the statement added. On Friday too, the Indian Deputy High Commissioner had been summoned by the Foreign Office to protest the deaths of a civilian and injuries to nine others in cross-border firing. Pakistan and India had declared ceasefire along the LoC and International Border in 2003. Both, however, routinely accuse each other of violating the ceasefire. New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear on Monday the plea for an independent probe into the circumstances leading to the death of Special CBI court judge BH Loya who was hearing the case of staged shootout of Sohrabuddin Sheikh. The order passed by the court on Friday said it would be listed on Monday for hearing by an "appropriate bench". The matter was mentioned in the morning before the bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra. The allocation of Judge Loya's matter to a relatively junior bench was one of the bone of contention raised by four rebel judges in their unprecedented press conference on 12 January. The bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra on 17 January recused from hearing the matter after the bench directed that all the documents furnished by Maharashtra government to the court pertaining to the death of judge Loya be shared with the petitioners seeking independent probe. The case came into limelight as BJP president Amit Shah was one of the accused in the case. Shah was later discharged by the Special CBI court trying Sohrabuddin Sheikh case. Badaun: A 32-year-old pregnant woman was allegedly raped by some unidentified men when she had gone to relieve herself in the field in Kachula village of Uttar Pradesh, police said on Saturday. The incident took place on Friday early at 5.00 am. The accused had allegedly tied her hands and feet and also stuffed a cloth in her mouth, Senior Superintendent of Police Chandraprakash said. The SSP said that when the woman did not return home after a long time, her family members started searching for her. Later, they found her in a nearby forest in an unconscious state, following which the family members informed the police and the woman was then admitted to a hospital, he said. The woman was sent to Bareilly for treatment and her medical examination will also be conducted, the SSP said. Her statement would be recorded on Saturday, he said, adding that the police have launched a search operation for the suspects. Arnia border: Blood-splattered compounds, smashed window panes and demolished roofs are all that are left of houses in border hamlets which have been battered in Pakistani firing and shelling in the last three days. A smell of gunpowder lingers in these villages whose residents are living in increasing fear. Nine people, including five civilians, have been killed and 47 injured in ceasefire violations over last three days. "We were living in the shadow of death. Mortar bombs were raining on our houses and we thought we would die any moment but the police brought us out from the Sai Khurd village in Arnia," Ratno Devi told PTI. In Sai Khurd, several houses were damaged and some animals killed in shelling, Devi said, adding that a woman, was killed while her husband and son were injured in the village. Ratno Devi, who along with six family members left home and took shelter in the house of her relatives in the outskirts of Arnia belt, said, "The government should stop firing from Pakistan." The firing and shelling were so heavy that 82 mm mortar shells landed much beyond Arnia town which is 5 km away from the International Border (IB) in Jammu district. Farmlands have craters due to mortar bombs and have turned into live minefields. In Jhora farm in RS Pura, 150 khullas or mud houses of Gujjars were burned down in the shelling. Several bovines were killed and injured due to mortar bombs and bullets in these villages. Police vehicles have been pressed into service and people living in border hamlets evacuated. "The border hamlets have virtually turned into war zones. Pakistan is targeting civilian areas intensely. There has been huge damage to houses and a loss of cattle," Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) RS Pura, Surinder Choudhary, said. Chanchalo Devi said the firing and shelling by Pakistan was haunting them. "Only three months back, Pakistan caused huge damage and and again we are facing death. How long will we keep living in fear. The government should give us safe alternatives," she said. Chanchalo Devi said she and her husband had woken by the sounds of mortar shells in Arnia's ward number 13 and they immediately tried to shift to a neighbour's house as their own house is made of mud. "When we were about to cross the lane to move to our neigbour's house when a shell burst and injured both of us and our neighbour Darshan Lal," she said in a hospital. Desh Raj of Vidhipur said his family lived in a room without food and water until they left home to escape the shelling and firing. Arnia town, which was once considered to be safe from Pakistani firing and shelling, was also hit by several mortar bombs. Several of the houses in Korotana, Sai Khurd, Mahasha Kote, Pindi, Suchetgarh, Jhora farm, village were hit by bullets and splinters of mortar shells which tore through the roofs and walls of houses. The villagers claimed the government had failed to construct bunkers despite the tall claims made by it for several years. "The border people would not have died or been injured had the government constructed bunkers or given us plot at a safe place as per a promise made several years ago. They have not fulfilled the promise," Sudershan Singh of Arnia said. Today, three people, including an Army jawan, were killed and six injured in firing by Pakistani troops along the International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu division. Yesterday, a 17-year-old girl and a BSF jawan were killed while six people, including five civilians, injured in ceasefire violation in three sectors of Jammu and Samba districts. The Pakistani troops targeted around 45 border outposts (BoPs) and around 50 village in five sectors of R S Pura, Arnia, Ramgarh, Samba and Hirnagar along a 40-km stretch along the IB. SDPO Surinder Choudhary, who led a police team for rescuing and shifting those injured to a hospital, said, "We have also evacuated border villagers to safer places. Pakistan cannot be trusted". Chennai: After a hiatus of six years, Tamil Nadu government on Friday hiked the fares of buses under state run transport corporations and private entities approximately by 20 to 54.54 percent, saying it was inevitable. Significantly, the government also announced a fund for accident compensation and prevention, besides a panel to go into restructuring of bus fares in future. Effective from tomorrow, the fare has been hiked for buses across categories viz moffusil, city, ordinary, express, deluxe, bypass-non-stop, ultra deluxe, air-conditioned and Volvo modes, an official release said. While the minimum hike is in moffusil ordinary category, where the fare of Rs 5 for 10 km would now be Rs 6 (20 percent hike), the highest is in Volvo buses, where the fare of Rs 33 for 30 km will now go up to Rs 51 (54.54 percent hike). In town buses the fare has been hiked from a minimum of Rs 3 to Rs 5 and the maximum from Rs 12 to Rs 19. The government cited a host of factors for the hike, including increase in fuel price and maintenance, annual increment in salaries, pension and purchase of new buses to increase efficiency. Defending the hike, it said the last time fares were increased was on 18 November, 2011 when diesel cost Rs 43.10, whereas the price now was Rs 65.83. The government also cited data to claim that the fares, despite the increase, was lesser than in neighbouring states, including Andhra Pradesh. A recent interim direction of the Madras High Court in a transport related petition was also cited to support the decision to effect a hike in fares. The government quoted the interim order as saying, "data furnished in the supporting affidavit shows that the present bus fare is inadequate to meet,even the operational cost." The court had also said "with the existing funds and resources, maintenance cost, debt, loss and such other economic factors ...the need to revise bus fare, appears to be inevitable, though it may cause inconvenience." The government said that since 2000 till date, Karnataka had hiked the fare 16 times, while Andhra Pradesh and Kerala had done so eight times. In the past seven years, the Tamil Nadu government gave Rs 12,059.17 crore subsidy to State-run transport corporations to help them tackle the fund crunch. These corporations have so far incurred a recurring loss of Rs 20,488 crore, the government said. "Though the increase in fare was avoided so far,it is now inevitable so as to tackle the fund cruch and to continue to give the people a good transport service," the release said. In a significant step, the government said an integrated 'Accident prevention, compensation and toll fee fund' would be set up, under which speed governors would be installed in long distance express buses as part of accident prevention efforts. Private transport entities will be permitted to establish similar funds. Unlike neighbouring states, the fare in Tamil Nadu presently does not cover insurance and toll fee components. Henceforth, the fare will cover an integrated component of accident insurance and toll fee as well, it said. From a minimum of Rs 1 (upto Rs 25 fare) a maximum of Rs 10 will be levied (for fares above Rs 501) for this purpose. Defending its decision, the government said since timely compensation for accidents was not provided, as many as 652 State-run transport corporation buses were under court attachment proceedings. Also, the state transport corporations spent an average of Rs 12 crore per month towards toll fee. A new accident compensation fund will ensure that victims (or their kin in case of death) would be provided compensation ranging between Rs 2.5 to Rs five lakh immediately, it said. For those injured, it would be between Rs 10,000 to Rs two lakh depending upon the nature of injuries and duration of hospitalisation. For those who suffer permanent disability or head injury, the compensation will be Rs five lakh, it said. The government said restructuring of fares in future would be done by a committee of senior government officials based on computation involving indices covering fuel price hike,changes in maintenance and repair cost and increment in salaries. There are eight State run transport corporations in Tamil Nadu with 22,509 buses, employing 1,40,615 personnel. Workers of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) owing allegiance to 17 trade unions,including those affiliated to DMK and Left parties, had gone strike on January 4 after failure of talks with the government on wage revision. While unions wanted a 2.57 times hike, the government offered only 2.44, resulting in a stalemate. The strike severely crippled public sector bus services, causing immense hardship to public, including office-goers in cities though the government tried to maintain services by roping in temporary drivers and private buses. The AIADMK backed union, besides some others, had not participated in the protests. the unions had called off the strike on 11 January after the Madras High Court appointed an arbitrator to settle their wage dispute with the government. Jammu: Tension gripped people living close to the international border and the Line of Control (LoC) on Saturday in the Jammu region as authorities ordered closure of schools. "All schools within five kilometre radius of the LoC and the international border shall remain closed for three days," officials of the provincial administration said in Jammu. Four persons including two troopers and two civilians were killed on Friday in widespread ceasefire violation by Pakistan troops. Two civilians including a woman and a youth were killed and 24 others including two Border Security Force (BSF) troopers and 22 civilians were injured in Pakistan shelling and firing on the international border. A BSF head constable was killed on Friday in Samba sector while an army soldier was killed in Sunderbani sector of the LoC in Rajouri district. Over a dozen cattle have also been killed in indiscriminate shelling by Pakistan Rangers on the international border. Over 20 outposts of the BSF were targeted by Pakistan rangers in Kathua, Samba and Jammu districts on the international border on Friday. Migration of civilians started on Friday evening in RS Pura, Ramgarh and Suchetgarh areas close to the international border. Authorities have made arrangements in makeshift camps for border residents although this migration has been from isolated places so far not involving a large number of border villagers so far. New Delhi: The Election Commission "helped" the AAP by delaying its recommendation for disqualifying 20 of the party's MLAs for holding offices of profit and enabled it in sending three candidates to the Rajya Sabha, the Congress alleged on Saturday. Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken also tried to suggest that the BJP had a role in the delay but offered no evidence. "The Election Commission on the instance of the BJP delayed its recommendation by a month and helped the Aam Aadmi Party. Had the recommendation come before the Rajya Sabha election, the AAP would have split due to internal rift," Maken claimed. For the second day in a row, Maken attacked the AAP after the Election Commission recommended that 20 AAP legislators be disqualified for holding offices of profit. On Friday, Maken had demanded Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's resignation on moral grounds. On Saturday, he said the AAP faced opposition from within over its nominees for the Rajya Sabha and the party would have possibly split had the Election Commission's recommendation been announced in December, 2017 when the party had decided the nominees. "We want to ask Arvind Kejriwal about the connivance between him and the BJP, which was behind the delay in disqualification recommendation," he said. The AAP leadership's decision to send two new faces to the Rajya Sabha, along with party leader Sanjay Singh, was resented by its senior leader Kumar Vishwas. Maken also claimed that the 20 MLAs, who were appointed as parliamentary secretaries, enjoyed facilities such as office space and remuneration. He gave copies of Delhi government's chief secretaries communication with the Election Commission, saying the MLAs were allotted rooms in the Assembly. "IT department informed that Dwarka MLA Adarsh Shastri, who was parliamentary secretary to IT minister, was paid Rs 15,479 for attending a meeting," he said citing the papers. According to highly-placed sources, in its opinion sent to President Ram Nath Kovind, the Election Commission has said the MLAs, by occupying the post of parliamentary secretaries between 13 March, 2015 and 8 September, 2016, held offices of profit, and were liable to be disqualified as legislators. Once the president accepts the opinion, by-elections will have to be held for the 20 Assembly seats. It is not surprising that the Election Commission recommended disqualification of 20 MLAs of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for holding 'office of profit'. It was already signalled when the President of India refused to give assent to an amendment to the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) Act, 1997, to exempt parliamentary secretaries from being termed as an office of profit. Ideally speaking, the amendment proposed by the Delhi Assembly should have been accepted by the president. Because the proposed amendment was very much in accordance with Article 191(1)(a) which empowers the legislature of a state to make laws to declare any office as the office of non-profit and thus not to disqualify its holder even from retrospective effect. It has happened in the past on many occasions and also was also held by the Supreme Court in its numerous decisions. For instance, the Supreme Court in Kanta Kathuria vs Maneck Chand Surana (1970) case held the power of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly to remove the disqualification retrospectively by Section 2 of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly Members (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1969. It was also the case with Office of Profit Amendment Act, 2006. Two points can be made here. One, the president by denying assent to the proposed amendment by the Delhi Assembly has denied the power what is constitutionally vested in the legislative assemblies of the states. Second, the president acted in denial of his power by referring the matter to the Election Commission as the president is now bound to act in accordance with the majority opinion of the Election Commission as per the provision of Article 192(2). Given the above context, the Election Commission was left with no choice except to test the merit of the case in the light of certain yardsticks already put in place by the Supreme Court in its very first case on office of profit in Ravanna Subanna vs GS Kageerappa in 1954 to determine whether the office of parliamentary secretary is an office of profit under the government. It was further reiterated with several other additions by the Supreme Court in Guru Govinda Basu vs Shankari Prasad Ghoshal in 1964, Umrao Singh vs Darbara Singh and Others in 1969, Kanta Kathuria vs Maneck Chand Surana in 1970, Surya Kant Roy vs Imamul Hai Khan in 1975, Madhukar GE Pakakar vs Jasciant Chabbildas Rajani and Others in 1976, Satrucharala Chandrashekhar Raju vs Vyricherla Pradeep Kumar Dev in 1992, and AK Subbaiah vs Ramakrishna Hegde and Others in 1993. These yardsticks include: whether the government has the right to exercise full control over the office in terms of appointment, removal or dismissal and determining duties and functions; whether the functions of the office are carried out for the government; whether the office enables the holder to wield influence or power by way of patronage, and whether the government pays any remuneration other than compensatory allowances. However, the compensatory allowances are excluded from the purview of pecuniary gains only when these allowances do not bring the holder of the office under the influence of the government (Shibu Soren vs Dayanand Sahay, 2011). In the Jaya Bachchan case in 2006, the Supreme Court has gone beyond the test of direct pecuniary gains while incorporating the capability of the office to yield a profit or gain in any form. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court in Divya Prakash vs Kuttar Chand Rana (1975) case held that if a person appointed to a post in an honorary capacity without any remuneration, though the post carried remuneration, the person did not hold an office of profit. Notably, India as a parliamentary democracy adopted the principle of fusion of power instead of separation of powers. And for this reason, it is difficult to maintain a fine balance between the Legislature and the Executive. Therefore, the members of our Constituent Assembly also did not discuss the office of profit in great detail. The suggestion to take away the parliamentary prerogative by putting the disqualifications only in the Constitution by BN Rao, advisor to the Drafting Committee was not given heed. Similarly, the proposal of KT Shah on 19th May 1949 in the Constituent Assembly to disqualify any person who accepts any office or post carrying a salary... shall be deemed forthwith to vacate his seat was not accepted. In fact, unlike the provisions dealing with office of profit in relation with the president [Article 58(2)], vice-president [Article 66(4)], governor [Article 158(2)], the power to exempt the offices held by legislators as the offices of profit was leniently left to the wisdom of the Parliament and legislatures of the states. It can be safely argued here that the issue of office of profit is more of moral character than legal. The issue of office of profit was also debated on 9 March, 1950, in the Interim Parliament which was pointed out by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in his communication with Jawaharlal Nehru in following words: You will recall that when the question came up about granting disqualification on account of holding an office of profit under the government, the question arose about their holding office as members of various committees, boards, etc, appointed by government.... As for the future, we might exempt those who might be appointed as members by the government with the consent of the speaker. Thereafter, our Parliament enacted three acts in 1950, 1951 and 1954 merely to exempt certain offices from disqualification. These acts were finally replaced by the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959, which provided an exhaustive list of offices exempted from disqualification based on the Bhargava Committee recommendations in 1958. It was since then amended further a number of times (1960, 1977, 1993, 1999, 2000 and 2006) to expand the list of exempted offices that too without any serious attempt to define what is 'office of profit'. The state governments too have added to the already growing lists. The 2006 Amendment Act has the unique distinction of having been returned for reconsideration for the first time in the parliamentary history of India by the then president APJ Abdul Kalam before being passed again and enacted. In his book Turning Points, Kalam argued in following terms: In the proposed Office of Profit Bill, I did not find a systematic approach towards deciding the question of what constituted an office of profit. Instead, exemption was given to only the existing offices which were occupied by MPs... He further states: "I suggested that the Bill should clearly mention the criteria for exempting a particular office from the provisions of the Office of Profit Bill which should be fair and reasonable and applicable in clear and transparent manner across the states and Union territories." In every sense, it was certainly a marvellous example of a President using his constitutional authority with independent judgment and without succumbing to the dictate of the Cabinet. It may appear opportunistic or travesty to constitutional morality, the law to prevent disqualification arising from the office of profit has always been the convenience of the Parliament and state legislature. AAP was unfairly denied this opportunity. Whatever may be the reason, the loss for AAP now is more moral, less legal and extraordinarily political. The author is an associate professor and head of the Department of Political Science at Maulana Azad National Urdu University in Hyderabad. Who is afraid of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath in Karnataka? The Congress isn't. But the BJP should be. In the last one month, Adityanath has made two noisy visits to Karnataka, accusing the Congress government of being anti-Hindu and reminding people that the state was the abode of Lord Hanuman. He is sure to descend on Karnataka, again and again, to campaign for the BJP in the Assembly elections to be held in the next three months. Adityanath was a "star campaigner" in last months Assembly elections in Gujarat where he addressed 35 rallies. If the BJP is to be believed, he transported audiences there into such a phantasmagorical world that they voted for the party without question. He is sure to be a "star campaigner" in Karnataka as well and wave his magic wand. But therein lies the problem. In Karnataka, his campaign may have the opposite effect. Karnataka's voters aren't ready and willing to fall for Adityanath's Hindutva claptrap. A little understanding of the history of elections in Karnataka and a peek into the mind of the state's average voter would make it amply clear that Karnataka is not Gujarat. It's difficult to believe that BJP president Amit Shah, who is to elections what Einstein was to physics, is unaware of this. Shah can't possibly forget that the BJP lost badly in places visited by Narendra Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat and a "star campaigner" in Karnataka during the state's previous Assembly elections in 2013. But just a year later, during the Lok Sabha elections, when he made four visits and addressed a dozen rallies, the BJP won 17 of the state's 28 Lok Sabha seats. There is a lesson for the BJP to learn from this. In 2013, voters wanted to throw out the state's BJP government because of corruption scams involving its chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, as also infighting, political instability, moral policing by its cadres, and several other reasons. Even Modi was of no help though he was popular among a section of the voters in Karnataka by then. At that point, most voters saw no sense in returning BJP to power. But a year later, it made enough sense for them to have Modi as the prime minister. This dual voting voters choosing one party at the Centre and another at the state government level is very typical of Karnataka. So, if the BJP is unlucky enough to lose the upcoming Assembly election, it can hope to do well in the Lok Sabha polls next year. Yogi is not Modi As for the Assembly election campaign, the BJP leaders must know that Yogi Adityanath is not Narendra Modi. Unlike Adityanath, Modi talks about jobs, roads and water. That's the reason why he drew huge, cheering crowds in Karnataka in 2013, though the party lost the election. And that's the reason why he bagged most of the parliamentary seats in the state the next year. Even now, a mention of Modi's name draws satisfied smiles from most people in Karnataka, though the novelty of having him as prime minister has dimmed and his government's performance has fallen woefully short of expectations. He is still the man they trust more than any other leader. Some BJP insiders hint at a hidden strategy behind deploying Adityanath in Gujarat and Karnataka. They imagine that Adityanath's Hindutva complements Modi's development pitch, to supply a potent combination that can sweep voters off their feet even before they know it. But it's doubtful whether this cocktail will get Karnataka voters on a high. The BJP seems to overestimate the role Hindutva could play in Karnataka. Hindutva was only one part of the BJP's growth story in the state. The rise and fall of BJP in Karnataka Year of election Assembly seats won (Total: 224) Vote share % 1983 18 7.93 1985 2 3.88 1989 4 4.14 1994 40 16.99 1999 44 20.69 2004 79 28.33 2008 (Forms government) 110 33.86 2013 40 19.97 The steep rise in the BJP's tally in 1994 was not just triggered by communal polarisation that came after the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition, but the blatant minority appeasement and corruption of successive Congress governments and the unseemly theatrics of the many avatars of the Janata Parivar also helped the BJP's growth. Besides, the upper caste Lingayats switched their loyalty to the BJP after chief minister Veerendra Patil, who belonged to the community, was unceremoniously sacked by Rajiv Gandhi from the airport in 1990. And in 2013, the BJP lost despite a spurt in the number of Hindutva-related incidents in the election run-up. Caste matters more than religion The departure of Yeddyurappa from the party, along with his Lingayat vote bank, also significantly contributed to the party's lowest ever performance in 2013 in four elections. Caste thus plays a larger role in Karnataka's politics than religion. Though Karnataka has more Muslims (12.92 percent of the population according to 2011 Census) than Gujarat (9.67 percent), it's a communally less sensitive state. Of Karnataka's 224 Assembly constituencies, 35 have more than 20 percent Muslim voters. Yet, the talk of Hindutva or Muslim-baiting can whip up emotions more in Gujarat than in Karnataka because of that state's border with Pakistan and its long history of Hindu-Muslim clashes. Adityanath's brand of Hindutva does catch the fancy of some people in Karnataka, but it stops short of setting the state on fire. He may swing some votes in a limited fashion in some areas, but not in a way that can tilt state-wide electoral scales. This doesn't mean Siddaramaiah can get away with Hindu baiting. He can't. Siddaramaiah's miscalculation Though firebrand Hindutva has few takers in Karnataka, the idea of Hindu identity has many. Siddaramaiah has been taking his policy of appeasing minorities to ridiculous levels. His recent claim that the"Ram" in his name establishes his Hindu credentials cuts little ice with voters who see him as protecting the interests of Muslims alone, with backward classes and Dalits thrown in. If BJP leaders hope that Adityanath can consolidate the Hindu vote for the party, they can save themselves that trouble. With his unmistakable tilt towards minorities, Siddaramaiah is already consolidating the Hindu vote for the BJP. The BJP doesn't need an Adityanath to come here to do that job and mess things up. Shyam Prasad, a 26-year-old Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parsihad (ABVP) activist was ruthlessly murdered on Friday in Keralas Kannur district, while he was returning home on his motorcycle. As per the BJPs account, this is in a series of 84 killings of BJP-RSS workers, in Kannur district alone. Political violence under Left-communist regimes is not an unusual phenomenon. In fact, it is as common as elections in a democracy. That is why we see ideological cousins of the CPI and CPM fighting in the jungles of Central India, against the authority of the Indian state, and against the rule of law imposed by the Indian Constitution, for over four decades now. The other state with a communist government, Tripura, has also seen political killings of at least seven BJP members. It should be a matter of concern for all the citizens of this country as to why such violence happens only under communist regimes. To answer this question, we also need to contextualize this in the global history of communist thought and its perpetuation. The Left in its entire history has used violence as a tool of state machinery, accession of power and perpetuation of its thought. Joseph Stalin, who for the first time created a communist state, and is considered to be the tallest communist leader of all times, had himself orchestrated numerous mass killings and genocides which can only be compared to the killings by Nazi Germany. There is a reason why whenever the Left argues against an adversary, especially the Right, the term Fascism is referred and not Nazism. This is so because Communist Russia was an ally of Nazi Germany for the initial part of World War II. It was not just a simple military alliance cemented by the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, 1939, but also an alliance of the methodology of killing. When the Soviet communists invaded Poland from the west, in collusion with Nazi Germany, they massacred people in thousands. One such incident is Katyn massacre where 82,000 people were murdered and buried in mass graves of Katyn forests of Poland. Later in the war, Stalin was so pained by the attack of Nazi Germany on his country, when Germany violated the pact, that he didnt speak anything for seven days and went into a state of shock. Another tall leader of communist thought, Mao Zedong of China, took communist lunacy to another level. He is believed to have murdered 1 million people, just to carry out land reforms in his country. Maos communist way of handling a famine was: When there is not enough to eat, people starve to death. It is better to let half of the people die, so that the other half can eat their fill. He caused the death of an estimated 50 million (5 Crore) people under his regime. Hence, it is important that we place the Indian Left and communist thought in the history they actually belong. Killing of a human being is not even a proper impediment, if it is in the way of the larger agenda of communism. All the talk of tolerance, syncretism and freedom to speech and expression, is not the true depicter of the communist thought. The Left is not the forbearer of the liberal constitutional values it claims to be, it never was in its entire history, anywhere in the world. The truth is manifested in the bloody violence that is unleashed from time to time even in our own country, but we choose to ignore it. In any other country following the model of a liberal democracy, like that of India, such amounts of indiscriminate killings would have been a cause of national furore and probably emergency. In India, ironically, we have become used to it. The Union Home Ministry, which is also accountable for upholding rule of law within the country, has also not risen to the occasion to take decisive action in this matter. It is ironical that the party ruling in the Centre has its party members being slayed in scores in one of the states, just because another party is in power there. Kerala is reeling under a textbook condition to be put under Presidents rule, because of the breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state. It can only be hoped that the Union government takes an urgent cognisance of the same, and restores the faith of the people in the administration. Raghav Pandey is a research fellow with the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay. He can be reached at raghav10089@gmail.com, Twitter: @raghavwrong Puducherry: The AIADMK on Saturday said it would seek disqualification of ruling Congress and DMK legislators in Puducherry "for holding office of profit," in view of the Election Commission's decision to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs in New Delhi on similar grounds. Addressing reporters in Puducherry, the party's legislature wing leader A Anbalagan said the 'office of profit' axe has fallen on 20 AAP MLAs in New Delhi with EC sending its recommendation to the president, suggesting their disqualification. "The development in New Delhi is directly applicable to Puducherry where the legislators belonging to the ruling Congress and its ally the DMK are holding 'office of profits' such as chairmen of government-owned undertakings and Parliamentary Secretary," he alleged. Anbalagan said AIADMK will give 15 days time to the MLAs "to relieve themselves of posts of chairmen and parliamentary secretary so as to remain only as legislators as my intention is not to disturb them." The party would send a petition to ECI after the lapse of 15 day-deadline, he added. While one Congress legislator is the parliamentary secretary to Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, two DMK members and five belonging to the Congress had been appointed chairmen of statutory bodies in Puducherry. The Election Commission had on Friday recommended to the President the disqualification of 20 MLAs of Aam Aadmi Party for holding office of profit, setting the stage for their ouster from the New Delhi Assembly. Questioning the move to associate Puducherry BJP President V Saminathan with the inauguration of a passport office in Karaikal, the AIADMK leader said, "Narayanasamy had not registered protest against the inclusion of the name of BJP president in both the official invitation and also the plaque erected at the venue of the function." External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had unveiled the plaque of the Post Office Passport Seva Kendra in Karaikal on Friday. Anbalagan also claimed that there were several lapses in the protocol to be adopted in a government function. Guwahati: To help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) make inroads in the four northeastern states that will go to polls this year Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram the party's ideological parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is set to hold a massive rally in Guwahati on Sunday. About 35,000 swayamsevaks (volunteers) from across the North East will converge in Guwahati for the programme. It's for the first time that the Hindu nationalist body is organising an event of this magnitude in the North East. Since 1994, the region has seen RSS gatherings in smaller cities like Dibrugarh and Shillong, but these never witnessed crowds of over 3,000 to 4,000. Sunday's rally, being organised in coordination with Luitporiya Hindu Sammelan, is an ambitious programme which was being planned since two years. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and senior leaders such as joint general secretary V Bhagaiah, Krishna Gopal Sharma and Dattatreya Hosabole will speak at the rally. Other national leaders such as Akhil Bharatiya Sharirik Pramukh in-charge Sunil Kulkarni and Saha Sampark Pramukh (public relations chief) Sunil Deshpandey will also be present. The programme is scheduled to begin with the 35,000-strong volunteer force singing 'Ami Luit Poriya Hindu' (we're Hindus of Brahmaputra valley). Briefing the media, RSS spokesperson for Assam, Sankar Das, said the purpose of this rally is to convey the Sangh's ideology and vision to the people of the North East. He said people harbour misconceptions about the RSS and the organisation wants to dispel these notions. He added that they want to make the Uttar Assam Pranth (a local division of the RSS) stronger. Eminent politicians, heads of village bodies, 20 titular tribal kings from the Karbi, Naga, Khasi, Hajong, Tiwa, Garo, Jayantiya, Mising and Hajong communities and more than 10 chiefs of different satras of Assam will be among the dignitaries attending the rally. (Satras stand for institutional centres associated with Vaishnavism, a sect in Hinduism) Hailing the record gathering expected, Das said the success of the event would boost the morale of the swayamsevaks and encourage others to join the organisation. He said 12,000 swayamsevaks would arrive in the morning by trains and about 23,000 would be brought by other means of transport. To arrange food for these volunteers, 300-odd RSS workers visited more than 30,000 households in Guwahati over three months, requesting them to donate food packets. About 25,000 households agreed to provide five packets each, amounting to a total of 1.25 lakh food packets. On Sunday, these packets will be collected between 7 am and 10 am from 300 pockets of Guwahati. Sangh's first foray in North East The RSS became operational in the country's North East in the mid-1940s when it set up its first base in undivided Assam, which then comprised the present-day states of Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya. For administrative purposes, the Sangh's northeastern arm is divided into two parts: Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, along with the southern parts of Assam, fall under the Dakshin Assam division. Northern parts of the state, along with Meghalaya and Nagaland, make up the Uttar Assam division. This became deeper in 1994, when Radhika Mohan Goswami, a prolific writer from Assam, met Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, popularly known as 'Doctorji', in Varanasi and evinced an interest in working for the organisation. Following that meeting, other locals from Assam such as Prafulla Bora, Keshav Deo Baawri, Shankarlal Tiwari and Girish Kalita also became associated with the Sangh. The RSS currently has 903 divisions running in 730 different places. Despite its presence in the region for more than 70 years, it wasn't until the recent Assembly elections that the Sangh's political unit BJP came to power in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. With elections in Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura round the corner, the party is going all-out to woo voters. The author is a Guwahati based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters Kolkata: The three-day Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) central committee meeting began in Kolkata on Friday to firm up the party's political and strategic resolutions which are expected to be adopted in Hyderabad party congress in April. According to party sources, two draft resolutions are likely to be considered in the meeting. One draft is expected to favour the adjustment with the Congress to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and it also proposes that the party should be open to a UPA-1 like political adjustment when the party had extended support to the Congress government at the Centre from outside. It is also learnt that the other draft is against any adjustment with any party and proposed the unity of the Left parties in the country to fight against the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Varanasi: People wearing black clothes were not allowed to attend a public rally in Varanasi to be addressed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. According to a police officer, the move was to prevent any protests from "troublesome elements". The police, however, did not explain why even media persons were also stopped from entering the premises. Shah and Adityanath are in Varanasi to attend an event named 'Yuva Udghosh' which is an attempt by the party to connect with 17,000 first time voters. Angry youngsters said they found the move objectionable as they were humiliated and barred from attending the event. Over thirty students have also been detained and barred from attending the event, an official confirmed. State BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey and State Organisational Secretary Sunil Bansal are also attending the high-profile event. Heavy security arrangements have been made at the venue of the event as Congress workers are learnt to be preparing for a massive protest against the BJP leaders, accusing them of letting down the people of Varanasi. Anti-BJP pamphlets were distributed by Congress workers on the Sigra square on Friday evening. The pamphlet holds Shah responsible for Justice Loya's death and also referred to him as a 'tadipaar' (Barred from entering the city). Owing to the apprehensions of protests, massive security arrangements have already been made and 12 Assistant Superintendent rank officials, 35 Deputy Superintendents, seven SHO's, 350 Sub Inspectors, 2,128 constables and nine companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary have been deployed for the event. tech2 News Staff In a rather unexpected twist, Samsung is now under investigation for intentionally slowing down older phones in order to sell new ones. Apple was recently caught deliberately slowing down iPhones with aging batteries. The uproar that immediately followed forced Apple to issue a statement apologising to users and offering a no-questions-asked $29 battery replacement program (Rs 2,000 in India) for all iPhones for a year. Apple CEO Tim Cook also confirmed that the next iOS update would give customers an option for disabling battery-related throttling. In Apples case, the decision to slow down iPhones was a sound one from an engineering perspective. Batteries deliver a certain amount of power to a phones components. As the batteries charge and discharge over time, they lose their ability to retain or deliver their designed power. When such a battery is under stress when a phone is running a demanding application, say its unable to deliver sufficient power and the phone reboots. Apples solution to the problem is to throttle the performance of the device to match the power delivery capabilities of the battery. Contrary to what one might expect, this move enhances the longevity of the product, keeping it slow, but usable. To get the device back to peak performance, one must simply replace the battery. This seems like a commendable move on Apples part, especially since no other device manufacturer appears to have even considered the possibility of optimising performance to battery capabilities. However, Apple took heavy flak for not coming clean about this measure. Customers were not informed that this was happening, and neither were they told that replacing the battery was a viable option. Apple is currently under investigation and facing several lawsuits over the issue because its not clear if Apple used aging batteries as an excuse to get consumers to upgrade their devices. When it was first revealed that Apple was indeed slowing down older iPhones, Samsung, LG and several other manufacturers quickly and gleefully issued statements saying that their phones werent being throttled in any way. However, it now looks like at least in Samsungs case, that might not be true. According to Slashgear, the Italian Antitrust Authority (Autorita Garante Della Concorrenza E Del Mercado) are investigating Samsung for deliberately slowing down older devices to get users to upgrade to newer models. Samsung and Apple both now stand accused of exploiting the shortcomings of some components to reduce the performance of their products over time and induce consumers to purchase new versions of the same, quotes Slashgear. Samsung issued a statement stating that they take various steps that ensure extended battery life. They also stated that they do not reduce issue updates that deliberately reduce CPU performance over the life of a phone. According the Authority, Samsung and Apple issued updates that negatively impacted the performance of their respective devices while neglecting to inform customers of the consequences. Beijing: Beijing on Saturday said it had dispatched a warship to drive away a US missile destroyer which had "violated" its sovereignty by sailing close to a shoal in the disputed South China Sea. The USS Hopper sailed within 12 nautical miles of Huangyan Island on the night of 17 January without alerting Beijing, the foreign ministry said, referring to the shoal by its Chinese name. Also known as Scarborough Shoal, the ring of reefs lies about 230 kilometres from the Philippines in the South China Sea, where Beijing's claims are hotly contested by other nations. The US vessel "violated China's sovereignty and security interests", and put the safety of nearby Chinese vessels "under grave threat", foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said. China's defence ministry said in a separate statement that a Chinese frigate "immediately took actions to identify and verify the US ship and drove it away by warning" it. The USS Hopper recently entered the US Navy's 7th Fleet area of operations, where the ship is on an "independent deployment", according to a statement released earlier this month on the Navy's website. Its mission in Asia involves "security cooperation, building partner capacity, and performing routine operations within the area". News of the encounter follows Friday's release of a new US national defence strategy that says America is facing "growing threats" from China and Russia. China is a "strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbours while militarising features in the South China Sea", the document says. China's defence ministry dismissed those claims on Saturday, saying "the situation in the South China Sea has steadily stabilised," in comments attributed to spokesman Wu Qian. But it added, "the United States has repeatedly sent warships illegally into the adjacent waters of the South China Sea islands and reefs." Beijing asserts sovereignty over almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea despite rival claims from Southeast Asian neighbours and has rapidly built reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. China seized Scarborough Shoal in 2012 after a brief stand-off with the Philippine navy. The shoal is also claimed by Taiwan. Washington: President Donald Trump marked the first anniversary of his inauguration on Saturday with his government in shutdown, accusing Democrats of taking Americans hostage with their demands and saying they "could have easily made a deal." As the clock struck midnight, in the absence of an agreed spending plan, federal services began to come to a halt or be scaled back. Essential services and military activity will continue but many public sector workers will be sent home without wages and even serving soldiers will not be paid until a deal is reached to reopen the US government. "Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border," Trump wrote in an early morning tweet. This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present. #DemocratShutdown Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 "This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present," he added. Vice President Mike Pence had earlier raised the issue of soldiers' salaries after meeting with US military personnel on a stopover in Shannon Airport in Ireland ahead of a three-country tour of the Middle East. "You have troops headed down range to Kuwait for six months and they are anxious about the fact that they aren't going to get paid right away," he told reporters. "It's unconscionable." A deal had appeared likely on Friday afternoon, when Mr Trump seemed to be close to an agreement with Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer on a measure to prevent the expulsion of undocumented migrants who arrived in the country as children. But no such compromise was in the language that reached Congress for a stop-gap motion to keep the government open for four more weeks while a final arrangement is discussed and Republicans failed to win enough Democratic support to bring it to a vote. The White House lashed out at Schumer, blaming him for the shutdown and doubling down: Trump's spokeswoman Sarah Sanders declared that he would never negotiate an immigration deal until Congress agrees to resume normal government spending. "Every American knows the Republican Party controls White House, the Senate, the House it is their job to keep the government open. It is their job to work with us to move forward," Schumer told the Senate, after the 50 to 49 vote. Schumer added he had also offered to discuss the possibility of building a wall along the border with Mexico, a key campaign pledge made by Mr Trump that is anathema to many Democrats. "Even that was not enough to entice the president to finish the deal," he said. Democrats accused Republicans of poisoning chances of a deal and pandering to Trump's populist base by refusing to fund a program that protects 700,000 "Dreamers" undocumented immigrants who arrived in the US as children from deportation. Republicans have a tenuous one-seat majority in the Senate but would have needed to lure some Democrats to their side to get a 60 vote supermajority to bring the motion forward. They fell ten votes short. There have been four government shutdowns since 1990. In the last one in 2013, more than 800,000 government workers were put on temporary leave. Donald Trump the mentally stable genius president of the United States of America has thrown Pakistan into the lap of Xi Jinping and given Beijing a golden opportunity to further increase its influence in Pakistan by "freezing" $2 Billion military aid to the Islamic republic. In Pakistan, "Beijing is fast replacing Washington DC... they (China) will move quickly to fill in this vacant space... they have done this in past, said a high-level source in the diplomatic community in New Delhi, adding that Washington DC is rapidly losing space to Beijing at the military headquarters in Rawalpindi. Currently, China supplies 63 percent of Pakistan's all military hardware while the US share has come down to 19 percent. Five years ago, both the countries were on equal footing, competing with each other. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), military hardware purchases by Rawalpindi has turned China into the third largest exporter of arms worldwide. Pakistan tops the list accounting for 35 percent of China's military exports with Bangladesh coming a close second. China quickly supplied the J-7, JF-17, and JF-31 multi-role fighter aircrafts and set up there manufacturing facilities in Pakistan after Washington DC stopped the supply of F-16 fighter aircrafts to Pakistan following intense lobbying by New Delhi in Capitol Hill. Now there are reports that Pakistan Air Force is in talks with China to buy 30 to 40 of the new Shenyang FC-31 stealth fighter jets, which is likely to give it an edge over the Indian Air Force. Pakistan Air Force also operates four Chinese-origin ZDK-03 (KJ-200) AWACS Airborne Warning And Control System. Wuhan-based China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) will provide the Pakistan Navy with eight modified diesel-electric advanced Yuan-class attack submarines, four of which will be built by the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KSEW) and will be fitted with air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems. There are reports that Pakistan Navy personnel have made sojourns on board the advance Shang-class nuclear attack submarine, which docked in Karachi. Some analysts say it's only a matter of time before Pakistan acquires a nuclear-powered attack submarine on lease from China. Pakistan Navy has four Chinese frigates and has ordered four more improved F-22P Zulfiquar-class frigates from China Shipbuilding Trading Corporation. The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman was very quick to defend Islamabad from the charges made in a tweet by US president Donald Trump. Spokesperson Lu Kangs comments that "China defends countries that make anti-terrorism efforts in a just and fair way" is contrary to its posture at United Nations where Beijing has blocked Massod Azhar being declared as a terrorist. The fear of Islamic terrorism (in Pakistan) influencing the pro-freedom movement in Muslim majority Xinjiang province in China is forcing Beijing to have a cosy and cordial relationship with the likes of Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed, who have never looked at and spoken about the atrocities committed on Uygur Muslims in the Xinjiang province. This clearly indicates that Beijing is slowly and steadily moving in to take "control and nurture" the "terror infrastructure" in the region. Successfully bringing together the two acrimonious neighbours and a possible agreement to extend the CPEC from Pakistan into Afghanistan has raised the hackles of Pentagon which saw Kabul drifting into the arms of Beijing. After committing $55 billion for CPEC, Chinese state-owned companies are now moving in to spend another $100 billion to set up mining and manufacturing industries in the region, showing Trump that $2 billion per year aid is peanuts. China is turning Gwadar into a de-facto military base at a very fast pace by building infrastructure and housing facilities for its forces. China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) does not want to dock submarines and ships at Karachi which it is too busy, unsafe and is turning into a hotbed for terrorists. Two fast patrol boats have been supplied to Pakitan Navy by China and two more will join soon to protect Gwadar. This strategically important base will increase close cooperation between the two militaries and further expand the Influence of PLA on Pakistan's armed forces personnel. It's also important to note that soon after Trump announced the withdrawal of military aid to Pakistan, for the first time in Pakistan, the ruling and opposition politicians and the military spoke in one voice. The response from Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Foreign Minister Khwaja Asif, Imran Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Bajwa was unanimous and clear that Pakistan does not want "aid" from Trump, and as an alternative, it will go to Jinping for "help". The statement by Bajwa that "Pakistan will not seek resumption of aid but expect honorable recognition of our contributions, sacrifices and unwavering resolve in (the) fight against terrorism for peace and stability in the region" has now sealed the fate of Americans. There are reports that General Joseph L Votel, Commander, US Central Command (CENTCOM), and an unnamed senator from the US failed to influence the Pakistan Army chief in a long telephonic conversation as Pakistan army remained on very high alert against any misadventure by the Americans. The statement by Pakistan Defense Minister Khurram Dastgir saying intelligence and military cooperation with the United States has been suspended after it froze military assistance, means that now Pakistani air bases cannot be used by the CIA to launch drone strikes on militants. The ISI has also reduced cooperation with CIA as Langley perceives it is a very unreliable partner. Recently United States Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Alice Wells, and senior officials from the US National Security Council (USNSC) got a cold reception in Islamabad. Wells' Pakistan visit, first from a senior US government official following the US president's Twitter outburst against Pakistan earlier this month, turned out to be a complete failure as the visitors were told that Islamabad and Rawalpindi do not need US dollars. Besides, with the central bank of Pakistan allowing yuan to be used for bilateral trade and investment activities, the Chinese Yuan is likely to replace the US dollar for transactions in the strategic CPEC. "Pakistan is standing up and saying no to Uncle Sam as there is full financial and military support from a new emerging superpower (China)," said a high-level military official summing up the whole scenario in the region. Now Jinping is all set to replace Trump as the Big Daddy in both Islamabad, the political capital of Pakistan, as well as its military capital Rawalpindi. Washington: US president Donald Trump will meet British prime minister Theresa May in Davos next week on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting, the White House said. Trump is scheduled to travel next week for the first participation by a US president to this meeting of world economic leaders in nearly two decades. "President Trump looks forward to having a bilateral meeting with UK prime minister May in Davos next week to further strengthen the USUK Special Relationship," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said. Sanders's statement in this regard indicated that there has been no change in Trump's Davos travel plan in view of a government shutdown beginning Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also scheduled to attend the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. The two leaders are unlikely to have a meeting in Davos mainly because of their different days of attendance at the forum meeting. Kabul: Four gunmen attacked Kabul's landmark Intercontinental Hotel on Saturday and started shooting at guests, officials said, in an assault that is still underway. "Four attackers are inside the building," an official at the National Directorate of Security (NDS) spy agency told AFP. They are "shooting at guests", he said. Another official said the attackers were armed with small weapons and rocket-propelled grenades when they entered the hotel, which often hosts weddings, conferences and political gatherings. "They are now on the third and fourth floors fighting with our forces. We don't know the details of casualties yet but they set the kitchen on fire," interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told AFP. The fourth floor of the hotel is also on fire, the NDS official said. Ministry of interior spokesman Najib Danish confirmed that several attackers have entered the hotel. "We don't know the details yet but our forces are in the area to bring them down," Danish said. There was no immediate information on casualties in the latest attack on the state-owned 1960s hotel, which is not part of the global InterContinental chain. Some of the occupants inside the hotel are hiding on the second floor, a security source said. A guest hiding in his room in the hotel told AFP he could hear gunfire. "I don't know if the attackers are inside the hotel but I can hear gunfire from somewhere near the first floor," he said without giving his name. "We are hiding in our rooms. I beg the security forces to rescue us as soon as possible before they reach and kill us." Electricity was cut after an initial explosion at the hilltop hotel, a counterterrorism source said. The Intercontinental was last targeted in June 2011 when a suicide attack claimed by the Taliban killed 21 people, including 10 civilians. Security in Kabul has been tightened since 31 May when a massive truck bomb ripped through the diplomatic quarter, killing some 150 people and wounding around 400 others mostly civilians. No group has yet claimed that attack. The Islamic State group has claimed most of the recent attacks in the Afghan capital, but authorities suspect that the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network has been involved in some of the assaults. The deadliest of the recent attacks happened at a Shiite cultural centre on 29 December when a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing more than 40 people. Cairo: US Vice-President Mike Pence headed for Egypt Saturday to begin a West Asia trip overshadowed by anger in the Arab world over Washington's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Pence had been due to travel to the region in December but controversy over president Donald Trump's decision to move the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem saw many planned meetings cancelled. While the deadly protests that erupted in the Palestinian territories at the time have subsided, concerns are mounting over the future of the UN aid agency for Palestinians (UNRWA). Washington has frozen tens of millions of dollars of funding for the cash-strapped body, putting at risk operations to feed, teach and heal hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees. The Palestinian leadership, already furious over the Jerusalem decision, has denounced the US administration and had already refused to meet Pence in December. But the vice-president's press secretary, Alyssa Farah, said he would still meet the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and Israel on the high-stakes four-day tour. Pence will arrive in Cairo on Saturday for talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi before travelling to Amman for a one-on-one meeting with King Abdullah II on Sunday. Key security partners The leaders of both countries, the only Arab states that have peace treaties with Israel, would be key players if US mediators ever manage to get a revived Israeli-Palestinian peace process off the ground, as Trump says he wants. They are also key intelligence-sharing and security partners in America's various covert and overt battles against Islamist extremism in the region and Egypt is a major recipient of aid to help it buy advanced US military hardware. Sisi, one of Trump's closest allies in the region, had urged the US president before his Jerusalem declaration "not to complicate the situation in the region by taking measures that jeopardise the chances of peace in the Middle East". Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Egypt's highest institution of Sunni Islam, cancelled a meeting with Pence in protest at the Jerusalem decision. The head of Egypt's Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II, did the same, saying Trump's move "did not take into account the feelings of millions of Arab people." After Jordan the custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem Pence will head to Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. He will also deliver a speech to parliament and meet President Reuven Rivlin during the two-day visit. Pence can expect a warm welcome after Trump's decision on Jerusalem, which Israelis and Palestinians alike interpreted as Washington taking Israel's side in the dispute over the city. Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 and later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognised by the international community. Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its united capital, while the Palestinians see the eastern sector as the capital of their future state. The international community considers East Jerusalem illegally occupied by Israel and currently all countries have their embassies in the commercial capital Tel Aviv. 'Matter of years' The State Department has begun to plan the sensitive move of the US embassy to Jerusalem, a process that US diplomats say may take years to complete. This week reports surfaced that Washington may temporarily designate the US consulate general in Jerusalem as the embassy while the search for a secure and practical site for a long-term mission continues. This could prove just as controversial as building a new embassy, however, as the building currently serves as the US mission to the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. And the facility sits astride the "Green Line" that divides Jerusalem. A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has yet to make a decision on either a permanent or interim location for the mission. "That is a process that takes, anywhere in the world, time. Time for appropriate design, time for execution. It is a matter of years and not weeks or months," he said. Pence himself a devout Christian will visit the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites of Judaism in Jerusalem's Old City, and pay his respects at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. Lima: Pope Francis strongly condemned corruption in Latin America as a "social virus" infecting all aspects of life, in stern remarks to Peru's president and high-ranking political leaders, several of whom are embroiled in the region's biggest graft scandal. Hours after decrying the destruction of Peru's Amazon, the pontiff warned President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and other leaders gathered that another, more subtle form of environmental degradation is also pervading society: Corruption. "How much evil is done to our Latin American people and the democracies of this content by this social virus," the pope said. "Everything being done to combat this social scourge deserves our utmost attention." The remarks come less than a month after Kuczynski narrowly avoided impeachment over $782,000 in payments Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht made to his private consulting firm over a decade ago when he served as a minister. Odebrecht has admitted to paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to officials throughout Latin America in exchange for lucrative public works contracts. The bribery scandal has ended the careers of some of Latin America's most prominent politicians and in Peru two former presidents stand accused of accepting money from Odebrecht while a third is under investigation. Peru has been jolted in recent weeks into a new period of uncertainty following Kuczynski's near ouster and the subsequent pardon of former strongman Alberto Fujimori from a 25-year prison sentence. The pardon sent thousands of Peruvians into the streets in protest and reopened wounds from a bloody chapter in Peru's history. While some Peruvians credit Fujimori with stabilising the nation's economy and defeating Maoist guerrillas in the 1990s, others condemn him for having permitted grave human rights abuses. Fujimori was convicted for his role in the deaths of 25 Peruvians in addition to having sanctioned the use of military death squads. In the weeks since his release, angry Peruvians have staged multiple protests and scrawled graffiti with phrases like "Fujimori never again" on buildings around the capital city. Kuczynski told the pope he hoped his visit would serve as "a push toward peace and dialogue". The president dodged impeachment after Fujimori's lawmaker son, Kenji Fujimori, and a small group of lawmakers from his party surprisingly abstained from voting in what many Peruvians believe was a quid pro quo to release the former president from jail. Both Kenji Fujimori and his sister Keiko Fujimori, a two-time presidential candidate, were on hand for the pope's remarks on Friday. Keiko Fujimori has been under investigation into whether she received money from Odebrecht during her campaign. Francis called for a greater culture of transparency between the public and private sectors and society in his speech, saying, "No one can be excluded from this process." Yangon: Rohingya militants on Saturday hit out at a repatriation plan for refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar set to begin next week, saying it aims to trap the Muslim minority in long-term camps while their ancestral lands are seized. Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to send back around 7,50,000 refugees who arrived since October 2016 over the next two years, a process set to begin as early as Tuesday. But the deal has been pilloried by many Rohingya refugees who say they do not want to return to Rakhine after fleeing atrocities including murder, rape and arson attacks on their homes. Rights groups and the UN say any repatriations must be voluntary with safety assured in a state where communal hatred still runs sky high. Concerns are also mounting about conditions in Myanmar, where hundreds Rohingya villages have been razed by soldiers and Buddhist mobs, with fears huge numbers of Rohingya will be coralled for the long-term in camps. In a statement circulated on Twitter the Arakan Rohingya Salavation Army (ARSA) said the "deceitfully and crookedly (repatriation) offering" will lock Rohingya in "so-called temporary camps... instead of allowing them to resettle in their own ancestral lands and villages". Citing the tens of thousands of Rohingya IDPs languishing in camps in state capital Sittwe since communal violence in 2012, ARSA said Myanmar's intention is to distribute Rohingya lands to industrial and agricultural projects. The aim is to "ensure a Buddhist majority" in Rakhine meaning Rohingya "will never be able to settle down" in their own homes, the statement on @ARSA_Official handle said. Most Rohingya are denied citizenship in Myanmar as well as free movement and other basic freedoms. They are officially described as "Bengalis" -- Muslim interlopers to a predominantly Buddhist land despite many living there for generations. The group has been driven out in successive waves since the late 1970s. The latest followed deadly co-ordinated attacks by ARSA in late August which sparked an army crackdown that sent 655,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh. They carried with them a cascade of accounts of rape, mass murder and torture. Beyond admitting its troops were involved in shooting dead 10 captured suspects, Myanmar's army has cleared itself of any wider wrongdoing. What the UN and US has described as "ethnic cleansing", the military says is a proportionate response to an attempt by Muslim militants to take over Rakhine. The state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar on Saturday carried photos of one of the reception camps for refugees at Taung Pyo Letwe, in Maungdaw, showing basic wooden structures closed off by high wire fences. The same outlet has this week carried several pages of colour headshot photos of the alleged 1,000 or more wanted "ARSA Terrorists". The photos, which include women and young men, with their names and 'father's names', have been circulated to Bangladeshi authorities urging them to handover the suspects. Dhaka is unhappy at the slow pace of the returns negotiated by Myanmar -- with only a few hundred likely to be processed each day. Washington: The Trump administration's first defence strategy seeks to maintain a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region and prepare America for a power competition with Russia and China, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis has said. Unveiling the new defence strategy, Mattis told a Washington audience great power competition not terrorism is now the primary focus of America's national security. As a result, he sought to increase the lethality of the American military. In an apparent reference to Russia, he warned against "threaten[ing] America's experiment in democracy". "If you challenge us, it will be your longest and worst day," he warned during his speech at the John Hopkins. "We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists, but great power competition not terrorism is now the primary focus of US national security," he said. "This strategy is fit for our time providing the American people military required to protect our way of life, stand with our allies, and live up to our responsibility to pass intact to the next generation those freedoms we enjoy today," he said. Rogue regimes like North Korea and Iran persist in taking outlaw actions that threaten regional and even global stability, he said, adding that oppressing their own people and shredding their dignity and human rights, they push their warped views outward. And despite the defeat of the Islamic State's physical caliphate, violent extremist organisations like the Lebanese Hezbollah, IS, and Al Qaeda continue to sow hatred, destroying peace and murdering innocents across the globe, the defence secretary asserted. "We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia, nations that seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models pursuing veto authority over other nation's economic, diplomatic, and security decisions," he said. As part of the defence strategy, he said the US is going to build a more lethal force, will strengthen traditional alliances while building new partnerships with other nations. Asserting that "everything we do must contribute to the lethality of our military", Mattis said changing US forces' posture will prioritise readiness for war fighting for major combat, making it strategically predictable for the allies and operationally unpredictable for any adversary. The 14-page unclassified version of the national defence strategy said that one of its objectives is maintaining favourable regional balances of power in the Indo-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and the Western Hemisphere. "A free and open Indo-Pacific region provides prosperity and security for all. We will strengthen our alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific to a networked security architecture capable of deterring aggression, maintaining stability, and ensuring free access to common domains," the strategy said. Without specifically mentioning India, Japan or other countries in the region, the strategy says with key countries in the region, the US will bring together bilateral and multilateral security relationships to preserve the free and open international system. China, it said, is leveraging military modernisation, influence operations, and "predatory economics to coerce neighbouring countries" to reorder the Indo-Pacific region to their advantage. As China continues its economic and military ascendancy, asserting power through an all-of-nation long-term strategy, it will continue to pursue a military modernisation program that seeks Indo-Pacific regional hegemony in the near-term and displacement of the United States to achieve global preeminence in the future. The most far-reaching objective of this defence strategy is to set the military relationship between our two countries on a path of transparency and non-aggression, the strategy said. "Concurrently, Russia seeks veto authority over nations on its periphery in terms of their governmental, economic, and diplomatic decisions, to shatter the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and change European and Middle East security and economic structures to its favour," it said. The use of emerging technologies to discredit and subvert democratic processes in Georgia, Crimea, and eastern Ukraine is concern enough, but when coupled with its expanding and modernising nuclear arsenal the challenge is clear, the strategy said. Johannesburg: First, there was outrage in Africa at US president Donald Trump's vulgar comment about the continent. Now some governments and tourism operators are humorously exploiting it to promote Africa's many attractions. Trump referred to African nations as "shithole countries" last week during a meeting in Washington, according to several participants. The president denied using that language. The Gondwana Collection, a private tourism operator in Namibia, has released a video featuring the southern African nation's wildlife and natural beauty. A narrator mimicking Trump's voice and repeating his remark invites people to visit "Africa's No 1" such country. He also reminds listeners of an earlier gaffe when Trump met African leaders and referred to a country called "Nambia," which doesn't exist. "You can fight the negative with the negative, or you can give some pushback with the tongue-in-cheek approach," Gys Joubert, Gondwana Collection's managing director, told The Associated Press. "We like the fun side of life. We are glad that we could create and share and send a few smiles around the world." Elsewhere in southern Africa, a Facebook page promoting Zambian tourism includes an image of a vehicle in a rugged setting and a slogan welcoming visitors to "(asterisk)(asterisk)(asterisk)(asterisk)hole Zambia." "Where beautiful vistas and breathtaking wildlife are our trump card!" says an accompanying post. It says it does not represent "the opinions of the official Zambia Tourism Agency, but that of an independent marketing site." Botswana's government, which also relies heavily on wildlife tourism, has posted images on Twitter of elephants and other animals drinking in the wild of what it calls a "waterhole country." BOTSWANA is a waterhole country. Images by visitors. #MyWaterholecountry pic.twitter.com/JeouSIkMzg Botswana Government (@BWGovernment) January 13, 2018 Botswana last week summoned the US ambassador to clarify whether the country really was held in such poor regard after years of good relations with the United States. Africa was the world's second-fastest growing region in tourist arrivals in the first 10 months of 2017, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. This week Huaweis Honor brand launched the Honor 9i smartphone, Samsung launched the Galaxy On7 Prime, Meizu introduced the M6s with side-mounted fingerprint sensor, OPPO launched a mid-range A83 smartphone and lots more in our weekly roundup. Huaweis Honor brand this week launched the Honor 9 Lite smartphone in India. It was introduced in China last month and packs a 5.65-inch full HD+ full-screen display with 18:9 aspect ratio, is powered by Kirin 659 SoC, similar most other mid-range Huawei and Honor phones, but this runs on Android 8.0 (Oreo) with EMIUI 8.0 out-of-the-box. It comes with a 13-megapixel front and rear cameras along with a secondary 2-megapixel rear camera to capture depth information for portrait shots. It has a metal frame, glass back, has a fingerprint sensor on the back that can unlock the phone in 0.25 seconds and packs a 3000mAh battery. It is priced at Rs. 10,999 for the 3GB RAM with 32GB storage version and the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version costs Rs. 14999. It will be available exclusively from Flipkart and Honor Store starting from January 21st. Samsung launched the Galaxy On7 Prime smartphone in the country. It has a 5.5-inch 1080p 2.5D curved glass screen, is powered by Octa-Core Exynos 7870 processor, runs on Android 7.1 (Nougat) and has 13-megapixel front and rear cameras. It features a metal unibody design and comes in two variants, one with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage and the other variant has 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. It has dedicated dual SIM slots and the fingerprint sensor is embedded into the home button. It comes with Samsung Mall app and Samsung Pay Mini. The Samsung Galaxy On7 Prime comes in Black and Gold colors, is priced at Rs. 12,990 for the 3GB RAM with 32GB storage version and the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version costs Rs. 14,990. It will be available exclusively from Amazon.in online starting from today, January 20th. OPPO launched A83 in the A series in India. It was introduced in China last month, has a 5.7 HD+ full-screen 2.5D curved glass display, is powered by MediaTek Helio P23 SoC with 3GB RAM, comes with a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera with support for A.I beauty technology as well as face unlock to unlock the phone quickly. It has dedicated dual SIM slots along with a microSD slot and packs a 3180mAh battery. It doesnt have a fingerprint sensor. It comes in Black and Gold colors, is priced at Rs. 13,990 and will be available from Flipkart and Amazon.in. Meizu just announced M6s that is also called S6 in China. It packs a 5.7-inch HD+ 18:9 display and is the first smartphone to be powered by Samsung Exynos 7872 Hexa-Core SoC with Mali-G71 GPU. It has a 16-megapixel rear camera with dual-tone LED flash and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. It has a Super mBack fingerprint sensor on the right side that can unlock the phone in 0.2 seconds and is also customizable to perform several actions. There is a Halo button below the display that has pressure sensor to perform the same mBack actions. It has a unibody metal design and packs a 3000mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging that can charge from 0 to 30% in 15 minutes. It comes in Champagne Gold, Matte Black, Moonlight Silver and Cobalt Blue colors, is priced at 999 yuan (US$ 155 / Rs. 9925 approx.) for the 32GB storage version and the 64GB storage version costs 1199 yuan (US$ 186 / Rs. 11909 approx.). It is already available in China. HTC announced HTC U11 EYEs, in the U11 series in Taiwan. It has a 6-inch full HD+ 18:9 display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 with 4GB of RAM. Like the original U11 and U11 Plus, this feature Edge Sense technology for squeeze interaction, but this runs on Android 7.1 (Nougat). It has the same 12MP HTC UltraPixel 3 on the back Optical image stabilization (OIS), dual LED flash and f/1.7 aperture and the main highlight of the smartphone are the dual 5-megapixel front cameras to for HDR Enhancement and Bokeh Mode to blur the background. It has a fingerprint sensor on the back and also comes with Face Recognition Unlocking. It has a glass back and packs a 3930mAh battery with support for Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging capabilities. It is also dust and water-resistant with IP67 ratings. It comes in Red, Silver and Black colors, is priced at NT$ 14,900 (US$ 504 / Rs. 32020 approx.), available for pre-order in Taiwan and ships from February 1st. Xiaomi introduced new 50-inch 4K HDR TV in the series. It has PatchWall, a UI layer on top of the Android OS thats based on deep learning AI technology. It can curate content based on recommendations. It also have Dolby and DTS Audio. It also comes with multi purpose Mi Remote Control, which also has infrared in addition to Bluetooth to work with most appliances such as setup box. It has Mi Touch that replaces traditional navigation buttons so you can use gestures to control your TV. It also has Speech Recognition for voice control. The Xiaomi Mi TV 4A 50-inch is priced at 2399 Yuan (US$ 372 / Rs. 23,830 approx.), and is available in China. Fitbit announced Ionic, its first smartwatch, Flyer, its latest Bluetooth wireless headphones with with durable, sweatproof design with hydrophobic nano-coating and Aria 2 Wi-Fi Smart Scale for the Indian market. All these were introduced back in August last year. These are priced at Rs. 22,990, Rs. 9,990 and Rs. 9,990, respectively and will be available in the Indian market from February. China-based Transsion Holdings TECNO Mobile launched Tecno Camon i in India. It has a 5.65-inch HD+ 18:9 FullView display, is powered by quad-core MediaTek processor and runs on Android 7.0 (Nougat) with the companys own HiOS on top. It has 13-megapixel front and rear cameras with LED flash, and the rear camera has quad LED flash. It has a unibody metal design, features a fingerprint sensor on the back, comes with dedicated dual SIM and a microSD card slot and packs a 3050mAh battery. It comes in Champagne Gold, Midnight Black and City Blue colors, is priced at Rs. 8999 and will be available from offline stores. Karbonn launched Titanium Frames S7, latest budget smartphone. It has a 5.5-inch 1080p 2.5D curved glass screen, is powered by a quad-core processor with 3GB RAM, runs on Android 7.0 (Nougat) and comes with 13-megapixel front and rear cameras with LED flash for both. It features a fingerprint sensor on the back, packs a 3000mAh battery and comes with a metallic finish on the back. It comes in Black, Champagne and Red colors, is priced at Rs. 6999 and is available exclusively from ShopClues. Motorola launched Motorola Sphere+ Bluetooth Speaker with integrated Bluetooth headphones in India. The speaker offers 2 x 8W (16W) watts of power and bass porting for a deep, rich listening experience. You can dock the headphones on the speaker base to charge, while transitioning seamlessly from one to the other so the music never stops. It comes in Black and White colors, is priced at Rs. 12,999 and is available from retail stores. LG introduced X4+, the companys smartphone in the X series in Korea. It has military grade durability with MIL-STD-810G that can withstand impact, vibration, high temperature, low temperature, thermal shock, and humidity and also has a dedicated digital to analog converter (DAC) for Hi-Res 32-bit 192 kHz audio listening. It packs a 5.3-inch HD screen, is powered by Snapdragon 425 SoC, runs on Android 7.0 (Nougat), has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front camera. It also comes with LG Pay, has aluminum back with fingerprint sensor below the camera and packs a 3000mAh battery. It comes in Moroccan Blue and Lavender Violet colors, is priced at 300,000 won (US$ 282 / Rs. 17,980 approx.) and will be available through all the three major carriers in Korea later this month. TAG Heuer announced the Connected Modular 41 Android Wear smartwatch which is the successor to the Modular 45 launched last year. The smartwatch will obviously run on Android Wear platform, but the version isnt clear. The Connected Module 41 measures 41mm in diameter and come in seven standard models. It is priced at $1200 (Rs. 76,085 approx.) and is already available to purchase online in selected markets. Ulefone introduced Armor 2S, a cheaper version of it. It packs that same 5-inch 1080p display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, has dust and water proof body with IP68 certification so that it can survive 1.5-meter depth in the water for an hour or 1-meter depth in concrete for 24 hours and packs a 4700mAh battery with fast charging. It comes in Dark Gray,Golden,Green and Red colors, is priced at $199.99 (Rs. 12670 approx.) and is available from online retailers. This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced last September it was on the hunt for a location for its second headquarters and has narrowed down its list of finalists to 20 cities. In two separate FOX Business interviews the Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto make the case for their respective cities would be best for Amazons second headquarters. We are really kind of soul sisters to Amazon, think about how theyve grown in the last 10 to 15 years, thats us. Weve created more jobs in America then any city in the United States, we know how to keep costs low, our cost of doing business is 12% lower than the medium, Rawlings told Stuart Varney on Varney & Co. According to the company, the winning city would get up to 50,000 high-paying jobs and $5 billion in investments. Amazon also expects to create tens of thousands of indirect jobs in the surrounding community as a result. The accessibility of Dallas and the technological advantages it has over all the other competitors are two reasons the mayor said will put the city above the others vying for the e-commerce giants attention. If you want to get to any place in America go to either coast and back in the same day nonstop to any place in the world, its an easier place to do business here. Plus weve got more technology than a lot of those cities on the list, Rawlings said. The Pittsburgh mayor argues that his city is one of the most cost-effective cities to do business. Once the eighth largest city in the nation, Pittsburghs greater metropolitan area currently stands as the 26th largest in the U.S. The median household income in Pittsburgh is $40,715, compared to $45,215 in Dallas, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Education level is also a factor in Amazons search with 91.4% of Pittsburgh residents being high school graduates or higher, while only 75.3% of Dallas residents are high school graduates or higher. We are one of the most affordable cities in America and are able to provide greater cost savings than the large subsidies other states are putting up. In Pittsburgh we have one of the lowest average home costs in the country around $100,000 and thats a quality home. The Midwest is the west coast of the east coast, but we dont have the costs and the expenses that come with it, Peduto told FOX Business Liz Claman on Countdown to the Closing Bell. While the Pittsburgh mayor believes that its colleges and research companies will out shine the other states. We have a talent pool in the city that is being fueled by our universities and the research companies from around the world that have basically created a North American global innovation center within Pittsburgh, he said. We have five separate companies that are experimenting on our streets right now with autonomous vehicles, predictive analytics, artificial intelligence and basically anything regarding robotics were back on the global stage. According to online bookie PaddyPower, Dallas has a 20-to-1 chance of winning Amazons bid while; Pittsburgh has an 8-to-1 shot and the leading city is Boston with a 3-to-1 chance of landing Amazon. The Trump administration's promise to exempt Florida from an offshore drilling plan is not a formal action, an Interior Department official said Friday in a statement that Democrats said contradicted a high-profile announcement by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Zinke has proposed opening nearly all U.S. coastline to offshore oil and gas drilling, but said soon after announcing the plan that he will keep Florida "off the table" when it comes to offshore drilling. Zinke's Jan. 9 statement about Florida "stands on its own," said Walter Cruickshank, the acting director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, but there's been no formal decision on the five-year drilling plan. "We have no formal decision yet on what's in, or out, of the five-year program," Cruickshank told the House Natural Resources Committee at a hearing Friday. Zinke's announcement about keeping Florida off the table, made during a Tallahassee news conference with Florida Gov. Rick Scott, will be part of the department's analysis as it completes the five-year plan, Cruickshank said. Democrats seized on the comment to accuse Zinke of playing politics by granting the Republican governor's request to exempt Florida while ignoring nearly a dozen other states that made similar requests. Florida Sen. Bill Nelson called Cruickshank's comments "stunning" and said they confirm what he and other Democrats had suspected that Zinke's statement was "nothing more than a political stunt" to help Scott run for Nelson's Senate seat. Scott is a friend and ally of President Donald Trump, and Trump has urged him to run for the Senate. Zinke's promise to take Florida off the table was "just empty words" until he takes formal steps needed to publish a new draft plan that excludes Florida, Nelson said. Heather Swift, a spokeswoman for Zinke, called the claims by Nelson and other Democrats false. "Cruickshank simply said BOEM will finish the legally-required analysis of the planning areas, as is always done for all planning areas," she said in an email. Scott said Friday he did not see Cruickshank's comments but was confident the Trump administration will not allow drilling in Florida. "Secretary Zinke is a man of his word. He's a Navy Seal. He promised me that Florida would be off the table, and I believe Florida is off the table," Scott told reporters Friday. Zinke announced plans two weeks ago to vastly expand offshore oil drilling from the Atlantic to the Arctic and Pacific oceans, including in more than a dozen states where drilling is now blocked. The five-year plan would open 90 percent of the nation's offshore reserves to development by private companies. The plan has drawn bipartisan opposition by coastal state governors from California to New Hampshire, with at least 11 governors formally asking Zinke to remove their states from the plan. Seven governors from Massachusetts to North Carolina submitted a joint request for exemptions this week. "Like Florida, each of our states has unique natural resources and an economy that is reliant on tourism as an essential driver," the governors wrote. The letter was signed by Republican leaders of Massachusetts and Maryland and Democrats from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Virginia and North Carolina. By exempting Florida but not other states, Zinke showed he is "more concerned with politics than proper process when it comes to making key decisions that affect our coastal communities," said Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Zinke's action may violate the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which governs drilling in U.S. coastal waters, Cantwell said. The law requires formal notice and a comment period before taking regulatory action. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., a member of the natural resources panel, told Cruickshank that the Interior Department has not offered "a single reason why Florida is more unique than California or Virginia or South Carolina or other coastal states." Oil industry groups have praised Zinke's plan, while environmental groups say it would harm America's oceans, coastal economies, public health and marine life. Nelson said this week he is blocking three Trump nominees for high-level Interior jobs to protest the drilling proposal. ___ Associated Press writer Gary Fineout in Tallahassee, Florida contributed to this report. In an ideal world, everyone would leave their retirement savings untouched until they retired. However, we live in the real world, and sometimes you need to dip into your nest egg early. In fact, nearly a third of Americans who participate in a 401(k) plan have taken money out at some point before retirement, according to a 2014 study from financial services firm TIAA-CREF. The problem is that taking money from your 401(k) or traditional IRA can be costly. The IRS imposes a 10% early distribution penalty on money you withdraw before you reach age 59 1/2, and you're also subject to income taxes on the money you take out (unless you're withdrawing from a Roth 401(k) account). For small withdrawals, these costs may not be too burdensome. But if you need tens of thousands of dollars, the penalty alone can drain your bank account. However, there are ways to take money from your tax-advantaged savings account without facing a penalty. The easiest is to simply wait until you turn 59 1/2, but if you don't have that kind of time, there are other options. Why withdrawing from your retirement savings should be a last resort First, it's important to note that while you can withdraw your funds from a 401(k) or IRA penalty-free, it doesn't necessarily mean you should. Even if you withdraw a relatively small amount, it can have a significant impact on your long-term savings goals. For example, let's say you currently have $50,000 in your 401(k), you're contributing $100 per month, and you're earning a 7% annual rate of return on your investments. Here's how withdrawing $5,000 from your 401(k) would affect your savings over time, assuming you continued to contribute $100 per month: In other words, that $5,000 withdrawal would cost you nearly $40,000 over 30 years, and that's not including any penalties or income taxes you may need to pay. That being said, if you've weighed all your options and decided you need to withdraw money from your 401(k) or IRA, there are a few situations in which the penalty is waived. Keep in mind that only the penalty is waived -- not the income tax. However, avoiding the 10% fee can soften the blow to your wallet. 1. Buying your first house If you're buying your first house, you can withdraw up to $10,000 for a down payment without paying the 10% penalty. Unfortunately, 401(k) withdrawals are not eligible for penalty-free withdrawals for homebuyers, but you can withdraw money from an IRA without facing any fees. With an IRA withdrawal, the maximum lifetime withdrawal limit for homebuyers is $10,000, and while you don't necessarily have to be a first-time homebuyer, you cannot have owned a home during the last two years. If you don't have an IRA, you can roll over money from a 401(k) into an IRA to get around the penalty. But because you can't roll over funds from your current employer, it will need to be a 401(k) from a former employer. If that's not an option for you, you can borrow from your 401(k) instead. You can take a loan of up to $50,000 or half of the vested balance of your 401(k), whichever is less (unless half of the vested account balance totals less than $10,000, in which case you can borrow up to $10,000). Most employers require that you pay the loan back within five years, and if you leave your job before the loan is paid off, you'll likely need to pay it in full within 60 to 90 days of leaving. Finally, you will need to pay interest on the loan, but that money is deposited back into your account. 2. Paying for certain medical expenses Medical bills are costly, and not everything is covered by insurance. Fortunately, if you're faced with a high bill that insurance won't cover, you can use some of your 401(k) or IRA funds to pay for it penalty-free. There's a catch to this, though: The penalty is only waived for expenses that exceed 10% of your adjusted gross income and aren't covered by insurance. In addition, you have to make the withdrawal in the same year that the medical expenses were incurred to avoid paying the 10% penalty. 3. Paying for health insurance premiums Even if you're unemployed, you shouldn't forgo health insurance. The average cost of a routine adult physical examination is about $200 without insurance, according to Blue Cross Blue Shield, and more expensive medical expenses, such as an emergency room visit or MRI, can cost thousands. After you've been unemployed for at least 12 weeks, you're eligible to withdraw 401(k) or IRA funds penalty-free to pay for health insurance premiums. If you have a spouse or dependents, you can use those withdrawals to pay insurance premiums for them as well. 4. Paying for college As with buying a home, 401(k) withdrawals used for college expenses are subject to the 10% penalty fee. However, in an IRA, there's no penalty on distributions for qualified higher-education costs. You can withdraw the full amount of your qualifying higher-education expenses from an IRA. The money doesn't just have to go toward your own college costs, either; it can also cover the expenses of your spouse, child, or grandchild. Qualifying expenses include tuition, fees, books, supplies, room and board, and more. Taking money from your retirement fund should never be your first resort, but it's a possibility if you have no other options. While you'll need to work a little harder to catch up on your savings after making a withdrawal, avoiding the 10% penalty can help ensure those withdrawals won't derail your retirement goals. The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The 401(k) is one of the greatest gifts to retirement savers, but millions of people are collectively leaving behind billions of dollars in nearly free money. As many as 25% of savers aren't fully maximizing the benefit of their employer match on their 401(k)s, leaving as much as $1,336 on the table each year, according to a report by retirement account manager Financial Engines. 401(k) matches add up to real money Most 401(k) plans have some kind of matching program wherein employers match employee contributions to a 401(k) with extra cash on top. A prototypical match is 50% of all contributions on up to 6% of the employee's pay. Thus, under this system, an employee who sets aside 6% of his or her salary would receive another 3% of this salary in his or her employer 401(k), boosting the savings rate to 9%. In terms of dollars and cents, this means that someone who earns $50,000 would contribute $3,000 (6% of pay), and thus score a free $1,500 (3% of pay) from his or her employer through the matching program. Why you should always max out your employer's 401(k) match Maxing out your employer's match is the financial equivalent of giving yourself a raise. The average potential match in the United States was 3.57% of employee pay, according to a 2010 report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's roughly equal to an extra paycheck once a year. People who max out their employer's match get the equivalent of an immediate risk-free return on their investment. Assuming your employer matches your contributions at a rate of 50%, you could be missing out on a 50% return on your money by contributing too little to your 401(k). Consider this scenario: Sally started working in 2007, earning a salary of $50,000 per year, which has since increased at a rate of roughly 2% per year. Since day 1, she's set aside 6% of her pay in her 401(k), which her employer matched at a 50% rate. She invested her money in an S&P 500 index fund, letting the stock market work its magic for her. Today, her 401(k) balance stands at nearly $99,800, more than three times what she has contributed from her salary, thanks to rising stock prices and her employer match, which is responsible for a third of the gains over time. A boon in bull and bear markets Sally really benefited from a bull market in stocks, but her employer match significantly reduced her risks during the 2008 downturn, which occurred shortly after she started investing. Her account balance only briefly declined to less than her cumulative contributions, all thanks to the buffer provided by her employer match. In effect, the employer match nearly eliminated the downside of investing in the stock market by papering over the losses she (temporarily) endured in the financial crisis. If you do just one thing to improve your finances in 2018, look at your 401(k) to double check that you're investing at least enough to get the full benefit of your employer's match. You could be missing out on thousands of dollars in free money every single year. The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies. Jordan Wathen 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. Late Friday night, the majority of the federal government shutdown when Congress hit an impasse on an interim spending bill that would have kept it temporarily operating because of largely partisan immigration disputes, leaving Democrats and Republicans eager to dodge the blame and marring the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trumps presidency. Its a Schumer shutdown without any question, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) told FOX Business Neil Cavuto. Every facet of the deal, the Democrats want. The one thing they do not want, is that they do not want the president in the position to make progress on the DACA issue on his timeline. So instead of dealing with the DACA issue before March 5, which weve all committed to doing, [Schumers] decided to make it a campaign issue and make us the demons. What happens next depends on Congress, which is in session on Saturday and will likely begin voting on different versions on the plan, Scott said, adding that he believes Congress will be able to pass a budget by now and the end of February. One such solution came from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) who proposed a continuing resolution, or C.R., that would extend the budge through Feb. 8, instead of the rejected Feb. 16 date. Through his suggestion, which earned him the approval of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Graham proposed to open debate on immigration, disaster relief, military and government spending. In light of these realities, Im hopeful there will be overwhelming bipartisan support for the February 8 proposal, Graham wrote on Twitter. In the meantime, federal employees will either be furloughed or will work without pay. The Internal Revenue Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency, will both be shutting down, along with tours of the Capitol. Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security checks will remain unaffected, and VA hospitals will remain open. The Senate voted 50 to 49 to block the bill (which needed 60 votes to pass), with most Democrats joined by four Republicans casting no votes against it. Democrats wanted to include provisions for the nearly 700,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, known as Dreamers, who were once protected by the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. While Republicans are also eager to provide Dreamers a path to legal status, theyre demanding significant concessions in return. I do realize, that without any question paramount to the presidents priorities, is making sure border security is infused into whatever deal we make on DACA, Scott said. Last week, a meeting between Trump and a bipartisan group of senators seemed to hint at a potential deal on immigration, but any thawing tensions were short-lived thanks to reports the next day that the president had allegedly used a vulgar term when referring to immigrants from Haiti and African countries. Adult actress Olivia Lua was found dead at a California rehab facility Thursday morning, making hers the latest in a series of tragic deaths to plague the adult film industry. LA Direct Models, Luas agency since April 2017, confirmed the 23-year-old's death in a statement, the New York Daily News reported. Much comment has been recently made on the number of adult stars having passed in the last year and with great sadness we must inform that the list has grown longer. We learned today that Olivia Lua passed away this morning may she rest in peace, the statement read. Luas family and friends were deeply concerned over the number of prescription drugs she was taking, and it is believed she died from mixing the drugs with alcohol, according to the agencys statement. The night before her death, Olivia tweeted a photo of herself with the caption I feel it everywhere, nothing scares me anymore. LA Direct Models acknowledged in its statement that this is the second porn actress at the agency to have tragically died. We at Direct Models obviously can barely believe we are issuing a notice such as this, not once but twice, in such a short space of time. Olivia Nova, who also worked at Direct Models, was found dead on Jan. 7 in Las Vegas at age 20. The Las Vegas Metro Police Department released a report confirming that she died after contracting sepsis from a severe urinary tract infection that spread to her kidney, Metro reported. The adult film industry has seen three other actress deaths recently. August Ames, 23, hung herself in December after she was labeled homophobic for refusing to have sex on camera with men who had done gay porn. Porn actresses Turi Luv, 31, and Shyla Stylez, 35, have also died. Luv, whose real name is Yurizan Beltran, died in December of a drug overdose. Recently retired from the adult film industry, Stylez died in her sleep in November. Fox News Diana Falzone contributed to this report. A couple of months before the 2016 election, and in the crucible of then-candidate Donald Trumps contretemps with a Muslim Gold Star family, I wrote a piece headlined Five Reasons a Sane Person Might Still Vote for Trump. Here we are, a year into the Trump presidency, and those five reasons still explain why I would again vote for President Trump. He is on the right side of these critical issues and is actually moving forward on promises he made on the campaign trail. That is rare. One: The economy. Even his critics have acknowledged that President Trumps economic agenda has unleashed the animal spirits of American capitalism. An acceleration in growth, continued job gains and a booming stock market are the direct results of the GOP tax cuts and the presidents rollback of excessive red tape. Federal agencies have withdrawn or delayed 1,579 planned regulatory actions. Rules already rescinded impacting restaurants, communications companies, power plants, finance, health care, oil drilling and many other sectors are estimated by the White House to be saving nearly $600 million annually. That number is sure to grow. Businesses are celebrating the loosening of red tape and the GOP tax reform law, which reduced corporate tax rates from 35 percent to 21 percent. CEOs of more than 170 large and small firms across the country have promised one-time bonuses or pay hikes to more than 2 million workers. Some have also announced beefed-up capital spending plans. This was the aim of the GOP tax bill; this immediate outpouring of benefits has exceeded expectations. The Trump agenda has boosted business optimism, which has led to an upturn in capital investment. Spending by companies, which had been flat during most of the Obama era, grew 6.2 percent in the first three quarters of last year. As even the unfriendly New York Times has reported, increased capital spending is linked to rising productivity, which is essential to higher wages. Two: ObamaCare. Democrats have fallen in love with ObamaCare now that the GOP has to manage it. In reality, while the health-care law has made insurance accessible to millions who could not afford it otherwise, middle-class Americans are increasingly finding that health care coverage is unaffordable. The Obama administration front-loaded the law, in part by offering generous subsidies to insurance companies to tamp down premiums, but the country is now feeling the real impact of President Obamas legacy legislation. President Obamas promise that his legislation "will cover every American and cut the cost of a typical family's premium by up to $2,500 a year" did not materialize. Notably, ObamaCare did not rein in the steady increase in health-care costs. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that last year the average worker paid $5,714 for a family health-insurance plan 30 percent of the total $18,764 cost. Five years earlier a family shelled out $4,316, or 27 percent of the total $15,745 cost on average. Bottom line: health-care costs have continued to rise faster than incomes. Republicans have struggled to repeal and replace ObamaCare. By eliminating the individual mandate they have now begun to dismantle its financial superstructure. This will pressure legislators to come up with new ideas to actually save people money like turning more of the system over to the states, and reforming Medicaid. Democrats know the current system is unsustainable; their answer is to double down and give the government an even greater role. That is exactly the wrong approach. I count on the Trump White House and Republicans in Congress to pursue free-market solutions that could meaningfully alter the trajectory of spending. Three: Education. When explaining to my liberal friends why I could not vote for Hillary Clinton, I often cited her opposition to charter schools. That often shut down the conversation. Being in bed with the teacher unions, who routinely shell out millions for Democratic candidates and work to turn out the vote, means standing by the status quo in our public education system. That system that is failing our children, and especially our children of color. That is the grossest liberal hypocrisy. High school is supposed to prepare kids for college. In 2016, ACT results indicate that just 38 percent of students who took the test were college ready in at least three out of the four subjects included: math, science, reading and English. Thats an appalling statistic, and only covers the 64 percent of the countrys young people presumably the most able who took the test. Thats not good enough. President Trump appointed Betsy DeVos, a champion of school choice, to head the Education Department signaling that his White House would challenge the unions grip on our bloated education system. Secretary DeVos has been subjected to the vilest hate campaign, mainly because she has been willing to spend millions of her own dollars searching for alternatives that might give low-income and minority children a leg up. Upward mobility, which Democrats pretend to care about, starts with a decent education. Four: The Supreme Court. The death of Justice Antonin Scalia imperiled the moderate balance of the Supreme Court. For conservatives alarmed by President Obamas overreach and the leftward drift of judges placed in lower courts over the past eight years, the appointment of a conservative on the court was essential. Neil Gorsuch was a brilliant choice. It is highly likely that another opening will occur in the next few years. We look to the Trump White House to again choose a capable and responsible candidate. Five: Dissatisfaction with government. Under President Obama, Americans became increasingly dissatisfied with the performance of the federal government. No wonder. Because of massive regulations, increased bloat and intrusions of every sort, public satisfaction with the way the U.S. is being governed fell from an all-time high of 59 percent in 2002 to 33 percent in 2016 near the end of President Obamas second term, according to a Gallup Poll. It has since fallen further, to 28 percent last September. State and local governments fared better in the Gallup Poll. Indeed, in 2016, 62 percent of Americans said they trust state government to handle problems and 71 percent said they trust local government to handle problems. The Trump agenda includes sending more power back to the states. This makes sense on so many levels, but Democrats love federal control. We have not seen much follow-through on this notion; we hope it will influence policy more visibly in the years to come. These are all critical issues. President Trump is on the right side of every one. Would I vote for him again? In a heartbeat. The sky is falling, the sky is falling! Chicken Little shouted in the classic childrens story dating back to the early 1800s. And now we have the 2018 version: The government is shut down! The government is shut down! OK, let me give you some breaking news: The sky didnt fall on Chicken Little. And the federal government didnt really shut down as is cease all operations Saturday morning when Congress failed to approve a spending bill to keep it operating. In fact, the federal government never shuts down completely. Although the shutdown officially began the moment Friday turned into Saturday at midnight, the federal government continues providing many crucial services without interruption. A partial government shutdown is not a good thing, of course. It represents a failure of our elected leaders to do the most basic part of their jobs, as required under the Constitution. And it wastes billions of dollars. Despite the failure of Congress to fund continuing government operations, a vast number of government functions are continuing and will continue during the misnamed shutdown. If past practice is followed, federal employees will be paid retroactively for their missed paychecks after the shutdown ends meaning hard-working taxpayers will be paying furloughed government workers to sit at home and do nothing. Dont blame furloughed federal workers for taking money for nothing. Theyre not even allowed to volunteer their time to stay on the job. Blame a dysfunctional Congress, which cant even pass an annual budget and lurches from crisis to crisis to pass short-term spending bills just to keep government up and running. Can you imagine any business operating like this? Despite the failure of Congress to fund continuing government operations, a vast number of government functions are continuing and will continue during the misnamed shutdown. This includes all services deemed essential for national security and public safety such as the military and law enforcement as well as mandatory government payments such as Social Security and veterans benefits. Federal spending is governed by the Constitution, federal law, Justice Department legal opinions, and planning memoranda issued by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Article I of the Constitution says that the Treasury Department cant spend money unless it has been appropriated by Congress. The federal Antideficiency Act (ADA) makes it illegal for federal officials to spend money in excess of congressional appropriations and prohibits the government from accepting voluntary services. However, the ADA also contains an exception that allows funds to be spent for emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property. In a series of legal opinions by the Department of Justice, that exception has been broadly interpreted to allow spending by government agencies on what are considered essential functions. This includes continued employment of federal employees who are necessary to carry out those essential functions. In a 1981 memorandum, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) lays out examples of the many government functions of federal agencies that can continue during a funding lapse: National security, including the conduct of foreign relations essential to the national security or the safety of life and property. Benefit payments and the performance of contract obligations under no-year or multi-year appropriations or other funds remaining available for those purposes. Medical care of inpatients and emergency outpatient care and activities essential for the safe use of food, drugs, and hazardous materials. Air traffic control and other transportation safety functions. Border and coastal protection and surveillance. Protection of federal lands, buildings, waterways, and other property of the U.S. Care of prisoners and others in federal custody. Law enforcement and criminal investigations. Emergency and disaster assistance. Activities essential to the preservation of the money and banking system of the U.S., including borrowing and tax collection. Production of power and maintenance of the power distribution system. Protection of research property. In a 2011 memorandum, OMB provided other examples where federal agencies would continue to function during a so-called government shutdown, such as when federal law expressly authorizes an agency to obligate funds in advance of appropriations. This includes, for example, a Civil Warera law that allows the Defense Department to contract for necessary supplies, or another federal law authorizing the Bureau of Indian Affairs to continue to contract for goods and supplies. Critical military operations continue, as does funding that enables the president to carry out his constitutional duties including as commander-in-chief and in the area of foreign relations. A 1995 Justice Department opinion confirmed that essential government benefit payments continue, because they operate under indefinite appropriations provisions that do not require passage of annual appropriations legislation. This means that government checks for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and benefits to veterans and others will continue to be paid. Airports will keep running, as will federal prisons, and the Border Patrol will still patrol our borders. A shutdown is not the end of the world. There have been numerous funding gaps and government shutdowns, such as the one in 2013 that lasted for two weeks during the Obama administration. In 1995, when the government shut down for five days after Bill Clinton vetoed a continuing resolution, so many federal employees continued to work as essential personnel that only 800,000 out of a total of 4.465 million federal employees were furloughed less than 18 percent. Trump OMB Director Mick Mulvaney points out that Obama weaponized the shutdown in 2013 for political purposes by closing down popular attractions such as national parks and monuments to cause as much frustration as possible to taxpayers. He vowed that the Trump administration would not do that. Of course, that doesnt mean a shutdown is good policy or that Congress should not fulfill its duty to appropriate necessary funding, particularly for our military and needed social programs. But holding appropriations hostage in an attempt to extort an amnesty deal for illegal aliens is neither good governance nor good politics. Hurting law-abiding citizens and taxpayers in favor of illegal aliens who have violated our laws makes no sense. Melania Trump, who on Saturday marks the end of her first year as first lady, has conducted herself with grace and dignity. Shes had to navigate an onslaught of detractors and a hostile media that follow her every move, looking for any opportunity to undermine her efforts and diminish her position. The first lady carries herself with an understated elegance and, known for her privacy, shes measured in her words and actions. Since she chooses to stay below the radar most of the time she doesnt give her critics much material to work with. But have no fear, theyll resort to schoolyard antics. We saw a lot of that this year. It didnt take long after the election results were in for a barrage of designers to begin announcing they would refuse to dress the first lady. Among them, Sophie Theallet, who said: As one who celebrates and strives for diversity, individual freedom, and respect for all lifestyles, I will not participate in dressing or associating in any way with the next First Lady. Liberals never seem to get the irony of demanding diversity, freedom and respect while refusing to give the same things in return. The street has two lanes, but they think they own both. Liberals never seem to get the irony of demanding diversity, freedom and respect while refusing to give the same things in return. The street has two lanes, but they think they own both. Then there was stiletto-gate, an absurd debate about the first ladys choice of shoes. Otherwise known as much ado about nothing. Mrs. Trump became front-page news and lit up Twitter when she left the White House wearing high heels to get on Air Force One to go to Texas with President Trump to assess damage from Hurricane Harvey. Never mind that when the plane landed she walked off wearing sneakers. The vultures saw their window of opportunity to attack and went for it. In a world where major newsworthy events are happening every day, news outlets picked the first ladys shoes as the big event worth highlighting. Mrs. Trump has also been criticized for her anti-cyberbullying campaign because her critics think its at odds with the presidents Twitter habits. The first lady has said of her initiative: It is never OK when a 12-year-old girl or boy is mocked, bullied or attacked. It is terrible when that happens on the playground and it is absolutely unacceptable when its done by someone with no name hiding on the internet. The first lady is her own person, and no matter your opinion of the presidents tweets, those on the other end of them are not children. Entertainer Chelsea Handler, always good for a hysterical tirade, also went after the first lady, accusing her of not being able to speak English. Newsflash to Handler: Mrs. Trump speaks five languages. The only language Handler speaks is the feminist fiction that she and her liberal Hollywood friends unleash on anyone who disagrees with them. Her attempt at trying to make Mrs. Trump sound unintelligent missed its target, but ricocheted back and found a new one. Perhaps Handler could learn a few things about grace from the first lady. Melania Trumps critics also took the opportunity to use this years White House Christmas decorations to bash her, something somewhat unprecedented. Phrases like house of horrors were used to describe the decor. The New Yorker referred to Mrs. Trump as a wicked queen, and she was repeatedly criticized for wearing a coat while decorating the Christmas tree. One hallway in the White House was decorated in all white and lined with trees. The first ladys detractors compared it to The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Blair Witch Project, and The Shining. She was even criticized at one point during the White House Christmas festivities because she was caught interacting with predominantly African-American children. The Trump administration is supposed to be racist, so Mrs. Trumps haters needed to change that narrative. Their answer: accuse her of staging the encounter. Mrs. Trumps first year as our countrys first lady has been a success. Shes kept her composure despite unprecedented attacks against her husband, her son, and herself by a media intent on making news instead of reporting it. Through it all shes kept a low profile while holding her head high. All the intolerant women on the left could learn a lot from Melania about dignity and respect if they stopped talking long enough to listen. Much has changed since President Trump took the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2017. But one thing has remained constant the anger and vitriol directed at the president from the left, many Democrats, many in the media, and even some folks who call themselves Republicans. Few presidents have been so demonized and denounced. The president has been accused of being incompetent, a racist, mentally ill, senile and corrupt. Investigations of his alleged collusion with Russia to win the election go on and on and on with no end in sight. The resistance to President Trump has gotten so hysterical that Jen Statsky, a writer and comedian who has written for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon; Parks and Recreation and Broad City even tweeted that if you support Trump you should have your children taken away, etc etc. Now that weve arrived at the one-year mark of the Trump presidency, Ive done some soul-searching regarding my support of the man elected by the American people to lead our nation. As a black woman, a mother and a veteran, am I doing the right thing to continue backing President Trump? Is he really as awful even evil as his critics claim? Are his ideas half-baked and dangerous? Is he harming the nation I love? And what does my support for President Trump say about me? By backing a man so hated by some am I compromising my integrity and values? Can I be pro-Trump and still be a good person? When I looked at the presidents policies and not just his tweets I decided that yes, I could be pro-Trump and still live my life with integrity. When I looked at the presidents policies and not just his tweets I decided that yes, I could be pro-Trump and still live my life with integrity. Let me tell you why. First, as a black woman, I believe President Trumps overall impact on the black community has been positive. Like many people who joined me in voting for Donald Trump in 2016, Ive attended several of his campaign rallies. I have never been more warmly welcomed. My children had surrogate parents, uncles, aunts and cousins for a night, and were enveloped in the excitement and pride of being an American. Beyond these personal anecdotes, however, are real markers that show President Trumps impact on the black community. The December unemployment rate for black Americans fell to 6.8 percent the lowest level in 45 years. Thats one full percentage point meaning that roughly 480,000 more jobs are now held by black Americans. This is not just a statistic it is about changed lives. Additionally, the spread between black and white unemployment, measured as the black rate minus the white rate, fell to 3.1 percent, also the lowest on record. Would I like the black jobless rate to drop to the level of the white jobless rate? Of course I would! I have no doubt that President Obama wanted this as well. But under President Trump we are moving in the right direction, and I hope the unemployment gap between the races continues to shrink. Couple this with the tax cuts signed into law by President Trump that are designed to incentivize companies to invest in the U.S., create more American jobs and lift stagnant wages; a booming stock market; and over a 100 companies giving bonuses and other benefits as a result of those tax cuts and widespread deregulation undertaken by the Trump administration. All of this makes for a strong economy that is good for everyone. As one old saying goes, you cant have employees without employers and as another saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats. Second, as a military veteran, I see that President Trumps impact on veterans has been positive. There are over 20 million veterans. Tragically, an average of 22 commit suicide every day. As a veteran, this horrible statistic is very painful for me. While we have done our fair share of haggling over health care and tax reform, the VA has not been stymied. Secretary of Veteran Affairs David Shulkin has made important progress and managed to rise above the partisan divide. Veterans are getting their benefits faster. The backlog of veterans waiting more the 125 days to get a decision on their disability benefits has fallen from 611,000 to about 86,000. The G.I. Bill has become the Forever G.I. Bill, allowing veterans to now pursue educational opportunities with government financial aid with no timing restrictions. Furthermore, under President Trump, a new law now makes it possible to drain the VA of employees whose poor performance and mismanagement led to poor treatment of vets. The VA still has problems. But I see significant progress. These policies are good and are a reflection of decisive leadership. Finally, as mother, I believe President Trumps impact has been positive for my children. National security matters just as much to me as making sure I lock every door before going to bed each night. As I demand to know who is entering my home, I think its only reasonable to demand that we know who is entering our country. Ive read President Trumps 70-point immigration plan. As a mother, I do not understand what is so un-American about terminating the outdated catch-and-release of those who have been charged with a crime that resulted in the death of another person. Ive spoken to a mother who lost her only child in a fatal car accident involving an illegal immigrant who had prior drunk driving convictions. As a mother, I do not have a child to spare. So I feel no shame in supporting President Trumps plan to expand the grounds on which an illegal immigrant can be deported to include those convicted of multiple drunk-driving offenses. What is so wrong about making sure known gang members do not receive immigration benefits? Why should we financially support that? I believe each of the 70 points, including building a wall on our southern border, are reasonable and necessary. They are the first of many steps to Make America Safe Again. Remember, we dont lock our doors at night because we hate the people on the outside of our home. We lock our doors at night because we love the people on the inside of our home. To do anything less is to be derelict of our first duties protecting the family and preserving our nation for the next generation. Looking at all the above issues, Ive come to the conclusion that yes, I can be a good person and support President Trump. Is he perfect? Am I happy about everything he says and tweets and does? Of course not like all human beings, he has his flaws. But elections are not about picking perfect people. They are about picking the best person running for an office to fill that office. And looking back at President Trumps first year in office, I remain convinced that he was the better candidate for president in 2016. Heres my assessment of President Trump as we mark the first anniversary of his inauguration Saturday: I have known nine presidents, beginning with President Richard Nixon. Of those nine, the only one who was as effective as President Trump in his first year was President Ronald Reagan. That judgment may surprise a lot of people, because the opposition in the news media and among the left-wing resistance has been so strong and one-sided that they have consistently misrepresented and maligned President Trump and his administration. This effort has produced a distorted, minimized view of what has been accomplished by this remarkably energetic and controversial commander-in-chief. To understand the current distortions, remember what a year ago was like. In January 2017, it seemed amazing that this businessman-publicist-marketer defeated 16 other Republicans for the GOP nomination and then defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the presidency. It seemed equally extraordinary that Donald Trump carried Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin in the presidential election. These were states that had consistently voted for Democratic presidential candidates in recent years. One could have made a lot of money betting on the entire trifecta going to Trump. So, in a highly polarized world of intense media hostility with overwhelmingly negative coverage of President Trump, how can we assess his first year? These achievements sent the left into a state of shock. The day after President Trumps inauguration, they organized mass rallies in Washington and other cities across the country. Left-wing protestors promised resistance to the so-called imposter, who they simply could not accept as president of the United States. At the rally on the National Mall, Madonna proclaimed: I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House. The crowd loved it. Professor Allen Guelzo, the Henry R. Luce Professor of the Civil War Era and Director of Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College, commented that the last time we saw this depth of hostility and contempt for a president was after the election of Abraham Lincoln. The slave owners of the South absolutely loathed him. One year after President Trumps inauguration, the lefts hostility toward him is even worse. The White House press corps reaction to White House physician Dr. Ronny Jacksons briefing on President Trumps annual physical was a perfect example of this hostility. The medias antagonistic (and just plain stupid) questions proved the propaganda war against Trump was not going away. Dr. Jackson a highly respected Navy rear admiral, who served as a physician in both the Bush and Obama White Houses clearly and explicitly reported to the media that President Trump was in excellent physical health for his age and that he had completed a flawless cognitive exam. Yet the White House press corps doggedly repeated ludicrous questions, clearly seeking to undermine the doctors assessment and skew his report to fit the phony narrative that the president is unfit for office. This Trump Derangement Syndrome that the media unfortunately suffer from has become a major barrier to accurate coverage of the Trump presidency. So, in a highly polarized world of intense media hostility with overwhelmingly negative coverage of President Trump, how can we assess his first year? The best way is to look at results and measure them against what candidate Trump said he would try to accomplish. Trump promised to appoint conservative judges to the federal courts. He received advice from Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society. He also benefitted from remarkable leadership in the Senate by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. R-Ky. And then President Trump nominated and won confirmation for Neil Gorsuch for a seat on the Supreme Court. Gorsuch is a justice dramatically more conservative than anyone Hillary Clinton would have appointed. Additionally, in Trumps first year in the White House, 12 federal appellate court judges have been approved by the Senate. As Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, pointed out, no other first-year president has seated this many appellate court judges in the 228-year history of the appellate courts. President Trump is also now, without question, the all-time champion of rolling back red tape, as he has taken on the Washington bureaucracy and deregulation. Under President Trump, Congress has eliminated 14 Obama-era regulations through the Congressional Review Act. The current estimate is that the Trump administration is repealing 22 regulations for every new one it has created. This is a major contribution to economic growth and a big plus in implementing campaign promises. President Trump promised a new, smarter, lower-risk strategy to enable the military to do its job and defeat ISIS. ISIS has lost virtually all its territory at minimum risk. This is yet another promise kept. Iran and North Korea must be considered works in progress. Neither problem has been solved but neither has imposed its will up to now. Announcing that the American Embassy in Israel would be moved to Jerusalem is another campaign promise on which the president followed through, and it doesn't seem to have caused any major disruption in the Arab world. President Trumps instincts for rebuilding the American military are right, but he has not yet solved the problem of getting Congress to pass the stable funding stream the military must have. On the other hand, the president methodically waged a disciplined 11-month campaign to get the large tax cut he believes the American economy needs if it is to grow faster. The response of the American business community to the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has been more positive and more visible than anyone could have hoped. President Trump is also making good on his pledge to make better trade deals for America. Saudi Arabia alone signed as much as $400 billion in contracts with American companies during the presidents visit to Riyadh. As a result of President Trumps economic leadership, the new normal of less than 2 percent annual economic growth is rapidly being replaced by estimates in the range of 3.5 to 4 percent. At the same time, the black unemployment rate is down dramatically, and CEO and small business confidence are up dramatically. The first year has seen some disappointments. Failing to repeal ObamaCare was painful. Not getting started on infrastructure has been disappointing. Failing to develop conservative solutions for poverty in America has been unfortunate. Allowing symbolic language and arguments about race to drive people apart has been counter to the promise inherent in President Trumps Inaugural Address. However, on balance, it is fair to say President Trump has already achieved so much that he rivals Reagan as an effective, focused leader. We are incredibly fortunate to have him in the White House as our nations 45th president. A member of the U.S. mens figure skating team got his costume in a twist because Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to lead the U.S. Olympic delegation to South Korea in February. Adam Rippon, the 2016 U.S. mens figure skating champion, had an outburst telling USA Today he would prefer not to shake the vice presidents hand before the opening ceremony. Click here for a free subscription to Todds newsletter: a must-read for Conservatives! Mr. Rippon is believed to be the first openly gay Winter Olympian and he took great umbrage at the vice presidents devout Christian faith. You mean Mike Pence, the same Mike Pence that funded gay conversion therapy? Rippon snarled. Im not buying it. Mr. Rippon, the poster child for tolerance and diversity, went on to say the vice president and the Trump administration do not represent his personal beliefs. Americas fast-growing conservative podcast! Click here for the Todd Starnes Podcast! I dont think he has a real concept of reality, Mr. Rippon said. To stand by some of the things that Donald Trump has said and for Mike Pence to say hes a devout Christian man is completely contradictory. If hes OK with whats being said about people and Americans and foreigners and about different countries that are being called s***holes, I think he should really go to church. Sadly, Mr. Rippon did not bother to do his homework before attacking the vice president. It turns out he has long been adamant he never supported conversion therapy. The vice president is proud to lead the U.S. delegation to the Olympics and support Americas incredible athletes. This accusation is totally false and has no basis in fact, the vice presidents spokesperson said. Despite these misinformed claims, the vice president will be enthusiastically supporting all the U.S. athletes competing next month in Pyeongchang. The skater also said he will not be attending a post-Olympic celebration hosted by President Trump at the White House. Lets just hope the snowflake can muster the decency not to stage some sort of protest during the Olympics. Its one thing to embarrass yourself in USA Today its another thing to embarrass an entire nation. I will participate in no form of protest. Im representing myself and my country on the world stage, he reassured the newspaper. What makes America great is that were all so different. Its 2018 and being an openly gay man and an athlete, that is part of the face of America now. Adam Rippon may know how to land a triple axel, but when it comes to civility and grace, hes skating on thin ice. One year ago this weekend, liberal women flowed into our nations capital and other cities across America for a march to protest the inauguration of President Trump. And on Saturday, women and some male supporters again gathered in Washington and hundreds of cities to protest against the president and in support of protection for illegal immigrants and other liberal causes. While the Saturday protests were underway, Congress was trying to figure out how to reach agreement on a spending bill to end the government shutdown that began Saturday morning. Donning pink hats resembling womens sacred body parts suddenly exposed for all to see, protesters last year expressed fury that against all odds a white, male Republican who never before held public office somehow bested their longtime feminist-in-chief Hillary Clinton. How dare he stop Hillary from shattering the glass ceiling! The glass ceiling the protesters had envisioned shattering entirely was instead left in shards that got under their skin deep under their skin. The glass ceiling the protesters had envisioned shattering entirely was instead left in shards that got under their skin deep under their skin. After much public dialogue over the last year, the questions must now be asked: What exactly has the Womens March accomplished and are the protesters capable of turning their angst into action? Will Saturdays protests accomplish anything more, or just serve as a self-affirming feel-good moment for President Trumps opponents? While the Womens March last year certainly served as an outlet for liberals to gather and share their election depression, there was no real call to action. There was no plan for attendees to return to their respective hometowns, run for office, nor do anything differently than they had done before the 2016 election. Quite frankly, without that kind of action the Womens March risks becoming nothing more than annual group therapy. Whether the protesters can now turn their angst into action remains to be seen. Thus far, the Womens March already falls short on tangible results when compared to other recent populist movements. By comparison, the Tea Party movement that sprang in the spring of 2009 accomplished far more in their inaugural year than the Womens March has. In record speed from the moment the movement was invoked on February 19, 2009 from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to the ensuing raucous Tea Party rallies that played out on the steps of cities from coast to coast Americans watched as their government was taken back by the people. However, the Tea Party movement didnt stop at the rallies. They quickly rolled up their sleeves and got to work, putting aside their differences with their own party and often volunteering at local GOP headquarters, signing up for campaigns, knocking on doors and mobilizing Get Out the Vote efforts. Unlike the Womens March, the Tea Party movements swift action yielded instantaneous results that were impressive; record-breaking, in fact. In 2010, just one year after launching, the Tea Party movement helped Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives. Credit was widely given to the Tea Party, which staged vigorous protests of Congress members town hall meetings back in their home districts, successfully shined a light on House races and made ObamaCare a central issue. In 2014, the Tea Party movement helped Republicans win the U.S. Senate and win the largest Congressional majority in American history. With the staggering loss of 50 seats in Congress, Democrats suffered their largest defeat in decades. And in 2016, in arguably a continuation of the populist revolution, the Tea Party helped put Donald Trump in the White House in what Politico called the biggest upset in American history. The Womens March has no such scalps on the wall. In fact, the movement hasnt yielded any new stars. Whereas the Tea Party movement spawned stars such as Republican Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Joni Ernst of Iowa both leaders in their respective classes today no one has wanted to attach themselves to the Womens March. However, leaders of the Womens March may have realized their risk of falling into political oblivion, because the organization announced new components to Saturdays marches. The protesting women are launching a nationwide voter registration campaign to recruit more women to vote, and aim to affect the midterm elections in November. The strategy just might work as the Womens March has joined forces with Rock the Vote, a movement that registered youth to vote in the 1992 presidential election and impacted the presidential race in favor of the saxophone-playing, boxers-or-briefs-clad Bill Clinton. If the Womens March is able to recruit talented people from Rock the Vote who succeeded in previous voter registration outreach campaigns, the group has a chance to deliver on its promise. If the Womens March is able to recruit talented people from Rock the Vote who succeeded in previous voter registration outreach campaigns, the group has a chance to deliver on its promise. As the new year unfolds and the midterm elections loom, the Womens March has a real opportunity to shift from protest to pragmatism. Whether or not the Womens March can make the transition will determine whether the movement is a force to be reckoned with, or will simply go down in history as a passing fad worth not much more than the cheap yarn from which its pink hats were spun. To share with friends and brethren The Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (the Everlasting Gospel), and to prepare a people to stand when He returns to redeem His remnant. Also, to share relevant information of current events, and to show how they relate to prophecy; By means of articles, editorials, opinions, scripture readings, and poetry. Disclaimer Endrtimes does not necessarily endorse or agree with every opinion expressed in every article/video posted on this site. The information provided here is done so for personal edification; It's up to the reader to separate truth from error, and to examine everything (like the Bereans) from a Biblical perspective. Let the Holy Scriptures be you guide! - - - FAIR USE NOTICE: These pages/videos may contain copyrighted () material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of ecological, POLITICAL, HUMAN RIGHTS, economic, DEMOCRACY, scientific, MORAL, ETHICAL, and SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior general interest in receiving similar information for research and educational purposes. The deadline arrived without a deal. The U.S. government shut down at midnight Friday after Congress failed to overcome a partisan divide over immigration and spending. In a late-night vote, Senate Democrats joined to block a bill that would have kept the government running until mid-February. A flurry of last-minute negotiations failed to produce an agreement. Democrats tried to use the Friday night funding deadline to win concessions from Republicans, including an extension of DACA, an Obama-era program protecting some young immigrants from deportation. The program is set to expire in March. Republicans sought more time for talks, but Democrats refused. The shutdown is only the fourth government closure in a quarter-century. It will only partially curb government operations. Uniformed service members, health inspectors, and law enforcement officers are set to work without pay. But Social Security and most other safety net programs are unaffected. If no deal is brokered by Monday, hundreds of thousands of federal employees are set to be furloughed. The White House and Capitol Hill will be working with skeleton staffs, but some government agencies, like the Environmental Protection Agency, have said they were able to shift funding around to keep most workers on the job. National parks and federal museums will be open, but with potentially reduced services. Earlier Friday night, President Donald Trump seemed pessimistic that a deal could be reached in time. "Not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the very dangerous Southern Border," the president tweeted. "Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy." Negotiations, however, continued through the evening, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., working to pass a resolution to keep the government open, White House sources said. Earlier in the day, demonstrators were seen protesting in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in the Russell Senate Office Building. Democrats refused to back a short-term spending bill unless it includes protections for illegal immigrants brought to the country as children. "Republicans who control the House, Senate, and WH are on the verge of making #TrumpShutdown a reality because they refuse to protect DREAMers and provide long-term certainty for our military, the opioid crisis, CHIP, and other key issues," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi tweeted late Friday night. During the day Friday, Schumer met with President Trump at the White House as part of an effort to avert the imminent shutdown. That meeting came as the White House coined a decidedly Trumpian phrase in the battle to assign blame for the standoff, branding it the "Schumer Shutdown." A senior White House official told Fox News that the Trump-Schumer meeting was productive, but there was no deal yet. Still, the president labeled the meeting "excellent" in a tweet. "Making progress," Trump wrote, adding that a "four week extension would be best!" We had a long and detailed meeting," Schumer said in a statement. "We discussed all of the major outstanding issues, we made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements. The discussions will continue. According to a White House source, Schumer arrived in the Oval Office and presented the president with a list of demands on domestic issues that went well beyond just DACA. The president listened to Schumer and appeared perplexed as Schumer rattled off his agenda items, the source said. The president told Schumer he wasnt going to get all of those demands in a spending bill. Schumer, the source said, did appear open to considering a continuing resolution that would keep the government funded for five days. The official White House position is still a 30-day extension. Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney on Friday accused the Democrats of opposing a bill that contains nothing they are against. They dont oppose anything in the bill, but they are opposing the bill, Mulvaney said, pointing to popular measures in the bill such as funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Democrats seemed to be aware of the importance of messaging, with Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., taking to the Senate floor with an image declaring the logjam a "Trump Shutdown," quoting a tweet from President Trump from May saying "our country needs a good 'shutdown.'" Markey blasted Republicans complaining about the threat of a shutdown, telling them to "spare me your crocodile tears." The Republican-dominated House of Representatives passed a one-month bill Thursday night by a vote of 230-197 that broke down largely along party lines, with 11 Republicans voting no and six Democrats voting yes. Senate Democrats have said that Democrats want any spending bill to include a fix for DACA. Trump repealed the order in September, and gave Congress a deadline of March to come up with a legislative fix. Unless we pass the #DreamAct, I wont support another short-term funding bill, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., tweeted Thursday. Our Dreamers have waited far too long for a chance to be a part of this countrys future. Republicans had hoped to back Democrats into a corner by attaching a six-year CHIP extension to the bill. But Democrats have so far refused to budge. Republicans have repeatedly put the blame firmly on Democrats positioning on DACA as the reason for the looming shutdown. Apparently they believe the issue of illegal immigration is more important than anything else, than the government services the American people depend on, McConnell said. President Trump has repeatedly urged Congress to keep the government open, warning that a shutdown will harm the U.S. military. The White House announced that Trump would not travel to Florida, as previously scheduled, until the continuing resolution is signed. Should Congress miss the Friday night deadline, it is far from clear if the government will actually shut down immediately. Fox News is told that the Trump administration will not weaponize the shutdown, closing various monuments and national parks, to create a "show" as critics say the Obama administration did in a 2013 closure. Fox News Chad Pergram, Peter Doocy, Mike Emanuel, Kristin Brown, Serafin Gomez, John Roberts and the Associated Press contributed to this report. The Russian lawyer at the center of a controversial, 2016 Trump Tower meeting with members of then-candidate Donald Trumps inner circle dismissed the dossier shared with the FBI at the height of the presidential campaign - and which the FBI relied on in its Russia probe - in an exclusive interview with Fox News. But she also conceded she had not read the entire document. Speaking via Skype from Moscow, Natalia Veselnitskaya told Fox News the unverified dossier, which contains salacious claims about President Trumps activities in Russia, should not be treated as evidence. "It's like some low level, yellow type of gossip." Natalia Veselnitskaya "For me it's a really unacceptable document," Veselnitskaya said. "I couldn't read this through the end, because it's the kind of papers that make you just want to get in the shower after." Veselnitskaya became famous last year after it was first revealed that she met at Trump Tower with the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and others on June 9, during the presidential campaign. Although the dossier was not directly related to that meeting, it was commissioned by Fusion GPS, the founder of which Veselnitskaya met with before and after the Trump Tower session. The Russian lawyer said she was stunned when Buzzfeed posted the unverified dossier online a year ago. "It's like some low level, yellow type of gossip, she said in an interview that first aired on Fox News Channels Special Report. It's just too much." For at least three years, Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson worked for Veselnitskaya's client, Prevezon -- a Russian-owned real estate corporation that was sued by the U.S. government over money-laundering allegations. A resulting civil forfeiture case was settled for $6 million last year. Ongoing congressional inquiries are looking into Fusions activities during the election and the role the dossier may have played in the FBIs application for warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to track members of Trumps team. It is noteworthy that at the same time Simpson was paid for the Prevezon work, Fusion GPS also was paid more than $1 million from the Democratic National Committee and the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton for the dossier authored by former British spy Christopher Steele. Steele was paid at least $168,000 by Fusion GPS for the project, which included briefing about a half dozen American media outlets, as directed by Simpson. In an email to Fox News, Veselnitskaya called the Steele memos a collection of "anonymous, paranoid rumors" and she expected more professional work from Simpson. "I can say that now, because I know Glenn and how he can work with information, I can't even call it the word dossier for this, Veselnitskaya told Fox News in her interview. It's not a dossier. It's just some kind of hodge-podge nonsense." The FBI should not have relied on the unverified dossier in any way for its Russia counter intelligence investigation, Veselnitskaya said. "I think that any special agency should check information they receive, but what happened? Veselnitskaya said. They couldn't find facts." According to the transcript of Simpson's August 2017 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, unilaterally released by ranking Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Steele initially met with the FBI in early July 2016, and again in September in Rome, for what was described by Simpson as a full debrief. "[Steele] said, Hey, I heard back from the FBI and they want me to come talk to them and they said they want everything I have, to which I said okay, Simpson recounted. He said he had to go to Rome, I said okay. He went to Rome. Then afterwards, he came back and said, You know, I gave them a full briefing." Simpson he did not know whether Steele turned over hard copies of the dossier memos. During the same congressional testimony, Simpson claimed Steele suggested the FBI had a corroborating source inside the Trump campaign for the Russia allegations. Simpson later retracted the statement, saying he was referring to intelligence from the Australian ambassador. June 9, 2016 is a critical date in the investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Veselnitskaya had flown to New York for Prevezons court hearing, which Simpson attended. Simpson was being paid for work on the dossier, while being paid to work on behalf of Prevezon. The billing went through two separate American law firms, which is practice. Such a billing practice is sometimes employed to help shield banking transactions, according to experts. New revelations from another congressional committees interview of Simpson, his November 2017 testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), show Simpson admitted to investigators that he used the same translator, Ed Baumgartner, for the Prevezon case and Trump dossier project. In the House interview, a transcript of which was released this week, Simpson stated that Fusion GPS charges clients $50,000 per month, though he claimed not to know much about his company's billing records. Simpson and Veselnitskaya attended the June 9 Prevezon court hearing in lower Manhattan, after which Veselnitskaya travelled uptown to Trump Tower for the meeting. In addition to Trump Jr., Kusher and Manafort, the meeting was attended by former Russian military officer-turned U.S. citizen Rinat Akmetshin, Russian businessman Ike Kavaladze, Veselnitskaya's translator, Anotoli Samochornov, and the man who organized the meeting, British publicist Rob Goldstone. Trump Jr. released emails suggesting Goldstone brokered the meeting, promising dirt on Clinton. Asked if Goldstone lied to secure a meeting that wound up focusing on sanctions the U.S. had placed on Russia, Veselnitskaya said, "I don't think he lied. I think he just exaggerated. I don't how it he came up with this idea, but he decided to use this way to get Donald Trump Jr. interested in meeting with me." Veselnitskaya told Fox News the Trump Tower meeting lasted about half an hour and centered around the 2012 Magnitsky Act, a law that punishes Russian officials including Prevezons boss - with tough sanctions following the 2009 death Sergei Magnitsky in a Russian prison. A tax lawyer in Moscow, Magnitsky was working with American businessman Bill Browder to expose a $230 million dollar fraud in missing investment monies in Russia. "My meeting was not tied at all with Hillary Clinton or anyone involved with any Democrats and not at all with the presidency or election, Veselnitskaya said. My meeting was totally banal, simple, regarding all the crimes committed by Browder's group in our country and continues to be manipulated in the U.S.A." In his sworn testimony before Congress in 2017, Browder was asked by Feinstein if Veselnitskaya had "ever worked for the Russian government." Browder answered, "Yes, she has worked directly for the FSB, the FSB being the successor to the KGB." Veselnitskaya shrugged off Browder's accusation. "The Democratic block insists that I was some kind of an agent of the Kremlin, spy, and so forth, a Kremlin lawyer," she told Fox News. Veselnitskaya said Kushner's participation in the Trump Tower meeting was limited. "He came after the start of the meeting and left before it ended," Veselnitskaya said. "So we didn't even look each other in the eye." She said her contact with the president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, after the meeting has been overblown by Democrats and the media. "There was a girl - pretty blonde, who walked through the elevator bank where I was standing after leaving my meeting with Donald Trump Jr., Veselnitskaya said. Who was that girl? Was she Ivanka Trump? Was she just a pretty young lady? I don't know. I didn't meet or talk with her, didn't greet or introduce myself, didn't exchange any pleasantries...nothing." Simpson and Veselnitskaya deny they ever discussed the Trump Tower meeting, despite having meals and working together before and after. While NBC reported last November, that Veselnitskayas talking points for the meeting came from information provided by Fusion GPS, she told Fox News she wrote the notes herself. In his House testimony, Simpson seemed to acknowledge there was some connection. I am in the information business, so when people commission research from you, it becomes their property when you are finished with the research, when you give it to them, Simpson said. So, if they decide to go and use it for something else, I mean, that is just beyond my control. Though she has direct knowledge of the Trump Tower meeting, Veselnitskaya said Special Counsel Robert Mueller has not contacted her for his probe into alleged Trump-Russia collusion. A spokesman for Mueller declined to comment. Newly elected Alabama Sen. Doug Jones, in his most high-profile vote since taking office, was one of five Democratic senators to vote overnight with Republicans on a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. Jones election to the Senate last month marked the first time in 25 years that Alabama voters picked a Democratic senator. The election results sparked much political speculation about whether Jones would vote with Republicans or fellow Democrats, considering that Alabama is one of the countrys most conservative-leaning states and gave President Trump more than 62 percent of its vote in 2016. While Jones vote this weekend might suggest an intent to represent his electorate or win a 2020 re-election, he made clear from the start of his improbable special-election win that his top priority upon arriving on Capitol Hill would be to keep alive the Children's Health Insurance Program, which the GOP spending bill did for several years. Because of CHIP and the many families in Alabama and around our country that would be put in jeopardy by a government shutdown, I felt compelled to vote yes, Jones said in a statement posted on his Twitter account. Jones won last month by less than 2 percentage points over Republican candidate Roy Moore, a conservative firebrand whose campaign was severely damaged in the closing months by allegations of sexual misconduct as a young man. The Republican leaders of the GOP-controlled Senate failed overnight to get the 60 votes needed to move forward and pass a temporary spending bill to keep the government fully operational past Friday midnight. Republicans have a 51-to-49 member majority in the Senate. The vote was 50-49. Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain did not vote because hes home recovering from cancer treatment. The four other Senate Democrats who voted for the bill were Sens. John Donnelly of Indiana; Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota; Joe Manchin of West Virginia; and Claire McCaskill of Missouri. All four are up for re-election this year in states that voted for Trump in 2016. Jones, who has the seat left open after Republican Jeff Sessions became attorney general, is up for re-election in 2020. In his victory speech last month, Jones effectively avoided any talk about how hed vote in Congress but made clear that he won with bipartisan support. And he urged the GOP-controlled Congress to fund CHIP before he arrived in January. The Alabama Republican Party was straightforward after Jones win about how it wanted him to vote. During this campaign, we heard Mr. Jones repeatedly say he would talk about kitchen table issues and that he would reach across the aisle to work with Republicans, said party Chair Terry Lathan. While these issues werent discussed and no other Democratic Senator has worked with the Republicans, all eyes will be on his votes. Alabamians will watch the issues he will support or try to stop. We will hold him accountable for his votes. She also fired a warning shot at Jones -- pointing out that essentially 60 percent of elected offices in Alabama are held by Republicans, which means a strong slate of candidates in upcoming elections. Day One of a government shutdown, filled with increasingly angry finger pointing from both Democrats and Republicans, appeared to produce little Saturday in terms of a potential solution for the impasse on how to fund the government. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell insisted that a vote to break a Democratic filibuster on a short-term spending bill to reopen the government would happen by 1 a.m. Monday. "I asked for consent to move up a vote on this bipartisan solution and end this craziness. The Democrats objected," McConnell said late Saturday, Roll Call reported. "That won't work forever. If they continue to object, we cannot proceed to a cloture vote until 1 a.m. Monday. "But I assure you," McConnell added, "we will have the vote at 1 a.m. Monday, unless there is a desire to have it sooner." After ending talks Saturday, the Senate planned to reconvene at 1 p.m. Sunday, Roll Call reported. The shutdown kicked in late Friday into Saturday after Senate Democrats blocked a 28-day resolution to keep the government open. The bill would have funded the government, and included a six-year extension of funding for the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP). But Democrats rejected it, as it did not include a legislative fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. 'Happy anniversary, Mr. President. You wanted a shutdown. The shutdown is all yours.' Nancy Pelosi That Obama-era program, which offered protection for illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, was repealed by President Donald Trump in September, with a March deadline for Congress to come up with a fix. While separate bipartisan immigration talks had been underway, Democrats demanded a DACA fix as part of the continuing resolution (CR) -- requiring Republicans to try in vain to cobble together the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. The subsequent 50-49 vote broke largely along party lines, with five Republicans voting no, and five Democrats voting yes. On Saturday, although both the House and the Senate were in session, both sides seemed more focused on pushing their respective narratives about who was to blame for the crisis. When McConnell, R-Ky, addressed lawmakers Saturday evening, he urged his Democratic counterpart, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, to withdraw his filibuster so that members could pass the short-term spending bill and reopen the government. McConnell said the shutdown was not a crisis, but rather a manufactured crisis by the Senate Democrats. Through Day One, Democrats pointed fingers at Republicans, arguing that they could not blame Democrats for the shutdown at a time when the GOP has control of the House, the Senate and the White House. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., took aim at Trump, saying he had earned an F for "failure in leadership." She said Republicans are "so incompetent and negligent that they couldn't get it together to keep the government open." Happy anniversary, Mr. President, Pelosi said. You wanted a shutdown. The shutdown is all yours. Schumer said on the Senate floor that in a White House meeting Friday, he offered Trump funding for a border wall with Mexico in exchange for a DACA fix. He claimed that Trump seemed open to a deal but that the president made further demands hours later that Schumer said were "off the table." Republican leadership can't get its tumultuous president on board with anything, Schumer said. The breakdown of compromise is poisoning this Congress and it all comes down to President Trump. Republicans, for their part, blasted Democrats for what they saw as holding the government hostage over illegal immigration. White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short accused Democrats of having a 2-year-old temper tantrum. Trump accused the Democrats of holding our Military hostage over their desire for unchecked illegal immigration. What's more, the White House pushed back against Schumer's account of the Trump meeting. Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said at a briefing that Schumer had in fact offered only $1.8 billion in funding for the wall, far short of the roughly $20 billion Trump wanted. Mulvaney said Schumer still told Trump that he was giving him everything he wanted. Does it even become profitable to work with someone like that? Mulvaney asked reporters. A sign of the bitterness of the blame game came from the White House comments line, where a voicemail blamed Democrats for users being unable to use the line. Thank you for calling the White House, unfortunately, we cannot answer your call today because congressional Democrats are withholding government funding, including funding for our troops and other national security priorities, hostage to an unrelated immigration debate. Due to this obstruction, our government is shut down, the voicemail said. As evening rolled around, there seemed to be little sign of a break. Fox News was told that a Senate Democratic caucus meeting resulted in a caucus more unified and locked in, with Democrats only willing to support a CR that would fund the government for a few days. On the Republican side, Fox News was told that there was a good chance McConnell would try a vote on a CR that would fund the government to Feb. 8 -- less time than the initial 28-day CR. The White House also buckled in, saying it would not negotiate on DACA until the government was funded. The White House position remains the same, that we will not negotiate the status of 690,000 unlawful immigrants while hundreds of millions of taxpaying Americans, including hundreds of thousands of our troops in uniform and border agents protecting our country, are held hostage by Senate Democrats, Short said. Fox News Joseph Weber, Ed Henry, Chad Pergram, Jenny Buchholz and The Associated Press contributed to this report. On the one year anniversary of her husband's inauguration, first lady Melania Trump tweeted a short sentiment of her time in the White House. This has been a year filled with many wonderful moments. Ive enjoyed the people Ive been lucky enough to meet throughout our great country & the world! she wrote Saturday. Over the past year, Melania Trump has kept a relatively low-profile, though the first lady has focused on her anti-cyberbullying campaign shortly after President Trump entered the White House. Speaking at the United Nations in September 2017, Trump advocated for children and addressed cyberbullying. When we join together as parents caring for children, whether they live in our own families, across the street, across the nation, or across the globe, we claim our responsibility to the next generation to ensure they are prepared to accept the torch of leadership for the world of tomorrow," the first lady said during the speech. We must teach each child the values of empathy and communication, she also said, adding that children "are the core of kindness, mindfulness, integrity and leadership." Additionally, the first lady, along with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, visited a middle school in Michigan in October of last year. She spoke to students about bullying and encouraged them to treat each other with respect and compassion. And in November of last year, Trump also visited children in Alaska on her way home from Asia after joining President Trump for most of his first presidential trip to Asia. The first ladys tweet comes amid a government shutdown that began at midnight Friday night. Congress failed to reach an agreement on immigration and spending, leading to the shutdown that has extended into Saturday. The town manager of a small northern Maine community is under fire for promoting white separatist views and making comments critical of Islam, it was reported Saturday. Jackman Town manager Thomas Kawczynksi, 37, says he is the leader of New Albion, a racial segregationist movement that wants to preserve the white majority of northern New England and Atlantic Canada. I am not a white supremacist. I am not a racist, Kawczynski told the Portland Press Herald. What gets me in trouble sometimes is I am a white person who is not ashamed to be white. He told the paper he opposed Islam because it was not compatible with Western culture. The paper interviewed the pastor of First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Portland who said that what Kawczynski was doing was awful. Hes going against everything that is American and what we stand for, the Rev. Christinia Sillari said. He needs to be stopped. Wow, American Civil Liberties Union of Maine legal director Zachary Heiden said in The Bangor Daily News, calling Kawczynski's views shockingly racist. The Bangor Daily News reported Friday that Kawczynski frequently shared his political views on the far-right website GAB and his personal Facebook page. The paper quoted Kawczynski as calling Islam the scourge of Western civilization. Kawczynski told the paper he doesn't run Jackman town affairs in a way that discriminates against anyone. The town, near the Canadian border, has 860 residents. In 2016, he served as town chair for Donald Trumps presidential campaign in a town in New Hampshire, the paper reported. Two members of the Jackman Board of Selectmen told Maine Public Radio they were unaware of Kawczynksi's viewpoints. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The court commuted four other death sentences to life imprisonment in the same case Egypts Court of Cassation upheld Saturday death sentences passed down on three defendants over the murder of a high-ranking police officer in rural Kerdasa town in September 2013 in the aftermath of Islamist president Mohamed Morsis ouster. The court commuted four other death sentences to life imprisonment in the same case. It also confirmed 10-year jail sentences on five others. The defendants were convicted of the September 2013 murder of police officer Nabil Farag as well as the attempted murder of other police officer during a subsequent raid by security forces on terrorist hideouts in Kerdasa. They were also convicted of possessing arms and explosives manufactured to use against the state. Saturdays ruling comes following an appeal against death sentences passed down in the case on seven defendants in September 2016. Kerdasa is known to be a stronghold of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group. Search Keywords: Short link: President Trump blamed Democratic lawmakers for a government shutdown Saturday, accusing them of holding our Military hostage over their demand that a short-term spending bill include protection for illegal immigrants brought to the country as children. Democrats are holding our Military hostage over their desire to have unchecked illegal immigration, he tweeted. Cant let that happen! Earlier in the day, he blasted Democrats for playing Shutdown politics instead of working to make a deal with their counterparts across the aisle. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead, said Trump, who on Saturday officially marked his first year in office. Congress overnight failed to reach an agreement on a temporary spending bill to keep the federal government from running out of money. It has resulted in the temporary shuttering of at least some agencies and services and furloughing some non-essential employees. The GOP-led House passed a temporary spending measure earlier this week but it failed in the Senate, where the Republican Party has just a 51-49 member majority. House and Senate members remain on Capitol Hill this weekend. The House is holding a rare Saturday session, but procedural moves in the Senate will likely mean no final resolution until at least Monday. For those asking, the Republicans only have 51 votes in the Senate, and they need 60, Trump said in another tweet Saturday. That is why we need to win more Republicans in 2018 Election! We can then be even tougher on Crime (and Border), and even better to our Military & Veterans! Republicans have said the stalemate is essentially the result of Democrats wanting the temporary bill to include protections for illegal immigrants brought as children to the United States, considering Trump is winding down Obama-era protections from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Democrats have said Republican proposals have also come up short on funding for such concerns as the opioid crisis and hurricane disaster relief for Puerto Rico. Trump on Saturday also tweeted: This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present. #DemocratShutdown." Fox News Adam Shaw contributed to this report. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Friday that it would revoke an Obama-era legal guidance that discouraged states from defunding organizations, such as Planned Parenthood, that provide abortion services. According to officials who spoke with Reuters, HHS will implement new regulations aimed at protecting health care workers civil rights based on religious and conscience objections. HHS said the changes were necessary after years of the federal government forcing health care workers to provide services like abortion, euthanasia, and sterilization. The Obama-era guidance restricted states ability to take certain actions against family-planning providers that offer abortions, according to a statement by HHS. Medicaid is funded by both state and federal taxes. But under federal law, Medicaid is prohibited from funding abortion services. Abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood receive funding for abortions from other sources. Critics derided the HHS measure as the Trump administrations latest effort to dismantle President Barack Obamas legacy. Friday's HHS announcement coincided with the 45th annual "March for Life." The event is held every year by pro-life protesters on the anniversary of the 1973 Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion across the country. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the latest version of President Trump's controversial travel ban that affects residents of some majority-Muslim countries. The ban applies to people from Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. It also placed limits on people from North Korea and Venezuela. Since the president signed an executive order in January 2017 establishing a ban on travel of people from Muslim-majority nations, it has been a point of contention and challenged in court. Heres a look at the bans journey through the legal system. June 26 Supreme Court upholds ban In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court issued its first substantive ruling on a Trump administration policy on June 26, upholding the travel ban. The court said the president has substantial power to regulate immigration. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, which was joined by his four conservative colleagues. The sole prerequisite set forth in [federal law] is that the President find that the entry of the covered aliens would be detrimental to the interests of the United States. The President has undoubtedly fulfilled that requirement here, Roberts wrote. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who dissented, said "a reasonable observer would conclude that the Proclamation was motivated by anti-Muslim animus." April 25 Supreme Court hears oral arguments In the last case the justices will hear until October, oral arguments on the travel ban will be delivered before the Supreme Court on April 25. This is the first time the justices are considering whether it violates immigration law or the Constitution. People waited for a seat inside the courtroom for days ahead of the hearing. A decision is expected by June. April 10 Chad removed from travel ban The Trump administration removed Chad from the travel ban because the African country had improved its identity-management and information sharing practices enough, press secretary Sarah Sanders said. It had been included on the list because of an office supply glitch that prevented it from supplying homeland security officials with recent samples of its passports. It was also unable to adequately share public safety and terror-related information with U.S. officials who screen foreigners seeking to enter the country, officials said. March 30 More than a dozen states back lawsuit against ban Washington, D.C. and 16 states backed Hawaiis lawsuit against the travel ban with an amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court. President Trumps discriminatory ban both hurts the families caught up in the chaos of his draconian policies, and undermines our states residents, institutions, businesses and economies, New York Attorney Gen. Eric Schneiderman said in a statement. Jan. 19 Supreme Court announces it will rule on the travel ban The Supreme Court announced on Jan. 19 that it will rule on Trump's controversial travel ban. The justices plan to hear arguments in April and issue a final ruling by late June. Dec. 4 Supreme Court OKs full enforcement of Trump travel ban Handing the White House a huge judicial victory, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Trumps travel ban affecting residents of six majority-Muslim countries. Lower courts had said people from those countries with a "bona fide" relationship with someone in the United States could not be prevented from entry. Grandparents and cousins were among the relatives courts said could not be excluded. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor said they would have left the lower court orders in place. Oct. 17 Federal judge temporarily blocks travel ban U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson granted a request from Hawaii to temporarily block a version of Trump's travel ban, which was supposed to take effect at midnight ET on Oct. 18. Hawaii argued that the revised ban which included citizens from Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, and some Venezuelan government officials and their families was a continuation of Trump's "promise to exclude Muslims from the United States." "Todays dangerously flawed district court order undercuts the Presidents efforts to keep the American people safe and enforce minimum security standards for entry into the United States," the White House said in a statement. "The Department of Justice will vigorously defend the Presidents lawful action." Oct. 10 Supreme Court dismisses one case The Supreme Court didnt take action on a case that originated in Hawaii pertaining to Trumps travel ban and a ban on refugees. However, it did dismiss another case that originated in Maryland. That case involved a ban that has since expired and been replaced with a new one by the administration. Oct. 5 Justice Department asks Supreme Court to drop travel ban case The Department of Justice asked the nations highest court to dismiss the case challenging the administrations travel ban. The administration argued the case should be dismissed because it was regarding a previous travel ban that is now moot. Sept. 24 Trump signs new travel ban As Trumps original ban was set to expire, the president unveiled new restrictions on travel to the U.S. from certain countries citizens. The revised ban included citizens from Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. It also included some government officials from Venezuela. Sept. 12 Supreme Court lifts restrictions The Supreme Court blocked a lower courts decision that would have allowed refugees to enter the country under certain conditions, blocking a ruling that said a resettlement agency counts as a bona fide relationship. Sept. 7 Appeals court limits travel ban The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court ruling that would allow for more refugees to enter the country despite the ban. The federal court ruled that refugees working with a resettlement agency would be considered to have established an approved bona fide relationship with a contact in the U.S. WHO DOES TRUMPS TRAVEL BAN BLOCK FROM ENTERING THE US? It also expanded the scope of a bona fide relationship to include other family members, such as grandparents and other relatives. July 19 Supreme Court allows for strict enforcement of refugee ban The Supreme Court, temporarily, allowed for the administrations travel ban to keep a strict enforcement on its ban of refugees. It did, however, leave in place the court order that made it easier for travelers from the six Muslim-majority countries to enter the U.S. and allowed a previous expansion of bona fide relationships to stay. July 13 Federal judge expands scope of travel ban U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson, in Hawaii, ruled that a bona fide relationship certain travelers need before entering the U.S. could be expanded to include grandparents and other relatives. The Justice Department filed an emergency request with the Supreme Court for clarification. June 29 Travel ban goes into effect After the Supreme Courts ruling, the Trump administration issued guidance on who would be allowed into the country and who would be barred. June 26 Supreme Court allows for travel ban to continue The Supreme Court announced it would allow Trump to forge ahead with a limited version of his travel ban. Trump hailed the decision as a victory for national security. HAWAII GETS CHANCE TO MAKE CASE FOR FIGHTING 3RD TRAVEL BAN The court said it would hear arguments in October, but until then, the ban on travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen could be enforced if the visitors lacked a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States. May 25 Travel ban blocked by federal court The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia blocked the travel ban from being implemented. It had begun to hear the case earlier in May. We remain unconvinced [the ban] has more to do with national security than it does with effectuating the Presidents promised Muslim ban," the court said at the time. March 30 Trump administration appeals ruling The Department of Justice filed an appeal with the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge the ruling against the travel ban. March 29 Federal judge continues to block travel ban U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson granted a request to continue to halt the travel ban. March 16 Another federal judge temporarily blocks the order Sitting in Maryland, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang temporarily halted the executive order. The injunction was not as comprehensive as the one issued earlier in Hawaii, but it did contend that the ban was discriminatory toward Muslims. The order did not change the previous injunction in Hawaii, but rather just reinforced it. March 15 Federal judge blocks travel ban U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson prevented the travel ban from being implemented just before it was set to take effect. Watson granted the state of Hawaiis request for a temporary restraining order. Trump called the decision an unprecedented judicial overreach. March 8 Hawaii sues to block the travel ban The state of Hawaii sued in an attempt to halt the Trump administrations travel ban from going into effect. Lawyers said the new executive order is resulting in the establishment of religion in the State of Hawaii contrary to its state Constitution. Lawyers also argued that the ban would damage Hawaiis economy, educational institutions and tourism industry; and it is subjecting a portion of the states citizens to second-class treatment and discrimination, while denying all Hawaii residents the benefits of an inclusive and pluralistic society. March 6 Trump unveils new travel ban Trump signed a new executive order which barred travel from six predominantly Muslim countries for 90 days removing Iraq from the new ban. The new order also exempted permanent residents and current visa holders from the travel ban. Syrian refugees were still included in the new order but only for 120 instead of indefinitely. Feb. 15 Trumps travel ban gets a defender Texas Attorney Ken Paxton split with other states and defended the travel ban as he filed documents with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit asking to reconsider a decision blocking the ban. Paxton argued that the order is a legal exercise of presidential authority. Feb. 13 Federal judge grants injunction against ban A federal judge in Virginia granted an injunction to prevent the administration from implementing the ban. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said the ban was unconstitutional as it had a religious bias. Feb. 9 Travel ban is again blocked The travel bans suspension was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in a unanimous decision. MUSLIM ADVOCATES, LEGAL ORG FILES SUITS OVER TRAVEL BAN Those judges were Michelle Friedland, appointed by former President Barack Obama; Richard Clifton, appointed by former President George W. Bush; and William Canby, appointed by former President Jimmy Carter. The court began to hear arguments from the Justice Department and lawyers from the states of Washington and Maryland in opposition to the ban on Feb. 7. Feb. 6 Justice Department asks federal court to intervene The Justice Department filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit asking it to intervene and reverse a previous judges decision to halt the travel ban. Sixteen attorneys general filed an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit against the travel ban. Those included: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Feb. 3 Judge declines to extend injunction against travel ban U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton did not extend a temporary injunction against the administrations travel ban. But U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle did issue a temporary block of the ban on the same day. The state has met its burden in demonstrating immediate and irreparable injury, Robart said as he ruled in favor of lawyers from the states of Washington and Minnesota. Feb. 1 Administration tweaks travel ban The Trump administration tweaked its travel ban to exempt legal permanent residents of the U.S. AFGHAN GIRLS ROBOTICS TEAM ARRIVES IN US JUST IN TIME They no longer need a waiver because if they are a legal permanent resident, they wont need it anymore, then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer said of green card holders. Jan. 30 Senate Republicans save travel ban from Democrats Senate Republicans squashed an effort by Democrats to overturn the executive order. When Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. sought a vote on legislation to reverse the ban, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., objected. Trump also fired acting Attorney Gen. Sally Yates on this day when she refused to defend the travel ban. Jan. 29 Temporary stay issued on travel ban A Boston federal court temporarily put Trumps travel ban on hold for one week. The ruling stipulated that previously approved refugees, valid visa holders and lawful permanent residents or travelers from the seven countries included in Trumps order could not be detained or removed from the U.S. because of the executive order. Jan. 28 Federal judge issues emergency injunction against ban A federal judge in New York issued an emergency order blocking, in part, the executive order. U.S. District Judge Ann Donnellys ruling temporarily barred the U.S. from deporting people who arrived with a valid visa or who had already completed a refugee application. As dozens of people were detained after their planes landed in the U.S., massive protests erupted at airports nationwide. Jan. 27 Trump signs executive order barring travel from seven Muslim-majority nations Trump signed an executive order which immediately barred entry into the U.S. for the citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The order, dubbed Protection the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States, also halted the U.S. refugee program for 120 days, but indefinitely barred all Syrian refugees from entering the country. Fox News' Barnini Chakraborty, Bill Mears and The Associated Press contributed to this report. WARNING: ARTICLE CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES A dolphin was found washed up on an Australian beach after apparently choking to death on a large octopus. A study published in Marine Mammal Science stated Gilligan, the name scientists gave to the dead male Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, was the first known cetacean to die from asphyxiation by octopus, Nahiid Stephens, the leader of the study, called the dolphin greedy for swallowing the large octopus whole. Stephens is a pathologist employed at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia. "It really was a huge octopus, I just kept pulling and pulling and thought, 'My God! It's still coming,'" Stephens told National Geographic. The pathologist said one of its tentacles was 4.2 feet long. DISABLED HEDGEHOG RECEIVES HYDROTHERAPY TREATMENT Stephens did a post-mortem on Gilligan in Aug. 2015 to find out what happened to the cetacean and found the clever octopus was able to latch on to the dolphins larynx which stopped him from breathing correctly. Gilligan was discovered with some of the octopus hanging out of its mouth. "That octopus might have been, in theory, dead, but the sucker was still functional," Stephens said. Kate Sprogis, of Murdoch University, said octopus is not easy prey to just swallow. Sprogis said she watched dolphins eating octopi and saw the cetaceans were able to break up the mollusks by tossing it in the air, tearing it apart into small pieces. "It's quite energetically demanding for the dolphins, Sprogis said. She believes octopi may be highly nutritious. RACCOON CAUGHT BREAKING INTO TENNESSEE CELL PHONE STORE Sprogis said these dolphins, unlike Gilligan, broke up the octopus which allowed them to eat and digest it properly. He (Gilligan) obviously didn't toss it enough, and got a bit cocky and swallowed it," Sprogis said. Stephens said Gilligans death helped scientists to learn about animals and their biology. "These opportunities dont come up that often," Stephens said. "So the more we can visualize these individuals after the unfortunate, tragic event of their death, the better it is." Passengers on a British Airways flight left in shock after their pilot was removed from the cockpit amid fears he was drunk. The Sun newspaper reported Saturday that police rushed on the plane and headed straight for the cockpit. The first officer was cuffed and led away. Airline workers reportedly alerted police before the 11-hour flight from Gatwick to Mauritius on Thursday after smelling booze. Sussex police told the Associated Press that a 49-year-old man from west London was arrested on suspicion of performing an aviation function when the level of alcohol was over the proscribed limit. The flight departed several hours late after another crew member joined the flight. The airline apologized for the delay and said in a statement Saturday that it was "taking this matter extremely seriously and are assisting the police with their inquiries." The Associated Press contributed to this report. A woman with a history of sneaking aboard planes slipped past security at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport this week and was flying to London when the airline realized she didn't have a ticket. Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says Marilyn Hartman was flown back to Chicago on Thursday night and taken into custody once she arrived. She's charged with felony theft and a misdemeanor count of criminal trespassing. Guglielmi says Hartman this week got through a federal Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at a domestic terminal without a ticket before taking a shuttle to the international terminal. A day later she boarded a British Airways flight. The 66-year-old Hartman has attempted several times to board planes without a ticket. In 2016, she was sentenced in Chicago to six months of house arrest and placed on two years of mental health probation. Lawmakers from California have proposed a bill that would compel companies making more than $1 million to turn over half their tax-cut savings to the state in order to fund programs that support low-income and middle-class families. Assembly members Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, and Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, have proposed an Assembly Constitutional Amendment that would enact a tax surcharge on California companies, in order to help people who have been negatively affected by the GOPs tax overhaul, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Critics of the tax overhaul have argued that a tax-heavy state like California will be hurt by declining revenues that pay for social programs, the Chronicle reported. The tax surcharge is a way of compensating for an anticipated loss in state revenue. Trumps tax reform plan was nothing more than a middle-class tax increase, Ting said in a statement. It is unconscionable to force working families to pay the price for tax breaks and loopholes benefiting corporations and wealthy individuals. This bill will help blunt the impact of the federal tax plan on everyday Californians by protecting funding for education, affordable health care, and other core priorities. In order to pass, the bill needs approval from two-thirds of the California Legislature from which the Democrats have recently lost their supermajority, the Chronicle reported. From there, the bill would be signed by Gov. Jerry Brown before going to the voters for final approval. Click here for more from the San Francisco Chronicle. Correction: An earlier version of this article misspelled Kevin McCartys name as McCarthy. Authorities in Florida say a woman arrested for killing and dismembering her ex-boyfriend may be linked to another, 10-year-old case. The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports that 67-year-old Nelci Tetley is a person of interest in the 2007 case of Michael Scot Louis, whose chopped-up body was found in garbage bags along the Tomoka River. Tetley was arrested Thursday and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of 55-year-old Jeffrey Albertsman. Daytona Beach police officers found Albertsman's body six months ago. He'd been shot in the head, and his arms and legs were missing. Albertsman's arms and legs were found about 10 miles from where Louis' body was discovered a decade earlier. It was unclear if Tetley had retained legal counsel. ___ Information from: Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal, http://www.news-journalonline.com It's been nearly 11 years since retired FBI agent Robert Levinson disappeared while investigating a cigarette smuggling ring on Kish Island off the coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf. When the Obama administration negotiated the release of five American hostages in January 2016 coinciding with the implementation of the landmark nuclear deal, Levinson was not among them. In 2011, his captors released a proof of life video. "Please help me get home. 33 years of service to the United States deserves something. Please help me," pleaded Levinson. One of Levinsons sons wonders why his father was not among the Americans released two years ago. My father was left behind and in an agreement where there was a prisoner swap in the culmination and finalization of the Iran nuclear deal, said David Levinson in an interview with Fox News. His family had high hopes when President Trump announced that unless all the Americans were released from Iran the Islamic republic would face new sanctions. We are hoping that if President Trump, if he's listening, can apply the appropriate pressure because we know that if he makes this a priority, his skills in negotiation, his willingness to push for these issues can bring him home, Levinson added. In July days after the two-year anniversary of the nuclear deal with Iran, the White House issued a statement, American Citizens Unjustly Detained in Iran. Levinson was named along with three other Americans, Xiyue Wang and Siamak and Baquer Namazi. "President Trump is prepared to impose new and serious consequences on Iran unless all unjustly imprisoned American citizens are released and returned," according to the statement. After testifying to Congress last year alongside the families of other American hostages, Levinson's wife, Christine, appealed directly to the Iranian government. "Bob I will continue to do everything I can to bring you home alive so our family can be whole again. We love you and miss you every day," she said while seated next to her son, David Levinson, in a video for the Iranians. The family maintains a Facebook page urging anyone with information to come forward. Still imprisoned Robert Levinson is just one of nearly 20 known American hostages who remain in captivity or imprisoned by hostile regimes. Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American businessman, was nabbed while visiting his family in October 2015, three months after the Iran nuclear deal was signed. His father, Baquer, a former UNICEF diplomat, was arrested in February 2016 after the Iranian authorities granted him permission to visit his son in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran. "My father, Baquer Namazi, was lured back to Iran from a brief trip abroad by the promise of seeing Siamak, but instead he was also detained," said another son, Babak, during congressional testimony last July. Now both are behind bars. Namazi's father is 81 years old. Iran also detained Xiyue Wang, an American grad student from Princeton who was conducting research for his Ph.D. dissertation. His wife, Hua Qu, and 4-year-old son live in New Jersey and are trying to remain strong thinking of him suffering in Iran's Evin Prison. "He has done nothing wrong. He is completely innocent. This is a tragic mistake for him and my family," Qu said in an interview with Fox News from China. He is a history nerd. He is not a spy." He was doing this research only because he grew a long standing respect for Islam and his love of history, she added. I hope the U.S. government can bring Iran to a dialogue to resolve my husbands case as quickly as possible to bring him home ... before my sons fifth birthday. Qu said she receives daily calls from prison, where he has been held for over 18 months. She said her husband complains of bed bugs and is deprived of sleep because of the very poor conditions. More than a dozen others There are more than a dozen other Americans held in North Korea, Turkey, Afghanistan, Syria, Mali, and Yemen and Venezuela. Gholamrez "Reza" Shahini, Karan Vafadari and Nizar Zakka are three other Americans being held in Iran. North Korea is still holding a 62-year old missionary from Virginia, Kim Dong Chul, and two American professors, Kim Sang-duk and Kim Hak Song, who were teaching inside the rogue communist regime. In Turkey, American pastor Andrew Brunson of North Carolina is being held by the Turkish government along with a NASA scientist arrested on vacation, Serkan Golge, who was arrested in July 2016. In Afghanistan, American University professor Kevin King is still being held by the Taliban. American writer Paul Overby was captured three years ago. Journalist and former U.S. Marine Austin Tice is thought to be held by the Syrian regime. He's been missing nearly five years. In Mali, aid worker Jeffry Woodke was taken hostage by Al-Qaeda in 2016. And Danny Burch, an oil worker from East Texas, was abducted at gunpoint in Yemen in September. Pleading for help Laurie Holt's son, Josh, a Morman missionary from Utah, is imprisoned by the Venezuelan government on trumped-up charges of weapons smuggling. I'm very dizzy and I can't think and my stomach hurts me, superbad, I really don't know what to do, her son told his mother in a recorded telephone call. Joshs mother is pleading for help and made a video appeal to President Trump after he was elected. "President Trump, my son's only crime was being an American citizen," she said. Her 25-year old son went to Venezuela to get married. He and his wife have been held by the authorities as a political bargaining chip for more than a year. His mother spoke recently to Fox News Channels Shannon Bream. "Josh sounds like he's on his deathbed to me. That is not my Josh, it's his voice but he is pleading for help and I don't know how else to get him, I hope that to go to the public and put the pressure on our government to do something, do something more than what you have done so far, because obviously, it's not working," she said. The case has the attention of Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. "So far we've struck out we are doing everything we possibly can to get him out of there. His parents are wonderful, humble people. We're still working on it, but we've had a lack of success, he told Fox News this week on Capitol Hill. Data remain classified The U.S. government will not publically disclose the number of American citizens being held hostage and the data remain classified over security concerns. Some of the cases have not been made public. The State Department says it has successfully aided the release of nearly 200 hostages since 2015. The U.S. government currently has less than 20 active cases that fall under the authority of PPD 30 (Presidential Policy Directive --Hostage Recovery Activities put in place in June 2015), said State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert. The Americans are being held by terrorist groups, criminal organizations, as well as regime states. After James Foley was executed by ISIS in a gruesome video released to the public in August 2014, then-President Obama ordered a review of U.S. hostage policy, which led to the directive a year later. But some officials working the hostage issue for years are frustrated that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has not named a new hostage envoy. The position has been vacant for nearly a year. Two Americans and two Canadians who were kidnapped in Nigeria's north-central Kaduna state on Tuesday have been freed and are in good condition, police said Saturday. Police and a special anti-kidnapping squad rescued the foreigners in the Kagarko local government area Friday night after a massive manhunt, state police commissioner Agyole Abeh said. "No ransom was paid. It was the efforts of the police through the directives of the Inspector General of Police that led to their release," he said. One suspect was arrested in connection with the kidnapping and police were on the trail of remaining suspects, Abeh said. The foreigners have been taken to the capital, Abuja, Kaduna state police spokesman Mukhtar Aliyu said. "They are in good condition but due to trauma they have to undergo medical observation." Aliyu said. Gunmen ambushed the foreigners Tuesday as they traveled from Kafanchan in Kaduna state to Abuja. Two police escorts were killed in what police called a "fierce gun battle." The Americans and Canadians have not been publicly identified. Aliyu earlier said they are investors setting up solar stations in villages around Kafanchan. Kidnapping for ransom is common in Nigeria, especially on the Kaduna to Abuja highway. Two German archaeologists were seized at gunpoint last year less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Abuja and later freed unharmed. Sierra Leone's deputy high commissioner was taken at gunpoint on the highway in 2016 and held for five days before he was let go. Victims typically are released unharmed after ransom is paid, though security forces have rescued a few high-profile abductees. A number of bandits, including herdsmen, have been arrested. Egyptian President Adbel-Fattah El-Sisi told US Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday that only negotiations based on a two-state solution can end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, six weeks after President Donald Trump's announcement that the US recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital. El-Sisi made his comments during Pence's brief visit to Cairo at the start of a three-nation Mideast tour that includes stops in Jordan and Israel. In a meeting with Pence, El-Sisi affirmed Egypt's "firm position on the Palestinian issue," pointing out that the "settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will only be achieved through negotiations based on the two-state solution," El-Sisi's spokesman Bassam Rady said. The Egyptian leader added that "Egypt would spare no effort to support this." Pence told reporters after the meeting that El-Sisi described his opposition to Trump's decision as a "disagreement between friends," Reuters quoted him as saying. Pence assured El- Sisi that the United States was committed to preserving the status quo regarding holy sites in Jerusalem and had come to no final resolution on boundaries for the two parties, according to Reuters. El-Sisi reiterated Cairo's support for the right of the Palestinian people to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. During the talks, Pence pledged firm US support for Cairo's fight against extremists. "We stand shoulder to shoulder with you and Egypt in fighting against terrorism," Pence was quoted as saying. The US VP pointed to President Donald Trump's efforts to strengthen ties with Egypt in his first year in office, "after a time when our countries seemed to be drifting apart," according to Reuters. El-Sisi hailed longstanding strategic ties between Cairo and Washington, saying they are "one of the pillars of stability in the Middle East." The Egyptian president discussed the tough economic reform measures the Egyptian government is implementing to shore up the country's economy, inviting major US companies to take part in key development projects being carried out. Pence left Cairo to meet Jordan's King Abdullah II, a close US ally who has rejected Trump's move on Jerusalem, in Amman on Sunday. Pence is traveling to Israel later on Sunday. He told reporters that Washington "is deeply committed to restarting the peace process in the Middle East." Trump's December decision to move the US embassy in Israel prompted an outcry from Palestinians, Middle East leaders and the wider international community, setting off protests in the occupied territories and across the region. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has warned that the United States can no longer play any role in future peace negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Officials from Arab countries and several world powers have insisted that the final status of Jerusalem should only be determined through negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Search Keywords: Short link: Despite previous reports that a Canadian billionaire and his wife died in a murder-suicide, a private investigation has reached another conclusion: that Barry and Honey Sherman were allegedly killed in a double-homicide. Barry Sherman, 75 and the CEO of a generic drug company called Apotex, and his philanthropic wife, Honey Sherman, 70, were found dead in their home north of Toronto in December. The CEO was allegedly worth nearly $5 billion at the time of his death, according to the Toronto Star. Shortly after, Toronto police began investigating their deaths as a possible murder-suicide. Now, the Toronto Star is reporting the Shermans may have been murdered in a contract killing, citing new evidence from a private family investigation that included a second autopsy that was conducted shortly before the funeral. Both Shermans died by ligature neck compression a first autopsy of the bodies concluded. And initial reports said that the couple died by hanging. But the new autopsy determined that mens leather belts were reportedly used strangle the couple and also determined that they did not die by hanging. The couple were reportedly found seated at the side of the pool at their house. They were facing away from the pool, according to the Toronto Star. The remaining end of each belt tied around their necks was then looped around a low railing that surrounds the pool, in order to hold the couple in place, according to the paper. The second autopsy of their bodies determined that each persons wrists were possibly tied together at some point, according to the Toronto Star, though their hands were not bound at the time the bodies were found. Sources also told the Star that the couple were most likely strangled before being tied to the railing. Despite the evidence from the familys private investigation, the Shermans deaths continued to be classified as suspicious, Mark Pugash, a spokesman for the Toronto Police Department, told the Toronto Star. He declined to comment further on the private investigation findings. Security forces battled four gunmen who stormed the popular western-style Intercontinental Hotel in the Afghan capital Kabul Saturday and seized hostages as staff and guests fled and the building erupted in flames. Afghan ministry spokesman Najib Danish told reporters the hotel came under attack around 9 p.m. local time but could not provide additional details. Nasrat Rahimi, a deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, confirmed that there were four attackers. One was killed by Afghan security forces and three others are still battling the forces from inside the hotel, he added. He only said three people are reported wounded so far, but that the number of casualties might rise. Hotel manager Ahmad Haris Nayab, who managed to escape unhurt, said the attackers had managed to get inside and people were fleeing amid bursts of gunfire on all sides, Reuters reported. The wire service reported that there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the latest in a long series to have hit Kabul. U.S. officials in Kabul told Fox News the hotel was on fire as security forces and the gunman exchanged gunfire. They said that based on initial reports, there were no U.S. troops or civilians hurt in the attack. "We are aware of the fire and developing security situation at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul," said Capt. Tom Gresback, a U.S. military spokesman in Kabul. "Afghan National Defense and Security Forces are leading the response efforts. According to initial reports, no Resolute Support or USFOR-A members were injured in this incident." Local media reported "insurgents" had entered the building and were holding people hostage. TOLONews reported heavy gunfire was ongoing. An official at the Afghan spy agency told Agence France Presse that the attackers were "shooting at guests." A guest hiding in his room in the hotel told AFP he could hear gunfire. "I don't know if the attackers are inside the hotel but I can hear gunfire from somewhere near the first floor," he said without giving his name. "We are hiding in our rooms. I beg the security forces to rescue us as soon as possible before they reach and kill us." More than 100 IT managers and engineers were on site when the attack occurred, Ahmad Waheed, an official at the telecommunications ministry, said, according to Reuters. On Thursday, the U.S. embassy in Kabul issued a warning to U.S. citizens, saying ``We are aware of reports that extremist groups may be planning an attack against hotels in Kabul,'' Reuters reported. This is the second time the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul has been attacked. In 2011, eight Taliban insurgents stormed the hotel, setting off explosions and exchanging gunfire with authorities for hours until pressure from Afghan snipers and a NATO helicopter forced three of the remaining bombers to blow themselves up. Eleven Afghan civilians -- all Intercontinental workers -- were killed, along with two policemen. Thirteen others were wounded, but none of the hotels guests were killed. Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Across the world, people were coming together and hitting the streets on Saturday -- the one-year anniversary of President Trumps inauguration -- marching against his policies and in support of the #MeToo movement against sexual assault and harassment. Protests in New York, Washington, D.C., and Rome were among the more than 200 such actions planned for the weekend. As people gathered in Washington for demonstrations, House and Senate members remained on Capitol Hill this weekend in hopes of reaching a spending agreement and ending a nascent government shutdown. President Donald Trump Tweeted midday Saturday showing his support for the Womens March, encouraging participants to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. In Rome earlier Saturday, dozens of activists gathered to denounce violence against women and express support for #MeToo. They were joined by Italian actress and director Asia Argento, who was one of the first women to come forward with allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. (She alleged that the now-disgraced Hollywood producer sexually assaulted her in the 1990s.) WOMENS MARCH WILL FOCUS ON VOTER REGISTRATION, ELECTING MORE WOMEN, ORGANIZERS SAY People also gathered in Osaka, Japan; Frankfurt, Germany; and Kampala, Uganda, for boisterous demonstrations. Last year in Washington, at least 470,000 people attended the womens march there and in the areas surrounding it, The New York Times reported. The rally was likely the largest single-day demonstration recorded in U.S. history, The Washington Post reported. This year, organizers in New York said nearly 85,000 people had registered to march. Scheduled speakers included Ashley Bennett, a Democrat who was elected Atlantic County, N.J., freeholder last November. Bennett defeated Republican incumbent John Carman, who had mocked the 2017 women's march in Washington with a Facebook post asking whether the women would be home in time to cook dinner. Womens March Global, the organizers of last years march in D.C., said this year they would be holding a major rally in the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. Linda Sarsour, one of the four organizers of last years march, said they decided to hold the rally in Las Vegas because its a strategic swing state. The rally last year focused on peoples response to Trumps White House win. This years rally will focus on voter registration, and on inspiring more women to run for public office. Bob Bland, one of the organizations national co-chairs, echoed Sarsour, stating that Las Vegas was a strategic place in which to hold the rally. It was more important for us to create an event somewhere strategic to reflect the work that needed to be done in 2018. And Nevada is an example of a battleground state that went for Hillary Clinton and went blue in 2016 for the first time, she told NPR. PUSSY HATS BEING DROPPED FROM WOMENS MARCH ANNIVERSARY EVENTS In addition to the Womens March co-chairs, Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood; Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.; Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas; Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter; and actress Marisa Tomei are slated to speak at the Vegas event. Peggy Taylor, a New York City tour guide, told The Associated Press she was discouraged to have to march again in order to get her point across. "I'd be lying if I said that I'm not dispirited and discouraged over having to march yet again to register our opposition to this disastrous first year of the Trump presidency," Taylor said. "I know that we have a long slog ahead of us to undo the damage that this man has inflicted, she continued. Ann Dee Allen of Wisconsin participated in the New York City protest. I feel differently about it this year, Allen told The New York Times. Last year, I just felt kind of angry and impassioned. This year, I feel like Im in it for the long haul. Fox News' Madeline Farber and the Associated Press contributed to this report. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 Spain's maritime rescue service says it has saved 56 migrants trying to make the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea from Africa to European shores. The service says two boats were intercepted by its search craft Saturday morning. One boat was carrying 23 men in the Strait of Gibraltar. A second boat with 33 men of sub-Saharan origin was located east of the Strait near Alboran Island. Europe's border watchdog said Friday that 22,880 migrants had arrived in Spain last year by sea, up from 10,231 in 2016. It also warned it expects the number of migrants using the western Mediterranean route to Europe to increase this year. The International Organization for Migration says 2,583 migrants entered Europe by sea this year through Wednesday, and 199 others died en route. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 Former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, considered the main architect of a decade of bloody wars in the Balkans, is not the first person who comes to mind when thinking about subjects for a possible musical. And it may not even be a full musical, but a drama that mixes theatrical forms. Its author describes it as "a documentary drama with singing." Belgrade playwright Jelena Bogavac says the aim of "Lift: The Slobodan Show" is not to deliver historic truths about Milosevic the man who drove Serbia into international isolation and died while on trial for genocide at a U.N. war crimes court but to tackle an important period in Serbia's history. She says the project deals with Milosevic's era in power as well as the lives of ordinary people in the former Serbian province of Kosovo, where he waged a bloody crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists in 1998-99. It will combine historic events, personal moments between Milosevic and his wife Mirjana Markovic and real-life stories of the actors, most of who come from Kosovo. "By speaking about Sloba and Mira, we sought to frame up a problem of all our generations, being born, growing up and growing old as a result of the 1990s," Bogavac told The Associated Press. Though still in its early stages, the project already has stirred public interest in Serbia, where people remain divided over Milosevic's historic role and where his ex-allies have returned to power. It will be directed by Nenad Todorovic, a Serb from Kosovo. Set to open in the Kosovo Serb town of Gracanica in March, the play is likely also to raise controversy there. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence and ethnic tensions there still persist. More than 10,000 people died in Kosovo during the conflict, mostly ethnic Albanians. Apart from the warmongering, Milosevic's rule in Serbia in the 1990s also brought sharp economic decline, international sanctions and a crackdown against political opponents. Bogavac says she wanted to contrast the "authoritarianism" of Serbia's political scene at the time with the couple's "melodramatic" love for one another. "The turn of a drama into, not satire but a political tragedy, is what is so interesting here theatrically," she said. The tale of Milosevic and his wife is seen through both historic situations and private conversations. While focused on the late 1990s during the bloodshed in Kosovo, the play also relates to the period after Milosevic's ouster in a popular revolution in 2000 and his subsequent U.N. war crimes trial, where Milosevic died of a heart attack in 2006. It does not deal with Serbia's wars under Milosevic in Croatia and in Bosnia, where over 100,000 people were killed in years of fighting in the early 1990s. With weeks of rehearsals ahead, the cast ran through the script Friday in a Belgrade cafe, including a scene in which Milosevic realizes he is going to be arrested in 2001. Actor Dejan Cicmilovic said the audience shouldn't expect him to copy Milosevic's looks or voice but rather his character. "Playing historic individuals carries a lot of responsibility," he said. Ivana Kovacevic, who plays Milosevic's wife, fled her home in Kosovo's capital of Pristina in 1999, when NATO bombed Serbia to end the bloodshed in Kosovo. "The text seems tragi-comical, but there is so much more underneath," Kovacevic said. "The period of the 1990s that we are playing is full of emotions, unfortunately many more bad ones than good ones ... that period left me without my home, my friends and many of my dreams." Turkey's military says it has retaliated against fire into Turkey from across the border in a Kurdish-controlled enclave in northwest Syria. A brief military statement said Saturday the military responded to two days of "harassment" by attacking refugee and shelters in the enclave of Afrin allegedly belonging to a Syrian Kurdish militia group that Turkey considers to be a "terror" organization. The military did not provide details. Turkey has vowed to launch a ground operation into Afrin to eradicate the threat from the group it says is an extension of Kurdish rebels fighting inside Turkey. It has been massing troops and tanks at its border. Turkey's defense minister said Thursday the offensive into Afrin had "de facto" started, in reference to sporadic Turkish military shelling of the area. A U.S. Navy warship sailed close to a contested reef west of the Philippines this week, drawing the ire of Beijing which issued a statement Saturday accusing the U.S. of trespassing in its territorial waters. China has laid claim to the reef for more than five years. The incident took place Wednesday, two days before Defense Secretary Jim Mattis unveiled a new strategy calling China and Russia the biggest threats to the U.S., not terrorism. Mattis said the U.S. military advantage over Beijing and Moscow is eroding. A U.S. official confirmed the operation to Fox News saying it was merely innocent passage when the USS Hopper, a guided-missile destroyer, sailed within 12 nautical miles of the uninhabited reef, Scarborough Shoal. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said expressed dissatisfaction with the U.S. action and China would take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty, the South China Morning Post reported. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said a Chinese missile frigate moved to identify and verify the U.S. vessel and warned it to leave the area, according to the Associated Press. We hope that the U.S. respects Chinas sovereignty, respects the efforts by regional countries and do not make trouble out of nothing, Wu said. "The United States conducts routine and regular FONOPs (Freedom of Navigation Operations), as we have done in the past and will continue to do so in the future, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman said Saturday. We have a comprehensive FONOP program under which U.S. forces challenge excessive maritime claims across the globe to demonstrate our commitment to uphold the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations under international law. FONOPs are not about any one country, nor are they about making political statements. FONOPS are designed to comply with international law and not threaten the lawful security interest of coastal States." Twelve nautical miles from land is the internationally recognized territorial limit for all nations. But since the international community doesnt recognize many claims by China in the South China Sea, including its claim to the Scarborough Shoal, the U.S. demonstrates its displeasure with China by conducting freedom of navigation operations with Navy warships. Unlike some of Chinas man-made islands elsewhere in the South China Sea, Scarborough Shoal is uninhabited and does not have a runway or any military fortifications. But the intelligence community has been watching the island for years as Chinese survey teams and dredging equipment have been seen lurking around the reef. The South China Sea has crucial shipping lanes, rich fishing grounds and potential oil, gas and other mineral deposits. China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and has carried out extensive land reclamation work on many of the islands and reefs it claims, equipping some with airstrips and military installations. The United States does not claim territory in the South China Sea but has declared it has a national interest in ensuring that the territorial disputes there are resolved peacefully in accordance with international law. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The case against a Richmond man charged with shooting into a van in an apparent road rage incident advanced to Caroline County Circuit Court on Friday. Khaliyl Vernoid Williams faces four felonies stemming from a Nov. 12, 2016, incident on U.S. 1 in Caroline, according to court records. The 20-year-old Williams has been incarcerated without bond since his arrest in October, nearly a year after the reported incident. On Friday in Caroline General District Court, the victim, a Maryland man, testified that he was driving his van on U.S. 1 near State Route 207 when he and another car, a black sedan, nearly crashed. He said the car, with four or five people in it, pulled up to him after the near crash and the driver cursed at him and he cursed back. The man said he then sped off, but the car caught up to him. That, he said, is when the driver started firing a gun at him. "I could have been killed," the man said. He said there were "bullet holes from back to front" of his van after the encounter. He added that one bullet was pulled from a seat in the van. The man said the van was totaled but he continues to drive it. After the gunshots were fired, the man said the other car sped off. No arrests were made initially. But, just less than a year later, on Oct. 10, a Henrico County police officer stopped a car being driven by Williams. During a search of the car police found a gun. Ballistic tests matched the gun to shell casings found at the scene of the road rage shooting. The victim also identified Williams in a photo lineup, according to a detective with the Caroline Sheriff's Office. The evidence led to Williams' arrest on charges of maliciously shooting at a car, assault, destruction of property and using a firearm in a felony. Fredericksburg's annual gun give-back event, which was postponed due to weather, has been rescheduled for Jan. 27. Area residents can voluntarily turn in unwanted guns between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Fredericksburg Police Headquarters, 2200 Cowan Blvd. The guns should be unloaded and stored in the trunk of their vehicle. An officer will meet them in the parking lot and retrieve the weapons. No questions will be asked. City Councilman Chuck Frye Jr. approached the city about creating a program because he had lost friends to gun violence. Over the last four years, 131 firearms have been collected at the event. All firearms turned over to the police will be either rendered safe and destroyed or donated to the Virginia Department of Forensic Science for research purposes. Ammunition will not be accepted. Although members of the Orange County School Board were hoping Dr. Brenda Tanner might stay at least one more year, the popular superintendent of schools will retire June 30 after four years at the helm. We were all hoping she would stick around for quite some time. We all really dont want her to leave, said Sherrie Page, chair of the school board and District 2 representative. However, Page said, she appreciated Tanners decision to give the current board the opportunity to select the next superintendent. With three seats up for grabs in the next election, Page said Tanner made it clear she wanted the job of selecting her successor to fall to an experienced board. Page lauded Tanner for her role in ensuring that all nine of the countys public schools are fully accredited and meet or exceed state benchmarks in Standards of Learnin scores. She also praised the superintendent for spearheading the 3E Program (Engaged & Energized Education) and helping strengthen Orange County High Schools career and technical education program. Tanner, 64, said she considered a one-year extension of her contract. But once she decided to retire this year, she let members of the board know quickly: I did not want to wait any longer because I wanted to give them as much time as possible to develop a plan and put it in place. The board accepted her retirement at its meeting on Jan. 8 and will now begin the process of choosing her successor. With the school board scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon, after deadline, Page said she and her fellow representatives would be deciding whether to hire the Virginia School Board Association to coordinate the search. She said the board also would decide whether to poll school staff, parents and the community on the qualities they would like to see in the next superintendent. In the days after Tanners retirement plans became official, school board members joined Page in expressing their admiration for Tanner. District 1 representative Carol Couch said, I have observed that she works long hours every day, is always out in our schools, out in our community explaining issues, listening to others about their concerns. She reacts quickly and nips problems in the bud. She sets goals and works with many players, making each feel appreciated and valued. She leads by example, she teaches and explains to improve understanding; she is always professional. Commenting on Tanners legacy, Couch said, As Dr. Tanner is the first female school superintendent Orange County has ever had, I think her legacy will be to both men and women in our community that a woman can be a strong effective leader, inspiring women to leadership roles and making men more accustomed to female leadership. Jim Hopkins of District 5 said Tanner has raised the bar as to what is expected of a superintendent. She leads by example and keeps the focus on what is best for the students. Dr. Tanner has the unique ability to successfully manage hundreds of employees and at the same time establish a meaningful relationship with the students. District 3 representative and vice chair Judy Carter offered a particularly telling anecdote about the superintendent she rated as the best of the five she has gotten to know during her 20 years on the school board. Carter was dropping off her grandson at the high school on a recent day when classes began two hours late due to the extreme cold: Tanner was standing out in front of the high school, just by herself, wrapped up in coat and gloves, greeting students. It was cold outside. But she wanted to greet those students. Carter said Tanner continues to push for higher salaries for teachers and has organized an effective team of leaders. She has pulled us together, the whole system, everybody. She listens to people. She doesnt sit in her office and chitchat. The children know her when she walks into a classroom. Born in Fredericksburg, Tanner grew up on a farm in Gladys, the second of four children. Inspired by her first-grade teacher whom she adored, she decided at the age of 6 to pursue a career in education. She went on to earn a degree in elementary education from Lynchburg College and graduate degrees in education from the University of Virginia. After teaching elementary school in various Virginia school districts, she began a career in administration that led her to Madison County, where she served as superintendent of schools for six years before retiring. She came out of retirement to take the post in Orange County. Summing up her primary motivation throughout her career, she said, Im deeply passionate about children; I had parents that were passionate about children. I absolutely love children. I absolutely will do anything possible to improve their lives. I think that shows up in the work that I do. Tanner said she has not made firm plans for her retirement. However, she and her husband, Russell James, a businessman who served as dean of work force at Germanna Community College before his retirement, are looking forward to having more time to travel. For now, however, she is busy with a myriad of duties in the Orange County Public Schools, including budget planning. Im not packing up just yet, she said. There is always something to do. The committee also said it will oversee the performance of NGOs in general under the new law passed in November 2016. Alaa Abed, head of the Egyptian parliament's human rights committee, said in a statement on Saturday that the committee will supervise the performance of NGOs and civil society organisations participating in the monitoring of Egypt's presidential elections, which are scheduled for March. "I agreed with the committee's members affiliated with the majority, opposition, and independent blocs that sub-committees should be formed to take charge of supervising the performance of all NGOs and civil society organisations, which will be licensed by the National Elections Authority (NEA) to monitor the ballot in all stages," said Abed. "We know that some NGOs that wish to monitor the poll aim to convey a negative image about Egypt to the outside world." "We have documents that show that some of these NGOs come not to observe the poll in an objective way, but to convey a negative picture of Egypt in return for the foreign money they obtain," said Abed. "Parliament's human rights committee is authorised by the constitution and the new NGO law to oversee the performance of these suspected NGOs and civil society organisations to ensure that practices directed by some of them to export a negative view of Egypt will not be repeated," Abed said. "At the same time, the committee will also be keen to see that state authorities completely abide by the law and the constitution throughout all the stages of the upcoming presidential election," said Abed, adding that "we are confident that the poll will be marked with integrity and transparency and convey an honourable picture of the political conditions inside Egypt." Abed argued that the NGO law (passed by parliament last November and ratified by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi last May) gives parliament and its human rights committee the prerogative to supervise the performance of NGOs in general. "Parliament and the Human Rights Committee have all the powers necessary to oversee the implementation of the new NGO law (law 70/2017) on the ground and to see to what extent all NGOs and civil society organisations go in line with this law," said Abed. As a result, said Abed, the sub-committees formed will also take charge of supervising and following the performance of NGOs under the new law. "I agreed with the committee's members that the committee should intervene at once to correct any deviations inside NGOs and discipline those who might violate the law," said Abed. Abed's statement came just few hours after the NEA announced that it will accept applications from candidates seeking to stand in Egypt's upcoming presidential election between 20 and 29 January. NEA head Lasheen Ibrahim said in a press conference Saturday that hopeful candidates can register between 9am and 6pm at the commission's headquarters in downtown Cairo's Qasr Al-Aini Street. "In order to be eligible to stand, hopeful candidates must be endorsed by at least 20 MPs, or 25,000 eligible voters drawn from a minimum of 15 governorates, with at least 1,000 endorsements per governorate," said Ibrahim. "The NEA has authorised 390 public notaries across Egypt to certify the required endorsements." NEA spokesperson Mahmoud El-Sherif said 29 local and foreign NGOs have so far expressed interest in monitoring the poll. "The requests are being reviewed," said El-Sherif, adding that "the NEA is also keen on having as many local and international media outlets as possible participate in covering the ballot. The NEA said that local and foreign correspondents wishing to cover the poll can register with the State Information Service until the end of 22 January. El-Sherif also indicated that the NEA is in the process of counting the number of judges who will be tasked with supervising the poll. "This goes in line with the constitution and the principle of a judge for every voting box," said El-Sherif. Search Keywords: Short link: It is rare that a professional organization argues in favor of any intervention that has been overwhelmingly proven to reduce its income source. But the health care community has adopted a solid consensus in favor of water fluoridation, realizing that the lack of fluoride in community water may lead to a public health crisis mainly affecting the less privileged. The U.S. Surgeon General, the American Medical Association, the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Public Health Service and the World Health Organization are among the groups that endorse water fluoridation as a means to reduce tooth decay. Despite the overwhelming evidence that water fluoridation is a safe and effective means of accomplishing this, there is a small minority of people who argue for its removal. Their argument is that community water fluoride is responsible for maladies ranging from bone fractures, to types of cancers to autism. They use non-peerreviewed articles as evidence to support their views, and have created vehicles with important-sounding names, such as the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology. Of course, this phenomenon is not new. On Tuesday, however, the Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors will hear arguments against a proposal to remove fluoride from community drinking water. Community water fluoridation is the most cost-effective health measure for preventing decay. First, it saves money for families who would otherwise pay for more frequent fillings, crowns and other dental treatments. The lifetime cost of a single decayed molar can exceed $6,000. Even families with dental insurance can face significant out-of-pocket expenses when they need dental procedures. Second, fluoridation saves money for taxpayers. For example, a Texas study confirmed that the state saves $19 per child, per year, in Medicaid costs for children because of the cavities that were prevented by drinking fluoridated water. Fluoridation has played a key role in helping reduce tooth loss among adults by at least 40 percent. A 2013 study showed that adults born before fluoridation became widespread and resided in fluoridated areas for at least three-quarters of their lives had 30 percent less decay than those who resided in fluoridated communities for less than one-quarter of their lives. The CDC named water fluoridation one of the 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century. In 2013, the deans of Harvard Universitys three leading health institutions issued a statement calling fluoridation an effective and safe public health measure for people of all ages. Indeed, numerous studies and reports have reinforced the safety of fluoridated water. As experts at the Society of Toxicology have explained, medical scientists have agreed that small concentrations of fluoride have health benefits that vastly exceed any hypothetical health risk. A 2015 report by the Water Research Foundation examined nine common concerns that critics raise about fluoridation. These water experts concluded that a balance of scientific studies showed that none of these issues poses a risk to public health at [fluoridation] levels. U.S. fluoridation practices are held to high standards of quality and safety. These additives quality and safety are ensured by Standard 60a set of guidelines developed at the request of the Environmental Protection Agency. In Spotsylvania County, adding a smidge of fluoride to the level that is already present in the water has helped prevent cavities for every resident using the public water supply. That includes adults, the elderly and children in the entire county. In over 70 years of community water fluoridation in the U.S., and more than 3,000 research projects and publications on it, there has never been a single adverse health effect associated with community water fluoridation. We call upon the Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors to continue to safeguard the health and well-being of its citizens by continuing to support the fluoridation of our drinking water. AFTER decades of failed attempts, a bipartisan effort by members of Virginias congressional delegation to pass legislation granting long-overdue federal recognition to six Virginia Indian tribes has finally succeeded. The Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2017 passed unanimously in the House last May after being reintroduced by Rep. Rob Wittman, R1st District. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner pushed the bill over the finish line in the Senate last week by forcing a vote. It now heads to President Trump for his signature. The bill grants historic recognition to the 4,400 or so members of six of Virginias 11 state-recognized tribes: the Chickahominy, the Eastern Chickahominy, the Upper Mattaponi, the Rappahannock, the Monacan, and the Nansemond. Federal recognition will give the tribes legal standing, allowing them to repatriate cultural artifacts and to apply for funding and other benefits in housing, education and health care from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Since these first contact Virginia tribes made peace with England long before the United States was founded, there are no federal treaties or other government-to-government documentation required by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for federal recognition. Many tribal documents were lost during the Civil War, and Virginias infamous Racial Integrity Act of 1924 led to the mass destruction of birth, marriage and land records also required for federal recognition. In 2016, Virginias Pamunkey Indian Tribe, which counts Pocahontas as a member, was the first Virginia tribe to be granted federal recognition under the BIAs administrative procedures. The NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus had opposed federal recognition because the tribe previously prohibited intermarriage. But the six tribes named in the bill were unable to meet BIA requirements, so they pursued a legislative option instead. According to the text of the bill, in 1943 former Indian Affairs Commissioner John Collier asked Richmond NewsLeader editor Douglas S. Freeman to help Virginia Indians obtain proper racial designation on birth records; Collier stated that his office could not officially intervene because it had no responsibility for the Virginia Indians, as a matter largely of historical accident, but was interested in them as descendants of the original inhabitants of the region. Other opposition to federal recognition of Virginia Indian tribes centered on issues that did not directly address this historical accident. For example, former Rep. Frank Wolf, R10th District, opposed recognition because he feared it would open the door to casino gambling in the commonwealth. But the bill specifically prohibits the newly recognized tribes from conducting gaming activities. Wittmans bill was named after the late Thomasina Elizabeth Jordan (Red Hawk Woman), a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. Jordan, an orphan raised by her grandparents in Massachusetts, was a Harvard-educated and internationally recognized American Indian activist, founder of the American Indian Cultural Exchange and the first American Indian to serve in the Electoral College. A pro-life Republican who lived in Alexandria, Jordan was appointed chairperson of the advisory Virginia Council on Indians by governors George Allen and Jim Gilmore, where she helped several Virginia tribes achieve state recognition. Locally, the Virginia Indian Patawomeck Tribe of Stafford County gained state recognition in 2010 after Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newtona member of the tribe who was raised in Fredericksburg and whose ancestor was purportedly given a peace medal by George Washingtontestified on a bill before the General Assembly sponsored by former House Speaker Bill Howell of Stafford. But the Patawomecks and three other tribes recognized by the commonwealth were not included in the just-passed bill. Its been 242 years since the founding of the United States, more than enough time to address the historical accident and bureaucratic obstacles that prevented federal recognition of Virginias first contact tribes. President Trump should sign the bipartisan bill forthwith. The bill grants historic recognition to the 4,400 or so members of six of Virginias 11 state-recognized tribes: the Chickahominy, the Eastern Chickahominy, the Upper Mattaponi, the Rappahannock, the Monacan and the Nansemond. Trumps fake presidency imperils the whole country The American presidency has finally hit rock bottom. Donald Trump continues to lie repeatedly and to embarrass the country globally with his lack of class or common decency. As for the Christians who support him, remember that Jesus taught, It is easier for a camel to pass through a needles eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Trump is quite possibly the anti-Christ spoken of in the New Testament. The Republicans at his latest meeting on immigration are simply too cowardly to speak up, or, like Trump, they are morally bankrupt. This fake president has done everything to prove to us that he is totally without scruples, a narcissist and totally unworthy of holding public office. His pronouncements on climate change are evident that, while he claims to be a genius, his actual IQ is somewhere below room temperature. Trumps presidency imperils all of us. If only our political leaders had the courage and character to invoke the 25th Amendment before this clown leads us all to the brink! As Donald would like to say, Make American White Again. Dave Siler Spotsylvania Free Freightnet Membership List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours. Turkey's military fired into a Kurdish-run enclave in north Syria for a second day on Saturday, one day after the country's defense minister announced an operation to "cleanse" the Kurdish militia in control of the enclave. The military targeted shelters in Afrin with artillery fire in response to two days of "harassment" from the Syrian side of the border, it said in a statement. It said the shelters belonged to the People's Protection Units, or YPG, which Turkey says is an extension of an outlawed Kurdish rebel group that it's fighting inside its own borders. Turkey has vowed to launch a ground operation into Afrin to eradicate YPG forces there. It has been massing troops and tanks at its border. Any operation would entail considerable military and political risk for Ankara. Russia keeps military observers in Afrin and has lately firmed up its ties with the YPG. Syria's government in Damascus says it will shoot down any Turkish jets on raids in the country. The YPG is estimated to have between 8,000 and 10,000 fighters in Afrin. Turkey could also face blowback from the Kurdish insurgency within its own borders. A ground offensive or continued shelling would also exacerbate the poor humanitarian situation in Afrin, which is now home to at least 800,000 civilians, including many who arrived fleeing the fighting in other parts of Syria. Turkey's military and intelligence chiefs traveled to Moscow on Thursday to discuss Turkey's planned intervention. Russia has not removed its observers from Afrin. Turkey's Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli announced Friday an offensive into Afrin had "de facto" begun, in reference to sporadic Turkish military shelling of the area. Also on Saturday, Syrian government forces and supporting militias attacked a rebel-held air base deep inside what was once opposition territory in northwest Syria. Video broadcast by the Lebanese TV station Al-Manar, which is run by the militant group Hezbollah, an ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, showed plumes of smoke rising from the base as government forces shelled it from the perimeter, the channel said. Pro-government forces reached the base earlier this month but pulled back 10 days ago to fight off a counter-offensive by rebels and al-Qaida-linked insurgents. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said pro-government forces had surrounded Abu Zuhour base in Idlib province from three sides. Rebels took over the base in 2015 but have not been able to use it as an airfield because they do not have an air force. Search Keywords: Short link: The Syrian army and allied forces captured Abu al-Duhur airport in Idlib province from insurgents on Saturday, a Hezbollah military media unit said. They had pushed into the military air base hours earlier, pressing their offensive in Syria's largest rebel stronghold, said the media unit run by Lebanon's Hezbollah, which fights along the Damascus government. Search Keywords: Short link: Winter has finally arrived here in Ryedale. Like most of the UK, weve had our first proper snow. I managed to get the oilseed rape sprayed with Bifenox on a frost just before the snow fell and I noticed the Clethodim appears to have done a fantastic job with the grass weeds and volunteers. The crop is forward, but none the worse for that. However, I am struggling to get a future value for the 2018 harvest; does anyone really know whats happening in the oilseed rape market? See also: Read more from our arable Farmer Focus writers On the whole, wheat and barley look really well, despite the wet autumn. We have probably had enough rain now and could do with a cold snap to allow us to move some farmyard manure. After that, Im hoping an early spring will get some semi-drowned wheat moving. In the meantime, with Christmas a fading memory, we have to get on with the routine of cold and wet, as any farmer with livestock knows all too well. Thought-provoking To break the drudgery this year, we have decided to repair our dryer system but with it all being outside exposed to the elements, this long-delayed job is no-ones favourite. But this time of year is not all bad, as there are lots of opportunities to learn, and top of the list for me has been the AHBD Monitor Farm initiative. The speakers weve had have been amazingly high quality on a range of topics soil issues, cultivation practices, fixed-cost analysis all good stuff. Where else can you find such interesting, thought-provoking and practical discussion? And youve already paid for it, so if you havent yet found your local Monitor Farm, make the effort to look it up; I dont think youll be disappointed. While I have been tied up with my dryer system, others have managed to escape the winter flurries by heading inside for this years Oxford Farming Conference. Once again it has provided plenty to talk about. After viewing it online, I did a double-take as the supposed grim reaper of agriculture, Defra secretary Michael Gove, blew some sugar in our ears. He talked about a government that cares about farmers and aims to reduce red tape, supporting high standards, reward conservation and laying a smooth path to Brexit transition. The future sounds bright but lets just wait for the detail. Richard Wainwright farms 510ha in Ryedale, on the southern edge of the North Yorkshire Moors. With soil types ranging from heavy clay loam to limestone brash, the family partnership grows winter wheat, winter barley, oilseed rape, spring beans and rotational grass leys. The farm also runs a large beef fattening unit. Farmers looking to invest in new drills or cultivation kit were given plenty of options at Lamma 2018. Both big names and lesser-known brands were on display and weve rounded up some of the highlights below. See also: Lamma 2018: Tractors and sprayers on show Drills Sly Boss This year was the first time Lincolnshire firm Sly Agri had properly shown its Boss no-till disc drill at Lamma. However, when owner George Sly brought one of the machines angled disc coulters to the show last year, it was enough to secure his first sale to a farmer in Essex. So far thats the only machine operating in the UK, but Mr Sly is running the demo machine (pictured below) at his farm in Lincolnshire and has been setting up a series of trials. The machine itself is based on a coulter design by Australian firm Boss, which has been modified for European conditions. The rest of the frame is manufactured in France and various specs are available, including twin hoppers for seed and fertiliser (or two types of seed) and a front liquid fertiliser tank. Sly has also developed its own liquid fertiliser metering system thats controlled by a tablet via Bluetooth. The 6m demonstrator machine pictured is running twin tanks and has 32 coulters at 18.7cm spacings. As it stands, it costs about 75,000. Farmet drill Farmers looking for an alternative to the popular Horsch Pronto drill might be interested in the Czech-built Farmet Falcon 6, imported by Essex dealer Brocks. Like the Horsch, it has a twin row of cultivating discs at the front and a set of double-disc seed coulters at the rear. However, the drill can also be customised, adding a strip-till cultivator or set of tines in place of the discs. The 6m demonstrator drill pictured is running the standard disc setup, with an extra row of fertiliser placement discs. As it stands it has a list price of about 90,000. Brocks also offer the Farmet Triton, which does a similar job to Vaderstads Topdown. Lemken Azuirt 9 Drill specialist Lemken was showing its Azurit 9 precision maize drill to UK farmers for the first time. Bolted together in Germany, the new drill places seed in two rows at alternate spacing, with the added bonus of dropping a trail of fertiliser in between the seeds. The company claims this allows adjacent seeds to feed from one fertiliser line. The Azuirt can also be connected to the rear of the firms Solitair cereal drill when the toolbar has been removed. This allows the standard 3t hopper to be used for fertiliser, while the 200kg Azuirt hopper can hold the maize seed. Drilling speeds of up to 18kph should be achievable, with the drill available in 3m, 4m and 6m-wide models. Optional 50cm, 75cm and 80cm-row spacing is also available, along with manual depth and pressure control for each seeding unit. Theres a tramline feature and Isobus connectivity, too. Lemken reckons the eight-row version will be the most popular in the UK this has a list price of 62,312. HE-VA Optimal seeder There was plenty of interest on the Opico stand as it showed a 5m version of the Optimal seeder from HE-VA, which is another tool in the struggle against blackgrass. The seed-bed is prepared by the low-disturbance sub-soiling legs, which have compaction busting points on the bottom. A following V-profile roller then packs down the soil to create a bed for seed. A disc is used to slice the soil surface before the seeding leg behind, with the HE-VA double-disc coulter placing the seed at the required depth, leaving no seed on the surface before being pressed down by a following rear wheel. Theres an option to spread slug pellets at the same time using the HE-VA twin multi-seeder, all controlled from the same box. Sizes start at 3m. For the widest 5m version youll be paying 34,952 (ex VAT). Cultivators Claydon Terrablade Band-sowing specialist Claydon has built a tractor mounted to a hoe to remove weed competition in the empty space between rows of crop. The new toolbar can be mounted on the front or rear linkage of the tractor, with speeds of up to 6kph achievable. The company says this job would normally be labour intensive and done by a rouging gang before harvest to remove weeds that may contaminate a seed crop. After trials with chemical company Agri, a 10% increase was seen when using the hoe as well as sprays, compared with applying chemical control methods alone. Travelling through the crop in the spring, the hoe slices the head off the weed at about 1cm below the surface and chops through the roots so there is little hope of it surviving. If it does get going again, it should be easily outcompeted by the crop, were told. Available in 3m, 4m, 4.8m and 6m models, an RTK guided system will achieve the most accurate results, but steering by eye is also possible. A 6m version costs 8,214, with a smaller 3m model costing 6,453. Vaderstad Ferox Vaderstad fans had a new lightweight tine cultivator to eye up at this years Lamma show. Called the Ferox, it sits somewhere between the Swedish makers shallow-working NZA and heavy-tined Swift in terms of its soil-bashing ability. That means it has five or six rows (depending on the model you choose) of middleweight pigtail tines that work to depths of up to 12cm and vibrate to help break up the soil and flick crop residues around. For those looking to do some additional levelling theres the option of front and rear cross boards with hydraulically adjustable aggressivity. Theres the choice of a finishing harrow or crumbler roller to complete the job. Its available in 5m, 6m and 9m working widths, which have 20,030, 24,000 and 37,790 starting prices, respectively. The firms other cultivator news includes a redesigned crosscutter disc for the Carrier. These have ultra-wide wavy edges meaning they will chop and mix across the entire width of the machine, even when working at shallow depths. They can also travel at speeds of 20kph. Sumo Vaxio After a takeover in 2015 by Elsham Wold Estates (which also owns Pipers crisps and Lincoln & York coffee), Yorkshire-based Sumo underwent an internal restructure and has reappeared with a fresh-faced look and a brand new cultivator. Aimed at pinching sales from Vaderstad Topdown and Horsch Terrano buyers, the new Vaxio is the second attempt by the firms engineers at a primary/secondary all-round cultivator, which it says sits between the shallow-cultivating Mixidisc and hefty Trio. The 4m model at Lamma is the only one built so far and is set for testing this spring. It has two rows of meaty 20in discs at the front, followed by a further two rows of subsoiling legs, alternately spaced at 300mm centres. Quick-release points are used for swift changing, with the model on show having hydraulic auto-reset legs and adjustable pressure if the going gets tough. Behind this is a row of levelling discs and a redesigned Tilso-made packer that is claimed to put more pressure through the ridges than the barrel, unlike the firms other options. The operator can independently lift the front rows of discs, legs or the levelling discs out of work when they arent needed, changing a min-till cultivator into a set of discs or solely a subsoiler from the cab. Proposed widths are 3m, 4m, 5m and 6m and as yet there is no word on price. Sumo reckons the 4m model demands about 250-horses up front. Baertschi Oekosem Yorkshire farmer-cum-machinery dealer Andrew Manfield had a versatile rotary strip-till cultivator from Switzerland on show. Unlike many machines of this type that tend to work the ground with tines, the Baertschi Oekosem has a combination of fixed deep working legs and rotary blades to create strips of loose, fine seed-bed. Its designed to work directly into stubble and the leg can be pushed down as deep as 10in. Various working and row widths are available, depending on the task in hand, up to a maximum of 6m. It can also accommodate an array of different seeders and fertiliser applicators for direct planting. To see what it can do, Mr Manfield has been running various trials with the 3m machine in conjunction with the Stockbridge Technology Centre. One of these has involved band sowing oilseed rape with strips of white clover in between. When the OSR was cut, he then used RTK guidance to replant with wheat, leaving the clover in place. Its still early days, but he hopes the clover will provide some nitrogen to the crops, improve moisture retention and reduce pesticide inputs. A 3m Oekosem needs a tractor of about 150hp on the front and costs between 25,000 and 30,000, depending on specification. Ovlac EuroDisc Spanish firm Ovlac is continuing to expand its tillage range by landing a new disc cultivator on UK soil. The implement has two rows of huge 24in discs set at a 21deg angle, which the firm claims is an ideal position for soil mixing. Each disc has a sealed bearing, which sits on the inside rather than outside of the disc, meaning it isnt exposed to the trash thrown up by the next-door disc. Apparently, this will limit dirt getting inside and causing a bearing to fail. Options range from 2.5m models for vineyards and orchards up to a sizeable 9.1m unit for larger acreages. A leaf spring auto-reset system is standard with two discs on each spring. This lets each pair of discs move independently from the rest of the row, which is handy when covering different soils. Its recommended forward-speed is about 12kph. Halse of Honiton imports the machine and a 4m model will cost 30,400. Russian Chief of the General Staff of the armed forces Valery Gerasimov and his U.S. counterpart Joseph Dunford have discussed the situation in Syria by phone, RIA news agency reported on Saturday, citing the Russian Defence Ministry. Details of the call have not been disclosed. The talks took place after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said earlier on Saturday a military operation in Syria's Kurdish-controlled Afrin region had begun after cross-border shelling by the Turkish army. Search Keywords: Short link: Kristina Duggan's and Joni Ricks-Oddie's leads in the District 3 and 9 races, respectively, also remained comfortable on Friday, Nov. 18. This log includes incidents in which there might have been a public disturbance or a risk to the public. Information comes from the Corvallis Police Department and the Benton County Sheriffs Office. It does not include all calls for service. The status of incidents might change after further investigation. Locations are approximate. People arrested or suspected in crimes are considered innocent until proven otherwise. Corvallis Police Department THURSDAY, JANUARY 18 BURGLARY: Police arrested John Albert Herriges, 40, for his alleged involvement in two burglaries at coffee shops. The first burglary occurred on Nov. 22 at Coffee Culture, 2499 NW Kings Boulevard. An employee reported she had arrived to open the shop and realized the exterior power panel had been opened and the power turned off to the business. She also noticed a sliding window was off its track. Police reviewed surveillance footage, which revealed a man with a short beard and mustache and a receding hair line. The second burglary occurred on Nov. 23 at Dutch Bros, 1500 SW Third St. The owner reported the cover to the buildings electrical panel had been found on the ground when the store was opened. The owner provided still shots of video footage to the police. Herriges faces two counts of second-degree burglary and one count of third-degree criminal mischief. Taoist meditation group: The group will meet at 9 a.m. Sunday at the First Alternative Natural Foods Co-op north store, 2855 NW Grant Ave. in Corvallis. The event will feature Taoist Quiet Sitting meditation, also known as "Preserving the Light of the One." Information: docneedlestcm@gmail.com. Worship set: First United Methodist Church, 1165 NW Monroe Ave. in Corvallis, will hold worship at 9:30 a.m. Sunday. Those attending will discuss how to bridge gaps between people that arise when they disagree. Baha'i devotions: "The Spiritually Learned, Part 1" is set for 9:45 a.m. Sunday at 5006 SW Hollyhock Circle, Corvallis. Religion is capable of profoundly influencing social relationships. Advances in social relationships derive from the application of spiritual law demonstrated through kindness, trustworthiness, temperance and acting according to moral principles, for example. These qualities will be related in a dramatic reading. The event is open to all. Movie screening: Calvary Baptist Church, 800 34th Ave. SE in Albany, will host a free showing of the acclaimed new movie "All Saints" at 6 p.m. Sunday. The film, starring John Corbett, is based on a true story. Bible studies: Beginning Monday, mid-valley churches will open their doors to women of all faiths for the winter Community-Wide Bible Studies sponsored by the Albany-based Mid-Valley Women of Christ. Benton and Linn county Bible study locations include Adair Village, Albany, Brownsville, Corvallis, Harrisburg, Lebanon, Philomath, Sweet Home and Tangent. Fifty class times will gather women from more than 325 different churches as they explore a study of the life of King David titled The Longing in Me by Sheila Walsh. Participants can purchase a $10 companion workbook through the host churches and participate in small group discussion. Classes offer hospitality, teaching, homework discussion and prayer at each location. Child care is offered at several locations. Registration is available at www.midvalleywomenofchrist.org. For more information, write to info@midvalleywomenofchrist.org. Hebrew study: "Introduction to Biblical Hebrew" is set for 4:30 p.m. Jan. 28 at Trinity Baptist Church, 72 E. Elmore St. in Lebanon. The event is sponsored by Am HaSefer Oregon. Donations will be accepted. Financial class offered: Financial Peace University will be offered at 6 p.m. nine Mondays, starting Jan. 29, at Crowfoot Baptist Church, 699 Cascade Drive in Lebanon. Financial expert Dave Ramsey created the class, which is designed to provide families and individuals with practical tools to gain control of their finances and set themselves up for long-term financial success. Registration is available at www.fpu.com/1054708. Russia will support Syria diplomatically and will demand in the United Nations that Turkey halt its military operation in Syria's Afrin, a member of the upper house of the Russian parliament's security committee told RIA news on Saturday. "It is not only Syria that will demand this operation to stop. Russia will support this demand as well and will provide Syria with diplomatic assistance," RIA quoted Franz Klintsevich as saying. Search Keywords: Short link: Over 200 break-ins : Bonn serial burglar had help of accomplices Bonn The police in Bonn have caught a serial burglar: The 34-year-old man from Bonn is thought to have broken in over 200 times into apartments and houses in the region. He may have had help of accomplices, who the police are currently searching for. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken The police in Bonn have caught a serial burglar: The 34-year-old man from Bonn is thought to have broken in over 200 times into apartments and houses in the region. He may have had help of accomplices, who the police are currently searching for. The damage caused during the burglaries is well over 100,000 Euro. Fur coats and champagne, gold jewellery and money, even a coffee machine, the culprit took. In the end, DNA traces led to the man - and a large control operation with hundreds of police officers. The investigations in regard to possible accomplices continue. The 34-year-old already has a certain legend status in Bonns police headquarters. To have caught the pane stacker - as the officers call him - is considered one of the greatest success stories in the fight against break-in crime. And thats all thanks to our investigators, praised police president Ursula Brohl-Sowa. 42 burglaries can be proven to be committed by the man through DNA proof. Every day, that list grows: Experts of the state criminal police agency (LKA) keep checking the genetical fingerprint of the 34-year-old with other finds. When the investigation team Pane began its work last summer, there were several break-ins following the same pattern. The culprit always got in via the back of the house, concealed from view, says Mark Patrick Luck, who is heading the investigation team. Every time the man destroyed the window pane nearly without making any sound, to get into houses. He worked very accurately, says Luck. The broken glass pieces he carefully set aside and piled them neatly - which gained him the nickname pane stacker. He fine-tuned his method with every break-in. He built tools with which he opened shutters and others to break glass without making a sound. He was climbing obstacles of up to five meters. Balconies he reached by using a grappling hook. Profiler on the job We started at zero, and had no clues at first, says Luck. Thats why the Bonn team asked the LKA experts for help - highly specialised profilers, who usually work on murder cases. The guess of the investigators was right: DNA traced found at crime scenes in Bonn, Rhein-Sieg-Kreis and Kreis Neuwied were matching, stemmed from one person. But who? We spoke with residents and possible witnesses, but nobody had any hint towards the identity of the culprit, reports Luck. Thanks to the burglary radar, in which the police mark all previous crimes, they knew all the areas the culprit was using for his break-ins. We knew he would strike again, but not when. So it happened that undercover police officers mounted surveillance at an area in Ippendorf while the pane stacker struck in Bad Honnef. For weeks, the investigation team was moving in the dark. Until they decided to go for a radical measure: For 12 days they mounted surveillance at locations where he broke in before. Current situation and forecast : Rhine levels on the rise again in Bonn and Cologne Bonn/Cologne The river levels are rising again in Bonn and Cologne, apparently. Since the flooding at the start of the year, the Rhine is reaching a higher level again. The main reason behind this: The rainfall over the last few days. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken The river levels are rising again in Bonn and Cologne, apparently. Since the flooding at the start of the year, the Rhine is reaching a higher level again. The main reason behind this: Rainfall. Since the flooding at the start of the year, the river level in Bonn is rising again. Currently the Rhine level is about 5.86 meters. For this weekend, the forecast suggests it could rise to 6.50 meters. Due to expected rainfall, during the coming week, disruptions due to flooding can be anticipated. At a level of 7 meters, slip roads to the Rhine in Beuel will be closed, at 7.15 meters the stops Bad Godesberg Fahre and Bad Godesberg Rheinufer will be cancelled. What happens at which river level? Please refer to this article. In the region around Bonn, the forecast for the Rhine level has been indicated as rising. In Eitorf, the level rose slightly already. in Koblenz, the water is rising too and the tributaries in the region will at least keep their current high level. The Rhine is said to be at a level of 5.93 meters in Cologne already, expected to rise to 7 meters on Sunday. At the start of the year, riverside roads and meadows were flooded at a level of 8.80 meters, larger residential areas were not affected though. The Poet of the Piano, Polish composer Frederic Chopin, is part of the international musical consciousness; he is timeless with all his poetry and melodies, honesty and humility The media is expected to discuss news or provide analysis that is linked more or less directly to current events. In this context, writing about Frederic Chopin might seem surprising. Why now? But I would say, why not? Chopin is no stranger to the Egyptian audience and many pianists include the composers work in their recitals or dedicate whole evenings to him. On 22 January, indeed, Mohamed Shams will feature some Chopin, alongside Beethoven and Liszt, in his recital at the Cinema Zamalek. But Chopin is an artist one needs no excuse to bring up. He is part of the international musical consciousness and he lives within the souls of many people; he is timeless and always present. Chopins music rises above time and space, where the beauty of melodies and harmonies are but a translation of the deepest emotions. The Poet of the Piano, as he is often referred to, Chopin was born on 1 March 1810 according to his family though the certificate of his baptism points to 22 February in the same year. Again, according to the family records, Chopins first, semi-public performance took place on 3 May 1818, while he was in his eighth summer. In May 1829, Chopin left his native Poland for Vienna, a city where people only liked the waltzes of Strauss and Lanner, as he wrote in a letter. Over two years later, in October 1831, he moved to Paris where he lived years of plenitude and where during a soiree with friends in April 1837, he met the French writer Georges Sand (Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin) with whom he had a love affair. In 1847 Chopins health began to deteriorate; his relationship with Sand was also drying up. Chopin died on 17 October 1849. Timid by nature, and given to avoiding big crowds, Chopin used music as the channel through which to express love, passion, ardour, grief, sorrow, joy, fear, envy, pity and dozens of timeless emotions. A renowned Polish poet and Chopins contemporary, Cyprian Kamil Norwid, wrote of him, Born a Varsovian, a Pole in his heart, and in his talent a citizen of the world. What I would add to this sentence is a citizen of the world filled with emotions of all shades and colours. His compositions were in part nurtured by his native Poland but his relations with music extend in many directions beyond geographical and national borders. One of Warsaws landmarks is a bronze monument created by Wacaw Szymanowski in 1907 and placed in the citys Royal Baths Park (azienki Park). The monument depicts the composer lost in thought under what ought to be the windblown weeping willow a tree that characterises the countrys rural areas, its meadows and pastures whose branches loosely imitate the pianists hand. The metaphor aims to capture the deep nostalgia of Chopins longing for his homeland, a feeling shared by Poles longing for their composer. Such mutual nostalgia has always been very strong. So much so that, before his burial at Pariss Pere Lachaise cemetery, Chopins heart was removed from his body and transported to the church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw, to be kept there. One story has it that this had been the composers own request, because he was afraid of being buried alive, or because he wanted his heart to rest in his lost paradise: Poland. Whatever the reason, lets blame this rather unconventional move on the melancholia running through Romantic souls. Scientists believe that the sample DNA of the organ could serve some valuable findings such us providing more detail about Chopins health conditions and death, but in 2008, the Polish Ministry of Culture ruled out any encroachment on the pickled heart. On Preludes and Sonata no. 2 Like many prodigies, Chopins life was rather short, but he lived long enough to leave us with plenty of great music and universal emotion. Poetic honesty emanates from all of his works, with each carrying its own unique combination of melody and harmony. The dramatic feel in Scherzo No. 2 op. 31, the heroism of the Polonaise Op. 53 (hence its name, heroic), the radiance of the Grande Valse Brillante Op. 18, the piercing longing in Waltz No. 7 Op. 64 no. 2, the sparkling Fantasie Impromptu Op. 66; the conflicting thoughts in Ballade op. 23 in G minor are but a few of the colours on display. Chopin offers the same fulfilling journey through emotions in both individual pieces and in compact form, as is the case with his 24 Preludes Op. 28, one of my favourite displays of feelings. For piano students they are a great exercise and for accomplished pianists they test the performers intimacy with Chopins style. A happy agitation resides in the opening Prelude no. 1 in C major, recalling the more tormented no. 8 in F-sharp minor or its fearful, tense sibling, a very brief Prelude no. 14 in E-flat minor. It is no. 14 that recalls the final movement of Chopins sonata no. 2 Op.35 in B-flat minor, but let us return to this. The perfect musical nuance comes in Prelude no. 2 in A minor, which Alfred Cortot named a painful meditation, the distant deserted sea, but arent those two images somehow contrasting? They probably miss the complexity of chagrin that Chopin forged. The sun emanates from no. 3 in G major, where the pianist can showcase the finesse of the left hand, before moving to the famed no. 4 in E minor, in which melancholy is more soothing than upsetting. No need to analyse all 24 Preludes, of course. But whenever we listen to the whole set, we end our walk with the ambiguity of no. 21 in B-flat major, the rebellious no. 22 in G minor, a laid-back fairyland if I may paraphrase Cortot apparent in no. 23 in F major. We eventually reach the magnum opus, the Prelude no. 24 in D minor, a key often linked to death for instance Mozarts Requiem carries the same key. In Chopins prelude, however, death is not sorrowful, but a thoughtful reconciliation with inevitability. Just like all Chopins works, the Preludes are rich in contrasts and textures, conflicting thoughts on the one hand and unified concepts on the other. They capture life, nature and people, all summarised in a few bars. This does not mean that Chopin imitated emotions, or actions; he was only inspired by them, they all nurtured him as he translated them into music. But one of my most recurrent thoughts about Chopin concerns the values of life and death. Maybe it was Chopins weak health that infused his music with this ability to see so many layers of life while being aware of the eventual dark curtain. This however does not mean that to Chopin life ends with death, as the ethereal existence continues, expressed through torment or hope. A story of lifes continuum is so beautifully captured in Chopins sonata no. 2 Op. 35, famed for its third movement, the poignant funeral march (Marche Funebre). The sonata was played at Chopins funeral at Pere Lachaise in 1849. I like to look at this sonata as a reflection on the stages of life, which as you might expect lead to an end or a closure. It is a somewhat evolving frame of mind. The first movement (Grave Doppio Movimento) brings many passions to the fore: the energy, the curiosity and youthful elasticity, balancing them with occasional gloomy moods. The spring of life and its confusions are all here. The second movement, Scherzo carries a noble strength as the piano sings of emotional maturity and wisdom. Such pure serenity, however, does not give way to inertia, since every now and then the music awakens us with its vitality. It is in the third movement that the presence of death is evident, whether as a fait accompli or as something still approaching, crippling the soul long before the body has surrendered. Death is present not because it is a Marche Funebre, but because it is death playing on the keys of our emotions. The lento segment is a lyrical weeping over the inevitable final curtain. I feel that even if death comes in the third movement, its true realisation comes with the Finale-Presto, the brief anxiety which raises more questions than it provides answers. The real and piercing unknown comes after the last note is played. Silence. Once we realise the journey has ended, the soft reverberation gradually thins in the air while we are still trying to savour its beauty. Silence embraces the subtle emotional discharge but the audience hardly ever waits before showering the pianist with a sparkling ovation, leaving little room for the emotions to depart at their own slow pace. Chopins music teaches us a lot about the composer, his home country moulded into universal casts and ourselves as humans: our longings, hopes, fears and joys. Chopin is not only a list of Ballades, Etudes, Polonaises, Scherzos, Waltzes, Mazurkas, works for piano and orchestra, violin, cello and voice, etc. While these express their own colours and Chopins genius, at the end of the day what you find in this work is simply music all you hear is Chopin, the one and only, with all his poetry and melodies, honesty and humility. Take what you will the composers gift is sure to make you richer. This article was first published in Al Ahram Weekly For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture Search Keywords: Short link: The event will be held at the library on Sunday, 21 January, in the presence of Muslim clerics, Coptic priests, writers, intellectuals, and statesmen The Great Cairo Library in Zamalek will host the launch of Eriter Hamdy Rizk's latest book "Kiralayson ... in love of the Copts." The event will be held at the library Sunday, 21 January, at 6:00pm with a large audience of Muslim clerics and Coptic priests alongside writers and intellectuals and statesmen, including Minister of Religious Affairs Mokhtar Gomaa, former Minister of Culture Helmy Namam, head of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Mostafa El-Fiki, and president of Cairo University, Mohamed Osman El-Khosht. Discussion of the book will be chaired by renowned TV host Mofeed Fawzi. The book is published by Rose El-Youssef Foundation. The writer documents the status of Copts in Egypt between 2011 and 2018. In January 2011, a major Coptic church in Alexandria was the target of a bombing. In January 2018, the largest Coptic cathedral was opened in Egypt's new administrative capital. Search Keywords: Short link: xspraise at 20-01-2018 01:30 AM (4 years ago) (m) The Nigerian community in South Africa has alleged that a 27-year old man, Ebuka Okori, was killed by the police in Durban in the early hours of Friday 19th January, 2018. The Nigerian community in South Africa has alleged that a 27-year old man, Ebuka Okori, was killed by the police in Durban in the early hours of Friday 19th January, 2018. According to Mr Bartholomew Eziagulu, the Chairman of the Nigerian Union chapter in Kwazulu Natal Province of South Africa, the victim was a native of Umunze in Orumba North Local Government of Anambra. He said that an eyewitness informed the union that two police officers in mufti forcefully gained access to the victim`s house at Campbell Street in Durban at 2.am on Friday. According to him, the officers immediately demanded money from Okori. South African police beats Nigerian to death When he refused, he was handcuffed, taken outside and shot dead. The officers took away his cell phone, e-passport and other valuable documents. The relative of the victim was tortured and robbed of his belongings while a third victim, a South African, was also robbed, he said. Eziagulu said that the Okori`s brother escaped from the house and called for help. The Metro Police around the vicinity swiftly intervened and picked the vehicle number of the assailants, he said. Eziagulu said that police detectives and another special police team which investigates complaints against their colleagues had been assisting to arrest the culprits. Mr Adetola Olubajo, the President of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, said that the national secretariat had been informed about the incident. He said that the union was monitoring the situation and had informed the Nigerian Mission and the South African police. According to Mr Bartholomew Eziagulu, the Chairman of the Nigerian Union chapter in Kwazulu Natal Province of South Africa, the victim was a native of Umunze in Orumba North Local Government of Anambra.He said that an eyewitness informed the union that two police officers in mufti forcefully gained access to the victim`s house at Campbell Street in Durban at 2.am on Friday. According to him, the officers immediately demanded money from Okori.When he refused, he was handcuffed, taken outside and shot dead. The officers took away his cell phone, e-passport and other valuable documents. The relative of the victim was tortured and robbed of his belongings while a third victim, a South African, was also robbed, he said.Eziagulu said that the Okori`s brother escaped from the house and called for help. The Metro Police around the vicinity swiftly intervened and picked the vehicle number of the assailants, he said.Eziagulu said that police detectives and another special police team which investigates complaints against their colleagues had been assisting to arrest the culprits. Mr Adetola Olubajo, the President of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, said that the national secretariat had been informed about the incident. He said that the union was monitoring the situation and had informed the Nigerian Mission and the South African police. Post Reply I am Victor, I write reportage on sport news and latest metro happenings in Nigeria. Posted: at 20-01-2018 01:30 AM (4 years ago) | Hero bohlah at 20-01-2018 01:49 PM (4 years ago) (m) 40-year-old Nigerian returnee from Libya, Omo Harry, has narrated the bizzare and unfortunate things himself and other Nigerians faced while they were trapped in Libya on their way to Europe. 40-year-old Nigerian returnee from Libya, Omo Harry, has narrated the bizzare and unfortunate things himself and other Nigerians faced while they were trapped in Libya on their way to Europe. In an interview with Vanguard, Omo who recently returned to Nigeria, narrated how his friend, Deniss girlfriend, Rita, whom they all embarked on the journey to Europe in April 2016, was raped to death because she could not afford the money needed for her to continue her journey from Libya to Euope. Omo said Rita was handcuffed and boys took turns to rape her. She died when one of the boys tried to penertate her. Her corpse was abandoned for two days before it was removed. Her boyfriend watched the men take their turns to have sex with her. My friend, Denis, said I could travel to Europe if I could raise at least N500,000. He told me that he was also trying to raise same amount for an agent that would facilitate it. I had to sell all my property , including the parcel of land I acquired at Ogudu Bale area of Ogun state. But I could only raise N350,000 at the end. Denis was able to raise N300,000 while his girlfriend, Rita, had N250,000. The agent said he would complete the money but that we would pay him the balance when we got to Libya. When asked how, he said he would introduce us to someone , who would get us a job and that after paying his balance, we would proceed to Europe. We bought gala, garri and bread and also bought two bags of sachet water as advised by the agent and left Lagos for Kano. On arriving the border between Kano and Niger, the agent told us to bring N7000 out of the money with us. As we approached the border, a Customs officer came, collected the money from us and asked us to wait until he gave the directive for us to cross thorough a bush path. Finally, we arrived Qatrun, the first state in Libya . We were taken to a connection house . In that connection house were tranke which are camps where migrants who do not have the needed amount to continue the journey are kept. On the first day at the tranke, we were welcomed with good food. But at night, they began a roll call and separated those who had completed payment from those who hadnt . Of course, myself, Denis and Rita were in the disadvantaged group. At this point, the agent was nowhere to be found. In fact we were all confused as to what to do next . At this connection house, the head is called Capon. We also had OC Torture . The Capo collects relatives number and demand money for captives to continue their journey. It was at that point that I got to know that Rita did not tell her parents she was traveling. When she was given the phone to speak with her mother, we overheard her crying. Ritas parents sent N150,000, which covered three of us. We thought we were free, not knowing that the horror had only just begun. Sabha connection house. Speaking further, he said From Qatrun, we were moved to Sahba , in Western Libya, where the main tranke called Ali ghetto is located. It is close to the University of Sahba . It was a place of no return . From there , you are expected to pay another sum to cross to another connection house in Inias, from where you will embark on the sea trip to Europe. When they demanded for more money, Rita said she would like to go back home. But they insisted that she must pay before going back. Immediately we got there, they collected our international passports and tore them. They said they dont allow people to embark on the sea trip with anything except the clothes on them. In my excitement, I called my people in Lagos and they sent N150,000. Unfortunately, it could only take me , as Denis and Rita did not have money to cross the second huddle. Instead of leaving them behind, I kept my money and decided to wait until their relations could send money to them. Ritas parents called to say that they had no money. Immediately the call was received, Rita was chained to an iron rod where White Libyans came and took turn to rape her. This continued for two weeks without food . In one of the instances, Denis stood up to challenge one of the men but he had his ear chopped off with a hot iron rod that was plugged to a socket.. On the day she died, five boys first came , had their turns with her and left. At that point, she could only stare into space. Ten minutes later, another set of young men came to have their turn. It was when the third person was on her that she was discovered to be motionless. Her body was there for two days before it was removed Omo also narrated how Libyan men would come to where the illegal migrants are kept, pay some money to take any strong black man they see who would have sex with them. The black men would after segxwally satisfying them, will then be brought back in the morning. Omo said he always feigned he was sick whenever the Libyan men came to pick any of the illegal male immigrants for gay sex. In an interview with Vanguard, Omo who recently returned to Nigeria, narrated how his friend, Deniss girlfriend, Rita, whom they all embarked on the journey to Europe in April 2016, was raped to death because she could not afford the money needed for her to continue her journey from Libya to Euope.Omo saidSabha connection house.Speaking further, he saidOmo also narrated how Libyan men would come to where the illegal migrants are kept, pay some money to take any strong black man they see who would have sex with them. The black men would after segxwally satisfying them, will then be brought back in the morning. Omo said he always feigned he was sick whenever the Libyan men came to pick any of the illegal male immigrants for gay sex. Post Reply I have been reporting on latest news from Nigeria for almost 10 years now. I report on every possible news area I come across, but always ensure my reports are compiled with dignity and fact to uphold my personal values and duty as a journalist Posted: at 20-01-2018 01:49 PM (4 years ago) | Addicted Hero xspraise at 20-01-2018 08:04 PM (4 years ago) (m) A Nigerian in the United States, Osa Alohaneke, faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in jail, after he was convicted by a court in Fort Bend County, Houston for the 2015 stabbing to death of his fiancee, a Cameroonian. A Nigerian in the United States, Osa Alohaneke, faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in jail, after he was convicted by a court in Fort Bend County, Houston for the 2015 stabbing to death of his fiancee, a Cameroonian. After deliberating for some 13 hours, a jury late Friday afternoon convicted 59-year-old Osa Alohaneke in the slaying of Evelyne Ebane Epiepang, 52. Alohaneke looked down and showed no emotion when the verdict was read in court. Prosecutors alleged that Alohaneke used a kitchen knife to attack Epiepang, his fiancee, and her friend, Veronica Taku. Alohaneke, who was living at the time in a section of southwest Houston that lies in Fort Bend County, was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Jurors acquitted Alohaneke of the assault charges. Epiepang was stabbed more than 30 times and died as she called 911 operators for help. Screams echoed in the courtroom for more than four minutes when prosecutors played the 911 call for jurors last week. When police arrived, Alohaneke was on the phone with an attorney, his hands covered in blood. Blood was splatted on his arms up to his elbows, Assistant District Attorney Amanda Bolin told jurors during her closing arguments. His mission was pain and devastation and he accomplished his mission, Bolin said. Defense attorney Eric Ashford pointed to what he said were weaknesses in the case against Alohaneke, many of which he alleged were caused by a haphazard investigation by the Fort Bend County Sheriffs Office. Was this case taken seriously by investigators? They didnt even do the forensic analysis needed to determine the murder weapon, Ashford told jurors. Ashford told jurors that detectives took several knives from the scene but that no testing was done to figure out which was used in the killing. In addition, the attorney said, detectives took Alahonekes clothes when he was arrested but never tested them for blood or DNA. Neither were fingernail scmolestings were taken from the victim. Also, he noted that detectives took Alahonekes phone but that jurors were never shown text messages as proof he was involved in the attack. Ashford also attacked the credibility of Taku, the only witness to the killing. She had testified she saw Alohaneke turn white like a ghost after the murder. This could have been a hallucination, Ashford told jurors. But did detectives investigate Takus mental status? No, during testimony they said they didnt think it was important. Jurors now begin the penalty phase. Alohaneke faces a sentence of up to life in prison. After deliberating for some 13 hours, a jury late Friday afternoon convicted 59-year-old Osa Alohaneke in the slaying of Evelyne Ebane Epiepang, 52.Alohaneke looked down and showed no emotion when the verdict was read in court.Prosecutors alleged that Alohaneke used a kitchen knife to attack Epiepang, his fiancee, and her friend, Veronica Taku.Alohaneke, who was living at the time in a section of southwest Houston that lies in Fort Bend County, was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Jurors acquitted Alohaneke of the assault charges.Epiepang was stabbed more than 30 times and died as she called 911 operators for help. Screams echoed in the courtroom for more than four minutes when prosecutors played the 911 call for jurors last week.When police arrived, Alohaneke was on the phone with an attorney, his hands covered in blood. Blood was splatted on his arms up to his elbows, Assistant District Attorney Amanda Bolin told jurors during her closing arguments.His mission was pain and devastation and he accomplished his mission, Bolin said.Defense attorney Eric Ashford pointed to what he said were weaknesses in the case against Alohaneke, many of which he alleged were caused by a haphazard investigation by the Fort Bend County Sheriffs Office.Was this case taken seriously by investigators? They didnt even do the forensic analysis needed to determine the murder weapon, Ashford told jurors.Ashford told jurors that detectives took several knives from the scene but that no testing was done to figure out which was used in the killing. In addition, the attorney said, detectives took Alahonekes clothes when he was arrested but never tested them for blood or DNA. Neither were fingernail scmolestings were taken from the victim. Also, he noted that detectives took Alahonekes phone but that jurors were never shown text messages as proof he was involved in the attack.Ashford also attacked the credibility of Taku, the only witness to the killing. She had testified she saw Alohaneke turn white like a ghost after the murder.This could have been a hallucination, Ashford told jurors. But did detectives investigate Takus mental status? No, during testimony they said they didnt think it was important.Jurors now begin the penalty phase. Alohaneke faces a sentence of up to life in prison. Post Reply I am Victor, I write reportage on sport news and latest metro happenings in Nigeria. Posted: at 20-01-2018 08:04 PM (4 years ago) | Hero Islamists come in all shapes and sizes. Some are very well educated and hold senior jobs. Others are not educated at all and might suffer from poverty or unemployment. Some believe in gradual change. Others cannot wait for instant and dramatic change. Some believe they can endure living with non-Islamists until further notice. Others believe that it is time for further notice. The Islamists are neither a homogenous group, nor do they share common social, economic or even psychological backgrounds. But one thing they have in common is that their ultimate dream is an Islamic state. And despite the fact that the term Islamic state has several definitions, characteristics and shapes, for them most differences can be overridden until the dream starts to become true. The Machiavellian rule that the end justifies the means has probably never been applied more smartly or efficiently than by the Islamists, especially those residing in the West. The peaceful, law-abiding, love-for-all and hatred-for-none Islamists living in London, New York, Vienna, Berlin, The Hague, Melbourne, Paris, Cologne and other cities in the West are not the norm in their home countries. There are huge differences between the Islamists residing over there and their counterparts living here. And what lies beneath the smooth, loving faces over there is not always a reflection of what lies beneath their plans and ultimate goals. A friend who has extensive experience abroad and mingling with Islamists who have migrated from their Muslim and Arab homelands seeking better lives once wrote a post on Facebook shedding light on the extremism of some Muslim communities living in the West. Even though he started his post by expressing bewilderment as to why religious extremism attracts some Muslims in Europe and the United States, his words carry a great deal of the answer. The extremism of some Muslims living in the West has always surprised me, not only when it comes to their appearances and rituals, but also with regards to the way they apprehend religion, he wrote. He went on to recount memories of attending Friday prayer in Holland in the 1990s, at which the imam elaborated on the necessity of all females, young children included, abiding by the Muslim dress code. My friend was shocked at the aggressive and radical tone with which the man spoke and the way he seemed to mesmerise his audience. The sermon was filled with the spice that the radical religious discourse uses: establishing a caliphate, applying Sharia Law, conquering apostate governments, the Jews and America, and of course suppressing and dominating women, he wrote. What is said behind the closed doors of some mosques and Islamic centres in many countries remains unknown to outsiders. And if known, the effect of such words can be underestimated. It is true that most countries in the West have now woken up to the nightmare of the Islamic State (IS) group banging on their doors from within, realising that a culture of terror wearing the mask of religion is home-grown, yet the dangers of the Islamists may still be underestimated. The thin line that separates freedom of expression on the one hand and hate speech on the other may be blurred in many countries of the world that strongly adhere to human rights. I remember a few years ago I witnessed a debate in London when a group of Ahmadi Muslims living in Britain decided to build one of the biggest mosques in Western Europe in a suburb of the UK capital. Many local residents expressed objections, fearing changes in the architectural spirit of the place. Others were worried at the growing Muslim community and a change in the London they knew. A third group lobbied against the mosque, reflecting standard Islamophobia. At the time, many human rights groups and individuals lobbied for the right of the Ahmadi Muslims to have their mosque as long as the architecture abided by the law. The word law is critical. What many in the West fail to understand when it comes to why the Islamists are more dangerous in their homelands and why some countries such as Egypt have decided to get rid of their rule has to do with law and democracy. The idea of democracy marketed by the West as the optimum for all human communities is based on a system where laws, rather than individuals, rule. The rule of law in a democracy protects the rights of citizens, maintains order and limits the power of government. The West has taught us that all citizens are equal under the law in a democracy. No one may be discriminated against on the basis of their race, religion, ethnic group or gender. But in a system where religion rules, it is followers of that specific religion who rule. And it is those followers, and more specifically those who exercise authority within the hierarchy of the governing religion, who decide who gets what, when and where. Does this sound like the Middle Ages? It should. No matter how much the Islamists get radicalised in the West, or even what sort of terrorist activities they perform if recruited or attracted to IS and other groups, they still get judged according to the rule of man-made law, not divine law as interpreted by specific theologians at a specific time. While many countries in the West are starting to immunise themselves and their younger generations, including Muslim migrants, against radicalisation and their becoming involved in acts of terror, these same countries are still pushing us to include the Islamists in our newly developing democracies. They cannot grasp the idea that democracy and Islamism or any other sort of mixture between religion and politics do not mix. Efforts to make us believe that mild Political Islam should be part of the political process in Egypt reflects either a lack of understanding or a deliberate plan to turn the country over to chaos. UK diplomat Sir John Jenkins, formerly British ambassador to several Arab countries and head of a committee assigned by the British government to prepare a report on Muslim Brotherhood activities in the UK, complained that the mission to reach an accord among discordant approaches towards the Brotherhood was beyond his capabilities. Jenkins was asked in March 2014 by then British prime minister David Cameron to lead a review into the Muslim Brotherhood in the UK. The report, delayed for months amid disputes about how strongly it should say the Brotherhood was linked to terrorism, assessed views in the Muslim Brotherhood about violence and the use of terrorism in the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and other national chapters. Jenkins concluded that it was not possible to reconcile such views with the claim made by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in its evidence to the review that the Muslim Brotherhood has consistently adhered to peaceful means of opposition, renouncing all forms of violence throughout its existence. The report showed that the Muslim Brothers have engaged politically where possible, but they have also selectively used violence and sometimes terror in pursuit of their institutional goals. Their public narrative notably in the West have emphasised engagement not violence. But there have been significant differences between Muslim Brotherhood communications in English and Arabic, it said. A few weeks ago in an article in the Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, Jenkins warned of overreacting towards IS and Al-Qaeda, while turning a blind eye to the real issues. He was referring to the ability of the Political Islam ideology to mobilise small groups that include activists who might get involved in various political practices, such as incitement to revolutionary violence or even ousting regimes. But despite what the veteran diplomat and authority on Islamism warned against and documented in his report, many Western countries are still defending the mixture of politics and religion in countries that have been plagued by Political Islam. The Islamists over there might be doves, but over here they are more like vultures. *This article was first published in Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: Conduct a review of existing statutory and regulatory laws (including anti-fraud rules and other consumer protections) to make sure current state laws consider evolving financial technologies. Allow the creation of trust organizations or limited liability corporations, termed Digital Currency LLCs (DCLCCs) designed to work within the existing LLC laws, but with a specific sub-chapter of rules. This would include: Permitting DCLCC governance to be provided in whole or in part through the technological architecture of the system. Allowing the assignment of the roles of members and managers to participants nodes, miners, etc. Granting limited liability protection to these participants, and authorizing the limitation of their agency authority with respect to the system. Granting authority for the kinds of counter-hacks that the Ethereum system has carried out when under attack. Creating governance procedures for innovations and changes in the currency architecture. In Vermont, a legislator has introduced a bill that aims to push the small state to the forefront of financial technology and attract businesses involved in cryptocurrencies and blockchain.The bill, introduced by state Sen. Alison Clarkson, would allow distributed ledger startups to create limited liability companies that would be taxed by the state in any coin of its making at a low rate.Perhaps the most surprising of the proposals is the requisition of a study to determine how Vermont could create an e-residency program. The bill specifically asks state officials to examine Estonia's e-residency program, which allows anyone, anywhere, to virtually become a citizen of the state.The move would put the state on a path following Estonia's digital transformation program, which tcharacterized as the most " ambitious projects in technological statecraft ," in the world. Estonia allows its e-citizens to digitally sign documents and contracts; encrypt and transmit documents securely; establish a company online, enable companies to administer a company from anywhere in the world; apply for third-party services like e-banking and remote money transfers; access online payment service providers and declare Estonia taxes online.Clarkson sees the bill as a continuation of technology-friendly policy in the Green Mountain State.We have a history of passing innovative laws for business, Sen. Clarkson said.Vermont passed two blockchain-related bills in 2016 and 2017. The first bill passed by the Vermont Assembly allowed for authentication of an object, such as artwork, precious stones or high-value footwear, through blockchain technology. The bill establishes that blockchain data is admissible evidence in court. Blockchain technology could be used to supply a notarization of authenticity legally.The second bill passed in the spring of 2017 allowed the state to modify its money transmission rules with a definition for virtual currency, allowing money transmitters to hold digital currencies as a kind of "permissible investment," but with the caveat that this can be done "only to the extent of outstanding transmission obligations received by the licensee in identical denomination of virtual currency.The existing Vermont legislation on blockchain technology and other aspects of e-finance have given Vermont the potential for leadership in this sector of technology, she said. We have been busy putting the enabling legislation in place to build fluency in financial technology.It's a rural state with a population of about 600,000 that is losing workers due to outmigration and retirement, and whose economic indicators and job creation show a decline since 2012 . So , she thinks, the legislature is very interested in getting recognition as the first state to encode legal enhancements for virtual business.Our legislation is fairly forward-looking to advance economic development, she said. We desperately want to attract young workers. (This bill) might attract them to be here physically.Clarkson and her husband, Oliver Goodenough, who wrote a financial report to accompany her bill, both admit that they were a little more than inspired by the Estonia model.While our state may not have Silicon Valley or Wall Street, it is already a moderate tech hub, said Goodenough, a law professor at the University of Vermont.magazine ranked Burlington among the top 10 metropolitan areas for innovative technology development.Estonia has shown the world that its ideas can disrupt business; disrupt what it means to be a state; and too, that the small, former Soviet Union captive can begin to dominate innovation in the Council of the European Union.Vermont hopes to emulate Estonia's state-level disruption within the United States by adopting a model that will foster financial technology laws to enhance participation in Vermonts economy as virtual citizens.As currently written, Clarkson's bill would:This section of the bill would also allow for taxation "in the form of its digital currency ... equivalent to $0.01" whenever a new unit of cryptocurrency is created, traded or transferred.It would also allow for trust frameworks to prevent identity theft, allow the application of blockchain technology for insurance and e-banking and create the first legal structure in the U.S. for the governing of autonomous agents for example, an artificial intelligence that controls securities or commodities corporations.Clarkson fully expects most of her proposals to pass in the springtime. Because the state is small, she said, it can be very nimble.Our legislature is fairly forward-looking, and they are looking to promote economic development, she said. (TNS) Amazon.com Inc. said Thursday that Los Angeles and 19 other places are the finalists for the $5-billion second headquarters the giant online retailer plans to build.The largest concentration of contenders is in the Northeast; Los Angeles is the only finalist west of the Rocky Mountains.Amazon said it narrowed the list from 238 proposals across the United States, Canada and Mexico. It was somewhat surprising that Los Angeles made the final 20 because the companys headquarters is in Seattle and there was speculation it might avoid setting up a second base on the West Coast.The list includes Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Miami; New York; Philadelphia; Toronto; Washington; Pittsburgh; Raleigh, N.C.; Nashville; Newark, N.J.; and Columbus, Ohio. It also listed northern Virginia and Marylands Montgomery County both near Washington, D.C. as potential sites.Amazon said that in the coming months, it would work with each finalist location to dive deeper into their proposals, request additional information and evaluate the feasibility of a future partnership before making a final decision later this year.Amazon did not elaborate on why each of the 20 places made its final list.The company announced its plan for a second headquarters in September. It said the new facility would be home to as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs.The announcement immediately set off a race among cities that hoped to attract Amazon and the enormous economic benefits the facility would bring.Among the cities that did not make the final list are Irvine and San Diego.Irvine Mayor Donald Wagner congratulated the remaining contenders. I particularly want to wish Los Angeles, one of the finalists, all the best, he said in a statement.The entire Southern California region would benefit by the selection of Los Angeles and we offer our cooperation to Mayor [Eric] Garcetti and his team as the bids move forward, Wagner said.Los Angeles, which has suffered an exodus of corporate headquarters in the last two decades because of the area's relatively high business taxes and housing costs, would welcome Amazons presence.L.A. is the perfect place for a company like Amazon to find talented workers, and an environment that nurtures growth and innovation, Garcetti said in a statement in September.The online retailing giants new campus would deliver an economic boost well beyond the $5 billion in construction costs and added jobs Amazon said would stem from its HQ2. In addition to Amazons direct spending, there also would be the indirect benefit created by spawning more business for suppliers, nearby vendors and others.When Amazon issued its request for a proposal from bidders, the company said it would give priority to areas with more than 1 million people that are within 45 minutes of an international airport.Amazon also said its looking for an area that has a highly educated labor pool and a strong university system.The e-commerce titan also made it clear that its looking for incentives, such as tax breaks. In its proposal request to bidders, Amazon said "the initial cost and ongoing cost of doing business are critical decision drivers in making its selection.One area that has disclosed its incentives is New Jersey and its city of Newark, which made the cut. Combined, the state and city are preparing to offer up to $7 billion in tax breaks and other incentives.Los Angeles also is going to have to play ball in that regard, said Lloyd Greif, head of the investment bank Greif & Co. and a former chairman of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.Its worth reaching for the brass ring on this one, Greif said. Amazon is not here today and gone tomorrow. Amazon is only guaranteed to grow bigger over time.Amazon launched the search for its second headquarters because its Seattle headquarters, spread across 33 buildings, is brimming with 40,000 workers. The companys remarkable growth lifted its sales to $136 billion in 2016, and it has since expanded further, acquiring Whole Foods Market Inc. last year.We expect HQ2 to be a full equal to our Seattle headquarters, Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said in September.Washington and its suburbs probably made the final list for several reasons, including that its the political center of the United States, and for a company of Amazons size, policy is obviously very important, said Adam Ozimek, senior economist at Moodys Analytics.Site-selection experts also tell us that companies tend to locate where the CEO lives, and we know Bezos has a home in Washington and he owns the Washington Post, Ozimek said.Californias Silicon Valley, meanwhile, was shut out of consideration. Despite the regions huge technology industry, their costs are so extremely high in terms of land and the cost of living, Ozimek said. These are really, really expensive places, and that really hurt them. Whether just an unlucky year or a result of a warming climate, 2017 with its three hurricanes and devastating wildfires, was the costliest for weather/climate related disasters with an estimated $306 billion price tag.So how do we pay for it, and if its a trend, how do we continue to pay for natural and man-made disasters that seem to be increasing either in number or intensity?The country is really not prepared to deal with large-scale disasters, and we keep repeating the same mistakes in response or failure to prepare, said Irwin Redlener, director of Columbia Universitys National Center for Disaster Preparedness.Redlener said the nation needs a serious conversation at the political and budgetary levels, on resilience and how to fund these and future disasters.The nation endured 16 weather- and climate-related disasters that cost $1 billion or more each in 2017, resulting in 362 deaths. A common refrain is Get used to it, as trends suggest more of the same.Redlener said that science is increasingly providing the evidence that global warming is the cause of more frequent and intense storms and that the question of global warming is being resolved. But thats not going to be the impetus for increased resiliency or funding.Science rarely prevails over ideology in politics, Redlener said. Thats the sad fact of it, and scientists keep thinking, Oh, Ill do this research and publish it, and everybody will be convinced. Just doesnt ever work that way.Rob Dale, regional planner at Ingham County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management in Michigan and a former meteorologist, shies away from calling recent events the new normal. He says weather is random and often the results of storms on populations of people involve luck or unluckiness.My concern is when we say this is the new normal, next year we might not get any hurricanes that make landfall and Im afraid people will stop doing what they need to be doing. He said his bigger concern is people building where they shouldnt.Regardless of where or why, it comes back the fact that were using a method for recovery funds thats probably not going to be effective regardless of future [climate] changes, Dale said. Weve got too many people living in cities, that it just takes one tornado [to do a lot of damage]. And if that city gets hit [there can also be] a lot more damage to a neighboring city that has lower population.Redlener said it will take advocacy and hardcore politics to get new strategies for investing in resilience, but he doesnt see that in the current political dynamic. I think were going backward. Were going to have to pay for them, but were in an environment where weve just done a trillion and a half dollars of tax cuts to corporations and the well-off individuals.The damage from Hurricane Harvey in Texas may exceed $150 billion, the tab in Florida from Irma will be in the tens of billions and the damage in Puerto Rico will be at least $150 billion. Redlener said the bills will get paid somehow, but that there will be pushback and that will lengthen the recovery processes.Redlener cited as examples of failure to prepare properly, the recovery effort in New Orleans after Katrina, where levees were rebuilt to withstand Category 3 storms. Why not build up to level four or five? Redlener asked. It was all about money and politics.He called the inability to send the military and Department of Defense into Puerto Rico to help was a failure. FEMA and the Department of Health and Human Services have worked hard, but the problems are too big for them. A costly fix (TNS) PORT ORANGE, Fla. Something must be wrong with the traffic signals.To Kimberly Dotson, it's the only way to explain why she's forced to stop so frequently and for so long through several red and green light cycles at the same intersection on Dunlawton Avenue."I sit at the light waiting to go and it will change (red again) after only letting three cars through," she said. "That tells me the timing is off. Three cars is not enough."The problem that frustrates Dotson and many other motorists who pack the east-to-west corridor stems from outdated technology. Conventional traffic lights the standard in Volusia, everywhere in Flagler County and 90 percent of intersections throughout the country operate based on signal timings that could have been set years ago and don't adapt to rush hour, economic growth along a roadway or traffic lulls. That's why you sometimes sit at a red light even though no cars are approaching the intersection and why a turn signal only stays green for a few seconds.The good news: A better system that's rapidly spreading throughout the state is, coming, eventually, to Dunlawton and State Road 44 in DeLand.They are called adaptive, or "smart," traffic signals, and the devices are already in place along International Speedway Boulevard in Daytona Beach and U.S. Highway 17-92 in DeLand. They will be installed along two of Volusia's busiest roadways by 2020. State and local officials say they improve the flow of traffic and eliminate the situation that Dotson sees day in, day out."I hope people see the difference," said Lois Bollenback, the executive director of the River-to-Sea Transportation Planning Organization, the local body that prioritized the traffic light upgrades. "I think people will see that their blood pressures are a little lower."It's unclear when State Road 40 in Ormond Beach another congested east-west corridor or Flagler County will see the improvements, but Bollenback said the planning board will continue to study the need."We are trying to put together a plan to see: Where can we have the biggest benefit and where can we go next?" she said.On average, travelers spend 36 hours per year in traffic tie-ups. For urbanites, the number is much higher. Collectively, Americans spend nearly 4.2 billion hours sitting in backups, according to the Federal Highway Administration.It leaves many wondering: Why don't traffic lights adjust to actual conditions?Now they can. Studies show that adaptive signal control improves average performance metrics (travel time, control delay, emissions, and fuel consumption) by 10 percent or more. In systems with extremely outdated signal timing, and in places with heavy traffic, the improvement can be 50 percent or more, according to the Federal Highway Adminstration's website.That website also says that the technology, while effective, is used on less than 1 percent of all signalized intersections, with cost being one of the main reasons for the slow rollout. The systems along ISB and 17-92 cost $2.08 million but also included other improvements to the highways. The implementation along Dunlawton and S.R. 44 is estimated to cost roughly $1.9 million."The costs are highly variable, and depend on numerous factors," Florida Department of Transportation district spokesman Steve Olson said. "There are several different types of adaptive systems that all have different installation and operational requirements."In Florida, smart traffic signals began appearing in the early 2000s, first in Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. By 2015 the year the devices were installed on ISB newspapers throughout the state had reports of "new signal systems" coming to roadways.These systems are implemented on a case-by-case basis, FDOT officials said, and there are no plans to put adaptive signal systems on all state roadways.According to the Federal Highway Administration, the hardware can determine which lights should be red and which should be green by receiving and processing data from strategically placed sensors.For Port Orange City Councilman Scott Stiltner, a retired police officer, Dunlawton traffic is the top complaint he hears from constituents. He's unsure if the new lights will untangle the snarls, but he's hopeful it will at least help motorists get where they need to go a lot quicker.Look at "the time it takes from point A to point B when they go on Dunlawton, especially between Clyde Morris and Wllliamson (boulevards)," he said. "There are so many major intersections in such a short artery of highway."It's so bad that Port Orange resident Joe Sauer uses a network of backroads to avoid Dunlawton whenever possible. Sometimes though when he goes out to eat or shop he winds up stuck, in more ways than one."You really see it heavy around 3:30 in the afternoon," he said of the traffic. While frustrating, "there's nothing you can do about it." Michael Mattmiller has resigned his post as Seattles chief technology officer, and his last day with the city will be Feb. 2. Mattmiller, who has served in his position for the past four years, announced his resignation Friday in an email to employees of Seattles Information Technology Department. Tracye Cantrell, who is serving as Seattles IT chief of staff, will take over as acting CTO while the city conducts a national search for Mattmillers replacement.In the letter, Mattmiller praised the department for all that it had accomplished in his time there, citing a host of efforts such as creating a consolidated technology department; consolidating the citys technology infrastructure into modern data center facilities; redesigning Seattle.gov to better connect the public to services; upping the citys investment in open data work; and instituting a privacy program that has brought national awareness to how municipal data can be collected and shared responsibly. He also praised Seattles work toward making its community more digitally equitable , noting that the citys Digital Equity Action Plan has increased the number of households with computing devices, access to the internet, and digital skills. And our efforts to create more consistent cable and broadband regulation have resulted in the construction of a fiber-to-the-home network now serving 70 percent of Seattle homes and in 98 percent of homes having access to one or more gigabit broadband providers. In a press release, the city also announced that Mayor Jenny A. Durkan and staff would be conducting a search for a permanent replacement, and praised Mattmiller for his contributions. In the same press release, Durkan also announced the resignation of another city leader, Dylan Orr, the director of the office of labor standards. This marks a total of nine major department head changes in the 52 days that Durkan has held office, according to local media Michael has led one of our largest departments and aimed to make Seattle one of the most innovative cities on the frontline of emerging technology, Durkin said in the release. Indeed, Mattmiller has been one of the more prominent tech leaders within major American cities over the past four years, regularly being recognized for his leadership and the work his department has done. It has been a privilege to work with you and to serve the city the past four years, and I continue to be honored by all 750 of our Seattle IT employees who choose to work in mission driven service to our public, Mattmiller wrote. Mayor Durkan brings an exciting vision for the city, and I know she and the cabinet will do great things in the years to come. While I will miss seeing everyone on a daily basis, I will be cheering on your efforts from West Seattle and look forward to staying in touch. This article is a kind of mental exercise on a subject that is surfacing frequently in many forums and is often greeted with censure in varying degrees of vehemence. The idea is already out there on the Arab and Israeli tables, in any case. Now it appears to be the only alternative to the two-state solution to the Palestinian question which has prevailed since the partition resolution of 1948 to the Oslo Accords of 1993. There is no sign of the implementation of two-state solution on the horizon. Even if it did happen it would be like a surgical operation with a lot of blood loss. Both the Palestinian and the Israeli sides have people who find this solution unjust and who hold that the solution can only be reached by controlling all the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean to establish a Palestinian state or to legitimise the Israeli state that already controls this expensive piece of real estate. Such a notion is what our Sudanese brothers call silent words. Its advocates leave much unsaid. The Palestinians do not mention where the Israelis will go and the Israelis do not mention what will happen to the Palestinians in the end. All this has given rise to the idea of a single state for both the Palestinian and the Israeli peoples. According to opinion polls, there is a minority of opinion on both sides that support this idea. Most are young people who hope to see a solution to the conflict in some foreseeable future and who do not want to experience what their parents and grandparents went through. The notion of a single state is not new. It was espoused by the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) in its original charter that called for the establishment of a single, democratic state for Jews, Muslims and Christians alike. From a practical standpoint, there already is a single state Israel that enjoys security, strategic and economic control or, in short, sovereignty over the land from the river to the sea, albeit with some codified concession of sovereignty to the Palestinian National Authority in Gaza and in Areas A and B in the West Bank. Theoretically, there are 1.6 million Palestinians who are treated as Israelis. With 13 MPs, the Palestinians make up the third largest parliamentary bloc in the Knesset and they take part in the formulation of Israeli policies from their position in the opposition. Incidentally, the Israeli Arabs, as they are called, refuse to become part of any independent Palestinian state and prefer to fight for equal rights with the Jews in the Israeli state in which they are treated as second class citizens. In addition to the foregoing, the long years of occupation have created a range of interactions that have generated an intensive mutual dependency. In addition to close security cooperation, there is a market in labour and economic activity, a single currency (the shekel) and numerous other activities that have resulted from the encroachment of 500,000 Jewish settlers into the Palestinian territories as well as the ongoing process of the Judaicisation of Jerusalem. The result is that there are 12 million people, half of whom are Palestinians and the other half of whom are Jews, who have been interacting for the past seven decades, in war and peace and in dispute and collaboration. Such a condition is the translation of a colonising power situated alongside an entity that is not a state, a situation where unmitigated and unequal relations generate varying degrees of oppression depending on antagonising situations. To put an end to this delicate condition, which teeters precariously between conflict and peaceful coexistence, some Palestinian and Israeli groups have proposed a return to the idea of one state with a single citizenship and in which a united Jerusalem would be the capital of all citizens. Palestinians who oppose the idea argue that a state based on full and equal citizenship between Arabs and Jews could never really exist and that a single state for both would merely be an extension of the current one in which, after seven decades, Israeli Arabs remain second class citizens even if they enjoy higher levels of political and economic participation than their fellow Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Israeli opponents, who are more numerous, hold that the Zionist project was and remains the establishment of a state in which the Jews are the majority, which is something that could not be sustained given higher Palestinian population growth rates which would reduce the Jews to a minority. There are other objections. Some believe that the two-state solution is still possible if the new ideas they have conceived are applied. Others hold that the status quo serves Israels purposes perfectly. It gives it the opportunity to create new realities on the ground that will guarantee its permanent superiority, especially given the collapse of major Arab powers such as Iraq and Syria, the chronic Palestinian rift, and developments in the international order that have generated closer relations between Israel and Russia, China and India while Israeli relations with the US have soared to unprecedented heights. Still, all the many objections do not diminish the validity of the idea, which is that the status quo and the ongoing occupation creates a volatile situation with all the conditions for uprisings, resistance and sometimes full-scale war, as has occurred in previous instances when tensions snap in the contradictions between a national liberation movement and a colonial power. If the two-state alternative to the status quo is unavailable or impossible, then the one-state alternative could be approached from perspectives that make it possible to deal with the various objections on both sides. For example, the majority/minority question could be dealt with by means of constitutional weights that would render vital matters subject to a right to veto on the part of the minority or to a two-thirds majority vote or some mixture between the two. Consensus democracy can create a framework that permits for all ethnic and religious groups to exercise their rights and participate in the state. If such a solution to an over century-long conflict appears idealistic, overly optimistic and, moreover, in contrast with the current balances of power, especially as there is no one in the Israeli political elite prepared to discuss the subject, there is the confederal solution. This would give each side its state but would also permit for a single capital for both in Jerusalem. Perhaps this is the path to a single state of a new sort. This situation ensures that the Palestinian presence in Israel and the Israeli settlement presence in the West Bank can act with respect to their respective political concerns, while the economy and security form a bond sufficient to manage their affairs and while the majority in Israel is ensured for the Israelis and the same applies to the Palestinians in the State of Palestine. In sum, it is a kind of partition into two political entities, but in the framework of a broader state that guarantees security and prosperity to both peoples. Once again, the above is no more than an effort to work out some ideas in response to Saeb Ereikats suggestion that the one-state solution might be the alternative if the two-state solution fails. However, this effort will probably require more deliberation and study, which takes as its starting point an unacceptable status quo. *This article was first published in Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt is retaining its leading role in the international community. The effectiveness of this role is demonstrated through the countrys contribution to forging multi-party relations and its non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council. Egypt is also a signatory to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Building on these successes, Egypts chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China at the UN is another achievement of Egyptian diplomacy. On 12 January, Egypt took over the chairmanship of the G77 and China (G77/China) from Ecuador during a handover ceremony at UN headquarters in New York. This indicates the confidence of member countries in Egypts capability to lead the group, which Egypt also chaired in 1972-1973 and 1984-1985. The group was founded by the Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Developing Countries in 1964 at the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTADs) first major North-South conference on development questions. The G77/China thus represents the developing countries within the United Nations system, and its membership has grown to 134 plus China as a participant non-member. It aims to promote the rights of developing countries to sustainable economic development and a fair multilateral trading system through enhancing their joint negotiating capacity on all major international economic issues and fostering South-South cooperation. Over the years, the G77/China has played a major role in supporting multilateralism and sustainable development. Egypt is one of the main actors in the Middle East region, and as such it will lead the negotiations of the G77/China in the coming years through fostering the solidarity of the developing countries and integrating economic, social and environmental development. In addition, Egypt has taken steps towards promoting the UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development. In spite of various economic and political challenges, Egypt has proven its capability to cope with obstacles. It has taken a leading role in settling disputes in the Arab and African regions through mediation and preventive diplomacy. Egypt and China are two major powers in the group. China is now the second-largest economy in the world and one of the major powers in promoting multilateralism, its diplomacy being based on mediation and reconciliation of conflicts and disputes. In addition to its non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council, Egypts membership of the African Union (AU) Security and Peace Council makes it a focal point between the UN and the AU. Egypt shares a vision of using peaceful means for dispute settlement, promoting multilateralism and supporting the developing countries in attaining sustainable economic development as well as eradicating poverty. Ties between Egypt and China are consolidating economically, politically and socially in alignment with the UN Agenda 2030. Egypts presidency of the G77/China will deepen the stance of the developing countries on issues related to climate change mitigation, international trade negotiations, maintaining the security of food, energy and water, alleviating poverty, building the capabilities of youth and sustaining economic development. In the light of an international economic order that emphasises the multilateral trade system and the multilateralism of the international order, there is a vital necessity to maintain and boost the unity of the developing countries in the years ahead in order to adopt better policies in the international economic field and deepen South-South cooperation, thereby constructing mutually beneficent relationships with the rest of the world. Strengthening such cooperation at all levels is crucial to achieving comprehensive peace and sustainable economic development. *This article was first published in Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Mr vice president, it has been announced that soon you will be visiting Egypt, the cradle of religions, the originator of monotheism and the refuge of prophets. Egypt is where Joseph lived, Moses was born and the Holy Family sought refuge. Later, the Prophet Mohamed instructed his followers to treat the Copts of Egypt well. Egypt taught the world at a time when most of the countries of today did not even exist. Today, it is confronting tremendous challenges. Enemies from inside and out, governments, organisations and others insist on hindering its progress. But Egypt will defeat them all, as it has done to all its invaders in the past. It has been announced that the purpose of your visit is to strengthen the relationship between our two countries, to support peace efforts, and to combat the terrorism that threatens the whole world and from which no country is immune. Egypt with its police force and army is relentlessly resisting various forms of terrorism to protect not only its land, but also the whole region and the world at large from terrorist atrocities. It is for this reason that I am sending you this message, which is based on the four following assumptions. First, we assume and hope that you understand that the era of a single pole has come to an end, and no power today can possibly imagine that it alone can control the world. All countries need to collaborate together in the interest of all peoples. Second, we assume and believe that you know that true democracy does not only mean equality among individuals, but also equality among countries. All of them stand on the same footing. They are all important, and each has its own culture, independence and sovereignty that must be respected and not transgressed. I believe that the first human right is the right to be different but to remain equal. Third, we assume that you are well aware that our interests are reciprocal. We need you, and you need us. Therefore, coordination based on mutual respect is in the interest of both of us. Fourth, we assume that you can differentiate between global issues that are of concern to all and the internal problems of each country separately, which are the concern of its government and its people. Thus, you will understand the huge difference between the problem of Christians in the Middle East that has been dealt with by eminent thinkers and has a history covered by serious research and the issue of the Copts of Egypt which is a purely Egyptian national issue that exclusively concerns Egyptians. No one has the right to interfere in it, just as no one has the right to interfere in issues of racism in Western countries, or the incomplete rights of women, or the treatment of those detained in sites of detention. Fifth, the Egyptian Copts who live inside Egypt are the ones who know the facts of the situation and how to handle it. Their requests are discussed with the government and the presidency with a view to achieving the common goals of peace, equality for all, speedy trials and the quick punishment of the guilty. Your government has declared its goal of fighting terrorism and expressed its appreciation of what Egypt is doing to achieve that goal. In this respect, we wish to bring to your attention the following points, which you may consider as proposals or advice to achieve peace and combat terrorism. You need to assess the Egyptian situation and differentiate between human rights that mean protecting convicts alone and the basic concept of human rights that means the protection of the interests, rights, safety and dignity of millions of innocent people. You well know that Egypt is currently fighting two battles: an inevitable military battle to protect its citizens and defend its land and heritage and another battle of ideology that seeks to rectify false concepts. This challenge Egypt is qualified to meet supported by its institutions. Supporting Egypt in its battles is one of the most successful means of combating terrorism and protecting the world from its evils. Any bargaining regarding military aid to Egypt, or the postponement of delivery or repair of equipment, is against your declared intentions and not becoming of you or us. Huge sums of money are paid by your government, institutions and organisations to non-governmental organisations that claim they promote peace and seek to protect human rights, but in reality use of these funds to provoke unrest and increase tensions that serve the goals of groups doing evil. Would it not have been better and wiser to direct such funds to reducing the suffering of the people by providing them with additional educational and health services? Why is this money not used to provide the police with more protective equipment as well as bullet-proof checkpoints and other materials which we know that you and your agencies have in abundance? Governments and organisations that politically, materially and financially support terrorist gangs and provide them with arms, shelter and refuge are the major constraints to achieving peace. Therefore, the serious combating of terrorism necessitates that you reconsider your stand vis-a-vis such countries, organisations and gangs, punishing them and depriving them of aid. But some of the countries that take your country as a role model and receive huge funds from you continue to support terrorism with your aid. I invite you to follow in the footsteps of Egypt and support the call for the protection of the common Islamic-Christian heritage and confront the damage done to Islam as a result of the wrong acts and attitudes of some of its followers who do not abide by its teachings. Your call for peace obliges you to support the campaign that endeavours to explain to the whole world that terrorist acts have nothing to do with the teachings of Islam, which respects Christianity and Christians, believes in the miracles of Christ and honours the Virgin Mary. A true Muslims belief in Islam would not be complete unless he believed in all the holy religions that preceded Islam. A true Muslim respects Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and safeguards them. Correcting the wrong ideas and opinions about Islam is no longer the responsibility of Muslims alone, but the responsibility of all peace-lovers. In the same way, correcting wrong ideas and opinions about Christianity is not the responsibility of Christians alone, but that of all those who believe in peace and coexistence. Your recent decision to offer up the Christian holy site of Jerusalem against the principles of justice refutes all your previous statements as well as the agreements you have signed. It is huge blow to your credibility. It jeopardises peace and is against the interests of your citizens whose protection should come before the interests of Israel. You have isolated your country from the world and all those who believe in justice, peace and the principles advocated by Christianity by using your veto at the UN Security Council and threatening to punish countries that did not support your unfair decision in the UN General Assembly. In this way, you lost your status as a mediator of peace and the admiration and respect you used to enjoy. We hope that you will contribute to correcting this mistake that jeopardises peace by supporting a UN resolution recognising the State of Palestine. Only then will you regain your status and respect and be able to protect your people from the horrors of your decision. Only then will Christians and Muslims in the East and West, as well as all Egyptians, feel that the dignity and safety of the Holy Land has been maintained. May God guide you and your president to the right decisions. *This article was first published in Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn into office for an unprecedented fourth term. In 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower took the oath of office as president of the United States; Richard M. Nixon was sworn in as vice president. In 1969, Richard M. Nixon was inaugurated as the 37th president of the United States. In 1977, Jimmy Carter was inaugurated as the 39th president of the United States. In 1981, Iran released 52 Americans it had held hostage for 444 days, minutes after the presidency had passed from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan. In 1993, Bill Clinton was sworn in as the 42nd president of the United States. Actress Audrey Hepburn died in Switzerland at age 63. In 2001, George Walker Bush became Americas 43rd president after one of the most turbulent elections in U.S. history. In 2013, President Barack Obama was sworn in for four more years in a simple Sunday ceremony at the White House; a public ceremony took place the next day. In 2017, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, pledging emphatically to empower Americas forgotten men and women. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NORWALK Golden armor, boldly colored beadwork and what appear to be strips of leather mingle with powertools on Ronell Howards dining room table. Until Feb. 15, when the new Marvel superhero movie Black Panther begins showing in theaters, the room has been converted to a costume work area. Its the Cornerstone Community Church pastors first foray into cosplay, but she said that after seeing the trailer, she knew she had to go all out. She plans to attend the movie dressed as Okoye, a female warrior in the film. Listen to that music, she said, replaying the trailer, scored by Grammy award-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar. The two-minute clip shows a glimpse of Wakanda, a fictional African country that, like Atlantis, had long kept its location and advanced civilization hidden from the world. Arent you hype? Black Panther, the first black superhero in mainstream comic books, appeared in July 1966 coincidentally, three months before the Black Panther party was founded, but long after an all-black battalion in World War II became famously known by the name. He was given his first series in the 70s, which Howard can still remember reading as a middle-schooler growing up on Staten Island. Following along the journeys of TChalla, the king and protector of Wakanda, she felt a sense of possibilities unfolding. I had a very limited world view, being this American girl living in New York on Staten Island and a really pretty segregated neighborhood, she said. Part of what Black Panther opened my eyes to was another possibility for a black girl ... When youre 12, 13, youre not in control in a lot of your own destiny. So this possibility was really exciting. She already has plans to see the movie five times with friends in multiple cities. But on opening night, she is going alone. So I can take it all in, she said. Howard is not the only person excited by Black Panther. The film broke pre-sale records the first day tickets went on sale, according to Fandango. And Anthony Hill, U3Media CEO and WNLK radio host, has been working various community groups to bring 100 children many the same age as Howard during her first encounter with the Black Panther to a free screening of the movie. Hill said he had been scrolling through Twitter one day when he began coming across the hashtag #blackpantherchallenge. In Harlem, New York resident Frederick Joseph had raised money for children in the neighborhood to see the movie, and had called on others to do the same in their communities using the hashtag. Celebrities and local organizers piled on. Snoop Dogg promised to organize a similar screening in Los Angeles, tweeting, its important they see the hero on screen, and Jemele Hill ESPN SportsCenter tweeted about the Harlem campaign, saying, When it comes to community involvement, some get overwhelmed because the problems seem so massive. But do what you can, where you can. But Hill couldnt find a single one for children in Connecticut. There was nothing, he said. Hartford is doing one for adults. New Haven is doing one for adults. But not for children. So he called every theater he could think of from Bridgeport to Stamford about the possibility of getting a screen for a showing. Many demurred, not willing to give up a screen on opening weekend for what promises to be a blockbuster movie, Hill said. But Bow Tie Cinemas in Norwalk agreed and arranged for a viewing on its biggest screen at 542 Westport Ave., at 10:15 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 17. Hill is working with YLTRAPPED, an organization supporting female teenagers; ACHIEVE, a before- and after-school program for kindergarten through eighth-grade children; Takes a Village, an organization supporting millennial parents; and HELPtouchHEAL, a nonprofit providing free counseling and support to those battling cancer. Together, they have secured a red carpet, a selfie station, snacks and gift bags for the children, who will have a question-and-answer session following the film, unpacking their reactions with a panel of high schoolers. What Im hoping theyll take away is that a comic book can have a representation of life, Hill said. Hill believes the movie is especially important given the current political conversation. It represented an advanced African nation. And us taking care of each other, people of color, he said. I have a 13-year-old son. And hes very impressionable he sees and hears movies and music and he asks questions, hes curious ... Im constantly trying to remind him that not everything he sees on TV is real. But on the flipside, some of the things he sees are attainable. He and the other organizers are currently looking for a Black Panther costume for someone to greet the kids in before the screening. But he has to look no further for an Okoye. I think it sounds fun, Howard said of meeting the kids dressed as the leader of the Dora Milaje, the Black Panthers personal bodyguards. As she surveyed her materials a plastic helmet, cut and assembled to create shoulder armor, and foam painted to create a surpringly convincing faux leather she estimated that completing the costume would take another 40 to 50 hours. Two or three hours a day, plus a few Saturdays, she said. Its going to look DIY but top shelf DIY. Howard recalled someone asking her what would happen if the movie wasnt that good. I said, Shut your mouth, she recalled, laughing. Then, more seriously: Im depending on the superhero mechanism that Marvel has to pull it off. She sighed, looking over an image actress Danai Gurira dressed as Okoye. In it, Gurira wears golden neck rings and gazes directly at the camera, ready for whatever will come. Ah. She looks so strong. She looks so strong. Those interested in sponsoring children for a free screening of Black Panther can contribute at www.gofundme.com/100-kids-go-see-black-panther or make a tax-deductible donation at www.helptouchheal.org. rschuetz@hearstmediact.com; @raschuetz Maybe time for that juice cleanse? Photo: Konstantin Postumitenko/Getty Images/iStockphoto Happy Friday. Our government appears headed for a shutdown, and it seems like comforting news stories are at a minimum these days. And this report from California will probably not do anything to change your mind: A Fresno man so obsessed with raw salmon that he ate it almost every day says he has now sworn off sushi for good after suffering an experience that you might call, at the very least, traumatizing. Really, theres just no delicate way to phrase this, so here it is: He witnessed a five-foot, six-inch tapeworm wiggle out of his body. Since 2017, the CDC has warned that wild-caught Pacific salmon in both North America and Asia could carry tapeworm larvae. The working theory is that one of those is what worked its way into the salmon mans stomach. Sacramentos CBS affiliate lays out, in unnecessarily excruciating detail, the scenario that resulted: According to the mans doctor, the self-proclaimed sushi lover pulled a massive tapeworm from his own body before arriving for treatment. Oh dear. And, yes, the scene played out just the way you might think: The tapeworm reportedly began to leave the mans body while he was sitting on the toilet. Shocked by the terrifying scene, Bahn says the man kept pulling until the invader was all the way out. Clearly, the sushi lover in question is nothing if not a quick thinker, and so it may not surprise you to learn that he also kept the tapeworm, so he could take it to the hospital. And what happened after that? He grabs it, and he pulls on it, and it keeps coming out. He picks it up and looks at it. And what does it do? It starts moving, Dr. Bahn said. Have a nice weekend, everyone! Haiti - News : Zapping... Earthquakes : Claude Prepetit tries to reassure... Following several earthquakes in recent weeks and in front of the concern of the population, geologist Claude Prepetit, Director General of the Bureau of Mines and Energy, wanting to be reassuring he affirmed that the number of earthquakes has not increased in Haiti contrary to some perceptions, saying that "It is rather the seismic monitoring network has become more reliable." See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/article-23292-haiti-flash-2-seismes-en-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23223-haiti-flash-new-earthquake-in-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23212-haiti-flash-earthquake-off-les-cayes.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23068-haiti-flash-earthquake-in-the-north-west.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23037-haiti-flash-seismic-shock-at-the-border.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22979-haiti-flash-quake-in-petit-goave.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22096-haiti-security-new-earthquake-of-3-88-in-the-department-of-nippes.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22015-haiti-security-an-unknown-seismic-fault-under-the-central-plateau.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21992-haiti-flash-earthquake-of-43-in-the-central-plateau.html Clerks announce an unlimited strike In a document sent to the Ministry of Justice, the clerks notify the Minister Heidi Fortune, the slogan of unlimited strike of clerks until their demands are met from Monday, January 22, 2018. Clerks who had already mobilized in 2017 regret that no agreement was signed despite several talks. They demand better working conditions, the payment of salary arrears of 2012, a wage adjustment, debit cards, vouchers and insurance cards... Jovenel Moise at the Cuban Embassy This week President Jovenel Moise went to the Embassy of Cuba on Wednesday, January 17, 2018, to participate in the celebration of the 59th anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution "My presence reaffirmed the unity and solidarity between our peoples and our governments," he said. IDB financing for waste management ? On Friday, a meeting was held at the Town Hall with the communities of Cap, of Quartier Morin and Limonade on the preparation of a financing protocol with the consultants of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on waste management and some water. Senator Fethiere seeks the Presidency of the Defense Commission Unsurprisingly, North Senator Jean-Marie Ralph Fethiere is seeking the position of Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on "Defense and the Haitian Army" saying "We all know that without peace and public safety, no lasting progress can be made in the economic and social life of the Nation. The security must accompany if not precede an environment conducive to economic and social development in our country. Our vision is that of a professional army, able to defend the territory, at all levels." Inauguration of a restaurant within the FAES Thursday, the General Directorate of Economic and Social Assistance Fund (FAES), inaugurated a restaurant within the institution to allow employees to have at least one hot dish during office hours. The Director General Charles Ernest Chatelier and the members of his cabinet gave the example by tasting a dish while congratulating the cooks for the quality of the food. This initiative was greeted by employees who believe that the 25 gourdes claimed per meal are a godsend. They hope, among other things, that this restaurant will continue for the good of all. HL/ HaitiLibre House Republicans Announce Session Agenda to Make Hawaii More Affordable, Accountable, and Accessible News Release from House Republican Caucus HONOLULU, HAWAII (January 19, 2018) The Minority Caucus released their bill package today highlighting bills and resolutions that will make Hawaii more affordable, accountable, and accessible. "Our charter schools are unique, creative, and out-of-the-box; they have different ideas. Weve seen the trend in our state towards school choice as the charter school enrollment increased by 5%. HR 5 will help make our government more accessible to students and families who are seeking different public modes of education," said Representative Andria Tupola, Minority Leader. Representative Cynthia Thielen (District 50) used an acronym to describe HB 1732, "I'd like to take BITE out of food, Better If Tax Eliminated. Your family loses about $650 a year from taxes on food. We are standing with working families to keep their hard-earned money." "We are introducing a bill that will offer equal opportunity for everyone in our state to have their voices heard whether they live on the neighbor islands or in rural areas," said Representative Lauren Matsumoto (District 45). "About 30% of Hawaii's population lives on the neighbor islands and does not have the opportunity to testify in person. Offering audio and video technology to the neighbor islands would increase participation in our government and give us a perspective we have not heard in a long time." For more on the press conference, please see the attached dropbox link. For more on the bill package, please see the attached press packet. The Minority Caucus will be hosting a response to the Governor's State of the State Address on Monday at 11am in the State Capitol Rotunda. Contact Mahealani Kahala for more information. CB: Republicans Want Lower Taxes And Better Public Access To Legislature * * * * * "The Minority Leader's Response to the Governor's State of the State Address" HONOLULU, HAWAII (January 19, 2018) House Minority Caucus will be making remarks following the Governor's State of the State address. WHAT: The Minority Caucus will respond to the Governor's State of the State Address. WHEN: Monday, January 22nd, 2018 About 11:00 am; Following the Governor's Speech WHERE: Hawaii State Capitol, Rotunda (facing the Queen Liluokalani Statue) WHO: Representative Andria Tupola & Members of the Minority Caucus The four-and-a-half-year-old male panda, Hua Bao, and three-and-a-half-year-old female panda, Jin Baobao, were a gift from China for the centenary of the independence of Finland. The vulnerable animals arrived in the country for a 15-year research project agreed upon by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in Helsinki in April, 2017. A pair of giant pandas received a snowy but warm welcome in Finland on Thursday. The male panda was renamed Pyry (Eng. snow squall) and the female panda Lumi (Eng. snow) upon their arrival in Finland. The pandas continued the journey to their final destination, the Ahtari Zoo in Central Finland, immediately after an arrival ceremony at Helsinki Airport. Two veterinarians and zookeepers accompanied the pandas on their 6,500-kilometre flight from Chengdu, China, to Helsinki, Finland, according to a press release from Ahtari Zoo. Zookeeper Anna Palmroth tells that the flight went smoothly. The flight went smoothly because pandas are calm in the presence of familiar people. The pandas were naturally also given something to eat and drink during the journey. We had packed them a lunch of their favourite treats, meaning bamboo stems, carrots, apples and panda cakes, she tells. The Ahtari Zoo has over the past three spent over eight million euros on building a 6,000-square-metre house for the panda couple. The public will have the first opportunity to admire the giant pandas on Saturday, 17 February. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Markku Ulander Lehtikuva Congressmen serving the Mountain Empire blasted the Senate on Saturday after the government began a partial shutdown. I joined my House Republican colleagues in fulfilling one of Congress most basic duties, which is to keep the government open, said U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tennessee. It is uncon-scionable that Senate Democrats prefer shutting down the government instead of funding our troops and providing a long-term solution for childrens health care. Roe said the Schumer shutdown, referring to U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, is bad for America and East Tennesseans deserve better. The representative, who serves the citizens of Northeast Tennessee, said, We must put party politics aside and pass a funding bill to reopen the government before we address any addition-al policy matters. U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Virginia, said the Senate has failed to govern. The House of Representatives passed a measure that funded the government for four weeks and provided six years of funding for the Childrens Health Insurance Program, Griffith said. The Senate did not pass this measure, or even amend it and send it back to the House for us to give it due consideration. Instead, senators did nothing. Griffith said the vote reaffirms that the Senates modern filibuster-cloture-hold rule needs to end. The representative, who serves residents of Southwest Virginia, said the rule is damaging to the country and Americans will suffer the consequences. Griffith said Virginians are particularly affected by the Senates refusal to reauthorize CHIP, as the state is almost out of funds for the program. GLADE SPRING, Va. Washington County Sheriffs Office has withdrawn from negotiations to provide law enforcements services to the town of Glade Spring. The two sides have discussed the matter for some time, but county Sheriff Fred Newman sent a letter to Glade Spring Mayor Tony Rector on Friday, informing him of the decision. It was never our intention, when we proceeded with this request, to spark major public concern, debate, or in some instances outrage, Newman stated in the letter. It is obvious by the public comments from members of your council and others that you have a lot more work to do in this area. The Sheriffs Office will not be proceeding in the near future with the proposal, Newman wrote in the letter. Nearly a dozen people spoke against closing the police department Thursday during a public hearing at the Glade Spring Town Hall. The board ultimately tabled action. For the past six months, the Sheriffs Office has been working to establish an agreement with the town to provide law enforcement services. Glade Spring officials, including the mayor, town attorney, police chief and other town employees, were involved in trying to formulate a solution, according to the letter. We were led to believe that this was something that the [Glade Spring town] council members were aware of and to some extent in favor of, Newman wrote in the letter. Glade Spring Town Manager Aaron Sizemore said Friday that the letter was clear, in the intentions of the sheriffs department. Its been great to work with the sheriffs department these past months, Sizemore said. Councilman Mark Finney made a motion to table the decision regarding the contract until a later date at Thursdays public hearing. Councilman Dirk Moore seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously 6-0. The 6-0 vote to table the matter obviously showed there was concern about it, Newman told the Bristol Herald Courier on Friday. We were unaware that members of the public disapproved it. Steve White, a Glade Spring resident for approximately 60 years, spoke about his concerns regarding the police department at the public hearing. This town needs to grow and move forward, and this is not the way for that to happen. Glade Spring Police Chief Ricky Stumbo and Sheriff Newman were not present at the public hearing. Stumbo, who is a member of the Virginia National Guard, is currently at Fort Pickett in Blacksburg for training. He did provide a statement that was read by a member of the public on Thursday. In 2017, the towns police department answered 638 calls pertaining to police services - with the Sherriffs Office also answering about 50 percent of calls, Stumbo said in the statement. Receiving about 1,200 calls for police services in a year would require at least a five-person police department, Stumbo said. As of Thursday, the towns police department consists of the police chief and one officer, Rector said during the public hearing. In the past three years, four police officers have left the towns department. Rector could not be reached for comment on Friday. If the decision to dissolve the towns police department had reached fruition, all town law enforcement would have been dismissed from employment within 31 days of the effective contract date, as stated in the contract. A county sergeant and deputy would have been appointed by Newman to provide law enforcement services to the town. The town also would have had to transfer all police equipment, vehicles, law enforcement records and evidence from its custody to the countys custody. The Sherriffs Office will continue to assist the towns police department and its citizens to the very best of our ability, Newman said in the letter. It was in the best interest of both parties to withdraw, Newman said on Friday. Why do you invest in the Catawba County Chamber of Commerce? To support the economic viability of Catawba County? To take advantage of professional development opportunities for you and your team? To become more involved in the community? As a platform to connect with other business owners and representatives? Like any investment, you expect to yield a return on your investment, your ROI. You may measure your chamber ROI by your business competitiveness success. There are many success stories that our partners can share, but what if I told you your ROI is much bigger, more impactful and more personal? Jim Clifton, the chairman and CEO of Gallup, after conducting a poll of representative individuals across the globe, stated in his book, The Coming Jobs War, that the No. 1 thing people desire in life is a good job. A job equals a paycheck, renewed sense of self, the ability to support oneself and ones family, a boost in self-worth and pride, a source of stability and security, and a key to dreams. Especially if you ask Ayden Audet, Matthew Jolly, Ariel Allensworth, Justin Fox, or Dr. Jeff Isenhour, who have all been impacted by your investment in the chamber. At our Annual Shareholders & Investors Luncheon on Wednesday, Feb. 14, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Hickory Metro Convention Center, you will have the opportunity to hear these five individuals tell their own story about how they have been directly impacted by one of our program of work priorities, made possible by the business communitys continued investment and partnership. Investing in the business community is about investing in people! I encourage you to attend our annual meeting to hear these compelling stories first hand. In addition to our guest speakers, well have the opportunity to recognize some noteworthy individuals including our 2017 Ambassadors and the recipient of our 2017-2018 Community Leadership Award, presented by Duke Energy. This is the highest award given by the chamber in honor of a business or community leader who has gone above and beyond for community and economic development. Reservations can be made by visiting our events calendar located on our website at www.catawbachamber.org or by calling the chamber at 828-328-6111. Lindsay Keisler is president and CEO of the Catawba County Chamber of Commerce. Film-maker Claude Lanzmann has sold 112 passionate love letters sent to him by the legendary French feminist Simone de Beauvoir, Christies said Friday. The director of the acclaimed Holocaust documentary Shoah said he has been forced to part with the correspondence because of a scandalous French inheritance law which means that they must go to her family on his death. The letters, which are filled with the mad passion the couple shared during their seven-year affair in the 1950s, were sent to Lanzmann at Yale University and have never been published. I never planned for these letters to come out or be published, said the 93-year-old, who was the secretary of de Beauvoirs long-term lover, the philosopher and playwright Jean Paul-Satre. The golden couple of French mid-20th century intellectual life had a famously open relationship, in a time when similar love triangles where often the norm. Lanzmann, who was 17 years de Beauvoirs junior, fell in love with her while he was editing Les Temps Modernes, the ground-breaking review the couple founded after World War II, which he still heads. According to Yales library, which for now is only making the letters available in its reading room, most were written while de Beauvoir was travelling with Sartre on their headline-making visits to Russia, China, Japan and Cuba. Lanzmann raged against the French law which he said had forced him to sell the letters to Yale, saying it was crazy that it states that the contents of the letters did not belong to the person they were addressed to. However, he had the right to pass them on, Lanzmann added, in the hope that the purchaser can, if not publish them, then at least conserve them and make them available to historians and researchers. The top American university already holds de Beauvoirs manuscripts and personal archives, and it can now be proud of having all of her letters to me, which Lanzmann called an exceptional, passionate correspondence. Christies did not reveal how much the letters had been sold for. Follow @htlifeandstyle for more Amidst its protest against the release of Padmaavat, Rajput Karni Sena has claimed that director Sanjay Leela Bhansali invited them for a special screening of the period drama. They have, however, turned it down and again asked for a ban on the film. And the Rajputs respond to Bhansali Productions letter. The Rajput Sabha thinks Bhansalis offer is an eyewash @htTweets pic.twitter.com/atu1rCEOHJ Rakesh Goswami (@rakeshgoswamiHT) January 20, 2018 The outfit called the invitation an eyewash and said that the makers do not appear to be serious about the matter. In a letter sent to Bhansali Production by Shree Rajput Sabhas president Giriraj Singh Lotwara, the outfit said the CBFC appointed nine historians and experts to watch the film and suggest changes. However, according to the outfit, only three of them were shown the film. As per the new demands, the film should be shown to the rest six and changes be made to the film to accommodate their suggestions. Earlier Karni Sena Chief, Lokendra Singh Kalvi, urged the people to impose a curfew in cinema halls to stop the screening of the film on Tuesday, i.e. January 16. He also appealed to all the social organisations to come together and protest against its release. On January 18, the Supreme Court put a stay order on ban notifications issued by four states - Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Haryana. In its interim order, the Supreme Court said that all states are constitutionally obliged to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incident during the screening of the film after permission has been granted by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The periodical film is based on the legend of Rani Padmini, a 13th-century Rajput queen. She has been mentioned several times in Padmavat, an Awadhi poem written by Sufi poet, Malik Muhammad Jayasi in 1540. The historical-drama has run into trouble many times over since its announcement. Several members of Rajput factions have made allegations against Bhansali of distorting historical facts and showcasing Rani Padmani in a bad light. Bhansali was even attacked and thrashed by Karni Sena during one of its filming schedules. Starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, and Shahid Kapoor in lead roles, the film was cleared by CBFC after suggesting five modifications, one being a change in its title from Padmavati to Padmaavat. The film is set to hit theatres on January 25 worldwide. It will be released in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. Notably, it is going to be the first Indian movie to get a global IMAX 3D release. Follow @htshowbiz for more Actor Shraddha Kapoor, who was present at the inauguration of The Wedding Junction Show here on Saturday, said working with actor Prabhas in Saaho has been a great opportunity for her. After Haseena Parkar in 2017 Shraddhas upcoming projects is bilingual film Saaho with Prabhas and newly announced Hindi release Stree. Talking about Saaho, Shraddha said: I am definitely excited to be able to work with Prabhas. Its the first time I am shooting for a Hindi and Telugu bilingual film. It will also be dubbed in other languages. This is a great opportunity for me. Shraddha and Rajkumar Rao-starrer Stree is currently on floors, and the actor is very excited for the same. This is the first time, I will be part of a horror-comedy film, and that makes it even more exciting. Follow @htshowbiz for more It is safe to say that a visit to the Red Fort tops every tourists itinerary in Delhi. Yet, few are aware of another architectural gem in the capital: The Red Fort Baoli or stepwell, that lies just a few yards away from the monument. It is one among over a 100 stepwells that can be found across Delhi alone. Yet, these architecture and engineering marvels are rarely visited, and often lie hidden in plain sight. Sadly, compared to Indias forts, palaces and temples, there is relatively very little information available about its stepwells. Rani ki Vav in Patan is a UNESCO World Heritage site. (Courtesy: Victoria Lautman ) Dating back to 600 CE, these subterranean stepwells (also known as baolis, vavs or bawadis) can be found across the country, and are unique to the Indian subcontinent. They stand testimony to traditional water-harvesting systems, and an ancient knowledge of engineering and craftsmanship. Built by rich patrons and considered to be sacred water bodies, they were nevertheless secular in function and fulfilled the socio-economic needs of local communities. However, with the passage of time and the advent of modern technology, they faded into oblivion. It was the lack of information available, and an obsession with Indian stepwells that led American author Victoria Lautman to pen one of the few books on this topic. Released last year, The Vanishing Stepwells of India profiles 75 wells scattered across eight states in north and south India, and provides the GPS coordinates. Rudabai Vav in Adalaj, Gujarat was the first well that Lautman visited. (Courtesy: Victoria Lautman) Back in time It all began 30 years ago on my first visit to India, when I encountered the Rudabai Vav in Adalaj, Gujarat. I was astounded by that 500-hundred-year-old subterranean structure. Id never seen or heard of anything like it. The whole experience was extremely powerful, and the memory indelible, says Lautman. It took some more trips to India before Lautman decided to research the topic in earnest. She admits that she bagged the book contract in 2017, and finished the book on a mere three-and-a-half-month deadline. The photographs in the book were also taken by Lautman on a point-and-shoot camera. Over January and February, Lautman will be touring various cities to speak about her book. The many functions of stepwells In The Vanishing Stepwells of India, Lautman describes how the primary purpose of stepwells was to provide water year-round. But stepwells could also be subterranean Hindu temples or Muslim retreats. They were cool shelters during scorching summers, and vital oases along remote trade routes. Socially, they were of importance for women, who led terribly constrained lives. The task of retrieving water was one of the most congenial and communal experiences available to them, says Lautman. Toorji ka Jhalra in Jodhpur; the photo on top is the renovated structure, while the bottom one shows its original state. (K Noor-Priya, in support of JDH Urban Regeneration Project (top) and Victoria Lautman) Interestingly, a quarter of stepwells built were commissioned by royal or wealthy women, often to honour deceased husbands. They were a philanthropic gesture and bestowed as charitable gifts to communities, shares Lautman. There is an element of mystery about Indias stepwells, be it the date when they are built or how they were built. Everything is speculative and even scholars frequently disagree. While we know about the pre-industrial use of manpower, oxen and ramps, the engineers Ive spoken with have differing opinions about how stepwells were constructed. They do, however, agree that building down into the earth is subject to more stress than building above ground, and is therefore more challenging, says Lautman. Out of sight Despite being useful, it was the passage of time that made stepwells obsolete and neglected. Stepwells became untethered from their original purpose - providing water due to the availability of modern amenities like hand pumps, village taps, tanks, and plumbing. Why would anyone negotiate dozens of steps when there was a choice? And as stepwells lost significance, maintenance was no longer a priority, says Lautman. However, its not all bleak. Several stepwells have been restored or are well-preserved, though there are many historically significant ones that are in a state of decay with garbage dumped in them. As examples she cites Rudabai Vav in Ahmedabad and Agrasen ki Baoli in Delhi, that are relatively spotless, while Rani ki Vav in Patan is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Author Victoria Lautman visited over 200 stepwells across India; 75 of which feature in the book. As Lautman aptly sums up in her book, Wherever they are found, be it in a city, village or remote desert, every stepwell is individual, and I would argue that there is no such thing as a bad stepwell. Victoria Lautman will attend events at multiple venues between Jan 20 and Feb 12. Lautman is in-conversation with Divay Gupta of INTACH Architectural Heritage, on Jan 21, 6pm at CMYK, New Delhi; giving a presentation on Jan 22, 7pm, at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi; part of a panel discussion on Jan 26, 3.45pm, at Durbar Hall, Jaipur Literature Festival; in-conversation with writer Dharmendra Kanwar on Jan 27, at Anantaya Decor, Jaipur; giving a presentation on Feb 5, 4.30pm at INTACH Heritage Academy, New Delhi; a presentation on Feb 7, 11am, at School of Architecture, Delhi Technical Campus, Greater Noida; a presentation on Feb 8, 3.30pm at The American Centre, New Delhi; a lecture and presentation on Feb 6, 2pm, at Chitkara University, Chandigarh; and a lecture on Feb 6, at Sushant School of Art & Architecture, Ansal University, Gurgaon. Follow @htlifeandstyle for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON I am not much of a writer, but I am a good storyteller. Author Ashwin Sanghi admits hes learning his craft on the job, but his complex plots, mythology mash-ups and conspiracy theories have readers hooked. The ending of a book should be like a good burp at the end of a heavy meal, says master tale-spinner Ashwin Sanghi, explaining just what he aims for when he crafts his conspiracy fiction novels that weave history, theology, mythology, popular culture, science and philosophy into one action-packed read. His latest, Keepers of the Kalachakra, which will release this January at the Jaipur Literature Festival, has it all: political characters that remind you of real-life politicians, a racy, complex plot and enough improbable twists to keep you hooked. I dont just want to be known as a writer of historical fiction or mythological mysteries Its a worthy successor to his previous bestsellers: The Rozabal Line, Chankayas Chant, The Krishna Key and The Sialkot Saga, collectively known as the Bharat series, in which Sanghi explored such themes as the lost years of Jesus Christ, placed Chanakya and the Kalki avatar of Vishnu in a modern context, and crafted a Kane and Abel-esque saga that leads from Partition to the present day. Sanghi also co-authors the Private crime thriller series with James Patterson (Private India and Private Delhi are out; the next thriller will be set in Bengaluru), featuring detective Santosh Wagh. But how does Sanghi come up with these plots, and how does he keep it all straight in his head? Sanghi has come a long way since his first book, which required four edits. (Prabhat Shetty) Behind the page I never get tired of asking What if, says Sanghi. Over the years, hes made use of various methods to avoid tying himself up in knots. When he was writing Chanakyas Chant, it was index cards. By the time of The Krishna Key, it was Excel spreadsheets; currently Sanghi uses a word processing programme called Scrivener, which allows him to create index cards online and associate it with a chapter. Hes also part of an effort to create the ultimate writing programme, in association with Vikram Chandra, a writing software that will build a certain amount of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the writing process and eliminate flaws in the flow. Sanghi composes each book in his sacred space a windowless basement study, where he sits with a wall of books to the back and left of him, facing a blank wall that holds a whiteboard on which he may sometimes draw a visual flow chart. Sanghi is also a self-help author, with his 13 Steps series, with three published books to date. (Prabhat Shetty) The whole process needs to be quite methodical, explains Sanghi. The first stage is research, when Sanghi does a lot of generalised reading. Keepers of the Kalachakra, for instance, lists 58 books that readers can move on to for deeper understanding, from Sri Yantra The Ancient Instrument to Control the Psychophysiological State of Man to The Golden Age of Indian Mathematics, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, and Spies in the Himalayas. Unless I am open to reading a ton of books, I cannot draw on connections and take creative liberties, says Sanghi. Ultimately the book has to be so interesting that readers should never have to make an effort to turn the page; they should be compelled to do so. Next, Sanghi creates a detailed plot outline. For one of the books in the Private series, the outline was 10,000 words, while the book was 75,000 words, explains Sanghi. The last stage is actually writing the book, which is the easiest part, like filling in a colouring book, says Sanghi. I dont understand when people ask me if I get writers block. Because Ive been through the entire exercise, I never get stuck at this point. The multitasker Sanghis days unfold in a predictable pattern. I dont have a 9 to 5 job, I have a 5 to 9 job, he says. I usually write early morning, from 5am to 9am, in my study. Then, because I am still associated with the family business (M K Sanghi Group, Motors), I go in to work for three to four hours, from noon to around 4pm, five days a week. After getting back home, I spend time with my family, and by 7pm, Im back in the study to do my reading and research. I dont really have a social life, I just occasionally meet close friends, my school and college buddies. He is fiercely disciplined when it comes to his writing. Ive been multitasking for years now; I started working at my dads business when I was 12, and always managed both my studies and work. Today, even if I am jet-lagged, I still get up at 5am to write, he says. Sanghi has developed an eco-system made up of trusted people to work with. I have two youngsters who assist me with research, a Sanskrit expert, a cover design guy, someone to manage my social media, schedule my speaking engagements, load events into my Google calendar and plan my travels. The ecosystem also includes Sanghis aunt, Aparna Gupta, who always reads his first draft. Shes not a regular critic and is not polite, laughs Sanghi. The other person I can rely on is my publisher Gautam Padmanabhan, who looks at the book like a commissioning editor, and tells me if the story works or not. Sanghi has come a long way since his first book, which required four edits. Even now, he doesnt think of himself as a writer. I have taught myself to be a writer as I have written my books, but it has been the greatest learning experience. Dan Browns books are explained so beautifully, a mix of history, theology and philosophy, presented in the form of questions and clues, plus the side narratives, that they are a delicious reading experience. Thats what I have ventured to do. But Im realistic enough to know that I will always be a work in progress. My best book is always my last one, because it was five per cent better than the previous book. But though I may not be much of a writer, I am a good storyteller. Sanghi is part of an effort to create the ultimate writing programme. (Prabhat Shetty) Tales from here and there There are still many conspiracy theories out there for Sanghi to pursue. The Jesus story was the first one to catch my attention, says Sanghi. And Im fascinated by whether the events related in Indian mythology are based on real people. I find the interplay between science and mythology very fascinating. A more modern tale that intrigues Sanghi is that of the events surrounding the death of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose. Id love to give that a fictional bent, he says. The ending of a book should be like a good burp at the end of a heavy meal While the Bharat series books are long-term projects, spanning from two to two-and-a-half years, the Private series take six months to a year to be published. Sanghi is also a self-help author, with his 13 Steps series, with three published books to date (13 Steps to Bloody Good Luck, Good Wealth and Good Marks), which takes him one to three months after the first draft is submitted by his co-author. Why would he even venture into other categories of writing? Even though each of the books in the Bharat series is different, I find it worrying to be boxed in, he says. I dont just want to be known as the writer of historical fiction or mythological mysteries. Your creativity then ends within those boundaries. Also, taking a break from a story and coming back to it enables me to question myself and see if the idea holds interest or not. Ultimately, if one conspiracy theory does not pan out, Sanghi will always have another. Karmically, I know this is not my last life, he says, Maybe then Ill be able to tell all the stories. Ultimately, I want to die telling a story. From HT Brunch, January 21, 2018 Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch A federal court in the US imposed on Saturday a $5-million civil penalty on the North America subsidiary of Indias Dr Reddy Laboratories for distributing prescription drugs in blister packs that were not child resistant, the Department of Justice said. Dr Reddys failed to ensure that children were protected from potentially harmful prescription drugs, said acting assistant attorney general Chad A Readler of the Justice Departments Civil Division. The court in New Jersey imposed the fine after a complaint that Dr Reddy Laboratories (DRL) failed to comply with the Poison Prevention Packaging Act (PPPA) and the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA). Child-resistant packaging is a critical safety measure put in place to protect our countrys children, said CPSC acting chairman Ann Marie Buerkle. In addition to the $5 million civil penalty, the consent decree generally enjoins DRL from distributing household oral prescription drugs in violation of the PPPA and CPSA. The injunction further requires DRL to maintain internal controls and procedures designed to ensure timely, truthful, complete and accurate reporting to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) as required by law. Under the terms of the consent decree, DRL will implement a compliance programme designed to ensure compliance with the PPPA and the CPSA. The Department of Justice filed a complaint in the District of New Jersey on December 18, 2017 on behalf of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. It was alleged that DRL knowingly violated the CPSA with respect to household oral prescription drugs in blister packs that were not child resistant as required by the PPPA. According to the complaint, DRL distributed such prescription drugs until 2012, despite being previously warned by its employees that the blister packs had not been tested for PPPA compliance and that certain blister packs were expected to fail the child test protocol. In addition, the complaint alleged that DRL failed to notify the CPSC immediately, as required by law, that its products were not compliant with the PPPA, that the products contained a defect presenting a substantial product hazard, and that the products created an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death. It alleged that DRL failed to certify that its products were in conformance with the PPPA. In agreeing to settle this matter, DRL has not admitted that it violated the law. I wonder if the six state governments (all BJP ones) that decided to ban Padmaavat are feeling chastened after the Supreme Court struck down their decisions ? They had either announced or proposed a total ban. The Supreme Court deemed this unconstitutional and ordered them to show the film. The Court also warned any other state government from attempting a ban. This amounts to a stinging rebuff and a political embarrassment. The state governments argued that showing the film would lead to a disturbed law and order situation which they would be unable to control. Rather than risk tension and violence they opted to ban the film. This argument was not acceptable because it turns on its head the actual duty and raison detre of the state. Under our constitution, freedom of expression is paramount and the duty of the state is to defend this right whilst protecting the citizenry against threats to law and order. In pleading their inability to defend freedom of expression and protect the citizenry, the state governments were abnegating their primary function. The truth is that if they cannot fulfil what they are there to do they should, in fact, resign. In ordering the film be shown and protection provided, the Court may not have threatened dismissal but it certainly reminded the governments they were in breach of their constitutional duty. What these state governments forgot is that because something causes offence is not a reason to ban it. After all, what is freedom of speech if it doesnt include the right to offend? Indeed, its the duty of governments to protect free speech against the villainy or violence of those who make a habit of taking offence. Governments are elected to uphold democratic values, not buckle under and give in. Sadly, it still doesnt follow that Padmaavat will be screened without violence. The Karni Sena is bound to resort to this to intimidate both distributors and viewers. In fact, its likely that some or many distributors may themselves choose not to screen the film for fear of what might happen to their cinema halls. Many viewers could stay away as well. In fact, what the state governments have ensured, by their pusillanimity and their willingness to justify unconstitutional demands, is to embolden such forces as the Karni Sena. A stronger initial response could have checked them. But that was not to be. I accept enforcing law and order in the face of widespread dissent or protest is not easy in India. I also accept that Congress governments have rarely been better champions of our freedoms. After all, Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister who chose to ban Salman Rushdies Satanic Verses before the book even reached Indian shores! And, certainly, Amarinder Singhs initial equivocation on Padmaavat is reminiscent of the depressing stand of BJP state governments. But all this only points to a bigger problem. Our politicians are more scared of the challenges they face and less committed to the rights and liberties theyre elected to uphold. So, thank God for the Supreme Court. For all its imperfections and contradictions, it has, in this instance, pronounced in support of the most fundamental right in a democracy free speech. Alas, the initial response of governments in Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh is not reassuring. One says it will seek a review whilst another has questioned the Supreme Court itself. We now need the top court to stamp down this fledgling defiance. I trust it will and swiftly. The views expressed are personal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The gender gap for child survival under the age of five declined from a high of 17% in 2014 to 11%, shows data from Indias Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report for 2016 released this earlier week, but the sex ratio (the number of girls born per 1,000 boys) at birth showed no improvement. In fact, it fell two points to 898 in 2014-16 from 900 in 2011-13, with Delhi registering the sharpest decline of 12 points. The natural sex ratio at birth favours boys, with 940 to 950 girls born per 1,000 boys. This bias is natures way of balancing the gender gap because boys have a slightly raised risk of death from childhood diseases, which ought to even out the overall sex ratio by the age of six. Indias wider gender gap indicates that illegal sex-selective abortion of unborn girls continues to thrive across the country. Only three states have a child sex ratio higher than 940 Chattisgarh (963), Kerala (959) and Odisha (948). About 7 million girls go missing in India every decade, with the fall in sex ratio corresponding to rising affluence and declining family size. The chances of the second child being a girl drop by 38% in families where the first child is a girl, found a study of physicians who had graduated from a medical college in Nagpur. The sex ratio for a second child was 600 if the older sibling was a girl, 455 for a third child if the family had two daughters, but shot up to 1,000 if the family already had two sons, found the study. Illegal trade Indias Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act bans sex-selection and sex determination, but the high demand from parents desperate for a son has led to these services reaching even villages where there are no roads, toilets or safe drinking water. The results are showing, with rural India registering a 7-point decline in sex ratio since 2010-12, as compared to a six-point fall in urban areas, records SRS 2016. The drop in urban India was the sharpest between 2012-14 and 2013-15, when sex ratio registered a 15-point fall, from 905 to 890. With improved healthcare increasing child survival after birth, Indias child sex ratio the number of girls per 1,000 boys at age six dipped to 919 in 2011, down from 983 in 1951, shows Census data. India began recording sharp falls in the number of girls being born after prenatal diagnostic techniques such as ultrasounds and amniocentesis became available in the 1980s in urban India. As unscrupulous doctors offered illegal sex determination services, the child sex ratio dropped 17 points between 1981 and 1991, and another 18 points between 1991 and 2001, as the services percolated to smaller cities, and then towns and villages. India is missing more than 25 million girls since 1991, which is like losing the population of Australia over two decades. The relatively affluent states of Haryana (832), Gujarat (848) and Delhi (857) are among the top five offenders, with Uttarakhand (850) and Rajasthan (857) being the other poor performers when it comes to child sex ratio. Apart from pre-conception procedures that help parents choose the gender of the baby, tests are now available that help determine the sex of the foetus as early as the seventh week of pregnancy. A blood test that analyses foetal DNA found in a pregnant woman can determine the babys gender before eight weeks. The test, available in India, measures DNA fragments from the placenta circulating in the mothers blood to detect Downs Syndrome and two other chromosomal abnormalities in the foetus, but it is also being widely misused to determine the gender of the foetus for the purpose of sex-selective abortion. A strong son preference because of social norms lineage, inheritance issues, increased family earnings, supporting old parents, need for dowry for girls, etc continues to drive the bias against girls. Instead of waiting for people to change, the health ministry must use legislation as a catalyst to change unacceptable social norms by ensuring the laws are implemented firlm and those who break them face stringent penalties. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Whoa! The Prime Minister of UK appointed a Minister of Loneliness this week. Im not kidding, you can check out the news. Considering that over nine million people in Britain have reported feeling lonely and hence depressed, this is quite a leap in understanding the significance of mental health in their country. For us in India, digesting the creation of such a ministry cant be easy, what with nosy neighbours and noisy relatives ensuring little loneliness in desi life. Seriously though, it is a fact beyond argument that being lonely is among the saddest mental states to be in. I have a young man in my team whose otherwise amazing wit has been totally washed out with gloom, after a recent break-up. Then there is this aged lady in the neighbourhood. She lost her husband many years ago, and the only son lives elsewhere with his wife and kids. The woman is so full of life running errands through the day, but every evening I see a gloomy shadow of loneliness engulf her spirit. No matter what age or stage you are in, feeling lonely day after day is rather undesirable, but sometimes beyond our control. But you know what, whether the reason for your loneliness is simply moving out of a certain social circle due to compulsions like studies or job, or a more painful end of companionship due to a breakup or divorce or death, there are ways you can completely cope with it. Lets look at some simple, actionable steps 1.New Connections: No matter how hopeless things seem right now, you still always have the wisdom to understand that the cause of your loneliness need not be permanent. If you or your friends have stopped hanging out for any reason, theres always scope to make new connections. But new connections need not be exact replacements for old associations. It wont do you good to compare new friendships and relationships with those that have ended. Every new friend, every new partner is different, and deserves that you treat them that way. If you get the trick of looking at every new connection like a new opportunity and a new beginning, you are not likely to stay lonely for long. 2.Join a group: A conventional club or an online forum, a group of morning walkers in the park to a singles night at the bar this world is full of places to join a bunch of like minded people. All you need to do is choose them according to your interest areas. And honestly, joining a photography course to a Zumba class to a book club to a music group theres nothing thats now not easily accessible. In the biggest of cities and the smallest of towns. Specific to your ability, location and interest, these groups are aplenty, and within easy reach through social media. A single, new-to-the-city friend of mine recently attended a baking session for a day, and her partner was an 89-year-old former army man. They also had a set of 7-year-old twins attending the same session, and having as much fun. Wheres the time for sitting and crying lonely, she asks. 3.Value animalsand Sunshine: Sounds a bit disjointed but theres immense possibility in having these two things in your life. Pets provide unconditional affection, and theres no better remedy for loneliness than instant and consistent love. Keep one at home if you can, or else visit animal shelters to volunteer, or just watch. It takes away tones of stress from life. Talking of stress staying indoors and lying down in your bed cursing life wont help things. Theres scientific evidence that catching a bit of sunlight everyday works like magic on your physical and mental health. Open those windows, natural light and air heal way better than the best pills in the world. I could go on about things like music and other therapeutic stuff, but you got the drift. This is stuff you already know about. But what matters here is realizing, more than mere acknowledging their power to make things better. The biggest hurdle, to my mind, is the thought that any of the above are things we cant do, for whatever reason. If you make up your mind to, you can chase away loneliness whether you are 20 or 50 or 90 years old, whether you are male, female, transgender, whether you are extrovert or shy, straight or gay, rich or broke. Start today. Sonal Kalra told Chaddha ji about the Ministry of Loneliness and he thought its the name of an escort service. He is the Prime Minister of Stupidity. Mail your thoughts at sonal.kalra@hindustantimes.com or facebook.com sonalkalraofficial. Follow on Twitter @sonalkalra. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Goings-on in the Supreme Court of India have surprised and dismayed many. To have Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5 (as court reporters and lawyers insist on referring to the second, third, fourth, and fifth senior most judges after the Chief Justice of India) complain in public, in a press conference called for that very purpose, about the highest judicial office in the land, is disturbing, worrying, and casts a shadow over the entire judicial system in the country. Several of us have always known that all is not well in the Supreme Court, just as we have known that not all CJIs have been beyond reproach. Still, despite the frailties and foibles of the CJIs and judges, overall, overwhelmingly, for most Indians, the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions the Supreme Court, is an institution that is incorruptible, wise, unprejudiced, and which always looks out for the greater good as well as the interests of those who usually tend not to have a voice. That perception is now gone. The rift in the Supreme Court is now fodder for the 24x7 news mill. Across TV debates and editorials, politicians, columnists, judicial experts are all airing insinuations, connecting dots, and imputing motives the kind of thing few would dare do with the higher judiciary previously (and not just out of fear of contempt). While the angle of personal antipathy has been ignored (fortunately so; even though theres no love lost between some of the individuals involved, the issues raised dont seem to have anything to do with that), that of political motives hasnt. And so, like many other debates of our times, this one too has been polarised along pro- and anti-Modi lines. Enough has been said about many of these issues over the past eight days since the press conference of the four judges on January 12. This columns focus is going to be on two issues one fundamental, the other, procedural that could prevent the recurrence of a similar controversy if addressed. At the core of the controversy is the way that judges are named to the Supreme Court (and Chief Justices are appointed in the high court). This happens through the collegium, a group of senior judges in the Supreme Court, including the CJI. There have been efforts to reform, even change this process, but the apex court has, inexplicably, maintained that this is the best way of selecting Supreme Court judges and high court Chief Justices. A very senior politician recently told Chanakya that a few years ago he met a former Chief Justice of India who claimed that he (the former CJI) could list all future CJIs till the year 2030. While discounting the obvious exaggeration on part of both the former CJI and the politician who narrated the anecdote, it makes sense to look at the claim closely. Sure, the CJI is traditionally the senior most judge in the court, so it is mathematically possible to name his successor, his successors successor, even his successors successors successor. To do so for any period exceeding a decade, though, will also require inside information on which chief justices of high courts will make it to the Supreme Court, maybe even which judges of these high courts will be made a high court Chief Justice. Chanakya isnt sure this is the way it happens, but this is possible, at least on paper. The same politician mentioned a related issue. Most of Indias top lawyers and judges come from 50-100 families he claimed. This is not a fact, especially given the new crop of professional lawyers that has emerged in India, but there are enough examples to make it appear to be one. Together, the two make the collegium approach to selecting judges seem downright insidious and thats a perception the Supreme Court can do without. All good institutions must have in-built mechanisms to ensure they are not dependent on the honour of their members. The second point this columnist wants to make is on transparency. The Supreme Court roster appears to be a well-kept secret that not even lawyers who have been practising in the court for years are privy to. This document must be made public, perhaps put up on the website of the court. The assignment of important cases, flagged by the Supreme Court registry, could perhaps be made by a group of senior judges including the CJI. In their talks with the CJI in efforts to resolve the ongoing crisis, the four judges have made a similar demand. A better process of selecting judges to the Supreme Court, and a transparent and rules-based approach to assigning cases could have well avoided the occurrence of a crisis such as the current one. Chanakya has already made the point once but it merits repetition: the credibility of institutions is far too important to be left to the nature of men, no matter how honourable they may be. letters@hindustantimes.com SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON That Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu fitted a sizeable part of Bollywood into the same selfie frame speaks volumes. It speaks volumes because in sheer size his selfie hoped to do for Bollywood what the Ellen DeGeneres Oscars selfie did for Hollywood. The selfie had Big B and Benjamin rubbing shoulders with Subhash Ghai, Imtiaz Ali, KJo & Co. It speaks volumes that in a tinsel town where star vanities are often as bloated as the Versace ensembles in which they floated, where it is oftentimes difficult to bring two rival stars on the same stage, leave alone selfie frame, Netanyahu accomplished this mission impossible. It speaks volumes that he made possible what thus far was impossible unwittingly fitting into the same frame estranged ex-lovers Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Vivek Oberoi. With self(ie) centred star vanities making Netanyahus selfie moment sporting many a pout, the Israeli premiers selfie diplomacy was proven beyond doubt. His selfie diplomacy could inspire more face-to-face encounters: EX-FILES: Now that Netanyahu has gotten two Bollywood ex-flames selfie conscious in same frames, his selfie diplomacy could be stretched to other Ex-factors. Starting with who else but Aishwarya and Salman Khan. The selfie caption: Chal Benjie selfie le le re KRISSH & TELL: The real coup could be if Netanyahu-style selfie diplomacy were to do what showmans of the small screen Arnab Goswami, Rajat Sharma & Co couldnt bring into the same frame Hate Story bete noires Hrithik and Kangana. What Arnabs decibel diplomacy and regurgitating gab couldnt grab Kanganas sound n fury fab; or what Rajats Aap ki Adalat couldnt court Krissh and tell; Netanyahus selfie diplomacy could help get this pair framed. The selfie caption: Milaap Ki Adaalat. WAR OF THE POSES: Perhaps, Netanyahus next trip should be to the US White House. Nah, not for bilateral diplomacy driven by self-interest, but lateral diplomacy riding selfie interest. To bring US First Lady Melania Trump and First Wife Ivana laterally into the same selfie frame. War of the roses is history. Enter the War of the (selfie) Poses. The selfie caption: Netanyahus Trump Card. SUDHUISM MEETS SHASHISM: Another shot at selfie diplomacy could be giving two famous isms their day out on Instagram India. Proponent of signature punchlines Navjot Sidhu sharing a selfie moment with a parliamentarian whose English doesnt believe in drawing the line, Shashi Tharoor. Sidhu-isms meet Shashisms. The challenge would lie in captioning the selfie. If this responsibility fell more on Kerala than Punjab, it could spell the birth of a new ism: This farrago of pixelated positioning of parliamentarians-cum-proponents of Indian vocabularys two popular isms, powered further by isms of the skepticism and narcissism kind, could semantically be described as Selfie-ism! PIDI-MAN: Another selfie wed love to see is of two powerful pets sharing the same frame. The Congress and BJD straddle rival benches and never the twain shall meet, but their canines could tread common ground, a la tweet. How about Rahul Gandhis terrier Pidi getting selfie Centre-d with Jay Pandas dalmatian Buddy? Doing what else but tutoring Buddy to tweet on behalf of the master, that being Pidis claim to fame. The selfie caption: Tweet discreet, Left Right Centre! (The author can be contacted at chetnabanerjee@gmail.com) The views expressed are personal A Muslim woman who converted to Hinduism to protest against the oppression of women in Islam has virtually gone into hiding after her decision struck a discordant note among residents of her locality in Haldwani. The case will be handed over to the police, so it does not turn into a law-and-order issue. In an affidavit addressed to the Haldwani city magistrate, the 22-year-old stated that she has converted to Hinduism and changed her name from Shahnawaz to Sunita in protest against the lack of freedom accorded to women in the Muslim community. The district administration is investigating an allegation by Sunitas parents, who reside in the Muslim-dominated locality of Banbhoolpura, that she was coerced into changing her religion. Sunita had alerted the Nainital district magistrate to her conversion on January 7 through an affidavit sent by registered post. The woman claimed in the document that she had to face religious orthodoxy and oppression at every stage of life since her birth in 1995. Sunita signed off the affidavit by stating that she has decided to embrace Hinduism in the knowledge that it will allow her more liberty as a woman. People familiar with the matter said she has been lying low ever since. Neema Aggarwal, a member of the right-wing Rashtra Sewika Samiti, said India is a democratic country where people have the freedom to embrace religions of their choice. Sunita had every right to take up Hinduism if she felt that her lifestyle was being stifled by Islamic religious practices. We firmly stand for individual rights. Samajwadi Party general secretary Shoaib Ahmed said that while the personal choice of an individual was paramount, the administration must also affirm that the conversion was not performed under pressure, coercion or duress. The case has been handed over to the Haldwani police, so it doesnt turn into a law-and-order problem. The police will also investigate if the woman was converted under pressure, said city magistrate Haldwani Pankaj Upadhyay. Conversions are valid only if they are done without inducement or coercion. Haldwani Kotwali inspector KR Pandey said he was still waiting for the case to be handed over, so the probe could begin. The Dehradun police arrested two fraudsters, including a Nigerian, from Delhi for allegedly duping a Dehradun resident. This is the second Nigerian national arrested by the Uttarakhand police in a month. Francis Austin, 28, a resident of Anambra state of Nigeria, and Rodinpuia, 28, from Champhai in Mizoram, were arrested by a special team of the Dehradun police on Friday. A Dehradun court on Saturday sent them to 14-day judicial custody. Sanjeev Kumar Rauthan, a property dealer based in Navada area, complained to the Nehru Colony police on January 9 that a lady claiming to be Melody Burgoyna from England had befriended him over WhatsApp. She, then, assured him of helping to set up a business in England. The woman allegedly told Rauthan that she would arrive in India on January 3. On the same day, Rauthan, who was in Delhi, got a call from another woman saying that Melody was stuck at the customs office in Mumbai and Rs 4.38 lakh were required for her release. I transferred the amount through netbanking to the given account detail but later realised that I was cheated when I was asked to deposit more money, Rauthan said in his police complaint. Dehradun senior superintendent of police Nivedita Kukerti Kumar immediately constituted a special team which traced the accused. Four mobile phones, three bank passbooks, one cheque book, four ATM cards and one laptop were seized from the duo, who were booked for cheating and criminal breach of trust According to the police, the accused claimed that they were only helping the alleged mastermind of the gang whom they identified as Joy from Nigeria. They claimed that it was Joy who used to contact and allure unsuspecting men and got the victims to transfer money to the account details arranged by Francis, who in turn used to get 15% of the total transaction amount, Rajesh Sah, in-charge of Nehru Colony police station, said. We are also checking bank account details and freeze them. On December 16, the Special Task Force of the Uttarakhand police had arrested a Nigerian national from Gurugram in Haryana for a case of fraudulence that was reported in Dehradun. The complainant had approached the cyber crime police station reporting how he was contacted over email and phone by the accused and promised a business partnership. Later on, he was made to deposit Rs 58 lakh in different bank accounts by the accused in the name of investing foreign funds. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Barely a week ago, he received the National Changemakers Award 2018 from the vice chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). On Friday, his name emerged as the reason behind a likely bypoll to 20 assembly constituencies in Delhi. Meet Prashant Patel Umrao, the 31-year-old lawyer who filed the office of profit petition against 20 AAP MLAs after they were appointed as parliamentary secretaries to help ministers with official work in March 2015. Today, my hard work of three years has paid off. I believe that the law will finally catch up with the offending MLAs, said Umrao, who practises in Delhi High Court and Supreme Court of India. Son of a teacher and a housewife from Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh, Umrao has been living in Noida and Delhi since 2009. After his schooling in RSS-run Saraswati Shishu Mandir in his home town, he did his graduation in computer sciences from Ewing Christian College in Allahabad, and later completed a degree in law from Chaudhary Charan Singh University. He has been practising law, mostly family and criminal cases, since 2015. Soon after Umrao made his foray into the legal profession he found himself taking on the newly formed AAP government in Delhi. On June 19, 2015, less than six months after the new government assumed power, Umrao wrote to the Presidents office, questioning the legality of parliamentary secretaries. This was eventually referred to the poll panel which on finally recommended disqualification of the lawmakers on Friday. Umrao said he was inspired to take up the case after reading a book Delhi sarkaar ki shaktiyan aur seemayen (powers and limitations of Delhi government) by former Delhi assembly secretary, SK Sharma. There is a chapter on parliamentary secretaries in the book which talks about how their appointment flouts the law. That is when I thought of challenging it, he said. A member of the Hindu Sena and of the now-disbanded Hindu Legal Cell, Umrao had previously filed an FIR against actor Aamir Khan and director Rajkumar Hirani for allegedly portraying gods in poor light in the film PK. He also sought an intervention of the Supreme Court when Kanhaiya Kumar sought bail. He also filed a complaint against former Censor Board chief Leela Samson for alleged corruption. Umrao is active on Twitter with over 32,000 followers. I am least bothered about whether the AAP government is derailed or not. All I know is law should not be bent, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The possibility of byelections in Delhi, following the Election Commission of Indias (ECIs) recommendation to disqualify 20 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs for holding offices of profit, has charged up the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress that have already got into the poll mode. Senior leaders of both parties huddled at their state headquarters on Friday evening to discuss their course of action. The Congress will launch a mass movement against AAP from Monday to expose its alleged misdeeds, said Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken. Maken said that after Republic Day, his party will reach out to voters of all 20 assembly constituencies where AAP MLAs are facing disqualification. On Friday, all Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) members met at the party office in which former MLAs, MPs, and PC Chacko, the states incharge, also participated. After January 26, the Congress will hold a workers convention and start booth level meetings in all 20 seats, he said. Maken said after last years municipal elections, the AAPs position is vulnerable. The party is ramping up poll preparations and analysed the MCD elections. We found that AAP had even not won any of these 20 seats. We were ahead of AAP in these constituencies, he added. Delhi BJPs core committee also held a meeting to deliberate over the sudden political development. A BJP leader presented in the meeting said it had decided to go hammer and tongs at AAP over the sealing issue. It was decided to take a firm stand against the ongoing sealing drive. We will tell people that the municipal corporations are not responsible for the action. It was suggested by the party that councillors should explain people in their respective wards that sealing is an outcome of the AAP governments failure, he added. Present in the meeting were all seven Lok Sabha MPs and union minister Vijay Goel. However, the BJP leaders failed to reach a consensus on how to take on AAP in view of the ECIs decision on the AAPs MLAs, said another senior leader. Attendees had different opinions. In the present scenario, any suggestion by state unit chief Manoj Tiwari will be followed. We are going to start visits to voters in 20 constituencies, said another member of the core committee. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON At least 17 people were killed after a fire broke out at a firecracker factory in outer Delhis Bawana industrial area on Saturday evening. At least half a dozen people are still trapped inside the building and rescue operations are on. The exact cause of the fire was not immediately known. Officials, however, suspected that a short-circuit could have led to the blaze. The owner of the factory Manoj Jain has been arrested by Delhi Police. Highlights: 11:54am: BJPs Preeti Aggarwal claims video of her telling aides not to speak against Delhi civic body fake, blames AAP. #WATCH: In the aftermath of Bawana factory fire, BJP leader & North Delhi Municipal Corporation Mayor Preeti Aggarwal caught on cam telling her aide, 'iss factory ki licensing hamare paas hai isliye hum kuch nahi bol sakte.' The incident has claimed 17 lives. #Delhi pic.twitter.com/zXfVjNADl2 ANI (@ANI) January 21, 2018 9:17am: BJP MLA Manoj Tiwari on Kejriwal retweeting fake video says CM should apologise for such low-level politics in time of despair, reports ANI. 8am: The owner of the factory Manoj Jain has been arrested by Delhi Police, reports ANI. 12.45am: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announces Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the dead and Rs 1 lakh to the injured. 12.40am: 11.55pm: Arvind Kejriwal will visit the site of the fire soon. 11.30pm: Union health minister JP Nadda on Saturday said that the AIIMS and the Safdarjung Hospital were ready to provide all assistance to the injured. The health ministry has also asked the hospitals to keep emergency services ready. I have directed officials of @MoHFW_INDIA to provide immediate support. Union Health Secretary has spoken to Chief Secretary Delhi. AIIMS trauma centre and Burn Unit Of Safadjung Hospital is ready to provide all support . Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) January 20, 2018 10.55pm: Eight people have been brought to us in all six of them had sustained 100% burn injuries and had died on the spot, and two others have been admitted and are being currently stabilized, said a doctor in the Maharishi Valmiki hospital, requesting anonymity. 10:40pm: Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal expressed condolences over the incident. Saddened by the Bawana fire tragedy. Have spoken to officials concerned for necessary action. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. May God give them strength to recover from this tragic incident. LG Delhi (@LtGovDelhi) January 20, 2018 10:26pm: I received information about the incident on phone at around 9 pm and we immediately rushed to the spot. Situation is under control now: North Delhi mayor Preety Aggarwal 10:18pm: Deeply anguished by the fire at a factory in Bawana. My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives. May those who are injured recover quickly, tweeted PM Modi 10:17pm: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted to say that the government is keeping a close watch on rescue operations. V sad to hear abt large no of casualties. Keeping a close watch on rescue operations https://t.co/yHwQAH0bKi Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 20, 2018 10:16pm: Delhi industries minister Satyendar Jain said the government has ordered an enquiry into the incident. 10:15pm: Delhi Police officials said people who were trapped inside the factory died of burn injuries and asphyxiation. 10:14pm: Chief fire officer Atul Garg said that the control room was informed about the blaze at 6:20 pm. Two prime properties in the heart of Delhi can no longer be used for large commercial projects due to a lack of coordination between government agencies, resulting in a loss of at least 600 crore to the state exchequer, according to senior government officials and documents seen by Hindustan Times. The plots, measuring 11,785 square metres near the Kashmere Gate ISBT and 11,300 square metres next to the Sarai Kale Khan ISBT, are together worth an estimated Rs 250 crore as per the circle rates. They were set aside for redeveloping the inter-state bus terminals and for the state governments Delhi Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (DTIDC) to build two six-floor hotels. The proposed hotels were to be major sources of revenue for the DTIDC, which is responsible for building and maintaining all bus stops and terminals across the Capital. A senior official of the Delhi Integrated MultiModal Transit System (DIMTS) Ltd, which is calculating the losses incurred by DTIDC, said an estimated Rs 600 crore had already been lost due to non-utilisation of plots, revenue from a proposed private partnership for the construction of hotels, and cost escalation. He said that the amount could be higher once the final estimate is ready. A lack of coordination between the Delhi government and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has led to the plan to build hotels being shelved because new Metro stations directly under the plots have made it unsafe to carry out any major construction activity at the ground level. Between 2012 and 2013, the DTIDC had given the plots on a temporary basis to the DMRC for construction of Metro corridors in its Phase-III project. While these plots are yet to be returned more than 18 months after the leases have expired -the DMRC has constructed its underground station at a depth of 1.522 metres under the Kashmere Gate plot, making it impossible to lay the foundation for a hotel on top. The Sarai Kale Khan plot suffers a similar fate. Parts of the Nizamuddin Metro station, which is in the final stages of completion, will fall directly under it. We had informed the DMRC about our hotel project while handing over the Kashmere Gate plot. But now that the underground Metro station is ready, we have found that the foundation of the proposed building cannot be built. We will write to DMRC for recovery of our losses, said KK Dahiya, managing director, DTIDC. Instead of hotels, we can only use the prime land for parking bays for buses and opening a food court, he added. A May 15, 2015 letter from DMRC to DTIDC, however, suggested it was the latter that had failed to submit any building plan for the property. For last three years, we have not received any proposed plan of these structures. The DMRC design was finalised and construction started. In the absence of any information from DTIDC, DMRC has not considered any super-imposed load of these structures over the underground metro station, the letter read. A DTIDC official admitted they had received the letter, but said it was an eyewash. The communication from our end at the beginning that a multi-storey hotel will be built was enough. The DMRC sent the letter after it had already begun construction, said an official handling the case for DTIDC. The DMRCs executive director (corporate communications) Anuj Dayal said the Delhi metro had shared its underground station plans with the DTIDC before commencing work on the Kashmere Gate station in 2012. For the plot at Sarai Kale Khan, the DMRC has already conveyed No objection to DTIDC for their planned development of a new ISBT complex vide letter dated 24.02.16, he said.The two bodies held a meeting on Wednesday, when the DMRC agreed to return the land at Kashmere Gate by building basic infrastructure like bus stops, toilets, benches and lanes. The DTIDC said this was not adequate, an official said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Traders in the city have decided to call a one-day bandh on January 23 against the ongoing sealing drive by the municipal corporation under the supervision of a Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee. The decision was taken during a joint meeting called by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and traders at Constitution Club on Saturday. Praveen Khandelwal, the national secretary-general of CAIT said, More than 400 traders from leading markets in the city were present at the meeting and decision was taken that all the markets, including local shopping complexes and wholesale and retails markets will observe a day-long bandh on Tuesday. The sealing drive is unjustified and against the provisions of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act 1957. Khandelwal added, We have constituted a 21-member team that would decide the activities to be organised during the bandh. However, we do not want to affect the spirit of the Republic Day, so everything will be planned with due care, he said. While the traders decided to call for the bandh, members of the monitoring committee, who are overseeing the sealing drive, clarified that the sealing action will continue in full swing on all days including January 25, the day of the Asean summit. Though the civic authorities are free to carry out sealing drive on alternative days depending on the availability of police force and other arrangements, it is not going to be affected by the Republic Day celebrations, said a member who didnt wished to be named. While the police force from local police stations will be used, additional arrangements for paramilitary forces will be made based on the requirements for conducting sealing operation, said a Municipal Corporation official. On Saturday, despite their offices being shut, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation officials carried out sealing drive in local markets such as Vijay Nagar, Outram Lane and Keshav Puram for misusing residential property for commercial use without paying the one-time use conversion charge. The civic body sealed 12 units in Outram lane, three in Vijay Nagar and 12 in Keshavpuram area. On Friday night, the civic body had sealed a hotel in Karol Bagh for running commercial activity on institutional land. We have directed the civic officials to verify the documents of shopkeepers claiming to pay the use conversion charge at revised rates of Rs 22,274 square metre and not to take any action against them for the time being, said the monitoring committee member. A majority of shopkeepers in 106 local markets have not paid the use conversion charge for various reasons. While some are claiming that their markets had no residential component and were fully commercial from the beginning, there are others who are waiting for increasing of floor area ratio (FAR) from permissible 180 (80% coverage on ground, 60% on first and 40% on second floor) to 300 (100% coverage on ground, first and second floor). Our market was established as shop market in the 1950s. In 1990, it was given 100% commercial status after a notification issued by the DDA. Our question is when the market was declared fully commercial, what is the logic for demanding use conversion charge? questioned Ajay Gupta, a trader from Sundar Nagar Market in south Delhi. The shopowners in other local shopping complexes, such as Defence Colony, Greater Kailash II, South Extension I and Green Park extension share Gupats views. To this, the monitoring committee member clarified that giving a commercial status to any local market doesnt mean that the traders are not required to pay the use conversion charge. In fact there is no such rule. Originally, these LSCs were shop-cum-residential complexes and later commercial activities started on first and second floors. We are just asking traders to pay one time use conversion charge for converting residential properties for commercial use, said a monitoring committee member. 3 arrested for posing as SDM The CBI has arrested three people on the charges of demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 1.80 lakh, allegedly on behalf of a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) in the national capital, from a club owner to re-open his club which was sealed by the SDM of Saraswati Vihar. The agency said in a statement that it was looking into the role of SDM in the matter. The CBI received a complaint from an owner of a club situated at a mall in Pitam Pura that three persons were asking for a bribe of Rs 3 lakh to allow his club to reopen. He also alleged that after negotiation, the amount was reduced. The CBI laid a trap and caught the two accused alongwith one more person while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 1.80 lakh from the complainant, said the CBI in its statement. The agency also conducted search operations at the residence of all the three accused persons, which led to the recovery of incriminating documents. The agency has also collected relevant documents from the office of the SDM in Saraswati Vihar. We could simply walk past him. That would be easy, too easy. But those badly bandaged toes set us thinking. Whats happened here? We also notice two rings on his fingers, which could mean theres a family somewhere. Slowly opening his eyes, the gentleman introduces himself as Rajkumar, explaining that he was walking around the other day without chappals and I stepped on toota kaanch (broken glass). Some good Samaritans in a gurdwarda dressed the wounds. Mr Rajkumar goes on to say that hes a tuberculosis patient, regularly receiving treatment at a government hospital. But why is he lying on the pavement? Well, Im a beggar, he explains, as a matter of fact. Mr Rajkumar arrived in Delhi a decade ago from a village in Maharashtra where he has a wife, two sons who work, and elderly parents. Why not just return to the village instead of suffering in Delhi? Wouldnt that be more logical? I did go back for Diwali, he replies, and then lifts his legs, revealing a pair of red slippers. Somebody gave them to me this morning! May he be blessed. Now Mr Rajkumar closes his eyes once again. We finally walk away, marvelling at our two fellow citizens who briefly paused to care for a strangers injured feet. This shop is one of the oldest surviving landmarks in Connaught Place. Everything except the fruits, cookies, protein chocolates and wasabi peas looks like a collectible. The wood panelling, display cabinet, clock, even the floor, are as old as the 1935 store. The only major concession to modernity at The Oriental Fruit Mart in E-block is the introduction of automatic sliding doors in 2011. You ought to come here to admire all these old things. And what you have to see under all circumstances is a most heritage-worthy item the fridge! It doesnt look like a refrigerator at all and its been here since the 1940s. It is possibly Delhis longest surviving refrigerator (holler if yours is older than this). Tucked at one end of the shop, the fridge looks like a giant cupboard. The shop has other modern fridges as well, but you really feel its impact felt when you realize its been humming along for more than 60 years. It was imported from Europe, says the shops owner Mohinder Pal, whose father founded the shop. Now Mr Pal runs the old landmark with his sons Jitender and Ravinder. The three men are so polite to customers and talk so softly that you want to ask them, Which city do you think you live in? Lingering here feels like being in a shop seeped in old-world graciousness often found in the most genteel parts of colonial-era hill stations. Mr Pal opens the ancient fridge for us. Its filled with nuts, chocolates and spices. We use the fridge to keep our buffer stock. A freezer at the bottom is filled with mineral water bottles. The freezer, too, came inbuilt with the fridge, the owner says. The fridges inscribed name is Perfecold on Googling, we find a dissolved Californian business entity by this name incorporated in 1943. Soon, the shop gets busy with customers. Not one of them notices the fridge, but its there, humming along as always . Yash Tekwani talks about paan with a passion very few people even paanwallas -- can match. Curiously, the owner of Prince Paan Corner considers himself the master of what he calls the art of paan-making. He transformed the ubiquitous paan shop that he inherited from his father into a sought-after multi-chain brand with nine stores, including two in Thailand. He wishes to open one in London soon. It is 4 pm on a chilly, grey December evening. Tekwani is busy serving paan to the ever-growing fashionable crowd of young men and women at his well-known shop in south Delhis posh GK-1. Dressed in a blue, check suit, three heavy gold rings adorning his fingers, Tekwani hardly looks like your neighbourhood paanwalla. Paan-making is not just about putting a few ingredients together in a betel leaf, he says. And our family has proved selling paan is no petty business; we are known for our high quality and elite clientele. On a wall of Prince Paan Corner is a framed collage of Tekwanis pictures with celebrities, including Bollywood stars. His customers seem pretty impressed as they chew paan and gawk at the pictures Tekwani posing with Sridevi, shaking hands with Akshay Kumar, offering paan to Shah Rukh Khan and Lata Mangeshkar. From the Ambanis, the Munjals, the Bachchans, to the Kapoors, they all are my customers. Almost all of Delhis top business families regularly order paan from us, says Tekwani, who owns a fleet of cars and lives in plush house in Greater Kailash, not far from his shop. Tekwani says he is only taking forward the legacy of his father who painstakingly set up the shop in 1965. His father, Bhagwan Das, came to India from Sindh post-Partition and did odd jobs -- working as a porter and selling eatables (pakodas) on the pavement before he started a paan shop. Our family really went through hard times; my mother worked as a maid, recalls Tekwani, as he rolls a paan for a customer. Proudly counting the health benefits of paan, he also recalls how it turned out to be a panacea for poverty that battered his family for years. Their lives, Tekwani says, began to change for the better after his father set up a makeshift paan shop in GK in the 1960s. My father used to have a khoka (makeshift shop) before he rented the present shop in Greater Kailash which, those days, was nothing more than a jungle, says Tekwani. Eventually, in the 1980s, he made enough money to buy the part of the building that houses the shop today. Selling paans was not considered by many as a worthwhile profession but his father, he says, never thought it was a petty business. He had a tough time getting me admission in a decent school because I was the son of a paanwalla. Later, when we grew up, he struggled to find a suitable match for us, says Tekwani, who joined his fathers business as a teenager. But thankfully, my children do not have to face this problem because now Prince Paan is a big brand and people look at us as businessmen and entrepreneurs. The secret behind the success of his paan shop, he says, is the recipe his father createdwhich rid the paan of its stained image. What sets us apart is that our paan does not colour your lips red and create spit in your mouth, which is what makes paan-chewing a bad habit in the eyes of many. A paan is about fragrance and a feeling of freshness, not colouring your lips. The quality of a paan depends on the quality of leaves you choose, and more importantly how you prepare your ingredients, says Tekwani, standing behind a counter with stacks of a variety of paan leaves, katha and chuna in designer steel vessels and over two-dozen kinds of supari and other colourful ingredients in open plastic cases. The shops shelves are filled with bottles of his own paan mixes. His shop offers two dozen varieties of paans, including saffron, chocolate and Katrina and Kareena specials. The Katrina special, he explains, has no katha-chuna, and the Kareena special only has mint in it. They are basically ladies paans, says Tekwani as he rolls a Katrina special and packs it in a smart card board box with his shops branding. A paan could cost between Rs 30 and Rs Rs 1,100. The costliest is the honeymoon special. It has herbs with aphrodisiac properties, he says. But the fire paan with inflammable cloves that are set ablaze before placing in the mouth is popular these days. Tekwani is happy that his son, Prateek Tekwani, who has studied business management in London, is quite keen to take forward the family legacy. The younger Tekwani who we meet in the living room of his plush house seems as much proud of his familys paan business as his father. I am focusing on opening more stores, better branding and packaging. All our shops are run by our employees who are given intensive training at our flagship shop in GK, says Prateek, sitting in the living room, where everything from the chairs to sofas to a large mirror on the wall has gold or silver finish. I personally visit all shops across the city to check on the quality of paan served there. I want to turn our paan shop into a global brand like McDonalds, says Yash Tekwani, who spends about five hours every day at his flagship GK shop. The younger Tekwani says his family business has a great future as the tradition of paan eating is as strong as ever. For the new generation, having a paan is a good refreshment. We have made eating paan a cool thing, he says. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The support the Aam Aadmi Party received from first-time voters, who took Delhis infrastructure and growth for granted, was one of the key factors that led to the Congress being voted out in 2013, former chief minister Sheila Dikshit has said in her soon-to-be-released autobiography. The young people could not acknowledge the changes that her government had brought, unaware of what Delhi was like before she took over, she writes in Citizen Delhi: My Times, My Life, which will be released at the Jaipur Literature Festival on January 27. A considerable chunk of voters, who were casting their ballot for the first time, had not seen the Delhi of 15 years ago. To them a Delhi with regular power, flyovers and Metro rail, as well as several new universities, was their natural right and therefore taken for granted. They could not be expected to feel ecstatic about it, says the 79-year-old who ruled the state from 1998 to 2013. The Congress did not take Arvind Kejriwals foray into politics seriously enough and his ability to tap into the sentiments of the voters, she confesses. I myself was defeated by a margin of over 25,000 votes, losing the prestigious New Delhi seat to Arvind Kejriwal of AAP, a party that many of us had underestimated. Dikshit, however, doesnt dwell upon the alleged corruption linked with the 2010 Commonwealth Games but blames the Shunglu Committee for ignoring the governments response to a lot of the allegations. Even as she prepared to bear the impact of UPA2 losing favour with the electorate, she had started looking for a bigger canvas (a role at the Centre), she writes. Although she doesnt say as much in the book, there was talk at the time that Dikshit could be made the Union home minister. But power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde was given the home ministry berth in 2012 -the fact that his elevation, which was perceived as a reward, came on the heels of a blackout in large parts of India in the second half of 2012, further dented the image of the Congress, she says. Sheila reveals that she was going to resign even before her term ended, but that the December 16 gang rape strengthened her resolve to stay on. As I slowly recovered my strength and prepared to inform the high command of my decision to step down, Delhi, and India, was shaken to its core on 16 December. Sheila says she decided to write the book when she was the governor of Kerala between March and August 2014. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Delhi University is mulling over introducing an aptitude test that will act as a filtration system for undergraduate admissions from academic year 2019-20. If implemented, students will have to pass the test to become eligible for admission on the basis of cut-offs set by various colleges. Five members of a sub-committee looking into online testing for admissions met on Friday to discuss the proposal. One of them, Rajdhani College associate professor (mathematics) Pankaj Garg, said the proposed aptitude test would act as a filtration system for picking eligible students from different boards with varied moderation policies and difficulty levels. If implemented, it could apply to all undergraduate programmes, he added. According to Garg, the committee will meet again on Thursday for further deliberations. Committee members said admissions should continue to happen on the basis of Class 12 results, but with some possible filtration. No decision has been taken yet. Whatever decision is taken, it will become effective only from the 2019-20 academic year because we do not want to make policy changes in a hurry. As such a move can have long-term implications, it must be executed after a lot of thought. Students should also be given ample notice, the academician said. Garg said a proposal to conduct undergraduate admissions on the basis of an entrance test was unanimously rejected. Sub-committee chairperson Anula Maurya refused to elaborate on the meeting. We are still looking at modalities, and no final decision has been taken yet, said Maurya, who is the principal of Kalindi College. Once the sub-committee arrives at a decision on the matter, their recommendations will be sent to the larger admissions committee for deliberations. If the proposal gets their green signal, it will be forwarded to the academic council and then the executive council for further approval. If implemented, three online tests one each for science, commerce and arts students may be held as part of the filtration process. The proposal received mixed reactions from students and academicians in Delhi University colleges. While most principals refused to comment, one said on the condition of anonymity that a filtration system may not be a bad idea. There must be some logic to a two-step process. It will be good if they can standardise the quality of intake, he added. Ritwik Pawar, a third-year computer science student at St Stephens, also said that an aptitude test capable of evaluating ones mental ability and reasoning may serve a worthy purpose. Others, however, were not so sure. A teacher said that such a complicated process may work for professional courses, but not undergraduate admissions. The university had received 2.2 lakh applications for around 56,000 undergraduate seats last year. Inderjeet Jaggi, a second-year BA student at Dyal Singh College, claimed that an added layer of screening would only discourage students from performing well in board exams. Tanya Borah, a Class 11 student who hopes to land a seat in St Stephens College, agreed. They keep increasing the number of exams we have to take. This will only amount to additional baggage on our heads, she said. Officials involved with the admission process said they will deliberate on the recommendations after receiving them. A sizeable contingent of homebuyers, including women, children and the elderly, held a protest on Saturday demanding relocation of the Kherki Daula Toll plaza and completion of the Dwarka Expressway project. The homebuyers, under the banner of Dxp Welfare Association, assembled in Sector 84 and staged a peaceful protest before submitting a memorandum to the chief minister through the Kherki Daula Toll management. Dwarka Expressway, also known as the Northern Peripheral Road (NPR), will connect Dwarka in Delhi to the national highway near the Kherki toll in Gurgaon. Residents and homebuyers have for long been pressing for relocation of the toll point and completion of the expressway, which is billed as one of the key infrastructure projects in Gurgaon. The delay in shifting the toll and completion of the expressway has affected the homebuyers in terms of taking possession of their dream homes in various residential projects. The protesting homebuyers held up banners and posters and marched towards the Kherki toll. The Dwarka Expressway or the NPR project has been hanging fire over the last seven years. The Haryana urban development authority (Huda) had proposed the expressway project in 2007-08 to connect Dwarka, near the Delhi airport, to the national highway near Kherki Daula village. However, the project is yet to see the light of day, Pradip Rahi, general secretary of the association, said. After reaching the toll point, the protesters formed a human chain so as not to disturb the movement of traffic. Later, a delegation representing the homebuyers handed a memorandum, addressed to the chief minister, to the toll management. Read I MCEPL biggest hurdle in Kherki Daula toll shift Amish Tandon, the lawyer representing the association, said, In February 2017, the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued a notice to authorities concerned seeking completion of the Dwarka Expressway project in a time-bound manner. However, despite pleading with the authorities to act, there has been no response from them till date. The homebuyers alleged that with the NPR project in limbo, basic infrastructure and amenities, including water supply, electricity, sewage disposal and roads, in sectors along the expressway are in a shambles. The government has missed as many as 10 deadlines to finish the project. The protesters said that with vehicles lining up at the toll for clearance and passage, there are endless snarls on nearby stretches affecting the movement of traffic, especially in New Gurgaon. Yashesh Yadav, president, Dxp Welfare Association, said, The delay in completion of the expressway project has hit the homebuyers hard. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The driver of the SUV, which had allegedly mowed down a special police officer (SPO) of Gurgaon police on the intervening night of January 7 and 8, was nabbed by a team of Palam Vihar police on Saturday, and produced in court. On being questioned, the accused confessed that he was drunk at the time of the incident. The police also said that the accused was in the business of illegally transporting liquor from Gurgaon to Noida for his employer based in that city. The accused has been identified as Ghanshyam, a resident of Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh. He was arrested from his hideout in Harisinghpura village in the same district, the police said. It has also been revealed that the accused was employed by Suresh Sharma, a Noida resident who is also likely to be questioned in connection with this case. Vikram Nehra, station house officer (SHO), Palam Vihar police station, who was chasing the Mahindra Xylo after spotting that it was moving in a suspicious manner, arrested the accused. He has been taken on remand and would be questioned, he said. The Xylo, which was used in the crime, was registered in Sangrur, but had changed hands four to five times, the police said. They said that the owners took the affidavit route to change ownership. Read I soecialGurgaon: Special Police Officers recruitment drive begins, 275 applications received on Day One On the intervening night of January 7 and 8, 34-year old Mukesh Kumar was hit by the Xylo when he tried to stop the vehicle on the direction of senior officers, who were chasing it as it was moving suspiciously. Kumar, who suffered serious injuries in his chest and head, was taken to Columbia Asia hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Shocked by the officers death, the Gurgaon police commissioner visited the mortuary and assured the family members that the accused would be caught at the earliest. Sumit Kuhar, DCP, crime, said that this case was probed on priority, but there was a delay in making the arrest because of the change in ownership of the vehicle. The matter is being probed further leads, he said. The Nashik Sessions Court awarded the death sentence to six convicts for the murder of three Dalit youth on January 1, 2013, in Sonai village of Ahmednagar district. On January 15, 2018, six of the seven accused were convicted by the court on various counts, including murder and criminal conspiracy to commit murder. The first information report (FIR) lodged by the Ahmednagar police stated that the killings were a fallout of an inter-caste love affair between one of the deceased and a Maratha girl. Judge R R Vaishnav sentenced the convicts to death and also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on each of them. The three Dalit youth, Sachin Gharu (24), Sandeep Thanvar (25) and Rahul Kandare (20), were found murdered with body parts mutilated in a septic tank and a well. The six convicts include Ramesh Darandale (43), Prakash Darandale (38), Ragunath Darandale alias Popat (52), Ganesh alias Praveen Darandale (23), Sandeep Kurhe (37) and Ashok Phalke (44). Popat Darandale is the father of the girl and Ganesh Darandale is her elder brother. Ramesh, Prakash and Raghunath are brothers, while Sandeep Kurhe is their close relative.They are all residents of Sonai village. The judge convicted Popat, Ganesh, Prakash Darandale, Ramesh Darandale, Ashok Nawagire and Sandip Kurhe and acquitted Ashok Phalke, against whom the prosecution could not establish the charge of conspiracy. Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said Sachin Gharu was in a relationship with a girl belonging to an upper caste family. Gharu along with Thanwar and Kandare were working at the Trimurti Educational Institute at Sonai, where the girl was studying. According to the FIR, Gharu and his colleagues, working as sweepers, were called by the Darandale family to their home on the evening of January 1, 2013, to clean their septic tank. The next day, Gharu was found beheaded, with a hand cut off from his shoulder. The bodies of the other two, Sandeep Thanwar and Rahul Kandare, were found a day later with injury marks on their heads. The families of the victims had to relocate from Sonai and the case was shifted from Ahmednagar to Nashik as well. A Bajrang Dal activist here has been arrested on the charge of kidnapping a girl from Mumbai, who had allegedly eloped from here with a Muslim man and married him last year. The girls husband Mohammed Iqbal Choudhary had filed a habeas corpus petition in the Bombay High Court a few days after she was allegedly abducted from Mumbai. Police said Bajranj Dal activist Sunil Pumpwell was arrested by Mumbai police on January 18. He allegedly brought the girl along with her parents from Mumbai to Mangaluru in a car in the second week of last month. Sangh Parivar outfits alleged that the girls elopement was part of Love Jihad. They had submitted a memorandum to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking her intervention on the issue when she visited the city on December 29. The girl, daughter of a Sangh outfit leader, had been staying in a rented house within Mangaluru East police station limits. Chaudhary had befriended her on social media three years back. They fell in love and eloped to Mumbai and got married in July last year, police said. She had then submitted an affidavit in the police station here stating that she was living with her lover on her own volition and had not been forced by anyone, police said. The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) has upgraded Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumars security to Z plus category. Currently, Kumar is under Z category security cover and his consent is must for MHA to enhance his security level. Sources said the Centre was prompted to enhance Kumars security after his cavalcade was recently attacked by a stone-pelting mob in Buxar last week in which several security personnel were injured. On July 27 last year, Kumar was offered Z plus security by the Centre soon after he stepped down as the CM of the Grand Alliance (GA), comprising RJD and Congress, and planned joining hands with BJP to form the next government in the state. But, Kumar turned down the upgraded security cover then. Sources in the state police said that Z plus security back then had been offered by MHA without any proper threat analysis and it was done owing to the soaring political temperature and apprehensions of political backlash. A senior officer looking after the CMs security said four personnel of highly trained National Security Guards (NSG) would be deployed around Kumar in addition to the existing personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Director general of police (DGP), Bihar, P K Thakur, however, said the request for the enhanced security had been made with a view to providing adequate security to the CM during his visits to other states. The Bharatiya Janta Party will soon get a new address. The new headquarters of Indias ruling party is a swanky five-storied building on Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg which is expected to be inaugurated within a month or two. The building with parking facility in the basement and modern facilities has been built in a record time of about one and a half years. The constriction is 99% complete, a BJP leader said. The only work pending now was installation of TV sets, laying of telephone lines and a few others similar works, he added. The party has not finalised dates of the inauguration, but another leader said it will be a grand event attended by thousands of leaders and workers from across the country. The office, located adjacent to the Ranjit Singh flyover that connects central and old Delhi, will have separate chambers for partys national office bearers, a huge convention hall, a rich library, video conferencing facilities and media rooms for spokespersons. Entry to some parts of this building, such as digital operations, will be restricted. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone for the new office on August 18, 2016. This was a year and half after the ministry of urban developments land screening panel cleared the allotment of the plot to the BJP on February 26, 2015. The BJPs applications to the Union urban development ministry for a plot of land got stuck twice once in 2002 and then in 2006. The application was finally approved only in 2015 after the BJP came to power at the centre. A partys strength in Parliament decides the size of the land it is entitled to. A party with 101 to 200 members in both the Houses is entitled to two acres. More than 200 members of Parliament allow a party four acres, according to the allotment rules framed for political parties in 2006 by the UPA government. The rules, however, are silent on what happens when a partys tally takes a hit. Before it swept to power in May, the BJP, headquartered at 11 Ashoka Road, was eligible to two acres for its national office. With a combined strength of 327 MPs then -- 281 in the Lok Sabha and 46 in the Rajya Sabha - the party quickly claimed a larger share. The partys Delhi unit, which functions from 14 Pandit Pant Marg, too, was given an 809-sq metre plot in Pocket 5 of the DDU Marg in December. A separate set of rules govern allotment of land to state units. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Three police personnel have been suspended in Uttar Pradeshs Saharanpur after two youth injured in an accident died when the policemen allegedly refused to take them to a hospital on the pretext that their blood would spoil the patrol vehicle Two friends Arpit Khurana and Sunny (both 17) of Setia Vihar locality were returning to their houses when their motorcycle hit an electricity pole in Beri Bagh after which they fell into a deep drain, Saharanpur superintendent of police Prabal Pratap Singh said. Hearing the screams of the injured teenagers, residents rushed to the spot and pulled them out. The two sustained grievous head injuries in the incident. On getting information, a UP 100 patrol vehicle reached the spot, but eyewitnesses alleged that the policemen on duty refused to shift the two to a hospital, saying their blood would spoil the vehicle. When the policemen refused to budge, the residents took the teenagers to a hospital in an auto-rickshaw but they succumbed to their injuries. A three-minute video purportedly showing the policemen refusing help to the injured teenagers later went viral on the social media. The video shows a young man crying and pleading with the policemen to help them. As he was pleading, he also asked a man standing nearby to check the pulse of his heavily-bleeding friend, and got a reply, he is dead. Bhaiya, iski body thandi ho rahi hai. Kuch to karo. (His body is getting cold, please do something.), pleaded the miserable friend. The police officials are seen examining the scene and not taking any action. The video also shows a car or two stopping but then, after a brief conversation, moving away from the scene. It came to our notice that PRB 970 reached on the spot (of the accident) and refused to take the youth to the hospital, ANI quoted the police superintendent as saying. Two constables and a head constable on duty have been suspended. An inquiry has been ordered into the incident. The probe report will be submitted with 24 hours, SP Prabal Pratap Singh said. (With agency inputs) India is laying the groundwork to test a high-range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, capable of striking targets more than 800 km away, a person familiar with the programme said. The missile is likely to be tested by the year-end. India has already extended the range of the three-tonne missile from 290 km to 400 km and successfully test-fired the variant in March 2017. Increasing the missiles range to 400 km and now 800 km became possible after Indias induction into the Missile Technology Control Regime in June 2016. Prior to that, India was bound by restrictions that limited the range of the missile, which is an Indo-Russian joint venture, to less than 300 km. It will be a significant leap forward for the BrahMos project. Air force fighters will be able to attack targets from increased standoff ranges, said another official tracking the project. The Defence Research and Development Organisation had announced in February 2017 that a missile variant with a strike range of 800 km was under development. The configuration of the existing missile is being tweaked to enhance its range to 800 km, he said. BrahMos variants can be launched from land, air, sea and under water. India successfully launched the worlds fastest supersonic cruise missile from a Sukhoi-30 warplane for the first time against a target in the Bay of Bengal in November 2017. The Sukhoi has a range of 3,600 km. Arming it with an 800-km range missile will increase its reach tremendously, and even more, considering the option of midair refuelling, the official said. The missiles land and naval variants are already in service. At least two Su-30 squadrons with 20 planes each are likely to be equipped with the air-launch variant BrahMos missile, 500 kg lighter than the land/naval variants. Two Su-30 jets have been modified by the Nasik division of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to carry the 2.5-tonne missile that flies at nearly three times the speed of sound. People travelling by state-run buses in Tamil Nadu had to shell out more for their tickets from Saturday as the government announced steep hike in fares to offset mounting losses of the transport corporations. While in Chennai, the fares were raised in the range of Rs 2 to Rs 9, in other places, it ranged from Rs 2 to Rs 7. The hike was steepest for luxury Volvo buses, which will be costlier by Rs 18, followed by Rs 15 for AC buses and Rs 12 for Deluxe buses. The hike comes after nearly a week-long strike by transport service staff, who were given higher salaries, adding to the operating costs of the loss-making bus services. The last hike came in November 2011, under the then-chief minister J Jayalalithaa, who had come to power six months earlier and who did not hesitate to take unpopular but essential decisions that included a hike in milk prices. The government in a statement said the new fares effective from Saturday morning for mofussil services range from 60 paise to Rs 1.7 per km depending on the category of services. Even after the hike, bus fares in Tamil Nadu were lower than those in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala, it said. Committee for Fare Revision The government also announced that it would set up a committee to revise fares in the future. The government is working on an indexing method to calculate appropriate fares considering fuel prices, operation and maintenance costs, wages and the like. The state-run transport corporations have mounted a loss of over Rs 20,000 crore. The hike comes after an interim order of the Madras high court that observed that fare revision was inevitable. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra will hear the Loya case two public interest litigations demanding an independent probe into the death of special CBI court judge BH Loya who died in 2014. The Loya case is seen as the trigger for the four senior Supreme Court judges Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph to go public with their criticism of CJI Misra for allocating sensitive cases to junior judges. Judge Loya, then presiding over the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, died in Nagpur on December 1, 2014. Current BJP president Amit Shah was named in the case but in December the same year, he was discharged by the court. Besides the CJI, Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud will be on the bench, according to the list of business released by the Supreme Court registry on Saturday. The fresh twist in the case comes four days after a bench of Justices Arun Misra and MM Shantanagoudar ordered the listing of the Loya case before an appropriate bench, triggering speculation that they had withdrawn themselves from hearing it. On Friday, the CJI ordered that the matter be put up before an appropriate bench as per roster but there was uncertainty over who would hear it. Lawyers for the petitioners Tehseen Poonawala and Mumbai-based journalist BR Lone mentioned the matter before the CJI. Lones advocate Anita Shenoy said she went to the CJIs court to apprise him about the last order in the case and seek a date for hearing. On January 16, Justice Arun Misra had said the matter should be listed before an appropriate bench after a week. It was, therefore, mentioned to the chief who said the case would be now be heard by the bench as per roster, Shenoy explained. The two public interest litigations (PILs) demand an independent probe into the death of Judge Loya. The petitions were originally listed before a bench headed by Justice Arun Misra. On January 16, the bench headed by Justice Arun Misra heard the matter directing the Maharashtra government to share details of the police investigation into Judge Loyas death with the petitioners and also passed an order for listing of the case before an appropriate bench. In the SC a roster system is followed to mark cases to benches that sit in the combination of two judges. Roster is notified by the SC registry after the CJI approves it. However, the roster is not made public and even lawyers are unaware of the same. When a sensitive matter or PIL is filed the SC registry brings it to the notice of the CJI who then takes a call on who will hear it. Justice Arun Misras January 16 order, fuelling apprehensions over him hearing the case again came a day after he broke down at a morning tea meet of SC judges where he expressed his anguish at being collateral damage in the fight between the four senior judges and the CJI because their allegations cast aspersions on his abilities. A Class 12 student allegedly shot dead his schools principal inside her office with his fathers revolver in Haryanas Yamunanagar on Saturday, days after he was warned for low attendance. Police said the 18-year-old boy showed up at Swami Vivekananda Public School during a parent-teacher meeting around 10.30am on Saturday, forced his way into principal Ritu Chhabras office and asked her to accept his project report. He allegedly opened fire when the principal, who used to teach economics, refused. The 46-year-old Chhabra was hit by three bullet injuries one on the face and two pierced her chest. She died at a private hospital around 2pm. The teenager went to the school with his face covered and tried to escape after shooting Chhabra, but guards and parents who had come for the meeting overpowered him, police said. The student was arrested and charged with murder. The boy was not good at studies and alleged that the principal used to punish him in front of fellow students over his poor performance and low attendance, Yamunanagar superintendent of police Rajesh Kalia said. He had been warned thrice that he wont be able to write his pre-board examination because of low attendance. He hadnt attended school for the past four days, the officer said. The pre-board examination begins on Monday. According to police, when the boy was asked why he shot the principal, he said she tortured me. Police said the boy broke open an almirah in his home and took the registered revolver of his father, a businessman, who was also arrested and charged under the arms act. The father told police that he didnt know anything about his sons performance in school. The boys mother and other members of the family were unavailable for comments. Principal Chhabra is survived by her husband, a businessman, and two sons one of whom is employed with a private firm and the other an engineering student. This is the latest in a string of violence in schools across India. Last September, an eight-year-old student of a school in Gurgaon was murdered on the campus. Earlier this week, a six-year-old boy was stabbed inside a Lucknow school. Authorities of the Yamunanagar school refused comments on the murder, but confirmed that the students attendance was low. The principal had informed him two-three times in the past week that he would not be able to attend the pre-board exam due to poor attendance, school director Vimal Kamboj said. He said the boy has been a student of the school since Class 1 while Chhabra was teaching there for the past 15 years. She had a very good record and we never heard any complaint about her from students, he added. The school has been sealed and a team from the states forensic science laboratory has taken blood samples from the crime scene for tests. We live on the school premises and my children are frightened. Since the school is locked now, we have to stay somewhere else, said a teacher, who doesnt want to be identified. Also read: Class 12 student slaps teacher: DEO to submit report next week; boy was a regular offender Union minister Satyapal Singh has claimed that Charles Darwins theory of evolution of man was scientifically wrong and it needs to be changed in school and college curriculum. Singh, minister of state for human resource development, said our ancestors have nowhere mentioned that they saw an ape turning into a man. Darwins theory (of evolution of humans) is scientifically wrong. It needs to change in school and college curriculum. Since the man is seen on Earth he has always been a man, he said while speaking to reporters on Friday in Aurangabad. The IPS officer-turned-politician was in this central Maharashtra city to attend the All India Vaidik Sammelan. Nobody, including our ancestors, in written or oral, have said they saw an ape turning into a man, he said. No books we have read or the tales told to us by our grandparents had such a mention, the minister added. Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution that states that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individuals ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. It was developed by Darwin, a 19th century English naturalist, and others. Jignesh Mevani, underdressed for the chilly morning at Delhis Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus, walks tiredly into a dhaba. Hands in pockets, he squints at the freshly prepared potato curry, looks away, and stares through a cloud of misty breath. My body is going to give up, he says. Mevani is exhausted. Eighteen days after winning the assembly election from north Gujarats Vadgam constituency, the 36-year-old is in Delhi for a short visit he is giving interviews, participating in television news shows and posing for pictures. He is upset about not being able to return the dozens of phone calls hes been getting. He is worried about his meetings in Ahmedabad where he was supposed to be. But his eyes brighten when a student, who takes some time to register that it is indeed Mevani sitting next to him, asks him about his plans for Vadgam. Wolfing down his food, Mevani says, You come to Vadgam after one year and see for yourself. We are going to transform the constituency. I will invite experts from various fields including RTI, health, education, social justice, research, to contribute in making Vadgam a model constituency. He means what hes just said. For Jignesh Mevani now belongs to the people. He appears for the momentto be symbolic of the disenchantment brewing in Gujarati society. He is the rare Dalit leader who has developed a massive following within his own community and outside. At a time when dissent is difficult, Mevani does not miss an opportunity to criticise the government. He won an election in his maiden attempt, without joining any political party. Now he will have to work within the official framework of governance, make the bureaucrats see his vision, continue from where his predecessor left off, and still make sure that he doesnt let his people down. But in the JNU campus, despite talking enthusiastically to the student about his plans for Vadgam, he seems tired, as if he doesnt really want the students to recognise him, as if all he wants is a few quiet moments of anonymity. JIGNESH AND VAN GOGH Mevani wouldnt mind the title Vincent Van Gogh 2.0 for himself. He left a stunning impact on my soul, says Mevani of the late Dutch painter, considered one of the greatest artists of all time. His passion was mind boggling. I derive my zeal from him. He first read about the artist while doing a Bachelors in English Literature at HK Arts College, Ahmedabad, an institution that shaped his worldview to a large extent. That was where he met two people who would influence his thoughts and actions in ways he could not imagine. Saumya Joshi, then associate professor, English, was a dramatist. I was impressed as hell to see how Saumyas plays depicted the concerns of the marginalised, says Mevani. He exposed me to the arts, literature and theatre. Sanjay Bhave, also a faculty member in the English department, introduced him to the stalwarts of social activism in Gujarat. Bhave saheb glamourised them. I used to think, life toh aisa hona chahiye, where you can look beyond just a salary. Pagaar toh mil hi jaayegi. (Everyone works for a salary. The actual aim should be changing peoples lives). During his college years, Mevani was never seen as Jignesh, that Dalit lad. It was an extension of how he was raised in a middle-class joint family in Ahmedabads Medhaninagar area. While he was aware of his identity, it was not a topic of discussion at the dining table in the Mevani household. His mother retired from the BSNL as a clerk and his father was with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. Over the newspaper, Papa and I used to discuss general issues. Our debates were not about the problems of our community, he says. Mevani got a PG Diploma in Journalism from Ahmedabads Bhavans College and shifted to Mumbai where he worked for a news magazine Abhiyaan for three years. With his fans at the JNU campus, New Delhi in the first week of January. The youth, specially students, are impressed by his aggression and oratory. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO) He returned in 2008 and began working with the civil rights organisation Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM) run by the activist-lawyer Mukul Sinha, one of the people he had idolised during college. Jignesh used to call him kaka (uncle), recalls Mukul Sinhas wife, Nirjari Sinha. (Mukul Sinha died in 2014). He worked with us on the rights of sanitation workers and security guards. He was unsure about his career. Mukul asked him to pursue law, she recounts. So Mevani went on to do an LLB from Gujarat University. In the years to come, Mukul Sinha would become one of the three kakas who Mevani would revere and through whose work he would come face to face with the ground reality of Gujarat. The other two were activist-lawyer Girish Patel and the Gandhian activist, the late Chunni Bhai Vaidya, who worked for land reforms and the creation of sustainable rural economies. It was at Mukul kakas office where, for the first time, I understood atrocity in the real sense of the term. When I heard stories of undertrials in POTA, I was not able to sleep for many nights, he says. Mevani remained true to the spirit of Van Gogh in his passion for whatever he had set his mind on, a passion that could border on obsession. He submerged himself in the cases he fought, the academic exercises he undertook, and the causes he felt for. While analysing the works of Gujarati poet Mareez, also known as the Ghalib of Gujarat, he went to the extent of tracing people for whom Mareez used to ghost-write. To understand the life of freedom fighters, he travelled to Rajguru Nagar in Pune, the birthplace of Shivaram Rajguru, Sanjay Bhave remembers Mevanis obsessive streak. After studying the history of the Dalit community, Mevani concluded that their poor socio-economic condition was partly because a majority of them they did not own land. On July 11, 2016, Mevani was a member of the AAP and working as a lawyer with the JSM when cow vigilantes thrashed four Dalit men on the allegation of skinning a dead cow in Una, a city in Gujarats Gir Somnath district, 350 km from Ahmedabad. The Una case, which became symbolic of Dalit atrocities throughout the country, was the turning point that Mevani had unknowingly been prepping for. He went full throttle. Along with his friends, Mevani formed the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch (RDAM) which conducted a Dalit mahasabha in Ahmedabad on July 31. Jignesh Mevani with Balasaheb Ambedkar, Prashant Dhotha, Radhika Vemula and Umar Khalid at the 'Elgar Parishad' to commemorate 200th anniversary of Koregaon-Bhima battle at Shaniwarwada, Pune. (Rahul Raut/HT PHOTO) It was followed by a 10-day march on foot from Ahmedabad to Una which culminated on Independence Day. Gaaye nu puchhdu taame rakho, aamne amaari jameen aapo (You keep the cows tail, give us our land), Mevani hopped from village to village, repeating the slogan in every public meeting where Dalits took a vow that they would not henceforth lift the carcasses of dead cows. During lunch breaks, the RDAM members would review Mevanis speeches was the audience relating to him or not; why was the crowd in a particular gathering smaller than expected; should he modify the content to suit local sensibilities; what was the extent of media coverage of the rallies. In hindsight, Mevani says, the Una incident catapulting him to the national stage was a lot about timing. Dalits have faced far worse brutalities than what we saw in Una. But the outcry in the Una case was unmatched. Certain things resonate at certain points. This was one of them, he says. THE MANDATE The Vadgam election had dimensions of a David vs Goliath contest. On November 27, seventeen days before polling in Vadgam, Mevani announced, through a Facebook post, that he would be in the fray. Far from being wise, the last-moment decision verged on the insane. I was confused, he explains. We had no money or concrete organisation. At the same time I realised that I was at my best as an activist. I had caught the peoples imagination. My campaign would get massive media coverage due to which my opponent would appear diminished. So I jumped into it. On the one hand, there was the formidable electoral machinery of the BJP, oiled by the party president Amit Shah at the helm. The party had ruled Gujarat for 22 years and was looking to win at least 150 out of 182 assembly seats. On the other side was Mevani, a novice, self-proclaimed agitator, who was out to expose the socio-economic conditions of farmers, Scheduled Castes and minorities. Ironically, Mevanis image became his biggest stumbling block in the election. Dalits, comprising 16% of Vadgam population, could relate to his agenda. But the predominant Chaudhary community was not comfortable with his approach. They presumed that with Jignesh as an MLA, they would be routinely booked under the Atrocities Act because Dalits worked in their farms and factories, says Sagar Rabari, 50, a social activist and general secretary of Gujarat Khedut Samaj, who helped Mevani devise his election strategy. I had to act as Jigneshs guarantor, says Rabari. Supporters at a public meeting during Jignesh Mevanis election campaign in Vadgam, Gujarat, on December 10, 2017. This was Mevanis first election. (Kunal Patil/HT PHOTO) A lot, however, was going in Mevanis favour. The AAP and the Congress withdrew their candidates so that voters had a choice between Mevani and the BJP. Crowdfunding platform crowdnewsing.com raised Rs 20.5 lakh for his campaign. By the time of the election, Mevani had polished his oratory skills, having spoken at multiple forums in the one year period since the Una incident. Four teams were canvassing for himhis aides from Ahmedabad, activists and volunteers from Delhi, the local communities in Vadgam, and the Congress cadre. In retrospect, Mevani admits that he spent more time convincing people why they should vote the BJP out than talking about the change he intended to bring. We didnt elaborate on what we would do. My positive campaign was inbuilt in my image. I believe that I got 4,000 votes only on my credibility, he says. The BJP claimed that Mevani was an outsider; that he had accepted funding from the Social Democratic Party of India, a political wing of Popular Front of India (PFI), which has been accused of terror links (Mevani denied the charges); and that he was using Muslims for votes. The last charge stemmed from Mevanis interview published in the Forward Press, which quoted him saying that his first girlfriend was a Muslim. Mevanis victory was a vindication for his supporters not just in Gujarat but across the nation. At the all-India level, the anti-right forces are in search of some spark. They have found that in Jignesh. His position in Gujarat is reinforced with his national position, says Ahmedabad-based sociologist Ghanshyam Shah. If Muslims wanted someone whose hand they could hold, they have found that person. VADGAM IN WAITING The people who have been part of his journey so far or who have monitored his trajectory seem to know where he is faltering and the pitfalls that lie in his way forward as an MLA. He should watch his words. The radicalism he shows at times makes him vulnerable. Else the government will file cases against him and he will find himself entangled in legal battles, Sanjay Bhave echoes a concern shared by almost all of Mevanis well-wishers. Now he should rise above Modi-bashing and talk about concrete issues, he adds. He will have to cut down on travel and concentrate on his constituency. Now people have expectations from Jignesh Mevani, the MLA. He has to deliver. He cant continue to only be an orator, says Nirjari Sinha. Ghanshyam Shah suggests that Mevani should have a panoramic view of society and politics and move ahead accordingly. Currently, all the information he is getting is from the media. For long-term politics, he should have a group or a think tank which dispassionately reflects on the ground situation. Mevani says that the one criticism he has got the mostthat he should be less aggressive is not unwarranted. I agree with this, he says. But the problem is that I wont remain who I am if I start working on this. This is who I am. About the charge that he over-travels, he says, Me going to various states energises the youth and Dalit groups. I should keep doing that but not at the cost of Vadgam. THE JUBILATION It will be some weeks before Mevani overcomes the euphoria of the resounding win that caught his aides and the country by surprise. Mevani is still getting used to being addressed as MLA saheb. I bought 10 new kurtas, all of different colours. I like wearing them with folded sleeves, with a wrist watch on my left hand. I flash the victory sign like a neta (politician) does. I am quite enjoying this. His eyes sparkle. But the feeling has not sunk in as yet. Mevani underplays the congratulatory phone calls and the meeting with the Congress party president Rahul Gandhi before the election. He describes it as a Hi, hello meeting. He is still getting accustomed to his new role learning how to greet people, how to listen to them, how to become a leader his followers can admire and look up to. Like the bunch of students who surround him at the dhaba in JNU, vying for selfies with him, cautioning him, in awe of him, and waiting for him to prove them right. Responding to each one of them, Mevani seems like a leader at the start of an eventful and uncertain voyage. I am also a brand now, a force to reckon with, he says in a matter-of-fact tone. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Indias entry into elite nuclear groups in the recent past has reaffirmed the countrys strict non-proliferation commitments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. Modis remarks come against the backdrop of India becoming a member of the Australia Group (AG), a move that is expected to raise New Delhis stature in the field of non-proliferation and also help it acquire critical technologies. I thank Australia and other members of the Australia Group for export control for supporting Indias entry in it, Modi tweeted. I thank Australia and other members of the Australia Group for export control for supporting India's entry in it. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 20 January 2018 He said that over the last two years, Indias membership of the MTCR, Wassenaar Arrangement and Australia Group reaffirmed the countrys strong non-proliferation credentials also our commitment to global peace and security. India is now a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) as well as AG, three of four non-proliferation regimes. The only one remaining is the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Pakistan needs to change its mindset of differentiating between good and bad terrorists, India has told the UN Security Council, urging it to focus on challenges posed by terrorism emanating from the safe havens from across the border. Only by changing the terror mindset can peace come to Afghanistan, Syed Akbaruddin, Indian ambassador to the UN, said on Friday at a a special ministerial meeting on the conflict-torn country. Terrorism and externally induced instability pose the gravest threat to Afghanistans peace, stability and prosperity, he said. And the growing arc of terrorist violence endangers our entire region. Terrorism has taken a huge toll on Afghanistan, Akbaruddin stressed, backing up his assertion with World Bank statistics. Afghanistan recorded a 9.6% annual economic growth rate from 2003 to 2014, but it fell to 2.2% in 2016 as terrorist activities spiked, and it was 2.6% last year, according to the bank. There is a common Afghan saying that roughly translates as If water is muddied downstream, dont waste your time filtering it; better to go upstream to clean it, Akbaruddin said. Underlining that support for voices of peace in Afghanistan alone is not enough, he said, We must focus on addressing the challenges posed by cross border terrorism emanating from safe havens and sanctuaries to our region and especially to Afghanistan. If we do so, the decay, which has been inflicted on Afghanistan, can be made reversible, he added. He told the Security Council it is Indias vision that Afghanistan regain its place and New Delhi remains committed to working closely with its regional and international partners to bring peace, security, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan. It is with this in mind that our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Afghanistan on December 24, 2015 to inaugurate the Parliament building, stopped over in Lahore, Pakistan, he said. Unfortunately, these visits were followed by a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase on January 1, 2016, perpetrated and planned by the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day, he added. These mindsets differentiate between good and bad terrorists. These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace. They are mindsets that are reluctant to join hands in moving the region forward to build a shared future for our people and our youth. These mindsets, Mr. President, need to change, Akbaruddin said. The high-level meeting was presided over by Kazakhstans foreign minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov and focused on regional cooperation to promote development and security in Afghanistan. Russias foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was among those attending the session. Illustrating how terrorism impacts development, he said a disproportionate amount of resources are diverted from the aid projects to protecting them rather than building more projects. The New Development Partnership between India and Afghanistan cover education, health, agriculture, infrastructure, renewable energy, drinking water supply and human resource development, he said. The recent visits by Afghanistans President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah have given the partnership a boost, he added. India pledged a $1 billion package for Afghanistan last year. Delhis governing Aam Aadmi Party blasted the Election Commission after it recommended disqualifying 20 of its MLAs. India and Pakistan tensions rose over border firing. The US said it has told Pakistan to act against militant leader Hafiz Saeed. These were the top stories on Friday. Here is more about them. 20 MLAs face disqualification, AAP criticises Election Commission The Election Commission (EC) recommended disqualification of 20 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs on grounds of holding office of profit as parliamentary secretaries, embarrassing their partys government in Delhi and testing its grip on power. The controversy goes back to February 2015 when the party won the Delhi assembly elections and appointed the 20 MLAs as parliament secretaries in March. EC has never touched so low ever. Sad, said AAP leader Ashutosh. Supreme Court rejects plea to cancel Padmaavats censor certificate The Supreme Court refused to stop the screening of Padmaavat and rejected a petition that said the controversial movie threatens peace. Maintaining law and order is not our job. That is the job of the state. Prayer rejected, said the court as it refused to cancel the censor certificate for the movie. The court on Thursday had overturned a ban on the movie by five states. Border shelling kills civilians, Pakistan summons Indian envoy Two people were killed and at least were 11 injured when Pakistani troops hit Indian villages with artillery and mortar along the border in Jammu and Samba districts, officials said. Pakistan alleged Indian firing on Friday killed a civilian and wounded nine others in Sialkot in its Punjab province. Pakistans Foreign Ministry summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh and condemned what it called unprovoked cease-fire violations by India. Terrorist Hafiz Saeed should be prosecuted: US tells Pakistan The US said it has told Islamabad that Hafiz Saeed is a terrorist and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, reacting strongly to Pakistan Prime Ministers remarks that there was no case against the Mumbai attack mastermind. He was the mastermind, we believe, of the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed many people, including Americans as well, said a spokesperson for the US State Department. A file photo taken on July 5, 2006 shows a Chinese soldier and an Indian soldier placing a barbed wire fence following a meeting of military representatives at the Nathu La border crossing in Sikkim. (AFP) China says Doklam its territory, will build infrastructure China said Doklam is its territory and it will continue exercising its sovereignty in the remote plateau in the eastern Himalayas. Just as China will not make comments about Indian construction of infrastructure on Indias territory, we hope other countries will not make comment on Chinas construction of infrastructure on its territory, said a foreign ministry spokesperson in Beijing. He was commenting on reports about satellite images that purportedly show massive Chinese infrastructure build-up in Doklam, where Chinese and Indian troops confronted each other for 73 days last year. Loya case: Uncertainty over who will hear PIL that split SC Uncertainty increased over who in the Supreme Court (SC) will hear the BH Loya case after the Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra, on Friday ordered that the matter be put up before an appropriate bench as per roster. The bench will hear the two public interest litigations demanding an independent probe into the death of special CBI court judge Loya who died in 2014. It is not clear who will constitute the bench. The CJIs directive comes three days after a bench of Justices Arun Misra and MM Shantagoudar hearing the case ordered its listing before the appropriate bench, triggering speculation that they would withdraw from hearing it. Kerala woman kills teenaged son for teasing her A 45-year-old woman has been arrested in Kollam town of Kerala after confessing that she killed her teenaged son for teasing her, police said. Jayamol, a mentally unstable homemaker, allegedly killed Jeethu Job by strangling him with a shawl. She then tried to set the body on fire. 2017 was Indias fourth warmest year The year 2017 was Indias fourth warmest on trot after 2016, 2015, and 2014, with average temperature across the country 0.71 degrees C above the 1971-2001 average. Warming of temperatures has been a global phenomenon, with the World Meteorological Organisation declaring 2017 as one of the three hottest years on record. Islamic State supporter from Kerala killed in Syria An Indian supporter of the Islamic State has been killed in Syria. Abdul Manaf was from Kerala where he allegedly was a member of the radical Islamic group Popular Front India and an accused in the murder of the CPI (M) worker in 2009. India becomes member of weapons export control group India became the 43rd member of the Australia Group, a voluntary collective of nations that work to identify and control the export of material, equipment and technologies that could lead to the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons. The membership helps Indias pitch for being a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. On January 6, 150 comrades gathered at a five-star hotel in the capital to listen to a detailed presentation by Meng Xiangfeng, central committee member of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) and confidante of President Xi Jinping. Flanked by CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI national secretary D Raja, and Chinese ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui on the dais, Meng gave a detailed presentation about the 19th party congress of the CPC held in October 2017. The CPC delegations visit, facilitated by the government, was focused on building a narrative that bilateral ties are not only about disputes such as the tussle at the India-China-Bhutan-tri junction in Doklam or incidents of border incursions. The deliberations, said a leader present at the meeting, were centred around bilateral ties and friendly relations, apart from, of course, the outcome of the CPC party Congress and the future of Communism. The CPC has close ties with all Indian parties, and the Left parties have more ideological proximity with them. But Chinas seriousness about expanding its ties with Indian political parties, including the Left parties, was evident from the scale of the meeting attended by representatives of the Indian Left parties. Traditionally, such meetings used to happen in party offices. The meeting venue this time was chosen by the Chinese embassy in New Delhi. The meeting was about briefing us on the party congress, which is a routine practice among the communist parties among the world, said Hannan Mollah, politburo member of the CPI(M). Another Left leader said: Whoever spoke from our side said that promoting healthy and steady bilateral ties would contribute to peace, stability, development in the region. The visit was part of an exchange programme between the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC) and the ministry of external affairs. Before meeting the communist leaders, the Chinese delegation held meetings with Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai. Met Meng Xiangfeng,Member of Central Committee of Communist Party of China & discussed initiatives for IndoChina relations,provincial relations,increasing capabilities for better governance & on how India&China can become complementary powers for better world, Fadnavis said in a tweet. The delegation also met Congress president Rahul Gandhi . The delegation also met minister of state for external affairs V K Singh. The Chinese embassy didnt respond to e-mails seeking comment. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON At a high-level United Nations Security Council meeting, Pakistan has raised the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, whom Islamabad accuses of being an Indian spy and gave a death sentence. Those who speak of changing mindsets (about terrorism) need to look within and their own record of subversion against my country as our capture of an Indian spy has amply demonstrated and proved beyond any shadow of doubt, Pakistans permanent representative Maleeha Lodhi said during a Security Council meeting on Afghanistan. She did not mention his name. Her statement was in response to Indias statement in the meeting that India was a victim of the same Pakistani mindset that promotes terrorist attacks every day in Afghanistan. India has denied that Jadhav, a retired navy officer, worked for the government and said that he was abducted by Pakistan from Iran to stage a show-trial. Denying that Pakistan was giving terrorists a safe haven or support, Lodhi also took a swipe at the US saying it needed a reality check. The administration of President Donald Trump suspended security aid to Pakistan this month citing its provision of sanctuaries and assistance to terrorists attacking Afghanistan. Jadhav was captured by Pakistan in 2016 and was sentenced to death by a military court martial last year. India appealed to the International Court of Justice against his sentence and the court has stayed his execution. Lodhi was originally listed to address the Council two spots before Indias Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin, but she chose to speak later and amended her prepared speech with the response to him. Akbaruddin said that after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Lahore in December 2015 in a bid to promote peace with Pakistan, a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack was launched on the Pathankot airbase in a weeks time by the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day. These mindsets differentiate between good and bad terrorists, he said. These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace. These mindsets, Akbaruddin declared, need to change. Lodhi said that Pakistan was against terrorism, being itself a a victim. She blamed the conditions in Afghanistan and the drug trade, which she said brings terrorists $400 million every year, for the insurgency and asserted that they didnt need outside support or sanctuaries because over 40% of the country is under insurgent control, contested or ungoverned. Afghanistan and its partners, especially the US, need to address these challenged inside Afghanistan rather than shift the onus for ending the conflict on to others, she said. Those who imagine sanctuaries outside (Afghanistan) need a reality check, she added. Pakistan summoned on Saturday Indian deputy high commissioner J P Singh for the fourth time this week and condemned the alleged unprovoked ceasefire violations across the LoC by Indian forces. The Foreign Office (FO) said that Indian troops violated the ceasefire in Khuiratta, Bagsar and Khanjar sectors on the Line of Control (LoC) on January 20. The firing killed a 60-year-old civilian and injured two others, including a child, it said. Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Mohammad Faisal, who is also the foreign ministry spokesman, summoned Singh and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control and Working Boundary on January 20. He said the number of casualties at the Working Boundary has risen due to unprovoked and indiscriminate firing by the Indian forces, where four more innocent civilians were killed while 20 injured on January 18 and 19. The Indian forces along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary are continuously targeting civilian populated areas with heavy mortars and automatic weapons, Faisal said. He alleged that the Indian forces have carried out more than 150 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary in just 20 days this year, killing nine innocent civilians and injuring 40 others. This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed more than 1,900 ceasefire violations, Faisal said. The deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws, the official said. Faisal said that the ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation. The Director General urged India to respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary. He urged that the Indian side should permit UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions. The FO, apart from Saturday, had summoned Indias deputy high commissioner Singh on January 15, 18 and 19. Less than a month after the PMO expressed its displeasure over the non-compliance of Make In India policy by certain departments, the Railways has made mentioning percentage of local content mandatory for bidders to qualify for the procurement process. The Railways board, in a letter dated January 12, said, in order to ensure compliance of the Public Procurement (Make in India) Order 2017, bidders would have to mandatorily provide details of local content or elements of domestic manufacturing in the offer form on the e-procurement website for all types of tenders, before quoting rates. Railways in fact was in the eye of a storm when domestic steel producers had objected to the ministrys decision to buy rails through a global tender on December 18 for the first time. It led to the rail and the steel ministries locking horns, with the latter alleging that the move towards a global tender was against the Make in India policy. The government issued the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India), Order 2017, in June last year as part of a policy to encourage Make in India, and promote manufacturing and production of goods and services in India with a view to enhance income and employment. In December 2017, a committee formed to oversee the policy said some of the government institutions had included certain restrictive conditions in their bid documents which were highly discriminatory against domestic manufacturers. Saffron outfits observed a shutdown in north Keralas Kannur on Saturday to protest against the alleged political killing of an Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members a day before. On Friday night, 24-year-old Shyamprasad, a member of the RSSs students wing, was hacked to death in the district notorious for clashes between members of Left and right-wing outfits. Police arrested four men in connection with the murder and said all the accused belonged to the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political arm of the fundamentalist outfit Popular Front of India. Police said Shyamprasads killing appeared to be in retaliation to an SDPI worker sustaining injuries in a clash between the groups and RSSs workers a few days ago. The accused were arrested along the Kerala-Karnataka border. They told us it was a retaliatory attack, said investigating officer K Kuttikrishnan. Police have tightened the security in the district following the murder. Kerala governor Justice Sathasivam criticised the recurring violence in northern part of Kerala. This has disturbed me a lot. As we are aware, our State, which has the best human development index, is also one of the least corrupt States, with a laudable law and order situation. In spite of such achievements, murders and clashes like the one which occurred in Kannur yesterday (Friday) lower the image of the State, he said. BJP attacks Left The BJP was quick to mount an attack on Keralas ruling Left government, accusing it of prompting extremist outfits to attack workers affiliated with saffron organisations . The ruling Left is supporting fundamentalist outfits in a big way. The latest murder clearly shows that both are hand in glove. They [CPI(M)] prompt such forces to take on RSS, BJP leaders and police are also helping them, state BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan alleged, adding that his party would press for a total ban on the PFI and its constituent SDPI. The situation in Keralas Kannur district, where a BJP-sponsored hartal was being observed on Saturday to protest the killing of an ABVP member, was under control and no untoward incident has been reported so far, police said. A member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Shyam Prasad, was allegedly hacked to death on Friday by a three-member gang when he was going to his house at Koothuparamba on his motorcycle. Tight security arrangements were made on Saturday, with police personnel from other districts being deployed in strength in vulnerable pockets. No untoward incident was reported so far, Peravoor circle inspector Kuttikrishnan said. Four persons, belonging to the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), were taken into custody in connection with the killing and further investigations were underway, he said. Police suspected that the killing could be a sequel to a clash between workers of the SDPI and BJP-RSS combine last week in the area. Vehicles and essential services were exempted from the dawn-to-dusk hartal. Sources in the BJPs Kannur unit said the post-mortem examination of Prasads body was on at the Pariyaram Medical College in Kannur and the funeral will be held on Saturday evening at his native place. The ministry of home affairs (MHA) and the Jammu and Kashmir government are working on withdrawing cases and releasing thousands of young Kashmiris currently in jail for repeat and multiple offences of stone-pelting in a move aimed at building bridges with the disaffected young people in the Valley. According to a top MHA official who spoke on condition of anonymity, this will be done as long as the young people arent involved in heinous crimes. The move comes after last Novembers announcement of an amnesty to first-time stone-pelters by the J&K government on the advice of the MHA soon after the appointment of Dineshwar Sharma as a special representative to hold dialogue with all stakeholders in the troubled state. That amnesty was first reported by Hindustan Times. The central and state governments are working on ways to wean young people away from the path of violence and the influence of extremists even as they have taken a tough stand against militants and terrorists operating in the valley. Last year, 85 militants from the state were killed by security forces. Meanwhile, there has also been an attempt to get local boys as security forces describe them to surrender. The MHA official cited in the first instance defined heinous crimes as those that caused grievous or life threatening injuries to security forces and involved the burning of public and government properties. A second ministry official, who asked not to be identified, said home minister Rajnath Singh is keen on working with and for young people and that the latest amnesty being considered for repeat offenders is part of his outreach. Singh will travel to Kashmir in March to be the chief guest at the annual science congress organised by the University of Kashmir. He will be the first home minister to visit Kashmir University. He intends to interact with students there, the official added. The MHA has initiated talks with the state government to review cases involving repeat instances of stone-pelting. A senior J&K police official said authorities did not have centralised data of youth currently in jails on charges of stone pelting but added that the number is in thousands. Following last Novembers amnesty against first-time stone pelters, the state government recommended cases against 4,961 stone-pelters be closed. Home minister Rajnath Singh and the J&K CM are of the view that repeat offenders, too, should be given a chance to come back to the mainstream and build their future. We want these young people, who are in jail on charges of rioting, to return to their homes and shun the path of violence,said a third home ministry official who asked not to be identified. SP Vaid, director general of police, J&K, said the idea is to provide a second chance to stone pelters. Kashmiri youth should be given a chance to have a better future. A review of some cases is going on and if decided by the state government, other cases will be opened up too, provided that the youth involved in the cases are not accused of heinous crimes, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A teacher allegedly forced a Class 3 student to strip, then instructed 40 of his classmates to slap him, at a school in Civil Lines. Though the unusual punishment was meted out between January 5 and 8, the boys parents came to know about it only on Saturday. They then began protesting on the school campus, forcing its management to terminate the teachers services. According to the father, the teacher punished the boy because he wouldnt come for private tuitions. Teachers here put pressure on children to take tuitions from them, he said. But as the school management has already taken action against the teacher, I will not be pressing charges. The parent said the boy was too scared to speak up against the teacher. I found out about the incident from others. My son is still reeling from the shock, he added. The sacked teacher, Zaheen Fatima, alleged that she was the victim of a conspiracy. School principal Shally Dheer refused to comment on the matter. Although no FIR was filed, Gwaltoli police have asked the school management to review the behaviour of teachers routinely and install CCTV cameras in classrooms. The arrest of a suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative in Gaya four months ago has sparked speculation that several sleeper cells of Islamic terrorists were possibly active in and around the Bihar town where the Buddha attained enlightenment. Taushif Sagir Khan Pathan, the main accused in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts that killed 56 people, was arrested along with Gulam Sarvar Khan, a former chief of the banned SIMIs Bihar unit. Pathan was staying in Khans home in the town, which is a popular tourist destination because of its acssociation with the Buddha. Their arrests gave Bihar police and central intelligence agencies vital clues about the growing presence of terrorist groups in Bodh Gaya, sources said on Saturday. These groups are apparently attempting to make inroads in areas considered safe by security forces. Intelligence sources said the duo was inviting and sheltering Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in the Muslim-dominated areas and trained them to attack prominent Buddhist installations and tourist hubs. Pathan, who often changed his identity, organised a rally in Gaya in August last year in support of the Rohingya, who had fled to Bangladesh because of Myanmarese military crackdown. A senior intelligence officer, who requested that his identity be kept secret, said the terrorist groups were involved in planting explosives near the Mahabodhi temple complex on Friday night. The objective was to trigger blasts at the site when the Dalai Lama was visiting and draw international attention towards the Rohingya, the officer said. According to detectives who investigated the 2013 blasts in Gaya, theres strong proof to establish that Pathan had raised foot soldiers capable of making explosives and hitting soft targets. The agencies also suspect that the 2013 Patna blasts accused, currently lodged in Beur Central jail, could be working through messengers visiting them in the prison. Senior police officers refused comments on the alleged proliferation of terrorists in one of Buddhisms most sacred places. Additional director general of police (law and order) Alok Raj said: Recovery of bombs barely four months after Pathans arrest is a serious issue and needs a thorough investigation. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Instead of referring to J&K as an issue, the country must discuss how to restore the territory that is under illegal occupation of Pakistan, said Jitendra Singh, minister of state in the PMs office, on Saturday. We will have to change the discourse of this discussion. For many years, we have been involved in a discussion we have been forced into. We need to change its conditions and direction on our terms, he said. The minister who is also a Lok Sabha MP from Jammu said it is erroneous to think that the states accession to India in 1947 was done with pre-conditions. He said there was no mention of plebiscite in the instrument of accession signed by the then ruler of Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh. Maharaja signed the instrument of accession like other princely states . There is no issue as the Kashmir issue; it is one of the 29 states in India as much as UP, Bihar and Punjab, he said. Without naming anyone, the BJP minister blamed the previous governments for allowing discussions on the accession of Kashmir to India and raising it at international forums. There were some mistakes of the past governments plebiscite is not mentioned in accession document. There were only two choices offered then, to join India or Pakistan. It is better to get over it, he said. Singh was speaking at the release of a book Kashmir Mein Aatankvad (Terrorism in Kashmir) by a former army official, Major Saras Tripathi The Rachakonda police in Telangana have busted a trafficking ring involving travel agents who allegedly sold women from coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh to Arab sheikhs in Gulf countries as sex slaves after promising the women jobs there. U Trimurthulu alias Murthy (32), M Tathaji alias Nani (26), P Dasu (30), G Rama Rao (40) and S Murali (37), all natives of East Godavari and West Godavari districts, were arrested by a special operations team (SOT) of Malkajgiri police station on Friday, for running the ring on behalf of six Indian travel agents in Dubai. The police have constituted special teams to arrest the Dubai agents, including their kingpin Pothula Srinu Babu alias Dubai Sinu. The ring was busted following an investigation into the complaint lodged by a woman victim with the Ghatkesar police on the city outskirts, Rachakonda police commissioner Mahesh Bhagawat said. According to the police, Dubai Sinu and his associates, who have been working as travel agents in Dubai, Muscat and other Gulf countries for the last 10 years, have been luring married women from coastal Andhra districts through their local agents to the Gulf countries promising them jobs as domestic servants, cooks, caretakers, baby sitters, etc. They offered women salary up to Rs 30,000 per month. Several innocent women, who got carried away by attractive offers, left their families to Dubai, Muscat etc. After reaching there, Sinu and others handed over them to local manpower agencies. These agencies sold them to Arab sheikhs, who exploited them sexually and used them as sex slaves. The hapless women had no chance to return to India, as they realised that they were brought to the Gulf countries on tourist/visit visas and not job visas. Moreover, their passports and other documents were seized by the local manpower agencies. The agents thus made lakhs of rupees by selling innocent women to the Arab sheikhs, the police commissioner said. One of the victims who went to Dubai in February 2017 realised that Dubai Sinu and his associates had cheated her. She refused to succumb to the pressures of manpower agencies to become a sex slave of the Arab Sheikhs. A few days later, her husband also went to Dubai in search of work and found his wife in a miserable condition. She told him that she was kept in a small room where several other Telugu women were also languishing and that she was not given proper food. Her husband fought with Dubai Sinu for three months to send back his wife. With the help of his relatives and friends in his village in East Godavari, he managed to bring pressure on Dubai Sinu and subsequently, the couple returned to India. Later, she lodged a complaint with the Ghatkesar police, the commissioner said. Investigations revealed that the agents had sent more than 100 women. As per their confessions, there are at least 50 agents in East and West Godavari districts who are running the trafficking ring, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Two major churches in Meghalaya have decided not to avail of a Rs 70-crore package announced by the Centre for development of places of worship in the state. The Catholic Church and the Mawkhar Presbyterian Church have said they would give a miss to the package announced by Union Tourism Minister K J Alphons on January 8. The Parish Pastoral Council of the Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians (Catholic Church), in a statement issued on Friday, said it has not applied for any financial aid from the Centre. We have not applied for any financial assistance from the government for face-lifting of the Cathedral. The ongoing face-lifting is being carried out solely through the generous contributions of the faithful, it said. Barnabas Nongbah, the councils secretary, said the announcement of such a package ahead of elections in the state is not welcome, as it could indirectly bring the church in electoral politics. There was no communication made between the ministry and the church before and after the announcement by Tourism Minister KJ Alphons, and that the consultants had not officially visited the premises till date, Nongbah said. Meghalaya is set to go to polls on February 27. The Mawkhar Presbyterian Church has made it clear they are not a party to the decision taken by the government, and do not wish to avail the package. Union Tourism Minister KJ Alphons had announced the package for development of places of worship across the state, under the Swadesh Darshan scheme of the Ministry. A total of 48 places of worship have been included under the scheme. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced financial aid of Rs 20 lakh on Saturday for the wife and Rs 5 lakh for the parents of a BSF jawan killed in ceasefire violation by Pakistan, an official said. BSF head constable Jagpal Singh (49), a resident of Bulandshahr district of the state, succumbed to injuries sustained during cross-border firing in Samba sector along the international border in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday. UP transport minister Swatantra Dev Singh will visit the residence of the deceased on Saturday to express condolences to the family on behalf of the chief minister, an official spokesman said. Jagpal Singh, posted with the Alpha company of the 173rd Battalion of the force deployed for guarding the border, had joined the BSF in 1988. He is survived by a daughter and a son. Four people, including a BSF jawan, were injured after Pakistan violated the ceasefire for the third consecutive day on Saturday in three districts of Jammu and Kashmir along the border, officials said. Two jawans and as many civilians were killed and 35 others injured in mortar shelling by Pakistani troops on civilian areas and BoPs along the border and the LoC in four districts on Friday. Erstwhile royal of Mewar Mahendra Singh has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, urging them to ban the movie Padmaavat. The film, previously titled Padmavati, has been mired in controversies over conjectures that it distorts history regarding Rajput queen Padmini, a charge filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has denied. Citing freedom of expression, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the release of Padmaavat by lifting the ban imposed by four states on screening of the movie following protests from the Rajput community. The Supreme Court has commented on the artistic freedom in its judgement. It might be observed that the artistic freedom is not absolute even under the Constitution of India, sates Singhs letter. Artistic freedom cannot result in distortion of a heritage that is now also national heritage nor can it demean its dignity. If it does so, artistic freedom is both anti-national and an attack on constitutional rights of private citizens. It stands to reason that in order to further commercial interests the Constitution of India cannot be rendered meaningless and unable to safeguard rights, states the letter. The former Mewar royal has criticised the role of authorities, particularly the Central Board of Film Certfication (CBFC), saying releasing the film will damage the social fabric of the country. At least one expert called on by the CBFC to view the film has gone on record pointing out not only distortions but also the inflammatory scenes and dialogues in the film and these threaten the existent harmony between faiths and within social groups, the letter states. In these sensitive times permitting such release suggests the possibility of intentional inaction to either bring on explosive conditions or suit a plan of deliberate humiliation of a respected heritage. The letter states, The objection is to commercialisation and misrepresentation of actual historical places, persons and events clearly identified with names used to provide stature to identify with the filmmakers fantasy. It further states, The situation that has now arisen could have been prevented had timely notice been taken of the conduct of the filmmakers and later the CBFC. The situation appears to be due to indecisiveness, intentional or otherwise, on the part of various authorities despite words of caution on several occasions. The former royal has also enclosed a letter written by his son on Thursday when the Supreme Court lifted the ban. His son MK Vishvaraj Singh asked CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi how he found time to certify the film when proceedings related to the film were going on in courts. Police on Saturday arrested a man for allegedly killing a widow over a failed love affair. The 30-year-old widow, Radha Pujari, was employed as a mid-day cook with the government primary school at Nithari village in Bharatpur. She was cooking meal in the school kitchen on Friday when the accused, Buddhibhan Thakur, attacked her with a sharp-edged weapon, the police said. The accused reached the school and demanded food from the victim. He attacked her with the sharp-edged weapon on her neck and head when had gone in the kitchen to get food for him, said Khaleel Ahamad, the station house officer of Bayana police station. After committing the crime, Thakur fled from the spot. The woman bled to death. When the schoolchildren saw the woman bleeding in the kitchen, they started shouting inviting the attention of the authorities. Pujaris three of the four children, aged between 5 and 10, who studied in the same school, reached home and told the family members about the murder. Later, police arrested Thakur on the complaint of Pujaris brother-in-law. The womans body was handed over to the family members in the evening after postmortem at the government hospital at Bayana. During questioning, the accused told the police that he had developed illicit relations with woman after her husbands death four years ago, but she had been ignoring him for some time. Thakur alleged that Pujari had left him for the school principal, Hakim Singh. Thakur, who worked with a private firm in Jaipur, returned to the village on Friday and tried to contact Pujari on her phone, but she refused to meet him. He then went to the school two times to convince her to leave Singh, but when she refused, he decided to kill her, Thakur told the police. However, the school principal rejected Thakurs charges. Singh said that Pujari was working as a cook with the school since July 2017. I was in my office (when the accused attacked the woman), but came out hearing students shouts and informed police, he said. I did not have affair with her and had never seen the accused earlier. He brought sharp weapon under his clothes and attacked her on the neck and head, Singh said. Amid outrage over the film Padmaavat, historians from Rajasthan will gather in Chittor in an effort to dispel falsehoods surrounding Padmini, the legendary queen of Chittor who is said to have committed jauhar (self-immolation) in 1303 to escape the clutches of Delhi ruler Alauddin Khilji. The seminar titled Padmini Ek Vastavikta will be held on January 21-22. It is being organised by the Jauhar Smriti Sansthan, a socio-cultural organisation that aims to preserve and promote the history of Rajputs. Lokendra Singh Chundawat, organising secretary of the seminar, said around 35 historians from different parts of Rajasthan have been invited to read papers on queen Padmini to establish her existence. The historians are from Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Jhalawar, Bikaner and Jaisalmer. Chundawat, head of the history department at the government college in Chiottorgarh, said the purpose of organising the seminar is to bring out historical truths about Padmini. Director Sanjay Leela Bhansalis magnum opus Padmaavat has drawn the ire of the Rajput community who are carrying out a violent campaign against the film for allegedly distorting facts and character assassination of the queen. Over the past one year, questions have been raised by some persons about Padminis reality. We are making this effort to clear the air on her existence, said Chundawat. There will be two sessions in the seminar in which historians will present papers and bring to light facts about queen Padmini and her husband king Ratan Singh. Several national historians have questioned Padminis existence, saying she was a fictional character and there is no mention about the queen in contemporary literature. They say her story originated with Malik Muhammed Jayasis poem Padmavat, the fictional account written in 1540. Historians in Rajasthan differ and contend that the oral and bardic traditions of Mewar make mention of Ratan Singh and Padmini. Chundawat said the organisation will hold another seminar in February where historians from all over the country will be invited to present papers on Padmini. Based on the papers and the discussions, we hope to arrive at a conclusion that will settle the matter once for all, said Chundawat. He said if Padminis existence is established, the organisation will write to the NCERT, SIERT, ASI and other educational bodies to make necessary changes to the syllabus. Students are being taught incorrect facts about Padmini. These need to be rectified, claimed Chundawat. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Shri Rajput Karni Sena on Saturday turned down Padmaavat director Sanjay Leela Bhansalis offer to watch the film and called for a janta curfew wherein cinema halls will voluntarily not screen the movie. Karni Sena is spearheading a campaign against the film, earlier titled Padmavati, alleging that it distorts history regarding Rajput queen Padmini. Bhansali has denied the charge. At a press conference here on Saturday, Karni Sena also urged the Rajput, Sikh and Jat regiments of the Indian Army to boycott their mess for a day in protest against the film and if it does not work, to lay their arms down for a day. You defend the country throughout the year, but for a day defend the honour of your sisters and daughters, Karni Sena state president Mahipal Singh Makrana said in an appeal to soldiers of Kshatriya regiments. Karni Sena patron Lokendra Singh Kalvi said Bhansalis invitation was a sham and sent so that Bhansali can claim later that he was open to suggestions from Karni Sena. Kalvi also shared the invitation letter from Bhansali Productions with the press. Prepare for janta curfew. It happened in Gujarat when the film Fanaa came. The film hall owners refused to screen it. A similar situation happened in Rajasthan when the film Jodha Akhbar came. We want a similar situation to prevail in the entire country, he said. The film hall owners will have to choose between Khilji and Padmini, Ram and Ravan, and whether they want to celebrate Diwali or Lanka-burning, Kalvi said. The film hall owners association of Rajasthan have blessed Karni Sena and agreed to not screen the film in the state, he said. The central government has the power to stop screening of the film using powers stated under the section 6 of The Cinematograph Act, Kalvi said. Karni Sena state president Makrana said the Supreme Court decision to stay the ban on the film in some states was a fatwa (religious decree) in his groups view as it is not the work of the courts.He also called the decision as one-sided. Makrana also said the group would have called for a Bharat Bandh (India shutdown) on January 25, the date on which the film is slated to release, but stopped short in view of the Republic Day celebration on the next day. Sulabh International founder Bindeshwar Pathak has offered to arrange funds for Kolkata-based premiere film school Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) for making a movie on Swachh Bharat. SRFTI authorities have welcomed the proposal. Incidentally, the Akshay Kumar-starring Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, which revolves around a wifes resolve to get a toilet at home, was one of the biggest Bollywood hits in 2017. Read: Wont come home if toilets not built, residential schoolgirls write to parents before Sankranti festival in Andhra Pathak is an institution by himself, not only for his role as founder of Sulabh but also for his role in addressing other social issues. During his visit, he inspired us to make a film on clean India and told us not to worry about funds. We are definitely going to make this film, SRFTI director Debamitra Mitra said on Friday. Pathak paid a visit to the institute on Thursday to deliver a speech on cleanliness. He also spent time with the faculty and encouraged them to take up the project. Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh, was appointed brand ambassador of Swachh Rail Mission by former Union railway minister Suresh Pradhu (right). (HT File Photo) SRFTI is a premiere institution and has all the skills and technology required for making a film that can inspire thousands. I have assured them that they do not need to worry about funds. Ill fund part of it and there are various government schemes from which funds can be used for making the film. I will take care of arranging funds from government schemes, said Pathak. Swachh Bharat is a dream that all of us should envision. This was the dream of Gandhiji. All of us has a role to play in making India clean and maintaining cleanliness, he said. Read: Municipality in Rajasthans Baran to award residents for segregating garbage before disposal SRFTI, along with Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, are the two film schools of the country that are fully funded by the Union ministry of information and broadcasting. Ever since its foundation in 1995, films made by SRFTI students have made their way to film festivals around the world and won awards. The institute has also produced several national- award- winning directors, editors, cinematographers and sound designers. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Class 7 girl student, suspected of stabbing Class 1 boy Hrithik Sharma on the Brightland School premises here on Tuesday, was released from the girls juvenile home in Barabanki after the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) in Lucknow granted her interim bail on Friday. The board will take up the suspects regular bail issue on January 30. The JJB has granted interim bail to the girl after examining her age-related documents. As per documents procured from the school, she would turn 12 in March this year, said inspector of Aliganj police station Brijesh Singh. Six-year-old Hrithik was stabbed repeatedly by the senior girl student after she took him to a toilet on second floor of the school building in Aliganjs Triveni NagarIII locality on Tuesday. The school management, however, lodged an FIR in the matter on Wednesday after the picture of injured Hrithik went viral on social media. While the girl and her parents denied her involvement in the crime, the police zeroed in on her after the boy identified her through her photograph. Singh said the girl apparently stabbed Hrithik to get the school closed. The boy has told the cops that while stabbing him, the girl murmured that the school will be closed if she kills him. Later, a kitchen knife and a scarf used in tying the boys limbs were also recovered from the school premises. He said a police team is trying to ascertain the exact reason behind the stabbing and added that they have sought help from the child welfare committee to question her as the girl is below 12 years of age. Singh said they have recovered a kitchen knife, a scarf used in tying the boys limbs, and hair strands of the attacker from the boys clothes and the crime spot. All the items have been sent for forensic examination. He said a request has been made to the forensic experts to examine the items on priority so that doubts over the girls involvement are cleared. On Thursday police had arrested Rachit Manas, principal and co-director of Brightland School, after slapping charges of negligence in ensuring safety of students and not informing about the incident to police for over 24 hours. He was, however, later released after a court granted him bail. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath also visited the injured child at Trauma Centre on Thursday. The UP government has decided to allow rehiring of retired teachers against vacant posts in the state universities facing acute shortage of teachers. The government has asked the vice-chancellors of state universities to go ahead with the hiring process as per norms. The retired teachers can be hired on one-year contract till either they attain the age of 70 or the posts against which they are hired get filled, whichever is earlier. Additional chief secretary Sanjay Agarwal, in a missive dated January 18, has conveyed the decision to the vice-chancellors of all state universities, said registrar of Allahabad State University Sahab Lal Maurya. We were already hiring retired teachers against vacant posts after getting a special permission from the state government. We will implement the specified process of hiring retired teachers from the next academic session, he said. The state government issued the order following a review meeting of higher education department officials. It emerged in the meeting that the state universities and colleges were facing acute shortage of teachers. The letter said the process for filling up of vacant posts was underway but it would take some time. According to the missive, due to shortage of teachers and low grading of institutions from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), funding from central sources for academic and infrastructure development in these institutions was taking a hit. As a result, the state government has decided to hire teachers who have retired from the posts of assistant and associate professors and professors on fixed honorarium, it said. The missive said while these retired teachers could be hired till the age of 70, their selection would take place as per the prescribed process. The selection committee for hiring these teachers would have the vice-chancellor of the state university concerned as chairman, the registrar as member convener and head of the faculty and head of the department concerned as members, the missive said. The names recommended by the panel would then go before the executive council of the university and after its approval the teacher would be accorded teaching and research work. According to the order, the rehired teachers will draw an honorarium of Rs 500 per lecture to a maximum limit of Rs 25,000 per month at the assistant professor level, Rs 600 per lecture to a maximum limit of Rs 30,000 per month at the associate professor level and Rs 700 per lecture to a maximum limit of Rs 35,000 per month at professor level. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Eighteen-year-old Nazia has made the Taj City and all of Uttar Pradesh proud once again. She is the only representative from the state among 18 brave youngsters who will be honoured with the National Bravery Award by the Prime Minister in New Delhi on January 24. List of accolades To be honoured with Bharat Award on January 24 this year, for her fight against gambling / betting Rani Laxmi Bai Bravery Award 2016 for saving a 6-year-old girl from kidnappers in 2015 Felicitated with the Act of Saving Life certificate from the President house for the same act Feted by actor Akshay Kumar in a television programme Nazia, who prefers to go by single name, will be conferred with the Bharat Award for her prolonged and ongoing fight against the malpractices of gambling and betting. Not only that -- along with 11 boys and six other girls, Nazia will also take part in the Republic Day parade in an open jeep. Her family told HT that she left Agra for the national capital on January 16. However, bravery awards are nothing new for this spunky girl, who resides in Mantola locality of the city and has been struggling to rid the area of gamblers, betters and other notorious elements. She has earlier been decorated with the Rani Laxmi Bai Bravery Award too among others honours. The BA first year student of Agra college said she faced a lot of opposition when she first started her fight against betters. The people I took on were influential. They threatened my family and me, but I decided not to bow down to pressure. Gradually, I got success in weeding out such ill practices (gambling / betting) from the place, said Nazia, who had tweeted to the then UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav for help when she found herself waging a lone battle. The former CM had responded to her appeal, ensuring safety for her and her family. I had nothing personal against those people, but I wanted my locality to be a safe place for girls and women. While the police had their limitations, constant pressure made the difference, claimed the braveheart, who continues her fight despite being embroiled in various litigation arising out of these conflicts. Nazia first shot to fame in August 2015, after saving a six-year-old girl from some youths who were trying to kidnap her. For her valour, she was honoured with the Rani Laxmi Bai Bravery Award in 2016 by the then UP CM Akhilesh Yadav. She was also felicitated with an Act of Saving Life certificate from the President house. Later, film actor Akshay Kumar also feted Nazia during a television show. Speaking about the incident, Nazia said, I was returning from school when I suddenly heard the cry of a girl aged about six years. Some motorcycle-borne men were trying to kidnap her. While others chose to remain silent spectators, I rescued the girl by grabbing her. The kidnapper (driving the vehicle) lost control, and in the meantime, a mob gathered there, forcing the miscreants to flee. Aiming to serve the country as an IAS officer, Nazia said her goal was to improve the life of girls and make the society safer for them. Her elder sister Shazia is proud of her achievements. Nazia cant stand injustice, especially when it comes to any wrong committed against women. Then, she can fight anyone without caring about consequences, said Shazia. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON You can revel in the beauty of Nature, feel healed by it, but, a famous naturalist once warned me, you can never own it. I beg to differ, I would have told him at the start of our farm adventure, as I cupped a tiny brown frog in my palm. This is my land and on my piece of land, right now, millions of frogs are hopping around drumming up a raucous chorus to welcome the rains. It was an illusion of grandeur, this feeling of owning nature, but since this moment had come after two long years of searching, I allowed myself that indulgence. For all the scars we inflict on the planet, this two-acre piece of land that was finally my own, gave me my chance to do everything right. That reality was enough to make my PM 2.5-laced lungs cry for joy. I didnt want to be a Chattarpur farmer (no offence to the people of Chattarpur) or part of a gated community where uniformed guards patrolled manicured patches of broccoli. This was going to be a real farm. This wouldnt just be our weekend getaway; we could watch our bhindi grow as our two-year-old ran around. But farming in India, or anywhere in the world for that matter, is far from gentle on the planet. In time we would come to realise this, but more on that later. When we first began our search me, the environmental journalist, and my husband, the wildlife filmmaker the property dealers descended on us like sly hawks, showing us by turns plot so full of water they could only be a scam, and land so alkaline it held not a blade of grass. There were fertile green fields too, but they were far outside our budget. When it was all done, holding a tiny frog in her hand on what was now her piece of land, she felt a sense of grandeur, Dutt admits. We met brokers whose land existed only on paper, saw ready-made farmhouses with ugly iron gates, but nothing that jumped out at us and said Buy me! Our patience finally paid off in mid-2016. A farmer I instinctively liked and trusted was selling his plot because he wanted to purchase land elsewhere. It still cost a bit more than wed bargained for I had one last fixed deposit and wed have to liquidate that too, putting into this plot literally all we had. But it was the right distance from the city for day trips, it offered easy access via a small road, and most importantly, I wasnt buying from a sleazeball in the city. POSING LIKE DRAUPADI After the paperwork, which took six hours, we were called forward for the photo op. Sellers on one side (two brothers, their three sons); me the buyer on the other. From inside his office, the revenue officer shouted, No moving pliss. In the final picture, I look like Draupadi being married off to the Pandavas. The journey from liking a piece of land and owning it is an arduous one. Theres room for many a slip, so you have to go slow. First we had to get a lawyer to do due diligence and make sure we didnt spend decades in court over contested claims. The papers were clear, our legal eagles said. Now the deal began to move in swift, sharp steps. We didnt have enough money to buy the complete parcel of land; we had to forego the portion that had the tube well. We would have no water source for our crops, but that was an obstacle we would deal with later, we said. Eight weeks on, bright and early, armed with a sheaf of papers, we arrived at a nondescript government office by the side of a national highway in rural Haryana. Outside the small red building, notaries sat under the shade of a large banyan tree, beset by landowners. It was a cesspool of testosterone. Everyone was in overdrive, struggling to get their papers signed before the lunch break. My hands were stained with purple ink as we put our thumbprint on sheet after sheet, which was then handed over to a bespectacled man seated behind iron bars in the red brick building with no lights and no ventilation. A paan-chewing tout in figure-hugging blue jeans hurled cuss words every time the officer behind the bars found a comma or a full stop missing in the legal documents and tossed the papers back at us. The smell of hot food got my stomach rumbling. I followed it out to the highway to discover Maruti vans parked with their boots open, dishing up, for Rs 25 a plate, piping hot home-cooked rajma-chawal. It was a feast for hungry landowners like me waiting to get paperwork done. I craved coffee and decided to drive 10km down the highway to get it, leaving the beleaguered (though more patient) husband to deal with Blue-Jeans Tout. As I sat quietly in the corner of a cafe, sipping, I noticed a hefty man with dark glasses arrive at the counter with a briefcase. He looked very like the bouncers at trendy discotheques in Delhi. He tucked his hand into his pocket to give everyone a fleeting glimpse of a shiny black pistol hooked to his belt. The local farmers I shared this information with shrugged it off as common practice Yes, the gun-toting bouncers are called in sometimes to help collect rent from the slackers. I cringed, eager to go back to the husband and apprise him of what we had done: bought land in an area where hafta collectors came with guns to collect their monthly rent. The husband brushed aside my paranoia. Lets just stay focused on the moment, he hissed, as Blue Jeans Tout hurled another string of curses at us all. Six harrowing hours later, the papers were done, and we were called forward for the photo opportunity. The sellers on one side (two brothers and their three offspring) and me the buyer on the other. We had to look into a small video camera fixed on the iron grille. Nearly invisible in the darkening interiors, the revenue officer shouted, No moving pliss. In the final picture, I look like Draupadi being married off to the Pandavas. WE BECOME OWNERS The drama over, my husband and I walked out of the Registrars office. The vans laden with lunch had vanished. We decided to drive to our land as the yellow bhindi flowers reflected the last rays of the sun. All my adult life I had been eating bhindi and I had had no idea it came from a plant with yellow flowers. Much to learn, I muttered to the husband. Our journey as farmers had begun. Suddenly my exhausted soul felt enriched by the clear blue sky, my carbon-laced lungs felt cleansed by the gentle breeze that made the bhindi sway its welcome to us, the new owners. After all the dusty road trips, the sleepless stressful nights, we had made it. I bent down and scooped up some clayey soil and clutched it in my closed fist. We would grow our own bhindi; we would welcome the frogs every monsoon. Finally, we owned a piece of earth. (Bahar Dutt is an environment journalist learning to grow her own food) The anti-extortion cell of the Mumbai crime branch arrested five members of Suresh Pujaris gang on Friday, in connection with firing at a Bhiwandi hotel employee, threating the owner and planning to bump off a South Mumbai-based businessman for extortion. The police claimed they have busted a module that operates directly on instructions of Pujari for the extortion business in Mumbai and Thane. The arrested men have been identified as Harish Kotian 30; Sanket Dalvi 25; Prathmesh Kadam 22; Noormohammed Khan 20; and Aniket Thakur 25. According to sources, an Ulhasnagar resident, who runs a shop of cameras in Fort, received threatening calls from Pujari early this month, demanding Rs50 lakh. When he ignored, he again received a call from Pujari, who told him about the Bhiwandi incident and this time asked him to pay Rs1 crore. Following this, the businessman approached the joint commissioner of police (crime). Officials from the anti-extortion cell of crime branch were pressed in the operation. They first held Kotian and Dalvi in Dadar on Friday, who then led the investigators to the other three. Khan, Kadam and Thakur were planning something big in connection with the Fort businessman case. We have recovered two pistols, five rounds and magazines from them, said deputy commissioner of police (detection) Dilip Sawant. The accused have criminal cases, including an attempt to murder case. All have been sent to police custody up to January 25, he said. The state government is likely to give its nod to the citys long-pending Draft Development Plan 2014-34 by the end of February, said officials who are part of the process. The plan which will play an important role in deciding the citys land use and infrastructure development for the next 20 years is likely to get sanctioned along with its draft Development Control Rules. The DP 2034 promises to boost affordable housing, provide more open spaces, focus on pedestrianisation and fulfil a vision of a city that is safer for women.The plan also makes provisions for the construction of a working womens hostel in all civic wards, in addition to old age homes and day care centres. The city is also expected to see a vertical growth in terms of a floor space index of 4 allowed for commercial use and social amenities. With the accommodation reservation policy, the new plan has sweetened the deal for land owners by allowing them to build more than currently permissible, provided they develop the land and hand it over for public use, easing the land acquisition process. The BMCs DP department has been directed to link the DP and DCR data to the newly launched one geographical information system (GIS), said officials. The system has a digital map of the civic amenities of more than 17 departments, including major ones such as the roads, fire, stormwater drains, building proposals and health departments. It is also expected to help expedite building plan approvals under the BMCs ease of doing business policy. We were asked to link DP data to the one GIS. The system is a centralised application for all civic departments. All major and minor approvals, changes or updates can be accessed through it, said a senior official from the DP department, who did not wish to be identified. Until the state government sanctions the DP, authorities have to consider the regulations of the DP 1991 or 2034 in case of a clash over regulations for a particular project. The BMC had prepared and published the development plan in February 2015. However, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis sent it back to the drawing table after there were widespread reports that the draft was riddled with errors. Following this, civic chief Ajoy Mehta appointed former bureaucrat Ramnath Jha as officer on special duty to correct the errors and release the revised draft plan. The plan was finally approved by the BMCs general body in July last year. Prolonged exposure to high intensity light-emitting-diodes (LED) floodlights from gymkhanas along Marine Drive can lead to health ailments, said doctors, after a city-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) recorded light pollution levels for the first time in south Mumbai. A week after the Mumbai city collector passed an order based on hearings from Wilson gymkhana and Chira Bazaar resident Nilesh Desai, whose house is located next to the gymkhana, that all gymkhanas on Marine Drive need to switch off flood lights by 10pm, NGO Awaaz Foundation and Desai took light readings at the Wilson gymkhana and the police gymkhana on Thursday. At 8.30pm, the light levels was 84,800 lux (unit for light) at Wilson Gymkhana and 14,100 lux at Police Gymkhana. Ambient light level along Marine Drive was 2,100 lux. The readings were taken using a lux meter a portable device used to measure light. One lux is equal to the light on a 1sqm surface away from a single candle. A 5,000 sqft office has light levels of 400 to 600 lux, according to the BMCs mechanical and electrical department. High-intensity LED lights at gymkhanas along arterial Marine Drive face the road and are potentially dangerous to traffic. The lights also intrude into nearby homes and cause sleep disruption and consequent adverse health effects on residents of the areas, said Sumaira Abdulali, convener, Awaaz Foundation. Doctors from Sir JJ Hospital said residents living around the gymkhanas should not be exposed to light more than 54,000 lux, and regular direct exposure to such levels can lead to health ailments. Indirect exposure above 90,000 lux and direct exposure of 54,000 lux LED lights entering peoples homes is dangerous and extremely harmful. Such levels can lead to photophobia (fear of lights), headaches, watering of the eyes and a person can fall ill over long period. The intensity of this light source needs to be controlled, said Dr TP Lahane, ophthalmologist and deputy director at the Directorate of Medical Education and Research. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The first phase of the cluster development project, which focuses on drafting the Urban Renewal Plan (URP) for the clusters in the city, is slated to be completed by the end of January or first week of February. The first phase will define the boundaries of URPs following which in the second phase, the residents will be given the first preference to come forward for development of the cluster. The cluster scheme is expected to change the face of Thane and transform it into a planned city. The URP will be drafted after a ground-level survey of the available amenities in each area and the amenities required after developing the area under cluster scheme. As per the scheme, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) will form a URP for small clusters, which will be akin to a Development Plan (DP) of the area. Each cluster will have a minimum area of 10,000 square metres for development. Pramod Nimbalkar, acting assistant director, town planning, said, Till date we were in the general planning stage of the cluster scheme. We have now decided to undertake a ground-level assessment of the clusters under the scheme. This means assessing the socio-economic requirement of each area. We will note the existing amenities of each of the areas including schools, playgrounds, markets, sewage, solid waste management and primary healthcare among others. Based on this data, authorities will take note of amenities that each area needs when the region is developed in the future. Accordingly, the URP will be defined for each of the clusters. An officer requesting anonymity said, In the meeting held on Friday, the engineers and ward officers of each of the wards were given a form to fill, which has a list of these amenities. This URP will be ready by the end of January or latest by first week of February. This is the first phase of the cluster development project, in the second phase this URP will be published. The corporation will invite the residents of these areas to come forward for developing their own area. We will give the first preference to the residents to develop the area and in case they do not come forward, different government agencies like Mhada or MMRDA among others can work out the scheme, the officer said. The high court lifted the stay on the cluster development scheme for Thane in June last year. The state issued a notification on cluster development, immediately following which the corporation appointed a consultant to draft the URPs. This type of cluster development scheme is being implemented for the first time in India. The scheme for Mumbai is for old cess buildings, while in Thane the cluster scheme is to develop the unplanned settlements into planned settlements, the officer added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Delay in completing a proposed project at Worli and handing over four duplex flats to four persons from Cuffe Parade has cost a joint venture of two city developers around Rs3.91 crores. The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed Turf Estate JV a joint venture of DB Realty and Jony Estates to refund Rs41.12 crores received from four members of a Cuffe Parade-based family as part payment for the four duplex flats along with interest at the rate of 9% per annum. Besides, the National Commission also ordered the joint venture to pay Rs20 lakh as compensation and a further Rs one lakh towards litigation cost from the four complainants. According to their complaint, in August 2009, they had booked one duplex flat each in Orchid Turf View at Worli for a total consideration of Rs32 crores. Initially they made a payment of Rs50 lakh each as booking amount and subsequently paid further instalments, taking the total in each case to Rs10.28 crores by February 2012. The joint venture issued allotment letters to each of the four clearly mentioning that an agreement for sale of the respective flats would soon be executed with each of them. The agreement was to contain all the terms and conditions of the transaction as well as the deadline for completing the project. After waiting for a considerable time for seeking the proposed high-rise take shape, the flat purchasers in December 2015 issued notices to the joint venture and demanded refund of the amounts paid by them. They approached the National Consumer Commission after they did not get satisfactory replies. The joint venture resisted the complaints contending that the complainants were fully aware at the time of booking the flats that requisite approvals were not in place and the project was expected to take longer time to complete. The JV further contended that the project got delayed, as it was compelled to alter the entire layout and plans because of change in development control regulations for Mumbai. The contention, however, failed to impress upon the National Consumer Commission. The apex consumer court held that the joint venture was at least expected to execute the sale agreements within a reasonable time after receiving huge sums from the complainants. Despite making a promise to provide the draft agreement soon after the allotment letter, the opposite party No.1 (JV) failed to provide the same though more than six years had expired by the time the complainants were constrained to terminate the allotment letter, said justice VK Jain, presiding member of the commission. He held that the complainants were fully justified in refusing to wait further for the flats allotted to them and in terminating the allotment letter and seeking refund along with compensation and added that the complainants cannot be compelled to wait indefinitely for the possession of the flats. After the chief ministers chopper malfunctioned five times in past nine months, the state has finalised a stringent helipad policy for choppers meant to fly VVIPs. The policy has mandated designated areas for helipads in each tehsil, restricted the amount of baggage that can be carried, and also clearly defined responsibilities at each level to ensure protocol and safety. The VVIPs include the governor,chief minister, and ministers who use state-owned or hired aircrafts. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis cleared the helipad policy for VVIPs two days ago. Based on the guidelines outlined by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), New Delhi, the policy has made rules related to helipads more stringent. In most of the incidents related to the CMs chopper, helipads and their locations had been the major fault. The policy has made it compulsory for the district collectors to identify and earmark a safe space for a temporary helipad of not less than 250metres by 50metres. The policy directs that helipads be set up on school or police training grounds, and the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporations industrial areas. Once such places are identified, the helipads for flying VVIPs would not be allowed at any other place. The policy has also put restrictions on the total baggage that can be carried, reducing it to a reasonable weight. It also states that the rotors and air conditioning system cannot be turned on before the VVIP enters the chopper. According to officials, VVIPs often carry heavy baggage comprising files and other material, and sometimes insist on carrying additional passengers. In two of the incidents related to the CMs chopper, these were some of the issues that created problems. Hence, these norms were added to the policy, an official from Mantralaya said on the condition of anonymity. Many a times, temporary helipads are constructed on the insistence of the local politicians, who host programs attended by VVIPs, flouting the norms. There are DGCA guidelines about helipads meant for VVIPs, but the policy has put it in simpler terms so that it can be understood by officials of all levels. Once the location of the helipad is finalised, the district administration will have to ensure its incorporation in the regional or development plan, to avoid restricting activities like construction of buildings around it, said another official. Valsa Nair Singh, principle secretary, general administration department, said, The policy has been cleared, and the administration will have to strictly implement it while flying VVIPs. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday announced compensation for families of three school students who lost their lives in the Dahanu boat tragedy and for the family of a 14-year-old Dalit girl who died on her way back from the Sadbhavana rally in Sangli. Fadnavis announced compensation for these families from the chief ministers relief fund. The families of the three students from Dahanu Sonal Surati, Janhavi Surati and Sanskruti Mayavanshi will get Rs1 lakh each from the relief fund. They died after their boat, carrying 40 kids, capsized near Parnaka in Dahanu. Aishwarya Kamble, a resident of Sangli died on her way back home from the Sadbhavana rally. Her family will get Rs5 lakh as compensation. Kamble was running a fever when she participated in the rally, which was held post the violence at Bhima-Koregaon, to promote unity. Fadnavis left for Davos on Saturday as part of the Prime Ministers delegation for the economic summit. A week after the Pawan Hans helicopter crash, the wreckage recovered from the sea was brought to the Juhu airport and was reassembled on Saturday morning. A team from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is expected to visit Mumbai soon to study the reconstructed helicopter. Although there is no official confirmation of the day that the investigating team will arrive in Mumbai, they are expected to be in Mumbai this week, said a senior official from Pawan Hans. According to a Pawan Hans official, 85% of the helicopter parts had been recovered. Looking at the wreckage, one can imagine the speed at which the helicopter crashed into the sea, said the official. Dr BP Sharma, Pawan Hans chairman and managing director, said, Pawan Hans has been in the service of ONGC since 1986, and ONGC remains our topmost priority. We have already appointed a high-level working group to reassess the current operational procedures. The standards of operation will be further improved to achieve the best safety standards. Immediate and timebound measures have been initiated and experts have been recalled for urgent review, he said. A Pawan Hans helicopter crashed 30 nautical miles off Mumbai coast on January 13 killing the two pilots and five deputy general managers. The Bombay high court, on Friday, rejected a plea filed by former media baron Peter Mukerjea, seeking police diaries of the firearm case against driver Shyamvar Rai the approver in the Sheena Bora murder case. Justice Anuja Prabhudessai upheld the trial courts order disallowing Mukerjea to access the police diaries, observing that it was nothing but an attempt to make a roving scrutiny of the entries in the diaries and then decide the line of cross examination. The accused does not enjoy such privilege, said the judge, adding, Permitting the petitioner to inspect the diary in general will impair the working of the police. Peters lawyers had sought the police diaries of Rais Arms Act case for the purpose of cross-examining the two police officers Ganesh Dalvi and Dinesh Kadam in the Sheena Bora murder case. It was rejected by the trial court on September 20, 2017. His counsel, Shrikant Shivade had argued that the entries made by the police officers amounted to their previous statements in relation to the murder case and under the Criminal Procedure Code, accused in a murder case were entitled to use those entries for cross-examining police officers. Additional solicitor general Anil Singh had opposed the plea contending that the entries in police diaries cannot be equated with previous statements. On August 21, 2015, sub-inspector Dalvi and inspector Kadam of the Khar police station had apprehended Rai under the Arms Act for carrying a pistol, three live cartridges and some other objectionable articles. The police claim Rai had then purportedly revealed that on April 24, 2012, he along with Indrani and her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna, strangulated Indranis daughter Sheena Bora, and disposed her body the next day in Gadoge village in Raigad district. This led to the arrest of Indrani and Khanna. Peter was added as an accused in the case after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the probe. Rai had sought to become an approver in the case and was allowed to do so. Teachers from 10 state universities across Maharashtra have not yet received their salaries for December. State education minister Vinod Tawde on Saturday announced that the problem has been resolved and that the teachers would receive their salaries in a few days. Tawde said the delay in the process was caused by the treasury department. Teachers should receive their salaries in the next three days, he said. Tapati Mukhopadhyay, general secretary of Bombay University & College Teachers union (BUCTU), said, Over the last few years, we have been facing similar problems at the end of the financial year. With every succeeding year, the budget allocated towards education is reduced, so eventually it starts reflecting on our salaries. Until last year we used to face similar problems while receiving the March salary, but this year the problem has started in December itself, she said. Teachers and staff of colleges affiliated to state universities, including University of Mumbai, are currently facing this problem. They have blamed the government for its callous and apathetic attitude. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A music educator, composer and guitar player, Vinay Kaushals versatility reflects through his music, which spans various genres such as blues, funk, jazz, rock and fusion. A Musicians Institute, Hollywood (GIT) alumnus, Kaushals music carries an artsy accent, and his compositions clearly state his individuality. Speaking about his upcoming album, Naked On A Train, Vinay says most of the tunes on it have been inspired by his experiences. He says, Sometimes a tune just happens to pop into your head, but I find that a lot of times the inspiration does come from real life, kind of like a background score to whats actually happening around you. Excerpts from an interview: How would you describe the music of this album? The album is largely instrumental; there are five instrumental tracks and one vocal tune. I guess you could say it is a contemporary world fusion music with hints of jazz and rock and roll. There are 11 musicians playing different instruments on this album. I experimented with the vocals for this album. While the songs are instrumental tunes, I have used voice as a musical instrument, adding various harmonies to every song. I think I can safely say that Bhavana Reddy, a friend and colleague from my college days at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, has done a spectacular job with the vocal harmonies on all the six tunes. You said that this album was inspired by real events. How did those events change your life? Well for starters, the story behind Naked On A Train gave me the title track for my debut album; I dont think theres a bigger change than that. On a more serious note, that experience really showed me that reality can be stranger than fiction. As a foreign student at the Musicians Institute (MI), I was recruited into a team of students who would help set up the stage for the MI graduation ceremonies at the prestigious Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, USA. On one such graduation day, while I was in an almost empty train, I saw some movement on the far end of the next carriage. Someone was getting in very quickly. I looked up and saw a lady, completely naked, running at top speed down the aisle through the other carriage towards mine, chased by two cops. Thats a weird scene, even for Hollywood. While the cops, still by the carriage door, were discussing how to handle the situation, she stopped right next to my seat, looked at me, jumped over my knees and crouched onto the seat by the window next to me. The reason why she chose to jump onto the seat next to me in an almost empty carriage still eludes me. That incident stayed with me through that entire day, and as soon as I got home, after what felt like an eternity at the Wiltern, I went straight to my guitar and penned this tune down. It was my way of dealing with the intense events of that morning. While working on an album, what is your to-do list like? How easy or difficult is it to work all by yourself on a project? While Im not an expert this is my first album it has been a huge learning curve. Composing the music was the easy part. I really enjoy that. Scheduling the different musicians to come and play their parts was difficult. While the whole process was exciting, exhilarating and frustrating at the same time, the journey made me learn a lot of new things. Did you face difficulties funding this album? Production costs for a full album are extremely high, even if one is doing most of the work. This is when the idea of crowdfunding came to mind. In the end, I managed to collect 140% of my set goal, which came up to $4,200! This was one of those moments when you know you are doing things right, and are headed in the right direction, and you feel so humbled by the support of the people. The police have arrested the 30-year-old man who was allegedly found dismantling the fishplates from the railway track near Murad Nagar railway station on Friday morning. Officers said the accused is a hardcore criminal and they are still probing his motive for the act of sabotage. The government railway police (GRP) officers said Furkan, a resident of Malakpur village in Bulandshahr, was booked under several provisions of the Railways Act and produced before a magistrate in Meerut. The case was lodged at Meerut GRP police station. So far, we have not been able to link him to any group(s) involved in sabotage activities. But we have alerted UP anti-terrorism squad and intelligence agencies as the accused is yet to reveal more details about himself, said SC Dubey, superintendent of police, GRP, Moradabad. According to police, Furkan came out of jail on December 25, 2017, after being lodged there for eight years for various offences. Police said he has cases of attempt to murder, robberies, and those under the Arms Act and the Gangster Act against him in Bulandshahr. We are still probing all angles of the sabotage incident and we have sought the cooperation of various intelligence agencies. He is one of seven brothers and five of them have a criminal background, Dubey said. Furkan, who resides in Murad Nagar, was on Friday spotted by three teenagers removing the fishplates from the track nearly 800 metres from Murad Nagar railway station in Ghaziabad district. They said he was sitting on the tracks and asked them for their mobile phone to make a call. But, the boys refused to give him their phones. When they saw the fishplates he had removed from the tracks, they beat him up and brought him to the railway station where he was handed over to the GRP and the railway protection force officers. The sabotage took place just minutes before the Mumbai-Dehradun Express was scheduled to pass that way. The train was immediately halted at Murad Nagar for nearly 45 minutes and allowed to proceed only after the tracks were repaired. The GRP and railway protection force officers grilled Furkhan but he did not reveal much about himself. Through the local police network, the investigators came to know of his criminal background. If anything serious is revealed, we will consider booking Furkan under more stringent sections. The man said he removed the fishplates to buy wheat flour, Dubey said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Ghaziabad police on Saturday arrested a 45-year-old woman and her husband for allegedly staging a theft at their boutique in order to claim an insurance amount of Rs 45 lakh. The police have lodged an FIR against the couple for providing fake information and for cheating. The incident was allegedly orchestrated by Archana Singh and her husband Prem Vir, both residents of Sector 3A of Nehru Nagar. The police said Prem Vir also enlisted the help of his uncle Gajpal Singh, who hails from Simbhaoli in Hapur district, to stage the theft. According to the police, on January 10, Archana reported a case of theft at her boutique to the Sihani Gate police station. She claimed in her complaint that all finished material and other items in her shop Saburi The Boutique, near Nasirpur railway crossing, were stolen. They also gave statements to the media that the stolen items were worth around Rs 50 lakh. Upon receiving the complaint, senior officers issued a warning to the police post in-charge of the area concerned. However, during a detailed investigation, the police scanned the CCTV camera footage and also sought the help of local informers. It was then revealed that the couple themselves was involved in the case. They had renewed the insurance policy in November last year, said Akash Tomar, superintendent of police (city). According to police, on the night of the alleged incident, the couple, with the help of Gajpal, used daily wage earners and a mini-truck to spirit away bagful of clothes from the shop to Simbhaoli and to the couples house in Nehru Nagar. We got the leads from the daily wage earners, who were identified from the CCTV footage. The truck was also identified and seized along with the finished material, which was found dumped at the couples house, Tomar said. The duo, during questioning, broke down and told police that they staged the theft as they wanted to claim the insurance money. Their boutique, they claimed, was chalking up losses. After the arrest of the couple, the finished material and other stolen items were seized by the police. They were transporting these bags on Saturday morning to Hapur in order to destroy evidence, police said. Police said they will get the theft FIR quashed and have already registered a new one for fraud, naming the couple and Gajpal. The new FIR under sections of cheating and providing false evidence has been lodged at Sihani Gate police station. Gajpal is presently absconding , police said. After a wait of nearly two years, the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) on Saturday formally inaugurated its sewage treatment plant (STP) at Raj Nagar Extension (RNE). The STP has the capacity to treat 56 million litres a day (MLD), officials said. The move will benefit thousands of residents in the upcoming township. The sewage was discharged in the open until now, as the internal and main trunk lines were not connected to the STP. The STP was constructed at a cost of Rs78 crore with a view to cater to a population of 8.8 lakh residents in 2040, officials said. There was a stay by the court for nearly two years and the facility was caught in litigation. We got the stay vacated in November 2017 and completed the pending works. The STP will be trialled for three months and the construction agency will take up its maintenance for five years, Ritu Maheshwari, vice chairperson, GDA. Officials said that the annual operational cost of the facility is nearly Rs1.5 crore. Maheshwari said that the installation of a solar power plant at the STP will definitely reduce the operational expenses and will be considered at the earliest. Recently, the authority had announced that it will get solar power plants installed at STPs, community centres and government offices to promote non-conventional sources of energy and also reduce pollution. According to the members of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (CREDAI) in RNE, nearly 17,000 families have already moved to the locality and another 10,000 are expected in 2018. There are 45 projects in the area that are under construction. The authority has completed the work of laying the 9.5-kilometre trunk line and another 22km of internal sewage network for the housing hub at a cost of Rs35 crore. Officials of the authority said that a concrete drain, a 500-metre stretch, is proposed from the STP to river Hindon but it is yet to be constructed. In the absence of a concrete drain, we are discharging the treated sewage in the river with the help of pipes. Construction of the drain will take nearly six months, RP Singh, executive engineer, GDA, said. Environmentalists are of the view that the treated water of the STP should not be discharged into the river. It should be utilised for construction purposes or for irrigation of plantation in the area. There is massive construction activity going on at RNE. Further, the authorities must ensure treatment of sewage from major drains, which is currently dumped in the river without treatment, Vikrant Sharma, an environmentalist and resident of RNE, said. According to the authority officials, the STP is presently being run at one-fourth of its capacity, on the basis of waste generating by the housing hub. The construction of the plant started in November 2011. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The food safety and drugs administration department of Gautam Budh Nagar has shut a Patanjali mega store in Noida on Saturday for failing to procure a food licence. Two samples of coconut oil and energy bar have been seized by the officials for further testing and the store has been shut until it procures a licence from the food department. The inspection was done by the officials on Friday afternoon. The Patanjali mega store is located in the community market of Sector 110 in Noida and it offered a variety of Patanjali branded food and lifestyle products. It store has been operating for the past three months. When we inspected the store, we found that it was being run without a proper licence from the food department. We have sealed the shop and it cannot operate unless it procures a fresh licence from us, said Sanjay Sharma, designated officer, food safety and drugs administration department, Gautam Budh Nagar. Explaining the process for procuring a licence, Sharma said, Every dealer who sells food products has to procure a licence from the food Department and it is illegal to run a store without it. Procuring a licence is easy as the form is available online on our website and the fee is only Rs 2,000 per year. We suspect that the products can be of dubious quality and, hence, we seized two products. The samples have been sent to Lucknow for tests and it usually takes 30-40 days for the results to come out. Appropriate action will be taken if there is any disparity is found in the lab test, Sharma said. Sonu Goswami, manager of the Patanjali mega store, said the employees were not aware of the lack of food licence. These procedures are usually done at a senior level and we were not aware of it. This is a new store and it has hardly been three months since we opened shop. We requested the officials that if they had any doubt about the products, then they should take the sample from the manufacturing factory of Patanjali and not from the store, but they did not listen to us. Now, we have applied for a licence and, hopefully, the store will open again soon, Goswami said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Emergency medical intervention by city doctors helped save the life of a 31-year-old pregnant woman and her foetus, after she was hit by a tempo in Wanowrie. The fact that the accident, which took place on Tuesday, happened close to a well-equipped hospital where she was rushed to within the golden hour, was key in saving the lives. Brought to the hospital, profusely bleeding, the woman who was 35 weeks pregnant, underwent an emergency Caesarean section to save the child. The patient was bleeding profusely, which could have been caused by the placenta detaching from the uterine wall due to trauma. With extremely low BP and a high heart rate, she was in a state of confusion and couldnt remember what had happened. She also had a deformed right hip and shoulder pain. Since she had multiple injuries, a multidisciplinary approach was followed involving the surgeon, orthopaedic surgeon and urologist. However, our biggest concern was her and her unborn babys safety, said Dr. Sujay Patil, consultant and head, accident and emergency department, Ruby Hall Clinic, Wanowrie. He said the foetal heart rate was high as the baby was in distress. A C-section was later performed considering a normal delivery was impossible at this stage. A few hours later, a premature baby was born and recovered satisfactorily, Dr Patil said. Expressing satisfaction over the outcome, Dr. Manisha Karmarkar, COO of the hospital noted that an accident during pregnancy can be all the more terrifying as the trauma suffered by the mother-to-be can also affect the unborn child, putting the babys health and life at risk. An IT software engineer along with his wife and son, were found dead inside their apartment at Basant Bahar housing society, Baner, late on Thursday night, Pune police said. According to the police report, Jayeshkumar Patel, 34, and his wife his wife Bhumika Patel, 30, were found lying on the floor with ropes tied around their necks. Their son Akshay, 4, was also found lying dead on the floor. Jayeshkumar was a software engineer working with a company named Q Logic at the Kharadi IT Park. According to police, when Jayeshkumar did not report to work for the last few days, a colleague of his contacted someone in the housing society. Neighbours then noticed that the flat, B/204, was not opened for the last couple of days and informed the Chatushrungi police. Police entered through the window of the apartment and found the three dead bodies. Senior police inspector Dayanand Dhome, said, "Prima facie, the family committed suicide and locked the door from the inside. The bodies have been sent to Sassoon hospital for post mortem and we are awaiting the report." According to police, the son, Akshay Patel, suffered from some physical disability. Kishanbhai Patel, Jayeshkumar Patels father is distraught. He cannot understand what... why... how? Jayesh shares all his problems with me, but this time he did not, says the did. By all prima facie evidence and accounts, according to the Pune Police, Jayeshkumar Patel, 34 and his wife, Bhumika, 30, both committed suicide. Their four-year-old son, Akshay, who suffered a physical abnormality was also found dead when the police broke into their apartment at Basant Bahar Society, Baner, late on Thursday night. There was nothing in the Patels lives to suggest a reason for suicide, according to Jayeshkumars colleagues and the familys neighbours. As a software engineer working at Q Logic, an IT company based at the Kharadi IT Park, Jayeshkumar was the picture of the upwardly mobile IT pro, say his colleagues. The wife, Bhumika, stayed at home to look after the son. A colleague of Jayaeshkumar who asked to remain anonymous, said, Jayesh was absolutely fine. He got a good appraisal, bought a flat and everything was going well in life with the perfect family. I met him two weeks ago and he was absolutely normal. Yes, his son was undergoing physiotherapy as one portion of his body was weak . When Jayeshkumar remained absent from office without informing for the last three days, a colleague called up a neighbour of Jayeshkumars to inquire. The neighbours then raised the alarm and Vishwajeet Saraf, chairman, Basant Bahar Society, informed the police. Saraf said,We did not get any response after we knocked on the door. Hence, we called the police.The Patel family shifted into our society in November 2017.Their son was suffering some illness, but both were very sensitive and careful. Another resident of Basant Bahar Society, IT engineer Swapnil Chavan, said, Yes, we know each other personally.Three days earlier, his son Akshay was admitted to hospital because he was facing some health problem, but when I heard about the suicide this morning, I was shocked. Police entered the house from a window late on Thursday night and found Jayeshkumar and his wife lying on the floor with ropes around their necks. Senior police inspector,Dayanand Dhome, said the couple used the ropes to hang themselves. Akshays post mortem report is awaited.We suspect their son died naturally and this is might be reason for the suicide, Dhome said. Police inspector (crime ), Vaishali Galande of Chaturshringi police station said , When we entered the flat the son was lying on the floor with foam coming out from his mouth, but he was dead. We are talking to their neighbours and trying to find out if there were some other reasons for the suicide, Galande said. Perfect Life A real estate broker who knew the Patel family spoke on condition of anonymity and said that Jayeshkumar bought an apartment three months ago, around Diwali. He was financially well off and bought the flat for Rs.80 lakh. There was no reason for him to commit suicide as he was earning well and living a happy and comfortable life. Of course, the couple were concerned about the health of their four-year-old son as he was epileptic and had ailments in hand and legs. Three days ago Akshay was rushed to hospital following a massive epileptic attack. A 13-year-old boy and his 12-year-old friend allegedly gangraped a four-year-old girl in Ludhiana on Thursday evening. The girl was alone at home as her mother had gone to buy grocery when the incident occurred. The boys were caught and produced before a juvenile court on Friday. The court remanded them in judicial custody and they were sent to the local juvenile home. In her complaint, the girls mother said she had gone to market and left her daughter alone at their rented accommodation in Salem Tabri area, but when she returned she was shocked to see her daughter crying and bleeding. The 13-year-old boy, she said, is son of another tenant in the same house and his friend had come visiting him. She said they called the girl for playing with them and raped her. . The 13-year-old is a student of Class 7 and neighbour of the victim, while the 12-year-old is a student of Class 5. Police have registered a case under Sections 376 (rape) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 8 of POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act. Inspector Vijay Kumar, the SHO at Salem Tabri police station, said the police took the girl for medical examination, which confirmed rape. The victims father is a worker at a scrap godown. Four months after farmers dumped potatoes on road in Mohali and other parts of the state, seeking remunerative price for the produce, the Punjab government has allowed the staple foods export to Russia and the Middle East. The past few years have witnessed surplus production of potatoes in the state. This, however, has not been adequately transported to other states. This glut in production and no buyers due to demonetisation over the past two seaons had led to a crash in prices. Against a production cost of around Rs 5per kg, potato is selling at Rs 2 per kg in the wholesale market. The price crash is a cyclical occurence in the state, but demonetisation had aggaravated the crisis. Doaba has 93% of the states sown area of the crop at 80,000 hectares of 86,000. In a series of reports, HT had highlighted the plight of potato farmers who had been facing heavy losses. What caused the crisis Production cost: Rs 5/kg Wholesale selling price: Rs 2/kg Acreage in Punjab 86,000 hectare Acreage in Doaba region 80,000 hectare (93%) Production per hectare 200 quintal If the government fails to intervene to help potato growers, Doaba farmers will be the worst-hit, Jalandhar Potato Growers Association (JPGA) general secretary Jaswinder Singh Sangha had recently said. After the decision, he said, We hope for export to Europe and the Americas to start soon as well. The decision to export the crop was taken during a meeting of members of the Jalandhar Potato Growers Association (JPGA) with financial commissioner, development, Vishwajeet Khanna earlier this week. Punjab Agro Industries Corporation (PAIC) will be the assisting agency. Farmers will hand over their produce to the agency, which will bear the transport cost in exporting the produce. The consignments will also be insured. Markfed to also purchase crop Markfed has also been directed to purchase potatoes and supply it to government schools for use in mid-day meals. The farmers demand of subsidy of Rs 2 per kg on freight is under consideration, government sources said. Farmers usually export the crop through private commission agents. They sought the governments assistance after they faced problems in recovery of payments from them. When we receive the payment, the assured amount will be distributed between the producers and the government agency, Khanna said. He added that they were also exploring ways to export the crop to Europe and the Americas and expand the states reach and fulfil potential. To export there, we have to match their standards in cleanliness and packaging of the produce, he said. Markfed additional managing director BM Sharma said, We have asked schools to give us their demand for potatoes and will supply accordingly for the mid-day meal. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Ten days after armed robbers fled with Rs 1.5-crore jewellery from a businessmans house in Sector 33, his driver allegedly committed suicide by jumping in front of a train in Zirakpur on Friday. Ajit Jain has been charged with abetment to suicide after son of the deceased, Pankaj, gave a statement to the police. In the suicide note recovered from the spot, he has claimed his innocence and accused the police of harassment. Avinash Yadav, 50, a resident of Wadhwa Nagar in Zirakpur, had started working for Ajit Jain about three weeks before the robbery. His body was found on the railway tracks near Gazipur in Zirakpur around 10am. The suicide note, which was torn and had blood stains, has been written in Hindi. The robbers had held Jains wife Ritu, daughter Khushboo, and servant Dev Raj hostage at gunpoint before fleeing with the loot. Main bekasoor hoon. Lekin police ki mar or logo ki zilatbhari nigahon ka saamna karne ki himmat nahi hai (I am innocent. But I dont have the courage to face police beating and peoples accusing expressions), mentions the note. Addressing his children, Yadav also asked for their forgiveness and requested (the police) that his family be left alone: Pyare bacho is baap ko maaf karna. Mere baad mere parivar ko pareshan na kiya jaye. We got a call at 10:30am about the body, said , assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Rampal, railway police post in-charge, Lalru. We are probing the case. Postmortem will be conducted on Saturday. Had gone to market when robbers struck Yadav had gone to the market along with watchman Bhagwan Dass when four masked armed men struck at Jains house on the evening of January 9. Even Jain was out for some work at that time. The robbers had held Jains wife Ritu, daughter Khushboo, and servant Dev Raj hostage at gunpoint before fleeing with the loot. While Jain owns cold stores in Lalru, his wife runs an online jewellery boutique. Police had been questioning Yadav and Jains other employees after the crime. Police had been harassing my father, alleged Pankaj Yadav, the deceaseds son. Police team from the Sector-34 station used to summon him again and again. They had even extracted his mobile call details and kept questioning him where he was at the time of the incident. Never complained, seemed normal: Jain Police had been questioning Yadav and other employees, but he never told me about any harassment, said Jain. Jain said Yadav had come for work on Thursday and seemed normal. I could have never guessed that he would taken such an extreme step, he said. Denying that Yadav was being harassed, UT senior superintendent of police (SSP) Nilambari Vijay Jagdale said: We are investigating the robbery and questioned Yadav and other employees. There was no question of harassment. Yadav was not a suspect, said deputy superintendent of police Deepak Yadav. He was questioned twice on basis of his call details. Sepoy Mandeep Singh, 23, who was killed in unprovoked ceasefire violation by Pakistan in the Krishna Ghati sector in Jammu and Kashmir, on Saturday, has left behind an angry and inconsolable family. As father Gurnam Singh sat unmoving in a corner, too shocked to speak, the sepoys younger brother, Jagdeep Singh, 20, vowed to join the Indian Army to avenge the killing. Sepoy Mandeep Singhs family (HT Photo) I am proud of my brother who has sacrificed his life for the country. I will also join the army to kill the countrys enemies, Jagdeep said, adding that he spoke to his brother over phone two days ago. Residents of Mandeeps native village of Alampur in Moonak sub-division, around 70km from Sangrur, are also in shock since hearing the news about 11.30am. Mandeep, who had last visited home on leave in February, was to reach the village to make arrangements for the wedding of his sister next month. He had joined the 22 Sikh regiment around three years ago. His uncle Nirmal Singh is also an ex-serviceman. My nephew was a brave soldier. He wanted to buy a Bullet motorcycle when he visited home next to make arrangements for his sisters wedding, said Nirmal. He added, In the recent past, two to three jawans are being killed on the border every day. The government must resolve the issue with Pakistan. Mandeeps body will reach the village either on Sunday evening or Monday morning, said Jasvir Singh, Lehra SHO. Later in the day, naib tehsildar Hamir Singh and some police officers visited Mandeeps house to offer condolences. At the audio launch of Jiivas upcoming Tamil psychological thriller Kee, actor and Tamil Film Producers Council president Vishal finally addressed the complaint on actor Simbu whose unprofessional behaviour, according to producer Michael Rayappan, resulted in heavy losses for the film AAA, which released last year after multiple delays. Vishal said that hes been asked on several occasions by members of the industry on why he hasnt yet taken action against Simbu in this matter. Let me take this opportunity to apologize to producer Michael Rayappan for not reaching a decision yet in Simbus matter. How can I take action when theres no reaction from his end? I cant even reach him on phone. Let us all be patient and give it some more time. Right now, the focus should be on ensuring Rayappan sirs Kee has a smooth release on February 9, Vishal said. He said he has postponed the release of his film Irumbuthirai to ensure Kee has a wide release. I didnt want our films to clash. Hence, I moved my film to another date. I have also taken off from shooting on February 7 and 8 to be by Rayappan sirs side and make sure that Kee releases without any hassles, he said, earning a rousing response from the audience. Vishal also assured producer Rayappan that hes willing to work with him for free. I would like to use this occasion to inform Rayappan sir that he can approach me anytime with a project. I dont even need remuneration to work with him. Bring a talented director on board and just let me know. Im not sure if this qualifies as help, but I could do this from my end, he said. Vishal wished the entire team of Kee, which marks the debut of director Kalees. Im glad directors like Kalees are introducing audiences to new genres. We need more such talent, he said. Vishal is currently shooting for Sandakozhi 2. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Priyanka Chopra had a surprise visitor at the New York sets of her show, Quantico. The actor was shooting for the latest season of the spy thriller when Nyle DiMarco, an actor and model who was born deaf. Was lovely to have you on set @nyledimarco and your surprise was truly a surprise! Im so glad u did! Lol. Thank you @themarleematlin for being such a fun bundle of energy, Priyanka wrote alongside an Instagram image that she shared of the visit on Friday. She also posted another image of the two together, and a video of them goofing around. DiMarco grew up in a family of which, over 25 members are deaf. DiMarco is a spokesperson for LEAD-K (Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids). He is also a signer and creative collaborator on The ASL App, an app that teaches American Sign Language. In 2016, DiMarco started The Nyle DiMarco Foundation. He found fame after appearing on Dancing with the Stars. Quantico returns for its third season in April. The show also features deaf actor and Academy Award winner Marlee Matlin. Follow @htshowbiz for more From the moment they entered the Bigg Boss 11 house, Shilpa Shinde and Vikas Gupta fought like there was no tomorrow. From name-calling to screaming to crying, the initial few weeks were hell for the two of them and the rest of us who had to put up with it all. What was worse was that no one really knew why they were fighting anyway.But, in a new interview since her big win on the show, Shilpa has finally revealed why her relationship with Vikas was so sour. Shilpa told Mumbai Mirror that Vikas and other producers of her hit show, Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hain, upon realising that she was entering Bigg Boss, did everything in their capacity to sabotage her plans. Vikas Gupta knew that I was going to come in Bigg Boss 11 and he had kept all things ready so that I do not get in the show. They filed a criminal case against me as soon as they came to know that I was going into Bigg Boss. I am not saying that Vikas Gupta is the main culprit but the roots of all this started with him, along with the producer of the Bhabhiji Ghar pe Hai. As a programming head, he could have settled a lot of things earlier too but I remember him saying that Main Aapko ghar pe Bithaunga, she said. While there was clearly enough reason for them to be enemies on the show, Shilpa doesnt feel the same anymore. While she has rejected the idea of being friends with Vikas, she has however said that she might work with him again. In one of the tasks in Bigg Boss, I had promised Vikas that I would work with him on a small digital project. Just a two-day assignment I may have to do with him. And you never know, what he said might just be for the camera. But I can never be friends with Vikas Gupta. He tried to be friends with me on the show. I have already made my list of who will not be invited for my Bigg Boss victory party. Hina Khan is definitely one of the names I do not consider to be in the party, she said. Shilpa is now looking to work in a few Hindi films, web series or as a judge or host of television reality show. She has made up her mind to never go back to television soaps. Follow @htshowbiz for more The number of civilians killed by the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria tripled in 2017, as battles raged in jihadist-held urban areas, a monitor said Friday. Between 3,923 and 6,102 non-combatants were killed in the two countries, said Airwars, a London-based journalist collective that compiles data from public sources. That is sharply up from its estimate of the previous years toll of between 1,243 and 1,904. The coalition backed Iraqi forces in a gruelling battle last year to oust IS from second city Mosul, as well as supporting a Kurdish-dominated force that seized Syrias Raqa city from the jihadists after months of fighting. Airwars said the surge in deaths was likely partly caused by intense fighting in urban areas. But it also said the administration of US President Donald Trump may be partly to blame. This toll coincided with the start of the Trump presidency, which has declared the conflict against ISIS to be a war of annihilation, it said, using an alternative name for IS. The scaling back by the new administration of some measures aimed at protecting civilians may have contributed to the steep increase in casualties, it said. Airwars said the coalition had carried out some 11,573 artillery and air strikes, some 50 percent up on the previous year. More than 70 percent were in Syria. It said 766 attacks last year wounded some 2,443 civilians in both countries. The monitor, which also tracks casualties of Russian operations in Syria, said coalition-linked civilian deaths in 2017 had far outnumbered those attributed to Russia. It said the toll for civilians killed in coalition strikes in Syria had quadrupled compared to 2016, with the battle for Raqa killing at least 1,450 civilians, while in Iraq deaths were up by 87 percent. Between the start of the battle for Mosul in October 2016 and the announcement of its liberation in July, between 1,066 and 1,579 civilians were killed by coalition raids there, Airwars said. Polands deputy foreign minister Marek Magierowski his countrys expertise in mining, especially in coal and copper, could help boost collaboration with India. Magierowski, who was in India for the Bangla Business Conference and the Raisina Dialogue, spoke about bilateral relations, Europes Russia problem and Polands Europe problem. On India-Poland relations: We see a lot of potential in the mining sector. Many major Polish players have been looking at India. Your industry has similar needs and experiences. Coal will remain important to your energy needs despite the problems posed by regulations that have to comply with climate change. Like India, Poland has also decided it cannot give up on coal altogether because of a number of social, economic and cultural reasons. Poland, however, has reordered its priorities in the coal sector. There has been a push in innovation with more money in R&D and clean coal technology. I was in Kolkata recently and we met a number of Coal India representatives and a few dozen Indian companies. We showed our expertise in deep mining. Polish companies hold the world record for deep mining in coal and copper. This is a technology attractive to any country. Coal will be the main sector for cooperation with India. Poland is also looking at the defence sector given the enormous needs of the Indian military. We understand it is a competitive market, but Poland has capabilities in areas like armour and armaments. While European countries like Germany and France will remain our primary trading partners, many Polish firms have now become too large for the regional market and are looking beyond Europe for markets. Economic diplomacy is my principal objective in India. In that regard, Poland wants to rekindle our relations with India. The last time an Indian prime minister visited Poland was in 1979. Our vice-president came here last year. Political contacts and regular ones at that are absolutely crucial. On Polish foreign policy: Poland has been on the UN Security Council since January and wants to cooperate with India in that body. It is now known that Poland has a fair amount of experience with North Korea going back to the Korean War, when we were one of three neutral governments who helped bring the war to a close. Poland is one of only seven European Union countries with an embassy in Pyongyang. Our ambassador to the UN was recently in Washington and gave a mesmerising briefing on his observations about North Korea. One of the vital elements of our foreign policy is the relationship with Russia. Relations have been frozen solely because of UN resolutions. The ball is in Russias court. We expect Moscow to act more rationally and peacefully, we do not accept the annexation of Crimea and the eastern Ukraine, the violations of international law these represent. Russias meddling in the US elections and attempts to influence French and German elections are also sources of concern. Russia has become a practitioner of hybrid warfare. Poland has been sensitising its Western allies to Russias modus operandi and stressing the need to counter this. We have among the best think tanks and analysts on Russia in the world. I want to stress that our attitude to contemporary Russia and Vladimir Putin is not based on Russophobia. We and the Russians are both Slavic and culturally very similar. Many of the Polish elite are enamoured of Russian culture. Some in the West see Poland as an obstacle to better relations with Russia. Our policy is based on realpolitik. Poland would like Russia to be part of a normal world but Moscows interference in the Baltic states, its invasion of Georgia, and placing of nuclear weapons in the enclave of Kaliningrad mitigate against this. Poland and EU relations: We are the European Union. We do not have problem with the EU, only some differences with the European Commission. There are many points of view within the EU on any given policy. Even on Russia there is no consensus over maintaining sanctions, for example. I would say that in nine out of 10 policies, the EU doesnt have a unanimous position. Polands sources of friction with the European Commission the key element being our judicial reforms will not materially affect our standing. We are not afraid of an Article 7 procedure. We will not get to the stage of EU funds being suspended. While Article 7 has been triggered, there are many stages left to go and I dont believe those further stages will happen. There is no threat to Poland. The present ruling party of Poland announced it would carry out judicial reform when it campaigned and it was a key reason it won an absolute majority in Parliament. A majority of Poles are tired of the judiciarys incompetence, corruption and indolence. We ended communist rule in 1989 but many judges continue to have a communist background. The present system has the judges choose their own successors, there is no check and the system lacks balance. Judicial reform is very ticklish and it has aroused suspicions in the European Commission. We do not believe we have violated any EU or international standard or rule. Many of our reforms will actually democratise judicial proceedings. The European Commission is using instruments that are not even mentioned by treaty. Some of their actions have been unlawful. The policy of subsidiarity under the EU says Brussels must not interfere in our social institutions and politics. The EU does not have the mandate to stop us or use Article 7 against us. Germany, France and Italy have carried out similar changes without protest. Gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Kabul and killed at least six people including a foreigner, sparking a 17-hour battle that left terrified guests scrambling to escape and parts of the building ablaze. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the six-storey Intercontinental Hotel on a hilltop overlooking the Afghan capital. Interior ministry spokesperson Najib Danish claimed that Afghan Special Forces ended an overnight siege at Kabuls Intercontinental Hotel on Sunday, killing the last surviving attacker. The siege harks back to the Mumbai attacks on November 26, 2008 when six militants stormed the Taj Mahal Palace hotel and killed at least 30 people over three days. Here are the highlights: 7.50pm: Afghanistans Interior Ministry says 4 Afghans and 14 foreigners were killed in the Kabul Intercontinental Hotel siege. 5:27pm: Spokesman Najib Danish says the weapons used in the hotel attack by the six insurgents were Kalashnikovs and hand grenades. 5:25pm: Interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish says the final casualty toll in the 17-hour Taliban siege at the Intercontinental Hotel has not yet been determined. 5:22pm: The security of the Intercontinental Hotel was handed over to a private company only 21 days ago, says interior ministry spokesman. 5:20pm: The last two attackers were killed by special forces on the 6th floor of the hotel, says the interior ministry spokesman. 5:20pm: Early investigations show six insurgents entered the Intercontinental Hotel from the northern side and stormed the kitchen, says interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish at a press conference. 3:55pm: US ambassador in Kabul John R Bass condemns the Kabul hotel attack. In a statement, the US envoy said, Such violence has no place here or anywhere in the world. The US Embassy is in close contact with Afghan authorities, who are continuing to investigate the incident. 3:45pm: Chief Executive Abdulalh Abdullah condemns Kabul attack, says, I commend the Afghan Forces for their bravery and professional action of rescuing over 100 civilians and killing all terrorists in the insane attack on Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul. I condemn the attack and condole with the victim families. 3:15pm: Five Afghans and one foreigner have been killed, interior ministry deputy spokesperson Nasrat Rahimi told AFP today, adding around 150 people were rescued, including more than 40 foreigners. 2:59pm: President Ashraf Ghani condemns Kabul attack, calls for international consensus against countries that support and harbor terrorists. Ghani assigns a team to probe the incident, Afghan media quoting Presidential Palace. 2:30pm: Taliban claim responsibility for Kabul hotel attack reports AFP. 1pm: Afghan media says gunfire shots can still be heard from the hotel, hours after the government said the siege was over. 12.45pm: Pakistan condemns the attack and calls for cooperation among countries for effectively combating terrorism. Pakistan strongly condemns the brutal terrorist attack at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul last evening. In our view, cooperation among the states is important for effectively combating and eliminating the scourge of terrorism, the Foreign Office said in a statement. 11:50am: Afghan government says the siege is over but clearance operation is ongoing, reports TOLO news. 11:10am: Kabul Internation Hotel siege ends, all gunmen killed, Reuters quotes government as saying. 10:49am: Ministry of interiors spokesperson says Kabul Intercontinental Hotel siege over - 3 attackers killed. 126 people rescued, including 41 foreigners. Confirms 5 civilians killed and 6 wounded. Fire fighters trying to bring hotel blaze under control, Afghan media reports. 10:25am: The ministry of interiors spokesman Najib Danish says so far five civilians have been killed and six wounded, reports TOLO News. 9:45am: No hostages but security forces are searching for 1-2 attackers. Among the 100 hostages rescued, 16 were foreigners, Afghan media reports. 9:30am: Afghan media images show dramatic attempts to escape by hostages at the hotel. Desperate guests and staff trying to escape from burning #Kabul Intercontinental Hotel as siege enters 11th hour. pic.twitter.com/MZrty8WIa3 TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) January 21, 2018 9:15am: At least five people have been killed in the Kabul hotel attack, AFP quotes Afghan spy agency. Five are dead, an official with the Afghan spy agency told AFP, adding 100 hostages have been released. 9:05am: Authorities are unable to reach hotel attack victims as siege continues through the morning, Afghan media reports. 9am: Security sources tells TOLO news 30 people have been rescued, two attackers killed but at least one gunman is hiding on the 8th floor of the hotel. 8:52am: TOLO news reports additional special forces and foreign troops have arrived at the Intercontinental Hotel which has been under siege for over 10 hours. Afghan nationals and foreigners are still inside the hotel. 8am: TOLO news confirms 3 people injured in the attack have been taken to Wazir Akbar Khan hospital. Others have been shifted to the Kabul Emergency hospital and military hospitals. 7:45am: Eyewitnesses who escaped the attack said gunmen randomly shot at hostages, including guests and hotel staff, according to TOLO. 7:30am: Four attackers are inside the building, an official at the National Directorate of Security (NDS) spy agency told AFP. They are shooting at guests, he said. A security personnel points his weapon near the Intercontinental Hotel after a deadly attack in Kabul. (AP Photo) 7:15am: Hotel manager Ahmad Haris Nayab, who managed to escape unhurt, said the attackers had got into the main part of the hotel through a kitchen and people fled amid bursts of gunfire on all sides. 7am: Afghan interior ministry spokesperson Najib Danish said many details of the raid, which came days after a US embassy warning of possible attacks on hotels in the capital, were still unclear and there were no official casualty figures. 6.33am: Heres what we know so far: The attack began at about 9pm (local time), with reports suggesting the gunmen shot at security guards as they made their way into the five-storey building. They targeted staff and guests before special forces were called in. Security forces then cleared the ground floor of the luxury hotel but the attackers are still on the floors above. Some reports said the hotel had been hosting an IT conference attended by provincial officials at the time. One witness told Reuters news agency that the attackers had taken hostages. The attack comes just days after the US embassy in Kabul issued a warning about hotels in the city. The gunmen set off an explosion and sparked fires in the hotel. There is no official word on the number of deaths. 6.28am: An eyewitness tells TOLOnews at least 15 people have been killed in the attack. The death toll is likely to go up. 6.18am: Heavy gunfire & blasts are still heard from Intercon Hotel after almost seven hours of fighting. Two attackers are still holding positions in the third and fourth floors. Additional special forces are dispatched. Lotfullah Najafizada (@LNajafizada) January 21, 2018 6.16am: Nasrat Rahimi, a deputy spokesperson for the Afghanistan interior ministry, says one of the four attackers has been killed and the three others are still battling the forces from inside the hotel. Reports had earlier said two gunmen had been killed. 6.11am: According to The New York Times, commander of the Kabul Garrison Gen Afzal Aman says: The attackers are at one side of the building. There are guests trapped in their rooms. We do not know who are the attackers. There could be two or three of them. 6.07am: More gunfire reported from the hotel. While there is no clarity on the number of deaths, an official said casualty figures will be released once the operation ends. An eyewitness says there have been a number of deaths. 6am: There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack that followed a series of security warnings in recent days to avoid hotels and other locations frequented by foreigners. Here is an advisory released by the US state department on Thursday: Security Alert for #Kabul, #Afghanistan: reports that extremist groups may be planning an attack against hotels in Kabul, such as the Hotel Baron near Hamid Karzai Int'l Airport. Review suggested actions in attached image. For more information, visit: https://t.co/vxivPWIHOP pic.twitter.com/CrCIpXbC2e Travel - State Dept (@TravelGov) January 18, 2018 5.42am: Reports say gunfight resumed around 4am (local time) after a brief period of calm. Additional forces have reached the hotel. 5.15am: A survivor tells TOLOnews that the attackers fired indiscriminately at hotel staff and guests. He says a number of people have been killed . 5.08am: TOLOnews reports: Security source confirms three gunmen involved in Intercontinental hotel attack. He says one has so far been killed but the other two are fighting security forces. One is on the third floor of the hotel and the other is on the fourth floor. 4.50am: #Kabul - explosion and gunfire heard at Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul as siege continues through the night. TOLOnews journalist Ghubar, at the scene, says many people have been evacuated from hotel and wounded have been taken to two hospitals in the capital - no details yet. TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) January 20, 2018 4.27am: Hours after the attack began, firing appears to ease as security forces settle in, reportedly waiting for dawn. 3.54am: Commander of elite forces CRU tells me 30 civilians have been evacuated from Kabul Intercon Hotel, three floors (3rd, 4th, 5th) are completely burned down by assailants. Clearing operation operation underway. No clue on casualties as of yet. #KABUL Ehsanullah Amiri (@euamiri) January 20, 2018 3.26am: A TOLOnews journalist reports that no gunfire can be heard now and a few ambulances have entered the hotel compound. There is no official word on casualties. 3.04am: Many details of the incident are still unclear, but Interior ministry spokesperson Najib Danish has said a private company had taken over security about three weeks ago. 2.53am: TOLOnews reports that gunfire cant be heard at the hotel, but ambulances and firetrucks still wait outside the hotel compound. 2.36am: Rahimi says the first and second floors of the hotel have been secured by security forces, who are now trying to clear the fourth and fifth floors. Special forces are being lowered by helicopters onto the rooftop of the hotel. 2.35am: Seven wounded people have been taken to hospital, interior ministry deputy spokesman Nasrat Rahimi tells AFP, adding two attackers have been killed. Some other guests have been rescued. We will be able to release casualty figures once the operation ends. 2.22am: TOLOnews reports that ambulances and firefighting trucks have been held back from the scene of the attack. 2.17am: Shahzad Aryobee, Afghanistans minister of telecommunications, was earlier quoted as saying that 105 employees of his agency were among those trapped inside the hotel. Im here at the scene, he said, but the police wont let us go inside. 2.05am: Reports say the fourth floor of the hotel, which has four restaurants and a swimming pool, is on fire. 1.35am: The Intercontinental Hotel, located on a hilltop and heavily protected like most public buildings in the city, was previously attacked by Taliban fighters in 2011. 1.23am: Reports say at least two of the raiders have been killed as Afghan Special Forces cleared the first floor and moved to the second, battling the attackers who appeared to have a large supply of hand grenades. 1.15am: On Thursday, the US embassy in Kabul had issued a warning to US citizens, saying: We are aware of reports that extremist groups may be planning an attack against hotels in Kabul. 1.02am: We are hiding in our rooms. I beg the security forces to rescue us as soon as possible before they reach and kill us, a guest hiding in his room in the hotel tells AFP. 12.55am: Heres what we know so far: Four gunmen are attacking Kabuls landmark Intercontinental Hotel, shooting at guests. An official says the attackers were armed with small weapons and rocket-propelled grenades when they entered the hotel. They are now on the third and fourth floors fighting with our forces. We dont know the details of casualties yet but they set the kitchen on fire, interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told AFP. The fourth floor of the hotel is also on fire, the NDS official said. There was no immediate information on casualties in the latest attack on the state-owned 1960s hotel, which is not part of the global InterContinental chain. Some of the occupants inside the hotel are hiding on the second floor, a security source said. The Intercontinental was last targeted in June 2011 when a suicide attack claimed by the Taliban killed 21 people, including 10 civilians. 12.47am: We dont know the details yet but our forces are in the area to bring them down, ministry of interior spokesperson Najib Danish says. 12.40am: A man who has escaped the attack told me attackers were throwing guests from 3rd & 4th floors of Kabul Intercon Hotel. He saw four dead bodies outside the hotel. While firing and throwing people from windows of upper floors, assailants were shouting 'Allah-u Akbar', he added Ehsanullah Amiri (@euamiri) January 20, 2018 12.32am: TOLOnews says its journalist at the spot can still hear gunfire. 12.08am: TOLOnews reports that people near Intercontinental Hotel have reported having heard two more explosions at the hotel. 12:06am: Pakistan condemned the attack on Kabul hotel. Pakistan condemns the terrorist attack on a hotel in Kabul. Terrorism is not acceptable, tweeted Pakistans foreign affairs ministry spokesperson. 12:03am: Four attackers are inside the building, an official at the National Directorate of Security (NDS) spy agency told AFP. They are shooting at guests, he said. 11:54pm: A number of guests and staff have been taken to a secure area by Crisis Response Unit members & Special Forces who are carrying out a clearance operation. At least 3 terrorists still inside hotel: ANI quoting media 11:42pm: Afghanistans Tolonews quotes eyewitnesses saying a number of people have been killed but details have not yet been disclosed as shooting is still ongoing 11:35pm: According to reports, suicide attackers have set fire to parts of the Hotel 11:28pm: Details of the incident, including information on any casualties, were unclear but the attackers appeared to have included suicide bombers, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said. (With agency inputs) Afghan Special Forces ended an overnight siege at Kabuls Intercontinental Hotel on Sunday, killing the last gunman from a group of three attackers who stormed the hotel, taking hostages and battling security forces for hours. (LIVE UPDATES) Two gunmen were killed on Saturday night. It was initially reported that four gunmen had attacked the hotel. Interior Ministry spokesperson Najib Danish said at least five other people had been killed and six wounded, a lower casualty total than earlier feared, while 153 people, including 41 foreigners had been evacuated. As day broke on Sunday, thick clouds of black smoke could be seen pouring from the building. Several armoured US military vehicles with heavy machine guns could be seen close to the hotel along with Afghan police units. The raid came just days after a US embassy warning of possible attacks on hotels in Kabul. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The raid was the latest in a long series of attacks which have underlined the citys precarious situation and the ability of militants to mount high profile operations aimed at undermining confidence in the Western-backed government. Hotel manager Ahmad Haris Nayab, who escaped unhurt, said the attackers had got into the main part of the hotel through a kitchen before going through the hotel. According to one witness, who did not want to be named, the attackers took hotel staff and guests hostage. The Intercontinental Hotel, an imposing 1960s structure set on a hilltop and heavily protected like most public buildings in Kabul, was previously attacked by Taliban fighters in 2011. It is one of two main luxury hotels in the city and had been due to host an information technology conference on Sunday. More than 100 IT managers and engineers were on site when the attack took place, Ahmad Waheed, an official at the telecommunications ministry, said. US warning The attack, just days after a United Nations Security Council visit to Kabul to allow senior representatives of member states to assess the situation in Afghanistan, may lead to a further tightening of security in Kabul. Large areas of the city centre are already closed off behind high concrete blast walls and police checkpoints but the ability of the attackers to get into a well-protected hotel frequented by both government officials and foreigners demonstrated how difficult it remains to prevent high profile attacks. Danish said a private company had taken over security of the hotel about three weeks ago. The State Department said on Saturday it was monitoring the situation and was in contact with Afghan authorities to determine whether any US citizens had been affected. Captain Tom Gresback, spokesperson for the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, said they were also watching closely but it was not clear what role international forces were taking in suppressing the attack. Afghan National Defense and Security Forces are leading the response efforts. According to initial reports, no Resolute Support or (US forces) members were injured in this incident, he said in an emailed statement. Although Resolute Support says the Taliban has come under pressure after the United States increased assistance to Afghan security forces and stepped up air strikes against insurgents, security remains precarious. As pressure on the battlefield has increased, security officials have warned that the danger of attacks on high-profile targets in Kabul and other cities would increase. After repeated attacks in Kabul, notably an incident last May in which a truck bomber killed at least 150 people outside the German embassy, security has been further tightened. While it shares the same name, the hotel in Kabul is not part of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), which issued a statement in 2011 saying that the hotel Inter-continental in Kabul is not part of IHG and has not been since 1980. The death of a petty businessman in an apparent fake gun battle in the Pakistani port city of Karachi has resulted in the suspension of a top cop known as an encounter specialist and triggered a debate on extrajudicial killings. Pakistans Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Friday took notice of the alleged extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a 27-year-old man from the restive South Waziristan tribal region, and sought a report from the police chief of Sindh province within a week. Senior superintendent of police Rao Anwar, under scrutiny for alleged involvement in the death of Mehsud, was removed from his post by inspector general of police AD Khawaja after an investigation team recommended he be suspended to ensure a fair and transparent inquiry. Mehsuds case featured prominently on social media, with many people demanding action against Anwar. One commentator said it was not safe for Pashto-speaking to move in public in Karachi as they were being seen as terrorists. Senior journalist Mazhar Abbas tweeted that with such encounters, the rate of extortion by police rises significantly. Anwar, a controversial police officer in Sindh, once told a crime reporter in an interview that he drew inspiration from Indian gangster movies, and that his desire was to clean up Karachi and rid it of political and religious criminals. Earlier this month, Anwar claimed to have gunned down four members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in a gun battle near Shah Latif Town in Karachi. According to him, Mehsud had links with the outlawed Taliban and was living in Karachis Sohrab Goth area using a fake name. Rehman Mehsud, a cousin of Mehsud, told the media his family had no connection with the Taliban and had actually fled to Karachi after the militants took over parts of Waziristan. Mehsud ran a small clothes store on the outskirts of Karachi and had been kidnapped a few weeks ago. His relatives said he was fond of modelling and had a Facebook page with images from a recent photo shoot. Anwar and his team insisted Mehsud and his partners were planning a major terror attack in Karachi when they were killed. Police officials have privately said this is not true and Anwar was looking for someone to kill so that he could claim credit for a foiled terror plot. Anwar is seen as close to the military authorities and played an important role in operations conducted by the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers against terrorists and criminals since 2016. Several gurdwara managements in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta have joined the ban on Indian officials, and for the first time, among those prohibited from their premises are members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). But as the movement spreads in Canada, members of the management committees of multiple gurdwaras in Ontario, where the trend started, have said the decision had no validity since it was not approved by the relevant governing bodies. Four members of the Ontario Khalsa Darbar, better known as the Dixie gurdwara, said that though the president of their gurdwara, Gurpreet Singh Bal, made the original announcement, they were not aware about this decision, and this issue was never discussed in the committee meeting and no resolution was passed. They went on to add that the boycott decision could be Gurpreet Singh Bals personal opinion. The committee members who are opposing the ban are Gurinder Singh Bhullar, Navjeet Singh, Amrik Singh Deol and Paramjeet Singh Boleena. Members of gurdwara managements at two places of worship in Brampton, a suburb of Toronto, too have come out against the ban. Five directors of Gurdwara Sri Guru Nanak Sikh Center and Gurdwara Brampton Sikh Sangat jointly issued a statement saying they were surprised when the announcement included their gurdwaras. We want to make it clear, they said, that the committees never discussed this matter, pass(ed) this matter and no one has been allowed to add these two names (of the gurdwaras) in the list. They maintained the gurdwaras were open to anyone and there is no such restriction now. Among those who issued this statement were Sukhwant Singh Rai, Sarwan Singh Gill, Sarwan Singh Sandhu, Pushpinder Singh Atwal and Mahinder Singh Grewal. Meanwhile, a statement issued by a spokesperson for the Western gurdwaras, Moninder Singh, said the recent steps take by gurdwaras in Ontario to impose the ban on Indian officials was a strong declaration that Sikhs residing in Canada will not give in or bow down to the interference and pressure placed upon them by the Indian state and their representatives. That initiative was moved forward in western Canada, the statement said, by a total of 16 gurdwaras in these provinces spearheaded by the Gurdwara Sahib Dasmesh Darbar in Surrey, British Columbia, and Gurdwara Dasmesh Culture Centre in Calgary, Alberta. Earlier, gurdwaras in Ontario and three more in Quebec had signed on to the formal declaration of the ban. Moninder Singh said these gurdwaras reserve the right to bar access to the stage (up to and including entry) to officials of the Indian government and will include, but not be limited to, Indian elected officials, Indian consular officials, and members of organisations who seek to undermine the Sikh nation and Sikh institutions (RSS, Shiv Sena, etc.). The statement added, To be clear, no individual is being banned from Gurdwara Sahibs, but Indian representatives in official capacity will not be permitted to address the sangat in Guru Darbar and sewadars from each Gurdwara Sahib may individually choose to which degree they will allow Indian officials access. Among the reasons given, like in the Ontario instance, were alleged denial of Indian visas and interference in the affairs of gurdwaras. While they are being targeted in this series of orchestrated bans, Indian diplomats in Canada offered no comment when contacted by Hindustan Times. In a statement, the external affairs ministry spokesperson said last week: We take no cognisance of fringe elements which spread hate and communal disharmony. While members of gurdwara committees have disagreed with the policy in Ontario, pro-Khalistan activist Sukhminder Singh Hansra, who played a key role in the coordinated move, claimed, The action of ban (has been) welcomed by almost 100% of managements of gurdwaras and Sikh organisations. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Myanmar is making final preparations to take back the first batch of Rohingya Muslims who had fled conflict in troubled Rakhine state, state media said on Saturday, despite growing doubts about the plan among refugees and in the United Nations. Rakhine state chief minister Nyi Pu insisted on completion of the finishing touches on buildings, medical clinics and sanitation infrastructures during a visit to repatriation camps in the state on Friday, the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said. It published a photo of his delegation standing by a long, wooden house that will be used to house returnees at the camp near the town of Maungtaw. A wire-mesh fence topped by barbed wire appears in the background of the photo. Over 655,500 Muslim Rohingya fled to Bangladesh after the Myanmar military cracked down in the northern part of Rakhine in response to militant attacks on security forces on August 25. The United Nations described the operation as ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya, which Myanmar denies. Myanmar will start receiving Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh at two reception centres and the temporary camp near Maungtaw starting on Tuesday and continuing over the next two years, under an agreement the two countries signed this week. Bangladesh will provide an advance list of prospective returnees with forms attesting to their residency in Myanmar, the newspaper said. Some returnees will cross over by land and others via a river along the border, it said. Rohingya refugees at the sprawling Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh are balking at going back until Myanmar can guarantee their safety, among other demands listed in a petition drawn up by camp leaders and shown to Reuters. Even as Myanmar gets ready to start receiving the Rohingya next week, more of them are fleeing continued military operations in Rakhine, newly arrived refugees camp have told Reuters. More than 100 Rohingya Muslims from northern Rakhine fled into Bangladesh and scores more were waiting to cross the Naf river that forms the border, they said. Concentration camps Rohingya Muslim insurgents said on Saturday the repatriation plan was not acceptable and the Burmese terrorist government is deceitfully and crookedly offering Rohingya refugees to settle down in so-called temporary camps. Burma is the former name of Myanmar. Repatriated Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh will never be able to settle down in their own ancestral lands and villages, rather than spending not only the rest of their lives but also the lives of their next generations to come in those concentration camps, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) said in a statement on Twitter. Myanmar has said it would build a transit camp that can house 30,000 returnees before they are allowed to return to their place of origin or nearest to their place of origin. Government spokesman Zaw Htay did not respond to requests for comment on the ARSA statement. Paul Vrieze, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesman in Myanmar, cautioned that the returnees must not be rushed out of Bangladesh prematurely without the informed consent of refugees or the basic elements of lasting solutions in place. Further measures are also required to ensure safe, voluntary and sustainable repatriation of refugees to their places of origin and to address the underlying root causes of the crisis, he told Reuters. The UNHCR, which is helping to administer the refugee camps, is not involved in the repatriation exercise between Bangladesh and Myanmar. South Africas ruling African National Congress (ANC) declined on Saturday to comment on a report its executive plans to force Jacob Zuma to quit as president, as its leaders gather to outline the partys programme for the coming year. National broadcaster eNCA said on Saturday that the ANCs National Executive Committee (NEC) had resolved on Friday to ask Zuma to resign and that, if he refused, he would be forced to step down by the partys six-strong leadership group. The station did not name its sources. An anonymous NEC member quoted by online news site News24 said that decision had been reached unanimously. Zumas second presidential term is due to run until 2019. The newly elected NEC made no mention of his possible early exit in a statement it issued after meeting for the first time on Thursday and Friday under the partys new leader, Cyril Ramaphosa. Asked about the reports that Zuma would be asked to resign, an ANC spokeswoman said: We cant confirm rumours of things that we dont know. The NEC has issued a statement on the totality of discussions yesterday. DIVIDED PARTY Zumas presidency has been tainted by a series of corruption allegations, all of which he denies. He retains the support of one part of the ANC leadership, but many others in the party argue that he has tarnished the image of Africas oldest liberation movement. While he has been in office, the economy has also slowed to a near-standstill. Ramaphosa succeeded Zuma as ANC head last month, making him likely to replace Zuma as the countrys next president. The partys Secretary-General Ace Magashule said on Thursday that Zumas early removal as head of state was not on the agenda of the NEC meeting, which runs until Sunday. But in recent days Ramaphosa has gone on the offensive against companies controlled by the Gupta family, businessmen friends of Zuma accused of unduly using political connections to win work with the state. They deny all wrongdoing. That has fuelled speculation the new ANC leader and his allies are moving to lobby support for Zumas removal. In its statement following the first half of the meeting, the NEC said officials led by President Ramaphosa will continue their engagement with President Jacob Zuma to ensure effective coordination between the ANC and government. The main agenda item for the second part of the meeting, which will run until Sunday, is the partys programme for the coming year. Markets have rallied since Ramaphosas election as ANC leader in December, as investors have warmed to his promises to root out corruption and kick-start economic growth. Any sign that Zuma could step down before his second presidential term ends in 2019 has tended to lift South African assets, including the rand currency. The Trump administrations first defence strategy seeks to maintain a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region and prepare America for a power competition with Russia and China, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis has said. Unveiling the new defence strategy, Mattis told a Washington audience great power competitionnot terrorismis now the primary focus of Americas national security. As a result he sought to increase the lethality of the American military. In an apparent reference to Russia, he warned against threaten[ing] Americas experiment in democracy. If you challenge us, it will be your longest and worst day, he warned during his speech at the John Hopkins. We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists, but great power competitionnot terrorismis now the primary focus of US national security, he said. This strategy is fit for our timeproviding the American people the military required to protect our way of life, stand with our allies, and live up to our responsibility to pass intact to the next generation those freedoms we enjoy today, he said. Rogue regimes like North Korea & Iran persist in taking outlaw actions that threaten regional and even global stability, he said, adding that oppressing their own people and shredding their dignity and human rights, they push their warped views outward. And despite the defeat of the Islamic States physical caliphate, violent extremist organisations like the Lebanese Hezbollah, ISIS, and Al Qaeda continue to sow hatred, destroying peace and murdering innocents across the globe, the Defence Secretary asserted. We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia, nations that seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian modelspursuing veto authority over other nations economic, diplomatic, and security decisions, he said. As part of the defence strategy, he said the US is going to build a more lethal force, will strengthen traditional alliances while building new partnerships with other nations. Asserting that everything we do must contribute to the lethality of our military, Mattis said changing US forces posture will prioritise readiness for war fighting for major combat, making it strategically predictable for the allies and operationally unpredictable for any adversary. The 14-page unclassified version of the national defence strategy said that one of its objective is maintaining favourable regional balances of power in the Indo-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and the Western Hemisphere. A free and open Indo-Pacific region provides prosperity and security for all. We will strengthen our alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific to a networked security architecture capable of deterring aggression, maintaining stability, and ensuring free access to common domains, the strategy said. Without specifically mentioning India, Japan or other countries in the region, the strategy says with key countries in the region, the US will bring together bilateral and multilateral security relationships to preserve the free and open international system. China, it said, is leveraging military modernisation, influence operations, and predatory economics to coerce neighbouring countries to reorder the Indo-Pacific region to their advantage. As China continues its economic and military ascendance, asserting power through an all-of-nation long-term strategy, it will continue to pursue a military modernisation program that seeks Indo-Pacific regional hegemony in the near-term and displacement of the United States to achieve global pre-eminence in the future. The most far-reaching objective of this defence strategy is to set the military relationship between our two countries on a path of transparency and non-aggression, the strategy said. Concurrently, Russia seeks veto authority over nations on its periphery in terms of their governmental, economic, and diplomatic decisions, to shatter the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and change European and Middle East security and economic structures to its favour, it said. The use of emerging technologies to discredit and subvert democratic processes in Georgia, Crimea, and eastern Ukraine is concern enough, but when coupled with its expanding and modernising nuclear arsenal the challenge is clear, the strategy said. The veteran rocker had been touring with a fractured hip. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has revealed that Tom Petty died from an accidental overdose of the drugs he was taking to combat emphysema, knee problems and, most significantly, a fractured hip. Yesterday's toxicology report described the cause of death as: "Multi-system organ failure due to resuscitated cardiopulmonary arrest due to mixed drug toxicity." The substances found in his system included fentanyl, oxycodone, temazepam, alprazolam, citalopram, acetylfentanyl, and despropionyl fentanyl. In 2016, fentanyl was a factor in over 64,000 deaths in the United States - a year on year increase of 22%. The full Medical Examiner's statement reads as follows: Coroner Case Number 2017-07259 PETTY, Thomas The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner conducted an examination on the body of Thomas Earl Petty, age 66, on October 3rd, 2017. The findings of the examination have established the cause of death to be as follows: Cause of death: Multisystem organ failure due to resuscitated cardiopulmonary arrest due to mixed drug toxicity (fentanyl, oxycodone, temazepam, alprazolam, citalopram, acetylfentanyl, and despropionyl fentanyl) Advertisement Other conditions: Coronary artery atherosclerosis, emphysema How injury occurred: Mixed drug intoxication The manner of death has been determined to be: Accident Having been informed beforehand of the findings, Tom Petty's wife, Dana, and daughter, Adria, released a statement explaining why he'd been in so much physical pain and welcoming the renewed discussion about the opioid crisis, which it's likely to trigger. You can read what they had to say in full here: Exxon Mobil Corp. made an oil and gas discovery in Papua New Guinea and signed a deal that would allow the oil company to explore for more off the coast of Ghana. Exxon Mobil, headquartered in Irving, said it made the discovery in the western province of Papua New Guinea, an island nation located north of Australia. Exxon Mobil said it drilled an exploration well about 8,900 feet deep and found oil and gas in sandstone reservoirs, confirming that the gas-rich field encompassing the province's Toro and Digimu sandstone reservoirs extends southeast. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate January brought some strong but mixed messages to the marijuana business community. On the one hand, California legalized adult recreational use of marijuana Jan. 1, bringing the scale and business heft of the world's sixth largest economy to the issue. On the other hand, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a lifting of the Obama-era "Cole memo," which had given comfort to marijuana businesses in states that had already voted for legalization. Sessions did not order any particular sort of crackdown but rather returned the authority to prosecutors to enforce federal drug laws, even in "legalization" states. Marijuana Business Daily's Vice President Chris Walsh told me a crackdown remains unlikely in states that have made marijuana legal, but business owners did not appreciate the signal. Despite those contradictory signs, pot will be legal in Texas much sooner that we expect. Maybe not in two years and possibly not in four. But if it's not totally legal for recreational adult use in 10 years I'll eat my hemp-woven shirt. (Note: I don't actually own one yet.) At first glance, marijuana legalization seems like a deeply back-burner question in Texas. Compared to other states, Texas has an extremely narrow medical-use legal framework, in which patients with epilepsy can obtain a doctor's permission to use a low-THC potency extract of cannabis called cannabinoid oil. You can't get high from this stuff. But things change fast. I expect medium-term legalization in Texas, although I've got no dog in the fight. I'm not a user, and I don't particularly want my kids to get easier access to pot. Mostly I'm just a guy who believes in the coercive power of money. The money case for legalization is strong. Strong enough to overcome a lot of natural resistance even in, or especially in, Texas. Advocates for legalization who aren't users tend to adopt four main lines of argumentation, which I'll characterize as: High cost of criminal justice. Reducing criminal financial power. Pro-business. Tax revenue potential. Among that spectrum of reasons, there's a coalition waiting to be built. Let's take them one at a time. The criminal justice argument is that we have a nasty habit of incarcerating people, and handing down felony convictions, far in excess of the harm caused to society by the sale, possession and use of the drug. U.S. Senate hopeful Beto O'Rourke, a Democratic congressman from El Paso, embraces legalization as an important platform of his candidacy, precisely for this type of argument. O'Rourke said he has campaigned all over Texas and met folks for whom a marijuana-related conviction has meant a life sentence to poverty, interfering with their ability to work, go to school or get a loan. O'Rourke isn't a newcomer to the legalization argument either, as he literally wrote a book on it in 2011, "Dealing Death and Drugs: The Big Business of Dope In the U.S. and Mexico," with Susie Byrd, then a fellow city council member from El Paso. "We've spent a trillion dollars on the 'war on drugs' over the last 45 years," he told me, "and we've achieved zero of our policy goals." Harris County's district attorney announced a policy in March of not arresting folks for small amounts of marijuana possession, a small criminal justice reform that may portend future trends in Texas cities. The second argument, reducing criminal power, rests on the markets-based realization that criminalizing marijuana - as we learned from Prohibition - greatly increases the power and wealth of criminal gangs. Legalize, the thought goes, and you undercut the profitability and corrupting power of the Mexican drug cartels operating on both sides of our border. The pro-business case for legalizing marijuana nationally, or in Texas, is undergoing an interesting shift as markets mature. In the early days of legalization, in states such as Washington and Colorado, the mom and pop shops of scrappy entrepreneurs seemed poised to benefit the most. As Fivethirtyeight.com reported recently, industrial-scale agricultural techniques aren't far away, however, and wholesale prices are dropping. In a less regulated market, its reporting claims, 10 medium-sized Midwest farms could grow enough product to supply the entire nation. As markets naturally trend toward efficiency, the business of marijuana may morph into something far more "corporate" than anything we've seen so far. Finally, the state tax-revenue potential of marijuana is compelling. Walsh told me the $1 billion estimate of state tax revenue bandied about for California might not happen right away, but likely will be reached a few years down the line. That much tax revenue, plus the businesses built to provide the product, create financial momentum for legalization nationwide. With four years' worth of data from Colorado's retail sales experience, we can project the revenue potential for Texas. Colorado's state pot revenues hit $247 million last year. If Texas raised the same amount of revenue per capita as Colorado, it would reap more than $1.2 billion per year. That kind of money would matter a lot in a state allergic to income taxes. Polling firm Gallup reported in October that 64 percent of Americans support legalization. Perhaps even more interestingly for Texans, 51 percent of Republicans nationwide support legalization, up 9 percent from the prior year. Legalization rolls on. Both Canada and Massachusetts will have legal adult recreational retail sales by summer. For all I know, Texas might be the last state to legalize marijuana. But O'Rourke disagrees and says that as he crisscrosses the state campaigning, the issue comes up in cities and small towns all across Texas. "If Texas were to move to legalization, it would be over. (Federal) prohibition would end," O'Rourke said. "I think we could be the first state in the South." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The U.S. could become a net exporter of natural gas in 2018 for the first time since 1957 due to increased sales to Mexico, the opening of new markets through liquefied natural gas and declining imports from Canada, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States is shipping LNG to at least 20 foreign markets, the Energy Department said, and exports of LNG will continue to grow as terminals on the Gulf Coast reach capacity and companies expand or develop new terminals. The Houston company Cheniere has been exporting LNG since early 2016 and plans to expand its Sabine Pass complex and open a terminal in Corpus Christi by 2019. Two other Houston companies, Freeport LNG and Kinder Morgan, are scheduled to begin exporting liquefied natural gas later this year, Freeport LNG out of its Quintana Island terminal and Kinder Morgan out from its Elba Island LNG project in Georgia. Sempra Energy expects to start up its Cameron LNG project in Louisiana in 2019. Several companies, including Tellurian of Houston, the venture of Cheniere founder Charif Souki, have proposed Gulf Coast projects that would launch operations on the next decade. These projects are part of the transformation of Houston and the Gulf Coast into a global hub of energy exports, the result of booming U.S. production unleashed by the so-called shale revolution. U.S. crude exports - prohibited until late 2015, when Congress lifted a 40-year ban - have surged, hitting 1.7 million barrels a day in October, according to the Energy Department. Most of it is moving through of Houston.Through the first 11 months of 2017, about 75 percent of U.S. crude exports was shipped from the Port of Houston, according to WiserTrade, a nonprofit research group that tracks U.S. trade. Natural gas exports have helped support domestic natural gas prices, the Energy Department said. Natural gas spot prices averaged $3.01 per million British thermal units last year - about 50 cents higher than in 2016, when prices reached a near-20-year low. Higher prices contributed to a decline in domestic consumption of natural gas in 2017. It fell 6 percent from 2016, the Energy Department said. Higher natural gas prices meant fewer power plants switched to other fuels to generate electricity. Exports of natural gas - much of it produced in Texas shale fields - to Mexico are expected to grow quickly as the country shifts its power production to the cleaner burning fuel. Pipeline capacity to Mexico is projected to nearly double by 2019. Additional growth in natural gas pipeline exports to Mexico, however, will be contingent on the timely completion of Mexico's connecting pipelines, which so far have experienced construction delays, according to the Energy Department. U.S.-marketed natural gas production increased by about 1 percent in 2017, according to EIA's preliminary estimates for the year. Regionally, natural gas production growth was concentrated in Appalachia-primarily in the Marcellus and Utica shales. Other regions have also increased production, including the Anadarko region in Texas and Oklahoma and the Bakken region in North Dakota. Texas is an increasingly attractive target for cybercriminals across the globe with its 28 million residents and target-rich environment of energy, technology and hospitality companies. The state, in fact, suffered the highest number of malware attacks in the U.S. during the first quarter of last year, according to data released in June from security firm Malwarebytes. While that fact may not have been known, it certainly wasn't lost on the patients of San Antonio women's medical practices Northeast OB/GYN Associates and the Institute for Women's Health. They received the startling news in August that hackers may have stolen some of their personal information or credit or debit card data. The San Antonio obstetrics practices, both under the same parent company, Consultants in Women's Health, said a so-called keylogger virus was installed on their networks on June 5. The virus was discovered July 6 and the practices took action to remove it "from the majority of all network computers and terminal servers by July 11, 2017, resolving it completely by July 13, 2017," both said in statements at the time. It's a growing problem for big and small companies alike as hackers grow more and more brazen - and skilled at their jobs. It's particularly challenging for smaller businesses that don't have a dedicated staff or big enough IT budget to guard against attacks. The increasing threat has given rise to the need for cyber insurance for small companies - a type of protection once reserved for big corporations with significant IT budgets. "Cyberattacks oftentimes have severe consequences for small businesses, including in many cases precipitating bankruptcy, just due to some of the lack of resources," said Patrick Thielen, senior vice president of financial lines at Chubb Limited, which offers cyber insurance. Only about 40 percent of medium- and small-sized companies buy the coverage, according to a report released in November by Argo Group International Holdings, a Bermuda-based underwriter of specialty insurance and re-insurance products. Employees at both Northeast OB/GYN and the Institute for Women's Health said in nearly identical emailed statements that their practices had cyber liability insurance in place before the incident, and continue to carry such coverage. While cyber insurance policies differ, they generally cover lost revenue as well as the cost of recovering data from an attack. "This kind of insurance should be considered as part of any business plan in this day and age," wrote Nancy Villa, IT director for the Institute. Both practices also said they had security measures in place, such as "network filtering and security monitoring, firewalls, antivirus software and password protection" prior to the attack, but implemented additional safeguards after the keylogger virus infiltrated their system. Large companies like Equifax, which suffered a massive data breach that exposed sensitive data on almost half of all U.S. consumers in July, are constantly at risk for cyberattacks. The WannaCry ransomware attack, which has been blamed on North Korea, took down computers at organizations of all sizes from Russia to Taiwan in May. But smaller companies, especially those in Texas, are increasingly attractive targets for hackers, according to a June report published for the first quarter of 2017 by the security firm Malwarebytes. Texas consumers and businesses reported losing about $77.1 million to internet criminals in 2016, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Internet Crime Complaint Center report released earlier in 2017. More than $4.5 million was lost that year in the state just to corporate data breaches, according to that report. "Texas is a primary hotbed for malware activity," Malwarebytes warns, with its combination of a large population, highly targeted industries and sheer number of malware incidents. Argo Group, which surveyed 200 organizations in the U.S. and U.K. in September, found that a little more than 60 percent of the small- and medium-sized organizations experienced some kind of cyber incident in the last 12 months. While a large company may be seen as "more of a target for the hacking community," due to the large amounts of data they collect, it doesn't mean small businesses are safe from cyber criminals, said Simon White, senior vice president of cyber for Argo Group, which offers the coverage. "A lot of these hackers want to potentially get to the larger insureds via infiltrating a smaller business," White said. "So for example, a vendor's got a relationship with a large national entity, and the hackers think: Well, we can actually utilize the lack of security on the smaller firm side to get to the larger." To further complicate the issue, small businesses aren't investing as many resources to secure their business against attacks, White said. Brett Piatt, CEO of San Antonio data security firm Jungle Disk, said that can make it difficult for small businesses to qualify for cyber insurance. "It's really complicated to go through the underwriting process right now to fill out an application. And then when you fill out an application, a lot of them get rejected because they're not doing the technical things that they need to be doing in order to be able to be insurable," Piatt said. When small businesses try to start the process to get cyber insurance, they are sent a questionnaire anywhere from 10 to 25 pages long in which they are expected to explain their "IT processes, controls and systems," Piatt said. "Small businesses don't have answers to all of these questions," Piatt said. "And if they go through and get a consultant to come in and help them answer all of these, then they basically end up with a risk profile where the insurer basically says: I can't underwrite insurance for you until you go do all of these things you're not doing." He used an analogy of running a restaurant and having slippery floors because they are covered with castor oil. "Your general liability insurance person is going to be like, you need to clean that up or I'm not going to insure you for slip and fall. And a lot of small businesses are running their IT in that way," Piatt said. Andrew Kellett, an analyst at digital research and consulting firm Ovum, said small businesses increasingly need cyber insurance to protect themselves from both financial and regulatory damages. "I think it's still reasonably early days, especially when you're looking at the smaller end of the marketplace, because those sorts of organizations are probably just starting to look at the costs and the budget issues that would be involved in doing something like that," Kellett said. "In terms of do they need to do it, yes they probably do need to do it for a number of reasons, for their protection when things go wrong, for the regulatory issues that probably will start to push back." WASHINGTON - The federal government shut down for the first time in more than four years Friday after senators rejected a temporary spending patch and bipartisan efforts to find an alternative fell short as a midnight deadline came and went. Republican and Democratic leaders both said they would continue to talk, raising the possibility of a solution over the weekend. Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said Friday that the conflict has a "really good chance" of being resolved before government offices open Monday, suggesting that a shutdown's impacts could be limited. But the White House drew a hard line immediately after midnight, saying it would not negotiate over a central issue - immigration - until government funding is restored. "We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. "This is the behavior of obstructionist losers, not legislators. When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform." Both parties confronted major political risks with 10 months to go until the midterm elections. Republicans resolved not to submit to the minority party's demands to negotiate, while Democrats largely unified to use the shutdown deadline to force concessions on numerous issues - including protections for hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants. The standoff culminated in a late-night Senate vote that failed to clear a 60-vote hurdle, sending congressional leaders and President Donald Trump back to the starting line after days of political posturing on all sides. "A government shutdown was 100 percent avoidable. Completely avoidable. Now it is imminent," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor following the vote. "Perhaps across the aisle, some of our Democratic colleagues are feeling proud of themselves, but what has their filibuster accomplished? . . . The answer is simple: Their very own government shutdown." The early contours of the blame game appeared to cut against Trump and the Republicans, who control all levers of government but cannot pass major legislation without at least partial support from Senate Democrats. According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, Americans said by a 20-point margin that they would blame a shutdown on Trump and the GOP rather than Democrats. A government shutdown causing employee furloughs has never occurred under unified party control of Congress and the White House. Some furloughs of White House employees began immediately early Saturday. The midnight drama came after an unusually tranquil day inside the Capitol, where visible tensions remained at a low simmer as various parties undertook quiet talks to discuss ways to avoid the shutdown. Republicans started the day eager to show a united front: House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and McConnell met Friday morning, determined to hold firm to a strategy they had crafted nearly a week prior: Make Democrats an offer they could not refuse by attaching a long-term extension of the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, as well as the delay of some unpopular health-care taxes. And if they did refuse, the leaders believed, the public backlash would be intense - particularly in states where vulnerable Democratic senators are seeking reelection in November. McConnell delivered a morning salvo on the Senate floor, declaring that Democrats had been led into a "box canyon" by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. But by midday, McConnell's strategy threatened to be upended by Trump - who phoned Schumer and invited him to the White House for a private meeting with no other congressional leaders. That immediately raised Republicans' suspicions on Capitol Hill that Trump might be tempted to cut a deal with his fellow New Yorker - much as he did in the early stages of a September standoff - that would undercut the GOP negotiating strategy and produce a deal that congressional conservatives could not stomach. White House aides assured top congressional leaders that no deal would emerge from the meeting, that it was merely meant to gauge the posture of Schumer and the Democrats. Republicans exhaled when that turned out to be so. "We made some progress, but we still have a number of disagreements," Schumer declared upon returning to the Capitol. Much later, after the shutdown began, Schumer said in a floor speech that in his meeting with the president, he even "reluctantly" offered to fully fund construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. "Even that was not enough for the president," Schumer said. What ensued for the remainder of the afternoon was a silent standoff, as it became increasingly clear that Republicans would not be able to lure enough Democrats to pass their preferred funding patch. For a few Democratic senators, a vote to spark a shutdown was too tough to swallow - even for Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama, who faced his first major political dilemma since winning a December special election in a campaign that emphasized his support for CHIP. "I have made a strong commitment in my state to 150,000 children who need health insurance," he said, announcing his decision to reporters late Friday. He joined Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly, Ind., Joe Manchin III, W.Va., Heidi Heitkamp, N.D., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., all of whom face tough paths to reelection in states that supported Trump in 2016 and voted to keep the government open. But Michigan Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, meanwhile, announced they would both vote against the measure, bolstering the margin opposed to the bill. Four Republicans were also opposed: Sens. Jeff Flake, Ariz., Mike Lee, Utah, Rand Paul, Ky., and Lindsey Graham, S.C. Republicans spent much of the day attacking Democrats on several fronts - most frequently by pointing to a litany of critical statements Democratic leaders, including Schumer, had made slamming Republicans ahead of the 2013 shutdown. In a 2013 ABC News interview, Schumer said, "You know we could do the same thing on immigration. . . . We could say, 'We're shutting down the government. We're not going to raise the debt ceiling until you pass immigration reform.' It would be governmental chaos." "I think the longer it goes on, the more the American people see the hypocrisy on the Democratic side," said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a veteran of several shutdown dramas. Democrats, meanwhile, pointed to other parts of the historical record - notably, a Trump tweet from May: "Our country needs a good 'shutdown' in September to fix mess!" Conservatives enthusiastically promoted the notion that Democrats were taking the government to the cusp of a shutdown to benefit undocumented immigrants, even a largely sympathetic subset. Democrats want legal status for "dreamers" - young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children who now live here illegally - in return for a spending agreement. That fight was prompted by Trump's cancellation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which is expected to take effect in March barring court challenges. Numerous Republicans said they were perfectly comfortable waging the shutdown fight on those terms, though Democrats have sought to expand the playing field to other issues such as funding to combat opioid abuse and pension bailouts. "Are Democrats going to shut the government . . . because we want basic reforms and enforcement measures that are going to prevent further flows of illegal immigrants and unskilled immigrants?" said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who is pushing for hard-line immigration policies in return for a DACA fix. "Seems to me like a tough position to win in light of the 2016 election." Marc Short, Trump's director of legislative affairs, said that the effort by Democrats to put an immigration fix in the spending bill was unreasonable, given that legislative text has not been drafted and the program doesn't expire until March. "There's no DACA bill to vote on, and there's no emergency on the timing," Short said. The posturing took place mainly in front of reporters. Missing were the furious back-and-forth negotiations that preceded the 16-day shutdown in 2013, when Republican leaders sought to force a rollback of the Affordable Care Act and met several times with President Barack Obama to seek an accommodation. Shortly after 6 p.m., Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, looked at his watch and vented frustration. "Government shuts down in what, five hours and 40 minutes? And there's no solution? I don't know whether Sen. Schumer is just determined to take it down," he said. "Obviously, we don't want to shut the government down either, but they seem to be determined to do so." Visibly, only Graham shuttled back and forth between the Republican and Democratic leadership offices, shopping a proposal to replace the four-week funding extension passed by the House with a slightly shorter one. As the 10 p.m. vote approached, Cornyn declared: "No deal." Schumer rejected a proposal that would have extended funding by three weeks, to Feb. 8, instead of four. Schumer floated a 10-day extension, which would have set another deadline just before Trump delivered his State of the Union address on Jan. 30. Shortly after midnight, McConnell closed the vote and declared an impasse. The Trump administration worked up plans to keep national parks and monuments open despite a shutdown as a way to blunt public anger, and while the military would not cease to operate, troops would not be paid unless Congress specifically authorizes it. In a sign of the preparations on Capitol Hill, congressional staffers received formal notice Friday morning that they may be furloughed starting at midnight. Individual lawmakers will have to determine which aides must report for work during the impasse. Trump postponed a scheduled trip to his Florida resort, where he had scheduled a pricey fundraiser to mark his first anniversary in office. Ryan faced the cancellation of an official trip to Iraq, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other lawmakers revisited plans to travel to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum. The latter trip drove Democratic attacks earlier in the day, especially after McCarthy floated plans in the morning to send House members home for a planned week-long recess. "They want to spend next week hobnobbing with their elitist friends instead of honoring their responsibilities to the American people," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said of Republicans. Earlier in the night, around 150 protesters gathered outside the Capitol to hear Democrats promise not to back any spending deal that did not grant legal status to DACA recipients. "This is a movement," said Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. "We're going to have some good days, and we're going to have some bad days. And like every movement that has allowed our country to progress, we are going to have to fight." - - - The Washington Post's Sean Sullivan and John Wagner contributed to this report. --- Video Embed Code Video: As the government shutdown inches closer and closer, lawmakers are busy pointing fingers at who's to blame for the impasse.(Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) Embed code: Video: A short-term spending bill failed during a procedural vote in the Senate late on Jan. 19, taking the government closer to a shutdown.(Bastien Inzaurralde, Jordan Frasier/The Washington Post) Embed code: At a time when journalists in this country are under fire, it's interesting to recall what happened in Texas in the latter years of the 19th century when a fiery journalist's pen and Southern Baptist brimstone met with fatal results. This column ran originally on Jan. 15, 2015. WACO - Satire. That's what you call it. But answer me this: When does satire bleed into calumny of the cruelest, most vicious sort? You can talk all you want about First Amendment rights and freedom of the press, but wait until you and yours are the targets. Wait until institutions deserving of our deepest devotion and respect feel the rapier prick of the satirist's vile pen. Then we'll see how high-minded you are. Maybe those words approximate the thoughts of Waco businessman and Baylor alumnus Thomas E. Davis on a sunny spring day in 1898 when he lunged out of a downtown real estate office, and shot the foremost satirist of his time. A bullet from Davis' gun burrowed deep into the back of the man he hated, right where the suspenders crossed. Then again, maybe not. William Cowper Brann - "the classic hell-raiser of his generation," former Houston Chronicle executive editor Tony Pederson calls him - had a way of driving people to furious distraction, enraging them beyond words or rational thought, particularly if they were Baylorites, Baptists, Brits, women, Episcopalians, African-Americans or upstanding Wacoans. As Pederson reminded me by phone this week, "He was one of the first journalists to be killed because of what he wrote." Tragically, he wouldn't be the last, as we've been reminded by recent attacks. Born in 1855, Brann was the son of an Illinois preacher; his mother died when he was 2. A vagabond journalist of sorts, he started The Iconoclast in Austin. When he couldn't make a go of it, he sold his printing press and Iconoclast name for $250 to a young Austin bank teller named William Sydney Porter (O Henry). He moved to Waco to write editorials for the Waco Daily News and in 1895 revived The Iconoclast after O Henry let it die. Soon the weekly paper boasted a circulation of more than 100,000, the largest of any magazine in America, Brann claimed. Its motto: "It Strikes to Kill." 'Master of invective' Brann's raw humor and corrosive satire, directed primarily at Victorian hypocrisy and "organized virtue," attracted readers from Hawaii to England, from Canada to Australia. News boys hawking The Iconoclast on trains inevitably ran out before they reached the last car. H.L. Mencken, no slouch as a satirist himself, called Brann "a past master of invective." A tall, handsome man, well-read and well-spoken, arrogant and hot-tempered, Brann was, in the words of Texas writer Roy Bedichek, "among the first publicists of his generation to identify and challenge the hypocrisies, the sickly sentimentalisms, the religiosity - especially the glaring gaps between religious pretense and religious performance - and the excessive affectations general in the life, art and literature of an already moribund Victorianism." "People frequently say to me, 'Brann, your attacks are too harsh,''' the fiery editor once wrote. "Perhaps so, but I have not yet mastered the esoteric of choking a bad dog to death with good butter." Brann may have had readers and admirers throughout the English-speaking world, but since Baptists were his frequent target, he was not greatly appreciated in his adopted city, particularly after he launched a weekly crusade against the Rev. Rufus C. Burleson, Baylor's elderly president and the man who baptized Sam Houston. A 13-year-old Brazilian girl named Antonia Texeira, brought to the U.S. by missionaries, was living with the Burleson family and working as a servant. When she turned up pregnant and in court named a young relative of the Burlesons as the father, the story almost wrote itself for the man the Baptists branded an apostle of the Devil. "This young girl, still in short skirts, came to Baylor," he wrote, "and her diploma weighed eight pounds two ounces." He called Baylor "an intellectual eye-sore." Its students, he wrote, "are chiefly fork-of-the-creek yaps who curry horses or run errands for their board and wear the same undershirt year round. They take but two baths during their lifetime - one when they are born, the other when they are baptized." Some of those fork-of-the-creek yaps kidnapped Brann, intending to tar and feather him. The youthful mob misplaced the tar, so its leaders decided to lynch him. A professor strolling by after a prayer service at the nearby home of a judge advised against it. He suggested instead that they horsewhip him. Brann survived that ordeal and others and continued stoking the fire. Pederson, a Baylor alumnus who now chairs the journalism department at SMU, is, like me, a native Wacoan. (Actually, we're both from Bellmead, the blue-collar suburb east of town.) A dapper fellow, no fork-of-the-creek yap, to be sure, he discovered Brann in a journalism class taught by the legendary David McHam, recently retired from the University of Houston. When he found the complete works of Brann in a Waco used-book store, he forked over the $125 and has treasured the 12-volume set ever since. "His ability as a stylist, the narrative quality of it, his descriptions - it's beautiful writing," Pederson said. Not a hero There's also this about the man admired by so many journalists: However brilliant he was, however fearless, he also was a rabid racist. "The black is here, and I see but one way to get rid of him. " (You don't want to read the rest of it.) "It's there. There's no question about it," Pederson said. "It is awful. You would like to think that for a journalistic hero of his time he would be way ahead of his time, but he wasn't." On the afternoon before Brann and his wife, Carrie - he called her Midget - were to leave on a lecture tour that would take them to San Antonio, Houston, Galveston, New Orleans and Chicago, the businessman Davis stepped into the busy street and shot him in the back, foot and groin. The buffalo hunter turned real estate agent apparently was enraged at Brann's Baylor jibes. The wounded editor drew the double-action revolver he carried for protection - one of the first of its kind in Waco - whirled around and shot his assailant, the bullets from Brann's pistol rolling Davis over and over on the sidewalk. Brann was hauled off to jail. The police didn't know he'd been shot until they noticed blood sloshing from his shoes. Both men died the next day. Brann, 43 at the time of his death, rests beneath a live oak in Waco's historic Oakwood Cemetery, not far from the Baylor campus. On one side of the small granite obelisk that marks his grave is a bas-relief profile of Brann carved in marble; years ago, a bullet gouged out a portion of the temple. A lamp of truth originally atop the obelisk was stolen in 2009. Baylor fraternities were among the suspects. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate LATEST DEVELOPMENT: Alleged pimp tied to Gulfton brothel detained For eight years, the shabby Carriage Way apartments in southwest Houston concealed a brothel run by a ruthless sex trafficking ring that lured undocumented women into prostitution with false promises of restaurant jobs. The gang-affiliated family business was allegedly managed by a woman whose sons served as enforcers and another whose children were pimps and prostitutes. New recruits, including a 14-year-old runaway, were threatened, beaten, drugged and tattooed with their pimps' street names to remind them who owned them. One woman who didn't make her quota was forced to have liposuction and breast augmentation. When trafficking victims escaped their clutches, gang members crossed borders to hunt them down and force them back into service, according to sworn testimony by two investigators at several federal court detention hearings last fall. The dismantling of the gritty Gulfton brothel and two others purportedly operated by the Southwest Cholos gang and their associates offers a harsh view of the often violent, sprawling and lucrative sex trade that has flourished in Houston in a variety of settings. The illicit sex business here now includes top-dollar call girl agencies, legions of street walkers, hundreds of massage parlors fronting for sex shops and cantinas where a beer can be followed by a "date" in room behind the bar. "We have more brothels than we have Starbucks in our city," said Robert Sanborn, president and CEO of Children at Risk. The demand is so pervasive that at any given moment there are over 400 storefront sex businesses operating in Houston, said Sanborn, whose nonprofit research and advocacy group routinely analyzes posts on Rubmaps.com where patrons rate and review illicit massage proprietors. STUDY: Illicit massage parlors in Houston prolific and lucrative "Houston is fertile ground for trafficking because of its proximity to the border, its sexually oriented businesses, its diversity and the demand for sexual services," said Alfred T. Tribble Jr., an FBI supervisor who oversees the human trafficking unit in Houston. FBI investigations into human trafficking have more doubled nationwide in the past decade and Texas has emerged as a major sex trafficking market, among the regions generating the most calls each year to the national trafficking hotline, Tribble said. The Cholos brothel showed how the sex trade has also sprouted up in residential areas, as Tribble's team and investigators from the DEA, Homeland Security and the Harris County Sheriff's Office would discover. Neighbors who knew about the brothel at the two-story Carriage Way apartment complex -- seven miles from downtown, three miles from the glitzy Galleria -- were reportedly too spooked by the threat of gang retaliation to report it to the police. Over two years, investigators tracked down evidence in Houston, the Rio Grande Valley, Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador. The grand jury indictments - returned on Nov. 3 and Dec. 7 - of 24 members and associates of the Southwest Cholos provide a glimpse into the complex crime underworld that thrived behind closed doors. The case is unusual in that a Houston street gang is accused not only of peddling drugs and firearms but also running an international prostitution business and a human smuggling operation that transported immigrants from China across the U.S.-Mexico border for a whopping $40,000 per person. A gang dabbling in sex trafficking is not an anomaly, said Tribble from the FBI. Gang leaders are savvy and they often experiment with new enterprises to increase their profits, he said. "Trafficking in human flesh is a lot less risky than trafficking in firearms or illegal narcotics," Tribble explained. "The capital is abundant and renewable, people are sold over and over again." "It's not like a kilo of cocaine where it's used and it's gone," he said. "You can use them and use them and then ship them off to another city and exploit them more." That was exactly what happened in the Cholos case, an FBI agent on Tribble's team testified. The agent told a Houston judge that several of the victims were groomed and trained at a family-run brothel in Cancun before being romanced, tricked, tattooed and shipped to three Cholos brothels in Gulfton where their services commanded a higher price. The enforcers for the gang brothel were particularly merciless in controlling their money-making victims, Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Goldman told a judge at a November hearing. "We're dealing with a group of individuals that branded women like cattle," Goldman told the court, adding they engaged in "exceptional violence." Five defendants, including the pimp who allegedly ran the Cancun brothel, remain fugitives, but Goldman convinced federal magistrates that 14 of 17 defendants rounded up by police were a danger or flight risk and should await trial in custody without bond. While some declined to comment, citing reams of documents they'd just been handed, several defense lawyers said there is little evidence to support the sweeping federal indictment and poked holes in the government's case, including Andrew Williams, who represents a key defendant accused of managing the brothel. RELATED: Alleged sex trafficking fugitive wanted by FBI in cantina case Williams said his client, Maria Angelica "Patty" Moreno-Reyna, 51, had nothing to do with the scheme but got swept up in the prosecution because she lived in a gang-saturated building where a brothel was operating unchecked for years. "Some of these claims are outrageous," said Williams. "She's a middle-aged woman. She has no power to make anyone do anything. They're making her out to be a kingpin." The lawyer for Patty's son, Jose Luis "Lucky" Moreno who is accused of being an enforcer, said he looked forward to his client having his day in court. "We suspect the government's evidence is contrived," said attorney Ali Fazel. "We suspect that a good number of witness for the government have been granted a great deal of leniency and provided favors for their testimony." Williams, the lawyer for Lucky's mother Patty, agreed, saying prosecutors had cast a very wide net in hopes that some defendants would be snared, a strategy he said benefitted the government's witnesses. "Some of these witnesses are going to be able to stay in this country for a long time," he said. RELATED: Alleged Southwest Cholos' madam, husband and alleged pimp son denied bond The gang's grim enterprise persisted for years amid the buzz of life at the urban apartment complex on Houston's southwest side, according to investigators. On a sunny morning a week after the arrests, the people at the Carriage Way apartments on Dashwood quietly attended to their lives. A woman unloaded groceries in the carport as neighbors chatted in an interior passageway, paces from where the Cholos brothel operated for nearly a decade. A sign posted in the parking lot reminded residents to keep their radios low as a courtesy to others. The enterprising residents of a nearby apartment had set up a makeshift convenience store, with handwritten signs taped in windows advertising chips, soda and candy. But in an adjoining courtyard evidence remained of the recent FBI raid at an upstairs apartment: a cracked window pane and a boarded up door plastered with an eviction notice. The scheme, officials say, involved tenants who rented 10 of about 70 residential units in the complex. Several neighbors at the complex said they saw a team of FBI agents combing through units at the two-story complex during the first week in November. Before the raid, they said, they claimed to know nothing about a busy brothel where up to seven women provided services to customers from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. The building manager at the apartment complex declined to speak with a reporter about the protracted criminal enterprise alleged by police. A Houston attorney who represented the building owner in a 2012 nuisance lawsuit - involving complaints at another residential property - did not return calls for comment. RELATED: Bounty hunter, girlfriend in court on sex trafficking charges The woman known as Patty is charged with setting up the illegal sex operation jointly with family members from the Southwest Cholos, several of whom lived in the building. The Houston-based gang dates to 1990 and currently has about 2,000 members spread across 10 cliques in Bellaire, Fondren, Chimney Rock and Gulfton in the southwest of part of Houston, according to Lt. Aaron Tyksinski, who oversees juvenile crime division for Harris County's Pct. 1 Constable Alan Rosen. Over the years, Tyksinski said, the gang has been linked to crimes like aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, car theft, narcotics trafficking and home invasions. But the investigation in the brothel case uncovered a much more expansive international scheme. During several hours on the witness stand in November, Dina Morales, a special agent at Houston's FBI field office specializing in sex trafficking investigations, described terrifying conditions women endured at the Cholos' brothels. Morales told a judge the crew's 51-year-old matriarch Patty ran three apartment brothels in working class Gulfton, west of Bellaire. The enduring money maker of the trio was the Carriage Way, which was hub for the gang's methamphetamine and heroin sales, gun trafficking and immigrant smuggling operation. Patty, a Mexican immigrant, employed her five gang-affiliated American sons and another gang leader who was "like a son" as enforcers. One of Patty's sons, William Alberto Lopez, remains a fugitive, and has been accused of doling out the most brutal attacks to victims. Agent Morales said William helped run the brothels in Houston and headed one in Cancun a prosecutor dubbed "the farm team." Women got practice at the Cancun business before being smuggled into the U.S. and forced to earn back their smuggling debts by performing sex acts in Houston, the FBI agent said. The FBI agent said Patty's husband and gang-affiliated brother handled the lucrative human smuggling branch of the business with crews in Houston and the border town of Donna. The smuggling team shuttled in two immigrants from China for $40,000 each, and others from Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Central America, using gang-controlled stash houses in the Rio Grande Valley, Morales said. A colleague of Patty's, Gabriela Gonzalez-Flores, also a Mexican immigrant, ran the Carriage Way brothel, delivering beers and condoms to patrons and collecting sex payments, with her American children in support roles: her son Hector Reyna, nicknamed "Pantera" or panther, was a top-ranking leader in the Cholos and an enforcer and pimp, a daughter Bianca Stephanie "Troubles" Reyna was a gang member and enforcer and two other daughters chipped in as prostitutes, Morales said. The FBI agent said enforcers with the gang entrapped vulnerable women with lofty promises, drugged them, punched and kicked them into submission and threatened them and their families if they resisted. Pantera, 26, invited a 14-year-old runaway to move in with him, his mother and sisters, convincing the girl they were dating. He gave her drugs so she wouldn't make a scene and got his name and nickname tattooed on her body, according to testimony. Then Pantera told the teen she owed the family money for lodging, but since she was an undocumented and a minor, she would have to work as a prostitute, Morales told the court. Other gang members are also accused of treating the women harshly, kidnapping one from another Houston brothel and forcing them to work. One young woman was dragged by her hair into the street when she refused to show up for a shift. Another trafficking victim came to the brothel after Patty's son William seized her during a shootout with the bartender at another brothel, Morales testified. This woman was forced to get a tattoo with William's name on it and promised a job at William's mother's restaurant. She soon learned there was no such restaurant. "William was very severe with her," Morales testified. "He hit her, and she ran away and went back to Mexico to live with her mother." Within a week of returning home, "William showed up at her doorstep," Morales said. William allegedly threatened harm to her family if she did not come back with him. She returned but was expected to repay her smuggling debt of $5,000. In addition, William paid for breast enlargement surgery and liposuction in hopes she'd make more money at the brothel, the agent said. RELATED: Sex trafficker 'El Gallo' sentenced to maximum 40 years Morales said the woman was expected to pay William those medical costs along with her smuggling fees, so she fled the Houston brothel a second time. Again the Cholos crew hauled her back by force. The third time she managed to escape and get away, according to the FBI agent. Overall, the human toll on women in the business was considerable. The Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance, a collaboration between police and non-profits, have identified 13 women forced to work at the Cholos brothel. What helped the sex business and the Cholos' other criminal endeavors thrive was the perpetrators' friendly veneer, said Tribble, from the FBI. "These traffickers are amicable," he said. "They could sell you sand on the beach. They can find things out about you by social engineering, and the next thing you know ... they're threatening your parents, your children and loved ones." Trafficking victims were drawn to Houston looking for the American dream, he said. It's the same dream, investigators say, the extended Cholos crew members exploited in fashioning their own cruel scheme. Gabrielle Banks covers federal court for the Houston Chronicle. Send her email at gabrielle.banks@chron.com and follow her on Twitter. NASA's first Hispanic woman to go to space - who later went on to log almost 1,000 hours in orbit and become director of Houston's Johnson Space Center - is retiring in May. A center spokeswoman confirmed Friday that Director Ellen Ochoa informed employees earlier that same morning of her impending retirement during an internal meeting. Ochoa, a veteran astronaut originally from California, is the 11th director of JSC and only the second woman to run NASA's human space flight hub, which had a budget of $4.5 billion in fiscal year 2017 and employs more than 3,000 people. In an email to employees, Ochoa said that this year will be her 30th at NASA, and her youngest of two sons turns 18, so it is "a natural point for our family in which to move on to the next phase." "It's a really tough decision to determine when to make that transition; for me, it comes down to my personal situation," she wrote. "We'll move to Boise, ID, and I intend to be involved with a number of activities that interest me (including getting back to playing flute, which I once considered for a career!)" Ochoa, now 59, was not available for comment Friday. In 1988, Ochoa joined NASA as research engineer at Ames Research Center in California and two years later moved to the Houston center when she was selected as an astronaut. By 1993, she became the first Hispanic woman to go to space. She has flown four times, according to NASA's website, logging almost 1,000 hours in space. Joined hall of fame Ochoa became the center's deputy director in 2007 and replaced Michael Coats as center director in 2012. Then-NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement at the time that "Ellen's enthusiasm, experience and leadership, including her superb job as deputy director, make her a terrific successor to Mike as director of JSC." Herb Baker, who retired last year from NASA, said Ochoa is one of the best center directors he's worked with in his 42 years at the agency. "I just think the world of her," Baker said. "She's very accessible and she's very smart - no surprises there - and she cared deeply about the people who worked out there" at Johnson. Baker also called her brave, saying she made decisions, such as combining the astronaut and mission control offices, that others before her would have been hesitant to do. Center director "is not easy job, as you might guess. There's a lot of responsibility there," Baker added. "The center director is responsible for people's lives. The decisions they make impact life and death, literally." As center director, Ochoa oversees the nation's astronaut corps, the Orion program and mission operations for the International Space Station, among other things. Last year, Ochoa was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, and she has received the Distinguished Service Medal, NASA's highest award. Additionally, five schools in California have been named after her. 'In good hands' The search for her replacement will be conducted by NASA headquarters, but center officials said they do not have a timeline for when that will occur. Ochoa said in her Friday email that more information about center leadership will be announced by acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot "later in the spring." When Ochoa became center director in 2012, her appointment was announced the same day Coats, her predecessor, announced his retirement. "We're fortunate to have a team of excellent leaders here at JSC, so I know I'll be leaving JSC in good hands," Ochoa wrote to her employees Friday. "I have several months to go as Center Director, and you can count on me to continue to be fully committed to our mission and our people here." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Mayor Sylvester Turner's press secretary used Houston's publicly-funded television station to promote contestants in a reality show she was developing as one of many private business ventures, emails show, part of her sustained use of public office to further her personal interests. Darian Ward sent or received roughly 5,000 pages of emails about personal business from her government account over the last four years, some of which dealt with a reality series she was pitching to television networks. The show, "My First Million," does not appear to have come to fruition, but would have featured six female entrepreneurs seeking to earn $1 million dollars. Ward described the idea in 2015 emails as "the Apprentice meets Shark Tank in stilettos." Ward not only pitched "My First Million" to producers and networks from her city email account, often during business hours, but also featured the six contestants in a Houston Television show that she hosted in her official capacity as press secretary. Ward interviewed each of the women about their businesses in an April 2015 episode of "Press Pass to the City," which was filmed and produced by city employees using public funds. She did not directly reference her side project on air, but told the audience, "These ladies, keep your eyes on them, because over the next six months by the end of this year they will all be millionaires." Ward joined former mayor Annise Parker's staff as press secretary in 2014, and Turner has kept her on in the same role. Turner suspended Ward for two weeks without pay last month for conducting personal business on city time, but otherwise has brushed off critiques of Ward's behavior. "She's done her job extremely well since I've been here, over and above," the mayor told reporters two weeks ago. "I have no question with regard to her work performance." Ward, who earns $93,712 annually, did not respond to a request for comment. Alan Bernstein, Turner's director of communications, issued a statement Friday night attributed to the mayor: "Darian Ward's actions were unacceptable and against policy. She was suspended for two full weeks without pay and was instructed to cease doing personal business on city time. Any subsequent violation could result in termination. A letter was also sent to all employees advising them of the policy." Ward appears to have routinely leveraged her public title and the access it afforded to boost her private interests. "Hello, I'm Darian Ward, TV host and press secretary for Houston Mayor Annise Parker and we have a fantastic 'business experiment' underway which is the basis of a TV series 'My First Million' aka 'Driven,'" Ward wrote in a January 2015 email pitching her idea to a Los Angeles-based producer. In another instance, in February of that year, she used her city email to contact a producer from a CNBC program that had just visited Houston to tape a segment. "It was great working with you last week with Mayor Parker," Ward wrote. She then pivoted to her private venture: "I would love to see if we could find a production partner for a TV series we would like to pitch... We have a treatment, the women have been selected and I'm talking with a CNBC executive next week about the project." Similarly, in a July 2017 exchange with Warner Bros. representatives, Ward used the same email to arrange Turner's appearance at an event and reference two projects she wanted to pitch to the studio. "One project is a docu-series, similar to Shark Tank, the other is Hotel Alessandra which is a scripted series," she wrote. Ward cast some of her ideas as talk shows that would build on the success of current or planned TV shows. Ward pitched two such shows in 2014: "Scandalicious," a play on the show "Scandal," and "Astrowives After Party" a take on "The Astronaut Wives Club." Other concepts included "Playbook of Love," a matchmaking show she also pitched that year. Ward also leveraged her position for the benefit of charities she supported, chiefly the Smahrt Girl Foundation, on whose board she sits. In addition to promoting the nonprofit, Ward recommended the private business of the charity's founder, Pamela Ellis, to city officials. "I truly believe Pamela would be a great person to consider. I've known her for more than 10 years," Ward wrote to former Houston IT director Charles Thompson. "I think her firm would be an asset." It is not clear those referrals to Thompson and others yielded any city work for Ellis. During the final seven months of Parker's tenure, Ward also used the Houston municipal television station's studios to film a pilot for another show, titled "The Good Life," records show. The television station, known as HTV, allows the public to rent out its studios for private use, and Ward in Oct. 2015 wrote a $720 check from her production company for a minimum of four hours of studio time, plus graphics creation. However, HTV's rate sheet shows that four hours of time in that studio, Studio A, is supposed to cost $1,200. In total, HTV's calendar shows staff blocked off at least 19 hours on five separate days from June 2015 to Sept. 2015 to work on Ward's project. "No, we didn't charge her for that," said Dwight Williams, HTV division manager, specifically referring to a two-hour event listed in HTV's calendar as "Casting Call 'The Good Life' with Darian Ward." "That should have been included in the overall cost of the project." He later added that HTV often tries to foster relationships with new clients by "giving them extras they wouldn't otherwise get." "If we have the opportunity to build a relationship with someone and maybe that person is challenged financially, then I think we would do that for just about anybody," Williams said. "I don't think we gave her any special treatment." Williams also said Ward was the only city employee during his tenure who asked to work with HTV on a personal production. "That is not the norm," Williams said. Former mayor Parker said she was unaware Ward was conducting personal business on city time during her tenure. "As far as I'm concerned, that's a fireable offense," she said. "The work I was aware that she was doing was acceptable, which is why she kept her job, but this is unacceptable." Parker added that she did not authorize Ward to use footage of her in a promotional video for "My First Million." "Women face all of the same challenges that male entrepreneurs face, but they also have to contend with some issues around how women are socialized and access to capital that was actively denied women for many, many years," Parker says in the video. Ward also used footage of Parker skydiving. "She certainly didn't have permission to use my images for commercial purposes," Parker said Friday. "The skydiving day was with members of my senior staff on the weekend and at personal expense and that segment has been edited to imply a connection to Darian's project that did not exist." Meanwhile, Ward occasionally copied Tanya Makany-Rivera, now Turner's deputy press secretary, on emails about "My First Million." "I never responded because I had too many other things going on," said Makany-Rivera, who worked in the city's Office of Business Opportunity at the time. Makany-Rivera added that she thought "My First Million" was a city project and, therefore, did not formally report Ward's behavior. Ward's December suspension stemmed from a journalist's records request for emails related to her business, Joy in Motion, or other personal matters. Ward produced just 30 pages of emails in response. Her boss, Bernstein, then requested the city's Office of Inspector General search Ward's email to ensure her reply to the records request was accurate. The OIG discovered 5,000 pages of emails about her personal business endeavors. The city initially said there were 5,000 emails, but has corrected that figure. "Ms. Ward, you misrepresented to the requestor the volume of documents regarding the TPIA request under state law, and you misinformed the chief of staff and me; you spent a significant amount of city time conducting your personal business rather than focusing on your work task," Bernstein wrote Ward on Dec. 11, informing her that she had violated multiple city policies. The city has not brought complaints with the Texas Attorney General or Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, the mayor has said. Nevertheless, Ogg spokesman Dane Schiller said last week the DA's office has asked the city's OIG to share evidence. "We will review the evidence and apply the law once the evidence is received from the City of Houston's Office of Inspector General," the district attorney said in a statement. AUSTIN - A federal judge on Friday ordered Texas to make broad and immediate reforms to the way it cares for children in long-term foster care, despite objections from top state officials who call the mandates unfunded and unnecessary. Roughly seven years after a group of foster children brought the class-action lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack of Corpus Christi issued a final order Friday calling on the state to expand its foster home options, make it easier for children to report abuse and ensure caseworkers visit with their kids each month. In a 116-page order, Jack criticized the state, saying leaders "completely ignored" the court's earlier order to implement policies making sure foster children are free from an "unreasonable risk of harm." Just hours after the decision came out, Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, saying Jack ordered a plan that is "incomplete and impractical." "Texas has a solemn responsibility to care for children removed from their homes due to neglect and abuse of all kinds, and last year the Legislature approved landmark changes in the foster care system," Paxton said in a statement. "When unelected judges improperly assume control of state institutions, Texas officials cannot make the policy they've been entrusted to make." Jack called the state's recent steps "admirable," but said the reforms haven't gone far enough to fix a system she ruled unconstitutional in 2015, finding that foster children in Texas "almost uniformly leave state custody more damaged than when they entered." "Over two years later, the system remains broken and (the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services) has demonstrated an unwillingness to take tangible steps to fix the broken system," she wrote in Friday's order. The foster system has faced scrutiny for shuffling children between multiple homes, relocating them far away from their own communities and running out of placement options, forcing children at times to sleep in state office buildings. As of October last year, more than 16,800 children were in foster care statewide, including more than 3,200 in the 13-county Houston region, according to DFPS data. Plaintiffs in the case, identified only by their initials, reported suffering sexual abuse from foster parents and siblings, being over-medicated and bouncing between foster homes and a rotating cast of caseworkers. Z.H., an 11-year-old boy at the time the lawsuit was filed, was placed in a residential treatment center 300 miles from his community in San Antonio. An attorney who helped represent Children's Rights, the New York-based children's advocacy group that filed the lawsuit, said Jack's decision represents a "turning point for Texas foster children." "The court's ruling requires the state to provide safe and secure homes, which will protect our most vulnerable children," said Paul Yetter, a Houston attorney. "It is a well-thought-out, comprehensive, careful order that requires across-the-board reform." Jack's order requires the state to implement a plan developed over the last year by court-appointed experts, known as special masters. Two of them, at state expense, will monitor compliance with Jack's order and submit reports to the court every six months updating progress. Jack ordered the state to adopt some reforms immediately, such as setting up a 24-hour hotline for reporting abuse and requiring monthly, documented meetings with foster children, some of whom had testified they went months without seeing a caseworker. Though the state has fought the court-ordered reforms at almost every turn, Abbott and the Legislature made improving child protection a priority last year. The recent changes include boosting pay for family members who take in a troubled child and further privatizing foster care in certain areas, including Bexar County, where eventually a contractor will take over case management duties from state workers. In 2016, the state approved $12,000 raises for about 6,000 child-protection workers, meant to help plug the workforce shortage and stop high rates of turnover. Still, state Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, said there is more to be done. "Judge Jack's final order will bring a requirement of urgency that's been missing in our effort to reform the foster care system," he said. "It won't be easy, and it won't be cheap, but it's necessary and it will save kid's lives." Some of Jack's mandates could come with a hefty price tag. One caps workloads at 17 children per caseworker, which could force the state to hire more staff. As of November last year, the average caseloads was 18.4 children per worker, according to DFPS. The ruling also forces the state to ensure each child has legal representation. It is unclear how many foster kids do not have an attorney because the DFPS does not track that information, according to the order. DFPS likely will have to recruit many more foster homes to comply with mandates that within two years all children under 13 be placed in "family-like settings" and that each region have enough foster homes to ensure kids are placed far away. As of November 2017, almost 18 percent of Bexar County foster children were living outside the region, and some agencies reported a critical shortage of licensed foster homes, according to DFPS data. In addition to an appeal, Paxton requested a temporary suspension of Jack's order, meaning the state would not have to immediately start making any of the changes. Azerbaijan remembers On the night of Jan. 19-20, 1990, Azerbaijan was invaded by 26,000 Soviet troops. After blowing up the national television transmission block and imposing an immediate informational blockade on the entire republic, the Red Army rolled its tanks through the streets of Azeri capital Baku indiscriminately firing at everything that moved. Official count puts the death toll at 140 civilians killed, with more than 700 wounded. The images of streets full of massacred civilians were reminiscent of the Red Army's crimes perpetrated against civilians in Budapest in 1956 and Prague in 1968. In a report titled "Black January in Azerbaijan," Human Rights Watch stated that the violence used by the Soviet Army on the night of Jan. 19-20 constituted an "exercise in collective punishment." These tragic events known to the world as the "Black January" marked the beginning of the end of the Soviet rule in Azerbaijan, and eventually caused cracks in the foundations of the Soviet statehood. Twenty-seven years later, there is no sign of "Black January" declining in significance. Millions of Azerbaijanis and friends of Azerbaijan visit Martyrs' Alley in the Azeri capital Baku on Jan. 20 to pay tribute to the memory of the victims who laid their lives for the country's independence. My family and I are joining the U.S. Azeris Network in commemorating the tragedy and its victims, and we ask for your support by also commemorating the victims with a minute of silence. Mohammad Nosrati, Katy RELATED: Azerbaijan considered worst place to be gay in Europe NEWCOMER, BELL: Sister city violates Houston values Shift in learning Regarding "Star Wars technology coming to a job near you" (Page A15, Thursday), with respect to Thomas Friedman's column on changing technology, he is correct, but he is also a bit late. Technology has always changed jobs. In the Middle Ages the guilds rioted over the introduction of machinery, especially in the weaving industry where powered, mechanized looms replaced individual workers. What's new is not that one has to update skills during a working career. The new feature is that workers will have to upgrade their technical skills more often. Worse, unless we, the people, insist on a more relevant education system, our culture will become like that of India where the Upper Class must create or make work for the untouchables because said untouchables were denied a relevant education. Worse still, we the people cannot define what constitutes a relevant education, and we want to pay pennies for a million dollar diploma. James A. Babb, Friendswood A Houston man was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison for inappropriately touching a 14-year-old girl in the summer of 2016. Jonathan David Shane Southworth, 31, received the maximum penalty he faced for second-degree statutory sodomy. He also received a two-year sentence for felony possession of a controlled substance (steroids) that will run concurrently with the first charge. Texas County Prosecutor Parke Stevens Jr. painted a picture of Southworth as a man who had a pattern of preying since 2008. He presented seven witnesses who told stories through written letters of inappropriate contact from Southworth while they were underage. The details ranged from inappropriate and stalking messages via text messages and social media to nude photos Southworth sent of his genitalia. He also engaged in sex with two of the girls while they were underage, Stevens said. The victim whose assault led to the charges said she has nightmares from Southworths inappropriately touching and had undergone counseling. You have shown a track record of being obsessed with sex, Judge Bill Hickle told Southworth as he announced the sentence. Youve had 25-30 sexual partners. That itself is not against the law. But weve heard evidence here today that your propensity is directed toward young girls, and that is against the law. Southworth, who entered an Alford plea to the charges in September, was overcome with emotion as he was handcuffed and shared farewells with his supporters. A large contingent of family members and friends of the victims briefly celebrated as Hickle announced the seven-year penalty on the sex charge inside Courtroom A of the Texas County Justice Center. What we see is a man who directs at least at times his attention toward young girls, which culminates in you sodomizing a 14-year-old girl, Hickle said. During his final statements, Stevens, who sought a 12-year penalty in the case, pointed out the defenses psychologist said Southworth was narcissistic, manipulative and quick to anger. Stevens said Southworths fiance, Christy Hall, called him sick via text message last summer while confronting him with the names of 17 underage girls he allegedly had contact with. Southworth denied any wrongdoing, Stevens said. The judge made the right call in light of the defendants past history and contact with other young girls, Stevens said. It may not have risen to the level of criminal action, but his being incarcerated keeps him from likely victimizing another individual. THE CRIME According to authorities from the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team (STAT), which investigates crimes against children, the sexual assault occurred June 17, 2016, inside Southworths Houston home. The victim, who was staying the night with a friend, told authorities she woke to Southworth touching her inappropriately while she was lying alone in bed. The probable cause statement included other details. The victim told investigators she was scared and pushed Southworth away, according to court documents. He told the girl, You never let me do anything, and said he would go to jail if she told anyone about the incident. Im choosing to stand up for every victim, the girl said in court Friday. I pray Im his last victim. THE VICTIMS Other witnesses who were victimized by Southworth shared stories of a man who continually pursued young girls. The first witness, who later had a child with Southworth but was 15 at first contact, called him a sexual predator and molester who was a monster of a man. She told stories of physical and emotional abuse, including a time when Southworth held a gun to his head and threatened to kill himself if she left him. She said once she left, he would stalk her and attempt to force her into having sex. Two cousins said they were 16 and 13 when they met Southworth online. They both said he texted them photos of his genitalia. One of the girls said she was in middle school at the time. A fourth victim said she was 16 when she had online contact with Southworth. She said she snuck out of her home and they had sex. She also said he would send her nude photos of himself. Another girl was 17 when she said Southworth messaged her and began stalking her. She said Houston police were once called when he wouldnt leave her alone on the school grounds. In 2016, a 15-year-old girl who was at a lake with her family received an Instagram message from Southworth expressing his physical attraction for her and asking her age. She said she didnt respond and told her father, who was emotional as he addressed Hickle before the sentencing. If you do this to nine or 10 girls, you have a problem, he said of Southworth. THE DEFENSE Springfield attorney Dee Wampler and his associate urged Hickle to consider probation. They said Southworth had complied with GPS monitoring while on bond, made more than 10 trips from his out-of-state job to court appearances in Texas County and had served 100 hours of community service at Ozark Baptist Church. He also regularly passed drug testing while under their guidance and had 26 letters of support. Stevens said under the Alford plea allowing a defendant to enter a guilty plea without admitting guilt Southworth will serve 100 percent of his sentence unless he admits to the crime and completes the Missouri Sex Offender Program at the Farmington Correctional Center. Admission of the offense and completion of the program could lead to a release after 64 percent of his time is served, Stevens said. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. iciHaiti - Politic : Literacy of the prisoners of the prison of Fort-Liberte This week at the new prison of Fort Liberte, Emile Brutus the Secretary of State for Literacy has launched the literacy program "Konbit Alpha", which will 127 prisoners to learn to read and write in order to facilitate their reintegration into society at the end of their detention sentence. According to Secretary of State Brutus, 6,000 of the 12,000 piled up in prisons in Haiti are illiterate. Let's recall that the "Konbit Alpha" program, launched in September 2016, aims to reduce the number of illiterates in Haiti estimated in 2015 to 4.5 million people. IH/ iciHaiti Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The role of an assassin in a revenge thriller is not an obvious one for an actor like Joaquin Phoenix who has the luxury of choosing any role he wants, but this is not an obvious movie. Look behind the camera and you can see why, You Were Never Really Here being directed by somewhat reluctant/selective filmmaker Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin) and adapted from self-confessed "mildly perverted" writer Jonathan Ames (creator of HBO's Bored To Death). Joe (Phoenix) is a contract killer whose latest job, emancipating a young girl (Ekaterina Samsonov) from kidnap lands him in scalding hot water with a paedophile ring with political ties that want him dead. The plot is almost incidental, however, as this is a study of a killer not his killings. Joe is suicidal, fantasising about death, self-asphyxiating and playing stabscotch-esque knife games in his dear, elderly mother's home where he still lives, kind of hoping one day the knife will actually strike him. Truly, We Need To Talk About Joe, Too. He stays mostly silent as his world unravels and we stay with him constantly, living this man's pain. The muted and yet intense nature of the role is what required the casting of a Joaquin Phoenix in it. Phoenix has never looked so sad and deathly yet so deranged and alive, clearly finding parts of himself for this character that you'd be scared to ever meet. Even his mass is somehow gruesome, the actor having absolutely piled on both muscle and fat, to the point where, stalking the corridors of a mansion, he looks strong enough to punch down a skyscraper and yet likely to succumb to cholesterol heart attack at any moment. He shakes, he absents, he roars and he giggles in front of the camera, which can't help but keep its lens on him. You Were Never Really Here - Trailer You Were Never Really Here feels like a cross-between Leon: The Professional, Drive and the Safdie brothers' Good Time, and while it not might be quite as good as any of these it is certainly a more intense viewing experience, thanks to a fearsome, violent score from Jonny Greenwood (who is unstoppable lately) and expert direction. This film is all in the editing, and Ramsay has done an incredible job here, managing to give the film a slow burn feel and yet keep it constantly gripping. Some of the cinematic touches are unorthodox and masterful, and the film may have my favourite title reveal of all time (look out for it, you'll know what I mean). And yet the film isn't perfect. The nods to Joe's history of witnessing domestic abuse as a child and the horrors of war as an adult soldier make total sense with regards to his subsequent disorder and depression, but I didn't want a properly motivated character. Such a fucked up, avant-garde take on the genre feels like it doesn't require such a thing. In addition, some of the scenes appear the product of the writer/director thinking, "what's the most expectation-subverting way this person could deal with this situation?" Joe lying on the kitchen floor with the man who just [SPOILER], holding hands with him and singing softly to the radio, might work in a book but just feels a bit too left-field when played out on screen. This is a stunning, gut-punch of a film though, technically adept and masterfully acted it thumps others of the genre into mush, showing that a Taken-style story needn't be redundant of art. Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for insider tips and product reviews from our shopping experts Sign up for our free IndyBest email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyBest email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Remember the days when youd just step on a simple analog scale and watch where the needle went? If only modern life were so simple. Buying a bathroom scale now entails sifting through a bewildering batch of options, from hi-tech gizmos that analyze fat, bone, water and muscle mass and sync with smartphone apps, to design-led appliances crafted from bamboo or twinkling with rhinestones. How on earth are you supposed to choose? When testing the markets myriad offerings, we put front and center the principle reason for buying a scale: accurate weight readings. We did this by stepping onto each scale several times at five-minute intervals to check consistency, and compared measurements with those recorded at our local health club. We then took into consideration the price, ease of set-up, aesthetics, and true value of bells and whistles (do you really need your bathroom scales to provide a weather report?). Ultimately, the right scale for you depends on your goals: do you want to minutely track every aspect of your health day in, day out? Or do you just want to keep an eye on how much you weigh? This list includes scales to suit everyone from the most tech-savvy health nut to the everyday luddite. 1. EatSmart GetFit, $39.95, EatSmart Its not the most complex model, but EatSmarts GetFit digital scale packs enhanced functionality (body composition analysis), large memory (stores data for up to eight users) and sleek design (slim profile, black glass platform) into one affordable, unfussy package. Four AAA batteries and two simple touchscreen commands are all thats required for set-up, and it was one of only two scales tested to return exactly the same weight readings on every try (body composition stats were consistent within 0.2 of a percent). Composition analysis relies on an electrical pulse sent through the lower half of the body to estimate percentages, based on how fast the pulse travels (an electrical pulse flows more quickly through water and muscle than bone or fat). EatSmarts user guide was one of only two to readily admit this has limitations (the other was Weight Watchers/ConAir), and provides suggestions for increasing its accuracy (such as paying attention to hydration and room temperature). Points against include that it only works on hard surfaces and the composition analysis renders it unsafe for pregnant women or people with pacemakers. But as one of the cheapest and most accurate scales we tested, the Best Buy label is well-deserved. Buy now 2. QardioBase 2: $149.99, Qardio If youre set on a fancy smart scale, the QardioBase 2 is most impressive, if also most expensive. It works on carpet as well as hard floors, runs on a rechargeable battery with USB charging cable included, and looks particularly slick: the glass, circular design includes a hidden display that only appears when in use, and comes in Arctic White or Volcanic Black. QardioBase 2 also includes safe modes for pregnant users and those with pacemakers. Yes, you have to go through the rigmarole of syncing it with the Qardio app, but this is fairly straightforward and online troubleshooting was fast and helpful when tested. Once youre synced, the app logs all your weigh-ins, shows you where your BMI is on a scale ranging from underweight to obese, and can integrate with Apple Health. The scale logs information for up to eight users, and returned weight readings consistent within a couple of ounces. Bits we could do without: the digital smiley face that winks every time you get on, and the whirring sound accompanying each weigh-in. Buy now 3. Conair TH100s: $39.99, Amazon If even a digital scale is too techie for you, the TH100s is a good pick for analog fans. The large, 65 diameter dial allows users to read measurements easily (give or take a couple of pounds), and the one-paragraph instructions for use make a welcome change to smart scale syncing. Still, it can only be used on a hard surface and we get the feeling the painted silver finish could chip. Accuracy of readings depends how close an eye you keep on the needle - it can jump backwards or forwards at the smallest provocation (such as moving the scale very slightly or standing on a creaky floorboard). But when we started the needle precisely on 0 (using a super-low-tech adjustment wheel at the base), the TH100s gave weight readings consistent with smart scales. That said, it costs about the same as our Best Buy pick, a digital scale, so seems a tad overpriced. Buy now 4. Aria 2: $129.95, FitBit One for fitness obsessives, the Aria 2 syncs to the FitBit app (as well as FitBit watches and wristbands), so your weight and BMI measurements will be saved alongside exercise tracking, food logging and goal-setting, and you can even compete with other FitBit users for motivation. Itll also track trends with charts and graphs. FitBits MO is to make fitness an all day, everyday pursuit as opposed to a few hours in the gym - so if that sounds like hell, avoid. If, however, your body is a finely-tuned temple, and you want to track your every move and earn achievement badges, Aria 2 is for you. Design-wise, the scales wouldnt look out of place on a spaceship - the porthole-like display is fresh and slightly futuristic, and you can choose between a black or white finish for the polished glass platform. Itll save readings for up to eight users, but for such a high-spec brand, Aria 2 is a bit behind the times: it needs AAA batteries, requires a hard surface, and isnt suitable for pregnant users or people with pacemakers. Also, our weight recorded slightly differently each time we used it, varying by a few pounds. The FitBit app is beautifully designed, though, and we liked the animated feet icons on the display that prompt you when to get on and off. Buy now 5. Weight Watchers Body Analysis Scale : $39.99, Weight Watchers (Weight Watchers (Weight Watchers) Perhaps not the prettiest, but, like the EatSmart, this Weight Watchers effort delivers useful functionality at a good price. Users need only tap the glass with their foot to wake up the scales, and use four simple buttons to customize settings: pregnant women and people with pacemakers should use the weight only option, while others can track water, fat, muscle and bone percentages, together with BMI scores. The scales are capable of storing data for up to four people. The booklet also includes a handy guide to what body composition analysis percentages actually mean, according to age and gender. Not so great is that the blue LCD display and chrome/stainless steel accents on glass look a bit dated. But weight readings were consistent within a couple of ounces. Buy now 6. Nokia Body+: $99.95, Nokia Health Finnish communications and IT giant Nokia expanded into digital health products last summer, launching with an app, blood pressure monitor and this Body+ scale. The clean, glass-topped design is slightly bulkier than the Qardio and the Aria, but still pulls off stylish and contemporary; plus, it comes with attachable carpet feet, so it works on different surfaces. Syncing took a little longer than with other smart scales, but once set up, users can personalize what the scales measure (so you can get rid of the needless weather forecast and track everything from BMI to step count). We like that as well as logging measurements in the Nokia app (which offers wellness programs for weight, sleep, activity, pregnancy and healthier heart/blood pressure), the scales are compatible with other apps like MyFitnessPal and RunKeeper. Theres also a pregnancy mode and even a baby mode for weighing infants. However, no two measurements we took on this scale were the same, with both weight and composition percentages fluctuating slightly. On the other hand, this is the cheapest of our picks in the smart scale category. Operates on AAA batteries and stores measurements for up to eight users. Buy now 7. Renpho Smart Scale: $29.99, Amazon This one's an absolute steal! It looks, works, and feels like something a lot more expensive, but it's not! The same price as the EatSmart basic digital scale, but it comes with all sorts of goodies. 13 essential body measurements, phone connectivity, and is a great pair to any of your apps. This is the type of purchase you feel smart about afterwards. Buy now The Verdict: EatSmart GetFit Though the smart scales offer all kinds of functionality, this premium-looking body composition scale is around a quarter of the price, and just as accurate (if not more so). Sign up to IndyEat's free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyEats email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Brunching out... Classic French food with a twist of Japanese is not something you come across often, but considering the owners are both French and Japanese its a combination of what each knows best. The team behind Bistro Mirey, which opened in West London in mid-December, is Ko Ito and Gerald Mirey and you might recognise them from their supper clubs and residence days from around London. Gerald is classically trained and previously worked at The Narrow, part of the Gordon Ramsay group, and has ambitious plans for their new permanent site, all serving only French or Japanese alcohol including a sparkling wine from Japan. Its essentially an all-day bistro, serving an a la carte winter evening menu, lunch, brunch, a childrens menu and an aperitif and sake menu as well as specials and a Sunday roast. Theyre leaving no stone unturned. For some, this may be taking on more than you can chew, but its well managed with concise menus. Weekend brunch is served Saturday 9am-4pm and Sunday until 11.30am and is split into Classiques (croissants and fruit), Oeuf (omelette and eggs benedict) and Specialite which I think is the best section. Pancakes infused with Japanese smoked green tea is one of the highlights on the menu With six options, this part of the menu is where the combination of the two cuisines is best observed. And considering its core is French, its quite amazing theres two vegan and two veggie options. Luckily, Ko realises that not everyone will be an expert, are more than likely not to know their hojicha from their nori and is on hand to explain exactly what the hojicha pancakes ( 7.50) entail. Theyre infused with a green tea, which gives them an ever so slightly darker hue of green/brown instead of their normal honey colour and a lightly smoked green tea taste. Its served with blueberries, raspberries, creme fraiche and a maple syrup to give it a creamy sweetness. The brioche French toast served with miso butter is sweet, yet incredibly moreish Aside from the pancakes, theres brioche French toast (7.50), served with streaky bacon and miso butter, which is chunky, sweet and incredibly moreish, plus quinoa porridge, tofu-stuffed crepes and a French breakfast. Its an exciting local restaurant that warrants visiting for all their occasions (a good ploy) and brings something a little different to an area mainly dominated with Middle Eastern cuisine. And its very pocket friendly, a good few pounds per dish below its counterparts. 98 Lillie Road, Fulham, London, SW6 7SR, UK; 020 3092 6969; bistromirey.com; open daily Brunching in... Baked eggs and spicy red pepper beans with feta Gorgeously sticky beans with soft, runny eggs and a crumbling of salty feta. Guaranteed to impress. Prep: 5 minutes Cook: 25 minutes Serves 2 1 tbsp olive oil 1 small red onion, finely sliced 100g roasted red peppers from a jar, sliced tsp sweet smoked paprika 2 tsp dark brown soft sugar 227g can chopped tomatoes 1 tbsp cider vinegar 400g can mixed beans in water, drained and rinsed 2 eggs 40g feta cheese, crumbled handful flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped Preheat the oven to 200C, gas mark 6. Heat the oil in an ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 7-8 minutes, until it starts to soften. Add the roasted peppers, paprika, sugar and a good pinch of salt, then cook, stirring regularly, for a further 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, vinegar and mixed beans, then simmer for 5 minutes, until thickened and sticky. With a wooden spoon, make two wells in the beans and break an egg into each. Season and bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny. Scatter over the feta and parsley and serve with toasted sourdough, if liked. Recipe and image courtesy of Waitrose.com Sign up to IndyEat's free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyEats email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Haggis, neeps and tatties Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 45 minutes Serves 6 2 x 500g haggis 1.5kg King Edward potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks 100ml whole milk 60g unsalted butter 1.5kg swede, peeled and diced 50ml whisky For the gravy 1 tbsp sunflower oil 1 celery stick, roughly chopped 1 carrot, roughly chopped 1 small onion, roughly chopped 1 tbsp plain flour 1 tsp tomato puree 750ml beef stock 3 tbsp redcurrant jelly 1 splash Worcestershire sauce 1 splash Tabasco sauce Preheat the oven to 180C, gas mark 4 and cook the haggis according to pack instructions. Recommended 10 best Scottish drinks for Burns Night Meanwhile, make the gravy. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the vegetables for 5 minutes until just brown. Add the flour and tomato puree and cook for 2-3 minutes. Slowly add the stock, stirring until smooth. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 30 minutes, then pass through a sieve. Return the gravy to a clean pan and add the redcurrant jelly, Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces. Simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from the hob and reheat before serving, if necessary. Place the potatoes (tatties) in a pan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 12-15 minutes until tender. Drain, and allow to dry in the pan for 2-3 minutes, then mash. Warm the milk and half the butter in a pan until the butter has melted. Stir into the potato and season. Place the swede (neeps) in a pan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes until tender. Drain and return to the pan to dry out for 2-3 minutes. Mash, stir in the remaining butter and season. Reheat the gravy, neeps and tatties if necessary. Remove the haggis from the oven. Make a slit through the casing and pour in the whisky. Serve spoonfuls of haggis with the tatties, neeps and gravy. Vegetarian haggis with warm butter bean and spinach salad Crispy pan-fried vegetarian haggis, with a vibrant warm salad of spinach, butter beans and peppers, makes a great seasonal starter or light lunch. Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 10 minutes Serves 6 2 tbsp olive oil 454g vegetarian haggis, casing removed, cut into 2.5cm pieces 200g pack marinated and grilled red and yellow peppers (from the chiller cabinet) 2 tsp paprika 420g can butter beans, drained and rinsed 150g pitted black olives, drained 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 225g bag baby spinach Heat the oil in a large frying pan and gently cook the haggis for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it starts to break up and turn crisp. Remove the pan from the heat and cover with foil to keep the haggis warm. Meanwhile, place the peppers with their oil in another frying pan with the paprika and cook for 2 minutes, then stir in the butter beans and olives and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the beans are heated through. Stir in the vinegar, cook for 1 minute, then remove from the heat. Place the spinach in a large mixing bowl, add the warm bean mixture and toss to combine. Divide between 6 plates, then spoon the haggis over the top. Serve immediately, with a wholemeal bread. Blackberry cranachan Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 5 minutes Total time: 15 minutes 15 minutes Serves 4-6 80g dark brown sugar 40g porridge oats 300g blackberries scant tsp cinnamon 350ml double cream 4-5 tbsp whisky 1 tsp vanilla extract Put 4 tbsp sugar in a thin, even layer in a dry frying pan. Top with the oats and set over a medium heat, swirling the pan so the sugar melts evenly. After about 4 minutes, it should have melted. Pour onto a baking sheet; leave to set, then break into a gritty texture. Crush the blackberries to a puree with the cinnamon and the remaining sugar. Set aside a few berries, then stir in the rest, crushing once with a fork. Whisk together the cream, whisky and vanilla to soft peaks. Stir in most of the caramelised oats. Layer or swirl the fruit and cream into glasses or bowls. Top each one with a blackberry or two and a sprinkling of the remaining oats. Recipe and image courtesy of Waitrose.com Sign up to IndyEat's free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyEats email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The British press has a long established formula for dealing with certain news stories from France and the affair of Emmanuel Macron and the Unesco baguette bid falls within it. First point: get a Sacre Bleu! or a Zut Alors! in there somewhere. OK, done. Next thing is to invoke some devious Gallic motivation. Absolutely pas de probleme. This is clearly a tactic to divert attention from Catherine Deneuves embarrassing refusal to kowtow to bien pensant Hollywood. And, of course, as the Italians have been quick to point out, the result of a fit of pique at the recent accession of the pizza to the pantheon of intangible Unesco world heritage. However the baguette is certainly an admirable and emblematic product, worthy of the support the Unesco listing is supposed to encourage. Its arguably already on the Unesco list, via the 2010 Unesco inclusion of the French gastronomic meal in its entirety. One of the glories of which was always the plentiful, freshly bought and guillotined baguette kept topped up on the table until after the cheese. The baguette may also qualify on the grounds of needing Unesco support, being arguably a threatened species. Among a number of baguette conversations this week, the food writer Xanthe Clay was particularly scathing, insisting that proper old-style crisp baguettes were quite simply gone, and various French advertising campaigns in recent years have attempted to halt a supposed decline. Its true that even in France the abomination which is a chewy baguette is nowadays all too common, and that the old boulangeries baking two or three times a day and refusing ascorbic acid and other industrial additives are getting rarer. In their place the unstoppable advance of the hypermarkets or the confusing range of mass produced or concession-made baguettes, with cunningly homespun brand names like Banette, the predecessor, or La Reine des Pres, one of the latest. Many more will be on view next month at Europain, Paris, the must-not-miss trade show for the industrial bread geek. Banette Baguettes will be a big feature of the Europain, the trade show for bread geeks (Banette International) But Dominique Anract, head of the Confederation Nationale de la Boulangerie-Patisserie, the man who got Macron on board the Unesco campaign, points out that there are still 33,000 independent boulangers across France, albeit down almost half from the 1950s, and this is still a network on a scale unique in the world. Plus 12 million daily customers many of whom still pop out to get a freshly baked baguette for every meal, and would regard using the mornings stale bread in the evening as sacrilege. Paris still supports a fine stock of such shops, a good example being the Boulangerie Brun on the rue de Tolbiac, 2017 winner of the citys annual Best Baguette Prize. Proprietor Sami Bouattour gets up at 2.30am five days a week to prepare anything between 700 and 1,200 baguettes a day, plus an undisclosed number for the Elysee Palace, one of the privileges of the prize. One assumes the president sticks with the in-laws for his mignardises though: Brigitte Macron is the daughter of the Trogneux family of Amiens, renowned macaron makers for three generations. Dominique Anract (centre) testing baguettes during the 2016 French Grand Prize in Paris (Getty) The Boulangerie Brun sells a lot more than baguettes: a whole range of which was another factor in the decline of the baguette. I remember years ago researching what I regarded as the ambrosia of breads only to find all the chic Parisians were turning to great rough country loaves from new celebrity bakers like Lionel Poilane and the old white baguette was just for trailer trash like me. In Britain, the baguette has had a different life cycle. Until around the 1990s, only clumsy Anglicisations, quaintly referred to French sticks, existed here. Then imported flours and professionals began to supply somewhat more authentic versions. But just as the Poilane vogue had eclipsed the traditional baguette in Parisian fashion 20 years earlier, the UK market soon became flooded with an increasingly sophisticated range of alternatives. Boulangerie Brun says baguettes are difficult to make and certainly not economical (Flickr/Formosa Wandering) The baguette is still a staple of British supermarkets but only one product among a range of several dozen brown and flavoured breads, sourdoughs, focaccias and ciabattas, naans and pittas. And the situation in the new UK artisan bakeries is no better. Laura Hart, one of Bristols most highly rated independent bakers, has the same length queues as the Boulangerie Brun in Paris, but customers rarely emerge with baguette tucked under arm. We have baked baguettes from time to time says Pete Young of the bakery, but they dont go that well. Theyre not as versatile to use as our big sourdough loaves, they dont last as long, and theyre harder to make: a lot more work per quantity of dough, so its hard to keep the price economical. Quite apart from its interest to baking enthusiasts, the French baguette affaire constitutes a salutary wake up call for the UK. What have we got listed as world food heritage? Not so much as a cheese and onion crisp, it would appear: Britain is one of very few states which hasnt ratified the relevant Unesco convention. An understandable economy, but one we should maybe now re-think. What if we used some of the spare cash from Brexit to sign on, grease a few palms in Unescoland, and get our intangible grub up there on the world heritage website? Question is, what to nominate first. Yorkshire puddings too doughy so soon after pizza and baguette. The deep fried Mars Bar would be perfect, but sugars out of favour. Best bet must be a vegan chicken korma, nice and shiny for Instagram, future proof, and oozing with zeitgeist. So you know what you can do with your baguette, Msieur Macron, and I dont mean make it into a sandwich au jambon! For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Armed police arrested a British Airways pilot just before takeoff after the cabin crew raised fears he may have been drunk. Attendants on the Boeing 777 flight 2063 called 999 after allegedly smelling alcohol on one of the officers breath. Police boarded the plane, bound for Mauritius, shortly before the scheduled takeoff time of 8:20pm on Thursday, The Telegraph reports. Shocked passengers reportedly looked on as the officer was removed from the flight. A 49-year-old man from West Drayton, London, has been arrested and remains in police custody, Sussex Police said. The man was arrested on suspicion of performing an aviation function when the level of alcohol was over the prescribed limit. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 18 November 2022 Kevin Sinfield on day six of the Ultra 7 in 7 Challenge from to York to Bradford. The former Leeds captain is set to complete seven ultra-marathons in as many days in aid of research into Motor Neurone Disease, finishing by running into Old Trafford at half-time of the Rugby League World Cup tournaments finale on 19 November PA UK news in pictures 17 November 2022 Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt leaves 11 Downing Street, London, for the House of Commons to deliver his autumn statement PA UK news in pictures 16 November 2022 Emma Woolf, great niece of British author Virginia Woolf, and her son Ludovic sit next to a new bronze statue of Woolf, unveiled in Richmond, London Reuters UK news in pictures 15 November 2022 Lesley Sutcliffe shelters from the rain next to a life-sized replica of the innermost coffin of King Tutankhamun by artist Amanda Stoner as it goes on display inside a traditional red telephone box which has been converted into a museum, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire PA UK news in pictures 14 November 2022 Members of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statement EPA UK news in pictures 13 November 2022 England celebrate winning the mens T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia AAP Image/Reuters UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA UK news in pictures 11 November 2022 City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd's of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War PA UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA A spokesperson for BA said: Were taking this matter extremely seriously and are assisting the police with their inquiries. We are sorry for the delay to our customers. The aircraft remained at the gate until an alternative third pilot joined the flight crew. The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A young woman has told how a "psycho" builder slit her neck open and said she had "10 minutes to live" after killing her friend. Mujahid Arshid, 33, allegedly kidnapped, raped and murdered 20-year-old Barclays worker Celine Dookhran then attempted to kill the other woman at a disused six-bedroom house in south west London. Ms Dookhran's family wept in the Old Bailey as the survivor recounted her harrowing experience from her hospital bed, with bandages on her arms. The witness told how they were abducted by Ms Dookhran's uncle and a Taser-wielding accomplice and bundled into the back of his pickup truck. Recommended Knife crime has become a scourge that must be stopped in 2018 In the police interview, she described hearing screams and thuds as Arshid allegedly killed Ms Dookhran after molesting both women in July last year. When he turned on her, the witness allegedly told him: "No, no, no we need to talk." She said: "I started fighting, I grabbed him, kneed him down below. He did not flinch at all. I grabbed his face. I grabbed the knife. "He started to slit me everywhere. I got my neck slit, my wrists. "He said 'now you've got 10 minutes to live and your body will shut down'. I was trying to play dead. "He molested Celine's body while she was dead and then he molested me thinking I was dead. He's such a psycho. "I sat up and he said 'How have you got so much energy?'. I was covered in blood from head to toe. I was swimming in it. "I started saying things he wanted to hear - I love you, we can run away together, we can be happy together, we can have a family. "He said 'I'm not good enough for you, look what I have done'." UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 18 November 2022 Kevin Sinfield on day six of the Ultra 7 in 7 Challenge from to York to Bradford. The former Leeds captain is set to complete seven ultra-marathons in as many days in aid of research into Motor Neurone Disease, finishing by running into Old Trafford at half-time of the Rugby League World Cup tournaments finale on 19 November PA UK news in pictures 17 November 2022 Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt leaves 11 Downing Street, London, for the House of Commons to deliver his autumn statement PA UK news in pictures 16 November 2022 Emma Woolf, great niece of British author Virginia Woolf, and her son Ludovic sit next to a new bronze statue of Woolf, unveiled in Richmond, London Reuters UK news in pictures 15 November 2022 Lesley Sutcliffe shelters from the rain next to a life-sized replica of the innermost coffin of King Tutankhamun by artist Amanda Stoner as it goes on display inside a traditional red telephone box which has been converted into a museum, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire PA UK news in pictures 14 November 2022 Members of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statement EPA UK news in pictures 13 November 2022 England celebrate winning the mens T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia AAP Image/Reuters UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA UK news in pictures 11 November 2022 City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd's of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War PA UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA The woman managed to raise the alarm and was rescued by Arshid's brother who saw her in the back of the defendant's truck and took her to hospital. On her ordeal, she told the court: "I'm not going to lie, I was scared for my life. I thought if we get out alive, he cannot get away with this." She said Arshid wanted to kill them both so "no-one else can have us", adding: "It doesn't make much sense but in his head it made sense." From her description, police found the house where the pair had been held, broke open a freezer in the utility room with a crowbar and found Ms Dookhran's body. Arshid was arrested at a Holiday Inn in Folkestone and his laptops were examined. Arshid allegedly trawled the internet for strong painkillers, "human cremation" "butchering the human carcass" and "acid bath murderer". Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC told jurors a Google search led to a Wikipedia page about John George Haigh, who was hanged in 1949 for murdering six people and disposing of their remains in different ways, including in baths filled with acid. He said the defendant was "inspired" by Haigh to set up a new Google email address ineedanacidbathspace.com. Arshid also allegedly viewed a YouTube video entitled Woman cut throat. A post-mortem examination found 5ft 3in tall Ms Dookhran had tape wrapped around her mouth and a sock rammed inside, reducing her ability to breathe. She had three cuts to the neck, slicing through her voicebox. She died from the combined effect of loss of blood and obstruction to the airways. Court artist sketch of Vincent Tappu (left) and Mujahid Arshid PA (Court artist sketch of Vincent Tappu (left) and Mujahid Arshid) Arshid, of no fixed address and Vincent Tappu, 28, of Spencer Road, Acton, west London, deny kidnap, false imprisonment and possession of a firearm with intent. Arshid has also pleaded not guilty to murder, attempted murder, rape of both women and the previous sexual assault and assault by penetration of the surviving woman when she was about 13. PA China on Friday denied that it was a disruptive power in the Indo-Pacific region as described by the head of the US military's Pacific command at a meeting in New Delhi, India. China advances a new type of international relations featured mutual respect, fairness and justice, cooperation and win-win, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang told a daily press briefing. Lu made the remarks in response to the comment by Admiral Harry Harris at the security meeting sponsored by the Indian government Thursday. Harris was joined by the chief of staff, joint staff of Japan and the head of the Indian navy. "It's just comment made by some individuals. It is not the first time they have done so," Lu said. "From a perspective of normal logic, China's efforts to build a new type of international relations should not make anyone who loves peace and seeks common prosperity feel discomfort and disturbed," said Lu. "If anyone sees such efforts as a 'disruptive force,' we should ask them what are they worried about?" Lu said China has played a better role in the international community, and provided more constructive public goods to the world, such as the Belt and Road initiative. "I hope more attention can be paid to the reaction and comments of the majority of international community. Of course, there is always deep unease about China from some persons and certain countries," said Lu. Harris reportedly also said China's action had cause disquiet in three members of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations. "We have not heard these three countries express their disquiet," Lu said. China has maintained its sovereignty and maritime rights in the East China Sea, said Lu, who added China and Japan have been communicating over the East China Sea issue, with Japan voicing hope to improve ties with China. He urged Japan to walk the talk. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A former pole dancer has been jailed for four years after entering a suicide pact with a postman and leaving him to die alone. Natasha Gordon backed out of the agreement with 31-year-old Matthew Birkinshaw on 17 December 2015 by getting out of his car before he killed himself. The ex-model was described during her trial as an "enthusiastic advocate" of suicide - attempting to arrange other pacts within hours of Mr Birkinshaw's death. Recommended Sadiq Khan accuses Government of driving violent crime rise with cuts But after backing out and leaving him to die, Gordon did not tell police officers who were just 450 metres away. Royal Mail employee Mr Birkinshaw, of Walsall, West Midlands, was pronounced dead at 7.24pm, just after he was found in his Fiat Punto at Rutland Water in Oakham, Rutland. Gordon, of Paston Ridings, Peterborough, denied having any impact on Mr Birkinshaw's decision to take his own life, but was convicted by a jury at Leicester Crown Court in December. Wearing a leopard-print coat and a white jumper, she showed no emotion as the judge ruled she could only pass an immediate custodial sentence. Addressing the 44-year-old, who was flanked by a security officer in the dock on Friday, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said: "This was a serious case because Matthew Birkinshaw actually took his own life after your encouragement. Samaritans: Where to turn when life gets tough "I have found you misled him into believing you were genuine and firmly intent on committing suicide with him, although you were not fully committed. "You were gripped by your self-centredness." The judge accepted Mr Birkinshaw would have more than likely taken his own life but said Gordon had influenced his decision to commit suicide and the method he chose. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 18 November 2022 Kevin Sinfield on day six of the Ultra 7 in 7 Challenge from to York to Bradford. The former Leeds captain is set to complete seven ultra-marathons in as many days in aid of research into Motor Neurone Disease, finishing by running into Old Trafford at half-time of the Rugby League World Cup tournaments finale on 19 November PA UK news in pictures 17 November 2022 Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt leaves 11 Downing Street, London, for the House of Commons to deliver his autumn statement PA UK news in pictures 16 November 2022 Emma Woolf, great niece of British author Virginia Woolf, and her son Ludovic sit next to a new bronze statue of Woolf, unveiled in Richmond, London Reuters UK news in pictures 15 November 2022 Lesley Sutcliffe shelters from the rain next to a life-sized replica of the innermost coffin of King Tutankhamun by artist Amanda Stoner as it goes on display inside a traditional red telephone box which has been converted into a museum, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire PA UK news in pictures 14 November 2022 Members of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statement EPA UK news in pictures 13 November 2022 England celebrate winning the mens T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia AAP Image/Reuters UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA UK news in pictures 11 November 2022 City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd's of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War PA UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA Mr Birkinshaw's mother, Margaret Birkinshaw, fought back tears as she read out her victim impact statement in court. She said: "It's impossible to put into words the effect the loss of Matthew has had on our family. "He was everything to us and has left a space no-one else can ever fill." Mrs Birkinshaw's voice cracked as she said: "Matt was 31 when he died just one week before Christmas. "His last words to me were 'Give me a hug mum, I'll be back tomorrow.' "I've asked myself a million times over the past two years 'Why didn't I ring him? Would it have made a difference if he'd heard my voice?"' She added: "He was a man full of fun, laughter, love and intelligence, with everything to live for but with a sensitivity which sometimes made life difficult for him, and the misfortune to meet with someone who wanted to do him harm when he most needed kindness and support." Summarising the case before sentence, prosecutor Timothy Cray said: "She had a long-held desire to commit suicide and only she will know if she intended to go ahead with it. "Fundamentally, she decided not to commit suicide in the end." Ali Naseem Bajwa QC, defending, said: "The Crown conceded that the defendant Miss Gordon was suicidal." Mr Bajwa asked the judge to find her demeanour "sincere" when she got "as upset as she did" when talking about Mr Birkinshaw's death. PA The following organisations are available for advice and support: https://www.mind.org.uk/ http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/mentalhealth https://www.samaritans.org/ Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} More than 160,000 people with mental health problems could receive back payments from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) after the Government admitted people may have missed out on benefits. The DWP said it would not appeal a High Court ruling last month that found changes to the disability benefit system blatantly discriminated against people with mental health problems. Disability campaigners hailed it as a victory. The ruling in December found an amendment to personal independence payment (PIP) that limited the amount of support people with psychological distress could receive for making journeys constituted a breach of their human rights. Summing up the case, which was brought by a woman with mental health problems, the judge said the regulations could not be objectively justified. The new Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey said the DWP would not appeal and would take all steps necessary to implement the judgment, by going through all affected PIP claimants to identify anyone who may be entitled to additional support as a result of the case. We will then write to those individuals affected, and all payments will be backdated to the effective date in each individual claim, she added. Disability campaigners have hailed the announcement as a victory for disabled people who have been unable to access support they are entitled to. They said it would come as a huge relief for many people with disabilities. Debbie Abrahams MP, Labours Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said the ruling showed yet more evidence of the duplicity and disarray of the Governments social security policies. She added that questions remain over how many people were affected and how much public money has been shed out on the case. The Government was wrong to bring in the PIP regulations last year and it was wrong to ignore time and time again the views of the courts. Labour supported the initial tribunal judgment and pledged in our manifesto to reverse the PIP regulations, she said. Serious questions remain including: how many people have been adversely affected by the Governments reckless decision to oppose the tribunals original judgment? How much public money has been spent on lawyers, trying to defend the indefensible? And how quickly will people with severe mental health conditions receive the support to which they are rightly entitled? This is yet more evidence of the duplicity and disarray of the Tories social security policies. Mark Atkinson, chief executive of disability charity Scope, said: Its absolutely right that the Government has accepted the High Courts ruling over the discriminatory changes made to PIP last year. This announcement is a victory for the many disabled people who have been unable to access support they are entitled to. The regulations introduced last March made crude and unfair distinctions between those with physical impairments and mental health conditions. Thousands of disabled people rely on PIP to live independently and meet the often substantial extra costs they face related to their condition or impairment. While those affected by these misguided changes will now receive the payments they are entitled to, the fundamentally flawed PIP assessment process still needs radically overhauling so it accurately identifies the extra costs disabled people face. Rebecca Hilsenrath, chief executive at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, meanwhile, said: For anyone with a disability, being able to live independently is vital. We welcome the decision by the Government not to appeal against the High Court ruling at the end of last year that changes to PIP were discriminatory. Their decision today will mean people with mental health conditions can access the support they need. Laura Wetherly, policy manager at the MS Society, said: This is much-needed recognition from the Government that mental difficulties can affect peoples lives just as much as physical symptoms. It will come as a huge relief to the thousands of people with multiple sclerosis who know only too well the significant impact cognitive symptoms can have. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 18 November 2022 Kevin Sinfield on day six of the Ultra 7 in 7 Challenge from to York to Bradford. The former Leeds captain is set to complete seven ultra-marathons in as many days in aid of research into Motor Neurone Disease, finishing by running into Old Trafford at half-time of the Rugby League World Cup tournaments finale on 19 November PA UK news in pictures 17 November 2022 Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt leaves 11 Downing Street, London, for the House of Commons to deliver his autumn statement PA UK news in pictures 16 November 2022 Emma Woolf, great niece of British author Virginia Woolf, and her son Ludovic sit next to a new bronze statue of Woolf, unveiled in Richmond, London Reuters UK news in pictures 15 November 2022 Lesley Sutcliffe shelters from the rain next to a life-sized replica of the innermost coffin of King Tutankhamun by artist Amanda Stoner as it goes on display inside a traditional red telephone box which has been converted into a museum, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire PA UK news in pictures 14 November 2022 Members of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statement EPA UK news in pictures 13 November 2022 England celebrate winning the mens T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia AAP Image/Reuters UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA UK news in pictures 11 November 2022 City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd's of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War PA UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA However, this is only addressing one part of a broken system. A lot more still needs to be done were urging the Government to review the PIP assessment so that it works for people living with an unpredictable condition like MS. Announcing the DWP would not appeal on Friday, Ms McVey said: Supporting people with mental health conditions is a top priority for this Government. We are committed to ensuring our welfare system is a strong safety net for those who need it. That is why we spend over 50bn a year supporting people with disabilities and health conditions more than ever before. Disabled people and people with health conditions, including mental health conditions, deserve the very best support. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A couple with a combined age of 171 have become Britains oldest newlyweds. Joan Grant, 81, wed Ted Wright, 90 at Swindon Register Office, after they met while working at WHSmith. They tied the knot in a civil ceremony in front of 20 guests and walked down the aisle to Frank Sinatras "Second Time Around". The couple have planned a week-long funnymoon in a hotel with 43 friends from their retirement group of ex-WHSmith workers. Ms Grant said: We will have our first dance to Second Time Around by Frank Sinatra the same song we walked down the aisle to. We were engaged for more or less ten years but in September we were visiting Teds niece, and he said Joan and I are going to get married. It was a lovely surprise for me. Ms Grant wore a dark purple lace dress, a black jacket and a white fascinator with feathers, while Mr Wright wore a dark blue suit with a white shirt and a tie which was colour co-ordinated with his wifes outfit. The couple had both been widowed and neither had dared to hope of finding love again until they met 15 years ago on holiday near Blackpool. Great-grandfather-of-two Mr Wright said: Neither of us ever thought we would be married again. My wife died 17 years ago, and Joans husband died, aged 63. We both had church weddings the first time but thought wed make this one a quiet one. We really love each other and we are so happy. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 18 November 2022 Kevin Sinfield on day six of the Ultra 7 in 7 Challenge from to York to Bradford. The former Leeds captain is set to complete seven ultra-marathons in as many days in aid of research into Motor Neurone Disease, finishing by running into Old Trafford at half-time of the Rugby League World Cup tournaments finale on 19 November PA UK news in pictures 17 November 2022 Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt leaves 11 Downing Street, London, for the House of Commons to deliver his autumn statement PA UK news in pictures 16 November 2022 Emma Woolf, great niece of British author Virginia Woolf, and her son Ludovic sit next to a new bronze statue of Woolf, unveiled in Richmond, London Reuters UK news in pictures 15 November 2022 Lesley Sutcliffe shelters from the rain next to a life-sized replica of the innermost coffin of King Tutankhamun by artist Amanda Stoner as it goes on display inside a traditional red telephone box which has been converted into a museum, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire PA UK news in pictures 14 November 2022 Members of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statement EPA UK news in pictures 13 November 2022 England celebrate winning the mens T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia AAP Image/Reuters UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA UK news in pictures 11 November 2022 City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd's of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War PA UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA The couple are both Londoners who moved to Swindon for their jobs with WHSmith. They met through a retirement group for former workers of the stationary company and will spend a week in a hotel with their colleagues celebrating their marriage, as well as having a party with 100 guests. I went on holiday with them near Blackpool, and my first impression was she was lovely, Ted said. "Joan says I married her to make an honest woman of her. Weve lived together in a bungalow since 2004. She has found her Mr Wright. Born in 1927, Mr Wright had seven siblings, and his last surviving sister, Jessie, aged 79, travelled from Kent to watch her brother walk down the aisle for the second time. They asked guests not to give them wedding presents, but for donations to be made towards a radiotherapy unit at the local hospital. SWNS Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Britains longest serving Afghan military interpreter has been refused the right to live in the UK, just months after the Home Office prompted fury by detaining and threatening to deport another translator from the region. The 34-year-old, known as Ricky, reportedly worked for the military in Afghanistan for 16 years, during which he is said to have showed unfailing loyalty. His refused application for sanctuary in the UK has prompted anger from senior British Army officers, who also vehemently opposed the detention and threatened deportation of Hafizzulah Husseinkhel, who served on the front line for the British Army between 2010 and 2012. His asylum claim was rejected in June and in December, the 26-year-old was handed removal papers and taken to a detention centre at Campsville near Oxford. He was told he would be removed from the country between 6 and 22 December. Following an outcry from members of the military who served alongside him and campaign to let him remain in the UK, the High Court ordered he be released from detention and halted his removal. Now Ricky, who was made redundant in November, has been refused entry to the UK due to the fact that he had not served on the front line in Helmand province, the Daily Mail reported. Under a Government "relocation scheme", interpreters have to have served in that region to qualify for sanctuary in Britain. Defence officials say that was where they faced the greatest danger and risked the most. But Ricky is said to have served on patrols in and around the capital Kabul. Brigadier Gerhard Wheeler CBE, one of the most senior officers in the country at the time, told the Mail Ricky "risked his life on numerous occasions" to help UK troops and he and his family were "more than deserving of a chance of a life in the UK". His comments echoed those made by senior officer William Locke, who served with Mr Husseinkhel on the front line in 2011, and said it was ridiculous that the Home Office plans to deport ahim when he had helped save British lives. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 18 November 2022 Kevin Sinfield on day six of the Ultra 7 in 7 Challenge from to York to Bradford. The former Leeds captain is set to complete seven ultra-marathons in as many days in aid of research into Motor Neurone Disease, finishing by running into Old Trafford at half-time of the Rugby League World Cup tournaments finale on 19 November PA UK news in pictures 17 November 2022 Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt leaves 11 Downing Street, London, for the House of Commons to deliver his autumn statement PA UK news in pictures 16 November 2022 Emma Woolf, great niece of British author Virginia Woolf, and her son Ludovic sit next to a new bronze statue of Woolf, unveiled in Richmond, London Reuters UK news in pictures 15 November 2022 Lesley Sutcliffe shelters from the rain next to a life-sized replica of the innermost coffin of King Tutankhamun by artist Amanda Stoner as it goes on display inside a traditional red telephone box which has been converted into a museum, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire PA UK news in pictures 14 November 2022 Members of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statement EPA UK news in pictures 13 November 2022 England celebrate winning the mens T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia AAP Image/Reuters UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA UK news in pictures 11 November 2022 City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd's of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War PA UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA Mr Husseinkhel missed out on the "relocation scheme" because it was available only to staff who were in post on 19 December last year shortly after he left the post. A Government spokesperson said: More than 390 former Afghan staff and their families have been relocated to the UK and we expect to relocate over 40 more and their relatives families. We have expert teams in both the UK and in Kabul who ensure that former Afghan staff who feel threatened are properly supported. The Home Office repeatedly told The Independent it did not comment on individual cases when approached regarding Mr Husseinkhel's situation. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Jordan Peterson has become something of an internet celebrity in recent years. The clinical psychologist was relatively unknown outside of his field until 2016 when his profile exploded. Since then, he has attracted a slew of predominantly young, male followers who credit his no-nonsense, anti-snowflake advice for helping them turn their lives around. This week, his name made headlines around the world after a combative interview with Channel 4s Cathy Newman forced the channel to seek security advice after she was hit with a torrent of misogynistic abuse. But who is the Canadian professor turned self-help guru? The 55-year-old is a University of Toronto professor of psychology and opponent of political correctness. The self-described cultural critic became the subject of sustained media attention in 2016 after uploading a series of videos criticising the Canadian governments Bill C-16. The bill proposed including gender identity and orientation in the Canadian Human Rights Act, making it illegal to discriminate based on outward expression of gender. But Peterson argued the bill was in direct opposition to free speech and said he would refuse to use gender-neutral pronouns if requested by a non-binary student. He later clarified he would not use new, neutral pronouns like ze but did not object to addressing trans people by their preferred traditional pronoun, the BBC reported. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 18 November 2022 Kevin Sinfield on day six of the Ultra 7 in 7 Challenge from to York to Bradford. The former Leeds captain is set to complete seven ultra-marathons in as many days in aid of research into Motor Neurone Disease, finishing by running into Old Trafford at half-time of the Rugby League World Cup tournaments finale on 19 November PA UK news in pictures 17 November 2022 Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt leaves 11 Downing Street, London, for the House of Commons to deliver his autumn statement PA UK news in pictures 16 November 2022 Emma Woolf, great niece of British author Virginia Woolf, and her son Ludovic sit next to a new bronze statue of Woolf, unveiled in Richmond, London Reuters UK news in pictures 15 November 2022 Lesley Sutcliffe shelters from the rain next to a life-sized replica of the innermost coffin of King Tutankhamun by artist Amanda Stoner as it goes on display inside a traditional red telephone box which has been converted into a museum, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire PA UK news in pictures 14 November 2022 Members of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statement EPA UK news in pictures 13 November 2022 England celebrate winning the mens T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia AAP Image/Reuters UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA UK news in pictures 11 November 2022 City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd's of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War PA UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA His YouTube channel hosts a slew of other videos, including criticism of identity politics, postmodern feminism and the ideology of white privilege. Other videos praise the power of mythology and the bible and the sanctity of marriage. Petersons videos have clocked up 150 million views and he has over 300,000 Twitter followers. He is currently on tour promoting his new book, 12 Rules for Life. Events in London drew large crowds but elsewhere, venues have cancelled appearances at short notice due to opposition. What are his beliefs? He describes his views as classic British liberaltemperamentally I am high on openness which tilts me to the left, although I am also conscientious which tilts me to the right. Philosophically I am an individualist, not a collectivist of the right or the left. Metaphysically I am an American pragmatist who has been strongly influenced by the psychoanalytic and clinical thinking of Freud and Jung, according to the Guardian. Why is he so controversial? Critics have accused Peterson of being a provocateur, a member of the alt-right and a transphobe, labels he has shunned on multiple occasions. He has also been called the stupid mans smart person. He has criticised political correctness relating to topics including transgender rights, cultural appropriation, and environmentalism. He has also expressed views that social justice activism is really an authoritarian movement in disguise. Peterson has also been criticised for not calling off his fanbase when they hound opponents with online abuse. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Eurotunnel has said it is "right to be thinking about" building a new English Channel crossing and would want to be involved if the plans floated by Boris Johnson went ahead. The Foreign Secretary's idea for a bridge, floated at a summit attended by French president Emmanuel Macron was "very interesting", corporate affairs director John Keefe said. Current Channel Tunnel traffic only runs at about 54 per cent of total capacity but the company has the rights to build any second crossing until 2086. Mr Keefe said it would be "decades" before the extra capacity was needed but fluctuating growth rates and changes in technology made it difficult to be more precise. He said: "It's certainly right to be thinking about it and it's something we consider on a regular basis. We look at the forecasts and we look at where we see traffic growth going and when we have got a stable period ahead of us then we can plan and predict." He added: "It's a very interesting idea. We want to be involved if it gets developed, as it gets developed, but we think there is still a bit of growth to do first before it becomes necessary. If the economic, political and financial conditions were all favourable we would have first dibs on whether to do it or not. "If the conditions are right, we want to be there." The idea was widely ridiculed by politicians and industry alike. Boris Johnson's Channel bridge suggestion met with scepticism Downing Street played down plans. Theresa Mays spokesman gave a cool response to reports of the bridge, saying that he had not seen any plans for such an ambitious infrastructure project. They said: I havent seen any plans on that. But what I would say is...we are going to have very good economic ties with France economically, culturally, in areas such as defence and security for many, many decades to come. What was agreed yesterday, and what the Foreign Secretary tweeted about as well, is a panel of experts who will look at major projects together including infrastructure and we want to work very closely with our French colleagues on building a shared prosperous future. Pressed further on whether a bridge was an option, or whether the PM knew Mr Johnson might raise the prospect, the spokesman repeated that he had not seen any plans. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 18 November 2022 Kevin Sinfield on day six of the Ultra 7 in 7 Challenge from to York to Bradford. The former Leeds captain is set to complete seven ultra-marathons in as many days in aid of research into Motor Neurone Disease, finishing by running into Old Trafford at half-time of the Rugby League World Cup tournaments finale on 19 November PA UK news in pictures 17 November 2022 Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt leaves 11 Downing Street, London, for the House of Commons to deliver his autumn statement PA UK news in pictures 16 November 2022 Emma Woolf, great niece of British author Virginia Woolf, and her son Ludovic sit next to a new bronze statue of Woolf, unveiled in Richmond, London Reuters UK news in pictures 15 November 2022 Lesley Sutcliffe shelters from the rain next to a life-sized replica of the innermost coffin of King Tutankhamun by artist Amanda Stoner as it goes on display inside a traditional red telephone box which has been converted into a museum, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire PA UK news in pictures 14 November 2022 Members of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statement EPA UK news in pictures 13 November 2022 England celebrate winning the mens T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia AAP Image/Reuters UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA UK news in pictures 11 November 2022 City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd's of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War PA UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA The UK shipping industry also poured scorn on the notion, saying: Building a huge concrete structure in the middle of the worlds busiest shipping lane might come with some challenges. French finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, said: All ideas merit consideration, even the most far-fetched ones, noting that the Channel Tunnel already linked Europes second and third-largest economies. We have major European infrastructure projects that are complicated to finance, he told Europe 1 radio. Lets finish things that already under way before thinking of new ones. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Ministers are facing a parliamentary inquiry amid concerns that Brexit will allow them to sidestep implementing tough new binding EU rules on equal pay and the gender pay gap. An influential committee of MPs has warned that the Government is not providing answers about what it will replace proposed EU-wide equal pay monitoring systems with once it leaves. Campaigners said the Government must not use Brexit to wriggle out of its commitment on equal pay, while an MP on the committee told The Independent that a minister should be summoned for cross-examination on the issue. The European Commissions action plan on equal pay, released in November, lays out policies to mandate sanctions and compensation for the victims of unequal pay, gives legally binding rights for workers to request information on equal pay in their companies and mandates that countries strengthen enforcement powers against firms breaking the rules. In a report from its first meeting of 2018, Parliaments European Scrutiny Committee said current government policies beg the question of whether and how the UK will maintain its own commitment after Brexit to reduce and eliminate the gender pay gap, in default of EU initiatives, supervision and enforcement mechanisms on equal pay. The Government insists it is still committed to eliminating the gender pay gap but when approached by The Independent, a spokesperson did not spell out any plans for introducing regulations equivalent to the full range proposed by the EU. Sophie Walker, leader of the Womens Equality Party, told The Independent: The Government must not use Brexit to wriggle out of its responsibility to tackle the pay gap between men and women. The European Scrutiny Committee is right to pose this question, and the Government should now prove its commitment to addressing the factors that cause the gender pay gap. That requires a crackdown on outright pay discrimination, as well as action to address the structural inequalities such as the cost of childcare, the fact that women do the majority of unpaid care, a failure to make sure boys and girls are instilled with equal aspirations and opportunities that lie beneath the pay gap. The Government should start by redesigning equality legislation and require firms reporting a pay gap above 5 per cent to release details of their hiring, promotion and parental leave policies and the salary bands of their male and female workers, both full- and part-time. This transparency would flag where their work practices had implicit discrimination or bias. The Government must not use Brexit to wriggle out of its responsibility to tackle the pay gap between men and women. Sophie Walker, Womens Equality Party Geraint Davies, a Labour MP who sits on the committee, told The Independent: The European Scrutiny Committee is concerned the gender pay gap could get wider after Brexit, not narrower. In fact, the new Department for Exiting the EU has one of the worst gender gaps so could be leading the way backwards. We have written to the Government asking what action it will take to reduce the gender pay gap and to enforce progress and then I will be pressing the Committee to summon a minister for cross-examination. Brexit threatens to put Britain into reverse gear in terms of equal pay for women which would be a disaster as women have already disproportionately suffered from Government austerity. The cross-party European Scrutiny Committee assesses the legal importance of EU missives, draft legislation and documents to the British Government, and cross-checks them against the Governments own plans. It then decides whether or not a document needs more parliamentary security as in the case of the gender pay gap action plan. The documents relating to the gender pay gap regulations have now been passed to the Women and Equalities Committee for interrogation and have also been drawn to the attention of the House for further scrutiny. The European Scrutiny Committee has written to the Government asking it to clarify what action it will take. Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the back of the queue for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germanys top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as gateway to Europe for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the BundesbankGermanys central banktold a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were equivalent between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEOs performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterlings fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty Asked about what it would replace the incoming EU rules with, a Government spokesperson said: Action taken by this Government means that we are one of the first countries in the world to require all large employers to publish their gender pay gap and bonus data. This is not an option, it is the law. Employers have until 4 April 2018 (or 30 March 2018 for the public sector) to report and this will help shine a light on where women are being held back and where employers can take action to support their whole workforce. We are proud to say that the full-time gender pay gap is the lowest it has ever been but we want to take this further we are committed to eliminating the gender pay gap entirely. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Mary Lou McDonald will become the first woman to lead Sinn Fein in modern times after no other candidate stood against her to replace Gerry Adams. Current deputy leader Ms McDonald said that while nobody could fill the shoes of Republican veteran Mr Adams, the news is that I brought my own. She added that Sinn Fein is probably the most exemplary party when it comes to girl power at this stage in Irish politics a reference to the fact that the party in Northern Ireland is also led by a woman, Michelle ONeill. Sinn Feins governing council met in Belfast to formally ratify Ms McDonald, with a special conference to elect her to be held next month when Mr Adams, 69, steps down after almost 35 years at the helm. The party was last led by a woman back in 1937, when Margaret Buckley took charge, strengthening the relations between the party and the IRA during her 13-year tenure. Nicknamed Marmite Mary because she divides opinion sharply, Ms McDonald is the TD (member of the Irish Parliament) for Dublin Central and began her political life as a member of Fianna Fail, one of Irelands two mainstream political parties. Some have accused her of making the switch to the more hardline party for opportunistic reasons, but she has insisted the move was about policy differences. Mary Lou McDonald is currently the partys deputy president (PA Wire/PA Images) (PA) Ms McDonald said the party will aim to convince unionists that a United Ireland is the best way forward for everyone. Addressing the Belfast meeting, Ms McDonald said she believes her leadership will mark a defining chapter in the achievement of a United Ireland. I believe Irish unity is the best solution for all of our people, including our unionist brothers and sisters. I know we have a job to do to convince them of that, but I know we are more than fit for that task, she said. She added: Some of you have said to me you have very big shoes to fill. Well, the truth is that no one will ever fill Gerry Adamss shoes. The truth is, my friends, I wont fill Gerrys shoes. But the news is that I brought my own. So I will fill my shoes. I will walk in my shoes and we together over the coming years will walk a journey that is full of opportunities, full of challenges, but I believe which marks a defining chapter in our achievement of a United Ireland and the ending of partition. As Gerry has said, thats not a pipe dream, that is the road we are on. Ms McDonald said she grew up watching Mr Adams on the television and could never have imagined she would one day replace him as leader. Little was I to know at that time that I would come to know and work so closely with Gerry and the entire leadership and to have him as such a close friend, she said. Sinn Feins President, Gerry Adams, announced his retirement in November (PA) But I certainly never would have guessed that come 10 February 2018 that I would be the boss of him. Mr Adams told members that the party must devise strategies and win support for a referendum on Irish unity. We need to campaign for this, he said. We also need to win that referendum ... dont believe the naysayers and begrudgers who claim that a United Ireland is a pipe dream. It isnt. Its very real. Its very achievable. We can do it. Mr Adams announced in November that he was stepping down as Sinn Fein President after leading the party since 1983. Ms McDonald was educated at the private Notre Dame secondary school in the affluent Chruchtown area of Dublin before graduating from Trinity College, the University of Limerick and Dublin City University. She has been the TD for Dublin Central since 2011. Before being elected to the Dail (Parliament) she made history by becoming Sinn Feins first MEP in Ireland in 2004. She has attracted controversy on occasions, such as in 2009 when it emerged IRA memorabilia was being sold from her campaign headquarters. Several party members took to Twitter to express their support for Ms McDonald. Fiachra McGuinness, son of the late Martin McGuinness, tweeted a video message declaring he was proud and honoured to endorse Ms McDonald. He said his father was a huge admirer of her ideas, dedication and commitment, and that she was the ideal candidate to lead Sinn Fein into the future. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} London Mayor Sadiq Khan has fired the starting gun on local election campaigning in the capital, attacking the Conservatives at council and national level. Mr Khan said Tory politicians had failed voters on housing, health and polluted air, as he revealed Labour would make Tory boroughs Wandsworth and Barnet top targets. The Tories hit back accusing Mr Khan of a string of broken promises, but the partys own polling information points to a difficult round of elections in the capital in May. Mr Khan released an analysis which he said proved Tory policy at national and local level was hitting Londoners. The Mayor said official data showed Labour councils in London have on average built almost 70 per cent more affordable housing than Tory councils since 2013. He added that 25 per cent of all housing built by the average Labour-run council since 2013 has been affordable compared to 17 per cent from Conservative boroughs. Mr Khan said: For too long, Londoners have suffered Tory cuts to their most vital services from the NHS, to social care, to youth centres. Tory-led councils have done nothing to build the genuinely affordable homes Londoners need, and in many cases the Tories have actively tried to block efforts to clean up our filthy air. It is time to turn these councils red, so Labour can govern for the many, not the few. Turning to the NHS he said that last month every single A&E ward in London missed its waiting time target for 95 per cent of patients to be seen within four hours. Londons hospitals had only met their cancer targets to treat 85 per cent of patients within 62 days of an urgent referral, in two months out of the last two years. He hit out at Tories on the London Assembly for voting against his measures to introduce a new ultra-low emissions zone, and T-charge to get the dirtiest vehicles off the road. Responding, Paul Scully MP, Conservative Vice Chairman for London, said: Since the Labour Mayor of London was elected less than two years ago, all Londoners have had to stomach is broken promise after broken promise. London housing is set to be top of the campaign agenda in May (Getty) In key areas such as improving transport, preventing crime and delivering value for money on council tax, Labour are quick to ditch their election promises and let Londoners down time and time again. Its the Conservatives who are working hard locally to keep council tax low, our streets secure and to deliver the services we all rely on. They accused the mayor of having broken promises over stopping transport strikes, freezing fares and also building homes pointing to data in August showing that no social housing had been built in the last 12 months. Elections analyst and Conservative peer Lord Hayward said in January that the Tories face likely defeat in two London councils and the fight of their lives to cling on to three others which were previously seen as safe. The Conservatives look certain to be beaten in Kingston by the Liberal Democrats, according to his analysis. Even more alarming for Tory campaign chiefs, they could lose control of Westminster and Wandsworth, which were portrayed as models of Conservative efficiency for setting zero poll tax charges in John Majors day. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theresa May has once again refused to say she would vote for Brexit if there was another referendum on Britains membership of the European Union (EU). If a vote was to come up, I would do what I did last time round which was sit down and look carefully at the issues, she told the France 2 TV channel. But there isnt going to be another vote, so this is not an issue. What is going to happen is the UK is going to leave the European Union. There will be no second referendum on Brexit. We took the decision as a parliament that the British people should have their choice. The Prime Minister, campaigned for Remain during last year's vote and has subsequently overseen the triggering of Article 50 - the start of two years of negotiations to thrash out a deal for Britain's exit from the EU. It means that the UK will quit the EU by March 29 2019 at the latest, ahead of the European Parliament elections in May of that year. The Prime Minister was criticised when she made similar comments in October 2017 when she again refused to say how she would vote in a second referendum. Pressed for an answer on LBC radio, Ms May said: I could say I would still vote Remain or I would vote Leave just to give you an answer to that question. I am being open and honest with you. What I did last time round was I looked at everything and came to a judgement and Id do exactly the same this time round. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty But we are not having another referendum and thats absolutely crucial. Shortly afterwards Jeremy Corbyn has said he would vote Remain again in a further referendum. The Labour leader said: I thought the best option was to remain, I havent changed my mind on that. BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of National Defense has told the United States not to "cause trouble out of nothing," and to respect the sovereignty of China. Wu Qian, spokesperson for the ministry, made the remarks Saturday in response to the actions of a U.S. warship Wednesday. According to Wu, on Jan. 17, the USS Hopper, a guided missile destroyer, arbitrarily entered waters surrounding Huangyan Island in the South China Sea, before Chinese missile destroyer Huangshan immediately conducted an identification and warning process to drive it away. Under joint efforts by China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the situation around the South China Sea is becoming more and more stable and positive, Wu said. The United States has sent vessels to illegally enter the waters around China's islands and reefs in the South China Sea on multiple occasions, endangering the safety of vessels and personnel from both sides, the spokesperson continued. It has also threatened China's sovereignty and security, harmed the regional peace and stability, and gone against the stable development of relations between the two countries and their militaries, he stated. "We hope that the United States will respect China's sovereignty, respect the efforts made by the countries within the region, and not cause trouble out of nothing or make waves," Wu said. The Chinese military will continue to fulfill its defensive duties, intensify its patrols in the air and at sea, in order to firmly safeguard the sovereignty and security of the country, as well as the regional peace and stability, he added. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The former Lord Chief Justice has warned it could become harder for rapists to be convicted, as juries may lose faith in the justice system after the collapse of several sex crime trials. Lord Judge, who was the most senior judge in England and Wales between 2008 and 2013 said he feared that juries may question whether they are being given all the evidence, meaning a guilty verdict may be harder to secure in genuine rape cases. His words come after sexual assault charges against Oxford University student Oliver Mears, 19, were dropped days before his trial as vital new evidence was presented at the last minute. Lord Judge told The Times: The recent examples in cases involving alleged sexual crime are alarming, both for all the individuals concerned and for public confidence in the administration of criminal justice generally. It is at least possible that from time to time juries, alarmed as everyone else by these cases, may wonder, even in an apparently strong case, whether they have been provided with all the admissible evidence. These events may reduce the prospects of conviction even when the allegation is genuine. The case against Mr Mears was delayed for two years. The teenager suspended his studies at at St Hughs College as he awaited trial on bail, after being accused of rape and sexual assault of a woman in 2015. But the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case after being given new evidence by Surrey Police, including the complainants diary. The police force said they would review all their current rape investigations after being criticised for their handling of the case. They admitted there were flaws in the initial investigation, such as their failure to look into the womans digital media. They have launched an investigation alongside the CPS. Prosecutor Sarah Lindop told Guildford Crown Court on Friday the case against Mr Mears was finely balanced from the start. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 18 November 2022 Kevin Sinfield on day six of the Ultra 7 in 7 Challenge from to York to Bradford. The former Leeds captain is set to complete seven ultra-marathons in as many days in aid of research into Motor Neurone Disease, finishing by running into Old Trafford at half-time of the Rugby League World Cup tournaments finale on 19 November PA UK news in pictures 17 November 2022 Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt leaves 11 Downing Street, London, for the House of Commons to deliver his autumn statement PA UK news in pictures 16 November 2022 Emma Woolf, great niece of British author Virginia Woolf, and her son Ludovic sit next to a new bronze statue of Woolf, unveiled in Richmond, London Reuters UK news in pictures 15 November 2022 Lesley Sutcliffe shelters from the rain next to a life-sized replica of the innermost coffin of King Tutankhamun by artist Amanda Stoner as it goes on display inside a traditional red telephone box which has been converted into a museum, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire PA UK news in pictures 14 November 2022 Members of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statement EPA UK news in pictures 13 November 2022 England celebrate winning the mens T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia AAP Image/Reuters UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA UK news in pictures 11 November 2022 City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd's of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War PA UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA The judge in the case slammed the unnecessary delays. Judge Jonathan Black said: It seems to me in a case which is as finely balanced as you say it was, there have been unnecessary delays in investigating... leading to what seems to be a completely unnecessary last-minute decision in this case. Both Oliver Mears and the complainant have had this matter hanging over their heads for two years in circumstances, had the investigation been carried out properly in the first instance, that would not have led to this position. Recommended Surrey Police to review all rape cases after Oxford student cleared The judge has given the head of the CPS Rape and Sexual Assault unit 28 days to explain fully what went wrong in the investigation, in writing, before deciding if any further action is needed at a CPS or police level. Surrey Police said the case was dropped for a number of reasons. This is an investigative issue and not related to disclosure. We accept that there were flaws in the initial investigation, they added. Scotland Yard also announced that it would review its current sex-crime investigations, after two rape trials collapsed in one week in December 2017. Liam Allan, 22, was cleared of all charges after spending two years on bail accused of rape. The case against him was halted after lawyers found previously undisclosed evidence in the form of text messages from the claimant that cast doubt over the guilt of the accused student. The CPS decided not to give any evidence in the case, which had been due to be heard at Croydon Crown Court in December, as it said there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction. Mr Allan voiced his support for rape suspects to be granted anonymity until they are found guilty, after describing his own experience of being accused. He told Sky News: You cant judge peoples reactions. You cant predict peoples reactions. You cant stop that. And then you also cant stop if people are going to want to cause harm to you. The Met and the CPS are reviewing the handling of the case. Another sexual assault case against Isaac Itiary was dropped just days later at Inner London Crown Court. In yet another case in December, Samson Makele, was cleared of charges at Snaresbrook Crown. The 28-year-old had been accused of raping a woman at Notting Hill Carnival in 2016, after more than a dozen pictures emerged of the pair apparently cuddling in bed. Additional reporting PA Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A deadly flu virus has been killing around 100 people per week in the US since mid-December, the Center for Disease Control has warned. A report published by the CDC with the latest figures showed there were 759 flu deaths between 7 October and 23 December. It also said since early December more than 100 people were dying every week from the flu and the death toll could increase as there has been a further rise in the number of hospital admissions. This is more than double the number of flu deaths from the same period last year when there were only 322 reported fatalities, CBS News reported. An increase in the number of reported cases of the flu during the winter is common and usually peaks around Christmas and New Year when more people are travelling and spreading illness. But this years prevailing strain H3N2 which has been dubbed Aussie flu is known to be particularly vicious and strong. In the UK, 149 people have so far died and last week 4,500 people were hospitalised, according to Public Health England fiures. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Some 120 flu deaths have been recorded in England, 21 in Scotland and eight in Northern Ireland. There is no precise data available for Wales. The Catholic diocese of Down and Connor in Northern Ireland has temporarily banned its priests from shaking the hands of parishioners as they receive Holy Communion in favour of a sign of peace to avoid spreading the virus. Meanwhile people are still being urged to get a flu jab to help protect vulnerable people. A letter sent to every GP practice in England last week warned that up to three million high risk patients had yet to have the jab. The flu virus mutates every year so even people who have had the vaccine in previous years need to be immunised against this latest strain. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Fox News presenter has questioned how the Republicans, who are in charge of everything, could blame the Democrats for the US government shutdown, which began today as politicians failed to reach a deal on funding for federal agencies. Speaking ahead of the vote, on the news channel which is known for its bias in favour of the Republicans, news anchor Shep Smith said: Back in Washington there is one discussion: government shutdown. Of course with one party in charge of everything a government shutdown will not happen, right? I mean never in history or at least modern history of the country has there been a government shutdown when a single party is in charge of Washington. "Hook, line and sinker. House, Senate, White House, on party in charge, thats it. Republicans have it all. Yet the possibility of a government shutdown has escalated. The long-standing news host has previously discredited theories by the US President, such as Trumps accusations of Hillary Clinton being involved in a uranium scandal with Russia. Smith's stance has often angered viewers of the right-leaning channel. His latest words came in anticipation of the US government shutdown, which began after Congress failed to pass a short term spending plan by the deadline of midnight last night. The vote was 50-49, well short of the 60 needed in the 100-member chamber. The last government shutdown was 2013, under Barack Obama's leadership. But this is the first where one party was in charge of all parts of government since Jimmy Carter was President in the 1970s. With a Republican majority in both houses of Congress, many have branded the inability to reach a deal the biggest crisis yet for Trump's administration, which began a year ago. A shutdown occurs when the government fails to pass a funding plan, which leads to many government services being frozen and numerous staff being told not to work. Many workers are not paid for the duration. Roughly 750,000 workers are expected to be furloughed unless the government reaches an agreement over funding this weekend. This is the moment the US government went into shutdown Both sides of the political spectrum have tried to blame the other for the shutdown. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said his party took significant steps to reach a deal. "It's almost as if you were rooting for a shutdown," Mr Schumer said in comments on the Senate floor aimed directly at Trump. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The plan, which would agree on a short term budget until February 16, included six years of funding for the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP). As Democrats wanted a secure future for CHIP, the Republicans have questioned how they could vote against a bill which they say does just that. Days earlier, the US President himself tweeted a message seemingly against the Republicans plans for the short term resolution for CHIP. From his @realDonalTrump account, he wrote on Thursday: CHIP should be part of a long term solution, not a 30 Day, or short term, extension! Recommended US government shuts down after Congress fails to pass spending bill But the President subsequently came round to supporting the stopgap measure. He tweeted the following day: A government shutdown will be devastating to our to our military...something the Dems care very little about! A sticking point for many Democrats who voted against the spending bill is what happens to the Dreamers, undocumented migrants who were brought to the US as children by their parents. The spending bill does not offer this group of people, which numbers roughly 700,000, any protection. Democrat votes were needed for the bill to be passed. In yet another tweet, Mr Trump said yesterday: Government Funding Bill past last [sic] night in the House of Representatives. Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate - but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018! Minutes before Friday's midnight deadline for a funding deal, Trump's White House issued a statement blaming Democrats for the shutdown. "We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands," it said. The US government will try again to agree on a funding solution before Monday, to try and resolve the shut down before the start of the working week. Additional reporting by Reuters Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Child abuse images, snorkel equipment and handwritten notes were among the items found in the hotel room of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock, police have revealed. Following a three-month investigation, Las Vegas Police released a 81-age report on the mass shooting which killed 58 people and injured at least 500 more in October. Paddock opened fire on a crowd of approximately 22,000 at country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip from the balcony of his 32nd-floor hotel room before killing himself. When police broke in they found a stockpile of weapons all of which had been bought legally but, unlike other mass shooters, Paddock did not leave a manifesto or suicide note explaining his actions. The preliminary report said police had found several hundred images of child pornography on a computer hard drive when they searched the four laptops belonging to Paddock, but officers are still investigating the source of the images. Police also found notepads strewn around the room which had technical notes and reminders such as unplug phones and measurements including distance and bullet drop calculations. Surveillance equipment and snorkel gear including a blue plastic tube with a snorkel mouthpiece, a scuba mask and a snorkel tube were also recovered from the room. During a press conference, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said investigators had gone over 2,000 leads and looked at 21,560 hours of video. Las Vegas shooting in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas shooting in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA He said: This report wont answer every question, or even the biggest question as to why he did what he did. We are all going to have to be patient and let the investigation run its course. He added that all though they believed Paddock was a lone gunman, they are still investigating a person of interest in the case. This is not Paddocks girlfriend, Marilou Danley, who was previously a person of interest but has denied having any knowledge of his plans. Sheriff Lombardo said it was unlikely that she would face criminal charges. A total of 58 people were killed and more than 500 injured (Getty) The report also tried to shed light on Paddocks mental state in the weeks and months leading up to the shooting. Weeks before the shooting, the couple stayed at Mandalay Bay hotel together but Paddock was acting strangely, Ms Danley told investigators. She remembered him constantly looking out the windows overlooking an area where the concert would be held the next month. He moved from window to window to see the site from different angles, the report said. Paddock had become "distant" in the year before the shooting and their relationship was no longer intimate, Danley said during an interview with investigators. She described him as germophobic and said he had strong reactions to smells. He had previously told friends and relatives that he always felt ill, in pain and fatigued. His doctor thought he may have had bipolar disorder but told police that Paddock refused to discuss the possibility, the report said. The doctor offered him antidepressants, but Paddock accepted only a prescription for anxiety medication. Paddock was fearful of medication and often refused to take it, the doctor told investigators. The 64-year-old retired accountant and real estate investor had lost a "significant amount of wealth" since September 2015, which led to "bouts of depression," Sheriff Lombardo said. Paddock had paid off his gambling debts before the shooting, according to the report. Additional reporting by agencies Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} An immigrant woman in a Texas detention centre has attempted to kill herself after allegedly being forced to eat in the same cafeteria as the guard she says sexually abused her. Laura Monterrosa is an immigrant from El Salvador currently seeking asylum in the United States. In November, she reported being repeatedly sexually abused by a female guard at the T Don Hutto detention centre, where she has been held since May. Last week, according to civil rights organisation Grassroots Leadership, she attempted to take her own life. I feel very desperate because I tried to report the abuse from ICE and facility officials, but they continue to psychologically abuse me through intimidation, Ms Monterrosa said in a statement after being released from medical care. She added: I do not feel safe or secure. I am not receiving the medical treatment or help I need. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement that it "remains committed to ensuring its facilities adhere to ICEs detention standards which provide several levels of oversight in order to ensure that residents in ICE custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments". People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Show all 16 1 /16 People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2017. Theopolis Waters/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Washington, DC, U.S., February 16, 2017. Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The crowd, which grew to well over a thousand participants, marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capital. Across the country hundreds of restaurants and eateries are closing for the day to protest President Trump's immigration policies and to highlight the contributions of immigrants to U.S. business and life. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants AUSTIN, TX - FEBRUARY 16: Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2017. Theopolis Waters/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2017. Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The crowd, which grew to well over a thousand participants, marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capital. Across the country hundreds of restaurants and eateries are closing for the day to protest President Trump's immigration policies and to highlight the contributions of immigrants to U.S. business and life. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The crowd, which grew to well over a thousand participants marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capital. Across the country hundreds of restaurants and eateries are closing for the day to protest President Trump's immigration policies and to highlight the contributions of immigrants to U.S. business and life. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants High school student Kathia Suarez holds up a sign as she protests with others outside the Grayson County courthouse in downtown Sherman, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. LM Otero/AP People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants High school senior Vicky Sosa holds a sign outside the Grayson County courthouse in downtown Sherman, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. In an action called "A Day Without Immigrants," immigrants across the country are expected to stay home from school, work and close businesses to show how critical they are to the U.S. economy and way of life. LM Otero/AP Grassroots Leadership said Ms Monterrosa took more than 50 pain pills after guards threatened to punish her if she did not eat in the same cafeteria where her alleged abuser worked. Sofia Casini, the immigration programmes coordinator at Grassroots Leadership, told The Independent that guards were called into Ms Monterrosas cell shortly after she took the pills, but did not assist her. Instead, Ms Monterrosa took herself to the medical centre hours later, after talking on the phone with Grassroots staff. This case is heart-wrenching, Claudia Munoz, immigration programmes director at Grassroots Leadership, said in a statement. ...Its just inhumane to force this victim of sexual abuse to have to relive that abuse everyday by being forced to confront her abuser over and over again. An ICE spokesperson said Ms Monterrosa was evaluated by detention centre medical staff after a "after a self-reported medical situation," and immediately referred to the Baylor Scott and White Medical Centre Hospital. She was discharged from the hospital and returned to ICE custody after a hospital physician determined her to be stable. Medical staff at the detention centre were keeping her under observation. Donald Trump's immigration crackdown encapsulated in poignant footage of father being deported Ms Monterrosa reported the alleged sexual abuse to the Williamson County sheriffs office in November, according to the Austin Statesman. The Sheriffs Office told The Independent they had received a complaint, but that the matter had been handed over to the FBI. The FBI said they had opened a civil rights investigation into the alleged assault. They declined to comment further, saying the investigation was ongoing. Two more detainees at T Don Hutto came forward with allegations of sexual abuse after Ms Monterrosa filed her complaint, according to the Austin Chronicle. At least five detainees at the same detention centre filed similar complaints between 2007 and 2011, according to documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union. Nearly 200 allegations of sexual abuse were made by detainees across the country in the same time period. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A judge told a jury that God had asked him to push them for a not-guilty verdict in the case of a woman accused of trafficking her teenage niece, it has been claimed. District judge Jack Robison interrupted jurors deliberations to say they should not convict 32-year-old Gloria Elizabeth Romero Perez. According to The New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung he then apologised and said: When God tells me to do something, I gotta do it. Judge Robison then reportedly recused himself for the remainder of proceedings. Perez, of Buda, Texas, was convicted anyway on one count of continuous traffic of a person and jailed for 25 years, the site said. Defence lawyer Sylvia Cavazos told AP she would seek a re-trial. She said Judge Robison had also expressed in chambers that he felt God had told him to act, and that he felt he had done the right thing. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Court administrator Steve Thomas said on Friday the judge would not comment. Authorities filed charges against Perez in August 2016, the Herald Zeitung reported. She was accused of paying $6,000 (4,300) to smuggle the then-15-year-old girl to the US from Honduras. Perez allegedly then received money from an older man with whom the the girl had gone to live and whose child she has since given birth to. But the girls aunt was acquitted of one charge of selling a child, the Herald-Zeitung reported. Additional reporting by agencies Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The US government has shut down for the first time since 2013 after Senate leaders failed to reach an agreement on a short-term spending bill. Congress had faced a deadline of midnight on Friday to pass a measure that would continue funding the government, with the House having passed the legislation on Thursday. A late-night vote was scheduled in the Senate just two hours before the deadline - but needing 60 votes to pass, which meant Republicans relying on at least some Democrat votes, the bill was voted down. The shutdown is a blow for President Donald Trump with the White House leading the blame game as both parties accused the other of causing the closure. While negotiations are continuing to find a deal, the government is technically out of money, leaving scores of federal agencies across the country unable to continue operating - although the effect will be lessened by the shutdown starting over a weekend. Recommended Donald Trump suggests government shutdown may be inevitable The final Senate vote ended 50 in favour to 49 against. Republicans have a 51-49 advantage in the Senate, but Senator John McCain is currently away on health grounds. The vote did not follow party lines, with five Democrats voting in favour of the measure and four Republicans voted against it. The drama over the shutdown will continue over the weekend as Democrats seek a deal over immigration reform, the major area of disagreement over the bill. Mr Trump had spent the day making clear that he laid the blame for the shutdown at the door of Democrats having earlier suggested that a shutdown might be inevitable as Democrats want illegal immigration and weak borders. Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Show all 29 1 /29 Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inauguration - 20 January 2017 US President Donald Trump acknowledges the audience after taking the oath of office as his wife Melania (L) and daughter Tiffany watch during inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States on the West Front of the US capital in Washington on 20 January, 2017. Photographer Jim Bourg: "This photo was shot with one of two remote cameras. The cameras were monitored and triggered remotely and the pictures were transmitted to clients worldwide within minutes of being taken." Reuters/Jim Bourg Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Obama farewell address - 10 January 2017 US President Barack Obama wipes away tears as he delivers his farewell address in Chicago on 10 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "In his final days in office, Obama made a visit home to Chicago. As he spoke from the stage to his wife and daughter in the audience, he became emotional when he talked about what they had sacrificed during his time in office. I turned from photographing the Obama women embracing to find him onstage wiping away tears." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inauguration - 20 January 2017 A combination of photos shows the crowds attending the inauguration ceremonies to swear in U.S. President Donald Trump at 12:01pm (left) on January 20, 2017 and President Barack Obama sometime between 12:07pm and 12:26pm on January 20, 2009. Reuters/ Lucas Jackson/Stelios Varias Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Liberty Ball - 20 January 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend the Liberty Ball in honour of his inauguration in Washington on 20 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "What I see when I look at this picture is the end of a very long day, not to mention weeks and months of preparation by many photographers, editors and network experts and the beginning of everything since." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception - 22 January 2017 US President Donald Trump greets Director of the FBI James Comey as Director of the Secret Service Joseph Clancy (L), watches during the Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception in the Blue Room of the White House on 22 January, 2017. Photographer Joshua Roberts: "I have covered the White House for 16 years and normally either the President or the pool is in position when an event starts. In this case the President was not where anyone expected him to be. In fact, he was almost blocking the door when the pool came in. We had to scramble to find a position without bumping him or the furniture as he greeted and thanked members of law enforcement for their security efforts during the inauguration. Luckily, he greeted FBI Director James Comey a few seconds after the pool had made its way into the room." Reuters/Joshua Roberts Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Private phone calls to world leaders - 28 January 2017 US President Donald Trump, is joined by his staff, as he speaks by phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office on 28 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Very early in the Trump administration, weekends were as busy as weekdays. On Trump's second Saturday the official schedule said he would be making private phone calls to a number of world leaders including Russia's Vladimir Putin. I arrived early and, before sitting down at my desk walked up to Press Secretary Sean Spicer's office. He, too, was just taking his coat off. I gingerly made the suggestion that previous administrations had sometimes allowed photos of such phone calls through the Oval Office windows on the colonnade. To my mild shock, he didn't even think about it twice. "We'll do it!" he said. In truth, I really only expected the Putin call, but we were outside the windows multiple times throughout the day as the calls went on." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Senior advisor Kellyanne Conway - 27 February 2017 Senior advisor Kellyanne Conway (L) attends as US President Donald Trump welcomes the leaders of dozens of historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) in the Oval Office on 27 February, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "We're often asked how much access we have to the Trump administration, and the answer is we have an awful lot. President Trump himself is very comfortable in the spotlight, and his aides are similarly unfazed by cameras. In this instance, senior advisor Kellyanne Conway was so comfortable in our presence she seemed not to consider the optics of kneeling on a Oval Office sofa to take pictures with her phone." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Angela Merkel heads to Washington - 17 March 2017 Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House on 17 March, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Chancellor Merkel made one of the earliest important visits of any US allies to meet Trump in his first months in office. When world leaders give joint news conferences they don't always tend to give each other their full attention - but Merkel watched Trump intently at several key moments, and here seemed particularly rapt." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump welcomes truckers to the White House - 23 March 2017 President Trump reacts as he sits on a truck while he welcomes truckers and CEOs to attend a meeting regarding healthcare at the White House on 23 March, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "The White House organised a listening session with truckers and CEO's of major American companies, regarding healthcare reform. An 18-wheeler tow truck was parked on the South Lawn of the White House and as Trump welcomed the truckers someone invited the him to come and sit in the driver's seat. Trump jumped into the cab and started yelling and pretending to drive - creating one of the most memorable pictures of the year. A lesson learned, always be prepared for the unexpected." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Air Force One - 6 April 2017 US President Donald Trump talks to journalists members of the travel pool on board the Air Force One during his trip to Palm Beach, Florida on 6 April, 2017. Carlos Barria: "During the many trips to President Trump's residence in Florida it is usual to see the president coming to the back of the plane to chat with journalists. During one of the trips to the so called 'Winter White House', Trump had a long talk with reporters while the Air Force One entertainment system was playing one of the latest Star Wars movies. As I was listening to Trump talk I was also looking at the movie waiting for a part of the movie to frame the mood of the day. Of the many scenes, I choose the one with Darth Vader." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures 100 Days - 27 April 2017 US President Donald Trump speaks during an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office of the White House on 27 April, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "A day before President Trump's hundred days in office I was part of the team that interviewed the commander-in-chief in the Oval Office. I was only allowed to photograph Trump during the last five minutes of the interview. The time was very tight so I had to move fast as I had pictures in mind that I wanted to shoot. I walked into the Oval Office and saw that the President had printed maps of the country showing areas in red where he won. I raised my hands holding my camera as high as possible to get the best view of the scene using a 16mm wide angle lens." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures 100 Days - 27 April 2017 US President Donald Trump reacts as he arrives at Harrisburg international airport, before attending a rally marking his first 100 days in office in Pennsylvania on 29 April, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "President Trump travelled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to celebrate his hundred days in office with a victory rally. He was in friendly territory as he won with a big difference over his opponent Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania, during the November elections. As usual when the commander-in-chief arrives local residents gather to greet him. This time a small group of military personnel attended the arrival. Surrounded by secret service agents Trump walked from the Air Force One and raised his hand in a sign of victory as the crowd cheered him on." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House staffers - 2 May 2017 White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (L) and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus watch as US President Donald Trump presents the U.S. Air Force Academy football team with the Commander-in-Chief trophy in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on 2 May, 2017. Photographer Joshua Roberts: "Covering the White House does not just mean covering the President. White House staffers are an important part of the story and their relationship with the President and each other is an indicator of how things are going in the West Wing. The tendency is to focus exclusively on the President once an event starts but I always try to look around to see how people are reacting as things unfold." Reuters/Joshua Roberts Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Secret Service - 4 May 2017 Secret Service agents use a presidential limousine as cover from spraying water as US President Donald Trump lands via Marine One helicopter in New York on 4 May, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "The best part of any trip to New York City with the sitting US President is the helicopter ride into Manhattan. The ride out at night can be stunning. Here, Secret Service agents protect themselves from the spray from the East River as Trump lands on the helipad." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures NATO Summit - 25 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump wait the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron (unseen) before a lunch ahead of a NATO Summit in Brussels on 25 May, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "One of the best parts of travelling overseas for White House coverage is the chance to see the U.S. president in different environments and (literally) a different light. Here, Trump and his wife came out of the shadows to greet France's President Macron." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump meets Putin at G20 summit - 7 July 2017 US President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany on 7 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "On July 7, I witnessed one of the most important meetings of President Trump's first year in office. Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin during a bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Germany. The world's eyes were on these two leaders after speculation about Russian interference during the 2016 US elections. We entered the room for less than two minutes, where I took dozens of pictures. But there was this very interesting moment when Trump extended his hand to Putin for a handshake. Putin paused for a second and looked at Trump's hand. That was the picture that I was looking for, a little moment that seemed to say a lot." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures First lady - 8 July 2017 First lady Melania Trump chats with US President Donald Trump during their return from Germany at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on 8 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "After President Trump's trip to Germany he arrived back at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. First Lady Melania Trump said goodbye to Trump as she was heading off in a different direction that day. While chatting a breeze blew Melania's hair up in the air." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Made in America product showcase - 17 July 2017 Vice President Mike Pence laughs as President Donald Trump holds a baseball bat as they attend a Made in America product showcase event at the White House on 17 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "This summer the White House organized an event to showcase 'Made in America' products. All kinds of exhibitors brought their products as the President and Vice President toured the event. One of the companies was Marucci Sport, a manufacturer of baseball bats based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As Trump approached a table full of baseball bats, photographers at the event, including me, rushed to get a good angle hoping that he would pick up a bat. As we predicted, he did. He took one and joked around as though he was hitting something hard. The only thing closer to him right there, was the media." Reuters Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House staffers - 25 July 2017 Former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski says hello to reporters as he and White House advisors including Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci accompany President Trump for an event celebrating veterans at AMVETS Post 44 in Ohio, July 25, 2017. Jonathan Ernst: "The most visible person in any White House is naturally the President, followed by the press secretary. But there are also the staff who support them. For those of us covering the Trump administration, there seem to be more compelling figures in the West Wing than ever before. It's crucial to know who's who and why they're important. When I raised my camera and back-pedalled ahead of the group to take this image Lewandowski gave me a hello. I liked the photo, but had no idea it would go a little bit viral, especially since Scaramucci, who was the biggest mover and shaker that week, was hidden back in the pack. But I guess the image catches a glimpse of what it's like to be a West Wing staffer on the road." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Campaign rally - 3 August 2017 US President Donald Trump arrives at a rally in West Virginia on 3 August, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "President Trump travelled to Huntington for one of his usual campaign rallies. While members of his family spoke to the crowd he was waiting under a black curtain to be introduced. Suddenly he walked onto the stage, one of the first frames that I took was of his hand. I set my exposure for the light on the stage hoping to create this dark background and it worked." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Staring into the solar eclipse - 21 August 2017 Without his protective glasses on, US President Donald Trump looks up towards the solar eclipse while viewing with his wife Melania and son Barron at the White House on 21 August, 2017. Photographer Kevin Lamarque: "On a day when everyone, and I mean everyone, was told not to look at the eclipse without protective glasses, Trump, President of the United States, couldn't help himself." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Hurricane Harvey - 2 September 2017 US President Donald Trump poses for a photo as he and first lady Melania Trump help volunteers hand out meals during a visit with flood survivors of Hurricane Harvey at a relief centre in Houston, Texas on 2 September, 2017. Photohrapher Kevin Lamarque: "Trump, eager to deliver the image of a hands-on response to Hurricane Harvey, made this visit to a relief centre and obliged this woman with a selfie as Melania continued to work." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House - 15 September 2017 Donald Trump welcomes 11-year-old Frank Giaccio as he cuts the Rose Garden grass at the White House on 15 September. Frank, who wrote a letter to Trump offering to mow the lawn, was invited to work for a day at the White House along the National Park Service staff. Frank was so focused on his task that he did not notice the President arrive to surprise him. He took his father jumping in to grab his attention and point Trump out. Photographer Carlos Barria said: The image of Trump shouting at a kid who is mowing his lawn might have many interpretations in today's politically polarized United States. But for me it was just a kid who loved what he was doing, to the point he almost appeared to ignore the President." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Take a knee - 27 September 2017 A man kneels with a folded U.S. flag as the motorcade of U.S. President Donald Trump passes him after an event at the state fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S., September 27, 2017. In September, soon after Trump had made comments condemning NFL players who kneel during the national anthem, he made a day trip to a rally in Indianapolis. Jonathan Ernst managed to capture a man on one knee with a tri-folded flag and was able to use a portion of the sign on the building he was kneeling in front of to track the man down and tell his story in full. US Army veteran Marvin Boatright wanted to send a message against social injustice. Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Hurricane Maria - 3 October 2017 President Donald Trump throws rolls of paper towels into a crowd of local residents affected by Hurricane Maria as he visits Calgary Chapel in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 3 October, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "During an afternoon visit to Puerto Rico for President Trump to survey damage from Hurricane Maria and greet some of its victims, Trump made a stop at a church where food and supplies were being distributed. Among the items were paper towels and Trump, apparently caught up in the moment, decided to distribute some of the rolls." Reuters Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Jared Kushner - 1 November 2017 White House Senior adviser Jared Kushner sits behind President Trump during a cabinet meeting in Washington on 1 November, 2017. Photographer Kevin Lamarque: "The role of Jared Kushner has gone through a series of changes. He began front and centre as a high profile adviser, but as time has passed and issues surrounding him have surfaced, he has become more of a background figure." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump in China - 9 November 2017 Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands after making joint statements at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 9 November, 2017. Photographer Damir Sagolj: "It's one of those "how to make a better or at least different shot when two presidents shake hands several times a day, several days in row". If I'm not mistaken in calculation, presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump shook their hands at least six times in events I covered during Trump's recent visit to China. I would imagine there were some more handshakes I haven't seen but other photographers did. And they all look similar - two big men, smiling and heartily greeting each other until everyone gets their shot. But then there is always something that can make it special - in this case the background made of US and Chinese flags. The first time it didn't work for me. The second time I positioned myself lower and centrally, and used the longest lens I have to capture only hands reaching for a handshake." Reuters/Damir Sagolj Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Air Force One - 10 November 2017 US President Donald Trump boards Air Force One to depart for Vietnam from Beijing Airport in Beijing, China, November 10, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "There is a Reuters photographer in the tight pool covering the US president for every appearance he makes 365 days a year. This was just one of 32 images of mine that were transmitted on the Reuters wire of President Trump visiting China and Vietnam that day. You never know when a sudden interaction, a gust of wind or a unique facial expression will lead to a striking image that grabs peoples' attention." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures ASEAN handshake - 13 November 2017 Donald Trump registers his surprise as he realises other leaders, including Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte and Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, are crossing their arms for the traditional "ASEAN handshake" as he participates in the opening ceremony of the summit in Manila on 13 November, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Having covered a few ASEAN summits, I knew to expect the ASEAN handshake. Not everyone in the room knew to expect the ASEAN handshake. A lot was written about this unscripted moment, and what deeper meaning it might have. The simple truth is that sometimes in life there are unscripted moments." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Government Funding Bill past [sic] last night in the House of Representatives, Mr Trump tweeted on Friday morning. Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018! His later tweet added: "Not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the very dangerous Southern Border. Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy." In a statement issued just before midnight, the White House said it will not negotiate with the Democrats on immigration until the end of the federal government shutdown. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands... When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform. The standoff marked a test of the president's much vaunted deal-making skills and of both parties' political fortitude. Republicans, who control both Congress and the White House, faced the prospect of being blamed for the display of dysfunction just the fourth shutdown in a quarter-century. It could also threaten to slow any Republican momentum, one month after passage of the party's signature tax cut law. Democrats face the risk of being labelled obstructionist, with Republicans branding the consequences of no deal a Schumer shutdown - referencing Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Sentate - and argued that Democrats were harming fellow Americans to protect illegal immigrants. Ms Sanders used the moniker in her statement: Senate Democrats own the Schumer Shutdown, adding, This is the behaviour of obstructionist losers, not legislators. Multiple Democratic senators had also made it clear along the way that they would not vote for another spending measure unless Republicans sign on to a bipartisan legislative fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, or DACA, which the Trump administration previously announced would be phased out. The programme, which now expires in March, allows young immigrants brought into the country illegally by their parents as children to secure education rights, work permits and deportation reprieves. Hundreds of thousands of young people - known as Dreamers - rely on the programme and will be left in limbo after its closure. Negotiations on any immigration deal have been complicated by Mr Trumps commitment to build a wall along the USs southern border a barrier that Democrats vehemently oppose and would cost billions of dollars to construct. The President maintains that the US needs the wall for safety and security reasons. After midnight, on the Senate floor Mr Schumer said that after a White House meeting earlier in the day with Mr Trump, he thought in my heart that senators could complete an agreement by evening. He says he reluctantly offered concessions on Mr Trump's long-sought border wall with Mexico in exchange for strong protections for young immigrants. An ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Friday suggested that Republicans may bear the brunt of political damage over the shutdown. Forty-eight per cent of the more than 1,000 people polled nationally, said they would blame Mr Trump and Republicans, while 28 per cent would blame Democrats. An additional 18 per cent said they would blame both parties equally. The conflict over the shutdown is coinciding with the one-year anniversary of Mr Trumps presidency and could have lasting repercussions, particularly regarding this years midterm elections in November. Rather than heading to Florida on Friday evening as originally planned, where he was due to attend a gala celebrating his year in office, Mr Trump will be staying in Washington as it stands. Agencies contributed to this report Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} While expectations were once low that Democrats could recapture majorities in both chambers of Congress in 2018, Donald Trumps controversy-ridden first year in office has left the party feeling like they can almost smell the sweep of victories in November. Mr Trumps dismal approval rating, Republican infighting and some significant Democratic election wins have all contributed to this possible result. In a recent poll by the Pew Research Centre, a majority of Americans said they are not too or not at all confident that Mr Trump could work effectively with Congress. A Quinnipiac poll released in October found that a whopping 70 per cent of voters believe Mr Trump should stop tweeting from his personal account, which he has used to instigate fights with professional athletes, members of his own party and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Democrats only need a net gain of two seats to win a majority in the 100-member Senate. Meanwhile, the party needs a net gain of 24 to win control of the 435-member House of Representatives. Just this past week, a Democratic victory in one of Wisconsins Republican-leaning districts led the states governor Scott Walker to call his partys loss a wake up call for Republicans. While the special election in Wisconsin was held to fill an empty seat in the state legislature, experts say the Democratic triumph could prove to be another warning sign for Republicans to not take the challenge from Democrats lightly during the midterm elections. This may be just one contest for the state legislature in Wisconsin, but it is part of a larger pattern we have observed over the last year, said David Barker, the director of American Universitys Centre for Congressional and Presidential Studies. Mr Barker noted to The Independent that Democratic voters have been disproportionately and unusually motivated to turn out in elections in traditionally Republican states or districts. Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Show all 29 1 /29 Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inauguration - 20 January 2017 US President Donald Trump acknowledges the audience after taking the oath of office as his wife Melania (L) and daughter Tiffany watch during inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States on the West Front of the US capital in Washington on 20 January, 2017. Photographer Jim Bourg: "This photo was shot with one of two remote cameras. The cameras were monitored and triggered remotely and the pictures were transmitted to clients worldwide within minutes of being taken." Reuters/Jim Bourg Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Obama farewell address - 10 January 2017 US President Barack Obama wipes away tears as he delivers his farewell address in Chicago on 10 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "In his final days in office, Obama made a visit home to Chicago. As he spoke from the stage to his wife and daughter in the audience, he became emotional when he talked about what they had sacrificed during his time in office. I turned from photographing the Obama women embracing to find him onstage wiping away tears." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inauguration - 20 January 2017 A combination of photos shows the crowds attending the inauguration ceremonies to swear in U.S. President Donald Trump at 12:01pm (left) on January 20, 2017 and President Barack Obama sometime between 12:07pm and 12:26pm on January 20, 2009. Reuters/ Lucas Jackson/Stelios Varias Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Liberty Ball - 20 January 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend the Liberty Ball in honour of his inauguration in Washington on 20 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "What I see when I look at this picture is the end of a very long day, not to mention weeks and months of preparation by many photographers, editors and network experts and the beginning of everything since." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception - 22 January 2017 US President Donald Trump greets Director of the FBI James Comey as Director of the Secret Service Joseph Clancy (L), watches during the Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception in the Blue Room of the White House on 22 January, 2017. Photographer Joshua Roberts: "I have covered the White House for 16 years and normally either the President or the pool is in position when an event starts. In this case the President was not where anyone expected him to be. In fact, he was almost blocking the door when the pool came in. We had to scramble to find a position without bumping him or the furniture as he greeted and thanked members of law enforcement for their security efforts during the inauguration. Luckily, he greeted FBI Director James Comey a few seconds after the pool had made its way into the room." Reuters/Joshua Roberts Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Private phone calls to world leaders - 28 January 2017 US President Donald Trump, is joined by his staff, as he speaks by phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office on 28 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Very early in the Trump administration, weekends were as busy as weekdays. On Trump's second Saturday the official schedule said he would be making private phone calls to a number of world leaders including Russia's Vladimir Putin. I arrived early and, before sitting down at my desk walked up to Press Secretary Sean Spicer's office. He, too, was just taking his coat off. I gingerly made the suggestion that previous administrations had sometimes allowed photos of such phone calls through the Oval Office windows on the colonnade. To my mild shock, he didn't even think about it twice. "We'll do it!" he said. In truth, I really only expected the Putin call, but we were outside the windows multiple times throughout the day as the calls went on." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Senior advisor Kellyanne Conway - 27 February 2017 Senior advisor Kellyanne Conway (L) attends as US President Donald Trump welcomes the leaders of dozens of historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) in the Oval Office on 27 February, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "We're often asked how much access we have to the Trump administration, and the answer is we have an awful lot. President Trump himself is very comfortable in the spotlight, and his aides are similarly unfazed by cameras. In this instance, senior advisor Kellyanne Conway was so comfortable in our presence she seemed not to consider the optics of kneeling on a Oval Office sofa to take pictures with her phone." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Angela Merkel heads to Washington - 17 March 2017 Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House on 17 March, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Chancellor Merkel made one of the earliest important visits of any US allies to meet Trump in his first months in office. When world leaders give joint news conferences they don't always tend to give each other their full attention - but Merkel watched Trump intently at several key moments, and here seemed particularly rapt." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump welcomes truckers to the White House - 23 March 2017 President Trump reacts as he sits on a truck while he welcomes truckers and CEOs to attend a meeting regarding healthcare at the White House on 23 March, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "The White House organised a listening session with truckers and CEO's of major American companies, regarding healthcare reform. An 18-wheeler tow truck was parked on the South Lawn of the White House and as Trump welcomed the truckers someone invited the him to come and sit in the driver's seat. Trump jumped into the cab and started yelling and pretending to drive - creating one of the most memorable pictures of the year. A lesson learned, always be prepared for the unexpected." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Air Force One - 6 April 2017 US President Donald Trump talks to journalists members of the travel pool on board the Air Force One during his trip to Palm Beach, Florida on 6 April, 2017. Carlos Barria: "During the many trips to President Trump's residence in Florida it is usual to see the president coming to the back of the plane to chat with journalists. During one of the trips to the so called 'Winter White House', Trump had a long talk with reporters while the Air Force One entertainment system was playing one of the latest Star Wars movies. As I was listening to Trump talk I was also looking at the movie waiting for a part of the movie to frame the mood of the day. Of the many scenes, I choose the one with Darth Vader." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures 100 Days - 27 April 2017 US President Donald Trump speaks during an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office of the White House on 27 April, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "A day before President Trump's hundred days in office I was part of the team that interviewed the commander-in-chief in the Oval Office. I was only allowed to photograph Trump during the last five minutes of the interview. The time was very tight so I had to move fast as I had pictures in mind that I wanted to shoot. I walked into the Oval Office and saw that the President had printed maps of the country showing areas in red where he won. I raised my hands holding my camera as high as possible to get the best view of the scene using a 16mm wide angle lens." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures 100 Days - 27 April 2017 US President Donald Trump reacts as he arrives at Harrisburg international airport, before attending a rally marking his first 100 days in office in Pennsylvania on 29 April, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "President Trump travelled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to celebrate his hundred days in office with a victory rally. He was in friendly territory as he won with a big difference over his opponent Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania, during the November elections. As usual when the commander-in-chief arrives local residents gather to greet him. This time a small group of military personnel attended the arrival. Surrounded by secret service agents Trump walked from the Air Force One and raised his hand in a sign of victory as the crowd cheered him on." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House staffers - 2 May 2017 White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (L) and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus watch as US President Donald Trump presents the U.S. Air Force Academy football team with the Commander-in-Chief trophy in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on 2 May, 2017. Photographer Joshua Roberts: "Covering the White House does not just mean covering the President. White House staffers are an important part of the story and their relationship with the President and each other is an indicator of how things are going in the West Wing. The tendency is to focus exclusively on the President once an event starts but I always try to look around to see how people are reacting as things unfold." Reuters/Joshua Roberts Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Secret Service - 4 May 2017 Secret Service agents use a presidential limousine as cover from spraying water as US President Donald Trump lands via Marine One helicopter in New York on 4 May, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "The best part of any trip to New York City with the sitting US President is the helicopter ride into Manhattan. The ride out at night can be stunning. Here, Secret Service agents protect themselves from the spray from the East River as Trump lands on the helipad." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures NATO Summit - 25 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump wait the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron (unseen) before a lunch ahead of a NATO Summit in Brussels on 25 May, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "One of the best parts of travelling overseas for White House coverage is the chance to see the U.S. president in different environments and (literally) a different light. Here, Trump and his wife came out of the shadows to greet France's President Macron." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump meets Putin at G20 summit - 7 July 2017 US President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany on 7 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "On July 7, I witnessed one of the most important meetings of President Trump's first year in office. Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin during a bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Germany. The world's eyes were on these two leaders after speculation about Russian interference during the 2016 US elections. We entered the room for less than two minutes, where I took dozens of pictures. But there was this very interesting moment when Trump extended his hand to Putin for a handshake. Putin paused for a second and looked at Trump's hand. That was the picture that I was looking for, a little moment that seemed to say a lot." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures First lady - 8 July 2017 First lady Melania Trump chats with US President Donald Trump during their return from Germany at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on 8 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "After President Trump's trip to Germany he arrived back at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. First Lady Melania Trump said goodbye to Trump as she was heading off in a different direction that day. While chatting a breeze blew Melania's hair up in the air." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Made in America product showcase - 17 July 2017 Vice President Mike Pence laughs as President Donald Trump holds a baseball bat as they attend a Made in America product showcase event at the White House on 17 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "This summer the White House organized an event to showcase 'Made in America' products. All kinds of exhibitors brought their products as the President and Vice President toured the event. One of the companies was Marucci Sport, a manufacturer of baseball bats based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As Trump approached a table full of baseball bats, photographers at the event, including me, rushed to get a good angle hoping that he would pick up a bat. As we predicted, he did. He took one and joked around as though he was hitting something hard. The only thing closer to him right there, was the media." Reuters Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House staffers - 25 July 2017 Former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski says hello to reporters as he and White House advisors including Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci accompany President Trump for an event celebrating veterans at AMVETS Post 44 in Ohio, July 25, 2017. Jonathan Ernst: "The most visible person in any White House is naturally the President, followed by the press secretary. But there are also the staff who support them. For those of us covering the Trump administration, there seem to be more compelling figures in the West Wing than ever before. It's crucial to know who's who and why they're important. When I raised my camera and back-pedalled ahead of the group to take this image Lewandowski gave me a hello. I liked the photo, but had no idea it would go a little bit viral, especially since Scaramucci, who was the biggest mover and shaker that week, was hidden back in the pack. But I guess the image catches a glimpse of what it's like to be a West Wing staffer on the road." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Campaign rally - 3 August 2017 US President Donald Trump arrives at a rally in West Virginia on 3 August, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "President Trump travelled to Huntington for one of his usual campaign rallies. While members of his family spoke to the crowd he was waiting under a black curtain to be introduced. Suddenly he walked onto the stage, one of the first frames that I took was of his hand. I set my exposure for the light on the stage hoping to create this dark background and it worked." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Staring into the solar eclipse - 21 August 2017 Without his protective glasses on, US President Donald Trump looks up towards the solar eclipse while viewing with his wife Melania and son Barron at the White House on 21 August, 2017. Photographer Kevin Lamarque: "On a day when everyone, and I mean everyone, was told not to look at the eclipse without protective glasses, Trump, President of the United States, couldn't help himself." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Hurricane Harvey - 2 September 2017 US President Donald Trump poses for a photo as he and first lady Melania Trump help volunteers hand out meals during a visit with flood survivors of Hurricane Harvey at a relief centre in Houston, Texas on 2 September, 2017. Photohrapher Kevin Lamarque: "Trump, eager to deliver the image of a hands-on response to Hurricane Harvey, made this visit to a relief centre and obliged this woman with a selfie as Melania continued to work." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House - 15 September 2017 Donald Trump welcomes 11-year-old Frank Giaccio as he cuts the Rose Garden grass at the White House on 15 September. Frank, who wrote a letter to Trump offering to mow the lawn, was invited to work for a day at the White House along the National Park Service staff. Frank was so focused on his task that he did not notice the President arrive to surprise him. He took his father jumping in to grab his attention and point Trump out. Photographer Carlos Barria said: The image of Trump shouting at a kid who is mowing his lawn might have many interpretations in today's politically polarized United States. But for me it was just a kid who loved what he was doing, to the point he almost appeared to ignore the President." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Take a knee - 27 September 2017 A man kneels with a folded U.S. flag as the motorcade of U.S. President Donald Trump passes him after an event at the state fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S., September 27, 2017. In September, soon after Trump had made comments condemning NFL players who kneel during the national anthem, he made a day trip to a rally in Indianapolis. Jonathan Ernst managed to capture a man on one knee with a tri-folded flag and was able to use a portion of the sign on the building he was kneeling in front of to track the man down and tell his story in full. US Army veteran Marvin Boatright wanted to send a message against social injustice. Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Hurricane Maria - 3 October 2017 President Donald Trump throws rolls of paper towels into a crowd of local residents affected by Hurricane Maria as he visits Calgary Chapel in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 3 October, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "During an afternoon visit to Puerto Rico for President Trump to survey damage from Hurricane Maria and greet some of its victims, Trump made a stop at a church where food and supplies were being distributed. Among the items were paper towels and Trump, apparently caught up in the moment, decided to distribute some of the rolls." Reuters Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Jared Kushner - 1 November 2017 White House Senior adviser Jared Kushner sits behind President Trump during a cabinet meeting in Washington on 1 November, 2017. Photographer Kevin Lamarque: "The role of Jared Kushner has gone through a series of changes. He began front and centre as a high profile adviser, but as time has passed and issues surrounding him have surfaced, he has become more of a background figure." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump in China - 9 November 2017 Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands after making joint statements at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 9 November, 2017. Photographer Damir Sagolj: "It's one of those "how to make a better or at least different shot when two presidents shake hands several times a day, several days in row". If I'm not mistaken in calculation, presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump shook their hands at least six times in events I covered during Trump's recent visit to China. I would imagine there were some more handshakes I haven't seen but other photographers did. And they all look similar - two big men, smiling and heartily greeting each other until everyone gets their shot. But then there is always something that can make it special - in this case the background made of US and Chinese flags. The first time it didn't work for me. The second time I positioned myself lower and centrally, and used the longest lens I have to capture only hands reaching for a handshake." Reuters/Damir Sagolj Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Air Force One - 10 November 2017 US President Donald Trump boards Air Force One to depart for Vietnam from Beijing Airport in Beijing, China, November 10, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "There is a Reuters photographer in the tight pool covering the US president for every appearance he makes 365 days a year. This was just one of 32 images of mine that were transmitted on the Reuters wire of President Trump visiting China and Vietnam that day. You never know when a sudden interaction, a gust of wind or a unique facial expression will lead to a striking image that grabs peoples' attention." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures ASEAN handshake - 13 November 2017 Donald Trump registers his surprise as he realises other leaders, including Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte and Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, are crossing their arms for the traditional "ASEAN handshake" as he participates in the opening ceremony of the summit in Manila on 13 November, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Having covered a few ASEAN summits, I knew to expect the ASEAN handshake. Not everyone in the room knew to expect the ASEAN handshake. A lot was written about this unscripted moment, and what deeper meaning it might have. The simple truth is that sometimes in life there are unscripted moments." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst People are voting everywhere. People woke up the day after Trump got elected and said, I will no longer be a casual participant in democracy ever again, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said in an interview last year with Politico. Is it an uphill battle to win the House and the Senate? Of course it is. Is it doable? I think so as well. Turnout among female, African-American and under-30 voters has been particularly notable. In November, Democrats made much larger than expected gains in Virginias state legislature. Additionally, the Democratic candidate for governor won by a stunning margin over his Republican opponent another possible indicator of a tough year ahead for Republicans. Experts have been quick to point out that in a lot of special elections, Democrats have done better than they did in 2016 even when they have lost. This pattern, Mr Barker said along with the unprecedented numbers of Republican retirements in the House of Representatives, numbers of qualified Democratic challengers who are running, and Democratic fundraising numbers is starting to make a wave election for Democrats in 2018 look less likely than a tsunami [of wins]. But Mr Trumps antics may not be the full reason for a sweep by Democrats. "The average number of House seats that an incumbent presidents party loses in the following midterm is around 30, Mr Barker said. The Democrats only need around 24 to reclaim control. Right now, the forecast has to be in the 40s or even higher. In 2008, with the election of President Barack Obama, Democrats won a majority in both the House and Senate as well as control of the presidency. But during the 2010 midterm elections, the Democratic Party suffered massive defeats, with the Republican Party gaining 63 seats in the House. Republicans were able to recapture a majority in the lower chamber and gained six seats in the Senate. Currently, it appears it will be easier for the Democratic Party to retake control of the House than the Senate, despite the Republican Partys narrow 52-48 majority in the upper chamber. Ten Democratic senators are running in states that went to Mr Trump in 2016, particularly problematic when several members of their party appear to be veering further and further to the left. Mr Trump has made it clear that he intends to be heavily involved in congressional races this year, even though his last foray into congressional politics did not go so well. In a special US Senate election in Alabama last year, the President first backed Luther Strange, who had been selected to temporarily fill the seat left vacant when Mr Trump nominated Jeff Sessions to be US attorney general. After Mr Strange lost to Roy Moore in the primary, Mr Trump then backed Mr Moore. The President even decided to support Mr Moore after the candidate was accused of sexual misconduct. The Republican denied all the allegations against him. Mr Moore then lost to Democrat Doug Jones in the general election a stunning result given the size of the conservative voter base in Alabama. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Through tax-break highs and Russia-investigation lows, Donald Trumps first year in office has been plagued by a seemingly unshakeable problem: White supremacy and the issue of race. The 45th President started his campaign by calling Mexican immigrants rapists, and sailed into office on promises of a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. He will finish his first year in office under threat of a government shutdown, as Congress debates what to do with the undocumented, childhood immigrants he has repeatedly threatened. On top of that, at least five nations have summoned their US ambassadors to explain why the President called them "s***hole countries". Recommended Murders by white supremacists in US more than doubled in 2017 Over the last 12 months, Mr Trump has doubled down on some of his controversial campaign promises Mexico is still going to pay for the border wall, he told reporters last week and blamed violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville on "both sides". But he has also abandoned other promises: He did not, for example, immediately deport millions of immigrants. Following outcry over his response to Charlottesville, he made several statements condemning white supremacist groups. One year ago, Mr Trump gave an inaugural speech his campaign rival, Hillary Clinton, described as a "cry from the white nationalist gut". Would he do the same now? Donald Trump: I am the least racist person you've ever interviewed The easiest place to start is with Mr Trumps s***hole comments, which he reportedly made in an immigration policy meeting with bipartisan legislators and members of his administration. Senator Dick Durbin, who attended the meeting, called the Presidents comments vile and racist. Even Republicans have called the outburst repulsive. Mr Trump has denied making the comments, and recently told a reporter he was the least racist person you have ever interviewed. Nevertheless, white supremacists were thrilled that the question of whether African nations were, in fact, s***holes, was up for public discussion. Andrew Anglin, creator of white supremacist website the Daily Stormer, called the discussion encouraging and refreshing because it indicated that Trump is more or less on the same page as us with regards to race and immigration. Clive Webb, a professor of modern American history at the University of Sussex, said this is the the most meaningful thing Mr Trumps first year in office has done for white supremacy, whether intentional or not: It has taken the discourse out of the margins and into the mainstream. Historically, the way that a lot of politicians have played to racism in the United States is to employ coded language, Mr Webb explained. What they've done is theyve used dog whistle concepts, such as law and order, as a way of talking about race without talking about race. Mr Webb added: Now the veil has been removed and Trump is speaking in a blunt, plain way that does appeal to his base, and to the far right specifically. What he's doing, in effect, is giving them legitimacy. Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. This effect was obvious after Mr Trumps response to a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. After days of silence on the rally, in which dozens of people were injured and one counter-protester was killed, Mr Trump condemned the actions of both the participants and those who protested them violence on both sides. White supremacists celebrated. Mr Trump later issued a statement condemning Nazi and white supremacist groups, before again returning to the rhetoric that blamed both sides. Chris Barker, an Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, said he had never seen applications for his chapter grow at the rate they did that summer. Now that Trump is President, it seems like its getting even better, because more whites are starting to be more proud, he told The Independent at the time. The surge of applications was coupled with a surge in violence: Right-wing extremists murdered 20 people in 2017, according to the Anti-Defamation League more than double the year before. The numbers made 2017 the fifth-deadliest year for extremist violence on record. White House: ESPN should fire host who called Donald Trump a 'white supremacist' But last year also saw the dismissal of Steve Bannon, the White House chief strategist who former KKK leader David Duke once praised as excellent. Just last month, Mr Trump further distanced himself from Mr Bannon, claiming his former top adviser had lost his mind after he had been fired. Sebastian Gorka, the former counterterrorism adviser who was linked to nationalist groups in Hungary, also left the White House in 2017. These departures could have angered the white supremacists who trusted Mr Trump. Instead, they appear to have rallied even further under his wing, leaving Mr Gorka and Mr Bannon to fend for themselves. If youre going to have to make a choice, youre going to support the President, because he has the capacity to influence things in a way [people like Mr Bannon] never did, Mr Webb said, Trump is their man. Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Show all 29 1 /29 Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inauguration - 20 January 2017 US President Donald Trump acknowledges the audience after taking the oath of office as his wife Melania (L) and daughter Tiffany watch during inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States on the West Front of the US capital in Washington on 20 January, 2017. Photographer Jim Bourg: "This photo was shot with one of two remote cameras. The cameras were monitored and triggered remotely and the pictures were transmitted to clients worldwide within minutes of being taken." Reuters/Jim Bourg Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Obama farewell address - 10 January 2017 US President Barack Obama wipes away tears as he delivers his farewell address in Chicago on 10 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "In his final days in office, Obama made a visit home to Chicago. As he spoke from the stage to his wife and daughter in the audience, he became emotional when he talked about what they had sacrificed during his time in office. I turned from photographing the Obama women embracing to find him onstage wiping away tears." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inauguration - 20 January 2017 A combination of photos shows the crowds attending the inauguration ceremonies to swear in U.S. President Donald Trump at 12:01pm (left) on January 20, 2017 and President Barack Obama sometime between 12:07pm and 12:26pm on January 20, 2009. Reuters/ Lucas Jackson/Stelios Varias Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Liberty Ball - 20 January 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend the Liberty Ball in honour of his inauguration in Washington on 20 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "What I see when I look at this picture is the end of a very long day, not to mention weeks and months of preparation by many photographers, editors and network experts and the beginning of everything since." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception - 22 January 2017 US President Donald Trump greets Director of the FBI James Comey as Director of the Secret Service Joseph Clancy (L), watches during the Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception in the Blue Room of the White House on 22 January, 2017. Photographer Joshua Roberts: "I have covered the White House for 16 years and normally either the President or the pool is in position when an event starts. In this case the President was not where anyone expected him to be. In fact, he was almost blocking the door when the pool came in. We had to scramble to find a position without bumping him or the furniture as he greeted and thanked members of law enforcement for their security efforts during the inauguration. Luckily, he greeted FBI Director James Comey a few seconds after the pool had made its way into the room." Reuters/Joshua Roberts Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Private phone calls to world leaders - 28 January 2017 US President Donald Trump, is joined by his staff, as he speaks by phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office on 28 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Very early in the Trump administration, weekends were as busy as weekdays. On Trump's second Saturday the official schedule said he would be making private phone calls to a number of world leaders including Russia's Vladimir Putin. I arrived early and, before sitting down at my desk walked up to Press Secretary Sean Spicer's office. He, too, was just taking his coat off. I gingerly made the suggestion that previous administrations had sometimes allowed photos of such phone calls through the Oval Office windows on the colonnade. To my mild shock, he didn't even think about it twice. "We'll do it!" he said. In truth, I really only expected the Putin call, but we were outside the windows multiple times throughout the day as the calls went on." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Senior advisor Kellyanne Conway - 27 February 2017 Senior advisor Kellyanne Conway (L) attends as US President Donald Trump welcomes the leaders of dozens of historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) in the Oval Office on 27 February, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "We're often asked how much access we have to the Trump administration, and the answer is we have an awful lot. President Trump himself is very comfortable in the spotlight, and his aides are similarly unfazed by cameras. In this instance, senior advisor Kellyanne Conway was so comfortable in our presence she seemed not to consider the optics of kneeling on a Oval Office sofa to take pictures with her phone." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Angela Merkel heads to Washington - 17 March 2017 Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House on 17 March, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Chancellor Merkel made one of the earliest important visits of any US allies to meet Trump in his first months in office. When world leaders give joint news conferences they don't always tend to give each other their full attention - but Merkel watched Trump intently at several key moments, and here seemed particularly rapt." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump welcomes truckers to the White House - 23 March 2017 President Trump reacts as he sits on a truck while he welcomes truckers and CEOs to attend a meeting regarding healthcare at the White House on 23 March, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "The White House organised a listening session with truckers and CEO's of major American companies, regarding healthcare reform. An 18-wheeler tow truck was parked on the South Lawn of the White House and as Trump welcomed the truckers someone invited the him to come and sit in the driver's seat. Trump jumped into the cab and started yelling and pretending to drive - creating one of the most memorable pictures of the year. A lesson learned, always be prepared for the unexpected." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Air Force One - 6 April 2017 US President Donald Trump talks to journalists members of the travel pool on board the Air Force One during his trip to Palm Beach, Florida on 6 April, 2017. Carlos Barria: "During the many trips to President Trump's residence in Florida it is usual to see the president coming to the back of the plane to chat with journalists. During one of the trips to the so called 'Winter White House', Trump had a long talk with reporters while the Air Force One entertainment system was playing one of the latest Star Wars movies. As I was listening to Trump talk I was also looking at the movie waiting for a part of the movie to frame the mood of the day. Of the many scenes, I choose the one with Darth Vader." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures 100 Days - 27 April 2017 US President Donald Trump speaks during an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office of the White House on 27 April, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "A day before President Trump's hundred days in office I was part of the team that interviewed the commander-in-chief in the Oval Office. I was only allowed to photograph Trump during the last five minutes of the interview. The time was very tight so I had to move fast as I had pictures in mind that I wanted to shoot. I walked into the Oval Office and saw that the President had printed maps of the country showing areas in red where he won. I raised my hands holding my camera as high as possible to get the best view of the scene using a 16mm wide angle lens." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures 100 Days - 27 April 2017 US President Donald Trump reacts as he arrives at Harrisburg international airport, before attending a rally marking his first 100 days in office in Pennsylvania on 29 April, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "President Trump travelled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to celebrate his hundred days in office with a victory rally. He was in friendly territory as he won with a big difference over his opponent Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania, during the November elections. As usual when the commander-in-chief arrives local residents gather to greet him. This time a small group of military personnel attended the arrival. Surrounded by secret service agents Trump walked from the Air Force One and raised his hand in a sign of victory as the crowd cheered him on." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House staffers - 2 May 2017 White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (L) and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus watch as US President Donald Trump presents the U.S. Air Force Academy football team with the Commander-in-Chief trophy in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on 2 May, 2017. Photographer Joshua Roberts: "Covering the White House does not just mean covering the President. White House staffers are an important part of the story and their relationship with the President and each other is an indicator of how things are going in the West Wing. The tendency is to focus exclusively on the President once an event starts but I always try to look around to see how people are reacting as things unfold." Reuters/Joshua Roberts Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Secret Service - 4 May 2017 Secret Service agents use a presidential limousine as cover from spraying water as US President Donald Trump lands via Marine One helicopter in New York on 4 May, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "The best part of any trip to New York City with the sitting US President is the helicopter ride into Manhattan. The ride out at night can be stunning. Here, Secret Service agents protect themselves from the spray from the East River as Trump lands on the helipad." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures NATO Summit - 25 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump wait the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron (unseen) before a lunch ahead of a NATO Summit in Brussels on 25 May, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "One of the best parts of travelling overseas for White House coverage is the chance to see the U.S. president in different environments and (literally) a different light. Here, Trump and his wife came out of the shadows to greet France's President Macron." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump meets Putin at G20 summit - 7 July 2017 US President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany on 7 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "On July 7, I witnessed one of the most important meetings of President Trump's first year in office. Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin during a bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Germany. The world's eyes were on these two leaders after speculation about Russian interference during the 2016 US elections. We entered the room for less than two minutes, where I took dozens of pictures. But there was this very interesting moment when Trump extended his hand to Putin for a handshake. Putin paused for a second and looked at Trump's hand. That was the picture that I was looking for, a little moment that seemed to say a lot." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures First lady - 8 July 2017 First lady Melania Trump chats with US President Donald Trump during their return from Germany at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on 8 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "After President Trump's trip to Germany he arrived back at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. First Lady Melania Trump said goodbye to Trump as she was heading off in a different direction that day. While chatting a breeze blew Melania's hair up in the air." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Made in America product showcase - 17 July 2017 Vice President Mike Pence laughs as President Donald Trump holds a baseball bat as they attend a Made in America product showcase event at the White House on 17 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "This summer the White House organized an event to showcase 'Made in America' products. All kinds of exhibitors brought their products as the President and Vice President toured the event. One of the companies was Marucci Sport, a manufacturer of baseball bats based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As Trump approached a table full of baseball bats, photographers at the event, including me, rushed to get a good angle hoping that he would pick up a bat. As we predicted, he did. He took one and joked around as though he was hitting something hard. The only thing closer to him right there, was the media." Reuters Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House staffers - 25 July 2017 Former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski says hello to reporters as he and White House advisors including Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci accompany President Trump for an event celebrating veterans at AMVETS Post 44 in Ohio, July 25, 2017. Jonathan Ernst: "The most visible person in any White House is naturally the President, followed by the press secretary. But there are also the staff who support them. For those of us covering the Trump administration, there seem to be more compelling figures in the West Wing than ever before. It's crucial to know who's who and why they're important. When I raised my camera and back-pedalled ahead of the group to take this image Lewandowski gave me a hello. I liked the photo, but had no idea it would go a little bit viral, especially since Scaramucci, who was the biggest mover and shaker that week, was hidden back in the pack. But I guess the image catches a glimpse of what it's like to be a West Wing staffer on the road." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Campaign rally - 3 August 2017 US President Donald Trump arrives at a rally in West Virginia on 3 August, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "President Trump travelled to Huntington for one of his usual campaign rallies. While members of his family spoke to the crowd he was waiting under a black curtain to be introduced. Suddenly he walked onto the stage, one of the first frames that I took was of his hand. I set my exposure for the light on the stage hoping to create this dark background and it worked." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Staring into the solar eclipse - 21 August 2017 Without his protective glasses on, US President Donald Trump looks up towards the solar eclipse while viewing with his wife Melania and son Barron at the White House on 21 August, 2017. Photographer Kevin Lamarque: "On a day when everyone, and I mean everyone, was told not to look at the eclipse without protective glasses, Trump, President of the United States, couldn't help himself." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Hurricane Harvey - 2 September 2017 US President Donald Trump poses for a photo as he and first lady Melania Trump help volunteers hand out meals during a visit with flood survivors of Hurricane Harvey at a relief centre in Houston, Texas on 2 September, 2017. Photohrapher Kevin Lamarque: "Trump, eager to deliver the image of a hands-on response to Hurricane Harvey, made this visit to a relief centre and obliged this woman with a selfie as Melania continued to work." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House - 15 September 2017 Donald Trump welcomes 11-year-old Frank Giaccio as he cuts the Rose Garden grass at the White House on 15 September. Frank, who wrote a letter to Trump offering to mow the lawn, was invited to work for a day at the White House along the National Park Service staff. Frank was so focused on his task that he did not notice the President arrive to surprise him. He took his father jumping in to grab his attention and point Trump out. Photographer Carlos Barria said: The image of Trump shouting at a kid who is mowing his lawn might have many interpretations in today's politically polarized United States. But for me it was just a kid who loved what he was doing, to the point he almost appeared to ignore the President." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Take a knee - 27 September 2017 A man kneels with a folded U.S. flag as the motorcade of U.S. President Donald Trump passes him after an event at the state fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S., September 27, 2017. In September, soon after Trump had made comments condemning NFL players who kneel during the national anthem, he made a day trip to a rally in Indianapolis. Jonathan Ernst managed to capture a man on one knee with a tri-folded flag and was able to use a portion of the sign on the building he was kneeling in front of to track the man down and tell his story in full. US Army veteran Marvin Boatright wanted to send a message against social injustice. Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Hurricane Maria - 3 October 2017 President Donald Trump throws rolls of paper towels into a crowd of local residents affected by Hurricane Maria as he visits Calgary Chapel in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 3 October, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "During an afternoon visit to Puerto Rico for President Trump to survey damage from Hurricane Maria and greet some of its victims, Trump made a stop at a church where food and supplies were being distributed. Among the items were paper towels and Trump, apparently caught up in the moment, decided to distribute some of the rolls." Reuters Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Jared Kushner - 1 November 2017 White House Senior adviser Jared Kushner sits behind President Trump during a cabinet meeting in Washington on 1 November, 2017. Photographer Kevin Lamarque: "The role of Jared Kushner has gone through a series of changes. He began front and centre as a high profile adviser, but as time has passed and issues surrounding him have surfaced, he has become more of a background figure." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump in China - 9 November 2017 Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands after making joint statements at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 9 November, 2017. Photographer Damir Sagolj: "It's one of those "how to make a better or at least different shot when two presidents shake hands several times a day, several days in row". If I'm not mistaken in calculation, presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump shook their hands at least six times in events I covered during Trump's recent visit to China. I would imagine there were some more handshakes I haven't seen but other photographers did. And they all look similar - two big men, smiling and heartily greeting each other until everyone gets their shot. But then there is always something that can make it special - in this case the background made of US and Chinese flags. The first time it didn't work for me. The second time I positioned myself lower and centrally, and used the longest lens I have to capture only hands reaching for a handshake." Reuters/Damir Sagolj Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Air Force One - 10 November 2017 US President Donald Trump boards Air Force One to depart for Vietnam from Beijing Airport in Beijing, China, November 10, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "There is a Reuters photographer in the tight pool covering the US president for every appearance he makes 365 days a year. This was just one of 32 images of mine that were transmitted on the Reuters wire of President Trump visiting China and Vietnam that day. You never know when a sudden interaction, a gust of wind or a unique facial expression will lead to a striking image that grabs peoples' attention." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures ASEAN handshake - 13 November 2017 Donald Trump registers his surprise as he realises other leaders, including Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte and Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, are crossing their arms for the traditional "ASEAN handshake" as he participates in the opening ceremony of the summit in Manila on 13 November, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Having covered a few ASEAN summits, I knew to expect the ASEAN handshake. Not everyone in the room knew to expect the ASEAN handshake. A lot was written about this unscripted moment, and what deeper meaning it might have. The simple truth is that sometimes in life there are unscripted moments." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Attorney General Jeff Sessions a man who once joked that he liked the KKK until he learned they smoked pot is in charge at the Justice Department. As policy analyst Sean McElwee pointed out, Mr Sessions has pursued policies that are almost certain to increase the number of people of colour behind bars. He has re-invigorated the war on drugs, which scholars say disproportionately increased the number of black people behind bars, and cracked down on sanctuary cities that protect undocumented immigrants. Under Mr Sessions, the FBI has classified some civil rights activists as black identity extremists. These policies do not end with the Department of Justice. The Department of Homeland Security recently announced it would rescind the Temporary Protected Status of 263,000 immigrants from El Salvador, 45,000 Haitians, and 2,500 Nicaraguans who sought refuge in the United States. The immigrants were given approximately two years to leave the country, or be deported. In doing so, Amnesty International claimed, the US "could be sending people to their deaths". And Mr Trump himself, by rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), could wind up sending nearly 700,000 young immigrants back to countries they have not resided in for years. The President claimed he wanted a bill of love for the so-called Dreamers, but has refused to pass one unless it includes funding for the border wall. In the meantime, Dreamers are scrambling to renew their work permits while they still can. In the end, this may be the best way to assess the the issue of white supremacy, which has dogged the Trump White House: Not through the politics of the advisers who surround him, or through the number of racists who support him, but by the number of people from s***hole countries his policies will hurt. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trumps first year in the White House has got everyone talking, no more so than on Capitol Hill where members of Congress have had to deal with the Presidents mood swings, off-the-cuff statements and his constant Twitter presence. With scandal, infighting and leaks being a regular occurrence at the White House, Congress has found it difficult not to follow suit. Resignations and intense partisan clashes have become common at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue which is all taking place against the backdrop of Republican concern that Mr Trump could be impeached if the party loses control of Congress this year. Believing that Republicans are intentionally undermining congressional probes into Russias meddling in the 2016 election as well as the federal probe looking at potential links between Russia and the Trump campaign - Democrats have started striking out on their own, leaving the non-partisan investigations looking anything but. Recommended Trump attacks on media compared to Stalin by Republican senator The constant drip-feed of stories about the Russia investigation has left the rumour mill spinning in the halls of Congress and on the streets of Washington, with representatives and senators often appearing on news networks to give their two cents on the latest leaks. Last week, without consulting the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the panels top Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein, released a transcript of a 10-hour interview with Glenn Simpson a co-founder of Fusion GPS, the research firm behind the controversial dossier on Mr Trumps reported ties to Russia. Ms Feinstein said the transcripts release would enable people to make up their own minds about what materialised during the committees interview with Mr Simpson, which had been the subject of a number of news reports. However, committee chairman Chuck Grassley blasted his colleague for the move, calling it confounding. In the House of Representatives, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi endorsed a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan that accused the top Republican of orchestrating a campaign to bury a probe into the Presidents alleged connections to the Kremlin and defame the agencies investigating those matters. Chatter in the halls indicates that legislators expect the political flame-throwing to worsen, with Democrats asserting that their colleagues across the aisle are deferring to Mr Trump, who has called the Russia probes a witch hunt. Democrats have also secured a number of recent election wins including the recent Senate race in Alabama which have put a spring in their step ahead of the midterm elections in November. The party will seek to wrestle back control of the Senate, which the Republicans currently hold with a 51-49 majority. Recent results have raised hope that they can regain the House, where they need 24 seats in the 435-seat chamber. Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Show all 29 1 /29 Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inauguration - 20 January 2017 US President Donald Trump acknowledges the audience after taking the oath of office as his wife Melania (L) and daughter Tiffany watch during inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States on the West Front of the US capital in Washington on 20 January, 2017. Photographer Jim Bourg: "This photo was shot with one of two remote cameras. The cameras were monitored and triggered remotely and the pictures were transmitted to clients worldwide within minutes of being taken." Reuters/Jim Bourg Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Obama farewell address - 10 January 2017 US President Barack Obama wipes away tears as he delivers his farewell address in Chicago on 10 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "In his final days in office, Obama made a visit home to Chicago. As he spoke from the stage to his wife and daughter in the audience, he became emotional when he talked about what they had sacrificed during his time in office. I turned from photographing the Obama women embracing to find him onstage wiping away tears." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inauguration - 20 January 2017 A combination of photos shows the crowds attending the inauguration ceremonies to swear in U.S. President Donald Trump at 12:01pm (left) on January 20, 2017 and President Barack Obama sometime between 12:07pm and 12:26pm on January 20, 2009. Reuters/ Lucas Jackson/Stelios Varias Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Liberty Ball - 20 January 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend the Liberty Ball in honour of his inauguration in Washington on 20 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "What I see when I look at this picture is the end of a very long day, not to mention weeks and months of preparation by many photographers, editors and network experts and the beginning of everything since." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception - 22 January 2017 US President Donald Trump greets Director of the FBI James Comey as Director of the Secret Service Joseph Clancy (L), watches during the Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception in the Blue Room of the White House on 22 January, 2017. Photographer Joshua Roberts: "I have covered the White House for 16 years and normally either the President or the pool is in position when an event starts. In this case the President was not where anyone expected him to be. In fact, he was almost blocking the door when the pool came in. We had to scramble to find a position without bumping him or the furniture as he greeted and thanked members of law enforcement for their security efforts during the inauguration. Luckily, he greeted FBI Director James Comey a few seconds after the pool had made its way into the room." Reuters/Joshua Roberts Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Private phone calls to world leaders - 28 January 2017 US President Donald Trump, is joined by his staff, as he speaks by phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office on 28 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Very early in the Trump administration, weekends were as busy as weekdays. On Trump's second Saturday the official schedule said he would be making private phone calls to a number of world leaders including Russia's Vladimir Putin. I arrived early and, before sitting down at my desk walked up to Press Secretary Sean Spicer's office. He, too, was just taking his coat off. I gingerly made the suggestion that previous administrations had sometimes allowed photos of such phone calls through the Oval Office windows on the colonnade. To my mild shock, he didn't even think about it twice. "We'll do it!" he said. In truth, I really only expected the Putin call, but we were outside the windows multiple times throughout the day as the calls went on." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Senior advisor Kellyanne Conway - 27 February 2017 Senior advisor Kellyanne Conway (L) attends as US President Donald Trump welcomes the leaders of dozens of historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) in the Oval Office on 27 February, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "We're often asked how much access we have to the Trump administration, and the answer is we have an awful lot. President Trump himself is very comfortable in the spotlight, and his aides are similarly unfazed by cameras. In this instance, senior advisor Kellyanne Conway was so comfortable in our presence she seemed not to consider the optics of kneeling on a Oval Office sofa to take pictures with her phone." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Angela Merkel heads to Washington - 17 March 2017 Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House on 17 March, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Chancellor Merkel made one of the earliest important visits of any US allies to meet Trump in his first months in office. When world leaders give joint news conferences they don't always tend to give each other their full attention - but Merkel watched Trump intently at several key moments, and here seemed particularly rapt." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump welcomes truckers to the White House - 23 March 2017 President Trump reacts as he sits on a truck while he welcomes truckers and CEOs to attend a meeting regarding healthcare at the White House on 23 March, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "The White House organised a listening session with truckers and CEO's of major American companies, regarding healthcare reform. An 18-wheeler tow truck was parked on the South Lawn of the White House and as Trump welcomed the truckers someone invited the him to come and sit in the driver's seat. Trump jumped into the cab and started yelling and pretending to drive - creating one of the most memorable pictures of the year. A lesson learned, always be prepared for the unexpected." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Air Force One - 6 April 2017 US President Donald Trump talks to journalists members of the travel pool on board the Air Force One during his trip to Palm Beach, Florida on 6 April, 2017. Carlos Barria: "During the many trips to President Trump's residence in Florida it is usual to see the president coming to the back of the plane to chat with journalists. During one of the trips to the so called 'Winter White House', Trump had a long talk with reporters while the Air Force One entertainment system was playing one of the latest Star Wars movies. As I was listening to Trump talk I was also looking at the movie waiting for a part of the movie to frame the mood of the day. Of the many scenes, I choose the one with Darth Vader." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures 100 Days - 27 April 2017 US President Donald Trump speaks during an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office of the White House on 27 April, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "A day before President Trump's hundred days in office I was part of the team that interviewed the commander-in-chief in the Oval Office. I was only allowed to photograph Trump during the last five minutes of the interview. The time was very tight so I had to move fast as I had pictures in mind that I wanted to shoot. I walked into the Oval Office and saw that the President had printed maps of the country showing areas in red where he won. I raised my hands holding my camera as high as possible to get the best view of the scene using a 16mm wide angle lens." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures 100 Days - 27 April 2017 US President Donald Trump reacts as he arrives at Harrisburg international airport, before attending a rally marking his first 100 days in office in Pennsylvania on 29 April, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "President Trump travelled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to celebrate his hundred days in office with a victory rally. He was in friendly territory as he won with a big difference over his opponent Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania, during the November elections. As usual when the commander-in-chief arrives local residents gather to greet him. This time a small group of military personnel attended the arrival. Surrounded by secret service agents Trump walked from the Air Force One and raised his hand in a sign of victory as the crowd cheered him on." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House staffers - 2 May 2017 White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (L) and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus watch as US President Donald Trump presents the U.S. Air Force Academy football team with the Commander-in-Chief trophy in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on 2 May, 2017. Photographer Joshua Roberts: "Covering the White House does not just mean covering the President. White House staffers are an important part of the story and their relationship with the President and each other is an indicator of how things are going in the West Wing. The tendency is to focus exclusively on the President once an event starts but I always try to look around to see how people are reacting as things unfold." Reuters/Joshua Roberts Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Secret Service - 4 May 2017 Secret Service agents use a presidential limousine as cover from spraying water as US President Donald Trump lands via Marine One helicopter in New York on 4 May, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "The best part of any trip to New York City with the sitting US President is the helicopter ride into Manhattan. The ride out at night can be stunning. Here, Secret Service agents protect themselves from the spray from the East River as Trump lands on the helipad." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures NATO Summit - 25 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump wait the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron (unseen) before a lunch ahead of a NATO Summit in Brussels on 25 May, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "One of the best parts of travelling overseas for White House coverage is the chance to see the U.S. president in different environments and (literally) a different light. Here, Trump and his wife came out of the shadows to greet France's President Macron." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump meets Putin at G20 summit - 7 July 2017 US President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany on 7 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "On July 7, I witnessed one of the most important meetings of President Trump's first year in office. Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin during a bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Germany. The world's eyes were on these two leaders after speculation about Russian interference during the 2016 US elections. We entered the room for less than two minutes, where I took dozens of pictures. But there was this very interesting moment when Trump extended his hand to Putin for a handshake. Putin paused for a second and looked at Trump's hand. That was the picture that I was looking for, a little moment that seemed to say a lot." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures First lady - 8 July 2017 First lady Melania Trump chats with US President Donald Trump during their return from Germany at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on 8 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "After President Trump's trip to Germany he arrived back at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. First Lady Melania Trump said goodbye to Trump as she was heading off in a different direction that day. While chatting a breeze blew Melania's hair up in the air." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Made in America product showcase - 17 July 2017 Vice President Mike Pence laughs as President Donald Trump holds a baseball bat as they attend a Made in America product showcase event at the White House on 17 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "This summer the White House organized an event to showcase 'Made in America' products. All kinds of exhibitors brought their products as the President and Vice President toured the event. One of the companies was Marucci Sport, a manufacturer of baseball bats based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As Trump approached a table full of baseball bats, photographers at the event, including me, rushed to get a good angle hoping that he would pick up a bat. As we predicted, he did. He took one and joked around as though he was hitting something hard. The only thing closer to him right there, was the media." Reuters Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House staffers - 25 July 2017 Former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski says hello to reporters as he and White House advisors including Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci accompany President Trump for an event celebrating veterans at AMVETS Post 44 in Ohio, July 25, 2017. Jonathan Ernst: "The most visible person in any White House is naturally the President, followed by the press secretary. But there are also the staff who support them. For those of us covering the Trump administration, there seem to be more compelling figures in the West Wing than ever before. It's crucial to know who's who and why they're important. When I raised my camera and back-pedalled ahead of the group to take this image Lewandowski gave me a hello. I liked the photo, but had no idea it would go a little bit viral, especially since Scaramucci, who was the biggest mover and shaker that week, was hidden back in the pack. But I guess the image catches a glimpse of what it's like to be a West Wing staffer on the road." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Campaign rally - 3 August 2017 US President Donald Trump arrives at a rally in West Virginia on 3 August, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "President Trump travelled to Huntington for one of his usual campaign rallies. While members of his family spoke to the crowd he was waiting under a black curtain to be introduced. Suddenly he walked onto the stage, one of the first frames that I took was of his hand. I set my exposure for the light on the stage hoping to create this dark background and it worked." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Staring into the solar eclipse - 21 August 2017 Without his protective glasses on, US President Donald Trump looks up towards the solar eclipse while viewing with his wife Melania and son Barron at the White House on 21 August, 2017. Photographer Kevin Lamarque: "On a day when everyone, and I mean everyone, was told not to look at the eclipse without protective glasses, Trump, President of the United States, couldn't help himself." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Hurricane Harvey - 2 September 2017 US President Donald Trump poses for a photo as he and first lady Melania Trump help volunteers hand out meals during a visit with flood survivors of Hurricane Harvey at a relief centre in Houston, Texas on 2 September, 2017. Photohrapher Kevin Lamarque: "Trump, eager to deliver the image of a hands-on response to Hurricane Harvey, made this visit to a relief centre and obliged this woman with a selfie as Melania continued to work." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House - 15 September 2017 Donald Trump welcomes 11-year-old Frank Giaccio as he cuts the Rose Garden grass at the White House on 15 September. Frank, who wrote a letter to Trump offering to mow the lawn, was invited to work for a day at the White House along the National Park Service staff. Frank was so focused on his task that he did not notice the President arrive to surprise him. He took his father jumping in to grab his attention and point Trump out. Photographer Carlos Barria said: The image of Trump shouting at a kid who is mowing his lawn might have many interpretations in today's politically polarized United States. But for me it was just a kid who loved what he was doing, to the point he almost appeared to ignore the President." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Take a knee - 27 September 2017 A man kneels with a folded U.S. flag as the motorcade of U.S. President Donald Trump passes him after an event at the state fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S., September 27, 2017. In September, soon after Trump had made comments condemning NFL players who kneel during the national anthem, he made a day trip to a rally in Indianapolis. Jonathan Ernst managed to capture a man on one knee with a tri-folded flag and was able to use a portion of the sign on the building he was kneeling in front of to track the man down and tell his story in full. US Army veteran Marvin Boatright wanted to send a message against social injustice. Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Hurricane Maria - 3 October 2017 President Donald Trump throws rolls of paper towels into a crowd of local residents affected by Hurricane Maria as he visits Calgary Chapel in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 3 October, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "During an afternoon visit to Puerto Rico for President Trump to survey damage from Hurricane Maria and greet some of its victims, Trump made a stop at a church where food and supplies were being distributed. Among the items were paper towels and Trump, apparently caught up in the moment, decided to distribute some of the rolls." Reuters Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Jared Kushner - 1 November 2017 White House Senior adviser Jared Kushner sits behind President Trump during a cabinet meeting in Washington on 1 November, 2017. Photographer Kevin Lamarque: "The role of Jared Kushner has gone through a series of changes. He began front and centre as a high profile adviser, but as time has passed and issues surrounding him have surfaced, he has become more of a background figure." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump in China - 9 November 2017 Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands after making joint statements at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 9 November, 2017. Photographer Damir Sagolj: "It's one of those "how to make a better or at least different shot when two presidents shake hands several times a day, several days in row". If I'm not mistaken in calculation, presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump shook their hands at least six times in events I covered during Trump's recent visit to China. I would imagine there were some more handshakes I haven't seen but other photographers did. And they all look similar - two big men, smiling and heartily greeting each other until everyone gets their shot. But then there is always something that can make it special - in this case the background made of US and Chinese flags. The first time it didn't work for me. The second time I positioned myself lower and centrally, and used the longest lens I have to capture only hands reaching for a handshake." Reuters/Damir Sagolj Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Air Force One - 10 November 2017 US President Donald Trump boards Air Force One to depart for Vietnam from Beijing Airport in Beijing, China, November 10, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "There is a Reuters photographer in the tight pool covering the US president for every appearance he makes 365 days a year. This was just one of 32 images of mine that were transmitted on the Reuters wire of President Trump visiting China and Vietnam that day. You never know when a sudden interaction, a gust of wind or a unique facial expression will lead to a striking image that grabs peoples' attention." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures ASEAN handshake - 13 November 2017 Donald Trump registers his surprise as he realises other leaders, including Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte and Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, are crossing their arms for the traditional "ASEAN handshake" as he participates in the opening ceremony of the summit in Manila on 13 November, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Having covered a few ASEAN summits, I knew to expect the ASEAN handshake. Not everyone in the room knew to expect the ASEAN handshake. A lot was written about this unscripted moment, and what deeper meaning it might have. The simple truth is that sometimes in life there are unscripted moments." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst While chances were once slim that Democrats would retake the House and Senate, Mr Trumps frequent inflammatory comments and feuds with members of his own party have made the possibility more likely. Much of the talk is now about the need to create a wave of Democratic wins. With both parties having been hit by retirements and resignations related to sexual harassment scandals, paranoia has filled the passageways of Capitol Hill over when the next such allegations may appear. This along with several members of Congress blanching at the thought of tough reelection campaigns has left the door wide open for plenty of seats to switch across both chambers. A possible impeachment of Mr Trump is another issue that has never been far from the minds of most around Congress, from the bars around the Hill to the Capitol building itself. If we lose the House, he could get impeached. Do you think he understands that? one top Republican donor is said to have heard an exasperated Republican senator declare privately last year, and it is clear others in the party are fearful of the idea. However, like Republicans, Democrats have also suffered from internal discord, particularly over the impeachment issue. Democratic leaders so far have discouraged impeachment chatter, which has ratcheted up multiple times in recent months in the halls of the Capitol following revelations about Mr Trumps conduct regarding the Russia investigations. There is no question that Mr Trumps antics and the deluge of sexual misconduct accusations often diverted focus from Congresss legislative agenda over the past year. But all of this drama could create an opportunity for members of Congress to make a name for themselves, potentially by creating order from chaos or by standing up to Mr Trump. Names for potential presidential candidates, such as Democratic senators Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand, are already being floated, even though the election is still almost three years away. Both women have made it clear that they are ready to fight Mr Trumps policies, and in Ms Gillibrands case the personal attacks of the President himself. It is harder to predict what will happen on the Republican side, with the partys congressional leadership having hitched its wagon to Mr Trump. However, discontent appears to be simmering over Mr Trumps actions, and a thin GOP majority in the Senate may mean more members will be willing to take a stand on certain issues. That may include the presidents plan to overhaul the USs healthcare system an effort he repeatedly failed to get enough Republican support for during his first year in the White House. Mr Trump also appears committed to building a wall along the USs southern border a goal likely to continue complicating attempts to reach an immigration deal with Democrats. Negotiations were already complicated last week after the president reportedly described Haiti, El Salvador and certain African nations as s***hole countries and questioned why the US needed to admit more Haitians into America, a strength of language that will do little to dampen the acrimony between the two parties in Congress. BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping has called the revision to China's Constitution a significant event in the political life of the CPC and the country. Xi made the remarks at a symposium attended by representatives of non-Communist parties, All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and those without party affiliations on Dec. 15, 2017, whose opinions and suggestions on the revision to the Constitution were heard. The revision to the Constitution is a crucial political decision made by the CPC Central Committee based on the overall situation and the strategic height of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, according to Xi. It is also an important measure to advance law-based governance and modernize China's system and capacity for governance, he continued. The representatives at the symposium all approved the CPC proposal to revise the Constitution, and agreed to the general requirements and principles. They also made suggestions on the implementation and supervision of the Constitution, safeguarding the authority of the Constitution and enforcing the rule of Constitution and the rule of law. The CPC Central Committee maintains the idea of consultation before decision-making, Xi stated. It values the opinions and suggestions from non-Communist parties, All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and those without party affiliations before holding important conferences, issuing important documents, and making important decisions, said Xi. Xi stressed that non-Communist parties and the united front have made significant contributions to the establishment and the development of China's constitutional system. Xi asked attendees at the symposium to think over the revision, and to put forward opinions and suggestions. He also asked them to raise their awareness of the rule of law and lead the way in sticking to the Constitution, as well as to build consensus, regulate development, resolve conflicts and maintain harmony by the rule of law, in order to bring people together and collect power for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has blamed Democrats for the US government shutdown, saying in a tweet they had played politics instead of prioritising the military and border safety. He tweeted early on Saturday morning: Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMoreRepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess! A bill to fund the federal budget failed at midnight last night after Democrats tried to attach protections for undocumented migrants brought to the US as children the so-called dreamers. Recommended What you need to know about the US government shutdown All but five Democrats voted against the budget measure, while five Republicans also opposed it. Both parties accused the other of causing the closure, fighting to avoid voters' anger ahead of mid-term elections in November. In a second tweet, the President said: This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present. #DemocratShutdown. And seeking to head off criticism of the ruling party, Mr Trump added: For those asking, the Republicans only have 51 votes in the Senate, and they need 60. That is why we need to win more Republicans in 2018 Election! We can then be even tougher on Crime (and Border), and even better to our Military & Veterans! #AMERICA FIRST! While negotiations will continue today, the government is technically out of money, leaving scores of federal agencies across the country unable to continue operating although the effect will be lessened by the shutdown starting on a weekend. Services deemed essential, like law enforcement, the military, air traffic control and others will run as normal. In a statement issued just before midnight, the White House said it would not negotiate with the Democrats on immigration until the end of the shutdown. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands. When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform. Democrats faced being labelled obstructionist, with Republicans branding the consequences of no deal a Schumer shutdown referring to Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer. Mr Schumer tweeted that there is no one who deserves the blame for the position we find ourselves in more than President Trump. On the Senate floor he said in comments directed at Mr Trump: Its almost as if you were rooting for a shutdown. Before the midnight deadline expired he had urged the President to heed his own words, referencing a 2011 interview in which he had said: If there is a shutdown I think it would be a tremendously negative mark on the president of the United States. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell also cast blame on his political opponents. What weve just witnessed on the floor was a cynical decision by Senate Democrats to shove aside millions of Americans for the sake of irresponsible political games, he said. Mr Schumer met with Mr Trump on Friday afternoon to try and find common ground. One person familiar with the events said the two men agreed to seek a grand deal in which Democrats would win protections from deportation for some 700,000 young undocumented immigrants and Mr Trump would get more money for a border wall and tighter security to stem illegal immigration. By early evening, however, that plan was dead. The source said Mr Trump had spoken in the meantime with conservative Republicans and been hit with their objections to the deal with Mr Schumer. He did not press his party to accept it, Mr Schumer claimed later. Donald Trump address the March for Life at The White House Senators were set to resume negotiations at 12pm on Saturday after Mr McConnell proposed a new plan that would extend federal funding to 8 February, rather than a week later as was initially planned. Democrats and Republicans both said they wanted a quick agreement. Additional reporting by agencies Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The US government shut down at midnight on Friday, meaning thousands of non-essential federal workers will be put on leave and not paid until a funding deal is reached. Senators blocked a bill to extend federal funding until 16 February despite huddled behind-the-scenes negotiations between leaders Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell. The shutdown came on the one-year anniversary of Donald Trumps inauguration as President, and as Republicans enjoy majorities in both the House and Senate. Recommended Donald Trump blames Democrats for US government shutdown Scores of federal agencies across the country will be unable to operate until a deal can be agreed. However, essential employees who deal with public safety and national security will keep working. Congress scheduled an unusual Saturday session to begin considering a three-week version of the short-term spending measure. How did it happen? Republicans in Congress passed stop-gap funding legislation on Thursday but their colleagues in the Senate needed support from 10 Democrats to pass it there. Five voted in favour, but five Republicans opposed the measure and it failed to pass. The central dispute came over protections for undocumented migrants who were brought to the US as children. Democrats wanted to force through protections from deportation for 700,000 dreamers who had previously been covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) programme. Mr Trump, who had made strict measures on immigration a cornerstone of his presidential campaign, rejected a bipartisan proposal last week during the now infamous s***hole countries meeting. He said he wanted to include any deal for dreamers in a bigger legislative package that also boosted funding for a wall and tighter security measures along the US border with Mexico. Fox News host Shep Smith on US government shutdown: Trump and Republicans can't blame Democrats Mr Schumer met the President on Friday afternoon. One person familiar with the events said the two men agreed to seek a grand deal encapsulating both positions but that by early evening the agreement was dead, after Mr Trump had spoken with conservative Republicans and heard their objections. He did not press his party to accept it, Mr Schumer claimed later. What does it mean? Many thousands of federal workers will not report for work on Monday morning if the impasse is not solved. That will not include those in so-called essential services like law enforcement, the military, air traffic control and social security ones that protect life or human property. Even then, not all staff will turn up. Thirteen per cent of workers at the Department of Homeland Security will be furloughed, as will half of those at Health and Human Services, according to contingency plans cited by The New York Times. Some of those who do work during the shutdown may not be paid until after funding is restored. CNN warned that some zoos and museums may close while funding is withheld. Special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation, however, will continue, according to the broadcaster. Mr Trumps administration said it planned to keep national parks open with rangers and security guards on duty. The parks were closed during the last shutdown in 2013, upsetting many tourists and resulting in the loss of $500m (361m) in visitor spending in areas around the parks and at the Smithsonian museums. How long will it last? Both parties said they would restart negotiations and the Senate is set to come back into session at noon on Saturday. Mr McConnell said he would seek a new funding bill to cover the federal government until 8 February, a week less than the failed bill would have done. Democrats and Republicans both said they wanted a quick agreement. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty But both sides may now be even less willing to make concessions, fearing a highly visible political defeat ahead of mid-term congressional elections later this year. The last shutdown, which took place in 2013 under President Barack Obama, lasted for 16 days. It was overwhelmingly unpopular among voters with 81 per cent disapproving of legislators allowing federal funding to lapse, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll. Additional reporting by agencies Marches are happening all over the world, including this one in Zurich, Switzerland (EPA) Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Hundreds of thousands of women around America and the world took to the streets for the 2018 Women's March, a year after the first such event was held in opposition to newly elected US President Donald Trump. Demonstrators surged into the streets in protests in American cities across the country, with parallel rallies in Europe, Asia and Africa turning the event into a global affair. Authorities estimated that well over 100,000 people attended the New York rally and that some 300,000 showed up in Los Angeles. And while the inaugural 2017 marches functioned as a primal cry against Mr Trump's election victory, the 2018 iteration served in part as a nationwide political rally. Democratic elected officials and liberal celebrities urged attendees to channel their energy and frustration with Mr Trump's policies into November's midterm elections, where Democrats hope to wrest back control of Congress, governorships and state legislatures. Wait for the live blog to load below, if you cannot see it, click here After last year's event, a wave of women decided to run for elected office and the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct became a cultural phenomenon. We made a lot of noise, said Elaine Wynn, an organiser. But now how do we translate that noise into something concrete or fulfilling? Speakers this year made reference to the rolling backlash against sexual harassment and assault, with New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy relaying her experience with sexual violence and encouraging other women to tell their stories. The marches occurred amid the battle over a US government shutdown, which has disrupted Mr Trump's celebrations of the anniversary of his inauguration. Protesters and supportive politicians linked the two, decrying Republican policies that helped lead to the shutdown particularly Mr Trump's decision to nix an Obama-era program shielding young immigrants from deportation and urging attendees to vote for a different agenda in the fall. Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Show all 35 1 /35 Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures London Women's rights demonstrators hold placards and shout slogans during the Time's Up rally at Richmond Terrace, opposite Downing Street in London. Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures London The Time's Up initiative was launched at the start of January 2018 as a response to the #MeToo movement and the Harvey Weinstein scandal. AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Berlin Women's March in Berlin. EPA Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures London The Time's Up Women's March marks the one year anniversary of the first Women's March in London and in 2018 it is inspired by the Time's Up movement against sexual abuse. Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Paris Women hold a banner reading "still feminist" with the Eiffel tower in background on the Trocadero esplanade in Paris. AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures London Protesters hold up placards at the Women's March in central London. Rex Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Paris A demonstator hold signs on the Trocadero esplanade in Paris during a women's march organised as part of global protests. AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures London Chanting Times Up in the cold rain - On the anniversary of the Women's March on London. Rex Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York Thousands of people gather holding protest signs on Central Park West. EPA Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York Demonstrators take part in the Women's March in Manhattan Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Chicago A woman holds a sign during the Second Annual Womens March in Chicago AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People gather near Central Park before the beginning of the Women's March in New York Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Washington Supporters gather during the Women's March in Washington AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York The crowd lines up near Central Park Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Chicago Demostrators attend the Second Annual Womens March in Chicago AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York Thousands hold signs and rally while attending the Womens March in New York Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People gather near Central Park before the beginning of the Women's March in New York Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Washington People participate in the second annual Women's March in Washington Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People hold signs up during the women's march Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Philadelphia Oscar Janicki, 6, participates in the Second Annual Women's March in Philadelphia Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Philadelphia Crowds gather to participate in the Second Annual Women's March in Philadelphia Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Washington People participate in the second annual Women's March in Washington Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York Women pose as they attend the second annual National Womens March in New York City AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Washington People participate in the second annual Women's March in Washington Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People gather prior to the second annual National Womens March in New York City AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People take part in the Women's March in Manhattan Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People gather the second annual National Womens March AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Washington People participate in the Second Annual Women's March in Washington Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Rome A woman holds a banner reading "Womwn united will never be defeated" during Rome Resists demonstration part of the Women's March in downtown. AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Rome Italian actress Asia Argento (3rdL) attends the Rome Resists demonstration part of the Women's March in downtown Rome. AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Rome The Women's March Rome, designed to show solidarity for the protection of civil and social rights, women's rights and the environment included Italian actress Asia Argento, one of the first women to accuse US film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault. AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Zurich A US citizen holds a poster on the anniversary of the inauguration of President Trump apologising to the world on behalf of her country, in Zurich, Switzerland. A year after millions of people took to the streets across the US and countries around the world, women's marches are being held in lots of cities this weekend. EPA Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People take part in the Women's March in Manhattan Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Rome A woman holds a banner reading "The rising of the women means rising of us all" during Rome Resists demonstration. AFP/Getty Images Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Rome A woman lifts her fist while holding a banner reading "Hear our voice" during Rome Resists demonstration. AFP/Getty Linda Sarsour, one of the four organisers of last year's Washington march, told the Associated Press that Las Vegas was set to hold a major rally on Sunday because it's a strategic swing state that gave Hillary Clinton a narrow win in the presidential election and will have one of the most competitive Senate races in 2018. Meet the Texas women who are leaving the sidelines to bring Trump down Democrats believe they have a good chance of winning the seat held by embattled Republican Senator Dean Heller and weakening the Republicans' hold on the chamber, where they have a 51-49 seat advantage. Organisers say Nevada is also a microcosm of larger national issues such as immigration and gun control after Las Vegas became the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in modern history. Agencies contributed to this report Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Thousands of protesters have turned out in cities across the US and beyond to mark Donald Trumps first anniversary by demanding equal rights for women and denouncing misogyny and racism. From Washington DC to Chicago and from California to Japan, crowds of women and their supporters turned out, seeking to channel activism into political change as America looks ahead to crucial midterm elections in November. He refuses to cooperate with us, said one protester, Terri Parsons from Winslow, Arizona, who travelled to the nations capital to demonstrate against what she termed Mr Trumps regressive views. I think he wants to take us back to the 1950s. Another protester, Helina Zewdu, 35, who works for a non-profit group and is originally from Ethiopia, said she was disgusted by Mr Trumps reported comments in which he is said to have described Haiti and African countries as s***hole nations. I think its unconscionable that the President of the US should use language like that, said Ms Zewdu, who applying for US citizenship. Her friend, Mahnaz Mojahed, originally from Iran, had come to the US to study and was now a citizen. Yet because Iran is one the countries included in the President-backed travel ban which is to be heard by the Supreme Court her parents are unable to visit her here. If I get hit by a bus, they will not be able to come and see me, she said. Fox News host Shep Smith on US government shutdown: Trump and Republicans can't blame Democrats A year after up to 500,000 people descended on Washington DC the day after Mr Trumps inauguration in protests that became known as the Womens March people returned to make their voices heard. The protests which took in anti-racism, womens rights as well as economic inequality took on additional significance this year following the #MeToo movement, that has encouraged women to share stories of sexual abuse and harassment. The movement took off in the aftermath of allegations of abuse levelled at film producer Harvey Weinstein, allegations he has denied. Tracey and Steven Weeks, from Maryland, were among the crowds who gathered at the Reflecting Pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. Were going to stand up and were not going to stop, said Ms Weeks. As women were often being told to stop and be silent. But were here to keep it up. Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Show all 29 1 /29 Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inauguration - 20 January 2017 US President Donald Trump acknowledges the audience after taking the oath of office as his wife Melania (L) and daughter Tiffany watch during inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States on the West Front of the US capital in Washington on 20 January, 2017. Photographer Jim Bourg: "This photo was shot with one of two remote cameras. The cameras were monitored and triggered remotely and the pictures were transmitted to clients worldwide within minutes of being taken." Reuters/Jim Bourg Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Obama farewell address - 10 January 2017 US President Barack Obama wipes away tears as he delivers his farewell address in Chicago on 10 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "In his final days in office, Obama made a visit home to Chicago. As he spoke from the stage to his wife and daughter in the audience, he became emotional when he talked about what they had sacrificed during his time in office. I turned from photographing the Obama women embracing to find him onstage wiping away tears." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inauguration - 20 January 2017 A combination of photos shows the crowds attending the inauguration ceremonies to swear in U.S. President Donald Trump at 12:01pm (left) on January 20, 2017 and President Barack Obama sometime between 12:07pm and 12:26pm on January 20, 2009. Reuters/ Lucas Jackson/Stelios Varias Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Liberty Ball - 20 January 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend the Liberty Ball in honour of his inauguration in Washington on 20 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "What I see when I look at this picture is the end of a very long day, not to mention weeks and months of preparation by many photographers, editors and network experts and the beginning of everything since." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception - 22 January 2017 US President Donald Trump greets Director of the FBI James Comey as Director of the Secret Service Joseph Clancy (L), watches during the Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception in the Blue Room of the White House on 22 January, 2017. Photographer Joshua Roberts: "I have covered the White House for 16 years and normally either the President or the pool is in position when an event starts. In this case the President was not where anyone expected him to be. In fact, he was almost blocking the door when the pool came in. We had to scramble to find a position without bumping him or the furniture as he greeted and thanked members of law enforcement for their security efforts during the inauguration. Luckily, he greeted FBI Director James Comey a few seconds after the pool had made its way into the room." Reuters/Joshua Roberts Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Private phone calls to world leaders - 28 January 2017 US President Donald Trump, is joined by his staff, as he speaks by phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office on 28 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Very early in the Trump administration, weekends were as busy as weekdays. On Trump's second Saturday the official schedule said he would be making private phone calls to a number of world leaders including Russia's Vladimir Putin. I arrived early and, before sitting down at my desk walked up to Press Secretary Sean Spicer's office. He, too, was just taking his coat off. I gingerly made the suggestion that previous administrations had sometimes allowed photos of such phone calls through the Oval Office windows on the colonnade. To my mild shock, he didn't even think about it twice. "We'll do it!" he said. In truth, I really only expected the Putin call, but we were outside the windows multiple times throughout the day as the calls went on." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Senior advisor Kellyanne Conway - 27 February 2017 Senior advisor Kellyanne Conway (L) attends as US President Donald Trump welcomes the leaders of dozens of historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) in the Oval Office on 27 February, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "We're often asked how much access we have to the Trump administration, and the answer is we have an awful lot. President Trump himself is very comfortable in the spotlight, and his aides are similarly unfazed by cameras. In this instance, senior advisor Kellyanne Conway was so comfortable in our presence she seemed not to consider the optics of kneeling on a Oval Office sofa to take pictures with her phone." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Angela Merkel heads to Washington - 17 March 2017 Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House on 17 March, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Chancellor Merkel made one of the earliest important visits of any US allies to meet Trump in his first months in office. When world leaders give joint news conferences they don't always tend to give each other their full attention - but Merkel watched Trump intently at several key moments, and here seemed particularly rapt." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump welcomes truckers to the White House - 23 March 2017 President Trump reacts as he sits on a truck while he welcomes truckers and CEOs to attend a meeting regarding healthcare at the White House on 23 March, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "The White House organised a listening session with truckers and CEO's of major American companies, regarding healthcare reform. An 18-wheeler tow truck was parked on the South Lawn of the White House and as Trump welcomed the truckers someone invited the him to come and sit in the driver's seat. Trump jumped into the cab and started yelling and pretending to drive - creating one of the most memorable pictures of the year. A lesson learned, always be prepared for the unexpected." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Air Force One - 6 April 2017 US President Donald Trump talks to journalists members of the travel pool on board the Air Force One during his trip to Palm Beach, Florida on 6 April, 2017. Carlos Barria: "During the many trips to President Trump's residence in Florida it is usual to see the president coming to the back of the plane to chat with journalists. During one of the trips to the so called 'Winter White House', Trump had a long talk with reporters while the Air Force One entertainment system was playing one of the latest Star Wars movies. As I was listening to Trump talk I was also looking at the movie waiting for a part of the movie to frame the mood of the day. Of the many scenes, I choose the one with Darth Vader." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures 100 Days - 27 April 2017 US President Donald Trump speaks during an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office of the White House on 27 April, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "A day before President Trump's hundred days in office I was part of the team that interviewed the commander-in-chief in the Oval Office. I was only allowed to photograph Trump during the last five minutes of the interview. The time was very tight so I had to move fast as I had pictures in mind that I wanted to shoot. I walked into the Oval Office and saw that the President had printed maps of the country showing areas in red where he won. I raised my hands holding my camera as high as possible to get the best view of the scene using a 16mm wide angle lens." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures 100 Days - 27 April 2017 US President Donald Trump reacts as he arrives at Harrisburg international airport, before attending a rally marking his first 100 days in office in Pennsylvania on 29 April, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "President Trump travelled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to celebrate his hundred days in office with a victory rally. He was in friendly territory as he won with a big difference over his opponent Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania, during the November elections. As usual when the commander-in-chief arrives local residents gather to greet him. This time a small group of military personnel attended the arrival. Surrounded by secret service agents Trump walked from the Air Force One and raised his hand in a sign of victory as the crowd cheered him on." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House staffers - 2 May 2017 White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (L) and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus watch as US President Donald Trump presents the U.S. Air Force Academy football team with the Commander-in-Chief trophy in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on 2 May, 2017. Photographer Joshua Roberts: "Covering the White House does not just mean covering the President. White House staffers are an important part of the story and their relationship with the President and each other is an indicator of how things are going in the West Wing. The tendency is to focus exclusively on the President once an event starts but I always try to look around to see how people are reacting as things unfold." Reuters/Joshua Roberts Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Secret Service - 4 May 2017 Secret Service agents use a presidential limousine as cover from spraying water as US President Donald Trump lands via Marine One helicopter in New York on 4 May, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "The best part of any trip to New York City with the sitting US President is the helicopter ride into Manhattan. The ride out at night can be stunning. Here, Secret Service agents protect themselves from the spray from the East River as Trump lands on the helipad." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures NATO Summit - 25 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump wait the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron (unseen) before a lunch ahead of a NATO Summit in Brussels on 25 May, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "One of the best parts of travelling overseas for White House coverage is the chance to see the U.S. president in different environments and (literally) a different light. Here, Trump and his wife came out of the shadows to greet France's President Macron." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump meets Putin at G20 summit - 7 July 2017 US President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany on 7 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "On July 7, I witnessed one of the most important meetings of President Trump's first year in office. Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin during a bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Germany. The world's eyes were on these two leaders after speculation about Russian interference during the 2016 US elections. We entered the room for less than two minutes, where I took dozens of pictures. But there was this very interesting moment when Trump extended his hand to Putin for a handshake. Putin paused for a second and looked at Trump's hand. That was the picture that I was looking for, a little moment that seemed to say a lot." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures First lady - 8 July 2017 First lady Melania Trump chats with US President Donald Trump during their return from Germany at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on 8 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "After President Trump's trip to Germany he arrived back at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. First Lady Melania Trump said goodbye to Trump as she was heading off in a different direction that day. While chatting a breeze blew Melania's hair up in the air." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Made in America product showcase - 17 July 2017 Vice President Mike Pence laughs as President Donald Trump holds a baseball bat as they attend a Made in America product showcase event at the White House on 17 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "This summer the White House organized an event to showcase 'Made in America' products. All kinds of exhibitors brought their products as the President and Vice President toured the event. One of the companies was Marucci Sport, a manufacturer of baseball bats based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As Trump approached a table full of baseball bats, photographers at the event, including me, rushed to get a good angle hoping that he would pick up a bat. As we predicted, he did. He took one and joked around as though he was hitting something hard. The only thing closer to him right there, was the media." Reuters Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House staffers - 25 July 2017 Former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski says hello to reporters as he and White House advisors including Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci accompany President Trump for an event celebrating veterans at AMVETS Post 44 in Ohio, July 25, 2017. Jonathan Ernst: "The most visible person in any White House is naturally the President, followed by the press secretary. But there are also the staff who support them. For those of us covering the Trump administration, there seem to be more compelling figures in the West Wing than ever before. It's crucial to know who's who and why they're important. When I raised my camera and back-pedalled ahead of the group to take this image Lewandowski gave me a hello. I liked the photo, but had no idea it would go a little bit viral, especially since Scaramucci, who was the biggest mover and shaker that week, was hidden back in the pack. But I guess the image catches a glimpse of what it's like to be a West Wing staffer on the road." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Campaign rally - 3 August 2017 US President Donald Trump arrives at a rally in West Virginia on 3 August, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "President Trump travelled to Huntington for one of his usual campaign rallies. While members of his family spoke to the crowd he was waiting under a black curtain to be introduced. Suddenly he walked onto the stage, one of the first frames that I took was of his hand. I set my exposure for the light on the stage hoping to create this dark background and it worked." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Staring into the solar eclipse - 21 August 2017 Without his protective glasses on, US President Donald Trump looks up towards the solar eclipse while viewing with his wife Melania and son Barron at the White House on 21 August, 2017. Photographer Kevin Lamarque: "On a day when everyone, and I mean everyone, was told not to look at the eclipse without protective glasses, Trump, President of the United States, couldn't help himself." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Hurricane Harvey - 2 September 2017 US President Donald Trump poses for a photo as he and first lady Melania Trump help volunteers hand out meals during a visit with flood survivors of Hurricane Harvey at a relief centre in Houston, Texas on 2 September, 2017. Photohrapher Kevin Lamarque: "Trump, eager to deliver the image of a hands-on response to Hurricane Harvey, made this visit to a relief centre and obliged this woman with a selfie as Melania continued to work." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House - 15 September 2017 Donald Trump welcomes 11-year-old Frank Giaccio as he cuts the Rose Garden grass at the White House on 15 September. Frank, who wrote a letter to Trump offering to mow the lawn, was invited to work for a day at the White House along the National Park Service staff. Frank was so focused on his task that he did not notice the President arrive to surprise him. He took his father jumping in to grab his attention and point Trump out. Photographer Carlos Barria said: The image of Trump shouting at a kid who is mowing his lawn might have many interpretations in today's politically polarized United States. But for me it was just a kid who loved what he was doing, to the point he almost appeared to ignore the President." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Take a knee - 27 September 2017 A man kneels with a folded U.S. flag as the motorcade of U.S. President Donald Trump passes him after an event at the state fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S., September 27, 2017. In September, soon after Trump had made comments condemning NFL players who kneel during the national anthem, he made a day trip to a rally in Indianapolis. Jonathan Ernst managed to capture a man on one knee with a tri-folded flag and was able to use a portion of the sign on the building he was kneeling in front of to track the man down and tell his story in full. US Army veteran Marvin Boatright wanted to send a message against social injustice. Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Hurricane Maria - 3 October 2017 President Donald Trump throws rolls of paper towels into a crowd of local residents affected by Hurricane Maria as he visits Calgary Chapel in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 3 October, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "During an afternoon visit to Puerto Rico for President Trump to survey damage from Hurricane Maria and greet some of its victims, Trump made a stop at a church where food and supplies were being distributed. Among the items were paper towels and Trump, apparently caught up in the moment, decided to distribute some of the rolls." Reuters Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Jared Kushner - 1 November 2017 White House Senior adviser Jared Kushner sits behind President Trump during a cabinet meeting in Washington on 1 November, 2017. Photographer Kevin Lamarque: "The role of Jared Kushner has gone through a series of changes. He began front and centre as a high profile adviser, but as time has passed and issues surrounding him have surfaced, he has become more of a background figure." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump in China - 9 November 2017 Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands after making joint statements at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 9 November, 2017. Photographer Damir Sagolj: "It's one of those "how to make a better or at least different shot when two presidents shake hands several times a day, several days in row". If I'm not mistaken in calculation, presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump shook their hands at least six times in events I covered during Trump's recent visit to China. I would imagine there were some more handshakes I haven't seen but other photographers did. And they all look similar - two big men, smiling and heartily greeting each other until everyone gets their shot. But then there is always something that can make it special - in this case the background made of US and Chinese flags. The first time it didn't work for me. The second time I positioned myself lower and centrally, and used the longest lens I have to capture only hands reaching for a handshake." Reuters/Damir Sagolj Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Air Force One - 10 November 2017 US President Donald Trump boards Air Force One to depart for Vietnam from Beijing Airport in Beijing, China, November 10, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "There is a Reuters photographer in the tight pool covering the US president for every appearance he makes 365 days a year. This was just one of 32 images of mine that were transmitted on the Reuters wire of President Trump visiting China and Vietnam that day. You never know when a sudden interaction, a gust of wind or a unique facial expression will lead to a striking image that grabs peoples' attention." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures ASEAN handshake - 13 November 2017 Donald Trump registers his surprise as he realises other leaders, including Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte and Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, are crossing their arms for the traditional "ASEAN handshake" as he participates in the opening ceremony of the summit in Manila on 13 November, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Having covered a few ASEAN summits, I knew to expect the ASEAN handshake. Not everyone in the room knew to expect the ASEAN handshake. A lot was written about this unscripted moment, and what deeper meaning it might have. The simple truth is that sometimes in life there are unscripted moments." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Organisers said they were determined that the energy and passion that went into creating banners and placards would also have a political impact. Since Mr Trump entered the Oval Office, a record number of women have registered to compete in elections this year, both for national office and in local elections. We will make our message heard at the polls this [autumn], Emily Patton, a rally organiser, told thousands of demonstrators at the Reflecting Pool. That is why we are urging people to register to vote today. The Washington rally featured Democratic politicians from neighbouring Virginia, including Senator Tim Kaine, who blamed Trump and Republicans for the shutdown of the government on Saturday. The Trump shutdown is due to the inability of the Republican Party to do basic governing, like making a budget, he said. Many of the protesters wore pink knit pussy hats, which were created for last years march as a reference to a comment made by Mr Trump about female genitalia. The caps quickly became a symbol of womens empowerment and opposition to the new President in the early days of his administration. We want to continue the fight to resist this President and the policies were against, said Sara Piper, 59, a geologist from Reston, Virginia. Gary Lin, from Arlington, was among many men at the rally. He said the only previous protest he had taken part in was in 2009. Yet he said after Mr Trumps election victory, he felt he could not stay away. Organisation is the key, said the computer technologist. In Palm Beach, Florida, home to Mr Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate, several hundred people gathered carrying anti-Trump signs as they prepared to march as part of Saturdays planned protests. Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March, Mr Trump wrote on Twitter. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The words come spinning out of Gina Ortiz Jones at a table in La Fogata, a roadside Mexican eatery on the eastern edges of El Paso, Texas. Tirades of frustration and fury aimed at her former boss, Donald Trump. But she can be to the point, too. Is she going to win this November? Yes. Would we be having this conversation if Hillary Clinton had won in 2016? Probably not. Ms Jones, a veteran of the Iraq war, orders coffee. She shouldnt, she says, ignoring the salsa and chips in plastic dishes on the table cloth of pink and white roses. Her mission now is tough: to oust the Republican incumbent of the 23rd District of Texas, Will Hurd, and reclaim the seat its bigger than France, running from El Paso to San Antonio for the Democrats. It could be lonely. Ms Jones, 36, is American-Filipino and a lesbian. This is Texas after all. But in reality, she has a decent shot. She knows, moreover, that she is part of a swelling army of female candidates across the land plotting their own runs for seats in Congress. Together, if enough are successful, they could help Democrats retake control of the House of Representatives, a switch of power that would slam the brakes on Donald Trump halfway through his first term and help open the path to impeachment proceedings against him. Another in that army is Veronica Escobar. Her sights are on the district immediately next door, the 16th, which covers most of El Paso itself and points west. It is in play because its current representative, Beto ORourke, also a Democrat, has resigned it to run against Republican Ted Cruz for a seat in the US Senate. If Ms Escobar, who gave up her post as County Judge in El Paso, prevails, she will, astonishingly, be the first Latina ever sent by Texas to Congress. At Geogeske, a sleeker lunch spot close to the heart of El Paso, Ms Escobar agreed she could have stayed in her old position and in her comfort zone. But she was moved to run, she says, because of this terrifying fear of Donald Trump and what he is going to do to our country. Veronica Escobar hopes to become the first Hispanic politician sent by Texas voters to Congress (Veronicaescobar.com) Gina Ortiz Jones is the ex-soldier but its Veronica Escobar who describes what she is doing in military terms. I feel as though a battle is raging in Washington DC. More people need to enlist and I am ready to enlist, she says. Its a fight, between some very ugly fundamental aspects of human nature like racism and bigotry and fear-mongering versus the most beautiful ideals that our country was founded on, she adds. Our democracy in many regards is at stake. By the last count almost 400 women were planning to run in this year's midterm elections in the US, the most ever. Some will be weeded out in the primary elections, which in Texas are only seven weeks away, where no fewer than 50 women hope to make it all the way to Washington. That is especially striking when you consider the Lone Star State has not sent a new woman to Congress since 1996. Ms Jones and Ms Escobar are both confident they will beat off rivals from their own party to be the candidates in their districts. Encouraging them have been groups dedicated to helping and funding women to run for office, at national and at state levels, such as Emilys List in Washington DC, which specifically offers support to Democratic women willing to stand up for abortion rights. In the two years leading up to the 2016 cycle, it received enquiries from 920 women interested in maybe taking the plunge. So far, running up to the 2018 midterms, it has been contacted by more than 25,000. Such a burst of energy from progressive women is unnerving Republicans as they prepare to defend their House majority. (Democrats need a net gain of 24 seats to flip the chamber.) They similarly fear a higher turnout among women voters, with whom they are already in trouble. According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll conducted in mid-December, Democrats are polling 32 per cent ahead of Republicans with college-educated women when asked who'd they prefer to see in control of Congress after November. With all women it was a 20-point gap. The Democrats and some outside groups like Emilys List have been more active, better funded and more focused on recruiting female candidates, says Matt Mackowiak, an Austin-based strategist to Republicans. Women want more women in office to deal with issues that are relevant to them, like healthcare. If the Democrats find a way to dominate with female voters that would be a big problem for Republicans but I dont see any evidence of that at this point. That women meant to be a main engine of the anti-Trump resistance became clear the day after his inauguration when half a million joined the Womens March on Washington to protest his agenda. Volunteering as a road-crossing guard was Ms Jones. With an important job as trade advisor inside the Executive Office of the President, she was already struggling to come to terms with the fact that Barack Obama was no longer her employer. Mr Trump was. She lasted until June when she did a gut check on herself and left. It just became increasingly difficult to be part of that administration personally and professionally, she says. (La Fogata, the restaurant we are in, is named after the Spanish for bonfire, no doubt where she would light a Trump effigy.) I had worked in national security for 14 years and I think his policies actually ran contrary to national security, she adds. Jones was appalled that after committing herself for so long to public service, Mr Trump was bringing in people who were interested neither in the public nor in service. Since his inauguration, moreover, Mr Trump has fallen short even of her lowest expectations. Never in our wildest imaginings could we have foreseen that the President of the United States, a country that was based on immigration, would be talking about s***hole countries, she says. No, I could not have imagined that. She also came to feel that he was attacking people who are her own, including immigrants she was raised by single mother who came to the US from the Philippines and also the LGBTQ community. Just as Ms Escobar hopes to be the first Latina member of Congress from Texas, she hopes to be the first out LGBTQ member. A chalk slogan in Los Angeles on International Women's Day last year (Reuters) A wider revolt among women was inevitable, says Ms Ortiz Jones. We have a president who thinks it's OK to grab women by the genitals. Is it really a surprise that women are fired up? And its about taking control before its too late. It should surprise no one that women, who stand to lose so much under this administration, are standing up and saying, I am going to run because I am going to stop assuming that someone is going to do for me that which I can do for myself. Dangling a spoon over her tortilla soup, Ms Escobar reflects on why it has taken so long to get more women into Congress, which remains 80 per cent male and 80 per cent white and thus can barely consider itself representative of the people it is meant to represent. Partly, she says, it was because of the sacrifices required to run for office, especially for those with young families or who didnt have the easy connections to raise money. But thats finally changing. For a lot of us now, its just, Screw it, we have to get it done. You need to throw caution to the wind. Because hers is the most Democratic district in Texas, she needs only to win the primary contest against her party rivals in March, after which she will be all but set. Like Ms Ortiz Jones she hopes she will go to Washington waving a banner not just for women but in particular also for the immigrant community, El Paso, where she has lived all her life, is on the very front line of Trumps campaign to crackdown on immigration. It would also be where part of his touted new wall is meant to be built, a proposal which, in her eyes, is in itself a form of attack on immigrants in America and also against Mexico, its neighbour. You are going to go after us? she says, as if Mr Trump were listening. Well, you know what? The border is going to send one of our own to you to fight back. That would be her. And, if they are lucky, she will have Gina Ortiz Jones as reinforcement and, possibly a whole brigade of freshly minted Democratic Congresswomen from Texas and far beyond. I mean 2018 really could be a year for some significant change and it really could be the year of the woman. It is very exciting, she says. So exciting, Ms Escobar veers off again into the language of battle, but this time on a galactic, cinematic scale. The oppressed and the marginalised are rising up against the empire! she says, only half joking. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Christian in Indonesia has been publicly flogged for selling alcohol, considered an offence under Islamic Sharia law. Photographs show Jono Simbolon being whipped by a masked religious enforcer in front of a jeering crowd - which included children - as his face contorts with agony. Mr Simbolon was sentenced to 36 lashes after he was found to have breached the strict law known locally as Qanun. The whipping took place in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh outside a mosque in what is believed to be only the third instance of a non-Muslim being flogged since the city, on Sumatra island, began enforcing sharia law in 2001. Around 98 per cent of Acehs five million residents are Muslims and automatically subject to the Qanun religious law. Non-Muslims who have committed an offence that violates both national law and the laws of a religion they do not follow such as selling alcohol - can choose to be prosecuted under either system. Chief Prosecutor Erwin Desman said that as a Christian, Mr Simbolon may have opted for a trial under religious law because he would rather be flogged than risk a lengthy prison sentence under criminal proceedings. Sharia courts: Legal status in the UK Show all 3 1 /3 Sharia courts: Legal status in the UK Sharia courts: Legal status in the UK There are believed to be dozens of Sharia courts operating in the UK. However, although they adjudicate on religious matters, they do not have the legal status of courts, acting more as councils or tribunals Getty Sharia courts: Legal status in the UK Weddings and divorces overseen by Sharia councils are religious matters and are not necessarily recognised by the state. Likewise, a civil divorce or wedding isnt necessarily recognised by the Sharia council Sharia courts: Legal status in the UK Sharia councils can have legal status as mediation and arbitration bodies under the Arbitration Act 1996. Any divorce agreements made in this capacity, however, have to be approved by a law court if they are to be recognised under civil law, and can be overturned. Sharia councils can also provide advice on the religious law on matters such as wills, law contracts and fatwas Mr Simbolon was led onto a makeshift stage in bare feet in front of the baying crowd, who took pictures of his ordeal. He was checked by a doctor after being sent reeling following the tenth lash before he was declared fit for the flogging to continue. He was one of ten people to be lashed in Aceh on the same day, including a Muslim woman found to have grown too close to her partner in the days leading up to their wedding. She and her partner both received 20 lashes in front of the baying crowd. Human Rights Watch this week condemned the government of Indonesia, accusing President Joko Wikodo of failing to confront increasing intolerance that has led to discrimination and violence against the countrys most vulnerable minorities. Jokowis government is turning a blind eye to worsening harassment of religious and sexual minorities, said Phelim Kine, the group's deputy Asia director. Officials are using the dangerously ambiguous blasphemy law to target certain religious groups, while the police are carrying out invasive raids against LGBT people. Mayor of Banda Aceh Aminullah Usman defended the use of corporal punishment, saying: This is our government's commitment to enforcing Islamic law. "If there is a violation, (people should) immediately report it to the Sharia police and we will carry out a punishment like today's caning. Recommended Malaysian state introduces public canings for breaking Sharia law Aceh is the only province in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, which implements Sharia law. Last year, two gay men who admitted having sex were flogged in the province, with each receiving 100 lashes. Homosexuality is not illegal in the rest of Indonesia, which mainly follows a criminal code inherited from former colonial ruler the Netherlands, but religious minorities face discriminatory laws and regulations as well as harassment, intimidation, and violence from Islamist militants. In early 2017, the Ministry of Religious Affairs drafted a bill to further entrench the countrys blasphemy law as well as discriminatory government decrees, including one that prevents religious minorities from obtaining permits to build place of worship. In May 2017, a Jakarta court sentenced former Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian, to a two-year prison sentence for blasphemy against Islam. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Thai police have arrested a suspected kingpin of wildlife trafficking who allegedly fuelled much of Asia's illegal trade for over a decade. Police say Boonchai Bach, a 40-year-old Thai of Vietnamese descent, was arrested on Friday in a north-eastern border province in connection with the smuggling of 14 rhino horns worth more than $1m (810,000) from Africa into Thailand last month, in a case that also implicated a Thai official and a Chinese national. He denies the charges against him. Boonchai allegedly ran a large trafficking network on the Thai-Laos border that spread into Vietnam. According to the anti-trafficking group Freeland, he and his family played a key role in a syndicate that smuggled poached items including ivory, rhino horn, pangolins, tigers, lions and other rare and endangered species. Under the wildlife law, he could face up to four years in prison and a 40,000 baht (1,000) fine, but authorities said they are also considering money-laundering and customs violation charges that carry up to 10 years in prison. "One of the largest known wildlife traffickers in a really big syndicate has been arrested," said Matthew Pritchett, Freeland's director of communications. "In a nutshell, I can't think of anything in the past five years that has been this significant." World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Thailand is a transit hub for trafficked wildlife mostly destined for China, and was considered to have the largest unregulated ivory market in the world before it introduced the Elephant Ivory Act of 2014 and 2015 to regulate the domestic ivory market and criminalise the sale of African elephant ivory. Rhinoceros horns, pangolin scales, turtles and other exotic wildlife are still repeatedly smuggled through Thailand. In December, Thai airport official Nikorn Wongprajan was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport after he was caught together with a Chinese smuggler and a Vietnamese courier with 14 rhino horns and admitted to being hired to send the horns to one of Boonchai's relatives, Freeland's statement said, adding the group helped Thai police with information about Boonchai that led to his arrest. Steve Galster, founder of Freeland, said Boonchai's arrest breaks open Thailand's "largest wildlife crime case ever." "This network is connected to a group of moneymen who may be living outside the country. We are working to get arrest warrants out on those people as well," said Gen Chalermkiat Sriworakhan, deputy police commissioner. Three years ago, Thailand froze $37m (30m) in assets linked to a tiger trafficking ring in the country's north east, after investigation helped by Freeland. In 2016, a court order seized Thai bank accounts and other assets belonging to Chumlong Lemtongthai, a Thai who was convicted in South Africa on rhino horn trafficking charges. Chumlung was imprisoned in 2012 after being sent by the Southeast Asian trafficking syndicate called the Xaysavang network - which authorities say includes Boonchai - to take advantage of South Africa's permit system for professional trophy hunts. He hired prostitutes to pose as hunters and organised sham expeditions during which 26 rhinos were killed, according to court documents. Customs papers were then doctored for shipping the rhino horns to Laos. The decision to go after Chumlung's assets was made only in 2016, after agents received training in asset recovery. The alleged Laotian kingpin of the Xaysavang network, Vixay Keosavang, remains at large. "We have been looking at this syndicate for over a decade now," said Onkuri Majumdar, a programme officer from Freeland. "They have tentacles all over Africa and Southeast Asia. They are responsible for the slaughter of thousands of endangered animals including rhinos and elephants. And let's not forget rangers in Africa who have died, killed by poachers financed by men like Boonchai." AP For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Paul Bocuse, a highly celebrated French chef who helped redefine the countrys cuisine, has died aged 91. The pioneering chef, who is often referred to as he pope of French cuisine, died in the town of Collonges-au-Mont-dor where he was born and where he ran his main luxury restaurant, which has three Michelin stars. Much more than a father and husband, he is a man of heart, a spiritual father, an emblematic figure of world gastronomy and a French flagship who is gone, said a statement from his wife and children. Paul loved life, sharing, transmitting his knowledge and his team. These same values will continue to inspire us forever, they said. French President Emmanuel Macron led the tributes to the culinary star, who is credited with helping chefs rise to celebrity status. French gastronomy loses a mythical figure ... The chefs cry in their kitchens, at the Elysee [Palace] and everywhere in France, Mr Macron said. Interior minister Gerard Collomb tweeted that Mister Paul was France. Simplicity and generosity. Excellence and art de vivre. Born into a family of cooks that dates to the 1700s, Bocuse presided over the kitchen of his world-famous red and green restaurant, LAuberge du Pont de Collonges, and often greeted guests even in retirement. His renowned dining spot, which features a painting of the master chef himself on a wall, based just outside the Lyon in south-eastern France, has held three Michelin stars continually since 1965. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty In a 2011 interview with The Associated Press, Bocuse said he slept in the room where he was born, above the dining rooms. But I changed the sheets, he added with characteristic wry humour. Born on 11 February 1926, Bocuse entered his first apprenticeship at 16. He worked at the famed La Mere Brazier in Lyon, then spent eight years with one of his culinary idols, Fernand Point, whose cooking was a precursor to Frances nouvelle cuisine movement, with lighter sauces and lightly cooked fresh vegetables. His career in the kitchen dates back to the years when stoves were coal-fired and chefs also served as scullery maids. There was rigour, Bocuse told AP. You had to wake up early and milk the cows, feed the pigs, do the laundry and cook...it was a very tough school of hard knocks. Today, the profession has changed enormously. Theres no more coal. You push a button and you have heat." While his restaurant was traditional serving quintessentially French food, his personal life was somewhat unorthodox and he admitted in a 2005 biography to sharing his life with three women at the same time. Bocuse, whose signature dishes included truffle soup and fricassee of Bresse chicken, gained many awards and accolades throughout his life. He was named Meilleur Ouvrier de France in 1961, Cook of the Century by Gault et Millau in 1989 and Chef of the Century by the Culinary Institute of America guidebook in 2011. During the Second World War he worked in the First Division of the Free French Forces and was wounded and cared for at a US field hospital. He later opened two brasseries in Lyon in 1995 and 1997, as well as restaurants in the south of France, Geneva and Japan, among other places. He was passionate about passing on his love of cooking to the next generation, and launched a competition and highly coveted award for aspirational chefs the Bocuse dOr. Bocuse underwent a triple heart bypass in 2005 and had also been suffering from Parkinsons disease. He is survived by his wife Raymonde, their daughter Francoise and a son, Jerome. Additional reporting Associated Press For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Police in the Dutch city of Rotterdam have launched a new pilot programme which will see them confiscating expensive clothing and jewellery from young people if they look too poor to own them. Officers say the scheme will see them target younger men in designer clothes they seem unlikely to be able to afford legally if it is not clear how the person paid for it, it will be confiscated. The idea is to deter criminality by sending a signal that the men will not be able to hang onto their ill-gotten gains. Rotterdam police chief Frank Paauw told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf: They are often young men who consider themselves untouchable. We're going to undress them on the street. We regularly take a Rolex from a suspect. Clothes rarely. And that is especially a status symbol for young people. Some young people now walk with jackets of 1800. They do not have any income, so the question is how they get there. He said the young men targeted often have no income and are already in debt from fines for previous convictions but wearing expensive clothing. This undermines the rule of law which sends a completely false signal to local residents, he explained. The trial is due to start in the Rotterdam West section of the city and police say they will target one gang in particular. The scheme comes after a previous pilot which looked at the expensive cars suspected criminals drove despite not having an income. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The team is also looking at shell companies, drug crime and illegal gambling. In 2016, Rotterdam was able to confiscate 11.5m. But critics have attacked the idea saying it is a slippery slope towards racial profiling. City ombudsman Anne Mieke Zwaneveld told AD: We realised that [they] do not want to create the appearance that there is ethnic profiling but the chances of this happening are very large. She said it would be very legally difficult to prove officers were justified in taking peoples coats in the middle of the street: It is not forbidden to walk around in the street. In addition, it is often unclear how such a piece of clothing is paid and how old it is. Jair Schalkwijk,a spokesman for a national anti-profiling organisation Control Alt Delete, believes the policy is against a previous promise by police not to target people who look like typical criminals. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Gunmen have attacked Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel, seizing hostages and exchanging gunfire with security forces as the building in the Afghan capital caught fire and residents and staff fled. Isis was suspected to be behind the bloodshed, which came after numerous atrocities by its militants in Afghanistan and attacks on hotels around the world, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility. Hotel manager Ahmad Haris Nayab, who escaped unhurt, said the attackers had got into the main part of the hotel through a kitchen and people tried to get out amid bursts of gunfire. Several people had been killed and at least six wounded in the raid, which came days after a US embassy warning of possible attacks on hotels in Kabul, Nasrat Rahimi, an interior ministry spokesman, said. However, officials gave no other details on casualty numbers. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest in a long series of attacks which underlined the city's precarious situation and the ability of militants to strike blows aimed at undermining confidence in the Western-backed government. Officials said there were as many as four attackers and at least two of them had been killed as Afghan Special Forces cleared the first floor and moved up the building, battling the raiders, who appeared to have a large supply of hand grenades. Afghan security officials take up positions near the scene of attack by armed men at a hotel in Kabul (EPA) Hours after the attack began at 9pm local time (4.30pm GMT), firing appeared to ease as security forces settled in, waiting for dawn. According to one witness, who did not want to be named, the attackers took hotel staff and guests hostage. He said some foreigners were among the hotel guests but it was not clear what their nationality was. The Intercontinental Hotel, located on a hilltop and heavily protected like most public buildings in Kabul, was previously attacked by Taliban fighters in 2011. It is one of two main luxury hotels in the city and had been due to host an information technology conference on Sunday. More than 100 IT managers and engineers were on site when the attack took place, Ahmad Waheed, an official at the telecommunications ministry, said. The attack came days after a United Nations Security Council visit to Kabul to allow senior representatives of member states to assess the situation in Afghanistan. Many details of the incident were still unclear, but interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said a private company had taken over security about three weeks ago. Protesters demand better security in Kabul Show all 10 1 /10 Protesters demand better security in Kabul Protesters demand better security in Kabul A woman tries to stop police from firing on protesters during a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, June 2, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators demanded better security in the Afghan capital in the wake of a powerful truck bomb attack that killed scores of people. AP Protesters demand better security in Kabul Afghan security officials use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators as they protest against a suicide bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, 02 June 2017. At least 90 people were killed and more than 350 wounded in a suicide bomb attack near the foreign embassies in Kabul on 31 May. AP Protesters demand better security in Kabul A policeman rests during a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, June 2, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators demanded better security in the Afghan capital in the wake of a powerful truck bomb attack that killed scores of people. AP Protesters demand better security in Kabul Protesters shout anti government slogans during a demonstration to protest against the lack of security in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Jun 2, 2017. Some 500 people are demonstrating in Kabul for better security in the Afghan capital in the wake of a powerful truck bomb attack that killed 90 people. AP Protesters demand better security in Kabul Police forces run as protesters throw stones during a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, June 2, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators demanded better security in the Afghan capital in the wake of a powerful truck bomb attack that killed scores of people. AP Protesters demand better security in Kabul Protesters shout anti government slogans during a demonstration to protest against the lack of security in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Jun 2, 2017. Some 500 people are demonstrating in Kabul for better security in the Afghan capital in the wake of a powerful truck bomb attack that killed 90 people. AP Protesters demand better security in Kabul Protesters throw stones toward security forces during a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, June 2, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators demanded better security in the Afghan capital in the wake of a powerful truck bomb attack that killed scores of people. ( AP Protesters demand better security in Kabul Police forces run as protesters throw stones during a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, June 2, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators demanded better security in the Afghan capital in the wake of a powerful truck bomb attack that killed scores of people. AP Protesters demand better security in Kabul Protesters throw stones toward security forces during a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, June 2, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators demanded better security in the Afghan capital in the wake of a powerful truck bomb attack that killed scores of people. AP Protesters demand better security in Kabul A boy walks past protesters during a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, June 2, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators demanded better security in the Afghan capital in the wake of a powerful truck bomb attack that killed scores of people. AP The US embassy in Kabul had issued a warning to American citizens on Thursday, saying: We are aware of reports that extremist groups may be planning an attack against hotels in Kabul. Captain Tom Gresback, spokesman for the Nato-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, said they were watching closely but it was not clear whether international forces took part in suppressing the attack. Afghan National Defense and Security Forces are leading the response efforts. According to initial reports, no Resolute Support or (US forces) members were injured in this incident, he said. Although the Nato-led Resolute Support mission says the Taliban has come under pressure after the US increased assistance to Afghan security forces and stepped up air strikes against insurgents, security remains precarious. As pressure on the battlefield has increased, security officials have warned that the danger of attacks on high-profile targets in Kabul and other cities would increase. After repeated attacks in Kabul, notably an incident last May in which a truck bomber killed at least 150 people outside the German embassy, security has been further tightened. While it shares the same name, the hotel in Kabul is not part of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), which issued a statement in 2011 saying that the hotel Inter-continental in Kabul is not part of IHG and has not been since 1980. Reuters The nation's highest court decided in early December to let the order take effect in full while it worked its way through two appeals courts. The Associated Press is reporting that the justices plan to hear arguments in April and issue a final ruling by late June. The so-called travel ban restricts travel in varying degrees from eight countries, six of them majority Muslim. The Supreme Court has signaled that it will consider the legality of President Donald Trump's order restricting travel. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, California, issued a ruling in late December, saying that the travel order exceeded the president's authority. The court put that order on hold, however, in deference to the Supreme Court. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, has yet to rule after a hearing in early December. At issue is the Trump administration's stated desire to ensure national security. Pro-immigration groups that have sued to stop the order say it is discriminatory and amounts to a ban on Muslims. The travel ban targets people from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen who want to enter the U.S. It also places limits on travelers from Venezuela and North Korea. This travel order is the third one issued by the Trump administration. The first two were not viewed kindly by the courts and were barely issued before they were struck down. The third one is different from its predecessors in that it was written after a review of vetting procedures, and the restrictions varied from country to country. The first executive order restricting travel was signed almost a year ago, on Jan. 27. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Turkish warplanes have attacked YPG and PKK targets as Ankara moves to help opposition fighters entering the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in northern Syria. The Turkish Prime Minister, Binali Yildirim, said the countrys air force had begun its aerial offensive on the region near the border between the two nations, which has been controlled by the Syrian YPG (Peoples Protection Units) since 2012. During a speech in the Turkish city of Bilecik, he said: As of this moment our brave armed forces have started the aerial offensive to eliminate the PYD and PKK and Daesh elements in Afrin. At least seven civilians have been injured so far in the assault which began at 5pm local time (3pm UK time). The Russian defence ministry has said it is removing its military observers from the city of Afrin because of the Turkish attack. A senior Turkish official said it aimed to liberate the region from the control of the Kurdish militants who they say are using their toehold in northern Syria as a base to launch attacks on Turkey. The official said freeing the nearby town of Manbij which the Kurds took back from Isis in 2016 from militant control will follow the operation to Afrin, adding that the operations are aimed at rebuilding social and economic infrastructure in the region. Associated Press journalists at the Turkish border saw at least five jets heading toward Afrin. They also witnessed a convoy of buses, believed to be carrying Syrian opposition fighters, travelling along the border across from Afrin. The convoy included trucks mounted with machine guns. The Turkey-Syria border as seen from the outskirts of the border town of Kilis, Turkey (AP) The assault has been dubbed Operation Olive Branch by the Turkish armed forces. The PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), the Turkish Kurdish separatist movement, has been involved in an on and off armed conflict with the Turkish state since 1984 and has staged several terror attacks in the countrys major cities in recent years. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ended his two-year ceasefire with the Kurds after he became concerned about their growing military strength from fighting Isis militants over the border. He has claimed the PKK, which operates in Turkey, is trying to trick him by pretending they are the same as the YPG which only operates in Syria. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said earlier on Saturday that the accusations of cross-border attacks were false and they would have no choice to retaliate if they were attacked. They said the sudden and unjustified attacks on Afrin threatens to breath new life into Isis, which the militants are currently fighting. Additional reporting by AP Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Delta Air Lines is tightening the rules on who can take emotional support animals on flights after a sharp rise in on-board incidents, including urination, defecation, biting and mauling. The American airline will require extra documentation outlining passengers need for a support animal, plus proof of the relevant training and vaccinations, 48 hours before a flight. The new rules come into play from 1 March 2018 following a dramatic increase in the number of people bringing animals on board up 150 per cent since 2017, reports Reuters. This has led to an 84 per cent rise in animal-related safety incidents, including a high-profile incident in which a 50-pound emotional support dog mauled another passenger. The rise in serious incidents involving animals in flight leads us to believe that the lack of regulation in both health and training screening for these animals is creating unsafe conditions across US air travel, John Laughter, Deltas senior vice president of corporate safety, security and compliance, said in a statement. In the US, owners are allowed to be accompanied by their service animals in the cabin under federal law, as long as they do not pose a threat to the safety of others. Emotional support animals are becoming increasingly common on flights, with an estimated 100,000 travelling in cabins in the US every year. Advocates argue these animals can lower blood pressure and help with stress. Airports have also jumped on the bandwagon, with Cincinnati/Northern Ohio Airport introducing therapy miniature horses last year to help calm down stressed travellers passing through its doors. Twice a month, the check-in area gets a visit from a pair of a 34-strong team of therapy horses provided by Seven Oaks Farm in Ohio. Airports with therapy dogs have been on the increase in the States since San Jose started offering the service in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Thirty-odd American airports currently have dogs, while San Francisco has its own therapy pig. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A state of emergency has been declared for the key tourist gateway of Montego Bay and the surrounding area. Thousands of British holidaymakers are in Jamaica, with many more booked to travel in the next few weeks on winter sun trips to resorts or on cruises. Many people have contacted The Independent for advice. This is what we know so far. What has changed? If youre in the Parish of St James, which includes the main holiday hub of Montego Bay, Tourists should stay in their resorts and limit travel beyond their respective security perimeters, says the bulletin. The only times when they should leave the resorts are for travel to and from the airport or for excursions. Transport for these journeys should be arranged by the resort hotels, the FCO advises. This is very unusual Foreign Office advice. Normally the Government says simply its OK or dont go. But this is new: urging British holidaymakers in the Montego Bay area in the north-west of the island not to wander away from their gated, guarded all-inclusive resorts on their own. Why? In the past 48 hours the Jamaican prime minister has declared a State of Public Emergency in the parish of St James. The murder rate is twice as high as in any other parish; last year there were six killings a week on average, and since the start of the year general lawlessness has intensified. Relative to its population, Jamaica has a murder rate roughly 10 times higher than the US and 50 times higher than Britain. Does this warning affect other parts of the island? No, resorts such as Negril in the west and Ocho Rios in the east are unaffected by the new Foreign Office advice. However, flights for most holidaymakers arrive at, and leave from, Montego Bay, so it applies for travel to and from the citys airport. Wherever you are on the island, the FCO still warns of very high crime levels: Be vigilant at all times, even if youre staying with friends and family. Dont walk alone in isolated areas or on deserted beaches, even during the day. Take particular care when withdrawing money from ATMs. Dont carry large amounts of cash or wear eye-catching jewellery. Try to vary which restaurants you use. Using the same place too often might make you a target for thieves. How many British visitors are there in Jamaica and whats happening to them? Based on Foreign Office figures and analysing flight schedules both direct and via the US, I estimate around 5,000 British visitors are on the island a number of them people with family connections to Jamaica. TUI flies in around 900 a week from Gatwick and Manchester, while Virgin Atlantic has three 747s a week from Gatwick. One of them touched down late on Friday night. The new arrivals due to stay in Montego Bay will find that they are confined to barracks, albeit very comfortable barracks, except when they are on an organised excursion or a transfer to the airport. What about insurance? The Association of British Insurers tells me: Tourists already in the north-west of the island should follow FCO advice with travel policies remaining force. If anyone does not follow FCO advice and is injured, and needs emergency medical treatment, then this would be covered. Of course the golden rule is to take reasonable care at all times, which is what your travel insurer will expect you to do. If you do switch destination, then your insurance should be transferable, although if you change to Florida or another US destination then you may need to pay an increased premium. Are holidays still on sale? Yes, and so long as there is no warning against travel, they will continue to be sold. The UKs biggest holiday company, TUI, has some cheap deals going to Montego Bay from Gatwick and from Manchester on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 January respectively, and is selling cruises with its Marella brand for next month starting and ending in Montego Bay. Are other cruise ships still calling at Montego Bay? Yes, there appears to be no change to calls, with ships expected this weekend and through the remainder of winter. Most passengers are on organised tours, and therefore they will automatically comply with the new advice. What are the options for the tens of thousands who have forward bookings for Jamaica? Ive been asked by several imminent visitors: Can I insist on a change of destination without incurring any charges? Im due to fly on Tuesday. The answer is no. Unless the Foreign Office warns against travel, holiday firms are likely to maintain existing terms to customers with forward bookings for Jamaica. They will not be able to switch destination or cancel the trip without penalty. For imminent departures, that will probably mean losing all your money. Would you go there now? I have had nothing but great travel experiences in Jamaica, going independently but relying on advice from local people. Adam Williamson, who arrived back in the UK yesterday, said life had changed little. Gloucester Avenue, the hip strip that is the main tourism artery in Montego Bay, is lively and occasionally intimidating because of hustlers. But he says: There wasnt any time when I thought I might get physically hurt. Yet the UK Government says you should give Montego Bay a wide berth, unless you are staying in an all-inclusive resort. So the Hip Strip could be quiet tonight. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Norwegian the low-cost airline that has made headlines for launching the world's longest low-cost flight is making headlines again. A Norwegian Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner departing from New York JFK reached London Gatwick in 5 hours 13 minutes on Monday the fastest subsonic transatlantic flight recorded on a commercial aircraft. It beat the previous record of 5 hours 16 minutes. There were 284 passengers on board, who, after leaving New York at 11.44 am ET, were probably pretty happy to arrive in London at 9.57 pm GMT 53 minutes ahead of schedule. Strong tailwinds over the Atlantic Ocean pushed the aircraft to a top speed of 776 mph during the flight. Though impressive, the flight time was nowhere near rivalling transatlantic crossings made by Concorde when the supersonic aircraft was in service. The fastest Concorde flight from New York to London happened on February 7, 1996, when it crossed the pond in just shy of 2 hours 53 minutes, according to British Airways. The Norwegian captain, Harold van Dam (pictured below), said: "We were actually in the air for just over five hours and if it had not been for forecasted turbulence at lower altitude, we could have flown even faster." He added: "The 787 Dreamliner is a pleasure to fly and its a great feeling to know that we have set a new record in this aircraft." These flights took off in 2018 and landed in 2017 The airline uses that same aircraft on its two daily flights between London and New York. The day before, Gatwick-based captain Pascal Niewold recorded his fastest-ever transatlantic flight: New York to London in 5 hours 20 minutes. Niewold said: "The passengers and crew were very pleasantly surprised that we were already landing in London. It was a very smooth flight with almost no turbulence and as a result of the jet stream we arrived 25 minutes early." Read more: May tackles new Brexit Rebellion Philip Hammond and Mark Carney are in China to secure 1 billion of trade deals Facebook admits that social media can be bad for you Read the original article on Business Insider UK. 2017. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} My day done, its time to seek vittles in Anson 11, a swanky restaurant in the Anson Mills building in downtown El Paso, only the second concrete-framed skyscraper in all the United States when it was built in 1911. Prosperous then, the city has had its ups and downs for sure, but tonight all is buzzing. Filled with diners, the restaurant has just one seat left, a stool at the bar. I take it. So much for the wild west frontier town we are told to expect. I am but a short walk from the border with Mexico and the much larger city, in population terms, of Ciudad Juarez, yet no one here, even after dark, is afraid for their security. No bandits lurk in the alleyways. That El Paso boasts one of the lowest rates of crime of any city in America, including a homicide rate that is far below that of St Louis, Baltimore, Detroit or New Orleans, is a point of deep pride here. They put it down to excellent policing, growing prosperity, as well as flourishing relations between the civic leaderships of the adjoining cities. John Kelly says Donald Trump has changed his view on the border wall So when Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House spokesperson, took to Twitter (of course) the day I arrived to suggest that El Paso should be taken as Exhibit A in support of building a new mega-wall along the entire border with Mexico, the reaction here was, well, indignant. No topic is more fraught in Washington DC than immigration policy. There is the fight right now over Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era programme giving protection from deportation to about 700,000 young people who were brought into this country illegally by their parents when they were young children, known as Dreamers, and the programme is set to expire unless Congress agrees to keep it going. And then there is Donald Trumps confounded wall. John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, was caught privately telling a group of Democrats on the Hill last week that the President was not informed when he vowed to build it back in 2016 and described his thinking as evolving on the topic. Trump was not amused. The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it, he responded on Twitter at 6:15am (local time) on Thursday morning. Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Show all 29 1 /29 Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inauguration - 20 January 2017 US President Donald Trump acknowledges the audience after taking the oath of office as his wife Melania (L) and daughter Tiffany watch during inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States on the West Front of the US capital in Washington on 20 January, 2017. Photographer Jim Bourg: "This photo was shot with one of two remote cameras. The cameras were monitored and triggered remotely and the pictures were transmitted to clients worldwide within minutes of being taken." Reuters/Jim Bourg Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Obama farewell address - 10 January 2017 US President Barack Obama wipes away tears as he delivers his farewell address in Chicago on 10 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "In his final days in office, Obama made a visit home to Chicago. As he spoke from the stage to his wife and daughter in the audience, he became emotional when he talked about what they had sacrificed during his time in office. I turned from photographing the Obama women embracing to find him onstage wiping away tears." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inauguration - 20 January 2017 A combination of photos shows the crowds attending the inauguration ceremonies to swear in U.S. President Donald Trump at 12:01pm (left) on January 20, 2017 and President Barack Obama sometime between 12:07pm and 12:26pm on January 20, 2009. Reuters/ Lucas Jackson/Stelios Varias Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Liberty Ball - 20 January 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend the Liberty Ball in honour of his inauguration in Washington on 20 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "What I see when I look at this picture is the end of a very long day, not to mention weeks and months of preparation by many photographers, editors and network experts and the beginning of everything since." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception - 22 January 2017 US President Donald Trump greets Director of the FBI James Comey as Director of the Secret Service Joseph Clancy (L), watches during the Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception in the Blue Room of the White House on 22 January, 2017. Photographer Joshua Roberts: "I have covered the White House for 16 years and normally either the President or the pool is in position when an event starts. In this case the President was not where anyone expected him to be. In fact, he was almost blocking the door when the pool came in. We had to scramble to find a position without bumping him or the furniture as he greeted and thanked members of law enforcement for their security efforts during the inauguration. Luckily, he greeted FBI Director James Comey a few seconds after the pool had made its way into the room." Reuters/Joshua Roberts Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Private phone calls to world leaders - 28 January 2017 US President Donald Trump, is joined by his staff, as he speaks by phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office on 28 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Very early in the Trump administration, weekends were as busy as weekdays. On Trump's second Saturday the official schedule said he would be making private phone calls to a number of world leaders including Russia's Vladimir Putin. I arrived early and, before sitting down at my desk walked up to Press Secretary Sean Spicer's office. He, too, was just taking his coat off. I gingerly made the suggestion that previous administrations had sometimes allowed photos of such phone calls through the Oval Office windows on the colonnade. To my mild shock, he didn't even think about it twice. "We'll do it!" he said. In truth, I really only expected the Putin call, but we were outside the windows multiple times throughout the day as the calls went on." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Senior advisor Kellyanne Conway - 27 February 2017 Senior advisor Kellyanne Conway (L) attends as US President Donald Trump welcomes the leaders of dozens of historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) in the Oval Office on 27 February, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "We're often asked how much access we have to the Trump administration, and the answer is we have an awful lot. President Trump himself is very comfortable in the spotlight, and his aides are similarly unfazed by cameras. In this instance, senior advisor Kellyanne Conway was so comfortable in our presence she seemed not to consider the optics of kneeling on a Oval Office sofa to take pictures with her phone." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Angela Merkel heads to Washington - 17 March 2017 Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House on 17 March, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Chancellor Merkel made one of the earliest important visits of any US allies to meet Trump in his first months in office. When world leaders give joint news conferences they don't always tend to give each other their full attention - but Merkel watched Trump intently at several key moments, and here seemed particularly rapt." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump welcomes truckers to the White House - 23 March 2017 President Trump reacts as he sits on a truck while he welcomes truckers and CEOs to attend a meeting regarding healthcare at the White House on 23 March, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "The White House organised a listening session with truckers and CEO's of major American companies, regarding healthcare reform. An 18-wheeler tow truck was parked on the South Lawn of the White House and as Trump welcomed the truckers someone invited the him to come and sit in the driver's seat. Trump jumped into the cab and started yelling and pretending to drive - creating one of the most memorable pictures of the year. A lesson learned, always be prepared for the unexpected." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Air Force One - 6 April 2017 US President Donald Trump talks to journalists members of the travel pool on board the Air Force One during his trip to Palm Beach, Florida on 6 April, 2017. Carlos Barria: "During the many trips to President Trump's residence in Florida it is usual to see the president coming to the back of the plane to chat with journalists. During one of the trips to the so called 'Winter White House', Trump had a long talk with reporters while the Air Force One entertainment system was playing one of the latest Star Wars movies. As I was listening to Trump talk I was also looking at the movie waiting for a part of the movie to frame the mood of the day. Of the many scenes, I choose the one with Darth Vader." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures 100 Days - 27 April 2017 US President Donald Trump speaks during an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office of the White House on 27 April, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "A day before President Trump's hundred days in office I was part of the team that interviewed the commander-in-chief in the Oval Office. I was only allowed to photograph Trump during the last five minutes of the interview. The time was very tight so I had to move fast as I had pictures in mind that I wanted to shoot. I walked into the Oval Office and saw that the President had printed maps of the country showing areas in red where he won. I raised my hands holding my camera as high as possible to get the best view of the scene using a 16mm wide angle lens." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures 100 Days - 27 April 2017 US President Donald Trump reacts as he arrives at Harrisburg international airport, before attending a rally marking his first 100 days in office in Pennsylvania on 29 April, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "President Trump travelled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to celebrate his hundred days in office with a victory rally. He was in friendly territory as he won with a big difference over his opponent Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania, during the November elections. As usual when the commander-in-chief arrives local residents gather to greet him. This time a small group of military personnel attended the arrival. Surrounded by secret service agents Trump walked from the Air Force One and raised his hand in a sign of victory as the crowd cheered him on." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House staffers - 2 May 2017 White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (L) and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus watch as US President Donald Trump presents the U.S. Air Force Academy football team with the Commander-in-Chief trophy in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on 2 May, 2017. Photographer Joshua Roberts: "Covering the White House does not just mean covering the President. White House staffers are an important part of the story and their relationship with the President and each other is an indicator of how things are going in the West Wing. The tendency is to focus exclusively on the President once an event starts but I always try to look around to see how people are reacting as things unfold." Reuters/Joshua Roberts Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Secret Service - 4 May 2017 Secret Service agents use a presidential limousine as cover from spraying water as US President Donald Trump lands via Marine One helicopter in New York on 4 May, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "The best part of any trip to New York City with the sitting US President is the helicopter ride into Manhattan. The ride out at night can be stunning. Here, Secret Service agents protect themselves from the spray from the East River as Trump lands on the helipad." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures NATO Summit - 25 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump wait the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron (unseen) before a lunch ahead of a NATO Summit in Brussels on 25 May, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "One of the best parts of travelling overseas for White House coverage is the chance to see the U.S. president in different environments and (literally) a different light. Here, Trump and his wife came out of the shadows to greet France's President Macron." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump meets Putin at G20 summit - 7 July 2017 US President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany on 7 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "On July 7, I witnessed one of the most important meetings of President Trump's first year in office. Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin during a bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Germany. The world's eyes were on these two leaders after speculation about Russian interference during the 2016 US elections. We entered the room for less than two minutes, where I took dozens of pictures. But there was this very interesting moment when Trump extended his hand to Putin for a handshake. Putin paused for a second and looked at Trump's hand. That was the picture that I was looking for, a little moment that seemed to say a lot." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures First lady - 8 July 2017 First lady Melania Trump chats with US President Donald Trump during their return from Germany at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on 8 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "After President Trump's trip to Germany he arrived back at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. First Lady Melania Trump said goodbye to Trump as she was heading off in a different direction that day. While chatting a breeze blew Melania's hair up in the air." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Made in America product showcase - 17 July 2017 Vice President Mike Pence laughs as President Donald Trump holds a baseball bat as they attend a Made in America product showcase event at the White House on 17 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "This summer the White House organized an event to showcase 'Made in America' products. All kinds of exhibitors brought their products as the President and Vice President toured the event. One of the companies was Marucci Sport, a manufacturer of baseball bats based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As Trump approached a table full of baseball bats, photographers at the event, including me, rushed to get a good angle hoping that he would pick up a bat. As we predicted, he did. He took one and joked around as though he was hitting something hard. The only thing closer to him right there, was the media." Reuters Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House staffers - 25 July 2017 Former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski says hello to reporters as he and White House advisors including Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci accompany President Trump for an event celebrating veterans at AMVETS Post 44 in Ohio, July 25, 2017. Jonathan Ernst: "The most visible person in any White House is naturally the President, followed by the press secretary. But there are also the staff who support them. For those of us covering the Trump administration, there seem to be more compelling figures in the West Wing than ever before. It's crucial to know who's who and why they're important. When I raised my camera and back-pedalled ahead of the group to take this image Lewandowski gave me a hello. I liked the photo, but had no idea it would go a little bit viral, especially since Scaramucci, who was the biggest mover and shaker that week, was hidden back in the pack. But I guess the image catches a glimpse of what it's like to be a West Wing staffer on the road." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Campaign rally - 3 August 2017 US President Donald Trump arrives at a rally in West Virginia on 3 August, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "President Trump travelled to Huntington for one of his usual campaign rallies. While members of his family spoke to the crowd he was waiting under a black curtain to be introduced. Suddenly he walked onto the stage, one of the first frames that I took was of his hand. I set my exposure for the light on the stage hoping to create this dark background and it worked." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Staring into the solar eclipse - 21 August 2017 Without his protective glasses on, US President Donald Trump looks up towards the solar eclipse while viewing with his wife Melania and son Barron at the White House on 21 August, 2017. Photographer Kevin Lamarque: "On a day when everyone, and I mean everyone, was told not to look at the eclipse without protective glasses, Trump, President of the United States, couldn't help himself." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Hurricane Harvey - 2 September 2017 US President Donald Trump poses for a photo as he and first lady Melania Trump help volunteers hand out meals during a visit with flood survivors of Hurricane Harvey at a relief centre in Houston, Texas on 2 September, 2017. Photohrapher Kevin Lamarque: "Trump, eager to deliver the image of a hands-on response to Hurricane Harvey, made this visit to a relief centre and obliged this woman with a selfie as Melania continued to work." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House - 15 September 2017 Donald Trump welcomes 11-year-old Frank Giaccio as he cuts the Rose Garden grass at the White House on 15 September. Frank, who wrote a letter to Trump offering to mow the lawn, was invited to work for a day at the White House along the National Park Service staff. Frank was so focused on his task that he did not notice the President arrive to surprise him. He took his father jumping in to grab his attention and point Trump out. Photographer Carlos Barria said: The image of Trump shouting at a kid who is mowing his lawn might have many interpretations in today's politically polarized United States. But for me it was just a kid who loved what he was doing, to the point he almost appeared to ignore the President." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Take a knee - 27 September 2017 A man kneels with a folded U.S. flag as the motorcade of U.S. President Donald Trump passes him after an event at the state fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S., September 27, 2017. In September, soon after Trump had made comments condemning NFL players who kneel during the national anthem, he made a day trip to a rally in Indianapolis. Jonathan Ernst managed to capture a man on one knee with a tri-folded flag and was able to use a portion of the sign on the building he was kneeling in front of to track the man down and tell his story in full. US Army veteran Marvin Boatright wanted to send a message against social injustice. Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Hurricane Maria - 3 October 2017 President Donald Trump throws rolls of paper towels into a crowd of local residents affected by Hurricane Maria as he visits Calgary Chapel in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 3 October, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "During an afternoon visit to Puerto Rico for President Trump to survey damage from Hurricane Maria and greet some of its victims, Trump made a stop at a church where food and supplies were being distributed. Among the items were paper towels and Trump, apparently caught up in the moment, decided to distribute some of the rolls." Reuters Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Jared Kushner - 1 November 2017 White House Senior adviser Jared Kushner sits behind President Trump during a cabinet meeting in Washington on 1 November, 2017. Photographer Kevin Lamarque: "The role of Jared Kushner has gone through a series of changes. He began front and centre as a high profile adviser, but as time has passed and issues surrounding him have surfaced, he has become more of a background figure." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump in China - 9 November 2017 Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands after making joint statements at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 9 November, 2017. Photographer Damir Sagolj: "It's one of those "how to make a better or at least different shot when two presidents shake hands several times a day, several days in row". If I'm not mistaken in calculation, presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump shook their hands at least six times in events I covered during Trump's recent visit to China. I would imagine there were some more handshakes I haven't seen but other photographers did. And they all look similar - two big men, smiling and heartily greeting each other until everyone gets their shot. But then there is always something that can make it special - in this case the background made of US and Chinese flags. The first time it didn't work for me. The second time I positioned myself lower and centrally, and used the longest lens I have to capture only hands reaching for a handshake." Reuters/Damir Sagolj Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Air Force One - 10 November 2017 US President Donald Trump boards Air Force One to depart for Vietnam from Beijing Airport in Beijing, China, November 10, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "There is a Reuters photographer in the tight pool covering the US president for every appearance he makes 365 days a year. This was just one of 32 images of mine that were transmitted on the Reuters wire of President Trump visiting China and Vietnam that day. You never know when a sudden interaction, a gust of wind or a unique facial expression will lead to a striking image that grabs peoples' attention." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures ASEAN handshake - 13 November 2017 Donald Trump registers his surprise as he realises other leaders, including Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte and Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, are crossing their arms for the traditional "ASEAN handshake" as he participates in the opening ceremony of the summit in Manila on 13 November, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Having covered a few ASEAN summits, I knew to expect the ASEAN handshake. Not everyone in the room knew to expect the ASEAN handshake. A lot was written about this unscripted moment, and what deeper meaning it might have. The simple truth is that sometimes in life there are unscripted moments." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst At least he can rely on Huckabee Sanders to stay on message. Her tweet referenced an opinion article by a conservative columnist in Rupert Murdochs New York Post arguing that El Pasos low crime has everything to do with the 18-foot metal fence that already marks the border here. Ask El Paso, Texas (now one of Americas safest cities) across the border from Juarez, Mexico (one of the worlds most dangerous) if a wall works, she wrote. So I did. First, folk here would like to call out some errors of fact. The drop in crime here easily pre-dated the fence going up in 2008. The Post article, headlined, This town is proof that Trumps wall can work, talks of the fence protecting El Pasoans from the high-crime Mexican city of Juarez. But there has been a rapid decline in crime on that side of the border, too. Long before the border fence was built, El Paso boasted some of the safest crime statistics in the entire country, Jon Barela, CEO of the Borderplex Alliance, a group fostering economic development on both sides of the frontier, told me. Our public safety record is attributable to our culture, our people, and the tireless work of law enforcement officers. It also has to do with binding El Paso and Juarez economically, he added, not dividing them. The bottom line is that when people are deprived of jobs and economic opportunity they will always seek a way to provide for their families and no physical barrier, no matter how wide or tall, will stop them, even if it means sadly turning to illegal activities like drug trafficking. Jose Rodriguez, a Democrat representing El Paso in the state legislature in Austin, was more forthright, asserting on Facebook that the author of the piece was cherry picking stats to support lies. He went on: The New York Post allowed a columnist to tell lies about (El Paso). Administration press secretary spreads the lie. In other news, the sun rose in the east today. Also irritated was Beto ORourke, local Congressman and rising Democrat star who hopes to unseat Ted Cruz in the US Senate this year. Walls have nothing to do with it, he tweeted. Weve been ranked 1st, 2nd or 3rd safest city for last 20 years, including before any wall. In addition to great law enforcement, our safety is connected to the fact that we are a city of immigrants. Huckabee Sanders would surely be welcome at Anson 11, but shed be running the risk of someone asking here where she hails from. That would be Little Rock, Arkansas. Oh, Little Rock, ranked first-, second- and third-least safe city for the last 20 years, give or take a ranking or two. Maybe shed be better employed worrying about her own hometown before using El Paso as a prop for a proposal from her boss that most folk down here consider misbegotten or worse. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Do the US Democrats not get it? Trump has danced them into a government shutdown for one reason and one reason only. He thinks it will disrupt the Russia investigation. If they think he cares about anything else or anyone but himself, they have not been paying attention. Amanda Baker Edinburgh Make the politicians pay The use of the threat to shut down government-financed projects by Washington politicians of both parties seems bizarre to us this side of the pond. However, the political system in the US is impenetrable to most people outside of America anyway, unless they have made a special study of US politics. It seems that the effect of the shutdown will mostly affect projects aimed at vulnerable people and non-essential activities such as parks and the like. If the first effect of the shutdown was to stop paying the salaries of White House employees, including the President, and all the other politicians in Washington, perhaps that would focus the minds of those that use such threats to achieve political ends. Patrick Cleary Devon Shutdown does not bode well for our special relationship Given the nature of his support base, it is clever but utterly wicked of Donald Trump to unnecessarily link Congressional agreement on US federal funding to an issue which, although obviously important to the Republicans, is not an immediate budgetary matter. As that is the way he does deals, we should definitely not rely on a trade deal with the US to provide a way forward if Brexit does ever happen. Does our Government really think that whats left of the fading Special Relationship can protect us from such tactics? Patrick Cosgrove Bucknell, Shropshire Trump has inflicted tremendous damage upon the world One asks, a year on, whether President Trump is Americas worst president in history. For us Arabs and Muslims, Trump has personified racism, white supremacy, discrimination and bigotry. His statements are often littered with prejudice and serve to stoke cultural and religious animosities in a region already plagued with violence and insecurity. Sadly, Trump has exceeded terrorists in inflicting tremendous damage to Americas interests and reputation across the globe. Munjed Farid al Qutob London We need solutions in North Korea other than sanctions I am a great admirer of Partrick Cockburns reporting and do not disagree with his article on the effects of sanctions [in North Korea]. It is a pity he doesnt suggest what would be effective and not have dire effects on innocent populations. Perhaps tougher actions against the higher echelons in society should be undertaken. This would involve international arrest warrants issued, bank accounts frozen or seized, children stopped from attending schools abroad and third parties dealing with named individuals also suffering sanctions. David Aldworth London The South Kingstown School Committee announced this week that it is reviewing a proposed memorandum of agreement that spells out the purpose and function of having police officers in its schools. The agreement sets clearly-defined roles about addressing student conduct and says school administrators would be responsible for enforcing the code of conduct and responding to routine disciplinary violations while resource officers would not serve as school disciplinarians or to enforce school regulations but, rather, would be on site to investigate and respond to potential criminal offenses and intervene in situations in order to maintain safety. Do you believe that having dedicated police officers inside locals schools makes students safer? Why or why not? Let us know in this week's poll question below. You voted: A Cleveland woman was shot in the leg by accident last week in a coyote-scaring incident gone wrong. The incident occurred Wednesday, Jan. 17, at about 10:30 a.m. The male resident of the home, on the 1500 block of Woodleaf Barber road in Cleveland, grabbed his gun to shoot a coyote, which was outside the victims home, law enforcement said. The man accidentally discharged the weapon inside the house, according to a report. The victim, Rose Correll, 63, was shot in the leg. Law enforcement said she was alert and conscious when EMS arrived, and emergency personnel took her to the hospital where she was treated and released. The Twitter President By Paul Craig Roberts January 19, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - As my readers at home and around the world know, I supported giving Trump a chance as Trump, and only Trump, addressed the two most important issues of our time for both all of humanity and for Americans: (1) avoiding nuclear Armageddon by normalizing relations with Russia, and (2) restoring the American middle class, on whose success political stability in the United States depends, by stopping the offshoring of US jobs and bringing those offshored home. Inattentive people have mistakenly characterized Trump as the ruling Oligarchys candidate from day one. They dismiss the idea that he was sincere about either goal. There are many large problems with their dismissing of Trumps sincerity. One is that if he were the Oligarchs candidate, why did all their money go to Hillary? The other is that if Trump was insincere about normalizing relations with Russia, why did the military/security complex, specifically the CIA and FBI, invent Russiagate and why is Russiagate being used in an effort to impeach Trump or to drive him from office if Trump is the Oligarchs candidate? The presstitute media is owned by the Oligarchs. If Trump is the Oligarchs candidate, why is the presstitute media trying to drive Trump from office? These most obvious of all questions do not get asked or answered. I have asked them now for more than a year. Instead of answering me, I, like Trump and Stephen Cohen, get branded a Putin stooge. Stephen Cohen knows more about Russia and Putin than everyone in the Trump, Obama, George W. Bush, and Clinton regimes added together and multiplied by one million. Yet, it is the most knowledgeable person who is branded a stooge. The fact of the matter is that Washington and its presstitutes know that neither Trump nor I nor Stephen Cohen are Putins stooges. What they also know is that they do not want any truth introduced into their portrayal of their false picture of the Russian threat and its American collaborators. What they are doing is protecting the $1,000 billion annual budget, and associated power, of the military/security complex and the West Coast and northeastern coasts control over the White House. This small geographical area has a disportionate amount of population and electoral votes and rejects interference with its rule by scarcely populated flyover America. Truth and all respect for truth has disappeared from American political discourse. Truth is no longer even respected in academia or courts of law. The entire purpose of the US system and its subsystems is to achieve selfish aims that are at the expense of truth, justice, and other peoples. Trump has created himself as the Twitter President. He believes, as many before him have, that he can combat powerful ruling vested interests with words, as I attempt to do. However, a President of the United States has powers in addition to words, and Trump does not use them. Indeed, Trump has assembled a government that prevents him from using the powers of the presidency to achieve his two goals. This reduces him to a captive who hyperventilates on Twitter while he is forced to abandon his goals to those of private interest groups more powerful than the US president. My opinion is this: President Trump might have some chance of delivering on the two promises that got him elected (1) normalize relations with Russia, and (2) stop the offshoring of US jobs and bring those offshored back home if he would appoint to his government people who share his goals instead of people opposed to them. Moreover, Trumps constant, off-the-wall threats against Iran and North Korea undermine peoples belief that he ever intended to normalize relations with Russia. President Trump presents himself as a warmonger in league with the Neoconservatives, and his obvious service to Israel is humiliating for proud Americans. President Trump is also undermining his support by permitting corporate polluters to further despoil the environment and the diminishing wildlife of America. The presstitute media is deplorable, but Trump cannot make a success of himself by beating up on the media, which is controlled by Trumps own military/security complex. Why beat up on a corrupt media when you can terminate the government corruption that the media serves? And when you can use the Sherman Anti-trust Act to break up the concentrated media? If Trump is real, he will arrest Mueller, Comey, Brennan, Hillary, Obama, the DNC, and break the presstitute media monopolies into a thousand pieces. He might also arrest senators and representatives who are engaged in a campaign to overthrow the elected government of the United States. Abe Lincoln provided the precedent by exiling a US Representative and arresting 300 northern newspaper editors. If President Trump fails to defeat the agenda of those driving the world to nuclear war with Russia (and China), he will be the US President who failed humanity and snuffed out life on earth. Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West , How America Was Lost , and The Neoconservative Threat to World Order . Syria - Tillerson Announces Occupation Goals - Erdogan Makes Empty Threats By Moon Of Alabama January 19, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - For a few days now Turkey has threatened to invade Afrin (Efrin), a Kurdish held canton in the north-west of Syria. Afrin (topographic) bigger yellow - Kurdish control, grey - Turks, red - Syrian government, green - al-Qaeda The threat is not serious: Afrin is mostly mountainous. Pictures from Turkey showed (scroll down) the unloading of some tanks near to Afrin but within Turkey. These were old M-60 tanks. They have been slightly upgraded by Israel but can be knocked out by modern Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG) and certainly by Anti Tank Guided Missiles. (ATMG). These tanks would get slaughtered should they enter the tricky Afrin terrain. There are several tens of thousands of Kurdish fighters in Afrin. They are well armed. Afrin is under formal protection of Russian and Syrian forces. The real danger to Turkey is not Afrin but the much larger Kurdish protectorate the U.S. publicly announced in north-east Syria. The Turkish threats and its artillery noise have led to counter noise from Syria and more silent advice from Russia. The Syrian government wants to show that it is the protector of all Syrian citizens be they ethnic Arabs or Kurds. Russia is proud of its role as the grown up who is calming down all sides. The two real issues the wannabe-Sultan Erdogan has are: the upcoming meeting of Syrian opposition and government parties in Sochi and the U.S. backing of the PKK/YPG terrorists in north-east Syria. Russia wanted to invite several Kurdish parties, including the YPG, to the big meeting in Sochi. Turkey rejects any official inclusions of Kurds as a distinct constituency. Russia will fudge the issue by inviting certain personalities of Kurdish ethnic who will take part in their 'private capacities'. The second issue only came up again because of military bombast at CentCom and some uncoordinated and unsound U.S. policy : On Sunday, the U.S.-led military coalition battling Islamic State issued a statement trumpeting the creation of the 30,000-strong Border Security Force. But the announcement, which triggered Turkish denunciations, caught officials in Washington off guard. On Wednesday, U.S. officials said the coalitions declaration was misguidedand the Pentagon issued a statement trying to calm Turkish fears. This is not a new army or conventional border guard force, the Pentagon statement said. This was not the first time the Central Command in the Middle East acted in a overtly hawkish and bombastic way without considering the wider strategic impact. Turkey is a NATO member and to announce the installation of a terrorist force to guard a NATO border from the outside is just nuts. For years now the Pentagon has given way too much leash to CentCom and needs to tighten control over it. The "border guard" force has now been renamed an internal security force which will also make sure that none of the ISIS fighters in the area, which Washington diligently keeps alive in the Syrian east, will escape across the border to evade their next assignments. Never Miss Another Story Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Yesterday Secretary of State Tillerson announced the official "new" U.S. position on Syria. It is essentially a recap of the position the Obama administration had long held and does not make any more sense: Speaking in a major Syria-policy address hosted at Stanford University by the Hoover Institution, Tillerson listed vanquishing al-Qaeda, ousting Iran and securing a peace settlement that excludes President Bashar al-Assad as among the goals of a continued presence in Syria of about 2,000 American troops currently deployed in a Kurdish-controlled corner of northeastern Syria. (The real number of U.S. troops in Syria is around 5,000 soldiers plus an equal number of 'contractors'.) Other listeners detected even wider ambitions : The United States has five key goals in Syria, Mr. Tillerson said. They are: ensuring that the Islamic State and Al Qaeda never re-emerge; supporting the United Nations-led political process; diminishing Irans influence; making sure the country is free of weapons of mass destruction; and helping refugees to return after years of civil war. These goals are mutually exclusive. Nothing will happen in the UN process in Geneva as long as anyone insists in removing the Syrian President Assad. Al Qaeda and ISIS in Syria are a consequence of U.S. action and (covered) presence in the country. Iran currently has little presence and limited influence in Syria. It would only increase again should the U.S. try to militarily attack the Syrian government. Refugees will not return as long as the U.S. threatens to again widen the war. I have yet to read one analyst who believes that the U.S. administration can achieve any of the wishes it announced. It is a hapless policy of "doing something" which will fail when resistance on the ground will ramp up and the political costs of the occupation will become apparent. The YPG Kurds in the north-east, who agreed to their occupation, will be the ones who will have to to bear the wrath. All other parties involved in Syria will hold them responsible. For now the new announcement and its botched presentation only helped Erdogan to again play to his crowd. None of this will be of much consequence. This article was originally published by Moon Of Alabama ==== misspoke. Turkish President Erdogan has repeatedly warned of an imminent Join the Discussion Norman Finkelstein on the Many Lies Perpetuated About Gaza Video and Transcript "Israel leveled 18,000 homes. How many Israeli homes were leveled? One. Israel killed 550 children. How many Israeli children were killed? One." Posted January 19, 2017 AMY GOODMAN: Our guest today, author and scholar Norman Finkelstein, author of the new book Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom, the book published as Israel is facing a possible International Criminal Court war crimes probe over its 2014 assault on Gaza, which killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, including over 500 children. I want to turn to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talking about the 2014 military offensive in Gaza. He was speaking to Brian Williams of NBC News. PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: You know, at a certain point, you say, What choice have you got? What would you do? What would you do if American cities, where youre sitting now, Brian, would be rocketed, would absorb hundreds of rockets? You know? You know what wouldyoud say? Youd say to your leader, A mans got to do what a mans got to do. And youd say, A countrys got to do what a countrys got to do. We have to defend ourselves. We try to do it with the minimum amount of force or with targeting civilmilitary targets as best as we can. But well act to defend ourselves. No country can live like this. AMY GOODMAN: That was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu justifying the 2014 military offensive in Gaza, that the International Criminal Court is apparently about to open up a war crimes investigation into. NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: Well, Benjamin Netanyahu says two things: Number one, Israel had no option, and, number two, that it used the minimum amount of force. Well, lets look quickly at those two points. Point number one, everybody agreed that the reason they wentonce the fighting began, Hamas had one goal. The goal was to end the siege of Gaza, to lift the siege. Under international law, that siege is illegal. It constitutes collective punishment, which is illegal under international law. The siege has been condemned by everybody in the international community. He had an option. He didnt have to use force. He simply had to lift the siege. And then there wouldnt have been a conflict with Gaza. Number two, he claims he used minimum force. Theres a lot to say about that. You can decide for yourself whether its minimum force when Israel leveled 18,000 homes. How many Israeli homes were leveled? One. Israel killed 550 children. How many Israeli children were killed? One. Now, you might say, Well, thats because Israel has a sophisticated civil defense system, or Israel has Iron Dome. I wont go into that; I dont have time now. But theres a simple test. The test is: What did the Israeli combatants themselves see? What did they themselves say? We have the documentation, a report put out by the Israeli ex-serviceex-combatant organization, Breaking the Silence . Its about 110 pages. You couldnt believe it. You know, Ill tell you, Amy, I still remember when I was reading it. I was in Turkey. I was going to a book festival. I was sitting in the back of a car and reading these descriptions of what the soldiers did. My skin was crawling. I was like shaking. Soldier after soldier after soldier. Now, bear in mind, you want to say theyre partisan, the soldiers? Read the testimonies. Theyre not contrite. Theyre not remorseful. Theyre just describing what happened. Theres no contrition. These arent lefties, supporters of BDS. What do they describe? One after another after another says, Our orders were shoot to kill anything that moves and anything that doesnt move. One after another after another says, Israel used insane amounts of firepower in Gaza. Israel used lunatic amounts of firepower in Gaza. AMY GOODMAN: These were the Israeli soldiers. NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: The soldiers, theyre describing it. One after another says, We blew up, destroyed, systematically, methodically razed every house in sight. What does that mean, every house in sight? Seventy percent of the people in Gaza, theyre refugees. It means they lost their homeland. The last thing they have, the only thing they have, the only thing theyve ever had, is their home. And the Israelis went in like a wrecking crew with their D9 bulldozers. AMY GOODMAN: Explain how it began. NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: How what? AMY GOODMAN: How the 2014 Israeli military invasion of Gaza began. NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: No, these are hard things to explain, because it depends on where you want to start. Where I start is, at the end of April 2014, a national unity government was formed between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. And the United States and the EU, surprisingly, they didnt break off negotiations with this new unity government, although it included a terrorist organization, and it enraged Netanyahu. AMY GOODMAN: Youre using air quotes. Youre saying what the U.S. called a terrorist organization. NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: Well, what Israel calls a terrorist organization, because, at that time, the U.S. was willing to negotiate. And Netanyahu went into a rage, because he was being ignored over Iran, now hes being ignored over Hamas. And so, he finds a pretextI dont want to go into the details nowhe finds a pretext to try to provoke Hamas into reacting, so that he can say, You see? Theyre a terrorist organization. And then it quickly spiraled downwards, as it typically does. And then Israel went in. There was the air assault. And then, July 17th, the day the Malaysian airliner went down over the Ukraine, Netanyahu used that moment. The plane was downed in the afternoon, and he launches the ground invasion in the evening. You would be surprised how finely attuned the Israelis are to the American news cycle. They begin Operation Protective Edge in 2008 with Obamas election to the presidency on November 4th. They begin the ground invasion of Gaza duringwell, [ 2008 ] was Operation Cast Lead. They begin Cast Lead on November 4th, 2008, when Obama is elected president. They begin Operation Protective Edge, the ground invasion, on July 17th. When the airliner is downed over the Ukraine, all the cameras are now riveted over there, and so they launch the attack. And the attack waswell, let me just quote to you Peter Maurer, who is the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross. And I was even surprised by his remark. Peter Maurer saidand Im quoting him, paraphrasing him, but almost verbatim. He said, In my entire professional life, I have never seen destruction as I saw in Gaza. And thats coming from the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, who is accustomed to seeing, witnessing war zones. What was done there wasit was a crime against humanity. You take a place like Shejaiya. Shejaiya, its a very densely populated neighborhood of 90,000 people. Israel dropped, believe it or notits hard to even fathommore than 100 one-ton bombs on Shejaiya. More than 100 one-ton bombs on Shejaiya. Did the same thing to Rafah. Did the same thing to Khuzaa. Did the same thing to the whole Gaza Strip. And then you have this guy come along, and he said, We used discriminate force. We used proportionate force. AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to go to after thean attack on a U.N. shelter in 2014, the Israeli military attacking, in Gaza, which killed many Palestinian civilians. The spokesperson for UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, broke down and cried during interview on Al Jazeera. His name is Christopher Gunness. CHRISTOPHER GUNNESS: The rights of Palestinians, even their children, are wholesale denied, and its appalling. AMY GOODMAN: Christopher Gunness is starting to cry. CHRISTOPHER GUNNESS: [crying] AMY GOODMAN: Thats Christopher Gunness, as the camera turns away from him, his head in his hands, later tweeting, There are times when tears speak more eloquently than words. Mine pale into insignificance compared with Gazas. Norman Finkelstein, we have two minutes left. NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: I happen to know Chris Gunness. Hes a really terrific guy. I hope he doesnt lose his job because I said that. But he is a special guy. Hes an unusual guy. He worked in Gaza. Hes married to a man, hes married to a Jewish man, and hes married to an Israeli man. So you can imagine that Hamas was not thrilled with him. But hes very principled, and the tears were real. Anybody who lives there, has even passed through there, their heart breaks at whats been done to the people of Gaza. AMY GOODMAN: What do you think needs to be done now? NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: Well, its clear the first thing that has to be done is the siege has to be lifted. And the U.N. Human Rights Council, although its report was a total and complete whitewash and disgraceMary McGowan Davis was the author of itthey did say, according to the law, the siege has to be lifted immediately and unconditionally. Thats the law: has to be lifted immediately and unconditionally. Thats the first thing that has to be done. The siege has to end. The occupation has to end. And the people of Gaza, after 50 godforsaken years, should have the right to breathe and live a normal life. AMY GOODMAN: And how do you think thats going to happen? NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: Its a very tough moment right now, but there are always possibilities. In my opinion, there is the possibility in Gaza of a nonviolent mass resistance, trying to force open the checkpoints and the West Bank. I dont have time to go through it now. I think a mass strategy of smacking Israeli soldierswomen and girlsin the footsteps of Ahed Tamimi, that kind of strategy AMY GOODMAN: Who faces many years in prison right now. NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: Yes. Nobodys saying its without risks. AMY GOODMAN: Ten seconds. NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: But just as the children of Gaza, when they threw stones at the Israelis in 1988 during the First Intifada, shifted international public opinion, I think the peoplethe women of Gaza, if they have a Me Too campaignI smacked an Israeli soldier todayI think that can win international public opinion also. AMY GOODMAN: You talked about a nonviolent campaign NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: Yeah, I dont consider AMY GOODMAN: throughout the occupied areas. NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: Look, Im in the tradition of Gandhi. And Gandhi was very clear: When youre facing huge odds against you and you use kinds of force like scratching, slapping, kicking AMY GOODMAN: Three seconds. NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: Gandhi said thats not violence. And I agree with him. AMY GOODMAN: Norman Finkelstein, author of Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom. Palestinians Deserve - And Will Get - A More Effective Leadership By Rami G. Khouri January 19, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - BEIRUT The crushing irony for Palestinians today is that their cause remains widely supported by over 120 governments and billions of ordinary men and women around the world, yet the Palestinian leadership is a case study in hapless incompetence that verges on national shame. This was confirmed again this week as the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) issued a policy statement after days of deliberations that is a sad example of meaningless cliches uttered by aging men whose track record of political achievement is empty and astoundingly so, in view of the massive and sustained support around the world for Palestinian national rights. The Central Council is supposed to fill the gap between the National Council (parliament-in-exile) that represents all Palestinians around the world, and the Executive Committee that represents the major Palestinian political factions and functions like a government cabinet, headed by the president. In fact, these three organs of government and the presidency are all moribund institutions that have neither impact nor legitimacy, for the leadership has lost touch with the ordinary Palestinians whom it is supposed to represent and serve. So it is no surprise that after another fiery but hollow speech by President Mahmoud Abbas, the Central Council has decided to suspend its recognition of Israel, end security cooperation with Israel, effectively nullify the 2003 Oslo accords, and call on the world to work for the creation of a Palestinian state and end Israels colonization policies. These meaningless words by a powerless leadership will have no impact on anything. It is hard to know what else to say or do in the face of such a failed leadership of a noble Palestinian people that continues to struggle, mostly nonviolently, for their peaceful statehood and end to refugeehood and exile, alongside an Israeli state that would acknowledge those rights for Palestinians. But we must do something, because simply continuing with the same inept leadership that has excluded the vast majority of Palestinians from participating in their national decision-making only guarantees that daily life conditions and future prospects for those millions of Palestinians will only worsen with every passing month and for those in refugee camps or under Israeli siege in Gaza, it is hard to imagine how life could get any more difficult. The Palestinians cannot force major changes in the policies of the Israeli government that continues with the same colonial, Apartheid-like policies that have defined Zionism since the 1947-48 creation of Israel and the dismemberment, disenfranchisement, and dispersal of the Palestinians. But 1.5 million Palestinians of 1948 have become nine million or so today, and they do have the power to do one thing, whether they live in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, as Israeli citizens inside Israel, or throughout the diaspora around the region and the world. They can and must re-legitimize their national leadership into a single movement that listens to all their views, represents them legitimately, reaches policy decisions on the basis of serious consultations and consensus that allows Palestinians to speak in a single voice, and engages diplomatically around the world with the full support of all Palestinians. None of these dynamics exists today, which is why the current leadership of the PLO under Mahmoud Abbas is not taken seriously in the region or internationally least of all by the majority of Palestinians themselves, who have looked elsewhere for leadership in the years since the Oslo process proved to be a failure and Yasser Arafat started to lose his credibility. The leaderless condition of the Palestinian people today is reflected in how the three most dramatic examples of pubic political action in recent years have occurred without any meaningful input from the PLO, or from the Palestinian Authority (PA) which administers limited services and regions in the West Bank and Gaza where Israel gives it permission to do so. Never Miss Another Story Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Those three examples are: the current campaign around the world to support Ahed Tamimi, the 16-year-old girl from a West Bank village who is detained in an Israeli jail pending a possible military court trial, because she resisted Israeli occupation and slapped an Israeli soldier; the weeks of spontaneous popular protest last summer in Arab East Jerusalem, when tens of thousands of Palestinians there defended their holy sites at the Haram al-Sharif (Temple Mount, for Israelis); and, the ongoing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement by civil society to pressure Israel to stop its mistreatment and human rights denials of Palestinians in the three arenas of occupied Palestine, the state of Israel, and the disapora. Hamas challenge to the PLO leadership in Gaza is another sign of the PLOs delinquency in protecting, representing, or leading the Palestinians. It is difficult now to create a whole new national leadership, given the fragmented nature of the Palestinian community. Yet the cohesion that all Palestinians feel, wherever they live, also makes it feasible to at least start consultations amongst themselves to find a way out of the current nightmare by giving fresh blood and new life and legitimacy to existing PLO organs. There is no reason why we should suffer this ghastly fate of being plagued by a colonial Zionist Israeli state that steadily eats up our land, ignored by a mostly caring world that is otherwise preoccupied by more pressing issues, and abandoned by a Palestinian leadership that has become powerless, dependent on donors, docile, a purveyor of empty cliches, and largely incoherent. Such situations might lull some observers to see the end of the Palestine issue, while a more likely conclusion would be that this low point will mark the start of a process of re-birth for the nine million Palestinians who have never stopped struggling and working for their national rights since the 1930s. They are certainly not going to stop now, regardless of the poor quality of their current leaders. Rami G. Khouri is senior public policy fellow and professor of journalism at the American University of Beirut, and a non-resident senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Middle East Initiative. He can be followed on Twitter @ramikhouri Copyright 2018 Rami G. Khouri Distributed by Agence Global ==== Join the Discussion "Explosive", "Shocking" And "Alarming" FISA Memo Set To Rock DC, "End Mueller Investigation" By Tyler Durden January 20, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - All hell is breaking loose in Washington D.C. after a four-page memo detailing extensive FISA court abuse was made available to the entire House of Representatives Thursday. The contents of the memo are so explosive, says Journalist Sara Carter, that it could lead to the removal of senior officials in the FBI and the Department of Justice and the end of Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation. These sources say the report is explosive, stating they would not be surprised if it leads to the end of Robert Muellers Special Counsel investigation into President Trump and his associates. - Sara Carter A source close to the matter tells Fox News that "the memo details the Intelligence Committee's oversight work for the FBI and Justice, including the controversy over unmasking and FISA surveillance." An educated guess by anyone who's been paying attention for the last year leads to the obvious conclusion that the report reveals extensive abuse of power and highly illegal collusion between the Obama administration, the FBI, the DOJ and the Clinton Campaign against Donald Trump and his team during and after the 2016 presidential election. Lawmakers who have seen the memo are calling for its immediate release, while the phrases "explosive," "shocking," "troubling," and "alarming" have all been used in all sincerity. One congressman even likened the report's details to KGB activity in Russia. It is so alarming the American people have to see this, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan told Fox News. It's troubling. It is shocking, North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows said. Part of me wishes that I didn't read it because I dont want to believe that those kinds of things could be happening in this country that I call home and love so much. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., offered the motion on Thursday to make the Republican majority-authored report available to the members. The document shows a troubling course of conduct and we need to make the document available, so the public can see it, said a senior government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the document. Once the public sees it, we can hold the people involved accountable in a number of ways. The government official said that after reading the document some of these people should no longer be in the government. - Sara Carter Immediately #ReleaseTheMemo #FISAMemo & ALL relevant material sourced in it. Every American needs to know the truth! We wouldn't be revealing any sources & methods that we shouldn't; only feds' reliance on bad sources & methods. Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) January 19, 2018 Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) nods his head *Yes* before conceding he can't talk specifics when Sean Hannity asks if Comey knew about FISA abuses. #ReleaseTheMemo pic.twitter.com/CyldDY4CuZ Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) January 19, 2018 Releasing this classified info doesn't compromise good sources & methods. It reveals the feds' reliance on bad sources & methods. Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) January 18, 2018 The classified report compiled by House Intelligence is deeply troubling and raises serious questions about the upper echelon of the Obama DOJ and Comey FBI as it relates to the so-called collusion investigation. Ron DeSantis (@RepDeSantis) January 18, 2018 While the report is classified as Top Secret, I believe the select committee should, pursuant to House rules, vote to make the report publicly available as soon as possible. This is a matter of national significance and the American people deserve the truth. Ron DeSantis (@RepDeSantis) January 18, 2018 Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz (R) echoed Sara Carter's sentiment that people might lose their job if the memo is released: I believe the consequence of its release will be major changes in people currently working at the FBI and the Department of Justice, he said, referencing DOJ officials Rod Rosenstein and Bruce Ohr. Meanwhile, Rep. Matt Gatetz (R-FL) said not only will the release of this memo result in DOJ firing, but "people will go to jail." Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on FISA memo: "I think this will not just end with firings, I believe there are people who will go to jail!" #ReleaseTheMemo pic.twitter.com/7pxs2mEBQ5 Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) January 19, 2018 Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino says "Take it to the bank, the FBI/FISA docs are devastating for the Dems." Take it to the bank, the FBI/FISA docs are devastating for the Dems. The whole image of a benevolent Barack Obama theyve disingenuously tried to portray is about to be destroyed. The real Obama, the vengeful narcissist, is going to be exposed for all to see. Dan Bongino (@dbongino) January 18, 2018 My sincere apologies for the expletive but SHIT IS ABOUT TO HIT THE FAN. The former Obama administrations going to have a lot of explaining to do. #Obamagate Dan Bongino (@dbongino) January 19, 2018 The dossier was used in part as evidence for a warrant to surveil members of the Trump campaign, according to a story published this month . Former British spy Christopher Steele, who compiled the dossier in 2016, was hired by embattled research firm Fusion GPS. The firms founder is Glenn Simpson, a former Wall Street Journal reporter who has already testified before Congress in relation to the dossier. In October, The Washington Post revealed for the first time that it was the Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC that financed Fusion GPS. Never Miss Another Story Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Congressional members are hopeful that the classified information will be declassified and released to the public. We probably will get this stuff released by the end of the month, stated a congressional member, who asked not to be named. - Sara Carter Releasing the memo to the public would require a committee vote, a source told Fox, adding that if approved, it could be released as long as there are no objections from the White House within five days . Reactions from the citizenry have been on point: Obama's FBI colluded with the Clinton campaign to destroy a Presidential candidate - and then an elected POTUS & his family. It's the greatest scandal in American history & the public need to know the truth. https://t.co/PYafr0AqLq Imperator_Rex (@Imperator_Rex3) January 18, 2018 All of this is good to know. And it's perfectly understandable that the members of the House committee are outraged. But if the end results is not a series of indictments and prosecutions for flagrant criminal sedition, the Obama/Hillary corruption will be enshrined as law. Christopher G. Adamo (@CGAdamo) January 18, 2018 The swamp runs deep and it is about to be EXPOSED. #ReleasetheMemo #Obamagate pic.twitter.com/Ylc67MiZKE Mike Tokes (@MikeTokes) January 19, 2018 When you have congressmen getting on National Television stating the Intelligence memo they just read could threaten our Democracy, you damn well better #ReleaseTheMemo . This DC swamp scum game needs end. Kambree Kawahine Koa (@KamVTV) January 18, 2018 . @SenFeinstein is it possible for you to get a bladder infection long enough to leak the FISA Memo? America is asking. #ReleaseTheMemo #MAGA pic.twitter.com/uKwSmvkKSV CarrieAmerica (@carrieksada) January 19, 2018 Even WikiLeaks has joined the fray, offering a reward in Bitcoin to anyone who will share the memo: #ReleaseTheMemo : Do you know someone who has access to the FISA abuse memo? Send them here: https://t.co/cLRcuIiQXz WikiLeaks will match reward funds up to $1m sent to this unique Bitcoin address: 3Q2KXS8WYT6dvr91bM2RjvBHqMyx9CbPMN or marked 'memo2018': https://t.co/lmsmphuH2N pic.twitter.com/j1YEkXqi2S WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 19, 2018 Of all the recent developments in the ongoing investigation(s), this one is on the cusp of turning into a genuine happening. US Intelligence Could Well Have Wiretapped Trump: Ron Paul Watch January 20, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Unable to come to terms with losing the 2016 election, Democrats are still pushing the Russiagate probe and blocking the release of a memo describing surveillance abuses by the FBI, former Congressman Ron Paul told RT. A top-secret intelligence memo, believed to reveal political bias at the highest levels of the FBI and the DOJ towards President Trump, may well be as significant as the Republicans say, Ron Paul told RT. But, he added, theres still to many unknowns, especially, from my view point. Trump connection to the Russians, I think, has been way overblown, and Id like to just get to the bottom of this the new information thats coming out, maybe this will reveal things and help us out, he said. Right now its just a political fight, the former US Congressman said. I think theyre dealing with things a lot less important than the issue they ought to be talking about Right now, I dont think anybody is seeking justice or seeking truth as much as theyre seeking to get political advantage. Trumps claims that he was wiretapped by US intelligence agencies on the orders of the Obama administration may well turn out to be true, Paul said. I would be surprised if they havent spied on him. They spy on everybody else. And they have spied on other members of the executive branch and other presidents. However, he criticized Trump for doing nothing to prevent the Senate from voting in the expansion of warrantless surveillance of US citizens under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) earlier this week. The other day when they voted to get FISA even more power to spy on American people, the president couldnt be influenced by the fact that they used it against him. And I believe they did, and he believes that. Ive always maintained that government ought to be open and the people ought to have their privacy. But right now the people have no privacy and all our government does is work on secrecy and then it becomes competitive between the two parties, who get stuck with the worst deal by arguing, whos guilty of some crime, the politician explained. The fact that Democrats on the relevant committees have all voted against releasing the memo might mean that Trump is probably right; there's probably a lot of stuff there that would exonerate him from any accusation theyve been making, he said. Never Miss Another Story Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Paul also blasted the infamous Russian Dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, and which the Democrats used in their attack on Trump, saying it has no legitimacy being revealing [in terms of] of Trump being associated with Russia. From the people I know The story has been all made up, essentially. Im no fan of Trump. Im not a supporter of his, but I think that has been carried way overboard. I think the Democrats cant stand the fact that theyve lost the election, and they cant stand the fact that Trump is a little bit more independent minded than they like, he said. This article was originally published by RT - ==== Watters: After 'Apoplectic' Reaction From Congressmen, Memo on FISA Abuses 'Better Be Good' Rep. Tom Cole Wants To Release The FISA Memo [VIDEO] Edward Snowden calls for public release of FISA abuses memo and Trump veto of key surveillance tool Trump Jr. on FISA memo: Media, Democrats working together to deceive Americans Join the Discussion It is not necessary for ICH readers to register before placing a comment. This website encourages readers to use the "Report" link found at the base of each comment. When a predetermined number of ICH readers click on the "Report" link, the comment will be automatically sent to "moderation". This would appear to be the most logical way to allow open comments, where you the reader/supporter, can determine what is acceptable speech. Please don't use the report feature simply because you disagree with the author point of view. Treat others with respect, remembering that "A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still."- Benjamin Franklin. Please read our Comment Policy before posting - Republicans Authorize Sharing of Classified Report on FBI, DOJ officials' Conduct By KYLE CHENEY January 20, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee have authorized their colleagues to access a highly classified report that they say details their concerns with the conduct of top FBI and Justice Department officials, as well as the agencies handling of a controversial surveillance program. We have concerns FISA concerns that all members of the body should know, said Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), a member of the committee, referring to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Some of President Donald Trumps allies in the House have argued that the program was inappropriately used to surveil a foreign policy aide to the Trump campaign. Democrats derided the release of the report as part of an attempt to discredit senior leaders of the agencies leading investigations into President Donald Trumps ties to Russia and whether any of his associates aided Russias attempt to influence the 2016 election. [T]he Majority voted today on a party-line basis to grant House Members access to a profoundly misleading set of talking points drafted by Republican staff attacking the FBI and its handling of the investigation, Rep. Adam Schiff, the committees top Democrat, said in a statement. Rife with factual inaccuracies and referencing highly classified materials that most of Republican Intelligence Committee members were forced to acknowledge they had never read, this is meant only to give Republican House members a distorted view of the FBI. This may help carry White House water, but it is a deep disservice to our law enforcement professionals, he added. Conaway noted that the classified report would probably remain off-limits to the public, though all members of the House are permitted to view it. But by releasing it to other House members, it gave Trump allies outside the Intelligence Committee a chance to batter FBI leadership and underscore complaints theyve raised about the agencys handling of its investigation of Trump associates contacts with Russia. Throughout the day Thursday, a handful of Trumps top House allies began calling for the immediate public release of the report. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said the report must be released to preserve our democracy. Another conservative ally, Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), called the report deeply troubling and said the Intelligence Committee should dust off a little-used process to reveal classified information publicly in order to show the public. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) said the report would reveal FISA abuse. Releasing this classified information will not compromise good sources and methods, Zeldin said in a statement. It will, however, reveal the feds reliance on bad sources and methods. Never Miss Another Story Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter A source familiar with discussions between the leader of the Freedom Caucus, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), and House leadership amid high-stakes negotiations over the government spending bill said Meadows asked Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) explicitly to authorize a vote on releasing the report. The source said Ryan deferred to the House Intelligence Committee chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who has authority over whether to start the process on releasing the report. Meadows, taking to the House floor late Thursday, said he was shocked by the contents of the report. It is time that we become transparent on all of this, he said. And I am calling on our leadership to make this available so that all Americans can judge for themselves. Conaway, though, told reporters hed counsel his colleagues against revealing classified material. Thatd be real dangerous, he said, suggesting that a version of the committees findings could be made public without getting into the specifics of what drove Republicans decision to share the report with colleagues. Another member of the Intelligence Committee, Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah), said he would like to release an unclassified version of the report scrubbed to protect classified information. He said that in addition to questions about FISA, the report would highlight concerns among Republicans about the judgment of some members of the FBI or some members of the Department of Justice. The report appears to be the result of an inquiry by a subset of Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee, the details of which were revealed last month. That investigation, led by Nunes, focused on what some Republicans on the panel have come to view as abuses of the FISA process by senior FBI and DOJ officials, as well as the handling of a disputed Trump-Russia dossier by intelligence and law enforcement officials. This article was originally published by Politico - ==== Watters: After 'Apoplectic' Reaction From Congressmen, Memo on FISA Abuses 'Better Be Good' Rep. Tom Cole Wants To Release The FISA Memo [VIDEO] Edward Snowden calls for public release of FISA abuses memo and Trump veto of key surveillance tool Trump Jr. on FISA memo: Media, Democrats working together to deceive Americans Join the Discussion Trumps Plan B for Syria: Occupation and Intimidation By Mike Whitney January 20, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - On Wednesday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced the creation of a de facto autonomous Kurdish state in east Syria that will be supported by the United States and defended by a US-backed proxy army of occupation. Tillersons announcement was made at a confab he attended at Stanford University at the Hoover Institute. According to The Hill: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday outlined a new U.S. strategy in Syria, hinging on maintaining an indefinite military presence in the country with the goal of ousting the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and keeping militant groups at bay. Speaking at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, Tillerson sought to make the case for an extended U.S. military role, backed by a United Nations-brokered political solution, in the war-torn country. A U.S. withdrawal, he said, would likely have disastrous consequences. Total withdrawal would restore Assad and continue brutal treatment of his own people, Tillerson said. (Tillerson outlines plan for long-term US military role in Syria, The Hill) Tillersons comments underscore the fact that recent setbacks in the 7-year-long conflict, have not dampened Washingtons determination to topple the elected government of Syria and to impose its own political vision on the country. They also confirm that the United States intends to occupy parts of Syria for the foreseeable future. As the article clearly states: The secretarys remarks on Wednesday signaled his most explicit endorsement yet for long-term U.S. military presence in the country. (The Hill) On Thursday, Tillerson backtracked from his earlier statement saying his comments had been misportrayed. That entire situation has been misportrayed, misdescribed, (and) some people misspoke. We are not creating a border security force at all, (Tillerson said) Regrettably, the media did not misportray Washingtons intentions or policy. In fact, the details have been circulating since last weekend when an article appeared in The Defense Post announcing the creation of 30,000 man border security force. Heres an excerpt from the article: The U.S.-led Coalition against Islamic State is currently training a force to maintain security along the Syrian border as the operation against ISIS shifts focus. The 30,000-strong force will be partly composed of veteran fighters and operate under the leadership of the Syrian Democratic Forces, CJTF-OIR told The Defense Post. The Coalition is working jointly with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to establish and train the new Syrian Border Security Force (BSF). Currently, there are approximately 230 individuals training in the BSFs inaugural class, with the goal of a final force size of approximately 30,000, .Public Affairs Officer Colonel Thomas F. Veale said. The BSF will be stationed along the Euphrates River Valley marking the western edge of the territory within Syria currently controlled by SDF and the Iraqi and Turkish borders, he said. (The Defense Post) As we have noted before, Washington is determined to throw up an iron curtain along the Euphrates consistent with its plan to split Syria into smaller parts, support the central governments enemies, and create a safe haven for launching attacks on the government in Damascus. Seen in this light, the 30,000-man border security force is not a border security force at all, but a slick Madison Avenue-type sobriquet for Washingtons proxy army of occupation. The fact that The Coalition told The Defense Post that north army was not a recognized term in Syria, indicates the importance Washington places on its particular product branding. The border security force (BSF) moniker helps to conceal the fact that Washington has armed and trained a mainly-Kurdish proxy-army to pursue Washingtons strategic objectives in Syria which include toppling the government of Bashar al Assad, splintering the country into smaller tribal-run territories, and installing a compliant stooge in the Capitol who will follow Washingtons diktats. Never Miss Another Story Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter In order to achieve those goals, Washington has had to make critical concessions to its Kurdish allies in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is an alliance of militias in northern and eastern Syria dominated by the Kurdish YPG. The Kurds expect the US to honor its demands for a Kurdish homeland, an autonomous statelet carved out of Syrias northeast quadrant, the portion of territory east of the Euphrates captured during the fight against ISIS. Tillersons announcement confirmed that the US will support the defense of this territory by its Kurdish proxies inferring that the Trump administration has thrown its weigh behind the unilateral creation of a Kurdish state in east Syria. (Publicly, the US opposes the creation of Kurdistan, but its actions on the ground, indicate its support.) Naturally, this has not gone-over well with the other countries in the region that have struggled to contain Kurdish aspirations for a homeland. The leaders of Syria, Iran, Iraq and Turkey all oppose the emergence of a Kurdistan, although Turkeys president Erdogan has been the most outspoken by far. According to the Turkish daily Hurriyet: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to thwart the creation of a U.S-backed 30,000-strong border security force manned mostly by the Peoples Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria. Turkeys armed forces completed preparations for an operation against the YPG in their strongholds Afrin, in northwestern Syria, and Manbij, in northern Syria, Erdogan said on Jan. 15 at an opening ceremony in Ankara. The operation may start any time. Operations into other regions will come after, the president said, noting that the Turkish army was already hitting YPG positions. America has acknowledged it is in the process of creating a terror army on our border. What we have to do is nip this terror army in the bud, Erdogan said.We wont be responsible for the consequences. (The Hurriyet) Its worth noting that the US never consulted its NATO ally, Turkey, before initiating its current plan. This suggests that the foreign policy wonks who concocted this misguided scheme must have thought that Erdogan and his fellows would be duped by the paper-thin public relations smokescreen of border security. Washingtons reliance on Information Operations and propaganda may have clouded its judgement and impaired its ability to understand how their public relations scam could blow up in their faces. (which it did.) Despite the foofaraw, theres nothing new about Washingtons determination to establish a permanent military presence in Syria, in fact, that has been the plan from Day 1. The basic US strategy in Syria has been modified many times in the last few years, particularly after Syrian forces liberated Syrias industrial hub, Aleppo, which was the turning point in the conflict. Since then, news has circulated about a Plan B, which accepts the reality that Assad will remain in power after the war has ended, but redirects US efforts towards more achievable goals like seizing the vast expanse of land east of the Euphrates which can be used for future regime-destabilizing operations. The basic outline for Plan B was presented in a Brookings Institute report by chief military analyst, Michael O Hanlon. Heres a clip from his 2014 article titled Deconstructing Syria: A new strategy for Americas most hopeless war: the only realistic path forward may be a plan that in effect deconstructs Syria.the international community should work to create pockets with more viable security and governance within Syria over time Creation of these sanctuaries would produce autonomous zones that would never again have to face the prospect of rule by either Assad or ISIL. (Deconstructing Syria: A new strategy for Americas most hopeless war, Michael E. OHanlon, Brookings Institute) The occupation of east Syria by Kurdish proxies is consistent with O Hanlons basic plan to fragment the country and create pockets of resistance that will be supported by the US. It is a variation of the divide and conquer theme the US has used in numerous times in the past. Plan B is Washingtons fallback position now that regime change is no longer within reach. The strategy suggests that Washington never planned to leave after ISIS was defeated, but always intended to stay on to establish bases in the east, (According to Bloomberg News, the US now has 10 permanent bases east of the Euphrates) support an army of occupation, and continue the war against the current government. Thats still the plan today, notwithstanding Washingtons failed attempt to conceal its motives behind its pathetic border security force. Erdogan and the rest have already seen through that sham and expressed their unhappiness. The problem with Plan B is that it presumes that Russia and its coalition partners will try to liberate Kurdish-held east Syria and, thus, get bogged down in a bloody and protracted conflict that turns out to be a strategic nightmare as well as a public relations disaster. This is the scenario that Washington is hoping for. In fact, Trumps chief national security advisor Lieutenant General H.R McMaster has written extensively on the topic and explained exactly how to undermine the efforts of an advancing army. Heres an excerpt from a presentation McMaster gave at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on May 4, 2016. He said: what is required to deter a strong nation that is waging limited war for limited objectives on battlegrounds involving weaker states is forward deterrence, to be able to ratchet up the cost at the frontier, and to take an approach to deterrence that is consistent with deterrence by denial, convincing your enemy that your enemy is unable to accomplish his objectives at a reasonable cost rather than sort of an offshore balancing approach and the threat of punitive action at long distance later, which we know obviously from recent experience confirms that that is inadequate. Forward deterrence? This needs to be clarified. What McMaster is saying, is that, instead of threatening to retaliate at some time in the future, the US should use deterrence by denial, that is, make it as hard and as costly as possible for Russia to achieve its strategic objectives. (McMasters comments focus on Russias involvement in Syria.) By supporting its Kurdish fighters and establishing permanent US bases, McMaster thinks the US can frustrate Russias effort to restore Syrias borders which is one of the primary goals of the mission. The objective of forward deterrence is not to win the war, but to prevent the enemy from winning. The downside to this theory is that when neither side prevails there is no political settlement, no end to the fighting, and no path for returning people to their homes so they can resume their lives in peace and security. It is, in fact, a plan designed to perpetuate the suffering, perpetuate the destruction and perpetuate the bloodletting. Its a solution that provides no solution, a war without end. More importantly, Forward deterrence is a military strategy that ignores the broader political situation which has been adversely impacted by Washingtons border security forces announcement. Now the cards are on the table and all the main players can see what the US really has up its sleeve. Leaders in Syria, Iraq, Iran and particularly Turkey can see that Washington is not an honest broker, but a crafty and cold-blooded opportunist willing to throw even its allies under the bus to achieve its own narrow geopolitical objectives. As a result, Erdogan has moved closer to Russia which has sent up red flags in Washington as one would expect. After all in the broader scheme of things Turkey is more important to the US than Ukraine. It is the essential landbridge and energy hub that is destined to bind Europe and Asia together into the worlds biggest free trade zone. If Turkey breaks out of Washingtons orbit and moves into Moscows camp, Washingtons plan to pivot to Asia will collapse in a heap. So while McMaster might think that forward deterrence will prevent Russia from achieving its objectives, its clear that the policy is already working in Putins favor. Every miscue that Washington makes only adds to Putins credibility and reputation as a reliable partner. Simply put: The Russian president is gradually replacing Washington as the guarantor of regional security. This is a tectonic development and one that US powerbrokers will definitely regret in the future. A changing of the guard is underway in the energy-rich Middle East, and Washington is the odd-man-out. Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion (AK Press). Hopeless is also available in a Kindle edition . He can be reached at fergiewhitney@msn.com . This article was originally published by Counterpunch - ==== U.S. trying to form 'alternative bodies of authority' in Syria: Russia's Lavrov Join the Discussion It is not necessary for ICH readers to register before placing a comment. This website encourages readers to use the "Report" link found at the base of each comment. When a predetermined number of ICH readers click on the "Report" link, the comment will be automatically sent to "moderation". This would appear to be the most logical way to allow open comments, where you the reader/supporter, can determine what is acceptable speech. Please don't use the report feature simply because you disagree with the author point of view. Treat others with respect, remembering that "A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still."- Benjamin Franklin. Please read our Comment Policy before posting - $500 million recovered from the slush accounts of Sani Abacha in foreign countries during the Goodluck Jonathan administration has disappeared, The Nation reports. The money was reportedly released to the Nigerian government after negotiations with foreign governments, the agreements including that the Nigerian government would employ the recovered funds in developments, including infrastructure such as roads, water, healthcare and education. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has reportedly found that $500 million out of the recovered funds cannot be accounted for. Of the $500 million, the sum of $250 million has reportedly been discovered by the EFCC to have been released to the Office of National Security Adviser (NSA)while Sambo Dasuki headed the office. The fact sheet of the investigation, as seen by The Nation, reveals that the $250 million was withdrawn between March 2, 2015 and April 21, 2015. $36,155,000 was reportedly found to be withdrawn without any purpose on March 2, 9, 16 and 18, 2015. The fact sheet also revealed that the office of the NSA, in a memo dated January 12, 2015, requested that the former Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, remit the sums of $300 million and 5.5 million. Please refer to our meeting on recovered funds. You are please requested to remit the sum of $300m and 5.5m to the following account being ONSA share as agreed. Account name: CBN (NSA Foreign Operation; Account number: -100367-USD-CABANK30 Bank Address: 28, Finsbury Circus, London. Please accept the assurances of my highest esteem, the fact sheet read. In a memo dated January, 20, 2015, the former coordinating minister for the economy, Okonjo-Iweala, wrote to the President asking for the approval of the remitting of the sum of $300 million to the office of the NSA, the fact sheet read. Attached, please find a request by the NSA for the transfer of $300m and British pounds (5.5m) of the recovered Abacha funds to ONSA operations account. The NSA has explained that this is to enable purchase of ammunition, security and other intelligence equipment for the security agencies in order to enable them confront the ongoing Boko Haram threat. His request is sequel to the meeting you chaired with the committee on use of recovered funds where decision was made that recovered Abacha funds would be split 50-50 between urgent security needs to confront Boko Haram and development needs (including a portion for the Future Generations window of Sovereign Wealth Fund). This letter is to seek your approval to borrow these funds, for now, to disburse to the NSA. These funds form part of projected FG Independent Revenue to be appropriated. In light of this and for accountability, given the peculiar nature of security and intelligence transactions, we would expect the NSA to account to your Excellency for the utilisation of the funds. The former president Goodluck Jonathan had reportedly replied to the memo, writing: CME/HMF, approved. However, it has reportedly been discovered by the EFCC that only $250 million of the $300 million requested by the office of the NSA was remitted. An EFCC source who spoke to The Nation under the condition of anonymity said Okonjo-Iweala would be contacted to explain the contents of her letter. The source said: We will need to interact with the former Minister of Finance, Okonjo-Iweala, to guide us on the contents of her letter, especially on the legality of the withdrawal of the $250million. We will find out what she meant by to borrow these funds and these funds form part of projected FG Independent Revenue to be appropriated. She should assist investigators on whether or not the ex-NSA accounted to Jonathan for the utilization of the funds. -Tori Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has called Delta Airlines out on their policies and the way they treat their Nigerian customers, as opposed to how they treat foreign customers. The famous author was particularly displeased about Delta Airlines policy which requires that Nigerian flights passengers physically present themselves and their credit card after purchasing flight tickets online or over the phone. This, she said, is not required for Delta flights to other countries. She wrote; DEAR DELTA AIRLINES, YOU MUST DO BETTER Seven years ago, I sent this letter to Delta Airlines. X Delta Airlines Nigeria Policy: A Complaint On April 20, 2010 I bought two Lagos-Baltimore return tickets on delta.com for my parents. I paid for the tickets with my credit card. They were scheduled to leave Lagos on June 3 2010 and return on November 1 2010. They arrived the United States as scheduled, with no incident. A few weeks later, our family plans changed. I contacted Delta and changed their return date to December 30 2010. A change fee was paid. Confirmation e-mails were sent. Everything else remained the same. On December 30, I was ill in bed. A family member took my parents to the airport. Delta representatives refused to check my parents in. They insisted that the credit card used to pay for the ticket must be physically produced, and the owner of the credit card physically appear, otherwise my parents would not be allowed to travel. I called and asked to speak to a manager and was rudely told that nothing could be done. I was shocked and unbelieving. My father, a 78-year-old diabetic who had an important family event to attend in Nigeria, was worried about missing his flight. I, unwell, was forced to dash to the airport as quickly as I could. I then physically presented myself and my credit card. My parents ended up missing their flight and were re-booked on the next flight. While I understand that Delta is keen to prevent fraud, and I indeed sympathize about any fraudulent purchases that Nigerians might have made, Delta MUST also treat each case individually and not lump all Nigerian travelers into one group of potential fraudsters. If the Delta representative had been willing to look at the specifics of this incident, it would have been quite clear that this was not in any way a fraudulent ticket purchase. My parents had already travelled on the first leg of the ticket months before and my credit card had already been fully charged. I was fortunately at home, even if sick, but I might as well have been away. What then would have happened if I were unable to physically appear? Does Delta expect everyone who buys tickets for family or friends always to be physically present at a Delta counter? I write to register my profound disappointment and to strongly urge Delta to review its one-size-fits-all policy towards Nigerian travelers. There must be ways to prevent fraud while also recognizing the individual humanity of each customer. Sincerely, Chimamanda Adichie X I sent this in 2010. I received a generic, platitude-filled response, along with an inane one-hundred-dollar domestic Delta voucher that I never used. It has been seven years and nothing has changed. You still have to present yourself physically to show your card. No, you cant have a family member bring the card. No, you cant have a family member bring the card and a matching ID. (What are the odds that you would present a stolen credit card and a stolen valid ID?) You complain and complain until you get tired because nobody cares. You tell yourself to just stop flying Delta but Delta has a monopoly on direct flights from the US to Nigeria, and the convenience, especially for elderly parents, matters. You ask if this is something that Delta does only for Nigerian flights and youre told that its done for all flight tickets bought online or over the phone. But you know that is not true. You have purchased Delta tickets to Europe. You have never been asked to show your credit card. Not even when you purchased Delta tickets to Europe for a family member. And as though its not bad enough that you have to physically present yourself at the airport, Delta gives you no confirmation that the card has been presented. A Delta representative merely taps at a computer and says its done. Which means that your cousin who flew from Lagos to the US, on a ticket you paid for, had difficulty boarding her flight, even though you had shown your card at the Delta counter at BWI, but you had no proof of this. Once in 2015 you were travelling from BWI to Lagos on a ticket purchased by a travel agent and Delta representatives asked for the credit card used to purchase the ticket, and you explained that it had been purchased by your Publishers travel agency and that you had already travelled on the first leg from Lagos to BWI. But you were not allowed to board. A Delta representative said, your only option is to buy a new ticket here and the other one can be refunded later, speaking airily as though buying a flight ticket was like buying candy. You were frustrated and furious but you had to be in Lagos the next day. You were left no choice but to buy a new ticket at the airport. The Delta representatives remained indifferent as you tried to tell them how this made no sense, how you had already travelled on the first leg of the same ticket, how a ticket purchased by an established travel agency could not possibly be fraudulent. Indifferent is inaccurate. The Delta representatives at BWI are decidedly unpleasant. (except for one person, and it is telling that this one person stands out, so rare is her courtesy) The others all glow with hostility. You wonder if this hostility is simply the rage of workers who are not paid a fair wage, or if it is the armor they wear to implement policies that they know very well are ridiculous. On another occasion in 2015 when you are forced to present yourself so that your parents could board a flight, you complain and ask for the manager. The manager looks through you as you try to speak. She manages to be both stone-faced and reproachful. You feel accused. You feel like a thief. Nobody deserves this but even in an aviation industry that rewards frequent fliers with privileges, yours dont count your platinum frequent flier card means nothing because you are a Nigerian and Nigerians are all a blur of fraudulence. God save you if the only time you can go to the airport to physically present yourself and your card happens to be a busy check-in time. You will stand in the special services line forever, ignored, waiting to convince Delta to take your money. If you do show the card but then need to change your travel to a different date, you must again physically show yourself and your card. Deltas policy is crude and contemptuous. Crude because Delta wont bother to figure out a more sophisticated way to address fraudulent ticket purchases. Contemptuous because Delta is indifferent to the unfair burden that this places on Nigerians. Some hardworking Nigerians have two jobs, families, responsibilities. They buy tickets for themselves and their families, they pay with their hard-earned money, and Delta asks them to present yourself at a Delta Airlines counter which may be twenty or fifty or one hundred miles from where they live. Deltas message is this: If you want your family to board their flight then present yourself, and prove to us that you are not a thief because we start with the premise that you are a thief. And it might be a good idea, Delta, to better train your flight attendants on your Nigeria flights (or perhaps pay them a fair wage?) Like the patronizing woman in the business class cabin of the Lagos-Atlanta flight on October 31 2017 telling me that my two-year-old daughter who had a full seat and presumably the normal rights of any passenger was annoying. She was annoying because she was babbling like a two-year-old and had pressed the call attendant button two times. I was stunned. Because I know how easily Nigerian passengers are labeled aggressive and difficult, I chose not to speak to this woman. I feared I might raise my voice. Instead I wrote her a note on the menu card, telling her how unacceptable her manner and language had been and how people deserved to be treated with dignity. She read it and came to my seat and pushed the card back at me and said, I will not accept this from you! Dear Delta Airlines, enough. You must do better. source: Stargist According to some social media reports a young Ghanaian guy has just ordered and got his own female sex-doll. The Ghanaian guy, who goes by the name Kofi Prince posted on his Facebook page that he has finally gotten his own sex doll. With the debate still raging on on social media as to wither this new sex dolls can replace women as far as sex is concerned in a relationship the American company responsible for their production released images of the male version on the internet. The sex doll has caused a divide on social media, some people condemn it while some were so happy about it as it has help reduce some case in relationship. The sex doll was presumed to cost a whooping amount of #800k. Check out their reactions; Kvng wylyam Ladies have u seen what you have driven the guy to do Uncle Rich Mba 10 Reasons why these SEX DOLLS is the best 1. It Wont cheat 2. It wont lie 3. It wont ask for money after sex 4.No unwanted pregnancy 5.No sexual Transmitted disease 6.No mensural Cycle 7. No Vagina Discharges , or body odor 8.You can have sex with it anytime you want 9.It Saves Money , no need to buy gifts or any birthday, or xmas presents 10. It yours forever till you die , it wont complain even when you cheat on her Koyfi Boateng That is awesome all the best man.enjoy your life and dont mind what people will say #no spending,no jealousy, no cheating,and no broken heart move on enjoy it #u can call me so that I will come try it hahahahahahahaha lol Gloria Appiah Dis thing hmmmm an evil spirits can even stay in the doll Pinocchio GH Bcux now adays the only duty these gals play in relationship is sex,so they afraid wen they heard about da doll-mob3ti dwiii-small tym da game boys go shop am more,so the price go come down,ebi der we go see George kojo Atuah You girls have already replaced us with dildo,s Sounds weird to some girls seeing a sex doll yet they use dildos Kwardo Darkwa Makeup bills Brazilian hair iPhone X Phone credit Rent Birthday gift Family issues And others Every Pu**y be Pu**y Bro enjoy koraa , dont mind them Jeffrey G Barnes Am confused here, a sex doll!! for real? Ask your mum if she was a doll could she have given birth to a prick like you? Man I just dont get you, if you spent GH10,000 on just a doll and you cant ask a lady out or either have a relationship. Then sorry to say this: YOU ARE REALLY FUCKED UP!! And if youre already in one then I really think with straight confidence that you dont deserve that lady His actions sure drew the attention of people, check out their reactions; Kvng wylyam Ladies have u seen what you have driven the guy to do Uncle Rich Mba 10 Reasons why these SEX DOLLS is the best 1. It Wont cheat 2. It wont lie 3. It wont ask for money after sex 4.No unwanted pregnancy 5.No sexual Transmitted disease 6.No mensural Cycle 7. No Vagina Discharges , or body odor 8.You can have sex with it anytime you want 9.It Saves Money , no need to buy gifts or any birthday, or xmas presents 10. It yours forever till you die , it wont complain even when you cheat on her Koyfi Boateng That is awesome all the best man.enjoy your life and dont mind what people will say #no spending,no jealousy, no cheating,and no broken heart move on enjoy it #u can call me so that I will come try it hahahahahahahaha lol Gloria Appiah Dis thing hmmmm an evil spirits can even stay in the doll Pinocchio GH Bcux now adays the only duty these gals play in relationship is sex,so they afraid wen they heard about da doll-mob3ti dwiii-small tym da game boys go shop am more,so the price go come down,ebi der we go see George kojo Atuah You girls have already replaced us with dildo,s Sounds weird to some girls seeing a sex doll yet they use dildos Kwardo Darkwa Makeup bills Brazilian hair iPhone X Phone credit Rent Birthday gift Family issues And others Every Pu**y be Pu**y Bro enjoy koraa , dont mind them Jeffrey G Barnes Am confused here, a sex doll!! for real? Ask your mum if she was a doll could she have given birth to a prick like you? Man I just dont get you, if you spent GH10,000 on just a doll and you cant ask a lady out or either have a relationship. Then sorry to say this: YOU ARE REALLY FUCKED UP!! And if youre already in one then I really think with straight confidence that you dont deserve that lady -Gistreel Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, on Friday said that the people of the state were still living in fear and that the state was still under the siege of Fulani herdsmen. Ortom stated this while receiving some northern governors of the All Progressives Congress, led by the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, at the New Banquet Hall, Makurdi, Benue State capital. Apart from Shettima, other governors in attendance were Simon Lalong (Plateau), Mallam Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Yahaya Bello (Kogi) and Mohammed Abubakar, (Jigawa), as well as the Deputy Governor of Osun State, Chief (Mrs.) Grace Laoye-Tomori. Ortom said that the fear of the people stemmed from continuous threats by the herdsmen, who despite the killings on January 1 and 2, 2018, had continued to issue threats on a daily basis that they would take over Benue land. He said, We thank God that peace is gradually returning to the state, but there are still pockets of challenges here; we know the challenges will soon be over because our people are always alert to give useful information to security operatives around. Let me tell you that our people are still living in fear and are under siege because of the series of threat by the Kautal Hore, which started the threat seven months ago. Theirs are not mere threats. We have evidence against them. What we are saying is that the Federal Government should arrest the leadership of Kautal Hore. Ortom, who appreciated the governors visit, said that the state was committed to one Nigeria and assured President Muhammadu Buhari of the states commitment to his administration. The governor, however, expressed confidence that Nigeria would soon take its rightful position as the giant of Africa if leaders were sincere and stood by the truth. This country is blessed with the potential to be great in the world but that is if we leaders would stop pretending and stand by the truth. Though the state was getting over the senseless killings in the new year, there are still pockets of challenges, he said. He said that the crisis had made the people of the state to always be on the alert and give useful information to security operatives. Source: ( Punch Newspaper ) 40-year-old Nigerian returnee from Libya, Omo Harry, has narrated the bizzare and unfortunate things himself and other Nigerians faced while they were trapped in Libya on their way to Europe. In an interview with Vanguard, Omo who recently returned to Nigeria, narrated how his friend, Deniss girlfriend, Rita, whom they all embarked on the journey to Europe in April 2016, was raped to death because she could not afford the money needed for her to continue her journey from Libya to Euope. Omo said Rita was handcuffed and boys took turns to rape her. She died when one of the boys tried to penertate her. Her corpse was abandoned for two days before it was removed. Her boyfriend watched the men take their turns to have sex with her. My friend, Denis, said I could travel to Europe if I could raise at least N500,000. He told me that he was also trying to raise same amount for an agent that would facilitate it. I had to sell all my property , including the parcel of land I acquired at Ogudu Bale area of Ogun state. But I could only raise N350,000 at the end. Denis was able to raise N300,000 while his girlfriend, Rita, had N250,000. The agent said he would complete the money but that we would pay him the balance when we got to Libya. When asked how, he said he would introduce us to someone , who would get us a job and that after paying his balance, we would proceed to Europe. We bought gala, garri and bread and also bought two bags of sachet water as advised by the agent and left Lagos for Kano. On arriving the border between Kano and Niger, the agent told us to bring N7000 out of the money with us. As we approached the border, a Customs officer came, collected the money from us and asked us to wait until he gave the directive for us to cross thorough a bush path. Finally, we arrived Qatrun, the first state in Libya . We were taken to a connection house . In that connection house were tranke which are camps where migrants who do not have the needed amount to continue the journey are kept. On the first day at the tranke, we were welcomed with good food. But at night, they began a roll call and separated those who had completed payment from those who hadnt . Of course, myself, Denis and Rita were in the disadvantaged group. At this point, the agent was nowhere to be found. In fact we were all confused as to what to do next . At this connection house, the head is called Capon. We also had OC Torture . The Capo collects relatives number and demand money for captives to continue their journey. It was at that point that I got to know that Rita did not tell her parents she was traveling. When she was given the phone to speak with her mother, we overheard her crying. Ritas parents sent N150,000, which covered three of us. We thought we were free, not knowing that the horror had only just begun. Sabha connection house. Speaking further, he said From Qatrun, we were moved to Sahba , in Western Libya, where the main tranke called Ali ghetto is located. It is close to the University of Sahba . It was a place of no return . From there , you are expected to pay another sum to cross to another connection house in Inias, from where you will embark on the sea trip to Europe. When they demanded for more money, Rita said she would like to go back home. But they insisted that she must pay before going back. Immediately we got there, they collected our international passports and tore them. They said they dont allow people to embark on the sea trip with anything except the clothes on them. In my excitement, I called my people in Lagos and they sent N150,000. Unfortunately, it could only take me , as Denis and Rita did not have money to cross the second huddle. Instead of leaving them behind, I kept my money and decided to wait until their relations could send money to them. Ritas parents called to say that they had no money. Immediately the call was received, Rita was chained to an iron rod where White Libyans came and took turn to rape her. This continued for two weeks without food . In one of the instances, Denis stood up to challenge one of the men but he had his ear chopped off with a hot iron rod that was plugged to a socket.. On the day she died, five boys first came , had their turns with her and left. At that point, she could only stare into space. Ten minutes later, another set of young men came to have their turn. It was when the third person was on her that she was discovered to be motionless. Her body was there for two days before it was removed Omo also narrated how Libyan men would come to where the illegal migrants are kept, pay some money to take any strong black man they see who would have sex with them. The black men would after sexually satisfying them, will then be brought back in the morning. Omo said he always feigned he was sick whenever the Libyan men came to pick any of the illegal male immigrants for gay sex. Leave a Comment comments It was double tragedy for a young man, Felix Ojirike who was brutally attacked by his neighbour as he lost his eye after the attack by one Chidera Eze who was accused of sleeping with Ojirikes wife in Lagos. The incident happened at Sanni Dauda Street in Ejigbo, Lagos where they resided. P.M.EXPRESS scooped that one of the Ojirikes eyes was badly damaged, he cannot see with it as he was still lying critical ill at West Care Hospital in Ejigbo, Lagos. It was gathered that trouble started after the neighbours informed Ojirike that Eze who was an Okada rider used to sleep with his wife whenever Ojirike went to work. P.M.EXPRESS gathered that after the neighbours had informed Ojirike that Eze usually left early for work but comes back after he had gone to his own work to stay with his wife, an embattled Ojirike then decided to find out if what their neighbours told him was true. He reportedly prepared and informed the wife that he had gone to work but later came back and met his wife on top of Ezes bed. P.M.EXPRESS learnt that it became an issue in the neighbourhood which led to exchange of bitter words that eventually resulted into a public fight between Ojirike and Eze in the compound. During the fight, Eze reportedly took a sharp object and stabbed Ojirikes eye. He was rushed to the hospital where he was being treated. The incident was reported to the police at Ejigbo Division; Eze was arrested and detained at the police station. When our correspondent visited Ojirike in the hospital, he confirmed the incident and narrated how he caught Eze with his wife. However, Eze denied that he had sleeping with Ojirikes wife and explained that it was their neighbours that caused the whole trouble between him and Ojirike by lying against him. But he was unable to explain what Ojirikes wife was doing in his room apartment when her husband was not around. At the police station where Eze was detained, the police source confirmed the assault and detention of Eze and said he will soon be charged to court. P.M.EXPRESS reports that Eze was brought before Ejigbo Magistrates court on Friday and was remanded in prison custody for the alleged offence. -P.M News The Principal of Government Science Secondary School, Nassarawa-Eggon, and three other officials have been suspended for one month for meting out corporal punishment to some students. The state Commissioner of Education, Mr. Tijjani Ahmed, who confirmed this to Northern City News on Thursday in Lafia, said the state government had banned corporal punishments in public schools across the 13 local government areas and 18 development areas of the state. Ahmed explained that the decision followed the beating of some students of GSS, Nassarawa-Eggon, the video of which had gone viral in the social media. He said, We have constituted a committee to investigate the matter and report to the ministry in the next one week to enable the ministry to take appropriate action. Already, three staff members of the school including the Principal have been given a one-month suspension over their involvement in the corporal punishment pending the report of the committee set up by the ministry. He explained that the ministry had also written to all public schools informing their managements of the ban on corporal punishment. He further warned teachers meting out corporal punishment to students to desist as anyone caught would face disciplinary action. The education commissioner stated that even if teachers would want to punish students for any offence, it should be minor punishment. He added that the government would continue to respond to the challenges facing the education sector in the state. When newsmen visited the school, the suspended school officials were not on duty, but it was gathered that the management had decided to stop punishing students who resumed late to avoid sanctions. Source: ( Punch Newspaper ) The Nation President Muhammadu Buhari said on Thursday night that he went temporarily into coma when former President Goodluck Jonathan called to congratulate him on his victory in the 2015 presidential election. Thisday President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday reiterated his surprise that former President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat in the 2015 Presidential despite being the incumbent President with all state powers. Vanguard Despite assurances by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, of a return to normalcy in fuel supply, the fuel crisis worsened, yesterday, in Abuja, and other parts of the nation while transportation costs also rose astronomically. Punch At least seven Niger soldiers were killed and more than a dozen others wounded this week in an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants in the countrys southeast, the government said on Friday. Daily Times Embattled Senator Ikechukwu Obiora has taken yet another wrong step towards the fulfilment of his selfish ambition in his case against Folio Media Group (FMG), owners/publishers of The Daily Times Nigeria. President Muhammadu Buhari told Nigerians on Thursday evening, that he was not ready to do anything in a hurry. He said he would sit and reflect on issues before he would continue with a clear conscience. Buhari said this during a dinner he hosted in honour of chieftains of the All Progressives Congress at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He said, I keep telling people that while I was in uniform, quite reckless and young, I got all the ministers and governors, and put them in Kirikiri. I said they were guilty until they could prove their innocence. I was also detained too. I decided to drop the uniform and come back. Eventually, I am here. So really, I have gone through it over and over again. This is why I am not in a hurry virtually to do anything. I will sit and reflect and continue with my clear conscience. Buhari also denied the allegation of ethnic bias being levelled against him. He explained that the number of substantive ministers he appointed from the South-East, where he got only 198,000 votes, was enough proof that he was not favouring the North as being speculated in some quarters. There is something that hit me very hard and I am happy I hit it back at somebody. Seven states of the North are only represented in my cabinet by junior ministers, ministers of state. In (the) South-East, I got 198,000 votes but I have four substantive ministers and seven junior ministers from there. You are closer to the people than myself now that I have been locked up here, dont allow anybody to talk about ethnicity. It is not true, he said. Buhari also noted that throughout the period of his struggles to become the President, he enjoyed the support of people of other ethnic groups and religious affiliations. He recalled, There is one thing that disabused my mind in a dispassionate way about ethnicity and religion across the country. You know that tribunal for presidential election started at High Court of Appeal. The President was my classmate. I missed only four of the court sittings. Source: ( Punch Newspaper ) The central government in Madrid, pro-independence parties won an absolute majority in regional elections on December 21. As the sole candidate from Catalonias separatist grouping, Puigdemont announced this week that he could govern the region from Brussels if he is re-elected president. The parliamentary vote to choose a new Catalan leader is due to take place by the end of January. But Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy reiterated Saturday that governing Catalonia from abroad would be illegal. Echoing remarks he made Monday, Rajoy said Madrid would maintain its direct control over Catalonia and will take the matter to court if Puigdemont sought remote rule. The Catalan parliaments legal experts say any presidential contender has to be physically present, but Puigdemont insists he has the legitimate mandate of the people to rule. He wants to present his candidacy and government programme to parliament a prerequisite to being voted in remotely via videolink or by having someone else read it for him. His lawyer Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas said Saturday all scenarios were currently being considered. President Puigdemont never dismissed the possibility of presenting and submitting his candidacy in person, the lawyer told Catalonian public television, adding that his client was aware of the risks he faces. Alonso-Cuevillas has previously said that Puigdemont could not be arrested in Barcelona because of his immunity. Source: ( AFP ) Nigerias music sensation Mr. Innocent Idibia AKA Tuface on Thursday visited the Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Idris, at his office in Abuja. 2face Idibia paid a courtesy visit to the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to appeal to the force to help stop the killings in his homestate, Benue state. Recall that 2face paid a visit to the governor of his state, Governor Samuel Ortom, over the recent killings in the state. He also recently publicly appealed to the government to help stop the herdsmen killings in Benue. Here are some photos from his visit to the police boss: source: Stargist Nollywood actress, Zainab Balogun, relocated to Nigeria about six years ago from London, where she had spent most part of her life. But according to her, since she came to Nigeria, she has not found a man that interests her. She said that she was shocked at Lagos men and advised them to hold a meeting to talk about whatever was wrong with them. Balogun also used the opportunity to pass a message across to her future husband, saying, I am not in a relationship, but when you find my future husband, tell him that I am here waiting for him. I dont know what is wrong with Lagos boys and I think the men should hold a meeting and ask one another what the problem is. Lagos is an interesting city when it comes to romance and I think we have our own unique language when it comes to love. However, since I got to Lagos about six years ago, I have not found anyone that has tickled my fancy. The few criteria I am looking for in a man are that he must be humorous, honest and transparent. He does not have to be rich, but he has to be aspirational because I am a very driven person and I spend a lot of time working. I cannot date a lazy person, we have to match each other when it comes to working hard. She explained that it took her about two years to adapt to the Lagos lifestyle, but was now proud to call herself a Lagosian. The actress said, I am a very aspirational and self-driven person, who is deeply rooted in family. I did not run away from home, I was born and raised in London, but I took the risk of moving back to Nigeria. I came back to Nigeria because I wanted to take on a new challenge. I have been in London all my life and felt that it was time to continue my career in Nigeria. My parents did not want me to come to Nigeria, but it felt like the right time to come to Nigeria. I have been in Nigeria for six years and I am happy with my decision. Moving to Lagos was not that easy and it took me about three years to adjust to the lifestyle. My main problem with Lagos was the traffic situation because I decided that I was going to drive myself. I also had to learn about the culture, but I eventually adapted. Source: Punch Nollywood actress, Zainab Balogun, relocated to Nigeria about six years ago from London, where she had spent most part of her life. But according to her, since she came to Nigeria, she has not found a man that interests her. She said that she was shocked at Lagos men and advised them to hold a meeting to talk about whatever was wrong with them. Balogun also used the opportunity to pass a message across to her future husband, saying, I am not in a relationship, but when you find my future husband, tell him that I am here waiting for him. I dont know what is wrong with Lagos boys and I think the men should hold a meeting and ask one another what the problem is. Lagos is an interesting city when it comes to romance and I think we have our own unique language when it comes to love. However, since I got to Lagos about six years ago, I have not found anyone that has tickled my fancy. The few criteria I am looking for in a man are that he must be humorous, honest and transparent. He does not have to be rich, but he has to be aspirational because I am a very driven person and I spend a lot of time working. I cannot date a lazy person, we have to match each other when it comes to working hard. She explained that it took her about two years to adapt to the Lagos lifestyle, but was now proud to call herself a Lagosian. The actress said, I am a very aspirational and self-driven person, who is deeply rooted in family. I did not run away from home, I was born and raised in London, but I took the risk of moving back to Nigeria. I came back to Nigeria because I wanted to take on a new challenge. I have been in London all my life and felt that it was time to continue my career in Nigeria. My parents did not want me to come to Nigeria, but it felt like the right time to come to Nigeria. I have been in Nigeria for six years and I am happy with my decision. Moving to Lagos was not that easy and it took me about three years to adjust to the lifestyle. My main problem with Lagos was the traffic situation because I decided that I was going to drive myself. I also had to learn about the culture, but I eventually adapted. source: Punch Veteran comic actor, Chika Okpala, better known as Zebrudaya, has said that foreign television channels like Telemundo and Zee World have won Nigerian fans over to the detriment of local channels. He said due to this, indigenous drama series were being ignored. Foreign soaps like Mexican soaps, Telemundo, the Zee World and the rest of them have flooded our TV screens now and our indigenous TV drama series are suffering. Those popular programmes the New Masquerade, Cockcrow at Dawn, The Village headmaster and others were left to slip away. The legendary actor disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria. He added that the lack of sponsorship has hindered production of most television series in the country. The 68-year-old actor also noted that old TV series were left abandoned because sponsors withdrew. He said: The dwindling economy is the major problem of production in the country and lack of sponsorship has contributed to the dearth of programmes on Television stations in the country. The actor expressed optimism that if those programmes were still being aired, actors, actresses, producers, directors and many Nollywood practitioners would be employed and people would be entertained also. The private sector complained about the economy and without the economy being vibrant, you cannot push the programmes forward. People cannot do productions without it yielding something substantial to take care of their families. If you engage an artiste and he performs for free today, tomorrow he may not because he has to pay his bills. He has to pay his rent and take care of other things. Source: Naijaloaded Review: 8K displays and AI breaks through at CES 2018 The 2018 CES proved to be a landmark show for display technologies. Every screen brand seemingly offered up innovative new products, some of which could open huge opportunities for custom installers should they ever come to market. The mood at the show was upbeat, despite atrocious weather. According to the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the US consumer electronics industry can expect to make $351 billion in retail revenues in 2018 - 3.9 per cent higher than 2017.It also values the streaming industries at a record high - generating $19.5 billion in revenue, which is 35 per cent higher than 2017. The market for Smart speakers shows no sign of letting up. Unit sales of Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant products are predicted to reach 43.6 million units and earn $3.8 billion in revenue in 2018. Its thought 16 per cent of Americans, thats 39 million people, now own a smart speaker. Amazon Alexa is the market leader, but at CES, it was Google which appeared to be making most of the running, with a huge promotional campaign. Where ever you turned, there was Google Assistant branding. The wider Smart Home business is also finding an audience. The category is expected to grow 41 per cent YoY in the US, to 40.8 million units in 2018, earning $4.5 billion. According to smart energy research released by Parks Associates, 50 per cent of US broadband households say they intend to buy a smart home device within the next 12 months. Virtual Reality is also tipped to grow, although it really didnt seem to generate much buzz on the show floor. Difficult setup, expense and lack of content could be to blame. But that could soon change. Oculus Go will launch in March; this $200 all in one is a simple alternative to the Google Daydream. Similarly, HTC will launch the Vive Pro in February, a 3K headset offering the sharpest VR images yet. HTC also has the Vive Focus which has a wider field of view and inside out tracking, so no external sensors required. The TV market was once again a big driver at CES. LCD 4K UHD TVs are expected to make up half of all TVs sold in 2018, with unit sales forecast to hit 22 million units, although the increasingly fractured HDR scene continues to intrigue. The battle of the Dynamic Metadata standards warmed up, with HDR10+, the open source rival to Dolby Vision, finding support from Hollywood major Warner Bros. Warner joins Fox and Amazon, plus Panasonic (pictured top) and Samsung supporting the format. Dolby Vision still has the edge, both in content and hardware partners, but is increasingly under fire for performance issues. LG OLED TV owners has been suffering from elevated black levels with HDR content, which is undermining one of the principle tenets of Dolby Vision, that of improved image quality. A complex programme of firmware updates looks to be the only way to solve the issue. Panasonic launched two hugely impressive new OLED screens at the show, which will support HDR10+. The FZ952 (pictured above) and FZ802 will launch in 55- and 65- screen sizes and feature a new iteration of the the brands HCX image processor, which introduces a number of refinements designed to improve image quality. A Dynamic LUT (Look Up Table) function significantly enhances the accuracy of bright colours. Typically, Look Up Tables are fixed to the colour space used by the source; on these sets the HCX processor automatically monitors the average brightness level of a scene and uses picture analysis to dynamically load an appropriate LUT. Panasonic has also improved calibration steps. To ensure that its screens match the directors creative intent, Panasonic has been working with Hollywood giant Deluxe for tuning. The FZ952 will come with a new version of the Dynamic Blade speaker, co-produced with Technics. Demos to Inside CI confirmed an improvement in clarity and volume. Panasonic also introduced four new 4K Blu-ray players: the DP-UB820, DP-UB420, DP-UB330 and DP-UB320. Both the DP-UB820 and DP-UB420 will support HDR10+ content, with the DP-UB820 also adding Dolby Vision compliance. The quartet feature an HCX processor which applies chroma and gradation processing developed at the Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory (PHL), as well as an HDR Optimizer, which allows for more accurate tone mapping of HDR content on HDR displays with limited peak brightness. Theres also HDR to SDR conversion, which is optimised tone remapping for SDR TVs. While 4K TVs go mainstream, 8K finally looks to be a key emerging technology. Sony and Samsung both impressed with prototype screens. Sonys 10,000nit 85-incher was a genuine dazzler, offering superb dynamics, startling spectral peaks and stunning detail. The screen employed a new version of the brands X1 processor, the X1 Ultimate, said to be four times more powerful than the X1 Extreme (used on the A1). This processor was also demonstrated having a big impact on a 4K OLED panel, delivering greater contrast and image detail. Although Sony is making no announcements, new flagship screens using the high-power processor are certainly on the cards. Its increasingly looking likely that Samsung will be the first major brand to launch an 8K panel. The 85-inch Q9S 8K TV is expected to launch in Korea and the US mid-2018, with a European launch to follow. The company says newly developed AI algorithms can upscale any source to 8K, from 4K to standard definition. The set boasts an advanced back-lighting system for improved black levels. Certainly it looked very impressive. Samsung also delighted with The Wall, its first MicroLED prototype. JH Han, President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics says the aim is to make the giant screen the center of everyday life. MicroLED is a mash-up of semiconductor processing techniques and LED technology. The pixels in a MicroLED module are much smaller than those in a conventional LED display, and thanks its bezel-less modular design, consumers can add to the screen as required. Advanced processing techniques also promise low input lag and fast frame rate support. Perhaps the most unusual screen prototype at the show came from LG Display. It had a rollable OLED panel, which popped up from a sizable looking cabinet. The screen offered variable levels of visibility. It could raise purely to provide a thin notification bar, perhaps for a news ticker or weather information, or to present a 21:9 ratio cinemascope display. At full stretch, it could extend fully to become a regular widescreen TV. LG also had an 88-inch 8K OLED prototype, presumably just to show it could make such a beast if needed. Elsewhere, Sony took Ultra Short Throw projection to new heights (and costs) with its 4K Laser LSPX-A1, complete with ingenious glass tube speaker system, but it wasnt the only one to bank on the form factor. Changhong and Hisense both had UST projectors. The latter was particularly impressive. Running footage in a theatre room from Planet Earth 2, the 4K laser demonstrated deep blacks, vibrant colours and sharp detail. Itll be interesting to see if Hisense brings this to the UK. Finally, one of the more intriguing partnerships to emerge at CES was Meridian Audio and LG. The first fruit of their union will be a soundbar and a range of party speakers with bright flashing lights. We cant wait to hear what they sound like... LIVE Razboi in Ucraina, ziua 268: Rusii au tras asupra Kievului o racheta din care au desurubat focosul nuclear / Schauble o critica aspru pe Merkel / Trupele lui Putin se concentreaza pe intarirea pozitiilor defensive / Presa rusa se bucura ca Ucraina e in pragul inghetului si al intunericului total Update 6/12/18 SOA has opened its new regional headquarters in Anderson as well as another newly built property in the city. The company held grand-opening celebrations for both facilities earlier this month, according to a press release. SOA completed its purchase of the 230,000-square-foot Warner Press building last year. The first phase of the regional headquarters includes 218 climate-controlled units and a 10,000-square-foot co-work/executive office space under the brand Work, etc. Additional phases will include a 3,000-square-foot retail store as well as more storage units and office space. Once complete, the facility will contain 700 climate-controlled units, the release stated. The ground-up facility at 8805 Pendleton Pike contains 270 units. Plans are underway to add a self-serve kiosk to the site, accordion to the companys website. 1/19/18 Storage of America LLC (SOA), which operates seven self-storage facilities in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, will receive a tax abatement from Anderson, Ind., for moving its corporate headquarters into the former Warner Press building at 1201 E. 5th St., near Anderson University. The project will include 50,000 square feet of self-storage, a retail store, and rentable work space in addition to corporate offices, according to a source. SOA intends to invest about $200,000 and create 15 jobs at $21.63 per hour, Kathleen Lamb, vice president of operations, told a source. The facility will house the companys call center, and may eventually include a manufacturing component that would provide parts to its store locations. The city council granted a 10-year tax abatement that will begin at 100 percent before decreasing annually by 10 percent, a source reported. The abatement was one of three given recently by the council on projects that represent more than $1 million in investment and will create 20 jobs. Warner Press is a nonprofit business-administration service that provides church and ministry resources, childrens products, and greeting cards to its partners. It's been headquartered in Anderson since 1906. It vacated the 5th Street building in the 1990s when it moved its operation to the Flagship Enterprise Center, according to a source. Founded in 2003 and currently based in Indianapolis, SOA has 10 self-storage locations under development, according to its website. It uses a vertical-integration model, in which 12 wholly owned subsidiaries perform most of the design, planning and construction on its projects. The charming French fishing town of Collioure is just miles from Spain, and its culture and dining are influenced by both countries, writes Carolyn Moore. Im about to let you in on a little secret. Ive discovered one of the worlds most beautiful holiday destinations, and its on the south-coast of France. I know what youre thinking: You dont say! But it isnt Cannes, or Nice or Marseille, or any of the usual suspects. Its Collioure, a quiet little French-Catalan fishing town, on the border with Spain, and it is Frances best-kept secret. You might think that depends on the kind of holiday you like, but having spent a few days here eating, wine-tasting, gallery-hopping, soaking up the sun, and even taking to the sparkling Mediterranean waters on a kayak (youd have to know me to appreciate just how improbable that last one is) whatever floats your boat, youll find it here. Located just 26km from the Spanish border, Collioure is firmly French, but it shares a common history and culture with its Catalan cousins, and the yellow-and-red Catalan flag is flown with evident pride. Small, colourful, impossibly picturesque, with a bustling hub and a charmingly laid-back vibe, the town has forged together a mish mash of cultural influences over the centuries. It is a proudly French-Catalan town sur-la-mer. Its slower and less glitzy than its Riviera counterparts, so party animals need not apply, but it has the kind of relaxed pace that allows you to mould your time into the ideal break for you. Maybe thats a romantic getaway, wandering the cobbled streets hand-in-hand and enjoying copious ice cream and coffee pit-stops under creeping clematis vines at little rustic cafes? Or, maybe you prefer to anchor your days around an activity, like hiking into the surrounding hills and vineyards, snorkeling from the pebbled beach just steps away from the town square, or exploring the Cote Vermeille in a kayak? Foodies will love it here. The fusion of Catalan and French cultures is most evident to the average visitor in the food and in the local wine; and if a little bit of culture is on the menu, you can visit the modern art museum, trace the path of Fauvism along the scenic harbour front, or visit one of the numerous, historical fortifications that loom over this medieval trading hub. Once a busy port town, Collioures status as a trading hub began to decline in the 1500s, whereupon it retired into the comfortable, sleepy fishing village status it continues to enjoy today. Under French control since the 1600s, before the Catalans, it was variously in the hands of the Visigoths, the Counts of Roussillon, and the Kings of Majorca. With that much coming-and-going, its little wonder the town became so heavily fortified, as each subsequent occupier left their mark architecturally, whether it be the castles, towers, or the striking hill-top Fort St Elme. Home to dozens of art galleries and a modern art museum, the town has captivated artists for hundreds of years, and its easy to see why. It even has its own signature colour scheme, boiled lobster, a peachy-pinky hue, set against pistachio green woodwork or pastel-painted shutters, so that the winding streets are like a cocktail of sorbets. Having become a hub of artistic activity in the early 20th century, Collioure came to be known as the city of painters, and it continues to be a place of pilgrimage for paintbrush-toting artists. The ridiculously phallic church tower on the harbour is one of the most painted buildings in France. Henri Matisse said: In the whole of France, there is no sky as blue as the one above Collioure, and he should know, as it was here that his artistic exploration gave birth to Fauvism. Sadly, there are no original Fauvist works on show in the town, but dozens of reproductions of the works of Matisse and Andre Derain punctuate the Path of Fauvism, an outdoor tour of the towns most painted vistas and buildings. Mounted exactly where the fathers of Fauvism painted the originals, the reproductions make for a fascinating compare-and-contrast between Collioure then and now; and they really serve to highlight just how little has changed since Matisse turned his eye to these vistas over 100 years ago. The best time to do the tour is early evening, when the unique quality of the light makes clear why it continues to captivate artists. While the brightly coloured fishing boats in the harbour might now be more for show than anything, the hills enclosing the little port are virtually unchanged, with the imposing tower and castle still looming over the harbour, watched over by Fort St. Elme on high. Taking a wander up those hills is well worth the effort. Energetic types can hike it in an hour, but, for a more leisurely experience, take the gravity-defying tourist train from the town square. Called The Little Tourist Train, it might be more aptly named The Little Engine that Could, as its a miracle of modern physics that it can drag four carriages of anchovy-filled tourists up those steep slopes. As the cobbled streets give way to dirt tracks through lemon groves and vineyards, the full expanse of the glittering Med opens out in front you and it genuinely is breathtaking. At the top, a history-focused tour of Fort St. Elme passes an interesting hour, and the view from the castellated tower is sensational. Afterwards, enjoy a lunch at one of the towns many tapas bars, the best of which is the small, but wonderfully authentic Casa Gala, where Iberian hams and melt-in-your-mouth anchovies are served up alongside squid and garlic-infused escargot. Theyll recommend wine by the glass to savour with each delicacy, or serve up a refreshing pitcher of white wine sangria to get you through a leisurely lunch. Whatever your feelings about anchovies (I thought I hated them), park them at the door (I ended up eating nothing but for the duration of my stay!). Theyve been the local speciality for hundreds of years, and are still fished and preserved close to the harbour. At their most delicious simply preserved in vinegar and eaten fresh, they just melt in the mouth. In his book, Salt, Mark Kurlansky described them as the best in the world, and Im not about to argue. Theyre celebrated with an annual anchovy festival each June, when every restaurant in town makes a point to serve them up in new and unusual ways. The nearly city of Perpignan is the gateway to this largely undiscovered part of France, and with Aer Lingus now doing summer flights from Dublin to Perpignan, its opened up the region for Irish tourists, and Collioure, in particular just 30 minutes from Perpignan is a gem of a destination just waiting to be discovered. - Aer Lingus offers four flights per week from Dublin to Perpignan during the summer, with prices for 2018 starting at 69.99 one-way. - Alternatively, Carcassonne airport is 90 minutes away, while Girona airport is just over an hour away. GETTING THERE Where to stay: Nestled into a hillside just a short stroll from the town centre, the Hotel Madeloc (from 75 per night) offers peace and quiet, with spacious rooms that each has balconies or terraces overlooking the surrounding mountains. The pool is a treat, and the views from the outdoor hot tub are pretty spectacular. See madeloc.com. Where to eat: It should come as no surprise that an historic fishing town on the Mediterranean has no shortage of great seafood, but the strong Catalan influences means along with Collioures famous anchovies, Spanish style cured meats and Iberian hams also abound. As with most towns with a strong culture of meat eating, vegetarian dining is tricky, but not impossible. For lunch or an informal dinner, try La Casa Gala Tapas Bar, 18 Rue de la Fraternite. Tucked down an impossibly pretty laneway, this tiny but charming spot serves classic Catalan tapas with a distinctly French twist, but seating is limited so booking is advisable. For dinner, splash out on some great seafood in Le Neptune, 9 Route de Port-Vendres. The five course set menu is good value at 59, but its the views that set this place apart, and dining while watching the sun set over one of the most painted landscapes in the world is simply priceless. What to do: Take advantage of the towns genuine seaside location with wonderful snorkeling just yards from the town square, or for something more leisurely take a cruise or a pedal boat. The best way to experience the sparkling waters of the Med is bobbing gently along on a kayak tour of the caves and coves of this beautiful coastline. All levels are welcome on Kayak de Mers tours, starting in nearby Banyuls-sur-mer. Lessons, sunrise and sunset experiences are available, or spend a half day on the sea, with snorkeling, for 30. See kayakmer.net. Quite some years ago, I took a stroll up the vertiginous incline of Barracka (local parlance for Barrack St) with The Money, a potential investor seeking guidance, writes Joe McNamee. Though scruffy and beaten-up, I was convinced (and still am) it had all the potential to become a creative hotspot, a class of Bohemian quarter with huge footfall, where the right sort of food establishment could really prosper. I make no claims to be the first to tap into Barrack Streets potential for rejuvenation that honour belongs to the original pathfinder, the late, lamented publican, Tom Barry, whose eponymous pub, halfway up the hill, remains one of Leesides most iconic drinking emporiums, for years almost the sole flickering candle on a street grown increasingly dark. In the years since The Money and I went a-prospecting on Barracka, Tom added a further two bars to the streets portfolio but the real gamechanger was the arrival of Miyazaki (around the corner on Evergreen St but still very much in the heart of the neighbourhood), a tiny Japanese takeaway that has become a national smash. Further additions include the excellent Alchemy coffee shop and Barbarella, a funky new boozer with an old school ambience, outside the walls of the splendid Elizabethan fort. Now we have Bao Boi. Masterminded by Bryan McCarthy, Executive Chef at Greenes Restaurant, it is an Asian-themed eatery specialising in the steamed Taiwanese bun known as a bao. Cat swingers would be well advised to practice their craft elsewhere for Bao Boi is tiny: a compact service counter, stools lining one wall and the front window, all leaving room for little else, but tasty woodwork and a meandering mural by West Cork-based artist Corina Thornton make for a pleasant little space. The small kitchen is to the rear. The menu is surprisingly extensive but today we are all about a bao. Our server advises that one makes for a tasty snack, two, a filling meal, so we order five and pass the time with a fresh, crunchy Asian slaw and a funky sweet/sour in-house kimchi. The bao bun is pillow-soft and virginal pale-white, the elongated oval folded back over its filling. Our first rendition is the Vegan, a sweet, rich meatless ragout of Ballyhoura Mushrooms with a clever vegan mayo. It is easily the match of its subsequent carnivorous competitors. We are told Market Fish Bao contains plaice but it looks more like whitefish, probably haddock, delicious breaded fish smothered in a fine Seaweed & Lemon mayo with pickled dillisk. The splendidly-monickered Bao Chicka Bao Wow features tender chicken in a crisp coating with a seaweed salad and pickles while Beef Bao hosts tender braised featherblade, pickled gherkin and wasabi adding a kick in the rear. As one of our party is anaphylactic, a traditional Sticky Pork Bao is delivered with all the caution of a nuclear scientist handling high grade plutonium, in this case, crushed peanut, along with kimchi and Sriracha chilli sauce. Though sweet and tasty, pleasure is drained by the longing looks of the aforementioned anaphylactic, causing it to be wolfed down with scant pause to savour. A Vietnamese-style Ban Mi baguette, with pork and beef, is authentically delivered, particularly, the fine bread from El-Door Bakery, on MacCurtain St. Im left on my own with the Skeaghanore Duck Hearts & Gizzards, the rest of the squad proving squeamish at mere mention of offal. Coated in panko breadcrumbs and deep-fried, they come with a dipping sauce, actually a turbo-charged dashi, but the liquid fails to adequately transfer its hefty umami to the crispy flavour bombs so I end up dunking them instead in a Sriracha mayo every last one of them, criminally addictive little beggars blithely ignorant of my point of satiation. On first glance, passing punters may well be inclined to dismiss Bao Boi as yet another takeaway on Barracka but it is so much more; Asian themes are brought to bear on solid Irish provenance with some mighty fine local producers (including superb Red Strand Coffee) and butchers underpinning the output, punningly dubbed Corkasian. Ally that to some serious craft in the kitchen and you have a fast food menu with a real Slow Food heart. Best of all, were only halfway through it, ensuring a rapid return in coming weeks! The tab 54 (for four, excluding tip, including two desserts, soft drinks) How to Tuesday to Sunday, 12.30pm to 11pm The verdict Food: 8 Service: 9 Value: 9 Atmosphere: 8 Bao Boi, 128 Barrack Street, Cork Tel: 021-4311715; www.baoboi.ie Speaking at the recent Economic Conference on Brexit in Killarney the Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster called for further strengthening of the ties between the two states on this island. Ms Foster said there are more things to unite than divide Britain and Ireland as the UK prepares to split from Europe and said she planned to raise the prospect enhancing Anglo-Irish relations when she meets Irelands Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney. The accused allegedly raped the 19-year-old model after offering a ride from a bar where they partied Thursday night. Former UK Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire has revealed that he has undergone lung surgery. The UK Conservative MP made the announcement on Twitter, less than two weeks after stepping down from the Cabinet post on medical grounds. In his resignation letter to British Prime Minister Theresa May he said he required an operation to remove a small lesion in his right lung. Posting a picture of himself in hospital, the 50-year-old Old Bexley and Sidcup MP wrote: Discharged from hospital this morning after my lung surgery. The #NHS doctors, nurses and support staff were absolutely outstanding and I could not have been in better hands. One hard step done but now the steady recovery and recuperation ahead. Will be taking things steadily. pic.twitter.com/H1zlNfrqMO James Brokenshire (@JBrokenshire) January 20, 2018 He received messages of support from British MPs including Cheryl Gillan, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Guy Opperman, and Ms Mays ex-MP chief of staff Gavin Barwell. Mr Brokenshire had used Twitter to reveal on Tuesday that he was due to have the surgery in upcoming days. Has been a difficult 2018 so far with obvious challenges to come in the days and weeks ahead. Have been strengthened by my wonderful family & after all the kind and humbling comments from so many people thought I would share some of my experience before the op #Keepingpositive https://t.co/aajTprvmhx James Brokenshire (@JBrokenshire) January 16, 2018 Stepping down from the Government on January 8, Mr Brokenshire said the surgery would mean he could not give the "effort, energy and complete focus" needed for the Northern Ireland post, which was filled by Karen Bradley. Efforts to restore the powersharing administration in Northern Ireland and the impact of Brexit on Ireland mean that the role is demanding and sensitive and Mr Brokenshire said he had hoped to lead the "essential work with renewed intent" before his diagnosis. In his letter to Ms May he said: "I recognise that this comes at an important moment for politics in Northern Ireland." Mr Brokenshire, 50, said he had been informed about the lesion "in the last few days" after a series of tests in recent weeks. The Prime Minister appeared to hold out the prospect of a return to government for Mr Brokenshire, who had previously served under her in the Home Office with responsibility for security and immigration. PA and Digital desk Principal investigator at APC Microbiome Ireland in University College Cork, Colin Hill, said faecal transplants are being used to cure very difficult to treat hospital-acquired infections. Also, patients are increasingly taking probiotics following a course of antibiotics to prevent subsequent infection. The professor of microbial food safety in UCCs School of Microbiology said they are also isolating bacterial viruses from hospitals and developing them as antimicrobials. This is not a fight that has been abandoned because there is nothing we can do, said Prof Hill at a meeting of international scientists in Cork yesterday. We can isolate bacterial viruses in the human body. Bacterial viruses kill bacteria so we can turn those viruses on the bacteria that are causing infection. We are at the forefront of research mining the human microbiome to develop new narrow-spectrum antimicrobials that only kill the target species. This will limit resistance in non-target species and the resulting damage to human health. We are also developing live therapeutic bacteria, bacteriophages [viruses which kill bacteria] and faecal microbiota transplants as alternative therapeutics to antibiotics. Every year more than 700,000 people throughout the world die from infections that are resistant to current antibiotics. By 2050 drug-resistant infections will take an estimated 10m lives per year. The conference at UCC held by APC Microbiome Ireland discussed solutions to anti-microbial resistance. HSE clinical chief Martin Cormican warned that a superbug is spreading through Irish hospitals at the rate of about one a day. There is about one new case of carbapenemase-producing enterobacteriaceae [CPE] found in Ireland every day, said Prof Cormican. The HSEs national lead for healthcare-associated infection and antimicrobial resistance said CPE was declared a public health emergency last October. But so far, about three months into this emergency, we are not making progress as quickly as we need to if we are to control this, said Prof Cormican. UCCs head of pharmacy, Stephen Byrne, said studies in Ireland have shown the overuse of antimicrobials in primary care. Some GPs are prescribing antibiotics even if they are unnecessary, said Mr Byrne because they feel pressured by patients. The use of antibiotics in Ireland during the period 2012 to 2016 continued to rise and Ireland, along with Belgium and France, is a higher consumer of antimicrobials relative to other EU countries, said Mr Byrne. Scientific and archaeological analysis of the remains discovered by Michael Chambers on Bengorm Mountain two years ago show they were placed there around 1,200 years apart, some as early as 3,600 BC. Rather than a burial place, osteoarchaeologist Linda Lynch said it was a ritual place where bodies were placed to decompose. Only a very small proportion of each skeleton was found, with the majority of bones apparently deliberately removed. The discovery indicates highly complex processing of the dead, she said. The bones of at least 10 adults, adolescents, and children were identified from those removed in a rescue excavation directed by Marion Dowd of Institute of Technology Sligo, a leading expert in cave archaeology. She was commissioned to undertake the work by the Department of Culture, Heritage, and the Gaeltachts National Monuments service after the bones were determined to be ancient. Bengorm Mountain Mayo, the remote location of the discovery. Mr Chambers came across them in a cave-like chamber among massive boulders in the north-west Mayo mountain in August 2016. The bones were scattered over the rock floor, prompting the investigation that has led to the details released yesterday by Culture, Heritage, and Gaeltacht minister of state Josepha Madigan. She thanked the hillwalking community for reporting the find. This is a fascinating archaeological discovery. Such vigilance is extremely important to us in helping to protect and understanding our archaeological heritage, said Ms Madigan. The excavation and research, commissioned in consultation with the National Museum of Ireland, found that the most recent remains are those of a child who died around 2,400 BC. The pit in the cave which held human remains following the excavation. It is now believed that the bodies were brought into the cave chamber and laid out in a pit. At some later point, the skulls may have been deliberately broken in a complex burial ritual and the larger bones removed. Large pieces of quartz had been placed in and around the bones. When the radiocarbon dates came through it was very exciting, said Dr Dowd. Not only were these bones Neolithic, but the dates showed the site had been used for over 1,000 years. Ms Madigan said the glimpses into prehistoric Ireland more than 5,000 years ago show archaeologys enduring capacity to enthral. Such discoveries... demonstrate how advances in scientific research are affording us a better understanding of Irelands ancient past and its people, she said. The question is deadly serious, but at times its essence is in danger of getting lost in the machinations of the Disclosures Tribunal. Two weeks into this module of the tribunal, there are times when it appears as if Maurice McCabe is on trial. His motives, his alleged utterances, how he changed in the wake of a life-altering experience, are all parsed in the context of why he brought forward allegations of serious malpractice in the force. Thats nobodys fault. Natural justice demands no less, as the question at the heart of the tribunal is a deadly serious one for all involved, including the other senior officers at the OHiggins commission, which was held in private. At this stage, a few matters have crystallised. Evidence has been heard about the run-up to and opening days of OHiggins. At a consultation to brief lawyers on May 11, 2015, three days before the scheduled opening, a picture was painted of Sgt McCabe that was less than flattering. The lawyers were briefed that there had been an allegation from the daughter of a colleague back in 2006, (known as Ms D) which had been dealt with by the DPP, who said no crime was committed. Sgt McCabe, though, was unhappy at how the matter was dealt with, as he had to work with the girls father. The gardai believed he bore a grievance since then. A note from state solicitor Annmarie Ryan stated that the meeting was told that Sgt McCabe said to a senior officer: I will bring this job to its knees. He had said no such thing. Chief superintendent Fergus Healy, who was the commissioners liaison officer, told the tribunal that he may have said that (about McCabe) but it wasnt a direct quote. Well, it was kind of a thing that was known, you know, within Garda management, that had happened. It was pointed out to Ms Ryan at the tribunal that nothing good was said about Sgt McCabe at the meeting. All of this was supposed to be background material, to give the lawyers a picture of the man who had made allegations about poor standards of policing and accountability. None of it was within the terms of reference of OHiggins, which had been set up on foot of a non-statutory inquiry, prompted by revelations in the Dail by Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin. Two days later, Colm Smyth, the senior counsel for Noirin OSullivan and other senior officers, concluded that Sgt McCabes motivation should be challenged based on the fall-out from the historic allegation. The reasons for pursuing motivation were that Sgt McCabe had made allegations of corruption as defined by the Garda charter against senior officers. During the subsequent OHiggins hearings, these allegations were withdrawn or dismissed. Two days into the hearings, the motivation issue exploded. A row blew up at OHiggins when Sgt McCabes counsel, Michael McDowell, objected to a line of questioning. He wanted some basis on which Sgt McCabes motivation would be challenged. That was a Friday. Over the weekend, a document was prepared. The tribunal was told it had three authors, the superintendents Noel Cunningham and Mick Clancy, and retired chief superintendent Colm Rooney. All had dealt with Sgt McCabe in relation to the Ms D allegation and its fall-out. Mr Clancy wasnt physically present to contribute at that time. The actual document was prepared by the commissioners legal team. In an email, Ms Ryan stated that it was of the UTMOST (her caps) importance that the content of the document be factually accurate. As it turned out, it contained a crucial error that changed its meaning. This concerned a line that suggested Sgt McCabe had told Supt Cunningham in 2008 that he made complaints against Superintendent Clancy rather than to Superintendent Clancy. Tribunal lawyer Kathleen Leader suggested the error had Sgt McCabe engaging in blackmail of Supt Clancy to have the DPP directions released to Ms Ds family in order to illuminate how emphatically he had been cleared. A draft was sent to Supt Cunningham, but he didnt spot the error. He told the tribunal he didnt print it out but read it from his phone and has poor eyesight. This was a document to be submitted to a statutory inquiry, outlining an issue Ms Ryan had noted was political dynamite. That was the Saturday night. On Monday morning, Supt Cunningham signed off on the document. He claims he wasnt given a chance to read it. When Sgt McCabe saw the document, he remembered the meeting in question, and produced a recording he had made of it, which was at variance with the document, but coincided with Supt Cunninghams report in 2008. The error was compounded in a submission three weeks later which also suggested that Sgt McCabe had been guilty of the blackmail. There were also other errors in the document, that Judge Charleton characterised as a charge sheet which had a string of errors. The error about the 2008 meeting was eventually addressed by Supt Cunningham in evidence, but nobody apologised to Sgt McCabe for casting aspersions on his integrity in the document. Yesterday, the matter of apology was put to Supt Healy, who was in the witness box. I dont recollect that any thought was given to it or not, he said. Certainly now I would have to apologise for it. It would be completely wrong not to. That was the first occasion since the matter arose on May 15, 2015, that anybody apologised to Sgt McCabe for an erroneous allegation that he attempted to blackmail a senior officer. He will testify as to what effect it had on him when he gives evidence, most likely early the week after next. The tribunals terms of reference specify inquiring into whether a false allegation of sexual abuse was used against Sgt McCabe at OHiggins. On Thursday, Judge Charleton surmised that it is now accepted that such an allegation was not used. Now he has to examine whether anything else was used to attack Sgt McCabe at OHiggins. Minister of state for business, Heather Humphreys, who has responsibility for the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), which inspects vessels, said that it has 10 WRC inspectors with the relevant safety and survival training to carry out fishing inspections and investigations. She said 181 fishing vessels come under the scope of the new atypical worker permission scheme for non-EU workers of which 174 are currently active or operational. To date, 165 of these vessels have been inspected by the WRC, she said. In total, some 240 inspections of these vessels were undertaken by the WRC in the period July 2016 to December 31, 2017. 202 contraventions were detected by WRC inspectors to the end of 2017. Those contraventions included 71 failures to keep employment records; 29 cases where the non-EU fisherman did not have permission to work; 25 where the vessels were found to have failed to issue payslips; 13 where the vessel failed to comply with the terms of the atypical scheme; six failures to pay correct rates. Ms Humphreys said 112 contravention notices have been issued to date by the WRC with one case going as far as prosecution and initiated in four others. Current investigations by the WRC have been completed in respect of 95 of the 181 vessels, said Ms Humphreys. Five of those cases involved unpaid wages amounting to almost 6,300. The majority of the unpaid wages related to failure to pay the national minimum wage rates and/or public holiday entitlements. Ms Humphreys, in answer to a series of parliamentary questions from People Before Profit TD Mick Barry, also said HSA inspectors had carried out 73 inspections of vessels on health and safety grounds leading to seven improvement notices being served and 40 reports of inspection issued for more minor health and safety breaches. People Before Profit TD Mick Barry. Ken Fleming of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) who has been inspecting vessels in Irish ports for the last 13 years questioned how the WRC could properly probe the 71 vessels where no employment records were found as these are essential to the rest of the inspection. He also questioned how a cohort of 10 inspectors had still not managed to inspect all the vessels in the space of almost 18 months. The 6,300 recovered is a very small amount and implies the manner in which the WRC applies its inspections is ineffective because there are fishermen out there owed thousands of euro, said Mr Fleming. Those cases are being processed by the ITF through the WRC and we have referred a number of cases to gardai over trafficking and forced labour concerns. Mr Fleming also said the number of permits issued has halved in 2017 compared to 2016. Maybe the industry realises that there is no real enforcement from the various government departments and therefore no consequences. My question is who are now working on theses boats, he said. Boats employers that had convinced the Government to grant a permit scheme because no Irish workers were available. Its far from a mystery what is really going on. GSOC, which investigates complaints and other incidents involving gardai, says its operational independence is compromised by the requirement. It also wants powers to carry out unannounced searches of Garda stations. Under current laws, it must give advance notice to the Garda commissioner. The changes are among a list of demands in a strongly worded submission to the minister for justice in which GSOC says it needs complete independence from the department, more money, and a radical overhaul of its powers if it is to do its job properly. The submission was sent last month after pleas for extra resources and revamped powers over the previous 18 months went largely unanswered. GSOC says the current limits on its powers render many investigations futile, cause unacceptable delays and lead to dissatisfaction for complainants and gardai alike with the bodys credibility and public confidence in it suffering as a result. GSOC says it is not satisfactory that the minister for justice controls its budget and staffing. We believe that independence and public confidence in the system would be enhanced by the designation of GSOC as a fully independent body. It also wants an end to the practice of referring complaints of a non-criminal nature back to gardai for investigation which, it says, is questionable in terms of public confidence. Where a GSOC investigation finds misconduct of a non-criminal nature, GSOC can only recommend that sanctions be applied. It says it must have powers to impose its findings. The Garda Siochana may decide that there is no breach, take no action and provide no rationale to GSOC. This happens often. It contributes to a feeling of futility for a complainant and for us, it says. It also wants stronger legal obligations on gardai to co-operate with investigations, particularly when it comes to handing over documents and other forms of information, saying it experiences difficulty in securing co-operation in this regard. And it wants the power to filter out customer-service type complaints and resolve them, if the complainant agrees, at local station level. Currently they must be individually notified to the commissioner and then put through lengthy investigations focused on retribution rather than resolution. GSOC has dealt with over 23,000 complaints from the public since it was set up in 2007 as well as 900 referrals from the Garda Siochana itself plus numerous investigations requested by ministers for justice, including a long-running one into the penalty points scandal which was abandoned last month after it was decided the investigation was too large and resources too tight to continue with it. Justice Mary Ellen ring. Publication of the submission followed remarks by GSOC chairperson, Justice Mary Ellen Ring, earlier this week when she said the commission had been unable to investigate 20 protected disclosures from garda whistleblowers because it did not have enough staff. The submission states: GSOC acknowledges that its proposals have significant implications for the resourcing of the organisation. The co-leader of the Social Democrats Roisin Shortall called on the minister to act swiftly on GSOCs calls. Recent Garda controversies have taken their toll on both morale within the force and public confidence, she said. We must not have a situation where sensible proposals from the Garda oversight agency are not implemented or resourced. The Department of Justice said the minister had requested the submission from GSOC and he would bring a memorandum to the Government on its proposals. In a surprising and powerful 20-minute speech on Thursday, Mr Martin said that he would support the recommendations of the Oireachtas committee on the Eighth Amendment, including providing unrestricted access to abortion up to 12 weeks gestation. His comments sparked criticism and praise from within his party, whose members have been given a free vote on the matter. Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Mr Martin said there has been a lot of silence in the country and he hopes discussions around abortion and the Eighth Amendment may give people a voice to tell their stories. A lot of people have opened up to me since I gave my speech in the Dail, he said, telling of one woman, who had experienced a fatal foetal abnormality, ringing him yesterday morning. Mr Martin said that his opinions had evolved in recent years, but cited two pivotal moments which helped cement his views. The first came two years ago when he met women who were forced to travel to the UK for abortions after finding out their children had fatal foetal abnormalities. The second was when he had the time to examine the expert and medical testimony heard by the Oireachtas committee over the Christmas break. Two years ago, I would have met with women who had to go to England with fatal foetal abnormalities and those stories were harrowing, said Mr Martin. He said the personal accounts of women who had to transport the remains home in the boot of their cars had a deep impact on him. After meeting those women, I would have heard of other cases that I knew, but there has been a lot of silence in the country. A number of Fianna Fail backbenchers yesterday came out against Mr Martin, including CarlowKilkenny TD Bobby Aylward, who said he would be organising a meeting next week of Fianna Fail members who are opposed to a repeal of the Eighth Amendment to discuss the matter. Mr Martin said he understands that it is a very difficult issue for many in his party and some members will be disappointed by his comments. I understand that people have their own deeply held views, said Mr Martin, adding that he hoped the calm approach which had so far been taken in discussing the Eighth Amendment would continue. He defended his decision to make his comments in the Dail and not during a parliamentary party meeting held earlier in the week. He said: I though the best platform was the Dail itself because I had 20 minutes to lay it out for everybody in the Dail. It allowed me to lay my views out in a structured way. Sometimes in modern politics the platform of the parliamentary speech is not given the same important as it may have previously got. Mr Martin added that he thought it would not have been right to announce his opinions at a media event. Miriam OCallaghan, who was joint MC for the awards ceremony along with RTE Prime Time colleague David McCullagh, announced the special award for Ted Crosbie, pointing out that he had done as much as any other to enhance Corks reputation and to ensure that it makes headlines day by day, and year by year. She said the Cork Examiner/Irish Examiner had survived the Famine, First World War, the War of Independence, Civil War, the Great Depression of 1930, de Valeras Economic War, the Second World War, and a number of recessions. He has been a dominant force in his company and in the civil life of Cork and Munster for decades, during which he has been a relentless pioneer for innovation and a force for constructive change, achieved through consultation and mutual agreement, Ms OCallaghan said. Mr McCullagh noted: This does not mean he is a soft touch. Anyone who has been in a negotiation with this man will know the meaning of the words hard bargain. Tom Murphy, CEO, Landmark Media; Ted Crosbie, director, Landmark Media; and Tim Cramer, former editor of The Cork Examiner. Even now, in his late 80s, he can be found every day walking the editorial floor of the newspaper, talking to reporters and news editors, sharing story ideas with a twinkling good humour and always supporting the freedom of the press. He is, as has been said in the past few weeks, a journalists dream proprietor, Mr McCullagh said. Both MCs said that the principal shareholder of Landmark Media and a former chief executive and director of what was known for many years as Thomas Crosbie Holdings was richly deserving of the award. Mr Crosbie has been a stalwart supporter of the Cork Person of the Year Awards and Ms OCallaghan added that he had lent his name to a host of charities and good causes locally. He is a civic leader who has demonstrated a deep and abiding interest in his local community and its heritage, she said. A proud Corkonian, educated in CBC and UCC, he is a great family man and is here today with his daughters Elizabeth and Sophie, his sons Tom, Andrew, and Edward, and his sister Ruth. Ted Crosbie starts production of the first run of the Cork Weekly Examiner to be printed using the web-offset system at Academy St, Cork, on May 9, 1976. Both congratulated Mr Crosbie on his formidable achievements in a lifetime of service. Mr Cosbie thanked everyone concerned for giving him the honour, and spent some time regaling the audience with stories of the newspapers past, sprinkling his speech with witticisms. Earlier, his son Tom Crosbie, Landmark Media chairman, had spoken about the sale of the Evening Echo, Irish Examiner, and other titles to the Irish Times. Were delighted and relieved that the future is secured by the sale to the Irish Times., said Tom Crosbie. But were saddened that the family connection will come to an end in the next few months, subject to regulatory approval. Chief Superintendent Fergus Healy said that Garda counsel at the OHiggins inquiry had recommended challenging Sgt McCabes motivation and credibility after forming the view that the triggering factor for his complaints about poor policing and corruption stemmed from his unhappiness at not getting the directions of the DPP released in relation to a case involving him. Counsel for the Disclosure Tribunal Kathleen Leader said the strategy adopted by counsel for then-commissioner Noirin OSullivan was that Sgt McCabe had been effectively seeking to blackmail senior officers in making his series of complaints. She said this position was based on a fundamental error contained in a legal document compiled for the OHiggins commission by counsel and gardai over the weekend May 15-18, 2015 that Sgt McCabe had made a complaint against Supt Michael Clancy in order to seek the release of DPP directions, instead of a complaint to the superintendent regarding the release. Cross-examined by Ms Leader, Chief Supt Healy, who was Ms OSullivans liaison officer at the OHiggins inquiry, said it was hard to believe that such a small word made such a huge difference, but said that it had. The Disclosure Tribunal, chaired by Mr Justice Peter Charleton, is examining whether unjustified grounds were inappropriately relied upon by the former commissioner to discredit Sgt McCabe at the OHiggins commission, which was investigating complaints from the whistleblower about policing and corruption in Cavan/Monaghan. Chief Supt Healy said that in consultations, legal counsel for the commissioner was at pains to establish what was the triggering factor behind Sgt McCabes allegations. He said that arising out of counsels reading into their brief and hearing from gardai about Sgt McCabes perceived unhappiness in not securing release of DPPs directions, the counsel had sought instruction to pursue motive and credibility issues. Ms Leader questioned Chief Supt Healy about what information he relayed to Ms OSullivan in phone calls to her on May 15, 2015 after he was directed to urgently seek and confirm her instructions on the matter of challenging Sgt McCabes motivation and credibility. Chief Supt Healy said he told the commissioner that the counsel were advising they challenge Sgt McCabes motivation and credibility and said she was inclined to give instructions to that effect. Pressed by Mr Justice Charleton on what the commissioner knew before issuing her instructions, Chief Supt Healy said he told her about the refusal to circulate the DPPs instructions and how that was the lynch pin that started all these issues and the spark that lit the fuse. Chief Supt Healy pointed out that the commissioner would have had prior knowledge of all of these issues over a number of years. Asked by Michael McDowell SC, for Sgt McCabe, if he had any discussion with the commissioner about the sensitivities of attacking Sgt McCabes credibility and motives or whether it was wise to go down this road, he said that, to his recollection, he hadnt. Questioned about the mistakes in the legal document drafted over that weekend in May 2015, Chief Supt Healy said he was in the dark about them and that he was depending on other people to be accurate. Chief Supt Healy said the first meeting of their lead barrister, Colm Smyth SC, with Ms OSullivan was on May 21, 2015. He said that the main concern of the commissioner was in relation to the allegations of corruption made by Sgt McCabe, which he said was a very serious issue for her. He said Mr Smyth shared this view, but that he felt they would not stick allegations which Mr Justice OHiggins subsequently adjudged to be unfounded and unsupported by evidence. Chief Supt Healy said the prospect of the commissioner having to answer very difficult questioning from Mr McDowell about the motivation strategy when she was due to give evidence on November 4, 2015 rang alarm bells in his head and he feared another eruption like there was on May 15. He said he was relieved when this did not happen, after Mr Justice OHiggins ruled on the motivation issue. He said there was a significant media and political storm when there were newspaper articles (in the Irish Examiner) about the OHiggins commission in May 2016 and that he was called to Garda HQ and basically grilled in a meeting about what had gone on at the commission. Ms OSullivan is due to commence her evidence on Monday morning. The report into the Adults Services Palmerstown Designated Centre 6, operated by Stewarts Care in Dublin 20, highlighted significant concerns identified on both days of inspection resulted in two meetings with the provider and four immediate actions being issued. It found the centre had major non-compliances across all six standards reviewed, concluding the service was not safe and had failed to ensure residents were protected from abuse. One residents meal experience lasted a total of two minutes and 20 seconds, it said. Residents who required assistance were not given this and inspectors observed a resident with a visual impairment was left unsupervised. "It was evident from observations and from the assistive equipment used that this resident required assistance, however, the lack of supervision resulted in a significant portion of the residents meal falling on the floor and the resident eating some of their meal without cutlery. According to the report, inspectors identified a resident with specific hydration requirements was not being cared for appropriately and was presenting with symptoms of dehydration. Staff were not consistent with who was assigned to care for this resident. It also raised concerns over issues including peer-to-peer incidents of abuse, claiming in many cases they were not being adequately addressed by the provider. Hiqa was also critical of the service provided at Adults Services Palmerstown Designated Centre 2, also operated by Stewarts Care Limited and home to 30 residents. The inspection found major non-compliances in eight of the nine outcomes. It said residents were not supported with an acceptable standard of care and support, resulting in poor outcomes for residents, alongside evidence of institutional-type practices and care. Overall, it said that the provider had failed in its requirement to provide a safe and appropriate service. In finding that residents privacy and dignity was not upheld, inspectors observed a resident in one unit walk into the communal area from the bathroom on three occasions in a state of undress. Regarding safeguarding and safety, inspectors observed a number of residents were engaged in inappropriate sexualised behaviour in communal areas in one unit, to which there was a lack of response to protect both the residents engaged in the behaviour and peers in close proximity. In a second unit, there was no response by staff to attempt to support a number of residents, observed with exposed lower body parts. Peer-to-peer incidents were not appropriately reported to the relevant personnel, and healthcare needs at the centre were also not met according to the report. Hiqa said medication practices did not ensure residents were protected, including a reference to how one resident had not received medication as prescribed. The report mentioned how one resident asked to go for a walk mid-morning but was requested to wait until staff breaks were over. Two hours later this resident had still not been brought for a walk and staff cited this was due to staff being too busy, the report said. During this period of two hours, the inspectors observed that for a period of time, three staff were engaged in sorting laundry. The latest data, released by the Department of Housing on Thursday, shows there were 5,508 adults and 3,079 children without permanent accommodation last month a fall of 16 compared with the figure for November. The number of families in emergency accommodation decreased by 122 to 1,408. Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy said that while a lot more still needs to be done, a lot of good work was done last year and the figures are evidence of good progress for those families who were accommodated during the month of December. Focus Ireland welcomed the fall in the level of homelessness but stressed that it could be a seasonal drop due to the possibility of more people taking in extended family for the Christmas period. Focus Ireland director of advocacy Mike Allen said 2017 was still the worst year for homelessness in the history of the State. DePaul, which operates more than 200 One Night Only beds, referred to the increase of 64 in the number of adult males in homelessness in Dublin. Depaul CEO Kerry Anthony said: We need to do better for homeless adults. She added: The decrease in families experiencing homelessness is positive news and welcomed by Depaul, despite the very long way to go in accommodating the still shocking number of 1,408 families struggling in homelessness. As leader of one of the most conservative parties in one of Europes most conservative countries, his decision to back a significant liberalisation of our abortion laws was a courageous one, even if somewhat late. He said that, not only does he support removing the Eighth Amendment from the Constitution, he also supports the recommendations of the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Ammendment that abortions be made legal in all cases up to 12 weeks. He said that, after a long period of reflection, he feels the Eighth Amendment should be repealed. He will express his opinion on whether the amendment needs to be replaced once the Governments advice is known, but he feels it may be necessary to prevent inevitable court cases. Mr Martin said abortion is a present and permanent part of life. The Eighth Amendment does not mean that Ireland is a country without abortion, he said. Retaining the Eighth Amendment will not turn Ireland into a country without abortion... Nothing we say or do here could make Ireland a country without abortion. It was some distance from where he had stood previously. As someone who has been in Cabinet previously for 14 years, his conservative credentials are well-known and established. In 2001, while he was Minister for Health, he and his Government sought to strengthen the ban on abortion by removing the threat of suicide as a grounds for legal abortion in the State, as well as introducing new penalties for anyone performing an abortion. Speaking in the Dail on October 25, 2001, Mr Martin said: I believe that the majority of Irish people are opposed to any lessening of the protection currently afforded to the unborn and I have no doubt that any proposal to remove Article 40.3.3 from the Constitution, which would be necessary if it were proposed to legalise abortion, would fail. Introducing the 25th Amendment of the Constitution (Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy) Bill, 2001, Mr Martin said the Governments proposal would protect best medical practice, while providing for a legislative prohibition on abortion and underpinning such legislation with an amendment to the Constitution. The Government does not believe that a risk of suicide is a valid basis on which to provide for medical intervention, he said. The Government is aware, of course, that addressing these constitutional and legal issues may have little impact on Irish women who choose to travel abroad for abortions, he added, perhaps acknowledging the limitations of his argument. Even as late as 2013, he said Fianna Fail had an issue with including the risk of suicide in any legislation for the X case on abortion, saying he and the party would wait to see legislation before deciding whether or not to vote for it. He also said then that he would not favour widening legislation or changing the Constitution to include cases where a woman had become pregnant as a result of rape. Just last October, at his partys ard fheis, delegates overwhelmingly backed a motion urging opposition to changing the Eighth Amendment. Delegates at the partys ard fheis voted by three to one to back a motion from Kildare North constituency urging the party to oppose any attempt to diminish the constitutional rights of the unborn. The night before he delivered his speech, Martin too felt the wrath of the majority of his parliamentary party, who are uneasy, to say the least, about any move to liberalise abortion laws. They met over a period of more than three hours and speaker after speaker explained their concerns about what was being proposed. As audacious as Martins speech was in the Dail on Thursday, the ability of his health spokesman, Billy Kelleher, along with Lisa Chambers and Ned OSullivan, to propose the 12-week limit at the committee was seismic. Yesterday, the reaction within Fianna Fail to their leaders speech was mixed. Fianna Fail TDs praised Mr Martin publicly for his leadership, but privately some were horrified at his speech. One TD predicted he would be lynched, killed by his parliamentary party, while another said there would be war, but that it would ease off after a few days. Others said that Mr Martin had taken a very brave step politically and personally. The off-record grumblings are certainly there, but as long as they remain off-record then it would appear Martins gamble will pay off. If we had five of his front bench speaking out against him on the record, then he would genuinely be in trouble. But it was a rare too rare example, of leadership from the notoriously cautious Cork South-Central TD. In an instant, he not only put it up to his own party members to reform and modernise, he stumped Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as well. Varadkar is now the only leader not to declare his hand on the proposals put forward by the committee. His supporters have said he has deliberately stayed quiet to allow the more hardline elements within his own party to come around if at all possible, but Varadkar has made it known that he wants no repeat of the expulsion of party members that occurred in 2013, when Lucinda Creighton and six others walked the plank. He is, though, evidently edgy and nervous and, to be fair, Mr Varadkar is still a novice in a post where pitfalls abound. His silence has seen him lose the political initiative in the short run and could do longer-term damage to his standing. A known social conservative, much more so than his image would lead you to believe, Varadkar is clearly uncomfortable with the recommendations for unrestricted access to abortion for up to 12 weeks. However, he would do well, politically, to remember and argue that the 12-week limit is a far cry from the 22-week limit proposed by the Citizens Assembly. The committee also rejected the Assemblys call for a relaxation of the law on socio-economic grounds and in cases where there is a disability. Varadkar, as Taoiseach, urgently needs to park his own qualms or difficulties, and deliver on his promise to put the question to the people. Any deviation from the recommendations of an all-party committee report is fraught with danger and, while now it is a matter for the Attorney General Seamus Woulfe in conjunction with Health Minister Simon Harris to bring forward a formula of words, at the very least Varadkar needs to stop undermining the process, as he did when he said the 12-week recommendation was a step too far. He has been joined in his silence by his equally cautious Tanaiste, Simon Coveney. His brother Patrick, the head of Greencore, put the cat among the pigeons, by tweeting strong support for Martins speech. Big, brave, personal statement from @MichealMartinTD on his support for removal of 8th Amendment. Centre ground in Ireland (across political divide) moving at last to a more compassionate, trusting, responsible, women centered position on abortion! So, Taoiseach, it is up to you. POLICE have taken a stand against 'so called paedophile hunters' after a vigilante group was founded on the Island. The Wight Rangers group was set up at the beginning of January and claims to have already caught one man with a sting. Their Facebook page states: "We are an organisation established to protect our kids from sexual predators." IW District Commander Supt Sarah Jackson said: "We are aware of a so called paedophile hunter group operating on the IW called Wight Rangers. "We understand the publics desire to protect their children from online abuse, but we do not condone or promote action by these kinds of groups. "There are risks with such groups compromising ongoing police investigations." This is in keeping with the national guidance set by the National Police Chiefs' Council. Supt. Jackson added: "We will, of course, consider any evidence presented to us and reiterate our absolute commitment to identifying and prosecuting those who abuse and exploit children." She said the Island remained a safe place to live and work: "Alongside our prevention activities with schools and partner agencies, a great deal of work continues to protect victims and identify offenders in relation to child sexual exploitation." The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County confirmed Friday plans to sell its property at 610 Coliseum Drive that features the Arts Council Theatre. As a result, officials with the N.C. Black Repertory Co. and the Little Theatre of Winston-Salem have been told they should be prepared to clear their operations by August. We are evaluating available options while planning our 2018-19 season, said Nigel Alston, executive director of N.C. Black Repertory Co. The building and 2.93-acre site are valued at $3.11 million, according to Forsyth GeoData. The building, which contains a 500-seat performance theater, is situated between CVS and the American Red Cross off Coliseum Drive. Jim Sparrow, the Arts Councils president and chief executive, said the move is part of a restructuring initiative that aims to reduce expenses and consolidate offerings into fewer and more appropriate spaces. He cited the age of the building and its location away from the downtown arts district among reasons for deciding to sell it. Sparrow said he is talking with both groups about finding temporary administrative and performance space. We would like to move them with us if we can, which is why were timing the transition for after the end of their current seasons, Sparrow said. Sparrow said the council is considering renovating the Reynolds Place space in the Milton Rhodes Center off Fourth Street into a multiuse facility. The plan for the renovation could accommodate a 300-seat performance theater similar to what is being used in the next-door Hanesbrands Theatre. Weve mocked up the plans and are vetting them with groups that could use that space for what could and couldnt work for them, Sparrow said. Establishing the multi-use space could cost between $1 million to $1.5 million, Sparrow said. By comparison, Sparrow said it could cost about $2.4 million to re-create the Arts Council Theatre with modern amenities. The renovation could be paid for primarily with proceeds from the sale of the Coliseum Drive building, as well as a special fundraising effort that would not conflict with the councils annual budget or fundraising, Sparrow said. The current performance space has only a handful of events that fill it up, whereas there are more events that require 300 to 350 seats, Sparrow said. Even with the use of the classroom space by the two tenants and their administrative office needs, there is a fair amount of space thats not being used all that often. The move of the two nonprofit groups comes as both adjust to a significant council grant reduction for 2017-18. The Black Repertory Co. had its grant reduced from $175,000 to $126,000, while the Little Theatre had its grant cut from $150,000 to $108,000, There are a lot of challenges that we are facing, said Jackie Alexander, artistic director for the Black Repertory Co. Im working with others to find creative ways to share resources and partner on productions. I will do whatever it takes to make sure the economic challenges do not cut back on what we offer. In addition to producing the biennial National Black Theatre Festival, Black Repertory Co. presents professional productions throughout the year and runs the Teen Theatre Ensemble that provides theatrical education and experience for young people. The Little Theatre is diligently considering different options and collaborations for office and performance space, said Michelle Welborn, chairwoman of the theaters board of directors. Monday will remain a teacher workday for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and will not be used as a makeup day in light of the recent winter weather, Superintendent Beverly Emory said in a video announcement Friday. Students will return to school on Tuesday, and exams will resume that day. The only day students attended classes this week was Jan. 16, as the day before that was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Schools have been closed Wednesday through Friday because of several inches of snow that fell in the area on Wednesday, followed by days of treacherous and slick road conditions. Monday has been designated as a teacher workday without the option to be used as a makeup day. There are other teacher workdays placed in the 2017-18 school district calendar that do allow for makeup days. Emory said in the video that even if Monday were changed to a makeup day, it would be tough logistically for the schools to function normally. Because it had been designated as a workday with no option for a makeup, it would have been difficult to ensure the district would have enough bus drivers, nutritionists and teachers assistants ready at a moments notice, Emory said. She added that with exams, which would have resumed Monday had schools opened that day, finding enough proctors could have been a concern, as well. Toward the end of the video, Emory said they would use this scenario as they look to different ways to address similar situations in the future. Additionally, because of last weeks closures, Feb. 19, March 29 and June 11 will be used as makeup days, making June 11 the last day of school. The remaining available makeup days are June 12-13 and April 5-6, which are the Thursday and Friday of spring break. RANDELL JONES, Winston-Salem This is not a drill Americas luck surviving nuclear threats in Januaries, as it did in Hawaii on Sunday (Alert error fuels doubts about real emergency, Jan. 15) has a history, and right here in North Carolina, too. Fifty-seven years ago on Jan. 24, 1961, a B-52 with two nuclear bombs broke apart in the sky while approaching Seymour Johnson Air Force Base near Goldsboro. The nuclear payload fell toward the ground. The explosive force of each bomb was 250 times that dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. Each was equipped with four sequenced safety devices. On one bomb, three safeties had failed. One last simple switch is all that prevented killing 40,000 people and transforming eastern North Carolina into a radioactive wasteland. On Jan. 21, 1968, a B-52 Stratofortress with four hydrogen bombs crashed at Thule, Greenland, near the U.S. air base. The base at Thule, part of the militarys early warning system, would be the first to know if the USSR had launched a first strike over the Arctic. An accidental nuclear explosion so near this base could have unintentionally triggered retaliatory actions by others in the system, thus unleashing World War III. Immediately the U.S. ceased its decade-long, Cold War defense strategy Chrome Dome, which kept nuclear-armed bombers continually aloft. Two lessons: If something can go wrong, it will go wrong, eventually. And, if you are not going to learn from your mistakes, dont make them. Voters, President Trumps demonstrated ignorance and petulance put the world in danger. This is not a drill. *** MARSHALL A. MAYS, Winston-Salem Trump tax cuts Is this really the time to cut taxes? Tax cuts will reduce the pool of money necessary to draw from to keep much-needed programs running. FEMA earmarked $7.3 billion to cover disasters for fiscal year 2017. Hurricanes Irma and Harvey together caused damage that could cost FEMA $150 billion to $200 billion. This is no time to cut taxes for the wealthy, who own most of the assets in this country. In December nearly half of Texas residents affected by Harvey were not getting needed help. Congress didnt foresee the need for such an increase in spending. President Trumps tax plan could add $1 trillion to the national debt. Fiscal conservatives may deal with this reality by slashing entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and CHIP. They could change laws governing eligibility, and benefit-amount payments. This is the new reality, even though Trump promised early in his campaign that he would save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security without cuts. President Trump wants to take credit for growing the economy by giving tax breaks to corporations, without being responsible for the trade-offs. There are trade-offs because it is not certain that his plan is necessary to grow the economy. It is very possible that Democrats will soon take control of the House, Senate and White House. Maybe Trump is counting on this. I realize that Americans work hard, and they deserve a break. I just question whether the Trump tax cuts are representative of the American way. Please submit letters online to Letters@wsjournal.com or mail letters to: The Readers Forum, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27102. Letters are subject to editing and are limited to 250 words. For more guidelines and advice on writing letters, go to journalnow.com/opinion/submit_a_letter. The Burundi government continued its repression of real and perceived political opponents in 2017, according to the annual report of Human Rights Watch published on January 18. This included murder, forced disappearance, torture and arbitrary arrest. In its determination to continue suppressing the population without the outside world's gaze, the regime of Pierre Nkurunziza has also declared all foreign investigators persona non grata. The political and human rights crisis that began in Burundi in April 2015, when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced that he would run for a disputed third term, continued through 2017, as government forces targeted real and perceived opponents with near total impunity. Security forces and intelligence servicesoften collaborating with members of the ruling partys youth league, known as the Imbonerakurewere responsible for numerous killings, disappearances, abductions, acts of torture, rapes, and arbitrary arrests. Unknown assailants carried out grenade and other attacks, killing or injuring many people. In September, a United Nations Commission of Inquiry, established by the Human Rights Council a year earlier, said it had reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed in Burundi since April 2015. During its session later that month, the council extended the commissions mandate for one year, but Burundi continues to refuse any form of cooperation with the commission. In October, judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) authorized an investigation into crimes committed in Burundi since April 2015. Also in October, Burundis government adopted a plan to revise the constitution to allow President Nkurunziza to stand for two new seven-year terms. If passed by a vote in parliament or national referendum, Nkurunziza could possibly stay in power until 2034. Killings, Rapes, and Other Abuses by Security Forces and Ruling Party Youth The violence in 2017 claimed scores of lives, according to Burundian and international human rights organizations. Dead bodies of people killed in unknown circumstances were regularly found across the country. The Commission of Inquiry confirmed the persistence of extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests and detentions, enforced disappearances, torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and sexual violence in Burundi since April 2015, blaming most violations on members of the intelligence services, the police, the army, and the youth league of the ruling party. The commission indicated that some violations have been committed in a more clandestine, but equally brutal, manner since 2016. The Commission of Inquiry collected several testimonies suggesting that intelligence agents or members of the police were involved in the disappearance of Oscar Ntasano, a former senator, in Bujumbura on April 21, 2017. Human Rights Watch documented how in 2015 and 2016, members of the Imbonerakure and policesometimes armed with guns, sticks, or knivesraped women whose male family members were perceived to be government opponents. In some cases, Imbonerakure threatened or attacked the male relative before raping the woman. Women often continued to receive threats after being raped. Human Rights Watch received credible reports that these abuses continued in 2017. In early April, a video emerged showing about 200 members of the Imbonerakure gathered in northern Burundi, singing songs encouraging the rape of political opponents or their relatives. Incitement to hatred, violence, and rape, particularly by the Imbonerakure, has become common in Burundi, almost always without condemnation by authorities. Security forces arrested, ill-treated, and illegally detained many opposition party members. Some detainees were held incommunicado in unknown locations. Several activists of the Movement for Solidarity and Democracy (Mouvement pour la solidarite et la democratie, MSD) and National Liberation Forces (Forces nationales de liberation, FNL) opposition parties were arrested in June. In early April, the government had suspended the MSD for six months and shut down its offices. On January 24, unknown men attacked Camp Mukoni, a military base in Burundis eastern Muyinga province. Seven soldiers, twelve civilians, and one policeman arrested after the attack were sentenced to heavy prison terms. Intelligence agents badly beat and tortured many defendants during interrogations, witnesses told Human Rights Watch. Abuses by Opposition Armed Groups and Unknown Actors Several grenade attacks took place in bars and elsewhere across Burundi in 2017, killing and injuring many, including children. The identity of the perpetrators was often unknown. The UN Commission of Inquiry found that human rights abuses were also committed by armed opposition groups [since April 2015], but these proved difficult to document. Emmanuel Niyonkuru, minister of water, environment, land management, and urban planning, was killed on January 1. The commission was unable to establish who was responsible for this and several other assassinations. Refugees The number of Burundian refugees remained high in 2017, despite claims from the Burundian government that the country was peaceful. More than 400,000 Burundians who fled the country since 2015 remained abroad at time of writing, most in Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In September 2017, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) started repatriating hundreds of Burundian refugees back home from neighboring Tanzania. At least 12,000 Burundian refugees signed up for voluntary repatriation, sometimes because of the dire conditions in the refugee camps in Tanzania, while more than 234,000 refugees stayed in Tanzania. On September 15, alleged members of the Congolese security forces used excessive force to quash a protest in Kamanyola, South Kivu province, in eastern Congo, killing around 40 Burundian refugees and wounding more than 100 others. Civil Society and Media Most leading civil society activists and many independent journalists remained in exile, after repeated government threats in 2015 and arrest warrants against several of them, and after the Interior Minister banned or suspended 10 civil society organizations that had spoken out against government abuses in October 2016. In January, two new laws allowed for increased control by authorities over the activities and resources of Burundian and foreign nongovernmental organizations. On January 3, authorities banned the Ligue Iteka, a prominent Burundian human rights organization. On June 13, security forces arrested three members of Parole et Action pour le Reveil des Consciences et lEvolution des Mentalites (PARCEM), one of the few remaining independent nongovernmental organizations in the country, while they were organizing a workshop on arbitrary arrests in Muramvya province. The national intelligence agency detained Aime Gatore, Emmanuel Nshimirimana, and Marius Nizigama from June 17 to 27, before they were transferred to Mpimba prison, in Bujumbura, and later to Muramvya prison, around 30 kilometers away from the capital. They remained in detention at time of writing, charged with threatening state security. Germain Rukuki, a human rights defender and former treasurer of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (Action des Chretiens pour lAbolition de la Torture, ACAT) in Burundi, one of the banned organizations, has been detained since July 13 and faces several charges, including rebellion. On August 25, UN experts called for Rukukis release, adding that the charges against him formed part of an overall context of threats and harassment against human rights defenders in Burundi. Authorities continued to severely restrict media space in Burundi. Radio Publique Africaine, Radio Bonesha, and Radio-Television Renaissanceall private radio stations that the government had closed following an attempted coup detat in May 2015remained off the air at time of writing. Other media were allowed to operate in 2017, but faced grave restrictions on their activities. On April 5, intelligence agents interrogated Joseph Nsabiyabandi, the editor-in-chief of Radio Isanganiro, another privately owned radio station, about his alleged collaboration with Burundian radios operating in exile in Rwanda. He was later criticized for having incited the opinion and the population to revolt. Radio Isanganiro had been closed in May 2015, and then allowed by authorities to re-open in February 2016, after it signed an ethical charter with the Burundian National Communications Council, in which it committed to a balanced and objective editorial line, respectful of the countrys security. National and International Justice Impunity for serious crimes committed in Burundi remains the norm. The justice system is manipulated by ruling party and intelligence officials and judicial procedures are routinely flouted. Burundi became the first country to withdraw from the ICC on October 27, 2017. Two days earlier, ICC judges had authorized an investigation into crimes committed in the country since April 2015. The judges found that Burundis withdrawal does not affect the courts jurisdiction over crimes committed while the country was a member. Discriminatory Laws Since April 2009, Burundi has criminalized consensual same-sex conduct. Article 567 of the penal code, which penalizes consensual same-sex sexual relations by adults with up to two years in prison, violates the rights to privacy and freedom from discrimination. These rights are protected by Burundis Constitution and enshrined in its international treaty commitments. In May 2017, President Nkurunziza signed into law new regulations requiring unmarried couples to legalize their relationships through church or state registrations. In November, a new decree banned women from drumming and limited all cultural shows to official ceremonies authorized by the Ministry of Culture. BROKEN BOW Chemigation training will start at 1 p.m. Feb. 16 at the 4-H Building in Broken Bow. The training is required for ag producers who apply chemicals through irrigation systems, whether its gated pipe of center pivot systems. The steps for certification are to register at the local University of Nebraska Extension office, attend the training and pass a written test. Chemigation materials can be reviewed prior to the class. For more information or to register for the Broken Bow training, call the Custer County Extension office at 308-872-6831. KEARNEY Five Nines announced the promotion of Patrick Bukowski to a primary engineer in the Kearney office. Bukowski has been with Five Nines for over two years. He was originally drawn to the field of IT because he grew up around technology and always had a knack for it. He is excited to see client businesses continue to grow and reach success as he consults with them in this new position. Patrick will be a great addition to our Managed Services team, said Julian Staab, Service Manager at Five Nines. His knowledge of the technology industry will help our clients continue to be productive and successful. Founded on the desire to solve problems and build long-term relationships with clients, Five Nines leverages technology to drive business success. With offices in Lincoln, Omaha and Kearney, the company advises IT solutions for Nebraska based businesses, offering managed IT services. KEARNEY Military homecomings, anniversaries, welcome back to school, last day of chemo treatment, birthday wishes and new babies Amy Denny has almost carded it all. The Kearney location manager for Card My Yard, an Austin, Texas-based franchise with more than 70 locations across the country, bought into the yard sign rental company last May after a friend in Omaha started with them. When we were getting started was right when graduation season was happening and so people really didnt know about us too much yet, but we did a handful of graduations last spring and that was kind of our kick start, said Denny, who is also a Park Elementary schoolteacher. We can basically build any message ... with the graphics that we have on hand and the letters. As we get busier well add more stuff to our inventory more letters, more graphics. Those looking to congratulate someone or make a loved ones day can visit the website, www.cardmyyard.com, or visit the Card My Yard Kearney, NE Facebook page to book a sign. Customers can pick from a variety of colors and graphics and rent the signs for 24 or 48 hours. Its big and bold and it makes a statement, Denny said. Denny and her husband, Eddie, set up the cards at night so the sign will be a surprise for the recipient the next morning. They serve Kearney as well as the surrounding area. Many of their card rental requests are for birthdays but theyve also received requests for a variety of other moments to commemorate, and those are the really fun ones, Denny said. And its hard for Denny not to break into a big smile when she talks about those special moments. Weve done grand openings for some businesses that have opened. Weve done open houses for a realtor. ... Weve also done a welcome home for people who just bought a house because thats kind of fun for people as their first day in the house. And then a welcome home for a military person. Weve done new babies. ... Weve done all the holidays. One especially memorable story Denny looks back on was doing a sign for a persons last day of chemo which also happened to be around the couples wedding anniversary. Another of her favorite stories was putting up a best friend ever sign in a womans yard at the request one of the womans friends. The recipient, she explained, was going through a tough time. Denny later found out the woman took a photo of the sign and put it on her Facebook page to which people responded encouragingly and lifted her spirits. Dennys hope is to eventually get to do a yard sign for a marriage proposal. Really the big idea behind it is just really spreading joy and happiness to people, and it does. ... It sounds silly, but it can really brighten a persons day. @AmandaPush In the midst of the cold snap this week, I drove to Norfolk for a family emergency in the early evening on Monday. With the temperatures firmly in the single digits, I first noticed that most sensible people got off the roads and found shelter somewhere warm and snug. Circumstances forced me to keep driving through the wall of frozen air. Next I noticed that my thoughts drifted as aimlessly as the temperature until I began to wonder about zero. I wanted to know the answer to this simple question: What is the difference between zero and absolute zero? If you have nothing, how far do you need to go until you absolutely have nothing even more? Scientists consider minus-459.67 degrees to be absolute zero, a temperature so cold that the fundamental particles of nature have minimal vibrational motion. Is that cold enough for you? But what if it dropped an extra hundredth of a degree to minus-459.66? Would that make it minus .01 below absolute zero? And if a breeze kicks up a little, just think of the wind chill effect. If it helps you on these very cold days, scientists consider the average temperature of the universe to be minus-454.76, just a little less than five degrees higher than absolute zero, unless you happen to be standing on the surface of the sun. While driving in subzero temperatures in northeast Nebraska, it occurred to me that I might be approaching absolute zero. Consider this: With a 65-mph wind and zero degrees, it feels like minus-40 degrees. Take that number times 10 and youre knocking on the door of absolute zero. So if I drove at 400 miles an hour, not only would I reach my destination quicker, I would also arrive at one of the secrets of the universe, the threshold of absolute zero. Temperatures that low would put a stop to the boasting of certain towns who have claimed the title of Icebox of the Nation. International Falls, Minn., calls itself by that title, but the small villages of Fraser, Colo., as well as Big Piney, Wyo., want to claim that honor. International Falls currently holds the trademark for the slogan, as if that makes any difference. The lowest temperature on record at Big Piney was minus-61 or a seventh of absolute zero. For your own personal safety, please avoid dividing by zero, if I remember my high school math correctly. I dont even want to consider the wind chill factor on hypothetical numbers like that. May I just suggest that we capitalize on this entire concept before some other area snatches up the slogan Absolute Zero of the Nation/Universe. Every time some town or village sneers about the cold weather, we can fire back, Well, were less than nothing out here. Later in the week, as the weather warmed, I thought about more important things than the cold. I thought about the rain and sunshine, but decided to wait to write an entire column about such important topics until I resolved my strong feelings about absolute zero. Besides, with the snow melting I wanted to know how scientists can deal with the concept of ice water. Either you have ice or you have water, right? Just one more mystery of the universe. Rick Brown is a Hub staff writer who frequently writes below zero. It wont be easy to fix Facebook, as founder Mark Zuckerberg said will be his personal challenge for 2018. Yet, the first step is recognition of the problems. Zuckerberg met the new year with the admission that Facebook has made too many errors and has a lot of work to do protecting our community from abuse and hate, defending against interference by nation-states, or making sure that time spent on Facebook is time well spent. While Facebook enjoyed record profits in 2017 (revenue grew 47 percent), it otherwise suffered a rocky year, facing criticism for Russian interference in the 2016 election, spreading propaganda and fake news, and driving other societal ills related to technology addiction. Now Congress has been asked to look into whether Facebook has, with Google, established a digital advertising duopoly. On Wednesday, a Senate committee will hear testimony from tech firms on Terrorism and Social Media: Is Big Tech Doing Enough? Zuckerberg plans to consult with experts in history, civics, political philosophy, media, government and technology. He owes it to his users to reveal what these experts say. Experts to date have suggested explaining how news feed algorithms work, verification of real people, an optional filter for unverified accounts, stricter scrutiny of political and interest-based advertising, and less focus on stoking negative emotion resulting in echo chambers and polarization. We question whether cutting back on the sharing of news stories from credible sources, as recently announced, is the right fix for the platform of 2 billion users with a presence in most countries. Nearly half of American adults get some news from Facebook. They will still see articles shared by friends but posts from publisher pages will be less visible, raising questions of whether they will see more content that reinforces their own ideologies and some countries see less diverse news. The problems are complex, as the corrections will be. Facebook must accept responsibility for its impact on the world, and the public deserves to be kept informed all along the way. Dallas Morning News We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Kenosha Bible Church is hosting a live simulcast of the 2018 No Regrets Mens Conference from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3. The annual one-day event is geared for men ages 13 and up who are choosing a lifetime of faith in Jesus. The real-time event, broadcast from Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, will feature popular Christian speakers Stuart Briscoe, Miles McPherson, Steve Sonderman and others. Live worship music and onsite breakout speakers covering a range of topics will be offered to challenge and inspire attendees. According to the Rev. Jim Gudmundson, Kenosha Bible Church adult ministries pastor, the conference was launched 25 years ago at Elmbrook Church. As the event became more popular, it was streamed to some of the churches in the area that they had planted, spreading to other Wisconsin congregations and eventually broadcasting to about 100 congregations around the country. This is the third year Kenosha Bible Church is bringing the conference to Kenosha. The No Regrets Mens Conference is an offshoot of No Regrets Mens Ministries, an organization that exists to empower the local church to develop its men into an army to reach the world for Christ and to be challenged in their relationship with the Lord at home, in their workplaces and in their ministries. The origin of No Regrets stems from the work of William Borden, a 1904 high school graduate and heir to the Borden Dairy Estate. He experienced a spiritual conversion after his parents gave him a trip around the world as a graduation gift. Rather than celebrating and partying, he felt a tug for the lost souls he met in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. The Yale graduate devoted his life to Christ, desiring to become a missionary. Unfortunately, Borden died in Egypt at 25 after contracting spinal meningitis while studying Arabic in preparation. He was known for the inspirational quote written into his personal Bible: No Reserves. No Retreats. No Regrets. This conference brings in nationally known speakers to challenge men to greater faithfulness in their Christian lives, said Gudmundson. As a host church, we will provide our own worship band for the worship music. The conference begins and ends with a main session, streamed from Elmbrook. Between those, they will also stream other sessions, and we have eight men who will lead live breakout sessions. This allows for men to interact with each other and the speakers on site. Some of the local topics surround conflict resolution, building relationships, racial understanding, parenting skills and learning the steps to overcome pornography. A unique element of this conference is that it will draw men from this community together and allow us to build connections, said Gudmundson. In past years, there have been large, national conferences for men, but this allows men from churches in the community to be at one place and therefore to build connections and fellowship. We recently invited men from Christ the King Church to join us at Kenosha Bible Church for a mens breakfast that we hold several times a year. They have had a solid representation at our past No Regrets conferences. Having the event streamed locally is a great benefit for those accustomed to making the one-hour trek to Elmbrook each year. For a few years, Kenoshas Journey Church hosted the streaming option and many members of Kenosha Bible Church attended there, but they opted to host their own conference. I felt that our church would be able to do this, said Gudmundson. Since we have been hosting it, we have many more men from our church and from the area who attend. We also have a team of men and women who work for about six months to plan and run the conference. Feedback from attendees is always positive, and most men return for the conference each year, explained Gudmundson. The men say that it encourages them in their lives to be more faithful as men who follow Christ in their marriages, work life and the community, he said. At Kenosha Bible Church, we follow up the conference with mens groups focusing on the same topics of Christian faith and life. Men are targeted for this ministry because we need to learn how to lead our families and our churches. Its a shame. Thats how the Rev. Dan Remus described the underworld of human trafficking in southeastern Wisconsin. Its up and down Highway 94 right here in our community, said Remus, executive pastor of the Journey Church Offering Hope ministry, which is working to stamp out modern slavery. Between Chicago and Milwaukee there are hotel operators that will tell you that there are people that end up stopping there with girls. Remus and members of his congregation gathered at the church Friday evening to pray for Gods blessing on victims and raise awareness. Its kids of all ages, women, probably some men, too, Remus said. Rarely do people talk about it. It needs to be talked about more. Im thankful for the police department, sheriffs department, and just Kenosha in general learning that the issue is real. Remus said the topic is still taboo, partly because labor and sex trafficking is so disturbing. Its a shame, Remus said. Its very tough to talk about that it could happen on our watch. Remus said the church is also thankful for local media coverage, which helps highlight the problem. People need to be aware of it, Remus said, adding that people should call 911 if something looks suspicious. Dont ignore it, Remus said. Make a phone call. If youre wrong, youre wrong. But if youre right, you could save some little boy or little girls life. Remus said it would surprise us to know how many people abuse children and adults. Maggie Graff, a board member with nonprofit Fight to End Exploitation, said human trafficking is a $150 billion global industry. The truth hurts, but silence kills, said Graff, chairwoman of the organizations faith committee. If (human trafficking) were rated on the Fortune 500, it would be No. 97. Where does that money come from? It comes from everywhere. Graff said the Greater Racine Human Trafficking task force has rescued more than 200 individuals in the last three years. Young girls can be lured into sex trafficking by older boyfriends and are then held by mind control, drugs or stigma. Its everywhere, Graff said. Its been reported in every county in the state of Wisconsin. More vigils Fridays vigil was the first of three being held this month. The second will be held in Racine at the Siena Center, 5635 Erie St. on Jan 29 from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The third will be at Carthage Colleges Todd Wehr Center, 2001 Alford Park Drive, on Jan 29 at 7 p.m. An early morning run for a pack of cigarettes ended up saving a life Friday morning. Brody Chamberlin said he woke up at about 4:45 a.m. Friday and, unable to sleep, decided to walk to Lou Perrines gas station for a pack of cigarettes. I kept hearing this noise, he said, but he couldnt really make out what it was. I kept hearing it, and I yelled Is someone there? He walked about 50 yards further and realized the sound was someone calling for help. Because the sound was echoing, he couldnt tell at first where it was coming from. Then he saw a bike lying near the water along the sidewalk that runs along the sea wall near the 500 block of 54th Street. The bike was on the water side of the raised ledge that runs along the sidewalk I ran up to it and looked down and there he was in the water, hanging onto the ice, Chamberlin said. Chamberlin, 24, said he reached down and grabbed the man, but couldnt pull him up. He said he stopped, called 911 and kept police on speaker while he continued to hold on to the man. I was talking to him and trying to get him to calm down I told him, If you keep pulling, Im going to end up in there with you. According to Kenosha Police, when two police officers arrived, they found Chamberlin holding on to the man in the water, and in danger of being pulled in himself. They positioned themselves behind the wall and held on and grabbed hold of the Good Samaritan, said Lt. Tim Schaal. Even working together, the officers and the passerby were not able to pull the man from the water. Schaal said he likely had lost control of his limbs because of hypothermia. Chamberlin said the mans hands were curled to his chest and he could no longer hold on to him, so Chamberlin grabbed him under his elbows to hold onto him. The police officers were holding Chamberlin by his ankles. When the Kenosha Fire Department arrived, firefighters in cold water rescue gear got into the water and rescued the 41-year-old man. Schaal said the man is believed to have been in the water for 30 minutes, where his core body temperature had dropped to 85 degrees. He is still at the hospital, they are slowly warming him up, Schaal said. In an email, Fire Chief Charles Leipzig said the man in the water was conscious and able to speak to rescue crew. It appears he may have been riding his bike along the sea wall and fell in, Leipzig said. Our crews did not determine why he was in the water, but it does appear to be accidental. The water temperature in Lake Michigan off Kenosha is about 34 degrees. According to data from the Minnesota Sea Grant, a person in the water when water temperatures are between 34 and 40 degrees is likely to become unconscious in 15 to 30 minutes, and to die of hypothermia in 30 to 90 minutes. If Chamberlin hadnt happened along at a time the lakefront is typically deserted, the man would likely have died. I dont believe in guardian angels, but the starter went out on my car yesterday, and if it hadnt, I would have driven to the store instead of walked, and I never would have heard him, Chamberlin said. He said he wasnt really scared he was going to end up in the water himself because adrenaline took over and he didnt think twice about putting himself at risk. You gotta help people out, he said. Agents with the Laredo sector border patrol rescue 35 illegal immigrants from a smuggling attempt in a tractor-trailer. It happened on Wednesday at the border patrol checkpoint along I-35. The people recovered were from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Ecuador. They were all in good health. The driver United States citizen was arrested. LJUBLJANA, Jan 18 (Reuters) - The Bank of Slovenia warned citizens on Thursday that virtual currencies are not a digital replacement for banknotes and coins and are not regulated. It pointed out that according to the European Central Bank virtual currencies in fact "are not currencies" but rather "means of exchange". "Participants that are offering purchasing, depositing or trading with virtual currencies in Slovenia are not systemically regulated and supervised," the bank said in a statement. It advised citizens to inform themselves about virtual currencies before buying them and to be aware of the fact that they could lose the means they invest in those currencies. The bank gave no details on the size of Slovenians' investments in virtual currencies. In December, a Slovenian cryptocurrency mining marketplace, NiceHash, lost about $64 million worth of bitcoin in a hack on its payment system. (Reporting By Marja Novak; Editing by Toby Chopra) NEW YORK, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Commodities trading house Gunvor has hired at least seven Noble Group Ltd biofuels traders, including John Skrinar as the North American head of renewables, four sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. Noble, once Asia's biggest commodities trader, has been winding down oil trading operations amid heavy losses and high debt. It sold its U.S.-focused oil business to Vitol SA and many key traders in London and Singapore are also leaving to join competitors. The U.S. corn ethanol industry has been grappling with overcapacity, limiting profitability in the biofuels sector. Noble in December agreed to sell an ethanol plant in South Bend, Indiana, to Mercuria Investments for about $18.5 million. Skrinar was previously managing director of global renewable fuels at Noble, according to his LinkedIn profile. A majority of the Noble biofuels traders joined Skrinar at Gunvor earlier this year, the sources said. Gunvor began building its U.S trading operations 2016, expanding outside its core markets in Europe, Asia and Africa. The company has hired several traders to launch a crude oil desk in Houston, Texas, and beefed up its Canadian trading desk. Separately, Eric Fobes, also an ex-Noble trader, joined Trafigura as head of ethanol, according to two sources and his LinkedIn profile. Joel Williams, who was senior vice president of ethanol proprietary trading at Noble, joined Vitol, according to three sources. Gunvor, Vitol and Trafigura did not respond to a request for comment. Williams did not respond to requests for comment and Skrinar did not immediately comment when reached by Reuters. The sources declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. (Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York and Michael Hirtzer in Chicago; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low near 15F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low near 15F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Casey Lartigue Jr., co-founder of the Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center, compiled these statements from interviews with the refugees. TNKR co-founder Lee Eun-koo translated the material. Q. What do you think about the North Korean cheerleaders, athletes and musicians joining the Pyeongchang Olympics? 1. Kyung-ho (arrived in South Korea in 2009) This was a bad decision by the South Korean government. First, it is ironic because at the same time that North Korea is cracking down on North Koreans who listen to K-pop, South Korea is using resources to spread North Korean ideology. Everything North Korea does is to further its ideology, and South Korea is helping. I cannot understand what South Korea is doing when this is clearly propaganda. Second, all of the players are from the elite. They will only be allowed to come here if they have demonstrated their allegiance to the government. There cannot be any real integration _ the athletes as well as the South Korean government are tools of the North Korean government, plus South Korea is even willing to pay North Korea to use the South as a tool. 2. Sujin (arrived in South Korea in 2014) I do not understand why the South Korean government is doing this. North Korea will see this as weakness and stupidity by South Korea, not as a chance for good relations. North Korea only understands threats and force, that is why North Korea fears and secretly respects U.S. President Trump, but has no respect for President Moon and probably sees him as being a little stupid or naive. 3. Hyuk-cho (arrived in South Korea in 2016) Frankly, I don't pay attention to North Korean issues these days. I am happy that I escaped from there. 4. Cheol-ho (arrived in South Korea in 2017) Indifference. That is my true feeling about this. There are pros and cons, but at the end of the day, this co-operation does not really promise much in a political sense. I know the advocates say there is always the possibility to interact with foreigners, but that is unlikely to happen in reality. How much is it worth it for the South Korean government to pay North Korea for this? I think an even bigger problem than the cheerleaders is that athletes from the South Korean team will miss out in order to give North Korean athletes an opportunity. Musicians perform at Thunderhorse Tavern during last year's HBC Fest in Haebangchon. / Courtesy of Alecia Janeiro By John Redmond Seoul's inner suburb of Itaewon once had the reputation of being the center of the expat music scene, alongside the student neighborhood of Hongdae. Live venues thrived, spearheaded by bars including Ol Stompers, Rocky Mountain Tavern, Tony's Aussie Pub, Woodstock, All That Jazz, VFW and Thunderhorse. With the shift of the indie scene to venues around Hongdae, coupled with rising rents, many venues closed their doors for good. But those that stood their ground not only survived, but prospered. The sound desk at Thunderhorse - The Pit. / Photo by Kirk Kwon While Woodstock on the main street of Itaewon can lay claim to being the original "sticky carpet" (a term related to a live bar with a carpet that sticks to your feet due to spilled beer) venue of Seoul and is still open to bands of all levels of experience, Thunderhorse - The Pit has a reputation for a live stage with recording studio-quality sound. Thunderhorse is the brainchild of musician/audio engineer Kirk Kwon. Canadian Kwon cut his teeth working with demanding international acts such as Motorhead, Slayer, The Tragically Hip, Peter Frampton and Nickelback, as well as producing sound for local bands Harry Big Button, Method and Dark Mirror ov Tragedy. Thunderhorse, originally near the Itaewon main street, moved to Kyungridan in late 2013, making it the first bar dedicated solely to live music. Kwon's original inspiration was always to provide a true band/audience experience. Specifically focusing on the band, knowing that if the band feels comfortable and the sound system is up to scratch, the audience will reap the benefits. Seoul City Suicides perform at Woodstock in September 2015. / Photo by John Redmond "My inspiration for Thunderhorse has always been the bands and the music," Kwon said in an interview with The Korea Times. "I've always enjoyed working with bands and I've mixed so many live shows here in Korea that I wanted to start my own venue where I could showcase bands and try to give them the experience of working with someone like myself who has been doing this for years." Thunderhorse boasts a state-of-the-art sound system that is tailored to the venue. And louder is not always better. "Not to brag, but people have said it is the only place where you can actually hear a band," Kwon said. "As far as having a good PA (public address) system, it depends on the music or bands. A mentor and longtime teacher Monty Wilks, who worked with Nirvana, Prince and so many others, would say, Know your gear and learn to have an ear.' So in short, most PA systems when run properly can handle most things but it is essential to ensure it is the right PA for what you plan to do." Matt Randell warms up at Thunderhorse in 2015. / Photo by John Redmond Asia Institute director Emanuel Pastreich, second from left, and VICAS director Bui Hoai Son, second from right, cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony of the Asia Institute Hanoi Office. The Asia Institute at VICAS #Itaewon Yongsan Ward chief, senior police officer summoned over Itaewon crush probe Police brought in a Yongsan Ward chief for questioning on Friday as part of an investigation into the crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood. Yongsan Ward office chief Park ... Passengers who fly on American Airlines 737 Max planes will probably notice that the lavatories are extra small, with sinks so tiny that fliers can only wash one hand at a time. The manufacturer of the plane, Boeing, designed the compact bathrooms that way to squeeze in about a dozen more seats in the cabin than in older versions of the 737 jets. But now flight attendants are grousing about the new lavatories. Advertisement In a private meeting a week ago with American Airlines Chief Executive Doug Parker, a group of flight attendants complained about the design of the lavatories on the 737 Max, an airlines spokesman said. The lavatories at the back of the plane are located between the passenger seats and the galley where the flight attendants prepare drinks and snacks for the fliers. When both doors to the lavatories are open, the flight attendants are sealed off in the galley, blocking them from getting to the passengers, the flight attendants complained. They also said the sinks in the bathrooms are so tiny that the water from the faucet splashes onto anyone attempting to wash their hands. Joshua Freed, a spokesman for the carrier, said American Airlines has fixed the problem with the sinks by installing aerators on the faucet to cut the strength of the water flow. The carrier is still looking for a fix to the door problem. American Airlines flies three 737 Max planes, between Miami and New York, but expects to have a total of 20 737 Max jets in the fleet by the end of this year, with 20 more added each year for the next four years, Freed said. hugo.martin@latimes.com To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter. Meant to evoke a quiet country lifestyle and the picturesque cottages of old England, Tudor Revival architecture after coming to the U.S. more than a century ago somehow also came to embody wealth and Hollywood fantasy. The style arose in England in the late 1800s, as part of the Arts and Crafts rejection of both Victorian ornamentation and Industrial Age artificiality. The Tudor-style homes were supposed to recall a pre-modern, pre-industrial, pre-urban and pre-class- and ethnic-conflict period, said Kevin D. Murphy, author of The Tudor Home, which was pretty much an escapist fantasy but nevertheless a pretty powerful one. Tudors came to the U.S. in the 1890s and arrived in Southern California in the early 1900s, peaking in popularity through the 1920s, according to the Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources. Advertisement The office said the architectural style caught on because it mimicked permanence in a self-consciously new city but also offered whimsy and escapism welcome traits in the homes of Hollywood. The houses are very warm and cozy, even if theyre large, said Priscilla Wright, who has lived in her 1923 Tudor in Windsor Square for 23 years. We really prefer a non-open floor plan; in our house, every room has a purpose. The homes are typified by an asymmetrical design that features steeply pitched roofs with front-facing gables, leaded-glass windows (often diamond-paned), arched doorways and massive chimneys as well as stone, brick or stucco exteriors with half-timbers gracing the facade a mere decoration recalling the structural timbers that held up such houses centuries earlier. The Getty House, the L.A. mayors official residence in Windsor Square, is one example. Built in 1921, the house was bought by the Getty Oil Co. in 1958 and donated to the city in 1977. And when Charlie Chaplin built his own movie studio complex in 1917, he chose the Tudor Revival style to create an ersatz English village at Sunset and La Brea now the home to the Jim Henson Co. Architect Caroline Labiner, a neighbor and fellow zone-board member with Wright, bought her 1923 Tudor to make a proper home for her collected Arts and Crafts furniture. A Tudor home in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times ) Its got a serious quality to it; its got a certain heft to it, she said of the home, where shes been since 2004. When Wall Street money in the early 1900s gave rise to upscale New York City suburbs, the newly wealthy built homes later dubbed stockbroker Tudors. They wanted to give the impression of being more established, not be so much nouveau riche as old riche, said Murphy, who is also chairman of the department of art history at Vanderbilt University. For some it was also important to establish Anglo-Saxon bona fides and distinguish themselves from the influx of Southern European and Asian immigrants at the time. The style spread to other tony enclaves in Philadelphia, Chicago and Cleveland. But, as often happens, folks of modest means wanted to copy the style as well. The smaller examples were referring to the larger ones, Murphy said. The thing about the Tudor is, you can echo the style of a much bigger house with just a few details. Tudor Revivals in Southern California caught a second wind during the fanciful Period Revival era of the 1920s and 1930s, when developers blended neighborhoods with cottages of Tudor, Norman, Mediterranean and Spanish styles. The L.A. Office of Historic Resources said the mix embodies the fantasy, creativity, industry and use of style as salesmanship that defined Los Angeles before World War II. Not linked to any real or made-up history of Southern California, but to a fantasy of Europe and fictional tales. INFOBOX: Style: Tudor Revival Features: Asymmetrical design, steeply pitched roofs, multiple gables, leaded-glass windows (often diamond-paned), arched doorways, massive chimneys, exteriors of stone, brick and/or stucco, half-timbering Where to find them: West Adams, Hancock Park, Windsor Square, with other groupings in Hollywood, Mid-Wilshire, Westlake, Carthay Circle, Lafayette Square, Silver Lake, Lincoln Heights, Highland Park, Eagle Rock Some prominent architects: Gerard Colcord, Myron Hunt, Wallace Neff, Frederick Louis Roehrig, Paul Revere Williams hotproperty@latimes.com MORE FROM HOT PROPERTY Anna Faris looks to deal her secluded Midcentury retreat in Hollywood Hills Hit-maker Richard Perry sells the Beverly Hills home he shared with Jane Fonda Former SEGA President Hayao Nakayama passes the controller for Century City condo Los Angeles' smaller stages return to full swing this week, offering area premieres of work by established and emerging playwrights: Anna Zieglers A Delicate Ship at the Road, Aaron Posners The Chosen at the Fountain, The Last Wife at Theatre 40 and Nothing Is the Same at the Sierra Madre Theatre. Philip Orazio, left, Paris Perrault and Josh Zuckerman in A Delicate Ship at the Road on Magnolia. (Brian M. Cole) Delicate Ship at Road on Magnolia The essentials: Andre Barron directs the West Coast premiere of A Delicate Ship, a drama by the rising playwright Anna Ziegler about a love triangle among thirtysomethings. Why this? Zieglers nuanced explorations of hot-button issues are getting produced all over the world. Actually, about a rape accusation on an Ivy League campus, ran here at the Geffen Playhouse last spring. Nicole Kidman starred in Photograph 51, about sexism in science, in London in 2015. I have a lot of sympathy for my characters, Ziegler said in a New York Times profile. The people I write are people who are really trying to do their best. Details: The Road on Magnolia, 19747 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays; ends March 11. $17.50-$34. (818) 761-8838, www.roadtheatre.org SIGN UP for the free Essential Arts & Culture newsletter The Chosen at the Fountain The essentials: Aaron Posner first adapted Chaim Potoks novel for the stage in 1999 (with help from Potok, who died in 2002). Last year, for a revival at Connecticuts Long Wharf Theatre, Posner took another look at his work, turning it into what he has described as a more dynamic, more streamlined play. Simon Levy directs the West Coast premiere of this new version at the intimate Fountain. Why this? Posner created faithful literary adaptations for years before his breakout play Stupid Bird, an irreverent contemporary take on Chekhovs The Seagull, which L.A. Times theater critic Charles McNulty called a bright, jocular, not at all offensive modernization. The Chosen, Potoks beloved first novel about two fathers and their sons, is sometimes called the Jewish Catcher in the Rye. Details: The Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave., L.A. 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays; ends March 25. $20-$40. (323) 663-1525, www.fountaintheatre.com The Last Wife at Theatre 40 The essentials: King Henry VIII. To six wives he was wedded. One died, one survived, two divorced, two beheaded, goes a jaunty old rhyme about the much-married British monarch. The sole survivor, Catherine Parr, is the heroine of this first play by the Canadian actress Kate Hennig. It debuted at Englands Stratford Festival in 2015. Why this? Its always heartening to learn more about those who got away from historys most lethal tyrants. Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune called The Last Wife a fresh take on this bloody stretch of English history, and a very smart piece of writing. Details: Theatre 40, Reuben Cordova Theatre, 241 S. Moreno Drive, Beverly Hills. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays; ends Feb. 18. $33. (310) 364-0535, www.theatre40.org Nothing Is the Same in Sierra Madre The essentials: As an artist in residence at Honolulu Theatre for Youth, playwright Y York interviewed elderly Hawaiians who had lived through Pearl Harbor as children, inspiring this play about four 11-year-old Hawaiian friends whose lives and relationships are upended by World War II. Why this? Tim Dang was the longtime artistic director of East West Players until 2016. Here hes flexing his directing muscles again at the helm of this double-cast show, which is written in Hawaiian Creole and explores the complexities of Asian American identity. Details: Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays; ends March 4. $20-$30. (626) 355-4318, www.sierramadreplayhouse.org The 99-Seat Beat appears every Friday. Our team of reviewers people with more than 75 years of combined experience tracking local theater shortlist current offerings at 99-seat theaters and other smaller venues. Some (but not all) recommendations are shows weve seen; others have caught our attention because of the track record of the company, playwright, director or cast. You can find more comprehensive theater listings posted every Sunday at latimes.com/arts. See all of our latest arts news and reviews at latimes.com/arts. Consider a report released this week by the highly respected, nonpartisan Rand Corp. The report wasnt about Trump; indeed, he is mentioned only once in nearly 300 pages of text. But it suggests, ominously, that we are living in a period in which the line between fact and fiction is being dangerously muddied. Using examples like the large numbers of Americans who dont believe the scientific consensus on the safety of GMO foods or vaccines or the existence of human-caused climate change and focusing as well on the increasing distrust of formerly respected sources of factual information the report concludes that what it calls truth decay poses a direct threat to democracy. Among the consequences cited by the Rand scholars: the erosion of political and civil discourse, political paralysis at the federal and state level, and increased risk of individual disengagement from political and civic life. Having a constructive discussion about what policies toward immigrants should look like or what objectives and outcomes policy should aim to achieve is difficult without a common set of facts such as the number of immigrants entering the United States, the economic role of immigrants, and the level of crime perpetrated by these immigrants, the report says. But such conversations cant be held, the report suggests, if stakeholders are stuck arguing about the basic terms and underlying facts of the debate.... Sometimes it feels as if Daniel Patrick Moynihans old saying that people are entitled to their own opinions but not their own facts has been turned on its head so that facts are now derived from opinions rather than the other way around. That needs to stop. >> Click here to read more Two senior executives, including a chief operating officer, were appointed Friday at the California High-Speed Rail Authority, filling vacancies that have lingered for months. The hirings aim to bolster the organizations management following the appointment of Brian Kelly as chief executive earlier this week. The authority said Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Washington Department of Transportation engineer Joseph Hedges to the position of chief operating officer and state Department of Motor Vehicles veteran Pamela Mizukami as chief deputy director. Advertisement The chief operating officer, a new position at the authority created more than six months ago, is supposed to ensure that construction and engineering on the program are delivered on budget and schedule. Hedges has 35 years of experience in construction, engineering and project management. He retired as captain from the Navy Corps of Civil Engineers. In Washington, he ran the program to build a tunnel through downtown Seattle, known as the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement program. It was one of the nations most ambitious urban tunneling projects, but also became known for a breakdown in the tunnel boring machine that caused a long delay. Hedges will be paid $337,008 per year. The chief deputy director job has been vacant for more than a year. Mizukami will advise the chief executive on program and administrative issues, the authority said. She has been assisting the authority on administrative, internal and personnel operations previously. At the DMV, where she began working in 2006, she most recently served as deputy director for the administrative services division. Her salary is $169,560. I made a commitment to bring in highly qualified professionals to continue the transformation of the authority from a planning organization to a strong project oversight and delivery organization, said Kelly, who was named chief executive Tuesday after serving as chief of the California State Transportation Agency. Joe and Pam have the necessary qualifications to help us get this done. ralph.vartabedian@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter @rvartabedian People rallied in sub-freezing temperatures for the Womens March in Park City Hundreds came to City Park in Park City, Utah, for the Respect Rally on the one-year anniversary of the national Womens March. Nonstop snow, below-freezing temperatures and Sundance Film Festival crowds didnt stop hundreds from venturing to Park City, Utah, for a Womens March anniversary rally. For some, the Respect Rally conveyed a message of female empowerment and progress. Lisa Williams brought along her inspiration for attending her 3-year-old daughter, Annie. Just being here to stand up for women, and make sure that women are treated equally as men, she explained, teary-eyed. Lisa and Annie Williams. (Colleen Shalby / Los Angeles Times) Emily Gaudet brought two generations with her her mom, Cindy Masumoto, and her children 1-year-old son Bennett and 5-year-old daughter Eloise. After a yearlong media blackout a self-prescription to stay away from the news while pregnant Gaudet attended the rally for a simple reason: to witness hope. I know very little. But I know that its not good, and I want to see something good. Maureen and Satish Rishi. (Colleen Shalby / Los Angeles Times) For others, the rally was a message of resistance to the Trump administration. Im just getting tired of all the stuff happening on Capitol Hill. I think people need to stand up and ask for a change, Satish Rishi said. He and his wife, Maureen, are a biracial couple who live in California by way of Texas. They said their children have faced discrimination in the wake of Trumps presidency. I tell them to embrace their differences. They do a good job with that, but they still feel threatened walking down the street sometimes because of their mixed color, Maureen Rishi said. Gloria Allred, Jane Fonda and Common were among a handful of speakers who addressed the crowd. As the rally continued, the snow didnt stop. The cheers didnt either. PHOTOS: Respect Rally in Park City The University of California is proposing to raise tuition and the student services fee for state residents by 2.7%, an increase of $342 to a total of $12,972 for the 2018-19 academic year. The budget proposal, which UC regents are set to consider Wednesday, would mark the second consecutive tuition increase after a freeze of several years. Nonresident students would pay an additional $978 in supplemental tuition, bringing their total to $28,992. Increased financial aid would cover the higher costs for more than half of the systems 180,000 California resident undergraduates who already pay no tuition, UC officials say. Those students also would receive about $100 more each for other expenses, such as housing, food and books. Advertisement If approved, the increases would raise about $137 million. UC officials say the money would be used for more financial aid, enrollment growth, faculty, courses, graduate student fellowships, expanded mental health services, counseling and academic advising, technology upgrades, library support and building maintenance. A planned increase in contributions to the employee retirement fund would be shelved under the proposal. The proposed 2018-19 budget plan would enable the University to continue to provide extraordinary levels of access, affordability, and excellence to current and future generations of UC students amid a complex set of budgetary circumstances, the proposal says. Gov. Jerry Brown proposed a 3% increase in base funding for the UC and Cal State systems in his 2018-19 budget plan unveiled this month, down from a 4% increase in each of the last few years. University leaders have expressed concern about the smaller increase, but the governor made clear he believed it was enough and that he would oppose any tuition hike. I think they need a little more scrutiny over how they are spending things, Brown said at a Jan. 10 news conference. Theyre gonna have to live within their means. Theyve got to lower the cost structure, and there are tools to do that, and they need to step up and more creatively engage in the process of making education more affordable. Some regents and students have pushed to delay a vote on any tuition hike to give them more time to lobby the Legislature and governor for more money. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, an ex-officio regent, opposes a tuition increase because it lets the Legislature off the hook of addressing the states underfunding of public higher ed, Rhys Williams, Newsoms spokesman, told The Times in a text this week. UC Berkeley senior Rigel Robinson, a leader with the UC Student Assn., said students planned to protest the proposed increase at the regents meeting at UC San Francisco. The UC ought to join students in pressuring the Legislature and the governors office to shape a budget that truly funds the UC, not further pushing the fiscal burden on students, he said in a text Friday. UC says that available per-student funding from the state, tuition and fees, and general university funds has declined by about $11,000, or 31.2% in constant dollars since 2000. Thats in part because spending has grown on financial aid, pension costs and record enrollment increases of 90,000 students since 2000, UC officials say. The vote on the tuition proposal was moved up a day, to Wednesday, to avoid a conflict for ex-officio regents who will attend Browns State of the State address on Thursday. State Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and others had asked UC President Janet Napolitano to change the date so more could attend the meeting. Student regent Paul Monge and two other student leaders had asked that the vote be moved to the March meeting at UCLA, because the Westwood campus is accessible to more students than UC San Francisco, which has no undergraduate campus. Despite the scheduling change, Rendon will not attend the regents meeting because he has a fully booked day in the Capitol, his spokesman said. Newsom is scheduled to attend. MetalRock Films While California's Bay Area is considered to be the epicenter of thrash metal, bands including Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer actually got their start further down the coast in Los Angeles. That scene is documented in The Rise of L.A. Thrash Metal, which was released on DVD today. Narrated by Megadeth bassist David Ellefson, The Rise of L.A. Thrash Metal explores the roots of the genre, which began as a rejection of the '80s glam metal scene. "We were the first generation that owned punk rock and heavy metal records," Ellefson tells ABC Radio. "So what we did is we basically, without knowing it, kind of fused the speed, the politics and the aggression of punk rock into the more refined riffing and guitar solo[s] [and] really good drumming that encompassed heavy metal bands." As The Rise of L.A. Thrash Metal documents, there were many diverse bands in the scene, but most of them had the same goal: to play faster and heavier. Ellefson says for his band mate Dave Mustaine, who was Metallica's original guitarist, the motivation came from a fan letter. "It said, 'Dave, I can't wait to hear your new band, I hope your new s***'s faster than Metallica,'" Ellefson remembers. "And that one letter changed the course of Megadeth forever." While The Rise of L.A. Thrash Metal doesn't concentrate so much on Metallica, who moved from L.A. to San Francisco in 1983, their shadow looms large over the scene. In fact, Ellefson calls Lars Ulrich the "Steve Jobs of thrash metal." "He's the guy who really had the vision for so much of this genre," Ellefson says. "When he put Metallica together...they really single-handedly carved this huge, wide swath for all of us to be able to follow in." Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Video: Weekend Roundup: 6 stories you cant miss A couple in Perris beat, strangled and shackled their children for years, the abuse escalating from neglect to torture over time, prosecutors said Thursday. Daca has been at the center of talks between Democrats and Republicans to avert a government Shortly after Charlie Beck announced he will retire as chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, City Councilman Joe Buscaino declared on Twitter that it was time for a woman to take his place. Others speculated Friday about whether the department should be led by an insider or an outsider, someone who will keep the department on the same path or radically change its course, or someone who reflects the diversity of Los Angeles perhaps a Latino, or an Asian American. The question of who should replace Beck is a pivotal one for Mayor Eric Garcetti. It is a closely watched decision laced with sensitive matters of race and gender, tied to the politically perilous terrain of crime rates, at a time when Garcetti has said he is thinking about a run for president. Advertisement Beck, 64, was sworn in as chief in 2009. Whoever fills his shoes will be the face of a department with a storied and frequently troubled history, charged with policing the second most populous city in the country as it faces surging homelessness, thorny dilemmas spawned by new technology, and clashes with the Trump administration over immigration enforcement. In the past year, local lawmakers have complained that the department needs to put more officers on the street and speed up response times. And then theres the crime rate. In Los Angeles, violent crime was up for the fourth year in a row last year, although homicides fell, according to recent statistics. Mayors feel tethered to the coattails of the police, said Eli Silverman, professor emeritus at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. They feel that if crime has gone up, theyre going to be responsible. Selecting a police chief is one of the most sensitive decisions an L.A. mayor must make. After the 1992 riots, then-Mayor Tom Bradley selected L.A.s first African American police chief, Willie Williams, hoping that would heal some of the citys deep racial wounds. Williams replaced Daryl F. Gates, a deeply polarizing figure who had won fierce loyalty from rank-and-file officers but had long been criticized as running the LAPD like a quasi-military force that mistreated blacks and other minorities. Williams instilled major reforms but had a rocky tenure marked by scandals and distrust from the rank and file. He did not receive a second term. In 2002, in the wake of the Rampart corruption scandal, Mayor James Hahn picked the brash former boss of the New York City Police Department, William J. Bratton, to lead the LAPD. Bratton undertook a major reworking of the department and saw a major decline in crime during his tenure. In a city still scarred by the 1991 beating of black motorist Rodney King, a perennial concern is how the Police Department relates to the community. Los Angeles is not only sprawling and vast but exceptionally diverse, and the new chief must be able to understand and relate to its distinct neighborhoods, Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson said. Los Angeles has got a particular history ... it runs deep in all of our veins, Harris-Dawson said, adding that the new chief needs to have a sensitivity to that. And as the White House champions a federal crackdown on immigrants in the country illegally, it is especially critical that the chief maintain trust with immigrant residents, lawmakers said. The next chief needs to be a source of comfort for immigrants with his or her words and actions, said Kevin de Leon, president pro tem of the California Senate and one of the most prominent Latino leaders in the state. Councilman Gil Cedillo said the new chief must respect the commitment weve made to the undocumented community by honoring longstanding rules that bar officers from contacting people solely to determine their immigration status, as well as a Garcetti mandate meant to clamp down on collecting sensitive information about immigrants that could end up in federal hands. And Connie Rice, a civil rights attorney whose advice has been sought by police commissioners and elected officials for more than three decades, urged the next chief to continue reforms set out by Beck and Bratton. Right now we are about a third of the way along to really getting into the DNA of a cultural change, Rice said. The city needs a chief who continues to build trust, reduce alienation and improve officer safety. Rice said it takes time and trust to ensure real change and totally depart from the policing of the Rodney King years. Community policing strategies such as deescalation, gang intervention efforts and mental health awareness need to be reflected in how every officer patrols the streets, not just the work of specialized teams, she said. The problem for public officials is staying true to a long-term strategy. A culture of change requires decades of commitment and substantial effort, Rice said. Activists who have sharply criticized the department under Beck, meanwhile, stressed that his exit was a chance to change direction. Black Lives Matter organizer Melina Abdullah, whose group had repeatedly called for Beck to be fired amid protests over police shootings, said his retirement was a chance to end this era in which black Los Angeles has been under siege. Abdullah argued that the LAPD should step back from addressing homelessness or truancy, matters that she argued were better handled by social workers and other groups. We should be looking for someone who is most interested in public safety, rather than the expansion of the police state, she said. Someone who might be willing to give up a portion of their budget to invest in the things that actually make communities safe. The new chief will also have to wrangle with complex debates over the use of drones, body cameras and other new technology, Councilman Mike Bonin said. And Silverman, the John Jay College professor emeritus, said any chief in a big city needs to understand predictive policing, which includes using data to concentrate police resources in crime-heavy areas. They dont have to be technocrats, but they should be knowledgeable about whats going on, Silverman said. Mike OGara, a member of the Sun Valley Area Neighborhood Council, said he hopes the LAPD adds to its ranks under the next chief. OGara said a frequent complaint at neighborhood council meetings is that it takes too long for officers to come out after a call is made. He also said more enforcement is needed to control homeless encampments. We need more of a presence, OGara said. Buscaino, the councilman, said he hoped the new chief would come from inside the department. When asked whether his successor should be an insider or an outsider, Beck said that outsider candidates are usually chosen if there is serious unrest or you dont have somebody inside that you have faith in doing the job. Neither, he said, is the case right now. We certainly want to cast the net wide but I think we have talented people inside that could assume the role. And I think it would be an easier transition for them than someone that had never worked or lived in the city of Los Angeles, which has its own unique political dynamics, Beck said. Police Commission President Steve Soboroff said there were spectacular candidates inside the department, but resisted ruling anyone out. Bratton wasnt an insider, he said. Times staff writer Kate Mather contributed to this report. emily.alpert@latimes.com Twitter: @alpertreyes richard.winton@latimes.com Twitter: @lacrimes dakota.smith@latimes.com Twitter: @dakotacdsmith On May 18 about four months before the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history unfolded on the Las Vegas Strip gunman Stephen Paddock was thinking about San Diego. On an HP laptop seized from one of his Mandalay Bay hotel rooms after the massacre, authorities found a web search from that Thursday in May for La Jolla Beach, as well as evidence that he had visited sandiego.org, the regions tourism website. The findings were released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on Friday as part of an exhaustive report on the shooting. Advertisement From his perch on the 32nd floor of the hotel, Paddock, a professional gambler, sprayed gunfire for more than 10 minutes down on concertgoers attending the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on Oct. 1. Fifty-eight people were killed and more than 700 injured. The search through Paddocks computers reveals queries into several areas around the country, although it is not clear whether he was considering those places as potential targets. On the same day as the San Diego searches, he searched Google Maps for locales in Southern California, including hotels in Santa Monica and a Venice Beach gastropub, and places in Boston, including Fenway Park and Boston University Questrom School of Business. The Google search for La Jolla Beach was made alongside queries for biggest bear, grant park functions, open air concert venues, biggest open air concert venues in USA, summer concerts 2017 and how crowded does Santa Monica Beach get. Ticketmasters website and the site for the Grant Park Music Festival a summerlong classical music concert series in Chicago were visited through Internet Explorer about a half-hour before sandiego.org was accessed at 5:05 a.m. that same day in May. The search history grows more focused on Las Vegas in September as Paddock finalized his plans, the report shows. To read the article in Spanish, click here Davis writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. An outdoor advertising company could get another 10 years to install bus shelters, public toilets and other street furniture in Los Angeles, after lawmakers took steps Friday toward altering and extending a contract that has been a financial disappointment for the city. The Los Angeles City Council voted 11 to 2 to instruct city lawyers to negotiate an amended agreement with Outfront JC Decaux. It would adjust annual fees received by the city, expand wireless internet and add bathroom attendants, and extend the term of the 20-year agreement for another decade. That deal would have to come back to the council for final approval. If the negotiations do not wrap up within roughly four months, the city will start seeking proposals from other companies. Advertisement After a short debate, Councilmen Mike Bonin and Joe Buscaino balked at the move. Bonin questioned why the city was extending the longstanding contract instead of putting out a new deal for bidders. If it is not extended, the current agreement would end in three years. We dont know what the best deal is for the taxpayers, Bonin said after the vote. A Bureau of Street Services official told lawmakers that extending the existing contract would ensure that bus shelters and other needed amenities are installed on city streets within months, instead of waiting years as companies went through the process of competing for a new contract. We can start seeing tangible benefits for the community right away, said Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who heads a committee that backed the plan. The decision comes six years after a critical audit from the city controller found that L.A. was not getting tens of millions of dollars in revenue from the contract, chiefly because it was lagging in approving bus shelters and other installations that could be emblazoned with ads. When the exclusive contract was awarded in 2001, city leaders had envisioned the installation of more than 1,000 bus shelters that would shade people from the sun. But a city report last year found that fewer than 700 bus shelters had been installed. And as the city was buffeted by rising homelessness, only 15 automated toilets had been put in well below the 150 that had been expected when the deal was struck. Fifteen years into the agreement, Los Angeles had received more than $54 million in revenue, the report found. That is far short of the $150 million that the company had once been expected to provide over two decades. In a 2012 audit, then-City Controller Wendy Greuel wrote that this contract was unrealistic in terms of expectations from the very beginning. The deal set up a schedule for installing bus shelters and other fixtures that was simply not realistic, especially in light of a cumbersome approval process Greuel wrote. In addition, Greuel said the city had lost the chance to collect millions of dollars because of the way that annual fees had been calculated. In the past, the advertising company has complained that city officials caused the delayed rollout and reduced revenues because they had turned down many proposed locations for bus shelters and advertising pillars. We havent gotten all the amenities that weve asked for over the years but we also havent done all the things that were supposed to do to get those amenities, Blumenfield said. As the city seeks to renegotiate the agreement, L.A. lawmakers want to revise the way that installation sites are approved so they happen in a timely manner a key recommendation from the audit six years ago. They also want to negotiate adjustments to the minimum annual fee and ensure that bus shelters are installed in a way that reflects the types and quantities originally contemplated by the agreement. And they are seeking new and expanded services, including wireless internet at bus stops, attendants to monitor some public toilets, and power washing at some heavily used stops. City staffers said that extending the agreement another decade would ensure enough time for 600 to 700 new bus shelters to be installed, Blumenfield spokesman Jake Flynn said. In a report, the Bureau of Street Services and other city staff said the contract extension would maximize revenue for both parties. emily.alpert@latimes.com Twitter: @AlpertReyes Actress Scarlett Johansson, who is expected to be one of the featured speakers at Saturdays Womens March L.A., is the subject of a separate demonstration. The Palestinian American Womens Assn. (PAWA) announced on its Facebook page that it was withdrawing from the march in downtown L.A. because of Johannsons participation. The group is critical of Johannsons role as a former spokeswoman for SodaStream International, a company that produces seltzer-making machines in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Advertisement The company was the target of a boycott movement of products made on land seized by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War and claimed by Palestinians for a future independent state. The boycott resulted in Johannsons decision to resign as a humanitarian ambassador for the charity organization Oxfam International. Oxfam opposes all trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, saying companies that operate there do so illegally. SodaStream eventually shut down its West Bank plant in the face of international pressure, The Womens March mission says we believe that womens rights are human rights and human rights are womens rights, Sana Ibrahim, past president of PAWA, said in a statement. Apparently that does not extend to Palestinian human rights, during the WMLA. carlos.lozano@latimes.com Gov. Jerry Brown has reversed a parole boards decision to free Manson family killer Leslie Van Houten. In September, the Board of Parole Hearings found Van Houten, 68, suitable for release. When she was 19, Van Houten took part in the brutal slayings of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in Los Angeles on Aug. 10, 1969. The question I must answer is whether Leslie Van Houten will pose a current danger to the public if released from prison, Brown wrote in his statement, released Friday night. He said he had to consider Van Houtens young age at the time of the crime, her dysfunctional upbringing and other mitigating factors. Advertisement He also noted Van Houtens exemplary conduct in prison. Supporters and prison staff have described her as a model inmate who earned bachelors and masters degrees and, as Brown put it, exceptional work ratings as a tutor. Van Houten also took leadership roles in self-help efforts among inmates. But in rare circumstances, Brown said, the aggravated nature of the crime alone can provide a valid basis for denying parole, even when there is strong evidence of rehabilitation and no other evidence of current dangerousness. Brown cited the horrific nature of the murders, Van Houtens eager participation and what he characterized as her minimization of her role in them. The reversal marks the second time Brown has overturned a parole board decision in order to keep Van Houten behind bars. The first time was in 2016. Before that, the state parole board denied Van Houtens attempt at winning release 19 times since she was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Manson died in November. Another participant, Susan Atkins, died in prison in 2009. The youngest of Mansons followers, Van Houten has been portrayed by supporters as a misguided teen under the influence of LSD and the twisted influence of Manson on the night of the slayings. A former homecoming queen from Monrovia, she did not join in the Aug. 9, 1969, murders of Sharon Tate, the pregnant wife of film director Roman Polanski, and four others in Benedict Canyon. But Browns statement noted that Van Houten felt left out and that she wanted to participate in the carnage of the following evening. Van Houten was part of the group that stormed into the LaBiancas home in Los Feliz. Van Houten testified to stabbing Rosemary LaBianca in the back at least 14 times, possibly after she already was dead. The group wrote messages in blood on the walls, and Van Houten, Brown noted, drank some chocolate milk from the refrigerator before leaving. Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi argued during the trial that Manson orchestrated the murders as part of a plan to spark a race war that he called Helter Skelter. He and his followers planned to survive by living underground near Death Valley and then would take power. Van Houten, Manson and three others were convicted and sentenced to death. But after the California Supreme Court struck down the death penalty, their sentences were commuted to life in prison. An appellate court overturned Van Houtens conviction in 1976, and a second trial the following year ended in a hung jury. She was convicted in her third trial in 1978 and sentenced to seven years to life in prison. At a 2002 parole board hearing, Van Houten said she was deeply ashamed of what she had done, adding: I take very seriously not just the murders, but what made me make myself available to someone like Manson. Her supporters have come to include retired reporter Linda Deutsch, who covered the trial for the Associated Press. During her incarceration, Van Houten has demonstrated remorse and, in my first-hand assessment, she is living proof that redemption is possible even for those whose crimes are unforgivable, Deutsch wrote in an opinion piece for The Times. Ive learned that she has spent decades in therapy to understand how she fell under Mansons control, Deutsch wrote. She once told me: I could not have lived without paying for what I did. But she has paid, Deutsch added. At issue is whether a person who earns her release through hard work over many years should be treated differently because her case was in the headlines. Opponents of Van Houtens parole take a starkly different stand. Ms. Van Houten should not be paroled and society cannot trust someone who committed such a heinous murder without showing any remorse for years, according to a statement on a Web site devoted to keeping the Manson Family Killers in Prison. howard.blume@latimes.com @howardblume UPDATES: 10:20 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with additional comments from Brown and background on the killings. This article was originally published at 8:55 p.m. Calling for equal rights for women and waving Dump Trump signs, tens of thousands of demonstrators converged on downtown Los Angeles on Saturday to take part in the second Womens March in L.A., one of dozens of similar protests held around the country. After an early morning rally in Pershing Square, demonstrators marched to Grand Park, clogging the streets around City Hall. There, a number of celebrity speakers addressed the crowd, including actresses Viola Davis, Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Laverne Cox. Delivering the most impassioned speech of the day, Davis reminded the women in the crowd that they must fight for their liberties and their rights, saying that it is through human dedication and effort that we move forward. Advertisement I am speaking today not just for the MeToos, she said, because I am a MeToo. But when I raise my hand I am aware of all the women who are still in silence, the women who are faceless, the women who dont have the money and who dont have the constitution and who dont have the confidence and who dont have the images in our media that gives them a sense of self-worth to break their silence. She urged everyone to be politically active and to fight for their cause. No one and nothing can be great unless it costs you something, she said. Weve got to bring up everyone with us. I stand in solidarity with all women who raise their hands and my hope for the future is that we never go back. Time-lapse video taken from the Los Angeles Times building shows marchers arriving in the City Hall area in downtown L.A. between 10:15 a.m. and noon Saturday. (Video by Calvin Alagot / Los Angeles Times) Johansson spoke out about the power men have long held over women. I had many relationships where the power dynamic was so off that I had to create a narrative where I was the cool girl, she told the crowd. It allowed me to have the approval that women are conditioned to need. Moving forward means my daughter growing up in a world where she doesnt have to become a victim of what had become the social norm. Organizers of the march said they expected more than 200,000 people. Several hundred thousand attended last years event, which came one day after President Trumps inauguration in what many consider one of the most divisive elections in recent memory. Activists said their main objectives include ending violence, protection of reproductive rights, LGBTQIA rights, workers rights, civil rights, disability rights, immigrant rights, Indigenous peoples rights and environmental justice. Scarlett Cunningham-Young, 11, stood near 5th and Hill streets next to several of her friends and their families holding a sign with a quote from Malala Yousafzai: I raise my voice not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be Herd. It was her second year attending the Womens March, and she said she felt inspired being around thousands of other demonstrators. I hope that this country wakes up and realizes that women and girls have voices too, she said. 1 / 30 Thousands marchers gather near city hall for the Womens March in L.A. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 30 Thousands of protesters converge on Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles during the Womens March in L.A. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 30 Organizers of the Womens March in L.A. said they expect more than 200,000 people. (Maria Cardona / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 30 Thousands of marchers gather near city hall for the Womens March in L.A. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 30 Thousands marchers gather near city hall for the Womens March in L.A. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 30 Thousands participate in the second Womens March in downtown L.A. (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 30 Thousands of protesters converge on Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles during the Womens March L.A. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 30 Aylin Garcia, 19, wears makeup that says, make America think again, during the Womens March in L.A. (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 30 Mary Macintyre, 25, holds an LGBTQ symbol made of flowers during the Womens March in L.A. (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 30 Marchers crowd the streets of downtown Los Angeles. (Maria Cardona / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 30 Thousands participate in the second Womens March in downtown L.A. (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 30 Thousands participate in the second Womens March in downtown L.A. (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 30 Marchers attend the second Womens March in L.A. (Maria Cardona / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 30 Thousands participate in the second Womens March in downtown L.A. (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 30 Thousands of protesters converge on Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles during the Womens March L.A. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 30 A Trump supporter films those attending the second Womens March in L.A. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 30 Phinehas Hogue, 4, of Burbank, holds a Girls Are Strong sign as he joins his family and friends near City Hall for the second Womens March in L.A. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 30 Azucena Goussen, 65, of Long Beach joins others near City Hall on Saturday for the second Womens March in L.A. The inaugural event was held in 2017 and marked a protest against new President Trump. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 30 People gather before the second Womens March in New York. Similar marches were taking place across the country. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 30 People gather before the second Womens March in New York. Similar marches were taking place across the country. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 30 People gather before the second Womens March in New York. Similar marches were taking place across the country. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 30 NEW YORK, NEW YORK--JAN. 20, 2018--Members of Batala New York participate in the second Womens March in New York. Similar marches were taking place across the country. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 30 People gather and imitate President Trump before the second Womens March in New York. Similar marches were taking place across the country. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 30 People gather at City Park for the Respect Rally during the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 30 April Cattell, 31, of New York, cheers for speakers at the second Womens March in New York. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 30 Thousands of men and women hold signs and rally while attending the Womens March in New York. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images) 27 / 30 Protestors dressed in costumes representative of The Handmaids Tale book participate in a Womens March highlighting demands for equal rights and equality for women in Cincinnati. . (John Minchillo / AP) 28 / 30 Participants in the Womens March gather near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. (Cliff Owen / AP) 29 / 30 A man holds a sign at First Ward Park during the Remarchable Women rally in Charlotte, North Carolina. (LOGAN CYRUS / AFP/Getty Images) 30 / 30 Participants gather at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial National Historic Site during the Womens March for Truth in St Louis, Missouri. (Whitney Curtis / Getty Images) Her mother, Shea Cunningham, 46, said she marched in Washington, D.C., last year because she was so outraged over Trumps election. Cunningham worries about the state of healthcare and the environment. She said she finds the tension with North Korea and widespread xenophobia especially disturbing. But she said the silver lining is that her daughter has been able to really participate in democracy and has developed a strong moral compass. Were stuck in a nightmare, she said. It feels like an absurdist reality. Its almost like a dark comedy, but its not funny. Saturdays event coincided with the rise of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements and was being held in conjunction with similar marches planned around the country. Gary Garcia, 55, said he was on hand to support his wife and womens issues and to show support for protections for Dreamers, young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Protected status for Dreamers, which has allowed them to live and work in the U.S. without fear of deportation, could expire soon as Trump tries to end the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Garcia, principal of Marshall High School, said many of his students are Dreamers and theyre really stressed out. He held a sign reading, Dreamers must stay in the country they know. Garcia and his wife, who stood near the corner of 5th and Hill streets, said they left their home in Mid-City at 7 a.m. to get downtown in time for the march. They also attended last years event. Garcia said he wants to continue to send a message to President Trump that his policies are unacceptable. If we dont protest, it implies acceptance, he said. Theres so much thats wrong right now. Many parents, like Malika Dawson, 23, brought their children. Dawson carried daughter Khlo, 1, in a baby carrier strapped to her body. To see all these people who want equality just like me, it gives me hope for my daughter in the future, especially when you see people my age and younger because were the next generation of leaders, Dawson said. She held up a sign that on one side read, Girls just wanna have FUNdamental human rights, and on the flip side said, If you dont fight for all women, you fight for no women. I love your sign! one marcher shouted at Dawson, whose young daughter stared mesmerized at the thousands of chanting marchers with their colorful signs. I want to bring my daughter to events like this throughout her lifetime, Dawson said. Hopefully, its not necessary in the future to still protest for womens rights, but I want her to know she can stand up and take action. Summer Holl, 43, brought her daughter, Esme, 10. We feel so angry and upset, and so isolated in that anger with the country being so divided, said Holl, who got up at 6 a.m. to make the trip from their home in Agoura to downtown L.A. To come out to the march and see all the people we know were not alone. Holl held up a multicolored sign that said, We All Should Be Feminists, while Esme carried a sign with a rainbow on a white background that read, All We Need is Peace. Holl said that marching is an American way to speak our truth and that she wanted to share the experience with her daughter. The two were surrounded by demonstrators who held up signs for peace, love and equality. Its so important to steal the microphone away from the Trump administration and to speak our truth, Holl said. Lenora Marouani, 33, brought her 2- and 5-year-old daughters to the march. She said she wants them to understand what it means to stand up for women, immigrants and black lives. Marouani, who owns a home goods store in Manhattan Beach, carried a sign urging people to vote in the June 5 statewide primary election. This is going to be a really fantastic year for women, she said. We have the power. Marouani said she and her eldest daughter Pash practiced chanting lines from the popular Beyonce song, Run the world. She would say Who run the world? and Pash would yell Girls! I want to instill that notion in her, she said. Its not that were dissing boys, but we have to work twice as hard and you instill empowerment at a young age. Jessica Bautista, 17, sold bacon-wrapped hot dogs with her sister near the speakers stage. The sisters were helping their parents, who had their own hot dog carts nearby. Bautista had taped a sign to her cart reading, Trump is a puppet. She said she has worked at many marches recently, but this one especially resonated with her. She wanted to show her solidarity with other woman but also immigrant rights advocates.. She said she worries Trump will build the border wall and about his other immigration policies. Bautista, who was born in the U.S., said her parents are both undocumented immigrants from Mexico. I feel we need a new president, she said, because hes making really bad choices. Marcher Ali Davis held up a sign that read, Grab Em By the Ballot Box, and stressed that its important for demonstrators to remain politically active. A protest is great, but if you dont follow that up by bothering your politicians and going to vote, it doesnt do much, said Davis, 46. Last year, she said, she was disturbed that so many friends and family members werent registered and didnt bother to vote. You have to gently but firmly bug people to vote in 2018, Davis said. Davis, who came to the march alone by train, said she felt the magnitude of the event from the beginning. From the minute I stepped on the train, it filled my heart to see so many people, she said. A handful of Trump supporters gathered in front of the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters, where they faced off with demonstrators. They waved signs saying, Make America Great Again, and God Bless Donald Trump. Womens march volunteers held hands, blocking the group from some 50 counter-protesters. Dozens of LAPD officers stood guard. The two groups hurled insults at each other, with the Trump supporters yelling, Go back to Mexico, and the marchers yelling, Go home, racists. But most of the marchers were peaceful, and police reported no arrests or major incidents. Anna-Jean Jones, 30, said she was happy that she brought her two young daughters, Ayana Winn, 11, and Leah-Miya Winn, 7, who carried signs that read, Support women now, and There is no force equal to a women determined to rise. I brought two beautiful young daughters into the world, she said, and Im going to advocate for them. andrea.castillo@latimes.com michael.livingston@latimes.com UPDATES: 4:45 p.m.: This article was updated with new comments from Jessica Bautista. 2:45 p.m.: This article was updated with new comments from Ali Davis. 2:10 p.m.: This article was updated with new information about Trump supporters facing off with counter-demonstrators. 1:45 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from speeches by actresses Viola Davis and Scarlett Johansson. 12:25 p.m. This article was updated with additional comments from marcher Summer Holl. 11:20 a.m.: This article was updated with additional comments from marcher Malika Dawson. 11:10 a.m.: This article was updated with additional comments from marchers. 10:55 a.m.: This article was updated with additional comments from demonstrators. 10:30 a.m.: This article was updated with more comments from demonstrators. 10 a.m.: This article was updated with new comments from demonstrators. 9:05 a.m.: This article was updated with new information about the weather. This article was originally posted at 8:40 a.m. Greg Critser, a Pasadena-based writer who explored fear and obsession in books about obesity, prescription drugs and aging, has died after a years-long fight with brain cancer. He was 63. Critser wrote well-regarded books that he referred to as my American pathology trilogy books that touched on health, happiness (or its opposite) and the hapless pursuit of immortality. The books, Critser said, all wrestled with personal demons he once was overweight, he tangled with depression and as the years passed he felt himself slowing down. Advertisement Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World was at the time a sobering look at how the fast-food industry had become an enabler of obesity by offering supersized meals that conditioned people to eat more fries, order bigger burgers and drink virtual vats of soda for modest prices. He traced the roots of the emerging epidemic back to the Nixon administration and the decision to ease regulations on corn and staples such as palm oil, opening an avenue for the mass production of low-cost sweeteners. The 2003 book became a bestseller and was identified by the American Diabetes Assn. as the definitive journalist account of the modern obesity epidemic. In a 2010 interview with The Times, Critser said his own struggles such as once being 40 pounds overweight would typically lead to months of research. Drawn down a rabbit hole, he said, he would absorb himself looking into everything from hormone replacement therapy to calorie restriction to tissue engineering. Another book, Generation Rx: How Prescription Drugs Are Altering American Minds, Lives and Bodies, examined how drug companies had shifted from being science-driven enterprises to mass producers of consumer goods. If they were once inclined to develop new and better drugs, they were now obsessed with identifying new and better ways to sell drugs, he concluded in the 2005 book. Critser said he sometimes used himself as a guinea pig while reporting, trying products or therapies. He said he experimented with testosterone while working on Eternity Soup: Inside the Quest to End Aging, his 2010 book on the pursuit of immortality. The hormone treatment gave him more energy and the impression that his cognitive skills were heightened. But it was short-lived. Critser said his best lesson may have been learned from a 112-year-old man he met during his research. His secret to long life? Hanging out with young people. So Critser, who had no children, filled his Pasadena home with visitors. I try to cram my literary tastes down my nephews throats, he joked. Born in Steubenville, Ohio, on July 18, 1954, Critser earned a bachelors degree from Occidental College and a masters in history from UCLA. His work frequently appeared in national publications, including the New Yorker and the Atlantic and newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and the Times of London. He was part of the original editorial team at the Pasadena Weekly. He also taught science writing classes at Caltech and USC, lectured and teamed up with a personal trainer on a series of weight-loss and training books. Critser is survived by his wife, Antoinette Mongelli; mother, Betty Critser Newman; and two sisters, Barbara Spence and Linda Critser. steve.marble@latimes.com twitter.com/stephenmarble Florida is still under consideration for offshore oil drilling, a top Interior Department official said Friday, contradicting an announcement last week from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke that energy exploration off the coast of Florida was off the table. The comments from Walter Cruickshank, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management director, came during a congressional hearing where he was grilled by two Democratic representatives, Jared Huffman of California and Darren Soto of Florida. [Zinkes] statement stands for itself, and we have no formal decision yet on what is in or out of the five-year program, Cruickshank said in response to a question. Advertisement Cruickshank later said an analysis would have to be done but that Zinkes statements would be taken into account. Zinke was more declarative last week. We are not drilling off the coast of Florida, Zinke told reporters at the Tallahassee airport, following a 20-minute meeting with Gov. Rick Scott. For his part, Scott said he believed Zinke and was confident Florida wouldnt be involved in any drilling plans. Secretary Zinke is a man of his word, Scott told reporters in Miami on Friday. Hes a Navy SEAL. He promised me that Florida would be off the table, and I believe Florida is off the table. Department of Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift said in an email that Cruickshank simply said BOEM will finish the legally required analysis of the planning areas, as is always done for all planning areas. But Swift did not respond to a follow-up question to clarify whether any official decision to ban drilling off Floridas coasts has been made. Soto said the backtracking by the Trump administration means Florida needs to remain vigilant. Clearly were in the plan and we need to work in a bipartisan fashion to get Florida exempt, Soto said in an interview Friday. We cant let our guard down. Cruickshanks remarks throw confusion over drilling off Floridas shores while complicating a political victory claimed by Scott, a Republican and vocal Trump supporter. Democrats and environmentalists pounced on the news, including Sen. Bill Nelson, whom Scott is expected to challenge this year for his Senate seat. This confirms what we all suspected: There is no deal to protect Florida from drilling, Nelson said in a statement. What we saw last week was just political theater, and the people of Florida should be outraged. Environmentalist groups were taken aback at Cruickshanks statements. The administration is playing Hokey Pokey with Floridas coasts, said Jennifer Rubiello of Environment Florida. First they put them in, then they take them out, and now this morning we hear they arent out after all. Were getting shaken all about. Zinke announced Jan. 4 a plan to allow oil drilling off the U.S. coast over the next five years. The plan wasnt final, and called for public comment before ultimate decisions on which areas to open up to drilling were made. The decision was met with bipartisan backlash in Florida, with Scott and Nelson both decrying the proposal. Five days later, Zinke flew to Tallahassee to meet with Scott, an early supporter of President Trump, and made the announcement to exempt Florida at the Tallahassee airport. Now lawmakers in other states want the same treatment. I want to know every reason why Florida is so unique that it got that spot exemption, Huffman said to Cruickshank. Rohrer writes for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. In an 81-page investigative report released Friday, Las Vegas police gave their most comprehensive timeline to date on how the Oct. 1 massacre unfolded at a country music concert on the Strip. The report did not give any greater insight into why gunman Stephen Paddock, an amateur gambler, opened fire on thousands of people from his room in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing 58 people before killing himself. Nor was it likely to settle questions about why police arrived on the 32nd floor, where Paddock was perched, only after he had stopped shooting. Advertisement But investigators findings gave a little more detail on what police know about Paddocks activities before and during the shooting important because of lingering questions about how Paddocks preparations had gone unnoticed, and why it took so long for his deadly shooting spree to end. Sept. 9: Paddock reserves a room at the Mandalay Bay hotel. Sept. 25: Paddock checks into the hotel, with a check-out date of Oct. 2. He rolls one bag to his room himself, and a bellman uses a luggage cart to bring up four other bags. Then Paddock leaves and returns to his home in Mesquite, Nev. Sept. 26: Paddock wires $50,000 to a bank account in the Philippines, where his girlfriend, Marilou Danley, is visiting family. Paddock then returns to Las Vegas and visits a pair of casino hotels before returning to Mandalay Bay, where he brings another six suitcases on a luggage cart, as well as another rolling suitcase, to his room. Paddock then begins gambling at the hotel overnight and into the next morning for more than eight hours. Sept. 27: Paddock insists on relocating to another room, saying he wants a better view, and is given a suite with two adjoining rooms. That night, Paddock drives back to Mesquite and buys luggage, razor blades, fake flowers, a vase and a Styrofoam ball at a Wal-Mart. Sept. 28: Paddock buys a .308 bolt-action rifle from a gun store in Mesquite and wire-transfers an additional $50,000 to an account in the Philippines. Paddock also goes to a gun range before returning to Las Vegas. He brings another two rolling suitcases and a laptop bag to his Mandalay Bay room, and again gambles for more than six hours, until early the next morning. Sept. 30: After spending Sept. 29 mostly in his room, Paddock places Do not disturb signs on his adjoining rooms, drives to Mesquite, and then returns to his Mandalay Bay suite with four more suitcases. He then drives back to Mesquite. Oct. 1, the day of the attack: Paddock returns to Mandalay Bay early in the morning and gambles for four hours. He brings two more rolling suitcases and a bag to his room, and throughout the afternoon, officials say, he is detected opening and closing the doors to his suite multiple times, probably while preparing for his attack. 9:36 p.m.: Paddock deadbolts the door to one of his rooms, and then deadbolts the door to the other one 10 minutes later. 10 p.m.: Security guard Jesus Campos arrives via elevator on the 32nd floor to investigate an alert of an open door in a guests room down the hall from Paddocks suite. Campos checks a stairwell door that blocked his entry to the floor minutes earlier and discovers that it has been fastened closed with an L bracket. 10:04 p.m.: Campos calls security dispatch to report the blocked door. His call is routed to the facilitys maintenance department, which dispatches maintenance engineer Stephen Schuck to go to the floor. 10:05 p.m.: Paddock fires two initial shots at the Las Vegas Village, the open-air venue across the street from the hotel where the Route 91 Harvest music festival is being held, with more than 20,000 attendees. Then he fires more. 10:06 p.m.: Campos hears what he later described as rapid drilling noises as Paddock fires about 100 rounds at concertgoers. Paddock, who has placed surveillance cameras outside his room, starts shooting through his door and down the hallway at Campos, hitting the security guard in the leg. Campos, who is unarmed, takes cover and radios a hotel dispatcher for help, giving Paddocks room number on the 32nd floor. 10:07 p.m.: Paddock resumes firing hundreds of rounds at concertgoers. Two Las Vegas police officers are already in the building on another call. They head upstairs, presumably to try to find the source of the gunfire, along with two armed Mandalay Bay security guards. Over the next two minutes, Paddock takes several potshots at jet-fuel storage tanks at the nearby airport striking them twice but not igniting the fuel before resuming fire on the concert crowd. 10:10 p.m.: Schuck, the building engineer, arrives on the 32nd floor, and Campos yells for him to take cover. Paddock starts firing down the hallway, and Schuck radios hotel dispatch to send police to the 32nd floor. 10:11 p.m.: The two police officers arrive on the 31st floor one floor below Paddocks as the gunman resumes firing on the concert crowd. 10:12 p.m.: Two armed Mandalay Bay security officers arrive on the 32nd floor, and the police and security officers on the 31st floor realize that the shooting is coming from one floor above them. 10:15 p.m.: Paddock fires his final shots at concertgoers. 10:16 p.m.: The two police officers on the 31st floor enter the stairwell outside the 32nd floor hallway but do not confront Paddock. 10:57 p.m.: Police breach the sealed 32nd-floor stairwell doorway. 11:20 p.m.: Police use explosives to blow open Paddocks door, and they discover him dead. 11:26 p.m.: Police breach the interior door to Paddocks second room, where a police officer accidentally fires three rounds into the room. matt.pearce@latimes.com Matt Pearce is a national reporter for The Times. Follow him on Twitter at @mattdpearce. More national headlines In his first interview since acknowledging an extramarital affair, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens said Saturday that there was no blackmail and no threat of violence by him in what he described as a months-long consensual relationship with his former hairdresser. Greitens said he has no plans to resign from office as a result of the affair, despite calls to step aside from several Republican and Democratic state lawmakers. Im staying. Im staying, he said twice for emphasis, adding about his relationship with his wife, staff and supporters: Were strong. Advertisement Greitens, 43, has remained out of the public eye since shortly after delivering his State of the State address on Jan. 10. Later that night, St. Louis television station KMOV reported that Greitens had an extramarital affair in 2015 as he was preparing to run for governor. The report included an audio recording of a conversation between a woman and her then-husband recorded secretly by the husband in which the woman said Greitens had bound her hands and blindfolded her, taken a photo of her partially nude and warned her to remain silent during an encounter in his St. Louis home. Greitens did not directly say, Yes, or No, when asked in an interview with the Associated Press on Saturday whether he had bound and blindfolded and taken a photo of the woman. But he firmly denied that he had attempted to coerce the woman or that he or anyone associated with him had paid her to be silent. This was a consensual relationship, Greitens said. There was no blackmail, there was no violence, there was no threat of violence, there was no threat of blackmail [and] there was no threat of using a photograph for blackmail. All of those things are false. Greitens added: The mistake that I made was that I was engaged in a consensual relationship with a woman who was not my wife. That is a mistake for which I am very sorry. The AP has not identified the woman because she has not agreed to an interview. The governor said he has had no other romantic or sexual relationships with anyone else while hes been married. I made a mistake with one woman, he said. A former Navy SEAL officer, Rhodes Scholar, author and founder of a veterans charity, Greitens took his first step into politics by opening an exploratory committee for governor in February 2015. The extramarital relationship began around that March and ended that fall, Greitens said without being more specific. He officially announced he was running for governor in September 2015. He told the AP he discussed and resolved the affair with his wife that same year. Greitens emerged the winner in a crowded and expensive GOP primary before defeating the states attorney general, Democrat Chris Koster, in November 2016 to give Republicans control of the governors mansion for the first time in eight years. After news of the affair broke this month, an attorney for the ex-husband said his client told him that Greitens had slapped the woman, and St. Louis Circuit Atty. Kim Gardner said she was opening a criminal investigation into the various claims about Greitens actions. Asked Saturday whether he had ever slapped the woman, Greitens responded: Absolutely not. He said he hasnt been contacted by the circuit attorneys office and that neither he nor his attorneys have been contacted by the FBI on this or any other matter. As far as my conduct, there is nothing to investigate, Greitens said. On Friday, CNN cited sources while reporting that the FBI had recently opened an inquiry into Greitens. CNN reported that 22-year-old Eli Karabell who said he had volunteered to help with Greitens transition in December 2016 approached the news organization to say he had been interviewed by the FBI last November, though he did not offer specifics about what he told agents. Greitens told the AP he doesnt know Karabell. Greitens spokesman, Parker Briden, said Karabell was a serial liar who had called Briden multiple times acting crazy, including claiming he would donate millions to the governor if he could meet with him. Amid the controversy over his affair, Greitens postponed a scheduled statewide promotional tour this past week for what he had billed in his State of the State address as the boldest state tax reform in America. Instead, Greitens said he has called almost every state lawmaker and also posted a Facebook apology. Greitens said the love and support has been tremendous from people all over the state. Before becoming governor, Greitens wrote a book titled Resilience, which was a collection of letters to a former Navy SEAL friend about overcoming adversity. Greitens now finds himself in a similar position, and he said he recently received a call from that friend encouraging him to hang in there. Im very confident that God has a way of bringing good from difficulty. God has a way of helping people in the midst of pain to emerge with wisdom, Greitens said. God has a way of helping you to move through suffering and actually become stronger. Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It is Saturday, Jan 20. Heres what you dont want to miss this weekend: TOP STORIES Early retirement: Charlie Beck, the son of a police officer whose own career with the Los Angeles Police Department spanned four decades, will retire this summer, ending an eight-year tenure as police chief before finishing out the remainder of his second term. Beck was credited with major reforms in the department and a general decline in homicides but also had some missteps. Los Angeles Times Mayor Eric Garcetti now faces a pivotal choice in picking a new chief tinged with politics, race, gender and philosophy. Los Angeles Times Advertisement Will police shootings be the one dark mark on Becks otherwise strong legacy? Los Angeles Times Beck entered a department that was a military organization that mistreated minorities. He leaves it a majority-minority department that has won praise even from longtime critics. Los Angeles Times Union vote: Journalists at the Los Angeles Times have overwhelmingly elected to form a union, a first for the 136-year-old news organization that for much of its history was known for its opposition to organized labor. Los Angeles Times Plus: Los Angeles Times Publisher and Chief Executive Ross Levinsohn was placed on an unpaid leave of absence Friday as the papers parent company, Tronc, investigates allegations of inappropriate conduct while he was an executive at other companies. Los Angeles Times Deadly flu: The death toll from influenza in California rose sharply on Friday, amid a brutal flu season that has spread across the nation. Los Angeles Times More details in stabbing case: The 20-year-old Newport Beach man facing a murder charge in the fatal stabbing of former high school classmate Blaze Bernstein spoke openly on social media about his Catholic faith and conservative political views. Los Angeles Times Cause of death: Rocker Tom Petty died last year from multisystem organ failure caused by accidental drug toxicity, the Los Angeles County Coroner said Friday. Los Angeles Times One year later: Why Trump has become such a scary word for Republicans in California. New York Times Problematic? Does the marriage of two top California water officials represent a conflict of interest? Sacramento Bee How about one more? Another big skyscraper could be coming to the San Francisco skyline. SF Gate Packing them in: The San Fernando Valley is about to see an increase in building density. Curbed Los Angeles Shield your eyes: The Bay Area housing market has gone from bad for worse if you are a buyer. The Mercury News THIS WEEKS MOST POPULAR STORIES IN ESSENTIAL CALIFORNIA 1. Childrens captivity in Perris: an emaciated girls window escape opened door to nightmarish scene. Los Angeles Times 2. Children found shackled and malnourished in Southern California home; parents arrested. Los Angeles Times 3. Perris family torture case: Experts weigh in on why parents may have done it. The Press-Enterprise 4. An LGBTQ college student was stabbed 20 times, but was it a hate crime? Los Angeles Times 5. Ellen Pompeo, TVs $20-million woman, reveals her behind-the-scenes fight for what I deserve. The Hollywood Reporter ICYMI, HERE ARE THIS WEEKS GREAT READS Famed street: Since the rise of rap in the 1980s, Rosecrans Avenue in South Los Angeles and Compton has served as the musics West Coast spiritual home. Here is a musical tour. Los Angeles Times Costly loans: Over the last decade, a certain type of loan has exploded in popularity as struggling households typically with poor credit scores have found a new source of quick cash from an emerging class of online lenders. Unlike payday loans, which can carry even higher annual percentage rates but are capped in California at $300 and are designed to be paid off in a matter of weeks, installment loans are typically for several thousand dollars and structured to be repaid over a year or more. Los Angeles Times Whale of a tale: How some pranksters broke into Marineland in the 1980s and rode the whales. The Daily Breeze Directors tale: The late Hal Ashby was not a big-name director. But in Hollywood, his legacy remains beloved and somewhat controversial. Bloomberg Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad. With nearly every utterance, Donald Trump affirms the conclusion we reached two years ago that he is temperamentally and intellectually unfit to serve as president of the United States. But there he is, a year after his inauguration, waging a war of words with the world from behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office. He has denigrated fellow citizens and international allies; threatened nuclear war; undermined public faith in the judiciary, Congress, and the media; found some very fine people at a gathering of neo-Nazis; and dispensed utterly with the idea of presidential gravitas. In fact, theres been so much public attention paid to his tweets, to his character and temperament, to the ongoing investigations into how he came to power, that close scrutiny has sometimes lagged into what this administration has actually done. In brief, its bad. Heres a quick look. Internationally, Trump has only partly translated his narrow and historically fraught America first campaign rhetoric into policy. Despite some early drama over NATOs budget, Trump has followed a fairly traditional policy of supporting the postwar alliance. His oft-stated desire for better relations with Vladimir Putin stalled over broad condemnation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and Trump signed legislation imposing sanctions on Russia (with some reservations) and also approved selling lethal weapons to help Ukraine fend off pro-Russia separatists. Advertisement Lies and provocations and Twitter rants are only one part of this presidency. The president no doubt deserves some of the credit for routing Islamic State from strongholds in Iraq and Syria, although those victories were built on decisions made by military planners during the Obama administration. But Trump has rattled sabers with North Korea (bragging about the size of his nuclear button), threatened the international deal to limit Iranian nuclear development, and withdrawn the U.S. from a Pacific Rim trade pact (and now has his sights set on NAFTA, a function of his ill-advised protectionist views of trade). He has been less than supportive of the United Nations, withdrawing the U.S. from UNESCO and cutting aid to the agency that works with Palestinian refugees, among other things. His decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital seems certain to damage the prospects for peace in the region. Domestically, Trump has embraced a scorched-earth attitude toward regulations on businesses. He has failed to fill positions across his administration while simultaneously appointing foxes to oversee such henhouses as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He has sought to weaken worker and consumer protections, to end policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, to shrink public lands (including slashing the size of national monuments), while seeking to open more federally controlled land and waters to oil, gas and other exploitative industries. His nationalistic opposition to immigration, his decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and his draconian approach to immigration enforcement have made a broken system worse. Trump inherited an economy that, while growing slowly, was fundamentally strong, with steadily rising consumer and business confidence, an epic bull run in the stock market, low unemployment, rebounding median incomes and modestly improving wages. Those trends have continued on his watch, boosted by his business-friendly agenda, but so has the grossly unequal distribution of gains that has sustained wide income inequality. Trumps policies have exacerbated those problems the tax cut he championed disproportionately favored high-income families and businesses, and his administrations relentless attacks on the Affordable Care Act helped cause millions more Americans to go uninsured in 2017 the biggest increase since the ACA passed in 2010. Trump has been successful in quietly reshaping the judiciary. The Senate has confirmed 23 judicial nominees, including Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch. Although the American Bar Assn. rated a handful of the nominees not qualified, most are the sort of well-credentialed conservative jurists that any Republican president would be likely to appoint. But Trump has also pushed a racially tinged and outmoded view of law and order, which has played out with directives by Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions to end federal oversight of troubled police departments, endorse asset forfeiture from people not convicted of crimes and reverse Obama administration sentencing reforms by seeking harsher sentences for drug crimes. So where is the nation after the first year of President Trump? Paying attention, in some cases, to the wrong things. Lies and provocations and Twitter rants are only one part of this presidency. Another is the ongoing effort to dismantle not just government agencies but the mission of government itself. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook To the editor: On Inauguration Day in 2017, I wrote a letter to the editor that was published the next day in the Los Angeles Times. In the letter, I recalled staying at a remote tent resort during President Obamas inauguration in 2009, during which another guest from Denmark congratulated me and my country. In contrast, on Jan. 20, 2017, I felt afraid and anxious because of President Trump. My fears when I wrote that letter were tremendous and my depression was quite serious. I could not, however, have imagined just how horrible this would turn out to be a year later. My greatest fears have been realized, as our status in the world has reached an all-time low and our democracy is in serious jeopardy. Advertisement I wish that I could write that I was wrong a year ago. Instead I fear for our country, our world and our precious children. We owed them so much better. Barbara Sobin-Rosen, Fullerton .. To the editor: On Saturday in Los Angeles and elsewhere, we women will march for many reasons. We march because we recognize the value of all people who come to our country hoping for a better life, and because we recognize that immigrants who contribute may come from Norway, Nicaragua or Nigeria. We march because same-sex couples who can now legally love and marry who they choose should be guaranteed the same services as the rest of us. We march because black lives do matter and we will never stop working for the justice that our civil rights heroes were willing to die for. We march because we choose to protect our Earth from those who place profit over pollution. We march because women who have been harassed, abused and paid lower wages or denied promotions deserve better. We march because our free press should never be threatened for reporting the truth. We march because we are at a critical time in our nations history. We are concerned about who we are as a nation and, more important, who we will become. We will march for as long as it takes. Diane Luftig, Pomona .. To the editor: A year into his administration, Donald Trump has proved himself the most straightforward and candid president the U.S. has ever had. Did he not utter vile statements during his campaign? Did he not link the whole religion of Islam to terrorism? Did he not pledge to build a wall along the southern U.S. border to keep out Mexican immigrants, people he called murderers and rapists? Did he not say he would recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, compromising Americas stance as an honest broker in the Middle East? Did he not promise to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate deal? We should not be surprised by Trumps vulgarity during his first year as president. Instead, we should blame those who raised him to the highest echelon of power. Munjed Farid Al Qutob, London .. To the editor: How ironic! After just one year of his incredibly divisive and rueful, ruinous rule, at both the national but especially international level, we now really do need someone to make America great again. Sad! Michael Ward, Sierra Madre Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Southern California has seen enough cases of the prolonged abuse and neglect of children, some resulting in deaths, that the Los Angeles Times letter writers recite a familiar refrain when another notable case make the news: How can the suffering of a child happen so long without effective intervention? This time, the case of David and Louise Turpin who are alleged to have starved and shackled their 13 children, many of whom are now adults has caused several readers to wonder how more than a dozen people could have been hiding in squalor while living in a Perris tract home. A handful of readers have mentioned notable tragedies in the past including that of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez, who died in 2013 but instead of targeting systemic lapses, they cite a collective failure on the part of neighbors and everyday passersby to take action. Betty Turner of Sherman Oaks goes a step further than if you see something, say something: Advertisement How the Turpin childrens horrific suffering could have gone unreported for so long boggles the mind. Let us give up a little of our privacy, become a little more vulnerable and build community. Stephen Fischer, Los Angeles Those 13 childrens ages range from 2 to 29. So on average, the wife gave birth to a child every other year over the span of 27 years. Yet no one thought it odd that the couples kids seldom if ever were seen outside the house? Its fine to exhort that if you see something, say something. But dont ignore whats implicit in that old saw: If you think you should see something, but see nothing, say something. Burbank resident Jen Tait credits neighborliness with saving her life: I could not help contrasting the behavior of the Turpins neighbors with that of my own. In July 2016, I had a massive cerebral hemorrhage at 2 a.m., and my husband was out of town. Somehow, I managed to call 911, and the paramedics who arrived came close to leaving me at home because I was lucid. Fortunately, my next-door neighbors were awakened and came over to investigate. They spoke to me and, upon realizing that I wasnt myself, insisted the paramedics take me to a hospital. They even followed the ambulance to be sure I was OK. I had brain surgery the next day and spent the next three weeks on life support. Had my neighbors not come over, my husband would have come home to find me dead. We were taught a huge lesson about being good citizens and neighbors that night a lesson we are determined to pass on. Stephen Fischer of Los Angeles cites Frost: I feel the Turpin case is an indictment of the commonly misunderstood quote from Mending Wall by Robert Frost, Good fences make good neighbors. If one reads further in the poem, we get, Something there is that doesnt love a wall, That wants it down. Let us give up a little of our privacy, become a little more vulnerable and build community. Get to know your neighbors and their children, because it matters. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Vice President Pence met with Egypts President Abdel Fattah Sisi on Saturday in a 2 1/2-hour session that focused, in part, on Egypts anger over President Trumps abrupt decision last month to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. We heard Al Sisi out, Pence, who is making his first official trip to the Middle East, told reporters after the meeting. He described the Egyptian leaders complaints as a disagreement between friends. Last month, Egypt urged the United Nations Security Council to pass a resolution rejecting Trumps decision on Jerusalem, which upended hopes for a negotiated peace deal with Palestinians. The U.S. vetoed the resolution, but the General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a similar nonbinding resolution. Advertisement Pence is likely to hear similar concerns about Trumps Middle East policies at his next stop, in Amman, Jordan, where he arrived Saturday night for meetings with King Abdullah on Sunday. He goes to Israel after that but will not meet any Palestinian officials. During their conversation, Pence said he told Sisi that the Trump administration would support a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians if both parties agree, long the basis for a proposed resolution of the conflict. My perception was that he was encouraged by that message, Pence said. Pence is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Cairo since before the 2011 Arab Spring uprising ousted Hosni Mubarak, a longtime U.S.-backed strongman. Sisi, a former Army general, became president in 2014 after he helped lead a military coup in 2013 that ousted a democratically elected leader. Pence said he and Sisi spoke about joint efforts to combat terrorism, including Egypts battle with Al Qaeda-linked insurgents in the Sinai. The United States stands shoulder to shoulder with Egypt in their fight against terrorism in this country, he told reporters. Pence also said he brought up U.S. concerns about religious freedom in Egypt and said Sisi assured him that he wants to promote religious diversity in Egypt. Despite warming ties between Cairo and Washington, Sisi did not release any jailed journalists, human rights activists or other political prisoners as a goodwill gesture for Pences visit. Pence said he had raised the plight of two Americans, Ahmed Etiwy and Moustafa Kassem, who are imprisoned in Egypt. He said Sisi assured him he would give very serious attention to both cases, although he did not offer to release them. Etiwy, a 27-year-old student from New York, and Kassem, 52, an auto parts dealer from New York, were arrested along with hundreds of Egyptians after the 2013 military coup. U.S. lawmakers have complained that at least 18 Americans are imprisoned in Egypt and its unclear why Pence focused on only those two. Sisis authoritarian government has effectively banned protests and freedom of expression, jailed political opponents and conducted anti-gay persecution. In September, Human Rights Watch denounced what it called widespread and systematic use of torture by Egypts security forces. Egyptian security blocked a dozen American reporters who had accompanied Pence from Washington from getting out of their bus when Pence arrived for his meeting with Sisi at the Al Etehadiya Palace. After prolonged negotiations by Pences aides, the media was escorted in after 90 minutes. Twitter: @ByBrianBennett brian.bennett@latimes.com The first day of a federal shutdown ended much as it began Saturday, with Democrats and Republicans hardened in a stalemate of angry finger-pointing as Congress and President Trump failed to broker a deal to reopen the government. Lawmakers in both parties spent the day blaming each other and pushing plans for new stopgap measures lasting either weeks or days, continuing a tightrope process that went on for months and finally broke down late Friday night. The White House posted photos of a grim-faced Trump, who had to cancel his plans to attend a Saturday night fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago beachfront resort in Florida, working in the White House during the Democratic shutdown on the first anniversary of his inauguration. Advertisement Congress convened for a rare weekend session, with lawmakers told to stay in town as negotiations continued behind closed doors. But prospects for a swift resolution appeared dim, with no votes expected until Sunday or even early Monday. The focus of the action remained in the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) were trying to hatch a plan that could win 60 votes in a bipartisan deal. One problem: The Senate leaders had not spoken. Nor had Trump talked to the minority leader. This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present, the president tweeted early Saturday as tens of thousands of people gathered for protest marches in Los Angeles, Washington and other cities across the country. Behind the scenes, a bipartisan group of 19 senators scrambled to kick-start talks on young immigrant Dreamers facing deportation, along with budget levels, the Childrens Health Insurance Program, disaster aid and other tangled issues that need to be resolved to reopen the government. The effects of the shutdown may not be felt immediately, given that many government employees do not normally come to work on a weekend. During the last shutdown, in 2013, about 800,000 federal employees were furloughed. The Smithsonians 19 museums in Washington and New York and the National Zoo said they would remain open, at least for the weekend. The nations military will stay on duty, although their pay may be delayed, and key veterans services could face disruption. The National Parks Conservation Assn. said about one-third of the 417 national park sites were closed, including such icons as the Statue of Liberty and other historic and cultural sites that could be locked. More than 21,000 National Park Service employees were furloughed, leaving 3,298 essential staff to manage national parks from Acadia to Zion. Lawmakers from both parties face serious political risks with a shutdown of any length, but especially a prolonged one. But for now, both parties felt confident voters were on their side, splitting along hardened partisan lines. Republicans blamed what they called the Schumer Shutdown on Democrats in the Senate, who led the filibuster that halted the House-passed funding bill, which would have continued government operations through Feb. 16. We did our job, said House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) Democrats argued that Republicans, who control the White House and both the House and Senate, are responsible for what they called the Trump Shutdown. I think the American people are smart enough to realize who takes the blame, said Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (D-Whittier). The way forward remains uncertain. Lawmakers could vote as early as Sunday on another stopgap measure to keep the government running for three weeks, until Feb. 8. That vote could push to after midnight under Senate rules, leaving at least the possibility of a resolution before offices open Monday. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who was among the Republicans who helped Democrats filibuster the earlier spending bill, promoted the three-week extension as a way to end the standoff by allowing time to negotiate outstanding issues. In particular, negotiators want a commitment for the Senate to consider by next month immigration legislation on border security and deportation protection for the Dreamers, young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Democrats have objected to a temporary funding bill, the fifth this fiscal year, unless they have assurances that Trump and Republican leaders would actually use the intervening time to negotiate. At one point, Schumer said he thought he and Trump had a deal even agreeing to consider Trumps request for $20 billion in border wall funds over several years in exchange for deportation protections for the Dreamers, sources said only to have the president abruptly reverse course. Negotiating with the White House is like negotiating with Jell-O, Schumer said. Key opponents of Trumps border wall were reconsidering since the fate of the nearly 700,000 Dreamers is at stake. Trump has ended their protection from deportation starting in March. A brick at a time, we will free the Dreamers, said Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.), relaying comments he told his colleagues during a private meeting of House Democrats on Saturday. Any deal must work around Trumps upcoming State of the Union address Jan. 30, when both sides hope to avoid a shutdown hanging over what is usually an agenda-setting presidential speech to Congress. Democrats were seeking a shorter deal with an agreed-upon outline for negotiations. Republicans want to push the next deadline until after the presidents speech, with limits on immigration talks. Five of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats in this falls midterm elections sided with Republicans late Friday in a vote that would have paved the way for a deal to keep the government open, while four Republicans voted against it. Even though the vote was 50 to 49, it did not reach the 60-vote threshold needed to end debate for a final vote. During a dramatic late night in the Senate, lawmakers engaged in bipartisan talks for nearly two hours, the sausage-making playing out in real time on the Senate floor. At one point, some 30 senators Republicans and Democrats gathered around the desk of Schumer as Graham explained his proposal for the three-week stopgap measure to allow talks to continue. Democrats objected. That forced the GOP leader to set up the days-long procedure necessary to break their filibuster, with a vote expected late Sunday or early Monday. Ahead of the shutdown, the promise of a deal rose when Trump invited Schumer to the White House for a meeting Friday afternoon. Last year, the two, with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), had struck an immigration bargain that stunned Republicans. Over lunch Friday in the small dining room off the Oval Office, Schumer thought talks were progressing toward a deal. The two discussed the contours of a possible accord, and Schumer agreed to the higher military funding the Republicans have wanted. In what Schumer later said was a difficult decision, he also considered the possibility of Trumps full border wall request, well beyond the $2.6 billion the administration had initially requested for the fiscal year that was included in an immigration proposal by Graham and Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.). The president was very positive in the room, said a source familiar with the meeting. Schumer thought he had a deal. In the room, it sounded like the president was open to accept it, Schumer told the Senate. But what has transpired since that meeting in the Oval Office is indicative of the entire tumultuous and chaotic process the Republicans have engaged in. Trump largely left the congressional leaders to negotiate, both Republicans and Democrats said. The president seemed to back off the arrangement with Schumer after White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly and others had time to intervene, Democrats said. The president walked away from it after he talked to his hard right, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) McConnell, who said Republicans were ready to come together in a bipartisan way to clean up this mess, also read White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders statement in which she said no immigration deal could be reached during the shutdown. We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands, Sanders said. This is the behavior of obstructionist losers, not legislators. Times staff writers Brian Bennett and Jim Puzzanghera in Washington contributed to this report. noah.bierman@latimes.com Twitter: @Noahbierman lisa.mascaro@latimes.com Twitter: @LisaMascaro ALSO Government begins shutting down as Congress races to agree on short-term spending bill Trump is transforming the GOP against legal immigration. Will Congress follow? Is this small-town congressman from New Mexico tough enough to win Democrats the House majority? More coverage of Congress More coverage of politics and the White House UPDATES: 5:10 p.m.: This article was updated with new developments from the negotiations. 12:45 p.m.: This article was updated with details from negotiations on Capitol Hill. This article was originally published at 7:20 a.m. Theres no mention of executive privilege in the Constitution. Nor was it discussed at the Constitutional Convention, when delegates gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 to draft the countrys bedrock governing principles. But executive privilege the presidents right to keep some communications and records secret has been part of nearly every presidency since George Washington tried to withhold documents from Congress regarding a failed military expedition against Native American tribes. Washington lost that battle with Congress, but the concept has endured and expanded, providing a reliable flashpoint for political controversies and scandals ever since. Advertisement President Trump has not invoked executive privilege to keep his current and former aides from answering questions to Congress about Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign. But the issue emerged in full glare this week when Stephen K. Bannon, Trumps former strategic advisor, stonewalled the House Intelligence Committee during a 10-hour-long, closed-door hearing by saying the White House had strictly limited what he could say. Another House hearing scheduled for Friday with Hope Hicks, the White House communications director and one of Trumps closest confidantes, was indefinitely postponed after it became clear she might follow Bannons lead and refuse to answer lawmakers questions. I wasnt surprised about the postponement, said Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), given the committees struggles with Bannon. Bannon clammed up about the presidential transition, his seven months in the White House and his conversations with Trump after he was fired in August a gaping timeline that frustrated both Democrats and Republicans. He didnt open up even when the panel took the unusual step of slapping him with a subpoena during the hearing. Rep. Adam B. Schiff of Burbank, the top Democrat on the panel, said Bannon refused because somehow this was covered by a potential claim of executive privilege down the road, a stance he called breathtaking in its scope. If the White House is permitted to maintain that kind of a gag rule on the witness, no congressional investigation would ever be effective, Schiff said. Bannons position grew more puzzling the next day when Rick Dearborn, the White House deputy chief of staff, fully cooperated with the same House committee in closed-door testimony. Executive privilege also didnt come up last July when Trumps son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, testified to a Senate panel. The inconsistent approach has frustrated Democrats. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said the White House has hinted at executive privilege to deflect questions without actually claiming it. Its like being pregnant, he said. It is or it isnt. You cant have a third category. Lawyers for Bannon and Hicks did not respond to requests for comment. Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington Law School, doubts Congress will take the next step of holding Bannon in contempt if he continues to refuse to answer questions. The Congress has tolerated this type of misuse of executive privilege, he said. It would be a curious thing if they actually enforced the principle of congressional integrity and constitutional law. There were no consequences for Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions when he deployed a similar approach to avoid Senate Judiciary Committee questions last June, and again in November, about Russia and his conversations with Trump. Although the president hadnt invoked executive privilege, Sessions said, I am protecting the right of the president to exert it if he chooses. The Supreme Court has never ruled on executive privilege in congressional inquiries. But it has set clear limits for criminal investigations. While Trump can tussle with Congress, he has less power to block special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is leading the criminal probe into Russian meddling and whether the president or his aides assisted the Russians or otherwise broke the law. The defining case was U.S. vs. Nixon in 1974, when President Nixon refused to turn over crucial White House recordings to the special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal. The Supreme Court unanimously said Nixon must turn over the tapes to ensure a fair trial of the Watergate burglars, who had hoped the tapes would show their innocence. But the ruling also formally outlined the presidents ability to withhold information to insulate the deliberative process or protect the confidentiality of some communications. Because of that case, we know theres such a thing as a constitutionally protected executive privilege, said Susan Bloch, a Georgetown University constitutional law professor. Nixon resigned a little more than two weeks after the decision, and the issue has popped up repeatedly since then. President Reagan cited executive privilege to withhold information to Congress on oil leases, environmental enforcement and memos written by William Rehnquist, whom Reagan had nominated to the Supreme Court. He also resisted answering questions or turning over his personal diaries during the Iran-Contra scandal, which involved the illegal funding of anti-Sandinista Nicaraguan rebels with profits from the covert sale of missiles to Iran. President Clinton tried to use executive privilege to avoid testifying about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, but a federal judge rejected the attempt. President Obama invoked executive privilege to help his attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., avoid turning over documents involving the Fast and Furious gun-tracking scandal. He, too, lost in court when a federal judge ruled against him in 2016. chris.megerian@latimes.com Twitter: @chrismegerian ALSO Trump has given dozens of depositions in lawsuit-laden business career, but he could face tougher grilling in Russia inquiry Rep. Devin Nunes plays defense for Trump by going on hard offense against Justice Department Allies balk at Trump administration bid to block Chinese firm from cutting-edge telecom markets By David S. Cloud Britain and Germany are balking at the Trump administrations call for a ban on equipment from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, threatening a global U.S. campaign to thwart Chinas involvement in future mobile networks. Both countries are expected to limit Huawei and other Chinese companies from providing core components including routers. But other types of Chinese equipment for next-generation, high-speed communications could still be installed on British and German networks, officials and analysts say. The U.S. push to ban Huawei has provoked a global dispute in recent weeks, with senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, publicly urging NATO allies in Europe to exclude the company and warning that the United States might limit its military presence in countries that did not do so. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Confucius Institutes: Do they improve U.S.-China ties or harbor spies? By Don Lee Hanging red lanterns welcome visitors to the University of Marylands Confucius Institute, the oldest of about 100 Chinese language and cultural centers that have popped up over the last 15 years on American campuses, subsidized by millions of dollars from Chinas central government. But last fall, when four U.S. Senate investigators walked into the Confucius offices in Maryland and spent hours questioning staff, they werent looking for an educational exchange. The committee has been seeking detailed information from the university about the program, including contracts, email exchanges and financial arrangements that school administrators have kept under wraps since it started in 2004. American colleges once viewed these jointly funded institutes as an economical way to expand their language offerings one that could also bring warmer ties with China and, importantly, an influx of Chinese international students paying full tuition. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch Live: White House holds surprise news briefing amid government shutdown Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement U.S. policy toward China shifts from engagement to confrontation By David S. Cloud For decades, China had no closer American friend than Dianne Feinstein. As San Francisco mayor in the 1970s, she forged a sister-city relationship with Shanghai, the first between American and Chinese communities. As U.S. senator, she dined with Chinese leaders at Mao Tse-tungs old Beijing residence. And in the 1990s, she championed a trade policy change that opened a floodgate of Western investment into China. Today the Democratic senator sees China as a growing threat, joining a broad array of Trump administration officials, national security strategists and business executives who once favored engagement with Beijing and now advocate a confrontational approach instead. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Mnuchins attempt to calm markets backfires as Trump takes another shot at the Federal Reserve By Jim Puzzanghera An attempt by Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin to calm plunging financial markets backfired Monday, further rattling investors with new fears about whether major U.S. banks have enough cash on top of worries about interest rates, political instability in Washington and a slowing global economy. Adding to the volatile mix was a fresh attack on the Federal Reserve by President Trump, who declared that the central bank was the U.S. economys only problem and that it didnt have a feel for the market. The Fed is like a powerful golfer who cant score because he has no touch -- he cant putt! Trump said on Twitter. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print He speaks to Democratic hearts. But is Beto ORourke a serious White House contender? By Mark Z. Barabak Hes a failed U.S. Senate candidate with an undistinguished congressional record who, for the moment, is a blazing-hot 2020 presidential prospect despite the fact that he may not run and faces long odds if he does. Beto ORourke suggests the will-he-or-wont-he speculation is something he himself cant quite fathom. I think thats a great question, he responded in a Dallas Morning News interview when asked whether his unsuccessful November Senate bid merited a promotion to the White House. I ask that question myself. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Russian disinformation teams targeted Robert S. Mueller III, says report prepared for Senate By Craig Timberg, Tony Romm, Elizabeth Dwoskin Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. (Associated Press) Months after President Trump took office, Russias disinformation teams trained their sites on a new target: special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Having worked to help get Trump into the White House, they now worked to neutralize the biggest threat to his staying there. The Russian operatives unloaded on Mueller through fake accounts on Facebook, Twitter and beyond, falsely claiming that the former FBI director was corrupt and that the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election were crackpot conspiracies. One post on Instagram which emerged as an especially potent weapon in the Russian social media arsenal claimed that Mueller had worked in the past with radical Islamic groups. Such tactics exemplified how Russian teams ranged nimbly across social media platforms in a shrewd online influence operation aimed squarely at American voters. The effort started earlier than commonly understood and lasted longer while relying on the strengths of different sites to manipulate distinct slices of the electorate, according to a pair of comprehensive new reports prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee and released Monday. Read more Timberg, Romm and Dwoskin report for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement President Trump announces Mick Mulvaney as acting White House chief of staff By Associated Press President Trump says budget director Mick Mulvaney will serve as acting chief of staff, replacing John F. Kelly in the new year. I am pleased to announce that Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management & Budget, will be named Acting White House Chief of Staff, replacing General John Kelly, who has served our Country with distinction. Mick has done an outstanding job while in the Administration.... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print It aint over when its over: In Michigan, Wisconsin and elsewhere, losers seek to undermine election results By Mark Z. Barabak Democrat Gavin Newsom has yet to become California governor, but already a candidate for state Republican Party chairman is promoting a recall effort. In Michigan and Wisconsin, GOP lawmakers have rushed through legislation to thwart their incoming Democratic governors and hamper others in the opposing party from doing the jobs voters chose them to do. In Congress, GOP leaders have echoed President Trump and sought to undermine the legitimacy of Democrats strong midterm performance, raising unsubstantiated allegations of fraud and political malfeasance. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print New CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger says she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera On her first full day leading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Kathy Kraninger said she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney, the controversial acting director whom she replaced in the powerful regulatory position. To underscore that point, the former White House aide said she would even reconsider a Mulvaney action that critics saw as a gratuitous jab at Democrats who championed the agencys creation: changing its name to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Kraningers declaration during a meeting with reporters Tuesday addressed one of the main criticisms of her selection. She is considered a protege of Mulvaney, her boss at the White House Office of Management and Budget who has executed a dramatic, industry-friendly shift at the watchdog agency. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trumps pick for chief of staff, Nick Ayers, out of running By Associated Press Nick Ayers, right, with Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, at the funeral service for George H.W. Bush on Dec. 3. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Associated Press) President Trumps top pick to replace John F. Kelly as chief of staff, Nick Ayers, is no longer expected to fill that role. Thats according to a White House official who is not authorized to discuss the personnel issue by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Ayers is Vice President Mike Pences chief of staff. The official says that Trump and Ayers could not agree on Ayers length of service. The father of young children, Ayers had agreed to serve in an interim capacity though the spring, but Trump wanted a two-year commitment. The official says that Ayers will instead assist the president from outside the administration. Trump announced Saturday that Kelly would be departing the White House around the end of the year. Thank you @realDonaldTrump, @VP, and my great colleagues for the honor to serve our Nation at The White House. I will be departing at the end of the year but will work with the #MAGA team to advance the cause. #Georgia Nick Ayers (@nick_ayers) December 9, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement U.S. hiring slows to 155,000 jobs, unemployment rate holds at 3.7% By Jim Puzzanghera Job growth slowed significantly in November but still was solid, indicating the economy remains in good shape but not expanding so quickly that it will lead to sharply higher interest rates. U.S. employers added 155,000 jobs last month, well below analyst expectations and a steep decline from Octobers strong 237,000 figure, the Labor Department reported Friday. Still, monthly job gains are averaging 206,000 this year, the best since 2015. Even the slower pace of 170,000 over the last three months is close to last years average of 182,000 and well above the amount needed to keep up with population growth. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump is expected to pick State Department spokeswoman for U.N. ambassador By Associated Press Heather Nauert at a briefing at the State Department on Aug. 9, 2017. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) President Trump is expected to nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Two administration officials confirmed Trumps plans. A Republican congressional aide said the president was expected to announce his decision by tweet on Friday morning. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly before Trumps announcement. Trump has previously said Nauert was under serious consideration to replace Nikki Haley, who announced in October that she would step down at the end of this year. Trump has been known to change course on staffing decisions in the past. Nauert was a reporter for Fox News Channel before she became State Department spokeswoman under former Secretary Rex Tillerson. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Senate confirms new consumer financial protection chief: Kathy Kraninger, protege of industry-friendly Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera The Senate, in a party-line vote Thursday, confirmed White House aide Kathy Kraninger to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and experts predicted a continuation of the industry-friendly shift it has taken since President Trump installed an acting director last year. Kraninger is a protege of acting director and White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney, an outspoken critic of the agency that was created in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to prevent predatory lending and other abuses that led to it. Democrats and consumer advocates have denounced him for sharply departing from the aggressive watchdog role the bureau had pursued under its first director, Obama-appointee Richard Cordray, including scaling back enforcement and moving to reassess tough new rules on payday loans and narrow the definition of abusive practices by banks and other firms. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Shutdown postponed by two weeks under plan approved by Congress By Erik Wasson Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), shown at the Capitol on Tuesday, says President Trumps border wall is a waste of money. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Congress passed a two-week stopgap spending bill that will delay the chance of a partial government shutdown until Dec. 22 as lawmakers and President Donald Trump negotiate over his demands to pay for a wall on the southern border. The House and Senate passed the measure Thursday without dissent, and Trump has indicated hell sign the bill before the current shutdown deadline of midnight Friday. Negotiations were delayed by memorial services this week for former President George H.W. Bush. The temporary measure gives Democrats and Republicans more time to find a resolution to their biggest hurdle: funding a wall on the U.S. Mexico border wall. Trump says he wants $5 billion for parts of a concrete wall on the southern border and is willing to shut down the government if he doesnt get it. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has said Democrats will provide no more than $1.6 billion for border security, because the wall is a waste of money. The presidents demands for wall funding from Congress come after he said during the campaign that Mexico would pay for it. This week he said on Twitter that a $25 billion border wall would pay for itself in two months, without providing evidence. Most of the U.S. governments $1.2 trillion discretionary budget has been appropriated already by Congress for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1. Departments at a risk of a partial shutdown late this month include the departments of State, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Treasury and Homeland Security. Talks to resolve the differences have been on hold since a meeting among Trump, Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California originally slated for Dec. 4 was postponed due to Bush memorial events. The three are scheduled to meet on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby of Alabama told reporters the rest of the seven-bill spending package being negotiated is basically done. Shelby in recent weeks had tried to broker a compromise in which Trumps $5 billion request would be split over two years, but Schumer has rejected that. Some Democrats have been willing to trade border wall funding for deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants. Pelosi ruled out such a deal in remarks to reporters Thursday. The stopgap government funding measure also would extend the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides subsidized coverage for homes in flood-prone areas, to Dec. 21. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Bipartisan Senate group wants to formally blame Saudi crown prince for journalists killing By Karoun Demirjian Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires. (Associated Press) A bipartisan group of senators filed a resolution Wednesday condemning Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as responsible for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, directly challenging President Trump to do the same. This resolution -- without equivocation -- definitively states that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia was complicit in the murder of Mr. [Jamal] Khashoggi and has been a wrecking ball to the region jeopardizing our national security interests on multiple fronts, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement accompanying the release of the resolution. It will be up to Saudi Arabia as to how to deal with this matter. But it is up to the United States to firmly stand for who we are and what we believe. The resolution put forward by Graham and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who are expected to lead the Judiciary Committee together next year, comes just one day after CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed leading senators about the details of the agencys assessment that Mohammed ordered and monitored the killing and dismemberment of Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Senators emerged from that closed-door briefing furious not only with Saudi Arabia, but Trump as well for dismissing the heft of the CIAs findings. You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS and that he was intricately involved in the demise of Mr. Khashoggi, Graham said following the briefing, referring to Mohammed by his initials. He added that Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, who briefed senators last week, were at best being good soldiers and at worst were in the pocket of Saudi Arabia for presenting the evidence of Mohammeds involvement as inconclusive. The release of the resolution condemning Mohammed also comes as the Senate is preparing to move ahead with debate on a resolution to curtail U.S. support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. Though the Yemen resolution does not directly address Khashoggis murder, its popularity is a sign of how strained the United States patience with Saudi Arabia is on multiple fronts, including its role in worsening the civilian cost of the war in Yemen, cited by the United Nations as the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Last week, the Senate voted 63 to 37 to advance the Yemen resolution past an opening procedural hurdle. But Graham and Feinsteins resolution on the crown prince has the potential of drawing broader support, especially from Republicans, who are deeply divided about how fiercely to punish Saudi Arabia over Khashoggis killing. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has been an outspoken advocate for human rights and is seen as one of the more influential foreign policy voices in the GOP, did not vote for the Yemen resolution last week or sign on to a bipartisan measure last month to sanction Saudi officials and cease weapons transfers to the kingdom. But he is an original co-sponsor of the resolution condemning Mohammed over Khashoggis death. So is Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), who represents the other end of the GOP spectrum in terms of recent Saudi-related votes and endorsements. Young was an initial co-sponsor of the bill Graham wrote with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) to sanction Saudi officials deemed responsible for Khashoggis killing and stop the sale of anything but exclusively defensive weapons to the kingdom until it ceased hostilities in Yemen. Young also voted to advance the Yemen resolution something Graham did as well, though Graham has signaled he will not be lending any similar support to the measure, fearing it may establish a precedent of invoking the War Powers Act too broadly. Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) are listed as original co-sponsors of the resolution condemning Mohammed, which also urges Saudi Arabia to negotiate with Houthi rebels to end the Yemen war, work out a political solution to its standoff with Qatar and release political prisoners. But how much sway the resolution has probably comes down to how forcefully the administration decides to heed it -- and thus far, Trump has not shown any interest in condemning the crown prince the way the senators hope he will. Demirjian reports for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Los Angeles County offices and U.S. Postal Service closed Wednesday in honor of George H.W. Bush By Brian Park The Honor Guard carries the casket of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush following his funeral on Dec. 5 in Washington, DC. (Doug Mills - Pool/Getty Images) The U.S. Postal Service will suspend regular mail delivery Wednesday, which President Trump has declared a national day of mourning in honor of former President George H.W. Bush. All retail postal outlets will be closed, and package delivery will be limited. In Los Angeles, all nonessential county departments, offices and libraries will be closed for the day, L.A. County officials said. The Los Angeles County Library said no overdue fines will be assessed for books, and due dates will be moved forward one week. Los Angeles County Department of Public Health offices also are closed Wednesday. The Sheriffs Department, Fire Department, clinics and hospitals will continue to operate, the county said. The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health clinics are being operated with reduced staffing, and the department asked patients to confirm or reschedule any appointments. All county courts and the disaster recovery centers for the Woolsey fire in Malibu and Agoura Hills will remain open. Larger federal government operations will be closed Wednesday. To honor the life and legacy of President Bush, the Postal Service will observe the National Day of Mourning. Learn how Postal operations will be affected. https://t.co/Mffch7bPCh pic.twitter.com/vG46BsIOpm U.S. Postal Service (@USPS) December 4, 2018 L.A. County offices and libraries will be closed tomorrow (Dec 5) in observance of the #NationalDayOfMourning for President George H. W. Bush. The Countys Disaster Recovery Centers in Malibu & Agoura Hills will remain open from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. pic.twitter.com/Sv1J7GoJ7T Los Angeles County (@CountyofLA) December 4, 2018 @LAPublicHealth offices will be closed tomorrow December 5 in observance of the national Day of Mourning for President George H. W. Bush. Essential Services including clinics and other services will remain open: https://t.co/tZGoGGHRlg pic.twitter.com/ypXsV6vlYY LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) December 4, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to skip 2020 White House race, sources say By Associated Press Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick speaks during an interview in Boston on Dec. 15, 2014. (Elise Amendola / Associated Press) Former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts will soon announce he wont launch a 2020 presidential campaign, according to three sources familiar with his plans. They did not say why the Democrat decided against a run. A formal announcement was delayed as the country observed a day of mourning for President George H.W. Bush, one source said. News of Patricks plans was first reported by Politico. Patrick, 62, served two terms as governor, from 2007 to 2015, was assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Clinton administration and since leaving the governors office has been a managing director for Bain Capital. Patrick traveled the country in support of Democratic candidates in the recent midterm election. Earlier this year, some of Patricks supporters and close advisors started the Reason to Believe political action committee, a grassroots organization dedicated to advancing a positive, progressive vision for our nation in 2018 and 2020. Reason to Believe PAC had been holding meetups across the country, including in early presidential primary states. While Patrick is opting against a 2020 run, dozens of Democrats are considering jumping in, including nearly a half-dozen members of the Senate, several House members, and other Massachusetts politicians. On Tuesday, Michael Avenatti, the attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels and a vocal critic of President Trump, said in a statement that he would run. Patrick had previously expressed some concerns about breaking through if he sought the nomination, telling David Axelrod, a former advisor to President Obama, that he wasnt sure he could stand out in such a large field. Its hard to see how you even get noticed in such a big, broad field without being shrill, sensational or a celebrity, and Im none of those things and Im never going to be any of those things, Patrick said in a September interview with Axelrod. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Former Trump adviser Roger Stone invokes 5th Amendment right and wont testify before Senate Judiciary Committee By Associated Press Roger Stone in 2017. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) Roger Stone, an associate of President Trump, says he wont provide testimony or documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee. An attorney for Stone said in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the committees top Democrat, that Stone was invoking his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in refusing to produce documents or appear for an interview. Stone has been entangled in investigations by Congress and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III about whether Trump aides had advance knowledge of Democratic emails published by WikiLeaks during the 2016 election. Stone has not been charged and has said he had no knowledge of the timing or specifics of WikiLeaks plans. In the letter to Feinstein, Stone said the committees requests were far too overbroad, far too overreaching and far too wide-ranging. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch live: Vice President Pence and lawmakers honor George H.W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol before he lies in state Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Rebuilding crumbling infrastructure has bipartisan support. But who gets to pay for it? By Jim Puzzanghera The grades for major U.S. infrastructure would give any parent indigestion if they were on a childs report card. Roads: D; bridges: C+; dams: D; ports: C+: railways: B; airports: D; schools: D+; public transit: D-. The nations overall grade: D+, which translates to being in fair to poor condition and mostly below standards with significant deterioration and a strong risk of failure, according to an evaluation last year by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump calls former lawyer Michael Cohen a weak person who is lying By Associated Press President Trump says his former lawyer Michael Cohen is lying to get a reduced sentence. The president is reacting to Cohens guilty plea Thursday to lying to Congress about work he did on a Trump real estate project in Russia. During a surprise court hearing, Cohen admitted to lying in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee about a plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen in his guilty plea said he made the false statements to be consistent with Trumps political message. Cohens lawyer says he continues to cooperate with special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with Trump associates. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Mark Z. Barabak When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Sarah D. Wire When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Michael Cohen, President Trumps ex-lawyer, pleads guilty to lying to Congress about Trump real estate project in Russia By Associated Press Michael Cohen, President Trumps former personal lawyer, pursued a Russian real estate project on candidate Trumps behalf well into the 2016 campaign, he said Thursday while pleading guilty to lying to Congress. Cohen had previously said that the project was abandoned in January 2016, but he now admits he continued to pursue a deal and says he updated Trump and members of his family about the negotiations, according to a new court document. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement James Comey says acting Atty. Gen. Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer By John Wagner Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker speaks at the Justice Department in Washington on Nov. 14. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press) Former FBI Director James B. Comey apparently isnt too impressed with the mental prowess of President Trumps acting attorney general. Matthew Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, Comey said during a radio interview on Monday night in which he sized up the man Trump installed this month to replace ousted Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions. Comey was asked by WGBH News in Boston if he thinks Whitaker could derail the investigation of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Whitaker has spoken critically of the probe, and Trump as recently as Tuesday continues to call it a witch hunt. I think its a worry, but to my mind not a serious worry, Comey said. The institution is too strong, and [Whitaker], frankly, is not strong enough to have that kind of impact. He may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, but he can see his future and knows that if he acted in an extralegal way, he would go down in history for the wrong reasons, and Im sure he doesnt want that, added Comey, who was fired by Trump last year and later wrote a book that portrays the president as an ego-driven congenital liar. Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney in Iowa, was Sessions chief of staff before being picked by Trump to lead the Justice Department. Trump has called Whitaker a very smart man. Earlier this year, Trump called Comey an untruthful slime ball. Wagner writes for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Interior Department watchdog clears Zinke in investigation of Utah national monument By Juliet Eilperin Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, third from the left, and Gov. Jerry Brown tour fire damage in Paradise, Calif., on Nov. 14. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) The Interior Departments Office of Inspector General has cleared Secretary Ryan Zinke in a probe of whether he redrew boundaries of a national monument in Utah to aid the financial interests of a Republican state lawmaker and stalwart supporter of President Trump. In a Nov. 21 letter to Zinkes deputy, David Bernhardt, Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall wrote that her office found no evidence that the secretary or his aides changed the boundaries of Utahs Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in an effort to help former Utah state representative Mike Noel, who serves as executive director of the Kane County Water Conservancy District. Last December, Trump shrank the monument, first established by President Clinton in 1996, by 46% based on Zinkes recommendation. Noel owns 40 acres that had been surrounded by the monument, but now lies outside its boundaries. The new boundaries also would make it easier to construct the proposed Lake Powell Pipeline, which would deliver water to sites in Kane County that include Noels property. Earlier this year, the Interior Department had proposed selling off 120 acres of federal land from the former monument that lay adjacent to some of Noels land holdings, but later reversed the plan. We found no evidence that Noel influenced the DOIs proposed revisions to the [monuments] boundaries, that Zinke or other DOI staff involved in the project were aware of Noels financial interest in the revised boundaries, or that they gave Noel any preferential treatment in the resulting proposed boundaries, Kendall wrote. Neither the Interior Department nor the inspector generals office would release the actual investigative report. In the letter, Kendall writes that her office will provide the report to Congress no sooner than 31 days from Nov. 21, when it is provided it to Zinkes office. The Associated Press first reported the inspector generals conclusions Monday night, but did not provide details from the report itself. Noel emailed Zinke about the effort to alter Grand Staircase-Escalante, according to emails released by Interior under the Freedom of Informational Act. But those emails do not make references to Noels land holdings. Noel also pushed to rename a Utah highway in honor of Trump, but abandoned that effort in March after some of his fellow Republicans objected to the idea. Noel did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. The inspector generals office still has at least two ongoing probes of the secretary, including one focused on his real estate dealings in Whitefish, Mont., and another regarding his decision to deny a permit to two Connecticut tribes who were hoping to jointly run a casino after MGM Resorts International lobbied against it. Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift welcomed the watchdogs conclusions. The report shows exactly what the secretarys office has known all along that the monument boundaries were adjusted in accordance with all rules, regulations and laws, she said in an email. This report is also the latest example of opponents and special interest groups ginning up fake and misleading stories, only to be proven false after expensive and time consuming inquiries by the IGs office. But Kendalls spokeswoman, Nancy DiPaolo, defended the inquiry, even though she said the report has not been publicly released and we will not be speaking specifically about the matter at this time. The OIG opens investigations based on credible allegations and reports our findings objectively and independently, DiPaolo added. Any time or resources spent investigating conduct or activity that may be a violation of law, regulation or policy is a service to the public, Congress and the Department. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement that he still intended to investigate the way Zinke and his colleague redrew the boundaries for Grand Staircase-Escalante and another Utah national monument, Bears Ears, next year. I have great respect for the inspector general, and I accept these findings, but Secretary Zinke should have known the people he listened to while destroying our national monuments had disqualifying conflicts of interest, he said. Should I chair the Natural Resources Committee in the next Congress, the process he and President Trump used to destroy Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante will be front and center in our oversight and investigations efforts. We need to know why they ignored overwhelming public expressions of support for both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, why they ignored Native American tribes throughout their decision-making, and why they removed protections on parcels of land with known mineral deposits. Eilperin and Rein report for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump advisor Larry Kudlow says China must do more to end trade war By Jim Puzzanghera Larry Kudlow, President Trumps top economic advisor, said Tuesday that Chinas response to U.S. efforts to rework the two economic superpowers trade relationship has been extremely disappointing but the planned meeting this weekend between the nations leaders is an opportunity for a breakthrough. They have to do more. They must do more, Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters ahead of a Saturday dinner between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 Summit in Argentina. I think the president is exactly right to show strong backbone when prior administrations did not, to break through these Chinese walls, Kudlow said. Theyre so resistant to change. We have to protect the country. We have to protect our technology, our inventiveness, our innovation. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch live: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders holds a media briefing amid tensions at the border By Los Angeles Times Staff Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Democrat TJ Cox grabs lead over Republican David Valadao in nations last remaining undecided House race By Maya Sweedler Democrat TJ Cox slipped past Republican incumbent David Valadao on Monday to take the lead in the countrys sole remaining undecided congressional race, positioning Democrats to pick up their seventh House seat in California and 40th nationwide. Cox, who trailed by nearly 4,400 votes on election night, has steadily gained as ballot counting continues nearly three weeks after the Nov. 6 election, a pattern consistent with the states recent voting history. On Monday, he pulled ahead by 438 votes after Kern County updated its results. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former CIA director Michael Hayden hospitalized after suffering a stroke By Deanna Paul Then-CIA Director Michael Hayden testifies before a Senate committee in 2008. (Saul Loeb / Getty Images) Former CIA Director and retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke, his family said Friday. He is receiving expert medical care for which the family is grateful, according to a statement issued by his namesake organization. The General and his family greatly appreciate the warm wishes and prayers of his friends, colleagues, and supporters. Hayden, 73, served as director of the CIA and National Security Agency during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. He retired from the CIA in 2009. Hayden has been a vocal critic of Donald Trumps campaign and presidency. Earlier this year, after Trump decided to revoke the security clearance of former CIA director John Brennan, Hayden was one of several former intelligence leaders who signed a statement in opposition. Criticizing the president for crossing a line, he quickly became one of the individuals whose security clearance Trump threatened to review. Deanna Paul writes for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump tells troops hes thankful for what hes done for the U.S. and rails against courts and migrants By Associated Press President Trump talks with troops via teleconference from his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on Thanksgiving. (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump used his Thanksgiving Day call to troops deployed overseas to pat himself on the back and air grievances about the courts, trade and migrants heading to the U.S.-Mexico border. Trumps call, made from his opulent private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., struck an unusually political tone as he spoke with members of all five branches of the military to wish them happy holidays. Its a disgrace, Trump said of judges who have blocked his attempts to overhaul U.S. immigration law, as he linked his efforts to secure the border with military missions overseas. Trump later threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico for an undisclosed period of time if his administration determines Mexico has lost control on its side. The call was a uniquely Trump blend of boasting, peppered questions and off-the-cuff observations as his comments veered from venting about slights to praising troops You really are our heroes, he said as club waiters worked to set Thanksgiving dinner tables on the outdoor terrace behind him. It was yet another show of how Trump has dramatically transformed the presidency, erasing the traditional divisions between domestic policy and military matters and efforts to keep the troops clear of politics. You probably see over the news whats happening on our southern border, Trump told one Air Force brigadier general stationed at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, adding: I dont have to even ask you. I know what you want to do, you want to make sure that you know who were letting in. Later, Trump asked a U.S. Coast Guard commander about trade, which he noted was a very big subject for him personally. Weve been taken advantage of for many, many years by bad trade deals, Trump told the commander, who sheepishly replied, Mr. President, from our perspective on the water we dont see any issues in terms of trade right now. And throughout, Trump congratulated himself, telling the officers that the country is doing exceptionally well on his watch. I hope that youll take solace in knowing that all of the American families you hold so close to your heart are all doing well, he said. The nations doing well economically, better than anybody in the world. He later told reporters, Nobodys done more for the military than me. Indeed, asked what he was thankful for this Thanksgiving, Trump cited his great family as well as himself. I made a tremendous difference in this country, he said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump contradicts CIA assessment that Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi killing By Josh Dawsey | Washington Post (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump on Thursday contradicted the CIAs assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, insisting that the agency had feelings but did not firmly place blame for the death. Trump, in defiant remarks to reporters from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, defended his continued support for Mohammed in the face of a CIA assessment that the crown prince had ordered the killing. He denies it vehemently, Trump said. He said his own conclusion was that maybe he did, maybe he didnt. I hate the crime .... I hate the cover-up. I will tell you this: The crown prince hates it more than I do, Trump said. Asked who should be held accountable for the death of Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Turkey, Trump refused to place blame. Maybe the world should be held accountable because the world is a very, very vicious place, the president said. He also seemed to suggest that all U.S. allies were guilty of the same behavior, declaring that if the others were held to the standard that critics have held Saudi Arabia to in recent days, we wouldnt be able to have anyone for an ally. Trumps remarks came after he held a conference call with U.S. military officers overseas, during which he repeatedly praised his administration and sought to draw the officers into discussions of domestic policy. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former FBI Director James Comey gets subpoena from House Republicans By Bloomberg Former FBI Director James B. Comey said he has received a subpoena from House Republicans, according to a Twitter post on Thursday. Bloomberg News reported last week that Comey would be receiving a subpoena alongside former Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch as part of continuing probes into their handling of investigations into Hillary Clinton and Russian election meddling, according to a top House Democrat. Happy Thanksgiving. Got a subpoena from House Republicans. Im still happy to sit in the light and answer all questions. But I will resist a closed door thing because Ive seen enough of their selective leaking and distortion. Lets have a hearing and invite everyone to see. James Comey (@Comey) November 22, 2018 Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Republican David Valadaos lead slips to 447 votes over Democrat TJ Cox in still-undecided Central Valley House race By Mark Z. Barabak Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), right, finds himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox. (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) On election night, it looked like Rep. David Valadao had survived a close shave and was destined to return to Washington for his fourth term. But on Wednesday, when Fresno County announced its latest vote totals, the Hanford Republican found himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox, with his lead in the Central Valley district shrunken to 447 votes. Thousands remain to be counted. Valadao, a repeated Democratic target, finished election night with a lead of nearly 4,440 votes. Cox, an engineer and a business owner who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2006, has steadily gained ground in the 21st Congressional District ever since. The trend is consistent with historic patterns showing Republicans in California tend to vote early and Democrats later, meaning their mail ballots continue to stream in past election day. Under California law, ballots postmarked up to midnight on Nov. 6 will be counted. Democrats have already picked up six House seats in California. They ousted Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, Mimi Walters, Steve Knight and Jeff Denham and won the seats of retiring Reps. Ed Royce and Darrell Issa. All six represented districts that backed Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016. Valadao was the seventh California Republican in a district Clinton won, though his previous successes he last won reelection by a 14-point margin suggested his ouster was a longer shot for Democrats. If Cox prevails, it would give Democrats a 40-seat gain nationwide, far more than the 23 seats needed to take control when Congress reconvenes in January. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump says no new punishments against Saudi Arabia in Jamal Khashoggi murder By Eli Stokols In this Oct. 25 photo, candles are lit in front of a photo of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (Lefteris Pitarakis) President Trump made it clear on Tuesday that he does not intend to punish Saudi Arabia or Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an American resident killed by Saudi officials in Turkey in October. In a remarkable statement replete with exclamation points, Trump cast doubt on the CIAs reported conclusions that it has a high degree of confidence that the crown prince ordered Khashoggis murder and sent his closest allies to Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul to carry it out. Read MoreThis article has been updated with staff. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Sixteen House Democrats vow to oppose Nancy Pelosi as next speaker By Mike DeBonis | Washington Post House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Sixteen House Democrats said Monday that they will vote to deny Rep. Nancy Pelosi another stint as House speaker, a show of defiance that puts her opponents on the cusp of forcing a seismic leadership shake-up as their party prepares to take the majority. Their pledge to oppose Pelosi (D-San Francisco), both in an internal caucus election and a Jan. 3 floor vote, delivered in a letter sent to Democratic colleagues, comes as Pelosi has marshaled a legion of supporters on and off Capitol Hill to make her case. But her opponents said Monday they are convinced it is time to select a new leader. We are thankful to Leader Pelosi for her years of service to our Country and to our Caucus, they wrote. However, we also recognize that in this recent election, Democrats ran on and won on a message of change. Pelosi has expressed complete confidence that she will retake the speakers gavel in January eight years after she lost it following massive Republican gains in the 2010 midterms and 16 years after she was first elevated to the top Democratic leadership post in the House. Come on in, the waters fine, she said Friday about a potential leadership challenge. The signers might not be able to force Pelosi out themselves. The size of the Democratic majority remains in flux, but Democrats have already won 232 seats, according to the Associated Press, with five races still undecided. All those races have Republican incumbents, but the Democratic challenger is ahead in only one of them. If the leads hold in the uncalled races, Democrats would have won 233 seats, a 16-seat majority. That means Pelosi could lose as many as 15 Democratic votes when she stands for election as speaker on Jan. 3. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democratic senators sue over Whitakers appointment as acting attorney general By Associated Press Acting U.S. Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker (Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images) Three Senate Democrats filed a lawsuit Monday arguing that Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and asking a federal judge to remove him. The suit, filed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, argues that Whitakers appointment violates the Constitution because he has not been confirmed by the Senate. Whitaker was chief of staff to Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and was elevated to the top job after Sessions was ousted by President Trump on Nov. 7. The Constitutions Appointments Clause requires that the Senate confirm all principal officials before they can serve in their office. The Justice Department released a legal opinion last week that said Whitakers appointment would not violate the clause because he is serving in an acting capacity. The opinion concluded that Whitaker, even without Senate confirmation, may serve in an acting capacity because he has been at the department for more than a year at a sufficiently senior pay level. President Trump is denying senators our constitutional obligation and opportunity to do our job: scrutinizing the nomination of our nations top law enforcement official, Blumenthal said in a statement. The reason is simple: Whitaker would never pass the advice and consent test. In selecting a so-called constitutional nobody and thwarting every senators constitutional duty, Trump leaves us no choice but to seek recourse through the courts. The lawsuit comes days after a Washington lawyer challenged Whitakers appointment in a pending Supreme Court case dealing with gun rights. The attorney, Thomas Goldstein, asked the high court to find that Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and replace him with Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Rosenstein, the second-ranking Justice Department official, has been confirmed by the Senate and had been overseeing special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker is now overseeing the investigation. The Justice Department issued a statement Monday defending Whitakers appointment as lawful and said it comports with the Appointments Clause, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and legal precedent. There are over 160 instances in American history in which non-Senate confirmed persons performed, on a temporary basis, the duties of a Senate-confirmed position, Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said. To suggest otherwise is to ignore centuries of practice and precedent. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Gov. Rick Scott says Sen. Bill Nelson concedes Florida Senate race By Associated Press Republican Senate candidate Rick Scott speaks with his wife, Ann, by his side at an election watch party in Naples, Fla., on Nov. 7. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas Republican Gov. Rick Scott says incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson called him to concede defeat in their extremely tight race. Scott issued a statement Sunday saying Nelson graciously conceded their Senate race shortly after the states recount ended. The final results show Scott defeated Nelson by just over 10,000 votes out of 8 million cast. Nelson is scheduled to release a videotaped statement later Sunday. The defeat ends Nelsons lengthy political career. The three-term incumbent was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. Before that he served six terms in the U.S. House and as state treasurer and insurance commissioner for six years. Scott spent more than $60 million of his own money on ads that portrayed Nelson as out-of-touch and ineffective. Nelson responded by questioning Scotts ethics and saying he would be under the sway of President Trump. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Orange County goes blue, as Democrats complete historic sweep of its seven congressional seats By Michael Finnegan Gil Cisneros defeated Republican Young Kim on Saturday in the last of Orange Countys undecided House races, giving Democrats a clean sweep of the states six most fiercely fought congressional contests and marking an epochal shift in a region long synonymous with political conservatism. With Cisneros victory, Democrats will constitute the entirety of Orange Countys seven-member congressional delegation, the first time since the 1930s that the birthplace of Richard Nixon, home of John Wayne and spiritual center of the Republican Party will have no GOP representative in the House. Sitting back in the 1960s, I would never have believed this would happen, said Stuart K. Spencer, a party strategist who spent more than half a century ushering Republicans, including President Reagan, into office. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Going, going ... with midterm wipeout, California Republican Party drifts closer to irrelevance By Michael Finnegan For a party in freefall the last two decades, California Republicans learned that its possible to plunge even further. The GOP not only lost every statewide office in the midterm election again, in blowout fashion but Democrats reestablished their supermajority in Sacramento, allowing them to legislate however they see fit After major defeats in Orange County and the Central Valley, two longtime strongholds, Republicans will have a significantly smaller footprint on Capitol Hill. (Democrats hold both Senate seats.) When the vote-counting is finished, the GOP may not even have enough lawmakers in Californias 53-member House delegation to field a nine-person softball team. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter says she will support Rep. Nancy Pelosi for speaker By Maya Sweedler Democratic Rep.-elect Katie Porter is congratulated by volunteers at her campaign headquarters in Irvine. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter said she plans to support Rep. Nancy Pelosis bid for speaker of the House and will make campaign finance reform her top priority when she enters the chamber in January. Im going to continue to have conversations, but so far I feel like Leader Pelosi is definitely making the things that were a priority to the families that elected me her priorities, including announcing her support for campaign finance reform and anti-corruption as HR1, Porter said in her first public appearance since being declared the winner in Californias 45th Congressional District on Thursday evening. It means a lot to me that she is a Californian. She understands our state, Porter added. When we talk about environmental protections, this is a person who understands as a Californian how fragile our environment is and whats at risk in things like drilling off our coasts. Porter, a law professor at UC Irvine, defeated two-term Republican Rep. Mimi Walters. The 45th District, covering inland Orange County, has never been represented by a Democrat. Porter became the third Democrat to claim a Republican-held seat in Orange County, following the victories of Harley Rouda in the 48th District and Mike Levin in the 49th. A fourth, Gil Cisneros, is running slightly ahead of his Republican opponent in the race for the open seat in the 39th District, which extends into Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Porter attributed the massive political shift in the county, for decades a conservative stronghold, to increased levels of political engagement. Folks here care about education, they care about the environment, they believe climate change is real, they want healthcare that protects preexisting conditions, they want a tax system that doesnt punish California, they want our schools and places of worship to be safe from gun violence, she said. Those are the issues we campaigned on, and to the extent that Donald Trump and Mimi Walters were on the wrong side of those issues, the voters have made clear what direction they want us to go. Porter was flying back from the East Coast when her race was called, she said. She turned on her phone to find 167 text messages from friends and supporters. Among them was Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who was one of Porters teachers in law school and with whom she has remained close. The pair spoke via FaceTime this morning, she said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Bitter battle for Senate seat in Florida goes to hand recount By Associated Press Employees look through damaged ballots during a recount Thursday in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas acrimonious battle for the U.S. Senate headed Thursday to a legally required hand recount after an initial review by ballot-counting machines showed Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson separated by less than 13,000 votes. But the highly watched contest for governor between Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum appeared to be over, with a machine recount showing DeSantis with a large enough advantage over Gillum to avoid a hand recount in that race. Gillum, who conceded the contest on election night only to retract his concession later, said in a statement that it is not over until every legally casted vote is counted. The recount so far has been fraught with problems. One large Democratic stronghold in South Florida was unable to finish its machine recount by the Thursday deadline due to machines breaking down. A federal judge rejected a request to extend the recount deadline. We gave a heroic effort, said Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher. If the county had three or four more hours, it would have made the deadline to recount ballots in the Senate race, she said. Meanwhile, election officials in another urban county in the Tampa Bay area decided against turning in the results of their machine recount, which came up with 846 fewer votes than originally counted. Media in South Florida reported that Broward County finished its machine recount but missed the deadline by a few minutes. Counties were ordered last weekend to do a machine recount of three statewide races because the margins were so tight. The next stage is a manual review of ballots that were not counted by machines to see whether there is a way to figure out voter intent. Scott called on Nelson to end the recount battle. Its time for Nelson to respect the will of the voters and graciously bring this process to an end rather than proceed with yet another count of the votes which will yield the same result and bring more embarrassment to the state that we both love and have served, the governor said in a statement. The recount has triggered multiple lawsuits, many of them filed by Nelson and Democrats. The legal battles drew the ire of U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker, who slammed the state for repeatedly failing to anticipate election problems. He also said the state law on recounts appears to violate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that decided the presidency in 2000. We have been the laughingstock of the world, election after election, and we chose not to fix this, Walker said during a morning hearing. Walker vented his anger at state lawmakers and Palm Beach County officials, saying they should have made sure they had enough equipment in place to handle this kind of a recount. But he said he could not extend the recount deadline because he did not know when Palm Beach County would finish its work. This court must be able to craft a remedy with knowledge that it will not prove futile, Walker wrote in his ruling turning down the request from Democrats. It cannot do so on this record. This court does not and will not fashion a remedy in the dark. The overarching problem was created by the Florida Legislature, which Walker said passed a recount law that appears to run afoul of the 2000 Bush vs. Gore decision by locking in procedures that do not allow for potential problems. A total of six election-related lawsuits are pending in federal court in Tallahassee as well at least one lawsuit filed in state court. Walker also ordered that voters be given until 5 p.m. Saturday to show a valid identification and fix their ballots if they have not been counted due to mismatched signatures. Republicans appealed the ruling, but an appeals court turned down the request. State officials testified that nearly 4,000 mailed-in ballots were set aside because local officials decided the signatures on the envelopes did not match the signatures on file. If those voters can prove their identity, their votes will be counted and included in final official returns due from each county by noon Sunday. Walker was asked by Democrats to require local officials to provide a list of people whose ballots were rejected. But the judge appointed by President Obama refused the request, calling it inappropriate. Under state law, a hand review is required with races that have a margin of 0.25 percentage points or less. A state website put the unofficial results showing Scott ahead of Nelson by 0.15 percentage points. The margin between DeSantis and Gillum was at 0.41 points. The margin between Scott and Nelson had not changed much in the last few days, conceded Marc Elias, an attorney working for Nelsons campaign. But he said that he expected the vote tally to shrink due to the hand recount and the ruling on signatures. The developments fueled frustrations among Democrats and Republicans alike. Democrats want state officials to do whatever it takes to make sure every eligible vote is counted. Republicans, including President Trump, have argued without evidence that voter fraud threatens to steal races from the GOP. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democrat Gil Cisneros pulls ahead of Republican Young Kim as more votes are tallied in Orange and San Bernardino counties By Michael Finnegan Congressional candidate Gil Cisneros (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Democrat Gil Cisneros pulled ahead of Republican Young Kim in one of Californias undecided congressional races Thursday, an ominous sign for a GOP already reeling from its loss of four House seats in the state. In updated vote counts released by the registrars for Orange and San Bernardino counties, Kim fell 941 votes behind Cisneros in the contest to succeed Republican Rep. Ed Royce in Californias 39th Congressional District. The 39th straddles Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties. In another unresolved House race, Democrat Katie Porter pulled further ahead of Republican incumbent Mimi Walters in the 45th District, which includes Mission Viejo, Tustin, Irvine, Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Hills. Porter, a consumer attorney and UC Irvine law professor, is now 6,203 votes ahead. The Nov. 6 midterm election has been devastating to Republicans in California. If Cisneros and Porter win, the party will have lost six of its 14 House seats in the state, essentially a wipeout in every contest that both parties spent heavily to win. The three Republicans already bounced from Congress are Reps. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, Steve Knight of Palmdale and Jeff Denham of Turlock in the San Joaquin Valley. Democrat Mike Levin won the seat of retiring GOP Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista in the fourth district flipped so far. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Florida Senate race likely headed to second recount By Associated Press A Palm Beach County Sheriffs deputy walks past boxes of ballots before a recount on Nov. 15 in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee) Unofficial Florida election results show that the governors race seems to be settled after a machine recount but the U.S. Senate race is likely headed to a hand recount. Republican Ron DeSantis is virtually assured of winning the nationally watched governors race over Democrat Andrew Gillum. Florida finished a machine recount Thursday that showed Gillum without enough votes to force a manual recount. Unofficial results posted on a state website show the margin between U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Gov. Rick Scott is still thin enough to trigger a second review. State law requires a hand recount of races with a margin of 0.25 percentage point or less. Counties have until Sunday to inspect the ballots that did not record a vote when put through the machines. Those ballots are re-examined to see whether the voter skipped the race or marked the ballot in a way that the machines cannot read but can be deciphered. The election will be certified Tuesday. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Pelosi says she has the votes to become the next House speaker By John Wagner Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi speaks during a news conference in Washington on Nov. 14. (Susan Walsh) House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi insisted Thursday that she has the votes to become the chambers speaker despite solid opposition from more than a dozen Democrats who want fresh leadership when the party takes control next year. I have overwhelming support in my caucus to be speaker of the House, the San Francisco lawmaker told reporters. I happen to think at this point, Im the best person for that. A vote within the Democratic caucus is scheduled for Nov. 28. The full House votes on Jan. 3 to elect a new speaker. During her remarks, Pelosi touted the size of the Democratic victory in the midterms, which she called almost a tsunami. With a few races still to be decided, Democrats are poised to pick up close to 40 seats in the chamber. Pelosi called that the biggest victory for the Democrats since 1974, when the Watergate babies came in. Pelosis comments come as she faces solid opposition from at least 17 Democrats, setting the stage for a battle over who will ascend to one of the most powerful positions in Washington. After a campaign in which some Democrats prevailed in competitive districts by promising to oppose her, a coalition of incumbents and newly elected members has denied her a smooth path to the speakership. The defections, if they stand, would leave Pelosi, who has led the Democrats for more than 15 years, several votes short of the 218 she would need when the full House votes for speaker Jan. 3. However, no Democrat has stepped forward to run against her for a job she held from 2007 through 2010. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) told reporters Wednesday that shes being encouraged to stand for speaker if Pelosi doesnt have the votes. In an interview with the Washington Post on Thursday, she said she has been overwhelmed by the support from many of her colleagues for her possible entry into the race for House speaker. Over the last 12 hours, Ive been overwhelmed by the amount of support Ive received, Fudge said, adding that there are probably closer to 30" Democrats who have privately signaled that they are willing to oppose Pelosi. Things could change rapidly, Fudge said. Fudge, 66, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she is building a diverse coalition as she mulls a speaker run, talking with allies in the caucus, moderate Democrats and newly elected members. To this point, Pelosi has enjoyed the strong backing of the Congressional Black Caucus. On Thursday, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), one of its members, wrote a letter to colleagues praising her insight, fortitude and strategic thinking and urging support for her speakership bid. Former Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., an African American who is contemplating a 2020 presidential bid, also voiced support for Pelosi, praising her in a tweet as an architect of the recent midterm success. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a leader of the resistance to Pelosi, said during an interview on CNN on Thursday that Fudge is the kind of new leader that we need in this party. Shes in touch with middle America. She understands what the American people want. Shes a next-generation leader that people will look to and say, Thats the future of our party, thats the future of our country, and thats exactly the kind of leader that I want to see as our next speaker. Wagner reports for the Washington Post. The Posts Robert Costa, Erica Werner, Mike DeBonis, Paul Kane and Elise Viebeck contributed to this report. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement GOP Rep. Jeff Denham concedes to Democrat Josh Harder in Central Valley race By Maya Sweedler Rep. Jeff Denham (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) Republican Rep. Jeff Denham has conceded to Democrat Josh Harder in the race to represent Californias 10th Congressional District in the San Joaquin Valley. It has been an absolute honor to serve our community and represent the Central Valley in Congress over the past eight years, the 51-year-old congressman said. The enormity of the responsibility was never lost on me. My wife Sonia and I look forward to starting the next chapter of our lives. Harder said he had spoken with Denham and the two were committed to a productive transition. Denham, an Air Force veteran, previously represented the region in the state Senate for eight years and founded a company specializing in plastic packaging used in agriculture. While a member of Congress, he sat on the Transportation and Infrastructure, Veterans Affairs and Agriculture committees. First-time candidate Harder was born and raised in the district. After graduating from Stanford University, he served as vice president of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Since moving back, he has been teaching at Modesto Junior College. Denhams House seat is one of four in California that Republicans lost in the Nov. 6 election, with two contests in Orange County still undecided as of Thursday morning. Jeff Denham called me this morning and we had a very productive conversation. I'm honored that I've been chosen to serve our community in Congress, and we're both looking forward to a productive transition that best serves the people of District 10. Josh Harder (@JoshHarder) November 14, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democrat Katie Porter now nearly 3,800 votes ahead of GOP Rep. Mimi Walters By Maya Sweedler Rep. Mimi Walters thanks all of her supporters as she watches election results in Irvine on Nov. 7, 2018. (Alex Gallardo / Associated Press) Democrat Katie Porter opened a 3,797-vote lead Wednesday over Republican Rep. Mimi Walters in Orange Countys 45th Congressional District. In the neighboring 39th, Democrat Gil Cisneros has nearly tied the race against Republican Young Kim. Cisneros now trails Kim by a razor-thin margin of 122 votes. The 39th District straddles Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties; Wednesdays updated ballot counts came from the latter two. There are more than 202,000 ballots left to count in Orange County, which includes parts of seven congressional districts. The 45th is entirely in inland Orange County. In California, the ballots counted first tend to lean Republican and those tallied later skew Democratic. In the Central Valleys 21st Congressional District, Democratic challenger TJ Cox has pulled within 2 percentage points of Rep. David Valadao, who is serving his third term. The Associated Press had projected a win for Valadao on election night, but his 4,839-vote advantage has shrunk to 2,090. Back in CA-21, Valadao (R) wins a batch of ballots from his stronghold in Kings Co., but by a considerably smaller margin (14 points) than his previous ~30-point margin in the county. We're moving to Lean R from Likely R; today a bit scary for Valadao.https://t.co/WqJVUVkqGW Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 15, 2018 A spokesman for Valadao told the Fresno Bee that the changes were expected and that [s]tatistically, David Valadao has won this race. Democrats in California have already flipped four House seats, defeating three Republican incumbents and claiming an open seat previously held by the GOP. Reps. Steve Knight of Palmdale, Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa and Jeff Denham of Turlock have already lost their races, and retiring Rep. Darrell Issas San Diego County seat was claimed by Democrat Mike Levin. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump aide departs West Wing after rebuke from Melania Trump By Associated Press First Lady Melania Trump. (Alain Jocard / AFP-Getty Images) Deputy national security advisor Mira Ricardel is leaving the White House, one day after First Lady Melania Trumps office issued an extraordinary statement calling for her dismissal. No replacement was named. Aides said Ricardel clashed with the first ladys staff over her visit to Africa last month. Yet it is highly unusual for a first lady or her office to weigh in on personnel matters, especially the presidents national security staff. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Ricardel would have a new role in the administration. On Tuesday, Stephanie Grisham, the first ladys spokeswoman, released a statement saying, It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House. President Trumps White House has set records for administration turnover. Ricardel was the third person to hold the post under Trump. An ally of national security advisor John Bolton, Ricardel began her service in the Trump administration as associate director in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, then moved to the Commerce Department last year. Bolton brought her into the West Wing shortly after taking the job in April. He is traveling in Asia this week alongside Vice President Mike Pence. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Race for House Minority Leader is Kevin McCarthys to lose By Associated Press (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is running to take over next years shrunken caucus in closed-door elections that will set the tone for the new Congress. The race for minority leader is McCarthys to lose Wednesday. But the California Republican, who is an ally of President Trump, must fend off a challenge from conservative Jim Jordan of Ohio. Jordan is a leader of the House Freedom Caucus. The two encountered questions and finger-pointing during a private meeting with lawmakers Tuesday night as the GOP sorted through the midterm defeat that put Democrats in the majority next year. Elections Wednesday will also determine party leadership in the Senate. Voting for the biggest race, Nancy Pelosis bid to return as the Democrats nominee for speaker, is later this month. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Melania Trump calls for the firing of deputy national security advisor By Justin Sink First Lady Melania Trump arrives at the Chateau de Versailles outside Paris on Nov. 11. (Alain Jocard / AFP/Getty Images ) First Lady Melania Trumps office said she wants Mira Ricardel, the deputy national security advisor, ousted from the White House. It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House, Trumps spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said in a statement in response to a question about reports the first lady had sought Ricardels removal. Ricardel is the top deputy to national security advisor John Bolton. She drew the first ladys wrath after threatening to withhold National Security Council resources during Melania Trumps trip to Africa last month unless Ricardel was included in her entourage, one person familiar with the matter said. Grishams statement comes as several media outlets have reported that President Trump is considering a broader shakeup of his administration, including ousting Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Sink and Jacobs report for Bloomberg. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print CNN sues Trump over the suspension of Jim Acostas White House press credentials By Jim Puzzanghera CNN said Tuesday that it is suing President Trump and other administration officials over the decision to suspend the White House press credentials of correspondent Jim Acosta after a conflict at a news conference last week. The suit, to be filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, escalates an ongoing battle between Trump and the cable news outlet that he frequently accuses of disseminating fake news for its aggressive coverage of him and his administration. The wrongful revocation of these credentials violates CNN and Acostas 1st Amendment rights of freedom of the press, and their 5th Amendment rights to due process, CNN said in a written statement. If left unchallenged, the actions of the White House would create a dangerous chilling effect for any journalist who covers our elected officials. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Maxine Waters to take aim at Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank as new head of House Financial Services Committee By Jim Puzzanghera Rep. Maxine Waters plans to zero in on two big banks Wells Fargo & Co. and Deutsche Bank when she becomes head of the powerful House Financial Services Committee. The Los Angeles congresswoman, now the committees top Democrat, is widely expected to gain the gavel after her party won control of the House in last weeks elections. While Waters has outlined a wide-ranging agenda, she said her focus on bank oversight will target two large institutions she has been tangling with for a while including one, Deutsche Bank, that spills into her bitter feud with President Trump. With Trump in the White House, I know that our fight for Americas consumers and investors will continue to be challenging. But I am more than up to that fight, Waters wrote in a letter last week to her Democratic colleagues on the committee that was obtained by The Times. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Heres how a controversial voting system will decide a congressional race in Maine By Kurtis Lee For the first time in U.S. history, a controversial voting system known as ranked choice is being used to decide a federal election. Its happening in Maine, which adopted the system in 2016. Rather than marking a single candidate, each voter ranks them all, assigning a first-place vote, a second-place vote and so on down the ballot. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print ACLU files suit to stop Trumps new asylum limits By Associated Press A group of Central American migrants march to the office of the U.N.'s humans rights body in Mexico City on Nov. 8. (Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press) The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a legal challenge to President Trumps order denying asylum to migrants if they cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. The lawsuit was filed Friday in federal court in San Francisco and argues the new rules are against the law. Attorney Lee Gelernt said the regulations will put families in danger. The suit seeks to declare the regulations invalid and wants a judge to stop the rules from going into effect while the litigation is pending. The new rules were spurred in part by caravans of Central American migrants slowly moving north on foot, but officials say they will apply to anyone caught crossing illegally. Officials say about 70,000 people who enter the country illegally claim asylum. The order invoked the same national security powers Trump used to push through his travel ban. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump on new acting AG: I dont know Matt Whitaker By Associated Press President Trump talks with reporters before departing for France on the South Lawn of the White House on Nov. 9. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) President Trump is moving to distance himself from Matthew Whitaker as he faces criticism over his choice for acting attorney general. Trump told reporters Friday that I dont know Matt Whitaker and said he didnt speak with Whitaker about special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker has made public comments critical of Muellers investigation, and critics have called on Whitaker to recuse himself from oversight of the inquiry. Under former Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, the investigation was overseen by Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Of the scrutiny Whitaker is facing, Trump said: Its a shame that no matter who I put in they go after. He also called Whitaker a very highly respected man. Whitaker was Sessions chief of staff before Trump made him Sessions interim replacement. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg out of hospital after fall By Associated Press The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is home after being released from the hospital. She had been admitted for treatment and observation after fracturing three ribs in a fall. The court said Ginsburg was released Friday. Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg says she is doing well and working from home. The court had previously said the justice fell in her office at the court on Wednesday evening and went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gun-control activist Lucy McBath defeats GOP Rep. Karen Handel in Georgia By Associated Press Lucy McBath speaks during a rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Nov. 2 at Morehouse College in Atlanta. (Alyssa Pointer / Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) Democratic gun-control activist Lucy McBath has defeated Republican Rep. Karen Handel of Georgia in a suburban congressional district long considered safe for the GOP. Handel had to seek reelection after winning her seat last year in a close special election race against Democrat Jon Ossoff. McBath became an advocate for stricter gun laws after her son, Jordan Davis, was fatally shot at a Florida gas station in 2012 by a man angry over loud music the teenager and his friends were playing in a car. McBaths margin of victory was narrow enough for Handel to have requested a recount. The Associated Press declared McBath the winner Thursday after Handel conceded. Handel conceded in a statement Thursday morning, stating that after reviewing all of the election data, its clear she came up a bit short in Tuesdays vote. Handel congratulated McBath, offering good thoughts and much prayer for the journey that lies ahead for her. McBath, who is African American, declared victory Wednesday. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hospitalized after fracturing 3 ribs in fall By Associated Press Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press) The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fractured three ribs in a fall in her office at the court and is in the hospital. The court says the justice went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. The court says the fall occurred Wednesday evening. Ginsburg was admitted to the hospital for treatment and observation after tests showed she fractured three ribs. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She has had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print White House suspends press pass of CNNs Jim Acosta after heated exchange with Trump By Associated Press The White House on Wednesday suspended the press pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after he and President Trump had a heated confrontation during a news conference. They began sparring after Acosta asked Trump about the caravan of migrants heading from Latin America to the southern U.S. border. When Acosta tried to follow up with another question, Trump said, Thats enough! and a female White House aide unsuccessfully tried to grab the microphone from Acosta. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement accusing Acosta of placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern, calling it absolutely unacceptable. The interaction between Acosta and the intern was brief, and Acosta appeared to brush her arm as she reached for the microphone and he tried to hold onto it. Pardon me, maam, he told her. Acosta tweeted that Sanders statement that he put his hands on the aide was a lie. CNN said in a statement that the White House revoked Acostas press pass in retaliation for his challenging questions Wednesday, and the network accused Sanders of lying about Acostas actions. This conduct is absolutely unacceptable. It is also completely disrespectful to the reporters colleagues not to allow them an opportunity to ask a question. President Trump has given the press more access than any President in history. Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Contrary to CNNs assertions there is no greater demonstration of the Presidents support for a free press than the event he held today. Only they would attack the President for not supporting a free press in the midst of him taking 68 questions from 35 different reporters... Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 As a result of todays incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice. Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Sanders provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened. This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better, CNN said. Jim Acosta has our full support. Journalists assigned to cover the White House apply for passes that allow them daily access to press areas in the West Wing. White House staffers decide whether journalists are eligible, though the Secret Service determines whether their applications are approved. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump spars with reporters at post-election news briefing, ordering several to sit down By Associated Press President Trump assails CNNs Jim Acosta at a White House news conference. President Trump sparred with reporters at his post-election news conference, ordering several to sit down and telling another hes a rude, terrible person. He told another reporter hes not a fan of yours, either. The presidents mood turned sour Wednesday after reporters pressed him on why he referred to a migrant caravan making its way to the U.S. on foot through Mexico as an invasion. Trump ramped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric against the caravan in the final days of the midterm elections. Trump was also pressed on why his campaign aired an ad featuring a Mexican immigrant convicted of killing American police officers and linking the mans actions to the caravan. Several television networks pulled the ad after airing it or declined to air it at all. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Im living one hour at a time at this point By Christine Mai-Duc Republican congressional candidate Young Kim and gubernatorial candidate John Cox campaign in Rowland Heights. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Republican congressional candidate Young Kim greeted gubernatorial candidate John Coxs giant campaign bus, the words HELP IS ON THE WAY emblazoned across it, as it rolled into the parking lot outside her Rowland Heights field office. Standing beside Cox on Saturday, Kim predicted that a string of GOP victories Tuesday would start with voters repealing the gas tax hike. Can you imagine Gavin Newsom being our governor? Can you imagine Gil Cisneros being your representative? Kim asked the crowd, to loud boos and cries of Nooo! The former state assemblywoman who worked for retiring Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) is vying for his seat with Democrat Gil Cisneros. She led the crowd in chants of Enough is enough! and, though short-lived, Drain the swamp! Ive served you in Sacramento and Ive seen dysfunction personally, Kim continued. We cannot continue that route. She urged her supporters to stay and help make phone calls or walk neighborhoods. Lets get out there the 72 hours is really critical. Its all going to come down to a few votes, it could be your vote, she said pointing to her left, then pivoting right, it could be your vote. So dont sit back and do nothing. Every night I go to sleep thinking, OK, how many more votes can I get or how many more people can I call tomorrow? Kim said. It can be physically exhausting but Im mentally, emotionally very energized. She listed off her events so far that day and the next one she was heading to. Thats just what I can remember, she said. Im living one hour at a time at this point. Kims campaign invited press to two of her events on Saturday. After she was whisked away to her next event a high tea fundraiser in Walnut, a couple dozen volunteers remained. John Freeman, a statewide field manager for the state Republican Party, tried to pump them up. This is the Super Bowl. Were not in an NFL stadium, were not getting paid millions of dollars, but you know what? Freeman said. Were walking on the field right now. This is that high-stakes-level game. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Its going to be tough out there Democratic candidate Katie Porter speaks to volunteers in Mission Viejo. Jon Bauman, Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na, is in the background. (Victoria Kim / Los Angeles Times ) Judging from the cheers in the crowd, about half those assembled at Katie Porters campaign headquarters in Mission Viejo Sunday morning were old enough to remember 70s rock n roll star Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na. Jon Bauman, as Bowzer is known off stage, said it was her position on senior issues including retirement and social security that has him out supporting Porter over her opponent, incumbent Rep. Mimi Walters. I want you to make sure every phone is called and every door is knocked, he told the crowd of about 80 volunteers. There has never been a more important election. Both Bauman and his nephew, California Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman, were interrupted by yells from Trump supporters coming from an adjoining hillside. We love Trump, the voice cried out. We love him too, he makes great fodder, the younger Bauman retorted, before introducing Porter. Porter, a UC Irvine law professor and first-time candidate, acknowledged the uphill battle some of her canvassers might face in this more conservative end of the long-red Orange County district. I know its going to be tough out there, she said, motioning to the hillside. But she said the attacks meant the other side viewed her campaign as a significant threat. This election is going to be close, she said. If we dont fight all the way to the finish line, until 8 oclock on Tuesday, this could slip away. Bowzer then took to a keyboard piano to lead the crowd in a reworded rendition of the song Good Night Sweetheart: Good night, Mimi Walters, he crooned. A woman in a black tank top, jeans and flip flops holding a cup of coffee later joined the crowd with her two sons, 17 and 14, the younger one wearing a Trump 2016 T-shirt. She declined to give her name, saying she was concerned about being attacked, but said she lived up the hill and said she had been the one yelling. She said she was encouraging her sons to talk to people on both sides and make up their own minds. We need to have a government that runs the way government teachers are telling kids its supposed to be run, said the woman, a retired registered dental assistant who voted early for Mimi Walters. Referring to Democrats, she said: Theyve had control over all these years and Californias gone to crap. Among those canvassing was Stacie Campbell, 37, who was at the launch with her husband Jerome and three children, the youngest of whom was 2 months old. Campbell, a Mission Viejo resident who runs a business, had never canvassed or volunteered for campaigns before, and her husband is a French citizen and unable to vote. She said they had been talking to their children the older ones are 5 and 2 about the presidency and the government since Trumps election. Together, they worked on homemade Katie Porter lawn signs and put them up around town. This is the first time its felt like a big deal and there isnt a president up for election, she said. Because her city is a mix of conservatives and liberals her next-door neighbor is an NRA-supporting Republican she the race felt m Hollywood Burbank Airport launched a new educational program for Burbank Unified School District students this week to hopefully spark an interest for them to pursue aviation careers, officials said. On Wednesday, a mix of 25 students from Burbank and John Burroughs high schools attended the first class of the Airport Academy, a five-day course that teaches students how an airport functions and what it takes for it to operate smoothly. The courses, with one class held per month, will touch on the various aspects of Hollywood Burbank Airport. The students will get a chance to hear about its day-to-day operations from police, fire and airport personnel, learn about the roles of the Transportation Security Administration and Federal Aviation Administration and talk to pilots and flight attendants in the airline industry, said Lucy Burghdorf, spokeswoman for Hollywood Burbank. These kids have an airport right in their backyard, and there are so many career paths you can take in aviation, Burghdorf said. So we have this wonderful resource here, so why not share it and expose our young people to careers in aviation. During the class on Wednesday, each student introduced themselves and why they decided to sign up for the academy, which is held in conjunction with Burbank Unifieds career technical education program. Many of the students said they were generally curious about how the airport operates. However, there were a handful of them who are in the process of getting their private pilots licenses or were looking to major in aerospace engineering in college, which was a surprise for Burghdorf. I was shocked and thrilled, and it reinforces the fact that the reason were doing this is very beneficial to the students, Burghdorf said. Maybe this will solidify more of their desires to pursue a career in aviation. Beth Wilke, a senior at John Burroughs, was one of those students who said they are looking to get their pilots license, and was actually slated to take her test a few days after the inaugural academy class. Wilke, who aspires to become a commercial airline pilot, said her love of aviation was solidified when she and her family were in Belize. They were taking a small single-engine plane from the mainland to an island, and the pilot asked Wilke, who was 12 years old at the time, if she wanted to sit in the co-pilots seat during the short flight. I got to see the crystal blue waters underneath us, and it was the coolest experience, she said. Ever since then, I was really interested in aviation, and it wasnt until my sophomore year that I decided that this was the field that I want to go into. Adrian Hernandez, who was also a senior at John Burroughs, said he wants to pursue a career as an aerospace engineer. Fascinated with how things work, Hernandez said he grew up playing with different erector sets and Legos. When it came time for him to decide what profession he should pursue, he narrowed his decision to something in engineering. I then gravitated toward aerospace engineering because its always been a mystery to me how planes, these big hunks of metal, fly through the air, Hernandez said. When asked what they hope to get out of the Airport Academy, both Wilke and Hernandez said they hope to network with the people at the airport and airlines. The aviation industry is such a small field that you could meet people that could help you later on, Wilke said. anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com Twitter: @acocarpio The Newport Beach Fire Department will honor its Community Emergency Response Team volunteers during the 10th annual State of CERT dinner and awards banquet Wednesday. It starts at 6 p.m. at the Oasis Senior Center, 801 Narcissus Ave., Corona del Mar. Award recipients include Ardith Chaffee as the Marilyn Broughton CERT Volunteer of the Year and Bayside Village as the CERT Neighborhood of the Year. For more information, call (949) 644-3112. Orange Coast College to host opening of food pantry Orange Coast College will host a grand opening for its food pantry from 10 a.m. to noon Monday. The new pantry, called Pirates Cove, will expand on the colleges previous food storeroom with more fresh food options and a workspace where students can connect with community programs. Pirates Cove will be at the journalism building. The colleges student equity program plans to have the pantry fully operational by the spring. Community members are invited to attend Mondays event. OCC is at 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. Foreign policy program coming to Newport St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach will host an eight-week series of meetings about world affairs starting Jan. 29. The 27th annual Great Decisions Foreign Policy Program will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Mondays. Admission is free, though optional study guides are $25. Discussion topics will include The Waning of Pax Americana? Russias Foreign Policy, China and America: The New Geopolitical Equation and Turkey: A Partner in Crisis. For more information, call (949) 644-1341 or visit stmarkpresbyterian.org. OCC to host emergency preparation class Kevin Boyd, an Orange Coast College community education instructor, will offer an emergency preparedness class Feb. 8. It will be on the Costa Mesa campus from 6 to 9 p.m. The cost is $49. For more information, visit orangecoastcollege.edu/commed. Baby Date coming to O.C. fairgrounds The OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa will host the first Baby Date, a family festival featuring indoor activities for young children, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 11. The event is themed Baby Sadie Hawkins. Organizers said it will feature family-friendly activities, matching outfits, face painting, fashion shows and a marketplace. For more information or to buy tickets, visit babydatefest.com or call (909) 282-8727. Costa Mesa fire Engineer Steve Cathey was named Firefighter of the Year on Thursday at an event honoring local police and firefighters. The celebration at Fete the Venue in Costa Mesa was presented by the Chamber of Commerce. Cathey attended Santa Ana College and first became interested in firefighting through the guidance of his cousin, fellow Costa Mesa Fire and Rescue employee Capt. Rob Gagne. Cathey joined the departments Explorer program in 1996. Fire Chief Dan Stefano said Cathey exemplifies the qualities of a firefighter, calling him salt of the earth. Cathey, along with Division Chief Jason Pyle, helped stabilize a 91-year-old man who was having a medical emergency aboard a flight headed to John Wayne Airport in January 2017. He [Cathey] comes in with a smile every day, Stefano said. It doesnt matter what you ask of him. hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @HannahFryTCN A 36-year-old man was sentenced Friday to 15 years in state prison for ramming two patrol cars while being chased by Costa Mesa police in 2012. Juan Manuel Reyes was found guilty by an Orange County Superior Court jury in November of two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, one felony count of evading arrest and one misdemeanor count of hit-and-run with property damage, according to the Orange County district attorneys office. The pursuit began just before 5 p.m. Sept. 11, 2012, when a Costa Mesa police officer saw Reyes driving a Toyota Camry in the 3000 block of Coolidge Avenue. Santa Ana authorities had asked Costa Mesa police to keep an eye out for Reyes, who was wanted on suspicion of kidnapping his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint and keeping her in hotels for 11 days, police said at the time. The officer tried to get Reyes to pull over, but he led officers on a high-speed chase through Costa Mesa, according to police testimony at Reyes preliminary hearing in November 2013. Authorities said Reyes struck two patrol cars and accelerated toward an officer during the pursuit. At one point, an officer fired three shots at Reyes car, but he was not hit. The Camry eventually broke down near the intersection of Sunflower Avenue and Main Street in Santa Ana, and Reyes was taken into custody, authorities said. Reyes attorney, Renee Garcia, argued during the preliminary hearing that her client was afraid and fled when police opened fire and that he was not trying to hit them. In connection with the kidnapping allegations, which are being prosecuted separately, Reyes is facing 11 felony charges, including carjacking, assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and criminal threats. He has pleaded not guilty to all those counts and is scheduled for a pretrial hearing Feb. 5, according to court records. hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @HannahFryTCN About 200 people filled a room in the Adult Recreation Center Thursday night to learn more about Glendales proposal to overhaul Central Park in order to make room for the planned Armenian American Museum and reconfigure the open space. In 2016, city officials agreed to carve out an area in the Central Park block for the museum and also used the opportunity to reimagine the space so it could integrate nearby facilities as well as create new public and recreational spaces. The proposed redesign by Sausalito-based architectural design firm SWA Group places the museum in the southwest quadrant of Central Park at roughly 61,000 square feet. The redesign leaves the Central Library and Adult Recreation Center mostly intact and compensates for the reconfiguration of Central Parks current location with an expansion of open space, going from 76,000 square feet to almost 93,000 square feet. Gerdo Aquino, SWA Groups chief executive, gave an overview of the proposed design and addressed a few questions from the audience. Some of the concerns raised from audience members were about parking, the L-shape configuration of open space and the drastic upheaval of Central Park given Glendales overall lack of park space. The goal in terms of open space is to make sure that you still have the same amount of open space even with the museum, Aquino said. Four information stations were set up in the back of the room where attendees could find out more details about the design and speak directly with city planners and members of SWA Group. At one station, Mark Berry, principal development officer with the city, spoke one-on-one with a crowd of Glendale residents, some of whom asked about flexibility on the size of the museum, its affect on shade and visibility as well as concerns over the lack of a study on pedestrian traffic. We worked with the museum committee to make sure that the museum wasnt too large and overwhelming, Berry said. It was a balance between that and their programming needs It was a push and shove. A second meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday on the second floor of the Glendale Central Library, 222 E. Harvard St. For more information about the Central Park design plans, visit bit.ly/2DhniK7. jeff.landa@latimes.com Twitter: @JeffLanda As ecstatic crowds in Peru greeted Pope Francis on the penultimate day of his weeklong visit to South America, the church hierarchy sought to deal with continued fallout from his controversial remarks stemming from an infamous clerical sex-abuse case in Chile. The pope said in Chile that victims in that abuse case were slandering a bishop allegedly involved in a cover-up of what happened, triggering outrage in Chile and beyond. Cardinal Sean OMalley the archbishop of Boston and Francis top aide on the issue of clerical abuse on Saturday sought to soothe the indignation on an issue that has done massive damage to the churchs credibility in recent years. Advertisement It is understandable that Pope Francis statements were a source of great pain for survivors of sexual abuse by clergy or any other perpetrator, Cardinal OMalley said in a statement that amounted to a church effort at damage control. Words that convey the message, If you cannot prove your claims then you will not be believed, abandon those who have suffered reprehensible criminal violations of their human dignity and relegate survivors to discredited exile. OMalley said he could not address why the Holy Father chose the particular words he used to the Chilean media. What I do know, however, is that Pope Francis fully recognizes the egregious failures of the Church and its clergy who abused children and the devastating impact those crimes have had on survivors and their loved ones, OMalley added. To many critics, the popes comments recalled decades of church cover-ups and a strategy of protecting pedophile priests while attempting to discredit their accusers. Some questioned whether the 81-year-old Jesuit understood the gravity of the clerical abuse scandal, despite his seemingly heartfelt apologies for past abuse and his declared no tolerance policy for such misconduct. While in Chile, the pope addressed the case of Bishop Juan Barros, whom Francis appointed to head the diocese of Osorno in southern Chile. Victims of Chiles most notorious pedophile priest have accused Barros of engaging in a cover-up. There is not one shred of proof against him, Francis told the Chilean media, referring to Barros. The day they bring me proof against Bishop Barros, Ill speak. The pontiff said those accusing the bishop were engaging in a calumny. Barros was a protege of Father Fernando Karadima, a Santiago cleric who was found to have abused children and adults for years. The Vatican ultimately sentenced Karadima to a life of reflection and penance. He was never charged criminally. But abuse victims say the church ignored their allegations against Karadima for years and that Barros and others helped cover up his crimes. Barros has called the allegations lies, and appeared last week at an open-air Mass celebrated by Francis in central Santiago. The issue of clerical sexual abuse has not arisen during the popes visit to Peru, where he arrived Thursday evening, after spending most of the first four days of his South American trip in Chile. Huge and enthusiastic crowds have welcomed the pontiff in both countries. The popes trip here to northern Peru echoed his ongoing concerns about the plight of the poor, the status of the environment and the effects of climate change. In a 2015 encyclical letter, Francis backed the conclusion of scientists who argue that human activity, especially the burning of fossil fuels, is a major contributor to climate change. At a Mass attended by some 200,000 people in the seaside town of Huanchaco, Francis showed solidarity with victims of devastating flooding triggered by a climate phenomenon in the region known as El Nino Costero. You know the power of nature, you have experienced its force, Francis said. You had to face the brunt of the Nino Costero, whose painful consequences are still present in so many families. The flooding in early 2017 killed more than 150 in northern Peru and left tens of thousands homeless, most of them poor. Almost a year later, many victims remain without proper housing and complain bitterly about a lack of government aid. As in other stops, many people lined up beginning in predawn hours to get a glimpse of the pope, whose status as a defender of the downtrodden and as the first pontiff from the Americas has contributed to considerable popularity throughout Latin America. Many spent the night in tents and on sleeping bags. We arrived last night and slept here, said Patricia Moreno, 48, who traveled more than 250 miles to attend the Mass in Huanchaco, along with her husband and two children. It has been a great sacrifice to come, but its worth the trouble. It is a marvelous feeling to see him, to know that he is praying for us, that he loves us. She and her family were among the many who suffered damage to their homes in last years flooding. The government hasnt done anything for us, Moreno said, echoing the sentiments of other flood victims. There is no reconstruction. ... Hopefully the words of the pope will make [the government] react because we cannot continue living like this. During his trip here, the pope also spoke about the victims of violence, especially women, in a zone where insecurity linked to drug trafficking and other criminal activity has been taking an increasing toll in recent years. The pope said organized violence, such as inadequate housing and unemployment, were among the many storms the region has had to endure. Times staff writer McDonnell reported from Lima, Peru, and special correspondent Leon from Trujillo, Peru. UPDATES: 7:50 p.m.: This article was updated with staff reporting and additional comments from Pope Francis, Sean OMalley and Patricia Moreno. This article was originally published at 3:20 p.m. An 88-year-old man died after an explosion and a fire Friday at his Bethlehem Township home. One person succumbed to injuries from the fire at 3722 Ironstone Rd., Bethlehem Township Volunteer Fire Co. said. Walter Proding, who owned the home, was pronounced dead, according to Northampton County Coroner Zach Lysek. Lysek said the cause and manner of death will be determined after an autopsy and the fire investigation. He said he does not release the dates on which autopsies are scheduled. Neighbors said Proding lived alone in the home he had owned since 1981. "I heard an explosion and ran outside," neighbor Scott Crouse previously said. "By the time I went over, the side of the house was on fire." Dwelling Fire (Fatal) - 3722 Ironstone Rd - Bethlehem Twp, Northampton County PA (Updated) Posted by Lehigh Valley Drone on Friday, January 19, 2018 Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A crowd of women and girls filled Bethlehem's Payrow Plaza on Saturday to mark the anniversary of last year's Women's March. The Owning Our Power rally was organized by FIERCE: Lehigh Valley and NextGen America, and coincided with marches and rallies across the country ahead of the Women's March in Las Vegas on Sunday. Supporters wore the iconic pink hats, as well as black, in solidarity with the #TimesUp legal defense fund, and carried signs and placards. The defense fund subsidizes legal support for people who have experienced sexual harassment or related retaliation at work. Lizzie Morasco, an organizer with NextGen America, said Bethlehem's empowerment rally was just one of a series of events to keep people engaged. Other events include letter-writing campaigns, protests and watch parties. "We are hoping to empower women by supporting women, by holding each other up, rather than in-fighting or being negative, because positivity always does more than negativity," she said. Morasco said Lehigh Valley is often overshadowed by events in New York City, Philadelphia or Washington, D.C., but she wanted to create a local opportunity to recognize the anniversary of the first Women's March. She stressed that the event was nonpartisan and focused on issues that she hopes everyone can relate to: mental health treatment, sexual assault, racism and LGBT issues. "Everything we're fighting for is for a better future for everyone," Moraso said. The event included poetry readings and speakers, including a woman who shared her story of sexual assault as her five-year-old daughter cheered her on. Dr. Paige Van Wirt, who ran a write-in campaign for Bethlehem city council and plans to apply for the current council vacancy, carried a sign that said, "Grab this: The women are coming." Van Wirt said she came to the rally because "there's limited opportunities for (women) to speak together as a whole." Betty Jo McDonald, from Emmaus, wore a hat and a sign that read "Strong women: Know them, raise them, be them." She said she was concerned about inequality for women and what she considers discriminatory remarks by the president, especially because she has two teenage daughters. "I'm really afraid for them going forward in this country if this kind of rhetoric continues," McDonald said. Sharon Brown, the former director of institutional diversity at Moravian College, said she has always been a fierce advocate for women, particularly women of color. When it comes to social justice education, she said, "I write about it, I speak about it, and that's why I'm here today." But Brown added she was at the plaza "to also make a statement, that here in the Lehigh Valley there are women of color who are engaged and involved, and who do believe in women's issues ... I believe this is an area where women organizations here in the Lehigh Valley, we need to get together and become an inclusive organization." John Paul Marosy, also from Bethlehem, carried a sign that said "Another man against violence against women." "I'm here for my wife, my daughters, my mother-in-law, my nieces," he said. "It's all one fight." Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A burglar kicked in a side garage door Friday morning at a Lehigh County home and stole a firearm, cash and jewelry from upstairs bedrooms, Pennsylvania State Police at Fogelsville said. Police were called about 11:30 a.m. to the burglary in the 2200 block of Beechwood Street in Lowhill Township. The male perpetrator had fled when the home's audible alarm sounded, police said. A surveillance camera captured video of the burglar walking through the house as the alarm chirps a warning, then running off as the system shrieks. A burglary is seen about 11:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, inside a home in the 2200 block of Beechwood Street in Lowhill Township, according to Pennsylvania State Police at Fogelsville. Investigators canvassing the neighborhood spoke to a resident who said the perpetrator had been knocking on the front doors of homes in the area. He is believed to have been driving a dark-colored sedan, police said. Investigators asked anyone with information to call state police at Fogelsville at 610-395-1438. The incident number to reference is PA2018-62338. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. The PennEast Pipeline Co. LLC consortium of natural gas companies received federal approval Friday to build the roughly 116-mile, 36-inch-diameter line from Pennsylvania into New Jersey. PennEast had planned to begin construction in 2018, pending a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. FERC awarded the certificate Friday in a 4-1 vote, capping a contentious review that started with the announcement of the proposal in August 2014. Saying he disputes the need for the pipeline and that the benefits outweigh its harms, commission member Richard Glick dissented from his colleagues, Chairman Kevin J. McIntyre, Cheryl A. LaFleur, Neil Chatterjee and Robert F. Powelson in the decision. The pipeline is designed to provide up to 1.1 million dekatherms per day of natural gas from Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale region for domestic energy use. Its route takes it from Luzerne County through Carbon, Northampton and Bucks counties, then across the Delaware River into Hunterdon County to Mercer County. This PennEast Pipeline Co. LLC shows the route of its proposed 116-mile, 36-inch-diameter natural gas line from Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, to Mercer County, New Jersey, as of September 2016, the most recent map available on the energy company consortium's website. Visit penneastpipeline.com for a more detailed version. (Courtesy image | For NJ Advance Media) "We find that PennEast has sufficiently demonstrated that there is market demand for the project," the order issuing the certificate states. "PennEast has entered into long-term, firm precedent agreements with 12 shippers for 990,000 Dth/d of firm transportation service, approximately 90 percent of the project's capacity. ... "Those shippers will provide gas to a variety of end users, including local distribution customers, electric generators, producers and marketers and those shippers have determined, based on their assessment of the long-term needs of their particular customers and markets, that there is a market for the natural gas to be transported and the PennEast Project is the preferred means for delivering or receiving that gas." Construction is expected to take about seven months, PennEast spokeswoman Patricia Kornick said last month. BREAKING! FERC approves the PennEast Pipeline, which is set to deliver lower electric and gas bills, cleaner air, and thousands of jobs. pic.twitter.com/GAyKKnRBz0 PennEast Pipeline (@PennEast) January 20, 2018 The New Jersey Sierra Club, a staunch opponent of the plan, described as shameful the decision announced late Friday night, shortly before a federal government shutdown over a budget impasse in the U.S. Senate. Jeff Tittel, the club's director, maintains PennEast's environmental impact statement "has missing and even false information" and that its New Jersey-issued and federal permits for the project are incomplete. "FERC is basically working for the pipeline companies rather than for the people they are supposed to represent," Tittel said in a statement. "It's shameful that FERC can approve a pipeline without even applications for state or federal permits. FERC is the 'Federal Expedited Rubberstamp Commission.' "Now the fight begins," he continued. "We will organize to stop this pipeline that people vigorously approve. PennEast has a long way to go and many permits to get. We also have a new Governor who opposes the project. We won't stop until we stop this dangerous and unneeded pipeline." FERC's certificate sets numerous requirements for PennEast to satisfy prior to construction. They can be found toward the end of the document on file under Decisions & Notices at ferc.gov. "Regarding the project's impacts on landowners and communities, the project would impact approximately 1,588 acres of land during construction, and approximately 788.3 acres of land during operation," Friday's order states. "Approximately 44.5 miles, or 37 percent of the 120.2 mile-long pipeline route, will be located alongside existing rights-of-way. "While we are mindful that PennEast has been unable to reach easement agreements with a number of landowners, for purposes of our consideration under the Certificate Policy Statement, we find that PennEast has generally taken sufficient steps to minimize adverse impacts on landowners and surrounding communities." PennEast is a joint venture owned equally, with 20 percent stakes each, by Red Oak Enterprise Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of AGL Resources Inc.; NJR Pipeline Co., a subsidiary of New Jersey Resources; SJI Midstream LLC, a subsidiary of South Jersey Industries; UGI PennEast LLC, a subsidiary of UGI Energy Services LLC; and Spectra Energy Partners LP. New Jersey Resources is pursuing a separate natural gas pipeline running through Northampton County, as well. Its subsidiary Adelphia Gateway applied Monday to FERC for a certificate of public convenience and necessity. That line would convert the remaining length of an 84-mile oil pipeline to natural gas between Martins Creek in Lower Mount Bethel Township to Marcus Hook, Delaware County, outside Philadelphia, and would carry 250,000 dekatherms of Marcellus Shale natural gas per day for domestic energy use. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Frankenstein: the mother of all fantasies Since it was first published in 1818, Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' has spawned an enduring cult in literature, cinema, music and the arts. What explains the novel's persistence in pop culture and why is it worth revisiting after two centuries? /news/talking-point/frankenstein-the-mother-of-all-fantasies-111645674957080.html 111645674957080 story Most readers with a passing interest in the classics would have heard of the story of the 18-year-old Mary Godwin conceiving of a fantastical tale that bestowed literary immortality on her on a stormy night in June 1816. She and her soon-to-be husband Percy Bysshe Shelley were guests of Lord Byrons at the Villa Diodati in the village of Cologny, near Lake Geneva, in Switzerland. Frankenstein, the novel she wrote inspired by a frivolous dare among friends, turns 200 this year. Apart from spawning a rich tradition of science fiction and horror in literature, cinema and the visual arts, the iconic gothic novel has added the word Frankenstein" to the English vocabularyborrowed from the name of the hapless scientist who raises a monster" from the dead, bringing disastrous consequences upon himself. The Oxford English Dictionary classifies it as noun: Frankenstein is a thing that becomes terrifying or destructive to its maker". In its contemporary usage, though, the word has far exceeded its specific connotation, becoming synonymous, albeit misleadingly, with a range of other referencesa creature of pure evil, a signifier of hubris, the devil incarnate, a baleful, destructive force. If the term conjures up a vision of the living dead, most commonly represented by a zombie with putrefying flesh and repulsive face, that is the effect Shelley (she was married to the poet by the time Frankenstein was first published in 1818) had possibly intended for the reader. The idea to entertain themselves with self-composed horror stories had struck the assorted company at Villa Diodatithe Shelleys, Lord Byron and his friend, John William Polidorias a sport and pastime. But what began as fun and games resulted in a prose fragment by Byron, which appeared as part of a long narrative poem, Mazeppa, in 1819. Polidori wrote The Vampyre, also published in 1819, which heralded an immensely popular supernatural genre that reached its epitome with Bram Stokers Dracula (1897) and persists well into the 21st century in franchises like Twilight. Shelleys masterpiece had a stranger gestation, progressing through multiple editions to reach its present avatar, which was substantially edited by her husband, but was published in its current form in 1831, long after his death. In spite of its spooky provenance, Frankenstein has been called the mother of the modern science fiction fantasy by Brian W. Aldiss, one of the genres most celebrated practitioners, and with good reason. Born to Mary Wollstonecraft, the feminist writer who died giving birth to her, and William Godwin, a liberal political thinker, Mary Shelley grew up in an ambience of free thought. At 16, she fell for Percy Bysshe Shelley, while he was still married to his first wife Harriet and had had the distinction of being expelled from Oxford for propagating atheism. The two eloped shortly afterward, lived a peripatetic life, enjoying the company of fellow Romantics, and soaked in the spirit of scientific rationalism that had flourished with the Enlightenment in the 18th century. Although Shelley didnt go deep into the mechanics of resurrecting the dead in Frankenstein, she quoted the authority of the renowned physician, Erasmus Darwin, the grandfather of Charles Darwin, in the opening passage of the preface, to emphasize the credibility of her plot. The central moment in the narrativethat of the animation of the dead by Victor Frankensteinis not of impossible occurrence", she wrote, attributing this view to the revered scientist. Lest her claim might be deemed heretical, she balanced this proposition by drawing generously from the creation myth described by John Milton in Paradise Lost, which gave credence to the Biblical narrative of Adam and Eve, but also tempered it by mentioning the theories of Italian polymath Galileo Galilei. From the epigraphs to each of the three volumes of Frankenstein to sporadic references to Adam and Satan along the way, the influence of Paradise Lost is all-pervasive in Shelleys novel, as it was on the work of most other Romantics. Yet, while drawing on literary history, she was keenly aware of the advances made in the sciences during her time. By the time Frankenstein was written, Newtons laws of nature, gravity and his theory of the universe were over a century old, Keplers laws were still being debated and Michael Faraday was making headway into the discovery of the properties of electromagnetism and electricity (its not a coincidence that Frankenstein is fascinated by the power of the latter to inject life into dead flesh and bones). But Shelleys scientific temper and taste for the macabre were also inflected by a more personal, indeed primal, impulse. An illustration from the 1831 edition. Photo: Wikimedia Commons One of the most moving readings of Frankenstein can be found in a chapter titled Ice" in Rebecca Solnits autobiographical book of essays, The Faraway Nearby. A year before she began the novel, Solnit writes, Shelley, then barely 17, lost a baby girl, born prematurely, who lived for two weeks and faded away quietly in her sleep. My dearest Hogg my baby is dead," she wrote to her friend Thomas Jefferson Hogg, evidently distraught but still capable of going over her loss in excruciating detail. It was perfectly well when I went to bedI awoke in the night to give it suck it appeared to be sleeping so quietly that I would not awake it. It was dead then, but we did not find that out till morningfrom its appearance it evidently died of convulsionsWill you comeyou are so calm a creature & Shelley is afraid of a fever from the milkfor I am no longer a mother now." Days later, she noted in her journal a haunting dream. Dream that my little baby came to life againthat it had only been cold & that we rubbed it before the fire & it lived. Awoke and found no baby. I think about the little thing all day." Theres a record of a similar dream again sometime lateronly Shelley knew how many more such visitations she might have had. In the next few years, Shelley would give birth to three more children, only one of whom would live, and nearly die of miscarriage herself, narrowly escaping the fate of her own mother who had died shortly after she was born. Saved by the quick thinking of her husband, Shelley would lose him too, as he drowned after his sailboat was hit by a tempest. Wedged into this series of births and deaths in Shelleys life, the appeal of Frankenstein goes far beyond its promise of terror and titillation, crossing over into the realm of plaintive tragedy. At its heart, there is a yearning for the dead to come back to life, a cry every individual who has ever lost a loved one will recognize. But the fulfilment of that impossible wish, even within the make-believe world of fiction, exacts a devastating price. Having suffered several agonizing losses by the time she was 25, Shelley knew no other way to end her story but to let her monster", once lovingly called back to live among humans, disappear into a vast expanse of unending ice. Also Read: The postmodern Prometheus Frankenstein at the movies: Bad parents, problem children Music of the monster The anatomy of Frankenstein book covers Frankenstein at the movies: Bad parents, problem children From high tragedy to slapstick comedy, 'Frankenstein' has remained a favourite with film-makers through the decades /how-to-lounge/movies-tv/frankenstein-at-the-movies-bad-parents-problem-children-111644478760095.html 111644478760095 story Among the many ways of looking at Frankenstein, and by Frankenstein" one necessarily means not just Mary Shelleys groundbreaking book but what that book birthed over 200 yearsas other authors, playwrights, theatre producers and film-makers prodded away at it, moving body parts around in their sinister laboratorieshere is one interpretation. It is about terrible and unhappy parents, terrible and unhappy children, and how, to misquote Philip Larkin, we pass misery back and forth. Youre Victor Frankenstein, you think youve done your best, but heres this monster you created, which refuses to be what you hoped it would be. Worse, it turns around and blames you for everything thats wrong. Look at the Paradise Lost lineDid I request thee, Maker, from my clay, To mould me Man?which serves as an epigraph for Shelleys novel, and then listen to director Guillermo del Toro, who is currently working on a Frankenstein film: Its the quintessential teenage book. You dont belong. You were brought to this world by people that dont care for you and you are thrown into a world of tears and hunger." Most parent-child relationships, when looked at over a period of time, bring high tragedy and slapstick comedy together in the same frame. Little wonder then that cinematic Frankensteins have inhabited every mode from deep seriousness to goofy, pseudo-science-driven humourand that the most enduring films accommodate both extremes. Consider one of the most effective scenes, gentle, idyllic and horrifying all at once, in James Whales 1931 Frankenstein. Boris Karloffs monster comes across a little girl, joins her in placing flowers on a lakes surface and watching them floatand then, in all innocence, dunks her into the water too, causing her death. So iconic was this momentoften censored in early screeningsthat 40 years later the Spanish director Victor Erice made it the focal point of his coming-of-age narrative The Spirit Of The Beehive: the six-year-old protagonist Ana is traumatized when she watches the scene; in the days that follow, she becomes aware of subtler monsters in her own world. Or see Whales 1935 sequel, Bride Of Frankenstein, in which Karloffs plaintivenessas the monster yearns for a companion who will love and understand himbrushes up against Elsa Lanchesters brief but delightfully lunatic performance as his bride-not-to-be (the actress also played an impish Mary Shelley in a short scene). Those are still the two best-known Frankenstein films, and to modern eyes they can seem creaky and overwrought. Taking cues from theatre adaptations staged in Mary Shelleys lifetime, they turned Victor Frankenstein into the prototype of the mad scientist, shrieking that he knows what its like to be God" (in the book he is a diligent, conscientious man). But Karloffs performance helps erase some of the differences. While the creature in Shelleys novel gains in eloquence and dignity once he learns to use language, the dumb" movie monster is sympathetic by other means, conveying childlike pathos through his gestures and expressions. In fact, one can argue that in the broader-comedy scenes where he grunts wordsthe refrain of Good! Good!" when an old hermit makes him taste bread and winehe becomes less likable. A still from Mary Shelleys Frankenstein. Photo: Alamy Of course, there are other films where the monster is not meant to be at all likablesee the 1957 Curse Of Frankenstein, starring those two masters of the Hammer Horror franchise, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, and watch Lee play the role as a deformed, inexpressive zombie, starting with the shocking moment where he rips the bandages off his face as the camera zooms in on him. Another dominant mode is that of parody mixed with affection for the source material. Mel Brooks 1974 Young Frankenstein, shot in atmospheric black and white, has madcap scenes like the one where the doctors assistant brings along a brain labelled Abnormal"thinking it belonged to someone named Abbie Normal"but the film also understands the sense of wonder and danger that permeates the original story. This is equally true of three 1980s filmsGothic, Haunted Summer and Rowing With The Windwhich arent straight renderings of the Frankenstein tale but dramatize the famous 1816 summer house party involving the Shelleys and Lord Byron, where both Frankenstein and the John Polidori horror story The Vampyre were conceived. And, of course, there are serious" Frankenstein movies, which usually err on the side of earnestness. Kenneth Branaghs 1994 Mary Shelleys Frankenstein set out to be faithful to the book, in a way the Karloff films never did, but the promise was marred by half-hearted executionand ironically its best moments were the more inventive ones such as the scene where the naked creature (played by Robert De Niro, channelling a middle-aged Travis Bickle) slips about like a newborn baby in what looks like amniotic fluid. Frankenstein is often regarded as the first true science-fiction novel, and this perception has become increasingly relevant in our time, where Artificial Intelligence has taken on forms that Mary Shelley couldnt have envisioned. The idea of an imitation human being more humane in some ways than the flesh-and-blood people around him is a theme that has informed a lot of modern sci-fi about automatons: from the replicants in Blade Runner to the 1999 Bicentennial Man (adapted from Isaac Asimovs The Positronic Man) and Steven Spielbergs A.I. Artificial Intelligence (based on Brian Aldisss Supertoys Last all Summer Long, and often seen as a futuristic version of the Pinocchio story). But its just as instructive to go back in time, to two decades before the Karloff films, when a 12-minute Frankenstein was made by Thomas Edisons studio in 1910. Watching this relic (youll find it on YouTube) is like getting into a time machine: given that the world of the Shelleys seems so impossibly distant to us today, its unsettling to realize that the Edison film is closer in time (a mere 92 years) to the publication of the book than to our present day. What I find fascinating about that ancient filmas a cinema student and as someone who thinks of the Frankenstein story as being rooted in honest scientific curiosityis how much it does with the very limited motion-picture technology of the time. For instance, for the challenging scene in which the monster comes alive, a wax replica of a skeleton was placed in a vat and set afire until it dissolved and crumpled. They then played the film backward, so that the impression we get is of something hideous being forged out of fire and sitting upright after its limbs have formed. To watch that scene is to think of the imagination and daring required of early film-makers when they wanted to do something more ambitious than simply record reality. One could say those pioneers were kindred spirits of Victor Frankenstein, tinkering in their workshops until their children grew and became something vast and uncontrollable, slipping out of their godlike hands. New York State Office of General Services workers set up metal barriers Friday for Saturday's Women's March in Albany. The event will begin with a 1 p.m. rally at West Capitol Park and end with a march around the city to voice opposition to GOP leaders in Washington. Jury acquits city man in Albany stabbing trial ALBANY - A jury acquitted a city man who authorities accused of repeatedly stabbing a 27-year-old man while yelling "I'm going to kill you." Jorge Obregon-Castro, 23, told jurors he acted in self defense and jurors sided with him. The jury began deliberations on Friday and delivered a verdict Tuesday, clearing Obregon-Castro of attempted murder and assault charges in connection with the Sept. 18, 2016, stabbing of a man outside 502 Washington Ave. At the time of the arrest, police said he told his victim "I'm going to kill you," and "Die (expletive)." But Obregon-Castro testified he acted in self defense, his attorneys said. Obregon-Castro told jurors the victim, Francisco Saban, tried to rob him with a knife and he was protecting himself. Assistant Public Defender Michael Feit said Obregon-Castro wept upon hearing the verdict. Obregon-Castro's relatives, many of whom traveled from New York City for the trial, cried as well in Albany County Judge Peter Lynch's courtroom. Obregon-Castro spent more than a year in the county jail awaiting trial. Cocaine distributor gets a decade in prison ALBANY Francisco Rivera, 37, of Watervliet was sentenced Friday to 121 months in prison, to be followed by eight years of supervised release, for conspiring to distribute cocaine, federal authorities said. On Sept. 18, Rivera admitted he arranged for someone in Puerto Rico to mail him kilogram and half-kilogram quantities of cocaine that were hidden within everyday items such as scented candles and board game boxes, officials said. He arranged for cocaine shipments to be mailed to homes in Albany, Rensselaer and Schenectady counties, where he would pick them up and then deliver them to his customers. U.S. District Judge Mae A. D'Agostino ordered Rivera to forfeit $24,500 in cash drug proceeds seized from his home, as well as a 2011 BMW X6 that he used to transport the cocaine, according to the Justice Department. Woman admits misusing name of Treasury, IRS ALBANY A Wynantskill woman pleaded guilty Thursday to misusing the names of the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service, a misdemeanor, federal prosecutors said. Kristina Gross, 37, admitted she worked for a construction services company in Rensselaer County, whose bank account had been levied by the IRS on Feb. 14, 2017, officials said. On Feb. 23, Gross twice emailed a bank employee what she claimed was an IRS release of levy form, in an unsuccessful attempt to induce the bank to provide her company with access to funds that the bank had frozen as a result of receiving the IRS levy. Gross faces up to a year in jail and a maximum $10,000 fine when sentenced May 18. Ex-state worker admits vehicle benefits misuse ALBANY Former state Department of Transportation bridge repair supervisor Alfred Weber admitted he used a state-owned work vehicle for personal errands during work hours and stole nearly $3,400 in salary and vehicle use benefits to which he was not entitled, the state inspector general's office said. Weber, 64, of Albany who is retired, pleaded guilty Friday in East Greenbush Town Court to petit larceny and handed over a $3,376.91 check as full restitution to the state, according to the inspector general. Robert Gavin contributed Pastor Andrew Brunson a Presbyterian cleric in Turkey sits in a Turkish jail, a pawn in an international game of hostage diplomacy. Since he was detained in October 2016, his life has been arbitrarily suspended. As representatives of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, we met with Brunson in Kiriklar Prison, where he's been held since October 2016. We flew from Istanbul to Izmir, spent a restless night at a local hotel and, before the sun came up the next day, we headed to Kiriklar. Dressed plainly, as instructed, we walked into the prison on Oct. 5, After inspection, we were escorted into a room padded with black foam and divided by a rectangular table at the center of which, attached by a beaded metal chain, was the only pen available. Several minutes later, we heard the metallic, heavy clang of a gate that opened and closed. The door to the visiting room flung open and in walked a pale, slender version of the Andrew Brunson we had only seen in photos. Since his imprisonment began, he had lost over 50 pounds. What followed was an almost surreal hour of discussion with a man still in shock at what had happened to him. He wanted to know how this could occur in a country where he had spent more than two decades helping people? What were the charges against him? When might he get a trial? If convicted, would he be in jail for the rest of his life? Brunson eats, sleeps and lives in a cell that he is allowed to leave only once a week for a scheduled visit with his wife or a consular officer. The Turkish government, for almost a year at the point of our meeting, has given him no information about the charges against him and no court date. The case seems to be based on secret evidence and a secret witness that allege his involvement in trying to overthrow the Turkish government a charge he denies. Brunson initially was held with more than 20 men in a cell built for eight people. He now is in a cell with two others, but he is the only American, the only English speaker, and the only Christian in the prison. He lives in a world of physical isolation and psychological dislocation. Since the attempted coup in 2016, much has changed in Turkey. Human rights, including freedom of expression and association, have worsened. Arbitrary arrests, explained by "involvement" in the failed coup, are in the tens of thousands. In the chapter on Turkey in USCIRF's 2017 Annual Report, we state that "no religious community including the majority Sunni Muslim community has full legal status, and all are subject to state controls limiting their rights to maintain places of worship, train clergy, and offer religious education." Turkey chose to arrest an American Christian cleric who for more than two decades was fulfilling his religious duties by serving his congregants and others in need. Post-coup Turkey faces a number of serious problems domestically and internationally. Pastor Brunson need not be one of them. Turkey already has stolen more than a year of his life. We cannot let it steal all his tomorrows. Sandra Jolley and Kristina Arriaga are the vice chairwomen of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Ann Snyder serves on The Woodlands Township Board of Directors, being first elected to the board in 2015. Re-elected in November, 2017, Snyder's term current expires in November, 2019. Snyder also is the chairperson of the Ad Hoc Economic Development Committee and as secretary of the board. In her day job, Snyder is the executive director of generosity for The Woodlands United Methodist Church, where she oversees funding for the foundation, missions, stewardship, school and capital campaign. She also serves as head of schools for The Woodlands Methodist Schools. Prior to her position at The Woodlands United Methodist Church, Snyder served as president and CEO of Interfaith of The Woodlands as well as president & CEO of Interfaith Community Clinic where she oversaw staff and volunteers including doctors, nurses and others. Snyder holds a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Colorado State University, a Master of Education degree from the University of Missouri, and a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Baylor University. Question: Can you tell us about your background and how it led you from your current career to your position as a member of The Woodlands Township Board of Directors? Snyder: My family and our two children and I moved here in the late 80s. What's amazing is we had thought we'd live inside the loop and the chairman of the board suggested to us, my husband and I, why don't you go out and look at a place called The Woodlands. We came out and we never went back. We met a wonderful builder, lived in our same home for almost 30 years until just recently. We raised our two children, both of whom went away to school, one MIT the other Baylor. Their best (job) offers were right here in the The Woodlands, so they came home. So it's a parents, at least Jerry's and I, a dream to have our family right here. So that personally, my background is education, I've taught from preschool, but predominantly at the university level. When we moved here, I was part-time, adjunct, with the University of Houston and then went full-time and left there in the summer of 2004. I was most recently their director of clinical and field experience in the College of Education. So students, be it undergraduate or doctoral, would go through my office for clinical student-teaching advisement, clinical intern. And it was a wonderful, wonderful position. That summer of 2004, I started working at Interfaith of The Woodlands. It is what has really made The Woodlands so unique and so different. Mr. (George) Mitchell started The Woodlands Religious Community, which DBA is Interfaith of The Woodlands, before he officially opened The Woodlands, to bring the faith-based, to bring what I call the software, not meaning to be disrespectful, to this community. And we are an incredibly generous community. And I attribute it to Mr. Mitchell's foundation of what was really truly important. Part of serving as the president and CEO of Interfaith of The Woodlands, I also was the president and CEO of Interfaith Community Clinic. (it) Was not salaried (position), it was just something that we needed, that Interfaith needed to support. It was after a Sunday sermon in 2015 that, as I shared with my board of directors, God gave me permission to do something. So in the spring of 2016 I left Interfaith, I never said I was retiring, because if something wonderful came I wanted to have that opportunity to, perhaps, be considered. So fast forward, six months later, Dr. (Ed) Robb-when he knew he was no longer going to be on the township board-approached me but he and I did not talk about it until Dec. 1, when he was officially off the township board and I started with the United Woodlands Methodist Church as part of his ministry staff. And it has been a wonderful, wonderful gift to me. Question: Do you see a correlation between your work and your serving on the board. Snyder: I do. I was brought up in a family where service is part of what you did. Volunteering is part of who you were. My parents were both very, very much in tune with that. And also under the auspice of, so to speak, that good things are for sharing. At the university, when I taught for all those years, at Interfaith, at The Woodlands United Methodist Church, and I think all of those have helped me to become the person I am. In addition, of course, to an incredible family. But also I see a correlation with The Woodlands. Interfaith is the foundation. Mr. Mitchell started it, bringing the faith-based community here, be it Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, regardless of the faith, that we would all be welcome. So I think it's very much a part of who I am and who The Woodlands is. Question: What do you see as far the future of The Woodlands, including possible incorporation? Snyder: My passion of serving on The Woodlands Township board is to ensure that we in our next steps, which there will definitely be next steps, benefit the community as a whole and the residents who live here. If I was the artist painting the picture, (it would) still (be) a place that we can live, work, play and pray, but that it also embraces all faiths, all social-economic, ethnicities and all ages. That's the foundation of who we are. Incorporation? We are, as a township board, having planning sessions that will occur throughout the year. We are also looking at hiring a company, an entity that will help us as a township board, be able to outline the costs, the benefits, probably the pros and the cons of becoming incorporated. We have, I feel one chance to do it right. I think it's our job to ensure that we have the most accurate information to give to the residents. Once I feel comfortable that we have that information and we can tell the voters that it will cost 'X,' not more than 'X,' and that these are benefits, and that they outweigh the cons, or not being incorporated, then calling that election. If the board passes it, it will be up to the residents to decide. Question: You don't have a position right now whether you are for or against incorporation? Snyder: No, mine is the very same as when I ran the very first time. It's because I want to know how much it will cost. And that's where I think we're taking a great analysis in the four entities that we've asked to come to tell us what is the best, what is not. I'm a big believer that I want The Woodlands to be in charge of its own destiny, not someone else outside The Woodlands, and have always felt that way. Question: Your colleague John McMullan said during a recent Sunday Conversation interview that the county uses The Woodlands as its "piggy bank." How would describe the relationship between The Woodlands and the county right now. Snyder: Well, I think there's somewhat of a disconnect. I grew up in a culture, and when I was on the school board, and I served for 15 years, we agree to disagree, but then we find the solution that will make good things happen for the community. Our goal on the school district was "what's best for the kids." So as a seven-member board, and geographically, the school district is very eclectic. But as long as what we did was best for the children then you could stand and support that. I think that the county needs to, in its deliberation and its decision-making, to look at the entire county, but the different, be it areas, such as The Woodlands, and when they make they decisions do what's best for The Woodlands. And I think that you would find people who do not feel that always happens. On a personal note, the constant conflict, to me, has not resulted in moving forward. It seems like there's so much friction and that is not a means that I've ever operated on. We may disagree, but let's sit down. If the end result is to do what's best for the county, as the end result of the school district is to do what's best for the children, then you have to take into consideration that perhaps what is best for the northeast part of the school district may be different than the northwest, then you do what's best for both. I really think all this conflict and constant...and that's why I ran for the board. It disheartened me to see The Woodlands be so combative with each other, on a local level, just in The Woodlands. Because that's not the vision of Mr. Mitchell. I had the true privilege of visiting him, asking him advice, and I can't speak for him, of course, but I had never seen the discord prior to the year that I ran. Question: Let me ask you about flooding issues. Where do you see the township going in preventing future flooding? Snyder: We have to do something. Hopefully we can be part of bringing people together. Unfortunately Montgomery and Harris County have more control than we do. But something has to be done to mitigate, to stop that. Different agencies, local as well as state and federal officials, must come together and fix this. It's awful what happened. What we have, hopefully the power to do, is making sure it won't happen again. I think the board, with its limited authority, has made great strides. One of our directors, Bruce [Rieser] is the appointed person. Again, I cannot speak for the board members, but I don't think there's a board member that would not think it was important. So it's something we need that we need to be part of. Question: Is the Drainage Task Force making any progress at this point? Snyder: I think it is making more (progress). We've just hired an engineering firm and I think that it has taken great strides in five months since Harvey. Question: Do you have any ambitions for higher office? Snyder: No, no. I did have ambitions to serve on the school board. Education is my passion, helping people is my passion. What brought me to the township is my friends outside the great state of Texas, where we used to live, said it should be called the Goodlands, for how I describe it. And I want to be a part to ensure that the quality of life that my children, my grandchildren now, and that families that enjoy, that we maintain, if not better. KASUR, Pakistan - The second-grader's homework assignment on Jan. 4 was to describe herself. "I am a girl," wrote Zainab Amin, who had a perky smile and a pageboy haircut. "I am seven years old. I live in Kasur. I love mangoes." The next morning, while walking to a Koran class at her aunt's house, the little girl vanished. Five days later, her battered corpse was discovered in a garbage dump nearby. The medical examiner's terse report hinted at the horrors she had endured while the community was frantically searching for her. There was "mud, fecal matter, and blood on the body," it stated. There were strangulation marks on her neck. There was semen and other "signs of sexual assault," including sodomy. Zainab's gruesome rape and murder followed several waves of child abductions, murders and sexual abuse that earned this economically struggling city a macabre reputation as Pakistan's capital of child sex abuse. But it also triggered an unprecedented national bout of soul-searching, outrage and public confessions from victims of sexual abuse. Pakistan is a conservative Muslim society; child abuse is common but rarely reported, and sex education is too controversial for public schools. Rape victims are often charged with adultery and jailed, and tribal councils - part of a traditional parallel justice system - have sentenced women and girls to be raped as retribution for forbidden dalliances or elopement committed by their male relatives. In most instances, state authorities do not intervene unless the case is especially egregious and attracts news coverage. But Zainab's case, which coincided with the #MeToo phenomenon in the United States, thrust a long-verboten topic into the public arena. Headlines screamed "Pakistan's Shame!" The #JusticeforZainab hashtag went viral. Celebrities sent out tweets revealing childhood secrets of being molested by older men. Clerics from competing Muslim groups rushed to lead funeral prayers and protests. Provincial government officials, facing calls for their resignations, fired Kasur's police chief and offered a reward of 10 million rupees (about $100,000) for information about the culprit. "There is no shame in having been a victim of abuse," tweeted Frieha Altaf, a silver-haired public relations star who confided that she had been molested by her family's cook at age 6. She said the experience "scarred me for life" but that she had remained silent until now because the issue was a social taboo in Pakistan, "shushed away by victims' families." Fashion designer Maheem Khan reported on social media that she had been sexually abused as a child by a Muslim cleric "who came to teach me the Koran. I froze in fear day after day." She urged her fellow Pakistanis to "take a look at ourselves as a society" and parents to "listen to your children, teach them, warn them, talk to them openly about what is appropriate and what isn't." Zainab's death set off three days of violent rioting in Kasur, a gritty industrial city near the border with India where residents were already on edge after a spate of similar crimes - including a video porn ring that reportedly targeted nearly 300 children. Most cases were never solved, and some suspects were freed by the courts. Last week, as anger at authorities boiled over, three protesters were shot dead. Rights activists said they fear that the furor will die down and little will change, though, largely because of the entrenched political interests, clan loyalties, legal limits and cultural taboos that work against justice in such cases. Witnesses often refuse to testify, police are discouraged from investigating, and courts routinely free accused abusers. There is almost no sex education in public schools, and it was not until two years ago that sexual abuse of minors was made a criminal offense. Already, in the days since Zainab's abduction, a similar case has come to light in northwest Pakistan - this time with an even younger victim, a girl of 4 named Asma. Her body was found in a sugar cane field with signs of strangulation and rape. Her father was away at the time, working as a construction laborer in the Middle East. "The whole society has reacted strongly in Zainab's case, but only punishment will deter the recurrence of such crimes," said Manizeh Bano, executive director of Sahil, a nonprofit group that fights child abuse. In the 2015 pedophile porn case, rights groups claimed that as many as 280 children were abducted and forced to participate in videotaped sex acts. There were protests and calls for justice, but an investigative panel found no evidence of abuse and said the accusations stemmed from a land dispute. Bano, whose group found that most cases of child sexual abuse are never reported, said she was encouraged by the surge of about 100 reported cases since Zainab's abduction. But in Kasur, she said there were "powerful circles" protecting the abusers, reportedly including politicians and police. "Unless such circles are broken, it will be difficult to prevent such cases in the future," she said. On Thursday, in a working-class district of Kasur, TV satellite trucks and police vehicles clogged cement alleys leading to the Amins' modest home across from a textile factory. A makeshift press podium had been set up in a vacant lot, and posters had been put up showing Zainab's face surrounded by bloody palm prints. Her father, a soft-spoken school supply custodian named Muhammad Amin Ansari, received a stream of well-wishers in his dimly lit living room. He and his wife were in Saudi Arabia on a Muslim pilgrimage when their daughter vanished, and they had asked an uncle to look after her. "I was in Mecca praying for my children, and I came back to this," said Ansari, 50, a slight man with a gray beard. He said he was frustrated by the lack of police progress in finding Zainab's killer but that he hoped the tragedy would help prevent similar crimes in the future. "We need justice for all such cases," he said. In a cramped bedroom down the hall, his wife Nusrat, 42, spoke in a murmur. She described Zainab, the youngest of her four children, as a studious girl who loved to get up early to study the Koran before school. "I want to look in the eyes of the person who did this so he can see what I suffered during those five days we were all looking for her," she said. So far, though, no progress in the case has been announced, although a special investigative team has been working around the clock. Officials said that DNA samples suggest that at least half of the 11 other girls found raped and killed in the city over the past two years were victims of the same attacker, raising the fearsome specter of a serial predator at large. At the local headquarters of the Punjab province police, a map of the city was pinned to the wall, with labels marking Zainab's house and the garbage dump where her body was found. Zahid Marwat, the newly named police chief, said more than 200 officers from several security agencies were investigating the case, including young women acting as decoys. "Our job is to arrest the culprit, and we will not rest until he is caught," Marwat said. He did not comment on police actions before his arrival but said everything possible is now being done to find Zainab's attacker. "More children could be in danger. Society is in a panic, and people feel very insecure. There is no way we would take this lightly," he said. But community leaders complained that police had failed to take serious action after the girl was reported missing and security camera tapes showed her walking with a man whose face was clearly visible. Volunteers combed the area for five days, finding nothing until the morning of Jan. 10, when her remains were discovered. On Thursday, cars periodically pulled up at the garbage dump and visitors got out, staring at the sea of trash for a few moments before turning away. A bony dog sniffed among the new piles of trash, and backhoes chugged back and forth, methodically crushing and covering up what lay below. Paul Booth, a progressive activist who organized one of the first major rallies against the Vietnam War - a 15,000-student march on the White House in 1965 - and who later oversaw efforts to boost wages and preserve Social Security benefits as a top strategist for one of the nation's largest unions, died Jan. 17 at a hospital in Washington. He was 74. The cause was complications from chronic lymphocytic leukemia, said his wife, activist Heather Booth. On the day he died, Booth was working on an article for the American Prospect and had encouraged his wife to attend a Capitol Hill demonstration, where she was arrested while protesting on behalf of "dreamers" protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The lanky son of a left-leaning economist and social worker, Booth engrossed himself in organizing as a student at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where in the early 1960s he founded a chapter of Students for a Democratic Society - a fractious, sometimes anarchic organization whose calls for peace, social justice and political reform came to define the movement known as the New Left. "We're really not just a peace group," he told The New York Times on April 17, 1965, the day he led the SDS-organized war protest in Washington. "We are working on domestic problems - civil rights, poverty, university reform. We feel passionately and angrily about things in America, and we feel that a war in Asia will destroy what we're trying to do here." Booth was described by Alan Haber, first president of SDS, as a rare "cheerful spirit" in the organization, singing and telling stories to maintain morale during the contentious drafting process that resulted in the organization's 1962 manifesto, the Port Huron Statement, under student leaderTom Hayden. Rising to the position of national secretary, the group's de facto leader, he worked with civil rights and women's groups to organize events such as the antiwar march on the White House and an earlier rally at the New York headquarters of Chase Manhattan Bank, which the coalition labeled a "partner in apartheid" for giving loans to the South African government. Still, Booth was viewed as insufficiently radical by many of the organization's younger members. When he espoused a policy of "build, not burn," recommending that young Americans perform volunteer work or humanitarian service in lieu of military service or draft-card burning, he was censured by some SDS leaders. Sociologist Todd Gitlin, a fellow SDS activist who helped organize the bank and antiwar rallies, described Booth's politics as akin to what writer and socialist leader Michael Harrington described as "the left wing of the possible": "Don't go out on a limb, don't break your contact with ordinary people and mainline institutions." A protege of community organizer Saul Alinsky, Booth left SDS to become a labor organizer in 1966. He worked on environmental efforts in Chicago before joining the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the country's largest public-services employees union. He went on to serve as the chief assistant to union president Gerald W. McEntee and as an executive assistant to his successor, Lee Saunders. His titles belied the full range of his work, which included behind-the-scenes efforts to support Democratic politicians and maintain or expand social benefits for working-class families. In addition to leading campaigns that opposed cuts to Medicare and the privatization of Social Security, Booth was credited with organizing a coalition in Baltimore that successfully pressed for the country's first living-wage law. Passed in 1994, the legislation raised the base pay for city contract workers in Baltimore above the federal minimum wage and has since been mimicked in cities across the country. The law also formed the seeds of the recent campaign for a $15 minimum wage - an issue that made it onto the Democratic Party's official platform at the 2016 national convention. Booth, selected by presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, was a member of the committee that wrote the platform. Paul Robert Booth was born in Washington on June 7, 1943. His father was a Labor Department economist who later worked for the International Labor Organization in Geneva; when he suffered a heart ailment, the family returned to the United States and became dependent on his mother's income as a social worker. Booth graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in the District and, in 1964, received a bachelor's degree in political science from Swarthmore. He met Heather Tobis two years later at a University of Chicago sit-in protesting the Selective Service, and after three days on the floor of the school's administration building asked her to marry him. She later formed the Midwest Academy, a Chicago-based training center for social-justice organizers, where Booth was a board member. In addition to his wife of 50 years, survivors include two sons, Gene Booth of Chicago and Dan Booth of Concord, Massachusetts., named for the socialist leaders Eugene V. Debs and Daniel De Leon, respectively; a brother; and five grandchildren. Booth was research director for the United Packinghouse Workers of America before joining AFSCME in 1974. As the international union representative for Illinois, he secured union contracts for state workers and city employees in Chicago - "further speeding the demise of the patronage system," the Chicago Tribune reported in 1988. He retired in 2017 but remained engaged in national politics, even when he was hospitalized last week. On a CaringBridge site for Booth created shortly before his death, his wife noted that alongside notes or calls from well-wishers, "Paul particularly welcomes any news about more Republican retirements." What he really wanted, she continued, was for friends and strangers "to organize and build the resistance." A newly released Pentagon strategy document proposes a new vision of America's national security priorities - one in which competition with China and Russia is more important to the United States than the fight against international terrorism. After almost two decades of a "war on terror" that came at huge expense but often had few tangible benefits, such a strategy would mark a noteworthy change in the way the United States conducts its foreign policy. However, the new strategy also raises a question: Do American voters agree? Perhaps not. A number of polls conducted over the past year show that Americans remain deeply concerned about the threat posed by international terrorism, while they appear to be underwhelmed by the risks posed by a rising China or a belligerent Russia. That disconnect between U.S. voters and the U.S. national security apparatus may become an issue down the road. The National Defense Strategy was unveiled Friday morning at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. Speaking to reporters, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis explained that the document, which calls for a sustained financial investment in the military to overcome "a period of strategic atrophy," reflects the real priorities for the United States at this moment in time. "We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists, but great power competition - not terrorism - is now the primary focus of U.S. national security," Mattis said. Beijing and Moscow are seen as the primary rivals. In its text, the National Defense Strategy states that "long-term strategic competitions with China and Russia" are the "principle priorities" for the Defense Department. North Korea and Iran were listed as "rogue regimes" that the United States would work to deter. The shift in priorities detailed in the National Defense Strategy reflect concerns in the national security community about China and Russia's foreign policy ambitions. At the same time, it may also be a reflection of the idea that international terrorist groups like the Islamic State have had their capabilities seriously diminished over the past year and that they do not pose the same level of threat that they were once thought to. Notably, a report released by Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Center on Thursday showed there was a global drop in terrorist attacks in 2017. Notably, there appears to have been a significant drop in the number of terrorism-related civilian deaths last year - if you look at the average for the previous five years, it was a drop of 45 percent. Despite this shift, there is little sign that the U.S. public is more concerned about the threat posed by China or Russia - or that it has stopped caring deeply about international terrorism. According to a poll conducted for the Chicago Council for Global Affairs last June, international terrorism was listed as a critical threat to the United States by 75 percent of respondents. That was the highest ranking for all choices given. Comparatively, only 38 percent listed China's military power as a critical threat to the United States, and only 30 percent listed Russia's territorial ambitions. A separate poll from Pew Research Center conducted in February and March last year found a similar result - 74 percent of Americans listed the Islamic State as a major threat to the United States, compared with 47 percent who listed Russia's power and influence and 41 percent who listed China's power and influence. These results may seem surprising. You don't have to look far to see worrying aspects of Chinese and Russian foreign policy - the situation in the South China Sea or Ukraine are two obvious examples. Alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election is an additional sign of how Moscow's foreign policy can hurt the United States, and there is also more subtle evidence that Beijing has undertaken its own effort at covertly influencing U.S. politics. However, the threat from terrorism is simple to understand and specifically designed to instill fear. In contrast, the threats posed by a rising China or Russia are complicated; the United States does not have a purely adversarial role with either. Pew's data show that Americans aren't alone in prioritizing terrorism over Chinese and Russian threats. In 38 countries polled, it found concern about the Islamic State was double that found for Chinese or Russian power. Though some East Asian nations like South Korea and Vietnam were notably concerned about China, concerns about the Islamic State were generally far higher - a majority listed it as a threat in 29 countries. In the United States, concerns about terrorism are largely a bipartisan affair, according to the Chicago Council data. In contrast, majority-level concerns about China's military power or Russia's territorial ambitions were limited to Republican leaders (the greater Republican-leaning public did not seem to be especially perturbed by China or Russia). The Pentagon is not bound by public opinion, of course. Many have long argued that concerns about terrorism were exaggerated in the West: One widely-shared statistic suggests that Americans are more likely to be killed by a lawn mower than an Islamist militant terrorist. But perception can be as important as reality, and Mattis and others in President Donald Trump's administration may want to be wary of too quickly dismissing the threat from terrorism. Ahead of the 2016 vote, Pew's polling found that terrorism was one of the most important issues for voters, second only to the economy. And Trump, the election's eventual winner and a candidate who talked frequently about terrorism during the campaign, was narrowly favored by voters for his ability to defend the country from future terrorist attacks. WASHINGTON For Texas, home to some 124,000 Dreamers and nearly 800 miles of the Mexican border, the stakes in Friday's government shutdown showdown couldn't have been greater. In the front lines of the battle over immigration, a slew of lawmakers from the Lone Star State also found themselves in the center of the drama, with Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican leader, serving as a top behind-the-scenes negotiator to avert a shutdown on the first anniversary of the Trump presidency. But a final 50-49 Senate vote - posted just after midnight fell short of the 60 needed to extend the government's funding past midnight, precipitating the second shutdown crisis of the past five years. In the 11th hour, just five Democrats joined in voting for a stop-gap funding measure to keep the government open. Five Republicans voted no. Moments later, a visibly flustered Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, proposed another stop-gap measure keeping the government open until Feb. 8. "We'll continue to talk," he said. Democrats said they were open to new talks, even as the White House said it would not negotiate on immigration until the shutdown ends. "We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. Nevertheless, House members were advised to stay in Washington for possible new votes. Moments before the climactic Senate vote, President Donald Trump, who had run for office as a consummate deal-maker, acknowledged that that there was no deal to be had. "Not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the very dangerous Southern Border," he tweeted. "Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy." Democrats saw their stand differently. When the Democrats' top negotiator, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, emerged from a highly anticipated, one-on-one meeting with Trump earlier at the White House, he had no breakthrough to report, only "a good number of disagreements." According to Cornyn, President Donald Trump turned down the Democratic leaders' request for a four-day extension until Tuesday for further talks on immigration. Cornyn, the Republican whip, immediately bid Schumer to return to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. "No agreement," Cornyn remarked on Twitter. "Work it out with @SpeakerRyan and @SenateMajLdr" a reference to House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Whether any deal remained to be struck in Congress still remained to be seen, with less than 12 hours before the midnight deadline for a government shutdown. It was an outcome both sides said they wanted to avoid. According to Cornyn, who "implored' Democrats to support a stop-gap funding deal until February 16, the paychecks of about 200,000 federal workers in Texas were hanging in the balance. "Paychecks will cease, and services will be disrupted," he said. In the final hours of the standoff a slow-motion game of political chicken the two sides were hardening their respective positions: Republicans insisting on funding Trump's border wall, and Democrats holding out for a deal to protect young immigrants from deportation. The deal the Republican leaders offered Democrats in the end would do neither, pushing off negotiations for another month, keeping the lights on in Washington until for another 30 days simply setting up a new deadline. As sweeteners to liberals, the stop-gap funding measure would extend the popular Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six years; for conservatives, it would push back two Obamacare taxes. Democrats, under pressure from their base to restore the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, balked. With Trump setting a March 5 expiration for the program protecting Dreamers, Democrats were refusing to go along with any more delay in striking a deal on immigration. Negotiations devolved into a blame game, and Texans were echoing many of the same points as the national leaders in both parties. The Woodlands Republican Kevin Brady, in a House floor speech on Thursday, chided Democrats for passing on the CHIP and Obamacare tax provisions. "It's regrettable because these are bipartisan issues, and politics are shutting this government down," said Brady, a close ally of Ryan and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Austin Democrat Lloyd Doggett, a member of Brady's tax-writing committee, pointed the finger back. "The cause of any government shutdown now will be the same as in the past-Republican intransigence," he said. "If they continue to insist upon an entirely partisan bill that excludes Dreamers, they should not expect Democratic votes. I want the government to remain open for everyone, including our Dreamers." Amid the logjam came dire warnings for a government stoppage, which would be the first since Republicans forced a shutdown in 2013 in an unsuccessful attempt to defund the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. "Amid all the squabbles and finger-pointing, congressional leaders should be ashamed of their choice to play political games with the fate of 9 million American kids 400,000 Texas kids in the Children's Health Insurance Program," said Ann Beeson, executive director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin. Under an earlier deal with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Texas received $135 million to continue the program through February. Apart from Dreamers and CHIP kids, the people most directly hit by a closure would be the state's large military population, which would mostly stay on duty but receive on paychecks for the duration of any funding lapse. Social security checks would still go out because they're not subject to annual appropriations from Congress but national parks and other tourist sites could be closed unless the White House makes special arrangements. Facing the uncertainty of which side the voters would blame for a government shutdown, both sides vented their frustration and calculated the political risks. After mollifying members of the conservative Freedom Caucus about holding fast on border security and future military spending increases a sticking point that divided Republicans the House voted 230 to 197 Thursday night to approve the one-month continuing resolution. In the end, only 11 conservative Republicans voted against the resolution, none from Texas. Among those voting with the GOP majority was San Antonio Republican Will Hurd, a top Democratic target in a heavily Latino border district in West Texas. Six Democrats broke with their leaders and voted for the temporary funding measure. Among them was Laredo Democrat Henry Cuellar. That pushed the showdown into the Senate, where the GOP's narrow 51-49 seat edge was not big enough to pass the funding measure without Democratic support. It takes 60 votes to overcome Senate procedural hurdles, and the votes of at least three conservative Republicans remained in doubt over spending and budget issues. 'Dreamers' showdown Cornyn has long advocated for GOP outreach to minorities. But he accused the Democrats of using their leverage to hold the entire government "hostage" for Dreamers, with whom he expressed sympathy. "These 690,000 young men and women are truly, should be, the subject of our compassion," Cornyn said Friday evening on the Senate floor. "But why would we hold 320 million people hostage?" Cornyn, like other Republicans, argued that there was no emergency and there would still be time to negotiate a resolution to the DACA program. "We have been negotiating in good faith on a solution to the DACA recipients, and we will continue to do so," he said. But it was clear in the endgame of the shutdown maneuvering that a lack of trust had permeated the talks. Democrats blamed Trump, whose remarks calling some Third World countries "shitholes" in private immigration talks earlier in the week seemed to have poised the well. Houston Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee, an outspoken Trump critic, argued that Republicans, who control the White House and both chambers in Congress, had to take responsibility for any government shutdown. "This is not a bill," she said of the temporary funding measure in the House, the fourth since September. "It is an affirmation of the inability of the Republicans to govern." Republicans countered that the onus should fall on Senate Democrats, who had the power to keep the government open. Rep. Joe Barton, a Republican from Arlington who supports legislation legalizing Dreamers, expressed bewilderment that Democrats would vote against a funding measure that contained nothing that they opposed. "Where I come from, you vote for what's in the bill," he said, "not what's not in the bill." But in the end, Democrats rejected the choice between funding the government and a deal-in-the-hand to protect Dreamers. They argued its' a population that has been under the gun since Sept. 5, when Trump declared that Obama did not had the legal authority to protect them unilaterally kicking the issue over the Congress, where it has remained for five months. "People who say it's one or the other present a false choice," said El Paso congressman Beto O'Rourke, the Democrats' best hope of unseating Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018. "We can do both." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate As the Texas congressional delegation tried to help broker a deal to end the government shutdown Saturday, concerns and confusion continued over what the real-life impact of the impasse could mean in the Lone Star State if it lasts more than a few days. One thing was clear, though: There were few, if any, public signs of the shutdown impacting everyday life in Texas on Saturday. While federal officials reassured that Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts would continue through the shutdown, there were unresolved questions about whether it could add even more delays to more permanent housing repairs Texans are still waiting on. What is clear is that the 3,898 federal employees deployed to help with Texas' recovery are still on the job and working. And short term temporary housing programs are not expected to see any impact for now. "Disaster recovery personnel are deemed as essential," said Brian Sullivan, a public affairs specialist from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. But Sullivan said he couldn't say if the shutdown would have any impact on Texas's long wait for more permanent housing repair money from the federal government. Congress approved $7.4 billion in relief funding last year, but HUD officials are still working on the rules for how that money will be distributed and how it can be used. HUD contingency plans in an event of a shutdown are not clear as to whether those rulemaking efforts will continue during a work stoppage. Texas officials have lamented that historically it can take HUD more than two years to get that funding out. State officials say that isn't the only potential delay that worries them. The Texas Land Office said they need language in the federal budget bill to pass that would allow them to use previous HUD disaster funding to help pay for temporary home repairs that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is mostly covering. FEMA covers 90 percent of those basic repairs to the building structure, plumbing and electricity. But the Texas Land Office is pushing to use HUD funding to cover the final 10 percent. But that cannot happen without specific direction from Congress that remains tangled up in the budget showdown, said Brittany Eck, a spokeswoman for the land office. Most national parks in the nation - including the 14 in Texas - mostly remained opened but with limited services. At Big Bend National Park, for instance, visitors could still enter the park but the visitor's center was closed. Similarly, presidential research centers were mostly opened but with some portions closed. At the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, officials said the facility remained in mostly normal operations, but the research room and archival activities administered by the National Archives and Records Administration would be closed during the shutdown. At the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Center in College Station, officials are warning the public on its website that archival facilities are closed and some activities cancelled. Meanwhile in Washington, top Texas lawmakers worked with leaders in both parties to end the impasse, even as they continued to accuse each other of playing politics. Senate Republican sought to pass a three-week, stop-gap funding patch lasting until Feb. 8, while Democrats held out for a shorter period to reach a deal on immigration the main sticking point in the shutdown showdown. "We find ourselves here in a completely unnecessary situation," Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a key negotiators, said in a floor speech Saturday. "Our colleagues across the aisle have listened to the most extreme elements in their political party and shut down the government over an unrelated immigration issue." Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who had sought a shorter-term deal expiring on Tuesday, said he thought he was close to an agreement with President Donald Trump on Friday, only to hear that the president preferred the longer term GOP plan. "Negotiating with the president is like negotiating with jello," Schumer said. "He can't stick to the terms." After a flurry of dueling speeches, the House moved toward a vote on a rule providing for same-day consideration of bills, laying the groundwork for quick action in case the Senate struck a deal. But the two sides remained far apart. Heading the GOP side of the debate was Dallas Republican Pete Sessions, chairman of the House Rules Committee. In an opening speech that sparked objections from Democrats for impugning other lawmakers, he called the shutdown a "manufactured crisis" and a "political game." A move to have his words stricken from the record was unsuccessful, but it delayed the afternoon proceedings. Meanwhile, few House lawmakers appeared ready to cross party lines, any more than they had on Thursday in a largely party-line vote for a temporary government funding measures lasting until Feb. 16. One of the few was Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar, a Democrat from Laredo, one of a handful of lawmakers who broke from his party. "I voted on the House floor in order to continue federal funding to keep the government open," he said Saturday. "I voted yes, and I will vote to keep it open again." At the same time, the campaign arms of both parties went into high gear. The Republican-allied American Action Network announced new ads against Democrats, while the Democratic National Committee announced new digital ads targeting five Senate Republicans, including Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. Democrats also said they were launching ads against several Texas Republican House members, including U.S. Reps. John Culberson of Houston and Will Hurd of San Antonio. In a statement, Culberson lamented that the fight over Dreamers immigrants brought into the country illegally as children was being used by Democrats as a "political weapon." He also accused Democrats of holding up final passage of a Hurricane Harvey relief bill, although the GOP funding measure passed by the House on Thursday did not contain disaster aid. Houston Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee cited the lack of disaster aid, along the Dreamer impasse, as a reason to oppose the GOP funding measure. "I cannot in good conscience allow so many families to suffer any longer than they already have," she said. But Friendswood Republican Randy Weber, whose district was also heavily damaged by the hurricane, sought to de-link the funding and immigration battles. "We need to separate politics from policy, and focus on the priorities and deadlines at hand," Weber said. "We have a job to do." WASHINGTON President Donald Trump and Senate leaders scrambled Friday to avert a midnight shutdown of much of the government, with Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, declaring that progress had been made in a private meeting with the president at the White House. But with the clock ticking, no votes were even scheduled before federal funds were to run out at midnight. We had a long and detailed meeting, Schumer told reporters at the Capitol after leaving the White House. We discussed all of the major outstanding issues. We made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements. The discussions will continue. By Friday afternoon, it appeared that only a last-minute congressional deal could stop what would be a rare shutdown of a federal government under one-party control. The House cleared stopgap spending legislation on Thursday night that would keep the government funded through Feb. 16, but Senate Democrats were seeking concessions on their own priorities, including protecting young undocumented immigrants from deportation, and an increase domestic spending, disaster aid for Puerto Rico and bolstering the governments response to the opioid epidemic. Our Democratic colleagues are engaged in a dangerous game of chicken, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican, warned in a speech on the Senate floor. Trump, who described his session with Schumer as an excellent preliminary meeting in a tweet Friday afternoon, did not appear able or willing to suggest his own solution. Cornyn said Trump had rejected a proposal by Schumer to fund the government through Tuesday to allow negotiations to continue. The president told him to go back and talk to Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell and work it out, Cornyn said, referring to the House speaker and Senate majority leader. Senate Democrats still held out hope that Trump, scorched by the firestorm prompted by his vulgar, racially tinged comments on Africa last week, would be willing to make concessions. Its time for us as Democrats and Republicans to sit down in a room together, think about this great nation and the frustration they have with our political system and those of us in political life, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, said in a speech on the Senate floor. He went on: Nine out of 10, maybe even more, would say to us, For goodness sakes, will you stop your fighting, will you stop your bickering, will you stop your debating, would you get into a room and act like grown-ups and do something together for the good of this nation? Around the country, state and local officials were left scratching their heads at the dysfunction in Washington. Were the United States of America, lamented Gov. Matt Mead, the two-term Republican governor of Wyoming, in an interview Friday. We should be able to figure out these problems without going to the cliff every so often whether its with Republicans or Democrats in office. There certainly has to be a better way. In the Capitol, it was unclear when or if a vote would be held, as each party prepared to blame the other for a shutdown. Democrats delivered speeches on the Senate floor in front of a huge placard that blared: Trump Shutdown. But at the White House, Trumps budget director, Mick Mulvaney, said the Trump administration is preparing for what were calling the Schumer shutdown. Tempers were flaring within the Republican Party as well. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a moderate Republican on immigration who has been trying to broker a deal with Democrats, laced into Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas on Friday, deriding him as the Steve King of the Senate in an interview with MSNBC, a reference to the Iowa congressman who is perhaps the most virulent anti-immigrant voice in Congress. Cotton, who has helped thwart Grahams efforts, retorted with Grahams failed 2016 presidential bid. The difference between Steve King and Lindsey Graham is that Steve King can actually win an election in Iowa, Cotton told reporters. Cotton went on to argue that it was Trumps views on immigration that powered him to be the Republican Partys nominee, while Graham was relegated to the kiddie table at the primary debates. Across the Capitol, House Republican leaders pressured Senate Democrats to capitulate and give their blessing to the stopgap measure. Make no mistake about it: Senate Democrats are the only ones standing in the way of a fully funded government and a reauthorized health insurance program for children, Ryan, R-Wis., said. This is no time to play politics and force a shutdown. The House has done its job. House Republican leaders told their members late Friday morning to remain flexible, in case the Senate reached an agreement and sent the House a spending bill. Trump canceled plans to travel to his Florida resort on Friday and will stay in Washington until a spending bill is passed, a White House official said Friday morning. In an early-morning Twitter post Friday, Trump put pressure on Democrats to keep the federal government open. Still, with great uncertainty on Capitol Hill, the government began bracing for a shutdown. National parks will remain open even if the government shuts down, the Department of Interior announced Thursday in a move that could help assuage public anger at Republicans if Congress fails to agree to a budget. The Defense Department, however, warned that military personnel would not be paid until Congress makes funds available. If Democrats vote the stopgap bill down, the move would hold undeniable risks. Ten Senate Democrats are running for re-election in states that Trump won in 2016, and many of those states such as Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota and West Virginia may hold little sympathy for one of the primary causes of the looming shutdown: protecting young unauthorized immigrants known as Dreamers. Five of those red state Democrats introduced legislation Friday to withhold the pay of members of Congress during a shutdown. If members of Congress cant figure this out and keep the government open, then none of us should get paid, said Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri. McConnell, of Kentucky, warned that the Senate was just hours away from an entirely avoidable government shutdown. This vote should be a no-brainer, McConnell said, and it would be, except the Democratic leader has convinced his members to filibuster any funding bill that doesnt include legislation they are demanding for people who came into the United States illegally. The stopgap bill, which passed the House by a vote of 230-197, would keep the government open for a month, provide funding for the Childrens Health Insurance Program for six years and delay or suspend a handful of taxes imposed by the Affordable Care Act. About dozen, or possibly more, Senate Democratic votes will be needed to approve the measure because some Republican senators are expected to vote no. The standoff on immigration dates back to September, when Trump moved to end an Obama-era program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which shields the young immigrants from deportation. Democrats have been eager to enshrine into law protections for those immigrants. At the same time, congressional leaders from both parties have been trying to reach an agreement to raise strict limits on domestic and military spending, a deal that would pave the way for a long-term spending package. So far this fiscal year, they have relied on stopgap measures to keep the government funded. By Friday evening, it was still far from clear how the political blame would be divvied if the government does shut down on Saturday, the anniversary of Trumps inauguration. At some point, Congress needs to do better than government-by-crisis, short-term fixes, and sidestepping difficult issues, said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. That time is now. Proud of his deep Texas roots and of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets, John Edmiston was a longtime Texas journalist who twice worked for the San Antonio Light. The first time, as he once wryly noted, he fared badly. The second time, he emerged as a respected wire, news and business editor. John was a larger-than-life character and had a very, very dry sense of humor, recalled reporter Alan Turner, who worked with Edmiston at the Light in the 1980s. He was very intelligent, and very well-read. He was very interested in history and was proud of his long Texas family history, he said. More Information John E. Edmiston Born: Jan. 13, 1950, in San Antonio Died: Jan 10, 2018, in San Antonio Survivors: Son Jason; grandsons Tristan and Conner Edmiston Services: Private family services. See More Collapse One great-grandfather, James Edmiston, rode with Texas Rangers Jack Coffee Hays and Rip Ford. According to family lore, other Edmistons were bound for the Alamo when it fell in 1836. Edmiston, 67, died Jan. 10, while recovering from knee surgery. Born in San Antonio, he graduated from MacArthur High School in 1967 and went to Texas A&M, forming friendships that lasted a lifetime. The tightest bond you have at the Corps are the guys in your outfit, and even more than that, the guys in your class. John and I were in the Class of 1971, recalled Bill Avant, 68, of Nacogdoches. Back in the old days it was pretty rough. We went through nine months of what could be called Marine boot camp. We started out with 44 guys, and three years later, only 11 of us made it to graduation, he said. Over the decades, some kept in very close contact. He just kind of became part of my family. For my kids, he was the crazy uncle, said Avant. Edmistons newspaper career included stops in Taylor, Paris and Greenville, and culminated at the Houston Post. He was very devoted to the truth, as most journalists are. He was very proud of what he did, recalled Jay Brakefield, who worked with him at The Light. He returned home after his father died, and for a while taught journalism in the South San Antonio Independent School District. Edmistons love of books and writing was equaled only by his fascination with Bob Dylan, John Lennon and other 1960s musicians. I grew up in bookstores and vinyl stores. Right now Im going through a mountain of books in his home, recalled his son, Jason Edmiston, 38, an only child raised by a single parent. He was kind of a strict dad, but we always got along. He was always there when I needed him, he said. In their last telephone conversation a month or so ago, Avant and Edmiston joked about health problems and mortality. I told him, You will not check out before I do. You will not leave me the last man standing, but Ill be goddamned if he didnt leave me at the checkout, Avant said of his friends sudden death. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. If you do not have a current print subscription to the Lodi News-Sentinel, but want to view unlimited articles for the month, please choose this option. Properties / Homes Jan 20, 2018 | By Palace Le Nouvel KLCC stands tall as one of Kuala Lumpurs latest high-rise luxury residences developed by Wing Tai Asia. Its bold facade is accented by abundant, well-kept tropical vines creeping down the towers. Situated within this highly sought-after address and sitting on premium real estate, Le Nouvel KLCC faces the Petronas Twin Towers and Suria KLCC, and is well-situated amid high-end shopping centres, top hotels and corporate offices. There is a RapidKL LRT station nearby and the upcoming Singapore-Kuala Lumpur high-speed rail station is just a short drive away, making it a convenient address for a second home within the region. Le Nouvel KLCC offers 195 luxurious apartments that are spread across two towers spanning 43 and 49 stories respectively, seamlessly connected by a pool deck on level seven and a Sky Bridge on level 34. Here, you will be privy to an exquisite panorama of the city from the Sky Gallery, housed inside the linked bridge on level 34. It also houses the Sky Lounge, Sky Kitchen and Sky Dining where you can indulge in delectable cuisine as well as cushy cigar and wine lounges. Tower One features 78 units comprising two, three and four-bedroom suites, two Simplex units and two penthouses. Tower Two offers 117 units of two to three-bedroom suites and two penthouses. Selected units in Tower Two are now available for preview, of which some of these are fully furnished and in move-in condition. The plush and refined interiors feature beautifully appointed furnishings and artful, elegant detailing such as bespoke silk-screened window panels, with unique designs in each residence. White marble flooring, Poggenpohl designed kitchens, Miele household appliances and Lema wardrobes enhance the luxurious settings. Premium facilities abound. Swimming pools, a state-of the-art gym, and an expansive yoga room beckon, as do family-friendly facilities such as spacious game, theatre and karaoke rooms. Starting at 1,722 sqft, layouts are offered in 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom configurations, including duplex units. For a private viewing to Le Nouvel KLCC, be sure to call ahead for an appointment. Price: From RM 5 Million (Approx. USD 1.17 Million) www.lnklcc.com MARTINSVILLE The number of city residents being considered to fill an unexpired term on the Martinsville School Board is down to two, as one person has withdrawn from consideration. In a phone interview, Efigenia Cuenca Mota said she no longer is interested in the seat because she has realized that now is not a convenient time for her to serve on the board. That leaves two candidates, Sammy Redd and James Hyler, who will be interviewed privately by the Martinsville City Council when it meets Tuesday night. The council is expected to publicly announce its choice for the board after the interviews are conducted. Cuenca Mota used to operate a tailoring business uptown but now is a substitute teacher in the city school division. She unsuccessfully ran for a city council seat in the November 2016 election. If she was to be chosen for the school board, she would have to quit being a substitute teacher. She said that she is enjoying her work too much to give it up. I like to be in the schools, serving the kids, Cuenca Mota said. Should she seek a school board or council seat in the future, having personal experience working in schools will give her valuable insight into educational issues that she otherwise would not get, she said. I know whats going on in the schools, she added. When youre on the inside, you can see what they really need to be successful in the future. Cuenca Mota said she might consider seeking a school board seat again at some point. Unlike in many localities such as Henry County where school boards are elected by voters, the Martinsville School Board is appointed by the council. Redd is coordinator of student services for the New College Institute. His duties in that job include helping students understand their higher education options and helping families find ways to afford to send students to college upon graduating from high school. He works with local school divisions in his efforts to reach students. He previously was a counselor with the Henry County Public Schools. Redd said he thinks that his career experiences in both K-12 and higher education give him a unique skill set not currently represented on the school board. Such skills will be needed more and more in the future, he said, as the need for students to obtain some type of education beyond high school increases. I think I have a lot to contribute in terms of making connections between K-12 schools and higher education, he added. Hyler is on the Martinsville Planning Commission, another council-appointed panel. He is a retired information collection coordinator for the U.S. Department of Education. He is interested in the school board seat because he wants to be part of continuing efforts to improve the citys schools, he has said. The names of Cuenca Mota, Redd and Hyler were spoken during a public hearing held by the council on Jan. 9. Under state law, only people who speak their names during a hearing, or have someone else speak their names, can be considered for appointment to school board seats. Whoever is chosen by the council Tuesday night will replace Andy Hall on the school board. After only several months on the board, Hall had to resign when he recently was named Martinsvilles new commonwealths attorney. Hall had been selected by the council to fill the unexpired term of Lawrence Mitchell, who resigned from the board in August, citing irreconcilable differences with other members. Mitchell also has said he believes the relationship between the council and its appointed board is too political. The new board member will fill the remainder of Mitchells unexpired term, which ends on June 30. The person then will be eligible to be reappointed to the board for a full three-year term. We value your privacy. Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy. Prospera Business Network is the lead non-profit organization advancing and supporting community-centered economic development in southwest Montana. Our focus is helping people start and grow their business in turn strengthening our regions economy and communities. Your MWED Team is ready to rock n roll this year, starting out with a new series of classes offered to businesses that need help with plans for growth. Sue Thompson, from The CFO Agency, will be the Instructor, and we have high hopes for a good turnout with great results. Please contact us if you are interested or know of a business that might be. More on the class can be found below. Also, new on our agenda this year will be "Business Over Breakfast" a morning session with Jerry that will be offered once a month to a small group of members. This meeting is intended to give valuable connection time between members and our CEO, with a rotation of members throughout the year. Expect an email invite from Dorothy when your month rolls around, and if you have a particular month that would work better for your schedule, please let her know. Keeping the successful format of the Member Meeting that was held in Columbia Falls last October, Kim and Dorothy are in the planning stages for the March Member Meeting to be held in Bigfork, Junes in Whitefish, with the Octobers Member Meeting and Decembers Annual Meeting still in the brainstorming stages. Once set, these events will be added to the Gatherboard/Flathead Events Calendar on our website, along with other useful events HERE. Check out the resources for businesses there, and let Dorothy know if you have an event that should be listed. Thanks for choosing to Do Business In Montana! Full Newsletter: http://mailchi.mp/2e2b06ed62bc/mwed-january-2018-newsletter?e=a3d12a888b To activate the text-to-speech service, please first agree to the privacy policy below. Consumers in the United Kingdom have been concerned that after they leave the European Union, they could face increased prices in leafy crops that the country depends heavily on other EU members for-- but they may find a remedy from a plant factory in Taiwan. Please complete this form and we'll send you a personalised information that is requested You may use this for your own reference or forward it to your friends. Please use the information prudently. If you are not a medical doctor please remember to consult your healthcare provider as this information is not a substitute for professional advice. U.S. Senator Rand Paul's alleged attacker charged with federal crimeAssociated PressMore from Associated PressPublished:January 19, 2018Updated:January 19, 2018 8:23 PM ESTSen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks to reporters as he walks towards the Senate as Congress moves closer to the funding deadline to avoid a government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018.Andrew Harnik / AP PhotoLOUISVILLE, Ky. The man accused of tackling U.S. Sen. Rand Paul in the Kentucky lawmakers yard has been charged with assaulting a member of Congress as part of a federal plea agreement. And his lawyer confirmed whats long been suggested by neighbours: The attack stemmed from a dispute about yard maintenance.Rene Boucher has signed the plea agreement but no date has been set for his guilty plea for the attack on the Republican senator, according to Josh J. Minkler, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana.Assaulting a member of Congress is an offence we take very seriously, Minkler said in a release. Those who choose to commit such an act will be held accountable.Boucher faces possible prison time. His attorney says Boucher is very regretful about the attack and that it had to do with the upkeep of their yards. Paul and Boucher are longtime neighbours in Bowling Green.This is over a matter that most people would regard as trivial, Bouchers attorney, Matt Baker, said in a phone interview Friday. It has to do with yards and the maintenance of those.Boucher is very meticulous about how he maintains his yard, while Paul takes a much different approach to the upkeep of his property, Baker said.It all goes to large piles of leaves and branches and yard clutter that were placed on the property line, Baker said.Rene Boucher. (Warren County Regional Jail via AP)Some residents of the gated neighbourhood had speculated the attack was motivated by a dispute over yard debris. But Pauls office has rejected that. Paul told the Fox News Channel in November that ultimately, the motive does not matter.Boucher, a retired anesthesiologist in his late 50s, already faces a misdemeanour assault charge in state court in Kentucky. He has pleaded not guilty to that charge.Baker said Friday that hes hopeful the state charge will be dismissed now that Boucher has reached the plea agreement on the federal charge.Paul, a former presidential candidate, was attacked Nov. 3 while mowing his lawn at his home. A close friend of Pauls said the senator had gotten off his riding lawn mower to remove a limb when he was tackled from behind. Paul has said he never saw the attacker because he was facing downhill and wearing ear protection from the noise of his lawn mower.Paul suffered six broken ribs in the attack.He returned to Washington less than two weeks later but developed pneumonia when he returned to Kentucky. Paul has since said hes recovering well from the attack.Baker said Friday the attack was completely, 100 per cent out of character for Boucher. He said his client is looking forward to getting the case resolved.Boucher faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine in the federal case.He is facing the possibility of incarceration, but Im hopeful that it wont be anything toward the top end, Baker said.Minklers office was assigned the case after a U.S. attorney in Kentucky recused himself. The case was investigated by the FBIs Louisville office. A former runway at Fremont Municipal Airport will become a taxiway. The taxiway was among topics discussed Friday when the Fremont Airport Advisory Committee met. The group continued discussion on progress for construction of a new airport terminal. Dave Goedeken, director of public works for the City of Fremont, told the committee about a talk he had with a state official regarding what was formerly called Runway 1-19 on the airports easterly side. That runway was taken out of service by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about two years ago. Goedeken previously said the FAA told him the runway had been converted to a taxiway and to have large Xs painted on it. But the Xs have caused confusion. Pilots, who reach the south end of the main runaway and plan to go up the former Runway 1-19, see those Xs. At Decembers meeting, Jim Kjeldgaard, fixed base operator at the airport, cited a situation where the pilot of a three-engine jet saw the Xs and then turned around and back-taxied up the main runway. Kjeldgaard pointed out the safety concern with planes taxiing on the runway. If they claim its a taxiway, then the Xs ought to be gone and a yellow stripe put down the center and the signage changed, Kjeldgaard said. That way it designates that it is a taxiway. Then we dont have the confusion of people saying, I cant go up that way, because you have Xs on it. Goedeken told the committee on Friday that hed talked about the situation with Anna Lannin, planning and programming division manager of the Nebraska Department of Transportation, Division of Aeronautics. Lannin asked if they were comfortable using the former 1-19 as a taxiway. Goedeken said yes. So after the weather improves, the Xs, stripes and numbers will be painted over on the asphalt surface. A yellow line for a taxiway will be painted on it instead, and a NOTAM (notice to airman) filed with the Federal Aviation Administration which alerts pilots to changes at an aeronautical facility. Signs will be put in place when it is designated as a taxiway. Goedeken also spoke with Lannin about differences in cost estimates for construction of a new aircraft parking apron at the airport. In August, Burns McDonnell submitted an engineers estimated cost of construction for an aircraft parking apron at the airport at a cost of $952,490 or almost $1 million. Of that figure, the estimated design and administration cost was $184,353. However, in an FAA Capital Improvement Program (CIP) data sheet released last month, the estimated cost for the apron project has risen to $1.4 million an approximately 40 percent increase with the estimated cost of $237,625 for design services, survey and geotech costs and $151,200 for construction services and administration costs. Goedeken said Lannin believes these figures were taken from an FAA perspective of what would be done at an Eppley Airfield in Omaha versus the airport in Fremont. He said Lannin believes some of the costs will be less. She instructed Goedeken to sign the CIP document, due at the end of this month, to provide the information to the states transportation department, which sends it to the FAA. This does not commit us to anything financially, Goedeken told the Tribune. This is the engineers estimate of what its going to take to do the project. Anytime youve got an engineers estimate, youve still got the bid (for the project.) A contractor will bid the price. This is an estimate so you can complete budgetary purposes. Goedeken also said he will talk to Robert Crain, project manager of aviation services for Burns McDonnell, about how the most recent estimates were generated for the parking apron. In a presentation to the Fremont City Council in September, Crain said an aircrafts wingspan determines the width of pavement that the FAA requires for parking, taxiways and runways. Wingspans of aircraft that fly into Fremonts airport range from less than 49 feet and up to 79 feet, Crain said. Goedeken told the Tribune that the parking apron is no longer large enough. The new parking apron would encompass an area of approximately 6,000 square yards. It would fit up to 10 smaller or four larger aircraft. Crain told the council that the FAA would like to see the apron in place before a new terminal is constructed. Goedeken also is working to meet with an FAA representative and Lannin regarding the site for construction of a new airport terminal. The current terminal, built in 1964, needs new heating and air conditioning systems and other upgrades. Crain told the city council last fall that 18 businesses use the airport on a regular basis. They include: Hormel Foods Corp.; HyVee Food Store; Walmart; Menards; Taylor & Martin; ADM; 3M; Fremont Beef; and Oil Gear. It seems theres quite a few companies that use your airport that employ quite a bit of the local population, Crain said. In a Burns McDonnell study, three different sites at the airport were examined for the new terminal a westerly location, an easterly site south of the gas pumps, and the site of the current one. The need for a larger parking apron eliminates the option of building a new terminal at the site of the current one. Goedeken said the easterly site could accommodate whats needed. But one of the desires was to have a location where you could see the entire runway, Goedeken told the Tribune. You cant see the entire runway from over there (the easterly site). So we went to the westerly site which gives the view of the entire runway part of the airport. The westerly side is also where the city would like to expand the airport. Eventually, wed like that to become the epicenter of the airport, Goedeken said. Our preferred site is the westerly one. Now, the FAA has to review that document and determine what they feel the best location, because the airport is paid for with state and federal dollars. So the FAA makes the final say. Goedeken wants to meet with the FAA representative and Lannin to learn if theyre unwavering on the easterly location. The bad side of that is its pushing us ever closer to our timeline as far as doing this in 2018 and kicking it possibly back into 2019, he told the advisory committee. Its trying to convince them that the site we chose is the good site. SEBEWAING -- Christ the King Lutheran School recently announced its December recipients of the Ruth and Isaac award winners. These students exemplify Christian behavior and are nominated by their teachers and staff for the behaviors and actions while they attend Christ the King Lutheran School as well as outside the school. The Ruth and Isaac awards are given as a form of student of the month at Christ the King Lutheran School. These awards can be given to students in grades preschool through 8th grade. The Christ the King Ruth Award winner is Sarah Boyer. Boyer was nominated by Deb Kundinger, the 3rd grade teacher at Christ the King. According to Kundinger, Boyer is a great student. She is truly polite in her words and actions. She is there whenever someone needs to have a friend or wants to play on the playground. Her classwork is done well and she is not afraid to share her faith about Jesus. She shares her musical talent through her voice as well as her playing recorders in church. "The third grade just studied the book of Ruth in Religion," Kundiner said. "When I asked them (the class) to describe Ruth, some of the words used to describe her were kind, polite, giving, hardworking, and loyal. When I think of Sarah, many of these words I would use to describe her." "She works hard in school and shows kindness to her classroom," she added. "She is loyal in her friendships. However, for me, the one attribute that stands out about Sarah is how polite she is. She never fails to say please or thank you. She waits her turn, even letting others go ahead of her." The Christ the King Isaac Award winner is Luke Gremel. Gremel was nominated by his preschool teacher, Jenni Vermeersch. Gremel always makes good choices when he is in preschool. He asks for permission before he is able to do an activity. He goes above and beyond what he is expected to do during class as well as when it is time to clean up. He will take time to help others clean up their centers after he finishes cleaning up his center. He follows directions, sits quietly and listens to his teacher. He shows kindness to his classmates and always puts his best effort into his class work. He is polite and uses his manners when addressing faculty and staff of Christ the King. He is delightful to have in preschool. "He is just a wonderful student," Vermeersch said. "When I have him come up and ask if he could help someone else clean up their center because he got done cleaning up his center, you can see why I nominated him. He does his work well and does not get into trouble when he is finished. He is just a special student." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GAGETOWN -- John (Jack) Laurie has lived in the Gagetown area his entire life. Most of his family lives within a few miles of his home, and he seems pleased to call the small community his hometown. Nonetheless, he can remember when Gagetown was much larger and life was quite different. He was born on the family farm in 1940. His parents, Grover and Gladys Laurie, were farmers and he grew up loving the farm life. When he was a child, his older relatives would relate stories of the good old days -- time long before he was born. One of those stories was about the passenger train stopping at Gagetown and continuing to Pontiac each day. "Gagetown was a pretty thriving community at the turn of the century," Laurie said. "There was the great fire, I think about 1924, in Gagetown. At that time, it was bigger than Cass City. They had an opera house and both main streets were filled with stores." He went on to say that even after the fire, Gagetown was still a thriving community. "We went to Gagetown two to three times a week and always on Saturday night," he said. "On Saturday nights, everybody was in town. At that time, Gagetown was a hub. When a community had a school and a church, it was the hub." "In those days, everyone knew everyone, but that isn't as true today as back then," he added. "That's one of the big differences." Even after the great fire, Gagetown was a drawing card to everyone in the area. "Gagetown was the hub," Laurie explained as to how important the town was to area residents. "You could do anything you needed to do in Gagetown. There was a locker plant and people rented freezer space there." He explained few people had home freezers at that time and renting space at the locker plant was a common practice. He named a few of the businesses he could remember as a child. There was a bowling alley, a bank, a Ford dealership, and a dry goods store. The town was also the home of Square Deal Hardware. "It sold hunting licenses and hunting equipment," he said. "I can remember people lined up to the stoplight to get a (pheasant/hunting) license." Laurie continued with his list. He said there were four gas stations, a Michigan Bell Office, and three bars. The town had a drug store, a post office, an appliance store, and a couple restaurants. There was even a chicken hatchery in the area. Laurie's first recollection of education was when he attended a country school in his early years. It closed, and everyone transferred to the Gagetown School. But the high school was closed before he was old enough to attend it. "Some kids went to Owendale and some went to Cass City," he said. "I went to Cass City and graduated in 1958." He went on to say the entire school system closed in Gagetown and the district became Owen-Gage. All of the elementary students were required to go to school in Owendale. He feels the loss of the school and the bank were unfortunate situations and helped lead to the decline of Gagetown. Stories about Laurie's school days would not be complete without mentioning a little girl who he met in grade school, Betty Lynn Morell. "Her dad owned the hardware in Gagetown," he said. Somewhere along the line, he fell in love and the two were married while he attended college at MSU. To say their relationship was strong would be a misnomer. "I've known her since the 4th grade," he said. "We went to the same church in Gagetown. We had our 57th anniversary this past October." As soon as Laurie graduated high school, he went to Michigan State University. He feels fortunate he was able to go on a 4-H scholarship. He graduated in 1962 after studying agriculture economics. He mentioned he had one regret while attending MSU. "I should have stayed one more year and got a master's degree," he said. It may surprise some he did not look for a job after graduation. "I went right back to the farm," he said. "I love to farm and that was about all I did." For the next few years, he continued to farm and began raising a family. Fortunately for Laurie, he joined the Michigan Farm Bureau. Although he calls himself a farmer, his involvement with State Farm was huge. He soon began to unveil his involvement with the organization. "I joined the Michigan Farm Bureau in 1962," he said. "I went on the State Board of Directors when I was 26. I was president of the Michigan Farm Bureau in 1986, and I retired in 2000." Although he is a retired officer, he is still a member of the organization. While working with Farm Bureau, Laurie traveled extensively throughout the United States and the world. His first real experience was through a program funded by the Kellogg Foundation. "I was part of the (first) Kellogg Farmers' Study Program," he said. "It was a group of 30 young farmers and funded by the Kellogg Foundation." The program he was in lasted for three years. While with the group, he traveled with his wife to Washington, D.C., to California and throughout Michigan. He also toured 13 countries from Europe to Japan. "It was quite an experience," he said. "That was as big a life changing situation as I could have imagined. It expanded my view of what happens around the world." Throughout his career, Laurie has continued to travel for Farm Bureau. Much of it has been in Michigan, but he and his wife have also traveled throughout the United States. They have attended many conferences and conventions. And this unassuming farmer has rubbed shoulders with a lot of very important people. While talking to the Huron Daily Tribune, Laurie failed to mention he has met numerous United States presidents. Only while showing some of his memorabilia did he show a photograph of himself and President Gerald Ford. After some questioning, he admitted meeting Presidents George Bush, George W. Bush, Ronald Raegan and Bill Clinton. In addition, he has met General Colon Powell. Meeting with this famous general seemed to be one of his favorite encounters. Retiring from Farm Bureau did not mean Laurie was going to sit and vegetate. Afterward, he spent two years as a faculty member with the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at MSU. It should be mentioned he received one of the university's highest honors. Although he did not earn his master's degree, the university gave him an Honorary Ph.D. in agriculture. In 2002, Laurie was appointed to the Tuscola Road Commission. After two terms with the commission, the rules were changed and it became an elected position. "I was appointed twice and elected once," he said. He still sits on the commission today. And Laurie still does what he loves to do most. He continues to work on the family farm. Although the operation has been turned over to one of his grandsons, Laurie is still an active worker on the farm. In addition, he and Betty are very close to their local house of worship, Hillside Community Church. It was originally a Methodist church, but is now non-denominational. "I was baptized at that church," he said. "Betty and I have held almost every office in our church. Mark Gerrish is our pastor. He's a great guy." Laurie sees no reason to change his life style. "Our family is pretty close," he said. "We have nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren." He went on to say almost all of the family lives within 15 miles of Gagetown. "We've talked about moving someplace else, but then we wouldn't be here with our family," he said. "We've talked about going somewhere in the winter, but it hasn't happened yet. We're pretty happy sitting here on a cold day. Our long range plans is to stay right here." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When 600 cryptocurrency enthusiasts set sail from Singapore on Monday night for their second annual Blockchain Cruise, the price of bitcoin was hovering comfortably above $13,500. By the time their 1,020-foot-long ship pulled into Thailand on Wednesday, for an afternoon of bottomless drinks and crypto-focused talks on a sun-soaked private beach, bitcoin had cratered to $10,000. The group consisted largely of young men, many of whom became wildly rich -- at least on paper -- as bitcoin and other digital tokens skyrocketed last year. In all likelihood, they had just lost millions. But if anyone was fazed, they didn't show it. The party rolled on as the sangria and Red Bull flowed, bitcoin-themed rap music blared and drones filmed it all from above. "Nothing goes up in a straight line," explained Ronnie Moas, the founder of Miami Beach-based Standpoint Research, who was one of the event's speakers on Wednesday. In a best-case scenario, he said, bitcoin could jump to $300,000 in as little as seven years. For skeptics of the crypto craze, it's hard not to see all this as another sign of runaway exuberance -- a repeat of the boosterish Las Vegas securitization conference, immortalized in The Big Short, that preceded the subprime mortgage meltdown of 2007. But the steadfast optimism on display during the Blockchain Cruise also carries a warning for anyone betting on a cryptocurrency crash: It's going to take more than a 50 percent drop in bitcoin from its Dec. 18 high to drive out the diehards. "This is something that you either believe in or not," said Moas, who has become a crypto-celebrity after issuing stratospheric price forecasts for bitcoin. The cruise's eclectic list of speakers included Jose Gomez, a former aide to the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez; Kaspar Korjus, the head of Estonia's e-residency program (which may issue its own cryptocurrency); and Jorg Molt, an early digital currency backer whose claim to hold 250,000 bitcoins (worth $2.8 billion at the current price) couldn't be verified. But perhaps the biggest draw was John McAfee, the anti-virus software pioneer with a checkered past. In 2012, while living in Belize, McAfee had run-ins with local police for alleged unlicensed drug manufacturing and weapons possession, but was released without charge. At one point, Belize police started a search for him as a person of interest in connection with the murder of his neighbor. McAfee said he was innocent and that he fled Belize because of persecution by corrupt officials. He now helps run MGT Capital Investments Inc., a small-cap tech company with a bitcoin mining business. He has become a cryptocurrency evangelist on Twitter, touting the technology and various tokens to his more than 700,000 followers. Coinsbank, the digital currency exchange and wallet operator that organized the cruise, made him a headline speaker. On Wednesday, McAfee blamed the recent market slump on unfounded fear of government intervention. He urged cryptocurrency holders -- one of whom sported a "Buy The Dip" T-shirt -- to stick with their bets. "You cannot force a ban on a distributed system," McAfee said in an interview after his speech. "It's like how do you ban smoking weed? You can't ban it. People will come back." Not every conversation on the Blockchain Cruise revolved around cryptocurrencies. Attendees, unsurprisingly, had plenty to say about blockchain -- the distributed ledger technology that underpins bitcoin -- and its potential to improve industries from finance to health care. Charity was also a topic raised by speakers including Moas, who urged the audience to donate some of their newfound wealth and help reduce global inequality. Many attendees have far more than they need. Rowan Hill, a former coal miner in Australia, said he retired by 26 after getting in on the crypto boom early. After the cruise, he's heading to Japan for a four-week snowboarding trip. "A lot of people can't stand the price swings" in digital currencies, Hill said, donning a fedora and sunglasses as he lounged on the beach. "The average person just sells, and they lose out." Joe Stone, an Australian who invests in digital assets, said market declines are easier to bear in the company of fellow enthusiasts. For many on the cruise, the next stop is another cryptocurrency conference in Bangkok. "There's nowhere I'd rather be," said Stone, after a late night of mingling at the ship's cigar bar over whiskeys. "Otherwise I'd just be at my computer." The smiling face of the pilot greeted me as I climbed into the small plane in Shell, Ecuador. I was setting out on an arduous adventure with my friend Juan Carlos Garcia who works for the World Wildlife Fund of Ecuador. We had flown together several times into the Amazon rainforest on many adventures including taking students into the jungle. For a few years, Garcia and I explored and talked about the idea of floating down a section of the Capahuari River deep in the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador. On several occasions, we had drawn plans and maps on napkins and now it was coming true. According to stories and conversations Garcia had with the Achuar people who lived in this section of the Amazon, only one person from Ecuador and his son had ever attempted to float this section of the river. And that was 10 years ago. The opportunity to potentially be the first person from the United States to float this section of the Capahuari River was just too tempting to pass up. I would gain an insight as to why this section of the river is rarely floated on our first day of paddling. The small plane glided past large trees and landed on a dirt brown airstrip carved out of the green jungle in the Achuar village of Pukuan. Outsiders, especially those carrying with them an inflatable kayak, rarely visit the village of Pukuan. Many smiling and curious faces along the edge of the runway greeted us as we unpacked our provisions from the plane. The intense heat of the tropical sun pounded on us from above. One of the reasons there is so much growth in the jungle is the constant energy from the sun, 365 days a year, 12 hours a day. Winyahi, or hello, I said as the sindico or village chief as he approached. Winitia, or welcome, he replied with a smile of a surprise that I would know some of his language. The sindicos name was Antonio Ruben Santi, who also served as teacher. Garica explained during introductions that I have been coming to the Achuar Nation territory for six years and that I was a friend of their people. After we carried our gear to a grass-roofed hut down by the river, we returned to the main house of the village to state our intentions and introductions. This is always started by being presented a bowl of chicha, the fermented drink of all the Achuar communities in the jungle. Chicha is made from the starchy roots of Yuca. They are peeled, cooked and mashed into a mush inside a large pot by the woman of the village. To stimulate the fermentation process, the mashed Yuca is chewed by the woman making the sacred drink and then spit back into the large pot. The bacteria in the saliva help kick-start the fermentation process. The longer it sits in the pot, the higher the alcohol content is in the chichi. There is no getting around this ritual, especially when I am there to make new friends and gain their support for this adventure. In addition to being given my private bowl of chicha, the women took turns going around with a communal bowl from their prized batch. It is something of which they take great pride in making and refusing to drink is not an option. Soon a woman stood in front of me and lifted her bowl to my lips while she looked away. It is considered rude for a stranger to look into the eyes of an Achuar woman. I took a sip. Apparently, a sip was not good enough, as she continued to stand in front of me and held the bowl to my mouth and tipped it higher. I took a large gulp. Satisfied, she moved next to Juan Carlos who received the same treatment. At the meeting, I was introduced to our Achuar guides who would accompany us down the river: Edward Santi and Benancio Cuji. We were in luck because Santi accompanied the journey ten years ago. Hopefully, he would be able to offer some insight. After working for two months, they had just finished making by hand a dugout canoe that would carry some of our gear and the guides. You are welcome here, stated the sindico, Santi. Juan Carlos informed me, some of the women in the village said I looked like a man they saw once in the movies. I asked, What kind of guy was he? Juan Carlos replied, Apparently the bad guy, but dont worry, they like you, they think you are funny. Good to know, I answered as a parrot landed on my shoulder. We planned to leave early the next morning to begin the first leg of paddling down the Capahuari River. Darkness came fast in the jungle but was pushed back by the light of the full moon a magical way to start a special journey. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A flood of changes to federal environmental law by the Trump administration is raising alarms among environmentalists and worry over the impact on clean air and water, toxic sites and coastal areas. Building standards designed to protect homes, railways and infrastructure from storms are being eliminated or rewritten. The environmental review process for large projects is being streamlined, leaving less space and time for exhaustive review. Obama-era prohibitions on offshore oil drilling in federal waters of the Atlantic Ocean have been lifted, opening the possibility of dangerous oil rigs off the New York or Massachusetts coast. Clean air rules for coal-fired power plants and water regulations protecting small streams are being scrapped We are seeing a slew of maligned measures taken by (Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt) that decimate environmental protections, said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. He has undercut enforcement by reducing staff and resources. He has corrupted the process as much as the policies have. Under Pruitt, EPA has cut its funding by 40 percent, resulting in a 50 percent reduction in its workforce. The New York Times recently reported that during the first nine months of Pruitts leadership, the EPA began about one-third fewer enforcement cases than President Barack Obamas initial EPA director. The agency sought about 39 percent of the civil penalties for pollution and other violations than during the same period under the Obama administration and about 70 percent of what the Bush administration sought over the same time period, the Times reported. Its all about politics and campaign contributions and the effect of special interests, Blumenthal said. Failing to enforce means violators are not held accountable. Its a matter of life and death. Its making people in Connecticut have to breathe foul air or endure the effects of climate change. Chris Collibee, a spokesman for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said the agency is deeply concerned about Trumps rollback of environmental regulations. If the Trump administration seeks to reduce regulations they should do so in a matter than acknowledges that climate change is real and that we are witnessing those impacts all around us, Collibee said. It is deeply troubling the fundamental lack of sound scientific input at virtually all of their decision making. Pruitt, an appointee of President Donald Trump, is a long time critic of the EPA. As Oklahomas attorney general, he repeatedly sued the EPA over strict regulations. Oil drilling For Connecticut, ocean oil drilling has never been much of an issue. The debate over whether to drill long favored by national Republicans generally centered on coastal Alaska or the Pacific west coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Thats because oil drilling in federal waters of the Atlantic Ocean was prohibited. But Trump recently issued an order opening oil and gas drilling in those waters and elsewhere, including previously banned waters off Alaska. Its anyones guess whether oil companies will seek to drill off Connecticut or Massachusetts or New York. If they drill the operations could impact coastal areas and there could be spills and other disasters that harm Connecticuts coastline and its multi-million dollar fishery. It stands only to hurt Connecticuts economy, our natural resources, and our coastal communities, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said. We need a federal government that will stand up and protect our environment. On Jan. 11, Blumenthal and U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, D-Conn., joined a bipartisan group of New England senators in introducing legislation to ban offshore drilling along the New England coast. President Trumps disastrous and irresponsible proposal has the potential to devastate economies and environments up and down the New England coast, Blumenthal said. Connecticut DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee said officials at his agency are shaking our heads over Trumps drilling decision. Connecticut has a long and proud fishing tradition and this decision further endangers that industry, Klee said. Protecting our natural resources has been a core American value for more than a century, and this decision is antithetical to that core value. Storm rise Obama in 2015 signed an executive order requiring the federal government consider sea level rise and storm surge when designing infrastructure and building in flood-prone areas, such as Bridgeport, Stamford or Greenwich, or other coastal communities. The move reflected a central tenant of climate change that larger and more powerful storms will occur more frequently in the future. But just days before Hurricane Harvey hit and flooded Houston, Texas, Trump signed an executive order revoking Obamas rule. For Connecticut towns prone to flooding, the rule change could be devastating. That could be a serious issue along the Connecticut and New York coasts especially for projects like high-speed rail, said Leah Schmalz, chief program officer for the Connecticut Fund for the Environment and Save the Sound. Investing in new coastal rail without (considering) sea level rise could waste billions of taxpayer dollars, Schmalz said. There are other concerns, Schmalz said, that go beyond homeowners and large building projects. Birds, sea turtles and fish rely on the same coastal marshes and dune systems that we do, but the Trump administration has proposed exempting FEMA from certain Endangered Species Act requirements, Schmalz said. The federal government should be partnering with state and local leaders to rebuild dunes and marshes that absorb wave impact and provide food and shelter to wildlife at the same time, she said. Streamlined regulations In August, the federal Department of Interior streamlined how federal agencies analyze the environmental impacts of major actions, such as dredging or building a large private or federal project. The move mandated that agencies cannot spend more than a year to complete an Environmental Impact Statement, or submit a report more than 150 pages long, or 300 pages for unusually complex projects. Federal Environmental Impact Statements in the past often ran hundreds of pages for small projects and minor cleanups. Environmentalists say the move is a way to limit negative information and complicated review. They point out that smaller reports for new railway corridors, or the sale of Plum Island in Long Island Sound, would render the environmental assessment a paltry review. Many times, a full year-long study of wildlife use or water flow is needed before the statement can even be written, Schmalz said. The EPA has also scuttled Obamas clean water rules for discharge into small streams and water courses, a move favored by business interests. Environmentalists say that will ultimately add pollution to the larger rivers the smaller water bodies flow into. Obamas Clean Power Plan that set higher standards on coal-fired plants is also being dismantled. Connecticut has sued mid-western states over ozone from coal plants that drifts into the state and endangers the health of residents. They are delaying the implementation of laws that would provide environmental and health benefits; in Connecticut the delay of ozone attainment areas and improvements to the Toxic Substances Control Act continue to concern us, Collibee said. Superfund sites The EPA is now reviewing Superfund sites, the polluted old factories and other areas that require huge funding and special administration. The sites often contain cancer causing chemicals and compounds that can impact health or water quality. In a recent press release, Pruitt hailed EPA initiatives that made strides in cleaning up the nations most contaminated toxic land sites by the deletion of all or parts of seven Superfund sites from the National Priorities List. That is more than triple the number of sites removed from the list in 2016, Pruitt noted. We have made it a priority to get these sites cleaned up faster and in the right way, Pruitt said. By creating a streamlined task force and making major remedy decisions that hold potentially responsible parties accountable for cleanup, the Superfund program is carrying out the agencys mission of protecting human health and the environment more every day. WASHINGTON - Congressional leaders in both parties refused to budge publicly from their political corners Saturday on the first day of the government shutdown, avoiding direct negotiations and bitterly blaming each other for the impasse in speeches. President Trump joined the fray with a series of charged tweets. But private glimmers of a breakthrough were evident by late Saturday, as moderate Democrats and Republicans began to rally behind a new short-term funding proposal to reopen the government through early February. That plan could include funding for storm-ravaged states, reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program - and an implicit agreement to hold votes at some point in the coming weeks on a bipartisan immigration deal, according to senators involved in the discussions. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., vowed on the Senate floor late Saturday to take up a new spending plan by Monday morning, or sooner, that would keep government open through Feb. 8 but would not contain a solution for "dreamers," undocumented immigrants who were brought into the country as children. "He wants to keep the government shut down until we finish a negotiation on the subject of illegal immigation," McConnell said of his Democratic counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. McConnell then repeated himself: "Shutting down government over illegal immigration." The moderate senators, meanwhile, are trying to reach a deal on immigration in hopes that, after the three-week spending deal is approved, McConnell would allow it to come up for a vote alongside a longer-term spending plan. Democrats, however, remained intensely opposed to a short-term spending measure, frustrated by Republicans' refusal to meet their demands on immigration while government is closed. At issue for Democrats is the fate of thousands of young immigrants eligible for protection from deportation under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Trump canceled the program in September, and it is set to expire in March. Lawmakers are scrambling to enact a legislative solution. Democrats also questioned the ability of the negotiating group to reach an agreement that can pass the Senate and House and also earn Trump's approval. "The conversation that needs to take place is the conversation at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, where the president of the United States brings in the four leaders from Congress," said Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del. "We can come up with the best compromise in the world. The key is how to get it through the House and the way to do that is for the president to provide the air cover that he has not so far provided." Lawmakers in both chambers were scheduled to return to work Sunday afternoon. McConnell and Schumer did little in public Saturday besides trade insults in brief speeches on the Senate floor or on television. "Do you know what number CR this is? This has been going on for six months," Schumer told CNN, using the legislative term for a short-term spending deal, a continuing resolution. "This is the fourth time. They can't get it done and they just use these CRs." McConnell hunkered down in his office and played phone tag most of the day with Trump, updating him on where things stood and projecting an air of confidence that he was in a strong position, according to GOP senators. There were no substantive talks between Schumer and McConnell. The real effort at bridging the divide was a bipartisan collection of roughly 20 senators from the less ideological corners of their respective caucuses. That group met and was trying to advance deal that would open the government for three more weeks and set up a series of votes on competing immigration proposals. However, several Senate Republicans said that McConnell was in no mood to give Schumer any assurances to open up the government. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., are leading the moderate group, with Sens. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., both of whom have worked closely with Schumer on immigration issues in the past, serving as go-betweens for the two parties. The duo shuttled back and forth between Schumer's and McConnell's offices on the second floor of the Capitol trying to create peace, but they left for dinner shortly after 6 p.m. with no solid agreement with either leader. It's unclear whether there is enough bipartisan support for the immigration proposal being offered by Flake and Graham - or for one that Senate conservatives are also drafting. One danger for everyone involved: the possibility of no resolution to the immigration standoff three weeks from now, leaving Congress and Trump back in the same spot where they are now. So far, Trump, McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., have refused to consider Democrats' demands until there is a bipartisan agreement to reopen the federal government. "Senate Democrats shut down this government, and now Senate Democrats need to open this government back up," Ryan said in a midday speech. And Trump weighed in on Twitter: "Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMoreRepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess!" Saturday marked the straight day that the moderate senators had hunkered down in Collins' office. Collins led a similar bipartisan group in working to resolve the last shutdown in 2013. Moderates are "trying to find a pathway forward," Manchin said. Democratic leaders, meanwhile, made their case for blaming Republicans for the shutdown. As thousands of women gathered along the Mall in Washington to protest Trump's first year in office, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., stood at a news conference at the Capitol pointing at a poster depecting a Trump tweet from last May calling for a "good shutdown." "Happy Anniversary, Mr. President," Pelosi said. "Your wish came true. You wanted the shutdown? The shutdown is all yours." Trump, who marked the first anniversary of his inauguration on Saturday, canceled plans to visit his resort Palm Beach, Florida, for a weekend of celebrations. His scheduled trip to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland this coming week was also up in the air, according to an aide. At the White House, a phone line for comments directed callers to voice mail with a message slamming Democrats. "Unfortunately we cannot answer your call today because congressional Democrats are holding government funding, including funding for our troops and other national security priorities, hostage to an unrelated immigration debate. Due to this obstruction, the government is shut down," a woman's voice said on the message. The White House said it supports the Feb. 8 plan, eliminating a potentially significant hurdle to its enactment. But simmering tensions between Trump aides and Schumer, who said Saturday that negotiating with the president was like negotiating with "Jell-O," underscored the delicacy of the moment. Schumer and Trump had met privately on Friday afternoon, giving some lawmakers hope their discussion would advance a deal to avoid a shutdown altogether. Schumer left the meeting buoyed, telling others that Trump seemed willing to strike a deal on a days-long funding extension in exchange for concessions such as border wall funding. But by midnight, he complained to his members that Trump had suddenly reneged on the possibility. The White House told a different story. Briefing reporters at the White House on Saturday, budget director Mick Mulvaney disputed Schumer's claim that he offered Trump his desired border wall funding during their meeting. "Mr. Schumer has to up his game and be more honest with the president of the United States if we are going to be seeing progress," Mulvaney said. Schumer spokesman Matt House fired back on Twitter that Mulvaney was not present for the meeting was "not telling the truth" about what happened. Democrats pushed for a shutdown to spite Trump for his accomplishments, White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short argued to reporters. "Their reaction is, 'Because we can't beat them, what we're going to do is shut down the government," he said in a news briefing Saturday. There was little productive activity on the House and Senate floors. McConnell sought to bring up the four-week spending bill that failed Friday night; Democrats blocked the attempt. Democrats asked to vote on a bill guaranteeing federal workers their back pay for the period of the shutdown; McConnell objected, saying they deserve a full funding bill. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee who objected to McConnell's attempt to revive the short-term bill, questioned McConnell's embrace of the GOP proposal to extend funding of the Children's Health Insurance Program. "He sounded like Marian Wright Edelman last night, the founder of the Children's' Defense Fund, with his newfound interest in the children's' health plan," Wyden said in an interview. "It sounds like I'm listening to Ted Kennedy talk about health . . . I've never heard of this being a priority [for Republicans]." In the House, lawmakers prepared for a possible deal by debating a special rule allowing them to consider any bill that passes the Senate on the same day. The debate devolved into a shouting match over displaying disparaging photos of other members - such as Schumer - on the floor. - - - The Washington Post's Elise Viebeck and Juliet Eilperin contributed to this report. --- Video Embed Code Video: Senators on both sides of the aisle remarked about the government shutdown on Jan. 20. Sen. Robert P. Casey (D-Pa.) expressed optimism but said the Senate "had a lot of work to do."(Jordan Frasier,Victoria Walker/The Washington Post) Embed code: The Fremont Airport Advisory Committee learned on Friday about letters sent to hangar tenants for required information. Dave Goedeken, director of public works for the City of Fremont, told the committee that the city received a letter stating it must provide information of all aircraft housed at the airport. The information, sought by the Nebraska Department of Revenue, must be filed with the county assessor of where the aircraft is located by Feb. 1. Those who dont comply will be subject to fines. Tenants will get letters in the mail requesting the following information: date aircraft was first based at the location; name, address of aircraft owner; make and model or type, horsepower and year of aircraft, number of engines; and aircraft FAA registration number. The information can be sent via email or postal mail to the city. In other business, Goedeken told the committee that he sat down with Fremont attorney Dave Mitchell, who at the December meeting, said he saw numerous areas of inconsistencies in a recent a hangar rental agreement prepared by the former city attorney. The biggest thing he (Mitchell) had issues with was the insurance requirements, Goedeken said. Hes going to rewrite that and put it into better lease-tenant-landlord terms. There were some redundancies in the lease so he was taking all of that out. Goedeken said tenants will pay the old rate for hangars until the new lease takes effect. Rent for a T hangar will increase from $165 per month to $181.50 and for bulk hangars from $330 to $363. Lease rates were last adjusted in 2012. In November, the Fremont City Council approved the hangar lease agreement and adopted the Fremont airports rules and regulations. Leases will extend for five years with tenants having the option to renew after that time. In a report to the council, Goedeken said the increase in rates will generate an additional $12,672 of total rent per year at full hangar capacity. A visit to the Mercedes-Benz exhibit during the Detroit auto show offered a snapshot into how the show influences Michigan businesses. In the back corner, the German automaker set up a sleek cafe. Stark white counters and walls were canvases for the showcased coffee brewing equipment that - along with high-end snacks - beckoned guests. The automaker wanted to show its good taste and European flair. And it found a Flint businessman to help them do it. Ken VanWagoner worked the coffee bar like a pro - which he is, given the fact that he owns one of Flint's treasured coffee shops. Working for a few days every year at the Detroit auto show gives him a break from routine, a quick paycheck and a chance to work in a high-style environment that, in turn, really likes his coffee. That, VanWagoner said, is a good match. "It's a great atmosphere," he said. "It's a great environment." It's also a front-row seat to the auto industry. "I've watched Detroit come back for eight years," he said as he paused during a mid-morning rush. "It's an economic indicator, if you will." VanWagoner is one of 3,500 temporary workers who makes the North American International Auto Show Possible every year, according to representatives at Cobo Center. They include models, floor assembly staff and the food service crews that automakers - like Mercedes - bring in to make their media and industry guests feel special. VanWagoner's Good Beans Cafe is located in Flint's Carriage Town neighborhood, where the cafe sits at 328 N. Grand Traverse St. near downtown and Kettering University. He's run it for nearly 18 years, setting it up as he moved to the area for family reasons. The auto show job helps give him perspective on running a coffee shop. "It takes me out of the elements at my place," VanWagoner said. Working dozens of hours per week as an independent coffee shop can be insulating. Stepping out of that pattern, even if it's just for a few days, can invigorate his spirit. "When I'm here, I'm seeing trends or what the real world is doing." More so, he said, it immerses him in what he considers his core business: "The true Italian experience." He serves imported coffee, so an order for a cappuccino or macchiato gives him a chance to showcase his Lavazza coffee creations. "It's Italy's number-one coffee," he says with pride. In Flint, he provides what he describes as a "nostalgic, unique, coffee-drinking atmosphere." His coffee shop is a warm atmosphere with natural wood, original art and staff encouragement for customers to sit around and enjoy the atmosphere. The sleek and temporary coffee shop at the auto show is different, but he's just as comfortable there. And his drive to deliver excellent coffee is the same. The orders will be the same, they're just made in a different setting. Making people happy, he said, "is what the customer service industry is all about." Before the 2018 NAIAS opens to the public from Jan. 20 to Jan. 28 at the Cobo Center in Downtown Detroit, automakers show off new models and make world debuts in scheduled press conferences. View full coverage here. Joe Ford, 86, and his wife Georgiana Ford, 83, have been married for 67 years and moved from Tennessee to Michigan in 1952. YPSILANTI, MI - Joe and Georgiana Ford meant every word of their vows when they recited them to each other nearly 68 years ago. The Fords, who live in Ypsilanti, were admitted to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in late December - just two days apart from one another. While Georgiana Ford, 83, was placed on the fifth floor and Joe Ford, 86, on the ninth, they refused to be separated. The couple asked the nursing staff to allow them to be together as much as possible. The staff obliged and went out of their way to make sure they ate every meal together, slept in the same bed during the day and got regular updates on each other's health when they couldn't be together, Joe Ford said. Georgiana Ford, left, and her husband, Joe Ford, right, pose for a photo. "It meant everything," he said. "We've been together for so many years and love each other very much." James Bell, their grandson, said he had never seen a hospital staff so accommodating and his family appreciated it. "It was amazing. We weren't sure exactly how long each one had or how everything was going to pull through," he said. "With them being so close to each other, it was almost like one of those love stories you don't see anymore." James Bell lives with his fiance and mother across the street from his grandparents in Ypsilanti. He said they refuse to go into a nursing home, so they stay close to keep an eye on them. Linda Bell, the Fords' daughter, said her parents had to be together while in the hospital to hold one another's hand as they always do. "Every time they go for a walk, they hold hands. Any time they drive in the car, they hold hands. They hold hands while in church too," she said. "You name it, they're holding hands." The Fords grew up near Knoxville, Tennessee and met one day at church in the early '50s. They were inseparable after that. "I was at church and seen her through the window and that's all it took," Joe Ford said. "I decided right then: 'That's my woman.'" After getting married in 1951, the couple moved to Carlton the next year looking for work. They relocated to Ypsilanti years later and have stayed there since. Georgiana Ford suffers from Dementia and Parkinson's Disease, while Joe Ford carries an oxygen tank and a pacemaker. After leaving St. Joseph's Mercy Hospital, the Fords were admitted to the Heartland Health Care Center in Ann Arbor for rehab, where they were also allowed to stay together before returning home. Joe Ford said he and his wife have a special bond that has kept them together for well over half a century. "Whatever she wants to do, I'm with her," he said. "Maybe we aren't like some people, but whenever we want to do stuff we just do it." BAY CITY, MI -- A parolee is heading back to prison for a few more years for having drugs and a gun. Bay County Circuit Judge Harry P. Gill on Tuesday, Jan. 16, sentenced 37-year-old Christopher M. Ovalle Sr. to three terms -- one year straight, two to eight years, and two to 10 years. The terms are concurrent to each other, but consecutive to the remainder of the time he has left to serve on the offense he had been paroled on. Due to Ovalle's parolee status at the time of his latest crimes, Gill gave him no credit for time served in jail. The judge also ordered Ovalle to pay $344 in fines and costs. Ovalle in November pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, and felon in possession of a firearm. Prosecutors dismissed three felony firearm counts. The afternoon of Aug. 22, the Bay City Department of Public Safety's VIPER Unit and a parole officer conducted a search on Ovalle's home at 1725 Green Ave. Ovalle was home at the time. Inside the house, police found $261 in cash, marijuana, digital scales, items bearing suspected cocaine residue, a box of ammunition, six handgun magazines, and a loaded Ruger semiautomatic 9mm pistol concealed in a pillowcase. Ovalle declined to give a statement to police, who arrested him and lodged him in the Bay County Jail. Later that day, Ovalle had a recorded phone conversation with a woman. On the recording, Ovalle tells the woman he had only had the gun in his house for a short time and that "weed don't count." Police determined the gun was owned by a Rhodes man, but that it had not been reported stolen. The Michigan Department of Corrections had paroled Ovalle on Dec. 16, 2015. He was to remain on parole until Dec. 16, 2017. Ovalle's criminal history includes convictions of assault with intent to cause great bodily harm and failing to register as a sex offender. ROMULUS, MI - A mother and her boyfriend were arraigned Saturday and held without bond in connection with the death of the woman's 4-year-old daughter, according to a video of the proceeding posted online by WDIV-TV, Channel 4. Candice Renea Diaz, 24, and her boyfriend Brad Edward Fields, 28, are charged with felony murder, second-degree murder, torture and first-degree child abuse for allegedly causing the injuries that killed Gabrielle Barrett, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy's office reported. The two appeared before District Magistrate Elizabeth DiSanto, and a preliminary examination is scheduled for Feb. 7, according to news reports. Fields' attorney spoke on both defendants' behalf, saying they suffered various mental illnesses. The couple evaded police for more than a week, until their arrest Jan. 9 in Lowndes County in southern Georgia. About 10:45 a.m. Jan. 1, emergency personnel, summoned for a report of an unresponsive child found family members trying to revive Gabrielle inside a trailer in Rawsonville Woods Mobile Home Community in Sumpter Township, where the couple was living. Gabrielle had obvious, severe burns on her body and was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office called the death a homicide. Her burns were so severe that she lost her big toe and police found melted skin in the bathtub drain, reported the Detroit Free Press, citing a court document. A 1-year-old child was also in the home and has been removed by Children's Protective Services, police confirmed. Gabrielle had been in the custody of her grandmother and recently moved to the mobile home park to attend school, township police Chief Eric Luke said. Fields is a habitual domestic violence offender with two prior incidents, according to court records. Fields allegedly faked a gunshot wound on May 25, 2016, when he was accused of assaulting Diaz and possibly shooting her dog, police said. Fields was charged with aggravated domestic violence, possession of a firearm as a felon and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, but the charges were ultimately dropped, according to court records. During the same time period, police found Diaz attempting to alter the identification marks on a firearm and possessing a controlled substance without a prescription, court records show. She pleaded guilty to both counts and was sentenced to three days in Wayne County Jail and two years probation. In 2006, Fields pleaded guilty to carrying an unauthorized concealed weapon and served a year of probation. A GoFundMe account established for Gabrielle's memorial service had raised more than $6,000 by Saturday. "She was an overall amazing kid. She was loveable. She was sweet. She was just an outgoing kid," an aunt, Leah Barrett, earlier told MLive. DETROIT -- Thousands of car lovers and industry insiders got an early look at Detroit auto show Friday night in a swanky gathering at the Cobo Center. The black-tie event known as "Auto Prom" offered attendees a peek at the auto industry's latest vehicles and technological advancements in a massive showroom ahead the weekend opening to the public. Detroit's own Four Tops performed at this year's event. The Charity Preview is known as the largest single-night fundraiser in the world. $5.1 million dollars was raised this year for southeastern Michigan children's charities, $118 million since 1979. "Detroit will always be the heartbeat of the auto industry," said 2018 NAIAS Chairman Ryan LaFontaine before cutting the ribbon welcoming Charity Preview guests to the showroom floor. "The Motor City capital is back." The North American International Auto Show opens to the public Saturday, Jan. 20 and runs through Jan. 28. Media and industry previews took place this past week, with dozens of new vehicles revealed. View full coverage of the Detroit auto show here. More highlights from the Detroit auto show EAST GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Leah Wendling and her girls were at Wealthy Elementary's "movie night" when a friend rushed over. Her house was on fire. They ran home Friday, Jan. 19, and found firefighters attacking flames that broke through the roof. The fire gutted the master bedroom and bathroom upstairs, and caused smoke damage throughout, but Wendling said firefighters told her the two-story house at 1934 Sherman Street SE could be repaired. She and her husband, Eric, had been remodeling the home, including the master bedroom, since August. "No one was hurt, the girls didn't have to see it, the dog's fine. That's really all you can hope for," she said. She said everyone in the neighborhood came out to see how they could help. They were "amazing," she said. Her husband, on business in Kentucky, was trying to arrange a flight back in the morning. She said firefighters rescued the family dog. "Thank God they were able to get Wesley out," she said. She said that a neighbor called her friend who was at Wealthy Elementary to tell her that the house was on fire. The Wendlings have lived in the house for five years. ISLE ROYALE, MI - Two wolves are still alive on Michigan's remote Isle Royale, researchers determined today. The news that the island in Lake Superior remains home to two wolves comes despite speculation by some media last year that the once-strong wolf population had dwindled to a single wolf. Members of the Isle Royale Wolf and Moose Project, based out of Michigan Tech University in Houghton, did their second 2018 winter flyover on the island today. "We followed tracks of two wolves for over 30 miles at the east end of the island, where the pair has spent most of their time for many years. The male would be 9 years old and the female 7 years old," the group posted on Facebook on Saturday. The nonprofit research group has been studying the interaction of the island's wolf and moose population for six decades. The pictures they shared show a long string of wolf tracks, and the tracks mingling with that of an otter. The two wolves left on the 200-square-mile island in northwest Superior are from a family tree with such tangled branches that they are not likely to produce any viable pups, researchers have said. Longtime researcher Rolf Peterson had this to say about the pair in 2016: "While this is a male-female pair, they are also father-daughter and half siblings, having shared the same mother - another way of trying to summarize their inbred status is to point out that the female is the product of the male's mating with his own mother." Scientists have said a strong wolf pack is needed to keep Isle Royale's growing moose population under control. Isle Royale is a national park, and federal officials have been weighing the possibility of reintroducing more wolves into the park. A decision may come this spring. Wolves first arrived on the island in the 1940s, via ice bridges from the mainland. An ice bridge to the mainland did form last winter, but no new wolves arrived. In their heyday in 1980, wolves numbered about 50 on Isle Royale. The dramatic decline that followed likely was due to outbreaks of canine parvovirus among the packs, dropping their number to 14. The wolf population rebounded to about 30 a decade ago, then dropped again as the moose population - a food source for wolves - was on the decline. The roller coaster continued in recent years, with the nine wolves counted in 2014 dropping to three in 2015, and falling to two in 2016. TRAVERSE CITY, MI - Scores of people turned out at the City Opera House of Traverse City Saturday afternoon for a memorial service for Piper, Michigan's famous airport dog. Piper died earlier this month after a year-long bout with cancer. The memorial service was livestreamed at the Cherry Capital Airport K-9 Team's Facebook page. Those watching the livestream and sending well wishes included people in California, New Jersey, the Dakotas, and even Germany, Australia and Rome. Piper's main job was the four-legged half of Cherry Capital Airport's K-9 team. He was trained to chase wildlife away from the airport's runways, keeping the space safe for planes and passengers. He was trained by his owner, Brian Edwards, the airport operations supervisor. Edwards always said the best part of the partnership was being able to work with the dog he loved. Through Piper's work, he became a social media star and ambassador for Northern Michigan. The energetic border collie drew thousands of fans by sharing his adventures on Facebook, Instagram, even doing an AMA on Reddit. Piper regularly interacted with crews at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, and welcomed the Navy's Blue Angels and the Air Force's Thunderbirds to town. He even took up skydiving to help a good cause. In the last few weeks, Edwards has thanked his friends and Piper's fans for their continued support. "That is what I hope part of Piper's legacy will be. Whether it's cancer or anything else crappy going on in your life, don't let it define you. Stay positive, smile, be courageous... be you." KALAMAZOO, MI - One person died and another was critically injured when a car collided with a minivan Friday afternoon on Sprinkle Road at East Main Street. The crash occurred shortly after 3 p.m. Jan. 19, on the north side of the intersection of Sprinkle Road and East Main Street. Kalamazoo County sheriff's deputies did not immediately release details of the incident or the names or ages of those involved, but said three people -- in total -- were injured. Two were hospitalized. First responders indicated that the crash primarily involved a four-door Toyota Corolla automobile and a GMC Envoy minivan. It appeared that the minivan was westbound on Main Street, turning north onto Sprinkle Road before it collided with the Toyota, which appeared to have been southbound on Sprinkle. Both vehicles came to a halt in the southbound lanes of Sprinkle. A deputy said a third vehicle, which appeared to have rear-ended the car, was involved in the mishap after the main collision. The deputy said all of those who were badly injured appear to have been riding in the Toyota. There was no word on injuries to the driver of the minivan. And no word on whether that vehicle had passengers. Traffic along southbound Sprinkle Road was closed off from H Avenue to East Main Street as Comstock Township firefighters worked to clear the crash scene. They used hydraulic tools to help free one of the crash victims from the wreckage. The road was reopened at about 5 p.m. The incident happened less than a quarter mile west of where a car crash took the lives of five Kalamazoo teens on Sept. 2, along East Main Street. KALAMAZOO, MI -- A Kalamazoo man serving a life sentence for murdering another man as a teen was re-sentenced to a shorter term Friday. Derone Huffman-King, 36, was sentenced by Kalamazoo County Circuit Court Judge Pamela L. Lightvoet to 30 to 50 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections, with credit for the more than 15 years he has already served. King was convicted of first-degree murder and felony firearm for shooting Mitchell Elmer, 35, in the back several times during a robbery near Beacon Street and Fairbanks Avenue in Kalamazoo in 1999. Huffman-King's co-defendant, Anthony Williams, received three to five years in prison after he admitted to throwing the gun used to shoot Elmer into the Kalamazoo River and agreed to testify against Huffman-King. Huffman-King was one of several prisoners in Kalamazoo County who are serving mandatory life without parole or for murders they committed, or assisted in, in Kalamazoo County at the age of 17 or younger. They now may be eligible for parole after U.S. Supreme Court decision. Kalamazoo County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Scott Brower said re-sentencings of at least six prisoners from Kalamazoo County are on hold pending decisions by state appellate courts on juvenile lifer cases that have arisen out of other counties. Before being re-sentenced, Huffman-King expressed his remorse for the killing and the "terrible loss" Elmer's family has suffered. He said he had the chance to walk away before the altercation, the chance to call an ambulance and attempt to save Elmer's life, but he didn't. He said he was a child and immature when he entered into the prison system, but said he has found hope in the darkness. He said he doesn't expect forgiveness and doesn't forgive himself, but said he is deeply sorry. "Mr. Elmer deserved to see his daughter grow up," Huffman-King said. "His daughter deserved her father." Huffman-King said he hopes one day to leave prison and take control of his life. Huffman-King's defense attorney, Anant Saraswat, asked Lightvoet to sentence Huffman-King to time served. Saraswat said Huffman-King has an exemplary prison record and has become a good worker and a positive influence on his family members. Saraswat said Huffman-King has overcome a chaotic upbringing, including serious trauma which made him particularly susceptible to peer pressure and led him to participate with his co-defendant in the robbery that led to Elmer's death. "Derone is not the same person he was on the night of Mr. Mitchell Elmer's death, " Saraswat said. Kevin Bramble, an assistant Kent County prosecutor, served as a special prosecutor on the case because Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting had served as Huffman-King's defense attorney in the trial. Bramble asked Lightvoet to follow the recommendation from the Michigan Department of Corrections pre-sentence investigator, which was 40 to 60 years. "He's expressed remorse but I don't think he ever really ... admitted what he's done," Bramble said. He added the court should "honor, accept and respect" the jury's verdict. Before handing down the verdict, Lightvoet acknowledged Huffman-King's steps toward rehabilitation, but said she's also considering the "extremely unforatunate" crime that resulted in Elmer's death. "You have a victim here who did nothing on that particular night," Lightvoet said. "I'm certainly taking that into consideration, too." District 15 Sen. Lynne Walz on Thursday introduced LB1093, a bill designed to identify and address risks to resident safety at state-licensed facilities in Nebraska that operate with a history of continuing and repeated violations, released information from Walz office says. The September 2017 death of a military veteran at Life Quest in Palmer, Neb. occurred one month after a Department of Health and Human Services inspection and subsequent report on the failings of the facility. The lack of any action taken by the state to address the risk to residents at Life Quest before a death occurred, along with several similar cases in recent years, caused Sen. Walz to believe this legislation was necessary, released information says. We cannot allow facilities that are not meeting the standards for protecting and caring for people who need assistance to operate if they do not take action to fix their mistakes, Walz said through a released statement. Legislative Bill 1093 would establish the office of Inspector General of Nebraska Public Health within the office of Public Counsel. The Inspector General of Public Health would be tasked with conducting investigations, audits, inspections and other reviews of the Nebraska state facilities and state-licensed care facilities. The recent failings at state-licensed facilities, and subsequent inaction in light of these issues, has shown the inability of the Department of Health and Human Services to adequately inspect and ensure resident safety at these facilities in their current capacity, Walz said. LB1093 is a step towards improving resident safety and establishing accountability from state-licensed facilities in Nebraska, she added. The Inspector General of Public Health would work for the Public Counsel, or directly on behalf of the citizens of Nebraska. There needs to be someone looking out for the people without the conflict of interest of also protecting the facilities or the Department of Health and Human Services. In the next few days, Walz will also introduce a legislative resolution that would establish a legislative Investigative committee comprised of members of the legislature. The committee would study the lack of adequate conditions and treatment of individuals residing in state-licensed facilities; the effectiveness of the Division of Public Health Regulation and Licensure to provide effective oversight; and how the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services implements and administers its Behavioral Health services through the Behavioral Health Regions. The committee would also investigate whether the Department is taking adequate steps to ensure behavioral health services are administered in the most integrated setting, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The resolution would require the committee to issue a report with its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than Dec. 15. The Legislature needs to act. Im presenting two options for the body to consider, Walz said. We need to put politics aside and do what is best for the people. The health and safety of our kids, our parents and our friends is on the line. Brandon Bayer, Sen. Walz legislative assistant, said that the bill and resolution work hand-in hand. The two items work together, the bill and the resolution give the Legislature two different ways to address and look at issued, he said. And what she really wants to accomplish out of all of this is making sure that all healthcare facilities that are licensed through the state are providing the best healthcare and safety to all the people who they provide services for. The senator, Bayer said, is feeling optimistic that these items could make a real difference for those who are supposed to be benefiting from state-licensed facilities. She is feeling really good, there are a few stories that weve heard that will bring light to some of the problems that currently exist within our system, Bayer said. Weve heard enough of these stories that there really is growing concern about what is going on at some of these licensed health care facilities. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Pharma stocks extended losses for the second consecutive week, ahead of the announcement of third-quarter results. The overall bullish sentiment prevalent in the stock market didn't rub off on pharma stocks. The BSE Healthcare index declined 0.85 percent in the past week, while the benchmark Sensex rose 2.38 percent. Biocon was the biggest gainer in the pack, rising 4.94 percent. Torrent Pharma and Dr Reddy's too posted gains of 3.45 percent and 2.75 percent, respectively, while Lupin and Divis Labs gained 0.11 percent and 0.14 percent. Most stocks, including Sun Pharma (-2.24 percent), Cipla (-1.79 percent), Aurobindo Pharma (-3.98 percent) and Cadila Healthcare (-2.1 percent), saw declines over this past week. Here's what kept the sector buzzing: Sun Pharmaceutical Industries said it had reached an agreement with US-based Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and Allergan Plc to resolve the patent litigation regarding submission of an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for a generic version of Linzess capsules in the US. Sun Pharma will get a license to launch a generic of Linzess in the US starting February 1, 2031, or earlier under certain circumstances, subject to US FDA approval. Vaccine maker Panacea Biotec said it had signed a pact with rival Serum Institute of India to source the critical Injectable Polio Vaccine (IPV) component from the latter for its own Hexavalent vaccine. Biocon and Sandoz, a division of Swiss-pharmaceutical major Novartis, on Thursday said they had entered into a global partnership to develop, manufacture and commercialize multiple biosimilars in immunology and oncology for patients across the globe. As Indian drug makers prepare to report their third-quarter earnings in the days ahead, analysts predict Q3 FY18 to be mixed bag , with revenues expected to remain almost flat on a year-on-year basis. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Top banks of the country have suspended some accounts of major Bitcoin exchanges in India on suspicion of dubious transactions. Banks including leading ones such as State Bank of India, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Yes Bank are said to have suspended some accounts of top ten such cryptocurrency exchanges/platforms in the country such as Zebpay, Unocoin, CoinSecure, BtcxIndia, among others. These banks have reportedly asked for additional collateral with 1:1 ratio on the loans the exchanges had taken. They have also capped cash withdrawals for the few accounts which are operational, , the Economic Times reported citing multiple sources. Though most of the exchanges ET contacted did not respond, Unocoin said no bank has contacted them in this regard. "The banks have not contacted the company or the promoters regarding the actions you have mentioned," Unocoin Promoter Sathvik Vishwanath said. Queries sent to the banks taking the action also did not elicit any response. Eight accounts have likely been suspended after the banks found the funds were utilised for something which it was not intended for. "Reserve Bank of India has not issued any directive to us - it's a cautionary move on our part. We are wary about the purpose for which some of these current accounts are being used," a banker involved in the matter told ET. The total revenue of top ten exchanges in India could well be worth Rs 40,000 crore and they operate at margins greater than 20 percent, the ET reported citing sources. Tax scrutiny The tax department also recently sent tax notices to tens of thousands of people dealing in cryptocurrency after a nationwide survey showed more than USD 3.5 billion (RS 2,234 crore) worth of transactions have been conducted over a 17-month period. Tech-savvy young investors, real estate players and jewellers are among those invested in bitcoin and other virtual currencies, tax officials told Reuters after gathering data from nine exchanges in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Pune. In recent weeks, Japan and China have made noises about a regulatory crackdown, while South Korean policymakers said they were considering shutting down domestic virtual currency exchanges. An Indian finance ministry official said a committee was looking into the possibility of imposing restrictions on virtual currencies and that eventually parliament would have to legislate a regulatory regime. Seeking to allay fears among builders over the Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA), Vice president M Venkaiah Naidu today said "it is a regulation and not strangulation. "Speaking at the 27th All India Builders' Convention of Builders' Association of India, he said some fly-by-night operators were misusing the confidence reposed in them by consumers, bringing a bad name to the entire industry. "I must assure you that Real Estate Regulation is for promotion and not for strangulation for the development of the country....," he said. Asserting that everyone has started welcoming RERA, he said initially there would be some problems, which would be overcome in due course of time and the system would be simplified. He pointed out that several income tax concessions,rebates and relaxations have been given to boost the housing sector. In this context, he said there was enough money with banks due to demonetisation. "That was the objective behind demonetisation," he said. "The objective was to bring the money back to the bank with the address. 'Paisa Pata Ke saath Aya, Pita Ke Saath Aya, Pati Ke Saath Bank me Pahunch Gaya' (Money returned to the bank with the addresses,with the father and husband),"he said. He asked RBI to make clear the amount of black and white money it has received and hoped it would complete the work at the earliest. Naidu said the union government was working towards a single window clearances to remove exploitation, corruption, middlemen and unwanted delay in approvals. "We are working towards bringing transparency.There should not be delay.If anybody does not give approval within 60 days, it should be deemed approval and action taken against the person. That is the long-term aim of the government." He said there was a change in the thinking of the government and the policy makers that everything should not be left to them alone and "government has no business to be in the business." "Government has no business to be in the business. That's why government wants to dispose of Air India also. Government constructing hotels, sugar factories, scooter factories and then incurring losses and putting taxes on people is not a good thing." The Vice-President asked the real estate sector to curtail the speculative land rates as it was not helping anybody. "Land rates have gone up like anything. They are not realistic. They are not helping the real estate sector. Due to your speculation, rates in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai are equivalent to Washington and New York." He reminded people to gear up for his description of LPG. "We are living in the LPG - Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation. You have to compete with the rest of the world and see that you do not lag behind." Now that the FDI is allowed, others also will also come to compete with you. So you have to prove your efficiency and take care of the deficiency," he said. Moneycontrol Research Both our operating and investment experience cause us to conclude that turnarounds seldom turnand the same energies and talent are much better employed in a good business purchased at a fair price than in a poor business purchased at a bargain price..Warren Buffett, Letters to Shareholders, 1979. When the guru of value investing, Warren Buffett asks you to stay away from a type of investing, you pay heed. Unless you are the kind who does not believe in taking sermons at face value. That is exactly how Madhusudan Sarda is. Sarda, the Executive Director of Vallum Capital, who has about 18 years of market experience under his belt, likes to test every thesis and hypothesis. A chemical engineer by qualification, Madhu, as he is commonly known, attributes this aspect of probing to his educational background. Madhu has been dabbling in stocks from the age of 15 when he used to monitor his fathers portfolio. He approaches investing like a businessman would before a joint venture. The obsession with a thorough due diligence before every investment also comes from the pressure of managing other peoples money. This discipline, he says, can be attributed to the business background he has. Madhu, currently co-manages a fund with Manish Bhandari at Vallum Capital. With their Catch them young and ride them to their prime strategy, the firm has, in its seven years in existence, grown clients money at a compounded annual growth rate of 40 percent. To add the cherry on top, the growth excludes the firms commission on trades. In fact, in the calendar year 2017 Vallum Capital gave a return of 68 percent excluding commissions. Simply put, if Rs 1 lakh was invested with Vallum Capital on its inception, the investor would be sitting on around Rs 10.5 lakh now a 10-fold increase in just seven years. Madhu is a voracious reader and uses his free time to catch up on reading on latest developments in industry and technology to keep abreast with the fast-changing global economy. Madhusudan Sarda in an interview to Moneycontrol Researchs Shishir Asthana shares the recipe for his successful investment strategy. Q: Madhu the first question I would like to pop up to you is Vallum Capital has a unique investment strategy, can you take us through your buying and selling decision-making process? A. We look at businesses that are turning around, the ones that have had a difficult past. But the difficult past should not be for the company alone but for the entire sector. Their scenario will change only when external environment changes, either because of macroeconomic issues or on account of regulatory issues. Take for example the steel sector which saw a change after the government put hurdles for importing cheap steel. So our investment will only be after there is clarity on the external environment. We will have our list of companies where we would wait for a catalyst to trigger the investment call. Our hypothesis for the company that we are looking at would be that it would do better than the others because of its inherent competitive advantage. Business turnarounds do not happen overnight, it takes time. This enables us to invest in companies with a substantial margin of safety. If times would have been good these shares would have been available at either fair price or at a premium. We prefer to pick up stock with sufficient margin of safety. The key, however, is to bet on businesses within the sector that have a competitive advantage over others. Q: Do you only invest in turnaround stocks. A. These turnarounds are not regular occurrences. In a year there might be very few cases. But in the portfolio management service (PMS) structure that we operate in we have to buy when the client gives us money. But at the time of initiation or our first buying around 80-90 percent of our investments have been in turnaround stocks. As we grew many of these companies became growth story which coincided with the money that came in our fund so they became growth stories for the subsequent investors. We continue to buy these businesses as we feel there is still enough steam left. We do not tend to buy in a company where the investment timeframe is less than three years. If a turnaround is a cyclical small turnaround we would not look at it. Like agro commodities do not have a structural turnaround lasting for a longer time. We prefer to bet on structural turnarounds. Our time horizon for investing is minimum of three to five years. We prefer to have investors in our fund who also have a similar timeframe. Q: Have there been cases where you thought that turnaround would take place and it did not. A. Sure there has. In nearly 20 percent of the cases, it has happened. As Warren Buffett says turnarounds seldom turn, we are always worried about holding companies that fail to turn, that is our biggest fear. Q: So when do you exit your investment, does it coincide with the turn in industry cycle? A. Turn of the business cycle can be one of the reasons, but as a fund house, we have a risk management strategy in place. As a portfolio, we would not like to have a stock to weigh more than 15 percent of our fund. If it goes to 15 percent we may trim it down to 10 percent. We use this trimming to manage the portfolio risk. We completely exit a stock only if we feel that the business has lost its competitive advantage. Since our inception, we would have bought 60-65 stocks and would have sold around 25 stocks. The average holding period is three years and we intended to hold them for a few more year. As long as the company grows its profit by 15 percent year-on-year we are comfortable. Q: Madhu you do not have a finance background can you walk you us through how you ventured into investing A. I am a Chemical Engineer but do not have any formal educational qualification in finance. However, I now have 18 years of professional experience in finance. I started looking at the share market from the age of 15. My father had a portfolio which I used to monitor during the early 1990s. I saw valuation shoot up and fall during this time. My own baptism by fire in the market started from my engineering college days. I made mistakes but learned from them and moved forward. In those, I used to understand businesses and then invested without giving too much weight to financials. I tried to get information from various papers and magazines, especially industry magazine. A simple approach I used then was to monitor advertisement of companies. If a company increased the size of advertisement then there was some interesting happening in the company. I got my first job in Atul Ltd but after a year realized I was not cut out to be in the manufacturing sector. There is a big transition from being a science student to an engineer. I was a good engineer but an average science student. Engineers generally have an analytical mindset. I then searched for a job in the financial markets and found one where I worked as an analyst and later headed the research team. We used to look for companies in the micro and small-cap space and looked for interesting businesses which had a competitive advantage but were out of favour. We followed a scuttlebutt approach to investing (see box below). Q: In your scuttlebutt approach to investing can you describe the depth of your research? A. Our analysis has changed its dimensions over the year. Earlier we used to do a third party reference check of the promoter from someone from the industry. Then we realized this is not enough and we need to check each and every aspect of the companys business. We now check the companys customers, suppliers, its HR policies, compliance, government engagements, accounts, legal and some other aspect. We have a checklist which needs to be filled to the extent of 80-90 percent for each company. Earlier this checklist had 5-7 components, these have now increased to 15-20. Since we generally hire interns it is normally difficult for them to get access to competitors and other stakeholders. But then we attend industry seminars, annual general meetings to get a viewpoint on the company. We try to touch as many points in the ecosystem of the company as possible. The checklist keeps on growing as we learn from our mistakes. Before investing in any company we do the checks religiously and post investing we monitor it regularly. In cases where we do not trust the accounts of the company, we call for a third party forensic check. Otherwise, we have internal systems to do forensic checks. For us, these tools decide the long-term quality of our investment. Q: Going back to your early days, how did you invest in a company without using too many financial analysis tools. A. I looked at every investment as a business opportunity. I would analyze the business by stripping through its cost sheet. I would get an idea of the contribution of fixed cost to the cost structure of a product. Variable cost is generally available with the industry. You then know the gross and operating margin of the product. To me, this is the minimum I should know about the company, without which I am not comfortable investing in it. Q: So what changed in your analysis process when you became an analyst? A. A number of tools were added to my arsenal. I would look at the quality of the balance sheet, more importantly, the stress in the balance sheet, the quality of receivables, the quality of payables among other things. I would check if a company has a history of pricing power during good as well as bad times. As an analyst, I was focused on small and mid-cap companies. We were required to come out with a good idea every month. So between 2004-06, we might have come out with around 50-55 ideas some of which were at ridiculous valuations if ones look at it now. Like we picked Mayur Uniquoters at Rs 30 crore market capitalization (current MCap is Rs 2,370 crore), Poly Medicure at Rs 50 crore MCap (Current Rs 2,300 crore) among many others. I picked up Atul Ltd at a Mcap of Rs 100 crore (current Rs 8,560 crore) since I had been an employee I understood the business well. Q: And how did your progression from an analyst to a fund manager change the way you look at a company? A. The biggest change is to look for companies that are substantial value compounders. It would thus require looking at companies beyond the operating matrix of the company and beyond its current financials. Fund managers and investors have in India invested in many value stocks, but there have been very few value compounders. In a country like India with a population of 120 crores we have produced only 200 odd value compounders. There is enough scope to produce more either through innovation or creating brands. We have been a country of manufacturers. So to cut the story short I would prefer to have companies that have graduated from operating efficiency based positive cash flow model to one that has created a brand and franchise of their own. But having said that I would still be happy to bet on a company with a solid operating efficiency model and walk with them in their journey to create a brand, their own franchise or their own customer base because of the value system they have created. But in the last seven years of existence of Vallum Capital, we have not got an opportunity to invest in a company with branded franchises at a good value. So we have invested in companies which have good operating efficiencies and believe that if cash flows come these companies will be in a position to create a franchise and brand. The downturn of 2008-2013 of these companies has thought them that operating efficiency has been a key to their sustainability and the future of their business depended on creating a brand or a franchise for their company, be it a product or a service or a business-to-business kind of business. Q: Madhu, lets take an example over here for the benefit of our readers of one of your investment where this transition has taken place. A. Lets look at a pharmaceutical company, Shilpa Medicare which I have tracked as an analyst when it had an MCap of Rs 200 crore to Rs 1,500 crore when we picked it up in our fund and currently is valued at around Rs 5,000 crore. What I liked about Shilpa Medicare when I first researched it there were only two companies in the space it was operating in oncology. The other player was Fresenius Kabi. Fresenius India operation was a small part of the bigger company and the Indian arm was focused on only local operations. Shilpa Medicare, on the other hand, was developing molecules that would also reduce the price of the API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) and would be exported. The cash flow from this high margin business was used by the company to add other APIs but in different therapeutic segments. The company also tied up with other global players for technology transfer to produce their APIs in India, a typical contract manufacturing model followed by many pharmaceutical companies. Where Shilpa Medicare differentiated from others is that it added a formulation division to its business, created world-class plants to cater to the most developed markets and created a library of new molecules to launch through their ANDAs (Abbreviated New Drug Applications) filings. Apart from these initiatives the company has invested money in start-ups that are focused on developing novel drug discovery systems (NDDS). It has acquired a company that is in bio-similar research and was on the verge of transitioning itself into manufacturing. What we have here is a company that used its expertise in growing a single line of business into many diversified lines with each contributing to its future growth and cash flows for further opportunities. Q: So what you have essentially captured is uniqueness in business, a good promoter, and good valuation to invest. Is this the model you follow in all your investments and what is the order of preference? A. Yes, thats basically it. For us, we prefer companies with unique attributes, unique business or a product line. On promoters, we take a leap of faith initially but only after we do a thorough reference check and finally it is valuation which should give us a good margin of safety. Q: Madhu turnaround is something that excites a lot of retail buyers, what would be your advice to them on how to approach this style of investing. I completely agree with Buffetts statement that turnarounds are seldom sustainable. So if these investors understand the business only then they should venture into turnaround investing. I have seen a lot of investors do very well in turnaround investments only because they belong to that business. Only when you have that kind of insight should you venture into this type of investing. Otherwise, investors should stick to growth companies. Morningstar Investment Adviser In a recent circular (https://goo.gl/XokX4n), SEBI has instructed fund houses to start benchmarking the performance of all their funds with Total Return Indices, effective February 1, 2018, (or TRI) vis-a-vis the current practice of using Price Return Indices (or PRI) as benchmarks. So, what is the difference between TRI and PRI and how important is it to benchmark fund performance to TRI? Listed securities typically generate returns from two sources a) capital gains or losses accruing due to appreciation or depreciation in the price of the security and b) coupons or dividend from the security. The performance of a Price Return Index (PRI) captures only the capital gain or loss and not the coupon or dividend received from the security, whereas a Total Return Index (TRI) captures both. Due to this, Equity Total Return Indices (such as S&P BSE 100 or S&P BSE Small & Mid cap index) show a return that is around 1.5 percent p.a. higher than PRI variants of the same index. On the other hand, mutual fund performance includes both capital gains or losses and dividends or coupons received from securities held. Hence, to provide an apples-to-apples comparison the performance of a mutual fund should be benchmarked against a Total Return Index. Morningstars research shows that 69 percent of largecap funds outperformed the S&P BSE 100 PRI over the last five years (i.e. based on 5-year CAGR as of December 29, 2017). When compared with the S&P BSE 100 TRI, the percentage of largecap funds outperforming the index comes down to 52 percent. Why is this comparison relevant for investors? In case one has investments in a fund that was outperforming its benchmark based on its Price Return Index but is underperforming the Total Return Index over the medium to long-term (3 to 5 years), it would be advisable to review the performance in further detail and probably consider alternate fund options. Going ahead, are actively managed equity mutual funds expected to continue outperforming benchmark indices. Historically, over longer time periods, such as 5 to 10 years and above, a sizeable share of equity mutual funds have outperformed benchmark indices. But, as industry assets (or AUM) managed by actively managed equity funds as a whole grows further, the size of alpha or additional return generated over benchmark indices by these funds may start to reduce as the market becomes more efficient in terms of pricing securities, particularly in the large cap space. As the proportion of actively managed equity funds outperforming benchmark indices drops further, one may need to start considering investments into lower-cost investment products such as ETFs and index funds that passively track benchmark indices. This trend is being observed in developed markets such as the US, where over the last few years, the alpha being generated by actively managed funds has reduced considerably and investors are moving investments to low-cost ETFs and index funds. In India, such a scenario is probably a few years away. Meanwhile, investors should regularly monitor & review their portfolios and compare fund performance to relevant Total Return Indices. : The author is Director, Portfolio Strategist, Morningstar Investment Adviser (I) Pvt. Ltd. The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. The IMF and the World Bank have commended the Reserve Bank of India for its "remarkable progress in strengthening banking supervision" saying the regulation by the central bank has improved in recent years. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank had released two separate main Reports of the 2017 India Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP) in December 2017. In continuation, the IMF and the World Bank yesterday released two detailed assessment reports (DARs) relating to the 2017 India FSAP. The report providing 'Detailed Assessment of Observance Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision' has been released by the IMF and the World Bank. The report providing 'Detailed Assessment of Observance of Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL) Central Counter Party (CCP) and Trade Repository (TR)' was released by the World Bank. Market regulator SEBI in a statement noted that the DAR on the observance of Basel Core Principles commends the Reserve Bank for the remarkable progress in strengthening banking supervision since the last FSAP. "It notes that the supervision and regulation by the Reserve Bank remain strong and have improved in recent years," the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said. The DAR states that the system-wide asset quality review (AQR) and the strengthening of prudential regulations in 2015 testify to the authorities' commitment to transparency and a more accurate recognition of banking risks. The report also notes that most of the Basel III framework (and related guidance) has been implemented and cooperation arrangements, both domestically and cross-border, are now firmly in place. The DAR, SEBI said, acknowledges that banking reforms, including the Indradhanush Plan for revitalising the public sector banks and the Bank Board Bureaus have helped usher in an era of transparency and improved discipline and will go a long way in resolving the problem of bad loans in India. The DAR relating to the assessment of the CCIL on CCP system and TR systems' benchmarking against the applicable principles of financial market infrastructure concluded that the CCIL systems have a high degree of observance of the principles. 9:45 am 2 bombs found in Bodh Gaya amid tight security for Dalai Lama 2 bombs found in Bodh Gaya amid tight security for Dalai Lama Two bombs were found from the Bodh Gaya pilgrimage centre following PTI a small explosion-like sound amid stringent security measures in view of the Dalai Lama's stay, reports The bombs were found from the vicinity of the Kalachakra ground during an intensive combing operation by a police team led by DIG (Patna Range) Vinay Kumar, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Patna Zone. 10:08 am US court imposes $5 mn penalty on Dr Reddy's over drug packaging A federal court in the US today imposed a USD 5 million civil penalty on the North America subsidiary of India's Dr Reddy Laboratories for distributing prescription drugs in blister packs that were not child resistant, the Department of Justice said. "Dr Reddys failed to ensure that children were protected from potentially harmful prescription drugs," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A Readler of the Justice Department's Civil Division. 10:21 am Top lenders suspend accounts of major Bitcoin exchanges in India, list includes SBI, HDFC Bank After several warnings issued by the Indian government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI), now top banks including State Bank of India (SBI), Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Yes bank have decided to suspend some accounts of major Bitcoin exchanges in India, reports Economic Times. The decision was taken after the banks suspected dubious transactions. Banks have been mandated to file Suspicious Transaction Reports with the Financial Intelligence Unit in a time-bound manner. 11:00 am US government shuts down, Trump blames Democrats The US government officially shutdown today for the first time in five years after lawmakers failed to agree on a spending deal. US President Donald Trump blamed Democrats for the shutdown which comes exactly a year after he was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. The shutdown began at 12:01 am (local time) soon after the Senate rejected a short-term spending bill to keep federal government running. The bill was passed by the House on Thursday. 11:39 am Pakistan raises Jadhav's case in UNSC debate on Afghanistan Pakistan raked up the issue of Indian death-row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav in the UN Security Council after it was accused by India, the US and Afghanistan, for providing safe havens to terrorists. Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN Maleeha Lodhi was responding to Indian Ambassador to the UN Syed Akbaruddin who said Pakistan needs to change its "mindset" of differentiating between good and bad terrorists. India urged the UN Security Council to focus on challenges posed by terrorism emanating from the safe havens from across the border. 12:46 pm India's entry into elite nuclear groups reaffirms its non-proliferation commitments: PM India's entry into elite nuclear groups in the recent past has reaffirmed the country's strict non-proliferation commitments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today. His remarks come in the backdrop of India becoming a member of the 'Australia Group' (AG), a move that is expected to raise New Delhi's stature in the field of non-proliferation and also help it acquire critical technologies. 01:26 pm We will not screen Padmaavat in whole of Gujarat, says Director of Gujarat Multiplex Association We have decided not to screen the movie in whole of Gujarat. Everyone is scared, No multiplex wants to bear the loss. Why will we bear the loss, Rakesh Patel, Director, Gujarat Multiplex Association told ANI. The announcement comes despite Supreme Court's order of suspending the ban order by the four states of Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan on Thursday. 01:55 pm Army jawan among three killed in ceasefire violation by Pakistan Three people, including an Army jawan, were killed and six injured in firing by Pakistani troops along the International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu division for the third day today, reports PTI. Nine persons have been killed so far in ceasefire violations over three days, police officials said. An Army jawan was today killed after being hit by a bullet during cross-border firing in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district, the officials said. A defence spokesman identified the slain soldier as sepoy Mandeep Singh (23), a resident of Alampur village of Sangroor in Punjab. 01:58 pm Declare Vivekananda, Netaji b'days as national holiday: Mamata Banerjee West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today urged the Centre to declare the birthdays of Swami Vivekananda and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as national holidays. Banerjee said in a tweet that she has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard. "Swami Vivekananda and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose are national and international icons. I have written a letter to the PM urging the GOI to declare both their birthdays as national holidays," she tweeted. 2:34 pm I-T Pune region crosses 75% of annual target The Pune division of the Income Tax department has topped the country to cross 75 per cent of the annual collection target, reports PTI. The region also leads the rest of the country in terms of overall growth in mop-up at 24.12 per cent year-on-year against the national average of 18 per cent as of January 16. "This puts the Pune region on top across the country to reach 75 per cent of the budget estimate for the current fiscal year as of January 16," said principal chief commissioner of the region AC Shukla. 15:15 Are Indian insurers ready for risk-based capital regime? By 2021, Indian insurance companies will be required to a risk-based capital (RBC) model of solvency. Solvency is the minimum capital that has been prescribed by the insurance regulator to be maintained at all times. Once regulations change, the type of business risk will decide the amount of capital to be held. At present, solvency capital is factor based. This is based on the mathematical reserves of the company and the sum of risk for the particular business. This is also called as Solvency I. In contrast, RBC is a method of measuring the minimum amount of capital appropriate for a reporting entity to support its overall business operations in consideration of its size and risk profile. Read the full report here. 15:22 Trump's one year in White House: The 'covefefe' moments of the 'stable genius' On this day exactly a year ago, Donald Trump assumed the office of the President of the United States. He has given the world many occasions to scratch their heads in wonder ever since. From 'covfefe' to 'little rocket man' to 'stable genius', the last one year has been full of online and offline mishmash of ideas by the US President. Read the full story here. 15:31 Two laborers were killed, two were injured due to the collapse of a multi level parking basement in Kanpur's Filkhana. Rescue operations are underway, reports ANI. 15:39 Bodh Gaya blast update: NIA said that the Information was received about a blast that had taken place opposite the Kalchakra ground at 4.45 pm on January 19 in Bodh Gaya. It is said that the blast happened in a flask kept under a generator at a tea shop/kitchen opposite the ground. The police found some wires coming out. Later searches were conducted in the vicinity by police and two objects, suspected to be IEDs were recovered. On receipt of this preliminary information, a team of NIA officials including one SP and one explosives' expert has been dispatched on January 20 to visit the site, reports ANI. #Delhi : The ritual 'Halwa Ceremony' attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at the Ministry of Finance. The annual ceremony is observed before the commencement of the process of printing of budget documents. pic.twitter.com/sM6o42tFGi ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2018 15:45 No central bank official posted at Dewas Bank Note Press: RBI The RBI today said it does not have any official posted at the Bank Note Press in Dewas, where a person has been apprehended allegedly for stealing currency. In a statement, the central bank said it has been reported in a section of the media that an RBI officer has been apprehended by CISF for stealing printed currency at the RBI printing facility at Dewas. However, the Bank Note Press (BNP), Dewas is a unit of the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd which is not under the control of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), it said. 15:55 Fifteen people are arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force after raids were conducted in Agra, Allahabad, Sultanpur and Noida regarding an online lottery racket, reports ANI. American aerospace and defence major Lockheed Martin has proposed to manufacture custom-built F-35 fighter jets in India, which its officials say will give Indian industry a unique opportunity to become part of the world's largest fighter aircraft ecosystem. "We plan to introduce two new words into the lexicon of international fighter aircraft manufacturing: 'India' and 'exclusive'," Vivek Lall, vice president, strategy and business development, at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics told PTI in an interview. "India-specific state-of-the-art fighter production in India will be exclusive, something that has never before been presented by any other fighter aircraft manufacturer, past or present. There will also be a significant export market available for Indian-made fighters," he said. 16:07 Land Rover launches Range Rover Velar at Rs 78.83 lakh Tata Motors-owned luxury sports utility vehicle brand Land Rover has launched the Range Rover Velar in India at prices starting Rs 78.83 lakh (ex-showroom). Derived from the Latin word Velare, meaning 'to cover' or 'veil', Velar is a direct reference to the code name used on the original, pre-production Range Rovers of the late 1960s. Available in three powertrains, a 2.0 litre 4-cylinder 132 kW diesel, a 2.0 litre 4-cylinder 184 kW petrol, and a 3.0 litre V6 221 kW diesel, the Velar competes against Audi Q7, Porsche Macan, BMW X5, Mercedes GLE and even the Jaguar F-Pace. Read the full story here. 16:11 Kamala Mills fire update: Police custody of Mojo's Bistro owner Yug Tuli extended till January 22 by Bhoiwada Court, reports ANI. Pharma Pharma Pharma stocks extended losses for the second consecutive week, ahead of the announcement of third-quarter results. The overall bullish sentiment prevalent in the stock market didn't rub off on pharma stocks. The BSE Healthcare index declined 0.85 percent in the past week, while the benchmark Sensex rose 2.38 percent. Biocon was the biggest gainer in the pack, rising 4.94 percent. Torrent Pharma and Dr Reddy's too posted gains of 3.45 percent and 2.75 percent, respectively, while Lupin and Divis Labs gained 0.11 percent and 0.14 percent. Read the full report here. 16:29 An earthquake measuring 4.2 on Richter scale hit Manipur today at 3:36 pm, reports ANI. 16:33 Pakistan raises Kulbhushan Jadhav's case in UNSC debate on Afghanistan Pakistan raked up the issue of Indian death-row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav in the UN Security Council after it was accused by India, the US and Afghanistan, for providing safe havens to terrorists. Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN Maleeha Lodhi was responding to Indian Ambassador to the UN Syed Akbaruddin who said Pakistan needs to change its "mindset" of differentiating between good and bad terrorists. India urged the UN Security Council to focus on challenges posed by terrorism emanating from the safe havens from across the border. 16:51 ONGC-HPCL Deal Update | ONGC to pay Rs 36,915 cr for Govts 51.11% stake in HPCL. The acquisition to complete by January-end, reports Cogencis. 17:08 Rupee wobbles on gushing trade deficit woes amid rising crude The Indian rupee skidded further against the beleagured dollar as forex market sentiment took a hard hit on the back of suring global crude prices and growing trade deficit concerns. Stretching its losses for the second-straight week, the home currency depreciated by 21 paise to end at 63.84. Overall trading mood turned into dismay after the countrys trade deficit widened to a three-year high on higher oil and gold imports. 17:24 This week in Auto: SIAM estimates over 100 launches at Auto Expo, bookings open for new Maruti Swift The buzz for Auto Expo is rising by the day as companies tease their line-up for the biennial event which kicks off on February 7. Scores of new launches and unveiling of models will set the tone for the week-long event. Meanwhile, companies that are not participating in the event have started launching products to swim with the tide. Read the full report here. 17:33 Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said that the capital investments in Indian Railways are expected to almost triple between 2013-14. Such massive ramp up of capital investments could not have been possible without support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, reports ANI. German luxury car manufacturer Audi today launched new second generation Audi Q5 in the region, with eight percent increase in power delivery and 20 percent increase in fuel efficiency than the previous model. Priced at Rs 53.25 lakh, the new Audi Q5 proves to be the perfect vehicle in its segment and delivery of the car in India will be from March onwards, Audi Coimbatore General Manager, Vivek told at the launch. It was expected to sell 20 to 25 vehicles during this year, as against the usual average 15 to 18 previous model, he said. 17:49 Bus fare hike in Tamil Nadu draws flak from political parties The bus fare hike in Tamil Nadu drew all round flak from political parties, including the main opposition DMK, which accused the government of being 'sadistic' and giving a 'thunderbolt' to the people. The parties demanded that the fares be immediately rolled back. The Tamil Nadu government last night hiked the fares of buses under State run transport corporations and private entities approximately by 20 to 54.54 percent, after a six year gap, saying it was inevitable. DMK working President M K Stalin today accused the Palaniswami-led government of being "sadist" and said the steep hike to the tune of Rs 3,600 crore a year was unacceptable and was a 'thunderbolt' imposed on the people. 18:08 Rs 414 cr fine imposed by I-T dept on firm in Herald case: Subramanian Swamy to court BJP leader Subramanian Swamy today told a Delhi court that a Rs 414 crore fine was recently imposed on Young Indian Pvt Ltd by the Income Tax department in connection with the National Herald case filed by him against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others. Swamy submitted before Metropolitan Magistrate Ambika Singh that the I-T department had launched a probe against Gandhis, YI, and four other accused after taking note of his complaint in the case. The court directed that the I-T department documents submitted by Swamy be kept in a sealed cover till further orders. 18:16 DIPAM Secretary Neeraj Gupta said that HPCL will continue to be a listed, professionally board managed CPSE and as a part of a large oil and gas group, can exercise various possibilities of economic expansion within and outside the group company, reports CNBC TV18. 18:23 Goa will achieve ODF status by October: Union minister Hardeep Puri Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri today said he was confident that Goa will become hundred per cent 'open defecation free' by October 2018. Puri, who held a press conference in the presence of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar here, said 2,260 cities in the country have become open defecation free so far. "I was told by the Goa chief minister that the state will be hundred percent open defecation free by October 2018. I have no doubt that the state will achieve this goal," the minister said after chairing meetings to review various urban development initiatives in Goa. 18:29 L&T Shipyard launches 2nd Coast Guard offshore patrol vessel The second offshore patrol vessel (OPV) built by the Larsen and Toubro Shipyard near here for the Indian Coast Guard was launched today. The indigenously built vessel 'Vijaya', equipped with state-of art radar, navigational and communication system, will be utilised for day and night patrol and surveillance, anti-terrorist, anti-smuggling operations and coastal security, the Coast Guard said. According to a Rs 1,432 crore contract signed with the Defence Ministry, the L&T Shipyard at Kattupalli, about 45 km from here, would indigenously design and build seven OPVs. The first OPV, the country's first-ever such defence craft to be built in a private shipyard, was launched in October 2017. 18:44 CBI arrested three people for demanding and accepting bribe of Rs 1.80 lakh, allegedly on behalf of SDM Saraswati Vihar, from owner of a club in Pitampur, Delhi, after his club was sealed by the SDM, reports ANI. NMDC Odisha State-run NMDC Ltd has offered to augment mineral production in Odisha, which is likely to be hit by shortage of iron ore due to closure of mines. N Baijendra Kumar, CMD of NMDC, has written to the Odisha government in this regard, official sources said. A delegation from the company had also recently met Odisha Chief Secretary A P Padhi to discuss the matter. "NMDC is interested to operate three mining leases of OMDC (Orissa Minerals Development Company Ltd) in case Odisha government allots in favour of NMDC," an official said, adding that the Ministry of Steel had already requested the state government to consider the operation of OMDC leases by NMDC. 19:04 Banking sector this week: Axis Bank hikes loan rates, HDFC Bank posts NPA divergences; FDI buzz cheers stocks Still fresh from the weekend news of IDFC Bank and Capital First merging, the banking sector this week saw the government considering a proposal to allow 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in private banks and 49 percent in public sector banks. Vaidyanathan, Founder and Executive Chariman of Capital First, is set to leadthe merged entity after the IDFC Bank-Capital First merger goes through. On the FDI news, banking stocks rallied as investors cheered the possible introduction of FDI in banking. Read the full report here. theatre Padmaavat Uncertainty over the release of controversial film "Padmaavat" in Rajasthan looms large as theatre owners are still clueless whether distributors will purchase the rights despite the Supreme Court's ruling against the ban on Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period drama. The audiences have already started enquiring about the release of the film in cinema halls but there is no advance booking or confirmation whether or not the movie will be screened in the state. "I am not going to purchase the rights of the film as I am going out of the country on a family holiday on January 24," a leading film distributor Raj Bansal told PTI. bourses Apollo Micro Systems, which caters primarily to the defence and aerospace sectors, will debut on bourses on Monday. The issue price is fixed at Rs 275 per share. The Rs 156-crore initial public offer (IPO) has seen huge oversubscription of 248.51 times during January 10-12, 2018. As the market is in strong momentum and the issue has seen tremendous response from investors, the listing price premium could be around Rs 200 per share over IPO price, experts suggest. Read the full report here. The bulls seemed unstoppable as the market continued its record-hitting spree in the first three weeks of the current calendar year, even in the face of rising crude oil prices. Encouraging earnings numbers, a cut in GST rates on 83 goods and services, favourable global cues, buzz on allowing 100 percent FDI in the banking sector, and easing of fiscal deficit worries after lowered borrowing requirements, have driven the Nifty above the 10,900 level and the Sensex above the 35,500-mark for the first time ever. Read the full report here. Haryana MSP Manohar Lal Khattar Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today said that after restarting the process for the purchase of bajra and sunflower seeds on minimum support price, it has now been decided to purchase maize also on MSP. Bajra and maize purchased on MSP would be used for public distribution system (PDS) stock, he added. Khattar was addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of new cooperative sugar mill here. He said with the setting up of a new cooperative sugar mill, 60 lakh quintals of sugarcane would be crushed during the crushing season besides generating 15 MW of electricity. 20:09 Blind Cricket World Cup update: Consulate General of India will organize a felicitation program for the players and officials of Indian blind cricket team on January 21 at the Indian Consulate Auditorium in Dubai, reports ANI. 20:14 Axis Bank Q3 profit seen up 22% to Rs 706 cr, slippages from watchlist key to watch Country's third largest private sector lender Axis Bank is expected to report a 21.9 percent growth in profit at Rs 706.2 crore for quarter ended December 2017, compared to Rs 579.4 crore in year-ago. Net interest income during the quarter is seen rising 3.8 percent to Rs 4,498.5 crore from Rs 4,333.7 crore in same quarter last year, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18. 20:16 IMF, World Bank laud RBI for 'strengthening' supervision The IMF and the World Bank have commended the Reserve Bank of India for its "remarkable progress in strengthening banking supervision" saying the regulation by the central bank has improved in recent years. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank had released two separate main Reports of the 2017 India Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP) in December 2017. In continuation, the IMF and the World Bank yesterday released two detailed assessment reports (DARs) relating to the 2017 India FSAP. The report providing 'Detailed Assessment of Observance Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision' has been released by the IMF and the World Bank. The report providing 'Detailed Assessment of Observance of Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL) Central Counter Party (CCP) and Trade Repository (TR)' was released by the World Bank. Even as Indian audiences keenly await the release of controversy-mired flick Padmaavat, which is scheduled to hit screens next week, they seem to have given their nearby movie halls a miss this week. Despite as many as 5 new films having released on Friday, the Box office did not have any lick with collections. The films -- Kashmir Daily, Medal, My Birthday Song, Nirdosh and Vodka Dairies -- collectively brought in a mere Rs 40 lakh. Read the full report here. 20:42 Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu said that the state cabinet has decided to supply 70 litres per capita per day water to every household in all villages. According to the new policy, a drinking water supply corporation will be setup, for which Rs 22,000 crores is required Naidu added, reports ANI. "The project will be taken up with the support of various banks. We will complete this on a war footing. Technology will also be efficiently used. Quality work will be done through outsourcing", Naidu said. 20:53 Year one in office: Donald Trump rides economic boom, xenophia wave Just as the Donald Trump administration turned one, the US government was plunged into a historic shutdown the third in a quarter of a century after Democrats stalled a spending bill in order to oppose the governments decision to rescind the Obama-era DACA policy. The DACA protects undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children. But by forcing a US government shutdown, the Democratic Party just doubled down on a bet it has lost badly recently -- that it is willing to stare down Trump on the cornerstone subject of his politics, race. Even at the risk of angering traditional white, the real, Americans. The US President, of course, did not waste any time rubbing this in. Read the full story here. US President Donald Trump has completed a year in office. While Trump has been claiming he has worked more than any of the previous office bearers during this one year, the approval ratings suggest otherwise. Trump's score stands at merely 38 percent in a Presidential approval ratings poll by Gallup released on January 18. This is the lowest average first-year approval rating for any US President. Having said that, his first year came to be a mix of hits and misses. Here's a list of what Trump achieved or missed in his first year in the White House: HITS > Tax overhaul The passage of the most sweeping US tax overhaul bill, estimated around USD 1.5 trillion, was Trump's first major legislative accomplishment as the bill had been lying in the House of Representatives for nearly 35 years. Overall, the tax overhaul bill aims to trim the corporate tax rate in US to 21 percent from 35 percent. It also lowers taxes for the vast majority of Americans, as well as small-business owners, and preserves certain tax savings for the middle class, including the student-loan interest deduction, the deduction for excessive medical expenses, and the tax break for graduate students. I promised that my policies would allow companies like Apple to bring massive amounts of money back to the United States. Great to see Apple follow through as a result of TAX CUTS. Huge win for American workers and the USA! https://t.co/OwXVUyLOb1 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2018 Trump has fulfilled the promise he made to millions of Americans struggling in this economy, to cut taxes across the board for working families and businesses large and small. > War on ISIS Donald Trump had reaffirmed the strategic partnership between the United States and Turkey, particularly in combating terrorism in all its forms and fostering regional stability. He had also spoken to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and discussed implementing a United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254 for the peaceful settlement to the Syrian crisis and defeat of the ISIS terror group, the White House had said. According to media reports, the Islamic State has been losing grounds in Syria and Iraq, as the US-led coalition and Russia-backed Syrian troops had been focused on driving Islamic State from the country's east. ISIS is in retreat, our economy is booming, investments and jobs are pouring back into the country, and so much more! Together there is nothing we cant overcome--even a very biased media. We ARE Making America Great Again! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 > Improving economic picture The US economy grew at its fastest pace in more than two years. The economy saw a surge in consumer demand and spending that led to an increased factory activity indication a brighter economic outlook. Trump claimed the unemployment rate was at an 18-year low, and the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits hit a 45-year low. Media reports suggest the jobless claims in the US indeed decreased by 41,000 to 2.20 million the lowest level since February 1973. Although Trump said his administration created nearly 2. 2 million jobs since the election, there are no official figures available to verify this claim. > Deregulation The Trump administration rolled back various rules and regulations petaining to banking, finance, labour, and environment that were adopted earlier. In October 2017, the US Treasury released a blueprint for the financial deregulation, with proposals for derivatives, stock markets and corporate bonds seeking to rein in post-financial crisis rules. Some of these de-regulations are believed to have added over USD 27 billion of gross profit at the six largest US banks, lifting their annual pretax income by about 20 percent. In November, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC in an interview that Trump had cancelled 860 rules and regulations that had been imposed by the Obama administration. MISSES > Obamacare repeal Trump had clearly stated his intention to repeal ObamaCare during his election campaigns in 2016. "We will immediately repeal and replace ObamaCare - and nobody can do that like me. We will save $'s and have much better healthcare!," Donald Trump had tweeted. As expected, when he joined office he made repeated efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act; however, the GOP-controlled Senate never mustered a simple majority. Trump tried to sabotage the healthcare program by scrapping cost-sharing subsidies to insurance companies and slashing its marketing budget. Despite that nearly 9 million people signed up for Obamacare coverage. > Build a border wall with Mexico Donald Trump had been repeatedly pushing to build a Wall on the US-Mexico border to increase security. "We need the Wall to help stop the massive inflow of drugs from Mexico, now rated the number one most dangerous country in the world. If there is no Wall, there is no Deal!," Trump had tweeted. He reiterated his intent to go ahead with building of the wall as early as this week. "The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it,"he had tweeted. Trump wanted the building of wall to be funded by Mexico. "The Wall will be paid for, directly or indirectly, or through longer term reimbursement, by Mexico, which has a ridiculous $71 billion dollar trade surplus with the U.S. The $20 billion dollar Wall is peanuts compared to what Mexico makes from the U.S. NAFTA is a bad joke!," he had tweeted. > Court intervention on several decisions In the first year of office, Trump already had several legal interventions following his various decision regarding the ending of an immigration program for hundreds of thousands of children (DACA) or bar travel to the US by residents of six predominantly Muslim countries - Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi hugs U.S. President Donald Trump as they give joint statements in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S., June 26, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RTS18QSB India and the US have seen their share of ups and downs in the recent past, but have always maintained a cordial relationship. The relationship between the two countries,till date, has never been bitter. Since the time US President Donald Trump came to power this relation seems to have moved from being just cordial to a much stronger one. Here's a look at how the relationship between the two countries evolved in the past year - Modi-Trump meetings Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US. Reports pointed that US officials said, "The partnership between the US and India has never been more important." The meeting between the top officials, according to them, bore fruit. The two countries were successfully able to sign key defence deals, energy deals - US will start flowing liquefied natural gas to India, agreeing to fight terrorism together, among others. PM Modi again met Trump at the ASEAN Summit in Philippines's capital, Manila, in the second half of last year where they were expected to talk about evolving the security situation in the Indo-Pacific region. US Visa The H-1B visa issue was by far the only point of bitterness between the two countries. The issue was also highlighted by PM Modi in his visit to the US; however, it remained to be resolved. The Trump administration had even gone to the extent of considering norms that meant deportation of nearly 500,000 Indian workers in the country. Recent reports though suggest the US has since eased its stance on the H-1B visa rules. This could mean some damage control. Trump's stand against Pakistan India and Pakistan have had a strained relation, and multiple cases sucha s that of Kulbhushan Jadhav or Hafiz Saeed have led to growing bitterness. The US has also tightened its stance on terrorism and extended its support in its recent decision to chargesheet Hafiz Saeed for his alleged involvement in Mumbai's 26/11 attacks. In fact, PM Modi and Trump agreed to counter terrorist outfits such as al-Qaeda, ISIS, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, D-Company, and their affiliates - when the Indian PM visited last year. Ivanka Trump's visit Trump's daughter Ivanka led the US delegation to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) held in Hyderabad last year. The strengthening of the ties between the two nations was displayed in the summit, where she said PM Modi is "a symbol of hope to the world" and that he has "proved that transformational change is possible." Not only for Modi, but Ivanka showered compliments on India's economy and its people. She termed Indians to be inspiring in terms of being hard working and in terms of speedily advancing in the medical field, among others. Community Life as seen on social media An influenza virus infection claimed the life of a fifth Santa Clara County resident earlier this month. County officials are recommending those who havent already received the flu vaccination to do so, according to an announcement from the Public Health Department. The most recent death was an individual under the age of 65 years. All five deceased residents had not been vaccinated, according to county health officials. Along with the Emergency Medical Services Agency and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, the Public Health Department recommends that any residents experiencing flu-like symptoms to stay home, drink fluids and take medicine for fever. People should monitor their own symptoms and if they are getting worse, contact their medical provider, the Jan. 10 announcement states. County health officials recommend that all individuals six months of age and older, including pregnant women, be vaccinated against influenza. The influenza vaccination is the best way to protect your family from complications of influenza, said Dr. George Han, the countys Assistant Health Officer. Its not too late to get vaccinated. Even if the vaccine does not prevent you from getting the flu, it will make it less likely for you to be seriously ill and require hospitalization. People at risk for complications from the flu have chronic conditions, are pregnant, or are very young or very old. For the vast majority of us who are not in a risk group, we will get better, said Dr. Jeffery Leinen, Medical Director at SCVMC Emergency Department. If youre sick, stay home and take care of yourself. But if you are seriously ill and at risk for complications from the flu, contact your medical provider because you may need additional treatment or hospital care. Santa Clara Valley Medical Centers Emergency Department has seen an increase of patients who have been diagnosed with the flu. In the first week of December 2017, only 5 patients were diagnosed as having an influenza virus. The numbers continued to increase and for the week of January 1-7, 40 patients were diagnosed with influenza. We see increased flu activity with the higher daily ambulance traffic to hospitals. Typically we have 220 emergency medical transports a day. In December 2017, there were 240 daily transports, said Dr. Kenneth Miller, Medical Director of the Emergency Medical Systems Agency. And so far this year, Jan. 1-10, 2018, we averaged 264 daily transports to local hospitals. That compares to an average of 253 daily transports for the same time period last year. Needless to say, emergency departments are extremely busy and wait times are long. Health officials recommend that people take the following additional steps to protect themselves and loved ones from the flu: Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or your elbow when you cough or sneeze. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth, since hands may become contaminated with live influenza virus. Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. If soap and water are not available, an alcohol-based hand rub may be used. Try to avoid close contact with sick people. Stay at least six feet away from individuals who are visibly ill. If you are sick, stay home from work or school until you have been symptom-free for 24 hours. Going to work or school while ill may pass the disease to someone who is at risk for serious complications. For more information about influenza, visit sccphd.org/flu. Current Flu Season Oct. 2017 to date: 5 Oct. 2016 to April 2017: 2 Oct. 2015 to April 2016: 6 Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Influenza Patients Dec. 4-10, 2017: 5 total patients, 1 diagnosed with influenca Dec. 11-17, 2017: 4, with 2 diagnosed Dec. 18-24, 2017: 15, with 11 diagnosed Dec. 25-31, 2017: 42, with 24 diagnosed Jan. 1-7, 2018: 40, with 20 diagnosed Morgan Hill Unified School Districts Board of Trustees is seeking qualified candidates to serve on the independent Citizens Oversight Committee for the implementation of the Measure G school facilities bond program, according to a Jan. 11 announcement. The two openings on the COC currently are for an At Large Community Member and a representative of the Senior Citizen Group. Each term is set at two years and the committee meets quarterly at different school sites for an hour to two hours each meeting. Approved in November 2012, Measure G is a $198.25-million bond measure that authorizes funding for needed repairs, upgrades, and new construction projects to the Districts schools. Measure G was passed by 64.89 percent of the voters. State law requires that the MHUSDs Board appoint a Citizens Oversight Committee to work with the district, according to the press release. Responsibilities of COC members include: Inform the public concerning the Districts expenditure of Measure G bond proceeds; Review expenditure reports produced by the District to ensure that Measure G bond proceeds were expended only for the purposes set forth in Measure G; and Present to the Board of Education in public session, an annual written report outlining their activities and conclusions regarding the expenditure of Measure G bond proceeds. Measure G projects include Burnett modernization, Charter School of Morgan Hill multipurpose room, the Britton fencing project, renovations at San Martin/Gwinn and Paradise Valley, various roofing projects and the districts $22 million technology infrastructure. A major project on the horizon is the $50 million New Britton Project. Anyone interested in joining the COC, must complete an application, available on mhusd.org, by Jan. 26 and submit it to: Allison Murray, Morgan Hill Unified School District, [email protected], 15600 Concord Circle, Morgan CA 95037, (408) 201-6052. Heres a solution to High Speed Rail through Morgan Hill: I read an article that the city of Hawthorne, Calif., has signed a contract with the Elon Musk boring company to bore a two-mile tunnel for traffic. Why cant the state do the same thing with the High Speed Rail to bypass Morgan Hill downtown? Since there are no stops in Morgan Hill, this should be easy to do. Make it big enough for two trains (four tracks), and you can run the regular Union Pacific trains through it too. Morgan Hill could chip in for that as it will be a big benefit to the quality of life along the current Union Pacific tracks, where there have been a lot of homes built up lately. I dont understand why Gov. Jerry Brown hasnt proposed that solution. It would make his HSR less expensive. Seems like an easy, cheaper solution. Regards, Mark Ziebarth Morgan Hill Reams have already been written about the demise of Carillion (CLLN), and with it, one would like to hope, the disastrous PFI programme, but one point is worth noting. It is rare indeed for any company in the UK to go bust without there being ample warning signs over several months. If you stay in as a shareholder against all reason then Im afraid you have to take what is coming to you. Way back in August 2015, after David Camerons election victory which now seems like a distant dream, I tweeted that Carillions share price underplayed its contract wins. But you always have to take into account changing circumstances, and the unexpected Brexit vote plus Theresa Mays disastrous election campaign certainly changed the political landscape even without the main cause of Carillions demise, its hapless management. The shock is not that Carillion shares are now worthless, it is that anyone thought they were worth 14p right up to the point that trading in them was suspended. Its the hardest thing in the investment world to admit you bought a dud, but when profit warning follows profit warning, do need to face reality. Provident - It's Not Too Late to Sell Perhaps those who clung on at Carillion have made the same mistake at Provident Financial (PFG), the subprime lender that achieved the remarkable distinction of a double-digit share price fall on two consecutive days this week. The shake-up of its sales team last year, which saw the vital men and women on the doorstep cycle off to employment elsewhere, will take some unravelling, hence its warning this week that losses from the consumer credit division would be at the top end of the 80-120 million range indicated previously. Provident is struggling to re-engage with customers, a salutary lesson for all dealing directly with consumers that it is more expensive to win new customers than it is to keep existing ones. The shares were worth 36.25 last May but were already sliding before suffering the first sharp fall in mid-June. Those who ignored that ominous sign saw the shares drop off a cliff to 675p in August but they had the opportunity to cut their losses after a rebound to north of 900p on several occasions up to this week. If you didnt get the hint then, you surely have got it now at 700p. Unlike Carillion, I think that Provident will claw its way back but it will be a long, hard slog with possibly a rights issue along the way when shareholders will be asked to throw good money after bad. Its not too late to get out. Carpetright's Multiple Profit Warnings That all pales into insignificance, though, with the latest warning from Carpetright (CPR). Ben Marlow on Twitter reckons the floors and bedding company has issued 11 in the past 15 years, which is some going. In between there have been many false dawns but the overwhelming feeling has been one of disappointment. I can only hope that, unlike Carillion, Carpetright doesnt go bust as I have bought carpets and wooden flooring over the years and been very happy with my purchases. On the other hand, Ive never felt much temptation to buy the shares even in the better times. On a more cheerful note, homewares retailer Dunelm (DNLM) has reported a second quarter of sales growth to show that we are still prepared to spend money on our homes. It, too, has had its bad times over the years and the acquisition of Worldstores has altered the sales mix for the worse, so lower margins means sales will not fully flow through into profits. Remembering the lesson of Carpetright, where a sales pick-up can soon disappear, Id like to see a third good quarter at Dunelm and some evidence that the squeeze on margins is easing before even considering the shares but the drop in the share price after the trading update looked overdone. Rodney Hobson is a long-term investor commenting on his own portfolio; his comments are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice, nor are they the opinions of Morningstar. Midland ended 2017 with a labor market as strong as it was several years ago when crude prices were above $100 a barrel. The Texas Workforce Commission said Friday the Midland metropolitan statistical area had an unemployment rate of 2.5 percent in December, down marginally from 2.6 percent in November and well below the 4 percent recorded in December 2016. For the third consecutive month, Midland tied with Amarillo for the states lowest unemployment. Odessa saw a similar dip, dropping to 3.3 percent from 3.4 percent in November. Odessas unemployment rate in December 2016 was 5.6 percent. Willie Taylor, chief executive officer of the commissions Workforce Solutions Permian Basin, applauded the continued stability of the areas labor market -- from the labor force to industry composition to wages. With the holidays, we see few people filing for unemployment, but this year we saw very, very few. Thats a sign employers are maintaining their workforce, Taylor said. The offices he oversees continue to place 300 to 500 people in jobs each month, he said. Were seeing people from all over El Paso, Louisiana, all parts of the U.S. Some are skilled workers, some are semi-skilled workers. The area continues to need skilled workers, from drivers with commercial drivers licenses to teachers to medical technicians, he said. Our colleges expect solid enrollments for the spring semester, Taylor said. I look at our feeder system our schools, our community colleges, our university, and thats a positive sign for the region. A jump in the number of employed Midlanders, which rose by about 300 from November to December, combined with a drop in the number of unemployed Midlanders and an increase in the civilian labor force, helped send Decembers rate lower. The commission said Midland added 300 jobs from November to December, as the Tall Citys dominant mining, logging and Construction sector added 100 jobs, as did the Manufacturing Sector and the Leisure and Hospitality sector. All other industrial sectors were unchanged. For the 12 months from December 2016 to December 2017, Midland added 2,700 jobs for a growth rate of 3.1 percent. The mining, logging and construction sector added 2,200 new jobs for a 9.1 percent growth rate, while the government sector added 300 jobs and the manufacturing sector and other services sector added 200 jobs each. The leisure and hospitality sector added 100 jobs during that time. Taylor said he was pleased to see the addition of jobs in the manufacturing sector. Its always great to see any growth in manufacturing, he said. Those gains were offset by the loss of 100 jobs each in the trade, transportation and utilities sector, the information sector and the professional and business services sector. For anyone coming to the area, I strongly urge them to contact our workforce centers, and I guarantee we can put them to work, Taylor said. Statewide, the unemployment rate inched up to 3.9 percent from 3.8 percent in November. The commission said the state added 400 jobs in November and has added 306,900 seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs over the last year. Texas marked 92 consecutive months of annual job growth, with Decembers growth rate 2.5 percent. While Midland and Odessa reported the lowest unemployment, Beaumont-Port Arthur and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission reported the highest rate at 6.7 percent each. Midland unemployment January 2017 4.1 percent January 2016 4 percent February 2017 4.2 percent February 2016 4.2 percent March 2017 4 percent March 2016 4.4 percent April 2017 3.5 percent April 2016 4.5 percent May 2017 3.4 percent May 2016 4.5 percent June 2017 3.5 percent June 2016 5 percent July 2017 3.2 percent July 2016 4.9 percent August 2017 3.2 percent August 2016 4.7 percent September 2017 2.8 percent September 2016 4.6 percent October 2017 2.4 percent October 2016 4.3 percent November 2017 2.6 percent November 2016 4 percent December 2017 2.5 percent December 2016 4 percent Preliminary numbers for November with October numbers in parentheses: Amarillo 2.5 (2.6) Midland 2.5 (2.6) Austin-Round Rock 2.7 (2.7) College Station-Bryan 2.7 (2.7) Lubbock 2.7 (2.7) San Angelo 3.0 (3.1) San Antonio-New Braunfels 3.0 (3.0) Sherman-Denison 3.0 (3.1) Dallas-Plano-Irving 3.1 (3.1) Abilene 3.2 (3.2) Fort Worth-Arlington 3.2 (3.2) Wichita Falls 3.2 (3.3) Odessa 3.3 (3.4) Laredo 3.4 (3.4) Tyler 3.4 (3.5) Waco 3.4 (3.5) Killeen-Temple 3.5 (3.6) Victoria 3.9 (4.1) El Paso 4.0 (4.0) Longview 4.1 (4.2) Texarkana 4.1 (4.0) Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land 4.3 (4.3) Corpus Christi 5.2 (5.3) Brownsville-Harlingen 6.0 (5.8) Beaumont-Port Arthur 6.7 (6.5) McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 6.7 (6.2) This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Small Bites returns with your news on area restaurant and food trends. This week a new beverage spot opens but a favorite dining spot closes. Appetizers We reported Thursday that a sign had been placed on Furr's Fresh Buffet stating it was closed. No reason was given and attempts to reach out to Furr's have been unsuccessful. On Monday, we reported that HTeaO announced its opening on Thursday. The shop's grand opening however is today complete with a ribbon cutting held at 2 p.m. During the grand opening weekend, guests can enter to win one of three giveaways of free tea for a year. The store will also offer perpetual free beverages for law enforcement and uniformed first responders inside. See photos of the opening day above. On Monday, the Planning and Zoning commission approved a zone change for Tall City Brewery. Pending City Council approval, the new microbrewery will move forward in complete its indoor/outdoor tap room to open next year. Read more here. See photos from Sunday's Urban Market above. The downtown event featured local vendors, a brunch menu by Bus 22 and adult beverage from The Garlic Press. Read our preview of "Food Truck the Play" here. The play runs today and Saturday at the Yucca Theatre with, appropriately enough, food trucks available for bites before curtain and at intermission. Moving Out Steak 42 is moving from its Big Spring St. location into downtown. The restaurant announced that regular hours end Saturday in its current spot before moving to 106 A. St. The restaurant will take over the old Rue 432 space. With renovations to be made, an opening date will be announced later. On the Menu The Midland Odessa Symphony and Chorale will host another Symphony SoundBites before it's Feb. 3 "Fanfare" concert. The pre-concert supper is held int he Rea-Greathouse Recital Hall and will feature a talk by maestro Gary Lewis and featured musician timpanist Michael Tetrault who will perform the Timpani Concerto No. 1 later that evening. SoundBites tickets are $26 and reservations must be made by Jan. 29. Call 432-552-4437 to purchase. The Symphony SoundBites menu includes: Grilled lemon-oregano chicken Salmon cakes with cucumber sauce Tabbouleh Greek salad Lemon bars The French Press Cafe in Odessa is taking reservations for its Valentine's Dinner. The dinner will be held at 6:45 p.m. on Feb. 14 but reservations must be made by Feb. 8. Guests will be treated to live music and treated to a dozen roses. Reservations are $250 per couple and can be made by calling 4352-307-6592. The menu includes: Heart-shaped pesto pasta with French bread Choice between Chicken or Beef Wellington or Chicken Cordon Bleu Bacon-wrapped asparagus Twice-baked potato Heart shaped brownie Complimentary bottle of champagne or wine Snack Time National Popcorn Day is Jan. 19 which is today. Popcorn Premiere is getting in on the celebration. The shop is offering a 10 percent off all orders for the day. Thus, it's a perfect time to try their best selling flavors like extra buttery caramel, fried pickle and extra cheesy cheese. The store also sells old-fashioned sodas and candy as well. Regal Cinemas is also offering a discount for today only with 50 percent off any size popcorn on Friday only. Just Desserts Saturday is the last day to snag a free pie from Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop. The pie store is offering a free mini pie with the purchase of another. Just present this coupon to the cashier for your item. The shop also posted on its Facebook page that it will now begin offering Twelve Gate Coffee. On Saturday, the shop will offer free coffee samples from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. of the drink with a representative there to talk about the product. As an added bonus, pie samples will also be available. Susie's South Forty Confections is now taking reservations for tours for adults and children. See how the magic is made inside the candy factory. Guests will also get to use the chocolate fountain for dipping and can receive discounts for taking the tour. To book, call 1-800-221-4442. Good Food Abuelo's recently raised $8,325 for Homes for Our Troops, a nonprofit that builds adapted homes for injured veterans. Upcoming food, drink and restaurant events Today| Friday Tasting with Mardi Gras Bock beer Chateau Souverain wine. 4-8 p.m. at The Cellar, 5100 E. University Blvd., Odessa. Fridays | Steak Night featuring sirloin, strip, flank and ribs by Midland Meat Company. Steaks are limited. 5:30-10 p.m. at Basin Burger House, 607 N. Colorado St. Thursday | Four to Sixer Mixer by VisitMidland with refreshments and giveaways for guests. 4-6 p.m. at Sleep Inn and Suites of Midland. 5612 Deauville Road. visitmidlandtexas.com. Jan. 27 | Winter Market II by the Midland Downtown Farmers Market. 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Museum of the Southwest, 1705 W. Missouri Ave. Feb. 2 | Empty Bowls 2018 hosted by West Texas Food Bank. The event features handmade ceramic bowls created by students and faculty of Odessa and Midland Colleges, UTPB, The Odessa High School International Baccalaureate Program, Boys & Girls Club of Odessa and Midland and Trinity School. Bowls are $15 each. 7-9 p.m. at Trinity School, 3500 W. Wadley Ave. wtxfoodbank.org. Feb. 26 | Shrimpfest. Sponsor cocktail hour, 5:30 p.m., general admission 7 p.m. at Ector County Coliseum. $40 advance, $45 door. Noelartmuseum.org. Iowa is shirking its responsibility to help people with mental health problems, Fred Hubbell, a Democrat running for governor, said in Davenport on Thursday, calling the state's response "embarrassing." Hubbell spent about an hour Thursday afternoon at the River Music Experience with participants and officials from the Scott County Mental Health Court, part of a tour across the state the Des Moines businessman and candidate is conducting this week. The mental health court, a local pilot project, is aimed at keeping offenders with chronic mental health conditions out of prison through intensive intervention. The court has long-term funding challenges, though. In addition, lack of transitional housing is an issue. Longer-term inpatient psychiatric care is needed to help with people whose problems are so severe they can't be accommodated in other settings. Hubbell has proposed adding 50 to 75 long term in-patient psychiatric beds, and he criticized the state's decision to close two of its state-run mental health facilities. Hubbell is one of seven Democrats running for governor, and mental health has been a key part of the campaign. A mental health forum was held among the candidates in Des Moines last month. This is the second time in the last couple of months that Hubbell has heard from participants and organizers of the mental health court. One participant, Shane Wheeler, said he is determined to get through the five-step program, which involves five levels of supervision. Wheeler said without it, he would likely be in prison or dead. "I love this program and everyone in it," he said. Hubbell noted his mental health plan, which was released last month, does not include programs like the mental health or drug courts. But in an interview afterward, he said they and similar initiatives could be included in community-based programs. Hubbell said there could be a role for state funding. But he added, "It could also come from the state allowing local counties to consider whether they want to not limit so much the levee for mental health." Scott County, as well as other parts of the state, have complained about state-imposed limits on their ability to raise property taxes to fund mental health services. Hubbell said he would consider removing those limits. Musician Aaron Carter's twin sister, Angel Carter ConradShe has broken her silence about the death of her brother, with whom she had a turbulent relationship in the last years of his life. The former child singer was found dead at his home We have independently selected these offers and products because we love them and we think you might like them at these prices. E! has affiliate relationships, so we may earn a commission if you buy something through our links. Items are EAGLE GROVE | Earlier this month, the Wright County Board of Supervisors approved up to $1.5 million in county dollars for a $6 million, 13,200-square-foot addition to the Eagle Grove elementary school. Eagle Grove Superintendent Jess Toliver and Belmond-Klemme Superintendent Dan Frazier disagreed on whether that move should have taken place, and whether tax increment financing also known as TIF, a type of public financing used to subsidize redevelopment, infrastructure and other community-related projects was the best route for funding the addition. The TIF financing is directly related to the incoming Prestage pork processing plant, which will be located in rural Eagle Grove. In the first 10 years, the $250 million plant is expected to generate $1.8 million annually for taxing entities in Wright County, the company said on its website, and more than $2 million each year after that. Multiple people who have studied TIF issues for decades told the Globe Gazette this week that while Eagle Grove and Wright County's use of TIF funding seems rare, it's a fair use of county money. Dave Swenson, an associate scientist in the Department of Economics at Iowa State University, said the type of financing is typically used for other infrastructure needs, like water, sewer or fixing roads. He does, however, believe Eagle Grove is right in receiving the money, because the TIF district only includes Prestage and the Eagle Grove school district, and not neighboring school districts in Wright County. "That school district (Eagle Grove) is the only district that was impacted directly by the granting of the tax increment financing to Prestage," Swenson said. Peter Fisher, research director at the Iowa Policy Project, has taught TIF-related courses at the University of Iowa. Like Swenson, he said he hasn't seen this particular use of TIF funding like the Eagle Grove addition. Fisher said TIF has changed since it was initially introduced decades ago, because the concept was additionally only intended for "blighted" areas. Now, he said, the money can be used for "economic development," allowing it to be used in a much wider range of projects. According to Fisher, what makes Eagle Grove's situation unique is that school districts typically suffer when it comes to similar funding situations. "School districts are often left having to raise taxes," he said about similar situations. "But here, its almost like the county was doing a TIF on behalf of the school district So theyre (county and school officials) saying, well, the (Prestage) plants gonna cause population growth ... it's an innovative use of TIF." Larry Sigel is another academic who has studied finance issues including TIF. He currently works for Iowa School Finance Information Systems, which helps "provide electronic finance tools and financial consulting services to Iowa public schools," according to its website. Like Swenson and Fisher, Sigel said Eagle Grove's funding is fair use of TIF dollars. He's seen similar examples before, but indicated it's rare to see counties and public school districts working together to solve a common issue in this case, an education shortage because of expected population growth. "That doesnt mean its bad," Sigel said. "If I could get 99 counties to work with over 300 school districts, we could solve some problems." Swenson, Fisher and Sigel all indicated that using TIF money for a school addition seems like a positive use of funds. Swenson, however, is skeptical of how many people will live in and near Eagle Grove, simply because of a new pork processing plant. He added he disagrees with some of the studies Wright County has used to determine population growth and expansion because of Prestage. "This is just one of those interesting things where local governments try to get creative," Swenson said. "I dont know how its going to play out." Fisher, however, said he is in support of what Wright County and Eagle Grove is trying to do. "Overall, Ive seen some pretty egregious uses of TIF, but building an addition for school children seems to be one of the better uses," he said. Hopefully, Eagle Grove's example can serve as an indicator for other school districts and communities, and how they can properly use TIF dollars, Sigel said. "The more that people understand what the process is, the better," he said. "Ive been working in the area over 20 years, and its complex ... the simple explanations often dont work, it does require people to sit and find out about this stuff." Kathy Ann (Dirksen) O'Dell October 22, 1952 - January 16, 2018 MASON CITY | Kathy Ann (Dirksen) O'Dell, 65, died Tuesday (January 16, 2018) at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa, Mason City due to a heart attack. Upon her wishes she was cremated. A private family memorial will be held in Mason City. In Lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Kathy A. O'Dell Memorial Fund in care of the family. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.majorericksonfuneralhome.com Kathy was born October 22, 1952, in Mason City, the daughter of Robert and Theodora Babe (Pappas) Dirksen. She was a graduate of Mason City High School. On February 27, 1971, she was united in marriage to Bill O'Dell and to this union four children were born. During her time as a homemaker, Kathy received two Bachelors Degrees (Early Childhood Development & Elementary Education) and a Masters Degree in Elementary Education from the University of Northern Iowa. She went on to teach in various locations, but most noteworthy were the positions she held for many years in Texas and Alaska. This was part of the rewarding and challenging adventure she took with Bill as they became the parents of adult children. Kathy also worked at the Rockwell and Mason City libraries. Kathy could be as stubborn as the day was long, but she had a heart of gold. She tried to go the extra mile to ensure the people in her life felt special and loved through her kind gestures and baked goods. Her easygoing personality and laughter made time spent with her priceless. Her grandkids were the beneficiaries of her tender heart. She encouraged her grandchildren to share her love of reading and silliness. She applauded their imaginations and rarely told them no (often to their parents' dismay). Instead of a brag book, she carried a large brag album in her purse to showcase each of her treasured grandchildren. Kathy's declining health eventually lead to her being homebound where she still enjoyed spending time with family, reading, and sharing a laugh. She relished in listening to others and many will miss her attentive, selfless nature. Kathy is survived by her spouse, Bill; her children, Bill O'Dell of Colorado, Dan (Toni) O'Dell of Rochester, MN, Tracie (Ryan) Behr of Grimes, and Fred (Stacey) O'Dell of Grimes; grandchildren, Billy, Deacon and Peyton O'Dell, Morgan and Jamison O'Dell and Anais Lambertson-Clayton, Halie, Lexie, Rylie, and Griffin Behr, and Bradley and Elizabeth O'Dell; her mother-in-law, Donna O'Dell of Mason City, one sister, Linda (David) Nolte, of Mason City; along with several nieces and nephews, other relatives and friends. Kathy is preceded in death by her parents Bob and Babe Dirksen; father-in-law Bill O'Dell; her brother-in-law Bob O'Dell; and grandparents, Ole and Eva Dirksen and George and Elizabeth Pappas. Arrangements are with Major Erickson Funeral Home & Crematory, 111 N. Pennsylvania Avenue, Mason City, Iowa 50401, 641-423-0924, www.majorericksonfuneralhome.com. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Investigators on Thursday raided Newsweeks offices in New York as part of a probe into the magazines connection to California-based Olivet University, according to the New York Post. An anonymous source told the Post that the investigation was believed to be connected to Olivet University, which was started in 2000 by pastor David Jang, leader of a Christian sect that calls itself the Community. The evangelical Christian school, which counts four campuses across the country and offices on Howard Street in San Francisco, has close ties to Newsweeks parent company. The Post reported that roughly two dozen investigators from the Manhattan district attorneys office arrived at Newsweeks offices early Thursday morning before leaving with several of the magazines computer servers. Olivets San Francisco campus, located at 1025 Howard St., was mostly deserted Friday morning. Blinds were drawn in many of the windows, though the front door was propped open and lights were on near the front desk. A stack of newspapers sat untouched, and a bulletin board was empty of flyers. A woman who answered the door said that an Olivet official inside was unwilling to be interviewed about the university and shut the door. A grand jury investigation of Newsweek Media Group, formerly known as International Business Times Media, has been ongoing for at least 17 months, a source familiar with the matter told Newsweek in the publications own story about the raid of its offices. In 2014, Mother Jones reported extensively on the convoluted relationship among International Business Times Media, Olivet, Jang and, by extension, the newly acquired Newsweek. Although IBT carefully avoided public association with the Community, behind the scenes the connections were clear, reporter Ben Dooley wrote in the Mother Jones report. Newsweek, a weekly magazine founded in 1933, was purchased in 2013 by International Business Times Media, which has since changed its name to Newsweek Media Group. The founders of IBT, Etienne Uzac and Jonathan Davis, both have deep ties to Olivet. Davis is married to Tracy Davis, the president of the university, and Uzac is married to a translator for Jang, who is Korean. Tracy Davis did not respond to The Chronicles requests for comment. Mother Jones reported that some employees at the university, often brought to the U.S. with their IBT-employed spouses, violated immigration laws and were denied proper wages. Since International Business Times Media bought Newsweek, Olivet has experienced significant revenue growth. Between 2012 and 2015, Olivets revenue has nearly tripled. According to forms filed with the Internal Revenue Service, the universitys 2012 revenue was just over $11.7 million. In 2015, the amount grew to $28.2 million. The organizations reported expenses have grown during that period, too: from about $5.5 million in 2012 to about $19.7 million in 2015. Newsweek Media Group confirmed the search Thursday by investigators, but the company emphasized in a statement that it was unrelated to editorial operations. No information regarding the companys content, stories, personnel, or sources was given and Newsweek Media Group has been assured by the DAs office that the investigation is not about any content-related issues, the statement said. Sophie Haigney is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sophie.haigney@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SophieHaigney California Highway Patrol / A Pleasanton woman was sentenced Friday to seven years in state prison after she was convicted of driving under the influence in a crash that killed a 3-year-old boy, prosecutors said. Yarenit Malihan, 41, pleaded guilty to felony gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated with an enhancement for multiple victims, said Contra Costa County Deputy District Attorney Alison Chandler. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 Billy Calzada /Staff photographer Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Billy Calzada /Staff file photo Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Express-News file photo Show More Show Less 5 of 5 The Botanica Music and Arts Festival has named three of the citys top food industry pros as culinary and beverage ambassadors to the festival. Chefs Diego Galicia and Rico Torres, co-owners of Mixtli, have been tapped as culinary ambassadors, and their duties will include organizing a food truck park and a food program for the festivals VIP Village with eats from more than 15 local, regional and national chefs focused on the flavors of San Antonio and South Texas. Galicia and Torres recently were named two of the 12 best new chefs in the U.S. by Food and Wine magazine. Dear Mr. Premack: A few years ago, a good friend asked me to keep the original of her will in my lockbox. Her kids do not get along with each other. She said that if she kept the will at home, she feared one of her kids might find and read the will, triggering some argument. Last week my friend died, and I realized I dont know what I am supposed to do with the will. It doesnt seem right to give it to one of her kids. Any suggestions? L.C. You are right to be careful. If you gave the will to one of her adult children, you have no idea how the will could be mishandled. You do, however, have a legal obligation to take action. So, what is the best procedure to follow? VARUN MONDAIYKA Background: He was born in India in Bangalore. His family immigrated to the United States when he was 11 months old. He lives in Latham with his father Sumit, is senior director for GE Digital, and his mother, Prachi, a business architect in state government. He's 15 and has a beagle named Buddy. He's in 10th grade at Shaker High School in Colonie. You sent me an email, saying you enjoy Faces of Faith throughout the year and liked seeing all the 2017 Faces of Faith on the page last month. You wrote you were "praying for universal peace not just one faith, one country or one race," and for the universe as one family through nonviolence. Nonviolence is one of the founding doctrines of Hinduism. Yoga and meditation, with their roots in Hinduism emphasize nonviolence, self-improvement and common threads of our existence as the human race. I have shared stories from my childhood and culture and have always been touched by the great similarities in the core of all faiths. I have collaborated with many religious groups through storytelling as part of Children of the Well since I was 9. Performing in Congregation Ohav Shalom, the Schenectady mosque, the Hindu temple in Albany, the Unitarian Universalist congregation in Schenectady, St. Paul's Church in Troy, at the UAlbany interfaith center and other places has widened my understanding of cultures and exposure different upbringings, countries and faiths. Sharing messages from representatives of various faiths helps us build a better community with conscious and confident citizens, which sees folks of different cultures, countries, faiths as belonging to the human race. Are you and your family members of a Hindu congregation? We go to several different temples. We say prayers at home during the day and before we eat, spending a few minutes thanking God for what we have. At home we have pictures of various gods, incense, candles and books. Some are in Hindi we speak Hindi at home but I don't read and write it. Prayer is all about your own individual judgment. There are different ways to understand God on your personal journey. A lot of people focus on one God or one person, but eventually we all come to understand God and be close to him. What are your favorite subjects in high school? I've always liked science and math. They make sense to me. I love technology because it's the application of science and math. At my school, we have good mentors and teachers, who know their stuff, have a passion for sharing it and are willing to spend the time with us. My courses are English, pre-calculus, physics, Spanish, engineering manufacturing, computer science and world history. History fascinates me. It teaches us of our past and how to apply that to today. We're studying the time between the world wars. I was fascinated by Harrapan civilization. It was an advanced society in the Indus Valley during the Bronze Age extending from modern-day Afghanistan to Pakistan and India with science, farming, art and architecture but it was not engaged in wars. It could advance and evolve ahead of other societies because it did not invest in war. What do you see in the future? It's up for grabs. Sometimes it sounds like everything is chaotic. There are all these issues about wars, tensions in the Middle East, terrorist groups like ISIS, mass shootings. But there is lot more good than bad. When I look at all the people around me, I want to learn about them. I've never met a person I couldn't talk with. We might not agree but we can respect each other's views. I always walk away learning something positive from them. They say, you never know what you'll learn when you listen and not just hear. I am an optimist. I know that the more we open ourselves and understand each other, the better are our chances of making the world a better place. Rob Brill On this date in ... 1918: In a break from the Heatless Mondays order to conserve coal consumption, grocery stores, meat markets, both wholesale and retail, and other food purveyors were granted the concession to remain open all day. Albany County food administrator G. William McEwan received the order from Federal Food Administrator Herbert Hoover and set about contacting local stores and food dealers. Local fuel administrator G.Y. Lansing had not received any communication from the federal fuel administration to that effect, but after conferring with McEwan, sent the order out. 1968: A committee of state leaders in medicine, law and theology, and representatives of civic groups was appointed by Gov. Nelson Rockefeller to review the state's abortion laws. The panel was given two points of focus: the conditions under which abortions should be authorized and procedures to verify existence of such conditions. Under the 84-year-old law, an abortion could be performed only when the life of the mother was imperiled. The governor had stated at a recent news conference that he was for some liberalization of abortion laws this year. 1993: The expected high-power role of the nation's new first lady began coming into view, with White House officials saying that Hillary Rodham Clinton would be a key player in shaping domestic policy proposals, particularly in the area of health care reform. It was not clear what her job officially would be called. White House communications director George Stephanopoulos said that those details had not yet been worked out. But, Stephanopoulos said, "She'll be closely involved in developing health policy with the president, and she'll be a part of those discussions." Want to read more about the Capital Region's past? Have any memories or thoughts about how our history relates to today's events? See http://blog.timesunion.com/history/ MASON CITY | The state agency with the money to help fund Mason City's River City Renaissance Project is willing to wait for the city to meet all requirements for the money but it must be done by June 30, a spokeswoman said Friday. The Iowa Economic Development Authority Board deferred action "until further notice" Friday on Mason City's request for up to $10 million to help leverage the city's $38 million downtown project. There was no discussion. The board has given the city several extensions on meeting its requirements but has not grown impatient, said Kanan Kappelman, marketing and communications spokeswoman for the board. "The board's stance on this is that we understand some projects take longer than others and we are willing to work with the cities," she said. "The board wants to make sure all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed. "But the program ends on July 1 so June 30 is the absolute deadline," she said. Interim City Administrator Kevin Jacobson said last week there were three major hurdles for the city to meet the state requirements signing a development agreement with the developer; G8 Development dropping a lawsuit it had against the city for an earlier hotel deal that fell through; and proof of appropriate financing. Jacobson said the first two requirements have been fulfilled. The missing link is the proof of financing. Chodur claimed in an email Thursday he has the financing and blames the city for dragging its feet. The River City Renaissance Project includes a hotel in the Southbridge parking lot, connected to The Music Man Square via a skywalk; a conference center inside The Music Man Square; building a museum adjacent to the Square; and putting a performing arts pavilion and an ice arena/multipurpose center in Southbridge Mall. The money would come from the Iowa Reinvestment Act which the IEDA oversees. The hotel is a key component in the city's project because one of the requirements is $10 million in private investment. The hotel is valued at $15 million. Chodur originally planned to build a hotel next to City Hall. When he failed to meet several construction deadlines, the city found him in default and the deal fell through. City officials said at the time that Chodur could not get financing. After he defaulted, the city put out requests for new bidders. G8 and Gatehouse Capital responded. The City Council approved Gatehouse's proposal. The council negotiated with Gatehouse for several months during which major changes were made in the proposed agreement. Because of that, the city was required by state law to put the project out for bids once again. G8 submitted a bid that the council found more favorable than Gatehouse's, council members said. They voted to go with G8. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Jefferson Award nominations sought COLONIE Nominations are wanted for the Jefferson Awards, which recognize local people doing extraordinary volunteer work in the community. The American Institute for Public Service, which established the Jefferson Awards, was created in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S. Sen. Robert Taft Jr. and Sam Beard. Send nominations online through Feb. 27 to timesunion.com/JeffersonAwards. Nomination forms also may be printed and mailed to: Charmaine Ushkow, Times Union, 645 Albany Shaker Road, Colonie 12211. Locally, the Jefferson Awards are sponsored by St. Peter's Health Partners, WNYT NewsChannel 13 and the Times Union. One of the Jefferson Award recipients will represent the Greater Capital District at the national Jefferson Awards in June in Washington, D.C. Patrick Kelsey of Latham, who had been a volunteer with the American Red Cross since 1985, was selected to represent the region at the national event last year. From biomedical services to disaster recovery efforts, he has responded to hundreds of local crises. In 2016 alone, he worked 932 hours and was on call 5,964 hours. Judges from the sponsoring partners will select the finalists and medalists, who will be honored April 19 at a reception at the Century House in Latham. Meeting on corridor slated Wednesday CLIFTON PARK A public information meeting on the project involving Sitterly Road at Woodin Road and Crossing Boulevard will be 6 p.m. Wednesday, at the Clifton Park Halfmoon Emergency Corps station. The night starts with an open house, then a 6:15 p.m. presentation, followed by another open house, according to the town website. Working with the town of Halfmoon, Clifton Park has secured grant funding for traffic and pedestrian improvements in the corridor, Supervisor Phil Barrett has said. The idea behind the project is to improve traffic flow and extend the sidewalk network. Three projects on planning agenda GUILDERLAND The Town Planning Board meets at 7 p.m. Wednesday, on three projects, according to the agenda on the town website. They are: M.A. Schafer Construction, 2794 W. Old State Road. Public hearing on the preliminary plan of a proposed five-lot major subdivision of 3.91 acres. Hiawatha Land Development, 6051 and 6025 State Farm Road. Advisory opinion to rezone 43.8 acres of land to allow a four-story, 256-unit independent senior housing complex and two-story 30,000-square foot commercial office building on 23.1 acres. Remaining 20.7 acres to be donated to the town for park purposes. Ritano 6232 Johnston Road. Continued site plan review for two 36-unit senior apartment buildings on 8 acres. SCCC speaker to address biases SCHENECTADY "You Are More Than A Label: Changing the Narrative on Student Success" will be the topic of a free talk by Bryant Marks, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Thursday at the Carl B. Taylor Auditorium, SUNY Schenectady County Community College, 78 Washington Ave. He will demonstrate that stereotypes are often based on unconscious, "implicit" biases. Marks has served as a senior adviser for the Obama White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and as the commissioner for the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African-Americans. Details at https://sunysccc.edu. Grafton state park hosting Winter Fest CROPSEYVILLE Outdoor and indoor events will be part of the free 33rd Winter Fest scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday at Grafton Lakes State Park, located off of Route 2. The festival, which will feature exhibits, food vendors and family friendly recreational activities, is sponsored by the park and the Friends of Grafton Lake State Park. Enjoy a guided snowshoe or cross-country ski outing, horse-drawn carriage rides, a guided morning walk for dogs, a demonstration by the Parks K9 Unit, snow bowling hill, snowshoe races, sled rides with the Northland Newfoundlands, snowmobile rides, snow fort building and an ice dive demonstration. The Polar Plunge, benefiting Our Lady of the Snow Parish's food pantry, will kick off the main events at 10:30 a.m. To register, call Ray Dozois, 518-663-5648 or 518-279-1155. Tax services effort to begin on Friday MECHANICVILLE The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program of the Internal Revenue Service and the United Way of the Greater Capital Region will start its free tax preparation and filing services season Friday at various locations in the Capital Region, including the Mechanicville Area Community Services Center Inc., 6 S. Main St. VITA tax preparers are trained and certified by the IRS and are versed in tax law. The program offers free tax preparation services for individuals and families with an income of less than $54,000 a year. The Mechanicville Community Center will provide free tax services Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and select Saturdays, with day and evening appointments available. To schedule an appointment, call 518-664-8322, Ext. 311. For details, call 518-664-8322, Ext. 303, or email acowell@mechanicvilleacsc.org. Honor Flight vets, volunteers sought COLONIE Leatherstocking Honor Flight and Capital District Patriot, local Honor Flight hubs, are accepting applications from veterans and guardians for upcoming flights to Washington, D.C., to visit the memorials. Leatherstocking Honor Flight seeks World War II veterans from the greater Capital Region, as well as Vermont and western Massachusetts. Guardians, who assist disabled veterans, and volunteers are also sought. To reserve a place, call 518-430-2136, or email: rebeccad@summitsaratoga.com. Applications for veterans and guardians can be downloaded from http://patriotflight.org. Donations are needed to help finance the excursions. Mail applications or donations to Patriot Flight, Box 190, Delmar, 12054. For information, call Frank DeSorbo at 518-439-9265 or email him: fomservice@aol.com. The next Patriot Flight will be in April. Talk, book signing planned Thursday ALBANY Freelance journalist, author and activist Amanda Lindhout is giving a talk and book signing Thursday at Emma Willard School in Troy through the Albany chapter of the Entrepreneurs' Organization. Lindhout, who wrote The New York Times best-seller memoir "A House in the Sky," was held hostage for 460 days in Somalia when doing freelance reporting on the country's civil war in 2008. She returned to Somalia in 2009 to lead famine relief efforts. The event is 8:30 to 11 a.m. at Higgins Auditorium on the Troy campus. Tickets are available to Entrepreneurs' Organization members, Strategic Alliance partners, sponsors and their guests. For information on membership or to become a Strategic Alliance partner, email eoalbanyhn@gmail.com Compiled by Azra Haqqie Some say love can be found in the craziest of places. For one Cypress area couple, their relationship was cheesy from the start. They found love in a restaurant over cheese fondue. Now, Troy and Melissa Boyce, 12 years later as a married couple, are the owners of The Cheese Bar at the Boardwalk at Towne Lake, and recently celebrated National Cheese Lover's Day with the community. National Cheese Lover's Day was Jan. 20, and to help spread their love for cheese, the couple offered free cheese samples, samples of mac and cheese, and offered 15 percent off of deli items. The couple believes cheese is something to celebrate with others. "I love National Cheese Lover's Day because I'm a cheese lover," Troy said. "However, I love cheese every day, it's like Mother's Day and Valentine's Day; I love my wife 365 days." Doors to The Cheese Bar opened in May of 2016, and offers cheese plates as well as several custom-selected wines and local craft beers. Cheeses at the bar are local and from countries such as Italy. In 2014, the couple and parents to one daughter, moved to Cypress from Pittsburgh and they noticed the lack of places to get quality cheese in the area. Troy was laid off from his job in November 2015, and that is when the Boyce's decided to run their own cheese business. Troy, whose resume includes working in the restaurant and cheese industry, managed several restaurants in California and Pennsylvania. He also gained experience in retail grocery cheese departments in the Pittsburgh area. Even though he has may years of experience working with food, Troy believes the people he serves is the most important part of the job. "I'm not in the food industry; I'm in the people industry. I want to make sure people are happy when they leave," Troy said. "It's my passion, and it's about our guests. I'm very passionate about getting involved with the community as possible." In addition to serving cheese, Troy enjoys learning the history of different cheeses around the world. He believes that it is beautiful that there are stories of groups of people around the world who created different cheeses that were specific to their region and time in history. Melissa, who is a free-lance graphic designer who also orders the cheeses and wines for the bar, lived close to the Napa Valley and worked in the travel industry, and it led her to gain exposure to good cheese and wine. "I like being able to expose cheeses to people that had no idea about because most of the cheeses we have you can't buy in the Northwest Houston area," Melissa said. "Nobody has ever heard of some of these cheeses, and it's cool to see people learn in a very comfortable environment. It's easy to sell it because I truly enjoy (cheese), and it's genuine. It's not hard when you stand behind what you are selling." The couple's mission is to provide high quality cheeses and meats to the community. The Cheese Bar is an American bistro and European-style cheese shop offering patrons a variety of cheese-centric dishes, such as gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, and the restaurant's mac and cheese featuring a blend of five cheeses mixed with chopped jalapenos and topped with bacon, breadcrumbs, and green onion. While working in a winery in California, Melissa was introduced to a tasty flatbread. Now a similar dish is served at The Cheese Bar and is a best seller. The Turkey, Brie and Apple Sandwich is a cheesy sandwich that includes oven roasted turkey piled with melted brie, Granny Smith apples, sauteed onions, arugula, and peach jam on grilled artisanal bread. Troy's favorite cheeses include Tallegio and aged cheddar. Melissa's choice of cheese includes anything blue or buttery. Last year the couple opened their second cheese bar in Katy. In the future, the couple hopes to expand their cheese business. "I hope people walk out of here thinking it's a cool place and they want to come back. We are a mom and pop store and this is the first store we have ever owned," Melissa said. "I can't tell you how grateful I am for people to come support a small business. I feel very grateful for the community we have because we have some regulars that come in here, and we appreciate that very much." The Cheese Bar at the Boardwalk at Towne Lake 9945 Barker Cypress Rd. #125 Cypress, TX 77433 281-245-0909 https://www.thecheesebar.net Carrie Ann boutique opts to stay at Market Street After a successful season as a holiday pop-up shop, women's boutique Carrie Ann will continue to welcome shoppers with a location at Market Street The Woodlands through 2018. The boutique, which also offers stylish dog accessories, will be located on pavilion way near Cakewalk and Tory Burch. Locally owned by Carrie Ann Sanders, Carrie Ann features stylish looks and caters to women of all body types and ages. Carrie Ann selects original styles and unique, sophisticated collections and accessories and strives to make each guest's shopping experience truly enjoyable and memorable. "We are thrilled to stay at Market Street beyond what we'd originally imagined would be a short-term holiday pop-up shop," Sanders said. "We've gotten such a fantastic response from the community and are looking forward to providing our unique styles for shoppers here." For the style-savvy pooch, Carrie Ann offers a wide selection of doggie apparel and must-have accessories to keep furry four-legged friends on trend. Carrie Ann's original location is at Uptown Park in Houston. For more information, visit www.shopcarrieann.com. Local clinician elected to national medical society board Spring resident Dr. Stacy Norton, MD, has been elected to the Board of the Society of OB/GYN Hospitalists (SOGH), a rapidly growing organization of physicians, midwives, nurses and other individuals in the healthcare field who support the OB/GYN Hospitalist model. A board certified OB/GYN, Norton serves as OB Hospitalist Group Team Lead at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital in The Woodlands. 5.11 Tactical opens new location in Shenandoah An international clothing chain that provides tactical gear, 5.11 Tactical, has opened a new location at 19075 Interstate 45 N., Ste. 113B, Shenandoah. The store held a grand opening and ribbon cutting Jan. 6. A huge crowd was in attendance as the city welcomed them to Shenandoah. 5.11 Tactical sells items such as police, fire and EMS gear, gun holsters, eye wear and fitness apparel. It also offers all things tactical-boots, bags, backpacks, belts, knives and covert gear. Hours of operation are from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. on Sundays. Call 346-704-0891 or visit www.511tactical.com/thewoodlands-tx-77385 for more information. - Business Briefs is compiled by Villager Staff Writer Patricia Dillon. Anyone with interesting business-related news or press releases relevant to The Woodlands can email them to Dillon at: patricia.dillon@chron.com; or to Editor Jeff Forward at: jeff.forward@chron.com. Facebook unveiled major changes Friday to the News Feed of its 2 billion users, announcing it will rank news organizations by credibility based on user feedback and diminish its role as an arbiter of the news people see. The move comes after the company endured harsh criticism for allowing disinformation to spread on its social network and for favoring liberal outlets over conservative ones. In a blog post accompanying the announcement, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg wrote Facebook is not "comfortable" deciding which news sources are the most trustworthy in a "world with so much division." "We decided that having the community determine which sources are broadly trusted would be most objective," he wrote. The new trust rankings will emerge from surveys the company is conducting. "Broadly trusted" outlets that are affirmed by a significant cross-section of users may see a boost in readership, while less known organizations or start-ups receiving poor ratings could see their web traffic decline significantly on the social network. The company's changes include an effort to boost the content of local news outlets, which have suffered sizable subscription and readership declines as news consumption migrated online. The changes follow another major News Feed redesign, announced last week, in which Facebook said users would begin to see less content from news organizations and brands in favor of "meaningful" posts from friends and family. Currently, 5 percent of Facebook posts are generated by news organizations; that number is expected to drop to 4 percent after the redesign, Zuckerberg said. Facebook and other Silicon Valley giants are grappling with their roles as dominant distributors of information in an era of foreign manipulation of social media platforms and dwindling revenues for many media outlets. On Friday, Google announced it would cancel a two-month-old experiment, called Knowledge Panel, that informed its users that a news article had been disputed by independent fact-checking organizations. Conservatives had complained the feature unfairly targeted a right-leaning outlet. More than two-thirds of Americans now get some of their news from social media, according to Pew Research Center. That shift has empowered Facebook and Google, putting them in an uncomfortable position of deciding what news they should distribute to their global audiences. But it also has led to questions about whether these corporations should be considered media companies. Daniel Kreiss, a professor at the school of media and journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said Facebook was now "offloading" its responsibilities for accuracy and quality onto its users. "Just by putting things out to a vote in terms of what the community would find trustworthy undermines the role for any serious institutionalized process to determine what's quality and what's not," he said. Facebook has also been the target of accusations of political partisanship. In the summer of 2016, Facebook was charged with excluding conservative media outlets from Trending Topics, a list of top stories that runs on the upper right hand side of Facebook pages. After conducting an investigation, the company discovered it had left the ranking decisions up to low-level contractors. Ultimately, Zuckerberg ended up inviting conservative media figures to Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park to apologize for the misunderstanding. He also made the decision to fire the contractors who served as editors of Trending Topics, opting instead for a more technological approach. But outsourcing the decision to software algorithms led to further criticism that the social network had become vulnerable to bad actors seeking to spread disinformation. Quality news got less exposure than click-bait in many cases. And users were not being exposed to diverse viewpoints. These issues exploded during the presidential campaign, as false stories, such as the Pope endorsing Trump for president, generated more traffic than those from mainstream news outlets and investigators discovered that Russian operatives were using the social network to spread disinformation and divisive content. Jay Rosen, a journalism professor at New York University, said that Facebook learned the wrong lesson from Trending Topics, which was to try to avoid politics at all costs. "One of the things that can happen if you are determined to avoid politics at all costs is you are driven to illusory solutions," he said. "I don't think there is any alternative to using your judgement. But Facebook is convinced that there is. This idea that they can avoid judgement is part of their problem." He acknowledged Facebook was in a tough position. "They are looking for a safe approach," Rosen added. "And sometimes you can be a situation where there is no safe route out." Surveys of media credibility have varied widely over the years, partly because political persuasion appears to shape how Americans view news organizations. A poll conducted last year by the Missouri School of Journalism found Buzzfeed and Breitbart to be among the least credible sources, while The Economist and "public television" was the most trusted. Facebook revealed few details about how it is conducting its trust surveys, declining to share copies with The Washington Post. But Zuckerberg wrote that the decision came after substantial internal debate. "The hard question we've struggled with is how to decide what news sources are broadly trusted," Zuckerberg wrote. "We could try to make that decision ourselves, but that's not something we're comfortable with. We considered asking outside experts, which would take the decision out of our hands but would likely not solve the objectivity problem. Or we could ask you -- the community -- and have your feedback determine the ranking." Facebook's previous efforts to ask its users to determine the accuracy of news have not always turned out well. Last year, the company launched a feature that allowed users to flag news stories they felt were inaccurate. The experiment was shuttered after a nine months. Some experts wondered whether Facebook's latest effort could be gamed. Renee DiResta, head of public policy at the non-profit organization Data for Democracy, applauded efforts by technology companies to come up with innovative ways to measure quality and weed out disinformation. But she raised concerns over whether Facebook's survey could be manipulated, for example, if certain media organizations encouraged their users to flood the surveys with identical responses. "This seems like a positive step toward improving the news environment on Facebook," Diresta said. "That said, the potential downside is that the survey approach unfairly penalizes emerging publications." NEW HAVEN A New Haven man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court Thursday to running a heroin distribution ring with his brother. John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced Antonio Gonzalez, 47, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and distribution of, one kilogram or more of heroin. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer presided in the case. WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court said Friday that it will decide whether President Donald Trump's responsibility to protect the nation grants him authority to ban travelers from specific countries and that it will rule by June in the case, a major examination of the president's powers. The court will consider the third iteration of Trump's travel ban, issued last fall, which bars various travelers from eight countries, six of them with Muslim majorities. Lower courts have struck down each version, but the conservative-leaning Supreme Court has given the administration hope that Trump may be able to carry out one of the most significant and divisive initiatives of his presidency. What the president has said is a necessary step to protect the country from terrorism has been characterized by his opponents as an illegal and unconstitutional fulfillment of campaign promises to ban Muslim immigrants. His first order, issued a week after his inauguration, created chaos at airports and prompted protests in the United States and abroad. Trump's comments and tweets about immigration and terrorism have ensured that the issue remains at the front of the national debate. In a short order accepting the case for argument in April, the justices said they will consider the statutory justification for Trump's actions as well as charges from opponents that it is an unconstitutional restriction based on religious discrimination. The order would also seem to further ensure a blockbuster conclusion to the court's term in June - the Supreme Court already is considering potentially landmark cases on partisan gerrymandering, privacy, unions and a clash between religious rights and gay rights. In requesting the court provide a final answer on the travel ban, Solicitor General Noel Francisco said the high court must reestablish the vast authority the president wields when the nation's security is at stake. "The courts below have overridden the President's judgments on sensitive matters of national security and foreign relations, and severely restricted the ability of this and future Presidents to protect the nation," Francisco wrote in his petition to the court. Challengers to the ban - in this case, the state of Hawaii and others - say Trump has exceeded his legal authority. "No prior president has attempted to implement a policy that so baldly exceeds the statutory limits on the President's power to exclude, or so nakedly violates Congress' bar on nationality-based discrimination in the issuance of immigrant visas," said Hawaii's brief asking the court to let lower-court decisions stand. But there are indications that the Supreme Court will be more sympathetic to the administration's claim than the lower courts that have rejected it. Last month, in an unsigned opinion, the justices said the restrictions in Trump's latest version of the ban could go into effect as envisioned while legal challenges to the merits of the decision continued. That decision, which included noted dissents only from liberal Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, in effect discarded a compromise the justices fashioned regarding the second version of the plan. That compromise said the ban would not affect those who could prove significant connections to the United States. The current version of the plan imposes various restrictions on travelers from Syria, Libya, Iran, Yemen, Chad, Somalia, North Korea and Venezuela. The first six of those countries have Muslim-majority populations, and the restrictions on travelers from North Korea and Venezuela are not part of the challenge. The court will review a unanimous ruling from a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco. That panel said the third version of the travel ban suffered from the deficiencies of the first two - that Trump had again exceeded his lawful authority and that he had not made a legally sufficient finding that entry of those blocked would be "detrimental to the interests of the United States." Another challenge to the ban is still resting with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond, Virginia. That full court is considering a ruling by a Maryland judge that the ban violates the Constitution because it is effectively a ban on Muslims. Judge Theodore Chuang considered Trump's statements and tweets in reaching his decision. Despite a nudge from the Supreme Court last month to work quickly, the 4th Circuit has yet to rule. The case could be added, but the Supreme Court told the administration and Hawaii to also argue that constitutional question. Trump's moves on the issue have been controversial from the start. After the first version was rejected by the courts, the administration replaced it with a second one. It barred entry by nationals of six overwhelmingly Muslim countries for 90 days, excluded all refugees for 120 days and capped annual refugee admissions at 50,000. Courts put that order on hold as well. That is when the Supreme Court fashioned the compromise that permitted the ban to go into effect but granted entry to those with a significant connection to the United States, such as family members, a waiting job or an academic opportunity. The justices were scheduled to decide the merits of that ban last fall. But the order expired before oral arguments, and the administration replaced it with the third order. Whatever the shortcomings of the first two orders, Francisco told the court, the third followed a painstaking review process to determine which countries did not have procedures in place to screen out those who might intend to harm the United States. The eight countries named in the current ban "do not share adequate information with the United States to assess the risks their nationals pose, or they present other heightened risk factors," Francisco wrote. "Whereas prior orders of the President were designed to facilitate the review, the [current] Proclamation directly responds to the completed review and its specific findings of deficiencies in particular countries." Hawaii argued that the current ban is worse than the previous ones, because it is permanent unless the administration takes some action to amend it. "The President has issued a proclamation, without precedent in this Nation's history, that purports to ban over 150 million aliens from this country based on nationality alone," said Hawaii's brief to the court, written by Washington lawyer Neal Katyal. "The immigration laws do not grant the President this power: Congress has delegated him only a measure of its authority to exclude harmful aliens or respond to exigencies, and it has expressly prohibited discrimination based on nationality." The case is Trump v. Hawaii. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Core Gold Inc. ("Core Gold" or the "Company") (TSX:CGLD) (OTCQX:CGLDF) is pleased to provide the following corporate update. Update on Elipe S.A. restoration to good corporate standing Update on US$15,000,000 debt facility with Investa Bank S.A. Credipresto S.A. de CV SOFOM USD $1,600,000 short term bridge loan Core Gold will present at the 2018 Vancouver Resource Investment Conference Elipe S.A. restoration to good corporate standing Pursuant to the Companys June 5th, 2017 news release, Core Gold has been in extensive negotiations with local liability holders government appointed representative (the Representative) as part of its commitment to normalize payables and stabilize operations at the Companys wholly owned subsidiary, Elipe S.A. (Elipe). If the Company was not for any reason able to rectify the situation in a timely manner, there is a risk that the Representative could take legal action against Elipe, which could involve, among other things, dispositions of assets in order to fund outstanding liabilities. As part of Core Golds management commitment to resolving all the legacy financial liabilities it inherited, a monthly payment plan (Payment Plan Contract) was agreed to by the Representative (see news release on June 5, 2017 for details) and the Company has honored all monthly payment since. The Company is pleased to announce that as a direct result of the above developments, the Representative has agreed to restore Elipe back into good corporate standing as the Company has honored the Payment Plan Contract and has voluntarily made additional payments to lower its local liabilities. Once Elipe is back in good corporate standing, the Company will no longer need to follow the required monthly payments based on the Payment Plan Contract. More importantly, the Company can upon restoration to good corporate standing, negotiate directly with all parties involved in order to settle legacy amounts owing at mutually beneficial terms. The Company is currently going through the necessary legal process to restore Elipe back into good corporate standing, and expects to complete the process on or before March 31st, 2018. Investa Bank S.A. USD $15,000,000 debt facility update Pursuant to the Companys December 1st, 2017 news release, Core Gold has an executed term sheet with Investa Bank S.A. (Investa) to arrange a debt facility for up to USD $15,000,000. The Company and Investas expected closing date remain on target as previously publicized on or before March 31st, 2018. Credipresto S.A. de CV SOFOM USD $1,600,000 short term bridge loan The Company is pleased to announce it has entered into an agreement to issue a secured debenture in the aggregate principal amount of USD $1,600,000 (the "Debenture") to Credipresto S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R. ("Credipresto"). Credipresto has agreed to roll the Debenture amount into the proposed Investa debt facility. The Debenture will have the following terms: Interest will accrue at a rate of 15% per annum 6 months maturity (July 31, 2018); 25% principal and accrued interest due on April 30, 2018 25% principal and accrued interest due on May 31, 2018 25% principal and accrued interest due on June 30, 2018 Remaining principal and accrued interest due on July 31, 2018 Pledge of all of the issued and outstanding capital of Elipe (ranking behind the lien provided by the Company in respect of the USD $1.0 million convertible notes issued to Vertex Managed Value Portfolio and Vertex Enhanced Income Fund and pari passu with the current lien in favour of Credipresto); The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Debenture, which has been pre-funded to the Company, for working capital and general corporate purposes. In connection with the Debenture, the Company has agreed to pay Credipresto a corporate finance fee of: USD $32,000 in cash; and 800,000 share purchase warrants with an exercise price of C$0.365 per common share and expiring one year from the date of issuance. Credipresto currently holds 6,874,666 common shares of the Company, warrants to purchase an aggregate of 2,000,000 common shares of the Company and debentures convertible into an aggregate of 7,906,000 common shares of the Company, representing approximately 6.0% of the Company's outstanding shares on a non-diluted basis and 13.6% on a partially-diluted basis assuming the exercise or conversion of Credipresto's warrants and convertible debentures. As a result, Credipresto is considered a "related party" of the Company and the Debenture transaction will constitute a "related party transaction" of the Company under MI 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Javier Reyes, a director of the Company, is also the President of Credipresto and holds less than 5% of the outstanding shares of Credipresto. The Company's board of directors (with Mr. Reyes abstaining) unanimously approved the Debenture transaction and determined that the transaction will be exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 in reliance on the exemptions set forth in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, on the basis that, at the time the transaction was agreed to, neither the fair market value of the subject matter of, nor the fair market value of the consideration for, the transaction exceeds 25% of the Company's market capitalization. The Company expects the closing of the Debenture to be on or before January 31st, 2018. The closing of the Debenture will be subjected to TSX Venture Exchange approval. Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC) 2018 The Company wishes to remind investors that Mr. Keith Piggott, CEO of Core Gold will be participating in the Gold in Ecuador Workshop Panel to be held on Monday January 22nd at 2:20 PM in Workshop 4 during VRIC. Company representatives will also be available throughout the conference at booth #111. During the conference Mr. Piggott will provide Company updates on its most recent developments and participate in one-on-one meetings with registered conference investors. Registration for these meetings is only for qualified investors, portfolio managers, and private wealth and family office managers. About Core Gold Inc. The Company is a Canadian based mining company involved in the mining, exploration and development of mineral properties in Ecuador. The Company is currently focused on gold production at its wholly-owned Dynasty Goldfield project and continued development at its Zaruma mine. Mineral is treated at the Companys wholly-owned Portovelo treatment plant close to the Zaruma mine operations. The Company also owns other significant gold exploration projects including the Copper Duke area and the Linderos area in southern Ecuador all of which are on the main Peruvian Andean gold-copper belt extending into Ecuador. For further information please contact: Keith Piggott, CEO Suite 1201 1166 Alberni Street Vancouver, B.C. V6E 3Z3 Phone: +1 (604) 345-4822 Email: info@coregoldinc.com This news release contains statements which are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking information which are prospective in nature. Such information in this news release includes statements regarding the Company's plans to restore Elipe into good standing, to complete the Debenture transaction and the US$15 million Investa debt facility, and to roll the Debenture into such debt facility. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause Core Golds actual results, revenues, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Important risks that could cause Core Golds actual results, revenues, performance or achievements to differ materially from Core Golds expectations include, among other things, less than anticipated gold production; higher than expected production costs; unexpected delays in increasing production capacity; the Representative taking legal action against Elipe and disposing of assets in order to satisfy outstanding liabilities; mining operations being suspended or terminated if the Company is unable to make the required payments pursuant to the Payment Plan Contract; the risk that the Company will not be successful in concluding the US$15 million debt facility; risks relating to the availability of capital and financing to maintain the Company's operations and plans; general economic, market or business conditions; regulatory changes; timeliness of government or regulatory approvals, including relating to the Debenture and the Investa debt facility; and other risks detailed herein and in Core Golds Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2016, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Other than in accordance with regulatory obligations, Core Gold is not under any obligation and Core Gold expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Neither the 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. ISTANBUL - With airstrikes and artillery fire, Turkey on Saturday defied U.S. appeals and opened a long-anticipated offensive on Afrin, an enclave in Syria for Kurdish militias backed by the United States. Turkish officials have framed the offensive as part of a wider battle against Kurdish separatists, known as the Kurdistan Workers' Party, in Turkey's southwest. Turkey also fears any gains in strength by the Syrian Kurds, whose territory runs along some of Turkey's southern border. But the United States has opted to back the Syrian Kurds as proxy fighters against the Islamic State and as a buffer to keep the militants from trying to reclaim territory. The military action immediately raised concerns that it could spark conflicts among the assortment of foreign military powers present, in proximity, across northern Syria. They include Turkey, Russia and the United States. All have the Islamic State as a common foe, but, individually, they back different factions among the various armed groups in Syria. The latest flash point also highlighted the shifting disputes and conflicting agendas that have complicated any efforts toward ending nearly seven years of conflict in Syria. The Turkish military action came amid intensifying violence in the northern Syrian province of Idlib, where Syrian government forces are on the offensive against al-Qaida-aligned rebels in the east of the province. Recent statements by U.S. military officials about plans to train border security forces that would protect a Kurdish enclave in Syria also provoked Turkey's ire. "We are taking these steps to ensure our own national security," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in comments carried by the semiofficial Anadolu agency. Yet Turkish incursions could carry risks. The government of Syrian President Bashar Assad had warned that it was prepared to fire on Turkish warplanes in the event of an attack on Afrin. A Syrian government offensive is causing one of the worst surges in population displacement since Syria's civil war began. More than 212,000 people have fled fighting around Idlib in the past month, many of them sleeping in the open as temperatures plunge and rain drenches makeshift campsites, according to the United Nations. On Saturday, hours after the announcement of the airstrikes, Turkey said it had struck more than 100 positions belonging to Kurdish fighters. The number of casualties was not immediately clear. The airstrikes followed days of intense Turkish artillery fire on Kurdish positions, according to residents in Afrin. In a statement, the U.S.-backed Kurdish force, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, warned that the Turkish offensive "threatens to breathe new life into Daesh," using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State militant group. The Trump administration, in urging NATO-ally Turkey not to attack, had made a similar argument, saying it would distract from the ongoing battles against Islamic State militants in their remaining strongholds in Syria. There are roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in northern Syria. Russia, which backs Assad's government, said it was watching developments "with concern" and called on the warring sides to "exercise mutual restraint." Russia's Defense Ministry said that an unspecified number of Russian troops had been moved out of the Afrin area and redeployed. Much about the Turkish offensive, which the government dubbed "Operation Olive Branch," remained unclear Saturday, including whether it would be accompanied by a substantial push by Turkish ground forces and allied rebel factions. "The challenge is that no one knows what they intend to do," said Aaron Stein, a resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. "Afrin will be hostile to a Turkish-backed force patrolling from permanent garrisons. The YPG in the area can retreat to the mountains for protection," he said, referring to the Syrian Kurdish militia that controls Afrin. The offensive probably was prompted in part by Turkish concerns that Russia and the United States planned to broker a reconciliation between Syria's government and the Syrian Kurdish forces. "This is anathema to Turkey for obvious reasons," Stein said. "So they are making a statement." - - - Loveluck reported from London. Suzan Haidamous in Beirut, Heba Habib in Stockholm and Anton Troianovski in Moscow contributed to this report. NEW HAVEN A Yale School of Medicine psychiatrist has received thousands of death threats since she began publicly calling President Donald Trump a danger to the country, she said recently. Dr. Bandy X. Lee, an internationally recognized expert on violence, according to her Yale University profile, said she has received the threats by email, phone and mostly by Twitter, though they have calmed down a little bit, she said. I was concerned because I was getting a thousand threatening messages a day at one point, Lee said. Although he received a perfect score on a cognitive assessment test during his recent physical exam, Lee said Trump is dangerous because of the violence in his words and actions. Lee has been accused of violating professional ethics by assessing the presidents mental health without having examined him, but she said she is speaking out because of her concern for the countrys welfare and not making a diagnosis. She asserts Trumps statements and behavior have already increased gun violence and bullying in the United States and that his references to the nations nuclear arsenal threaten the world. My concern is not Mr. Trumps personal mental health, she said. It is the threat that he poses to the public by virtue of occupying the office of the presidency, and I am acting on my obligation to the public, as professionals have an obligation to the public and not just to their private patients. Lee is editor of the book, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President, published in October. Last April, she organized a conference at Yale, titled Does Professional Responsibility Include a Duty to Warn? She briefed about a dozen members of Congress in early December and had dinner with several House Democrats on Jan. 10 at the Washington, D.C., home of U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. DeLauro spokesman Will Serio said her office would not comment on the dinner, but said U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., had canceled a planned town hall meeting with Lee. The Washington Post reported Raskins spokeswoman said Lees participation was canceled due to threats against Lee. Lee, who said she is speaking only for herself and not on behalf of Yale, said she is not violating the American Psychiatric Associations Goldwater Rule, which it adopted in 1973. Fact magazine had surveyed more than 12,000 psychiatrists about U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwaters fitness for the presidency when he ran in 1964. Many responses suggested Goldwater was mentally ill. The rule states that when asked for an opinion about a public person, a psychiatrist may share with the public his or her expertise about psychiatric issues in general. However, it is unethical for a psychiatrist to offer a professional opinion unless he or she has conducted an examination and has been granted proper authorization for such a statement. Earlier this month, the APA issued a statement emphasizing its stance: We at the APA call for an end to psychiatrists providing professional opinions in the media about public figures whom they have not examined, whether it be on cable news appearances, books, or in social media, the statement said. Armchair psychiatry or the use of psychiatry as a political tool is the misuse of psychiatry and is unacceptable and unethical. A spokeswoman for the association said the group would not comment on Lee. Yale spokeswoman Karen Peart issued a statement saying, Yale University does not take positions or issue statements regarding the health or medical condition of public officials. However, the University will not interfere with the free expression or academic freedom of faculty members who wish to express their opinions in their areas of expertise or otherwise. Dr. Lees position and opinions are her own and do not represent the views of the University. The executive committee of the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine issued a similar statement regarding academic freedom and free speech rights, adding that the department affirms the importance of the ethical standard of conducting an examination of an individual and obtaining proper authorization before publicly stating a professional opinion about that individual. A request for comment from the White House press office was not answered. Call for full mental exam Lee said she is not offering an opinion about Trumps mental health, but rather is calling for a full psychiatric examination based on his words and actions. We know that the danger has already happened, she said. There is an unprecedented spike in hate crimes being reported, schoolyard bullying done in Trumps name and a rise in gun violence in the country since he launched his presidential campaign in June 2015. She cited a 12 percent increase in gun violence, a statistic reported by the Washington Post covering the first 200 days of 2017, based on numbers from the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive. The archive shows an increase in incidents since 2014 from 51,864 to 61,402 in 2017. Lee said the greatest danger with Trump is that he has access to powerful nuclear weapons that are strong enough to destroy the world many times over. She referred to Trumps boast that he has a much bigger and more powerful nuclear button than North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un does. That is a very reckless sign and action, she said. With the mental instability that he has shown, psychologically and cognitively, it is very dangerous for that to be in his possession, Lee said. It is the danger Trump poses that concerns Lee, not his psychiatric diagnosis, she said. Im assessing dangerousness, which is about the situation, not the person, she said. If Mr. Trump were not in the office of the presidency, he may not be dangerous. Lee said the danger is on multiple levels. Future violence is best shown by past violence and cited as evidence Trumps verbal aggressiveness, accusations of sexual misconduct and his incitement of crowds at campaign rallies. Verbal violence, sexual violence, inciting violence in others all these are considered violence, she said. What is even more harmful is being in office and endorsing violence can give rise to a culture of violence. But concern about Trumps behavior and his effect on others is not breaking ethical guidelines, she said. Diagnosis is a very intricate process where you have to have all the pertinent information, she said. That would include a personal exam, a check of his medical records and a full follow-up from the interview so that may involve a number of different tests. Impulsivity, recklessness What Trump has said and done makes a case for such an examination to be performed, Lee said. What we see from afar includes impulsivity, recklessness, paranoid reactions, a loose grip on reality, rage reactions, a lack of empathy and a constant need to demonstrate power, Lee said. She said Trump has shown symptoms that demonstrate a possible loss of cognitive ability. He has been declining in his ability to complete sentences, to stay with a thought, to use complex words, not to repeat words and not to jump from topic to topic. However, during his recent physical exam, Trump was given the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and received a perfect score, according to the White House physician, Dr. Ronny Jackson. The test includes remembering a list of spoken words; listening to a list of random numbers and repeating them backward; accurately drawing a cube; and describing ways that two objects such as a train and a bicycle are alike, the Associated Press reported. Its not a diagnostic test, but its pretty sensitive in picking up subtle changes in cognition, things involving memory, attention and language, but not mental health issues, said Dr. Ranit Mishori, professor of family medicine at Georgetown University, according to the AP. But Lee said, Its meaningless. What we needed was not a cognitive screen. Its really a moot point because we have already seen signs that call for a cognitive evaluation. An MRI or PET scan would have been more helpful. Lee said an instance in which Trump slurred his speech was a possible sign of a stroke. We need to assess him psychologically, cognitively, neurologically and capacity-wise, she said, in order to measure the ability to take in needed information, to weigh consequences and to make sound logical decisions based on reality. My concerns are not Mr. Trumps personal mental health, she said. My concern is his situation being in the presidency and the public health effects he is posing. Lee is a licensed physician in New York state, according to a spokesman in the deputy commissioners office in the New York state Office of the Professions. Her license is valid until April 30. I used to have three licenses because I was working around the country, and it turned out I only needed one, so I kept the easiest one, Lee said. Im a world expert in what I do. I consult with governments around the world. I dont have to be confined to Connecticut. This story was edited to remove a possible source of confusion about Lees practice. WASHINGTON - Bitterly divided over immigration and the fates of hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants, Congress was poised to stop funding the government Saturday, shutting down many services and furloughing some 800,000 federal workers. With negotiations over the expiring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program faltering, Democrats on Friday night withheld votes on another in a series of stop-gap funding plans proposed by the Republican-held Congress. Republicans, demanding significant changes of the immigration system, wanted a four-week funding extension and tried to sweeten the deal for Democrats with a six-year authorization for the lapsed Childrens Health Insurance Program. But Democrats, hearing the plights of some 700,000 Dreamers and heeding wishes of an energized base, held fast to their refusal to move ahead without a DACA fix. A late-night vote to limit debate fell significantly short of the 60 needed to passage, pointing to the likelihood that any further effort to fund government operations by the midnight Eastern deadline would fail. A meeting at the White House between President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. yielded no agreement. We made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements. The discussions will continue, Schumer said. By Friday, negotiations had largely given way to recriminations. Republicans described proceedings as the Schumer shutdown while Democrats trumpeted that never before has a shutdown occurred while one party enjoyed unified control of the White House and Congress, as Republicans do now. Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the Senates No. 2 Republican, added a full-throated plea for border security to his denunciation of Democratic tactics. How in the heck did we get here? How did the Democrats decide that no is the right answer? Cornyn asked, accusing Democrats of a complete and shameless reversal from what theyve said about shutdowns in the past. People act as if theres no negative downside to this porous border and illegal immigration, Cornyn said, speaking on the Senate floor. Its frankly insulting that the Democratic leader would jam this through and hold hostage all of these other very important programs when we are working in good faith. Cornyn said some 200,000 federal workers and contractors would be affected in Texas. He said that the Army Health Command at Joint Base San Antonio alone has 2,539 workers subject to furlough, representing $188 million in salaries. The Defense Department on Friday issued guidance that read: Military personnel on active duty, including reserve component personnel on federal active duty, will continue to report for duty and carry out assigned duties. As it stands, people in the military would remain on the job but be paid only through Feb. 1. In 2013, Congress passed legislation to pay members of the military during the shutdown. The Postal Service isnt affected in a shutdown and Social Security and other government checks continue to flow. Border security and immigration enforcement continue, as does airport security, and prisons remain open. Veterans services are affected minimally with veterans hospitals remaining open, although processing of claims at the Veterans Administration is put on hold. Other services regarded as essential continue, including the Agriculture Department inspections of meat, poultry and eggs, and Forest Service firefighting. Some agencies, though, are all but shuttered. At Housing and Urban Development, the Education Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, the vast majority of workers will be furloughed. Unlike in previous shutdowns, many national parks would remain open to visitors albeit lacking rangers and staff. We are going to manage a shutdown differently. Were not going to weaponize it, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told reporters. Costs and inconvenience in shutdowns quickly mount. The 2013 impasse, which lasted 16 days, cost the country an estimated $24 billion and stunted growth by 0.6 percent for the quarter. The Childrens Health Insurance Program could be yet another cost of congressional inaction. States are fast running out of money that covers 9 million children. In Texas, funds are expected to last through February thanks to a recent $135 million infusion from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Despite the impasse, discussions continued on a DACA fix, with legislation offered by San Antonio Republican Will Hurd gaining momentum as a potential compromise. By Friday, Hurds narrowly-drawn bill had drawn 52 co-sponsors, including 24 Republicans. Among supporters of his approach are Texas Reps. Joe Barton of Ennis, Mac Thornberry of Clarendon and Bill Flores of Bryan. Sponsors include several members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Thursday called the bill a compromise I can support. Im having multiple conversations with Republicans and Democrats and colleagues in the Senate on how we can ensure a bipartisan agreement, Hurd said in an interview. He added that he was concerned about the uncertainty that a shutdown causes for federal workers. Hurds bill, co-sponsored with California Democrat Pete Aguilar, combines DACA-like protections with border security provisions, among them authorization to build segments of border wall in combination with sensors and other technology to detect intrusions. But it does not tackle controversial matters in legislation offered by other Republicans on Capitol Hill that could make a deal in the Senate difficult or impossible. For instance, a bill co-authored by Austin Republican Mike McCaul and allies includes a mandatory E-Verify system for employers to determine eligibility of workers a proposal unpopular with many farmers and ranchers and significant changes in the family-based visa system and the Diversity Visa Lottery Program. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on Friday expressed the hard-line view prevalent among some of his fellow Senate Republicans. I think it would be a serious mistake to pass a major amnesty bill that gave a path to citizenship to millions of people here illegally and that continued chain migration, he said, a reference to the family-based visas by which many immigrants become lawful permanent citizens. San Antonio Democrat Joaquin Castro said Hurds bill is among several proposals that could be a trigger to actually sitting down in earnest and coming up with a compromise. Castro noted the potential impact on San Antonio not just with its military presence and federal employees but also with contractors. Im concerned about the operation of the parks and other federal resources, he added. Before the Senate convened to vote, Castro spoke at a rally outside the Capitol featuring several dozen undocumented young immigrants. He noted that a recent CNN poll finding that 83 percent of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, want so-called Dreamers to stay. This is not a matter of convincing the American people what the right thing to do is. The American people know what the right thing to do is. Its a matter of getting Congress to act, he said, noting that people understand that Republicans control every level of government. On the House floor, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-San Antonio, said no end to the impasse is likely unless Republicans take up legislation that includes a DACA fix. If they continue to insist upon an entirely partisan bill that excludes Dreamers, they should not expect Democratic votes. I want the government to remain open for everyone, including our Dreamers, said. One of those Dreamers at the Capitol, Texas A&M junior Joseph Trujillo, 20, said he arrived in Texas from Peru at the age 5. Sometimes it breaks my heart that these congressmen and senators wont even consider what Ive done in the past, wont even consider the obstacles Ive overcome, that weve all overcome, he said. blambrecht@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate JOURDANTON Defense attorneys in the Atascosa County capital murder trial of Shawn Puente, accused of killing a San Antonio police officer, failed Friday to convince a judge to move the trial based on the district attorneys asking local officers for help finding potential jurors who wont be afraid to kill this guy. State District Judge Donna Rayes denied a motion for a change of venue and also rejected a defense motion asking that she throw out a list of potential jurors that District Attorney Audrey Louis admitted sharing with the officers to get their feedback on the names it contained. Two potential jurors who Rayes deemed very credible members of the community gave statements to authorities reporting law enforcement officers in the county had contacted them informally and made them feel, as the defense put it, that they were being hand-picked for the jury. Puente and his girlfriend, who is not yet on trial, both were charged with capital murder in the Dec. 8, 2013 shooting of San Antonio Police Officer Robert Deckard during a highway chase on Interstate 37 that ended in Atascosa County, population 49,000. Deckard, 31 and a father of two, died Dec. 20 at Brooke Army Medical Center. Coincidentally, one of the physicians in the hospitals emergency room was Louis husband. Louis sent an email Jan 12 to five officers, including Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward. Here is our list of jurors in order with addresses. Will yall please, please go through it and let me know the yess, nos and maybes. Or on a scale of one to 10, whatever you think works best. Ill owe you all a dinner or beverage of your choice! Cant thank you enough! This guy deserves to die, and yall will play a big part in helping by your input. Louis sent a separate note to other officers on Dec. 18, asking them to review the list of names and provide feedback. Its inconceivable whats going on here, defense attorney Anna Jimenez told the judge Friday. The chances are slim and none that the panel of jurors (would be untainted) by these efforts. Louis told Rayes she was shocked the defense team would be surprised by her language in communicating with officers with whom she deals on a daily basis. Everyone on this side (of the courtroom) knows we want the death penalty, Louis said. Theres no evidence that any potential jurors have been influenced. Theres no collusion to deny Mr. Puente a fair trial. Louis likely did not cross a constitutional line, said St. Marys University School of Law professor Gerald Reamey. But, he said, the email raises the specter that she is saying she wants partisan jurors, people with a predisposition in a (death penalty) case like this. Puente sat beside his lawyers Friday, wearing large dark-framed glasses and a suit. He is being held in Atascosa County Jail in Jourdanton. Several of the officers who testified said they knew they were not supposed to contact prospective jurors, did not do so and did not interpret Louis request as anything unethical. Soward said he knew better than to contact potential jurors and did not define for his officers what might be a good juror. But I would assume (Louis) was seeking someone who favored the death penalty, he said. Jury selection continues Monday. Read the full story at ExpressNews.com or in Saturdays Express-News. bselcraig@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate San Antonians have earned a quick pat on the back for moving this city forward on a set of goals crowdsourced in 2010 under SA2020, a vision exercise led by then-Mayor Julian Castro, but officials warn that theres still much work to be done. That was the message from those who spoke Friday at an annual luncheon hosted by SA2020, the nonprofit organization charged with overseeing the goals set by the community in September 2010. Those goals fall into 11 areas: arts and culture, civic engagement, community safety, downtown development, economic competitiveness, education, environmental sustainability, family well-being, health and fitness, neighborhoods, and transportation. For the first time since he left the mayors office in 2014, Castro addressed the group thats overseeing his marquee visioning project. On Sept. 25, 2010 nearly 7.5 years ago, now more than 1,000 San Antonians came together on a sunny Saturday to answer a fundamental question: What kind of city do we want to be on Friday, Sept. 25, 2020? Many of you were in the room that day, he said. You came from every corner of our community all ages and backgrounds. You brought big ideas and small ones: suggestions about education and transportation, about job creation and how to be better stewards of our environment. And thats how SA2020 began. Castro underscored that the idea behind SA2020 was a grassroots initiative that wasnt the dreams of any one leader at the fore but with your dreams for your city put right out on the table. A six-month process, the SA2020 vision exercise created 11 core areas and dozens of goals all that could be tracked with data. On Friday, SA2020 CEO Molly Cox announced that 70 percent of the indicators are moving in the right direction, but she also noted that theres still some sobering details within the data. Civic engagement, for example, is headed in the right direction. Voter registration is up. Actual voting is up, she said. The goal for family well-being has been met; the data show child abuse and neglect have been reduced by 25 percent. These findings should be taken cautiously, however, as these rates are highly dependent on reporting, which results in a child abuse case being substantiated, she said. In a recent report, CI:Now, SA2020s data partner, showed additional information that helped tell a more complex story of child abuse that is less about a decrease in abuse and neglect and more about the systems ability to timely and appropriately address and confirm or rule out abuse/neglect. Basically, additional indicators from this report show that abuse and neglect is just as frequent, yet completed investigations are declining a story less about decreasing child abuse and more about the need for systemic solutions. Mayor Ron Nirenberg heaped praise on SA2020, saying it has enjoyed continued success and sustainability because its rooted in community that simultaneously guides a city-wide vision and also holds up a mirror to the community, talking about the things were doing right, but also reminding us that weve got a long way to go. Theres a lot of good happening, Nirenberg said, but if we just say thats enough and dont ask the other questions, or if we just get comfortable with 70 percent is better than 50 percent, then were missing the mark. He called on those who have pitched in to keep working on making San Antonio a better place, and he asked those who havent to start now. After the luncheon, which gathered some 650 attendees more than double last year Cox said shes pleased with San Antonios progress. I believe that the shifts were seeing, although incremental, are positive, she said. And it shows movement in what might be considered upstream indicators that have the potential to impact more complex challenges downstream. Following the citys lead, Bexar County Commissioners Court threw its support behind Brooke Army Medical Center, approving a resolution Friday backing the militarys medical training mission. Commissioner Kevin Wolff, who introduced the resolution, said a plan being considered by a local hospital system to create a local trauma center not only would jeopardize BAMCs mission but ultimately threaten national security. I dont care what branch you go into. At some point, if youre in the medical field, you are coming to San Antonio, Wolff said. In my mind, this makes this not just about San Antonio, not just about Texas, but about our national security. Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Johnson echoed Wolffs argument, saying the U.S. Defense Departments medical readiness has a direct tie to our nations readiness to fight and win our wars. Adding additional trauma centers, I believe, erodes the unique position San Antonio holds compared to other installations across the United States, Johnson said. It decreases the quality of care, specifically itll decrease the quality of care at BAMC, and it disrupts the integrated health care system we have to take care of under-insured and uninsured individuals inside of our community. The concern is that trauma teams at BAMC the Department of Defenses only Level I trauma center would see a sharp decrease in patient volume with the creation of new local trauma centers, making them underprepared to treat people on the battlefield. Methodist Healthcare had been considering adding a Level II trauma center, Johnson told City Council in December when it passed a similar resolution, sparking concern among BAMC that Baptist Health System and others would follow suit. Methodist Healthcare could not be reached for comment late Friday afternoon. Dr. Brian Eastridge, a trauma surgeon who previously served as trauma medical director at BAMC, said that while Level I trauma centers are required to reach a certain volume of annual patients, Level II centers have no requirement for patient volume, allowing them to basically cherry-pick the best patients, and those would be the funded patients. Civilians account for about 80 percent of the 80,000 annual visits to the BAMC emergency room, some of whom lack adequate health insurance. In December, spokeswoman Palmira Arellano told the Express-News that Methodist Healthcare was just doing our due diligence and researching community needs, and, as the largest health system in the region, was obligated to perform a community health needs assessment and help provide resources to meet those needs. Baptist Health spokeswoman Patti Tanner said she had nothing to add from a previous statement given to the Express-News last month, in which she said the health care provider had not made a decision on the matter. County Judge Nelson Wolff urged the military to speak with the respective corporations that own the health systems, recognizing that the Commissioners Court would likely be less effective than the military at convincing the companies not to build trauma centers here. In other court news, the commissioners approved an agreement with Quality Forensic Toxicology to provide technical services for its alcohol breath test program, which the county uses in prosecuting DWI cases. The approval came after objections from Debra Stephens, the owner of Alamo Forensics Services, which had previously been contracting with the county. Stephens claimed the county did not follow a fair and open bidding process. There have been no instances of complaints or problems with our services, she told the commissioners. Our conviction rate and experience has allowed the county to plead out most cases, and our testimony has proven reliable and effective to the jurors pooled by the District Attorneys office. Wolff and Calvert called Stephens argument compelling, but Ed Schweninger, chief of the civil division in the DAs office, said the county did consider Stephens company, and their decision was not based on the quality of Stephens service or expertise. The DAs office has always encouraged some competition and wanted to see some options, and Quality Toxicology stepped up, Schweninger said. There is absolutely no increase in the cost of the contract. Jasper Scherer is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of his stories here. | jscherer@express-news.net | @jaspscherer A man suffering from gunshot wounds collapsed on the doorstep of a homeowner in a gated Stone Oak community Friday night as he sought help, according to police. San Antonio police say they have few leads and are currently trying to piece together events surrounding the shooting on the far North Side that occured about 11:40 p.m., and left the victim with multiple gunshot wounds. SYDNEY - A practice session for Australian lifeguards who were testing a new drone turned into a real rescue when the drone helped save two swimmers at a beach in New South Wales. On Thursday morning, Jai Sheridan, a lifeguard supervisor who was operating the drone, was alerted to two young men caught in turbulent surf with 10-foot swells. Sheridan then steered the drone toward the swimmers. In video of the incident taken from the drone, it can be seen releasing a yellow "rescue pod" that inflates in the water. The two swimmers grabbed the pod, and with its support they made their way to shore. They were fatigued but not hurt, Surf Life Saving New South Wales, a volunteer organization, said in a statement. The rescue took just 70 seconds. "On a normal day that would have taken our lifeguards a few minutes longer," Sheridan said. The drone used for the rescue, known as a Little Ripper unmanned aerial vehicle, also is part of a shark-spotting program scheduled for Australian beaches this summer. "The applications in the water are just phenomenal," said Michael Blumenstein, a professor at the University of Technology Sydney who oversaw the team that developed the shark-spotting software. "The amount of payload that these drones carry enable them to be really be versatile." In cases involving rough surf, remote locations or natural disasters, where conditions may be hazardous and time is a factor, Blumenstein said, drones are able to help operators assess a situation without endangering human lives. Farmers also have found practical applications for drones, using them to efficiently assess the health of their crops, for example. The software developed by Blumenstein's team could soon become a vital tool for lifeguards. "There's no reason why we couldn't use it to automatically detect people in the water," he said. Vancouver, WA, USA, Jan. 20, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Source: Pulse Larsen Antennas January 19, 2017 Vancouver, WA - January 19, 2018 - Pulse Larsen Antennas, a business unit of Pulse Electronics, Inc., has landed in San Antonio, TX for the DistribuTECH 2018 show and is ready to showcase its unparalleled antenna technology. The team has a prime spot at DistribuTECH, booth 2064. Be sure to stop by and pick up a copy of our catalog V14 and its associated booklets for each of your business application. See some of the most robust smart metering antennas along with the series of thousands of embedded solutions for your Energy or Metering applications. PulseLarsen Antennas can be designed into your products or outside with IP67 standards and MADE IN USA. Subject matter experts are on hand to answer any questions you might have and provide cutting edge solutions for any antenna connectivity needs. Dont forget to follow us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/PulseLarsen1 About Pulse Electronics Pulse Electronics is a leading provider of electronic components that help customers build the next great product by providing the needed technical solutions. Pulse Electronics, including the Larsen brand of antennas, has a long operating history (celebrating 70 years) of innovation in antennas, power and signal magnetics, as well as the ability to ramp quickly into high-quality, high-volume production. The Company serves the wireless and wireline communications, power management, military/aerospace, and automotive industries. Pulse Electronics is a participating member of the IEEE, SFF, OIF, HDBaseT Alliance, CommNexus, NFC Forum, MoCA, and IWPC. Visit the Pulse Electronics website at www.pulseelectronics.com. Copyright 2018 Pulse Electronics Corporation. All rights reserved. All brand names and trademarks are properties of their respective holders. Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7dac4287-79e0-44c3-b185-97b5e27165ed Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/df572be2-f179-4ac0-a2d1-e008e2f3b21b People around the world have reacted with outrage and astonishment to the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine, in southwestern Burma. The outrage is completely appropriate. The astonishment, though, is not especially in an area like Texas, whose history of shifting populations resembles that of Rakhine. Both Rahkine and Texas are borderlands with no natural barriers between regions, with people of very different ethnic, religious and linguistic origins having moved about over centuries. With political authority shifting a number of times, both regions have seen amicable interaction across ethnic lines and ethnic violence over the years. And in both regions, some members of the dominant group now want to send their ethnic others back where they came from. Burmans make up two-thirds of the population of the nation-state of Burma, also known as Myanmar, and Rakhine and Burmans have long had volatile relations, sometimes competing over territorial and political control. Burmans have had the upper hand since conquering Rakhine in the late 18th century. The British, who ruled Rakhine from 1826 to 1948, urged Bengalis to come and take low-paying jobs that long-time residents of the area disdained. Intellectuals and other members of the Muslim elite in Rakhine started seeking either independence or at least some state-recognized special status in the 1950s. It was these people who made of the term Rohingya, which is actually the Bengali version of the name of the region of Rakhine, a politically charged label for all Rakhine Muslims. Today, Burmans and Rakhine Buddhists label all of these people Bengali, just as many Texans speak of Mexicans whether they are referring to U.S. citizens of longstanding or people who came across the Rio Grande just recently. A part of Mexico until 1836, Texas became part of the U.S. in 1845. Newly-arrived Euro-Americans decided that they should run the place, edging out Spanish-speaking families who had lived in Texas much longer and costing poorer residents access to land they had long had the use of as tenant farmers. Spanish speakers and English speakers, meanwhile, collaborated in driving Native American residents off the land. The ethnic cleansing that drastically reduced Texas indigenous population and the political maneuvering that made the status of Spanish speakers highly precarious is mirrored in the current attacks on Muslims in Rakhine, who have fled by the hundreds of thousands to Bangladesh. The recent events in Rakhine started with a few violent incidents in June 2012. Soon after, at least 140,000 Rakhine Muslims were placed in concentration camps to protect them. In October 2016, some young Rakhine Muslim men, newly radicalized, attacked Burmese border control officers. The Burmese military responded with disproportionate force, which helps explain why a larger attack on government officials took place in August 2017. Though military control over Burma ended in 2012, it seems clear that Aung San Suu Kyi exercises little authority over the generals, who continue to wage war in several regions, using ethnic conflict and immigrant-criminals to justify intervention. None of this should surprise Americans who have seen how much political advantage is to be gained by scapegoating people who are viewed as foreign. Fortunately in our country, we have a long-standing discourse of human rights fostering defense of the weak, including immigrants, from nativist attack. There is little by way of such discourse in Burma. Both outsiders and residents of the region say the best that can be hoped for is economic development. Seeing opportunities to escape the regions dire poverty should encourage people in Rakhine, whether Muslim or Buddhist, to put aside their ethnic prejudices. Just as Texans, provided they feel confident in their own and their childrens future, ought to be able to act on their better instincts, no matter what some politicians tell them about all those Mexican criminals. Ward Keeler is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin. The world fell on Donald Trumps head yet again when he said in a White House meeting that we should be trying to get immigrants from Norway rather than s***hole countries in the Third World. The media have treated Trumps remarks, made in a heated exchange with senators over a proposed immigration deal, as an explicit confession of racism. Why else would he scorn immigrants from places like Haiti and Somalia, while yearning for those from lily-white Scandinavia? He was almost surely trying to say that we should pick immigrants for skills (he reportedly mentioned Asia as well as Norway), but typically stated his position in the crudest terms possible. The ensuing controversy has created a cottage industry of TV and newspaper commentators declaring proudly that they came from s***hole countries, and implying that as long as we are welcoming enough people from distressed countries, our immigration policy is on track. This discussion is largely informed by a romantic view of the experience of the early 20th century, which is, unsurprisingly, not applicable 100 years later. First, the economy has changed. We no longer can toss low-skilled immigrants into the maw of an insatiable manufacturing sector. Many of the immigrants who arrived in the early 1900s, economist George Borjas writes, got jobs in the booming manufacturing sector. Those manufacturing jobs, which over time evolved into well-paid and stable union jobs, created a private-sector safety net that protected the pay and economic status of the immigrants and their children and grandchildren. Even so, Borjas notes that the evidence suggests there was no real economic improvement over the lifetimes of the Ellis Island immigrants, and initial differences in income among different groups persisted into the grandchildrens generation. In short, the wave of mass migration a century ago is not a warrant for a thoughtless immigration policy today. The fact is that immigrants from rich countries tend to do better here than immigrants from poor countries, and level of education is a key factor. According to the Migration Policy Institute, nearly half of Asian immigrants are employed in management, business, science or the arts, higher than the proportion of the native born. The median income of households headed by Asian immigrants is $70,000, higher than that of the native born. The median income of a household headed by an Indian immigrant is an astonishing $105,000. This is largely because their level of education is off the charts. Three-quarters of Indian immigrants have a college degree or more. The Indian immigrants dont reflect the norm back home, where the average person has less than six years of schooling, but we are skimming off a more skilled element of the population. Critics of Trumps comments rightly point out that immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa, reportedly part of the s***hole argument, are doing pretty well here. But it depends on the country. About 60 percent of Nigerian immigrants have a college degree, and more than 50 percent work in management positions. In contrast, only 11 percent of Somalis have a college degree, and half are in poverty. The numbers for immigrants from El Salvador, to pick a country also reportedly part of the White House discussion, are less encouraging. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, more than half of Salvadoran immigrants dont have a high-school degree, and half are living in poverty or near it. This doesnt mean they dont work hard, or deserve to be insulted, but they are struggling. We are blessed to live in a country that many millions around the world want to move to. This affords us the luxury to be more selective in our immigration policy and, like Canada or Australia, establish a system emphasizing skills suited to a 21st-century economy. Some might be from Norway, some might be from s***holes all should be prepared to thrive. comments.lowry@nationalreview.com Re: Chief made right call on immigrants, Editorial, Jan. 13: Although disappointed, I was not shocked to see the editorial concurring with the decision by Chief William McManus to release 12 illegal aliens. We have progressed from using the term illegal aliens to undocumented immigrants and now to victims. As a former federal agent who worked for years in cooperative endeavors with members of the Police Department, I know what good things can come from solid interagency relationships. I find Chief McManus decision in this matter a dereliction of duty, at the least, and very likely malfeasance. In a time when our Police Department is stretched to its limits, why burden our officers with additional work that is specifically the jurisdiction of U.S. Customs and Border Protection? Finally, I say to Chief McManus, what did your actions, or lack thereof, say to those many customs and Border Patrol agents manning the checkpoints or patrolling the prickly pear in South Texas? Time for you to go, pal. Michael Appleby Dwindling base Re: Chiefs blunder, Your Turn, Jan. 16: I believe Chief William McManus is doing a great job protecting the citizens of San Antonio, and he is not responsible for federal immigration laws. Its very possible that the immigrants he released have families in Texas, will find employment and make a positive contribution to Texas. The letter writer appears to be a member of Donald Trumps ever-dwindling base who believe all Mexican immigrants are rapists, murders and drug dealers. Lloyd Mathews, Rockport Stripped of dignity Re: Still not too old to bump and grind; at 59, S.A.s Randy Ricks could be oldest male stripper in U.S., mySA, Jan. 8: What has the Express-News descended into that nearly one-third of this mySA edition focused on an aging male stripper? I did not bother to read the article. The photos and cutlines said enough. Is this the best San Antonio can offer? Does this staff writer and others like him have nothing better to do? God help us all! Mary Graves, Boerne By PTI NEW DELHI: Seventeen people were killed and two injured in a massive blaze at a firecracker storage unit in outer Delhi's Bawana industrial area this evening, a Delhi Fire Services official said, even as the city government ordered an inquiry into the incident. The police said the people were either charred or got choked to death. The fire, which started at the storage unit on the ground floor of a two-storey building, ripped through the structure, the official said. The official said that the rescue operations are underway as more people are suspected to be trapped inside the factory. There is a rubber factory on the second storey above the firecracker factory. Ten women and seven men were killed, another fire official said, noting that a man and woman have been injured. The two injured have been admitted to a hospital. "The factory falls in the Delhi State Industrial And Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) area," the official said. HERE ARE ALL THE UPDATES: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announces Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the dead and Rs 1 lakh to the injured; visits site of fire. Arvind Kejriwal at the site of the fire. (PTI Photo) Relatives of the deceased and injured mourn the lives lost. A relative of one of the deceased mourns his loss. (PTI Photo) North Delhi Mayor Preety Agarwal has rushed to the spot, a senior NDMC official said. I received information about the incident on phone at around 9 pm & we immediately rushed to the spot. Situation is under control now: North #Delhi Mayor Preety Aggarwal pic.twitter.com/QqeLqtgNtP ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2018 Saddened by the Bawana fire tragedy. Have spoken to officials concerned for necessary action. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. May God give them strength to recover from this tragic incident. LG Delhi (@LtGovDelhi) January 20, 2018 PM Modi offers his condolences. Deeply anguished by the fire at a factory in Bawana. My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives. May those who are injured recover quickly: PM @narendramodi PMO India (@PMOIndia) January 20, 2018 Expressing his grief over the "large number of casualties" in the fire, chief minister Kejriwal said he is keeping a "close watch" on the rescue operations. V sad to hear abt large no of casualties. Keeping a close watch on rescue operations https://t.co/yHwQAH0bKi Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 20, 2018 Union Health Minister J P Nadda today said that the AIIMS and the Safdarjung Hospital were ready to provide all assistance to people injured in a blaze at a firecracker storage unit in Delhi's Bawana area. Union Health Minister JP Nadda directs Health Secretary to provide immediate assistance to victims of Bawana fire tragedy and also asked AIIMS trauma centre to be on alert #Delhi ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2018 I have directed officials of @MoHFW_INDIA to provide immediate support. Union Health Secretary has spoken to Chief Secretary Delhi. AIIMS trauma centre and Burn Unit Of Safadjung Hospital is ready to provide all support . Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) January 20, 2018 "We have alerted the AIIMS and the Safdarjung Hospital to keep beds and emergency services ready to attend to any victims from the fire," Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan said. Rescue operations are underway | PTI Photo The medical superintendent of Dr Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Hospital said, "We have received a disaster alert and we are prepared to handle the rush of injured patients." The Delhi Fire Services received a call about the fire at the factory around 6.20 pm and 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot, the fire department said, adding the blaze has been brought under control. G C Mishra, Director, Delhi Fire Service, said the building comprised a basement, ground floor and two upper floors. "One body was recovered from the basement, three from the ground floor and 13 from the first floor. One person sustained fractures after he jumped from the second floor to save himself," he said. Mishra said the fire was doused by 9.20 pm but search and rescue operations were underway. "We are taking no chance. We don't have a definite number of people who were in the building when the fire broke out," he said. Delhi Urban Development minister Satyendar Jain said an inquiry has been ordered into the incident. Learnt about a serious fire incident in a private factory at Bawana. Several casualties reported. Monitoring the situation.Ordered enquiry Satyendar Jain (@SatyendarJain) January 20, 2018 NEW DELHI: Seventeen people were killed and two injured in a massive blaze at a firecracker storage unit in outer Delhi's Bawana industrial area this evening, a Delhi Fire Services official said, even as the city government ordered an inquiry into the incident. The police said the people were either charred or got choked to death. The fire, which started at the storage unit on the ground floor of a two-storey building, ripped through the structure, the official said. The official said that the rescue operations are underway as more people are suspected to be trapped inside the factory. There is a rubber factory on the second storey above the firecracker factory. Ten women and seven men were killed, another fire official said, noting that a man and woman have been injured. The two injured have been admitted to a hospital. "The factory falls in the Delhi State Industrial And Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) area," the official said. HERE ARE ALL THE UPDATES: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announces Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the dead and Rs 1 lakh to the injured; visits site of fire. Arvind Kejriwal at the site of the fire. (PTI Photo) @ArvindKejriwal, ! #Bawana pic.twitter.com/E0PGAciGEq AAP (@AamAadmiParty) January 20, 2018 Relatives of the deceased and injured mourn the lives lost. A relative of one of the deceased mourns his loss. (PTI Photo) North Delhi Mayor Preety Agarwal has rushed to the spot, a senior NDMC official said. I received information about the incident on phone at around 9 pm & we immediately rushed to the spot. Situation is under control now: North #Delhi Mayor Preety Aggarwal pic.twitter.com/QqeLqtgNtP ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2018 Saddened by the Bawana fire tragedy. Have spoken to officials concerned for necessary action. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. May God give them strength to recover from this tragic incident. LG Delhi (@LtGovDelhi) January 20, 2018 PM Modi offers his condolences. Deeply anguished by the fire at a factory in Bawana. My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives. May those who are injured recover quickly: PM @narendramodi PMO India (@PMOIndia) January 20, 2018 Expressing his grief over the "large number of casualties" in the fire, chief minister Kejriwal said he is keeping a "close watch" on the rescue operations. V sad to hear abt large no of casualties. Keeping a close watch on rescue operations https://t.co/yHwQAH0bKi Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 20, 2018 Union Health Minister J P Nadda today said that the AIIMS and the Safdarjung Hospital were ready to provide all assistance to people injured in a blaze at a firecracker storage unit in Delhi's Bawana area. Union Health Minister JP Nadda directs Health Secretary to provide immediate assistance to victims of Bawana fire tragedy and also asked AIIMS trauma centre to be on alert #Delhi ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2018 I have directed officials of @MoHFW_INDIA to provide immediate support. Union Health Secretary has spoken to Chief Secretary Delhi. AIIMS trauma centre and Burn Unit Of Safadjung Hospital is ready to provide all support . Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) January 20, 2018 "We have alerted the AIIMS and the Safdarjung Hospital to keep beds and emergency services ready to attend to any victims from the fire," Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan said. Rescue operations are underway | PTI Photo The medical superintendent of Dr Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Hospital said, "We have received a disaster alert and we are prepared to handle the rush of injured patients." The Delhi Fire Services received a call about the fire at the factory around 6.20 pm and 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot, the fire department said, adding the blaze has been brought under control. G C Mishra, Director, Delhi Fire Service, said the building comprised a basement, ground floor and two upper floors. "One body was recovered from the basement, three from the ground floor and 13 from the first floor. One person sustained fractures after he jumped from the second floor to save himself," he said. Mishra said the fire was doused by 9.20 pm but search and rescue operations were underway. "We are taking no chance. We don't have a definite number of people who were in the building when the fire broke out," he said. Delhi Urban Development minister Satyendar Jain said an inquiry has been ordered into the incident. Learnt about a serious fire incident in a private factory at Bawana. Several casualties reported. Monitoring the situation.Ordered enquiry Satyendar Jain (@SatyendarJain) January 20, 2018 By PTI GAYA: Two bombs were found from the Bodh Gaya pilgrimage centre near here tonight following a small explosion-like sound amid stringent security measures in view of the Dalai Lama's stay, a top police official said. The bombs were found from the vicinity of the Kalachakra ground during an intensive combing operation by a police team led by DIG (Patna Range) Vinay Kumar, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Patna Zone, N H Khan said. The Tibetan spiritual leader has been holding discourses at the ground, he said. Bihar: Visuals from Gaya's Mahabodhi Temple, suspicious object was found at one of the emergency gates of the temple, last night. The Dalai Lama is staying at the nearby Buddhist Monastery. pic.twitter.com/dedhw89Kw5 ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2018 The IGP said that the operations were carried out after a small explosion took place at a kitchen set up at the Kaalchintan ground, causing panic among the devotees who had gathered to hear the Dalai Lama's discourse. The explosion had taken place shortly after the Dalai Lama had completed his discourse and retired for the day at the Tibetan monastery, he said. WATCH | Explosive found near Mahabodhi temple in Bihar, security beefed up During the operations, a burst thermos flask was found at the kitchen. This might have caused the sound, the IGP said. Meanwhile, a team of forensic experts was dispatched to the site of the incident from Patna to ascertain the nature of the explosives found, he said. The Tibetan spiritual leader had arrived in Bodh Gaya on January 1 and he is likely to stay there for a month. A host of VIPs, including Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Hollywood actor Richard Gere have visited Bodh Gaya recently to receive blessings from the Buddhist monk. Significantly, in 2013, the Maha Bodhi temple, situated on the spot where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, was rocked by a series of explosions in which five people, including two monks were injured. GAYA: Two bombs were found from the Bodh Gaya pilgrimage centre near here tonight following a small explosion-like sound amid stringent security measures in view of the Dalai Lama's stay, a top police official said. The bombs were found from the vicinity of the Kalachakra ground during an intensive combing operation by a police team led by DIG (Patna Range) Vinay Kumar, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Patna Zone, N H Khan said. The Tibetan spiritual leader has been holding discourses at the ground, he said. Bihar: Visuals from Gaya's Mahabodhi Temple, suspicious object was found at one of the emergency gates of the temple, last night. The Dalai Lama is staying at the nearby Buddhist Monastery. pic.twitter.com/dedhw89Kw5 ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2018 The IGP said that the operations were carried out after a small explosion took place at a kitchen set up at the Kaalchintan ground, causing panic among the devotees who had gathered to hear the Dalai Lama's discourse. The explosion had taken place shortly after the Dalai Lama had completed his discourse and retired for the day at the Tibetan monastery, he said. WATCH | Explosive found near Mahabodhi temple in Bihar, security beefed up During the operations, a burst thermos flask was found at the kitchen. This might have caused the sound, the IGP said. Meanwhile, a team of forensic experts was dispatched to the site of the incident from Patna to ascertain the nature of the explosives found, he said. The Tibetan spiritual leader had arrived in Bodh Gaya on January 1 and he is likely to stay there for a month. A host of VIPs, including Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Hollywood actor Richard Gere have visited Bodh Gaya recently to receive blessings from the Buddhist monk. Significantly, in 2013, the Maha Bodhi temple, situated on the spot where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, was rocked by a series of explosions in which five people, including two monks were injured. 13:52 | Trujillo (La Libertad region), Jan. 20. Following a warm welcome and presents including a red and white chullo (Andean earflapped hat) that he wore for a moment by local authorities and children, Pope Francis boarded the Popemobile to tour the town. These wine choices will have you covered on Thanksgiving Turkey and a whole lot of other stuff pose challenges to pairing wines with the meal as there truly is a cornucopia of flavors, all to be enjoyed. New Delhi: ITC on Saturday said it has to bear an incremental tax burden of over 20 percent due to the combined impact of an increase in excise duty in budget 2017 and revision in GST compensation cess on cigarettes. The cumulative growth in tax incidence on cigarettes, after cognising for the latest increase in cess rates, stands at 202 percent in last six years, ITC said in its earnings release. "The combined impact of an increase in excise duty announced by the Union Budget 2017 and the revision in GST compensation cess resulted in an incremental tax burden of over 20 percent on the company," it added. ITC said cigarette volumes remained under "severe pressure" due to "sharp increase in tax incidence and intense regulatory pressures". The sharp upward revision in GST compensation cess announced by the GST Council at its meeting on July 17, 2017 "exacerbated the situation", ITC said. After the implementation of GST on July 1, the government on July 17 had hiked the limit of cess to be levied on cigarettes as it felt that the industry was reaping a windfall gain as the tax rate was lower than what it was in the pre-GST era. On top of the 28 percent tax, the GST Council, comprising Centre and states, hiked the compensation cess levied on cigarettes. The government while hiking the cess rate had said it was being done to ensure that tax rates in pre and post GST era remains the same. "....the upward revision resulted in significantly higher tax incidence on cigarettes compared to the pre GST scenario which is not in keeping with the fundamental principle of revenue neutrality," ITC said. The move has also affected the legal cigarette industry volumes, which had remained under severe pressure due to high in tax incidence and regulatory pressures, it added. "It is apprehended that the sharp increase in tax incidence as aforestated will severely undermine the legal cigarette industry and adversely impact tobacco farmers," it added. The company today reported 16.75 percent increase in standalone net profit at Rs 3,090.20 crore for the December quarter. Revenue from cigarettes, however, stood at Rs 4,629.19 crore. It was Rs 8,287.97 crore in the year-ago period. Expectations high from the Union Budget 2018. Citizens in the country are asking for Leave Travel Allowance(LTA) related tax reforms. 30-year-old healthcare professional Vidya Sagar is one such citizen who feels the changing times should give way to more relaxation in availing LTA. His company allows him to avail LTA every two years for domestic travel. He, however, feels visiting international destinations has become more affordable and sometimes turns out to be cheaper than travelling within the country. Says Vidya Sagar, I have been availing LTA for the last 8 years and feel it is not as beneficial as it seems. We go on a vacation within the country twice a year. We look forward to travelling overseas too and hope LTA can be extended to overseas travel too. In many companies, mandatory leave is a must and employees are ready to pack their bags and choose holiday destinations. Employees who are entitled to LTA as part of their Cost to Company (CTC) can reimburse a domestic travel under LTA which is not included in the taxable income. The LTA is different for different employees depending on their position and salary bracket. There are certain terms and conditions under LTA which include domestic airfare in economy class and travel in first-class railway journeys twice in four years for themselves, spouse, children and parents. Travel by other modes of transport is also permitted with certain restrictions. However, LTA does not include food, lodging and sightseeing expense. The current block of 2014-2017 will give way to the new block for LTA which is for the years 2018-2022. Some employees feel LTA rules should be relaxed and overseas airfares should be included. Also, that LTA should be applicable every year instead of twice every four years. While there are other pertinent tax reforms that are on a citizens mind, they feel it is also important to focus on leisure and luxury amidst the pressure of paying taxes in India. How much importance Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley gives to these voices on LTA will be seen during his budget speech on the 1st of February. Karachi: Seventeen Indian fishermen have been arrested for allegedly illegally fishing in Pakistani waters and a court remanded them into custody on Saturday. A police official at the docks police station has said the Indian nationals appeared before a magistrate who sent them to jail on remand. "These fishermen were handed over to us by the Maritime Security last night(Friday) for further legal process," he said. He said most of the fishermen belonged to Gujarat. The 17 Indian fishermen were arrested for fishing in Pakistan's territorial waters, according to the Maritime Security Force. "They were fishing in the Arabian sea in our territory and they were detained and their three boats seized," he said. The arrests come after the release of 145 Indian fishermen on December 28. An official of the Pakistan Maritime Security Force said that since late November the number of Indian fishermen detained for fishing in Pakistani waters was around 185. A total of 438 Indian fishermen were released in 12 days time in December 2016-January 2017 by the Pakistani authorities from the Landhi and Malir jails in Karachi. Pakistan and India frequently arrest fishermen as there is no clear demarcation of the maritime border in the Arabian Sea and these fishermen do not have boats equipped with the technology to know their precise location. Jammu: An Army jawan was among four killed while eighteen others were injured as Pakistani troops shelled border outposts and civilian areas along the international border (IB) and LoC in the Jammu region for the third consecutive day on Saturday. The ceasefire violations triggered migration of over 35,000 people from their border hamlets as the authorities sounded a red alert and asked people to move to safer areas. Over 300 educational institutes along the IB and LoC in the Jammu region have been closed for the next three days by the administration in the wake of increased tension due to the shelling. As many as 10 persons, including 6 civilians and 4 jawans, were killed and nearly 60 including some jawans were injured in the shelling during the past two days. On Friday, two civilians and two jawans were killed and 35 others, including three jawans, injured in heavy mortar shelling by Pakistan troops on civilian areas and outposts along the IB and LoC in Jammu, Samba, Kathua and Rajouri districts of Jammu and Kashmir. On Wednesday also a BSF jawan and a teenaged girl were killed and 8 others injured in Samba and Jammu districts. "Pakistan resorted to unprovoked shelling in Gajansoo area of Kanachak sector in Jammu this afternoon and shells fell in the Gajansoo bus stand in which two persons were injured," a police officer said. He added they were shifted to a hospital and one of them, 25 year old Tarseem, died later. Pakistan rangers also shelled forward hamlets in R S Pura, they said adding that two civilians - 17-year-old Gaura Ram of Kapur R S Pura and 45-year-old Gour Singh of Abdullian were killed and five others injured. Pakistan army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms and automatics and mortar bombs in Krishnagati sector along LoC in Poonch around 0820 hours, a defence spokesman said adding that the Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively. In the exchanges, Sepoy Mandeep Singh was injured and later succumbed to his injuries, he said. The 23-year-old belonged to Alampur village of Sangrur district in Punjab and is survived by his father Gurnaam Singh. Pakistan rangers resorted to heavy unprovoked shelling targeting villages along IB near Chenab river (Akhnoor) to R S Pura throughout the night. The shelling was still on when reports came this morning, a BSF officer said. Pakistan forces have been directly targeting civilian villages to cause death and destructions, he said adding that the BSF was giving them a befitting reply. One BSF jawan was injured in Pargwal sector, he said adding two persons were injured in Kanachak. Pakistan rangers continued firing and shelling along IB in Arnia, Ramgarh, Samba and Hiranagar sectors till 5 AM this morning, police officers said. While firing and shelling ended in Hiranagar, Samba and Arnia around 1.30 AM today, it continued in Ramgarh sector till 5.30 AM. Over 35,000 people living along the IB migrated to safer places and most of them have been camping in houses of their relatives, they said. Over a thousand people are housed in camps in R S Pura, Samba and Kathua areas, they said. Authorities have closed nearly 300 schools and other educational institutions along IB and LoC in Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri and Poonch for next three days in wake of exchange of shelling and firing. Patna: Two students, one in Bihar's capital Patna and another 150 kilometers away in Bettiah, were reportedly killed by their abductors on Friday after ransom demands conveyed by the kidnappers were not fulfilled. Raunak, a class IX student and son of a property dealer in Patna city, was abducted on Wednesday while he was going to school. His father Sudheer Kumar lodged a complaint with Agamkuan police station and a special team under Superintendent Of Police Vishal Sharma was formed to rescue the boy but they failed to make any headway. Later, the police found Raunak's body from a closed shop in Sandalpur on Friday morning and arrested Vicky Kumar who, in front of media, confessed the crime saying he kidnapped Raunak for ransom but faced stiff resistance from him following which he bludgeoned the victim to death. Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj said accused Vicky Kumar was a neighbourer of the deceased and he meticulously planned the kidnapping. "Though he is denying anyone else's involvement in the crime, we have accessed CCTV footage in which two persons could be seen riding pillion on a motorcycle on which Raunak was carried away," he said. Raunak's father said that he got the first call for ransom on Thursday. "They demanded Rs 25 Lakh and threatened to kill my son if the money was not paid," a wailing Sudheer told News18. However, the role of the police has also come under the scanner as they kept refusing any such incident of kidnapping took place in the area. When contacted SSP Manu Maharaj denied abduction on Thursday and said, "Raunak's father is with me and he is also convinced that his son was safe and in touch with him." In another incident, the body of a KG student was found from Jhilia area in Bettiah district who was reportedly abducted on Thursday. Veer, a resident of Mirza toil, was abducted from outside his house when he was playing with his friends. Patna: Bodh Gaya was on Saturday put on high alert after two bombs were found in the pilgrimage town where the Dalai Lama is at present on a visit, even as an NIA team reached this evening to join the probe, top police officials said. "A team of the National Investigation Agency reached Bodh Gaya late this(Saturday) evening. It will aid in investigations by the Anti Terrorist Squad of the Bihar Police which is camping at Bodh Gaya," Additional Director General of Police Vinay Kumar told PTI. The two bombs were found from the town after an explosion-like sound was heard amid stringent security measures in view of the Dalai Lama's stay. "Our team of forensic experts and a bomb disposal squad had reached Bodh Gaya last night. They removed the suspected explosive devices from the spot and kept them at a secluded spot where they will be defused later," the police official said. "Although our experts have examined the devices, they are waiting for the central agency to have a look at the same before they are defused," he added. Inspector General of Police, Patna zone, N H Khan said, "The entire pilgrim town has been put on high alert in view of the presence of the Dalai Lama and the constant influx of high-profile visitors who wish to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader." He said that an FIR has been lodged at the Bodh Gaya police station in connection with the recovery of the bombs. The bombs were found in the vicinity of the Kalachakra ground during an intensive combing operation by a police team led by DIG (Patna Range) Vinay Kumar, Khan had earlier said. The explosion-like sound was heard shortly after the Dalai Lama completed his discourse and retired for the day at a Tibetan monastery, he said. "During the operation, a burst thermos flask was found at a refershments stall. This might have caused the sound," the IGP had earlier said. An NIA spokesperson earlier said the agency has sent a team, including a superintendent of police-ranked officer and an explosives' expert, to visit the site. "It is said that the blast happened in a flask kept under a generator at a tea shop opposite the ground. The police found some wires coming out. Later, searches were conducted in the vicinity by the police and two objects suspected to be improvised explosive devices were recovered," he said in a statement. The Tibetan spiritual leader had arrived in Bodh Gaya on January 1 and he is likely to stay there for a month. A host of key personalities, including Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Hollywood actor Richard Gere, visited Bodh Gaya recently to get the blessings of the Buddhist monk. "CCTV footages are being examined by forensic experts. Suspicious-looking persons are being thoroughly frisked and interrogated. Entry of vehicles is being allowed only after they are thoroughly checked," Khan said, adding that no arrest has been made so far. In 2013, the Maha Bodhi temple, situated at the spot where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, was rocked by a series of explosions in which five people, including two monks, were injured. Burdwan (WB): The police have arrested four persons, including a police driver, from Burdwan for attempting to sell a "genie in a bottle" to a resident of Baguiati near Kolkata. The resident, Tapas Roy Choudhury, received a call from a friend informing him that a ghost, which would do anything for him and turn all his wishes into reality, was available for sale, police said. After an appointment was fixed with the seller, a curious Roy Choudhury came to Burdwan town with a friend. Four persons escorted them to a hotel in a vehicle bearing a police sticker. The four showed them a small soft drink bottle with a Re 1 coin in it and said the ghost was inside the bottle. They also demanded the price for the ghost, Rs 10 lakh. When Roy Choudhury told them that he had no money, the four forcibly took Rs 600, all the cash Choudhury and his friend had at that time, and locked them up in the hotel room. Police said Roy Choudhury somehow managed to contact a friend who informed the Burdwan police and the four were arrested. One of the four is a police driver. The arrests were made on Thursday night and a local court released them on bail on Friday. United Nations: Pakistan's "mindset" that unleashes terrorist attacks on India and Afghanistan must change, India has told the Security Council. Only by changing the terror mindset can bring ace come to Afghanistan, India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin said on Friday during a high-level Council meeting dealing with Afghanistan. "Terrorism and externally induced instability pose the gravest threat to Afghanistan's peace, stability and prosperity," he said. "And the growing arc of terrorist violence endangers our entire region." New Delhi has been working with regional and international partners to bring security, peace and development to Afghanistan, he said. To further these objectives and promote peace, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stopped over in Lahore in December 2015 on his way back from inaugurating the Indian-built parliament house in Afghanistan, he said. But "a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack" was launched on the Pathankot airbase in a week's time by "the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day," he said. "These mindsets differentiate between 'good' and bad terrorists," he said. "These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace. They are mindsets that are reluctant to join hands in moving the region forward to build a shared future for our people and our youth." "These mindsets," Akbaruddin declared, "need to change." The high-level Council meeting was presided over by Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov and focused on regional cooperation to promote development and security in Afghanistan. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was among those attending the session. Terrorism has taken a huge toll on Afghanistan, Akbaruddin said backing up his assertion with World Bank statistics. Afghanistan recorded a 9.6 per cent annual economic growth rate from 2003 to 2014, but it has fallen to 2.2 per cent in 2016 as terrorism increased and it was 2.6 per cent last year, according to the bank. Illustrating how terrorism impacts development, he said that a disproportionate amount of resources are diverted from the aid projects to protecting them rather than building more projects. The New Development Partnership between India and Afghanistan cover education, health, agriculture, infrastructure, renewable energy, drinking water supply and human resource development, he said. The recent visits by Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah have given the partnership a boost, he added. India pledged a $1 billion package for Afghanistan last year. Washington: American aerospace and defence major Lockheed Martin has proposed to manufacture custom-built F-35 fighter jets in India, which its officials say will give Indian industry a unique opportunity to become part of the world's largest fighter aircraft ecosystem. "We plan to introduce two new words into the lexicon of international fighter aircraft manufacturing: 'India' and 'exclusive'," Vivek Lall, vice president, strategy and business development, at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics said in an interview. "India-specific state-of-the-art fighter production in India will be exclusive, something that has never before been presented by any other fighter aircraft manufacturer, past or present. There will also be a significant export market available for Indian-made fighters," Lall said. Lall, an Indian American who last year was instrumental in the decision of the Trump administration to sell top-of-the-line unarmed drones from General Atomics, in his previous capacity. Noting that the India-specific fighter on offer and its programme's size, scope and success will enable Indian industry to take advantage of unprecedented manufacturing, upgrade and sustainment opportunities well into the future, Lall said the platform will give Indian industry a unique opportunity to become a part of the world's largest fighter aircraft ecosystem. "We intend to create far more than an assembly line in India," he said. Lall claimed no other advanced fourth generation platform even comes close to matching the record of real-world combat experience and proven operational effectiveness. "The fighter being offered specifically to India is uniquely the best state-of-the-art fighter," he said adding that all three variants of the F-35 are single-engine aircraft. Many of the systems used on the India-specific platform are derived from key lessons learned and technologies from Lockheed Martin's F-22 and the F-35, the world's only operational fifth generation fighters, he said. Northrop Grumman's advanced APG-83 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar on the F-16 Block 70 provides F-16s with fifth generation fighter radar capabilities by leveraging hardware and software commonality with F-22 and F-35 AESA radars, he added. The APG-83 radar shares more than 95 per cent software commonality with the F-35 radar and more than 70 per cent hardware commonality. Lall said the F-16 provides the path to business relationships with Lockheed Martin, the only company in the world that has designed, developed and produced operational fifth generation fighter aircraft. Technology improvements will also continue to flow between the F-16, F-22 and F-35 for decades, at a fraction of the cost to F-16 operators, he said. The platform being offered provides unmatched opportunities for Indian companies of all sizes, including micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs) and suppliers throughout India, to establish new business relationships with Lockheed Martin and other industry leaders in the US and around the globe, Lall said giving an insight into the offer being made by his company. Asserting that approximately half of the Indian fighter supply chain will be common with the fifth generation F-22 and F-35, Lall said the aircraft brings the most modern avionics, a proven AESA radar, modernised cockpit, advanced weapons, longer range with conformal fuel tanks, auto ground collision avoidance capability, and an advanced engine with an extended service life. Even with the addition of targeting systems and two 2,000 pound (lb) class Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), the aircraft has a mission radius exceeding 1,300 kms 30 per cent greater than that of its closest competitor, he said. "Many of the advances in systems on the aircraft India would get draw directly from key lessons learned from Lockheed Martin's work on the F-22 and the F-35," he said. "The AESA radar is the result of over two decades of investment, use and experience with AESA technology, and it's fully operational today," Lall said. New Delhi: RSS-affiliated farmers' unions Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) and Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) have termed Mayhco Monsanto Biotechs (MMB) letter to the government on Bt Cotton seeds as an attempt to 'blackmail', pressurise the government. MMB had written to the Centre terming the National Seeds Associations threat to stop the sale of Bolllgard 11 seeds as irresponsible and against farmers interest. "It is an attempt to coerce the key stakeholders and create a crisis for farmers," the company said. In response, BKS' general secretary Mohini Mohan said, The government is under pressure from these MNCs. For years they have been failing the tests yet they have stayed on. Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee, which is the regulatory body has failed to curb them. Mohan further alleges that Bollgard I had failed in 2005, which was followed by Bollgard IIs failure in 2009. The MNC came up with Herbicide tolerant seed, which lead to farmer suicides in Yavatmal, Maharashtra. Around 80 farmers have died. Monsanto is blackmailing the government, which is under pressure from these lobbies, he said. Monsanto should go back, as it is important for seed sovereignty. We can produce our own seeds like we did in the past. There is no need to have the domination of a few seeds. The Bollgard XI continues without any call-back from authorities, Mohan alleges. The National Seeds Association of India (NSAI) had expressed doubts over MMBs role in selling Bt cotton seeds and threatened to stop the sale of Bollgard XI from January 2018. MMBs director Satyender Singh then wrote to the Association, while CEO Shilpa Diveker wrote to Minister Radha Mohan Singh. The MNC asked the government to work in maintaining the progress of technology and accused the NSAI of having bilateral disputes and vested interests. Monsanto is a global firm which claims to be committed to increasing food supply by 2050 with present farmlands, while MMB is a 50:50 joint venture between Mahyco and Monsanto Holdings. The company has sub-licensed Bollgard XI seeds and Bollgard technologies to around 42 Indian seed companies. New Delhi: A new three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra is scheduled to hear the Justice Loya case on Monday. The bench excludes Justice Arun Mishra, whose bench was assigned the case earlier. The composition of the bench was changed on Saturday amid the rift between the CJI and four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court over allocation of cases. Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph had raised issues about "select" benches getting such cases and the posting of Judge Loya's case to Court No. 10 was apparently the trigger. Hints that the PILs pertaining to the death of Justice Loya, who was trying the politically sensitive Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, may go to another bench came last week when an order on the Supreme Court website said the case should be put up before the appropriate bench. Posting this case before Justice Arun Mishras bench was apparently the trigger that had led the four senior-most judges to come out openly against the Chief Justice of India. The four senior apex court judges - Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph - had convened an unprecedented press conference raising some issues, including "selective" allocation of cases by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. The cases indicated by them included this case. Loya, who was hearing the sensitive Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, had allegedly died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter. The issue of Loya's death had come under the spotlight in November last year after media reports quoting his sister had fuelled suspicion about the circumstances surrounding his death and its link to the Sohrabuddin case. However, Loya's son had on January 14 said in Mumbai that his father died of natural causes and not under suspicious circumstances. The court had earlier termed as "serious matter" the issue of Loya's death and had asked Maharashtra government to file certain documents, including the autopsy report. The counsel for petitioners had told the court that this was a case of alleged mysterious death of a judge, who was hearing a sensitive case, and an independent probe was required. In his plea, he had claimed that circumstances revolving around the death of the judge were "questionable, mysterious and contradicting". A PIL seeking probe into the judge's death was also filed before the Bombay High Court on January 8 by the Bombay Lawyers' Association. Islamabad: Pakistan on Saturday summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh for the fourth time this week and condemned the alleged "unprovoked ceasefire violations" across the LoC by Indian forces. The Foreign Office (FO) said that Indian troops violated the ceasefire in Khuiratta, Bagsar and Khanjar Sectors on the Line of Control (LoC) on January 20. The firing killed a 60-year-old civilian and injured two others, including a child, it said. Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Mohammad Faisal, who is also the foreign ministry spokesman, summoned Singh and "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control and Working Boundary on January 20". He said the number of casualties at the Working Boundary has risen due to unprovoked and indiscriminate firing by the Indian forces, where four more innocent civilians were killed while 20 injured on January 18 and 19. "The Indian forces along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary are continuously targeting civilian populated areas with heavy mortars and automatic weapons," Faisal said. He alleged that the Indian forces have carried out more than 150 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary in just 20 days this year, killing nine innocent civilians and injuring 40 others. This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed more than 1,900 ceasefire violations, Faisal said. "The deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws," the official said. Faisal said that the "ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation". The Director General urged India to respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary. He urged that the Indian side should permit UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions. The FO, apart from today, had summoned India's Deputy High Commissioner Singh on January 15, 18 and 19. Pune: A 39-year-old IT professional was allegedly beaten to death by three people after he objected to parking vehicles in front of his bungalow in Kondhwa area in the city, said police. The incident took place on Friday night. Sriganesh Raskar (31), Yogesh Kadwe (22) and Vikram Bhombe (31) were arrested on Saturday, police said. The victim was identified as N B Battiwala. A senior police officer of Kondhwa police station said that Raskar runs a transport business, and his driver used to park the vehicles in front of the gate of Battiwala's bungalow. "Battiwala often objected to it. On Friday night, the deceased had another argument with Raskar over the issue that led to the scuffle," said the officer. Raskar and the other two attacked Battiwala with rods and left him injured. "Battiwala was rushed to the hospital, where he succumbed to injuries," he said. Kolkata: The Ministry of Railways has decided to shut down eight train services in West Bengal citing them as losses making routes and claiming it was not possible for them to continue unless the state government bears 50% of the cost. The loss-making routes as mentioned by the Railways are - Sonarpur-Canning, Shantipur-Nabadwip Ghat, Barasat-Hasnabad, Kalyani-Kalyani Simanta, Ballygunge-Budge Budge, Baruipur-Namkhana, Bardhman-Katwa and Bhimghar-Palasthali. In a letter dated January 17, 2018, the Chief Commercial Manager (Eastern Railways), SS Gehlot said, The continued operation of commercially unviable lines, which is source of sustained loss being borne by Indian Railways on its own has been commented upon by the Public Account Committee (PAC) of Parliament in their 42nd report as well as through their 88th report on the action taken note submitted by the Ministry of Railways. PAC has strongly impressed upon the Ministry of Railways to seek the consent of state governments so as to secure the closure of such loss-making lines. His letter further reads, Accordingly my predecessor, vide his above referred D.O letter (copy enclosed for ready reference), had sought the state governments consent for the closure of the line(s) referred to above. In case, however, these are to be retained in public interest, state governments agreement was requested for sharing the burden of the loss of working lines at least in the 50:50 ration, with Eastern Railway. However, we are yet to receive the views of the state government on this issue. I would, therefore, request your personal intervention in examining our request expeditiously and communicate the state governments decision in the matter. The Eastern Railway claimed that they had earlier informed the West Bengal government about the matter but did not receive any response. State Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has expressed dismay over the letter and said, They are trying to deprive the people of Bengal. We strongly oppose this move. New Delhi: Acknowledging social medias role in upholding or destroying the reputation of an individual, the Supreme Court has permitted a couple to legally separate on the condition that they will not use each other's photograph on any social media website, application or in any form on the Internet. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, noting the spate of cases that the estranged couple had filed against each other, deemed it appropriate to annul their marriage but stipulated that they cannot use social media or Internet to malign each other or impact reputation in any manner. "Neither the husband nor the wife shall put the photographs of each other in any mode, or at any place, which would also include social media or online," said the bench. The unique condition was brought in after the woman's lawyer Dushyant Parashar emphasised the space social media occupies in an individual's life and said that the warring couple already had complaints registered against each other under cyber laws for posting photographs on websites. The CJI accepted Parashar's contention and agreed to add this as one of the chief conditions to grant divorce after quashing all 17 cases the couple had lodged against each other. The man, a management graduate, and the woman, an engineer, got married in 2013 but developed severe marital discord soon after. They started living separately and complained against each other at various fora. They also filed a divorce petition. Disposing of all pending cases, the Court directed the man to pay Rs 37 lakh towards permanent alimony and as the full and final settlement. "All allegations in any petition, including the divorce petition made against each other by the parties, stand expunged from the records. The expunging of remarks would mean no one shall be entitled to get the certified copy of the said pleadings," added the bench. Lucknow: In a goodwill gesture, the UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) will offer a cup of tea to bus and truck drivers at night to keep them awake. The offers, however, comes at a price as vehicles zipping down the 302-km stretch will have to pay toll tax. The Yogi Adityanath government has fixed toll rates for vehicles along the expressway, which also boasts of a 3.3 km airstrip that defence aircraft can use as a runway during emergency. The toll will vary from vehicle to vehicle and will be applicable on vehicles travelling from both sides, a state government spokesperson said on Friday. "The rates have been fixed at Rs 570 for car, jeep, van or light motor vehicles; Rs 905 for light commercial vehicle or mini bus; Rs 1,815 for bus and truck; Rs 2,785 for heavy construction work machine and multi-axle vehicle (3 to 6) and Rs 3,575 for over-sized vehicle (7 and above axles)," he said. The toll will be same from both the sides but it will be proportional to the distance travelled by the commuters, the official said. Justifying more tax for Agra-Lucknow Expressway as compared to the Lucknow-Kanpur-Agra National Highway, an official of the UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), explained that total distance covered by the national highway is 364 km and toll is Rs 390. Whereas, the Agra-Lucknow Expressway is just 302 km long and travelling by this road costs less because of less consumption of fuel and it saves time too, he said. The government notification has spared dignitaries like President of India, Prime Minister, Governor, Chief Minister, MPs, Legislators, Judges and Padma Award winners from paying toll tax. The decision to levy toll tax was taken in a high-level meeting here last week. The Indian Air Force has already tested the airstrip twice by landing and taking off its fighter jets, including Mirage, Sukhoi 30, MIG and C-130J Super Hercules four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. For the security of travellers, the UPEIDA has decided to set-up nine police stations along the expressway, built in record 22 months. It will also station 'Dial 100' police interceptors and ambulances on the route to provide safe and secure routes to travellers. (With PTI inputs) Gaya (Bihar): At least two bombs were found from the Bodh Gaya pilgrimage centre on Friday night following a small explosion-like sound amid stringent security measures in view of the Dalai Lama's stay. The bombs were found near gate no. 4 of Maha Bodhi Temple, police said. The explosion took place hours after Tibetan spiritual leader had retired for the day. He arrived in Bodh Gaya on January 1 and will be there for almost a month. Additional forces of Central Reserve Police and Bihar Military Police have been deployed. Director General Of Police (DGP) PK Thakur told News18, " Dalai Lama will get additional layers of security cover. We were already alert which enabled us to detect and find the explosives. But after this, we have directed to deploy additional forces in the security of spiritual Guru Dalai Lama and Buddhist monasteries." The explosion had taken place shortly after the Dalai Lama had completed his discourse and retired for the day at the Tibetan monastery, he said. Gaya Senior Superintendent of Police Garima Mallick told News18 that bombs were safely removed from Kalchakra Maidan, where Dalia Lama takes spiritual lessons during the day and taken away near river Falgu where Bomb disposal squad will defuse it. Meantime two main roads leading to Bodh Gaya have been blocked and search operations started to find out who brought and planted the explosives. Additional Jawans of CRPF and BMP have been deployed in and around the Bodhi temple where people from the state and abroad visit in large numbers regularly. BMP Jawan Ramesh Kumar, who first spotted the bombs, said, "I was patrolling around Kalchakra Maidan. Suddenly my device started giving a signal which suggested some metallic device around it. I asked the sweeper but he had nothing suspicious. Then on the basis of signal strengths of my device, I found a Plate sized thing under a tree. Soon I saw another such thing and informed my seniors. Later we came to know that these are explosives. It was weighing 10 kg each." During the operations, an exploded thermos flask was found at the kitchen. This might have caused the sound, police said. Meanwhile, Two NIA teams from Lucknow and Delhi, led by an SP-level officer, and explosives experts were on their way to Bodh Gaya. A host of VIPs, including Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Hollywood actor Richard Gere have visited Bodh Gaya recently to receive blessings from the Buddhist monk. Significantly, in 2013, the Maha Bodhi temple, situated on the spot where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, was rocked by a series of explosions in which five people, including two monks, were injured. (with PTI inputs) Mumbai: Pakistan has a twisted mindset, Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir on Friday said, and asserted India will respond with 10 bullets for every bullet fired by the neighbouring country. "Sending terrorists into India, violating ceasefire has become their (Pakistan's) nature. They have a twisted mindset. Be it our home ministry, defence ministry or the Jammu and Kashmir police, everybody has to keep co-ordinating and give reply to Pakistan's misadventures," Ahir said, speaking to reporters in Yavatmal, Maharashtra. "The home minister has said we should not fire the first bullet. But if one bullet is fired from their side, we should respond with 10," he said. Two civilians and a BSF jawan were on Friday killed and 23 others, including 2 BSF men, were injured in a heavy mortar shelling by Pakistan along the International Border in three districts of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. Over the years, the credibility of Indian film awards has been widely questioned over not getting the winners right. Need I remind you Golmaal Again was recently declared Best Picture. Time and again, these ceremonies have constantly been blamed for being out of touch with what actually constitutes remarkable and artistic cinema. Is it that difficult to differentiate between whats innovative and stale? Well, looking across the Filmfare nominations for its upcoming 63rd edition, it sure seems so. On Thursday, when the entire nation was overwrought over the fate of Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Padmaavat, Indias prestigious award show decided to release its nominations list. While the Supreme Courts ruling on the Deepika Padukone-starrer brought a much-needed win for the film industry, Filmfares nominations only made this victory tasteless after so many deserving actors, directors and movies were shut out of the race. Rajkummar Rao, who literally became the face of Indian cinema in 2017 and did some four films, was left high and dry as his portrayal of a honest rookie government clerk in Newton failed to crack the list of best actors despite widespread acclaim. (He did land a nomination for Bareilly Ki Barfi as best supporting actor.) Whats most surprising was Varun Dhawans nomination for Badrinath Ki Dulhania, which was accused of being a creepy misogynistic romance drama. Filmfare seriously? Though Newton received a decent number of nominationsfor Pankaj Tripathis supporting role, for Mayank Tewari and Amit V Masurkars screenplay, for original story, dialogues, cinematography and editingone of the years best films was unable to score a best director nod for Amit V Masurkar and, more disappointing, best picture given that it was India's official entry to the Oscars. Yes, you all are free to scratch your heads and wonder how a film with some of the finest talent in the country didnt make it to the list of the best pictures of Filmfare. Konkona Sen Sharmas unconventional turn as a muslim saleswoman in Lipstick Under My Burkha was passed over while Alia Bhatt received a best actress nomination for playing a regular character in Badrinath Ki Dulhania. Perhaps the biggest shock would be, Alankrita Shrivastavas Lipstick... only managed to earn one nomination for Ratna Pathak Shah in a supporting role category. Kriti Sanon, who shed her glamorous image to play a bubbly yet loveable UP girl in Bareilly Ki Barfi, was praised by critics and audiences for her performance but failed to land a Filmfare acknowledgment. Well its not the first time the Indian awards have come under the radar for being pointless, several Bollywood celebs have previously gone on record to say that they dont believe in these star-studded events. I remember interviewing Nawazuddin Siddiqui, during which he bluntly told me, Ye awards sab fake hote hai. They dont matter to me. Recently, actor Kangana Ranaut during her podcast with Anupama Chopra and Rajeev Masand revealed an incident where she was asked to perform at an award ceremony and promised a trophy for the same. One of the biggest reasons the general audience remain unaware of the experimental cinema which is made in the country is because these shows are always busy satisfying A-listers and movies that are commercially successful. But wouldnt it be delightful to give recognition to the real talent and art, not the ones who desperately want it just to keep the audiences in a false belief that they are still loved by everyone? Sad, we have enough talent but no platform that knows their worth. New Delhi: Delhi Police on Friday said it has made proper arrangements to maintain law and order in the capital for the release of Padmaavat next week in the wake of a bandh call by the Shree Rajput Karni Sena against the film. pecial Commissioner of Police, Dependra Pathak said, "In view of the screening of 'Padmaavat' movie next week in the national capital, we have done proper arrangements. We are continuously in touch with various big and small cineplex managements." "We have proper security in the periphery of the national capital and additional force has been kept in readiness. We are urging groups not to indulge in any act which could violate the law and order situation," Pathak said. The Karni Sena has been stridently protesting release of Padmaavat on the grounds that it distorts history. In the nineties, Cranberries for the youth in South India wasnt a fruit, it was a band. Unlike gooseberries, loads of which we consumed in our pickles, Cranberries was (and still is) pure music. Manna for the soul. The unadulterated airy yet ferocious rasp of Dolores voice filled every local rock festival or college festival, with many a hopeful band covering her, and the audience never failing to join in. It also followed that decades movement favouring women-of-rock and female leads with unconventional voices. It was the time for Dreams and Zombies! It was the summer of 92, a time when we used nostalgic devices like cassettes and tape recorders, and I made my first attempt at creating a mixtape and ended up adding this song: Oh my life is changing every day In every possible way And oh my dreams It's never quite as it seems Never quite as it seems.... And with this anthem on repeat in my mind, I witnessed a generations love affair with the sound of the Cranberries, led by the haunting Irish voice and words of Dolores ORiordan. She was testimony to the possibility of combining pure testosterone and grace in one unified tenacious strain. Many attempted. Many failed. Named after the Lady of the Seven Dolors by her mother, Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan was born on the 6 September 1971 and grew up in Ballybricken, a town in Limerick, Ireland. Her father, Terence ORiordan, was a farmer who unfortunately met with a bike accident in 1968, putting the onus of the familys responsibilities on the mother, Eileen, a local school caterer. ORiordan was especially close to her father. Devastated after his death in November 2011, she remembered him fondly in an interview in the Independent (Ireland), 2011, saying My father was a beautiful, kind, funny man. He was a great patient during his long, weary battle. He never complained. He was bed-ridden for the last few months... he held on to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary this year on the 14th of November". Dolores was the youngest of nine siblings, seven of whom survived. Raised as a Roman Catholic by her Devout Mother, Dolores O'Riordan considered Pope John Paul II, whom she met in Limerick, as one of her inspiration. While Dolores began writing songs at the age of 12, it wasnt until she met the Hogan brothers, Mike and Noel, during an audition for their band, that the Cranberries was conceived. She turned up for the audition with an earlier demo version of the song Linger, which simply blew the rest of the band away. Her heavily accented voice and her songwriting had an instant impact on them and they were quite surprised by the fact that she was not already in a band. Fergal Lawler, the bands drummer, completed the quartet. The early years of the band were spent touring Ireland and the United Kingdom before being signed on to Island Records. They soon caught the attention of British recording executives, flocking to Limerick for a glimpse of four young teenagers creating waves in the London music scene. The band's raw talent and innocent wide-eyed charm was covered by British music weeklies, showering accolades months before their first album was even recorded. "Linger became their first hit single. They would go on to be the most celebrated rock band from Ireland since U2. Dolores, with her iconic pixie haircut, created an identity that was unique and fresh and represented everything Ireland and its musicians. Talented, shy, and resilient, on stage she was an uncontrollable force. A ball of undefinable energy combined with an undeniable voice, she definitely was Something Else (an apt name for their 2017 album). Initially released in 1992, both Linger and Dreams were re-issued as releases in the United Kingdom in February and May 1994, which shot to the top of the charts across the world. They released their debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? in 1993. Ode to my Family and Linger showcased their strong melodies and Doloress melancholic lyrics transported listeners to Limerick, emphasising their struggles in Ireland and also the perseverance that led them to the top. Zombie, written by Dolores in her flat, was released with the 1994 album No need to Argue and was No. 1 on the US Rock Charts. The song was an interpretation of her opinion on violence that had engulfed Northern Ireland, an anti-war song echoing the sentiments of the people an anthem for the youth and for the movement. And 23 years after its release it still inspires us. Still moves us. Dolores opened up about her mental health condition in 2017 and her bipolar diagnosis; however, that did nothing dampen her spirit to continue making music and performing on stage. Back in India, the nineties was a funny period with everyone trying to find a voice or become one. And Dolores simplicity connected her to millions of followers in the subcontinent. With no false pretences, the alternative rock that Cranberries brought us was what most of us were seeking. Dolores used to sing with her back to the audience. They said she was too shy. This, I guess, resonated with an entire generation of Indians. Unassuming talents, thinking they had mettle but the system forcing them to turn their backs while they passionately consumed what they loved. Fans who probably could not have afforded a can of cranberry juice would willingly shell out money for the next album of The Cranberries. Consuming it with gusto while downing a shared quart of Old Monk or coffee and flicking a worn-out, wet cigarette. Dolores, the girl from Limerick, made it hard for us to separate the song from the person that she was. And with the Irish genius leaving us at 46, I think once more about that mixtape life is changing every day, in every possible way; but amidst the change, her powerhouse vocals will remain a constant and will more than just linger on. She supposedly succumbed to back pain oriented issues. Ironic. Or prophetic perhaps because that was what most of her audience saw. Amid serious differences over its electoral approach towards the Congress party, a crucial three-day meeting of the CPM central committee is underway in Kolkata to finalise a draft political resolution for approval of partys next Congress in Hyderabad between April 17 and 19. As of now, the CPM is vertically split over the means to achieve its primary objective of dislodging BJP-led government at the Centre in 2019, partly due to extreme ideological positioning, Kerala politics, where the Congress is CPMs principal political opponent and ego tussles. The rigidity of the factions is such that a Central Committee meeting in October, a Politburo meet in December and a series of subsequent Politburo meetings till January 10 failed to resolve the differences. In the last Central Committee meeting attended by 63 of the 72 members, 31 backed general secretary Sitararam Yechurys line, while 32 endorsed former general secretary Prakash Karats position. Yechury camp hopes to edge out the hardliners in the Kolkata conference. While the group led by pragmatist Yechury is pitching for a broad anti-communal platform in cooperation with secular forces (that include the Congress and regional parties), the faction-led by dogmatist Karat, does not want any truck with the Congress. Karats draft agreed with Yechurys formulation of defeating the BJP, but with a caveat without entering into any understanding or alliance with the Congress party. As a result of the divergence, two separate political draft resolutions are being placed before the Central Committee. And if the three-day session failed to end the impasse and adopt a single draft, the Congress will be faced with an unprecedented situation of facing two drafts for consideration. The question is how practical is it to take on an entrenched saffron party without having the principal opposition party on board? Politics in India is no longer as usual after a Modi-fied BJP wrested power from the Congress four years ago. Since 2014, the CPM held several meetings of its high-powered Politburo and Central Committees to resolve this tangle but in vain as ideological puritans resisted any attempt to water down partys opposition to neo-liberal economic policies pursued by the Congress and other secular parties. Yechurys draft calls for the formation of a Left Democratic Front as a political alternative encompassing all secular forces in the umbrella coalition. To buy peace with the dissenters, he agreed to exclude the ruling class parties (read the Congress) from the proposed electoral front keeping the option of collaboration, but still, Karat faction insisted of no truck with Congress policy. The last time the Communists faced two separate drafts was in 1964 that led to the split of the undivided Communist Party of India, giving birth to the CPM and the CPI. The factions toeing the Moscow line and favouring joining hands with Nehru-led Congress was considered revisionists and right wing (they later formed the CPI), while ideological puritans supporting China christened themselves as the CPM-Marxists. Incidentally, the 1964 Congress was also held in Kolkata. Yechury insists that as India is a country of unparalleled diversities and the alternative policy framework should not and cannot remain exclusively only an economic policy framework, Karat is adamant on hair-splitting saying that while the CPM will not have any understanding with Congress at the national level, the party can collaborate with regional parties. In states where the Congress and BJP are in a direct fight, it can campaign for the defeat of BJP. This, apparently, is a contradictory stand because if you work for the defeat of BJP, say in b-polar states like Gujarat, MP, UP, Rajasthan etc, are you backing the Congress indirectly? Then why this convoluted approach? Even as Karat is staunchly opposed to bourgeois Congress, his party has no problem in aligning with neo-liberal parties such as the Sharad Pawar-led NCP and the JD(S) in Kerala. Is this the time for hair-splitting? Ask those concerned over the new, unconventional politics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CPMs sinking bases in West Bengal and Tripura where BJP is making rapid inroads. The overuse of the outdated political-tactical line, a relic of 1978, has retarded partys organisational growth. Election results of last 10 years are testimony to this. Some analysts even suspect that the Kerala faction may be indirectly trying to buy peace with the BJP as the CBI has challenged the acquittal of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC-Lavlin pay-off case by the High Court. The CBI kept silent for about a year over Lavlin case and coinciding with crucial meetings to fine-tune partys political strategy, the investigating agency becomes proactive at the behest of the Centre, alleged a party insider who did not want to be quoted. Incidentally, Karats observation in 2016 that BJP is authoritarian and Right-wing, but not a fascist force had drawn flak from many of his own colleagues. He, however, subsequently clarified his stand which was lost in semantics, but it rekindled the debate whether Modi regime is fascist or not. Speaking at the then Central Committee meeting, Yechury asserted that the BJP government is not fascist in the classical sense but acts as the political arm of the RSS which has a fascistic agenda, giving rise to speculation that Karat overstepped party line or erred in his assessment of the Modi regime. Former Kerala chief minister VS Achuthanandan, who also spoke at the Central Committee meet, had accused Karat of diluting the fight against Modi regime by his avoidable comments. In an earlier editorial in party mouthpiece Peoples Democracy, Karat said: Most of the regional parties have embraced the neo-liberal policies and are prone to make opportunistic alliances. The Congress, the editorial said, is primarily responsible for the imposition of neo-liberal policies and it stands discredited due to years of misrule and corruption. Even as the Marxists insist on following socialist economy, their ideological brother Communist Party of China has tweaked its policy to suit the contemporary world situation. China is raking in millions of dollars through its economic cooperation with the US. How can Karat faction fight the BJP behemoth keeping neo-liberal parties out and not differentiating between class and communal enemies? (The author is a senior journalist and political commentator. Views are personal.) New Delhi: Facing the prospect of losing 20 of its MLAs in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday said the Election Commissions recommendation to disqualify them was unconstitutional and appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind to let them explain their stand. Senior party leader and deputy Delhi CM Manish Sisodia said the legislators will meet the President and present evidence to support their case. There was no hearing, we were not given a chance to explain our stand. We appeal to the President to hear our view too. MLAs will meet the President also, he said after a meeting of the MLAs with Arvind Kejriwal. On Friday, the EC had recommended to President Kovind to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs for holding offices of profit as parliamentary secretaries. The President is bound to act in accordance with the poll panel's recommendation. Sisodia also alleged that his government is being deliberately targeted for the "honest work" they have been doing in the capital city. The AAP attacked the Election Commission's decision and said it was its chief Achal Kumar Joti's parting gift to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs was his gift to Modi. What is the reason for this gift? Why it has been given? Aam Aadmi Party and the country want to know this," senior AAP leader Gopal Rai said. "Everyone in the country has only one question on their mind: What was the compulsion for him to take the decision with only two days to retire," Rai asked. He said that Joti was the principal secretary in Gujarat when Modi was the state's Chief Minister and he was Modi's closest officer. The AAP leader also rubbished claims that the AAP MLAs were given multiple chances to appear before the EC and said that lies were being spread in the media. Rai said that all notices given by the EC were replied by AAP's lawyers and added that even during the the British rule, people were heard before giving punishments. Holding out a purported order from the EC, Rai said that the EC had not given a date of hearing for the AAP MLAs, after March 13, 2017. The EC gave its opinion to the President on a complaint by advocate Prashant Patel, a member of the Hindu Legal Cell, in June 2015, who petitioned then President Pranab Mukherjee alleging illegality in the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries. The decision led to calls by the Congress and BJP - who have been demanding the disqualification - for Kejriwal's resignation. Later on Friday, the Delhi High Court refused to grant interim relief to AAP MLAs against the Election Commission's recommendation. Puducherry: The AIADMK on Saturday said it would seek disqualification of ruling Congress and DMK legislators in Puducherry "for holding office of profit," in view of the Election Commission's decision to disqualify 20 AAP MLAs in New Delhi on similar grounds. Addressing reporters in Puducherry, the party's legislature wing leader A Anbalagan said the 'office of profit' axe has fallen on 20 AAP MLAs in New Delhi with EC sending its recommendation to the President, suggesting their disqualification. "The development in New Delhi is directly applicable to Puducherry where the legislators belonging to the ruling Congress and its ally the DMK are holding 'office of profits' such as chairmen of government-owned undertakings and Parliamentary Secretary," he alleged. Anbalagan said AIADMK will give 15 days time to the MLAs "to relieve themselves of posts of chairmen and Parliamentary Secretary so as to remain only as legislators as my intention is not to disturb them." The party would send a petition to ECI after the lapse of 15 day-deadline, he added. While one Congress legislator is the parliamentary secretary to Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, two DMK members and five belonging to the Congress had been appointed chairmen of statutory bodies in Puducherry. The Election Commission had on Friday recommended to the President the disqualification of 20 MLAs of Aam Aadmi Party for holding office of profit, setting the stage for their ouster from the New Delhi Assembly. Questioning the move to associate Puducherry BJP President V Saminathan with the inauguration of a Passport office in Karaikal, the AIADMK leader said, "Narayanasamy had not registered protest against inclusion of the name of BJP president in both the official invitation and also the plaque erected at the venue of the function." External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had unveiled the plaque of the Post Office Passport Seva Kendra in Karaikal on Friday. Anbalagan also claimed that there were several lapses in the protocol to be adopted in a government function. New Delhi: A combative Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday sounded the battle cry for all the 20 Aam Aadmi Party MLAs who are staring at disqualification in the office of profit case and asked them to be prepared to "fight at every level" in the coming days. The Delhi Chief Minister made it clear that if a re-election were to be held, their focus should be on not just winning, but ensuring that Congress and BJP lose their deposits. In a detailed discussion in a meeting at his home, the party's legal options as well as election preparedness were the top priorities. Apart from the 20 legislators, the meeting was attended by other top leaders of the party, including Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, Gopal Rai, Ashish Khetan and Dilip Pandey. Briefing the media after the meet, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia attacked the Election Commission, calling the decision to recommend the disqualification "illegal, undemocratic and unconstitutional". Sisodia said that the MLAs have sought time from President Ram Nath Kovind to present their case as the poll panel gave its decision without hearing them. "We request the President to send the opinion back to the Election Commission and ask it to take cognizance of the proof of innocence of the MLAs, hear their witnesses and then give its opinion," he said. The Election Commission had on Friday asked the president to disqualify 20 of its MLAs for holding offices of profit, setting the stage for their ouster from the assembly. The commission said the party MLAs, by occupying the post of parliamentary secretaries between March 13, 2015 and September 8, 2016, held offices of profit, and were liable to be disqualified as legislators. BJP, Sisodia alleged, was wary of AAP government "getting into the fourth gear" and was therefore hatching a conspiracy to create hurdles for them. He said BJP was scared of steps like home delivery of services, mohalla clinics, installation of CCTV cameras in schools and hospitals, and plans like Wi-Fi, water and roads for unauthorized colonies taking off. The party's Rajya Sabha-elect Sanjay Singh, PAC members Ashutosh and Pankaj Gupta, minister Gopal Rai and spokesperson Dilip Pandey held separate press conferences in Lucknow, Nagpur and Delhi and lashed out at the poll panel. Other AAP MLAs, too, were in a fiery mood after the meeting and trained their guns on the EC. Adarsh Shastri, MLA from Dwarka said, "For me, clearly we see that the CEC has been biased. We know he has been working with the Chief Minister of Gujarat for ten years and so it is obvious that one day before his retirement on Monday, he wanted to take a decision like this. We will go to the Court and get relief." Shastri said that AAP has approached the President because he the highest constitutional authority and he has a moral and constitutional obligation to ensure that justice takes place under his watch. "If worse comes to worst, we are ready and prepared for elections and I can assure you that we will win back all twenty seats (sic)," he said. The AAP MLAs rubbished any talk of a rift within the party because of the decision that has plunged them into this crisis. AAP Wazirpur MLA Rajesh Gupta said, "I believe that such incidents only strengthen us, when people from outside attack ones home, family members come together," he said. Gupta said that had any of the twenty MLAs availed of any benefits, it might have caused a rift, but that was not the case. Alka Lamba, the MLA from Chandni Chowk said that all twenty MLAs have told the CM if push comes to shove and they get disqualified, they will work to strengthen the government from outside. Another MLA said that due to the decision, the attention within the party has shifted from AAPs controversial Rajya Sabha choices to the new threat looming over them. AAP's young MLA from Jungpura, Praveen Kumar, questioned the basis of the decision. We have been made scapegoats. Let me tell you that of the twenty MLAs, six stay in rented apartments and another ten to twelve do not have personal transport." "Election Commission claims that it has heard us, so it must have our statements too. Let them tell what was the number of my official car, which bungalow was allotted to me, who were the government employees in my home, how much money was given to me and from which account?" asked Sadar Bazaar MLA Som Dutt. "Woh kehte hai phaansi chadha do, hum puchte hain bhai, murder kiska hua yeh to bata do? (They want us to be hanged, but can they tell who have we murdered?)," he added. Wazirpur MLA Rajesh Gupta had a word of advice for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This kind of shadow fighting upsets me, for I believe our honorable prime minister is a man of very high stature. If he removes a small MLA like me, he increases my stature. He should fight from the front, he said. Jaipur: The Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the bypolls will have photographs of candidates contesting elections, Rajasthan's chief election officer said on Friday. The by-polls are due on January 29 in Ajmer and Alwar parliamentary and Mandalgarh assembly seats. And though the same procedure was followed in the Dholpur assembly bypoll in Rajasthan last year, according to the chief election officer, this time it will be done for the very first time in any Lok Sabha elections. "The arrangement was made to make sure there was no confusion on candidates with similar names contesting an election," Rajasthan's Chief Election Officer Ashwani Bhagat said. Under the new system, a 2.5 cm size photograph of the candidate contesting will be displayed on the EVM. The EVM will have a name of the candidate, photo and the election symbol. However, for NOTA option the space for a photo will be left blank. Ballot papers meant for service employed voters will also have photographs of candidates' contesting election, the officer said. According to the chief election officer, the ballot paper will have candidates' photograph along with their name, both in English and Hindi. 11,580 service employed voters will cast their votes in the bypolls, he said. On all the three seats, over 39 lakh voters would be exercising their franchise during the bypoll. There are nearly 18.27 lakh voters in Alwar, 18.42 lakh in Ajmer and 2.31 lakh voters in Mandalgarh. The department has set-up 1979 polling stations in Alwar, 1907 in Ajmer and 280 in Mandalgarh. Bhopal: The Congress party put up a spirited fight in the Madhya Pradesh civil polls by winning nine president posts in 19 civic bodies on Saturday, tying the BJP, which too, won nine top posts. CM Shivraj Singh Chouhans charisma could not help the BJP take over the Congress citadel of Raghogarh, the hometown of AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh. The Congress fielded the veteran politicians son, Jaivardhan Singh. The defeat gives the BJP a lot to think about as most senior Congress leaders kept themselves away from campaigning for the elections, while CM Shivraj had conducted several rallies and roadshows. The elections were unofficially termed as 'semi-finals' before the upcoming assembly polls due later this year. Congress Mahesh Bhawar was elected as the Nagar Palika president of Sardarpur in Dhar, the spot where the CM was recently caught on video slapping his bodyguard during a rally. The footage had brought sizeable criticism on to the chief minister. Of the 19 civic bodies that went to polls in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress and BJP won nine seats a piece, while one civic body went to an independent candidate. At Sendhwa, the BJP candidate won unanimously. Out of the six Nagarpalikas, Congress won four while the BJP could only manage wins at two. However, BJP salvaged some pride by winning seven nagarpalika parishads while Congress won five. One nagarpalika went to an independent candidate. Exhibiting strong anti-incumbency sentiments, voters successfully used their right to dethrone the BJP at two places in Rajgarh and Dewas, only BJP civic body head Sangita Yadav managed to retain her post in Bhind. Resentment among BJP workers was also evident as BJP dissident Navartani Shukla won as independent from Jaitahari nagarpalika parishad in Anuppur. In the absence of AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh, his son, Jaivardhan led the party and helped Congress candidate Aarti Sharma win the civic body polls with 20 wards, while the BJP could only win in four. The Congress also seemed to have regained its foothold in the tribal belt by winning Manawar, Dhar and Barwani nagarpalika election despite the presence of senior Shivraj ministers including Ranjana Singh Baghel and Antar Singh Arya. As consolation, BJP managed to wrest back Congress seats at Kukshi, Dahi, Pithampur, Rajpur and Omkareshwar. Interestingly, BJP candidate Dinesh Sharma managed victory in Dhamnaud in Dhar, where he was offered garlands of shoes during poll campaign. The incident had been dubbed as strong anti-incumbency sentiments. BJP state president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan, though, claimed that the BJP had won at many places, while adding that the party would review reasons behind its losses. He accepted the party at places failed to understand sentiments of the workers and erred in ticket distribution. Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson KK Mishra said, The fake image of being MPs brand ambassador created by CM Shivraj with the help of hollow promises and lies has been shattered by these results. This augurs well for the party ahead of the upcoming assembly polls, he added. Patna: Opposition parties in Bihar have asked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to disclose the fear that compelled him to get Z-plus security and why he preferred to have a bungalow in the Lutyen zone of Delhi despite having two Bihar Bhawans in the capital. The union home ministry on Friday said that after analysing a request from the Bihar government with central security agencies, the ministry has decided to include him in the central list of Z-plus protectees. At present, 15 people are in the list. The ministry has sent a letter to all the states and union territories to provide Z-plus security to Nitish Kumar whenever he visits their territory. Soon after this decision the central government issued another order allotting Nitish Kumar 5, Kamraj Marg Bungalow in central Delhi, which prompted opposition parties back in the state to question why such facilities are being provided to the chief minister. Leader of opposition and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav said that Nitish always boasted good governance and zero tolerance on law and order then what compelled him to add another layer in his security. Tejashwi tweeted, Just a week after Mahagathbandhan government collapsed Nitish Kumar sent a letter requesting Z-plus security. It shows how brave he is. He also attached screenshot of a Nitish Kumars tweet in which the later had mocked at RJD leaders for condemning the move to withdraw Z-plus security to their leader Lalu Prasad Yadav. However Nitishs party defended him citing recent attack on his cavalcade in Buxar during his fourth leg of Sameeksha Yatra. JD(U) general secretary KC Tyagi added that threats from Naxals was also a reason for providing his leader the extra security. On the allotment of a bungalow in Delhi, RJD alliance partner Congress claimed that Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) was planning to shift Nitish to Delhi. BJP is working on a plan to install its own chief minister here and Nitish might get a role in the union government. Allotting the bungalow to him is a part of that plan, party leader Premchand Mishra said. LONDON: French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday Britain would be able to have a bespoke deal with the European Union after Brexit, one of Prime Minister Theresa May's objectives. But in an interview with the BBC, Macron said London's financial centre could not enjoy the same level of access to the EU under May's current Brexit plan, which envisages Britain leaving the EU's single market and customs union. Macron has said in past Britain could have pacts with the EU along with the lines of those with Canada or Norway but not its own, special deal. But asked in the interview whether that was fair, given how long Britain had been part of the EU, Macron said: "No, it's not a question to be fair or unfair. I take that as a reference. But for sure, you will have your own solution." Asked whether there would be a bespoke, special solution for Britain, he replied: "Sure, but you will ... I take these two references because this special way should be consistent with the preservation of the single market and our collective interests. And you should understand that you cannot by definition have the full access to the single market if you don't tick the box." Macron insisted Britain would not get full access to the EU's single market without accepting its basic principles of freedom of movement and willingness to abide by EU jurisdiction. "As soon as you decide not to join these preconditions, it's not full access," he said. "So it's something perhaps between this full access ... and a trade agreement." Macron repeated a warning he made during a visit to Britain on Thursday that full access to the EU single market for Britain's financial services was not possible. "It depends on the proposals made by the UK," he said. "But for sure, full access for financial services to the single market is not feasible, given the functioning of the single market - so by definition it's not a full access." Britain and the EU struck a divorce deal last month that paved the way for talks on future trade ties and boosted hopes of an orderly Brexit. The BBC released extracts on Saturday of the Macron interview which it will broadcast in full in the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday. Beijing: Beijing on Saturday said it had dispatched a warship to drive away a US missile destroyer which had "violated" its sovereignty by sailing close to a shoal in the disputed South China Sea. The USS Hopper sailed within 12 nautical miles of Huangyan Island on the night of January 17 without alerting Beijing, the foreign ministry said, referring to the shoal by its Chinese name. Also known as Scarborough Shoal, the ring of reefs lies about 230 kilometres (140 miles) from the Philippines in the South China Sea, where Beijing's claims are hotly contested by other nations. The US vessel "violated China's sovereignty and security interests", and put the safety of nearby Chinese vessels "under grave threat", foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said. China's defence ministry said in a separate statement that a Chinese frigate "immediately took actions to identify and verify the US ship and drove it away by warning" it. The USS Hopper recently entered the US Navy's 7th Fleet area of operations, where the ship is on an "independent deployment", according to a statement released earlier this month on the Navy's website. Its mission in Asia involves "security cooperation, building partner capacity, and performing routine operations within the area". News of the encounter follows Friday's release of a new US national defence strategy that says America is facing "growing threats" from China and Russia. China is a "strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South China Sea", the document says. China's defence ministry dismissed those claims on Saturday, saying "the situation in the South China Sea has steadily stabilised," in comments attributed to spokesman Wu Qian. But it added, "the United States has repeatedly sent warships illegally into the adjacent waters of the South China Sea islands and reefs." Beijing asserts sovereignty over almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea despite rival claims from Southeast Asian neighbours and has rapidly built reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. China seized Scarborough Shoal in 2012 after a brief stand-off with the Philippine navy. The shoal is also claimed by Taiwan. United Nations: At a high-level Security Council meeting, Pakistan has raised the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, whom Islamabad has accused of being an Indian spy and given him a death sentence. "Those who speak of changing mindsets (about terrorism) need to look within and their own record of subversion against my country as our capture of an Indian spy has amply demonstrated and proved beyond any shadow of doubt," Pakistan's Permanent Representative Maleeha Lodhi said during Council meeting on Afghanistan. She did not mention his name. Her statement was a response to India's statement at the Council meeting on Afghanistan that India is a victim of the same Pakistani "mindset" that promotes terrorist attacks everyday in Afghanistan. India has denied that Jadhav, a retired Navy officer, worked for the government and said that he was abducted by Pakistan from Iran to stage a show-trial. Denying that Pakistan was giving terrorists a safe haven or support, Lodhi also took a swipe at the US saying it needed a "reality check." The administration of President Donald Trump suspended security aid to Pakistan this month citing its provision of sanctuaries and assistance to terrorists attacking Afghanistan. Jadhav was captured by Pakistan in 2016 and was sentenced to death by a military court-martial last year. India appealed to the International Court of Justice against his sentence and the court has stayed his execution. Lodhi was originally listed to address the Council two spots before India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin, but she chose to speak later and amended her prepared speech with the response to him. Akbaruddin said that after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Lahore in December 2015 in a bid to promote peace with Pakistan, "a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack" was launched on the Pathankot airbase in a week's time by "the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day." "These mindsets differentiate between 'good' and bad terrorists," he said. "These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace." "These mindsets, an Akbaruddin declared, "need to change." Lodhi said that Pakistan was against terrorism, being itself a victim. She blamed the conditions in Afghanistan and the drug trade, which she said brings terrorists $400 million every year, for the insurgency and asserted that they didn't need outside support or sanctuaries because "over 40 per cent of the country is under insurgent control, contested or ungoverned." "Afghanistan and its partners, especially the US, need to address these challenged inside Afghanistan rather than shift the onus for ending the conflict on to others," she said. "Those who imagine sanctuaries outside (Afghanistan) need a reality check," she added. Islamabad: Pakistan shut down the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Pashto-language station in the country on Friday for airing content "against the interest of Pakistan". The office of RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal in the capital Islamabad was ordered closed by the ministry of interior, which said Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) -- Pakistan's top spy agency -- had found its programmes to be "in-line with (a) hostile intelligence agency's agenda". The notification, posted on the RFE/RL website and seen by AFP separately, did not identify the agency. It accused Radio Mashaal of portraying Pakistan as a "failed state" and "a hub of terrorism and safe haven for different militant groups." The government further alleged that the station was "distorting facts (to) incite the target population against the state and its institutions", referring to ethnic Pashtuns. The notification specified Radio Mashaal's audience in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, and the northwestern tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan. These areas have been the hardest hit by unrest since 2007, and have seen several large-scale operations by Pakistan's military against extremist groups. Islamabad has accused foreign intelligence agencies, specifically those of India and Afghanistan, of backing anti-Pakistan militant groups. RFE/RL President Thomas Kent said in a statement that he was "extraordinarily concerned by the closure" and was "urgently seeking more information about the Pakistani authorities' intentions." Kent said his organisation has "no connection to the intelligence agencies of any country." "We hope this situation will be resolved without delay." The closure comes amid heightened tensions between Islamabad and Washington in recent months. President Donald Trump recently froze up to $1.9 billion in funding to Pakistan in a move designed to force Islamabad to halt its alleged support for the Afghan Taliban and other Islamist groups. Pakistan has long denied the allegation, and in turn accused Washington of dismissing its sacrifices in the war against extremism. The Pashto-language Radio Mashaal was launched in 2010 to help undermine Islamist militants. RFE/RL, founded in 1950 to beam programmes into the communist bloc, is funded by a grant from the US Congress, according to its website. It currently broadcasts in 25 languages and aims to "serve as a 'surrogate' free press in 23 countries where the free flow of information is banned or not fully developed." Washington: The US government shutdown began at midnight Friday (9:30am IST) as Democrats and Republicans failed to resolve a standoff over immigration and spending. Here's a look at what the parties are fighting over and what it means to shut down the government. WHAT ARE LAWMAKERS FIGHTING ABOUT? Since the end of the fiscal year in September, the government has been operating on temporary funding measures. The current one expired at midnight. Republicans and Democrats have not been able to agree on spending levels for the rest of the year, so another short-term measure is the most likely solution. The House has passed a four-week bill Thursday that also extends funding for a children's health insurance program. But Democrats have been saying for weeks they want a funding measure to be tied to an immigration deal that protects the thousands of young immigrants facing deportation. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is set to expire March 5, and members of both parties have been working on an extension that would also beef up border protection. That deal has not come together, and Democrats have decided to dig in. They blocked the House-passed bill. Both sides were still negotiating early Saturday. THEY'VE BLOWN THE DEADLINE. NOW WHAT? The government begins to shut down. But not all of the government. The air traffic control system, food inspection, Medicare, veterans' health care and many other essential government programs will run as usual. The Social Security Administration will not only send out benefits but will also continue to take applications though replacements for lost Social Security cards could have to wait. The Postal Service, which is self-funded, will keep delivering the mail. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will continue to respond to last year's spate of disasters. The Interior Department says national parks and other public lands will remain as accessible as possible. The stance is a change from previous shutdowns when most parks were closed and became high-profile symbols. Spokeswoman Heather Swifts says the American public especially veterans who come to the nation's capital should find war memorials and open-air parks open to visitors. Swift says many national parks and wildlife refuges nationwide will also be open with limited access when possible. The Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo will stay open through the weekend but close Monday. DO FEDERAL WORKERS GET PAID? While they can be kept on the job, federal workers can't get paid for days worked during a lapse in funding. In the past, however, they have been repaid retroactively even if they were ordered to stay home. Rush hour in downtown Washington, meanwhile, becomes a breeze. Tens of thousands of federal workers are off the roads. HOW OFTEN DID THIS HAPPEN IN THE PAST? Way back in the day, shutdowns usually weren't that big a deal. They happened every year when Jimmy Carter was president, averaging 11 days each. During Ronald Reagan's two terms, there were six shutdowns, typically just one or two days apiece. Deals got cut. Everybody moved on. The last one was a 16-day partial shuttering of the government in 2013, which came as tea party conservatives, cheered on by outside groups like Heritage Action, demanded that language to block implementation of President Barack Obama's health care law be added to a must-do funding bill. WHO WILL GET THE BLAME? In a 1995-96 political battle, President Bill Clinton bested House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his band of budget-slashing conservatives, who were determined to use a shutdown to force Clinton to sign onto a balanced budget agreement. Republicans were saddled with the blame, but most Americans suffered relatively minor inconveniences like closed parks and delays in processing passport applications. The fight bolstered Clinton's popularity and he sailed to re-election that November. In 2013, the tea party Republicans forced the shutdown over the better judgment of GOP leaders like then-Speaker John Boehner. Republicans tried to fund the government piecemeal for example, by forcing through legislation to ensure military service members got paid. But a broader effort faltered, and Republicans eventually backed down and supported a round of budget talks led by Paul Ryan, then chairman of the House Budget Committee. Republicans are calling the current standoff the "Schumer Shutdown," arguing that there's nothing in the bill that Democrats oppose, while a short-term extension would give lawmakers time to work out differences on issues like protecting young immigrants and disaster assistance. Schumer says the GOP's unwillingness to compromise has brought Congress to this point. A Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted earlier this week found 48 percent view Trump and congressional Republicans as mainly responsible for the situation while 28 percent fault Democrats. If the shutdown drags on for long, it could give voters another reason to turn away from incumbents of both parties in a mid-term election. Washington: The US government officially shut down on Saturday, the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration after lawmakers failed to agree to a stop-gap spending deal. Senators were still negotiating on the Senate floor as the clock turned midnight, but Trump's office issued a statement blaming opposition Democrats for the crisis. Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the Democrats' insistence that the interim measure includes protection for undocumented immigrants who arrived as children killed the deal. "Senate Democrats own the Schumer Shutdown," she declared, referring to the minority leader, New York Senator Chuck Schumer, who met with Trump earlier on Friday. "Tonight, they put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country's ability to serve all Americans. We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands," she warned. US federal services and military operations deemed essential will continue, but thousands of government workers will be sent home without pay until the crisis is resolved. New Delhi: China responded aggressively to comments made by various defence authorities on China being a disruptive force. At the recently concluded Raisina Dialogue in the national capital, leaders from all over the world, including the United States of America, Japan and India called on the new global order. While US Pacific Command Chief Admiral Harry Harris called China "disruptive Force" and the owner of trust deficit. Japanese Admiral Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano said China was trying to change, unilaterally, the status quo in the East China Sea. If someone is feeling agitated and thinks it is a destructive force, we are curious to know what on earth are they afraid of being destroyed? The logic runs like if China endeavours to build a type of international relations like that, and if one truly loves peace and champions common develop, there should be no reason to feel anxious about, foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said on Friday. Training his guns on the US Admiral chief, Kang said it was not apt for one nation to comment on others. I have also noted that this US military officer mentioned three ASEAN countries in his remarks, claiming that they were also concerned about China's development. Well, we've never heard from these three countries talking about such concerns. I think it is not a very good habit to speak so readily for other countries, Kang said. The foreign ministry spokesperson commented on Japans statement and said that China was resolute in safeguarding its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the East China Sea. The two sides are in communication and contacts in this regard. Japan must stop saying one thing, like wanting to improve China-Japan ties, while doing the opposite. We hope that Japan could match its words with concrete actions, Kang stated. Kang, however, also said that this was not the first time that such comments were made and said that as his country develops, it will play an increasingly positive role in the international community and offer more constructive public goods, like the Belt and Road Initiative. Everyone should view that in an objective light. It is better to pay attention to how the majority of the international community respond and comment. Undeniably, some people in some countries do find it difficult to let go of their anxiety towards China, he said, adding that China was always committed to the path of development and believed in a new type of international order featuring mutual respect, equality and justice, and win-win cooperation. As the clock ticks down to the planned closure of Central Virginia Training Center in 2020, three Lynchburg-area state lawmakers are fighting back. Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg; Del. Scott Garrett, R-Lynchburg; and Sen. Steve Newman, R-Bedford County, filed bills and budget amendments last week for the 2018 General Assembly session that aim to stop the impending closure of the state-run Madison Heights facility that cares for those with physical and intellectual disabilities. The closure is part of a 2012 settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice that stemmed from an investigation by the department into CVTC. As part of the agreement, the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services will close four of its five training centers in favor of moving the majority of those under state care to community group homes. Peake and Garrett each filed identical bills in their respective chambers that would keep the facility open indefinitely. Garretts bill, HB 1421, has been referred to the Appropriations committee, where he is a sitting member. On the Senate side, Peakes SB 835 has been referred to the Education and Health committee. According to the Virginia Legislative Information System, the date for when the bills will be discussed has not been set yet. In an interview last week, Garrett said he supports keeping CVTC open because he believes community group homes are not equipped to take care of residents who have complex medical needs, and training center care is the most appropriate for those patients. Coupled with CVTCs close proximity to Lynchburg General Hospital, he believes CVTC is ideally suited to continue serving those with disabilities. Weve closed two of those five centers, and whats become quite obvious to me is the vast majority of the remaining folks at the training centers have a great deal of medical challenges, not just intellectual challenges, and there is going to be a need for a higher intensity of services to address their medical needs just as much if not more so as the intellectual needs, said Garrett, a retired general surgeon. After the closure of CVTCs skilled nursing unit in January 2017 due to staffing shortages three residents transferred from CVTC to Hiram W. Davis Medical Center in Petersburg have died, according to DBHDS spokesperson Heidi Dix. Since March 2010, the number of residents at CVTC has dwindled from 426 to 113 earlier this month, according to DBHDS. While the state budget factors in money saved from decreased maintenance and staffing from the shuttering of the training centers, according to Garrett, discussions of how to fund keeping CVTC open will be part of budget deliberations this session. There are a lot of resources we will make decisions about that we will appropriate and [keeping CVTC open] will be part of the mix of those conversations, Garrett said. In the Senate, Newman signed on as a co-patron to support Peakes bill that mirrors Garretts in aiming to keep CVTC open. As a longtime advocate for the facility and the families fighting its closure, Newman said the state needs to make a decision soon if it wants to keep an additional training center open alongside the 75-bed Southeastern Virginia Training Center in Chesapeake. If were going to have a two-training center solution, the decision must be done this year or next year, Newman said. We need to be prepared to have some time to keep those facilities from being mothballed if were going to do this. In addition to the bills, Peake and Newman also filed Senate budget amendments that support the training center remaining open. The amendment from Newman requests a report to be prepared by DBHDS and the Virginia Department of the Treasury to determine the cost of paying off all of the bonds related to the future closures of both Southwest Virginia Training Center in Hillsville, which is scheduled to close in 2018, and CVTC. Peakes budget amendment requests $570,000 in fiscal year 2019 to complete the second phase of an environmental site assessment report of CVTC as well as the first phase of environmental remediation to remove known contaminants on the property. In the House, Garrett also submitted a budget amendment that requests $820,000 in fiscal year 2019 to conduct the second phase of the environmental site assessment and to begin the cleanup recommended in the original assessment. An environmental assessment of CVTC released to the public in November by the Virginia Department of General Services reported sites on the property in need of clean up that include a four-acre sanitary landfill that operated from 1950 through the 1970s, two scrap yards, a dump for coal ash and other debris as well as bulk pesticide and oil storage in one of the facilitys buildings. In addition to the legislation filed by the Lynchburg delegation, Del. Jeffrey Campbell, R-Marion, also filed HB 324 and HB 325. HB 324 would prevent the closure of the HillsvilleSouthwestern Virginia Training Center scheduled for this year and for the facility to keep accepting new residents. HB 325 adds to that and calls for both SWVTC and CVTC to remain open and for both facilities to continue accepting new residents. Campbell also filed a budget amendment that restores $5.7 million in fiscal year 2019 and $6 million in fiscal year 2020 to delay the closure of SWVTC until June 30, 2019. Both bills have been referred to the House Appropriations Committee. According to the Virginia Legislative Information System, the date for when the bills will be discussed has not been set yet. As the state Capitol turned quiet Friday afternoon, Gov. Ralph Northam said he was having the best day yet of his weeklong governorship. He joked that he had finally found the alarm clock that former Gov. Terry McAuliffe had taped under a linen chest to go off each night at 3 a.m. Brushing aside Executive Mansion pranks and ruffled feathers over his speech to the General Assembly on Monday night, Northam said he felt good about his first week on the job. After meetings with high-ranking Republicans in the legislature, Northam said hes optimistic that a bipartisan deal will be achieved on one of the biggest agenda items for the 60-day legislative session: Medicaid expansion. I think youll see a plan come together before the end of the session, Northam said during a 30-minute conversation with reporters in his Capitol office. The governor said he has spent much of his first week sitting down with lawmakers from both parties to talk Medicaid and what it would take to get them on board with some form of expansion that would provide health insurance to roughly 400,000 low-income Virginians. The fact that theyre willing to sit down and talk is important, Northam said. The governor said he was aware of Senate Democrats plan to squeeze Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, on Medicaid expansion this week by blocking his emergency bill aimed at reopening a rural hospital. Northam did not say directly whether he did or did not agree with the tactic, but he said he feels its important to get off to a good start and said hes trying to broker a deal to make sure the fix for Patrick Countys only hospital goes through. Ill do everything I can to make sure that Patrick County hospital is in a position to reopen. Republicans have blocked Medicaid expansion for years, arguing the state cannot afford to take a financial risk with a program that already takes up a big chunk of the state budget. But the wave election last year that saw Democrats sweep statewide offices and pick up 15 seats in the House of Delegates created a new political dynamic and a feeling that something could get done this year. Northam said he does not care if the eventual proposal has a different name, but he cautioned that things could get a little more complicated if the state pursues a custom-tailored plan that could require federal approvals from President Donald Trumps administration. The simpler we can do this, Northam said, the better. Straight Medicaid expansion is something that people spoke about during the campaign, Northam said. Describing a congratulatory phone call he received from Trump on Sunday, the day after his swearing-in as Virginias 73rd governor, Northam said he had a very cordial conversation with the man he had described as a narcissistic maniac during last years gubernatorial campaign. The main focus of our discussion was on the military. He knew that I was a veteran, Northam said. And we talked about the building of the warships and submarines in Newport News. And I told him I look forward to working with him in that regard. The prospect of a federal government shutdown did not come up in the conversation with the president, but Northam said he and his team were watching the situation in D.C. very closely Friday ahead of a midnight deadline. Clark Mercer, Northams chief of staff, sent a memo Friday warning state agency heads to begin preparing for budgetary impacts if the government shuts down for an extended period of time and federal funding dries up. Its just unacceptable, Northam said. I just call on our congressmen and our president to do whats appropriate and whats in the best interest of this country, and that is to come up with a budget so that people can make plans. As for Virginias own budget talks, Northam said he felt particularly optimistic after a meeting this week with Del. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, the influential chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Over breakfast Wednesday, the two Hampton Roads-area health professionals agreed on the need to use any surplus money to strengthen the states reserves, maintain a triple-A bond rating, and prioritize early childhood education and transportation. Hes a pharmacist. Im a physician, Northam said. He actually filled a lot of prescriptions that I have written in the past. And I think we have a lot of similarities with the way we want to move forward with the budget. Jones and other Republicans panned Northams speech to the legislature Monday night, saying the tone was overly partisan, too similar to McAuliffes in-your-face style and a surprising break from Northams reputation as a policy-focused moderate. New House Speaker Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, personally conveyed his dismay to Northam on Tuesday morning, but Northam said the meeting quickly moved on to other matters. We think everybodys kind of staked out their positions, Northam said. There were some ruffled feathers, as you all know, after Monday nights address, with people commenting about the tone. But Ive had real good meetings since then, and I think were all off to a good start. Coxs office seemed to agree. We do feel like we are moving in the right direction, said Cox spokesman Parker Slaybaugh. To keep the conversations going, Northam wants to meet with House and Senate leaders on a weekly basis, the governor said. Theres a lot of different ways to skin a cat, but in the past theyve done it with breakfasts, Northam said. But Id just as soon be sitting there with a table like this and not over a meal. So were looking at even Sunday nights to have folks get together. In addition to his plans to strike a grand bargain on Medicaid and smooth things over with Republican leaders, Northam has more on his to-do list at the Executive Mansion. He said he has already stored the infamous pillowcases adorned with McAuliffes beaming face that the former governor left behind. Now, hes turning to the decor. Each room has, I would say, on average, four to five pictures of Governor McAuliffe, Northam said. So Im slowly getting rid of those. Virginia is preparing for legal action to recover the remainder of a $5 million grant to Tranlin Inc. for a once-promising plan to build a $2 billion paper manufacturing plant in Chesterfield County. The board of directors at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership voted this week to take title of a 58-acre property the Chinese company purchased with a portion of the grant from the Commonwealths Opportunity Fund in 2014 and ask the Attorney Generals Office to seek repayment of the remaining money for a project that stalled last year. Tranlin, operating as Vastly with offices in Charlottesville, had promised in October to repay the loan, but missed its first two scheduled installments in December and January, said Stephen Moret, president and CEO of the partnership. Despite being late on its repayment obligations, Tranlin remains in regular contact with VEDP officials, and the company continues to commit to repay its debt, Moret said in an email message. Nevertheless, it has only repaid $150,000 of the $5 million so far. They still have a presence in Virginia, he said in an interview Friday. They still have a long-term interest in Virginia, but theyre still two years behind schedule. Tranlin spokeswoman Lisa Randall said Friday: Were working closely with state officials concerning our repayment of the Governors Opportunity Fund grant, and we anticipate full repayment as quickly as possible. We continue to make steady progress on development of our agricultural markets for fertilizer sales, Randall added. We are a startup company with the typical early-stage challenges, and were also a company that has the passion, commitment and persistence to overcome our challenges and achieve success. The company, a U.S. subsidiary of Shandong Tranlin Paper Co. Ltd., agreed in August to repay the grant after delaying the construction of a project originally projected to employ 2,000 people in the manufacture of paper products from agricultural waste. Tranlin said the project would be delayed to allow a redesign of the manufacturing process to incorporate new technology already operating in China. But Tranlin missed the Oct. 24 deadline to repay the grant. Instead, the company wrote the state a check for $150,000, agreed to a lien on the property and promised to repay the debt in six monthly installments, including interest, of $833,561. The board voted Wednesday to transfer ownership of the property, valued at $3 million, to the partnership. Tranlin has committed to help facilitate this transfer, Moret said. The vote also requested the Attorney Generals Office to seek collection of the remaining money due to the state, after subtracting the value of the land, Moret said. That shortfall is expected to be less than $2 million. A new law adopted last year to reform the partnership and its financial incentives for economic development prospects gives the board the authority to ask the Attorney Generals Office to collect on clawbacks due that have not been paid, Moret said. The partnership began the clawback process with Tranlin last year, but the companys failure to make the promised payments escalated the states efforts this week, he said. Michael K. Kelly, spokesman for Attorney General Mark Herring, said we will be exploring any and all avenues to recover as much of the grant funds as possible. House Appropriations Chairman Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, the chief sponsor of reforms adopted last year on management of the partnership and the financial incentives for economic development projects, said the transfer news came as no surprise. It just highlights the need for the reforms last year with VEDP, said Jones, who said he has introduced legislation in this session to make clear that the board can direct the Attorney Generals Office to take legal action on grants, regardless of when the state issued them. It was never intended to be prospective, he said Friday. We will clarify that with a bill Ive introduced and possibly with budget language as well. The reforms adopted last year stemmed in part from a $1.4 million grant made to another Chinese company, Lindenburg Industry, to build a factory in Appomattox County. The company proved to be illegitimate, and VEDP has tried unsuccessfully to recover the money. Since the reforms, VEDP has changed its process for reviewing potential economic development incentives to base them on risk. In the future, Moret said, the state would provide financial incentives to projects judged as moderately or highly risky only after they are complete, rather than before they begin. If Tranlin returns with a revised plan for the paper factory, any state incentive would be a post-performance offer, not an upfront incentive, he said. Finance and Economic Planning Minister Patrick Chinamasa has defended Home Affairs and Culture Minister Dr Obert Mpofu, saying allegations of corruption levelled against him are unfounded since he accumulated much of his wealth before joining Government. Minister Chinamasa said this in the National Assembly on Thursday while responding to an avalanche of queries from some legislators on how Dr Mpofu got his wealth. Mabvuku-Tafara Member of Parliament (MP) Mr James Maridadi (MDC-T) and Norton MP Mr Temba Mliswa (Independent) said Dr Mpofus acquisition of several assets, including mines, raised eyebrows as he could have bought them during his time as the Minister of Mines and Mining Development. During debate on the 2018 National Budget, the two legislators called for Dr Mpofu to be investigated. Minister Chinamasa noted that though he holds no brief for Dr Mpofu, most of the allegations that were being made lacked merit since they were unsubstantiated. I first met Honourable Mpofu around 1984 when I was going to Gaborone, Botswana with my family for a visit, he said. We met at Plumtree and he was already a businessman. Later on, when I was an Attorney-General, I think I wanted to speak to him and he took me to his building. He had already bought it in 1998 a very expensive building in Bulawayo. I am just telling you of facts that I know. I cannot defend him if there is anything or any monkey business. You know where the problem is Honourable Maridadi? We are not accustomed to see a rich African. We are very much comfortable to see a rich white person, but when we see a rich black man, we conclude that he is a thief. This is not a fair comment. Minister Chinamasa said legislators ought to know that some people had sweated for their wealth from loans and debts from financial institutions. I am not entrepreneurial, but there are some people who borrow heavily and most of the things that you see, you would think that they have spent cash, he said. Look into it, zvikwereti (loans). Some people are risk-takers. You would not go and borrow $3 million. I would not dare. Probably, I would go for $50 000 or $100 000 ndinenge ndatopedza ( I will be done), but there are some people who take risks, if the bank rikangobwaira chete (snoozes), they will borrow $5 million. What they do with that money is up to them. If they have any debts, normally vanombokunyara kana uriminister (they might be extra courteous if you are a minister). Kana usisiri Minister (if you are no longer a minister), before you reach home, kunenge kwatove netsamba (they would already be a letter of demand). Minister Chinamasa implored people to desist from making unfounded allegations against people because of their wealth. This is because at the end of the day, I have no obligation to tell you whatever I am doing, except when we come to disclose of our assets, he said. Even then, we want to make it confidential because you do not want to say, when I make a disclosure you say akaiwana kupi(where did he get it). I have been employed as a lawyer since 1972. Now, you cannot ask me if I have got any assets. Not that I have any. You cannot ask me kuti ndakazviwana kupi iwe wakauya zuro (you cannot ask where I got my wealth when you arrived on the scene late). You were only born yesterday and you want to equate yourself to someone who has been in this game for all this long. I am not in any way fighting for Cde Mpofu in his corner. I am just telling you what I know. Minister Chinamasa said there was nothing wrong with Dr Mpofu owning a mine. I know some honourable members here who own mines, he said. So, if one day you are appointed a minister and you own a mine, I do not see any problem. Let us get used to people owning assets it is not evil. So, we do not want people to be disqualified because they own assets. Let us take, for example, Tillerson. He was in the oil business, was he not? Tillerson, the State Secretary in the United States of Americas government, he is himself probably a billionaire or something. 6 November 2017 His Excellency, Cde. R.G. Mugabe President and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Munhumutapa Building Harare RE: Acknowledgement of Receipt of Termination of Employment as Vice-President I write, Your Excellency, to acknowledge receipt of my letter of termination of employment as your Vice-President with immediate effect in accordance with the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment No 20 Act of 2013, Section 329, 6th Schedule, Paragraph 14, Sub-Paragraph (2). Your Excellency, may I take this opportunity to thank you most sincerely for guiding me from the time you rescued us from Egypt in 1963 to the present. Since then, I have regarded you as my mentor and father figure and have been loyal to you, the Party and the revolution. I also wish to express my gratitude for the role you played in saving my life in 1965 when I was facing the death penalty, which was consequently commuted to ten years. I thank you for your constant refrain in encouraging us to study and never sit on our laurels. I thank you, Your Excellency, for appointing me Special Assistant to the President at the time my father passed on. I mention these as milestones of how you have guided me and brought me up. I also remember with pride your guidance during the armed struggle in Mozambique, when you nurtured and inculcated in me the lasting values of the sanctity of human life and a profound sense of natural justice. It was through your guidance, that I was able to prevent summary executions and bring justice within the Zanla forces. I also wish to thank you for appointing me to lead the first Zanu group that came to Zimbabwe after the Lancaster House Conference. At Independence, you appointed me Chairman of the Joint High Command and Minister of National Security after General Walls unceremoniously left the country following his confession that he and his fellow conspirators had planned a coup against us in 1980. Thereafter, I served in various executive positions at your pleasure as well as various positions in the party. Your Excellency, the allegation that I once entertained an idea to form a political party is false and concocted by elements who are currently my enemies, who perhaps themselves may have intended to do so but never ever received any support from me. Your Excellency, the truth is painful but everlasting. I am a child and cadre of the revolution, that is, both Zanla and our tried and tested Zanu-PF party. Throughout my 50-plus years in the Struggle, I have remained loyal and committed to you personally and to the revolution to this day. In December 2014, you again had the honour to appoint me one of your Vice-Presidents. This to me is a demonstration of your deep-seated trust in me which I have never betrayed, even with my life. However, today, my enemies have prevailed. I could have recently lost my life through poisoning, but survived through Gods grace. Finally, Your Excellency, on behalf of my wife and family, I wish to thank you most sincerely for affording me the opportunity to serve you. I shall forever remain loyal and committed to you, my party and the revolution, although I am aware of uncanny attempts by some unscrupulous elements to assassinate me. Your Obedient Comrade Hon ED Mnangagwa Government has given illegal vendors and pirate taxi operators 48 hours to vacate the streets in all towns and cities, or the security forces will move in to remove them, a Cabinet minister has said. Addressing a Press conference yesterday, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister July Moyo said his ministry engaged Vice President General Constantino Chiwenga (Retired) to ensure that all security officers took part in the nationwide exercise. Minister Moyo, who was flanked by acting Harare town clerk Engineer Hosiah Chisango and principal director in his ministry (urban local authorities) Ms Erica Jones, warned of the arrest of legislators and councillors who could try undermine the operation to gain political mileage. He said a monitoring taskforce had been put in place to ensure sustainability of the operation. We are compelled to act before the situation degenerates to even lower levels, said Minister Moyo. In view of this untenable situation, let us all declare war on illegal vendors and unregistered public transporters. To the vendors who are operating at undesignated sites, including in front of shops and to unregistered public transporters, you are directed to cease forthwith your activities within the next 48 hours, failure of which you have no one, but yourselves to blame. I have contacted, before this press conference, the Vice President General Chiwenga to inform him about this statement I am issuing and to seek his assistance so that security agencies can work with the municipalities, town councils, so that we can put to rest this menace that is facing us. Minister Moyo said Government could not continue to fold its hands when the threats of typhoid and cholera had become a reality. He said illegal activities in the CBDs had virtually become cover for other criminal activities, hence it was critical for Government to arrest the situation before it exploded. Prevention is better than cure, said Minister Moyo. The CBD is now home to a litany of unhealthy vending activities such as selling of second hand clothes, unregulated vegetable vending, roasting mealie cobs, and money changers, amongst other activities. Such activities are anathema and anachronistic of CBD areas of modern cities, especially capital cities. The menace is further exacerbated by the public transport system which has transformed the CBD into a hazardous jungle. Illegal ranks and unregistered public transport such as mushika-shika, said Minister Moyo, had become rampant, posing great danger to both motorists and pedestrians. He said those who wanted vending sites should approach their local authorities and be properly allocated space at designated sites. Minister Moyo said there was no other issuing authority of vending space besides councils. To those who have been thriving on selling vending space, you are directed to stop forthwith, he said. Such culprits should be reported to the law enforcement agents who must act, and act now. We are also calling upon members of the uniformed forces to come and assist the Local Authorities in bringing sanity in our CBDs. Members of the public are urged to cooperate with all forms of law enforcement agents in an effort to eradicate this vice. Minister Moyo said it was no longer business as usual for local authorities, imploring them to enforce by-laws without fear or favour, with the help of police. Most cities and towns in Zimbabwe have been rendered inaccessible as a result of an influx of illegal vendors and illegal taxi operators. Efforts by the councils to restore sanity seem to have yielded no solution, hence the intervention by Government and the security forces. The new dispensation calls for cities to attract investment to uplift the lives of residents, but those with funds shy away once they realise the chaotic situations in such areas. Herald So what then happens, you come as human rights lawyer, saying violation of the rights of the child and the parent are now holding lobola and damages, and the problem you have is that, you sound irrelevant, was it rape or not? The fact of Zimbabwe is that it was a coup. Six people died in a road accident that occurred today along Mvurwi-Guruve road with five of them having been burnt beyond recognition while one died upon arrival at Guruve Hospital. The commuter omnibus veered off the road hitting a tree before it went up in flames. The commuter omnibus was travelling from Chitsungo to Harare with 11 passengers. Some of the injured were ferried to Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare. Zimbabwe Republic Police Mashonaland Central Province acting spokesperson Assistant Inspector Petros Masikati alleged that the accident might have been caused by fatigue though investigations are ongoing. When this news crew arrived at the scene, villagers were assisting police details and officials from Vehicle Inspection Department to take out the remains of the deceased. Mashonaland Central Provincial Affairs Minister Advocate Martin Dinha who also arrived at the scene highlighted the need of a comprehensive insurance policy which caters for the injured and deceased in such unfortunate incidents. Besides carrying passengers the commuter omnibus was carrying fertilisers which might have contributed to the fire. She Died on Vacation in Mexico. From There, It Gets Murky The US has a single full-scale military base in all of Africa: It's in Djibouti, and we have more than a few neighbors there. Politico takes a look at the small country in the Horn of Africa (it's the size of New Hampshire) and the continually expanding military presence there. It hosts more foreign bases than anywhere else in world, a fact Politico attributes to its strategic location at the mouth of the Red Sea, where it sees "a large percentage of the trade and energy flows between Europe and Asia." France set up shop there first; Italy and Britain have a presence, per the New York Times; China and Japan have but one foreign base each, and it's there. Saudi Arabia is coming, and there are whispers that Turkey, Russia, and India could, too. If we get to that point, Bruno Macaes writes that every big global power will have a presence there, and that raises some big questions for him. Here's one: What happens if two major playerssay, China and Indiago to war, and just happen to have bases near one another? Here's another: Would a country ever decide to avoid full-scale war but launch an attack on a rival's Djibouti base? As a member of Djibouti's intelligence service tells Macaes, "World War III will start here." Quartz also floats the idea that the situation could imperil Djibouti itself. It has increasingly welcomed foreign militaries under current President Ismael Omar Guelleh, who flung open the country's doors post-9/11 in exchange for hefty fees (the US pays $63 million a year). But the head of a think tank that's focused on the region warns that "the Horn of Africa and the Middle East are currently rough neighborhoods, and Djibouti may find itself making enemies, not through any action of its own, but as a consequence of the actions of its military guests." (Read more Djibouti stories.) She's referred to as "the Black Widow of the Riviera" (not to be confused with the Black Widow of Japan), and now she has a prison sentence to go with that title. Patricia Dagorn was sentenced this week to 22 years for murdering two men and poisoning two more. The victims ranged in age from 60s to 91, and were said to be some of the at least 20 elderly men the 57-year-old met between 2011 and 2012 through a dating agency, online ads, and even on the street, reports the Guardian. The BBC explains that Dagorn had previously been handed a five-year sentence for fraud and theft, and in the wake of that trial, French authorities decided to take a second look at Michel Kneffel's July 2011 death; Dagorn had lived with him in Nice, and police reportedly discovered Valium and the financial and medical info of a number of men among her things. What they uncovered led them to look at Francesco Filippone, an 85-year-old whose decomposed body was found in his tub in February 2011. Ange Pisciotta, 82, and Robert Vaux, 91, had dalliances with Dagorn but survived, with Vaux describing the much younger woman as "like a ray of sunshine in winter." Though after she began to live with him in 2012, his health took a major turn; Dagorn had allegedly drugged him with Valium. Prosecutors painted her as a serial poisoner who covertly used drugs to weaken her marks and then, per the AFP, get the men to give her money (she cashed a $25,000 check from Filippone) or put her in their wills. Dagorn denied the charges against her, and said at trial, "I won't say that [what she felt toward the men] was love, but it was deep friendship." (Japan's black widow received a much more severe sentence.) The dig for King Tut's wife is officially on. Last July, archaeologist Zahi Hawass announced his team had located a possible tomb 16 feet underground in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. Due to its location in the Valley of the Monkeys near the tomb of Ay, the pharaoh who succeeded Tutankhamun, Hawass and his team believe it may be the resting place of Tut's wife Ankhesenamun, Live Science reports. And this month Hawass finally started the excavationfunded by the Discovery Channelto find out if that's indeed the case, according to an announcement on his website. Ankhesenamun was Tut's teenage bride and half-sister, International Business Times reports. Shortly after Tut's death in 1323BC, Ankhesenamun married Ay. But their marriage marks her last appearance in historical records. She's also absent from Ay's tomb, where another wife's name appears. It's unknown when or how she died, though Yahoo News reports it's possible she was also briefly married to her own father and grandfather prior to her death. The discovery of Ankhesenamun's tomb could answer many of the questions surrounding the wife of arguably the most famous pharaoh in ancient Egyptian history. (Read more Tutankhamun stories.) It was one of the more infamous (and weird) neighborhood scraps, and now there's a federal felony charge attached. The Courier Journal reports Rand Paul's neighbor was on Friday charged in connection with the Nov. 3 attack on the senator that occurred as Paul was mowing his Bowling Green, Kentucky, lawn. Prosecutors said in a statement that Rene Boucher, 58, has signed a plea agreement, though he denied that politics played any role in the incident. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and the Washington Post reports prosecutors are recommending 21 months. In court documents, prosecutors argue Boucher observed Paul stacking brush into a pile close to Boucher's property, decided he "had enough," and ran into the senator in what prosecutors called a "running tackle." NBC News characterized it as a "sneak attack" in that Paul was pummeled from behind and had headphones on at the time; he suffered multiple fractured ribs. Josh Minkler, US Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, had this to say: "Assaulting a member of Congress is an offense we take very seriously. Those who choose to commit such an act will be held accountable." (Read more Rand Paul stories.) "I am going against normal protocols," said Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo Friday in his first public comments in two months on the Oct. 1 massacre in his city. They came as police released an 81-page preliminary investigative report along with photos of the scenean atypical move that Lombardo said he hoped would "quell the zest for information." The New York Times reports that the investigation thus far has concluded Stephen Paddock was the lone gunman, but Lombardo did refer to a second personunnamed, but not girlfriend Marilou Danley, who will not be chargedwho will likely be charged within the coming months for an unspecified crime. The report shares no conclusive motive, reports CNN. As Lombardo put it, "This report is not going to answer every question or even answer the biggest question, as to why he did what he did," though Lombardo did acknowledge that the "significant amount of wealth" Paddock recently lost could have played a role. Danley described Paddock as changing during the last year of his life: becoming a germaphobe who was sensitive to smell and no longer intimate with her. She described a September trip to the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, where Paddock ultimately attacked from, saying he repeatedly stared out the windows from various angles. A thorough computer search turned up not just child porn but also a search history that in May started looking up big summer concerts. Subsequent search terms, per the Times and Los Angeles Times, included "Las Vegas high rise condos rent," "do police use explosives," and "How crowded does Santa Monica Beach get?" (Read more Las Vegas shooting stories.) For a sushi-loving California man, there was good news and bad news. The good news: That pale string dangling out of his butt wasn't his intestines. It was, however, a very long worm. This particularly disgusting cautionary tale comes from a Jan. 8 episode of the medical podcast This Won't Hurt a Bit. NPR (which has pictures) reports Dr. Kenny Banh was working the emergency room of Fresno's Community Regional Medical Center a few months ago when a man came in complaining of bloody diarrhea and asking to be treated for worms. Banh, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, is typically skeptical of people who claim to have a tapeworm. But in this case, the man had the receipt, as it were. He handed Banh a grocery bag containing a toilet paper roll around which was wrapped a "giant" tapeworm. Banh says the worm started coming out of the man while he was sitting on the toilet, and he originally thought his "guts are coming out." "He doesn't get it until he pulls it out, and then it wiggles," KGO quotes Banh as saying. Banh says the worm had likely been growing inside the man for at least half a year. When he unrolled it on the floor of the emergency room lobby it measured 5 feet 6 inches long. The man's love of salmon sashimi is the likely source of the tapeworm, known as a helminth. "I eat raw salmon almost every day," Banh says the man confessed. Last year, the CDC released a study regarding Japanese broad tapeworms found in certain Alaskan salmon, creating a risk for people who eat raw or under-cooked salmon. Banh says the man swore off sashimi following treatment. (Read more worms stories.) The Chinese government on Saturday accused the US of trespassing in its territorial waters when a US guided missile destroyer sailed near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, the AP reports. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said China would take "necessary measures" to protect its sovereignty after the USS Hopper sailed within 12 nautical miles of Scarborough Shoal on Wednesday evening without China's permission. Scarborough is a tiny, uninhabited reef that China seized from the Philippines in 2012. Known in Chinese as Huangyan Island, it lies about 120 miles west of the main Philippine island of Luzon, and about 370 miles southeast of China. Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said a Chinese missile frigate moved to identify and verify the US vessel and warned it to leave the area. "We hope that the US respects China's sovereignty, respects the efforts by regional countries, and do not make trouble out of nothing," Wu said in a statement. The South China Sea has crucial shipping lanes, rich fishing grounds, and potential oil, gas, and other mineral deposits. China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and has carried out extensive land reclamation work on many of the islands and reefs it claims. The US does not claim territory in the South China Sea but has declared it has a national interest in ensuring that the territorial disputes there are resolved peacefully in accordance with international law. The Navy regularly sails through the area to assert freedom of navigation. (Read more China stories.) The damage reportedly done by an alleged CIA mole could extend beyond China, where at least 20 CIA informants were arrested and executed between 2010 and 2012, current and former officials tell NBC News. China wiped out the CIA's spy network in that country after cracking the covert communications systemor "covcom"the CIA used to communicate with its informants. Sources say American officials now suspect China shared that information with Russia. One former official says Russians left a joint training session with China "saying we got good info on covcom." An unknown number of CIA informants in Russia have disappeared, and sources say American officials suspect Russia used the information from China to arrest and possibly execute American spies. Jerry Chun Shing Lee, a naturalized US citizen who left the CIA in 2007, was arrested last week. He's suspected of providing classified information to China and, in theory, being responsible for helping China crack the CIA's covcom. Authorities arrested Lee after luring him back to the US via a bogus job offer. The CIA has changed its communications methods since the destruction of its spy network in China. Read the full NBC report here. (Read more CIA stories.) An assistant police chief in Kentucky resigned after exchanging what a county attorney calls "highly disturbing racist and threatening Facebook messages" with a Louisville police recruit, the Courier-Journal reports. A letter from county attorney Mike O'Connell to Prospect Mayor John Evans detailing the contents of the messages, sent between assistant Prospect police chief Todd Shaw and and the unnamed recruit in 2016, were made public Friday by order of a judge. Regarding "the right thing to do" after catching juveniles smoking marijuana, Shaw allegedly told the recruit: "f--- the right thing. If black shoot them." As for the parents of the hypothetical youth: If mom is hot then f--- her. If dad is hot then handcuff him and make him suck my dick. Unless daddy is black. Then shoot him." Shaw served 20 years as a Louisville police officer prior to his Prospect gig. In the messages, Shaw allegedly called Martin Luther King Jr. "a raciast womanizer" and said of housing projects: "For years I have seen the blacks live off uss and putting them in one big housing area breeds HUGE peoblems," WDRB reports. The messages were discovered last August by prosecutors investigating Shaw for allegedly illegally helping an officer charged with sexually abusing teens enrolled in a police program, prompting the letter from O'Connell to Evans. Shaw was suspended following the letter and resigned in November during an investigation into the messages. An attorney for Shaw says his client was just "playing" and blames "today's culture where police are demonized and demoralized." The unnamed recruit allegedly sent racist responses to Shaw and apparently resigned while going through training, according to WLKY. (Read more racism stories.) President Trump tweeted that it was a "perfect day" for women to march to celebrate the "economic success and wealth creation" that's happened during his first year in office, the AP reports. But people participating in rallies and marches in the US and around the world Saturday denounced Trump's views on immigration, abortion, LGBT rights, women's rights, and more. The march in Washington DC had the feel of a political rally when US Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and US Rep. Nancy Pelosi urged women to run for office and vote to oppose Trump and the Republicans' agenda. "We march, we run, we vote, we win," Pelosi said. Thousands of people turned out for the rally at the Lincoln Memorial and a march from the National Mall to Lafayette Park. Thousands of others gathered in Cleveland; Richmond, Virginia; Philadelphia; New York; Austin, Texas; and elsewhere. "I think right now with the #MeToo movement, it's even more important to stand for our rights," said Karen Tordivo, who marched in Cleveland. In Palm Beach, home to Trump's Mar-a-Lago, several hundred people gathered carrying anti-Trump signs as they prepared to march. In Chicago, thousands of people gathered in Grant Park. Fawzia Mirza drew cheers from the crowd as she kicked off the event with a reference to the partial government shutdown, which began hours earlier. "When the government shuts down, women still march," she said. Across the globe, people hit the streets on the anniversary of Trump's inauguration, marching against his policies and in support of the #MeToo movement. (Read more Women's March stories.) Sorry! This content is not available in your region The way Montana funds its fight against aquatic invasive species appears poised for change when legislators meet for their next session in 2019. Members of the legislative interim committee, the Environmental Quality Council, met in Helena this week with AIS funding a topic of much discussion. The current funding bill passed late last session after multiple amendments that drew the ire of many, including the sponsor Sen. Chas Vincent, R-Libby. I carried the bill because all the other (funding) vehicles were dead, he told the EQC, which he chairs, on Thursday, adding that the bill may have been the most substantively amended bill he could recall actually passing into law. He later characterized the legislation as an awful root canal but necessary in light of the need to address a potential mussel infestation. Mussel larvae were detected at Tiber in 2016, and suspected larvae were discovered at Canyon Ferry. Once established, mussels clog hydropower, irrigation and water treatment infrastructure. They also filter plankton which sends ripples through the ecosystem impacting fish and other aquatic life. There is no known means of eradicating mussels once established. The best current measures, experts say, are to prevent their spread through inspection and education. Although some DNA testing came back inconclusive for Tiber last year, no positives came back through standard testing. Senate Bill 363 generates $11 million through next year to bolster Montanas AIS prevention and detection program. The bolstered program last year intercepted more than 15 boats transporting aquatic mussels into Montana and game wardens issued more than 80 citations for failing to stop at mandatory check stations. After several bills last session died, Vincent brought the bill that proposed decals for motorized boats, and fees on hydropower and irrigation. But hydropower became a sticking point and electric cooperatives were later added. Concerns about triple hitting boat owners who happen to also be irrigators and electric customers led to further amendments, eventually scrapping boat decals for increased fishing fees and eliminating charges to irrigators. SB363 sunsets by next session, meaning lawmakers must decide first whether to continue funding the program and how it will be funded. The EQC began those very preliminary discussions this week, with Vincent noting his hope that the council will provide the next legislature a consensus bill. The fishing industry remains concerned about escalating fees, particularly on nonresidents that see up to $50 in additional cost for a license. Representatives of hydropower and co-ops testified to the EQC about the burden to customers, arguing that because everyone would be impacted in some way by mussels if they proliferate in the state, Montana should fund the program through its general fund. Montana is the only state to fund its AIS program through hydroelectric fees. While Vincent and others characterized hydropower fees as backdoor general fund as the vast majority essentially paid through their power bills, the committee seems interested in exploring other funding mechanisms, such as a fee for an AIS boat decal. Boat decals initially came into favor as the mussels were likely introduced attached uncleaned watercraft. Former lawmaker John Brenden of Scobey said he agrees with a pay to play model of boat decals, but emphasized that it likely will not be the only funding source. I agree some of the people that are hard users of our system should pay, but on the other hand, its going to take a combination of funding because I dont think a lot of people understand if we get these in Montana it is going to cost you personally, he said. EQC plans to continue studying a potential funding bill through the interim. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. New Delhi: Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover continued with its launching spree by unveling its latest SUV model Range Rover Velar in India, priced between Rs 78.83 lakhand Rs 1.38 crore (ex-showroom Delhi). The company said it will start deliveries of the vehicle to customers from dealerships within a week to ten days. "We have had a tremendous response to the Range Rover Velar and we are sold out till March," Jaguar Land Rover India President & MD Rohit Suri told media agencies . JLR India had opened the bookings for the Range Rover Velar in December last year. The model will be sold in India as fully imported unit. The new model is available in three engine options of 2- litre petrol, 2-litre diesel and 3-litre diesel. The 2-litre engine variant in both petrol and diesel options are priced between Rs 78.83 lakh and Rs 91.86 lakh, while the 3-litre diesel variant is tagged at a price ranging from Rs 1.1-1.38 crore (all prices ex-showroom Delhi). The Range Rover Velar is positioned between the Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Sport. It is equipped with features such as torque-on-demand all-wheel-drive (AWD) system for all-terrain performance and agility. Jaguar Land Rover India had posted 49 per cent increase in total sales at 3,954 units in 2017 as against 2,653 units in 2016. "Last year our business grew exponentially. This is a reflection of more and more JLR products becoming popular in India," Suri said. JLR's SUV portfolio in India includes Discovery Sport (starting price Rs 42 lakh), Range Rover Evoque (Rs 44.44 lakh), Discovery (Rs 71.38 lakh), Range Rover Sport (Rs 93.82 lakh) and Range Rover (Rs 1.66 crore). Bengaluru: A woman of Nigerian origin has been arrested for allegedly assaulting a Bengaluru policeman. Anand, a constable attached to the KG Halli Police Station was allegedly slapped by the woman. The incident reportedly took place three days ago. Currently, the woman whose identity has not been revealed is being questioned after being arrested by the KG Halli police. If the bystanders are to be believed, the woman was apparently in an inebriated state and had been loitering in the area which prompted the cop on duty to stop and question which turned her violent. New Delhi: Supporters of Karni Sena set afire a ticket counter in CTC Mall of Sector 10 Faridabad and raised slogans in support of Karni Sena. The video, which has been uploaded on social media shows two masked men walking towards the ticket counter and throwing a petrol bomb like object. The incident occurred on Thursday night around 10 pm. Two fire tenders were rushed to the spot and a case has been registered. On Thursday itself, dozens of activists of Karni Sena vandalised a cinema hall and went on a rampage in Bihars Muzaffarpur district soon after the Supreme Court suspended the ban on the movie imposed by four states including Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh. Karni Sena leader Lokendra Singh has asked Hindu organisations across the country to ensure the movie is not shown in cinema halls. New Delhi: A major fire broke out at Savita Sizing Company in Babla compound, Bhiwandi area in Thane late night on Friday. According to the locals, the fire started due to a short circuit. At the time when the fire broke out 5 workers of the company were sleeping inside but managed to come out safely. Fire brigade reached the spot immediately and brought the fire under control. The fire has been doused and there are no reports of any injuries or casualties. Earlier, a massive fire broke out in the Navrang Studio inside Todi Mill Compound at Lower Parel in Central Mumbai on Friday midnight. The fourth floor of the building was gutted by flames. The incident took place at around 1 am at the studio. Navrang studio, situated on the Senapati Bapat Marg, was shut down years ago, the official added. In December last year, at least 14 people were killed and many injured after a major fire broke out in a building in Kamala Mills Compound in Lower Parel in Mumbai. New Delhi: The date sheet for Haryana Class 10 and Class 12 board examinations has been released by the Board of School Education Haryana (BSEH) on Friday. The board has made the date sheet available at bseh.org.in. BSEH will start the examination process from March 7 and end on April 3. The examinations for both the classes is scheduled to take place between 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm. For the first time BSEH will conduct the examination in one shift for both Class 10 and 12, according to the board's chairperson Jagbir Singh. Students must note that the exams for both the Classes will start with the English paper. According to reports, around 819,000 lakh candidates are expected to be appeared in the examinations. While 380,000 will sit in Class 10 exams, 240,000 will appear for Class 12. The rests 200,000 are open school candidates. Moreover, necessary arrangements have been made to prevent students from cheating or wrong deeds, Jagbir Singh added. He has also advised students to work hard for the papers. BSEH has tried to ensure that there is a day's gap between every two exams for candidates of all streams. Also Read: ISC Class 12, ICSE Class 10 exams dates released at cisce.org, check here to download Last year the Haryana Board of School Education had declared the class 12 examinations results on May 18. In 2017, students in rural areas performed better than urban areas, while the government schools beat the private schools with some of their remarkable results. On the other hand, BSEH had announced the Class 10 results 2017 on May 22. In 2017, as many as 3,88,205 students appeared for the HBSE Class 10th examination, which was held on March 7 across 1618 centres. Out of the total number of students who gave the exam, 1,43,676 were girls and the rest 1,75,166 were boys. New Delhi: After the phenomenal success of his last release Baahubali: The Conclusion, Prabhas has been one of the most sought-after actor in the industry. Indeed, every actress is looking forward to work with Prabhas. However, it is one of the Bigg Boss 11 contestants who has been reportedly been roped in for Prabhas' next project, We are talking about Arshi Khan who was one of the most entertaining contestants of Bigg Boss 11. According to the media reports, post her stint in Bigg Boss 11, Arshi has signed her first movie which stars Prabhas in the lead. The lady made the announcement on micro-blogging site Twitter and wrote, "#ArshiKhan signed on for a big film project also starring Prabhas. Thank you @BeingSalmanKhan @ColorsTV @EndemolShineIND @BiggBoss. Special thanks to #NevadaPutman." Interestingly, post her eviction from BB11, Arshi had even expressed her desire to work in movies and also stated that she is interested in South movies. On the other hand, there have been reports that the former BB11 contestant was also approached for the next season of Rohit Shetty's Khatron Ke Khiladi. Also Read | I told Salman Khan to make Shilpa Shinde Bigg Boss 11 winner, claims Swami Om As per a report published in India TV, when quizzed about this, Arshi's manager replied, "your guess is as good as mine". Talking about Arshi Khan's stint on Bigg Boss 11, the lady managed to be the talk of the town for her bold and controversial statements on the show. Besides her sweet-sour relationship with Hiten Tejwani too added brownie points to her relationship. So after an entertaining journey on BB11, indeed the 'avaam' is eager to see Arshi Khan on the big screen. "My visit to Peru has as its theme: United by Hope. If I may say so, seeing this land is itself a reason for hope," the Pope said ahead of his meeting with President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski at the Government Palace. "Peru is a land of hope that invites and challenges its people to unity. These people have the duty to maintain unity, among other things, precisely to defend all these reasons for hope," he pointed out. The Holy Father referred to the Amazon as one of the reasons that make Peru a land of hope. "It is overall the largest tropical forest and the most extensive river system on the planet," the Supreme Pontiff said. "This lung, as it has been called, is one of the world's regions of great biodiversity, as it is home to a vast variety of species," he added. Variety of cultures Likewise, the Pontiff underlined Peru's wealth and variety of cultures, which increasingly intermingle and which make up the soul of these people. "It is a soul characterized by ancestral values such as hospitality, esteem for others, respect and gratitude for mother earth and creativity for new initiatives []," he expressed. On the other hand, Francis emphasized that young people are the most vital gift that this society possesses. "With their dynamism and enthusiasm, they promise, and encourage us to dream of, a hope-filled future, born of the meeting between your lofty ancestral wisdom and the new eyes that youth offers," he added. The welcome ceremony featured the Manchay Orchestra, whose members played songs with religious content. The event saw the presence of politicians including former presidential candidates Keiko Fujimori and Lourdes Flores Nano lawmakers, and ministers, among others. Also attending was Peruvian national team's top striker and captain Paolo Guerrero. (END) CCR/RMB/MVB Pope Francis said Peru is a "land of hope" and believes its people have the duty to maintain unity to defend the reasons for cherishing such hope.Publicado: 19/1/2018 Glacier, Yellowstone and other national parks plan to remain open despite the federal government shutdown Saturday We have been told all the parks do plan to stay open and function as usual, Gov. Steve Bullocks spokeswoman Marissa Perry said Friday morning. We expect more guidance later this afternoon. And were preparing for that 50-50 chance or whatever it is of a full shutdown. The federal government ran out of money at midnight Friday after Congress failed to resolve either a short-term or full budget agreement before that deadline. When a similar budget debate collapsed in 2013, the National Park Service gated or barricaded all its parks, historic sites and even public spaces like the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C., for 17 days. Another shutdown in 1995 lasted 21 days. Xanterra Parks and Resorts operates the lodging and visitor services in both Glacier and Yellowstone national parks. A message on its website Friday stated that it had also received word from the U.S. National Park Service that the gates and roads into the national parks will remain open if there is a partial government shutdown. This means that Xanterras lodges, restaurants, retails, concessions and services will be open for business as usual and welcoming guests and visitors from around the world. The House of Representatives passed a short-term budget agreement on Thursday evening. However, the Senate requires at least 60 votes to approve a companion measure, and the majority Republicans have only 51 in that chamber. Senate Democrats, including Montanas Sen. Jon Tester, had vowed to oppose a short-term continuing resolution unless compromise could be reached on immigration, childrens health insurance and other long-simmering issues. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke oversees the National Park Service. "We fully expect the government to remain open," Zinke spokeswoman Heather Swift wrote on Friday morning. She added the agency was prioritizing "access to the most accessible and most iconic areas of parks and public lands. Each park, monument, recreation area, etc will have different plans in place." However, she wrote in an email, "in the event of a shutdown, National Parks and other public lands will remain as accessible as possible while still following all applicable laws and procedures." "The American public and especially our veterans who come to our nation's capital should find war memorials and open air parks open to the public. Additionally many of our National Parks, refuges and other public lands will still try to allow limited access wherever possible. For example, this means that roads that have already been open should remain open (think snow removal) and vaulted toilets (wilderness type restrooms) should remain open, however services that require staffing and maintenance such as campgrounds, full service restrooms, and concessions that require some Park staff or assistance will not be operating. "Other areas such as culturally sensitive areas or backcountry areas that present a risk to visitors may also have restricted access," Swift wrote. Mumbai : Since the release of Baahubali, actor Prabhas has been receiving huge number of marriage proposal from across the nation. There were rumours of him getting married soon were also making rounds last year. Now, Prabhass uncle Krishnam Raju has confirmed the news that the Baahubali star will get hitched this year. He said, "It is embarrassing a bit to answer this question in every interview. Prabhas will get married this year. He is willing to. However, Prabhas has been linked to be in relationship with Baahubali co-star Anushka Shetty in the past. He even gifted the actress a luxury car on her birthday and made several public appearances with her. On the occasion of his birthday, actor Raju was addressing the media where he revealed the news. He also applauded the Baahubali series and said that the movie has become an inspiration for the filmmakers across the country. On the work front, Prabhas is currently busy shooting for action thriller flick Saaho. The movie will also feature Shraddha Kapoor in lead roles and will be released in several languages including Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Gaya (Bihar): Two bombs were found from the Bodh Gaya pilgrimage centre near here on Friday night following a small explosion-like sound amid stringent security measures in view of the Dalai Lama's stay, a top police official said. The bombs were found from the vicinity of the Kalachakra ground during an intensive combing operation by a police team led by DIG (Patna Range) Vinay Kumar, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Patna Zone, N H Khan said. The Tibetan spiritual leader has been holding discourses at the ground, he said. The IGP said that the operations were carried out after a small explosion took place at a kitchen set up at the Kaalchintan ground, causing panic among the devotees who had gathered to hear the Dalai Lama's discourse. The explosion had taken place shortly after the Dalai Lama had completed his discourse and retired for the day at the Tibetan monastery, he said. During the operations, a burst thermos flask was found at the kitchen. This might have caused the sound, the IGP said.Meanwhile, a team of forensic experts was dispatched to the site of the incident from Patna to ascertain the nature of the explosives found, he said. The Tibetan spiritual leader had arrived in Bodh Gaya on January 1 and he is likely to stay there for a month. A host of VIPs, including Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Hollywood actor Richard Gere have visited Bodh Gaya recently to receive blessings from the Buddhist monk. Significantly, in 2013, the Maha Bodhi temple, situated on the spot where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, was rocked by a series of explosions in which five people, including two monks were injured. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Patna: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday held administration and intelligence agencies responsible to prevent stoning incident on Chief Minister's cavalcade few days back and said the CM should undertake "paschatap yatra" (penitence) instead of "Vikash Samiksha Yatra". "RJD's fact finding team found both the administration and intelligence agencies responsible for the incident (stone pelting incident on CM's convoy)...Had the CM heard people's grievances, such an incident would not have occurred...It was the administration which resorted to lathicharge on the people who wanted to meet the CM," Mr Tejashwi told reporters. Notably, on January 12 last, the CM's convoy was pelted with stones during his tour of Nandan village in Dumraon block as part of his state-wide Vikas Samiksha Yatra. Five FIRs have been registered in connection with the incident against 99 named persons and 500-700 unnamed ones, Buxar Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kumar had said adding that at least 28 persons, including 10 women, have so far been arrested in connection with the incident. "I don't think that there is any district left where the Chief Minister's ongoing yatra is not marked by protest. In Begusarai, police had to resort to firing in the open. People especially women- ANM, Anganwaid se vikas, contractual women teachers- are protesting everywhere. The CM should dwell deep about reasons for protest and undertake 'paschatap yatra' instead of 'Vikas Samiksha Yatra'," Yadav said. Mr Yadav, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly, was accompanied by party's state unit chief Ramchandra Purbe, former minister Shiv Chandra Ram who led the party's team that visited Nandan village and submitted its report to Mr Tejashwi. Even pregnant women were arrested besides handicapped persons were beaten apart from police naming those in the FIRs who live in foreign countries, the RJD leader said while announcing that the party would launch movement untill the names of innocent people named in the FIR are withdrawan. Stating that he would visit tomorrow Nandan village to meet the people there, Tejashwi said that he has sought time from Governor's office for a meeting on January 23 to apprise him of the incident, apart from prevailing law and order situation, corruption cases etc. In reply to a query, he said that this (incident) was not a pre-planned incident rather it was spontaneous incident "which was nothing but a sheer outburst of people's anger." He termed as "ridiculous" dragging his name into the incident by JD(U) spokespersons and dared to "put me behind the bar if I was behind the incident." For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Spurred by the news of Election Commission's recommendation for disqualification of 20 ruling AAP MLAs in the office of profit case, the Delhi Congress on Friday got down to planning for possible bypolls in the affected constituencies, party sources said. A meeting attended by Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken and AICC incharge of the state unit PC Chacko, the party functionaries discussed the emerging scenario and possible elections in the 20 Assembly segments. "The discussions centred around the disqualification of 20 MLAs and bypolls in the affected constituencies. It was decided to hold conventions in all the 20 constituencies in coming days," said a senior party leader who attended the meeting. The Delhi Congress will also hold a demonstration against the Kejriwal government on the issue of "corruption" on Tuesday, he said. Chacko suggested focusing on booths in the 20 constituencies and strengthen party organisation at booth- level, he said. Besides Maken and Chacko, senior party leaders including Sajjan Kumar, Mahabal Mishra, and former MLAs attended the meeting. In its opinion sent to President Ram Nath Kovind this morning, the Election Commission said the 20 AAP MLAs, by occupying the post of parliamentary secretaries between March 13, 2015 and September 8, 2016, held office of profit, and were liable to be disqualified as legislators, highly-placed sources said. Once the President accepts the EC's opinion, the MLAs stand disqualified and by-elections will have to be held for the 20 Assembly seats. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Jammu: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Friday strongly batted for talks between the national security advisors of India and Pakistan to end ceasefire violations. He was reacting to the ceasefire violations by Pakistan along International Border in Jammu in which five people, including three civilians and two BSF personnel, were killed and 28 others injured in the past two days. "I hope that our NSA (Ajit Doval) can pick up the phone and talk to his counterpart (retired Lt Gen. Nasser Khan Janjua) in Pakistan to put an end to ceasefire violations," he told reporters here. "The ceasefire must hold. The shelling and violence on the International Border and the Line of Control must end, and then hopefully India and Pakistan can take step towards normalising, what is otherwise an abnormal relationship," he said. Omar also took a dig on the "secret talks" between the NSAs of India and Pakistan in Thailand in view of the ceasefire violations. "We are told that our NSA had secret talks with the NSA of Pakistan in Bangkok. What are those talks about, if we cannot even maintain a ceasefire on the border. What are we talking about.A Ultimately talks have to be about something," he said. "There is a regular breakdown of ceasefire. This is something that Delhi and Islamabad need to sort out," he said. The National Conference has always maintained that violence is not the solution to the problems of Jammu and Kashmir and the two countries need to talk each other, he said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Mumbai: Pakistan has a twisted mindset, Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir on Friday said, and asserted India will respond with 10 bullets for every bullet fired by the neighbouring country. "Sending terrorists into India, violating ceasefire has become their (Pakistan's) nature. They have a twisted mindset. Be it our home ministry, defence ministry or the Jammu and Kashmir police, everybody has to keep co-ordinating and give reply to Pakistan's misadventures," Ahir said, speaking to reporters in Yavatmal, Maharashtra. "The home minister has said we should not fire the first bullet. But if one bullet is fired from their side, we should respond with 10," he said. Two civilians and a BSF jawan were today killed and 23 others, including 2 BSF men, were injured in a heavy mortar shelling by Pakistan along the International Border in three districts of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A new application, Empzilla, which connects you directly to the recruiters, was launched on Saturday in Delhi. The app was launched by BJPs National General Secretary Arun Singh at the Siri Fort auditorium. The application offers a platform to the users which eases the process of recruitment or employment in a conveniently habituated method of Global Chat. The application, which is now available on Google Play Store, connects lets the user first search for a job and then apply for the job. If the recruiter finds the users resume well enough for the post, they can directly chat on through the app without even the struggle of meeting. The formal interview can also be conducted through the app, which makes it easy for both the recruiter and the employee as it will save the travelling time and expenses as well as a clear answer will be given to the employee timely. Arun Singh took to Twitter to inform the people about the launch of the app. Inaugurating the launch of Empzilla App connecting Youth & Industry for employments in Siri Fort Auditorium. pic.twitter.com/LqTrCfEOJf Arun Singh (@ArunSinghbjp) January 20, 2018 Akash Attray, Chairman, Empzilla, said on the occassion of the launch, "We realized there were limitations in the way job seekers were communication with employers so far. To do away with those limitations, we are launching this mobile app which will revolutionize the way communications happens between job lookers and recruiters. This can easily be downloaded from Google Playstore and is free. It will also take the governments Digital India initiative forward." This initiative takes the Modi government's 'Digital India' platform to a new level. Also Read: WhatsApp for Business, app launched for SMEs, available on Android BJP's Arun Singh said, "We are excited that Digital India inspiring people to come out with new offerings that not only seek to solve some of the existing problems but also saves costs. I am sure Empzilla app will become popular in no time as it obviates some of the current problems relating to communication between recruiters and job seekers. With deeper internet penetration, Mobile Apps are increasingly being used by people even in smaller cities." Other dignitaries who were present at the launch included Priyanka Rawat, MP, Sanjay Goel, President, ONGC, Sameer Anja, among a few. Senior officials from Hindustan Power Ltd, Oracle, Apollo Hospital, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare were also present on the occasion. Beijing: China on Saturday accused the US of trespassing its territorial waters and warned taking "necessary measures" to firmly safeguard its sovereignty after an American missile destroyer sailed close to a shoal in the disputed South China Sea to assert freedom of navigation. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the naval ship USS Hopper sailed within 12 nautical miles of Huangyan Dao on January 17 without Chinas permission. Huangyan Dao is also known as Scarborough Shoal, the ring of reefs which lies about 230 kilometres from the Philippines in the South China Sea (SCS), where Beijings claims are hotly contested by other nations. "The naval ship USS Hopper sailed within 12 nautical miles off Huangyan Dao, widely known Scarborough Shoal on January 17 without gaining permission from the Chinese government," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement. He said the Chinese Navy carried out identification and verification procedures in accordance with law and asked the US vessel to leave. "What the US vessel did violated Chinas sovereignty and security interests, put the safety of Chinese vessels and personnel who were in the relevant waters for official duties under grave threat, and contravened the basic norms for international relations," Lu said. "China is strongly dissatisfied with that and will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty," he added. China, which has been reinforcing its hold on the disputed SCS with military installations in the shoals and reclaimed islands, claims sovereignty over almost all of it. Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims over SCS. In a bid to question Chinas claims over the area, the US has been pressing naval ships and air force planes frequently to pass through the area, through which trillions of dollars of international trade takes place to assert freedom of navigation. Lu, in the statement, said "China has indisputable sovereignty over Huangyan Dao and the adjacent waters". "China always respects and safeguards the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea all countries are entitled to under the international law. But we firmly oppose any country using navigation and overflight freedom as an excuse to hurt Chinas sovereignty and security interests," he said. "We strongly urge the US side to immediately correct its mistake and stop making such provocative moves so as to avoid undermining China-US relations and regional peace and stability," he said. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. United Nations: India has urged the UN Security Council to focus on eliminating terrorist safe havens in Pakistan and accused Islamabad of differentiating between good and bad terrorists. "There is a common Afghan saying that roughly translates as "If water is muddied downstream, don't waste your time filtering it; better to go upstream to clean it," Indian Ambassador to the UN, Syed Akbaruddin told the UN Security Council during a special ministerial meeting on Afghanistan. "As such, support for voices of peace in Afghanistan alone is not enough. We must focus on addressing the challenges posed by cross border terrorism emanating from safe havens and sanctuaries to our region and especially to Afghanistan," Akbaruddin said. "If we do so, the decay, which has been inflicted on Afghanistan, can be made reversible," he added. It is India's vision that Afghanistan regain its place and New Delhi remain committed to work closely with its regional and international partners to bring peace, security, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan. Also Read: UN hails India, China for fighting climate change "It is with this in mind that our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Afghanistan on December 24, 2015 to inaugurate the Parliament building, stopped over in Lahore, Pakistan," he said. "Unfortunately, these visits were followed by a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase on January 1, 2016, perpetrated and planned by the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day," he added. "These mind sets differentiate between good and bad terrorists. These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace. They are mindsets that are reluctant to join hands in moving the region forward to build a shared future for our people and our youth. These mindsets, Mr. President, need to change," Akbaruddin said. Also Read | NN Exclusive: Musharraf praises PM Modi, says India progressing under his leadership For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: Joining the Free Karachi campaign launched by Muhajirs in the US against human rights violations in Pakistans largest city, an influential American lawmaker has sought the Trump administrations intervention in stopping oppression and rights abuses against the Muhajirs in Karachi. President Trumps decision to suspend aid to Pakistan is a clear choice for its leadership on being an ally to the United States, commitment to dismantle terrorist networks and importantly stop oppression and human rights abuse on Muhajirs in Karachi, Baloch, Pashtuns and other minority communities through its military, paramilitary and intelligence assets, Congressman Tom Garrett said in a statement. The remarks of Garrett, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was published in a special supplement of The Washington Times daily as part of the Free Karachi campaign launched by Muhajir Americans. The supplement highlights the strategic importance of Karachi in South Asia and growing extremism under the alleged patronage of Pakistans powerful military and its even more powerful ISI intelligence agency. The supplement feature reports and articles on the persecution of Muhajirs in Karachi and the other urban centres in Sindh province of Pakistan. Starting this week, digital ads for Free Karachi are running on the website of the Washington Times urging the US administration and world community to save Muhajirs in Pakistan. Pakistan - where State kills its citizens. #FreeKarachi from the state atrocities of Pakistan, says the ad on the homepage of the newspaper. Earlier this week, the first phase of the Free Karachi campaign was launched in Washington. Taxis with banners of #FreeKarachi took part in the parade to raise awareness on the plight of Muhajirs in Pakistan. Pakistans Muhajirs are Urdu-speaking migrants from India. The Pakistan Embassy in Washington has complained to the US State Department against the campaign, alleging that it is anti-Pakistan. The State Department was not immediately available for comment. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. A 40-year-old Gallatin County man who had made threats to "shoot up the Capitol" was arrested Wednesday afternoon on his way to Helena. The Helena Police Department sent additional officers to the Capitol Wednesday morning, after the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office notified local authorities that the man was heading from Belgrade to Helena. The Montana Highway Patrol stopped the suspect's westbound vehicle at 12:15 p.m. near Highway 12 East and Spokane Creek Road. The suspect was taken into custody and transported to St. Peter's Health for a mental health evaluation. After his evaluation, the Gallatin County and Lewis and Clark County attorney's offices determined the man required transport to the Montana State Hospital at Warm Springs. The incident is currently under investigation. Imagine you are at a crime scene. A person has been murdered. A suspect is caught running away from the scene of the crime. Weapon found, motive established, relationship found between the victim and the suspect. As the prosecuting attorney you present your case outlining all the details. You present witnesses, forensic evidence and other pieces of evidence.Then imagine if the defense attorney announces that he wishes to introduce a new rule to control the trial. He declares that from now on, regardless of what evidence is presented, unless the defense team fesses up to the evidence and accusations, the evidence has no value. The defense attorney declares all evidence to be null and void unless the defense itself acknowledges their guilt and admits to the evidence.Now imagine if the judge agrees to these ridiculous rules despite your protest. The judge establishes the new rules for guiding the trial without considering any protests. All the work youve done to prove your case against the accused criminal now is subject to the defense admitting to it. Wouldnt this represent a dramatic shift in the advantage for this trial? All the cards are now comfortably in the hands of the defense. They need only to deny guilt and they are sure to win the case. How convenient huh?This may sound ridiculous, but according to those who believe government and mainstream media those who carry on obeying the control system and allowing TV to do the thinking for them according to these people, this illogical, unfair, complex and confusing process is a perfectly logical way of dispensing justice.Many Americans argue that evidence against government is a conspiracy theory believed by tin-foil lunatics who actually believe that the government is corrupt. We all know these brainwashed zombies would believe all revealed conspiracies if the government actually admitted to them and they saw it on TV, dont we?In this automated complex world we live in today, no amount of objective and clear-cut evidence is enough to break through the mass deception. Few are capable of truly thinking on their own and looking at the evidence completely independently of mass media mouthpieces and politician speeches. Without even realizing it many of these people are living in a complex and twisted world that plays perfectly into the hands of the controllers.Sadly, this is the reality we all live in. We are surrounded by a humanity that is largely in a complex dream state. With every day we look for ways to awaken others to the small subtle lies that have massive long-term effects on humanity. These small subtle lies distort the simplicity of life and complicate reality in a way that suits the globalist perfectly.One thing to remember about objective evidence is it always stands alone, and because of its self/explanatory nature there is a simplicity to it. The evidence is damning and it addresses the reality of what happened. Evidence itself, like truth, is always waiting to be discovered or realized. We as humans are the ones who create rules to deflect the reality and the perception of the evidence. Commonly, government will demonize the messenger to deflect from the fact that they have no defense against the presented objective evidence.The problem of information and disinformation we face today is analogous to a diseased body. The disease of stupidity and naivety is real, but as with medical diseases it can often be overcome with proper treatment that takes time and effort. During the healing process some cells will never heal so the body gets rid of them via the immune system. Other cells will be restored to normal. Ultimately you hope the healthy, properly functioning normal cells eventually win the battle of good versus bad cells. Likewise, in the battle for objective evidence and information we are in now, if the disinformation and lies (told by government) wins, humanity dies and is permanently enslaved. Thus it is important to continue pushing back with objectivity, truth, logic and reason in hopes that enough people will come around in due time.Unfortunately we live in a world where humans have been hard-wired to a signal box (TV) that airs messages controlled by a small group of people with a specific agenda that includes depopulation and control of the species. Our minds are thus trained to view government as somehow being a special entity with special powers immune to lying. A force whose intentions are benevolent, and one that carries the power of truth and justice. Of course, nothing can be further from the truth.Unfortunately, as technology has advanced over the last several decades, the control system has stepped ahead of humanity by offering it technology which it had already rigged for advanced control over the species. As was revealed by Edward Snowden, humanity was caught off guard and now faces an uphill battle fighting the nefarious intentions of the NSA and CIA, all the while the species enjoys the benefits of the latest technology which has been used to further pacify and distract humans.The good news is one large component of the inevitable human awakening involves becoming aware of how technology can be used to strike back at the control system. Humanity is now tasked with finding ways to use the technology to help humanity and make life harder for the control system.With every day we are beginning to imagine a world where humanity simply doesnt need government any more. A world where control of all resources is decentralized. A world where government surveillance is all but impossible due to advanced technology. A world where all human needs are possible for every person on earth because of technology. A world where war is not possible to sustain because of technology. A world where police corruption can be tackled in real-time with technology. Perhaps a program activated by we-the-people where the identity of the involved officer is broadcasted in real-time in a manner that will impact the officers social, personal and financial life or other creative ways. This technological threat alone may act as the new deterrent to police brutality. The possibilities are endless.So as humanity struggles with the issue of still assuming government is a trustworthy necessity for survival of the human race, the subtle issues of government corruption versus conspiracy theories remain disappointing indicators of how far we may still be from enjoying greater days as a whole.Simplicity of TruthUntil enough of humanity can awaken to the simplicity of our situation our progress will continue to move slow. The good news, again, is that nothing has changed from the perspective of how humanity changes. Throughout history societies and civilizations change their ways slowly. This slow social change is part of who we are, so lets keep the ball rolling in the direction of awareness and truth. Lets keep calm and play our cards smart.I firmly believe we are in a winning scenario despite the darkness and evil that surrounds us. There is no way to hide global tyranny and ongoing false flags to promote endless wars abroad and destruction of freedom at home in a technological world where everyone has the power of the Internet at their hands (literally). People today can confirm history on their own without believing politically motivated lies from the government-funded education system, mainstream media, Hollywood or other mouthpieces. More than ever the road to solutions is becoming clearer and clearer.In the end, those who are paying attention and looking for truth will see that the secret to humanity thriving is in keeping life simple. Simplicity is one of the great virtues of life. The control system relies on complexity to intimidate, confuse, and control the species. Eventually many will see the direct relationship between simplicity, clarity, happiness and fulfillment on the one hand and complexity, confusion, enslavement and misery on the other.http://www.wakingtimes.com/2015/03/02/how-small-lies-obscure-objective-truth-and-simplicity/ In our care PENDING NICHOLSON, Robert G., age 94, of Helena, passed away Jan. 11, 2018. Private services will be held. Bobs family would like to say Thank you to Legacy Assisted Living and their staff. Please visit www.aswfuneralhome.com to offer a condolence to the family or to share a memory of Robert. FRIDAY ATHEARN, Jesse R. Baldness, age 36, of Helena, passed away Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018. The family will receive friends from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. today, Jan. 19, at Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home, 3750 N. Montana Ave. Memorials in Baldness name are suggested to the Montana Hope Project P.O. Box 5927, Helena, MT 59604 or to the Montana State Veterans Cemetery, P.O. Box 5715, Helena, MT 59604. Please visit www.aswfuneralhome.com to offer a condolence to the family or to share a memory of Baldness. HEINLE, Timothy, age 69, of Helena, passed away Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018. A memorial service celebrating Tims life will be held at 11 a.m., Jan. 19, at Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home, 3750 N. Montana Ave. A reception will follow the service in the social hall of the funeral home. Please visit www.aswfuneralhome.com to offer a condolence to the family or to share a memory of Tim. JOKI, Angela L., age 57, of Helena, passed away Jan. 10, 2018. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. today, Jan. 19, 2018, at St. Pauls United Methodist Church, 512 Logan St. Helena, MT 59601. A reception will follow at the Brondel Center in the basement of the Cathedral of St. Helena. Please visit www.aswfuneralhome.com to offer a condolence to the family or to share a memory of Angela. In lieu of flowers, please send memorials to the Joki Educational Fund set up at the Valley Bank of Helena. All court action for former members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult is to end, after the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by a man who took part in the 1995 deadly nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system. Katsuya Takahashi's life sentence is to be finalized following the court's decision. Takahashi was arrested after 17 years on the run. He was indicted for murder and other charges in 4 cases, including the subway attack that killed 13 people. He contested all the charges, but a district and a high court condemned him to a life sentence. His appeal was the last among 192 former members of Aum Shinrikyo who faced criminal charges. Cult leader Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, and 12 others have been sentenced to death. Matsumoto pleaded not guilty, and stopped speaking during his trial at district court, which sentenced him to death. The sentence was finalized when a high court terminated his challenge after his defense team failed to submit papers required for an appeal. None of the death-row inmates has been executed because they had to testify at the trials of other members. Now that all the court action is finished, attention is focused on when the sentences will be carried out. Jan 20 (ANNnewsCH) - aaeaaaaaaa4aaaaaaaaaacaaaaaYaaa cYcaaaeaeaaYeaSi59iaaaaeeaaSaSaeaacYaaaacasaaaaaaaSaaaYa Hyoe Inukai, a former Asahi Shimbun reporter who was severely wounded in a 1987 deadly shooting attack on a bureau of the major Japanese newspaper publisher, died on Tuesday, it was learned Friday. He was 73. Inukai passed away at a hospital in Kagawa Prefecture, western Japan. The cause of death is believed to have been sudden cardiac death. Inukai was at the Hanshin bureau in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, on the night of May 3, 1987, when a balaclava-wearing man attacked the bureau with a shotgun. A 29-year-old reporter, Tomohiro Kojiri, was killed in the incident. Inukai survived but was injured by more than 200 shotgun pellets, losing the third and fourth fingers of his right hand. A group calling itself "Sekihotai" (red revenge squad) claimed responsibility for the attack, which remained unsolved when the statute of limitations period for it expired in 2002. The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says it has found what looks like fuel debris in the plant's No. 2 reactor. The nuclear accident occurred in March, 2011. Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, on Friday looked inside the containment vessel of the No. 2 reactor. TEPCO confirmed, for the first time, the existence of chunks that are believed to be a mixture of melted nuclear fuel and parts of bindings. There was no red carpet, no envelopes, and no happy winners. But the first fake-news awards did have one celebrity, who picked all the recipients and announced them himself on Wednesday. Or at least he tried to. President Donald Trump handed out what he modestly called the "Highly-Anticipated 2017 Fake News Awards" Wednesday night in an unceremonious ceremony held somewhere on the internet. Befitting the bitter and mocking tone of the occasion, the Republican National Committee website Trump linked to on Twitter to announce the awards, GOP.com, promptly froze and spat back an error message. "The site is temporarily offline, we are working to bring it back up. Please try again later," it read. When the website finally gurgled back to life an hour or so later, Trump's score-settling and shaming of the media began, echoing the score-settling and shaming of the media that Trump dishes out most mornings on Twitter. The winners included some of the news organizations that he once branded "the enemy of the American People" in one of his more infamous tweets. CNN was cited four times; the New York Times twice. The rest of the list was filled out with Trump's accomplishments, giving the whole exercise a self-congratulatory air. Late-night comics have mocked the cyber-ceremony for several weeks; Stephen Colbert even dubbed the awards "the Fakies" and campaigned for one via a Times Square billboard. Despite the comedy, the more disturbing element was the spectacle of a sitting president orchestrating another attack on the news media, a facet of Trump that delights his base but has unsettled even members of his party, such as Arizona Sen. John McCain. The big winner - though of what it was unclear - was New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman, who predicted in 2016 that the stock market would be decimated by Trump's electoral victory. That column turned out to be very wrong - the stock market has been sizzling for the past year, as Trump has repeatedly noted. But Krugman's errant call was both an opinion and a prediction, rather than news reporting, calling into question whether it belonged on a list intended to highlight, as Trump put it on Twitter, "the most corrupt & biased of the Mainstream Media." Trump may have been on firmer ground with his second pick, ABC News' Brian Ross, for reporting in December that during the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump had directed campaign adviser and short-lived White House national security adviser Michael Flynn to contact Russian officials before the election. After the report caused a brief drop in the stock market, Ross corrected it, saying Trump had actually asked Flynn to initiate the contact after the election, when he was president-elect. Perhaps in reaction to Trump's fury over Ross's mistake, ABC News apologized for the mistake, suspended Ross for four weeks without pay and reassigned him. But contrition scores few points in Trump's media criticism playbook. Another of his winners on Wednesday was Washington Post reporter David Weigel, who inaccurately - or "FALSELY," in the awards' all-caps characterization - questioned in a tweet whether Trump had drawn a so-so crowd to one of his rallies in December. Weigel deleted the tweet shortly after he learned that the photos he saw were taken some time before the rally began; he also apologized for his inaccuracy. No matter. Shorting a crowd count is apparently blasphemy in Trump's mind, and Weigel was taken to the woodshed. "Washington Post FALSELY reported the President's massive sold-out rally in Pensacola, Florida was empty," shrieked the awards page. "Dishonest reporter showed picture of empty arena HOURS before crowd started pouring in." Trump's efforts to call out "dishonest" reporting carries its own heavy irony, of course. Trump himself has had a lifelong love affair with exaggeration and hyperbole, and a sometimes hostile relationship with facts. As a real estate developer, he regularly inflated the number of floors in his buildings to make them seem larger and more impressive, and he occasionally posed as someone he wasn't to plant flattering stories about himself in the New York media. Before announcing his candidacy for office, Trump waged a long campaign calling into question President Barack Obama's birthplace, despite evidence that he was wrong. As president, Trump may have set records for the number of dubious statements. The Washington Post's Fact Checker - which was somehow passed over for recognition by Trump on Wednesday - has tallied more than 2,000 false or misleading claims by Trump after less than a year in office, or an average of more than five questionable statements per day. This has led to suggestions that the president was surely qualified to recognize false reporting. A week after Gov. Dannel P. Malloy halted some 400 transportation projects as part of state budget-cutting, local officials are still figuring out how the cuts will affect their towns. The Jan. 10 announcement that projects totaling $4.2 billion were being indefinitely postponed was met with widespread disappointment, but was not wholly unexpected. Certainly it's disappointing, said Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton. But you know the state is facing a tremendous budgetary deficit, and until they can get their financial house in order, there are going to be more cuts like that. Mike Zarba, director of public works in New Milford, said he hasnt heard whether all the listed projects will definitely be delayed, or whether the state will go ahead with projects that are being designed and have matching local funds in place. That is the case with three of the towns bridge renovation projects: Mud Pond Road over Bull Mountain Brook, Gaylord Road over Morrissey Brook and Merryall Road over the West Aspetuck River. We just dont know the process yet for determining the priorities, Zarba said. When I saw the list, it was disheartening to see three projects that are in design currently. The bridges were slated for construction next year, Zarba said, but cannot be put out for bid until the state gives the go-ahead. He added that if town officials had known the state might call a halt to transportation projects, they might have arranged to pay for the projects solely with town money. These were programs offered to municipalities and funds were committed to municipalities, he said. They should honor that commitment. It seems like theyre backing off from that commitment and that doesnt seem fair to the municipalities. The governors announcement halted Brookfields Route 202 project five months into the design phase. The $5.84 million project, scheduled to begin construction in 2021, would widen Federal Road in southern Brookfield to allow for addition of sidewalks, left-turn lanes and and left-turn arrows and and realignment of the southern intersection with Old New Milford Road. First Selectman Steve Dunn hopes the project isnt completely off the table. He guessed the state will likely cancel some projects on the list, but said most could be reduced in scope or move ahead once the state has a better idea of funding. Were looking forward to that (202) project moving ahead, he said. Boughton said delaying planned improvements at the intersection of Triangle Street, South Street and Coal Pit Hill Road is a harder pill to swallow than some of the other Danbury projects on the list because its a high-traffic, high-volume area. Theres nothing the city can do on its own, however, because South Street Route 53 is a state road. It's not going to be doomsday for us, but it's not good, either, he said. There definitely is a lot of traffic that piles up in that area. Bridgewater First Selectman Curtis Read said he was relieved to learn the state was cutting its share of funding only for a bridge on Cascade Road over Town Farm Brook and not a more ambitious bridge project over the Housatonic River. The $200,000 Cascade Road project is a minor road and the bridge repairs are mostly complete, he said. The bridge on Cascade Road wed already repaired, Read said. We dont need it. The governor needs the money more than we do. Read had worried that the state would drop plans to rehabilitate the 851-foot bridge on Route 133 over the Housatonic River, a $7.1 million project set to begin in Spring 2019, but that project survived. Other projects using federal money didnt, including work on I-84 in both Newtown and Danbury. Boughton said the $57.5 million project would have widened and resurfaced the highway through Danbury, as well as improved the ramps, but he suggested the delay would not be devastating. Some federal projects could move forward if U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Estys infrastructure proposal, which would revise funding policies for a wide range of transportation projects, is approved. She noted that Connecticut has some of the oldest infrastructure in the country. She said both the state and federal governments need to improve their transportation funding because projects are delayed and sometimes fall apart if one side doesnt have its match. Rapidly completing projects saves money, Esty said. When you dont have money, it slows down the project and costs more. Not every town in greater Danbury had projects on Malloys list, but DOT suggests that all towns could suffer indirect effects, such as disrupted rail service on the Danbury branch rail lane. The intent was to alert towns that local projects could be affected if the General Assembly doesnt address the long-term solvency of the Special Transportation Fund, said Judd Everhart, a DOT spokesman. Jeff Hanson, Reddings director of public works, said the town is still slated to receive its expected share of construction aid, which he said accounts for 10 percent or less of Reddings costs. The bulk of Redding projects are included in the towns operating budget or in a $6.75 million bond issued by the town several years ago. In July, Redding will enter the final year of the four-year road reconstruction project using this bond. But most towns said they cant assume the costs of state projects in addition to their own. "We're not going to pick up the slack from the state, Boughton said. At the end of the day, we will struggle to pay our own bills because of the cuts they're giving to us. Picking up the slack for them? We just can't do it. Staff writers Barry Lytton, Zach Murdock and Julia Perkins contributed. NEWTOWN - The towns decision to join Southbury and 16 cities and towns in a lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies is just one response to an opioid addiction crisis thats becoming public enemy No. 1. Other municipalities, including Danbury, are looking to sign on with a small law firm in the hope of bringing a settlement tailored to the citys unique circumstances. And still others, such as Ridgefield, hope that direct talks with leading opioid makers such as Stamford-based Purdue Pharma will bring crisis-fighting money and programs sooner than litigation would. Then there are towns like New Milford and Brookfield, still weighing their options. There are many ways to go about this, but the common thread is everyone is seeking accountability from the pharmaceutical industry, said Dan Rosenthal, the newly elected first selectman of Newtown. The proliferation of opioids has had a huge societal impact. The lawsuit Newtown filed with Southbury and 16 Connecticut municipalities in state Superior Court accuses Purdue and other major pharmaceutical companies of intentionally marketing misleading information about pain-killers such as OxyContin in order to expand the market for opioids and realize blockbuster profits. As a result, the municipalities charge, there has been a corresponding jump in addiction, overdose deaths, and costs due to lost productivity, higher health bills, increased crime and more substance abuse services. This is predatory marketing that is no different from advertising for cigarettes or vaping, said Southbury First Selectman Jeff Manville. I often tell our police department that if we could cure this opioid crisis, we wouldnt need half of our cops. While Purdue vigorously denies the allegations, it has also expressed deep concern about what it calls the the illicit opioid abuse crisis and has pledged to be part of the solution. For example, the company is in discussions with officers from the Connecticut Prevention Network - an organization that coordinates state substance abuse programs - to start a pilot addiction prevention program in schools as soon as this year. For Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi, the chairman of the Opioid Abuse Task Force for the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, those talks with Purdue hold more promise than a lawsuit. We are losing 1,000 people a year in Connecticut, said Marconi, referring to the number of accidental drug overdoses, the majority of which are due to opioids. So if I can get money now to help me with education programs, that is much more of a benefit than to kick back and hope for a pot of gold out of some settlement. The municipalities lawsuit is part of a complex and growing national landscape of litigation and investigation involving Big Pharma. Cities, counties and states across the country have filed lawsuits against Purdue Pharma and the industry over an opioid addiction crisis that is responsible for 78 deaths each day in America. At the same time, state Attorney General George Jepsen and his counterparts in 40 states have subpoenaed records from Purdue and other drug makers to determine whether their marketing practices have exacerbated the crisis. Connecticut has seen the number of accidental drug overdose deaths increase 250 percent from 2012 to 2016, increasing the states ranking from 50th in drug overdose deaths in 2012 to 12th in 2017, according to the municipalities lawsuit. Each of those overdoses, of course, involves a personal story of torment. Our story has a happy ending, thank God, but both of my sons addictions started with OxyContin, and how aggressively it was marketed by Purdue in the Danbury area, said Donna DeLuca, who co-founded a support organization for families of those struggling with addiction known as The C.A.R.E.S. Group. Learning lessons The last time all levels of government were this consumed with a public health crisis was the tobacco industry settlement two decades ago, when 800 claims against the largest cigarette makers were settled, and negotiated annual payments were locked into states, who agreed to give up future legal claims. The lesson from that landmark settlement was not only that the tobacco industry was forced to settle because of the preponderance of lawsuits, but that the cities and towns received no settlement money, because they were not parties to the suits. That lesson was among the considerations Newtown and Southbury weighed when deciding to join the lawsuit against Big Pharma with Bridgeport, Fairfield, Milford, Oxford and others, said one of the attorneys who filed the suit. Government entities are suffering, and if they dont commence litigation, and there is a global resolution at some point, if they are not a litigant, they may end up with zero, said Paul Hanly. There is a statute of limitation and an issue of how much money these companies have. Hanley said he expects more Connecticut cities and towns to join the lawsuit. Danbury, which had shown interest in signing on with Hanlys firm as recently as the fall, is likely to choose a smaller firm, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said. Wed like to have our own private counsel, said Boughton, who expects to ask City Council for authorization to sign with a law firm in February. Danbury has unique circumstances that may not get addressed if we have a one-size-fits-all lawsuit. Ridgefields Marconi, who also showed interest in signing on with Hanlys firm in the fall, cautioned that if Purdue agrees to fund education prevention programs, it may not be willing to cooperate with municipalities that are suing it. A Purdue spokesman on Friday said the company plans to help implement a prevention education program in 200 high schools across the country, in partnership with Washington, D.C.,-based EverFi. Purdue has also aired a series of public service announcements about opioid awareness in collaboration with the Governors Prevention Partnership. The spokesman did not respond specifically to questions about Purdues talks with the Connecticut Prevention Partnership. Our goal is simple, to bring meaningful resources quickly to communities to help combat prescription drug abuse and addiction, spokesman Bob Josephson said. rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342 The state health department and county attorneys are wrangling over whether some records for children suspected of having been exposed to drugs should be turned over for use in criminal investigations without holding a court hearing. A law passed out of last year's legislative session requires the release or disclosure of records obtained by child protective services when a child has been exposed to a dangerous drug. But the Department of Public Health and Human Services has not turned over toxicology reports for children suspected of being exposed to drugs or paraphernalia because of concerns it would violate a privacy provision of federal law, and doing so could put federal funding at risk. The department said Friday it is working with the federal government to get clarity on what information it is able to release and hopes to have an answer soon. The department also pointed out that county attorneys are able to pursue the information by holding a court hearing. Two county attorneys at a legislative interim committee hearing Friday countered that those processes take a lot of time and resources and arent necessary based on their reading of the federal law. At the root of the problem is Senate Bill 229, passed by the Legislature in early 2017 and implemented July 1. The bill says the department shall disclose the results of an investigation if there is reasonable cause to suspect a child has been exposed to drugs or drug paraphernalia. As a part of investigations into reports of child abuse or neglect, workers with the Child and Family Services Division of the state health department may have toxicology tests done on children as a part of initiating a civil action that could include removing a child from their home while working toward reunification with their parents or termination of parental rights. A county attorney would want those toxicology records as part of a separate criminal action against parents. Exposing a child to drugs or drug paraphernalia is illegal. The Child and Family Services Division has a stated mission of reuniting children with their parents whenever possible. It can initiate civil proceedings when a child has to be removed from a home because of safety issues, but does not pursue criminal cases. Child and Family Services workers still report suspected drug use to law enforcement; whats at issue is turning over toxicology records. At risk is about $13 million in federal money that funds a variety of programs, said Laura Smith, deputy director of the health department. We are not trying to be obstructionist, but we want to make sure we are following federal law, she said, adding that other states are also seeking guidance on the issue. Wyatt Glade, county attorney in Custer County, sent a memo to the health department Jan. 4 saying he believes the health department must share the toxicology report because the federal law the department is concerned about does not apply. Even if it did, he wrote, there is an exception that allows for disclosure of records when states have a law dictating that. Those test results, which would provide very powerful evidence in prosecution .... those test results were not being passed along to law enforcement. On Friday, Glade told the interim Children, Families, Health and Human Services legislative committee that having to hold a court hearing to have the records released causes an unacceptable delay in the flow of information from (the health department) to law enforcement. In larger jurisdictions its going to cripple the application of this law." The interim committee on Friday also voted to ask House and Senate leadership to request the state attorney general to provide an opinion on the issue. The vote was 7-1, with Sen. Mary Caferro, the committee chair and Democrat from Helena, voting no. The request would be rescinded if the health department reached a resolution before an opinion could be issued. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Danbury Fire Department Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Danbury Fire Department Show More Show Less 3 of 3 DANBURY Two people were sent to the emergency room to be treated for burns following a car explosion, according to the Danbury Fire Department. Danbury firefighters responded to a rollover accident that resulted in a car explosion around 3:40 a.m. Saturday in the area of 167 Long Ridge Road. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NEW HAVEN Josip Kveteks family fled violence in its native Croatia in the 1990s, so he was born in Germany. The family returned to Croatia after the war and eventually Kvetek studied violin in the United States at the University of North Texas, before being accepted to the Yale School of Music. He plays the viola now, the slightly larger cousin to the violin, and last year won the Woolsey Hall Concerto Competition by playing, he points out, a piece that was not a concerto. And if you attend the Yale Philharmonias latest concert Jan. 26 in Woolsey Hall, youll get to hear that piece, Niccolo Paganinis Sonata per la Grand Viola, MS 70. (Two other competition winners played with the Philharmonia in the fall.) If youre at all familiar with Paganinis work, you know it will be a brisk treat. Kvetek says the intrigue starts with the title. Sonata per La Grand Viola, its in Italian ... for big viola. I mean, it sounds silly. Viola is (already) bigger than violin. But there are multiple violas, different types, said Kvetek in a phone chat. And one of them is the grand viola, which has (an) extra string; it has five strings... an E string. Also, he notes, a sonata is usually a piece that is solo or with one or two instruments accompanying. But this ones with an orchestra. And its a one-movement sonata, and sonatas usually have three movements, so everything is backwards, chuckles Kvetek. But pretty much its just a showpiece. It doesnt sound like a sonata; it doesnt sound like a concerto. It just sounds like one of the showpieces typically written by someone like Paganini ... Chopin, just virtuosic. And incredibly operatic. More Information Yale Philharmonia, Woolsey Hall, 500 College St., New Haven. Jan. 26, 7:30 p.m. $10, Yale faculty/staff $8, students free. See More Collapse The night features other treats, including the presence of guest conductor Ignat Solzhenitsyn. If you think you know that name, its because hes the son of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the critic of Soviet communism and its Gulag forced-labor camp who was awarded the 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature for the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature. Son Ignat is also a celebrated pianist. Solzhenitsyn will lead Yales top musicians in performances of Igor Stravinskys spellbinding Firebird Suite (1919 version), Paganinis showpiece (which premiered in 1834 London) and Cesar Francks longer, expansive Symphony in D minor. As for the other music this night, Kvetek said, Its really an interesting program ... Firebird is an exceptional piece; its like a fairy tale. And then Francks symphony is very, I wouldnt say whimsical, but its quintessentially French. ... the focus on colors and expressions. So I think it ties it in really well with Paganini. Really it (Paganinis sonata) is not a serious piece of music. ... Its supposed to be fun. If I get a few laughs from the audience, thats probably a good thing for this piece. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Paris Fashion Week Men's Spring is here again. This time though, fashion designers really have us scratching our heads more than we normally would. FASHION NEWS: Paris Fashion Week gets extra basic with thigh-high UGGs Napoleon Bonaparte-looking hats, dog masks and fishnet face accessories made debuts on the runway. It's not likely these looks will catch on in the real world anytime soon. However, the dog masks could work out as a fun social experiment. See how the weird and bizarre outfits that went down the runway at Paris Fashion Week Men's in the gallery above. NEW HAVEN Religion and medicine both are in the business of healing, and a group of New Haven clergy got the chance to hone their ability to minister to their sick and dying church members as students in a Yale Divinity School course. The class, Theology and Medicine, was opened to the ministers as part of the seminarys lifelong learning program. In addition to New Haven, clergy came from surrounding states and even included an Air Force chaplain who flew in for the five sessions from Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The whole purpose of the program was to help practicing clergy become more comfortable with science as a way to introduce scientific topics into their ministry, said the Rev. Dr. Debora Jackson, who has been director of lifelong learning at the divinity school for a year. The idea was they would appropriate the theory of the course in an applied method for their ministries, she said. Topics included end-of-life concerns, HIV/AIDS, stress and burnout and others. The clergy went on rounds at the hospital and saw the 1991-93 play Angels in America, which deals with AIDS and the gay experience in America, as part of the course. The clergy and the two teachers the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Doolittle and professor Mark Heim found common ground when discussing burnout, Jackson said. Its a very common phenomenon between these two professions because both are wired the same way, to try to save, she said. Doolittle is associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine as well as associate pastor of Pilgrim Congregational Church on East Grand Avenue. Heim is a professor at Andover Newton Seminary at Yale the two schools formally affiliated in 2017. What we saw is that theres a false demarcation that separates medicine from faith and spirituality and religion and in this class we saw that line being blurred, Jackson said. What we saw was not a separation in the fields but an opportunity to collaborate much more closely because we saw that our beliefs were overlapping and that was an awakening as well, she said. Doolittle said the clergy participation gave this great celebratory feel to the course. There was a joy to it. This is a time where maybe religion and medicine have been more separate than ever and maybe on the religious side there might be suspicion around high-tech medicine and the big-city hospital and on the medical side what religion means to people. Prayer For Pastor Janice Hart of Powerhouse Temple Ministries on Sperry Street, the experience brought together her ministry and her experience in the operating room at the hospital as a supervising surgical technologist. It really piqued my interest because I see the parallel it draws between surgeons and theologians, Hart said. Five pastors from New Haven were all from the evangelical and Pentecostal traditions and Hart said clergy in those traditions have to tread carefully when ministering to people whose loved ones are seriously ill. Clergy who pray for God to heal a patient may give false hope, she said. How do you tell a patient that it looks gloomy? With terminally ill patients, sometimes we dont want to believe that We are then praying them back to life, Hart said. I think that this whole piece is part of a truth-telling that death and dying is actually real. Death and dying is an area that clergy tend not to address with their members, Hart said, including having a living will and the availability of hospice care. You preach to someones soul but you dont preach to their body, she said. Jackson said a minister may start to pray that they heal in Jesus name the gray area there becomes where faith really struggles with science and thats because of our theologian background that Jesus can raise a person from the dead. Instead of praying for an unrealistic healing, the clergy person can say, Im going to pray for your comfort and the will of God. Its a different prayer. Im praying that the Lord, in his mercy, that his will be done, and I dont know if that would be [that youll] be healed or youll be taken. Hart said. I believe that sometimes healing is death. Sometimes when were partnering with science we can prepare people for whatever Gods will might be. We are doing our best service to walk with people in those moments. Some of the difference between the evangelical tradition and more structured denominations is in how prayer is expressed. What you might see in the apostolic or Pentecostal churches is more openness to be led by the movement of the Spirit, Jackson said. When praying for healing, If I dont believe that God is going to intercede in a miraculous way I might be accused of not then exercising faith. Weve put ourselves in the position of being the savior and were not the savior. Bridging the gap Robert McCray, an elder in the Holy Nation Tabernacle Sounds of Praise church, which meets in Harts church on Sperry Street, said he learned that clergy and physicians can bridge the gap between their professions and help the parishioners to appreciate both. Sometimes people believe in healing through prayer but they dont take care of their bodies, McCray said. Thats a thing we tell our community, that healing comes from prayer but also healing can come through modern medicine. Some are skeptical of taking medications, and say, Im going to rely on my faith, he said. By telling people that its important that they maintain their physicals and get checked out Its important that we pray first and then we consult doctors too. Another lesson clergy need to learn is to be sensitive to their surroundings and others they encounter in the hospital, Hart said. Most clergy dont come to a hospital unless they have somebody from their parish that is ill, and they focus on that patient in that room, she said. However, there may be another patient in the room who is not comfortable with outspoken prayer. Then you know you dont pray in a [loud] voice. You pray in a whisper voice, Hart said. This class taught that kind of ethics that everybody doesnt want Jesus. Hart said she has told other ministers, Dont just start praying. Ask them what they want. For me that piece was enlightening. AIDS was another sensitive topic because of the stigma the disease still carries among some conservative believers. According to Hart, Dr. Gerald Friedland, professor emeritus in the Yale Medical School, shared some heart-wrenching stories of the early days of the AIDS epidemic, when the disease was stealing souls in a way that he couldnt hold on to. Hes happy that he lived long enough to see such a turnaround in that science. Friedland, former director of the AIDS program at Yale School of Medicine, said the clergy members of the class were obviously very caring and sensitive people, many of whom have had experience in counseling and caring for people with HIV. I think what I did was affirm their role and the importance that they have in health care and I feel this is often neglected in the health care system, he said. If I taught them anything it was really that they should be assertive in terms of playing that role, welcoming into their congregations, it means meeting people where they are and not imposing beliefs on them and I think being accepting of behavior that puts people at risk or at least not condemning of them. But Hart said the religious community is still dealing with our own prejudices and biases when it comes to HIV. Most of the time we will spend the time [with someone] whos dying from cancer but we wont spend the time with someone whos dying of AIDS. Its frightening to know that as much science as we have to understand the disease that we shun them even to the point of death, she said. McCray said there needs to be greater sensitivity to needs of patients and cooperation between clergy and doctors. He said it was like we were separated and not communicating with each other. Its important that that doctor and that clergy [person] be there for that individual Its important that the two coexist with one another. Pastor Dorothy Mewborn of Freedom Temple Holiness Church at 329 Dixwell Ave. said the clergy can help medical professionals to be more supportive of their patients. We were saying how even though sometimes they cant cure a patient they can give them comfort and the can bring them joy and they can be compassionate to the patient. More cooperation needed Hart said the two fields need to cooperate more closely. She looked forward to a time when you see a reverend or pastor on a [hospital] unit and youre an M.D., this would be a normal thing to see. And she thought the course, which will be offered again in the fall, would help that to happen. As we are able to train and reach clergy with a program like this it becomes a backstop for chaplains in a hospital context because there are not enough chaplains. Jackson said another challenge is there tends to be this sort of abrupt demarcation of, while the physician can do something for the patient the clergy person is not needed. Only when nothing else can be done medically, now this is the time when you pass it off to the clergy person. Through the class, We came away with a much larger appreciation of our overlapping roles, she said. The Yale program, Continuing Education for Pastors in Science, was supported by grants from the John Templeton Foundation and the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Contact Ed Stannard at edward.stannard@hearstmediact.com or 203-680-9382. DEER LODGE -- A former Montana State Prison correctional officer was sentenced in Deer Lodge district court this week for felony transfer of illegal items alcohol and tobacco to inmates. After a lengthy sentencing hearing, Judge Ray Dayton sentenced Brett Bernard Lombardi, 36, of Deer Lodge to four 13-month consecutive commitments to the Department of Corrections with conditions that include screening including a mental evaluation for appropriate placement. Two of the terms were suspended for a total of 26 months custodial and 26 months of supervised probation with conditions. There was no fine, but Lombardi must pay court fees. In June 2017, Lombardi pleaded nolo contendere to the charge of the transferring alcohol to an inmate, admitting there was likelihood a jury would find him guilty of the offense, and pleaded guilty to three charges of illegal transfer of tobacco. In the plea agreement, four other charges of illegal transfer of items between December 2013 and July 2014 were dismissed, as was a misdemeanor charge of official misconduct. During the sentencing hearing, Montana State Prison Warden Michael Fletcher said illegal transfer of items to inmates endangers the safety of staff and other inmates. Tobacco leads to bringing in drugs and other contraband that allow inmates to conduct an underground economy. Contraband is not a victimless crime, Fletcher said. A corrupt staff member jeopardizes everyone that comes into the prison. It is our job to keep staff, volunteers, and other inmates safe. Safety relies on staff having integrity, because it affects them, their family, fellow staff safety and morale, and the community. Fletcher recognized Lombardi as a decorated and honorable veteran who isnt blaming PTSD for his actions. He hopes Lombardis punishment will be a deterrent to others who work at the prison, because it is a serious offense and should be punished by the highest amount the court feels appropriate, he said. Jeffrey Crowe, a criminal investigator at the prison, said an inmate who was a primary witness in this case died from a blocked bowel after he swallowed a balloon of contraband tobacco to keep it from staff. He also said four other inmates involved in this case were prosecuted and received prison sentences. Defense witnesses included Lombardis common-law wife and mother of their two young children. Robert W. McCann, a retired FBI agent, former Marine, and police counselor who befriended the defendant two years ago, said Lombardi knows he screwed up. He is a crushed person and is concerned about his boys, he said. He is not dangerous, has no criminal history, and is remorseful that he didnt realize he was putting co-workers in danger, he said. Joseph Lombardi, the defendants father, testified that when his son returned from military duty in Iraq, he was different from the young man who had a normal childhood, got good grades, never did drugs, has an excellent relationship with his parents, and is a gentleman. I am a Vietnam vet, and when Brett came back in 2004, he was quiet, withdrawn, angry, and moody. I suspected PTSD. He was diagnosed with it and received treatment from the VA. I saw positive changes in him with his relationship with Ashley as they created a family. I am concerned about the impact on his mental health if he is incarcerated and the impact on Ashley and the boys, he said. Judge Dayton considered the states argument for serious punishment to deter wrongful behavior and the defense attorneys recommendation for a deferred sentence. He said there must be punishment and recognized Lombardis mental health needs but said that a probationary sentence was not right either. Lombardi was remanded to custody of the Department of Corrections. It was a celebration and reunion when Maria Santos, 30, and her sister, Dina Santos, 33, attended a surprise birthday party in New Haven for Carmen Maria Duran the foster mother who took them in and changed their lives. But more than a celebration with hugs and tears and thanks, it was a validation of the difference foster parents make in a childs life. Both Maria and Dina, once homeless without parental guidance, are now homeowners with careers in the dental industry. Duran, a 65-year-old Bridgeport resident, has taken 50 foster children into her home to give them a better life and Maria and Dina Santos wanted her to know, they have not forgotten. She gave them the foundation that they needed the life skills, said Mary Ann Townley, a state Department of Children and Families case worker, who saw Duran for years. She was their private counselor. She was their mother, she was their friend. Giving homeless kids a place to call home has been the mission of foster care since 1636 when a young boy named Benjamin Eaton became the nations first foster child and placed in a home. But it wasnt until 1856 when some 30,000 homeless or neglected kids were sleeping on New York streets that Charles Loring Brace began the free foster home movement. Nearly three centuries later, much has changed to help foster kids but the need remains the same. On any given day, there are nearly 428,000 children in the foster care system in the United States. Here in Connecticut, more than 4,000 children are waiting for four permanent walls they can call home. And that number ebbs and flows. In 2015, more than 670,000 children nationwide spent time in foster care. Four centuries after 7-year-old Benjamin Eaton was placed in a foster home, the importance of that safety net for children was highlighted by the Santos sisters. With more than 4,000 kids waiting for a home in the Nutmeg state alone, the need continues to be great. There are ways of helping foster kids for those who cannot provide a home by volunteering, donating, advocating for better services and supporting a foster family. Through her Blanket Fairy Mission of Greater New Haven and with the cooperation of Orange Congregational Church, West Haven resident Sue Yamaguchi makes blankets so foster kids have the security of a blanket. The average age of kids in foster care is 9. They need the comfort of all the security we can provide them. Duran and Yamaguchi and many more people are doing their part but more people are needed. Show a kid you care. Provide a foster home today. Immediate past governor of Edo state and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, yesterday at a mega rally of the party in Benin City, declared that President Muhammadu Buhari achievement will give the party victory over the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), adding that the party would extend its coast in the South-South by installing an APC governor in Delta State.This comes as governor Godwin Obaseki of the state declared that the 2019 general elections will be the end of the PDP in Edo and Nigeria as whole, just as he disclosed that the state is set to build the first modular refinery and the biggest industrial park in Nigeria.The duo spoke at the APC mega rally at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium Benin City, where PDP House of Representatives member, Mr EJ Agbonayinma, former governorship aspirant of the PDP, Matthew Iduoriyekemwen and over ten thousand of their supporters dumped the PDP for the APC.Oshiomhole who addressed the mammoth crowd, asserted that I want to assure you, we are building a party that is founded on the principle of social democracy. The whole idea is to transfer power to the people and remember in 2006 we started with the slogan let the people lead. And once the people began to lead, the godfathers began to collapse.I know that the PDP will not sleep today. APC represents the forces of life. The Bible said he or she who die in sin will never resurrect, I said it PDP died in sin and they cannot resurrect. That is why when I listened to some sponsored write ups, I said even in our confusion, our imperfection, even in our moment of deep reflection, there can be no argument that our moment of trouble that the solution includes bringing back the armed robbers of yesteryears.PDP cannot come back in 2019. Nigerians are not fools, they will not be swayed by hired writers. If not for our president today, they would have been no Nigeria. Money meant for police, they stole and put in their pocket. Money meant to fight Boko Haram they put in their pocket. Money meant for security they used to secure their pockets. All of a sudden if you produce two litre of crude one litre is missing. How can the elephant leg be missing in a pot of soup they did not take into the kitchen. When the time comes, we will reopen yesteryears to be able to appreciate today so that we can see where we are going to tomorrow. I want to assure you with what the governor is doing in Edo state, sustaining the tradition of infrastructural development, to attract investors to the state, we are on the right path.I heard in Delta they have even auctioned their mass transit and they are fighting over who bought what. In Edo they are reinforcing. We must extend the frontiers of development to Delta state in the spirit of the old mid-westSpeaking also, Governor Obaseki who boasted that 2019 will be the last burial of the PDP both in Edo and the entire nation, welcome the defectors saying there is no discrimination, everybody is one in our party. The Comrade governor laid the foundation we are building upon now. You have not seen anything yet by the time we are finished you will know.I just came back from China to sign an MoU. We are building the biggest industrial park in Nigeria in Ikpoba Okha. My promise to create 200,000 jobs will be a reality. We are going to build the first modular refinery in this country, we are going to conclude the arrangement in three months time and that refinery will be established in Ikpoba Okha. Development is coming everywhere that I promise you. APC is going to win in 2019 and that will be the end of PDP he stated. The Governor of Imo State and Chairman of the All Progressives Congress Governors Forum, Rochas Okorocha, has said that the governors elected on the platform of the party, have unanimously agreed that President Muhammadu Buhari deserves a second term in office and have therefore asked him to declare to run in the next election.Okorocha gave the hint while fielding questions from journalists at the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri, on his arrival from Abuja on Friday.He stated that the President had justified his first term mandate and should have his mandate renewed.He also revealed that the APC governors had unanimously endorsed the reappointment of the former Governor of Rivers State, who is currently the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, as the Director-General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation.He said that Amaechi did well as the Director-General of the campaign outfit in 2015 and therefore should be allowed to repeat such a good work.Okorocha said, We were in Abuja for three days, holding meetings of the Progressive Governors with the APC leadership. We deliberated on so many issues. First among the very important issues that we discussed, was the issue of Mr. Presidents second term bid and it has the endorsement of all the governors of the APC.There is the need for him to complete his second term as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and he should go ahead to declare (to run for reelection).We also deliberated and a unanimous decision was reached that we liaise with the campaign team, to be headed by the Minister of Transportation, Amaechi, as the Director-General.The governors also endorsed his (Amaechis) reappointment as the Director-General of the campaign team due to his track record ahead of the last election.Four years are not enough to show what the President can offer. We believe that another four years will bring out the best in him. The first four years are a very difficult period, and we believe that as things are stabilising, he will take Nigeria to the next level.The governors have serious responsibilities. All the governors were asked to put up a team as the campaign council. Following the death of over 72 persons in Benue state suspected to have been slaughtered by Fulani herdsmen and the condemnation of such heinous act by concerned citizens of Nigeria, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Saturday alleged that the above states visitation by All Progressives Congress, APC Governors were no longer condolence but an act of mockery.This was made known to newsmen via the official tweeter handle of Peoples Democratic Party.PDP equally alleged that they have been begging All Progressives Congress, APC, administration to send delegations to the affected state for many days but APC did not respond till their recent visit which they PDP termed a visit to dance and spit on the graves of those slaughtered by bandits.The statement further condemned the visitation of Benue Traditional Rulers to Aso Rock, saying that It is also outrageous and disheartening for Buhari to summon the bereaved to Aso Rock instead of visiting them. This is an insult on our collective sensibility as a people. The bereaved are always visited not summoned, part of the statement read.Read bellow PDPs statement:The visits by the @APCNigeria governors to Makurdi, Benue State was no longer about condolence but to dance and spit on the graves of those slaughtered by bandits.It took 18 days of begging by the @OfficialPDPNig for the governors to consider visiting the state.It is also outrageous and disheartening for @Mbuhari to summon the bereaved to Aso Rock instead of visiting them.This is an insult on our collective sensibility as a people. The bereaved are always visited not summoned Four Americans and Canadians kidnapped at gunpoint in Kaduna State have regained their freedom.A senior police officer said the victims were rescued around 7.30am on Saturday in fairly good conditions and had been handed over to American Embassy in Abuja for medical attention.Two suspected kidnappers were also reportedly arrested by a combined team of Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team, Counter Terrorism Unit and Kaduna State Police Command.The rescued expatriates were identified as Nate Vangeest, Canadian; John Kirlin, American; a woman, Rachael Kelley, Canadian and Dean Slocum, American.Two suspects have been arrested and efforts are being made to arrest other members of the gang, he added.The victims were said to have been kidnapped on Kwoi-Jere Road in the Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Tuesday.They had visited Kafanchan, in the Jemaa LGA area of the state to inspect some projects, and were returning to their base in Abuja when they were ambushed by the assailants who opened fire on a police escort.The gunmen killed two policemen and whisked away the expatriates. President Muhammadu Buharis wife, Aisha, on Friday backed Senator Isah Misaus suggestion that her husbands government has been taken ov... President Muhammadu Buharis wife, Aisha, on Friday backed Senator Isah Misaus suggestion that her husbands government has been taken over by a cabal. She reposted two videos by Senator Misau and Senator Ben Bruce, on her verified Instagram and Twitter pages. The lawmakers openly accused President Buhari of appointing incompetent people because they belong to the cabal. Her posts have attracted hundreds of comments, with majority noting that she did the right thing. Some reactions below: @mdollyseni: Hmmm...The first lady is warning the Nigeria people against re-electing her husband and not because she doesnt want to be first lady for another term but she knows a vote for PMB is a vote for the cabals and incompetence. Shes patriotic. She wants gov of cabals discontinued. @Ibilola_Amao: Thank you #Madam for being a patriotic citizen. @salimsani92: Sometimes I feel she would have been a better president than her husband. @Tooyib: Madam First Lady, thanks for doing the Lords work. @ConfidenceNwaku: Senator Isah Misua said on the floor of the Senate that President Buhari is not in charge of his government, he also said over 50% of Buharis ministers are incompetent. Now those of you supporting and holding brief for Buhari, do you guys know him more than his wife? @inimunim: Its 19th Jan. 2018, and we have a contender already for the Repost of the year. This is bigGod bless the first lady of Nigeria. @DAfricanVoice: Senator Misau saying it as it is!! Well done. @okeyenya: This is my kind of leader I want for Nigeria, who fears no one and says it the way it is. @stalyf: Aisha is wailing, Itse Sagay is wailing, Bisi Akande is wailing, Dele Mumodu is wailing, everybody is wailing. @deewonbaba: Well said, everyone is afraid of him. Dont know the Senate cant move for his impeachment! Hes an embarrassment to everyone who believed in him! @uchesame: Thank you for standing by the truth ma. @silvanustajo: God in heaven will bless you and brings your to perfection any way youre short of any. Keep saying the truth. Nigerians will forever remember vocalist like you. @saratu_ibrahim: Is like u can make a better president than ur husband. May Allah reward u with good and happiness. @tope_adebayo: Madam, please talk to your husband at the inner room, the goodwill has been exhausted. He need to change the way things are going on now. If He @MBuhari fail you have failed too. Beside every successful leader is a successful (helper) wife. @millionssking: We have a sleeping President, cos he claims that his doctors said he should have enough sleep and food , stop preparing him dos meals dat is making him sleep, cos Nigeria is burning @CoKizari: we can no longer comprise standard to favour others. well done Sen Misau @infokianiaaron : Even Her Excellency is tired of the change government. @KushAlabi: Not that later somebody will now tell me that madams account was hacked o. @OkwuteG: Please come out and contest for president you are a sincerely dedicated Nigerian first lady. @KingChioms: Mama Pls tell him the truth. Heaven will vindicate you. God bless you. @Ubuluman: Thank you for being on the side of a better Nigeria .. @lamanosavv: God bless you Ma for standing for the truth. Youll forever be remembered! @call_me_kayz: Whoever these so called cabals are Running these great Nation to the pit. Who dont want the glory of this great Nation to shineWho keeps making them tag Nigeria a shit hole country, I pray the wrought of God visits them and their family soon, Nigeria is too blessed for this. @Prince_Bankz3: God bless you first Lady only if your deadwood husband has sense like you we wouldnt be complaining. Montana has enough money to continue funding the Children's Health Insurance Program through mid-March. Marie Matthews, manager of the health department's Medicaid and Health Services Branch, told a legislative interim committee on Friday the funding would run out in two months without congressional action. About 27,000 Montana children receive health insurance through CHIP or Medicaid expansion. Matthews says more than 23,000 Montana children would be at risk of losing coverage if CHIP isn't re-authorized. Federal legislation to continue CHIP for six years is included in a bill that would fund government operations for four weeks, averting a shutdown. The U.S. House passed the bill on Thursday, but it failed in the Senate on Friday, resulting in a government shutdown. The bill failed because Democrats want the bill to include protections for immigrants brought to the country as children who are now here illegally. Montanas Republican and Democratic senators both savaged the congressional budget process just hours before the federal government shutdown, but put the blame in very different places. In a conference call with reporters, Republican Sen. Steve Daines accused Democrats of trying to resolve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program instead of preserving the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Republicans have placed a six-year CHIP reauthorization for about 9 million children in the continuing resolution that would extend the fiscal 2018 budget deadline to early February. Democrats have insisted upon extending the DACA program before about 700,000 people face deportation. Without an agreement Friday night, all nonessential services of the federal government shut down until a new budget agreement is reached. The minority leaders are insisting the DACA issue gets resolved in the next six hours, Daines said Friday evening. Thats whats stopping all this. Its a complicated issue, and there are sincere, bipartisan negotiations going on as we speak. But (Senate Minority Leader Chuck) Schumer decided to fall on his sword on this issue. "We have until March 5 before the extension President Trump laid out expires on DACA. I have to make a choice. Im either shutting down the government because I didnt get what I wanted, or saying, 'Lets take care of 24,000 Montana children.' There are less than 100 DACA applicants in Montana. I think were 49th in the nation. Democratic Sen. Jon Tester countered that the Senate Republican leadership had been letting bills on border security and CHIP reauthorization pile up since September without action. He predicted those problems would still be around in four weeks when the proposed continuing resolution (CR) expires. To bring this garbage bill to the floor is a failure of duty, a failure of leadership, a failure of vision, Tester said in the Senate chamber. Its almost as if the majority had planned this all along, to get to this point for political purposes. If the majority leadership and the White House are going to sit back and twiddle their thumbs, lets bypass them. Lets get a deal. Nobody should leave our desks in this body until this job is done. Tester added the CR doesnt fund federal community health centers, which provide primary health care to 100,000 people in Montana. The directors of those centers have told me if we dont get funding, we close the doors, Tester said. Nothing will change between now and February. The House of Representatives passed its CR on Thursday. But the Senate was not able to reach the required 60-vote threshold to pass a budget. Daines predicted there would be a final budget omnibus deal in February, which would include agreements on DACA, forest management reform, and other immigration policy issues would get settled. Tester said a bill to reauthorize CHIP with 24 co-sponsors had been awaiting action since before the 2017 budget expired in October. For 111 days, theyve refused to provide long-term funding, Tester said. Theyve failed to pass a bill to secure our borders. Theyve failed to do most basic and fundamental aspect of this job, which is pass a budget. And were about nine hours before the government runs out of money. These same arguments could have been made six months ago and (were) not. A man was robbed near Abita Springs by gunman who fired a shot in the air and ran off. The holdup occurred in the Abita Nursery subdivision, at a park on Carnation Street. On Saturday, a year after the Womens Marches that spread across the United States and the world in protest of President Donald Trumps inauguration, several thousand Missoulians dusted off their pink hats and returned to the streets. This year, the march was different. The White Grass family, an indigenous drumming group, led the marchers from the XXXXs on Higgins Avenue to Caras Park. Marchers held signs that read things like #MeToo and Im a proud immigrant from a shithole country, and Men of quality do not fear equality. After last years marches were criticized for excluding people of color and other marginalized communities, this years march promoted an intersectional feminist movement by highlighting the voices of Native women, black women, transgender women, immigrant women, women with disabilities, and more. Just as ordinary folks like us for hundreds of years have fought and won historic battles for social safety nets, for civil rights, for reproductive rights, for marriage equality, we are here today to continue that tradition of activism, and to celebrate one year of struggle, said Rebecca Weston, one of the march organizers, to the crowd at Caras Park. A struggle thats not always easy to be a truly intersectional movement. And a struggle to bring social and economic justice. Salish elders began the program by saying prayers and singing, bringing attention to the fact that Missoula is on Salish land. The first speaker, Lauren Small Rodriguez, a member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe, an activist for environmental and water rights, and the first woman from her tribe to be a member of the U.S. Coast Guard, asked those in attendance to consider their role in creating a more inclusive movement. We must have these tough conversations that will empower us all, Rodriguez said. Nobody is asking you to apologize for your ancestors, because what good is an apology without justice? We are asking you to dismantle the system of oppression that this country is built upon, that you maintain and have benefited from. Organizers wore red sashes, and many speakers also donned red, in honor of missing and murdered indigenous women, an epidemic that nobody wants to talk about, Rodriguez said. As an environmental activist who joined thousands of other indigenous people at Standing Rock, Rodriguez also called for land protection and for voters to consider why pipelines are often built through sovereign indigenous land. As women, we are the first environment, she said. We carry our babies in water. We know that water is essential to life and our future. We must do whatever it takes to protect the sacred waters and to protect our sacred children. Between speakers, the crowd was asked to make a promise that drove home the goal to create a more inclusive feminist movement. Put your hand up if youre a white feminist, said Erin Erickson, one of the march organizers and the founder of Missoula Rises, a community-led group that seeks to protect human rights through education and activism. Most of the crowd raised their hands. To encourage intersectional feminism meaning it includes women of different races, classes, sexual orientations, religions and ethnicities Erickson read a prompt to the crowd and asked them to respond me too. The exercise referenced the #MeToo movement about sexual assault and harassment. My kind of feminism means that I stand up for indigenous sovereignty, environmental and water rights for all. If your kind of feminism does, say The crowd yelled back in unison: Me too! Meshayla Cox, a University of Montana student and president of the Black Student Union at the university, spoke about how last year's march left many women of color feeling under-represented in the resistance. Today, there are now movements led by women who resemble me, and there are spaces like this one for women of color to speak up and call out social injustices as we see and experience them, she said. You guys, this is truly revolutionary. Cox encouraged the audience to hold each other and their families accountable for actions and remarks that exclude people who have been historically marginalized. Being an ally is a verb, she said. More speakers followed, and the Missoula Womens Chorus sang while children sitting on their parents' shoulders held up signs. The march was one of at least seven across Montana, whose leaders set forth three demands of the state and federal government. that the state of Montana commit resources into not only working with tribal leaders in their efforts to investigate and gather statewide data regarding crimes committed against Native women throughout the state, but in creating a mutually transparent process that allows for trust and shared information between the state and the tribes; that state legislators amend Montana's Hate Crime Statute to cover violence based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Without this coverage, members of the LGBTQI community do not have the ability to gather data or obtain legal protection for hate-based sexual crimes committed against them; that state legislators re-open the 19 Public Assistance Offices in rural areas of Montana Big Timber, Chinook, Choteau, Columbus, Conrad, Cut Bank, Deer Lodge, Dillon, Forsyth, Fort Benton, Glendive, Livingston, Malta, Red Lodge, Shelby, Sidney, Plentywood, Roundup and Thompson Falls. In order to leave sexually abusive relationships or leave sexually abusive employment situations, women need access to financial resources. Because internet access is inequitably distributed and women rely on in-person office visits, closing rural Public Assistance Offices will only make it harder for women to seek safety, essential services and justice. Authorities at the Slidell post office on Second Street, where a suspicious package was found Friday afternoon, Jan. 19, 2018.(Slidell Police Department photo) Crui Cruisin river with Flick September 12 - September 23 Organized by the experts at Direct Travel Medieval Treasures cruise tour: basel to prague Starting from Basel, experience the romantic Rhine and peaceful Main rivers in a cozy river cruise ship hosting only 144 guests. Ancient castles, grand palaces and medieval towns are yours to enjoy. Revel in the architectural gems on displaythe Wurzburg Residenz and Mannheim Baroque Palace. Visit the Alsatian capital of France, Strasbourg and the metropolitan capital of Germany, Frankfurt. An extremely limited number of spots are available. Interested? Come to an informational meeting to learn more! Thursday, Feb. 15 | 6 - 7 pm. | CJs Family Restaurant, 2901 E Empire Street, Blm. RSVP to Jonell at 309-820-3350 or at pantagraph.com/flicktrip Today marks a full year of the presidency of Donald Trump. In that time, Trump appointed a new Supreme Court justice, among many judicial appointments, strived to undo much of his predecessors work on regulations, the environment and education, saw Congress pass a tax overhaul bill and tweeted often. The president lessened the power of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, issued an oft-legally challenged travel ban criticized as targeting Muslims and weighed in as members from his campaign team went under investigation for ties to Russia. There was much more, of course, during an at-times tumultuous year in American politics. The Nonpareil checked in with local party leaders, the states congressional delegation and others for their thoughts on the presidents first year in office. Jan Tatum, chairwoman of the Pottawattamie County Republican Party, lauded the presidents efforts to keep his campaign promises. The stock market has been record-setting and he has supported the recent tax reform legislation that will help hard working families and spur continued economic growth, Tatum said. I wholeheartedly applaud the presidents support for veterans, military, police, firefighters and first responders. Tatum said shed like to see the president work with Congress on an improved budget to get spending under control. She said an immigration policy related to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals should fall on Congress, not the president. That needs to be decided the people, not one person in office, she said, noting about policy making in 2018: Id like to see bipartisan support. Until they start working together, nothing can be done. Tatums counterpart in the county, Pottawattamie County Democratic Party Chairwoman Linda Nelson, described the first year of Trumps presidency as nothing short of total disappointment. A daily disaster with the next day not improving. His constant campaigning, rather than taking the high road to actually govern, has been disappointing, she said. Nelson criticized the president for his continued calls for a border wall along the Mexican border that will be paid for by American taxpayers, rather than Mexico as Trump said would be the case while campaigning. I do see a glimmer of hope as more elected Republicans stand up against the mean-spirited, she said. I also have tremendous optimism as Democrats and independents across the country are stepping up and making a difference and electing Democrats to office in special elections. Nelson continued: Locally, we have had more folks step up to put their name on the ballot, more folks stepping up to help elect our local folks, all fueled by an anger of Republican majorities both on the state and national level gutting worker rights, gutting human rights, gutting womens health care opportunities and so much more. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, listed tax cuts, judges, fewer regulations and increased defense funding the No. 1 responsibility of government among the highlights of Trumps first year. I think that he has gone away from this eight-year trend and pattern of the previous administration, every day would have a new regulation. There was always talk of new spending, he said in a phone interview with The Nonpareil on Friday. For eight years we had a great deal of uncertainty of what the government would do to people who invest to create jobs. The president has brought certainty, he said. We got a big tax cut. Youre seeing the benefits of that right now. On foreign policy, Grassley praised Trump for the U.S. involvement in the conflict in Syria, working to see NATO increase its spending and for dialogue between North and South Korea. It seems like he doesnt get the credit from other countries that he should, Grassley said. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said that, under the Trump administration, We have seen significant progress for Iowans in the last year. She too praised the tax bill, which will result in greatly-needed tax relief for middle- and low-income Iowans. In addition, this administration has implemented my efforts to improve access to timely and quality care for our veterans, protect our citizens through Sarahs Law, improve the readiness and strength of our military and begin scrapping the Waters of the United States rule, Ernst said in an email. Grassley said he was happy Trump didnt fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions, as he had threatened, with the senator noting hed pushed back on the issue. I took that on and won that, he said. I can challenge him. Looking to the future, Grassley said a big issue in 2018 will be infrastructure. He also noted trade deals could be looked at. There is still much yet to be done, and I look forward to building on these efforts on behalf of Iowans throughout the year, Ernst said. The Nonpareil asked readers on Facebook to grade the first year under President Trump. Marianne Thoresen Dirksen gave him an F. He nominated people to head the Agencies and they are dismantling the very agencies that they head. He is so jealous of President Obama that he and the GOP have rolled back all of the laws that were placed to protect the American people from corruption in our banks, our environment, our security, she wrote, also criticizing the president for not releasing his tax returns, hurting trade agreements and interfering with the judicial system. Matthew Thomas gave him a B+ while adding, Policies and appointments are spot on. If he would SHUT UP he would have an A. Abby DeSantiago wrote: Every day he tests the American peoples capacity to be shocked. So many controversial stories surrounding him come to light every day it is a struggle to recognize them for what they are unacceptable. Take any single one headline Trump has made in this last year and just try to imagine a former president associated with the same story. Robin Smith wrote, Great job, hes the best! More jobs. Trump is a moral monster who degrades our norms, our standing in the world, and actively undermines the principles of the constitution, wrote Jacob Kleffman. He has been a disgrace and disaster president since day 1 when he began his gaslighting and assault on common sense when he insisted his crowd size was the biggest in history. Sandy Smith noted, I give him an B+. He is bringing jobs, stock market is unbelievable. Of the roughly 20 comments posted Friday afternoon, a majority didnt approve of the presidents job performance. See more comments at bit.ly/2EYB0BY. Find additional coverage at bit.ly/2Dxyyp0. A group of women will again converge on downtown Omaha this weekend as part of the national Womens March movement. Its the second annual Womens March, the event that drew thousands of people to the streets of Omaha and millions to the streets worldwide the day after President Donald Trumps inauguration. And the organizers of the local march say they want to focus on the next steps from the members of the movement the theme is March on the Polls 2018. Last year, the way I saw it was more of a protest versus this year is how do we move forward, said outreach coordinator Sam Carwyn. The event begins at 1 p.m. Saturday at 14th Street between Douglas and Farnam Streets. The planned route is south to Howard Street, east to 10th Street, north to Farnam and west to 14th Street. Speakers include Marta Nieves, a Nebraskan who has worked as a community organizer as well as in local business and nonprofits, and Omaha native Ashlei Spivey, who works at the Peter Kiewit Foundation and who will speak about advocacy. More information about the route, the speakers and related events is at omahawomensmarch.com. Similar events are scheduled around the country. The event is affiliated with backlash to Trump, but lead organizer Andrea Talbot said the Omaha event is officially nonpartisan. No party owns women, she said. We were very intentional about making this a nonpartisan event. As of Wednesday, no one had filed a permit with the City of Omaha to hold a protest or countermarch. The event takes place the day after this years March for Life, an annual anti-abortion event in Washington, D.C., that often draws many Nebraskans. DES MOINES, Iowa Federal government regulators proposed changes Friday in the way most hogs slaughtered for meat in the United States are processed in a series of new rules that officials say improve industry practices but critics say could imperil food safety. The new rules would allow hog slaughter plants to voluntarily join a new proposed inspection system that would put plant employees in charge of determining which animals are unfit for processing. Government inspectors who currently perform this function would be moved to other areas of the plant focused more on food safety, said U.S. Department of Agriculture Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Carmen Rottenberg. The proposed rules are similar to ones rolled out in 2014 for the poultry industry. Critics have said such changes turn too much of the inspection and food safety testing over to the companies, creating increased risk of food-borne illnesses from contaminated meat as well as an increased risk of inhumane treatment of animals. "We think that food safety is going to suffer from this," said Tony Corbo, a senior lobbyist at Food & Water Watch, a Washington-based advocacy group that is calling for USDA to drop the proposed rules. "We opposed what they did in poultry and we're opposing what they're doing here. This is a belated Christmas gift to the industry." Rottenberg insists the changes could improve food safety and said they would still require government inspectors to look at all hog carcasses processed. "There is no single technology or process to address the problem of foodborne illness, but when we focus our inspections on food safety-related tasks, we better protect American families," she said. The proposed rules would also increase the number of hogs plants could process by revoking limits on line speeds and allowing plants to determine their own speeds. Corbo argued the move could endanger workers and reduce quality control. Maximum line speeds are currently set at 1,106 hogs per hour, meaning each line in a plant is allowed to handle that number of carcasses each hour. The USDA said five pilot plants operating at their own established speeds have operated efficiently but safely. Corbo said data he's collected indicate the pilot plants have had significantly higher noncompliance reports in key areas including sanitation. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, which is proposing the rules, said the new system is unlikely to result in increased bacterial contamination of hog carcasses and could lower it, "which in turn may result in fewer human illnesses." Companies may choose not to adopt the new rules and could continue to operate under the existing inspection system. The voluntary inspection program would apply only to those processing plants slaughtering market hogs, animals about six months old weighing around 250 pounds , which make up about 96 percent of the pork products sold to consumers. After officially posting the rules in the next few days, the agency will begin taking comments, which could lead to changes in the proposal. No date has been set for enactment. A second set of rules proposed Friday would be mandatory and require all pork processing plants to implement their own new daily documentation on how they prevent bacterial contamination of carcasses and procedures for microbial testing. USDA has been working on changes to pork processing since 2002, Rottenberg said. The agency said the U.S. has 612 swine slaughter plants under federal inspection. They process about 118 million hogs a year. Editors note: Area ministers who would like to be part of this feature can contact Joan von Kampen at 308-535-4707 or joan.vonkampen@nptelegraph.com. Submissions may be edited for length or to conform to newspaper style. Pro-woman, pro-child, pro-life For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. God the Father through the Prophet Jeremiah 29:11. We have a heavenly Father who, out of an extreme love for us, was willing to give all to bring us home (John 3:16). This desire to share the love the Father has for us, the salvation Jesus won for us and the help the Holy Spirit gives us each day is why the Catholic Church insists on following the path of Jesus regardless of how the world views it. The precepts of Christ are never to be an oppressive burden, but a path to true joy, a joy that He wants us to have. If we truly believe and know that God is good, then goodness is all He will desire for His people. It is out of a desire to lead others to true joy and goodness that the Catholic Church under the direction of the Holy Spirit takes a hard stand for the protection of all human life along with the protection and rights of women to have a true health care system in which they find hope and protection. For years now, the church, standing with countless other Christians, non-Christians, those of no faith and even with atheists, has stood for the protection of human life in the womb. Pro-woman, pro-child, pro-life is the solid belief that a woman deserves better than an abortion. Jan. 22 marks the 45th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, because of which countless women have been harmed and hosts of children lost. Knowing that we were formed by God the Father (Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:13, Genesis 1:27), we realize all human life reflects Him. There are thousands upon thousands of facts and information that will defend life using reason, religion and science. Many people will stand to protect the life of a child and the protection of his/her mother. Yet are we just as willing as a pro-life people to help those who chose abortion to overcome the past and come back to the very God who sees them as precious in His sight and honored and loved (Isaiah 43:4)? If we are to truly be pro-woman, pro-child, pro-life, we will have to buck up and fight for those who are hurting from abortions, those who are struggling with pregnancy and those who dont understand why life is sacred. We can speak the truth of life, but if we do not help others to return to a life in Christ we have missed the boat. This is no easy task. It is hard to love those who disrespect life in the womb, those who murder, those who use violence against another, those who are racist, sexist or just all out rude to life around them. As Christians, we are called to mount the crosses of caring for all peoples and to especially welcome home anyone who seeks to get back on the path of Jesus. If anyone is hurting from past life decisions from anything concerning the value of life, the Christian community welcomes you home with open arms. You are loved by God, and we desire to share a journey home to the Father with you. The plans He has for us all are amazing, and we desire for all to find that future. The Christian Community must offer support to those women who may find it difficult to accept a child, above all when they are isolated from their family and friends. Likewise, the community should be open to welcome back all who repent of having participated in the grave sin of abortion, and should guide them with pastoral charity to accept the grace of forgiveness, the need for penance, and the joy of entering once more into the new life of Christ. Pope Benedict XVI. The Rev. Matthew Nash St. Patrick Catholic Church North Platte The phone rang, and my cousin, Dennis Jensen, of Lincoln, wondered if a story could be written about his sister, Sheila Jensen Freeze. She and her husband, Bob, have given so much of their time and talent, money, compassion and love. Dennis came to the right place. Often stories are right before our eyes and we dont realize it. Whenever Sheila enters the room, her voice and eyes light up. She tells me, Cousin Mary Jane, I love you. Its not that Im special; its that everyone is special to Sheila. She is a joyous person. You probably know Sheila and Bob from Freeze Bait and Tackle shop on South Willow Street. Maybe your Bible class went fishing for the day and needed a stop at the bait shop first. Thats where Bob and Sheila work their magic. Each kid is catered to before going off on their fishing trip. My mother, Lorena Jergensen Huffman, and their father were cousins. Ever since I can remember, the Huffman family would pile into the Plymouth and head over to the Cody Park youth cabin for the Danish annual reunion of the Hansen, Rasmussen, Jensen and Jergensen families. It seemed like a humongous clan of Danish relatives. I remember a lot of food and a lot of fun. Now is the time to let Dennis take over and tell you some of the nitty-gritty about Sheila: Sheila was a happy child growing up. She had energy and loved being around people and pets. Sheila was friendly and was open to any friendships. Our father was ill his last few years and died at age 52. Our mother had vision problems and only began to work after our fathers death. Our mother had a stroke at 56. She recovered and came home for a couple of years before more strokes placed her in a nursing home until her death. When this illness struck our mom, I really came to appreciate Sheila more than ever. Sheila visited our mom almost daily to light up her day. We lived in Lincoln and relied on Sheila to provide the immediate help Mom needed. Sheila had bought clothes for our mom years before when Mom could not afford to buy many clothes. Mom enjoyed Sheila and her four boys immensely. My other sister, Jeannette, also helped our mom and brought her three boys to be with their grandmother. Our moms brother, Charles, became very ill at about the same time as our mom, and Sheila was the person he called on to be there for him. The night he passed away, Sheila was there at his bedside to comfort and pray with him. They were special to each other. The next installment will continue the story about Sheilas life and her contribution to society. DETROIT For some of the 200-plus cities knocked out of the running for Amazon's second headquarters, the effort may turn out to be a trial run for other opportunities. But they're advised to not make the same kind of promises to just anyone. Cities such as Detroit, Memphis, Tennessee; and Gary, Indiana, failed to make Amazon's first cut as the online giant narrowed its list to 20 prospective sites for the $5 billion project that could employ up to 50,000 people. Looking on the bright side, several leaders whose proposals didn't make it say the time spent putting together juicy tax incentives, massive chunks of land and infrastructure studies was not wasted. "We used this opportunity to showcase all the options in Delaware not just for Amazon, but for any business looking for a location to set down roots and grow," the state's governor, John Carney, said. "This exercise showed us new ways to showcase our city that we are already using to attract other businesses," Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said. Seattle-based Amazon made clear that tax breaks and grants would be a big factor in its decision. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan floated an incentive package of more than $5 billion to lure the second headquarters to Montgomery County. New Jersey's pitch contains $7 billion in tax breaks and Boston's offer includes $75 million for affordable housing for Amazon employees and others. Generous tax breaks and other incentives can erode a city's tax base. Economists have said the Amazon headquarters is a rare case in which some enticements could repay a city over the long run. But the pursuit of Amazon could re-ignite an incentive war between cities, regions and states to lure companies and jobs, says Tim Bartik, a senior economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Just because they offered certain things to Amazon, doesn't mean every company should get the same, Bartik said. "'Now that we've offered the store to Amazon, let's offer the store to someone else,'" he added. "I'd be little concerned with that." Amazon's list includes New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Washington, D.C., Denver, Miami, Atlanta and Chicago. Texas' Austin and Dallas made the cut, as did Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. The others are Columbus, Ohio; Montgomery County, Maryland; Nashville, Tennessee; Newark, New Jersey; Northern Virginia; and Raleigh, North Carolina. Toronto also is on the list. Detroit's absence from the list muted what many see as an exciting time in the city as it makes progress since its 2014 exit from bankruptcy. Businessman Dan Gilbert led the team that put together the Motor City's proposal, which included a video showcasing the city and a more than 240-page, color, spiral-bound book. The cost of the proposal has not been revealed. "We are not deterred in any way, shape or form," said Gilbert, founder of online mortgage lender Quicken Loans and Bedrock commercial real estate. "Detroit is the most exciting city in the country right now and the momentum continues to build every single day. There are numerous large and small deals you will continue to see develop into reality in the months and years ahead." Some spent big on their pitches to Amazon. Worcester, Massachusetts, released invoices showing that it spent more than $10,500 on its proposal, most of it on a video. Connecticut shelled out $35,000 for renderings and drone footage. Virginia Beach, Virginia, reported spending at least $85,000. That included $3,000 to build a sand sculpture at the beach to promote its application. For areas considered longshots, going after Amazon was a bit of an experiment. "As much as this process helped identify our major assets, it also helped us to assess our gaps and where we can continue to improve," said Birgit Klohs, chief executive of Grand Rapids, Michigan-based The Right Place, Inc. The economic development organization was part of the team making the pitch for Grand Rapids. Gov. Chris Sununu said New Hampshire's proposal "was the most comprehensive business marketing plan" the state had produced. "We are excited that it is already serving as a template for other businesses that now have New Hampshire on their radar," Sununu said. He did not name specific companies, and Democrats argued that if Sununu truly wanted to attract businesses, he would invest more in education, workforce development and increasing the minimum wage. Prosecutors said Thibedeau sent Facebook messages to the 26-year-old victim last year asking her to meet him in a remote location to discuss a law enforcement matter. Prosecutors said Thibedeau lied to the woman about an imminent search by police of her home, then demanded to touch her breasts. When she refused, Thibedeau threatened her with a fictitious warrant, handcuffed her and placed her in his patrol vehicle. He then touched her bare breasts and later released her. MAHONEY STATE PARK A hunting season for mountain lions in Nebraskas Pine Ridge could return soon, based on a new population estimate for the big cats. There were an estimated 59 adult and kitten mountain lions in the rugged Pine Ridge in northwest Nebraska last May and June, said Sam Wilson, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commissions carnivore program manager. The estimated Pine Ridge cougar population ranged from 22 to 33 when Nebraska held its inaugural mountain lion hunting season in 2014. Population data likely supports holding a harvest season in the Pine Ridge, Wilson told Game and Parks commissioners at a meeting Friday at Mahoney State Park. The commission uses regulated hunting, when appropriate, as a primary strategy for meeting its mountain lion management goals and objectives. Three males and two females were taken in northwest Nebraska during the first hunting season. No season was held during 2015-17 because of an unusual number of non-hunting mountain lion deaths that occurred in 2014. A decision on whether to establish a second hunting season is expected to be several months away. Before commissioners receive a staff recommendation one way or the other, Wilson and other wildlife biologists will review the two scientific studies that produced the population estimated, continue to track mountain lion deaths by all causes and hold a public informational meeting in northwest Nebraska. Just as it does for all game species, the commission has a mountain lion management plan. It calls for maintaining resilient, healthy and socially acceptable cougar populations. Mountain lions started recolonizing the state in recent decades and are recognized as an important component of the states native biodiversity. Wilson monitors mountain lion populations by genetic analysis of cougar scat and with an established formula based on the number of cougars captured in a first attempt and then recaptured in a second attempt. Both methods estimated a total 59 individuals about a third of them kittens in the Pine Ridge last spring. The population continually changes due to births, deaths and animals that migrate in or out of Nebraska, Wilson said. The management plan calls for maintaining cougar populations that are in balance with available habitat and other wildlife species, infrequent livestock depredation, and providing the public with scientifically based information about the big cats. Although about 4 percent of Nebraska is considered suitable habitat for mountain lions, the cats have been documented in 42 of 93 counties since their return to the state was confirmed in 1991. They have established residence in the Pine Ridge, Wildcat Hills and Niobrara River valley. VALPARAISO While serving aboard a guided missile destroyer, Blair Milo faced the challenge of getting the ships sonar system to do its job. The solution was a new system baseline upgrade. The challenge was how to do it. As a member of Indiana Gov. Eric Holcombs cabinet, Milo faces a similar challenge connecting Hoosiers with training and skills to earn good-paying jobs. We need a system to connect workers with opportunities, Milo said. We need to close the current workforce gap. Returning Friday to Northwest Indiana, the former LaPorte mayor presented a workshop on building a 21st century workforce at the Porter County Community Foundation building. The Northwest Indiana Workforce Board sponsored the morning session which drew employers, educators and other business people. Milo received a number of comments on opportunities and challenges facing Northwest Indiana. Heather Ennis, of the Northwest Indiana Forum, praised local education leaders who are dedicated to preparing students for the future. Aco Sikoski, chancellor of Ivy Tech Community Colleges Valparaiso campus, said campus officials are working with seven school superintendents about early college programs. Doreen Gonzalez-Gaboyan, associate director of workforce engagement for Purdue University West Lafayette, noted how several universities are collaborating on developing career pathways for cyber security professionals. Several participants cited a challenge with training clashing with work. Kenard Taylor, owner of Valparaiso-based KLT Consulting LLC, said these conflicts force employees to choose between work and study. Employers need to be more flexible, Taylor said. Rex Richards, president of the Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce, cited challenges with people unable to pass drug screening tests for employment, as well as young people leaving college early with no degrees or work experience but carrying a heavy school debt. So many opportunities, so many people, so many directions. We have to articulate what people can take advantage of, Milo said. How do you feed an elephant? One bite at a time. Milo was appointed last July as secretary of the newly created Indiana Office of Career Connections and Talent. Her responsibilities include collaborating with employers, unions, educators and public entities to identify employment needs and training opportunities for high-demand, high-paying jobs. Job areas in high demand, Milo said, include health and life sciences, advanced manufacturing, building and construction, information technology and transportation and logistics. Scanning the overall states employment picture, Milo estimated 85,000 jobs statewide, including 1,627 job postings in Porter County, jumping over the next 10 years to 2,636. Additionally, Milo said 60 percent of the jobs that current kindergartners will someday fill dont exist yet. We need to design a system that is regionally driven, to shift to changing needs, Milo said. Milo said the state is working on software to connect people with training opportunities, increase opportunities for work-based learning, enhance career navigation support and transition ex-offenders into employment. Milo stressed that Indiana wants to help local communities develop job systems that work for their particular area. We want to take a bottom-up approach, not one-size-fits-all, she said. We want to help students and adults realize the great job opportunities out there. Any businesses interested in cultivating a good company culture could learn from two of the best, Centier Bank and General Insurance Services. Merrillville-based Centier and Michigan City-based General Insurance Services, both frequently named "Best Place to Work in Indiana" by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, told Northwest Indiana business leaders how to make a workplace engaging at a free "Break Through" seminar this week. The next talk Succession or Sell? What you need to know, but no one wants to talk about" takes place at 8 a.m. March 14 at the Centier Corporate Center at 600 E 84th Ave in Merrillville. Chrisanne Christ, Senior Partner in Human Resource Development at Centier Bank, told a crowd of Region business professionals that building a strong company culture can help retain employees and improve the bottom line by increasing productivity and reducing turnover. It is so important to learn what is important to your employees, how they would define your current culture, then develop a plan around those needs, Christ said. Needs change over time, so you have to implement a consistent tool to receive regular, honest feedback from them. Also, learn from other businesses that have great cultures. Sharing best practices makes us a stronger community! General Insurance Services President Craig Menne said a business ideally should build morale and communicate its values to its employees, so they can serve as brand ambassadors. Everyone in our organization has a flip book on their desk with our 33 fundamentals, and every Monday morning, I send out an email about this weeks fundamental and how we can apply that to a situation we know is ahead of us or how we can use it to learn from something that just happened, Menne said. These fundamentals are aligned with our values, our short-term strategy, and our long-term strategy." Centier Bank hopes the ongoing series of seminars prove useful to the local business community, said Anthony Contrucci, vice president of community relations and business development. The response we have received from the community has been humbling. I often say, 'just because you build it doesnt always mean they come,' he said. "The support, attendance, and feedback have been incredible. And we have been blessed with wonderful speakers. Those who truly understand the concept of 'Break Through' and who can take complex subjects and make them both fun and easy to digest. We are pleased that we have been able to produce content that appears to be making a real difference in our community. For more information, visit centier.com. The Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority on Friday hired an industry veteran with experience in Gary as the airport's new executive director. Duane Hayden, who has been serving as the airport's chief operations officer and interim manager for the past year, succeeds Dan Vicari, who will serve as an adviser while continuing as executive director of the Gary Sanitary District. Hayden moves into a direct employment relationship with the airport after having worked for the private firm AvPorts, the company that has provided management and operations services at the airport since 2014. Hayden worked for the Gary airport previously as deputy executive director from 1999 to 2001. "Gary/Chicago International Airport has experienced tremendous growth over the last few years, particularly since the runway extension was completed," Hayden said. "There is great momentum at the airport, and I am excited for the opportunity to help lead." Hayden has been a member of the Illinois Air National Guard since 1986, and holds the rank of colonel. He has served several overseas deployments, including most recently for operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Before returning to Gary, Hayden held several roles with the Chicago Department of Aviation at O'Hare International Airport, including assistant commissioner for terminal operations, for airside operations/vehicle services and for safety. He also served as general manager of Meigs Field and worked for United Airlines. Hayden will be paid an annual salary of $120,000. Vicari has worked at the airport for just over four years, holding the director position there and at the sanitary district jointly for most of that time. The airport board approved an agreement Friday with the sanitary district to allow Vicari to continue to assist airport officials on various projects. He will be employed solely by the sanitary district, which he joined in 2012. Gary city and airport officials had been contemplating hiring a new director as the airport expanded. Board chairman Stephen Mays said "the airport today is very different than it was just four years ago. Colonel Hayden's significant experience in airport operations and safety are exactly what we need to continue moving the airport forward." The Wall Street Journal on Friday reported that Archer Daniels Midland Co. is proposing a takeover of Bunge Limited, a White Plains, New York, agribusiness and food production chain that is one of the worlds largest traders of crops. The story was attributed to unnamed sources said to be familiar with discussions. An ADM spokesman told Reuters the company does not comment on speculation. The North American headquarters of ADM is in Decatur, where the company first built a plant in 1939. Decatur was the firm's headquarters from 1969 to 2014, when the office relocated to downtown Chicago. Bunge has about 32,000 employees, including at a facility in Fairmont City near St. Louis. Its North America headquarters is in St. Louis County. The agribusiness sector has experienced a series of mergers in recent years. Last year, Delaware-based DuPont and Michigan-based Dow Chemical Co. completed a merger. Mining conglomerate Glencore last year approached Bunge about an acquisition, Reuters said. Any merger would require regulatory approval. Dwayne Everett looks forward to stepping into a myriad of roles in a new production set to open Friday in Chicago. The Merrillville actor is one of the stars of "We The People: The Anti-Trump Musical," scheduled to run Friday through Feb. 10 at Chicago's Stage 773. The production is a world premiere by Flying Elephant Productions with book by Sean Chandler, music and lyrics by Leo Schwartz and direction by Derek Van Barham. "The show is a political song cycle," Everett said. "That's different from a regular narrative musical." The story line, done through a series of individual songs performed one after another, follows the 2016 presidential election from conventions through election night and after. "There are six actors and throughout the course of the show we play 55 characters," Everett said. The world premiere play provides commentary on contemporary times in a unique way. FYI "We The People: The Anti-Trump Musical" runs Friday through Feb. 10 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. Tickets for the preview performance on Friday are $30 while regular run tickets from Jan. 28 through Feb. 10 cost $40. Thursdays are "Industry Nights" and tickets for Thursday shows are $10 with a headshot/resume. Call 773-327-5252 or visit stage773.com. "As actors, it's our duty to reflect the times," Everett said. Leo Schwartz, executive director of the new Flying Elephant Productions believes "Whether it's to expose the workhouses of Victorian London in Dickens' 'Oliver Twist' or the ravages of the Spanish Civil War in Picasso's "Guernica" or the social upheaval of the '60s in "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?' art inspires us to reconsider, to act, to challenge. 'We The People' is a call to action to save those things which we hold most dear, our country and our freedom.' Everett said "We The People" has been in rehearsal for about a month. When he auditioned for the work, Everett sent in a video showcasing his talents. Although he'll be immersed in this production for a couple of weeks, Everett said he's always auditioning for various projects and keeps his eyes open for theatrical work. "I'm out there all the time basically going to auditions. ... The first four months of the year is designated as audition season in Chicago," Everett said. That's the time actors feverishly try to secure upcoming projects and work. "It takes a special kind of perseverance," he added. Everett, who "splits life between Northwest Indiana and Chicago" said he became interested in acting while involved in the theater department at Merrillville High School. Beverly Seaver, he said, was an encouraging teacher in the department. "I got the acting bug there. That was the first time I realized it was an actual profession," Everett said. The actor, who was born in Hammond, was raised in Gary. He earned a bachelor's degree in musical theatre performance at Columbia College Chicago and has worked on theatrical projects in Chicago as well as Northwest Indiana. In the Region, he's appeared at Towle Theater in Hammond and done regional productions at the former Star Plaza Theatre. "Star Plaza Theatre has a special place in all of our hearts," Everett said about the recent closing of the theater. "I graduated from high school there (Merrillville High School) and I got a lot of experience as a young actor there." Among theatrical companies he's worked with are Refuge Theatre Project; Barn Theatre; Big Noise; American Theatre Company; and others. Everett was also in the PBS program "Harmonies for Healing: Under the Streetlamp," which was filmed at Star Plaza Theatre. CROWN POINT An alleged serial robber is accused in two more robberies and one attempted robbery in Schererville. Dionysios T. Doukas, 35, of Schererville, was charged Thursday in Lake Criminal Court with the robbery Oct. 31 of Speedway gas station, 2333 U.S. Highway 41. He was also charged in the attempted robbery Nov. 4 of Enzo's Restaurant, 1120 W. Lincoln Highway, and the robbery Nov. 5 of Holiday Inn Express, 1773 Fountain Park Drive. The suspect in all three robberies wore a camouflage-colored neck gaiter and threatened employees with an object wrapped in a tan-colored plastic bag. The employees at Enzo's Restaurant refused to provide the suspect cash. The suspect emptied cash registers at Speedway and Holiday Inn Express. Doukas is already charged in Lake County with 11 robberies or attempted robberies. He is charged with committing two more robberies in Porter County. The suspect in all the robberies wrapped an item in a plastic bag, which he intimated was a gun. The suspect in several other robberies was also described as wearing a camouflage-colored face mask. Doukas was arrested Nov. 20 after allegedly escaping a police pursuit. He was charged with robbing a Subway restaurant in Lowell the previous night. Some court records spell Doukas' first name Dionysos. Doukas' is scheduled to appear at a court hearing Feb. 20. CROWN POINT A man fired from a grocery store in Merrillville for trying to sell marijuana to customers allegedly returned this week to pistol whip a store employee and steal his vehicle, court records state. Bryan J. Parks, 22, of Chicago, was charged Friday in Lake Criminal Court with three counts of robbery, two counts of battery, possession of an altered handgun and automobile theft. Merrillville police were dispatched 9:21 p.m. Wednesday to Ruler Foods, 6110 Broadway Ave., in Merrillville, after receiving reports of an automobile theft, according to court records. An employee told police he was on a smoke break when he was approached by Parks, a former co-worker, who beat him over the head with a handgun and demanded the keys to his vehicle, records state. The man handed over the keys, and Parks fled in his 2004 Buick LeSabre, records state. A store manager told police she witnessed the attack. She said Parks was fired from the store Tuesday for trying to sell marijuana to customers during his shift, according to records. The Buick LeSabre was found parked outside the apartment of Park's mother in the 58000 block of Pennsylvania Street, records state. The mother allegedly said, Oh lord, what did he do now? when officers told her they were looking for Parks, according to records. Parks was taken into custody at the apartment, records state. A loaded 9 mm pistol with an obliterated serial number was found in a bag belonging to Parks. The battered employee received four staples to treat a laceration to his head, records state. Parks is not afforded bond on the charges, records state. (Scroll down to find Part I of this story.) The search for the shotgun killer ended Jan. 28, 1991, after the botched killing of a restaurant manager outside Southlake Mall landed two men in jail Antwion McGee and Christopher Dwayne Peterson. Antwion McGee told police they had the shotgun killer, Peterson, in custody, a revelation that surprised law enforcement officers who had been searching up to that point for a white man with medium-length hair. A search of Peterson's home that night turned up a shotgun in his closet, which a gun expert determined through ballistic testing fired spent shells found at three murder scenes. Peterson owned a boxy, white car, which witnesses had seen at several crime scenes, and his palm print matched two prints lifted from a victim's vehicle. Peterson further confessed to police he was the shotgun killer, though he later recanted his statements. Peterson, a 22-year-old Marine deserter, was a dark-skinned black man with short hair, which contradicted a composite sketch released of the killer. The composite sketch was based on statements from Carrie Jillson, who survived one of the shootings and described the killer as a white man with medium-length, stringy hair. The incongruity so disturbed the community Gary Mayor Thomas Barnes sent a letter to clergy and citizens asking police to clarify the confusion about the suspect's race. Many of the shooting victims were white. Barnes feared a black killer would cause division in a community united only months before against the senseless murders. "I hope and pray that the guilty whatever their nationality, home or background are brought to justice quickly," the mayor wrote. The racial tensions in the community were further inflamed by statements made by Peterson, who claimed in an interview with police he was driven to kill because of anti-white "rages." Ralph Staples, one of the Lake County prosecutors who convicted Peterson, scoffed at claims the murders were racially motivated, pointing out many of the murders involved robberies. "He was a bandit, not a bigot," Staples said. Peterson appeared Sept. 30, 1991, in Lake Criminal Court at his first trial for the murders of Lawrence Mills and Rhonda Hammersley. Mills, a 43-year-old insurance salesman from Hammond, was found dead in his car Oct. 30, 1991, outside American Legion Post 66 in Griffith. Hammersley, 25, was shot in the head later that night while chatting with Jillson outside the Petro Mart gas station in Cedar Lake, where they both worked. The prosecution believed this case was their strongest, but a key piece of evidence the palm prints that connected Peterson to Mills' vehicle was suppressed before trial by Judge James Clement. Jillson, the state's star witness, also testified at trial that it was not Peterson who shot Hammersley, even though Peterson confessed to the murder. Public defenders Jerry Jarrett and I. Alexander Woloshansky used the composite sketch and Jillson's testimony to hammer the state's case, raising the specter in jurors' minds of a white killer. The jury deliberated for about six hours before acquitting Peterson on both murders. A juror told The Times after the verdict there was disagreement among jurors about the veracity of Peterson's confession and the way it was obtained. Another juror said there just was not enough evidence to convict Peterson. "They just didn't prove it to us," she said. Staples admitted Woloshansky and Jarrett did a good job using the composite sketch to raise doubt. Jillson testified at trial Peterson wasn't the killer, but she couldn't tell jurors whom she believed was the real killer Ronald J. Harris, an accomplice who assisted Peterson in the Cedar Lake murder and the murder of Harchand S. Dhaliwal in Portage. Harris was later convicted for both murders at separate trials and sentenced to 90 years in prison. Staples said Jillson confused Peterson for Harris, a light-skinned black man with medium-length hair, which caused the erroneous composite sketch. A second trial in January 1992 in Lake Criminal Court also ended in acquittals. Peterson was acquitted of murder in the shooting Dec. 15, 1990, of Ora L. Wildermuth, 54, at an ATM in Gary's Miller neighborhood. He was also acquitted of attempted murder in the shooting that same night of Robert Kotso, 49, a toll booth worker at Indiana East-West Toll Road. It wasn't until he was tried a third time in Porter County that Peterson was finally convicted, in that case for the murders of Harchand Dhaliwal and Marie Meitzler. Dhaliwal, 54, was killed and robbed while he worked at the Hudson Oil service station on U.S. 6 in Portage. Meitzler, 48, was killed while working at a motor lodge on U.S. Route 20 in Portage. Both died from gunshot wounds to the head. Convictions in Lake County would come in April 1992 for the killings of brothers Eli Balovski, 60, and George Baloski, 66, at their tailor shop in Gary. Staples said the prosecution didn't do anything different in the April 1992 trial, though the brothers' murder case wasn't hampered by the composite sketch that sunk the prosecutors' previous efforts. "It all depends on the 12 people sitting in the (jury) box," he said. Staples said he remembered the jury's verdict like it was yesterday. "I remember this sense of relief," he said. "We finally brought him before the bar of justice and had a jury convict him and say 'You'll be held responsible.'" Peterson was sentenced to death for his convictions in Porter and Lake counties. His convictions in the Porter County murders were reversed by a federal judge in July 2003 due to an improper statement made at trial by Porter County Prosecutor James Douglas. Douglas pointed out to the jury in his closing arguments that Peterson had not testified on his own behalf, which was Peterson's constitutional right and could not be construed by jurors as evidence of guilt. That reversal was sustained by the Seventh Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals in December 2005. Peterson's death sentence in the Lake County murders was vacated after the Indiana Supreme Court determined in August 2004 that only a jury's recommendation could condemn a defendant to death. Lake Criminal Court Judge James Clement overruled a jury's recommendation for leniency for Peterson when he ordered Peterson be put to death in June 1992. Peterson was resentenced to two 60-year terms in prison for the murders of Eli Balovski and George Baloski. Peterson, now 48, changed his name while in prison to Obadyah Ben-Yisrayl. He maintains he is not the shotgun killer. Peterson is scheduled to be released from prison in April 2051. Harris, also 48, is scheduled to be released from prison in September 2036. GARY An elderly couple died and a teenage girl was seriously injured in a house fire overnight in the city's Glen Park East section. The Gary Fire Department received a call at 12:12 a.m. Saturday for a residential structure fire in the 4600 block of Delaware Street, department spokesman Mark Jones said. Crews arrived on scene minutes later to find smoke coming from a residence, he said. Firefighters were able to pull three unconscious people out of the house, two of whom died later at the hospital. A 15-year-old girl was airlifted to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood due to her injuries, Jones said. Isiah Hunter, 85, of Gary, was pronounced dead at 12:44 a.m. at Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus in Gary, according to a Lake County coroner's news release. Joella Hunter, 83, was pronounced dead at 1:06 a.m. at the same hospital, the coroner said. The 15-year-old girl's relationship with the elderly couple was not known, Jones said. Her condition Saturday was not immediately known. A preliminary investigation determined a space heater in the basement likely was left on and set fire to nearby combustible material, sparking the blaze, Jones said. Jones said the fire appears to be accidental. The home was badly damaged. Crews were on scene for about two hours, he said. HAMMOND For those who don't want to fight Chicago traffic on Saturday, a Schererville woman is hosting a local Women's March at Unity of Northwest Indiana. Anyone who wishes to stand in solidarity with Women's March events nationwide is welcome to attend the event that starts at noon, said Linda Rosenthal, founder of Insight Out Visionary Healing Arts and Reiki Training Center. Unity of Northwest Indiana, 740 River Drive, in Hammond, offered the church's parking lot for Saturday's event, she said, but depending on the turnout, participants may later head over to the nearby Wicker Park. Thousands will gather across the country on Saturday to mark the one-year anniversary of the Womens March on Washington. In a divisive first year under under President Donald Trump, Rosenthal said this is an opportunity for women to channel hope and positivity, but also raise up their voices. The #MeToo movement has just raised a lot of eyes and ears and awakened people who were silenced. It encouraged women to speak up, and speak up about more things, she said. Womens rights need to be at the forefront. Rosenthal said the Womens March on Washington mobilized a Trump resistance, but now its time to turn that resistance into positive action. I want people to bring their love, their hope and creativity, she said. Rosenthal encouraged people to bring handwritten or printed signs. VALPARAISO Walking the talk was the goal of a group of student organizers of TEDx Valparaiso University on campus Friday evening. About 100 people attended the program, which featured 13 speakers sharing stories focusing on the theme Why Not Today? Conversations Encouraging Action. Lauren Tehan, a senior at VU and director of marketing for the program, said the seven student board members who organized the event wanted to help attendees reach their goals whatever they might be and put their thoughts and ideas into action. Why sit around and wait for tomorrow? asked Tehan, of Valparaiso. Take action today be proactive. The concise TED-style talks generally 5 to 18 minutes long were delivered by students, alumni, faculty and community members, and reflected the theme of taking action in various realms, including business, leadership, teaching, nonprofits and philanthropy. In Teaching Beyond the Ceiling, 2005 VU alumnus Chad Chenowith proposed basics lessons about teaching, including placing teaching above discipline, creating a balance between educating and entertaining, and differing teaching methods based on the student. Gifted and talented or high ability students are those who are frequently neglected academically, Chenowith said. They arent getting challenged in the classroom like they need to be, Chenowith said. So often, they act out ... theyre bored ... theyre frustrated. Chenowith said good teachers make opportunities for students and give them the best chance to succeed. In her talk, Lead The People, Not The Project, senior Daina Mueller provided three ideas for good leadership. Mueller encouraged the audience members who strive to be leaders to communicate with emotional intelligence, be a role model and communicate and inspire a shared vision. Passion inspires people, passion gets people excited about what they are doing, passion is contagious, Mueller said. Passion allows us to do great things and come together in an inspired shared vision. The evenings talks were divided into three sessions, and after each, the audience was separated into groups to discuss what ideas inspired them and how they planned to put their own goals into action. Hannah Sergent, who helped organize the event, said groups were devised in a reflective and proactive way. We want them to talk about their goals and personalities and help each other create an action plan, said Sergent, a nursing major from Millington, Michigan. Ashita Bhatnagar, one of the organizers, said this was the third TEDx session at VU since 2016. After first securing a license to operate the event through the national TED organization, she said the group put out a call for speakers and received about 35 applications from students, faculty and community members. The students interviewed and auditioned each speaker to determine the lineup. Tickets for audience members were limited to 55 students, 15 community members and 30 staff members to ensure an intimate group. Bhatnagar said the free TEDx tickets are a hot commodity, as they sold out in just four hours. The students, who began planning the session in April, find the work rewarding and a great way to apply the communication and leadership skills they learn in the classroom, Bhatnagar said. Its a lot of work, but so much fun, Bhatnagar said. DALLAS Delta Air Lines will soon require owners of service and support animals to provide more information before their animal can fly in the passenger cabin, including an assurance that it's trained to behave itself. The airline says complaints about animals biting or urinating or defecating on planes have nearly doubled since 2016. Starting March 1, Delta will require owners to show proof of their animal's health or vaccinations at least 48 hours before a flight. Owners of psychiatric service animals and of those used for emotional support will need to sign a statement vouching that their animal can behave. But owners will be on the honor system they won't have to show, for example, that their dog graduated from obedience school. The new requirements don't apply to pets, for which owners pay an extra fee. Delta, American and United all charge $125 each way for small pets in the cabin. Pets that don't fit under a seat must fly in the cargo hold, also for a price. Delta's policy change arrives with the number of animals in the cabin increasing. A rift has grown between disabled people who rely on trained service animals, usually dogs, and passengers with support or comfort animals, with many in the first group suspecting that those in the latter are just trying to avoid paying $125. However, owners of comfort animals, including veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, often say that they wouldn't be able to travel without their companion. John Laughter, the airline's senior vice president of safety and security, said there are insufficient rules in place to screen animals for health and behavior issues. Last June, a 70-pound dog flying as a support animal bit another passenger several times in the face on a Delta plane in Atlanta. The victim was hospitalized. Delta is seeking a balance "that supports those customers with a legitimate need for these animals" while maintaining safety, Laughter said. Sara Nelson, president of the largest flight attendants' union, praised Delta's decision. She said passengers abuse the system to bring untrained animals on board, and if it isn't stopped it could lead to a crackdown that will hurt veterans and the disabled "who legitimately need to travel with these animals." Eric Goldmann, a sales representative in Atlanta for a health care company, posts pictures on Twitter of support animals that he thinks should have stayed home. He says owners are abusing the system and creating safety hazards. "These dogs are everywhere, they're out in the aisles," he said. "Planes have to be evacuated in 90 seconds in an emergency. If animals get in the way, people will panic." Although exact figures aren't available, airline employees say dogs and cats are the most common animals on planes, but there have been sightings of pigs, snakes and turkeys too. Delta's new rules are aimed at two categories: service animals, which receive specific training to help blind or disabled passengers; and so-called emotional-support animals, which require no training at all. Both fly for free and are not required to be caged during the flight. The emotional-support group has been growing rapidly, and it is the target of most of the new Delta procedures. Delta, the second-biggest U.S. airline by revenue, said it transports about 700 service and support animals every day, nearly 250,000 per year. More than two-thirds are emotional-support animals. That does not include animals for which owners pay a fee to keep in a carrier under their seat during flights. The boom in animal travel has prompted airports to add places where pets can relieve themselves. Federal regulators have interpreted a 1986 access-to-travel law to allow support animals in airplane cabins and in apartment buildings that do not allow pets. That has created a cottage industry of online companies that help people establish their pet as an emotional support animal. Airlines must allow support animals in the cabin, although they can require owners to present a letter from a doctor or other medical provider who can vouch that the human traveler is helped by having the animal there. Delta will now ask to see those letters 48 hours in advance. The Transportation Department, aided by an advisory committee of airline and passenger advocates, has been considering tightening the definitions of service and comfort animals but missed its own deadline last year. The airlines also complain that they have no way to verify that doctors who sign off on comfort animals are qualified to decide if someone needs the emotional support. Last year an undercover reporter for a Los Angeles TV station found a chiropractor willing to sign a letter allowing the woman's dog to fly for free if she paid his $250 fee. American Airlines and United Airlines said they were reviewing their animal policies. Both reported seeing a significant increase in the number of emotional-support animals since 2016. David Koenig can be reached at http://twitter.com/airlinewriter The last time the federal government shut down over a partisan budget battle, Sen. Joe Donnelly donated his take-home pay to charity. Indiana's Democratic senator, who voted for a measure that would have averted a shutdown Friday night, vowed to do the same thing in a statement released after the federal government shut down for the first time since 2013. "The most basic duty of Congress is to fund the federal government, and I voted to keep the government running," Donnelly said in a news release. "I am incredibly disappointed Congress failed to prevent a shutdown. Like in 2013, Im going to work with my colleagues in a bipartisan manner to reopen the government, and I will donate my take-home pay during the shutdown to charity in Indiana." Sen. Todd Young, R-Indiana, vowed to do the same thing in a statement Saturday, saying he would donate his salary to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation until the government reopens. When given the opportunity to extend the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for more than 104,000 Hoosier children, provide for our servicemembers, lift the burden of the job-killing medical device tax, and keep government functions operating, some of my colleagues took a pass," Young said in his statement. "For reasons I cant understand, they voted to shut down the government even though they support the bill. I will continue working through the weekend to ensure that a solution is reached for the good of Hoosiers and all Americans." In 2013, Donnelly donated the $5,000 he was paid during the 16 days of the federal government shutdown to 10 food banks across Indiana. Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Joyce released a statement as well, urging Donnelly to separate himself from Democratic Party leadership. "Joe Donnelly prides himself on his common sense and ability to work across the aisle, but he continues to represent a leadership team in Washington that is willing to play political games at the stake of our troops and children's health care benefits," Joyce said in a news release. "If Donnelly was a man of common-sense he would leave the Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren leadership team immediately and stand side-by-side with the voters of Indiana." WASHINGTON The federal government shut down at the stroke of midnight Friday, halting all but the most essential operations and marring the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration in a striking display of Washington dysfunction. Last-minute negotiations crumbled as Senate Democrats blocked a four-week stopgap extension in a late-night vote, causing the fourth government shutdown in a quarter century. Behind the scenes, however, leading Republicans and Democrats were trying to work out a compromise to avert a lengthy shutdown. Congress scheduled an unusual Saturday session to begin considering a three-week version of the short-term spending measure and to broadcast that they were at work as the shutdown commences. It seemed likely each side would try forcing votes aimed at making the other party look culpable for shuttering federal agencies. Since the closure began at the start of a weekend, many of the immediate effects will be muted for most Americans. But any damage could build quickly if the closure is prolonged. And it comes with no shortage of embarrassment for the president and political risk for both parties, as they wager that voters will punish the other at the ballot box in November. Social Security and most other safety net programs are unaffected by the lapse in federal spending authority. Critical government functions will continue, with uniformed service members, health inspectors and law enforcement officers set to work without pay. But if no deal is brokered before Monday, hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be furloughed. After hours of closed-door meetings and phone calls, the Senate scheduled its late-night vote on a House-passed plan. It gained 50 votes to proceed to 49 against, but 60 were needed to break a Democratic filibuster. A handful of red-state Democrats crossed the aisle to support the measure, rather than take a politically risky vote. Four Republicans voted in opposition. In an unusual move, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell allowed the roll call to exceed two hours instead of the usual 20 or so and run past midnight, seemingly accommodating the numerous discussions among leaders and other lawmakers. Still as midnight passed and the calendar turned, there was no obvious off-ramp to the political stalemate. Even before the vote, Trump was pessimistic, tweeting that Democrats actually wanted the shutdown "to help diminish the success" of the tax bill he and fellow Republicans pushed through last month. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders later termed the Democrats "obstructionist losers." Democrats balked on the measure in an effort to pressure on the White House to cut a deal to protect "dreamer" immigrants who were brought to the country as children and are now here illegally before their legal protection runs out in March. The president watched the results from the White House residence, dialing up allies and affirming his belief that Democrats would take the blame for the shutdown, said a person familiar with his conversations but not authorized to discuss them publicly. Predictably, both parties moved swiftly to blame one another. Democrats laid fault with Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress and the White House and have struggled with building internal consensus. Republicans declared Democrats responsible, after they declined to provide the votes needed to overcome a filibuster over their desire to force the passage of legislation to protect some 700,000 younger immigrants from deportation. Republicans branded the confrontation a "Schumer shutdown" and argued that Democrats were harming fellow Americans to protect "illegal immigrants." Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said a "Trump shutdown" was more accurate. Earlier Friday, Trump had brought Schumer to the White House in hopes of cutting a deal on a short-term spending agreement. The two New Yorkers, who pride themselves on their negotiating abilities, started talking over cheeseburgers about a larger agreement that would have included greater military spending and money for a southern border wall. But the talks fell apart almost as abruptly as they started. In a phone call hours later, the president raised new concerns about the deal he and Schumer had discussed, according to a person familiar with the conversation. In a subsequent phone call with Schumer, chief of staff John Kelly said the deal discussed was too liberal. The White House did not immediately comment on that account. Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told CNN that "Not much has changed" over the course of the day, but he predicted a deal would be reached by Monday, when most government offices are to reopen after the weekend. Democrats in the Senate had served notice they would filibuster the government-wide funding bill that cleared the House Thursday evening. They were seeking an even shorter extension that they think would keep the pressure on the White House to cut a deal to protect the "dreamer" immigrants. "We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands," Sanders said in a statement. Trump first described his discussion with Schumer as an "excellent preliminary meeting," tweeting that lawmakers were "making progress - four week extension would be best!" But that optimism faded as the evening wore on. McConnell did not attend the meeting because he was not invited, a Senate GOP aide said. Trump had been an unreliable negotiator in the weeks leading up to the showdown. Earlier this week he tweeted opposition to the four-week plan, forcing the White House to later affirm his support. He expressed openness to extending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, only to reject a bipartisan proposal. His disparaging remarks about African and Haitian immigrants last week helped derail further negotiations. Trump had been set to leave Friday afternoon to attend a fundraiser at his Palm Beach, Florida, estate marking the one-year anniversary of his inauguration but delayed his travel. As word of the Schumer meeting spread, the White House hastened to reassure Republican congressional leaders that Trump would not make any major policy concessions, said a person familiar with the conversations but not authorized to be quoted by name. On Capitol Hill, McConnell said Americans at home would be watching to see "which senators make the patriotic decision" and which "vote to shove aside veterans, military families and vulnerable children to hold the entire country hostage... until we pass an immigration bill." "We can't keep kicking the can down the road," said Schumer, insisting on more urgency in talks on immigration. "In another month, we'll be right back here, at this moment, with the same web of problems at our feet, in no better position to solve them." The four-week measure would have been the fourth stopgap spending bill since the current budget year started in October. A pile of unfinished Capitol Hill business has been on hold, first as Republicans ironed out last fall's tax bill and now as Democrats insist on progress on immigration. Talks on a budget deal to ease tight spending limits on both the Pentagon and domestic agencies are on hold, as is progress on a huge $80 billion-plus disaster aid bill. Before Thursday night's House approval, GOP leaders sweetened the stopgap measure with legislation to extend for six years a popular health care program for children from low-income families and two-year delays in unpopular "Obamacare" taxes on medical devices and generous employer-provided health plans. A shutdown would be the first since 2013, when tea party Republicans in a strategy not unlike the one Schumer is employing now sought to use a must-pass funding bill to try to force then-President Barack Obama to delay implementation of his marquee health care law. At the time, Trump told Fox & Friends that the ultimate blame for a shutdown lies at the top. "I really think the pressure is on the president," he said. Arguing that Trump's predecessors "weaponized" that shutdown, Mulvaney said Friday the budget office would direct agencies to work to mitigate the impact this time. That position is a striking role-reversal for the conservative former congressman, who was one of the architects of the 2013 shutdown over the Affordable Care Act. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Catherine Lucey contributed to this report from Washington. AP writer Jonathan Lemire contributed from New York. MILAN Milan has long been the world's ready-to-wear fashion leader. Now, dogs are getting in on the Italian city's sartorial scene with a new line of haute couture for canines. Dog a Porter, by the Milan brand Temellini, offers clothing custom-fit for different breeds, ranging from the tiny Chihuahua to the stately greyhound. The line includes cashmere knits, nylon bomber jackets with tiny arms, Sherlock Holmes-style capes and lined raincoats. The capes cost $208 and synthetically filled hooded parkas go for $256 to reflect the extra time it takes to get the fine stitching on the elasticized sleeves just right. Designer Giovanna Temellini says fashionable dog clothes aren't just an indulgence. Her luxury outerwear not only protects pooches accustomed to being indoors when they are brought outside, but take into account the builds of various types of dogs, she said. "For me, a dog is well-dressed only when it has freedom of movement, when it is not constrained," Temellini said. "It is OK to dress a dog when it is cold, but a dog needs to live his live as a dog. This is important." Speaking from personal experience, the designer notes that Ulysses, her long-haired Afghan Hound, requires five hours of grooming if he gets wet in the rain. A raincoat prevents the hassle, she said. Temellini launched Dog a Porter a year ago alongside her 20-year-old eponymous clothing line for women. She opened a boutique in Milan's chic Brera neighborhood this week, selling women's ready-to-wear and canine couture side-by-side. In fact, many of the dog garments have corresponding numbers for women, such as the long, flowing black cotton skirt a pet owner could wear while walking her dog outfitted in a black chenille jacket. The market appears ripe for such a venture in fashion-conscious Italy, where some 7 million dogs are registered as pets, or one for every 3.7 families, according to statistics from ASSALCO, an association of producers of pet food and other pet items. The money Italians lavished on dogs and cats grew 10 percent during 2013-2016 to nearly $2.4 billion, the association said in a 2017 report. Temellini said the toughest part about designing for dogs was the sizing. The long bodies and stout thoraxes of dachshunds, for example, had to be taken into account. In all, the Dog a Porter line has five basic shapes. But the Temellini atelier also does made-to-order items, applying the experience it gained over decades making samples for some of Milan's top fashion houses, including Ermanno Scervino, Bottega Veneta and Max Mara. "Something that made me laugh was to see a professional, a lawyer, come in with his Saluki, and he wanted a made-to-measure coat for his dog," Temellini said. "He said all his clothes were made-to-measure, and he wanted the same for his dog." Patrizia Radaelli is a happy Dog a Porter customer. She couldn't find anything to warm Eddie, her 14-year-old Yorkshire terrier-Volpino Italiano mix. "He's a little old and gets very cold in the winter," Radaelli said. "Usually, he would get very fussy when I dressed him with other items. But never with Giovanna's fabrics." Now, Eddie turns heads when he does his evening business wearing a striped cashmere sweater under a navy blue parka, Radaelli said. Electoral Commission secretary, Sam Rwakoojo (L) and EC chairperson Simon Byabakama before the committee The Electoral Commission has said that it has no money to fund political parties in the 2018/2019 financial year. Appearing before the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs committee, Electoral Commission secretary, Sam Rwakoojo said that during the budget preparations for 2018/19, there was no provision for the political party funding in the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). Government started funding political parties with representation in parliament in the 2014/15 financial year, contributing up to Shs 10 billion every year. Rwakoojo reported that while the commission requested for Shs 189.2 billion, government approved Shs 64.6 billion, leaving a funding gap of Shs 125 billion. Section 14 (a) of the Political Parties and Organisations Act, 2005, provides that government shall contribute funds or other public resources towards the activities of political parties or organizations represented in parliament. Parliament currently has four political parties of NRM, FDC, UPC and DP with representation in parliament. WE CANT RELOCATE Rwakoojo also reported that the commission has no money for acquiring office premises and relocation. The EC was advised to immediately relocate to other premises to pave way for the eastern route of the standard gauge railway, Jinja express highway and Kampala flyover projects, which will take up the biggest part of the current commission headquarters along Jinja road. Rwakoojo said the estimated cost of acquiring office premises and relocating is Shs 72bn, but no provision was made in the MTEF. The commission is also grappling with financing election of district chairpersons and district woman representatives in parliament for the six districts that will become operational from July 1, 2018. The six districts are Nabilatuk, Bugweri, Kassanda, Kwania, Kapelebyong and Kikuube. Constitutionally, the commission is expected to conduct elections for representatives to parliament within 60 days and district chairpersons within six months from the date the district takes off. The commission requires Shs 2.3bn to hold elections for district chairpersons and district woman MPs to parliament in addition to Shs 4.2bn for operationalization of district offices. There are no operational costs for establishing; and the annual cost of operating a district office is Shs 706 million, Rwakoojo told MPs. namuloki16@gmail.com DECATUR Private schools are working quickly to take advantage of the state's Invest in Kids scholarship tax credit, which will make as much as $100 million in donations available to lower-income students in Illinois. The Illinois Department of Revenue, which oversees the program, is relying on a handful of new nonprofit organizations to accept and process donations and student applications. Private schools hoping the money can spark enrollment growth have largely been tasked with alerting the public. "I think we're still trying to figure it out," said Larry Daly, principal of St. Teresa High School. "We're getting information to our parents, and to the community if any family is interested in St. Teresa to look into it." Tied to a sweeping revision of the needs-based formula that sends state aid to public schools, the tax credit scholarship allows businesses and individuals to donate up to $1 million to either a specific private school or the scholarship program at large. The tax credit is good for 75 percent of the total donation. The scholarship program is of special concern to Decatur-area private schools, which have seen flat or lower enrollment in recent years. "(The Invest in Kids Tax Credit Program) has created an awareness of school choice, and parents are being very proactive about finding funding because maybe private school wasn't an option for them previously," said Debbie Alexander, principal of Holy Family School. But time is short. The nonprofits handling the process with schools, donors and student applicants, have been able to register with the Illinois Department of Revenue since December, and they must start awarding scholarships by Feb. 1, according to the law. The Springfield Catholic Diocese which oversees Catholic Schools in Central Illinois, is working with Empower Illinois, by far the largest nonprofit handling the scholarships. The first to register with the state in December, Empower Illinois was created in September out of a school-choice advocacy group, One Chance Illinois, according to Empower Executive Director Myles Mendoza. Lutheran School Association also is working with Empower Illinois, said the school's executive director, Jeff Holmes. Mendoza said that of the $41 million of the tax-credit donations so far received by the Department of Revenue as of Thursday, $32 million of that is being handled by Empower Illinois. Mendoza declined to divulge Empower's funding or its donors, but Mendoza and a cadre of contractors have lobbied Springfield since 2015 to promote school-choice initiatives, records from the Secretary of State's Office show. "We have the benefit of national philanthropy to cover our start-up costs," he said. "We're able to have a call center, cybersecurity, a lot things that help us operate at scale." Launch date The five-year pilot program is part of a school funding reform the General Assembly approved last year. The goal was to give lower-income families with school-age children more educational opportunities at private schools. The legislation, thought to help students escape failing public schools, was strongly opposed by teacher unions. Illinois is the 18th state with such a program. Since Empower Illinois will be handling most of the tax credit money from donors across the state, its launch date of Jan. 31 at noon is critical for families and private schools. According to the Invest in Kids Act, applications will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. "It really is ... whoever gets in there," said Jeffrey Holmes, superintendent of the Lutheran School Association of Decatur. "It's kind of mad dash." While Empower and others have to start awarding scholarships to applicants by Feb. 1, Mendoza said Empower decided to push back its application launch date from Jan. 24 to the noon Jan. 31 after Gov. Bruce Rauner issued an amendatory veto that would include private schools not recognized by the the Illinois School Board of Education. If lawmakers do not approve the veto, the scholarship program will continue as the law said before the governor's veto. Mendoza said other nonprofit application systems have chosen launch dates as early as next week. Decatur Christian School Principal Brian Minott said his school will be applying through the Association of Christian Schools International. ACSI's website said it will launch its application on Jan. 22, and officials there did not return a request for comment. "We picked noon because it's a time where people tend to have a lunch break in lower-income communities, to give people the best chance to get the technology to apply," Mendoza said. "It's very important to get as close to that noon time stamp as possible." A time stamp indicates the exact time a user submitted an application in the online portal. The timing is important because the scholarship is designed to award qualified students on a first-come, first-served basis until the money is gone. Because students who have won scholarships this year also will get priority in subsequent years, Empower's launch date will have implications for years to come, Mendoza said. Hope for private schools Private school administrators here hope the new scholarship money from the state and private donors will boost declining enrollment, which they speculate has to do with the area's declining population, more strong public schools outside the city of Decatur and perhaps the biggest culprit rising tuition. "I think a big part of our drop is that affordability," said Daly. "I realize these parents are making a sacrifice to send our kids here, and ... that's one of the reasons that the tax (credit scholarships) could help." All six fully accredited private schools in the Decatur area have seen flat or declining enrollment in recent years, according to figures from the Illinois State Board of Education. At Holy Family School, the tuition for one student next year will be $2,800, according to Amy Jedlick, a parent and school board member. "When my daughter was in first grade, I want to say it was like $1,600 for one student, so $900 (more) over the last 10 years or so. I mean, that's quite a bit," Jedlick said. Jedlick said Holy Family is planning an information session for parents, and the principal described a get-the-word-out campaign on bulletin boards and emails to parents in the parish and school. But it's unclear if very many families outside of the faith-based schools' existing communities are aware of the state-funded scholarship opportunity with a very short window. Decatur Christian School is planning an informational meeting parents sometime in early February, a couple weeks after ASCI's application launch date, according to Minott. He said he's worried less money will be available by the time parents apply, but "the sooner the better we get on this." The private schools that are recognized by the state board of education disagree with Rauner's amendatory veto, which Empower has tried to accommodate with its later launch date. "I think it's important that we look at schools that have proven through some means their ability to provide a quality education," Alexander said. The non-recognized schools currently operating in the Decatur area according to the ISBE is Antioch Christian Academy and Prairie Flower Montessori School. Shirley Shaw, the principal of Antioch, a small predominantly African-American school, said the school's board of directors has been working to find the resources to meet the state's requirements, which involves state evaluations and compliance of health, safety, and curriculum standards. "Adding more (schools) to the pool, my concern is that it reduces the amount of dollars available to the recognized schools," said Holmes, of LSA. Outreach efforts According to the law's language, registered scholarship granting organizations "shall make reasonable efforts to advertise the availability of scholarships to eligible students." But Mendoza said Empower Illinois has largely been focused on getting private school administrators up to speed before the end of January. Alexander said the Springfield Diocese started rolling out information to Holy Family and other schools shortly after the new year about how families can use Empower's website and what forms they will need to apply for scholarships. According to Empower's website that includes a federal tax return, proof of Illinois residency and proof of a students age, such as a birth certificate. Students must meet the criteria for the tax credit scholarships. Once applications are in, Empower Illinois and other scholarship granting organizations will award money based on income levels, with eligibility ending if household income is more than 300 percent of the federal poverty level ($73,800 for a family of four). For households below 185 percent of the poverty level, scholarships would cover all tuition costs for students, and above that level, the scholarship would be partial. Students can apply after the launch date until April 1, but in this region of Central Illinois, schools will be eligible will be splitting no more than $7.5 million, part of the reason why getting in front of the line is crucial. "I'll tell you this, I have never worked so hard in my entire life seven days a week, 16-hour days," Mendoza said. Still, he said the application process for families is "not known as well as it needs to be." Based on data from similar rollouts in other states, Mendoza said he expects to receive 175,000 calls, emails and texts in the coming days. "We're expecting about 100,000 students to apply on Jan. 31." A female voter casting her ballot in 2016. Electoral Commission says it is not prepared to hold a referendum for the extension of presidential term Electoral Commission chairman Simon Byabakama has told parliament that his commission is not prepared for the anticipated referendum on the extension of the presidential term in office. Byabakama told the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs committee yesterday that the commission can only budget for and organize a referendum after receiving a formal communication from parliament. This did not go well with the committee chairperson Jacob Oboth-Oboth who said Byabakama and his commission should be aware of proceedings in parliament that led to approval of the presidential term extension. It is under the EC mandate to conduct elections once the bill was enacted into law, parliament doesnt need to convene another sitting to pass a new resolution to that effect, Oboth-Oboth said. The extension of the presidential term of office from five to seven years was a recommendation by the legal committee, which scrutinized the Constitutional Amendment (N0. 2) Bill 2017. The bill, which also removed presidential age limits and restored term limits, was passed by parliament on December 20 and President Museveni appended his signature a week later. The move, however, is under contention by some Ugandans and the Uganda Law Society and the opposition have since gone to court demanding its nullification. Under the law, the recommendation to extend the presidential tenure of office can only go through a referendum. Section 4 of the Referendum and other Provisions Act, 2005 enjoins the commission to organize, conduct and supervise all referenda. According to Byabakama, where a referendum is required, the commission shall, upon receipt of a resolution from Parliament, subject it to Article 260 and prepare accordingly. Once we are armed with a resolution, we shall go ahead and budget for the referendum, Byabakama said. namuloki16@gmail.com Red Pepper offices is now a crime scene The lawyer representing Pepper Publications Ltd, the publishers of Red Pepper and affiliated media platforms, Denis Nyombi has protested a court order allowing the continued siege of the company's offices in Namanve. The protest follows a request for extension of time to analyze exhibits that were confiscated from Red Pepper offices by police in November last year. The request was made by prosecutors, in a case in which directors and editors of the Red Pepper are charged with libel, computer misuse and publication of a story prejudicial to national security. The cases stem from a story published in The Red Pepper issue of November 20 indicating that President Yoweri Museveni was plotting to overthrow his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame. On trial are the founding directors of Pepper Publications; Arinaitwe Rugyendo, Patrick Mugumya, Johnson Musinguzi, Richard Tusiime and James Mujuni, and editors are Ben Byarabaha, Richard Kintu and Tumusiime Francis. These were arrested on November 21 following a police raid of their offices in Namanve, along Jinja road. They were arraigned before Buganda Road Court on November 27 and remanded to Luzira prison after a week in detention at Nalufenya police station in Jinja and granted bail after a month in detention. But the state, through the deputy assistant inspector of police Henry Peter Walya has asked court to allow it more time to analyze documents, computers and phones that were confiscated from Red pepper offices and obtain additional evidence to pin the eight journalists. "The order is valid for a period not exceeding one months from the date of issue", reads part of the order. But Nyombi told court presided over by Buganda Road Court Grade One Magistrate Samuel Kagoda that the order is a violation of the right to fair hearing. Magistrate Kagoda who had sat in for Chief Magistrate James Eremye Mawanda adjourned the matter to February 14, to allow the accused come up with a response to the state application. Jeff Lambert Lambert, Edwards & Associates has been named agency of record for the North American International Auto Show and 2018 North American Car, Utility and Truck of the Year awards. LE&A will support the shows media relations efforts, including the more than 5,000 media in attendance, as well as providing script writing and content creation services. The agency will also manage all NAIAS social media properties for the show and work with sponsors and exhibitors to promote their products and technologies debuting at the show. Our team is excited to be working with two power-house brands of the automotive industry during such an exciting time of the year, said LE&A Founder Jeff Lambert. We have long-standing relationships with both NAIAS and officers of the NACTOY awards, and are looking forward to driving these global partnerships forward. 5W Public Relations has been named PR agency of record for Selby Jennings, a global recruitment organization that focuses on identifying and recruiting high-performing talent in mid-to-senior leadership roles within the banking and finance industry. Selby Jennings is one of five micro-specialist recruitment brands that operates as part of Phaidon Internationals portfolio of companies. 5W has a reputation for delivering results for high growth businesses and has done phenomenal work in the financial services industry, said Phaidon International global marketing director Gareth Saunders. We know that with the strategy and execution of the 5W team, people will know us as the premier destination for recruiting the highest levels of talent in the financial sector. Bratskeir & Company has been named PR and social communications agency for body and home brand RITUALS USA, handling all public relations and social media for the company. The brand, which is sold at Macys, ULTA and Amazon, as well as on RITUALS.com and at almost 600 stores run by the company, offers products ranging from body care to scented candles, teas and home fragrances. Inspired by the traditions of Eastern cultures, RITUALS encourages consumers to slow down, a theme that will be amplified by Bratskeirs work for the brand. The firm plans to build off its existing influencer and media relationships to spread the brands message. APPLE RIVER, Ill. _ In this very important month for the bald eagle, Terrence Ingram is trying to upend conventional wisdom about our majestic national symbol. He lacks the academic bona fides of an ornithologist but has spent nearly 60 years researching and advocating for bald eagles; he is even credited with saving more than 6,000 acres of eagle habitat along the Mississippi River. In 1995, Ingram established the Eagle Nature Foundation as the successor to a similar organization he'd started nearly three decades earlier. His point is simple: The bald eagle population is declining. It is an astonishing conclusion that flies in the face _ so to speak _ of the narrative that presents the bald eagle as a great American comeback story. And Ingram's theory is particularly noteworthy this month, when federal agencies and about 100 volunteers affiliated with his foundation conduct separate, crucial midwinter bald eagle counts. "I know, I'm out in left field, huh?" Ingram, 78, said recently from the headquarters of the Eagle Nature Foundation, in a creaky, nearly 150-year-old house that doubles as his insurance office in this tiny town 140 miles northwest of Chicago. "That's OK. I've known that for years." Nearly extinct in the early 1960s from the widespread use of the pesticide DDT, habitat destruction and illegal shooting, the bald eagle population reportedly has become so robust since the 1980s that it's starting to threaten other species, including some rare birds. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's best estimate places the bald eagle population at nearly 143,000, a significant jump from 30 years ago, when the service estimated that only 2,475 breeding pairs existed in the entire country. Sightings of bald eagles and nests have occurred in unusual spots, too. Last summer, an eagle crashed into a Gold Coast hotel window. In the spring of 2016, several were seen soaring and landing in a wide-open park near a landfill on Chicago's South Side. There's also the North American Breeding Bird Survey, taken during summer, that places recent growth at more than 12 percent a year for the U.S. and a whopping 37 percent per year in Illinois. An Illinois Audubon Society count last winter found 2,002 eagles _ more than double the number of the birds counted here in 2016. So how can Ingram justify his conclusion? He relies on 57 years of midwinter bald eagle counts his organization has conducted along and around the Mississippi River from Wisconsin to southern Illinois. Some years, his volunteer counters reach as far south as Louisiana. Uneven as the counts are, they show a drop of nearly 400 bald eagles, or 25 percent, from 2010 until last year's survey through the region stretching from northern Wisconsin to southern Illinois. Ingram also is concerned about a drop in the counts of young eagles, known as "immatures." Experts who know of Ingram's work treat it with respect but skepticism. "I don't question Terry's numbers showing decline," said Illinois Audubon Society Executive Director James Herkert. "The question for Terry would be what effort has been made to tease out weather and effort? How deep did they go in their analysis?" Counting birds, as one might imagine, can be extremely complicated. Duplication is a serious concern, particularly in sweeping endeavors like regional or national bald eagle counts in unpredictable winter conditions. So is the experience and commitment of the person counting the birds. Bald eagles are especially challenging. The easily spooked birds can fly 75 mph. Experts say a 10-mile trip is relatively common, and they have been known to fly as far as 200 miles in a day. Those factors _ as well as climate change, winter weather variances from year to year, abundance of prey and the distance the birds have to fly south to find open, unfrozen water _ make every organization's winter count vary wildly. "For this reason, it is virtually impossible to tell if downward trends in winter counts are due to declines in bald eagle population size or due to shifts in distribution in response to warmer winters," Brian Millsap, national raptor coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service, said in an email. Several studies show that warmer winters are prompting many raptors to shift their winter distribution, he added. Midwinter surveys of the Eagle Nature Foundation and Illinois Audubon Society show those wide swings. In 2008, for example, the foundation's total bald eagle count was 4,052. The next year that number dropped to 2,830. The society's midwinter count reached an all-time high of 5,597 birds in 2014. Two years later, the count was 946. "We do not believe that trends in counts of wintering bald eagles indicate overall populations are declining," Millsap said. "We do value the citizen science contribution of the midwinter survey and recognize it provides important information for management of local bald eagle wintering areas." Ingram's main criticism is that the conventional counts go on for two weeks, which allows for widespread duplication. His organization's counts run for two hours on one day, usually around Jan. 26. But Wade Eakle, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ecologist in San Francisco, said many raptor count researchers know that a certain percentage of individual birds are counted more than once. In response, the counts include "appropriate analytical methods," such as an eagle-observed-per-hour format, to reconcile for those results. Still, curious signs are out there: A 2015 Journal of Raptor Research article noted that the increase in bald eagle counts has slowed to less than 1 percent in recent years, and that the number of eagles counted in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska and Texas are declining. In addition, Ingram's theory for why the eagle counts are dropping is that glyphosate, the active ingredient in a widely used pesticide, is making its way through the food chain. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ecological risk assessment on the compound, released in December, "indicates that there is potential for effects on birds, mammals and terrestrial and aquatic plants." And, although eagles are on "a great trend right now," Illinois Audubon Society's Herkert said, "the counter to that is that there is a truckload of pesticides out there now. I do have a little bit of concern that we're not on a great environmental trajectory right now." Herkert also said monitoring of eagles is not as vigilant as it was before the bird was taken off the endangered species list in 2007. Sunday Kennedy targets gun violence Democrat Chris Kennedy has made gun violence a centerpiece of his campaign for Illinois governor, saying too many people in Chicago and elsewhere in Illinois are dealing with the same kind of pain. The move has brought endorsements from African-American leaders, including U.S. Reps. Bobby Rush and Danny Davis, and could help Kennedy earn support in the March primary from black voters who have been disproportionately hurt by gun violence. All the gubernatorial candidates also answered questions from the Associated Press about about the issue. A former sheriffs deputy in southwest Nebraska lured a woman to a remote location, handcuffed her and molested her, according to the Nebraska Attorney Generals Office. The deputy, Charles Thibedeau, 37, was convicted in Dundy County District Court on Thursday of kidnapping, third-degree sexual assault and oppression under color of office. The incident occurred March 22, according to a press release from the Attorney Generals Office. According to the release: While on duty working for the Dundy County Sheriffs Office, Thibedeau sent Facebook messages to the 26-year-old victim, asking her to meet him in a remote location to discuss an official matter. When she arrived, Thibedeau lied to her about a search of her home by local law enforcement. Then he asked her to show him her breasts and allow him to touch them. When she refused, he threatened to jail her on a fictitious warrant, handcuffed her, put her in his patrol vehicle and touched her bare breasts. He later released the woman. Thibedeau had been a deputy for 5 months and had not been formally certified because he had not yet attended the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Academy in Grand Island. Thibedeau faces up to 50 years in prison when hes sentenced March 5. A 12-year-old runaway girl from Omaha who was the subject of a public appeal for help was found Saturday in Missouri, police said. Paw Ku had last been seen leaving her home near 51st and Maple Streets on Jan. 8. Her mother reported the next day to police that the girl was missing and said she believed she was with her 23-year-old boyfriend The 12-year-old was found in Milan, Missouri, about 3 a.m. after the FBI found information that suggested she may be in that area. The Missouri State Highway Patrol and Milan authorities took her into protective custody. The man, Eh Ther Ger, was jailed Saturday in Missouri. LINCOLN Judge Gary Randall has spent the past two decades watching the caseload grow in Douglas County District Court. The county, which includes Omaha, has seen more serious violent crime leading to more criminal cases, the judge told the Nebraska Legislatures Judiciary Committee. There are also more people representing themselves. And the criminal cases take precedent over the complicated and often significant civil cases, the judge said. Randall, along with several others, was asking the committee to add another judge to the bench in Douglas County District Court. Legislative Bill 696, introduced by State Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete, would do just that, increasing the number of judges in the district court from 16 to 17. The move was recommended by the Judicial Resources Commission. When a state senator asked Randall if more than one additional judge was needed to handle Douglas Countys caseload, Randall said he was asking for whats realistic. The state currently has a projected budget shortfall of $200 million. Adding an additional judge would cost the state $298,474 in fiscal year 2018-19 and $293,474 in the following fiscal year. The cost for Douglas County would be even higher. Douglas County estimates a cost of about $2 million in fiscal year 2018-19 and $949,088 in the next fiscal year. According to the bills fiscal note, the cost includes $1.5 million in design, construction and displacement costs. It also includes salaries and benefits for deputies to provide courtroom security and other courtroom staff. The committee took no action on the bill on Friday. Midlanders found the 2013 partial government shutdown to be mostly a nuisance, they said Friday as they prepared for the possibility of another similar event. Depending on how long it lasts, though, a shutdown could pose more serious problems for those who work for or need to do business with the government. Of course, some of the most affected are the federal government workers, who wouldnt get paychecks during a shutdown, though in the past they have received back pay afterward. But those seeking passports, visas or even a loan from a bank could find their plans stalled by a government shutdown. On Friday, uncertainty loomed for those people as Congress negotiated the passage of a potential short-term funding bill. Threats of government shutdowns have become increasingly common as Congress relies more and more on short-term fixes called continuing resolutions to keep open the government. But this would be the first such shutdown at a time when one political party Republican holds control of the presidency and both houses of Congress. In 2013, many government services shut down for 16 days in October as the Republican-majority House objected to funding for the Affordable Care Act that was supported by the Democratic-led Senate and White House. Then, national parks were closed and the government stopped processing some applications. But those who are considered essential personnel or who are supported by non-tax revenue, including public safety workers and mail carriers, remain at work during a shutdown. One difference from 2013 is that President Donald Trumps administration announced plans to keep national parks open to the public even if there were no park rangers or other employees. Homestead National Monument Superintendent Mark Engler said the National Parks Service is not expecting a shutdown. But if there is one, national parks will remain as accessible as possible while still following all applicable laws and procedures, he said. In Iowa, DeSoto Wildlife Refuge would be open though the visitors center would not, said manager Tom Cox. At Offutt Air Force Base, many employees will learn over the weekend whether they should come in Monday or not, said Drew Nystrom, a 55th Wing spokesman. Its very surreal, he said. At Offutt there are 1,625 civilian civil service employees who would be furloughed in the event of a government shutdown, while 744 are considered mission-essential and would still work. A government shutdown would not affect about 240 other civilian non-appropriated funds employees, such as those working for on-base day care centers, because their salaries are paid for through user fees, not tax dollars. This is drill weekend for National Guard members in both Iowa and Nebraska. All will report and train as usual if congressional leaders reach an agreement. If they dont, about 900 Iowa National Guard members will report for one four-hour training block Saturday morning and then return home, said Col. Greg Hapgood, an Iowa Guard spokesman. An additional 1,100 full-time Guard employees would be furloughed Monday morning if a government shutdown were to continue through the weekend, he said. A Nebraska National Guard spokesman said Guard leaders are in a wait and see mode. If they cant reach an agreement, then the plan is well most likely cancel drill, said Lt. Col. Kevin Hynes. About 2,050 guardsmen would be affected. At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the Great Plains Research Data Center, which contains data used by some researchers but is not open to the public, would close. Other than that, the impact at UNL would mostly be rescheduled meetings and late pay for some projects, said Steve Goddard, interim vice chancellor for research. In the short term, right now its not a huge impact, he said. One result of the 2013 shutdown was that farmers couldnt cash checks from elevators for grain if they had taken a loan from the Farm Services Administration. Dan Poppe, president of the Archer (Nebraska) Cooperative Credit Union, said that was a nuisance for those farmers at the time and that his credit union offered customers short-term loans. But, Poppe said, if a shutdown stretched for a month or more, that could cause more of a hardship. He also said a shutdown could impact farmers ability to obtain an operating line of credit for this springs crops. Poppe said hes frustrated at the idea of another shutdown. He said hed like to tell Congress: Stop playing games based on what your political party is and just take care of the business that needs to be taken care of. There is no reason they cant get a budget passed. DECATUR Though she views politics in general as a negative topic unlikely to change anytime soon, Tiffany Wade doesnt regret her vote to elect President Donald Trump. She sees a lot to like about the 45th presidents first year on the job. Good things are happening that other presidents said would happen but never did, said Wade, a 39-year-old Moweaqua resident. I like that he has been honest. Trump, the first president with no military or government experience, marks the one year-anniversary of his inauguration this weekend. It coincides with a government shutdown that began at midnight Saturday after Republicans and Democrats could not agree on a funding bill, with Democrats lobbying for the inclusion of protections for younger immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. Among Macon County residents and local political leaders interviewed by the Herald & Review, as in the rest of the country, Trump inspires polarized feelings. But one thing seems to be true: Whatever you thought about Trump when he was sworn in whether you liked him or not the past year has likely confirmed it. A poll released Friday by CNN found approval of Trumps job performance at 40 percent, the highest it has been since September but lower than other modern presidents at this point in their terms. Of those surveyed, 87 percent of Republicans approved of the president, while only 6 percent of Democrats did. Another poll released Friday by NBC News/Wall Street Journal reported a 39 percent approval rating, including 78 percent of Republicans. Macon County Republican Chairman Bruce Pillsbury said Trump has been fairly successful, but the news media and Democrats are working to make him look bad. Yet, when you look at what hes accomplished with all this adversity, the economy is booming, and unemployment is down in all the communities, he said. U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, a Taylorville Republican who represents the 13th Congressional District, feels similarly. Davis pulled support for Trump in October 2016 during the campaign after vulgar comments Trump made about a woman in 2005 became public, but later said he would support Trump and was excited for his presidency. Now, he says, many have been unable to see through their own animosity to Trumps accomplishments. I think there are a lot of people in politics, in the media, and just overall society that their hatred for this president sometimes outweighs their desire to him be successful, Davis recently told the Herald & Review. But Jim Underwood, chairman of the Macon County Democrats, sees a much darker picture. He gives Trumps performance an F on the grading scale, so negative that he said it has driven more people to become involved locally in Democratic politics. I think its what everyone was fearful of, Underwood said. He really does not have a grasp for what the job is. A tumultuous year Trumps supporters point to gains in the economy, a falling unemployment rate and strengthened stock market. He successfully pushed for income and corporate tax cuts in sweeping tax overhaul legislation passed in December, and has taken steps to loosen regulations. Most economists are optimistic that growth will continue. Trumps critics say the positive economic trends began under previous administrations. He has probably gone beyond expectations, considering the bias of the liberal press, said Alice Huebner, 75, from Decatur. Everybody who has investments should be feeling good. In another encouraging step to his base, Trump on Friday stepped to the forefront of the countrys anti-abortion movement, addressing thousands of activists at the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., and pledging support. In the past year, he has delivered on promises to curb abortion rights through rules and policies, and appointed conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court. Critics continue to reject Trumps brash rhetorical style and have said he is eager to create division, especially on racial issues. A travel ban on visitors from several Muslim-majority countries, issued last January and blocked by several courts, stoked opposition from those who have called it intolerant and said it is illegally aimed at Muslims. Trumps administration has said the ban is needed for national security. The U.S. Supreme Court plans to hear arguments on the legality of the policy in April. Trump was widely criticized for blaming "both sides" violence between neo-Nazis and anti-hate group protesters that left one woman dead in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trumps administration has also continued to face questions about Russian interference in U.S. elections. Special counsel Robert Mueller has brought charges against four of Trump's former campaign advisers and has expressed interest in interviewing Trump. Democrats and Republicans in Congress have been increasingly divided on the investigations in recent months. Multiple congressional committees led by Republicans are now investigating the FBI and whether the bureau conspired against the president during the campaign. Polarized politics Trump during the campaign promised to shake up Washington, drain the swamp and return power to the nations forgotten. It was a message that resonated with many in across the country and in downstate Illinois, which supported Trump in the 2016 election. He carried 90 of Illinois 102 counties, according to data provided by the bipartisan Paul Simon Public Policy Institute in Carbondale. Democrat Hillary Clinton, who grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois, won enough votes in the Chicago area to earn all 20 Electoral College votes. In the central part of the state, only Peoria and Champaign counties went to her. Trump carried 56 percent of the vote in Macon County, and had similar victories in surrounding counties 51 percent in Sangamon, 62 percent in Piatt, 67 percent in DeWitt, 68 percent in Christian, 71 percent in Moultrie and 75 percent in Shelby. Pillsbury said that support has remained strong and vocal in the past year. People still talk, I hear them talking at the bar, he said. The saying used to be that, No one knows how I vote when I go into the booth, and I think youre hearing a lot of people more outspoken. And I think a lot of them like the president. But Trumps election also energized a movement on the left. Last January, half a million women marched in Washington, D.C., with more at other events across the country a visual signifier of the resistance movement, whose members now hope to empower more Democrats in the 2018 midterm elections. In Macon County, more new people have been coming to monthly Democrat meetings since the election, Underwood said. Another group, the Macon County Progressives, is also gaining steam. We have one or two that we have never seen before at each meeting, Underwood said. One person said, I decided that yelling at the TV was not getting my anywhere, so I wanted to find out what else I could do. One new voter who wont be voting for Trump in the next election is likely Cortezia Peoples, 18, from Decatur. She wishes she could have voted in the last election. Not only being black, but also a woman, it is important that I dont take (the ability to vote) for granted, she said. Peoples described Trump as very aggressive and almost attacking in his ways, and is discouraged in general about the divisiveness in politics. If you are a Republican I hate you; if you are a Democrat then I hate you, she said. When in actuality it shouldnt be the party but the person. Communication style And then, there is the tweeting. Nearly everyone interviewed by the Herald & Review had something to say about Trumps habit of sharing his thoughts with the world, 280 characters at a time. The president is well known for his unfettered use of the social media platform, which he adopted long before the campaign. He has used it to criticize congressional leaders and the media, claim that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower and praise Fox News coverage. Dont know think he knows what the reaction will be when he sends out tweets like this? Davis said. It immediately becomes the news story. If the news stories continue to cover every 280 characters that come from his account, do you think that is going to encourage him not to tweet? The tweets, Davis said, should be taken for what they are: Trumps method of getting his message across. Its the first time weve ever had a president utilize it on such a personal basis, Davis said. Though I would argue that just a few short years ago, President Obama was considered innovative for getting his message out. But Trump is considered annoying in many circles. Even Trump supporters are often wary of his social media use. Wade, the Moweaqua woman who said she appreciated Trumps honesty, thinks he should use caution. It can be good, but you have to be careful, especially if you are the president of the United States, she said. I dont know if it is the smartest thing for him to do. Sidney Jackson acknowledges she doesnt follow politics closely, but what she hears about Trump, she doesn't like. His social media use in particular concerns her. Jackson, a 22-year-old from Decatur, suggested the president should hire someone to filter his texts. (The tweets) can be seen across the world and it makes us look even worse as a country, she said. (Other countries) already have a low opinion of us. Hes not helping. Jodi Tull, 38, from Bement, said she would have hoped the president would share positive sentiments, but instead, she said his messages are negative, almost bullying tactics. Tull said shes not a fan of Trumps, but he is our president, so I have hopeful, wishful thinking, she said. And the president isnt all-powerful, she said. The makeup of Congress controls much of the countrys direction. It is our Senate and our House of Representatives, she said. If you really want changes, thats where you need to make them. Herald & Review staff writers Ryan Voyles and Donnette Beckett, and The Associated Press contributed to this story. As the sun sets over Antarctica, eight men and women who've just met one another prepare to spend the next eight and a half months together - in a single small building, in continuous cold and darkness, and without any way back to the outside world. They're "wintering over," as it's called, for the sake of scientific research. It's 1986 and something hinky is going on with the ozone layer in the Earth's atmosphere. Is there a "hole in the sky," as one character puts it, caused by human behavior? And if so, why is it over the desolate South Pole? The mission to find answers to these questions propels "Magellanica," a new play from Oregon playwright E.M. Lewis that carries a strong message about the place of science "in our hearts and our values." That message, though, is already partly overshadowed by the way Lewis has chosen to present it: in a five-hour, five-part production that could be a feat of endurance in itself. Oregon playwright E.M. Lewis. Lewis is unapologetic. "The questions that I had about the universe were large and the scale of the play had to fit that," she said in a recent interview. Nicole Lane, publicist for Artists Repertory Theatre, which is producing the play's world premiere, put it this way: "It's going on an adventure for a day. It happens to be theater." Artists Rep seems to be working to emphasize that sense of adventure with its production. At a recent rehearsal, the actors moved between bunk beds, cots and a spartan kitchen and dining area; in one scene, much of the cast donned extreme cold-weather gear to brave the elements. A recent Twitter post revealed a stage festooned with draperies that were lit in a manner reminiscent of the Southern Lights and overlaid with constellations. And though Lewis' topic is a serious one, her script is full of humor, heart and humanity. In one storyline that runs through several scenes, the characters discuss and perform in a talent show that's meant to alleviate boredom and stress and that ends up revealing much about them. Meanwhile, one of the scientists is reading a book about wintering over; her response to it and the way other characters react are telling as well. Here are five more things to know about "Magellanica": 1. Its title comes from the 16th-century Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, "who when he circumnavigated the Earth, tended to name everything behind him after himself," Lewis said. "So if you look on maps of a certain period right after Magellan's journey you will see that the whole Southern Hemisphere, basically, has written on it 'Magellanica.' ... And cartography has come into the play in huge ways." 2. Its 1980s setting is Lewis' way of using the past to comment on the present. "I feel like the stage has to be always present tense and so even if you're writing about something that happened in the past, it has to be about now in some fundamental and urgent way," she said. The play has at its core a running dispute about the ozone layer between two atmospheric scientists, an American and a Soviet, that speaks to how we choose to value the Earth, Lewis said: "Do we see it as something that is for our use and throwing away, or something to take care of and hold onto?" 3. It has an "insistently international cast" whom Lewis deliberately sent to neutral territory. "We tell so many stories from our own American perspective that we start to feel like it's the only perspective, which it's not. So taking it to a place, Antarctica, that doesn't belong to anybody, that has been carefully made into a pie and divided between different nations, and to put it at the very center of that pie, and so that we are at the very place where no one owns it and everyone has a stake in it, that's the place where this play wanted to live." 4. Its isolated, marooned feel is crucial. Lewis had initially considered writing a play about Alaska, then read the book "Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole," Jerri Nielsen's account of having to treat herself for breast cancer at the South Pole Station for months until a plane could be sent to retrieve her. The notion of such a remote place captivated the playwright because of "that solitude, that time away from the world when you figure out things about yourself and the world, because you can get some perspective from it only when you step away a little bit." For several of her characters, that much-needed perspective is both scientific and personal. 5. It asks, urgently, "Are we in this together?" Lewis' characters perform an intricate dance throughout the play, repeatedly approaching and retreating from one another physically, emotionally, scientifically, even linguistically (the Russian, Norwegian and Bulgarian characters frequently slip back into their native languages, while a Chinese American character occasionally speaks in Mandarin). "We're at a tipping point," Lewis said, "when we have to decide whether we are going to work together with each other to overcome the challenges ahead of us - or is it every man and woman for themselves?" *** "Magellanica" When: 5:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Jan. 20-Feb. 18; each performance has three 10-minute intermissions and a 25-minute dinner break Where: Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 S.W. Morrison St. Tickets: $25-$50, plus $18 per meal (advance orders only, brown-bagging is permitted); artistsrep.org or 503-241-1278 By Logan Downs Earlier this month, I fulfilled one of the biggest dreams of my life -- and made history doing so. On Jan. 3, I became one of the first openly transgender Americans to apply for enlistment in the U.S. Armed Forces following a court order requiring enlistments to begin after Jan. 1. I have officially submitted my paperwork and am working with my recruiter to schedule the next steps in the enlistment process. I wake up every day more motivated and excited than I've ever been because I know I'm one day closer to achieving my goals. The national conversation around transgender service in the military is deeply personal to me. Serving my country has been my goal for as far back as I can remember. The military is regarded with such pride and respect, and holds its members to the highest standard. What matters in the military isn't what you look like, it's your job performance. It's about achieving the task at hand. I admire those ideals. I wasn't born into a military family, but I believe America's values of freedom, equality and the pursuit of happiness are worth standing up for. I've always had a patriotic sense of civic duty. In high school, prior to my gender transition, I enlisted in the Army. But I suffered an injury during training that forced me to leave, never making it to graduation. Following that experience, as I healed from the injury, I came to terms with my authentic self as a transgender man. My dream of joining the armed forces never went away. And when the ban on open service was lifted in 2016, I hoped my dream could become reality. Since coming out, it seems the landscape on transgender equality is changing so quickly. The word 'transgender' is much more mainstream and recognized now. The concept of being transgender is becoming more understood. Americans are realizing that transgender people like me live and thrive in their communities. I'm proud to meet veterans who've said they support me, and believe in enlisting the best of the best -- regardless of that person's gender identity. The community of people I've met through my journey to serve has reaffirmed my belief that this is the right choice for me. I know that being transgender doesn't affect my ability to support and fight for my country. What's important is my strength and loyalty. When President Trump announced his ban on transgender service members, it felt like a tremendous step backward. As the issue now works its way through the courts, I'm determined to stay focused on simply doing my job. The Air Force is now processing my paperwork and if all goes according to plan, I'll be in basic training by the summer. My family is unconditionally supportive. My wife, Sammy, couldn't be more excited. We're both eager to go to school and to travel more, and my service will give us the financial means to do so. We both love exploring new places, and I can't wait to be able to provide that for her. It's going to be a huge weight off of our shoulders. My parents and sister are thrilled that I can finally do exactly what I had hoped to for so long. It's been a long road with a lot of bumps, but the positive outcomes far outweigh the negative. I have hope and faith that President Trump's ban will not stand, because I know it is not the right thing for the military or for our country. In my life, I've seen positivity do wonderful things. No matter the challenge, we always come out stronger and better because of it. I believe that the right thing will prevail. Logan Downs became one of the first transgender Americans to apply to join the military following the lift on President Trump's transgender military ban. He lives in Tualatin. To comment on this OpEd, click here. Share your opinion A small oil sheen initially reported Thursday afternoon in the Columbia River near the Cannery Pier Hotel in Astoria has spread up and downriver for 5 miles, the Coast Guard said Friday. The sheen was spotted Friday morning at Piers 1 and 2 as well as in Hammond at the mooring basin. Officials haven't determined what's causing the sheen, but believe it may be coming from pier that used to serve the Union Fisherman Cooperative. Dive teams have looked for the source without success so far. "We've placed boom around locations with the greatest amount of sheen and are also taking oil samples to aid in the investigation," said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Madjeska. A containment boom was placed around the pier at the hotel and the West End Mooring basin, where teams are working to clean up the sheen. Coast Guard personnel are monitoring the Hammond location until cleanup crews arrive, the Coast Guard said in a news release Friday evening. "City of Astoria personnel are checking outfall points to determine if any oils are coming from those locations," said Coast Guard Lt. Berit Boyle. The Coast Guard is working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Port of Astoria. The Coast Guard asks those with information regarding the Union Fisherman Cooperative building or who might know of possible locations for oil tanks used in the building to email Madjeska at Andrew.P.Madjeska@uscg.mil. -- Andre Meunier Rudy Foki Paea Fifita A Utah man was in jail Thursday after police say he evaded authorities for an hour in a high-speed chase that spanned two counties. Police arrested Rudy Foki Paea Fifita, 30, of West Jordan, Utah, on two counts of attempting to elude police, four counts of reckless endangerment, as well as reckless driving. At about 3:20 p.m. Thursday, an Oregon State Police trooper in a marked police car tried to pull over a Dodge pickup for speeding. The driver, later identified as Fifita, was headed westbound on I-84, near the Columbia Gorge town of Rufus, and did not stop, police said. Instead, Fifita cut across the grassy median, pulled a U-turn and headed eastbound on I-84. At that point, the trooper stopped following him. About 10 minutes later, a Sherman County deputy saw the truck speeding several miles south, and attempted to pull over Fifita near the town of Moro. He once more refused to stop, police said, so the deputy stopped chasing him. A short time later, an Oregon state trooper saw the Dodge headed south, out of Sherman County and into Wasco County. Wasco County deputies, along with state troopers, tried to stop Fifita by putting down spike strips at two separate locations, but Fifita swerved around them. The suspect was later seen driving through the town of Tygh Valley "at unsafe speeds," police said. Out of concern for the public's safety, all police agencies halted their efforts to stop him. Around 4:25 p.m., a Wasco County deputy found Fifita in the Dodge at a home just off US 197 about 4 miles south of Tygh Valley. As he tried to get back on the highway, police said, the deputy fired several rounds at the truck. Fifita then came to a stop and police arrested him without further incident. In addition to Fifita, two others were also in the car: Tiffany Joan Roubmai, 23, of Haiku, Hawaii, and their one-year-old son. No one was injured, police said. It is unclear why the deputy fired his weapon, or exactly where he was aiming. Lt. Cari Boyd, a spokeswoman for Oregon State Police, said she was unable to provide any more information about the shooting because the investigation is still open. Fifita was lodged at the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility in The Dalles. -- Anna Marum UPDATE Jan. 22, 2018: Sgt. Carrie Carver, a Lane County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman, said Laskey is accused of stabbing a 41-year-old man in Creswell on Friday night. Laskey and the man knew each other before the incident, Carver said. She said the man received medical attention for his injuries, but did not provide further detail. *** An Oregon man who spent more than a decade in prison for desecrating Eugene's largest synagogue was jailed early Saturday, records show. Jacob Laskey Jacob Laskey, 37, was arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon, menacing and criminal trespassing, according to Lane County Jail records. The former two are felony accusations. A county sheriff's office spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to messages seeking information about the arrest Saturday. Laskey, who spent 11 years in prison after he threw swastika-etched bricks through Temple Beth Israel in Eugene, has not shied away from building a public profile since his release in late 2015. Books he penned behind bars, including one that claims the Holocaust was a hoax and another that serves as a primer for members of the American Front, a white power group, became available on Amazon in recent months. Laskey also has become a prolific YouTube video blogger, where he has delivered lengthy diatribes against antifa activists and talked about his doubts that the Earth is round and whether the International Space Station is a Hollywood movie set. He previously told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he's no longer involved in the white power movement or affiliated with any white supremacist groups. He added that he didn't renounce his past. Laskey and his family operate Wolfclan Armory, a military surplus store in Creswell, just south of Eugene. The Oregonian/OregonLive Present and former Armenian government officials and their relatives own many businesses and real estate in the Eastern European countries, including Ukraine. Currently, there are nearly 400,000 Armenians living in Ukraine (including the Crimea), of which 40,000 live in Kyiv. Ukraine is attractive for Armenians for various reasons, such as the absence of a language barrier and liberal environment for investment and real estate acquisition. Ukraine is similar to Armenia in many ways. Foreigners may buy real estate like Ukrainian citizens, except for agricultural land and community-owned facilities. However, even these can be bought by registering a legal entity in that country. Although Ukrainian legislation doesnt foresee dual citizenship, a person may still have another citizenship, and be considered as a citizen of Ukraine within it. Last year Hetq wrote about real estate in Odessa owned by Armenian MP Sedrak (Seyran) Saroyan. Hes not the only one among Armenian officials who fails to declare their Ukrainian businesses in their financial disclosures. Gagik Tsarukyan declared two out of his three Ukrainian businesses One of these officials is Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the Tsarukyan Alliance. In his declarations, Tsarukyan, as a rule, includes even smaller businesses, as seen in case of his Bulgarian businesses. Gagik Tsarukyan has no real estate in Ukraine registered in his own name. Instead, we found three companies with his participation in the Ukrainian registry. Business-Techno Plaza Business-Techno Plaza LLC was founded in February, 2006 by Aleksey Grebenchenko. Initially, the charter capital was 35,000 hryvnia, which soon grew to 1.9 million. In July 2008, Tsarukyan became a shareholder of the LLC, with a share of 1,924,650 hryvnia (about USD 67,000). In April 2010, Seyran Rostomyan became another shareholder of the company. To date, according to the registry, Tsarukyan owns 99,9818% of the shares (1,924,650 hryvnia), while the remaining 0.0182% (350 hryvnia) belong to Rostomyan. Rostomyan, registered in the Golovanevsk town in Ukraine, has been the director of the company since the spring of 2010. The LLC is registered in Kyiv, at 7 Holosiivska Street. The companys activities include the sale and lease of real estate, entrepreneurship and management consultations, and other professional activities. The name of Business-Techno Plaza LLC, with a charter capital of about 2 million hryvnia, is missing from the financial disclosure submitted to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) and property and income disclosures submitted to the Commission on Ethics of High-Ranking Officials of the Republic of Armenia. Raneb and Arben:Twin Companies Two companies were founded in Kyiv on December 16, 2010. According to the Ukrainian registry, the companies had different shareholders in the beginning: Karineh Rostomyan, the sister of above-mentioned Seyran Rostomyan, in case of Raneb LLC, and Tatyana Shugayeva, - for Arben LLC. However, after a couple of days, the charter capital of the two companies was distributed between Tsarukyan and Sedrak Arustamyan. Thus, Tsarukyan owns 99% shares of the 5,951,430-hryvnia charter capital (more than USD 207,000) of Raneb LLC, and the remaining 1% belongs to his associate. The same for the second company, although its capital is less - 2,151,253 hryvnia (around USD 75,000). Not surprisingly, 25 types of business activities of the two companies are the same, including construction, organization of trade expos and seminars, film and television production, etc. In both cases, however, the main activity is provision of subsidiary services in the field of forestry. Ranebs address is 14 Kruglouniversitetskaya in the center of Kyiv (in the photo above), Arben is registered at 15 Bastionna Street (both are multi-apartment buildings). However, there is no real estate registered in their name. Tsarukyan has declared his shares in the twin companies. However, according to the submitted documents, he doesnt get any dividends from those. Nushikyan's Ukrainian Edelweiss Businessman and MP in 2012-2017 (non-party, but representing the Republican Party of Armenia Faction) Garegin Nushikyan founded Edelweiss LLC in Ukraine (address: 4 Mekhanizatoriv Str., Kyiv) in August 2006. In Armenia, Nushikyan has a company with the same name, dealing with retail trade in clothing. The Ukrainian companys sphere is different - wholesale trade of furniture, carpets, non-electric household appliances, retail trade of furniture, intermediary trade in wide range of goods, as well as restaurant service. Nevertheless, neither the LLC nor the businessman have any real estate registered in their name. The company's charter capital is 38,000 hryvnia (USD 1,322). The current director is Olesya Dyomina. The company is registered in Kyiv. Nushikyan did not mention the 100% stake in this company in either of his disclosures. MP Arman Sahakyans Company Republican Party of Armenia MP Arman Sahakyan (an MP since 2012), who owns several businesses in Armenia, including Sovrano Ltd, also established a company in Ukraine in November 2005, called Mantashov Commercial House (address: 12 Melnykova Str., Kyiv),together with Arman Barseghyan, registered in Kyiv, with a 50-50 proportion of shares. The charter capital is 3,785,402 hryvnia (around USD 131,730). The activities include wholesale trade of fruits, vegetables, beverages, fish and seafood, retail trade of meat and meat products in specialized stores, etc. Sahakyan is not a beneficiary in the Ukrainian company. His partner Barseghyan is the beneficiary and the director of the company. Meanwhile, the Ethics Commission website doesnt have Sahakyans declarations for the MP appointments in 2012 and 2017, in which he had to present the Ukrainian property as well. Chairman of the Cadastre Committee Martin Sargsyan, who has been the Chair of the State Committee of the Real Estate Cadastre since 2014, is one of the most prominent figures of Armenian Republican Party. He was an MP in 1998-1999 and 2007-2014, head of the Shengavit district of Yerevan in 1998-2007. Since 2002, he has been the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the RA, and the chairman of Shengavit RPA board. In September 2005, Sargsyan, together with Vahagn Movsisyan and Harutyun Khurshudyan, founded Sar-Mov LLC in Borislav city in Ukraine. Khurshudyan soon left the company, and Sargsyan and Movsisyan shared the 33,000-hryvnia (USD 1,145) charter capital equally. Vahagn Movsisyan was the director of the Armenian Development Agency in 2000-2007, and was appointed Ambassador of Armenia to China. In June 2008, he died in Beijing. It's strange, but up to now, Movsisyan's data has been preserved in the list of Sar-Mov LLC shareholders. The company's several activities, travel agency operation being the main one. There is no real estate registered in the name of Sargsyan or the company. The current director of the company is Tatyana Baranyak. Martin Sargsyan submitted disclosures in 2012 and in 2014, but did not mention his Ukrainian business in any of them. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will pay a working visit to France on January 22-24, and is scheduled to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and French Senate President Gerard Larcher, and French National Assembly President Francois de Rugy. Sargsyan will also meet with members of the France-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group. The two presidents will hold a joint press conference after their meeting. Statement of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh in Connection with the 28thAnniversary of the Mass Pogroms of the Armenian Population in Baku 28 years ago, on January 13-19, 1990, the Azerbaijani authorities organized and carried out mass massacre of the Armenian population in Baku. About a quarter of a million of Armenians, on the ground of the national affiliation, were subjected to violence and deportation. According to international human rights organizations, hundreds of Armenians became victims to torture and the property of Armenians was subjected to plundering and confiscation. The disintegrated Baku went down in history as the "city of three massacres" (1905, 1918 and 1990). The events that took place in Baku in the bloody days of January 1990, carried out with the knowledge and intent of the Gorbachev regime, were the implementation of the genocide of the Armenians of Azerbaijan, a policy by which Baku was striving to silent the voice of Artsakh people raised for the realization of their right to self-determination. Today, the Azerbaijani authorities take every measure to hide their genocidal actions by falsifying the facts and avoiding responsibility. Paying tribute to the memory of the innocent Armenians died in the massacre and deportation of Baku; being convinced that the impunity of the crime leads to the new crimes, which the civilized community once again witnessed during the new military aggression unleashed against the people of Artsakh in April 2016, the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly: condems any manifestation of terrorism, xenophobia and extremism; insists that the violence organized against Armenians of Baku, the whole Eastern Transcaucasia, as well as the North Artsakh and Nakhijevan fully corresponds to the legal formulation of the crime of genocide defined in the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; reiterates that the Republic of Artsakh will remain consistent in bringing the organizers and implementers of the genocide of Armenians of Azerbaijan to justice; calls upon the international community and parliamentary institutions to give legal assessment to the massacre of the Armenian population in Baku and take steps against the continuing anti-Armenian propaganda in Azerbaijan to prevent its possible consequences. 20 January, 2018 Stepanakert . As far as I know there was some ground work done by the Christian missionaries , such as dictionnary and lexicons the phonetic alphabet is much more adaptable to mass education , ideograms are language neutral but require a lifetime of specialized study the French had a revolution and were in a political phase of universal secular education for all this included some bruising political battle at home against the church universal ,free and secular teaching was one of the ideological motor of the Third republic we can't make people smart but we can teach kids to read ,write and count every one of them , that was ideology the school teachers raised in the "ecole normales"were imbued with the ethos of fighting superstition and freeing people minds ,due to their customary black dust coats , they were refereed as "the black hussars of the republic " since colonialism had an alibi of bringing good to the world , it was normal to have basic education shoved upon colonial kids . ho chi min , vo nguyen giap , president thieu and pretty much everybody else were educated by the French system and by and large lapped it up especially the history lessons full of rousing calls to fight for the Homeland poor peasants were forced to have their kids learning to read and write , they didn't really mind every poor peasants were thrilled to have someone in the family who was learned enough to make sense of some officialese piece of paper This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The Midland chapter of the American Red Cross celebrated its 60th anniversary in 1977. The Red Cross is an international organization set up to alleviate human suffering and was founded in 1863 by Henry Dunant, a Swiss businessman. Clara Barton, who had been a nurse in the American Civil War, went to Europe where she learned of the idea. She returned to the United States to set up the American Red Cross in 1881. During World War I, a group of Midlanders realized the need for a local Red Cross chapter. Their efforts were fulfilled July 18, 1917, when the chapter was granted its charter. When wars raged, the Midland Red Cross helped many military men and their families, including helping set up an emergency care unit at city hall in 1943 when the local hospital closed. Rod Wagner was executive director of the Red Cross in 1977. Today, Midland is served by the Michigan Region of the American Red Cross. GreenStone Farm Credit Services is accepting applications through March 2 for its scholarship program. The cooperative will once again award up to $40,000 to incoming college freshmen pursuing a degree in an agriculture-related field. Since 2010, the association has presented more than $175,000 in undergraduate college scholarships to the industry's next generation of leaders. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate McLaren Bay Region on Friday announced plans to open an office building near the Midland Mall. The three-story, 55,000-square-foot, leased facility will sit next to Belle Tire at 801 Joe Mann Blvd. This new development offers us the opportunity to serve our patients with better access to the high-quality health care McLaren provides and aligns with our population heath strategy. The location is a great connection between McLaren Central Michigan in Mount Pleasant and McLaren Bay Regions main campus in Bay City, said Clarence Sevillian, president/CEO of McLaren Bay Region. The 30 new employees in the facility will begin seeing patients in early 2019 by offering the following services: Occupational health and convenient care (urgent care) Primary care Multi-Specialty Suite (cardiology, vascular, neurosurgery, spine, othopedics and others) Laboratory Imaging Physical therapy Besides the McLaren Bay Region Medical Office building, McLaren has recently also announced the following acquisitions: Huron Medical Center in Bad Axe signed a letter of intent. Huron is a 58-bed rural hospital in Michigan's Thumb region. The deal is expected to close early next year. Caro Community Hospital joined McLaren, making it the system's 13th hospital. Caro Community is a 24-bed critical access hospital in Tuscola County. McLaren announced it would replace two Lansing hospitals with a 240-bed, $451 million state-of-the-art facility on land to solidify its relationship with Michigan State University, which has two medical schools. It is expected to open in late 2021. McLaren Bay Region is the only hospital in the Great Lakes Bay Region to reach the top 5 percent in the nation for Patient Safety Excellence from HealthGrades, said Magen Samyn, vice president, marketing and business development. Headquartered in Grand Blanc, McLaren includes 13 hospitals covering more than 620,000 lives in Michigan and Indiana. McLaren operates Michigans largest network of cancer centers and providers, anchored by the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute. Pregnancy Resource Center merged with two other organizations at the end of last year - Pregnancy Aid of Midland County and Abortion Alternatives, Inc. in Saginaw. Pregnancy Resource Center of Mid-Michigan will celebrate a successful 30 years of serving the greater Midland community this May. A 37.6 percent increase in the number of client appointments from the years 2012-13 to 2016-17 demonstrates the consistent growth of the center and the continued need for the services that it offers, the center stated. Pregnancy Aid and Abortion Alternatives, Inc. served their respective areas for more than four decades. The similar mission statements and goals of all three organizations made the mergers a natural next step to better and more comprehensively serve their shared clientele, the agencies stated. "We're excited to continue serving the needs of families in the area as well as work toward expanding the number of services we offer. We've experienced an incredible amount of support from both the Midland and Saginaw communities and I look forward to seeing what the future holds," Pregnancy Resource Center Executive Director Lori Drake said of the merger. The decision to merge was amicably made by all parties involved and the staff and board of directors were restructured to ensure organizations were appropriately represented throughout the changes and developments. The mergers were successfully completed in November, and were done without any disruption of services to clients in either location. Pregnancy Resource Center of Mid-Michigan now has two locations -- one in Midland and one in Saginaw. It currently offers pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, STI testing, STI treatment, parenting education, material support, childbirth classes, post-abortive support, physician and community referrals, and more. Services offered differs upon location. To inquire about or obtain these services, call 989-835-1500. The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriff's Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Kelly Dame. Friday, Jan. 19 1:53 a.m. -- A motorist was arrested at Eastman Avenue and Harcrest Drive for drunken driving. Thursday, Jan. 18 4:13 a.m. -- A Midland man, 68, was arrested in Lee Township for driving without a valid license. 9:42 a.m. -- Officers investigated a hit and run traffic crash at East Patrick Road and Waldo Avenue. 1:20 p.m. -- A Mills Township man, 20, reported he received a check written for $2,000.70 as payment for an accordion he was selling online for $450. He expected the check to be fake and a bank confirmed the check was fraudulent. 1:32 p.m. -- Police investigated a hit and run traffic crash in the 6700 block of Eastman Avenue. 2:40 p.m. -- A deputy was sent to a Homer Township school for a report of a person attempting to gain personal information from students through social media. The students were advised by school staff to be cautious while using social media. The incident is being investigated. 3:58 p.m. -- A deputy was sent to a Greendale Township business for a report of a woman in a pickup truck in a parking lot asking people for money. The woman left before the deputy arrived. 9:44 p.m. -- Police made arrests on a warrant and second-offense driving while license suspended in the 7300 block of Eastman Avenue. 9:57 p.m. -- Police were sent to a Dublin Avenue address for a report of domestic assault and vehicle theft. 10:43 p.m. -- Deputies were sent to a Jerome Township home to assist the Jerome Township Fire Department with a medical call. The call was for a 29-year-old man who overdosed, and deputies were asked to be on hand in case narcotics were found. No drugs were found. The case is closed. We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. You think watching the Netflix series The Crown is fun? Try this documentary for size. It also features a royal crown. Only this one is real. This past week, fans of Queen Elizabeth II were treated to something rare: a sit-down interview. Her first one, ever. In honor of the 65th anniversary of her coronation, the queen agreed to a filmed conversation (not an interview, per se), which was produced by the BBC. The documentary, called The Coronation, airs in the U.S. on the Smithsonian Channel, including tonight at 8 p.m. (check listings for your area). The host of the conversation was Alastair Bruce, the historical adviser for PBS Downton Abbey. Fans of that series may remember Bruce appeared at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts in December 2015. Then, his presentation was More Manners of Downton Abbey. This time, he is sitting down with Britains longest reigning monarch as she shares her memories of Coronation Day, June 2, 1953. The queen wore two crowns at the coronation: the St. Edwards Crown, which she has never worn since, and the Imperial State Crown, which she wears at formal occasions such as the opening of Parliament. Now 91, the queen shares her memories of what it was like to wear the 5-pound St. Edwards Crown. "You can't look down to read the speech... Because if you did, your neck would break, and it would fall off," she says. According to The New York Times, The Coronation is the first time the crown jewels, the collection of coronation regalia, has been filmed. The shows producer tells The Times he was not allowed to film the crowns from above, because that vantage point is reserved for God. In 2013, I had the good fortune to visit to Buckingham Palace during a special exhibit honoring the 60th anniversary of the queens coronation. Its hard to believe five years have passed. Among the items on display were the gowns, uniforms and robes worn by the major participants at the incredible ceremony. Most spectacular to me was the queens gown with a 21-foot train. The dress is decorated with symbols from the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, such as maple leaves for Canada, wheat sheaves for Pakistan, lotus flowers for South Africa, the English rose, Welsh leeks, Scottish thistles and Irish shamrocks. The dress sparkles, and its not rhinestones causing the bling effect. Diamonds, crystals, pearls, and amethysts decorate the dress. And the thread is gold. The needlework on the gown was mind-boggling. Six needle-workers stitched around the clock for 3,500 hours to complete it. Look how tiny the waist is on that dress! my friends and I said as we stared in awe. We held up our hands in a circle to mimic the small circumference of the royal waistline. The 27-year-old queen certainly was petite. Prince Charles, a grandfather today, was a mere lad of 4 at his mothers coronation. His little outfit was on display, too. Even cuter was filmed footage of the Prince of Wales goofing off during the official royal photo shoot. The military uniform of the queens husband, Prince Philip, was also on display. According to the guide that day, the Duke of Edinburgh can still fit into it. Famously, the coronation was the first to be televised (my mother remembers watching it as a young girl). Organizers were faced with the challenge of discreetly setting up cameras and lights in Westminster Abbey. A small hole was made in the carpet under the queens throne and a microphone lead was fed through it to pick up sound. The microphone was attached to the leg of the throne and painted gold to disguise it. Among the details about the coronation highlighted in the BBC documentary, the queen shares her views on crowns. Yes, they are heavy to wear, but otherwise they're quite important things." BLOOMINGTON McLean County's latest wind farm application will share the spotlight with a first-of-its-kind alternative energy proposal next month. Cypress Creek Renewables of Santa Monica, Calif., plans to build the county's first three solar farms, according to permit applications filed this week. The county's Zoning Board of Appeals will discuss them Feb. 6, the same night it will tackle the proposed Bright Stalk Wind Farm near Chenoa. Each solar farm would produce substantially less power than a wind farm 2 megawatts, versus about 200 for Bright Stalk but be less expensive and less intrusive. Each would produce enough electricity to power about 400 homes. Each solar farm would cost $3.9 million, including $2.3 million that would be spent locally for each. The farms would use 20 acres owned by David Sandage on McLean County Road 1100 North near Arrowsmith; 30 acres on the same road with the same owner; and 30 acres owned by Mary S. Trent on County Road 2200 East near Downs. "This project will not negatively impact public safety or general welfare, nor will it affect the comfort and convenience of the public in McLean County or of the immediate neighborhood," said a memo from Taylor Smith, a Cypress Creek zoning analyst. "Allowing the property to develop as a solar energy facility provides many benefits, including an opportunity for locally generated, clean energy resources in McLean County; income generation for the landowner; and economic investment and increased tax revenue for McLean County." David Loomis, director of Illinois State University's Center for Renewable Energy, said the farms could be the start of a trend caused by an emphasis on solar energy in the state's Future Energy Jobs Act. Thats just being rolled out now by the Illinois Power Agency, but I think companies like Cypress Creek are doing their legwork now so that once the state regulatory proceeding is set up, theyll be in position to build a project, said Loomis. "We may also see more 'community center solar.' Groups can get together and build a farm, and everybody shares that solar by buying in. McLean County has several solar arrays already, but they're residential or business units rather than large-scale farms or community agreements. The county also has two wind farms: Twin Groves Wind Farm, a two-phase, 198-megawatt farm near Ellsworth, and White Oak Energy Center, a 150-megawatt farm near Carlock. BLOOMINGTON An apparent dispute between a Peoria murder suspect and his lawyer derailed an anticipated plea deal Friday that could have resolved the criminal case related to a Normal man's death. Danny Smith Jr., 29, is charged with kidnapping two men from their home in north Normal in December 2016, and murder in connection with the death of Maunds Bryant, who was critically injured during the incident. Additional felony counts of home invasion, residential burglary, armed robbery and aggravated vehicular hijacking also are pending against Smith. At what was scheduled to be a plea hearing Friday, Smith told Judge Robert Freitag that he has filed a complaint with the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission against defense lawyer Gary Morris. Morris, who had asked that the case be scheduled for a May jury trial, responded, "That's the first I've heard that." Smith did not elaborate but said he has consulted with a Chicago attorney about his case. A Feb. 16 hearing is set to review the case ahead of a May 7 trial. According to police, Bryant and his father, Ray Magsby, were kidnapped after Smith demanded a ransom of Bryant's mother. The Bryant suffered a head injury when he fell during the abduction, said police. The two men were taken by Smith to a home in Peoria where Magsby was able to escape and summon help, said policep. Bryant died the following day in a Peoria hospital. The kidnapping may have been tied to a lottery prize won by the Bryant family earlier in 2016, said police. Smith also faces aggravated kidnapping charges in Peoria County. NORMAL Just as the damage from Hurricane Maria is still a raw wound in Puerto Rico, where half of its residents remain without power, emotions are still raw among Bloomington-Normal residents with ties to the battered island. We are here because we need to keep having Puerto Rico in the news, Daynali Flores-Rodriguez said Friday at a teach-in at Illinois State University on the effects of hurricanes in Puerto Rico. This is a long-term recovery. The teach-in at the Jaime Escalante Room of Hewett and Manchester residence halls in Normal included facts about the devastation, personal stories and emotions ranging from thankfulness for the survival of relatives to anger over the federal government's response. Puerto Ricans are American citizens Puerto Ricans contribute $3.6 billion in taxes, said Flores-Rodriguez, assistant professor of Hispanic studies at Illinois Wesleyan University, who was born in Puerto Rico. She said her mother first lost power after Hurricane Irma sideswiped the island on Sept. 7. She got the power back for one day Sept. 19 then Hurricane Maria hit, plunging her into darkness until one week ago. She was among the lucky ones. Power is not expected to be restored throughout the island until June, about nine months after the hurricanes hit and shortly before the hurricane season returns, noted Flores-Rodriguez. ISU senior Stephanie Rodriguez, no relation to Flores-Rodriguez, a journalism major from Elgin who was born in Puerto Rico, apologized as she wiped away tears, expressing concern about her father, who still lives in Puerto Rico, Maura Toro-Morn, professor of Latin American studies at ISU, said it's difficult not to get emotional when the Puerto Rico that you know, the Puerto Rico of your youth, is no longer there. She echoed the theme of others about the anxiety caused by a lack of communication and not knowing how relatives are doing. You become a zombie, she said. I was here trying to live my life but I was connected to Puerto Rico and trying to understand what was happening. Yojana Cuenca-Carlino, associate professor of special education at ISU, said, Now people talk about life before Maria and life after Maria. There were positive messages at the teach-in, too. Cuenca-Carlino talked about stories of resiliency and a sense of community in which people shared what they had and joined forces to cook meals. Toro-Morn said the hurricanes have strengthened links among Puerto Ricans living on the U.S. mainland and between Puerto Ricans on the mainland and back on the island. Krista Cardona, IWU assistant director of alumni relations, is not Puerto Rican but has family living on the island. After a slow burn of frustration and anger at what wasn't happening in terms of government recovery efforts, Cardona said, I decided I couldn't just sit and watch it happen. Using social media, she reached out to people for donations of much-needed supplies from batteries to baby formula and money for mailing costs. About 400 pounds of donations were left on her porch within a week, she said. Epiphany School collected 1,000 pounds of goods in three days, and members of the University High School cross-country team helped pack boxes. This is a story about how this community cares, she said. The goods were mailed in about 30 boxes and taken to central distribution sites in several communities by Cardona's cousin, Sarah Delgado, who lives in Puerto Rico. She said she got to know her island more. It was very fulfilling for her, said Delgado. SPRINGFIELD Sprouts are suspected in a salmonella cluster in December in Illinois and Wisconsin that may be tied to the Jimmy John's sandwich chain. The Illinois Department of Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and other state and local health departments made the announcement Friday. Two of the cases have affected Illinois residents who fell ill on Dec. 20 and Dec. 26. Neither case is from McLean County, according to the county health department. Jimmy John's announced Friday it has directed all its franchisees to stop serving sprouts as a precautionary measure after seven customer complaints during one week in December in Illinois and Wisconsin. IDPH asked Jimmy Johns to take the step until the investigation is complete. The company said Friday afternoon an investigation over the previous 24 hours indicated the sprouts were purchased from two growers in Minnesota. Food safety and the welfare of our customers are our top priorities and not negotiable in our business, said James North, Jimmy John's President and CEO, in a news release, adding the company is working with the various agencies in the investigation. "While the results of the investigation are not conclusive and we are still gathering more information, we have voluntarily directed all franchisees to remove sprouts as a precautionary measure from all supply and distribution, North said. IDPH is also reminding restaurants not to let food handlers work if they have diarrhea. If you have developed symptoms of salmonella infection after eating food at a Jimmy Johns restaurant, please contact your health care provider or local health department. Symptoms may include headache, muscle aches, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, chills, fever, nausea, and dehydration. Symptoms usually appear six to 72 hours after ingesting the bacteria, but can be longer. Most illnesses resolve on their own and do not require treatment other than drinking fluids to stay hydrated. If your symptoms persist or are severe, promptly contact your health care provider. BLOOMINGTON While State Farm is still deciding what to do with its downtown building, there is no shortage of potential reuses being suggested. Mayor Tari Renner sees the building's size 180,960 square feet over 13 floors as suitable for public/private purposes. He has suggested using part of the building for a city hall, a hotel or using some of its parking spaces to resolve downtown parking issues. "It could be anything, but at this point I would say any conversations, other than throwing ideas on the table, are premature until we hear back from what State Farm wants to do," said Renner. "I assume they're not going to keep it or keep the whole thing, but at this point we have to wait to see what they have in mind." State Farm last week said the company no longer will use the downtown building, 112 E. Washington St., but had not yet decided whether it would be sold. On Friday, a company spokesman said no announcements were imminent. Your turn: What should State Farm do with its downtown building? In a series of Facebook queries in January 2018, we asked you what should be done with State The building the insurer's first headquarters has long been a downtown beacon. Its remaining 150 employees will be moved to other sites and workers are completing asbestos removal and sprinkler system updates. State Farm previously said the building's size and layout are not conducive for the company's redesigned workspaces already in place at other buildings. On The Pantagraph's Facebook page, people posted dozens of comments about potential reuses for the building, including apartments, a hotel, a homeless shelter, office spaces and retail stores. Ward 1 Alderman Jamie Mathy, who is a downtown business owner, said the downtown building would be a good location for a tech incubator. "It's just speculative at this point ... but I do think we could support a boutique hotel in that space with so many activities and wonderful amenities in our downtown," said Tricia Stiller, Bloomington downtown development division manager. Darrell Hartweg and Ralph Turner, co-owners of the historic Illinois House office complex, said preservation of the iconic art deco-style landmark is paramount. "The State Farm building is just an elegant building. It really reflects the period of time in which it was constructed," said Hartweg. "Ralph and I think the presence of the building has added a great historical significance to downtown Bloomington." Russel Francois, who has been a downtown resident since 1977 and opened his business, Francois Associates Architects, 118 W. Washington St., in 1990, agrees. "It's a great building. We just have to think about it as a community asset and ... move forward to make that building play a vibrant role in the community," he added. "I do think it's going to take initiative and dollars. Hopefully we have the energy, and hopefully that energy will be able to target and find dollars to make it happen. Hartweg and Turner understand the changing workplace model for State Farm. "We've owned our building for 40 years. About the only thing that's been constant in our experience is that change always occurs," said Hartweg. "Change is always involved in anything." Renner said he sees the closure of the downtown building primarily affecting lunch crowds at restaurants and the downtown residential rental market. "I don't know the number, but there definitely is a core of people who rent downtown who work at State Farm," said Renner. "Some of them may decide to stay in the apartments downtown. Some of them may decide to move closer to their jobs." "I used to get a lot of State Farm people for lunch," said Mike Hill, owner of Maguire's Bar and Grill, 220 N. Center St. "It's going to be devastating to restaurants and other lunch places down here. It's going to be tough." CHICAGO U.S. prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a former physics student charged with the kidnapping and killing of a University of Illinois scholar from China, they told a judge in a Friday filing that also made a new allegation that the 28-year-old suspect once choked and sexually assaulted someone else years ago. The filing in U.S. District Court in central Illinois provides several reasons for why the death penalty is called for in Brendt Christensen's case, including because he allegedly tortured 26-year-old Yingying Zhang before killing her. It didn't say how. The new allegation is that Christensen "choked and sexually assaulted" someone referred to only by the initials "M.D." in 2013 in Central Illinois. He has not been charged in that alleged assault. Christensen also once expressed his aspiration "to be known as a killer," the filing says. Zhang disappeared June 9 on her way to sign an apartment lease off campus in Urbana. She had arrived on campus in April and had just missed a bus when Christensen lured her into his car, prosecutors say. They say Zhang is dead, though her body hasn't been found. Christensen, who earned a master's degree in physics from the University of Illinois, has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping resulting in death. His trial is scheduled to begin on Feb. 27, though his attorneys have said previously they would need more time to prepare, especially if the government intended to seek the death penalty. Illinois abolished the death penalty in 2011, years after then-Gov. George Ryan declared a moratorium on executions, citing doubts about the guilt of several of those on death row. While capital punishment is available under federal law, prosecutors typically seek it in cases involving terrorism or multiple deaths. Among other factors Friday's five-page filing says justifies the death penalty was the "heinous, cruel, or depraved manner" of the crime and that it involved "planning and premeditation," as well as what the document says is Christensen's "lack of remorse." "The victim was particularly vulnerable due to her small stature and limited ability to communicate in English," the filing says. A message seeking comment from Christensen's attorney, Robert Tucker, wasn't immediately returned. Zhang, who received her master's degree in environmental engineering in China in 2016, had hoped to eventually land a professorship and help her family in China out financially. Her father, a sometime-semitrailer driver, traveled from China to Illinois in June for the search. Her disappearance prompted a massive search that drew international media attention, particularly from China. Other disturbing details in the case emerged after Christensen's arrest last year. Months before Zhang went missing, his phone was used to visit the website FetLife.com, including to view threads titled "Perfect abduction fantasy" and "planning a kidnapping," prosecutors say. FetLife described itself as "the Social Network for the BDSM, Fetish & Kinky Community," stressing in policy statements that it's a place for consenting adults. The acronym BDSM stands for bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism. Users provide their ages, genders and roles they wish to play, but otherwise remain anonymous. Ready to feel sick? After reports emerged that Michelle Williams only earned 0.6 percent of what Mark Wahlberg was paid for the All The Money In The World reshoots to replace Kevin Spacey, it has now been revealed that Wahlberg was in fact paid eight times what Williams was for his role in the film. Wahlberg faced near instantaneous backlash after his salary was announced to the public, leading him to donate his full $1.5 million for a week's shooting to the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund. This was after details were made public that he refused to sign off on Christopher Plummer filling Spacey's role until he was generously compensated. Now we know that even prior to the reshoots, Williams signed on to the film for $625,000 while Wahlberg received $5 million. Ha! Related | Kevin Spacey Allegedly Tried to Sexually Assault a 14-year-old Anthony Rapp For those looking to argue that Williams had a lesser role, Vulture reports the two shared equal screen time and Williams, of course, was nominated for a Golden Globe for her work. Furthermore, she has been nominated for four Oscars over the past year, while Wahlberg has been nominated for two, again begging the question, what makes him the bigger drawcard? Also, let's not forget the two are represented by the same agency, WME, which felt guilted enough into donated $500,000 to Time's Up after the news broke. This latest development emerged after The Hollywood Reporter ran a story about actresses sharing with each other their and their male co-stars own pay gaps to encourage transparent negotiation of salaries. It was in this that Tracee Ellis Ross revealed she was paid "significantly less" than Black-ish co-star Anthony Anderson. It's good times all-round. Oh, and by the way, those reshoots? Yeah, Wahlberg reportedly knew he was receiving 1500x as much as Williams, while director Ridley Scott claimed the cast and crew all participated for free. Williams told the USA Today when the gross disparity was announced she was so grateful that Scott wanted to replace known-sexual predator Spacey for the sake a film that she was more than happy to waive her fee. "I'd be wherever they needed me, whenever they needed me," she said. "And they could have my salary, they could have my holiday, whatever they wanted. Because I appreciated so much that they were making this massive effort." Ah, injustice. Image via Getty On January 8th Patently Apple posted a report titled "Big Apple Shareholders Sent Apple a Letter Saturday urging them to take Steps to Address Growing iPhone Addiction." While Apple has parental controls on macOS and iOS, Apple made it public quickly that they're going to be releasing even more controls for parents in a future software update. Now Apple's Tim Cook is trying to change the direction of that conversation and uniquely away from Apple. Earlier today Patently Apple posted a report titled "70 Leading Colleges and Universities across Europe have Adopted Apple's 'Everyone Can Code' Initiative." The third photo in that report shows a male student who is now in the cover photo of a report by the Guardian, as noted above. Evidently Apple's story published today derived from somewhere in the UK. Shun Social Media While talking with a group of students, he turned the tables on the idea that the iPhone was too addictive to social media being the culprit. Specifically Cook noted: "I don't have a kid, but I have a nephew that I put some boundaries on. There are some things that I won't allow; I don't want them on a social network." How did a single nephew become "a them"? Obviously Cook's example was really meant to reach a larger audience. It's not the iPhone stupid, it's social media that's evil. Obviously Cook is trying to get his message out to a larger audience. The only Language that Matters in the World, is Swift Of course Cook was at one of the schools in London that have adopted Apple's 'Everyone Can Code' Initiative. The Guardian notes that "The one-year coding curriculum adopted by Harlow college, half an hour north of London, is intended to teach students computing skills through the use of a variety of games, lessons and interactive materials. Every student is given an iPad loaded with coding apps and tools, and the teachers guide them through the concepts of coding. Pupils are able to see their progress and get feedback, finishing the year with two qualifications. One student, Athena, 17, said: "In secondary school it was mainly about designing websites in bright colors, but this focuses on real coding and gaming." Cook said: "I think if you had to make a choice, it's more important to learn coding than a foreign language. I know people who disagree with me on that. But coding is a global language; it's the way you can converse with 7 billion people." Parlez vous Swift? Of course Cook's comments were a little self-serving and when I'm in France next time I'll try ordering a bottle of wine in Swift and see how that works out. Ha! Not likely. For more on this, read the full Guardian report here. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus. Patna: Police in Patna on Friday recovered the body of 14-year old Raunak Kumar who was reported abducted on Thursday morning after he failed to reach his school. The body of Raunak, a 9th-grade student at Saraswati Vidya Mandir under Agam Kuam police station was recovered from a beauty shop named Shubham Shringar. Raunak's father Sudhir Kumar who is a property dealer told the police that he informed the Agam Kuan police about this missing son on Thursday but the police initially did not file a report. Then the kidnappers called him on his mobile and demanded a ransom of Rs. 25 lakh. "My son was going to school with his sister but then he realized he had left something at home so he turned around to come home and that's when motorcycle-borne criminals picked him up and disappeared. To save the life of my son, I even agreed to pay Rs. 20 lakh to his abductors but they never got back to me. I tried to file an FIR with the police but they would not take it seriously. Had the police reacted promptly, perhaps my son would be alive right now," a grieving father told the reporters. Authorities carried out raids on late Thursday night and took three persons in custody. Based on their information, police search Shubham Shringar and found the body of the young boy hidden in a back room. If police are to be believed, the criminals killed the boy shortly after his abduction so he could not identify them if released. Police have arrested the victim's neighbor and the owner of the Shubham Shringar Vicky Paswan, 19, and two others in the case. Admitting his crime, Vicky told the police he owed Rs. 3 lakh to some people and they were now demanding the money that led to his plan to kidnap his neighbor's son for ransom money. Iran To Top Tillerson's Agenda On European Trip 01/20/18 Source: RFE/RL Iran will top the agenda for U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as he heads to Europe next week for meetings with allies, a U.S. official said on January 19. Tillerson's trip comes amid behind-the-scenes negotiations over the fate of the landmark agreement to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for easing crippling international sanctions targeting Tehran. "The Mission: Killing JCPOA" U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Vice President Mike Pence (source: Iranian daily Aftab Yazd) Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he was prolonging U.S. sanctions imposed earlier against Iran. But Trump also said he wanted to work with European allies and Congress to fix what he called "disastrous flaws" in the 2015 Iran deal signed under his predecessor, Barack Obama. Trump warned that Washington would withdraw from the deal if it is not strengthened within 120 days. A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters on January 19 that Iran would dominate Tillerson's meetings in Europe. "As you know, we really emphasize close coordination with the British in particular and the French in our efforts to close the gaps in [the agreement] and in next steps on how we curtail Iranian malign influence in the region," the official told reporters. "So I think that'll be a very high priority in his conversations." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, meanwhile, warned that the nuclear deal would collapse if the United States pulled out. "This agreement cannot be implemented if one of the participants unilaterally steps out of it. It will fall apart, there will be no deal then," Lavrov told reporters at the United Nations in New York on January 19. Tillerson will be visiting London, Paris, Warsaw, and Davos, Switzerland, during the trip. The U.S. official said that while in Warsaw, Tillerson will be discussing the U.S. military presence in Poland, which has hosted U.S. and other allied troops following Russia's 2014 seizure of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and its backing of armed separatists in eastern Ukraine. With reporting by AFP President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will leave for Monrovia this weekend for the investitute of George Oppong Weah as President of Liberia. And with the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia also on medical leave in the United Kingdom (UK), Parliament is being recalled based on constitutional provision to swear the Speaker, Mike Ocquaye in as Acting President. A statement signed by the 1st Deputy Speaker of Parliament indicated that "in exercise of the power conferred on the Speaker by Order 42(3) of the standing orders of the Parliament of Ghana, I, Honourable Joseph Osei-Owusu, first Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Pursuant to order 13(2) do hereby summon Parliament to sit on Sunday, 21st January, 2018 at half past two oclock in the afternoon at Parliament House, Accra for the swearing in of the right Honourable Speaker as acting President of the Republic in accordance with article 60(11) and (12) of the 1992 constitution". 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. Featured Video A Pittsburgh newspaper editorial denouncing efforts to brand President Donald Trump a racist for his vulgar comment about Africa and Haiti is causing a firestorm -- even within the publisher's own family. The editorial ran in The (Toledo) Blade last week and then appeared in its sister paper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It addressed the Republican president's comment about the desirability of immigrants from Haiti and African countries by contending the "racist" label is applied too casually and, in the case of Trump, was an attempt to undermine his presidency. "Calling someone a racist is the new McCarthyism," it said. "It is not racist to say that this country cannot take only the worst people from the worst places and that we want some of the best people from the best places, many of which are inhabited by people of color. That's not racism, it is reason," the editorial added. Condemnation was swift -- and came from some unusual quarters. Publisher John Block approved the editorial. He's part of Block Communications Inc., a family-run media company that has owned the Post-Gazette and its sister paper in Toledo, Ohio, for nearly a century. In response, 16 other members of the Block family, including two members of the company board, wrote a letter to the editor published in the Post-Gazette that said the editorial attempted to "justify blatant racism" and was printed "without the Post-Gazette editorial board's consensus." "We do not condone the whitewashing of racism, nor the normalization of it," said the family's letter. "We cannot remain silent and by implication approve of the use of the Post-Gazette to provide cover for racism." John Block didn't immediately return a call for comment Friday. The Post-Gazette's editorial page editor, John Allison, said the editorial was written in Toledo. Allison said Block "liked it" and made the call to run it. "Anybody who becomes an editorial page editor, no matter the size of the paper, knows the publisher has the first and the last word," Allison said Friday. "We know going in that John Block is strong-willed. And when he says, 'I want something one way,' we know that he proceeds with it." Through their union, some 150 Post-Gazette reporters, photographers and other staff wrote Tuesday they were "appalled and crestfallen" by the editorial's "mindless, sycophantic embrace of racist values and outright bigotry" displayed by Trump. Days earlier, a tweet from the Post-Gazette's account said Block had requested the removal of Trump's "vulgar language" from an Associated Press story on the controversy. Trump is said to have used the term "shithole" to describe certain countries as places of origin for potential immigrants to the U.S. Meanwhile, two major Pittsburgh philanthropies, The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments, also denounced the editorial, calling it "a silly mix of deflection and distortion that provides cover for racist rhetoric while masquerading as a defense of decency." Editor's note: Authorities on March 1 confirmed a PennLive report that Deputy U.S. Marshal Christopher Hill was killed by friendly fire Jan. 18 while serving an arrest warrant with a task force of law enforcement officers. Police say Kevin Sturgis opened fire on police as they were arresting his girlfriend inside the Harrisburg home but he did not fire the fatal shot that killed Hill. Gov. Tom Wolf has ordered the Commonwealth flag to be flown at half-staff in honor of U.S. Marshals Service Deputy Christopher Hill, who was killed while trying to serve a warrant in Harrisburg Thursday. "Frances and I are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of Deputy U.S. Marshal Christopher David Hill today while he was serving a warrant on a fugitive in Harrisburg as part of a Marshals Service task force," Wolf said in a news release. "He served his fellow Pennsylvanians, the Marshals Service, our country, and our commonwealth with honor and integrity. "We join all Pennsylvanians in mourning his loss, and send our sincerest sympathies, thoughts, and prayers to his family, friends, and all the women and men of the U.S. Marshals Service." The flag was lowered Thursday and shall remain at half-staff until the interment. The United States flag shall remain at full staff during this tribute, according to Wolf's office. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions also issued a statement about Hill's death, saying the officer's name should be recalled as a synonym for valor. "Every day, deputy U.S. marshals make the people of this country safer by catching fugitives on the run, protecting our courthouses, our judges and witnesses at trial," Sessions said. "They achieve these critical accomplishments at often heroic risk." The Associated Press contributed to this report. A human resources director charged with stealing more than $130,000 from a midstate Lowe's Home Improvement store is also accused in unrelated fraud cases in Dauphin and Cumberland counties. Police in Lebanon County arrested Keynan Kinard, 25, this week for the alleged con he ran for months at the Lowe's in Palmyra. Court records show Kinard is awaiting trial in an insurance fraud case in Dauphin County and a forgery case in Cumberland County. The insurance fraud case is being prosecuted by the state attorney general's office, which arrested Kinard in October. Investigators said that while working as a licenses insurance agent in 2013 and 2014, Kinard submitted 29 fraudulent applications for life insurance. That supposed scam netted him more than $7,700 in unwarranted commissions, they said. Kinard had to surrender his insurance license under a consent agreement with the state insurance department, according to the AG's office. Agents charged Kinnard with insurance fraud, identity theft, theft by deception and forgery in the Dauphin County case. He is scheduled to appear before county Judge Deborsah E. Curcillo next month. Kinard was charged by Silver Spring Township police in the Cumberland County case in October. He faces multiple charges of knowledge that property is proceeds of an illegal act, forgery, theft by unlawful taking and theft by deception. There are more than 80 counts in all. President Judge Edward E. Guido arraigned Kinard on those charges this week. Editor's note: Authorities on March 1 confirmed a PennLive report that Deputy U.S. Marshal Christopher Hill was killed by friendly fire Jan. 18 while serving an arrest warrant with a task force of law enforcement officers. Police say Kevin Sturgis opened fire on police as they were arresting his girlfriend inside the Harrisburg home but he did not fire the fatal shot that killed Hill. Court records obtained by PennLive Friday suggest one possible explanation for why Kevin Sturgis, who was shot and killed Thursday in a desperate gun battle with police, acted so rashly. After a lifetime of relatively short stints in jail, the 31-year-old charged with killing Deputy U.S. Marshal Christopher Hill moments before, might have known he was facing significantly harder prison time than he'd ever served before. The document, by itself, can't be conclusive. Attempts to reach Sturgis's family were not successful for this report, and those investigating Thursday's shooting have thus far not released their own conclusions about a motive. Several neighbors reached by PennLive this week have said that, in their sidewalk encounters with Sturgis during the brief time he lived in the neighborhood, he was very polite and friendly. He drove a car and otherwise did not act like a man on the run. But a sentencing memorandum filed by Philadelphia assistant district attorney Robert Wainwright the day before Sturgis was to be sentenced in January 2017 for illegal possession of a handgun may be instructive as facts about the new case continue to build. In the gun case, which dated to April 8, 2014, city police officers stopped a car for a stop sign violation. Officers said they saw the driver, later identified as Sturgis, moving something with his right hand. They recovered a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun from the car's center console. And the upshot of Wainwright's memo is this: Philly prosecutors wanted Common Pleas Judge Giovanni Campbell to sentence Sturgis to 5 to 10 years in the state prison system. It was time, the prosecutor suggested, to hew to state sentencing guidelines and teach a man who regularly facing criminal charges a lesson. His argument was based on a record that showed 11 arrests and six convictions for Sturgis as an adult, plus an attempted rape case that Sturgis was found delinquent on - tantamount to a conviction in adult court - as a juvenile in 2004, when he was 17. It was not immediately clear what kind of sentence Sturgis received as a juvenile. Kevin Sturgis The adult convictions included a theft by receiving stolen property case in which Sturgis was found at the wheel of a stolen car; a drug dealing charge in 2008; and the gun charges in 2014. Those were all Philadelphia cases. There was also an incident in Myrtle Beach, S.C., during which Sturgis was found guilty of a December 2008 theft charge and sentenced to a 30-day maximum prison term. And a variety of probation violations or missed court appearances that landed Sturgis behind bars for several weeks at a time. Sturgis, for the record, was also arrested on drug charges in Harrisburg in 2013, though most of those counts were dismissed at the district justice level, and a remaining conspiracy charge, records show, was dropped. Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo said in that case, after a co-defendant took full responsibility for the drugs and pleaded guilty, prosecutors eventually recognized they had no case left against Sturgis. According to Philadelphia's prison records, Sturgis had been in and out of city jails on nine separate occasions between January 2007 and October 2015. The longest stint was from July 14, 2011 to May 17, 2012, after his arrest for an earlier set of gun charges that were ultimately dropped. Sturgis also served more than seven months after his 2014 arrest, which resulted in his conviction at trial for unlawful possession of a firearm in 2016. It was sentencing for that case that generated Wainright's memo, in which the prosecutor argued Sturgis's "lengthy criminal history in multiple states" and his prior probation violations warranted five to 10 years behind bars. Campbell, the sentencing judge, never got to make that call. At the time of Sturgis's sentencing on Jan. 5, 2017 the defendant, who had been on house arrest, was a no-show. "He didn't show up for sentencing, and I hadn't heard from him since," Sturgis's attorney, Gerald Stein, said Friday. Sturgis had apparently stayed off police radar ever since, until Thursday. That's when officers showed up at 1837 Mulberry Street in Harrsburg, ostensibly to serve warrants on Shayla Lynette Towles Pierce for charges arising from a parking spot dispute late last year. Neighbors identified Sturgis as Pierce's boyfriend on Friday, and told PennLive he had been staying at the home for about five months. It is not clear to date if the team seeking Pierce knew he was there, too. As officers were downstairs handcuffing Pierce, gunfire suddenly rained down from the top of the staircase, officials said. That, they said Thursday, was Sturgis. Shots hit Hill, a well-respected U.S. marshal, in the chest and York City police officer Kyle Pitts in the arm. Hill would later die of his injuries. Pitts is recovering. Sturgis, still armed and firing at officers, then bolted from the house, but he was shot and killed in the ensuing firefight on Mulberry Street, police and witnesses have said. Investigations into the shooting are ongoing, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation leading a probe into Pierce's connections to Sturgis and his actions, and the Dauphin County District Attorney's Office examining whether the police shooting of Sturgis was justified. By Alissa Packer On Thursday night, my local congressman, U.S. Rep. Scott Perry asserted that there was "evidence" that ISIS was somehow behind the mass shooting in Las Vegas, and implied that tighter security at the US-Mexico border could have prevented the massacre. In an exchange with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Perry, R-4th District, said that he'd recently "been made aware of what I believe to be credible evidence- credible information- regarding terrorist infiltration through the southern border regarding this incident." If you missed the logical connections linking ISIS, border security, and the Vegas shooting, you are not alone. If you cynically believe Congressman Perry is using this as a ploy to generate support for the border wall thus justifying the GOP's willingness to shut down our government because the Continuing Resolution does not include funding for the wall, you are also not alone. When pressed to share his "evidence," Perry suggested he was "not able to" share the supposed evidence. But Perry expressed confidently that he has access to information that he "feels to be" and "believes to be" evidence of a "possible terrorist nexus" responsible for the mass shooting in Las Vegas. Let's put aside the rhetorical tools Scott Perry uses in his carefully crafted word choice ("feelings" and "beliefs" can't be challenged, right? He never said he "knew" there was a real connection). Let's consider the definition of the word evidence. Evidence is defined as "the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid." So what is the evidence to support Perry's claim that ISIS is behind the Vegas attack? What is the body of facts? Perry goes on to say, "Let's face it, ISIS, twice before the attack, warned the U.S. they would attack Las Vegas... and then after the attack claimed responsibility four times. Meanwhile, the local law-enforcement investigative services are telling us there is no terrorist connection." Association does not mean a causal link exists. And certainly anecdotes do not equate to evidence. He presents no facts, no "evidence," that should lead us to distrust the word of law enforcement officials most familiar with the actual evidence. It's interesting to note that Congressman Perry, who claims to support those who put their life at risk to serve our communities, is questioning their expertise without citing a single compelling reason to do so. Perry's interview with Carlson comes almost a year to the day since President Donald Trump's inauguration; since then-Press Secretary Sean Spicer's claim that up to 1.5 million people had attended the inauguration, and since Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway introduced the term "alternative facts" when she was asked by NBC anchor Chuck Todd why Spicer would "utter a provable falsehood." Despite what some of our elected officials would have us believe, "alternative facts" do not exist. They are called lies. "Falsehoods" is a euphemism for the word "lie," a way to leave open the possibility that the person uttering the "falsehood" actually believes what they are saying and is not knowingly trying to deceive their audience. And our representative, Perry, has grown all too comfortable peddling such lies. We in the Fourth District are fortunate that there are already two strong candidates seeking to unseat Congressmen Perry in 2018-- Shovannia Corbin-Johnson and George Scott. Alissa Packer, a local organizer of the activist group Tuesdays with Toomey, writes from Camp Hill. FILE - This photo provided by the Macon County Sheriff's Office in Decatur, Ill., shows Brendt Christensen. U.S. prosecutors told a judge Friday, Jan 19, 2018, that they will seek the death penalty for the 28-year-old man charged with the kidnapping and killing of a University of Illinois scholar Yingying Zhang from China, also broaching new allegations that he choked and sexually assaulted someone five years ago. (Macon County Sheriff's Office via AP, File) Only two marijuana growers are yet to be approved of the initial 12 permit holders in Pennsylvania. Read more A 10th medical marijuana grower has been approved to begin cultivation in Pennsylvania, according to the state Department of Health. Holistic Farms LLC was granted permission Friday to plant its first cannabis crop in Lawrence County, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh. That leaves only two of the 12 companies with permits yet to be approved. AES Compassionate Care plans to open in Chambersburg in the south-central part of the state; AgriMed Industries of Pennsylvania is expected to operate in Carmichaels, 20 miles south of Pittsburgh. It was unclear why they have yet to receive approval. Grow houses must undergo several inspections and be plugged into the state seed-to-sale tracking system. Representatives of the companies could not be reached for comment. On Wednesday, the Lower Merion Board of Commissioners cleared the way for a potential medical marijuana dispensary on Rock Hill Road. Though the township has granted a zoning variance, the state has not issued a permit to any company to operate a facility at the location. A second round of permits could be granted by the Health Department by midsummer but they will be subject to a highly competitive selection process. The Health Department also certified three laboratories to test marijuana medicines before the products are sold to dispensaries and dispensed to patients. The latest lab approved was Steep Hill Pennsylvania in Harrisburg. According to the state, 13,000 patients have registered to participate in the program. About 2,100 of those have been certified by an approved physician. Patients with any of 17 qualifying "serious health conditions" are eligible. The first marijuana products are expected to ship to a handful of approved dispensaries during the second week of February. The dispensaries will only sell oil-based medicines, tinctures, and pills. They will not provide smokable marijuana. Jaap Veneman and his wife Sarah Shackleton installed a curbside electric-vehicle charger outside their West Philadelphia home in 2015. Read more A city task force has recommended scrapping Philadelphia's contentious curbside electric-vehicle parking program while stepping up efforts to create more off-street charging stations accessible to the public. The Electric Vehicle Policy Task Force, created last year after City Council voted by 11-6 to impose a moratorium on the program that allows EV owners to install a private curbside charger on city streets, posted a draft report Friday that recommends abandoning the 11-year-old program. The 16-member panel included Councilmen David Oh and Mark Squilla, who sponsored the moratorium, and its report reflects their view that the curbside EV parking program is not sustainable in the long term. Fewer than 70 electric-vehicle owners have signed up for the parking privilege, which requires the owner to pay an annual fee and the expense of installing the charger. But that was enough to trigger a backlash in parking-starved areas like Society Hill and Fairmount, where owners of conventional vehicles struggled to find an open space while electric-vehicle slots stood vacant. The report says the program "is not reliably accessible to the public, it is not scalable, it does not meet the needs of EV owners without access to curbside parking, and it has had limited effectiveness in encouraging more EV use." Council's legislation last year halted the issuance of new electric-vehicle parking permits and relaxed the 24/7 parking restrictions, which allowed conventional vehicles to use the spots between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. The task force report recommends phasing out the preferential EV parking over 15 years, after which the permits would not be renewed and the owners would be responsible for removing the charger from the public right-of-way. Philadelphia's program was among the most generous municipal efforts aimed at encouraging EV ownership. Berkeley, Calif., approved a pilot program in 2014 awarding 25 permits for private curbside vehicle chargers, but declined to include parking privileges with its permits. Philadelphia activists and several Council members regarded the moratorium as a retreat from the city's green commitments. Mayor Kenney, who sponsored the 2007 legislation as a councilman, said the moratorium "sends the wrong message" about the benefits of electric vehicles. The legislation went into effect without his signature. The draft report says Philadelphia lags behind cities like Portland, Ore., New York, and Amsterdam, and suggests the city encourage the development of more public charging infrastructure and electric mass transit. The report also questioned the "social equity" of granting privileged public parking spaces to owners of electric vehicles, who it says skew toward male college graduates who earn more than $100,000 a year. "EV owners nationwide also represent a narrow demographic and currently do not reflect Philadelphia's diversity." The task force plans to hold a public open house from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Municipal Services Building. The panel will incorporate comments into the final version of the report, which is targeted for February, said Patrick Clark, transportation planner and grants coordinator in the city's Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems. An image of the CB2 furniture store that opens at 1422-24 Walnut Street in Center City on Feb. 2. Read more Another high-end furniture seller will open next month on Walnut Street, appealing to the city's millennial boom. CB2, described as the younger, hipper sibling of Crate & Barrel, announced earlier this week a Feb. 2 opening of a 12,000-square-foot showroom in the space formerly occupied by Kenneth Cole, Lacoste, and a physical therapy office at 1422 Walnut St. The competition could be healthy for Thos. Moser known for its handmade American chairs, cabinets, and beds which moved just over a year ago into 1601 Walnut. "The urban, cultured vibe of the historic Rittenhouse neighborhood is a perfect fit for CB2," said its managing director, Ryan Turf. The Philadelphia location marks its 12th store in the country and fifth East Coast location. CB2, which has been on an expansion run, opened a location in Paramus, N.J., in August. The CB2 deal was first reported in the Inquirer in July 2017. It was handled by Andi Pesacov, then Cushman & Wakefield's senior vice president of retail services, who represented both CB2 and landlord ASI Management in the transaction. Pesacov said then that CB2 liked Center City's demographics, which are trending younger with the influx of millennials and high-income professionals. The area also has a much-improved retail scene with a mix of off-price retailers on Chestnut Street and luxury stores on Walnut to attract a large, diverse pool of shoppers. More than 7,500 multifamily units were built in central Philadelphia between 2013 and 2017, with 2,700 slated for completion in 2018, according to the most recent data from real estate consulting firm Jones Lang LaSalle. The city also leads the nation in millennial growth among major cities over the last 10 years, said Lauren Gilchrist, director of research at JLL's Philadelphia office. Millennials ages 19 to 34 are credited for dramatically changing the retail mix. "Retailers with concepts that appeal to the lifestyle of this demographic fast-casual food, fitness, and hip furniture have flocked here as well to take advantage of growing demand in key retail segments," she said. In 2016, Chris Shenian of real estate firm the Shenian Co. in Center City brokered the deal on behalf of Thos. Moser to bring that retailer back to the area. The changing demographics and retail scene helped persuade Moser, Shenian said. "Why drive an hour and fight traffic when you have topflight retailers in your backyard?" he said. CB2 describes its furniture as modern. A Delphine linen slipcover sofa retails for $1,799; a Robey charcoal velvet curved sofa for $1,499; a stairway-black 72.5-inch desk for $349; and a 23-inch leisure pillow for $39.95. "Prices range, with larger pieces in the $1,000 to $2,000 bracket, while smaller items can be under $25," CB2's Turf said. "Our price points appeal to a wide audience, so that we can be the modern destination for apartment, home, and office." South Phillys Friendly Lounge, recreated in Queens, N.Y., for "The Irishman," a Martin Scorsese film about a hit man in the Philadelphia mob. Read more So The Irishman, Martin Scorsese's film based on former hit man Frank Sheeran's story of life in the Philadelphia mob, is being shot not in South Philadelphia (where it indisputably belongs), but a hundred miles up the road in New York. Still, by the looks of photos submitted by readers and posted on social media, youse can expect to see some familiar sights. For one, Philly's only Friendly Lounge once owned by Skinny Razor, who, according to his son Marco DiTullio, was merely a razor-sharp dresser and definitely not a legendary mob killer has been uncannily reproduced in Ridgewood, Queens. (That the no-parking permits on the site list the project name as "Villa Roma" is just red gravy.) According to local residents, the block has been remade to reflect the Italian Market, with awnings and signage customized for the occasion and merchandise trucked into the stores to match. Reader Evan Branford even spotted Bobby Cannavale, set to play Skinny Razor, on the street getting feedback from Scorcese. The Netflix film, which is set to be released in 2019, stars Robert De Niro as Sheeran and Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa. It is reported to have cost $105 million so far. Of course, New York does tend to be more expensive than Philly. Sister Janet McCann of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ holds up the Pope Francis encyclical Laudato Si while addressing attendees at the National Constitution Center on Friday, January 19, 2018. The nuns have filed a religious freedom suit against the federal government and owners of a pipeline on their property. Read more A group of Roman Catholic nuns had a tough time in court Friday morning fighting a gas pipeline buried under their Lancaster County cornfield, so afterward they took their case to a more sympathetic public at the National Constitution Center. Sisters from the Adorers of the Blood of Christ showed a video recounting their situation before about 75 people, then took the stage at an auditorium inside, an hour after another court appearance. "If there's anybody who thinks sisters live quiet, uneventful lives, they have not met the sisters of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ," Sister Janet McCann said, referring to the legal battle the order has waged against the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Co., known as Transco. McCann and four other speakers described the pipeline as a violation of their religious beliefs, which are infused with environmental concerns, including treating land as sacred and reducing fossil fuel use. One speaker was their attorney, J. Dwight Yoder, who quipped about his appearance Friday morning in court: "This looks like a friendlier crowd." Indeed, the federal appeals panel hearing on Friday featured three judges aggressively questioning his arguments. The panel must decide if U.S. District Court has jurisdiction to consider the merits of a religious freedom case the nuns have filed. The court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said it could not. The main issue is whether the nuns should have made religiously based objections during the government process of awarding Transco the right to build the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline. The pipeline runs from the Marcellus Shale across Pennsylvania, and eventually into Maryland. On the way, it crosses little more than an acre of the Adorers' West Hempfield property. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the pipeline, saying it provides a public benefit. That gave Transco the right to build the pipeline and use eminent domain to take private property after compensation. The nuns made no religious objection during the FERC process. They filed a suit to stop the condemnation of their land, but lost. Then they filed a civil suit under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. On Friday, the three-judge panel questioned Yoder on why the court should now take up a matter the nuns failed to bring up during the lengthy FERC process. Transco first applied in 2015 to FERC, which approved the pipeline in February 2017. The judges suggested the court would be the proper venue if the nuns had brought up the issue during the FERC process. "Couldn't they have chosen to raise the Religious Freedom Restoration Act with FERC?" Chief Judge D. Brooks Smith asked Yoder. The judge later added, "All they had to do was show up" and object. In addition, an attorney for Transco argued, the nuns also failed to mention their religious arguments in their other civil suit against condemnation. After the nuns lost that suit, Transco quickly set to work burying a 42-inch natural gas pipeline under their cornfield. Yoder argued that the religious freedom act was written by Congress and makes no mention of when or where a religious freedom suit has to be filed. The nuns' religious freedoms were not impacted until the pipeline was being built and buried, he said. The Adorers are an "innocent" third party and not part of the FERC application process, he said. At the Constitution Center, supporters said it did not seem fair that nuns were expected to know the intricacies of FERC proceedings. Duncan Wright of Philadelphia attended court and also was at the Constitution Center to show his support for the nuns. "I think this really has to do with the moral basics," Wright said. He referred to a line from an encyclical on the environment from Pope Francis: "What kind of world do we want to leave behind?" Yoder admitted after his appearance in court that it might be an uphill fight, but he said the nuns have faith on their side. "It's David vs. Goliath," Yoder said. "We have to believe there is a way to get this done." The appeals panel did not say when it would announce its decision. U.S. Representative Patrick Meehan (R) is under fire for using taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment claim. (FILE Oct. 25, 2010) Read more WASHINGTON U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan saw his political future thrown into doubt Saturday after a report that the Delaware County Republican quietly used thousands of taxpayer dollars to settle a sexual-harassment claim from a former aide. House Speaker Paul Ryan quickly removed Meehan from the House Ethics Committee and said the congressman would be investigated by the panel. Ryan also urged Meehan to pay taxpayers back for the settlement. Gov. Wolf urged Meehan to quit office. Political operatives in Pennsylvania said they were surprised to see Meehan widely seen as a mild straight-arrow type drawn into a harassment scandal, but they questioned whether his career could survive the news at a time when similar revelations have brought down powerful men in Congress, Hollywood and elite media circles. Meehan, a former federal prosecutor who is 62 and married with three sons, professed "romantic desires" to a decades-younger aide last year and grew hostile when she did not go along, the New York Times reported, citing 10 unnamed sources, including friends and former colleagues of the woman. Meehan, through a spokesman, said Saturday that he denied the former aide's allegations against him and "has always treated his colleagues male and female with the utmost respect and professionalism." Meehan did not deny the payment, or explain why he would have agreed to a payout and a confidentiality provision if he believed the complaint was false. As an Ethics Committee member, Meehan was part of a panel that had been reviewing sexual-harassment complaints against at least four other House members. In April, he was one of four House members to launch a congressional task force seeking to combat sexual violence. The ethics panel will now add Meehan to those whose actions are under review, according to Ryan's spokeswoman, AshLee Strong. The allegation against Meehan, a former U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, surfaced as the country, and Washington, has seen a sharp backlash to sexual harassment. Accusations of misconduct have already cost several congressmen their careers. The Meehan story broke as a wave of women's marches proceeded across the country and it sent tremors through Pennsylvania's political circles. "This disturbing report reveals systemic mistreatment of a female victim both by Congressman Meehan and others with power in Washington. That is wrong and unacceptable." Wolf said in a statement. Wolf, a Democrat, has been an outspoken critic of politicians caught up in harassment scandals. He has previously urged the resignations of Democratic state lawmakers accused of sexual harassment, including one of Meehan's challengers, State Sen. Daylin Leach. The accusations may open up a significant opportunity for Democrats as they attempt to take control of the House in this fall's elections. Meehan represents a moderate suburban district that Hillary Clinton narrowly won last year, and had already been targeted by national Democrats. But even they believed before Saturday's report that he looked like a strong incumbent well-positioned to withstand a challenge. The damaging accusations against Meehan come one month after Leach, the most prominent Democrat running against him, suspended his own campaign due to accusations of sexual misconduct first reported by the Inquirer and Daily News. "I certainly don't think Pat Meehan can run for reelection it's over," said David Landau, chairman of the Delaware County Democratic Committee. The county forms the base of Meehan's district, the Seventh. The precise amount of the settlement payment is not known, though the Times reported the figure was in the "thousands." The money reportedly was drawn from Meehan's office account, a tactic that critics say permits lawmakers to bury such payments. In his statement, Meehan said the public deserved to have a "true sense of the facts and circumstances" in cases of alleged harassment. But Meehan and his accused signed a nondisclosure agreement, and his statement provided no information about the allegations. Meehan's spokesman said the congressman wanted himself and accuser released from the nondisclosure agreement "to ensure a full and open airing of all the facts." "With respect to resolving any allegation made against the office, Congressman Meehan would only act with advice of House Counsel and consistent with House Ethics Committee guidance. Every step of the process was handled ethically and appropriately," Meehan spokesman John Elizandro said in the statement Saturday. Elizandro added that Meehan believes there must be "real reform to the process for resolving complaints so that those who are truly wronged are given a fair forum to be heard and vindicated, and those accused are provided with an ability to respond to baseless accusations." His accuser's attorney, Alexis Ronickher, rejected his request to end the confidentiality agreement and accused the congressman of using the proposal as a "political ploy," knowing that the former aide prizes her privacy and does not want her identity publicized. In an interview, Ronickher said she received the request only an hour before Meehan made his statement. "Mr. Meehan demanded confidentiality to resolve the matter, presumably so that the public would never know that he entered into a settlement of a serious sexual harassment claim," Ronickher said in an earlier statement. "Now that it has become public due to no fault of my client's he has flouted his legal obligations and is speaking publicly. We will not allow our client to be victimized twice by this man." Ronickher said that if Meehan "further violates" the confidentiality agreement, her client would have "no choice but to seek legal recourse." She would not comment on the details of the case or the Times report. Ryan's spokeswoman, Strong, said the House speaker "takes the allegations against Mr. Meehan very seriously." "The House is set to pass major bipartisan reform to the way the House handles claims of sexual harassment, and the speaker will apply these new standards to the allegations made against Mr. Meehan," she said in a statement. Robert Walker, an attorney who served as chief counsel for both the U.S. House and Senate Ethics Committees, said he was troubled by the report that Meehan dipped into his office account to pay the settlement. While Walker said he didn't oppose spending taxpayer money for such settlements, he did not think they should be funded out of an account used to pay for work for constituents. "That's not payment for work performed," he said. Walker added that it would have "prudent" for Meehan to have told Ryan and his colleagues on the Ethics Committee about the settlement earlier. A number of lawmakers have used taxpayer funds to settle employment disputes, dipping into office accounts to do so. They can hide the payments by stretching them out to look like normal salary, according to a senior House aide familiar with the process. The settlements don't have to be revealed publicly, the aide said. Those secret payments to settle harassment claims at the Capitol have come under intense scrutiny as misconduct has been revealed. Rep. Bob Brady (D., Pa.) has sponsored a bill to require such payments to be public, and from a lawmakers' personal funds. Meehan was like a father figure to the aide, the Times reported, but last year professed "romantic desires," including in a handwritten letter. When she did not reciprocate, according to people who worked with her, Meehan grew angry at her. This prompted her to file a formal complaint and eventually, to depart from his office, the report said. As they went through a formal resolution process, the accuser's career, finances, and personal life all suffered, the story said. The allegations flummoxed Pennsylvania Republicans. Neither the state Republican Party nor the national GOP congressional campaign arm commented on the report. Charlie Gerow, a Harrisburg-based Republican consultant, said the allegations against Meehan put "the Seventh Congressional District seat in play in an even bigger way than it already might have been." Meehan, first elected in 2010 after years serving as Delaware County district attorney and U.S. attorney, is serving his fourth term in office. Several Democrats are campaigning to challenge him this fall, and two lawyer and activist Dan Muroff and IT consultant Drew McGinty called on him to step down. "What the hell, Pat Meehan? Sexually harassing your staff and paying a settlement with taxpayer money?" said a statement from Muroff. Said McGinty: "Meehan was voted in to support the best interests of the 7th District, but instead used his power to personally and financially attack a staffer." As a federal government shutdown rolled on Saturday, Meehan did not show up for votes on the House floor. Staff writers Angela Couloumbis and Andrew Seidman contributed to this article. Unemployment rates in the badger state may be some of the lowest on record, but the types of jobs being created are generally on the low or high end of the wage scale, resulting in an absence of mid-level jobs, according to according to Dr. Steven Deller, economist with UW-Madison. Those mid-level jobs with an annual wage between $30,000-$50,000 are typically what is needed to support a family and own a home in Sauk County and other counties across the state. Deller was one of three speakers at the annual Economic Outlook event held Jan. 16 at the River Arts Center in Prairie du Sac. The event was hosted by the Sauk Prairie Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Bank of Prairie du Sac. Deller presented an economic forecast for 2018, which evaluated economic indicators for local, regional and national areas. With Wisconsins unemployment rate being as low as it is, Deller said employers typically offer higher wages to be competitive. This often occurs in a tight labor market. However current numbers arent reflecting wage increases, he said. That could mean employers are getting creative in attracting employees, Deller said. It could be in exchange for no wage increase, employers might be offering other benefits such as keeping health care premiums down. He said Sauk County has a high concentration of farms, manufacturing, retail and food service jobs, with the latter two stemming from Wisconsin Dells tourism. The farming industry in general has been declining since the recession a decade ago, with farms consolidating. However, Deller said, there has been an increase in special commodities such as hops, vinegars and even hemp. Manufacturingis also expected to change, seeing growth in small scale custom manufacturers and the arrival of automation. A study conducted by MIT estimates more than 50 percent of manufacturing jobs have an 80 percent chance of becoming automated in the future. That means employees are slowly being replaced, Deller said. Thats cause for concern. The retail experience is also changing. Wal-Mart industries recently announced the closing of 63 Sams Club stores. Sears is pairing down the size of its stores or closing them outright. Internet juggernaut Amazon is creating the type of competition some brick-and-mortar retailers cant keep up with. Its about whats convenient, Deller said. The retail industry is shifting. Its not going to go away completely, but it is shifting. Because of that, other industries such as transportation and courier-type services like FedEx and UPS are growing. The accommodation and food service industries are experiencing a major growth spurt, and there is no indication it is going to slow down, Deller said. Places like Wisconsin Dells are driving the tourism industry. He said the economy of Sauk County is shifting, and stakeholders have to decide if they want to encourage it. Jobs that require high school or little formal education are filling the largest job sector. Wisconsin is generating jobs that arent very good, dont require formal education and dont pay a lot, Deller said. Deller said although Wisconsin wasnt hit as hard by the recession as others across the nation, Wisconsins recovery is going slow. And which group is going to benefit from reducing U.S. corporate tax rates? Shareholders, Deller said. Because they have stock. In general, individuals with lower incomes cant afford stock. Kristyn Stickley, 22, of West Chester, PA, at right, holds a sign during the Women's March on the Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, PA on Jan. 20, 2018. Read more The Women's March on Philadelphia Saturday has drawn thousands to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway for a show of force and call-to-action that coincides with the one-year anniversary of President Trump's inauguration. >> READ MORE: A full recap of the second Women's March on Philadelphia Participants including some men began to gather around 8 a.m. near Logan Square. At the 11 a.m. official kickoff, marchers began making their way down the Parkway to hear speeches featuring Philadelphia's newly elected Controller Rebecca Rhynhart and Amber Hikes, director of Philadelphia's Office of LGBT Affairs, among others, scheduled to begin at noon. While last year's event fueled, in part, by dismay over Trump's election drew more than 50,000, organizers believe that 2017's powerful #MeToo and "Time's Up" movements over sexual harassment have helped boost Saturday's attendance. The event ended at 3 p.m. Follow along for live updates. Follow staff writer Anna Orso as well as columnists Helen Ubinas and Will Bunch covering Saturday's march. Their Twitter handles are: @Anna_Orso, @NotesfromHel and @Will_Bunch. 3 p.m.: The march concludes. 12:20 p.m.: Speakers take to the stage. Noon: Saturday's participants show off their homemade signs revealing what most inspired them to attend. 10:50 a.m.: The crowd begins to peacefully march around 11 a.m. despite calls for protest due to a social media message that spread word of possible "stopping and frisking" that left some saying that they would skip this year's march. Philadelphia police said random searches would not be conducted. 9:45 a.m.: Crowds begin to fill in around Logan Circle, donning last year's pink hats and carrying signs with phrases like, "It's Mueller time." Many are leaving their hats at home Saturday, with some suggesting the headwear isn't "inclusive." 8:45 a.m.: People head into Center City for Saturday's Women's March on Philadelphia. One participant on SEPTA's Regional Rail Chestnut Hill West train said, "It's a great day to resist!" SEPTA said Friday night that it would be providing extra train cars "wherever possible" to accommodate the large crowds. Eleven cruise ship passengers and a local tour guide were killed in a bus crash during an excursion to Mayan ruins in Mexico in December. Cruise lines say they work as hard as they can to investigate companies that provide the excursions passengers purchase. Read more FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. How safe are shore excursions for cruise line passengers? That's a question that resurfaces after highly publicized accidents such as last month's fatal bus crash in eastern Mexico that killed passengers of two ships owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises. Eleven foreign tourists and a Mexican tour guide died. More recently, a boat carrying 10 passengers from two ships owned by Royal Caribbean on a diving expedition off the coast of Cozumel in Mexico sank shortly into the trip; all were rescued by nearby vessels. Cruise lines say they work as hard as they can to investigate companies that provide the excursions passengers can purchase when they book their cruises or after they board. But a maritime lawyer who authors a blog critical of the cruise industry says cruise lines work with too many excursion companies to possibly be able to conduct thorough background checks. Officials with Miami-based Royal Caribbean did not immediately respond to questions seeking details about how the cruise line selects excursion companies and investigate their safety records, and whether the companies are regulated within destination countries. Carnival Cruise Lines spokeswoman Jennifer De La Cruz provided this response: "Before accepting any shore excursion operator into our program, the operator must meet a variety of established criteria to demonstrate professionalism, safety standards, insurance, and overall ability to deliver a quality experience to our guests. Guest feedback on shore excursions is constantly reviewed and tours are periodically assessed by company personnel in an effort to ensure standards are continuing to be met." Jim Walker, a Miami attorney specializing in maritime law, advises consumers to debark with caution. In a recent interview, Walker said cruise lines don't have the personnel to conduct thorough background checks on all of the excursion companies offered to its passengers at all of their ships' ports of call. "They're just relying on word of mouth. They don't have the manpower [to perform] real vetting," he said. Although they are obligated by U.S. maritime law to conduct background checks on excursion companies and to warn guests of dangers on shore, they often rely on endorsements from local tourism authorities or even from other cruise lines that also contract with the companies, Walker said. The fatal crash in Mexico was the latest in a series of bus crashes by shore excursion companies. In January 2016, a tour bus collided with a truck in Falmouth, Jamaica, killing a passenger of Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas and injuring more than a dozen others on a cruise line-offered excursion. A lawsuit filed against Royal Caribbean alleged the bus driver was driving erratically, speeding, and frequently changing lanes. In November 2016, a bus carrying 10 passengers from the Carnival-owned P&O Azura crashed in Dominica, killing a British passenger and injuring nine others. In 2010, a tour bus carrying passengers to an excursion sold by Princess Cruises crashed in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, killing one and seriously injuring two others. Accidents that occurred after the buses were parked included a crash of a sightseeing plane that killed the pilot and eight passengers of Holland America's MS Westerdam during a cruise to Alaska in June 2015. The National Transportation Safety Board determined after its investigation that the sightseeing company had created a culture in which pilots felt compelled to risk flying in low-visibility conditions, the Seattle Times reported. Still, a recent post on cruise enthusiast website cruisecritic.com advises that excursions booked through cruise lines are a far safer bet than excursions offered by independent operators soliciting on the docks. "When your cruise line suggests you avoid independent tour operators, it's not because they're trying to earn an extra buck; it's because they know for certain their operators are legit," the post said. "That's not to say accidents don't happen on cruise-sponsored excursions. But you at least gain more peace of mind knowing an official authority did its due diligence on your behalf." Family members, police, clergy and friends held a vigil for 8-year-old Jayanna Powell on Dec. 18, 2016, a month after her death, at the West Philadelphia crash site. Read more On the day before her 8-year-old daughter, Jayanna Powell, was killed by a hit-and-run driver in West Philadelphia, Ayeshia Poole shot a cellphone video of her. "'Mommy, I love you,'" the girl said on the video, a weeping Poole told a judge Friday. "I listen to that tape every day." At defendant Paul Woodlyn III's sentencing hearing, Poole shared photos of Jayanna: a wallet-size photo of the girl as a baby, Jayanna with her siblings, Jayanna in a prom dress bought at David's Bridal, her kindergarten graduation photo, and her last school photo. "She had the brightest smile ever," said Poole, 31. "She loved to sing, she loved to dance." The girl's father, James Powell, 45, recalled Jayanna as "a happy-go-lucky little girl" and lamented that now he must "go to a grave site to talk to my daughter." The girl's grandmothers, Joyce James and Darlene Maddox, described Jayanna as "God's sunshine." "She was his rose in this nasty world," Maddox said. At 3:12 p.m. Nov. 18, 2016, Jayanna, a second grader at the Lewis C. Cassidy Academics Plus School at 6523 Lansdowne Ave. in Overbrook, was crossing the south side of 63rd Street at Lansdowne with her three siblings. Her brother Hassan Cox, then 12, held her hand. Woodlyn, of Overbrook, was driving south on 63rd. The light had just turned green. The car in front of him was stopped in the right lane, so he drove around it and went through the intersection in the left lane. "I didn't see the kids," he testified at last year's trial. The prosecutor said Jayanna was hit with such force that she was thrown 100 feet south, landing under a tree next to the road. Her shoes and book bag were ripped from her. The 2012 Nissan Altima driven by Woodlyn also injured Hassan in his knee. Woodlyn drove off later claiming to his girlfriend, who owned the car, that he had hit a deer. On Friday, Jayanna's family and Assistant District Attorney Erica Rebstock sought the maximum sentence for Woodlyn: 8 to 17 years behind bars. To the parents' anger and dismay, Common Pleas Court Judge J. Scott O'Keefe sentenced Woodlyn, 25, to 4 to nine years in state prison, followed by nine years' probation. "That was no justice," Poole, the mother, said afterward. Powell, the father, said he was "not happy at all." The judge told the parents in court that he was "terribly sorry" for their loss. To Woodlyn, he said, "The callousness you showed by leaving the scene with that child on your hood is unimaginable." Rebstock told the judge that "when the defendant gets behind the wheel of a car, he is an absolute menace to society." She mentioned past instances in which he was cited for running through stop signs and red lights. But defense attorney Benjamin Cooper told the judge that Woodlyn was "not someone to just cast aside." At the start of his trial last Oct. 31, Woodlyn pleaded guilty to a felony charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. A jury three days later convicted him of misdemeanor charges of involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person. The panel acquitted him of a felony charge of homicide by vehicle. When it was his turn to speak Friday, Woodlyn, who held his head down during much of the hearing, apologized to Jayanna's family and said he would "stand up and do the time." Of that November 2016 day, he said: "I'm sorry. It was an accident. I shouldn't have left." A screen grab from an ISIS video shows Zulfi Hoxha of Margate, N.J. issuing threats against the United States. Read more Dressed in heavy combat gear and cradling a large automatic weapon, the young man looks every inch like a character in the violent video games he played just a few years before. "America today is the one carrying the banner of the cross and waging war against the Muslims," he declares to the camera in excellent English. "It openly declares that its goal is only to wipe out the Islamic State. May they fail and lose." The video features Zulfi Hoxha, now 26, the son of pizza shop owners in Margate, N.J., and a 2010 graduate of Atlantic City High School who left the United States three years ago to emerge as an ISIS commander and propaganda star. In court papers filed in federal court in Massachusetts last year, prosecutors identified the Albanian American Hoxha as a ISIS leader and, in a rare move, officially identified him as the figure in an ISIS video accusing the U.S. of waging war against the Muslim faith. In an even more chilling video, American officials told the Atlantic magazine, Hoxha is the black-robed masked man shown beheading a captured Kurdish soldier. He is in a tiny cohort among a few dozen Americans known to have left the country to join Islamic terrorists. Perhaps the most notorious was Anwar al-Awlaki, an al-Qaeda recruiter and U.S. citizen killed by a drone airstrike in 2011, after President Barack Obama secretly approved the targeting. In a lengthy article, the Atlantic chronicled Hoxha's path from New Jersey to Iraq, his ties to other plotters later convicted of a plan to kill conservative provocateur Pamela Geller, his 2015 arrival in the Middle East, and his enrollment in an ISIS training camp. He is still at large, presumably still in the Middle East, where he goes by the nom de guerre Abu Hamza al-Amriki the last name Arabic for "the American." "His high school friends said he was a bit of a loner goofy," said Seamus Hughes, an author of the Atlantic piece and deputy director of George Washington University's Program on Extremism. "You have this seemingly random guy, three months after joining ISIS, is one of the faces of their propaganda." Hoxha's radicalization, Hughes said, "speaks to how social media lowers the bar though which young men and women join terrorist organizations." In the beheading video, released six months after Customs records show that Hoxha left the U.S., he says he is "delivering a message to Obama" before killing his first victim. In the other video, made public last year, he declares that U.S. "savage air strikes have killed and wounded thousands of children, women and elderly." "Therefore," he said, believers should carry out attacks on U.S. soil against kaffirs non-Muslims. "Are you incapable of stabbing a kaffir with a knife, throwing him off of a building, or running him over with a car?" Hoxha asks. "Liberate yourself from hell fire by killing a kaffir." Hoxha's family roots are in Albania, the impoverished country in Eastern Europe whose population is heavily Muslim. The family has owned two adjacent homes on a modest block in Margate for about 40 years, and operated Pierre's Pizza on Washington Avenue there for more than a decade before selling it in 2005. The family lived in a small two-story house adjacent to the pizza shop, just steps away from the busy, shop-lined Ventnor Avenue, two blocks from the beach and three blocks from the bay. The blinds were drawn on Friday afternoon, and no one answered the door when an Inquirer and Daily News reporter visited. A handwritten note, slightly misspelled, was taped to the door. "We do not wish to talk," it read. "We are devistated. Please give us our privacy." A small American flag was tucked above the door frame. A woman at the home hung up the phone when a reporter called on Friday. On Wednesday, a woman identified by NBC10 as Hoxha's mother told the station: "No good. I'm very upset." On Friday, outside a surf shop around the corner from the house, a man unloading boxes shook his head at news of the ISIS connection. "That's gnarly," he said. "It's the world we live in." The pizza business has continued under new owners. The current operators bought the shop four years ago, keeping the name unchanged. "I have a family to feed, and this has hurt me a ton, because now people think I am connected to ISIS," operator Richie Hafizi told the Atlantic City Press. "We've gotten calls from people asking for pizza with a head on top of it, and other crazy calls." Hoxha grew up in Margate with two brothers and a sister. His Albanian-born father died at age 54 when he was 13 and the family got out of the pizza business soon after. He attended Atlantic City High, the high school for the resort city and four adjacent Shore towns. In his yearbook photo, Hoxha was a wearing a tux and had a flower in his lapel. Like other young men, he frequented Twitter and apparently was a video-game enthusiast. A few digital footprints on Twitter show a man using the name ZulfiHoxha in conflict with other users, with one telling him, "F off you terrorist scum" and another saying, "Terrorist, you wish." Twitter records also show him exchanging messages with the State Department's "Think Again Turn Away" program, an attempt to combat terrorism on social media. Under the username Hoxha77 as well as alias names KiickassBarbiie, MoSt H8TED119 and Smashing IdOls he registered in 2013 with a popular online gaming site to play against others in such games as Left 4 Dead 2, Mortal Kombat, Codename: Panzers and World in Conflict. He last left a digital track on the site in January 2015, not long before he flew to Turkey on his way into the Mideast. He played Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, in which gamers pose as an NSA agent hunting terrorists. Hoxha's unusual role as one of a handful of Americans linked to ISIS was recently made public by prosecutors as they pursued the successful prosecution of David Daoud Wright, another accused American terrorist, albeit one who never left U.S. soil. Wright, 28, was sentenced to serve 28 years in prison last month for plotting to kill Americans, including police and Geller, on behalf of the Islamic State. Wright was arrested in June 2015, shortly after his uncle Usaamah Rahim, 26, was fatally shot by authorities after he advanced on them with a machete. Just hours earlier, Wright had urged him to assault police and pursue martyrdom During the trial in October, defense lawyers portrayed Wright, who weighed more 500 pounds in 2015, as a jobless sad sack who deluded himself into thinking he was an ISIS warrior. But after the jury's verdict in the case, the judge in the case termed Wright a committed terrorist. In trial testimony, witnesses said that Hoxha, an apparent gaming buddy of Wright's who communicated with him through the Paltalk chat network, had recruited Wright to the ISIS movement. In turn, prosecutors said, Wright had encouraged Hoxha to go overseas, and he and his uncle raised money to help pay Wright's travel costs by selling Rahim's laptop on Craigslist. Until his arrest, prosecutors said, Wright was in touch with Junaid Hussain, a Syria-based but British-born ISIS "cyber recruiter" who was killed by an air strike in August 2015. At the trial, the Atlantic reported, the government also presented evidence that Hussain kept Wright's uncle posted on Hoxha's location. Among other evidence, the Atlantic reported, were text messages exchanged between Rahim and Hoxha after the latter left New Jersey for the Middle East. "In the safe house," Hoxha said four days after his departure, adding that he was looking at three months of training. "Keep in touch," Rahim responded. "We were worried about you." "Don't worry," Hoxha replied. "The kuffar can't touch me now. LOL." A neighbor of Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) has agreed to plead guilty in federal court in a November attack that left the nation's best known libertarian with six broken ribs and briefly sidelined him during debate over the tax overhaul, according to court documents. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana announced Friday that Rene Boucher, 59, would face a count of assaulting a member of Congress after becoming angry when he saw Paul stack more brush on a pile near his yard. Court documents say Boucher intends to enter a guilty plea. Police said Boucher charged and tackled Paul, 54, in the yard of his Bowling Green, Ky., home on Nov. 3. Boucher had previously been charged with a misdemeanor in a county court and had pleaded not guilty. Paul's office and an attorney for Boucher could not immediately be reached for comment. The assault in an upscale gated community drew widespread media attention and generated a political mystery, since Paul and Boucher have personally offered few clues about what sparked one of the worst assaults on a sitting senator in decades. In late November, Boucher's attorney, Matthew Baker, told the Washington Post there was no political motivation for the assault and it was tied to simmering disagreements between the successful doctors about the maintenance "or lack of it" of their adjacent properties. Kelley Paul, the wife of the senator, dismissed that explanation in a November op-ed for CNN and Rand Paul said the motivation was beside the point in a Jan. 7 interview with Face the Nation. "I think one of the things about motivations is people got obsessed, some in the media, about the motivations. But I think really we usually don't ask if someone's raped or mugged or whatever why the person did it," Paul said. Baker said in November Boucher and Paul didn't see eye-to-eye over the care of grass, trees and other aspects of their lots. He said those old animosities were triggered by a fresh incident on the afternoon of Nov. 3 that he declined to detail. Paul said in a Fox News interview in early December he was blindsided by the attack. "I was working in my yard with my earmuffs on you know, to protect my hearing from the mower and I had gotten off the mower, facing downhill, and the attacker came running full blown," Paul said. "I never saw him, I never had conversation in fact, the weird thing is, I haven't talked to him in 10 years." Kentucky State Police said they were called to Paul's house around 3:20 p.m. on Nov. 3. A police report on the incident indicates Boucher admitted going on Paul's property and tackling him. Police said Paul initially refused medical care, thinking his rib injuries were not so severe. He was eventually treated after the extent of the injuries became apparent. Boucher was charged with fourth-degree assault in Kentucky's Warren County. "He is profoundly regretful," Baker said of his client in November. "He wishes this had never happened." Baker confirmed Boucher hadn't talked with Paul in years, saying the pair had lapsed into a stony silence about the landscaping issues. Boucher, a retired anesthesiologist, and Paul, an ophthalmologist, had lived next door to each other in the Rivergreen community for 17 years and had once worked at the same hospital. Boucher's gabled house sits on a corner lot across an expanse of grass and trees from Paul's red brick colonial. Bill Goodwin, an acquaintance of both men, said he arrived at their properties about a decade ago as the men were finishing a dispute. Boucher told Goodwin that Paul had blown lawn clippings onto his yard and it angered him. " 'I ask him, I tell him and he won't pay attention,' " Goodwin recalled Boucher saying after the argument. " 'One of these days.' " Paul said in the Face the Nation interview his recovery has been arduous. "It was sort of I guess a living hell for the first four or five weeks," Paul said. "Couldn't get out of bed without assistance, six broken ribs, damage to my lungs, two bouts of pneumonia. It was really a tough go of it. But each day I feel a little bit better. This last month I've been doing better." Maru Mora Villalpando, a well-known immigrant activist, herself an undocumented person who has been put in deportation proceedings, speaks to a crowd during a press conference on Tuesday, January 16, 2018 in front of the ICE office in downtown Seattle, Wash. Read more U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detained or deported several foreigners across the country who are also prominent immigration activists, prompting accusations from advocates that the Trump administration is improperly targeting political opponents. Detention Watch Network, a nonprofit that tracks immigration enforcement, said this week that several activists have been targeted recently, including Maru Mora Villalpando in Washington state, Eliseo Jurado in Colorado, and New York immigrant leaders Jean Montrevil and Ravi Ragbir. "They're trying to intimidate people," said Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., the ranking Democrat of the House Judiciary Committee. "These are well-known activists who've been here for decades, and they're saying to them: Don't raise your head." A top ICE official denied that the agency is targeting immigrants for deportation because of their activism. The agency says its priorities are immigrants who pose a threat to national and border security and public safety. Most, but not all, of the targeted immigrants have criminal records. "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not target unlawfully present aliens for arrest based on advocacy positions they hold or in retaliation for critical comments they make," said Matthew Albence, ICE'S executive associate director for Enforcement and Removal Operations, which detains and deports immigrants. "Any suggestion to the contrary is irresponsible, speculative and inaccurate." The accusations come as a congressional clash on immigration policy, and after months of rising tensions between immigrant-rights activists and the Trump administration. In California, New York and Washington, governing Democrats have discouraged businesses from cooperating with ICE part of a clash over "sanctuary status" that has been tied up in courts. Montrevil, who was deported to Haiti on Jan. 16, came to the U.S. legally in 1986 and was ordered deported in 1994. He has multiple felony convictions related to drug possession, according to ICE. But in an interview with the radio show Democracy Now, he questioned the timing of his deportation. "I have been under supervision for 15 years, and I've never violated," Montrevil said. "I have always made my appointment. And I stay out of trouble. I have volunteered, and I work and take care of my kids. I pay taxes every year. I did everything right. Everything they asked me to do, I have done it. So why target me now?" Ragbir, a citizen of Trinidad, was convicted in 2000 of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and later sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $350,000 restitution. ICE said he will be detained until he can be deported. Montrevil is a co-founder of the New Sanctuary Coalition, which advocates for immigrants, and Ragbir is the coalition's current executive director. Ragbir has lived in the United States for more than 20 years. "We see the last few weeks as an escalating series of actions against New Sanctuary and our leaders aimed at silencing those who speak for immigrants' rights," said Kirk Cheyfitz, a spokesman for the New York-based group. "All this comes as racist rhetoric from the White House leaves no doubt about the racial basis of the Trump administration's immigration policies." Jurado, the 30-year-old husband of a Peruvian citizen living in a Boulder, Colorado, church to avoid deportation, was arrested on Jan. 11 for being in the United States illegally. ICE said he has a 2007 driving offense in Adams County, Colorado, and three misdemeanor convictions. He, too, is being detained pending a hearing before an immigration judge. Jurado's advocates say ICE detained him in retaliation for his wife's public fight to avoid deportation to Peru. Maru Mora Villalpando, a Mexican national in Washington state, said she has no criminal record and is proof that ICE is targeting activists. "This latest tactic is something we might expect from generals in a tin-pot dictatorship, not federal officers in a 240-year-old democracy," said Kica Matos, a spokeswoman for the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, the largest network of immigrant-rights organizations in the United States. "Arresting immigrant activists who speak up is meant to sow fear in immigrant communities and stop political protest." ICE mailed her a letter in December saying she may be deported. She has lived in the United States for 22 years and had met with federal officials during the Obama administration, when she helped publicize detainees' hunger strikes and other protests in Washington state. "There's no way for them to know about me except for the work that I do," she said. "I think my case makes it clear that actually Ravi and Jean's case were politically motivated." ICE officials would not say how Mora Villalpando came across the agency's radar, but said they are pursuing her deportation. "All those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to enforcement proceedings, up to and including removal from the United States," the agency said in a statement. Increasingly, Democrats are handling that information as a potential threat. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., an advocate for the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals program who has held a number of town halls and hearings to talk to constituents about their immigration status, worried that the reports from New York, Colorado, and Washington were part of a growing trend. "I have long suspected that very vocal advocates were harshly targeted after they spoke out," said Gutierrez. "I would go to a hearing, an immigration hearing, and the person who made the biggest impression? I'd find out that they'd been detained. And that started last year." In January, congregants from Temple Beth Am in Jenkintown visited the North Penn Mosque in Lansdale to learn about the Muslim religion, observe a prayer session and share a meal. Read more A recent survey published by the Cato Institute reveals that 28 percent of Americans and 47 percent of Republicans would support legislation banning the construction of mosques in their communities. We can't know the reason behind their support of this idea, but given the relationship between international terrorism and radical Islamic ideology, a likely possibility is the assumed relationship between mosques and Islamic terrorism. This perspective misses the point. If communities wish to confront radicalization, they should encourage the construction of mosques. Those making a connection between mosques and terrorism have been publicly affirmed in their false assumptions. Several political leaders have forcefully linked the two, including President Trump, when he called for the closure of all mosques in America in the wake of the Orlando shooting. Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House, also did so when he responded to a proposal to build a Muslim community center a few blocks away from the site of the World Trade Center with: "Nazis don't have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington. We would never accept the Japanese putting up a site next to Pearl Harbor. There's no reason for us to accept a mosque next to the World Trade Center." The presumed relationship between American mosques and terrorism is not supported by evidence. While there may be isolated examples of certain mosques being associated with religious extremists, research on the social attitudes and political behaviors of Muslim Americans demonstrates that those who attend mosque are more likely to be engaged in their local communities and participate in politics. This is because mosques build community, promote service, and build social capital. The results are even stronger when the community in the mosque is ethnically and socioeconomically diverse, and the Muslim community is the most diverse minority group in the United States. In this regard, mosques are no different from churches, synagogues, or other clubs and associations that bring people together: These organizations are sites of civic inclusion, not isolation or radicalization. Radicalization at the hands of an organization like ISIS preys on solitude, where messages are electronically submitted and instructions are downloaded in a one-way flow of information. Correspondence is limited to other like-minded individuals in a digital echo chamber. This was exactly the case with Omar Mateen, the Orlando gunman, who was radicalized on the internet. It also appears to be the case with Sayfullo Saipov, the Uzbek national who killed eight pedestrians on a bike path in New York. The greatest enemy of organizations like ISIS are venues where likely recruits will meet and talk with others who highlight theological inconsistencies and expose misinformation, or where recruits will find a social network of friends who will reduce feelings of alienation. In the American context, these organizations are most likely to be mosques. This is why ISIS is quick to discourage its followers from attending local mosques and in some cases calls for violence against Muslim imams and scholars in the West. ISIS correctly identifies mosques as the first line of defense against radicalization. If the concern of those who oppose the construction of mosques is Islamic fundamentalism, radicalization, or terrorism, communities should encourage and celebrate the construction of mosques and endeavor to build links between mosques and other community organizations. However, if the objective of banning mosque construction is to isolate or stigmatize Muslims, an ambition rooted in Islamophobia or racism, that's another issue entirely. Aubrey Westfall is an assistant professor of political science at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., and co-author of the forthcoming book "The Politics of the Headscarf in the United States" (2018, Cornell University Press). westfall_aubrey@wheatoncollege.edu Broadcasters dont like it, but a national push for TV airwaves to be used for internet expansion in rural areas is catching on in Wisconsin. Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less. 4D3N Costa Fortuna Cruise in Malaysia From RM 499 2018 is another awesome year to travel on cruise. Remember last year, we went to Superstar Libra Cruise by Hwajing Travel & Tours to Phuket? This year HwaJing Travel & Tours will offering an awesome new cruise package from RM 499 per person! Italian cruise Costa Fortuna is coming to Port Klang Malaysia this year. She will be traveling to Penang, Singapore and Phuket depending on dates and packages. From now until 31st January 2018, you book Costa Fortuna Cruise Packages from Hwajing Travel and Tours as below: Costa Fortuna Cruise Packages from Hwajing Travel and Tours Costa Fortuna Cruise Package 1 : ROH from RM 499 per person 4 Days 3 Nights Port Klang Penang Singapore Port Klang Sailing Date : 30 Nov ; 11, 14 Dec 2018 Costa Fortuna Cruise Package 2 : ROH from RM 699 per person 5 Days 4 Nights Port Klang Phuket Singapore Port Klang Sailing Date : 15, 19 Nov ; 03, 07 Dec 2018 Additional Informations: 1.Top-Up RM12 upgrade your cabin from Oceanview to Balcony (book Twin Special rate) 2.Kids Cruise FREE under 13yrs old (book Family Special rate) 3. Book now! For free Basic Travel Insurance!! *ROH means Run of house cabin and you will be assigned a room based on what is available on the cruise. Dont say we didnt bojio. The early birds get the worms. Book now and enjoy later. Now everyone can cruise on Costa Fortune Cruise. Booking and more info is as below. Hwajing Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd Offices Address and Details: Hwajing Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd KLKL Branch / Address Block N-26, 2nd Floor, Warisan Cityview, Jalan 3/93A, Batu 21/2 Off Jalan Cheras, 56100 Kuala Lumpur. www.hwajing.com.my / Phone +603- 9200 2929 WechatHwajing_travel Hwajing Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd PenangPenang Branch / Address 15A, Rangoon Road, 10400 Penang FB Hwajing Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd Penang / Phone +604- 229 6566 Terms and Conditions Apply Wilson Ng A Father and traveler who enjoys to eat, shop, travel and taking pictures with Samsung S22 Ultra and Sony ZV-1. Im a full time blogger, youtuber and father for two. I used to travel around 17 International trips per year but now staying at home. Remember to follow us at www.instagram.com/placesandfoods and www.youtube.com/placesandfoods. For advertisements or features, contact me at [email protected] See author's posts FN America, LLC has announced it will host Black Rifle Coffee Company in its booth at the 2018 SHOT Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jan. 2125, 2018. Black Rifle Coffee Company will be serving a limited-edition FN SCAR Mission Adaptable Blend, available only by visiting FN's booth during the show. 225 bags of the select blend will be given away per day to show attendees on a first come, first serve basis, with a limit of one bag per person. FN America will host Black Rifle Coffee Company in its booth at the 2018 SHOT Show. (Photo: FN America) "Black Rifle Coffee Company's veteran and premium product focus combined with its customer reach align perfectly with our values and mission to provide the world's most battle-proven firearms to military, law enforcement and civilian customers. As coffee aficionados and huge fans of the Black Rifle Coffee Company ourselves, we are thrilled to partner with them and offer this unique blend for SHOT Show," remarked Tom Scott, director of marketing for FN America, LLC. "We are excited to share this limited-edition coffee with our customers but the key is to visit to our booth and try it in person because once it's gone, it's gone for good. Only a limited quantity was made." "Black Rifle Coffee Company is excited to be partnered with FN for SHOT Show," said Daniel Hollaway, vice president of marketing for Black Rifle Coffee Company. "We can't wait to see the new industry innovations and our fans at the show. Come see us at booth #13662." The FN SCAR Mission Adaptable Blend is a dark roast coffee of Central American and Colombian premium beans, described by Black Rifle as "no frills, no froth, no foam. Just. Black." Influenced by Black Rifle's Just. Black. Blend that contains twice as much caffeine than other coffees, the FN SCAR blend will give you the power to meet the demands of any mission. For more information about FN and FN products, visit www.fnamerica.com, or visit the FN Booth (#13662) at the 2018 SHOT Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jan. 23-26, 2018, at The Sands Expo and Convention Center. To learn more about Black Rifle Coffee Company or purchase one of their blends, visit www.blackriflecoffee.com. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print By Michael Martina and Kevin Yao BEIJING (Reuters) As influential voices within the U.S. business community warn China that U.S. President Donald Trump is serious about tough action over Beijings trade practices, there is little sense of a crisis in the Chinese capital, where officials think he is bluffing. In Beijing, many experts think Washington is unwilling to pay the heavy economic price needed to upset prevailing trade dynamics between the worlds two largest economies. Hanging over trade relations are several inquiries into whether steel and aluminum imports including those from China are harming U.S. national security, possible tariffs on imported solar panels, as well as an investigation into potential Chinese abuse of intellectual property. I think this might be a threat to ask for deals from China, said He Weiwen, a senior fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, a government-affiliated research organization in Beijing. Results in most, if not all, of the investigations are seen as imminent. Trump warned in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday of potentially big damages against China as a result of the intellectual property inquiry under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. People in the U.S. business community say this growing gulf in expectations between Washington and Beijing is fueled in part by the dwindling frequency of talks on commercial issues. The resulting vacuum could set the two governments on a collision course over trade. Dialogue is a shadow, a shell, a trickle of what it was, particularly on the economic and commercial issues, said one U.S. industry source who accompanied a business delegation to Beijing last week to warn senior Chinese officials that time was running out. The bipartisan group of mostly former senior U.S. officials, including George W. Bush administration veterans Stephen Hadley and Carlos Gutierrez, met with Wang Yang, a member of Chinas ruling seven-man Politburo Standing Committee, and Liu He, an economist and ally of President Xi Jinping, among other senior Chinese leaders, the person said. They delivered a message that trade frictions are not under control and that there was a high likelihood of significant actions coming soon, according the person who was present at the meetings. We hear everything from: both sides will lose, to youll lose more, the person said, characterizing the reception the delegation received from Chinese leaders. RESILIENT TO A TRADE WAR U.S. businesses operating in China have long chafed at government policies they see as intended to assimilate and supplant foreign technology. At stake is who controls intellectual property, and how you protect it, said Tim Adams, former U.S. Treasury undersecretary for international affairs in the Bush administration. The question is, how do you use a scalpel to respond to it, and does the scalpel actually change behavior because its a scalpel and not a sledgehammer, said Adams, who now leads the Washington-based Institute of International Finance. He said China would probably retaliate by weighing whether the actions were in line with World Trade Organization rules before slowly ratcheting up pressure on U.S. businesses, for example by buying from a European company such as Airbus instead of Boeing. Meanwhile, Chinas 2017 trade surplus with the United States reached an all-time high of $275.81 billion, Chinese Customs data showed last week. The growing likelihood of U.S. trade remedies against China comes amid a bipartisan push in Washington to tighten national security reviews of Chinese companies efforts to scoop up U.S. technology firms, often in industries closed to U.S. companies in China. But many in China see such efforts as sure to backfire. Politically, the administration of President Donald Trump cant afford to see China-U.S. economic and trade ties become strained. China is more resilient to a trade war, Chinas state-run Global Times said on Sunday. Chinas Ministry of Commerce did not comment on the U.S. business delegation or the risk of major trade friction. But it said last week that China would take all necessary measures to defend itself. KIBBLES AND BITS Beijing suspects that even if Trump implements targeted tariffs, as some in the U.S. tech sector expect, they would likely amount to just a few percentage points of the more than $600 billion annual goods and services trade, Chinese experts have said. For local governments in export-dependent areas, the threat is more worrying. One official in the export powerhouse of Zhejiang province expressed concern to Reuters about Trumps possible actions, but declined to speak on the record. The government in Beijing, however, remains stoic. Are Chinese officials getting nervous now amid a coming U.S.-China trade war? I dont think so, said Wang Jiangyu, a trade expert at the National University of Singapore. The country has negotiated its way out of previous Section 301 investigations, including in 1992 and 1995. And a person close to Chinas Commerce Ministry, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, said tariffs from the Section 301 case would be self-defeating, and urged negotiation instead. We should sit down and discuss this. If their demands are reasonable, we dont want to go to the WTO, the person said. That inclination to fall back on talks and the WTO to resolve frictions may be Chinas miscalculation this time, people in the U.S. business community say. What the Chinese government doesnt understand is that the Trump administration is deadly serious, the member of the U.S. business delegation said. They arent going to settle for kibbles and bits. (Reporting by Michael Martina and Kevin Yao; Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Editing by Gerry Doyle) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Tens of thousands of women all across the country from Los Angeles to Chicago to New York marched on Saturday, marking a year since the first Womens March and Donald Trumps inauguration. The demonstrations were held all across the country, in red states and blue. Theyre proof that the energy fueling opposition to this president hasnt diminished over the past year its only gotten stronger as the country heads toward the pivotal 2018 midterm elections. New York: LIVE NOW: Thousands take to the streets of New York City for the second annual Womens March. https://t.co/Q2rk4mCaI7 ABC News (@ABC) January 20, 2018 Philadelphia: The Womens March on Philadelphia is going strong. pic.twitter.com/wKIDzTG0d9 SeriouslyUS? (@USseriously) January 20, 2018 Charlotte: Richmond, Virginia: Seneca Falls: The Womens March at Womens Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls! #WomensMarch2018 pic.twitter.com/xwY7ntB8Gh SeriouslyUS? (@USseriously) January 20, 2018 Morristown, New Jersey: Thousands of people gathered in Morristown for the start of Womens March on New Jersey. #WomensMarch2018 #Resist pic.twitter.com/5UUTqJFREt SeriouslyUS? (@USseriously) January 20, 2018 Chicago: Denver: As we noted via Reuters a short time ago, This years demonstration is being held in coordination with rallies planned for the weekend in some 250 other cities across the United States and overseas. The main goal is to register a million new voters and get more strong advocates for womens rights into office. All across the country and the world, women (and men) are marching to show the president that they are more motivated than ever to stand up to his dangerous agenda, which has already hurt millions of men and women. This level of mobilization and activism combined with Trumps dismal approval ratings and the Republican Partys inability to keep the governments lights on is likely to deliver a major wake-up call to the GOP come November. JEN: The U.S. State Department just issued a Level 4 (highest level) travel advisory against five states in Mexico. The advisory is a "do not travel" warning for "U.S. citizens because of violent crime and gang activity." In less than a week, I'm scheduled to travel to one of those states. What do you think? Do I still go? JOY: Ooooooh boy. JEN: Right?! I'm not heading off to some unknown resort or anything. I'm meeting my mom in Zihuatanejo, where we're visiting my uncle/her brother. He lives in Minneapolis, but winters in Zihua. He assures us that it's perfectly safe and that we should come on down. Meanwhile, the State Department tells us it's like going to a war-torn country. JOY: "Perfectly safe" famous last words. PAM: Our federal government is spouting a lot of hyperbole these days! I would say that parts of Puerto Rico look like a war-torn country. ADVERTISEMENT JEN: I mean, my Uncle Mark lives there, so he should know, right? But the parent zone in my brain which is, like, all of it is saying: WHAT IF? JOY: I would go with your uncle's opinion, personally. It's less likely to be fake news. But I'd be very aware and cautious, of course. PAM: I personally would not travel anywhere besides Canada right now. I lived in Asia for half a decade and have been to 15 countries, but the anti-American sentiment abroad makes me nervous. JEN: It's so hard to know what's true. Did you know that several countries have travel advisories against the United States? PAM: I believe that. Some of it is tit-for-tat diplomacy, but there are people abroad who avoid the U.S. now. JEN: Other governments are warning citizens against traveling to the United States because of gun violence. And yet I feel safe going to the grocery store after dark, you know? I'm sure that's the feeling my uncle has: "I live here, and I'm safe! Don't be ridiculous!" JOY: Tell people you are Canadian. PAM: I used to do that traveling in Europe. Here's the thing: We Americans are mono-linguistic and have an inflated sense of entitlement. We assume that the rest of the world likes and admires us. That is not always the case. ADVERTISEMENT JEN: I think that's a pretty broad generalization. I do not assume anyone likes me. I do not feel entitled when traveling in Europe. In fact, I feel pretty stupid because I only know one language. PAM: Having humility makes you a better and safer world traveler. JEN: Jay and I plan to take the boys to Europe in just a few months and I don't feel one bit nervous about that. But this travel advisory for next week's trip has me seriously considering a cancellation ... even though I'll have to eat that cost. Apparently travel insurance doesn't cover Level 4 travel advisories. JOY: Honestly, it's a tough call. JEN: It IS a tough call. On one side, my uncle a man I'd love to see and spend time with in gorgeous coastal Mexico is saying, "Hope to still see you next week!" On the other side, my government is saying, "Don't you dare go down there right now!" JOY: I do put a lot of stake in your uncle's opinion. He is right there, after all. On the other side, well we've already been through that. PAM: It's possible to get caught in the middle of a conflict anywhere. Just don't seek it out. I was asked by my Chinese college officials to move inland or take a vacation in 1996 when China and Taiwan were rattling sabers with their navies right off the coast. JOY: You can get mowed down by a madman anywhere. ADVERTISEMENT JEN: Agreed. There are risks everywhere. But it seems especially brazen to tempt fate a week after increased threat warnings. PAM: Joy is right. You can carpe diem or live in fear. Two things to consider: You are the only mother to your children. I think of that every time someone asks me to ride a strange horse. And if your gut tells you it's not right the place, the timing, the doubt you can always take that trip later. JEN: I think I know my decision; I just don't want to admit it because I just came in from shoveling snow in 8-degree weather and I have the chance to be in MEXICO IN JANUARY. PAM: Yeah. It's like Florida but more colorful and with better drinks. JOY: It's an agonizing decision. PAM: So we didn't change your mind? We just got you to say it? JEN: I think so. Sigh. Sob. Dear Answer Man, BB's Pizzaria is advertising "Minnesota style pizza." What the heck is that? Business Tiger You'd think it would be pizza-on-a-stick. The stick is Minnesota's great contribution to world cuisine. A delivery system. Deep-fried, impaled, handed off there you go, you betcha. But nope. Somehow there is actually a bit of a push to make Minnesota-style a thing. It emerged as a hot-button issue in the Twin Cities last month, when Red's Savoy, the pizza joint with 17 locations across the Twin Cities, debuted the term with new branding declaring itself "'Sota-style, since 1965." What that means, according to Red's Savoy, is a pizza with a thin crust, loaded with toppings and cheese, with a spicy "passive-aggressive" sauce. Plus, as a general rule, the pizza is cut in squares, not wedge-shaped slices. So is it a thing? Maybe. But plenty of nay-sayers have been trying to push "Minnesota style pizza" back in the oven. Right or wrong, I suppose the least you're left with is a good marketing schtick and hot topic to toss around over a hot pie. ADVERTISEMENT And that seems to be where BB's comes in. Owner Jason Brehmer saw the big debate unfold online and saw an opportunity to differentiate BB's pizza from local competitors'. "Everywhere else in town is New York style, Chicago style We make, we think, a better pizza, so we're going to be 'Minnesota style.' I actually did some research on it. I don't think you can trademark that." You've got two places now to give BB's a try in the former Zpizza spot in the skyway level at University Square, and its original location, 3456 East Circle Drive NE. PINE ISLAND The Pine Island City Council on Tuesday approved the first updated Alternative Urban Areawide Review of Elk Run since the original AUAR was passed in 2008. "The AUAR is an environmental study," said City Administrator David Todd. "It has to precede any development if the development exceeds 80 acres." The reason Tower Investments, the owner of Elk Run, decided to pay for an updated AUAR is a potential development for a "private motorsports park" that "will consist of a 3.5-4.5 mile paved track, garage rentals, car condos, ancillary buildings, and a 20,000-square-foot state-of-the-art clubhouse," according to the AUAR. Todd said a third party has approached Tower with a potential development, but at this point it is just a concept. "No permits have been pulled. There haven't been any zoning requests," he said. "No plans have been filed as of now." ADVERTISEMENT What the proposal is not is a competition racing track along the lines of a NASCAR or IndyCar racetrack. "It's nothing like that," Todd said. Rather, the concept is similar to a club for auto enthusiasts similar to a facility in Dawsonville, Ga., where car owners can take there cars and put them through their paces on a closed-road course. That facility also has kart-style racing track for families and driving instruction for everyone from teens to adults looking to improve their driving skills. In other business, the city council gave final approval for the design of its new swimming pool. The estimated cost for the pool would be $2.39 million, just short of the $2.4 million approved by voters for the new swimming pool. Because the new pool would be built on the site of the current pool, construction would begin this spring and be completed next spring. That would mean no pool in Pine Island for this summer, Todd said. Finally, the city contracted with Countryside Disposal to pick up the city's trash at city parks, at receptacles along Main Street, and at the fire hall and city hall. The city had contracted with Waste Management for that work, but the company had a spotty track record of picking up the trash at city sites on time, Todd said. The problem has been ongoing since last summer, he said, and eventually the city's public works employees expressed their frustration with Waste Management and efforts to reach the company's customer service. "It was a struggle," Todd said. ADVERTISEMENT Waste Management is one of two solid waste companies authorized to collect trash from residents in Pine Island. The other is Advanced Disposal. Todd said Countrywide Disposal might enter the mix as a residential option in the future. The Destination Medical Center Corp. Board's executive committee is short a person, but Vice Chairman R.T. Rybak and Treasurer Jim Bier are slated to meet at 9:30 a.m. Monday in suite 101 of the Mayo Civic Center. The executive committee is scheduled to approve a report, due by Feb. 15, to the Minnesota Legislature. The report includes details of DMC efforts in 2017, including the fact that the first state funds nearly $2.7 million for the project were released after the effort topped $200 million in private development. Of the $297.7 million in certified private investment documented since DMC efforts started, more than $239 million were Mayo Clinic investments. The remaining investments were connected to other projects in the DMC district, ranging from window replacements for existing buildings to new construction. Additionally, the report notes related costs paid by the city since the effort began reached $27 million by the end of the year. Olmsted County has contributed $4.5 million so far. ADVERTISEMENT The DMCC board's executive committee will remain a person short until the full board meets again, according to Bier, who is the Olmsted County Board's representative on the DMCC board. The full DMCC board is scheduled to meet again on March 22, when it is expected to review the report on private development projects through the end of 2017. The report, which is used to determine the amount of state funding provided for the DMC efforts, is due to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development on April 1. The board is missing two members following resignations by Susan Park Rani and former Chairwoman Tina Smith, the only two women on the board. Rani resigned at the end of 2017, and Smith resigned this month after being appointed to replace former U.S. Sen. Al Franken. Both resignations were from positions nominated by Gov. Mark Dayton. Applications to fill the position are being accepted through the Minnesota Secretary of State's website . So far, 14 applications have been received. They are from: Vickie Froehlich Glenn Melcher ADVERTISEMENT Robert Sixta Chris Miksanek Melissa Stanton Julie Stanton Ken Ujifusa Brett Olson John Edman James Kelly Jr ADVERTISEMENT Eugene Grover Joseph Weis Walter Smith III Mark Dascalos Once the governor nominates replacements, the Minnesota Senate must approve them, which is expected to take place during the upcoming legislative session, which starts Feb. 20. Rochester Civic Theatre is close to hiring a new executive director, the president of the theater's board of directors said Friday. Originally, the board had hoped to have a new executive director in place in mid-January, when the contract of interim director Teresa Waldof expired. "Not yet, but very soon," Kay Hocker, Civic board president, said via email when asked for a status update on the hiring process. "We are in the next step of our process." The theater has been without a permanent executive director since Gregory Stavrou resigned from that position last April. Stavrou cited health issues after suffering a heart attack. Subsequently, allegations that Stavrou sexually harassed women involved in the theater came to light. The contract of Waldof , who had previously worked in private business, expired this week. She had been running the theater on an interim basis since last July. The former Hotel Carlton is set for a public hearing Tuesday, more than nine months after the Rochester City Council nominated it as a landmark property under the city's revised historic preservation ordinance. The city's Heritage Preservation Commission has faced a series of delays since scheduling a September hearing on the nomination of the building on the northeast corner of West Center Street and First Avenue. The hearing for the Hotel Carlton, also known as the Days Inn, is seen as a test case of sorts. It's the first hearing on potential landmark status under a revised heritage preservation ordinance. At this point, the only properties on the city's landmark list are also on the National Register of Historic Places. Delays started after attorneys for the building's owner, Mark Kramer of MKDI LLC, challenged the process and called for three members to step down from voting on the issue. ADVERTISEMENT The city responded by adjusting the preservation ordinance to note the city council will make the final decision on the status of the building after the commission makes a recommendation. Additionally, the commission adopted Robert's Rules of Order in response to concerns cited by Kramer's attorney, Brian McCool of the Fredrickson and Byron law firm. In a letter to McCool, Rochester Assistant City Attorney Patricia Alfredson said the city staff considers the other objections to be "without merit." . The response spurred new objections from McCool, who requested a memo sent to commission members by Alfredson, arguing that it should be considered a public document. City Attorney Terry Adkins, however, said it is considered attorney-client communication between the commission members and an attorney representing them. McCool further found fault in the city council's clarification of the preservation ordinance, noting it sets up the council members to eventually rule on a nomination they already supported. "As is obvious to see, the Common Council would have an inherent conflict of interest in such a circumstance that would bar the property owner from receiving the impartial review it is entitled to receive under Minnesota law," he wrote in a letter to Adkins this week. In another letter sent this week, McCool raised other objections to the process with Brent Svenby, who serves as the city's advisor the Heritage Preservation Commission. In that letter, McCool reaffirmed objections to participation by three commission members Christine Schultze, Valerie Guimaraes and Barry Skolnick claiming past actions undermine their ability to be impartial. ADVERTISEMENT Schultze and Guimaraes were part of the commission when it recommended the hotel be listed as historic under a previous version of the city's preservation ordinance. While not on the commission at the time, Skolnick has publicly suggested the city council adopt the earlier recommendation, rather than restarting the process under the new ordinance. In addition to asking the three commission members to step aside in the process, McCool is also asking that commission member Tasos Psomas not take part, since he operates the Panneoeken Restaurant in the building being discussed. Among other objections, McCool also references more than 30 letters from community members, including former Heritage Preservation Commission Chairman Jeff Allman, who oppose a landmark designation for the building. Several of the submitted letters appear to be copies of the same letter with different residents' signatures. The hearing on the issue is scheduled following other commission business in a meeting that starts at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the city council chambers of the city-county Government Center, 151 4th St. SE. Other meetings Meetings during the week of Jan. 22 include: ADVERTISEMENT Rochester City Council committee of the whole, 3:30 p.m. Monday in room 104 of City Hall, 201 Fourth St. SE. Planning and Zoning Commission, 6 p.m. Wednesday in council chambers of the government center. Olmsted County Oronoco Planning Advisory Commission, 7 p.m. Monday in the Oronoco Community Center, 115 Second Ave. SW, Oronoco. Olmsted County Housing and Redevelopment Authority and Olmsted County Board of Commissioners Retreat, noon Monday at Vermillion River Crossing, 21400 Dushane Parkway, Farmington. Soil and Water Conservation District, 8 a.m. Thursday in conference room A of 2122 Campus Drive SE. Destination Medical Center DMC Corp. executive committee, 9:30 a.m. Thursday in Suite 101 of Mayo Civic Center, 30 Civic Center Drive SE A quick call and detailed description led to the arrest of a suspect approximately an hour after he allegedly robbed a Marion Township convenience store Friday afternoon. The lone clerk at Jeff's Little Store, 5395 Highway 52 South, dialed 911 shortly after 3:15 p.m. after being pushed into a restroom before the suspect left the store. "That I know of, there was only one person in the store," Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson said shortly after the incident. The sheriff said the clerk provided a detailed description of the suspect, as well as the gray Chevy van he was driving. That description allowed a nearby deputy to spot the vehicle before it left the area. While being pursued, the van crashed near the intersection of Countrywood Drive and 45th Avenue Southeast, where the suspect fled on foot. ADVERTISEMENT Torgerson said it was unclear whether the suspect had shown the store clerk a gun or simply said he had one during the alleged robbery, but law enforcement officers responded as if he was armed and established a perimeter around the area with the help of the Rochester Police Department and Minnesota State Patrol. In addition to ensuring the suspect didn't leave the area, Torgerson said the perimeter was used to monitor people entering the area to make sure the suspect had not used a cell phone to call for a ride. "That is another challenge we had in letting people into the area," he said, noting it was a time when people were returning home from work and other activities. The suspect's tracks quickly revealed he was going door to door, evidently looking for an unlocked house to use as a hiding place. Torgerson said he was unsuccessful until he found an unlocked detached garage. With the help of two police dogs, the suspect was found in the garage about a mile from where he had left his vehicle. "He made the route a lot longer," Torgerson said, noting the suspect had zigzagged between homes. The arrest was made without further incident shortly after 4:15 p.m. Torgerson said the identity of the suspect will be released at later date with more details expected to be available Monday. A long-shot Republican gubernatorial candidate is getting national attention for writing that he does not consider Islam a faith and that it is "the antithesis of the Constitution." Phillip Parrish, of Kenyon, wrote the comments in an email to Community Interfaith Dialogue on Islam founder Regina Mustafa. Mustafa, of Rochester, sent Parrish an email inviting him to sit down with her after learning he had recently attended a meeting featuring Usama Dakdok, an outspoken critic of Islam. "I do not object to you attending his presentation, but wanted to know if you would like to speak to a Muslim about Islam. Since you have attended this talk about my faith, I figured you would also like to hear from a person who actually practices Islam," wrote Mustafa, a former DFL candidate for the 1st Congressional District seat. Parrish responded by saying he would be willing to meet but that "I separate Islam from the word faith because faith takes belief and Islam requires only submission." He added that he would ask her to publicly denounce Sharia law and declare that "Islam, Sharia and the Quran are the antithesis of the U.S. Constitution." Mustafa posted the email exchanges on her Facebook page. Since then, Parrish's response has drawn sharp criticism from civil rights organizations. The Southern Poverty Law Center wrote about Parrish's comments on its "Hatewatch" blog . Muslim Advocates, a nonprofit based in Oakland, Calif., blasted Parrish's remarks. ADVERTISEMENT "Anti-Muslim bigotry like this emboldens those who would discriminate or commit acts of violence against Muslims. We've seen hate crimes, violence, and bigotry skyrocket as politicians have increased their attacks on Islam and Muslims," said Muslim Advocates Policy Director Scott Simpson. Mustafa has called on Parrish to drop out of the Republican gubernatorial race. In a press release, Parrish pushed back, saying he has no intention of leaving the race. In an interview, Parrish accused Mustafa of making a "disingenuous request" to meet with him in order to advance her own propaganda. What is his response to being called anti-Muslim? "I see myself as a person attempting to expose those who are attempting to set up rules and laws and regulations contrary to the U.S. Constitution," Parrish said. As a U.S. Naval intelligence officer, he said he has extensive knowledge of Islam. "It's causing harm to people. Thousands of analysts like myself, thousands of law enforcement specialists have been trying to tell leadership this same message for over 20 years. And no one seems to want to listen or they live in some kind of utopic world of no, people really don't think like that. They don't really mean to cut somebody's hand off because they stole something. They don't really mean to put someone to death because they defiled themselves with an unclean woman. They don't really mean to rape little boys on Thursday night because the imam gave them permission to do that," Parrish said. Mustafa rejected the idea that her invitation was in any way insincere. She said she is deeply disturbed by Parrish's comments, saying they demonstrate a lack of understanding about Islam. She said Muslims in America have demonstrated a respect for both the U.S. Constitution and their religion and his comments are unfair to the Muslim men and women who have served in the U.S. armed forces. "If you don't think (Islam) is a faith, then my religious freedoms to you are negotiable and are at risk and I find that very alarming, and if he is saying that to his supporters, it's the epitome of fear mongering and hate," Mustafa said. ADVERTISEMENT Parrish is one of 10 Republicans running for governor in 2018. He received nearly 4 percent of the vote in a recent statewide straw poll of Republican activists. Rochester DFL Rep. Tina Liebling, a candidate for governor, called on Republican candidates to "denounce Mr. Parrish's ignorant, islamophobic statement and pledge to encourage peace and understanding among Minnesotans regardless of race, religion, or national origin." RACINE Three Racine women are facing charges after allegedly attacking a woman at Ascension All Saints Hospital. Tatiana L. Clemon, 19, Contessa M. Clemon, 34, and Geneva Clemon, 37, all of the 1300 block of Park Avenue, are charged with misdemeanor counts of battery and disorderly conduct, all charged as a party to a crime. According to the criminal complaint: At about 11:15 a.m. Dec. 7, Racine police were dispatched to the hospitals women and childrens building, 3801 Spring St., for a report of a woman being assaulted. An officer spoke with the victim, who said she was waiting for a bus outside the building when Geneva and Contessa walked by her. The victim said Tatiana approached her, allegedly asking when they were going to fight, as the two reportedly have a long-standing issue over a man who fathered both of their children. Contessa then also approached the victim, who reportedly told the two she was not going to fight over nothing. Tatiana and Contessa reportedly walked away and returned with Geneva, who reportedly starting yelling at the victim. The victim said she told the women there was nothing to fight over, but Geneva reportedly lunged at her and punched her, beginning a fight involving all three Clemon women. During the fight, the victim was allegedly pulled off a chair and fell to the ground, then reportedly was lifted by her feet and head. Eventually, a third party and hospital staff reportedly separated the four women. The incident was captured on surveillance video, which the officers viewed. The victim claimed that while all three women were part of the fight, Geneva and Tatiana were the main two instigators. Contessa and Tatiana were both in custody as of Thursday afternoon and were being held on $3,000 cash bonds, online records show. Geneva signed a $500 signature bond and was released on Wednesday. The women are scheduled to appear in court for pre-trial conferences on Feb. 22 at the Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave. Prosecutor in police shooting to enter alcohol program MINNEAPOLIS The prosecutor whose office won a recent conviction in the high-profile case of a Minneapolis police officer who killed an unarmed woman says he will be entering a treatment program for alcohol issues. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman issued a statement Friday saying he was evaluated for alcohol issues and agrees he needs treatment. Hell be entering a program Monday. Freeman announced last week that he was taking a medical leave, but didnt say why. His Friday statement says he has also worked to stabilize his "unacceptably high blood pressure." He says hes determined to reclaim his health and hopes to be back to work in mid-June. ADVERTISEMENT Last month, a jury convicted Mohamed Noor of murder in the 2017 fatal shooting of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia who called 911 to report a possible crime. Minnesota seeks to add Purdue Pharma owners to opioid suit ST. PAUL Minnesotas attorney general is asking a state court for permission to add the owners of drugmaker Purdue Pharma to a lawsuit that seeks to hold the company responsible for the opioid addiction crisis. Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma makes OxyContin and has been the subject of legal action in nearly every state. Attorney General Keith Ellison wants to add eight members of the Sackler family to Minnesotas lawsuit. He says the Sacklers, who own and operate Purdue, were involved in deceptive marketing tactics and strategies to sell more opioids, despite knowing the risks. If a judge approves, Minnesota would become at least the 11th state to take legal action against one or more members of the Sackler family. A family spokeswoman issued a statement denying the allegations, calling the lawsuit a misguided attempt to place blame where it doesnt belong. Man holed up in hotel surrenders to police ADVERTISEMENT BROOKLYN PARK Authorities say a standoff at a Brooklyn Park hotel ended after more than six hours when a man suspected of assaulting his girlfriend surrendered to police. SWAT officers and crisis negotiators were called to the La Quinta Inn early Friday after a woman reported she was being assaulted by her boyfriend and threatened with a gun. Police say the standoff began at 3:30 a.m. and ended when the man was arrested at about 9:50 a.m. Authorities say the woman was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. Police say the 31-year-old suspect was not carry9ing a gun but it was unclear if there were any weapons in the room. The suspect, who has not been formally charged, has previous convictions for drug possession, motor vehicle theft, aggravated robbery, making terroristic threats, drunken driving and burglary. Jail inmate accused of running prostitution ring MORA An inmate at the Kanabec County Jail is charged with running a prostitution ring from his cell. Thirty-eight-year-old Daniel Ellington is charged in Washington County District Court with two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of promotion of prostitution. Prosecutors say Ellington communicated with a prostitute by text and "promoted and profited" from her activities in Woodbury last month. ADVERTISEMENT East Metro Sex Trafficking Task Force director Imran Ali says Ellington was 100 miles away and incarcerated, yet was promoting prostitution and profiting from it. The task force began investigating after a Woodbury detective found an online ad entitled "Blonde Bombshell." The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports Kanabec County Sheriff Brian Smith says Ellington used a jail-issued iPod to text and paid a certain price for each message. Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS A popular Minneapolis lake named in honor of slavery supporter and former Vice President John Calhoun will get its original American Indian name back, Minnesota officials announced Thursday. Lake Calhoun will be renamed Bde Maka Ska, the Department of Natural Resources announced. The name, which is pronounced beh-DAY' mah-KAH' skah and means White Earth Lake, was used by the Dakota people before federal surveyors renamed it in the early 1800s for Calhoun, who was then secretary of war. Official signs around the lake use both names. Calhoun, who also served as a U.S. representative and senator from South Carolina, and as U.S. secretary of state, defended slavery as a "positive good" that benefited slaves and slave owners alike. While he died in 1850, his views on slavery and states' rights remained influential when Southern states seceded in 1860-61, leading to the Civil War. The Hennepin County Board and the city's park board backed the name change last year after more than two years of public input. The DNR approved the change despite opposition from some homeowners around the lake who called it an unnecessary rewrite of history and said it would hurt businesses that use the name. DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr said he was confident that the county carefully considered community values and opinion. "We did not substitute our judgment for that of the duly elected county commissioners," Landwehr said on a conference call with reporters. "Rather, our job is to consider whether the county followed the proper public process prior to making the resolution and whether the county-approved name complies with naming conventions. ... We found everything in compliance and approved the name change." ADVERTISEMENT The DNR will forward its decision to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to decide whether to approve the change for federal use. But Landwehr said his decision essentially makes it official once it's published in the State Register within the next couple weeks, and the state will call the lake Bde Maka Ska in all official state documents and actions. Opponents of the change said they'll ask the Minnesota Court of Appeals to reject the decision. "The Save Lake Calhoun group is gravely disappointed with the DNR's decision to rename Lake Calhoun," said the group's attorney, Erick Kaardal. Kaardal said the commissioner exceeded his authority under state statutes. He said the relevant statute bars the DNR from changing the name of a lake that's been used for 40 years or more, and that proponents of renaming the lake Bde Maka Ska would need approval from the Legislature instead. But Landwehr said in his order that other language in the statute, which gives him authority to determine the "correct and most appropriate" names for lakes and streams, is what applies in this case. St. Catherine University (a/k/a St. Kates, formerly St. Catherine College) sits on a leafy 110-acre campus in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul. It is located a few blocks down the street from my high school alma mater and within shouting distance of Macalester College as well as St. Thomas University. A Minnesota woman went on an arson rampage at St. Kates this past Wednesday. Tnuza Jamal Hassan a 19-year-old former student set eight fires in seven buildings across the campus. All but one of the fires were set in trash cans inside bathrooms. Hassan kindly explained that she did so in retaliation for American military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the criminal complaint failed in Ramsey County District Court. Her religious inspiration isnt expressly stated, but she appeared in court yesterday wearing garb including a black face covering that exposed only her eyes and what appeared to be a large white sheet draped over her head. I think she was shooting to make a bold fashion statement with a makeshift niqab. The St. Paul Pioneer Press covers the story here, the Star Tribune here and here. The Pioneer Press story includes readers comments at the bottom. The Star Tribune story does not want to hear from readers on this one. Video of the report by the local Fox affiliate is below. (Stick with the video for the statement by the president of St. Kates toward the end.) Hassan is a hard, hard case. She set one fire at St. Mary Hall, the schools largest dorm. It houses first-year students (welcome to St. Kates!) and the Early Childhood Center, a day care facility. Hassan appears to have included St. Mary Hall on her rampage because of the day care facility. Thirty-three children and eight adults were at a day care in the building at the time, along with 10 to 15 students who were also evacuated. Hassan did a lot of talking that will prove helpful to the prosecution of the case against her. She explained to police that she wanted the school to burn to the ground and that her intent was to hurt people. She said similar attacks happened on Muslim land and no one cared if Muslims were hurt. Hassan also told police that she had written a letter to her roommates containing radical ideas about supporting Muslims and bringing back the caliphate. And just to be clear, she also told authorities, You guys are lucky that I dont know how to build a bomb because I would have done that. Good to know. Her efforts to burn the St. Kates down ran from some time before about 11:40 a.m. with the first reported fire and ended about 2:00 p.m. with Hassans arrest on campus. She was taken into custody at the schools Jeanne dArc Auditorium at 2004 Randolph Av. On a personal note, Ive been to Jeanne dArc Auditorium many times for performances by artists ranging from my kids to Cry Cry Cry, Alison Krauss and Union Station, and Livingston Taylor, among others. Its a magnificent performance space. Like the defendants convicted in the case of the Minnesota men that I covered for Power Line and the Weekly Standard, Hassan has been the beneficiary of the best Minnesota has to offer. She attended Highland Park Junior High School, a couple blocks from our old home in Highland Park. She graduated from Johnson Senior High School in St. Paul before moving on to St. Kates to go to college. If you have additional background on Hassan, please write me at [email protected] Bail has been set at $100,000. She was also ordered to stay away from the campus and surrender her passport. If she makes bail and violates that court order about returning to St. Kates, shell really be in trouble. Few people had heard of Bruce Ohr until recently, but he was an important bureaucrat in the Department of Justiceuntil a month or so ago, he was both associate deputy attorney general and director of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. He was demoted in December 2016, apparently because he withheld his contacts with the Fusion GPS men [Glenn Simpson and Christopher Steele] from colleagues at the DOJ. So Glenn Simpsons testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, as it relates to Ohr, is of great interest. Simpson testified in November 2016, a month before it came out that his wife, Nellie, worked for Fusions Simpson; not only that, she worked on the Donald Trump investigation. The conflict of interest here is almost unbelievable; but remember, in November 2016, no one knew about it. This is what Glenn Simpson had to say about his dealings with Bruce Ohr, when Ohr was a senior member of the Department of Justice: Q Youve never heard from anyone in the U.S. Government in relation to those matters i.e., the fake Trump dossier], either the FBI or the Department of Justice? A After the election. I mean, during the election, no. Q What did you hear after and from whom and when? A I was asked to provide some information to the Justice Department. Q By whom and when? A It was by a prosecutor named Bruce Ohr, who was following up. You know, l cant remember when. It was sometime after Thanksgiving, I think. Q Thanksgiving of 2016? A Yes. Consider the monumental dishonesty of Simpsons answer. He was asked to provide some information to the Justice Department by a prosecutor named Bruce Ohr. Simpson neglects to mention that Ohrs wife, one of only a handful of employees of Fusion GPS, had been paid to work on the Trump investigation at Simpsons direction. According to Simpson, Ohr was just a prosecutor who was following up. Q Did Mr. Ohr reach out to you, or how did that shake out? A I think Chrisit was someone that Chris Steele knows. I think Q Im sorry. Chris Steele knows who? A Bruce Ohr. This testimony is absurd. Simpson has testified that Fusion GPS has approximately 10 employees, one of whom was Nellie Ohr. His testimony that Bruce Ohr was someone that Chris Steele knows was at best deliberately deceptive, at worst outright perjury. Simpsons testimony, and his deception, continue: The context of this is that it was after the election. A very surprising thing had happened, which is that Donald Trump had won. There was we were by that time, we were enormously concerned about rapidly accumulating indications that the Russian Government had mounted a massive attack on the American election system and that, you know, Donald Trump or his associates might have been involved. And there was a lot of alarming things happening, including Donald Trump saying things about Vladimir Putin that didnt really make any sense, werent ordinary things for a Republican to say, and, you know anyway. . So we had also by this time given this information to the FBI, and they had, you know, told indicated to Chris that they were investigating it, and then told apparently told The New York Times they werent. That situation was unacceptable to a firm whose client, as Simpson has acknowledged, was the Democratic National Committee. Fusion GPSs effortone should rather say, the DNCs effortto undermine the Trump administration continued after the election: And so it was not clear to us whether anyone at a high level of government was aware of the information that Chris had gathered and provided to the FBI. And, you know, so we were, frankly, you know, very scared for the country and for ourselves and felt that if we could give it to someone else, we should, higher up. Yes, plus they were being paid by the DNC. Simpsons protestations that he is merely a Boy Scout/good citizen are laughable. And so Chris suggested I give some information to Bruce, give him the background to all this. And we eventually met at a coffee shop, and I told him the story. Again, Simpson treads the fine line between deception and perjury. He obviously didnt need the Brit Christopher Steele, his subcontractor on the DNCs dirty tricks job, to introduce him to Bruce Ohr. Nellie Ohr was his employee, who worked on the anti-Trump project on behalf of the DNC. No doubt Bruce and Nellie are loyal Democrats, like Glenn Simpson. It would take an idiot (or maybe a journalist) not to understand what happened here. The DNC and the Hillary Clinton campaign wanted to continue their anti-Trump campaign, notwithstanding that Trump had been elected president. To their surprise, evidently, although I, for one, predicted it. Someone continued to pay Fusion GPS to try to undermine the nascent Trump administration with the lies that were assembled in Steeles laughable dossier. Simpson had an easy connection to the FBI through his employee Nellie Ohr. It was no problem for him to slide the fake dossier to Ohr, and perhaps others at the Obama DOJ, who were relied on to take it from there. What happened after that, we dont know for sure. We do know that Barack Obama corrupted the Department of Justice to an unprecedented degree. It is being widely reported, as Paul has noted, that Congress is in possession of a document that might lead to the removal of senior officials in the FBI and Department of Justice, and perhaps even to the criminal prosecution of some. I suspect that Bruce Ohr is high on the list of potential criminal defendants. At this point, one could say that the Fusion GPS Democratic Party smear is a bad joke, except that it isnt funny. Government corruption never is. Przepraszamy! Ogoszenie na stanowisku: Test Analyst with Banking experience wygaso z dniem 2018-01-20 Ta propozycja bya zozona przez Cognizant EU Mozliwe przyczyny wygasniecia oferty to: oferta zozona przez pracodawce zostaa wycofana z naszej bazy firma zakonczya proces rekrutacji uzyskujac odpowiednia ilosc zgoszen ogoszeniodawca zmodyfikowa tresc ogoszenia i jest ono dostepne pod innym adresem url dostawca tresci usuna ogoszenie z bazy danych niewasciwy adres url ogoszenia Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w branzy Informatyka / Telekomunikacja, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Informatyka / Telekomunikacja Jezeli poszukujesz pracy na stanowisku Test Analyst with Banking experience, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Test Analyst with Banking experience Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w miescie: Zurich, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Zurich Pamietaj, ze mozesz takze rozpoczac poszukiwanie pracy od strony gownej, kliknij tutaj. Inne oferty, ktore mogy byc w kregu Twoich zainteresowan: Life-Decisions "A voice shall sound in your ears: 'This is the way; walk in it,' when you would turn to the right or to the left." Isaiah 30:21 Life-decisions are those that relate to vocation, ministry, employment, education, residence, etc. Life-decisions deal with such questions as: Should I be married or single? Should I be a priest, deacon, brother, or sister? Should I go to college? Should I change jobs? Should I move if I'm transferred on my job? Should I buy this house in this city? Should I retire now? The answers to these very important questions are found by first answering three other more important questions: "Who is Jesus?" "Who am I in Christ?" "What is God's plan for my life?" When we answer these three questions, all the other questions will virtually answer themselves. WHO IS JESUS? "'And you,' He said to them, 'Who do you say that I am?'" Matthew 16:15 The first question in life is: "Who is Jesus?" Jesus says He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn 14:6), the great I Am (Jn 8:58), one with the Father (Jn 10:30), God Himself (Jn 1:1). Either Jesus is a blasphemer and should be rejected, or He is God and should be worshiped. Until we accept Jesus for Who He is, there is no way we can know the true meaning of life . Without Jesus, we can do nothing (Jn 15:5); and marriage, the single life, work, school, and retirement will be mere exercises in futility. WHO AM I IN CHRIST? "Who are you?" John 1:19 When we tell Jesus Who He is and make a personal commitment of our lives to Him, He tells us who we are. For example, when Simon Peter acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God, Jesus called Peter the "rock" on which He would build His Church (Mt 16:16-18). Our identity is based on our relationship to someone or something. If we ask people who they are, they will say what job they have, what city they're from, or what things they possess. All of these identities are unworthy of the human person. Our true identity is found only in our relationship with Jesus. And only people who know who they are can know what is their vocation, where to work, what to buy, and how to live. WHAT IS GOD'S PLAN FOR MY LIFE? "We have been praying for you unceasingly and asking that you may attain full knowledge of His will through perfect wisdom and spiritual insight. Then you will lead a life worthy of the Lord and pleasing to Him in every way." Colossians 1:9-10 Many people think the purpose of life is to pursue petty pleasures or to collect possessions. They have believed the devil's lies and trivialized their lives. But once we know who we are in Christ, we know that "God doesn't make junk" and there's a special and glorious plan for our lives. When we start to see the outlines of God's blueprint for our lives, we have a pattern by which we can make our life-decisions. For example, we would not marry for mere sexual attraction. Rather, our concern is: "How does this person fit into God's plan for my life?" We don't move just because the company moves or buy a house because the price is right. The overriding question is always: "How does this fit into God's plan for my life?" ALL THE OTHER QUESTIONS "Seek first His kingship over you, His way of holiness, and all these things will be given you besides." Matthew 6:33 Jesus promised that, if we seek first His kingdom and His way of holiness, all our basic needs will be given to us besides. When we totally give ourselves to Jesus, find out who we are in Him, and commit ourselves to fulfill His plan for our lives, He takes care of the rest. With Jesus as Lord, it would be hard not to know if we are called to be single or married for His kingdom, if we should take this job, go to this school, buy this house, or live in this city. The Lord Jesus can communicate His will to those who are committed to listening to Him. Only our sins can prevent God from getting His way in our lives. In that case, we should simply repent, confess our sins, and return to doing His will. When we're right with God, we can hardly help but make the right decisions. Take the first step to a happy, victorious life and eternity. Pray from your heart: "Lord Jesus, I believe You died for me and that You are alive and listening to me now. I repent of my sins and ask Your forgiveness. From this moment on, I decide to live for You and no longer for myself, to do Your will and not mine. Make me the kind of person You want me to be. Show me the way to the Father. Now fill me with Your Holy Spirit, Who will teach me how to live for You and how to tell the world You are my Savior and Lord. I love You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit." If you made this commitment to Jesus, write us so we can share your joy. Nihil obstat: Reverend Edward J. Gratsch on November 5, 1989. Imprimatur: Most Reverend Carl K. Moddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, on November 11, 1989. Five people in Wisconsin have fallen ill with a salmonella infection after eating raw sprouts at Jimmy Johns restaurants around the state, according to the state Department of Health Services. The department requested that the sandwich chain stop selling sprouts and warns customers not to eat sprouts from Jimmy Johns until the investigation is completed. Because of the warm and humid conditions that are both needed to grow sprouts and conducive to bacteria growth, they are a known source of foodborne illnesses. Three more people in neighboring Minnesota and Illinois have also contracted the infection of the same strain from eating sprouts at Jimmy Johns restaurants. Jimmy Johns president and CEO James North said in a statement that food safety and the welfare of our customers are top priorities and not negotiable in our business. Jimmy Johns said it made the decision to stop serving sprouts across the country after an investigation in the last 24 hours indicated that sprouts purchased from two growers in Minnesota could be linked to seven food safety complaints received over a one-week period in December in Illinois and Wisconsin. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported the most recent illness began Jan. 3 and that no hospitalizations or deaths have been reported. Seven of the patients told the CDC that they ate at several of the restaurants locations and had sprouts on each of their sandwiches. Jimmy Johns sprouts were linked to outbreaks of salmonella in 2010, 2012 and 2014. Sprouts at the Champaign-based chain also were linked to an E. coli outbreak in 2008. Salmonella symptoms include abdominal cramping, diarrhea, vomiting and fever, although not all may be necessarily present, according to the Department of Health Services. Symptoms usually develop with six to 72 hours of consumption, with the illness lasting three to seven days. Most people recover without treatment, according to the CDC, although a doctor should be consulted if a person has eaten sprouts and develops salmonella symptoms. Salmonella can still be transferred from person to person even after symptoms subside, the Department of Health Services said. Regularly washing hands with soap and water reduces the chance of spreading the bacteria. The Chicago Tribune contributed to this report. ( Read 4739 Times) Source : The Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra will hear the Loya case -- two Public Interest Litigations demanding an independent probe into the death of special CBI court judge BH Loya who died in 2014.The Loya case is seen as the trigger for the top four Supreme Court judges after the CJI to go public with their criticism of CJI Misra for allocating sensitive cases to junior judges.Judge Loya, then presiding over the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, died in Nagpur on 1 December, 2014. Current BJP president Amit Shah was named in the case but, in late December the same year, he was discharged by the court.Besides the CJI, justices AM Khanwilkar DY Chandrachud will be on the bench, according to the list of business released by the Supreme Court registry on Saturday.The fresh twist in the case comes four days after a bench of justices Arun Mishra and MM Shantagoudar ordered the listing of the Loya case before an appropriate bench, triggering speculation that they had withdrawn themselves from hearing it.Read moreJustice Loyas death should be probed by an independent agency: CongressSC asks Maharashtra govt to give judge Loyas reports to petitionersOn Friday, the CJI ordered that the matter be put up before an appropriate bench as per roster but there was uncertainty over who would hear it. Lawyers for the petitioners - Tehseen Poonawala and Mumbai-based journalist BR Lone mentioned the matter before the CJI. Lones advocate Anita Shenoy said she went to the CJIs court to apprise him about the last order in the case and seek a date for hearing.On January 16 Justice Arun Misra had said the matter should be listed before an appropriate bench after a week. It was, therefore, mentioned to the chief who said the case would be now be heard by the bench as per roster, Shenoy explained.The two public interest litigations (PILs) demand an independent probe into the death of special CBI judge BH Loya. The petitions were originally listed before a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra.On 16th, the bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra heard the matter directing the Maharashtra government to share details of the police investigation into judge Loyas death with the petitioners and also passed an order for listing of the case before an appropriate bench.In the SC a roster system is followed to mark cases to benches that sit in the combination of two judges. Roster is notified by the SC registry after the CJI approves it. However, the roster is not made public and even lawyers are unaware of the same. When a sensitive matter or PIL is filed the SC registry brings it to the notice of the CJI who then takes a call on who will hear it.Justice Arun Mishras January 16 order, fuelling apprehensions over him hearing the case again came a day after he broke down at a morning tea meet of SC judges where he expressed his anguish at being collateral damage in the fight between the four senior judges and the CJI because their allegations cast aspersions on his abilities. source Hindustantimes.com ATLANTIC CITY This week, New Jersey got a new governor and administration. While the future of the state takeover in Atlantic City remains uncertain, Gov. Phil Murphy and his Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver were inaugurated and both have previously expressed interest in ending the takeover. Oliver, also the head of the Department of Community Affairs, said during her inauguration speech that she wanted to free the city of state intervention. The same week, state Local Government Services Director Timothy Cunningham told City Council on Wednesday he would remain in his role with the DCA and will continue to work with the city for a little while longer. On this week's Atlantic City Story podcast, Erin Serpico is joined by staff writer John DeRosier to discuss the state takeover in the city, as well as the State of the County address earlier this week. A new episode of The Atlantic City Story podcast is available every Saturday morning. This podcast and previous episodes are also available on iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher. Now it's your turn. Got an idea for a podcast episode? Just want to tell us what you thought about the show? Let us know. Call us at 609-272-7238 and share your thoughts (we may include them in an upcoming episode if you tell us who you are). If you prefer writing, you can send comments to Erin or Nick directly. Question: I am seeking information about a wooden kitchen table that was recently removed from a Pennsylvania farmhouse owned by a family member for generations. The tables hinged rectangular plank top is 6 feet long, 42 inches wide and rests on a hollow, box-shaped, lidded 6-foot-long storage bench. When the tables top is lifted into an upright position, the hollow bench can be used for seating or storage. Anything you can tell me is appreciated. V.B., Linwood Answer: Your dual purpose country-style hutch table can be used as a table or a settee, based on the horizontal or vertical position of the tables top. The top was made to be lifted into an upright position to provide seating when the piece was not being used as a table. When the tables top was pivoted to a vertical position, it became the back of the settee. Furniture such as hutch tables, also known as settee tables, was particularly popular during the 18th and 19th centuries, when space was an important consideration in homes. Originally produced in Europe, their prominence in America was during the mid-1800s, when they were created by local carpenters as well as some skilled cabinetmakers and eventually at factories. Usually made from pine or poplar, country-style hutch tables often were stained or painted with a solid color. Last year, prices paid for a number of 19th-century stained hutch tables ranged from $200 to $350. During 2016, one example with original paint sold for $800 and another, made in New England, fetched $4,750. Question: Last year, I bought several used hand puppets at a Delaware thrift shop and I hope you can tell me something about a 17-inch brown dog with a soft vinyl head, movable mouth and flannel ears. Printed on its box is Jimmy Nelsons T.V. Farfel Juro Celebrity Dolls, NY, NY. G.C., Port Elizabeth Answer: Farfel was the lovable dog-character puppet pal of celebrated American ventriloquist Jimmy Nelson. Together the pair appeared during the 1950s and 60s on television as guests of the Ed Sullivan Show and as regulars on Texaco Star Theater, hosted by Milton Berle. From 1953 to 1965 they starred in several commercials promoting Nestle chocolate candy and Nestle Quik chocolate milk flavoring. Farfel gained long-lived fame by ending his part of every commercials ditty with his deep-throated signature Chawklet. Headed by Sam Jupiter, Juro Novelty Co. was located in New York City from 1955 to 1977, when it closed. The firm made composition and plastic celebrity and personality dolls as well as ventriloquists dummies and puppets. Prominent characters included Charlie McCarthy and his sidekick Mortimer Snerd, Groucho Marx, Howdy Doody, Danny ODay and Oliver Hardy. Junos brown Farfel hand puppet currently is valued at $60 to $75 when it is in excellent condition. Long-term funding for a crucial childrens health care coverage program hangs in the balance amid a potential federal government shutdown, and New Jersey health experts say the delay in taking action is unacceptable. The Childrens Health Insurance Program has been without permanent funding since October. An estimated 113,000 or more kids in New Jersey are at risk of becoming uninsured if the money isnt restored. Extending the program for the long term should be a no-brainer for Congress and the president, said Cathleen Bennett, New Jersey Hospital Association president and CEO and former state commissioner of the Department of Health. CHIP is a federal program managed by states that provides medical coverage to an estimated 8.9 million children nationally from families who may earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. Eligible children in New Jersey get coverage through NJ FamilyCare, which also covers Medicaid enrollees and residents who qualify through the states Medicaid expansion. Health experts and providers said CHIP has historically had bipartisan support among state leaders and representatives. The debate in Congress includes how the program will get funded moving forward, which has made CHIP a pawn in other legislative agendas and discussions. House Republicans introduced a short-term spending bill earlier this week that included a six-year CHIP funding extension in an effort to entice Democrats to vote in favor of the bill and avoid a government shutdown. Many Democrats have responded that the six-year extension is not enough and are reluctant to vote for the bill while a solution for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program remains to be found. President Donald Trump further complicated the GOPs plan Thursday by tweeting that CHIP funding should not be included in any kind of short-term extension plan. New Jersey has always supported the program, even figured out ways to streamline the application process and simplify renewals, said Mary Coogan, attorney and head of Advocates for Children of New Jerseys Kidlaw Legal Resource Center. But now the CHIP program, theyre holding it hostage. CHIP coverage in New Jersey will cost the federal government an estimated $490.7 million in fiscal year 2018, according to the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, a nonpartisan legislative branch agency that provides Congress and other departments with analysis, data and recommendations. Although that may seem like a lot, a report earlier this month from the Congressional Budget Office said CHIP would actually save the federal government $6 billion in the next decade. Some states, such as Connecticut, Colorado and Virginia, have already sent parents letters about how their children may lose health insurance next month as funding runs out. Other states nearing that point are expected to send out letters soon. New Jerseys CHIP funding is not at that level yet, Coogan said, as reports estimate the states money could last as late as April, but that doesnt lessen the feeling of alarm, she said. Medicaid directors have already had to start making plans, she said. We have seen that, because kids get regular check-ups, things like asthma are addressed and ER visits decreased. Weve been seeing an increase of kids getting preventative dental care and addressing oral health. We dont want to see an override of those things. If CHIP funding is not restored and New Jersey makes efforts to cover those children using state funds, health policy experts like Katherine Hempstead, senior adviser at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said the responsibility to provide that type of coverage would be too much for states to shoulder. Transitioning those kids into marketplace plans would likely raise their cost-sharing burdens considerably, she said. Bennett said New Jersey hospitals are prepared to treat children with limited or no insurance who may have no other choice but to go to an emergency room for care, but it is no replacement for being able to regularly see a primary-care doctor for wellness. She also warned that passing CHIP funding while other health care initiatives and programs undergo cuts could also lead to problems down the road. Coogan remains hopeful. I think movement this week is good, she said. People are talking about long-term and permanent funding, and thats the most positive direction Ive seen so far. We have our fingers crossed, and were still making calls to our representatives and encouraging other people to do the same. OCEAN CITY For the second year, local women and supporters marched in solidarity with several Womens Marches across the U.S. Activist group South Jersey Connection to Action hosted a march Saturday along Asbury Avenue. Second District Congressional candidate Tanzie Youngblood was a featured speaker at the event, along with Atlantic County Freeholder-at-large Caren Fitzpatrick, Northfield City Councilwoman Susan Korngut, Danielle Davies and Alexi Velez of the New Jersey chapter of the ACLU. About 600 people walked along Asbury Avenue, then gathered at Mark Soifer Park, across from City Hall. Former Atlantic County Freeholder John Carman was spotted at the march Saturday. I was there to listen and see what they had to say, Carman said. Some of it I agreed with, some I didnt, but I wanted to hear what was said. Carman came under public scrutiny in 2017 after posting a meme on Facebook that belittled the Womens March on Washington. What happened last year painted me as a man Im not, Carman said. His post incited more than 30 woman to attend and inspired current Freeholder Ashley Bennett to run against him in the 2017 election. This year, Bennett was invited to speak at the Womens March in New York City and was one of a dozen women who ran for office featured on the most recent cover of Time Magazine. South Jersey Connection to Action formed in 2017 in response to the national Womens March movement. On Feb. 20, the group walked across the Route 52 causeway bridge in support of equal rights for women and immigrants. Last week, the Trump administration announced it will allow states to impose a community engagement requirement on healthy adults getting Medicaid, the public health insurance program for low-income people. So far, 10 states intend to do it, though not welfare-haven New York. To get Medicaid, adults in these states will have to work or look for a job, study for a high school diploma, learn English as a second language, volunteer, get addiction treatment or take care of a family member. In short, they must do something. Democrats and the liberal media call the requirement cruel and pathological. Baloney. Theres no reason taxpayers should pick up the tab for able-bodied people who wont get off the couch. Medicaid was created in 1965 as a safety net health program for pregnant women, children and the disabled. Then Obamacare distorted it into permanent insurance, raising the allowable income level and opening it up to healthy adults who refuse to work. The Medicaid rolls now top 74 million, and are projected to reach 87 million within a decade. As Medicaid dependence soars, the left brags that more people are covered. Technically true, but misleading. Medicaids ballooning enrollment is creating a national crisis. And not just because its the fastest growing federal entitlement program and the biggest item in many state budgets. Medicaid is sending commercial health premiums through the roof. How? It shortchanges hospitals and doctors, and they make up for it by shifting the unmet costs onto privately insured patients, explains Don George, president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont. Every family that buys insurance or is covered through an employer gets socked with hundreds or thousands of dollars extra in yearly premiums. The bigger Medicaid grows, the higher these premiums will skyrocket, threatening to kill private insurance as a viable option. Yikes. Democrats boasting about the millions of people newly enrolled in Medicaid arent about to admit its driving premiums skyward. Allowing states to impose conditions for Medicaid will help curb the enrollment explosion. The history of welfare reform proves it. Welfare reform, enacted in 1996, introduced a work requirement, as well as a time limit on cash benefits. New Yorks Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan predicted children sleeping on grates, picked up in the morning, frozen. Instead, welfare caseloads plunged by half within five years, as the freeloaders dropped out and the number of single mothers entering the workforce soared. Thats the goal again now. Nearly 10 million of the 25 million adults on Medicaid are not working, not even part time, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Yet there are millions of unfilled jobs available, and the labor participation rate for working-age men is even lower than at the end of the Great Depression. So far, Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin are planning to impose work-related conditions on Medicaid. Its a national movement to dignify work, not dependence. If you earn too little to afford insurance, you can get Medicaid. But dont sit home and do nothing. Theres no question it will reduce Medicaid rolls. And not a minute too soon. The Mayo Clinic warned nine months ago that it had reached the tipping point, where 50 percent of patients rely on Medicaid or Medicare, public insurance for the elderly. Both programs underpay, forcing Mayo to shift costs to the privately insured. But cost-shifting only works until public insurance grows too large. Mayo is now sending Medicaid patients to the end of the line to avert a financial meltdown. Mayos dilemma previews the impact on our health care system, unless Medicaid enrollment is limited. Disregard the hysterical warnings that imposing conditions on Medicaid is heartless. Its a promising first step to avert a national crisis. The alternative is truly needy Medicaid patients enduring long waits for treatment and middle-class consumers priced out of health insurance. That would be far more painful. Email Betsy McCaughey, a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research and a former lieutenant governor of New York State, at betsy@betsymccaughey.com. Ventnor firefighters called to clear snow Like most of the residents in our area, we two senior citizens were left literally stranded due to drifts from the snowstorm on Jan. 3 and 4. Our back door was completely blocked and our driveway was the victim of snowplows that sealed our only other escape. There are few year-round neighbors on our street and we were at a loss as to what to do. Then the light bulb went off: call the fire department because this was certainly a life threatening situation. Within 15 minutes three strong, bundled-up Ventnor Fire Company members were at the door, shovels in hand. Twenty minutes later, we were cleared for any escape we might need. They would not accept a hot drink, stating they had a lot of work to do. We are so thankful they included us on their schedule and even thanked us for giving them the opportunity to serve. Charles and Kay Myers Ventnor Jesus was a progressive Regarding the Jan. 7 letter, Left disparages everyone who disagrees with them: The writer suggests that maybe the political right should say it is now time for all good Christians to stand up against liberal socialism before it is too late. Maybe he needs to take a closer look at who Jesus really was, based on the Bibles account of Jesus and not what others have to say. Jesus was a progressive, a liberal in his day. Did Jesus take the five loaves and two fish and keep them for himself? No. He redistributed them among the people. Jesus cared for the hungry, naked, sick and downtrodden. Sounds like a little bit of socialism to me. Jesus stood with the poor, not the rich and powerful. So-called Christians should get off their high horses claiming conservative Republicans have a monopoly on God. Karl M. Frank III Mays Landing Weatherscan frozen out Thanks again to Comcast for removing local weather coverage during the most active winter weather season in years. Michael Maggio Galloway Township After much consideration, Sauk County will move forward with a proposal to install solar arrays at two government buildings. The Sauk County Board voted 23-6 Tuesday to approve a third-party financing arrangement with Eagle Point Energy. In an email Thursday, Administrative Coordinator Alene Kleczek Bolin said the countys consultant was working with the Iowa firm to finalize terms of the contract before it is signed. Eagle Point Energy will buy and install a rooftop solar array on the countys Baraboo law enforcement facility and a ground-mounted system near its Reedsburg nursing home. The county will purchase energy produced by the panels from the contractor presumably at rates cheaper than those of the power company which supporters say will allow for annual savings. The deal allows Eagle Point Energy to benefit from the countys payments and from financial incentives only available to private entities that invest in solar. The county will have the option to purchase the arrays after the seventh year and up through the 25th year of the contract, if it sees a financial benefit to doing so. The solar energy would then cost the county nothing, potentially reducing annual utility bills. Supporters point to a consultants analysis that said the county stands to save more than $550,000 over 25 years. Opponents have raised doubts about that projection, and concerns about installing arrays at the nursing home because of uncertainties about that propertys future. The county, going forward, will save money, said Supervisor Scott Von Asten of Baraboo, who chairs the committee that spearheaded the project. The county, going forward, at least until the moment we decide to purchase (the solar arrays), if ever, is taking no risk. The risk is all on Eagle Point. The savings are ours. Concerns raised Tuesday nights vote brought closure to a proposal that has received broad public support, but has been the subject of much political infighting among the board. The project has faced longstanding resistance from skeptical supervisors. Two board members who have consistently opposed the deal made last-minute, unsuccessful pitches to alter the contract Tuesday night before ultimately voting to approve it. Supervisor Henry Netzinger of Prairie du Sac said he conducted his own analysis, and wasnt convinced that the 3 percent annual rate hikes built into the contract will keep solar energy costs lower than those of the utility company. If we go into this thing, I would like to see an adjustment made on tying it to something real, Netzinger said. The countys consultant, Mark Hanson of Hoffman Planning, Design & Construction, said his analysis incorporated energy rates going back to 2002. Those figures showed an average annual rate increase of 4.1 percent, he said, making it likely that solar energy will remain the cheaper option. Another critic of the project, Supervisor Dennis Polivka of Spring Green, lobbied to untie the nursing home from the deal, and only move forward with an array on the law enforcement facility. He said he could not support the contract if it included systems at both buildings. Despite their reservations, Polivka and Netzinger who both face opposition in the April 3 election were among the 23 supervisors who voted to approve the deal as it was proposed. Supervisors and members of the public in favor of the project have said supporting a shift toward renewable energy is just as important as any potential savings to the county. Board Chair Marty Krueger of Reedsburg, who has feuded with the committee that proposed the project, was among the six who voted against it. He explained his reasoning during a radio interview Wednesday morning with WRDB-AM/1400. I would have liked to have started, personally, with just doing the law enforcement center, Krueger said. But the board voted to do both, so Im fine with that. 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 Hyderabad, Jan 18 : Actor Vishal Krishna feels that the next assembly elections in Tamil Nadu will be a game changer. Stating that people want a change, the young actor said he would like to wait for the agenda and policies of superstars Rajinikant and Kamal Haasan before making any comment. Vishal, as he is popularly known, was speaking at India Today south conclave here on Thursday. The actor, whose nomination for the recent by-election in R.K. Nagar constituency was rejected, said the person who signed his nomination papers later claimed that it was not his signature. "This is the first time in the history of Indian democracy that a nomination was rejected by election authorities after accepting it. I never thought my candidature will create so much fear among so people. It made me decide to enter politics," said Vishal. The actor said that the urge to do good to people through power is what is making the actors take a plunge into politics. Vishal appealed to actor Prakash Raj, who was also one of the speakers at the session on 'stand out, speak up: Make yourself count', to contest the elections in Tamil Nadu. "Definitely India," remarked Prakash Raj when asked from which state he would be contesting the elections. Prakash Raj said Rajinikant, Kamal Haasan and Vishal all have good chance. He, however, said people of Tamil Nadu will decide who will be their leader. He, however, said if they win just because they are popular nobody can save Tamil Nadu. Dalit writer Kancha Ilaiah said if Rajnikant tilts towards the right, he would be wiped out. United Nations, Jan 20 : Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said his country is in favour of collective leadership instead of US global leadership. Asked on Friday at a news conference at UN Headquarters whether Washington is losing global leadership on key issues and in key conflict areas under the Trump administration, Lavrov said: "In today's world, leadership can only be a collective thing," Xinhua reported. There are a lot of examples as proof, he said. "The creation of the Group of 20 reflects the fact that we need to create a collective agenda, using the leaders of all regions of the world. And the same applies in the fight against terrorism -- we need collective efforts." The first year of Donald Trump's presidency has seen many departures from the foreign policies of previous administrations. Washington has announced to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and a UN-led initiative to formulate a global compact on migration. It has also threatened to pull out of the UN Human Rights Council. The Trump administration has also cut aid to various countries and its contributions to the United Nations. Most recently it has withheld funds for a UN agency that supports about 5 million Palestinian refugees both in the occupied territories and neighbouring countries. Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and to move the US Embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has triggered an international outcry. Lavrov said on Friday that people may draw their own conclusions on whether those US actions are in line with US interests. "We are in favour of solving everything together." Lavrov is in UN premises for high-level meetings at the Security Council. United Nations, Jan 20 : At a high-level Security Council meeting, Pakistan has raised the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, whom Islamabad has accused of being an Indian spy and given him a death sentence. "Those who speak of changing mindsets (about terrorism) need to look within and their own record of subversion against my country as our capture of an Indian spy has amply demonstrated and proved beyond any shadow of doubt," Pakistan's Permanent Representative Maleeha Lodhi said during Council meeting on Afghanistan. She did not mention his name. Her statement was response to India's statement in the Council meeting on Afghanistan that India is a victim of the same Pakistani "mindset" that promotes terrorist attacks everyday in Afghanistan. India has denied that Jadhav, a retired navy officer, worked for the government and said that he was abducted by Pakistan from Iran to stage a show-trial. Denying that Pakistan was giving terrorists a safe haven or support, Lodhi also took a swipe at the US saying it needed a "reality check." The administration of President Donald Trump suspended security aid to Pakistan this month citing its provision of sanctuaries and assistance to terrorists attacking Afghanistan. Jadhav was captured by Pakistan in 2016 and was sentenced to death by a military court martial last year. India appealed to the International Court of Justice against his sentence and the court has stayed his execution. Lodhi was originally listed to address the Council two spots before India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin, but she chose to speak later and amended her prepared speech with the response to him. Akbaruddin said that after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Lahore in December 2015 in a bid to promote peace with Pakistan, "a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack" was launched on the Pathankot airbase in a week's time by "the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day." "These mindsets differentiate between 'good' and bad terrorists," he said. "These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace." "These mindsets,a Akbaruddin declared, "need to change." Lodhi said that Pakistan was against terrorism, being itself a a victim. She blamed the conditions in Afghanistan and the drug trade, which she said brings terrorists $400 million every year, for the insurgency and asserted that they didn't need outside support or sanctuaries because "over 40 per cent of the country is under insurgent control, contested or ungoverned." "Afghanistan and its partners, especially the US, need to address these challenged inside Afghanistan rather than shift the onus for ending the conflict on to others," she said. "Those who imagine sanctuaries outside (Afghanistan) need a reality check," she added. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in) United Nations, Jan 20 : Pakistan's "mindset" that unleashes terrorist attacks on India and Afghanistan must change, India has told the Security Council. Only by changing the terror mindset can peace come to Afghanistan, India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin said on Friday during a high-level Council meeting dealing with Afghanistan. "Terrorism and externally induced instability pose the gravest threat to Afghanistan's peace, stability and prosperity," he said. "And the growing arc of terrorist violence endangers our entire region." New Delhi has been working with regional and international partners to bring security, peace and development to Afghanistan, he said. To further these objectives and promote peace, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stopped over in Lahore in December 2015 on his way back from inaugurating the Indian-built parliament house in Afghanistan, he said. But "a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack" was launched on the Pathankot airbase in a week's time by "the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day," he said. "These mindsets differentiate between 'good' and bad terrorists," he said. "These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace. They are mindsets that are reluctant to join hands in moving the region forward to build a shared future for our people and our youth." "These mindsets," Akbaruddin declared, "need to change." The high-level Council meeting was presided over by Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov and focused on regional cooperation to promote development and security in Afghanistan. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was among those attending the session. Terrorism has taken a huge toll on Afghanistan, Akbaruddin said backing up his assertion with World Bank statistics. Afghanistan recorded a 9.6 per cent annual economic growth rate from 2003 to 2014, but it has fallen to 2.2 per cent in 2016 as terrorism increased and it was 2.6 per cent last year, according to the bank. Illustrating how terrorism impacts development, he said that a disproportionate amount of resources are diverted from the aid projects to protecting them rather than building more projects. The New Development Partnership between India and Afghanistan cover education, health, agriculture, infrastructure, renewable energy, drinking water supply and human resource development, he said. The recent visits by Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah have given the partnership a boost, he added. India pledged a $1 billion package for Afghanistan last year. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in) Islamabad, Jan 20 : Two people have been arrested in connection with the rape and murder case of seven-year-old Zainab in Pakistan, with police terming it an important development in the search of suspect(s) involved in the case. Zainab Amin was kidnapped from her neighbourhood on January 4. She was raped and later murdered. Her body was found from a heap trash on January 9. Investigators found an empty box near the body of the girl and one of the suspects arrested on Friday was identified by the help of a forensic examination, Dawn News on Saturday quoted unnamed sources as saying. The suspect had already been booked in six rape cases. The other suspect is his brother who is also booked in some similar cases. The sources said the two brothers were residents of the College Road area in Punjab province where a minor rape survivor was found in November. The girl is still under treatment at Children's Hospital, Lahore. The joint investigation team formed on January 10 to probe the Zainab murder case has collected data of 300 mobile phone numbers and six of them have been marked for further investigation. The sources said locator vans had been working in Punjab's Kasur city for the past three days to trace the location of the two suspects. They said they were arrested from a place outside the district where they were hiding. The police had interrogated around 1,300 people and released many of them after their DNA tests. Also on Friday, Punjab Inspector General of Police Arif Nawaz said that investigators were going in the right direction. A new video footage emerged on social media regarding a suspect moving near the house of the victim. A police official said that the JIT had not released any video footage. In fact, the video clip was the initial part of the first video shared by the family of the victim with the JIT. Separately, on a call at helpline, police raided two rented houses in Ali Park and Peerowala Road whose tenants had gone missing. Police took the owners into custody to know the whereabouts of the tenants. Pakistan's National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Friday formed a 10-member committee for suggesting recommendations to stop child abuse incidents. The committee has been asked to give its recommendations to the house within 30 days. Are you a new homeowner? Your first 12 months of homeownership set the tone for the entire journey. With just a few smart decisions, you can save money now and get more out of your investment later. 1. Start an emergency fund: An emergency savings fund provides a financial safety net, and your new home is the perfect reason to start one. Ideally, your emergency fund should cover several months of expenses, but its OK to start small. Set aside a portion of every paycheck with the goal of saving $500 as quickly as possible, and then contribute as much as you can moving forward. 2. Take a closer look at your homeowners insurance: Just because a standard homeowners insurance policy satisfied your lender doesnt mean youre adequately covered. Homeowners insurance isnt one-size-fits-all. There are unique coverage options and, more importantly, exclusions that homeowners need to be aware of, says Ryan Andrew, president of The Andrew Agency, an independent insurance agency in Richmond, Virginia. Does your policy cover the full cost of your jewelry or other valuables? Are disasters like earthquakes and floods excluded? Will the policy pay if your dog bites the new postal carrier? 3. Get an energy efficiency audit: Heating, cooling and powering a home isnt cheap. After the dust settles, you may notice more about your home, particularly if you bought new construction, says Jessie Ferguson, director of operations at Renewablue, a home energy consulting company. Maybe the air smells funny or one bedroom is colder than the others. She recommends getting an energy efficiency audit rather than guessing at the problem. Using blower door tests and infrared cameras, energy audits measure air leaks and detect air infiltration or missing insulation. Audits are performed by utility companies, city governments and some contractors. In addition to lowering your utility bills and making you more comfortable, a more efficient home may end up putting free money in your pocket, thanks to local, state and federal rebates. 4. Consider a home warranty: If the appliances in your new home are near the end of their life cycles, a home warranty may help shield you from the cost of replacement. Also called home service contracts, home warranties are annual agreements that offset the repair or replacement cost of major home components and appliances. Approach home warranty companies with caution, however. Read customer reviews and avoid gimmicks that seem too good to be true. Like insurance policies, home warranties are full of fine print, and homeowners often fail to realize whats excluded until they try to make a claim. 5. Create a disaster kit with a home inventory: Your new home is your castle, but its not indestructible. A disaster kit that includes financial documents and a home inventory will speed up recovery if the unthinkable happens. A home inventory can be as simple as snapping pictures of big-ticket items in your home, or you could record items, brands, original prices, ages and condition in a spreadsheet. No matter which method you choose, a home inventory is the best way to make sure you have enough insurance coverage to replace your valuables, Andrew says. Store the inventory, along with copies of your personal identification, credit card information, vehicle records and other important documents, in a fireproof safe or another place thats easily accessible if you have to evacuate. 6. Make a plan to build equity: Unless you bought your home with cash, it will be many years until you own it outright. Make plans now to build equity faster so you can unlock more benefits of homeownership even sooner. Equity is a fancy word for how much of your house is paid off. Home equity is a valuable asset; accrue enough and you can use it to finance major renovations or pay off student loans. You can build equity slowly just by making your monthly mortgage payments, or you can find ways to speed up the process. For example, take on smart home improvements or switch to biweekly payments to get equity rich even faster. New Delhi, Jan 20 : More and more kids are hooked on to screens, parents are worried how to create homework-play balance and tech giants in Silicon Valley are in a huddle, deliberating over how to help children cut screen addiction. Two key Apple shareholders this month requested the Cupertino-based iPhone maker to take urgent steps to safeguard young users from the ill-effects of iPhone addiction. In a letter, Jana Partners and the California State Teachers' Retirement System told Apple to make its products safer for the younger users. "We have reviewed the evidence and we believe there is a clear need for Apple to offer parents more choices and tools to help them ensure that young consumers are using your products in an optimal manner," the letter read. Facebook, which has over two billion users, is making drastic changes to its News Feed that will allow users to see more updates from family and friends than posts from businesses, brands and media. According to its CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook has got a feedback from the community that public content -- posts from businesses, brands and media -- is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other. Zuckerberg admits that the new changes might not pay off at first, but believes it is important that users have more meaningful social interactions. The decision may result in a massive $23 billion revenue loss for Facebook as advertisers are not happy about being shooed away from their biggest online market on Earth. This is not the first time such fears have come out in the open from the global tech industry. Microsoft founder-turned-philanthropist Bill Gates, in an interview to the Mirror last year, said he has set strict rules for how his three kids grew up "in a home that forbade cell phones until age 14, banned cell-phone use at the dinner table, and set limits on how close to bedtime kids could use their phones". "You're always looking at how it can be used in a great way -- homework and staying in touch with friends -- and also where it has gotten to excess," Gates told the Mirror. Late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs never let his kids use iPads at home. "We limit how much technology our kids use at home," Jobs had told The New York Times. According to Sean Parker, one of Facebook founders, the digital world's addictive qualities "exploit a vulnerability in human psychology... God only knows what it's doing to our children's brains". To buttress their point, Apple shareholders, in their letter, cited latest research that linked depression to smartphone use among students. However, a December study from the University of Michigan suggests that how children use the devices -- not how much time they spend on them -- is the strongest predictor of emotional or social problems connected with screen addiction. "Typically, researchers and clinicians quantify or consider the amount of screen time as of paramount importance in determining what is normal or not normal or healthy or unhealthy," said lead author Sarah Domoff. "Our study has demonstrated that there is more to it than number of hours. What matters most is whether screen use causes problems in other areas of life or has become an all-consuming activity," she added. Some of the warning signs include if screen time interferes with daily activities, causes conflict for the child or in the family, or is the only activity that brings the child joy. It's now a familiar sight in the majority of families including in India -- young children bent over a screen for hours, texting or gaming, lost in a digital world -- with parents worrying how much screen time is too much. The awakening in the tech world is just another discussion point -- this time among those who built it in the first place. However, with billions of devices now being used in homes across the world, it is practically impossible to turn the clock back and tell kids to stop using gadgets. The onus lies on parents who can learn from Gates and Jobs how to minimise screen time cautiously and judiciously -- without making our kids angrier and more stubborn. Meanwhile, Apple CEO Tim Cook wants all primary school children to be taught coding alongside the alphabet. For him, coding is "just another language, and just like any other language, it should be taught in schools". It is possibly time to buy a device with high-performance computing capabilities for your kids at home. (Nishant Arora can be contacted at nishant.a@ians.in) Patna, Jan 20 : Two crude bombs were recovered near the Mahaboddhi temple in Bihar's Bodh Gaya, where Tibetian spiritual leader Dalai Lama is camping, prompting authorities to heighten security, police said on Saturday. The bombs were found on Friday night, police said. Police have denied media reports that claimed that the bombs were found inside the Mahaboddhi temple. "The explosive materials were found in the vicinity of the Kalachakra ground near the temple and kept far away from the temple," Inspector General of Police, Patna Zone, N.H. Khan said. "Security was already tight in Bodh Gaya but it was further reinforced," he added. Security of foreign monasteries and other sensitive places have also been beefed up and additional security forces have been deployed. A senior police official camping in Bodh Gaya said that three suspected persons have been found roaming in Bodh Gaya. Police will identify them soon, he said. Meanwhile, an NIA team from Delhi will reach Bodh Gaya on Saturday to start probe. A team of FSL from Patna has already reached to investigate the matter. In 2013, a series of bombs exploded at Bodh Gaya's Mahaboddhi temple in which two Buddhist monks were injured. New York, Jan 20 : As an upstart candidate aiming for the highest office in the United States, Donald Trump promised an election rally of Indians that they "will have a true friend in the White House" and "we are going to be best friends" with India. In his first year as President, Trump has stuck to the promise, appointing for the first time an Indian-American, Nikki Haley, to the cabinet and giving India a "leadership role" in Washington's global strategy across a broad geographic swath. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a man of humble origins, and Trump, a billionaire and a flamboyant reality TV personality, have struck an unlikely friendship. During a White House visit in June, their hitherto phone friendship was sealed with hugs. "The relationship between India and the US has never been stronger, never been better," Trump declared. "I am thrilled to salute you, Prime Minister Modi, and the Indian people for all you are accomplishing together." The ties have been growing strong under the previous three administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and Trump has moved it to a higher trajectory given its preoccupations with China and Afghanistan. Global security has emerged as the centrepiece of Trump's approach to India. "We welcome India's emergence as a leading global power and stronger strategic and defence partner," said his national strategy unveiled last month, with a view to making New Delhi a counter-balance to Beijing in the Indo-Pacific region. And Modi had said in October that India-US ties were growing with a "great deal of speed". While Indian-Americans are overwhelmingly Democrat -- a Pew Research Center survey said 65 percent support that party -- Trump has given members of the community some top administration jobs. Trump appointed Haley to the high profile US cabinet rank post as UN Permanent Representative in which she is often the face of Trump's hardline foreign policy. Ajit Pai became the Chairman of the Federal Communication Commission, a position with a vast portfolio overseeing of the Internet, mobile phones, airwaves, broadcast and communications. He took the administration's controversial decision to end net neutrality. Trump appointed Raj Shah as his deputy adviser and principal deputy press secretary. Uttam Dhillon, another deputy adviser, is also his deputy counsel. Others include Seema Verma, administrator of the health insurance programmes for seniors and the poor; Neomi Rao, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs; Vishal J. Amin, White House's intellectual property enforcement official, and Neil Chatterjee, a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. They all shape and implement Trump's controversial policies. But there have also been areas of friction with India, with immigration as the most contentious. The Trump administration -- and his campaign -- have signalled plans to fundamentally change the H-1B visa programme for professionals that overwhelmingly benefits Indians. But so far it hasn't, although it has tightened the scrutiny of the visas. It also backed off a threat to make H1-B visa holders in line for Green Cards return home while they wait out the years for their permanent residencies. He has also announced that he wants to end the immigration of relatives beyond the immediate family, categories that mean a lot to Indians. But his proposed reforms also include a points system to rank applicants on the basis of their qualifications, which could benefit Indians. On the economic front, Trump's "America First" and Modi's "Make in India" are likely to come into conflict as each seek manufacturing, jobs and investments in their own economies, and Trump threatening nations with which the US has a trade deficit. The five Indian Americans in the Congress opposed Trump on most issues. The first Senator of Indian-American ancestry, Democrat Kamala Harris, has emerged as one of the fiercest critics of Trump. She is pushing the Senator Judiciary Committee enquiry into Trump campaign's alleged links to Russia and has called for his resignation over charges of sexual harassment. But Trump's India policy "transcends partisanship" and the party supports his initiatives to strengthen it further, according to Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi. An important area of convergence for the two countries is the fight against terrorism. "Both our nations have been struck by the evils of terrorism and we are both determined to destroy terrorist organisations and the radical ideology that drives them," Trump said during Modi's visit to the White House in June. After several warnings to Pakistan that it "has much to lose" by supporting terrorists, the Trump administration tightened the screws on Islamabad by suspending security assistance this month. The administration has added Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, which carries out attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, and its leader Mohammad Yusuf Shah to the lists of global terrorist organisations and individuals to choke off financial and other support. In the South Asia region, where Trump's main focus is on stabilizing Afghanistan and ending terrorism there, Trump said in his August strategy speech, a "critical part of the South Asia strategy for America is to further develop its strategic partnership with India - the world's largest democracy and a key security and economic partner of the US". He asked India "to help us more with Afghanistan". But the truly transformational prospects are in the Indo-Pacific region where the US and its allies see a growing threat from China - and for Washington a challenge to its global status. In his National Strategy document Trump declared: "We will deepen our strategic partnership with India and support its leadership role in Indian Ocean security and throughout the broader region. "We will seek to increase quadrilateral cooperation with Japan, Australia, and India." (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in) Mumbai, Jan 20 : Actor Shahid Kapoor feels his daughter Misha is trying to take away his shoes from him. On Saturday, Shahid shared a photograph of his one-year-old, capturing a moment of her standing in his shoes, on his Instagram account. The image shows Misha looking into the lens directly with confidence, dressed in a fluorescent orange frock. He captioned the image saying: "Guess she has decided to take over." Pritish Nandy lauds Prakash Raaj for speaking up Film producer Pritish Nandy lauded actor Prakash Raaj for speaking up on issues that "concern all Indians". On Thursday, Prakash said at a conclave that "he was not anti-Hindu as alleged by critics but only anti-Modi". The actor went on to say that those who support "killers" cannot be called Hindus. He said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained silent when he appealed to him to speak out when some Modi supporters celebrated the killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh. Praising the guts of the actor to speak out publically without fear, Nandy posted on his Twitter account: "I like the courage and dignity of Prakash Raaj who speaks up on issues that concern all Indians. And he speaks softly and firmly, without the slightest fear." Washington, Jan 20 : The US Supreme Court has announced it would consider a legal challenge to President Donald Trumps latest version of ban on travel to the US by residents of six majority-Muslim countries. The justices said on Friday that they plan to hear arguments in April and issue a final ruling by late June, CNN reported. The court said it will consider questions concerning whether the ban violates immigration law as well as the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. Late last year, the justices allowed the entire travel ban issued in September to go into effect pending appeal. The court's eventual ruling will determine the fate of the third attempt of the Trump administration to restrict entry to people from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. The ban also affects two non-Muslim countries, North Korea and Venezuela. It marked the second time the Supreme Court agreed to hear the issue. Lower courts in two separate challenges had partially blocked the ban. A three-judge panel of judges on the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that travel ban 3.0 exceeded the President's authority, calling it "an executive override of broad swathes of immigration laws that Congress has used its considered judgment to enact". However, the Trump administration maintained that the President had the authority to install travel bans in order to protect national security. Ankara, Jan 20 : At least 11 people were killed and 44 others injured in a bus accident in Turkey's northwestern Eskisehir province on Saturday. The accident took place early on Saturday when the bus carrying a tour group from capital Ankara to northwestern Bursa province veered off the road and crashed into a copse of trees, Xinhua news agency reported. The driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed against trees along the roadside. Eskisehir Governor Ozdemir Cakacak told media that the driver of the bus has been detained. Kabul, Jan 20 : Afghan security forces have freed 67 soldiers and police officials from a Taliban-run jail in Afghanistan's Helmand province, officials said on Saturday. The rescue operation was launched in Baghram district and 20 of the freed hostages were taken to neighbouring Kandahar province. The remaining 47 would be taken there "soon", the Afghan Defence Ministry was cited as saying by Efe news. Helmand province is an area mostly under Taliban control. The Afghan authorities regularly conduct operations to liberate those being held by the militants. Currently, 9 out of the 14 districts of the province are controlled or threatened by the Taliban, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction of the US Congress. There has been an escalation of violence in Afghanistan since the end of NATO's combat mission in January 2015 and the government has been steadily losing ground to insurgents and now controls only 57 per cent of the country. New Delhi : Book: Why I Am A Hindu; Author: Shashi Tharoor; Publisher: Aleph Book Company; Pages: 302; Price: Rs 699 Shashi Tharoor's new book on Hinduism -- the religion followed by a majority of Indians -- comes at a crucial juncture when there is an upsurge in fringe elements that practise and propagate the ideology of Hindutva. The book, therefore, was being thought of as Tharoor's response to Hindutva. However, limiting "Why I Am A Hindu" to the debate between Hinduism and Hindutva will be a grave injustice to this riveting offering as the book is much more than the sum total of this debate. At the onset, it is a layman's account of his journey of discovering the "extraordinary wisdom and virtues of the faith" that he has practised for over six decades. Tharoor himself makes it clear in the Author's Note that he is neither a Sanskritist nor a scholar of Hinduism and, thus, did not set out to write a "scholarly exposition of the religion". The book comes across as the author's attempt to understand the religion that he follows, calling it a self-discovery of sorts will be accurate. Tharoor's exposition travels between personal accounts and his understanding of the religious scriptures as well as the values propagated by the likes of Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Pramahamsa and others in the league whom he refers to as the "Great Souls of Hinduism". It is thus imperative for the reader to have a clear state of consciousness before setting on to read the book because more than anything else, it is about Hinduism, a religion, and religions are, after all the reasons behind most conflicts. The book is divided into three sections, the first of which is titled "My Hinduism". This answers the question raised by the title of the book: Why I Am A Hindu? Admitting as sincerely as is expected of a liberal intellectual as Tharoor, he sets the record straight and confides that he is Hindu "because I was born one", and goes on to elaborate that religion is selected for most people at birth, "by the accident of geography and their parents' cultural moorings". But this analogy is not to suggest that he is not a proud Hindu. "I was never anything else: I was born a Hindu, grew up as one, and have considered myself one all my life." The section talks at length about Tharoor's early days, highlighting how his personal understanding of the religion developed with time. "My Hinduism was a lived faith; it was a Hinduism of experience and upbringing, a Hinduism of observation and conversation, not one anchored in deep religious study," he points out. The section also explains at length what he calls "My Truth," where he describes the reasons why he is "happy to describe" himself as a "believing Hindu", before going on to present a fair perspective on the values propagated by the "Great Souls of Hinduism." The second section is titled "Political Hinduism" and this is where Hindutva comes into play. It is interesting to note that the author takes 140 pages (about half of the book) to reach to the burning debate of our times and in doing so, he succeeds in providing a background on his belief of the religion, supplemented by the values propagated by the likes of Swami Vivekananda before explaining Hindutva. He begins this section by providing a clear distinction between Hinduism and Hindutva. For Hinduism, he presents an imagery of a banyan tree, in whose shade, "a great variety of flora and fauna, thought and action, flourishes". From here, he moves to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its ideologues -- Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and M.S. Golwalkar, explaining their perspectives on Hindutva. Using original quotes, he mentions Savarkar's assertion: "Hinduism is only a derivative, a fraction, a part of Hindutva." The book then moves, at an incredible pace, to the advent of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and the Bhartiya Jana Sangh and then to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Tharoor then devotes 40 pages decoding the philosophies of Hindutva -- not as he perceives it but exactly how its ideologues propagated it. Contrary to all expectations, he does not criticise them or counter their views, at least at this stage. It is from page 183 of the 302-page book, that he unleashes a storm of arguments on "the politics of division" that has led to "a travesty of Hinduism". Next, the author eloquently elaborates on the uses and abuses of Hindu culture and history in the contemporary scenario, resulting from "the politics of division" that he early mentions. The 28-page-long last section of the book is all that he spends on addressing what most would have expected from the entire book: "Taking Back Hinduism". Beginning with a reference to former US President Barack Obama's speech where he mentioned that "India will succeed so long as it is not split along the lines of religious faiths," he elaborates on the "travesty of Hinduism" in the contemporary times. Tharoor is brutal in his criticism of the saffron brigade but equally accommodating when it comes to presenting their views. "Why I Am A Hindu" is a well-researched exposition and is yet a charming personal account -- and it floats seamlessly in rich prose and diction synonymous with one of the most widely-read and revered authors of our times. (Saket Suman can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in) New Delhi, Jan 21 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday ordered a thorough probe into the Bawana plastic factory fire incident that claimed at least 17 lives and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased. As many as 17 people, including 10 women, were burnt alive or asphyxiated and 30 others injured at a fire in a plastic warehouse in west Delhi's Bawana on Saturday evening, officials said. "It is a very tragic incident. We have ordered a probe into the incident," Kejriwal told reporters after meeting the injured people at a hospital here. He said the injured will get an ex-gratia of Rs 1 lakh. The Chief Minister said the matter will be fully probed on how the licence was given, who gave the licence and how the incident happened. Union Minister Harsh Vardhan, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manoj Tiwari and Leader of Opposition in Delhi assembly Vijender Gupta and North Delhi Municipal Corporation Mayor Preety Agarwal also reached the spot. Manoj Tiwari also announced compensation of Rs 50,000 to the victims of fire incident. "Saddened at the loss of 17 lives in the Bawana cracker factory fire. My thoughts are with the families of the persons killed in the mishap," Harsh Vardhan said in a tweet. He also said that the government should "enforce strict safety regulations to such hazardous industries" to avoid at least future accidents. "Seventeen bodies have been taken out from the warehouse. As many as 30 persons, including some women, have reportedly sustained burn injuries. Some others are still feared trapped inside," a Delhi Fire Services officer said, adding that the condition of four persons is critical. The officer said the fire in Bawana Industrial Area was reported to the control room around 6.20 p.m., following which 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The fire was doused after three hours. "Police as well as fire brigade and ambulances were rushed to F-83 in Sector 5 of Bawana Industrial Area. The cause of the fire is not yet known," Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajneesh Gupta said. He also said police would register a case. The officer also said that it has apprehended Manoj Jain. According to police, the factory was downed by two persons, Jain and Lalit Goel. "It is to be verified whether they are the owners or have taken the premises on rent," Gupta said. Gupta also said that as per an injured labour of the factory, packing was being done in the factory. "The crackers used to come from outside," he said. A man who jumped from the second floor of the building in a bid to save himself later succumbed to injuries at a hospital. The victims were trapped in the basement, first and second floors when the fire spread from the basement to the floors above, the police officer said. The bodies have been kept in mortuary for identification. The relatives of some of the deceased and the injured have been informed, he added. Ankara, Jan 21 : Turkish Foreign Ministry has informed the ambassadors of Iran, Russia and the US in Ankara about a military operation launched by Turkey's army in Afrin in Syria, a ministry official said. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also held a phone conversation with US counterpart Rex Tillerson in the wake of the announcement of the air strikes on Saturday by Turkish Air forces, at Washington's request, the official told Xinhua news agency on the condition of anonymity. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday the military operation in Syria's Afrin has "actively" started. Turkey is determined to ensure its national security and to clear its borders of the People's Protection Units (YPG), which is considered by Ankara as the Syrian affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Turkish war jets have been hitting the YPG positions in Afrin on Saturday after days of shelling from the border. The Turkish Army stated that the operation is named "Olive Branch". Notebooks seized from the apartment of former UW-Madison student Alec Cook, which prosecutors saw as evidence that he schemed to sexually assault women he met on campus, cant be used during any of Cooks trials, two judges wrote in a collaborative decision issued Friday. The first of the notebooks was discovered by police while they performed a limited search of Cooks apartment with his consent in October 2016, and the contents of that notebook led investigators to get a search warrant to more thoroughly search the apartment a few days later. That first notebook, and any evidence taken by police during the subsequent search of Cooks apartment, are out and cannot be used at Cooks upcoming trials, Dane County Circuit Judges Stephen Ehlke and John Hyland wrote. The decision doesnt say specifically whether other potential testimony that may be the result of the now-suppressed evidence will also be out. The state has not established by clear and convincing evidence that the search of Mr. Cooks notebook fell within the scope of Mr. Cooks limited consent, Ehlke and Hyland wrote, nor has the state demonstrated that a different warrant exception applies. One of Cooks lawyers, Chris Van Wagner, declined to comment immediately. Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said he had not yet seen the decision. Cook, 21, of Edina, Minnesota, was charged in 2016 with 12 counts of varying degrees of sexual assault involving six women, along with several other charges that include stalking, disorderly conduct and false imprisonment. Prosecutors alleged that 11 women have been the victims of sexual assault or harassment by Cook. Cooks case has been broken into seven trials, the first of which is to begin before Ehlke on Feb. 26. Last month, Ehlke and Hyland granted a motion to move the trials to another county because publicity has made it impossible for Cook to receive fair trials in Dane County. The location of the trials has not yet been disclosed. Last year, Cooks lawyers argued that Madison police exceeded the scope of the consent that Cook gave them to search his apartment when they read through and photographed pages of a notebook found in Cooks nightstand. Cook had not given police explicit permission to look for or read any notebooks, only to look for and seize clothing, biological evidence including hair, sex toys, bedding, condoms and lubrication and photographs. While searching the nightstand, Madison police Detective Grant Humerickhouse found the small leather notebook sealed inside a plastic bag. He removed it from the bag and looked through it, and noticed entries that were systematically formatted. They described women and listed goals that Cook had with each woman. With a written search warrant that described the notebook and its contents, police seized other notebooks from Cooks apartment. State Assistant Attorney General Christopher Liegel and Assistant District Attorney Bryce Pierson argued that based on its evidentiary value and the possible incriminating nature of the writings, Humerickhouse had the authority to photograph the notebook. They also argued that it was reasonable for Humerickhouse to search the notebook for biological material and photographs, as permitted under Cooks consent. But the judges said that while police were free under the grant of consent to open the nightstand drawer, take the notebook out of the bag and even shake it to see if something fell out of it, anything beyond that was unlawful. Reading the contents of the notebook was unnecessary and a clear invasion of privacy, the judges wrote. The limited consent grant did not permit police to gather information regarding Mr. Cooks personal thoughts or writings. Nor did it permit police to photograph the notebooks contents. Humerickhouse knew that reading the journal wasnt authorized under the consent agreement, the judges wrote, but instead he became caught up in what he had seen and could not stop himself from taking further steps. While such conduct is human, it is not to be encouraged if we hope to preserve the ability of citizens and law enforcement to enter into limited consent agreements such as the agreement here. Aaron Kofsky is Ivey Engineering's winter 2017 scholarship winner. I've loved the computer science field since teaching myself programming in the seventh grade. Ivey Engineering, Inc. (IEI), an engineering consulting firm, is pleased to announce the recipient of the winter 2017 $1,000 bi-annual scholarship essay contest. The winner is Aaron Kofsky, a high school senior from Ann Arbor, Michigan, who is currently dual-enrolled at the University of Michigan while attending high school. He will more than likely continue his education in the fall as a full-time student at the University of Michigan. Kofsky, who plans to major in computer science, competed with over 100 other high school seniors or college students from the United States and Canada. "I've loved the computer science field since teaching myself programming in the seventh grade," Kofsky says. Applicants were tasked to write an 800- to 1,000-word essay on one of three topics and were judged for creativity and originality. Kofsky's winning essay gave several detailed steps on investigating the cause and origin of a building fire. "The second step in root cause analysis is to find the origin of the fire," Kofsky explains in his essay. "This location, often called the seat of the fire, will be extremely damaged, possibly to the point of complete destruction. In larger structures, the seat of the fire may be buried under rubble due to intense structural damage," he says. "Aaron's essay on investigating building structure fires was unique and well thought-out," says Scott Friesen, principal consultant at IEI. "You can tell he took some time researching the topic since he used various examples and statistical information to support what he wrote," Friesen says. Kofsky sees himself in the next 10 years working at a company that develops robotics. "I'd like to help bring technologies like self-driving cars to fruition," Kofsky says. "I'm impressed with Aaron's determination and where he wants to go in life," Friesen says. "We wish him the best in his future studies." IEI understands how valuable a college education is and also the expense that goes along with it. The scholarship contest is a win for both IEI and the student since it allows the firm to give back to the community. Those applying for the bi-annual scholarship contest don't have to live within the San Diego area. Any potential or current college or university undergraduate student within the United States or Canada is able to apply. Furthermore, applicants from any major are able to apply. The next submission deadline for essays is May 1, 2018. For contest requirements or for more information about the scholarship, visit IEI's scholarship web page. About Ivey Engineering IEI is an expert witness and building systems consulting firm in San Diego, California. Established in 1994, Ivey Engineering services clients in over 40 states and in several Canadian provinces. IEI's consultants have experience in the design, construction, service and repair of HVAC, plumbing, fire sprinkler, fire alarm and life safety systems, as well as energy-efficiency related issues. To read more about Ivey Engineering and its consulting services, visit the companys website. Little Hoboken Favorite Preschool "Putting him into this Apple Montessori School was the best decision we have made! The results are in, and Apple Montessori has been named the number one preschool in the Hoboken region. Thousands of moms and families cast their votes for their favorite local businesses in the second annual Little Hoboken Awards. Apple Montessori earned the top spot in the Favorite Preschool category. This award is a recognition of the schools important role in the community. For 45 years, Apple Montessori Schools have been delivering quality education and supporting local families throughout New Jersey. Throughout those years, they have continued to innovate with ongoing teacher development programs, a diverse curriculum, and state of the art facilities. Above all, the schools commitment to its simple core principles of active learning and exploration, social and emotional development, and a nurturing environment is what makes it stand out. As one Hoboken parent, Casey Glugeth, put it, We feel Apple Montessori is the best preschool in Hoboken because our son started at Apple back in June (at about 1.5 years old) and he has completely flourished at Apple. It is truly unbelievable. The teachers and staff are so kind and really make the whole experience enjoyable for him and us parents. Sometimes he does not want to go home! Putting him into this Apple Montessori School was the best decision we have made! Were so proud to be part of such a vibrant and family-oriented community, said Joanne Mooney, President of Apple Montessori. We have always been driven to elevate the standard of education in New Jersey, and our two Hoboken schools prides themselves on giving children the best possible head start. Parents interested in learning more about Apple Montessori Schools and how its approach to education can benefit their children are encouraged to visit the schools website. Or, schedule a tour of your nearest school and see for yourself what makes Apple Montessori a local favorite. Apple Montessori also hosting a series of Open Houses January 26-February 10. About Apple Montessori Schools: Apple Montessori Schools is a family owned and operated organization committed to inspiring a life-long love of learning in all students. We offer infant, toddler, preschool/kindergarten, and elementary programs designed to nurture the whole child intellectually, socially, and emotionally. Our approach recognizes the uniqueness of every child and cultivates each students potential in a safe, caring, and supportive learning environment. Dr. Raymond Huntington, Anne Huntington, "2017 Educator of the Year," Todd Silver, and Eileen Huntington Todd is a talented, passionate teacher who cares about helping students be successful learners. We are so grateful that he is part of the Huntington team. Huntington Learning Center is proud to announce its 2017 Educator of the Year, Todd Silver, of the Huntington Learning Center in Massapequa Park, NY. Silver was named recipient of the award on January 9, 2018, at the annual Company Center Convention, which took place at the Teaneck Marriott at Glenpointe in Teaneck, NJ. The convention attendees included Huntington directors from its 35 company-owned centers, corporate and regional staff, co-founders, Chairman Dr. Ray Huntington and CEO Eileen Huntington, and Vice President, Business Development Anne Huntington. Nominations for Huntington Educator of the Year are based on a teachers commitment to the Huntington mission of giving every student the best education possible. Silver, a special education elementary school teacher, is a veteran tutor at Huntington Learning Center for 15 years, tutoring thousands of students in reading, math and other subjects. He was one of 35 nominees selected from more than 1,000 teachers at company-owned Huntington Learning Centers throughout New York and New Jersey. The 2018 convention celebrated Huntington's 41 years of helping children do better in school and praised staff members for their dedication to students, parents and students school teachers. The convention theme was creating miracles by giving every child the best education possible, which is firmly rooted in Huntingtons mission. Expert panels and roundtable discussions allowed center staff and teachers to share best practices and exchange ideas. Massapequa Parks Center Director Amanda Smith says that Silver is deeply dedicated to teaching and his students. Todd embodies what Huntington is all about, she says. He always connects with his students by finding something they both have in common. He strives to provide every one of our students the best education possible and ensures students leave the center with new tools to improve their grades and their confidence. He also makes everyone feel valued and appreciated, from his students to his fellow teachers to the full-time staff at the Massapequa Park center. Dr. Huntington says that teachers like Silver are the reason that Huntington can fulfill its mission. Todd is a talented, passionate teacher who cares about helping students be successful learners, he says. Were so grateful that he is a part of the Huntington team. He is very deserving of this honor and he is a stellar example of what we strive to be for the students we serve. About Huntington Huntington is the tutoring and test prep leader. Its certified tutors provide individualized instruction in reading, phonics, writing, study skills, elementary and middle school math, Algebra through Calculus, Chemistry, and other sciences. It preps for the SAT and ACT, as well as state and standardized exams. Huntington programs develop the skills, confidence, and motivation to help students succeed and meet the needs of Common Core State Standards. Founded in 1977, Huntingtons mission is to give every student the best education possible. Learn how Huntington can help at http://www.huntingtonhelps.com. For franchise opportunities please visit http://www.huntingtonfranchise.com. Arlington has a high-touch approach with personalized attention and service. Patricia Casey, the owner, has developed a well-managed company with a stellar reputation for developing loyal customers, said Cornerstone president and CEO Steve Drexel. Cornerstone Staffing Solutions has finalized the purchase of Illinois-based Arlington Resources, Inc. (Arlington). Arlington Resources will continue to operate under its current brand name and will become a division of Cornerstone Staffing Solutions. De Bellas & Co. acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Arlington in the transaction. Transaction details were not disclosed. Arlington is headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois with staff also working in Chicago. The company provides Human Resources (HR), and Finance and Accounting professionals to customers ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies seeking temporary, temporary-to-hire, and direct hire services. Cornerstone Staffing Solutions, Inc. now has offices in California, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Texas, and Illinois. Arlington has a high-touch approach with personalized attention and service. Patricia Casey, the owner, has developed a well-managed company with a stellar reputation for developing loyal customers, said Cornerstone president and CEO Steven Drexel. Patricia was a great partner throughout the process. I am pleased to announce she will join the Cornerstone executive team as President of the Arlington Resources Division of Cornerstone. When choosing a company to purchase a business that youve carefully grown, it was important that Cornerstones core competencies matched well with Arlingtons business philosophy, commented Patricia Casey, owner of Arlington Resources. I appreciate De Bellas & Co.s expertise in identifying the right partner for Arlington. We are grateful Steve Drexel valued my employees contributions and relationships theyve established, and it was important to him that he kept our team together. We are all very excited for the additional resources and services we can propose to our clients. About Cornerstone Staffing Solutions Cornerstone Staffing Solutions ranks among the largest staffing firms in America and received Inaveros Best of Staffing Client Award in 2016 and 2017. Since 2003, Cornerstone has grown from a neighborhood staffing provider to a national firm that employs thousands of people at hundreds of companies from coast to coast. The Company provides candidate searching and job placement for administrative, industrial, technical, sales and transportation positions. About Arlington Resources Arlington Resources was founded in 1997 by Patricia Casey. The company offers a "boutique style" approach to recruiting, talent selection and staffing of Human Resources, and Accounting and Finance Professionals (through Casey Accounting & Finance Resources) to the greater Chicago area. As a nationally accredited, best in class recruitment firm, their staff is well networked in the HR community, tenured and industry certified. The company has been awarded Inaveros Best of Staffing acknowledgement for Client Satisfaction in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, as well as Best of Staffing Talent Satisfaction for 2016 and 2017. Arlington has been listed on the Inc. 5000 list five times. About De Bellas & Co. Investment Banking De Bellas & Co. is the leading investment banking firm focused on providing merger & acquisition and other financial advisory services exclusively to the Staffing and Workforce Solutions industry. Since 1983, De Bellas has completed over 225 M&A transactions in this space. # # # Cashing in on solar isnt just for big corporations; businesses of all shapes and sizes are capitalizing on the financial opportunities of going solar. Adding a solar system can be a solution to tax woes. Whether mounted on rooftops, the ground, or parking structures, adding solar to a business has become a financial no brainer. That's why big companies like Wal-Mart, Apple, and Intel are all jumping on board. But cashing in on solar isnt just for big corporations; businesses of all shapes and sizes are capitalizing on the financial opportunities of going solar. The recently passed tax reform bill retains the most popular deduction for solar: a 30-percent Federal tax credit. This means that one can deduct 30-percent of the total cost of the system from what they owe in federal taxes. This is a straight tax credit, not based on tax bracket. For example, if one spent $100,000 for a solar system, they will get a $30,000 tax credit. This tax credit can be taken back one year, or carried forward for up to 20 years if one can't use the entire tax credit in year one. But what many people don't realize is that in addition to the federal tax credit, a business can also depreciate the solar system. Solar systems qualify for MACRS depreciation, offering up to 30-percent of the system cost in additional tax savings, depending on the tax bracket. Additionally, while adding value to a property, installing a solar system does not increase property taxes. Solar systems are exempt from property tax increases as long as they are installed on property one currently owns. If the property is sold in the future, the new owner will be assessed for the increased value. For commercial property landlords, installing solar gives one the 30-percent federal tax credit, the MACRS depreciation, and adds value to property. Plus, one can sell the solar power generated to tenants at a discounted rate, making them happy while providing an additional revenue stream for 30 plus years. Without a solar system, every dollar sent to PG&E is gone forever. Solar is a solid investment that includes a 25-year warranty on most solar panels. In those 25 years, its very possible that a business could purchase multiple solar systems with all the money it paid out to PG&E. As an example, let's say a business spends $1,200/month in PG&E bills. If the rates only increase by an average of 4% per year, it will spend $599,701 over the next 25 years. Or, as an extreme case, let's say that PG&E rates never go up for the next 25 years. The total spent on PG&E bills still comes to $360,000. Compare that with spending $100,000 on a solar system getting a $30,000 tax credit and saving another $30,000 in depreciation for a net cost of $40,000. "Heres another way of looking at it: If PG&E came and said, 'pay us for three years of power up front and well give you free power for another 22 years,' would you do it?" Mike Shaheen is a commercial and residential Paso Robles solar expert. If you would like more information about adding solar to your business or home, please call (805) 468-9030. CalSun Electric & Solar Systems Inc. 574 Spring St Paso Robles, CA 93446 United States Phone: (805) 239-0111 Press Release by San Luis Obispo SEO company Access Publishing 806 9th Street, #2D, Paso Robles, CA 93446. (805) 226-9890 Today DECO, Inc., a provider of law enforcement and military training, security solutions, and specialized technical services, announced that Chief Executive Officer, Derek J. Dorr, has acquired company shares owned by founder and Chairman Robert A. Dorr. With DECOs recent contract wins we have secured healthy, continued growth for the coming years which stands to exceed all projections. Robert, my leadership team, and I all felt this was the best time to complete the transition in ownership. After being out of day-to-day operations for years, he is ready to fully step out of the business and into full retirement, said Derek Dorr. My leadership team is poised to effect sustained growth in the near and long term. With renewed market optimism fueled by increased defense spending, tax reform, and a shift back to best value contract evaluations, DECO is in an optimal market position for continued success, Dorr added. The acquisition of Roberts interest makes Derek the sole owner of DECO after over 20 years with the company. As the sole owner, Derek will transition into the role of Chairman and is proud to announce the following key appointments to the management team: Jeff Gibson, Chief Executive Officer Formerly DECOs President, Jeff Gibson has been with DECO since 2009 and has been instrumental in orchestrating the companys steady growth and position as a leader in the training industry. As a retired U.S. Navy SEAL officer and an experienced executive, Gibson possesses nearly 30 years of leadership experience in the defense industry and military space. Gibson is a graduate of the University of Missouri, and holds a masters degree from the John M. Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis. Brad Gresham, Chief Operating Officer Brad Gresham joined DECO in 2017 as Senior Vice President, bringing with him 25 years of management and operations experience. His background and experience include military service as a U.S. Navy SEAL, international Fortune 100 business leadership, and defense industry leadership and consulting. Gresham is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, and possesses a masters degree from the John M. Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis. Alexander Monroe, Chief Financial Officer Alexander Monroe joined DECO in April 2017, bringing with him more than 15 years of corporate finance and investment banking experience, as well as having led corporate development groups for two Fortune 100 companies. As the CFO, he will be responsible for overseeing accounting, finances, and financial risk management of the company. Monroe holds a masters degree in international finance from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. About DECO Founded more than 30 years ago, DECO, Inc. is a leading global provider in law enforcement and military training, security solutions, and other technical services to the United States Government. With headquarters in Minneapolis, MN and operations out of Virginia Beach, VA DECO has a global presence in over 75 counties. DECO specializes in providing personnel that excel in challenging environments where every action demands strict accountability, situational awareness, and unique knowledge applied from years of leadership. DECO provides uniquely qualified law enforcement and military veterans to meet our customers training, security, and technical requires wherever they are needed in the world. They utilize their significant global footprint and deep bench of experts to design and deliver high quality, turnkey solutions in dynamic locations deemed important to U.S. security interest in an impactful, sustainable, and accountable manner. For more information, please contact: Stephanie Magyera Semanko, Vice President of Business Development ssemanko(at)deco-inc.com. 800-968-9114, ext 115 WCX is designed to give attendees critical insights on the latest technology and regulations for powertrain, propulsion, emission, safety and electronics to maintain a competitive advantage. - Jim Forlenza, SAEs Group Director of Engineering Events SAE International's WCX World Congress Experience, the three-day event that unites the best talent in the worldwide mobility industry, is pleased to announce that automotive industry veterans Bob Lutz, former Vice Chairman at General Motors and Kenneth (Ken) Kelzer, General Motors Vice President, Global Vehicle Components and Subsystems, will lend their insights and expertise as keynote speakers at the April 10-12, 2018 event. The 2018 WCX will stage in Detroit, the heart of the Motor City, the perfect backdrop to host this group of industry professionals. WCX is designed to give attendees critical insights on the latest technology and regulations for powertrain, propulsion, emission, safety and electronics to maintain a competitive advantage, said Jim Forlenza, SAEs Group Director of Engineering Events. With Bob and Ken joining as keynote speakers, the need to attend has been elevated. This is a unique and coveted opportunity to to hear these two industry leaders who are eager to share their history and experience, and will provide their predictions and guidance as we enter a new era of automotive manufacturing. The full spectrum of mobility professionals will converge at WCX for expert insight, revolutionary inspiration and technological innovation that keynote speakers Lutz and Kelzer will share. They are thought leaders with their finger on the pulse of market trends and directions. Their leadership will provide insight into the future of mobility that will lend to future innovations within the event attendees organizations. Bob Lutz has enjoyed a robust 50-year tenure in the automotive industry, leaving an indelible mark on all three of the big US automakers. Most recently Lutz retired as Vice Chairman at GM, where he was noted for reinvigorating its vehicle lineupleading the renaissance of fresh, bold designs and performance engineering in US cars. Lutz is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Car Guys vs. Bean Counters. Car Guys was chosen for the Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Best Business Book of 2011 long list. His latest book is Icons and Idiots: Straight Talk on Leadership is a management manifesto, chronicling colleagues that made the strongest impression on him throughout his career. Additionally, Lutz is a contributing writer to Forbes and Road & Track. Ken Kelzer, currently GM Vice President, GM Global Vehicle Components and Subsystems, leads engineering operations, components development, advanced vehicle development, and other engineering business initiatives. Most recently, Kelzer was Vice President GM Europe Powertrain Engineering, where he oversaw European powertrain operations. Kelzer began his GM career as a student intern from 1982-1984, and was hired on as a college graduate in training in 1985, and was quickly promoted to project engineer a year later. After rotating through several engineering positions of increasing responsibility at Chevrolet and Pontiac, and Midsize and Luxury vehicles, he was promoted to Director, Chassis, HVAC, Electrical and Operations at the Canadian Regional Engineering Center in Oshawa, Ontario in August 2002. Upon returning to Michigan two years later, he was named Director of Vehicle Performance at the Milford Proving Grounds. Kelzer is GMs key executive for the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, and represents GM on the board of PATAC (Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center), and also is a board member of the Michigan Science Center. Video from last years event will provide an overview of what to expect in 2018: wcx18.org/video-gallery/. For more information and to register, visit http://www.sae.org/wcx. Journalists and members of the media can request credentials by emailing pr@sae.org or calling 724-772-8522. About SAE International SAE International is a global association committed to being the ultimate knowledge source for the engineering profession. By uniting over 127,000 engineers and technical experts, we drive knowledge and expertise across a broad spectrum of industries. We act on two priorities: encouraging a lifetime of learning for mobility engineering professionals and setting the standards for industry engineering. We strive for a better world through the work of our philanthropic SAE Foundation, including programs like A World in Motion and the Collegiate Design Series. For more information: http://www.sae.org/. At the Closing. (Left to Right: Anastasia Polles, Mark Smith, Marianna Polles) With their help, it will allow us to move onto the next chapter in our lives. - Anastasia Polles Performance Brokerage Services, a new car and Harley-Davidson dealership broker is pleased to announce the sale of Sweetwater Harley-Davidson in National City, California from mother and daughter, Marianna and Anastasia Polles to Mark Smith. Sweetwater Harley-Davidson was established in 1985 the Tom Horning. Tom formed the first H.O.G. Chapter in California, which is nearly 30 years running. He also helped to establish the Tijuana Toy Run, which is the worlds largest international toy run. Sweetwater Harley-Davidson was the first dealership to feature an in-house tattoo studio on the West Coast and the first dealership to hold a biker church, named the Biker Breakfast. Tom passed in 2008 and left the dealership to his wife and daughter, Marianna and Anastasia Polles. Following the sale, Marianna shared, Tom was out riding and came home one day in 1984 and said, I bought a Harley-Davidson dealership!, which became South Coast Harley-Davidson in a little 2,300 square foot dealership on Main Street in Chula Vista. A few years later, they expanded into a 15,000 sq. ft. facility on E Street. In March 2008, Tom and his family opened his dream Harley-Davidson dealership with the Grand Opening of Sweetwater Harley-Davidson in National City. The 43,000 sq. ft. dealership features and 8,000 sq. ft. upper deck with an executive office, roof access with tables, benches and room for major events for customers while overlooking San Diego County. Unfortunately, Tom Horning passed away in April 2008, just a month after his grand opening, though Marianna and Anastasia continued to operate the dealership in his vision focusing on innovation and community giveback. Anastasia was quoted after the sale, This was a very difficult and stressful transaction, but George Chaconas was able to help and guide us through the process. Without Georges expertise and tenacity, we would not have been successful. We also want to thank his assistant, Jennifer Malcolm, as she was a lifesaver. With their help, it will allow us to move onto the next chapter in our lives. Mark Smith, the new owner of Sweetwater Harley-Davidson, is bringing tremendous experience to National City. A motorcycle enthusiast since 1992 when he built his first Sportster, Mark Smith also owns and operates Orange County Harley-Davidson in Irvine, California, Harley-Davidson of Fort Worth, Texas and Stampede Harley-Davidson in Burleson, Texas, which was awarded to Mark as a new location in 2015. That was the first newly added point in 8 years. After the purchase of Sweetwater Harley-Davidson, Mark Smith shared, This is the second Harley-Davidson dealership that we were able to acquire with the help of George Chaconas and Juan Pardo of Performance Brokerage Services. I am very grateful that they assisted with this exciting opportunity to expand our footprint in Southern California. They were very professional and helped tremendously with a sensitive, multi-generation family. If it was not for their patience and follow up, this deal would not have happened. Thank you very much and I look forward to working with you guys again. The dealership will operate under its new name Coronado Beach Harley-Davidson. Mark intends to rebuild the local ridership community and add the EagleRider Motorcycle Rentals & Tours, as well as a Riders Academy. George C. Chaconas, the exclusive agent for this transaction and the head of the National Harley-Davidson and Powersports Division for Performance Brokerage Services commented, I am privileged to have been involved in such life changing events. Marianna and Anastasia have selected the perfect buyer in Mark Smith to carry on their familys legacy. About Performance Brokerage Services Performance Brokerage Services, an auto dealership broker, specializes in professional intermediary services to buyers and sellers of automotive, Harley-Davidson and Powersports dealerships. The company offers a different approach to the automotive, Harley-Davidson and Powersports industries by providing complimentary dealership assessments, no upfront fees, no reimbursement of costs and is paid a success fee only. Performance Brokerage Services gets paid only after the client gets paid. With over 25 years of experience, the company utilizes an extensive network of industry related accountants, attorneys, hundreds of registered buyers and enjoys longstanding relationships with most of the auto manufacturers and the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. The intermediaries at Performance Brokerage Services have been involved in well over 600 transactions. Pledging loyal and unwavering representation, confidentiality is vigilantly protected during the selling process and after the transaction closes. With corporate offices in Irvine, California, six regional offices in Utah, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Alberta and Ontario, and a dedicated Harley-Davidson and Powersports Division, Performance Brokerage Services provides its clients national exposure with local representation. For more information about the services offered by Performance Brokerage Services, visit https://performancebrokerageservices.com. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: According to reports by eNCA, the ANCs National Executive Committee (NEC) have resolved to ask Zuma to resign and if he refused, he would be forced to step down by all the six powerful blocs in the party. If this happens, Zuma will be the second president that would be ousted by his own party. The first was Robert Mugabe who was forced to step down by the military with the full support of ZANU-PF, Zimbabwes ruling party. However, ANC spokeswoman described the reports as rumour. We cant confirm rumours of things that we dont know. The NEC has issued a statement on the totality of discussions yesterday. News24 also reported that a member of ANC's NEC, who craved anonymity, told its reporters that the decision to oust Zuma is a collective one by the top echelon of the party. Zumas second term as president of South Africa has been tainted with corruption allegations. Although, he denied all of them. Efia Odo on Friday shared a photo of herself dressed all blue, her nipples showing from her transparent bra, her mini skirt revealing her thighs. "Time heals all," was all she wrote. This is not the first time the controversial actress has gone nude. Last year, she shared a photo posed in relatively provocative manner on a weaved couch. The photo shows the sides of her butt and boobs as well as she wears a seductive face in it. This story might just make you CRY... Literally. This story is saddening, saddening because the lady in question may or may not be able to conceive again. Saddening because some men are truly scum and also because a lover was not only fooled but a close friend was used to fill the gap. Life! More.In the year 2009, Ms. J who resides in Abuja, rounded up her Secondary School studies and like many other Nigerian fresh high school graduates, she attempted JAMB. (For readers who arent familiar with our great countrys education system, Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) is a Nigerian entrance examination board for tertiary-level institutions.The board conducts entrance examinations for prospective undergraduates into Nigerian universities. Of course, she was a very smart girl, so she passed with a good score (297 to be precise) and luckily for her, she was shortlisted for PUME (An examination conducted by Universities to further screen candidates).Fast forward to her journey to the West, she was to stay with her aunt for her PUME and like every concerned Nigerian parent, they had instructed her aunt (fathers youngest sister) to make sure she read thoroughly for her PUME which was suppose to hold in few days. But truly, they didnt even need to go that far, because she was a serious-bookworm, a bookworm who intentionally bereft herself from the pleasures of hanging out or making friends but made sure her books followed her wherever she went to!In fact, she was the Library perfect in her Secondary School days (I forgot to chip that in, earlier.) Few days after flying into town, it was time for her to yet again make her family proud. Her aunt drove her to the University. It was the University for the big boys and girls.The University where things happen... The University where all dem ladies loved packaging themselves. She went in for her PUME and came out with smiles. She knew she had worked her usual magic and was very certain her first attempt into University was a done-deal.She had asked and begged her parents to let her stay with her aunt for a while, so as to chill with her (her aunt wasnt married by the way).Her parents agreed, after all, she was with her closest relative they thought, it wouldnt be so nice to just let her breeze in for her PUME then out immediately shes done. Give the girl some breathing space, they thought. Her aunt was an entrepreneur who had a thriving Digital Agency, which was quite popular. She had a staff strength of about 25. One day, Ms. J asked that she followed her to the office, and she obliged. That was the day everything started changing! She met Mr. J in her aunts company. He was a part-time staff in the agency and right after her meeting with him, things took a drastic turn. In fact, it was love at first sight for her. According to her, Mr J had everything she ever wanted in a guy. He did not only tickle her fancy, he also took her to cloud 9 by just gazing. (The question would be, what does a 17-year-old book-worm know about tickling fancy right??).. Well,One thing led to another, they started communicating, and all through the five weeks she stayed at her aunts, she always followed her to her workplace and the times she stayed back home as a result of her menstrual cramps, she informed Mr. J, so he called in sick, didnt show up at work but went to chill with, comfort and caress her. At that point, she was over the moon. To her, no one had ever shown her such care during her painful moments. This happened for 3 days and right under her aunts supervision. She got excited when she got to realise that he was in the same university she applied and wrote her PUME. He was a second-year student who decided to make extra cash by running a part-time job in Ms. Js aunts digital agency.. It meant one thing, they will be closer if she eventually got admission into the University.It was time for her to fly back to Abuja, they said their goodbyes over the phone and she begged that he continued communicating. This, they did and when the list came out, she was accepted into the University to study Law (Her first choice).Fast-forward to when she got into Uni: Ms. J had convinced her parents that, she wanted an accommodation in campus. She told them that it would be easier for her to be more focused with her studies, easier to access the schools library, study there and also, easier for her to attend lectures on time because her aunts place was quite a distance from the University and the usual traffic will be stressful. Her parents okayed it and sent her funds for her hostel accommodation but unbeknownst to them, she did this so as not to be supervised by her aunt and also, to be free to be with her Mr. J (Young love).In her first year, second semester, on her birthday to be precise, Mr. J asked her to be his girl, of which she agreed to and that indeed, changed the course of her destiny. She was so in love with Mr. J that she became his mother, care-taker, lover, financial adviser, helper, money lender, money-dasher, bill-footer and the list goes on. (By the way, she was from a very rich family, so money was truly never her problem).She did everything for and with him and maybe, just maybe thats why he decided to take her for granted. Three days after her birthday, he begged her to come over and spend the night at his place (He shared a room with his friend). They had planned to make love that night. Of course, this was her first time, and she was very much okay giving her body to her first love. Things were going great, her clothes off, about getting a lubricant then a knock on the door was heard. It was his roommate. He had come back from a fellowship. The time was some minutes past 8pm.Though he had informed and begged his roommate to chill in another room that night, his roommate didnt oblige. (His roommate was one of those overly-not soggy guys), so he had messed up their plans big time! So many pleas from Mr. J fell on deaf ears and he actually insisted on lying on the same bed as the girl and Mr. J.. In his own words, I pay the same amount of money with you, so I have to sleep on the bed. Crazy right?. Yes! Every plan they had was shattered, she had to leave the room and head back to her hostel because the bed was not big enough to accommodate three people. Luckily, his apartment wasnt so far from the hostel.Four days after the incident, Ms. J paid in a huge sum of money into her boyfriends account and asked him to get a well-furnished accommodation. The decision to do this was made after she consulted her closest friend on campus, Titi. Titi happened to be her bonk mate and also, course-mate. Mr. J, after series of refusal to accept her offer, later obliged (After all, it was beneficial to both of them). He got a house, very comfortable, got furniture and also, got a generator. The money was that much that her could get all these and have some more change for running aroundThe night after he had settled into the new house, his wash-night plan was to deflower her. He made love to her (at least, that is what she thought). From that moment, she became his sex doll. Every time and everyday, hed control her to his house for sex. Sometimes during her lectures, he will keep buzzing her till she finally decides to leave class for his apartment. He even suggested that she moved in with him, to stay from Monday to Fridays since she normally spends the weekend at her aunts. She accepted this, thinking it was in her own best interest. At least, everyone would know it is official So, she thought.His fourth year was a bit rough for him. He had quit his part-time job in Ms. Js aunts place to fully concentrate in school, and for the fact that he was the first of five kids from a broken home and his mum did menial jobs to sustain herself and the kids, help from home wasnt forthcoming. He was sad to say the least but Ms. J became his knight and shinning armour. She would make sure he lacked nothing, I mean nothing at all. Ms. J always got an excess of N70,000 monthly allowance from home, so shed keep N20,000+ for herself and give N50,000 to her boyfriend. (It is noteworthy to mention that Mr. J was paid N50K monthly for his part-time job he quit).Meaning, she started paying the exact same amount he was receiving when he was still working.. (Indeed, she truly loved this lad). Shed use N20,000+ to take care of herself. Deprived herself of the things she normally used which were expensive and because she didnt want her parents thinking about how she suddenly developed a lavish lifestyle, she never asked that they topped her monetary-allowance.Mr. J was living the life. Now he could afford to spend without thinking of how the money was made. Flexing at the detriment of his bae. Drinking, smoking and even womanising.. His true colours started showing but she still loved him, regardless. Prior to his fourth year, after deflowering her, he normally wore a condom each time he wanted to have sex with her, but, after his fourth year; the second semester, he insisted they go raw. This caused a strain in their relationship because Ms. J didnt want it but he insisted that if she truly loved him, she would oblige.They had a serious fight over this, so she went back to her accommodation in school, once again, confided in Titi (who eventually became her best friend in Uni). Titi advised that she give in because she had already given a lot to the relationship and it will be dumb for her to lose him because of sex. And like always, she agreed. Days after their fight, she went to his house to apologise but met a girl there. A 300L Law student who she recognised (She would later discover he had sex with her and many others too). Bae begged silly that night, cried her eyes off, cried like a pikin just so he could forgive her for refusing to have sex without a condom. But my guy refused. It took the intervention of Titi, who came to his house to subdue the whole tension and issue.Titi had played her part, time for her to go, he asked that he gets her number just so as to be able to reach Ms.J through her incase Ms.Js phone is switched off. Ms. J, reluctantly accepted (She couldnt do much at this point, because she didnt want another issue and for the fact that Titi was her closest friend and the reason why things didnt fall apart, she just kept mum in the background). Sex was like free food for Mr. J and his PULL OUT GAME was LAME! That same year, she had 3 abortions for him (3 abortions in one year) and each time she aborted, hed promise that he would be careful next time.Mr. J in his final year, had issues with some courses, so he automatically had an extra year. Ms J was in her 4th year now, and about to graduate. Her grades had somewhat nose-dived because of the stress in her relationship. Things werent going as planned anymore and it now looked like she was just a sex-doll for him, yet, she still had hope that he loved her. That same year, she had another 3 abortions, and on her sixth attempt, she almost died of complications. In fact, the doctor said he wont be involved in any abortion case concerning her, anymore. She almost bled to death. It was at this point she started re-thinking life.(But this didnt last for long because she was blinded by love)Just like her boyfriend, she had issues with some courses and had to re-sit. That year saw her G.P fall like an Iroko tree. She started struggling with average grades in almost all papers. Her boyfriend finally graduated with a 2.1 after sorting some lecturers (money he got from his bae) and was posted to Abuja for his NYSC. She was ecstatic after hearing about this because she had planned to relocate full time to Abuja immediately after the completion of her studies. Her law school was already prepped by her parents in Abuja. (They were that influential).Titi had graduated before her and left the university to her base in Oyo State. She regularly spoke to her concerning lifes matters and most importantly, issues between her and her bae Even after graduating, Ms. J was still financially responsible for him and the funny thing is, after four years of dating, he never for once even introduced her to his nuclear family. (He always had an excuse each time she raised the topic. Always!) After 3 weeks in Kubwa camp, and getting his Place of Primary Assignment (PPA), he headed back to Lagos to see his family and also, Ms. J. Unbeknownst to her, he actually came to see her so she could help him raise some money to rent a boys quarters (BQ) he found which was close to his primary assignment.The sum was quite much, but she just had to raise it so he could be comfortable in Abuja, she did the usual, sent funds to his account. After that day, he was coming to their lodge for steady knacks.. She fell pregnant again! And like always, was asked to do the needful which she reluctantly did. (Her 7th abortion in 4 years). Because their regular abortion-expert doctor refused to do the D&C, they had to travel all the way to another state to flush it. Titi had recommended a good doctor. After the successful D&C, the doctor made it known to her that, she might not be able to bear a child again because her womb may have been affected. And she decided to share this vital information with her best friend, Titi (Ladies, keeping to yourself helps a whole lot).Fast forward to her graduation and relocation back to Abuja: Titi had started her Law School earlier and was based in Abuja too, a stone-throw from Mr.Js house. In fact, Ms. J was aware they sometimes visited themselves. Ms. J begged her friend to help with foodstuffs for her bae, which she obliged. Their bond became stronger, then the long-overdue affection began to manifest. Titi had made it known that she always had feelings for him since University days and was jealous of her his relationship with Ms. J. Mr J also, made it known that he felt the same way and though he never buzzed her after collecting her digit way back in school, his main intention was to get to know her better but couldnt because he somewhat had Ms.J full time at home and didnt want to arouse suspicion.Titi decided to spill the beans on her best friends inability to bear a child and immediately Mr. J heard it, he found a LEVERAGE to leave her. Citing that, he definitely wont be with her anymore because what he is looking for right now is a WIFE MATERIAL. When Ms. J came back to Abuja, she noticed Mr. J had changed towards her, and in fact, each time they had sex, he always wore a condom, cold shoulders, lackadaisical attitude towards her and rarely even called or checked up on her but still, she was still giving him his regular pay check on a monthly (50k). Three months gone, his behaviour worsened, it was clearer to her that she probably had lost his love. So one day, she decided to show up at his, unannounced. Lo and behold, she met bae with Titi, lying down in his bed,. Stark Naked! (My question at this point was, since he heard a knock on his door and most likely verified it was Ms. J, why didnt he ask Titi to dress up? At least, even if she had her clothes on, she wont have been really fussed!)..The answer I got was; maybe they were tired of hiding and didnt care anymore. She was greeted with a smile from her supposed BEST FRIEND and before she could say a word, Mr. J said, I broke up with you long ago, I broke up with you the very day I was told you may not be able to bear children. How will I marry a barren woman? Right there and then, she knew Titi was behind this but all she could do was sob and leave 5+ years of her life gone, 5+ years of so many sacrifices for Mr. J, 5+ years of giving her all for the relationship. 5+ years gone to the drain.. 5 + years! All these flooded her thoughts. As I write this, Ms. J is out of the country and an IV for Titi and Mr. Js wedding has flooded Social Media. Titi and her Ms.Js ex dated for a year+ and decided to tie the knot. Mr. J now works in a big Engineering Firm in PortHarcourt while Titi just finished her NYSC.The wedding is for 27th, January What a life! In order to escape the hardship known to Nigerians in their country, Harry and his friend Denis who was accompanied by his girlfriend, Rita, left the shores of Nigeria in April 2016, but what lied ahead was far more grievous, which ensured the death of the latter, the only woman in their group. The 40-year-old man told the Vanguard News in an interview his experience in the hands of Libyan human traffickers. "My friend, Denis, said I could travel to Europe if I could raise at least N500,000. He told me that he was also trying to raise same amount for an agent that would facilitate it. I had to sell all my property, including the parcel of land I acquired at Ogudu Bale area of Ogun state. But I could only raise N350,000 at the end. Denis was able to raise N300,000 while his girlfriend, Rita, had N250,000. The agent said he would complete the money but that we would pay him the balance when we got to Libya. When asked how, he said he would introduce us to someone, who would get us a job and that after paying his balance, we would proceed to Europe. We bought gala, garri and bread and also bought two bags of sachet water as advised by the agent and left Lagos for Kano. On arriving the border between Kano and Niger, the agent told us to bring N7000 out of the money with us. As we approached the border, a Customs officer came, collected the money from us and asked us to wait until he gave the directive for us to cross thorough a bush path. Finally, we arrived Qatrun, the first state in Libya. We were taken to a connection house. In that connection house were tranke which are camps where migrants who do not have the needed amount to continue the journey are kept. On the first day at the Tranke, we were welcomed with good food. But at night, they began a roll call and separated those who had completed payment from those who hadnt. Of course, myself, Denis and Rita were in the disadvantaged group. At this point, the agent was nowhere to be found. In fact we were all confused as to what to do next. At this connection house, the head is called Capon. We also had OC Torture. The Capo collects relatives number and demand money for captives to continue their journey. It was at that point that I got to know that Rita did not tell her parents she was traveling. When she was given the phone to speak with her mother, we overheard her crying. Ritas parents sent N150,000, which covered three of us. We thought we were free, not knowing that the horror had only just begun. From Qatrun, we were moved to Sahba, in Western Libya, where the main tranke called Ali ghetto is located. It is close to the University of Sahba. It was a place of no return. From there, you are expected to pay another sum to cross to another connection house in Inias, from where you will embark on the sea trip to Europe. When they demanded for more money, Rita said she would like to go back home. But they insisted that she must pay before going back. Immediately we got there, they collected our international passports and tore them. They said they dont allow people to embark on the sea trip with anything except the clothes on them. In my excitement, I called my people in Lagos and they sent N150,000. Unfortunately, it could only take me , as Denis and Rita did not have money to cross the second huddle. Instead of leaving them behind, I kept my money and decided to wait until their relations could send money to them. Ritas parents called to say that they had no money. Immediately the call was received, Rita was chained to an iron rod where White Libyans came and took turns to rape her. This continued for two weeks without food . In one of the instances, Denis stood up to challenge one of the men but he had his ear chopped off with a hot iron rod that was plugged to a socket. On the day she died, five boys first came, had their turns with her and left. At that point, she could only stare into space. Ten minutes later, another set of young men came to have their turn. It was when the third person was on her that she was discovered to be motionless. Her body was there for two days before it was removed," the narrator recounted. ALSO READ: Emotional Libya deportee kneels on airport tarmac to thank God The Vice President of the Republic, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, on Friday, 19th January, 2018, left Ghana for the United Kingdom for medical leave, on advice of his doctors. He was accompanied by the 2nd Lady, Hajia Samira Bawumia, a statement said. Multiple media reports said he was treated and discharged Friday evening and was asked by his doctor to take a rest. A statement earlier confirming the travel of the Vice President to the UK was denied by the Director Communications at the Flagstaff House, Eugune Arhin. In a Facebook, described the statement writing a statement giving an update on the Bawumia's health status. READ MORE: GMA petitioned to punish pathologist in JB Danquah case Formal charges are expected to be filed Wednesday against a Marshall man who police said shot and killed a Sun Prairie man, then hid his body in a self-storage locker in Rio. Daniel Lieske, 59, appeared in Dane County Circuit Court on Friday on tentative charges of first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse, for the death Monday night of Jesse Faber, 21, at a gathering in the town of Medina. Faber was reported missing on Tuesday, and a search for him was to commence again Thursday morning, until his body was found following a search of the storage unit by Dane County investigators on Wednesday night. Our information in the case is that the defendant was standing over the defenseless victim, four shots were heard and verified, Assistant District Attorney Timothy Helmberger said in court Friday. The defendant went to great lengths to conceal the crime and the body for 15 hours, including engaging with law enforcement and the family of the deceased during the search. Sheriff Dave Mahoney said on Thursday that Faber was shot during a confrontation at a gathering at Lieskes home in the 5600 block of Box Elder Road in the town of Medina, about 1.5 miles southeast of Marshall. Rio, where Storage Solutions is located, is about 30 miles northwest of Marshall. Faber was reported missing after he didnt return from the party Monday night. Attorney Tim Verhoff, appearing with Lieske on Friday, said there was a suggestion in a probable cause affidavit prepared by investigators that Lieske may have been acting in self-defense. But Dane County Court Commissioner Brian Asmus said that while that claim was made, some of the things that are also in the probable cause affidavit undermine that argument. Asmus noted that the affidavit describes how Fabers body was wrapped in plastic and disposed of elsewhere, arguably not all that consistent with somebody who is threatened with their life and took action. He said, however, that will be for another day and a trial and a jury to determine, but it reflects on arguments for setting bail. The Wisconsin State Journal has asked for a copy of the probable cause affidavit, but it was not immediately made available. Helmberger asked for $2 million bail, while Verhoff asked for $100,000. Asmus set bail at $350,000 and ordered that if Lieske posts the bail, he is released directly to someone from the Dane County Bail Monitoring Program. He also ordered that Lieske have no contact with any member of Fabers family. Lieske will return to court for an initial appearance on Wednesday. If he posts bail, that court appearance will instead happen on Feb. 1. Dr Adusei on January 4, 2018, told a court in Accra that he could not find the report after thieves ransacked his house. According to Dr Adusei, all the autopsy reports in his possession had been stolen and he cannot say specifically whether the late MPs own was part. A petition to the GMA from the Enso Nyameye Chambers of the Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Obiri Boahen, described the conduct of Dr Edusei not only as reprehensible, but also unacceptable. The petition said that the trial had suffered numerous adjournments thereby, stultifying the committal proceedings, all because of the conduct of Dr Edusei. I have been attending court proceedings, and I have been doing so by watching brief for the NPP, sympathizers, friends and relatives of the assassinated MP and I am ever ready to appear in person to proffer much information and evidence, the petition signed by Obiri Boahen said. READ MORE: Magistrate fumes over delay in ruling READ MORE: Ankaful prisoners defraud woman The Mercedes Benz cargo truck with registration number GT 6675 was loaded with copra from the Nzema area heading to Accra. The driver of the car, Emmanuel Asamoah, 43, reportedly went into hiding initially after the incident but has been arrested by the police. The remains of the G/LCpl Animon has been deposited at the Winneba Trauma Hospital for onward transfer to the Police Hospital in Accra. READ MORE: All 216 District Directors transferred According to a police situational report, the truck which was loaded with copra dangerously and recklessly ran over the metal barricade. The Vice President is said to be at his Kanda residence in Accra, according to a news report by Accra-based Citi fm, after he was under medical observation by his doctors. Multiple media report say he has been advised to take some rest. Earlier, a statement issued by the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, said the Vice President reported feeling unwellin the early hours of Friday. He said:"in exercise of the power conferred on the Speaker by Order 42(3) of the standing orders of the Parliament of Ghana, I, Honourable Joseph Osei-Owusu, first Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Pursuant to order 13(2) do hereby summon Parliament to sit on Sunday, 21st January, 2018 at half past two oclock in the afternoon at Parliament House, Accra for the swearing in of the right Honourable Speaker as acting President of the Republic in accordance with article 60(11) and (12) of the 1992 constitution." While the deadly protests that erupted in the Palestinian territories at the time have subsided, concerns are mounting over the future of the UN aid agency for Palestinians (UNRWA). Washington has frozen tens of millions of dollars of funding for the cash-strapped body, putting at risk operations to feed, teach and heal hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees. The Palestinian leadership, already furious over the Jerusalem decision, has denounced the US administration and had already refused to meet Pence in December. But the vice president's press secretary, Alyssa Farah, said he would still meet the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and Israel on the high-stakes four-day tour. Pence will arrive in Cairo on Saturday for talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi before travelling to Amman for a one-on-one meeting with King Abdullah II on Sunday. Key security partners The leaders of both countries, the only Arab states that have peace treaties with Israel, would be key players if US mediators ever manage to get a revived Israeli-Palestinian peace process off the ground, as Trump says he wants. They are also key intelligence-sharing and security partners in America's various covert and overt battles against Islamist extremism in the region and Egypt is a major recipient of aid to help it buy advanced US military hardware. Sisi, one of Trump's closest allies in the region, had urged the US president before his Jerusalem declaration "not to complicate the situation in the region by taking measures that jeopardise the chances of peace in the Middle East". Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Egypt's highest institution of Sunni Islam, cancelled a meeting with Pence in protest at the Jerusalem decision. The head of Egypt's Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II, did the same, saying Trump's move "did not take into account the feelings of millions of Arab people." After Jordan -- the custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem -- Pence will head to Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. He will also deliver a speech to parliament and meet President Reuven Rivlin during the two-day visit. Pence can expect a warm welcome after Trump's decision on Jerusalem, which Israelis and Palestinians alike interpreted as Washington taking Israel's side in the dispute over the city. Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 and later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognised by the international community. Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its united capital, while the Palestinians see the eastern sector as the capital of their future state. The international community considers east Jerusalem illegally occupied by Israel and currently all countries have their embassies in the commercial capital Tel Aviv. 'Matter of years' The State Department has begun to plan the sensitive move of the US embassy to Jerusalem, a process that US diplomats say may take years to complete. This week reports surfaced that Washington may temporarily designate the US consulate general in Jerusalem as the embassy while the search for a secure and practical site for a long-term mission continues. This could prove just as controversial as building a new embassy, however, as the building currently serves as the US mission to the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. And the facility sits astride the "Green Line" that divides Jerusalem. A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has yet to make a decision on either a permanent or interim location for the mission. "That is a process that takes, anywhere in the world, time. Time for appropriate design, time for execution. It is a matter of years and not weeks or months," he said. The Turkish army has over the last two days shelled camps and refuges used by the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia in response to fire from the militia group, which Turkey deems to be a terror organisation. "The Afrin operation has de-facto been started on the ground," Erdogan said in a televised speech in the city of Kutahya, without elaborating. "This will be followed by Manbij," he added, referring to another Kurdish-controlled Syrian town to the east. Turkey accuses the YPG of being the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has waged a rebellion in the Turkish southeast for more than three decades and is regarded as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies. But the YPG has been the key ally of Turkey's fellow NATO member the United States in the fight against Islamic State jihadists, playing a key role in pushing the extremists out of their Syrian strongholds. 'Needs Moscow's blessing' AFP correspondents in the area around the Turkish border village of Sugedigi in Hatay province saw several more Turkish military vehicles heading south to the border. But it was still unclear what form a Turkish ground operation will take amid considerable political and military risks. Turkey from August 2016 to March 2017 pushed into Syria in its more than half-year Euphrates Shield operation in an area to the east of Afrin against both YPG and IS. Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad warned on Thursday that the Syrian air force could destroy any Turkish warplanes used in the new offensive. Analysts say that crucial for any major ground operation will be approval from Moscow which has a military presence in the area and a cordial relationship with the YPG. With conspicuous timing, Turkey's army chief General Hulusi Akar and spy chief Hakan Fidan were in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian counterparts on Syria. "A full Turkish air and ground offensive will not take place without Moscow's blessing," said Anthony Skinner, Director MENA at global risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, adding a full Turkish campaign is "not inevitable". Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency reported Friday afternoon that Russian military personnel in the Afrin area were withdrawing from their positions but Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later issued a strong denial. 'Won't serve regional stability' Meanwhile the Turkish threats of an intervention have also raised eyebrows in Washington, which has backed the YPG as it dislodged IS and gained control of the swathe of northern Syria up to the Iraqi border. The YPG-held enclave of Afrin marks the westernmost extent of its control and Turkey wants to make sure it is kept well to the east of the Euphrates River. "We do not believe that a military operation... serves the cause of regional stability, Syrian stability, or indeed Turkish concerns about the security of their border," a senior US State Department official said on Friday. Skinner said a Turkish operation would be a "serious blow" for the US-led coalition in Syria which still depended heavily on the YPG to stabilise the area after the ousting of IS from major towns. But Erdogan accused the United States of not keeping its past promises that the YPG would clear out of Manbij. "The promises made to us over Manbij were not kept. So nobody can object if we do what is necessary," said Erdogan, threatening to pursue the operations up to the Iraqi border. Erdogan had reacted furiously this week to an announcement of plans to create a US-backed 30,000-strong border security force in northern Syria composed partly of YPG fighters, describing it as an "army of terror". US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson later said the "entire situation has been mis-portrayed, mis-described", admitting "we owe them (Turkey) an explanation. But Erdogan appeared to scoff at the mixed messages and lashed out at American military support for the YPG. "My four-year-old son is terrified every time he hears the sound of an airplane," said Nisrin, a housewife in Afrin who asked that her real name not be used. "What crime did he commit, that he has to live in terror? This boy who has seen nothing of life yet?" When the bombing began, Nisrin and her relatives rushed to hide in a lower level of the building, following instructions issued by the Kurdish authorities. "We'd prepared our basements to protect our children and young people, and also stocked up on essentials like milk and medicine for the children and elderly, who can't handle this," Nisrin added. Turkey and allied Syrian rebels on Saturday began an air and ground operation, dubbed operation "Olive Branch", aimed at ousting the YPG from Kurdish-majority Afrin. A reporter inside Afrin contributing to AFP said residents quickly disappeared from the town's streets when the Turkish bombardment began at around 4:30 pm local time (1430 GMT). YPG military vehicles took their place instead. Local authorities enforced a curfew on Saturday, banning civilians from gathering in public and shuttering businesses and schools. 'Psychological warfare' "I don't know how to describe what I felt in the moments after Turkish warplanes began flying over Afrin and bombing civilians," said , a teacher in her 40s. "The children are scared. Our men, women, and young people are peaceful. What crime did they commit?" She accused Turkey of trying to sow discord among Syrians and waging "psychological warfare" against the people of Afrin. Ankara vehemently opposes the YPG, accusing it of being the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has waged a rebellion in southeast Turkey for more than three decades. The YPG's political branch, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), said on Saturday that Turkish bombing had wounded 25 civilians. Turkey said earlier there were casualties, but that they were all Kurdish militants. "We took steps to protect civilians, including digging bomb shelters and tunnels to use during emergency situations," said Heve Mustafa, who co-chairs Afrin's executive council. "The biggest fear we have is that international forces on the ground in Syria which claim they're here to fight terrorism and find a solution to the Syrian problem will turn a blind eye," Mustafa said. Several world powers have deployed forces in northern Syria, among them regime ally Russia. There are also troops from the US-led coalition fighting jihadists. Russia said on Saturday it was withdrawing its soldiers from areas around Afrin. 'No choice' but resistance "The only option the autonomous administration has is resistance. Nothing else. We will not allow a Turkish occupation of Syrian territory," Mustafa said on Saturday. A YPG statement echoed this stance, saying the Kurdish fighters had "no choice" but to fight back against Turkey's "barbaric aggression". Afrin was long known for its abundant olive groves and fragrant soap, and as the first area where Kurdish authorities implemented the self-rule model they later used across parts of northern Syria. After regime forces withdrew from Kurdish-majority areas in 2012, local authorities took over and established autonomous institutions, including schools and police forces. Jamil, a 22-year-old communications engineer in Afrin, said he could not believe Turkey had dubbed its assault operation "Olive Branch". "(Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan called it 'Operation Olive Branch' precisely because Afrin is the town of olives and peace," he said. To many Nigerians, Aisha Buhari is the ideal wife of the President the country needs at this moment. For some reasons, the wife of the president seems to be one of the voices of the poor in Nigeria. This is as she couldnt care less about the performance of the government led by her husband. Due to these attributes of her, here are times Aisha Buhari had to publicly attack the government led by her husband. 1. BBC Interview Aisha Buharis outburst during an interview with the BBC Hausa service shocked the whole nation and all media machinery of government. This is the first time such time will be happening in the history of Nigeria. Nigerias wife remarked that some individuals have hijacked her husbands government. Also, she disclosed that her husband didnt know about 90 percent of his cabinet members. Whether he knows or he doesnt know, those who voted for him know. There is nothing I will tell him. He can see. Among all the people he selected, if he is asked among 50 people, he doesnt know 45. I dont know them despite staying with him for 25 years. She said. She disclosed that if things didnt change, she will not support her husbands re-election. "He is yet to tell me but I have decided as his wife, that if things continue like this up to 2019, I will not go out and campaign again and ask any woman to vote like I did before. I will never do it again." Also Read: Aisha Buhari is seriously campaigning against her husband right now 2. State House Clinic The second time Aisha Buhari will be coming for husbands government was the poor state of the State House clinic that supposed to the first family. Just like the first case, it was during a public event she disclosed this state of the centre and prompted an investigation by the countrys House of Representatives on the matter. If the budget is N100 million, we need to know how the budget is spent. Along the line, I insisted they call Aso Clinic to find out if the X-ray machine is working, they said it is not working. They didnt know I am the one that was supposed to be in that hospital at that every time. 3. Sharing video of critical of Buharis government on social media The social media environment was shocked to see a post from Aisha Buhari on Twitter containing a video of Senates plenary session where Buharis government is put under the spotlight. With hours to go before a government shutdown deadline, President Donald Trump and congressional leaders scrambled to work out a compromise to keep the government open. A key vote on whether to proceed with a short-term funding package passed by the House is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET, just two hours before the shutdown deadline. It's unclear if Republicans have the needed 60 votes to get over the procedural hurdle and ensure passage of the bill. With a few hours left before the midnight deadline, a flurry of activity in the Capitol broke out as both parties attempted to reach an agreement. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who announced he would go against his party and vote for the House-passed funding bill, said that there were active discussions about a number of ways to keep the government open. "I think they're working on some things," Manchin told Business Insider. "Theres a group a contingency group going to speak to both leaders and well see what happens." The House-passed bill would push the deadline for the shutdown back to February 16, but Manchin said that other deadlines prior to that date were being discussed. According to the West Virginia Democrat, the alternate deadline would be before the State of the Union on January 30. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other members of the GOP leadership previously rejected the idea, but some Republican senators were on board. "We could easily pass a continuing resolution which lasts days (certainly more than the four proposed by the Senate minority leader) and less than the 30 days passed by the House of Representatives to close the deal on outstanding issues which remain," Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of three Republicans who rejected the House bill, said in a statement. Graham later suggested that the two sides could agree on a deal to fund the government through February 8. Sen. Lamar Alexander concurred with Graham that a short-term bill may be ideal. "Grown-ups ought to be able to sit down and say we can begin 2018 with solutions on these major areas affecting the American people would be a great way to start the year," Alexander told Business Insider. "I think we could do it in a short period of time. Probably be longer than four days and not as long as 30 days." Trump cast doubt on the possibility of a deal with a tweet late Friday, just 20 minutes before the planned vote. " The work in Congress came a few hours after Trump met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer at the White House to try to hash out a deal. Democrats are insisting that any funding bill include a codification of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration program. The DACA program shields from deportation nearly 700,000 unauthorized immigrants who entered the US as minors. Following the meeting, Schumer told reporters that the time with the president was productive but there is no deal yet. "We had a long and detailed meeting," Schumer said. "We discussed all of the major outstanding issues, we made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements. The discussions will continue." A few hours later, Trump took to Twitter to extol the progress made with Schumer and Republican leaders. "SenSchumer - working on solutions for Security and our great Military together with @SenateMajLdr McConnell and @SpeakerRyan Trump originally kicked off the fight over DACA by ending the program in September. The president built in a six-month delay for the program's end to give Congress time to pass a bill to protect the more than 700,000 DACA recipients. With the program set to expire at the beginning of March, Schumer and the Democrats are attempting use the shutdown as leverage to codify it in legislation. A former CIA case officer who was arrested on Tuesday on a single count of illegally possessing classified information real names and phone numbers of covert CIA sources, locations of covert facilities, and meeting locations may have compromised US assets in Russia, according to current and former US officials cited in a NBC News report published Friday. A secret task force involving the FBI and CIA suspected that 53-year-old ex-CIA officer, Jerry Chun Shing Lee, could have been spying for China, during a period when at least 20 CIA informants in China were executed. FBI agents were said to have received information that Lee, who left the CIA in 2007, was cooperating with Chinese intelligence officers while working in Hong Kong, according to sources cited in the report. In 2012, agents reportedly searched his hotel room and discovered notebooks with the names and phone numbers of CIA sources. US intelligence officials, who suspected that China had infiltrated their covert communications following the executions of their sources in the country, believed that Chinese intelligence officers shared the US's method of covert communications with Russian intelligence officers during a joint training session. After the training session, Russian officers reportedly "came back saying we got good info on [covert communications]," a former official said to NBC News. US assets in Russia reportedly began disappearing, prompting a change in operational procedures for communications. The former officials noted that the information Lee possessed was not all-inclusive, and that not all of those who were sought by Chinese officials were linked to his notebook: "No single officer had access to all of them," one official said to NBC News. The former officials also noted that the CIA's method for sharing messages with agents could have been easily accessed by the Chinese due to its simplicity: "All they had to do was get one agent's laptop, and they could figure it out," and official said. Lee reportedly flew to back to the US in 2012 with his family on the promise of a job offer, which turned out to be a plan by authorities to lure him back to the US. Photographs taken of items in Lee's hotel room at the time indicated he possessed a 49-page datebook and a 21-page address book filled with sensitive information. Tuesdays Democratic upset in a northwest Wisconsin legislative election has created an unexpected late hiccup in Republican Eric Hovdes deliberations about whether to run for U.S. Senate. Hovde, a Madison businessman who sought a Wisconsin U.S. Senate seat in 2012, has been readying for a possible entry into this years race. Then came Tuesdays special election in state Senate District 10, where Democrat Patty Schachtner upset Republican Adam Jarchow in a district Donald Trump carried by 17 points in 2016. The outcome was hailed by many Democrats and some Republicans as a sign the states political winds may be shifting. Prominent GOP strategist Brian Fraley called it the most significant political development in Wisconsin since Walker won the recalls. In an interview, Hovde acknowledged the Senate District 10 result factors in to his own decision-making process. Its relevant, without question, Hovde said. If more signs emerge that 2018 could be an election cycle that favors Democrats, Hovde said that could further influence his thinking. Hovde said the special election also raises questions about how GOP President Donald Trump is affecting the national political climate heading into 2018. The stock market is booming and Islamic State terrorists are losing ground in the Middle East, Hovde said, adding Trump deserves credit for both. But Hovde said hes not sure that translates into a favorable environment for Republicans in 2018. Because (Trumps) personality is such that a lot of people do not care for his style and his personality traits, its swinging the pendulum the other way, Hovde said. Hovde said in December that hes taking certain steps to enter the race in early 2018, should he choose to do so. Delafield businessman Kevin Nicholson and state Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Brookfield, already are vying for the GOP nod to face Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, of Madison, this November. Nicholson has officially been in the race since July, and Vukmir since September. Hovdes personal wealth is a factor: He spent more than $5 million of his own money when he ran for U.S. Senate in 2012 and likely could self-fund again. So Hovde says he wont rush a decision about run- ning. I dont feel compelled it has to happen in the next 30 days, Hovde said. With the Senate at a standstill on the passage of a continuing resolution to keep the federal government open, the federal government entered into a partial shutdown at midnight Saturday. As a result, various government services are set to come to a halt, including national parks, museums, and zoos, along with government bureaus like the But despite dramatic pronouncements from President Donald Trump, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and others about the military being compromised and people dying as a result of the impasse, not all government agencies and departments will shut down services that are deemed "essential" will continue to operate. This includes any federal government work related to national security, law and order, and emergency life-and-death services. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for instance, will continue to operate. And although military personnel might have their paychecks delayed, they will still be required to show up for duty as usual. "Essential" services also include Social Security and the Transportation Security Administration. There are also employees or agencies whose work is not funded through Congress that will be largely unaffected by the shutdown. Postal services are one example of this. Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference will also continue to operate under the shutdown for this very reason, despite Trump's personal concerns about its growing costs. A matter of judgment But aside from these cut-and-dry cases, there is no hard-and-fast rule as to which services are considered "essential." Even within agencies that will continue to operate, there may be employees who are put on leave, and the determination about which parts of the government to keep open is, at least in part, a subjective one. The Environmental Protection Agency is one agency that will likely see most of its employees furloughed placed on temporary unpaid leave judging by the Trump administration's dismissive approach toward the body during his first year in office, according to Vox. In addition, while the State Department will continue to operate its "essential" and "non-excepted" divisions that are necessary to maintain national security, it too will have to furlough sizeable segments of its employees, according to the department's contingency plan. In its own updated contingency plan, the Department of Housing and Urban Development stated that only 289 out of 7,797 While the number of government employees who are placed on furlough is not set in stone, in 2013 a peak of 850,000 people per day were on leave, according to the Office of Management and Budget. Looking at combined paydays, a total of 6.6 million days were lost during 2013's government shutdown due to employee furloughs. The federal government slipped into its first partial shutdown in more than four years early Saturday morning, as the Senate voted against a key procedural step to pass a short-term funding bill Friday night. The cloture vote, which allows a bill to proceed without a filibuster, failed to get the 60 votes needed for passage. The vote closed with a final vote of 50 to 49. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell voted against the measure so that he could reconsider the motion. While the vote remained open, the funding for the government ran out at midnight. A shutdown was triggered when the Office of Management and Budget released a memo directing agencies to enact contingency plans they have already prepared for such a scenario. All but five Democrats voted to block the short-term bill that would have sustained federal funding at current levels, called a continuing resolution (CR). Most cited the fact that the measure did not include a permanent solution for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration program. Four Democrats who voted for the bill Joe Donnelly, Joe Manchin, Claire McCaskill, and Heidi Heitkamp are all from states that President Donald Trump won and are up for reelection in 2018. New senator Doug Jones of Alabama, a deep-red state, was the only other defection. Trump announced he would end the DACA program in September, but he gave Congress six months to codify it into law. With the March deadline approaching, Democrats demanded that a DACA fix be included in the CR. According to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Trump agreed to a deal that included protections for DACA and even some funding for a border wall. "I In addition to the Democratic wall, a handful of Republican senators voted against the bill. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee voted against due to concerns about the adequacy of another CR in funding the government. The bill would have only funded the government through February 16. Sen. Rand Paul also voted against the bill because of its addition to the national debt. Jeff Flake also voted no. The White House decried the vote's failure in a statement from Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. " McConnell told members during a speech after the shutdown kicked in that an amendment would be offered to push the deadline to February 8 instead of February 16 as in the House bill. This would require the House to revote on the bill, but is closer to the Democrats' request for a shorter CR to finish off negotiations. According to Senate rules, the vote on that amendment could not come until later on Saturday at the earliest. Based on public comments, it appears no one deal currently has the support of enough members to pass the 60-vote threshold. But members were upbeat. GOP Sen. Bob Corker told reporters that the two sides were closing in on a deal and it was "a date in early February, a few days apart." The failure of the bill is the culmination of a day of wrangling in which Schumer met with Trump in an attempt to get a compromise which did not come. The US Navy's newest commissioned warship, the littoral combat ship USS Little Rock, was commissioned in Buffalo on December 16 and scheduled to sail for its home port at Mayport Naval Station in Florida the next day. But that departure was delayed three days by weather conditions on Lake Erie. It left Buffalo on December 20, and by December 27 it had reached Montreal, where it was scheduled to stop before heading on to Halifax in Nova Scotia. But an exceptionally frigid winter has kept the Little Rock in Canada much longer than expected. Because of ice on the water around the port and a lack of tug boats to guide the warship out, the Little Rock remained in port through January 11, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Courtney Hillson, public affairs officer for the US Naval Surface Force Atlantic, told Business Insider at the time. The Little Rock is the most recent ship to enter service for the US Navy. It is the fifth Freedom-class littoral combat ship to join the fleet. LONDON Britain may decide to rejoin a reformed EU, Theresa May's deputy David Lidington has said. While suggesting that it was unlikely that Britain would rejoin the EU in its current form, the Minister for the Cabinet told the Telegraph that it was "dangerous to say never in politics." "There's going to be a need for a system of cooperation within the continent of Europe, including the UK that covers both economic and political cooperation," Lidington told the paper. He added that "we may be looking in a generation's time at an EU that is also configured differently from what it is today, and the exact nature of the relationship between the UK and that future system - whatever it turns out to be - of European cooperation is something that future parliaments, future generations, will have to consider," he said. Lidington, who backed Remain in the EU referendum, said it was down to future generations to decide whether a new form of union with Europe was necessary. "I can't predict sitting here today what that network of organisations and alliances, including the EU and how that will have changed, is going to look like in 10 years or 20 years times," he said. Mustafa Suleyman is one of the three cofounders of DeepMind, an artificial intelligence (AI) lab in London that was acquired by Google in 2014 for a reported 400 million the search giant's largest acquisition in Europe to date. Listen to a few of Suleyman's talks on YouTube and you'll quickly realise that he's a left-leaning activist who wants to make the world a better place for everyone as opposed to an elite few. He differs from many of today's tech founders in that he genuinely seems to care about the welfare of everyone on the planet. The 33 year old affectionately known as "Moose" internally at DeepMind and amongst his friends lives in Peckham, South London, with his artist fiancee. He can often be seen on Twitter making his thoughts known on issues like homelessness, diversity, and inequality, and also once retweeted Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. DeepMind may be owned by one of the largest companies in the world but Suleyman strongly believes capitalism is failing society in a number of areas. He explained this during a talk at a Google event last May. "We believe today that in some sense, capitalism in many ways has delivered so much for us over the last couple of centuries," Suleyman said at a Google ZeitgeistMinds event in London. "We've delivered so much progress. No other construct or idea has been able to distribute benefits so broadly and so rapidly. And yet in many areas, capitalism is currently failing us. We actually need a new kind of set of incentives to tackle some of the most pressing and urgent social problems and we need a new kind of tool, a new kind of intelligence, that is distributed, that is scaled, that is accessible, to try and make sense of some of the complexity that is overwhelming us." DeepMind's not-so-simple mission is to solve intelligence and then to use that to solve everything else. The company is building complex algorithms that can learn for themselves using techniques similar to those seen in the human brain. Ultimately, it hopes to end up with something that works like an artificial hippocampus the part of the brain that is mainly associated with memory, and long-term memory in particular. Since its incorporation in 2011, DeepMind has been aggressively hiring some of the smartest computer scientists, neuroscientists, mathematicians, and physicists around the world. Today it employs around 700 people across offices in the UK (London), Canada (Edmonton and Montreal), and the US (Mountain View). The vast majority of DeepMind's staff (over 500 people) are currently located across two floors in Google's main office in London's King's Cross. Unlike his cofounders, Suleyman does not have a background in science. As a result, he is more focused on the business side of the company and today he is trying to find applications for DeepMind's technology both inside and outside of Google while also ensuring that the company's work in AI remains safe and ethical. Suleyman grew up in North London and developed a passion for philosophy Suleyman grew up just off Caledonian Road in North London where he lived with his parents and his two younger brothers. His father was a Syrian-born taxi driver and his mother was an English nurse in the NHS. Suleyman went to Thornhill Primary School (a state school in Islington) followed by the free, but selective, Queen Elizabeth boys school in Barnet. Suleyman read widely as a child, according to a Wired feature on DeepMind from June 2015, developing an early love for philosophy. He also had a passion for business and entrepreneurship from an early age and he wasn't afraid to try to hustle his fellow students on the school playground. "Ever since I was a kid I was always starting small businesses and dreaming they would one day grow like crazy," Suleyman told Business Insider. "When I started secondary school at 11, me and my best friend started selling sweets in the playground. We would go to the wholesaler and buy in bulk and rent peoples lockers to store them in. We started hiring other kids out at break-times to sell for us. It got pretty big before the teachers shut it down." Suleyman moved from selling sweets in the playground to exploring how he could help the disabled in his spare time. "A few years later, a team of us got together and spent a summer visiting restaurants and attractions across London in a wheelchair we borrowed to review their accessibility for disabled people," he said. "Based on that, we published an 80-page guide to London for young disabled people. "It's part of the reason why I believe so strongly that if we rewrite the incentives for businesses today to include social responsibility in addition to fiduciary duties, plenty of leaders will jump at the chance to redirect their energies toward building a better, fairer world." As a straight A student, Suleyman could afford to be fairly selective about where he went to university. He chose to go to Oxford one of the top (and most elite) universities in the world to read philosophy and theology. Interestingly, Suleyman joined Oxford's Mansfield College, which is leading the charge on anti-elitism at the university; nine in 10 of the students it admitted in 2017 came from state schools. "Philosophy and theology is an interesting course and I thought it was a nice combination," Suleyman said. "Mansfield is an amazing place to study theology, and my tutor was one of the leaders in the field." But Suleyman realised that he didn't want to focus on education in his late teenage years. Young and eager to get out into the world and use his intelligence to have an impact, he dropped out of the centuries-old institution at 19 because he didn't feel like his degree was practical enough. "Throughout my life, I've always been focused on maximizing social impact with everything I do," said Suleyman. "At the time, I was enjoying studying philosophy and theology but it felt so abstract and impractical to me. "Like many teenage activists I guess I was restless and angry at what I saw as such widespread injustice and inequality. And I felt compelled to do something to help people directly in the wider world." Suleyman dropped out of Oxford to set up a counselling service for young Muslims After dropping out, Suleyman and his university friend Mohammed Mamdani set up a telephone counselling service called the Muslim Youth Helpline which went on to become one of the largest mental health support services of its kind in the UK. "I wanted to broaden my scope to tackle social challenges affecting all of society, not just a specific subgroup," Suleyman said. "At the Helpline I realised that the problems many of our service users were facing were actually rooted in the wider systemic inequalities and prejudices present in broader society." At 22, Suleyman left Muslim Youth Helpline after realising non-profit organisations are held back by multiple factors. "After three or four years, I realised in some sense the fundamental limitations of charities," Suleyman told The Financial Times. "It was really difficult to scale the organisation and to raise funds in a sustainable way." He went on to work for former London mayor Ken Livingstone. "When I got an offer to work for Mayor Ken Livingstone on human rights policy, it seemed like a brilliant opportunity to to fight the systemic injustices that create so much of the suffering I saw first hand at the Helpline." He left City Hall when he realised that government wasn't the vehicle to promote radical systemic change either. "It was pretty challenging and despite all of the high-minded principles it was actually really difficult to get practical things done on a day-to-day basis," Suleyman told the FT. Suleyman worked with the UN, the US government, and Shell Following his stint in politics, Suleyman helped to cofound a consultancy called Reos Partners, which aims to help drive change on global issues like food production, waste, and diversity. "[Through Reos Partners] I ended up working for a whole bunch of different organisations including the UN, the US government, the Dutch government, WWF, Shell," he told the FT. His work for Shell was on sustainability-related projects. "We worked all over the world, ended up growing [Reos Partners], which is still going today, to about five or six offices around the world specialising in large scale conflict resolution and negotiation." Suleyman left Reos Partners in 2010 after a year-long piece of facilitation work at the Copenhagen climate negotiations left him feeling frustrated. "There was a very natural alignment back in late 2009, early 2010 when I had just sort of finished the climate negotiations, which of course were at the time a massive disaster and everybody was really broken hearted" he told the FT. He added: "Traditional vehicles for addressing climate change the various meetings and minds, grassroots campaigning, high level political negotiations, waiting for spontaneous market driven outcomes were, to put it bluntly, just not working fast enough. Time and again we found ourselves failing to come to grips with a dizzyingly complex world, with groups of the smartest experts struggling to make sense of the relationship between cause and effect. "Of course climate change is just one of many strands of a complex, interdependent, and dynamic set of problems that we currently face as a species. If we don't tackle these problems, the future of humanity and the planet is at best uncertain. At worst, it's an extremely grim prognosis." DeepMind was born in London in 2009 Realising the potential that technology and AI have to benefit the world, Suleyman set up DeepMind around the end of 2009 with his childhood friend Demis Hassabis and a New Zealander called Shane Legg. Before incorporating DeepMind, Suleyman and Hassabis (who were friends through Hassabis's younger brother) had many deep discussions and debates about how to improve the world. They typically approached the matter from different angles but they both say they're fundamentally motivated by the opportunity to alleviate human suffering at scale, and they've talked about how best to do that endlessly. "Demis and I grew up in the same neighborhood and his younger brother and I were and still are best friends," said Suleyman. "We often had conversations about how to improve and impact the world from solving inequality to malnutrition. He felt the solutions would come through simulations that could model the complex dynamics in the world causing these problems, while I would always emphasize more near-term practical change efforts. "Building and applying general purpose learning systems combined our two different approaches. And after working in many different arenas from government to think tanks and the charity sector trying to tackle our most intractable social challenges, it was clear to me that we needed new institutions, creativity and knowledge in order to navigate the growing complexity of our social systems. Reapplying existing human knowledge was not going to be enough. Starting a new kind of organisation with the single purpose of building AI and using it to solve the world's toughest problems was our best shot at having a transformative, large scale impact on societys most pressing challenges." Suleyman is well-liked across DeepMind and the UK tech sector. Many people said they liked the fact that he's humble and down to Earth, and they respect the fact that he's willing to talk about difficult issues like equal pay and capitalism in a way that many other tech leaders aren't. He's seen by some as a revolutionary and whether he realises it or not, may people are more than willing to sign up to his mission and his way of thinking. In the company's early days, Suleyman made several trips to Silicon Valley and successfully convinced billionaires like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk to invest in DeepMind, telling them that he and his cofounders planned to hoover up as much brain power in Europe as they could and get these smart young people working on the most advanced AI systems on the planet. Frank Meehan, an early investor in DeepMind and a former board member on virtual assistant startup Siri, which was acquired by Apple in 2010, said he first met Suleyman when DeepMind employed about six or seven people and was based out of a tiny office in London's Russell Square. "Mustafa is a key part of the whole thing," Meehan told Business Insider. "He's confident, he's energetic, and he stays on top of things," said Meehan. "He's focused and he gets things done." Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), former head of the No 10 Policy Unit, and an independent reviewer of DeepMind Health, described Suleyman as an "open" and "rounded" leader, adding that he respects his willingness to talk about the big issues facing the world's tech giants. "Everyone thinks if Mustafa is running the world it would be a pretty amazing place, to be honest," Taylor told Business Insider. Taylor said that if he were to take a cynical view of DeepMind, "the question is whether or not he is someone inside the system genuinely transforming the culture of Google, or, if you were cynical, is he the kind of acceptable face for an industry that knows it has its issues but is actually going to plough on regardless?" But he later clarified on Twitter that he has a "very positive" view of Suleyman and the company. Commenting on his relationship with Suleyman, Hassabis said: "Mustafa is a fantastic cofounder we were family friends growing up together in North London and we share a deep belief in the potential of scientific and technical advances for positive social change. He brilliantly leads our applied and commercial efforts including spearheading our work in healthcare and energy, as well as being a respected thought leader on the ethical and societal impact of AI." Suleyman is leading DeepMinds health projects DeepMind's algorithms have been used by Google to reduce the amount of energy used in its vast fleet of enormous data centres by 15%. "Anything that we can do to reduce the amount of energy required to deliver the same service is fantastic for the planet and has a very significant dollar impact at the bottom line, which is also good," Suleyman said in July 2016. Google has also used DeepMind's WaveNet neural network to generate the Google Assistant voices for US English and Japanese. Looking outside Google, Suleyman, who oversees a growing DeepMind Health team, has convinced several NHS trusts to work with DeepMind on projects including a patient monitoring app for clinicians and an AI system that can learn to spot early signs of cancer. DeepMind's work with the NHS didn't get off to the best start and Suleyman found himself under the spotlight when a freedom of information request from New Scientist revealed the extent of a data sharing agreement with the Royal Free Trust in North London, which was DeepMind's first NHS deal. The deal which was later deemed illegal by the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK's top data regulator gave DeepMind access to 1.6 million NHS patient records to help it build a kidney monitoring app called Streams. Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said in a statement at the time: "There's no doubt the huge potential that creative use of data could have on patient care and clinical improvements, but the price of innovation does not need to be the erosion of fundamental privacy rights. Our investigation found a number of shortcomings in the way patient records were shared for this trial. Patients would not have reasonably expected their information to have been used in this way, and the Trust could and should have been far more transparent with patients as to what was happening." But that's the only major setback that the company has had since it was acquired by Google. Looking ahead, DeepMind is keen to work with the National Grid to see how it can cut energy consumption across the UK in the same way that it's helped Google in its data centres. Beyond that, Suleyman is also one of the founding members of the Partnership on AI an organisation set up in September 2016 to ensure that AI is developed safely, ethically, and transparently along with Facebook's AI head Yann LeCun, Microsoft Research director Eric Horvitz, and several others. Suleyman accepts there are very real concerns about the future of AI While AI clearly has great potential, academics, philosophers, and technologists have warned that AI may be humanity's biggest downfall if it is programmed incorrectly or harnessed for wrong doing. Renowned scientist Stephen Hawking said at the Web Summit conference in Lisbon last November: "Success in creating effective AI could be the biggest event in the history of our civilization. Or the worst. We just don't know. So we cannot know if we will be infinitely helped by AI, or ignored by it and side-lined, or conceivably destroyed by it." When it comes to DeepMind's research, Suleyman and his cofounders realise that there are two sides to the coin. The DeepMind leaders allowed their startup to be acquired by Google on the condition that Google set up an internal AI ethics board to oversee AI developments across the entire organisation. Little is known about the mysterious ethics board but Suleyman said at a Bloomberg conference in 2015 that he wanted Google to disclose the board members. He's been asked about the board several times since then but remained tight lipped. "Getting these things right is not purely a matter of having good intentions," Suleyman wrote in Wired this month. "We need to do the hard, practical and messy work of finding out what ethical AI really means. If we manage to get AI to work for people and the planet, then the effects could be transformational. Right now, there's everything to play for." SULEYMAN'S 3 FAVOURITE BOOKS Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Okonkwo said this at the Business Entrepreneurship Empowerment and Professionalism (BEEP) conference organised by Fidelity Bank in conjunction with Flame Consulting Ltd in Lagos. He said that entrepreneurs should take advantage of evolving business environment to grow their business. Okonkwo, who was represented by Mr Ken Opara, the Regional Head, Ikeja Bank, said that entrepreneurs should embrace collaboration and take advantage of shared services and offerings. The managing director said that renting a space for business was not necessary, as an entrepreneur could start small and grow in bounds later. You dont need to rent a building before you start a business, take advantage of shared services and offerings, Okonkwo said. He said that talent was the major thing in entrepreneurship and not emphasis on funding, noting that an entrepreneur with great talent would grow. A business plan is not about having a consultant, you must know why you want to enter a business, he added. Okonkwo described a business plan as a road map for a successful business. He said that the bank would assist entrepreneurs with sustainable business with funding. According to him, the bank will launch an Enterprise Development Fund in March for businesses with high sustainability. Mr Aruosa Osemwengie, one of the speakers, said that organisations were looking for resourceful persons and not just anybody. Osemwengie, who spoke on Find and Keeping Your Great Job, said that entrepreneurs must market themselves online, offline and on the job. He said that a great resume would help an entrepreneur to market himself. According to him, entrepreneurs must start with what they have, their location and must start with what they can do. The Governor said this while hosting All Progressives Congress (APCs) northern Governors forum. Ortom said that despite the initial attacks of January 1 and 2, 2018,the Fulani herdsmen have attacked vulnerable communities several times. While pledging his loyalty to President Buharis administration, the Benue state Governor also urged leaders to stand by the truth. He also accused members of Kautal Hore of masterminding the recent attacks, and called on the police to arrest the group. Ortom said We thank God that peace is gradually returning to the state, but there are still pockets of challenges here; we know the challenges will soon be over because our people are always alert to give useful information to security operatives around. Let me tell you that our people are still living in fear and are under siege because of the series of threat by the Kautal Hore, which started the threat seven months ago. Theirs are not mere threats. We have evidence against them. What we are saying is that the Federal Government should arrest the leadership of Kautal Hore. Tunde Bakare condemns Buhari over Fulani herdsmen attacks The Senior Pastor of the Latter Rain Assembly (LRA),Tunde Bakare recently criticised Buharisadministration for doing nothing about the Fulani herdsmen attacks in Benue. Bakare also said that Buharis silence has permitted genocide in various parts of the country. The fertilizer production company was established in 2017 as a joint-venture entitybetween the Sokoto state government and IML Industries Ltd. Speaking at the flag-off ceremony, Tambuwal said the event is a clear testimony of his administrations ongoing efforts to enhance the economic well-being of the people of the state. He said apart from the fertilizer company, other policies have been implemented in order to put the state economy in the right direction. The micro and macro-economic policies of both the federal and Sokoto state governments have started yielding positive results. As we can see, positive results have been churned out from sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, entrepreneurship development and other areas in the social investments chain. It worthy to note that governments at all levels are making progress in empowering the people to become self reliant with a view to addressing socio-economic challenges bedeviling the country, he added. Tambuwal said Sokoto state is one of the few states in Nigeria endowed with lots of unexploited natural resources adding that significant progress has been made in the last two years in harnessing such resources for the benefit of the people. ALSO READ: EFCC challenges Governor Tambuwal for pardoning 5 politicians He said governments strategic investment plan has been worked out and is being implemented through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) under the management of Sokoto Investment Company. He also announced the purchase of two trucks of the fertilizer for each of the 23 local government areas in the state totaling over N104 million. Ambode, during the inaugurating the new board of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), said that the waste on most Lagos highways will be cleared soon. According to the Governor, the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI)is aimed at creating a clean, hygienic and sustainable environment. Vanguard also reports that Ambode said Let me assure the people that in the coming weeks, there will be improvement. We are already witnessing a high-level of improvement; we promise that throughout this week and throughout next week, people will see a marked improvement in our state as more equipment come into the country and we are able to deploy the equipment accordingly. We are all living witnesses to the restructuring we are trying to do in the environmental sector. That restructuring culminated in the introduction of CLI, which is focused at ensuring that the way we clean Lagos is comparable to what is being done in first class cities in the world. As a result, we are changing the way the environment in Lagos is being managed, and to help us to achieve that, this Sanitation Corps is important. More importantly now is to speak to the fact that yes, we are having some challenges in the area of waste management in Lagos today. We all live in Lagos, but I want to reaffirm that we are doing everything to ensure that this becomes a thing of the past. Beyond the fact that we are clearing waste, the CLI is also ensuring that we have landfill sites; not dumping sites but landfill sites, where the waste generated in Lagos can be recycled and re-engineered and also resold so that we can create wealth and a new business for Lagosians to tap into, he added. Lagos bans cart pushers The Lagos State Government recently announced a ban on the operations of cart pushers and wheelbarrow operators, saying their activities are inimical to the environmental cleanliness of the state. It has been nearly two years since a hunter shot and killed two dogs that he thought were coyotes at a state wildlife area in southern Dane County, yet the state Department of Natural Resources still hasnt changed the confusing sign at the site entrance that many say deserves a big share of the blame for the tragedy. A legislator whose district includes the Badfish Creek Wildlife Area where Deanna Clarks Alaskan Husky mix and mastiff were shot and killed by Evansville hunter Kurt Rausch the night of Jan. 22, 2016, says her patience has run out. If the DNR doesnt do anything, the legislature should do something, said Sen. Janis Ringhand, D-Evansville. You have to make it very, very clear what the terms are. We need some real clarity on this. Its a safety issue. As traumatic as the experience has been for Clark, Ringland said, You dont want it to be a person next time. We need to follow through on this. The sign was in the spotlight during Rauschs jury trial in a Dane County courtroom last month where he was acquitted of one count of mistreating an animal for shooting the husky but convicted on a second count for shooting the mastiff, which had no characteristics resembling a coyote. The testimony was so graphic and emotional at times that the original court reporter asked to be excused. Clark, a veterinarian from Edgerton, testified that she thought it was legal to run her dogs on the site and had done so more than 100 times because of the DNR sign that said dogs must be leashed April 15 through July 31. But Rauschs attorney, Michele Tjader, focused the jurys attention on the sentence directly below that. It said Additional restrictions apply and directed users to unspecified regulation pamphlets and a section of the state administrative code. Those rules not made clear anywhere on the sign specify that the only dogs that can run unleashed are hunting dogs or dogs in training to become hunting dogs. The sign didnt only mislead Clark. Rausch testified that he never thought dogs would be in the wildlife area that January. Both sides brought in former DNR officials to testify, and both told the court that the law in its strictest sense allows only hunting dogs to run unleashed during that nine-month period. But both officials also testified that the signs language sent the wrong message and should be changed. It is confusing. I wish it said something different, said Timothy J. Lawhern, who was the longtime administrator of the DNRs hunting education program and led the agencys Department of Enforcement and Science. Lawhern was testifying for the defense so he didnt openly express his concerns during the trial about potential ramifications if the DNR doesnt clarify the language on the sign. But in an interview afterward, he said more tragedies are possible if the DNR doesnt act. Its a problem, he said. The DNR sends regulation pamphlets that explain the rules to hunters, but others must seek them out. Clark said she had no idea that coyote hunting and night hunting was allowed year-round in Wisconsin and was unaware of the risk in letting her dogs run loose. While admitting no errors on her clients part, Tjader also questioned after the trial why the DNR allows both practices on large mixed-use sites. Its too hard for a patron to ascertain whether theres somebody else on the property, she said. Were putting these two populations together that have two separate knowledge bases. DNR: It will be reviewed DNR spokesman James Dick said the case has not prompted the agency to change the sign. He did not say why. But he added that some people within the agency have begun to look at the issue in response to some recent questions. Unfortunately, that means there is nothing definitive to say about it at this time since it will be reviewed, Dick said. The agencys slow response angered environmental attorney Jodi Habush Sinykin, who said the sign is a symbol of the DNR putting others at risk in order to boost the declining number of hunters. Its a recipe for disaster, Sinykin said. The state has a fiduciary duty to better manage their land and it has to be managed fairly, not just for small groups that they feel they must protect. Sinykin and Patricia McConnell, an adjunct professor of zoology at UW-Madison and a certified applied animal behaviorist, echoed the fears of Ringhand and Lawhern that more tragedies will occur if the DNR doesnt make more of an effort to educate everyone about the rules. McConnell, a widely known author and speaker on animal behavior, said more than 90 dogs were caught in traps in Wisconsin in 2016. But I think more than anything, the laws opening up all the state parks and trails to hunters has scared people away from going there, McConnell said. I know it has scared me and I know many people who feel the same way I do. Law changed in 2012 There is some evidence that has happened. The Republican-controlled state Legislature expected some backlash when it opened up much of the acreage in state parks and trails to hunters, trappers and anglers in 2012. The move was widely opposed by state residents: In a memo just before the law went into effect on Jan. 1, 2013, then-DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp said just 84 of the 2,033 comments the agency had received about the law were in support of it. Stepp also warned of a possible dropoff in attendance at state properties from October 15 through Memorial Day, the primary hunting and trapping seasons. Monthly attendance data from the DNR for state parks and trails appeared to bear that out. The data, collected through either traffic counters or formulas based on sticker sales, showed about 5.4 million visits during prime hunting months in the first year after the law took effect, an 8.2 percent drop compared to the same period one year earlier. The following fall and winter of 2013-14, there were more visitors 5.7 million but that was still 3.3 percent fewer than 2012. The biggest dips occurred in November and December. When compared to 2012 figures, overall attendance in November dipped 8.1 percent in 2013 and 17.5 percent in 2014 and in December it fell 24.8 percent in 2013 and 22.3 percent in 2014. Some of the states busiest parks were affected. Devils Lake, for instance, saw a 17.6 percent dip in attendance in November 2014 compared to 2012 numbers. The overall numbers rebounded in 2015 to 6.4 million or 8.6 percent more than in 2012. And in recent open houses to discuss recreation opportunities around the state, most of the feedback came from hikers, kayakers and other wildlife enthusiasts, DNR official Cameron Bump said, showing interest in such pursuits remains strong. McConnell said that means the DNR needs to be more proactive in making the rules and regulations clear to everyone, not just hunters. At his trial, Rausch said he was startled when the dogs rustled through the brush near him while he was hunting at night. While Sinykin said thats no excuse for not properly identifying the animals as dogs, he was set up by that sign, she said. He thought, Who else could be here? He had no idea that people like Deanna Clark were out there, Sinykin said. The DNR has to protect us from hunters like that. They have to make our parks and trails safe again for all the people who use them. Wike said that the President revealed this to him when they met recently in Abuja. The Governor also said that anyone who plots evil against his state will never have peace. He said this while speaking with Anglican bishops in the Niger Delta Province in the Rivers state Government House. According to Daily Post, Wike said When I went to see the President, he told me that he was under pressure to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State. Those things they planned to use in declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State fell on their own states and it became difficult to do so. When you sit and plot evil against Rivers State, you will not know peace. If they dont apologise for plotting and executing evil against Rivers State, they will never know peace. ALSO READ:Governor Wike says SARS is responsible for robbery and kidnapping in Rivers If you dont participate in what is happening through voting, the country will degenerate further. People should acquire their Permanent Voter Cards to enthrone the leadership they desire, he added. The youths also condemned the recent attacks on several communities in Benue state by Fulani herdsmen. According to Punch, the spokesman of the group, Richard Akinaka said "As a people, we have taken that position that herdsmen are private business people. Some of us who have private businesses, take private and personal responsibility to advance our business interests. If herdsmen want land and spaces to do their business, they should acquire them within any of the states and do their business as it demands the way it is done elsewhere all over the world where you have people get ranches for their cattle and people go there to buy cattle for consumption purposes. So, that is the best thing to do. Government does not need to buy land for a private businessman and all of that. But if that is what the government wants to do, we are asking for oil and gas colony for our people too. We should be given extra reserve right to take full responsibility of our oil and gas industry because that is our area, that is our environment. We suffer environmental problems. So, if they want colony for their cattle, we want colony for our oil and gas business. Militants to resume attacks on pipelines Following the killings in Benue state, the dreaded militant group, Niger Delta Avengershave announced that they will commence attacks on crude oil pipelines. According to the Governor, the President deserves a second term in office based on his performance. Okorocha also said that all the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors have agreed that Buhari should run for President in 2019. He said this while speaking to journalists at the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri on Friday, January 19, 2018. According to Punch, the Governor also said We were in Abuja for three days, holding meetings of the Progressive Governors with the APC leadership. We deliberated on so many issues. First among the very important issues that we discussed, was the issue of Mr. Presidents second term bid and it has the endorsement of all the governors of the APC. There is the need for him to complete his second term as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and he should go ahead to declare. We also deliberated and a unanimous decision was reached that we liaise with the campaign team, to be headed by the Minister of Transportation, Amaechi, as the Director-General. The governors also endorsed his (Amaechis) reappointment as the Director-General of the campaign team due to his track record ahead of the last election. Four years are not enough to show what the President can offer. We believe that another four years will bring out the best in him. The first four years are a very difficult period, and we believe that as things are stabilising, he will take Nigeria to the next level. The governors have serious responsibilities. All the governors were asked to put up a team as the campaign council. Sani condemns those asking Buhari to run in 2019 Senator Shehu Sani recently told President Buhari to forget about the callfor him to run in 2019, and work towards ending the clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers. Sani said that it is not right to be talking of re-election, when people are losing their lives and properties are being destroyed. On both her Instagram and Facebook accounts, she shared clips of lawmakers calling out the President. Obviously, such a move by the first lady did not go unnoticed most especially on social media. Trending on social media Aisha Buhari has 19,000 tweets on Twitter today, Saturday, January 20, 2018. It's not every day that a first lady would publicly throw shade at her husband. For this present first lady, this, however, is not the first time, neither is it the second. Aisha Buhari has a track record of shading Mr President in public. History of Aisha Buhari going rogue In October of 2016, Mrs Buhari told the BBC that her husband is being held hostage by a cabal. "The president does not know 45 out of 50, for example, of the people he appointed and I don't know them either, despite being his wife of 27 years," Aisha Buhari lamented. "Some people are sitting down in their homes folding their arms only for them to be called to come and head an agency or a ministerial position," she added. ALSO READ: President Buhari is aware of Nigeria's problem In 2017, the first lady criticized the state of affairs at the Aso Rock clinic. If the budget is N100 million, we need to know how the budget is spent. Along the line, I insisted they call Aso Clinic to find out if the X-ray machine is working, they said it is not working. They didnt know I am the one that was supposed to be in that hospital at that every time" she said. Cracks in the first marriage? Clearly, there is a history of the first lady throwing jabs at her husband's administration. The issue at heart right now is if it is right for Mrs Buhari to be criticizing her husband publicly? Aisha Buhari has definitely entered the history books at the first 'first lady' to criticize her husband. There are people who believe no matter how bad the President has performed, Aisha Buhari should not come publicly and call out her husband. In an ideal marriage, it is presumed that husband and wife stick together at least publicly no matter what. However, let's not forget that the President's comment of 'the other room' in Germany was less than ideal. It seemed like a case of 'an eye for an eye'. It is clear that the presidential marriage in Aso Rock is far from picture perfect. For love of country The dilemma here is love of husband over love of country. Aisha Buhari seems to have picked the latter. She is calling President Buhari out because of his promises to the Nigerian people during the campaign period. She is also worried that the 'cabal', a shadow government of mysterious men might have hijacked the presidency. ALSO READ: Aisha Buhari speaks on the health of children in Nigeria These are sentiments that many common Nigerians have had for a while now. Aisha Buhari's indicates that she understands the plight of everyday Nigerians. None of you are supposed to be here, she said. Im not supposed to be the anchor of the 4 p.m. hour. Im not. Indeed. Its been a surprising career trajectory for Wallace, who after four years as a regular panelist on MSNBCs Morning Joe, and a yearlong (and not entirely successful) stint on The View now anchors a prime spot on MSNBCs afternoon lineup, acting as a lead-in for Chuck Todds MTP Daily, and going up against Jake Tapper on CNN and Neil Cavuto on Fox News. And while plenty of former White House aides or campaign strategists appear as pundits-for-hire on the cable and network news shows David Axelrod and Josh Earnest (Barack Obama), Paul Begala (Bill Clinton), and Karl Rove (Bush), among them Wallace is the first former White House aide since George Stephanopoulos (ABCs This Week with George Stephanopoulos), to be named solo anchor of a network news program. Dana Perino, a former press secretary for Bush, has followed both with The Daily Briefing, which airs daily at 2 p.m. on Fox News. Further, Wallace, 45, now occupies a key spot within the networks afternoon lineup, leading the daily transition from hard news reports to the opinion and analysis programs that define its prime time, including The Rachel Maddow Show and The Last Word With Lawrence ODonnell. Four oclock is the gateway drug to prime time, said Jonathan Wald, who came to MSNBC as the senior vice president for programming and development in February from CNN and was instrumental in creating the format for Deadline: White House. The morning has its own rhythm, but 4 p.m. is a tough time because it really is the beginning of all the analysis. The timing of Wallaces show coincides with the presidency of Donald Trump, which this week marks its first anniversary. And it is that president who has been Wallaces most frequent on-air foil since her show began. Before that, she had been an outspoken critic of his campaign, calling out the candidate for what she saw as his xenophobic and racist views, going back to his role in the birther movement that questioned the legitimacy of Barack Obama. That antipathy has not ebbed since the 2016 election. What a disgrace this White House is, she tweeted in November, reacting to reports that Trump had made critical comments about the presidencies of both George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. New low. Appalled for my former colleagues from the 43 White House. On her program in January, she said Trump is like a 12-year-old commander in chief. Her eagerness to take on the president, especially from the vantage point of someone who long played a key role in the political party he now heads (and thus offered the perspective of a former insider) apparently appealed to her MSNBC bosses. We were talking about a lot of things, said Phil Griffin, the MSNBC president, about the networks discussions with Wallace after the 2016 campaign. I saw an opportunity in the late afternoon and we needed help there. He added, She thrived there from Day 1. Andy Lack, chairman of NBC News, who returned to run the news divisions of NBC and MSNBC after falling ratings and the suspension and then removal of Brian Williams from the Nightly News program, acknowledged that Wallaces political bona fides were part of her appeal as he looked for ways to remake MSNBCs afternoon lineup. Clearly she brought some diversity in terms of her ideology and background, Lack said. It was important to me and remains important to me. But, he added, Wallace had something else going for her. Shes got sources, he said. Shes a real reporter and gets information and perspective you wouldnt find otherwise. And for NBC, thats an asset. That adds real strength to our schedule. And so far, so good. According to Nielsen data, in the period beginning with its debut on May 9 until the end of 2017, Deadline: White House averaged 1.1 million viewers. During the same time frame, The Lead With Jake Tapper averaged a little more than 1 million, while Your World With Neil Cavuto led with almost 1.6 million. In the same period in 2016, the show that Wallace replaced, MSNBC Live With Steve Kornacki, averaged 727,000 viewers. From Jeb Bush to Sarah Palin Nicolle Devenish was born in Orange County, California, the eldest of four children, and raised in Orinda, in the San Francisco Bay Area, where her father was an antiques dealer and her mother a third-grade teacher. She received her undergraduate degree in mass communications from the University of California, Berkeley, and a masters in journalism from Northwesterns Medill School. She worked briefly as an on-air reporter in California, before switching to politics, working for the Republican Caucus of the California Assembly. In 1999, she moved to Florida to be the press secretary for the newly elected governor, Jeb Bush, and later worked on the recount effort for his brother, George W. Bush, in the contentious 2000 presidential race. It was while working on the recount that she met her future husband, Mark Wallace, then the general counsel for the Bush campaign in Florida. (The two married in 2005 and have a 6-year-old son, Liam.) When George W. Bush moved into the White House, Wallace joined his staff as director of media affairs, and was named communications director in 2005, the start of his second term. Wallace maintained an easy relationship with the White House press corps, even as the Iraq War became an increasingly divisive issue and the administrations handling of the Hurricane Katrina crisis was widely criticized. Though Wallace still reveres the Bush family, and says that George W. Bush respected the traditions and norms of the presidency (unlike, she implies, you-know-who), she frequently reminds people that she knows what it is like to work for an unpopular president. In 2006, Bush appointed her husband ambassador to the United Nations, and the couple moved to New York, where Wallace signed on as a political analyst for CBS News. As the 2008 elections approached, a call came from Steve Schmidt, then in charge of the fledgling presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain, whose candor and accessibility aboard the Straight Talk Express in 2000 Wallace greatly admired. The Wallaces signed up to work on McCains 2008 presidential race. And thats when Wallace met Sarah Palin, who was plucked from the relative obscurity of the Alaska governorship to be McCains running mate. The experience with Palin was searing. First came the blowup over the $150,000 spent on Palins campaign wardrobe, then the disastrous interview with Katie Couric, a friend and former CBS colleague of Wallace. Our relationship really erupted and exploded, and was irreparably damaged after the Katie Couric interview, in which she had thought I had set her up for failure, Wallace said of Palin years later on The View. (Sarah Paulson played Wallace in the HBO movie about that election, Game Change.) That campaign marked the end of Wallaces life in active politics. Wallace has thought a lot about the phenomenon of that vice-presidential pick. Looking back, she said, it served as the canary in the coal mine of what was to come. The Palin campaign is where it belongs in the past, Wallace said. But it did inform me where the party was going. The way the crowds reacted to her they were so energized by her in a way they werent by McCain. She made comments that werent politically correct and the party not only tolerated it, but was excited by it. She was probably more important than we realized at the time in signaling where the party was going. After 2008, Wallace, who has acknowledged not voting in that race and then voting for Hillary Clinton in 2016, explored career alternatives. She began writing a series of three well-received novels, the first of which, Eighteen Acres, told the story of the first female president and her controversial and polarizing running mate, also a woman. (From the book: She was loud, tacky, and rude. She seemed to calculate the least presidential approach to every situation and pursue it with vigor.) More important, in 2013 she signed on as a regular contributor to Morning Joe. Early on, Wallace seemed an awkward fit, especially compared with her voluble and more experienced colleagues. The shows co-host Mika Brzezinski, who watched Wallaces growth, said she felt that over the course of the time that she was on Morning Joe what I saw was Nicolle learning to have fun being on TV. Wallace doesnt recall having growing pains as a panelist I have never engaged in any self-examination as it pertains to television, she said but she does acknowledge that her very first appearance on the show, as a senior adviser to the McCain-Palin campaign, had the potential to be contentious. That was certainly an awkward job to have, to be speaking for Palin who was internally at war with me, she said. So, when I first showed up on that show, it was often to spar with all of the other guests about Sarah Palin and McCain. But I always felt welcome and comfortable on that show. And one of the hallmarks of that show is that everyone is given all the space and time and latitude to be themselves. Soon after being added to Morning Joe as a regular panelist, Wallace added another TV job to her resume, joining The View in 2014 to replace the combative Elisabeth Hasselbeck as the resident Republican. It was not a success. Wallace said that ABC executives let her go for not being Republican enough and that she learned of her dismissal from her fellow sacked colleague, Rosie Perez, who read about it in Variety. (The producers of the show reportedly offered her the chance to return as an occasional contributor, but she declined.) Though Wallace had worked with ABC News on special events, she made sure that her View contract let her keep a place as a contributor to Morning Joe. After her dismissal, NBC and MSNBC offered her a job, and within a month she was filing the first of her reports for Today. Over the course of the 2016 campaign, executives, including her now-executive producer Patrick Burkey, raised her on-air profile. She conducted candid, hourlong interviews with Jeb Bush, her former boss, and Chris Christie, then the New Jersey governor, after both had left the presidential race. In the latter interview, Christie acknowledged that he hoped to be picked as Trumps running mate, a spot that ultimately went to Mike Pence. Im a competitive person, so Im not going to say it wont bother me if Im not selected, Christie told Wallace. Of course it bothers you a little bit, because if youre a competitive person like I am and youre used to winning like I am, again, you dont like coming in second. Ever. By then, Wallace had all but officially left the political party she had been an active member of for decades. Her public breaking point came after Trumps strident and often angry acceptance speech for the Republican nomination in Cleveland. On air with Tom Brokaw and the NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt after the speech, Wallace said, The Republican Party that I worked for for 20 years died in this room tonight. I Cant Explain Why They All Talk The idea for the show was very much mine, Wallace said of her initial pitch to Griffin. What she wanted most, she told him, was a show revolving around a round-table conversation and always having a boisterous conversation with very, very little script. That comes across in the freewheeling nature of Deadline, aired live every weekday from 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Wallace will raise her voice in reaction to clips, and doesnt withhold her indignation. She often puts on her reading glasses when looking down at the sheets of paper on her desk, only to take them off when she stares up to talk to one of her guests. She laughs easily and strikes a tone between sarcasm and outrage over the actions of the institution she once served. Her guests joke with one another. In a recent episode, Schmidt, her former colleague and now a frequent guest, compared the journey of the Trump delegation to Davos to the two-part Brady Bunch episode in which the family decamps to Hawaii. Wallace says her on-camera personality is one that anyone who knew her before Deadline: White House would instantly recognize. I am the same on TV as a guest as I am as a host, as I was a White House communications director, as I was Jeb Bushs spokesperson, she said. I dont speak any differently. I dont hold any different views ideologically. I dont hold back. Said Schmidt: I think who you see is the real Nicolle. Wallace begins each day by calling some of the several staff members she knows in the current White House looking for dish, for insight, for a talking point she can bring up with her guests later that day. But why, given the stance shes taken toward Trump, who she feels debases the presidency to the last cell of my body, do they open up? Sometimes theyre there to talk about how theyve made things better, she said. But I dont know why. I cant explain why they all talk. Wallace frequently mentions to her guests and her viewers that she has worked in GOP politics for a good part of her adult life, and that she now despairs for its future under the current leadership, beginning with the occupant of the White House. I think shes suffering, said her husband, Mark, chief executive of two nonprofit groups, United Against a Nuclear Iran and the Counter Extremism Project. Shes concerned about the office. She understands the gravity and importance of the office of the president. On air and on Twitter she has 195,000 followers at last count its clear Wallace has embraced the role as the public scold of the Republican Party. A flash point came in the recent Alabama senatorial campaign, when the Republican candidate, Roy Moore, was accused of sexual misconduct involving girls as young as 14 when he was in his 30s. The men and women in the U.S. Senate, that would be Roys Senate colleagues on the Republican side, have largely stuck with a line that goes like this: If these allegations are true, then I think he should step aside,' said, staring directly into the camera. Heres a less polite decision for them: Republicans need to decide if its worse to have a Democrat in the Senate, or a pedophile. More recently, she lashed out at House Speaker Paul Ryan, who called Trumps profanity-laced comments about Haiti and African nations very unfortunate and unhelpful and spoke highly of great friends from Africa who are incredible citizens. Oh, my God, did you say that? Wallace said after showing the clip to her roundtable. An ice storm is unfortunate and we have friends from Africa? Thats like 20, 40 years ago when people would say, I have a friend thats a lesbian.' She went on to say of Ryan: Hes like the incredible shrinking man. Its like his spine has been removed and hes trying to diminish himself as a moral human being, as a leader, by the hour, by the day. And then there is Trump, whom Wallaces parents voted for, and who holds the office once occupied by one boss and unsuccessfully sought by another. Trump posted tweets in June attacking Brzezinskis appearance at a social event at Mar-a-Lago, saying that she had approached him and was bleeding badly from a face-lift. Wallace responded by calling out women in high posts at the White House for remaining silent and warned that the party will be permanently associated with misogyny if leaders dont stand up and demand a retraction. I was shaking, Brzezinski said when she heard Wallaces soliloquy. And, really, the tweets didnt bother me until I watched Nicolle, and then I was like, You know what? Yes.' This month, reacting to profane comments by Trump, Wallace, without hesitation, nearly screamed, This is so abnormal! This is a freak show! For the foreseeable future, it will be Wallaces freak show to oversee. This White House, she said, is the most extraordinary political story of my lifetime. Following the lead of Fernand Point, the spiritual father of nouvelle cuisine and a mentor to many of its pioneers, Bocuse shaped a style of cooking at the Auberge du Pont de Collonges, his three-star restaurant near Lyon, that stressed fresh ingredients, lighter sauces, unusual flavor combinations and relentless innovation that, in his case, rested on a solid mastery of classic technique. His signature dishes not only pleased the palate; they also seduced the eye and piqued the imagination. He stuffed sea bass with lobster mousse and encased it in pastry scales and fins. He poached a truffled Bresse chicken inside a pigs bladder. His most famous dish was truffle soup VGE, a heady mixture of truffles and foie gras in chicken broth, baked in a single-serving bowl covered in puff pastry. First served at a dinner at the Elysee Palace in 1975, the soup was named for French President Valery Giscard dEstaing, who had just awarded Bocuse the French Legion of Honor. Bocuse, a tireless self-promoter, was a constant presence in the news media and on television. Youve got to beat the drum in life, he told People magazine in 1976. God is already famous, but that doesnt stop the preacher from ringing the church bells every morning. He parlayed celebrity into a restaurant empire that extended beyond France to embrace the United States and Japan, and in so doing he became a role model for the chef-entrepreneurs of the present day, like Jacques Pepin. Certainly he did more than any other chef in the world that I can think of to bring the chefs in the dining room and to make the profession respectable and to make us who we are now, Pepin said in 2011, when Bocuse was named chef of the century by the Culinary Institute of America. Now the chefs are stars and its because of Paul Bocuse. We are indebted to him for them. Paul Bocuse was born on Feb. 11, 1926, in Collonges-au-Mont-dOr, where his forebears had been cooking and serving food for seven generations. At the age of 8, he made his first serious dish, veal kidneys with pureed potatoes, and as a teenager he began an apprenticeship at a local restaurant. The training was interrupted by World War II, however, when he was assigned to a Vichy government youth camp and put to work in its canteen and slaughterhouse. In 1944, he joined the 1st Free French Division and was wounded in combat in Alsace. He received the Croix de Guerre. After the war, he resumed his apprenticeship at the restaurant, La Mere Brazier in Le Col de la Luere, outside Lyon. Like its twin in Lyon, it was owned by the legendary Eugenie Brazier and had achieved three Michelin stars by serving impeccable renditions of regional classics. After a brief stint at the three-star Lucas Carton in Paris, where he worked alongside brothers Pierre and Jean Troisgros, Bocuse spent eight years under Point at La Pyramide in Vienne, near Lyon. Back then a lot of restaurants were doing the same kind of old-fashioned Escoffier-style cooking, with lots of sauces hiding the ingredients, and the same dishes night after night, Bocuse told The New York Times in 2007. Point was a perfectionist who gave value and credibility to the finest ingredients. In 1956, Bocuse returned to the family restaurant, the Auberge du Pont de Collonges, which earned its first Michelin star two years later. Despite the paper tablecloths and stainless-steel cutlery, a second star was awarded in 1960. In 1966, a year after the restaurant earned its third star, Bocuse bought back the old family restaurant that his grandfather, in straitened circumstances, had sold in 1921 along with the rights to the Bocuse name. He renamed the building, which once belonged to an order of monks, the Abbaye de Collonges and converted it into a banquet hall. He also hoisted a 4-foot neon Paul Bocuse sign atop his restaurant. The groundswell for nouvelle cuisine transformed Bocuse into the international face of French cooking. He appeared on the cover of The New York Times Magazine in 1972. In 1975, resplendent in chef whites and toque, he looked out from the cover of Newsweek under the banner headline Food: The New Wave. An apprenticeship at his restaurant became a rite of passage for ambitious chefs, including Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Daniel Boulud. In time, as a backlash against nouvelle cuisine developed, Bocuse put some distance between himself and the movement. He referred snidely to mini-portions on maxi-plates and at one point dismissed the movement as a joke. It is not true that Paul Bocuse invented Nouvelle Cuisine, he told The Wall Street Journal in 2011. There were a few dishes that were developed lighter, but that is normal in cooking. The term Nouvelle Cuisine as it came to be known was nothing to do with what was on the plate, but what was on the bill. Nouvelle cuisine lost momentum, but Bocuse did not. In the early 1980s, the Walt Disney Co. invited him to create restaurants for the French pavilion at Epcot Center (now Walt Disney World) in Orlando, Florida. With Gaston Lenotre and Roger Verge, he developed Les Chefs de France restaurant, which is now operated by his son, Jerome, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. It serves 2,000 meals a day and generates about $30 million a year. When the organizers of Eurexpo, a culinary trade fair in Lyon, approached Bocuse for ideas on how to promote the event, he proposed a cooking contest in which chefs would prepare two elaborate dishes, one fish and one meat, before a live audience and then submit them to a panel of expert judges for scoring. The Bocuse dOr, held every two years, made its debut in 1987 and is now regarded as the culinary equivalent of the Olympics, attracting teams from all over the world. In addition to his restaurant in Collonges-au-Mont-dOr, Bocuse operated brasseries in France, Switzerland and Japan, and a culinary school at Ecully, near Lyon. His cookbooks include Paul Bocuses French Cooking (1977), Paul Bocuse in Your Kitchen: An Introduction to Classic French Cooking (1982), Bocuse a la Carte (1989) and Paul Bocuse: The Complete Recipes (2011). For many years, Bocuse resisted writing the story of his life, but he eventually worked with Eve-Marie Zizza-Lalu to produce an as-told-to memoir, Paul Bocuse: The Sacred Fire, published in 2005. Even in France, eyebrows lifted a little when Bocuse revealed that for more than 30 years, he had enjoyed the company of not only his wife, Raymonde, the mother of his daughter, Francoise Bernachon, but also of two mistresses, one of them the mother of Jerome. His wife survives him, as do his two children. It would not be everyones idea of married life, but everyone gets on, he told The Daily Telegraph of London at the time. They are all happy, with me and each other, and if I add up the time we have spent together as couples, it comes to 145 years. Despite his international status, Bocuse remained a chef deeply rooted in his native soil. He loved the traditional dishes of Lyon. He slept in the same bedroom where he had been born. When the time comes, I too will end up in the oven, he told LExpress in 2005, musing over the multiple meanings of his memoirs title. I want my ashes to be scattered in the Saone, which flows right past my house. It is the river of my life. Zuma's presidency has been engulfed by corruption scandals and a weakening economy, with the party losing public support ahead of next year's general election. Ramaphosa's supporters are keen for him to take over as president and try to revive the economy before the election, when the ANC could lose its grip on power for the first time since the end of apartheid. "The ANC must act decisively and with determination to rebuild the bond of trust between our people and the movement," the party said in a statement after a two-day meeting of its senior members. The statement addressed criticism that South Africa currently has two centres of power -- Zuma still in office as president, while Ramaphosa heads the ruling ANC party. "(Party) officials, led by President Ramaphosa, will continue their engagement with President Jacob Zuma to ensure effective coordination between the ANC and government," it said. Zuma to leave, but when? The News 24 website said the party's executive meeting had decided that Zuma must leave office, but that no exact timeline had been agreed. "We will have a new president in the coming weeks," it quoted one unnamed party member at the meeting as predicting. Zuma's closest allies still hold senior positions in the party, and he could in theory remain president until the 2019 election that marks the end of his second and final term in office. His control over the ANC was shaken when his chosen successor -- his former wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma -- lost out to Ramaphosa in the closely-fought race to be party leader. Zuma, 75, could leave office either by resigning, through losing a motion of no-confidence in parliament or impeachment proceedings. He could also be recalled by the ANC, forcing him to step down. Whoever is president on February 8 will deliver the annual state of the nation address in parliament -- providing one deadline for political manoeuvering. Ramaphosa, 65, is a former trade unionist who led talks to end white-minority rule in the early 1990s and then became a multi-millionaire businessman before returning to politics. To stay at the top of your game in any sport for 22 years is one thing, but to consistently challenge the status quo is another. 2 hours ago A jury of 12 Quebec citizens, after several days of deliberations that came very close to impasse, declined Jan. 19 to accept prosecutors contention that three Montreal, Maine & Atlantic employees were criminally responsible for the July 2013 runaway oil train calamity in the lakeside resort town of Lac-Megantic that claimed 47 lives and destroyed the historic towns downtown core. The jurys not guilty verdict means that no person, corporation or government agency will be held criminally negligent for the tragedy, at least not for the foreseeable future. MM&A locomotive engineer Tom Harding, dispatcher Richard Labrie and operations manager Jean Demaitre of the now-defunct Class II railroad were charged with criminal negligence in 2014 by Quebec police. During trial proceedings, but with jurors excluded from the courtroom, Quebec Superior Court Justice Gaetan Dumas had scolded prosecutors over the substance of their case against the three men, who controlled neither the railways operational and safety policies nor government regulation. Independently, the jurors agreed. The case against engineer Harding was more understandable since he had control of the train before it was parked and left unattended on a steep downhill grade without derailers or other physical protection beyond what was prescribed. Harding was accused of criminal negligence causing death by failing to set an insufficient number of handbrakes before leaving the train, with its lead locomotive running to maintain brake pipe pressure in the consist. The flaring of fire from the locomotives exhaust stack caused local firemen to shut down the diesel engine, resulting in the loss of brake pipe air pressure and the subsequent eight-mile runaway that culminated in a 65-mph derailment and chain reaction explosions at the very center of town. Harding was unaware that the trains cargo of Bakken light crude oil destined for the Irving Oil refinery in New Brunswick had been incorrectly classified by its U.S. shipper but was in fact highly explosive, not just flammable. Nor did he make the rules that allowed one-person operation of a 73-car train of hazardous materials over a railroad the Transportion Safety Board of Canada (TSB, the Canadian equivalent of the NTSB) cited as having a weak safety culture. The jury also appears to have agreed with TSBs opinion that Transport Canada, the Federal Railroad Administrations Canadian counterpart, had failed to provide adequate safety oversight of the railroad as well as the hazmat it was transporting. When the TSB released its report in 2013 on the causes of the catastrophe, the boards leadership made it plain that a key culprit was Transport Canada and its lax regulatory oversight of the MM&A: This was a company with a weak safety culture, a company where people did what was needed to get the job done, rather than always follow the rules, TSB Chairperson Wendy Tadros said. A company where unsafe conditions and unsafe practices were allowed to continue. Which begs questions: Who, then, was in a position to check on this companyto make sure safety standards were being met? Who was the guardian of public safety? Thats the role of governmentto provide checks and balances. Oversight. And yet this booming industrywhere unit trains were shipping more and more oil across Canada, and across the borderran largely un-checked. Yes, Transport Canada knew about some of the problems at MM&A, but the follow-up wasnt always there. If the guard dog doesnt do its job, then indeed it is to blame, said TSB Chief Operating Officer Jean Laporte when asked to say directly whether Transport Canada held major responsibility for the disaster. Courtroom spectator Jean Clusiault, who lost his daughter Kathy in the explosion, praised the verdict, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Clusiault even hugged the acquitted Labrie. I felt relieved because these are not the right people who should be there, he said. These are human beings with families who worked hard all their lives. We treated them like killers. Railway Age Contributing Editor Jim Blaze, who closely followed the case for his lecture documentation of railway accidents, and uses such case histories to teach some of his students, comments: The tragedy began after Harding had parked the train in the village of Nantes and then left as off duty for the night. That was part of company train operations practice. That practice pattern and corporate culture was noted by the defense in its presentations to the jury, which must have paid attention. After the engineer left the train, a fire broke out in the locomotive [that had been left running to maintain air in the trains brake pipe]. Firefighters arrived and then extinguished the flamesbut then turned off the locomotives diesel engine. That action cut off part of the trains air brake system, something that the now-away-from-the-scene engineer did not know. About an hour later, the train lost its remaining effective brake holding capability, and it began a long downhill roll into the center of Lac-Megantic. There, the train loaded with crude oil derailed and for a variety of complex and unexpected reasons the leaking tank cars erupted into a huge blaze. Harding admitted that he had that night only applied seven handbrakes on the parked train and did not fully test them before leaving the train. The prosecution argued more handbrakes would have stopped the train from moving. The defense argued that Harding was following what management trained him to do, and that this was a common practice at this location. When he learned of the disaster, Harding went to the town to help emergency responders detach the remaining tank cars from the train to prevent further explosions. Criminal intent? The jury concluded that was not the circumstance. Who does bear much of the responsibility, if not the three men on trial? The jury did not decide that. Left open is the conclusion from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which identified 18 related causes, among them a poor corporate training and management safety culture. The jury never read or heard about this report. The three men on trial? They were not the root cause. Were they the easiest of targets to blame? Maybe. Maybe not. Someone needs to dissect what the 12 Canadian jurists discovered over those nine days. Who is going to do that? Justice took a really long time to find, at a cost to the families of those accused. And the decision by a jury of peers brought no resolution to the families of the dead. Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono contributed to this story. The U.S. House voted Friday to pass a measure protecting babies born alive in a botched abortion, and punishing those performing the abortions. It next faces the U.S. Senate. After the Democrat-controlled Illinois House and Senate refused to pass any measures banning the practice, it took President George W. Bush and a pro-life Congress to move at the federal level. The Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002 ("BAIPA" Pub.L. 107207, 116 Stat. 926, enacted August 5, 2002, 1 U.S.C. 8) extended legal protection to an infant born alive after a failed attempt at induced abortion, but had no legal teeth to enforce the law or protect the innocent victims. CHICAGO - Babies born alive after an abortion and then purposely allowed to die made headlines in 1999 when nurse Jill Stanek discovered the practice going on a Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois. The prolife movement was assured Friday during their annual March for Life that President Trump would sign the measure into law. He addressed the crowd via live video. U.S. Representative Mike Bost (IL-12) voted with a majority of his colleagues in favor of the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (H.R. 4712). The bill, which Rep. Bost and six other Illinois congressional delegates cosponsored, ensures medical care and legal protection for babies who survive an abortion, while protecting their mothers from prosecution. As a father and grandfather, I value the preciousness of human life, said Rep. Bost. It is my sincere belief that America is only as strong as our willingness to protect the weakest and most vulnerable among us. We should all be able to agree if child is born, human dignity requires that we protect his or her life. This commonsense bill ensures that a baby who survives an abortion procedure receives the same treatment that would be given to any other child born prematurely at the same state of development. H.R. 4712 was co-sponsored by Republican U.S. Reps Bost, Peter Roskam, Adam Kinzinger, Rodney Davis, John Shimkus, and Randy Hultgren. One Democrat - Dan Lipinski - signed on as a co-sponsor, as well. The Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act will need to pass the U.S. Senate next. The legislation: , We're sorry, this article is not currently available Chrissy Teigen is offering up $100,000 in support of Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney. ADVERTISEMENT The 32-year-old model said in a tweet Tuesday that she'd be "honored" to handle a $100,000 penalty if Maroney, 22, chose to break a non-disclosure agreement and speak at former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar's sentencing. "The entire principle of this should be fought - an NDA to stay quiet about this serial monster with over 140 accusers, but I would be absolutely honored to pay this fine for you, McKayla," she wrote. "Parks and Recreation" creator Mike Schur and actress Kristen Bell also offered to help pay the fine. "I'll split it with you," Schur tweeted before Bell chimed in, "I'll 1/3 with you guys." Maroney, who publicly accused Nassar of sexual abuse in October, had signed a non-disclosure agreement as part of a $1.25 million settlement in 2016. She thanked Teigen for her "generosity" in a statement through her attorney Tuesday. "I'm not on social media right now, but I wish I was for this! I'm shocked by your generosity, and I just want you to know how much hope your words bring to all of us!" the retired gymnast said, according to Us Weekly. FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! "Thank you Chrissy, you're so inspiring, and things are starting to change because of people like you! Just saying that was worth the decision to speak up regardless of a fine," she added. Nassar, who is accused of molesting over 140 former patients, pleaded guilty in November to sexually assaulting 10 girls under the guise of medical treatment. His sentencing began Tuesday and is expected to run until Friday. ABC News reported Wednesday that USA Gymnastics revoked the fine for Maroney after Teigen offered to pay. The organization said it "encourages McKayla and anyone who has been abused to speak out." Budget forces last minute change in finance minister's plans. Archis Mohan and Arup Roy Choudhury report. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra D Modi has been meeting CEOs since his appointment in May 2014. Here he is, flanked by Jeff Bezos of Amazon, John Chambers of Cisco, Tim Cook of Apple and Sunder Pichai of Google in Washington, DC, June 25, 2017. Photograph: Press Information Bureau Prime Minister Narendra D Modi is scheduled to meet over 100 of the world's top business leaders during his visit to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum's annual meeting. The PM is slated to be in Davos on Monday, January 22, and Tuesday, January 23, and will be the keynote speaker at the WEF's inaugural plenary session. The highlight of Modi's visit -- apart from his speech at the plenary session -- will be a dinner he is hosting for top global CEOs. 60 CEOs have confirmed their attendance, including 20 from India, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said. The other 40 confirmed invitees, Abhishek added, represent 18 different countries. These 60 companies, across 26 different sectors, cumulatively have a turnover of $3.3 trillion, thhe DIPP secretary pointed out. 12 of these companies provide jobs to 4 million people around the world, including 1 million jobs in India. 12 of these companies, Abhishek added, have been operating in India for over a century. Airbus CEO Tom Enders, Hitachi Chairman Hiroaki Nakanishi, WEF Founder Klaus Schwab, IBM's Ginni Rometty, The Carlyle Group's David Rubenstein and the BAE Systems chief, among others, have confirmed that they will attend the dinner with Modi on January 22, Abhishek said. Modi is also scheduled to meet the WEF's 120-member International Business Council. The two interactions, with 60 and 120 business leaders, Abhishek said, will give Modi an opportunity to showcase the changes he has brought about in India in the last three years and articulate his vision. The PM will have a separate interaction with Indian CEOs attending the WEF. The Indian delegation will showcase the jump in India's rankings in ease of doing business and various other reforms at the main venue in front of 1,500 delegates. Indian cuisine will be showcased, as also its soft power with two yoga teachers being flown to Davos. IMAGE: Modi will address the World Economic Forum in Davos a year after Chinese President Xi Jinping became the first Chinese leader to address the WEF. The last Indian prime minister to address the WEF in Davos was H D Deve Gowda a couple of months before he resigned. Photograph: Ruben Sprich/Reuters Apart from Modi, five Union ministers will attend several sessions. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was scheduled to be one of the key speakers at the India-specific sessions at Davos, but he will now not travel to the Swiss town. A finance ministry source said the change in plan was because the FM was needed in New Delhi to devote time to the Budget. Jaitley was earlier scheduled to be in Davos on January 24 to take part in the key 'country strategy dialogue on India'. Sources confirmed the change in the FM's itinerary barely 24 hours after the ministry of external affairs held a press conference on Friday to announce that Jaitley would travel to Davos. Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu and Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will now address the 'country strategy dialogue on India' session. Prabhu will attend nine sessions across three days while Pradhan will attend five sessions. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal will attend 10 sessions, Minister of State in the PMO Dr Jitendra Singh three sessions and Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar will be part of two sessions. The large number of sessions being addressed by ministers, Abhishek said, reflected the importance the WEF has accorded India this year. The Indian delegation will organise discussions on financial inclusion, promoting digital payments, clean energy, modernisation of the Indian Railways and skill development, which will be attended by the ministers. Officials ruled out any meeting between Modi and US President Donald J Trump, who is scheduled to address the closing session at Davos this year. Modi will have returned to India by the time Trump arrives in Davos. DIPP Secretary Abhishek and Secretary (Economic Relations) Vijay Gokhale -- India's foreign secretary-designate -- said Modi's message to global CEOs will be India's increasing GDP, reforms implemented in the last three years and the opportunities India offers global business. New Delhi, Gokhale said, had a lot to say to the international community, particularly the fact that certain economies are increasingly contributing more and more to the world economy -- one is China and the other being India. 'If you consider only demonetisation and GST as my government's work, it will be a big injustice to me.' Archis Mohan and Indivjal Dhasmana report. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra D Modi believes India remaining in perennial election mode not only affects governance, but also hurts the nation's federal structure. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters Countering the allegation that his government had reneged on the promise of creating 10 million jobs a year, Prime Minister Narendra D Modi quoted a recent study showing seven million jobs had been created in the formal sector alone in the current financial year. "This data of seven million jobs is not like building castles in the air. It has been calculated by an independent agency on the basis of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation figures," Modi said in a television interview, a couple of days before leaving for Davos to address the World Economic Forum. One should also count the opportunities that were being created in the informal sector, he added. "As many as 100 million people have taken loans from the Prime Minister Mudra Yojana without any bank guarantee. Loans to the tune of Rs 4 trillion have been disbursed. New entrepreneurs are being created. Won't you count these figures as job creation?" he asked. "One can counter these figures on political lines, but these numbers are not based on just wishful thinking," he said. "We are on the right track so far as job creation is concerned." According to a study authored by SBI Group Chief Economic Advisor Soumya Kanti Ghosh and IIM Bangalore Professor Pulak Ghosh, 590,000 jobs had been generated every month until November in the current financial year. This means that seven million jobs will be created in the formal sector in 2017-2018 if one expands the trend on a pro-rata basis. The study, Towards a Payroll Reporting in India, calculated the number of jobs in enterprises from the membership of the EPFO, the Employees State Insurance Corporation, the General Provident Fund, and the National Pension System. So far as data from the EPFO is concerned, the study estimated that 3.68 million jobs were generated till November of FY18, which would imply 5.5 million in the entire year. This would be higher than the 4.5 million created the previous financial year, a period which saw disruption from demonetisation. Asked what kind of Budget -- the last full one of his government -- it will be, the prime minister said the mantra of his government was development. "Whether this is the last Budget or the first Budget, whether there are elections or not, the mantra of Modi is only development, development and development." "The mantra of the Bharatiya Janata Party is only development." The PM spoke at length about the need for simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls. He said there was a need for increased debate on the issue. "This cannot be the agenda of one political party or individual. It isn't Modi's or the BJP's agenda only. There is a need for discussion on this," he said. Modi felt the country remaining in perennial election mode not only affected governance, but also hurt the federal structure of the country. Talking about how elections lead to war of words between political rivals, Modi likened elections to the festival of Holi. Holi, he said, was celebrated on a particular day where it was acceptable to throw colours or mud on people. "Similarly, the Lok Sabha and assembly elections should take place at a fixed time, for example in the second week of February." Modi said expenditure on the 2009 Lok Sabha elections was Rs 11.1 billion, which increased to Rs 40 billion in 2014. He also highlighted the enormous manpower that was deployed to conduct elections, and how it interfered in governance. On agriculture, he said his government had an ambitious programme to double the farmers' income by 2022 through the prime minister's crop insurance scheme, value addition of farm produce, irrigation programme etc. On the criticism related to demonetisation and the goods and services tax, Modi said his government's achievements were much beyond these two reforms. "If you consider only these two things as my government's work," he said, "it will be a big injustice to me." Income tax department sends out notices to cryptocurrency investors on suspicion of tax evasion. Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com The income tax department has sent notices to thousands of cryptocurrency investors across the country, seeking additional details on the money invested in the virtual currency during the governments demonetisation exercise. Among 28 questions in total, the income tax department has sought details on investment or sales of bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies in India and abroad during 8 November-31 December 2016, said a notice to cryptocurrency investors on December 20. A cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin, is a virtual currency created and stored electronically using the blockchain technology. We have issued notices to cryptocurrency investors in cases where their investment in not in line with the income declared in their returns, a Central Board of Direct Taxes spokesperson confirmed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced demonetising old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 on November 8, 2016, in an attempt to curb black money in the economy. The Union government had asked people to deposit old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in banks till December 30, 2016. The income tax department sent the notices to investors a week after it conducted survey operations at major cryptocurrency exchanges across the country on suspicion of alleged tax evasion. During this process, the department sought details of cryptocurrency investors from all exchanges, sources said. The income tax department has asked for bank statements of investors and their family members for 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18, along with the computation of loss or gain arising out of investment in cryptocurrency during these financial years. The department has also inquired whether the users have brought or sold cryptocurrency from websites registered outside the country and if they have paid any advance taxes against the gains arising out of the investments. Please furnish details of all transactions in bitcoins and cryptocurrencies from the date you started dealing with them, the notice said. It further asked if the users had shown the gains made out of sale of cryptocurrencies as income in annual income tax returns filed for the present fiscal year and the two preceding years. The finance ministry had last month cautioned investors against trading in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, and likened such investments to Ponzi schemes. The VCs [virtual currencies] do not have any intrinsic value and are not backed by any kind of assets. The price of bitcoin and other VCs, therefore, is entirely a matter of mere speculation resulting in spurt and volatility in their prices Consumers need to be alert and extremely cautious as to avoid getting trapped in such Ponzi schemes, the finance ministry had said in a statement on December 29. The income tax departments survey on cryptocurrency exchanges was aimed at gathering evidence for establishing the identity of investors and traders, transactions undertaken by them, identity of counterparties, related bank accounts used, among others". The Reserve Bank of India has issued three warnings against investing in cryptocurrencies -- in December 2013, February 2017, and earlier this month. The department of economic affairs in the finance ministry had also constituted an inter-disciplinary committee to examine the existing global regulatory and legal structures governing bitcoin and other such virtual currencies. The government is examining the committees report. 'Some BJP old timers have remarked that the BJP is now driven by its own high command, the way the Congress was under Mrs Gandhi, says Subir Roy. Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com There are remarkable parallels between the evolution of the careers of Indira Gandhi and Narendra Modi. While the two careers are naturally not identical, the similarities are too powerful to ignore. Mrs Gandhi consolidated her position at the top by splitting the Congress party and thereby ousting the old guard who made up the 'Syndicate' and expected her to be a puppet in their hands. Mr Modi has not done anything as dramatic, but put the old guard in the BJP permanently on the shelf, much to their chagrin. On becoming prime minister and seeking to consolidate her position as a national leader with grassroots support, Mrs Gandhi launched the historic Garibi Hatao programme which endeared her to India's poor. Mr Modi won his remarkable 2014 victory by making vikas (development) the primary plank of his election campaign. This made his appeal truly broad-based, causing the young and the aspiring to vote across traditional caste and even religious lines. Mrs Gandhi did not just offer hope to India's poor, she also tapped into their resentment against the rich through the abolition of princely privy purses. The princes, a relic of the past, even lost the right to officially call themselves so. Mr Modi similarly cashed in on the resentment among the poor towards the rich through demonetisation. Why the decision was actually undertaken is not known, beyond the official reason of starting a war on black money. But it created a tremendous feeling among the poor of 'serves them right' towards the rich who are seen as having amassed wealth at the cost of the rest and not paid taxes. I have come across huge anecdotal evidence among people like maidservants and drivers whose attitude has been: 'We are willing to bear the suffering if only because it will take away the ill-gotten wealth of the rich.' Or so they thought. What Mrs Gandhi did to the Congress party and what Mr Modi is doing to the BJP also have a lot in common. She destroyed party leadership down the line and made the party structure entirely subservient to her. State leaders who survived did so only no her say so. Demonetisation hit hard an important support base of the BJP, the trading community. From small to large businessmen who were not corporatised and did a lot of their business in cash -- from gold to diamond trading -- all felt let down. Then in the run-up to the UP assembly elections, there was a large exodus of sectional leaders with their entourages from the Congress, Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party into the BJP. Not only did many of them get tickets for the polls, among those who won, several have been made ministers. What this has done to the morale of the local BJP leaders who have been left out in the cold can be imagined. The last straw is the way in which the UP chief minister was chosen. Some BJP old timers have remarked, naturally off the record, that the BJP is now driven by its own 'high command,' the way the Congress was under Mrs Gandhi. The last and in some ways vital is the way in which Mrs Gandhi dealt with the higher judiciary. In getting the Supreme Court to see her way she packed it with 'committed' judges. For Mr Modi it is still early days, but the then appointment of Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar and subsequent decisions by the Supreme Court are pointers. Justice Khehar handed down two decisions which go part of the way in making life easier for Mr Modi's government. One, the long delayed memorandum of procedure for the appointment of senior judges was cleared with the court agreeing to consider the issue of national security. Two, the court rejected the Congress petition challenging the Goa governor's decision to ask the BJP, not the Congress, the single largest party, to form the government. Fali Nariman told The Indian Express in forthright terms that his 'understanding of the law and the precedents (benches of nine and five judges, respectively) is that the governor of a state is under Constitutional duty to first invite the leader of the single-largest party to form the government.' Just before Chief Justice Khehar's appointment, advocate Prashant Bhushan asked him to recuse himself from hearing the Birla-Sahara payoff case involving allegations of Mr Modi receiving payoffs while he was Gujarat chief minister. Mr Bhushan said Justice Khehar should withdraw as his file for elevation was pending before the prime minister. Justice Khehar termed Mr Bhushan's position 'unfair' and 'unreasonable.' Since there is nothing conclusive to go by, the jury is still out on whether Mr Modi is on his way to getting the higher judiciary to fall in line with him. The biggest difference between Mrs Gandhi and Mr Modi is, of course, on the issue of secularism. Mrs Gandhi of Emergency fame had dictatorial tendencies, but stood by secularism. Mr Modi has been different. Allegedly by first playing the communal card and allowing the 2002 Gujarat riots to happen, and then putting the Vishva Hindu Parishad and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in their place in the state, Mr Modi has indicated that he can both play the communal card and set it aside when it suits him. We had the Hindu consolidation in the UP elections and Yogi Adityanath's choice as chief minister. If the first was very much Mr Modi's idea, was his hand forced on the second? 'No country has a richer history than India. We cannot let someone twist our history.' IMAGE: Protests against the release of Padmaavat. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters The raging controversy over Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film Padmaavat, set for release on January 25, refuses to die down. After the Supreme Court on Thursday, January 18, paved the way for the film's nationwide release by lifting the ban on its screening in Gujarat and Rajasthan, the Rajput Karni Sena has called for a 'janata curfew' on January 25. Around 1,700 women have threatened to perform jauhar (self-immolation) on January 25, coinciding with the release. "Rani Padmini had chosen women from 36 different castes and communities to perform jauhar," Rani Mahendra Kanwar of Bassi, Chittorgarh, vice-president, Johar Smriti Sansthan, which is among the organisations leading the protests against Padmaavat, tells Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf. The CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) has approved the release of Padmaavat. The Supreme Court has permitted its release. Why are you still opposing the film? The movie projects history incorrectly; we cannot tolerate it. It is not only the Rajputs that are opposing this movie, every community is doing so too. Rani Padmini had chosen women from 36 different castes and communities to perform jauhar. So, it is not the Rajputs alone who are protesting, but everyone is. Even the Muslims are opposed to the movie. Those who have seen the film say it is actually pro-Rajput. They (the producers) have shown this movie to those who have no knowledge of history. They (the producers) are projecting history incorrectly, which can't be tolerated. A school of historians believe that Rani Padmini never existed. That is not true. You read history and you will find Rani Padmini existed. The villages, palaces, even the place where the jauhar took place, exist even today, which is enough proof of her existence. If Rani Padmini didn't exist, why did Alauddin Khilji attack Chittorgarh? He did it because he wanted Rani Padmini in his harem. I agree that the story of the mirror is wrong as that kind of mirror did not arrive in India till then. It was only later that these mirrors came from Belgium. Another historical fact is that Rani Padmini's husband was taken prisoner through cheating by Alauddin Khilji. It was then Rani Padmini went to rescue him. How can these historians say Rani Padmini did not exist? X According to Malik Muhammad Jaysi's poem Padmaavat -- on which Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film is based -- a glimpse of Rani Padmini is shown to Alauddin Khilji via a mirror at Chittorgarh fort. It is agreed that he would return to Delhi after seeing that image of the queen. But Khilji reneges on his assurance, according to the poem, and instead captures Raja Ratan Singh, Rani Padmini's husband. IMAGE: Rani Mahendra Kanwar of Bassi, Chittorgarh, says 1,700 women have signed forms vowing they will commit jauhar if the movie is released. The film very clearly states it is based on Malik Muhmammad Jasyi's poem, which is fictional. We made a team, which included the Maharana of Mewar (Arvind Singhji). We call him Maharana because for us he is still the Maharana. He told the makers of the movie that either he or his son must be allowed to watch the movie before its release. This permission was not granted by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. I want to know why. If he had a clean heart, he would have shown the movie to the Maharana whose ancestor was Rani Padmini. The Supreme Court has okayed its release. The Supreme Court of India has given its order in just one day. There are thousands of files in the Supreme Court, but this decision to release the movie came in one day without any discussion and debate. We feel the decision came too quickly. The court had to take a quick decision as the movie is releasing on January 25. I respect the law and order of the country. I am hurt because they are releasing the movie on January 26 which is our Republic Day. Many foreign dignitaries come on this day to India and I feel very worried about this fact. But what is the value of my words? What is happening in Chittorgarh right now? There are many women who are sitting on dharna protesting against the movie. You say women will perform jauhar if the film is released. Many women have filled forms stating that they will commit jauhar if the film is released. Around 1,700 women have already filled the form. Isn't your organisation going too far by threatening jauhar? But what can we do? How do you control the emotions of people? A country works on law and order, not on emotions. When dealing with history, laws don't matter, emotions matter. No country has a richer history than India. We cannot let someone twist our history. The kind of respect women get in India is unparalleled; no other country respects women as we do. We cannot play with that image. Karni Sena members beat up children in Madhya Pradesh for dancing to the Ghoomar song from the tilm. I oppose that. You cannot beat up children for doing the Ghoomar dance. What is the situation in Chittorgarh now? Right now, we are meeting in Chittorgarh. Women are taking out silent marches against the release of Padmaavat. I believe the mirror put up by the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) has been removed from the Chittorgarh fort. Is that true? Yes, that has been removed now. It was wrong to put up that mirror in the Chittorgarh fort. That mirror has been removed for a month, ever since we protested. Are tourists visiting Chittorgarh? More tourists are coming to Chittorgarh to know about Rani Padmini. They are coming to see where she performed jauhar. Foreigners are taking the mud of Chittorgarh back to their country as they feel she made a huge sacrifice and in her remembrance they are doing this act. Three people, including an army jawan, were killed and six injured in firing by Pakistani troops along the International Border and Line of Control in Jammu division for the third day on Saturday, police said. IMAGE: A villager shows mortar shell marks on a wall after firing from the Pakistani side, at Korotana village near R S Pura Sector about 35 km from Jammu. Photograph: PTI Photo Nine persons have been killed so far in ceasefire violations over three days, police officials said. An army jawan was on Saturday killed after being hit by a bullet during cross-border firing in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district, the officials said. A defence spokesman identified the slain soldier as sepoy Mandeep Singh, 23, a resident of Alampur village of Sangroor in Punjab. He said the Pakistani Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms and automatics form 0820 hours in Krishna Ghati sector, resulting in grievous injuries to Singh who later succumbed. The Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively, the spokesman said. The officials said two civilians, Gaura Ram, 17, of Kapur R S Pura and Gour Singh, 45, of Abdullian, were killed and five others injured in firing by Pakistani rangers along the IB in Jammu district. IMAGE: A villager shows a damaged section of his house after shelling from the Pakistani side on the India-Pakistan international border at Village Suchet Garh of R S Pura Sector. Photograph: PTI Photo A Border Security Force spokesman said cross-border firing was underway in the area from Octroi to Chenab (Akhnoor) in Suchetgarh sector of R S Pura from Saturday morning. He said the firing in R S Pura sector stopped around 1.30 am but resumed again after four hours. He said a BSF jawan in Pargwal sector was injured in the heavy firing and shelling and was later hospitalised. The BSF is retaliating and the exchange of fire between the two sides was underway till the last reports were received. A jawan of the Sashastra Seema Bal was injured in cross border shelling in Jammu, officials said. The jawan, constable Lallu Ram, was evacuated to a nearby hospital and was said to be stable. IMAGE: The heavy firing has forced thousands of border residents to flee their homes and authorities announced closure of educational institutions for three days along the LoC and IB. Photograph: PTI Photo The jawan, who belongs to the 14th battalion of the force, was deployed for rendering law and order duties along with the Jammu and Kashmir Police at the Kanachak police station, when he was hit by splinters of a mortar shell that landed in the area. While a BSF jawan and a teenaged girl were killed on Thursday, four people--two civilians and one BSF jawan and an army jawan -- were killed and over 40 others, including two BSF personnel, injured in the Pakistani firing on Friday. The heavy firing had forced thousands of border residents to flee their homes and authorities announced closure of educational institutions for three days along the LoC and IB. Between 8,000 to 9,000 people living along the IB have migrated to safer places and most of them were living with their relatives, officials said. Over 1,000 people are housed in camps in R S Pura, Samba and Kathua areas, they said. Blood splattered compounds, smashed window panes and demolished roofs are all that are left of houses in border hamlets which have been battered in Pakistani firing and shelling in the last three days. A smell of gunpowder lingers in these villages whose residents are living in increasing fear. Nine people, including 5 civilians, have been killed and 47 injured in ceasefire violations over last three days. We were living in the shadow of death. Mortar bombs were raining on our houses and we thought we would die any moment but the police brought us out from the Sai Khurd village in Arnia, Ratno Devi said. In Sai Khurd, several houses were damaged and some animals killed in shelling, Devi said, adding that a woman, was killed while her husband and son were injured in the village. Ratno Devi, who along with six family members left home and took shelter in the house of her relatives in the outskirts of Arnia belt, said, The government should stop firing from Pakistan. The firing and shelling were so heavy that 82 mm mortar shells landed much beyond Arnia town, which is 5 kilometre away from the International Border in Jammu district. Farmlands have craters due to mortar bombs and have turned into live minefields. In Jhora farm in RS Pura, 150 khullas or mud houses of Gujjars were burned down in the shelling. Several bovines were killed and injured due to mortar bombs and bullets in these villages. Police vehicles have been pressed into service and people living in border hamlets evacuated. The border hamlets have virtually turned into war zones. Pakistan is targeting civilian areas intensely. There has been huge damage to houses and a loss of cattle, Sub Divisional Police Officer R S Pura, Surinder Choudhary, said. Chanchalo Devi said the firing and shelling by Pakistan was haunting them. Only three months back, Pakistan caused huge damage and again we are facing death. How long will we keep living in fear. The government should give us safe alternatives, she said. Chanchalo Devi said she and her husband had woken by the sounds of mortar shells in Arnias ward number 13 and they immediately tried to shift to a neighbours house as their own house is made of mud. When we were about to cross the lane to move to our neighbours house when a shell burst and injured both of us and our neighbour Darshan Lal, she said in a hospital. Desh Raj of Vidhipur said his family lived in a room without food and water until they left home to escape the shelling and firing. Arnia town, which was once considered to be safe from Pakistani firing and shelling, was also hit by several mortar bombs. Several of the houses in Korotana, Sai Khurd, Mahasha Kote, Pindi, Suchetgarh, Jhora farm, village were hit by bullets and splinters of mortar shells which tore through the roofs and walls of houses. The villagers claimed the government had failed to construct bunkers despite the tall claims made by it for several years. The border people would not have died or been injured had the government constructed bunkers or given us plot at a safe place as per a promise made several years ago. They have not fulfilled the promise, Sudershan Singh of Arnia said. On Saturday, three people, including an army jawan, were killed and six injured in firing by Pakistani troops along the International Border and Line of Control in Jammu division. On Friday, a 17-year-old girl and a BSF jawan were killed while six people, including five civilians, injured in ceasefire violation in three sectors of Jammu and Samba districts. The Pakistani troops targeted around 45 border outposts and around 50 village in five sectors of R S Pura, Arnia, Ramgarh, Samba and Hirnagar along a 40-km stretch along the IB. SDPO Surinder Choudhary, who led a police team for rescuing and shifting those injured to a hospital, said, We have also evacuated border villagers to safer places. Pakistan cannot be trusted. Image: A police personnel inspects a temporary shed of a nomadic Gujjar, damaged in the cross-border shelling by Pakistan at Jora Farm village in Jammu. Photograph: PTI Photo Donald Trump blamed the Democrats after the bill, which would have provided short-term funding for the Pentagon and other federal agencies, did not receive the required 60 votes. IMAGE: The shutdown is the first time in five years and comes exactly a year after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Photograph: Yuri Gripas/Reuters The United States government officially shutdown on Saturday for the first time in five years after the Senate rejected a short-term spending bill to keep the federal government running, marking a chaotic end to Donald Trumps first year as president. The shutdown began at 12:01 am (local time) after a few Republicans joined Democrats in blocking the crucial measure which would have provided short-term funding for the Pentagon and other federal agencies. Trump blamed the Democrats for the shutdown which comes exactly a year after he was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Dems want a shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the tax cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy, he said. Despite last minute bipartisan meetings, the bill to fund the government until February 16 did not receive the required 60 votes. The Senate voted 50-48 to block the stopgap funding measure. The short-term spending bill was passed by the House on Thursday. This is part of the Democrats strategy to force US President Trump and the Republicans to negotiate with them on illegal immigrants who are facing deportation. IMAGE: The Ohio Clock shows midnight to begin Government shutdown outside the Senate chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The effect of the shutdown would be felt most from Monday when the federal government employees would not be able to join for their work and be forced to stay at home without pay. Photograph: Yuri Gripas/Reuters The effect of the shutdown would be felt most from Monday when the federal government employees would not be able to join for their work and be forced to stay at home without pay. It is estimated that more than 800,000 federal employees would be furloughed. Only the essential services would be open. The last time that a government shutdown happened was in 2013. Earlier in the day, the Office of Management of Budget said it was preparing for what were calling the Schumer Shutdown. The Director of Office of Management of Budget Mick Mulvaney told reporters that efforts were being made to have the government shutdown less impactful than it was in 2013. Were going to manage the shutdown differently. We are not going to weaponise it. Were not going to try and hurt people, especially people having to work for this federal government. But we still need Congress to appropriate the funds, he said. IMAGE: It is estimated that more than 800,000 federal employees would be furloughed. The last government shutdown lasted for 16 days in October 2013. The previous shutdown before that was for 21 days that ended on January 6, 1996. Photograph: Yuri Gripas/Reuters Military will still go to work, the border will still be patrolled, fire folks will still be fighting the fires and the parks will be open. But in each of these cases people will not be paid, Mulvaney said. Fanny and Freddy will be open, the post office will be open, the Transportation Security Administration will be open, but again all of these people will be working for nothing, which is simply not fair, he said. US Postal Services would be working. The last government shutdown lasted for 16 days in October 2013. The previous shutdown before that was for 21 days that ended on January 6, 1996. However, this is for the first time in recent history that a shutdown has taken place when both the House and the Senate as well as the White House is controlled by the same party. This is completely unfair and uncompassionate for my Democratic colleagues to filibuster government funding, harm our troops, and jeopardise health coverage for nine million children because extreme elements of their base want illegal immigration to crowd out every other priority, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. He argued that immigration reform needed to be handled separately from the spending bill. IMAGE: A staff member carries pizzas to a lunch time meeting of the Democratic caucus. Congress wrestled with the passage of a continuing resolution to fund the federal government. Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty Images Trump has cancelled his scheduled weekend trip to Mar-a-Lago in Florida. However, he would continue with his trip to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum meeting next week. Democrats cant shut down the booming Trump economy. Are they now so desperate theyll shut down the government instead? said White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and described it as a Schumer shutdown. Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer is the Senate Minority Leader. Senate Democrats own the Schumer Shutdown. Tonight, they put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our countrys ability to serve all Americans, Sanders said. We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands. This is the behaviour of obstructionist losers, not legislators, Sanders said in a statement. When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform. During this politically manufactured Schumer Shutdown, the President and his Administration will fight for and protect the American people, the White House said. Earlier, Trump held a last-minute meeting with Schumer to avert a government shutdown. We had a long and detailed meeting. We discussed all of the major outstanding issues, we made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements. The discussions will continue, Schumer said soon after his meeting with Trump. 'It would be interesting to see how Yogi Adityanath is received in Tamil Nadu, where he is due to end his Ram Rajya Rath Yatra in Rameswaram on March 23,' says Aditi Phadnis. IMAGE: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP Kerala President Kummanam Rajasekharan to his right, and other party leaders at a rally in Kannur, Kerala, October 5, 2017. Photograph: PTI Photo Rajinikanth, actor and now politician, launched his political party on January 1. It is now more than 20 days old. So far, he has created a Web site and mobile app for registered and unregistered fan clubs. These are thought to be his core supporters. His slogan? 'Do good, speak and only good will happen.' Right. He has also shared the stage with Kamal Haasan (in Malaysia for a event for actors called Nadigar Sangam) unleashing a frenzy of speculation among fans about their future plans together and separately (Kamal Haasan had also expressed strong views about politics and is considered close to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, especially its leader M Karunanidhi). So Tamil Nadu politics is on a roll. Rajini has spoken in race and nationality-neutral terms. He wants his party to work towards ending corruption; and good governance. In a state where politics is dominated by pushback to Hindi-Hindu-Hindustan, the future course of politics in Tamil Nadu promises to be exciting. Here's why. Politics in Tamil Nadu has been cerebral -- possibly more so than many other states in India. It has taken a sharp, strong position on issues like language, culture, caste and identity. True, governments have not always put their money where their mouth is: M G Ramachandran's political devotion to the subaltern classes as seen in his films did not extend to the budgets his government presented -- direct taxes such as land tax, agricultural income tax and urban land tax fell progressively whereas indirect taxes kept going up during his 11-year rule, including on alcohol, especially arrack and toddy consumed mostly by the poor. This is a point made eloquently by M S S Pandian, the author of brilliant studies on MGR. But the discourse has been about the lives of subalterns. Similarly, weighing in on his background and knowledge of the language, Karunanidhi has built upon and contributed to the richness of the debate around the Tamil nationality. Being Dravidian doesn't mean you are less Indian. But if you can speak Tamil, you are a different kind of Indian. In October last year, the Bharatiya Janata Party's state unit demanded that dialogues in a Tamil film Mersal that criticised demonetisation and GST be censored. H Raja, the national secretary of the party, pointed to the hero, Vijay's Christian faith, attracting heavy pushback on social media. 'Vijay is a practising Christian. He should have said (in the film) 'build hospitals before churches'. But he says 'build hospitals before temples'. It is an attempt to provoke Hindus,' Raja alleged. He also posted the actor's voter ID on Twitter with his full name Joseph Vijay and captioned it 'Truth is Bitter'. The film has a scene where Vijay says Singapore has a GST of 7 per cent and yet provides free medical services, whereas in India you pay 12 per cent GST for medicine, while there's no GST on alcohol. Later in that scene, Vijay also talks about the death of children in a hospital in Gorakhpur and power outages at a hospital in Pondicherry. The film grossed Rs 1.7 billion in the first week. It was a sellout success. For those in Tamil Nadu, the criticism of Mersal is only one in a series of attacks on Tamil-ness. Every day brings new evidence of the discovery of Tamil culture. The latest? Carbon dating of charcoal found at the Keezhadi site in Sivaganga in February 2017 establishes that the settlement there belonged to 200 BC. The excavations thus proved that urban civilisation had existed in Tamil Nadu since the Sangam age. To impose a Delhi diktat that wants to outlaw jallikattu via ordinance, sees speakers of the Tamil language as Christians and Muslims and generally negate Tamil identity is hard for people to accept. Little wonder then that in the R K Nagar assembly by-election, the BJP candidate polled even fewer votes than those who voted NOTA. Is Tamil Nadu approaching a post-Dravidian era with Rajinikanth talking about spirituality in politics and putting his faith in doing good, speaking and expecting only good to happen? Hard to say just yet. But for a real test, it would be interesting to see how Yogi Adityanath is received in Tamil Nadu, where he is due to culminate his Ram Rajya Rath Yatra in Rameswaram on March 23. 'Could the Khar police and the CBI have tinkered with the driver's call data records?' 'And did their fiddling with the information not make it that they were tampering with the lives of people that were in the balance as a result of this case?' Vaihayasi Pande Daniel reports from the Sheena Bora murder trial. Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com The moon was a crescent in the sky on that dark monsoon night. A middle-aged man, carrying a plastic bag, that said Mamta Tailors on it, was walking swiftly along the ocean promenade at Carter Road, Khar, north west Mumbai, at about 9 pm. In his pocket, or maybe in his hand, was a silver/white cellphone and Rs 100. He was probably slightly out of breath, or even sweating, given that he had been walking about 40 minutes or much more, all the way from Santa Cruz East, north west Mumbai. By the side of the road were clumps of water-logged shrubs, perhaps mangroves. The moustachioed man was headed to this jhar (greenery) to dump his plastic bag. Before he could do so, a white Mumbai police Tata Sumo rolled down the road near him. The jeep scared the man. He took off running. The police, suspicious of a man racing away, came after him and nabbed him. When they opened the Mamta Tailors bag they found a country-made weapon or katta and cartridges inside it. The man was arrested August 21, 2015 for possession of a weapon without a license and taken to the Khar police station. After a few days of cross questioning it emerged that the weapon had been given to him and he was trying to dispose of it. It also was revealed, to the police's surprise, that the man had helped murder a young woman in 2012. Here's another account: The moon was not even a crescent in the sky on that dark monsoon night. The man, who once had a Mamta Tailors plastic bag and a silver/white cellphone, was already at the Khar police station, helping them crack a case. He had been missing from his home in Mosambi Tabela, Santa Cruz East, since about August 16, 2015, lured to the police station, and taken into protective custody. This happened shortly after the Khar police learned -- in some mysterious, yet undisclosed manner -- that a young woman had been murdered three years earlier and the man knew something about it. The first is the prosecution's version of how the Sheena Bora murder came to light in 2015. The second is the defence's take on how the trial for Sheena Bora's murder in 2015 came about. For many months now, right from July 2017, CBI Special Courtroom 51 at the Mumbai city civil and sessions court, Kala Ghoda, south Mumbai, has been hearing evidence, and through the defence's cross-examination, getting to know further information from Peter and Indrani Mukerjea's former driver Shyamvar Pinturam 'Suryavanshi' Rai on how he was arrested. And how he ended up telling the Khar police about his role in Sheena Bora's murder. With each telling of his tale, through six months of 2017, new details were uncovered that often didn't ring true. Like Rai did not remember which road he used to cross over from the eastern suburbs to the western suburbs that fateful monsoon night. Or which way he was walking on Carter Road and in which direction the police jeep came. He did not remember if the cellphone confiscated by the police that night was white or silver. He could not recall the exact nature of the greenery where he planned to throw the bag and why he had not chosen similar greenery located adjacent to his home. Though he may have passed several police vans along the way, that night in 2015, while carrying a plastic bag containing a country-made revolver and cartridges, he did not recall why the Khar police station's Tata Sumo made him run. The defence, based on Rai's confused set of facts, and from the information gleaned from his call data records, has since early December been putting forth their theory: That Rai was never actually arrested. And that his Carter Road walk, past the mangroves, never occurred, nor did he ever have a katta and its cartridges in his possession. The entire tale was a figment of his imagination. The defence has continued to mount their version of the facts. They alleged that Rai turned himself into the police station five days before August 21 and had, for reasons yet unknown, joined forces with the police and the CBI to frame a case against the Mukerjeas and Sanjeev Khanna, Indrani's former husband. Till date they have had not much to back up their claim, apart from showing up how tattered Rai's memory was. On Friday, the well-regarded Shrikant Shivade, Peter's lawyer, arguing an application that he had put before CBI Special Judge Jayendra Chandrasen Jagdale about tampered call data records last week, offered suggestions on one of the methods, he alleged, that was used, by the Khar police or the CBI, to paper over Rai's pre-'arrest' visit to the Khar police station. Shivade told the court, angrily, that it was quite easy for the prosecution to have hidden evidence of Rai's movements just prior to arrest. The lawyer charged that the call data records of the cellphone Rai was using at the time of his arrest, released to the defence by the prosecution, was allegedly manipulated and whole columns of information were missing. Before levelling his accusations, the advocate took care, as is his method, to lay out details of judgments in earlier cases on how call data records are to be handled fairly. Shivade reminded the court about the circumstances in which the CDRs for Rai's 2015 cell phone were released. The nodal officer for Airtel, the company from which Rai had his last SIM (subscriber identification module), first said they did not have records beyond a year though the lawyer pointed out that the Government of India's Department of Telecommunications insists on records being maintained for seven years. The nodal officer then procrastinated further, saying he would need to check and finally only after the court ordered him to produce the records, did he get cracking. Even after continuous pressure from the court -- with the cross-examination of Rai being halted as it waited for the Airtel records -- it took Airtel's nodal officer over a month to spit up the CDRs, as delays were cited at every turn. Said Shivade: "Why they didn't give the data for 65 days? They knew it was fictitious data!" Shivade alleged that Airtel did not attach a '65B' certificate of verification with it and provided a soft copy of the records in which the records had been downloaded into excel sheets. Peter's lawyer said if you loaded these CDRs onto any laptop, the first thing one noticed was that the excel sheets had its enable edit button activated. Secondly some columns of information had been deleted. The other serious issue Shivade's application raised was about the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) of the handset Rai was carrying on the night of his arrest. The 15- or 17-digit global IMEI code uniquely identifies a cellphone and can be utilised to block a cellphone from use if it has been stolen. But Shivade explained technology has allowed thieves and scamsters to illegally use software to alter the IMEI code of a stolen phone. He said the police -- and definitely the Khar police -- was aware of that. It so happened that IMEI number cited for Shyamvar Rai's phone was incorrect and the prosecution in their reply to Shivade's application even admitted that IMEI number was wrongly quoted. Bit by bit Shivade's ire visibly built up, before the judge. The lawyer, referring to the IMEI number in the original statement from the Khar police station, said, "None of this tallies. The number here is totally different. This is a bogus number! Something, somewhere, by someone, has been fabricated!" Shivade was finally apoplectic and, in his anger, at his finest. Not even a paper moved (nearly) nor did the attention of the courtroom wander as he thundered on darkly: "It is fictitious, which they have admitted. You want to give me data which is fictitious... and have an unfair advantage over me?!" Seething with indignant fury, he examined the motives for having received tampered CDRs, the wrong IMEI number and the wrong physical description for Rai's 2015 cellphone. He alleged that the Khar police station, the CBI and the nodal officer were aware of this fact, because they would have been the first parties to work with the call data records. He wondered why such "talented officers" could make such mistakes and wondered why they had not done their "duty." Knowing they were tampered, what led the Khar police or the CBI to continue to use the records? Could it be, Shivade alleged, that they were the ones who tinkered with this information in the first place? And did their fiddling with the information not make it that they were tampering with the lives of people that were in the balance as a result of this case? "Why this is important? Because Rai was taken into custody a few days before?! The arrest is a sham. What are the checks (in place guaranteeing the information) on the CDRs of Shyamvar Rai?" "Enable editing is on (on the soft copy). Click that and you can delete the entire data. If the police had made calls to Shyamvar Rai it is deleted." "The arrest of Shyamvar Rai is the most important part of the case! They must have the copies of the CDRs with them. If so, this CDR is not the CDR the court has ordered." Shivade went onto explain that by this action, those guilty for the action, have not respected the court. In a ringing voice, steeped with righteousness, Shivade heaped accusation upon accusation on the Airtel nodal officer, the CBI and the Khar police station, whose representative Inspector Ganesh Dalvi was sitting there, since he was the next witness up for the stand. "The nodal officer should be hanged," Shivade declared. CBI Special Prosecutor Bharat Badami objected to this and Shivade backed down, humouring him, saying he had said this in a manner of speaking. The lawyer was equally irate with the reply he received from the prosecution -- from K K Singh, the CBI investigating officer -- for his application. The CBI in its reply said there could be, what Shivade termed, "parity errors" while retrieving CDRs more than a year old, since generally records are not kept beyond one year and these records were three years old. Shivade: "This is a shameless explanation. It is not to be tolerated by the court. This is a serious case. Someone can be sentenced to death or to a whole life in prison. Lives are hanging by a slender thread!" Badami and K K Singh, who were sitting at the lawyers' bench, exchanged glances with each other several times during the proceedings as Shivade spoke. But neither did they nor Dalvi look particularly perturbed, although Badami grumbled from time to time under his breath. Judge Jagdale listened to Shivade gravely, carefully following his arguments, a solemn expression fixed on his face throughout. When Shivade sat down, Indrani's defence lawyer Sudeep Pasbola sprung up and also took on the CBI for their alleged wrongdoing, not in his usual fiery way. Instead, Pasbola's tone was less angry but more moralistic, as in a quiet, sombre, voice he went on about "deliberate suppression" and how "wool had been pulled over the eyes of the court" and a "mockery" had been made of the system and for the need to punish those responsible. He reminded Judge Jagdale of all the excuses the Airtel nodal officer has given for the delay in producing the CDRs -- "pretexts like son is sick" -- when in reality Pasbola alleged the information was being cooked up. Both Shivade and Pasbola asked for two things: The appointment of an expert to look at the CDR issue and that Rai's last handset be summoned to the court. Further, Shivade requested the logbook for the Khar police station's Tata Sumo that nabbed Rai in 2015 and for the CDRs of Dalvi and Dinesh Kadam, the investigating officer of the Sheena Bora murder case at the Khar police station. Badami, in response, mumbled that he wondered why the defence was not interested in his CDRs. "Ask for my CDRs also," he said, provoking the first round of laughter on Friday afternoon. Judge Jagdale laughed heartily too in an otherwise solemn day's proceedings. Finally, at the end Badami got up to defend the prosecution, saying that the defence had no business "tarnishing the name of the CBI" and said it was only reasonable that they first checked with the Airtel nodal officer about these allegations. "It was his duty. Not the CBI's duty." Pasbola turned to Badami and asked roundly, "Can anyone take the court for a ride?!" Badami suggested that Rai's confusion over the colour of the phone was understandable because, being a virtually unlettered man Rai, could not distinguish between silver and white, which had the entire bench of defence lawyers tittering. He embarked on his now oft-repeated line about the issue not being about seeking justice only for Peter Mukerjea, but that it was about seeking justice for the late Sheena Bora first of all. In the accused enclosure, Peter, wearing, for a change his white Chinese-style shirt-jacket and chinos, listened with rapt attention to Shivade and Pasbola's arguments and Badami's replies, wrinkling up his face in puzzlement when Badami explained his stance. Sanjeev was also all ears. Indrani, wearing a white shirt with brown leggings, was rather preoccupied, sitting hunched in her corner, head bent, writing and reading something throughout the arguments. Judge Jagdale was in a stern mood on Friday. Sensing many additional delays as a result of this new development, he wanted action quickly. He ordered that the Airtel nodal officer to appear in court on Saturday and was not amenable to excuses. He also wanted the next witness, Dalvi's testimony to start as soon as possible. When told that Inspector Dalvi would be busy with Republic Day security from January 23 to January 24 onwards, Judge Jagdale said he didn't care and that: "This is a trial!" Badami continued to say that January 23 as the next court date was not possible. The judge said firmly, "Then you file an extension" on January 23. After exiting the courtroom Badami chatted with the defence lawyers, Singh, Khanna and journalists. Referring to Shivade's arguments, he said, "They threw a brick and we threw some stones back." The CBI prosecutor, who was on his cellphone trying to locate the Airtel nodal officer to ask him to come to court on Saturday, also spoke to Sanjeev's lawyer. He praised a mildly bemused Shreyansh Mithare for not giving him any trouble in the court and that all his troubles came from the "big shots." From the "King and Queen." Postscript: According to the Khar police station chargesheet, the Mukerjeas' driver was arrested at 5.20 pm, August 21, 2015. But Rai has told the court, twice, that he left his home in Santa Cruz East in the afternoon, and took between two and four hours to walk to Khar, which indicates, that as per his information, he might have been arrested later too, ie after dark. MILLERTON, N.Y. The Salisbury Forum will present the documentary, A Plastic Ocean, which explores the issue of how plastics in our oceans effect the marine ecosystems and human health. The movie will be shown on Sunday, Jan. 21 at 11:30 am at The Moviehouse on Main Street in Millerton, NY. Admission is free. In the center of the Pacific Ocean gyre, a large system of circular ocean currents, researchers found more plastic than plankton. Instead of an anticipated solid mass that could be contained, the expedition discovered free-floating microplastics which enter the food chain where they attract toxins like a magnet. These toxins are stored in seafoods fatty tissues and eventually consumed by us. Producer Jo Ruxton joined an expedition to the so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch, 1500 miles off the coast of San Francisco, and learned she had to develop a film about the problem. She brought on Craig Leeson, a director and journalist, and Dr. Lindsay Porter, an expert on whales and dolphins. Come and learn how a four-year global odyssey discovered the negative effects on human health from the plastic pollution in our oceans. Kent Back Then to be held Jan. 21 Kent Historical Society Sunday Series on January 21, 2018 highlights Kent Back Then, a look at Kent in the Mid-20th century as lived by its citizens. The award-winning curator of the Kent Historical Society (as well as the Sharon Historical Society), Marge Smith will take a nostalgic look at Kent life in the mid-20th century, including farming, the village, moving to Kent, and the role that three private schools have played in the towns life. Kent Back Then will be presented by the Kent Historical Society, as part of its Sunday Series lectures in the Kent Town Hall Sunday, January 21, at 2 p.m. The depth and breadth of Ms. Smiths knowledge of Kent is the backbone of the Kent Historical Society, and in this interactive discussion with the audience, she will link the past with today using a series of images and old advertisements from Kents iconic local newspaper - The Kent Good Times Dispatch, known fondly as The GTD. In its heyday, The GTD had its finger firmly on the pulse of the town, with reporters submitting stories from every corner of town. So, search your memory banks and plan to join us for a fun afternoon. This Sunday Series lecture inaugurates the theme for the Historical Societys 2018 events, Our Town: A Sense of Community in the Mid-20th Century. One goal for the year will be to celebrate the memories of those who lived through the dramatic changes that took place in Kent before and after World War II. The Kent Historical Society sponsors the Sunday Series in March, May, July, September, and November. Free admission for members; $5 suggested donation for non-members. For more information,call 860-927-4587 or visit www.kenthistoricalsociety.org. School to hold Internet Safety program BURLINGTON The Har-Bur Middle School PTA in Burlington is sponsoring an Internet Safety presentation for parents of middle school and high school students on Thursday, Jan. 25, from 6:30-8 p.m. in the Lewis Mills HS Auditorium. All parents are encouraged to attend to hear all of the important information that Law Enforcement Officer Scott Driscoll has to share. Through this presentation, parents will be informed of new trends and techniques that are being used on-line by predators and by our children. They will also be given tips on what to do to prevent a dangerous situation from happening. Parents will see how what their children do on-line now can have long term negative effects on their future and will learn tools and strategies they can use to keep their families safe. For more information on Officer Driscolls presentation, please visit: http://internetsafetyconcepts.com/. Scholarship applications now available The Greenwoods Scholarship Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit corporation that manages funds from individual and corporate donors in northwest Connecticut and makes awards to recipients in the names of individual scholarship accounts. Students who are residents of Barkhamsted, Colebrook, Hartland, New Hartford, Norfolk and Winchester, as well as students at Northwestern Connecticut Community College, are eligible to receive a Greenwoods Scholarship. High school graduates and those already matriculated in a college or university may apply. Application forms and instructions may be obtained online at www.gsfct.org or from The Gilbert School, Northwestern Regional #7, Explorations, Oliver Wolcott Technical School, the Hartland Town Hall, and the Financial Aid Office at NCCC. Last year the Greenwoods Scholarship Foundation distributed scholarships valued at $110,000 to 79 recipients. In addition, the Foundation also gave a $ 9,000 Allied Health Grant to Northwestern Connecticut Community College. All applications must be returned to the high school counseling office, mailed to Greenwoods Scholarship Foundation, P.O. Box 834, Winsted, CT 06098 or faxed to Mrs. DePaoli at 860-379-0618 by Feb. 15. Sign up now for Northwest Kid Rock contest TORRINGTON The City of Torrington Parks & Recreation Department is now accepting registrations for this years Northwest Kid Rock Contest. The contest is open to youth ages 8-14 from Torrington and other surrounding towns. Past NW Kid Rock winners are not eligible to participate. All contestants will be required to fill out an application form prior to auditioning. Registration Forms will be available at the Torrington Parks and Recreation Department located at 153 South Main Street in Torrington or online at www.torringtonct.org under Parks and Recreation. Registration forms are due by February 23, 2018. Auditions will take place at Coe Memorial Park on Saturday, March 3 at 12 p.m. Auditions will consist of each contestant having a one minute introduction, in addition to an acappella performance. Contestants can also showcase any other talents along with their singing; such as dancing and playing an instrument. Contestants will be notified the Monday following the auditions if they have been chosen to move on to the Finals. The finals will take place on Saturday, March 17 at 6 p.m. at Coe Memorial Park. This event will be hosted by Casey McKenna, with music provided by Vin Avallone Productions. Prizes will be awarded to the top finalists. For more information call 860-489-2274. TORRINGTON A city man charged with murder after the death of his wife last year pleaded not guilty and waived his right to a probable cause hearing Friday in Superior Court in Torrington. Daniel Gervais was arrested May 3, 2017, by Torrington police after his wife, Phyllis Gervais, was found dead in the couples home on Cider Mill Crossing on April 22, 2017. He responded to questions from Judge John A. Danaher Friday after his attorney, A. Thomas Waterfall, announced that he would waive his right to a probable cause hearing. Gervais affirmed this decision, and said that no one had threatened him or coerced him to make that choice. Waterfall entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. State Attorney David Shepack provided discovery to Waterfall Friday in the form of a series of disks, he said. The documentation shared included police reports, pictures from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and photos from state police, Shepack said. More discovery in the case is expected, according to Shepack. The hearing was scheduled Nov. 14, after Gervais competency to participate in his own defense was questioned and evaluated. Gervais was sent to the Whiting Forensic Division of the Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown after he was found incompetent to participate in his own defense on Sept. 12. At the time, a clinical team with the Office of Forensic Evaluations, a subgroup of the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, concluded that he displayed significant deficits that interfered with his ability to learn, retain, or apply information that was presented to him during an evaluation. He was then deemed competent to participate in his own defense in November, according to a report entered as an exhibit in the case. According to the report, Gervais complained of short-and-long-term memory loss while being evaluated at the facility, but demonstrated an ability to recall information from both the relatively distant past and the near-term, including details regarding his children, businesses, property, and family life, and learned the regulations of life in the unit. He also demonstrated an understanding of court proceedings and roles, the report said. (I)t is the unanimous opinion of the treatment team and this writer that Mr. Gervais now demonstrates a sufficient understanding of the proceedings and has the ability to assist in his defense, said Julie Pratt, competency monitor, in the report. Throughout his WFD admission, Mr. Gervais has asserted that he has significant memory deficits stemming from the stroke he suffered in January 2017, but his self-report is not consistent with his demonstrated capacities over the past two months. Gervais called Litchfield County Dispatch at 4:05 a.m. on April 22, 2017, reporting that he believed his wife had fallen during the night and died. Police were called to the scene, where they found Phyllis Gervais body in a bloody scene. In all, police collected 57 separate pieces of evidence at the scene, according to an affidavit seeking a warrant for Gervais arrest, including bloody clothing from a laundry basket, sponges, washcloths and a 24-inch steel rod with blood on it found on a shelf in the garage. All the described circumstances taken in totality show that Daniel Gervais cannot explain his actions and dispute the physical evidence developed against him that shows his involvement with the bludgeoning blunt force traumatic death of his wife, police said in the warrant affidavit. Deputy Medical Examiner Maura DeJoseph determined the injuries Phyllis Gervais sustained were from the blunt impact from at least three strikes of a weapon. DeJoseph ruled Phyllis Gervais death a homicide, according to the affidavit. As Gervais was arraigned May 4, Waterfall asked that he be placed on medical watch during court proceedings due to his previous strokes. Murder is a Class A felony under Connecticut law, punishable by 25 to 60 years in prison, up to a $20,000 fine, or both. A 60-year prison term is considered a life sentence in Connecticut, according to the Division of Criminal Justice. Gervais is next scheduled to appear in court March 16. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A federal government shutdown Friday could force closure of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Texas. Although visitation in Texas is slower this month than in October 2013, when the four federally run missions closed during a 16-day partial shutdown, some fear that a shutdown in a few days could dampen travel to the historic colonial missions, a focal point of the citys 300th birthday celebration. It will have an impact in our Tricentennial year, said Steve Wood, president of the Professional Tour Guide Association of San Antonio. The original Mission San Antonio de Valero was founded on May 1, 1718, and establishment of a local presidio and villa followed four days later. At the missions, indigenous people lived, farmed and learned trades and living skills from friars, craftsmen and soldiers when San Antonio was a 1700s village of New Spain. If Congress does not meet a midnight Friday deadline to pass a spending plan, missions Concepcion, San Jose, San Juan and Espada could close as soon as Saturday. The Alamo, which occupies the third site of the mission de Valero established in 1724, is state-owned and would remain open. Professional tour guides in San Antonio can still lead bus or bicycle tours to the missions but would not be able to provide full access to the sites, especially at San Jose, the restored Queen of Missions surrounded by gated stone walls, Wood said. There are all kinds of ways to get visitors there. But the bottom line is that you cant get them inside to learn about our heritage, he said. Richard Perez, president and CEO of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, said a closure would undermine community efforts to draw visitors to the states only World Heritage Site. And to turn around if they came, and turn them away, if theyve traveled thousands of miles or hundreds of miles for that matter, it would be devastating, Perez said. During the 2013 shutdown, 40 of the parks 43 employees were furloughed, with security rangers staying on duty. The park, normally open year-round except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day, lost some 11,500 visitors during that closure, including travelers from Iowa and California. It was very frustrating, recalled Frances K. Rosebud Coffey, executive director of Mission Heritage Partners, a nonprofit friends group of the park formerly known as Los Compadres. Some maintenance and restoration work, including structural repairs and upgrades at Mission San Jose being done through the groups masonry apprentice program, would be temporarily suspended during a shutdown, Coffey said. Texas had the option in 2013 to join Utah and Colorado in using private, local and state funds to resume operations, without federal reimbursement, at federal parks. The Department of the Interior authorized parks to reopen through agreements with state governors, in support of local tourism. But the department required full funding of reopened parks at normal staff levels a condition some state officials in Texas said was unreasonable. At the time, a study prepared for Bexar County estimated the five San Antonio missions generate more than $180 million in direct visitor spending annually, with potential to grow to $285 million under World Heritage status a designation given in 2015 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Churches at the four federally run missions, each of which has an active Catholic parish, were open for Mass on weekends during the 2013 closure, which precluded access to the churches on weekdays and to visitors centers, convento structures and other buildings with frescos and other mission features that give the park its outstanding universal value, as stated by UNESCO. Some events at the missions were relocated to county parks. This years potential shutdown comes as many people are planning vacations, Wood said. If we see a prolonged shutdown, we may see a shift in people deciding to go elsewhere, he added. Those concerned about mail delivery can take heart. The U.S. Postal Service, which receives no tax dollars and is funded through stamp sales and other revenues, would not be affected by a shutdown. Scott Huddleston is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of his stories here. | shuddleston@express-news.net | @shuddlestonSA The wife of Chinese rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong, who was jailed last November for two years for "incitement to subvert state power," says he recently received a visit from his father at the Changsha No. 1 Detention Center, and that he will be transferred in March from the police-run facility to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence. Speaking from her home in the U.S., Jin Bianling said Jiang's father had been brought to Changsha under the escort of two state security police officers on Tuesday. Their conversation took place under the watchful eyes of six or seven prison guards, she said. "Jiang Tianyong asked about some family matters, and had his father tell me not to worry too much about him," Jin said. "He said he was allowed to read books inside." "He also gave his father a message: to thank everyone for their concern and support," she said. She said Jiang has been in the Changsha No. 1 Detention Center for more than a year, but had only recently been issued with a payment card used to buy goods from the detention center store. "Jiang Tianyong didn't even know there was money in his account until his sister visited him last month. Only then did they issue him with a card," Jin said. "The food is, of course, terrible, in the detention center, and he can't sleep there. He should have lost weight but he seems to be as plump as he ever was, so I'm really worried about him," she said. Jin said Jiang is now waiting for a transfer in March to an unknown prison in Henan province, with the details of the transfer to be advised by phone at a later date. "His family will continue to fight for his visiting rights [after the transfer]," she said. "Also, we will continue to call on the international community to pay attention to Jiang Tianyong's case." "We don't know what the conditions will be like at the next prison he goes to, so I hope people will keep watching, to ensure that the authorities don't start to mete out worse treatment or torture to Jiang Tianyong," she said. Jin has previously said she received an account of his torture after he went missing on Nov. 21, 2016 in the central city of Changsha. He was identified as vulnerable to torture by Amnesty International in January 2017. Reported by Lin Ping for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. A primary school student whose snow-encrusted photograph went viral after he struggled to school in sub-zero temperatures in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan has received only a small fraction of the 50,000 yuan (U.S. $7,800) donated by well-wishers, RFA has learned. Wang Fuman, 8, was dubbed "Snowflake Boy" after a photograph of him with frozen hair after his daily 2.8-mile walk to school was posted to social media in China, prompting a flood of donations from well-meaning strangers. But local officials have given him just a small proportion of the money, saying they will share out the rest among other children like him, local sources told RFA. "There are a lot of media reports about this right now, saying he only got 500 yuan," an official who answered the phone at the Ludian county government propaganda department said on . "If the money is labeled for Wang Fuman, then the youth development foundation will definitely give it all to him." "But the rest of the money certainly won't all be given to one person; they will ... make arrangements for it to be given to children like Wang Fuman in Ludian county who need it even more," he said. Some reports said Wang only received 8,000 yuan, while others said the amount he received was as low as 500 yuan. The official said the foundation would publish a detailed account of where the money was sent. "They will definitely be making this public, exactly how much went where, and what it was used for, where and for whom," he said. Wang's photo has once more focused media attention on the plight of China's army of "left-behind" children, whose parents travel far afield in search of work in bigger cities. Migrant worker father Wang's father Wang Gangkui said he had no choice but to seek work as a migrant to a far-off city, leaving his son behind in Yunnan. "Our family has no means, no other options," Wang Gangkui said. "If we were to stay home and take care of our kid, that would mean we had no income at all." "Our son is back home, staying with his grandmother, so I can work elsewhere to get the money for him to get an education," he said. "I am very very grateful to everyone who donated." Wang's hometown of Zhaotong city is home to more than a million people living in extreme poverty, nearly 47 percent of the school-age population, government figures indicate. The confusion over the ultimate destination for the flood of donations has sparked allegations of "abuse of power" by officials in Yunnan's Zhaotong municipal education bureau. "The head of the local education bureau said that there are other children like [Wang] who also need the money," a volunteer who helped gather the money told RFA on . "This is a classic example of the abuse of official power." He said many rural families struggle to find the money for their children to attend all nine compulsory years of schooling mandated by Chinese law, even though the funding should be provided by the local government. "There are all sorts of expenses, including lunch, and then overnight boarding fees if the child lives too far away," he said. "But implementation has been rolled back in a lot of places. The governments have the money, but they don't want to spend it on that." Yunnan-based rights activist Yu Yunfeng said Wang should be the main beneficiary of the money, adding that some donors had collected money privately and given it straight to him. "All the money we raised we intended to go straight to the kid, because he is in such dire straits, and we felt sorry for him," Yu said. "We don't feel sorry for the government." "It is shameless that the government is now taking that money away from him," Yu said. "If other people also need this money, then it should be him who hands it out to them; total strangers shouldn't do it on his behalf." Funds often go missing Yu said other types of funding have a habit of going 'missing,' too. "They also did this with social welfare payments," he said. "There is no good governance under a dictatorship ... as soon as there is money, they will do everything they can to get their hands on it." An official who answered the phone at the Ludian county education bureau denied the allegations, saying that the collection of the funds had been delegated to a government-backed "foundation," and had never been through the bureau. The principal of Wang's Xinjie Township Zhongxin Primary School, Chen Kui, said he had no idea how much money the boy had eventually received. "We can't really try to find out, because it is a private matter for him," Chen said. "The foundation didn't go through the school, so we had nothing to do with it." "We have about 2,000 students here in the township, and physical conditions are very challenging," he said. "We are 2,870 meters above sea-level. I'm not sure of the exact number of poverty-stricken, left-behind children - you'll have to ask a different department." Calls to the government-backed Yunnan Youth Development Foundation and the Zhaotong Youth Development Foundation rang unanswered during office hours on . Reported by Wong Siu-san and Sing Man for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Yang Fan for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. A banner listing 21 pre-conditions made by a Rohingya group for the repatriation of refugees to Myanmar was palced at the Kutupalong camp in Ukhia, in Bangladeshs Coxs Bazar district, Jan. 19, 2018. About 500 Rohingya refugees staged protests Friday at a camp in southeastern Bangladesh to air concerns about their safety and other questions tied to a government plan to repatriate thousands of their people to Myanmar. The two demonstrations the first of their kind took place at the sprawling Kutupalong refugee camp in Coxs Bazar district while Rohingya leaders visited camps to post a list of 21 pre-conditions they want the government to meet before refugees would agree to be repatriated voluntarily. These demands include that the stateless people be given Myanmar citizenship. Listed on banners, the 21-points were formulated by a new group, the Rohingya Rights Establishment Committee, sources in Coxs Bazar told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. We appeal to Bangladesh, the U.N. and the international community not to repatriate us without securing our citizenship. If we get citizenship, we can get our houses and property back and compensation for the loss of lives and wealth, Abdul Khaleq, a Rohingya leader at the Madhuchhara camp in Kutupalong, told BenarNews. Otherwise, we will be thrown into the bay, said Khaleq, who was involved in framing the 21-point list. The list was circulated as officials from Bangladesh and Myanmar moved to implement a bilateral agreement signed on Nov. 23 to repatriate about 700,000 Rohingya refugees from southeastern Bangladesh to Rakhine, a state in Myanmar that borders Coxs Bazar. Two brief demonstrations took place on Friday one at block-B/3 and the other at block E/3 at the Kutupalong camps in Ukhia. I have talked to the protesters about their demands. They protested against the government plan to repatriate them without ensuring their safety and security in Rakhine, Nur Khan Liton, the former director of a leading Bangladeshi human rights NGO, Ain-O-Shalish Kendra, said in an interview from Coxs Bazar. They want to return to Rakhine; they are not against the repatriation. But their first demand is: Myanmar must announce granting them citizenship, and ensure their civil rights in Rakhine, Liton said. Voluntary, safe and with dignity At least 655,000 Rohingya fled from an outbreak of violence and a brutal military crackdown in Rakhine, which started in late August 2017 following attacks on government security posts by a Rohingya insurgent group. Overall, about 1 million Rohingya refugees are sheltering in Bangladesh, including those who fled earlier waves of violence in Rakhine. Liton said the demonstrators want to return to Rakhine under the protection of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). They also want assurances that returnees be taken to a safe zone under the auspices of the United Nations before going back to their home villages. They also demand that the Myanmar authorities must give them compensation for destroying their houses and other property, and try the perpetrators committing killings, rape, arson and other crimes against humanity, Liton added. He was referring to widespread allegations that Myanmar security forces and militiamen in Rakhine carried out atrocities against Rohingya civilians, including the burning of villages. Bangladeshi police and government officials on Friday denied any demonstrations had taken place at the Kutupalong camp in Ukhia, a sub-district of Coxs Bazar. Bangladeshi State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam said the first group of refugees would begin returning to Myanmar early next month. The repatriation would be voluntary, safe and with dignity, he told BenarNews. Meanwhile, on the other side of the border, government officials told the Myanmar Service of Radio Free Asia (RFA), a sister entity of BenarNews, that they were handling paperwork for more than 700 Muslims and 400 Hindu refugees from Rakhine who had applied to return home. About 1,100 Muslims and Hindus who lost their houses in fires informed us they want to come back. We have already checked their names and photos and asked Bangladesh to send their application forms, but we havent received the completed forms yet, said Myint Kyaing, permanent secretary at Myanmars Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population. Set of demands In Coxs Bazar, District Deputy Commissioner Ali Hossain said he had not seen or obtained a copy of the 21-point list, which was circulated and posted at the Kutuplaong, Balukhali, Jamtoli and Thaingkhali, and Leda refugee camps and settlements in the area. We will investigate who set up the boards, he told BenarNews. Apart from a guarantee of citizenship, the pre-conditions for repatriation, as listed by the committee, include civil rights, freedom of movement, as well as rights to religion and education be guaranteed for Rohingya, and that perpetrators of atrocities against the minority group be arrested and put on trial. The 21-point list is similar to recommendations made last year by the Rakhine State Advisory Commission, which was headed by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The Annan Commission recommended that Myanmar grant citizenship to the Rohingya and ensure their civil rights as a solution for easing long-running inter-communal tensions in Rakhine state. We support the demands. We must be given our civil rights back. Otherwise, we will not go back, Abdul Hakim, another leader of a Rohingya refugee camp, told BenarNews. Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. Security personnel monitor the exterior of a government building in Sittwe, in Myanmars Rakhine state, Jan. 19, 2018. Authorities in western Myanmars Rakhine state are bolstering security measures amid public anger over a deadly incident in which police opened fire on a crowd of ethnic Rakhine protesters, a police official said Friday. On Tuesday, police shot dead at least seven protesters and wounded 13 others after thousands of members of the Rakhine minority group marking a Buddhist anniversary converged on the government office in the town of Mrauk U when authorities attempted to stop the event. Police have since arrested Rakhine social critic Wai Hin Aung and Rakhine nationalist lawmaker Aye Maung after they delivered speeches calling for revolt against Myanmars ethnic majority Bamar-led government in nearby Rathedaung township and charged them under Article 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act. Authorities have said they plan to charge the two men, and organizers of the anniversary eventwho did not obtain permission for the gatheringwith high treason under Section 122 of Myanmars Penal Code, which carries a maximum punishment of death. On Friday, after netizens posted comments on social media condemning Aye Maungs arrest, around 100 people gathered at Wingaba stadium in Sittwe in protest, but dispersed after police arrived and warned them to adhere to laws governing the right to demonstrate. Police colonel Aung Myat Moe of the Rakhine state police force told RFAs Myanmar Service that security personnel had been deployed to several areas of Sittwe to ensure calm. We made an announcement telling community leaders and the public to protest according to the lawthey can gather only after receiving permission, he said. We have deployed security guards at 10 places in Sittwe. The situation in town remains calm. Call for probe In a statement Friday, a group of 70 civil society organizations called for an independent probe into the killing of protesters in Mrauk U. While authorities have said police confronting protesters throwing bricks delivered warnings via loudspeaker, fired warning shots into the air, and fired rubber bullets into the crowd before switching to live ammunition, observers have questioned the account, suggesting the shots cam without sufficient alert. Soe Naing, a spokesperson or the committee representing the civil society organizations said that only an investigation independent of the government could be counted on to deliver a fair assessment of the incident and prevent a similar tragedy from occurring in the future. It is saddening to have this kind of incident take pace under a government elected by the people, Soe Naing said. The information released by the authorities is different from the situation on the ground and thats why the NLD (National League for Development) government needs to investigate who gave the order to shoot people, he said. If an independent inquiry group led by respected people works on this problem, we will have an answer about what really happened. Witness accounts Meanwhile, witnesses on Friday continued to deliver accounts of what occurred at Tuesdays protest that differed significantly from the official version, suggesting police had employed excessive force in response. A 31-year-old shooting victim and resident of Mrauk U who gave his name as Than said that police had initially fired into the air, causing the crowd to scatter. But when we ran, they shot at us, he said from his bed at Mrauk U hospital. I was shot and people sent me for treatment. Another Mrauk U resident recovering from a bullet wound at the hospital, named Kyaw Khine Win, told RFA that six police officers had fired about 60 rounds into the air and at the protesters. The police shot me when I was trying to assist those injured by the first volley, he said. Ei Phyu, the sister of 15-year-old Kyaw Thein Soe, who was killed in the incident, said that her brother wasnt killed by the shooting. We didnt see any bullet wounds on his bodyonly wounds from a knife and blunt objects, she said. The authorities came to the funeral and paid us 500,000 kyats (U.S. $370) for my brother. We dont know who paid it to us, but we returned it to the authorities. Is a life only worth 500,000 kyats? Other relatives of those killed in the incident reported being offered the same amount of money as compensation for their loved ones, but said they returned the money. Aung Thein, a local security officer who was tasked with offering the compensation, confirmed that the families of all seven victims had returned the cash. Methods questioned Local Rights groups questioned the police response to the protest and called for greater accountability. Yu Lwin Aung, a member of the Myanmar Human Rights Commission, said that without having witnessed the incident, he could not say whether police had violated the rights of the protesters. We dont know why police felt they had to use lethal force against the mob, he said. The relevant authorities must investigate whether the police addressed the incident according to the law or not. Aung Myo Min, the director of rights group Equality Myanmar, noted that the European Union had previously provided training to Myanmars police on how to address riots. We want to determine who gave the order to shoot because accountability is weak, he said. It is wrong to restrict people from gathering at an event, and the governments action can be seen as human rights violation. Reported by Min Thein Aung, Nay Rein Kyaw, Thinn Thiri and Khin Khin Ei for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Former Vietnamese political prisoner Nguyen Dinh Ngoc, who blogs under the name Nguyen Ngoc Gia, was released from prison on December 27, 2017 from a sentence of three years in prison and three years of house arrest for allegedly spreading propaganda against the state under Article 88, a provision the government often uses to silence critics. He spoke to RFAs Vietnamese Service about his experience in jail. RFA: Why do you call yourself a human rights prisoner? Nguyen Ngoc Gia: I call myself a human rights prisoner because all I have done is exercise my human rights, but because of that, I was wrongfully sentenced to three years imprisonment and three years of house arrest. The concept of prisoner of conscience has been around for about 60 years. In my opinion, prisoners of conscience are of limited scope, not only including those arrested under Articles 88, 258 or 79, but also those who are arrested for exercising their human rights. I think all of those who have been exercising their human rights should be called human rights prisoners. Further, there are others who can claim to be fighting for human rights. Those who have been accused of tax evasion, acting against officers on duty, or those accused of causing public disorder, but who were in fact only exercising their human rights according to both international and domestic public opinion. Thats why I suggest you call us human rights prisoners. I want to assert once again that I am not acting against the State. I only exercise human rights in accordance with the Constitution, laws and all international conventions to which Vietnam is party. RFA: From your arrest to your release, there was no mention about you being allowed to leave detention. Can you share with us what you did during your time in detention? While being interrogated in the beginning of August 2015, a police officer suddenly asked me to think of my family and plead guilty. I said calmly to him that I have fully completed my fatherly responsibilities; that I live for democracy and I will never be an imposition on my children. Until August 25, 2015, the visitor log was brought in for me through the small hole on the wall. I was startled when I saw the writing and signature of my youngest son. I was so happy and anxious, I wept. It was the first and last time after eight months of imprisonment I saw his handwriting and signature. Then, my son died three days later. The next day, the guard informed me about his death. I will never forget that terrible day when I was told the heartbreaking news in such a cruel and emotionless way. Then, I offered to plead guilty, hoping to be allowed to go home to observe the 100th day after his death, but they did not allow me to go. When the investigation period was over, they still did not let me meet my family. RFA: Former prisoners of conscience have revealed the truth about Vietnamese prisons. What can you say from your own experience? I remember blogger Dieu Cay once said: Any prison in Vietnam is evil, but the one in Cai Tau, Ca Mau, is the "animal prison". For me, I have to say that each prison is different but the cruelty is equal. I saw with my own eyes the hard labor, I witnessed the miserable and dangerous tasks of prisoners who had to carry huge ice blocks up to the fourth floor every day. Sometimes the ice fell, causing bruises on their feet and nails which sometimes festered. They were also barbarically beaten by a number of guards. The police would drag them into a corner out of the camera coverage area to beat them. I remember on the afternoon of May 22, 2016, a group of five or six police used batons and took turns to beat a boy brutally. I clearly remember that day because it was parliamentary election day. From my cell, I witnessed many other brutal beatings when prisoners were caught smoking. The detention center where I was held looks like an extremely quiet cemetery. Sometimes we could hear the echo from far away when people were reading the bible for someone who had just died. This always frightened the prisoners. We dared not breathe loudly, laugh or make jokes with each other. Being depressed for years causes kidney, heart, and eye diseases, stomach pain, tooth loss, chronic headaches, arthritis, and more. I think what threatens the survival of this regime is not only corruptionas Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong acknowledgesbut also the human rights abuses of illegal arrest and inhumane execution, and the issue of the South China Sea. RFA: Since the congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam in early 2016 and the early months of 2017, Vietnamese authorities have conducted a strong crackdown on dissidents, voices of opposition, and activists for human rights and democracy. Some have been given lengthy sentences on charges of spreading propaganda against the State and acting with the intention to overthrow the people's government. What do you think about these measures? As many have said, the increased imprisonment reflects the words of Marx: "Where there is oppression, there is struggle." The more you fight, the more imprisonment you will get -- that is the rule. Naturally, no one wants to be imprisoned, but the Communist Party of Vietnam has few options other than imprisonment, harassment, and various means of oppression. The CPV is in a very difficult situation, like they are very sick but the illness cannot be treated with medicine. Therefore, I feel like they are in something of a "political deadlock" right now. RFA: It is 2018. A new year has just started. Do you have anything that you want to share with our audience? I write with my conscience based on three principles: truth, law and persistence. Perhaps that is why my readers love me. We can "trick" readers with a few writings, but we cannot lie to them with hundreds of them. I only write with these three principles in mind and never disseminate hatred, promote violence, or distort the truth. Translated by Emily Peyman. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. When Terry McAuliffe left the governorship, statehouse politics was supposed to be a lot quieter and not just because The Macker, as a human vuvuzela, is for now out of earshot, having returned to Northern Virginia, perhaps to plot a play for the presidency. In the eight days since fellow Democrat Ralph Northam was sworn in as McAuliffes successor, the political parties have been quarreling, laying waste to expectations that Virginia was entering an era of good feeling. It could still happen measured by something that resembles a Medicaid-financed expansion of Obamacare but only after the administration and legislature mark their territory much as wolves do: by leaving a distinct scent. The Democratic and Republican bases expect no less, never mind that such behavior calls attention to the parties respective weaknesses. The Democratic minority in the House of Delegates is fortified 49 members, up from 34 but thats about it. Many of its 15 new members will try to make up with enthusiasm what they lack in experience. That can only mean much of the legislation for which they care deeply and are articles of faith with the partys left-leaning grass roots could be deep-sixed. And quickly. That includes closing Virginia to payday lenders, a perennial fight since the state was opened to the high-cost, instant-loan industry under a law signed about 15 years ago by a Democratic governor, Mark Warner, now the states senior U.S. senator. Another measure, a response to the Las Vegas mass slaying, the nations worst in modern history, would ban so-called bump stocks like those used by the shooter in the October tragedy. They allow semi-automatic rifles to mimic fully automatic weapons. The bill, initially caught up in a perceived power play by House Speaker Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, could be a goner even as it cleared one Senate committee only to be referred to another. A co-sponsor of both proposals is newbie Del. Karrie Delaney, D-Fairfax. She defeated Republican incumbent Jim LeMunyon, who spent most of the campaign running from President Donald Trump. For Delaney, perhaps more frustrating than seeing these bills go down the drain is having to attend two committee meetings at the same time. Delaney was appointed by Cox to the Transportation and Health committees, both of which convene at 8:30 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at opposite ends of the state Capitol complex. Transportation meets in the state Capitol; Health, at the foot of the hill, in the interim General Assembly Building. Youve got to think that Delaneys Republican opponent in the next election, assuming she has one, will tell voters about the committee votes she may have missed, without giving them the whole story: that she had to be in two places at once. Delaneys conflicting appointments rare but not unusual may, nonetheless, support a narrative advanced by some Republicans that several seats lost to Democrats in 2017 in the anti-Trump tidal wave could be taken back in 2019, when Democrats have to flip only two seats in the House and Virginia Senate to take back both. Given the continuing blue-ing of Northern Virginia, its unlikely that Delaneys is among them. Plus, the deeply depleted House Republican Caucus cut to 51 members from 66 and the slender GOP majority in the Senate mean that the party is forced to play defense, killing objectionable Democratic legislation in committee. Since the General Assembly convened Jan. 10, Republicans mostly on the Senate side have junked bills to strengthen abortion rights, restrict firearms, push the state minimum wage to $15 per hour, and give localities the authority to take down Confederate monuments. During the McAuliffe years, when House Republicans held two in three seats, they could ram through, with impunity, whatever they wanted. Senate Republicans would happily oblige, setting up a high-profile confrontation with the governor in which the GOP believed it would win by losing. When McAuliffe vetoed abortion restrictions or an expansion of gun rights vetoes that Republicans couldnt override because they were short the required votes GOP lawmakers could still tell their voters they tried and that conservatives would have to work that much harder to elect one of their own as governor. That prospect seems increasingly remote as Democrats tighten their grip on the metropolitan areas where vote totals overwhelm those in the Republican countryside. Now Republicans, who havent won an office decided by statewide vote in nearly a decade, are reduced to blocking and tackling, reacting rather than acting; their remaining strength somewhat magnified by hyper-partisan gerrymandering. Their diminished numbers most of the House seats still held by Republicans are in Trump-friendly territory are, however, offset by a knowledge advantage. Republicans have controlled the General Assembly for almost 20 years, with the Senate slipping back to the Democrats for seven, from 2007 to 2014. Republicans have had ample time to master the rules, massage the system to their advantage and do to Democrats what Democrats did to them for a century: stiff them. One of Coxs early moves this year is a reminder that Republicans have learned much since becoming the majority. Just ahead of Northams swearing-in, Cox because its among a speakers virtually unchallenged powers steered to the Rules Committee that he leads nearly a dozen prized Democratic bills, including the bump-stock ban, whose chief sponsor in the House is Alexandria Democrat Mark Levine. That bill was recently released by Cox to the committee that handles firearms legislation and whose members include ardent pro-gun Republicans. But in parking high-value Democratic legislation in the Rules Committee, ordinarily a traffic cop that handles procedural matters, Cox is arousing suspicions within the minority that hes taking hostages, attempting to string out the presumed defeat of opposition-party bills for dramatic effect with the Republican rank-and-file. Republicans were at their theatrical best, lamenting Northams message to the legislature 2 days into his term as a partisan screed that might have been delivered by McAuliffe. Among the Republicans complaints: that the understated Northam, when he wasnt in their face over abortion, guns and Medicaid, failed to give them credit for such initiatives as workforce development. Its been pushed by Republicans like Sen. Frank Ruff of Mecklenburg, a Southside county stung by the sudden contraction of one of the regions traditional industries, tobacco. But Northam was only doing what Republicans have done: marking his territory. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has granted a request by the Dominion Energy-led Atlantic Coast Pipeline to begin cutting down trees along parts of the 600-mile pipeline route in West Virginia and Central Virginia, despite the fact that the project still lacks some regulatory approvals. In a letter Friday, Dave Swearingen, a FERC official, gave the green light to cutting down the trees using handheld equipment such as chainsaws. The approval is limited to spots where easements have been obtained for land access, where surveys have been completed and where no additional state or local permits are required for the activity. Contractors may only cross wetlands and water bodies on foot. Trees and vegetation may be felled at or above ground level and must use methods that will not rut soils or damage root systems and be felled in a way that avoids obstruction of flow, rutting, and sedimentation of wetlands and water bodies, the order says. Felled trees and woody and other vegetation debris shall be left in place until further authorization for any earth-disturbing activities is granted by the FERC. Workers will be required to inspect the construction area for raptor nests before cutting down trees between Jan. 1 and March 31 and must create a 100-foot no-activity buffer until the nest is no longer active if they find one. Dominion is also required to notify state agencies, including the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, before tree-cutting starts, and maintain a 50-foot buffer between water body and wetland areas and where the cutting will happen. Aaron Ruby, a Dominion spokesman, said the tree felling will take place only in spots where construction is expected this year. In Virginia, those include portions of the route in Bath, Augusta, Nelson, Buckingham, Cumberland, Prince Edward, Nottoway and Southampton counties and the cities of Suffolk and Chesapeake. In West Virginia, they include Lewis, Upshur, Randolph and Pocahontas counties. Activity in North Carolina will begin once we receive remaining state agency approvals, Ruby said, adding that tree-felling will continue until the end of March. More than a dozen state and federal agencies have thoroughly reviewed the project and left no stone unturned. We are now days away from beginning pre-construction work that will pave the way for full construction in the spring and completion of the project in late 2019. In Virginia and North Carolina, the project still lacks effective water quality certifications, state determinations under the federal Clean Water Act that ensure construction, including the attendant blasting, drilling, ridgetop leveling and tree clearing, wont hurt water quality by dislodging sediment and other potential pollution. In an email submitted with Dominions request to begin cutting down trees, James Golden, the Virginia DEQs director of operations, wrote that the felling of trees with chainsaws does not constitute a man-made change to the land surface and therefore does not meet the definition of land disturbance under Virginia law. And while Virginia has pushed what critics contend is a deficient approval process for the project, North Carolina has sent Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a venture that also includes Duke Energy, Southern Company Gas and Piedmont Natural Gas, numerous requests for more information on its stormwater, erosion and sediment control and plans. North Carolina is digging into the details of this permit in a way that we havent seen at other agencies, said Greg Buppert, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center in Charlottesville. In a controversial decision last month, the Virginia State Water Control Board voted 4-3 to approve a water quality certification for the project, though it delayed the effective date until the DEQ has approved outstanding erosion and sediment control plans and presents a report to the board, which may consider further action on the certification at that point. Legal challenges have been filed in federal court contesting the boards certification decision on both the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline, planned to carve through Western Virginia localities, including Giles, Montgomery, Roanoke, Franklin and Pittsylvania counties. Both projects have faced major opposition over the potential environmental damage construction could do, the use of eminent domain to seize land, the potential risks of living next to the high-pressure natural gas pipelines and the extra costs opponents contend the Atlantic Coast Pipeline will impose on captive ratepayers, among other objections. The Virginia DEQ has faced blistering criticism from environmental organizations for how it has handled the pipelines. Among the asserted shortcomings: deferring to a less rigorous U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit for the hundreds of places where the pipelines will actually cross waterways; pulling the review of crucial erosion, sediment and stormwater control plans out of the water quality evaluation; and letting what it later called a misunderstanding on how it would handle the water permitting for the projects linger in public for seven weeks before being forced by reporters to correct the record. The Virginia State Water Control Board had a clear duty to look at all potential impacts to state waters from the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and make sure our water quality standards are upheld. Instead, the board went along with the DEQs approach of arbitrarily segmenting its review and shirking its legal duties, said David Sligh, conservation director of Wild Virginia. This approach was clearly constructed by DEQ to avoid the conclusion that would come from a scientifically valid assessment that this project cannot be built as proposed in a way that protects our waters and our communities. Last week, environmental groups also asked new Gov. Ralph Northam to intervene. Northam said during the campaign that he wanted the pipelines held to strict, science-based environmental standards. The Department of Environmental Quality has taken or failed to take actions very recently that betray the principles youve espoused, the clearly-expressed intentions and expectations of the State Water Control Board and the rights and interests of the people of Virginia, says the letter from the Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition that opposes the projects. We ask you to order responsible officials in your administration to correct these failures and improper actions immediately. Timing is vital. Degradation of our waters could be imminent if you fail to act and act quickly. The letter urges Northams administration to review water body crossings covered by the Army Corps permit, prohibit construction activities unless all requirements of the water quality certifications are met and provide for increased public review and comment before yet-to-be approved stormwater, sediment and erosion control plans are endorsed by the DEQ, among other actions. Asked Wednesday whether Northam might chart a different course than former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, an enthusiastic booster for the projects, Matt Strickler, Northams secretary of natural resources, said the new administration stands by the water boards decision on the projects. I know that DEQ is working through it right now. We havent gotten the recommendation from them yet or seen any outcome but when we do, well take a look, Strickler said. DEQ Director David Paylor said the agency is still receiving plans from both pipeline developers. Both of them are still ongoing. Our staff are still looking at them. If youre looking for a time-frame projection I dont have one, Paylor said. Buppert, the SELC attorney, said the Northam administration should tell Dominion and FERC that tree cutting cant begin until the pipelines water quality certification is effective. FERCs apparent belief that felling trees in a swath as wide as an interstate highway across steep mountains will not have any impact on water quality is, frankly, absurd, Buppert said. Thats why the state created a permit for the upland activities associated with pipeline construction. Scott Olson/Getty Images (WASHINGTON) -- One year after exchanging pleasantries with a newly inaugurated President Donald Trump and ascending onto Marine One for the final time, former President Barack Obama has remained a central figure across the United States and global political scene. As his successor has seemed to systematically target key components of his legacy, Obama has been strategic, according to current and former aides, in choosing when and how to speak out. He has watched the year's political developments closely from Chicago and his home in Washington, D.C., which sits just miles up the road from the White House. He has made global excursions to mentor young adults, delivered paid and unpaid speeches, and hunkered down to write his post-presidency book, while coordinating the operations of his foundation and presidential library. The Obamas have spent much time in Chicago where the foundation is located, spending time nurturing young politicians and teaching the importance of civic engagement. He has rolled up his sleeves and really worked hard to make sure [the foundation] reflects his values and his priorities, former White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett told ABC News. Civic engagement -- he thinks it's so incredibly important for young people to recognize their responsibilities as citizens and that that should begin at a young age because it should be a lifelong passion. And so anything he can do to mobilize that effort is important. Despite watching his signature achievements unravel, Obama has been described as upbeat and optimistic. But that positivity doesnt come without some anxiety. Of course it causes anxiety, just like it does for so many people, Jarrett told ABC News. Hes never looked at it from the perspective of him -- his legacy -- hes looked at it from the perspective of the people whose lives he tried to improve. So if he thinks that people will lose health care or that young DACA folks will be at risk and potentially lose their status, sure, thats extraordinarily and profoundly troubling to him. Just two days before the transfer of power was carried out on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, Obama outlined to reporters in his final news conference the actions a Trump administration could take that might spur him to break with the precedent of polite silence that previous presidents typically extended to their successors. Theres a difference between that normal functioning of politics and certain issues or certain moments where I think our core values may be at stake, Obama said. In a years span, Obama spoke out four separate times with vocal objection to a policy being pursued by President Trump and the GOP-led Congress, including twice regarding the Republicans failed effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, President Trumps announcement of U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and the administrations rescission of legal protections for nearly 800,000 "DREAMers." But Obama was notably restrained in going after Trump directly regarding several other highly controversial moments in his first year, including the botched rollout of his first travel ban, his response to the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville and his accusation that Obama illegally wiretapped him during the election. I think you saw him kind of do that deftly and strategically this past year, one aide said. When it comes especially to the presidents political involvement but certainly all of this other stuff, hes keenly aware that theres nothing more that President Trump would like than to make Obama his foil. Matthew Dallek, a political historian and associate professor at George Washington Universitys Graduate School of Political Management, pointed out that Obama wasnt necessarily alone in breaking with the quiet deference that presidential successors typically extend to the acting president. In October, former President George W. Bush delivered a rare public speech in New York City in which he didnt call Trump out by name, but seemed to make multiple references to his effect on American political discourse. Bigotry seems emboldened. Our politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication, Bush said. Weve seen nationalism distorted into nativism. Dallek said what Bush said then "may have been harsher than anything he said about Barack Obama during the eight years of his presidency." I think its a bit unusual, but I think the sense is among not just Barack Obama that it is incumbent upon them to speak out against Trump when they think its appropriate. Notably, Trump and Obama have not spoken since Inauguration Day, a sharp contrast from past presidents who have at times sought counsel from their predecessors. Given that Trump has worked to reverse many Obama-era policies, a person close to Obama said it wouldnt have seemed likely that Trump would have relied on his predecessor for any advice beyond their initial hour-and-a-half meeting together in the Oval Office in November 2016. Obama, however, is ready and willing to provide his counsel should Trump wish to reach out, the person said. Trump confidant and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich doesnt anticipate either side mending fences anytime soon. Trump can be friendly toward anyone, but I doubt if he thinks much about relating to Obama, Gingrich told ABC News. Why would Trump ask advice from someone he thinks is wrong on virtually every issue? That's a stark contrast to Vice President Mike Pence, who has been in regular communication with his predecessors. He's met in person many times with Dan Quayle and Dick Cheney, and spoke with Joe Biden by phone multiple times this past year, seeking counsel primarily before foreign trips and meetings with world leaders, according to a person familiar with the communications. Though its unlikely the political animosity between Trump and Obama will dampen with the 2018 midterms fast approaching. Following his involvement in multiple special elections during 2017, an aide to Obama said he plans to continue assisting Democrats up and down the ticket, akin to his involvement in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races and his robo-call for Democrat Doug Jones in the Alabama special election. I do think its definitely fair to say that way you saw him approach 2017 will be similar in the way that he will do it strategically. He will try to stay above the fray, the aide said, adding that there is a "recognition that you wouldnt want to have him out there trying to rally the troops on our side, especially when hes been very clear he cant be the resistance leader anymore. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. Report: 9 Saudi military vehicles destroyed in ground attacks over Thursday SANAA, Jan 19 (San) The army and popular forces have launched ground attacks on Saudi soldiers and mercenaries' gatherings, destroying nine military vehicles, firing ballistic missile on Najran Air Defense Camp over the past 24 hours, military officials told Saba. A short-range ballistic missile was fired on Saudi air defense camp in border province of Najran, causing heavy losses at the air defense camp. Also in Najran, the army and committees numbers of Katyusha rockets on Saudi soldiers' gatherings behind Multaqa camp, pick-up vehicle loaded with Saudi-paid mercenaries was destroyed with guided rocket in front of Khadhra crossing, and artillery force fired Saudi soldiers' gatherings in Shurfa and Shabaka sites and in Nahuqa censorship. In border province of Jizan, artillery shelling targeted Saudi army's fortifications in Ghawia hill north of Maaen valley, and in Qewa village. The Saudi soldiers' artillery sites were fired in Mostahdath-Qazea camp, a pick-up vehicle was burned in Abidia site, while four Saudi soldiers were sniped behind and south of Hamedha village and in Qewa village. In Central province of Taiz, artillery shelling waged on mercenaries' gatherings in Haifan district, and in east of Hamili area of Moazea district, inflicted the enemy huge casualties. The mercenaries leader Hakam Khamis Abu-Okasha with two of his comrades were killed north of Yakhtel in Makha district, and two mercenaries were shot dead in Osaivera area. In Nehm district, some 50 km north of the capital Sanaa, two of mercenaries were gunned down in Manara area, while artillery shelling fired their gathering at the same area. In southeastern province of Bayda, the army and committees carried out an ambush in Zaher district, causing the deaths and injuries in their ranks. In northern province of Jawf, numbers of Katyusha rockets targeted mercenaries' gatherings in Utemah desert, while artillery shelling waged on others gatherings in Harab valley of Kub-washaaf district. In southern province of Dhalee, the army and committees fired numbers of Katyusha rockets on mercenaries' gatherings in Sadrain camp, causing heavy casualties. In Hajjah province, some 123 km northwest of the capital Sanaa. heroes of the army and popular forces foiled Saudi-paid aggression mercenaries attempt to infiltrate towards desert of Midi which lasted more than 5 hours, coincided with the more than 14 air strikes. And Seven military vehicles were smashed, and store weapons was burned during the infiltration attempt, inflicted the enemy huge casualties. Sameera H.-Zak Saba Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter Whatsapp Whatsapp Telegram Telegram Email Email Print Print [20/January/2018] President meets with Speaker of Parliament SANA'A, Jan. 20 (Saba) President of the Supreme Political Council Saleh al-Sammad met on Saturday with Parliaments Speaker Yahya al-Ra'ei. The meeting discussed the parliaments plans and programs during 2018 and its legislative functions in accordance with the regulations as well as the roles entrusted to the presidency of the parliament. The meeting reviewed the developments on the national, regional and international levels and the efforts exerted by the parliament to strengthen its parliamentary relations with fraternal and friendly parliaments and regional and international parliamentary associations. The meeting also dealt with the national roles of parliamentarians during the current stage and their efforts to strengthen cohesion, stand united against the aggression and provide fronts with men, money and gear to defend the country's sovereignty, unity, security and stability. The president emphasized the important roles of the parliaments presidency, committees and parliamentary blocs representatives in inspecting citizens conditions and needs in the constituencies. Al-Sammad stressed the need to develop policies aiming at creating a general opinion that interacts with the parliaments legislative and supervisory role, as well as, calling on its members to play their role entrusted to them in light of the difficult and extraordinary circumstances experienced by the country as a result of the continuing aggression and unjust blockade. BA Saba Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter Whatsapp Whatsapp Telegram Telegram Email Email Print Print [20/January/2018] The world faces the prospect of more tension with China over trade, security and human rights after Xi Jinping awarded himself another five-year term as leader of the ruling Communist Party and called for self-reliance in technology, a stronger military and protection of core interests abroad. At a party congress, Xi gave no sign of plans to change the "zero-COVID strategy that has frustrated Chinas public and disrupted business and trade. He called for faster military development and announced no change in policies that strain relations with Washington and Asian neighbors. Xi is tightening control at home and trying to use Chinas economic heft to increase its influence abroad. Report: Army, committee carry out ground attacks against Saudi soldiers, mercenaries over Friday SANAA, Jan 20 (Saba) The army and popular forces have carried out a series of ground operations on the Saudi-led aggression coalition forces over Friday, according to military reports combined by Saba on Saturday. In Najran border province, army artillery shelling targeted gatherings of Saudi-paid mercenaries off Khadhra crossing. Also in Najran, two Saudi soldiers were shot dead in Zur censorship, Saudi soldiers gathering were shelled by army artillery in Nahuqa site. Saudi-paid mercenaries were killed and injured in army missile and artillery shelling on their gatherings off Aleeb mountains, and east of Faras heights of Ajasher, and three Saudi soldiers were sniped in Sudais site in Najraan In Jizan border province, 11 Saudi soldiers were shot down behind Hamedhah and Shabaka site, and one on Faridhah site, while army artillery shelling targeted Saudi soldiers gatherings in villages of Sawdah and Bajl and in Laft-Abadiah, causing direct causalities. In Saudi border province of Asir, a Saudi soldier was gunned down in Majaza. In Hajjah province, some 123 northwest of the capital Sanaa, fresh Saudi-paid mercenaries infiltration attempt toward north desert of Medi was aborted, inflicted them huge causalities, most of the casualties were Sudanese mercenaries. In Central province of Taiz, Saudi- allied militant was killed in Hanjer of palace. While a pick-up vehicle loaded with Saudi- paid mercenaries was bombed by an explosive device east of Dhubab district, killing all its crew. Also in Taiz, Saudi-paid mercenaries were inflicted heavy causalities when the army attacks by artillery on their gatherings in Hareqa, Samin hill, and mountainous series east of Dhubab. An infiltration attempt of Saudi-paid mercenaries into north Yakhtel was foiled, destroying three armored vehicles and two pick-up vehicles, causing dozens of casualties in Taiz. In southern province of Lahj, artillery shelling fired on Saudi-paid mercenaries in Sawda hill east of Kahbub. In Marib province, three Saudi-paid mercenaries were sniped in Serwah district. In Bayda province, two infiltration attempts of Saudi-paid mercenaries were aborted in Nadea triangle and in Shab-Oshomah, then the army besieged the mercenaries during their infiltration attempts, causing number of dead and wounded in their ranks, including leaders as commander of Saudi mercenaris Saleh al-Dharibi. Also in Bayda, the army and popular forces attacked on Saudi-paid mercenaries's sites in Shab-Saheehain, causing heavy causalities. Sameera H-Zak Saba Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter Whatsapp Whatsapp Telegram Telegram Email Email Print Print [20/January/2018] MATTOON -- The total calls for service to the Mattoon Police Department last year dropped by 13.8 percent to 32,258 after increasing steadily in previous years. Records kept by the police department show that calls for service totaled 31,011 in 2014, 34,309 in 2015, and 37,426 in 2016. Police Chief Jason Taylor said he is not certain why the total calls for service decreased in 2017, but said the 32,258 total calls figure is still comparable to figures from previous years. "Activity seems to float up and down, but in general has remained between 30-35,000 calls for the last few years. A decade ago, I think we ran in the 25-30,000 range," Taylor said of total calls for service. Taylor, who joined the department in 1997, was promoted from deputy chief to chief late last year following the retirement of Jeff Branson from the chief's post. Taylor said fluctuations in other figures that the police department tracks each year remained relatively normal from 2016 to 2017. The number of recorded thefts decreased from 984 to 932, while the number of assault/batteries increased from 157 to 208 and the number of burglaries increased from 182 to 200. There was one homicide in 2016, and there were none in 2017. While total calls for service have mostly increased over time, Taylor said the number of officers in Mattoon's police force has decreased from 42 a decade ago to 38 now due to the city cutting costs to offset increasingly tight budgets. Taylor said Mattoon is still a peaceful community and the police department has adequate resources to complete its duties. However, he said the department in recent years occasionally has gotten close to the point that it needed to expand its number of officers. He noted that the police union asked the city last year to consider increasing the number of officers on the night shift from four to five to handle the call load. "I'm a strong advocate of lean government and I don't want to do it. I don't feel the need right now to expand, but I think there may be a time when we are going to have to add officers," Taylor said."We are now to the point that we can't reduce any more without cutting services." Mattoon is no different than other comparable communities in Central Illinois, Taylor said. Police academies in the region have been fully enrolled with new trainees as various law enforcement organizations increase their staffing levels to meet growing needs, he said. One area where the police department has added to its staff size recently is the appointment of a second school resource officer and the hiring of a new officer to take this officer's place on the regular patrol force. The school resource officers work on the Mattoon school district's campuses and are funded by the district. The district and the police department moved forward with the creation of a second school resource officer position following the Sept. 20 shooting in the Mattoon High School cafeteria. One student was wounded in the shooting and has since returned to school. The shooter, a high school student, was subdued by a teacher and a school resource officer, and was subsequently charged with aggravated battery with a firearm. Taylor said the new school resource officer, Shane West, recently started working part time in his new role and will be on school campuses full time later this semester. He will join veteran school resource officer Kasey Alexander in working in this role for the district. In other matters, the police department's patrol unit made 1,109 arrests and 3,803 traffic stops in 2017. These stops resulted in 1,527 citations and 2,456 warnings. The department's fleet logged 266,405 miles driven and 26,616 gallons of fuel used. The department's public nuisance program issues 954 notices to abate and reported that 858 properties were cleared of nuisances, such as litter and overgrown grass. The police department's detective unit handled 508 investigations in 2017, ranging from two death investigations to 181 felony property investigations that included burglaries and thefts. The death investigations involved a suicide in one case and a drug overdose in the other. The department conduced 293 forensic examinations of electronic devices, such as computers and smart phones. A Class 12 student allegedly shot dead the principal of his school in Haryana's Yamunanagar on Saturday, police said. The victim, Rita Chhabra, was sitting in her office when the alleged assailant came and opened fire on her from close range from his weapon. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she died. The student, police sources said, was upset over being rusticated from the school. The accused, who was overpowered by school staff, was handed over to the police and was being questioned. Yamunanagar is around 100 km from here. A court here on Saturday send six men to the gallows in the honour killings of three Dalit youths in Ahmednagar district five years ago. On January 15, Nashik District and Sessions Court Judge Rajendrakumar R. Vaishnav pronounced six of the seven accused guilty for the brutal murder of Sachin S. Gharu and two others on January 1, 2013. Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said the convicts have also been ordered to pay a fine of Rs 20,000 each and directed the government to compensate the victims' families. Some of the compensation has already been paid. Those who have been awarded the capital punishment include: Popat V. Darandale, Ganesh P. Darandale, Prakash V. Darandale, Ramesh V. Darandale, Ashok S. Navgire and Sandeep M. Kurhe. Gharu, 24, had fallen in love with an upper caste Maratha girl of the Darandale family from Sonai village. The lovers planned to marry against her family's wishes. The convicts include the girl's father, Popat V. Darandale, her brother Ganesh, other relatives and friends of the family. All six would be hanged for various crimes including murder, criminal conspiracy, etc. One of the co-accused in the case Ashok R. Phalke was acquitted for lack of sufficient evidence, which was handed over to the state CID by the then state Home Minister, the late R.R. Patil. Besides Gharu, his friends Sandeep Thanvar, 25, and Rahul Kandhare, 20, were also killed and their bodies disposed off. Gharu, Thanvar and Kandhare, who belonged to the Mehtar caste, worked as conservancy staffers in Trimurti Pawan Pratisthan's High School and Junior College, in Newasa, around 30 km from Sonai, the investigation report said. On learning of the love-affair of the girl, who was a student, with a lower-caste boy, her family called the three Dalit youths to their home on New Year, ostensibly to clean their septic tank. First the girl's family eliminated Gharu. They chopped his head and limbs off the body with a sickle and dumped the pieces inside the septic tank. Then they attacked Thanvar and Kandhare with spades. They took their bodies outside the village where they were buried in a dry well. After the three suddenly "disappeared", on the basis of complaints registered by their families, the police launched a search and finally recovered Gharu's rotting body pieces from the septic tank after more than 24 hours, and the remains of the other two after 72 hours. A total of 54 witnesses were examined during the trial, lasting nearly five years in one of the most high-profile cases of honour killings in Maharashtra. While Nikam argued that it was "a rarest of rare cases as it was a very gory and gruesome crime and with larger ramifications for society", defence lawyer S.S. Adas pleaded for leniency on grounds that while one accused (Ganesh P. Darandale) was very young, the others were of advanced age. Pronouncing the verdict, Judge Vaishnav observed that the manner in which the convicts had killed the three victims, "they had forgotten to understand the feelings of others". "Such people have no right to live in society and hence hanging them till death is the only way to save the society," Judge Vaishnav ruled. Making a forceful argument for death sentence for all the convicts, Nikam said that the "girl's family, which opposed the inter-caste affair hatched a conspiracy and brutally killed the three Dalit youths". "The judgement by the court is very important. The prosecution argued the entire case based on circumstantial evidence since there were no eyewitnesses. Yet, we managed to link the sequence of events," said Nikam. The US government began shutting down on Saturday for the first time in more than four years after Senate Democrats blocked consideration of a stopgap spending measure to keep the government operating. The shutdown, which comes on the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration, set off a new round of partisan disagreements and posed risks for both parties, the New York Times reported. This is the first modern government shutdown with Congress and the White House controlled by the same party and it came after a fruitless last-minute negotiating session at the White House between Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader. Trump's White House however immediately blamed Democrats for the shutdown. "Tonight, they put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children and our country's ability to serve all Americans," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement on Friday moments before midnight. Democrats are demanding a budget deal should include protections for young immigrants known as "Dreamers" brought to US as children, yet Republicans have shown no signs of including a "Dreamers" protection in the bill. "We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands," Sanders said. Trump and his representatives had been labelling the event the "Schumer shutdown" after Schumer, but the New York Democrat was quick to call it "the Trump shutdown". "It's almost as if you were rooting for a shutdown," Schumer said from the Senate floor. "And now we will have one. And the blame should crash entirely on President Trump's shoulders," he added. Sixty votes were needed to advance the bill to fund the government until February 16. Republicans only control 51 seats, so GOP leaders needed Democratic votes to cross that threshold. It failed 50-49. The budget proposal presented by the Republicans on Friday night got more votes in favour (50) than against (48), but they were insufficient to approve funds. Four Republicans voted against the bill while five Democrats broke rank to support it. Earlier on Thursday night, the House of Representatives voted 230-197 to extend funding until February. Officials said that now over one million active-duty military personnel will serve with no lapse, but could not be paid until the shutdown ends. Agencies like the Energy Department that have funding that is not subject to annual appropriations can use that money to stay open, the officials said. Entitlements such as Social Security that are automatically funded can continue without disruption. Officials said Trump may travel on Air Force One to carry out his constitutional responsibilities, including a planned trip next week to Davos, Switzerland -- although it was unclear whether trips to Mar-a-Lago -- his exclusive club in Florida would fall into that category. Trump cancelled his plans to travel to his resort due to the crisis, a White House official said. On Saturday, the President wrote on Twitter: "Not looking good for our great military or safety and security on the very dangerous southern border. Dems want a shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the tax cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy." The last US shutdown was in 2013 during the Barrack Obama administration. It lasted for 16 days when many federal employees were forced to take leave of absence. SHELBYVILLE -- As Central Illinois temperatures rise above freezing, organizers are looking forward to a walk tonight at Lake Shelbyville. The weather hasnt been too encouraging, but now were hoping lots of people will come out and enjoy what is a very unique experience, said Jerry Yockey, one of the organizers of the General Dacey Trail Candlelight Walk. Now in its eighth year, the 6 to 8 p.m. walk features 2 miles of luminary lighted trails and a bonfire with hot chocolate and hot cider. Yockey said fellow organizer Bob Niestradt has made 150 luminaries that will hang in the trees along with more than 500 along the paths. More than 300 people, including walkers with canes and infants in strollers, are expected for this years event. Theres really nothing like it, Yockey said. The trails have a very different look at night -- theres a quiet you dont find during the day and theres a chance to see wildlife along with seeing the lake at night. Yockey said the bonfire gathering brings visitors from around Central Illinois together. We get walkers from the Decatur area, from Mattoon and even further away, he said. "People are friendly and seem to really enjoy getting to visit. Shelbyville nurse Rebecca Dove has been bringing her four children, ages 7 through 20, to the walk since the beginning. We do love the candlelight walk on the trails," she said. My kids love it best when there is snow. Its so pretty. The sense of community around the bonfire is a great benefit in a small town. It always seems like family. Its a chance to see many friends in the middle of winter when its more difficult to see them as often. Dove said the walk is always worth it, even when she had a stroller in the snow. Its something you dont want to miss, she said. Living without water is like a man walking into a battlefield without a weapon. So says Lafua Sa, 68, of Tanumapua. According to the father of five, having no water has become one of the biggest struggles he battles everyday. His children have to walk all the way to their aunts house at Tapatapao to fetch buckets of water for their family. Every single day. Having only one person who works, his wife, does not provide enough money for their family. My wife gets paid $170 every week from her job, but this money is not enough for the seven of us at home since we need to budget that money wisely until the next pay day, he said. Mr. Sa said the land they live on does not belong to them, its owned by his wifes boss and they look after it. We have been living here for 10 years now; we are the ones who look after the plantation and the land. Our water became disconnected a few years ago when the Government created the meter, but it was free before that. It is not just the lack of water that is troubling him. The looming school term is a headache. Thats another problem its the children going back to school, he said. Three of them attend Aleisa Primary School. My other daughter will be starting school and there is a registration fee, but when I look at that, it is no different from paying the school fees because we are still giving money to the school. And it doesnt stop there. There are so many school activities such as the parents bingo. They say its for a fundraising trying to pay off the school loan that they have, but Im not sure about this year because all these things happened last year. He even shared about the daily experiences that he undergoes due to the cost of living in Samoa today. Life nowadays in Samoa is costly because even a $100 isnt enough, you may have spent it all on doing the shopping for groceries, but you wouldnt be getting everything on your list because your money will be finished after buying three things. The Samoa Returnees Charitable Trust and Alternatives to Violence Program Whakatane / Bay of Plenty, will be conducting Training of Trainers at the Millennia Hotel conference room (second storey), from Monday 22 - Tuesday 30 January. The aim of the training will be to develop a pool of resource people (with priority placed on returnees) to become A.V.P. facilitators, who will then be able to train and raise awareness in local communities. Training will consist of delivering all three standard courses of the Alternatives to Violence Programme. The Alternatives to Violence Program began in Greenhaven Prison, New York in 1975. A group of prisoners invited Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) to assist them in developing a programme with the objective of showing young inmates a different direction than the one that led them to prison. The first workshops held at Greenhaven were an immediate success and the programme quickly spread to other prisons in the U.S.A. and out into their communities. Today, A.V.P. is running workshops in prisons, schools and communities in more than 50 countries including Canada, Ireland, England, Scotland, Sweden, Germany, Hungary, Russia, South Africa, Nigeria, Costa Rica, South America, Aotearoa, Tonga, Hong Kong, Israel and Jordan. A.V.P. has been active in the New Zealand for the last 19 years. Dr. Tafa Esther Cowley conducted the first A.V.P. programme in a NZ prison at Paremoremo High Security Prison about 30 years ago, and continues to conduct and train facilitators today in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. The workshops cover Self Esteem, Communication Skills, Co-operation, Conflict Resolution Skills, Community Building Trust. Workshops are open to anyone wanting to make positive changes around dealing with conflict in their lives. Philosophy How does A.V.P. work? A..VP is based on several insights. Within each of us, there is a power for good and a potential to transform conflict In any situation, there are non-violent alternatives to violent responses to conflict. Every culture has its own range of nonviolent alternatives to violence in response to conflict. Each of us has the option to choose our response to each experience of conflict. The key features of A.V.P. workshops are Voluntarism no one participates on a mandated basis, and the facilitators are unpaid volunteers Teamwork there is always a team of several facilitators of diverse background and life experience, with shared leadership and no guru Diversity the participants come from a range of ages, cultures, walks of life, and interests, and bring a wealth of life experience to the workshop. A safe learning environment is maintained by group agreement: - no put-downs - affirm oneself and others - listen and dont interrupt - respect confidentiality - volunteer oneself only, speak from the I - everyone has the right to pass if that is the right thing for them at that time - Reliance on Transforming Power - Experiential rather than conceptual focus - A holistic focus, recognising the spiritual dimension of the person, rather than a behavioristic or rigidly rule-governed focus - Building community is an integral part of the workshop process - Fun and laughter is an integral part of the workshop process - A varied pace, generally brisk, but with time for reflection - Feedback throughout the workshop, with session evaluation and activity debriefing. HAVING A.V.P. IN SAMOA After having listened to the testimonies of several returnees, the S.R.C.T. has recognised A.V.P as having played a crucial role in their individual paths to recovery and rehabilitation. For one such returnee, Ueni Fonoti, the A.V.P. has been attributed with completely transforming his life, to the extent that he became involved as an AVP facilitator while incarcerated. Upon his return to Samoa in mid-2017, Wayne has worked closely with the S.R.C.T. to explore possibility of establishing an A.V.P. branch in Samoa, to be implemented by the returnee community in partnership with the S.R.C.T. and stakeholders. Compatibility: There is much confidence in A.V.Ps ability to harness the unique capabilities and experiences of returnees, by giving them a venue for social interaction and skills development. Such a venue will help to instil within the returnees the sense of ownership and belonging that is presently void. The end result is the empowerment of the returnees. Empowerment will help them to overcome the negative effects of deportation, particularly the evasion of at risk situations. A platform to empower others. Familiarising returnees with the AVP program will enable them to empower others. To date the SRCT and returnees continue to implement violence prevention programs for school students and prisoners. However SRCT believes that the returnees are obligated to reach out to as many vulnerable populations as they can, especially those in domestic settings, those struggling with the same hardships, or who have come into contact with the law. The escalating level of violence in Samoa makes it all the more imperative that the returnees make a positive social contribution, by using their skills and experiences to deter socially harmful behaviour within others. Samoa Victim Support Group estimates that violence levels have increased by an average 43% since 2011. The Samoa Law Reform Commission notes that the role of alcohol and stress as contributing factors, continues to increase each year, accounting for 75% of all violence / assault cases reported in 2014. The main instigators of violence continue to be males. The returnees possess an edge that not only makes them appropriately positioned to deliver messages of violence prevention, social responsibility etc, but ensures that their outreach will have a resounding impact. This edge is derived from several factors: First-hand knowledge and experience borne out of direct exposure to violence, vice and addiction. A large portion of the message that returnees have delivered to the communities so far has been based on pure testimony. Most violence prevention services / counselling / awareness programs in Samoa are directed by females, or have predominantly female staff and training personnel. It follows that violence prevention has been for the most part from the perspective of the victim- also predominantly female and looking at how to provide better victim support. Whether the alignment between this set up and the traditional / cultural allocation of gender roles in Samoa (in which women were charged primarily with the welfare of women and children) is deliberate or coincidental, the fact remains that although men are the main perpetrators of violence, they are for the most part absent in the fight against violence prevention. As males themselves, whove been through crime, violence and dysfunction, rehabilitation and rebuilding, and who have a sound understanding of how males respond to and deal with all these areas, we believe that the returnees have tremendous leverage to mobilise men in Samoa, in the fight against violence and crime. Our vision is for AVP to be established in Samoa not only for the returnees, but to be managed by the returnees. We see the potential of AVP in bringing about positive and sustainable change for the returnee community, by helping to mitigate the challenges of social disconnectedness and isolation. These are challenges brought on by stigma, poor language / cultural bearings and lack of familiarity, and which often lead many returnees back to harmful habits. Through the assistance of the AVP, we hope that the returnees will be able to develop a stronger sense of ownership, by having a program that they can latch on to, and that will deflect them from the cycle of recidivism. Also, by inviting local stakeholders to work cooperatively with S.R.C.T. on realising A.V.P, S.R.C.T. will be more able to build A.V.P. as a venue for sectoral collaboration, to adapt A.V.P. where necessary to the local context, and to ensure that it builds off existing strengths and resources. These considerations will ensure that A.V.P. becomes both a unique program, as well as a supportive programme, that recognises the progress that has already been made by other providers at ground level, and is able to nurture and complement that progress. While life is not easy, complaining about it wont be able to help you out. This is the belief of a father of three, Iosefa Fonotoe. The 46-year-old hails from the village of Luatuanuu. Mr. Fonotoe said the only good way to tackle this hard life is through hard work. Life here in Samoa today is really expensive and our my son is the only one who works in my family, he said. My son is works at the hospital and he helps me support and provide for our family. The life these days is hard, if we dont work, we will suffer and not able to feed our children. Mr. Fonotoe was on his way to sell his pawpaw when the Village Voice team met up him yesterday afternoon. Mr. Fonotoe said selling pawpaw on their villages roadside is what he does for a living to help his family. I have been doing this for a year now and this is something that contributes to the income our family earns. I usually earn $80 per week and to me that is enough for sugar, salt, or even the bread for the kids. Life today is really hard and we have to make sure that we have something to work on to tackle lifes struggles. We should also know that we Samoans are known of the way we support our families in terms of family obligations, and that is where our money goes most of the time. We dont have to complain about these stuff because our parents came through it and they moved pass it. Mr. Fonotoe added life will not be a smooth ride until the end. There will always be hard times and that will test us on how hard can we work to provide for our kids and families. There will be times that we have to struggle so that we can learn from it. But then we dont have to complain about it instead we should start working and make something good you believe it can help you and your family. Re: Samoas $140m international gateway How many years or generations before we get a return in investment? If 3 planes still arrive a day at Faleolo Airport for the next 5 years then this new face-lift construction was a massive loss making operation. I am hoping that Samoa will receive 300 passengers per hour because at the moment it is less than 30 passengers per hour (30x24=720 a day) which is only 10% capacity. More planes arriving should be the goal at whatever cost. Telling Virgin Airlines that they are not welcome to land on Faleolo Airport is the stupidest thing to do. You cant pick and choose when you are at begging level. S.S. The decision to remove Pepe Christian Fruean as the Chairman of the Electric Power Corporation (E.P.C.) has not yet been finalised. This is according to Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi. Contrary to a letter sent by Minister of E.P.C, Papaliitele Niko Lee Hang, informing Pepe that he is no longer the Chairman of E.P.C. Board, Tuilaepa said the matter is still under consideration. Minister Papaliis letter was leaked to the Sunday Samoan. Dated 4 January 2018, it reads: I had been instructed by the Honourable Prime Minister today to inform you about a change to your role as Chairman for the E.P.C. Board. You will now be transferred to join the Samoa Airways Board of Director as a member, as the Honourable Prime Minister and I strongly believe that your vast expertise in management, finance and economics is more relevant to our new Samoa Airways Company than E.P.C. Asked to elaborate on the decision, Prime Minister Tuilaepa said Pepe is in New Zealand and when he returns, they will discuss the matter. I have a note for a meeting (with him) upon his return, he said. Several attempts to contact Pepe for a comment have not been successful. On 22 December 2017, a letter from Tuilaepa, also leaked to the Sunday Samoan, was critical of the way Pepe has been running the Board at E.P.C. You are so busy that you have micromanaged the E.P.C, reads a translation of the Prime Ministers letter. The government could be sued for liability worth millions of dollars as a result of projects that have been stopped by the Board. The Prime Ministers letter does not detail what the projects are. But he did not mince words in his instructions to the Chairman. This is a directive now, he wrote. Bring all the matters to Cabinet who will make the final decision. Asked about the tone of his letter, Tuilaepa said the issue is an ongoing discussion. The matter is premature (and the leaking of the letter) has ruined the civility because we have not made a final decision yet." We have to discuss the matter internally. What has happened is that the governments process has been destroyed by the person who leaked the letter prior to the final decision." That is why I am cautious with the leaking of documents when we have not yet finalized the decision. Tuilaepa added that these matters are sensitive. He told the reporter, Remember when you came to ask me about the decision on the Head of State and I told you that the decision has not been finalized?" I was technically correct. Despite the fact that we already made the decision, its not official unless the motion is approved. The Prime Minister added that there are sensitive matters in terms of the governments decision and that is why we are cautious with the leaked documents." The end result only humiliates people, he said. Last week, E.P.C.'s General Manager, Tologata Tile Tuimaleali'ifano said he wasnt aware about the proposed change. He said they have not received an official word from Cabinet that the Chairman of the E.P.C. Board has been replaced. Our Chairman is overseas and we have not received any official word about that, Tologata said. As far as I know, Pepe is still the Chairman for E.P.C." As for the letters you had mentioned from the Minister and the Prime Minister that is between them. We have not been officially informed about any changes. Queried about projects Tuilaepa was referring to in his letter, Tologata declined to comment. I cannot comment on that again until we receive an official word about what is going on. Tologata also wondered how the letters were leaked to the Sunday Samoan. And how did you get your hands on those letters? For now I cannot comment until we receive an official word. The government has assured Samoans their travel plans to the United States should not be interrupted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Securitys (D.H.S.) decision to remove Samoa from the list of countries whose citizens are eligible for temporary work visas to the United States. The assurance was issued by the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Prime Minister and Cabinet, (M.P.M.C.), Agafili Tomaimano Shem Leo, in a statement issued by his office last night. Agafili, who is also the Chief Immigration Officer, referred to the comments made by the U.S. Charge DAffaires to Samoa, Antone Gruebel, about the issue, as further assurance that there is nothing to be alarmed about. When the news broke on Friday, Mr. Gruebel told the Samoa Observer the list is subject to an annual review. Samoa is currently listed as At Risk of Non-Compliance according to I.C.E's year-end assessment of foreign countries' cooperation in accepting back their nationals that have been ordered removed from the United States, he said. After an interagency review between the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, it was determined that Samoa was at risk of non-compliance, which affected eligibility for this visa program." This decision is subject to annual review and may be modified in the future. We look forward to working with the government of Samoa to address the concerns that resulted in this decision. We remain strong partners of Samoa and friends of the Samoan people. According to Agafili, the Samoan government had been kept abreast from the start by Foreign Affairs and Diplomatic officials in the New York about the matter. And government has never waivered its standing policy to maintain the mutual cooperation to work with the United States Government in all facets, Agafili said. The government through our Embassy in New York has been in discussion with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on the status and progress of returning Samoans who have been convicted of felony in the U.S. And we have been advised regularly. Agafili said the issue of Samoa accepting back nationals ordered removed from the United States is complicated. It is crucial to highlight the fact that most if not all of these Samoans left the islands when they were infants and since have limited or no contacts with their relatives in Samoa, Agafili said. Government policy requires all convicted deportees to tender to the Ministry a full criminal history, complete medical report, conditions of their people if they have been released on parole, and that they should have family contacts in Samoa before they can be issued with travel documents." The most challenging task is locating of their families in Samoa. They had lived the best of their lives in the U.S. and many do not have family relatives in Samoa anymore." We are a small country and we have to make sure that when these people are returned to Samoa, they will have families to return to. And if they have medical and parole conditions the relevant authorities should be advised well in advance." We are well aware of Samoa's obligations under international conventions and we are determined to uphold our collaborative partnership with the U.S." That is why since June 2017 seven Samoans have been returned to Samoa after assiduous efforts to locate their families and submission of their required documents." Like the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, our ultimate goal is the security and wellbeing of our people and this country. The events of the recent past involving those who have been returned to Samoa have proven that meticulousness is to be exercised at all times. We will continue to work closely with U.S. authorities to facilitate the pending cases at hand. In being removed from the list, Samoa joins Haiti and Belize. Published in a Federal Register Notice (F.R.N), the list of countries eligible for H-2A and H-2B visas - temporary or seasonal non-immigrant work visas for agricultural and non-agricultural work, respectively is updated yearly. The most recent register was released by D.H.S. on Wednesday. The decision to remove Haiti, Belize and Samoa from the H-2A & H-2B lists was made as a result of interagency coordination between D.H.S. and the Department of State," D.H.S. Spokesperson Katie Waldman told V.O.A. Creole. The announcement comes as the Trump administration battles allegations the president asked lawmakers why they would want people from Haiti, Africa and other shole countries coming into the United States, according to multiple sources either briefed on or familiar with the discussion. Trump has repeatedly denied making the comment and he praised the people of Haiti in an interview with Reuters. I love the people. Theres a tremendous warmth, Trump said. And theyre very hard-working people. Sooalo Tootooalii Roger Stanley, a strong pillar in the Samoa Faafafine Association, his family and church, has passed away. So'oalo died at the Motootua Hospital. The son of Niutea and Stanley of Siusega, Sooalo is a well-known leader in Samoa and the Pacific. Sooalo, the Founder and President of the Samoa Faafafine Association, will be sorely missed by many. Speaking fondly of Sooalo, S.F.A's Legal Counsel, Alex Sua said Roger advocated not just for the old faafafine, but also the young ones. In 2005, when I returned home from law school, Roger approached me about drafting a Constitution to have S.F.A. as a legal body, Sua said. I embraced the idea and our first visit was to the Prime Minister, and Roger did all the talking and I just sat idle." I was actually nervous, you know a young lawyer and I am about to meet the Prime Minister, yet Roger was so calm as if hes meeting another ordinary person." Our meeting with the Prime Minister was quite humorous and he accepted our proposal to be our Patron that was in 2005." The next year, we officially launched S.F.A. and the Prime Minister attended." The S.F.A. was Rogers project and 11 years later it is one of the most active associations in the country, said Sua. The S.F.A. Legal Counsel told the Sunday Samoan that back in those days, there was an unspeakable cultures that young faafafine do not congregate with the older faafafines. But Roger was very different, he managed to remove those barriers, the mindset of many of the older faafafine and literally opened the door for the young faafafine to meet, greet and brainstorm on certain things." Roger connected with both the young and old. And that was her strength of being a leader, fast forward now, the Association is well respected in our country." Roger was never scared, a fighter and she used that as her strength to advocate for Faafafine in Samoa, said Sua while holding back tears. Roger will be sorely missed and her memory and legacy will live on in us who continue the work she started, said Sua. Kevin Schuster, a member of S.F.A, couldnt agree more saying they worked on planning and coordinating the Faafafine Week 2017. Roger was already scheduled to travel to New York during time of Faafafine Week so the pressure was on us to pre-plan before Roger left." Roger is a visionary and I was very surprised that we worked very well together." A real advocate who works hard and walks the talk and I was immensely admiring his leadership - hes simple and straight to the point most of the time but also we knew she played differently when shes lobbying in high level meetings." Its safe to say Rogers leadership made S.F.A. earn the reputation it has to date both nationally and regionally." I will remember Roger as the President for S.F.A. forever and it would be hard to picture someone else in that post, Roger was a real advocate who kept things real, said Schuster. Efforts to get direct comments from Sooalos family have been unsuccessful. In the meantime, many heartfelt messages have been posted on Facebook by people from all over the world who worked and knew Sooalo. Sooalo was one of Samoa Observers People of the Year for 2017. This is the fourth and final installment of this series, which previously addressed the director, the homeowner, and the manager As the associations service provider, I resolve to: NUMBER ONE: Advertisement 1. Follow the Golden Rule. (treating others how I want to be treated) PROPOSALS: 2. Give the board the best proposal I can. If I think the associations request for proposal is missing important elements of the work, I will add those elements to my proposal but will also disclose the extra costs of those items. 3. Tell them if they really dont need my services right now. 4. Explain my recommendations, and never tell them just to trust me. 5. Promise only what I know I can deliver. 6. Not seek a contract of more than one year in length, unless there is no way to complete the work in less than a year. KNOWLEDGE: 7. Pursue professional designations and attend seminars to keep me up to date. 8. Take the Educated Business Partner course from Community Associations Institute, to make sure I am familiar with the unique needs and characteristics of common interest communities. SERVICE: 9. Answer the boards or managers questions promptly. 10. Explain my companys charges, taking no offense. 11. Take instruction only from the manager or from the person designated in the contract. 12. If a homeowner, even a committee chair or director, interferes with the work, I will immediately alert management. 13. If work outside the contract is needed, will get written authorization for that work, for which I have quoted a price. 14. If I recognize work outside my expertise is needed, I will not attempt the work but will immediately advise the association. COMMUNITY RELATIONS 15. Always be courteous to every resident, aware that my work might be occasionally disruptive to those residents. 16. Regularly provide updates to the board and management on major projects. 17. Volunteer at no charge on major projects to attend occasional town hall meetings to update the membership on progress. 18. At the end of each work day, I will make sure the work areas are clean and safe for the residents. 19. Not start work each day too early, nor end it too late, to avoid disturbing residents. ETHICS: 20. Never offer commissions to managers, or incentives of any kind. If a manager or director asks for improper benefits, I will refuse and disclose that request to the board. 21. Not give expensive gifts to managers or directors. 22. Never give preferential treatment or free services to directors, but will treat all association members equally. 23. Not advise or assist any homeowners to keep or attain a position on the board. I as a vendor will be neutral at all times. 24. If my company has any business relationship with the management company, I will not assume the manager has disclosed it, but will disclose that relationship to the board. PERFORMANCE: 25. Always carry proof of workers compensation and liability insurance, and will provide that along with my proposal. 26. If there is work requested which my company is not licensed to perform, I will alert the association as early as possible. 27. Stand behind my companys work, and will promptly correct any mistakes. LAST: 28. Follow the Golden Rule. Kelly G. Richardson, Esq. is a Fellow of the College of Community Association Lawyers and Senior Partner of Richardson Ober PC, a California law firm known for community association expertise. Submit questions to Kelly@RichardsonOber.com. Past columns at www.HOAHomefront.com. A new robotic camera at Palomar Observatory is scanning the night sky to capture some of the most volatile and violent events in the universe, including stellar explosions and colliding neutron stars. The device is the linchpin of a program called the Zwicky Transient Facility, which updates one of the observatorys telescopes in order to shoot images of the cosmos in motion. It will scan the sky nightly, looking for changes in movement or brightness. Those could be passing objects such as asteroids or comets, or rarer phenomena, such as the momentary flare of a dying star. The Zwicky is celestial cinematography, which is an order of magnitude faster than anything before, said Mansi Kasliwal, assistant professor of astronomy at Caltech, who leads some of the science programs at the observatory. Its looking for very rare, very fast, very young events. Im excited. I think it will be a lot of fun. Advertisement In November, the camera shot its first images, a milestone astronomers call first light. The program, named for pioneering Caltech astrophysicist Fritz Zwicky, who discovered 120 supernovas over his lifetime, places Palomar at the center of a network of observatories across the globe. Its an $18 million investment, funded through a $9 million grant from the National Science Foundation, and matching funds from participating universities, said Shrinivas Kulkarni, the principal investigator of the facility and a professor of astronomy and planetary science at Caltech. Partners include Caltech and the University of Maryland; University of Wisconsin; University of Washington, Seattle; and institutions in Taiwan, Israel, Germany and Sweden; along with help from the Department of Energy laboratories at Los Alamos and Berkeley. This is very large, Kulkarni said. It is a global effort. And its based right here at Palomar. The new camera sits inside a 48-inch telescope, one of three at the observatory, along with 60-inch and 200-inch instruments. Last week, Caltech engineer Michael Feeney worked on the device with mechanics from the observatory. Clad in white suits and hair nets to minimize dust and debris in the sensitive apparatus, they installed black baffles to absorb stray light within the telescope and prevent reflections and ghosting. The 576-megapixel camera contains a mosaic of 16 sensors that work together to automatically record cosmic images. It illustrates the evolution in astronomical technology since Palomar Observatory was dedicated 70 years ago in 1948, Feeney said. When this was first built, they used photographic plates, and the image was burned into the chemicals in the plate, he said. When all is said and done, this will be a robotically driven instrument. You basically press go and wait for the data to come in. Were very happy with resolution, the quality. Its just incredible. The new camera will scan the sky over the course of three nights, and then repeat the survey to detect differences between the images that suggest movement or changes, Feeney said. It also scrutinizes specific portions of the sky in greater detail to search for those transient events, Kulkarni said. A suite of computers analyze those results in real time; if they reveal something of interest, within minutes the system will alert large telescopes around the world, said Roger Smith, the lead engineer for the camera. They need a discovery engine to tell them where to look, Smith said. We provide an all-sky surveillance to find anything that moves or changes in brightness. The stream of images will include binary star systems, in which two stars dance in orbit together and periodically eclipse each other. Those events can help astronomers study the geometry and mass of those systems, Kulkarni said. It will also search for supernovae, the catastrophic explosions of dying stars that blaze suddenly and then fade over days or weeks, allowing the camera to pick them out of the background light. Theyre very violent events, Kasliwal said. They can only sustain that luminosity, that brightness for a short amount of time. In the nuclear furnaces of those dying stars, heavier elements form as smaller atoms crash together. The stars are actually fusion reactors, Kulkarni said. By studying supernovae, astronomers are studying how the periodic table got put together. Astronomers will also look for changes in neutron stars extraordinarily dense, collapsed stars that produce the heaviest elements. The collision of two neutron stars, or a neutron star with a black hole, can give you a flash of light that is 100 million times the brightness of the sun, which the Zwicky project aims to detect, Kasliwal said. Neutron stars are the cosmic mines of heavy element production where the heavy elements are created - gold, platinum and uranium, silver, neodymium, she said. Understanding how rare metals are created helps explain the origins of matter in the universe, researchers said. People wear gold and platinum wedding rings, and they take it for granted that gold is present on Earth, but it had to be made some where, and its made in neutron stars, Kasliwal said. Its satiating the scientific curiosity, to know where the elements around us come from. Sorting through the vast troves of data also has immediate practical applications, Kulkarni said. Students who work on these systems become experts in handling large data sets, he said, and some move onto jobs with tech companies such as Google or Amazon, which rely on that type of real-time analysis. Although larger telescopes such as the Keck Observatory in Hawaii are in greater demand than those in San Diego, Kasliwal said Palomar Observatory allows researchers to log more time on long-term projects that can lead to ground-breaking discoveries. There have been entirely new frontiers in astronomy at Palomar that have opened up because people have asked bold questions and undertaken systematic campaigns to look at the universe in creative new ways, she said. I have used telescopes at many mountaintops in the world, but by far my favorite mountaintop is Palomar. deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan It was in 1901 when the Roper family first found a home in Lincoln. At the time, Charles Roper, who lived in Exeter, owned an impressive team of white horses. The horses caught the attention of a Lincoln funeral home the Castle Funeral Home near 13th and N streets that wanted the horses for funeral processions and ambulatory services. According to Charles' great-grandson, Tom Roper, a deal was struck: in exchange for the horses, Charles would get a partnership in the business, which ultimately evolved into Roper & Sons Funeral Home. Today, Roper & Sons is a mainstay in Lincoln. The business moved into its present-day central branch at 4300 O St. in 1962. In 2004, it purchased Metcalf Funeral Home at 245 N. 27th St. Now, 117 years after its start, Roper & Sons is widening its presence in the city. Earlier this month, the family-run business opened its third funeral home in Lincoln and fifth overall on the south side of town, near Yankee Hill Road and 40th Street. According to Tom Roper, now the companys president, the southern expansion reflects Roper & Sons hope to continue to take part in Lincolns growth. People really just wanted our presence down here on the south side, said Roper, a lifelong Lincoln resident. All you have to do is take a look at Lincoln and how the growth pattern has been over the last several years. When I was in junior high, there was hardly any houses that were south of Highway 2. Now look at it its just burgeoning. The new building, which was first envisioned about four years ago, emphasizes space and capacity. Upon entering, theres an open foyer that leads into a 200-seat chapel, which Roper claims is the largest funeral home chapel in Lincoln. A new reception room, with nature photography on the walls and rustic wooden chairs, can accommodate 150 double the capacity of Ropers O Street building. Nobody ever wants to walk into a funeral home ever, Roper said on a recent tour of the new building. When you walk in here, you see its an extremely inviting place. Its just a beautiful, inviting, open space, and when that happens, people are more comfortable. Chapel services can be live-streamed on television screens in the reception room and in each of the buildings visitation rooms, allowing these spaces to double as overflow seating for larger receptions. All told, Roper guesses, the facility could handle an event with up to 500 people, as well as bigger visitation gatherings because of larger visitation rooms. The building reflects changing funeral norms, where receptions and larger, longer visitations are more prominent parts of the grieving process. It used to be people would come in and sign the book and pay their respects and leave, said Dean Schneider, the companys vice president, who managed the new project. Now people are coming and families are greeting friends for an hour and a half or two hours. Additionally, grieving families can now sort through casket, urn or burial options digitally. That technology exists at Roper & Sons O Street location, but the new building is designed around the concept. The result, Roper argues, is a more family-friendly funeral home, where the physical caskets are kept out of sight. One of the things that we heard many times over the years was that the real intimidating part about making arrangements was walking into a big room of caskets, Roper said. The new building, like the O Street facility, will also host community breakfasts and continuing-education seminars for health professionals. While the building is awaiting some decorating and final touches, Roper says its fully operational its hosted six services so far, and will hold an official ribbon-cutting Tuesday. The new building sits isolated in the spacious countryside along 40th Street. Many expect that the city will expand southward into the region behind the planned South Beltway, which would connect Nebraska 2 and U.S. 77. Thats what Roper & Sons is betting on. The town is moving that way, frankly everybody seems to know that, said Charles Pooch Roper, Toms 88-year-old father and the business third-generation owner who is still deeply involved in the company. If youre going to invest in Lincoln, as weve done, youre going to have to follow the population. Additionally, community members frequently expressed a desire for services farther south, especially near Lincoln Memorial cemetery near 14th Street and Pine Lake Road. It seemed like there was some sort of civic duty or public service we kind of owe it to Lincoln to have a presence out here, Schneider said. Four months ago, a small house on Myers Street in Oceanside opened its doors as a center for Jewish culture and faith for the young adult community. But resident Miranda Kalman, 22, hopes that doesnt scare anyone away. We want people to know its really cool here, she said. Were the surfer Jews. Advertisement Kalman and her roommates Chelsea Bradford-Hall, 26, and Moses Wosk, 25, are residents of North Countys first Moishe House, a live-in project where young Jewish adults host three to five community-building events each month for their peers. Moishe House, which is headquartered at the Leichtag Foundation in Encinitas, has opened 107 such homes in 27 countries since its founding in 2006. The concept, according to co-founder and CEO David Cygielman, was to help young Jewish adults reconnect with their faith and culture during the in-between years after college and before career success and parenthood. As a millennial himself, Wosk said he understands the disconnect felt by many of his peers. People who grow up going to temple all their life, by the time they get to college, theyre over it. Most of the kids we talk to are not religious, he said. Bradford-Hall said she and her roommates dont typically go to temple on Saturdays and they try to combine faith-oriented programs with fun themes that appeal to the non-religious millennial set, like a shabbat dinner on Friday that had a murder-mystery-masquerade theme. For our generation, theres almost like a stigma about the idea of being really religious, she said. We want to bring people into our house and say were really cool. Its nice to break down that barrier. The living room in the Moishe House in Oceanside is large enough for a party and has a conga drum and karaoke machine for musical celebrations. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune ) A study conducted in 2003 found that just 35 percent of millennial-generation Jews feel its very important to be part of the Jewish community, while 31 percent said its unimportant. Cygielman said millennials have different priorities, careers and lifestyle choices than their parents or grandparents, who tended to marry after college, land a career job, join a temple, buy a home and start a family. The millennial trajectory is very different, he said. This time period of emerging adulthood between college and settling down is growing rapidly. Theyre moving from place to place and job to job and not wanting a lifetime career. Theyre also marrying and having children much later, if at all. Kalman, Bradford-Hall and Wosk all grew up in mixed-faith households, where their parents had both a menorah and a Christmas tree in the house every December. Each found their way back to their faith in high school or college and wanted to live in a Moishe House to meet others who shared their cultural history. Moishe House residents Chelsea Bradford-Hall, left, and Moses Wosk, right, chat with Rabbi Brad Greenstein, who is the senior director of Jewish learning for Moishe House. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune ) Kalman grew up in Rancho Bernardo where Judaism was never a big part of her life. While earning a communications degree at Cal State San Marcos, she started hanging out at the campus Hillel Center, a Jewish student organization. I was curious about the cultural customs Id missed out on when I was young, she said. When I joined Hillel, it felt great. I got to meet a community of people I wasnt familiar with before. After graduating she now does marketing for a small organic tea company she decided to re-create the community shed felt on campus and she looked into starting her own Moishe House. Rabbi Brad Greenstein, Moishes senior director of Jewish learning, said anyone can apply to start a house. Organizers look for a critical mass of young adults in a geographic area seeking community and three to five potential housemates committed to opening and managing a home/community center. The applicants go through extensive interviews and, if chosen, they look for a home. The residents split the rent with Moishe House and private donors. Moishe House resident Miranda Kalman fills out an events calendar at her home on Thursday in Oceanside. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune ) For potential roommates, Kalmans first choice was Wosk, who shed met at Cal State San Marcos, where he served for two years as president of the universitys Chabad Center, a Jewish religious organization. Wosks Jewish grandfather fled Poland in 1938 and settled in Nicaragua, where he raised his family in the Catholic church to keep a low profile. His son moved to the United States in 1983, married a fellow Nicaraguan, and they raised their children, including Moses, to celebrate both Christian and Jewish holidays. Moses embraced reform Judaism in college and wanted to expand on that tradition after he graduated with a kinesiology degree. Hes now driving for Uber and Lyft while he takes pre-med classes at MiraCosta College, with the goal of becoming a doctor. After college I wanted to be more reformed in my life and meet kids my age, make a difference and spread good vibes, Wosk said. When they asked Bradford-Hall if shed be interested in applying with them for a Moishe House she hesitated at first because she wasnt sure if she was religious enough. Cygielman said Moishe House doesnt monitor its residents level of faith because its such a personal thing. Whats more important is that the residents are learning the rituals of their faith, sharing them with others and learning to become leaders in their Jewish community. Bradford-Hall grew up in a nonreligious Oceanside home and started exploring her faith in high school when she began attending the local Chabad Center and volunteering at Hebrew school. After high school, she moved to Montana for five years. She returned a couple years ago to attend MiraCosta College, where shes taking prerequisites for a food microbiology degree at UC Davis. Because I moved away and came back, I didnt have any friends left from high school, Bradford-Hall said. This opportunity made me feel like part of a community and feel like were part of something bigger. The newly opened Moishe House on Myers Street in Oceanside is an older three-bedroom home between the beach and train tracks. It has an open-door policy for visitors. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune ) Cygielman was one of a group of recent college graduates who opened the first such house in Oakland 12 years ago. We found we were too old for Jewish life on campus but were a decade too young for what was promoted at the time as young adult Jewish life, he said. We thought, what if a group of us rented a home and it become more than just a place for eating and sleeping. What if it could be a place for activities, events and programs for our Jewish community? The first event the group planned was a community shabbat dinner. Afterward, the group got an email from some Jewish college grads who wanted to open a second house in San Francisco. Cygielman reached out to a philanthropist he knew, Morris Squire, and asked Squire if his foundation might help subsidize the rent on these houses. In his honor, they named the program Moishe House, in honor of Squires childhood nickname (Moishe is a Yiddish nickname for Morris or Moses). For the first 2- years, Squire underwrote all of the new Moishe House openings, but investment losses during the recession forced him to close his foundation in 2008. After that, the program was taken up by a number of Jewish charitable organizations, including the Leichtag Foundation, where the program is now based. Once a Moishe House is established (theres another in Pacific Beach that opened in 2010), Cygielman said there are only a few rules the residents must follow. Theres a maximum three-year stay, an open-door policy for visitors and the requirement of hosting frequent events in four areas: Jewish holidays and shabbat dinners, Jewish learning, social events and community service. The residents attend retreats to learn how to host social events and conduct Jewish rituals, but after that its entirely up to them. Cygielman said millennials like the feeling of ownership and entrepreneurship. People are looking for meaning in their lives and theres a big movement now from macro to micro, Cygielman said. What used to be compelling was joining a synagogue with 3,000 families. Now, people want a small place where they can have a seat at the table and make a difference. When youre in your 20s, thats not something you usually get the opportunity to do. Wosk, Kalman and Bradford-Hall have relished that creative freedom. Recent events theyve hosted include a yoga class, kayak trip, game night, a sushi shabbat, a donut-decorating/latke-making party and a friendsgiving with two kosher turkeys. They post all their events on the Facebook page Moishe House San Diego North County. All three say the events that have had the most meaning for them were the intimate candlelit shabbat dinners with a small, but growing circle of young Jewish friends. For me, being able to experience all the Jewish holidays has been the best part, Wosk said. Weve enjoyed learning the shabbat blessings for the challah bread and for the wine. I love the idea that were inviting the angels in and then sending them off. Its really kind of beautiful and meaningful. pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com A developer who has invested in numerous North County projects is negotiating with Palomar Health to redevelop the old Palomar hospital site as a mixed-use residential/retail complex. Escondido Mayor Sam Abed said Encinitas-based Integral Communities is in talks with the hospital district to purchase the 14-acre property on the east side of Escondidos downtown. It is an icon that really helped create a vibrant downtown, the mayor said of the medical facility that opened in 1950. Those thousands of people who were working there and visiting the hospital need to be replaced to support the downtown. We want to make sure we get a good fit that matches the vision we have. Advertisement The hospital district has been reluctant to talk about any deals that may or may not be under negotiation. In a statement released last week, Palomar Health said it is continuing negotiations with potential buyers of the downtown medical center property to bring the most value to the health district while providing the residents of Escondido with a signature development. Last year, the district thought it had a deal in place but it fell through, apparently over the costs associated with razing the old hospital. Abed said he did not know the details of the negotiations, but he said representatives of both Integral and the hospital district spoke at a public meeting last month to lobby against proposed hikes to developer fees. Gil Miltenberger, vice president of land acquisition for Integral Communities, asked the City Council to reconsider a dramatic increase in developer fees, especially in the downtown area, for multifamily housing. Elly Garner of Palomar Health made the same request of the council. She said the hospital district was afraid an increase in development fees might scare off some developers who might be interested in the old hospital. Two weeks later, the council voted to increase the fees, but made it so downtown multifamily projects fee increases would be phased in over a three-year period, thereby greatly lessening or eliminating impacts to projects that may soon be in the pipeline. Miltenberger did not respond to requests for an interview. Escondido City Manager Jeff Epp said phasing in the fees in the downtown area was done partly to encourage development of the Palomar site. He said the city has heard nothing official from Palomar Health about the status of any developer negotiations since last spring. Its really in the (hospital) districts court at this point, he said. The property was appraised at $25 million several years ago and the hospital district says it will realize an annual savings of $12 million once the property is sold. Most hospital operations were transferred in 2012 to the new $1 billion Palomar Medical Center on the west side of town off Citracado Parkway. Services still offered at the downtown site include Behavioral Health consisting of inpatient beds and a Crisis Stabilization Unit, Radiation Oncology, Acute Rehabilitation, Inpatient and Outpatient Lab, Infusion Therapy, Ultra Sounds, maternal fetal care unit, and an Inpatient pharmacy. The mental health operations are expected to be transferred to a new building next to the Citracado medical center later this year. Integral Communities is already building a large apartment community at the site of the old police headquarters on the west side of downtown. Integral Communities appears well-positioned financially to pursue a development at the site. The company is the 12th-largest home builder in the United States, according to its website, and has built numerous projects in North County, including Oceansides Mission Lane master-planned community, which includes 379 homes on 35.5 acres formerly owned by the Catholic diocese on Mission Avenue near the San Luis Rey Mission. Integral also built Palomar Station in San Marcos, where construction began in 2013 and is nearly finished on 370 apartments on 15 acres north of state Route 78 near Palomar College. It is also proposing a 725-home development in a rural corner of Oceanside straddling North River Road. Whatever replaces the old hospital will be a key to the future of the downtown area, Abed said. Under existing zoning, several hundred housing units could be built on the property. The city has big plans for housing in its core with the revised General Plan calling for nearly 5,000 new units in the downtown area. One of those projects in final negotiations is with Touchstone Communities, which is proposing to build a five- or six-story condominium complex where Parking Lot No. 1 is just north of the California Center for the Performing Arts and City Hall. The City Council has been meeting in closed session for many months ironing out that deal, which could also include construction of a parking garage nearby. Rorie Johnston, president of the Escondido Chamber of Commerce, said what happens at the Palomar site is crucial. Its right in our downtown area, she said. Its a huge anchor and we would like for it to be something thats viable instead of an empty vessel. jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones A large sea cave in the bluffs near the Terramar surf spot in Carlsbad has collapsed, removing a safety hazard that city and state officials had worried about for almost two years. There are no feet sticking out, and no reports of anyone injured or missing, said Robin Greene, superintendent of the San Diego office of the California Department of Parks and Recreation. High tides and storm waves created the cavity during the El Nino winter of 2015-16 by eating more than 15 feet deep into the sandstone base of the tall bluffs. Advertisement State parks workers erected a permanent fence in the summer of 2016 around the top of the 50-foot bluff above the cave, and posted warning signs on the beach below. The overhead hazard finally fell about a week ago, but the bluff, like many other areas of the San Diego County coastline, remains steep, unstable and potentially dangerous. A handful of people have been killed by sudden bluff collapses along the countys coast over the past decade. Lifeguards rescue people stuck or injured in falls on the steeper bluffs several times a year. For a time, state and city officials considered using fire hoses or dynamite to collapse the Carlsbad cave to prevent it from falling on anyone. The spot is near the end of Cerezo Drive along Carlsbad Boulevard, an open area popular with hikers and dog walkers. Eventually, everyone decided to leave the solution to Mother Nature. Coastal erosion has accelerated throughout California in recent years, in part because of climate change and rising sea levels, but also because of the extensive development that stops the flow of sand down rivers and onto beaches. Some sections of the San Diego County coast, such as the area along the seawall in Carlsbad, the beach south of the harbor in Oceanside, and a few others, are regularly replenished with sand dredged from the harbor, nearby lagoons or offshore deposits. Other beaches, such as those at the South Carlsbad campground and at the Torrey Pines reserve, are farther from accessible sand deposits and are starved for sediment. Almost six of Carlsbads seven miles of coastline are protected by state lifeguards. However, city Fire Department paramedics respond to all medical emergencies on the beaches. philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @phildiehl Under blustery skies, a crowd of 3,000 to 4,000 rallied Saturday at Palomar College in San Marcos for the 2018 Womens March North County San Diego. Among those toting handmade signs in the crowd was San Marcos retiree Doris Payne, who volunteers her time at a local elementary school where she said nearly 70 percent of the students she works with are Latino. Her sign read, Empathy is an American value. Protect the Dreamers. Advertisement Im out here today because enough already, she said. Its important that we not lose hope. San Marcos retiree Doris Payne, who volunteers at an elementary school, holds her DACA-themed sign at the Womens March North County at Palomar College on Saturday. (Pam Kragen/San Diego Union-Tribune ) Attendees from last years inaugural march said Saturdays crowd seemed about the same size, but with more men, a broader range of ages from tots in strollers to one sign-toting granny in a wheelchair and better organization. Where the 2017 march was a catch-all for myriad causes, this years North County march was most focused on the theme of empowering voters to make change, said organizer Sue Alderson. Numerous Democratic political candidates had informational booths set up on the college staging ground and volunteers working the crowd registered nearly three-dozen voters. Some were teens who were pre-registering, some were past voters registering at their new addresses and some were older voters switching political parties. We have seen a tremendous amount of momentum, said volunteer Nils Goins, who was overseeing the voter registration drive. Seven-year-old Balin Healy was waving a hand-made construction paper sign that read, Peace Between All People. He was looking forward to his first protest march with his 5-year-old sister, Freya, and their parents Emily and Justin Healy. I home-school the children and I think its important to teach them about issues of social justice, Emily Healy said. We just finished a video on the importance of gender equality and today our message is about people, planet and peace. Thousands march Saturday on Mission Road in San Marcos during the North County Womens March, in this view looking east, that began and ended at Palomar College. (Charlie Neuman / San Diego Union-Tribune ) The event began Saturday morning with a speech and blessing by members of local Native American tribes and a send-off drum ceremony by members of Vista Buddhist Temples drum ensemble. The orderly but ebullient crowd walked off campus and east on Mission Avenue toward Aberdeen Avenue before circling back to the campus for a post-march rally. At its full length, the slow-moving crowd stretched about a half-mile. Well over a third of the crowd at the North County march were men, including Vista resident Craig Thompson, whose sign read, Men of quality are for equality! He also attended last years event. Last year they expected 600 people to come and thousands showed up, Thompson said. I think its very impressive that so many people are willing to give up their Saturday for something they believe in. The signs in the crowd ranged from the angry and serious to the humorous and absurd. Most took aim at Trumps policies, personality, scandals and racially-charged statements. But there were also factions in the crowd calling for the rights of Latinos, blacks, Native Americans and the LGBTQ community and protection of the environment, dreamers and Planned Parenthood. The post-march rally was emceed by Sharon Elise, chair of the sociology department at Cal State San Marcos. Several women spoke on a variety of topics including media freedom, justice, environmental rights and voter registration. Among the speakers were Fredi Avalos of Media for Democracy at Cal State San Marcos; Maria Cerda, board member for LGBTQ Center in Oceanside; Deborah Kang of Cal State San Marcos; Isabel Solis, a DACA dreamer student; sociology professor Lori Walkington of Cal State San Marcos; environmentalist Olga Bryan; Dianna Finks of Indivisible Fallbrook; and a representative from the League of Women Voters. Cate Smullen of Escondido carries a sign referring to the next election as she marches with thousands Saturday on Mission Road in the North County Womens March that began and ended at Palomar College. (Charlie Neuman / San Diego Union-Tribune ) RELATED pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com It might be a surprise to learn that Henri Matisse, best-known today as a pioneering painter, actually considered a chapel to be his artistic masterpiece. It might be a bigger surprise to learn Matisse was a committed atheist. That paradox is at the heart of Jesse Kornbluths new, fact-based play The Color of Light, which explores the artists late-in-life bond with a nurse-turned-nun who helped inspire him to design the celebrated Chapelle du Rosaire in Vence on the French Riviera. Advertisement The play, now getting an attractively designed world premiere with Vantage Theatre (in association with Talent to aMuse) at downtowns Tenth Avenue Theatre, is a quiet, sometimes meditative work that unfolds at a languid pace over the course of two acts (with one intermission) and about two hours. As Matisse, O.P. Hadlock captures both the artists passion and his pain; the aging and ailing Matisse can no longer paint the way he used to, and has begun experimenting with paper cutouts fashioned into collages. When the young nurse Monique (Cecily Keppel, conveying an effective blend of sweetness and strength) drops into the lives of Matisse and his longtime live-in assistant, Lydia (Bobbie Helland), the newcomers devotion to her Christian religion sparks both debates and a certain kind of spiritual awakening in the artist. I dont believe in divine light; only natural light, Matisse tells Monique early on. But by plays end, he has thrown himself wholly into making the chapel a reality. While the story is a fascinating one, as drama the play is still a work in progress. The scene transitions are a little choppy, and the kinds of things that propel a play forward character development, a rich range of emotional dynamics, a sense of tension can feel in short supply at times. On top of that, the casts French accents are distractingly all over the map (and seem unnecessary besides). The production does boast solid supporting work from James Steinberg (as Matisses pal Picasso), Terence J. Burke (as the comically nervous friar Rayssiguier) and Jody Catlin (as a somewhat stereotypically overbearing Mother Superior). The shows most eye-catching aspect is director Robert Salernos series of projections, which do justice both to Matisses earlier paintings and the radiance of his work on the chapel and help drive home the artists creed that making art is something akin to prayer. The Color of Light When: 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 4 p.m. Sundays. Through Feb. 3. Where: Tenth Avenue Arts Center, 930 10th Ave., downtown. Tickets: $25-$30 Phone: (619) 940-6813 Online: vantagetheatre.com jim.hebert@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @jimhebert The Navys newest littoral combat ship, the Omaha, sailed into San Diego on Friday. Once written off as a $12.4 billion boondoggle, the LCS program today is in good shape, sailors say. Last year was still rough on the surface warfare fleet, with a spate of collisions in the Western Pacific that killed 17 sailors and triggered the early retirement of Naval Surface Forces commander Vice Adm. Tom Rowden. The Omaha is slated to be commissioned during a special ceremony in San Diego on Feb. 3. When the Omaha was christened in late 2015, the littoral combat ship program was in disarray amid mechanical glitches, cost overruns and questionable crew leadership that prodded Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Arizona, to term the troubled program a $12.4 billion boondoggle. Sailing into San Diego on Friday, the sleek high-tech Omaha joined an LCS fleet that had never been better, largely righted from its troubled past. The man who not only fixed it but armed the LCS with a 21st century battle plan to defeat Americas potential enemies distributed lethality was no longer there. Naval Surfaces Forces commander Vice Adm. Tom Rowden had been forced out of his post on Thursday because of a spate of warship crashes in the Western Pacific last year that killed 17 sailors. Advertisement Tom Rowden is a great American, said Capt. Matt McGonigle, deputy commodore of Littoral Combat Ship Squadron 1, as he ticked off his tours under Rowdens leadership. What he did in the transformation of the surface Navy is admirable. He did so much. Were looking at it. He held us to task to ensure that we applied the simple rules of sustainability, simplicity and ownership. Simplicity came with a streamlined training cycle and a pared down training manual. Its sustainable because of larger crews, helped by good engineering, a new high-tech training center and hard lessons learned at sea. And crews are fixed to each warship, which are tied to squadrons, not switched around as originally envisioned, so they feel like they own the vessel. LCS in 2017 is better than it was in 2016. And 2018 is going to be better than 2017, said McGonigle, former commander of the destroyer Pinckney. We went through some tough tough times and everyone admits that. But in 2016 we gave the ownership back to the crews. Last year was a terrible test for the rest of the surface warfare Navy, especially the Japan-based 7th Fleet. The cruiser Antietam on Jan. 31 ran aground on rocks along the Japanese coast. Less than five months later, sister cruiser Lake Champlain collided with a South Korean fishing boat. Then came the June 17 destroyer Fitzgeralds crash with a merchant vessel and, on Aug. 21, the wreck of a civilian oil tanker with the destroyer John S. McCain east of Singapore Fire Controlman 2nd Class Carlos Victor Sibayan of Chula Vista and Yeoman 3rd Class Shingo Alexander Douglass of Oceanside were two of the seven sailors killed in the Fitzgerald disaster. Ten other sailors died aboard the McCain. On Tuesday, Rowden announced that he was retiring weeks earlier than he planned after Pentagon brass blamed him, in part, for the collisions. They also marked the skippers of the Fitzgerald and McCain for special hearings that will determine if they and several of their sailors face court-martial trials, including possible negligent homicide charges. Agency watchdogs such as the U.S. Government Accountability Office pointed to a range of deep problems that likely contributed to the maritime mishaps. They included doubling the number of warships staged overseas in order to boost a forward presence and rapidly respond to crises in troubled waters like the South China Sea while slashing the dedicated training periods for vessels operated out of Japan. There are too many ships with expired training certificates, GAO warned. Surveys continued to report low readiness levels and long waits in repair yards during an era of high operational tempo ordered by the Pentagon and White House. Crew sizes might have been slashed to save money but ran a higher risk of causing accidents, a problem compounded by some sailors toiling more than 100 hours per week at sea, GAO said. And the Navy listened, sailors told The San Diego Union-Tribune. Not only did shipmates aboard the Omaha receive constant refresher training on seamanship but they also said they got more sleep than during previous tours. They charged all the ships with implementing whats called the Circadian Rhythm Watch Program, said Cdr. Michael Toth, the skipper of the Omaha on its maiden voyage from Austal USAs Mobile, Alabama, shipyard to San Diego. What that means is that the sailors stand watch at the same time every day. They get either seven uninterrupted hours of sleep or they get five uninterrupted hours of sleep and then a two-hour nap. Thats gone a long way to improve the safety on the ship but it does require a big adjustment to shipboard routine. Deputy commodore McGonigle said that commanders like Toth get his blessing to lead crews because they teach and reteach shipboard drills, to the point that junior officers and their sailors can perform them well, even under pressure. A tug didnt poke the Omaha into its pier at Naval Base San Diego on Friday. It was gingerly steered into the tight spot by Lt. Dustin Crawford, the combat systems officer. The standard is the standard is the standard. I believe that wholeheartedly the strict compliance with the training that we have in place will get you where you need to be, said McGonigle, who has spent a quarter-century aboard tank landing ships, frigates and destroyers. I can tell you that here in San Diego, we follow the training manual to the letter. We provide the mentorship and the guidance from seasoned training teams to teach the younger sailors and their (junior officers). And we have technology. Weve cracked the nut to really training our crews. The technology is in the bases Littoral Combat Ship Training Facility, a mammoth complex that digitally pits sailors against the worlds roughest seas and busiest shipping channels, and the mentoring comes from salts like Toth, a prior enlisted submariner with 31 years in uniform. The Omaha is slated to be commissioned on Feb. 3 in a special ceremony in San Diego. Then it will undergo months of extensive outfitting and sea trials before it takes its place in the squadron as a surface warfare combatant. On Friday the Omahas crew mostly talked about how proud they were of their ship and how glad they were to get home to San Diego after eight months in Alabama and at sea. The last 48 hours have been bottling up all the emotions so I could concentrate on the tasks at hand, said Electronics Technician 1st Class Jacob Myers, shortly before he was reunited with his wife and two children. Military Videos On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal cprine@sduniontribune.com San Diego city and police officials are hoping Mark Stroud is the future of the SDPD. Theyre not anticipating hell be chief one day, or even a top-ranking member of the department, though theres nothing saying he couldnt become either of those things. What they see in the return of the 31-year-old patrol officer is a glimmer of hope that their efforts to resolve a long-term staffing shortage are working. Advertisement Stroud joined SDPD two years ago, but left about a year later for the Escondido Police Department. The main reason was as simple as it is ubiquitous for workers everywhere: better pay and benefits. He and his wife were starting a family and Stroud figured that would be difficult to do on SDPD wages. The pay in San Diego had made it not impossible, but it delayed our plans to buy a house, he said, noting the high cost of living in San Diego. SDPD is some 200 officers short of its 2,040 budgeted positions. Surveys showed that department pay was comparatively low, even among some smaller departments in the region. The future looked even worse: applicants dropped 30 percent over the past two years and about 600 officers are eligible to retire by 2022. City officials were hamstrung by a pay freeze that was part of the 2012 Proposition B pension overhaul and tinkering around the edges such as boosting uniform allowances and promising smaller future pay raises didnt seem to work. Critics also contend the application and vetting process is more cumbersome than elsewhere and that controversial officer-involved shootings and misconduct have hurt the image of the department. Last year, a new contract was approved that will boost salaries up to 30 percent over a few years. The raises take effect July 1, when the pay freeze lifts. That was one of the reasons Stroud came back at the beginning of January. The pay helped but its a great department, he said, even adding its a fun department to work with. He acknowledged that Escondido wasnt a good fit for me, personally, but had nothing bad to say about his short time there and pointed to some things such as providing equipment that Escondido did particularly well. Stroud said SDPD offers more opportunity to move up and do different things because of its size. He said he had heard another former San Diego officer was coming back after working with the San Diego Unified School District police force. Like city officials, Stroud cautioned that it was too early to draw conclusions about whether the new contract will solve the staffing problems. But he said that when the raises were announced, a buzz went through the Escondido Police Department and he suspects other law enforcement agencies as well. It was definitely going around: Wow. San Diegos getting more competitive, he said. I can see more people talking about it and considering coming back. He mentioned a fellow Escondido officer, another SDPD alum, who talked about coming back, but Stroud added that a new, desirable assignment probably would keep that person there, at least for a while. The San Diego police pay raises, which the City Council approved Dec. 5, will provide all officers with an increase of at least 25.6 percent between in July and January 2020; veterans with more than 20 years on the job will get a 30.6 boost. But 6.6 percent of those raises 3.3 percent in July 2018 and July 2019 was already included in a previous labor pact with officers the city approved in spring 2015. So the amount of new money is between 19 percent and 24 percent. Lt. Scott Wahl, SDPD spokesman, said he believed the buzz around the contract would continue to build as the July 1 raises approach. This contract should immediately help us retain the sworn personnel we currently have, he said. I can say anecdotally, it has had a positive impact on morale. Despite the staffing issues, Wahl and others regularly note the low crime rate in San Diego. Our department may not be the only factor involved in achieving such low crime rates, however, without us rates this low wouldnt be possible, he said. In his State of the City address Jan. 11, Mayor Kevin Faulconer said San Diego is one of the safest big cities in the country. Overall crime is at its lowest point in half a century, he said. However, we can never take that for granted. He said filling those 200 or so police positions is a priority, and that there are signs the new contract may help the city get there. Although the ink on the deal is barely dry, applications are already up. Retirements have slowed. And some officers who had left our department have already returned, he said. He noted that San Diego is launching a national recruiting campaign for police officers. Meanwhile, the city would be more than happy to attract and bring back officers who essentially work next door. The mayor also made this pledge: ... when were done, for the first time in over a decade, we will have a fully staffed police force! A jury has convicted a southwest Nebraska deputy sheriff of kidnapping and molesting a 26-year-old woman he unlawfully detained, according to the Nebraska Attorney General's Office. The Dundy County District Court jury convicted Charles Thibedeau, 37, of kidnapping, which is a felony, and two misdemeanors: third-degree sexual assault and oppression under the color of office. Less than half a year into his tenure as a Dundy County deputy, Thibedeau contacted a woman online on March 22, 2017, and asked to meet her at a remote location to talk about a police matter, a news release said. He lied to her at the meeting spot, saying local investigators were going to search her home, the release said. He asked to see her breasts, then demanded to touch them, and when she refused, he threatened to jail her on a made-up warrant. Then he handcuffed her, put her into his patrol cruiser and touched her bare breasts, according to the release. He started to drive off to another place but stopped and released her. Thibedeau wasn't a certified officer at the time because he hadn't attended the state's law enforcement training center in Grand Island. Western Nebraska media reported he is no longer with the sheriff's office. Nebraska State Patrol investigators looked into the case, and the Nebraska Attorney General's Office was named special prosecutor in the case. Thibedeau faces as many as 51 years in prison at sentencing in March. He was in custody at the Dundy County jail in Benkelman on Friday. Benkelman is 60 miles west of McCook. It takes a hospital-issued keycard to enter the doctors lounge at Sharp Grossmont Hospital, but a recent unauthorized visitor seems to have discovered that there is another way to slip into an inner sanctum reserved for MDs. A second door, unprotected by a keycard-activated lock, provides access through an adjacent medical library, said Scott Evans, Grossmonts chief executive officer. Its likely, he said in an interview earlier this week, that the young man who started showing up in a fake Sharp lab coat and scrubs used this alternate entrance to insert himself into the midst of physicians he had already started chatting up on the business social network LinkedIn. Advertisement Or maybe he slipped in the main door behind others who had been granted access. Maybe it was a little bit of both. But why he did it is the real mystery. Why did a 27-year-old Swedish citizen born in Iraq, living in San Diego on an expired visa, keep showing up at the La Mesa hospital, claiming he was a Harvard-trained anesthesiologist when he wasnt? Why did he keep requesting access to Grossmonts electronic medical records system even though administrators kept denying his requests? Though these new details and more surfaced Friday during the arraignment of Zaid Bassam Jeorge, his motive remained unclear. He didnt, Evans said, seem too focused on patients per se. There is no evidence, the executive said, that he ever managed to have a direct interaction with anyone receiving care within Grossmonts walls. His focus seemed to be firmly on the medical staff. We dont think he was attempting to see patients or anything like that. It was more like he was trying to develop a camaraderie with the medical staff, Evans said. We are not sure where this was going to go, said deputy district attorney Paul Reizen. Maybe this is someone who is infatuated with being a doctor, or becoming a doctor, and maybe this is someone who has other intentions. The investigation is ongoing, and its unclear at this point. Jeorge, represented by a privately retained attorney, pleaded not guilty Friday to a single felony count of attempted doctor impersonation and El Cajon Superior Court Judge Robert Amador increased his bail amount from $25,000 to $100,000. His attorney, Freddy Garmo, did not return a request for comment Friday afternoon. Though he was out on bail shortly after being arrested at Grossmont on Jan. 11, Jeorge appeared in court direct from federal custody. Lauren Mack, a local spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that her department placed a detainer on the man after he was first arrested, requesting that ICE be notified before Jeorge was released from custody. However, that request was not honored due to the states new sanctuary state law that limits cooperation of local law enforcement with federal agencies. Mack said that Jeorge was re-arrested Tuesday using federal resources. We reviewed Mr. Jeorges file and he has been determined to be a threat to public safety, which is why he was placed in our custody and into removal proceedings, Mack said. She said she could not say more about why Jeorge was considered a threat to public safety, but did confirm a statement from Reizen that he had overstayed his visa and also that he is a Swedish citizen born in Iraq. ICE only allowed Jeorge to appear in court Friday, she added, after a promise from a state judge that he would be returned to federal custody if he makes bail. The saga, according to an internal security memo obtained by The San Diego Union-Tribune, started with a LinkedIn profile that included pictures of Jeorge in an authentic-looking lab coat with an embroidered Sharp logo and another with him sitting at a computer inside what was later identified to be one of Grossmonts operating rooms. Grossmont doctors became suspicious about his credentials after he began showing up in the doctors lounge saying that he had received his education at Harvard. One physician, Evans said, went so far as to call the Harvard Alumni Association to try and verify these claims. No verification was forthcoming and the hospital got the police involved. Harvard University confirmed through its public relations office Friday that it has no record of Jeorge attending or graduating from Harvard Medical School. Sharps security memo indicates that information found in the mans rented Mercedes sedan indicates that he lived in El Cajon, but Reizen, the deputy district attorney, could not confirm that information Friday afternoon. Evans said that Jeorge was never a member of the hospitals medical staff and was never issued any kind of ID badge or keycard that would grant him access to the clinical areas of the hospital. The doctors lounge is in an adjacent building that has no direct access to patient rooms, operating rooms or other areas where care is provided. The photo on Jeorges LinkedIn page that showed him in a Grossmont operating room, he added, was taken during a tour conducted by a member of the medical staff. He was never, to our knowledge, in the hospital unattended, Evans said. It was unclear just how long Jeorge was able to access the doctors lounge without getting caught. Reizen said investigators have not yet been able to piece together a full timeline, but one doctor indicated he started seeing the man around the medical campus after Christmas. Evans said that hospital security is looking at security camera footage to learn more. As to that white lab coat with a pretty convincing Sharp logo and Jeorges name embroidered on the front, Evans said it was a well-executed fake. When we asked about it during our initial interview, he reported to us that he actually had it embroidered himself. It was professionally done. It looked pretty authentic, Evans said. Sharp provided investigators with recordings of Jeorge repeatedly requesting access to a hospital database which a health system spokesman confirmed by email Friday was the electronic medical records database used to store myriad patient information from test results and diagnoses to digital X-rays and medications prescribed. Sharp administration, he said, turned down all these requests. At one point, Reizen added, a Sharp doctor told investigators that he became suspicious of Jeorge and asked to see his hospital-issued photo ID card to which he allegedly replied, oh, I must have left it in my locker, I just finished up a case. State law grants prosecutors discretion, based on the totality of the evidence, in deciding whether to charge a case of medical impersonation, or practicing medicine without a license, as a misdemeanor or a felony. In this case, Reizen said, the pattern of behavior over time, and the potential damage of an untrained person trying to act as an anesthesiologist, led to the felony charge. The thought was, if he did actually get to the point of performing anesthesia, the results could have been disastrous, Reizen said. The way he conducted himself was not only disingenuous, but kind of heinous in some aspects. Evans said he is confident that Jeorge never would have made it that far. Sure, dressed as a doctor he could have theoretically slipped into a clinical part of the hospital on the coattails of a hospital employee or doctor who had a valid keycard, though security is watching for that sort of thing. But Evans said doing so wouldnt have gotten him too far. He said Grossmont contracts with between 30 and 40 anesthesiologists who all know each other and added that hes confident no one would have started a medical procedure unless his presence was explained and his identity was checked out. Surgeons have primary responsibility for patients, and they would be very cautious about working with anybody they hadnt worked with before, Evans said. The executive said the hospital notified the California Department of Public Health, which oversees safety at all inpatient facilities, of the impersonation incident on Jan. 11. The incident, the statement said, appears to be outside the departments jurisdiction. This incident is not considered an adverse event because the alleged impersonator never ordered or provided patient care, the statement said. Jeorge faces up to three years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine if convicted. Health Playlist On Now Video: Why aren't Americans getting flu shots? 0:37 On Now Video: Leaders urge public to help extinguish hepatitis outbreak On Now San Diego starts cleansing sidewalks, streets to combat hepatitis A On Now Video: Scripps to shutter its hospice service On Now Video: Scripps La Jolla hospitals nab top local spot in annual hospital rankings On Now Video: Does a parent's Alzheimer's doom their children? On Now Video: Vaccine can prevent human papillomavirus, which can cause cancer 0:31 On Now 23 local doctors have already faced state discipline in 2017 0:48 On Now EpiPen recall expands On Now Kids can add years to your life paul.sisson@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1850 Twitter: @paulsisson A woman seeking asylum from El Salvador said she miscarried her two-month pregnancy after being physically and mentally abused by immigration officials. Rubia Mabel Morales Alfaro, 28, said she was shoved to the ground and kicked in the back by a Border Patrol agent who arrested her for crossing the border illegally near Friendship Park. She said she told the agent of her pregnancy before the alleged assault. I kept telling her that I was pregnant, and she kept replying, That is your problem, not mine, Morales Alfaro said in a statement provided by her legal representative, Luis Guerra. Advertisement Morales Alfaro came to the border on the evening of Dec. 22, the statement says, with her husband, who was also caught by Border Patrol. Her statement says agents yelled at her and mocked her while she was in their custody. The San Diego Border Patrol Sector has no knowledge of this alleged incident, said Michael Scappechio, spokesman for Border Patrol. The Department of Homeland Security has a mechanism in place where any reported allegation of abuse or misconduct is documented and referred to DHS Office of Inspector General and/or U.S. Customs and Border Protections Office of Professional Responsibility. CBP promotes honor, integrity and professionalism in every aspect of our mission in order to keep our country safe. We do not tolerate abuse within our ranks, and we fully cooperate with any investigation of alleged misconduct by our personnel, on or off duty. Morales Alfaro started to feel abdominal pain, dizziness and nausea while in Border Patrol custody, her statement says. She couldnt eat the cold bean burritos that agents gave to detainees. On Christmas Eve, she was sent to Otay Mesa Detention Center. She went to the doctor there several times for abdominal pain. On Jan. 10, she began to bleed, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers took her to a hospital, according to her statement. After running several tests, the emergency room doctor told her that shed had a miscarriage. The doctor said that there were many reasons why the miscarriage happened but that it was likely due to the conditions that I was in, her statement says. Morales Alfaro blames the way U.S. officials treated her after she crossed the border for her miscarriage. Shes worried that she wont get appropriate follow-up care for the miscarriage while shes still in detention. I believe that the physiological, physical, verbal abuse and medical neglect that I suffered on behalf of all the immigration authorities that I encountered resulted in the loss of my baby, Morales Alfaros statement says. Guerra, her legal representative, has called for her release while her case is pending and for officials to be held accountable. According to the Mayo Clinic website, 10 to 20 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage. Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for ICE, said that all women in immigration detention are screened for pregnancy when they arrive. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is committed to ensuring the health, safety, and welfare of all those in our care, Mack said. Females in ICE custody receive routine, age-appropriate gynecological and obstetrical health care assessments and preventive womens health services as medically appropriate. In addition to pregnancy screenings at intake, ICE detention facilities provide onsite prenatal care and education, as well as remote access to specialists for pregnant women who remain in custody. Morales Alfaros husband is being held at a detention facility in Arizona, Guerra said. Immigration Videos On Now New developments in family separation case 9:53 On Now A San Diego woman volunteered as a medic in Texas helping migrant families 2:35 On Now Immigration policy protests in Carlsbad nearly cancelled after permit issue 1:38 On Now When children are separated from their parents at the border, here is where they go next On Now Prospects of a deal for 'Dreamers' may hinge on separating Trump from hard-liners on his staff On Now What is DACA? On Now Border wall prototype contractors selected On Now Video: Ukrainian boxer wins asylum in U.S. On Now 30 apprehended after Border Patrol agents discover tunnel On Now Video: Kurdish diaspora prepare to vote on independence Follow me on Facebook for live updates about immigration news kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate on Twitter San Diegos annual pension payment will be $10.6 more than expected, worsening projected budget deficits Analysis of recent large raises for police officers shows they will eventually increase the pension payment more than $30 million a year The citys pension debt has increased from $2 billion to $2.76 billion in just two years San Diego must pay $10.6 million more than expected to its pension system this year, deepening a projected budget deficit that is expected to require significant cuts this spring. Things dont look any better the following year, when pay raises of more than 25 percent given this past fall to police officers begin to spike the citys pension payment. A new analysis estimates those hikes will eventually increase the annual payment more than $30 million a year. But pension system officials said last week they may decide to spread the impact more evenly over several years. Advertisement The city must pay $322.9 million to its pension system on July 1 this year, an increase of $10.6 million over the $312.3 million payment included in a five-year financial outlook presented to the City Council last month. The higher amount, which was presented Jan. 12 to the board of the citys pension system, is based on an annual analysis of the systems assets and liabilities that found employee salaries are increasing faster than expected. That analysis also showed an increase in assets of just over $100 million from investment earnings of 13.5 percent, primarily because the stock market had a historically strong year. City officials anticipated that windfall would drop the annual pension payment from $324.5 million last year down to $312.3 million. But the city must pay $322.9 million instead, primarily because of a $40 million increase in liabilities from salaries growing faster than expected. The average salary of a city worker increased to $70,271 in the budget year that ended last June 30, up nearly 2 percent from $68,924 one year earlier. The higher pension payment increases projected deficits in the citys general fund over the next three budget years of $10.1 million, $34.6 million and $19.8 million. But the impact will be less than $10.6 million because only about 73 percent of employees are paid by the general fund, with the rest paid by the citys sewer and water funds. Another factor in this years pension payment is a decision by the pension board in September to adopt the most conservative long-term investment return projections in the state. The board lowered the systems projected long-term investment returns from 7 percent to 6.5 percent, which will require higher contributions by taxpayers and city workers to make up for the lower anticipated returns. The effect of that change was softened this year by the boards decision to push much of the financial impact several years down the road through a process called smoothing. The board voted to artificially increase the citys pension payment during future years when it is projected to be relatively low, allowing the payment to be artificially reduced during future years when it is projected to be relatively high. Supporters say smoothing helps stabilize the city budget by making the annual payment more consistent. Critics say smoothing is irresponsible, invoking underfunding schemes more than a decade ago that earned San Diego the nickname Enron by the Sea. The boards actuary, Gene Kalwarski, said last week that the citys annual payment would be $345 million instead of $322.9 million this year without the smoothing of the lower projected investment returns. In 2016, the board decided against smoothing the impact of a study that found city employees are living significantly longer than expected, sharply increasing the citys pension liability. That change spiked the citys annual payment from $261 million in the budget year that ended in June 2017 up to $324.5 million in the budget year that ends this June. Lowering investment return projections and increasing longevity assumptions for workers have jointly increased the citys pension debt from $2 billion to $2.76 billion during the past two years. The pension board will face a similar decision next summer when debating whether to use smoothing to soften the impact of the police pay raises. The raises, which the City Council approved Dec. 5, would provide all officers hikes of at least 25.6 percent between next July and January 2020, and veterans with more than 20 years on the job would get 30.6 percent raises. An actuarial analysis estimates the increase in the citys pension payment from the hikes will start at $12.1 million in the 2020 budget year and then steadily climb up to $33.1 million in 2034. Board member George Kenney said hed like the board to be given several possible smoothing schedules of varying lengths, but that he prefers shorter periods of smoothing. The pension fund should not be viewed by the city as a bank account, Kenney said. The police raises have a big impact on the pension system because San Diego replaced pensions with 401(k)-like plans for all new hires except police officers when voters approved Proposition B in 2012. So while police officers account for only 1,800 of the citys 11,000 workers, they make up a larger percentage of the employees receiving city pensions. david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick A labor-backed political group is starting a signature drive that could lead to all county elections going to a November runoff. Even if a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary, the race would still be decided in the general election between the top-two contenders. Proposal applies only to San Diego County offices, including the Board of Supervisors, district attorney, sheriff, and others. A labor-backed political committee has launched an effort to require all elections for county offices to go to a November runoff, a change that could help progressive candidates because Democratic turnout is usually higher in general elections than primaries. Current law declares candidates who receive more than 50 percent of the vote in a primary election the winner. The signature drive led by a labor union would put a measure on Novembers ballot to force races for all San Diego County offices to a runoff in the general election, regardless of the outcome in the primary. Turnout, particularly among progressives, is historically higher in general elections, and Democrats stand to gain an advantage if the ballot measure is successful. The amendment applies to races for the Board of Supervisors, district attorney, sheriff, assessor-recorder-clerk, treasurer-tax collector and members of the board of education. Races with just one or two candidates would be decided in the general election. Advertisement Candidates should be elected when the most people vote, said Jeff Marston, co-chairman of the Independent Voter Project, a group that is supporting the measure. We just believe that when were deciding on who runs our county government, that should be decided when the most people go to the polls, which is in November instead of June, Marston said by telephone. Service Employees International Union Local 221, a group that represents county government employees, is leading the effort. San Diegans for Full Voter Participation, the committee running the petition drive, includes officials from the Center for Policy Initiatives and the local chapter of Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, two labor-backed non-profit organizations. Michael Vu, the registrar of voters, said the signature drives organizers have 180 days to circulate and submit the petition after it is given a title and a summary. The signature drive follows state legislation by Assemblyman Todd Gloria, D-Mission Hills, special purpose legislation that authorized the proposed charter amendment in San Diego County . He argued that government would be more representative if elections are decided when voter turnout is highest. Gloria said hes pleased with the groups initiative and said he believes they will gather enough signatures to put the measure on the ballot. I authored AB 901 because more voters deserve to be heard in our county elections especially as we deal with important issues like homelessness, public health and strengthening our local social safety net. Its long past time to make these important changes and fully engage county voters, he said in a statement. Marston said that the amendment will make county elections identical to congressional, state, and San Diego City elections and extend the campaign season by several months, making challengers more competitive against incumbents. But a lobbyist working for San Diego County government all five supervisors are Republicans argued that the bill would increase the cost of elections. The bill passed the Legislature on Sept. 7 and was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Oct. 12. Marston said that the partisan impact is not something the Independent Voter Project considers. People jump up and down about what political party benefits from that, but we dont care. Our interest is the voter, he said. SEIU led the charge to bring term limits to the Board of Supervisors, an amendment that this year will force Supervisors Ron Roberts and Bill Horn out of office. The Independent Voter Project also advocated for Measure K, a ballot item that, like the one impacting county elections, required all races for San Diego City offices to be determined in the general election. Fifty-nine percent of city voters supported that measure. Twitter: @jptstewart joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1841 Quick read Like the rest of the nation, San Diego will be affected by a federal shutdown. In 2013s shutdown, the region stood to lose $7 million in economic activity per week. There are about 35,000 federal employees in the San Diego area, but not all would be furloughed The military will report for duty, but might not get paid beyond Feb. 1. Full story Visitors hoping to catch the views from Cabrillo National Monument on Saturday got an early look at what a government shutdown could mean for San Diego. Advertisement U.S. Park Ranger Ralph Jones set up signs on Saturday morning to let visitors know that the monument was closed because of the shutdown, which went into effect at midnight the night before. Cars and cyclists turned around after finding out, though some drove all the way to the last set of signs just to be sure the monument was really closed. Ketsia Delinoir, who recently came to San Diego because of her work in the Navy, was hiking in to see the monument for the first time when Jones told her it was closed. Most local offices for federal agencies are closed on the weekend in general, so more San Diegans are likely to be impacted come Monday morning if Congress doesnt pass a spending bill before then. Many federal employees will either be furloughed when they report to work on Monday or will work without pay to keep critical parts of the government running. With about 35,000 federal employees living in the San Diego region, San Diegos economy stands to lose millions of dollars. If the 2013 shutdown is any precedent, for every week the feds are out of commission the San Diego region will miss about $7 million in economic activity, due in large part to furloughed government employees and ones who still have to show up to their job but dont get their regular paycheck. Cabrillo Credit Union, with many federal employees as members, is one organization that has contingency plans in the event of a government shutdown, including a program that gives loans at zero percent interest on what would have been pay-day to tide federal workers over until the government is funded again. The largest part of the local federal economy, the military, will at least temporarily keep working as usual. But if the shutdown lasts beyond Feb. 1, theyll still have to report for duty but wont get their regular paycheck, a problem that could mean less cash flowing through San Diego. The sting, however, could be shorter than the shutdown. In 2013 lawmakers passed the Pay Our Military Act, restoring payroll for service members and putting about 400,000 civilian defense employees back to work. Military families could see a strain on their household budgets since commissaries cheap grocery stores on base were shut down in 2013 after staying open an extra day to sell perishable food (overseas commissaries remained open, however). Exchanges department stores service members can use kept their doors open. Its unclear what will happen in this shutdown. A White House report on the 2013 shutdown found that defense contracts with small businesses were cut by nearly 33 percent and spending decreased by 40 percent compared to the previous two years. Some contractors had to temporarily lay off employees. A Defense Department memo issued Thursday said that fully-funded contracts awarded before the shutdown remain in effect. The regions biotechnology industry could also be hit. Some research laboratories rely on federal grants that might not arrive as timely as expected, and Food and Drug Administration approvals would hit a wall. While the county struggles with an unusually high number of flu cases, including 142 deaths as of the second week of this month, during the last furlough the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reduced its flu vaccination effort and put its weekly flu report on hiatus. The last furlough, however, was much earlier in the flu season. The Cleveland National Forest in San Diego County and national parks elsewhere may remain open to visitors, but might be unstaffed as ranger stations will be closed, and some trails might not be accessible if gates remain locked. Programs like e-verify, which allows employers to check a potential employees work authorization, will not function during the shutdown. Agencies like Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration will likely keep on many of their staff to work mission critical positions on the border, at ports of entry and at airports. Joshua Wilson, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council Local 1613, said that administrative support or training positions would not be staffed during the shutdown. He anticipated agents in those positions would go to their stations to work the line until Congress votes to fund the government again. It really puts a kink in our operations, plus we have the added bonus that none of us get paid, Wilson said. He said agents are especially frustrated because of the reason for the shutdown. Its doubly insulting that its being done to promote the advocacy of a group of illegal aliens, Wilson said. You can imagine why that would be really insulting for a Border Patrol agent. Congress failed to pass a spending bill by Friday nights deadline because of a stalemate in negotiations over the fate of so called dreamers unauthorized immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. President Donald Trump ended an Obama-era program in September that protected those immigrants from deportation and allowed them to work. Dulce Garcia, an immigration attorney and a beneficiary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, said she felt a mix of emotions over the shutdown. Im sorry that it has had to come down to this, but I think our leaders in the White House could have prevented this months ago, Garcia said. Our lives as dreamers, theyre really at stake here. Deportation is a reality for us. The inability to work is a reality for us. This is the best chance weve gotten in decades to get it resolved. If we miss this opportunity, maybe we wont have another one until we have a different president, Garcia added. Im glad history was made yesterday. I know its bad for some, but I hope they can see past it and know in their hearts that this was the right thing to do. On Saturday, still hoping for a solution, local members of the House of Representatives, as did much of the rest of Congress, stayed in Washington instead of returning to their districts for the weekend. Democrats said that the budget problem is a symptom if dysfunctional leadership, while the Republican members were quiet on the matter. Republicans have shut down the government despite having control of the House, the Senate, and the White House, Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, said in a statement he posted on Twitter. He and other members of his party said its reasonable to pass a spending bill that funds a child health insurance program, community health centers, and provides protections for dreamers. And Rep. Susan Davis said the governments reliance on short-term spending bills rather than a long-term plan is bad governance. Running the government month by month causes long standing harm to people and our security, the San Diego Democrat said in a statement. Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, said he would forego his usual pay during the shutdown, and placed blame on President Donald Trump and Republicans. This is no way to run the greatest country on earth. And this could all be resolved if Republican leadership would allow a vote on either one of the two bipartisan compromises to find a fix for Dreamers, Peters said in a statement. The two Republicans from the region, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, and Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, did not comment on the shutdown. Twitter: @jptstewart joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1841 UPDATES: 12:35 p.m. Saturday: This article was updated with additional developments and comments from local congressional leaders. This article was originally published at 6 p.m. Friday. In a time when womens voices have perhaps never been heard so clearly, tens of thousands of energized San Diegans marched on Saturday to unleash a collective roar: See you at the ballot box. Galvanized by a historic series of events over the past year from the #MeToo movement to the election of a Democratic senator in the fiercely red state of Alabama crowds at Womens Marches in downtown San Diego and San Marcos expressed determination to turn their anger and outrage into action. Where the 2017 marches were a catch-all for myriad causes, this year participants united under the theme of Hear Our Vote and pledged to make the upcoming midterm elections a broad referendum for womens rights and against President Donald Trump. Advertisement Last year after the march, a friend said, Now what do we do? said state Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, one of several speakers to address the crowd at San Diegos Waterfront Park. This is what we do. Each and every day its up to us to make our voices heard. We do not stop. We march forward. In a crowd that San Diego officials estimated at 37,000 but pegged at over 100,000 by march organizers Stephanie Spence, of Coronado, held a sign in the shape of a frame surrounding her face. This is what a voter looks like, it said on the front. Your voice is your superpower, Spence wrote on the back. The writer and businesswoman said she had escaped an abusive husband who even tried to control whom she voted for. Hed say, Dont cancel my vote, but Id go into the voting booth and vote for whoever I wanted to anyway, Spence said. I was afraid. Now, though, I have reclaimed my voice and I am speaking for those who are afraid to speak their truth. 1 / 53 Donia Smith, Tierrasanta: Im here because Im really disappointed in your president. If he was ever to touch my parts, I think he should be out. Im marching for all those people out there who are afraid to speak up. Human rights are womens rights. Dont forget that. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 2 / 53 Roaa Alkhawaja, Mira Mesa: Im here because females are the future. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 3 / 53 Jennifer Moreno, San Diego: Im here for our future. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 4 / 53 Jennifer Mosby: Im here for the women of the future. Im here for my daughter, and my future granddaughters, and for the women of the past too, my grandmother and my mother. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 5 / 53 Ethan Kilgore, San Diego: Because my mother raised me right. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 6 / 53 Kim Cary, La Mesa: I'm here to support womens equal rights, equal pay for equal work. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 7 / 53 Debbie Boyd, Poway: I believe in the constitution, I believe in America, and Im a patriot, and Donald Trump is not a patriot. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 8 / 53 Izzah Kamran, Poway: Im here to fight and march for all the women who dont have the power. To show support for them, and for me, being a Muslim woman, wearing the hijab and my scarf, walking around showing who I am, and who I am proud to be. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 9 / 53 Renee Haas, Oceanside: Protest Trump. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 10 / 53 Steve Lack, Oceanside: Im here to stand for all the women in my life and all the women in this country. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 11 / 53 Mike Baldwin, Carmel Valley: Im here to tell everyone to get out and vote so your voice can be heard. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 12 / 53 Kitty Callaghan, Carmel Valley: This is what democracy looks like. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 13 / 53 Heidi Nielsen, Spring Valley: I have a 20-year-old daughter and this is a nightmare for her as well as myself. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 14 / 53 Phil Factor, Poway. Im here in support of the human race against Trump, and for all the world to live a better situation with peace and prosperity and humanity. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 15 / 53 Staci Joy, Little Italy: I am here because we all are waking up. We are in the in the big renaissance of wake up. We need to fix things. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 16 / 53 Jack Treahy, Allied Gardens: I lost my wife a few years ago and I have two beautiful daughters, that"s why Im here. They dont have a right to tell these women what they can and cannot do. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 17 / 53 Emily T. Griffiths: Its important not to become complacent, and being here reminds us that we are powerful and that we are all in this together. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 18 / 53 Andy Grubb, North Park: Im here because so much is going on, that we just have to keep showing up to let the administration know that we are paying attention. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 19 / 53 Cameron Tenyson, Sacramento: Im here because I know it pisses Donald Trump off. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 20 / 53 Ryan Maher, UC San Diego student: For my mother. My mother went to the women"s march last year and Id like to pay tribute to that type as much as I can. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 21 / 53 Cathryn Bolt, Del Mar: I am here to send a message to the White House that I and the rest of the people here do not want a racist in the White House. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 22 / 53 Ilona Canestrelli, Carmel Valley: Im here because Im a mother, and a daughter, and a biologist and I care about having a planet, and having it clean, and having it be a planet to live in that isnt polluted. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 23 / 53 Mike Pope, San Diego: Im here to support. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 24 / 53 Martina Pappas, Mira Mesa: Our president isnt the right person to up there, to put it nicely. I believe in womens rights. I believe that all people are human beings and they deserve to be treated as such. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 25 / 53 Stephanie Picado, San Diego: I dont want my 12-year-old niece to grow up feeling like a second-class citizen. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 26 / 53 Sarah Kadous, Poway: As a young Muslim American female, I am all about intersectionality and I think this march represents girl power over the power of the patriarchy. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 27 / 53 Jo Simon, Rancho Penasquitos: We cant take the bigotry anymore. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 28 / 53 Judy Swain, La Jolla: This isnt the America I grew up in and was born into. We have to have a moral compass. We dont have one. Leadership is corrupt, racist, misogynist, and things need to change. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 29 / 53 Najat Hachimi, Rancho Bernardo: I am here to stand for peace, justice, and equality for all. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 30 / 53 Eleaor Musick, Cardiff-by-the-Sea: I cant image the world thats going to be left to my grandchildren after Trump is done with it. Im so disgusted with what hes doing to the environment, to our national mental health, to our moral, and to all the people who make this country great. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 31 / 53 Dian Stewart, Encinitas: Every single person on this planet came from a woman. We matter, women matter. Its our turn, times up. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 32 / 53 Eric Hagen, San Diego: Im a social science teacher in high school, and I have students literally from all over the world. I just want to show my students that people in assemblies such as this are just one way that we can have our voices heard. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 33 / 53 Linda Perez, San Diego: " just want to say to all those men out there in power, anyone out there in power, its not the example of power, but the power of example. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 34 / 53 Ali Afshan, La Mesa: Im here for the rights of the woman, the choice of the woman, and freedom for every ethnicity and every people. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 35 / 53 Claire Bergstresser, Poway: Im here because the work is not done, so neither am I. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 36 / 53 Maya Carlin, Carmel Mountain Ranch: Im here today to support civil rights, equal rights for everyone, along with womens rights and all human rights and to give the message of Lady Liberty too. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning for freedom. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 37 / 53 Stephen Mapolitano, San Diego: Im here today to march for equal rights and to show my support for all Americans regardless of your gender, sexuality, background or religion. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 38 / 53 Paul Coogan, San Diego: Im here to fight against xenophobia which is undermining our democracy. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 39 / 53 Joyce Canestrelli, Mira Mesa: Im here because my husband was an immigrant. I want to support all those dreamers. They deserve to be here. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 40 / 53 Melina Rabin, Carmel Valley: Im here to support womens rights and fight for a better future for all women. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 41 / 53 Dina Dehaini, Scripps Ranch: Im here to support women in the stem field and to make sure they have equal opportunities. We makeup 48 percent of the workforce, and yet only 24 percent people working in the stem field currently are women. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 42 / 53 Mary Clifford, Chula Vista: Im here because we have to stand up for everyones rights, not only womens rights, and the dumpster has trampled on our rights, and we need a free press. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 43 / 53 Anne Clifford, Serra Mesa: I am here because we have to keep marching. Weve been marching for how many years, and things are still screwed-up, and I think its quite ironic that the government shutdown is on the one-year anniversary of the dumpsters inauguration. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 44 / 53 Mika OBrien, Talmadge: Im here because I believe in equality. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 45 / 53 Clare Hermanson, Allied Gardens: I march because I believe in the power of all women and girls. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 46 / 53 Paula Kasimatis, Allied Gardens: Im marching because our children are watching, and this administration represents values that I dont want to be a model for my daughter. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 47 / 53 Emma Andrade, Point Loma: Because girls are important. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 48 / 53 Melanie Nelsen, Carson City, Nevada: Im marching for her. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 49 / 53 Greg Williams, San Carlos: Im here to support all the women in my life. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 50 / 53 Mary Ellen Danforth, San Carlos: Im here today for my daughter so she wont have to say, Me Too. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 51 / 53 Stephanie Williams, La Mesa: Im here to give a voice for those who are too afraid to speak out. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 52 / 53 Pilar Placone Willey, La Mesa: We need to have a change in our country, and we are the change. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 53 / 53 Cindy Cambert, La Mesa: I want to encourage people to vote, because if people vote, I think this country will get what it needs. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) The orderly but ebullient local events were among several marches being held across the country this weekend, with most happening Saturday. The national march will be on Sunday, this time in Las Vegas rather than Washington, D.C., the site of last years record-setting turnout. The man occupying the White House there was very much a presence in San Diego Saturday. Signs in the crowds, ranging from the angry and serious to the humorous and absurd, took aim at Trumps policies, personality, scandals and racially-charged statements. Grab em by the midterms, one said, turning a phrase from Trumps notorious Access Hollywood tape into a election day rallying cry. We still believe in civil discourse, said Anita Dacey, of Ocean Beach. Were here because were strong, erudite and sick of being led by people with no compassion, no morals, no character, no intelligence. The pediatric nurse said she was marching with the support of four men behind her: her husband and three sons. I have three sons three sons who know better than to act like President Trump. Across the reaches of the county and amid the sea of pink shirts and knit p***y hats, there were also those calling for the rights of Latinos, blacks, Native Americans and the LGBTQ community and protection of the environment, dreamers and Planned Parenthood. Among the 3,000 to 4,000 marchers at Palomar College in San Marcos was retiree Doris Payne, who volunteers at a local elementary school. She said nearly 70 percent of the students there are Latino, and her sign read, Empathy is an American value. Protect the Dreamers. Im out here today because enough already, she said. Its important that we not lose hope. Numerous Democratic political candidates had informational booths set up at both marches. They and independent groups had volunteers registering scores of voters. We have seen a tremendous amount of momentum, said volunteer Nils Goins, who was overseeing the North County voter registration drive. Women outnumbered men by about 3 to 1 at both gatherings, but the men who attended enthusiastically wore their support on their sleeves, as well as signs and hats. Men of quality are for equality, read Vista resident Craig Thompsons handmade sign. Sporting a fuchsia shirt, farmers overalls and a white cowboy hat, Tom Lemmon, business manager for the countys Building and Construction Trades Council, was there with his wife Karen and 13-year-old daughter K.T. I see women coming into the workplace that are incredibly competent, that are incredibly skilled, but still have a hard time professionally, he said. Men need to change the culture, adding that there is more pay equity among unionized workers. 1 / 27 People walk north on Pacific Highway during the San Diego Womens March. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 27 Starla Rivers pumps her fist as she and others at the front of the crowd prepare to march south on Harbor Drive. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 27 People participating in the San Diego Womens March walk past the Star of India, background left, as they walk south on Harbor Drive just after the start of the march. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 27 People stand in front of the County Administration building as they listen to various people speak. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 27 People stand in front of the County Administration building as they listen to various people speak. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 27 Jermaine Rocacorba raises her fist as she and other people listen to speakers while in front of the County Administration Building. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 27 A woman, who calls herself The Pink Lady, holds a likeness of Trump with Putins puppet written on the back. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 27 People stand in front of the County Administration building as they listen to various people speak. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 27 A woman, who is a member of a group of Aztec dancers, listens to people speak while in front of the County Administration Building. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 27 Charese Perry, 16, from Santee, holds a sign in favor of congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar while in front of the County Administration Building. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 27 A group of women listen to people speak while in front of the County Administration Building. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 27 People participating in the San Diego Womens March walk south on Harbor Drive. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 27 People participating in the San Diego Womens March walk south on Harbor Drive. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 27 One of the many signs carried by people during the San Diego Womens March. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 15 / 27 People participating in the San Diego Womens March walk past a cruise ship as they walk south on Harbor Drive. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 16 / 27 Francis is fitted with a sign by his owner Bebo Hoy. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 17 / 27 People walk north on Pacific Highway during the San Diego Womens March. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 18 / 27 Haly Lewis of Rancho Santa Fe holds American flags as people walk north on Pacific Highway. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 19 / 27 Robin Love holds a sign in reference to Trumps combed over hair. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 20 / 27 People walk down Pacific Highway during the San Diego Womens March. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 21 / 27 Participants in the San Diego Womens March carry signs as they walk north on Pacific Highway. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 22 / 27 Children cheer on the marchers from a balcony on Pacific Highway. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 23 / 27 Louise Blue, left, and Lisa Tansey drum on a light pole during the San Diego Womens March. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 24 / 27 Courtney Porter is dressed as a womans rights fairy. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 25 / 27 A likeness of Trump is carried as people walk north on Pacific Highway. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 26 / 27 Firefighter/paramedic Thomas Woods, right, and Capt. Matt Spicer, who are with the San Diego Fire Department, follow the crowd at the back of the march in case someone needs medical assistance. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 27 / 27 After participating in the San Diego Womens March, sisters Sydney Bromidis, bottom left, Margo Gebraski, right, and Jillian Bromidis relax by lying on the grass in front of the County Administration Building. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) Lemmon said he might not have been born a feminist but has evolved into one. Wisdom is experience gone wrong, he said. And about that hat? Hey, look up #GoodGuysWearWhiteHats, he said laughing. His wife turned more pensive. I have just been so, so distressed this year with whats going on in our country, she said. I just feel theyre sucking us down the drain, these divisive, racist, misogynist, hatemongers who are trying to make it us versus them, instead of we. I want to go back to where were hopeful again. Their daughter was looking forward. Im here because its making a difference not just for me, but for any kids I have in the future, the teen said. Listening intently to the line-up of diverse speakers from the County Administration Building, school nurse Sascha Lopez, of San Diego, held a sign with a Mexican proverb: Somos semillas or We are seeds. It continued: They tried to bury us, they didnt know we are the seeds. She wiped tears from her eyes after explaining why she was marching, alongside her husband, her pre-teen daughter and her daughters friend. I couldnt not be here. Im here for my students whose parents have been deported. The dreamers. Im here for my LGBT trans friends who are afraid. Im here for my husband who is a science teacher. Im here for them, Lopez said, pointing to the two girls with her. Its overwhelming how many reasons there are to be here. kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @kristinadavis On May 18 about four months before the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history unfolded on the Las Vegas Strip gunman Stephen Paddock was thinking about San Diego. On an HP laptop seized from one of his Mandalay Bay hotel rooms after the massacre, authorities found a web search from that Thursday in May for La Jolla Beach, as well as evidence that hed visited sandiego.org, the regions tourism website. The findings were released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Friday as part of an exhaustive report on the shooting. Advertisement From his perch on the 32nd floor of the hotel, Paddock, a professional gambler, sprayed gunfire for more than 10 minutes down on concert-goers attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival on Oct. 1. Fifty-eight people were killed and more than 700 injured. The search through Paddocks computers reveal queries into several areas around the country, although it is not clear if he was considering those places as potential targets. On the same day as the San Diego searches he searched Google Maps for locales in Southern California, including hotels in Santa Monica and a Venice Beach gastropub, and places in Boston, including Fenway Park and Boston University Questrom School of Business. The Google search for La Jolla Beach was made alongside queries for biggest bear, grant park functions, open air concert venues, biggest open air concert venues in USA, summer concerts 2017 and how crowded does Santa Monica Beach get. Ticketmasters website and the site for the Grant Park Music Festival a summerlong classical music concert series in Chicago were visited through Internet Explorer about a half-hour before sandiego.org was accessed at 5:05 a.m. that same day in May. The search history grows much more focused on Las Vegas in September as he finalized his plans, the report shows. Several victims of the shooting were from San Diego County. kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @kristinadavis San Diego-based Scripps Health must pay $1.5 million to resolve allegations that it charged federal health programs for services rendered by physical therapists who did not have billing privileges under those programs, the Department of Justice announced Friday. The government alleged in a civil suit that the health care system had billed Medicare and TRICARE for services from therapists who were not enrolled in the program, and without the required supervision by a physician. The programs, Medicare and TRICARE, require that billing privileges are limited to providers enrolled with them, the Department of Justice said. Advertisement However, services from providers who are not part of the programs can be billed to them under certain conditions. Those services must be incidental to the services of a doctor who is part of the program, and that doctor must provide direct supervision, according to the Department of Justice Scripps issued a statement Friday that the settlement was related to a technical error in the processing of some Medicare bills for physical therapy treatments. Scripps provided all the services for which it billed Medicare and ensured patients received high-quality care, the statement read. Scripps has reached a settlement to avoid continuing legal costs and uncertainty. The alleged violations came under the False Claims Act, which allows people to sue for false claims on behalf of the government, and also to share in any recovery. The settlement resolved a lawsuit the government filed last year with Suzanne Forrest, a former Scripps employee who, according to the complaint, had once been the director of business operations. As part of the settlement, she will receive $225,000. According to the complaint, the government said that Forrest had warned Scripps it was out of compliance, but those warnings were not heeded. She resigned in 2015. Scripps said Friday that it had discovered the situation on its own and had self-reported the matter to its Medicare contractor, unaware that a civil suit had been filed, and that federal officials were unaware of that self-disclosure when the suit was filed. Therefore, Scripps diligently investigated the issue and attempted to resolve it through appropriate channels, Scripps said in an emailed statement to the newspaper. Scripps also said that there were and always are physicians on site during the provision of physical therapy services and available to assist with any patient needs that arose. The health care system also said that this was a civil investigation focused on the technical billing issues only; there were no allegations related to quality or medical necessity of care in this investigation. In a press release announcing the settlement, San Diego U.S. Attorney Adam L. Braverman said the settlement illustrates the United States Attorneys Offices continued commitment to protecting the integrity of the Medicare and TRICARE programs. Unlawfully obtained payment from taxpayer-funded programs harms the entire health care system, Braverman said. We will hold accountable all providers who defraud these programs. In announcing the settlement, the government said the claims it resolved were allegations only, and there was no determination of liability. teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com (760) 529-4945 Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT A Walton man went to prison Thursday for pointing a shotgun at a 71-year-old worker in a Menards parking lot last April and threatening that he was a dead man if he called the cops. Eric R. Kurth got six to 10 years in prison for attempted use of a firearm to commit a felony and 60 day, plus a $500 fine, for an aggravated offense DUI. He had pleaded no contest. Just before 5 a.m. April 19, police went to the Menards at 8900 Andermatt Drive on an employee's report that someone had pulled up in a truck, got out, pointed a shotgun at him and threatened to kill him before driving off. After the employee called police, the man later identified as Kurth pulled up beside him again and told him he was a dead man if he reported the incident. The pickup didn't have license plates or in-transits, but Lancaster County sheriff's deputies found Kurth near his home in Walton later that morning after a pickup with no plates or in-transits crashed into a garage. They found a shotgun on the passenger seat. Kurth's blood-alcohol level was 0.185 percent, more than twice the legal limit to drive. An illegal marijuana dispensary was shut down in Spring Valley Friday morning, the second one this month, a sheriffs official said. Deputies and code enforcement officials served an abatement warrant at Bancroft Mega Wellness dispensary on Bancroft Drive about 8 a.m., Sgt. Matt Cook said. Marijuana, cannabis edibles, paraphernalia and cash were seized. Advertisement Deputies detained eight people for questioning about marijuana sales, but they were not arrested, Cook said. San Diego County authorities last year banned all medical and recreational marijuana dispensaries or other facilities in unincorporated areas. Individual cities have their own rules on pot sales. Deputies closed The Bakery on Birch Street on Jan. 11, seizing more than 300 pounds of marijuana and products and seizing nearly $4,000 in cash. pauline.repard@sduniontribune Twitter: @pdrepard From crystalline structures in shades of pink that seem lit from within, to the legends of vast salt flats kept pristine for millennia on remote mountain peaks; there is plenty about Himalayan rock salt to stir the imagination and the senses. Its no surprise this natural treasure both modest and deeply mystical has enjoyed growing popularity in health, healing and culinary circles. Salt therapy is said to offer a natural alternative to treating common ailments such as eczema, asthma, allergies and many other respiratory and skin disorders. This alternative approach has allowed some people to eliminate or significantly reduce the amount of medications used. (Of course, patients should consult their doctors before engaging in any therapy.) Advertisement Two local entrepreneurs have harnessed the mythos and health benefits of Himalayan rock salt with their new venture, Salt Essence Therapy. Offering both salt therapy (also known as halotherapy) and infrared sauna therapy in a relaxing ambiance with low lighting, soft music and an aesthetically-pleasing salt-themed decor, Salt Essence Therapy was launched last November by Diana Gatchalian and Flo Washizaki. Both are long-time residents of Temecula. Gatchalian and Washizaki recently answered our questions about Salt Essence Therapy, and their experience as entrepreneurs in southwest Riverside County. Q: What prompted you to open Salt Essence Therapy? A: After visiting a salt cave, we kept thinking of the advantages and benefits we could offer our community. It was exciting to bring an alternative therapy for everyday issues many people are experiencing. Q: How is Salt Essence Therapy unique? A: The salt used in our caves imported directly from Pakistan is mined from the Himalayan mountains. Dry, pure, 99.99% sodium chloride is crushed into tiny micro-particles and then dispersed [using halogenerators] into the room, where the micro-particles are inhaled. Without a halogenerator you have no therapeutic or wellness benefits. We also have an infrared sauna. Its benefits are detoxification, relaxation, pain relief, weight loss, improved circulation and skin purification. Q: Halotherapy seems to be enjoying a spike in popularity right now. A: Salt Therapy is relatively new in the United States and has only emerged here in the last 10 to 15 years. There are thousands of facilities throughout Europe and Russia offering salt therapy. Q: In forming your new business, did you take advantage of any local business resources? A: Yes, we belong to both the Temecula and the Murrieta/Wildomar Chambers of Commerce. Q: Do you have any advice for people who may want to open a small business in Murrieta or nearby? A: Yes, learn how to save, expect delays, be prepared to network, and take advantage of social media. Salt Essence Therapy Address: 40675 Murrieta Hot Springs Road, Suite B4, Murrieta Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays; closed Sundays and Mondays. Cost: $45 for a 45-minute salt therapy session ($30 for first-timers); discounts for seniors, children, groups, packages and memberships. Call: (951) 704-7420 Online: saltessencetherapy.com temecula@sduniontribune.com Vice President Mike Pence arrives in the Middle East on Saturday, launching a high-stakes tour that was delayed after President Trumps decision recognizing Jerusalem as Israels capital sparked protests across the region. He will visit Egypt, Jordan and Israel over four days but wont meet with Palestinians, reflecting the impasse in the Trump administrations efforts to broker peace between them and Israel. Those ambitious efforts ground to a halt after Trumps decision Dec. 6 to eventually move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, canceled a planned meeting with Pence in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. Advertisement Tensions flared again in advance of Pences trip when the administration Tuesday announced it would hold back $65 million of a planned $125-million payment to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which for decades has paid for medical and educational assistance to Palestinian refugees. The White House decided Pence should depart for the trip as planned Friday night, though Congress continued to be deadlocked over funding the government. Pence was not expected to be needed to break a tie in the Republican-controlled Senate; if needed, he would make phone calls to lawmakers from the plane en route to Egypt, a White House official said. Pences meetings with the leaders of the three countries are integral to Americas national security and diplomatic objectives, his press secretary, Alyssa Farah, said in a statement. The vice president first will meet in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi, the strongman Trump called my friend during an Oval Office meeting in April. In Amman, Jordan, Pence will confer with King Abdullah II, who had swiftly condemned Trumps action on Jerusalem. In Israel, his last and longest stop, Pence is to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Pence will also speak to Israeli lawmakers in the Knesset, where he is likely to receive an enthusiastic reception. In Cairo and Amman, Pence will discuss ways to continue countering Irans sponsorship of terrorism, address the refugee crisis in war-torn Syria, and protect Christians and other religious minorities in the region who are targeted by lawless mobs and Islamic radicals, White House officials said. The trip was initially billed as a way to calm jittery Arab allies who were unhappy with the Jerusalem decision and to find a way to restart peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. Pence is unlikely to break that logjam. An evangelical Christian and former congressman with close ties to Israel, Pence has long pushed for cutting aid to Palestinians and for the U.S. to move its embassy to Jerusalem. He advocated for the changes inside the White House. Pence stood just behind Trump when the president made the televised announcement on Jerusalem, which ended the decades-long U.S. policy of leaving the citys status to be decided by a peace agreement between the Palestinians and Israel. Pence has been to Israel three times before, but he once said hes visited Jerusalem a million times in his heart. His decision to make the trip was met with some skepticism, especially given that he wont meet with Abbas or any other Palestinians. If one of the administrations goals is to jump-start Middle East peace talks, its kind of hard to do that if youre only talking to one side, said Derek Chollet, a former senior Pentagon official in the Obama administration. The greatest accomplishment could be avoiding disaster, Chollet added. Given that Pence is the most senior American official to travel to the region since the Jerusalem announcement, his visit could be a magnet for widespread discontent, Chollet said. Its pretty combustible. When Pence meets with Sisi and Abdullah, experts expect that the two leaders will express their dismay about Jerusalem and other matters in private, but be all smiles in public. Egyptian forces are confronting Islamic State forces in the Sinai Peninsula, while Jordan needs American military and intelligence assistance as the fight against Islamic State winds down next door in Syria and large numbers of Syrian refugees settle in Jordan. Sisi and Abdullah would love to express their dismay, said Wayne White, a policy expert at the Middle East Institute and a former State Department official. But in doing so, they are afraid of some abrupt decision that could be severely damaging economically and in terms of security cooperation with the U.S. Twitter: @ByBrianBennett brian.bennett@latimes.com UPDATES: 6:30 p.m.: This story was updated to show Pence is making his fourth trip to Israel. This story was published at 3:15 p.m. Not even the neighbors knew that 13 siblings, aged 2 to 29, were being kept in captivity, deprived of sleep and food, allowed only one shower a year and chained to beds inside their Perris home. Yet thats what Riverside County authorities accused David Turpin, 56, and his wife, Louise Turpin, 49, of doing to their children this week. The couples house was registered with the state of California as the private Sandcastle Day School, and David Turpin was listed as its principal. But thats about all any official in the state knew about this house of horrors. Officials with the Riverside County Sheriffs Department and Department of Public Social Services said they had never been called to the home to talk to the Turpins. All officials knew, thanks to paperwork called a private school affidavit, was that Turpin had run a K-12 school from his home since 2010, when the family lived in Murrieta. According to the Los Angeles Times, Turpin called it a full-time, religious school unaffiliated with any denomination, but recently wrote that it was nonreligious. Several of his children were enrolled last school year. The California Department of Education has said it is sickened by these details, but that under current state law, it does not approve, monitor, inspect, or oversee private schools. The only requirement for parents is that they register their home with the state as a private school to provide students an exemption from mandatory public school attendance. Advertisement That children could fall through a crack in society is unacceptable. The New York Times reported there are more than 3,000 private schools registered with the California Department of Education. Many of them operate out of peoples homes for just a few children. No doubt, many parents are great teachers. And no doubt, stories remotely like the Turpins are rare. But the state has a responsibility to protect its most vulnerable population. This abdication of even the most limited oversight is not unique to California. It is one of 15 states in which simple registration is enough to create a home school, and there are 11 other states in which parents dont have to submit any documentation at all. Reuters reported that about 1.7 million U.S. children are educated at home, a doubling since 1999. It also reported that more than 380 cases of severe or fatal child neglect have occurred since 2000 in families involved in home-schooling. Such statistics make the Massachusetts-based Coalition for Responsible Home Education call for annual assessments by trained professionals, among other things. Annual inspections make sense, as would, to a lesser extent, random inspections that cycle through each private school over several years. Private day care centers and assisted-living homes are regulated more than private schools. Its time to reconsider that. Regulation has a cost. So does abdication. Twitter: @sdutIdeas Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion Twitter: @sdutIdeas Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion Re Man ordered to give up gun, ammunition for one year (Jan. 9): Thanks to the San Diego Police Department, the city attorneys office and Judge Tamila Ipema for issuing San Diegos first gun violence restraining order (GVRO). Thanks also to the citizen who recognized a potentially deadly situation and requested the GVRO. This GVRO saved rats and raccoons from gun violence, but if someone is living with domestic abuse and there is a firearm in the house, the GVRO law might save a life. People owe it to their families to find out more. I wish I had had that chance. Dont wait until your loved one points a loaded gun at somebody; it will be too late. Dont wait until he or she pulls the trigger; it will be way too late. If people are living with someone who is armed and unstable, they should ask local law enforcement to request a GVRO. Advertisement Lashea Cretain 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. As political wrangling went on in Washington ahead of a possible government shutdown that could start at midnight on Friday, Americans wondered what it might mean for their states, jobs and daily lives even as Republicans, Democrats and President Donald Trump wrestled to control the narrative. Last-minute deals and blame were both being bandied about ahead of the deadline. Part of the back and forth included a spending bill that was passed by the House of Representatives but that ran into resistance in the Senate. The measure needs 60 votes to win approval in the Senate, so it requires some Democratic support. Amid debates over policy issues like defense spending, immigration and health care for poor children, President Donald Trump said a government shutdown would be devastating to our military while Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, warned that when the government goes dark, people die, accidents happen. Heres what you need to know about what a government shutdown would mean for Americans. Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, said the office is preparing for the possibility of a shutdown. In a press briefing on Friday morning, he said to reporters that the military, border security, fire fighters and parks employees would still work but would not immediately be paid for it. All of these people will be working for nothing, which is simply not fair, Mulvaney said. Central government functions like the postal service, law enforcement, airport security checks and other services deemed essential, especially as they relate to safety, would continue. Social Security and other federal benefit programs and the military would continue operating, but many federal workers would be barred from work or not paid for their work during the shutdown. When the government shut down for 16 days in October 2013, employees were retroactively paid when a deal was made to fund the government. Here are some of the main ways jobs and services would be affected, according to the The Associated Press. 1. Nearly 45,500 employees of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) would be sent home ahead of tax season. 2. Civil lawsuits at the Department of Justice not related to public safety would be postponed and law enforcement training would also be canceled. 3. The workforce at U.S. intelligence agencies would be reduced and essential employees would work without pay. 4. National parks and public lands are expected to remain open, though staffing and maintenance would be limited or stopped. 5. Work not related to safety at Federal Aviation Administration would stop, including certification of new aircraft, processing of airport construction grants, registration of planes and issuance of new pilot licenses and medical certificates. 6. A shutdown could interrupt research conducted by the National Institutes of Health. Are you a federal worker in San Diego whose life would be affected by a government shutdown? We want to hear from you. Email abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com with your story or share your opinion on the shutdown in 150 words or less with letters@sduniontribune.com. Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @abbyhamblin A Kearney woman said she saw "vindication and justice" in a jury's verdict this month finding a man liable for sexually assaulting her at a funeral home in 2015, and awarding her $10,000. Leola Ward said after she pays medical bills she plans to donate the rest of the proceeds of her lawsuit against Stephen O'Brien, a Kearney man she had known and worked with for years, to the Kearney S.A.F.E. Center "to protect other women like me who are victims of sexual assault at the hands of men that appear more powerful than their victims." "This jury verdict stands for the rule of law that sexual assault will not be tolerated in Buffalo County," she said in a statement. O'Brien never was charged criminally for what happened at a scheduled visitation while Ward was working at O'Brien Straatmann Redinger Funeral Home. Ward's attorney, Nathan Bruner, said she decided not to report it to police, worried about the emotional pain of a criminal trial. But after working with a psychologist, she decided to file a civil lawsuit against O'Brien. "This really wasn't about money for her. This was about confronting him and exposing him for what he did," Bruner said Friday. He said Ward was behind the counter at a visitation the evening of Dec. 2, 2015, when O'Brien started talking to her, then put his hand on her leg, up her thigh and between her legs. Bruner said she froze, not sure what to do, then quickly said "don't do that," and walked away and stood near a group of people gathered for the visitation. At trial, O'Brien said he had grabbed Ward's butt, but he disputed going further. His attorney, Tom Stewart, argued to the jury that, "Yes, (O'Brien) did this, but it really shouldn't be actionable or merit money damages." Stewart saw it as bad timing for the trial to come just a week after the Golden Globe Awards telecast celebrating the #MeToo movement protesting sexual abuse and misconduct. He was concerned enough about it to file a motion to keep Bruner from mentioning it to the jury. Bruner said he had no problem agreeing to that. "This was never about a movement," he said. "This was about Leola wanting accountability for what Stephen O'Brien did." On the other side, Stewart said if the case had been tried even two years ago, right after it happened, it could have gone differently for O'Brien, who is active in a number of civic organizations and at his church. And he pointed to a jury question, about whether touching the butt qualified as a sexual assault, as a hint that the jury of three men and three women may have believed O'Brien's version. "Given the atmosphere Tuesday in the world or the country we're actually satisfied in the verdict and the judgment," Stewart said. Ward said O'Brien had acted with callous disregard for her personal liberty when he sexually assaulted her in front of grieving family and friends during a somber event celebrating a person's life. "I am relieved that I may now have some closure in this matter and look forward to moving on with my life," she said. TIMMONSVILLE, S.C. Hunger is defined as a weakened condition brought about by prolonged lack of food. I am in my second year as the counselor at Brockington Elementary School in Timmonsville. I can truly say we have a significant population of students who battle hunger. We have a very resilient group of students who push through many obstacles to try to get the best education they can, but hunger should not be a challenge they have to face. There are many reasons I appreciate the partnership with the Help 4 Kids Florence organization. One obvious reason is because Help 4 Kids has championed an effort to prevent well over 100 students at our school from having to get through the weekend without food. The volunteers are truly special for the time and effort they put in to see that our students receive their bags every week. We have benefited greatly from our students being able to participate in such a wonderful program. Our teachers also have benefited from the program as evidenced from one 5K teacher, Mrs. Pemberton, who stated that she sees how the students are able to concentrate on their work because they are not hungry on Monday mornings. Being able to learn without thinking about food is very important to the success of the student and also the school. The benefits are endless of having students who are focused and able to grasp the foundational skills that will help them throughout their school years. Our 4K teachers, Mrs. Morrell and Ms. Strobel, mentioned how excited the little ones are when their bags arrive on Fridays and want to start looking through them to see what they have for the weekend. Our 5K assistant, Mrs. Lowery, said her kids are so happy and look forward to getting their bags on Friday. I know this to be true, because every time I deliver the bags to their classroom, the students faces light up and they all want to help me unload the bags from the cart. I just think back to my first interaction with the staff from Help 4 Kids who reached out to me when I first began. They were so passionate about the work they do for youth at our school and the many other schools they serve. We would like to thank them, and we look forward to continuing a strong relationship for the benefit of our students. Donald Trump saying something racist "isn't exactly news anymore," as "Saturday Night Live's" Michael Che observed. Yet Trump's former wife Ivanna Trump offers a kind word of support: He's not a racist, she says, he just says racist things. "I don't think Donald is racist at all," the president's first wife told "Good Morning Britain" on Monday. "Sometimes he says these things which are silly, or he doesn't really mean them ... but he's definitely not racist, I'm sure of that." Instead, she suggested, the president "has so many people telling him left and right what to say and what not to say" that "sometimes maybe it gets confusing," she said. "Confusing?" That's a good description of the president's latest flip-flop during negotiations on a proposed bipartisan immigration deal. During a Jan. 11 White House meeting, he reportedly claimed with very vulgar language that America needs more immigrants from places like Norway and fewer from Haiti, El Salvador and Africa. Throwing in Norway like that turned his vulgar plea for a higher-skilled immigration pool into a stark call for white supremacy, straight from a white nationalist playbook, in my view. And, by the way, immigrants from sub-Sahara Africa actually are better educated that most others, including most Americans, studies show. Of the 1.4 million immigrants from sub-Sahara Africa who are 25 and older, according to the Los Angeles Times, citing research from the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute, 41 percent have a bachelor's degree, compared with 30 percent of all immigrants and 32 percent of the U.S.-born population and 38 percent of the 19,000 U.S. immigrants from Norway. But many people find it so easy to stir up fears and rage against immigrants from certain countries that they don't have time to wait for facts. Now President Trump, who campaigned heavily on immigration fears, has to dance a delicate foxtrot between the demands of his hyper-conservative political base and his need to win enough Democratic votes to pass a bipartisan immigration deal. Sens. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, and Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, thought they had a deal before the White House meeting, according to news reports. But at the meeting Trump's reputation for following the advice of the last person to whom he has spoken showed itself. A fired-up Trump had swung over to the hardline conservatives such as Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican. Republican leaders found themselves growing mute or amnesiac amid the blowback from Trump's reportedly racist statements. The president denied making those remarks, and most of the Republican lawmakers in the room either said they didn't hear the reported words or didn't remember them. Republican Sen. Cotton and Sen. David Perdue of Georgia denied the reported remarks on Jan. 11, the day of the meeting, but the next day they shifted to saying they did not recall exactly what the president said. By Sunday, Perdue and Cotton were flatly denying that Trump used the vulgarities. But Durbin, the only Democrat in the room, stood by the reported quotes word-for-word, and Graham, who had confirmed the reported words to South Carolina GOP Sen. Tim Scott, told a South Carolina newspaper on Monday, "My memory hasn't evolved." Still, if President Trump was upset by the reports of his language, he took his time in responding to it enough time to call around to friends see how well the reports of his slurs were playing with his base. "It's weird that people in the room don't remember Trump using that word when Trump himself was calling friends to brag about it afterwards," conservative columnist Eric Erickson, who has in the past been critical of Trump, said in a tweet. "I spoke to one of those friends. The President thought it would play well with the base." If so, Trump probably was right about that. He has devoted his presidency, so far, to pandering to his most conservative minority of supporters while paying a more reasonable-sounding lip service to the rest of us. This drama would be more entertaining were it not for the 800,000 immigrants whose fate under the protections of President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program hangs in the balance. That's the serious side of politics. It affects real people's lives, regardless of their party or background. The nation's president, of all people, must never be confused about that. Since 1974, Societys Assets has challenged the community to look beyond a persons disability to see a fellow human being with gifts and talents that could be assets to the community. Societys Assets has three offices in Racine, Kenosha and Elkhorn and offers services that include independent living assessments and coordination, in-home care and skilled nursing. Agency caregivers honored Four caregivers from Societys Assets received awards last fall from the Wisconsin Long Term Care Workforce Alliance. The alliance is a coalition of public and private organizations who recognize the critical and indispensable role direct care workers play in meeting the daily living needs of older adults and people of all ages with disabilities. Minnie Clay, Antoinette (Toni) Kochevar, Julie Sittig and Susan Tran join 21 Societys Assets award-winners in its Aide Hall of Fame that dates back to 2005. Clay has been a caregiver for 28 years through the Societys Assets Kenosha office. Her consumers are her top priority, and they appreciate Clays compassion and excellent skills. Clay has worked with one consumer for eight years. The consumer remarked that Clay still works as hard as she did on her first visit. Kochevar, also from the Kenosha office, approaches caregiving assignments with a positive, respectful, can do attitude. She has the unique ability to be gracious in all situations. Her smile and quick wit endear her to every one of her consumers and their families, and to the office staff as well. Sittig is the primary caregiver for her husband through the Societys Assets Racine office. He suddenly fell ill nine years ago and his condition was critical, caused by a brain aneurysm and undiagnosed multiple sclerosis. His treatment and recovery were difficult at best. Sittig went to CNA (certified nursing assistant) classes to learn how to care for him. She also accessed resources to help their situation, often advocating for his rights to make his own decisions. Tran has worked at the Societys Assets Racine office since 2011. In addition to caring for her son every day, Tran also cares for some agency consumers, working with a widely diversified population of people with disabilities. Tran can be gentle as a lamb with a frail, elderly person or stand strong with someone who has dementia lashing out in confused anger, all the while being calm and confident. Advocate of the Year Award At the annual Societys Assets holiday banquet in December, the Dan Johnson Advocate of the Year Award was presented to Michelle LeBas-Bowen. She is the coordinator of the PAC House (Project Active Citizen) in the Burlington Area School District. LeBas-Bowen teaches her students the skills they will need to lead more independent lives as they reach adulthood. She encourages all of them to take a more active role in the educational process. LeBas-Bowen empowers her students to actively participate in the decision making that will impact their lives, routinely advocates on their behalf and teaches them to advocate for themselves. Also at the banquet, Stephanie Baker from our Racine office was presented with an Exemplary Service to Clients Award. Seventy-eight employees were recognized for milestone years or service: Five, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years. For more information about the Societys Assets resources for seniors and people with disabilities, call 262-637-9128 or visit the website, www.societysassets.org. STURTEVANT The Willkomm Companies eighth annual charity fundraiser benefiting two local homeless shelters concluded Dec. 1 at the companys Christmas party. Representatives from the Homeless Assistance Leadership Organization of Racine and Shalom Center of Kenosha were each presented with a $12,637 check for the shelters. Willkomm uses this event as the final piece of the fundraiser where employees took part in a raffle to help raise more money for the shelters, contributing $600 towards the total. For the month prior, employees at Willkomm's 12 locations asked customers for donations for the shelters. Exxon Mobil contributed also $1,000. Over the last eight years, Willkomm Companies has raised a total of $116,014 for these homeless shelters. Willkomm Companies is a family-owned business that has been serving southeastern Wisconsin for three generations. Welcome to A2Z Homeschooling! Homeschooling is more than just education at home. Homeschool parents, children, tutors, and anyone interested in learning online, a structured home classroom or unstructured unschooling will find A2Z Home's Cool an "cool" home school blog. Press Release January 20, 2018 GORDON BATS FOR TRANSPARENCY IN DOH-SANOFI DISCUSSIONS; To dispel further public suspicion that may arise, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee wants the apparently ongoing discussions between the Department of Health (DOH) and French manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur made transparent. Senator Richard J. Gordon, chair of the Senate Committee on Accountability of Public Officers & Investigations (Blue Ribbon), said Sanofi should not only meet with the DOH but also with various health experts. "People are already very anxious and enraged by the latest developments in this anomalous issue, what with forensic examination on the exhumed body of several children who received the Dengvaxia vaccine showing emerging patterns that led to their deaths. It may further fuel public suspicion if the meetings will not be made transparent," he explained. The Blue Ribbon Committee will conduct its fourth hearing on Monday, January 22, to tackle the issues on the undue haste of procuring the vaccines and the accountability of the Office of the President, the DOH, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Budget and Management, and other agencies that may be involved. "While charges in courts may already have been filed by certain groups; the duty of Congress to propose recommendations in aid of legislation, particularly on the undue haste of procuring the vaccines, remains to be in place. It is Congress' duty to make people aware of these issues," Gordon stressed. Sanofi has asked for a meeting with the DOH to discuss the reimbursement and ways to give the public a "more balanced and evidence-based" perspective on the dengue vaccine and the national vaccination program in general. Health Secretary Francisco Duque said his is willing to sit down with Sanofi. The French pharmaceutical company has earlier agreed to reimburse the government for the P1.4 billion unused stock of dengue vaccine Dengvaxia stored at DOH warehouses. Press Release January 20, 2018 Speech of Senator Loren Legarda 26th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) January 20, 2018 | Hanoi, Vietnam I wish to deliver a manifestation on the Resolution Calling for Regional Cooperation on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation sponsored by the Philippines. Our theme for this year's meeting is "Parliamentary Partnership for Peace, Innovation, and Sustainable Development," which reflects our commitment to promote economic, cultural, and regional cooperation for peace, security, prosperity, inclusive, and sustainable development. I share the ideals and principles embodied in this commitment for our region. However, we can never truly achieve real lasting growth within our region until we address our prevailing disaster and climate risks. In the last century, the Asia-Pacific region continues to be the world's most disaster-prone region, accounting for 91 percent of the world's total deaths due to disasters.[1] Moreover, due to our climate and disaster risks, our region is expected to bear 40 percent of global economic losses from disasters from 2015-2030.[2] Our gathering today, the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), should therefore have a more pronounced role in leading the discussion on reducing disaster and climate risks that continue to threaten the very future of our humanity. I speak before you as a legislator of the Philippines, a mega-biodiverse archipelagic country of more than 7,100 islands with rich natural resources of flora and fauna that provide for the more than 100 million Filipinos living in this climate-vulnerable country. We are an agricultural country, but in 2016, as a result of prolonged drought in North Cotabato, our very own farmers--6,000 of them--protested and begged for food from our government. Two farmers died and several others were wounded that day when the protest turned violent. Another memory that we remember as fresh as the day when it happened is the tragedy of 2013 when Typhoon Haiyan or Yolanda, as we call it, wreaked havoc in the Philippines, claiming 6,300 lives and displacing 3.4 million families. Haiyan made first landfall in Guiuan, a small town along the Eastern seaboard of the Philippines that was easily turned into a wasteland. Guiuan, however, is just one of the many communities continually ravaged by an average of 20 typhoons that visit the Philippines every year. This has been the norm for us. We have endured cycles of devastation and reconstruction, of destruction and rehabilitation, and we have always come out stronger than before. But we have learned that, as tenacious and resilient our Filipino spirit can be, it will not be enough to effectively address the impacts of disasters and climate change. Our prevailing climate and disaster risks are vulnerabilities that we share and you all experience back home. And we know very well that these vulnerabilities demand for timely, appropriate, and effective measures of legislation. Philippine legislators have the responsibility of recommending changes in our national budget. And this has allowed me, as Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, to enshrine climate change adaptation and mitigation and disaster risk reduction (CCAM-DRR) provisions and transform our national budget into a climate-smart and climate-resilient budget. Furthermore, during COP23, I was designated by the UNFCCC as the National Adaptation Plan Champion for the Philippines--a role that is consistent with my advocacy of mainstreaming CCAM-DRR into the systems and processes of our government agencies, especially for those dealing at the frontlines and involved in the critical sectors of our country. As the region that bears the brunt of disaster and climate impacts, we need to take greater and more ambitious climate action--such that inspires the rest of the world to do the same. We need to transform our region from being climate-vulnerable to being climate-smart and climate-resilient. We have to further integrate CCAM-DRR into our respective country's development agenda, plans, policies, programs, and investments at the national and local levels. We do this by allowing ourselves be constantly guided by science and academic research, to utilize the assessment of current and projected disaster and climate risks, as a means to inform our climate actions in the executive and legislative agenda of our governments. More importantly, we must build our resilience from within. We need to draw strength from each other, to intensify cooperation in the aspects of finance, technology, and capacity-building, with the view of mobilizing resources, leveraging knowledge, and exchanging best practices in CCAM-DRR. As one region, we need to work towards a long-term legislative framework for action on climate change in the Asia-Pacific region in line with the global blueprints for disaster risk reduction, climate change, and sustainable development--including the fulfillment of our commitments in our respective Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. We need to have one voice, to show our strength and resilience as a region, to inspire the rest of the world to protect and safeguard this one planet we call home. Thank you. _____________ [1] Global Environment Outlook 6 - Regional Assessment for Asia and the Pacific - http://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/7548/asia_and_the_pacific_fact_sheet.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y [2] Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2017. https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Asia-Pacific%20Disaster%20Report%202017%20%28Full%29.pdf This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When U.S. immigration officials said Jan. 13 they would honor a court order and accept renewal applications from the young people known as Dreamers whose fate is at the center of a congressional stalemate, Jose Perez was ready. But first, the 21-year-old East Bay college student and jewelry consultant had to get paid. The application price for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, is $495. Perez didnt have the cash, no matter how important it was. He got his paycheck Thursday. By Friday, he had met with his attorney, filled out his application and sent it off. Its like a wave of calm, he said. Still, Perez, like many others across the country, doesnt know for sure whether his application will be processed and result in a two-year extension of his protected status, which is now set to run out in May. He could only invest and hope. President Trump ordered the childhood arrivals program rescinded in September, while allowing those who had permits expiring before March 5 to apply for renewals. Months later, the uncertainty around DACA which protects nearly 700,000 people from deportation and provides them work permits has only grown, even as Democrats push for Congress to save it. On Jan. 9, U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered the government to allow renewal applications from DACA recipients. Alsup ruled that the Trump administration had offered no reasonable explanation for ending the program that former President Barack Obama created in 2012. The Department of Justice appealed Alsups ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, and on Friday the agency requested a hearing in February. The government said it did not ask the court to suspend the ruling until the appeal is heard because that would lead to another abrupt shift in immigration policy, rather than the orderly wind-down of the program that the administration prefers. Where that leaves Perez and others is unclear. When asked whether the government would accept the applications now coming in regardless of future court decisions or refund the $495 fee if it wont a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson said the agency does not comment on litigation, including potential outcomes. This hasnt stopped waves of applicants from filing into the offices of attorneys and advocates, seeking help with their renewals. To qualify for DACA, immigrants must have come to the United States without authorization before age 16, and have lived in the U.S. continuously since 2007. In Los Angeles, Marissa Montes, co-director of the Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic in Los Angeles, said a young man applied whose protection was set to expire March 7, meaning he could be one of the first subject to possible deportation if he is denied an extension. In the Bay Area, a mother eight months pregnant came to the Catholic Charities of the East Bay office in Concord for help with her 17-year-old sons renewal application. She brought money she had saved for baby supplies. His protections are set to run out in mid-March. The organization paid the fee, following its practice of helping those who cant afford it. As of Friday, the Catholic Charities office had seen or scheduled appointments with 90 DACA clients, said Ingrid Ovelar-Laterza, legal services supervisor. The whole legal department has prioritized the efforts to help clients renewals, as we do not know long this window will remain open, she said. Dreamers are anxious and feel in limbo while Washington is playing political games with their fate. Nearly 13,000 DACA recipients are scheduled to lose their status in March, and another 19,000 will hit their deadlines in April and May, according to the government. Officials said that if renewal applications are filed more than 150 days prior to expiration, they may be denied. Still, Montes said clients who do not fit this criteria are asking whether they should file anyway, while Judge Alsups ruling is in force. Leon Rodriguez, former head of the citizenship and immigration agency for 2 years beginning in mid-2014, said the agency should accept the applications regardless of what happens in the legal progress. It seems fair play, he said. If the applications are not accepted, he said, the fees should at least be returned. As all of this starting and stopping goes on, people are ending up stranded without work authorization, Rodriguez said. There is harm, has been harm, and will continue to be harm, some of which will be irretrievable if people have lost months of an ability to work because of the chaotic way in which it has all unfolded. Attorneys expect a bigger rush of clients if it becomes clear that Congress will not come up with a deal to protect Dreamers. We are determined to help as many individuals as we can, Montes said, even if it means working long hours and weekends. Hamed Aleaziz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @haleaziz RACINE Protesters angry over the Wednesday afternoon police shooting that killed a 26-year-old Racine man took their concerns to the streets and to City Hall Friday afternoon. At least 200 people took part in a march from the scene of the shooting of Donte D. Shannon a backyard in the 1400 block of Park Avenue to the police station on Center Street before moving across the street and occupying the second floor of City Hall, at one point pounding on the mayors office door. They remained there for about 40 minutes in an attempt to meet with Mayor Cory Mason. However, he was out of town in Madison for an Urban Alliance meeting with mayors from across the state. Then, at about 1:45 p.m., they reversed the route of their march, moving from Center Street to Grand Avenue, to 14th Street and then to Park Avenue in front of the house where two officers confronted Shannon after he had fled a traffic stop about a block away. Shannon died on the way to Ascension All Saints Hospital, family members say. Several said they were not notified that he had died until 4 to 5 hours later. Shannons father, Nakia Shannon, said that he viewed his sons body later Friday afternoon at the funeral home. He says his sons body has 15 bullet holes, although police have not verified how many bullets were fired. At least six bullet holes were visible in the fence at 1409 Park Ave., where many members of Shannons family and those who took part in the protest went to view the scene and pay their respects Friday. Although the level of chants escalated in front of the police station and inside City Hall, and a strong police presence was evident at City Hall and along the march route, police said after the march Friday that there were no problems other than a few brief traffic interruptions. Racine police received some help from the Racine County Sheriffs Office with march security and traffic control, but police said they were able to handle the march and provide regular service to the entire city without calling in further resources. Howell reaches out The Police Department has been limited in what it can say about Shannons killing since the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigations has taken over investigation of the incident. Racine Police Chief Art Howell did, however, send an email to The Journal Times on Friday. Regarding those who may have questions regarding the status of this investigation, please be advised that, shortly after this critical incident, Donte Shannons father contacted me directly via cellphone. He and I (and other family members) met shortly thereafter at the Racine Police Department, Howell wrote. The exchange was very respectful and orderly, and Mr. Shannon was introduced to the lead investigating agents from the DCI. Mr. Shannon was further advised that, per Assembly Bill 409, at least two members from an independent (outside) agency must lead officer-involved shootings where fatalities are involved. At my request, the DCI was called in to handle this investigation. Howell added: In addition to personally meeting with the Shannon family and a number of local pastors, I met with representatives of the local NAACP as well. Following the protest, Mason announced that a press briefing has been scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday at the Mayors Office at City Hall, 730 Washington Ave., and said more details would be forthcoming at that time. Lingering frustrations Participants in Fridays march expressed frustration with lack of information on the incident and why lethal force had to be used. Chanting phrases such as No justice, no peace, Whose streets? Our streets! and Black Lives Matter, the protesters decried what they see as a long pattern of harassment and oppression of black people by some local police personnel. Most protesters appeared to be from greater Racine, although a few had come from out of town, such as Clyde McLemore, founder of the Black Lives Matter chapter in Lake County, Ill. There were no counter-protesters, although a white woman standing in front of the Racine police station wondered aloud why Donte Shannon ran and said she doubted protesters would ever be satisfied. She declined to be interviewed on the record. Handwritten signs carried by protesters demanded that all Racine police start wearing body cameras. T-shirts and sweatshirts had photos of Donte Shannon; one read: Dont shoot me. I just wish we could get to some kind of understanding where we could sit down and talk to find out what we as a people need to do. Every life is important, you know what Im saying? We as a people are tired of being repressed, said Dorothy Massie, a resident of Racine for more than 20 years. Lifelong resident Sheri Price said that while there are definitely some good officers among Racines ranks, she said she knows first-hand that there are some who are overly aggressive toward people of color. She said that in October, her 13-year-old grandson had been stopped by police and had a flashlight shined in his face. When a friend of Prices went to investigate, police voices escalated. As a result, Prices friend held a follow-up meeting with police command staff earlier this week. He told them Monday If you guys dont do something, something bad is going to happen. And two days later, what do we have here? Price said. Family seeks answers The march kicked off at 12:15 p.m. Friday with an impassioned prayer led by Donte Shannons aunt, Norma Johnson. Theres no need for people to be slaughtered like animals. We dont want anyone else to die, Johnson said. God, no one deserves this. He was a human being, God. He was loved, God. He was respected, God. He may have had problems, but we all do. So God, we would ask that you give us the justice that we need and deserve today. Family members emotions Friday ranged from grief to anger. Dontes grandfather, John Shannon of Racine, put part of the blame on a local justice system, with juries not representative of the makeup of the community and also on the media because they never tell the whole truth. He also took a verbal poke at police for the attempted traffic stop that led to Donte Shannon fleeing Wednesday afternoon. They said it was a traffic stop: About what? A front license plate that a cop doesnt even see because hes in back of you? John Shannon said. Just the reason to stop him is a made-up reason. People need to know if they dont have a front plate on their car and there are millions in Wisconsin who dont they can be killed. Thats what they need to know. Tell the whole truth. Police have not confirmed any details regarding the circumstances that led to the stop. Among family members present was Donte Shannons 5-year-old daughter, Nakhia, his only child. Family members said the girl had been told partly about the situation but family members said that closure for her would come later when the family got answers about Dontes shooting so that Nakhia would know her daddy did not die in vain. Friday services planned Nakia Shannon said funeral services for his son would likely take place next Friday, Jan. 26. Draeger-Langendorf Funeral Home & Crematory in Mount Pleasant is handling arrangements. Family said that the service would be a time for smiles, to honor Donte Shannons million-dollar smile. He was an outgoing person. You can see from the turnout here and the people who have been here for the last couple of days for him, Nakia Shannon said. He let people move in with him if they came out of jail and had no place else to go, hed give the shirt off his back. For this to happen to him is unreasonable. I want him to rest in heaven and I want him to know that we wont forget about him and his family is going to live through him, Nakia Shannon said. The gathering had cleared the area of Park and 14th by about 2:30 p.m. Countless pink knit hats came out of storage as tens of thousands of protesters shouted and streamed through downtown San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and other communities in the second incarnation of the Womens March. In San Francisco, an enormous crowd jammed Civic Center Plaza for a rally, then marched down Market Street to the Embarcadero in a wave of people that stretched for blocks. In Oakland, the protesters crowded the shore of Lake Merritt, then made their way to City Hall. Other Northern California crowds gathered in Walnut Creek, Pacifica and even fired-up Chico in Butte County. The raucous and peaceful local events were part of dozens of marches around the U.S. and the world to protest President Trumps first year and to organize political opposition to it. Not Our President Illegitimate, read a giant banner being carried through Oakland to the shore of Lake Merritt. Grab them by the Mid-Terms, read a sign held by a Market Street marcher. This year Im all about the Resistance movement and flipping the House (of Representatives) in 2018, Berkeley attorney Ginny Roemer, 64, said as she stood outside the Oakland Museum of California, a few blocks from Lake Merritt. Isnt it interesting that the government shut down today? Were out here to blame it on Trump. Women and their supporters marched from the Lake Merritt BART Station to a large tent by the shore. After listening to speeches, the crowd headed west on 14th Street to City Hall. Oakland police said 40,000 to 50,000 people attended the march and rally and crowds were peaceful. While downtown Oakland continued to fill with pink, hats of a similar shade began assembling in downtown San Francisco. By noon, Civic Center Plaza was a sea of knit caps and protest signs many of them lambasting Trump. Sorry, Mom, your president is a pig, said one sign, and another read, Keep Your Laws Out of My Drawers. The procession down Market Street was led by a dozen police cars and motorcycles, a circling helicopter, a cluster of motorized cable cars and a blocks-long stream of pink, red, crimson, violet and fuchsia hats, many of them worn by men. There were kids, seniors, dogs, acrobats, drummers, musicians, screamers, chanters and somersaulters. The march has given me another burst of energy, because it has been a fatiguing year, said Debbie Wallace, who attended last years rally in her hometown of Santa Rosa. Its nice to know were not alone. Dozens of signs from the #MeToo movement, the abortion rights movement, the equal pay movement and a lot of other movements filled the plaza. Weve reached that tipping point, and people realized they cant be quiet anymore, said Sarah Gibson, who came to San Franciscos march from Petaluma wearing a crown of flowers and a Times Up pin. Im so proud of the women that are brave enough to speak up. More than a dozen activists, advocates, artists and politicians took the stage in front of City Hall to rail against Trump, denounce violence against women and urge voters to mobilize for the November midterm election. As I look out on this crowd, I am so thankful to see the power of women has finally awakened, said Brittany Packnett, who helped start the nonprofit Campaign Zero, which opposes police violence. I dont care how you got woke, I only care that you stay woke. Other signs in the plaza said Grab Back and Not My President. Among the most popular was one that said Im with her, with arrows pointing in every direction. In San Jose, another pink-hatted rally attracted 20,000 protesters, according to a San Jose police spokesman. In Walnut Creek, more than 10,000 people were at Womens March Contra Costa. In Pacifica, about 1,000 turned out, with an estimated 5,000 in Chico. On the shore of Lake Merritt, Lande Ajose, 51, of Oakland was at the march with her daughter, Alex Ajose-Nixon, 11, who said she gave up dance class to attend. Feminism and womens rights are really important to me, Alex said. I want to make sure that when Im an adult, everything is good and fair. Her mother carried a sign proclaiming, Orange is Not the New Black, referring to the president. She said she was incensed at Trump reportedly referring to some Third World countries as shitholes whose citizens are unwelcome in the U.S. To say that his comments were unfortunate would be to minimize them, Ajose said. They were patently racist. Its part of a system of denigration of people of color. Its infuriating. On the stage, speaker after speaker urged the crowd to get angry, get loud and get registered to vote. Today, we are literally marching for our future, Rosemary Jordan of Alameda for Impeachment told the crowd. There is strength in numbers, there is power in words, and there is influence in voting. A small group calling itself the Bay Area Suffragettes was dressed in Rosie the Riveter costumes as it listened to speakers at Lake Merritt. The crowd later marched from the lake to Oakland City Hall to the sound of loud drums. Dorene Giacopini, 57, of Richmond said she was representing her 101-year-old mother, Primetta of San Jose, who helped make ball bearings during World War II. Trump is a criminal, pure and simple, she said. He needs to be put in his place, which is very likely jail. Marchers turned up in Washington, Chicago, Philadelphia, Rome, Osaka, Japan, and even West Palm Beach, Fla., not far from Trumps golfing headquarters. He wasnt there. The president, in a Twitter message, encouraged women to celebrate historic milestones, but the only milestone most protesters seemed to want to celebrate was his disappearance. At the Bay Area rallies, police officers had little to do but direct traffic. There were no reports of arrests. Jenna Lyons, Joaquin Palomino and Steve Rubenstein are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com, jpalomino@sfchronicle.com, srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno, @JoaquinPalomino Womens marches are being held around the country this weekend, marking the first anniversary of the inauguration of President Trump and dozens of marches last January. Here is a roundup of womens marches and events being held in the Bay Area and beyond on Saturday: San Francisco: People will gather at 11:30 a.m. at Civic Center Plaza, 335 McAllister St. Rally starts at noon and will be followed by a march at 2 p.m. to the Embarcadero. For information: http://bit.ly/2EtDgBi. Oakland: Starting at 10 a.m. at Lake Merritt Amphitheater, between 12th Street and First Avenue, the march will go up to 14th Street and end at Frank Ogawa Plaza. A rally will follow the march. For information: http://bit.ly/2lNOWIc. San Jose: The march begins at 11 a.m. at San Jose City Hall, 200 E. Santa Clara St., and ends at Arena Green East, 340 W. St. John St. It will be followed by a rally. For information: http://bit.ly/2yZGo9y. Walnut Creek: A rally will start at 11 a.m. at Civic Park, 1375 Civic Dr., followed by a march 11:30 a.m. through downtown that will end back at the park. For information: http://bit.ly/2ETmR98. Pacifica: The event begins at 9 a.m. at Pacifica State Beach, 5000 Pacific Coast Highway. Details are still being confirmed. For information: http://bit.ly/2DgtzG0. Napa Valley: Participants to gather at 10 a.m. near Napa City Hall on School Street between First and Third streets. A march will be held at 10:30 a.m., ending at Napa Valley Expo, 575 Third St., where a rally will be held. For information: http://bit.ly/2mQ5qQf. Sonoma: The march will start at noon at Sonoma Plaza, 453 First St. East. Details on a route were not immediately available. For information: http://bit.ly/2rkIWvA. Santa Rosa: A sign-making event will be held from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. at Brew Coffee and Beer House, 555 Healdsburg Ave. There will be a gathering and rally from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Courthouse Square, near the intersection of Santa Rosa Avenue and Third Street. For information: http://bit.ly/2DqMDog. Sacramento: Participants to gather at 10 a.m. at Southside Park, between Sixth and Eighth streets, and march to the State Capitol. For information: http://bit.ly/2DfPAF3. Sarah Ravani, sravani@sfchronicle.com The previous Portals described how sex slavery was widely practiced in 19th century Chinatown. Starting in 1852, secretive associations called tongs began kidnapping or buying young girls and women from China and forcing them to work in Chinatown brothels. This abhorrent trade not only condemned most of the enslaved women to a miserable life and early death, but it was the leading factor behind the tong wars that racked Chinatown for decades. City officials realized early on that sex slavery was being practiced in the heart of the city, but made only halting and ineffective efforts to stop it. San Francisco had a notoriously lax attitude toward vice of all kinds, especially in the early days of the Gold Rush when most of the women in the instant city were prostitutes. After decent women began arriving and complaining about public prostitution, vice was driven from the main streets and into alleys. In 1859, Police Chief Martin Burke boasted that many prostitutes have been removed from Clay, Washington, Stockton, California, Bush, and other streets, where families reside. But there was no effort to actually end prostitution. As historian and former San Francisco police Officer Kevin Mullen points out in Chinatown Squad: Policing the Dragon from the Gold Rush to the 21st Century, the citys attitude reflected the Victorian compromise, which countenanced a certain amount of vice as long as it was kept away from family life. But civic leaders soon began to realize that Chinese prostitution was what Mullen calls a matter apart. This was partly because of the sheer number of women involved: In 1859, Burke reported that there were 520 Chinese prostitutes in the city and 631 women of other races, a wildly disproportionate number for the number of Chinese residents of the city. But it was also recognized that unlike other prostitutes, many of whom were independent agents, Chinese prostitutes were essentially slaves. Burke began to crack down on Chinese prostitution. In 1864, with the support of the Six Companies, a powerful association of Chinatown leaders, he directed police Capt. William Douglas to seize 19 slave girls and ship them back to China. The following year, Burke asked the Board of Health to come up with a plan to remove Chinese prostitutes from Jackson and Dupont streets the latter now Grant Avenue and move them to where they would not offend public decency. He also asked property owners to place barriers at the entrances to the alleys to hide the vice and degradations of those localities from the view of women and children who patronize the streetcars, and of the multitudes who daily pass through our public thoroughfares. But official commitment to ending Chinese prostitution, or even removing it from sight, proved half-hearted. The city took a hands-off attitude toward Chinatown, a passivity encouraged by the failure of the Six Companies and other community notables to do anything about sex slavery. When Mayor John Geary condemned Chinese prostitution, one of the presidents of the Six Companies chided him, saying, Yes, yes, Chinese prostitution is bad. But what do you think of German prostitution, French prostitution, American prostitution? Do you think them very good? It was, of course, a false argument, since white prostitutes were not slaves, but it was effective. White racism toward Chinese was partly responsible for the official tolerance: No one would have allowed white women to be treated like this. But payoffs and greed played a role, too. City attempts to close down the brothels were resisted by the white owners of the properties, who were making big profits. And when Chief Burke tried arresting the prostitutes, the Board of Supervisors intervened and gave control of prostitution to a panel of doctors. In 1867, Burke was replaced as chief by Patrick Crowley, whose laxer attitudes toward vice were more in tune with city sensibilities. The citys attitude toward Chinese prostitution was dramatically revealed on Feb. 23, 1869, when a Pacific Mail steamer arrived with 369 Chinese women aboard. Crowley sent police Capt. Douglas the same officer who had deported Chinese slave girls five years earlier with 18 officers and additional special officers to meet the women at the Brannan Street docks. After searching the women for contraband, the Examiner reported, the officers placed them in wagons and escorted them up Second Street to Chinatown, where they were delivered to the destination fixed by the (Six) Companies. A similar scene played out eight months later, when a steamer with 246 Chinese women arrived. Douglas again escorted them to a barracoon on St. Louis Alley in Chinatown, where they were distributed to the companies that had ordered them. The Examiner viewed these goings-on with suspicion. The paper pointed out that whenever a steamer arrived from China, there is a certain Captain of the Police always in attendance who made sure the human cargo was delivered to its destination. The newspaper called for an investigation. The Examiners rival, The Chronicle, was solidly in the camp of the police and, by extension, of official San Francisco, which had washed its hands of the blatant human trafficking. Mocking the Examiner for implying that something was amiss in a police captain escorting a load of sex slaves to their owners, The Chronicle editorialized, We shall unite with Captain Douglas in deliberately and boldly protesting against any such investigation as that called for by our termagant contemporary. Although these disgraceful episodes were the nadir of open official connivance with the tongs, payoffs and an its Chinatown attitude allowed sex slavery to continue for decades. The victims of the trade seemed doomed to their fate. Then a guardian angel appeared, in the form of an indomitable young Protestant missionary named Donaldina Cameron. Her long struggle to save the sex slaves of Chinatown will be the subject of the next Portals. Gary Kamiya is the author of the best-selling book Cool Gray City of Love: 49 Views of San Francisco, awarded the Northern California Book Award in creative nonfiction. All the material in Portals of the Past is original for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: metro@sfchronicle.com Trivia time The most recent trivia question: What was the range of the 16-inch guns at Battery Davis in Fort Funston? Answer: 25 miles. This weeks trivia question: What is Hangtown Fry and how did it get its name? Editors note Every corner in San Francisco has an astonishing story to tell. Gary Kamiyas Portals of the Past tells those lost stories, using a specific location to illuminate San Franciscos extraordinary history from the days when giant mammoths wandered through what is now North Beach to the Gold Rush delirium, the dot-com madness and beyond. His column appears every other Saturday, alternating with Peter Hartlaubs OurSF. Doris Sperber, who is probably the oldest person in the Bay Area, turns 110 years old on Sunday. Or maybe a week from Sunday. Not being sure about your 110th birthday is part of having one. Sperber, an afghan across her knees, said she didnt care about birthdays. She would like to go outside now, where the purple flowers are. Three of her four sons David, Steve and Fred were on hand the other morning to oblige. Her sons are never far away. They are as devoted as sons can be, and they take turns holding their mothers small hand and kissing her forehead. Sperber, the oldest resident at the Jewish Home & Rehab Center in San Francisco, has a birth certificate that says her name is Dora and that she was born on Jan. 21, 1908. But her sons say thats not correct that her name is Doris and that she was born on Jan. 28, 1908. Something got fouled up, way back when, and its not likely to be fixed now. Nothing about turning 110 is simple, and everything is. When you are 110, your art project consists of watching the 100-year-olds do their art projects. Your fingers no longer make the piano do what it used to. Your food comes out of a blender, in bright colors. Have some more corn bread, Mom, said her son Steve, holding up a spoonful of yellow. I think thats chicken, said her son David. When three of your four sons show up at the same time, its a good day. Sperber smiled quite a bit the other morning, especially when all three sons bent over and held her hand at the same time. She listens attentively when people speak to her, but her answers do not always go with the questions. Sperbers sons, who are in their 70s and 80s, acknowledged that they are old enough themselves to qualify for residence at the Jewish Home & Rehab Center, the complex on Silver Avenue formerly called the Jewish Home for the Aged before someone decided home & rehab center sounded better. Sperber, her sons said, was born in 1908 either in Brooklyn, near Skilowitzs delicatessen, or Manhattan, near Katzs delicatessen. No one is sure which delicatessen. Roosevelt was president the first Roosevelt, not the second one. Her husband, Reuben, was an accountant. Doris Sperber ran the house, cooked brisket and rice pudding, played Chopin on the piano and volunteered at the hospital. She helped her husband crunch numbers at the office from time to time. Her idea of a vacation was dropping her four sons off at summer camp in the Catskills and picking them up weeks later. She was, her sons said, strong-willed. Seventy years ago, she persuaded her husband to switch synagogues. In an Orthodox synagogue, women were required to sit separately in the balcony during services while the menfolk were on the ground floor. My mom had enough of that, David said. She put her foot down. She was the muscle in the family. She was the silent boss. Doris Sperber, at 5 feet, could stare down the opposition. The Sperbers lived in Florida for many years before moving to San Francisco 15 years ago to be closer to their three sons here. Reuben Sperber died nine years ago, at the age of 100, in their 75th year of marriage. Doris Sperber moved into Room 1036 and kept going. Two years ago, she was reported to be the oldest person in San Francisco. Once you hold the lead in a race like that, you keep holding it. You cannot be overtaken from behind. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. No one knows exactly how many 110-year-old people there are. Statistics say that about 1 out of every 1,000 people who make it to 100 goes on to reach 110. Jeanne Calment of France, who died in 1997 at 122, would have regarded Sperber as something of a spring chicken. Sperbers fourth son, Joel, still lives in New York. Hell be in San Francisco this month for his mothers 110th birthday, the second one. The sons will take their mother to Congregation Sherith Israel for services, as they do every Saturday. Its the same synagogue where Sperber celebrated her bat mitzvah 10 years ago, at the age of 100. The bat mitzvah is a ceremony most often performed when a girl turns 13, but Sperbers parents didnt hold with bat mitzvahs only bar mitzvahs for boys. At 100, Steve said, she was still not finished making up for lost time. David Sperber said he doesnt really believe in God, but that it isnt a requirement for having faith. Being together is the requirement. In that department, the Sperbers qualify. Youre the best mom ever, said David, bending over. I love you, Mom, said Fred, giving her hand a squeeze. Im glad were all together, said Steve, adjusting the afghan. Sperber looked at each son and winked. The corners of her mouth went up. Then she closed her eyes and took a nap. Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When she was a child, Melonee Wises father bought her a simple little robot building kit from an educational science catalog. Youd draw a line, and the little robot would follow the line, Wise said. Ive always been a tinkerer, and I liked to build things. Today, shes CEO of Fetch Robotics, a San Jose startup thats building complex, self-driving robots that could change how warehouses operate. Her career path hasnt always followed a straight line, and shes endured the ups and downs of two previous robot startups. But she has emerged as a thought leader in the robotics industry, as a fresh round of financing positions her company to take advantage of the e-commerce boom. Were at this tipping point with logistics and labor, Wise, 36, said during a recent interview. And its not just the United States where theres not enough people to do the jobs. And so many businesses need to turn toward automation as a way to stay competitive, as a way to grow their businesses and, in many respects, create new jobs. Fetch Robotics, founded in 2014, is building robots to autonomously carry materials from one point to another inside a warehouse or other distribution building. Unlike the kinds of robots typically shown in movies and other pop culture media, Fetchs robots dont try to look like humans. Rather, the basic Fetch looks like a large snare drum, or a round ottoman. Its the base to place shelves, bins or other containers that human workers fill with whatever needs to be transported. The robots know where to go, guided by cloud-based programing that can be changed depending on the need. They differ from other industrial robots that have been around for decades and are designed for specific, repetitive and stationary tasks. Last month, Fetch Robotics landed a $25 million round of funding, its second infusion of money, led by Sway Ventures of San Francisco. It has 72 employees and plans to consolidate its office and a testing facility into one building in San Jose next month and hire more workers. Its biggest customer so far is shipping and delivery giant DHL, which last year said it completed a successful pilot project testing the robots in the Netherlands. The market for mobile warehouse robots is still in its infancy, with under $50 million in annual revenue, said Clint Reiser, director of supply chain research for ARC Advisory Group. Amazon has used warehouse robots since buying Kiva Systems, now called Amazon Robotics, in 2012, which were brilliant for what they were doing at the time, but far from being autonomous, said Gerald Van Hoy, an independent robotics industry analyst. Fetch has gone much further. Paul Chinn/The Chronicle Cindy Traver, senior operations director for RK Logistics Group, said the only way her company could accommodate one major customers request last year to ramp up the volume of materials processed in its Livermore warehouse by about 40 percent over 90 days was to use three Fetch robots. Robots could traverse the warehouse without a break in about one minute, roughly half the time it takes for human workers, who were freed to pick up and load materials on each end. Moreover, Traver said, When a person is walking back and forth, theyre more likely to chitchat along the way. Wise delights in showing customers unfamiliar with robots what they can do. One of the most gratifying moments for me when we were first starting to work with customers was when I saw someone hit the button on the display of the robot and the robot started driving, she said. Just the smile and the delight on their faces, that Oh, its making my job easier that was a really super cool thing to see. The Chicago-area native learned how to solder while building that first childhood robot, and when she was 10, she attended day camps to learn to build programmable Lego projects. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Wise earned a degree in physics engineering, then a masters in mechanical engineering, which was a dubious choice at best, because I thought mechanical engineers built robots. But I found out later that they built robots, but they dont do the cool stuff, which is to program the robots. While going for a doctorate, Wise was recruited in 2007 to become one of the first employees of Willow Garage, a now-defunct Palo Alto startup that during its brief history became one of the worlds leading robotics companies for its work on self-driving cars, an autonomous solar powered boat and a personal robot. It also developed the Robot Operating System, the open-source software framework being used for robots like Fetch. Wise, who eventually became manager of robot development, said she learned from the best in robotics at Willow, although we were doing a lot of crazy things that were not particularly directed at one specific, overarching goal. The work at Willow spawned more focused companies as each of us latched onto what we thought was going to be the next big thing, she said. What I latched onto was the logistics and manufacturing market. In February 2013, Wise and three fellow engineers co-founded Willow spin-off Unbounded Robotics of Santa Clara. After developing its first robot, the company became what ABI Research called an industry darling, but needed further financing to continue. Wise said Unbounded had an acquisition offer from an unnamed company, but the deal was scuttled by intellectual property problems in its really bad spin-off agreement with Willow. The terms scared away potential acquirers and investors, according to Wise. We couldnt take the acquisition offer, so we had to shut down the company in August 2014, she said. It was a valuable lesson in entrepreneurship. I like to joke that in an 18-month period, I experienced pretty much everything that a startup founder could go through, and I got it all out of the way, Wise said. I learned the difference between friendship and business, (about) getting it in writing, finding a good lawyer. Willow Garage founder Scott Hassan, now CEO of another spin-off, Suitable Technologies, did not respond to a request for comment. Wise is among a really rare breed of CEOs, said Andra Keay, managing director of the nonprofit industry group Silicon Valley Robotics. There are very few serial robotics entrepreneurs, Keay said. Thats something the robotics industry is missing. Were starting to see CEOs in robotics that have done another company. She said Wise has become a visionary in the industry by focusing on areas that robots can help now rather than potentially help in the future. There are a lot of robots that meet a public imagination rather than a pragmatic purpose, Keay said. Wise is also a rising star in an industry thats about 90 percent male, said Jeff Burnstein, president of the Association for Advancing Automation, an umbrella trade organization that includes the Robotic Industries Association. Shes been speaking out about the need for diversity, getting more women involved in an industry that has traditionally been male dominated, he said. Wise said the lack of diversity in robotics is more than a personal challenge. We need a diversity of opinions and perspectives in order to make the best business decisions and build the best robot companies. The lack of diversity in technology in general has to be fixed when kids are still in elementary school, she said. Thats where girls are getting the wrong messages about what they can and cannot do. For girls in particular, a lot of robotics comes down to math and programming. Pay attention to those subjects, and dont take no for an answer when someone says you cant do it. Benny Evangelista is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: bevangelista@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChronicleBenny This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Google CEO Sundar Pichai said Friday he has no regrets over firing an engineer last year who wrote a memo that said men were more biologically suited for coding jobs over women. The engineer, James Damore, is suing the company for discrimination against people with conservative political beliefs and white males. Pichai said Damore was let go because it was important for Google to create an inclusive environment for its employees. We need to create a culture that is more supportive and inclusive for them, Pichai said, speaking at an event hosted by MSNBC and tech news site Recode at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco. This was what that was about, he said. Damores attorney, Harmeet Dhillon, said its important for Google to be supportive of all their employees, not just ones of a certain gender or race or those holding a particular perspective on life. Google systematically downgrades the feelings, expectations and career hopes, and the importance of many people in its workforce on the basis of gender, race and viewpoint, she said. Pichai and Susan Wojcicki, CEO of Google subsidiary YouTube, spoke about the companys efforts to recruit more women to Google, where only 20 percent of its technical staff are women. Wojcicki said part of the issue is that the number of female computer science graduates needs to increase and the tech industry needs to do a better job of fighting the stereotypes that its jobs are not interesting and not social. In addition to Damores complaint, Google faces a lawsuit filed by former female employees accusing the company of pay discrimination, interviewer Kara Swisher pointed out. Welcome to being a big company, Pichai said. Google has said it does not have a gender pay gap. When asked whether Google could allow women who had signed nondisclosure agreements to share stories for the #MeToo movement, the growing online discussion of harassment, Pichai said he personally has no issues with that. Google has previously said that its employment agreements do not prevent employees from discussing the issue of harassment. At the event, Pichai also addressed the controversy over artificial intelligence, or AI. His company and its parent, Alphabet, have made large investments in the technology, using computers to translate languages, sort through large numbers of photos and let cars drive themselves. Comparing it to early humans harnessing fire, Pichai said it makes sense for people to be concerned about the impact that artificial intelligence will have on society such as the elimination of jobs as more functions become automated. Pichai said artificial intelligence could help bring advances in health care and that government regulation will help keep the technology in check. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Its fair to be worried about AI, Pichai said. We want to be thoughtful about it. Pichai also spoke about immigration, an issue critical to Bay Area tech companies that hire many engineers born overseas. Talented people are increasingly choosing to stay back, Pichai said. We need to be welcoming. The interview will air at 7 p.m. Friday on MSNBC. It is part of MSNBC and Recodes Revolution series, featuring interviews with people including tech industry executives on topics such as jobs and politics. Wendy Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: wlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thewendylee In the days leading up to the rollout of his Fake News Awards, President Trump tweeted, So much fake news is being reported. They dont even try to get it right, or correct it when they are wrong. Then the awards were announced, and the upshot undermined his own words: His examples showed that mainstream news organizations do try to get it right, and they do correct errors when they get it wrong. Professional journalists are imperfect, but they are not dishonest. Just look at Trumps list. His lowlight list included stories and tweets in which mistakes were acknowledged and corrected and a clearly labeled opinion column whose prediction proved way off the mark. I do not care to rationalize or minimize any of these errors. Any journalist worthy of the title embraces the mantra accuracy, accuracy, accuracy, and believes there is no such thing as a minor error. They all hurt. But another guiding tenet, which this president with a trail of false statements obviously does not accept, is a commitment to correct the record. Lets look at Trumps Fake News Awards. 1 The New York Times Paul Krugman claimed on the day of President Trumps historic, landslide victory that the economy would never recover. Krugman is an opinion columnist, and this was simply his prediction. Sometimes predictions are wrong. Right, Mr. President, or has Mexico sent you that check for the border wall? 2 ABC News Brian Ross CHOKES and sends markets in a downward spiral with false report. Ross wrongly reported that former national security adviser Michael Flynn was about to testify that Trump as a candidate instructed Flynn to contact Russian officials before the 2016 election. ABC later clarified that the directive came after election day, and Ross was suspended for the mistake. 3 CNN FALSELY reported that candidate Donald Trump and his son Donald J. Trump, Jr. had access to hacked documents from WikiLeaks. Actually, the email in question to Trump Jr. was flagging him to documents that already were in the public domain. Significantly, other news organizations quickly refuted CNNs account. So much for Trumps theyre-all-out-to-get-me paranoia. 4 TIME FALSELY reported that President Trump removed a bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. from the Oval Office. The report which never made it into a story was a reporters tweet that was corrected within the hour. 5 Washington Post FALSELY reported the Presidents massive sold-out rally in Pensacola, Florida was empty. Dishonest reporter showed picture of empty arena HOURS before crowd started pouring in. This Post reporters tweet was corrected within minutes and, again, never made it into an online or print story. Also, I have to ask: Does the president who tweets false and misleading statements on a regular basis and rarely if ever corrects them really want to go here? 6 CNN FALSELY edited a video to make it appear President Trump defiantly overfed fish during a visit with the Japanese prime minister. Japanese prime minister actually led the way with the feeding. True, the clip in question does not show Shinzo Abe also dumping out his box of fish food before Trump did. But, seriously folks, is this one of the presidents 11 best examples of an unfair media? 7 CNN FALSELY reported about Anthony Scaramuccis meeting with a Russian, but retracted it due to a significant breakdown in process. CNN retracted the story, and three employees were forced out. Remind me: Didnt Trump claim the news media never accounts for its mistakes? 8 Newsweek FALSELY reported that Polish First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda did not shake President Trumps hand. The story was based on a partial clip that showed her walking past Trump. Newsweek corrected the error. 9 CNN FALSELY reported that former FBI Director James Comey would dispute President Trumps claim that he was told he is not under investigation. CNN corrected the error. In fact, Comey did confirm that he had told the president he was not under investigation but the former FBI directors testimony had plenty of other potentially damning details about Trumps request for a loyalty oath and pleas to lift the cloud of the Russia investigation and to go easy on Flynn, who has since pleaded guilty to lying about the FBI about his contact with Russia. 10 The New York Times FALSELY claimed on the front page that the Trump administration had hidden a climate report. In fact, the report in question had been available on the Internet for months. Confronted with the error, the Times updated its story to acknowledge the fact, but added that the report received little attention until it was published by The New York Times. I think Trump and I agree that the Times sometimes has an insufferable level of self-regard. But its not alone, Mr. President. 11 And last, but not least: RUSSIA COLLUSION! Russian collusion is perhaps the greatest hoax perpetrated on the American people. THERE IS NO COLLUSION! Predictions can be precarious, Mr. President, as you noted with your award to Paul Krugman. Its a bit premature to claim victory, especially when special counsel Robert Mueller and House and Senate committees are not finished with their work and two of your campaign operatives have pleaded guilty to felonies for lying about their Russian contacts. John Diaz is The San Francisco Chronicles editorial page editor. Email: jdiaz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnDiazChron 2 Republican senators take a stand: Dont do this, Mr. President A major difference between politicians and the free press is that the press usually corrects itself when it gets something wrong. Politicians dont. No longer can we compound attacks on truth with our silent acquiescence. No longer can we turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to these assaults on our institutions. And Mr. President, an American president who cannot take criticism who must constantly deflect and distort and distract who must find someone else to blame is charting a very dangerous path. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., speaking on the Senate floor While administration officials often condemn violence against reporters abroad, Trump continues his unrelenting attacks on the integrity of American journalists and news outlets. This has provided cover for repressive regimes to follow suit. The phrase fake news granted legitimacy by an American president is being used by autocrats to silence reporters, undermine political opponents, stave off media scrutiny and mislead citizens. The Committee to Protect Journalists documented 21 cases in 2017 in which journalists were jailed on fake news charges. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., writing in the Washington Post For a man who thinks little of keeping promises, President Trump has been remarkably true to every reasonable expectation of Americas first reality-show administration. Year (season?) one of his presidency delivered a dubious and shifting cast of characters, manufactured drama and conflict, and a corrosive emptiness of substance or purpose. Here at the cliff-hanger, the porn star his lawyer reportedly paid off is a household name, Twitter insults and Oval Office epithets hurtle around the world, and even keeping the government open turns into a big showdown with the rival Democrats. Trump was sworn in a year ago before the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period. As delivered by long-gone fan favorite Sean Spicer, that statistic foreshadowed the tenor of the next 365 days: unapologetically trifling, obsessively backward-looking and ostentatiously false. The trouble of course is that this isnt just a bad television show; its bad government of the worlds wealthiest, mightiest and, until recently, most esteemed nation. Gallup reported this week that Germany has replaced the United States as the best-regarded global power for the first time since it began the survey in 2005. In just a year, our median global approval rating has fallen from 48 percent to 30 percent, near that of China and Russia, the lowest level recorded. Some of the most precipitous declines took place among neighbors in the Americas and allies in Europe, including drops of more than 40 percentage points in Canada and Norway. That helps answer Trumps infamous question about why there wont be more immigration from, say, Norway instead of shithole countries in Africa, which provided an apt epitaph for his first year. The president uttered it in the process of rejecting a compromise to restore protections for immigrants brought to the country illegally as children, a deal he had asked for to solve a problem he created. That pushed the government to the brink of a shutdown by upsetting concurrent spending talks. Trumps insult, and its consequences for young, blameless, largely Latino immigrants who in many cases hardly know another country, also exemplified the administrations constant appeals to racism and bigotry. Trump has advocated needless fortifications against dwindling border crossings, attacked legal immigration from nonwhite countries, attempted to purge transgender troops from the military, exaggerated urban crime, fomented anti-Muslim paranoia and apologized for white supremacists. His lone legislative accomplishment, a tax cut, divides us by other means, favoring the rich, punishing states that voted for his opponent and undermining health coverage for those of modest means. And his environmental policies have perpetuated divisions that should have faded, denying overwhelming evidence of climate change and pushing a boundless, backward faith in fossil fuels. Its no wonder this president already faces unprecedented unpopularity, portents of political backlash, and an investigation that has ensnared a former campaign chairman and his first national security adviser. Whats next? Unfortunately, with hundreds of channels but only one country, we have no choice but to stay tuned. This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters. If I rated Eight Tables on the flash factor alone it would clearly garner four stars. A staff member greets diners outside a metal gate on Vallejo Street and leads them through an old alley to an elevator, where they travel up a flight. Then they enter an entirely different world. The interior, designed by AvroKO, the company responsible for the four-star Single Thread in Healdsburg, is uplifting and elegant, with light wood-paneled walls, round tables inlaid with brass, and partitions that make each of the eight tables (yes, thats how many there are in total) feel like a semiprivate room. Waiters move quietly around the room in beige three-piece Ralph Lauren suits and light blue Hermes ties. Each serving piece that holds the 10 courses on the fixed-price-only menu ($225) is gilded, embossed or otherwise refined. Eight Tables feels like no other Chinese restaurant Ive seen. John Storey/Special to the Chronicle I was also wowed by the cocktails. Anthony Keels, formerly of Saison, is like a mad scientist creating unique concoctions that artfully capture an Asian sensibility: The lily pond ($20) features Martin Miller gin and forest water made by pressing sour grasses, including sorrel and cress, into cucumber water and then clarifying the liquid. When hes finished combining these ingredients, Keels pours the chilled mixture into white bowls and floats tiny nasturtium leaves that resemble lily pads on top. The flavors are as subtle and complex as the best Cantonese food. In the milk punch ($20), red tea is blended with milk but milk that Keels has processed to remove the whey to create a clear liquid that retains a viscous texture. Its a truly amazing drink, where the eyes and mouth experience two completely different sensations. In the house martini ($20), Keels infuses the vodka with wok-charred rice, which produces a subtle, pleasant aftertaste. Then theres the food. You may have noticed how I buried writing about it until after covering the interior and cocktails, which exceed expectations. Its easy to be dazzled by the surroundings and details, but simply put, when I separate whats on the plate from whats around it, many combinations lack the complexity I expect from a $225 price tag. The wine pairings, which really do help to elevate the experience, add another $125 to the tab. Ive eaten the handiwork of Yu Bo, considered one of the best chefs in China, at a banquet here in San Francisco. His food displays complexity in flavor and in presentation thats missing at Eight Tables. For example, one of Bos small bites is a dumpling that he lightly cuts more than 100 times so the dough resembles a porcupine, and he braids long beans into a rope and cuts it into bite-size pieces. Bos banquet took the palate on a roller coaster, which is what I expect from an expensive tasting menu. The three dinners I had at Eight Tables were more like a pleasant drive through the country. John Storey/Special to the Chronicle George Chen, who has always been more of a front-of-the house guy at his other restaurants, which include the now-closed Betelnut and Shanghai 1930, is executive chef. To help, hes hired Robin Lin, a Taiwanese chef who was formerly executive chef of several restaurants in Taiwan and was director of the Taiwan Chefs Association. Some components came from China Live, the other, more casual restaurant on the ground floor of Chens $20 million complex, which includes a bar and retail outlet. It feels like the chefs are trying to dazzle by putting Osetra caviar on duck skin as part of one course, but it actually illustrates a simplistic and obvious approach to cooking. While much of the food is good, I would rather be eating downstairs at China Live, where I can get that crackling skin attached to the duck and eat more than one slice of barbecue pork (part of another course). At Eight Tables, Chen is trying to replicate the experience in the Qing Dynasty (from about 1644 to 1912), where the elite had private chefs and would invite friends to their homes for grand meals. Its known as si fang cai and today has become a popular way to dine in Hong Kong and other Chinese cities, according to Chen. John Storey/Special to the Chronicle The designers have captured the spirit of what Chen calls private estate dining in the interior, and even in some food presentations. Its the execution that seems too simple. However, I applaud the idea of a four-star Chinese restaurant, an idea that makes sense in San Francisco, which I would argue has more high-end fixed price Western menus than any other city in the country. The 10-course dinner starts with an impressive presentation of nine small dishes arranged on a square plate, each one holding an essential Chinese flavor: sweet (a stuffed date), sour (chicken roulade in rice wine), spicy (a tiny tart filled with meat and seafood), tingling (fried beef tendons dusted with Sichuan green peppercorns). I loved the idea, but none of the bites was distinctive beyond the character it represented, so each dish seemed one-dimensional. Next came a Four Seas shrimp dumpling: The top is divided into four compartments, each holding a different component that changes slightly each night. On one night, the dumpling included golden Osetra caviar, poached scallops, salmon roe, uni and pickled apples. The dumpling is too big to eat in one bite, so the staff sets a mother of pearl spoon and knife alongside to help. The process of separating the four compartments left more of an impression than the flavor of the doughy dumpling. The following course also had multiple elements, arranged in a V with a thin slice of barbecued Iberico pork at the top, a bite-size square of a pork belly sandwich on the left, and a diamond-shape piece of duck skin studded with caviar on the left, with two kinds of fruit in the middle of the V. This felt like a dish made from items that could easily have been cooked downstairs at China Live but was elevated to Eight Tables status through presentation. John Storey/Special to the Chronicle A course of consomme with pumpkin vermicelli needed a stronger base stock on two visits; on the third, the soup was what Chen called a deconstructed sizzling rice, with a square of fried rice topped with poached lobster and sea grapes, with the broth poured table side. This became the most memorable dish on all my visits because of its confident flavors and textures. Velvet chicken the meat is ensconced in a cloud of egg whites was a miss on all three visits. Instead of having a cloudlike texture it was more like poorly scrambled eggs with a strong hint of sulphur that overpowered even the white and black truffles. Over the course of three visits, the menu changed only slightly. One of the best dishes at all my meals was black cod set on a pad of lotus root and eggplant and wrapped in a banana leaf. It was one of the few dishes that was both subtle and complex. The meat course was red dongpo pork. The small square of pork belly was good but not much different from what you might find at less-expensive restaurants. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. Eight Seas Dumplings: John Storey / Special to the Chronicle; smartphone: Getty Images; Instagram UI: Instagram; Next came a foie gras pot sticker, presented next to a sticky ball of black sesame and peanut mochi. Again, once you get past oohing and aahing over the idea of this delicacy in a dumpling, youre faced with a medicore pot sticker. To bridge the divide between savory and sweet, the next course was fermented rice sorbet, a refreshing intermezzo leading to a dessert that became a conversation piece because of the combination of flavors: A scoop of sorbet with passion fruit and Chinese seagrass was hidden below a thin wafer that looks like chicharrons flanked by clear bubbles that tasted like mesquite. While interesting, it was a confusing blend of sea, land and fire. On the last visit, the dessert was replaced by an even less satisfying sago pudding made from a starch of various palm stems. It tasted more like unsweetened squash with a little honey and candied chestnut powder. One element that stood out over the three visits was the lack of luxury or exotic ingredients that one expects in this price range. On the second and third visits they made up for it, but at a cost: Diners could get an abalone course for $30 extra or Wagyu beef at $60 extra. It seemed that these ingredients should be part of the regular menu; at that point it began to feel like we were being gouged. John Storey/Special to the Chronicle Or maybe I was just reacting to the fact that the food, while beautiful and interesting, was not that special once the bells and whistles of the stunning decor and good service were taken out of the equation. Still, I want Eight Tables to succeed. Theres a place for a Chinese restaurant that competes with the likes of Saison, Benu and Single Thread. But to be among that group, the menu needs to be as refined as its service and decor. Michael Bauer is The San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic and editor at large. Email: mbauer@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @michaelbauer1 Instagram: @michaelbauer1 Eight Tables Food: Service: Atmosphere: Price: $$$$ Noise: One Bell 8 Kenneth Rexroth Place (off Vallejo), San Francisco; (415) 788-8788 or www.eighttables.com. Dinner 5:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Full bar. 20 percent service charge. Reservations and credit cards accepted. Difficult street parking. RACINE The Wisconsin Department of Transportation will host a public involvement meeting on Tuesday to discuss the proposed reconstruction of Highway 11 from Kearney Avenue to Highway 32, according to a WisDOT news release. The meeting is scheduled to be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at St. Lucy Catholic Church, 3035 Drexel Ave. Proposed improvements to the area of Highway 11 (Durand Avenue) will include reconstruction of 0.4 miles of roadway, improvement of the Durand Avenue and Memorial intersection with traffic signals, adding a sidewalk on the south side of Durand Avenue, repairing a storm sewer and providing on-street bicycle accommodations. The meeting, which the DOT says will have an informal, open house format, will have WisDOT representatives in attendance who will discuss the proposed project in detail. Attendees may stop in during the meeting and view exhibits, meet with project staff, ask questions and provide feedback. Property and business owners, interested residents and other stakeholders are encouraged to attend the meeting. For more information on the project and unable to attend the meeting, contact WisDOT Project Manager Robert Bellin at 262-521-4405 or Robert.Bellin@dot.wi.gov. Written comments may also be mailed to Bellin at: WisDOT, 141 NW Barstow St., P.O. Box 798, Waukesha, WI, 53187. Citizens requiring an interpreter may request one by contacting Bellin at least three working days prior to the meeting, via the Wisconsin Telecommunications Relay System by dialing 711. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BART rolled out its long-awaited new railcars Friday, surprising unsuspecting riders accustomed to the tired old ones, which the transit system now refers to as its legacy cars. The passengers pronounced the new cars a big improvement. They liked the new features: video information screens, electronic signs displaying the name of the next station, the automated announcements, the third door and the quieter ride. But what they noticed most was that the cars were squeaky clean. Its nice and clean and I hope it stays that way, said Teresa Johnson, a contracts and grants analyst who lives in Hayward and has ridden BART to Oakland daily for the past 20 years. I like the look of it. Its very cool. BARTs new railcars, strung into a 10-car train, made their public debut following a brief ribbon-cutting at Oaklands MacArthur Station. BART officials, politicians, the media, longtime BART employees and anyone who happened to be heading toward Richmond climbed aboard. It made all stops, picking up anyone who was waiting. Then the train reversed directions and picked up more riders as it headed to Warm Springs/South Fremont Station. Most of the passengers were pleasantly surprised by the experience. Luwam Michael, a 30-year-old customer-service worker from Oakland, smiled broadly as she stepped aboard in downtown Berkeley and looked around before taking a seat. Wow, she said. Everything is so nice. I took an old train to work this morning, and now Im on this new train. Wow. From the outside, the trains still have that BART look with the silvery aluminum skin broken up by panels of blue and white. Inside, though, they have a whole new look colorful blue and green seats that some have mocked as being in Seattle Seahawks colors, wider aisles, bike racks, poles in the center of the cars for hanging onto, and video screens. I love the way it looks, said Leonard Dugan, 34, of Oakland, an event manager who climbed aboard in El Cerrito. It looks like the old cars but futurized. Dugan was particularly impressed with the technology the mellow automated female voice that announces the next station over a public address system thats actually understandable, the video maps with a moving dot showing the trains location and provideing BART information, and the electronic displays at the end of each car that tell riders which station is coming up. Its impressive, Dugan said. He also liked the plastic molded seats that provide lumbar support and are covered with an inch-thick squishy plastic cushion. The seats are so comfortable, I might fall asleep, he said. There are fewer seats four or five per car than on the older cars, however, and several first-train riders said that could be a problem on crowded trains. BART sacrificed seats in the new cars to make room for the third door to speed passenger loading and unloading, for the poles in the center, and bike racks in some cars. The seats also take up less room, making for wider aisles, and sit higher off the floor, creating room for people to stash their stuff. Its going to feel roomier and more comfortable, and that will make all the difference for riders, said Grace Crunican, BARTs general manager. Although the new cars have three doors, trains will continue to pull up to the existing black markings on the yellow platform edge strips. BART will add a third black marking for the middle door as soon as the majority of its cars have three doors, something that will take years. For now, the new cars will be kept together in a 10-car train traveling on the Richmond-Warm Springs/South Fremont line during less-busy hours 9 a.m.-3 p.m. and 8 p.m.-midnight Monday through Friday, and on weekends. After theyre broken in, theyll run during commute hours and on all lines. The 10 cars pressed into service Friday had been tested for months without passengers and were certified for use by state safety regulators Wednesday night. Another 10 have been delivered and will be brought into service after they are tested with a ride through the system with state Public Utilities Commission inspectors. Future cars will undergo simpler testing. BART expects delivery of a new batch of cars quantity not announced in February. Over the next several years, manufacturer Bombardier is expected to start producing and delivering 16 to 20 cars per month to BART. Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan Elbert Flowers didn't seem worried about going away. Not on this case. The prosecutors had nothing, or at least nothing that would get him serious prison time. His girlfriend had no lasting scars from where he burned her with the clothes iron in August 2003. And she was refusing to testify or cooperate with prosecutors in any way. She even married him while he was in San Francisco County Jail. Flowers was 27 and cocky. He had dealt with the San Francisco district attorney's office before, so he had good reason to believe he would get off easy. Five years earlier, he had threatened to kill a different girlfriend and burn down her house. Then, he stabbed her 12 times in the legs with a two- pronged knife. The case never went to trial. The original six felony counts -- including torture and assault with a deadly weapon -- were plea-bargained down to one count of "assault by means of force." He was sentenced to just two years in state prison, but even that was waived. He served his time in county jail, most of it while awaiting trial. And the violent attack didn't even earn him a strike under California's "three strikes" law. More for you Legislators announce capital happenings But this week, in Department 27 of the San Francisco Hall of Justice, Flowers will become the poster boy for the changes in domestic violence prosecution Kamala Harris promised when she became D.A. a little more than a year ago. On Thursday, Flowers is scheduled to be sentenced to 14 years in state prison for the 2003 attack with the clothes iron. It took 18 months of dogged, frustrating work by prosecutors, victims' advocates, D.A. investigators and police officers to get the case to trial. As preliminary motions began earlier this month, Flowers finally blinked. Rather than risk the judgment of a jury, he pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted murder and infliction of great bodily harm. The charges earn him not only 14 years behind bars but a strike, meaning, among other consequences, he must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence. "He'll be going into the prison system, finally," said prosecutor Rani Singh. The case marks something of a turning point -- some might say an exclamation point -- for the D.A.'s office, which had been criticized in recent years for its low number of domestic violence convictions. The D.A.'s office had 101 convictions in 2004, Harris' first year in office, compared with 72 convictions in 2003. "The attention (to domestic violence cases) is unprecedented," said Beverly Upton, executive director of the Domestic Violence Consortium in San Francisco. The Flowers prosecution was challenging from the start, but it was made all the more so last March, when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in a case that, on its face, had nothing to do with domestic violence. In Crawford vs. Washington, the court decided that judges can no longer admit into evidence statements by witnesses who do not testify in court. Defendants, the court ruled, have a right under the Sixth Amendment to cross-examine witnesses against them. But the court left it up to the lower courts to sort out what evidence falls under the ruling. "Before, if you could prove statements were trustworthy," said Singh, "you could get them in," a crucial prosecution tool in domestic violence cases because so many victims refuse to testify. In the Flowers case, prosecutors had a videotape of the victim giving a statement to police in the hospital. But without the victim in court, the videotape was out, as were any other statements she gave before deciding not to cooperate. As Singh and her colleagues prepared for the trial, new rulings from lower courts were coming out regularly on what Crawford does and does not allow, so the prosecutors immersed themselves in "learning every single nuance of Crawford," Singh said. In the end, she had horrific photographs of the victim's burns and a 911 call. And in the preliminary hearing, the judge allowed into evidence Flowers' knife attack five years ago. Not much, but enough to scare the defendant into agreeing to a hefty sentence. "It requires a lot of legal creativity," Harris said of prosecuting domestic violence cases without a cooperative victim and with the new restrictions of Crawford. "You have to be willing to put the resources into these difficult cases and not buckle under the pressure to plea bargain. ... Rani just went out there like a pit bull." Singh rejected an initial offer from Flowers' public defender of five years in a domestic violence diversion program. "This guy was young and dangerous," she said. She wouldn't settle for anything less than double digits. Thirty minutes before the jury was to enter the courtroom, Flowers offered 10 years. Singh went to Harris with the offer. "What do you think?" Harris asked Singh. The prosecutor shook her head. She wanted more. Harris gave her the green light, knowing there was a risk Flowers might opt to take his chances in front of a jury. Yet when the public defender countered with an offer of 12 years, Singh rejected that, too, with Harris' OK. The prosecutor pushed for and, finally got, 14. With the strike, Flowers will serve at least 12 1/2. After the plea agreement, Singh, the D.A.'s victim advocate and the investigator on the case went to lunch and shed a few tears. "Relief, satisfaction, sadness," Singh said. "I spent so many sleepless nights thinking about whether I could get this piece of evidence in and thinking about how we had to put so many people through so much (in prosecuting the case)." Singh expects the victim will come to court Thursday to plead for mercy. It doesn't matter. The victim's blindness to her attacker's brutality does not absolve us of holding him to account. Harris has made that clear. The tone has been set. The boundaries drawn. The Flowers case is one of so many that fill the filing cabinets in the D. A.'s office, files thick with bloody photos and horrible stories. Until the women in those files are ready to hold their attackers responsible, and many eventually will, prosecutors like Singh -- and investigators and police officers and advocates -- must do it, not only for the victims but for the women these batterers have yet to meet. What shuts down during a shutdown Congressional authorization for federal spending for many nonessential services expired at midnight EST Friday. Here is how a partial shutdown affects government services: National parks: Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Point Reyes National Seashore, Yosemite National Park and other parks would make site-by-site decisions as to what to close. While many open-air sites would remain open, most visitor services would cease. The Presidio in San Francisco would remain mostly open. Benefits: Social Security and Medicare would continue, though there could be delays in payments if a partial shutdown drags on. Help desks and phone support may be reduced. Food assistance: Aid programs are not expected to be immediately affected, though some could be curtailed in a prolonged shutdown. The programs include the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, food stamps, Meals on Wheels and school lunches. Housing assistance: The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development expects to continue as normal in the short run, though a long deadlock in Washington could mean delays in housing contracts and mortgage assistance. Worker safety: Federal occupational safety inspectors could scale back reviews. Federal courts: Northern California court offices would remain open and fully funded through at least Feb. 9. Military: The military services would continue operations, though many civilian Defense Department employees could be furloughed. Mail: Post offices would be open and the mail would be delivered. Airports: Security checkpoints would be staffed, and air traffic controllers would stay on the job. Congress: Members would continue to be paid. Kurtis Alexander 2002-01-26 04:00:00 PDT Pleasant Hill -- Harden your hearts now, folks. All that touching holiday charity seems to have dwindled faster than an Enron 401(k) portfolio, all the post-Sept. 11 compassion faded like a tattered American flag left on a car antenna too long. Time to resume the Season of Uncaring. Time, once more, to make our senior citizens feel expendable. Time to evict a 90-year-old woman from her modest Pleasant Hill apartment, where she has lived quietly and happily for 21 years, for no reason other than petty -- and possibly illegal -- rules and pure meanness. The case of Walnut Creek Manor Apartments vs. Thelma Flynn, filed last week in Contra Costa Superior Court, is an unsettling reminder of what might await us all in our dotage. It's chilling enough to make a guy repeat The Who's "Hope I die before I get old" lyric like a mantra. Thelma, for two decades, has been by all accounts a model tenant at the 418-unit complex by Interstate 680. She always paid rent on time; several neighbors vouch for her amiability. She never played her classical music too loud, never caused anyone a whit of trouble, always had a smile for residents on her daily constitutional around the grounds. But then, last summer, Thelma broke her left ankle in a traffic accident. Her son, Ashley, 55, had moved here because of his own medical condition, and then he moved in permanently with Thelma because her doctors say she will need a year to regain mobility. The Manor, though, had hard-and-fast rules -- no in- home caregivers allowed, and no relatives allowed to stay more than two weeks - - and gave the Flynns a 30-day notice. Never mind that the Manor has no legal right to ban in-home caregivers under the California Civil Code (section 51.3) and the Americans With Disabilities Act, Thelma's lawyers say. The complex's management tacked up an eviction notice to the front of Unit 31, sending Thelma into paroxysms of worry and prompting Ashley to call every senior agency he could find in Contra Costa for help or advice. "I'm just absolutely worn out by this," said Thelma, nervously patting the pouf of her white hair. "I just want it to go away. This has been my sweet home for two decades. How can they do this to me? And with my son sick, too?" Yes, this outrageous tenant-landlord dispute gets more disgusting. See, Ashley is on disability. He recently was found to suffer from toxic encephalopathy, a form of brain damage and nervous-system disorder that his doctor at UCLA says he may have contracted after prolonged exposure to pesticides in upstate New York. The complex's manager declined to comment, and the Manor's lawyer, Clifford B. Malone, did not return calls. But the Flynns found attorneys through the county's Senior Legal Services and vow to fight the eviction. Their case seems winnable, but East Bay senior advocates aren't so sure. They say some landlord tactics -- such as raising rents on whims and tossing longtime residents once they become infirm -- are common. "I've seen it a lot lately," said Merlin Wederpohl, executive director of Shelter Inc. in Concord. "Rents go up or a senior becomes a little more disabled and they're out. Complexes don't care because they all have waiting lists." Take notice, Baby Boomers. Housing for the elderly isn't only an issue for folks who vividly recall the Roosevelt-Willkie election. Demographers report that by 2035, 17 percent of Californians will be over 65. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have the means to retire to gated senior enclaves such as Rossmoor, where the biggest worry is the temperature of the four swimming pools. Most, in fact, wind up at independent-living complexes as is Thelma, paying her $900 monthly rent and hoping management doesn't look for loopholes to boot her to an assisted-care facility or, worst-case, a homeless shelter. "Until we found legal representation," Thelma's son, Ashley, said, "I thought that's where we were headed -- a shelter. Is this what people think of their elders?" In Contra Costa, it seems so. The county isn't exactly senior-friendly, despite its edict that every new housing development is required to provide a set amount of "affordable housing" for seniors and low-income people. Affordability is relative, though. The Board of Supervisors, for instance, allowed the developer of the Dougherty Valley subdivision in San Ramon to charge $1,575 a month for a one-bedroom apartment. That's affordable? Proposed senior-housing complexes have brought out the NIMBYs in well-off cities such as Alamo and Lafayette, too. Alamo residents have derailed senior condos because, in the words of one complainer, "It doesn't fit Alamo's character." A 1997 Lafayette study showed that by 2005, there will be a shortage of almost 700 senior units in central Contra Costa. But last spring, when a 73-unit senior development went before Lafayette's Planning Commission, hundreds of people showed up to complain. All Thelma wants, though, is to stay put and live out her days in peace. Instead, she's ready to do battle against Walnut Creek Manor, which apparently is used to legal wrangling. In 1999, lawyers for the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued the facility for allegedly refusing to allow two disabled tenants to install window air conditioners even though doctors warned that late-summer heat could jeopardize their health. The tenants reached a settlement with the complex and were able to keep the air conditioner. "Why are they doing this to me?" Thelma asked Ashley across the kitchen table. "Because they can, mother." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Russia is watching you. This is the basic message a Russian writer is currently trying to impart to Bay Area residents through a unique workshop series focused on Russia's controversial "cyber war" against the United States. Zarina Zabrisky, a 20-year Bay Area resident originally from Russia, is offering a "Russian Spetz Propaganda Workshop" on Jan. 25 at Alley Cat Books in San Francisco's Mission District, her sixh free class in the past few months. Zabrisky said her class provides basic education on the weaponizing of language as taught in Russian universities, offering a crash course on goals, strategies and methods used by the Kremlin on the U.S. population as well as practical defenses. Whether through "rotten herrings" or "neuro-linguistic programming," Russian propagandists are targeting Americans using sophisticated techniques force-fed in universities, she said. The term "spetz" roughly translates to specialized purpose, a form of information manipulation with acute targeting techniques. Zabrisky, a fiction writer and author of five books, said she was forced to take a military propaganda class when she attended Leningrad State University as a literature major. She said a host of methods are taught such as the "rotten herring," a smear technique where a politician's name and an unsavory event are conflated and repeated again and again to create a "neuro-linguistic programming" effect that makes someone feel queasy upon hearing the politician's name. "I want people to understand what's going on and come to their own conclusions," she said. "It is critical and it should be taught in universities here." Zabrisky has been already been invited to speak at Lowell High School as well as Mutiny Radio in San Francisco. She said she and her co-facilitator Human Rights Lawyer Olga Tomchin are now in talks with organizations in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and Boston to expand the workshop. A mother of three, writer and part-time personal fitness trainer, Zabrisky admits that she is not an activist, and would rather be finishing her next novel. But she asserts that running the free classes for which she says she does not receive any donation or grant money is a practical way to give back. "I feel like it's my civic duty as a writer," she said. Click on the slideshow above for a list of unique classes offered around the Bay Area. Fifteen-year-old Jazzmin Davis' badly scarred, emaciated body was found nude, lying on the floor in a bedroom where she had been confined in her aunt's Antioch home, a coroner's report on her death said. The foster child died Sept. 2 of severe malnutrition, exacerbated by multiple blunt-force injuries and burns, according to a Contra Costa County coroner's report released this week. Jazzmin's aunt is facing murder charges in a case that has raised questions about why school officials and caseworkers with San Francisco's Human Services Agency - which placed the girl and her twin brother in the aunt's home - didn't spot any problems. The girl's body, weighing only 78 pounds, was laced with scars and wounds that stretched from her feet to her fingertips, the report said. She had multiple burns that appeared to be from a clothes iron on her chest and stomach, a tangle of scars on her neck that extended to her cheek and five broken teeth that "were probably struck by some type of hard object," the report said. Her aunt and foster caregiver, Shemeeka Davis, 38, is in jail awaiting trial on murder, torture and child abuse charges in Jazzmin's death, as well as torture and child abuse charges for allegedly abusing Jazzmin's twin brother. If convicted, Davis could be sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors contend the abuse lasted for more than a year, prompting questions about how it could go unnoticed by her caseworker or others, including teachers and school administrators, who are required by law to report suspected problems. Authorities say Jazzmin and her twin brother, both placed in foster care with their aunt as infants after being born in San Francisco, had for more than a year been restricted to an upstairs room in their home on Killdeer Drive in Antioch. A San Francisco caseworker who checked on the girl every six months in recent years found no signs of abuse, said Trent Rhorer, executive director of San Francisco's Human Services Agency. Jazzmin appeared fine during the caseworker's visits, the most recent of which was in March, Rhorer said. He said the girl may have taken steps to conceal the abuse, pointing to a school photograph shot in late summer in which she was wearing a long-sleeved turtleneck. "When our caseworkers are visiting a family, and kids have been in what appears to be a stable placement for 15 years, they don't ask the kids to lift up their shirts to show their bare bodies," Rhorer said. "There has to be some sort of reasonable suspicions for us to typically do that." In the wake of Jazzmin's death, Rhorer said his department is looking at its procedures for six-month visits. But he also questioned why others with more regular contact hadn't sounded the alarm. "Certainly, it raises some concerns around our handling of the case, but what else has to be asked is, where was the school? Where were the teachers? Where was the principal?" Rhorer said. "Where were the people who saw Jazzmin every day? And they're all mandated reporters. Why didn't they make a single phone call to police or the child abuse hot line?" It's unclear how much of the abuse overlapped Jazzmin's time at school. Two former classmates have said she appeared with bruises, scars and a broken arm since the sixth grade but never told of abuse. Stephanie Anello, the principal at Antioch Middle School, where Jazzmin attended eighth grade, referred questions to an Antioch Unified School District spokeswoman. "Basically, they didn't see any evidence," district spokeswoman Deidra Powell-Williams said. "If there had been any evidence of abuse, they would have made a report." Jazzmin's aunt seemed genuinely interested in her niece's education and would routinely come to campus and confer with faculty about academic or behavioral issues, Powell-Williams said. At a memorial service after Jazzmin's death, Powell-Williams said, the girl's closest friends told her Jazzmin had begged them not to reveal anything about her treatment. Jazzmin was enrolled as a freshman at Antioch High School until October 2007. Police said, though, that she never set foot on campus. "In something like this, people want to point fingers," Powell-Williams said. "I think every agency involved should take some of that blame. Is there anything we could have done? That's the question that continues." In the scorched outposts of the Central Valley, they have a name for this blistering weather -- they call it summer. But around here we don't do hot. We are more used to fog and breezes and temperatures that might creep up into the 90s. So, when this happens, the usual conventions are thrown out the window. As the temperatures climbed into the triple digits day after day, the Bay Area wilted into grumpy disarray. The problem isn't the heat. It is that we don't know what to do with such a long, sauna-like stretch. "I am sitting here in my office in my bikini right now," said Moraga's Cynthia Brian. "With a dress nearby in case someone knocks." The worst of it was when the power outages hit San Jose and Contra Costa County. Most people soldiered through last week, but after they suffered through a hot, sleepless Friday night, enough was enough. Something had to be done for the weekend. "We had cases and cases of fans," said Toni Urquhart, assistant manager at Orchard Supply Hardware in Concord. "There were at least 900 of them. I put them out on Thursday, and they were gone by Saturday." Urquhart said they sold out of electric fans, portable air conditioners, misting units and "swamp coolers" (water-powered cooling devices). When she even ran out of fuses for air conditioners, she knew we were in uncharted territory. To be perfectly honest, some of us were not able to maintain our cheerful attitudes. And who could blame us? Bill LeVesque called in from Danville to say his power was off for 12 hours on Saturday, four hours on Sunday and another six hours on Monday. After losing all the food in their freezer and taking the whole family to sleep at a friend's house, LeVesque admits he got a little cranky with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. The company's explanation that its equipment was getting overtaxed by the heat left him, well, steamed. "Did you buy your equipment in Antarctica?" LeVesque asked. "I grew up in Arizona. We had our share of 110- and 115-degree days. But we never lost power." PG&E spokespeople like Brian Swanson maintained a Zen-like calm, explaining that, even though there was "a little dip in temperature" on Monday, record levels of demand were still being set. Swanson said that until a week ago, PG&E had never recorded demand greater than 46,000 megawatts. But that record was eclipsed on Monday with a push that went over 50,000 megawatts. None of which was of the slightest interest to those families who were just trying to get a good night's sleep. Hotels boomed. "I got a call about 4 o'clock Saturday night," said Kevin Cabral, sales and marketing director for the Renaissance Hotel in Concord. "They said, 'It is getting kind of crazy down here. You better come in.' " The Renaissance ended up selling out its 175 rooms Saturday and Sunday. After that, Cabral said, employees spent the weekend fielding calls and turning away customers. Finally, they just told families they could come and sit in the air-conditioned lobby. The pool, unfortunately, was not open to non-guests. But it wasn't because of hotel policy. "The pool was too hot to use," Cabral said. "The deck was too hot to step on." Somehow the word spread in San Jose that the San Jose Fairmont was the place to go. With over 800 rooms, it wasn't sold out, but the director of public relations, Lina Broydo, said the hotel booked 75 to 100 rooms more than its usual average. And the lobby turned into a party zone. "It started on Friday night," Broydo said. "They came in, they got cool, and they started dancing. It was packed on Friday, it was very packed on Saturday night, and it was packed again on Sunday night. I guess you can't ruin the party spirit." What can be done? Well, there are hopes of cooler temperatures as the week winds down. But in some ways, there isn't really a lot of hope in sight. Supplies are depleted not only at stores but at warehouses. Demand for power continues to mushroom. And even if the temperature drops 5 degrees, it is still way too hot for a good night's sleep. What to do? Brian said she's taken to sleeping outside at her Moraga home, and this weekend when she and her husband were looking for something to do, they invented their own outdoor movie theater. "We turned on our big screen, opened the French doors, and sat outside in lounge chairs on the patio," she said. "It was like a drive-in movie." It was still hot, but Brian said she enjoyed herself immensely. "Of course," she said, "I love to sweat." We'd all better learn to love that. HEAT WAVE BY THE BAY Jul 2006 high temperatures Location and record high: Livermore 115 1950 *Concord 110 2006 *San Jose 109 2000 Santa Rosa 110 1972 Oakland 107 1960 San Francisco 103 2000 Source: National Weather Service Average high temperatures from Jan. 1 to July 31 (for 2006, data ends July 24) . Source: WeatherUnderground.com / Joe Shoulak / The Chronicle Death comes for us all, we know that in theory. But Chloe Benjamins second novel, The Immortalists, imagines what happens when that truth moves from hazy inevitability to pressing reality. In 1969, the four Gold siblings, Varya, Klara, Simon and Daniel, steal away to Hester Street in New York, where a fortune teller tells each of them the day theyll die. Its a premise that carries the whiff of a thought experiment or a question on a personality quiz: Would you want to know the date of your death? So much of the books plot follows from that portentous set-up by necessity that its progress can feel dutiful, almost programmatic. (Indeed, The Immortalists TV rights have already been acquired by production studio the Jackal Group.) After the visit to the fortune-teller, the book breaks into four sections, each beginning with a sibling coping with another family members death and most ending with that sibling hurtling toward their own in exactly the order and time the woman on Hester Street predicted. Simon, the youngest, is the first to go at 20, dying of AIDS in 1982 after a few uninhibited years as a gay man in the Castro. Klara, a magician who works her way up to her own Vegas show, is next. Then theres Daniel, a military doctor who stayed close to their mother, Gertie, and Varya, the eldest, who conducts research on monkeys at an anti-aging institute. Naming the precise day of ones death does something funny to the characters, though: It actually magnifies their fear and uncertainty. (We learn Varyas prediction early on Jan. 21, 2044 and its starkness on the page sent a small shudder through this reader.) With an endpoint so clearly specified, its easy to slip into nihilism: Most adults claim not to believe in magic, but Klara knows better. Why else would anyone play at permanence fall in love, have children, buy a house in the face of all the evidence theres no such thing? The question then becomes how to best live ones life, and the lessons are a smidge too pat. The endless search for certainty, Benjamin tells us, is folly. Daniel, a hard-headed atheist, aggressively tries to control his own fate, Oedipus-like, and meets the bloodiest end. Varya lives an attenuated life, restricting her caloric intake because her research suggests that it could extend her life span. But Simon, though he succumbs young to a horrifying disease, takes the prophecy the right way: He lives for himself, takes risks and dies content. A life fretting about death is a life wasted, Benjamin concludes, and uncertainty isnt only something to be borne its freeing, if you can accept it. They dont want cages and food pellets, someone tells Varya, talking about her monkey test subjects. They want light, play, heat, texture danger! And the same is true, evidently, for humans. Benjamin is also interested in the ways human minds grapple with the unknown: The Golds father is devoutly Jewish, but his children discard his faith in favor of their own, in science or magic or themselves. Each is an invisible ordering principle that makes life understandable and bearable, that puts uncertainty into perspective just like fiction itself, Benjamin implies. But she equates ritual, magic, fiction and faith: Varya has had enough therapy to know that shes telling herself stories. She knows her faith that rituals have power, that thoughts can change outcomes or ward off misfortune is a magic trick: fiction, perhaps, but necessary for survival. The result is diffuse; by trying to tackle all these ideas at once, the books gestures are sweeping but shallow. The characters daily lives are more sharply observed, as the Golds cope with the corrosive guilt that a siblings death awakens, and grief that reverberates through multiple lives. But the book is shot through with memento mori, distracting reminders of Benjamins authorial presence. When Simon plays Icarus in his San Francisco ballet company, he is grateful when Robert removes [his wings], even though this means that they have melted, and that Simon, as Icarus, will die. When Varya brings her mother lilacs: The glass is too short. One flower keels dumbly over the side. They wont be alive much longer. And the books language feels studied and almost too proper (the dog promptly produced a pellet-sized turd of which Mrs. Blumenstein did not dispose), and can veer into awkwardness that yanks the reader away from the storys action: In 1969, though, they are still a unit, yoked as if it isnt possible to be anything but. The Golds end up coming off not as real people but as richly described case studies of how not to live. Its the most painful thorn in our side, this not-knowing, Benjamin has written, on lifes open-endedness. We forget that most questions in this world the ones that really matter are impossible to answer completely. But The Immortalists bears marks of obsessive manicuring. The novel self-consciously tries to deliver essential truths about life without outright saying them, but it doesnt quite let its readers do the open-ended work of piecing those truths together betraying, perhaps, a mind that hasnt fully embraced uncertainty itself. Chelsea Leu is a researcher and writer at Wired. Email: books@sfchronicle.com The Immortalists By Chloe Benjamin (Putnam; 346 pages; $26) ROCHESTER Newly retired Rochester Fire Chief Walter Wally Henning was honored this week with a reception at his firehouse Monday night celebrating his 40 consecutive years of service to the Rochester Fire Company. Firefighters and officers, both active and retired and from both sides of the Interstate attended the reception, despite snowy conditions that night. Henning served as chief of the fire company for the past six years. These days, you can find virtual assistants like Amazons Alexa or Googles Assistant in all sorts of things, from smart speakers and smartphones to washing machines and bathroom mirrors. The challenge isnt finding these digitized helpers, it is finding people who use them to do much more than they could with the old clock/radio in the bedroom. A management consulting firm recently looked at heavy users of virtual assistants, defined as people who use one more than three times a day. The firm, called Activate, found that the majority of these users turned to virtual assistants to play music, get the weather, set a timer or ask questions. Activate also found that the majority of Alexa users had never used more than the basic apps that come with the device, although Amazon said its data suggested that 4 out of 5 registered Alexa customers have used at least one of the more than 30,000 skills third-party apps that tap into Alexas voice controls to accomplish tasks it makes available. But while some hard-core fans are indeed tapping into advanced features of virtual assistants, like controlling the lights in their homes, for the most part, People are still using these speakers for very routine tasks, said Michael J. Wolf, founder of Activate. Its not clear that there is something thats going to drive people to use these. Apple popularized the virtual assistant concept in 2011 when it introduced Siri in its iPhones. About three years later, Amazon debuted the Echo, a speaker packed with microphones to capture and decipher what were saying to Alexa. Soon, various technology companies were betting that speaking to machines through virtual assistants would be an essential way for consumers to interact with devices and services in the future. There is a reason tech companies think virtual assistants are so important: They want to control an indispensable platform a crucial piece of technology other services or devices must rely upon. Some believe virtual assistant technology can be that sort of platform, and the company with the most useful assistant will gain an advantage for their other services like Internet search or online shopping. Lose that competition, however, and a company could be at the mercy of its rivals. With those stakes in mind, tech giants have been scrambling to make their assistants omnipresent. Since smart speakers are the main way for people to deal with virtual assistants, Amazon and Google stoked holiday sales with heavy discounts, dropping the price of their entry-level models to $30, from $50. At the same time, tech companies have been putting their assistants inside products of all shapes and sizes. Before this months International CES tech conference in Las Vegas, Amazon announced a string of new Alexa partnerships. Hisense will put the assistant into its television sets, while Kohler said a new bathroom mirror will have built-in microphones so people can use Alexa to dim the lights and fill a bathtub using voice commands. PC makers like HP, Asus and Acer said they were integrating Alexa into their computers, while Panasonic, Garmin and other electronics makers will do the same for devices that go into cars. Amazon also announced an agreement with Toyota to integrate Alexa into some Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Ditto for a new smoke alarm from First Alert. Google said LG Televisions, headphones from Sony and smart displays from Lenovo will tap into its Assistant. For now, consumers satisfaction with their smart speakers and by extension, the onboard assistants is helped in part by the fact they didnt pay a lot to get them into their homes. Justin Hosseininejad, an engineering consultant from Medina, Ohio, said he bought his first Amazon Echo Dot for $50 last year and got a second one free a few months ago with another Internet-connected device, the Nest thermostat. He uses them to listen to news in the morning and play music throughout the day. He recognizes that hes not asking Alexa to do a lot, but considering how little he paid, he is fine with that. Theres only certain things I use it for, but Im happy with it, he said. Im not doing my taxes with it. Paul Erickson, a senior analyst at the research firm IHS Markit, said the next step for these devices will be to become the hub of a connected home, controlling Internet-connected lights, thermostats and other basic home appliances. The more interesting functionality is yet to come, Erickson said. Part of that will come as more integration happens this year and next year. This is the first year were going to see real advances with the assistants because of competition in the marketplace. Competitors of Google and Amazon are also spreading their assistants far and wide. Apple now has Siri running across its universe of devices, along with an upcoming smart speaker called HomePod. Samsung has its own assistant, Bixby, available in its phones and televisions, and Microsoft has Cortana as a feature built into its Windows software. Amazon has turned its Echo family of products and the Alexa assistant that powers them into the unlikeliest of success stories although it is hard to say exactly how successful because it shrouds its disclosures about devices sales in fuzzy language. Amazon would say only that it sold tens of millions of Alexa devices during the recent holiday season, millions more than the same period last year. Analysts estimate that Echo accounts for more than 70 percent of sales in the smart speaker category, with Google a distant second. Google was also coy about revealing exact sales of Google Home. On Jan. 5, Google announced it has sold one Google Home smart speaker every second since it started offering a smaller version of the voice-controlled device on Oct. 19. That works out to roughly 7 million. In the 20 months since it started making the Google Assistant available as part of its Allo messaging app, Google said its Assistant is now accessible on more than 400 million devices including washing machines, dryers, air-conditioners, refrigerators and dishwashers from LG, headphones from Bose and a range of speakers from 15 companies. Google said the Assistant can now accomplish more than 1 million tasks, or actions, such as asking for photos from Halloween or adding events to a calendar. It created a directory searchable, of course to highlight these capabilities, hoping to remind users that the Assistant can do more than set a timer. There are signs that some consumers are starting to recognize the value of virtual assistants even if they arent interested in smart speakers. Hosseininejads friend Stephen Melik, also an engineer from Ohio, said he uses Siri on his Apple Watch and iPhone to control his lights and power switches. But the notion of a stand-alone smart speaker that remains in one place doesnt make sense to him. Ive always viewed these smart speakers as a solution searching for a problem, he said. But the voice assistants, potentially there are a lot of benefits to it. Daisuke Wakabayashi and Nick Wingfield are New York Times writers. In route news, United just launched a new route to Australia and changed its baggage policy to China; Qantas is now selling seats on SFO-Melbourne; Delta grows at Seattle and Boston; American expands premium economy seating on international routes and shakes up code-sharing pacts; two foreign carriers schedule new Airbus A350 wide-bodies for U.S. routes; LATAM drops one U.S. route and adds another; and Kenya Airways plans new U.S. service. >United Airlines is using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner for a new transpacific route from Houston Bush Intercontinental to Sydney, Australia, which just started service. The 8,596-mile flight which will take 17.5 hours is the second-longest in Uniteds network, exceeded only by the airlines Los Angeles-Singapore non-stops, which started a few months ago. The aircraft has 48 flat-bed seats in Polaris business class, 63 extra-legroom Economy Plus seats and 141 in regular economy. United also flies 787-9s to Sydney from Los Angeles and San Francisco. TravelSkills with Chris McGinnis sponsored by See More Collapse >In other news, United has changed its checked baggage policy on flights from North America to China and Hong Kong. Passengers traveling westbound on those routes will now be allowed two free checked bags instead of one. The two-bags-free policy had already been in effect for travel from China and Hong Kong to the U.S., United noted. Fees remain in place for overweight and oversized bags. >This week Qantas put its new SFO-Melbourne flights on sale. Qantas will use a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on the route which will operate four days per week (Weds, Thurs, Sat, Sun) starting September 1. Right now it's not cheap-- fares for September and October flights start at around $2,000 roundtrip. >Deltas growing presence at Seattle where it is locked in a market share battle with Alaska Airlines will increase even more in 2018. The airline said it will introduce new daily service from Seattle to three cities this year, including Washington Dulles and Kansas City beginning June 8, and Indianapolis starting June 18. The Indianapolis and Dulles routes will use an A319 and a 737-800 respectively while the Kansas City route will be flown with an Embraer 175. >Citing increased passenger demand, Delta said it will also start to deploy larger aircraft on its routes from Seattle to Los Angeles, Austin, Milwaukee, Nashville, Phoenix and San Diego; and it will schedule additional flights on its existing routes from Seattle to Las Vegas, New York JFK, Orlando and Medford, Oregon, this spring and summer. It will also extend its seasonal summer Seattle-Cincinnati flights to year-round service. >At Boston, meanwhile, Delta will add new daily service to Charleston, S.C. starting June 8, using a CRJ-900. On the same date, Delta will add a second daily flight from Boston to Jacksonville and to Kansas City; a third daily flight to Nashville; and a third daily roundtrip to Pittsburgh. >Last year, American Airlines introduced an international premium economy seating section on its new Boeing 787-9s as they were delivered. The airline is in the process of adding that seating option to other aircraft models in its international fleet, and premium economy will be available starting in the last week of June on AAs 777-300ERs operating from Los Angeles to London Heathrow and Hong Kong; from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Heathrow, Hong Kong and Sao Paulo; from New York JFK to Heathrow and Sao Paulo; and from Miami to Heathrow, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. >Meanwhile, American is making some changes to its international code-sharing partnerships. It has terminated its code-sharing on transborder flights of Canada's WestJet (which is entering into a joint venture partnership with Americans rival Delta), and will discontinue its frequent flyer program partnership with the Canadian carrier in July. But American has just started a new code-sharing partnership with China Southern, putting its AA code onto the Chinese carriers flights from Beijing to nine cities in China; China Southerns code is now on American flights from Los Angeles to five U.S. cities and from San Francisco to two cities. >Domestically, American's 2018 plans include a decision to convert its heavy schedule of Chicago OHare-New York LaGuardia flights into a dedicated Shuttle product starting April 4. That means its 15 daily ORD-LGA flights will feature regular hourly departure times, dedicated gates at both airports, and free beer and wine in the main cabin. (Delta also offers OHare-LaGuardia shuttle service.) The airline also announced more new routes starting June 7, including service from Philadelphia to Fort Wayne, Oklahoma City and Pensacola; Charlotte and Dallas/Ft. Worth to Panama City, Fla. and South Bend, Indiana; and OHare to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pa. >As Airbus continues to deliver next-generation A350-900 wide-bodies to its airline customers, more of them are scheduling the aircraft onto their U.S. routes. Korea's Asiana Airlines is due to put an A350 on its Seoul Incheon-Los Angeles route four times a week starting May 1 (replacing an A380), and on its Seoul-Seattle route once a day beginning July 31 (replacing a 777-200ER). And Lufthansa's 2018 schedule shows an A350 replacing the A340 on its Munich-Denver route, starting with five flights a week as of March 25 and increasing to daily by July 1. Lufthansa will also replace the A340s on its Newark-Munich and Chicago O'Hare-Munich routes with A350s as of March 25. Travelers headed to Africa will get a new option later this year: Kenya Airways said it plans to launch new non-stop service from New York JFK to Nairobi effective October 28 the first non-stops between the U.S. and East Africa. The airline will use a 234-passenger 787-8 Dreamliner for the 15-hour flight. In Latin America, meanwhile, LATAM Airlines Peru will discontinue its three weekly flights between Washington Dulles and Lima as of February 28, but LATAM Brasil plans to begin new twice-weekly 767 service on July 5 between Orlando and Fortaleza, Brazil. Get TravelSkills via email! Daily or weekly updates. Sign up here Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis. Sarah Ravani A suspect in an armed bank robbery in Oakland was quickly arrested less than half a mile away, police said. The robbery targeted a Chinatown bank at 900 Webster Street at 1:05 p.m., police said. The suspect fled the scene after taking a large amount of cash. A man who was wanted for a homicide in the Sunset District shot and killed himself late Friday, David Stevenson, a spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department, said in a statement Saturday. Police responded to reports of a shooting at 4:37 p.m. Friday on the 1800 block of 34th Avenue. A 65-year-old woman was found with gunshot wounds, police said. She later died from her injuries. The suspect was identified as 67-year-old Winston Hue. DALLAS Actress Dorothy Malone, who won hearts of 1960s television viewers as the long-suffering mother in the nighttime soap Peyton Place, died Friday in her hometown of Dallas at age 93. Malone died in an assisted living center from natural causes days before her 94th birthday, said her daughter, Mimi Vanderstraaten. After 11 years of mostly roles as loving sweethearts and wives, the brunette actress decided she needed to gamble on her career instead of playing it safe. She fired her agent, hired a publicist, dyed her hair blonde and sought a new image. I came up with a conviction that most of the winners in this business became stars overnight by playing shady dames with sex appeal, she recalled in 1967. She welcomed the offer for Written on the Wind, in which she played an alcoholic nymphomaniac who tries to steal Rock Hudson from his wife, Lauren Bacall. And Ive been unfaithful or drunk or oversexed almost ever since on the screen, of course, she added. When Jack Lemmon announced her as the winner of the 1956 Academy Award for best actress in a supporting role for the performance, she rushed to the stage of the Pantages Theatre and gave the longest speech of the evening. Malones career waned after she reached 40, but she achieved her widest popularity with Peyton Place, the 1964-69 ABC series based on Grace Metalious steamy novel which became a hit 1957 movie starring Lana Turner. Malone assumed the Turner role as Constance Mackenzie, the bookshop operator who harbored a dark secret about the birth of her daughter Allison, played by the 19-year-old Mia Farrow. ABC took a gamble on Peyton Place, scheduling what was essentially a soap opera in prime time three times a week. It proved to be a ratings winner, winning new prominence for Malone and making stars of Farrow, Ryan ONeal and Barbara Parkins. When Malone was born in Chicago on Jan. 30, 1925, her name was Dorothy Eloise Maloney (it was changed to Malone in Hollywood because it sounded too much like baloney, she said). In 1942, an RKO talent scout saw her in a play at Southern Methodist University and recommended her for a contract. In her first film at Warners, The Big Sleep, she was cast as a bookshop clerk who is questioned by Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart). She closes the shop, lets her hair down, takes off her glasses and seduces the private eye in a shelter from a thunderstorm. Free of her Warner Bros. contract, Malone was cast by Universal in Written on the Wind, Man of a Thousand Faces as the wife of Lon Chaney (James Cagney); Too Much, Too Soon as Diana Barrymore, the alcoholic daughter of John Barrymore (Errol Flynn), and The Last Sunset, a western with Kirk Douglas and Rock Hudson. Her final role was the 1992 film Basic Instinct with Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone. Terry Wallace is an Associated Press writer. WASHINGTON Although the government wont actually close if Congress fails to pass a spending bill by Friday at midnight, theres plenty that wont get done if hundreds of thousands of federal employees are barred from working until Washington agrees on a plan. In the event of a shutdown, U.S. troops will stay at their posts and mail will get delivered, but almost half of the 2 million civilian federal workers would be barred from doing their jobs. How key parts of the federal government would be affected by a shutdown: Internal Revenue Service A shutdown plan posted on the Treasury Departments website shows that nearly 44 percent of the IRS 80,565 employees would be exempt from being furloughed during a shutdown. That would mean nearly 45,500 IRS employees would be sent home just as the agency is preparing for the start of the tax filing season and ingesting the sweeping changes made by the new GOP tax law. The Republican architects of the tax law have promised that millions of working Americans will see heftier paychecks next month, with less money withheld by employers in anticipation of lower income taxes. The IRS recently issued new withholding tables for employers. But Marcus Owens, who for 10 years headed the IRS division dealing with charities and political organizations, said its a virtual certainty that the larger paychecks will be delayed if theres a lengthy government shutdown. Justice Department Many of the nearly 115,000 Justice Department employees have national security and public safety responsibilities that allow them to work during a shutdown. So will Special Counsel Robert Muellers team investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the presidential election. His office is paid for indefinitely. The more than 95,000 employees who are exempted, include most of the members of the national security division, U.S. attorneys, and most of the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Marshals Service and federal prison employees. Criminal cases will continue, but civil lawsuits will be postponed as long as doing so doesnt compromise public safety. Most law enforcement training will be canceled, per the departments contingency plan. State Department If no deal is reached to keep the government open, many State Department operations will continue. Passport and visa processing, which are largely self-funded by consumer fees, will not shut down. The agencys main headquarters in Washington, in consultation with the nearly 300 embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions around the world, will draw up lists of nonessential employees who will be furloughed. Department operations will continue through the weekend and staffers will be instructed to report for work as usual on Monday to find out whether they have been furloughed. Intelligence agencies The workforce at the 17 U.S. intelligence agencies would be pared down significantly, according to a person familiar with contingency procedures. The official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, said employees who are considered essential and have to work will do so with no expectation of a regular paycheck. While they can be kept on the job, federal workers cant be paid for days worked during a shutdown. In the past, however, they have been paid retroactively even if they were ordered to stay home. Homeland Security Department A department spokesman said nearly 90 percent of Homeland Security employees are considered essential and will continue to perform their duties in the event of a government shutdown. That means most Customs and Border Protection and Transportation Security Administration workers will stay on the job, according to the departments shutdown plan, dated Friday. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be staffed at about 78 percent, meaning more than 15,000 of the agencys employees will keep working. The Secret Service, also part of Homeland Security, will retain more than 5,700 employees if theres a shutdown. Interior Department The Interior Department said that if there is a government shutdown, national parks and other public lands will remain as accessible as possible. That position is a change from previous shutdowns, when most parks were closed and became high-profile symbols of dysfunction. Spokeswoman Heather Swifts said the American public especially veterans who come to the nations capital should find war memorials and open-air parks available to visitors. Swift said many national parks and wildlife refuges nationwide will also be open with limited access when possible. She said public roads that already open are likely to remain open, although services that require staffing and maintenance such as campgrounds, full-service restrooms and concessions wont be operating. Backcountry lands and culturally sensitive sites are likely to be restricted or closed, she said. Transportation Department More than half 34,600 of the Department of Transportations 55,100 employees would continue working during a shutdown. The bulk of those staying on the job work for the Federal Aviation Administration, which operates the nations air traffic control system. Controllers and aviation, pipeline and railroad safety inspectors are among those who would continue to work. But certification of new aircraft would be limited, and processing of airport construction grants, training of new controllers, registration of planes, air traffic control modernization research and development, and issuance of new pilot licenses and medical certificates would stop. At the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, investigations on auto safety defects would be suspended, incoming information on possible defects from manufacturers and consumers would not be reviewed and compliance testing of vehicles and equipment would be delayed. The Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, whose operations are mostly paid for out of the Federal Highway Trust Fund, would continue most of their functions. The funds revenue comes from federal gas and diesel taxes, which would continue to be collected. But work on issuing new regulations would stop throughout the department and its nine agencies. National Institutes of Health Dr. Anthony Fauci, the agencys infectious disease chief, said a government shutdown would be disruptive to research and morale at the National Institutes of Health but would not adversely affect patients already in medical studies. We still take care of them, he said of current NIH patients. But other types of research would be seriously harmed, Fauci said. A shutdown could mean interrupting research thats been going on for years, Fauci said. The NIH is the governments primary agency responsible for biomedical and public health research across 27 institutes and centers. Its research ranges from cancer studies to the testing and creation of vaccines. You cant push the pause button on an experiment, he said. Richard Lardner is an Associated Press writer. A quiet rebel In a rare instance for Kathmandus theatre scene, a play almost entirely in Maithili, titled Kashidevi, is currently on stage at Sarwanam Theatre in Kalikasthan. Thousands of people from all over the Bay Area descended on San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose on Saturday, Jan. 20 for the Women's March protests against President Donald Trump and his administration. The pink hat-wearing activists brought hundreds of hand-made signs with messages for both President Trump and society as a whole. SAN JOSE (BCN) An elderly woman and her caretaker are safe after escaping from their burning home when they smelled smoke this morning, a San Jose fire captain said. The fire was reported at around 11:30 a.m. in the 2900 block of Mitton Drive. When firefighters arrived, the fire was burning in the attic, Capt. Daniel Vega said. The fire was knocked down by 12:30 p.m. Firefighters saved about three quarters of the 2,000-square-foot home, Vega said. The woman and her live-in nurse would likely not be displaced by the fire, according to Vega. There were no injuries to civilians or firefighters. The County of Santa Clara's Office of Immigrant Relations launched a coordinated media campaign this morning to emphasize the county's support and resources for immigrants living in the county. County officials gathered with the consuls general from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua in front of a Valley Transportation Authority bus with one of the campaign ads to make remarks on how and why the campaign was created. The campaign, advertised with posters that read, "One county, one future," is designed to focus on "the value of differences in the community," County Executive Jeffrey Smith said. The campaign will primarily highlight public health and social services, though the county offers many more resources available to the immigrant community, according to Smith. This campaign comes in the wake of recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in four Bay Area counties on Jan. 10, when 21 people were arrested and ordered to appear in immigration court. The event was a follow-up operation that stemmed from a 2013 investigation, according to a statement from ICE. County Office of Immigrant Relations Director Maria Love also said that the county works to make sure that immigrants arrested by ICE have access to legal defense, including through a $3.5 million investment in community organizations that offer free legal services. The Rapid Response Network of Santa Clara County and the County Office of Immigration Relations have been working together, Love said. The RRN has a 24/7 hotline with attorneys standing by in the event that someone wants to report a raid happening or has had a family member picked up by ICE during a raid. The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office had two representatives present in solidarity. Smith said that they are "liberal" and honor the sanctuary county rules, meaning that they do not report undocumented immigrants to ICE and keep their information confidential. They will not be following federal threats or ICE threats in the effort to deport undocumented residents, Smith said. Smith described Love, an immigrant from El Salvador, as "the mastermind of the campaign." Love said that the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors tasked her department with creating the campaign. According to Smith, about 100 county employees worked on it. Love said that her department talked to immigrants that live in Santa Clara County to determine what messages were most important. Love said that the campaign's objective is for the community to know that no matter what happens at the federal level, the county will support both documented and undocumented immigrants by giving them the resources that they need. "Our immigrants are good people, the vast majority of them work hard, are documented and contribute significantly to our community," Smith said. "The people who are not documented are only undocumented because we have a very abhorrent and very ineffective immigration policy nationwide." Deputy county executive David Campos highlighted that several employees who worked on the campaign are "Dreamers themselves," individuals who entered the country as minors and were largely raised in the U.S. Santa Clara County Chief Operating Officer Miguel Marquez echoed Smith's statement, telling his own sibling's stories of success as "one of the true stories of immigrants." Marquez spoke of the two nationwide injunctions against President Trump's executive orders, one that protects sanctuary jurisdictions nationwide and one that allows "Dreamers" to renew their Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status that allowed them to reside in the United States. According to Marquez, county officials are doing all they can for each resident of the county, but especially for those foreign-born residents that make up more than 70 percent of the Silicon Valley workforce. All of the consul generals spoke in accord with county officials and the significance of the campaign in helping the immigrant community. "We are all people, no matter our color, no matter our race and no matter our immigration status," said Consul General of El Salvador Ana Valuenzuela. Consul General of Guatemala Patricia Lavagnino called the campaign "brave." "This is a campaign to say, 'You are not you, and we are not we. We are all. Immigrants are all,'" Lavagnino said. The campaign has a budget of about $40,000, and can be expanded as needed, according to Smith. "Our major issue is trying to get the message out to our clients," Smith said. "We are here to provide services for people who are typically underserved." The campaign ads will be posted at buses and bus stops with the reasoning that the targeted community needs those transportation services to get to the community resources the county can provide. They will also be in government buildings and advertised in a mail campaign, Smith said. A Hayward woman was charged Friday with assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer for an incident on Wednesday in which a Fremont police detective suffered a moderate injury while he was investigating a stolen vehicle in Hayward, police said. Brandi Vogil, 38, who is being held without bail at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, is also charged with a second count of assault with a deadly weapon for injuries suffered by a woman who was with her on Wednesday, felony reckless evading of a peace officer and auto theft, according to Hayward police. In addition, Vogil had an outstanding warrant for a reckless evading of an officer charge and was on probation for the same offense, police said. She's scheduled to be arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court in Dublin on Monday afternoon. Fremont police said that shortly after 2 p.m. on Wednesday the detective who ultimately was injured and other detectives were in the area of Broadmore Avenue and Larchmont Street in Hayward and attempted to stop a vehicle that had been stolen but the female suspect driver reversed her vehicle and collided with an unmarked Fremont police car, according to Fremont police. At the same time, a female passenger fled from the suspect vehicle and began running and a Fremont detective in a second police vehicle got out of his car and gave chase, police said. The driver of the suspect vehicle continued to hit the police vehicles and eventually maneuvered her way out of the area by hopping the curb and driving into a grassy area, according to police. As she drove into the grassy area, she collided with both the Fremont detective and the second female suspect (her passenger), who the detective was pursuing on foot, police said. The suspect vehicle then took off and left the scene. A short vehicle pursuit was initiated which ended in the area of Austin and Huntwood avenues in Hayward, according to police. The suspect driver collided with an unmarked Fremont police vehicle for the second time and officers stopped the vehicle and took the driver into custody, police said. The injured detective was transported to a hospital with a moderate injury and the injured female suspect was transported to a hospital in stable condition, according to police. Hayward police, who investigated the incident because it occurred in their city, said Friday that the Fremont detective who was injured has been treated and released. They said the female passenger is still being treated at a local hospital for injuries that aren't considered life-threatening. Hayward police said that at this time the female passenger is not facing any criminal charges. Murder charges were filed Friday in Contra Costa County Superior Court against a Pittsburg man who allegedly stole a truck that was involved in a collision that killed a 4-year-old girl, according to sheriff's officials. The charges were filed Friday afternoon against Noe Saucedo, 23, who is accused of colliding with a truck while driving a stolen Ford F-250 Wednesday afternoon on Somersville Road in Antioch. The collision killed 4-year-old Lenexy Cardoza. Her mother and 2-year-old sister remain in the hospital, sheriff's officials said. The events leading up to the collision unfolded at about 12:45 p.m. Wednesday when sheriff's officials received a call regarding a stolen Ford F-250 in Pittsburg. A short while later a sheriff's deputy spotted the stolen truck on Bailey Road and the deputy followed it as it went east on state Highway 4. The deputy initially did not turn on his emergency lights. Sheriff's officials said as Saucedo exited the highway at Somersville Road, he allegedly sped up, prompting the deputy to turn on his emergency lights. Saucedo then allegedly drove through a red light and collided with a Ford F-150 going south. Three occupants inside the Ford F-150, Lenexy, her sister and her mother, were taken to a hospital, where Lenexy died a short while later. According to sheriff's officials, Saucedo has also been charged with felony evading, possessing a stolen vehicle, possessing methamphetamine and possessing heroin. Saucedo is being held in the county jail on $1,130,000 bail. Sheriff's officials are still trying to determine why Saucedo stole the truck, sped away from the deputy and why he ran the red light and whether he was impaired at the time. "Clearly, suspect Saucedo took a series of actions that led to this tragedy," Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston said in a statement. "We are saddened by the loss of life and offer our deepest sympathies to the family." Anyone with any information about the collision or anyone who witnessed it is asked to get in touch with the sheriff's office at (925) 646-2441. To send a tip, people can email the sheriff's office at tips@so.cccounty.us or call (866) 846-3592 to leave an anonymous voicemail. An Alameda County sheriff's deputy was arraigned Friday on two counts of assault for allegedly encouraging six gang members to attack a fellow inmate at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin who the deputy had quarreled with. Joseph Bailey, a 28-year-old Tracy resident who's been with the sheriff's office for three years, was scheduled to be arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court at 2 p.m. Friday but when a large group of reporters arrived at that time a court clerk said he had been arraigned Friday morning, when no reporters were present, and pleaded not guilty. District Attorney spokeswoman Rebecca Richardson said the mix-up apparently occurred because arraignments for defendants such as Bailey who aren't in custody are held in the morning and arraignments for suspects who are in custody are held in the afternoon. She said she didn't know why Bailey's hearing was listed as being at 2 p.m. and apologized for the confusion. Bailey, who's free on $65,000 bail, is scheduled to return to court on Feb. 15 for a pretrial hearing. Tensions arose between Bailey and the inmate who's the alleged victim when the man was moved into a minimum-security unit at Santa Rita on Oct. 24 and refused to participate in a custodial strip search which is required by policy, sheriff's Sgt. Kevin Estep wrote in a probable cause statement. The inmate eventually cooperated with the strip search but before Bailey escorted him to his cell, he spoke to several inmates in that unit about the man's "behavior and demeanor," Estep said. About 90 minutes later, at about 11:40 p.m. on Oct. 24, a deputy who responded to the man's cell after he was alerted by another inmate noticed that the alleged victim "was bleeding and had several injuries consistent with being physically attacked," such as having a swollen eye, a fractured nose, lacerations to his bottom lip, above his left eye and forehead which required him to be transported to an area hospital for medical treatment, Estep wrote. Before he was hospitalized, the inmate identified several inmates as the people who "punched and kicked him repeatedly" and told the deputy who investigated the incident that he believed he was attacked because he has family members who are affiliated with a gang that's a rival of the gang that the other inmates are associated with, according to Estep. The deputy who investigated the incident said Bailey told him, "I told those six guys to take care of him (the inmate victim) and make it look like he fell in the shower" but said he did not want the victim to get beat up that badly, Estep wrote. Bailey made a voluntary statement in the presence of his lawyer on Nov. 22 in which he acknowledged that he spoke with other inmates before placing the alleged victim in their pod, Estep said. But Bailey denied telling the other inmates to physically attack the victim and said "his intention was to have the inmates assist the victim," Estep said. Bailey is represented by the Sacramento law firm Mastagni Holstedt. David Mastagni, the firm's founder, said Friday that he doesn't want to talk about the specifics of the case against Bailey, who's charged with assault by a public officer and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury. Reading a prepared statement about law enforcement officers in general who are charged with wrongdoing, Mastagni said, "District attorneys are zealously overcharging officers up and down the state and charges are being filed hastily." Mastagni said, "We are prevailing in these cases - getting acquittals or dismissals throughout the state - and we are confident that we will prevail in his case." Last Sept. 5, in a separate and unrelated case, three current Alameda County sheriff's deputies and one former deputy were charged with mistreating inmates at Santa Rita by allowing an inmate to throw bodily fluids onto other inmates in a maximum security unit at the jail. Those four defendants, who are free on bail, appeared in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland Friday for a pretrial hearing. Judge Yolanda Northridge ordered them to return to court for another pretrial hearing on March 2, at which time their preliminary hearing might be scheduled. An elder abuse law firm Thursday amended its complaint against a Santa Rosa senior living facility it claims abandoned elderly residents during the Tubbs Fire in Napa and Sonoma counties in October. In its initial complaint filed in November, San Francisco-based Stebner and Associates claimed Oakmont Senior Living, LLC and Oakmont Management Group, LLC failed to safely evacuate the elderly residents, some who were wheelchair-bound and others suffering from dementia, from Oakmont Villa Capri in the Fountaingrove area of Santa Rosa during the Oct. 8 Tubbs wildfire that killed 24 people in Sonoma County. The initial complaint names nine plaintiffs and the complaint filed Thursday in Sonoma County Superior Court added four more plaintiffs. Two of the plaintiffs in the complaint died after the initial suit was filed. The four new plaintiffs allege they suffered trauma and other injuries because they were abandoned in Villa Capri during the wildfires. The two deaths were hastened because the residents were abandoned by Oakmont Senior Living LLC, Oakmont Management Group LLC and Oakmont of Varenna LLC and their heirs joined the suit to add wrongful death claims, attorneys for Kathryn Stebner and Associates said in a news release. The suit claims some of the plaintiffs escaped the fire near Villa Capri only with the help of two of the plaintiffs' daughters. The amended complaint also alleges Oakmont abandoned at least 80 elders in another facility next door, Oakmont of Varenna, and those elders were evacuated only because one resident's grandchildren went room to room to get the elders out of the building. The new complaint also alleges Oakmont did not have evacuation plans for residents with disabilities, and those residents were the last ones left behind during "haphazard" evacuation efforts. In the initial complaint, the plaintiffs' attorneys said some residents were eventually evacuated by a police officer who was driving to evacuate a facility next door to Villa Capri. The claims in the complaint include elder abuse, false imprisonment, negligence and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. A spokeswoman for Oakmont Senior living did not return a call for comment late Friday afternoon. The County of Santa Clara's Office of Immigrant Relations launched a coordinated media campaign Friday morning to emphasize the county's support and resources for immigrants living in the county. County officials gathered with the consuls general from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua in front of a Valley Transportation Authority bus with one of the campaign ads to make remarks on how and why the campaign was created. The campaign, advertised with posters that read, "One county, one future," is designed to focus on "the value of differences in the community," County Executive Jeffrey Smith said. The campaign will primarily highlight public health and social services, though the county offers many more resources available to the immigrant community, according to Smith. This campaign comes in the wake of recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in four Bay Area counties on Jan. 10, when 21 people were arrested and ordered to appear in immigration court. The event was a follow-up operation that stemmed from a 2013 investigation, according to a statement from ICE. County Office of Immigrant Relations Director Maria Love also said that the county works to make sure that immigrants arrested by ICE have access to legal defense, including through a $3.5 million investment in community organizations that offer free legal services. The Rapid Response Network of Santa Clara County and the County Office of Immigration Relations have been working together, Love said. The RRN has a 24/7 hotline with attorneys standing by in the event that someone wants to report a raid happening or has had a family member picked up by ICE during a raid. The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office had two representatives present in solidarity. Smith said that they are "liberal" and honor the sanctuary county rules, meaning that they do not report undocumented immigrants to ICE and keep their information confidential. They will not be following federal threats or ICE threats in the effort to deport undocumented residents, Smith said. Smith described Love, an immigrant from El Salvador, as "the mastermind of the campaign." Love said that the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors tasked her department with creating the campaign. According to Smith, about 100 county employees worked on it. Love said that her department talked to immigrants that live in Santa Clara County to determine what messages were most important. Love said that the campaign's objective is for the community to know that no matter what happens at the federal level, the county will support both documented and undocumented immigrants by giving them the resources that they need. "Our immigrants are good people, the vast majority of them work hard, are documented and contribute significantly to our community," Smith said. "The people who are not documented are only undocumented because we have a very abhorrent and very ineffective immigration policy nationwide." Deputy county executive David Campos highlighted that several employees who worked on the campaign are "Dreamers themselves," individuals who entered the country as minors and were largely raised in the U.S. Santa Clara County Chief Operating Officer Miguel Marquez echoed Smith's statement, telling his own sibling's stories of success as "one of the true stories of immigrants." Marquez spoke of the two nationwide injunctions against President Trump's executive orders, one that protects sanctuary jurisdictions nationwide and one that allows "Dreamers" to renew their Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status that allowed them to reside in the United States. According to Marquez, county officials are doing all they can for each resident of the county, but especially for those foreign-born residents that make up more than 70 percent of the Silicon Valley workforce. All of the consul generals spoke in accord with county officials and the significance of the campaign in helping the immigrant community. "We are all people, no matter our color, no matter our race and no matter our immigration status," said Consul General of El Salvador Ana Valuenzuela. Consul General of Guatemala Patricia Lavagnino called the campaign "brave." "This is a campaign to say, 'You are not you, and we are not we. We are all. Immigrants are all,'" Lavagnino said. The campaign has a budget of about $40,000, and can be expanded as needed, according to Smith. "Our major issue is trying to get the message out to our clients," Smith said. "We are here to provide services for people who are typically underserved." The campaign ads will be posted at buses and bus stops with the reasoning that the targeted community needs those transportation services to get to the community resources the county can provide. They will also be in government buildings and advertised in a mail campaign, Smith said. A pedestrian was struck and killed by a train in Pittsburg Friday morning in the vicinity of Railroad Avenue and Tenth Street, police said Friday. Officers responded to the area at about 9 a.m., according to police. Workers from the BNSF Railway Company are heading up an investigation into the incident and are currently at work on the scene, police said. DUBLIN (BCN) An Alameda County sheriff's deputy was arraigned today on two counts of assault for allegedly encouraging six gang members to attack a fellow inmate at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin who the deputy had quarreled with. Joseph Bailey, a 28-year-old Tracy resident who's been with the sheriff's office for three years, was scheduled to be arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court at 2 p.m. today but when a large group of reporters arrived at that time a court clerk said he had been arraigned this morning, when no reporters were present, and pleaded not guilty. District Attorney spokeswoman Rebecca Richardson said the mix-up apparently occurred because arraignments for defendants such as Bailey who aren't in custody are held in the morning and arraignments for suspects who are in custody are held in the afternoon. She said she didn't know why Bailey's hearing was listed as being at 2 p.m. and apologized for the confusion. Bailey, who's free on $65,000 bail, is scheduled to return to court on Feb. 15 for a pretrial hearing. Tensions arose between Bailey and the inmate who's the alleged victim when the man was moved into a minimum-security unit at Santa Rita on Oct. 24 and refused to participate in a custodial strip search which is required by policy, sheriff's Sgt. Kevin Estep wrote in a probable cause statement. The inmate eventually cooperated with the strip search but before Bailey escorted him to his cell, he spoke to several inmates in that unit about the man's "behavior and demeanor," Estep said. About 90 minutes later, at about 11:40 p.m. on Oct. 24, a deputy who responded to the man's cell after he was alerted by another inmate noticed that the alleged victim "was bleeding and had several injuries consistent with being physically attacked," such as having a swollen eye, a fractured nose, lacerations to his bottom lip, above his left eye and forehead which required him to be transported to an area hospital for medical treatment, Estep wrote. Before he was hospitalized, the inmate identified several inmates as the people who "punched and kicked him repeatedly" and told the deputy who investigated the incident that he believed he was attacked because he has family members who are affiliated with a gang that's a rival of the gang that the other inmates are associated with, according to Estep. The deputy who investigated the incident said Bailey told him, "I told those six guys to take care of him (the inmate victim) and make it look like he fell in the shower" but said he did not want the victim to get beat up that badly, Estep wrote. Bailey made a voluntary statement in the presence of his lawyer on Nov. 22 in which he acknowledged that he spoke with other inmates before placing the alleged victim in their pod, Estep said. But Bailey denied telling the other inmates to physically attack the victim and said "his intention was to have the inmates assist the victim," Estep said. Bailey is represented by the Sacramento law firm Mastagni Holstedt. David Mastagni, the firm's founder, said today that he doesn't want to talk about the specifics of the case against Bailey, who's charged with assault by a public officer and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury. Reading a prepared statement about law enforcement officers in general who are charged with wrongdoing, Mastagni said, "District attorneys are zealously overcharging officers up and down the state and charges are being filed hastily." Mastagni said, "We are prevailing in these cases - getting acquittals or dismissals throughout the state - and we are confident that we will prevail in his case." Last Sept. 5, in a separate and unrelated case, three current Alameda County sheriff's deputies and one former deputy were charged with mistreating inmates at Santa Rita by allowing an inmate to throw bodily fluids onto other inmates in a maximum security unit at the jail. Those four defendants, who are free on bail, appeared in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland today for a pretrial hearing. Judge Yolanda Northridge ordered them to return to court for another pretrial hearing on March 2, at which time their preliminary hearing might be scheduled. 272-6213 Alameda County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly (510) 225-5936 Defense attorney David Mastagni (926) 446-4692 KMG reaches out to readers in East Following the countrys shift from the unitary to a federal system of government and successful completion of three tiers of elections, The Kathmandu Post organised its first reader outreach programme in Biratnagar on Friday. Tens of thousands of people - public officials, social justice organizations and private individuals - are gearing up for the Women's Marches held throughout the Bay Area and the world today. The Women's Marches began in January 2017 in the wake of the election of President Donald Trump, drawing huge crowds at events across the globe. The largest gathering this year will likely be in San Francisco, where an estimated 100,000 people marched last year. While electing female political leaders is a main focus of the events, female empowerment in general is the overriding theme. Many of the events will feature a so-called Call to Action Alley, in which demonstrators can speak with representatives of nonprofit community organizations. Marchers have been advised to take public transit. BART will be adding longer trains all day today, agency officials said. The agency noted that last year's march was its second highest weekend ridership day of all time, with 347,322 trips. A delay reported earlier this morning between the Pittsburg/Bay Point and Concord stations has resolved, and BART trains are on schedule, according to transit officials. The largest gathering this year will likely be in San Francisco, where an estimated 100,000 people marched last year. Demonstrators will gather at 11:30 a.m. at Civic Center Plaza for the rally, followed by a march down Market Street to the Embarcadero at 2 p.m. Bay Area Women's Marches are also taking place in locations including Walnut Creek, Oakland and San Jose. San Francisco Supervisors Hillary Ronen and Sandra Lee Fewer are among the speakers on the program at the San Francisco event. Dezie Woods-Jones, the California president of Black Women Organized for Political Action, this morning issued a statement encouraging African-American women to participate in the march. "Let us continue to provide that leadership by raising our voices during the Women's March," Woods-Jones said in a statement. California State Sen. Scott Wiener, one of many lawmakers taking part in the marches, said, "Today, I'm proud to once again follow the lead of women as we march in San Francisco and across the country." Less than a million! Our Emperor tells us that he spent less than a million Rupees to win the election from Chitwan and his opponent also managed to keep his expenses at the same range. WASHINGTON The federal government shut down early Saturday on the first anniversary of President Trumps inauguration. Republicans holding the White House and majorities of the House and Senate were unable to break a deadlock with Senate Democrats over a fourth stopgap spending bill since the fiscal year ran out last fall. The bill passed the House on Thursday but failed on a procedural vote in the Senate late Friday, 50-49, well short of the 60 votes needed to break a Democratic filibuster. At the heart of the standoff is a failure by Republicans to fund the government through the regular appropriations process, and a demand by Democrats to attach legal status for 690,000 young immigrants to an unrelated, must-pass spending bill. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 Win McNamee / Getty Images Show More Show Less 2 of 5 TOM BRENNER/NYT Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press Show More Show Less 5 of 5 The political fallout for both parties will escalate each day that the shutdown continues and the public experiences rising disruptions to government services. When the standoff will end is unclear, given the enormous gulf between the parties on immigration. The last government shutdown in 2013, with Republicans in control of Congress and a Democrat in the White House, lasted 16 days. Shortly after the vote, the two party leaders, Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., delivered scathing rebukes to each other on the Senate floor. McConnell proposed a new three-week deadline once Democrats come to their senses. He accused Schumer of making the ridiculous argument that it made sense somehow to shut down the government over an illegal immigration issue. Schumer said he had offered Trump in an Oval Office meeting to consider money for Trumps border wall and thought they were making progress, only to have the president back away within hours. The blame should crash entirely on President Trumps shoulders, Schumer said, blaming Republicans more generally for sowing chaos, disarray, division and discord. Five Democrats facing re-election this year in states Trump won broke party ranks to vote for the bill, fearing political repercussions from shutting down the government over an immigration issue. They included Sen. Doug Jones, whose victory last month in deep red Alabama became a cause celebre for national Democrats. But the defections remained well short of the 60 votes Republicans needed. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris of California, both Democrats, voted no. After a hastily arranged Oval Office meeting Friday afternoon, Trump and Schumer said they had made progress in negotiations but reached no resolution. Trump canceled plans to fly Friday to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Fla., where he has a gala scheduled to celebrate his first year in office. Four Republicans Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Mike Lee of Utah, Jeff Flake of Arizona, and Rand Paul of Kentucky also broke party ranks and opposed the bill. With the absence of Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who is battling brain cancer, Republicans already slim 51-49 majority was narrowed and they needed more than a dozen Democratic votes to pass the stopgap measure. They fell far short of that. Jones was joined by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who had earlier declared he would not vote to close the government, and three other Democrats who swung to the GOP side Friday: Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. Both sides spent the day trying to brand the other party with the shutdown, with White House officials calling it the Schumer shutdown and Democrats pushing the Trump shutdown. Both sides unearthed quotes and video clips from the last shutdown in 2013 to make their case, some showing Trump blaming former President Barack Obamas failure to lead, and others of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, blaming GOP legislative arsonists. Both sides said they abhorred a shutdown that would cost taxpayers an estimated $6 billion a week, furlough 850,000 government workers and force a million federal employees to work, albeit temporarily, without pay. The military will still go to work, said White House budget director Mick Mulvaney. They will not get paid. The border will still be patrolled. They will not get paid. Folks will still be fighting fires out West. They will not get paid. Schumer and Trump said their White House meeting, which both mens chiefs of staff attended, was productive. Trump tweeted about the Excellent preliminary meeting in Oval with @SenSchumer but, hours later, said things were Not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the very dangerous Southern Border. Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy. But even if the stopgap House bill had cleared the Senate, it would have kept the government open only a month. Congress could well have found itself at the same donnybrook on Feb. 16 when funding would have run out again. And a stopgap bill would have kept funding at last years levels, without any of the policy changes either party wanted. Steven Ellis, vice president of the budget watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, blamed Republicans for neglecting their most basic duty of enacting regular appropriations bills while pushing their marquis campaign promises. You spend the first three-quarters of the year on repealing Obamacare and whiff, and then you spend the last quarter of the year on tax cuts, and all the while you should have been at least somehow doing appropriations, Ellis said. Its not like this crept up on anybody. Democrats, for their part, calculated that the must-pass bill would provide their best leverage to secure legal status for the 690,000 young immigrants who arrived in the country illegally as children and grew up as Americans. These immigrants currently are protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which Trump canceled last fall and gave Congress until March 5 to replace. The program could continue longer under a court order now in effect. Months ago, Californias Harris, a potential presidential contender from a state where about a third of the DACA recipients reside, became one of the first Democrats to insist on tying the young immigrants to the spending bill. Her party gradually followed, under pressure from the Democratic base and the young immigrants, who shouted down Pelosi in her own district last summer for not being aggressive enough on the issue. Harris and Pelosi both addressed a crowd of young immigrants protesting at the Capitol on Friday night, Harris telling them, We are going to have to fight. California state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, a Democrat challenging Feinsteins re-election bid this year, relentlessly goaded Feinstein to get on board, which she ultimately did. But the strategy put 10 Senate Democrats running for re-election in states Trump won in a precarious spot. And it left Democrats in the position of killing a bill to fund the government, exposing them to blame for the shutdown. McConnell said Friday that Schumer had led his own troops into a box canyon. The White House, for its part, used Trumps cancellation of the DACA program to open a new effort to shrink legal immigration, an anathema to Democrats. The White House rallied Republicans around a four pillar plan to restrict extended family visas and cancel the diversity visa lottery, as well as funding for physical border barriers that would fulfill Trumps promise of a wall, in exchange for protecting DACA recipients. Democrats had bowed to tougher border security, but they said GOP efforts to restrict extended family visas and the visa lottery are unacceptable. A bipartisan effort by six senators that made minor tweaks to both visa categories was dismissed by the White House as a nonstarter. Although both sides refer vaguely to protecting the young immigrants, they frequently are speaking about widely varying numbers of people, from the 690,000 currently enrolled in the program to the 3.6 million who would qualify for protections under the Dream Act legislation Democrats have pushed. That bill, first introduced in 2001, would provide legal status for those who arrived in the U.S. before age 18 and maintained residence for four consecutive years and have a high school diploma or be enrolled in college, among other requirements. For weeks, Pelosi and other top Democrats have studiously insisted that the disagreement is not over just DACA but also other budget issues. These include parity for increases in both military and domestic spending, currently constrained by budget caps imposed in 2011, authorization for the Childrens Health Insurance Program that expired in September and a long list of other items. To entice Democratic votes, Republicans included a six-year authorization for the Childrens Health Insurance Program for low-income families in the spending bill. McConnell tweeted a chart framing the controversy as a choice between 8.9 million recipients of the childrens health program that expires today against protection for 690,000 DACA recipients that expires March 2018. Carolyn Lochhead is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: clochhead@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carolynlochhead This article also appeared on TopTenRealEstateDeals.com. It never occurred to Tom Petty that gathering a group of friends to play music wouldn't make them big stars. After meeting Elvis at the age of 10 and later watching the Beatles, he knew he was meant to be a musician and approached it with laser focus. In the late 60s at age 17, Tom put his theory into practice gathering several buddies, took guitar lessons, added a few more instruments to the mix and was soon on his way to stardom. Nothing deterred him or slowed him down not even the disapproval of his father, who was disappointed that his son would take the artistic route, rather than what he considered to be a more masculine, sports-oriented road, into adulthood. Tom's first band, the Epics, started out in his hometown Gainesville, Florida playing locally between odd jobs to keep them financially afloat until they hit the big time, which he knew in his heart was just a matter of time. The Epics evolved into Mudcrutch, a popular band at the Gainesville University of Florida area bars, but failed to get outside attention. His next band, the Heartbreakers, quickly turned things around making it to the top in 1976 with their hit song Breakdown. Tom and the Heartbreakers never looked back producing classics such as American Girl, Free Falling, and I Won't Back Down. A career that lasted over 45 years. MORE PHOTOS: Live like a king in this fortress-esque Romanesque Revival mansion Music poured out of Tom Petty like a fast moving river producing hit after hit, many used for movie theme songs and sound tracks. Just as he imagined as a young boy, Tom and the Heartbreakers became one of the most popular American bands in history, garnering virtually every important award in the music industry and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Petty died in October at age 66 and now his much-loved Lake Sherwood getaway near Malibu and nine miles to the Pacific Ocean is for sale. Built in 1931 with walls of local fieldstone, Petty's retreat has mountain and water views across the natural lake from almost every room and 125-feet of shorefront. Deceptively large at 5,300 square feet, the house has three bedrooms and three baths and underwent an expansion in 2004. Its rustic feel from the fieldstone and natural wooded environment is complimented by its balcony fireplace, redwood-paneled bath with stone bathtub that overlooks the lake and vaulted-beamed ceilings and fireplace in the fieldstone living room. MORE PHOTOS: 'This American Life' host Ira Glass selling his fab Chelsea apartment It's a California house with a European mountain-lake chalet vibe geared to inspire creativity from its barrel-tiled roof to its enchanting terrace. It also has a private deep-water dock where one can sit and dream, launch a boat, fish or swim. Located high above the fog line, the property is guaranteed bright sunshine and cool breezes. Listing agents are Dana Sparks and Amy Alcini of Compass Realty in Malibu, California. Rock and Roll superstar Tom Petty's fabulous Lake Sherwood retreat near Malibu is listed at $5.895 million. SRINAGAR, India Indian and Pakistani troops traded fire Saturday along their volatile frontier in Kashmir, killing at least five civilians and a soldier in the latest escalation of violence in the disputed region. The deaths on both the sides of the border came as the nuclear-armed rivals exchanged blame for initiating the hostilities, which have involved the shelling of villages and border posts and are in violation of a 2003 cease-fire accord. Saturdays fighting is the fourth straight day of deadly confrontation between the neighbors, with six civilians and three soldiers killed in previous days. India and Pakistan have a long history of bitter relations over Kashmir, a Himalayan territory claimed by both in its entirety. They have fought two of their three wars over the region since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947. Indian police said Pakistani soldiers were targeting Indian border posts and villages with mortar shells and automatic gunfire on Saturday in Jammu region. Three civilians, one a teenage boy, were killed Saturday in Indian-controlled Kashmir and at least 16 civilians and two soldiers were wounded. An Indian army soldier was killed Saturday in Poonch sector along the de facto frontier where Indian and Pakistani soldiers were trading gunfire and mortar shells, said Col. Nitin Joshi, an Indian army spokesman. Pakistani officials blamed India for killing two civilians and wounding four others along the frontier. Both countries have accused the other of initiating past border skirmishes and causing civilian and military casualties. Pakistans foreign ministry on Saturday summoned the deputy Indian high commissioner to lodge a protest over what it called unprovoked cease-fire violations by Indian troops. A statement from the ministry said four civilians were killed and 20 others wounded by Indian firing Thursday and Friday. Schools in frontier villages have been closed on the Indian side and authorities advised residents to stay indoors as shells and bullets rained down. Indian authorities also have deployed bulletproof vehicles to evacuate people who were injured and sick. Bullets and shrapnel scarred homes and walls amid the intense firing and shelling. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, which Pakistan denies. Aijaz Hussain and Roshan Mughal are Associated Press writers. Mohan Guragain is a desk editor at The Kathmandu Post. He edited a provincial youth-oriented monthly paper for nearly two years before joining The Himalayan Times in 2008. Guragain also writes occasionally on politics and socio-economic issues. He joined the Post in 2010. MUMBAI, India Whats one of the best ways right now to crack into the Trump family inner circle? Buy a swanky condominium in India. Indian developers are promising to fly the first group of buyers in a new Trump Towers project to New York for an event with Donald Trump Jr., according to Indian news reports and a video on one of the developers websites. The glitzy project, which will rise high above Gurugram, a suburb of New Delhi, has become the latest matter to draw questions about the way the Trump family is handling its convergence of business and politics. Reports in the Indian press last week, followed by a Washington Post article Thursday, have brought new accusations of influence peddling. But the Indian developers arent shying away from their offer to get the first buyers of these condos in front of Trump Jr., President Donald Trumps oldest child, who helps run the familys real estate empire. According to an article by the Press Trust of India that appeared in The Hindustan Times on Jan. 10, Pankaj Bansal, the director of one of the Indian property developers, said: About an initial 100 buyers will fly to the U.S. where Donald Trump Jr. will host them. The apartment project consists of two glittering 600-foot towers, among the tallest in the area, featuring apartments that have 22-foot-high ceilings, infinity pools and floor-to-ceiling windows. Picture lots of marble and lots of glass. A video included on the website of Tribeca Developers, one of the other Indian partners, features a segment of a news broadcast on the project, reiterating the promise to meet a Trump. Buy a flat, meet Trump Jr.! the video says. According to Indian news reports, the developers sold 20 units in the first day of sales in January. Ethicists in the United States expressed concern about the conflict-of-interest issues raised by such inducements. Norman L. Eisen, who was the ethics counsel for President Barack Obama, said it was outrageous that access to the Trump family is once again being sold this time to foreign purchasers, no less. He added: This is a brazen violation of ethics best practices, but not alas a surprising one; it is of a piece with the access to the Trump family that members at domestic Trump properties get for their often steep fees. Richard W. Painter, who was the ethics counsel for President George W. Bush, said the India deal was inappropriate, but legal. He urged the Trump children to publicly declare that they will not discuss government policy with customers. They could dramatically reduce their risk if they categorically make it clear that they will not discuss U.S. government interests with anyone with whom they have an actual or prospective financial relationship, Painter said. The news release for the project, which does not mention the offer of access to Trump Jr., goes on about its various bells and whistles, making the project sound something like a cruise ship with a golf course attached. Jeffrey Gettleman and Suhasini Raj are reporters for the New York Times. PARIS Paul Bocuse, the master chef who defined French cuisine for more than a half century and put it on tables around the world, has died. He was 91. Often referred to as the pope of French cuisine, Bocuse was a tireless pioneer, the first chef to blend the art of cooking with savvy business tactics branding his cuisine and his image to create an empire of restaurants around the globe. Bocuse died Saturday at Collonges-au-Mont-dor, the community where he was born and had his restaurant. French gastronomy loses a mythical figure, French President Emmanuel Macron said. The chefs cry in their kitchens, at the Elysee (presidential palace) and everywhere in France. Bocuse, who underwent a triple heart bypass in 2005, had also been suffering from Parkinsons disease. Bocuses temple to French gastronomy, LAuberge du Pont de Collonges, outside the city of Lyon in southeastern France, has held three stars without interruption since 1965 in the Michelin guide, the bible of gastronomes. In 1982, Bocuse opened a restaurant in the France Pavilion in Walt Disney Worlds Epcot Center in Orlando, headed by his son Jerome. In recent years, Bocuse even dabbled in fast food with two outlets in his home base of Lyon. He has been a leader. He took the cook out of the kitchen, celebrity French chef Alain Ducasse said at a 2013 gathering to honor Bocuse. Monsieur Paul, as he was known, was placed right in the center of a 2013 cover of the newsweekly Le Point that exemplified The French Genius. Shown in his trademark pose arms folded over his crisp white apron, a tall chefs hat, or toque, atop his head he was winged by Marie Curie, Louis Pasteur and Coco Chanel, among other French luminaries. While excelling in the business of cooking, Bocuse never flagged in his devotion to his first love, creating a top class, quintessentially French meal. He eschewed the fads and experiments that captivated many other top chefs. Born on Feb. 11, 1926, Bocuse entered his first apprenticeship at 16. He worked at the famed La Mere Brazier in Lyon, then spent eight years with one of his culinary idols, Fernand Point, whose cooking was a precursor to Frances nouvelle cuisine movement, with lighter sauces and lightly cooked fresh vegetables. He is survived by his wife Raymonde, their daughter Francoise and a son, Jerome. Elaine Ganley is an Associated Press writer. CAIRO Vice President Mike Pence and Egyptian leader Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi pledged a united front against terrorism in the Mideast as Pence, the highest-level American official to visit the U.S. ally in nearly a decade, began a trip through the region after leaving behind a government shutdown in Washington. Pence told reporters he raised the issue of two Americans who have been imprisoned for several years in Egypt, and that el-Sissi said he would give personal attention to their cases. Wed like to see our people come home. I made that clear to him, Pence said before flying to Jordan. Pence and el-Sissi held 2 hours of talks at the presidential palace in Cairo, with acknowledgments of friendship and partnership between the two countries. Through a translator, Pence listened as el-Sissi cited the need to address urgent issues, including ways to eliminate this disease and cancer that has terrified the whole world. Pence pointed to President Trumps efforts to forge stronger ties with el-Sissi in his first year in office, after a time when our countries seemed to be drifting apart. Pence said we stand shoulder to shoulder with you and Egypt in fighting against terrorism, and that our hearts grieve for the loss of life in recent terrorist attacks against Egyptians. The vice president noted the deadly attack against Christians in late December, when a militant opened fire outside a suburban Cairo church, killing at least nine people. He also pointed to the killing of 311 worshipers inside a mosque in northern Sinai last November. Pence arrived in Cairo hours after the U.S. Congress and Trump failed to reach agreement on a plan to avert a partial federal closure. Pence went ahead with his four-day trip to the Middle East, citing national security and diplomatic reasons. Pences meetings with el-Sissi delved into security cooperation, economic ties and efforts to fight the Islamic State group. The vice president called it a very productive meeting, said he pressed el-Sissi to cut diplomatic ties with North Korea, urged him to respect religious diversity and said the U.S. was committed to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. His visit to the region came more than a month after Trump announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, a step thats enraged Palestinians. El-Sissi identified the peace issue as one of the most important issues in their discussions, but the two leaders did not elaborate. Ken Thomas is an Associated Press writer. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate KOCABEYLI, Turkey Turkish jets bombed the Kurdish-controlled city of Afrin in northern Syria on Saturday, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised to expand Turkeys military border operations against a Kurdish group that has been the U.S.s key Syria ally in the war on the Islamic State group. The raids came on the heels of a week of sharp threats by the Turkish government, promising to clear the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units, or YPG, from Afrin and its surrounding countryside, also called Afrin. Turkeys military is calling the campaign Operation Olive Branch. Turkey says the YPG a group it considers a terrorist organization is an extension of an outlawed Kurdish rebel group that it is fighting inside its own borders, and it has found common cause with Syrian opposition groups who view the YPG as a counter-revolutionary force in Syrias multi-sided civil war. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said a ground offensive could begin Sunday, but the state run Anadolu News Agency reported that Syrian forces backed by Ankara had already penetrated the Kurdish enclave. They crossed over from Turkey but were turned back by the YPG, according to Rojhat Roj, a Kurdish spokesman. Associated Press journalists at the Turkish border saw jets bombing positions in the direction of Afrin, as a convoy of armed pickup trucks and buses believed to be carrying Syrian opposition fighters traveled along the border. Roads out of the Afrin were closed and the YPG were not allowing anyone to leave the city, but morale was high, according to a resident who was reached by phone. So far the Peoples Protection Units have not called on the people to mobilize, said Ramzi Hamidi. Turkey, he said, will learn a lesson they have not learned before. Ten civilians were wounded in the air strikes, three seriously, according to Roj. Turkey has prepared around 10,000 Syrian fighters to storm Afrin, said Rami Abudrrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group. A rebel commander speaking to the AP by phone from northern Syria said there were thousands of fighters positioned in Azaz, at the frontier with the Kurdish enclave, awaiting orders. Another commander said hundreds more were stationed in Atmeh, south of Afrin. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity. Turkish leaders were infuriated by an announcement by the U.S. military six days ago that it was going to create a 30,000-strong border force with the Kurdish fighters to secure northern Syria. Days later, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced that the U.S. would maintain a military presence with the Kurds for the foreseeable future. Mehmet Guzel and Philip Issa are Associated Press writers. Oli, Dahal to endorse NA candidate names Two top leaders of the left alliance have decided to endorse the decision of the task force on the candidates for the National Assembly election with minor changes if necessary. Wait over as EC gives winners certificates Forty-three days after the second phase of provincial elections, candidates elected under the proportional representation quota of state assemblies got their certificates from the Election Commission on Friday. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Former Staten Islander Umberto "Bert" Bifulco Jr., known for his local family-run produce stand in the 60s, has died. Bifulco Jr. died suddenly in his sleep in Jan. 18 at his home in Pittsgrove, New Jersey. Born on Staten Island in New Springville to the late Umberto Bifulco Sr. and Rosa Annuniata, "Bert" took over the family business with his two brothers, Gennaro and Pasquale, until the 1960s when it was sold. He is survived by his wife, Charlotte; sons Umberto "Bert" Bifulco III, Gennaro George Bifulco, and Michael "Mickey" Bifulco; seven grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and his brother, Pasquale Bifulco. "He lived for and devoted his life to make sure that our lives were better," said Charlotte. She said there wasn't a soul who didn't like "Bert." "Everybody loved my husband. He was very generous, had many friends, and was just so kind and wise," she said. SIDE-BY-SIDE FOR 60 YEARS New Springville was more than the neighborhood where he was born and raised -- it was where he met the love of his life. Bifulco Jr. met Charlotte when she was 16-years-old and he 10 years her senior. The couple dated for four years before marrying at Our Lady of Pity Church in Bulls Head on Dec. 7, 1957. The reception was held at the Plaza Casino, formerly on Castleton Avenue in West Brighton. "It snowed on our wedding day and it was so cold, but it was such a wonderful day," Charlotte said. The Bifulco's celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in Dec. 2017. Charlotte said her late husband had the perfect smile and she'll always be able to imagine him smiling at her. "He always called me 'Sweetsie;' we always had a wonderful time together," she said. Although the couple had a busy work schedule, they would go to The Shoals, formerly on the Great Kills harbor, for dinner and dancing classics like the jitterbug on Friday and Saturday nights. "We worked together side-by-side for all of our 60 years," she said. RICHMOND AVENUE ROAD STAND Charlotte started working at the family produce business shortly after they got married. In 1960, the newlyweds opened and worked at a produce stand on Richmond Avenue. In 1979 they expanded the business with his brothers, becoming produce buyers and delivering their produce on trucks they'd purchased, in addition to founding U. Bifulc & Sons Farms in Pittsgrove. The next business venture came in 1990 with Bifulco's Four Seasons Cold Storage Inc. to make sure their produce was as fresh as possible. Charlotte said he was a very hard and devoted worker his whole life. "We met many wonderful people when we had our farm stand and through our businesses," she said. Wake and service information for Bifulco can be found here. 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: 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: 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948 /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/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 125 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 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f02330f8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0251128)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f02330f8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0251128)') 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 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f0146828)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0251128)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0251128)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e846c6b8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0262440)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0262440)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 Parents and caregivers are ignoring warnings about leaving children in cars on hot days, Kidsafe ACT chief executive Eric Chalmers said. Children's advocates have issued a warning to Canberrans about the "dangerously high" temperatures the interior of a car can reach, particularly in the extreme heat forecast for the capital. A doll and a thermometer locked in a car in hot weather as a trial done by NRMA in 2015. Credit:Tamara Dean Kidsafe ACT, ACT Children and Young People Death Review Committee and ACT Policing are asking all Canberrans to be vigilant, know the dangers and take notice of what's happening around them. Mr Chalmers said following interstate news reports of children being left in hot cars, it was a timely and seemingly simple reminder to not leave children in cars over summer. Diamonds are set to slump further, according to a hedge fund whose bet on marijuana made it the world's best performer in 2016. Prices of the precious gem may slump as much as 10 per cent this year as it loses appeal with younger consumers and faces challenges from synthetic alternatives, said Singapore-based Ben Cleary, who co-manages the $US500 million ($625 million) Tribeca Global Natural Resources Fund. Polished diamond was one of the worst-performing commodities in 2017. Credit:AP "Diamonds are marketed on the idea that they will forever represent a pinnacle of luxury and materialist desire," Cleary wrote in an email. "Our concern is whether a younger generation of millennials will have the same allegiance to the same products as their parents and grandparents." Polished diamond was one of the worst-performing commodities in 2017, with the gem's reputation tarnished by fakes and stones mined in conflict zones. Demand may stagnate for another decade unless the industry spends more to lure consumers, Bain & Co. wrote last month in its annual report on the industry. The Tribeca fund surged 145 per cent in 2016, the most of more than 10,000 funds tracked by data provider Preqin, fuelled by bets on North American marijuana producers that benefited from the legalisation of medical and recreational cannabis use. It gained 25 per cent last year, helped by recovering commodity prices and investments in at least 15 fundraising deals that allowed smaller resources companies to bring projects into production, Cleary said. For this year, the fund is bullish on coal and carbon credits. Chinese production cuts have reduced supplies, boosting metallurgical and thermal coal prices. Free cash flow yields at North American coal producers are still "incredibly attractive," Cleary said. Carbon credits rallied about 20 per cent in North America last year on the back of state-backed trading programs. The fund likes chemical producers that tap more environmentally friendly fuel sources. It has invested in a company that uses waste from palm oil production in Indonesia and Malaysia to make cellulosic sugars, he said, while declining to identify the company. New technologies are making biomass cost competitive with petroleum-based chemicals, nudging the industry toward renewable fuels. Investors have flocked to lithium, cobalt, copper, nickel and graphite makers amid the electric-car boom. Supplies will remain tight for at least three more years, Cleary said. The fund is increasing investments in other metals for battery production, such as rare earths and high-purity manganese, which have worse supply shortfalls, he added. The fund is broadening investments in medical cannabis producers from Canada to Germany, Italy, the US and Australia. With looming federal opposition to cannabis in the US, it's backing companies in states including Massachusetts, New York and Florida where referendums to allow medical use are unlikely to be reversed by federal moves, Cleary said. We, the people of Australia, are the collective custodians of this land and its future, of its inland waterways and marine reefs, its deserts and pastures, its rainforests and scrubby bushlands. We are custodians of its fauna, responsible for ensuring there will be flourishing diversity of species for generations to come. Every one of us must play our part. Yet, when we look to the federal and state governments for leadership on this issue, there is an abysmal retreat under way. That is apparent in the woeful lack of action by the federal government, in particular, and in its wilful erasure of funding for environmental programs. As the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Australian Conservation Foundation noted recently, federal funding for environment department programs, monitoring and staff have shrunk by almost 33 per cent since the 2013-14 budget, from $1.4 billion to $945 million this financial year. The unambiguous retreat from meaningful efforts to protect our environment is patently obvious. Credit:Nick Moir Blame it on the conservative ideologues that seem to steer Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull from the back seats. Blame it on the lobbying influence of profiteers. Or blame it, perhaps, on apathy. The unambiguous retreat in recent years from meaningful efforts to protect our environment is patently obvious. Look no further than a much-anticipated federal government document that is intended to set a national framework for biodiversity conservation and environment protection for the next 12 years. Instead of developing a strategy founded on solid science and buttressed by specific, measurable, attainable and timely goals, Australia's Strategy for Nature 2018-2030 is a bewilderingly juvenile 17 pages of utter pap. The RSPCA describes a puppy farm as an "intensive dog breeding facility that is operated under inadequate conditions that fail to meet the dogs behavioural, social and/ or psychological needs". John Grima's proposal to develop a dog breeding facility to supply poodle crossbreeds to his Kellyville Pets shop has provoked opposition from residents and animal welfare campaigners. Credit:Louise Kennerley Mr Grima said his proposal was not a puppy farm and would "significantly improve animal welfare outcomes". "The dogs we would be breeding are not the same breeds as those found in shelters," he said. "The demand isn't going away, but by raising the standards we can help force rogue operators who have no regard for animal welfare out of the industry." John Grima said the proposed dog breeding facility was not a puppy farm and will "significantly improve animal welfare outcomes" Credit:Christian Stokes The development application submitted by Mr Grima's Rockley Valley Park Pty Ltd proposes the building of a 60-dog breeding facility on a 100-hectare property at Fosters Valley, 21 kilometres south of Bathurst. The $841,000 development consists of grassed exercise yards, insulated kennels with under-slab heating and socialisation yards, grooming facilities and a vet inspection area, a climate-controlled whelping shed with external exercise yards and a training facility to teach dog breeding techniques. John Grima said the proposed dog breeding facility is designed to address concerns about puppy farms. Credit:Louise Kennerley High fences and "non-koala feed trees" are proposed to protect the koala habitat that adjoins part of the property. Mr Grima said breeding activity would be based on veterinary advice and exceed standards set by law and animal welfare groups. "The breeding mums will be de-sexed and rehomed between four-and-a-half and five years of age and only be allowed to whelp no more than five times, and only then based on vet approval," he said. "All breeding males will be de-sexed and rehomed by the age of seven years." Breeding for pets Bathurst Regional Council received 41 submissions about the proposed dog breeding facility, including four that were lodged late. "The issues raised in submissions relate to effluent management, noise, the potential impact on koala habitat, animal welfare concerns and the ethics of commercial dog breeding," according to Neil Southorn, the council's director of environmental planning and building services. Mr Southorn said the council would consider whether the proposed dog breeding facility is permissible under the Local Environmental Plan, any development controls, the suitability of the site, likely environment, social and economic impacts and the public interest. Mr Vince said the motivation for the dog breeding facility was financial "and we have found that when money is the primary motivation the welfare of the animals becomes a secondary consideration". "There are ample cases of dog breeders treating dogs in shocking ways, and we don't need to go back far to find evidence of animals kept in squalid conditions and suffering from neglect or untreated problems," he said. Mr Vince initiated a petition calling on Bathurst Regional Council to reject the development of a "puppy farm", which has received more than 5400 signatures. He said NSW law was "toothless" when it came to puppy farms. An RSPCA spokeswoman said the organisation supported stronger protections around animal welfare and tougher penalties. "It is important to note that it is possible to be a responsible breeder of companion animals and to ensure high welfare standards for animals being sold for profit, and individual breeders should be assessed on a case-by-case basis in terms of welfare standards," she said. Mr Grima said the types of dogs people want a decision influenced by the size of their yards and lifestyles are sometimes not found in pounds or shelters. "Most of the people who come to our store wanting a puppy have already considered a rescue dog but haven't been able to find a suitable dog in a shelter," he said. Tough laws in Victoria The proposal for a dog breeding facility follows changes to Victorian laws in December that restrict the number of fertile females that dog breeders can keep and permit pet shops to only sell dogs and cats sourced from shelters, pounds or enrolled foster carers. Debra Tranter, a spokeswoman for animal welfare group Oscar's Law, which campaigned for the new laws in Victoria, said NSW legislation was "weak and ambiguous". "The code allows dogs to be bred until they physically can no longer breed, there is no caps on litter numbers and there are no caps on dog numbers that a puppy farmer can keep," she said. She also criticised the enforcement of the law in NSW: "In NSW puppy factories are self-regulated and that has and still does fail animals." But Mr Grima said the online trade of puppies would flourish if NSW follows the lead of Victoria. "Banning approved breeding and the sale of puppies in pet shops will only push the trade further online where many puppy farmers are selling dogs without any accountability for their health, temperament and the conditions they have been bred in," he said. "It would be a tragedy." A spokeswoman for the NSW Minister for Primary Industries, Niall Blair, said dog breeders had to comply with animal welfare laws and an enforceable code of practice. The Turnbull government has called for a March byelection to replace the High Court hearing of Labor MP David Feeney after the embattled MP told the High Court he did not have any paperwork to prove he was not a British citizen. Leader of the House Christopher Pyne said Mr Feeney should stop wasting taxpayers money and go straight to the polls in a Batman byelection that Labor fears it could lose to the Greens. The publicly funded legal bill for the fiasco is expected to spiral to more than $2 million by the time hearings are completed, with taxpayers forking out $130,000 on barristers for each day of the high court case. "David Feeney has had seven weeks to produce the so-called documents he claims exist proving he renounced his UK citizenship, the fact that he hasn't been able to provide them proves they simply don't exist," Mr Pyne said. The major political parties and their wealthy benefactors have long sought to perpetuate the mutually beneficial myth that political donations are somehow a good thing for the Australian people. The donors and their lobbyists claim their contributions are some form of civic philanthropy: they're just helping finance election campaigns to ensure a vigorous contest of ideas and a healthy democracy. Market research for the Minerals Council has shown it is viewed less favourably than the coal sector it was accused of championing too strongly. Credit:Bloomberg And the politicians insist the money comes with no strings attached: it does not buy access or influence or favours or votes. But it does save taxpayers the cost of financing those election campaigns themselves. Now the facade is slipping. A former army member arrested in Serbia in a major drugs investigation ran a business with his alleged co-accused that went bust with $11.5 million in debts and accusations of illegal conduct. David Campbell, 48, was arrested along with Rohan Arnold, 44, and Tristan Waters, 34, in a dramatic raid on a five-star hotel in Belgrade on Tuesday. It followed a nine-month investigation into a shipment of 1.2 tonnes of cocaine that arrived in Sydney from Brazil, via China, concealed in steel tubes. Fairfax Media has ascertained that Campbell is a long-time business associate of Arnold but the Canberra-based pair ran into major financial difficulties in 2012 when their local steel manufacturing business struggled to compete with cheap steel imported from China. The company, Mass Steel, collapsed with $11.5 million in debts. A liquidator later said that Arnold's conduct as the company's director was so questionable that he should be investigated in the Federal Court and banned from directorships for five years. He was accused of trading while insolvent, engaging in "phoenix" activity and shifting assets to a network of his own companies to avoid paying tax and other liabilities like workers' entitlements. It appears that no action was taken in the Federal Court. An ice pipe carved out of ivory. A stuffed monkey, staring blankly ahead. A whip fashioned from a stingray's tail. These items are hidden away behind the heavily guarded doors of a nondescript warehouse in Sydney south. Fairfax Media was granted exclusive access to the highly secure site by Australian Border Force, but its exact location cannot be revealed for security reasons. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. A stuffed polar bear is kept somewhere in Perth. Governor Arthur Phillip skilfully commanded 11 second-rate ships on a perilous 252-day voyage. The Senate Estimates Committee, which was asked to investigate the government's expenditure on the bicentennial celebrations, told Parliament in November 1988 that the ABA "had actively attempted to destroy the First Fleet Re-enactment expedition". Yet the January 26 arrival that year attracted three million cheering spectators, becoming Australia's largest most popular live spectator event. Aware this symbol of colonisation would impact on the Indigenous community, First Fleet organisers sought advice from leaders, including Charles Perkins and Sydney activist Burnum Burnum, aka Harry Penrith, who planted the Aboriginal flag on an English beach in 1988 to claim Britain for the Aborigine. Portrait of Captain Arthur Philip painted by Francis Wheatley. Credit:State Library of NSW Perkins, who took part in the 1965 Freedom Rides and was a public face of Aboriginal Australia during the 1967 referendum campaign, said: "Of course you should re-enact the First Fleet as you white fellas have gotta have your own Dreamtime because if you don't, you won't know where you have come from or where you are going". Police still warned protesters could board ships, advised the wearing of bullet-proof vests and feared riots if First Fleet re-enactment crews came ashore. But nobody intercepted the fleet. Our ships flew Aboriginal flags, sailors gave three cheers for Aboriginal spectators, wore black arm bands, cast a memorial black, yellow and red wreath into the harbour and placed an advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald demanding a treaty. The welcome was also warm in other ports of call around Australia. Aborigines made good use of the event, starting with Tracey Moffat protesting at our May 13, 1987, Portsmouth departure. On our arrival, thousands demonstrated in Redfern, marching to Hyde Park. The re-enactment provided a timely platform and effective catalyst. Four years later the Federal High Court recognised Eddie Mabo's Murray Island native claim, ushering in an era of land rights. Despite Land Rights activist and lawyer Noel Pearson telling National Press Club last Australia Day we can still commemorate the Fleet but must honour Aboriginal arrivals 50,000 years earlier, a growing number of people are campaigning to abolish Australia Day altogether. The "Change the Date" campaign, which is supported by Aborigines and National Convention of First People, the Australian Greens, Triple J and Yarra, Darebin and Fremantle city councils, is gaining unstoppable momentum. Full-page newspaper advertisements have appeared demanding readers work on Australia Day. Their passion makes Mark Latham's "Save Australia Day" campaign seem out of date. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull seemed out of touch when he declared recently: "I am disappointed by the Change the Date campaign because the 26 January is the day that unites us all." It's a misnomer anyway calling January 26 Australia Day because that is historically inaccurate. The 26th was not the arrival anyway, they arrived in Botany Bay on January 18. On January 26 Phillip established a penal colony not a nation. According to Lt King's journal they "drank the health of His Majesty & Success to the Colony", then "a feu de joie was fired by the Marines and the whole gave 3 Cheers". They did not drink to any nation, let alone "Australia" (a name not used until the next century). There was only one ship, Supply, in Circular Quay as others were still in Botany Bay because of unfavourable winds and meeting French navigator La Perouse whose two ships arrived that day. Phillip did not even establish the government till February 7 as Collins said he had been too busy to read "His Majesty's Commissions appointing Commodore Phillip Governor-in-Chief over the territory of New South Wales". Collins said they raised their flag in New Holland, claiming only limited territory, "confined along the east coast of this continent to such parts of it solely as were navigated by Captain Cook, without infringing on what might be claimed by other nations from their right of discovery". Cook had called it NSW. They were establishing one colony, never dreaming random British settlers would establish other ad hoc colonies or eventually occupy the whole continent. We should instead transfer the Australia Day title to January 1, the day the nation of Australia was actually created. It is also less controversial, encourages us to celebrate achievements of our "Federation Fathers" uniting six antagonistic colonies against formidable odds and still leaves room for commemorating the Fleet's safe arrival, but as a more general maritime event. Advocating federation in 1889, colourful rags to riches hero Sir Henry Parkes tirelessly toured colonies educating voters, campaigning and negotiating to overcome parochial resistance. He could have failed. Initially convict-free Victoria feared contamination from convict colonies; Queensland refused to abandon slave trading and Western Australia wanted to secede. NSW voted against the first 1898 referendum but luckily the second in 1899 passed in most colonies though only by 8000 votes in Queensland. Rebellious Western Australia only joined the union six weeks before Queen Victoria signed approval. A relieved Edmund Barton, the first prime minister, declared: "For the first time in history we have a nation for a continent and a continent for a nation". January 1, 1901, was all about nation building not British naval officers just founding one penal colony but Australians creating their own nation. Governor General's proclamation of the Commonwealth of Australia in Sydney's Centennial Park united six competing colonies peacefully. America only won independence through bloody warfare. The cost of preparing a child for a new school year may come as a shock for many families, but is especially difficult for those facing financial hardship. For Doonside mother-of-seven Donna West, caring full-time for her disabled daughter, Sylvia, and facing health issues of her own, means her family struggle to make ends meet. Donna West with her children Timmi Boughner, 11, and Brandon Boughner, 12, at the Mount Druitt Hub. Credit:Kate Geraghty Until October 2016, when her two youngest, Brandon, 12 and Timmi Boughner, 11, came onto The Smith Family's Learning for Life sponsorship program, Ms West would struggle to get them everything they needed for school. "Without it, they would be getting secondhand uniforms, wearing cheap shoes and all the rest of it," she said. The fire is emitting large amounts of smoke, which can be seen right across Sydney, including Royal Randwick. Credit:AAP "We do have fire investigators currently working with local police, investigating the cause and origin of this fire," he said. Marnie Sigal, who owns a kayaking company based in Bundeena, said she drove along Sir Bertrams Stevens Drive towards Bundeena at about 12.35pm on Saturday and didn't spot the bushfire. Smoke visible from Captain Cooks Bridge, rising off an out-of-control bushfire burning in the Royal National Park. Credit:Brook Mitchell Ms Sigal was driving back from Audley, transporting 14 people who had been kayaking with her company. Just 10 minutes later her family members passing the same spot drove past flames right near the road. Onlookers watch as a bushfire burns in the Royal National Park. Credit:AAP "I'm talking five minutes, maybe 10 minutes at the most," she said of the distance between her vehicle and the two cars carrying her son and father, and her husband and the kayak tour leader. "To go from nothing to quite a big, decent, out of control fire I couldn't believe it. The RFS is sending emergency alert telephone warnings to people in the area. Credit:Brook Mitchell "My mum and dad's car is covered in ash." Ms Sigal said her husband, who is a member of Fire & Rescue NSW, and the tour leader, who is in the RFS, both reported the fire. A photo of the bushfire at the Royal National Park, taken from Cronulla. Credit:Judith Morgan She said she had been "surprised" to receive a text alert about the nearby bushfire "for the first time ever". A spokesman for NSW RFS said around 70,000 messages were sent to people in the Bundeena and Wattamolla areas "where hundreds of residents were expected to be enjoying the area's beaches". "The effectiveness of the warning would have been hampered by the lack of mobile phone reception in the national park," he said. "We would love to just be able to send push notifications out to people whether they have reception or not, but the technology doesn't make that possible yet." Those already at Little Garie, Garie, North Era, South Era or Burning Palms beaches have been told to remain in place. On Saturday afternoon, an RFS spokesman said there was no direct threat to properties, but residents in the Bundeena area are being warned to enact their bushfire survival plans. The fire is emitting large amounts of smoke, which can be seen right across Sydney. Parts of the park at Wattamolla had been closed earlier on Saturday as the car parks were "full". NSW RFS and NSW Police began evacuating Wattamolla Road in the Royal National Park on Saturday afternoon. "We are escorting around 200 people out of Wattamolla Road, this is undertaken in conjunction with NSW Police to get some of those people out, and will continue throughout the afternoon," the RFS spokesman said. Marine Rescue NSW has sent vessels from Sydney and Illawarra to Burning Palms Beach in Lilyvale, "due to escalation of a bushfire in that area and possible water-based evacuations". Burning Palms Beach is just north of the Figure 8 Pools, a popular tourist destination in the Royal National Park. It is understood a surfing carnival is taking place within the park, but the RFS do not believe there is any threat to visitors at the event at this stage. Meanwhile, the RFS has issued a "watch and act" alert for a bushfire burning out of control south-west of Sydney at Long Gully Road in Bannaby. While firefighters and aircraft are working to slow the fire, the weather conditions are causing fires to "burn erratically" and become "difficult to control". Isolated rural properties in the area of Alders and Crees Road and Bannaby Road may soon come under threat, the RFS warns. Firefighters are also continuing to battle with a bushfire that's burnt more than 33,000 hectares in the Pilliga Forest between Coonabarabran and Narrabri. The fire is at an advice level with no homes are under threat, but residents are being urged to monitor conditions. Firefighters are currently conducting back burning operations in the area and the Newell Highway has been shut between Narrabri and Coonabarabran and is likely to remain closed on Saturday. Less than two hours into the ballot count for the Morningside byelection, Labor has claimed victory. The byelection was called following the shock resignation of Labor councillor Shayne Sutton in October. Successful Labor candidate Kara Cook entered her election event at Balmoral to cheers and chants as she was introduced as the new councillor for Morningside. At 8.30pm, Labor had won 50.32 per cent of the primary vote, the LNP had 36.56 per cent, the Greens 11.50 per cent and the Independent candidate had secured 1.62 per cent. Newly elected Labor councillor Kara Cook has warned lord mayor Graham Quirk he better watch out, while the partys leader, Peter Cumming, has slammed the lord mayor as not being a "nice person". Ms Cook claimed victory in the Morningside byelection on Saturday, securing more than 50 per cent of the primary vote. On Saturday night while speaking at a Labor function in Balmoral, Ms Cook said the byelection win sent a very clear message to the lord mayor. We are not just going to sit back, Labor is coming after them at the next election, she said. You can now ask Google to find your 'portrait' in an art museum somewhere in the world, and it'll come up with at least one match. Just don't expect it to be flattering. It took a few extra days to appear down under, but Australians can finally play the doppelganger game that's swept social media this week via the Google Arts & Culture app. The app allows users to submit a selfie photo, and uses facial recognition technology to find a match among its international database of artworks. The database includes more than 1,500 museums from 70 countries, including Australia. While some people have found their true doppelgangers out there, it seems the technology isn't always bang on. Apartment owners will be slugged up to $60,000 each to fix dangerous cladding, after a court ruled the building watchdog could not force builders to repair apartment blocks once residents are able to move in. Following estimates that there are up to 1400 apartment towers, hotels and offices in Victoria with non-compliant cladding, the Strata Community Association says the cost of removing unsafe cladding will range from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. The exterior of 673 La Trobe Street. Credit:Chris Hopkins The association's chief executive, Erik Adriaanse, said taxpayers should foot the bill for the construction crisis rather than leave owners to pay tens of thousands of dollars each. "It is an unacceptable outcome for owners to have to decide between crippling themselves financially and making their buildings safe apartment buildings," he said. San Jose: Costa Rica's first same-sex wedding has been blocked by notaries who are refusing to recognise it until laws forbidding gay marriage are changed, setting them at odds with their President. The marriage between two men was set for this weekend after a top Latin American human rights court earlier this month ruled that countries in the region should legalise same-sex unions, pushing back against opposition from the Roman Catholic Church. Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis, right, shakes hands with South Korean President Park Geun-hye last year. Credit:Jeon Heon-kyun The Inter-American Court, based in Costa Rica's capital San Jose, recommended that those rights be upheld via temporary decrees while governments pursue permanent laws. Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis then directed government agencies to apply the ruling until lawmakers or the constitutional court formally adopt new laws. Bangkok: Hundreds of police have blocked protesters planning to march on Saturday from Bangkok to Khon Kaen in the north-east of the country in a rare display of public discontent in the junta-ruled country. Thailand has been ruled by the military since 2014. Demonstrations have since become a rarity, partly because of junta orders banning public assembly. Thai Police officers deployed outside the Thai Supreme Court to prevent protests last year. Credit:AP The United Nations has expressed concern over what it calls a deteriorating rights situation in Thailand, including harsh sentences for those convicted of violating the lese-majeste law, known as Article 112, as well as other restrictions placed on freedom of expression. "We want to tell the junta that you have taken Thailand back a long way. The people in the agriculture ministry are all generals. There are just generals," said one protest leader. Puerto Maldonaldo, Peru: Pope Francis has issued a ringing defence of the people and the environment of the Amazon, saying big business and "consumerist greed" could not be allowed to destroy a natural habitat vital for the entire planet. Francis, who has made the environment and climate change a focus of his nearly five-year-old pontificate, made his appeal on Friday while visiting a corner of the Amazon in Peru where pristine rainforest and biodiversity is being blighted by mining and logging, much of it illegal. Antonio Borges Serum, of the ethnic group Hunikui from Acre, Brazil, in Puerto Donaldo for the Pope's visit. Credit:AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd "The native Amazonian peoples have probably never been so threatened on their own lands as they are at present," the pope told a crowd of indigenous people from more than 20 groups including the Harakbut, Esse-ejas, Shipibos, Ashaninkas and Juni Kuin. Thousands of representative of the groups from across Peru walked before him, dressed in traditional regional costumes and feather headdresses and speaking in their native languages, as traditional wind instruments sounded mournfully in a small stadium built to look like a hut in the city of Puerto Maldonado. Ankara: Turkey launched a ground offensive against Kurdish separatist fighters and Islamic State positions in northwest Syria on Sunday after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ignored calls from the US to avoid attacking Afrin. Turkish tanks crossed into the Syrian town of Azaz and were advancing toward the Kurdish stronghold of Afrin, the Hurriyet newspaper said. The incursion came after Turkish F-16s and artillery units hit almost all targets in the operation against Kurdish YPG and Islamic State positions, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on television late Saturday. The army said 72 warplanes took part using Syrian airspace. Turkish General Hulusi Akar said troops suffered some casualties in the operation, which also included Turkish-backed Syrian rebels from the Free Syrian Army. Turkey is using self-defence under international law, and the "Olive Branch" operation is aimed at eliminating Kurdish PYD/YPG forces along with the Islamic State, the army said, accusing the YPG of using civilians as human shields. Turkey has been outraged by plans to create a border security force using thousands of Kurdish fighters by the American-led coalition against the Islamic State, saying the Kurdish fighters have designs on Turkish territory. Washington: The US Congress are racing to meet a midnight Friday deadline to pass a short-term bill to keep the US government open and prevent agencies from shutting down. In shutdowns, non-essential government employees are furloughed, or placed on temporary unpaid leave. Workers deemed essential, including those dealing with public safety and national security, keep working. After previous government shutdowns, Congress passed measures to ensure that all unpaid workers received retroactive pay. The Trump administration would support a similar measure, a senior administration official said on Friday. Workers began finding out on Friday whether they would be furloughed, but official notices would come as early as Saturday. They would receive their last paycheque for work up until the shutdown on Friday January 19. Protester gather and march in protest of Donald Trump in West Palm Beach, Flordia. Credit:MIKE STOCKER "So while we have this President celebrating his one-year anniversary, let's give him an 'F' [grade] for his performance," House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said while flanked by fellow Democrats. "We don't agonise, we organise." Many of the protesters wore pink knit "pussy hats", which were created for last year's march as a reference to a comment made by Trump about female genitalia, The caps quickly became a symbol of women's empowerment and opposition to the new President in the early days of his administration. Protester dressed as handmaidens from The Handmaid's Tale march in protest of Donald Trump in West Palm Beach, Florida. Credit:MIKE STOCKER Despite the gravity of the issues at hand, the mood at many of the rallies was lighthearted. Marchers vied to outdo one another with droll signs - "Ugh where do I start," read one, while another declared: "If you take away my birth control, I'll just make more feminists." The age spectrum ranged from babies in strollers to elders helping one another along, with large numbers of men marching along with women. Protesters gather at the Grand Park for a Women's March against sexual violence and the policies of the Trump administration Saturday. Credit:JAE C. HONG To a certain extent, ethnically mixed crowds in many locales reflected big-city demographics, although the year's protests were also the subject of pointed commentary about the inclusiveness of the #MeToo movement, with its roots in Hollywood and among the elite. Actress Viola Davis, addressing the enormous rally in downtown Los Angeles, crystallised those sentiments, demanding a voice for the voiceless. "I am speaking today not just for the MeToos, because I am a MeToo," Davis said. "But when I raise my hand, I am aware of all the women who are still in silence, the women who are faceless, the women who don't have the money and who don't have the constitution and who don't have the confidence and who don't have the images in our media that gives them a sense of self-worth to break their silence." In Trump's hometown of New York, crowds were backed up for dozens of blocks leading to the rally site on the edge of Central Park. Marchers in sashes with the words #MeToo and #TimesUp were at a standstill on side streets where pink "No Parking" police signs on barricades blocked off sidewalks. Trump was repeatedly invoked, and not just because it was the first anniversary of his presidency. Last year's nationwide marches came only months after the Access Hollywood tape of Trump bragging in crude terms about groping women without their consent - the genesis of the "pussy hats" (or pink cat's-ears hats), that made a robust reappearance at Saturday's protests. This year, many marchers marvelled at the President's seeming impunity even as #MeToo has forced so many perpetrators of sexual misconduct from positions of power. Trump has branded as liars more than a dozen women who have stepped forward to accuse him of sexual impropriety, and he is weathering revelations - which he denies - of carrying on an affair with adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels, about the time that Melania Trump gave birth to their youngest son, Barron. "Stormy Daniels, Secretary of Internal Affairs," read one sign in Los Angeles. Smaller crowd While the Washington rally drew a sizeable crowd, it was dwarfed by the size of last year's Women's March when the US capital swarmed with demonstrators. There were no immediate estimates of the size of the Washington crowd this year. An estimated 5 million people participated in the nationwide rallies in 2017, making it one of the biggest protests in American history. In Chicago, thousands of mostly female marchers gathered in Grant Park, carrying protest signs with slogans such as "Strong women raising strong women". Illinois Attorney-General Lisa Madigan told the marchers, "You are powerful, use your power for progress, and, we are more powerful together." City officials had put the size of the crowd at between 200,000 and 300,000, or about the same as the 2017 rally, according to Fawzia Mirza, one of the emcees. But the streets did not appear as crowded as the year before. Michelle Saunders, 41, a software saleswoman from Des Plaines, Illinois, came to the rally with her 14-year-old daughter, Bailey. They attended last year's march and for them the message was just as strong. "A smaller crowd will not mean people are any less angry," Michelle Saunders said. "We are unhappy with the current administration and what it stands for, and want our voices to be heard." Since the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump has had sharply lower approval ratings among women than among men. A Pew Research Centre poll in May showed 46 per cent of men approving of Trump's job performance, while only a third of women did. March organisers hope to build on the energy felt by Trump opponents after his surprise election victory in 2016 and channel it into gains for progressive candidates in November's midterm elections, using the theme "Power to the Polls". The Second Ministerial Meeting of the Forum of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and China, which will be held in Santiago, Chile on Monday, January 22, marks a new milestone in the economic, political and cooperation-related ties between the region and China. During the first meeting held in January 2015 in Beijing, both sides adopted a cooperation plan for the 2015-2019 period. Its targets include reaching by 2025 a total trade exchange of at least $500 billion dollars and mutual foreign direct investment near $250 billion dollars. The Second Ministerial Meeting of the CELAC-China Forum is taking place at a time when humanity faces enormous challenges, such as growing inequality, climate change, geopolitical tensions, migratory crises, and the disruptive impacts of automation and the digital revolution. All of this in the context of great uncertainty regarding the prospects for multilateral cooperation and of the emergence of isolationist views among some central actors in the international system. In this complex scenario, China has expressed a firm commitment to the quest for economic growth centered on shared prosperity, environmental protection, multilateralism and the principles of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These are the values that inspire the ambitious One Belt One Road initiative (known as OBOR), a civilizing proposal in which Latin America and the Caribbean must get involved. Although a vast ocean separates us from China, OBOR opens the door to growing closer by improving our aerial, maritime and digital connectivity. The second meeting in Santiago will be an opportunity to evaluate progress on its implementation and to define new orientations for the coming decade. As part of the preparations for this momentous meeting, last October ECLAC had the privilege of hosting the First CELAC-China High-level Academic Forum at its headquarters. For this Second Ministerial Meeting of the CELAC-China Forum, ECLAC has prepared a new document entitled: Exploring new forms of cooperation between China and Latin America and the Caribbean. It explains that China and Latin America and the Caribbean multiplied by 22 times their trade exchange between 2000 and 2013. Also, after recording three consecutive years of declines in its value, trade in goods between the region and China sharply recovered in 2017, with an expansion estimated at 16% and totaling about $266 billion dollars. Beyond this good news, the diversification of the export basket to China continues to be a pending issue for the region: just five products, all of them basic, represented 70% of the total value of shipments in 2016. In this context, the food sector offers great potential for diversifying and adding value to exports to China, since here the region keeps a trade surplus close to $23 billion dollars. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) can play a central role in generating a more balanced and diversified economic relationship between the region and China. In fact, in 2016 China became the second biggest foreign investor at a global level. Two good bits of news are that Chinese FDI in our region increased substantially in 2017, surpassing $25 billion dollars, and that an incipient diversification of these flows toward sectors such as telecommunications, food and renewable energy can be seen. We need for this process to continue and deepen, with greater Chinese investment in industrial and service sectors that generates larger chains with providers from the region, especially Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). At the Second Ministerial Meeting of the CELAC-China Forum, ECLAC will stress the urgency of agreeing upon actions that allow for diversifying trade and foreign investment flows and deepening cooperation on the issues of energy, natural resources, infrastructure, industry, innovation in 4.0 technologies and connectivity. In all these areas, it is possible to identify common challenges and possibilities for sharing experiences and knowledge from a perspective of mutual benefit. In sum, this is about both parties taking a leap forward in terms of the quality of their relationship, placing innovation as a pillar of development and moving toward inclusive and sustainable development through an environmental big push. Alicia Barcena Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- A small Work Group (WG) within the Emergency Support Functions (ESF) that falls under the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), has been formed to assess and ensure National Tsunami Preparedness within the Government apparatus, and to develop a national tsunami preparedness plan. A tsunami is a very large ocean wave caused by an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption. On Tuesday a meeting chaired by the EOC Disaster Coordinator and Fire Chief Clive Richardson, and supported by ESF-10 Coordinator and Secretary General of the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT) Miguel de Weever, brought together various government agencies that are part of the WG. The WG is a joint initiative of the Office of Disaster Management and Ministry TEATT. The agencies are: Sint Maarten Police Department, Fire Department/Office of Disaster Management, Meteorological Department of St. Maarten, St. Maarten Tourist Bureau, Department of Communication (DCOMM), and the Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment, and Infrastructure Management (Ministry VROMI). The WG and subgroups will meet on a regular basis and will be working on a number of areas such as warning systems, designated safe areas, public awareness campaign and post-Tsunami event. One of the key areas discussed is the identification of an alarm center(s) that would then activate the EOC. This is critical, as evident in the real-life event of Tuesday, January 9 in the middle of the night when an earthquake in the Western Caribbean Sea resulted in a tsunami warning being issued for parts of the Caribbean. The WG will be looking at the various forms of warning systems to ensure that the country has a comprehensive and effective system such as a siren alarm system and/or using electronic messaging via Smart Phones to alert the population and what action is required. The system should also be able to issue messages in various languages. The designation of Safe Areas where persons in the various low-lying districts need to go for safety are to be identified. The traffic flow via identified evacuation routes and the logistics need to be worked on in order to maximize the survival rate of the population. A Public Awareness Campaign will be necessary to sensitize the population about the alarm system that would be put in place; what actions a person is required to take; the evacuation route etc. The Public Awareness Campaign would also cater to specific publics such as public, schools (i.e. Children), Tourists, Vulnerable Persons/groups, etc. Besides being able to respond to a tsunami event, the WG will also look at a Post-Tsunami Sint Maarten and what will be required in the aftermath. Members of the WG were of the opinion that Hurricane Irma has thought us many valuable lessons and one needs to ensure that we have an improved plan to execute and protect life, community and property on Sint Maarten during a natural disaster. In the past 500 years, there have been ten confirmed earthquake-generated tsunamis in the Caribbean Basin with four causing fatalities. An estimated 350 people in the Caribbean were killed by these events. During the relatively short 500-year period of written Caribbean history, tsunamis have inflicted a small amount of losses compared to other hazards such as windstorms, earthquakes, and volcanic activity. The impact of a large tsunami can be as devastating as earthquakes or an erupting volcano. The Eastern Caribbean islands lie in a setting where major structural changes are occurring in the Earths crust. All known sources capable of causing tsunamis (that is, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides) occur within striking distance of the Eastern Caribbean, and there are also distant sources across the Atlantic. Since the islands lie in an area of relatively high earthquake activity for the Caribbean, the most likely tsunamis to affect the Eastern Caribbean are those which can be triggered by shallow earthquakes (<50km depth), in the region, greater than magnitude 6.5, according to the Seismic Unit of the University of the West Indies. PHILIPSBURG:--- On behalf of the Public Schools and the Ministry, Minister Jorien Wuite expresses her sincere condolence to the family, friends an, teachers of Kenrick Richardson on his passing. Kenrick, a student of the St. Maarten Vocational Training School, died Wednesday, January 17th in Colombia after a prolonged illness. Kenrick was described by teachers as a very courteous, quiet, respectful student who would always encourage his classmates to do the right thing. His passing has sent a wave of sadness throughout the school. Student councilors visited the school on Friday to offer their services to any student or staff member who were having any difficulty with their grief. A debriefing session was first held with the schools teachers followed by sessions with his classmates and friends. Councilors will visit the school again next week to follow-up on the mood of students to ensure that they are coping. The Minister commends the school management for their professional handling of this difficult situation. The loss of a child is always difficult Minister Wuite expressed. Kenrick was an exceptional young man who will be deeply missed by those who loved him. As a mother of two young men myself, my heart goes out to his foster parents, his siblings and to all those who knew him well. May his soul rest in eternal peace. PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday, January 19th the German Ambassador Dirk Brengelmann paid a courtesy visit to Prime Minister Leona Romeo Marlin at the Government Building. During the meeting, the two parties discussed briefly the political developments on Sint Maarten, reconstruction efforts, tourism initiatives, higher education and how Germany can assist Sint Maarten in its future development. Prime Minister Romeo Marlin also took the time to express her gratitude for the humanitarian aid provided by Germany following the devastation Sint Maarten faced after the passing of Hurricane Irma. Rotary to Continue Focus on Children; Lions to Continue Focus on Vision PHILIPSBURG:--- The Rotary Club of Sint Maarten and the Lions Club of Sint Maarten proudly accepted large donations from the Jump Up Casino on Saturday evening at LIsola Restaurant in Pelican Key totaling $46,694. The donation was shared equally between the two Clubs. Students from The Gulliver Schools of Miami, Florida, who were on island to assist with various beach clean up efforts, presented the donations to both clubs. According to Antione Akl of the Jump Up and Hollywood Casinos, We thought it was very fitting to have students visiting our island in service to the community to present the donations to the Rotary Club of Sint Maarten and the Lions Club of Sint Maarten. The funds raised were collected during the holiday season after a progressive Bingo tournament. John Caputo, President of the Rotary Club of Sint Maarten, thanked the students and the Jump Up Casino for their support of Rotary. Mr. Caputo continued, The Rotary Club of Sint Maarten is pleased to accept this large donation. These funds will be used to help us re-equip the Sister Marie Lawrence School after all the supplies, computers, smart boards, etc. were lost after the passing of Hurricane Irma. In addition, a portion of the funds were used to brighten the recent holiday season for youngsters who may not have had a visit from Santa Claus. We are grateful for this significant donation and we look forward continuing our efforts to focus on the children of Sint Maarten. Lion Alison Busby, President of Sint Maarten Lions Club, thanked the students for their great school work project and also the staff and management of Jump Up Casino and also to the citizens of Sint Maarten that participated at the bingo events of Jump Up casino during the month of December. A big thank you to Mr. Antoine Akl for thinking of and being a corporate sponsor of Lions Club of Sint Maarten. Mr. Busby went onto say, The LION Club international has 5 areas in which we are active, including Sight, Youth, Hunger, Education, and most recently, Diabetes. This donation will be used for the childrens projects of which one is Eyes for a Brighter Future project. This was planned for October 2017, but due to the passing of Hurricane Irma, the project was postponed for a later date this year. This project entails the testing of about 4000 plus elementary school students by the VOSH organization and where eyeglasses are needed the student will receive a pair of glasses free of charge. For more information about the Rotary Club of St. Maarten or joining Rotary, please contact the Rotary Club of St. Maarten Press Officer at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit the website www.rotarysxm.org. For more information about the Lions Club of St. Maarten, please contact the Lions Club of Sint Maarten at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit the Sint Maarten Lions Club Facebook page Joint Press Release from the Rotary Club of Sint Maarten and Lions Club of Sint Maarten Paris, Jan 20, 2018 (SPS) - The political process for self-determination of Western Sahara has remained at a standstill with little international attention, noted Human Rights Watch (HRW) in its new report in Paris on Thursday. "The political process for self-determination of Western Sahara, a territory under Moroccan control, remained stalled with little international mediation or attention," said the HRW in its World Report 2018 on human rights. Morocco, the occupying power, "rejects a referendum on independence" of Western Sahara, considered by the United Nations a non-self-governing territory. As regards the 24 Sahrawi Gdeim Izik's political prisoners, the HRW said in its report that the new trial "was tainted by apparent due process violations such as the reliance on testimony allegedly obtained under coercion without properly examining allegations of torture." "The court ordered medical examinations, which concluded that torture could neither be proven nor disproven, an unsurprising conclusion given that these examinations, the first of a forensic nature of these defendants, were taken place seven years after the alleged torture took place," said the report. The HRW also underlined that "the (Moroccan) government has continued to impose a de facto ban on research missions by Amnesty international and Human rights Watch since 2015." (SPS) 062/SPS/APS This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate An appointee of President Donald Trump has resigned from the federal agency that runs AmeriCorps and other service programs after remarks he made disparaging blacks, Muslims, gays, women, veterans with PTSD and undocumented immigrants surfaced in the news media. Carl Higbie, of Greenwich, Conn., lasted less than six months as the chief of external affairs in the Corporation for National and Community Service. Higbie's Thursday afternoon resignation, which was prompted after CNN unearthed the comments he reportedly made, comes amid increased scrutiny of the president's appointees for racist or anti-Muslim statements made in the past. READ ALSO: Top Trump lawyer reportedly went extraordinary lengths to quietly pay porn star 'Stormy Daniels' $130,000 Now Playing: Zurawik: It is easy to mock cable news for its countdown clocks and and occasionally over-the top prime-time hosts. But I have also been finding some of the smartest discussions and most in-depth coverage there as well this week. Video: The Baltimore Sun In November, the Department of Homeland Security's Jamie Johnson, another Trump appointee, resigned after comments he made that linked blacks to "laziness" and "promiscuity" came to light. Last week, Pete Hoekstra, the new U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands and a former Republican congressman, apologized after uproar over baseless anti-Muslim theories he had spread multiple times in past. According to the reporting and audio clips published by CNN on Thursday, Higbie had a lengthy track record of making strongly racist and anti-Muslim statements before his appointment. In 2013, he spoke about giving away free firewood while working in Virginia Beach on "Sound of Freedom," an Internet talk radio show that he hosted, according to CNN. Higbie said that black women think "breeding is a form of government employment," and that blacks were "lax of morality," and that culture "is breeding this welfare and the high percentage of people on welfare in the black race." In another talk show appearance in 2013, he expressed dislike for the term "African-Americans." "The whole African-American thing gets me whipped up because it's like 99 percent - and I'm paraphrasing here - of people who write down African-American have never been to Africa," he said. He also spoke disparagingly of Islam, saying that he didn't like Muslims "because their ideology sucks," and that he was fine if his views caused him to be labeled a racist. "I just don't like Muslim people. People always rip me a new one for that. 'Carl, you're racist, you can't, you're sexist.' I'm like Jesus Christ," Higbie said on "Sound of Freedom" in 2013. On another podcast, Warrior Talk Radio, in 2014, according to CNN, he struck a similar chord. "I was called an Islamophobe and I was like, 'no, no, no, no, no, I'm not afraid of them. I don't like them. Big difference,' " he said on the show. "And they were like, 'Well, you're racist.' I was like, fine if that's the definition of it, then I guess I am.'" This is not the first round of controversy for Higbie, who worked as the spokesman for pro-Trump super PAC Great America before the 2016 election. During an appearance on Fox News shortly after the election, he cited Japanese internment camps during World War II as a "precedent" for some of the president's potential immigration plans and the remarks drew wide condemnation. Nonetheless, he was appointed to the position at the CNCS, which runs AmeriCorps and other volunteering initiatives, and has programs dedicated to rebuilding after natural disasters and supporting veterans and their families, including helping them transition once they return home. In other audio unearthed by CNN, Higbie, a former Navy SEAL, derided military veterans with PTSD as having "a weak mind," and said he thought a large majority of people with PTSD were being dishonest. "I'd say 75 percent of people with PTSD don't actually have it, and they're either milking something for a little extra money in disability or they're just, they honestly are just lying," he said on another talk radio show in 2014. Samantha Jo Warfield, a CNCS spokeswoman, declined to comment on the circumstances of Higbie's resignation. Of undocumented immigrants, Higbie, on another episode of "Sound of Freedom" in 2013, said that Americans with guns should be able to shoot undocumented immigrants who attempted to cross into the United States at the border. "What's so wrong with wanting to put up a fence and saying, 'Hey, everybody with a gun, if you want to go shoot people coming across our border illegally, you can do it fo' free,'" Higbie said. "You cross my border, I will shoot you in the face. I will go down there. I'll volunteer to go down there and stand on that border for, I don't know, a week or so at a time and that'll be my civil duty." He also spoke harshly about Sen. Dianne Feinstein, also on "Sound of Freedom," calling the California Democrat a "bitch," and saying he'd love to smack her and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's heads together. "Nothing gets me going like Ted Cruz, when he went off on that Feinstein bitch about the Second Amendment. And he put her in her place, that was just fantastic. I can't stand that woman," Higbie said. "Her and Pelosi. I'd love to just take both their heads and smack them together a couple of times." During another appearance on "Sound of Freedom," he spoke about the legalization of gay marriage in Rhode Island. "Congratuf'in'lations, you suck, Rhode Island. Why would you do that?' he said. "I mean, you are breaking the morals, the moral fiber of our country. You know, I don't like gay people. I just don't." The White House did not respond to a request for comment. TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Advocates of industrial hemp production in Kansas are pursuing a new legislative proposal for allowing state universities to research it. The new bill is narrower than a measure opposed by law enforcement officials last year. The Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee had a hearing last Tuesday. The new measure would allow state universities to research industrial hemp but prohibit its cultivation outside state-sanctioned test plots. The House approved a bill last year to allow research and commercial cultivation with industrial hemp growers licensed by the state Department of Agriculture. The measure stalled in the Senate because of law enforcement opposition. A Kansas Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman said it is less concerned about this years bill, and several law enforcement groups did not formally oppose it. As'ad's Bio As'ad AbuKhalil, born March 16, 1960. From Tyre, Lebanon, grew up in Beirut. Received his BA and MA from American University of Beirut in pol sc. Came to US in 1983 and received his PhD in comparative government from Georgetown University. Taught at Tufts University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Colorado College, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Served as a Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington DC. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, an experience that only served to increase his disdain for maintream US media. He is now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. His favorite food is fried eggplants. I have received a number of calls on Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) commonly known as Electronic Log Books for truck drivers. The bottom line is if you had to keep a pen and paper log book in the past, you most likely need an ELD gizmo on your truck to comply now. This law is going to make life difficult for some folks engaged in trucking for agriculture, namely livestock hauling. I dont like it. First of all this is a Federal law were dealing with. Theres nothing the State of Nebraska can do about it, but I did contact our congressional delegation for their input. Rep. Adrian Smith voted for an amendment in the House of Representatives that would have delayed the ELD law two years, but unfortunately this measure was defeated in the US House of Representatives. The US Senate passed the ELD law. Senator Fischer and Senator Sassess offices both have voiced concerns about it and are monitoring it. Sen. Fischer is providing feedback to the Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to ensure they understand how this affects agriculture. The FMCSA issued a 90 day exemption from ELDs for the transportation of agriculture commodities, which is in effect until March 18. You can find more information on the Federal Register website at this link: There is a period of time where the FMCSA is taking public comment on this new ELD law. I strongly encourage those effected by this law to submit a comment on their website here: FMCSA also has an informational email address where people can ask questions: ELD@dot.gov The Governors property tax bill (LB 947) was introduced by Sen. Smith last Wednesday. As you know Sen. Erdman has also introduced a property tax bill (LB 829) I know there may be others coming out next week. People ask me, Which one do you support? I tell them, All of them. If it lowers property taxes, Im voting for it. Some will argue some aspect of this or that bill is bad and try to promote the idea we shouldnt vote for it. The legislature is a political body, so no one should be surprised when this wrangling begins in the weeks ahead. The fights will all be about how to pay for it. Some will argue the measure in question doesnt do enough, that additional funds from spending shifts or new revenue are needed to deliver real relief. Some will argue that every penny of Nebraskas $4.5 billion dollar budget is utterly essential and not a dime of it could be shifted to help fund property tax relief. They will say new revenue (also known as raising your taxes) will be needed. Nebraskas budget was $2 billion just ten years ago. Now it is $4.5 billion. That is a 125% increase in the size of the States budget. Surely we can save money somewhere. Its very likely that some of these property tax bills will not get voted out of committee. Those bills may have a chance to be debated on the floor of the Senators who introduced them use a procedure called a pull motion. They would need 25 votes on the floor to accomplish this. Though in the rules, this procedure is not used very often because it may cause hard feelings in the committee the bill is pulled out of. Sen. Smith (introducer of the Governors property tax bill) said he saw a narrow path to passing his bill. I think this same rational applies to all of the different property tax measures. If we get to the end of the session and none of the different property tax bills have survived, I will do a pull motion for LB 576. This is my bill currently held in the Revenue Committee since last session. It would cap property taxes for four years. SOMETHING has to be passed this session. At the very least, the people shouldnt be made to suffer further increases in property taxes while the legislature tries to find a solution to this difficult problem. Please contact my office with any comments, questions or concerns. Email me at; tbrewer@leg.ne.gov. Mail a letter to; Sen. Tom Brewer, Room #1202, P.O. Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509 or call us at 402-471-2628. The following is a list of those booked in the Iredell County Detention Center on felony and driving while impaired charges from Jan. 11-17 in Iredell County. Listed information, including addresses, has been gathered from reports publicly available at area law enforcement agencies. If your name appears here and your case was dismissed or you were cleared of the crime, let us know by calling Shawn Taylor at 704-873-1451, ext. 4435 or emailing staylor@statesville.com. Blog Archive Apr 2010 (22) May 2010 (25) Jun 2010 (8) Jul 2010 (12) Aug 2010 (18) Sep 2010 (19) Oct 2010 (29) Nov 2010 (30) Dec 2010 (18) Jan 2011 (13) Feb 2011 (21) Mar 2011 (23) Apr 2011 (19) May 2011 (31) Jun 2011 (36) Jul 2011 (46) Aug 2011 (26) Sep 2011 (12) Oct 2011 (15) Nov 2011 (17) Dec 2011 (7) Jan 2012 (18) Feb 2012 (4) Mar 2012 (12) Apr 2012 (18) May 2012 (10) Jun 2012 (21) Jul 2012 (8) Aug 2012 (15) Sep 2012 (7) Oct 2012 (17) Nov 2012 (20) Dec 2012 (10) Jan 2013 (58) Feb 2013 (59) Mar 2013 (60) Apr 2013 (98) May 2013 (134) Jun 2013 (204) Jul 2013 (293) Aug 2013 (351) Sep 2013 (363) Oct 2013 (347) Nov 2013 (374) Dec 2013 (440) Jan 2014 (544) Feb 2014 (475) Mar 2014 (525) Apr 2014 (527) May 2014 (470) Jun 2014 (408) Jul 2014 (472) Aug 2014 (522) Sep 2014 (441) Oct 2014 (471) Nov 2014 (496) Dec 2014 (535) Jan 2015 (535) Feb 2015 (520) Mar 2015 (579) Apr 2015 (657) May 2015 (679) Jun 2015 (673) Jul 2015 (728) Aug 2015 (803) Sep 2015 (923) Oct 2015 (921) Nov 2015 (801) Dec 2015 (791) Jan 2016 (782) Feb 2016 (835) Mar 2016 (929) Apr 2016 (864) May 2016 (946) Jun 2016 (1044) Jul 2016 (882) Aug 2016 (1035) Sep 2016 (966) Oct 2016 (918) Nov 2016 (854) Dec 2016 (885) Jan 2017 (879) Feb 2017 (777) Mar 2017 (896) Apr 2017 (872) May 2017 (850) Jun 2017 (851) Jul 2017 (971) Aug 2017 (1040) Sep 2017 (998) Oct 2017 (1144) Nov 2017 (1046) Dec 2017 (838) Jan 2018 (873) Feb 2018 (769) Mar 2018 (885) Apr 2018 (808) May 2018 (827) Jun 2018 (820) Jul 2018 (840) Aug 2018 (854) Sep 2018 (844) Oct 2018 (851) Nov 2018 (870) Dec 2018 (912) Jan 2019 (919) Feb 2019 (827) Mar 2019 (957) Apr 2019 (913) May 2019 (1007) Jun 2019 (934) Jul 2019 (949) Aug 2019 (936) Sep 2019 (910) Oct 2019 (920) Nov 2019 (874) Dec 2019 (908) Jan 2020 (941) Feb 2020 (848) Mar 2020 (898) Apr 2020 (848) May 2020 (822) Jun 2020 (787) Jul 2020 (819) Aug 2020 (858) Sep 2020 (841) Oct 2020 (873) Nov 2020 (811) Dec 2020 (780) Jan 2021 (765) Feb 2021 (716) Mar 2021 (819) Apr 2021 (805) May 2021 (815) Jun 2021 (824) Jul 2021 (830) Aug 2021 (832) Sep 2021 (791) Oct 2021 (754) Nov 2021 (683) Dec 2021 (693) Jan 2022 (694) Feb 2022 (654) Mar 2022 (740) Apr 2022 (745) May 2022 (748) Jun 2022 (701) Jul 2022 (704) Aug 2022 (702) Sep 2022 (699) Oct 2022 (737) Nov 2022 (421) Bill McClellan Bill McClellan is a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Bill McClellan Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today In addition to doing the laundry and taking out the garbage, I maintain the family records. I keep various documents in manila folders in the basement. So when my wife bought a new Prius and gave my daughter the old one, I went into the basement and found the title to the old car. I was proud of myself. Who wouldnt be? We got the title eight years ago, and I was able to find it in two minutes. This is why we dont need computers. If a person is organized, if he is competent, he can find things. Manila folders never crash. Unfortunately, the title listed Toyota Motor Credit as the lien holder. For my daughter to transfer the title, she needed a waiver of lien. She explained that the lien holder would have sent us the waiver as soon as we paid off the car. I went back to the basement. The manila folder had crashed! The data was gone! Or, more likely, I had not filed it properly. Maybe I had gotten a letter from Toyota and had mistaken it for junk mail. In the days before my semi-retirement, I used to toss junk mail. These days, I spend quality time with all my mail. Solicitations, advertisements, offers for new credit cards. I read everything. I was not worried about the misplaced waiver. We had bought both cars at Lou Fusz Toyota. Surely, the people at Lou Fusz would help a loyal customer. I drove to the dealership and explained my problem to a young man at a desk. I mentioned that I had bought both cars at Lou Fusz. A salesman overheard the conversation. Call 1-800-GO TOYOTA, the salesman said. Ask for the credit department. Frankly, I had been hoping somebody at the dealership would do everything for me, but I hid my disappointment. I am not a big fan of doing business on the telephone. If you want this, press 1. If you want that, press 2. Also, my hearing is not so hot. Still, I went home and made the call. A sultry voice said, We know just what you want. She then asked for my credit card number. My mental acuity is not what it once was, but I am still several months away from giving my credit card information to a stranger with a sultry voice. We know just what you want, the voice said again. I called my wife over. Listen to this, I said. I think Im on a porn site. My wife listened, and then handed the phone back. She gave me a quizzical look. Do you want to be congratulated? is what the look asked. I hung up, and explained the situation to her. I think the Toyota site has been hijacked, I said. This sort of thing can happen to people who dont protect themselves. I know because I got a solicitation a few weeks ago from a company that protects people from identity theft. The solicitation did not exactly mention hijacking phone numbers, but it made clear that crooks with computers can do almost anything. The other possibility was that this is an inside joke with Toyota people that 1-800-GO TOYOTA is a porn site. Maybe the salesman was having a little fun at my expense. Either way, I was thrilled. In my semi-retirement, I live for this kind of stuff. I drove back to Toyota. I went back to the young man at the desk. You guys sent me to a porn site, I said. A woman at a nearby desk overheard me. What did you say? she asked. I explained the situation to her. A woman with a sultry voice answered the phone and told me she knew just what I wanted, I said. I made sure, I think, that I did not sound like an old guy who was offended because I had been directed to a porn site. Instead, I projected the image, I think, of a hip, sophisticated guy who was amused by the whole thing. The woman led me over to a manager. I repeated my story to him. He took out a business card and wrote a number on the back. The number was not 1-800-GO TOYOTA. Try this number, he said. If you have problems, call me. I went home and proudly told my wife that I had created quite a stir at the dealership. I had also gotten another number. I was going to call it and take care of business. I felt good about myself. But then an uneasy thought entered my mind. A tinge of self-doubt. I called 1-800-GO TOYOTA again. Thank you for calling Toyota, a voice said. A pleasant, business-like voice. Oh, no. Had I really gone to Lou Fusz and made a public fuss about a porn site when I had dialed the wrong number? Does that sound like something I would do? Youre not going to believe this, I said to my wife, but that porn site was a wrong number. I misdialed. I do believe that, she said. Hey, maybe somebody recognized you. I bet somebody did. She laughed. I smiled and shook my head. I acted, I think, like a self-confident guy who would be amused at the thought of a cluster of employees sitting around, dialing 1-800-GO TOYOTA and making jokes, Sultry voice? Porn site? Hahaha. Then I went upstairs and waited for the mail. WASHINGTON Rep. Rodney Davis said Saturday he thinks Democrats voted against a bill to keep the government open in order to score political points on the anniversary of President Donald Trumps first year in office. Davis, R-Taylorville, Ill., said that repeatedly in a call with reporters Saturday afternoon, saying that for Democrats, its more about messaging on their part than governing. He pointed to statements made by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York made as the shutdown hour approached Friday night. Tomorrow marks a year to the day President Trump took the oath of office on the Capitol steps, Schumer said. Unfortunately a Trump shutdown would encapsulate of the chaos hes unleashed on our government. While Davis was talking with reporter, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez sent a press release also noting the one-year anniversary, and declaring that this shutdown happened because this president and his party are too incompetent and ill-intentioned to do their jobs and keep the federal government up and running. The shutdown also came on the same day that marchers gathered in cities around the country to commemorate the anniversary of womens resistance marches against Trump. Behind-the-scenes negotiations continued Saturday as members of the House and Senate gave speeches or held show votes as they waited for a possible resolution of the shutdown, which began at midnight Friday. Frustrated members took to Twitter and issued statements, mostly blaming the opposing party for the impasse. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, quoted the Rolling Stones You Cant Always Get What You Want while imploring for renewed negotiations. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin, had to postpone a weekend trip to meet her first grandchild, born Thursday in Savannah, Ga. Davis, who is one of scores of Republicans targeted by Democrats in the fall, joined with Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro another on the Democrats target list and other GOP House members from Illinois blaming their states two Democratic senators for the shutdown. The impasse happened late Friday when Republicans fell 10 votes short of the 60 necessary to stop a filibuster, and Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth voted no. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who herself is in a tough re-election fight, was one of five Senate Democrats who voted against the shutdown. But an hour after the vote, she issued a statement saying she was disgusted with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for pushing off a resolution of a childrens health insurance program until it got entangled in greater government funding differences. While I voted yes tonight to continue funding the government, its embarrassing how badly this place is being run, McCaskill said. Republicans said if Democrats wanted to avoid shutting down the childrens health care plan, they could have voted for the bill, which extended it for six years. Davis said he has bipartisan scorn for the Senate and Senate rules requiring 60 votes to pass major legislation. Republicans now hold a 51-49 majority, but three Senate Republicans voted for the shutdown, unhappy with levels of funding for the military , among other things. The statement Davis and other Illinois Republican members signed accused Durbin and Duckworth of putting their partys leadership over the priorities of Illinois by voting to shut down the government. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, also signed the statement. Duckworth, a wounded Iraq War veteran, said that she voted for the shutdown, in part, because of the deleterious effect on the military of short-term budget fixes. Even the Pentagon this week warned about the wasteful and destructive national security ramifications of failing, once again, to provide long-term funding, Duckworth said. Republicans said a shutdown was worse for the military than the short-term funding bill that was rejected. Wagner and McCaskill were among members supporting initiatives to withhold pay from members of Congress during the government shutdown. Members are currently paid because of constitutional requirements, but their staffs are not, although back pay has been appropriated in past shutdowns. JEFFERSON CITY A Republican state senator said Saturday that he has spoken with the FBI about Gov. Eric Greitens and the chief executive's campaign apparatus. Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, told the Post-Dispatch he has discussed with the FBI issues related to the governor's reliance on "dark money" and acceptance of large donations from Joplin megadonor David Humphreys. Humphreys gave $500,000 to Greitens' campaign in December 2016, state records show. The following legislative session, Greitens backed legislation which would have benefited Humphreys' company, TAMKO Building Products Inc., in pending litigation. After the 2016 campaign, Greitens' former campaign aides also formed a nonprofit organization, A New Missouri Inc., which acts to promote the governor's agenda but is not required to disclose its donations. "Those are the types of things that I might be discussing with the FBI," Schaaf told the Post-Dispatch. "They usually are wanting some, just, nuts and bolts of the political process and background information so that they can put what they're seeing into a more accurate perspective." Schaaf did not characterize the discussions as formal interviews, saying the FBI representatives appeared to be seeking background information from him. Schaaf's admission came the morning after CNN reported that the FBI had opened an "inquiry" into Greitens. The report cited two unnamed U.S. officials. It also quoted Eli Karabell, a man who said he volunteered for the Greitens team and said he had spoken with the FBI. The CNN report came a week after Greitens first acknowledged an extramarital affair with a woman in 2015, but denied related allegations that he took a compromising photo of the woman and threatened to release it if she spoke of the affair. Karabell has a history of antagonistic social media posts directed toward the governor. Citing this, and that Greitens' legal team has received no indications of an FBI investigation, Greitens' attorney asked the network to retract its report. CNN has declined to do so. In a statement, Greitens' attorney, James Bennett, said: "The named source has a history of profane and aberrant behavior toward people associated with Governor Greitens dating back to last year to such a degree that Governor Greitens press secretary had to block his calls and other members of the Missouri Republican Party staff felt threatened to the degree that senior leadership attempted to intervene with his family. "We have seen no indication of an FBI investigation, see no matter that is worthy of such an investigation, and do not believe that one exists," Bennett continued. "Any suggestion based on CNNs reporting that an investigation exists would not be accurate." When asked about Schaaf's comments, Bennett reaffirmed that Greitens hadn't been contacted by the FBI and that Greitens' lawyers have been given no indication of an investigation. The CNN report does not state that Greitens is under investigation. "The FBI will at times begin an inquiry as a preliminary step before deciding whether an investigation is warranted," the report said. "The scope of the FBI inquiry or when it began was not immediately clear." The FBI has neither confirmed or denied an investigation related to Greitens. "CNN stands by its reporting," a network spokesman said in a statement. Austin Chambers, a campaign adviser to the governor, said in an email that Karabell was not a member of the transition team nor volunteered on it. He said Karabell may have volunteered to help with inaugural festivities. Albert Watkins, Karabell's attorney, said that Karabell volunteered for the Greitens campaign team after the 2016 election and through the January 2017 inauguration. He said Karabell has long been concerned about the influence of "dark money" in Greitens' campaign activities, and has actively called for investigations. His client "sought answers to questions about dark money use from others in the Greitens circle," Watkins said in a statement, and "was thereafter subjected to threatening phone calls; threats to ruin his political career and reputation, physical intimidation, and his family was contacted by a high level state Republican official." Watkins indicated the reported questioning by the FBI related to the "dark money" issue. He said Karabell was contacted by the FBI following a conversation Karabell had with Schaaf. Schaaf, who is perhaps Greitens' most vocal Republican opponent in the Legislature, declined to talk about any conversations he may have had with Karabell. He also said he had spoken with the FBI on multiple occasions over several years on various topics. "They are always willing to discuss events and observations," Schaaf said. Watkins also represents the ex-husband of the woman with whom Greitens had an affair. Last week, the ex-husband came forward with an audio recording he said he surreptitiously made of his then-wife in 2015. In the recording, the woman admits to an affair with Greitens. She also describes Greitens taking a photograph without her consent and threatening its release. Watkins said this week that he has turned over several more hours of audio recording to St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner, who has announced an investigation, and to the FBI. 1. Yes. The ordinance goes against state law and is not in the best interest of the cities. 2. Yes. At the very least, it should be amended to give police officers some discretion. 3. No. Voters approved the ordinance by large majorities; the councils cant ignore that fact. 4. No. The petition process has to be given a chance to work. Leave the ordinance alone. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say how the cities should move forward regarding the ordinance. Vote View Results Board meeting Thursday, new UL directors yet to be appointed By Sunimalee Dias View(s): View(s): While the next board of directors meeting at SriLankan Airlines is scheduled for Thursday January 25, the current directors are still awaiting the appointment of a new board or board of management, as stated by the Government. On January 5, Public Enterprises Minister Minister Kabir Hashim said the Government had accepted the resignations of the board of directors led by Ajith Dias (chairman). However by Friday, board members remained in their positions with one member saying they havent received letters, as yet, from the Government acknowledging the resignations, which is the due process prior to new appointments. On Wednesday, Mr. Dias told the Business Times that till somebody is appointed by the government the existing board would continue to function, adding that there were cheques to sign and letters to write which require the managements presence. He said he hoped that the new restructuring board would be left to deal with the work without much sensationalising of the goings on in the media. Mr. Dias said that the restructuring work initiated by Nyras Consultants had already commenced at SriLankan Airlines. However, he noted that it was not possible to detail all the areas that are being worked out at present. The Public Private Partnership unit and the management are consultants and were meeting daily and they would take into consideration a look at the routes and right-sizing of the company among a host of other matters. He said that right-sizing would mean there would be a cut down on staff that could impact all levels of the company. In the meantime, the national carrier stated in a media release on Friday that it had recorded its highest ever monthly revenue in Company history in December 2017. The air-transport operation of the Company recorded a stand-alone revenue of US$ 100.1 million the first instance in the 38-year history of the airline where monthly operating revenue reached this landmark figure, the release said. The airline attributed the increase in revenue to its expanded network and continuous improvement in revenue management processes. A total of 566,627 passengers were carried during the month, a 27 per cent increase over December 2016 and recorded a Passenger Load Factor of 85.9 per cent above that of most major airlines in the world. Cargo carriage too witnessed a significant growth, rising 23 per cent year-over-year to 12,016 metric tonnes. The airlines newly launched route to Melbourne, Australia, had achieved a Passenger Load Factor of 92.4 per cent making Melbourne the first long-haul route launch of the airline in recent years to reach profitability in such a short period, the airline said. The company recorded a net positive result for the month even after interest costs, with an un-audited net profit of $3 million. However, the management stresses that this positive result is only a beginning, especially considering the fact that oil prices have increased by over 25 per cent compared to December 2016. The fuel cost which accounted for 25 per cent of the total operating expenditure a year ago, has risen to 31 per cent whilst the ticket price (yield) has barely increased due to fierce competition and persistent over capacity, ills which are affecting most airlines. The airlines strategy of re-fleeting with fuel-efficient single aisle aircraft paid off, with its five-strong fleet of Airbus A320neo family aircraft helping to combat rising fuel costs. Two days of un-forecast fog in the Gulf were the only blight on the month, leading to several delays due to aircraft diversions, the release stated. Elections blockbuster at Jan.30 STBC meeting View(s): The Sunday Times Business Club (STBC) moves into its new home, Movenpick Hotel Colombo this year kicking off proceedings with a blockbuster discussion on January 30 on the upcoming elections. Titled Elections and new processes the eminent panel consists of Nalin Abeysekera, member of the Election Commission (EC) and former Legal Draftsman, Rohana Hettiarachchi, Executive Director of Peoples Action for Free and Fair Election (PAFFREL), and Asoka Obeyesekere, Executive Director at Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL). The discussion will deal with the upcoming local government elections, the amended election process, exercising your franchise and larger representation of women candidates. The new system provides for 60 per cent being elected on the old, first-past-the-post system and 40 per cent through proportional representation. EC Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya told the Business Times that he would join the proceedings, if time permits. After two years at the Kingsbury Hotel, the club is moving to the Movenpick Hotel, this time with the support of the National Development Bank (NDB). Etihad A380 stops over at BIA By Sunimalee Dias View(s): View(s): A second airline, Etihad Airways has taken to the Colombo skies to land its largest aircraft A380 on Wednesday at 10 pm due to technical requirements. Airport and Aviation Services Ltd. Executive Director Johanne Jayaratne told the Business Times on Friday that Etihads A380 landed at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) for a crew change and refueling. Since this is the second airline after Emirates to stop over at Colombo, authorities were hopeful that similar aircraft would in future consider using the BIA terminal for their A380s technical or commercial requirements. Etihad had given adequate notice prior to landing at the BIA and was flying from Sydney to Abu Dhabi and was on the ground for about one-and-a-half hours, Mr. Jayaratne said. Meanwhile, authorities have been in discussion with Emirates to carry out commercial operations as well at the BIA on its A380 flight with embarking and disembarking. Todate, Mr. Jayaratne said that Emirates has carried out seven technical stops at the BIA and one commercial stop between their flights to and from Dubai and Australia. In the meantime, Indigo Airlines was scheduled to commence flights on Saturday starting with 21 flights per week which is a first for any airline that commenced operations to the country, Mr. Jayaratne noted. He explained that in this respect Indigos operation into Colombo was significant as this would cater increasingly to the Indian tourist traffic to the country. India generates the highest number of tourists to Sri Lanka. Mr. Jayaratne said that they were also in discussion with Indigo in going forward to carry out a smaller aircraft of the ATR 72 type to operate scheduled flights into Ratmalana. This would help the airport to develop its potential as a regional facility, it was pointed out. George Koumendakos takes over as GM at Movenpick Hotel Colombo View(s): Dutch national George Koumendakos has taken over as the new General Manager at Movenpick Hotel Colombo, the hotel announced last week. This is Mr. Koumendakos first appointment in Sri Lanka and the group as he joins Movenpick Hotels from InterContinental Hotels Group, having successfully managed the 300-room Crowne Plaza Dubai-Deira in the UAE, while overlooking two other properties in the area for nearly four years. With over three decades in the hospitality industry, Mr. Koumendakos brings a wealth of knowledge with a focus on rebranding, strategic management, leadership and marketing. I am delighted to join a unique and award-winning property that has already gained a strong position in the market, said Mr. Koumendakos. Continuing on this success, I hope to bring in more exciting new guest experiences together with the hotels dedicated team. It is a fantastic time to be based in Colombo with many things to look forward to as the property has not only introduced a unique hospitality concept in Sri Lanka, but also brought in a touch of attitude and altitude to the city of Colombo, reflecting the countrys energy and optimism, he added in the hotel statement. The new GM started his career as a trainee in 1986, at the Amsterdam Hilton, after which he worked for hotel companies such as Hilton, Marriott, Banyan Tree and IHG where he remained for around 20 years, and been in many senior positions throughout North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia. With 219 rooms and suites offering panoramic views of the city or the Indian ocean, this new urban hotel offers unparalleled charm and beautiful spaces. Furnished in contemporary style, the Executive Rooms are generous in space, with comfortable king-sized beds, the release added. Increase in wheat flour consumption in Sri Lanka By Jayampathy Jayasinghe View(s): View(s): Serendib Flour Mills holds 27 per cent of the wheat flour market share in Sri Lanka where the consumption pattern has grown to 60,000-65,000 of metric tonnes a month. People now eat more flour-based products due to changing lifestyles. The other factor was that owing to an influx of tourists in the country they eat more flour-based products than rice, said Mohamed Riyal, newly appointed CEO of Serendib Flour Mills (Pvt) Ltd at a media briefing held at the Cinnamon Lakeside hotel Colombo yesterday. Serendib Flour Mills (Pvt) Ltd is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Sri Lanka this year. We have the best Swiss technology in flour milling where 1000 metric tonnes of flour is milled every day maintaining the best quality. This does not happen in any other country in the world. The size of this flour mill is available only in Sri Lanka where Sri Lankan flour is preferred in the regional countries, he said. Mr. Riyal said when the monopoly agreement with the competitor came to an end in 1999 the then government of Sri Lanka invited investors to invest in a flour manufacturing mill. But no investor came forward owing to an ongoing war at that time. At this stage the then government invited Al Ghurair business family in Dubai who agreed to set up a flour mill in Sri Lanka with a US$100 million investment. Although the agreement was signed in 1999 the commercial production only started in 2008 due to obstacles and pressure exerted by other interested parties. It took nine years for us to set up the Serendib Flour Mills and make it operational. He said the Serendib Mills investor hasnt taken any money out of the country by way of dividend or any other form up to now. We always maintain six months of wheat stock to manufacture flour and we have the best Swiss technology in flour milling where 1000 metric tonnes of flour is milled every day maintaining the best quality. This does not happen in any other country in the world. This size of this flour mill is only available in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan flour is much preferred in the regional countries, the new CEO said. He said the projections for the future includes the setting up of another mill to manufacture an additional 500 metric tonnes of flour per day. We want set up another factory to manufacture semolina (Rulang) for exports as there is a great demand in the Far Eastern countries. Mr. Riyal has worked in various positions in a variety of business segments in countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Africa and Germany. His notable contributions include establishing the brand name of Audi and Volkswagon in the Middle East region and trebling the market share within a period two years. Mark Healing, Chief Technical Officer at Serendib Mills, said top quality wheat from Canada, the US, Australia and Russia are brought here for the manufacture of different types of flour for various bakery products. Other company officials who participated at the media briefing were Zeeshan Khawar, Chief Financial Officer and Kalinga Wijesekera, Head of Marketing and Communications. Periyannans nest egg at Bamba keeps growing By Alvin Sallay View(s): View(s): BAMBALAPITIYA In the case of Desapillai Periyannan the egg came first, 20,000 eggs to be exact the number he sells every day to restaurants, bakeries as well as customers who walk in off the street and into the Colombo Egg Centre in Bambalapitiya. The egg changed my life, says the proprietor of one of the biggest wholesale outlets for eggs in Colombo. I knew a lot about eggs when I was a young man working for a small grocery store and I went into this wholesale business as it didnt need a lot on investment. Im happy I did it. An ethnic Indian Tamil who hails from Galaha, Kandy, Periyannan arrived in the city in the 60s as a penniless 15-year-old to find the streets of Colombo not paved with gold. The first few years was just nose to the grindstone hard work before he arrived at 140 Bullers Road, a place which would change his life forever. There were 10 to 12 rooms in a small house and I shared a room with a relative of mine. One day I thought this would be an ideal place to sell eggs as it was so central, so I began on a small scale, selling 200 to 300 eggs a day from my room, Periyannan related. It was 1970 when he took this gamble, buying a crate of eggs from a lorry which use to come every morning on Galle Road and then selling it to small kades and shops with a slight mark-up. Business boomed as demand never flagged. Gradually Periyannan increased the number of eggs he was buying and soon decided to source it at the farm itself. From his earnings, he started buying out the other lease on the other rooms I needed space to expand and soon made an irresistible offer of 50,000 rupees per perch for the 10-perch block on which the house was built. I bought that in 1977 and then about 10 years later bought an adjoining block where there was a garage on about 15 perches of land, says Periyannan. Combined, it became the Colombo Egg Centre. It wasnt all smooth sailing, however. During the 1983 riots, looters burned his property, but despite the trauma, it was business as usual for the demand for eggs never dipped, people still loved their half-boiled and omelettes. In the short time Im there, business is brisk. The Police Mess needs 600 eggs every two days and the order is dealt even before you can say Hora-Police. Nawaloka Hospital is one of the biggest customers 6,000 eggs every week. A similar number goes to Royal Bakery in Wellawatte. This week the prices are 11 rupees a white egg and 12.50 a brown egg for purchases of over 300 eggs. If you buy less than 100 eggs, it is 12 and 14 rupees respectively. So, what is the difference between brown and white eggs? None, smiles Periyannan. A lady in a posh car arrives and buys 100 eggs. Must be for a wedding cake, or else her family is in for an eggs-tra-ordinary breakfast. Periyannan sources his eggs from two farms in Kuliyapitiya and Bingiriya. He buys around 600,000 eggs a month. At what price? He smiles. He is contented. Although having branched into other businesses a sari emporium at Pettah as well as selling virgin coconut oil eggs are his core business. Because of eggs, Im sitting on property worth millions of rupees, Periyannan proudly points out. Egg-cellent for a man who came to Colombo with just a couple of rupees in his pocket. When in doubt, sing loud View(s): My dear Maithri, I didnt think that I would be writing to you so soon after congratulating you on your third anniversary in the top job but the events of the past two weeks suggest that I must, especially because we are all quite confused about what is going on between the Blues and the Greens and you and the Green Man. First, you gave another of your address to the nation speeches. You told us that those found fault for tampering with the bonds of the big bank and we all know who we are talking about, dont we? will be punished. Still, it was odd that you didnt warn the Green Man beforehand of your plans. Then, Maithri, we were all quite surprised when we heard that you had asked the top court whether there was any obstacle for you to stay in office for six years, instead of five. And you were the chap who frequently boasted that you were the only Head of State who reduced his term of office! When everyone protested about you even asking that question, you made matters worse, saying you only raised the issue as there was a doubt. There may be a secret desire on your part but there was never any doubt in the 19th Amendment and any Advanced Level student could have told you that! Assuming for the sake of argument that there was a doubt, what was odd was that no one knew you had raised the issue until it was done. Why was it all done in a hush-hush manner? If it was a genuine question that you had, you could have surely discussed it with the Greens and the Green Man? If the Greens didnt endorse you at the last election, you would have retired and not many would even remember you by now. Having got the top job with Green votes and then promised to abolish it, the Greens would have thought it was a common courtesy to let them know if you wished to stay on. Anyway, we are fortunate the likes of Sarath who are eager to please their political masters are not on the bench of the top court now. They told you that there was absolutely no doubt that you were in the job for five years and no more. So, just by asking the question you only made the Greens angry. One Green called you a pickpocket. Maybe that was harsh, coming from a backbencher to the highest in the land. But then, it was you who started this pickpocket business comparing MPs in Parliament who were accusing each other of being thieves to a pickpocket shouting hora, hora while on the run. If we thought the drama was over then, we were wrong. We were told that, at the Cabinet meeting this week, you were carrying a tape recorder with you and you gave a piece of your mind about the Greens who were criticising you. Then you stormed out of the meeting, or so we were made to believe. We agree with what you said that you didnt form a government to protect thieves. We also agree with what you did, appointing a commission to inquire into suspicious transactions. But, I am not sure whether the best way to go about it now is to behave like a kindergarten child throwing a tantrum. First, we heard that some including the Green Man followed you out of the meeting, consoled you and brought you back to the meeting and it was business as usual thereafter. Then, the dentist tells us that nothing of that sort happened and that you only left the meeting to answer a call of nature. If we believe the dentist, Maithri, I congratulate you on attaining what other leaders in nations with more mature democracies than ours havent achieved. Your government is so honest and open that we now know when our Head of State goes to the toilet, how long he is there and who goes with him! Those people who voted for yahapaalanaya must be feeling that they got a lot more than they bargained for. They wanted you to find the culprits of the previous regime who were corrupt and put them behind bars. Instead of that, what they got is getting to know the toilet habits of their leaders. Just when we thought we heard enough of your battles with the Greens, we heard the Green Man also making an address to the nation. There was a time when our leaders addressed the nation in times of a crisis. Now under yahapaalanaya, we must expect them to be as common as your calls of nature! It has been an eventful three years, Maithri and people dont know what to do next. They cant vote for the pohottuwa because their misdeeds are fresh in their minds. Half the rogues in the Blue camp are still with you and the Greens have shown that they are rogues too. Ah, long live yahapaalanaya! Yours truly, Punchi Putha PS Just the other day, you said people were worried about when you would leave your job. You told us that you will leave the day you are able to punish corrupt politicians and put them in jail. What you are telling us is that you will be in your job forever, isnt it, Maithri? Ashley participates for 1st Asian Film Critics Assembly, Dhaka View(s): Veteran film critic, Executive Director of the Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema (NETPAC) and the President of the Sri Lanka Film Critics Forum affiliated to the the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), Ashley Ratnavibhushana last week participated at the 16th Dhaka International Film Festival held from 12 to 20 January. In conjunction with the festival, Film Critics Association of Bangladesh organised the 1st Asian Film Critics Assembly (AFCA). Parallel to the festival Fourth Dhaka International Conference on Women in Cinema 2018 was held and in this a number of women filmmakers, actresses and film personalities from all over the world participated. Ashley Ratnavibhushana entered film journalism in 1968 and initially contributed to the National Catholic Weekly Newspaper Gnarathra Pradeepaya. He contributed several articles on cinema and art in general. He joined the Film Critics and Journalists Association (FCJAC) in 1970. With Rev. Fr. Ernest Poruthota, he pioneered the establishment of the Sri Lanka Branch of OCIC/Sri Lanka (National Catholic Film Office) in 1972. He became the official film critic for the Gnarathra Pradeepaya 1971 1973. In 1993 he established the Sri Lanka Film Critics Forum and initiated to launch Critics Awards for the films which have received Public Performance Board approval in a particular year. Accordingly Critics Awards were held in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998 and 2000. Also he has initiated two memorial lecture series to commemorate two eminent film critics in Sri Lanka Neil I. Perera and Cyril B. Perera. Ashley has participated at General Assemblies of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) in 1995 and 2006 which were held in Italy. As a competent author, film critic and a film journalist he has contributed to several international film juries. Ashley has also been invited to the 10th Bangaluru International Film Festival scheduled to be held from February 22 to March 01, 2018. Chiranthis mixed bag of not too sweet and not too sour stories for all By Kaveesha Fernando View(s): View(s): Many writers can attest to the difficulties they face in keeping stories brief. Not so Chiranthi Rajapakse. Usually its writing three pages and trying to develop it further, she laughs, adding that her admiration for writers who can convey a lot in a few words probably drives her own writing style. Having collected many stories over the course of eight years, Chiranthi launched her first book titled Names and Numbers last week. Names and Numbers is also the title of one of the short stories in the book, we learn. The story is about a girl who goes to a visa office but it also brings up racial tension, politics and the issues related to the different social classes, explains Chiranthi. The cover of the book depicts the quintessentially Sri Lankan lunu dehi, which Chiranthi feels is befitting because the stories in the book evoke a mixed bag of emotions. Theyre not exactly sweet, theyre not exactly sour, she quips. The stories have different themes, explored by Chiranthi based on what interested her at different times in her life. In fact, there are many experiences and events which would have undoubtedly piqued Chiranthis interest from her experiences in life. Having been born and raised in Kandy, she attended Girls High School, studied dental science in university and worked at a dentists office. Realizing that she preferred writing to dentistry, she decided to start working at a nongovernmental organisation, where she developed an interest in law. While studying and upon completing her degree she has worked in many places which complemented her interests in law and writing. A typical short story takes Chiranthi about a week to write because she only writes for a few hours before work. She feels that while different writers may succeed with different techniques, writing a bit every day is the best method for her, especially because she is able to review and edit her work bit by bit and harness the story well. While she hopes to write a novel in the future, she likes writing short stories because they fit her style and interest her. I think theres something about a short story because in a restricted number of words you convey a little incident, she says. She says she has found the editing process at Perera Hussein much smoother than most writers because she keeps writing and rewriting on her own and likes the process of honing a story to what it finally becomes. I think the first draft is actually the hardest for me, she laughs. The future seems interesting for Chiranthi who says she will definitely keep writing and might even consider becoming a full time writer in the future. Hopefully it will be a novel or a longer piece but definitely Ill be writing something, she says. She hopes her stories are enjoyed by her readers but also that they evoke emotions. I hope they enjoy reading them but I also hope it gives them something to think about, she says. Names and Numbers is priced at Rs. 600 and is available at the Perera Hussein website https://pererahussein.com/index.php/books/short-stories/names-numbers-phph.html , Barefoot, Vijitha Yapa and Sarasavi and other selected bookstores. From doodles to local comic heroes View(s): The trailer opens like any epic blockbuster. Theres a dramatic violin score in the background, cinematography complete with fights, familiar locations and bloody close-ups. With a sprinkling of dialogue and just enough of an action-thriller punch to keep you hooked, its hard to believe that the trailer for No Mans Land is a comic come to life, created by a group of young Sri Lankan cartoonists who began their career doodling on schoolbooks. Released at the Colombo Comic Expo in December, the trailer is an enticing prelude to No Mans Land a short film based on the characters in the PRUVE comic series Chathurmana. The first Sri Lankan comic book to be adapted as a short film, the multi-talented team will release the movie later this month. The trailer was released to a lot of fan buzz including positive feedback for the young artists behind Pruve, whove been expanding their creative horizons for more than a decade. We caught up with two of Pruves founding members- Rusiru Ranasinghe and Uvindu Mahagamarachchi to take us into the world of Chathurmana and the story behind the multifaceted brand. We were not doing well in our classes or any of the extra curriculars, laughs 22-year-old Uvindu who together with Rusiru were classmates at D. S. Senanayake College, finding their identity doodling and drawing comics on their schoolbooks. The creative partnership began with a broken nose- I came into class one day and there was a tall thin guy seated in my place, says Rusiru. The fisticuffs that ensued saw Uvindus nose broken but would be the start of a beautiful friendship and an artistic collaboration. While they are longtime fans of the DC universe, Rusiru and Uvindus superheroes were fighting crime at a more 16-year-old pace with characters such as Bubble Buddy- a talking living bubble and Power Boy, Red Laser and Ninja Man (the cartoon versions of themselves) who had by then a classroom of eager followers (with the exception of their teachers), looking forward to the latest issues of their works. Though they were sketching Dragon Ball Z and other popular anime, they bonded over Batman Hush- the common favourite comic they discovered at the British Council which remains their number one even today. As our stories grew, we grew better, much like Batman Hush, which even if you read today, youll find something new to it-their goal for the growth of their comics. In between the characters adventures across their schoolbooks and the artists escapades in detention for their doodles Pruve was born. Simply the amalgamation of the artists/classmates in their group- Pruthuvi Heenatigala, Rusiru, Uvindu and Vimukthi Gamage, the passage of a few years saw only the R and the U remaining- with Pruthuvi and Vimukthi breaking off to pursue other paths. In 2011 Pruve took a step in a more serious direction, together with several new members who would shape the brand as we know it today. Almost everything about the group is spontaneous, we realize, as Uvindu and Rusiru share their story. Their creative ideas, dipping their toes (or pencils in this case) into film making and as always their first encounters with each other are as fascinating as their comics. Their current line-up is a mixed bag: 25-year-old Asad Farook an already established digital artist at the time, Sahan Munasinghe (23), Sajith Kandanarachchi (22) and Isuru Abeywickrama (29). They saw something in us, the duo explain. Asad approached them at the Sri Lanka Cyber Games in 2012 while Sajith and Isurus introduction to the group was a lot like Rusiru and Uvindus- minus the punch in the face as they found themselves in intense Facebook arguments over Spiderman and Lord of the Rings. Pruve now had an organized vision- complete with a logo and Facebook group. We were always friends, they say and so rather than competing against each other, they worked together on new projects including an unexpected superhero- Tikiri Leah. Unlike every childs favourite song about a snake attack, Pruves Tikiri Leah was initially the girlfriend of the original star- Ranjan. Created by Asad, who loves to include allegories in his work, a spur of the moment decision found Ranjan having to play sidekick to his more interesting girlfriend- Tikiri Leah as she journeys through a post-apocalyptic Sri Lanka. The comic was released gradually to an eager Facebook audience and continues even today. But its Chathurmana which has proven to be their biggest work yet. Its interesting because of the lack of original comics in Sri Lanka. We couldnt relate to the heroes we loved, adds Rusiru. The typical American city captured by aliens trope wasnt appealing to them any more. Enter two Naghas- Aghni and Rahal, Chaturmanas protagonists along with the ruler of hell, Yama and a local deity, Saman. Based on epic literature, the Mahavamsa, Mahabharata and others, the universe of Chaturmana is not just for the epic fantasy lovers. We wanted to make a cultural and social impact with our work. Millennials who grew up watching Avatar: The Last Airbender or the Lord of the Rings Trilogy may be drawn to Chaturmana; with its other world, characters on a mission, magic and epic battles. But for Uvindu, the writer and researcher behind Chaturmana, the story is more than that. It explores existentialism. An undergrad specializing in English Literature, the young writer has made sure that readers can explore both fantasy and reality through his conflicted, humane characters. No Mans Land has also been scripted for those viewers who havent been following the comic- of which one chapter has already been released. Between them; Pruve has digital artists, students and an administrator. Probably their biggest challenge was the idea of doing a short film. The idea was always at the back of their minds. An opportunity came in the form of a fellow member- Tharindu Jayadevs VFX assignment due for a class. It was an excuse to do the film. Once the assignment was over, they continued. Later this month, the anticipated movie (the trailer has received positive response from film makers as well) will hit YouTube. We had to learn everything on our own they say from using a towel to steady the camera to performing stunts and choreographed battles to picking locations (you might identify one or two from the trailer). We had low expectations for the trailer, Rusiru admits. Also low were their funds. Desperation pushed them to enter the Mo Film Competition 2017 hosted by the Ministry of National Co-existence, Dialogue and Languages. Producing three short films in a day, they were surprised when they bagged 1st and 2nd place, a double boost- in the prize money and the confidence to push No Mans Land to its highest potential including a stunning original soundtrack by Umesh Rajapakse. These days the boys are busy wrapping up with production and working on the pre-production of a new short film. Pruve has come a long way since the two 16-year-olds first fought over the same chair in the classroom. Creative ability isnt enough, Uvindu echoes a phrase Isuru always told them- You need to keep practising. Behind their humble confidence is a strong identity. Stealing a line from Watchmen another comic turned movie Rusiru adds- Not even in the face of Armageddon. Never compromise. Check out their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PRUVE.comics/ or their YouTube channel for more details on No Mans Land. LANTERN BEACH COLLECTION INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED View(s): Lantern Beach Collection has been awarded the coveted World Luxury Hotel Awards for Luxury Private Villa in the Country and Luxury Beach Hotel in the Region. The World Luxury Hotel Awards are accepted as the pinnacle of achievement for Luxury Hotels worldwide. These Awards were established as a celebration of ultimate achievement in service excellence. It is about rewarding and congratulating hotels that have excelled beyond the normal call of duty. The World Luxury Hotel Awards account for all categories in the Luxury Hotel industry. Award winners set the benchmark for luxury hotels on the global front in achieving recognition for exceptional service. Shantha Kurumbalapitiya Chief Operating Officer, Serendib Leisure Management Ltd added We are honoured to be awarded as the best luxury private villa in Sri Lanka and the best luxury beach hotel in the region at the 2017 World Luxury Hotel Awards. These accolades are testimonials to the unmatched location of the hotel and services and facilities we offer our valuable guests. The Lantern collection was conceptualized with the desire to create a beach getaway for travelers who appreciate an intimate vacation that captures the essence of the renowned Sri Lankan beaches. From design to service, the Villa chain including the Lantern Boutique Hotel, Ubuntu by Lantern and Luxury Villas, Riso and Amour hotelcontain 23 rooms in total, all within a short stroll along the Mirissa beach. Sri Lankan cinema celebrates 71 years View(s): Today, January 21 is a historic day for Sri Lankans and especially for those who are cinema lovers. It was on January 21 1947, that Sri Lankas firsttalkie, Kadawunu Poronduwa or The Broken Promise was first shown at the Kingsley Cinema in Colombo. This historic day is being celebrated with a series of events organised by the National Film Corporation (NFC). Religious observances were held on January 19 marking the 46th anniversary of the establishment of the NFC. The main celebration will be held today, January 21 with the participation of Public Administration and Management Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara and Deputy Minister Susantha Punchinilame, Ministry Secretary J. J. Ratnasiri and all those involved in the film industry. Starting at 3 pm, the days schedule includes unvailing of photographs of former NFC chairmen, planting of a tree in front of the corporation, a talk on Sri Lankas cinema history by Prof. Patrick Ratnayake, the launching of a film magazine, screening of a documentary film, felicitation of cinema artistes who won international recognitions in 2017 and awarding of diploma certificates and an analysis of cinema history with the film clips. Vijayaba Kollaya to celebrate 71 years of Lankan cinema By Susitha R. Fernando View(s): View(s): Celebrating the 71th anniversary of Sri Lankan cinema veteran film producer Buddhi Keerthisena and renowned filmmaker Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne are to present Vijayaba Kollaya as a film. Based on the historical story written by a best-selling author of Sinhala literature W. A. Silva, the screenplay is by late filmmaker and award winning script writer Dr. Tissa Abeysekara. This is the last screenplay of Dr. Abeysekara. There are a number of films based on W. A. Silva Silvas novels. They are Kele Handa, Deiyanne Rate, Daiwayogaya and Handapana, said Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne who is famed for his research based literature and films. The most successful historical novel written by W. A. de Silva is Vijayaba Kollaya and it is a story set against the backdrop of the 16th century battle between the Kings of Kotte Kingdom and the Portuguese, elaborated the Sinhala Professor. The story revolves around a love triangle involving Neelamani, Nayanananda and Hasanga, the fictional characters by W. A. de Silva, he said. The executive producer of the film is Vishwanath Buddhika Keerthisena (Boodi) and the muhurath ceremony is to be held today, January 21, the day Sri Lanka cinema celebrates its 71st anniversary. While the cast is yet to be finalised, the technical crew has been selected. Debt level tops Rs. 9,387 billion: New law to manage borrowings PM presents Cabinet memorandum for new Active Liability Management Law By Chandani Kirinde View(s): View(s): With the Government debt level in excess of Rs. 9,387 billion, a new Active Liability Management Law is to be enacted to make provision to raise loans, in and outside Sri Lanka, to manage public debt. The objective is also to ensure that the financing needs and payment obligations of the Government are met at the lowest possible cost over the medium to long term, consistent with a prudent degree of risk. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is also the Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs, in a Cabinet memorandum said the debt sustainability had become a national concern as it was 76 percent of the Government revenue for 2016. Although, the Government has not defaulted in the repayment of debt any time before, it has to adopt appropriate debt reform methods to prevent any potential future risk, he said. The new law will allow Parliament, by resolution, to give approval to raise money during a particular financial year. But the amount should not exceed ten percent of the total outstanding debt as at the end of the preceding financial year. This loan will be raised in terms of the relevant laws including the provisions of the Monetary Law Act, the Local Treasury Bills Ordinance, the Registered Stocks and Securities Ordinance and the Foreign Loans Act, for the purposes of refinancing and pre-financing of public debts of the Government. The Bill will be presented to Parliament shortly. Meanwhile, the Government has been asked to pay Rs. 14 billion as insurance premium to a Japanese bank to qualify for a loan to build the Pothuhera-Galagedera stretch of the proposed Central Expressway. (See story on Page 13). The amount has been assessed after Sri Lankas loan repayment capacity was taken into consideration, officials told the Sunday Times. Retd. High Court Judge knocks down mother and daughter, killing one Text and Pix by Pushpakumara Jayaratne View(s): View(s): A retired High Court Judge who was driving allegedly under the influence of liquour was remanded until Tuesday following a fatal accident that claimed the life of a 34-year-old woman and seriously injured her 12-year-old daughter yesterday, police said. The retired Kurunegala High Court Judge Wimal S. Nambuwasam, was driving along the Anuradhapura-Wariyapola Road after attending a wedding when at Minuwangete Kurunegala, he had knocked down the two victims who were returning home after visiting the Divisional Secretariat office to obtain drought relief funds. Police said the vehicle driven by the judge had rammed into three motorcycles before hitting the mother and daughter duo. The Kurunegala Judicial Medical Office (JMO) had confirmed with Wariyapola Police that the retired judge was under the influence of liquor. Retired superior court judges concerned over pension cut View(s): Retired Supreme Court judges and Court of Appeal judges are in a quandary over a decision by the Pensions Department to deduct in instalments the commuted pension paid to them at retirement amidst claims that the Departments move violates the Constitution. The Department of Pensions has started deducting on an instalment basis the commuted pension paid to the retired superior court judges after an audit query and a directive from the Auditor Generals Department to recover the payment. However, retired Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judges have expressed concern about the move claiming that constitutionally the salary payable to and the pension entitlement of a Supreme Court judge or a Court of Appeal judge cannot be reduced after his or her appointment. Under existing regulations, a Supreme Court or Court of Appeal judge who has served 36 months in either capacity or both, on retirement is entitled to receive a pension calculated on the basis of 90 percent of his or her salary at retirement. Pensions Department Director General Jagath Dias told the Sunday Times that all retiring public servants are entitled to a commuted pension amounting to 24 months of pension to be deducted in installment basis within a 10 year period, but in view of the clause in the Constitution where salaries and pension of the SC or CA judge cannot be reduced there has been a grey area to be cleared. However, as the Auditor Generals Department has raised an audit query and given a directive to collect the money paid he was compelled to act on the directives. He said several previous attempts were made to seek interpretation from the Attorney Generals Department and the Presidential Secretariat. If the method needs to be changed the existing regulations need to be changed accordingly with parliamentary approval and implemented, he said. Mr Dias said that in keeping with the directive from the Auditor Generals Department, the Pensions Department was gathering information on the retired SC and CA judges who had been paid the commuted pension in a bid to recover the commuted pension paid to them. Rs. 5.5 billion sought to resume drought relief programme By S. Rubatheesan and Shaadya Ismail View(s): View(s): With the North East monsoon season not brining enough rain, the Government is seeking Rs 5.5 billion to resume its food relief programme in drought-affected areas, a senior minister said. Disaster Management Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa told the Sunday Times the Treasury was expected to release the money in the coming weeks following Cabinet approval. The distribution would start from this month and continue for four months. Cabinet approval is expected to be given on Tuesday. The food relief programme which was started last year ended in December with the onset of rains. But the Government was compelled to resume it when the North East monsoon did not bring adequate rain, the minister said.Last year the Disaster Management Ministry spent Rs 6.51 billion to provide food relief and drinking water to some 735,298 families in 19 drough-affected districts as the country experienced its worst ever drought in four decades. According to the Disaster Management Centre (DMC), nearly 260,000 people from 81,657 families have been affected by the severe drought prevailing in the North, North Central and North Western Provinces. N.H.M. Chithrananda, District Secretary of Puttalam, one of the worst affected districts, said some 40,000 families received food relief during last years drought, but a majority of agriculture-dependent families were still in need of food relief. A three-member family received Rs. 2000 worth of dry rations while large families received dry rations worth upto Rs. 5,000.In the North, vast areas of paddy lands had been destroyed by the drought, with some 15,000 farmer families being directly affected by it. However, the residents held Pongal harvest festivals in some paddy fields that survived the drought to produce the harvest. At last Tuesdays Cabinet meeting, Minister Chandrani Bandara, who represents the drought-hit Anuradhapura District, pointed out that there was an urgent need to provide drought relief to people in some of the worst-hit areas. President Maithripala Sirisena directed relevant ministry officials to provide dry rations to affected families immediately. Speaker brokers SLFP-UNP truce, but undercurrents remain By Our Political Editor View(s): View(s): Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has intervened in a growing spat of angry outbursts among coalition partners the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (UNP) urging both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to rein in both sides on the eve of the local council elections next month. This climaxed at this weeks Cabinet meeting when President Sirisena made a 40-minute-long address to the ministers and then walked out of the meeting, only to be coaxed to return and preside over the rest of the meetings agenda.Both sides have now reached a truce not to criticise each other after their stormy relations reached explosive levels at last Tuesdays weekly ministerial meeting. This political ceasefire had been holding since Tuesday with no broadsides by the partners against each other until yesterdays public meeting at Kegalle where President Sirisena slammed the UNP for the mismanagment of the economy during the past three years (see inset). Speaker Jayasuriya had noted that unity among the coalition partners of the National Unity Government was essential. President Sirisena had earlier fired broadsides at the UNP after he received the report of the Commission of Inquiry that probed the Central Bank bond scam. This was to see some reprisal attacks by UNPers. He was more pointed at the Cabinet meeting last Tuesday. The next day,(Wednesday) Premier and UNP leader Wickremesinghe summoned a joint meeting of his parliamentary group and the partys Working Committee to urge that no one should criticise President Sirisena. He told one of the critics, S.M. Marikkar, that he would take him to meet the President. Another critic, Minister Harin Fernando, met President Sirisena separately to explain why he made those remarks against him. In marked contrast, President Sirisena is yet to advise his ministers not to criticise the Premier, or the UNP. Some SLFP ministers and deputies like Susil Premajayantha and Dilan Perera have been vociferous critics. However, one SLFP minister said the President had summoned a meeting of these ministers for later this month and he is to advise them on these lines. It all began after ministers assembled at the Presidential Secretariat, the former Parliament building, on Tuesday morning. Ahead of taking up items on the agenda, President Sirisena declared that he had an important statement to make and added that he was also going to tape record it. Surprised by the move, Cabinet Secretary Sumith Abeysinghe asked whether he should stay outside until that was over. However, he was told to stay behind. During a 40-minute speech, thereafter, Sirisena spoke of the mandate he received during the January 8, 2015 presidential election to fight bribery and corruption. This was why he had appointed a Presidential Commission of Inquiry to probe a number of such cases. This was also why he appointed a Commission of Inquiry to probe the bond scam at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL). Now there were those criticising him, he said. He named a number of UNPers who were criticising him over such action. They included Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure Minister Harin Fernando, International Trade State Minister Sujeeva Senasinghe, MPs S.M. Marikkar, Sydney Jayaratne and Nalin Bandara. Do they want me to fight corruption, he asked. Thereafter, President Sirisena declared that he was unable to discern whether the criticism levelled against him was voluntary or engineered. He then turned to Premier Wickremesinghe, who was silently listening, and disclosed, when you asked me, I told you not to appoint Arjuna Mahendran as Governor of the Central Bank. You went ahead and appointed him. Similarly, he said, I told you not to appoint Ravi Karunanayake as the Finance Minister. I told you to take it under your control. You did not listen to me. In what seemed a summing up, President Sirisena declared; tell me whether to lead the Government or not. I will leave tomorrow if I am not wanted. Emotion appears to have overwhelmed him at this stage. With tear shot eyes he remarked; I am in no mood to continue this Cabinet meeting, and walked out. Excited cabinet ministers huddled into discussion and urged Premier Wickremesinghe to bring President Sirisena back. So the Premier and a group of ministers had to go up to the third floor office of the President. The Prime Minister calmly persuaded the President to return and resume the Cabinet meeting. One item after another on the agenda was then taken up for discussion. When it came to the subject of Any other business, President Sirisena raised issue over Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweeras Gazette notification to extend sales hours at liquor sale outlets and allow women to work there. He also restored the ban on the sale of liquor to women which the Finance Minister had lifted. The move (by the Finance Minister) is not in line with our culture and traditions, President Sirisena said. He noted that on the one hand he was spearheading a national policy to reduce the consumption of liquor. On the other, he declared, sales hours were being extended. There was a contradiction in the two positions, he said. Some ministers, mostly from the SLFP endorsed President Sirisenas remarks. Minister Samaraweera, thereafter, said he would withdraw the notifications in accordance with the presidents wishes. Of course, the rationale behind his move has been to reduce the consumption of illicit liquor by extending hours of sale of registered outlets. As for women workers, he had kept to the principle of gender equality which is enshrined in the Constitution a matter now before the Supreme Court. Despite a kiss and make up situation once more, the relations between the SLFP and the UNP, it is clear, cannot go back to the days when it was touted as the rainbow coalition. Why then is Premier Wickremesinghe conciliatory in his open conduct towards President Sirisena. The answer came from a well-informed UNP stalwart. He said he wants to ensure that the current split within the SLFP, which was not reconciled, remains that way. The more it remains, the more the UNP is the beneficiary. He has his partys eyes on the next presidential election. On the other hand, this week, President Sirisena trained his guns on his one-time cabinet colleague G.L. Peiris. He named him at a political rally and said it was an outsider like him who was running the rival faction. This week, Dr. Peiris has been linked with talks to ensconce former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the next Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) presidential candidate. He is known to have won the concurrence of leading members of the Rajapaksa family. Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa had said he would only require three months notice so he could relinquish his United States citizenship to contest a presidential election, now due at the end of next year given the Supreme Court opinion delivered on the incumbent Presidents period of office. Thus, a future presidential election could become a three cornered fight among President Sirisena (SLFP), Prime Minister Wickremesinghe (UNP) and Gotabaya Rajapaksa (SLPP). UNPers believe this would weigh in favour of Premier Wickremesinghe who is publicly taking a conciliatory position at the moment. However, holding the key to much of this is how the political events would play out post-February 10 local polls. That will be the first formal indicator of where the public support lies. President vows to bring economy under his control President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday said the management of the countrys economy, which had been under the United National Party (UNP) for the last three years, would be taken over by him from this year. Addressing a United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) election rally in Kegalle, the President said he appointed the National Economic Council (NEC) three months ago to provide relief to the people by managing the economy through this council. The President said he would take over the responsibility of strengthening the countrys economy while protecting all local industries, products and investments. He appealed to local industrialists and investors to join in this endeavour and not to abandon their motherland. Super luxury Torrington Towers: Rajitha requests unsolicited contract for brothers company By Namini Wijedasa View(s): View(s): On Health Minister Rajitha Senaratnes request, the Cabinet has instructed the Housing Ministry to entertain an unsolicited proposal for the re-development of Torrington Flats on Thimbirigasyaya Road by a company in which Mr Senaratnes younger brother is a director. In November, the Housing Ministry put forward its own proposal to the Cabinet to re-develop the present site of the Torrington Flats as a high-yield urban residential site, whilst ensuring the ownership rights of the present condominium owners. Housing Minister Sajith Premadasas memorandum sought permission to designate the Condominium Management Authority (CMA) as the implementing agency for the project in terms of the CMA Law of 1973. The memo also requested Cabinet sanction to direct the CMA to prepare the redevelopment plans in consultation with the relevant agencies subject to the final planning approval of the Urban Development Authority and the Colombo Municipal Council. However, at a Cabinet meeting held earlier this month, Health Minister Senaratne requested that an unsolicited proposal for the project be considered. This is reflected in the minutes of the meeting. The company that put forward the bid is Sky Mount Holdings (Pvt) Ltd. Its directors are Minister Senaratnes younger brother Maheel, Chrishantha de Silva and Shantha Herath. After discussion, the Cabinet having noted that a prospective investor has submitted an unsolicited proposal for the re-development of the Torrington Flats, decided to request the Minister of Housing and Construction to (i) direct the relevant officials of his Ministry to examine the proposals in the above Memorandum along with the feasibility of the proposal submitted by the prospective investor for the re-development of the Torrington flats; and (ii) to submit a fresh proposal for the purpose, based on the outcome of (i) above, to the Cabinet, for consideration, state the minutes, a copy of which was obtained by the Sunday Times. No decision has been reached yet on the award of the contract to Sky Mount Holdings, the Sunday Times learns. The declared route is to call for open competitive bidding. However, the company has already reported its involvement on its website. In September, it claimed to have received individual consent letters from owners of the housing units at Torrington Flats. And in October it said the 813.3mn joint venture mixed development project between Sky Mount Holdings and Skyline Profits (HK) Ltd has been submitted to the Board of Investment (BOI) for approval. Sky Mount says it will build 1,000 to 1,200 units on 870 perches of land. The plan is to initially have four to six towers of 42 floors each with about 200 super luxury housing units in each of the towers. The project owners/promoters/investors are expecting to sell the housing units to local and foreign buyers/dwellers commencing from the 4th year of construction (on completion of the construction) and this project will be a unique up market apartment complex with all many international amenities and quality of construction, the website states. Maheel Senaratne was earlier Chairman of the Ceylon Fisheries Corporation when his brother was the subject Minister. In his CV published on the Sky Mount website, he cites Minister Senarate as his sole referee. Sky Mount Holdings was registered in July last year and claims to be focusing on construction-related real estate projects such as road, condominiums and mixed-use developments. The evolution of Indias constitutional and democratic polity View(s): India-Sri Lanka relations, in recent times, have matured to become a model template for good neighbourly relations, said Indias Law and Order and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, delivering the 2018 Lakshman Kadirgamar Memorial Lecture on Monday, at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies. We publish today, excerpts of Mr. Prasads speech, wherein he analyses Indias rise as the worlds largest democracy and an economic powerhouse. I have consciously chosen the evolution of Indias democratic and constitutional polity as the topic for this memorial lecture today. The winds of change which brought about Indias extraordinary freedom movement, found its eloquent resonance in Sri Lanka too. This was but natural, because the two countries share abiding values of civilisational and cultural heritage. Spiritual links Lord Buddha was born in Nepal, got spiritual enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, which is my home state Bihar, and initiated an extraordinary spiritual transformative movement based upon compassion and love. This shared heritage of Buddhism, which has a very profound presence in Sri Lanka, bears a voluble testimony to our common heritage. The story of Lord Ram is equally central to our shared heritage. The majestic statue of lord Hanuman located in Galle, which draws many visitors from India, is also a reflection of our shared heritage. The meaningful meeting of two of our eminent social and spiritual leaders; Swami Vivekananda of India and Anagarika Dharmapala of Sri Lanka, was yet another manifestation of our shared heritage. I get nostalgic today when I recall that in my last visit to Sri Lanka, when I was in the opposition, I was invited to the inauguration of a postage stamp on Swami Vivekananda by the Sri Lankan Government and a request was made to me that the Government of India must bring out a stamp on Anagarika Dharmapala. I had promised then that I will do my best. However, the majestic hand of destiny had something else in store for me. When the government led by Shri Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, it was my duty as the Communications Minister of India, to get published a postage stamp featuring Anagarika Dharmapala and have it released by Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the distinguished former President of India. Our relationship of history, heritage and sharing is profound, strong and enduring. Both countries also had the misfortune to suffer colonial rule and our urge for independence also took on contours, which in many ways, was similar in nature. The same ethos of democracy, liberty and peace that propelled the freedom movement of India also fired the imagination of Sri Lankan freedom fighters. The leaders of the freedom struggle of India kept close links with their counterparts in Sri Lanka and the two sister movements grew in strength together. Like the Indian freedom movement, the struggle in Sri Lanka was more than merely for casting off the colonial bond. It was to create a new nation free, sovereign and proud but also to create a society that was inclusive and humane. India-Sri Lanka relations in recent times have matured to become a model template for good neighbourly relations. I recently had the pleasure of welcoming the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka when he graciously agreed to be present for the inauguration of the GCCS 2017 by our Prime Minister. The rapport and understanding shared by our top political leadership is reflected in the deepening of our bilateral relations and development cooperation programmes. This morning, I have signed an MoU for extending our cooperation in IT and ITeS sector that will open doors for deepening our cooperation in a range of IT-related issues. India has been and will remain a steadfast and true partner to the people of Sri Lanka in their quest for progress, peace and prosperity. Our approach has not been one of demanding privileges or rights to projects, but rather a desire to contribute to the achievement of Sri Lankas development objectives as they are established by Lankans themselves. India has sought to develop innovative mechanisms for implementing these initiatives, such as grants and concessional Lines of Credit, which are tailored to the requirements and capacities of our partners in Sri Lanka, to ensure that these do not become another channel leading into a debt trap. It is now more than seventy years that India has become free and has been governed by a democratic polity under a constitution. I only thought it appropriate that the evolution of Indias democratic and constitutional polity in the last seventy years should be the theme of this memorial lecture today. Unity in diversity India is a land of extraordinary diversity on account of regions, languages, dialects, religions etc. Yet amidst this wide diversity, there is also a unifying thread. In the modern times, democracy has become a great leveller which acts as a powerful bridge amidst extreme diversities of languages, castes, communities and religions. India is secular not only because our constitution says so, but because our heritage resonates with the value of Sarva dharma sambhavv respecting the others way of life. We celebrate secularism because respecting each others views has been ingrained in our ethos. This civilisation has been the birth place of three great religions of the world, namely Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. Today, India is also home to the second largest population of believers of Islamic faith. India has allowed all different religions to flourish on its soil numerous sects, faiths and beliefs have peacefully coexisted in India ranging from monotheism, polytheism to atheism. This underlines the ethos of democracy and the age-old tradition of secularism as inherent in the worlds longest surviving civilization. At the time of independence, India was home to nearly 20 major languages, each one spoken by a substantial number of people in their own regions while less spoken languages and other dialects exceeded 16,000. Obviously, Hindi was spoken by the majority of Indians. Apart from this vast religious, cultural and linguistic diversity, there was a daunting challenge to incorporate in the Constitution 562 princely states; most of which had their own monarchical tradition with many bordering on the divine. Another challenge was to incorporate the imprint of the various shades of the freedom movement into the wider identity of the democratic India which the Indian Constitution sought to establish. Under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, satyagraha insistence on non-violence in pursuit of truth and justice became a powerful tool for freedom. Yet, there were elements in the freedom movement equally dedicated who had different ideas of achieving independence. Their aspiration could not be ignored altogether. However, a very reassuring feature of Indias heritage has been that effort for violent transformation has never become mainstream and the proponent of these ideas had to assimilate themselves into the larger narrative of peaceful change. It is for this reason that Mahatma Gandhi continues to be a global icon even now who inspired generations of freedom fighters world over. Indian freedom movement was singularly fortunate for being led by iconic leaders of extraordinary integrity and commitment. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime Minister of free India had his own pre-eminence but we need to emphasise the monumental role of Sardar Patel in forging the foundations of unified India and merger of more than 562princery states. The commitment of Maulana Azad, in spite of pulls for Pakistan, to the idea of India and the iconic role played by Subhash Chandra Bose can hardly be minimised. It is a tribute to Indias temperance that even those who believed in violent revolution, like Bhagat Singh, who was hanged through a judicial process which is still being questioned, today, continue to remain an important part of Indias psyche. Mahatma Gandhi and other great leaders of the freedom movement trusted the innate goodness of ordinary Indians and believed that they must be given a stake in the democratic and constitutional evolution of India. Therefore, in spite of forceful contrary plea, the authors of Indias Constitution took the extraordinarily bold step of giving all adult citizens the right to vote, making India the worlds first large democracy to adopt universal adult suffrage from its very inception. We remember today with gratitude the vision of our founding fathers, for whom democracy was an act of faith. I need to recall here that gender justice was firmly ingrained in the ethos of our Constitution making. Men and women both regardless of their literacy, religion or financial station, were given right to vote. I hardly need to state that in many countries right to franchise to women came much later. We in India admire the achievements of Sri Lankan democracy, particularly with regard to the political empowerment of women. As south Asians, we feel proud of the fact that one of the first head of state in the modern world came from Sri Lanka when it elected Sirimavo Bandaranaike as the Prime Minister way back in 1965. India too elected its first woman Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi in 1966. Mandatory representation was given to women in village councils and municipalities through Constitutional amendments in 1992. A similar exercise for the Parliament remains work in progress. Gender justice is a core policy of my government and today we are proud that we have six women Ministers in our Cabinet and two as Ministers of State. Indias key Ministries such as the External Affairs, Defence and the post of speaker of Lok Sabha, the lower house of our parliament, are all held by very distinguished women. Constitutional progress I recall the inspiring word of Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the President of the Constituent Assembly, who rose to become the first outstanding President of India. Dr. Rajendra Prasad said, and I quote, After all, a Constitution like a machine is a lifeless thing. It acquires life because of men who control it and operate and India needs today but nothing more than a set of honest men who will have the interest of the country before them. lt requires men of strong character, men of vision, men who will not sacrifice the interest of the country at large for the sake of smaller groups and areas and who will rise over the prejudices which are born out these differences. I am proud to state today that in spite of ups and downs in the last seventy years, India has found leaders both at the national and regional level who have contributed in their own way to the fulfillment of expectations which Dr. Rajendra Prasad outlined for us. I am equally proud to reiterate further that India today is being led by our Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi who is not only a very popular global leader but is fulfilling a task of transforming India as an important player in the global economy and polity. Independent election commission The Indian Constitution and the institutions that it created have allowed the Indian democracy to thrive. One such institution has been the Election Commission of India which has played a stellar role in consolidation of Indian democracy. After granting the right to vote to every adult citizen of India, the makers of the Constitution felt it necessary to guarantee effective and impartial exercise of the right to vote by citizens. That is how they decided to create an independent Election Commission of India for conducting elections, which was given a separate statutory existence. The magnitude of the conduct of election in India is a challenge to any institutional framework. Election Commission of India has done a commendable work in managing this biggest festival of the worlds largest Indian democracy. During the first General Election in1951, there were 173 million registered voters voting for 53 political parties. In 2014, there were 834 million registered voters voting for 465 political parties. Election was conducted through 930,000 voting centres managed over 6 million personnel. It has been rightly called the largest exercise in democracy ever. There was a time in the history of Indian democracy when the electoral process suffered due to violence and electoral malpractices such as booth capturing or denying opportunity to vote to political opponents by using forceful means. Indian election system has since become mature. Now events of booth capturing or tampering with election process have become few and far between. We are happy that technology is being deployed in ensuring free and fair elections. Two more important institutions of India have equally contributed in the evolution of Indias Constitutional and political journey. The first obviously is the judiciary of India. We are proud of the pivotal role played by the judiciary in upholding the fundamental and other rights of common citizens. In our journey of last 70 years, many complicated issues of the race, region, religion, ethnicity and empowerment arose. Many of them landed for adjudication before our courts and our judiciary, from High Courts to the Supreme Court, pronounced thoughtful and learned judgments, which in many ways acted as a great balm to challenges of competing emotions. Public interest litigation is an important innovation of Indias judicial system to uphold the rights of the marginalised and the deprived. While the extraordinary contribution of this novel experiment cannot be minimised, yet there is a need for caution, namely, that this extraordinary tool in the hand of the poor and deprived to seek genuine accountability should not be misused for extraneous reasons. Even the Supreme Court in many of its judgments has disapproved of the frequent abuse of this forum. The founding fathers of Indias Constitution clearly recognised that governance must be left to those elected to govern and also accountable to the people of India. Same is the case about law making. Governance and accountability go together and accountability means accountability to Parliament and accountability to the people who are the final arbiter during elections. In the famous Keshvanand Bharti case, the Supreme Court espoused the principle of basic structure which means that parliament even while amending the constitution, cannot transgress these basic features. Democracy, Rule of Law the and Republican form of government are some of the constituents of the basic structure. The Supreme Court has also outlined Separation of Powers as part of basic structure. Independence of the judiciary is a cornerstone of our polity and we stand fully committed to it. Media culture Another important institution that has played an important role in the evolution of democracy is the media. It is often said that India is a very newsy country and Indians are very newsy people. Today India is home to some 882 TV channels, about 200 of which are news channels. Many of these are 247 channels. There are 99,660 newspapers and periodicals. Many of them are critical of the government policies while many also advise, counsel, caution, appreciate and also moderate. TV media is an asset for immediate news but also poses its own challenges. The independence of media in India is now recognised as integral to our polity. There are problems of misreporting and of doctored and paid news, but we believe that the inherent strength of our institutions and political traditions finds befitting answer and ultimately it is the people who give the final verdict. Our democratic framework has provided the required space for associative activism and in a benevolent cycle, the development of civil society has also contributed to Indias democratic deepening and invigorated a norm of vibrant civic engagement with the state. Some of the noticeable legislation that India has adopted in recent times like giving the citizens the Right to Information and the Right to Free Basic Education have, in part, taken shape through the civil society activism. In the march of the the last 70 years, the story of India has seen many challenges. These challenges range from getting millions of Indian out of abject poverty, to providing them access to health and quality education, to extremism, to secessionism, to a small group seeking to overthrow Indias democratic polity through the power of gun such as the left wing extremists. Yet the abiding faith of the people of India in peace remains our biggest asset. Those who are actuated by violent means still remain on the margins of the political spaces. None of these organisations has had the courage to participate in the elections and seek popular support. Some of the fringe tried and miserably failed because their violent ideology has no popular sanction. Fight against terror Today, terrorism has become the major impediment to development and threatens us all. No cause justifies the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians. Yet there are countries that still use it as an instrument of state policy. We must show zero tolerance for State sponsored terrorism. The perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of terrorism must be isolated and face action of all societies that cherish freedom. The year 1975 saw the biggest test for the democracy when national emergency was proclaimed after the one of the High Courts found the then Prime Minister guilty of electoral malpractices. Freedom of speech was suppressed, restriction on the media was imposed, and independence of judiciary was curbed. As a student leader, I was involved in the fight for restoring democracy. Once the emergency was revoked and elections were held, people of India defeated that Prime Minister and elected a new government. The biggest lesson of emergency is that no political leader and political party today can even think of subverting democracy. Indian democracy has a beauty of its own which I have seen closely in my experience as a student activist and in my political life for more than 30 years. People of India give their support to political formations at the national or the regional level depending upon their ability to persuade the people to take their cause. However they also expect those trusted by them to show political maturity and foresight in their conduct and appreciate the idea of India. Those who have failed to recognise this message never could get a long innings in the politics of India. There is one more narrative which I need to mention here. Many western thinkers were apprehensive whether India will survive as one in the wake of the turbulence of its creation. Seventy years down the line, India is not only one, but India is also an effective, accountable and functional democracy. To quote V. S. Naipaul in his famous book A Million Mutinies, People everywhere have ideas now of who they are and what they owe to themselves. The 1.3 billion people of India know today that they can unseat any political party howsoever powerful in centre or state or remove any political leader howsoever popular by the power of their franchise. The people of India know that they can reelect any party or leader who delivers. This recognition of their extraordinary right, by ordinary Indians is the biggest political lesson of Indian democracy. Spread across 70 years, I see three distinct phases of Indian democracy: Phase I: Politics of want; Phase II: Politics of identity; Phase III: Politics of aspiration. The first phase that started immediately after the independence was the phase where India was struggling to deal with poverty, illiteracy, disease and lack of economic development that were the legacy of 190 years of colonial rule in India. Indias economic development during this phase was largely state-led and the state had to perform a range of activities from making and distributing bread to operating road, rail and air transport systems. The state was the only prominent source of investment, not only in physical infrastructures like power generation; irrigation, bridges, railways, production of steel, etc., but also in the social sector by building schools, colleges, universities and hospitals. The state became all pervasive. This process indeed led to modest economic growth but the growth was lopsided. Regional and social disparities increased as the economic development benefited only a few regions and few sections of the society. Phase two was a logical consequence of the phase one. I call this phase the politics of identity. This phase witnessed assertion of caste, regional and religious identities in a substantial manner. As a result of the system of institutionalised open political competition, the historically marginalised segments were mobilised to challenge the societal status quo. Rising social and regional disparities gave voice to the regional political demands and to the marginalised and the deprived. Dominance of a single national party started waning and regional parties formed governments in some states which not only brought the regional issues to the national forum but also represented the voices of those sections of society which were ignored in the process of development. Regional leaders became stronger and the era of coalition government started. The federal political structure was further reinforced in the passing of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment that took democracy to our village panchayat level and helped ensure the accommodation of regional aspirations. This phase also, partly because of compulsion and partly because of innovation, saw the start of the process of economic liberalisation and growth of India as a major exporter of information technology services. In the process, the state-led development paved the way for greater participation of the private players in the economic activities. Indias domestic as well as international economic activities expanded. However, due to conflicting interests of the regional political parties, governance suffered. Corruption and political wrangling affected the pace of development which failed to live up to the rising expectations of the young population of India. The politics of identity soon faced a challenge from the quest for growing aspirations. Those who got their identity recognised now wanted their aspirations to be fulfilled. There was a cry for good governance based on inclusion and efficient delivery in a transparent manner. This idea came to dominate the political discourse. This conflict continued till there emerged the powerful message of aspiration in 2014, which led to a historic mandate for my party and my leader when a single party got full majority for the first time after 30 years. Technology for India tomorrow Prime Minister Narendra Modi was acutely conscious that to transform India and further to empower ordinary Indians, it was important to employ technology, particularly information technology tools. He laid the ground during campaign itself when he gave his vision for India where IT + IT = IT i.e. Indias Talent (IT) +Information Technology (IT) = India Tomorrow (IT). This vision was further significant to strengthen the great asset of demographic dividend where 65% of the population are below 35 years of age. Programmes like Digital India, start-up India, skill India are all designed to transform through the power to technology. Digital India also has larger philosophical constructs. First, we may have missed the other transformative revolutions which propelled the world but we do not want to miss the digital revolution. The second, Indias digital story is designed to bridge the digital divide between digital haves and digital have nots. Thirdly, Digital lndia is for digital inclusion. Therefore, the focus is to innovate and adopt technology which is affordable, inclusive and developmental. With this framework, 250,000 gram panchayats or village councils in the country are being linked with optical fibre network, India also has a large technological base in the shape of 1.21, billion mobile phones, 500 million internet users and 1.19 billion Aadhaar, that is verifiable digital identity, kept in safe and secure condition, backed by parliamentary law. With these assets, our government came with further ideas to empower the common people: i. Banking the unbanked, ii. Funding the unfunded, iii. Pensioning the unpensioned, iv. Securing the unsecured, v. Giving voice to those on the margins. It works very simply, Ladies and Gentlemen. We opened 300 million bank accounts for those who did not have bank accounts, linked them with Aadhaar and seeded them mobile phones and started delivering their welfare entitlements directly into the bank accounts. In the process we have saved around $ 9 billion. About 150 million Indians have been given a very low cost insurance and pension by application of technology. About 100 million Indians have benefited by Mudra scheme, where they got soft loans for business, totalling to USD 62 billion in last three years. Technology is being employed to increase access to healthcare and education in a substantial manner. Pro-people digital delivery of services like eHospital, eScholarship, digital market for farmers, soil health card are all new initiatives which are re-telling the story of digital inclusion. India today has emerged as an IT powerhouse in its own right on the global stage. After the extraordinary performance of Indian IT companies in 200 cities of 80 countries, India has emerged as a large digital market for the world. Facebook and Whatsapp have the largest user base in India. India has the largest download of android mobile apps. Twitter, Instagram, Amazon are all growing rapidly in India. Our digital literacy programme called PMGDISHA is aimed at imparting basic digital training to 60 million adults. More than 270,000 Common Services Centres are providing over 300 digital services to the people in villages of India, and creating employment for over 1 million youth. Our incentives to develop ITes and BPO centres in small towns of India have created jobs to the people in small towns without the need for migrating to big cities. Indias growth story The abiding lesson of 70 years of working our constitutional and democratic polity, if I were to sum up, would be profound recognition among common people of India of their rights, their sense of empowerment, their abiding faith in the democratic process, their growing awareness in seeking accountability and their repeated reminders to those who have their consent to govern that they would have to perform to retain their trust. There would be political debates, there would be heated exchanges also, there would be muscle flexing also at times in the streets; yet amidst the noise and chaos, what Indias democracy and constitutional ethos have taught ordinary Indians as well as those who are in public life is that despite the extra-ordinary diversity and numerous differences of caste, creed, faith, language, region or economic stature, India must remain one as it marches ahead with confidence. Seven decades after independence, the miracle of Indian democracy continues to shine like a beacon of hope for those who cherish freedom with its foundation in basic human values. Long Live India-Sri Lanka friendship! Kadirgamar brought the world to stand together to fight terrorism: Tilak Marapana The following is the text of the introductory speech by Foreign Affairs Minister Tilak Marapana at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Memorial lecture It is my pleasure, as the Chairman of the Board of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies to introduce our distinguished guest speaker, Hon. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Law and Justice and Electronics and Information Technology of the Government of India. I am glad that Hon. Prasad has been able to accept our invitation to deliver the Lakshman Kadirgamar memorial lecture this year. The late Sri Lankabhimanya Lakshman Kadirgamar, in whose memory this lecture is held, was an illustrious son of Sri Lanka. After an extensive practice in Civil Law as a Presidents Counsel and a number of years in service as Head of Asia Pacific Division of the World Intellectual Property Organisation, Mr. Kadirgamar entered politics as an appointed member of Parliament in 1994 and was appointed as the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, a portfolio that he held twice from 1994 to 2001, and from April 2004 to August 2005, until his assassination. He was prophetic about the evolving global threats due to terrorism and called upon the democracies of the world to stand together to fight this global menace. He was also a very strong advocate of democracy and human rights. Mr Kadirgamar was most importantly a true gentleman: Both in his conduct and at heart. Mild, soft spoken and understanding it was not at all difficult to assess him as a genuine friend after even a brief encounter. He was loved and admired by the people of this country. He enjoyed the respect and admiration of his counterparts and leaders of foreign countries, and all those who had the privilege of meeting him. All this was possible for him because of his qualities, not his knowledge and intellect alone which of course, he had in abundance. Anyone could read up and acquire knowledge but it is not possible for everyone to get the love, respect and admiration that Mr Kadirgamar enjoyed, due to his inherent gentlemanly disposition. I cannot fail to mention the love and support he got from his wife Suganthie and I would credit a good portion of Mr Kadirgamars success to his wife Suganthie. It is partly demonstrated by her untiring efforts in having this memorial lecture organised for the past 12 years or so and the extent to which she went to visit India and persuade Mr Kadirgamars friend Hon Ravi Shankar Prasad to deliver this memorial lecture. The late Lakshman Kadirgamar was a friend of India, and worked tirelessly towards further enhancing and nurturing relations between our two countries. Amongst his distinguished friends in India were many illustrious political leaders. Therefore, it is a matter of particular satisfaction in having Hon. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Law & Justice and IT of the Government of India to deliver the Lakshman Kadirgamar Memorial Lecture. Our guest speaker Hon. Ravi Shankar Prasad hails from an illustrious family in Patna, Bihar. A lawyer by profession like his father, he made his name as a prominent lawyer in different branches of law including Constitutional Law, Public Law, Corporate & Criminal Law. His practice was mainly confined to the Supreme Court. During his college days, Hon. Ravi Shankar Prasad has been a student activist and later he has been a human rights and civil liberty activist. As a political activist and organiser, he was the founder of Jansangh in Bihar and was its President for 10 years. He also held the portfolio of Industries in the State Cabinet of Bihar.He has held national level assignments in the youth wing of the BJP over the years. He became an MP in 2000 and became a Minister of State (Coal & Mines) in 2001 in the Government of Hon Vajpayee. Hon Prasad was given the additional charge of the Minister of State in the Ministry of Law & Justice in July 2002. He became National Spokesperson in 2006 and was re-elected again to the Parliament (Rajya Sabha) from Bihar in April 2006 for the second term and in April 2012 for the third term. He was appointed Minister of Law & Justice and Minister of Telecom & IT in May 2014. His impressive biodata is much longer. I might summarize and say that Hon Ravi Shankar Prasad is today a much sought after Cabinet Minister in Prime Minister Modis Government with a bright future ahead of him.The theme the guest speaker has selected is the evolution of Indias constitutional and democratic polity and it is a subject quite topical to commemorate a person such as Lakshman Kadirgamar who believed in resolving differences through democratic means and constitutional reform. Veteran candidates better watch out as new faces take up challenge By Sandun Jayawardana and Kasun Warakapitiya Local Govt. Elections: Central Province View(s): View(s): Overpopulation, traffic congestion, air pollution, housing shortage, lack of infrastructure development foremost issues in Nuwara Eliya and Kandy Low interest in elections among people in Matale Almost three years after local government bodies were dissolved, both voters and candidates in the Central Province welcome the chance to again elect their representatives. They also say that under the new electoral system, it would be the background of the candidate and not the party he or she is contesting from that would be the decisive factor, come election day. In all three districts of the province, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Matale, campaigning is continuing without the intensity exhibited in past elections. There are hardly any major rallies, while the number of posters, cutouts and banners that violate election laws are also few and far between. While allied with the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) is contesting for the Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council (MC) separately as it believes it stands a good chance of winning a significant number of seats that way. Twenty one members are due to be elected to the Nuwara Eliya MC, more than double the number under the previous system. Five estates come under the Nuwara Eliya MC, and while the CWC enjoys widespread support among the estate community, campaigning has been difficult there because the MC, while under non elected officials, had failed to provide even basic services to many of the estates, alleged Ramanathan Balakrishnan (Bala), CWC group leader contesting the Nuwara Eliya MC. The MC has done virtually nothing and people are demanding answers. We have been able to do some work using funds provided by our leader Arumugam Thondaman. Thats the only reason we can go and campaign there. Mr. Balakrishnan sees complications under the new system, even with the representation of women. In desperation to fill their lists, some parties have fielded female candidates who are candidates by name only. They have no qualifications and zero experience in politics or community work. Even if such people are elected, is it fair to expect them to be efficient and knowledgeable representatives? Another issue is that candidates appointed as members from the list are done so by the Party Secretary. This places too much power in the hands of one party official, who could well appoint candidates favoured by him or her, and not those who worked for the partys victory, he pointed out. Despite their political differences, all parties agree that the local bodies were plagued by corruption and mismanagement during the period that officials were in control. The Nuwara Eliya MC earlier had Rs 60 million in a fixed deposit account, but now the council is struggling to find funds just to pay salaries to its employees, claimed the United National Partys (UNP) Mayoral CandidateChandana Lal Karunaratne. Mr Karunaratne insists corruption and mismanagement had led to such a situation. The town is also far too overpopulated and struggling with traffic congestion, environmental pollution and housing shortages are major issues, Mr Karunaratne stressed. Meanwhile, illegal constructions have dotted the landscape while tests have proved that drinking water in certain areas coming under the council have been contaminated with sewage, he further said. These are just some of the major problems that will need to be addressed by the new administration. The election has also exposed rivalries within the ranks of various parties. In Talawakele, we met Ashoka Sepala, former Mayor of the Talawakele-Lindula Urban Council (UC) who, though a strong supporter of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), is fielding an independent group against the SLPP under the wristwatch symbol. Mr Sepala claimed his loyalty to the former President is steadfast. Even when others abandoned Mr Rajapaksa following his defeat in 2015, I was one of those who continued to be with him, he stressed, adding that all candidates who are contesting with him are also strong Rajapaksa loyalists. He claimed he and several others were denied nomination from the SLPP due to internal issues. As such, he chose to field his own team for five local government authorities, not necessarily to defeat the SLPP, but to prevent voters who felt betrayed by the SLPP from casting their ballots for a rival party, Mr Sepala remarked, though he is confident of winning control of the UC on his own. I didnt have time, but if I did, I would have fielded candidates for all local authorities in the Nuwara Eliya District. Most voters who spoke to the Sunday Times stated they were glad the new system allowed them to elect a member who would be responsible for their ward. This would enable them take their problems to the member directly if they were not being attended to, they pointed out. M.M. Upali (52), a retired STF officer said drinking water contamination and pollution were issues that concerned him the most. We want to elect people who can get things done. The party doesnt matter, he added. While there is not much of an election fever to speak of, there seemed to be strong support for the pohottuwa (flower bud) of the SLPP, observed P. Vijayakumar (31), a shop worker. For him, one of the most pressing issues was the acute shortage of permanent housing in Nuwara Eliya. For Mohammed Isfar (30) and Mohammed Irshad (32), an urgent need is for authorities to fix the citys drainage system, which had fallen into disrepair after the local government bodies were dissolved. Garbage collection was also haphazard at best and non-existent at worst, they claimed. Mr Irshad though, is happy that the new system gives them a member directly responsible for their ward. At least we can go and scold him if things arent being done, he quipped. Guest-house owner W.M. Prematilake is hoping to vote for a person who would work to improve Nuwara Eliya. Speaking from the point of view of one engaged in the hotel industry, he remarked that local authorities should improve the citys infrastructure to attract tourists. The village level election is important, the council members are the ones that need to improve the roads and such services have remained idle after the authorities were dissolved, he said. Meanwhile, water for the area was taken from Pidurutalagala Mountain and is uncontaminated. Water supply however, is not continuous and as such, the people are forced to use storage tanks. Water pressure was also lacking, he stressed, adding that he hoped the new councillors would look into the matter. Some of the veteran politicians seem to be resting on their laurels by limiting their campaign to talking about what they did years ago, while some of the younger candidates who have no prior political experience are working hard on the ground, and are becoming increasingly popular as a result, one man observed. If the veterans dont step up, they may well be in for a rude shock on election night. Kandy In the hill capital, traffic, air pollution and lack of infrastructure development are among the foremost issues in the minds of voters and candidates alike. The UNP is fielding a strong team for the Kandy MC and is confident of winning it outright, stressed, Kesara Senanayake, former Kandy Mayor and son of former UNP Minister E.L. Senanayake. According to Mr. Senanayake, severe traffic congestion and resultant air pollution were the two most pressing issues facing the city today. Research has shown that respiratory diseases, especially among schoolchildren have rapidly increased in the region in recent years, he said. Answers have to be found for them now. The practice of bypassing the local councils planning committee when planning buildings had resulted in many illegal constructions springing up in the city, he remarked, adding that the practice must be stopped immediately. In a curious turn of events, Mr Senanayakes elder brother is also contesting against him from the same ward from the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) ticket. Though reluctant to comment on his brothers politics, Mr Senanayake claimed his brother did not pose a challenge to him or the UNP. With parties having to meet the 25 per cent quota for female candidates, demand for qualified candidates, especially for those with a political background is high. This is the reason why Samudra Dayananda who has extensive family connections to politics, was sought after by three major political parties requesting her to contest for them. The UNP, SLFP and SLPP all requested me to contest. I have been a great admirer of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and know him personally. As such, I accepted the invitation to contest under the flower bud symbol, she told us. The grandfather of Ms Dayananda, a successful entrepreneur was a former deputy minister while her father was also chairman of the village council. Her support for Mahinda Rajapaksa is largely due to ending the war. If elected, her priority is not to fix drains in the city, she emphasised, noting that this was what all councillors did. I want to encourage women to become entrepreneurs. I dont know if I will be allowed to do that inside the council, but I will try. Corruption within the Kandy MC actually increased after the dissolution of the authority, claimed UPFA Asgiriya candidate Anura Kumara Gonawala, who had previously served as a council member from 2002-2011. He said evidence was being collected regarding alleged malpractices, adding it was the duty of the elected members to ensure accountability. Mr. Gonawala, who had earlier been with the JVP during his tenure as a Municipal Councillor, is now contesting under the UPFA and supports President Maithripala Sirisena. Insisting that he was not in a position to provide character certificates to any party, including his own, Mr Gonawala said he would strive to do the right thing, even if it meant going against the party he represented. Meanwhile, voters say that they would choose individual over party and that clean candidates who have experience working with the community should be given preference. Upali Bandula (47), a three-wheeler driver noted that, though he lived within the limits of the Kandy MC, roads that led to his area had not been developed in years. The MC has done nothing for the villages within it. We feel completely left out. The youth have no jobs. We repaired some of the drains using our own money, he said, adding that those who had not lifted a finger to help such areas during their tenures in the council and those accused of corruption would not be welcome in their areas. Matale The local government election in Matale has been largely uneventful so far, with interest among the local population being rather low. Nevertheless, all major parties are fielding candidates in the district, and contests for the two MCs of Matale and Dambulla are being watched closely. A significant trend seems to be that some younger candidates have joined the fray and are contesting against members of the old guard, posing the veteran politicians a strong challenge to retain their seats. Several attempts of distributing goods as bribes to voters has also been detected, with one notable incident of a candidate allegedly distributing Buddha statues to households under his name and party symbol being widely reported. Additional Reporting by L.B. Senaratne in Kandy and Hilton Berenger in Matale The hills come alive with sham promises During every election season, a familiar story repeats itself inside the countrys estates. Politicians descend en masse, making grandiose promises to the thousands of eligible voters living there, literally begging for their votes. Afterwards, however, such promises are lost in the wind, just like the words of the candidates.During elections, they come and kneel before us for our votes. When its over, we have to go and kneel before them, yet they still wont come, was how one worker at Palmerston Estate, Ratnagiri Division, contemptuously described the antics of the local politicians.Coming under the Kotagala Pradeshiya Sabha (PS), those from this estate live under minimal conditions, largely deprived of basic requirements such as sanitation, clean water, education and a proper road for transportation.Sinnaiya Dureisami (37), born and bred in the area, says a proper road is one of the most essential requirements inside the estate, to enable them reach the Nuwara Eliya Main Road easily. The road in use now has not been maintained for years, and the gravel washed away, making vehicular travel virtually impossible. The Kotagala PS is responsible for renovating the road, but they promise they will fix it only during the election period, Mr Duresami charged. It is extremely difficult to take pregnant women to the nearest hospital at Lindula, using this road. The damaged road rocks the vehicle, and there is the constant danger of complications, with even childbirth in the middle of the journey. It is also difficult to find transport along this road in an emergency, as three-wheeler drivers are often reluctant to travel along it due to the risk of damage to their vehicles, he further pointed out. Estate worker and mother of three, Vasantha Kumari (33), said the Montessori and the Primary school premises within the estate have remained closed for some 15 years due to lack of resources. The politicians say the school will be reopened after the elections, yet that promise is never kept. With three-wheelers refusing transport, her 2 schoolchildren have to walk almost 2 km to attend school and return home walking another 2 km, Ms Vasantha added. Meanwhile, water is provided only for several minutes at a designated time every day, and those who miss the time have to walk a long distance, carrying pots and cans, to collect water from a well, she claimed. Ms Vasantha is A/L-qualified, and had been a Montessori teacher in Bogawantalawa. But, after marriage and coming to the estate, she had been forced into plucking tea, as there are no other jobs here. S. Balamurugan, who was a teacher at the now-closed primary school in the estate, said he is able to teach children up to Grade 3, but lacks resources to do so. He explained that, due to lack of education facilities, compelled to travel far for schooling and financial constraints, many schoolchildren drop out of school midway and work on the estate. We would like our children to become doctors, engineers and good people, but they remain in the same social level, he said. Change, however, maybe on the way. A young man from the estate, along with 2 others from the neighbouring estates, are contesting for the Kotagala PS. As they are our own people, we think, if we elect them, perhaps they can finally bring us results, as they are aware of our issues so well, one man told us. What happens when primary health care is universal? By Asaf Bitton and Madeline Pesec, exclusive to the Sunday Times in Sri Lanka View(s): View(s): BOSTON Two years after the death of her husband, Valeria, a 67-year-old grandmother in San Jose, Costa Rica, lives alone. Last year, she was diagnosed with high blood pressure and diabetes, conditions that, while not immediately life threatening, require health care to manage. But, thanks to the quality of Costa Ricas primary health-care system, Valeria has been able to maintain her independence and her health, even in the absence of family. Costa Rica, a middle-income country that is committed to universal health care for its people, produces better health outcomes, while spending less than most other countries in the world. In fact, Costa Rica has achieved the third-highest life expectancy in the Americas behind only Canada and Bermuda, and well ahead of the United States. The secret of its success is revealed in our new report, Building a Thriving Primary Health-Care System: The Story of Costa Rica. After her diabetes diagnosis, Valeria was automatically entered into the diabetes chronic-care programme at her assigned clinic, a ten-minute walk from her house. She visits with her primary-care team every three months to have her blood pressure checked, and to make sure her diabetes is under control. And, once a year, a community health worker visits her home to ensure that it is safe, to administer vaccinations, and to share information about maintaining a healthy lifestyle. As the global health community works to implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 3 which targets achievement of wellbeing for all by 2030 Costa Rica offers a model to consider emulating. Around the world, chronic diseases are increasing and populations are aging, making universal access to affordable care a top priority. Unfortunately, many patients will suffer far worse health outcomes than Valeria, simply because they are unable to access quality primary health-care services. Well-organized primary health systems which emphasise promotive, preventive, and chronic care, with general practitioners serving as the first point of contact increase quality and reduce service fragmentation. Studies show that areas with more primary-care physicians have lower mortality and better health outcomes than those with fewer primary-care physicians. Primary health care is also a key pathway to achieving universal health coverage, a stated goal of the international community. Over the past 20 years, Costa Ricas Department of Social Security has built a primary health-care system that today reaches nearly every person in the country. Primary providers are the first place Costa Ricans turn when they have a health problem, as practitioners offer acute, chronic, and preventive services. A similar system has been used successfully in other countries, such as New Zealand, and allows patients and their families to build long-term relationships with providers. Costa Ricas approach began with reforms in the 1990s, when the country committed to a few simple changes designed to upgrade its health-care services. Some of these could be emulated by countries today. For starters, officials in San Jose merged multiple health-care agencies into one, giving the new body authority over financing decisions and service delivery everything from vaccinations to complex surgeries. While a consolidated approach might not work for every country, many could benefit from a more integrated bureaucratic approach. Second, Costa Rica divided the country into 104 coverage areas, assigning every citizen a primary health-care team. This helped providers track health trends more precisely, and allowed for proactive and cost-effective health management. Third, the authorities created multidisciplinary primary health-care teams capable of delivering preventive care services, such as vaccinations and education, in conjunction with acute and chronic medical support. This holistic approach draws on the combined expertise of physicians, nurses, community health workers, pharmacists, and data clerks. Finally, the health department created a system to gauge statistically the quality of the care it was delivering. The data are currently used for ongoing monitoring to improve health-care provision in real time. These four enhancements have had a dramatic effect on the system. Access to primary health care has surged, from 25% of the population in the early 1990s to 93% in 2006. Today, more than 94% of the population is assigned to a specific primary health-care team. Quality has also increased and, thanks to efficiency gains, the costs are a fraction of what other countries pay. As countries pursue universal health coverage, they will need proven ways to bring higher quality, more affordable care to the underserved. Costa Rica offers one successful approach. By placing primary health care at the center of the system, the country has improved coverage rates and outcomes, while delivering more personalized treatment. For patients like Valeria, this has meant a system that is accessible, easy to use, and caring in an ongoing basis. Costa Ricas reforms have greatly improved her quality of life, and no doubt there are many other patients just like her, in every corner of the world, who could benefit from a similar approach. Asaf Bitton is the director of primary health care at Ariadne Labs, a joint center of Brigham and Womens Hospital and the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. Madeline Pesec is a primary-health-care researcher at Ariadne Labs. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2018. www.project-syndicate.org Women scorn cultural reasons behind alcohol ban Ban on women drinking debate By Shaadya Ismail View(s): View(s): Womens groups stringently questioned the cultural reasons behind the governments ban on women buying or selling liquor, saying the ban showed Sri Lankan men lacked confidence in womens capacity to make rational decisions. If there are people worried that women drinking disintegrates the morality of the society at large, there are more alarming issues like gang rapes and domestic violence triggered by alcohol that need more attention by policy-makers, said gender activist and writer Sharanya Sekaram, one of the 11 petitioners to the Supreme Court against the ban. The decades-old law against women buying or selling liquor, which also incorporated limits on alcohol vending hours, was lifted by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera on January 10. Even as women celebrated the end of that discriminatory measure President Maithripala Sirisena, in a stunning reversal this week, reinvoked the law. Minister of Health Rajitha Senaratne stated during a Cabinet discussion that the ban was reinstated for cultural reasons. A petition by womens groups and individuals was filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Presidents action. Asked why women activists had not acted earlier to challenge the colonial law, Ms Sekaram said fundamental rights action could not be filed against an existing law but could be brought against an executive action or administrative action. When the ban was lifted and later restored by the executive body it amounted to an executive action, Ms Sekaram said. And on those grounds we were rendered an opportunity to file a fundamental rights case. Verite Research, an interdisciplinary think-tank, stated that there was an imminent infringement of a fundamental right in the Presidents action, adding: any law that is enacted today must be compliant with the fundamental rights chapter of the Constitution, and cannot discriminate on the grounds of sex. Ms Sekaram said the patriarchal law reinvoked by President Sirisena was discriminatory beyond the right of women to purchase liquor. The problem arises when the inability to work in places where alcohol is served affects employment opportunities in the country, she pointed out. Shreen Abdul Saroor, the founder member of Womens Action Network and the Mannar Womens Development Federation said the government had sent a clear indication that it did not consider Sri Lankan women as having the same rights to make informed decisions as did men. The ban simply indicated the level of cultural misogyny against Sri Lankan women in the country and despite the overwhelming evidence that the majority of those who misuse alcohol are men. By ignoring all data and facts on the matter, the President has created gender discrimination against women, she said. As a womens rights activist working within minority communities, the gender discrimination demonstrated by the government on this issue and other gender issues have made many of us very anxious, she added. The Director of the Women and Media Collective, Dr. Sepali Kottegoda, said the reimposition of the ban confirmed that the male population of the country lacked confidence in the capabilities of a woman to make rational decisions. It is a backward and extremely patriarchal law, she said. There are other important aspects the country has to look into, for instance marital rape and bringing the rapists to book, Dr. Kottegoda said. Dire statistics reinforce the case being made by womens groups. Between 30-40 per cent of women in Sri Lanka suffer domestic abuse and 60 per cent have been victims of domestic abuse at some point, the Womens UN Report Network has stated. A woman usually of schoolgirl age is raped every four hours in Sri Lanka, Sabaragamuwa Province Governor Marshal Perera PC said last October. Researcher Deepanjalie Abeywardana, who is also party to the court petition, expressed bewilderment that such a colonial law would be considered relevant to current times. The states limitation of access or creation of discrimination diminishes the rights that have been given to women, Ms. Abeywardana said. Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) Executive Director Pubudu Sumanasekara suggested that the alcohol industrys support of womens groups over the alcohol ban was self-serving. We believe that the manner in which [the industry is supporting] womens rights through the recent ban is not an honest effort. As an organisation we feel that the alcohol industry is using womens rights to exploit the law, he said. Mr. Sumanasekara said that if the ban were lifted an alcoholic husband could force a woman to purchase liquor and this would lead to exploitation and abuse of women and increase domestic violence. Changing, rechanging regulations on sale of liquor to women triggers campaign Several petitions challenging the Governments re-enacted regulation banning the sale of liquor to women in addition to barring them from working in a place that produces or markets liquor, are due to be filed next week and supported in the Supreme Court. This came after Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Thursday issued a gazette notification nullifying his earlier January 10 order permitting women to work in places where liquor is produced or served, and also enabling them to buy or be served liquor. His order came just before a petition seeking an injunction restraining the Minister from issuing this gazette was to be supported in the SC. Lawyers for the petitioners say a fresh petition would be filed next week seeking to undo the latest gazette notification on the grounds of gender bias and discrimination which is a violation of the Constitution. The drama over changing and re-changing the regulations pertaining to the sale of liquor to women has in fact instigated a campaign over women buying and consuming liquor anywhere, according to lawyers, tourism industry officials and rights activists. It has raised questions like for instance the Finance Ministers January 18 regulation re-imposing the ban directly violating Section 12 of the Constitution on equal rights; whether the new rule would apply to selling alcohol to foreign women in hotels and restaurants, and that there could be many other regulations that constitutionally violate the rights of women. As at Friday, restaurants in hotels or outside continued to sell liquor to women, continuing an age-old practice. The first time this issue came to the fore more than 15 years ago in a Sunday Times Business Desk investigation, reported on April 21, 2002 (see http://www.sundaytimes.lk/020421/bus.html), after noticing a tattered poster at the bar of a local cinema which said alcohol cannot be sold to women and those under 21 years of age. Further investigations revealed that while the law is still valid, retail store owners either ignore it or are totally unaware of such a provision and continue to sell liquor to women, thereby committing an offence, the report said. This April 21, 2002 report referred to Excise Notification 447 of 29.4.1955: Section 12 (c) which says No liquor shall be sold or given to a woman within the premises of a tavern. Speaking to legal experts and others this week, it was revealed that while this 1955 notification was inconsistent with Section 12 of the Constitution (on equal rights), Section 16 of the Constitution provided for old laws to remain as they are. This section under the heading Existing written law and unwritten law to continue in force stated that All existing written law and unwritten law shall be valid and operative notwithstanding any inconsistency with the preceding provisions of this Chapter. This implied the 1955 law prevailed even if it infringed on the equal rights provisions in the 1978 Constitution. Subsequently, in December 1979, the Excise Department re-introduced the regulations banning the sale of liquor to women among other restrictions. It is unclear as to why this provision was not challenged at that time in the Supreme Court as unconstitutional, legal experts say. Unfortunately the Finance Minister in trying to do the right thing and undo an absurd regulation has triggered many issues even though Section 16 of the Constitution on equal rights clearly bars discrimination on the grounds of sex and provides every reason why such a regulation should be thrown out, one legal expert said. Appreciations View(s): In spite of her difficulties she shone bright touching all our lives Dinusha Fernando Our youngest daughter Dinusha was a gift from God on January 13, 1987 to both of us, my wife Roshani and I and to her elder sister Hirusha and brother Hirushke. Dinus earthly journey was only 10,606 days as she was called back to her eternal home two years ago on January 15, 2016 just one night after her 29th birthday. Her life journey is a story of amazing faith, endurance and love. She had incurable Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) to begin with and later on her kidneys failed and then her main heart valve was damaged. She felt the worst was behind her. It seems she was wrong. Following the heart surgery, Dinu had a stroke. As if everything Dinu was bearing wasnt enough, she contracted swine flu and then pneumonia. The last thing she needed was to find a lump in her breast, but thats exactly what happened. Yet throughout Dinus earthly journey she knew that God was her rock and only He could heal her of pain. This young, beautiful soldier of God was in so much pain. But she never uttered a cross word to any of us. She only let her love for her family show. It was as if she knew she would only be here a short time longer and she wanted her family to have no doubt that she loved them. Her love for God was always evident and shone through like a bright light in those dark days. Just 22 months after Dinu was born we as a family went through turmoil, however our faith in God was strengthened by the spiritual support of the Methodist church we attended regularly and the divine ministry of Dev Suwa Sevawa. Dinu was a happy baby who touched the hearts of everyone with joy and love. When Dinu walked into a room and smiled, it truly seemed as though the room lit up and was instantly filled with warmth. Little Dinusha continued to grow and thrive under our watchful care. It was 1991 and it was time for Dinu to join school. We already had two elder children in prestigious schools and the fees were definitely heavy for us at the time. I worked every job I could find to make sure our youngest little girl, who was as bright as a button, was able to join her sister at Ladies College. Dinu was a studious, beautiful young girl, but she still never lost that fun-loving spirit she was born with. In 2006 she completed her Advanced Level exams and received great results which got her a good job in a leading travel company. She loved her work and her workmates. But in March 2009, Dinus trial period at her job was supposed to be completed and she received a letter that stated, Services are no longer required. It crushed Dinu. She was sad and distraught. Four months after Dinu survived the blow of losing her job, Dinu started complaining of pain throughout her joints. In August 2009, she was diagnosed with incurable SLE Lupus disease. Although she was incredibly sick, she was also a very brave young girl with a strong will and a mind of her own. She began praying and was able to find her another job which would help support the family and help pay for her medical expenses. Dinusha caught Chamaras eye while working in this place. Dinu, however was totally honest with him. She told him about her Lupus which was in remission at the time. On December 17, 2012, as she walked down the aisle holding my arm, she sang the words, How can I say thanks for the things you have done. Things were looking good for the young couple until May 9, 2014. Dinu returned from work that day complaining of pain in her abdomen and spine. Tragedy struck the family when we learned that both her kidneys had failed. In March 2015, we were told she needed to have a kidney transplant. Dinu had developed a theme of life. It was, The circumstances of your life dont and shouldnt describe or dictate the quality of your personality. Dinu didnt let these new and trying circumstances change any aspect of her character or her life. Though she herself was sick and in pain, she still took time to visit if a friend or relative was sick. Though she was in need, she was always there to help others when needed. She always had time to talk to her friends. Dinus Bible theme verse was Col 4:2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. Dinu carried her cross with dignity. Through times of severe suffering, she still found ways to enjoy life. Though she was a young girl of 28, she was able to show the way for both the young and the old. Her beautiful life showed the example of how to live and glorify God I learned a great deal from my daughter of how not to let the circumstances of my life dictate the quality of my life. By January 9, Dinu felt the Lord had sent her a message calling her home. When Rev Asiri Perera, President/Bishop of the Methodist Church, visited Dinu that day, she told him clearly and with perfect sense that she wanted to go to Gods houseshe had been called home. The following morning, we all gathered around her bedside. Roshani and I, her loving husband Chamara, her brother and sister, and her brother/sister-in-law. This was part of the preparation for her journey home to God where she bid goodbye to all of us. God gave us one last birthday with our loving daughter on January 13, 2016.( I couldnt help but remember that January 13th of 1987 when she was born) . On the night of the 14th, Dinu was surprised by being able to listen to her favourite artist, Keerthi Pasquel singing to her by her bedside. No one realized, except maybe Dinu, that it was her last night on earth. Dinu thanked all her doctors, especially Dr. Surjit Somiah who had looked after her so well. Each one had done everything they knew how to do to help her. That night Dinu uttered these words to her family gathered around her bedside, Jesus is coming tomorrow morningbeautifulI am waiting for a messageI am watchingitit is beautiful. Just as she said to us, the Lord came in the early hours of the 15th and took her home. My little angel is now a heavenly angel at the Lords side. Dinu touched the lives and hearts of many souls across the world. The spirit of my loving daughter, a brave soldier of God, will live on through every act of kindness she ever performed and her thoughtfulness. Her bright loving smile will never dim in the memories of those lives she touched. Premakumar Fernando She faced any challenge with aplomb NIRMALA DEVI RAMACHANDRAN The first Lady Commissioner General of Inland Revenue, is no more, Cause, this sprightly 81 plus year old has been summoned before, The Universes creator, To be assigned a place in the abode of the maker. The news of her demise, Came as a surprise, After a private funeral cremation, To many a friend and relation. In the salubrious environs of Ward Place, she was born and bred, And lived there performing on the worlds stage, till she was pronounced dead. Born in 1935, on the 23rd of November Died in 2017, on the 21st of September. The only girl in a family of four, Her father: The Late Dr. Vairamutthu Kathirgamatamby predeceased her by 70+ years or more, Though deprived of a fathers love and care at a tender age The values of honesty, justice and fair-play, she imbued from her mother (Chellam) and Alma Mater enabled her to face any challenging task on the worlds stage. At Ladies College she had her primary & secondary education, And read for a Physical Science degree of the London University from Aquinas College, a Private Institution, And secured a Hons Class degree, That paved the way to join the prestigious Inland Revenue fraternity. In 1960, Dr. Surendra married Nirmala Devi. In 1962, they brought forth Sudarshan their progeny, Who has soared over his fathers medical renown, By bagging two professorial medical gowns. Dr. Surendra and Nimo acted as the wind under the others wings, To soar to great heights despite envious stings. The husband was bestowed the much coveted Deshamanya National Award, The wife as the First Lady Commissioner General in the field of Inland Revenue a record. During her watch as Commissioner General, The Revenue Collection reached a very high level. The Collection for the period 94 -95 being 20% of G.D.P. The highest in the last one and a half decades of the 20th century. Nimo was a voracious reader, And also a great traveller, Hence, she put pen and photography to paper, To publish three volumes of Hindu Heritage to enrich Hindu culture. To the Ramakrishna Mission Trust Fund treasury She assigned the Books Royalty, To be used for charity, To alleviate poverty. Friends and relations please note, Nimos favourite quote, Culled from the verse Farewell my Friend by Rabindranath Tagore A plea by those who we will, on planet earth, see no more Farewell, farewell My friends I smile and bid you Goodbye. No, shed no tears For I need them not All I need is your smile It is difficult to say goodbye with a smile, dear friend Cause your life on earth has come to an end. But Sudarshan, Sanju, Shanath, Pravinath, Harishnath and those near & dear to you will you miss, While you enjoy eternal bliss. A. Pulle The well known interpreter who did yeoman service Sellaiah Kumarasamy Sellaiah Kumarasamy English/Tamil and Tamil/English Parliament interpreter passed away, recently in his village Alaveddy. He joined Parliament senate as an interpreter in 1961 . He worked in some Ministries also as an English/Tamil, Tamil/English interpreter. After retiring having served 40 years in Parliament, he served as a relief interpreter from 1997 to 2012. He was honoured by the previous Speaker Chamal Rajapakse in 2012. At a Farewell for Mr. Kumarasamy, Former Secretary General of Parliament B.D.Dasanayake said SK had performed a long and dedicated service to Parliament. During his career Mr. Kumarasamy earned the respect and commendation of political leaders, members of Parliament and the Secretary-General whom he had the privilege to work with. Another feather in Mr. Kumarsamys cap was his involvement in translating the trilingual manual of the standing orders in the Senate. SK also attended many International conferences assisting political leaders in their deliberations. Mr. Kumarasamy had a London matriculation certificate in English, Latin and Tamil when he joined the Senate, coming first in the examination for interpreters to the Senate. SK was the official interpreter at various conferences including the long drawn- out All Party Conference sessions, the Law Reforms Commission, the Inquiries on the Ceasefire Monitoring Commission and the International Islamic Conference. He was commended for his remarkable performance at the historic Thimpu talks in Bhutan in 1985. In July 1969 when the historic moon landing was relayed over the Voice Of America (VOA), Radio Ceylon had engaged him to relay to Tamil listeners the VOA commentaries. N.Parameswaran Letters to the Editor View(s): Win- win solution for all parties without additional costs In the Sunday Times last week, there was a news item highlighting the difficulties faced by a community of fishermen because of the operations of the Lakvijaya coal power plant off Puttalam. From the report it appears that ships carrying coal to the power plant sometimes arrive off schedule and off track, thereby causing damage and destruction to fishing nets of the fishermen of the area who had laid their fishing nets in the path of the ships , because they had not known the changes in schedules. Destruction of a fishing net must be a devastating loss to the fishermen and their families because replacing the net requires a considerable investment and is a burden to those families in their struggle to make ends meet. After reading the article I felt that there are many solutions to this problem that do not require any investment except for some initiative on the part of the state agency responsible for preventing this kind of situation. The steps that can be implemented by the authorities: 1. Obtain a monthly schedule of coal ship arrivals and distribute it through Grama Niladari and fishermen unions etc to the fishermen. This can be verified continuously through ship movement websites like https://www.marinetraffic.com too. 2. Coordinate with shipping companies and Lakvijaya and obtain details of changes if the schedule is changed. 3. Obtain mobile numbers of fishermen engaged in fishing in this area and create a group. 4. When an unexpected change is taking place in the schedule send out text messages to the group. Since ship movements are not changed suddenly unless there is an emergency, any change can easily be notified with ample prior notice by the shipper/Lakvijaya to the state agency and in turn the agency can release a group SMS to the fishermen. 5. Fishermen having received the prior notice can take off the nets, if they have laid them in the danger area and allow the ship to pass without their fishing nets being damaged or destroyed. None of these activities requires any investment other than the cost for the text messages. And if there are 200 such fishermen and a schedule change occurs once a month the total cost for the service would be 200x.25 that is Rs 50. In the case of ships that are off track, the state agency can demarcate a clear approaching corridor for the ships coming to Lakvijaya and promulgate it. They can also inform shipping companies that ships that violate these corridor boundaries will have a large fine imposed on them because of the danger they pose to the fishing gear and the lives of fishermen. Ship captains now have two compelling reasons to avoid transgressing the safe corridor; a fine and the additional cost they incur in clearing propellers of remnants of fishing net if they overrun one of them. Its a win- win situation for everybody, ships , fishermen and Lakvijaya without any capital investment and very little recurrent expenses. Rear Admiral Lakshman T. B. Illangakoon Kandy Unruly estate youth are at fault not leopards I refer to an article in your January 14 issue, on the apparent leopard attack in Hatton. I live on a private estate near the Katabool water falls, close to Hatton, where there are many sightings of leopards. This is in the vicinity of the area where a woman died in an apparent attack by a leopard. Most often the leopards are harassed by the estate youth. Last year a leopard with two cubs was sighted above our property and the men tried to capture the cubs with nets and poles. But fortunately the mother was able to move the cubs before the mob returned to capture them. The youth every year set fire around the caves and dry areas around our property, and this causes distress to the leopards. During the dry season from January to end March fires rage in the tea plantations, but there is no way to catch the culprits who start the fires. Even now as I write this, intoxicated estate youth are setting fires all around, the JEDB estate. Women pluckers who have unwittingly disturbed leopards resting under tea bushes have through fear fallen and injured themselves, but never been attacked by these peaceful animals. The leopards have plenty of food, domestic dogs, goats, deer and wildboar to eat. So they are not that desperate to kill human beings, unless provoked. My husband and I have lived in this area for 30 years and the maximum harm the leopards have done is take away domestic dogs, and leave carcasses of deer and wild boar in the fields. The men talk boldly about killing a leopard and taking its claws and teeth for charms and burying the carcass. In another instance, a leopard had walked through the field, whilst the women were plucking the tea, picked up a domestic dog that had frozen on the spot through fear and walked away with it, without attacking any of the women. Sending teams to educate the estate youth on how to live peacefully with these animals is essential and perhaps a reward system to inform on any perpetrators with a phone number to call, with a reliable person at the other end to answer and take action, may be the way forward. Mrs. P. Stork Via email Good calibre members a must for our so-called august assembly I read the article that appeared in the letters to the Editor section of the Sunday Times of November 12 written by Edward Gunawardena under the topic Why not a few clauses for a better Parliament in the new Constitution? He mentions that if some of the good and better people fill the seats of this august assembly, parliamentary behaviour and language will be better, absenteeism will be less, and debates will be constructive, livelier and interesting. I cannot agree with him more. I wish to refer to a statement made by an MP in Parliament a few weeks ago when a heart transplant anaesthetist was referred to as a Yakshaniyak mentioning even her name. Anaesthesia is a highly skilled job performed by qualified trained personnel with the highest qualifications obtained from the UK, Australia etc. Anaesthetists have the right to decide whom and when to anaesthetise depending on the physical status of the patient, type of surgery and many other factors. Therefore a layman has no right or knowledge to make such remarks. Has this remark brought anything good or useful? Probably not. In fact it has demoralised many doctors who work under trying conditions in this country. At an inquiry held a few days later by the Ministry of Health there was no proof for evidence of negligence by any party. I hope if and when a new constitution is drafted, steps will be taken to allow members of good calibre to be selected. Dr. M.M.Rajapakse Via email Special writers workshop with Commonwealth Writers Celebrating 25 years of Gratiaen Prize View(s): View(s): The year 2018 marks the 25th anniversary of the Gratiaen Prize. The prize was founded in 1993 by the writer Michael Ondaatje, with the winnings from his own Booker Prize for The English Patient. Administered by the Gratiaen Trust and adjudicated by an independent panel each year, the Gratiaen Prize celebrates the best work of creative writing in English, submitted to the prize by writers and publishers. The Gratiaen shortlist is hosted by the British Council and the annual prize event is sponsored by Sarasavi, the Bookshop. In this 25th year, the Gratiaen Trust is planning a number of special events, both to reflect critically on the prize and to further its commitment to writers in Sri Lanka. One of these activities will be the convening of a special writers workshop, in partnership with Commonwealth Writers, aimed at offering sustained support to a group of prose writers over the course of a year. The workshop will comprise two segments one taking place May 11-14 and the next, with the same group of writers, October18-21. At the workshop writers will have a chance to work in detail on their own manuscripts with two experienced practitioners,one local and one visiting enjoying both one-to-one attention and work as a group. After the session in May, writers will have five months to progress their work on their own before returning for further mentoring in October. Michael Ondaatje, the Gratiaen founder, says: I am thrilled that the Gratiaen Trust is doing this. It feels to me that this series of workshops for writers in Sri Lanka can be invaluable and essential. This is what the community of a culture depends on. Behind these workshops is the belief that writing is a matter of dedication, rigour and revision as much as it is of inspiration or natural talent.Over a number of years, the question has been raised both within the Trust and by judges, friends and critics of the Gratiaen Prize, whether prizes are the form of support most needed by writers in Sri Lanka. The Gratiaen Trust celebrates all efforts made for writers in Sri Lanka, believing there is a role both for encouragement and critical rigour. While the Trust is only mandated to administer the Prize, it is fortunate to have forged a partnership with Commonwealth Writers to deliver this years workshop. Commonwealth Writers, the cultural initiative of the Commonwealth Foundation, has many years experience of delivering creative writing workshops, developed and run in partnership with local organisations and responsive to the specific needs of different regions.This year, as well as supporting the Gratiaen Trust workshops, Commonwealth Writers will be delivering workshops in Africa and the Caribbean as part of further craft development work focused around the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. As Janet Steel, Programme Manager, Commonwealth Writers says: Writing is predominately a solitary craft. Bringing writers together with experienced workshop leaders provides a safe space for them to share their work, knowledge and concerns. The workshop focuses on the development of the participants manuscripts, both current and future, and organically creates a local writing support network. To the workshop in Colombo,Common-wealth Writers contributes both financial support and expertise bringing a visiting practitioner to design and lead each workshop in partnership with the Gratiaen Trust; the first to take up the role will be the writer and editor, Jacob Ross. The Gratiaen Trust necessarily plays its part in kind: Sunila Galappatti, one of its Trustees will coordinate and co-lead the workshop on a voluntary basis, with other Trustees undertaking personally to support aspects of its delivery. The workshop is kindly hosted by the Post-Graduate Institute of English of the Open University of Sri Lanka.Professor Walter Perera, Chairman of the Gratiaen Trust, says: this workshop follows in a long tradition of connections between the English literary community in Sri Lanka and the Commonwealth Foundation. We are grateful that Commonwealth Writers is joining the Trust to deliver one of its long-held plans. Jacob Ross is a novelist, short story writer, editor and creative writing tutor, born in Grenada and based in the UK. His latest book, The Bone Readers, marks a new departure into crime fiction, and won the inaugural Jhalak Prize in 2017. His literary novel Pynter Bender was published to much critical literary acclaim and was shortlisted for the 2009 Commonwealth Writers Regional Prize and chosen as one of the British Authors Clubs top three Best First Novels. Jacob is also the author of three short story collections, Song for Simone, A Way to Catch the Dust, Tell No-One About This, and the editor of Closure, Contemporary Black British short stories. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has been a judge of the V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize, the Olive Cook, Scott Moncrieff and Tom-Gallon Literary Awards. He was a judge of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2017. Jacob is Associate Fiction Editor at Peepal Tree Press. Sunila Galappatti has worked with other people to tell their stories as a dramaturg, theatre director, editor and writer. She began her working life in the theatre, at the Royal Shakespeare Company and Live Theatre, Newcastle: commissioning and advising professional playwrights, working as a production dramaturg and later developing and directing documentary theatre pieces. Sunila has designed writer-development programmes and run writers workshops for the last fifteen years, including for Commonwealth Writers, Kali Theatre and (on behalf of the RSC) at Soho Theatre, Columbia University and Cambridge University. Sunila was non-fiction editor of www.addastories.org for its first year. In Sri Lanka, Sunila has been a Director of the Galle Literary Festival (2009 & 2010), worked with Raking Leaves on its Open Edit project and was a Fulbright Visiting Fellow from Sri Lanka to Brown University. Currently, Sunila is a Visiting Lecturer at the Open University of Sri Lanka and is a judge of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2018. She is the author of A Long Watch, retelling the memoir of a prisoner of war. While the Gratiaen is a multi-genre prize, this particular workshop will focus on prose writing and be open to writers of both fiction and non-fiction; including writers of short stories, novels, essays and memoir. With a limited number of places available on the workshop, entrants will be selected through an open call for submissions on www.commonwealthwriters.org. While places will also be offered to any prose writers among the Gratiaen shortlist of 2018, this workshop remains entirely independent of the submission and judging process for the Gratiaen Prize. It is open to any Sri Lankan writer resident in Sri Lanka, whether or not they have ever submitted to the Gratiaen Prize.The deadline for applying to join the workshop is 5 p.m. on February 28. For more information contact Sunila Galappatti 0722589489 or sunilawriters@gmail.com President hails veteran TV journalists 30-year service View(s): President Maithripala Sirisena recently visited award-winning journalist Sunil Ratnayake to congratulate him on completing 30 years in television journalism. During the friendly conversation with Mr. Ratnayakes family and friends at his resident, the President recalled the journalists landmark productions which took Sri Lanka to greater heights internationally. The highly acclaimed producer and director who also contributes to various international television and film panels thanked the President for his continuous support and encouragement to local production companies in building creative and profitable international co-production partnerships. The President assured Mr. Ratnayake that a formal coproduction rebates framework on international productions would be introduced to secure greater in bound production. He said this would help draw foreign investment and create employment pathways and export opportunities. Small states should be cautious when dealing with rising powers: International relations expert View(s): China and India have been the main beneficiaries of economic globalisation and this has created a new balance of power in contemporary international politics, said Prof. T. V Paul in a presentation at the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS), Colombo. Speaking on the topic Globalization, Rising Powers and South Asian States, the Professor of International Relations at Canadas McGill University said that after the Cold War, China and India had received an impressive economic development in the context of globalisation with the expanded economic and political space. That also made China and India interdependent. For instance, 40% of GDP in India is trade based and in China its 37%. The relationship between India and China is still conflictual but there is a tendency towards managed rivalry, in the sense that both of them try to de-escalate the tension. Prof. Paul, who also served as President of International Studies Association (2016-17) said the dynamics created by economic globalisation had brought forward a new balance of power in international politics and this had also increased the bargaining power of small states. For instance, other South Asian states linked with China and India have reoriented their behaviour and bargain with the international community on a new plane. On the other hand, even though there are no specific alliances, both India and China are concerned about affiliations of small states with them. The professor emphasised that small states should be extremely cautious when dealing with rising powers in this context. Rather than being a bandwagon to one rising power, they should try to maintain a strategic relationship with other powers which increases the bargaining power of small states. Among the attendees were academics, diplomats, and senior military officers. The lecture was the first of a series of presentations under the RCSS In-house Discussion Series in 2018. She didnt know it at the time, but there were two special people at Wellingtons St James Theatre for the New Zealand School of Dances 50th-anniversary graduation performance watching Taurangas Olivia Moore. And it would lead to a big career break for the 16-year-old. One of those people was Nina Levy of Dance Australia, who would write of Olivia: Sir Kenneth Macmillians Concerto Pas de Deux is no mean feat even for the most seasoned performers, with technically complex partnering that moves off and on balance. First year student Olivia Moore performed these difficult manoeuvres with calm maturity. Perhaps a more significant critical eye was that of the Royal New Zealand Ballets artistic director, Patricia Barker. Olivias level of technique and maturity was enchanting. She is a talented young dancer with tremendous potential which we are excited to nurture as she develops into a beautiful artist. And she will get that nurturing because, as a result of that performance, Olivia Moore was offered a full-time contract with the Royal New Zealand Ballet. She will be a wonderful addition to the RNZB, says Patricia Barker, and someone to keep an eye on for years to come. We certainly didnt see that coming, says Olivias delighted mum, Kat. We were all surprised and amazed. This has obviously been a dream, so its pretty massive for her. Olivia had been studying at the New Zealand School of Dance in Wellington last year. The school opens doors and opportunities to aspiring young dancers, providing training for the dance profession. However, Olivias been out of the country while her career was taking off. Shes in Toronto right now, says Kat. Shes on a scholarship from the school of dance to train at the Canadian National Ballet for a month. But as soon as she lands back in the country, she will be taking up with the Royal New Zealand Ballet. When The Weekend Sun spoke to Olivia at home in Matua a little over a year ago, she was just headed off to the School of Dance. The talented and focused teenager had clear cut ambition. I would like to be principal dancer for the Royal New Zealand Ballet, she said. Well, she now has her foot in the door. The principal role is in sight, although off in the distance. Before she went to Wellington Olivia would be at the Dance Education Centre in Tauranga before 8am. And she would be back at the studio after school for another four hours. Six hours of ballet a day, woven around school, Monday to Friday, and three hours on Saturday and Sunday. Its a discipline that demands commitment. She has worked hard at dance all through her childhood years, says Kat, and she has made considerable sacrifices to get where she has got. Even at Dance School in Wellington, the teenager was weaving her ballet around schoolwork with the Te Kura correspondence school. With ballet, I can be myself, Olivia told The Weekend Sun. I can express myself. The Royal New Zealand Ballet has been her life goal, adds Kat, but to achieve that after only one year of training is pretty phenomenal. And she is only 16. All three of Kats daughters are dancers. Theyve all shown great promise with musicality. Thats all they have ever wanted to do, and thats all they have ever done. The small towns and settlements of New Zealand are the backbone of our country and those in the Western Bay of Plenty are no exception. Te Puke is the kiwifruit capital of New Zealand and the horticultural hub of the region. If youre into posing for photos with roadside Kiwi kitsch think Paeroas L&P bottle and Ohakunes big carrot there is an enormous fibreglass kiwifruit slice on SH2 that you can add to your collection. And if thats not enough kiwifruit, you can visit a working kiwifruit orchard and learn about the story of kiwifruit at Kiwifruit Country in nearby Paengaroa. Sticking with the produce theme, if youre a fan of Manuka honey you can step inside a virtual beehive and see the world through the eyes of a honeybee at Experience Comvita in Paengaroa. There is also an on-site retail shop where you can buy anything and everything to do with bees, including honey, supplements, lozenzes, and skincare products. If youre a history buff you can take a stroll along the Te Puke Heritage Walkway or, for a more challenging walk, head up Mount Otanewainuku. The Papamoa to Paengaroa Cycle Trail next to the TEL is a good ride, and suitable for children also. To get there head towards the Kaituna River on Bell Rd. And you cant go through this part of the country without hitting more of the beautiful beaches that we are blessed with in the Bay. Maketu is where Maori first came ashore on their waka voyage from Polynesia to the Bay of Plenty and is a popular place to fish, kayak, wind/kite surf and bird watch. Gathering shellfish is usually on the list too, however there is currently a biotoxin warning in place along the coast from Waihi Beach to Opape, east of Opotiki which means shellfish is off the menu for now. Its a great place to grab a pie though, as it is home to the iconic Maketu Pies. The Maketu Beachside Cafe also offers some impressive fare by all accounts. If youre heading to Maketu you might also want to check out Newdicks Beach, a place so secluded many people dont even know its there. You can only get to it via a private road, which you pay a small fee to gain vehicle access to, or you can walk in for free. The road is open from 6am-6.30pm in summer. Little Waihi is also a popular summer spot and is renowned for the jandal fence at the Bledisloe Holiday Park. Across the estuary and 25km by road is Pukehina Beach. With property prices climbing in Tauranga, the seaside settlement is now attracting permanent residents as well as holidaymakers. It offers a rolling surf beach, glittering sands and an estuary harbour and boat ramp allowing access over the bar to the open sea. And at the southernmost point of The Weekend Sun circulation area is Otamarakau, another seaside settlement which is a popular low-cost camping spot for self-contained vehicles. The slogan for Te Puke is Goodness Grows Here but goodness can also be found in this neck of the woods in the warm welcome and friendly smiles of the locals. Venture south and check it out for yourself this summer. A Rotorua medical centre has taken a novel approach to finding a new doctor and has enlisted its patients help to make a video where they ask a series of questions directed at potential candidates. Owhata Medical Centre owners Dr John and Ata Armstrong have provided health care in Rotorua with a whanau-focused touch for four decades and have recently expanded their business into new premises, and require more staff. John says they had tried traditional advertising but that didnt work, so they decided to make a video to visually illustrate to doctors what it would be like to work at Owhata Medical Centre. We wanted to include our patients, so we invited them to be involved, and they were very happy to do so. We treat patients from all socio-economic groups, but have a particular focus on families that may be struggling, so we are after a doctor with the right skills and the right heart for the job, he says. The video was shot at the Owhata Medical Centre and took three hours to film. There were no scripts involved, patients were asked to speak from the heart. The result is an authentic, heart-warming video where doctors can get a taste of what it would be like to work there. Questions patients asked include: Will you be interested in my mokopunas health, as well as mine? Will you make me feel better? Can I tell you anything, without judgement? Will you help me look after my whanaus health? Practice manager Ata Armstrong says all involved are thrilled with the resulting video and they hope it will attract a suitable doctor for their unique practice. Our team walk the talk. Nurses transport patients to specialist appointments if they require assistance and John will often make house calls to elderly patients (at no extra cost) in situations where there is no family around to help. The clinic also offers a free drop-in service on Wednesday afternoons. So the doctor we are looking for is extra special, this is more than a job, it is a vocation. Our medical approach is grounded in whanau and aroha and always takes into account our patients overall mental and spiritual wellbeing. Politically there is a lot of focus to support our most vulnerable, so this is an exciting time for a new doctor to be part of such a pivotal time for our community, says Ata. . Four men have been remanded in custody and face a range of criminal charges from drug trafficking to attempted homicide, in connection with a shoot-out in Marbella. The events date back to last September, when two men arrived at a central Marbella hospital with gunshot wounds. The National Police investigation revealed that the two men, of Spanish nationality and 25 and 29 years old, had been in a confrontation with two others, and had then been shot. The investigation led the police to a house on the Camino de Santiago in Marbella. There they found two other men, a 18-year-old Dutch man and a 43-year-old Polish man, as well as a ski mask, gloves, more than 5,000 euros in notes, and, in a blood-soaked pouch, a firearm. When they returned with a search warrant, they discovered over a tonne of hashish, the gun used in the shooting hidden in a water treatment system, as well as three other firearms. The police concluded that the shootout occurred because the Spanish men, part of one drug ring, had attempted to steal the hashish from their rivals. The Spanish and Polish men face charges of drug trafficking, assault and possession of illegal fireams, while the Dutch man is accused of attempted homicide. The Post-Standard | syracuse.com | WCNY Spelling Bee's written qualifying exam was held on Saturday at Christian Brothers Academy. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- More than 150 spellers from across Central New York competed today to earn a spot at The PostStandard| syracuse.com|WCNY Spelling Bee. The written qualifying exam, which contained 40 words, was held this morning at Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse. The 35 students who scored the highest on the written test are moving on to the oral round. It will be held live on WCNY-TV at 2 p.m. on Feb. 10. The winner of the Feb. 10 spelldown wins a trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee May 31 to June 1. The spellers are in third to eight grade. The students advancing to the next round are: SYRACUSE, N.Y. - National Grid today proposed a rate settlement that would increase average residential electric rates about $2.20 a month this year and $8.50 per month over three years if state regulators approve. The proposal also would raise typical natural gas rates $1.20 a month this year and about $7.50 a month over three years. The 860-page document was filed late this afternoon with the state Public Service Commission. National Grid officials said they plan to answer media questions about the proposal Monday. The proposal is the result of negotiations with state Public Service Commission staff and other parties who intervened in the National Grid rate case, including environmental groups, major industrial customers and unions. National Grid originally filed its rate hike request last April, seeking increases of $11 a month from average residential electric customers and $10.50 a month from gas customers. In July, the company reduced its requested increases, to about $9 a month for average residential electricity and $8.70 for gas. The estimated bill impacts are for residential customers using 600 kilowatt-hours per month of electricity and 1,080 therms per year of gas. The impact varies for commercial customers and for households that use other amounts. The settlement proposed today would raise National Grid's electric delivery revenues about $222 million a year over three years. It would increase annual gas revenues about $55 million over the same three years. The company's proposal in July sought increases of $261 million for electricity and $70 million for gas. The current deal factors in about $75 million a year in anticipated tax savings that National Grid expects as a result of the recent federal tax changes. Critics said today's proposal is better that what National Grid originally asked for, but not good enough. "We oppose this rate increase at a time when there is already an untenable affordability and economic crisis in Upstate New York,'' said Jessica Azulay, program director of Alliance for a Green Economy. Rich Puchalski, executive director of Syracuse United Neighbors, said the plan will hurt people who already struggle with big bills and poorly insulated houses. "Shutoffs will escalate,'' he said. "Credit will be ruined." For the neediest low-income customers, however, bills are going down, utility officials say. That's because National Grid this month implemented a new Energy Affordability Program, independent of the rate hike proposal. Even after the new rates take effect in April, customers who qualify for the biggest low-income discount will pay about $40 a month less than they paid in December. PSC spokesman James Denn said the rate settlement won broad support from participants in the rate case. He said it accomplishes several goals, including improved energy efficiency programs and low-income discounts. "Importantly, instead of the proposed double-digit increases of 13 percent for electric and 14 percent for gas the company had wanted, the parties agreed to slash the first-year increase to only 1.7 percent for electric customers and 2.4 percent for natural gas customers,'' Denn said. The PSC will solicit comments on the so-called "joint proposal'' before deciding whether to amend, reject or approve it. The settlement is an alternative to a trial-like, litigated proceeding. If approved, the new rates will begin in April. Contact reporter Tim Knauss | email | Twitter | 315-470-3023 Summary of National Grid proposal by Tim Knauss on Scribd Lady Liberty stood tall in the middle of the United Way of CNY parking lot, surrounded by a sea of protesters. With flames made of paper raised high in the air, Lori Hobday, an immigrant dressed as the symbolic American statue, explained her outfit and her reason for marching for women's rights. "I stand particularly today behind the Dreamers and all immigrants who want to have security in this country- I stand on the platform of Lady Liberty," said Hobday. "I'm also here because upstate New York has a really strong feminist tradition, it's where Seneca Falls, the first official effort to secure women's civilian and political rights, occurred." Lori Hobday dressed as the Statue of Liberty at Saturday's march. In Syracuse, the local WomenTIES and New Feminists for Justice groups came together to host the CNY Women Rising 2018 weekend, including a women's rally and march this morning which began at Laci's Tapas Bar and ended at the ArtRage Gallery. Roughly 4,000,000 people took to the of streets D.C. one year ago to be a part of the Women's March on Washington- a protest that may have drawn the largest demonstrating crowd in U.S. history, according to the Washington Post. Today, in Syracuse and other cities across the country, advocates for the equality of women and other marginalized groups marched to commemorate last year's event and to continue to fight for women's issues. This weekend also marks the one-year anniversary of Trump's inauguration. Many demonstrators said that there has been little-to-no progress made for women and that the president has shown disrespect especially toward women, low-income families, immigrants and people of color. In lieu of protest, women and men alike arrived at the rally with posters showing their frustration with the current politics surrounding the rights and well-being of women. They not only used their voices in the march, but the power of the pen as well. A group of three young women in high school said that women have experienced a cruel past year. Rishma Vora held a sign focused on the Time's Up and #MeToo movements, which struck a personal chord with her. She is a gymnast and is now seeing the courtroom testimonies of young athletes accusing U.S. Olympic Gymnastics team doctor, Larry Nassar, of sexual assault. She also grew up watching Today, which was co-hosted by Matt Lauer who has also been accused of sexual misconduct. Vora's friend, Sydney Schulman, addressed multiple issues with her poster: From left to right: Sydney Schulman, Rishma Vora and Rati Saint. "With all of those issues, working at them altogether makes them stronger," said Schulman. "Together, we are hard to take down. That's why I put them [the issues] all on my sign." Another young woman, Dichaba McGinty, used her poster to demonstrate the intersectionality of the march. The current women's rights movement isn't about a specific group of women- it's for everyone who faces inequality or discrimination. Dichaba McGinty demonstrates how the Women's March is all-inclusive. For many attending the march, the Earth falls under the category of things that need protection. Kara Conley and Nancy Barnett's signs called for action in protecting the planet against climate change. Barnett carried the same sign that she marched with last year in Washington. Nancy Bronstein (left) with Nancy Barnett (right). Poster by Kara Conley. Janice and Peter Lazarski easily identified the source of their frustration: President Trump. Since the election, Peter Lazarski said he has felt embarrassed to be an American at times. His wife remains in shock that Trump is president. "I'm ashamed of the picture that we present to the rest of the world today," she said. "That's why I'm here today- because nothing is better." Peter and Janice Lazarski. Others wished to focus on hope, and emulate the feeling of the Women's March on Washinton. Dara Salley saw last year's march as a place of love and solidarity. Today, she brought that message home to Syracuse. Dara Salley's message of hope. Though each of the demonstrators focused on different dimensions of the women's march, the crowd stood together in solidarity, all advocating for the rights of women. "Women united, you can't fight it," they chanted. A 6-year-old wearing the symbolic pink hat from the March on Washington, summed up the cohesive message of the demonstration: be nice. WASHINGTON - A document described by House Republicans as a top-secret memo about surveillance "abuse" contains talking points focused on discrediting Fusion GPS, the firm that hired a British ex-spy to compile intelligence reports about alleged connections between President Donald Trump's associates and the Kremlin, according to people who have read it. It suggests that the former spy, Christopher Steele, lied to FBI agents who interviewed him during their probe of the 2016 election and that this purported lie was included in a successful application for a federal court order to conduct electronic surveillance on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, said these individuals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing the material's sensitivity. The document was produced by the House Intelligence Committee's GOP majority, which voted Thursday to make it available to the entire House membership, though not to the public. The panel's Democrats all opposed the move. In a statement issued Thursday, the committee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., called the document "profoundly misleading," saying it was "drafted by Republican staff attacking the FBI." He did not discuss the document's contents. "Rife with factual inaccuracies and referencing highly classified materials that most Republican Intelligence Committee members were forced to acknowledge they had never read, this is meant only to give Republican House members a distorted view of the FBI," Schiff said. "This may help carry White House water, but it is a deep disservice to our law enforcement professionals." Conservative Republicans are increasingly calling for the document's public release after first declaring it should remain classified. Several have taken to social media, conservative television and radio outlets, and even the House floor, to demand the public be able to see what they've read. "Americans deserve the truth," said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., the head of the House Freedom Caucus. The hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo trended shortly after Meadows and other House conservatives tweeted it. I viewed the classified report from House Intel relating to the FBI, FISA abuses, the infamous Russian dossier, and so-called "Russian collusion." What I saw is absolutely shocking. This report needs to be released--now. Americans deserve the truth. #ReleaseTheMemo pic.twitter.com/oP2UNujKQL Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) January 19, 2018 According to Hamilton 68, which tracks Russian-linked Twitter accounts, #ReleaseTheMemo was the top hashtag being promoted Thursday and Friday by such accounts. Rep. K. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, who heads the Intelligence Committee's probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, described the memo as a list of "problems we have discovered with FISA," which is short for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the law governing the collection of foreign intelligence on U.S. soil. A senior committee official, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said the talking points, which were based on classified material made available to the committee by the FBI and the Justice Department, mischaracterize the work of the intelligence community and law enforcement "in a way that is damaging as well as false." One of the document's talking points suggests that the government's application for a wiretap order on Page includes a reference to Steele assuring the FBI he did not speak to reporters about the allegations of collusion between Trump associates and Russia - although Steele later acknowledged in a separate civil lawsuit that he had talked to reporters before the 2016 election, said the individuals familiar with the document. Current and former law enforcement officials have said the surveillance application relied on far more information than just Steele's research. In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Glenn Simpson, a Fusion GPS co-founder, said the FBI had other sources offering information about possible Russian interference in the U.S. election who raised concerns similar to Steele's, according to a transcript released this month. "We all know [the Republicans] are engaged in complete and total warfare against the FBI," said the committee official, who did not discuss the memo's contents. "They're trying to tie all of that to Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele as some unholy seed." In conservative media, the document has already renewed pundits' calls for special counsel Robert Mueller III, who has taken over the FBI's probe, to shut down his investigation. On Thursday, Sean Hannity opened his Fox News show by declaring the memo's contents would end the probe. "I have a message tonight for the special counsel, Robert Mueller III: Your witch hunt is now over," Hannity said. "Time to close the doors." The talking points have nothing to do with Section 702, a controversial surveillance power that Congress just voted to renew, said individuals familiar with the content. But some lawmakers who opposed renewing the program without stronger privacy protections sought to use the document to urge Trump to delay signing the bill into law. "I believe that the information that is contained in the top-secret memo would have been critical to know before the reauthorization," said Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas. On Friday afternoon, Trump rebuked the Section 702 critics, tweeting that he had just signed the renewal. "This is NOT the same FISA law that was so wrongly abused during the election," he said on Twitter, referencing conservatives' claims of surveillance abuse. The House Intelligence Committee official called such claims "irresponsible - a way of poisoning the well" of Mueller's probe. NASA and the Department of Energy are working together to create a nuclear source of energy that can be used in future missions. The Kilopower's compact size and efficiency in generating power could help provide future human exploration missions. NASA Media Event For Kilopower Last Jan. 18, NASA held a media event where the agency discussed its Kilopower project and how it might be useful for future robotic or human space exploration missions. The tests began last November and are expected to continue until March. When testing began last November, Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) principal technologist Lee Mason stated that the tests will give the agency the confidence that Kilopower is ready to be developed for space flight. What Is Kilopower? The Kilopower project is a program by NASA in collaboration with the Department of Energy, which aims to create small nuclear power sources for space exploration. For the project, scientists have created small nuclear fission plants that run on uranium instead of plutonium. Each of these plants could produce 10 kilowatts of electrical power continuously for 10 years or more and may also be combined to create more energy for more power-intensive systems such as housing. To put that into perspective, the power systems in previous robotic missions provided merely 200 watts of power. If the tests prove successful, Kilopower could produce over 10 times more power than previously used systems. Applications For Surface Missions The agency believes that Kilopower has merits in aiding future missions that would require surface exploration perhaps in Mars or on the Moon. This includes powering settlements and mission tasks such as drilling, mining, refrigeration, rover recharging, manufacturing, and communication. Experts estimate that a human exploration mission would require 40 kilowatts of continuous power, a consumption that a set of Kilopower may potentially provide even during dust storms and regardless of location, as it is not sun dependent. Is Kilopower Safe? Naturally, there are questions regarding the safety of using a nuclear power system in space. After all, the same questions are asked regarding power systems here on Earth, so sending such technology to space may be quite tricky. As such, some precautionary measures NASA has drawn up include keeping the device turned off until it has reached the surface of the planet as well as having ample radiation shielding to protect crew members during operations. "It would have a tremendous impact enabling missions that otherwise aren't attainable," said Mason. Indeed, with this sun-independent power generator, Kilopower could enable more ambitious space exploration missions that have never been done before. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Amazon has officially announced the list of finalists for its second headquarters, and Toronto is the only Canadian city still in the running. It's been city vs. city since Amazon started taking bids for its second HQ and the race is now tighter than ever. The construction and operation of the Amazon HQ2 will require a hefty investment of at least $5 billion, but it will crease roughly 50,000 high-paying jobs. The HQ2 will boost the economy of the area where it's located. That is why cities are racing to make the winning bid, trying to lure Amazon with potential tax breaks and other perks. The company received bids from 238 cities and regions in North America and it has now gotten closer to making a decision, choosing just 20 finalists. Amazon HQ2 Finalists Spark Mixed Reactions Amazon's shortlist has sparked mixed reactions. The company says that it assessed each bid based on specific criteria: the city would need to have a major airport nearby, would have to be able to attract top tech talent, and it would have to be in an urban or suburban area with more than one million residents. The list of finalists has raised some eyebrows because some cities that are still in the running, such as Nashville or Columbus, don't have major airport hubs, CNN points out. This was one of the main requirements Amazon announced, yet somehow the shortlist doesn't seem to focus on it that much. "HQ2 will be the second Amazon headquarters in North America. We are looking for a location with strong local and regional talent-particularly in software development and related fields-as well as a stable and business-friendly environment to continue hiring and innovating on behalf of our customers," says Amazon. Toronto Among Amazon HQ2 Finalists Of the 20 North American cities that made Amazon's HQ2 list of potential matches, Toronto is the only one in Canada still in the running. This boosts hopes of winning the bid and experts say that the University of Toronto think that it has a solid chance. Professor Richard Florida, who runs the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, thinks that Toronto is in fact in the top five, with a strong chance of being the winner for Amazon's HQ2. Florida highlights that Toronto is a top choice due to its top universities, Canada's open immigration policy, and diverse local culture. The professor notes that the biggest rivals in this race are likely Washington, D.C. and New York City but Chicago, Boston, and Los Angeles also pose serious competition. Does Toronto Stand A Chance In Amazon HQ2 Race? Shauna Brail, associate professor, presidential adviser on urban management, and director of the urban studies program at the University of Toronto, adds that Toronto has definitely earned its place on Amazon's list of 20 finalists for HQ2. "It's really a testament to the work that Toronto, as a city and region, has done to promote itself as an open, innovative, accessible and significant city with respect to attracting and retaining international and locally grown firms - and ones that really blend in with our diverse economy and diverse population," says Brail. Why Toronto Could Fall Short On the other hand, Toronto might also fail to win the race because choosing a Canadian city could put Amazon in a risky position politically, considering U.S. President Donald Trump's firm America-first power play. However, Brail highlights that politics could go either way. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos could either choose to avoid drawing the wrath of President Trump and the White House, or take a stand against the various recent policies that sparked a great deal of controversy such as the immigration policies. For now, the fact that Toronto is still in the running proves that it's a solid contender, but it remains to be seen whether it will make it to the end. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome will sign a pledge on Saturday to improve treatment of HIV in Baton Rouge, with one goal of ensuring that at least 90 percent of people who test positive are on life-saving medications. Baton Rouge is set to become the latest in a growing list of "Fast-Track Cities," embracing a campaign aimed at slashing the rates of new HIV infections by getting more people tested and on treatment regimens by 2020. The treaty signing is part of an HIV summit Broome is hosting Saturday at Baton Rouge Community College. Advocates are hailing Broome's decision to sign the treaty an initiative created by the United Nations' AIDS initiative, the U.N.'s Human Settlements program, and the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care as a key step in ending the stigma driving the state and city's alarming HIV/AIDS infection rates. Baton Rouge has one of the highest per capita HIV rates in the country. "This is part of my goal to educate and inform the Baton Rouge community, and others, as it relates to the priority I am placing in my administration on HIV/AIDS care," Broome said. "The overall goal is to reduce the number of people who eventually have HIV/AIDS." The Fast-Track initiative challenges cities with what's called "90-90-90 targets." By 2020, the goal is to have 90 percent of the people living with HIV know their status through testing, 90 percent of the people who test positive for the disease on treatment and 90 percent of the people receiving HIV treatment showing a suppressed viral load. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently estimated that 1 in 8 people with HIV don't know they have it. Louisiana officials estimate that 77 percent of people living with HIV in Baton Rouge are receiving the medical treatment they need and about 62 percent of city's HIV-positive population on a treatment regime have suppressed viral loads. Medical research has shown medications that suppress the virus, which means reducing its strength and presence in a patient's blood, makes it less likely for an HIV-positive person to spread the disease to others while also making them healthier. A 2017 report from the state's Department of Health ranked Baton Rouge third in the nation for HIV cases with 30.2 per 100,000 people right behind New Orleans with 33.3 per 100,000 people. Leading nation in HIV, AIDS cases per capita, Baton Rouge area might have 1,000 more cases, civic group told Baton Rouge already leads the nation in diagnosed HIV and AIDS case rates, but an additional 900 to 1,000 people in the capital region are liv The same report ranked Baton Rouge first in the nation for the number of AIDS cases 18 per 100,000 people. The primary risk group for new HIV diagnoses in the state are gay men who make up 47 percent of the people living with HIV in Louisiana, the 2017 DHS quarterly report states. African Americans in Louisiana make up a disproportionate number of state residents newly diagnosed with HIV and AIDS. "We have all the tools now to eliminate HIV from our community," said Timothy Young, the chief executive officer of HAART, which is one of the city's leading non-profit agencies providing services to people living with HIV/AIDS. Those tools are the antiviral drugs proven to suppress the disease and a once-a-day pill called PrEP that medical experts have said greatly reduces the chances someone who does not have the disease will acquire it, even if they are frequently have sex or share needles with someone who does have HIV. +9 Once-a-day pill can help prevent HIV; why aren't more in Baton Rouge taking it? When Ernesto Finales heard in 2013 about a once-a-day pill that could prevent him from acquiring HIV/AIDS, he quickly went searching for it. "We think that by joining the growing list of fast track cities in our country and around the world, that will help to focus on the large numbers of people living with HIV in our community," Young said. "It's great the mayor is being consistent with helping to raise attention to the seriousness of HIV in our community." Other cities that have signed the pledge include New Orleans, Atlanta and San Francisco. But the initiative doesn't come with any new money. Currently, the city-parish mostly relies on federal dollars to fund HIV/AIDS programs. "Since I have been mayor, I've learned I have to many times be creative and innovative in trying to accomplish our goals," Broome said. "And many times that means trying to do more with less. The mayor's Healthy City Initiative is where we have a coalition of partners public and private who help us move toward achieving our goals." By signing the treaty, Broome is committing the city-parish to providing more access to testing, treatment and prevention services, with a focus on marginalized groups within the community. The treaty asks the city to use all the means it can to address the epidemic, including passing ordinances that could address the factors contributing to the city's infection rates, like drug use and prostitution. The city will also develop an action plan and join the network of other fast-track cities to measure results and share data about what's working in their ultimate goal to end the AIDS epidemic in cities by 2030. The mayor is signing the treaty during the five-hour HIV Summit on Saturday also featuring panel discussions and presentations by physicians, HIV peer advocates and prevention specialists. The summit at BRCC's Magnolia Theatre is free and open to the public. It begins at 8:30 a.m. and will go until 1:30 p.m. "These presenters are going to provide our community with a lot of valuable information and actual perspectives that exists within all aspects of the HIV experience," Broome said. Young sees the summit and treaty as a significant step toward tackling the problem. "Up to a third of those who test positive for HIV for the first time have already progressed to an AIDS diagnoses and that's because of the fear of acknowledging they have contracted the disease and the stigma that surrounds it," he said. "So if we want to eliminate HIV from our community we first need to recognize the seriousness of its nature and how widespread it is on a per capita basis." Despite its merger with Mary Bird Perkins Cancer center, the longevity of an independent Cancer Services of Baton Rouge might have been best a Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission The New Orleans City Council is expected this week to reconsider its controversial resolution calling on the city to avoid doing business with Your editorial, Our Views: Anti-Israel move under false pretenses, must be labeled a quick and dirty laced with expressions of abject ignorance and omission of historic context. You attacked the resolution unanimously passed by the New Orleans City Council, failing to identify the resolution as a Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) initiative proposed by the New Orleans Palestinian Solidarity Committee. Moreover, you and The Advocates editorial board neglected to research what the global Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement is all about, as stated in the global BDS website: +2 New Orleans City Council to reconsider controversial 'human rights' resolution The New Orleans City Council is expected this week to reconsider its controversial resolutio "Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality. BDS upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity. Israel is occupying and colonizing Palestinian land, discriminating against Palestinian citizens of Israel and denying Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, the BDS call urges action to pressure Israel to comply with international law. BDS is now a vibrant global movement made up of unions, academic associations, churches and grassroots movements across the world. Eleven years since its launch, BDS is having a major impact and is effectively challenging international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism." Past findings in reports by the U.S. State Department, United Nations reports, Amnesty International, etc. chronicle Israels unlawful five-decade occupation of Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza and Israels many violations of Palestinian human rights over the past five decades. BDS is a 12-year-old nonviolent movement protesting Israels military occupation and continuing human rights violations in Palestine. Reports from the U.S. State Department, Amnesty International, the United Nations and other human/civil rights organizations acknowledge Israel's "unlawful killings, excessive force, torture and discrimination" against Palestinians, along with Israel's 50-year military occupation of Palestinian territories neighboring Israel that continues to deny Palestine and its people their freedom, justice and equality. Palestines longstanding struggle for freedom, justice and equality should remind you of a similar movement, the Civil Rights Movement, in the United States, including Baton Rouge and the State of Louisiana. James F. Michie retired federal employee Baton Rouge Canberra has the dubious honour of being the hottest major city in Australia on Sunday and Monday. We can expect to swelter through the heatwave much of the region is currently experiencing for a few more days at least. Two-year-old twins Isabella and Madeleine Bodell stay sun smart at Boundless Playground. Credit:Jamila Toderas With a scorching maximum temperature of 37 degrees predicted for both Sunday and Monday, Canberra is the hottest of all the state and territory capitals. No other will reach higher than 34 degrees, which the mercury in both Adelaide and Perth will hit. It's been said before but alas, it needs to be said again. Children die in hot cars. It seems like a simple message, but a spate of incidents interstate and constant reminders from emergency services, health professionals and children's advocates reveal a telling sign about children's safety. Canberra is tipped to be the hottest major city in Australia for Sunday and Monday with the mercury rising to 37 degrees. The Royal National Park was closed and hundreds of people escorted to safety on Saturday, as firefighters battled two out-of control bushfires near Wattamolla in Sydney's south. Two hundred people were evacuated from Wattamolla Road to Bundeena by NSW Rural Fire Service and NSW Police in the afternoon, while other visitors were advised to "head to the beaches". An out-of-control bushfire burning in the Royal National Park, as seen from Bundeena. Credit:Brook Mitchell "They're providing the best protection given the fact a lot of the escape routes are through the middle of the bushland which isn't safe at the moment given the intensity of the fire," a spokesman for NSW RFS said on Saturday. Private boat owners alongside NSW Surf Life Saving, NSW Police and Marine Rescue NSW vessels at Garie Beach had evacuated up to 80 people by the evening. A second ACT crew has been sent to fight a blaze that continues to burn north of Braidwood. The 332 hectare fire, burning off Nerriga Road, is set to continue to burn for days to come as the area is difficult to access. Firefighters at the Nerriga Road bushfire on Friday night. On Saturday evening, one shed had been lost but there were no reports of injuries or stock losses. "We had about 55 crews out there [on Saturday] with SES support, and support from National Parks, and NSW RFS crews from the ACT, the far south coast," Incident controller Chris Allen said. Families have gathered at a Melbourne park to remember and grieve together for loved ones killed and hurt in the Bourke Street Mall attack. Saturday marked a year since a car drove mowed down dozens of pedestrians on the crowded street, claiming the lives of four adults, a child and a three-month-old baby. A memorial plaque on a seat at Parliament Gardens Reserve on Saturday. Credit:AAP Two plaques were unveiled at the private service, in East Melbourne, to remember those affected by the tragedy. "On the worst of days and in the worst of circumstances we saw the very best of humanity," Premier Daniel Andrews said after the memorial. Provided that all citizens of a lawfully conquered territory are granted equal rights by the local law, the descendants of the conqueror and the conquered are not considered two separate peoples. This in turn invalidates any claims to separate land rights under the same jurisdiction. As one of the 193 member states of the United Nations, Australia is not exempt from this 'Right of Conquest'. Yet we do recognise separate land rights because the historic Mabo Decision in 1992 rested on the correct presumption that Australia was settled, not invaded. In their ruling, Justices Brennan, Deane, Gaudron, Toohey, Mason and McHugh acknowledged that native title could have been intentionally extinguished by the use of government powers, but wasn't. They proceeded to reject the 'terra nullius' doctrine without overturning the traditional view that the Australian landmass had in fact been settled. Had Australia actually been invaded, the descendants of its native population would be classified as a conquered people and their land rights would be abolished. Greens leader Richard Di Natale might like to explain to the Australian people why he is attempting to undermine native title by implying that Australia was invaded and conquered. On 26 January 1788, there was no sovereign state on the landmass we today call Australia. The land was sparsely populated with disparate nomadic tribes without a written language and a central government. Captain Arthur Phillip's arrival with his group of disease-stricken poorly-fed convicts in their new prison colony, on territory claimed for the British Crown seventeen years earlier by explorer James Cook, does not constitute an "invasion". Far from the brutal instincts of actual invaders like Napoleon or Hitler, early British settlers built a colony that was surprisingly harmonious and committed to justice. As the first Governor of New South Wales, Phillip developed a fondness for the native Eora people in his new colony at Port Botany. He befriended native man Woollarawarre Bennelong who became the first native Australian to be escorted to England to meet King George III. The federal seat of Bennelong held by former Prime Minister John Howard for 33 years is named after him. Phillip once forgave a native for stealing his shovel because he understood that in native culture people shared what they had and there was no concept of exclusive personal belongings. Hardly the attitude of an invader. In 1816, Governor Lachlan Macquarie appointed native leaders to act as conduits between settlers and natives. He welcomed the natives who aspired to be part of the new colony. Hardly the attitude of an invader. Violent clashes were the exception, not the norm. At Myall Creek in 1838, some 30 natives were killed by 10 settlers and an African in Bingara, New South Wales. The perpetrators were trialled, 7 of the 11 involved were found guilty of murder, and hanged. The rule of law prevailed. Hardly what happens in invaded countries. Whether Australia's colonisation by the British Empire should be classified as an invasion or settlement is not a question of mere semantics. It's a question that holds serious legal and political consequences for our country. For most Australians, this debate is as settled as Australia itself on 26 January 1788. American President Abraham Lincoln once said "a house divided against itself cannot stand." Let's unite to recognise that 26 January is a celebration of a democratic story that would be incomplete without the Mabo Decision. Loading Let's never again disparage native title by referring to our settlement as an invasion. Happy Australia Day 2018. San Francisco: Facebook will prioritise "trustworthy" news in its feed of social media posts, using member surveys to identify high-quality outlets and fight sensationalism and misinformation, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg now says. The company, which has more than 2 billion monthly users, said its members, not experts or Facebook executives, would determine how news outlets rank in terms of trustworthiness. It also said it would put an emphasis on local news sources. Posts containing fake news stories abounded on Facebook in the US election campaign. The move is likely to send shockwaves through the media landscape in nearly every country, given the ubiquity of the world's largest social network and how central it has become in some places to the distribution of news. Zuckerberg said on Friday he expected recently announced changes to shrink the amount of news on Facebook by 20 per cent, to about 4 per cent of all content from 5 per cent currently. Kabul: Afghan Special Forces ended an overnight siege at Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel on Sunday, killing the last surviving attacker, said Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish. Two other gunmen, who stormed the hotel and took hostages, were killed on Saturday night. Danish said at least five other people had been killed and six wounded, a lower casualty total than earlier feared, while 153 people, including 41 foreigners, had been evacuated. Earlier, as day broke on Sunday, thick clouds of black smoke could be seen pouring from the building. Several armoured US military vehicles with heavy machine guns could be seen close to the hotel along with Afghan police units. Los Angeles: The Filipina-Australian girlfriend of Las Vegas massacre gunman Stephen Paddock appears set to be cleared of any involvement in America's worst modern day shooting. Las Vegas Sheriff Joe Lombardo released an 81-page preliminary investigative report on Friday into Paddock's October 1 shooting spree. Marilou Danley, the Australian girlfriend of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock. Credit:Facebook Paddock set up a sniper's nest in adjoining suites on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino and fired down at an open air country music concert below killing 58 people and injuring more than 700 others. Marilou Danley, who was in the Philippines at the time of the massacre, initially had been described as a "person of interest" by Sheriff Lombardo but the exhaustive ongoing probe by police and the FBI is yet to find evidence she was involved. Washington: In May 2016, Paul Erickson, an activist who has raised money for the National Rifle Association, sent an email to Rick Dearborn, an adviser to Donald Trump's presidential campaign, with the super-subtle subject heading "Kremlin Connection". As The New York Times reported in December, Erickson wrote that Russia was "quietly but actively seeking a dialogue with the US" and planned to use the NRA's annual convention in Louisville, Kentucky, that month to make "first contact" with the Trump camp. At the convention, Donald Trump jnr met with Aleksandr Torshin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, reputed mobster and deputy governor of the Russian central bank. NRA's Chris Cox introduces Donald Trump at the association's Leadership Forum in April. Credit:Atlanta Journal-Constitution/AP This is one of those episodes that is easy to lose track of amid the avalanche of evidence connecting the Trump administration and Russia. But it takes on new significance because of an intriguing, potentially explosive article that McClatchy published on Thursday headlined, "FBI Investigating Whether Russian Money Went to NRA to Help Trump." We know of numerous secret communications between members of the Trump campaign and Russia, and favours asked for and received. This, however, is the most significant hint of a money trail. Norman Eisen, Barack Obama's White House ethics czar, tweeted: "This could well be the collusion we have been waiting for, prosecutable as possible campaign finance crimes." Republicans are insisting on a four-week funding extension that includes a six-year authorisation for the Children's Health Insurance Program and delays several health-care taxes. Democrats have called for a funding extension of several days that would allow more time for negotiations over the legal status of immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children, known as "dreamers." Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), speaks to media earlier in the evening. Temporary government funding runs out at midnight. Credit:Andrew Harrer At the time of McConnell's announcement on the Senate floor, Republicans did not appear to have the 60 votes required to advance their short-term spending bill. Coupled with a notice that there would be no "imminent votes" in the House, this all but ensured at least a brief shutdown. For most of Friday, most senators remained out of the loop and unsure of what to expect. Senate Democrats were scheduled to meet at 8:30 p.m., according to a Democratic aide. In the quiet hallways of the Capitol, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a supporter of a days-long extension to allow further negotiations, was spotted entering Schumer's office. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, centre, and House Speaker Paul Ryan, left, and US President Donald Trump. Republicans failed to get their bill up before the deadline. Credit:CHRIS KLEPONIS Senate Minority Whip Richard Durbin,, whose support for a fix for "dreamers" has been central to the impasse, suggested that the impending shutdown was far grimmer than the 2013 impasse sparked by disagreement over the Affordable Care Act. "The last one was Ted Cruz reading from Dr Seuss," Durbin said, recalling how the Texas Republican senator sparked the last shutdown with an overnight filibuster. "I don't think anybody has brought their Seuss books to this." After speaking on the floor, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, leaves the chamber as a bitterly-divided Congress hurtled toward a government shutdown on Friday. Credit:J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE On the Senate floor, Finance Committee Chairman Republican Orrin Hatch, let his frustration with the stalemate show in an unusually frank comment. "This is the greatest country in the world, but we do have some really stupid people representing it from time to time," he said. "I probably have gone too far saying that, but it's true and it's disappointing to me." Still, not all Senate Democrats opposed the one-month bill. Joe Donnelly Joe Manchin, and Heidi Heitkamp, all of whom face tough paths to reelection in states that supported Trump in 2016, said they would vote to keep the government open. "It's the most basic duty of Congress to keep our government running," Donnelly said in a floor speech. Michigan Sensator Gary Peters, and Debbie Stabenow, meanwhile, had announced they would both vote against the measure. With time running out, one possible approach under discussion on Capitol Hill had been a two- or three-week extension of government funding, according to senior Republican aides. Cornyn dismissed the notion as an "absurd idea." Speaking to reporters, Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney predicted that the conflict has a "really good chance" of being resolved before government offices open Monday, implying that the weekend would mitigate the impact of a shutdown. "I think there's a deal in the next 24 hours," he said. Trump and the Republicans, who control all levers of government, faced the possibility of a shutdown on the first anniversary of his inauguration. According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, Americans by a 20-point margin blame Trump and the GOP over Democrats if the government closes. The Schumer-Trump meeting had set off alarms among congressional Republicans. Neither McConnell nor Ryan, who resolved Friday morning to stand firm in their support of the House bill, attended the White House meeting. Schumer returned to the Capitol and met with Durbin and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, for over an hour. As Senate Republicans remained short of the 60 votes needed to advance the bill to fund the government through Feb. 16, McConnell delivered a political salvo on the Senate floor, saying Democrats had been led into a "box canyon" by Schumer. By late Thursday, at least nine Senate Democrats who had voted for a short-term spending bill in December said they would not support the latest proposed extension. They joined 30 other Democrats and a handful of Republicans in opposing the bill. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said late Thursday that he was "not inclined" to vote for a short-term spending measure because leaders did not keep their promise to hold a vote by the end of January on legal protections for young undocumented immigrants. On Friday morning, he said he preferred Democrats' proposal of a mini funding extension to allow more time for negotiations, an idea GOP leaders rejected Thursday. He was "still looking" at the House bill late Friday afternoon. Marc Short, Trump's director of legislative affairs, said that the effort by Democrats to put an immigration fix in the bill was unreasonable, given that legislative text has not been drafted and the program doesn't expire until March. "There's no DACA bill to vote on, and there's no emergency on the timing," Short said. A government shutdown causing employee furloughs has never occurred under unified party control of Congress and the White House. The Trump administration is drawing up plans to keep national parks and monuments open despite a shutdown as a way to blunt public anger, and while the military would not cease to operate, troops would not be paid unless Congress specifically authorises it. The last shutdown, in 2013, lasted for 16 days as Republicans tried unsuccessfully to force changes to the Affordable Care Act. On Jan. 30, Trump is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address. In a sign of the preparations on Capitol Hill, congressional staffers received formal notice Friday morning that they may be furloughed starting at midnight. Individual lawmakers will have to determine which aides have to report for work during the impasse. As senators awaited news about possible votes, the White House delayed Trump's departure for his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The president had intended to leave Washington late Friday afternoon ahead of a lavish celebration of his first year in office that is planned for Saturday night. With the House scheduled to be out of session next week, several leaders have planned trips abroad. Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Israel and Egypt, Ryan will visit Iraq, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, will accompany Trump to the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort village of Davos. McCarthy spokesman Matt Sparks said the Davos trip would be cancelled in the event of a government shutdown, but that did not stop Pelosi from criticising the trip. But Government officials said the trip could still go ahead. Air Force One would still be allowed to fly in a shutdown, and necessary staff and security to support the President's travels could accompany him, the officials said in a conference call with reporters. They insisted on anonymity as a condition of the briefing. It's not clear if Trump would choose to proceed with his trip to Davos during a shutdown, with hundreds of thousands of federal employees on unpaid furlough. The Switzerland event is an annual gathering of the world's economic and political elite, where Trump plans to deliver a speech on his "America First" agenda. He would be the first US president to attend the forum since 2000. Istanbul: Turkey has started firing shells into the northern Syrian region of Afrin targeting US-backed Kurdish militias, despite warnings from the United States. The developments threatened to further destabilise a region fractured by seven years of war. Fighters of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army, which were expected to spearhead the attack, were seen driving to the border around midday on Friday, local time, as artillery sounded on Turkey's southern border with Syria. The Syrian fighters posted videos of men and vehicles preparing for the assault. Turkey has said the Kurdish militias are part of a terrorist group that threatens its security, but it has struggled to win support for an intervention against them. Syria opposes Turkey's intervention, and Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said the Syrian air force would destroy any Turkish airplanes used in an assault on Afrin. Turkish Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli announced the Afrin operation in a live studio interview on the pro-government A Haber television network on Friday. Washignton: Leading Zimbabwean opposition politician Roy Bennett and four others, including his wife, have been killed in a helicopter crash in New Mexico in the US. Bennett, a 60-year-old former farmer, was a leading figure in the Movement for Democratic Change, and was elected to parliament in 2000. Senior Zimbabwean MDC opposition official Roy Bennett, left, and his wife Heather, in Mutare Zimbabwe in 2009. Credit:Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi Bennett, who had been in exile in South Africa since 2010 after having been jailed by Parliament for pushing a fellow MP, was in the US to spend some days with friends at a ranch belonging to Texan businessman Charles Burnett III. Burnett, Bennett's wife Heather, pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd and co-pilot Paul Cobb were also killed in the crash, the New Mexico State Police said. if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi... U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan, has blocked certain constituents from interacting with his social media accounts, an action not uncommon among politicians, though possibly at odds with the First Amendment amid a national discussion regarding free speech. More than a dozen constituents throughout the 17th Congressional District in Waco, Austin and College Station told the Tribune-Herald they were blocked from accessing Flores Facebook or Twitter accounts which indicate he is a member of Congress. Bill Gaventa, a Woodway pastor, said he was blocked from Flores Facebook page after he wrote a Tribune-Herald op-ed criticizing Flores for what Gaventa views as inaccessibility to his approximately 760,000 constituents. Its frustrating and, I think, ultimately defeating for him, Gaventa said. Flores, a four-term congressman, is not the only elected official accused of silencing critics on social media. President Donald Trump, a frequent Twitter user, has blocked dozens of people, according to New York Magazine. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan blocked 450 people from his Facebook page, the Washington Post reported in early 2017. And Phyllis J. Randall, chair of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors in Virginia, was sued for temporarily blocking a constituent from her Facebook page. In an email, Flores spokesman Andre Castro said social media is used to publish useful information and to update constituents on the work he is doing in Congress. In general, Congressman Flores believes that commenters should follow the golden rule of treating others in a way that the commenter would want to be treated, Castro said. Comments written on Flores social media accounts do not necessarily reflect the views of the Congressman or the members of his team, according to his policy, and threats are forwarded to law enforcement. Comments containing profanity, name-calling, repetitive complaints, false information or accusations, advertising and references to campaigns or elections may be deleted, Castro said. Comments by non-constituents may also be deleted, and anyone who violates Flores offices policy may be blocked. Dustin Weins, owner of iRadioWaco and a former Waco City Council candidate, said he was blocked after asking Flores about his stance on same-sex marriage. I dont recall any time I used any foul language or was disrespectful in any way, and I was still blocked, Weins said. Elizabeth Berigan, a College Station physician, said she has written Facebook comments about health care and other issues. I cant correspond with him and I cant interact with him, Berigan said. I think taking off certain comments is just wrong. He only deletes what he doesnt want to hear. In response to questions about Flores social media policies and why some people are blocked, Castro said Flores and his team are operating under a heightened sense of awareness in light of the June shooting of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, and death threats made against Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai. Flores himself has received threats and hostile materials mailed to his home, Castro said in the email, though it wasnt clear how Flores safety and threats he has received relate to his decisions to block some constituents. Flores social media policy bothered software engineer Matthew Ludlum so much he created a Facebook page called The Flores Filter, which posts each comment deleted from Flores posts. Ludlum, from North Austin, lives one block within Flores district and leaves the district each morning while walking his dog. The one thing I want to avoid in (the Flores Filter Facebook page) is injecting any sort of opinion or anything that really isnt factual, he said. These are comments that are deleted at some point, and I think it does a disservice to have them deleted. According to numbers compiled by Ludlum, Flores has deleted at least 391 of 1,412 written comments since Nov. 26, as of Thursday. Some of the deleted comments contain profanity, while others simply voice disagreement. This irresponsible legislation increases the deficit and heavily burdens the middle and lower class. Very disappointing, said one deleted Facebook post referencing the GOP tax plan. In 2017 the party of fiscal responsibility and reduction of the welfare state gave corporate America a huge welfare windfall and the working people of America a $1.5 trillion addition to the national debt, because the GOP needed a win. Remember that on the first Tuesday of November 2018, another deleted comment read. Repeal Obamacare as promised the last 8+ years, said another. A deleted Dec. 17 post simply said, I do not agree with this. You are not representing my interests as a constituent. Profanity, threats Castro sent the Tribune-Herald several screenshots of other removed posts, which included profanity, sexual references and threats. He said constituents blocked on social media may still contact Flores office via phone, email, mail, fax and face-to-face meetings, which are recorded. Those blocked on Facebook are unable to access Flores online constituent forums streamed live on the platform. The online forums have taken the place of traditional town hall-style meetings Flores formerly held with constituents within his district, leaving those blocked without access to such informational sessions. It is unclear whether legal violations occurred because of the blocks. Gary Krupkin, a Richardson lawyer and member of the First Amendment Lawyers Association, said politicians who block constituents from their official accounts are skating on pretty thin ice. Simply because we dont like the way somebody says something, or the government doesnt like the way somebody says something, that doesnt mean the government can unilaterally ban them from saying it, Krupkin said. Randall, the county board of supervisors chairwoman in Virginia, was sued by a constituent in 2016 for blocking him for 12 hours after he alleged corruption by the local school board in a Facebook comment, Slate reported. A federal judge ruled that Randall blocked her constituent, Brian C. Davison, because she was offended by his criticism of her colleagues in the County government. By prohibiting (Davison) from participating in her online forum because she took offense at his claim that her colleagues in the County government had acted unethically, (Randall) committed a cardinal sin under the First Amendment, the judge wrote. Another judge, however, issued an opinion in the same case stating the law is less than settled as to whether (Davisons) right was violated when those postings were removed or when (he) was prevented from posting his comments. Blocks on social media Castro said there are no federal laws, regulations and/or non-appealable legal rulings preventing elected officials from blocking peoples access to politicians social media accounts. The Knight First Amendment Institute, a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization at Columbia University, has called on Trump to unblock his critics on Twitter. Cases of politicians blocking constituents on a more local level are not uncommon either, Krupkin said. First Amendment attorneys are pretty few and far between, he said. Its not something that you normally see when you go and look for attorneys. And I think that a lot of government officials rely on the inability of their constituents not to be able to hire an attorney in doing some of the things that they do. Ex-Bryan Superintendent Tommy Wallis is asking for a new trial after a judge ruled last month that some documents related to his forced resignation could be released to the public. Wallis -- who since his departure 16 months ago has been fighting the release of complaints filed by administrators working under him while serving as the district's top administrator -- could not be reached for comment Friday. The motion for a new trial, which was filed in Travis County on Jan. 11, argues that Austin-based District Judge Tim Sulak erred in his December ruling. It states that a compilation of accusations against Wallis that were placed in a binder and handed over to the school board can be partially released to The Eagle, KBTX and other media who requested it in 2016. The Eagle obtained and published one of the binder's memos, which outlined 14 ethical violations that Wallis is accused of committing. The accusations range from giving preferential treatment to a vendor and misuse of tax dollars to giving a raise without trustees' approval and verbally abusing employees. Wallis' lawyers argue that the complaints by co-workers amount to a performance review and therefore should be protected from disclosure under the Texas Education Code. Job reviews for Texas superintendents typically are done by school board members, not subordinates. "The fact that an evaluation is critical of an administrator's performance, as is the case here, does not make it any less an evaluation of performance," reads the motion submitted by Wallis' lawyer, Scott Cummings. "In fact [ensuring] that individuals are able to provide critical evaluations without fear that they may be made public is the very reason [the Texas Education Code] makes all evaluative documents confidential." Wallis' attorneys state that whether the binder is characterized as a formal or informal evaluation, a reprimand or disciplinary document, "it evaluates the performance of Wallis and makes recommendations regarding his employment." Judge Sulak blocked the release of some documents related to Wallis' departure, but not those found in the binder, citing the same section of the education code Wallis' lawyers cited in their motion. An audio recording of a conversation between Wallis, then-school board president Doug Wunneburger and then-deputy superintendent Timothy Rocka released in 2016 shows that the former superintendent was asked to leave the district after 5 1/2 years in the top position after the complaints were made to trustees. Shortly after the meeting, Wallis secured a separation agreement with the board. In exchange for $83,049 -- his salary for the remainder of the year, a letter of recommendation, and the promise of confidentiality, Wallis left the district in September 2016. He currently serves as superintendent in Kirbyville ISD, an East Texas district of 1,500 students. Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona gave a speech this week about how important truth is to our democracy and how President Donald Trump lies a lot. He especially took aim at Trump talking about fake news all the time and even referring to the press as the enemy of the people. Flake then went crazy. Viciously, mindlessly and inexcusably, he compared Trump to Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Union dictator who killed millions of people and also used the phrase enemy of the people. Flake summed up Trumps media anger as despotic, shameful and repulsive, telling us in so many words that he is more suspect as a public enemy than the press is or ever has been. Long live a democratically crucial free press, but please get it, ladies and gentlemen, that the not-really Stalinesque Trump has resorted only to anti-press words, not action, and that one of his chief threats to change libel laws is nonsense. There is no federal libel law, but lots of state laws that Washington is not about to touch, and there is a Supreme Court ruling making it especially hard for public officials to sue for libel. For hands-on presidential press abuse, look at President Woodrow Wilson, as one example. He took egregious steps during and after World War I to regulate newspapers saying things he did not like. We learn from Reason magazine how Franklin Delano Roosevelt said the press spewed out poisonous propaganda and that freedom of the press was an overworked phrase leading to dastardly consequences. His administration helped create the Federal Communications Commission that reviewed radio licenses every six months and soon had networks vowing they would never criticize him. When President Barack Obama wasnt slapping Fox News around, his administration was spying on reporters or, as one official admitted, misleading them on the Iran deal. New York Times reporter James Risen called the administration the greatest enemy of press freedom in a generation because of threatening a record number of reporters with jail if they did not reveal sources in classified information leaks. The Obama team also set a record one year in denying or censoring materials requested by citizens under the Freedom of Information Act. Less than a fourth received what they asked for, while 596,095 did not. Trump handed out his fake news awards this week with critics responding that media inaccuracies always have been with us and that he was taking on an opinion column and tweets, too. Keep in mind, however, that there have been studies by researchers at Harvard, the Pew Research Center and the Media Research Center showing that at the beginning of the administration, in the middle of the first year and at the end of the first year, media were far more negative about him than about any president in recent history. Well, it has been said, there was much more to be negative about. But the extent and intensity of the negativity coming from some news outlets has been more like a virulent crusade than straight news coverage. No one with open eyes and unplugged ears can have missed the overreaching and an eschewing of norms right up there with Trump himself. While news outlets as a whole still exhibit manifest virtues, some may well have done more to damage trust in the press than Trump. Flake and Trump have been feuding, and Flake is not running for re-election this year. His speech had some good points, but the Stalin comparison was atrocious. It is true that the Soviets did use the phrase enemy of the people frequently, but it had its origins in ancient Rome, was used repeatedly during the French Revolution and became more common after a drama by the great 19th century Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Its title was An Enemy of the People and it was about a physician combating fake news. Jay Ambrose is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. Email him at speaktojay@aol.com. It is time to be realistic about the Dreamers here illegally What about this "Dreamer" thing? First, let's get something straight: All federal officials declare an oath, or affirmation, to support the U.S. Constitution. Second, the very first sentence of the Constitution specifically states, "All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States ... ." Third, in compliance with their oath, only members of Congress have authority to determine the rules for naturalization of foreign nationals and thereby the rules for legal immigration. Fourth, the office of the president has a constitutionally required responsibility faithfully to execute the laws passed by Congress. Therefore, when the executive branch exercises any declaration, policy, "executive order" or other such named action pretending to have the power of law over the people of the country, it is nothing more than usurpation. All of that being said, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act itself is a "policy" of a presidential administration that cannot constitutionally bear the force of a law, and therefore the administration has no authority by which to execute it. So, here we are. We have this mess because our educators have failed, for many decades, to inform us properly. But perhaps there is a special congressional approach that would provide compassion for children who have been illegally brought into the U.S. as well as getting immigration laws back on track. To wit: Grant current Dreamers permanent visa status with citizenship to be attainable later through procedures available to any other applicant. The status of a Dreamer could be gained only by reporting for documentation which would require finger printing. All parents of Dreamers would be required to return to their home country upon the child's 20th birthday and then become subject to the immigration laws of that current time. BILL HUNTER Hilltop Lakes Liberals really aren't looking to create a secure border Recently, a liberal California judge ruled that President Donald Trump's executive order to shut down the DACA program is unconstitutional. If that is the case, why was the executive order by Barack Obama which established DACA also not unconstitutional? Support to offer relief to these young people who were brought to our country illegally by their parents is widespread; however, this is but one of several problems with our immigration policies and needs to be addressed in that context. Remember, Trump correctly stated that a program such as DACA must be established through legislation, not by presidential decree. Given what I have seen in the media, it would appear that liberals don't really want a secure border, but are willing to have open immigration -- something this country cannot afford -- and are unwilling to distinguish between legal and illegal migration. KEITH ARNOLD Bryan Its a new year and new beginning for the Coalition of Norwalk Neighborhoods Association. The CNNA will be reorganizing to ensure its neighborhood advocacy efforts continue to be effective, especially as we work with the city to develop the 2018 Plan of Conservation and Development, according to CNNA organizer Diane Cece. Residents and neighborhood voices must be heard on matters of development, infrastructure, city services, parks and open space, environmental and sustainability opportunities and more, Cece said. CNNA members and other Norwalk residents can learn more by attending this months meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 22, in Room 300 at Norwalk City Hall. Residents are invited to take an active role in improving the quality of life in various residential neighborhoods around the city. At this months meeting, the CNNA is seeking volunteers for an interim Provisional Executive Committee, and several volunteers to assist them with reviewing bylaws. The meeting is also seeking additional neighborhood representation from Flax Hill and Brookside areas; Spring Hill/Hospital Hill areas; and West Main and Norwalk Center. All residents of Norwalk are welcome, and CNNA member associations are each urged to send at least one representative to the monthly meetings. Cece is calling for members from every formal and informal neighborhood group in the city to attend this and future meetings. The CNNA seeks to provide a common voice on larger Norwalk issues by providing information to members on important issues, meetings and events, in addition to soliciting fair and equal participation of neighborhood association and residents. For more information, visit www.norwalkneighborhoods.com. NORWALK CENTER Are you enthusiastic about local history and education? Join the Norwalk Historical Society for an informal informational session about becoming a docent for the Little Red Schoolhouse Program. Docent info sessions will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 24, and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 25, at the Norwalk Historical Society Museum, 141 East Ave. Register for your preferred time slot at www.norwalkhistoricalsociety.org or by calling 203-846-0525. Parking is available at Norwalk City Hall, 125 East Ave. The museum is in the red brick house with blue double front doors, next to the Norwalk Health Department. Learn about this exciting program and the important role a docent plays in making history come alive for students. The Little Red Schoolhouse Program has been enriching the lives of Norwalks third-graders for over 35 years. For information, visit www.norwalkhistoricalsociety.org, email info@norwalkhistoricalsociety.org, or call 203-846-0525. SILVERMINE Break out your favorite recipes and get ready to try those of your nearby neighbors at this years Silvermine Potluck dinner. Get ready to add an exotic element to the potluck magic at this years Potluck, where residents will share all their scrumptious recipes while having some good old-fashioned fun neighborhood friends. Eat, drink and be merry with your Silvermine neighbors from 6-9 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Silvermine Arts Center. Tickets cost $20 a person. All attendees are also requested to bring a something to share. Wow the crowd with an old family recipe or a dish youve been meaning to try and feast on a variety of appetizers, entrees and desserts while catching up with friends. Not interested in the food? Organizers are also looking for volunteers to assist with decorations, help us set up prior to the event, help coordinate all food when it arrives at the event and set the food up on the serving tables, as well as those interested in cleanup prior to the dinner. To volunteer send an email to info@silverminenews.com. NORWALK CENTER Valentines Day is right around the corner, and what better way is there to spread the love than by making cards for the strangers who work on a daily basis to make your lives better. The Norwalk Historical Society invites all to join them at the museum at 141 East Avenue on Sunday, Jan. 28, for a fun afternoon making Valentines for Veterans. People are encouraged to drop in any time between 1-4 p.m. to make cards for the brave men and women who fought to keep our country safe. The event is free and supplies, as well as light snacks, will be provided. All children must be accompanied by an adult. Cards made at the event will be sent to Congressman Jim Himes office and then distributed to various veterans organizations and hospitals in Connecticut. Those interested can register at www.norwalkhistoricalsociety.org or call 203-846-0525. If the event is canceled by the Norwalk Historical Society due to inclement weather, it will be rescheduled for Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018. For more information, visit www.norwalkhistoricalsociety.org, email info@norwalkhistoricalsociety.org, or call 203-846-0525. Share your neighborhood news To share your community and neighborhood news with The Norwalk Hour, contact Pat Tomlinson at 203-842-2570, or at ptomlinson@hearstmediact.com. NORWALK When Oscar Cortez moved to Norwalk in 2013 and enrolled in high school, he worried about all the normal things new high school students worry about. But he also faced a hurdle most students do not: He never learned English in his native country, El Salvador. I never had to think about it before, Cortez said. Going to school, I never thought about the language, and I was scared to come here because I didnt speak the language. Now, as he prepares to graduate in the spring, with ambitions to go to college, join the military and one day become a police officer, his English is near fluent and he no longer takes English Language Learner courses. Cortez credits the English Language Learners Program through Norwalk Public Schools for his success, as do many others. The district has seen an influx of ELL students in the past five years, adding nearly 200 more in the past year alone. When I started I wasnt confident at all, Cortez said. I have friends who started ELL at the same time as me and they are still shy to speak, but Im not. I dont really care if I mess up, thats how I learn. Superintendent Steven Adamowski called Norwalk the district of choice for ELL students, citing high test scores and success among the districts ELL students. Several have even become valedictorians in recent years. In the budget request approved by the Board of Education last week, additional funding next year will be used to bring in more staff to support the influx of students, who cost about 30 percent more to educate than English-speaking students, Adamowski said.. More Information Speaking up Norwalk Public Schools has seen an influx of English Language Learners in the past five years, adding nearly 200 more in the past year alone. 2011-12: 1,292 2012-13: 1,304 2013-14: 1,294 2014-15: 1,572 2015-16: 1,585 2016-17: 1,683 See More Collapse As of October 2017, the district had about 1,800 ELL students, up from roughly 1,200 in 2011. Thats roughly 16 percent of the student population, and nearly 40 percent speak a second language even if theyre not English Language Learners. The students come from 40 different countries, and speak 36 languages, according to district data. Helene Becker, instructional specialist for English Language Learners, said in recent years the district has seen an increase in the number of unaccompanied youth moving to Norwalk from countries like Honduras, Guatemala, Venezuela and El Salvador, many of whom have a limited education in their native language, let alone English. Those countries are very violent and students have come here risking a lot but their situations are so dire that theyve had to leave their countries, Becker said. We started to get these students probably in 2013, and then by 2015 we had so many of them that we had to develop a special program just for them at the high school level because a lot of them because of the disruption in their countries and the violence a lot of them had been out of school for several years and just havent had good educational opportunities for many years, so we developed a special program just for them so that we could catch them up and they could graduate. Becker said the majority of ELL students actually begin in kindergarten. Often these students speak another language at home, and then learn English when they begin school. Becker, who has overseen the ELL program since 2006, said the program has become a model for other districts. As the program grows, weve had to make adjustments to meet the needs of the students and we have done that and the superintendent has been supportive of that, and has helped me with additional staff as needed, and we try to keep up with the latest research and materials so that we can give our students the best, Becker said. I think were doing a nice job for the kids with a lot of work and effort and support. About seven years ago, the district also started a summer program for ELL students, under Beckers direction. The program, which started with just 30 students, is an intensive six-week program to accelerate students and better prepare them for the school year. The program has grown to 175 students, and Becker said she expects the coming summer to enroll even more students. The goal is to accelerate students, Becker said. Its not a remedial program. Its to give the students a step up so they can learn more English, more quickly and graduate on time. Were always trying to help them so that they can graduate and get to college or a career. Becker also cited the ELL Welcome Center as a highlight of the program she is particularly proud of. Located at city hall, families visit the welcome center before they even enroll in classes. Equipped with bilingual facilitators and friendly environment, Becker said the goal is to make families feel comfortable about enrolling in Norwalk schools. At the welcome center, students take placement tests in English as well as their native language, and receive workbooks and gifts. Becker said often the entire family visits the welcome center, spilling out into the hallways. We really try to make them feel like were happy that theyre here, Becker said. kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt MINNEAPOLIS Key senators and farm groups are trying to fix a provision in the federal tax overhaul that gave an unexpected tax break to farmers who sell their crops to cooperatives rather than regular companies. Lawmakers say they didnt intend to give a competitive advantage to co-ops. But its not clear they can rework the legislation given the partisan divide on Capitol Hill. That means many companies from local grain companies to agribusiness giants such as Cargill and ADM could wind up paying more for crops than co-ops. The provision from GOP Sens. John Thune of South Dakota and John Hoeven of North Dakota surfaced in the final days of the debate over the tax bill, which President Donald Trump signed last month. Thune and Hoeven wanted to replace a deduction that benefited co-ops in the old law, which was being dropped, and they wanted to make sure farmers didnt wind up with a tax increase. But the final language went further than maintaining the status quo. I think at the end of the day what it boiled down to is the staff didnt know what they were doing. ... They rushed this thing through, said U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota, the ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee. Agricultural co-ops are typically owned by farmers, and they provide their members with help with marketing crops, purchasing supplies and various other services. They range from small and local co-ops to big, nationwide ones such as Land O Lakes and Sunkist Growers. The new provision lets farmers deduct 20 percent of their gross sales to co-ops, but only 20 percent of their net income if they sell to other companies. The difference is big enough that farmers who sell to co-ops could entirely eliminate their tax bills. If it stands the way it is, youre going to see a dramatic change in who farmers sell their product to, said Paul Neiffer, a partner with CliftonLarsonAllen, a national accounting firm with clients on both sides. Farmers who do sell to regular companies may be able to command higher prices to help make up for the lower tax break. Kristine Tidgren, assistant director of the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation at Iowa State University, calculated that a farmer with $300,000 in income from grain sales to a regular company and $180,000 in expenses would have $86,400 in taxable income for the year. If that same producer sells to a co-op, she said, the farmer would have just $48,000 in taxable income. Its a huge difference. ... Weve tried to tell everyone to hold on and see what happens before you make any major changes to your business, she said. Hoevens chief of staff, Ryan Bernstein, said the senators didnt intend to give a competitive advantage to co-ops and their farmer-patrons. Theyve been working with the National Grain and Feed Association, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives and other parties to find a quick solution, he said. Greg Ibach, undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said the tax code shouldnt pick winners and losers and the agency expects a correction. The new tax break has at least one defender, the North Dakota Farmers Union. The groups president, Mark Watne, said efforts to change it may not be in the best interest of farmers or the viability of cooperatives. Spokespeople for Thune and Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said theyre supporting efforts to fix the provision. Randy Gordon, president of the National Grain and Feed Association, which represents co-ops as well as regular companies, said theres been progress in the past week. He said in a newsletter Wednesday that all sides have held several meetings and conference calls to explore alternatives. Minnesota-based Land OLakes, the countrys third-largest agricultural co-op, and Illinois-based ADM both said they look forward to a fix. But it wont be simple. Bernstein said Hoeven and Thune are looking at attaching it to must-pass legislation, likely a big spending bill expected to come up late next month. That assumes that everyone agrees on a solution by then. Even a must-pass bill likely would require 60 votes to pass the Senate, which would require some support from Democrats. All its going to take is a couple Democrats in the Senate to derail the whole thing. ... Im willing to help, but it looks like a long shot to me, Peterson said. DES MOINES, Iowa Federal government regulators proposed changes Friday in the way most hogs slaughtered for meat in the United States are processed in a series of new rules that officials say improve industry practices but critics say could imperil food safety. The new rules would allow hog slaughter plants to voluntarily join a new proposed inspection system that would put plant employees in charge of determining which animals are unfit for processing. Government inspectors who currently perform this function would be moved to other areas of the plant focused more on food safety, said U.S. Department of Agriculture Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Carmen Rottenberg. The proposed rules are similar to ones rolled out in 2014 for the poultry industry. Critics have said such changes turn too much of the inspection and food safety testing over to the companies, creating increased risk of food-borne illnesses from contaminated meat as well as an increased risk of inhumane treatment of animals. We think that food safety is going to suffer from this, said Tony Corbo, a senior lobbyist at Food & Water Watch, a Washington-based advocacy group that is calling for USDA to drop the proposed rules. We opposed what they did in poultry and were opposing what theyre doing here. This is a belated Christmas gift to the industry. Rottenberg insists the changes could improve food safety and said they would still require government inspectors to look at all hog carcasses processed. There is no single technology or process to address the problem of foodborne illness, but when we focus our inspections on food safety-related tasks, we better protect American families, she said. The proposed rules would also increase the number of hogs plants could process by revoking limits on line speeds and allowing plants to determine their own speeds. Corbo argued the move could endanger workers and reduce quality control. Maximum line speeds are currently set at 1,106 hogs per hour, meaning each line in a plant is allowed to handle that number of carcasses each hour. The USDA said five pilot plants operating at their own established speeds have operated efficiently but safely. Corbo said data hes collected indicate the pilot plants have had significantly higher noncompliance reports in key areas including sanitation. The USDAs Food Safety and Inspection Service, which is proposing the rules, said the new system is unlikely to result in increased bacterial contamination of hog carcasses and could lower it, which in turn may result in fewer human illnesses. Companies may choose not to adopt the new rules and could continue to operate under the existing inspection system. The voluntary inspection program would apply only to those processing plants slaughtering market hogs, animals about six months old weighing around 250 pounds (115 kilograms), which make up about 96 percent of the pork products sold to consumers. After officially posting the rules in the next few days, the agency will begin taking comments, which could lead to changes in the proposal. No date has been set for enactment. A second set of rules proposed Friday would be mandatory and require all pork processing plants to implement their own new daily documentation on how they prevent bacterial contamination of carcasses and procedures for microbial testing. USDA has been working on changes to pork processing since 2002, Rottenberg said. The agency said the U.S. has 612 swine slaughter plants under federal inspection. They process about 118 million hogs a year. Unlike NASCAR drivers, who trade paint, people at a seminar Friday evening traded ideas about paint. The seminar, which was part of the Central Nebraska Home Show, was hosted by Chris McLaud of the Grand Island Diamond Vogel store. McLaud told his audience that popular colors right now are light blue, or gray with a tint of blue. Diamond Vogels color of the year was called Atmospheric Pressure, which is a light blue-gray. The popularity of the color has a lot to do with people who are moving to a new house. Gray and light blue will appeal to people looking at the house they leave behind, McLaud said. Prospective buyers arent impressed with boring colors, or with something wild. They prefer fun but neutral, he said. Colors help determine how big a room looks, he said. Even though white has literally been around forever, many people consider it modern. White will dress up any room, he said. It remains popular with trim, doors and kitchen cabinets. McLaud, who is the stores manager, has eight years of experience as a painter himself. Among other things, McLaud said some people make the mistake of thinking egg shell is a color. It is actually a popular sheen, he said. He told the story of a woman who adorned her bathroom with a light orange ceiling, typical orange walls and a pastel orange floor. When McLaud questioned her about it, she said she was doing it for herself. Its not my husbands bathroom. Its not my kids bathroom. Its MY bathroom, she said. McLaud showed the audience how to use tape to leave a perfect line between paint colors. It calls for an extra step. Using the tape correctly will seal the paint, preventing one color from bleeding onto another. McLaud encourages people to bring plenty of samples home to see how a color looks in their home. All colors will be darker in the basement because of a lack of light, he said. He also said if you have vinyl siding, it must be painted either the same color or lighter. A darker paint will warp the siding. McLaud will present the same seminar at 2 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. The Home Show runs through Sunday at Fonner Parks Pinnacle Bank Expo Building. Presented by the Central Nebraska Home Builders Association, the show features 114 exhibitors. Organizers of the home show would like to see curious couples show up Saturday and Sunday. The show is of interest even to people who arent building, said Terri Holtzen, general manager of Christensen Concrete Products. Theres a lot to see for people who are thinking about remodeling or adding on, she said. Fridays other seminar was presented by Greg Geis, owner of Island Indoor Climate. Geis talked about the benefits of geothermal heating and cooling. Geothermal, he said, is the most comfortable and efficient system you can own. For a typical 2,500-square-foot home, annual heating, cooling and hot water costs are about $575. Installing a geothermal system, he said, is the environmental equivalent of planting 750 trees or taking two cars off the road. Geothermal water heating uses can include providing radiant floor heat. For a normal home in Grand Island, the cost of a geothermal system would be about $14,000, he said. Thats assuming the house totals about 1,800 square feet. In the country, a geothermal system would cost a homeowner about $10,000. With more real estate, a different loop system could be used underground, accounting for the lower cost. Geis will also discuss geothermal systems at 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. One of the exhibitors was Gene Tillotson of Tillotson Enterprises in Kearney. Among other things, the companys foam can be used to level concrete. It is also used for insulation and for roof coating. The past year was difficult for many in the Latino community and particularly in the immigrant and refugee communities. This new year continues to be difficult. The administration of our already great country has taken steps and actions that have made many people feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. The congressional leadership, with the exception of a few, has done little to correct the administrations decisions and actions. It appears that many of our elected congressional representatives vote along party lines and do not cross those party lines to benefit our communities, even when their actions do not demonstrate their faith beliefs. In our communities and across the nation citizens have been allowed to express their racist, hurtful opinions and actions. After our history of being a welcoming country of immigrants and refugees we have become a country that doesnt them. Facts - Since 2010, 3.6 million immigrants have become naturalized U.S. citizens. - Unauthorized immigrants pay a wide range of taxes, including sales taxes where applicable and property taxes, directly if they own and indirectly if they pay rent. - Estimates are that undocumented migrants pay $11.64 billion every year in state and local taxes. - In many cases it can take over a decade for legal permanent residents to unify with immediate family members from Mexico, the Philippines, and other countries. - The U.S. resettled 53,716 refugees in fiscal year 2017 including 20,232 from Africa, 5,173 from East Asia, 5,205 from Europe, 1,688 from Latin America and 21,418 from the Near East. - In 2016, the U.S. and Mexico returned 216,872 people to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Immigrants and refugees have always contributed to this country. From the very beginning our country has included: the Pilgrims, the Revolutionists, the railroad workers, the garment workers, the industrial workers, the service workers, the pioneers, the incarcerated Japanese (who were American citizens), the braceros and field workers. Our people have also included doctors, members of Congress, teachers, scientists, authors, lawyers, professors, nurses, bankers, and governors. Throughout the west and in Nebraska many families (immigrants) received land grants and have been able to keep their land in their families for many generations. We have a long history of immigration which has made our country as great as it is, and sometimes we dont recognize the blessings and the benefits that we have received. Dreamers For the past few weeks bipartisan members of Congress have been working to get a clean Dream Act and hope for our Dreamers passed. In Nebraska the economic benefits of passing the Dream Act and the number of Dreamers who are in the Nebraska workforce include: - 3,400 current DACA Dreamers. - 7,000 young people eligible. - The Education Bump (assuming that half of those eligible for the Dream Act obtain LPR status through the educational pathway by gaining either an associates degree or two years toward a bachelors degree). Their total productivity and their economic contributions increase. GDP increase annually is $247 million just in Nebraska. Nationally, research shows that of the 1.3 million DACA eligible individuals, age 16 and above, more than 90 percent were employed in 2015. That group earned $19.9 billion in income and contributed roughly $3 billion in taxes that year. This clean Dream Act must not include bargaining for the wall that is not needed and additional funding for security. We cannot use our Dreamers and their status and future as bargaining tools. By ending DACA, President Trump has left over 800,000 young people at risk for deportation and Congress has done nothing. Seventy-six percent of Americans want Dreamers to remain either as citizens or as LPRs, including two-thirds of Trump supporters. Americans believe families should stay together. Erecting an ugly, divisive and pointless wall tears apart Dreamers and their families. Naturalization Nationally more than 1 million LPRs have applied for naturalization, which is a 10.5 percent increase over last year. Currently there are 708,638 pending applications, which is an increase of 35 percent in the backlog of pending applications over last year and a 77 percent increase in the last two years. In fiscal year 2017, in quarter 2 (through June) 1,056 applications for naturalization have been received, 876 applications had been processed and the number of pending applications is 2,235. The number of applications received shows a spike of 5.7 percent and a backlog growth of 51.9 percent. Immigrants want to become U.S. citizens. We are asking Congress to investigate why this is happening and it needs to be addressed with additional funding. Currently for legal permanent residents seeking to renew their LPR cards they are running almost a year behind. Temporary protected status We are asking that TPS or temporary protected status not be terminated. We know that people here under the TPS program are here from countries that have been ravaged by war, violence, economic conditions and other factors that make it unsafe for them to return home. Eliminating that program affects thousands from those countries who have lived here in the USA for up to 20 years and whose children are U.S. citizens because they were born here. This is just another example of how we can tear apart and separate families. Individuals in both DACA and TPS have lived in the United States for most of their lives. Dreamers have known no other home. The USA is their home. Many times, they do not know the country they came from, they may not know the language or the culture and often they dont have family in their home country. If we do not support a clean Dream Act these young people will go to a country they do not belong to and they will be separated from their families. Recipients of TPS cross generations that have lived in the U.S. for many years. There are parents, children who are U.S. citizens, and even grandchildren who are U.S. citizens. Losing TPS could potentially separate families across up to three generations. As a retired educator and principal with a combined teaching experience of more than 30 years, I had the privilege of teaching and knowing children from literally all over the world. Most of the students I taught were hard working, enthusiastic, respectful students who wanted to learn English, to succeed in school and to graduate from high school. Many students and most of their parents wanted the American dream of going to college and earning a degree, and like all U.S. citizen parents they wanted a better life for their children. Where you are from or what that piece of paper says doesnt change what we want for our kids. Currently I work at UNK with scholars who are receiving scholarships to study to become teachers. These students are amazing students who graduated from high school at the top of their classes and are studying at UNK and succeeding every semester. Many are regularly on the Deans List. Several of these students are Dreamers. They should be allowed to complete their education and earn their degree. Each of these students will be an amazing teacher who will have an opportunity to show and prove to their students what hard work and commitment can help you achieve. Deporting people who should legally be allowed to stay here is not the American way. We ask our representatives and all of Congress to pass a clean Dream Act and to continue with TPS. Yolanda Chavez Nuncio was born and raised in Grand Island. She is a retired educator and principal. She is currently working part time for Jesus Tena Law and for the UNK College of Education in the Office of Multicultural Affairs. Ben Rhodes and Samantha Power, key foreign policy advisers to former US President Barack Obama, have apologized for not recognizing what has happened to Armenians in the Ottoman Empire 100 years ago as genocide a topic that would deteriorate the American-Turkish relations, Politico reports. January 20, 2018, 12:49 Obamas top advisers sorry they did not recognize Armenian Genocide STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 20, ARTSAKHPRESS:It was a mistake. We should have recognized the Armenian Genocide, Ben Rhodes said. I'm sorry added, Samantha Power, Obama's ambassador to the United Nations, said. I'm sorry that we disappointed so many Armenian Americans. The two shared their regrets earlier this week in response to an audience question during an episode of Pod Save the World, a podcast hosted by Tommy Vietor, another former Obama aide. According to Politico, their statements were unusually frank given the sensitivity of an issue that has bedeviled US presidents for years. Every year there was a reason not to. Turkey was vital to some issue that we were dealing with, or there was some dialogue between Turkey and the Armenian government about the past. Frankly, here's the lesson, I think, going forward: Get it done the first year, you know, because if you don't it gets harder every year in a way, Rhodes said. Samantha Power said that the US administration was "played a little bit" by Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and others invested in delaying the Armenian Genocide recognition. Erdogan was well-attuned to the US political mood and calendar, and he and others would hold out the possibility that by uttering the word "genocide" Obama might derail ongoing attempts at rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia. According to her, Obama always thought he could meet a campaign promise and deliver for the Armenian Americans to whom he has made this promise. And then what? What if it sets back this thing [the diplomatic dialogue] that could be much more promising?' I think he really believed that it could have that perverse effect, because he was told that by people who studied the region and knew the region, she added. Politico writes that Armenian Americans were bitterly disappointed in Obama's failure to fulfill his campaign promise. The comments by Rhodes and Power did little to appease community leaders who felt it was too little, too late. The time for anyone to get this issue right is when they're in office, Aram Suren Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, said, adding that there's another person his community would like to hear from. Obama should explain why he didn't honor his pledge. And I think he owes us an apologyhe owes the American people an apology, Hamparian said. In her turn Samantha Power stated: Just tell the truth. It's safer in the long run. Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite By Jake Bernstein Henry Holt. 335 pp. $30 --- In the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, it became clear to intelligence agencies that tracking the funds of terrorist groups and individuals was one of the most powerful tools at their disposal. Thus, "follow the money," a Watergate-era dictum, acquired renewed relevance in the 21st century. Monitoring money flows would not only allow those fighting terrorism to disrupt al-Qaeda's financial support, but, even more important, it could provide actionable intelligence about the terrorists' identities, their whereabouts and, in some cases, even their future targets. Unfortunately, it became equally apparent that there were significant hurdles in tracking these money flows. The international financial system was rife with centuries-old rules, institutions and practices that made it very easy for banks to shield their clients' identities and hide their assets and transactions from the prying eyes of tax authorities, law enforcement agencies, and litigious business partners or former spouses. Guaranteeing secrecy and anonymity to their customers was the main promise of most banks catering to a wealthy international clientele. This needed to change. Thus, the month after the attacks, Congress enacted the Patriot Act, a broad set of provisions aimed at enhancing domestic security against terrorism, strengthening border controls, boosting surveillance and improving intelligence gathering. The law also included a section "intended to facilitate the prevention, detection and prosecution of international money laundering." This mandated strict new controls on financial transactions and unprecedented banking regulations, such as the obligation to know the identities of the ultimate owners of accounts held offshore and of those involved in international money transfers. Moreover, Washington vigorously pressed other nations to adopt similar measures. Four years later, as part of my research for a book on global illicit trades, I interviewed in Zurich a well-known private banker who specialized in what he described as "wealth management for high-net-worth individuals from around the world." I asked him how much harder it was now for his clients to hide fortunes or move them around. He smiled and calmly replied: "The main difference is that now I charge more." In "Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite," two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Jake Bernstein shows that almost two decades of governmental efforts to make the global financial system more transparent have yielded scant results. While the system is now more tightly regulated and its controls harder to evade, those who have the motives and the money can still buy opacity, anonymity and secrecy for their financial dealings. Provided, of course, that they retain the assistance of experts like the lawyer I interviewed in Zurich or Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm that until 2016 was one of the world's largest providers of offshore financial services. But what are those? A leaked internal memorandum from the firm helpfully explained that 95 percent of its work consisted of "selling vehicles to avoid taxes."Mossfon, as the giant law firm is also known, is the source that underpins Bernstein's exhaustive investigation of what he calls the "largely unregulated place known as the secrecy world," where, in his estimate, 8 percent of the world's household financial wealth is hidden. Bernstein, an experienced journalist, was a senior member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) team that broke the Panama Papers story, which in 2017 won the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting. The Panama Papers consist of more than 11 million files stolen from Mossack Fonseca and anonymously obtained by the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, which turned for help in analyzing them to the ICIJ. The consortium then organized a massive investigative effort that eventually involved journalists from 107 media organizations in more than 80 countries. The large endeavor was necessary because of the scale of the leak, which included files for more than 200,000 Mossfon clients from the past 40 years. The files contained 2.6 terabytes of data, far more than the information made public by WikiLeaks in 2010 or Edward Snowden in 2013. But as Bernstein painstakingly documents, the impact of the Panama Papers was not due to just the huge size of the leak but the details it revealed about how the shadowy world works and who some of its inhabitants are. Most of them are not household names, just very rich individuals. And because owning an offshore corporate entity is not illegal, many of Mossfon's clients use the complex legal structures the firm designed for them for legitimate purposes. Bernstein, however, is not that interested in the run-of-mill global rich who seek anonymity. Instead, he concentrates on telling the stories of those who broke the law, evaded taxes, circumvented international sanctions, hid assets, cheated partners, or "normalized" fortunes made through crime and corruption. Among Mossfon's best-known clients are a dozen current or former heads of state, including dictators with immense fortunes that were impossible to accumulate honestly. They also include more than 60 relatives and friends of heads of state and influential politicians, including close associates of Vladimir Putin and relatives of eight current and former members of China's ruling body. Bernstein also notes that "though Donald Trump did not personally interact with Mossack Fonseca, the Trump Organization engaged in real estate transactions with Panama-based Mossfon companies as early as 1994." The book concludes with a chapter titled "The Secrecy World Enters the White House," which describes how several important - and quite shadowy - business associates of the current president had extensive links to Mussfon. In a brief epilogue, the author does not discuss the broader context that has shaped and is now changing the illicit world he so ably dissected. Instead, Bernstein describes the details of the predictable decline of Mossfon and then goes into the organizational frictions that led the ICIJ to part ways with its parent organization, the Center for Public Integrity. While the book's ending paragraphs stress that, even before the publication of the Panama Papers, the secrecy world was adapting and changing to new circumstances, Bernstein does not offer any significant insights about the future of that world. He does note that "secret bank accounts were finding new homes in Dubai and Singapore" and that "the only difference was that it now cost more." But many questions linger. What are we to make of the fact that the most important disruption to the secrecy world was caused not by the substantial and long-term efforts of governments but by John Doe, the anonymous person who leaked the Panama Papers? What are the larger implications of the fact that one of the leading dwellers of the secrecy world was a giant, but largely unknown and poorly regulated Panamanian law firm? And the fact that the organization leading the global investigation was not one of the world's media powerhouses, but instead a small nongovernmental organization that despite its meager financial resources deployed what probably was one of the largest journalistic projects ever undertaken? What about the end of privacy and secrecy? Can the rich who hide their money behind seemingly secure offshore legal structures sleep well at night, knowing that hackers and whistleblowers may divulge to the world their most private and sensitive financial secrets at any time? As Bernstein correctly suggests, many aspects of the secrecy world are still intact. But many others are in flux. The broader world is changing rapidly. And that will create a very different offshore world from the one that has hitherto existed. --- Naim is a distinguished fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the author of "The End of Power: From Boardrooms to Battlefields and Churches to States, Why Being in Charge Isn't What It Used to Be" and "Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers, and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy." As part of its dedication to the health of every dog and cat even after they are adopted to loving families, the Metro East Humane Society has joined efforts with Ark Animal Hospital in Edwardsville to provide its new Well Pet veterinary referral partnership. The program provides a complimentary wellness exam and one month of free heart-worm preventative. Both are offered to MEHS adopted pets from one of the areas premier veterinarians. Ark Animal Hospital, located on Goshen Road in Edwardsville, was founded by Dr. Sarah Smith. Her animal hospital features a compassionate, caring staff with years of experience and expertise in general veterinary care, emergency/critical care, dermatology and geriatric medicine. The hospital offers a calm, kid-friendly atmosphere where families can receive high-quality healthcare for their beloved pets. Anne Schmidt, MEHS Executive Director, was excited about this new partnership with Dr. Smith and Ark Animal Hospital. Weve heard from numerous pet parents about the incredible customer service theyve received at Ark Animal Hospital, Schmidt said. Dr. Smith and her staff are focused on giving adopted pets the best start to their new life by expanding the quality care they received at MEHS and providing their new owners with critical health information geared to their specific needs. According to the MEHS website, MEHS has been in existence since 1985 when a group called the Madison County Coalition Against Pound Seizure formed to lobby for an end to the County Animal Controls practice of selling animals to laboratories for research. After the coalition successfully put an end to that practice, the groups leaders formed what is now the Metro East Humane Society and incorporated in 1986, the website further states. MEHS leased space in the county facility until September 1995, when we opened our own shelter at 8495 State Route 143, Edwardsville. MEHS currently serves a five-county area in southwestern Illinois and offers an adoption program for homeless animals. In 2016 MEHS placed more than 700 dogs and cats in forever family homes, but 2017 was its busiest year to date. It saved 947 homeless animals, found homes for 920 critters, provided low cost veterinary services to 1,050 Metro East pets and Trapped-Neutered-Returned (TNR) 124 feral cats. The MEHS TNR program is relatively new. Since its inception last August, MEHS had trapped over 100 feral cats, neutered them and returned them to their colonies. The idea is to keep these feral colonies of cats from reproducing which will allow them to live their full lives avoiding being euthanized - yet resulting in the colonies eventually dying off naturally. Stephanie Pfaff, MEHS Development Manager, explained that a TNR program is becoming a more common practice in communities and is a part of the MEHS initiative to become no-kill by 2021. The organizations success and what it can do depends greatly upon the money it raises through fundraisers, and as Pfaff pointed out, this year they were mixing it up. Rather than have another 5K run or trivia night which are quite common these days, MEHS is planning a variety of creative fundraisers. Were trying to engage the community and get people excited, Pfaff said. The first new fundraiser is an Adult Spelling Bee that takes place Saturday at Recess Brewing in Edwardsville. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the event starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 per person with teams of three to four. Recess Brewing will be donating $1 to MEHS for every pint of beer sold. Theres no pre-registration. Its first-come, first-served with room for 50 people. Pfaff expected a crowd and suggested that people come early rather than close to the start time to get a seat. One of the board members is going to MC the event. Hes a character so its going to be a lot of fun, she said. Then on March 9, MEHS is hosting a Rock and Roll Bingo at the VFW in Collinsville. In a game where Name That Tune meets bingo, players identify music artists after a short clip and must get a row, column or diagonal of five artists for a win. Theres a little something for everyone with rounds of Oldies, 90s, television show theme songs and more. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the bingo begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 per person if registering in advance through the MEHS website at www.mehs.org or $25 per person at the door. This event will feature a 50-50 raffle, silent auction and cash bar. To learn more about MEHS, visit their website at www.mehs.org or its Metro East Humane Society Facebook page. BETHALTO A new comprehensive plan for Madison County could be finished by the spring and be acted on by the county in early summer, according to a consultant working on the project. Stephen Ibendahl, of the I5 Group, was one of several officials representing the countys Planning and Development Department at an open house in Bethalto Tuesday. A second meeting was conducted Wednesday and another is scheduled for Tuesday. The plan is the countys official land use guide and is used to develop zoning and other regulations. Only a few people came out for the early part of Tuesdays meeting. Ibendahl said the cold weather would probably cut attendance. James Donahue, of Cottage Hills, came out because he wanted to see what was going on. Its all interesting, he said. I try to keep up with things. Donahue added that he was especially interested in how the county is expected to grow. Charlie Yancey, of Fosterburg, is part of the commission working on the plan, and wanted to see how it was going. This is where we live, he said, adding that the emphasis is on encouragement of proper development and code enforcement. This plan is a lot clearer and more concise in general, he said. There is a greater emphasis on concentrating growth toward where there are urban areas rather than scattering subdivisions willy-nilly all over the countryside. Christine Favilla, representing the Sierra Club, said she wanted to make sure a lot of the elements that were in the last plan were moving forward. She noted the proposed plan is more easily accessible than the existing plan. It seems they did a really good job of reorganizing, she said. Theyve put it out in a much more readable and digestible format. A comprehensive plan by itself is not a regulatory document like zoning, but it provides a logical framework for evaluating zoning decisions in the future, Ibendahl said. The plan has not been updated since 2000. It covers agricultural, residential and economic development, as well as open space/recreation areas, transportation and other infrastructure issues. The countys zoning laws are also under review by the Planning and Development Department. Well take back what we hear and then finalize the draft (comprehensive) plan, Ibendahl said. After it is completed in early spring, there will be public hearings before it moves to the Planning and Development Committee and finally a vote by the County Board. The key thing for a comprehensive plan is laying out the land-use policy for a county for the next 15-20 years, he said. Long-range planning is not an exciting topic, but its an important topic in terms of how the county should grow. As part of the process, residents can participate in a survey at www.OurFutureMadisonCounty.com. According to planning documents, a survey showed that the close proximity to St. Louis (78 percent), the rural/small town atmosphere (78 percent), high quality of life (56 percent), and good schools (56 percent) were some of the high points of living in Madison County. Both are offered to MEHS adopted pets from one of the areas premier veterinarians. Ark Animal Hospital, located on Goshen Road in Edwardsville, was founded by Dr. Sarah Smith. Her animal hospital features a compassionate, caring staff with years of experience and expertise in general veterinary care, emergency/critical care, dermatology and geriatric medicine. The hospital offers a calm, kid-friendly atmosphere where families can receive high-quality healthcare for their beloved pets. Anne Schmidt, MEHS Executive Director, was excited about this new partnership with Dr. Smith and Ark Animal Hospital. Weve heard from numerous pet parents about the incredible customer service theyve received at Ark Animal Hospital, Schmidt said. Dr. Smith and her staff are focused on giving adopted pets the best start to their new life by expanding the quality care they received at MEHS and providing their new owners with critical health information geared to their specific needs. According to the MEHS website, MEHS has been in existence since 1985 when a group called the Madison County Coalition Against Pound Seizure formed to lobby for an end to the County Animal Controls practice of selling animals to laboratories for research. After the coalition successfully put an end to that practice, the groups leaders formed what is now the Metro East Humane Society and incorporated in 1986, the website further states. MEHS leased space in the county facility until September 1995, when we opened our own shelter at 8495 State Route 143, Edwardsville. MEHS currently serves a five-county area in southwestern Illinois and offers an adoption program for homeless animals. In 2016 MEHS placed more than 700 dogs and cats in forever family homes, but 2017 was its busiest year to date. It saved 947 homeless animals, found homes for 920 critters, provided low cost veterinary services to 1,050 Metro East pets and Trapped-Neutered-Returned (TNR) 124 feral cats. The MEHS TNR program is relatively new. Since its inception last August, MEHS had trapped over 100 feral cats, neutered them and returned them to their colonies. The idea is to keep these feral colonies of cats from reproducing which will allow them to live their full lives avoiding being euthanized - yet resulting in the colonies eventually dying off naturally. Stephanie Pfaff, MEHS Development Manager, explained that a TNR program is becoming a more common practice in communities and is a part of the MEHS initiative to become no-kill by 2021. The organizations success and what it can do depends greatly upon the money it raises through fundraisers, and as Pfaff pointed out, this year they were mixing it up. Rather than have another 5K run or trivia night which are quite common these days, MEHS is planning a variety of creative fundraisers. Were trying to engage the community and get people excited, Pfaff said. The first new fundraiser is an Adult Spelling Bee that takes place Saturday at Recess Brewing in Edwardsville. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the event starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 per person with teams of three to four. Recess Brewing will be donating $1 to MEHS for every pint of beer sold. Theres no pre-registration. Its first-come, first-served with room for 50 people. Pfaff expected a crowd and suggested that people come early rather than close to the start time to get a seat. One of the board members is going to MC the event. Hes a character so its going to be a lot of fun, she said. Then on March 9, MEHS is hosting a Rock and Roll Bingo at the VFW in Collinsville. In a game where Name That Tune meets bingo, players identify music artists after a short clip and must get a row, column or diagonal of five artists for a win. Theres a little something for everyone with rounds of Oldies, 90s, television show theme songs and more. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the bingo begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 per person if registering in advance through the MEHS website at www.mehs.org or $25 per person at the door. This event will feature a 50-50 raffle, silent auction and cash bar. To learn more about MEHS, visit their website at www.mehs.org or its Metro East Humane Society Facebook page. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, January 20, 2018 09:30 1763 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c1d1326 1 Food coffee,Indonesian-coffee,#coffee Free As one of the world's largest coffee exporters after Brazil and Vietnam, Indonesia serves as an interesting coffee destination with plantations spreading from Aceh to Papua. Below are some of the things to know about Indonesian coffee. Characteristics of coffee beans Coffee beans in Indonesia basically consist of arabica, robusta and liberica, according to Indra Febriansyah, co-owner of Moodbooster Coffee. Each of the coffee bean types have their own characteristics either from the beans shape, size, aroma, flavor, location and the height of the plantations, Indra said. According to Anindita Sekar Jati of Tanamera Coffee Indonesia, the quality of the coffee is determined by several factors, among them being natural and postharvest factors. Every region has different geographical characteristics, from its soil to temperature to water quality, said Anindita. In terms of flavor, each coffee has its own taste note. There are certain terms to explain a coffees character, such as fruity, clean, nutty and smooth. Read also: You may want to rethink that pre-flight cup of coffee Which coffee you should drink Sadat, a barista at Tanamera Coffee Indonesia, suggested you try Malabar Natural originating from West Java. It has a fruity, sweet aroma with caramel and fruity flavors. Those who enjoy chocolatey-smelling coffee can also try Toraja. Originating from South Toraja, South Sulawesi, this type of coffee has caramel and nutty flavors with citric acidity. Indra also recommended Aceh gayo coffee, which is commonly used in most coffee shops. Aceh gayo [coffee] is often used for milk coffee []; you can expect an acid flavor coming from the coffee, but it can test [your] taste on whether [you] prefer a more acid or earthy-flavored coffee, Indra explained. Balinese coffee is also a must-try as it has a fruity note that provides a refreshing taste. But those who are still exploring their taste in coffee should give those from West Java a try. These coffees' acid flavor is not too dominant, yet not too earthy, Indra said. Ways to enjoy your coffee The Aeropress machine is one of the tools available for the manual-brewing technique. (Shutterstock/File) There are many ways to consume coffee; [you] can use an espresso machine or use manual brew[ing technique], Indra said. It depends on your own taste. If you want to try manual coffee brewing methods, you may need to prepare some tools, like V60, Chemex, Aeropress, Siphon or simply just use kopi tubruk (literally translated as "collision coffee") method; although you may still taste a little bit of the coffee grinds. There is also the widely known French Press which, for Sadat, already gives a satisfying result. But if you want your coffee to be even clearer, he suggested using a filter. Compared to the manual brewing technique, an espresso machine will result in a stronger espresso shot. But of course theres a particular skill that needs to be learned when using an espresso machine and manual brewing technique, Indra stated. The simplest way would definitely be kopi tubruk it suits our archipelago taste, right? Read also: Five must-try legendary coffee shops around Indonesia Make your own coffee For those interested in making their own coffee, Indra suggested purchasing a manual coffee grinder and then brewing it using one of the manual brew techniques, such as V60 (pour over). It also means that you need to buy a dripper and filter. Some shops that specialize in coffee sell a starter kit for manual brewing, he added. Best time to enjoy a cup of coffee For Sadat, drinking coffee can be done between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., depending on each persons caffeine needs. People ideally drink coffee in the morning to make them more energized, while in the afternoon there are people who drink coffee to be more relaxed, said Sadat, adding that many people choose to sip espresso in the morning and gulp down manual-brewed or filtered black coffee in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Indra said the best time to fulfil your caffeine dose was between 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., as you may not want to drink coffee directly after waking up in the morning so as to avoid getting addicted to starting every day with the beverage. It is also recommended to have a cup of espresso that is low in calories. [But] if you prefer to have milk in your coffee, then it is advised to drink cappuccino because it has lower ratio of milk compared to a latte, Indra explained, adding that people who want to keep their body in shape may consider using low-fat milk. (kes) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, January 20, 2018 08:10 1764 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c1cfd2f 4 People Prince-William,royals,#royals,#Prince,hairstyle Free Britains Prince William reportedly appeared with a new, close-shaven hairstyle on Thursday during his visit to the Evelina London Childrens Hospital in London. The move garnered the attention and scrutiny of netizens worldwide. Prince William went full Bruce Willis by shaving the hair he was rapidly losing. Thats the only move, in my opinion. Good idea Prince Willis Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) January 19, 2018 Finally submitting to his thinning hair, Prince William gets a buzz cut and looks oh so much better. President Trump, take note please. pic.twitter.com/AAGT5XoeWv Mike Sington (@MikeSington) January 18, 2018 Well done to #PrinceWilliam men in our hair situation have to take the plunge at some point. Looks good Sir. So much easier to manage Bravo @KensingtonRoyal Neil Quigley (@NeilQuigley) January 18, 2018 Read also: Prince William and Kate expecting third child: Palace According to The Sun, the Duke of Cambridge decided to go bald after being constantly teased by his brother Prince Harry about his receding hairline. A source mentioned that Wills had sought advice from Richard Ward, Kate Middletons longtime hairdresser. However, Wards deputy, Joey Wheeler, was said to have given the prince his new haircut in a private session at Kensington Palace. The veteran stylist reportedly used the scissor over comb freehand technique, giving Williams hair a soft finish. (jes/asw) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Keshie Hernitaningtyas (The Jakarta Post) Paris, France Sat, January 20, 2018 18:09 1763 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c1d8f00 1 Art & Culture Maison-Objet,exhibition,lifestyle,lifestyle-show,Ticket-To-The-Moon,bali Free Among the many European-flagged booths in Hall 6 of the giant interior design trade show Maison&Objet that kicked off in Paris on Friday, the Smart Gift themed booth S64 stood out with its Indonesian flag. One visitor asked the founder and CEO of the Ticket To The Moon brand occupying the booth, 50-year-old French Charles Charly Antoine Descotis: Are you Indonesian? No, Im French, said Charly, smiling. But this is an Indonesian brand? asked the visitor again. Yes, Charly answered proudly. We are based in Bali. Established in 1996, Ticket To The Moon (TTTM) was born out of Charlys passion as a backpacker. He has been fond of hammocks since he was a child he often used to fashion them out of his father's old straw nets. He landed in Indonesia when he was 28 years old, exploring Java and Bali. I really fell in love with Bali and its lifestyle. I wondered, what could I do in Bali [to make a living there]? I had no money and couldnt even speak English or Indonesian, he told The Jakarta Post at the show on Friday. The eco-friendly market bag, which comes with a 10-year guarantee, is among the products shown at the Ticket To The Moon booth at Maison&Objet January 2018. (JP/Keshie Hernitaningtyas) During his trip to India two years earlier, when he was living the hippy life with other backpackers, he bought some polyester fabric and made himself a hammock for protection against insects and dirt. Later in Bali, he went to a fabric shop in Denpasar and discovered a very strong parachute nylon made by PT Kahatex in Bandung. I tried to use it as a hammock. Not only is the fabric very strong, it is also lightweight, breathable, elastic, anti-mildew and resistant. After deciding to produce some hammocks using the parachute nylon, Charly, who has no formal background in design, then started selling them in Europe during his visits to music festivals, fairs and street markets all over the continent. They sold out in just a month and people started to ask him to make the hammock for them. The hammocks were initially just a way for me to travel; for me to be able to buy my tickets, pay for my food. I didnt mean for it to become a business, Charly said. Read also: Going global still a challenge for local interior design companies When he returned to Indonesia, he decided to trademark the brand and opened his first shop in Bali in 1998, and later a home factory in 2000. The company moved its production to a real factory in 2002 and later opened a 1,500-square-meter factory in 2014 that boasts optimal process solutions and working conditions. Among the products the brand has released are the Moon Chair, the Mini Moonchair, hammocks in five different sizes, the Pocket Frisbee made from cutting waste, the Mosquito Net and an aluminum carabiner. It is said to be the world leader in the parachute travel hammock market, which makes up 80 percent of the company's sales. As the company is also eager to be a zero-waste manufacturer, it launched new products in 2007, such as the beach blanket and a line of eco-friendly bags. It is also striving to become socially responsible, and since 2006 has been providing aid to the Kodi tribe in Southwest Sumba regency, Sumba Island, East Nusa Tenggara, to improve their living conditions while preserving their culture. The effort was later conducted officially through the TTTM Foundation established in 2009 to run aid programs in health, culture, education and development for the tribe in Mandorak county. I currently have 200 people working at the factory. Theyre not only Balinese, but also Sumbanese, Javanese, he said, adding that he had received no support from the government nor the local administration. As a foreigner, its difficult to develop the business; without any bank support and with all the administrative and legal documents. I could manufacture the products in China, but I dont want to. These people are not just my employees. Some have been working for me for 20 years. All the managers have been working for me since we started the company. Since he still gets the materials from Bandung-based PT Kahatex, he hopes to open a new factory in the West Java capital city. It will mean less transport, and we will be more green as we are striving to be a sustainable company, zero waste. He added, It would be nice to have some support from the Indonesian government, especially so we can extend our activities and develop exports. I believe we are the only Indonesian brand that is a leader in this market, exporting worldwide. When we go to International exhibitions, we are the only company from Indonesia. Read also: Lim Masulin, bringing Indonesia's weaving craftsmanship to the world stage Currently, Europe remains TTTMs biggest market, accounting for around 65 percent of its business. Followed by the United States with 10 percent all through online sales -- and Indonesia with just 5 percent. Although TTTM regularly participates in outdoor exhibitions in Indonesia and all over the world, this is the first time they have gone to Maison&Objet. My partners have actually been trying to get us into [Maison&Objet] for the last five years. Its a difficult exhibition to enter because they are super selective. They only look for attractive brands that can set the trend in home decoration, whereas we are more about outdoor pursuits and camping, said Charly, adding that he actually already had too many customers to handle, with the factory currently producing 1000 items per day, so the companys appearance at the event was mostly for marketing and connecting with his many customers in Europe. The Indonesian flag is seen on the Ticket To The Moon booth at Maison&Objet January 2018. (JP/Keshie Hernitaningtyas) But we currently also face strong competition from India and China, so we are looking for a new market in the home decoration scene. With a plan to open a new retail shop in Bangkok next week, the future already looks very promising for the company at the beginning of 2018. We have plans to launch a new range of reusable bags made from the waste produced from the hammock production. These bags will be very compact and solid, and should stop people from using plastic bags since our company is very concerned about the environment, he said. But ultimately, this company is not about making money, but about having a good life, and sharing that good life with my employees, my partners. (asw) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, January 20, 2018 18:38 1763 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c1d9ad4 1 City #airport,#AirportTrain,#Railink,#Jakarta,#fare Free Airport train operator, PT Railink is now applying different fares depending on which station passengers depart from, for journeys to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Previously, the airport train had applied a single fare of Rp 70,000 (US$5.25) from all departure stations to the airport. The airport train currently only serves three stations, Sudirman Baru (BNI City) station in Central Jakarta, Batu Ceper station in Tangerang and Soekarno-Hatta station. However, starting from Jan. 19, the fare will be different for each departure station. The fare from Sudirman Baru station (BNI City station) to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and vice versa remains Rp 70,000. While the fare from Batu Ceper station to the airport and vice versa is only Rp 35,000 (US$2.30), said Haerul Anwar, Branch Communication Manager of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, on Friday as quoted by Antara. PT Railink has also increased the frequency of trains on the airport service, from 42 journeys to 50 trips every day. "Passengers now have more flexibility in when they want to go to the airport, as trains are more frequent, said Haerul. (roi) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Bekasi Sat, January 20, 2018 16:28 1763 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c1d7757 1 City #ChildAbuse,#sexualabuse,#Police,#Bekasi Free The Bekasi Police in West Java have arrested an alleged sexual abuser following a three-month pursuit. The suspect, a religious studies teacher at a private school, was arrested at a rented house in Pekayon, Bekasi, on Jan. 12, while trying to flee to Lampung. He was arrested without any resistance, Bekasi Police chief Sr. Comr. Indarto said as quoted by tempo.co on Saturday. According to a police report, the 23-year-old suspect sexually abused three students on three separate occasions while they were sleeping. Of the three alleged victims, all of whom are male, one is aged 12 and two are 13 years old. The last student to be molested said he was awakened by the suspect's touch but pretended to sleep because he was afraid. He later reported the incident to another teacher the next day. The teacher filed a report in November, but we could not find the suspect when we looked for him at his rented house, Indarto said, adding that the police searched for the suspect at his relatives house in Bogor, West Java, to no avail. The suspect will be charged under Law. No. 23/2012 on child protection, which carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence. (vny) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Depok Sat, January 20, 2018 08:06 1764 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c1cf782 1 City Depok,sexual-harassment Free The Depok Police in West Java have released a 29-year-old suspect in a sexual assault case from police detention. We only require that he report to us every week, considering the penalty he faces is under five years of imprisonment," said the polices criminal investigation unit chief, Comr. Putu Kholis Aryana, on Thursday as quoted by tempo.co, adding that detainment was only required for those accused of committing offenses that carried a punishment of five years or more in prison, in accordance with the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP). The police arrested the suspect, who reportedly confessed to the alleged crime, in Mekarsari on Jan 15. The reported incident took place on Jl. Kemiri Muka, when the alleged victim was on her way to Pondok Cina train station on Jan. 12. The alleged crime was captured on a nearby CCTV camera. The alleged victim was walking down the small street when the suspect, while riding a motorcycle, reportedly approached the woman and groped her. The man then immediately sped up to flee the scene while the shocked woman yelled at him. According to Putu, the perpetrator was charged under Article 281 of the Criminal Code (KUHP), which carries a maximum punishment of two years and eight months in prison. "He is required to report to police twice a week, every Monday and Thursday," Putu said, adding that the weekly reporting was to guarantee the perpetrator did not leave the area. "The case file will be handed over to the courts," said Putu. (roi) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (AFP) Los Angeles Sat, January 20, 2018 09:25 1763 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c1d0c87 2 World Las-Vegas-shooting,FBI,crime Free The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking at a new person of interest in connection with the October mass shooting that killed 58 people at a Las Vegas concert, the county sheriff said Friday. The gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, killed himself after the rampage carried out from his hotel suite on Las Vegas' famed Strip. It was the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history. Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told a press conference that "the FBI has an ongoing case against an individual of federal interest," but he said he could not elaborate. Lombardo added, however: "I know and believe there's only one suspect who killed 58 people and injured hundreds more. All the evidence recovered in this case supports that theory." He said charges were unlikely to be brought against Paddock's girlfriend Marilou Danley. Paddock, a wealthy retired accountant and compulsive video poker player who took Valium for anxiety, had "lost a significant amount of his monetary wealth in close proximity to October 1," which may have been a factor behind the attack, Lombardo said. The sheriff was commenting on an 80-page preliminary report published about the investigation -- which included examination of more than 20,000 hours of video. The report tracks the sequence of events that began September 17, when Paddock checked into another hotel in Las Vegas, and culminated with the October 1 shooting from the 32nd floor hotel suite. "This report is not going to answer every question or even answer the biggest question as to why he did what he did," said Lombardo. "There was no suicide note nor a manifesto left behind. No ideology or radicalization was discovered." The Islamic State group had claimed Paddock as one of their "soldiers," but investigators said early on that they found no link to any extremist group. Authorities scouring Paddock's computer usage found searches for firearms and elite police response teams. They also discovered "numerous photos of child pornography," Lombardo said. Paddock's brother Bruce was arrested in October in Los Angeles on child pornography charges, as part of a probe that began before the Las Vegas shooting. Stephen Paddock had stockpiled an arsenal of firearms in his room at the Mandalay Bay hotel before he rained fire down on a country music festival where some 22,000 people had gathered on the night of October 1. In addition to the 58 dead, hundreds were wounded. They included 422 people who sustained wounds related to gunfire. The total number hurt was 851, taking into account others who were injured in the melee, Lombardo said on Friday. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dylan Amirio (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, January 20 2018 For every good Indonesian film that comes out (and there have been a lot of them recently), there is always a Flight 555. The film, produced by Citra Visual Sinema and directed by Raymond Handaya, presents itself as an easy shot for critics because of its cheap jokes and mountains upon mountains of cringes. But to take advantage of such an easy target will only be pointless and to do so will render them as cheap as the film itself. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, January 20 2018 The Depok Heritage Community has asked the government to turn Rumah Cimanggis in Depok, West Java, into a museum instead of demolishing it. The building, which was built between 1771 and 1775, came under the medias spotlight after the central government planned to demolish it to make way for the construction of the Indonesia International Islamic University (UIII) campus. I suggest that Rumah Cimanggis to be turned into a museum. So, all historical collections in Depok such as artifacts and photos will be displayed there, said community head Ratu Farah Diba on Thursday, as quoted by kompas.com. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, January 20, 2018 12:54 1763 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c1d2d74 1 Guide To Jakpost-guide-to,Ragunan-zoo,Jakpost-guide-to-Ragunan-Zoo,zoo,activities Free Ragunan Zoo in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, is a popular destination for local residents, as well as visitors to the capital. Spread across 147 hectares, the zoo is set out in a tropical setting with big open spaces, making it a favorite destination to enjoy a picnic while learning about wildlife. The zoo is open to the public from Tuesday to Sunday from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m but is closed on Mondays. How to get there Ragunan zoo is home to several elephants. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari) Ragunan Zoo is easily reachable by public transportation. Two Transjakarta bus routes end right at the entrance to the zoo, namely the Dukuh Atas-Ragunan route and the Monas-Ragunan route. There is also the nearby Tanjung Barat station, making traveling by train another convenient alternative. It's an approximately 40-minute walk from the station to the zoo's nearest entrance. Those who don't wish to walk may prefer to use ride-hailing transportation to reach the destination. Upon arrival at Ragunan Zoo, visitors must pay an entrance fee of Rp 4,000 (US$0.32) per adult and Rp 3,000 per child. However, single entrance payments are no long available, as the city-owned zoo now obligates visitors to use the JakOne card for admission transactions. The JakOne Card, an e-money service from city-owned Bank DKI, is available for purchase at Rp 30,000 with a credit balance of Rp 20,000. The card can be shared between several people and reused by topping up the credit. What to wear Casual clothes are recommended for a visit to the zoo. (The Jakarta Post/Riza Roidila) As it's spread across 147-hectares, it is best to set aside a whole day to walk around and explore the zoo. This means comfortable shoes are a must. With Jakarta's warm weather, it is also recommended to wear appropriate clothing for the heat, such as casual t-shirts and comfortable trousers, shorts or skirts. Read also: Jakpost guide to Ancol What to do A Sumatran tiger at Ragunan Zoo. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari) Ragunan Zoo is home to over 3000 animals and more than 200 species. Many of the animals are endangered and threatened from all parts of Indonesia, as well as some that are from other parts of the world. At the zoo, visitors can see and learn about various animals, such as African lions, orangutans, siamang gibbons, Sumatran tigers and elephants, as well as crocodiles. Ragunan Zoo is also home to several African lions. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari) There is also a Komodo dragon at the zoo, so curious people who cannot travel to Komodo National Park in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, can see one in person here. A wide range of birds are also housed at Ragunan Zoo, with a pelican pool greeting visitors upon entrance from the Main Gate. For the young visitors, special attractions include the Children's Zoo, which requires an additional entrance fee of Rp 2,500 per person. The area houses animals that appeal to young children, such as a talking cockatoo. There is also a playground for kids at the mini zoo. The Schmutzer Primate Center is a highlight of the zoo. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari) The highlight of Ragunan Zoo is the Schmutzer Primate Center, which also requires an additional entrance fee of Rp 6,000 per person on weekdays and Rp 7,500 for weekends and national holidays. Opened in 2002, the primate center was named after the late Pauline Antoinette Schmutzer, who donated her estate to the center. The Schmutzer Primate Center is home to several gorillas. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari) The 13-hectare complex within the zoo is privately funded and managed separately. Designed with an open air concept to mimic the natural habitat of the animals, the lush center houses various primates, including gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans. Meanwhile, other attractions at Ragunan Zoo include a playground and rides, along with Sunday events such as pony carts and boat rides on Ragunan Lake. With wide green open spaces, Ragunan Zoo is a popular picnic destination. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari) With wide open spaces spread across the zoo complex, the lawn areas are also popular places for picnics. To get around the zoo, there are also bikes for rent, with single bikes costing Rp 10,000 per hour and Rp 15,000 for a tandem bicycle. Zoo train rides are also available for Rp 7,500 per person. Read also: Jakpost guide to boutique fitness studios Where to eat Several modest canteens are located across the zoo complex, and offer local Indonesian dishes such as nasi goreng (fried rice), soto ayam (Indonesian chicken soup) and tongseng kambing (goat stew). Canteens around the zoo complex serve various Indonesian dishes. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari) There are also fresh coconuts to rehydrate after a tiring walk around the zoo. Drink stalls are also available around the complex. Tips Please be aware that the zoo is closed on Mondays. Don't forget to wear sunscreen and a hat to protect yourself from the sun, as you will most likely be outdoors for the majority of your visit. Bring a bottle of water with you to ensure you stay hydrated. Some of the toilets do not provide tissue paper, so make sure to bring some with you during your visit. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Manila, Philippines Sat, January 20, 2018 13:01 1763 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c1d3b46 2 News Airport,Philippines,travel,#airport Free Manila airport fired a major contractor and announced a raft of new security measures on Friday after a spate of baggage thefts at the main Philippine gateway once derided as the world's worst airport. President Rodrigo Duterte summoned airport authorities and the transport minister on Thursday and ordered them to put a stop to the thieving, Manila International Airport general manager Ed Monreal told reporters. "I am really ashamed over what is happening, what our passengers are going through," Monreal said. "Let us all work together to stop these embarrassing incidents." Monreal said the airport would not renew the operating licence of one ground handling company serving 14 carriers after passengers on at least two flights lodged formal complaints over items stolen from their luggage. It also ordered other contractors to equip baggage handlers and security personnel with body cameras, install closed circuit television in their working areas, and remove all pockets from their uniforms. Monreal said surveillance footage had confirmed the pilferage, with authorities also finding evidence including "boots that allow them (suspects) to hide stuff at their feet". The airport has filed criminal charges against a number of suspected thieves, he said without elaborating. Read also: Changi Airport to end final boarding announcements MIASCOR, the company that lost its Manila airport contract, did not reply to AFP's request for comment. Manila airport, also known as Ninoy Aquino International Airport, says 20.4 million passengers used the hub last year. It topped the list of worst airports on the travel website "The Guide to Sleeping in Airports" from 2011-2013, causing the government to make major renovations. Travellers have long criticised its "dilapidated facilities", dishonest airport workers, rude officials and long waiting times, the website said. In 2015 the government investigated claims of an extortion racket involving security personnel planting bullets in passengers' luggage and demanding money not to press charges for illegal possession of bullets, punishable by up to 12 years in prison. Officials said the extortion ended after the 2016 election of Duterte, a fiery politician who warned in his campaign speeches that he would force airport security personnel to eat any bullets they found in passenger luggage. We have more from 85 Bowery, where residents of all 16 apartments were evacuated Thursday night after the Department of Buildings (DOB) issued a full vacate order. DOB inspectors concluded that a stairwell had become destabilized and that the tenement was unsafe. The tenants and landlord Joseph Betesh have been engaged in a long-running legal dispute. Last month, the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) recommended to a state supreme court judge that the building be declared rent stabilized. Betesh has been pushing to temporarily relocate the tenants while the building is rehabilitated. Residents wanted to stay in place while repairs took place, fearing that Betesh would never allow them to return at their current rents. Tonight, we have a statement from Beteshs company, Bowery 8385 LLC. The safety of the occupants of 83-85 Bowery, a spokesperson said, is our top priority and we are taking immediate steps to repair building infrastructure and make the property safe for habitation. While the DOB was correct to vacate the building in the interest of safety, we believe this action should have been taken long ago. The company, according to the spokesperson, has been arguing to NYC officials and to residents for the past two years that repairs could only take place if the building was vacated. The landlord contends that he has been, working to find a positive resolution, but (that) our proposals were rejected at every turn by (the tenants) lawyers and other representatives. The spokesperson alleges that the, occupants of 83-85 Bowery have apparently engaged in illegal renovation work that further contributed to the buildings structural instability. After the vacate order was issued Thursday afternoon, the property owner asserts, it became apparent that 11 apartments at 85 Bowery were, illegally converted into nearly 40 single room occupancy (SRO) units. The unauthorized renovations, said the spokesperson, put all the buildings occupants at greater risk by leading to dangerous overcrowding, blocked fire escapes and other safety hazards. Previously, ownership said, it was barred by residents from entering apartments. Now that the DOB has executed its vacate order and we have regained access to all areas of the property, Beteshs spokesperson said, we are already taking steps to clear out debris and begin repairing the buildings infrastructure. Our intention is to restore this property to its intended use as quickly as possible and we will continue working diligently with the DOB, the Mayors Office and other stakeholders to do just that. As you might imagine, the tenants strongly disagree with almost everything their landlord is saying. We contacted Seth Miller, an attorney representing many of the residents in 83-85 Bowery. First off, Miller said that, as far as he knows, every apartment is occupied by a family and that no one has offered evidence to the contrary. The city has ordered Betesh to complete emergency repairs in two weeks. The landlord, said Miller, is intent on spinning the city into expanding its vacate order by making false allegations. Betesh, he said, has been on a two-year campaign to evict the tenants. The repairs that are required, argued Miller, could have been completed long ago with the tenants remaining in their homes. Miller said hes hopeful the judge will accept DHCRs recommendation and declare the building rent stabilized. The judge ordered Thursdays DOB inspection. Given the resulting vacate order, however, there are more immediate concerns. The tenants are now in a temporary shelter in Brooklyn. The citys Department of Housing Preservation and Development is taking the lead in finding longer-term housing. The American Red Cross reported to Community Board 3 that it has registered 26 families, including 95 people (there are 17 children). Miller would like to see the landlord pick up temporary housing costs. I am at 85 Bowery meeting with City officials, building management & colleagues and discussing aftermath of the vacate order. Close to 100 tenants, including children, were forced to leave their homes last night. My office will continue to support tenants in days ahead. pic.twitter.com/aT3Okmg5Un Yuh-Line Niou (@yuhline) January 19, 2018 Update at 85 Bowery tenants can pack from 8-10 PM. Local nonprofits are here to assist with translation services. pic.twitter.com/24BrN1E9sG Margaret S. Chin (@CM_MargaretChin) January 19, 2018 Both State Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou and City Councilmember Margaret Chin have been on the scene today, and their staffs are assisting with translation and other resident needs. In a statement put out tonight, Councilmember Chin said, (Thursdays) painful evacuation reinforced our commitment to hold landlords accountable for the severe financial and emotional toll caused by their negligent practices. No tenant should ever have to experience what the residents of 85 Bowery went through and continue to experience, at the hands of their predatory landlord, Joseph Betesh. Pete Newbon, Northumbria University, Newcastle Its one of the more bizarre episodes to have seen the light of day since the #MeToo movement got going late last year. In November 2017, the British newspaper The Telegraph reported that the mother of a schoolboy who had brought home a copy of the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty was calling for the text to be banned. The reason she gave was that the heroine could not have consented to the kiss that released her from her enchanted sleep. Henry Meynell Rheam This news story emerged in the aftermath of the revelations of serial sexual harassment allegations against numerous Hollywood stars, generating the #MeToo hashtag, with which millions of women worldwide shared their experiences of sexual molestation and objectification. Yet despite the headline Mother calls for Sleeping Beauty to be banned when you actually read the piece it turns out that, in fact, the mother had suggested that rather than ban the story, the tale might be used as a starting point for discussing personal consent and bodily autonomy with children. This didnt deter plenty of media outlets from jumping aboard the bandwagon whether in support of the proposition that the fairy tale be banned or updated, or scoffing at the notion as needless censorship. And, of course, there was a follow up on the problems with other fairy tales. Small minds While fairy tales have existed for millennia as oral folktales, they first entered print in their recognisable form in the 17th century and initially among the aristocracy. Over the subsequent 300 years or so, fairy tales have frequently been a source of controversy and ideological battle. A cursory glance at only a few examples illustrates the variety of ways in which they have caused anxiety and consternation. The Neapolitan courtier, Giambattista Basile first produced his collection of fairy tales (including Rapunzel and Cinderella) in 1634. A little later, the French academicien Charles Perrault published his Histoires ou Contes du Temps Passe (1797), containing such prized tales as Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, Blue Beard and Sleeping Beauty. Written for an educated and urbane courtly readership, Perraults tales smuggle in risque innuendo under the veil of moralism. Gustav Dore (1864) In Britain, one of the first and most influential critics of fairy tales was the philosopher John Locke. In his seminal treatise Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693), Locke cautioned parents against allowing servants to frighten their children with tales of Raw-Head and Bloody Bones . As a Rationalist, Locke feared that peasant superstition would damage the healthy development of children. In this period, fairy tales in Britain were circulated in the rude tradition of chapbooks (rough almanac prints sold by itinerant chapmen) and made little distinction between children and adult readers. Culture police The Romantic generation of artists and writers venerated fairy tales for inspiring childhood fantasy and wonder and as texts that opposed the rationalism of the Enlightenment. But, in the wake of the French Revolution, political and literary culture came under immense scrutiny in Britain from a newly energised Conservative government and press. With the increased policing of culture for signs of dangerous Jacobins and Democrats, conservative evangelical educationalists including Hannah More and Sarah Trimmer undertook the role of castigating childrens writers deemed politically and religiously seditious. One of their main targets was the anarchist philosopher turned childrens publisher William Godwin (the widower of the feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and the father of Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein). In order to escape censure, Godwin often published anonymously, or under a series of comical pseudonyms, such as Theophilus Marcliffe. Godwin was involved with many Romantic-era writers now considered illustrious, but who at the time were often obscure figures. Two of these friends the poet William Wordsworth and the essayist Charles Lamb Godwin endeavoured to involve in his publishing, with revealing controversies. Walter Crane via Wikimedia Commons Charles Lamb and his sister Mary are best-known for their highly popular Tales from Shakespeare (1807), which was published by Godwin. But when Godwin commissioned Charles to write an adaptation of Homers Odyssey for children, the two got into an argument over Lambs initial refusal to tone down the gory scene in which the cyclops Polyphemus vomits the remains of Odysseus crewmen whom he had consumed. Godwin feared losing custom from a squeamish middle-class readership. In 1811, Godwin wrote to Wordsworth who had in youth briefly been his protege asking him to translate Beauty and the Beast from the French. Wordsworths cantankerous response is extraordinary (in part, he was irate for having to pay the postal fees). The poet responded to the philosopher that he could not bring himself to the task as: I confess there is to me something disgusting to me in the notion of a human Being consenting to mate with a Beast, however amiable his qualities of heart. Wordsworth was, in middle age, moving increasingly towards Toryism, and his astonishing response may be interpreted as underlining his rejection of Godwins radicalism. It also seems to indicate Wordsworths growing religious conservatism, as he justifies his statement by quoting from the poet John Miltons Paradise Lost describing Adam as set apart by God from animals: Among the Beasts no mate for thee was found. ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) is taking the internet by storm. YouTubers producing ASMR visitors are enjoying massive success in terms of both subscriptions and views. This summer, GentleWhispering became the first channel to hit one million subscribers. W Magazine meanwhile, began a series where they invited celebrities to try and make their own ideas. So, what exactly is ASMR? Simply put, ASMR is a way of making, usually through videos, soft, relaxing sounds to trigger something called tingles, that are intended to be relaxing and soothing for the listener, to help with relaxation, anxiety, and sleep. But what exactly are tingles and how are they created? Benjamin Nicholls, who wrote the book ASMR: The Sleep Revolution, looking at ASMR psychology, is an ASMRtist (The word used by the community to describe people who make such videos) producing videos from his ASMR Gamer channel, with 61,000 subscribers describes tingles as: The poster boys of the ASMR experience and the more peculiar physiological aspect of the phenomenon. Benjamin Nicholls, author of ASMR: The Sleep Revolution He goes on describe what happens when you feel a tingle: You feel a soothing chill through your scalp and neck, which almost sounds oxymoronic which again lends itself to why ASMR is difficult to describe. Even after the tingling dissipates you are left in a more relaxing state, almost a trance, with a heightened concentration coupled with less stress. Lilium, a Danish ASMRtist with over 200,000 subscribers on her channel, TheOneLilium ASMR, describing the phenomenon as: The feeling of becoming lighter and heavier simultaneously. It's a feeling of zoning out and in at the same time. It's blissful and the most relaxing feeling to have tingles. She goes on to describe this as a unique feeling, that causes her to get, butterflies in my stomach that slowly and calmly flies all the way through my chest and expands to my legs and arms and eventually my head, which eventually makes her fall asleep. Lilium, a Danish ASMRtist Whilst, Ira, the Russian ASMRtist behind ASMR COSMONAUT with 8,300 subscribers, compares them to pleasant waves, before explaining: I feel something like entrancement: my body freezes in one position, so as not to frighten off the approaching feelings. At the same time, I'm completely focused on the perception of my feelings and the trigger that causes them. This is the difficulty in obtaining the first ASMR experience: you need to be able to let yourself relax, even when the head is packed with a lot of thoughts. Triggers do not appear to be exclusive to ASMR, with all three noting that they first experienced triggers before they were introduced to ASMR. I have experienced tingles throughout my life but never knew what it was or that anyone else experienced it, Nicholls explains, before noting that on car journeys hum of the engine and the rocking of the car would cause a fuzzy feeling in his head, or when teachers would read out in a soft tone. Lilium begins: My very first tingles happened when I was a small child and when I would have friends over to play. She then explains that whenever one of these friends spoke quietly or whispered, she felt intense shivers and tingles and almost paralyzed. Whilst she did not understand at the time what caused these responses, she eventually realised it was close-up, soft sounds in her ear. She then found other things to cause triggers: As time went on I experienced that it could also be triggered by sounds of plastic, tapping, sounds of soap bubbles, the crinkling of sheets and so much more. Ira, too, was introduced to triggers from a friend, saying that at the age of 13, she was sent two pieces of what turned out to be binaural microphone advertising and that these pieces Barbershop and 3D Sounds caused her to look for similar pieces of audio. Ira, the Russian ASMRtist behind ASMR Cosmonaut All three must produce triggers to cause tingles in their videos, so what do they feel is best? All of them note that triggers are very personal and there is no one size fits all answer. Lilium tells me: If I have to generalise people seem to be most fond of videos with kissing sounds, a very gentle atmosphere, personal attention and close up whispering or speaking. Her collection of videos is varied including videos of her reading out creepypastas, vaping and eating as well as intimate and fantasy based roleplays. So, how do creators decide what triggers to use? I get an intense urge to incorporate certain triggers that I'm fond of personally. I also include my audiences wishes and they give me tons of inspiration as well, says Lilium. Ira is much the same, and notes the positive effects that triggers have on people: In the end, helping people cope with insomnia, stress, and depression - this is the reason for which I made this channel. And if I can help at least one person by shooting a video, then it's wonderful! So, what about the science behind tingles? Nicholls explains that scientific investigations are still in their infancy, but possible explanations include the combination of hormones that illicit quite powerful physical responses, while others believe that it is tied to Misophonia which is a physical repulsion to certain sounds such as chewing food, or even synaesthesia which is where words are perceived as colours, music as flavours and vice versa. Interestingly, Lilium notes that the more exposed she has become since making ASMR videos has resulted in her developing a little immunity to it, though Nicholls highlights research showing that if you take a break from ASMR for a while, the tingling does return. Nicholls then goes on to cite a University of Swansea research paper that found markers indicating relaxation and pain suppression. The world may not yet be clear on what causes these triggers, but they are most certainly real and differ from person to person and like Nicholls points out with more publicity and study, the closer an answer is. The name Christian Dior has been synonymous with luxury fashion since the 1940s, where a penchant for elegance and post-war indulgence loomed over much of the western world. Having spent so many years dressing for comfort over style, this new way of fashion was a shock to some. Dior was able to successfully become a staple in the lives of many fashion lovers, around the world. While this new look seemed daunting, Diors pieces were both conservative yet fashion forward; elegant but modern. Throughout the years, House of Dior has seen its resident designers flourish. Showcasing the best of the fashion industries talent, here's a look at some of the most influential looks & designers from the last 70 years of Dior. The New Look This nipped-waist, full skirt suit it instantaneously Dior and has become synonymous with the fashion house sins it's debut in 1947. Post-war fashion meant saying goodbye to the restriction put in place by war-time practicalities. The feminine silhouette revolutionised fashion ideals and thus, the New Look was born. Slim Look Dior As times changed, so did Diors chosen silhouette. Come the early sixties, Marc Bohan introduced Dior to slim-line suits that attracted the fashion industry like moths to flames. Rumour has it, that upon seeing the new collection, Elizabeth Taylor quickly ordered twelve garments in the new silhouette. John Galliano Galliano took Dior to a theatrical heigh it had not yet reached prior to his appointment. Romantic, whimsical and architecturally sculpted, his garments were extravagant art works. He is famously quoted as to have said his role is to seduce, which he certainly achieved. Raf Simons Taking the reigns as artistic director in 2012, Raf Simons had a more subtle approach than Galliano. Opting for a more minimalistic touch, the Belgian designer reinstated the classic new look silhouette as a staple. This floral skirt is widely regarded to be a new-classic. What's most surprising about the collection is that Simons had only 8 weeks to create the entire haute couture collection, all of which was recorded in the feature-length documentary, 'Dior and I'. Maria Grazia Chiuri Making history as Diors first female creative director, Maria Grazia Chiuri launched her debut SS17 show with a poignant political statement: We should all be feminists. Paired with a a skirt reminiscent of Slim Look Dior, the statement shirt was a somewhat eerie prediction of the year to follow. A leading historian has warned that universities are turning young people to communism after Marxist student Fiona Lali told the BBC that communism only failed because it was "not allowed to develop." Lali, who is President of the Marxist Society at the School of the Oriental and African Studies has been criticised for excusing the crimes of the Soviet Union on the grounds of external interference. "In the Soviet Union, for example, you cant say that it was allowed to develop or flourish in the way that it could have done because the US, the British, they were all involved in attacking it," she told Radio 4. "Theres a lot of advantages, theres a lot of gains from the Soviet Union." Data from research consultancy ComRes found that young people aged between 18-24 thought big Business and the right-Wing are more dangerous in the world today than Communism. Only 9% said communism was the most dangerous to the world, whereas big Business and the right-wing each scored 24%. During the broadcast, John Humphrey's prompted Fiona Lali on the historical success of capitalism over communism. Her response began with reference to the collapse of Carillion and the 2008 financial crisis as a contemporary criticism of capitalism, but continued to argue the historical case in defence of the Soviet Union. According to the polling data there is no age group that places the threat of communism above right-wing pundits, politicians, and donors. You may not know this, but the Canary Islands are a very popular movie set for Hollywood films. Tax incentives are great for the industry and a lot of productions are brought to the islands with the cast, the crew and the whole paraphernalia. And there, they do their magic. From the most luxurious casinos to the depths of Africa, the natural and urban landscapes of the Canary Islands have turned into the most incredible movie sets. Heres some places that can be visited and that you may have seen before on-screen... 1. The streets of Morocco in Allied Known as the movie that supposedly ended the marriage of Brangelina, Allied was partly filmed in the streets of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, which was magically turned into 1942 Morocco. The road of the Plaza Cairasco, in the historical centre of the city, was covered with sand to recreate the desertic climate of the African country. With some old cars, horses and a few green screens, the magic was done. Other locations in the city, like the Vegueta neighbourhood and the harbour, were also used to recreate Casablanca. 2. The wild west town in Take a Hard Ride This may sound unbelievable, but there is an actual wild west town in the south of Gran Canaria. Its name is Sioux City, and it is actually a theme park with daily shows and actors dressed as cowboys and indians. It is so well-made that it has been used in countless western movies, including this classic with Lee Van Cliff. 3. The location shots in Clash of the Titans The movie Clash of the Titans was filmed almost entirely in the island of Tenerife. You can even do a tour that will take you to all the locations (you can find the leaflet in the Tenerife official website). The production took advantage of the beautiful landscapes of the island to recreate Ancient Greece. 4. The desert and the beach in Exodus Ridley Scott was looking for a large extension of sand without any buildings or signs of life in kilometres, and he found it in the amazing sand beaches of Fuerteventura. The production of Exodus was finally taken to the island, and most of the beautiful landscapes of Fuerteventura were turned into Egypt. 5. The ocean in Moby Dick (1956) and In the Heart of the Sea (2015) The ocean around Gran Canaria was home to the first giant white whale in the history of cinema. Gregory Pecks version of the story by Herman Melville was filmed in this island, while La Gomera and Lanzarote were the chosen ones for the reboot starring Chris Hemsworth 6. The hotel and the casino in Wild Oats This comedy starring Shirley MacLaine, Jessica Lange and Demi Moore was filmed in the island of Gran Canaria, but this time the story was actually set there. The neighbourhood of Vegueta, the hotel Costa Meloneras, the airport and so many other places are featured in the film. And even though this time the island did not have to look like anywhere else, the sets were incredible. In fact, the casino in the already mentioned Allied and the casino in Wild Oats are actually the same place: the Gabinete Literario in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. 7. The streets and the plantation of Spanish Guinea in Palm Trees in the Snow The neighbourhood of Vegueta was turned into the streets of Equatorial Guinea with some decorations and a few green screens, while the Finca de Osorio was amazingly turned into a 50s cacao plantation. Both places can be visited for free in the island of Gran Canaria. 8. The bridge in Fast & Furious 6 The Puente de Silva located in Moya (Gran Canaria) made an appearance in the sixth installment of the Hollywood franchise. It is a bridge situated in the highway in the north of the island. 9. The locations in Broken Embraces Pedro Almodovars Broken Embraces, starring Penelope Cruz, was filmed in the island of Lanzarote after the director fell in love with its landscapes. Famara Beach and the Timanfaya National Park are just some of the incredible places that can be spotted in the film and that can be visited at any time. 10. Han Solos planet in Solo: A Star Wars History We still have to wait a bit to see this, but the production of the next Star Wars movie was brought to the island of Fuerteventura, where they recreated the planet that Han Solo is from. The place chosen was the Natural Park of Jandia. Tentang Situs Slot Online Resmi MGS88 Nama Situs MGS88 Minimal Deposit Rp. 10.000,- (Sepuluh Ribu Rupiah) Proses Deposit 2 Menit Metode Deposit Bank Transfer, Pulsa, E-Wallet Judi Online Terbaik Slot Online, Judi Bola, Casino Online, Togel Online, Tembak Ikan Provider Slot Gacor Mudah Maxwin Pragmatic Play, PGSoft, MicroGaming, Habanero Slot Gacor Gampang Menang Gates of Olympus, Sweet Bonanza, Wild West Gold, Starlight Princess Win Rate 98% RTP Live Slot Gacor Tertinggi Hari Ini Terbaru Terlengkap Selamat datang di halaman RTP live dan informasi soal slot gacor hari ini dari situs MGS88 yang setiap hari selalu update. Berdasarkan RTP Live MGS88, Anda bisa mendapatkan informasi tentang slot online yang saat ini yang sedang Gacor atau onfire dengan persentase yang terbukti akurat, ini bisa menjadi rekomendasi anda sebelum memilih permainan slot online di situs MGS88. Cek RTP Slot sekarang juga bosku Klik Provider Slot Untuk Mengetahui RTP Slot Secara Real Time Selamat datang bagi kalian yang sedang mencari situs RTP Live terlengkap dan terkini hari ini. Sangat sesuai jika Anda mengunjungi website MGS88 RTP live untuk informasi tentang permainan slot yang lagi gacor dengan slot RTP yang terupdate. Persentase kemenangan yang kami berikan tentunya diambil dengan data yang sangat valid dan hanya untuk permainan slot yang tersedia di situs MGS88. RTP yang tersedia juga akan selalu diperbarui setiap hari berdasarkan level kemenangan yang diberikan kepada member kami. Memang sih untuk bermain slot itu tergantung hoki dari setiap pemain, Namun RTP live atau bocoran slot dari yang kami sediakan ini adalah data autentik dari banyaknya pemain yang telah bermain dan mencapai kemenangan tinggi. Sederhananya, kalau banyak pemain yang menang di dalam 1 permainan slot, karena itu permainan slot tersebut akan mempunyai persentase RTP yang sangat tinggi. Namun kami tegaskan sekali lagi, ini bukan sebuah paksaan kami situs MGS88 untuk anda bermain di game slot yang mana. Ini bisa dijadikan sebagai referensi atau tolok ukur, boleh dicoba kalau anda mempunyai feel yang kuat dalam memainkan permainan game slot. Anda dapat mengakses kapan saja dan di mana saja selama anda siap bermain. Jangan ragu untuk bertanya ya seputar pola putaran terhadap kami, sebab kami juga menyediakannya loh. Apa itu RTP Live? RTP Live ialah informasi mengenai persentase tertinggi saat ini dari hasil RTP Live dengan bocoran kemenangan pemain saat ini. RTP Live merupakan singkatan dari Return To Play atau bisa juga diartikan sebagai Return to Player. Karena itu, para pemain slot sekarang jika ingin mengetahui seberapa besar kemenangannya, bisa dengan memainkan permainan yang akan dimainkannya dan bisa untung dengan mudah dan tentunya maksimal. Apa itu RTP Slot? RTP Slot juga dikenal sebagai return to player atau pengembalian ke Pemain. RTP slot ialah persentase dari nilai pengembalian semua uang yang dipertaruhkan pemain dari waktu ke waktu. Dengan kata lain, RTP juga dianggap sebagai salah satu fitur slot yang mengembalikan uang pemain saat pemain kalah. Persentase digunakan untuk menghitung RTP dalam permainan slot. Misalnya, jika slot memiliki RTP 97%, itu berarti untuk setiap 100.000 koin yang hilang di slot, slot dapat mengembalikan 97.000. Jika Anda mengetahui RTP sebuah permainan slot, Anda dapat memutuskan permainan slot mana yang akan dimainkan tanpa kerugian besar. Apakah Angka Persentase RTP Slot Itu Penting? Biasanya pemain slot itu tidak memperhatikan RTP dalam permainan yang akan dimainkan, biasanya setelah anda mengisi saldo utama anda akan langsung buru-buru memainkannya. Yang terakhir 90-96% mempengaruhi jumlah kemenangan. Semakin tinggi jumlah RTP yang digunakan, semakin luas peluang untuk mendapatkan keuntungan. Akan namun itu segala tak secara 100% menjamin kemenangan kau dalam bermain, RTP itu cuma sebagai kalkulasi pengeluaran anda saja selama bermain slot.Dengan adanya RTP, kau dapat mengerjakan pengaturan atas uang yang akan kau pertaruhkan nanti pada ketika bermain.Untuk itu pada ketika kau bermain slot dan telah mengalami banyak kekalahan di satu permainan, direkomendasikan kau pindah ke permainan slot lainnya yang RTP nya lebih tinggi dari permainan yang tadi kau mainkan. Keuntungan Menggunakan Bocoran RTP Slot Hari Ini Situs MGS88 Akan dengan senang hati akan beberapa keuntungan yang didapatkan jika anda bermain slot dengan menggunakan RTP Live yang telah disediakan. Berikut Keuntungannya : Peluang Kemenangan Meningkat Tentu saja, saat bermain slot online, menang adalah hal yang paling penting. Di sinilah RTP berperan sebagai metode atau metode baru yang akan membantu Anda memilih permainan slot persentase tinggi. Mendapat variasi dalam Memainkan Game Slot Pastinya banyak pemain slot online yang hanya memainkan 3-5 permainan slot saja. Namun dengan RTP Live slot akan memberikan banyak game slot lain yang bisa anda coba. Tentunya semua permainan slot memiliki potensi kemenangan yang besar, jadi jangan hanya mengandalkan beberapa permainan saja. Menambah Pengalaman Dalam Bermain Slot Keuntungan terakhir adalah Anda tentu saja menambah pengalaman dan keahlian dalam permainan slot online. Dengan berbagai macam permainan slot yang dimainkan, Anda pasti mengetahui karakteristik dari setiap permainan slot yang Anda mainkan. Akibatnya, Anda pasti bisa dianggap sebagai pemain slot yang andal, yang pasti akan meningkatkan peluang Anda untuk menang besar menggunakan RTP. Daftar 8 Situs Dengan RTP Slot Live Tertinggi Hari Ini Ada banyak penyedia mesin slot online di internet. Tetapi tidak semuanya memiliki peluang tinggi atau RTP Live Slot yang sangat tinggi. Tapi jangan khawatir, berikut ini adalah situs slot gacor yang akan memberikan bocoran slot dengan RTP Live Tertinggi: RTP Live Slot Pragmatic Play (RTP Slot 97.85%) RTP Live Slot PG Soft (RTP Live 96.15%) RTP Live Slot Habanero (RTP Slot 95.89%) RTP Live Slot CQ9 (RTP Live 98.83%) RTP Live Slot Spade Gaming (RTP Live 94.99%) RTP Live Slot Micro Gaming (RTP Slot 95.39%) RTP Slot Live Top Trend Gaming (RTP Live 96.14%) RTP Slot Live JOKER123 (RTP Live 97.45%) Itulah Daftar 8 Provider Slot Gacor dengan RTP Live teratas diatas tentunya kami analisa terlebih dahulu. Anda bisa membuktikannya langsung dengan mengklik banner atau meprovider game slot yang sudah tersedia di atas. Saran kami yaitu Anda harus memainkan semua penyedia slot di atas untuk mencapai peluang kemenangan terbaik. Daftar Slot RTP Live Tertinggi Sering Kasih Jackpot Selain mempertimbangkan RTP Slot Gacor yang ada, sebenarnya ada banyak faktor penting untuk menang dalam permainan judi online. Sebab ada banyak game yang memiliki fitur dan mekanisme unik dan bisa membantu anda meraih Jackpot yang sangat besar. Berikut ini akan kami ulas daftar 5 game slot paling populer karena sering memberikan jackpot: RTP Live Gates of Olympus Gates of Olympus adalah game slot teraneh dan terbaik di Indonesia. Karena permainan mesin slot ini paling populer karena kakek Zeus dapat mengizinkan pengganda x500. Selain itu, fitur dan mekanik Gates of Olympus juga sangat menguntungkan untuk memenangkan Grand Jackpot. Secara teoritis, RTP slot langsung Gates of Olympus bernilai 96,50%, yang berarti peluang Anda untuk memenangkan MaxWin cukup tinggi. RTP live Sweet Bonanza Sweet Bonanza adalah permainan slot terpopuler kedua. Game slot bertema buah dan permen yang lezat ini sepertinya akan menarik banyak perhatian karena tergolong slot gacor yang mudah menang. Secara teoritis, slot Sweet Bonanza RTP bernilai 96,48%, yang berarti peluang Anda cukup tinggi untuk memenangkan jackpot. RTP Live Wild West Gold Wild West Gold adalah permainan slot bertema koboi yang juga populer di kalangan penggemar konspirasi. Permainan slot Wild West Gold sendiri kerap menawarkan kejutan jackpot bagi para pemainnya. Selain itu, nilai RTP Live Slot menunjukkan indeks tertinggi hari ini, yang berarti sangat layak dan sangat direkomendasikan. RTP Live Starlight Princess Slot Starlight Princess ini memiliki gaya dan fitur yang mirip dengan Gates of Olympus. Perbedaannya hanya pada desain dan karakter gamenya saja, karena memiliki fitur dan mekanik yang sama tentunya RTP slot teoritis pada game slot ini sama yaitu 96,50%. RTP Live Cash Elevator Mungkin sebagian dari Anda baru mengenal slot Cash Elevator. Namun dari data benchmark yang diungkap, ternyata banyak sekali yang menikmati permainan slot ini. Dengan fitur dan mekanisme unik seperti Lift up and down asli, slot ini juga memiliki slot RTP Live dasar 96,64% yang juga memiliki mekanisme yang sangat menguntungkan untuk memperlancar tingkat kemenangan besar. Bocoran Jam Main Slot Gacor Hari Ini Dalam bermain permainan slot online itu tidak bisa dilakukan dengan sembarangan yah. Jadi, Jika anda bermain pada waktu tertentu seperti yang akan kita bahas sesaat lagi, ada kemungkinan anda untuk mendapatkan kemenangan lebih tinggi. Jam RTP Slot Gacor merupakan bocoran jam main slot yang akan memberikan anda kapan waktu yang pas dalam bermain game slot. Tentu saja seluruh provider slot online memiliki jam tertentu dalam memberikan peluang kepada para pemainnya untuk mendapatkan kemenangan. Disini kami akan memberikan anda Bocoran Jam Slot Gacor yang Paling Akurat Hari ini: Jam Slot Gacor Pragmatic Play 02:30 WIB - Jam 05:25 WIB Jam Slot Gacor Habanero 14:26 WIB - Jam 17:38 WIB Jam Slot Gacor CQ9 00:45 WIB - Jam 05:53 WIB Jam Slot Gacor PG SOFT 14:25 WIB - Jam 17:35 WIB Jam Slot Gacor Joker123 17:41 WIB - Jam 20:42 WIB Jam Slot Gacor Microgaming 22:30 WIB - Jam 00:35 WIB MGS88: Situs Judi Slot Online Gacor Pay4D Resmi dan Terpercaya MGS88 adalah situs game slot online Gacor terbaru yang bermitra dengan Pay4D, Pay4D sendiri merupakan daftar situs game slot online terpercaya dengan berbagai macam permainan judi yang mudah dimenangkan seperti Game Bola, Casino Online, Slot Pay4D, Tembak Ikan dan Pay4D Online Permainan togel seperti Singapura, Hongkong, Sydney dan lain-lain. Tujuan utama kami adalah menjadi situs judi online Pay4D yang menyediakan layanan judi online terbaik di Indonesia. Kami juga salah satu situs resmi PAY4D di Indonesia yang pasti akan membayarkan semua kemenangan kepada semua member kami, karena kepercayaan dari semua member kami adalah prioritas utama kami sebagai mesin slot 4d Asia terbaik di Asia, khususnya di Indonesia. Dalam melakukan sistem transaksi sistem simpanan dapat dilakukan dengan mudah melalui mobile banking dan electronic banking berupa bank BCA, BSI, BRI, BNI, Cimb Niaga, Permata dan Mandiri. Selain itu, transaksi e-wallet juga tersedia melalui Dana, Gopay, LinkAja dan Ovo serta dapat digunakan untuk pulsa tanpa dipotong. Untuk mempermudah dan kenyamanan dalam melakukan registrasi atau melakukan setiap transaksi, MGS88 menyediakan layanan live chat dan Whatsapp terhubung langsung dengan customer service online 24 jam. Mengenal Istilah Dalam RTP SLOT Di slot RTP Live Anda akan melihat berbagai fitur yang mungkin tidak Anda pahami masing-masing. Namun jangan khawatir, disini sebagai situs slot gacor MGS88 kami akan memberikan penjelasan lengkap mengenai tentang istilah yang ada di RTP SLOT dibawah ini. President-Elect George Manneh Weah The stakes were, and are understandably very high - pulling the nation from poverty and polarization - thus the political battle was fiercely fought. We must say upfront that because of concerns for stability and peace, we endorsed the UP ticket during the election. Anyway, as they used to say in ancient Rome: "Vox populi, vox dei", meaning the voice of the people is the voice of God. Put another way, man proposed, God disposed, and you've been validated as the chosen of our people. Mr. President-Elect, steering the ship of state will be passed onto you in less than a week, and considering a dozen years of nothing much towards providing equality of opportunities for most Liberians, yours is an unenviable task. It is our hope that Our Father in Heaven, who made this triumph possible, will help you choose honest competent aides, and at the same time forge a more impactful relationship between Liberia, MRU, ECOWAS, AU, UN and the international community. But, Mr. President-Elect, a word of advice: Please, chart your own course. By this editorial, The Perspective online magazine is giving its support to your Government because we want it to succeed. We are doing this because of faith that the greater good of our beloved country will be your main focus, hence elated to forward the undermentioned pieces of advice for your consideration: 1), Overhaul accountability institutions and equip them with credible and incorruptible individuals who will conduct robust audits of all government departments, state corporations, etc., and those found liable be prosecuted according to the law. 2), Invest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program, because this is the way Liberia can progress and compete in this 21st century. Pursuing bilateral partnership with India, Arab League, Japan, China, European Union, ECOWAS, Africa Union, and the United States of America will be the way to go. 3), Support the establishment of an economic and war crimes court. 4), Invite Cuban doctors and have them assigned to all major hospitals, clinics, and to teach at the medical college at the University of Liberia. 5), Ensure Compulsory primary and secondary education program. 6), Request Technical aid from both China and Israel for the agricultural sector to domestically produce our staple food and other food items. 7), Consider the construction of road and railroad networks in the country. 8), Consider the provision of the Internet for all public schools in the country. 9), Review the 66 flawed concession agreements or sweet-heart deals that the present government signed. 10. The provision of electricity throughout Liberia needs to be given high priority on your development agenda. As Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, stated, Africa is tired of being in the dark. And Africa cannot develop in the dark. Localizing his statements, Liberia too is tired of being in dark, and cannot develop in the dark. And, 11),Your agenda must make room for our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora to return home without the many huddles they face at the ports of entry. Your education policy must include a plan for rural and slum dwelling children. Some difficult choices must be encouraged.The banks must find a way to prioritize lending for Liberian businesses, and not just those who know how to work the system...", says Dr. Elliott Wreh-Wilson Finally, our farmers and rural dwellers need help just like the youths and young adults that voted overwhelmingly for you. Remember, the ball is now in your court, and the success or failure of the administration rests on George Manneh Weah's head alone; we are rooting for you, Mr. President-Elect! Congratulations! Our eyes are opened; the time of the people has come!" " In union strong success is sure, we will over all prevail. Gwe feh kpeh! What is your take? Please post your comments below: President Donald Trump Since the end of World War II, the world is experiencing the resurgence of neo-fascist proclivities. The flourishing seed of such extreme right wing ideology has emerged in Western Europe and the United States of America. Nowadays, elements leading those countries are advocating extreme nationalism, attacking left-wing ideologies and other Marxist ideology. Literally, they indulge in the racists and xenophobic scapegoating of vulnerable peoples, and also promoting pseudo-populist right-wing economic programs. Unlike the fascist, the neo-fascists placed the blame of their countries social chaos on non-European immigrants than on the Jews and leftists. As of 2008, the walls of global capitalism crumbled as a result of the attendant problems of climate change, environmental degradation, and the entrenched inequality orchestrated by the super-rich- feathering their nest by exploiting the working class and oppressing the peasantry. Like in every cycle of burst, in 2008, the system experienced its major burst since the 1930s. Many big businesses in the West suffered insolvency, some reduced their wage bill by cutting down staffs, and other collapsed as a result of the crisis. In response to such economic catastrophe, national governments in the West provided life support to some of those corporations under the nice phrase of bailout. For instance, Chryslers and General Motors benefitted from such generosity. Since then, it is this enigma that the capitalist imperialist around the globe are finding a fixation to extricate the system from the abyss. As a result, the proponents of the efficient market hypothesis are working assiduously hard to rescind the terminal demise of this system. The crisis of 2008 has left the West striving for balance, she has resorted to using mercantilist thought to address the economic crisis. In this, the right-wing Theresa May and folks in the UK who are engaged in the Brexit project are busy focusing on economic seclusion from the EU, as a consequence, the British economy is experiencing a sharp decline never before noticed in modern times. The value of the pound has declined, while the economy is speedily moving in a downward spiral. Capitalism has lost its progressive potentials, instead of creating job, developing technology and industry, factories are shutting down. The productive forces are stagnated, leading to job loss, and the unemployment of a lot of peasant and poor masses. Even the Chinese economy which was experiencing a fast growth is now slowing in growth as a result of the fast decline of this system, while Japan is also in steadily decline. As for Greece, the situation there is so appalling, let alone Spain and Portugal that are nursing their own sets of challenges as a result of the bankruptcy of the system. The life of global capitalism is becoming an economic artifact which is appropriate for the museum. The climate crisis which is plaguing the world, leading to deforestation, drought, famine, and hunger in it exposed how the profit-motive multinational companies have managed to make the world uncomfortable for the working poor and peasant masses. On the other side of the western Hemisphere, the acolytes of this system are in the state of total confusion, not coming to terms with the fact that the cause of the decline of capitalism is as a result of the contradictions created by the system itself. The right-wing conservative in Donald Trump is looking for soft targets to scapegoat for the terminal collapse of the system. He takes pride in scapegoating vulnerable peoples for the social problems in the United States of America, and also prioritizing right-wing economic policies by lowering taxes on the one percent super-rich corporate elites on Wall Street. Instead of him focusing on solving the issues of the United States of America from the root, he thinks isolation and the building of walls will ease her woes and usher in a paradigm of economic prosperity. Donald Trump and his cronies with neo-fascist sensibilities want to play blind eye to the hard fact, African resources- both material and human- from the age of slavery to the height of colonialism- were not only used to occasion the industrial revolution in Europe, but her labor was also used to build the West. Slavery became a profitable enterprise to the white bourgeoisie because it favored their exploitation of our people. Today, our Continent is in the cesspool as a result of the continuous exploitation of her resources by profit-hungry corporations. When slavery became undesirable, the West devised another vicious system: colonization. This time around they did not forcibly take us away to enslave us, they came, controlled, and brought religion to enslave us while they loot our Continent to the ground. Colonialism ignited a king-vassal relationship in Africa: Africa became the producer of raw materials at a cheap cost to ensure the wheels of manufacturing industries in the West accrue surplus profit. Our economy became a satellite for the production of raw materials for the international capitalist syndicate, while imported goods from the export of our raw materials are sold to us for a high cost. Trump knows that Inequality occasioned by corporate kakistocracy is the reason for the failings in the United States of America. Corporate kakistocracy, as you now it, is the domination of big banks, hedge funds and monopoly industries. It undermines the effort at ending social inequality but promotes social gap. The decline of capitalism along with its attendant ramifications of recession, unemployment, and protest shows the system is at a dead alley. The West should stop scapegoating vulnerable peoples as the reason for her fallings. She needs to dig deep into addressing, as Prof. Colonel West would say, the dogmas of free market fundamentalism, aggressive militarization, and the escalating authoritarianism. In short, we are experiencing the sad American imperial devouring of American democracy. This historic devouring in our time constitutes an unprecedented gangsterization of Americaan unbridled grasp at power, wealth, and status. And when the most powerful forces in a societyand an empirepromote a suffocation of democratic energies, the very future of genuine democracy is jeopardized, as Colonel West Posited. Indeed, imperialism cannot redeem itself from its own grave diggers created as a result of corporate kakistocracy. The migrant crisis in Europe is a Western creation which is engendered by the installation of puppet governments, the militarization of international issues, the economic exploitation of the resources of vulnerable peoples, and the imposition of the phony concept of free market fundamentalism. As long as the West continues to use those instruments to suppress the peoples of the Third World, the ongoing migrants crisis in Europe and America will be a perennial issue. A recent study revealed how the European settlers aided and abetted by the national bourgeoisie is plundering Africa. The study shows how the Continent is being sucked of her resources, putting the figures at a number high: While $134 billion flows into the continent each year, predominantly in the form of loans, foreign investment and aid; $192 billion is taken out, mainly in profits made by foreign companies, tax dodging and the costs of adapting to climate change. The result is that Africa suffers a net loss of $58 billion a year. (Health Poverty Action Briefing, July 2014). Dr. H. Boima Fahnbulleh, Jr. provides an apt description of this paralysis: Today, the pattern of trade remains the same: Third World countries are still producing raw materials and still receiving low returns. Europe and the other industrialized white nations are still producing manufactured goods and selling them exorbitantly. Unlike the European manufacturers during colonial era who could compensate for their loss on the one hand with an increase in the prices of manufactured goods, Third world countries on the other hand must compensate for their loss by borrowing money at high interest rates from the white industrialized countries. So the Third World Countries go through the merciless struggle of digging one hole to fill another, with the attendant consequences of poverty, disease and high infant mortality. When you exploit Africa and use her natural resources to make your countries great, while poverty levels increase, diseases rage havoc, inequality becomes pervasive and pernicious, and then the people will leave their countries to move where they can find a better livelihood. This is the first approach taken by vulnerable peoples who are keen on surviving as opposed to addressing the causes of their backwardness. From time in immemorial, the cause of migration has always been the failure of where you are to provide the basic necessities for your survival. Humans leave from one locality to another in pursuit of self-preservation and self-actualization. This is what our people pursue. Instead of labelling countries from the Third World as shitholes, imperialist Donald Trump must be informed that the wealth of the Third World, sucked by capitalist bloodsucking spree, masquerading as investment, is the cause of the economic paralysis of the Continent. Countries in the Third World have been saddled by the ubiquity of multinational capitalist corporations, which come in to exploit our people and further inequality. Trump and the West, along with their local stooges, should regulate the flow of global capital, stop undermining leftist governments, and exploiting the resources of the world poor so that these shitholes countries can create a progressive future for themselves. The commanding height of Africas economy is being controlled by multinational corporations and monopolies. About half of the corporations engaging in the iron ore, gold, diamond, mining and platinum sectors in sub-Saharan Africa are listed on the London stock exchange, owning a staggering 1 trillion of Africas resources, while half of the banks in sub-Saharan Africa are foreign-owned. Additionally, according to conservative estimate, foreign monopolies controlled about 1.3 million square kilometers of the Continents land, in contrast to the fact that bulk of the peasants and the working class dont have the luxury of land to engage in neither small-scale nor large scale farming. Africa is a victim of an economic exploitation and political oppression dating back from the days of slavery to colonialism. Our people and resources have been used to develop the imperialist cities. The West used black genocide to raid our countries of their resources and enslave us. Our backwardness is because they devised a scheme to perpetually prey on us. Every time Africa takes a decisive step to ensure her self-determination, they visit us with coups geared at slaughtering our best minds. Prof. PLO Lumumba would posit: in the 1970s and 1980s, coup detat became so frequent like breakfast in Africa, Nkrumah was sacrificed because he was fixated on ensuring that Africa unite and harness her potential; Patrice Lumumba was sacrificed because he refused to allow the resources of Congo to be exploited by the combined forces of Belgium, France and Britain. Sylvanus Olympio was toppled because he insisted on making Togo a great country. Amilcar Cabral was eliminated simply because he held the view that Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde will not be spheres of influence of Portugal. Sekou Toure was isolated by France simply because he preferred Freedom in poverty to riches in slavery. Felix Moumie was poisoned by an agent loyal to the French government because he could not tolerate the relegation of Cameroun as a puppet state to France. As if those were not enough, the West promoted numskulls like Mobutu Seso Siko, Jean Bedel Bokassa, Idi Amin, and many other puppets to take over African countries. They promoted those buffoons who surrendered the resources of Africa to the West, as well as purged dissent and raged havoc in Africa. Those right wing African leaders crippled the rise of leftist tendencies, and paved the way for the conflicts that plagued the Continent. Those resulting anomalies are the reasons why this Continent still lags behind in development. Those are the factors that have kept this Continent in the gutters. Essentially, Africa is the victim of continuous maneuvering from the West. Yet she and other Third World countries are branded as the exporters of social chaos to Europe. In other words, the manipulative jockeying of the Great Powers for the resources of Africa continues to undermine her effort at economic transformation and self-determination. It is from this backdrop that the working class- united and conscious of the necessity of the economic battle- must unite to deal a fatal blow to capitalist plunder. This is the only class which can abruptly halt the massive plundering of the resources of Africa, because it is the class which produces the surplus value for the capitalist corporations. This class with its progressive consciousness can break the limp of capitalist exploitation and extricate the Continent from the clutches of economic decline to the height of social transformation. Until this is done, the workers in Africa will continue to be wage slaves. About the Author: Alfred P.B. Kiadii is a student of the University of Liberia studying Political science with emphasis in public Administration. He is the Director of Press and Propaganda of the Liberia National Students Union. Contact him at bokaidii@gmail.com. Alternatively, he can be reached at +231888995870/775349651 What is your take? Please post your comments below: The geopolitical developments in the Middle East over the past fifteen years have created new political and security dynamics engendered by the violent turmoil and profound concerns over the Iranian threat, shared by Israel and the Arab states. Israel is now facing a new critical juncture: continue with its oppressive occupation and creeping annexation of Palestinian land, which stands in total contrast to its moral responsibility and Jewish values; or seek a peace agreement with the Palestinians in the context of an Arab-Israeli comprehensive peace, which the Arab states seek now more than any time before because of their domestic and foreign security concerns. The current government, led by Netanyahu with the support of three radical ministers, Lieberman, Bennett, and Shakedwho hold the key ministries of Defense, Education, and Justice respectivelyrelishes the new geopolitical environment. They complement each other by developing a defense posture, biased educational curriculum, and skewed public narrative while weakening the judiciary, with Netanyahu orchestrating the long-term strategy that denies the Palestinians a state of their own. Blinded by the euphoria created by Trumps recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the near-unimpeded expansion of settlements and annexation of Palestinian land, the ministers feel confident that the occupation is no longer a major concern to the Arab states. And with the unwavering backing of Trump, they are assuming a free hand to do what they choose with impunity. They are tragically wrong. Israel must now seize the momentous, time-sensitive opportunity provided by the changing geopolitical regional dynamic precipitated by the common Iranian threat against Israel and the Arab states. The leading Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and the Gulf states, view Israel today as a strategic ally rather than an enemy, which presents Israel with two options: The first is to make further territorial gains by building new, expanding existing, and legalizing illegal settlements, which will basically foreclose any prospect of reaching an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement based on two states. This will not stop the Arab states from cooperating with Israel because of their preoccupation with domestic and foreign threats, which assumes priority over the Palestinians aspiration for statehood. The relatively mute reaction to Trumps recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital only reinforces the view that the Arab states anxieties about the Iranian threat takes precedence, even over such a sensitive issue as the future status of Jerusalem. That said, although the Arab states want to normalize relations with Israel, they will not do so because that would be seen as a blatant betrayal of the Palestinian cause which they have championed for decades. Instead, they would (continue to) maintain tacit strategic cooperation with Israel against Iran, which they need, but deprive Israel of a comprehensive peace which the Israelis greatly seek. The second option for Israel is to capitalize on its current state of relations with the Arab countries by reaching out to the Palestinians to resume serious peace talks. This may well be a historic opportunity because the Arab states, who want to maintain their strategic cooperation with Israel, are now predisposed to pressure the Palestinians to make important concessions to Israel, especially on national security, refugees, and land swaps. The current conditions provide a rare opportunity to reach a peace agreement that can be implemented over a long period of time (ten years or more), during which both sides can develop trust (which is sorely lacking) through joint socio-economic projects while cementing security arrangements and cooperation. By establishing a Palestinian state, Israel will end its human rights violations and stop the continuing moral erosion precipitated by the occupation, which has infected the country for five decades and severely undermined Jewish values and humanitarianism. These values were the very secret behind Jewish survival throughout the millennia, even though they were subjected to discrimination, persecution, expulsion, and death. As Rabbi Daniel Polish eloquently stated in his writing Judaism and Human Rights, The system of values and ideas [on which human rights are based] are among the beliefs which constitute the very core of Jewish sacred scripture and the tradition of ideas and practices which flows from it At their core, Netanyahu and his company are dedicated to the idea that God bequeathed the Land of Israel exclusively to the Jews, which justifies taking any measure, however wrong and humanly abusive, to secure the land in perpetuity in the name of God. They have become oblivious to the fact that Human rights are an integral part of the faith and tradition of Judaism. The right-wing segment of the Israeli population views the development of events between Israel and its Arab neighbors, and the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital, as proof of the unassailability of the Netanyahu governments judgment and policies. But there is nothing further from the truth. If these policies could, in fact, lead to a comprehensive peace, Id say, stay the course. But given the volatility of the Middle East, todays friends may well become the foes of tomorrow. This is a prospect that the Netanyahu government cannot ignore. At the present, the Saudis and other Gulf states need strategic cooperation with Israel, as it serves their interests as long as Iran is seen as a threat to their national security. This could change in many ways, including the mitigation of the Saudi-Iranian conflict, once Syria and Iraq stabilize, in which case strategic cooperation with Israel becomes irrelevant. Without striking a peace agreement with the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab states, Israel will leave itself vulnerable to the changing geopolitical environment. Can Netanyahu, Lieberman, Bennett, and Shaked guarantee they can indefinitely frame the development of events in the region to Israels advantage? There is no real adversary today that can potentially destroy Israel. Israels greatest enemy comes from withinits misguided leaders, whose blind messianic mission will be behind the destruction of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. About the Author: Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He teaches courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies. alon@alonben-meir.com Web: www.alonben-meir.com What is your take? Please post your comments below: How to watch and what to know about Northern Iowa at South Dakota In the region itself, Samoan prime minister Tuilaepa Sailele suggested that the ministers remarks could destroy Australias relationship with island nations. He zeroed in on Chinas willingness to provide aid to deal with the impact of climate change. Australias relations with China, already at their lowest ebb in years, took another blow, and Xinhua Newss Canberra correspondent bestowed on Australia the title of arrogant overlord of the Pacific. CANBERRA - Australias international development minister, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, found herself in a fix recently after she claimed that Chinas aid in the Pacific produced useless buildings and roads to nowhere while duchessing politicians. The media director of the Vanuatu Daily Post noted that while we are right to question the design, implementation and price of some of these projects these roads are not roads to nowhere. They lead to our homes. Where did the senators remarks come from? What is fuelling the differences opening up between the Coalition and Labor on our relationship with China, quite at odds with the Liberal Partys traditionally pro-business ethos? A hint came in an opinion piece by Maurice Newman, former chair of the ABC, the ASX, the AustraliaTaiwan Business Council and the governments now-defunct Business Advisory Council. Writing in The Australian earlier this month, Newman revealed that his expertise extends beyond his well-known conspiracy theories about the Bureau of Meteorology, and takes in Chinas engagement with the Pacific. The title of the piece China Emerges as All-Powerful New Deity in Pacific Cargo Cult gave an inkling of what was to follow. Newman may not have chosen the headline or the accompanying cartoon, which features a huge panda ready to devour an uninhabited Pacific island but he went on at length about cargo cults, a term that no credible anthropologist still uses. In fact, I first heard about Newmans article when one of my doctoral students emailed me to protest that cargo cult belongs in the savage slot that anthropology disowned decades ago. No serious anthropologist uses the term anymore. Beyond hurting the feelings of anthropologists, though, the piece might reveal where Senator Fierravanti-Wellss thinking on the Pacific and China comes from. The most striking thing is that Newmans Pacific is terra nullius. No Pacific Islanders are quoted in an article purporting to be about their welfare, save for Kiribatis President Anote Tong, who is scolded for daring to suggest that his island is sinking like the Titanic. Alas, Newman cant even get this right. Tong is the former president of Kiribati, and the incumbent, Taneti Maamau, used the Titanic analogy to convey more or less the opposite, in a YouTube address launching Kiribati Vision 20. Climate change is indeed a serious problem, Maamau said. But we dont believe that Kiribati will sink like the Titanic ship. The Titanic ship is different. It is built by human hands whilst our country, our beautiful islands are created by the hands of God. Where it does appear, Newmans Pacific is home to passive folk ripe for exploitation by Leninist China, which has de facto colonialism as a probable objective. We arent given a percentage on this, but under the spell of the cargo cult (which seems to apply to the entire South Pacific), the people of the Pacific are very open to seduction. Similarly, in Fierravanti-Wellss world, Pacific politicians are duchessed. This wonderful word suggests that flattery and a top-notch banquet are enough to make Pacific elites sign over anything. But portraying the Pacifics leaders as passive, corrupt and slightly dim is probably not the best way to win them over. Weve been here before. A 2006 Senate report, Chinas Emergence: Implications for Australia, had an entire chapter dedicated to warning of the dangers in the southwest Pacific. Analyst after analyst after think-tank expert lined up to warn that China was going for the jugular with lavish banquets targeting tiny, fragile Pacific states. Many of the experts were from the Centre for Independent Studies, of which Newman was a founding member. Underprepared Chinese aid contractors find the Pacific far from passive. China Jiangsu International saw its workforce in Port Moresby robbed twice in two days when locals discovered it had no security guards watching over the construction site for the National Convention Centre in Waigani. The management of China Shenyang International Economic & Technical Co-operation Ltd begged nearly every other Chinese contractor in Papua New Guinea to take over their Pacific Marine Industrial Zone project. Far from the company benefiting from the A$196 million project, it was local spivs who profited, receiving such vastly inflated payments as four million kina (A$1.5 million) for a gate. Newman sees Chinas presence in the Pacific as monolithic and entirely controlled by Beijing. While he is right that China under president Xi Jinping is a different proposition from that of the Deng Xiaoping era, to conclude that the emergence of a more assertive, Leninist China means all bets are off is an astonishing leap, particularly for a leader of the Australian business community. While much of Chinas own propaganda would like you to believe Beijing calls the shots, the reality in the Pacific is far from Newman and Fierravanti-Wellss vision. The Chinese government has little sway over what happens there. It simply lacks the personnel to oversee aid projects, leaving the field open to Chinese companies, their subcontractors and their Pacific partners, who reverse-engineer projects for approval by Chinas Export-Import Bank. While there is no shortage of white elephants to show for Chinese companies work my own favourite is a seldom-used aquatic centre outside Apia whose mascot was a white elephant, hastily repainted yellow Pacific leaders are more discerning buyers than they were in 2006, when China unveiled its first round of concessional loans. Even in those early days, where Pacific officials had the right institutional settings in place, Chinese contractors were able to deliver high-quality projects with long-lasting benefits, such as the dormitories at the University of Goroka. What matters is not the source of development finance, but the capacity of the host nation to use or misuse it. In the past, Chinese diplomats were notorious for not showing up to donor coordination meetings, or showing up late, or spending the entire meeting taking calls. Under Xi Jinpings Belt and Road Initiative, China is making an effort to improve the quality of the staff it posts in the Pacific. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce are appointing personnel who can engage with other development partners. Lack of personnel will continue to hamper Chinas efforts, but it is now more interested in working with other nations on development issues. And not all Chinese aid contractors are bent on a race to the bottom. Chinese companies with long-term commitments to the Pacific such as COVEC PNG and the Guangdong Foreign Construction Group have adapted to host-country concerns, localised their workforces, and learned how to work with multilateral and bilateral donors, including Australia. Aid in the Pacific is one area where Australia can look to cooperate and coordinate with China. Roads in the Pacific rarely lead to nowhere; they help Pacific islanders get access to healthcare, education and markets for their goods. It would be unfortunate if the ministers outdated view of China and the Pacific got in the way of our building them together. Graeme Smith is a Research Fellow in the Department of Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University and host of the Little Red Podcast Organisation: Zoe Recruitment Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda Salary Range: UGX 1,100,000 /= About US: Zoe Recruitment is an HR consultancy company that exists to contribute to the transformation of productivity and work ethic, by linking talent to business/organizations, and placing people right. At Zoe we believe this then forms the foundation for sustainable business and on a larger scale, economic growth. Zoe would like to recruit for a valuable client, an accounting and tax consultancy firm. Job Summary: The Accountant / Book keeper will service the accounting clients of the consultancy firm. Key Duties and Responsibilities: Record day-to-day financial transactions and complete the posting process Verify that transactions are recorded in the correct day book, suppliers ledger, customer ledger and general ledger Bring the books to the trial balance stage Perform partial checks of the posting process Complete and file tax returns Enter data, maintain records and financial statements Process accounts receivable/payable and handle payroll in a timely manner Prepare and submit timely and regular management reports for decision making Qualifications, Skills and Experience: The applicant must hold a Bachelors degree in Finance, Accounting or Business Administration Part professional qualification is an added advantage The applicant should have at least three years of proven bookkeeping experience Solid understanding of basic bookkeeping and accounting payable/receivable principles Proven ability to calculate, post and manage accounting figures and financial records Data entry skills along with a knack for numbers Hands-on experience with spreadsheets and accounting software Proficiency in English and in MS Office Customer service orientation and negotiation skills High degree of accuracy and attention to detail How to Apply: All suitably qualified and interested candidates should apply online by clicking on the title link below. th January 2018 Deadline: 26January 2018 But the tribe has a long way to go Rajendra Sonkar's daily morning routine is to visit garment export units in Gurgaon's Udyog Vihar and ask for a job. Sometimes, he befriends the security guards at these units who allow him to meet the manager. But so far, the answer has been "no". "I must have visited at least 30 companies, but all of them say that they are not hiring at the moment. I was earning Rs 10,000 but after the number of orders came down, the owner fired 100 people. I was one of them," says Sonkar who is finding it difficult to make both ends meet because of lack of a job for the last two months. He and others were fired as companies saw their profits mitigate, post demonetisation and GST. According to various estimates, more than 10 lakh people lost jobs post these two disruptive measures. Unemployment is increasing in India and numbers prove it. According to Labour Bureau's data, rate of creation of jobs deteriorated substantially during the period 2013-14 through 2015-16. Jobs grew at a meagre 0.2% per annum during this period although real GDP grew at a faster 7.8% per annuma reason why many economists have referred to NDA regime as the period of jobless growth. Unemployment, therefore is the biggest challenge for Narendra Modi's government and it will weigh heavily on Arun Jaitley's mind when he presents the budget for 2018-19. The discontent and frustration among educated and uneducated youth is growing as proven by Gujarat results. Modi government will have to stop it from exploding or there might be serious repercussions for 2019. There are strong indications that government may come up with a National Employment Policy in this year's budget, outlining a roadmap for job creation across sectors. The policy will promote job creation by tying in incentives and exemptions under various schemes. The policy will also ensure a transition from informal to formal jobs takes place in the country. The budget may also announce a national database of unorganised workers. Under this platform, the unorganised workers will be issued a Unique ID or Unorganized Workers Identification Number (UWIN) and allotment of an Aadhaar seeded Identification number. One of the biggest problems with informal workers is lack of a social security. "The unorganised workforce contributes a significant proportion of total exports and half of the total GDP. Lack of social protection for them reduces productivity. It leads to coping mechanisms by the vulnerable which run the risk of turning transient poverty into long term poverty," says Santosh Mehrotra, Professor at Centre for Informal and Labour Studies at JNU. The government is apparently working on a social security scheme for informal workers. This will give a big boost to job creation in the unorganised sector, which is the largest employment provider. The scheme will offer mandatory pension, insurance against disability and death, and maternity coverage, alongside optional medical and unemployment coverage to workers who are not covered under EPFO and ESIC. It is also expected that government will increase allocations for rural programmes and infrastructure sector such as affordable housing which will create opportunities for employment. Three years after the NDA government had set up skill development ministry, it is aiming to create massive training infrastructure across the country to institutionalise the certification process. From setting up a separate skill development service cadre to setting up universities, Indian Institute of Skills in all states, the ministry has planned big. Skill development ministry has an aim to train people to find jobs so as to address the unemployment issue in the country. Lack of enough jobs has been a constant criticism faced by the NDA government. Job creation was never our mandate, but only skill certification. We are now expanding our technology platform to include data on people who get certificates and then take up jobs. After expansion we will be able to track their jobs they have been employed with, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Anant Kumar Hegde said. Its been five months since Hegde took charge of the ministry. He said the ministry is creating infrastructure for furthering the skill certification system starting from traditional trade to university level. The initial plan was to open five Indian Institute of Skills. Now, we have decided to open one such institute each in all the states. These institutes are planned with private sponsorship. But where we will not get any collaboration, the government will invest its own money, Hegde added. Apart from these, seven skill development universities are also planned. As this is a new ministry and requires specialised focus, the minister said after getting an approval for creating a separate cadre of skill development service, the UPSC has been asked to start recruitment. India is still far behind in terms of certified skill workers. Currently, the number hovers around less than 5 per cent, whereas in some foreign countries the number is above 60 per cent. Most of the workers in India are not certified since most of them are involved in trades which are part of the traditional skills. According to latest data, more than one crore people were trained in 2017. The ministry has been focusing on building industry standardised infrastructure for driving skill development training through Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKK). Now there are 527 such kendras, allocated across 27 states covering 484 Districts and 406 parliamentary constituencies. Out of which, 328 PMKKs have been established and work is under progress to establish 150 additional PMKK centres. Further, 263 PMKKs have been inaugurated by their respective Members of Parliament. A total of 211 PMKKs have been inaugurated and 261 PMKKs were established in 2017. Hegde said that the focus is to create an infrastructure with help of public-private partnership. As even in case of universities that are being set up, the ministry plays a regulatory role. We will formulate the curricula and other related procedures, while the rest be handled by the partner agency. Skills development ministry has also tied up with the HRD ministry, he added. Explaining how certification was helping traditional communities, Hegde said, after getting these certificates people will be able to secure jobs even in foreign countries. There is a huge demand in Gulf countries for workers in the field of construction, road building and carpentry. After the certification, people can apply for these jobs. Workers from countries which are already giving certificates have a huge presence in Gulf countries, the minister added. The ministry is also going to set up Nirvana fund to help nano entrepreneurs. Under this scheme, funds upto Rs 2.5 lakhs will be given without any collateral. The Indian telecom regulator on Friday recommended that both Internet access and mobile phone calls should be permitted on board aircraft in Indian airspace. "The operation of mobile communication on aircraft (MCA) services should be permitted with minimum height restriction of 3,000 metres in Indian airspace," the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said. This means beyond 3,000 metres phone calls can be made or received and internet services can be accessed. The height restriction is placed to avoid accessing the terestrial mobile networks. To promote the adoption of in-flight connectivity, TRAI said, IFC service providers should be allowed to be set up at a flat annual token licence fee of Re 1. The framework recommended for IFC services in Indian airspace should be made applicable to all types of aircrafts such as commercial airlines, business jets and executive aircrafts, it said. TRAI said it had arrived at the recommendation after analysing the comments received from consultations and open house discussions on the issue. The sector regulator said Internet services through Wi-Fi onboard should be made available when electronic devices are permitted to be used only in flight/airplane mode. "It is good set of recommendations. It will help companies who want to take part in it," said Mahesh Uppal, CEO of telecom consultancy firm Com First. "In-flight connectivity will expand significantly by 2018. It will be a wonderful service for the traveller as it will help them to use their time productively and be in touch with their near and dear ones. But the downside could be the noise levels in flight could increase," said Hemant Joshi, Partner, Deloitte India. TRAI said IFC service providers should be required to get itself registered with DoT (Department of Telecommunications) and it need not necessarily be an Indian entity. The IFC service provider will be permitted to provide IFC services after entering into an arrangement with Unified Licensee having appropriate authorisation. TRAI asserted that the regulatory requirements should be same for both Indian registered and foreign registered airlines for offering IFC services. TRAI also suggested setting up a gateway in India to provide an effective mechanism to lawfully intercept and monitor the in-cabin internet traffic while the aircraft is in Indian airspace. All traffic on board should be touted through the satellite gateway, irrespective of the ownership of the satellite. Stating that 83 per cent of the passengers would prefer airlines that provided internet connections, TRAI said that air passengers expect the same kind of connectivity on board as they do at home or office. Also, there was an increasing interest in use of mobile phones on aircraft, it said adding that already over 30 airlines, and 40 jurisdictions, allow such usage on board. TRAI said IFC services are generally provided through use of mobile satellite service with a mobile earth station installed in the aircraft to establish backhaul link with the ground. The onboard access technology can also be Wi-Fi, e-mail, internal corporate networks or other, it said. Continuing with their protest against Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat, the Shree Rajput Karni Sena warned that Censor Board chief Prasoon Joshi will not be allowed to enter the city during the Jaipur Literature Festival and will be "thrashed" if he does so. "Those supporting release of the film or saying anything in support of the film will never be allowed to get into Jaipur," Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi, president of Karni Sena, said in a video message. The change of name of the film from Padmavati to Padmavaat doesn't appeal us. We want a total ban on the film, he said. He requested that Prime Minister Narendra Modi intervene in the matter and appealed to him to ban the film. He said the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) comes under the central government and hence the government should take action to ban the film. "Bhansali had promised that the film, once ready, will be first shown to Lokendra Singh Kalvi and other members, but they went ahead and released a trailer and the 'Ghoomar' song without showing it to them, which was wrong," he complained. He alleged that the government "brings the Hindutva and temple issues only to get votes". Vijendra Singh, spokesperson of Karni Sena, said that Prasoon Joshi will be "accorded the same welcome" as was given to Bhansali when he was in Rajasthan. "He will not be allowed to enter our city's premises. Bhansali was slapped, but he (Joshi) will be thrashed here," he warned. He said that NH3 in Uttar Pradesh has been blocked to protest release of the film. The Karni Sena will be announcing a Bharat Bandh on January 25, the day the film releases. Lokendra Singh Kalvi, chief of the Rajput association, will be in Mumbai on that day to ensure that the bandh remains effective. In accordance with the recommendations made by CBFC, Padmaavat filmmakers have released a fresh version of the song Ghoomar, where Deepika Padukone's midriff was covered with CGI effects. Members of the fringe group Karni Sena and several Rajput organisations had taken offence to the video. The filmmakers had also released a teaser, glorifying Rajput women; Rani Padmavati declares war against Khilji in the scene. "Kshatriya women will fight a second battle in Chittur, which no one would have heard of or seen of," Padmavati says in the video. Actor Akshay Kumar had, on Friday, announced that he is shifting the release of his PadMan to February 9. "Bhansali sir asked me if I can move my film... See, we are one family and I can understand he has gone through a lot, he has put a lot of money, the studio people have put a lot of money. I would want 'Padmaavat' to release solo and would like to wish him luck," Akshay told mediapersons. He addressed a joint press conference with Bhansali at his residence. The Supreme Court had , on Thursday, struck down the bans imposed by several states on the controversial movie Padmaavat, clearing the way for its release on January 25. The movie, which was initially named Padmavati, had been in the news for several months owing to protests by Rajput groups. The movie's name was changed earlier this month and the producers also agreed to make several cuts. Despite the changes, several states including Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh had banned its screening, following which its producers appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court struck down the bans and said movies cleared by the Censor Board could not be banned again by states. The Supreme Court also reminded state governments of their role in maintaining law and order. (Inputs from agencies) The rightists in India are toasting to a new India-Israel alliance (the ultra-rightists read it as Hindu-Hebrew), and the leftists are crying over the end of Nehruvian non-alignment and of solidarity with the Palestinian underdogs. The fact is: Neither side is getting the true picture. The rightists made much of Narendra Modi's historic visit to Israel, and his decision not to pay even a courtesy visit to Ramollah. It was a break from the past when every Indian dignitary who made an official visit to Israel had made at least a flying visit to the Palestinian capital. But look at the facts. Indeed, Modi did not attempt to 'balance' his July visit to Israel with a hop-over to Palestine. But then, a month and half earlier, he had warmly received Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas in Delhi, and explained to him the intent and content of his forthcoming Israel visit. A few months earlier, he had also sent Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj to call on Abbas and explain to him the changing dynamics of India's relation with the Arab world. And now, having hosted Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Indian soil, Modi is planning a visita balancing one, if you pleaseto Palestine within three weeks. Only a week ago, had India voted in the UN against Israel and the US on recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital. And even as Netanyahu was still on the Indian soil, the Indian foreign office confirmed the date (February 10) of Modi's planned visit to Palestine. Thus, if one side can hail Modi's July 2017 visit as the first ever made by an Indian prime minister to Israel, the other side can hail his February 10 visit to Palestine, too, as the first ever by an Indian prime minister. Interestingly, one of the subjects that Modi talked to Netanyahu during the latter's visit to India was Palestine. Netanyahu briefed Modi in detail about what he was doing to seek peace with Palestine, knowing well that Modi would be discussing the same issues with Abbas. The fact is that, as THE WEEK had reported last June, Israel's Palestine policy is changing. Today, Netanyahu is facing flak from the ultra-rightists in Israel for having gone soft towards Palestine. As Col. Eran Lerman of the Begin-Sadat Centre wrote recently, the Israeli defence forces are no longer adopting a harsh line, and this is bearing fruits. Interactions between Israel and the Palestinian Authority at the ministerial level have offered proof of the value of current Israeli strategy towards the Palestinian population. First came the positive meeting between PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, during which the former offered uncharacteristic praise of Israels measured response to the wave of violence that began in October 2015. Then came the July 10 inauguration in Jenin of the power plant project, jointly launched by Hamdallah and Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, which indicates once again the utility of Israels gas exports as a tool of regional policy. The fact is that Israel is now seeking to reach out to the Sunni Arab world, and the Arabs, too, have been reciprocating. There have been instances of India having facilitated secret meetings between Arab and Israeli military leaders. Both Israel and the Sunni Arabs are apprehensive of the rise of Shia Iran, and India is one country that still has excellent relations with Iran. India has made it clear to the west, to Israel and to the Arab world that it cannot dump its ties with Iran which, through its Chabahar port, provides India's only access to Afghanistan. Iran had also been hosting Indian ships and even sending its own warships to exercise with them close to Pakistani waters. In fact, only two days before Netanyahu arrived in India, India's Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari was overseeing a $600 million pact with Irans Roads and Urban Development minister Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi. India can ill-afford to give up all this, and the Israelis, past masters at pragmatic politics, know this very well. While most political commentatorsboth rightist and leftistcontinue to look at West Asia through the prism of old cold war rivalries, the good thing is that Indian foreign policy establishment has learnt the value of pragmatism in foreign policy. India needs both Israel and the Arab world, and is learning to manage both. As the Netanyahu visit itself demonstrated, India needs Israel's expertise and technologies in defence, agriculture, water management while Israel needs India's industrial potential, raw materials, and the heft of its rising strategic military profile especially in the Indian Ocean. Similarly, India will continue to seek the goodwill of the Arab world for their oil, their huge labour market, and their political heft to manage the Islamic central Asia and Pakistan, while the Arabs will need India as a reliable investment destination, a guardian of the eastern seas through which their oil tankers pass, and a source of inexpensive skills. Demonstrators hold Palestinian flags during clashes with Israeli troops, near the border with Israel in the southern Gaza Strip | Reuters Indeed, the relationship is growing, and growing fast. Both sides had for long wanted a strategic partnership, but in July they couldn't agree on what it meant, and what it would contain. While Israel would not call a relationship strategic unless it had certain security perceptions, the Indian side was willing to have a strategic partnership over even purely development-related matters. Finally, both had agreed to a strategic partnership on civil matters, which sounded like an oxymoron: Strategic partnership in water and agriculture! This time, they left it vague in the joint statementthey merely stated they have consolidated the foundation for their strategic partnership. The joint statement also noted that both sides also agreed to deepen cooperation in innovation, business and trade, space, homeland security and cyber, higher education and research, science and technology, tourism and culture. The main focus, however, was on agriculture. Israel is already running 28 centres for imparting new farming technologies and seven more have been opened since Modi's July visit. In the world of technology development, Israel looks at itself as a laboratory. It can develop technologies on home soil, but it needs shop floors to work those technologies and produce goods. And India, in their reckoning, can provide thousands of them. The joint statement indicated that all formalities for the launch of an India-Israel Industrial R&D and Technological Innovation Fund (I4F), announced during Modis visit to Israel, have been completed. One area where Israel is most constrainedgeographically and technologicallyand India is light years ahead, is space technology. Space engineers across the world like to launch their satellites eastward because the earth's eastward spin gives the satellite an additional thrust. But since Israel has only enemies to its east, and its only sea coast is to the west, the Israelis just can't launch its satellites eastward. They envy India's ideal launch pads located on the east coast, and love to get their satellites launched by India. Thus, in 2008, Israel got India to launch a radar imaging satellite TecSAR, and the next year they gifted India a radar imaging satellite RISAT-2, with a secret one-metre resolution camera used for surveillance. Since then the cooperation has been flowering, and space scientists of the two countries had met in November to discuss the implementation of the two MoUs and one Plan of Cooperation signed between the two space agencies. One area that both sides feel that the progress has been tardy is trade and investment. The Israelis, who are loaded with money and skilled in industrial technology, are still reluctant to invest in India because of what they call India's lax intellectual property laws. Modi and Netanyahu have now agreed that this needs to be further talked over and are arranging official-level meetings in February. Israeli is already India's largest military supplier in terms of technology, but is lagging in actual hardware. Israeli companies want to set up shop in India and start manufacturing under Make in India, but India's insistence on transfer of technology makes them wary. The two prime ministers have asked their defence ministers to talk this over with each other and with their industries, both the public and private sectors. The real strategic cooperation in security matters is going to be in terror and cyberspace. The Joint Working Groups on Homeland and Public Security will meet in February 2018, and chalk out further areas of cooperation. India's foreign policy mandarins, always good at semantic spin-doctoring, say India is dehyphenating the bilateral relationships. India's Arab policy, they say, no longer needs to be hyphenated to its policy towards Israel and vice-versa. In simpler terms, whenever they say Arab, there is no need to put a hyphen and add Israel. The relationship with one will now be independent of the relationship with the other. That looks a little far-fetched. The fact is India is still hyphenating the relationships. The only change is that the hyphen is getting a little longer, and perhaps becoming a dash. The red flag of the CPI(M), emblazoned with the dazzling white hammer and sickle, is fighting for space with the saffron lotus of the BJP in poll-bound Tripura. As Tripura goes to polls on February 18 to elect a new 60-member state legislature, an all-out battle between the ruling CPI(M) and the new entrant, the BJP, is on the anvil. Manik Sarkar, a four-time chief minister, is having sleepless nights as the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to wrest Tripura from the Left party, which has been ruling the state continuously for the past 25 years. The high-voltage electioneering and political engineering under the leadership of the regions most experienced politician, the wily Himanta Biswa Sarma, whose prowess at winning electoral battles is well known, may sound the death knell for the CPI(M). Sarma, who has been made the convenor of the BJP-floated North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA)which has brought several regional parties in the northeast under its umbrellaas well as the party in-charge of the Tripura polls, is going about his job meticulously. The party is pinning its hopes on the tribal votes, although it touts a straight victory given the huge popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Of the 60 seats in the state, 20 are reserved for the scheduled tribes. With a tally of 18 out of these 20, the CPI(M) had won a lions share of ST seats. The BJP wants to corner the ruling CPI(M) on the ST seats. With this in mind, Sarma has almost finalised the BJP's pre-poll alliance with the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) led by N.C. Debbarma. We had a meeting with the IPFT and are on the verge of forming an alliance, Sarma said, adding that a proposal has been sent to the party high command, which would have to be approved by the partys parliamentary board after which a formal announcement would be made. We are confident of forming a BJP government in Tripura, he said. The IPFT, a regional party of Tripura, is demanding Twipraland or a separate state for the states indigenous communities. Ironically, the indigenous population of the state is in a minority, having been outnumbered by the Bengali-speaking majority. Tripura has 19 indigenous tribes. Two other regional partiesThe Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) and the National Convention of Tripura (NCT)are likely to join hands with the Congress, accusing the saffron party of 'ignoring' them. However, BJP Tripura vice president Subal Bhowmik denied the allegations and said doors would be open for any anti-Left party that sought to join the alliance. Meanwhile, the Congress is also holding talks with regional parties other than the IPFT to forge an anti-Left and anti-BJP alliance in order to take on the two dominant parties. Congress legislature party leader Gopal Chandra Roy said that they are likely to forge an alliance with the INPT and the NCT. The former is led by erstwhile militant leader Bijoy Hrangkhawl. Interestingly, both the regional parties are opposed to the IPFTs core demand of a separate state Twipraland for indigenous communities. The proposed alliance of the two regional parties and the Congress would focus on the development of the indigenous communities and the demand to grant more power to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council. INPT general secretary Jagdish Debbarma informed that discussions were on for a common minimum programme that would seek to 'develop and empower' indigenous communities. The IPFT (Tipraha), a breakaway faction of the IPFT, led by former MLA Rajeshwar Debbarma and Trinamool Congress leaders, is also engaged in alliance talks with the Congress. He said that the discussions have been positive and meaningful so far. According to Rajeshwar Debbarma, the BJPs alliance with the N.C. Debbaarma faction of the IPFT has sent a 'negative' vibe across Tripura since it has been demanding a divided Tripura by carving a separate state for the indigenous people of the state. He felt that the anti-Left and anti-BJP alliance has a good chance of sweeping the polls, the counting for which is slated for March 3. The BJPs point man for the northeast, Ram Madhav, feels ending 25 years of Left rule in Tripura will be fantastic for his party as it will pave the road for a saffron surge across the country in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. As for the CPI(M), a defeat would mean a deathblow to the Left movement in the country as that would leave the CPI(M) with only Kerala as the state where it is in power. Two bombs were found from the Bodh Gaya pilgrimage centre on Friday night, following a small explosion-like sound amid stringent security measures in view of the Dalai Lama's stay, a top police official said. The bombs were found from the vicinity of the Kalachakra ground during an intensive combing operation by a police team led by DIG (Patna Range) Vinay Kumar, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Patna Zone, N.H. Khan said. The Tibetan spiritual leader has been holding discourses at the ground, he said. The IGP said that the operations were carried out after a small explosion took place at a kitchen set up at the Kaalchintan ground, causing panic among the devotees who had gathered to hear the Dalai Lama's discourse. The explosion had taken place shortly after the Dalai Lama had completed his discourse and retired for the day at the Tibetan monastery, he said. During the operations, a burst thermos flask was found at the kitchen. This might have caused the sound, the IGP said. Meanwhile, a team of forensic experts was dispatched to the site of the incident from Patna to ascertain the nature of the explosives found, he said. The Tibetan spiritual leader had arrived in Bodh Gaya on January 1 and he is likely to stay there for a month. A host of VIPs, including Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Hollywood actor Richard Gere have visited Bodh Gaya recently to receive blessings from the Buddhist monk. Significantly, in 2013, the Maha Bodhi temple, situated on the spot where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, was rocked by a series of explosions in which five people, including two monks were injured. The petition seeking an independent probe into the death of judge B.H. Loya will be heard by the court of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on January 22, when the Supreme Court reconvenes after the weekend break. According to the cause list put out by the Supreme Court, the case, which was earlier being heard by court number ten presided over by Justice Arun Mishra, will be heard by the chief justice's court. The bench, headed by Misra, also comprises Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud. It was the assigning of the case to Justice Mishra's court earlier that is learnt to have prompted the four senior-most judgesJustices J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Josephto go public with their grievances with regard to the manner in which the apex court was being administered by the chief justice. The four judges, the chief justice's colleagues in the Supreme Court collegium, had in a letter to Misra two months back, complained that politically sensitive cases were being allocated to selected benches. And the referral of the case of the death of judge Loyawho was hearing the case of the alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, in which BJP chief Amit Shah was an accusedto a junior judge is learnt to have been the tipping point for them. Loya died in December 2014 when visiting Nagpur; while the police claimed he died of a heart attack, there have been allegations of foul play. Curiously, when the bench of Justices Mishra and Mohan M. Shantanagoudar heard the petition with regard to death of judge Loya on January 16, with the press conference of the senior-most judges in the backdrop, it said in its order, besides directing that the documents pertaining to the case be placed on record within seven days, that the matter be put before the appropriate bench. The order gave rise to speculation that the judges were recusing themselves from hearing the case. The reassigning of the case to the chief justice's court is being seen as an effort to assuage the concerns of the four dissenting judges. The petition was mentioned before the chief justice's court on January 19, and Chief Justice Misra ordered that it should be put before an appropriate bench as per roster. One year after the mercurial and unpredictable Donald Trump assumed office as the 45th President of the USA (POTUS) and his many outbursts and acerbic comments about the big powers (China, Russia, EU) and global leaders over the last 12 months, the one major bi-lateral that has been relatively stable and rancor-free is that of the US with India. At a personal level, the US President has a productive working relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and while their friendship is yet to reach the my friend Donald level it is evident that the nature of their cordial engagement has worked largely in Indias favor. Various statements by senior members of the Trump team including the Secretaries of State and Defence have dwelt on the bi-lateral with India in very positive terms. While this is a continuation of the policies following from the Bush-Manmohan Singh 2005 breakthrough, there was considerable anxiety in Delhi in the early months of the Trump presidency about a possible break, for every major Obama policy had either been reversed or put on hold. However, this did not happen and on the contrary, India has been referred to in very glowing terms as an emerging major global power; a net security provider in the Indo-Pacific; and with the USA, a book-end of stability in an uneasy and turbulent world. This is heady stuff and some of the adjectives and praise are on the generous side. India has potential, for sure, to be a relevant global power and a swing-state in the evolving strategic framework of the early 21st century, but it has not yet 'arrived', for it has many critical deficiencies in the security domain that cannot be swept under the carpet of bonhomie. The semantic choice of words in relation to India and the turn of phrase in the statements and documents of the Trump team, wherein the earlier Asia-Pacific has now become the Indo-Pacific is laden with considerable import. Again, this is favorable to India but with a caveat. India cannot become an effective and credible net security provider if it does not swiftly redress the many gaps in the security cum strategic arena. Consequently the US (irrespective of who is the president) will be less inclined to identify India as a valued partner. Currently there is a high degree of empathy in the Beltway for Delhi but this needs to be nurtured and insulated both from the policy impulsiveness and related vagaries of the POTUS; and the drift cum implementation deficit disorder that plagues Raisina Hill. Many of Indias principal interlocutors and well-wishers bemoan the fact that the Modi team is very good at visibility, dialogue and expansive joint statements, but they often get mired at the level of earnest intent and do not translate into speedy implementation. Thus with the current trans-border military capability that India possesses, my assessment is that notwithstanding the grand vision of an Indo-Pacific with two book-ends, Delhi will not be able to play a major role commensurate with its potential and what is being envisioned by its more empathetic partners. To the credit of the US, it had even promised to provide the needed support to India in terms of technology for this purpose, subject to Delhi accepting certain agreements and security protocols. The scope of this defence and military cooperation had been first outlined in the June 2005 Rumsfeld-Mukherjee agreement, fine-tuned by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter during Obama II and is now supported by the Trump teamperhaps with greater focus on the transactional / financial element. The ball is in the Indian court and it remains to be seen if there will be any traction during the second year of the Trump presidency, which will also be the last phase of the Modi government, for national elections are due in early 2019. Whatever be his other policy lurches, President Trump has been more definitive and assertive than his predecessor in relation to China and Pakistan but how this statement of intent, either by tweet or in the US national security strategy document translates into action remains moot. In year two of Trump? In the last few weeks, it was evident that India and the US shared similar concern about the release by the Pakistani authorities of JuD chief Hafiz Saeed, but how will they realise their objective? Again, opaque. It also appears that the US and India are on the same page in voicing their reservations regarding China's One Belt One Road (OBOR) project. How this will shape their own bi-lateral relations with Beijing on one hand and the India-US partnership may be described as a work-in-progress in the first year of the Trump presidency. It is reasonable to infer that President Trump will visit India in his second year in office before the Modi election juggernaut is launched and hopefully the more critical defence and military related issues currently in limbo will be satisfactorily energised. But on balance, the first year of the turbulent Trump presidency has been adequately beneficial for India. And this despite the Jerusalem vote in the UN, which may be seen as an indicator of the resilience of the bi-lateral relationship. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the publication. At a high-level Security Council meeting, Pakistan has raised the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, whom Islamabad has accused of being an Indian spy and given him a death sentence. "Those who speak of changing mindsets (about terrorism) need to look within and their own record of subversion against my country as our capture of an Indian spy has amply demonstrated and proved beyond any shadow of doubt," Pakistan's Permanent Representative Maleeha Lodhi said during Council meeting on Afghanistan. She did not mention his name. Her statement was in response to India's statement in the Council meeting on Afghanistan that India is a victim of the same Pakistani "mindset" that promotes terrorist attacks everyday in Afghanistan. India has denied that Jadhav, a retired navy officer, worked for the government and said that he was abducted by Pakistan from Iran to stage a show-trial. Denying that Pakistan was giving terrorists a safe haven or support, Lodhi also took a swipe at the US saying it needed a "reality check." The administration of President Donald Trump suspended security aid to Pakistan this month citing its provision of sanctuaries and assistance to terrorists attacking Afghanistan. Jadhav was captured by Pakistan in 2016 and was sentenced to death by a military court martial last year. India appealed to the International Court of Justice against his sentence and the court has stayed his execution. Lodhi was originally listed to address the Council two spots before India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin, but she chose to speak later and amended her prepared speech with the response to him. Akbaruddin said that after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Lahore in December 2015 in a bid to promote peace with Pakistan, "a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack" was launched on the Pathankot airbase in a week's time by "the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day." "These mindsets differentiate between 'good' and bad terrorists," he said. "These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace." "These mindsets,a Akbaruddin declared, "need to change." Lodhi said that Pakistan was against terrorism, being itself a a victim. She blamed the conditions in Afghanistan and the drug trade, which she said brings terrorists $400 million every year, for the insurgency and asserted that they didn't need outside support or sanctuaries because "over 40 per cent of the country is under insurgent control, contested or ungoverned." "Afghanistan and its partners, especially the US, need to address these challenged inside Afghanistan rather than shift the onus for ending the conflict on to others," she said. "Those who imagine sanctuaries outside (Afghanistan) need a reality check," she added. -IANS Rohingya leaders in a Bangladesh refugee camp have drawn up a list of demands they want Myanmar to meet before authorities begin sending back hundreds of thousands in a repatriation process expected to begin next week and last for two years. The petition is the latest indication of the challenges ahead for Bangladesh and Myanmar as they try to engineer the return of refugees who fear continued military operations in Rakhine State and are dismayed about the prospect of a prolonged stay in temporary camps in Myanmar when they go back. A half-dozen Rohingya elders, saying they represented 40 villages from Rakhine, showed the list of demands to a Reuters reporter at the Kutupalong refugee camp, where most of the 655,500 Rohingya refugees are staying. The petition, handwritten in Burmese, said none of the Muslim Rohingya would return to mainly Buddhist Myanmar unless the demands were met. The petition, which has still to be finalised, demanded the Myanmar government publicly announce it is giving Rohingya long-denied citizenship and inclusion on a list of the countrys recognised ethnic groups. It asks that land once occupied by the refugees be returned to them and their homes, mosques and schools rebuilt. It wants the military held accountable for alleged killings, looting and rape, and the release from jails of innocent Rohingya picked up in counter-insurgency operations. It also wants Myanmar to stop listing people with their photographs as terrorists in state media and on government Facebook pages. Myanmar state newspapers this week issued a supplement listing the names and photos of alleged members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), whose attacks on security posts on Aug. 25 triggered a sweeping counter-insurgency operation. The United Nations has described the Myanmar military operations in the northern part of Rakhine as a classic case of ethnic cleansing. The military says it has only conducted legitimate operations and denies there have been cases of sexual assault. But the military said last week soldiers had killed 10 captured Muslim terrorists during insurgent attacks at the beginning of September, after Buddhist villagers had forced the captured men into a grave the villagers had dug. It was a rare acknowledgment of wrongdoing by the Myanmar military during its operations in the western state of Rakhine. ARSA said in a statement last week the 10 Rohingya in the mass grave were innocent civilians and not members of their group. Challendes ahead The Rohingya elders Reuters spoke to said they were still finalising their list of demands before showing it to Bangladesh authorities and to aid agencies administering the camps. They said the 40 village leaders they discussed the petition with represent the interests of all Rohingya at the camp, but that could not be independently verified and aid agencies were unable to comment pending formal issuance of the petition. Bangladesh and Myanmar this week agreed to complete the return of the refugees over the next two years, with the process due to begin on Tuesday. But even as preparations get underway for the repatriation, Rohingya Muslims continue to pour into Bangladesh. More than 100 Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh from Myanmar since Wednesday and scores more were waiting to cross the Naf river that forms the border, newly arrived refugees in Bangladesh told Reuters. The new arrivals said they fled Myanmar because of military operations in their village of Sein Yin Pyin, and gave accounts of young men being rounded up and of discovering dead bodies in a pond and a forest. They said they fled out of hunger, after hiding in their homes for days, unable to go to work in the fields and forests that provided their livelihood. Myanmar Police Colonel Myo Thu Soe, spokesman for the military-controlled Home Affairs Ministry, told Reuters on Thursday theres no clearance operation going on in the villages. But, he added, security forces are still trying to take control of the area in northern Rakhine. He declined to elaborate. Rights groups and the UN say any repatriations must be voluntary. Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human RightsWatch, told Reuters in an email authorities cannot deal with the Rohingya refugees as if they are an inert mass of people who will go where and when they are told. The repatriation deal does not cover over 200,000 other Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh prior to October 2016, who had been driven out of Myanmar during previous episodes of ethnic violence and military operations. -Reuters The US military has put countering China and Russia at the center of a new national defense strategy unveiled on Friday, the latest sign of shifting priorities after more than a decade and a half of focusing on the fight against Islamist militants. In presenting the new strategy, which will set priorities for the Pentagon for years to come, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called China and Russia revisionist powers that seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models. The National Defense Strategy represents the latest sign of hardening resolve by President Donald Trumps administration to address challenges from Russia and China, at the same time he is pushing for improved ties with Moscow and Beijing to rein in a nuclear North Korea. We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists that we are engaged in today, but great power competition, not terrorism, is now the primary focus of US national security, Mattis said in a speech presenting the strategy document, the first of its kind since at least 2014. It sets priorities for the US Defense Department that are expected to be reflected in future defense spending requests. The Pentagon on Friday released an unclassified, 11-page version of the document, which did not provide details on how the shift towards countering China and Russia would be carried out. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking through an interpreter at a news conference at the United Nations, said the United States was using a confrontational approach. It is regrettable that instead of having a normal dialogue, instead of using the basis of international law, the US is striving to prove their leadership through such confrontational strategies and concepts, Lavrov said. Were open for dialogue, were prepared to discuss military doctrines, he added. Chinas US embassy criticized the strategy, saying Beijing sought global partnership, not global dominance. If some people look at the world through a cold war, zero-sum game mindset, then they are destined to see only conflict and confrontation, an embassy spokesman said in a statement. Elbridge Colby, deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, said at a briefing with reporters that Russia was far more brazen than China in its use of military power. Russia annexed Ukraines Crimean peninsula in 2014 and intervened militarily in Syria to support its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Still, Moscow was limited by its economic resources, Colby said. China, on the other hand, was described as economically and militarily ascendant. China has embarked on a far-reaching military modernization that Colby said was in deep contravention to our interests. Experts praised the documents targeting of the largest national security threats rather than the longer lists of risks in some previous strategies. But without knowing the budget commitments, it was difficult to assess if it was a sound strategy. If we dont actually see where the money is, you know, there is the danger that it could become all words, said Mara Karlin, a fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank and a senior defense official in the Obama administration. Support for alliance The document also listed North Korea among the Pentagons priorities, citing the need to focus US missile defenses against the threat from Pyongyang, which beyond its nuclear weapons has also amassed an arsenal of biological, chemical, and conventional arms. The document said that international alliances would be critical for the US military, by far the worlds best-resourced. But it also stressed a need for burden-sharing, an apparent nod to Trumps public criticism of allies who he says unfairly take advantage of US security guarantees. Trump has called the NATO alliance obsolete, but Mattis said the United States would strengthen its traditional alliances while building new partnerships and listening more to other nations ideas. We will be willing to be persuaded by them, recognizing that not all good ideas come from the country with the most aircraft carriers, Mattis said. The Pentagon is also working on a policy document on the countrys nuclear arsenal. While Mattis did not specifically address that review, he said the priority is deterrence. How do we maintain a safe and effective nuclear deterrence so those weapons are never used? It is a nuclear deterrent, it is not a war fighting capability unless it is the worst day in our nation or the worlds history, Mattis said. Mattis had harsh words for the US Congress and its inability to reach agreement on budgets. The US militarys competitive edge has eroded in every domain of warfare he said, partly because of inconsistent funding. A bill to fund the government only through Feb 16, approved on Thursday night by the House of Representatives, appeared on the verge of collapse in the Senate. As hard as the last 16 years of war have been, no enemy in the field has done more to harm the readiness of the US military than the combined impact of spending caps and short-term funding. In sheer spending terms, the United States military outlay per year is still far more than China and Russia. The United States is spending $587.8 billion per year on its military, China $161.7 billion and Russia $44.6 billion. Reuters QINISWENI One person died and 15 more were injured when a kombi overturned due to a tyre burst yesterday afternoon. The kombi reportedly overturned after the driver lost control when a tyre burst after negotiating a curve along the Nhlangano/Lavumisa Road, around Tempest, in the precinct of Qinisweni, which is located towards the south of Nhlangano town. The accident occurred shortly after 4pm, and just moments after the fully loaded kombi left the Nhlangano Bus Rank with 16 passengers headed to Mshololo. Information gathered was that one of the kombi tyres blew out, sending the vehicle off the road. Thereafter the vehicle rolled several times, before it eventually landed on a ditch nearby. Some survivors spoke of scrambling out of the wreckage while smelling fuel, while others had to be helped out of the damaged vehicle. Many suffered serious injuries, while others were treated and discharged from the Nhlangano Health Centre. Onlookers who witnessed the nasty accident shared their shock. Explosion I was walking next to the road when I heard a loud explosion. Suddenly I saw the kombi rolling for several times, with some passengers being thrown off the vehicle. I think its tyre burst, causing the driver to lose control, narrated one bystander. Paramedics reportedly arrived at the scene to find one passenger, a 29-year-old male, already dead. They tried to ascertain his condition and confirmed he had no pulse. Reports are that the other 15 passengers sustained injuries, ranging from minor to critical. The victims were whisked to the Nhlangano Health Centre, where they are receiving treatment for their wounds. MANZINI Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini has referred to a member of Parliament as insolent, immature and disrespectful after falsely accusing him of treason. The premier made the sobering remarks during the Royal Swaziland Police Service senior officers end of year function held at Mavuso Trade and Exhibition Centre yesterday. Though he did not identify the MP by name, it should be noted that Nkwene MP Sikhumbuzo Dlamini, a police officer by profession during a run in with the prime minister stated that the nation during the Peoples Parliament in 2016 said the prime minister was taking over State power and that MPs had not taken action. During the function yesterday, the premier reminded attendants that this was an election year and as such, any officer who would be granted leave to serve in Parliament, should know that the Parliamentary Privileges Legislation was not in place to encourage reckless false and highly damaging statements for which they could not be held accountable. I refer in particular to the recent incident where an insolent, immature and disrespectful police officer was allowed to be on leave and become a member of Parliament and after being permitted by the Speaker to peak, he falsely accused me of treason. Dlamini said this was an offence, which is so serious that in other countries in the world, it carries a sentence of a death penalty. Nor should that parliamentarian make silly suggestions that our senior politicians should be given unarmed protection. He wondered if this man (the legislator) wanted to see anyone dead because the days when personal attacks could be repelled with fists and pieces of wood were sadly gone. The premier further stated that officers who want to stand for the upcoming national elections should seek for leave from the National Commissioners office and if they were lucky, they would be MPs for that certain period of time. He said even during that period, they would be expected to carry with them the police conduct and discipline. Further expressing his disappointment, he said it was shocking when an officer, who was elected to Parliament turned to question why the prime minister was given armed bodyguards as he made some believe that he wanted to take the powers of the King. Does he want to the PM dead and after this has happened is the MP going to give the King another candidate? he wondered. Braden Reardon, who was executive chef for Saratoga Springs Adelphi Hospitality Group since fall 2016, overseeing the steakhouse Salt & Char and, later, food for The Blue Hen restaurant and Morrisseys Lounge in the renovated Adelphi Hotel, is no longer with the company after this week. Reardon said last week that he would finish out the month before relocating to Hong Kong, but a spokeswoman for AHG confirmed earlier this week that his tenure is complete this week. Food service at the Adelphi is managed by chef de cuisine Marc Plessis; for Salt & Char, chef de cuisine Tim Brockman. The spokeswoman said AHG had no comment on Reardons departure or recent turnover in senior Adelphi positions including director of event sales and chief operating officer. The company also would not discuss whether Reardons corporate-executive-chef position will be filled. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino, one of the stars of the "Jersey Shore" reality TV series that depicted 20-somethings partying and brawling by the seaside, pleaded guilty Friday to cheating on his taxes. Sorrentino didn't comment on his way out of the courthouse, but his attorney said the 36-year-old was remorseful and has turned his life around in the last few years, including staying sober and becoming involved in a stable romantic relationship. "In the last several years he has grown up as a human being," attorney Henry Klingeman said. Sorrentino and his brother, Marc, were charged in 2014 and again last year with multiple counts related to nearly $9 million in income from the show. They had pleaded not guilty but wrote a letter to the judge this week stating they wanted to change their pleas. On Friday, Michael Sorrentino pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and admitted concealing his income in 2011 by making cash deposits in amounts that wouldn't trigger federal reporting requirements. The charge faced by Michael Sorrentino carries a maximum sentence of 14 months under federal sentencing guidelines, but Klingeman said similarly situated defendants often receive probation. The Associated Press Kim, Kanye name baby girl Chicago It's Chicago where Kanye West was raised as the name of baby No. 3 with Kim Kardashian West. Mom made the announcement Friday on her app without explanation. Chicago was born Monday, weighing in at 7 pounds, 6 ounces. She joins big sister North and middle brother Saint. Chicago was born Monday via gestational carrier, meaning Kardashian West's fertilized egg was implanted into a surrogate. The rapper and the reality star chose to use a gestational carrier after Kim suffered pregnancy complications with her two older children. She said her doctors told her it wasn't safe for her to carry another baby. Associated Press Petty death ruled accidental overdose Tom Petty's family says his death last year was due to an accidental drug overdose. His wife and daughter released the results of Petty's autopsy via a statement on his Facebook page Friday night. Dana and Adria Petty say they got the results from the coroner's office earlier in the day that the overdose was caused due to a variety of medications. He had just wrapped up a tour a few days before he died in October at age 66. Associated Press Douglas accused of sexual misconduct A woman who worked for Michael Douglas in the late 1980s says he fondled himself in front of her an allegation the actor has vigorously denied. Susan Braudy appeared Friday on NBC's "Today" show. Braudy, a journalist and author, said the actor unbuckled his belt, put his hand into his trousers and fondled himself in her presence. She says a friend later cautioned her not to tell anyone. Douglas, a two-time Oscar winner, told Deadline earlier this month that he anticipated an upcoming report would contain an allegation by a former employee that he acted inappropriately in front of her 32 years ago. He called it a "complete lie, fabrication." Associated Press Live video leads to rapper's arrest Authorities say rapper Kodak Black was arrested several days after a guest at his Florida home live-streamed people handling marijuana and a handgun around an infant. A Broward Sheriff's Office report says deputies arrested the 20-year-old rapper, whose real name is Dieuson Octave, after executing a search warrant at his Pembroke Pines home on Thursday. Octave was ordered held without bail during a Friday hearing because he was already on probation. The arrest report says the video was streamed Saturday on Instagram, and the Thursday search of his home found more drugs and weapons. Octave faces seven felony charges. They include child neglect, grand theft of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and marijuana possession. A lawyer for Octave wasn't listed on jail records. Octave is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a Florence, South Carolina, hotel room in 2016. He has been jailed several times in Broward County after violating probation. His song "Tunnel Vision" peaked at number 6 on Billboard's Hot 100. Associated Press Washington Time ran out on preventing a government shutdown Friday night as the Senate voted on a procedural motion that in effect brought the curtain down on many federal functions. After a long day of brinksmanship at both the White House and the U.S. Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called a vote for 10 p.m. knowing the stop-gap measure was unlikely to meet the 60-vote threshold required under Senate rules. With the Senate divided 51-49 in favor of Republicans, the math was not there for approval. The Senate vote Friday night stood at 50-48 on a motion that would have ended debate and permitted a simple-majority vote that Republicans likely would have won. Four Republicans crossed lines to vote with Democrats. Lawmakers of both parties continued to mill about the Senate floor after the vote, suggesting a possible last-minute deal was in the works. Five Democrats from states that went for Trump in the 2016 election voted with Republicans. The House had passed the same bill late Thursday, which would have kept the government functioning until Feb. 16. But without Senate concurrence, the government was set to close its doors at midnight for the first time since 2013. It did not appear McConnell had the necessary votes to overcome opposition of most Democrats as well as two Republicans. Under Senate rules, it takes 60 senators to bring the proposal to a vote. Announcement of the vote capped a long day of negotiations behind closed doors and a cascade of charges and countercharges as both parties maneuvered to shield themselves from blame and shift responsibility in the other direction. Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump called Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer to the White House for a meeting of the outer-borough opposites. "We had a long and detailed meeting," Schumer told reporters upon his return. "We discussed all of the major outstanding issues, we made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements. The discussions will continue." Republicans and conservatives went all out to pin the possible shutdown on Schumer. The hashtag #SchumerShutdown was in wide use on Twitter. At least two Republican senators, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Mike Rounds of South Dakota, said they would vote "no" on a temporary funding bill. Even limited Republican opposition might help Schumer repel finger-pointing in his direction. For his part, Schumer was quick to blame discord among Republicans, who control both branches of Congress and the White House. Trump "has been impervious to compromise for the past several months," Schumer said Friday as the Senate delayed a vote on a resolution to keep the government open. "He can't maintain a consistent position." But Schumer also insisted a deal was "within reach." "And now is the time to reach it, not a month from now," Schumer said. Democrats fought back against Republicans with a hashtag of their own, #TrumpShutdown. Trump canceled a planned trip Friday to his Mar a Lago resort in Florida to be on hand for last-minute negotiations. As the blame game ricocheted back and forth, an ABC News/Washington Post poll showed 48 percent would judge Republicans guilty if a shutdown occurred, while 28 percent would accuse Democrats and 18 percent believe both sides equally responsible. But a CNN poll showed 56 percent saying avoidance of a shutdown is more important than continuing the DACA program, while just 34 percent picking DACA over a shutdown. Among the issues dividing the two sides: Spending parity between defense and nondefense domestic needs, hurricane relief, renewal of the Children's Health Insurance Program (Child Health Plus in New York) and, most of all, the fate of young immigrant Dreamers, whose legal status granted under then President Obama was revoked last year by Trump. Trump has conditioned extension of Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals order DACA on construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall, a deal-breaker for Democrats. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney on Friday pushed back against Democrats who have argued that as the ones in control of Congress and the White House, Republicans would own the shutdown. He also insisted that there was no need to include a DACA fix as a condition for keeping the government open. "DACA doesn't expire until March 5," Mulvaney said. "This is purely an attempt by the Senate Democrats ... to try and get a shutdown that they think this President gets blamed for." Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said she would vote against any funding bill that does not include a solution for DACA Dreamers, brought to this country illegally as young children by family members. "The truth is that there is broad bipartisan agreement that the government should not shut down ... and that Dreamers should be protected," Gillibrand said in a statement. "Unfortunately, the president and his irresponsible enablers in Congress refuse to take yes for an answer and instead want to hold America hostage for funding for a taxpayer-funded and ineffective border wall he promised Mexico was going to pay for." House Republicans on Thursday inserted a six-year renewal of CHIP, which expired with the beginning of the fiscal 2018 year last October. CHIP renewal had been intended as a sweetener. But only six Democrats voted "yes." All New York's Democrats, including Rep. Paul Tonko, voted "no." All of New York's Republican House members voted "yes," including Reps. John Faso, R-Kinderhook and Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro. Washington Vice President Mike Pence arrives in the Middle East on Saturday, launching a high-stakes tour that was delayed after President Donald Trump's decision recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital sparked protests across the region. He will visit Egypt, Jordan and Israel over four days but won't meet with Palestinians, reflecting the impasse in the Trump administration's efforts to broker peace between them and Israel. Those ambitious efforts ground to a halt after Trump's decision Dec. 6 to eventually move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, canceled a planned meeting with Pence in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. Tensions flared again in advance of Pence's trip when the administration Tuesday announced it would hold back $65 million of a planned $125-million payment to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which for decades has paid for medical and educational assistance to Palestinian refugees. The White House decided Pence should depart for the trip as planned Friday night, though Congress continued to be deadlocked over funding the government. Pence was not expected to be needed to break a tie in the Republican-controlled Senate; if needed, he would make phone calls to lawmakers from the plane en route to Egypt, a White House official said. Pence's meetings with the leaders of the three countries "are integral to America's national security and diplomatic objectives," his press secretary, Alyssa Farah, said in a statement. The vice president first will meet in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the strongman Trump called "my friend" during an Oval Office meeting in April. In Amman, Jordan, Pence will confer with King Abdullah II, who had swiftly condemned Trump's action on Jerusalem. In Israel, his last and longest stop, Pence is to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Pence will also speak to Israeli lawmakers in the Knesset, where he is likely to receive an enthusiastic reception. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ALBANY The state must pay more than $400,000 to an ex-inmate from Washington County because it failed to provide him with safety goggles before an outdoor prison work assignment during which a piece of metal became stuck in his eyeball. A judge put the damages Chad Cody suffered at $450,000, with the state 70 percent responsible. But he ruled Cody was 30 percent responsible for the injury because he did not ask the correction officer in charge of the assignment if the goggles were available. That lessened the award, according to the decision filed Thursday by state Court of Claims Judge Christopher J. McCarthy. The official award was $315,000. When added to the interest gathered since the judge rendered his ruling on liability on Feb. 15, 2015, it equaled more than $400,000, according to Kevin Luibrand, Cody's attorney. "The metal went right through his eyeball," Luibrand told the Times Union, "and they needed to do surgery to get it out of the eyeball." Cody, now 35, of Fort Ann, underwent that surgery and a second operation to replace a lens within a month of the incident. He made a decision to have better eyesight for distance than close-up vision, the attorney said. Cody, who has worked as a welder and fabricator, now awaits a third surgery, Luibrand said. The judge's decision explained that Cody, against medical advice, did not wear glasses starting in 2011. Thomas Mailey, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, said the department was reviewing the judge's decision. "DOCCS is committed to a safe work environment for both staff and inmates that includes the proper safety equipment," he said. The judge previously ruled on Feb. 25, 2015 that the state was 70 percent responsible because it failed to provide the safety eyewear to Cody, while Cody was 30 percent responsible because of his failure to ask for eye protection. That followed a trial at the Court of Claims in June 2014. The judge and court papers described the sequence of events as follows: Cody, convicted of third-degree attempted drug sale, was serving time at minimum-security Moriah Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility in Mineville, Essex County. Shock incarceration, a military bootcamp-style program, allows prisoners to finish their time in six months if they complete the program successfully. Cody went into the prison system on Nov. 20, 2009. On April, 1, 2010, Cody was one of 10 inmates doing demolition work on a pole barn at the Essex County Fairgrounds. The crew had been working on the barn for several weeks but it was Cody's first day on the job. Cody was under the supervision of Correction Officer David Holdridge, who served in the role of de facto drill instructor. Also present was a crew sergeant, Paul Hutti, who arranged work for the prisoners . Cody, using a hammer and pry bar to separate the rafter beams of the pole barn, was not wearing protective eye wear. Holdridge, who did not require inmates wear it, later testified the inventory in the van in which they rode to the site may not have been examined in a week. When Cody returned to the jailhouse that day, his eye was in pain, irritated and in a "white haze." His vision was " kind of foggy, almost like looking through a ... frosted piece of glass," with "no clarity." Cody was taken to Moses-Ludington Hospital in Ticonderoga where he experienced "dragging" and "scratching" and burning sensation. Staff there examined his eye, saw it was "watering slightly" but found no foreign body visible, believed the matter was resolved and sent him back to the facility. Cody experienced a rough night of sleep and pain. He was sent to Albany Medical Center Hospital, where staff found the metal object in his right eye and removed it. Luibrand said his client has not had any legal troubles since leaving prison, which records show was on Aug. 19, 2010. "The Shock program is a terrific program for people looking for a second chance. But you can't send guys slamming hammers and demolishing buildings without protection for their eyes," Luibrand said. "If you do, this is what happens." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate TROY The City Council and the state Attorney Generals Office will meet to discuss the report on the fatal police shooting of a DWI suspect that recommended reforms for the Troy Police Department to implement regarding officer-involved shootings. City Council President Carmella Mantello requested the meeting Friday four days after the report was released in a letter to state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Its prudent for us to sit down with the AGs Office to get a grip on the findings and recommendations, Mantello said. The report from the attorney general offices condemned the Troy police and Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abeloves investigation of the death of Edson Thevenin, 37, who was fatally shot by Sgt. Randall French during an April 2016 DWI traffic stop. Mayor Patrick Maddens claim that the report contains factual errors and his refusal to explain what they are need to be addressed, Mantello said. The mayor spoke out so strongly about the AGs findings and facts it concerns me, Mantello said. The attorney generals office responded quickly to Mantellos meeting request. Were happy to meet with the council regarding the report, and will be in touch to schedule a time, said Amy Spitalnick, Schneidermans press secretary. The mayor continued on Friday to decline to explain his contention that there were errors in the report. Madden spokesman John Salka said the city administration is reviewing the report and will not comment further due to two pending court cases: a civil lawsuit filed by Thevenins widow and estate, and Schneiderman's prosecution of Abelove on charges stemming from his handling of the Thevenin case. The attorney generals office said it stands by the reports findings. The report recommends the city police overhaul the procedures for investigating officer-involved shootings; reform policies directing when officers may shoot at vehicles; and require officers to wear body cameras and to have dashboard cameras in patrol vehicles. The City Council needs to hear directly from the attorney generals office so it can carry out its responsibilities, Mantello said. Our job is to ensure oversight (of the police department) is happening: What are we doing right? What are we doing wrong? she said. As part of that responsibility, Mantello said it may be time for the council to review the police oversight review board, which has not met in about two years. She said it appears the law creating the board should be updated. Community activists have called for the city to create a civilian review board with subpoena and investigatory powers to oversee actions taken by the 130-member police department. [January 19, 2018] CONOCOPHILLIPS INVESTIGATION INITIATED by Former Louisiana Attorney General: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC Investigates the Officers and Directors of ConocoPhillips - COP Former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., Esq., a partner at the law firm of Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF"), announces that KSF has commenced an investigation into ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP). On July 17, 2017, the California counties of Marin and San Mateo, along with the City of Imperial Beach filed lawsuits against the Company and others for a variety of complaints relating to climate change-related activities ranging from public nuisance and trespass to product liability claims. Similar cases were filed against the Company by the cities of San Francisco and Oakland on September 19, 2017, and by Santa Cruz County on December 20, 2017. Recently, on January 9, 2018, the City of New York filed its own climate change lawsuit against the Company, among others. All of the above litigation remains pending. KSF's investigation isfocusing on whether ConocoPhillips' officers and/or directors breached their fiduciary duties to ConocoPhillips shareholders or otherwise violated state or federal laws. If you have information that would assist KSF in its investigation, or have been a long-term holder of ConocoPhillips shares and would like to discuss your legal rights, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn ([email protected]). About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC KSF, whose partners include the Former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is a law firm focused on securities, antitrust and consumer class actions, along with merger & acquisition and breach of fiduciary litigation against publicly traded companies on behalf of shareholders. The firm has offices in New York, California and Louisiana. To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180119005852/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 20, 2018] Top 10 Jungle Advises Medical Alert Customers What They Can Expect From a Government Shutdown DALLAS, Jan. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Top 10 Jungle, a provider of slick digital content and online product reviews for the medical alert industry, explains to seniors and medical alert customers how a government shutdown can affect them. Top 10 Jungle recently released its 2018 rankings for the medical alert industry. The industry is continuing to skyrocket for medical alert devices from premium providers like Medical Guardian. The industry is also seeing a new generation of medical alert companies focused on affordability, like HelpButton. There seems to be some confusion about the relationship between medical alert providers and the emergency services that customers rely on. "The truth is that the government doesn't really shut down and there is no need to panic," said Charlie Rose, Top10Jungle.com analyst. "Medicare and Medicaid will continue to operate, social security checks will be mailed out, doctors will be reimbursed and emergency services will continue to be there for the elderly. The emergency services that medical alert customers rely on are private enterprise and not directly affected by a shutdown." A shutdown that lasts for only a few days may go unnoticed by most. However, a shutdown that lasts several weeks could affect Americans in different ways. The shutdown will affect the travel and cruise industry in different ways. Passports and renewal documents will face processing delays. Popular government-operated tourist attractions like National Parks and monuments can be closed. Government agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service, the National Institutes of Health, the National Education Association and other "non-essential" government programs will close or face significant delays. ABOUT TOP 10 JUNGLE Recent Coverage Top 10 Jungle has recently initiated coverage for popular companies like Life Protect 24-7, Life Beacon, LifeFone, Life Alert and Philips Lifeline as part of its coverage for the medical alert systems industry. Top 10 Reviews Top 10 Jungle collects reviews and provides ratings and analysis for popular industries like medical alerts, debt consolidation, personal loans, VPNs, Anti-Virus Software, Small Business Loans, Pet Insurance, Web hosting, Website building and much, much more. Best Rated Products The Best Rated Products Division is where you want to look when you are about to make a purchase. We cover a wide range of products from the best-rated tablets, smart home devices, modems and e-Readers to the latest book you just have to read. We are adding categories daily. Our purpose is to make it easy to pick the best product and to be confident in your decision. We have something for everyone at Top 10 Jungle and best of all it's free! For press inquiries or partnership opportunities, please contact Benny Alvarez at Top 10 Jungle. Related Images image1.png Medical Guardian Wins 2018 Medical Alert Award image2.jpg Top 10 Medical Alert System Reviews image3.png Top 10 HelpButton Reviews image4.png Top 10 Jungle Medical Alerts Related Links I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up Top 10 Medical Alert Systems Related Video https://vimeo.com/243051977 View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/top-10-jungle-advises-medical-alert-customers-what-they-can-expect-from-a-government-shutdown-300585600.html SOURCE Top 10 Jungle [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] YWCA Early Learning Program Plans Weeklong Celebration of School Choice YWCA Early Learning Program is planning to host an all-week celebration with scarves, art and other activities that kicks off at 9:30 a.m. on Monday January 22, 2018 at the YWCA at 38 Lawrence Street in Lawrence. The event is timed with National School Choice Week 2018 - the nation's largest-ever celebration of educational opportunities that will take place January 21 to 27, 2018. More than 32,000 events are planned nationwide. The goal of the event is to celebrate great education choices in Massachusetts and raise awareness among parents about school choice. "We participate in School Choice Week because we believe that every child, and their families, should be well-educated in their choices for education even from a young age," said Mandy Chaput, director of early learning at YWCA Northeastern Massachusetts. Media are encouaged to attend - contact Mandy Chaput to make arrangements. YWCA Early Learning Program is a preschool serving the Greater Lawrence area. Learn more about the school by visiting www.ywcanema.org. Held every January, National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort designed to shine a positive spotlight on effective education options for every child. Through more than 32,000 independently planned events across the country, National School Choice Week raises public awareness of all types of educational choices available to children. These options include traditional public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, online learning, private schools, and homeschooling. Learn more by visiting www.schoolchoiceweek.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180120005060/en/ Extensions of the Kansas City streetcar system could become candidates for public-private partnerships. On Thursday, the Kansas City Streetcar Authority and the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority issued a request for information to evaluate potential opportunities for its Main Street and Riverfront extensions. Congressman Cleaver Applauds Facebooks Hiring Decision Following His Push for Industry Leaders to Enhance Diversity in Tech Facebook announced today the addition of Kenneth Chenault to its Board of Directors In October 2017, Congressman Cleaver urged Facebooks COO, Sheryl Sandberg to do more to include minorities and women within its workforce, especially within leadership positions. There are a significant number of qualified minorities who are more than capable to be among the leadership of major companies such as Facebook - a social medium that is used by all races, colors, and creeds. I am pleased to hear that Facebook has not only acknowledged the lack of diversity within its company but they listened to our concerns and chose a new direction for the future, said Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO). (Washington, D.C.) - Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II is pleased to hear that after much discussion with Facebooks executives regarding diversity and inclusion, Facebook has announced that outgoing CEO of American Express, Kenneth Chenault, has agreed to join its Board of Directors. Facebooks CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, made the announcement postingKenneth Chenault is a successful business executive and was the third African American CEO of a Fortune 500 company.Last year, Congressman Cleaver, Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) and Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-IL) sent a series of letters to Facebooks COO, Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey.The Members encouraged Facebook and Twitter to take immediate action to combat the spread of racially divisive communications on their sites. The Members also encouraged Facebook and Twitter to recognize that the company needed to do more to include minorities and women within its workforce, especially within leadership positions.Im pleased to see Facebook taking real action to address the issue of diversity within their company. Americas diversity is her strength and our strongest industries should reflect that fact. Kenneth Chenault is a proven leader with tremendous knowledge and experience. When we began this dialogue with Facebook, we expected swift action and this decision is without a doubt a step in the right direction, said Congresswoman Robin Kelly. Much work still remains to diversify Silicon Valley. Progress has been slow and we will continue to press companies to enact inclusive hiring policies. I remain committed to working with tech leadership to attain this goal.Kenneth Chenaults business acumen and record of success is clear, and I am pleased he will bring that experience to Facebook. Mr. Chenault appointment demonstrates that companies like Facebook do not need to sacrifice diversity for quality at their highest and most consequential leadership ranks. As this industry takes additional steps to diversify their leadership, I strongly encourage them to look outside the box for dynamic talent and emerging leaders, not simply safe picks that have already ascended to the highest echelons of business success. Nonetheless, I do look forward to working with Mr. Chenault and the entire leadership at Facebook to address the concerns that Representatives Kelly, Cleaver and I laid out in our letter last year. We must ensure that our social media and tech leaders are operating responsibly on behalf of their users and the communities that we represent, said Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman.Congressman Cleaver was also among those CBC members who met with Sandberg to discuss allegations that Russian-backed agencies exploited the companys system to influence the outcome of the 2016 election through the spread of racial and discriminatory advertisements. He has been an advocate for racial justice and inequality within the tech industry and social media platforms.See letter regarding lack of minorities in leadership positions in the tech industry, here ############ Greece is now better equipped to achieve economic growth in the future after the structural reforms it has implemented, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, told German broadcaster ARD on Thursday, according to ANA. "We can hope that Greece is now better equipped to grow in the future," she reportedly pointed out, noting that the country implemented structural reforms through which the IMF hopes Greece will attract investments which the country desperately needs to grow faster. "We are already seeing it growing a bit now, but reforms are a process without a clear ending point. There is still much to be done," she continued. 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: World Economic Forum License: CC-BY-SA The Electoral Commission is looking for 10 billion shillings to fund political parties. In 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 government provided Shs10 Billion and Shs15 Billion respectively for political parties with representation in Parliament. According to the Electoral Commission Secretary, Sam Rwakoojo, government has not provided funds for the Budget Framework Paper for the Financial Year 2017/2018, yet in the year 2017/18 only 7.5 billion was provided. Rwakoojo was appearing before the committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs together with the bodys chairperson, Justice Simon Byabakama and other commissioners to present their Budget for the next financial year where out of the required 189.2 billion shillings, the government only committed to allocate 64.6 billion. Bahrain Pack (United Paper Industries) has signed up to showcase its range of innovative customised packaging solutions at the upcoming Gulf Industry Fair in Bahrain. Gulf Industry Fair, the annual industrial expo, takes place from February 6 to 8 at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Center under the patronage of HRH Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Bahrain Pack General Manager Hamed Faleh Al Abdulla said: United Paper Industries is a company based in Bahrain with extensive exports around the GCC region. Our aim at Gulf Industry Fair is to promote our full range of customised packaging solutions and services designed to meet the requirements of industrial manufacturers and service providers. Bahrain Pack has since its founding in 1993 built a reputation for customising packaging solutions for customer needs. Its manufacturing facility located in Sitra Industrial Area is equipped to manufacture all types of printed and non-printed corrugated cartons. Bahrain Pack is celebrating its 25th year in 2018. Our first 25 years of business has been successful in achieving 80 percent share of the market in Bahrain, apart from high-value clients in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and in Jordan. We are excited as we look to the next 25 years in the development of Bahrain Pack, added Al Abdulla. We are always proud to promote companies such as United Paper Industries who for 25 years have represented Bahrains manufacturing capabilities. Bahrain Pack is one of those companies which are successful because of their innovative products and solutions, commented Jubran Abdulrahman, Managing Director of show organisers, HCE. Gulf Industry Fair 2018 is strategically sponsored by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) in association with Noga, Bahrain Industrial Wharf and Aluminium Bahrain (Alba). The Industrial Facilities Sector Sponsor is Majaal. Supporting organisations for Gulf Industry Fair include 2018 include AHK Saudi Arabia, the German Saudi Arabian Liaison for Economic Affairs, PHD Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India and the Bahrain Industrial Association. TradeArabia News Service Kuwait-based Jazeera Airways has launched its inaugural flights to the Indian cities of Ahmedabad and Kochi as part of its regional expansion strategy. Last year it began flights to the southern city of Hyderabad. The debut Ahmedabad flight took off from the Kuwait International Airport and landed at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday (January 18). Ahmedabad is the second of three new routes currently planned in to India, following the launch of flights to Hyderabad in November 2017. The first direct flight to Kochi took off on Thursday at 12:45pm from Kuwait and arrived ion the Southern city at 8.10 pm (local time). Flight J9 604 departed January 17 at 00.05am from Kuwait International Airport and landed in Ahmedabad at 6am in the morning. The return flight J9 605 departed Ahmedabad at 06.45 am and arrived in Kuwait at 08.45am local time. Flights will operate initially three days a week on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, saidf the statement from Jazeera. Speaking at the launch, Jazeera Airways CEO Rohit Ramachandran said: "We are delighted to continue our expansion into India with flights into Ahmedabad, an important economic and industrial hub, bringing more choice to Indian travellers, connecting them to Kuwait and across the Middle East to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar." "This new service will address the increased travel demands for travel between India and Kuwait providing direct connections for those visiting friends and relatives as well as business travelers," stated Ramachandran. Jazeera Airways has built a reputation in Kuwait and the Gulf as a low-cost champion, offering great value fares combined with unique service offerings such as the innovative Park & Fly facility at Kuwait International airport. Manoj K. Gangal, Ahmedabad Airport Director, Airport Authority of India said: "We predict this is vital for both the brand and our state, as Jazeera Airways extends its services to accommodate the 8th busiest airport in India." "We welcome Jazeera Airways to our thriving hub and look forward to connecting our travellers to the wider Middle Eastern region Kuwait, Bahrain, Jeddah, Riyadh and Dubai," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Our Correspondent Zirakpur, January 20 A day after 50-year-old Avinash Yadav committed suicide by jumping before a train at Gazipur village here, the Government Railway Police (GRP), Lalru, today registered a case of abetment of suicide against his employer Ajit Jain, a Chandigarh jeweller, at whose place robbers had struck on January 9. Pankaj Yadav, the eldest son of Avinash, submitted an application to the GRP seeking registration of an FIR against the jeweller for subjecting his father to mental torture, which drove him to end his life. He also blamed the Chandigarh Police for harassing his father in the name of interrogation as mentioned in the alleged suicide note of his father. Pankaj said the UT police picked his father several times to interrogate him and tortured him. He wanted the GRP to conduct an inquiry into the events leading to his fathers suicide. Bimal Kumar, SHO, GRP, said, We have registered a case against Ajit Jain and started investigations. He added that the contents of the suicide note would be sent to a lab to test if it was the deceaseds handwriting. Ajit Jain said, The police are trying to save their skin and in the process, making me a scapegoat. If I had any role in the suicide, Avinash would have mentioned it in the suicide note. The victim is being victimised here. Meanwhile, a panel of three doctors from Civil Hospital, Dera Bassi, today conducted the post-mortem examination of the body. They reportedly found the vital organs badly damaged. Later, the body was handed over to the family members of the deceased. Police harassed my father: Pankaj "The police harassed my father to the extent that he was unable to bear the shame. A day before ending his life, my father told me that he faced a lot of humiliation as he was being treated like an accused. He was very gloomy and upset but we never thought he would take the extreme step. How can the police treat an innocent person like this?" Pankaj Yadav, deceaseds son Tribune News Service Panchkula, January 20 The Panchkula police have failed to get any clue about an advocates wife who had gone missing on January 16 from Sector 19 here. The police today got information that the body of the missing woman, Rajni Bala, alias Neetu, was found in the dumping ground in Sector 25. A police team, along with a forensic team, reached the spot and started digging at the site. Surprisingly, after digging around three feet, the police found the carcass of a dog. The police have lodged a case on the complaint of advocate Manmohan Singh. Panchkula DCP Manbir Singh said they got information about the body of the missing woman, but after digging at the site, the carcass of a dog was recovered. The police have found a footwear of the missing woman, which was identified by her husband. They are working on all possible angles and it would be premature to say anything at this stage. Husband lodges complaint Rajnis husband advocate Manmohan Singh had lodged a complaint with the police. In the complaint, he had stated that on January 16, he had left for court and at that time his wife was at home. When the children returned home from school in the afternoon, they informed him about their missing mother. Later, he, along with other relatives, started searching for Rajni. They even looked for her at hospitals, but to no avail. HE Satoshi Nakajima STAFF REPORTER | PNG Today PORT MORESBY - Japanese Ambassador Satoshi Nakajima says safety continues to be a major issue affecting the number of Japanese tourists arriving in Papua New Guinea. Despite this, Mr Nakajima described the countrys tourism potential as huge and said Japan had 16.4 million outbound tourists in 2017. In his first year in PNG, Mr Nakajima visited the four regions of the country and expressed how impressed he was with what the country has to offer Japanese tourists. Regrettably the number of Japanese tourists coming here is not so much, he said. I travelled to Wewak, Kokopo, Kimbe, Mt Hagen, Lae and Pomio. When I travelled to Kokopo and the others I saw the huge potential in promoting tourism. Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 20 The UT Education Department has asked the UT SSP to take strict legal action against the Class XII student, who allegedly punched a teacher on the school premises on Thursday. A senior official of the UT Education Department said senior officials of the department today spoke to the SSP and sought strict action against the student as per law. Besides, the Education Department would act on the basis of the school principals report, which was submitted to the DEO, he said. In its report submitted to the office of District Education Officer Anujit Kaur, the school had indicted the student. The DDR had already been lodged in the case. The department officials also held a meeting with police officials in this regard, said a senior official of the Education Department. According to the DDR, the teacher alleged that the student punched her during the recess period and in the presence of other teachers. I bled profusely through the nose. He hit me under the influence of alcohol, she said in her statement to the police. Meanwhile, on a call given by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of teachers, Chandigarh, teachers in many government schools observed a non-instructional day (chalk-down strike) today. However, many teachers were also found working. Several teachers unions have demanded a strict action against the student as per law. Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 20 The Congress today demanded imposition of Presidents rule in the state, saying the BJP government had failed miserably in protecting women and girl children. Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev, Rajya Sabha member Kumari Selja and Congress Legislature Party Leader Kiran Choudhry demanded immediate resignation of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Dev referred to Congress president Rahul Gandhis message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to respond to rapes in Haryana in his Mann ki Baat on January 28. We hope the Prime Minister will speak about lack of safety and security for women in Haryana, she said. Selja attacked the BJP government for failure on the law and order front and said the Chief Minister should either resign or be sacked. We demand Presidents rule in Haryana. We have met the Governor and will meet the President if we are not heard, she said. Choudhry said it was sad that the state was now known only for crime. Law and order is in tatters. Women feel unsafe and parents cannot be sure if their girls leaving home will return at night. Anti-social elements are running riot because they know that the state authorities will not touch them, she said. Asked if Rahul Gandhi would visit the gangrape victims, she said, The Congress president has always taken serious cognisance of such occurrences and will do so again. Hooda calls on Rahul A day after state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar and Kiran Choudhry met Rahul Gandhi, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda met the Congress chief and discussed the political situation, including law and order. Recent rapes came up during the meeting and Hooda spoke of the "failure" of Manohar Lal Khattar government. Parveen Arora Tribune News Service Karnal, January 20 In light of the reported rape cases in Haryana in the past week, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday said they would enact a law to hang those convicted of raping girls aged 12 and below. He said they would also approach the judiciary for setting up fast-track courts for dealing with rape cases to ensure speedy justice to the victims. I am pained over the rape incidents. Though, the police are dealing with these cases, we have decided to bring in a legislation of hanging those raping girls aged 12 and below. We will also approach the judiciary for speedy judgment in such cases, Khattar said. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) He was speaking on the Karnal Sugar Mill premises where he laid the foundation stone of the new Karnal cooperative sugar mill instead of the existing mill, which started working in 1976-77. It was a long-pending demand of the sugarcane farmers of the region. A sum of Rs 225 crore will be incurred on it and the crushing capacity of the mill will increase from the existing 2,200 tonne crushed per day (TCD) to 3,500 TCD. While addressing the gathering, Khattar referred to a study saying around 75 per cent of such crimes were committed by those known to the victims. Society should criticise such crimes and help the police, he said. He appealed to the media not to create sensation and publish such news only after verifying the facts. Khattar said the law-and-order situation had improved in the state in the past three years as compared to under the previous governments. He said that earlier people had to run from pillar to post to get an FIR registered, whereas now anyone could get it done easily. Reacting to the demand raised by Chander Parkash Kathuria, chairman, Sugarfed, Haryana, the CM also announced the widening of the Karnal-Meerut road up to the UP border for relief to commuters. Kathuria said the widening of the road was also a long-pending demand of the people and it would help sugarcane farmers bring their crop to the sugar mill easily. He thanked the CM for laying the foundation stone of the new mill. The CM said the mill would produce 15 MW electricity of which 4.5 MW was needed for the mill and the rest would be sold to the Power Corporation. It will also produce refined sugar. Manish Grover, Minister of State for Cooperation, highlighted the features of the mill and counted the steps being taken by the state government for the welfare of sugarcane farmers. Harvinder Kalyan, chairman, HAFED, said the mill would provide benefit to the farmers of more than 200 villages and most of them were from Gharaunda block. A cheque for Rs 50 crore was handed over to the CM by Kalyan and another cheque for a similar amount by Gulshan Bhatia, chairman, Haryana State Cooperative Apex Bank, as debt to the Karnal sugar mill. Gurugram, January 20 A 12-year-old girl returning with her minor sister from her fathers workplace was allegedly abducted by men in a car near a village in this district, a police official said on Saturday. The incident took place on Friday when the victim, along with her seven-year-old sister, was returning home from the factory where her father worked, the official said. A car screeched to a halt and the occupants pulled the elder sister into the vehicle, following which the younger sister rushed home and informed her mother after which the incident was reported to the police, the officer said. A case of abduction had been registered against unidentified people, he said. We had made 10 teams to trace the victim, the official said. The victims family hailed from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, police said. She and her sister often visited the factory to hand over the lunch box to her father, the officer added. The incident comes at a time when several gory incidents of crime against women in recent days have shaken Haryana. PTI Tribune News Service Adampur (Hisar), January 20 State Congress chief Ashok Tanwar today alleged involvement of BJP leaders, including MPs and MLAs, in illegal mining in Tosham, Dadri and Mahendragarh. Addressing a rally at Adampur here, Tanwar said that illegal mining of sand was under way on a large scale in Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat and Sonepat districts. He alleged that roughly 7,000 trucks ferried illegally mined sand daily in the state. If the CM is unaware of the corruption then he has no right to stay in the position, Tanwar said. Tanwar said the party would release a chargesheet on corrupt practices of the BJP government and expose those involved in scams. He criticised the state government on its inability to maintain law and order in the state given the rise in cases of crime against women and Dalits. The incidents of atrocities on Dalits and attacks on minorities have gone up during the BJP government not only in Haryana, but across the country, he claimed. He also criticised the state government for failing to fulfill its election promises. There promises of constructing an international airport in Hisar and Karnal, medical college in every district are false, Tanwar said. Yamunanagar, January 20 Livid at being reprimanded, a class 12 student Saturday allegedly pumped four bullets into his school principal here with his father's licenced .32 bore revolver, police said. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Critically injured, 47-year-old Ritu Chhabra, principal of Swami Vivekanand school, was rushed to a hospital where she succumbed to her injuries, they said. The four bullets hit her in the chest, stomach and shoulder, Yamunanagar Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kalia told PTI over the phone. The incident took place between 11.30 and 12 noon today. After shooting the school principal, the 18-year-old commerce student tried to flee. However, a couple of parents, who were present for the parents-teachers meet in the school premises, caught hold of him with the help of locals, the SP said. The student was thrashed by angry locals and then handed over to the police, an official said. During preliminary investigation, the accused student told the police that he was upset with the school principal for allegedly reprimanding him a couple of times. "He had a grudge against the school principal for reprimanding him few times in front of his classmates on the complaint of teachers," the SP said adding that he was not attending school for the past few days. The SP said the police were also investigating whether the accused was taking drugs. "He was supposed to attend his tuitions today. But rather than going to tuitions, he went to the school," the officer said. As he was a school student, he was allowed to meet the school principal, SP Kalia said. "He talked to the Principal for some time and then came out. He then again entered the principal's room and opened fire at her with the revolver," said the SP. During investigation, it came to light that the student stole his father's licenced revolver by breaking the wooden almirah at his home. He took the revolver without the knowledge of his parents, Kalia said. The accused student's father is a financier and a landlord in Yamunanagar, he said. "He has confessed to his crime and weapon has also been recovered. He will be presented before the court the tomorrow," he said. The accused student has been booked for murder under Section 302 of the IPC, said the police. PTI Panipat, January 20 Three incidents of attempt to rape were reported in the district today. Two of the victims were minor, aged five and nine years. In the third case, a 23-year-old accused her father of sexual assault. A five-year-old was reportedly sexually abused in Idgah Colony by a neighbour on November 14 last. A woman had been living in rented accommodation with her daughters aged five, seven and 12 years. As per her statement, she went to buy vegetables on January 14, leaving the girls at home. She reported that Chandan, another person living on rent in the same house, tried to rape her five-year-old daughter. The police registered a case and arrested the accused. In another incident, a nine-year-old, along with her father and grandmother yesterday approached Mohit Aggarwal, CJM. Aggarwal said the girl reported that her mother had been staying with her paramour Rambir at Sondhapur village in Panipat. He said she alleged that Rambir sexually assaulted her two days before the previous navratras and threatened her of dire consequences. The police registered a case against Rambir on the basis of the complaint, he added. In the third case, a 23-year-old resident of Faridpur village called up the police control room and complained against her father. She said that her 50-year-old father had tried tried to rape her. SHO Amit Sharma said a case had been registered and the accused would be arrested soon. TNS First person account: Tribune photo-journalist Inderjeet Singh in RS Pura After heavy overnight shelling by Pakistan Rangers along the International Border in Jammu district, I was looking for a chance to visit the affected areas. Waiting for two hours in RS Pura town, 20 km from my workplace, I and a few other photojournalists received information that Jora farms, where the Gujjars had raised temporary sheds, had suffered extensive damage. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) When we reached there by 9.30 am, flames from the debris were yet to subside. Some desperate Gujjars were trying to salvage their valuables. Just then, DSP Surinder Choudhary arrived there, along with his men, in a Bolero. As I hastened to click pictures of the destruction around us, there was a deafening sound from across the border. Some mortar shells landed nearby. Knowing well that no help was accessible, the DSP asked us to run. Out of breath, I continued to head for our vehicle amid a shower of mortar shells. On reaching RS Pura, I realised we had been trapped in a danger zone. Awestruck, my limbs felt like jelly. And to say that this life-death play is a daily reality for so many in the border areas. Amir Tantray Tribune News Service Jammu, January 20 Three people, including an Army jawan, were killed and six injured in firing by Pakistani troops along the International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu division for the third day on Saturday. Nine persons have been killed so far in ceasefire violations over three days. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) An Army jawan was today killed after being hit by a bullet during cross-border firing in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district. The Tribune staff photographer Inderjeet Singh had a narrow escape when shells landed near Jora farms where he was shooting the damage occurred to temporary sheds of Gujjars. A defence spokesman identified the slain soldier as sepoy Mandeep Singh (23), a resident of Alampur village of Sangroor in Punjab. He said the Pakistani Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms and automatics form 0820 hours in Krishna Ghati sector, resulting in grievous injuries to Singh who later succumbed. The Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively, the spokesman said. The officials said two civilians, Gaura Ram (17) of Kapur R S Pura and Gour Singh (45) of Abdullian, were killed and five others injured in firing by Pakistani rangers along the IB in Jammu district. A BSF spokesman said cross-border firing was underway in the area from Octroi to Chenab (Akhnoor) in Suchetgarh sector of R S Pura from this morning. He said the firing in R S Pura sector stopped around 1.30 am but resumed again after four hours. He said a BSF jawan in Pargwal sector was injured in the heavy firing and shelling and was later hospitalised. The BSF is retaliating and the exchange of fire between the two sides was underway till the last reports were received. A jawan of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) was injured in cross border shelling in Jammu, officials said. The jawan, constable Lallu Ram, was evacuated to a nearby hospital and was said to be stable. The jawan, who belongs to the 14th battalion of the force, was deployed for rendering law and order duties along with the Jammu and Kashmir Police at the Kanachak police station, when he was hit by splinters of a mortar shell that landed in the area. While a BSF jawan and a teenaged girl were killed on Thursday, four people--two civilians and one BSF jawan and an Army jawan--were killed and over 40 others, including two BSF personnel, injured in the Pakistani firing yesterday. The heavy firing had forced thousands of border residents to flee their homes and authorities announced closure of educational institutions for three days along the LoC and IB. Between 8,000 to 9,000 people living along the IB have migrated to safer places and most of them were living with their relatives, officials said. Over 1,000 people are housed in camps in R S Pura, Samba and Kathua areas, they said. With PTI inputs Tribune News Service Jammu, January 20 A day after a boy (15) was arrested for allegedly killing a minor girl in the Rasana area of Kathua district, the state government today succumbed to relentless protests by opposition parties and ordered the suspension of the Hiranagar Station House Officer (SHO) to ensure fair investigation in the case. The government also said that nobody would be spared for the heinous crime. It said the Kathua Deputy Commissioner would also hold an inquiry in the incident. An eight-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped on January 8 from near her home in Rasana village and her body was recovered in a forest area on January 17. On the third consecutive day today, members of the opposition parties created pandemonium in the Legislative Assembly and staged protests inside the well of the House, demanding suspension of the police officers concerned for their casual approach and fair investigation in the incident. It all began when BJP legislator from Kathua Rajiv Jasrotia said the incident was highly condemnable but such issues should not be linked to any region or religion. His remarks triggered an uproar in the House. Opposition members attacked the BJP legislators for their silence over the issue. This is a human issue and we have never tried to give such issues a communal colour. Our people have always worked for brotherhood and contributed to restoring peace in the state, said National Conference legislator Mian Altaf. Altaf asked why had the police not acted for seven days after the girl was kidnapped and a complaint was registered by her family. National Conference legislator Ali Mohammad Sagar slammed the government for being insensitive towards the issue. He said: Take action against the police officers concerned to give a strong message that such lapses will not be tolerated. Congress legislators GM Saroori and Vikar Rasool said they would not allow the House to function till the government takes action against the police officers concerned for their lapses and casual approach. Send a strong message to the Police Department that such lapses in duty will not be tolerated. If you want a fair probe in the incident, put these officers under suspension, Congress legislator Usman Majeed said while pressing for the suspension of the SHO and the Deputy Superintendent of Police. Peoples Democratic Front legislator Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen also pressed for the suspension of the police officers concerned, saying that It will clear the element of doubt from the minds of people. Parliamentary Affairs Minister AR Veeri said the police had cracked the case within 24 hours. He said nobody would be spared for the heinous crime. A magisterial inquiry will be conducted and the guilty will be punished even if they are from the police or civil administration, Veeri told the House. After half an hour of commotion, the government announced the suspension of the SHO, pending inquiry, leading to restoration of normal business in the House. Tribune News Service Jammu/Rajouri, January 20 Four persons, including a soldier, were killed on Saturday as Pakistan continued shelling border posts and civilian areas along the International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu region. Eighteen persons were injured, an SSB and a BSF jawan in the Pargwal sector among them. With the authorities sounding a red alert, more than 10,000 residents of border villages have shifted to safer places. Over 300 educational institutions along the IB and the LoC in Jammu region have been shut for three days. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Pakistani troops initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms and automatics and mortar bombs in Krishna Ghati sector along the LoC in Poonch at 8.20 am. The Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively. However, in the exchange of fire, Sepoy Mandeep Singh of Alampur village in Punjabs Sangrur district was grievously injured and succumbed to his injuries. He is survived by his father Gurnam Singh, a defence spokesperson said. He said as Pakistan resorted to unprovoked shelling in Gajansoo area of Kanachak sector in Jammu this afternoon, shells exploded at the Gajansoo bus stand, injuring two persons. One of them, Tarseem (25), died in hospital later. Pakistan Rangers also shelled forward hamlets in RS Pura. Gaura Ram (17) of Kapurpur and Gahar Singh (45) of Abdullian were killed and five others injured. Already this year, Pakistan has violated the ceasefire over 100 times, resulting in the death of three Army soldiers, three BSF men and six civilians. The Indian Army has lost two soldiers and the BSF two jawans since Thursday. The shelling has caused extensive damage to property and livestock. The border hamlets have virtually turned into war zones, the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of RS Pura, Surinder Choudhary, who led a police team to rescue and shift the injured, said. Border residents would not have died or been injured had the government constructed bunkers or given us land in a safe area, as promised several years ago, said Sudershan Singh of Arnia. While firing and shelling ended in Hiranagar, Samba and Arnia at 1.30 am today, it continued in Ramgarh sector till 5.30 am. (With PTI inputs) Arnia border (Jammu), January 20 Blood-splattered compounds, smashed windowpanes and demolished roofs are all that are left of houses in border hamlets which have been battered in Pakistani firing and shelling in the past three days. A smell of gunpowder lingers in these villages whose residents are living in increasing fear. Nine people, including five civilians, have been killed and 47 injured in ceasefire violations over the past three days. We were living in the shadow of death. Mortar bombs were raining on our houses and we thought we would die any moment but the police brought us out from Sai Khurd village in Arnia, Ratno Devi told PTI. In Sai Khurd, several houses were damaged and some animals killed in shelling, Devi said, adding that a woman was killed while her husband and son were injured in the village. Ratno, who along with six family members left home and took shelter in the house of her relatives in the outskirts of Arnia belt, said, The government should stop firing from Pakistan. The firing and shelling were so heavy that 82 mm mortar shells landed much beyond Arnia town which is 5 km from the International Border (IB) in Jammu district. Farmlands have craters due to mortar bombs and have turned into live minefields. In Jhora farm in RS Pura, 150 khullas or mud houses of Gujjars were burned down in the shelling. Several bovines were killed and injured due to mortar bombs and bullets in these villages. Police vehicles have been pressed into service and people living in border hamlets evacuated. The border hamlets have virtually turned into war zones. Pakistan is targeting civilian areas intensely. There has been huge damage to houses and a loss of cattle, Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) RS Pura, Surinder Choudhary, said. Chanchalo Devi said the firing and shelling by Pakistan was haunting them. Only three months back, Pakistan caused huge damage and again we are facing death. How long will we keep living in fear. The government should give us safe alternatives, she said. Chanchalo Devi said she and her husband had woken by the sounds of mortar shells in Arnias ward number 13 and they immediately tried to shift to a neighbours house as their own house is made of mud. We were about to cross the lane to move to our neighbours house when a shell burst and injured both of us and our neighbour Darshan Lal, she said in a hospital. Desh Raj of Vidhipur said his family lived in a room without food and water until they left home to escape the shelling and firing. Arnia town, which was once considered to be safe from Pakistani firing and shelling, was also hit by several mortar bombs. Several of the houses in Korotana, Sai Khurd, Mahasha Kote, Pindi, Suchetgarh, Jhora farm villages were hit by bullets and splinters of mortar shells which tore through the roofs and walls of houses. The villagers claimed the government had failed to construct bunkers despite the tall claims made by it for several years. The border people would not have died or been injured had the government constructed bunkers or given us plot at a safe place as per a promise made several years ago. They have not fulfilled the promise, Sudershan Singh of Arnia said. PTI Shriniwas Joshi Vishwa Nath Sood, an old Shimlawallah, told me that he had spent his childhood living in Ganj Bazaar, which in the past was known as Edwards Ganj got built in 1848 by William Edwards, a British reformist having a heart for the locals. In his childhood, Sood had seen a number of hairdressers near his house sitting under the sky and applying tonsorial on the clients. The locals named it Haircutting Factory. This factory that has seen the ups and downs of Shimla, in say 70 years, still exists under a shed. Sita Ram, from Sarkaghat of Mandi, is, today, the senior-most hairdresser and the day I met him, he was sitting on the junction of Lower Bazaar and the stairs that takes one to Ganj Bazaar, where this factory functions. He, in a low tone, was asking people climbing down the stairs whether they wanted a haircut. He asked me the same question and when I said that I wanted to meet Sita Ram, he was surprised and told me that the person in front of him was the one I was looking for. He told me that our ancestors and the elders who came here long back, year not known, used to sit on these stairs and do hair cutting and shaving here only. They were in good numbers and used to go to the houses of the clients too, if called. We still go but rarely. We work in the shed mostly and our charges are less than the market rate, he said. He gave me the information about the shed which was got constructed by the Municipal Committee in the year 1954. I saw that there were 14 chairs in the shed attended by only nine hairdressers. The business appeared healthy as was evident from the number of clients in the factory . Initially, the Municipal Corporation used to charge Rs100 per chair but now the rent is fixed at Rs 6,000 annually, irrespective of the chairs therein. Although they now prefer calling themselves hairdressers yet the original English word for them is barber. The word barber has been drawn from Latin barba, which means beard. Because their job is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave a persons hair, they are called hairdressers or hairstylists. And generally their shop is also a place of social interaction and information transmission. One of our ministers visiting his constituency used to alight from the official vehicle and enter into the shop of a barber to know about what-is-what of his electorates. And he never lost any election as long as he lived. French call a barber coiffeur (pronounced kwo-fo) which means a person who arranges the hair. But in Hindustani the word nai is derived from the Sanskrit word napika, one who cleans the nails. Its etymology is also suggested from the word nahna meaning not to refuse or the person who would not refuse to act and always carry the messages of his patrons (jajmaan) to the right destinations. Ibbetson writes in 1881 that once Akbar asked Birbal to find a person who would carry his message to Kabul without holdup. Birbal, at that time, selected a nai to do the job and he did it. Hence, not-to-refuse expression got associated with nai. A nai is honoured on ceremonial occasions of marriage in the warmer districts of Himachal Pradesh. He plays an important role in negotiating marriages for his patrons. He acts as personal adviser and/or attendant to the bridegroom and also decorates him on marriage. Sudarshan Vashisht, well versed with the culture of Himachal Pradesh, told me that nai is treated on a par with mamma, mothers brother, during marriages. Jonathan P. Parry wrote a book in 1979 Caste and Kinship in Kangra and in that he described the activities of nais during the Sairi Festival, a festival falling in the month of September where people wish for the prosperity and well-being of all. The barbers decorate lemons with kumkum, rice and flowers placed in the baskets which are taken from household to household. Every householder waits for the basket to come to his door and then fills the basket with sweets, grains and some cash. See, how important for us are the persons working in this haircutting factory and how lucky are we, the Shimlaites, to have them long, long years back. Tailpiece And go and get your haircut. You look like a chrysanthemum PG Wodehouse, in his novel Hot Water. Harshraj Singh Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 20 The Congress seems to be divided over rebels making a comeback in the party. District Congress (urban) president Gurpreet Gogi announced to include former Congress leaders Hemraj Aggarwal, Dimple Rana, Satpal Puri and Krishan Kharbanda into the party again at the Congress Bhawan today. Soon after they joined, Rakesh Pandey, MLA from Ludhiana North, strongly opposed their comeback. Some supporters of Pandey even threatened to resign and staged a protest near Chand Cinema today against these leaders. Notably, Hemraj Aggarwal, who was the Opposition leader in the MC, had left Congress and become a rebel before the Vidhan Sabha elections. He also contested the Assembly election as an independent from Ludhiana North constituency in 2017 against Pandey. Besides, former Youth Congress president Dimple Rana, who left Congress and joined SAD, also joined the Congress once again. Rakesh Pandey said: It is wrong to include such persons, who were involved in anti-party activities. They have been included in the party without taking my consent. It is not the decision of the party high command. In fact, the decision to include these persons in the party has been taken by MP Ravneet Singh Bittu. Even Bittu opposed me openly in the Assembly elections. He supported Hemraj, who contested the elections against me. Pandeys supporter Manpreet Grewal, who is Congress block president of Ludhiana North 2, said: We staged protest against these four Congress rebels. These persons are well-known for changing political parties for their interests. It is unfortunate that they have been included in the party without the consent of the MLA concerned. We strongly oppose their inclusion in the party. Congress leader Ishwarjot Singh Cheema criticised those who opposed the joining of former Congressmen. Nobody should oppose the party decision and leaders who have been included in the party must be respected, he said. District Congress President (Urban), Gurpreet Gogi said: I have followed the directions of the party high command and these leaders are welcome back in the Congress. They have joined the party and all should respect them. MP Ravneet Singh Bittu could not be contacted. New Delhi, January 20 The Delhi Police on Friday registered an FIR against unknown person for making threatening phone calls to senior advocate Harish Salve. Salve, who represented producers of the controversial movie Padmaavat in a recent case in the Supreme Court, has claimed he received death threats from callers who identified themselves as members of Karni Senaa fringe group that had been leading protests against the movie. The Supreme Court on Thursday suspended notifications by four statesMadhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujaratthat banned the movie in their states. In its interim order, the court said all states are constitutionally obliged to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incident during screening of the film. The movie will finally see theatrical release on January 25. Rajputs have objected to the movie for distorting history. Their objections particularly centre on Rajput queen Padmvati, whose name had given the movie its original name Padmavati, although historians remain divided about the existence of the Rajput queen. After over a month of putting off its release, filmmakers finally got clearance from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), although with some changes, which include the movies name. ANI/ agencies Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 20 In a rare convergence of talents, 112 women from across the country today assembled in the capital to share their unique journeys towards breaking into male bastions. Hours before being feted by President Ram Nath Kovind, these achievers sat together to talk about their struggles and partake of joys of breaking the glass ceilings. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) We do what we do was the takeaway from every story, be it the story of Praveen Solomon, Indias first woman to manage a crematorium; Anju Mangala, the first woman superintendent of a mens jail; Rajani Pandit, the first-ever woman private detective, or V Saritha, the first female bus driver. It was a challenge when the NGO I worked for asked me to manage a crematorium in Chennai, says Solomon. She took up the job unhesitatingly, well aware of the struggles that came with it. One can imagine the odds of such a task in a country where womens entry into crematoria is still considered a taboo. But I accomplished the job with persistence. My family stood by me, says Solomon. Pandit didnt have it easy at all. A subject of several documentaries, the Mumbai-based private investigator acknowledges the dangers inherent to her job. She once posed as a domestic servant to a woman suspected of murdering her husband and daughter. There was no proof and the only way to get proof was to enter the suspects house. I worked there for six months and we cracked the case, says Pandit, who has solved 7,500 cases in her chequered career. She routinely aids Mumbai police with tricky probes. Also among First Ladies (a phrase Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi coined for the 112 exceptional achievers) was Surekha Yadav (51), who became Indias first female passenger train driver in 1988. On March 8, 2011, Yadav was named Asias first woman train driver to run the Deccan Queen from Pune to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, one of the most difficult rail routes. She remains a highly commended driver of the Indian Railways. In Yadavs league is Telanganas V Saritha, who drives a DTC bus in Delhi to sustain her family. Ten girls from our NGO took the test when the DTC invited applications from female bus drivers. Only I passed, she added. Braving curious glances of passengers, Saritha has made a place for herself in the male-dominated field just as Mangla has created a land of opportunities for men inmates of the Tihar jail. Working on prisoners psychology, Mangala has earned a name for empowering inmates. Formerly Superintendent of Prison, women jail, Tihar, Mangala was handpicked to run the mens jail in July 2016 for her special skills to train inmates through positive psychological reinforcement. In the pool of exceptional talent searched by the WCD Ministry are women like Bachendri Pal (first Indian women to scale the Everest summit), Deepa Malik (first to win a medal at Paralympics), Shatbhi Basu, Indias first bar tender, and Archana Jayan, the first female bagpipe artiste. As the President rewarded these women, the underlying message was loud and clear there are hardly any male bastions left to breach. Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 20 Seventeen persons, including 10 women, died and two others were injured after a fire ripped through a two-storeyed factory in outer Delhis Bawana industrial area this evening, a Delhi Fire Service official said. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) GC Mishra, Director, Delhi Fire Service, said the blaze that started from the storage unit of the firecracker factory on the ground floor had been brought under control, but the rescue operations were underway. The Delhi Fire Service received a call about the fire around 6.20 pm and 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The official said, There is a plastic factory on the second storey. The factory falls in the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation area. The workers inside the factory could not come out as the fire spread rapidly. A few of the workers, to save themselves, jumped off the terrace of the building and sustained injuries. The Delhi government has ordered an inquiry into the blaze, even as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he was keeping a close watch on the rescue operations. Very sad to hear about the large number of casualties, Kejriwal tweeted. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed anguish at the death of people in the fire. Deeply anguished by the fire at a factory in Bawana. My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives. May those who are injured recover quickly, the Prime Ministers Office tweeted. The police said an FIR had been registered. They have identified the owners and they would be questioned. (With PTI inputs) New Delhi, January 20 Seventeen people are feared dead after a fire ripped through a two-storey factory in outer Delhi's Bawana industrial area this evening, a Delhi Fire Services official said. The police have so far confirmed nine deaths in the fire. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The official said, the blaze, which started from a firecracker factory, has been brought under control. The rescue operations are underway as more people are suspected trapped inside the factory, the official added. The Delhi Fire Services received a call about the fire at the factory around 6.20 pm and 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot, the official said. According to the official there is a rubber factory on the second storey above the firecracker factory. North Delhi Mayor Preety Agarwal has rushed to the spot, a senior NDMC official said. "The factory falls in the Delhi State Industrial And Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) area. North Delhi Mayor Preety Agarwal has rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation," the official said. Delhi govt orders inquiry; CM keeping close watch The Delhi government has ordered an inquiry into the blaze at a private factory in outer Delhi's Bawana industrial area, even as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he is keeping a "close watch" on the rescue operations. Expressing his grief over the "large number of casualties" in the fire, chief minister Kejriwal said he is keeping a "close watch" on the rescue operations. V sad to hear abt large no of casualties. Keeping a close watch on rescue operations https://t.co/yHwQAH0bKi Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 20, 2018 "V(ery) sad to hear abt large no of casualties. Keeping a close watch on rescue operations," Kejriwal said in a tweet. According to the Delhi Fire Services officials, seventeen people were feared dead in the blaze that engulfed a building in Bawana industrial area, housing a cracker and rubber manufacturing units. Delhi Urban Development minister Satyendar Jain said an inquiry has been ordered into the incident. "Learnt about a serious fire incident in a private factory at Bawana. Several casualties reported. Monitoring the situation. Ordered enquiry," Jain tweeted. PTI New Delhi, January 20 Twenty AAP legislators facing disqualification from the Delhi Assembly for allegedly holding offices of profit have sought time from President Ram Nath Kovind to present their views, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Saturday. The 20 MLAs had a meeting with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Sisodia, and other senior AAP leaders at the chief minister's residence today, when they decided to approach the president. "The MLAs were not given opportunity to present evidence with them. They have a lot to tell and prove that there was no office of profit case. It is unconstitutional and illegal," Sisodia said. "We are seeking appointment to meet the president and the MLAs will convey him that it is a biased recommendation and against natural justice." The Election Commission on Friday asked the President to disqualify the 20 MLAs for holding offices of profit, setting the stage for their ouster from the Assembly. In its opinion sent to President Kovind, the EC said the MLAs, by occupying the post of parliamentary secretaries between March 13, 2015 and September 8, 2016, held offices of profit, and were liable to be disqualified as legislators, highly placed sources have said. The development does not threaten the AAP government in Delhi as it has 66 MLAs in the 70-member Assembly. Still, the BJP and the Congress have demanded Kejriwal's resignation on moral grounds. Sisodia said the AAP would also go to court on the matter. "We hope to get justice in court and the case will not stand. Even if justice was denied us in the court, we will go to the people's court which is the biggest court," he said. He also hit out at the BJP, saying it wants elections so that all schemes and projects initiated by the AAP government can be derailed. "They have been trying hard, but none of their conspiracies succeeded. BJP people are having problem because of successes of the AAP government in three years. Now, we are going to do doorstep delivery of services, new Mohalla clinics are coming up, CCTV project is in final stage. The government is now in fourth gear and the BJP is trying to stop us from working on these projects," he said. Sarita Singh, AAP MLA from Rohtas Nagar, echoed Sisodia's views. She said the parliamentary secretaries did not get any pecuniary benefit. On the contrary, the parliamentary secretaries had to spend money from their pockets, Singh said. Alka Lamba, AAP MLA from Chandani Chowk, said all 20 AAP MLAs have sought appointment with the president at individual level. "Plus, a petition is also being drafted for all 20 MLAs," Lamba said. PTI Gurugram, January 20 Gurugram Police have arrested nine women, including four Thai nationals, from a spa centre at a high-end mall in the city for allegedly running a flesh trade. The women were involved in flesh trade in the garb of providing massage to potential customers, the police said yesterday. They worked at Nature Spa at the MGF Megacity Mall on MG Road, they added. "They have been booked under relevant IPC sections for Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act," the police's PRO Ravindra Kumar said. The arrests were made on a tip-off. A constable posed as a decoy customer. "A police team raided it after a deal was struck with the receptionist at Rs 2,500 for an hour of massage and sexual pleasure," Kumar said. It was found that the operators were also contacting potential customers through WhatsApp and Facebook. Besides, they randomly send text messages to unknown customers with attractive rate cards and packages, he added. The accused have been produced before duty magistrate and it sent them to 14-day judicial custody, he added. PTI United Nations, January 20 Pakistans mindset that unleashes terrorist attacks on India and Afghanistan must change, India has told the Security Council. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Only by changing the terror mindset can peace come to Afghanistan, Indias Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin said on Friday during a high-level Council meeting dealing with Afghanistan. Terrorism and externally induced instability pose the gravest threat to Afghanistans peace, stability and prosperity, he said. And the growing arc of terrorist violence endangers our entire region. New Delhi has been working with regional and international partners to bring security, peace and development to Afghanistan, he said. To further these objectives and promote peace, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stopped over in Lahore in December 2015 on his way back from inaugurating the Indian-built parliament house in Afghanistan, he said. But a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack was launched on the Pathankot airbase in a weeks time by the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day, he said. These mindsets differentiate between good and bad terrorists, he said. These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace. They are mindsets that are reluctant to join hands in moving the region forward to build a shared future for our people and our youth. These mindsets, Akbaruddin declared, need to change. The high-level Council meeting was presided over by Kazakhstans Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov and focused on regional cooperation to promote development and security in Afghanistan. Russias Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was among those attending the session. Terrorism has taken a huge toll on Afghanistan, Akbaruddin said backing up his assertion with World Bank statistics. Afghanistan recorded a 9.6 per cent annual economic growth rate from 2003 to 2014, but it has fallen to 2.2 per cent in 2016 as terrorism increased and it was 2.6 per cent last year, according to the bank. Illustrating how terrorism impacts development, he said that a disproportionate amount of resources are diverted from the aid projects to protecting them rather than building more projects. The New Development Partnership between India and Afghanistan cover education, health, agriculture, infrastructure, renewable energy, drinking water supply and human resource development, he said. The recent visits by Afghanistans President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah have given the partnership a boost, he added. India pledged a $1 billion package for Afghanistan last year. IANS Shiv Kumar Tribune News Service Mumbai, January 20 The West Coast Refinery being set up by a consortium of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum in Maharashtras Ratnagiri district is facing rough weather from former Maharashtra Chief Minister Narayan Rane who is mobilising villagers who are affected by the project. According to Rane, who has set up the Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksh (MSP) after being denied entry into the BJP following his resignation from the Congress, the Maharashtra government is forcibly acquiring farm land for the project. Farmers who do not want to give up their land are being beaten up. Activists who are working for the villagers are facing threats to their lives, Rane told reporters at a press conference on Friday. Rane, who left the Congress after being promised a berth in Chief Minister Devendra Fadnaviss cabinet, also blamed the Shiv Sena for arm-twisting the villagers. Rane alleged that one of the activists, Ashok Walam, and his wife Ashwini and others were called to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackerays residence, Matoshri, and threatened. The local police are filing fake cases against villagers at the behest of Shiv Senas agents who are purchasing farm land, Rane alleged. He added that while Uddhav Thackeray publicly opposed the project, his ministers in the government were actively working for it. Known for his considerable strength in the Konkan region, Rane alleged that residents of at least 16 villages in Ratnagiris Nanar area had refused the compensation package announced by the government. Opponents of the refinery say it would affect the cultivation of Devgad Alphonso mangoes unique to the region. The government is acquiring 14,000 acres for this refinery which is being constructed at a cost of Rs 1.5 lakh crores. Ranes taking up the cause of the project-affected villagers comes after Fadnavis indicated that he was in no hurry to induct him into the cabinet. While Fadnavis is seeking Ranes support to undercut the Shiv Sena in the Konkan region, he faces opposition from his own senior ministers from the BJP. United Nations, January 20 At a high-level Security Council meeting, Pakistan has raised the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, whom Islamabad has accused of being an Indian spy and given him a death sentence. "Those who speak of changing mindsets (about terrorism) need to look within and their own record of subversion against my country as our capture of an Indian spy has amply demonstrated and proved beyond any shadow of doubt," Pakistan's Permanent Representative Maleeha Lodhi said during Council meeting on Afghanistan. She did not mention his name. Her statement was response to India's statement in the Council meeting on Afghanistan that India is a victim of the same Pakistani "mindset" that promotes terrorist attacks everyday in Afghanistan. India has denied that Jadhav, a retired navy officer, worked for the government and said that he was abducted by Pakistan from Iran to stage a show-trial. Denying that Pakistan was giving terrorists a safe haven or support, Lodhi also took a swipe at the US saying it needed a "reality check." The administration of President Donald Trump suspended security aid to Pakistan this month citing its provision of sanctuaries and assistance to terrorists attacking Afghanistan. Jadhav was captured by Pakistan in 2016 and was sentenced to death by a military court martial last year. India appealed to the International Court of Justice against his sentence and the court has stayed his execution. Lodhi was originally listed to address the Council two spots before India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin, but she chose to speak later and amended her prepared speech with the response to him. Akbaruddin said that after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Lahore in December 2015 in a bid to promote peace with Pakistan, "a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack" was launched on the Pathankot airbase in a week's time by "the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day." "These mindsets differentiate between 'good' and bad terrorists," he said. "These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace." "These mindsets,a Akbaruddin declared, "need to change." Lodhi said that Pakistan was against terrorism, being itself a a victim. She blamed the conditions in Afghanistan and the drug trade, which she said brings terrorists $400 million every year, for the insurgency and asserted that they didn't need outside support or sanctuaries because "over 40 per cent of the country is under insurgent control, contested or ungoverned." "Afghanistan and its partners, especially the US, need to address these challenged inside Afghanistan rather than shift the onus for ending the conflict on to others," she said. "Those who imagine sanctuaries outside (Afghanistan) need a reality check," she added. IANS Islamabad, January 20 Pakistan on Saturday summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh for the fourth time this week and condemned the alleged unprovoked ceasefire violations across the LoC by Indian forces. The Foreign Office (FO) said Indian troops violated the ceasefire in Khuiratta, Bagsar and Khanjar sectors on the Line of Control (LoC) on January 20. The firing killed a 60-year-old civilian and injured two others, including a child, it said. Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Mohammad Faisal, who is also the foreign ministry spokesman, summoned Singh and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control and Working Boundary on January 20. He said the number of casualties at the Working Boundary had risen due to unprovoked and indiscriminate firing by the Indian forces, where four more innocent civilians were killed while 20 injured on January 18 and 19. The Indian forces along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary are continuously targeting civilian populated areas with heavy mortars and automatic weapons, Faisal said. He alleged that the Indian forces had carried out more than 150 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary in just 20 days this year, killing nine innocent civilians and injuring 40 others. This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from 2017 when the Indian forces committed more than 1,900 ceasefire violations, Faisal said. The deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws, the official said. Faisal said the ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation. The Director General urged India to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary. He urged that the Indian side should permit UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions. The FO had summoned Indias Deputy High Commissioner Singh on January 15, 18 and 19 also. PTI Vishav Bharti Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 20 The Punjab Medical Council (PMC) has cancelled the registration of the Vice-Chancellor of Adesh University, Bathinda, for furnishing false information. The decision has been taken on the recommendation of the Medical Council of India (MCI). According to official sources, Dr GPI Singh was indicted in an inquiry conducted by the Ethics Committee of the MCI for submitting wrong information. The same was conveyed to the PMC last week, which issued orders for the cancellation of Dr Singhs registration. A senior functionary of the PMC has confirmed the development. Dr GPI Singhs name has been struck off the register of doctors of the council for three years, which means neither he can practice as a doctor nor can he take any medical teaching assignment for three years. The case pertains to 2011, when Dr GPI Singh was Principal of Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Bathinda. While heading the medical college, he had allegedly furnished false information to an MCI inspection team. It was claimed that Dr Muktanjali Arya was a full-time teacher of microbiology at the institute. But a whistleblower had claimed that Dr Arya was working at a private hospital in Ludhiana. Following that the MCI referred the matter to its Ethics Committee, which found the charges true. Though the decision was taken one-and-a-half year ago by the MCI committee, it was never conveyed to the PMC with whom Dr GPI Singh was registered as a physician. Dr HS Gill, Chancellor, Adesh University, said as per the provisions, they had already appealed to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to review the penalty imposed by the MCI. As per the MCI rules, every medical college must have fulltime teachers. The rules dont allow a teacher to work simultaneously in two institutes. It is a common practice at private medical and dental colleges across the country to employ ghost teachers who in real are not part of the faculty of the college, but to complete the quorum, are paraded before MCI officials during inspection. Three-year ban Dr GPI Singhs name has been struck off the register of doctors of the Medical Council of India for three years, which means neither he can practice as a doctor nor can he take any medical teaching assignment for the next three years. Case dates back to 2011 The case pertains to 2011, when Dr GPI Singh was Principal of Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Bathinda. He had allegedly furnished false information to an MCI inspection team. It was claimed that Dr Muktanjali Arya was a full-time teacher of microbiology at the institute. But she was working at a private hospital in Ludhiana. Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 20 The stage is set to elect mayors of three municipal corporations Amritsar, Jalandhar and Patiala. With MLAs and ministers vying with each other to get their loyalists as leaders the local bodies, the elections are likely to expose the ruling party as a divided house. Mayoral elections in the three corporations are scheduled in the coming week. Amritsar will get its local body head on January 23, while Jalandhar and Patiala on January 25. Four ministers have been deputed by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to talk to the councillors and decide on consensus candidates for the posts of mayor, deputy mayor and senior deputy mayor. Rural Development Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa will over see the elections in Amritsar; Minister of State for Education Aruna Chaudhary Jalandhar; and Health Minister Brahm Mohindra and Forest Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot will oversee the process in Patiala. Sources said almost all MLAs and councillors had passed resolutions, authorising the CM to take a final call on these important posts in each corporation. The CM will be taking the decision on Monday, a day before the process begins. Hectic lobbying is thus on within the party, with all aspirants pulling all possible strings and using caste, religion and gender card to their advantage. Other than those who served as leader of opposition in the corporations in the previous term, relatives of ministers/senior MLAs and local MP (in Amritsar) are in the fray. The elections were thus held back till some consensus was arrived. It is only after the meeting between Amarinder and PPCC chief Sunil Jakhar with Congress president Rahul Gandhi earlier this week that it has been decided to elect the mayors and other office-bearers. Though initially there was some talk of MLAs being elected as mayors in all three corporations, it was shot down. Tribune News Service Sangrur, January 20 A pall of gloom descended on Alampur village in the district after the arrival of the news of death of Army Sepoy Mandeep Singh (23) in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan Rangers in Jammu and Kashmirs Krishna Ghati sector this morning. We were expecting that he would come on vacation in February. But the family got the news of his death today around 11.30 am. Since then, all villagers have been sitting at the house of my brother, said Kewal Singh, uncle of the deceased soldier. As per media reports, the Pakistan army started firing this morning and Sepoy Mandeep Singh was grievously injured and later succumbed to injuries. He is survived by his father Gurnam Singh, mother Baljit Kaur, brother Jagsir Singh and sister Kuldeep Kaur. After completing senior secondary, he joined the Army in 2015 and it was his first posting. He motivated village youngsters also to join the Army during his last vacation in October last year, said Jagmale Singh, an ex-serviceman from the village. Sardara Singh, former leader of the ex-servicemen league, said they were in touch with the Army authorities and the body would reach the village on Sunday. Sarika Sharma Cities are built by its people, by infrastructure and by services. But cities are built on their past. If not, what would Delhi be without Lal Qila; Jaipur without Hawa Mahal; and Chandigarh without Capitol Complex. It is with this very thought that the 19th General Assembly of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, better known as ICOMOS, met in Delhi. The assembly which was held in India for the first time in the 50 years of ICOMOS history, met to discuss peoples participation in cities of today, cities that we want to be smart and world class. ICOMOS India is headed by Rohit Jigyasu, who hails from Chandigarh, and is the UNESCO Chair professor at the Institute of Disaster Mitigation for Urban Cultural Heritage at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto. Based in Delhi, his expertise lies in disaster risk management and has worked on disaster risk management plans in the World Heritage sites of Khajuraho, Hampi, Konark, Red Fort, Jaisalmer Fort, Jantar Mantar and Ajanta & Ellora among others. As head of ICOMOS India the parent body being one of worlds biggest associations to work for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the world Rohit acknowledges that while India enjoys a rich heritage with many historic monuments, buildings and sites, these are fast deteriorating. He says, in a fast changing world, conservation of these heritage buildings provides a sense of identity and continuity for future generations. Not only does it play a critical role in defining the landmark within the heritage area, it also generates economic return and supports the tourism industry. This makes it imperative for people to participate in conservation of their heritage, especially in urban areas. Rohit says that for years the institutions responsible for our heritage have been exclusive. Heritage is not just about archaeologists. Saving it needs as much participation from architects, historians and conservationists. Heritage cant be elitist, he asserts and insists on the importance of linking it to the common man. Community participation is key to sustainable conservation. This is exactly why ICOMOS Delhi Declaration lists heritage not just as a fundamental right but as responsibility of all. Heritage belongs to all people: men, women and children; indigenous people; ethnic groups; people of different belief systems; and minority groups. It is evident in places ancient to modern; rural and urban; the small, every day and utilitarian; as well as the monumental and elite. It includes value systems, beliefs, traditions and lifestyles, together with uses, customs, practices and traditional knowledge, it mentions. A big question before ICOMOS India, in these polarised times, thus seems to be: How does it include all religions, ethnicities and castes in conservation activities. Rohit says they realise this and hope to work with government and private institutions towards this end. For the times At the moment, Indian cities seem set for an overhaul, courtesy Smart City Mission. In the urban renewal scheme of things, Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) is supposed to rejuvenate heritage. However, Rohit feels HRIDAY alone cant help. The scheme is there, but I dont see a lot of money going into conservation of heritage. Unless this happens, Rohit feels that our smart cities wont be sustainable. And that would be defeating the very idea behind having smart cities. Peoples participation Complete access to heritage resources empowers people and communities to safeguard it, says ICOMOS Delhi Declaration. Traditional knowledge and professional expertise constitute important resources for communities, adding to the understanding of values, sense of place, and awareness. It says government has a responsibility to identify, assess and document heritage places and promote awareness of their significance. Access to both traditional knowledge and evidence-based documentation is fundamental to this approach. M Rajivlochan When RSS ideologues declared some years ago that everyone in India is a Hindu, it opened up the way for extended discussions on who is a Hindu and what might Hinduism mean. This was a question that flummoxed the English when they decided to rule India. Viceroy Warren Hastings, before he was impeached for corruption, tried to figure out an answer by hiring a set of pandits and maulvis from Benares to give him a briefing note. Since those days, 250 years ago, every now and then someone brave enough comes up to provide the definitive answer. This book is the latest addition. The book begins with a 20-page introduction that asserts that Indians have always been religious. Religion, the next chapter two pages in length warns us, reflects humanitys lack of control over the social forces that resulted from class domination. Some of what the author means by such cryptic comments becomes clear in the subsequent chapters. The third chapter claims that Hinduism has always been syncretic in nature and even allowed for social reform and lower caste protest. Much of the transformation of Hinduism in modern times happened, as the author is at pains to suggest, in response to new ideas and conditions that accompanied the British rule in India. In an aside, the author says that in the recent past there has been a transformation in religion. It has come under the influence of a monolithic, majoritarian, Brahminic version of Hinduism as popularised by the Sangh Parivar. The author follows this up by giving us his views about the role of gurus in India. His exegesis on gurudom begins with the Vedas, covers the smritis and puranas, the tantra tradition, the Bhakti movement of medieval times and ends with what he calls is the growth of the Hindutva forces. This is followed by a chapter each on Rajneesh, and three bapus, Morari, Asharam and Aniruddha. We did note that the chapter on Rajneesh studiously avoids addressing him as Acharya, the title preferred by Rajneeshs followers. Morari, Asharam and Aniruddha, though are respectfully addressed as Bapu or Shree. The four chapters are almost identically structured. These start with a brief history of the pre-godhood days of that man. These then explain in a few pages the main teachings. These teachings are placed within the Great Traditions of India. Asharam is given a pat on his jailed back for not ever referring to anything from the Great Tradition involving Ram, Krishna or the Mahabharat. Each chapter ends with a lament on how a growing neo-liberal economy created circumstances conducive to the popularity of these gurus. The author also lets out a minor lament on the failure of the Indian Marxists to provide Indians with an alternative world view that would have enabled them to withstand the allure of ever burgeoning gurus. There is no specific portion marked as Conclusion in this book. Just as it does not have a bibliography. Its last sentence is a despondent remark culled from a 1985 article in the Illustrated Weekly (presumably of India): The prospects of fresh revolutionary energies springing up from the subterranean consciousness of the masses are not bright. The power of the establishment to neutralise dissent knows no bounds. No one can disagree with such conclusions. All that one can say is that the book, perhaps inadvertently, suffers from a pro-men, anti-women bias. Nowhere in its analysis does it include any Devi, Goddess or godwomen. They, I would imagine, are the more successful ones in the god business. For, while many godmen are currently in jail for doing hanky panky with women followers and worse, the godwomen of India continue to be out of jail, free of any taint of sexual harassment and continue to provide solace to their followers. HELMER Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb made a few visits in the area Friday, including to the home of World War II veteran Erven Oetting and later The Angler. Oetting is 95, a veteran of the war and is now a recipient of the Sagamore of the Wabash, one of the highest awards the governor can give. The award is typically given to those that have rendered a distinguished service to the state or governor. Past Sagamores have been astronauts, presidents, politicians or ordinary citizens who have contributed greatly to the Hoosier heritage. Holcomb met with Oetting at his home and presented him with the award, saying on his social media sites it was a great honor to name Oetting a Sagamore of the Wabash. On the way out of Steuben County, Holcomb stopped at The Angler, a visit that owner Heather Culler said was a complete surprise to them. Heather and her husband Reid own the store. We didnt even know he was in the area, she said. It was a pleasant surprise for sure. Holcomb spent about 45 minutes in the store and picked up some Angler gear for himself and his family. We were really impressed he thought to stop by, Culler said. Hes a really neat guy. Culler also had nothing but good to say about Oetting and his wife, Lois, calling them amazing. The couple doesnt live far from the store. The Culler family has owned The Angler since 1988, when Reids parents purchased the store. Its not every day you see someone walk in the doors of The Angler in suits, said Heather. A request to Holcombs press secretary for more information about the trip was not immediately answered. Holcomb can be followed on Facebook and Twitter both by searching @GovHolcomb. Rameshinder Singh Sandhu American poet and author Ella Wheeler Wilcox once said, So many gods, so many creeds. So many paths that wind and wind, while just the art of being kind is all the sad world needs. Her words ring true when one is on British Columbias Road No 5 of Richmond city. Here religious houses of different faiths stand together with sheer unity, clearly teaching the lessons of kindness, love and unity. Popularly known as Highway to heaven, to be precise, its actually an open exhibition of world religions, or can simply be termed as a grand window to religions of the world. Touted to be one-of-its-kind road not only in North America but across the globe, the way the religious temples here are lined up on one side of the road, itself unfolds many interesting observations, filling the air all around with infinite rousing vibes. The gurdwara is adjacent to the mosque while the mosque has a Chinese church for a neighbour. It goes on like a perfect queue with a Hindu temple, Buddhist monastery, Jewish temple, and so on, stretching for nearly 3 km. If counted, the number of these temples of faith could easily touch 20. Friendly neighbours Majority of these religious houses are not only without any fences but also have special passages within their premises for an easy access to each other. Regular inter-faith meetings is another highlight for which they have formed an inter-faith council, which is represented by heads of different religious institutions. Organised every time in a different house of worship, these meetings aim to foster welfare of each other, and at the same time, shed light on respective religious traditions for creating more awareness on different faiths. This awareness continues high also through exchange tours that are organised on special occasions and festivals making a cut for opportunity for every participant to know each other. This is, thus, a big kick for fortifying the unity of different faiths. Interestingly, notice boards, too, are replete with tour invitations and upcoming festival plans. All of these religious centres keep their parking areas open for any overflowing parking to help the neighbouring religious centre. Then volunteers from different religions are also generally seen offering community kitchen services and a lot more. Mecca for research students The road has also become a must stop for students who take up research on religious studies as it is an open mine of many facts they look for. Besides this, many groups of schoolchildren are also brought here for religious and cultural tours. Many of these religious sites are also more than just a house of worship. Most of these dedicated centres where traditional languages are taught free of cost, irrespective of the communities, religion and age groups. Some of them go beyond that. For instance, the Hindu temple offers free yoga classes while the Buddhist monastery gives free mediation classes while the mosque also runs a school till grade 7. Popular among these tours are the free kitchen of the gurdwara, lessons in meditation at the monastery, yoga classes being conducted at the temple. A common message If one talks to the priests from any house of worship house here, similar sentiment is echoed: God is one and one religion is as good as another. We all need to promote kindness. Only then can we make this world a great place to live. Interestingly, these priests, belonging to different faiths can also be seen going together for walk every morning and evening on this road, another strong reminder underlining the unity of religions shining bright on this road. Harish Khare Harish Khare Last Sunday was a balmy day in Chandigarh. The sun was pleasantly inviting. Around 11, I trotted over to the neighbourhood park for that brisk walk the doctors are always recommending. The idea of a peaceful, meditative walk came to an abrupt end. Angry voices assailed the ear. Right there in the middle of the park, a couple seemed to be having an argument, a conversation that probably they did not want to have at home. From their clothes, shoes, it appeared to be a middle class couple; the wife was blase, went on drying her hair in the sun. The man was loud, vulgar and obscene. Every single four-letter expletive was being flung in each sentence. My first thought was one of great dismay; there were children and ladies around and this man seemed totally oblivious to his own vulgarity and crudeness. All the manly violence a man can visit on a female was being threatened. The remarks, it seemed, were directed at her family. The wife seemed unfazed and remained unprovoked. I sat down on a nearby bench, trying to figure out this unpleasant tableau of domestic disharmony. And also, why have we become such a violent society? A few days later, we had this horrible story of a 19-year-old girl killing her younger brother, all because the sibling had spilled the beans about her having an affair. The extreme brutality that this young girl could summon is chilling. What social and cultural ecosystem would propel a girl to undertake a violent murder of her own brother? Something very wrong, very disagreeable is happening in our society, and none of us seems to be able to want to do anything about it. Meanwhile, the politician is busy practising his divisive craft, creating cleavages and conflicts, accusing the other of being anti this or pro that. The social tranquillity is gone; disintegration is setting in. In the process, the politician is encouraging us to be rude, vicious to others in his defence. We do not have the forces and voices that would generate a countervailing cultural and social narrative. There are no social leaders/reformers who would stand apart and away from the quarrelsome political crowd and be a different moral pole. There is no Vinoba Bhave, not even a JP, who would not get trapped in the politicians web. No doubt, there is no dearth of the babas and swamis and gurus, but each one of them has succumbed to the allurement of commercial entrepreneurship. Outwardly, we are becoming more and more ritualistically religious; the elevating, ennobling content of religion is getting depleted. Maybe, this is the price we have to pay for becoming a consumerist society and for our unrelenting urbanisation. We all end up being deracinated souls. * * * * * * * * IT has been more than a week since the four senior judges of the Supreme Court decided to go public with their grievances with the Chief Justice of India. After that bombshell, we have had conflicting reports emanating from the inner sanctum as to what extent the gentlemen in the black robes have patched up or have not patched up. Everybody is asking a simple question: Why did the Four Judges take such a precipitous undertaking? Has the courts izzat not been left in tatters? What happens to Justice Gogoi? Will he get tricked out of a chief justice innings after Justice Deepak Misra finishes his tenure? Both sides have practised the art of reticence. There is an uneasy truce, as the old cliche goes. But it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the issues are primarily political or at least political in implications, which the court as an institution is or will be called upon to deal with. The Four Dissenters have not taken the moral option resign, go home. But, perhaps, they know the cast of characters. And, the headlines will inevitably give way to another crisis and the four would be forgotten. The court will fall in step with the government and a new normality will get settled in. Courting Politics is an interestingly conceptualised book about nine lawyers in political life. These lawyers have lived interesting lives and their tale is interestingly told by Shweta Bansal. Each has been given an arresting and, in most cases, an apt sobriquet: Ram Jethmalani (The Daredevil), Shanti Bhushan (The lawyer of Emerging India), P Chidambaram (The Reformer-in-Chief), Muzaffar Hussain Baig (The Gentleman), Kapil Sibal (The Artiste), Arun Jaitley (The Man for all Seasons), Salman Khurshid (The Debonair Man), Ravi Shankar Prasad (The Lawyer of Lord Rama), Abhishek Manu Singhvi (The Ultimate Multitasker). The working premise of Courting Politics is that because these nine were lawyers, they could make a kind of difference that someone with a different background say, an engineer or a charter accountant could not make. That case does not get fully made. Because each one of them is so talented, their very presence in the political arena made a difference; but, what is missing from the tale is what, if any, contribution these legal luminaries made to enriching our constitutional values and traditions. No doubt, there are interesting personal details, bringing out qualities of character, talent, industriousness, capacity for application, perseverance and a certain rectitude. Of course, there are inflated egos and none of them seems occasionally a stranger to small-mindedness. We learn of young P Chidambaram defying his parents in the choice of his life partner; we also learn of how and why Arun Jaitley failed so gloriously in his first Lok Sabha contest. For example, the Ram Jethmalani chapter suggests that since childhood, Ram has abhorred authority and restraint on freedom. That gives us a clue to his choice of clients and cases. We get a picture of a brilliantly combative, fabulously erratic lawyer, who though did contribute to public life, yet still made an insignificant politician. There is a well-deserved reference to Ram Jethmalanis fundamental contribution: setting up of the National Law School of India University (the concept has become a consecrated template for modern law education in India). But we do learn quite a lot about men in public life from Jethmalanis assessments say, of, LK Advani and Vajpayee. That he is so fiercely his own man made him the best criminal lawyer in India. He listens to his own inner drum, marches to it and he is willing to face the consequences of that, Shweta Bansal notes. Her summation of Ram Jethmalani is irrefutable: He does not enjoy the august reputation that his life commands. Of the nine lives discussed in Courting Politics, it is Shanti Bhushan, the least flamboyant of the lot, who comes across as the most centred legal mind. As Law Minister during the Janata Party government, he refused to supersede YY Chandrachud as the Chief Justice of India which would have meant ignoring the principle of seniority because during the Emergency, he was part of the Bench that decided the seminal case, the ADM, Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla (the habeas corpus case). Most curiously, the Shanti Bhushan chapter touches upon some of the dramatis personae involved in the current controversy in the Supreme Court and how a petition in the Sahara diary case was disposed of. He concludes ominously: It reminds me of the Emergency during which the judiciary could not take on the prime minister. At the beginning of the book, there is a brief introduction by the redoubtable Fali Nariman, and he ends with a hope that the erudite men whose lives are unfolded in this book will not fail us when the time comes as it will to save the Constitution and the laws. On that count, there is a certain incompleteness. The sum total of these tales does not give us a larger assurance or impart a necessary reaffirmation that there is an inherent correctness and solidity to our republic because guys like these Nine are up and around. * * * * * * * * AT least there is one good news. At long last, a tainted minister has been made to put in his papers. We at The Tribune have a sense of satisfaction at having sent him packing. And, that calls for a cup of coffee. Join me. kaffeeklatsch@tribuneindia.com The Tribune Team The Tribune Team It began with Karza, kurki khatam, fasal di puree rakam. It was a catchy slogan that the Congress coined to garner the support of the state's farming community to return to power in Punjab after a decade. Almost a year later, karza (debt) is as hated and sufferable as ever. Kurki (seizure of a defaulter's property) is as grim a prospect as ever and fasal (crop) is as unpredictable and unprofitable as ever. So where has Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh landed himself? Each day the gap between his promise and the reality is gnawing at the farmers. And farm experts, who have betted against the competitive politics of loan waiver are scratching their head in the face of emerging complications that Punjab's small farmers are forced to contend with. The greater economic danger comes from other states as well: Uttar Pradesh Maharashtra. For instance, the cumulative debt relief announced by the three states amounts to around Rs 77,000 crore or 0.5% of India's 2016-17 GDP, according to analysts. State-wise outstanding farm debt has been scaled up to the total value of institutional farm loans at Rs 12.6 trillion. This figure was cited by Union minister of state for agriculture Parshottam Rupala about two years ago. In Punjab, the government has added two more instruments for extending such sops: self-declaration by recipient-farmers and social audit. The farmers say they face a social problem of being declared a borrower which would bring only 'infamy.' And by complaining against an "unqualified recipient," they may face a violent situation. A much watered-down scheme (see infographic) was launched in Punjab this month. Here are ground reports from three districts: Bathinda, Sangrur and Muktsar: In Bathinda, shock & awe for small farmers Bathinda: A worried Gurmail Singh of Jodhpur Pakhar village stands in a corner at a gathering of farmers in his village. He and his brother Gurjant have 1.5 acres each, but only Gurjant figures on the list of beneficiaries. Gurmail says the state government has tweaked the scheme, further delaying its implementation. "The self-declaration clause about landholdings will prolong the wait for relief," he rues. I owe Rs 60,000 to the cooperative society, Rs 3 lakh to the bank and Rs 2 lakh to a commission agent. I have also mortgaged whatever land I have to make both ends meet. I expected to get rid of the society's debt with the scheme's launch. I am barely surviving. He has to look after his aging father, wife and a child. Gurmail is not alone. Badal Singh of Gehri Bara Singh village and his two brothers own one acre each, but he was left out of the scheme. Badal Singh says revenue officials have told him to meet the SDM. Farmers allege that political affiliation has crept into the list. Sukhmandar Singh of Jhumba Bhaika village says he owns 3 acres and owes Rs 75,000 to the cooperative society, but he was not included because he is an Akali Dal supporter. Another farmer from Mansa Kalan village says the debt of a farmer was waived, but not that of his two brothers, both of whom are Akali supporters and own 2.5 acres each. BKU (Ekta Sidhupur) chief Jagjit Singh Dalewal says the state government has miserably failed in delivering what it promised. First it promised a complete waiver. But what was launched was a much watered-down version. Second, the scheme has various loopholes even after including the social audit clause. And third, the bureaucrats have designed the policy in such a way that the government would end up spending very little on the waiver while at the same time the list of beneficiaries will also remain long. The cooperative societies asked the farmers to also inform them of the land on lease they have. The apparent objective, says Dalewal, was to provide seeds and fertilizers. Later, the societies treated this lease-land as the one owned by the farmers to deny them the benefit. Dalewal says debt waiver is no solution. The government should focus on making agriculture financially viable. Perneet Singh Edgy officials, fuming farmers in Sangrur Sangrur: Almost all employees of the cooperative department are in dark about the self-declaration clause. Unofficially I'd say that most likely, the government would seek debt details from all farmers through self-declaration forms, says an officer requesting anonymity. Most farmers are very upset over the social audit clause. Banks are not allowed to display lists of defaulters as it is personal information. Then under which law is the state government conducting social audit and defaming the indebted farmers? asks Gurmeet Singh, a farmer from Mehla Chownk village. Another farmer, Sukhwinder Singh from Maura village, alleges that such an audit has created serious social problems. Kuldeep Singh, a farmer from Bhai Ki Pashore village is uncertain about any relief. The Singhs are three brothers and have only one acre of land. The family has taken a loan of Rs 28,000 from the cooperative society. His family got a waiver of Rs 1,400, and he does not know who has done it. The announcement about self-declaration has confused the cooperative department officials. In Sangrur, there are around 70,000 eligible farmers. Around 35,000 farmers are on first list. The rest hope to find a mention in the second list. We would start taking self declaration of all farmers individually after getting the official copy of the notification, says Baljinder Singh, deputy registrar of cooperative societies in Sangrur. Parvesh Sharma How the rich get a waiver in Muktsar Gidderbaha (Muktsar): The Assembly segment is represented by Youth Congress chief Amrinder Singh 'Raja Warring', who recently met the CM and the state party chief and pressed for better implementation of the scheme. Here's how the scheme is playing out: the government waived Rs 44,674 of Jaswant Singh of Gurusar village. He owns nearly 16 acres. His two-storey palatial house, SUVs and other vehicles tell as much about his prosperity. Jaswants younger son, Parampal, is shown as a marginal farmer in government records. Parampal was also the chief of the Youth Congress, Gidderbaha block. We had not applied for a debt waiver. My father had got a crop loan on four acres through the cooperative society of Madhir village and his name appeared in the list of beneficiaries. This surprised us. We have bought our assets by our sources of income, says Parampal. Hargopal Singh, secretary, co-operative society, Madhir, tries to clear the air. Jaswant is included in the list because as per our records, he falls in the category of farmers owning less than five-acres, says Hargopal. Officials at the Muktsar Central Co-operative Bank branch at Madhir village refused to share any information, saying the bank had sent the lists of indebted farmers to the head office. The bank divided the list in three categories: those who own up to 2.5 acres, above 2.5 acres and less than five acres and above five acres. When the lists came out, many farmers complained that they had been left out. We are unaware as to at what level the names were deleted and on what criteria, says a bank official. Paramvir Singh Bhandari, manager of the Muktsar Central Cooperative Bank, said the bank has not yet received any notification or circular about the social audit or self-declaration forms. We are matching the list of beneficiaries with our records. Sometimes a farmer shows less landholding, but as per revenue records he owns a huge chunk. This is the main problem. In the Gidderbaha sub-division, 5,253 farmers were named as beneficiaries in the Annexure-A prepared by the department. These farmers were those having land less than 2.5 acres, got loan from the cooperative societies and their Aadhaar card was linked to the bank account and verified. However, when the list was again sent to the officials of department of cooperative, they made a final list called Annexure-B of only 1,747 farmers. I am not aware on what basis the deletions were made, says Narinder Singh Dhaliwal, SDM, Gidderbaha. Archit Watts Not much left months later Pre-poll promise October 2016: Capt Amarinder Singh announces he will waive all debts taken by farmers, if voted to power. He asks farmers to stop repaying their loans. Rs 95,000 crore estimated as the total farm debt (from banks and private sources). 32 lakh farmer accounts show debt of Rs 72,000 crore from all banks, according to state-level bankers committee. Post-poll reality March 2017: In first cabinet meeting, the CM reiterates full waiver, sets up a panel. June: After a few meetings with the expert panel headed by T Haque, the govt realizes it has no resources to waive all debts. June-end: Govt says Rs 2 lakh crop loan due to small & marginal farmers to be waived. 10.25 lakh are the estimated beneficiaries. Rs 9,500 crore the combined debt to be waived/written off. No term loans to be waived. Large farmers won't get any relief. July-September: Govt explores options to raise resources from floating masala bonds to Centre's intervention to no avail. October: Crop Loan waiver scheme notified. Now, all small farmers who have availed of loan of over Rs 2 lakh become ineligible. November: Govt raises a loan of Rs 4,680 crore from a consortium of six banks. The hike in market fee and rural development fee (1% each) to be used for paying interest. January 7, 2018: The scheme finally takes off. Only 46,000 farmers get a waiver of Rs 167 crore in the first phase (Compiled by Ruchika M Khanna) Neena Sharma Tribune News Service Dehradun, January 20 The Centres Udan scheme will finally become a reality in Uttarakhand with Air Deccan starting services in February between Dehradun and Pantnagar with an 18 seater aircraft. With the start of the service, the common man will fly on subsidised rates and tourists keen on visiting the hilly terrain too will be able to travel in less time to far-flung places. We will start the services in the last week of February and the DGCA has already given its approval, said TS Rawat, Chief Minister, Uttarakhand. An air fuel station (AFS) will also be established at Pantnagar. Further, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) also has to install the Instrument Landing System (ILS) which will allow night landing and landing in low visibility conditions. The government is already a signatory to the centres Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS-UDAN) under which in the selected airports for 10 years, VATon the ATF will be charged at 1 per cent. Further, the state will provide essential services such as water and power at nominal rates at the airstrips/helipads etc. The state will bear 20 per cent of the cost for running the scheme as agreed upon in the MOU signed with the Centre in 2016. Lima, January 20 Pope Francis strongly condemned corruption in Latin America as a social virus infecting all aspects of life in stern remarks to Perus president and high-ranking political leaders, several of whom are embroiled in the regions biggest graft scandal. Hours after decrying the destruction of Perus Amazon, the pontiff warned President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and other leaders gathered that another, more subtle form of environmental degradation is also pervading society: corruption. How much evil is done to our Latin American people and the democracies of this content by this social virus, the pope said. Everything being done to combat this social scourge deserves our utmost attention. The remarks come less than a month after Kuczynski narrowly avoided impeachment over USD 782,000 in payments Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht made to his private consulting firm over a decade ago when he served as a minister. Odebrecht has admitted to paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to officials throughout Latin America in exchange for lucrative public works contracts. The bribery scandal has ended the careers of some of Latin Americas most prominent politicians and in Peru two former presidents stand accused of accepting money from Odebrecht while a third is under investigation. Peru has been jolted in recent weeks into a new period of uncertainty following Kuczynskis near ouster and the subsequent pardon of former strongman Alberto Fujimori from a 25-year prison sentence. The pardon sent thousands of Peruvians into the streets in protest and reopened wounds from a bloody chapter in Perus history. While some Peruvians credit Fujimori with stabilising the nations economy and defeating Maoist guerrillas in the 1990s others condemn him for having permitted grave human rights abuses. Fujimori was convicted for his role in the deaths of 25 Peruvians in addition to having sanctioned the use of military death squads. In the weeks since his release angry Peruvians have staged multiple protests and scrawled graffiti with phrases like Fujimori never again on buildings around the capital city. Kuczynski told the pope he hoped his visit would serve as a push toward peace and dialogue. The president dodged impeachment after Fujimoris lawmaker son, Kenji Fujimori, and a small group of lawmakers from his party surprisingly abstained from voting in what many Peruvians believe was a quid pro quo to release the former president from jail. Both Kenji Fujimori and his sister Keiko Fujimori, a two-time presidential candidate, were on hand for the popes remarks Friday. Keiko Fujimori has been under investigation into whether she received money from Odebrecht during her campaign. Francis called for a greater culture of transparency between the public and private sectors and society in his speech, saying that, No one can be excluded from this process. AP Keki Daruwalla Negativity about the other, gair, as we dub them, comes fairly easy, especially with individuals who are immature. Just look back at Tudor England. Till Henry VIII had the crush on Anne Boleyn, no one hated the Pope. The Pope was the living Father of the Church. Bad, immoral Popes like the Borgias, accused of incest, manged to flourish in Rome. Once the English realm turned against the Vatican, denouncing the Pope became a national pastime, and the word Papist became the vilest of abuse. People like Thomas More, who refused to denounce the Pope and accept the King of England as the head of the Church, were beheaded. Cardinal Wolsey escaped the fate by dying of sickness earlier. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Now we have the spectacle of the American President calling Haiti and countries from Africa shitholes. He has even questioned the 14th Amendment which gives people born in America the right to US citizenship. It speaks of a mindset smeared all over with racial overtones. By implication, slightly farfetched, he is also sneering at poverty, at the poor, the already downtrodden whom he wants to put further down. We have only to recall what he said about the Mexicans a year earlier, using words like rapists and drug smugglers for them. He wanted to build a wall, just as the Israelis have built one against the Palestinians, so that the Mexicans wouldnt find it easy to cross over into the paradise that is the United States. To quote the exact words in his candidacy announcement speech of June 16, 2015, he said, I will build a great wall and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I will build it inexpensively. I will build a great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words. In the same speech, he said, When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre not sending you. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems, and theyre bringing those problems with us. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. He followed that up by saying I can never apologise for the truth. I am not a racist. I dont have a racist bone in my body. Leaders need to be careful with words. Remember our Deputy Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti dividing the Indians into legitimates and illegitimates? The political stage worldwide has been taken over by seemingly strong men who speak directly to the public. The public also consists of waiters, car and cycle mechanics, shoeshine boys, low-paid temple pujaris and primary schoolmasters, butchers and bakers. Hireling lumpens , who provide the ballast of political protests, are also a component of that abstract aggregate we call the public. In a democracy, a direct line to them is almost a direct line to divinity. It is proving to be a direct line to power in any case. So we see the spectacle of Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, Victor Orban in Hungary, Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, ruling the roost unchallenged in their countries. Such leaders often tread at the edge of law. Erdogan, an Islamist to the core, who blamed the handful of Zoroastrians in the Middle East, for the botched coup against him, was even invited to India. The no-holds-barred war against druggists in the Philippines has taken a toll of 7,000 people 1,400 deaths are officially acknowledged. None of these leaders can be accused of whipping up national paranoia, the way the Nazis did against the Jews. But Hitler managed to hypnotise Germans into believing how evil and unwanted the Jews were or else how could the Eichmanns and the camp commandants at Auschwitz, Treblinka, Buchenwald and other camps slaughter six million in gas chambers. In a review article in the Times Literary Supplement, Charles King has stated, In the new age of strongmen of politics, leaders around the world seem cut from the same pattern, regardless of the nature of the political system that produces them They speak directly to their constituents and claim a mystical ability to discern the peoples wishes. They are the good tsars, the incorruptible princes, the embodiments of renewed national greatness I have written about the Rohingya earlier. The Myanmar army has at last conceded that they had murdered 10 captured Rohingya! This is laughable. Conservative estimates claim about 7,000 were killed. The Pope went to commiserate with the Rohingya. The Indian Prime Minister went to Myanmar to discuss the security threat from the Rohingya! (The views expressed by the writer are his own) Washington, January 20 US President Donald Trump will be entering something of a lions den when he visits the elitist enclave of Davos next week, rubbing shoulders with the same globalists that he campaigned against in winning the 2016 election. Aides said some of Trumps advisers had argued against him attending the World Economic Forum in order to steer clear of the event, which brings together political leaders, CEOs and top bankers. But in the end, they said, Trump, the first sitting US president to attend the forum since Bill Clinton in 2000, wanted to go to call attention to growth in the US economy and the soaring stock market. A senior administration official said Trump is expected to take a double-edged message to the forum in Switzerland, where he is to deliver a speech and meet some world leaders. In his speech, Trump is expected to urge the world to invest in the United States to take advantage of his deregulatory and tax cut policies, stress his America First agenda and call for fairer, more reciprocal trade, the official said. During his 2016 election campaign, Trump blamed globalization for ravaging American manufacturing jobs as companies sought to reduce labor costs by relocating to Mexico and elsewhere. Globalization has made the financial elite who donate to politicians very wealthy. But it has left millions of our workers with nothing but poverty and heartache, he said on June 28, 2016, in Pennsylvania. Trump retains the same anti-globalist beliefs but has struggled to rewrite trade deals that he sees as benefiting other countries. Trump will be speaking two days after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron take the stage in Davos. Both ardent defenders of multilateralism and liberal democratic values, they are expected to lay out the counter-argument to Trumps America First policies. Merkel and Macron have lobbied Trump hard to keep the United States in the Paris climate accord and Iran nuclear pact, only for him to distance himself from those deals. Trump will meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May in Davos, the White House said. There is acute concern in European capitals that 2018 could be the year Trumps bark on trade turns into bite, as he considers punitive measures on steel and threatens to end the 90s-era North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. He has backed off withdrawing from a US trade agreement with South Korea and while he has threatened to terminate NAFTA, he has yet to do so. Trumps tax cuts are a source of concern in Europe, where policymakers are discussing steps to extract more tax dollars out of US multinationals such as Google and Amazon. European governments now fear a race to the bottom on corporate tax rates and a shift to more investment in the United States by some of their big companies. In a Reuters interview on Thursday, Trump lamented that it is rare that he meets the leader of a foreign country that has a trade deficit with the United States. Based on official data for the year to November, China exported goods worth $461 billion and the United States ran a trade deficit of $344 billion. Trump said he would be announcing some kind of action against China over trade. He is to discuss the issue during his State of the Union address to the US Congress on Jan. 30. Asked about the potential for a trade war with China depending on US action over steel, aluminum and solar panels, Trump said he hoped a trade war would not ensue. I dont think so, I hope not. But if there is, there is, he said. Reuters Islamabad, January 20 Two persons have been arrested in connection with the rape and murder case of seven-year-old Zainab in Pakistan, with the police terming it an important development in the search of suspect(s) involved in the case. Zainab Amin was kidnapped from her neighbourhood on January 4. She was raped and later murdered. Her body was found from a heap trash on January 9. Investigators found an empty box near the body of the girl and one of the suspects arrested on Friday was identified by the help of a forensic examination, Dawn News on Saturday quoted unnamed sources as saying. The suspect had already been booked in six rape cases. The other suspect is his brother who is also booked in some similar cases. The sources said the two brothers were residents of the College Road area in Punjab province where a minor rape survivor was found in November. The girl is still under treatment at Childrens Hospital, Lahore. The joint investigation team formed on January 10 to probe the Zainab murder case has collected data of 300 mobile phone numbers and six of them have been marked for further investigation. The sources said locator vans had been working in Punjabs Kasur city for the past three days to trace the location of the two suspects. They said they were arrested from a place outside the district where they were hiding. The police had interrogated around 1,300 people and released many of them after their DNA tests. Also on Friday, Punjab Inspector General of Police Arif Nawaz said that investigators were going in the right direction. A new video footage emerged on social media regarding a suspect moving near the house of the victim. A police official said that the JIT had not released any video footage. In fact, the video clip was the initial part of the first video shared by the family of the victim with the JIT. Separately, on a call at helpline, police raided two rented houses in Ali Park and Peerowala Road whose tenants had gone missing. Police took the owners into custody to know the whereabouts of the tenants. Pakistans National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Friday formed a 10-member committee for suggesting recommendations to stop child abuse incidents. The committee has been asked to give its recommendations to the house within 30 days. IANS Washington, January 20 The US government officially shutdown today for the first time in five years after the Senate rejected a short-term spending bill to keep the federal government running, marking a chaotic end to Donald Trumps first year as President. The shutdown began at 12:01 am (local time) after a few Republicans joined Democrats in blocking the crucial measure would have provided short-term funding for the Pentagon and other federal agencies. Trump blamed the Democrats for the shutdown which comes exactly a year after he was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Dems want a shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the tax cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy, he said. Despite last minute bipartisan meetings, the bill to fund the government until February 16 did not receive the required 60 votes. The Senate voted 50-48 to block the stopgap funding measure. The short-term spending bill was passed by the House on Thursday. This is part of the Democrats strategy to force President Trump and the Republicans to negotiate with them on illegal immigrants who are facing deportation. The effect of the shutdown would be felt most from Monday when the federal government employees would not be able to join for their work and be forced to stay at home without pay. It is estimated that more than 800,000 federal employees would be furloughed. Only the essential services would be open. The last time that a government shutdown happened was in 2013. Earlier in the day, the Office of Management of Budget said it was preparing for what were calling the Schumer Shutdown. The Director of Office of Management of Budget Mick Mulvaney said efforts were being made to have the government shutdown less impactful than it was in 2013. Were going to manage the shutdown differently. We are not going to weaponise it. Were not going to try and hurt people, especially people having to work for this federal government, he said. The last government shutdown lasted for 16 days in October 2013. The previous shutdown before that was for 21 days that ended on January 6, 1996. However, this is for the first time in recent history that a shutdown has taken place when the House and the Senate as well as the White House is controlled by the same party. PTI Chuck Schumers big moment The high-stakes standoff over government funding has thrust Chuck Schumer into the brightest spotlight of his young tenure leading Senate Democrats. Huddled negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer were unsuccessful, and the US government technically ran out of money at midnight. The White House lashed out at Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, blaming him for the shutdown Senate Democrats own the Schumer Shutdown. Tonight, they put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our countrys ability to serve all Americans, Trumps spokeswoman Sarah Sanders declared Washington, January 20 The US State Department has approved a sale of 34 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Conventional Take-off and Landing (CTOL) aircraft to Belgium, the Pentagon said. According to a statement on Friday, published by the Defence Security Cooperation Agency under the US Department of Defence, the agency notified Congress of the sale for an estimated $6.53 billion, Xinhua news agency reported. The sale would also include 38 Pratt & Whitney F-135 engines 34 installed ones and four spares as well as other equipment for the radar-evading high-tech fighter. The sale will improve the security of an ally and partner nation which has been, and continues to be, an important force for political and economic stability in Western Europe, the statement read. The sale of F-35s is expected to provide Belgium with a credible defence capability to deter aggression in the region and ensure interoperability with US forces, said the agency. The governments of Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and others are also potential customers of the jet. IANS Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Snow showers this evening. Breaks in the overcast later. Low 17F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 90%.. Tonight Snow showers this evening. Breaks in the overcast later. Low 17F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 90%. SPARTA Elaine (Edna) Schwarz, 92, of Sparta died Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, at Rolling Hills Rehabilitation Center, Sparta. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 22, at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Summit Ridge. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Visitation will be 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Lanham-Schanhofer Funeral Home, Sparta, and 10 a.m. to time of services Monday at the church. Its the city that wasnt. It was named Day 1, Oklahoma, and for a small group of innovative, tech-savvy Oklahomans, it seemed like the perfect place for Amazon to build its second headquarters. So thats what Tulsan Scott Phillips and his team pitched to the online giant: Come to Oklahoma, and well help you build a 50-square-mile city from scratch between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Its true: Amazon didnt receive two HQ2 proposals from Oklahoma; it received three. Each, it turns out, met a similar fate, as Day 1, Oklahoma like Tulsa and Oklahoma City failed to appear on Amazons list of 20 finalists announced Thursday. A disappointed Phillips said Friday that although Amazon rejected the idea, he and his crew have not. The intriguing thing is, now you see Apple coming out looking for a second headquarters, Phillips said. So we very much believe this vision and opportunity still lives. Thinking big and outside the box is nothing new to Phillips. The 48-year-old is founder of Civic Ninjas and a member of Techlahoma. Civic Ninjas is a national organization focused on civic engagement, community building and problem solving that complements Techlahomas efforts to grow technology opportunities throughout the state. Phillips also is the man behind Rawspace, a proposal to create the worlds first industrial-scale innovation hub that was nearly funded as part of Vision Tulsa. So no, Phillips doesnt think Day 1, Oklahoma, is some cockamamie idea. The impossible is impossible until it isnt, he said. With all of the challenges Oklahoma faces, we need to be swinging for the fences and be the ones at bat when something that is impossible is no longer impossible. About a dozen members of Civic Ninjas, Techlahoma and Oklahoma Next worked six weeks on the proposal. By design, nothing about it is ordinary. The proposal, sent on Civic Ninjas letterhead, was written in the form of an Amazon internal memo in which an Amazon employee is reviewing the proposal. We sincerely hope our proposal inspires you, Phillips cover letter states. We know it is a big, crazy, audacious idea, but we also know that Amazon is the kind of company that doesnt shy away from big ideas. Now for the details on that audacious idea. Phillips said the proposed site would be between Stroud and Chandler and somewhat north of there. He estimates the land could be purchased for approximately $80 million but would be worth $17.5 billion after the new city was developed on it. To fund the project, investors could borrow off the projected future value of the property and sell parcels to real estate and commercial developers, Phillips said. The proposal also calls for taking advantage of traditional incentives, such as the states Quality Jobs Program. In Phillips telling, Day 1, Oklahomas seemingly obvious shortcomings no infrastructure, no government institutions, no energy supply are in fact its greatest selling points. This city will be unhindered by legacy rules, policy, momentum or infrastructure, the proposal states. The long-term goal of the new city is to serve as an anchor to a new super region metroplex that will encompass all three cities. As for the citys name, it, too, is an ode to innovation and thinking outside the box and a not-so-subtle nod to Jeff Bezos, Amazons founder and CEO. Phillips said Bezos does everything he can to ensure that Amazon and its employees never grow complacent or embrace the status quo. As part of that effort, Phillips said, Bezos routinely draws a distinction between Day 1 decisions and Day 2 decisions. Day 1 decisions are the kind of visionary, swing-for-the-fences moments when a new startup is founded, Phillips said. Day 2 decisions refer to the first step in what would become a status-quo type of decision. By the way, Phillips has no second thoughts about his decision to submit a proposal to Amazon, as far-fetched as some might perceive it. Not in the least, he said. These are all opportunities to think about the future, refine our thoughts about the future and push communities ahead. This Page Is Under Construction - Coming Soon! Why am I seeing this 'Under Construction' page? People returning from pilgrimages to the Vatican, where they had been able to see the most acclaimed churches in Catholicism, have told Sister Malinda Gerke that none can hold a candle to Mary of the Angels Chapel of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in La Crosse. Gerke, an 83-year-old member of the FSPAs, recalls being gobsmacked herself when she first saw the chapel as a 14-year-old high school freshman seeking to join the order. I was wowed, she said last week during an interview about her new 355-page book, Mary of the Angels Chapel: Gods Answer to a Bold Promise, tracing the history of the 112-year-old chapel. The coffee table-style tome not only chronicles features that are clearly visible in pews-eye views but also provides peeks into hidden nooks and crannies of the church and adjoining adoration chapel. For example, until Gerke began her research for the book in May of 2016, tradition held that the chapel contains 165 angels. But the former music teacher found three more angels that had hidden devilishly before her headcount. About 75 percent of the chapel was locally done much of it by local people volunteering, she said. I dont think people know that this type of talent was available here when it was built between 1902 and 1906. Buy the book, tour the chapel Mary of the Angels Chapel: Gods Answer to a Bold Promise costs $50 and is available at the front desk of St. Rose of Viterbo Convent at 912 Market St. in La Crosse. Tours of the chapel are offered from 9 to 10:45 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday. People who want to tour should use the entrance at 701 Franciscan Way, which can be reached from 10th Street between Market and Jackson streets. Groups of 20 or more are asked to call ahead at 608-784-2288. Gerkes zeal for the chapel runs so deep that she can spew facts and minute details about it faster than God parted the Red Sea on Moses command. Tourist reactions inspire book Her inspiration for the book came in part from the enthusiasm of people she guided on tours of the chapel after she retired from teaching in 1990 and became the congregations liturgical director until 2001. The talent included not only immediate La Crosse area artisans but also stone workers from Genoa, plasterers from Sparta and immigrants from Europe who poured into the country headed to La Crosse because they wanted to work on the chapel. Work was scarce, and the laborers didnt have money, but they had skills, said Gerke, a La Crosse native whose great-grandfathers were among the craftsmen. Their mantra was Anything for the sisters, she said. Special bricks crafted in La Crosse Among the unique materials in the building are rounded bricks created at several brickyards in La Crosse to construct circular areas of the chapel. The bricks were crafted and measured onsite, then taken to the brickyards to be fired in kilns. Then as now, people often wondered how the sisters built such an elegant chapel, Gerke said, adding, We couldnt afford it. How could we? We were surviving on potatoes. The books subtitle, Gods Answer to a Bold Promise, solves the conundrum with its description of a prayer of Mother Antonia Herb in 1865: Dear Lord, if you will bless us we will build as beautiful chapel as our means will allow. Ill paraphrase God Just you wait, said Gerke, whose pursuits these days also include playing the harp for worship services and other events, as well as volunteering at hospitals and homes for the elderly. She learned how to play the harp in five lessons at age 63, and that led to her first book, Instrument of Peace, published in 2008. The FSPAs came to La Crosse in 1873, and their numbers grew from a handful to 80 in 1878, when the sisters began the perpetual adoration that continues today. Membership rose to 300 by 1901, and they needed to replace the cramped Maria Angelorum Chapel they had built on Market Street and would accommodate only 100. Gerke credits Gods answer to Mother Antonias prayer with creating circumstances that brought together some of the finest architects, builders, painters, sculptors, woodcarvers and other craftspeople in the world to work on the project. Many donated their labor for the chapel that, along with the adjoining adoration chapel, would become the vessel to cradle the orders heartbeat of prayer. We still volunteer, she said, acknowledging those who donated their time and talents toward the book, including photographers John Zoerb of La Crosse and Sue Retzlaff of Holmen, both of whom contributed photos and technical expertise to the project. The book, which costs $50 and is available at St. Rose of Viterbo Convent at 912 Market St. in La Crosse, includes hundreds of photos that allow readers to see wide views of the chapel, close-ups of statues, paintings and other features, as well zero in on minute details normally unseen because they are so high or tucked into recesses. Zoerb, who described Gerke as a great gal very talented, said one thing that attracted him to the project was the chapel provides a very nice feeling, and it was an opportunity to go places (in the building) where nobody else could. It was quite a challenge, because so many things were out of sight and 30 feet above the ground, said Zoerb, former manager of La Crosse Floral and longtime photo buff as a member of the La Crosse Area Camera Club. Every inch of this place is special, Gerke said. The windows are to stained glass as Stradivarius is to violins. Echoing that assessment is Bob Johnstone, owner of Old Hickory Stained Glass Studio in Onalaska. Finest stained-glass windows in world Less than a handful of people worldwide are skilled enough to work on stained-glass windows as well-done as the chapels, Gerke said, adding that finding one of them just 5 miles away was nothing short of miraculous. It has some of the finest stained-glass windows in the world, said Johnstone, who acknowledged having a small company whose workers nonetheless have removed and rebuilt all of the chapels windows during the past 14 years. They are astounding, very well done, he said, marveling that the German artists who crafted the windows around the turn of the 20th century were able to accomplish the glass-blowing and heating feats without modern-day digitized ovens to fire windows to around 1,200 degrees. Some of the stain is actually embedded in the fired glass, while people and scenery are painted, with the paint then infused into the glass, he said. To repair any cracks in windows, he was able to use a special glue that does so almost imperceptibly, so we dont have any bad replacements, Johnstone said. Im sure Ive glued 1,000 cracks, during the 14 years his company has worked on the chapels windows. You have to learn the church work, he said, adding, It can be fairly dangerous. Describing restoring the windows in the chapel domes as some of the hardest weve ever worked on, Johnstone acknowledged postponing that part of the job until the end. It was so difficult that we spent years thinking about how to take them out, said Johnstone, whose company also makes new stained-glass windows and is booked six years out. If removing and replacing the windows is such a daunting task now, imagine the initial installation the European artists used the metric system of measure to craft them, but the chapel is based on the imperial system. The installers had to do some jimmying and puttying to accommodate the difference, Gerke said. Gerke shakes her head in amazement as she talks about details that are as thought-provoking as they are logical. Pointing out that the sanctuary ceiling is a light blue, she explained that early baptisteries were open to the sky, and this aspect of the chapel connects the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. The filigree on the ceiling appears so uniform that viewers cant believe that decorations are all hand painted, but Gerke said it often was a team effort between the artist and volunteers. The artist would outline the design, and the volunteers would fill it in, similar to paint-by-numbers for kids. Otherwise, how could they have gotten it done in that short time? she said, conjuring up images of Michelangelo, spending four years on his back, painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Six-ton beams hold dome The four beams that hold the eight-sectioned dome above the sanctuary are said to have weighed 6 tons apiece. It took six men working with horse and tackle to raise the beams into place. The chapels statuary, in which prophets and other historical figures are depicted as people with young faces, signals a substantial difference from the usual images of prophets and other historical figures as elderly folks. Thats because they did the prophets did their best work in the prime of their lives, she said. Most statues put them in halos and with beards but prophets did not do their best work when they were 82. Some elements are sort of like inside jokes, such as a painting above the altar of St. Francis kneeling before God on three red-carpeted steps. Observant chapel-goers might notice that the steps are the same as the chapels, although the carpet has been changed. Many of the chapels statues and altar work are crafted from Carrara marble, but the chapels pillars and walls are painted in a 19-step process that makes them appear to be marble. Even our fake is good, she said, adding with a mischievous smile, I love it. Gerke said she has a few regrets about the chapel, such as the fact that the original pulpit and sanctuary furniture are in storage instead of on the altar. I also have sadness about the roof, she said, pointing to a drone photo in the book and noting the intricate designs of the Spanish tiles. The people who did this never even got to see this, and how perfect. How could they? But their pride in craftsmanship runs throughout the chapel, she said, noting the expertly carved 5-foot cross atop the highest peak. They knew nobody would ever see this, but their attention to detail was meticulous as well as timeless, Gerke said. I think God gave us this chapel for this time in our life of our community, she said. Were few in numbers, with 208 sisters, along with more than 250 affiliates and more than 220 prayer partners. But this chapel will stay and it shows what God will do if you are faithful, she said. United Nations, Jan 20 (UNI) Following a two-day visit to conflict-ravaged South Sudan, where a quarter of a million children are severely malnourished and at imminent risk of death, the head of the United Nations children's agency has said only an end to hostilities can bring back hope and safety to the children and young people there. I have just spent two days in South Sudan where I saw first-hand how four years of a man-made conflict have left children sick, hungry and on the brink of death, Henrietta H Fore, the Executive Director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), said Thursday in the capital, Juba, as she wrapped up her visit. She said the impact of the relentless violence has been devastating. She recalled meeting a mother who had to walk for days to get treatment for her malnourished baby. Recounting another grim incident, Ms Fore said she had spoken with a young boy who was forced to join an armed group at the age of 10. At the same time, she said, she saw signs of hope emanating from the families experiencing the horror. UNICEF and other aid agencies are working on the ground in some of the most dangerous conditions to provide children and young people with their basic needs. This is no small feat, she said, describing South Sudan the most dangerous place in the world for humanitarians as 28 aid workers were killed last year alone. Forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his former Vice-President Rieck Machar, have been battling for the past five years, turning what began in 2013 as a political rivalry into all out conflict that, according to the UN relief wing, has left some seven million people in need of assistance and protection, and forced more than two million to flee to neighbouring countries. Ms Fore noted that the fighting shows no sign of abating and the humanitarian needs are massive: 2.4 million children have been forced to flee their homes. More than a quarter of a million children are severely malnourished and at imminent risk of death. Over 19,000 children have been recruited into the conflict. At least one in three schools has been damaged, destroyed, occupied or closed. More than 1,200 cases of sexual violence against children have been documented. The numbers go on and on. Together they equal an entire generation of young people denied the opportunities they so desperately need to contribute to building their society, she said. As the dry season approaches, the needs and threats will only continue to grow. Only an end to hostilities can bring back hope and safety to the children and young people of South Sudan. Until then, we need unconditional, sustainable access from parties to the conflict and more resources from donors, she said. Without these, the lives and futures of millions of children in South Sudan will continue to hang in the balance. UNi XC-SNU 0925 United Nations, Jan 20 (UNI) The United Nations has allowed sexual harassment and assault to flourish in its offices around the world, with accusers ignored and perpetrators free to act with impunity, The Guardian has been told. According to an investigative report of The Guardian on Thursday, several current and former UN employees described a culture of silence across the organisation and a flawed grievance system that is stacked against victims. Of the employees interviewed, 15 said they had experienced or reported sexual harassment or assault within the past five years. The alleged offences ranged from verbal harassment to rape. Seven of the women had formally reported what happened, a route that campaigners say is rarely pursued by victims for fear of losing their job, or in the belief that no action will be taken. If you report it, your career is pretty much over, especially if youre a consultant, said one consultant, who alleged she was harassed by her supervisor while working for the World Food Programme. Its like an unsaid thing. The UN conceded that under-reporting is a concern but said the organisations secretary general, Antonio Guterres, has prioritised addressing sexual harassment and upholding the zero tolerance policy. Employees working in more than 10 countries spoke to The Guardian on condition of anonymity, partly because they are precluded from talking publicly by UN rules governing staff, partly for fear of retaliation. Three women who reported sexual harassment or sexual assault, all from different offices, said they had since been forced out of their jobs or threatened with the termination of their contract in the past year. The alleged perpetrators, who include a senior UN official, remain in their posts. One of the women, who alleges she was raped by a more senior UN staff member while working in a remote location, said: There are no other options to get justice, and I have lost my job too. She said that despite medical evidence and witness testimonies, an internal investigation by the UN found insufficient evidence to support her allegation. Along with her job, she says she has lost her visa and has spent months in hospital due to stress and trauma. She fears she will face persecution if she returns to her home country. In internal documents seen by the Guardian, two of the women cite concerns with the investigations. They claim that the UNs investigations team, the office of internal oversight services (OIOS), failed to interview key witnesses. They also say that transcripts contain errors and information from inquiries has been leaked. Alleged perpetrators have been allowed to remain in senior positions with the power to influence proceedings throughout investigations. One woman allegedly assaulted while working for the UN says she was told by her agencys ombudsman that there was nothing more he could do to help her pursue a complaint, because he was being threatened by senior UN staff. Seven other alleged victims who spoke to the Guardian were told by an ombudsman or colleague that they should not try to pursue a complaint. Four current or recent UN employees, including some who did not pursue formal complaints, said they were not given adequate medical care or counselling. One woman who lost her job said she saw three separate gynaecologists in the 24 hours following an assault, because the first medical team provided by the UN lacked the expertise to deal with such cases. She said she did not receive crisis rape counselling until six weeks later. I was in a manic state. I was fluctuating between being very precise and knowing exactly what to do and severe traumatic episodes while crying loudly, she said. A lawyer in such cases, who was initially consulted by the woman, said the victim had a significant amount of evidence and that, to date, she had been let down by the UN system. The UN has long been criticised over its failure to properly investigate reports of sexual abuse and exploitation by its peacekeeping forces against local people, not least in Central African Republic and Haiti. Campaigners point to a culture of impunity in UN offices, with accusers routinely silenced. In cases involving the exploitation of local people or occurring within the UN, complaints are difficult to pursue because of the organisations international nature. Many senior staff have diplomatic immunity, meaning they can avoid national courts. Even if alleged perpetrators do not have immunity, incidents often take place in countries where the judicial system is dysfunctional. UN employees often rely on the organisation not only for employment, but for working visas and other UN benefits, such as school fees. Many victims and witnesses, who also fear retaliation, decide not to speak out. Some agencies also have a six month statute of limitations on complaints. In a statement, the UN pledged to look at strengthening our capacities to investigate reports and to support victims. The organisation said Guterres has appointed a victims rights advocate and established a high-level taskforce on sexual harassment, to review policies and strengthen investigations. The UN will also carry out a survey to measure the extent of the issue, and introduce a helpline for people seeking advice. The culture of being a silent bystander is so pervasive at the UN, for reasons that dont apply to Hollywood or the tech industry, said Paula Donovan, co-director of Aids-Free World and the Code Blue campaign, which aims to end impunity for sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers. The sheer size of the UN which employs roughly 44,000 staff means perpetrators can easily be moved elsewhere. Alex Haines, a barrister, said the UNs internal justice system routinely fails to protect against glaring conflicts of interest. He cited a 2015 case that took place in central Asia, where a man accused of sexual harassment was allowed to interview the woman who brought the complaint against him. Such practices are not uncommon, he said, adding that victims are also prevented from reading the final report produced by investigators. One aid worker, who claims she was harassed by a senior UN employee, said she has little hope of justice. Even when you summon your courage to complain and you exhaust all the internal mechanisms, like I did, all the resources, all the processes, theres nothing for you, she said. They mobilise friends, colleagues against you. I had threats, sent through friends, that She will never set foot in this office again. Peter Gallo, a former OIOS investigator who left the UN in 2015, said he witnessed evidence being routinely ignored and facts skewed. As an investigator I was told I should never ask questions just to satisfy my curiosity, he said. The only rule is not to publicly embarrass the organisation. There is little research about the frequency of sexual harassment or assault within the UN. However, concerns over sexual harassment at UNAids prompted seven major donor countries to issue the agency with a public statement, urging swift action to address the allegations, which featured in the agencys auditors report. An internal UNAids staff survey found that almost 10% of 427 respondents had experienced sexual harassment. Only two had reported it. Another UN body, Unesco, is investigating claims of sexual harassment by its assistant director general, Frank La Rue. Current and recent UN employees from eight different agencies including UNHCR, UNDP, the UNs peacekeeping missions and the UNs food agencies described an atmosphere where senior leadership is predominantly male. Local staff and younger females and those on short-term contracts are especially vulnerable, they said. One UN contractor, who has worked across Africa, said a senior colleague in UNHCR sexually assaulted her after inviting her for a drink in 2016. I told him no. He just ignored it Afterwards, he said: If you ever need a recommendation, let me know. She did not report the incident. Many employees said senior managers had offered career progression in return for sexual favours. Two recently retired senior staff from the UNs offices in Rome said they knew of such offers being made to young females. Charlotte Bunch, of the Center for Womens Global Leadership at Rutgers University, said the UN should do more to increase the number of female leaders called for clarity on whether alleged perpetrators are protected by immunity. The UN and its senior managers have the equivalent of complete diplomatic immunity, while many other UN managers have functional immunity, exempting them from legal process for acts performed in their official capacity. The UN said that when there are credible allegations that acts of sexual harassment may amount to criminal conduct, cases will be referred to national authorities. A woman who works on a UN peacekeeping mission in the Middle East fears the situation facing victims has worsened. She pursued a complaint a decade ago, which resulted in the perpetrator being disciplined. She is unsure the same would happen today. I am loth to encourage people to complain, she said. If you are willing to go through hell, go for it. Its atrocious, because this is an organisation thats supposed to stand up for everyones rights Were such hypocrites. UNi XC-SNU 0919 UN concerned over safety of women, children in Cameroon United Nations, Jan 20 (UNI) As swelling numbers of people flee English-speaking areas of Cameroon for Nigeria, the United Nations has expressed concern over the precarious situation of women and children, which make now up about 80 per cent of the approximately 10,000 registered refugees in eastern Nigerias Cross River state. Some of these are boys and girls who fled to Nigeria alone, William Spindler, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told reporters on Friday at the regular press briefing in Geneva, adding that unaccompanied and separated children are particularly vulnerable. UNHCR has received numerous reports that children have to work or beg to survive or to help their families, he added. Opal Fitch wasnt merely president of Pickwick Mill Inc. and a guardian of the 160-year-old limestone flour mill. No, to many of the people who knew her, Opal Fitch was Pickwick Mill. I dont think Pickwick Mill would exist as it is without her efforts, said Douglas Hubbard, who sits on the mills board of directors and got to know Opal well over the years. Now, after Opals death Dec. 24, Hubbard and others face the colossal task of running Pickwick Mill without the help of a woman who not only loved the place but who shared an address with it. We need more volunteers, and were going to need everyone to step up, said Hubbard, himself a longtime volunteer. Were going to survive, but its impossible to replace Opal. As a girl, Opal Fitch would visit Pickwick Mill whenever her family needed to grind corn into cornmeal or draw water from the creek out back. Over the years, she learned of the mills significance to her tiny town Pickwick Mill produced flour for the Union Army and was a hub of activity in southeastern Minnesota for generations and felt more and more drawn to the place. She lived in a white farmhouse just down the road from the mill, and as recently as this fall, when she was 93, Opal baked pies and made signs for the annual Pickwick Mill Day. For many years, nothing happened at the mill without her knowing about it; she held board meetings at her dining room table. Pickwick Mill, the old general store across the road and the church next to that those were the anchors of her life and her existence, Hubbard said. She was the mover in this whole process. She was the fuel that kept the furnaces going. In 1980, after torrential rains, Pickwick Mill was hit with the worst flood that Opal or anyone else could remember. The dam and the mills spillway were destroyed, and the building itself was critically damaged. There was talk of tearing it down. Opal and others rallied to save the mill, forming the nonprofit known as Pickwick Mill Inc. and raising enough money to purchase and restore the old building. They asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study flood prevention measures, and in 1987, the group raised nearly $400,000 to rebuild the dam and install erosion-control dikes. We did what they said we couldnt, Opal told the Daily News in September 2016. Maybe thats why I like doing this. Opals absence comes just four months after the death of Gene Gunderson, the mills vice president and longtime handyman. The mill has struggled over the years to recruit younger volunteers a fact lamented by Opal but it seems to Hubbard that the mill, for now, should be all right. Weve picked up a few younger people, a couple guys in their 30s, he said. Our temporary president is in their late 50s, and we have some younger people on the board now. We have some people who I think will continue to support our efforts. Though Pickwick Mill is open to the public from May to October, the job of maintaining the mill and preserving its place in the community is a constant one. Hubbard said volunteers are in the process of collecting the mill-related documents that Opal kept at her house. Theyre working on a marketing campaign to draw more people to the mill and its annual celebration. And in April, the board will appoint a president and vice president to fill the empty seats. We have plans in place to hopefully make everything more efficient, and now that Opal has passed, we all have to rededicate ourselves, said Hubbard, who believes the mill is far too valuable to risk losing. Its a look at how this area was developed, how pioneers came here and enhanced their lives, he said. It shows the substance that existed in the people who lived here. And its just a huge edifice thats well-built, that can withstand the test of time. Its a look at how this area was developed, how pioneers came here and enhanced their lives. It shows the substance that existed in the people who lived here. And its just a huge edifice thats well-built, that can withstand the test of time. Douglas Hubbard, board of directors member Mark Twain (penname of Samuel Langhorne Clemens) in the lab of Nikola Tesla, spring of 1894. Clemens is holding Tesla's experimental vacuum lamp, which is powered by a loop of wire which is receiving electromagnetic energy from a Tesla coil (not visible). Tesla's face is visible in the background. Nikola Tesla (blurred at centre) performs an electrical experiment for writer Samuel Clemens (left), aka Mark Twain, and actor Joseph Jefferson in 1894. Nikola Tesla and Mark Twain were friends and mutual admirers. Tesla recognized as a scientist, inventor and discoverer, Twain famous writer, travel writer and a satirist both of them were real dreamers.As well as being a gifted writer, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) was fascinated with technology. When he was born in 1835, sailing was the usual means of crossing the Atlantic, and burning oil or gas the usual means of lighting the night. When he died in 1910 steamships carried him across the Atlantic (and Pacific) in record time and electricity was becoming a household amenity.One of the scientists seeking applications for electricity was Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), who was born in Serbia before emigrating to the US. Most of his scientific work focused on electricity, and he made a number of important inventions, including the Tesla coil and the polyphase motor. Tesla used the coil to conduct experiments, but because the coil can produce enormous electrical sparks it is still used in electricity demonstrations.Tesla and Clemens seem to have established a friendship in the 1890s. Tesla later recalled how he had read some of Clemenss early works while recovering from an illness in Serbia during the 1870s.Clemens had long been fascinated by electricity and had invested in the development of an electrical motor during the 1880s. His particular interest in Tesla began after hearing about a motor that Tesla had invented under the company Westinghouse. He recognised that Teslas motor, which used alternating current, was superior to that of his inventor partner, James W Paige, which used direct current. Tesla apparently advised Clemens against investing in Paiges motor, although Clemens still lost a large sum on Paiges mechanical typesetter.During the 1890s Clemens and his family were living in Europe, partly to escape from financial troubles and partly with a view to improving the health of his wife and daughter. However, Clemens returned frequently to New York. He was involved in the foundation of the Players Club in 1888, and in 1894 invited Tesla join it. He also visited Tesla in his laboratory, where he took part in experiments.There is very little surviving correspondence between the two, but there are some striking photographs taken in Teslas laboratory using phosphorescent light.The most famous account of Clemenss participation in an experiment is when he spent too long on an electromechanical oscillator ( a vibrating plate) that Tesla thought might be medically therapeutic. The plate acted as a strong laxative and Clemens had to rush for the toilet.Teslas profile had risen in the very public debates over the appropriate way to supply electricity to households. Thomas Edison advocated the use of direct current and this was initially installed in many homes. Alternating current was considered dangerous. Edison used it to electrocute animals in an attempt to permanently associate AC with destruction and preserve his preferred DC system.Clemens was one of Americas most celebrated writers and no stranger to controversy. He was outspoken and critical of fellow writers. He commented on political and social issues such as race, imperialism, trade unions and feminism.The friendship of Tesla and Clemens was established at a time when professional categories were more fluid. The line between scientist and entrepreneur was hard to draw. Interesting the wider public in your research was still an important component of developing a career. Tesla saw nothing odd about inviting friends into his laboratory to view experiments.Although most scientists today still see the importance of engaging the public, the laboratory has became a space for scientists only.(This original article was written by Juliana Adelman and published on The Irish Times Not only inbound foreign visitors, the Vietnamese middle class is also showing increasing demand for cruises According to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the volume of cruise travellers from Asia has increased from 774,000 in 2012 to more than 3 million in 2016. The projected number for 2017 was 4.2 million passengers. Vietnam now ranks sixth among the regional cruise tourism markets, with around 404 calls in 2017. Vietnam has become an increasingly popular destination for guests from the US, Australia, and Europe, as well as from Asian countries, and cruising is one of the best ways to explore this magnificent part of the world, said Farriek Tawfik, director of Southeast Asia at Princess Cruises. Princess Cruises is owned by US-based Carnival Corporationthe world's largest travel and leisure companyand has a modern fleet of 17 ships. In 2017, Princess Cruises carried more than 58,000 guests on 22 cruises to Vietnamese ports like Phu My, Nha Trang, Danang, and Cai Lan. This year, Princess Cruises six ships in the regionMajestic Princess, Sapphire Princess, Diamond Princess, Golden Princess, Sun Princess, and Coral Princesswill be deployed for 31 voyages, bringing more than 80,000 guests to Vietnam throughout the year, up 40 per cent against 2017. As Asias cruise industry continues to grow, the region is welcoming more and larger ships. Cruise itineraries also last longer than before. Some sailings, which used to take place from November to February, now extend to April or even all year-round, according to Tawfik. Aside from inbound cruise tourists, cruise demand from Vietnam has also increased by 126 per cent from 2012 to 2016, the largest increase in any Asian country. In 2012, there were only 158 Vietnamese cruise passengers, but in 2016, this number was more than 4,100, demonstrating Vietnams huge potential for cruise travel demand, according to CLIA. The strong demand is carried by Vietnam's middle-class population, which is the fastest-growing in Southeast Asia. The middle and upper class in Vietnam will double to 33 million people, about a third of the population, by 2020, which makes it an attractive market for consumer brands, according to Boston Consulting Group. In addition, cruise passengers from Asia are spread evenly across the age groups, with 55 per cent between 30 and 59 and 33 per cent aged 20-39. Interestingly, a majority of Vietnamese cruise passengers fall in the younger age category. With the rise of the middle-class and younger passengers, the demand for overseas holidays will increase among Vietnamese opting for cruise travel to destinations such as Europe and parts of Asia. To tap into this demand, Princess Cruises will boost its guest capacity in Vietnam by more than 40 per cent in 2018. The cruise line is committed to developing cruise tourism in Vietnam by bringing guests from around the world to visit the country on its cruise ships. According to the company, each ship visit contributes to the growth of the local economy through passenger spending on sightseeing, shopping, and food as well as the cruise lines re-stocking of shipping provisions. That said, it is fair and reasonable to subject the claims he makes to close scrutiny. The powerless are no more or less capable of distorting history to meet their needs than the powerful, although the latter have most of the opportunities to do so. As it happens, I think the work that Mathias is doing in compiling his History of Simbu, is important. It will give a voice to those who were hitherto voiceless and, most importantly, it is history as understood by the powerless, not the powerful. So what he is doing is commendable. Perhaps the minds of some readers, this has left the impression that I am bent on preserving the reputations of the kiaps involved in the pacification of the Papua New Guinea highlands. This is not true, but I have to accept that it is what some people will think. ADELAIDE - Mathias Kin has written about the killing of Simbu warriors by kiaps in the period from around 1935 to the mid-1950s. He has put forward the claims of various informants about the numbers who died in these clashes - and I have expressed reservations about the scale of the killing in a comment attached to the same article. So, I thought I might write something on the history and logistics of killing because it will, I think, shed some light upon both Mathias's claims and my and others responses to those claims. Human beings have a long and lamentable history of killing one another. It is a talent that we have honed to near perfection over the years. Huge resources have been and continue to be devoted to the design, construction and use of devices solely intended for killing other people. In the course of many centuries of warfare, we humans have also become adept at the use of killing as a political tool. Having a reputation as a merciless killer is a really useful way to terrify people into submission to your will without the necessity of actually killing anyone. This form of terror was a tool of trade for Genghis Khan or Julius Caesar. If it failed them, then they unleashed their armies and inflicted mass murder upon those who had the temerity to resist them. In this way both almost certainly killed many hundreds of thousands of people, if not the millions sometimes claimed. The early European imperialists were no less ruthless. Cortes subdued the Aztecs in what is now Mexico through the use of fire and sword, greatly assisted by disease as well. In a somewhat similar way, Robert Clive subdued the Indian sub-continent and brought it under British control. Neither scrupled to use the superior technologies and knowledge of warfare that they possessed to crush those who opposed them. Both became wealthy and famous as a consequence. So, there is a well established record of European colonialists using killing as a means of imposing their will upon the indigenous people of the countries they invaded. In this sense, what happened in PNG was consistent with the patterns of the past. So, how did Australia go about asserting control over PNG and how was it different to, say, the behaviour of the British in Africa or in Australia and New Zealand for that matter? Firstly, the Australian administration was not given an army to carry out the pacification task. Instead, it relied upon a handful of tough, resilient and resourceful outside men like Jack Hides, Ivan Champion, Charles Karius and JK McCarthy to undertake long and difficult exploratory patrols through the largely unknown interior. After the war, others like the Leahy brothers, Jim Taylor, Des Clancy, Ron Neville and Bill Brown went on to build on and consolidate this work of their earlier colleagues. A mere handful of patrol officers could not have done this on their own. The support of indigenous police officers, interpreters and other support staff was invaluable and critical to the ability of this small number of men to impose administrative control on the many tribes, creating the basis of government and commerce in the new nation. The early patrol officers were, inevitably in the circumstances, confronted with armed resistance. After all, why should Papua New Guineans have passively accepted the imposition of rule by what was, after all, a foreign power? The administration put in place policies about how and under what circumstances potentially deadly force could be used by patrols. The patrol officers knew these rules and also knew they could and would be held to account for the use of such force, whether through administrative scrutiny or the courts. The principle weapon used by patrol officers and police was the Lee Enfield .303 calibre rifle. This is a bolt action weapon with a five-shot cartridge attached. A competent rifleman could fire 20 to 30 aimed shots in one minute. With an effective range of 500 metres, the Lee Enfield was a tremendously powerful weapon. That said, it was quite heavy at four kilograms and nearly 1.3 metres long, so rapid deployment required training and a degree of deftness. I need to discuss how this weapon was used operationally. This is important because it will, I hope, shed light on why I and others are so sceptical about supposed incidents of large scale killing. Firstly, it needs to be understood that any battle involving guns is a frenetic not to say panicked exchange of fire by people who are usually frightened, frequently moving and always trying to stay alive. So the idea that carefully aimed shots are used in combat is mistaken (except for snipers but they are used differently). Exerting effective control of the battle space is very difficult in such circumstances. Second, conflicts at very close range are especially confronting. There is frequently a tremendous amount of noise and confusion and the often devastating results of your foes and your own shooting become immediately apparent. Third, because of the fear, movement and uproar, many of the bullets hit no-one. In the battle of Long Tan in Vietnam, for example, the end result of hours of close combat between 108 Australian troops and around 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers was 18 Australians dead and 24 wounded, while the Vietnamese suffered at least 245 dead with an indeterminate but much higher number wounded. Bear in mind that these casualties were incurred during the course of repeated attacks mounted by Vietnamese troops against Australian troops hiding behind rubber trees or in shallow depressions in the ground. Given that all these soldiers were armed with weapons at least as powerful as a Lee Enfield rifle, the casualties may seem disproportionately light. They aren't of course. It is just that what soldiers call "the fog of battle" ensures that being killed or wounded is as much a matter of chance as anything else. This background is relevant to any study of fighting between patrols and local warriors. The circumstances of such encounters are highly significant. For example, a sudden ambush will potentially result in many shots being fired but few being well aimed. The attackers have a temporary advantage in this situation and cause the most casualties amongst the ambushed in the first few seconds of the fight. After that, the force able to concentrate the most firepower will gain the upper hand. A more controlled engagement where, for example, a patrol fires a few warning shots in an effort to deter attackers, means that those being attacked are much better prepared. If the attackers persist, then aimed shots can be unleashed very rapidly. Such engagements will be very deadly for the attackers. Imagine for a moment that you are a Simbu warrior threatening a patrol which has intruded onto your land. You approach the patrol, yelling loudly and waving your spear or preparing to shoot an arrow. This is how you have learned to approach an enemy, whose weapons usually are just like yours, designed to be mostly used at close range. You are excited and agitated as you prepare for the stress of battle. The members of the patrol do something very strange, pointing what looks like a stick at you which suddenly makes a very loud noise and emits flame and a puff of smoke. You are momentarily startled by this. What is happening? You look around at your companions. They too are momentarily startled but, urged on by their leaders, they resume shouting, so you resume your advance. As you move forward, the patrol is now yelling and gesticulating at you to go away but they have no spears or other weapons you can see. They point the sticks at you again and there is more noise and smoke. The man next to you falls to the ground with part of his head missing. You stop and stare at him for a moment before you feel your arm struck violently and the shield smashed from your hand. You stare at your arm as it hangs limply at your side, blood stream from a hole in your bicep. You cannot move it. What has happened? What terrible magic is this? Then you realise the other warriors are retreating fast, so you turn and run for your life. Less than a minute has passed. What I have described is the product of my imagination. I have never been in a real battle but I have certainly been trained to use high powered assault rifles during my time in the Army Reserve and Ive used them (firing blanks) in realistic exercises. I can assure you that even knowing you are to be ambushed by troops firing blanks, the experience is disconcertingly scary. The noise, flashes of gunfire and yelling are disorienting and only when your training kicks in do you take action to find cover and then fight back. In my assessment, to cause mass casualties amongst attacking warriors, a patrol would need to be composed of highly disciplined and trained police who were ready, willing and able to fire a series of carefully aimed shots at their attackers. While the RPNGC police who accompanied patrols were dedicated, tough and determined men, few if any were trained to a level of combat readiness that would have allowed this. Similarly, high casualties (more than a handful) would have only occurred if Simbu warriors had persisted with their attacks in the face of an unknown weapon that inflicted immediate, serious and sometimes fatal damage at a distance. All the evidence of history is that it takes an exceptional level of discipline, organisation and courage to persist with combat in such circumstances. Accounts of fights between patrols and attacking warriors indicate that they were usually very violent but short affairs. I find it very implausible that even the most hardened and committed warriors would confront rifles for long with a spear or bow and arrow once they understood what a rifle could do. This is the reason I am sceptical about claims of mass casualties in fights with patrols. It seems to me entirely plausible that five warriors could be killed, but 35 seems very improbable. Of course, none of this means that there were not incidents of extrajudicial killing of the type Mathias Kin reports. I am not sceptical that such incidents occurred, only the scale of them. As a final observation, I need to point out that, typically, soldiers dislike killing other humans. After the heat of battle, many report being upset and despondent about having to do so. During World War II, research found that fewer than 20% of soldiers ever fired aimed shots and many went out of their way to avoid hitting anyone. A small percentage simply refused to fire at all. Only a tiny handful appeared to be indifferent to killing. I never observed that members of the RPNGC enjoyed the idea of killing someone and have no reason to believe that they would have willingly participated in slaughter. The same goes for patrol officers, especially as they were specifically instructed to avoid violence, even to the point of subjecting their patrols to danger. The history of frontier violence in the Simbu and elsewhere in PNG is not pleasant to contemplate and has almost invariably been written by the colonisers. It is therefore important that Mathias has gathered the stories of those who were on the other side of the conflict. But it also is important that those stories are understood in their proper context and with a clear understanding that, as Oscar Wilde famously said, the truth is seldom pure and never simple. The Ministry of Industry (MoIT) will continue to support local steel enterprises this year in their production and business, especially use of trade defence measures protecting the domestic steel industry.- VNA/VNS Photo The domestic steel industry in 2017 saw growth in production and business, with many factories going into production to meet domestic demand and export, the ministry said. To support the steel industry this year, the ministry will continue to apply trade remedies in accordance with WTO rules and free trade agreements between Viet Nam and its partners to protect the industry from the competitive pressure of imported steel products. The ministry will also direct enterprises to monitor closely the market at home and abroad for ensuring suitable business plans. The enterprises must enhance consumption of products, reduce inventory, maintain production and business activities, ensure enough raw materials for production and promote brand advertisement. Nguyen Van Sua, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Steel Association, said that in 2018, the association will continue to co-ordinate closely with the MoITs Trade Defence Department and enterprises in following the cases related with trade remedies for steel products. The association has also recommended that Vietnamese steelmakers should co-operate actively with relevant offices when being investigated. Experts said with the optimistic macro-economic picture this year, the real estate and construction markets have been forecast to have strong development in the near future, creating more opportunities for Vietnamese steel producers. Therefore, they must have reasonable development strategies to deal with difficulties as well as take full advantages of production and business. According to the associations latest report, in the first 11 months of 2017, Viet Nams steel imports had a year-on-year decrease of 14 per cent in volume to 18.2 million tonnes and 15 per cent in value to US$9.63 billion. At present, Viet Nams steel imports mainly come from China, with 6.5 million tonnes of steel, accounting for nearly 47 per cent of the total steel imports. Meanwhile, Viet Nams steel exports in 2017 reached over 4.3 million tonnes, with total export value of nearly $3 billion. Those figures reached a year-on-year increase of 33 per cent in volume and 56 per cent in value. ASEAN is still the main export market, with exports of 2.4 million tonnes, accounting for 58.6 per cent of total steel exports. Significantly, construction steel exports reached over 1 million tonnes, a surge of 62 per cent over the same period. Viet Nam exported 300,000 tonnes of pig iron in 2017 instead of importing 2 million tonnes in 2015. Sua said steel production and consumption in 2017 of the associations member companies achieved high growth compared to 2016, meeting the domestic steel demand and export. Icing it: Russia's Vladimir Putin plunges into the frozen waters of Lake Seliger in a traditional rite to mark Epiphany. (Photo: AFP/Alexey Druzhinin) In some areas, the extreme temperatures - which in parts of Siberia dropped to minus 68 degrees Celsius - the local authorities cancelled the rite which marks Epiphany. Surrounded by Orthodox priests and glittering religious icons, and with the temperature hovering around minus 5 degrees Celcius, Putin lowered himself into the freezing waters of Lake Seliger some 350 kilometres northwest of Moscow. Many other Russians followed suit, submerging themselves in the freezing waters in a widely-observed ritual normally observed on Jan 18 to 19 and which last year saw two million people take the plunge. In Norilsk, a city beyond the Arctic Circle, local authorities on Thursday (Jan 18) banned the extreme bathing rite "for security reasons" as temperatures hit minus 52 degrees Celsius and strong winds whipped up a blizzard, RIA Novosti news agency reported. Many faithful also marked the date in neighbouring Ukraine and Belarus, both of which are also predominantly Orthodox, local media said. According to Orthodox tradition, worshippers are supposed to immerse themselves three times - in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - to remember the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan. To mark the occasion, Orthodox priests also go out to bless rivers and reservoirs, and even bodies of water like the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Dr Hoang Cong Gia Khanh, vice rector of UEL, and PwC Vietnams deputy general director of Assurance Services Nguyen Hoang Nam signing the MoU PwC Vietnam and UEL have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to launch their strategic partnership in career orientation and training with the aim of improving the skills and abilities of UEL students. According to the MoU, PwC will support UEL by assessing and monitoring the performance of students on their internship programmes. PwC will also provide UEL with learning resources for lecturers and students. The parties will collaborate on developing curricula focused on information technology (IT), IT risks, IT controls, IT auditing, information security, and data analytics.The aim is to support graduates in their transition from university to a professional working environment and to help them adapt to the challenges of the fast-changing digital age. Speaking at the MoU signing ceremony, PwC Vietnam partner Nguyen Hoang Nam said: As the leading service provider of IT auditing and controls, and as part of a global network of experts, we are confident that our partnership with UEL will bring positive changes to workforce development in new industries. We anticipate that the partnership will help the future workforce to prepare for the upcoming waves of digital transformation in the sectors that are most affected. Dr Nguyen Tien Dung, rector of University of Economics and Law, commented: We believe that the partnership with PwC Vietnam will benefit UELs operations in line with our mission to enrich students practical know-how and help them secure the best job offers by expanding our corporate relations with top firms. The two parties will co-ordinate to organise conferences, seminars, and study session in common areas of expertise. By keeping themselves up-to-date with new knowledge, students will be able to access a greater range of career opportunities in financial institutions, credit institutions, and foreign companies in Vietnam, especially in the Big 4 firms, added Nguyen My Hanh, PwC Vietnams IT Risk Assurance director. Following the MoU signing, PwC Vietnam and UEL organised a conference on Business information systems and modern human resource demands, which attracted more than 500 students and experts in IT auditing. PwC Vietnam provided students with essential information about IT auditing careers, recruitment demands, and the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) qualificationthe most well-known certification recognised by all of the top IT auditing firms. This was a chance for students to determine the right direction for their studies and personal development in order to pursue a career in IT auditing. PwC Vietnam and VNCERT form strategic partnership for cyber security incident response In order to promote the development of national cyber security emergency response networks, PwC Vietnam is collaborating with the Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Teams to strengthen training activities and raise the capabilities for timely response to information security incidents in Vietnamese organisations. First independent assurance for Vietnamese sustainability report PwC Vietnam and Vietnams largest insurance company Bao Viet Holdings have just inked a contract wherein the former will provide sustainability assurance services for the financial-insurance giant. Larger office space for PwC Vietnam to provide better services for clients PwC Vietnam announced last week the expansion of its Ho Chi Minh City office to accommodate the firms growing business and to better serve its clients. The programme will help underprivileged households in Ho Chi Minh City and across the country The programme called Clean house to welcome Tet Holiday will be carried out from January 15 to February 2, 2018, with support from the Green Vietnam Fund, Vien Dong Assurance Corporation (VASS), AquaOne, and others. Addressing the launching ceremony on January 16, Do Thi Kim Lien, Honourable Consul of South Africa, said that this is a meaningful activity that helps local students improve their teamwork, communication skills, and increase awareness about environmental protection and support the poor. On the day of the launch, Lien and VASS gave 134 gifts to old women and kids in need from Lam Quang Pagoda in District 8. According to plan, the organising board and volunteers will help local households clean their houses. The money collected from the activity will be used for charitable activities. The programme will cover a number of activities, including blood donation on January 16, attracting 700 students, making 1,500 square glutinous rice cakes for the poor and underprivileged children. In 2017, the South African Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City and Lien co-operated with many organisations to organise charitable activities to support the families of martyrs and underprivileged people and students across the country. Viet Nam Asset Management Company is urged to hasten the buying and selling of bad debts at market value. - File Photo This was revealed by Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam Nguyen Kim Anh at VAMCs conference to implement 2018 tasks on Thursday. Kim Anh praised the efforts of VAMC in handling bad debts, especially in purchasing debts at market value and via special bonds. He asked VAMC to hasten the buying and selling of bad debts at market value and to buy bad debts from credit institutions by issuing special bonds in return, to ensure system security. The year 2017 was the first year VAMC was successful in buying bad debts at market value, worth more than VND3 trillion. The company needed to buy a total of VND6.6 trillion bad debts at market value in the 2017-20 period. The company was also asked to enhance operation capacity while closely co-ordinating with relevant ministries to increase its capital in an effort to improve its financial capacity to handle bad debts at market value effectively. Under the Prime Minister-approved project of restructuring credit institutions in association with handling non-performing loans in the 2016-20 period, VAMCs capital would be increased from the current VND2 trillion to VND10 trillion in 2020. Kim Anh also stressed on the role of VAMC in contributing to the development of a debt market in Viet Nam. VAMCs report showed that as of the end of 2017, VAMC bought more than 26,600 debts from 42 credit institutions worth nearly VND308 trillion at original value at a price of VND277.75 trillion. It signed up with five credit institutions to buy bad debts at market prices worth VND3.1 trillion in total last year, meeting the target set by the central bank. The company reclaimed some VND30.7 trillion bad debts in 2017, 40 per cent higher than the target. From the beginning of this year, VAMC hastened the selling of mortgages, worth some VND380 billion, including Tan Quoc Duy Steel Companys property in southern Binh Duong Province, Puzolan Gia Lai Cement Companys mortgage for a loan at Saigon-Hanoi Bank and bad debts of Kim Son Building Material Production Company at the Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam. VAMCs Chairman Nguyen Tien Dong in an interview with Vietnam News Agency said VAMC planned to buy bad debts by issuing special bonds worth VND25-30 billion and buy debts at market prices of at least VND3.5 trillion in 2018. It also planned the ratio of reclaiming debt at 15-20 per cent. The model of Regent villas on Long Beach, Phu Quoc Island. - VNS Photo Dan Conn, CEO of Christies International Real Estate, in a recent report about the luxury property market, pointed out that the rich were looking for new destinations to park their wealth, with a shift from collecting works of art to investing in original and profitable property assets. The trend was evident in emerging economies, including Viet Nam, where the middle and upper class were rising, along with economic recovery and booming tourism, tapping into the countrys significant potential. According to Knight Franks 2017 Wealth Report, the growth of the wealthy in Viet Nam would be impressive in the next decade, at 170 per cent, even surpassing India and China. Given the tourism boom, Viet Nam received nearly 87 million tourists in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 30 per cent, with a revenue of VND510 trillion (US$22.4 billion), impressive figures to be the launching pad for the growth of resort property in the future. By 2020, the country targeted to turn the tourism industry into a spearheading economic sector. Property expert Dang Hung Vo said that resort property was the most promising segment this year as the market demand was large, given the rapid tourism growth. According to Eyal Ofer, a property mogul in Monaco, unique property was valuable because it was not only an asset, but also a profitable investment. CBRE Viet Nam said the resort property market would continue to grow this year and the market would see more unique and luxury products as developers geared up to attract buyers, especially high net worth investors. Vietnamese developer BIM Group said that Viet Nam never witnessed such a fierce competition in the luxury resort segment. A series of mega resort projects at prime locations in tourist attraction areas such as Nha Trang, Da Nang and Phu Quoc were introduced recently. In such a harsh race, the developer chose uniqueness to compete. With Regent Residences Phu Quoc the first six-star resort in Phu Quoc Island - which BIM Group jointly developed with global luxury hospitality brand Regent Hotels and Resort, the developer set a new benchmark for the luxury property market. Many property experts forecast that Regent Residences Phu Quoc would give a boost to the high-end real estate market this year. Tourism in Phu Quoc is booming, with a number of developers pouring billions of dollars into mega-tourism property projects. Together with improving infrastructure and transport, especially the opening of new direct flight routes, Phu Quoc is promising to become an international-standard paradise tourism island. Regent Residences Phu Quoc is located on Long Beach, among the most beautiful beaches in the island with a blue sea, white sand and a scenic sunset, an ideal location for resort development. Originating from the dream of a lavish resort but at the same time bringing the mission of honouring local beauty, Regent Residences Phu Quoc is the harmony of the opposites, simple yet elegant, classic yet modern. This is truly a bespoke resort, the developer said. Debates about Star Wars theology have come a long way since kids in the first Star Wars generation asked: Is the Force the same thing as God? Later, kids viewing the second George Lucas trilogy faced the puzzling Nativity story of Anakin Skywalker. The future Darth Vader was conceived by bloodstream midi-chlorians the essence of acting in union with the Force? His mother explained: There is no father. Now the middle film in the new trilogy Star Wars: The Last Jedi has believers debating whether the mythology created by Lucas has evolved into something more polemical, political and commercial, all at the same time. The big question: Can those who loved the early films trust Disney to protect the true faith? From the beginning, it was clear Lucas was blending the comparative religion scholarship of Joseph The Hero with a Thousand Faces Campbell with dashes of Arthurian legend, samurai epics and Flash Gordon. At the heart of it all was the monomyth of Luke Skywalker and his epic spiritual quest, noted Bishop Robert Barron of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. A young man (typically) is summoned out of the comfort of his domestic life and compelled to go on a dangerous adventure, argued Barron at his Word on Fire website. In the process, he comes to realize and conquer his weakness, to face down enemies, and finally to commune with the deep spiritual powers that are at play in the cosmos. ... Usually, as a preparation for his mission, he is trained by a spiritual master. Some of these themes remain in The Last Jedi, noted Barron, and its obvious that Rey is a young heroine on her own quest. The problem, argued the bishop, is what has happened to Luke Skywalker and the rest of the ensemble. The old myths and archetypes have been buried in an aggressively feminist ideology. Every male character ... is either bumbling, incompetent, arrogant or morally compromised; and every female character is wise, good, prudent and courageous. Even Luke has become embittered and afraid, wrote Barron. The females correct, demote, control and roll their eyes at the males, who stumble about when not provided with feminine instruction. I laughed out loud when Rey, the young woman who has come to Luke for instruction in the ways of the Jedi, shows herself already in full possession of spiritual power. No Yoda or Obi-Wan required, thank you very much. The Disney team may be changing some of the vague, but potent, Buddhist and Christian themes woven into the original films. For example, mastering the Force once required discipline, humility and careful training. There was good and there was evil, and heroes knew the difference. Now, Rolling Stone exults that the new film leads viewers through so many trap doors and blind alleys that we cant tell the dark side from the light. Heroes die and villains thrive ... and then its the reverse. Thats the point of the movie. Disney insiders may be deconstructing the whole idea of what it means to be a hero or a villain, or to act in a heroic manner, said Alex Wainer of Palm Beach Atlantic University. He is the author of Soul of the Dark Knight, a study of mythic themes in Batman fiction, and has studied Star Wars films for decades. There are so many things in this new film that dont make sense, or they dont make sense yet, he said. Why are the males suddenly all losers? I get it that Rey is the new mythic hero, and thats fine. But why is Rey so unusually gifted? Where does her giftedness come from? What does it mean? Will we eventually get some explanations that make sense, in Star Wars terms? Its also possible, he said, that the old Star Wars theology worked for one or two films, but its falling apart as Disneys principalities and powers attempt to extend the franchise into the future movie after movie, year after year, world without end. Maybe the Force worked for a movie or two and you didnt have to explain it. Then you added the midi-chlorians and things started falling apart, said Wainer. But this saga has enormous meaning for millions of people. Its become a ritual for our culture. This is personal and people want it to make sense. Hi Guys I would like to see a sticky whereby we can visit for recommendation of lighting equipment as an example, As a mobile DJ I pretty much got a lot top spec lighting in my opinion. I purchased lighting last year and tried it but returned four different units as I didn't think them suitable for long term use. I don't want to get into rubbishing companies or their equipment , but just a recommendation of lighting or other equipment which is above and beyond what you expected of it. I was looking for Par cans which were the similar spec used on stage in theatres. I purchased a pair of 180 watts led multi colored with UV here in the UK , i then find the same design from china 324 watt for less money 160 , plus 18 customs charge. I saw the same priced up for just less than 500 so a big markup. The only issue with buying from China is the high price to return them from the Uk as I guess the same from any other country in the main. These Pars I can recommend but not advertising here yet as I don't know if we are allowed too. I will leave it at that for the time being as there May be a page in existence which Iv overlooked. Cheers Chris The Chinese have been at the forefront of many inventions throughout history the compass, gunpowder, paper, etc., just to name a few. But one of the seemingly least talked about is porcelain, which is also a Chinese invention. The full scope of inventions that could be attributed to Chinas participation in past times is not very clear, as the Chinese emperors didnt open up much to the rest of the world, in those days. Subscribe to our Newsletter! Receive selected content straight into your inbox. Leave this field empty if you're human: Porcelain and its birthplace Porcelain, a type of ceramic, has been used for millennia and was also well known to many other cultures in the past. But historians ascribe the birth of the white-looking and hard burnt material we know as porcelain to roughly around the 6th century A.D. in China, where they believe it was manufactured for the first time. A verse in a poem by the ancient Chinese poet Tu Fu (712-770) mentions porcelain and describes its features as being snow white and resounding. The poet ascribes the white ceramics origin to Sichuan Province. Porcelain comes to Europe It was only in the late 13th century that the delicate white ceramic made its way to Europe, where it was regarded as a priceless treasure. It was mainly the porcelain of the Ming Dynasty that was very sought after in Europe. The European nobility of the 18th century was very much inspired by what it could learn from China Chinese silk, Chinese handicrafts, and of course Chinese porcelain. How its made Chinese porcelain was made from a range of ingredients, such as glass, bone, ash, quartz, and alabaster. However, the main raw material is kaolin, a type of clay mineral. Kaolin is a derivative of Gaoling, a small village near what is regarded as Chinas porcelain capital, Jingdezhen. A well-kept porcelain piece can last for over 1,000 years. This makes antique porcelain highly sought after. It gets its extremely durable and translucent properties from the substances used to form the compound, which after processing becomes porcelain. Its production is quite a lengthy process involving many steps. But the final result has always been worth the initial burden. A value to bargain with One could say that alongside gold, porcelain (china) has never lost its value. Enthusiasts are willing to pay a great price for antique pieces. The record price for such an antique piece of china is $84,000,000. And as a classic artistic product of China, porcelain, in its less expensive variation as non-antique pieces, is an ever-popular souvenir for friends and family among both foreigners and Chinese themselves. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest SECRETARY TILLERSON: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Well, good morning. And I really, really appreciate this opportunity to swing down to Stanford while I was out on the West Coast and particularly to address this group. And I want to thank Stanford and the Hoover Institution and the international studies group for allowing me to speak to you this morning. I have familiarity with the Hoover Institution; Ive spoken at some of their events in the past in my prior life, and it has consistently produced great, principled scholarship that makes the calls for representative government, private enterprise, and protecting the American way of life right at the center of your activities, and very important topics that we spend our time on. And in that regard, you certainly have a true advocate in your ranks: my friend, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, who I dont know if she takes responsibility for this situation she got me into or not, but I (laughter) I hold her partially accountable anyway. And but I appreciate Condis advice and counsel. When you arrive at the Secretary of States desk, I was looking for the how-to manual; there wasnt one there. So shes been a great source of help and inspiration to me. And I also want to acknowledge the other co-host, one of our nations most dedicated and gifted public servants, certainly of the 20th century: former Secretary George Shultz. And George and I have known each other a long time as well, and Im a great admirer of his work as well. Ive just come from a ministerial meeting in Vancouver, in which a number of nations discussed how to better implement our maximum pressure campaign against North Korea. The United States and our allies are and continue to be united in continuing this campaign until North Korea takes meaningful steps toward denuclearization. We all agreed all of us that we will not accept a nuclear-armed North Korea. From Vancouver I made a quick swing down here to California. And I appreciated Dr. Rices help in arranging this for me on somewhat short notice. There are some people back in Washington that are suspicious Im escaping the bad weather today to just come down here, but I am delighted to be here. The topic and the subject of my remarks today is to talk with you about the way forward for the United States in Syria. Im going to start by giving you a kind of a broad historical and political context for what are some very difficult situations facing the Syrian people, and they raise concerns for all of the international powers as well. Then I want to describe why it is crucial to our national defense to maintain a military and diplomatic presence in Syria, to help bring an end to that conflict, and assist the Syrian people as they chart a course to achieve a new political future. And then lastly, I want to detail the steps this administration is taking to achieve a stable, unified, and independent Syria, free of terrorist threats and free of weapons of mass destruction. Then, as indicated, Dr. Rice and I will have a little conversation. For nearly 50 years, the Syrian people have suffered under the dictatorship of Hafez al-Assad and his son Bashar al-Assad. The nature of the Assad regime, like that of its sponsor Iran, is malignant. It has promoted state terror. It has empowered groups that kill American soldiers, such as al-Qaida. It has backed Hizballah and Hamas. And it has violently suppressed political opposition. Bashar al-Assads grand strategy, to the extent he has one beyond his own survival, includes hosting some of the most radical terrorist elements in the region and using them to destabilize his neighbors. Assads regime is corrupt, and his methods of governance and economic development have increasingly excluded certain ethnic and religious groups. His human rights record is notorious the world over. Such oppression cannot persist forever. And over the years, latent anger built up within the country, and many Syrians rose up and opposed Assads rule. Within the days of what began as peaceful demonstrations that swept Syria in 2011, Assad and his regime responded to his own people with bullets and jail sentences. Since that time, the story of Syria has been one of a humanitarian catastrophe. Up to half a million Syrians have died. Over 5.4 million Syrians are refugees, and 6.1 million are internally displaced persons, or IDPs. And as a result of conflict between regime and opposition forces, whole cities have been destroyed. It will take years to rebuild an entire nation. Previous American efforts to halt the conflict have been ineffective. When Assad used chemical weapons on his own people in 2013, in defiance of an American red line threat to retaliate, U.S. inaction emboldened the regime to further disregard civilian lives. In April of last year, the Trump administration responded to Assads use of sarin nerve agent on civilians with cruise missile strikes that destroyed 20 percent of Assads air force. We did this to degrade the Syrian militarys ability to conduct further chemical weapons attacks, to protect innocent civilians, and to dissuade the Syrian regime from further use or proliferation of chemical weapons. The United States takes chemical weapons threats seriously, and we cannot stand idly by and allow their use to become regularized. We will continue to seek accountability and justice for the victims of that attack. In 2012, the Assad regime military forces began to struggle badly against armed opposition. The regime was soon bolstered through the assistance of Iranian-backed fighting forces. But despite this help, by August of 2015, Syrian rebel forces had made substantial progress against Assads regime. Fearing for his own survival, Assad then appealed to Russia, his longtime ally, for help. Russia intervened to save the regime, largely by providing increased air power, intelligence, and arms support. In December of 2016, the key city of Aleppo fell to the regime after a brutal campaign that essentially destroyed that city, which had a population over two million people before the war. This symbolized the regimes ruthless determination to regain momentum in the conflict. It also led to Assad to wrongly think that he would maintain power without addressing the Syrian regimes the Syrian peoples legitimate grievances. The civil war in Syria was horrific in and of itself. But Syria was thrown into an even greater state of turmoil with the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. This was an aspiring terror-state inside the borders of Iraq and Syria. The conflict between the regime and various opposition groups fighting to change Assads grip on power created the conditions for the rapid expansion of ISIS in 2013 and 2014. ISIS originally emerged from the ashes of al-Qaida in Iraq, a group Assad had covertly backed. Evidence suggests Assad also abetted ISIS by releasing known terrorists from Syrian prisons and turning a blind eye to ISISs growth. ISIS exploited the instability and lack of centralized authority in Syria to set up what it falsely claimed was a caliphate, with the Syrian city of Raqqa as its capital. Eventually, ISIS expanded to possess at its height a territory an amount of territory roughly equivalent to the size of the United Kingdom, and a significant fighting force. Flush with cash from looted banks and in control of oil fields in Syria and Iraq, ISIS had all the elements to sustain itself and carry out attacks on the U.S. homeland and those of our allies. The establishment of a radical terror-state attracted thousands of jihadists from over 100 countries, and motivated other terrorists around the world to commit attacks where they live. In the wake of the rise of ISIS, millions fled their homes, villages, and cities to escape the brutal regimes ethnic cleansing, resulting in massive refugee flows into the neighboring countries and as far as Europe and Scandinavia. By the middle of 2014, ISIS had a stable base of operations in Syria and significant revenue streams to fund, plan, inspire, and direct attacks against targets in the West and against our regional allies. It was using Syria to build chemical weapons for use against our partners. Recognizing the destructive power of a strengthening terrorist organization, America focused on a military defeat of ISIS. In spite of the threat ISIS posed in Syria, Assad focused instead on fighting the Syrian opposition, even with Iranian and Russian military support at his back. The Trump administrations counterterrorism policy is quite simple. It is to protect Americans at home and abroad from attacks by terrorists. Central to this policy is to deny terrorist and terrorist organizations the opportunity to organize, raise money, recruit fighters, train, plan, and execute attacks. When he took office, President Trump took decisive action to accelerate the gains that were being made in Syria and Iraq. He directed Secretary of Defense Mattis to present within 30 days a new plan for defeating ISIS. The President quickly approved that plan. He directed a pace of operations that would achieve decisive results quickly, delegating greater authority to American commanders in the field, and he gave our military leaders more freedom to determine and apply the tactics that would best lead to ISISs defeat. Today, nearly all territory in Iraq and Syria once controlled by ISIS, or approximately 98 percent of all of that once United Kingdom-sized territory, has been liberated, and ISIS has not been able to regain one foot of that ground. ISISs physical caliphate of Raqqa is destroyed. The liberated capital of the caliphate no longer serves as a magnet for those hoping to build a terrorist empire. Approximately 3.2 million Syrians and 4.5 million Iraqis have been freed from the tyranny of ISIS. Over 3 million internally displaced Iraqis are now back home, and Mosul, the caliphates second capital city in Iraq and one of Iraqs largest cities, is completely clear of ISIS. In Iraq, for the first time since the beginning of the crisis in December of 2013, there are more Iraqis going home than there are that are still displaced. As we survey Syria today, we see the big picture, a situation characterized by principally three factors: ISIS is substantially, but not completely defeated. The Assad regime controls about half of Syrias territory and its population. And continued strategic threats to the U.S. from not just ISIS and al-Qaida, but from others persist. And this threat Im referring to is principally Iran. As part of its strategy to create a northern arch, stretching from Iran to Lebanon and the Mediterranean, Iran has dramatically strengthened its presence in Syria by deploying Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops; supporting Lebanese Hizballah; and importing proxy forces from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and elsewhere. Through its position in Syria, Iran is positioning to continue attacking U.S. interests, our allies, and personnel in the region. It is spending billions of dollars a year to prop up Assad and wage proxy wars at the expense of supporting its own people. Additionally, the unresolved plight of millions of Syrian refugees and IDPs remains a humanitarian crisis. The catastrophic state of affairs is directly related to the continued lack of security and legitimate governance in Syria itself. Assad has gassed his own people, he has barrel bombed entire villages and urban neighborhoods, and repeatedly undermined any chance for a peaceful resolution of political differences. Those abuses continue to this day, as seen in recent civilian casualties in East Ghouta and Idlib Governance[1]. There is no way to effectively facilitate a large-scale safe and voluntary return of refugees without a political solution. In short, Syria remains a source of severe strategic threats, and a major challenge for our diplomacy. But the United States will continue to remain engaged as a means to protect our own national security interest. The United States desires five key end states for Syria: First, ISIS and al-Qaida in Syria suffer an enduring defeat, do not present a threat to the homeland, and do not resurface in a new form; that Syria never again serves as a platform or safe haven for terrorists to organize, recruit, finance, train and carry out attacks on American citizens at home or abroad or against our allies. Second, the underlying conflict between the Syrian people and the Assad regime is resolved through a UN-led political process prescribed in UN Security Council Resolution 2254, and a stable, unified, independent Syria, under post-Assad leadership, is functioning as a state. Third, Iranian influence in Syria is diminished, their dreams of a northern arch are denied, and Syrias neighbors are secure from all threats emanating from Syria. Fourth, conditions are created so that the refugees and IDPs can begin to safely and voluntarily return to Syria. And fifth, Syria is free of weapons of mass destruction. The Trump administration is implementing a new strategy to achieve these end states. This process largely entails increased diplomatic action on the heels of our ongoing military successes. Our diplomatic efforts will be characterized by stabilization initiatives and a new emphasis on the political solution to the Syrian conflict. But let us be clear: The United States will maintain a military presence in Syria focused on ensuring ISIS cannot re-emerge. Our military mission in Syria will remain conditions-based. We cannot make the same mistakes that were made in 2011 when a premature departure from Iraq allowed al-Qaida in Iraq to survive and eventually morph into ISIS. It was that vacuum that allowed ISIS and other terrorist organizations to wreak havoc on the country. And it gave ISIS a safe haven to plan attacks against Americans and our allies. We cannot allow history to repeat itself in Syria. ISIS presently has one foot in the grave, and by maintaining an American military presence in Syria until the full and complete defeat of ISIS is achieved, it will soon have two. We understand that some Americans are skeptical of continued involvement in Syria and question the benefits of maintaining a presence in such a troubled country. However, it is vital for the United States to remain engaged in Syria for several reasons: Ungoverned spaces, especially in conflict zones, are breeding grounds for ISIS and other terrorist organizations. The fight against ISIS is not over. There are bands of ISIS fighters who are already beginning to wage an insurgency. We and our allies will hunt them down and kill them or capture them. Similarly, we must persist in Syria to thwart al-Qaida, which still has a substantial presence and base of operations in northwest Syria. As in the years before 9/11, al-Qaida is eager to create a sanctuary to plan and launch attacks on the West. Although ISIS is the terrorist group that has dominated the headlines most in the last few years, al-Qaida is still a grave threat and is looking to reconstitute in new and powerful ways. Additionally, a total withdrawal of American personnel at this time would restore Assad and continue his brutal treatment against his own people. A murderer of his own people cannot generate the trust required for long-term stability. A stable, unified, and independent Syria ultimately requires post-Assad leadership in order to be successful. Continued U.S. presence to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS will also help pave the way for legitimate local civil authorities to exercise responsible governance of their liberated areas. The departure of Assad through the UN-led Geneva process will create the conditions for a durable peace within Syria and security along the borders for Syrias neighbors. U.S. disengagement from Syria would provide Iran the opportunity to further strengthen its position in Syria. As we have seen from Irans proxy wars and public announcements, Iran seeks dominance in the Middle East and the destruction of our ally, Israel. As a destabilized nation and one bordering Israel, Syria presents an opportunity that Iran is all too eager to exploit. And finally, consistent with our values, America has the opportunity to help a people which has suffered greatly. We must give Syrians a chance to return home and rebuild their lives. The safe and voluntary return of Syrian refugees serves the security interests of the United States, our allies, and our partners. To relieve the enormous pressure of refugee flows on the surrounding region and on Europe, conditions must be created for these refugees to safely and voluntarily return home. It will be impossible to ensure stability on one end of the Mediterranean, in Europe, if chaos and injustice prevail on the other end, in Syria. The United States, along with its allies and partners, will undertake the following steps to bring stability and peace to Syria: First, stabilization initiatives in liberated areas are essential to making sure that life can return to normal and ISIS does not re-emerge. Stabilization initiatives consist of essential measures such as clearing unexploded land mines left behind by ISIS, allowing hospitals to reopen, restoring water and electricity services, and getting boys and girls back in school. The approach has proved successful in Iraq, where millions of Iraqis have returned to their homes. In Syria, however, unlike in Iraq, we do not have a national government partner for stabilization efforts, so we must work with others. As such, there is a great deal of difficulty to them. Since May, the United States has deployed additional diplomats to the affected areas in Syria, working with the United Nations, our partners in the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, and various nongovernmental organizations. Our work to help local and regional authorities provide services to liberated areas builds trust between local populations and local leaders who are returning. Terrorists thrive under conditions that allow them to peddle their warped and hateful messages to vulnerable people in conflict-stricken areas. Our stabilization efforts will help those people turn away from the prospect of terrorism and toward integration in their local communities. We must be clear: Stabilization is not a synonym for open-ended nation-building or a synonym for reconstruction. But it is essential. No party in the Syrian conflict is capable of victory or stabilizing the country via military means alone. Our military presence is backed by State Department and USAID teams who are already working with local authorities to help liberated peoples stabilize their own communities. Simultaneous with stabilization efforts, de-escalating the overall conflict is also a critical step to creating the conditions for a post-Assad political settlement. Since July, the United States has worked with Russia and Jordan to establish the de-escalation area in the southwest part of Syria. It has achieved a ceasefire, ended indiscriminate bombing of civilian populations, and with some few exceptions, has thus far held up well. The agreement in the southwest also addresses Israels security by requiring Iranian-backed militias, most notably Hizballah, to move away from Israels border. We need Russia to continue to work with the United States and Jordan to enforce this de-escalation area. If it does, the resulting cessation of regime-opposition hostilities will allow for the safe delivery of humanitarian aid, create the conditions for the safe and voluntary return of IDPs and refugees, and provide the Syrian people the security to start rebuilding areas scarred by conflict. Our efforts have been have helped refugees and IDPs return into the southwest de-escalation areas from where they had taken refuge in Jordan, and overall, an estimated 715,000 Syrians in total, including 50,000 Syrians from abroad, returned to their homes in 2017. These early but positive trends can increase through the continuation of de-escalation efforts not just in the southwest, but elsewhere. On counterterrorism, we will continue to work with allies and partners, such as Turkey, to address the terror threat in Idlib and address Turkeys concern with PKK terrorists elsewhere. Al-Qaida is attempting to re-establish a base of operation for itself in Idlib. We are actively developing the best option to neutralize this threat in conjunction with allies and partners. The United States is vigorously supporting UN efforts to achieve the political solution under UN Security Council Resolution 2254. This is the political framework for peace and stability in a unified Syria which has already been agreed upon by members of the UN Security Council. Specifically, we will work through what is known as the Geneva process, supporting UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in his efforts. The Assad regime clearly looks to Russia as a guarantor of its security. Russia therefore has a meaningful role to play in persuading the Assad regime to engage constructively in the Geneva process. Beyond Russias own vote to support UNSCR 2254, President Putin reaffirmed Russias commitment to Geneva in his joint statement with President Trump issued from Da Nang, Vietnam last November. The United States and Russia have worked together on the southwest de-escalation area to success, and we have established deconfliction arrangements around the Euphrates River Valley to ensure the safety of our respective forces. Russia must now follow through on the commitment our presidents made last November to find an ultimate solution through the UN-led Geneva process. One of the ways Russia can do that is to exert its unique leverage on the Syrian regime, which itself has agreed to participate in the Geneva process. Russia must put new levels of pressure on the regime to not just show up in Geneva but to credibly engage with the UNs efforts and implement agreed outcomes. The United States, the EU, and regional partners will not provide international reconstruction assistance to any area under control of the Assad regime. We ask all stakeholders in Syrias future to do the same. We will discourage economic relationships between the Assad regime and any other country. Instead, we will encourage international assistance to rebuild areas the global coalition and its local partners have liberated from ISIS. Once Assad is gone from power, the United States will gladly encourage the normalization of economic relationships between Syria and other nations. The United States calls on all nations to exercise discipline in economically pressuring Assad and rebuilding Syria after a political transition. Our expectation is that the desire for a return to normal life and these tools of pressure will help rally the Syrian people and individuals within the regime to compel Assad to step aside. UNSCR 2254 also calls for UN-supervised free elections in Syria. The United States believes that free and transparent elections, to include the participation of the Syrian diaspora who have been displaced all those who were forced to flee the conflict will result in the permanent departure of Assad and his family from power. This process will take time, and we urge patience in the departure of Assad and the establishment of new leadership. Responsible change may not come as immediate as some hope for, but rather through an incremental process of constitutional reform, UN-supervised elections but that change will come. The United States recognizes and honors the great sacrifices the Syrian Democratic Forces have made in liberating Syrians from ISIS, but its victories on the battlefield do not solve the challenge of local governance and representation for people of eastern and northern Syria. Interim local political arrangements that give voice to all groups and ethnicities supportive of Syrias broader political transition must emerge with international support. Any interim arrangements must be truly representative and must not threaten any of Syrias neighboring states. Similarly, the voices of Syrians from these regions must be heard in Geneva and in the broader discussion about Syrias future. On these points, the United States hears and takes seriously the concerns of our NATO ally Turkey. We recognize the humanitarian contributions and military sacrifices Turkey has made towards defeating ISIS, towards their support of millions of Syrian refugees, and stabilizing areas of Syria it has helped liberate. We must have Turkeys close cooperation in achieving a new future for Syria that ensures security for Syrias neighbors. Finally, reducing and expelling malicious Iranian influence from Syria depends on a democratic Syria. For many years, Syria under Bashar al-Assad has been a client state of Iran. A Syrian central government that is not under the control of Assad will have new legitimacy to assert its authority over the country. The reassertion of national sovereignty by a new government, along with de-escalation efforts and new flows of international aid, will lower violence, set better conditions for stability, and speed up the departure of foreign fighters. We recognize Syria presents many complexities. Our proposed solutions will not be easy to achieve. But it is necessary to proceed in these ways for the sake of our security and that of our allies. We will not repeat mistakes of the past in Iraq, nor will we repeat the mistakes made in Libya. Well-intentioned military interventions independent of stabilization and political strategies give rise to a host of adverse, unintended consequences. For this reason, we seek to de-escalate the civil war in Syria, work for peace, and encourage all parties to head to the negotiating table. Continued fighting will likely lead to worsened humanitarian conditions, more chaos, and increased regional military intervention in Syria. Our focus is to build a positive political path forward that honors the will of the Syrian people and sustains the unity and territorial integrity of Syria. As with almost all of our foreign policy challenges, the steps for achieving our objectives cannot be undertaken alone. We will continue to work closely with allies and partners. In suffering many terrorist attacks over the past few years, our allies in Europe have sadly experienced firsthand what groups like ISIS and al-Qaida are capable of. We need allies and partners to support our strategy in order to permanently mitigate the risk to security posed by these terrorist organizations and others. And finally, the Syrian people have endured seven years of unimaginable chaos and hardship. They need help. A new course of action is a preferable alternative to more years of wishful thinking. A stable, unified, independent Syria will serve the national security interests of the United States, its allies, and our partners. If that reality can come to pass, it will be a victory for all, and it will support the ability of the Syrian people to pursue their own God-given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Thank you for your kind attention, and I look forward to our discussion. (Applause). SECRETARY RICE: Well, thank you. Thank you very much for that comprehensive look at one of the most daunting problems that, I think, anyone in the international system has faced, and Id like to return to a couple of substantive issues, but I want to ask you a question first about being Secretary of State. Its kind of a hard job, isnt it? (Laughter.) SECRETARY TILLERSON: Its yeah, its a little different. (Laughter.) SECRETARY RICE: Yeah. (Laughter). So, when I was secretary, Id get up in the morning, and there were some things Id see on my calendar, and Id think, Oh good, Im going to get to do that, and then there were some things that Id would think, Ill just maybe Ill just go back to bed. What do you like about the job, and what do you find most challenging? SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, what I like most about the job is what Ive always enjoyed throughout my career, and its the quality of the people you have the privilege to work with every day. And what Ill say about the people in the State Department, the career people as well as the political appointees: These are extraordinarily dedicated individuals, some of the greatest patriots youll meet anywhere, and they really come in every day with one objective in mind, and thats to carry out the foreign policy goals, objectives of the administration, but to serve the interests of the American people. So what I look forward to every day is even if were talking about really complicated issues, like the one I just described and Syria is one of the most complex situations on the ground the level of intelligence and the level of openness for us to have a good conversation about that is what I most look forward to. And I have a bullpen area it used to be the Deputy Secretary of Managements office. I absconded it, and we have nothing but whiteboards in there, and I love going in the bullpen and just whiteboarding these exercises. What I least look forward to coming in to are those days when I have to deal with the loss of life. And whether its the loss of a State Department person, or the loss of military personnel, or any American citizen anywhere, those are the days that are difficult, because you make calls to family members, you try to people who have been taken hostage, you try to give their families reassurance, but those are the days that are really tough. SECRETARY RICE: Yeah. Now, as Secretary, you face some unique challenges as well. Social media was barely born when I was secretary. Thank God for that. And we know that your boss loves social media, so whats it like, and how do you deal with the constant pressure of social media, especially out of the White House? SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, hes world class at social media and Im not (laughter) and I want to confess here in the heart of the creation of this great technology, I have no social media accounts. I have never had any and I dont intend to have any. (Laughter.) It is a great tool when its used well. The President has used it to great effect by bypassing the traditional means of communicating, and he absolutely thrives on this ability to instantly communicate not just to the American people, but to our friends and allies or to our adversaries, to the entire world. I dont know when hes going to do that because he that is just the way the President operates. So the challenge is just getting caught up because I dont I dont even have a Twitter account that I can follow what hes tweeting, so my staff usually has to print his tweets out and hand them to me. (Laughter.) Now, on the one hand, you can say, Well, thats nuts. Why dont you get an account? But on the other hand, Ive actually concluded thats not a bad system because it goes out and I dont know its going to go out, so theres not a whole lot Im going to do until its out there. By the time I find out about it, theres actually been some period of time, and dependent on where I am in the world it might be five minutes or it might be an hour before somebody hands me a piece of paper and says, Hey, the President just tweeted this out. There I already have the early reactions to that and it allows me to now begin to think about, all right, how do we take that then into if its a foreign policy issue, is it what is it hes tweeting about, how do we take that and now use it? And so its interesting. I get the question a lot from people about, gosh, it must be impossible to deal with that. I had to get used to it early on because it was very unconventional for all of us. But I take it and I say, okay, this is information. Lets we know what our objectives are and he didnt change any of them. This is just his way of wanting to communicate on the subject. How do we take that and use it? And so thats what thats how I deal with it, but I think Im probably going to go to my grave and never have a social media account. (Laughter.) SECRETARY RICE: I was really struck when you talked about Syria and you talked about the way forward in Syria, leaving aside the military side, which obviously there have been some real gains, particularly in clearing ISIS from Iraq and now a leg up, at least, on ISIS in Syria. But I was struck that when you turned to political stabilization, you used a few words that most people would not associate with the Trump administration. I want to have you talk a little bit about that. You talked about values, Americas values. You talked about human rights. You talked about the need for the Syrian people to be able to express themselves in free elections. We would consider those parts of the values agenda, if you will, because going really all the way back to Woodrow Wilson, American presidents have believed that the internal composition of states actually does matter. And I think youve made a very good case that one of the reasons that we face the problem that we face in Syria is that Bashar al-Assad is a dictator who has murdered his own people and oppressed his own people. And so pull back from Syria and talk about how, after now almost a year on the job, you see the issue of values, human rights, democracy in the in American foreign policy. SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, its a great question, and its one that Ive as an engineer, I guess Ive had a hard time describing to others how I view it. Our American values of freedom, respect for the individual, human dignity all of the manifestations of the values that define who we are as a people, who we are collectively as a group of people who have aligned ourselves around these values and defines how we treat one another every day how you take that into the foreign policy arena. And at one level, these are values that are enduring, and what Ive said to people is you know with foreign policy if you when you take the values and you try to put them into foreign policy, the concern Ive always had is policies can change and adjust, and they do. And so how do you if youre doing that, your values never change. They never adjust. So our values are with us at all interactions always. Now, how do you operationalize and Ill use that word how do you operationalize the values? Because I think thats getting to the heart of the question. And Syria is a great case study in my opinion of that. Going into Syria and advocating human rights, religious freedoms, womens equal participation in the midst of literally thousands of people and civilians being killed every day doesnt resonate very well, because the most important human right to anybody is our first one: the right to life. Life, then liberty, then the pursuit of happiness. And thats the way I think about our values. I first have to keep people from being killed, and if I can keep them from being killed and if we can create areas of stability, then we begin to create the seeds of liberty, and then we create the pathway to a pursuit of happiness. And underneath all of that are, then, the articulation of our respect for the human dignity, the human condition, all the ways that we express these values that are uniquely American values. And so it really is how do you create the conditions so people can actually achieve that, and the priority in Syria right now is stop people from being killed. Theyre being killed. Theyre being killed by the thousands. Stop that, stabilize it, start creating some conditions, and then we can begin to promote respect for peoples religious freedoms, respect for their dignity. And so it is very much in my mind its and being an engineer, this is the way I think its a process. Its a process inside of a system, and at any point in time and depending on the countrys condition, the location, the circumstances, were going to be at a different place in that process. If we have a stable a stable government that is repressive of certain religious organizations, then we go right at that. Because its not that people are being killed, but theyre being persecuted; theyre being denied their own pursuit of happiness. So it very much, I think in each situation, I look at it and say, what is the priority here? And the first priority is always the protection of life stop people from being killed. And if you do that, you begin to create the conditions where we can truly lean forward and advocate on the values themselves. SECRETARY RICE: And the tools for doing the kind of work that youre talking about, obviously when youve stabilized a situation, you still have to have the diplomacy, you still have to have the assistance to people. There have been concerns about the commitment to, say, foreign assistance and to having those tools that American diplomats rely on to bring stability. Jim Mattis apparently famously said that if he doesnt have foreign assistance, hes going to need more bullets, just to paraphrase. Now, a couple of American foreign assistance efforts that have been just universally appreciated: PEPFAR, the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which probably, through the efforts of President Bush and then President Obama, saved millions of people from a pandemic; and then the Millennium Challenge, which tries to take foreign assistance and give it to states that are actually going to use it wisely, that are not corrupt. Can you talk a little bit about the future of those programs? And I know youre an advocate for them. How are you doing inside the administration and on the Hill? SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, you picked two of the easiest to defend, because PEPFAR is broadly viewed, within the administration even, as like the gold standard of success. It has produced extraordinary results and it has demonstrated it really uses the American dollar wisely. For dollar invested, if you think about it as an investment, its a dollar invested for the return PEPFAR, by any measure you want to examine it, has been wildly successful. And the Millennium Challenge Corporation, similarly, has been wildly successful because of the disciplined process it uses. I think the debate that goes on more is not about those kinds of programs, but about a lot of other assistance programs that may not have the kind of structure around them that PEPFAR has or the kind of structure around them and accountability to go with structure that the Millennium Challenge has, and a view that America is, has been, and still is today the most generous nation on planet Earth when it comes to humanitarian assistance, disaster relief. We are always first and foremost. But if you look at the situation with the nations finances, and we all know about the deficits that were building up all the time, I think the President has rightly asked the question of, okay, we know what were doing; hows the rest of the world doing? And are you doing your share? And so that has become very much an overlay to how this administration thinks about all means of foreign assistance, from the kind of assistance thats provided through USAID and the State Department to foreign military sales and assistance, to international organizations at the UN and others. We will do our part, but we demand that others do their part as well. And so he has created very high expectations that we will go out and elicit others to step up and start contributing more on a proportionate basis with their ability to do so. And he famously points to a lot of nations around the world that are doing extraordinarily well. In many cases theyre doing better than we are with our own economy, yet theyre not carrying what in our view is their share of this need the world has. So a lot of this last year and even the early part of this year is a lot of active engagement with countries around this issue. Having said that, theres no abandonment of our recognition of these needs. And as you know and through the budget process, the budget process involves our two branches of government, co-equal branches. The Congress has their say on it as well, and the administration has theirs. So a lot of this is, in the end, we resolve it through the budget negotiation process. The last thing I would say about the State Department budget in particular, because it got a lot of its gotten a lot of discussion, is I like to give people perspective. The State Departments budget is coming off of a record high $55 billion, largest budget the State Department ever had, and a series of about the last five or six years of one record budget after another. And what I tell people, and having run another organization that had large numbers we had to deal with every day, its very hard to execute its very hard for the State Department to execute a $55 billion budget. I mean, quite frankly, if you want to do it well and you want to be good stewards of the American hard-earned taxpayer dollar that youve been given, we do need to be able to go out and do that well. And the truth of the matter is one of the reasons were not struggling in 2017 is we had a lot of carry-forward money because no one could execute that size of a budget. And so theres a lot of money thats moving through. So right now Id say were in a dynamic situation where were not were not in a position of being unable to meet, we believe, the most critical needs out there. But its coming and were trying to plan ahead and were trying to elicit more burden-sharing from others around the world. SECRETARY RICE: Thanks. One final question before we let you go. Id be remiss if I didnt ask about where you started your remarks: North Korea. Weve got false alarms going off in Hawaii. Weve got people talking about war coming on the peninsula. At the same time, weve got the North Koreans and the South Koreans deciding theyre going to march together in the Olympics. Do you have a sense at all that the rhetoric that weve used, the fact that perhaps the diplomacy is not as front and center as some of the talk about our military options, that we might be driving a wedge with our South Korean allies? I know when I was secretary and trying to do the Six-Party Negotiations, the North Koreans loved to drive a wedge to pick off the Chinese or pick off the South Koreans or pick off the Russians, and it was really important not for the United States to get isolated. So how should we read these initiatives between the North and South? And tell us about the diplomacy, because I think were all in agreement, nobody really wants war on the peninsula, on the Korean Peninsula, despite the seriousness of the North Korean threat. SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, our diplomacy efforts, which began really last February, the first week I was after I was sworn in, I was with the President in the Oval and the very first foreign policy challenge that he gave me was he said youve got to develop a foreign policy approach to North Korea. And so we did and we worked that through the interagency process. And what we I labeled it the peaceful pressure campaign; the President has since relabeled it the maximum pressure campaign. But it is and I know people say, Ah, weve tried sanctions in the past. They never work. Weve never had a sanctions regime that is as comprehensive as this one, and weve never had Chinese support for sanctions like were getting now. Russia is a slightly different issue. But the Chinese have leaned in hard on the North Koreans to the point part of this approach was to help the Chinese come to the realizations that North Korea for the last 50, 60 years may have been an asset to you; theyre now a liability to you. And I mean, its because of how events can play out on the Korean Peninsula. If China doesnt help us solve this problem, there are a lot of follow-on effects, and China is well aware of those. So I think the diplomatic efforts are about unifying the international community around this sanctions campaign, which has been extraordinarily effective. As President Moon himself told us on the phone call and I would tell you, we have probably the level of communication that goes on between ourselves, South Korea, and China on this issue is pretty extraordinary. People would probably be surprised at how often we are on the phone with one another a week talking about this. Moon said the reason the South Koreans came to us was because they are feeling the bite of these sanctions. And were seeing it in some of the intel, were seeing it through anecdotal evidence coming out of defectors that are escaping. The Japanese made a comment yesterday in our session that they have had over 100 North Korean fishing boats that have drifted into Japanese waters two-thirds of the people on those boats have died they werent trying to escape and the ones that didnt die, they wanted to go back home. So they sent them back to North Korea. But what they learned is theyre being sent out in the wintertime to fish because theres food shortages, and theyre being sent out to fish with inadequate fuel to get back. So were getting a lot of evidence that these sanctions are really starting to hurt. And so the rapprochement of the North to the South, now theyre on to the playbook that you know as well as anyone. And the playbook is, okay, were going to start our charm offensive to the rest of the world and let them see were just normal people like everybody else. Were going to engender some sympathy. Were going to try to drive a wedge between South Korea and their allies. And we spent an extraordinary amount of time yesterday in the group discussion hearing from Foreign Minister Kang of South Korea about how theyre not going to let that happen. So we understand what this is about, and weve been supportive of this rapprochement, because the other element of the diplomacy is weve been waiting for Kim to decide he wants to talk. Weve been very clear, and our channels are open. And as I said yesterday in my press avail, he knows how to reach me if he wants to talk. But hes got to tell me he wants to talk. Were not going to chase him. So this may be their early effort to break the ice; well see. Nothing may come of it, but we are supportive of that, but I would tell you that among the allies in the region, but equally with China, I dont think we have ever been as unified against this threat. Because China knows the potential consequences of this, to unintended consequences that could come later. And in diplomacy, where youre dealing with someone across the table like this, and when we get to that negotiating table and Im confident we will I want to know that Secretary Mattis has a very, very strong military option standing behind me. That will give me a better position from which to try to solve this. As Secretary Mattis and I told our Chinese counterparts when we were across the table from one another in a security and strategic dialogue, I said to my counterpart, Yang Jiechi I said, State Councilor, if you and I dont solve this, these guys get to fight, and we dont want that. And neither do you. So we are highly motivated. It is a long process. Its taken a lot of patience. Well see. But we are committed, as is everyone in the international community, to a denuclearized North Korea. And were going to stay on that until we achieve it. SECRETARY RICE: Thank you very much, and all the best. We certainly hope you succeed. Thank you very much. (Applause.) Photo: Atlanta Monster A crisis catalyzes, illuminates, and reveals. Thats as true for individual lives as it is for entire societies, and the fact of it deepens the sense that our communities, institutions, and cities are fragile. It can seem like a miracle all of it doesnt just come crashing down. Until it does. Atlanta Monster is a new ten-part, true-crime and history podcast that examines a crisis, and perhaps most importantly, a citys woefully slow and inadequate response to it. The crisis in question is the Atlanta child murders, a grisly series of killings spanning a two-year period between 1979 and 1981 that claimed the lives of at least 28 black children and young adults in the greater Atlanta metro area. The murderer was seemingly apprehended with the 1982 arrest of Wayne Williams, but of course, its not that simple. Williams, a black man, was sentenced to life imprisonment based on the murders of two adult men, and considerable ambiguity remains around his role in the broader catastrophe. As you would expect, the question of Williamss culpability over the child murders is a core driving force behind the interest and sensibilities of Atlanta Monster. This is, after all, a true-crime podcast, and furthermore it is the follow-up effort of Tenderfoot, the Atlanta-based team made up of host Payne Lindsey and his creative partner Donald Albright behind Up and Vanished. That show was a two-year-long project that dug into the cold case of Tara Grinstead, a 30-year-old white high-school teacher from rural Ocilla, Georgia, who disappeared in 2005. Up and Vanished was a peculiar and shaggy artifact, one that brought listeners into Lindseys investigation as he scoured documents, theorized out loud, and cultivated relationships with the local community in semireal time. It had the DIY feel of a true-crime blog published by sleuths diving deep into a chosen morbid mystery, except these sleuths may well have ended up being the cause of an effect. Deep into Up and Vanisheds run last year, the cold case experienced a true break that resulted in two arrests for the Grinstead murder. The podcast is thought to have, at the very least, played a role in kick-starting interest in the case, if not more. Which is all to say that the legacy of Up and Vanished looms over Tenderfoots sophomore effort, along with the pressure of replicating the same highs and spectacle. But such expectation would do a disservice to what Atlanta Monster has done in its early going. At least for now, the podcast is at its most interesting when its explicitly a show about race in the city of Atlanta. Racial politics governed (and governs) everything in the Atlanta child murders, and the podcast has done a commendable job illustrating this by training its focus on how the issue complicated police response, defined the boundaries of potential suspects, and limited the ways in which the black community could respond to the threat that was aimed at them. The show also excels when its operating as a document of people remembering the past. At this writing, were only two episodes into the podcast (a third just dropped today), and much of it has been exposition: the events, the stakes, the context. Lindsey and Albright smartly built a lot of it around interviews with ordinary people (most, if not all, of whom are black) who were carrying out their lives in the city during the time of the murders. The interviews make for a vivid, wonderful Greek chorus, corroborating but also occasionally debating the horrors in question. These people were all affected by the crisis, and even though some have physically moved away since, everyone remembers. Atlanta Monster is a considerable step up for Lindsey and Albright in scope and ambition. This partly comes from the rich subject matter, but its also a function of their choice to co-produce the show with fellow Atlanta media outfit HowStuffWorks. It is, in many ways, a strange pairing, given the latters traditional focus on infotainment programming like Stuff You Should Know and Stuff You Missed in History Class. Atlanta Monster is not only HowStuffWorks first foray into pure true crime, but also their first stab at a highly produced narrative project altogether. But HowStuffWorks is an old hand in the podcast industry, with depth of experience and considerably more resources to spend on the project. It remains to be seen whether Atlanta Monster will be able to follow through on its potential by the end of the ten-episode run. Its off to a promising start, but the thing is far from perfect. The narration has the tendency to be more than a little heavy-handed Id prefer much less hand-holding and the show is far too committed to the blaring use of synth-heavy, Stranger Thingsinspired music cues that are frankly distracting. As with most things, less is more, and this is even more true given the sensitive, delicate, and emotional subject matter. There is also the larger question of how Atlanta Monster will balance its true-crime premise (i.e. Is Wayne Williams actually guilty?) against the strong historical work its been doing. Reconciling the two sides of itself will be the shows biggest challenge, and that process of interweaving will likely take us to new depths as we contemplate the overarching point of the enterprise. Something else I thought about in my listening: Unexpectedly, Atlanta Monster makes for a fascinating companion piece to American Public Medias In the Dark, which I thought was the best podcast of 2016. That podcasts first season a second is currently in production, slated for a spring 2018 release investigated the 1989 cold case of Jacob Wetterling, an 11-year old boy who was abducted from his hometown of St. Joseph, Minnesota. Wetterlings fate was left unsolved for almost three decades, but his disappearance has yielded deep, lasting changes. The case notably led to the 1994 passage of the Jacob Wetterling Act, which instituted the first federal law requiring states to track sex offenders and implement a national sex-offender registry. One could argue that it even sparked a cultural shift within the white middle class and white upper-middle class, pushing its approach to parenting toward a place that views the world outside the home as something fundamentally dangerous. In the Dark was judicious, thoughtful, and intellectually rigorous examination of a child murder. But the child in question was white. Listening to the first episodes of Atlanta Monster, I was struck by the symmetries between the two stories, and more painfully, the asymmetries notably, in the responses of the police, the larger community, and the legal system. Atlanta Monster publishes new episodes on Fridays. You can find it here. Photo: David James/Warner Bros. The newest ode to the American warrior is 12 Strong (subtitle: The Unclassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers), which follows a dozen Special Forces soldiers who are surreptitiously choppered into northern Afghanistan less than two months after 9/11. Their mission was incredibly perilous, but they werent on the ground to fight. Their job was to embed themselves with warlords in the Northern Alliance; ride on small-ish, mountain-ready horses through the yawning passes; and radio coordinates of Taliban strongholds to U.S. planes that had previously been bombing blind. Securing the north and the key city of Mazar-i-Sharif would set up the U.S. and its allies for a full-scale invasion of Kabul. Until then, those 12 Americans were alone in a land they didnt know amid tribes whose actions they couldnt predict and with tens of thousands of nearby Taliban fighters itching to carve them up, slowly. The movie, based on the terrific book Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton, is only so-so, but it moves at a fair clip and fills in a lot of details about the early successes of the Afghanistan War. Its also rich in manly nods, of the sort that signal, Well done, brother. Those are always very gratifying. Chris Hemsworth plays Captain Mitch Nelson, who watches the Twin Towers fall on TV and abandons his stunned family (his wife refuses sex so hell come back) to rejoin the Special Forces team hes only recently quit. When Nelsons superior declines to restore him to leadership, Chief Warrant Officer Hal Spencer (Michael Shannon, who remains on pace to act in more movies than anyone ever while also doing plays) makes a fierce case on behalf of his old comrade: You break this team up, youre cutting the head off your most venomous snake! Snake parts firmly reassembled, Nelson, Spencer, and their men (played by Michael Pena, Trevante Rhodes, and exactly eight others) fly to Uzbekistan, 97 miles from the Afghan border and the bailiwick of Colonel Mulholland, played by William Fichtner at his most prickly. Meeting Fichtners live-wire stare is a test for any man and Hemsworth holds his mud. Mulholland says, Nineteen men made war against the U.S. on 9/11. You 12 will be the first ones to fight back. In no time the team is Chinooking to Afghanistan (grave of empires) at a hypoxia-inducing 14,000 feet to greet the next eccentric character actor, Navid Negahban, as Northern Alliance warlord General Dostun. Negahban who played Abu Nazir on Homeland and, according to IMDb, counts both Barack Obama and Shimon Peres as big fans declaims most of his lines from atop his horse, mocking his new American friends while simultaneously showing them off to his suitably awed countrymen. The best part is when Dostun phones his mortal enemy, Taliban commander Khaled (Fahim Fazli), and says, The Americans are here. Fuck you. Khaled had earlier put a bullet in the head of a female teacher for daring to teach spelling and arithmetic to little girls, and the movie periodically cuts to him glowering from under his black beard. Nelson sets a goal of three weeks to bomb the bejeezus out of the Taliban and move on Mazar-i-Sharif, and the film is helpful enough to keep track of the time for us: Days in Country: 5, etc. Theres a good mix of ultra-precise tech jargon and ultra-foggy anxiety (Somethin aint right here, Heads on swivel!), as well as weird stuff unique to this war, like the sardonic CIA operative with the shoulder bag of cash who drops a load and then trudges off into the desert in search of the next bribable tribesmen. Another thing you dont see too often: Shannons Spencer slips a disk while riding one of those low-to-the-ground horses over the hard terrain and spends the climax calling in coordinates flat on his back. Three of the problems with 12 Strong are location, location, and location, and not just because the film was shot in New Mexico and California. The director, Nicolai Fuglsig, has no feel for the mythic dread that the harsh, sublime, inhumanly scaled landscape is said to invoke in those who werent born to it. Hes lousy at giving us our bearings from scene to scene, and his battle scenes are nearly impossible to follow. This is another movie in which Afghans (Taliban and Northern Alliance alike) run eagerly into bullets while Americans dodge fusillade after fusillade. But its the swerves into formula that cut the deepest. The Horse Soldiers story is unconventional, and the film produced by uber-slickster Jerry Bruckheimer has been shaped along conventional war-movie lines. Rhodess Sgt. First Class Ben Milo is dogged by an Afghan boy who first makes him nervous and then touches his heart. The demon Taliban commander has an idiotically melodramatic comeuppance thats worthy of a Grade-Z Stallone movie. The worst part is when Nelson who has never seen combat must prove to General Dostun that he can kill with his heart and not his head and so be a warrior instead of a mere soldier. So we wait for the scene in which Nelson blows away some anonymous black-clad Taliban baddie and gets the manly nod from his barbaric mentor. Now he is a real man! What stinks about the dopey, red-meat conceit is that this is the wrong context. Stanton in his book makes the case that the Horse Soldiers triumph was about more than saving your buddies and blowing away bad guys. He says, It was a template for the way the present war and future ones should be fought. Instead of large-scale occupations, we should rely on small units of Special Forces who have proved its infinitely more effective to work with a countrys soldiers and citizens at eye level. Its too bad the movie didnt find room for a major character in Stantons account: John Walker Lindh, the scion of a well-off Northern California family who fought with the Taliban before his ignominious capture. But its the final sin of omission thats unforgivable. The closing crawl sticks to celebratory happy talk. Those whove read Horse Soldiers know that several of the heroic Americans who survived the necessary, carefully orchestrated invasion of Afghanistan would die in the unnecessary, criminally bungled occupation of Iraq, courtesy such men as Donald Rumsfeld presented in 12 Strong in a favorable context. A true memorial to the Horse Soldiers would show not just their triumph, but the larger tragedy of successful templates arrogantly discarded and all those lessons unlearned. Photo: Courtesy of Sundance When we meet 13-year-old Kayla Day, shes particularly hung up on a single descriptor: talkative. In a YouTube video she posts for her single-digit subscriber base, she insists that even though people at school see her as shy and quiet, she is in fact, totally talkative. She uses the word as if its an objective, hereditary trait, like tall or Canadian. The idea of it as a virtue feels exactly in line with the kind of thing one can become consumed by when youre in the heady work of building your personality, without even really knowing what it means or what its implications are. So, of course, when the eighth-grade class superlatives are announced and Kayla is named Quietest, its a blow. With Eighth Grade, his directorial debut, comedian Bo Burnham has tapped into a byproduct of social-media-saturated adolescence thats often overlooked in favor of parental panic and worst-case-scenario horror stories. In Kaylas world, there is a premium on always having something to say. Her eyeballs are hooked to a steady IV drip of her classmates snaps and celebrity YouTube videos everyone has something to share or teach or perform. No wonder she thinks the best way to make her mark is through a YouTube channel, where she, in all her infinite eighth-grade wisdom, offers advice on such YouTube-worthy banalities as being yourself and gaining confidence. (Sample advice: The hard part about being yourself is that its not easy.) The film unfolds over Kaylas last week of the titular school year, and the landmark of leaving middle school and childhood, in a way starts weighing on her. Shes the only child of a single father (played with so much heart by Josh Hamilton), and when no ones watching, shes clearly overflowing with creativity and curiosity that fails to impress the popular girls at school. As she prepares to enter the big, scary world of high school, she finds she is none of the things she wants to be, and the ways in which she takes shaky, untrained stabs at becoming that person provide much of the of the films gently uproarious, all-too-real humor. Like a non-sociopathic Todd Solondz, Burnham affectionately revels in his heroines sometimes halting, sometimes spasmodically overzealous search for herself. Awkward is the key word here, but its as far from the hashtag-y, one-dimensionality that the term usually denotes among Kaylas cohort. Burnhams direction is patient and endlessly empathetic; its an out-of-the-gate confidence that is as pleasantly surprising as fellow comedian turned auteur Jordan Peeles. Its excellently complemented by the excitable electronic score composed by Anna Meredith, which lends a pulsating thump to Kaylas doofy, dreamy-eyed crush, and a shakily hopeful buzz to the chaos of a middle-school hallway. The few soundtrack cues are insightful and hilarious, particularly a montage of one of Kaylas nighttime social-media rabbit holes scored to Enyas Orinoco Flow. This is the directorial work of someone well acquainted with late-night, hollow-eyed, glowing screen mania. But as far as revelatory debuts, its rivaled by that of Elsie Fisher, who embodies Kaylas anxiety and yearning with an almost spooky self-awareness. A 14-year-old should not be this aware of what 13-year-olds are like, but every twitch of her mouth, every hopelessly misguided attempt to fit in feels verite in its accuracy. But Fisher is clearly an actress, and an actress who is very good at her job. During an encounter with an older boy that goes from cringey and hilarious to deeply upsetting, we see Kayla, a girl who is often moody and taciturn but ultimately optimistic that other people will be good and kind to her eventually, discover that that is not always the case. Watching her fold into herself is heartbreaking. Luckily, she doesnt stay folded for long, and the film ends as it begins with a self-recorded video. Its a letter to her future self, but of course, all of them have been all along. Eighth Grade is cognizant of all the new scary realities of growing up with an internet-connected camera on your person at all times, but it also finds hope in it, as, if nothing else, a tool for self-discovery. Photo: James Devaney/GC Images January has been a miserable month for Woody Allen. On Thursday, CBS aired the first televised interview with the Oscar-winning writer-directors daughter Dylan Farrow in which she tearfully repeated allegations she made several years ago that he sexually assaulted her when she was seven years old. He instructed me to lay down on my stomach and play with my brothers toy train that was set up, Farrow said. And he sat behind me in the doorway, and as I played with the toy train, I was sexually assaulted he touched my labia and vulva with his finger. Allen, for his part, has consistently denied Farrows accusations, pointing out in a statement that when her claim was first made 25 years ago, it was investigated by New York State Child Welfare and the Child Sexual Abuse Clinic of the YaleNew Haven Hospital, which both concluded no molestation had ever taken place. No criminal charges have been filed against the filmmaker. But amid a backdrop of #TimesUp upheaval thats sweeping politics, culture, and sports, that hasnt prevented a nearly unprecedented withdrawal of support for the 82-year-old director and no small amount of vocal outcry against him by a host of prominent actors who have appeared in his films and television projects over the years. Also on Thursday, Timothee Chalamet, who appears in Allens upcoming film A Rainy Day in New York, announced on Instagram that he is donating his salary from the movie to charities fighting sexual abuse and harassment matching the gesture made on Jan. 12 by his A Rainy Day co-star Rebecca Hall, who said she regretted working for the director and gave her wages from the film to Times Up. On Jan. 7, Greta Gerwig, who co-stars in the directors 2012 romantic-comedy To Rome With Love, publicly disavowed Allen, saying in an online roundtable interview: If I had known then what I know now, I would not have acted in that film. I have not worked with him again, and I will not work with him again. And those repudiations came close on the heels of other disavowals. David Krumholtz, Mira Sorvino, Rachel Brosnahan, and Colin Firth have all expressed regret for working with the director in the weeks since Farrow published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, Why has the #MeToo revolution spared Woody Allen? (In a November Facebook post, Ellen Page said she was ashamed to have worked with Allen.) All of which combines to create a massive PR headache for A Rainy Day in New York, Allens latest romantic comedy, which co-stars Selena Gomez, Elle Fanning, Jude Law, and Diego Luna, and has a planned theatrical release by Amazon Studios at some unspecified point this year. According to People, Gomez anonymously donated an amount that exceeded her salary to Times Up after fans criticized her for not taking a stand against Allen, highlighting the shaming effect his film is now having on its cast. Amazon declined to comment for this article. But according to several insiders with knowledge of the studio/streaming services business operations, A Rainy Days rollout will be negatively affected if not outright cancelled by the fast-spreading groundswell of anti-Allen sentiment. One challenge the studio will face is the issue of optics in a postRoy Price Amazon. In October, Price, the president of its studio division, resigned after being accused of pressuring an executive producer on an Amazon original series to have sex and making crude references to anal sex. According to several sources contacted by Vulture, the studio feels pressure to make a statement that We dont tolerate sexual harassment by not releasing A Rainy Day. Amazon can definitely afford to eat the cost of that movie, says one influential marketing executive (who, like others in this story, requested anonymity). They can show the community who they are by being aggressive. And the producers would never sue. Youd look like a fucking moron if you sue for damages. Other insiders, however, say a more likely play for Amazon which has rapidly developed into a prestige film power-player, thanks to such releases as Manchester by the Sea and The Big Sick would be to cancel A Rainy Days theatrical run and quietly put the film out on its streaming platform with little or no promotion. Like Netflix, Amazon Prime does not release numbers indicating how many streams specific titles generate (thereby mitigating any possible perception of A Rainy Day as a flop). And by bypassing theaters, the company heads off backlash by movie exhibitors refusing to book the movie in their theaters. If Im handling this internally, I say, Lets hold our water. Lets not date this thing yet. Lets see if this thing blows over. America forgets everything anyway, says another insider who is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Woody would not have signed a contract with Amazon that did not guarantee theatrical distribution. But they could say, Woody, we have a problem. We need to renegotiate. But according to some old Hollywood hands, Allens films are essentially backlash-proof, Allen himself having established a singular cinematic voice that allows him to continue making and releasing movies no matter the mounting outcry against him. Look, these allegations have haunted this guy for decades and this is a very different time and cultural moment unlike any before it, says a former studio executive. My very jaded perspective is that his fans are older and those who go see his films are very set in their ways. This is going to be a horrible analogy but its like the Alabama voters who turned out for Roy Moore. Woody will always have his fans no matter what. The Centex Action Network will host a Womens March Anniversary Rally from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at Heritage Square. The event will feature speakers and music designed to inspire, motivate and reignite the passion from last years march. All are invited to participate in the rally regardless of gender, culture, religion, race or ability. Families are welcome and encouraged to attend. Republic of Texas essays The Sterling C. Robertson Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas is sponsoring essay contests for students in fourth and seventh grades. The topic for fourth graders is Steven F. Austin, His Life and Contributions to the Republic. The topic for seventh graders is Moses Austins Old 300, Who, What, Why? Essays must be received by February 15, via mail to: Lynn Pearson, 663 Coxs Oak Valley Road, Waco, 76705. Instructions and submission forms can be found at www.drtinfo.org/education/essay-contests. For more information, call 799-5002. Confessions of an Entrepreneur Baylor Baugh Center for Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise will feature Blake and Kimberly Batson of Common Grounds during its Confessions of an Entrepreneur event Thursday. The free event starts at 12:30 p.m. at the Baylor University Hankamer School of Business, Foster 143/144, 1621 S. Third St. Call 710-1694 for more information. Domino tournament The Westphalia Knights of Columbus Council No. 13902 is hosting a 42 domino tournament Jan. 28 at the Westphalia Parish Hall. Registration starts at 11:30 a.m., and play starts at 12:30 p.m. Entry fee is $5, and prizes will be awarded. Contact Junior Hering at 583-2156 or James Kahlig at 985-2315 for more information. Texas has placed two finalists, Austin and Dallas, on Amazons list of finalists for its second national headquarters, dubbed HQ2. The companys main headquarters is in Seattle. Metro areas around the country have lined up to offer Amazon the moon in pursuit of a nod from the shipping giant. Landing the prize would mean becoming home to an 8-million-square-foot complex that would employ up to 50,000 people, including managers, software engineers, accountants, and legal and administrative staffers, according to the Washington Post. Amazons 20 finalists now include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., Miami and Denver, but Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statement applauding the inclusion of two Texas cities and expressing confidence that one would prevail. He said Texas is a hotbed for the tech industry. When industry leaders like Amazon consider investing in the Lone Star State, they know that our low-tax and limited-regulation environment will appeal to a companys bottom line, Abbott wrote. Texas has also repeatedly been recognized as having one of the best, if not the best, workforces in America. There is no doubt the ripples of Amazon landing in Texas would make their way to the Waco area, just 90 miles from both contenders, said Bill Clifton, who serves on the Waco-McLennan County Economic Development Corp. board. The board makes recommendations on which prospects eyeing a move to Waco should receive incentives. I think this would impact communities up and down the Interstate 35 corridor, Clifton said. He said he doubts some of the cities under consideration could match Texas ability to handle the spillover, or the synergies of education, high-tech expertise and economic development that Austin, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and other communities statewide could bring to the table. Local companies could find themselves selling supplies to the Amazon headquarters, and local residents might consider the jobs so attractive they would welcome the opportunity to commute, Clifton said. Waco-based economist Ray Perryman agreed Waco would stand to benefit from Amazon moving nearby. Many suppliers and customers will seek to locate in relatively close proximity to the Amazon facility, and Waco offers an attractive mix in terms of cost of living, location, and the opportunity to make use of research and workforce opportunities afforded by Baylor University and Texas State Technical College, Perryman wrote in an email response to questions. Local vineyard award Valley Mills Vineyards, a family owned and operated winery, recently won a Double Gold Medal during the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. The award-winning wine was the 2014 Estate Tempranillo, with all grapes used to make the product grown in Valley Mills. Each submitted wine is reviewed by a panel of judges representing sectors of the industry that include media; buyers for the restaurant, food and hospitality industry; retail wine buyers; educators devoted to making wine; and the wine making industry, according to a press release from Valley Mills Vineyards. The Double Gold Medal is only awarded when every judge on the panel designates an entry as a gold medal winner. Politeness Index FreshBooks.com has compiled what it calls the 2018 Politeness Index, in which small businesses in Texas were judged to be the ninth-most polite among the 50 states, according to a press release. The index was based on an analysis of invoices, with an eye toward use of the words please and thank you. Oklahoma topped the list as the friendliest in the nation, with 49 percent of invoices analyzed featuring those terms. Rounding out the top five were Alabama, Ohio, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Utah and Tennessee tied for last, each with a showing of 6 percent. The Northeast, according to a news release, is nearly half as polite as the rest of the U.S., while the South is friendliest. Building permit roundup Alterations to Dollar Tree store, Bosque Boulevard and Wooded Acres Drive, $161,000 estimated cost Interior renovations to Providence Park Cafe, 300 W. Highway 6, $249,000 estimated cost Alterations to McDonalds restaurant, 3733 N. 19th St., $600,000 estimated cost Falls Capital Inc., owner of Stoneys Liquor, will open a 3,200-square-foot location in the Eastgate Shopping Center at 2500 Bellmead Drive. The new store will feature a walk-in beer cave, wine and spirits, according to a press release. Other Stoneys locations operate in Cameron, Giddings, Hearne, Lampasas, Montgomery and Rockdale. Four ZIP codes in Waco now have 10 trained advisers, called community health workers, to help residents and families connect with affordable health services, adopt healthier lifestyles and better understand the health care system. The Waco-McLennan County Public Health District and the nonprofit Prosper Waco launched the McLennan County Community Health Worker Initiative on Friday with a graduation ceremony at the South Waco Recreation Center for the workers. The workers just wrapped up a 160-hour, 16-week training course and intensive interviews to be selected for the program, their instructor, Emily Green, said. The work youre about to embark on will be rewarding to you and life-changing to those you serve, health district director Sherry Williams said during the graduation. Williams started her work as a public health nurse more than 30 years ago. She recalled the similar role she played in connecting families to much-needed resources, often through home visits and hospital visits, following families as long as the need existed, she said. Our vision at the health district is to create the healthiest county in Texas, where all people can live, play, work and thrive, Williams said. Youre assistance is greatly needed to make that vision a reality, and I am confident you can do it. The work is not always easy but it is always worth it. The workers will serve in ZIP codes 76704, 76705, 76706 and 76707. The initiative started after Prosper Waco got an almost $600,000 grant from the Episcopal Health Foundation in October 2016. Multiple health-related agencies will collaborate with Prosper Waco to implement the program, which is intended to tackle poverty-related issues in heavily economically disadvantaged areas. The workers were chosen from the communities they will serve. Its pretty exciting because it means were about to get to work and start bridging the gap in connecting our community to all the resources available to them, said Ana Alvarez, one of the newly trained community health workers. Alvarez will serve the 76705 ZIP code. She said she is looking forward to working with the local Healthy Babies Coalition, which helps decrease the infant mortality rate, and with programs that provide assistance for victims of domestic violence. Ive been previously working with the Family Health Center for five years, and this was something that was close to me, Alvarez said. And on the domestic violence side, Ive done a lot of research and projects for school. We need to help erase any type of domestic violence, and Im just very passionate about that. The initiative is a perfect example of how collaboration between organizations of varying types, sizes and skill sets can address longstanding problems, Prosper Waco executive director Matthew Polk said. Were at a great time in the history of Waco, in the government side of it, the education side of it, in the community side of it and in the social side of it, the kind of four legs to the table, Waco Mayor Pro Tem Jim Holmes told graduates, echoing Polks sentiments. As we see them coming together and Prosper Wacos efforts toward financial security, education and health, I think were seeing all the parts of Waco in a great renaissance period right now. A group of miniature aircraft enthusiasts is doing its part to help local students master full-size flight. The Heart of Texas Miniature Aircraft Club has created a $1,000 annual scholarship that will go to a Texas State Technical College aviation student. Club President Stephen Bird said the scholarship will fund flying fees for a student. The announcement came at the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce Aviation Alliance meeting Friday. Club spokesman Corey Streza, a TSTC graduate, said the scholarship aims to help a student from Central Texas. I earned a scholarship my second year similar to the one were offering, and it helped tremendously, Streza said. Usually in the second year, the lights at the end of the tunnel. Youre almost done. You can see it, you can grab it, and finances are usually what slow those kids down. Carson Pearce, TSTC Aerospace Division director, pointed to data indicating pilots have greater returns on their educational investment than teachers, lawyers and doctors. Pearce also said there is a worldwide shortage of about 22,500 pilots. Additionally, Boeing Co. has said it needs 612,000 pilots worldwide through 2032. Whenever we graduate somebody and put them into the workforce as a pilot were meeting a critical infrastructure need in the country, Pearce said. The $1,000 scholarship from HOTMAC represents $33,000 in earning potential to the graduate that receives it. HOTMAC was formed in 1964 and used sites at Cameron Park and James Connally Air Force Base. Its approximately 100 members now fly planes less than 55 pounds at a 39-acre flying site near Speegleville Park. Many people are actively worried about global warming. And it frustrates them that skeptics and deniers refuse to acknowledge the science of such an urgent, man-made problem. But there may be valid reasons to dispute the theory that man is responsible for climate change. And to demonstrate why the issue isnt so clear-cut, heres a basic climate question to ponder: As the level of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere increases, does its ability to absorb heat increase, decrease or remain the same? Most people will assume the answer is increase. After all, CO2 is a greenhouse gas. Adding more of it to the atmosphere should mean more heat being trapped. The correct answer, however, is decrease. How do we know this? Because the United Nations very own, Al Gore-friendly Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has acknowledged in its reports that CO2 loses the ability to absorb heat as its concentration increases. The IPCC explains that CO2 follows a logarithmic dependence, which means that it takes ever-doubling amounts of CO2 to keep adding the same amount of heat absorption in the atmosphere. In fact, CO2 absorbs only a certain narrow spectrum of infrared radiation, and the IPCC recognizes that the middle of this band is already saturated. People who fret about man-made warming may find it hard to believe CO2 actually loses heat-trapping ability. But they should know that even the very climate-concerned IPCC admits to such limitations. They still argue we need to fear man-made warming, however. And their reason is simply that they believe any additional heat absorbed by CO2 will be greatly amplified by water vapor feedback. This begs the questionare they right? The answer is No. Water vapor is the primary greenhouse gas of the atmosphere and responsible for most of the warming that keeps the earth habitable. To make their case, the IPCC theorizes any additional warming from CO2 will lead to more water vapor in the atmosphere. And this water vapor will trap more heat, raising temperatures further. Its this feedback loop that is used to justify their predictions of catastrophic future warming. Its an interesting concept but contains an inherent problem: Water vapor added to the atmosphere inevitably transitions to clouds. And cumulus clouds not only reflect solar radiation back into space but also produce rain. And rainfall not only cools surface temperatures but also scrubs CO2 from the atmosphere. This is why water vapor feedback remains heavily debated in the scientific community. Even the IPCC admits an uncertainty range arises from our limited knowledge of clouds and their interactions with radiation. One thing we can all agree on, though, is that the earth has warmed over the past 150 years, and by roughly 0.85 degrees Celsius. But the cause of this warming may well be the significant increase in solar activity during that time. In 2016, Norwegian scientists Harald Yndestad and Jan-Erik Solheim reported that solar output during the 20th century reached the highest levels in 4,000 years. Also in 2016, at least 132 peer-reviewed scientific papers suggested a solar influence on climate. The IPCC rejects claims of solar variability. It argues that changes in solar irradiance (brightness) are relatively small. But recent research from scientists such as Danish physicist Henrik Svensmark demonstrates that variations in the suns output also affect the solar magnetic field and solar wind which directly influence ionization in the troposphere and cloud formation. As the IPCC observed in its first assessment report in 1990, global climate in recent millennia has fluctuated over a range of up to 2 degrees Celsius on time scales of centuries or more. Its possible the heightened solar activity of the past century has driven recent global warming. As such, valid reasons exist to question the theory of man-made climate change and to urge greater study of the issue. Kevin Costner can comfortably boast of being television's biggest star right now. His Yellowstone returned for a fifth season on Sunday, and even though it was on a cable network, it was the most-watched episode of scripted television on TV this fall. The Paramount network Western reached 12.1 million viewers, when you count in simultaneous showings on other Viacom-owned cable networks. One expert called it the most appointment-friendly shows on television right now, in part because it appeals particularly to an older audience comfortable with watching television in a traditional way. It also proves the enduring popularity of the Western. Super fund trustees are being asked how they are taking that risk into account, says Pauline Vamos. Credit:Photo: Rob Homer They aim to provide investors with "clear, comparable and consistent" information. The TCFD recommendations will have a "significant" impact, Vamos says. "We all know climate risk is going to impact everybody and every organisation in different ways," she says. "The key is, for some companies it's a material risk that needs to be measured." Climate risk disclosure is key for long-term investors, says Bill Hartnett, head of sustainability at Local Government Super. Credit:Michel O'Sullivan ANZ is one company that has already published some of this information; its latest sustainability report includes details of climate-related risk - such as potential drought and low rainfall in rural areas of Australia and New Zealand - and opportunities, such as the potential to offer funding and advice to customers in renewable energy. But this level of disclosure is rare in Australia, with research by the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors finding that while some big local companies are becoming more transparent about climate risk, others - as many as 70 in the ASX200 - declined to mention the issue altogether in their 2016 reports. If climate change risk is mis-priced, that represents an investment risk to us. Andrew Gray This is likely to change. More than 200 institutional global investors accounting for more than US26 trillion in funds under management - including AustralianSuper, AMP Capital, Colonial First State and Cbus - recently launched the Climate Action 100+ campaign, which will, from this year, push the world's 100 biggest emitting companies to curb emissions and to boost disclosure around climate change risks. The campaign aims to make directors accountable for managing climate risk, with investors suggesting they would consider votes against director re-elctions to make their point - as well as with the increasingly-used tool of shareholder resolutions. Last year saw landmark votes at oil giants ExxonMobil and Occidental, which backed resolutions that demanded the companies disclose more about their climate change risk. Similar resolutions in Australia attracted small votes in favour, but helped bring attention to the issue. "We found that shareholder resolutions have matured significantly over the past four or five years, and asking these companies to have better disclosure around climate change, for example, we think is a fundamental and important key disclosure for long-term investors," says Bill Hartnett, head of sustainability at Local Government Super, which supported climate change-related resolutions at Origin Energy, Santos and BHP. And at a Governance Institute conference last month, AMP Capital's Karin Halliday revealed that the investment manager had chosen to abstain from voting on some resolutions, to "send a signal" to the companies involved. For some companies, climate change and its various implications looms as a significant risk. For others, the risks may be small. And while some big emitters may be reluctant to act or even disclose their risks, others may have comprehensive plans in place. The point, investors say, is that they need to be able to know which companies fall into which categories - so they can price, manage and disclose their own portfolios accordingly. As Andrew Gray, AustralianSuper's head of governance, said at the Climate Action launch last month: "If climate change risk is mis-priced, that represents an investment risk to us." As 2018 gets underway, companies and boards are also concerned about the threat of climate-related legal action - a hot topic, following the 2016 release of Noel Hutley SC's opinion on directors' liability for failing to consider and disclose climate risk. "There has been an increase in litigation particularly overseas, and that will start in Australia," Vamos says. Late last year, Melbourne law practice Environmental Justice Australia launched a case arguing the Commonwealth Bank had breached corporate law by not disclosing climate change as a major or material risk in its annual report. That case was dropped following the bank's latest annual report, which discussed climate risk, however CBA denied it had breached any laws or made any changes due to the litigation. "There is a lot of interest in this area," says David Barnden, a lawyer at Environmental Justice. He says his group is continuing to "explore legal avenues" on climate change risks - not only with laws requiring companies to disclose material financial risks, but also on bans covering misleading and deceptive conduct. Super fund trustees, as well as company directors, could be in the frame, he says. Some investors, like New York City last week, are choosing to sell out of big-emitting companies altogether. In this 2015 US Navy picture, the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and Japanese Maritime Self-defence Force Akizuki-class destroyer JS Fuyuzuki transit alongside the Indian Deepak-class fleet tanker INS Shakti during Exercise Malabar. Credit:MCS CHAD M. TRUDEAU A visiting forces agreement, which would make it easier to bring military equipment onto each other's soil during training exercises, would be finalised "as early as feasible", they said. A deal struck in September will smooth logistics support for training and peacekeeping operations. Abe told a meeting of Japan's National Security Council, attended by Turnbull, that Japan and Australia "share fundamental values, including freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law", drawing an apparent contrast to authoritarian China. In New Delhi, meanwhile, Pyne confirmed India would join Australia's Pitch Black air force exercise for the first time this year. "I feel that the relationship with India has been underdone and yet the Indian Ocean is a huge part of our bigger strategic concerns," Pyne told Fairfax Media. "It is as important to us as the Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific, so I think you'll see a great deal more interest in ministers travelling to India and meeting with their counterparts in future than you have in the last couple of decades." Mattoo said he had never seen so much "buzz" around the relationship as he does now. He will co-chair next week's Australia India Leadership Dialogue, which will be attended by Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong and treasury spokesman Chris Bowen. Japan is worried about China's efforts to put its stamp on the East China Sea where Japan holds island territory, while India is concerned by China's expansion into the Indian Ocean. Beijing has established a naval port in Djibouti on the eastern coast of Africa and reportedly is building another in Pakistan India's arch-rival. These countries are regarded as natural partners for Australia, because as Turnbull, Pyne and their counterparts repeatedly said, they are democracies that support the rule of law and a rules-based system. Japan is the keenest. India has traditionally been more reluctant. A potential fifth partner Indonesia whose former deputy foreign minister and ambassador to the US Dino Patti Djalal joined the four admirals on stage in New Delhi is also hesitant. The appearance of the admirals together which Rory Medcalf, the head of the Australian National University's national security college described as " highly symbolic and carefully stage-managed" followed the first four-way meeting by officials in Manila in November on the sidelines of an ASEAN summit. When the quad was first tried last decade, Australia under Kevin Rudd became squeamish and abruptly pulled back. India felt burnt and the whole thing was shelved for years. But the fact it is evolving cautiously this time suggests it will be sustainable, Medcalf said. India's decision to host this public conversation between the four admirals "indicates its own growing confidence in dealing with a powerful China". "This is not some rush into an Asian NATO and nor is it something the four democracies should feel embarrassed about," Medcalf said. "Chinese assertiveness is driving a wide range of countries in the Indo-Pacific and beyond to swap notes about their strategic concerns." Notably, Turnbull and Abe made no reference to the quad. Pyne said he did not discuss it with his counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman when they met last week, though he said it was a hot topic of conversation with most other people he spoke with. Pyne said Australia would work to "develop it into something of use to all four countries while ensuring of course it's not seen by anyone in the Asia-Pacific region as being any kind of attempt to limit their activities". Also conspicuous was Turnbull's careful language. In Japan, he went out of his way to praise China's efforts on North Korea and even spoke positively about the South China Sea, saying he was "more optimistic" the issues there would be solved and acknowledged "real progress" as China negotiated a code of maritime conduct with south-east Asian nations. On the eve of Turnbull's visit, Chinese media questioned whether it was the precursor to a military alliance to contain China, and warned against Australia forming an "iron triangle" with the US and Japan. Given the visit coincides with a series of diplomatic spats between Canberra and Beijing, Australia was treading carefully in the signals it sends to its largest trading partner. Mattoo said Turnbull's approach was perfectly sensible. There was no logic, he said, in poking China in the eye with words when actions were already speaking loudly. With no rule book, countries are genuinely hedging as they figure their way through this and decide what is best for them. "What you're going to witness within what you might call this twilight zone or this transitional period is different countries will use different ways of hedging," he said. "Each country recognises that your bilateral relationship with China can't be sacrificed on the promise of a collective arrangement which has not worked with the same kind of co-ordination and coherence in the past." Yet structurally, these countries have little choice but to look to each other. Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, a respected security commentator who writes for the Hindustan Times and has sat on various government advisory councils, said Indian suspicion of Australia's commitment had lingered for a long time since Rudd pulled out of the quad last time. Chaudhuri added that New Delhi was still watching closely to see what Labor's policy would be. Wong told Fairfax Media the quad "should take account of the important role that other countries play in regional security affairs". "Labor will certainly examine all proposals that serve the security interests of Australia and will co-operate with any and all countries that share our objectives to enhance the stability, security and prosperity of the region," she said. Chaudhuri said doubts about Australia, along with India's historical policy of non-alignment meant the country had been reluctant. But with China reaching into the Indian Ocean, India needed friends. When US Defence Secretary James Mattis visited India last year, he made it clear the US could not take responsibility for the Indian Ocean and asked New Delhi to step up, offering any necessary help in terms of military technology, Chaudhuri said. India realised it must have help from countries such as Australia, Chaudhuri said. "Australia is the fourth or fifth largest military power in Asia and it is an Indian Ocean power You can't really do an Indian Ocean strategy that doesn't include Australia. That's one of the reasons Australia has become much more important to us," he said. Mattoo agreed. India saw Australia for a long time as a junior sheriff to the US, he said. But it now regarded Australia as an important middle power on the Indian Ocean rim and a key player in any effort to maintain balance and stability in Asia. Older men getting back into the dating game are having riskier sex than younger suitors, leaving them vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections, a new study suggests. Men in their 50s and 60s were less likely to use a condom or have a good understanding of STIs than younger male suitors, found the analysis of 2339 men who logged onto the dating site RSVP. Older men may need a sex education reshresher, FPNSW research suggests. Credit:Stock The findings suggest a sex education refresher may be in order for older lotharios who were more likely to believe condoms were mood killers that would stifle their sexual pleasure, reported the researchers at Family Planning NSW. Fewer than half of men over 60 said they would only have sex with a new partner if they used a condom. The same was true of 51 per cent of men in their 50s compared to almost 70 per cent of men aged 19-29, found the study published in the journal Sexual Health on Friday. The agency in charge of monitoring and inspecting correctional facilities across New York state has not been adequately doing its job, the state comptroller's office said Friday. According to an audit of the State Commission of Correction, from January 2014 to July 2017, the commission should have been monitoring 561 state and local correctional facilities and jails and routinely inspecting the state's 54 prisons. However, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the commission generally failed to do so. Auditors found the commission which is comprised of three commissioners and 28 staff had largely focused its resources on local, independently operated facilities. As a result, the audit said the commission did not routinely inspect state facilities, which are overseen by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. "The State Commission of Correction is not adequately monitoring what's happening in our prisons," DiNapoli said in a press release. "The commission needs to improve its tracking of data and to identify patterns or trends that merit attention to protect the rights and safety of inmates and correctional staff." In addition to inspections, the commission is also responsible for responding to complaints and inmate grievances, and while the audit found its response time had actually improved, DiNapoli said more could be done, particularly with a new management information system. "The new data system ... falls far short of helping them identify problems and needs to be addressed," the comptroller said. DiNapoli recommended that the commission improve the system to retain and analyze information for state facilities while monitoring DOCCS accreditation results. He also suggested that the agency analyze complaints and grievances to identify any emerging issues at a specific facility or system-wide. In response, the commission said it is collaborating with DOCCS and the Office of Information Technology Services to "explore various options by which DOCCS could report significant facility incidents." The commission also said it would try to obtain and review the accreditation reports from DOCCS. As for the new data system, the commission said it was still being developed at the time of the audit. Since then, it said it has tailored the system to "more effectively monitor data generated from complaints and inmate grievances." Remembering those who died in the Mid-Willamette Valley. Photos submitted by family members to accompany their obituaries in the Albany Democr The Willamette Valley Ag Expo is set for Tuesday through Thursday, Nov. 15 through 17, at the Linn County Expo Center, 3700 Knox Butte Road E. in Albany. This weeks article at The Nassau Institute by Professor Richard Ebeling speaks to the hypocrisy of both the neoliberals (Democrats) and conservatives (Republicans) in the US. He points out in the summary that; "Left out of this debate, alas, is that other alternative that could, in fact, make America free and prosperous: classical liberalism and free market capitalism. Something Progressives, conservatives and Trump neither understand nor really care about." This comment just nails the hypocrisy: "...Progressives and liberals in these states seem to have rediscovered states rights and federalism in such areas as immigration and drug use liberalization. (One even hears some of them almost paraphrasing John C. Calhouns arguments for state nullification of Federal law, without, of course, ever speaking his forbidden name.) But, no doubt, their reawakened appreciation for constitutional checks and balances will be found to be only Trump-deep, because when one of their own once more occupies the White House the push for the centralizing interventionist-welfare state will be back in fashion with their long followed disregard for individual liberty and constitutional division of powers." Read the Nassau Institute article here... There is an alternative folks and Ludwig von Mises helped clarify things even for those of us here in The Bahamas in his book Liberalism. Download a pdf of the book here... Advertisement By WestKyStar & WKCTC Staff Jan. 19, 2018 | PADUCAH, KY By WestKyStar & WKCTC Staff Jan. 19, 2018 | 07:51 PM | PADUCAH, KY Nearly 100 West Kentucky Community and Technical College students have had the opportunity to help the people of El Salvador over the past five years as part of the college's Service Learning Study Abroad trip. One of those students is 19-year-old Kyle Garner of Paducah, who traveled to El Salvador each of his last three years at McCracken County High School, and will make his first trip with WKCTC this March. "I feel like I have a call from God to help the less fortunate and to help them in any way I can," said Garner, who serves as the social media coordinator for WKCTC's Student Government Association. He said the college's Service Learning program is giving him the opportunity to keep serving those who are in need in El Salvador. "The past three times (I have gone to El Salvador)you come back completely changed from the experiences and everything you see.it's so awesome to be able to continue to get to go." The college is hosting a t-shirt fundraiser to help fund service learning projects for Garner and other WKCTC students while in El Salvador in March. "Selling the t-shirts is one of our primary sources of funding. Without the money, we wouldn't be able to build a house for a struggling family or feed the homeless," said Garner. Steve Portillo, Operations Manager for Sus Hijos (His Children), the organization visiting service learning groups work with to help the citizens of El Salvador, recently made his first trip to the United States to talk with students and organizers about El Salvador. He said WKCTC students have been providing teams to do good works in El Salvador. "They visited orphanages; they have built houses; they have fed the homeless, fed entire communities; and that's something that we need in El Salvador - people that show love and compassion," said Portillo. "Working with the college and other organizations and Starfish, they are 'providing hope' and about telling people, 'we know you need a little push.. so we are going to help you start and set up a new life." Portillo said most of the people who travel to El Salvador, see the need and will be touched. The money raised before the trip makes the difference in the amount of help that can be provided. "If they (the students) sell t-shirts and fundraise properlythey will have the freedom and the ability to do more." Jennifer Frazier, WKCTC coordinator for this year's college Service Learning program, said the community's help in purchasing the El Salvador t-shirts is vital to make this year's student trip possible. "It is an indescribable feeling to be a part of watching our students as they serve and learn in El Salvador," said Frazier. "The help they provide to the people of El Salvador leaves a long-lasting impact; one the students will never forget." El Salvador t-shirts are $20 and can be purchased by contacting Jennifer Frazier at jennifer.frazier@kctcs.edu or 270-534-3229. The deadline to purchase t-shirts is February 1. By West Kentucky Star Staff Jan. 19, 2018 | 07:47 PM | PADUCAH, KY Paducah Police Chief Brandon Barnhill has announced his opposition to legalizing any kind of marijuana in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.Barnhill is the current President of the Kentucky Association of Chiefs of Police. On Thursday that group announced a resolution opposing the legalization of both medical and recreational marijuana.In a post on the Police Department's Facebook page Friday, Barnhill announced his support for the resolution.The KACP resolution cites findings on the drug's addictive tendencies, harmful effects on adolescent brains, and links to use of alcohol. It also asserts there are documented public safety concerns linked to marijuana use, such as highway safety, criminal activity, and domestic violence.The resolution concludes that the KACP,"desires to preserve the rights of citizens to live and work in a community where drug abuse is not accepted and citizens are not subjected to the adverse effects of drug abuse. Therefore, be it resolved that the KACP opposes legalizing the sale, distribution and possession of medical and recreational marijuana, hashish, marijuana concentrate, and products made from marijuana concentrates."This week, State Senator Dan Seum of Louisville introduced a bill aimed at legalizing the drug for recreational use. Eight other states and the District of Columbia have already passed similar legislation.Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes recently formed a coalition to investigate the legalization of medical marijuana, and joined others to promote a House bill for that purpose at the Capitol on January 11. On the Net: The lighting ceremony for Paducah's Christmas in the Park set for Wednesday By West Kentucky Star Staff Jan. 20, 2018 | 10:50 AM | CARLISLE COUNTY, KY Clint Davis has filed to run for Sheriff in Carlisle County to fill the position vacated by retiring Sheriff Steve Perry. Clint is a 24-year veteran with the Kentucky State Police, retiring in 2013 as a Master Trooper. He also served as a part-time Bardwell police officer for three years after his retirement from KSP. "I have served the people as a police officer for 27 years in Carlisle as well as other counties, Davis said. I have a vast amount of training and experience in all aspects of law enforcement during this time. After having work experience in Carlisle County for 27 years, I know the problems that face us. My experience and skills has given me the ability to address these problems. I have heard what you want and expect from your Sheriff. I will strive to give you the professional sheriff's office you want and deserve." The drug problems Carlisle faces and the theft of property tops our list of problems as they are often related as people steal to buy drugs. We need criminal patrol and be able to answer calls for help and service in our County and you want professional officers that can fairly enforce the law and solve the problems when they arrive. You expect this from your Sheriff and I feel I can be that Sheriff. Court security can still be provided with prompt service of court papers to make the system more efficient." "I am now asking the people of Carlisle County to allow me to serve them as their next Sheriff. I will be on the ballot in the May 20th primary election." By West Kentucky Star Staff Jan. 20, 2018 | 09:10 AM | MARSHALL COUNTY, KY Kentucky State Police are requesting the public's assistance locating a man who fled from Troopers on foot.On Jan 10, at 11:50 p.m., Troopers stopped a vehicle on Highway 68 in Draffenville for a traffic violation. During the stop, the driver was identified as 38-year-old Ian D. Hunter. During a search of the vehicle, police found drug paraphernalia consistent with drug trafficking, as well as a significant amount of methamphetamine. While Hunter was being arrested, he resisted and fled on foot. A search of the immediate area was conducted but Hunter was not found. Police say Hunter has recently used addresses in McCracken and Livingston counties. He is a white male, 6' 0", 215 lbs., bald, with green eyes. Police say Hunter should not be approached. Anyone with information on Hunter's whereabouts should contact Kentucky State Police at 270-856-3721. Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. Embed from Getty Images Substitute Oumar Niasse earned Everton a share of the points at home to West Brom on Saturday, with the attacker cancelling out Jay Rodriguezs opener just 56 seconds after coming off the bench. However, the result was overshadowed by an horrific injury suffered by James McCarthy, with the Everton midfielders leg broken in two places following a challenge by Salomon Rondon. The Irish midfielder has struggled with injuries with the Toffees and this latest one, a fracture of both the tibia and fibia, has cut his season short. The incident occurred with McCarthy chasing back to tackle Rondon as he was about to shoot, with the West Brom striker kicking the Everton mans leg in the process. Embed from Getty Images The seriousness of the injury, which saw McCarthy given oxygen before been stretched off and taken to hospital, left Rondon in tears, with manager Alan Pardew consoling the striker. Embed from Getty Images McCarthys club and country team-mate, Seamus Coleman, watched on from the stands, with the full-back himself still recovering from a dreadful leg break. Embed from Getty Images Lets hope McCarthy makes a full recovery and gets back to full fitness before too long. LEXINGTON Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts made a visit to Lexington on Wednesday to speak at a noon town hall meeting at Kirks Nebraskland Restaurant. "It is an honor to have the governor here to speak on the issues that are so important kids, taxes and economic development," said Lexington Mayor John Fagot as he introduced Gov. Ricketts. Ricketts began by highlighting accomplishments of the past legislative session and possibilities in the current session. He praised the passage of budgets, a bill that undid a century old ban on public schoolteachers wearing religious garb in the classroom and the combination of the Department of Roads and the Department of Aeronautics to create the Department of Transportation. He also recognized a change to unemployment benefits, so that someone who quits a job cant apply for benefits. Ricketts said last year Nebraska had the most economic development projects of any state in the union, along with a 2.7 percent unemployment rate which is the lowest since 1999. He said revenues continue to not meet forecasts. When the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board met in October they projected the state will be short $100 million for its budget this year and $123 million next year. Ricketts said the shortage can be offset through the transfer of excess fund balances to the general fund and borrowing $108 million from cash reserves. He also proposes an across-the-board cut of 2 percent this fiscal year and 4 percent next year. Ricketts said budget priorities, or areas that would not see a decrease in funding, are funding for K-12 education, developmental disability services and Corrections. He said he is recommending a $35 million increase in child welfare funding because of a 9 percent increase in the number of children coming into state care, about 485 more children. Ricketts stressed the importance of fixing the budget gap without raising taxes. He also said if Nebraska wants to remain competitive property taxes need to be lowered. He said Nebraska is the 11th highest state in terms of property taxes and the state must be competitive to attract companies to invest in the state. Ricketts said the tax reform he hoped for last year wasnt accomplished, but a new bill being introduced in the legislature, LB 947, is based on feedback from last years attempt. The Nebraska Property Tax Cuts and Opportunities Act, the title for LB 947, targets property tax relief through a refundable tax credit on state taxes for property taxes paid, which restructures an existing property tax credit program and personal property exemption program. The tax credit would be available to agriculture property tax payers and homeowner property tax payers, said Ricketts, but only for state residents. He said the proposal could bring $4 billion of property tax relief in the next four years. LB 947 would also change income tax rates. Additionally it would give an extra $5 million a year to workforce development for two years. Ricketts said the state should invest $10 million in workforce development for things like job training and internships. He praised LB 518, the Rural Workforce Housing Investment Act, introduced by Senator Matt Williams of Gothenburg, which passed during the last legislative session, for its ability to address housing needs. About 50 people came to Kirks to hear the governor speak and ask questions. A man among the group said, in general state revenues are not growing as fast as the economy and that states are trying to tax the old economy and not doing a very good job at taxing the new economy. Ricketts responded that it was up to folks of how to restructure taxing. He noted that South Dakotas attempt at collecting an internet sales tax was declared unconstitutional and is tied up in courts. He said Nebraska is watching the case and the Nebraska Attorney General signed a brief encouraging the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case. Ricketts reminded the public that all citizens are responsible to keep track of what they buy and pay sales tax to the state if it was not collected by a vendor. "I realize I am one of seven people in the state who does that. The tax commissioner is another one," said Ricketts. Placing a tax on food, or at least ready-made convenience foods, was offered as a way to generate state revenue. Ricketts responded that he is not generally in favor of increasing taxes. Later comments by others that the fairest tax might be sales tax because anyone who shops gets taxed, met with a different response. Ricketts said he didnt disagree with that in principle, but noted tax proposals need 33 votes. "A perfect plan that doesnt have 33 votes doesnt happen," said Ricketts. Members of the public talked about the difficulty of passing laws when there are only 19 rural senators and 25 votes are needed to pass a bill. Ricketts agreed that a broad coalition must be built for laws to pass. Someone asked if a bicameral legislature would work better. "Every system has its pros and cons. Im told were much less polarized," said Ricketts. He said a two-house system would still be based on population like the current unicameral. Other public comments were on the state aid for schools formula, which Ricketts agreed was complicated and needed re-done. He mentioned the work of Senator Mike Groene of North Platte, the Education Committee chair, but said there likely wont be change this year. Currently 70 school districts get equalization money, noted Ricketts. He said there is some consideration for foundation aid for every student. The state aid formula is a big wealth transfer from outer Nebraska to eastern Nebraska, said someone. "It might be a best idea to eliminate state aid if we cant do it fairly," said one man. City manager Joe Pepplitsch asked if environmental reviews needed for working with the Department of Transportation would move to the state level from the federal level, saying he had a great case study. Ricketts said he didnt know specifically, but there was a night and day difference in working with the current federal administration. "This administration is absolutely accessible. They want to hear from us," said Ricketts. There was a question about the new federal tax and how it would impact the state. Ricketts said the Department of Revenue was conducting an analysis to make sure it would not be a tax increase for Nebraskans and that state laws would be adjusted if necessary. Ricketts said Nebraska is not a sanctuary state and doesnt have sanctuary cities when that topic came up. A specific question regarding DACA, was met with a response that it was a federal issue "where the decision belongs" and talk of securing the border. Ricketts said it was incumbent on Congress to get something fixed and the immigration system today is broken. Other topics brought up by citizens were the University of Nebraskas cut in funding in order to balance the state budget, the system for alerts in emergencies, motorcycle profiling, broadband, the right to repair movement, rural broadband and the balance between religious freedom and civil rights. When asked what Nebraska is doing right, Ricketts said, "We talk." ELWOOD When the landlord raised the rent, hair stylist Laura Tilson figured she might as well be paying a mortgage so she arranged to build a place for her hair salon. Avanti Salon & Boutique opened at 305 Calvert Avenue six years ago in September. It is across the street from the village office and library. Tilson received a $10,000 loan from an Elwood redevelopment board in support of the project. Her husband Shane and father-in-law did the construction work. "Its been a ton of fun," Tilson said of owning a business in Elwood. "People who walk in for the first time dont know what to expect and react with surprise." "Elwood people are so supportive, but I also have guests form Arapahoe, Kearney, Lexington, Sumner, Cambridge and McCook," she said. Some out of town customers report that they enjoy the drive and the alone time without kids. Tilson was once hesitant to try working in Elwood. Even after she moved to Elwood in 2004 to join her soon-to-be husband, she worked in Lincoln, commuting back and forth. She often worked Wednesday through Saturday, and arranged to stay with family or friends while in Lincoln. Eventually she reduced her time away from Elwood to two days a week. When she decided she should be closer to home, she worked in Kearney and later at Johnson Lake. "It was a hard transition. That was all I had ever known in the hair world," said Tilson of giving up her ties to Lincoln, which is where she attended cosmetology school. Tilson said working in Elwood is different than she imagined it would be. She thought customers would only be people related to her husband or those requesting roller sets (something she doesnt do). Services offered are those typical of a hair salon cut, color, balayage, waxing, permanents, hair styling, updos, special events like prom or homecoming and spray tans. The business has evolved and now includes a boutique with womens clothing for sale, which opened in April. "Its been fun to transition into something else," said Tilson, noting that she originally wanted to sell clothes when the salon was being built, but she got scared and backed off. For now, the boutique is open any time the salon is open, but Tilson would like for it to have its own hours someday. She encourages people to stop by without worrying about whether or not they are a hair client. "Come check out the boutique even if you dont get your hair done here," Tilson said. Clothing sizes range from small to triple extra-large with "something for everybody." There are a variety of items including tops, sweaters, dresses, jeggings, jeans and capris. "We are always taking tips from people," said Tilson, noting that she acts on customer suggestions. She looks forward to going to market sometime this year to be able to look over various clothing lines in person. She hopes to offer more choices in the future. Tilson said she knows what it is like to feel like there is nothing to wear and how people dont want to drive a long distance to shop. "I want to fix that problem for people," she said. Jodi Lerdall, from Elwood, also cuts hair part time at Avanti Salon & Boutique and massage therapist, Heidi Button, utilizes a back room. When it came to selecting a name, Tilson said she googled to look for ideas. The name Avanti means "move forward" so it fit perfectly. Tilson grew up in Battle Creek, which is 12 miles west of Norfolk. After she graduated from high school she attempted a semester of college studying early childhood education, but discovered it wasnt a match. Tilson said her decision to enroll in cosmetology school probably surprised some people. "I was a tomboy," she explained of her growing up years. "Then all of a sudden I wore makeup." However, she had aunts that cut hair and she always thought what they did "looked cool and fascinating." Tilson said an adaptation she was forced to make because she works in Elwood had a good outcome for herself and clients. The product supplier she previously used wasnt an option because the town is too small to fit the companys criteria. It forced Tilson to search for alternatives. She tried many different products, but didnt love any of them until she came across Surface. Tilson said the company founded by Wayne Grund is small and family like. "I like that it is pure, organic and free of gluten, parabens and sulfates," she said of products. She said when she launched Awaken color 60 to 70 percent of her guests switched over. There is no smell, dust or ammonia, she reported. Tilson is an educator with the company and just returned from national training in Florida. Avanti Salon & Boutique is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays and by appointment on Saturdays. For more information call 308-785-8026, 308-325-2669 or visit the Avanti Salon & Boutique Facebook page. The Winona-based version of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program is expanding its services to taxpayers in St. Charles. Residents who fit within the programs qualifications in the Winona and St. Charles area are invited to utilize free income tax preparation services, designed for persons with low to moderate income levels, between February and April. Hosted locally through Catholic Charities, the St. Charles program offering will be available from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursdays, Feb. 8 through April 12, at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, 1900 E. Sixth St., St. Charles. Taxpayers in the Winona area can utilize the programs services four days a week from Feb. 3 through April 14 during select hours at Live Well Winona, 619 Huff St. Getting the tax program to St. Charles was a multi-year collaborative effort by the St. Charles Hometown Resource Center and the St. Charles Ministerial group, executive director of the center Justin Green said. The basic reason is that St. Charles has people that need help with tax returns, just like everyone else. The only thing people in St. Charles could do is come to Winona, Green said, adding the groups are delighted to see their work come to fruition. When utilizing VITA, taxpayers work with trained volunteers, who greet people, answer phones and prepare taxes for submission. The forms are then quality checked and filed for free, said Sue Degallier, active aging program administrator with Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota. The program is qualified to assist taxpayers who are dependents, such as students working but still claimed by their parents, who make at most $25,000; sin-gle persons who make at most $35,000; a family of two who make no more than $45,000; and a family of three or more who make no more than $55,000. Farmers, business owners and clergy members are some of the people the organization cannot help, since tax filing for these groups becomes more complicated, said Joliene Olson. Olson, a longtime volunteer with the program, said that while St. Charles is a new location for the program, volunteer assistance with income taxes has been in the Winona community for decades. Olson was part of one of the first group of people to volunteer in Winona. Over the years, the group was filing taxes at the East End Recreation Center and the Friendship Center and facilitated in getting the program to where it stands today. The program was offered through the United Way of the Greater Winona Area, but two years ago, Catholic Charities took up the program after the United Way closed. After Catholic Charities took over, Degallier said it used its talents to write a grant application. It took us saying, We will put in for that grant. You guys tell us if you could have this money what is it that could help you run this site better, and well put it on paper, Degallier said. Catholic Charities received more than $8,000 in grant money from the IRS to help cover the expenses of hosting a free tax operation in St. Charles and Winona. The grant helped pay for new equipment such as printers and larger-print screens for filing taxes, some training materials and to provide food for volunteers while they work, Degallier said. Those who are interested in using the volunteer-based, free tax services should call for an appointment, Degallier said, but walk-ins are available, with the understanding of a possible wait time. Calling to set up an appointment is not available until Friday, Jan. 26, in Winona and Monday, Jan. 29, in St. Charles. A candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court is bringing partisan issues to the forefront of the nonpartisan race. In an unusual move for judicial campaigns, Madison attorney Tim Burns told Sauk County Democrats on Thursday that if he is elected to the highest state court, he would use his influence to stand up for progressive ideals. Burns said he would work to ensure Wisconsin citizens have access to opportunities for themselves and their children. I am running because in the span of my adulthood, equal opportunity for the children of people who struggled like my parents has disappeared in this country, he said. It has been replaced by a system in which almost all of the new income and wealth goes to the top 1 percent, and everyone else is left working longer and harder for less and less. Burns made the comments while speaking during the Democratic Party of Sauk Countys January meeting at the Baraboo Civic Center. Burns hopes his strategy of utter candor will put him ahead of his opponents in the Feb. 20 primary. He faces Michael Screnock, a conservative Sauk County Circuit Court judge, and Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Rebecca Dallet, a political moderate. The two candidates who receive the most votes in the primary will square off in the April 3 general election. They are running to replace Justice Michael Gableman, who is part of a 5-2 conservative majority on the court and opted not to run for a second 10-year term. While Wisconsin Supreme Court races are officially nonpartisan, Burns said voters deserve to know where judges stand on political issues. The unusual approach has earned him endorsements from U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Black Earth, Our Wisconsin Revolution and a host of other liberal groups, politicians, judges and lawyers. I believe that gerrymandering and photo ID are great dangers to our democracy, Burns said, outlining his progressive agenda. I believe in strong workers unions, and I believe that legislation and government actions that attack unions hurt all of us. He went on to say that he believes the government has an important role to play in protecting the environment and should make sure small farmers and business owners have an equal playing field against foreign corporations. The government has absolutely no role to play in our bedrooms or our reproductive decisions, he added. Members of the Sauk County Democrats asked Burns how he thought his liberal ideals would be received by rural Wisconsin voters who are more likely to vote conservative. Burns said he hopes his practice of sincerity and candor will resonate with the electorate. I think that when youre candid and sincere with people and stand up for what you believe, thats the time people become believers too, he said. Thats what this campaign has been about absolute candor with people to the full extent. TOWN OF WINFIELD A violent mental patient whose placement in a community setting has been controversial is facing charges that he battered a caretaker and destroyed his home. The Sauk County District Attorneys Office has charged Jeremy R. Felix, 31, of Reedsburg, with felony aggravated battery, as well as misdemeanor counts of criminal property damage and disorderly conduct. Felix lives in a locked home within the town of Winfield, just north of Reedsburg. The home is operated by Dungarvin, a company that receives funds through the states Family Care program to care for Felix. According to the criminal complaint, on Dec. 17, Felix became angry with a Dungarvin employee and repeatedly threatened to kill her as she ran into an office and locked the door. Authorities say Felix then punched a hole through the door, grabbed the employee by the hair, and pulled her through the door. The complaint says other caretakers restrained Felix while the employee ran to another room and hid. The employee told investigators she could hear Felix searching for her and destroying the home. The employee then reportedly escaped through the locked facilitys main entrance and met with officers after they arrived on scene. A representative of Dungarvin could not be reached for comment before deadline Friday. A deputy reported damage to most of the home, including destroyed appliances, a broken door, large holes in the wall, as well as shattered glass items and windows. Felix who faces up to six years in prison and $10,000 in fines if convicted of the felony has a history of becoming violent with caretakers. Nevertheless, the state has allowed his placement in a community setting, which has been controversial. In 2010, Felix was convicted of assaulting and strangling staff at a Wood County mental institution. Later the same year, Lake Delton officers tased him at a water park after he became violent during a group outing. In 2013, Felix was housed in a locked Baraboo facility, which drew the concern of neighbors and law enforcement after multiple Dungarvin staff complained he had attacked and injured them. State Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, sought information from the state Department of Health Services, which administers Family Care, about Felixs community placement. DHS responded that federal law requires patients with mental disorders and intellectual disabilities to receive care in the least restrictive treatment alternative appropriate to their needs. DHS later released a review of the Baraboo facility that found no issues and was complimentary of Dungarvin. A federal agency disagreed. Baraboo police reported the matter to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In January 2014, that agency found that Dungarvin staff had been subjected to hazardous conditions associated with workplace violence. OSHA recommended improved safety measures, but did not cite Dungarvin because the firm already had taken new steps to prevent violence since the alleged attacks. In 2014, Felix was moved from Baraboo to the locked home in the town of Winfield. Neighbors complained to town officials, but were unsuccessful in preventing his placement there. In April 2016, Felix escaped the home, and was captured a short time later by a sheriffs deputy. Although most of the employees of the Beaver Dam Department of Public Works have been there for decades, leadership at the city garage has been plagued in recent years by short-term hires. After a reshuffling of job responsibilities, the city is taking a different tack, seeking someone with enough skills to lead the workers, but not the degree required to take on managerial responsibilities. Director of Facilities and Engineering Richie Piltz will take on a more managerial role. I took over a lot of the management portion of the position, so the new job is a more hands-on, supervising day-to-day operations, Piltz said. Chris Quandt left the job for a position as highway commissioner with one of the northern counties in Wisconsin. Quandt, who had come from Illinois, held the Beaver Dam job approximately nine months. Acting supervisor Jim Diels is in charge of the DPW until the supervisor position can be filled. Plitz said no in-house candidates applied with the job was posted internally, so it is now being advertised with an application due date of Feb. 2. The most important thing is that theyve had prior DPW work and construction experience, Piltz said. They must have prior field experience. They dont need to have some kind of a degree. One of the challenges any new hire will face is taking charge of many veteran workers. Thats why were looking for someone who, when he hands out work orders, understands the work, Piltz said. We have to have someone with strong field knowledge. According to the job description, primary duties include management of public works operations including street maintenance and repair, traffic control, street lighting, solid waste collection, snow and ice removal and vehicle and equipment maintenance. Duties include budget and planning, staff supervision, project management, project coordination with other departments, and numerous other activities. The successful candidate will supervise 11 laborers (most of them classified as skilled) and a shop clerk. The department also employs additional workers in the summer. Piltz is hopeful that someone can be found for the supervisor position, but admits that it may not be easy. Its hard to find people these days, Piltz said. There are a lot of people with college degrees looking for upper management positions, and very few out there looking for working positions. This is a position where work experience is the most important qualification. Salary ranges from $65,000 to $70,000, depending on qualifications and experience. Application information is available by calling 920-887-4600, ext. 320, or by stopping at the city clerks office, 205 S. Lincoln Ave., Monday through Friday between 7:30 a.m. and noon and 1-4:30 p.m. Finished applications should be submitted in person at City Hall by Feb. 2. Piltz hopes that a new person will be hired and ready to begin work allowing for interviews and council approvals by the end of March. China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page moodboard/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- A U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer sailed within 12 miles of Scarborough Shoal, a small uninhabited reef in the South China Sea claimed by China and the Philippines, according to a U.S. official. China's Foreign Ministry accused the United States of trespassing through its territorial waters. The USS Hopper carried out an "innocent passage" within 12 miles of Scarborough Shoal on Wednesday evening, said a U.S. official. The guided missile destroyer was shadowed during the operation by a Chinese Navy ship. The U.S. official described the Hoppers patrol as an "innocent passage" and not a freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) under the strict legal definition, but "the message was the same." Under international law, a nation's territorial waters extend 12 miles from its shoreline. Barely above sea level, the chain of reefs and rocks is located 120 miles west of the Philippines and is claimed by China and the Philippines. Since 2012, Chinese government ships have turned away Philippine fishing vessels near the rich fishing grounds surrounding the shoal. In 2016, an international court at The Hague ruled against Chinas claim to Scarborough Shoal in a case filed by the Philippines. China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Hopper had sailed within its 12-mile territorial limit "without gaining permission from the Chinese government." "What the U.S. vessel did violated China's sovereignty and security interests, put the safety of Chinese vessels and personnel who were in the relevant waters for official duties under grave threat, and contravened the basic norms for international relations," the statement added. "China is strongly dissatisfied with that and will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty," said the statement. The U.S. Navy has previously conducted FONOPs in the South China Sea through other disputed island chains claimed by China, including the Spratleys and the Paracels. Pentagon officials stressed that FONOPs are conducted worldwide and are intended to demonstrate freedom of navigation through international waters. "The United States conducts routine and regular FONOPs, as we have done in the past and will continue to do so in the future," said Lt. Commander Nicole Schwegman, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet. "We have a comprehensive FONOP program under which U.S. forces challenge excessive maritime claims across the globe to demonstrate our commitment to uphold the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations under international law. FONOPs are not about any one country, nor are they about making political statements. FONOPS are designed to comply with international law and not threaten the lawful security interest of coastal states." Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy Three years after a series of February 2015 snow storms shut down Bostons public transportation system multiple times, an unelected Fiscal and Management Control Board (FMCB) has privatized sections of the organization, imposed a wage freeze with union collaboration, cut overtime hours and attacked workers pensions, but made no real improvements to the decrepit infrastructure at the root of the 2015 crisis. On December 29, during a record-breaking cold snap, a 70-year-old trolley stalled on the tracks between Ashmont Station and Mattapan. The driver of a trolley going in the opposite direction stopped to help, but his train was rammed by one behind it, injuring 17 people. 16 were taken to hospitals. The trolleys are so old that replacement parts sometimes need to be obtained from museums, according to the Boston Globe . The next day the MBTA issued a statement blaming the driver who had stopped to help; nothing further has been reported. Boston Carmens Union Local 589, affiliated to the Amalgamated Transit Union, has not returned a phone call from the World Socialist Web Site asking about plans for the defense of the driver. Also on December 29, a section of Orange Line subway rail over the Mystic River cracked in the cold, necessitating the use of shuttle buses for more than four hours, including the morning rush hour. Malden, at the northern end of the Orange Line, is home to many immigrant workers who rely on public transportation. To repair the track, maintenance workers had to spend four hours outdoors in single-degree (Fahrenheit) cold. The MBTA has spent only $100 million on winter-related infrastructure projects over the past three years. Steve Wynn, the finance chair of the Republican National Committee, is building a $2.4 billion casino in Everett near where the rail cracked, but will contribute only $7.35 million toward the operation of additional Orange Line trains over 15 years, according to masslive.com. Wynn is notorious for telling a group of investors in 2016 that, nobody likes being around poor people, especially poor people. So we try and make the [casino] feel upscale for everyone. The combined net worth of the 50 richest people with homes in Massachusetts is more than $134 billion, and 34 of them are billionaires. Among them are Fidelity Investments Chairman and MIT Corporation member Abigail Johnson ($16 billion), and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft ($6.2 billion). An estimated $5.88 billion is needed over the next five years to improve the Ts infrastructure. Despite the MBTAs decrepit infrastructure, its management and Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack insisted on running the system during a January 4 snowstorm in an attempt to prove that things arent as bad as they are. Referring to Orange Line cars that needed maintenance during and after the storm, Pollack said, yeah, the cars are three years older but we got them back in service faster than in 2015, according to the Boston Globe. The FMCBs most recent annual report boasts that the use of a private Human Resources company has helped the T reduce overtime expenses and absenteeism. However, workers are still bearing the brunt of the winter problems. A statement posted to the MBTAs web site three days after the storm admits that MBTA operations, shops, work crews, and field personnel are working under extreme arctic and potentially unsafe conditions, and many have been on-call or on-duty since the cold spell started before the New Year. MBTA General Manager Luis Manuel Ramirez, whose previous experience consists of signing false and misleading financial statements as President and CEO of Global Power Equipment Group, tried to excuse the MBTAs failing infrastructure by tweeting on January 6 that no system in North America is designed for Siberian temperatures that last more than a few hours. In fact, fire hydrants are freezing, house pipes are freezing. After this excuse failed to stem complaints, he blocked a number of journalists from his Twitter account and then created a new account to try to hide from criticism. The morning after the storm, commuter rail trains coming into South Station were delayed by as much as an hour and had to wait on the tracks for platforms to open up. Only 37 percent of Commuter Rail trains were on time January 5, and at least two-dozen were cancelled. David Scorey, General Manager of the private contractor Keolis, issued an apology but no details on how it would prevent future breakdowns, according to the Globe. Pollack and the MBTA are now threatening not to renew the companys contract for managing the Commuter Rail system, but that contractworth a total of $2.7 billiondoes not expire until June 2022. Scoreys apologythat our customers deserve better and we apologize for our performancemight be an accurate statement, but is worthless to the MBTAs riders and workers. Bad weather is not needed to demonstrate the systems continuing failures. Three days after the storm, an underground signal problem unrelated to the snow caused a suspension of service on the Green Lines E branch. Also on January 7, a disabled train caused severe delays on the Braintree branch of the Red Line. Hundreds of new Red and Orange Line cars are being built, but will not be completely deployed until 2022. In the meantime, the FMCBs Strategic Plan Timeline allocates only $30 million for maintenance and reliability of existing carssome of which are more than 50 years oldfor all of calendar years 2017 and 2018. On January 8 a smoking insulator on the Orange Line tracks near Community College caused delays and required a response from the Boston Fire Department. On January 11 a Red Line train stalled near the Charles/MGH stop during the evening commute, causing delays on the line for more than three hours. One rider posted on Twitter that Im almost out of angry things to say about the #MBTA #redline. Another posted that everyday that I have commuted this week, I have encountered mod[derate] to sev[ere] delays, adding anywhere from 39-120 min to my commute from Quincy. On the evening of January 15 a station fire at Harvard Square filled tunnels and platforms with foul-smelling smoke and caused delays of more than 30 minutes. Even as Democrats and Republicans work toward a right-wing immigration deal that will further militarize the US-Mexico border, a new report sheds light on the criminal outcome of the bipartisan, decades-long efforts to prevent immigrants from reaching the United States. The report, published on January 18, reveals that for years, US border agents have systematically emptied hundreds of emergency water supplies left behind by humanitarian organizations for immigrants along the desert region of the US-Mexico border. According to government statistics, more than 7,200 people have died attempting the journey through the four states bordering MexicoTexas, New Mexico, California and Arizonaover the last two decades, the majority due to exposure to the elements, including dehydration. Even this figure significantly understates the real toll. A recent USA Today investigation revealed that the actual number killed in the past five years is between 25 and 300 percent higher due to government underreporting. Many of those whose deaths go unreported are thrown into mass unmarked graves. The recent investigative report, titled Interference with Humanitarian Aid, was produced by two nonprofit groups, No More Deaths and La Coalicion de Derechos Humanos (Human Rights Coalition), based in Tucson, Arizona. Between 2012 and 2015, the years covered by their investigation, No More Deaths placed more than 31,558 gallon jugs (120,000 liters) of water in southern migration trails in the Arivaca corridor, a roughly 800-square-mile region in the Arizona desert that is a common route for migrants seeking to evade heavily militarized border systems. The groups found through follow-up checks that more than 86 percent of the water had been drunk. At least 3,586 gallon jugs of water, however, had been deliberately destroyed in 415 separate instances, or more than twice per week on average. The scale of sabotage demonstrates that it could only have been the outcome of a deliberate and systematic strategy. The authors note that, in addition to government agents, hunters and small extreme right-wing militia may also sabotage the water supplies. However, they explain: Given the scope of destruction, we conclude that the only actors with a sufficiently large and consistent presence across a sufficiently wide area of the desert, during periods when hunting is both authorized and prohibited, are agents of the US Border Patrol. Their conclusion is supported by a video, recently released by No More Deaths, showing smirking border agents as they empty and kick over jugs of water in the desert. The video, which includes four incidents captured on camera between 2010 and 2017, has already been viewed more than 14 million times on Facebook. US Border Agents destroy humanitarian water supplies along Mexico border The report notes that the journey across the Arivaca corridor takes at least four days. This makes it impossible for migrants to carry enough water with them for the journey. Speaking to the World Socialist Web Site, Enrique Morones, a founder of the San Diego-based organization Border Angels, which has conducted water drops since 1996, explained that for many immigrant workers, the extra supplies are the difference between life and death. It can literally save someones life, he said. Very rarely do we see people drinking the water. But we have before, and we know it gets drunk because we find the bottles. I got a call from one guy, named Francisco, in 2001. He said, I want to let you know that two weeks ago, you saved my fathers life. He had gone to Los Angeles for his mothers funeral. It was on his way back that he needed the water to live. We also visit day laborers or people looking for work and make sure theyve got food and water. Several times Ive had people say, Oh yeah, thanks for that water in the desert. Thanks to you, we made it. Not too long ago, someone told me they had crossed and thought they found water, but when they got to it, it had been slashed. They almost died. The report also documents the systematic harassment and intimidation of pro-immigrant groups by border patrol in the region. It cites a June 2017 raid on a No More Deaths medical aid camp. The patrol had placed sensors and cameras around the camp, turning it into a trap for migrants in need of medical attention. The report is the second installment of a three-part series on Death and Disappearance on the US-Mexico Border. The first part, published in December 2017, was titled The consequences of chase and scatter in the wilderness. In addition to documenting the physical assault of immigrants by border patrol agents, it cites multiple examples of individuals who become lost and separated from their groups after fleeing from agents. The following is one example: Ulises was crossing through South Texas in August of 2015. According to a call received by his family, he had been left behind by his group after having been pursued by Border Patrol agents for three hours. He has a mental disability: according to his family he has the mind of a nine- or ten-year-old child. Apparently he was left near a cattle tank with some water. To this date, no information has been found about Ulises; his whereabouts remain unknown. The latest revelations shed light on the fascistic types who police the borders of the United States. But their actions flow logically from the reactionary anti-immigrant policies of both the Republican and Democratic parties. As far as the political establishment is concerned, the deaths of hundreds of people each year serve the purpose of deterring anyone from considering seeking refuge. The overwhelming majority of those who cross the US-Mexico border are fleeing the consequences of US-backed coups and dictatorships or military interventions. The political establishment in the United States, as around the world, is united in its efforts to whip up nationalism and anti-immigrant chauvinism to divide the working class. The Democratic administration of Bill Clinton implemented Operation Gatekeeper in 1993 and Hold the Line in 1994, building up border patrol manpower in major urban crossing points, and forcing immigrants to cross uninhabitable and dangerous regions. This policy was escalated by the Bush administration under the fraudulent banner of the war on terror, with the full support of the corporate media. President Barack Obama deported more immigrants than all previous administrations combined, earning the title deporter in chief. In 2010 he announced an additional $600 million to further militarize the US-Mexico border, including the deployment of Predator drones and the hiring of an additional 1,000 border patrol agents. It is no coincidence that the years covered by the latest report2012 to 2015fall under the terms of the deporter in chief. Today there are 21,000 border patrol agents in the US, more than twice the number there were in 2005. Last month the Trump administration ordered the hiring of 5,000 more, who are being emboldened by his administrations efforts to whip up an extreme-right and fascistic base of support. The latest report was released the same day as reports broke of an impending mass police-state dragnet against immigrants in California, with the aim of rounding up at least 1,500 undocumented workers. These are the forces responsible for death on the US-Mexico border. The author also recommends: Immigration under capitalism: Life and death along the US-Mexico border (four-part series) [28 February 2017] Once again, the house fire crisis lays bare the unequal conditions that the working class faces under the bankrupt capitalist systemhousing conditions are among the living standards under unrelenting attack. Due to intense cold and reliance on supplemental heating sources, wood stoves and space heaters, this winter has seen a 55 percent increase in the total number of deaths attributable to residential fires. The lives of 320 people have been taken since December 25, 2017. Over the same period in the previous year, there were already a staggering 207 fatalities. There were 2295 fire-related fatalities for all of 2017. Of the 320, New York state leads the nation in fire deaths, with 29 killedthe majority perishing in multiple-fatality fires in the New York City boroughs of the Bronx and Brooklyn. The states with the next highest numbers were Pennsylvania and Oklahoma, with 21 and 20 respectively. The areas most impacted by these fires are working class neighborhoods, where people are struggling to make ends meet and to find affordable, safe housing, under conditions of poorly enforced housing safety regulations. The Bronx building where fire took 12 lives just after Christmas had been cited for safety code violations. It is reminiscent of the conditions prevalent for workers over 100 years ago in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in lower Manhattan. The families of the Bronx fire victims have filed suit against New York City for not maintaining fire hydrants, allowing them to freeze. Firefighters were forced to scramble in search of unfrozen hydrants, losing valuable time. The US Census Bureau places the poverty rate for the Bronx at 30.4 percent during 2016, and for those 18 and under at 42.8 percent. In the neighborhood of the recent Bronx fire, the rate was even worse, with 37.5 percent overall and 49.4 percent for 18 and under. The rise of part-time jobs puts paid to the myth of a widespread economic recovery that was supposedly initiated under the Obama administration. The intervening period has only seen a vast increase in part-time, poverty-level jobs, which have contributed to the gains of Wall Street and the oligarchs. Here are a few examples from around the country: Syracuse, New York: a fire broke out at 5:32 a.m. on Tuesday morning in an older, two-family apartment building. Two people were injured and two families left homeless. The cause is officially unknown, but is likely to have been related to a supplemental heating source being used by families struggling to keep their substandard homes above freezing during the outbreak of arctic cold weather. The Census Bureau states that the 2016 poverty rate for the 13204 zip code, where the fire took place, was 36.4 percent overall and 52.9 percent for young people 18 and under. The WSWS spoke with residents of Syracuses Erie Street neighborhood who said that the area has seen an increase in absentee landlords who have allowed homes to deteriorate. Bobbi, a 23-year-old hotel worker originally from New York City, who moved to the area three years ago, said, Ive found work and was told it was going to be full-time but that hasnt happened. Bobbi agreed with WSWS reporters when they stated that it was very difficult for anyone to attend school or start a family on the pay from part-time work without benefits. Asked if she would like to go to school, Bobbi replied, Yes I would, and I have an interest in the arts but cant afford it. This same day that the WSWS was on the scene of the Erie Street fire, another fire broke out at a two-family dwelling at 317-319 Marguerite Avenue, also in Syracuse. WSWS reporters rushed over to the scene and spoke with Syracuse Fire Department personnel, who said the cause was still under investigation. The WSWS spoke with relatives of Lovashia Bush, the tenant of the flat upstairs, who said the fire had started downstairs, and everyone was safely out. The relative also stated that Lovashia and her children would be staying at a local hotel for the time being. This area of Syracuse has only a slightly less dire poverty rate than Erie Street, according to the Census Bureau. Commodore, Pennsylvania: January 7, an early Sunday morning mobile home fire killed an adult and child. No other information has been made available. Huffman, Texas , near Houston: Natalie Tienda 33, and two of her children, Kienna, 11, and Tristan, 9, perished when their mobile home caught fire at 5:30 a.m. this past Wednesday. According to reports, the father, David Tienda, was awakened by cries of fire! from his children. He was badly burned while trying to save his family, and was hospitalized. It was reported that space heaters were found in the home. Natalies sister, Melissa Gonzalez, spoke to local media: They were just trying to stay warm. Its a shame that that happened. They were just trying to stay warm. The authors also recommend: Deadly Bronx fire: A tragic product of inequality and social crisis in America [30 December 2017] US house fire deaths totaled 2,290 in 2016 [21 January 2017] Deadly fire exposes hazardous housing conditions in Syracuse, New York [10 December 2014] The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) won 3.74 percent of the vote in this years elections for the student parliament at Humboldt University in Berlin on January 16 and 17, according to preliminary results. Two IYSSE representatives were elected to the student parliament. With 129 votes, the IYSSE received only 11 votes fewer than the Left Partys student association (Linke/SDS). The IYSSE secured more votes than the Green Partys student organisation (Grunbolt) and of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (RCDS), which both got 122 votes. Of the student organisations of the political parties represented in the German parliament (Bundestag), which have access to a large apparatus and substantial financial resources, only those of the liberal Free Democrats and the Social Democrats (Jusos) will have larger delegations in the student parliament, with three and four representatives respectively. The IYSSEs result is somewhat lower than last year (192 votes), which among other things was due to the fact that more lists contested the elections and the votes were therefore more widely distributed. The most votes were obtained by the group Power of Science (383), which ran 50 candidates from various academic disciplines and won seven seats. In addition, the IYSSE ran in the elections under conditions in which university management and right-wing student groups had been carrying out an aggressive propaganda campaign against them. In this context, the result is a strong confirmation of our work, stated Sven Wurm, the IYSSEs spokesman at Humboldt University. Despite the censorship attempts by university management and the demonization of the IYSSE in the media, we have established ourselves as a strong political force on campus and are recognised as the revolutionary and socialist university group. The IYSSE was the only one of the 23 lists that stood to place the fundamental and urgent political issues at the heart of its campaign and to fight for a socialist programme. The IYSSEs election statement, distributed to thousands of students, declared, The IYSSE is contesting the student parliament elections to build a socialist movement against militarism and war, social inequality, and the rise of the far-right. We want to prevent the universities being transformed into state-run training camps for right-wing and militarist ideologies, as they were prior to the first and second world wars. The IYSSEs series of meetings, titled For a socialist perspective against nationalism and war, was a great success. At the first meeting, on the topic of the return of German militarism, the IYSSE discussed the connection between the growing danger of world war and the deepening capitalist crisis. The rise of the far-right and the lessons of the 1930s were examined at the second meeting. All meetings were well attended. The culmination was the final meeting, 200 years of Karl Marx: The contemporary relevance of Marxism, which was attended by around 150 students. The IYSSE expects that its influence will continue to grow in the future. To the extent that the capitalist crisis radicalises students and young workers, the IYSSEs socialist perspective will become increasingly attractive, said Wurm. An ever-decreasing minority are prepared to tolerate the developments of war, social inequality and dictatorship without taking action. The Trump administrations defense secretary, former Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, rolled out a new National Defense Strategy Friday that signals open preparations by US imperialism for direct military confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia and China. Speaking at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, Mattis made clear that the strategy, the first such document to be issued by the Pentagon in roughly a decade, represented an historic shift from the ostensible justification for US global militarism for nearly two decades: the so-called war on terrorism. Great power competitionnot terrorismis now the primary focus of US national security, Mattis said in his speech, which accompanied the release of an 11-page declassified document outlining the National Defense Strategy in broad terms. A lengthier classified version was submitted to the US Congress, which includes the Pentagons detailed proposals for a massive increase in military spending. Much of the documents language echoed terms used in the National Security Strategy document unveiled last month in a fascistic speech delivered by President Donald Trump. Mattis insisted that the US was facing growing threat from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia, nations that seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models. The defense strategy goes on to accuse China of seeking Indo-Pacific regional hegemony in the near-term and displacement of the United States to achieve global preeminence in the future. Russia, it charges, is attempting to achieve veto authority over nations on its periphery in terms of their governmental, economic, and diplomatic decisions, to shatter the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and change European and Middle East security and economic structures to its favor. China is a strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South China Sea, it states. Russia has violated the borders of nearby nations and pursues veto power over the economic, diplomatic, and security decisions of its neighbors. In what appeared to be a threat directed against both Russia and China, Mattis warned, If you challenge us, it will be your longest and worst day. Both Moscow and Beijing issued statements condemning the US defense strategy. A Chinese spokesman denounced the document as a return to a Cold War mentality. Russias Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, meanwhile, told a United Nations press conference: It is regrettable that instead of having a normal dialog, instead of using the basis of international law, the US is indeed striving to prove their leadership through such confrontational strategies and concepts. A government spokesman in Moscow characterized the document as imperialistic. Like the National Security Strategy released last month, the defense strategy also singles out North Korea and Iran as rogue regimes, charging them with destabilizing regions through their pursuit of nuclear weapons or sponsorship of terrorism. It accuses Tehran of competing with its neighbors, asserting an arc of influence and instability while vying for regional hegemony. The document calls for the preparation for war across what it describes as three key regions: the Indo-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. The document also makes brief references to Latin America and Africa, asserting the necessity of US imperialism striving for hegemony on both continents. It makes clear that these continents are arenas for the global great power struggle that forms the core of the strategy, asserting that a key aim in Africa is to limit the malign influence of non-African powers. What emerges clearly from the Pentagon document is a vision of US imperialism besieged on all sides and in mortal danger of losing global dominance. It reflects the thinking among the cabal of retired and active-duty generals that dominate the Trump administrations foreign policy that the past 16 years of unending wars in the Middle East and Central Asia have failed to further US strategic interests, creating a series of debacles, while grinding down the US military. Today, we are emerging from a period of strategic atrophy, aware that our competitive military advantage has been eroding, the document states. We are facing increased global disorder, characterized by decline in the long-standing rules-based international ordercreating a security environment more complex and volatile than any we have experienced in recent memory. Inter-state strategic competition, not terrorism, is now the primary concern in U.S. national security. The Pentagons aim, according to the defense strategy, is to ensure that the US remains the preeminent military power in the world able to ensure the balance of power remains in our favor, advance an international order that is most conducive to our security and prosperity and preserve access to markets. The thrust of the document is a demand for a vast buildup of the American war machine, which already spends more than the next eight countries combined, including nearly triple the military spending of China and roughly eight times the amount spent by Russia. A failure to implement the huge military spending increases that the Pentagon is demandingthe Trump White House has called for a $54 billion increase in the military budget, while Congressional leaders have suggested an even bigger hikewill result in decreasing U.S. global influence, eroding cohesion among allies and partners, and reduced access to markets that will contribute to a decline in our prosperity and standard of living, the declassified summary of the defense strategy warns. Despite having siphoned trillions of dollars out of the US economy to pay for the past 16 years of war, Mattis and the defense strategy present the American military as an institution that has been virtually starved of resources, unable to meet readiness, procurement, and modernization requirements. The overriding objective in terms of modernization is the buildup of the US nuclear triadWashingtons array of intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and strategic bombers, capable of destroying life on the planet many times over. The document said the Pentagon will seek to upgrade all aspects of its nuclear war-fighting apparatus, including nuclear command, control, and communications, and supporting infrastructure. It added that Modernization of the nuclear force includes developing options to counter competitors coercive strategies, predicated on the threatened use of nuclear or strategic non-nuclear attacks. In other words, the US military is prepared to launch a nuclear war in response to a conventional or cyberattack. Tellingly, the Pentagon document uses the words lethal and lethality 15 times to describe the aims of Mattis and his fellow generals in regard to their proposed military buildup. Clearly, what is being prepared is a level of mass killing far beyond the bloodbaths carried out in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere. In Mattiss speech there was a strong element of resentment toward the civilian government and its constitutional control over the military. He described US troops being compelled to stoically carry a success at any cost attitude, as they worked tirelessly to accomplish the mission with inadequate and misaligned resources simply because the Congress could not maintain regular order. Mattis warned that the war plans outlined in the document will require sustained investment by the American people, noting that past generations had been compelled to make harsher sacrifices. These new sacrifices will take the form of savage cuts to essential social services, including the gutting of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, with the transfer of resources to the military, the arms industry and the financial oligarchy. The National Defense Strategy released Friday constitutes a grave warning to working people in the US and throughout the world. Driven by the crisis of their system, Americas capitalist ruling class and its military are preparing for a world war fought with nuclear weapons. In a press conference Thursday morning, US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) acting secretary Eric Harding announced the creation of a Conscience and Religious Freedom Division as part of the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR). Harding, a Trump appointee, said the new law enforcement division was necessary because the federal government has hounded religious hospitals ... forcing them to provide services that violate their consciences, and because medical students too have learned to do procedures that violate their consciences. With an annual budget of over $1.1 trillion, HHS encompasses many smaller agencies relating to public health, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the National Institute of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Within HHS the office of civil rights enforces federal laws protecting privacy and outlawing discrimination in the administration of health care. The director of that agency, Roger Severino, also spoke at the press conference, saying, laws protecting religious freedom and conscience rights are just empty words on paper if they arent enforced. In a statement that suggested there might be religious reasons for neglecting the sick, he declared, No one should be forced to choose between helping sick people and living by ones deepest moral or religious convictions, and the new division will help guarantee that victims of unlawful discrimination find justice. The claims of religious discrimination all revolve around the same phony pretense that the government is forcing doctors, nurses or other health care workers to perform medical actions forbidden by their religion, as though Catholic doctors were being forced to perform abortions. There are no actual examples of such supposed violations of conscience. Instead, the claims of religious discrimination come down to an argument that allowing someone else to have access to contraceptives, abortion services, in vitro fertilization or other services is an imposition on the Christian fundamentalists, because they are denied the right to impose their own medieval religious morality on other people. The creation of the division for conscience and religious freedom represents the Trump administrations latest gesture to the Christian fundamentalist wing of the Republican party, a significant component of its ultra-right political base. Last February at the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump promised to eliminate the Johnson amendment, which bars religious charities that receive tax-exempt contributions from endorsing political candidates. Last May, Trump signed an executive order titled Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty, which was followed by efforts to remove a legal mandate that health insurance companies provide contraception. Furthermore, in the current term of the US Supreme Court, Trump administration lawyers argued in favor of the defendant, the cake shop owner in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case. The defendant in that case argued, and a majority of the Supreme Court appeared to agree, that he should be able to refuse to make a cake that will be used for a gay couples wedding reception, which offends his conservative Christian sensibilities. The unsupported narrative underlying all of these actions is that freedom of religion means the right to cite religious belief as the legal basis for what would otherwise be unconstitutional discriminationnow against gays, lesbians and transgendered people, or women seeking abortions, but once that hurdle is passed, open racial discrimination would be next. In truth, a government office devoted to protecting freedom of religion of health care workers is a solution in search of a problem. No state agent is forcing secularism onto health care workers. When doctors and nurses join their healing professions, they agree to use the means customary to their trade: medical science. They are not required to be doctors and nurses, after all. Would anyone take seriously a group of NASA employees who objected to using telescopes on religious grounds, or chefs who swore an oath against the use of spices? If they were reprimanded, who would argue that this constituted a governmental attack on the free exercise of religion? While a thorough history of the free exercise clause of the First Amendment to the US Constitution stands beyond the scope of this article, consider Thomas Jeffersons famous letter to the Danbury Baptist Association of 1802: Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church and State. The US Senate voted yesterday by a large margin, as expected, for a six-year extension of the National Security Agencys warrantless surveillance program, which had first been exposed in 2013 by Edward Snowden. The Senate action, following its passage in the House of Representatives the previous Thursday, sends the bill to President Donald Trump for his signature. In both houses of Congress, the extension of Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act received strong bipartisan support. In the House, 55 Democrats joined 178 Republicans in voting down an amendment that would have placed some restrictions on spying by requiring that a warrant be obtained for US resident records swept up in mass surveillance. On the final vote, 65 Democrats supported the warrantless spying in the House, and the bill passed by the lopsided margin of 256 to 164. In the Senate, passage was signaled on Tuesday, when 19 Democrats joined with 41 Republicans to approve a procedural maneuver proposed by the Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. McConnells move prevented amendments such as the one voted down by the House the previous week from being brought to a vote in the upper chamber of Congress. Two days later, the Senate passed the bill by 65-34, a margin of almost 2-1, again with bipartisan support. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, was first enacted in 1978, in the wake of the exposure of CIA abuses and illegal spying under the Nixon Administration. It created a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which, while almost always approving warrant requests for surveillance, was intended to appease the public anger provoked by the outrageous abuses that had been at least partially revealed by the Senate subcommittee headed by Frank Church, and other investigations of the period. Section 702, first enacted in 2008 after the revelations of illegal spying under the George W. Bush administration, drastically weakened the earlier regulations. It permits the warrantless collection of emails, texts and other exchanges, conducted via firms like Google, Facebook and other Internet platforms, between foreigners and US citizens. The congressional votes over the past week have underlined the bipartisan character of the attacks on democratic rights and privacy rights, including the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibits the illegal search and seizure of the persons, houses, papers and effects of US citizens. Among those supporting warrantless mass surveillance in the House of Representatives was Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, whose opposition to the limited restrictions on the program earned the public praise of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. Also vociferously opposing even timid restraints on the NSA was Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who has become notorious for his leadership role in the anti-Russia campaign alleging that meddling by Moscow cost Hillary Clinton the election in 2016. In the Senate, Californias Dianne Feinstein, a noted hard-line Democrat on foreign policy matters, similarly supported Majority Leader McConnells effort to smooth the passage of the 702 extension. Joining Feinstein were such Democrats as Mark Warner of Virginia, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, and Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, both of Rhode Island. Warner has been the point man in the Senate in the campaign to demonize Russia and to demand ever-greater restrictions on Internet freedom in the name of national security. The support from Feinstein and other Democrats was crucial in allowing McConnells motion to achieve 60 votes in the chamber, the figure needed to prevent a filibuster. McConnell expressed satisfaction at the outcome, stating, We need our armed forces and intelligence community to protect us, and they need us to give them the tools to do it. The Democrats thus played a decisive role in what the New Y ork Times approvingly called the end of a debate provoked by the courageous actions of Snowden in exposing the realities of mass surveillance by the capitalist state in the US in the 21st century. The ineffectual opposition to the six-year extension of Section 702 of FISA came from right-wing libertarian Republicans as well as some Democratic liberals. In the Senate, Kentucky Republican Rand Paul joined Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden at a press conference pledging continuing opposition to warrantless surveillance, with Wyden calling the passage of the bill without amendments a dereliction of duty. The American Civil Liberties Union reacted to Congresss action with a statement declaring, No president should have this power, much less one who has endorsed policies designed to unfairly target critics, immigrants and minority communities. Journalist Glenn Greenwald tweeted sarcastically that 19 Senate Democrats and 55 House Democrats, all supposed supporters of the Resistance to the Trump administration, had joined in giving Trump & Sessions greater domestic spying powers while blocking all efforts to add reforms and safeguards. And Snowden himself tweeted last week, House votes 256-164 to expand Trumps warrantless surveillance powers for the next six years. The vote to reform warrantless searches of Americans phone calls and e-mails failed, needing the support of 26 more. Dems could have swung it, but 55 of them voted with the Trump camp. The action in Congress clearly showsdespite all the media hand-wringing over government paralysis with Trump in the White House, and regardless of the fact that the rival parties are engaged in unprecedented warfarethat on issues of paramount importance to the interests of American imperialism, bipartisan agreement, in defense of capitalism against the working class, can and will always be found. This essential unity of the rival gangs in Washington was also reflected in the unusual and awkward reversal on the issue of the 702 extension by Trump himself. First the president tweeted, at 7:33 a.m. on the morning of January 11, about the controversial FISA Act that may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony Dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration and others. Less than two hours later, Trump, although known for refusing to take orders or even advice, had apparently been persuaded to reverse himself. With that being said, I have personally directed the fix to the unmasking process since taking office and todays vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land. We need it! Get smart! Behind Trumps contortions on this issue is the contradiction between his efforts to whip up right-wing populism and fascistic sentiment against the so-called deep state, and the fact that he remains, of course, despite his volatility and recklessness, the spokesman and representative of this state, representing US imperialism. The establishment of the Office for Students (OfS) marks a new stage in the assault on higher education in the UK, with grave implications for a speeding up of privatisation and the policing of political life on campus. The legal basis for the OfS was laid down in the Higher Education and Research Act in January 2017, in the face of massive opposition. Fully 81 percent of professors and lecturers surveyed by YouGov believed the bill would have a negative impact. As the World Socialist Web Site wrote at the time, the passing of the Act represented the introduction of measures designed to lower the requirements that educational institutions must satisfy in order to attain university status. The aim is to further open up the higher education market to alternative providersthat is, private institutions. The OfS is mandated to grow the education market and has been given New Degree Awarding Powers to do so. These powers allow the OfS to grant degree-awarding status to institutions without requiring them to demonstrate a track record of successfully delivering higher education, as was previously the case. As early as 2012, the BBC reported that the government had approved more than 400 degree and diploma courses at private universities, without checking the quality of courses offered or student completion rates. In the same year, the amount of money paid to private colleges through unregulated courses trebled to 100 million. The number of students on those courses doubled in the same period. Between 2010 and 2015, the amount of publicly backed funding for private colleges skyrocketed from 30 million to 1 billion. A major beneficiary of these public funds has been Greenwich School of Management, owned by Sovereign Capital. The private equity funds co-founder, John Nash, was made an education minister in the Conservative government in 2013, responsible for free schools and academies, and served as the governments spokesman on education in the House of Lords. All of this is only a prelude to what will happen once the OfS becomes operational in April. Yet very little discussion of these issues has found its way into the mainstream media. Instead the press, along with that of the Labour Party and the National Union of Students, focused on the announcement that Toby Young had been appointed to lead the OfS. The primary political reasons for the appointment of Young, who occupies a position on the right of the Conservative Party, was his ardent championing of the privatisation of education and his following among the hardened reactionaries won through his crusades against the left at universities. Young, a leader of the Tories Free Schools initiative, heads the New Schools Network, advising state-funded but privately run schools that come under the control of the Department for Education (DfE). Building on the Blair Labour governments Academy project for schools, Free Schools have been granted even greater powers over the teaching curriculum, pupil admissions and staff pay and conditions. This track record was reinforced by his reputation as a self-proclaimed warrior against all things politically correct, with Young acting as an intellectual blood brother of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. His appointment was preceded by the threat that universities could be fined by the OfS for no platforming individuals such as gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell and the feminist Germaine Greer over their views on transgender issues, and various, often ludicrous, measures taken to ensure that education institutions are safe spaces for minorities. Young was hailed by the government as the right man to put an end to such illiberal stupidities. However, in the next days, the focus on Youngs own illiberal views threatened to scupper the OfS initiative before it had even started. Some cited his columns for the Spectator, in which he wrote that the term inclusive was one of those ghastly, politically correct words that has survived the demise of New Labour, involving the ghastly inclusivity of wheelchair ramps in schools, and his description of working class students who secure places at Oxford as universally unattractive, small and vaguely deformed. But most attention was centred on innumerable crude remarks he had made about womens breasts. As 200,000 people signed a petition demanding his removal, the government tried to tough it out, but Young eventually resigned on the very day University College London announced it was launching an investigation into one of its senior academics, James Thompson, who had hosted secret conferences on eugenics and intelligence in its premises. The London Conference on Intelligence featured speakers from white supremacist groups and was attended in May by 24 invited guests, including none other than Young! Young, who once suggested that low IQ, unemployed fathers should have vasectomies, also announced his resignation from the Fulbright Commission overseeing student scholarship programmes between British and US universities. That such a man was even considered to head the OfS gives the lie to its pretence to be a defender of free speech. However, Youngs departure does not change the role of the OfS one iota. Young said he decided to resign because he had become a distraction from vital work of broadening access to higher education and defending academic freedom. Broadening access to higher education means opening the sector up to the market, which is why the OfS board is chaired by Michael Barber, formerly the head of Tony Blairs delivery unit, with a history of enforcing unpopular and undemocratic government policy. He is supported by Deputy Chair Martin Coleman, who specialises in competition policy, and Chris Millward, previously involved with the implementation of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), designed to prepare the way for increases in tuition fees. Working with them are Katja Hall (former public relations worker for HSBC and deputy director-general of the Confederation of British Industry), Elizabeth Fragan (former marketing and managing director of Boots), Simon Levine (managing partner at international law firm DLA Piper) and Gurpreet Dehal (an investment banker who formerly worked with Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch). Dehal is also a trustee of the multi-school academy trust E-Act and is not alone in having business interests in the further marketization of education. Katherine Lander is director of strategy and operations at Eukleia & LEO, a company that provides training for the Higher Education sector. Carl Lygo is a founding member of the private BPP University, owned by the billion-dollar US-based Apollo Group of private universities. The board will be overseen by new Universities Minister Sam Gyimah, an ex-investment banker and open exponent of privatisation. Accompanied by lifting the cap on tuition fees and selling off of student debt to private holders, the OfS is meant to complete the basic framework for the wholesale privatisation of higher education. The governments agenda has come this far only because of the retreats and betrayals of the education unions, the National Union of Students (NUS) and the Labour Party. When the Higher Education and Research Act was proposed last year, the University and College Union (UCU) mounted only a token protest, while the NUS and Labour focused their collective efforts on passing ineffectual amendments and providing evidence to those drafting the bill. Now that the Act has come into force, all these organisations have made their peace with its provisions. Labours recent criticisms avoided the central issue posed by the establishment of the OfS by focusing on Youngon the basis that his appointment represented a missed opportunity for the OfS to ensure the diversity of the sector it must regulate, as Shadow Education Minister Gordon Marsden put it. With Young now gone, Labour is primed to back a suitably diverse OfS. The UCU and NUS opposed the OfS largely because they were not being included on its leading committees. The most devastating indictment of the politics of the NUS is that it has used the crisis surrounding Youngs appointment to negotiate a position for some of its leading representatives as advisers to the OfS. A 13-member student panel, including NUS President Shakira Martin and other high-profile advocates of no platforming and safe-spaces, will now advise the OfS on its twin aims of privatisation and policing political life on campus, including plans to empower the organisation to enter and search premises in England occupied by supported higher education providers. The reactionary evolution of no platforming The NUS has stressed throughout that only six groups are officially subject to a blanket ban across UK campuses: the Islamist Al-Muhajiroun, Hizb ut-Tahrir and Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK, and the far-right British National Party, English Defence League and National Action. With the support of Labour Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner, the NUS argued that this is in line with Parliament determining what constitutes hate speech and that students who felt uncomfortable with views that do not come within that definition had to become resilient and learn to deal with controversial opinions. Now, campaigns have been mounted against individuals such as Greer, and Tatchell for defending her. Outrageously, Sheffield University Students Union tried to bar Julian Assange from giving a talk (via weblink), claiming this expressed the unions zero tolerance policy towards sexual assaultof which Assange was fraudulently accusedand elsewhere against George Galloway for defending Assange, which was denounced as rape apology. Unlike the 1970s, when mass student mobilisations prevented fascist groups from entering campuses, no platforming is essentially anti-democratic, centring on appeals to the authorities and the state for proscriptions that are inevitably then used more broadly. Historically they have been directed against socialists. The latest round of such campaigns is unambiguously reactionary, serving to corrode democratic rights in a manner that has been a gift to the right wing by allowing the likes of Young to pose as champions of free speech. The NUS has happily used its stance on the issue as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the government, but many students disagree with its actions. The role of identity politics The advocates of identity politics on campus routinely browbeat students with accusations of sexism, inherent racism, etc., which is now routinely and falsely associated with the left. The primary function of identity politics is to advance the interests of privileged sections of a particular, supposedly uniformly oppressed identity group, defined on the basis of race, gender or sexuality. Campaigns such as Decolonise Education and Rhodes Must Fall provide leverage to secure positions and privileges for a privileged few. Equally, the policies of no platforming and safe spaces are tools for pursuing this agenda, allowing a small layer of students with little popular support to dominate campus politics. This explains why, in an interview published by the New Statesman, Shakira Martin could declare that outrage over free speech on campus is a distraction. Her statement is doubly cynical, given that Martins path to office was paved by last years attack on the former president of the NUS, Malia Bouattia. In a 2011 blog post, Bouattia referred to the Birmingham chapter of the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) as something of a Zionist outpost, and criticised reporting by mainstream Zionist-led media outlets on the Israel-Palestine conflict, for which she was subjected to a media witch-hunt branding her an anti-Semite. She was targeted not only for her criticisms of Israel and Zionism, but also for her stated opposition to the greatest threat to freedom of speech and political expression on university campusesthe governments Prevent Strategy. Established by Labour in 2003, Prevent serves the dual purpose of scapegoating Muslims in Britain and establishing a framework for the suppression of political opposition under the guise of combating terrorist radicalization. As of July 2015, teachers have been legally obliged to report any suspected extremist behaviour to police. Civil Rights groups like Liberty, Rights Watch (UK) and the Open Society Justice Initiative have roundly criticised the scheme for its violations of human rights. A substantial section of the identity politics crowd at universities joined enthusiastically in the media campaign against Bouattia. Grotesquely, Bouattias defenders countered this by describing her as politically black (she is of Algerian descent) and pointing to her leading role in the racialist Why is my curriculum white? campaign. In the end, Bouattia was defeated by Martin, who was backed by the Union of Jewish Students and sections of the NUS Black Students Campaign. Martin was hailed by the pseudo-left for being ethnically black as opposed to Bouattias political blackness. A direct consequence of these de-classed politics has been the advance of right-wing libertarian forces on campuses, which have been able to exploit legitimate hostility among students to such divisive politics and the suppression of free speech. In the US, Steve Bannon, the fascistic founder of Breitbart News, boasted the longer they talk about identity politics, I got em. I want them to talk about racism every day. If the left is focused on race and identity, and we go with economic nationalism, we can crush the Democrats. The disaffiliation campaign launched against the NUS last year, resulting in Lincoln, Newcastle, Hull, Loughborough and Surrey universities leaving the union, was led by groups around the Conservative Party who attacked the NUS as a bastion of the loony left and as a hotbed of anti-Semitism. A particularly insidious role has been played by the libertarian right around Spiked-Online. Its campaign against censorship on campuswhich includes publishing a league table of universities ranked by their commitment to free speechhas been carried out mainly in defence of far-right figures like Nigel Farage and Marine Le Pen. The organisation is well connected with forces ranging from the Guardian to the Times and the Spectator, and to Israels Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The fraudulent nature of its claim to defend free speech is exposed by its vicious attacks on Julian Assange and Edward Snowden and fanatical support of the war on terror. For socialist policies to defend education and democratic rights Under conditions where young people are facing a worse standard of living than their parents, poor job opportunities, ruinous debt and decimated social services, the state is looking for any opportunity to strengthen its instruments of repression in expectation of a political radicalisation among students. Besides paving the way for such authoritarian measures, identity politics undermine the ability of students to fight against attacks such as the privatisation of education. There will be many young people with a genuine desire to change the world for the better who are confused and even repulsed by what is taking place on British university campuses. The fight against such politically retrograde developments must be based on a conscious rejection of what are presented as left politics on the campuses in favour of a struggle for socialism. In the propaganda of the various pseudo-left groups, the focus on identity issues obscures the significance of class as the fundamental division in society. Securing good quality public education and the defence of democratic rights on campuses depends on a turn to the working class, as the revolutionary force that can overthrow capitalism, forging the closest political links between students and workers. Those asserting the special oppression of their own identity and the need for special treatment disrupt the potential for a powerful, unified movement of students and workers against austerity, education cuts, privatization, the escalation of imperialist militarism and the accompanying attack on democratic rights by encouraging divisions along race and gender lines. The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) calls on all students and young people who want to defend not only their own rights but to build a society free of poverty, homelessness and the growing threat of war to contact us and take up the fight for genuine socialism. For further details visit www.iysse.com/#join The Heritage We Defend by David North has been published in Turkish and is available for immediate purchase through Mehring Yay nclk (Mehring Publishing), and soon through Mehring Books and Mehring Verlag. Along with The Heritage We Defend, Mehring Yaynclk has also published four other important books and pamphlets: Castroism and the Politics of Petty-Bourgeois Nationalism; 2017 International May Day Online Rally; The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (US); and Socialism and the Fight Against War . In a country where the working class and socialist movement in general has been dominated by Stalinism, Maoism and petty-bourgeois nationalist tendencies for decades, these books are of prime importance in developing socialist consciousness among workers and youth. Publications of the contemporary Marxist literature produced by the world Trotskyist movement in Turkish, we believe, will contribute to the laying of the theoretical and political foundation for the building of the Turkish section of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). The Heritage We Defend For Turkish readers, Norths book is essential in providing a detailed review of the history of the ICFIs struggle against Pabloite revisionism in defense of Trotskyist principles and perspectives. As David North stated in his preface to the book, It is not only the relationship between Trotskys Turkish exile and the history of the Fourth International that imparts special significance to the publication of this new translation of The Heritage We Defend. The critical position occupied by Turkey in the geopolitics of the world imperialist system guarantees that the class struggle in this country will assume gigantic dimensions. The building of the Trotskyist movement in Turkey is, therefore, an essential strategic task of the Fourth International. This requires the education of the advanced sections of the Turkish working class and youth in the history of the long struggle waged by orthodox Trotskyists against the different forms of anti-Marxist revisionismespecially that associated with the liquidationist conceptions of Michel Pablo (19111996) and Ernest Mandel (19231995). Castroism and the Politics of Petty-Bourgeois Nationalism This 118-page book includes Bill Van Aukens lecture delivered to the 1998 international symposium on Marxism and the Fundamental Problems of the 20th Century by the ICFI in Sydney, Australia. In addition to Van Aukens lecture on the Cuban revolution and Castroism, the book also includes articles and perspectives about the ensuing Cuban developments published on the World Socialist Web Site. The work provides Turkish readers with a Marxist perspective on the petty-bourgeois radicalism that has inflicted heavy damage, both ideologically and politically, upon the working class and the youth, for decades. The ideological and political exposure of Castroism is of vital importance to the building of a socialist working class movement in Turkey. 2017 International May Day Online Rally The 84-page book includes speeches delivered to the 2017 International May Day Online Rally. The rally marked a significant development in the building of the Fourth International as the world party of socialist revolution. It attracted an audience of thousands of listeners from more than 50 countries and provided them with a Marxist assessment of the international crisis of capitalism and an international socialist perspective to confront the dangers of militarism, dictatorship and war. Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (USA) This 260-page book consists of two seminal resolutions that were unanimously adopted at the founding congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) held in Ann Arbor, Michigan on August 3-9, 2008. Tracing essential historical events and political experiences spanning more than a century, the Historical and International Foundations of the SEP establishes the theoretical and political basis of the struggle for socialism. The book also includes the Statement of Principles of the SEP (US). By publishing these documents, Mehring Yaynclk provides Turkish readers with the knowledge of the theoretical and political struggle waged by the international Trotskyist movement against capitalism, as well as its political agents within the working class including social democracy, Stalinism, various forms of petty-bourgeois nationalism and Pabloite revisionism. Socialism and the Fight against War This 176-page book contains statements and resolutions of the ICFI and Socialist Equality Parties in the United States, Germany, Britain, Australia and Sri Lanka on the fight against imperialist war. The International Committee of the Fourth International insists that the international working class is the only force that can put an end to war by linking the struggle against war with the struggle against capitalism and for socialism. Amid ongoing military interventions by the Turkish army in Syria and Iraq, as well as operations in Turkeys largely Kurdish populated south-eastern and eastern regions, and growing war preparations by the imperialist powers internationally, the book provides Turkish workers and youth with a clear socialist perspective to confront the danger of another and even greater bloodbath. It warns that another world war is inevitable unless the international working class intervenes on the basis of a revolutionary Marxist program. Within the next few months, Mehring Yaynclk will publish Turkish editions of The Russian Revolution and the Unfinished Twentieth Century by David North, Why Study The Russian Revolution? Volume I and Leon Trotskys Lessons of October. Mehring Yaynclk will also reproduce the DVD, Tsar To Lenin, for the Turkish market. Ever-larger class sizes, closures of courses and campuses, thousands more staff job cuts and accelerated pro-business restructuring. These are some of the already known impacts of the latest multi-billion funding cuts to Australias public universities, which the federal government announced just a week before Christmas. The Liberal-National Coalition government was unable to get a $2.8 billion package of cost-cutting over four years through the Senate, because Labor, Greens and right-wing populist senators feared the intense hostility of students, staff and the wider population and refused to support it. So, instead, the government used the December 18 release of its mid-year budget review to impose $2.2 billion in cutbacks by decree. The most immediately damaging measure is a two-year freeze on funding for undergraduate enrolments. Universities Australia, the peak management body, estimates this will mean nearly 10,000 student places going unfunded in 2018. Then, from 2020, new performance targets will make any funding increases depend on universities realigning their course offerings to be more in tune with the requirements of the corporate elite. Universities must do more to meet the expectations of employers, Education Minister Simon Birmingham declared. Despite the political posturing by opposition and crossbench politicians, this is part of a protracted bipartisan assault on students and staff, and the basic right to higher education. The latest package is on top of funding reductions exceeding $4 billion since 2011, mostly inflicted by the previous Labor government, which was kept in office by the Greens. Over the same period, universities increasingly have been transformed into corporate entities as a result of that Labor governments market-driven education revolution, which compelled universities to compete with each other to attract students to courses tailored to satisfy business needs. The December 18 announcement also directly hit students by lowering the threshold at which graduates must start repaying the massive debts incurred during their studies under the governments HECS/HELP fee deferment scheme. The threshold, calculated in terms of annual income, will be reduced from $52,000 to $45,000. Many more young people, on relatively low wages, will be forced to commence paying off the loans, adding to the financial stresses produced particularly by sky-high rents and housing prices. By announcing the cuts so late, the government gave the universities no time to change their enrolment and other plans for 2018. Universities Australia chief executive Belinda Robinson said this week: The cuts were announced on 18 December and took effect from 1 January. Many universities had already made detailed plans by that time on how many places they would offer in 2018. Robinson said some universities would be forced to offer fewer student places to avoid a budget black hole. Others would have to dig into critical maintenance funds or shut down facilities and outreach programs. Global ratings agency Moodys also warned last week that the funding freeze would create greater funding volatility and risks for the universities, which borrow funds on the financial markets to build new facilities. Moodys said regional and expanding universities would be most affected. Seven regional universities this week listed programs that could be shelved as a result of the freeze. They included some facilities in working class areas, such as a new University of Southern Queensland health sciences campus at Ipswich, west of Brisbane, and University of the Sunshine Coast campuses at Hervey Bay, Caboolture, Petrie and the Sunshine Coast University Hospital. Sweeping cutbacks, as yet unspecified, are threatened across the country. In an ominous email to all staff members on December 19, Western Sydney University (WSU) vice-chancellor Barney Glover said: Preliminary modelling by the Universitys Finance and Resources Division estimates that the impact of the changes would be approximately $5.7 million in 2018. More detailed analysis is being conducted to obtain a fuller assessment of the impacts on the University. Students and staff at WSU, like every other university, are already reeling from the effects of constant rounds of pro-market restructuring that have slashed administrative and academic jobs, sent class sizes soaring, reduced face-to-face teaching and consultation, and driven up staff casualisation rates. Labor, the Greens and the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), the main trade union covering universities, criticised the December 18 bombshell but they are primarily responsible for enforcing the corporate transformation of higher education over the past decade. Labors shadow education minister, Tanya Plibersek, said: Billions of dollars worth of cuts to universities mean a higher-cost education for students or a poorer-quality education or probably both. Yet the latest cuts just intensify those imposed by the 200713 Labor government. Labor lifted caps on enrolments, but only to produce a new competitive education marketplacein reality, a business-driven regime. NTEU national president Jeannie Rea complained that the government had drawn up its cuts behind closed doors and without public debate or discussion with universities, their staff and students. The NTEU spent most of 2017 strenuously stifling or shutting down industrial action. It pushed through new enterprise bargaining agreements (EBAs) at individual universities11 so farto assist managements to prepare to make the cuts being demanded. The EBA provisions vary from place to place, precisely to help each university survive in the marketplace at the cost of rival universities. But the agreements have common features, designed to allow managements to impose closures, redundancies and more onerous workloads, while cutting real wages. At James Cook University in northern Queensland, for example, the NTEU reached an agreement with the management in November that increased the redeployment period of most professional staff from 15 to 20 weeks. In other words, the management was given a green light for further retrenchments, as long as it gives affected staff a few more weeks to apply for any alternative positions that might be offered. NTEU Queensland division secretary Michael McNally called the EBA a win for all staff at James Cook University, yet it also delivers a real pay cut for the next five years. There is an increase of 8.6 percent over that periodor about 1.7 percent per yearfar below the rising cost of living. The NTEUs main concern is to retain its position, together with the Labor Party, as the policing agency for the underlying corporate program, with which the union entirely agrees. In her media statement last month, Jeannie Rae accused the government of conducting a crude money-saving exercise that flies in the face of the objectives of the previous Labor governments demand driven funding model. Rae said the NTEU had proposed the need for a better planned and managed allocation for funding student places through Public Accountability Agreements. These agreements, outlined in NTEU budget submissions, would require student enrolments to be determined by the national interest, that is essentially in the interests of the capitalist ruling class. Once universities resume their full operations next month, students and staff alike will face ever-more intolerable conditions, driven by this big business agenda. WASHINGTON (AP) A Florida fundraiser celebrating President Donald Trump's first year in office will go on with or without him. That's according to a Trump campaign official who was not authorized to publicly discuss planning and spoke on condition of anonymity. Trump had hoped to spend the anniversary of his inauguration in Florida attending a high-dollar fundraiser taking place Saturday night at his Palm Beach estate. Instead, the president is reckoning with a federal government shutdown brought on by disagreement with lawmakers over what should be included in a government funding bill. Trump scrapped plans to depart Washington on Friday. It remains unclear whether he still plans to attend. Tickets start at $100,000 per couple and $250,000 to attend a round-table. The proceeds benefit a joint committee between Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum wants to invest more money into Florida's education system by raising the state corporate tax rate on some businesses. Gillum made the announcement Friday about the tax plan known as the Fair Share for Floridas Future. He says it is intended to invest more than $1 billion into the middle class, education, and job training. The mayor says his plan will be made possible by adjusting the state corporate income tax rate. Currently, only about 10 percent of Floridas corporations pay the state corporate income tax, at about 5.5 percent. He says under this new policy, the state corporate tax rate would increase to 7.75 percent on qualifying businesses. "Not only do we want a friendly environment for businesses to call home, but we also want to have an environment where they can be guaranteed a workforce that is prepared, that is ready, that is qualified," said Gillum. Mayor Gillum also wants to invest nearly $400 million into pay raises for teachers in public schools, as well as an extra $100 million each to public school construction and vocational training for those wanting to further their education. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Time is running out for Congress to keep the federal government from shutting down. The deadline to strike a deal is midnight. How could the potential shutdown impact our area? We're just hours away from what could be a temporary closure of the Apalachicola National Forest, the largest one in Florida. All national parks and forests would suspend operations, impacting local tourism this weekend. WTXL has also learned employees from at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee have been given furlough guidance, though the FCI hasnt returned our call for comment. In a shutdown furlough, an affected agency would have to shut down any activities funded by annual budgets. One employee says the prison is already understaffed, so a government shut down could become a threat to the community. The United States Postal Service and the Veterans Health Administration tells WTXL they'll both continue full operations, even during a government shutdown. That means local post offices will stay open, and so will the Tallahassee V.A. Health Care Clinic. "If it does shut down, I think the shock of this -- and I think the reaction is going to be immediate," said Dr. Richard Murgo. "Once the blame is attributed -- and I would assume that the blame probably will go towards the Republican Party, considering they have the House, the Senate, and the executive branch -- they realize that they're getting the blame, I think that they'll back down and probably include DACA on this. They'll see the impact of this. " The last time the federal government shut down was in 2013 and it lasted for 16 days. Non-essential departments and employees were furloughed, affecting nearly 800,000 workers across the country. WTXL political contributor Dr. Richard Murgo says it took a toll on the nation's economy. "Because it was long-term, it did have a significant effect. It started affecting people's salaries. They were not able to get paid," said Murgo. "People on Social Security will always get their money. That's considered consistent, but people just on normal salary working for the federal government will not get paid. People anticipating going to federal parks, monuments, things of that nature, will no longer be able to do so at that point, and it starts to build up." Dr. Murgo mentioned DACA is one of the big issues keeping Congress from passing a budget. He says the program protecting undocumented children has been a key concern for Democrats. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 02:33:15|Editor: yan Video Player Close KIGALI, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) on Friday called on Rwandan financial institutions to be wary of looming cyber attacks in the region, particularly in banking institutions where defences are inadequate. John Rwangombwa made the call while speaking at a national forum on cyber and financial crimes in the Rwandan capital Kigali. "Criminals are constantly developing new techniques to cyber crime, we need to keep a constant review on activities carried out in banking institutions because they are highly vulnerable to cyber attacks," said Rwangombwa. He added that cyber related crimes are relatively a new phenomenon in Rwanda, saying that the existing cases remain a threat to the national economy and development. The governor said that Rwandan banking sector is working on creating a secure investment environment for financial sector to thrive and achieve economic development. However, Emmanuel Gasana, inspector general of police of Rwanda, said that cyber crimes remain a global threat and Rwanda is ready to avert the threat. "We are aware of cyber criminals who quietly enter networks to access valuable data, disrupt activities, rob financial institutions and blackmail companies. We have put in place several cyber control measures to counter these crimes," he added. Gasana pointed out that addressing cyber security challenges, there is a need to enhance cooperation, timely information sharing and adopt cyber security protection policy. In 2016, Rwanda thwarted more than 1,000 cyber attacks daily before they could affect targeted individuals, companies and institutions, according to the central bank. In the same year, Rwanda launched a 3 million U.S. dollars cyber security system aimed at protecting public and private institutions against online crimes. A survey conducted by cyber security company Kaspersky Lab in January 2016 indicated that most businesses across Africa had been hit hard by cyber crime. According to the survey, in East Africa, Kenya is the most attacked by cyber criminals with businesses in the country losing as much as 146 million dollars every year due to cyber crime. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 03:53:31|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close VENICE, Italy, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The EU-China Tourism Year 2018 (ECTY) was launched here on Friday, bringing together high level officials and private operators from both sides. An official ceremony was held at the Doge's Palace to mark the opening of the initiative, which is aimed at strengthening cooperation between the European Union (EU) and China in terms of both tourism flows and investments in the sector. Europe is now the third largest destination for Chinese citizens traveling abroad, according to Ambassador Zhang Ming, head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, who gave the figures in a recent interview with Xinhua in Brussels that nearly 3.5 million Chinese citizens visited the EU countries in 2016. Overall, about 122 million Chinese travelled abroad (worldwide) in 2016, spending some 109.8 billion U.S. dollars, according to data by the Chinese Tourism Academy. Meanwhile, over 3.1 million Europeans travelled to China, injecting an estimated 14.17 billion U.S. dollars into its economy, according to Ambassador Zhang. "First of all, this will hopefully be a great opportunity to enhance people-to-people dialogue among Europeans and Chinese," Elzbieta Bienkowska, EU Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said at the ceremony. "Yet, it will also be a very concrete manifestation of our cultural and economic diplomacy, because tourism is really a very serious economic sector in Europe," she stressed. Alongside the celebrations, the first EU-China Tourism business summit took place on Friday with an aim to boost contacts and exchanges among operators from both sides. Also attached to the ceremony, Italy and China signed a separate protocol to strengthen alternative routes to the traditional tourism destinations in both countries, which included the twinning of their respective UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 03:53:31|Editor: yan Video Player Close MOSCOW, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Russia's communications watchdog Roskomnadzor banned three groups agitating for illegal and suicidal acts on the Russian social network VKontakte (VK) on Friday amid increasing attacks at schools in the country. "Roskomnadzor has received requests from Rospotrebnadzor (consumer safety watchdog) to ban information capable of encouraging schoolchildren to commit unlawful and asocial acts, the result of which may be acts of a suicidal nature," Roskomnadzor said in a statement. There were requirements to ban three groups on VK, as they contained information about possible ways and means of committing suicide, according to the ruling of Rospotrebnadzor. In response, the pages of these groups on VK were included in the unified register of prohibited information, the statement said. Established in 2012, the web-monitoring service is authorized to demand the deletion of illegal information without a court order. VK's administration was asked to remove the illegal information, which was fulfilled immediately, the statement added. Roskomnadzor's decision was seen as a response to the recently rampant school attacks committed by teenagers in different parts of Russia. On Friday, a teenager armed with an ax injured five fellow students and a teacher at a secondary school in Buryatia, a republic in Russia's eastern Siberia region. On Monday, 14 schoolchildren and a teacher were wounded in a knife fight of two teenagers in a secondary school in Russia's Ural mountains city of Perm. Suspects of both attacks attempted suicide, Russia's Tass news agency reported. Russian authorities are investigating links between the banned groups and the two school attacks, as preliminary information showed that the attackers were members of such groups. In the past five years, Rospotrebnadzor detected more than 23,000 websites promoting suicide and providing ways to commit suicide in Russia, the watchdog's press service has said. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday reiterated the necessity of protecting minors from "evil" information on the Internet without violating the principle of freedom of speech. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 04:08:33|Editor: yan Video Player Close OTTAWA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Canadian government Friday warned all Canadian tourists in Jamaica's Montego Bay to remain in their resorts after the Jamaican government declared a state of emergency and deployed military forces to the island's St. James Parish due to a spike in thefts and murders. Canada Travel said in a warning advisory there have been reports of alleged sexual assaults at tourist resorts. "If you are staying at a resort in the affected area, restrict your movements beyond resort security perimeters. If you do travel outside these perimeters, use transportation arranged or provided by the resort. Use organized tour operators for excursions and travel to and from the airport. If you are in the affected area, be extremely vigilant, follow the instructions of local authorities and monitor local news," said the advisory. Jamaican authorities said that violence, in particular murders, has been escalating and endangers public safety. Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness said in a statement Thursday night that the parish recorded 335 murders in 2017, twice the number of any other parish. Under the state of emergency, security forces will have "extraordinary powers and some rights will be suspended. Those powers include search of persons and vehicles, curtailing business hours and detaining people without a warrant. Checkpoints will be set up on roads in and out of the parish. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 07:04:17|Editor: Liu Video Player Close LONDON, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Britain's foreign secretary Boris Johnson has called for Britain and France to be linked by a road bridge. Johnson discussed the idea with French President Emmanuel Macron during a British-French summit Thursday. At its narrowest point, the bridge would need to be at least 34 kilometers long, not counting approach roads, according to media reports. Ian Firth, senior vice president at the Institution of Structural Engineers, said on his social media site: "A bridge is entirely feasible. It was a serious contender to the (Channel) tunnel and is even more feasible now. Costly, yes, but so was the tunnel." Firth said combining a bridge with a tunnel could avoid any impact on shipping in what is one of the world's busiest seaways. Sea journeys between Britain and mainland Europe were possible until 1994 when the 50-kilometer Channel Tunnel opened, but that is only a rail tunnel. Johnson described as ridiculous that only a rail tunnel linked the two countries. Sources at the meeting said Macron responded positively to Johnson's idea. Thailand-born civil engineer Sakdirat Kaewunruen, a senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham, said a bridge across the English Channel would be a challenging and difficult, but exciting project. He told Xinhua: "I am very supportive of such a project. It could be a multi-purpose bridge carrying road traffic, trains and even used to generate energy from wind power." "There would be hazards and climate change to consider, but such a project would create new expertise in bridge building. It would be a massive boost to the economy." Files released by Britain's National Archives reveal plans were put forward in 1981 for a bridge spanning the English Channel, at a then cost of around three billion pounds. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 07:09:19|Editor: Liu Video Player Close SANTIAGO, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chile registered 457 organ transplants in 2017, setting a new record as the number of donors rose, Health Minister Carmen Castillo said on Friday. "There is no greater satisfaction for a health authority than to mark a historic milestone like the one we are announcing today," said Castillo. The rise in transplants was "the result of the commitment of many to the promotion of organ donation," she added, which led to 10 donors a month. The increase over 2016 was notable, with 348 organ transplants carried out that year. Still more needs to be done, said the minister, since currently nine Chileans are in urgent need of transplants, including two little girls requiring a heart transplant and a little boy who needs a lung transplant. "That's why it is important to maintain and hopefully increase these donation figures," said Castillo. The minister called for continuing the campaigns to raise awareness about organ donation and for building transplant centers in different parts of the country. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 08:10:28|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close People attend a celebration in Xigaze, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Jan. 19, 2018. Local people of Tibetan ethnic group have replaced prayer flags by new ones on the mountain and houses to celebrate New Year under the Tibetan calendar. (Xinhua/Purbu Zhaxi) Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 07:34:22|Editor: Liu Video Player Close CHICAGO, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government filed on Friday a notice of intent on the website of the Department of Justice to seek death penalty against Brendt A. Christensen of Champaign, Il. charged with kidnapping resulting in death of visiting Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying. 28-year-old Christensen is charged with kidnapping resulting in death of visiting Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) on June 9, 2017. The filing follows the decision and directive by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to seek the death penalty against Christensen. The U.S. government said the circumstances of the offense of kidnapping resulting in death, as charged in count one of the superseding indictment returned on October 3, 2017, are such that, in the event the defendant is convicted of committing the crime, a sentence of death is justified. The superseding indictment alleges that Christensen held Zhang Yingying on June 9, 2017, and used a cellular telephone and Saturn Astra motor vehicle to commit and in furtherance of the commission of the offense; and the kidnapping resulted in the death of Zhang. The notice to seek a sentence of death includes intent factors that allege Christensen acted with intent against the victim; and that his intentional acts of violence resulted in the victim's death. The notice sets forth statutory aggravating factors including that Zhang's death occurred during the commission of a kidnapping; that the offense was committed in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner, which involved torture or serious physical abuse; and that Christensen committed the offense after substantial planning and premeditation. The notice also alleges non-statutory aggravating factors that were not previously asserted, including victim impact evidence related to Zhang's loss and the impact of her death upon her family, friends, and co-workers; the future dangerousness of the defendant; his lack of remorse; other serious acts of violence allegedly committed by Christensen; the vulnerability of the victim due to her small stature and limited ability to communicate in English; and the defendant's alleged attempt to obstruct the investigation by making false statements to investigators, destroying or concealing the victim's remains, and sanitizing the crime scene. UIUC visiting Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying, 26-year-old, went missing on June 9 after she got into a black Saturn Astra about five blocks from where she got off a bus on her way to an apartment complex to sign a lease. Christensen was arrested on June 30 after being caught on tape pointing out people he described as "ideal victims" during a vigil in Zhang's honor. On July 5, U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long ordered that Christensen remain detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the UIUC Police Department jointly conducted the investigation. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 07:45:20|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close File photo taken on June 8, 2017 shows former Director of Federal Bureau of Investigations James Comey arrives for a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington D.C., the United States. James Comey said Thursday during a Senate hearing that Trump in his words did not order the FBI to drop the investigation on former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Jan. 20, 2018 reaches one-year mark for Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. One year into U.S. President Donald Trump's presidency, the uncertainties and anxieties over his unconventional playbook appear to have not diminished. As he seeks to implement his campaign promises, which seem controversial and even unacceptable to many, rifts, feuds and controversies dogged the year and 2018 would probably not be any different. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) FILE PHOTO - Brendt Christensen, 28, arrested in connection with the disappearance of Yingying Zhang, 26, on June 9, 2017, is shown in this booking photo in Champaign, Illinois, U.S., provided July 5, 2017. ( Courtesy Macon County Sheriff's Office/Handout via REUTERS) CHICAGO, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government filed on Friday a notice of intent on the website of the Department of Justice to seek death penalty against Brendt A. Christensen of Champaign, Il. charged with kidnapping resulting in death of visiting Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying. 28-year-old Christensen is charged with kidnapping resulting in death of visiting Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) on June 9, 2017. The filing follows the decision and directive by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to seek the death penalty against Christensen. The U.S. government said the circumstances of the offense of kidnapping resulting in death, as charged in count one of the superseding indictment returned on October 3, 2017, are such that, in the event the defendant is convicted of committing the crime, a sentence of death is justified. The superseding indictment alleges that Christensen held Zhang Yingying on June 9, 2017, and used a cellular telephone and Saturn Astra motor vehicle to commit and in furtherance of the commission of the offense; and the kidnapping resulted in the death of Zhang. The notice to seek a sentence of death includes intent factors that allege Christensen acted with intent against the victim; and that his intentional acts of violence resulted in the victim's death. The notice sets forth statutory aggravating factors including that Zhang's death occurred during the commission of a kidnapping; that the offense was committed in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner, which involved torture or serious physical abuse; and that Christensen committed the offense after substantial planning and premeditation. The notice also alleges non-statutory aggravating factors that were not previously asserted, including victim impact evidence related to Zhang's loss and the impact of her death upon her family, friends, and co-workers; the future dangerousness of the defendant; his lack of remorse; other serious acts of violence allegedly committed by Christensen; the vulnerability of the victim due to her small stature and limited ability to communicate in English; and the defendant's alleged attempt to obstruct the investigation by making false statements to investigators, destroying or concealing the victim's remains, and sanitizing the crime scene. UIUC visiting Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying, 26-year-old, went missing on June 9 after she got into a black Saturn Astra about five blocks from where she got off a bus on her way to an apartment complex to sign a lease. Christensen was arrested on June 30 after being caught on tape pointing out people he described as "ideal victims" during a vigil in Zhang's honor. On July 5, U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long ordered that Christensen remain detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the UIUC Police Department jointly conducted the investigation. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 09:14:43|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close HAIKOU, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Liang Feng gave up his centuries-long family tradition of fishing, to accept a new job -- island chief of Sansha in the South China Sea, one of China's youngest cities. The island chief is a job appointed by the Sansha government to control pollutant discharge, protect sea turtles and restore the environment on the islands. Sansha piloted the mechanism in Qilianyu Islands, which cover an area of 1.2 square kilometers. Liang is among the first batch of eight island chiefs in Qilianyu; he guards Zhaoshu Island. A bulletin board stands on the island's deck, displaying the island's name and coverage, as well as the name, phone number and the responsibility of its island chief. Liang's daily work involves checking if there is coral reef damage, serious coastline erosion and illegal tourism, as well as protecting the sea turtles who lay eggs on the island. "Besides, I need to keep an eye on illegal fishing," he said. There is a Chinese saying: if you live near the ocean, you rely on it to raise your family. Liang's family has long lived on Zhaoshu Island and made a living from fishing. However, fishermen have noticed the subtle changes of the island -- the color loss of the beautiful coral, coastline erosion and a decreasing number of sea turtles. "Sea turtles are very sensitive to environmental change. The deteriorating environment affected their life and hatching," said Zou Zhi, another island chief in Qilianyu Islands. Since the establishment of Sansha city in 2012, the city government has intensified measures to improve the environment of the islands. Zhaoshu Island has a registered population of 209. "In order to protect the environment, Zhaoshu started controlling its population," Liang said. The local government also convinced fishermen who had long lived on the islands to make career changes and devote more to marine conservation. Liang organized a guard team consisting of 15 fishermen, including himself, to conduct routine patrols, collect ocean garbage, trim plants and dispose of sewage and construction waste. In addition, the Sansha government issued a strict ban in 2012 on turtle poaching in all areas under its jurisdiction, while educating local fishermen to protect the rare species. "We persuaded fishermen to cut off electricity even in scorching summer and reduce human activity near the beaches on which turtles usually lay eggs," Zou said. Thanks to their efforts, the number of turtle nests on the Qilianyu Islands climbed to 168 in 2017 from 52 in 2014. Now 33 people have given up fishing on Zhaoshu Island and most of them devote themselves to island environmental conservation. "I hope that the remaining fishermen will go ashore one day and protect the ocean that we relied on for generations," Liang said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 09:19:44|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close URUMQI, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of Beijing has recently opened a branch in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, aimed at supporting the development of the local cultural and creative industries. The branch is the first in the region to specifically provide financial services for small and micro-sized cultural and creative enterprises. It will open a fast track and offer diverse financial products targeted at these enterprises. As of October 2017, the Bank of Beijing has given more than 150 billion yuan (23.5 billion U.S. dollars) in loans to support over 5,000 cultural and creative enterprises. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 10:04:50|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department approved a sale of 34 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Conventional Take-off and Landing (CTOL) aircraft to Belgium, the Pentagon said on Friday. According to a statement published by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency under the U.S. Department of Defense, the agency notified Congress of the sale for an estimated 6.53 billion U.S. dollars later Friday. The sale would also include 38 Pratt & Whitney F-135 engines -- 34 installed ones and four spares -- as well as other equipment for the radar-evading high-tech fighter. The sale will "improve the security of an ally and partner nation which has been, and continues to be, an important force for political and economic stability in Western Europe," the statement read. The sale of F-35s is expected to provide Belgium with "a credible defense capability to deter aggression in the region and ensure interoperability with U.S. forces," said the agency. The governments of Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and others are also potential customers of the jet. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 10:50:02|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close OTTAWA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Canada on Friday filed a request for panel review within the framework of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) over the U.S. decision to impose duties on imports of Bombardier jet airliners, the Canadian Foreign Ministry said Friday. The move is against the U.S. plan to impose duty rates of nearly 300 percent on future imports of the C Series aircraft produced by the Canadian manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace. The foreign ministry statement issued Friday evening said Canada also filed a request for panel review over the U.S. decision to impose duties on imports of Canadian softwood lumber. The U.S. International Trade Commission said softwood lumber imports from Canada were subsidized and hurt the U.S. industry. The panel reviews were requested according to a dispute settlement mechanism under NAFTA Chapter 19, for a panel consisting of U.S. and Canadian trade experts to be set up and decide on whether the duties follow the U.S. trade law. Otherwise the Canadian complaints will have to go through the U.S. court system. NAFTA Chapter 19 is Canada's major demand in the original NAFTA and remains a priority as renegotiation over the trade deal moves to Montreal next week. The World Trade Organization (WTO) said Canada has lodged wide-ranging trade complaints against the United States over its use of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties against imports from Canada. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 12:10:16|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close by Xinhua writer Shi Xiaomeng BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- In handling its relations with Beijing, Washington needs to overcome its narrowmindedness and think far and wide. Ahead of his one-year anniversary of assuming U.S. presidency, Donald Trump is threatening to seek a huge fine against China over its alleged intellectual property theft. Recently, his administration has also ordered a probe of what it calls China's meddling in U.S. internal affairs. These moves came after several attempts by the United States to block China's investments from entering its market, including investments from China's e-commerce giant Alibaba and from leading Chinese phone maker Huawei Technologies. These protectionist actions, which came just a month after the Trump administration labeled China a strategic competitor in its first National Security Strategy, are neither reasonable nor wise. More importantly, they could backfire. Ever since the two countries normalized their relationship in the 1970s, their economic and trade cooperation has grown to become a strong adhesive that binds China and the United States ever tighter, and has yielded tangible benefits for the two peoples. Statistics released by the U.S.-China Business Council in January last year show that the China-U.S. economic relationship supported roughly 2.6 million jobs in the United States across a range of industries, among which about 104,000 jobs were created by Chinese investment. However, it seems that the Trump administration has not been quite impressed by these numbers. Over the past year, Trump has on many occasions held Beijing responsible for Washington's huge trade deficits in two-way trade, fumed that his country has been taken advantage of, and vowed to retaliate. The fact is that the U.S. trade gap with China is a rather complicated issue. Given America's low savings rate and high-flying consumption rate, Beijing's trade polices are hardly a major cause. To solve the long-standing issue, Washington should look for more ways to restructure its economy rather than finding fault with its largest trading partner. If the Trump White House decides to charge forward with its promised punitive measures against China, Beijing might be forced to take similar moves. A mutually destructive trade war might be ignited. Despite the U.S. negative behavior, the two countries over the past year have proved that they can manage their disagreements and hold onto the spirit of cooperation. Following a 100-day action plan, which was initiated during the Mar-a-largo meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump last April, American beef has now been brought back to the dining tables of the Chinese consumers. And in November, deals worth 250 billion U.S. dollars were signed by the two sides during Trump's first state visit to China. Differences are inevitable, but conflict is not. And any difference or contradiction can and will be addressed through dialogues as long as the two countries have goodwill to work together. Trump has promised to make America great again. However, if pushing China back is his perceived way of delivering it, it could lead him nowhere near his purpose. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 12:15:16|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close HOUSTON, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Infant mortality rates in the midwestern U.S. state of Texas vary dramatically, according to a news release Friday from The University of Texas System (UT System). Some zip codes in the state have not experienced an infant death in the 2011-2014 period, whereas others have experienced more than 1 percent of their infants dying before their first birthdays. Among just black mothers in Houston, there was an eight-fold difference in infant mortality rates across the city. The zip code level rates were calculated for communities with 400 or more births in this four-year period, and were identified by the mother's zip code of residence at delivery. The data were obtained from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). "What this reveals is that the infant mortality picture is dramatically more complex than we knew," said David Lakey, chief medical officer and vice chancellor for Health Affairs for UT System. The variations, said Lakey, are both geographic and racial/ethnic. White women in Texas have a relatively low risk of their baby dying within the first year after birth. However, as with the infant mortality rate for all infants, there are significant community-level differences in infant mortality rates among this group. The highest infant mortality rates for white infants were seen outside the major metro areas. Of the three major racial/ethnic groups in Texas, Hispanic women have the lowest rate of infant mortality. However, as with white women, infant mortality rates for Hispanic women varied greatly based on where they lived when they were pregnant. Non-Hispanic black families in Texas and the United States are disproportionately impacted by infant mortality. However, mortality rates for infants of black mothers varied across zip codes of the same city. Researchers with UT System will continue to work towards understanding why the variations exist and what can be done to reduce rates overall. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 12:50:21|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close VIENTIANE, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Lao government has welcomed the arrival of the newly appointed United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) representative, in anticipation of closer cooperation in the implementation of the national socio-economic development plan, local media reported Saturday. The planned budget for UNICEF's country program in Laos is about 63 million U.S. dollars, to support health and nutrition, education, child protection and social inclusion programs, etc., local daily Vientiane Times quoted a press release from the UNICEF Laos office as saying. The newly appointed UNICEF Representative Octavian Bivol met with Lao Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith on Wednesday. The minister congratulated Bivol on his appointment as the new UNICEF representative to Laos. He voiced his appreciation for UNICEF's assistance to Laos in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and expressed interest in continuing the close collaboration between the Lao government and UNICEF on efforts towards achieving the goals of the 8th National Socio-Economic Development Plan, graduation from Least Developed Country status, and implementation of the SDGs. Bivol thanked the foreign minister and the Lao government for their warm welcome and appreciation of UNICEF's work. Bivol assured Saleumxay that he would work hand in hand with the Lao government to strengthen cooperation and improve the lives of children in the country. Bivol was confident that through the strong partnership with the Lao government and close collaboration with other partners, the objectives of the new program of cooperation for 2017-2021 will be achieved, contributing to the priorities of the national development agenda and Sustainable Development Goals. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 13:00:24|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close LONDON, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Puberty now starts at 10 and lasts until 24, suggested a group of scientists studying adolescent health. Writing in the Lancet Child and Adolescent Health journal, doctors from the Royal Victoria Hospital in Melbourne suggested broader adolescent years due to biological and societal changes in youths. According to the research, earlier puberty has accelerated the onset of adolescence in nearly all populations. For example, in industrialized countries such as Britain, the average age for a girl's first menstruation has dropped by four years in the past 150 years, according to a BBC news report. At the other end of the spectrum, reaching the age of 19, in effect, does not mark the end of one's adolescent years. "Although many adult legal privileges start at age 18 years, the adoption of adult roles and responsibilities generally occurs later," said the Lancet opinion piece. The authors said delayed completion of education, marriage, and parenthood all contribute to shifting popular perception of when adulthood begins. Also underpinning the theory are biological reasons: Brain continues to change and mature until a person reaches their mid-20s or even later, according to the article. Thus, the research calls for an expanded and more inclusive definition of adolescence, which, according to the authors, is essential for developmentally appropriate framing of laws, social policies, and service systems. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 13:35:30|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close Picture grabbed from a video provided by Zoo Negara (national zoo) and received on Jan. 20, 2018 shows a new born giant panda at Zoo Negara near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The giant panda cub is a female, a Malaysian official said on Saturday. (Xinhua/Zoo Negara) KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The baby giant panda newly born in Malaysia is a female, a Malaysian official said Saturday. "I am very pleased to announce that the newly born Giant Panda is a female and weighs 190 grams," Wan Junaidi Bin Tuanku Jaafar, Malaysia's minister of natural resources and environment, said in a statement. The baby is healthy and is being cared for very well by her mother, Liang Liang, and handlers at Zoo Negara, Malaysia's national zoo, Wan Junaidi added. A video provided by the zoo showed a zoo keeper measuring the cub as it was constantly crying. The baby panda was born on Jan. 14, but its gender could not be determined earlier as its protective mother has not allowed keepers to take it away for inspection. The baby panda is the second offspring of her parents Xing Xing and Liang Liang, both arrived in Malaysia in 2014. Their first-born, Nuan Nuan, who is also a female, returned to China in November last year after turning two-year-old. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 14:05:33|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close by Matthew Rusling WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Pentagon released the U.S. National Defense Strategy on Friday, shifting its focus, for the first time in over a decade, from fighting terror to preparing for what it believes is a threat from China and Russia. But the document is unlikely to impact overall U.S.-China ties, U.S. experts said. "GREAT POWER COMPETITION" NOW PRIMARY FOCUS While the United States will continue to fight terrorism, "great power competition -- not terrorism -- is now the primary focus of U.S. national security," said U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in a speech at Johns Hopkins University. "We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists, but great power competition -- not terrorism -- is now the primary focus of U.S. national security," Mattis said in the speech. The new U.S. defense strategy mirrored the U.S. National Security Strategy announced by President Donald Trump in December, which outlined the U.S. government's military and foreign policies while naming China and Russia as "competitors." The strategy is aimed at "restoring America's competitive military advantage to deter Russia and China from challenging the United States, its allies or seeking to overturn the international order that has served so well since the end of World War II," the Defense Department said in a statement released Friday. The strategy seeks to implement "peace through strength, the affirmation of America's international role, the U.S. alliance and partnership structure and the necessity to build America's military advantage," in order to maintain what the department views as "key regional balances of power," the Defense Department said. Briefing Pentagon reporters, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development Elbridge A. Colby said the strategy is not one of confrontations, but rather a "strategy that recognizes the reality of competition." "The joint force should be ready to compete, to deter and -- if necessary -- to win against any adversary," Colby said. The new outlook also represents a major shift in U.S. foreign policy, as the global fight against terrorism had dominated Washington's plans since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington, which killed nearly 3,000 civilians, and led to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. ( But now, the Trump administration believes China and Russia represent much more substantial challenges because of their ability to disrupt life on a grander scale, said Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West. "Terrorists can score occasional triumphs by blowing up a dozen people, but they don't have the ability to wage war, take down critical infrastructure, or challenge America economically," West told Xinhua. "Military planners worry that either China or Russia has the capability to do those things," West said. "It doesn't mean these threats actually will materialize, but (means) that the country should be prepared for worst case scenarios," West said. Tom Spoehr, director of the Center for National Defense at the Heritage Foundation, told Xinhua that the strategy shows the United States' "recognition that terrorism, although a significant problem, does not threaten the vital national interests of the United States." STRATEGY UNLIKELY TO UPSET U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS While the military's defense strategy is hawkish, experts said that may not cause a negative impact on U.S.-China relations, as the two countries have robust trade relations that make them economically dependent on one another. "The military often has the most hawkish people so it is not surprising they take the toughest line on these issues. It doesn't mean the entire U.S. government has embraced those viewpoints," West said. U.S. diplomats, on the other hand, are likely to take a different tone, analysts said. "Diplomats typically take a softer tone and economic analysts understand the value of continuing a strong trading relationship with China. Each of those perspectives will act as a counter-weight to the administration's hawks and restrain action," West said. "For the foreseeable future, I don't think this strategy will affect the U.S.-China relationship," West said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 14:20:36|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- A spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in the United States said on Friday that Cold War mentality and zero-sum game mindset would only lead to conflict and confrontation. He was responding to the U.S. National Defense Strategy released earlier the same day. The U.S. Department of Defense on Friday rolled out its 2018 National Defense Strategy, saying the U.S. military advantage has been eroding and is facing strong competition from other countries like China and Russia. The department also labeled "long-term strategic competitions with China and Russia" as the principal priorities, according to the document. In response, the spokesperson stressed that "peace and development" are the themes of this era, pointing out that "one's mentality determines how they see the world." "If some people look at the world through a Cold War and zero-sum game mindset, they are destined to see only conflict and confrontation," said the spokesperson. "With such a mindset, global peace and development are unattainable ideals." The spokesperson also said that China has always been committed to and has played a constructive role in the pursuit of world peace, global development, and the maintenance of the international order. "We adhere to a win-win strategy of 'opening-up' in our relations with all nations," he said. "What China seeks in the world is global partnership, not global dominance. We pursue a vision of global governance featuring extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits." He added that China further stands for democracy in international relations, with an aim to build a new model of global affairs defined as a community with a shared future for mankind. "In this spirit, China's economic and diplomatic activities around the globe are broadly welcomed," he noted. Speaking of China-U.S. relations, the spokesperson said the two nations shoulder important responsibilities and have extensive common interests in upholding world peace and stability and in promoting global development and prosperity. China hopes that the United States can follow the trend of the world and the will of the people, and view the world and China-U.S. relations objectively and rationally, he said. "We hope the United States will join hands with China to uphold the sound and steady growth of China-U.S. relations. This is the right choice that serves the interests of our two peoples, and the people of the world," he added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 14:55:42|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close by Kaswar Klasra ISLAMABAD, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Life of Asif Raza, a Pakistani commerce graduate, was suddenly changed two years ago after he received a call for a job interview from Shandong Electric Power Construction Corporation (SEPCO), a Chinese construction and engineering company that is designing and building generation and transmission infrastructure in Pakistan. "I was not much excited after the call because I had not any reference or backing to get a job. But I went for the interview considering that Chinese company would definitely to select employees on merit," Raza, 31 years old, told Xinhua recently. One week after the interview, Raza was employed as an assistant manager of a department at the Sahiwal Coal Power Plant designed and constructed by the company. "It was a pleasant surprise for me to get the job. It brought my life to stability, and now I am very happy and satisfied with my career, and it also increases my trust in China," said Raza. Jointly developed by SEPCO and Shandong Ruyi Technology Group Co., the 1,320 megawatt Sahiwal Coal Power Plant has already started production in May last year. It is the first major energy project that carries the latest state of the art environment-friendly super critical technology under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which was completed and commenced full operations in a record short time. Sahiwal power plant has provided over 3,000 direct jobs to locals, including engineers, technicians, supervisors and laborers during its construction period. Like Raza, thousands of Pakistanis have got jobs at different projects launched under CPEC, a comprehensive package of cooperative initiatives and projects encompassing regional connectivity, information network infrastructure, energy cooperation, industries, agricultural development, poverty alleviation, tourism and financial cooperation. Spokesperson of Pakistan's Ministry of Planning and Development Asim Khan said that over 30,000 Pakistanis have got jobs in different projects under the CPEC which will bring more and more tangible benefits to Pakistani workers in coming days. Chinese Deputy Head of Mission Zhao Lijian, who is the focal person of CPEC power projects, told Xinhua that around 60,000 Pakistanis are working on different Chinese projects in Pakistan, including those of projects under the CPEC. Fawad Khalid Khan, a senior engineer working with China National Electric Engineering Company as deputy commercial manager in Pakistan, believed that at least 100,000 jobs will be created within next few years under power and infrastructure projects of the CPEC. Zhao confirmed that Chinese government has received feasibility reports of special economic zones from the Pakistani side and it is currently evaluating it, adding that it will take some time to set up the special economic zones. China's investment of billions of U.S. dollars in Pakistan also brought fortune for the residents of the country's southwest Gwadar Port, once a sleepy fishing town located on the shores of the Arabian Sea next to the Pakistan-Iran border. Mohammad Nazeer is one of the lucky residents of Gwadar, who had been jobless for years, but finally the Chinese initiative provided him an opportunity. "My years-long hunt for job and sufferings ended in July last year after I was appointed by Chinese as an assistant supervisor at Gwadar Port," Nazeer told Xinhua via telephone, adding "my life has changed after getting employed. I am a glad family man because now I can afford to send my kids to school and give them good food." Last year, Chairman of China Communications Construction Co. Liu Qitao told media that development at Gwadar brought 20,000 direct and indirect jobs to locals. It is expected that workforces from nearby areas will flow into Gwadar after further development of the port and an industrial zone nearby. Rai Niaz Ahmad, former chief of an agricultural university, said that CPEC is a game changer for Pakistan and it is not only creating jobs for Pakistanis but also bringing social, economic and political benefits to Pakistan. "CPEC is a great gift to Pakistan from its reliable friend China," said Ahmad, suggesting the governments of Pakistan and China should extend further cooperation in the field of agriculture also. Analysts and economists believed that China's financial and technical input into Pakistan's agriculture sector will be a win-win situation for both sides, as it will create tens of thousands of new jobs and multiply agrarian production of Pakistan, whose majority of population live in villages and earn from farming. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 15:05:44|Editor: pengying Video Player Close NEW YORK, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Donald Trump came into office in a probably most divisive election in American history. One year into his tweet-posting, media-bashing presidency, Americans are still divided and polarized in their views on what the real-estate-mogul-turned president has achieved in office. "I found his first year unexpectedly divisive (more than is typical in today's United States) and I am disappointed that the result is a sense that policy is adrift -- more noise than action," said Avery Goldstein, political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania. "Dangerous rhetoric combined with what so far appear to be bluffs about taking dramatic steps," Goldstein told Xinhua in a written interview on Friday. PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T LIKE TRUMP STILL DON'T In the streets of New York City, a Democratic stronghold, people are frustrated and angry with the Republican Trump. "His policies have aimed at reversing almost anything he could that President Obama had done, without a cohesive, thought-out policy going forward," Janet, in her 50s, told Xinhua. "He has not got any significant legislation done. In his comments, and tweets, he has been divisive." One year on from his inauguration, hardly a day passes without Trump's tweets causing waves in Washington and among public opinion, although some say he is merely illustrating his intentions. "I am not super political. I wish he would get out of this Twitter thing, he talks too much. He needs to shut up and quit doing that," Wendy Debbie said. "He is not a typical president at all. We'll see what he'll do next. It's a big gamble (for us)." "I think he tweets too much," said Eli Gonzalez, a business owner in Houston. "So he's probably getting in trouble with all the tweeting he's doing. If he would just tweet less, he'd probably get less backlash." On the west coast, Chat Deleon, a property manager in San Francisco, is no fan of Trump either. "I don't like him. He is not professional, too outspoken, very vocal and open. He is not a good president. He is not good to middle class people. I did not benefit from his tax cut policy," she said. "I dislike him not because I'm a Democrat, but because of his personality or character. He didn't do a good job," said Deleon, who has identified herself as a Democrat for more than 30 years. TRUMP SUPPORTERS PRAISE PERFORMANCE On the other end of the political spectrum, Trump's supporters give high credit to him for delivering on some of his campaign promises. Some of those who have benefited from his policy are happy about his performance so far. "I think President Trump is doing a great job, and the stock market proves my point," said Kyle Smith, a rancher from Fort Morgan Colorado, who was attending America's oldest and largest stock and cattle in Denver, Colorado. "Trump's first year was a big success," Joe Newton, a ranch hand from Greeley, Colorado, told Xinhua on Thursday at the Denver Coliseum, filled with pick-up trucks with Trump bumper stickers. "Trump is already helping our industry and he has revived the coal industry as well. The president is very popular in this part of rural America," he said. "I am a big Trump supporter," said Tracy Parker, a hairstylist from Longmont, Colorado. "This is Trump territory and we're behind him 100 percent, despite what the media say." DIVISIVE TAX CUT BILL Even on the tax cut bill Trump signed into law in December, the first big legislative win of his presidency also generated equal criticism and applause as some say the law is a gift to corporations and the wealthy, with little to help average Americans. Moon Truong, a female relationship manager of the Bank of America in San Francisco, said, "My bank benefits from that because the corporate tax is down. The bank gave an extra 1,000 U.S. dollars in bonus to me and all other employees." The tax package allows companies to accelerate depreciation on capital equipment, and will "stimulate U.S. investment and boost U.S. economic growth," John Manzella, an author based in Buffalo, New York, told Xinhua on Friday. However, the tax cut, which reduces the U.S. corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent beginning in 2018, has proved irritating to others. In Chicago, thirty-something Gabby White, said "The most disappointing thing I think is the tax. He is reducing the tax for rich people, and the middle class is shrinking because of that." HOPE IN THE ECONOMY Expectations remains high that Trump will make a difference in his remaining term. "I didn't vote for Trump in the 2016 presidential election. And I don't like Trump's style as U.S. President. But we have to admit that he has done not badly," said a Los Angeles taxi driver in his thirties who identified himself as Martin. "The economy is strong in the past year. The unemployment rate has fallen. Trump is bringing more manufacturing jobs back to our country. I disagree with him in many ways, but I support his effort to add jobs to the economy," he added. "The economy is turning around, stocks are soaring, the unemployment rate is dropping. Big corporations are giving out bonuses to people," said Sandon K. Saffier, a New York consultant. "I think hopefully we'll get beyond this sort of bickering and polarization between the two sides." Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 15:10:45|Editor: pengying Video Player Close CAIRO, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's former army chief of staff Sami Anan announced early Saturday morning his bid to run in the 2018 presidential election scheduled for March. "I announce today that I made up my mind to submit my candidacy papers for the post of president," Anan said in a video statement posted on his official Facebook page. Anan's announcement came a few hours after current President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi officially announced he would be running for re-election. Sisi is supported by most media outlets as well as state institutions, including the parliament, most of whose 596 members officially recommended him for a second four-year term. Anan blamed the country's ongoing problems on "wrong policies," calling on all institutions to be neutral and not to take sides. He said he already formed a civilian presidential team, including Hisham Genina, a former chief of the country's top anti-corruption auditing authority who was sacked by Sisi in 2016, and Hazem Hosny, a political science professor critical of the policies of the current administration. Egypt is going to hold its 2018 presidential race late March. After a 10-day candidate registration period starting on Saturday, the candidates will kick off their campaign on Feb. 24. The result of the first round is set to be announced on April 2, according to the country's National Election Authority. A pro-Sisi non-official campaign called "So That You Can Build It (Egypt)" said last December that it collected over 12 million signatures from Egyptians, more than 11 percent of the population, supporting Sisi to run for a second term. The Egyptian constitution limits the president's number of terms to two. Sisi said earlier he would not seek to change it. Sisi took office in mid-2014, a year after he led the ouster of his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against Morsi's one-year rule and his now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group. Anan is considered a strong competitor against Sisi in the race. Egyptian rights and opposition lawyer Khaled Ali announced last November his intention to join the presidential race. But it is possible that Ali could be disqualified as he had received a suspended three-month jail term earlier in September over an obscene hand gesture he reportedly made after winning a court order challenging the government. Meanwhile, former air force commander and former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, who fled Egypt after narrowly losing to Morsi in the 2012 elections, announced from the United Arab Emirates his intention to run for president. However, Shafiq came back to Egypt last December and announced his withdrawal from the presidential race earlier this month. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 15:25:47|Editor: Chengcheng Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saturday vowed "necessary measures" will be undertaken to safeguard the country's sovereignty after a U.S. warship entered waters surrounding Huangyan Island in the South China Sea. When responding to a relevant question from the press, spokesperson Lu Kang confirmed that the USS Hopper, a guided missile destroyer, sailed within 12 nautical miles of the Chinese island on Wednesday evening without Chinese government permission. According to Lu, the Chinese Navy has conducted an identification and warning process to drive the U.S. warship away. Lu said the U.S. warship has impaired China's sovereignty and security interests, and caused a serious threat to Chinese vessels and personnel working in the area. The spokesperson said the U.S. side's behavior has broken basic protocols of international relations, voicing China's strong dissatisfaction. "China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty," he said. Lu reiterated that China has indisputable sovereignty over Huangyan Island and its adjacent waters. "China respects and safeguards the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea for all countries in accordance with international law, but resolutely opposes any country's move to impair China's sovereignty and security interests in the name of freedom of navigation and overflight," Lu said. "We strongly urge the U.S. to rectify its mistake immediately and cease this kind of provocation so as not to harm Sino-U.S. relations and regional peace and stability," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 15:30:48|Editor: Chengcheng Video Player Close by Xinhua writer Chen Wenxian JERUSALEM, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Israel tour of "Co-existence," the first modern dance co-production between China and Israel, concluded on Friday and gained huge success. The dance is the first event among the series of "Happy Spring Festival" activities being held by Chinese Embassy in Israel, and a special program celebrating the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Israel and China as well. Since Jan. 16, the dance, jointly produced by artists and performed by 14 dancers from the two countries, has presented four times in different cities in Israel. It is the first time for Israeli audience to see the co-existence of different culture of the two countries in the dance stage. Cultural exchange is one important part of the innovative comprehensive partnership between China and Israel, said Chinese Ambassador to Israel Zhan Yongxin in an interview with Xinhua. Acting as a bridge, culture exchange is helpful for people of the two countries to understand and learn each other better, he added. Chinese embassy in Israel conducted a lot of cultural activities in Israel in 2017, including China Cultural Season, China Film Festival, and opened the China Cultural Center in Tel Aviv, and all these efforts have further pushed forward the cultural exchange for the two sides, according to Zhan. The dance of "Co-existence" (DU-K in Hebrew) expresses in dance, song and drama the similarities and differences between two rich and dynamic cultures of China and Israel, combining tradition and innovation, a combination of Western aesthetics with Chinese elements. The main idea of the piece "DU-K" in Hebrew means co-existence, which shows how two different nations, two different cultures can collaborate and work together even without understanding the language only from the body language, Israeli choreographer Eyal Dadon, also the director and choreographer of the dance "Co-existence," told Xinhua. The show was inspired by the two-month residency of Dadon and his 14 Chinese and Israeli dancers in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi province. There's a lot about historical shapes, maps and structures in the piece itself, and a lot of Chinese elements in the piece as well. People can hear Chinese music, Chinese language and Hebrew together, said Dadon. It's the first time to see Chinese and Israeli dancers dancing together on stage, and it's very special for the audience to expose them to this kind of art and this kind of collaboration, Dadon noted. The piece was produced by the 4th Silk Road International Arts Festival in Xi'an and jointly completed by the Beijing 9 Contemporary Dance Theater with the Israeli SOL Dance Company from Be'er Sheva. The one-hour dance performance was accorded a prolonged ovation. An Israeli girl said it was an amazing show and she was surprised to see different cultural and historical elements of Israel and China could be successfully mixed in the stage. Last year Dodan worked in China as a guest choreographer and this year he is continuing to work with Chinese partners. He believes he would continue the collaboration next year. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 15:40:51|Editor: pengying Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Authorities on Friday released a preliminary investigative report on the Las Vegas mass shooting incident last October, the deadest one in the modern history of the United States. However, the document did not reveal any motives behind the massacre. At a press conference for the report, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told reporters that the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department was "going against normal protocols" by issuing the report, due to public interest in the case. The 81-page document includes an overview of the incident, a sequence of events leading up to the attack, a brief profile of Stephen Paddock who opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, his planning of the attack, photographs from the scene as well as indicators of intent. MORE INFO ON VICTIMS In the paper, the information of all 58 people killed in the bloody shooting was listed. For the first time, the authorities determined a total of 422 people suffered injuries as a direct result of gunfire, while another 851 individuals suffered other injuries during the attack. Meanwhile, all 22,000 people attending the festival that night are recognized as victims. Paddock acted alone in the attack, according to the report. The police outlined a timeline of Paddock's activities almost every hour, since he checked into room 32-135 of the Mandalay Bay at 15:33 p.m. (GMT 2230) on Sept. 25, 2017. Lombardo said four laptops and three cellphones were recovered in the rooms that Paddock stayed in. The data on them offered some evidence. Investigators also chased 1,965 leads in the case, reviewed more than 21,000 hours of footage and issued 1,062 legal notices. It's still believed that Paddock was the only shooter at the scene, Lombardo said at the press conference, adding that police do not anticipate charges against Paddock's girlfriend Marilou Danley, who was questioned in the initial aftermath of the attack. But he disclosed that the FBI is investigating an individual of federal interest related to the case. Charges could be brought within 60 days. MORE INFO ON WHO THE SHOOTER WAS Friday's report shed a little more light on how Paddock planned the attack and who the murderer was. The report said "several hundred images of child pornography" were recovered on Paddock's laptop computer. His brother was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography after the mass shooting. As a gambler known to bet tens of thousands of dollars at a time and play at numerous casinos, Paddock was completely funded by his gambling habits and real estate transactions. He had paid off all his gambling debts before the shooting. On top of that, the report indicated that Paddock maybe had some mental problems, as he claimed multiple times to friends or family that he "felt ill, in pain or fatigued." His physician described him as "odd" in behaviors with "little emotion shown." He refused anti-depressants but accepted prescriptions ordered for anxiety. The report cited Danley's words as saying that Paddock's demeanor had changed over the last year. He had become "distant," and their relationship was no longer intimate. Moreover, the 64-year-old purchased 55 firearms between October 2016 and September 2017. Danley also told policemen that Paddock behaved strangely during a stay at the Mandalay Bay a month before the shooting. He specifically requested rooms that overlooked the Las Vegas Village. When they stayed in room 60-235, "Paddock was constantly looking out the windows of the room that overlooked the venue. Paddock would move from window to window looking at the site from different angles," she said. WHAT HE MIGHT HAVE GOOGLED Google search history in an HP laptop showed Paddock researched other large-scale venues, including locations in Boston, Los Angeles and San Diego, the report said. One Google query was "how crowded does Santa Monica Beach get." Other queries include "biggest open air concert venues in U.S.," "open air concert venue," "SWAT Las Vegas" and "do police use explosives." Paddock also googled "How tall is Mandalay Bay" by his Dell laptop, the report said. The KTLA news channel speculated that Paddock may have used the height of the hotel to calculate the trajectory, since the only piece of paper in the suite contained calculations the gunman made to determine how far his bullets would drop based on the height of his room, as well as the distance between himself and the venue. On Thursday night, a U.S. congressman told Fox News he received what he believed to be "credible evidence of a possible terrorist nexus" to the Las Vegas shooting incident. "Recently, I have been made aware of what I believe to be credible evidence or credible information regarding potential terrorist infiltration through the southern border regarding this incident," Republican Congressman from Pennsylvania Scott Perry told "Tucker Carlson Tonight." Catherine Lombardo, an attorney for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting, also appeared on the program. She asked Perry to give more evidence. "Unless you have specific evidence, it seems a bit irresponsible to make that allegation or make that assertion," she said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 15:52:07|Editor: Chengcheng Video Player Close Black-necked cranes are seen near Nyangqu River in Xigaze, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Jan. 18, 2018. Tibet has become the world's largest winter habitat for critically endangered black-necked cranes. (Xinhua/Purbu Zhaxi) Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 15:50:53|Editor: Jiaxin Video Player Close Hector Aguilar prepares to leave home with his passport in hands, Tijuana, Mexico, Jan. 11, 2018. Hector Aguilar is a U.S. citizen who works in San Diego, California, but lives across the border in Tijuana, in North Mexico's Baja California state. Aguilar travels almost daily from one side of the closely watched border to the other, as naturally as most people walk from one side of the street to the opposite. A long and well-guarded fence with just three gateways divides the two cities, a market of 6.5 million people and an economy that generates 230 billion U.S. dollars a year, according to Mexico's Foreign Ministry.(Xinhua/Xu Rui) By Luis Brito and Wu Hao TIJUANA, Mexico, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Hector Aguilar is a U.S. citizen who works in San Diego, California, but lives across the border in Tijuana, in North Mexico's Baja California state. Almost daily, the 32-year-old travels from one side of the closely watched border to the other, as naturally as most people walk from one side of the street to the opposite. Aguilar, whose parents are Mexican, said he has spent his entire life going back and forth between the United States and Mexico. He was born in Los Angeles, spent childhood in Tijuana and afterwards and graduated from high school in San Diego. As an adult, Aguilar chooses to live in Tijuana because he finds it both economical and entertaining. He carries a U.S. passport and a mobile phone with a U.S. number, but tells people he is a Mexican. "There's nothing better than saying you are from Tijuana, because saying you are from elsewhere, like San Diego, sounds boring," Aguilar said, laughing. Aguilar is among the thousands of residents living along the dynamic Tijuana-San Diego border, which boasts one of the world's busiest traffic points, with 30 million crossings a year. A long and well-guarded fence with just three gateways divides the two cities, or together a market of 6.5 million people and an economy that generates 230 billion U.S. dollars a year, according to Mexico's Foreign Ministry. Between 70,000 and 100,000 people of both nationalities cross from one city to the other for study or work, Rodolfo Figueroa, a National Immigration Institute (INM) delegate in Baja California, told Xinhua. "It's a metropolitan area that comprises San Diego and Tijuana, and the border is an obstacle within the city. It's not just a feature of an international border, it's an integral part of daily life," said Figueroa. Aguilar rents a comfortable apartment on a central street in Tijuana, within walking distance from the city's prestigious cultural center and a popular movie theater. He pays 300 U.S. dollars a month in rent, a quarter of the cost for a comparable apartment in San Diego. "I can work and study in the United States without paying a huge rent. Life is expensive there. I feel more free, there are always things to do," he said. "I don't know, it's like a gift." The El Chaparral-San Ysidro pedestrian crossing point is close to his home, and he passes through it three or four times a week to study photography at the San Diego City College. He also works part time there, spending 12 hours a week delivering packages. The commute only takes him about an hour, including the 10 minutes spent crossing the border on foot, plus the 45-minute ride on a trolley car to the campus located in downtown San Diego. As a photography enthusiast, he appreciates the contrast presented by Tijuana, where prosperity and poverty exist side by side. Affordable medical services catering to Americans thrive, while blocks away, communities of deported undocumented migrants live in squalid conditions. The city halls of San Diego and Tijuana came together nearly five years ago to jointly promote business in the region, which they call "CaliBaja." They pushed their federal governments to facilitate the border crossing of personnel and merchandise, and succeeded in getting a pedestrian bridge built to connect Tijuana's airport with San Diego. "It's the result of our being neighbors and of the reality of the border," said Figueroa. "Here in Baja California, for decades we were closer to the United States than to the center of the country," he said. Like Aguilar, Hazell Sepulveda lives a life on both sides of the border. It takes the Tijuana resident five minutes to cross the Otay crossing point before dawn every day before working at the kitchen of a McDonald's just 500 steps from the border. Sepulveda, 26, was born in San Diego to Mexican parents, but spent only two years of her life there. For her, the border doesn't present much of an obstacle. "They never ask me anything, only where I'm going and if I'm bringing in something from Tijuana," she said. In the morning, her husband drops off their five-year-old daughter, who was also born in San Diego, at a nursery before crossing the border for work at a manufacturing plant. According to Sepulveda, all of her colleagues have a similar trans-border lifestyle, preparing some 1,000 hamburgers a day. They can hardly find a job in Mexico that pays 450 U.S. dollars a week, though living in the United States isn't appealing. "The streets seem sad to me, they are empty" compared to the hustle and bustle of a typical Tijuana roadway, she said. People like Sepulveda are used to the existing border. U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to erect a "big" wall between and his administration's crackdown on undocumented migrants represent a clash with the realities of their daily lives. "The dynamic between Tijuana and San Diego is a dynamic that cannot be rolled back," according to Raul Benitez Manaut, a professor at the Center for North American Research at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He is optimistic that Trump's conservative federal policies will be unable to hold sway over regional or local authorities with opposing views. "California is a sanctuary state, state and county officials are not applying Donald Trump's migratory policies," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 16:15:57|Editor: pengying Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump has totteringly completed his first year in office amid controversy, doubts and even criticism domestically and beyond. The U.S. foreign policy under his administration has rattled world leaders' nerves for its uncertainty and volatility, and his America First policy featuring self-centeredness, short-sightedness and a lack of sense of responsibility has negatively affected other countries, and even the United States itself. A SELF-SERVING PROFITEER When applying Trump's America First idea, the United States in the first year of Trump's tenure has paid less attention than before to soft power leadership through downgrading the offering of public goods, among other moves. Bong Young-shik, a research fellow at Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies, told Xinhua that Trump's foreign policy is aimed at maximizing American interest, even at the cost of its allies. Amid widespread condemnation from political leaders, business executives and environmentalists around the world, Trump abandoned the Paris climate agreement, citing its disadvantages for the United States, for example diminished benefits for American workers and less U.S. economic production. Ignoring climate change and global efforts, Trump's America only focuses on its own short-term interest, while recklessly shirking its responsibility, and even damaging other countries' benefits and global sustainable development. Dmitry Suslov, deputy director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, believed that "the U.S. administration in its foreign policy is doing what is profitable to the United States here and now." It honors some agreements as "they will permit it to profit in the near and mid-term period," he said, adding that such profits include stimulating economic growth, preventing unemployment, reducing or stopping the production outsourcing to other countries and contributing to the maintenance of U.S. competitiveness. ZERO-SUM MENTALITY While withdrawing from some "unnecessary" spheres, the Trump administration has been devoting itself to increasing its military strength to maintain U.S. military supremacy, based on its old-fashioned zero-sum mentality. In the National Security Strategy report released in December, China and Russia were listed by the Trump administration as "revision powers" that challenge the U.S. standing in the world. Josef Braml, a research associate at the think-tank German Council on Foreign Relations, said "Trump's zero-thinking ... leads him to believe that America can only win by forcing others -- like Europe and China -- to lose." Under the pretext of national security, the Trump administration last year launched an investigation into Chinese intellectual property and technology transfer and self-initiated probes into Chinese aluminum products as well as rejected China's market economy status in the World Trade Organization (WTO) to contain China's development. Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua that the China-U.S. relationship is "one where the Trump administration will continue to be eager to push back." Suslov said, "it (the United States) has maintained its concept of friends and foes, and made it sharper and more concrete." The United States should know well that mutual benefits weigh more than differences in China-U.S. ties, and cooperation and dialogue should be the mainstay of bilateral relations. CREATING CHAOS ABROAD The Trump administration's foreign policy has brought uncertainties to the world. The role of multilateral cooperation and international institutions has been undermined while Trump has been wielding overwhelming power where he thought necessary. With his obstructing and threatening to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, the international non-proliferation regime has suffered a setback, and regional peace and stability have been put into jeopardy. Following Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, the peace prospect between Palestinians and Israel now seems more elusive than ever. With his resistance to globalism, protectionism has been rising and the multi-trade regime has been undermined, which, although helping the U.S. economy rebound in the short term, will damage its economic growth prospect in the mid- and long term. Braml took the international financing of the U.S. debt as an example, saying that it "would be seriously imperiled, if President Trump moved toward fulfilling his promises on trade, in particular protectionist measures highlighted during his campaign." "If Trump wants to secure worldwide financing of the increasing U.S. debt, he would be well advised to openly trade with international partners," the expert said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 16:20:58|Editor: pengying Video Player Close NEW DELHI, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Indian army Saturday said fire that broke out in Bellandur lake in southern Indian city of Bengaluru has been brought under control. "There have been many instances of fire in the past in the lake and it's not the first time that it has happened," Lt. Gen. Vipan Gupta, a senior army officer told media. "We are trying to find out the exact reason behind the fire." The massive fire broke in the lake Friday afternoon, emitting off thick clouds of smoke that enveloped the area. Apart from firefighters authorities rushed in army personnel to prevent the fire from spreading in adjacent areas. The fire started at several spots in the lakeside -- filled with sewage, chemical effluents and growth of water hyacinth -- and spread towards the army area. Around 5,000 troops battled for hours together to contain the raging fire in the lake and continued the operation throughout night to contain the situation. "At any given point about 800 people were on the spot, while the remaining were preparing so that they could get into action when the team on the spot returned for reinforcement," Gupta said. Last year, several incidents of fire in the lake were also reported. The lake is heavily polluted as untreated sewage and pollutants get discharged in it. Experts say the polluted water emanate an obnoxious stench round the clock as sustained inflow of pollutants have increased beyond the lake's assimilative capacity and over the years has led to nutrient enrichment and profuse growth of macrophytes and algae in it. There have been instances in the past when white toxic spume rises from the lake and floats in the air, thereby obstructing the commuting movements of pedestrians and motorcyclists. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 16:25:58|Editor: pengying Video Player Close KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- At least 15 insurgents including two commanders were killed and seven others injured during Afghan forces operations in Kunduz province, north of Afghanistan on Friday night, a local official said Saturday. "Security and defense forces launched military operations in Chahar Dara district of Kunduz province, killing 15 insurgents including their two senior commanders and injuring seven others," Abdul Khalil Khalili, a police spokesman in northern region told Xinhua. During the operations against Taliban militants in the troubled district, three soldiers were also wounded, the official admitted. Taliban militants are yet to make comment on the situation in the restive district. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 16:36:00|Editor: ZD Video Player Close The U.S. Capitol is seen through traffic during rush hour in Washington Jan. 19, 2018. The U.S. government was shutting down as the Senate failed to pass a stopgap spending bill on Friday. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government is shutting down as from Saturday as lawmakers failed to reach a deal to fund the government against the background of fierce partisan political fights. After the immigration reform and budget talks fell apart, the Senate on Friday failed to pass a stopgap spending bill that would fund the government through Feb. 16. The bill was already approved by the House of Representatives on Thursday. The move forces the government to shut down as from Saturday as current spending measures expired on Friday midnight. The shutdown begins on the first anniversary of Donald Trump's inauguration as president, a political blow to the Republican president. IMMIGRATION REFORM AT CORE In September last year, the Trump administration terminated the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which prevents the deportation of young immigrants, known as "Dreamers" brought to the United States as children. At the same time, Trump was asking Congress to come up with a legislative replacement until March 5. White House and congressional lawmakers have begun immigration reform and two-year budget deal talks since December last year. However, little progress has been made. Neither Democrats nor Republicans are willing to compromise over these issues. Democratic lawmakers have demanded that a budget deal should include protections for "Dreamers." However, Republicans who control both chambers of Congress want to separate immigration reform from the budget deal discussions. Both parties have blamed each other for the shutdown. Republicans accused Democratic leaders of seeking a shutdown to win leverage in the immigration reform debate, while Democrats argued that the public would blame the Republicans for the shutdown, given their full control of both the administration and the Congress. OUTLOOK UNCERTAIN The initial impact of a shutdown may be muted, because most of the federal agencies are closed on the weekend. White House Office of Management and Budget Director (OMB) Mick Mulvaney said at a press briefing on Friday that government employees, including those dealing with public safety and national security, will keep working but without pay. After the Senate failed to pass the four-week short-term spending bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell proposed to vote on a three-week bill that would fund the government through Feb. 8 in order to halt the shutdown. It is still uncertain whether the proposal could draw enough votes to help the government resume operations. The last government shutdown occurred in 2013 when Republican lawmakers unsuccessfully tried to defund the Affordable Care Act. It lasted more than two weeks and led to more than 800,000 government employees receiving temporary unpaid leave. ECONOMIC IMPACT LIKELY LIMITED "Partial federal government shutdowns have occurred in the past and this shutdown does not have a direct impact on the sovereign's 'AAA' /Stable rating," Fitch said in a statement on Friday. As one of the top three world ratings agencies, Fitch said that if the the stabilization of the U.S. budget policy making and the brinkmanship continue over the federal debt limit debate in February, it could hurt the country's sovereign credit worthiness. According to estimates by Goldman Sachs, each week of the shutdown would reduce gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter by 0.2 percentage point, while shutdowns tend to have modest effects on financial markets, as experience shows. "With the debt limit deadline farther away, we would expect a muted initial reaction in financial markets to a shutdown," said Goldman Sachs. Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, told local media that the good news is that business and consumer confidence is much stronger today than it was during the 2013 shutdown, but he pointed out that there could be less confidence due to the shutdown. The economist also warned that if the lawmakers and the White House continue to play brinkmanship with the debt limit, the economy would face a problem. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 17:16:10|Editor: ZD Video Player Close HONG KONG, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- A local hospital in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) confirmed on Saturday that a man died after his fishing boat's collision with a sailing yacht competing in Volvo Ocean Race. The Chinese mainland-registered fishing boat sunk after colliding with the vessel of American- Danish team Vestas 11th Hour Racing at about 2:30 a.m. local time. Ten fishermen fell into the sea and nine of them were rescued by a mainland rescue vessel with one missing. The missing fisherman was later saved to the yacht but went unconscious. The Government Flying Service of the Hong Kong SAR sent a helicopter to take the fisherman to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital which declared his death at around 6:30 a.m.. An officer with the Government Flying Service told Xinhua that they received an emergency call at 2:37 a.m. from Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Coordination Center which reported the collision and claimed the missing fisherman. The Government Flying Service then dispatched a helicopter to the collision venue, and found that the missing fisherman was saved by the sailing yacht. Before the collision, the sailing yacht was competing in the fourth leg (Melbourne to Hong Kong) of the around-the-world race and had only 30 nautical miles left to finish. According to the organizer of the race, all of the crew members of the yacht were safe with limited damage to their boat, and sent SOS radio signal for the fishing boat as well as helped with the rescue after collision. The organizer expressed their deepest condolences to the family of the victim and promised full cooperation with investigation of Hong Kong authority. Hong Kong police said they are investigating the collision. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 17:26:12|Editor: ZD Video Player Close ANKARA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- At least 11 people were killed and 44 others injured in a bus accident in Turkey's northwestern Eskisehir province. The accident took place early Saturday when the bus carrying a tour group from capital Ankara to northwestern Bursa province, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. The driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed against trees along the roadside. Eskisehir Governor Ozdemir Cakacak told media that the the drivers of the bus were detained and the reason is under investigation. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 17:51:15|Editor: ZD Video Player Close MONROVIA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Liberia's outgoing president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has said her parting wish for the country was that the citizens support the new government, respond to its call for action, and civility, and hold it accountable. In her farewell speech late Friday, Sirleaf urged the citizens to unite and build on the gains of democracy in the country. "My hope is that you cherish our democracy, participate in it, respect and support its institutions, work together to address the challenges and take pride in our success," the 79-year-old Sirleaf said. According to her, Liberia had become "one of Africa's enviable democracies" after it punctured the expectations of doubting Thomases, who thought way back in 2006 when she took office, that its new found peace and democratic resurgence would not last. She said Liberia's democracy was irrevocable, as it binds every future leader of the country to the will of the people. Sirleaf noted that Liberia today reflects the changing face of the African continent, where rule of law, human rights, good governance, and accountability are demanded by its citizens. She further urged the citizens to take on more responsibilities for the development of the country. Sirleaf, Africa's first female elected president, will leave office on Monday after completing her two-term tenure in office. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 18:16:21|Editor: ZD Video Player Close TEHRAN, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Ministry of Agriculture will resume order registration for rice importers from Jan. 21, Financial Tribune reported on Saturday. The order registration will be valid for a three-month period, until June 21, extendable by a further one month, the report said. Any rice shipments as per the new orders need to be cleared through Iranian customs by July 22, after which all imports will be banned, Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati was quoted as saying. Every year during the rice harvest season, Iran's government bans rice imports in support of local farmers and domestic production. Iranians consume 3.2 million tons of rice a year while domestic production stands at 2.2 million tons. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 18:16:22|Editor: ZD Video Player Close Cambodian university students view an architectural model during a Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) exhibition in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Jan. 19, 2018. The 11-day LMC exhibition came to an end successfully here on Saturday, attracting approximately 15,000 visitors, an organizer said. (Xinhua/Sovannara) by Nguon Sovan, Mao Pengfei PHNOM PENH, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The 11-day Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) exhibition came to an end successfully here on Saturday, attracting approximately 15,000 visitors, an organizer said. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen as well as leaders of Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar visited the exhibition on Jan. 10 when they attended the second LMC leaders' meeting. It was classified into two parts. One was the photo exhibition featuring pictures of achievements that the six LMC countries had made since the LMC was initiated three years ago, and the other was the Chinese company exhibition displaying high-tech products and services. "It's a successful exhibition, attracting a total of about 15,000 visitors, mostly university students," Guo Yinghui, director general of the department of exhibition and events of the China Chamber of International Commerce, told Xinhua. He said besides the LMC outcomes photo exhibition, 10 giant Chinese firms, including China Railway, China Southern Power Grid, China National Building Material Group, and Huawei Technologies, had showcased their latest technological products and services at the event. "This exhibition has not only further promoted cooperation among the six Lancang-Mekong countries, but also further enhanced friendly relations between China and Cambodia," he said. "This event also shows solidarity among the six countries toward building a river of shared future and common development." Sok Siphana, an advisor to the Cambodian government, said the exhibition presented a very modern perspective of how advanced technologies could enhance the well-being of people in Lancang-Mekong countries. "For Cambodians, it gives a fresh outlook of how modern Cambodia can be if we apply these new developments, which are well-tested in China already," he told Xinhua. "Cambodia can skip the learning curve and catch up the neighboring countries in term of advanced rail system, smart cities, modern construction methods, and renewable energies. The LMC can make this happens," he added. Cambodia's Secretary of State and Spokesman for the Council of Ministers Phay Siphan said that the exhibition truly reflected solidarity and unity among the six Lancang-Mekong countries. "It illustrates strong support and commitment made by the leaders of the six countries in building a river of peace, stability, and sustainable development," he told Xinhua. Siphan also highly spoke of high-tech products and services in transportation, energy, construction and telecommunications that Chinese firms displayed at the exhibition. "We're confident that under the LMC, the Lancang-Mekong countries will surely benefit from China's advanced technologies, especially in the development of transport infrastructure such as high-speed trains and buses," he said. Chheang Vannarith, vice-chairman of the Cambodian Institute for Strategic Studies, said the exhibition enhanced the public awareness of the LMC and brought people and entrepreneurs closer. "Through the event, business networking opportunities have been promoted," he said. "The core element of the LMC is the promotion of practical cooperation, and we need more concrete projects on the ground that impact people's lives." Joseph Matthews, director of ASEAN Education Center, said the exhibition created awareness among the LMC countries on how they work together and help each other in the development and improvement of transport infrastructure, energy, telecommunications and other fields. "This exhibition provides an opportunity to each country to examine and evaluate the pace of technological development in their own country by seeing the devices and machinery showcased at the exhibition," he said. Matthews, who is also a professor at the Beltei International University in Phnom Penh, said the event helped enhance practical cooperation and coordination among the six countries in the fields of cultural exchanges, transportation, infrastructure development through connectivity, transfer of technical know-how, and future planning. "In my personal view, this kind of exhibition should be held often in all regional countries including ASEAN on rotated basis," he said. "It provides a learning experience to teachers, students, instructors and people who are working in various fields but unaware of development in their own fields." He added that it also provided an opportunity to investors to explore new areas of investments in the region. LMC consists of six countries, namely China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. It focuses on five priority areas of cooperation: connectivity, production capacity, cross-border economic cooperation, water resources, as well as agriculture and poverty reduction. The Lancang River originates on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau in southwest China. It is called the Mekong River as it flows through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before emptying into the sea. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 18:31:26|Editor: ZD Video Player Close NEW DELHI, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- A court in India's western state of Maharashtra Saturday sentenced six people to death for killing three Dalit youths in an incident of honour killing, officials said. "The Nasik district court has handed over death sentence to six people today in connection with the honour killing of three young Dalit men in year 2013," special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told reporters. "The court also slapped a monetary fine of the convicts." The three Dalit youths were brutally killed in Sonai village on Jan. 1, 2013, and their mutilated body parts were found in a tank. The prosecution told court the killings were prompted by an inter-caste love affair between a boy and a girl from the Maratha community. Dalits were previously known as untouchables in India and fall at the bottom of India's caste hierarchy. Analysts say Indian society is deeply divided on caste lines. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 18:41:28|Editor: pengying Video Player Close MANILA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Philippine terrorist group Abu Sayyaf have freed two Indonesian men who had been held hostage in the southern Philippines for more than a year, the military said on Saturday. A military report said the two victims were reportedly freed late Friday in an undisclosed village in Sulu province in the southern Philippines. The Indonesian hostages, who worked as boat captains of Malaysian fishing boats, were abducted in November 2016 in the waters off Sabah. They were reportedly kept in the remote jungles of Sulu. "Concerned citizens" then brought the Indonesians to the house of a former Sulu governor around 7:30 p.m. last night in Jolo town, according to the report. However, the report did not say how exactly the victims were released. The military said the militants continue to hold a number of hostages in Sulu province. File photo shows Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf addressing the closing session of the 29th African Union summit in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, on July 4, 2017. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng) MONROVIA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Liberia's outgoing president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has said her parting wish for the country was that the citizens support the new government, respond to its call for action, and civility, and hold it accountable. In her farewell speech late Friday, Sirleaf urged the citizens to unite and build on the gains of democracy in the country. "My hope is that you cherish our democracy, participate in it, respect and support its institutions, work together to address the challenges and take pride in our success," the 79-year-old Sirleaf said. According to her, Liberia had become "one of Africa's enviable democracies" after it punctured the expectations of doubting Thomases, who thought way back in 2006 when she took office, that its new found peace and democratic resurgence would not last. She said Liberia's democracy was irrevocable, as it binds every future leader of the country to the will of the people. Sirleaf noted that Liberia today reflects the changing face of the African continent, where rule of law, human rights, good governance, and accountability are demanded by its citizens. She further urged the citizens to take on more responsibilities for the development of the country. Sirleaf, Africa's first female elected president, will leave office on Monday after completing her two-term tenure in office. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 19:16:33|Editor: pengying Video Player Close DAMASCUS, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army started storming the strategic Abu al-Duhur airbase in the northwestern province of Idlib Saturday, a military source told Xinhua. The military forces began storming the airbase from its southern rim while other military units are fighting to secure areas in the eastern and southwestern outskirts of the airbase, the source said on condition of anonymity. He added that intense battles are raging between the Syrian forces and the al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee (LLC), otherwise known as the Nusra Front, in the airbase and its surroundings in the southern countryside of Idlib. Earlier this month, the army was fighting at the outskirts of the airbase and was close to capture it but a major counter-offensive by the militants hindered the advance. The Syrian forces closed in on the airbase from the southern countryside of Idlib and the nearby southern countryside of Aleppo province, which largely fell to the army following the near defeat of the al-Qaida affiliates in that region recently. The Syrian army is eyeing the recapture of Abu al-Duhur due to the strategic importance of that facility and its crucial role in launching further offensives against the LLC and likeminded groups in Idlib. Idlib has emerged as the main destination of the rebel groups, which have evacuated several positions across Syria after surrendering to the Syrian army. The area has become a home to several rebel groups from different affiliations, some of which are supported by Turkey, while others, such as the Nusra Front, are designated as terrorist groups. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 19:16:33|Editor: pengying Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani security forces have arrested eight militants during a search operation in the country's east Punjab Province, local media reported Saturday. The operation was conducted in the provincial capital of Lahore and Dera Ghazi Khan districts, Samaa News said. Paramilitary troops Rangers carried out the operation by acting on an intelligence tip-off regarding the presence of the militants in the area. The arrested suspects included two unregistered foreigners, said the report. Rangers also recovered arms and ammunition from the possession of the arrested suspects. The operation is the continuation of the ongoing operation Radd-ul-Fasaad which started in February last year in various parts of the country. The joint operation by the army and other law enforcement agencies aims at eradication of the hidden sleeper cells of militants in the country. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 19:21:35|Editor: pengying Video Player Close by Salah Takieddine BEIRUT, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Ahmad al-Samra, a Syrian displaced from Beit Jin to the Lebanese southern town of Shebaa, was engaged in a happy conversation over his cellular phone with his relatives who returned to their homeland after their forced displacement about five years haago. Al-Samra told Xinhua "I called many of my relatives and friends who returned to Beit Jin after the military activities ceased on the eastern mold of Mount Hermon, to see how they are doing." The Syrian army managed following 100 days of fierce battles to takeover all the area on the eastern mold of Mount Hermon that was occupied by the rebels. Al-Samra asserted that "life has returned to normal in this mountainous area and the people launched in coordination with the Syrian government a huge plan to remove all the ruins of the battles and repair the necessary infrastructures." He added "our return is surely near and it will start by the end of the winter season." This optimistic feeling reigned over a large part of the 20,000 displaced from the Damascus western Ghouta neighborhood, who fled their homeland to the eastern sector in south Lebanon on the western mold of Mount Hermon. Displaced Jamal al-Houeili, a widow and mother of 3 children, lost her husband during the battles with al-Nusra Front. She told Xinhua that she learned through her relatives in Beit Jin that her house was damaged during the fighting "but we can return and stay in one room until we can finish restoring it completely." She stressed "I decided to walk back home through Mount Hermon by the end of the schooling year in Lebanon." The Syrian refugees in Shebaa unanimously decided to return to their hometowns of Beit Jin, Moghr el-Mir, Beit Safer, Beit Tima, Kfarhour and Ain el-Shara on the eastern mold of Mount Hermon, that were occupied by the rebels. Ahmad al-Sayyaf, who works in a chicken farm in Shebaa for a monthly salary of 300 dollars, said that he decided to return to his hometown of Beit Safer after five years of forced displacement. He told Xinhua "we fled at night during the battles between the Syrian army and the rebels in our town, and crossed the rigged mountainous roads through Mount Hermon until we reached Shebaa." He added "it was a strenuous trip particularly that two of my children were wounded by shrapnel and we carried them to Lebanon on the back of a mule. But our route back home would certainly be easier than our escape route that we hope would never use again." The same feeling was that of Jamal Aboul-Nour, displaced from Beit Jin, who explained that "our return route will be through Mount Hermon but it would be pleasant and safe now." Aboul-Nour told Xinhua "I spent my displacement years herding cattle and managed to have my own herd that I will take back home cause it is the source of our living now." According to the latest statistics of Lebanon's Ministry of State for the Displaced Affairs, the number of Syrian displaced registered with the United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) dropped from 1.2 million to 980,000. The ministry pointed that the number of Syrians who immigrated to Europe, the U.S., Canada and Australia is about 70,000 while those who returned to safe areas in Syria are about 150,000. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 19:21:35|Editor: pengying Video Player Close TEHRAN, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) planned to "tokenize" the online banking transactions, Financial Tribune reported on Saturday. CBI is focused on creating new models of payment involving mobile phones and boost the security of existing ones, Davoud Mohammad Beigi, head of the bank's Payment Systems Department, was quoted a saying. Micro payment has emerged as one of the most problematic areas in the Iranian payment system, because almost all of it is processed online, which entails significant costs, Beigi said. "At present, transactions are processed easily, but they mostly take place online as to safeguard the interests and data of customers, new models of payment must be put in place for mobile phones," he said. In light of the high penetration ratio of mobile phones as a widely available tool, the central bank aims to introduce payment based on tokenization in the next fiscal year that begins on March 21. Tokenization, when applied to data security, is the process of substituting a sensitive data element with a non-sensitive equivalent, referred to as a token, that has no extrinsic or exploitable meaning or value. "In order to expand and popularize these instruments, we need to create coordination between all beneficiaries and devise standards," Beigi added. The Iranian central bank will make a concerted move towards adopting the Europay, MasterCard and Visa technology, and making bank cards smarter, but according to Beigi, two major hurdles impede that goal. "The first is that the banking system does not yet have the comprehensive infrastructure to support these payments and secondly the public and other beneficiaries must favor them," he said. The central bank will also announce its regulatory stance on two additional modes of financial technology firms, a move that will steer the country's payment system towards further diversification, Beigi said. The monetary regulator has envisioned an overarching path for fintechs and cryptocurrencies entailing six regulatory frameworks and guiding documents, which will be released by March 2019, he said. Beigi stressed the necessity of banks and fintechs developing new electronic wallets that will reduce the need to carry bank cards for online and offline payments. "But that does not mean that bank cards are to become obsolete in the near future, but that the customers will have more choices," he added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 19:31:39|Editor: pengying Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket launched a new missile-warning satellite Friday night from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. After a one-day delay, the Atlas V rocket lifted off at 7:48 p.m. EST (0048 GMT Saturday) from Space Launch Complex 41, carrying the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) GEO Flight 4, a new military satellite mission. "Now, we get the satellite ready to provide missile warning to our nation and our war fighters," Air Force Space Command tweeted Friday. The satellite will eventually move into a geosynchronous orbit 35,786 km above the Earth, allowing it to keep watching over the same region of the planet. SBIRS, considered one of the country's highest priority space programs, is designed to provide global, persistent, infrared surveillance capabilities to meet 21st century demands in four national security mission areas: missile warning, missile defense, technical intelligence and battlespace awareness, according to a ULA mission description. Air Force Space Command operates the SBIRS system. The SBIRS GEO Flight 4 is the fourth in a series of Air Force missile-detection satellites designed to use advanced scanners and infrared detectors to track launches of ballistic missiles. "Meeting the challenge of launching two critical national security missions from opposite coasts within a week, the entire ULA team once again demonstrated its unwavering dedication to 100 percent mission success," Laura Maginnis, ULA vice president of Government Satellite Launch, said in a statement. The launch marked the first flight of an Atlas V rocket in 2018 and the second mission of the year for ULA, a joint venture between the aerospace companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin. A ULA Delta IV rocket launched the classified NROL-47 spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) on Jan. 12. This is also the 75th launch of the Atlas V rocket and the 125th successful launch since the ULA was formed in December 2006, according to the company. The SBIRS GEO Flight 4 satellite follows the January 2017 launch of its predecessor, SBIRS GEO Flight 3. Two earlier satellites, SBIRS GEO Flights 1 and 2, have been operational in orbit since 2013. The ULA's next launch is the GOES-S mission for the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on an Atlas V rocket. The launch is scheduled for March 1 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 19:51:44|Editor: pengying Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan said on Saturday that Indian cross-border firing has killed five civilians and injured 22 others in three days. The Pakistani foreign ministry said Indian forces continued firing along the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary on Saturday, which killed an elderly civilian and injured two girls. The ministry said in a statement that Director General at the South Asian Desk at the ministry Mohammad Faisal summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh and condemned Saturday's "unprovoked ceasefire violations." "The number of casualties at the Working Boundary has also risen due to unprovoked and indiscriminate firing by the Indian forces. Four more innocent civilians embraced shahadat (martyrdom) while 20 were injured on Jan. 18 and 19," the statement added. Pakistan and India had declared ceasefire along the LoC and the Working Boundary in 2003. Both, however, routinely accuse each other of violating the ceasefire. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 19:56:45|Editor: ZD Video Player Close The U.S. Capitol is seen through traffic during rush hour in Washington Jan. 19, 2018. The U.S. government was shutting down as the Senate failed to pass a stopgap spending bill on Friday. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- As midnight struck, the U.S. government has officially entered a shutdown amid a stalemate between the Republican and Democratic parties. The shutdown, the first of U.S. President Donald Trump's tenure, came just as Trump is getting ready to celebrate the first anniversary of his inauguration. But instead he was forced to cancel a trip to his winter resort Mar-a-Lago to try, in vain, to strike a last minute deal with the Democrats. Trump is not the only one with a sour mood over the shutdown. People all over the country are waking up to a Saturday morning with much fewer public services than they are used to, and tens of thousands of government employees will also face furlough, which will add to their financial burdens. The most crucial public services will remain, at least for now. Self-funded U.S. Postal Services will keep on delivering mail and parcels. Veterans Affairs Hospitals, which runs on two-year budget cycles, will also remain open. The U.S. Weather Services, traffic control as well as airport security personnel, will also remain on their jobs, as their work is considered crucial to maintaining public safety. For the military, only active military personnel will stay in their posts, but without pay. Other civilian military employees will mostly be furloughed. Services such as the State Department's passport services, which partly run on government funding, may remain open for a short while but will likely be suspended if the shutdown is protracted. But the list of functioning agencies largely stops there. Most government agencies will shut down due to insufficient funding, including the Justice Department, the State Department, the Defense Department, U.S. intelligence agencies, the Department of Homeland Security, the Interior Department, and the Transportation Department, among others. For ordinary citizens, the biggest impact will be felt by those who are in the process of buying a home, as the Federal Housing Administration will not be available to approve new mortgages and the Internal Revenue Service will not be able to verify a buyer's tax information. Across the nation, the pain felt by different states varies depending on the number of government jobs or national parks in the area. In Hampton Roads, Virginia, local shipbuilding industries and Navy docks have hired about 32,000 people, many of whom may be put on leave. In the state of Georgia, the federal government hired 71,622 employees, many of whom also face the risk of being furloughed. Thousands were reportedly furloughed during the 2013 shutdown. For Georgia's national parks, closing down may be inevitable, as the National Park Service has only pledged to keep war memorials and open-air parks in the nation's capital open, while all other parks that require staff management will be forced to deny visitors. The state of Florida is particularly in tatters as the shutdown hit. Having suffered a devastating Hurricane Irma last summer, parts of the state are still recovering with the help of federal emergency relief dollars. Local authorities are concerned that an understaffed Federal Emergency Management Agency will prolong the process of appropriating recovery funds, hindering the speed of recovery. Source: Xinhuanet| 2018-01-20 20:30:46|Editor: ZD Video Player Close (Combined photos from web ) The traditional Chinese lunar calender divides the year into 24 solar terms. Major cold, the 24th solar term, falls on Jan. 20 this year. At this time of the year, it becomes freezing cold in some regions of China. Here are some folk customs related to Major Cold, most of which have something to do with food. Eating "dispelling cold cake" During Major Cold, People in Beijing have a habit of eating "dispelling cold cake", a kind of rice cake. Sticky rice, the cake's main ingredient, contains more sugar than rice, which can make people feel warm all over their bodies. In Chinese the word "rice cake" has the same pronunciation with the word "higher in a new year", which symbolizes good luck and continual promotion. Eating fried spring roll In Anqing of Anhui province, people traditionally eat fried spring rolls during Major Cold. They use a round, cooked, thin pancake to wrap stuffing in a thin roll. Then it is fried in a pan with oil until it turns yellow and floats to the top. The stuffing inside the spring roll contains meat or vegetables and the flavor can be salty or sweet. Drinking stewed soup Residents in Nanjing of Jiangsu province like to drink stewed soup during Major Cold, which can make people feel warm from head to foot. They always stew the aged hen soup with ginseng, matrimony vine and black fungus. Buying sesame straw Major Cold always coincides with the end of the year in lunar calendar. In some areas of China, people always fall over each other in eagerness to buy sesame straw during this period because of the old saying, "Rise joint by joint like sesame flowers on the stem." This saying is used to describe either ever-rising living standards or making steady progress in thought, studies or skills. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 20:16:48|Editor: Chengcheng Video Player Close XI'AN, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- China will sell two domestically-produced MA-60 aircraft to Angola, announced Xi'an Aircraft Industry Company, the manufacturer of the planes, Saturday. Zhang Xiaohong, the company's deputy general manager, said that the new agreement is another successful overseas sale of MA-60 aircraft. The company did not disclose further details about the deal. Angola has the fifth largest air passenger and freight volumes in Africa. "The MA-60 planes will shorten travel time for passengers in Angola," Zhang said. "Meanwhile, the deal will increase the popularity of such aircraft on the international market." The MA-60 is designed for short and medium-range commuter services. Due to its low operational and maintenance costs, it has sold well in Africa, Asia, and Latin America since 2005. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 20:26:50|Editor: ZD Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of National Defense has told the United States not to "cause trouble out of nothing," and to respect the sovereignty of China. Wu Qian, spokesperson for the ministry, made the remarks Saturday in response to the actions of a U.S. warship Wednesday. According to Wu, on Jan. 17, the USS Hopper, a guided missile destroyer, arbitrarily entered waters surrounding Huangyan Island in the South China Sea, before Chinese missile destroyer Huangshan immediately conducted an identification and warning process to drive it away. Under joint efforts by China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the situation around the South China Sea is becoming more and more stable and positive, Wu said. The United States has sent vessels to illegally enter the waters around China's islands and reefs in the South China Sea on multiple occasions, endangering the safety of vessels and personnel from both sides, the spokesperson continued. It has also threatened China's sovereignty and security, harmed the regional peace and stability, and gone against the stable development of relations between the two countries and their militaries, he stated. "We hope that the United States will respect China's sovereignty, respect the efforts made by the countries within the region, and not cause trouble out of nothing or make waves," Wu said. The Chinese military will continue to fulfill its defensive duties, intensify its patrols in the air and at sea, in order to firmly safeguard the sovereignty and security of the country, as well as the regional peace and stability, he added. Related: China vows "necessary measures" after U.S. warship nears Huangyan Island Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 20:36:51|Editor: pengying Video Player Close RIYADH, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Saudi-led coalition announced on Saturday the interception of a ballistic missile fired from Yemen in a fresh attack by Houthi militias targeting Saudi border cities. Colonel Turki Al-Maliki, spokesman of the coalition involved in the war in Yemen from 2015, said in a statement that the attack targeted Najran city on Saturday at 12:38 noon (9:38 GMT). He confirmed that the air forces detected the missile that was shot from Saada city in Yemen towards Saudi Arabia. It was intercepted and destroyed before reaching its target. "This hostile action by Iran-supported Houthi group proves the continued involvement of Iran in supporting the Houthi armed group with qualitative capabilities," Col. Al-Malki said, while renewing his call for the international community to take more serious and effective steps to stop what he described as the blatant Iranian violations of continued smuggling and transfer of ballistic missiles and weapons to terrorist groups and outlaws in Yemen. The cases of intercepted missiles have increased since last month in a clear indication that the war that left thousands of civilians, mainly from Yemen dead has no signs to end soon. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 20:51:55|Editor: pengying Video Player Close BAGHDAD, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi Saturday met with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani for the fist time since the controversial independence referendum last year, a Kurdish media said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 21:27:01|Editor: Jiaxin Video Player Close Passengers get off a plane at the M'etiga international airport in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, on Jan. 20, 2018. The international airport of M'etiga in the Libyan capital Tripoli was reopened Saturday after five days of closure due to heavy clashes, according to the Libyan Airlines. (Xinhua/Hamza Turkia) TRIPOLI, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The international airport of M'etiga in the Libyan capital Tripoli was reopened Saturday after five days of closure due to heavy clashes, according to the Libyan Airlines. The airline's official spokesman, Mohammed Qnewa, told Xinhua that the airport received on Saturday morning flights from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and the company is also preparing three flights to Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. "The conditions inside the airport are going well, and the company is not facing any security or technical problems in the management of flights," Qnewa said. Security services closed M'etiga international airport in Tripoli on Monday, following a heavy attack by an armed group on the airport, killing 21 people and injuring 69 others, including civilians. International flights to and from Libya M'etiga airport were transferred to Misurata International Airport, some 200 east of Tripoli. The UN-backed government issued a statement condemning the attack, "which threatened the lives of travelers, nearby residents and the safety of air traffic." Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 21:32:02|Editor: Chengcheng Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping has called the revision to China's Constitution a significant event in the political life of the CPC and the country. Xi made the remarks at a symposium attended by representatives of non-Communist parties, All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and those without party affiliations on Dec. 15, 2017, whose opinions and suggestions on the revision to the Constitution were heard. The revision to the Constitution is a crucial political decision made by the CPC Central Committee based on the overall situation and the strategic height of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, according to Xi. It is also an important measure to advance law-based governance and modernize China's system and capacity for governance, he continued. The representatives at the symposium all approved the CPC proposal to revise the Constitution, and agreed to the general requirements and principles. They also made suggestions on the implementation and supervision of the Constitution, safeguarding the authority of the Constitution and enforcing the rule of Constitution and the rule of law. The CPC Central Committee maintains the idea of consultation before decision-making, Xi stated. It values the opinions and suggestions from non-Communist parties, All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and those without party affiliations before holding important conferences, issuing important documents, and making important decisions, said Xi. Xi stressed that non-Communist parties and the united front have made significant contributions to the establishment and the development of China's constitutional system. Xi asked attendees at the symposium to think over the revision, and to put forward opinions and suggestions. He also asked them to raise their awareness of the rule of law and lead the way in sticking to the Constitution, as well as to build consensus, regulate development, resolve conflicts and maintain harmony by the rule of law, in order to bring people together and collect power for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 21:47:04|Editor: Chengcheng Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's top banking regulator has fined a Chengdu branch of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPA) 462 million yuan (about 72.19 million U.S. dollars) for offering huge credit to bogus firms, as part of the country's latest crackdown on financial irregularities. The head of the Chengdu branch will be banned from working in the banking sector for life, according to the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC). The SPDB branch was found to have offered credit worth 77.5 billion yuan to 1,493 bogus firms via illegal means in a bid to cover bad loans. The organized malpractice reveals poor inner regulation, low sense of compliance and over-the-top focus on business expansion, according to the CBRC. Local banking regulatory officials and SPDB senior management were also punished for their negligence of duty. Last month, China Guangfa Bank was fined 722 million yuan for offering illegal guarantees for defaulted corporate bonds. Risk control will be strengthened in interbank activities, financial products and off-balance sheet business, while violations in corporate governance, property loans, disposal of non-performing assets, and other key areas will also face stricter punishment, the CBRC announced last week. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 21:57:06|Editor: Jiaxin Video Player Close Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at the provincial congress of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Kutahya, Turkey, Jan. 20, 2018. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday the military operation in Syria's Afrin has "actively" started. (Xinhua) ANKARA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday the military operation in Syria's Afrin has "actively" started. "The Afrin operation has actively begun on the field. The Manbij operation will follow," he said during a televised speech in the Aegean province of Kutahya. Erdogan said that Turkey is determined to ensure its national security and to clear its borders of the People's Protection Units (YPG), which is considered by Ankara as the Syrian affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). "Then we will step by step clear the terrorist elements from Manbij towards Iraqi border," the Turkish President said, noting that the United States has not kept its promise of withdrawing YPG militia in Manbij after their fight with the Islamic State (IS). He slammed the U.S. decision to establish a new border army with the YPG fighters in order to secure Turkish and Iraqi borders with Syria. Erdogan said the statements from Washington were contradictory. "We do not care about what they say. We only consider what happens on the ground," he said. Turkish army has already been shelling against the YPG over the last two days from the positions in Cilvegozu region of the Turkish side of the border and Azaz region in Syria, next to Afrin where Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army fighters are located. The Turkish army said on Saturday the army hit the shelters "within the scope of legitimate self-defense." The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, has been conducting armed violence against Ankara since July 2015 after a brief reconciliation period. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 22:12:08|Editor: pengying Video Player Close SANAA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's dominant Houthi movement said on Saturday they fired a short-range ballistic missile toward a military base deep inside Saudi border province of Najran, Houthi-controlled Saba news agency reported. Houthis gave no further details. However, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV channel reported the Saudi defense force intercepted the missile over Najran. It is the seventh ballistic missile attack by the Yemeni Houthi rebels on the neighboring oil-rich Gulf state in two months. On Tuesday, Houthis fired a ballistic missile toward a regional airport in Saudi border province of Jizan. Saudi state media reported the missile was intercepted and destroyed. In March 2015, Saudi Arabia led a military coalition of Arab forces, backed by the United States, to intervene in Yemen's conflict to back the government of exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The coalition has launched thousands of airstrikes on the Houthis, in attempts to roll back rebel gains and reinstate Hadi in the capital Sanaa. The war has killed more than 10,000 Yemenis, mostly civilians, and pushed the country to the brink of mass famine. A provision in New York's SAFE Act that requires pistol permit holders to recertify five years after the issuance of the original permit has some unanswered questions. And since the required re-certifications must be completed by Jan. 31, this should be postponed one year until issues can be ironed out. Local state representatives agree. Assemblyman Marc Butler, R-Newport, plans to introduce a bill that does just that, and Assemblyman Brian Miller, R-New Hartford, will co-sponsor it. Meanwhile, state Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, who has opposed the SAFE Act from the get-go, sent a letter to the governor last week requesting that he grant an extension to permit holders. And Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, D-Utica, had this to say in an email: "There obviously are significant problems with the recertification process for New York residents with pistol permits. The January 31st deadline for recertification this year needs to be pushed back until problems which have resulted in a backlog of recertification applications are resolved, and holders of pistol permits receive proper notification that they need to recertify." The Jan. 31 recertification deadline is for those who were issued pistol permits before Jan. 15, 2013. Anyone issued a permit on Jan. 15, 2013, or after will need to recertify within five years. What happens to those who don't? No one is quite sure. Do they become felons? Maybe. Will their pistols be confiscated? By whom? That could get messy. Whether you agree with the SAFE Act or not, there's little question this recertification deadline should be extended. Most every single owner of a legally registered pistol in New York state is a law-abiding citizen. Let's not turn them into criminals. The Observer-Dispatch, Utica Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad may have enjoyed a good chuckle over an Iranian official's warning on Monday. Others familiar with the situation may have thought it less humorous. Iran has been wracked by anti-government demonstrations during recent weeks. On Monday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, speaking at a security conference, accused other countries of fomenting unrest in his. "No country can create a secure environment for itself at the expense of creating insecurity among its neighbors," he said. Really? One of the reasons many Iranians are fed up with their regime is its expenditure of billions of dollars not on their economy, but to fund violence aimed at other nations. But for Iranian aid against rebels in Syria, Assad might well have been ousted. Iranian operatives and money have been used in attempts to destabilize Iraq, and to aid terrorist organizations that mount frequent attacks on Israel, to name just two types of interference by Tehran. Outside agitators are not needed to whip up the Iranian protesters. One of the reasons for their fury is their country's expensive, violent attempts to create insecurity among Middle Eastern neighbors. The Leader-Herald, Gloversville Regardless of the particular merits of a case involving a Dutchess County resident, state lawmakers should see the sense and wisdom in making changes to how bail is set in criminal cases. People are supposed to be "innocent until proven guilty" in this country, but too often those charged have to linger in jail for one reason and one reason only they lack the financial resources to post bail. Former New York Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman repeatedly urged the governor and legislature to rectify this by passing laws giving judges more leeway to ease bail restrictions. Fearing of being tagged with the "soft-on-crime" label, lawmakers have resisted. Fortunately, that has not ended the matter. For one thing, an effective bail project stemming from the Bronx is branching out across the country its aim is to help low-income defendants who don't pose a risk to the community be freed from jail while they await trial. For another, the New York Civil Liberties Union has taken on the fight, most recently filing a lawsuit in state Supreme Court in Poughkeepsie on behalf of Dutchess County resident Christopher Kunkeli, accused of shoplifting a vacuum cleaner from Target. The NYCLU said the $5,000 bail set in his case was nearly half of Kunkeli's annual income. Kunkeli, who had prior convictions, subsequently pleaded guilty to petit larceny in Town of Poughkeepsie Court and is now serving a five-month sentence in Dutchess County Jail. County jails, including the one in Dutchess, often have inmates awaiting trial on misdemeanor charges, and sometimes they are there for weeks or longer before their cases are adjudicated. In fact, at any point, tens of thousands of people are detained in jails statewide simply because they cannot afford to post bail. The longer people sit in jail, the more apt they are to lose a job, perpetuating their problems and making their recovery efforts that much harder. Judges and prosecutors do have some latitude. Defendants can be eligible for Dutchess County's pre-trial release program; they can be let out under with supervision after interviews with county probation, legal, health and jail officials, District Attorney William Grady noted in a Poughkeepsie Journal story. But Cuomo has proposed going further, getting rid of bail costs for people facing misdemeanor and non-violent felony charges that is, unless prosecutors can demonstrate the defendant poses a threat to public safety or is a flight risk. The legislature should see the urgent need to take up this matter as well other proposals to ensure more fairness in a criminal justice system that is ripe for reform. The Poughkeepsie Journal Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 22:22:10|Editor: pengying Video Player Close TEHRAN, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday that Iran is ready to boost ties with Cuba, state TV reported. Iran and Cuba are two revolutionary countries that enjoy very good relations, Rouhani said, adding that the Islamic Republic "was determined to develop relations with the Cuban government and will follow this path." He pointed to the capacities of boosting Tehran-Havana ties in different economic fields, particularly in the science and energy sector. He also slammed U.S. sanctions as an inappropriate and worn-out tool, saying that Iran is "opposed to the imposition of oppressive sanctions against independent nations, including Cuba." Rouhani made the remarks on Saturday while receiving the credentials of Cuban ambassador to Tehran Alexis Bandrich Vega. For his part, the Cuban ambassador said that Havana was determined to increase its economic and political relations with Tehran. Cuba believes that the enhancement of ties with Iran in all areas is the best way to counter unfair sanctions against the two countries at a time when the United States is using pressure to impose its own views on the world, Vega pointed out. He also praised what he called Iran's role in resorting stability and security to the region. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 22:22:11|Editor: pengying Video Player Close LONDON, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Britain's Chester Zoo is home to the highest number of animals in its history, an annual head count of its residents revealed Saturday. Keepers have completed a month-long task of counting all animals, with the final figure put at 21,314, representing 500 different species. They had to count every mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish and insect. The number is the highest recorded since the zoo opened in 1931 and is broken down to 1,268 mammals, 1,880 birds, 349 reptiles, 728 amphibians, 7,616 fish and 9,473 insects. The compulsory count is required as part of the zoo's operating license. Voted on the travel websiteTripAdvisor as the third best zoo in the world, Chester Zoo was last year named as Britain's most popular ticketed tourist attraction outside of London, attracting almost 2 million visitors a year. Managers at the zoo said the annual census is vital in providing data to plan international endangered species breeding programs. Liz Ball, from the zoo's records team, said: "The annual animal count at the zoo is always a massive challenge. But with a vast array of new arrivals and well over a thousand recent births and hatchings, this year's count was nothing short of monumental. "Every animal has its own 'passport', detailing important information such as who it is, where it was born, its gender and its family history. All of these key components are absolutely vital when it comes to carefully pairing up highly endangered animals and co-coordinating worldwide breeding program." Staff at the zoo has added a whole host of rare new arrivals to their count following a year of important breeding successes. Among the highlights are two critically endangered Eastern black rhino calves, seven endangered African painted dog pups -- the first of their kind to be born at the zoo -- and world first breeding of highly threatened Bermudian skinks and Catalonian newts. Mike Jordan, collections director at the zoo, said: "With habitat loss, poaching, hunting, illegal trading, climate change and all manner of other factors affecting wildlife populations around the world, more and more animals are being added to the red list of endangered species. "The work of Chester Zoo and other good zoos has never been more relevant and important as we fight to ensure a brighter future for so many threatened species," he added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 22:37:14|Editor: yan Video Player Close DAMASCUS, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army fully captured the strategic Abu al-Duhur air base in the northwestern province of Idlib Saturday, a military source told Xinhua. The capture of Abu al-Duhur was achieved after intense battles with the al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee (LLC), otherwise known as the Nusra Front, said the source on condition of anonymity. The military forces began storming the air base earlier in the day from its southern rim while other military units were fighting to secure areas in the eastern and southwestern outskirts of the air base, the source said. He added that intense battles were raging between the Syrian forces and the LLC in the surrounding of the base in the southern countryside of Idlib. Earlier this month, the army was fighting at the outskirts of the air base and was close to capturing it, but a major counter-offensive by the militants hindered the advance. The Syrian army was aiming to capture Abu al-Duhur due to the strategic importance of that facility and its crucial role in launching further offensives against the LLC and likeminded groups in Idlib. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 22:42:16|Editor: yan Video Player Close CAIRO, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian top court upheld on Saturday the execution of three men convicted of killing a security chief in Giza following the ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, official MENA news agency reported. The verdicts of the Court of Cassation are final, as they came in a retrial after initial verdicts were appealed by the defendants. The court also sentenced four to 25 years in prison, instead of their appealed death penalties, and five others to 10 years. The case dates back to mid-August 2013, when militants stormed a police station in Kerdasa district of Giza province near Cairo, leaving 17 dead including 14 policemen. The attackers are mostly furious loyalists of Morsi and his now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group who violently protested over the military removal of Morsi and the later security crackdown on his supporters that left hundreds dead and thousands arrested. Morsi was ousted by the military in early July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year reign. His Brotherhood group was later designated by the new leadership as a terrorist organization. Morsi and most of his aides and followers are currently in custody. Since Morsi's ouster, Egypt has been suffering terrorist activities that killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers as well as civilians. Most of the attacks were claimed by a Sinai-based terrorist group affiliated with the regional Islamic State militant group. Meanwhile, the Egyptian security forces have killed hundreds of terrorists and arrested thousands of suspects during the country's anti-terror war declared by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the army chief then, following Morsi's disposal. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announces the military operation in Syria's Afrin has "actively" started. (AFP photo) ANKARA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday the military operation in Syria's Afrin has "actively" started. "The Afrin operation has actively begun on the field. The Manbij operation will follow," he said during a televised speech in the Aegean province of Kutahya. Erdogan said that Turkey is determined to ensure its national security and to clear its borders of the People's Protection Units (YPG), which is considered by Ankara as the Syrian affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). "Then we will step by step clear the terrorist elements from Manbij towards Iraqi border," the Turkish President said, noting that the United States has not kept its promise of withdrawing YPG militia in Manbij after their fight with the Islamic State (IS). He slammed the U.S. decision to establish a new border army with the YPG fighters in order to secure Turkish and Iraqi borders with Syria. Erdogan said the statements from Washington were contradictory. "We do not care about what they say. We only consider what happens on the ground," he said. Turkish army has already been shelling against the YPG over the last two days from the positions in Cilvegozu region of the Turkish side of the border and Azaz region in Syria, next to Afrin where Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army fighters are located. The Turkish army said on Saturday the army hit the shelters "within the scope of legitimate self-defense." The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, has been conducting armed violence against Ankara since July 2015 after a brief reconciliation period. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 22:57:20|Editor: yan Video Player Close DAMASCUS, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army fully captured the strategic Abu al-Duhur air base in the northwestern province of Idlib Saturday, a military source told Xinhua. The capture of Abu al-Duhur was achieved after intense battles with the al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee (LLC), otherwise known as the Nusra Front, said the source on condition of anonymity. The military forces began storming the air base earlier in the day from its southern rim while other military units were fighting to secure areas in the eastern and southwestern outskirts of the air base, the source said. He added that intense battles were raging between the Syrian forces and the LLC in the surrounding of the base in the southern countryside of Idlib. Earlier this month, the army was fighting at the outskirts of the air base and was close to capturing it, but a major counter-offensive by the militants hindered the advance. At the time, the Turkey-backed Turkistan Party and the Ahrar al-Sham Movement in addition to the LLC launched several waves of attacks to halt the advance of the Syrian army. The Syrian forces closed in on the air base from the northern countryside of the central province of Hama toward the southern countryside of Idlib and the nearby southern countryside of Aleppo province, which largely fell to the army following the near-defeat of the al-Qaida affiliates in that region recently. The source said the army captured 15 towns in the entwined countrysides of Aleppo and Idlib on Saturday, managing thus to place a siege on the al-Qaida-linked militants and other rebel groups in an area of 1,200 square km in the countrysides of Idilb, Aleppo and Hama provinces. The Syrian army was aiming to capture Abu al-Duhur due to the strategic importance of that facility and its crucial role in launching further offensives against the LLC and likeminded groups in Idlib. The offensive to recapture the base has also aimed to lay the siege on the rebels in the countrysides of the three provinces and secure areas close to the road to Aleppo. Abu al-Duhur is the second-largest military base in northern Syria and has 22 runways. It has a strategic location as it lies between Idlib and Hama provinces and stretches on an area of 8 square km. The air base is 50 km from the capital city of Idilb, and 50 km from Aleppo city. The militants of the Turkistan Party and the LLC captured the base during an offensive in September 2015. Idlib has emerged as the main destination of the rebel groups, which have evacuated several positions across Syria after surrendering to the Syrian army. The area has become a home to several rebel groups from different affiliations, some of which are supported by Turkey, while others, such as the Nusra Front, are designated as terrorist groups. Turkey, a staunch opponent of President Bashar al-Assad's government, called on Russia and Iran earlier this month to pressure the Syrian government to halt the military offensive in Idlib. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani says Iran is ready to boost ties with Cuba. (Reuters photo) TEHRAN, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday that Iran is ready to boost ties with Cuba, state TV reported. Iran and Cuba are two revolutionary countries that enjoy very good relations, Rouhani said, adding that the Islamic Republic "was determined to develop relations with the Cuban government and will follow this path." He pointed to the capacities of boosting Tehran-Havana ties in different economic fields, particularly in the science and energy sector. He also slammed U.S. sanctions as an inappropriate and worn-out tool, saying that Iran is "opposed to the imposition of oppressive sanctions against independent nations, including Cuba." Rouhani made the remarks on Saturday while receiving the credentials of Cuban ambassador to Tehran Alexis Bandrich Vega. For his part, the Cuban ambassador said that Havana was determined to increase its economic and political relations with Tehran. Cuba believes that the enhancement of ties with Iran in all areas is the best way to counter unfair sanctions against the two countries at a time when the United States is using pressure to impose its own views on the world, Vega pointed out. He also praised what he called Iran's role in resorting stability and security to the region. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 23:22:25|Editor: yan Video Player Close BERLIN, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- A group of 40 Germany's Social Democrat (SPD) politicians has issued a last-ditch appeal to their colleagues to vote Yes to reviving a grand coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc at a conference this weekend, the German Press Agency (DPA) reported Saturday. The appeal, seen by DPA on Friday, calls on the SPD delegates who meet in Bonn on Sunday to approve coalition negotiations with Merkel's CDU/CSU conservative alliance to act "out of responsibility for Germany, Europe and the SPD". The appeal comes amid tensions within the SPD, especially with the Jusos youth wing, which claims the preliminary document agreed to last week ahead of formal negotiations to be not socialist enough. They would like to see more taxes on the wealthy, a national health service without private provision, more action to combat poverty and a more generous migration policy, according to DPA. Other opponents of reviving the coalition also fear the SPD's profile will be overshadowed by Merkel and her bloc. They would prefer to head the opposition to a minority Merkel government and focus on rejuvenating the party after its worst election result in September since 1949. Friday's appeal came ahead of meetings by steering committees on Friday evening in the last two state-level parties -- Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate -- that have to decide how they will vote on Sunday. After "considering all the arguments" at a party meeting in Mainz in Rhineland-Palatinate, that regional party also failed to give delegates a recommendation on how to vote on Sunday. So far four states representing almost 200 delegates have come out clearly in favor of launching coalition talks. Four have come out against, but they will send only around 45 delegates to the conference between them. The remaining six state-level parties -- representing around 320 delegates -- do not plan to vote on the issue and will leave it up to delegates to decide for themselves, although some held consultations with grassroots members ahead of the special conference. The youth wing's 80-90 delegates plan to vote against resuming coalition talks, DPA reported. The SPD will probably want to avoid fresh elections as another opinion poll released Friday placed them on 20 percent, even lower than their already poor September election result of 20.5 percent. Friday's Politbarometer by broadcaster ZDF marked a drop of 3 percentage points on last month. A Forsa opinion poll on Thursday had the SPD on just 18 percent. The vast majority of people asked in a YouGov opinion poll, commissioned by DPA and published on Friday, see the SPD as the biggest losers in the preliminary coalition talks that concluded last Friday. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 23:37:31|Editor: yan Video Player Close RAMALLAH, Gaza, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian officials from both Fatah and Hamas parties rejected Saturday the scheduled visit of the U.S. Vice President Mike Pence to the Middle East. "Pence's visit to the region is totally unwelcome since he is a blind supporter of Israel," Osama Qawasmi, Fatah's spokesman in the West Bank, told Xinhua. Qawasmi declared a general strike in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem against the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. He called on the Arab countries not to receive Pence in response to the U.S. declaration on Jerusalem and its decision to cut financial aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). "There is no justification to receive the U.S. official, since his statement confirmed adoption of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel," said Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman. The U.S. official is scheduled to visit Egypt, Jordan and Israel over four days but will not meet with the Palestinians, reflecting an impasse in Trump administration's efforts to broker peace between them and Israel. U.S. President Donald Trump announced last month the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the transfer of the embassy of his country to it, which drew widespread anger and criticism worldwide. Tensions flared again ahead of Pence's trip when the United States announced Tuesday to withdraw 65 million U.S. dollars from a 125-million-dollar payment to UNRWA, which has been paid for decades for medical and educational assistance to Palestinian refugees. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 23:42:32|Editor: yan Video Player Close BAGHDAD, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi Saturday met with the Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani for the first time since the Kurds' controversial independence referendum last year, Iraqi government and Kurdish media said. A statement by Abadi's office said that the prime minister "received a delegation from the Kurdistan region headed by Nechirvan Barzani accompanied by his deputy Qubad Talabani and Fuad Hussein." During the meeting, Abadi underlined the importance of "restoring and activating all the powers of the federal authorities in the region, including the border crossings and airports," said the statement. Abadi also said that Iraq's international border lines must be under the control of the federal government, as it is part of the exclusive powers of the federal authority, according to the statement. Abadi reiterated his government's stance that the Kurdish region should hand over the extracted oil from the Kurdish region to the federal authorities and that the export of oil should exclusively be done by the federal government through the federal oil ministry, it said. Earlier in the day, Kurdish Rudaw media network said that Abadi met with Barzani and his deputy Qubad Talabani, along with Fuad Hussein, head of the regional presidency office in Baghdad. The meeting was the first of such kind between the two sides, as tensions have been running high between Baghdad and Kurdistan's regional capital Erbil after the Kurds held the referendum on the independence of the Kurdistan region and disputed areas on Sept. 25, 2017. The Kurds consider the northern Kirkuk province and part of Nineveh, Diyala and Salahudin provinces as disputed areas and want them to be incorporated into their region, a move fiercely opposed by the Arabs and Turkmens in the region as well as the Iraqi central government. On Oct. 16, Abadi, who is also Commander-in-Chief of Iraqi forces, ordered government forces to enter the oil-rich Kirkuk province in northern Iraq to regain control of the ethnically-mixed province and some other disputed areas. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 23:57:34|Editor: yan Video Player Close By Huang Chao, Gao Lu, Xia Lin NEW YORK, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Ben Lee is not surprised to know that more U.S. students are going overseas for graduate and undergraduate education, as they want to know more about the outside world, just like the international students on U.S. campus. "The United States is large, but the world is still much larger to explore," Lee, Associate Director of Master of Communication Management Program at the University of Southern California (USC), told Xinhua. EUROPE ATTRACTS U.S. STUDENTS The annual Open Doors Data released last November by the Institute of International Education of the United States (IIE) showed that 325,339 American students received academic credit last year at the home campus for studying abroad in 2015/2016, an increase of four percent from the previous year. "Studying abroad by American students has more than tripled in the past two decades," it added. "U.S. students studying abroad still find Europe very attractive. I think the report's data bears that out. London, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Milan, these cities are still very attractive for U.S. students," said Lee. IIE's report said that Europe was the top host region, attracting more than half of Americans who studied abroad, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia. "I have a lot of American friends that are right abroad or going abroad next semester here at USC. So these people are going to Europe or South America or Asia. They are usually very open-minded and they want to learn what's there in all these different countries," Romero, a graduate student from Bolivia at USC, told Xinhua. CHINA, INDIA EMERGE STRONG According to IIE, the top host destinations for U.S. students studying abroad in 2015/16 were the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, France, and Germany. Strong growth was noted in Australia, Czech Republic, Cuba, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand and South Africa, it added. China dropped out of the top five host countries, as the number of U.S. students studying there decreased by nine percent. However, as China has emerged strong in economy and culture in recent years, it remains a hot choice, especially for those with foresights. "One of my professors even says that if you want to study abroad, go to China, go to India. If you want to vacation abroad, go to Europe, go to Australia," Fan Yilan, a Chinese student double majoring in accounting and economy at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin, told Xinhua. Emerging markets like China and India have been popular at UT and USC, too. Lee is carrying out collaboration with Shanghai Jiaotong University, which makes him fully aware how both sides need each other. "Their school of media design has very aggressively and generously funded international students to pursue degrees there. And they have grown tremendously in the past three years. It's remarkable," said Lee. For the academic year of 2015/16, China remained the top destination in Asia for U.S. students. Altogether 11,689 of them went to study in China in this period. MIND OPENING AND INTERDEPENDENCE Most U.S. students go abroad in exchange programs at the expense of the universities. "Their parents do not directly pay their tuition for the other countries' institutions, so they usually take advantage of their universities to choose programs. Like in USC, there is a global program, so students can choose different study destinations," said Joyce Wang, a Chinese student at USC. U.S. youth going overseas for education thriced in the past 20 years, which is widely viewed as the nation's increased awareness of the changes occurring to the world around it. "America is realizing the importance of globalization. That's why they are trying to send more people abroad and they're really taking initiative to act like as a world leader," said Fan. In contrast to the current U.S. administration's decision to quit global or regional trade blocs, the education surge showcases populist wisdom. "That's great for the country and that's also great for these students to open their minds, and for future leaders of the United States to know the interdependence of the world and how the United States is not alone here," said Romero. Visitors view an F-35 fighter on USS Gerald R. Ford after its commissioning ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, the United States, on July 22, 2017. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department approved a sale of 34 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Conventional Take-off and Landing (CTOL) aircraft to Belgium, the Pentagon said on Friday. According to a statement published by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency under the U.S. Department of Defense, the agency notified Congress of the sale for an estimated 6.53 billion U.S. dollars later Friday. The sale would also include 38 Pratt & Whitney F-135 engines -- 34 installed ones and four spares -- as well as other equipment for the radar-evading high-tech fighter. The sale will "improve the security of an ally and partner nation which has been, and continues to be, an important force for political and economic stability in Western Europe," the statement read. The sale of F-35s is expected to provide Belgium with "a credible defense capability to deter aggression in the region and ensure interoperability with U.S. forces," said the agency. The governments of Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and others are also potential customers of the jet. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 00:12:38|Editor: yan Video Player Close BELGRADE, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The killing of Oliver Ivanovic, prominent Kosovo Serb politician, must unite Kosovo Serbs, while Serbia will help them with investment and guarantee their security, Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic said during his visit to Kosovo on Saturday. Vucic arrived in Kosovo in the morning, carrying a message of unity and strength directed towards local Serbs who are frightened after the assassination of Ivanovic in the north of Kosovo, public broadcaster RTS reported. Kosovo unilaterally declared independence in 2008 that Serbia categorically rejects to recognize. But the two sides are engaged in negotiations within a European Union-mediated Brussels agreement on normalization of relations, which is a condition for their progress in European integrations. Vucic laid wreaths at the place where several days ago Ivanovic was shot in front of his office in North Mitrovica with a pistol out of a moving car, and headed on to meet mayor of North Mitrovica Goran Rakic and other Kosovo Serb leaders at the building of the Faculty of Technics. After the three-hour-long meeting, he told journalists that there will be no mercy towards those who killed Ivanovic. "Nothing is more needed at this moment than peace and to stay and survive here where our homes are," Vucic said. He continued that he talked with prominent Serb politicians and businessmen in Kosovo about their everyday problems and the unity. Among the topics were the negotiations around the implementation of the Brussels agreement that were urgently stopped by the Serbian side after the assassination of Ivanovic, as well as the future investments from Serbia in the North Kosovo mostly populated by Serbs. "Serbs must stay and survive in Kosovo and Serbia is there to continue helping them," Vucic said, adding that the country will do everything to maintain peace and settle disputes with Albanians. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 00:17:39|Editor: yan Video Player Close TBILISI, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has ruled out standing for president in elections coming later this year, local media reported on Saturday. Kvirikashvili told local media that the ruling party has not yet decided which candidates will be presented for the presidential election set for October. "As for discussing my candidacy, this topic will be periodically active in the media. However, I can tell you for sure that my candidacy is not discussed for the next presidential election," local Interpress News Agency cited Kvirikashvili as saying. Kvirikashvili has served as prime minister since December 2015, to replace outgoing Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 01:17:46|Editor: yan Video Player Close DAMASCUS, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Three Turkish F-16 jets on Saturday carried out 11 airstrikes on Kurdish positions on the outskirts of Kurdish-held Afrin in northern Syria near the Turkish border, marking the official beginning of the Turkish military campaign against the Syrian Kurdish fighters in the region, pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV reported. The airstrikes targeted villages in the surroundings of Afrin in the northern countryside of Aleppo, the report said. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Turkish airstrikes targeted the city of Afrin and the towns of Sherowa, Shiran, Jandaris and Rajo on the city's outskirts. Meanwhile, the Manbij Military Council, which is affiliated with the SDF, said the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels started an attack on Saturday against Kurdish groups in the countryside of Manbij in the northern countryside of Aleppo. The FSA in the city of Mare in northern Aleppo also shelled the positions of the Kurdish-led groups in the Tal Rifat and Sad al-Shahba areas, which are under the control of the Kurdish forces. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday that Turkish warplanes started the military campaign against Afrin, adding that the aim of the offensive is to eliminate the fighters of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). A day earlier, the Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG) said Turkish artillery had heavily pounded the positions of the U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in Afrin since midnight Friday. "Afrin people suffer material damage as artillery and missile attacks continue unceasingly," the YPG said, adding that it will respond strongly to the Turkish attacks. On Friday, Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said Turkey's operation in Afrin had "de facto" begun with cross-border shelling. The battle of Afrin has been long anticipated, as Turkey made clear that it was going to unleash an offensive along with the Ankara-backed Syrian rebels against the YPG in Afrin. Turkey deems the YPG as a terror group belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The United States, which heavily backs the Kurdish forces and see them as reliable allies in Syria, has urged Turkey not to fight the Kurds in Afrin, while the Syrian government has warned it would shoot down any Turkish warplane fighting in Afrin. Turkey's military operation in Afrin will deal a strong blow to the Kurdish fighters and weaken their growing influence in northern Syria near Turkey, particularly after the Kurdish forces defeated the Islamic State in Syria's northern province of Raqqa, the former de facto capital of the IS, and after the recent U.S. declaration that Washington is forming 30,000-strong border forces from the SDF and other Kurdish fighters in northern Syria. Ankara fears the separatist sentiment of Syria's Kurds could inspire Turkey's 14 million Kurds and pose threats to Turkey's southern border, where the PKK has been active for years. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 01:17:46|Editor: Chengcheng Video Player Close Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov (R) shakes hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Jan. 20, 2018. Visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday expressed her support for Bulgaria's accession to Schengen, saying that "soon" the Balkan state could partially join the border-free area. (Xinhua/Zhan Xiaoyi) SOFIA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday expressed her support for Bulgaria's accession to Schengen, saying that "soon" the Balkan state could partially join the border-free area. Bulgaria's accession to Schengen has been discussed for a long time, Merkel said while answering a question at a press conference after talks with her Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borissov. "We support Bulgaria, and Bulgaria to date has been guarding an external border of the European Union (EU), the Bulgarian-Turkish border," Merkel said. Merkel said she could not say a specific date for Bulgaria's accession to Schengen. However, in her opinion, the introduction of the rules of the Schengen Area in Bulgaria would start gradually, first at the airports, Merkel said. This topic would come back on the agenda very soon, Merkel added. The Schengen zone, which currently embraces 26 European countries, acknowledges the abolishment of their internal borders with other member nations and outside, for the free and unrestricted movement of people, goods, services and capital. "There is no problem for Bulgaria to enter Schengen by air and water even today," Borissov said in turn. Borissov recalled that some time ago, the Netherlands most loudly voiced disagreement with the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte would visit Bulgaria on Feb. 6, and his experts would have the opportunity to go to the border to check how Bulgaria is guarding it. "We will provide them with full access to go wherever they want," Borissov said. Bulgaria and Romania had hoped to join Schengen but some Schengen members such as the Netherlands and Finland have blocked their efforts expressing reluctance due to concerns over corruption and security situation in the two Balkan states. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 01:22:48|Editor: yan Video Player Close CAIRO, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Cairo-based Arab League (AL) announced on Saturday its participation in Egypt's upcoming presidential elections slated for March. "This participation comes in the light of the AL massive interest in such an election that is an important step in enhancing the course of democracy and good governance in Egypt," the pan-Arab body said in a statement. AL Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit assigned one of his aides to lead a mission of different Arab diplomats who will be distributed in different Egyptian provinces to oversee the polls, according to the statement. It added that an operation room will be constantly operating during the elections to follow up all relevant developments, communicate with the mission members in different provinces and receive their notes. Egypt will hold its 2018 presidential polls in late March. After a 10-day candidate registration period starting on Saturday, the candidates will start their campaigns on Feb. 24. The result of the first round is set to be announced on April 2, according to the country's National Election Authority. A day earlier, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi officially announced his intention to run for a second four-year presidential term, also the last one for Sisi if he wins according to the Egyptian constitution. Sisi said earlier that he would not seek to change this part of the constitution. Hours after Sisi's announcement, former military chief of staff Sami Anan also declared his intention to join the 2018 presidential race, blaming Egypt's ongoing problems on "wrong policies" and calling on the country's institutions not to take sides in favor of any candidate. Anan is considered a strong competitor against Sisi in the race. Last December, a pro-Sisi non-official campaign called "So That You Can Build It (Egypt)" said it collected over 12 million signatures from Egyptians, more than 11 percent of the population, who support Sisi's campaign for a second term. Sisi took office in mid-2014, a year after he led the ouster of his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against Morsi's one-year rule and his now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group. Egyptian rights and opposition lawyer Khaled Ali announced last November his intention to join the presidential race. But Ali could be disqualified as he received a suspended three-month jail term in September over an obscene hand gesture he allegedly made after winning a court order challenging the government. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 01:22:49|Editor: Jiaxin Video Player Close ROME, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Italians spend 19 billion euros (23.2 billion U.S. dollars) a year on "illegal goods and services", according to a CGIA think tank report on Saturday. According to the research group based in the city of Mestre, near Venice, every year Italians spend 14.3 billion euros on drugs, 4 billion euros on prostitutes, and 600 million on cigarette smuggling. The total figure equals "more than one percentage point of gross domestic product (GDP)", according to CGIA research coordinator, Paolo Zabeo. These outlaw activities have added value of 17.1 billion euros to the illegal economy, which expanded by more than 4 percent over the past four years, according to the CGIA study. The think tank also said reports of suspicious financial transactions to the Bank of Italy's Financial Information Unit (UIF) soared from about 21,000 in 2009 to just over 101,000 in 2016 -- a whopping 380 percent jump. This is "indirect confirmation" of the economic clout of the racketeers that provide these illicit goods and services, according to CGIA. The UIF's job is to investigate suspicious transactions for evidence of money laundering, tax evasion, or terrorist financing. If it finds such evidence, the matter gets turned over to police. In 2016, suspicious transactions totalled 88 billion euros, down from 97 billion euros in the previous year, according to the CGIA report. "Mike Pence's visit to the region is totally unwelcome since he is a blind supporter of Israel," says Osama Qawasmi, Fatah's spokesman in the West Bank. (AFP photo) RAMALLAH, Gaza, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian officials from both Fatah and Hamas parties rejected Saturday the scheduled visit of the U.S. Vice President Mike Pence to the Middle East. "Pence's visit to the region is totally unwelcome since he is a blind supporter of Israel," Osama Qawasmi, Fatah's spokesman in the West Bank, told Xinhua. Qawasmi declared a general strike in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem against the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. He called on the Arab countries not to receive Pence in response to the U.S. declaration on Jerusalem and its decision to cut financial aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). "There is no justification to receive the U.S. official, since his statement confirmed adoption of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel," said Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman. The U.S. official is scheduled to visit Egypt, Jordan and Israel over four days but will not meet with the Palestinians, reflecting an impasse in Trump administration's efforts to broker peace between them and Israel. U.S. President Donald Trump announced last month the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the transfer of the embassy of his country to it, which drew widespread anger and criticism worldwide. Tensions flared again ahead of Pence's trip when the United States announced Tuesday to withdraw 65 million U.S. dollars from a 125-million-dollar payment to UNRWA, which has been paid for decades for medical and educational assistance to Palestinian refugees. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 02:02:55|Editor: yan Video Player Close KABUL, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Casualties were feared as gunmen attacked a major hotel frequented by foreigners and senior officials in Kabul, Afghanistan on Saturday night, witnesses and local media said. "We heard grenade blasts and gunfire in Intercontinental Hotel Saturday night. The whole place has now been sealed off for precautionary measures," an eyewitness told Xinhua. The Special Operations Forces arrived at the hotel overlooking the city shortly after the incident, he said. No one knows what is exactly ongoing in the area as security forces did not allow media and people to reach the area. "There is fear of hostage taking incident, as several people were inside the hotel when the terrorists attacked the multi-story building. Some parts of the building caught fire following the gunfire and explosions," he said. "We still cannot provide details on causalities. There is fear of possible causalities," security sources were quoted by local media as saying. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. Saturday's attack is the second assault against the hotel. In 2011, Taliban militants attacked the same hotel, inflicting high casualties and damage. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 02:17:57|Editor: yan Video Player Close CAIRO, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian army killed one terrorist and destroyed five hideouts in the central part of restive North Sinai Province bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, the Egyptian military spokesman said in a statement on Saturday. "The law enforcement forces of the Third Field Army managed to kill a highly dangerous terrorist element in Central Sinai with a machine gun, ammunition and magnifying goggles in his possession," said military spokesman Tamer al-Refaay in the statement. The forces also detected and destroyed two vehicles, a motorbike and five hideouts containing a large amount of fuel and explosive materials belonging to the terrorists. Last week, a military raid also killed a terrorist and arrested 22 suspects in the province. A recently renewed partial three-month curfew is currently in effect in North Sinai, along with a similar renewed nationwide state of emergency. North Sinai has been the center of terrorist attacks that killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers following the military removal of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his 12-month rule and his now-blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood group. The attacks later extended to several other provinces including the capital Cairo and started to target the Coptic minority by church bombings. Most of the attacks were claimed by the so-called Wilayat Sinai, a Sinai-based group affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) regional terrorist group. Terrorism in Egypt did not stop at targeting security personnel and Copts, as a terrorist operation against a mosque in North Sinai's Arish city last month killed at least 310 Muslim worshippers and injured more than 120 others, marking the deadliest terror attack and the first against a Muslim mosque in Egypt's modern history. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the mosque attack. In late November 2017, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ordered the army's chief of staff to restore security and stability in the restive part of the Sinai Peninsula within three months. The Egyptian security forces have so far killed hundreds of terrorists and arrested thousands of suspects during the country's anti-terror war declared by Sisi, the army chief then, following Morsi's ouster. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 02:28:00|Editor: yan Video Player Close ANKARA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Foreign Ministry informed ambassadors of Iran, Russia and the U.S. in Ankara about a military operation launched by Turkey's army in Syria's Afrin on Saturday, a ministry official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also held a phone conversation with U.S. counterpart Rex Tillerson in the wake of the announcement of the air strikes by Turkish Air forces, at Washington's request, the official also said. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday the military operation in Syria's Afrin has "actively" started. Turkey is determined to ensure its national security and to clear its borders of the People's Protection Units (YPG), which is considered by Ankara as the Syrian affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Turkish war jets have been hitting the YPG positions in Afrin on Saturday after days of shelling from the border. The Turkish Army stated that the operation is named "Olive Branch" and started at 17.00 in local time. Turkish F-16 jets on Saturday carried out 11 airstrikes on Kurdish positions on the outskirts of Kurdish-held Afrin in northern Syria. (AFP Photo) DAMASCUS, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Three Turkish F-16 jets on Saturday carried out 11 airstrikes on Kurdish positions on the outskirts of Kurdish-held Afrin in northern Syria near the Turkish border, marking the official beginning of the Turkish military campaign against the Syrian Kurdish fighters in the region, pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV reported. The airstrikes targeted villages in the surroundings of Afrin in the northern countryside of Aleppo, the report said. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Turkish airstrikes targeted the city of Afrin and the towns of Sherowa, Shiran, Jandaris and Rajo on the city's outskirts. Meanwhile, the Manbij Military Council, which is affiliated with the SDF, said the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels started an attack on Saturday against Kurdish groups in the countryside of Manbij in the northern countryside of Aleppo. The FSA in the city of Mare in northern Aleppo also shelled the positions of the Kurdish-led groups in the Tal Rifat and Sad al-Shahba areas, which are under the control of the Kurdish forces. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday that Turkish warplanes started the military campaign against Afrin, adding that the aim of the offensive is to eliminate the fighters of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). A day earlier, the Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG) said Turkish artillery had heavily pounded the positions of the U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in Afrin since midnight Friday. "Afrin people suffer material damage as artillery and missile attacks continue unceasingly," the YPG said, adding that it will respond strongly to the Turkish attacks. On Friday, Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said Turkey's operation in Afrin had "de facto" begun with cross-border shelling. The battle of Afrin has been long anticipated, as Turkey made clear that it was going to unleash an offensive along with the Ankara-backed Syrian rebels against the YPG in Afrin. Turkey deems the YPG as a terror group belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The United States, which heavily backs the Kurdish forces and see them as reliable allies in Syria, has urged Turkey not to fight the Kurds in Afrin, while the Syrian government has warned it would shoot down any Turkish warplane fighting in Afrin. Turkey's military operation in Afrin will deal a strong blow to the Kurdish fighters and weaken their growing influence in northern Syria near Turkey, particularly after the Kurdish forces defeated the Islamic State in Syria's northern province of Raqqa, the former de facto capital of the IS, and after the recent U.S. declaration that Washington is forming 30,000-strong border forces from the SDF and other Kurdish fighters in northern Syria. Ankara fears the separatist sentiment of Syria's Kurds could inspire Turkey's 14 million Kurds and pose threats to Turkey's southern border, where the PKK has been active for years. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meets with with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt January 20, 2018. (Reuters Photo) RAMALLAH, Gaza, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian officials from both Fatah and Hamas parties rejected Saturday the scheduled visit of the U.S. Vice President Mike Pence to the Middle East. "Pence's visit to the region is totally unwelcome since he is a blind supporter of Israel," Osama Qawasmi, Fatah's spokesman in the West Bank, told Xinhua. Qawasmi declared a general strike in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem against the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. He called on the Arab countries not to receive Pence in response to the U.S. declaration on Jerusalem and its decision to cut financial aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). "There is no justification to receive the U.S. official, since his statement confirmed adoption of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel," said Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman. The U.S. official is scheduled to visit Egypt, Jordan and Israel over four days but will not meet with the Palestinians, reflecting an impasse in Trump administration's efforts to broker peace between them and Israel. U.S. President Donald Trump announced last month the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the transfer of the embassy of his country to it, which drew widespread anger and criticism worldwide. Tensions flared again ahead of Pence's trip when the United States announced Tuesday to withdraw 65 million U.S. dollars from a 125-million-dollar payment to UNRWA, which has been paid for decades for medical and educational assistance to Palestinian refugees. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 03:03:05|Editor: yan Video Player Close JERUSALEM, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The leader of Israel's Joint List Arab-Jewish party said Saturday that his party will boycott U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's visit to Israel scheduled to start on Sunday. Pence is expected to land at the Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv on Sunday evening, marking the first visit by a senior U.S. official since U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital on Dec. 6. But Ayman Odeh, the leader of Israel's third largest party, said Pence is a "dangerous person." Pence "harbors a messianic vision entailing the ruination of the entire region," Odeh said on his twitter account. Pence "comes as the emissary of an even more dangerous man (Trump), a political pyromaniac, racist, and a misogynist, who should not lead the way in our region," he added. Odeh also said his 13-seat party in the 120-seat parliament will boycott Pence's scheduled address to the parliament on Monday. The U.S. vice president's three-day trip to Israel includes meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin, as well as a visit to the Western Wall, a Jewish holy site in East Jerusalem. Israel seized East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it shortly afterwards, claiming it part of its indivisible capital. The move, however, has never been recognized internationally. Last December, Trump declared Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which received international criticism and sparked renewed violent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, killing so far at least 13 Palestinians and an Israeli. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 03:08:06|Editor: yan Video Player Close DAMASCUS, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Saturday condemned the Turkish attack on Syria's Kurdish-held Afrin enclave, denying Turkish claims that Ankara informed Damascus about the attack beforehand, according to state news agency SANA. The "aggression constitutes the latest step in the Turkish aggressions on the Syrian sovereignty," the ministry said after the Turkish army carried out airstrikes on the Kurdish positions in Afrin. The ministry said Afrin is part of the Syrian Arab Republic, urging the international community to take measures to stop the Turkish attack immediately. Meanwhile, the ministry denied Turkish claims that Ankara informed Damascus about the attack beforehand, saying the Turkish claims are part of a series of lies from the Turkish regime. Earlier on Saturday, three Turkish F-16 jets carried out 11 airstrikes on Kurdish positions on the outskirts of Afrin, marking the official beginning of the Turkish military campaign against the Syrian Kurdish fighters in the region. The battle of Afrin has been long anticipated, as Turkey made clear that it was going to unleash an offensive, along with the Ankara-backed Syrian rebels, against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Afrin. Turkey deems the YPG as a terror group belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The United States, which heavily backs the Kurdish forces and see them as reliable allies in Syria, has urged Turkey not to fight the Kurds in Afrin, while the Syrian government has warned it would shoot down any Turkish warplane fighting in Afrin. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 03:08:06|Editor: yan Video Player Close by Peter Mertz DENVER, the United States, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The National Western Stock Show (NWSS) has attracted beef and cattle industry players since 1906, but this year's show broke all the records. Perhaps the 80 billion U.S. dollar American business was reacting to anticipated enormous sales to China - a hot topic among industry insiders. The 15,000 who attended America's premiere cattle show 112 years ago would have been stunned by the epic event that unfolded during the past two weeks in the U.S. western state of Colorado. Today's event has mushroomed into a showcase of America's farm life - an agricultural sector of the U.S. economy that has been the backbone of the county since it was founded. There were 120 competitions and activities in NWSS 2018 that included woodcarving, pedaled-tractor races, and the American-favorite bull riding competition, as well as prizes awarded to the best-condition and largest cattle in the land. But "China talk" filled the back boardrooms this week, where America's big beef men gathered. "The amount of beef going into China today is miniscule compared to its potential," said Bill Hammerich, CEO of the Colorado Livestock Association, whose convention booth was packed during the show. "We're hoping to see that jump soon." "American corn-fed beef is a sought-after commodity around the world, and China is no exception," said Todd Sigman of Dinklage Feed Yards in Fort Morgan, Colorado. With 30 million cattle and calves slaughtered each year, the U.S. is the world's largest beef producer and fourth-largest exporter, seeing global sales of 5.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2016. Beef production in the United States increased for the fourth straight year in 2017 and is projected to hit a 20-year high of about 28 billion pounds (12.7 billion kilometers) in 2018, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistics. Meanwhile, China has emerged as the top global buyer in recent years, with imports increasing from 275 million U.S. dollars in 2012 to 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, the USDA says. "China has a middle class that is growing exponentially - larger than the entire U.S. population," Sigman told Xinhua Friday. "So with more money and more purchasing power, the demand for quality beef has increased as well. Corn-fed beef is unique only in the U.S.A.," Sigman said. Before China banned U.S. beef in 2003 after an outburst of mad cow disease, America accounted for 70 percent of China's beef imports, according to the USDA. The ban jolted the industry. So when U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Florida last April, they vowed to fast-track American beef exports to China, representing a "win-win" for both nations. "Cattle feeding has been a struggling industry in the past decade," said Joe Newton, a ranch hand from Greeley, Colorado. Newton spoke to Xinhua from the sun-filled parking lot of the Denver Coliseum that was filled with pick up trucks wearing Trump bumper stickers. The massive show filled several venues in Denver, including the 1954 Coliseum where traditional rodeo events such as barrel and bull riding drew large audiences. And the week's 60-degree weather in America's Mile High City has been atypically warm, another factor that drove record numbers to the cattle show. "Trump is helping ranchers and farmers by selling beef to China," Newton said Friday. "The president has revived the coal industry as well. He is very popular in this part of rural America," he told Xinhua. Last November, JD.com, the second largest online retailer in China, struck a 200 million U.S. dollars deal to import beef from Montana ranchers over the next three years. But U.S. industry experts told Xinhua that deal was "more show than go," and the big money is on hold pending negotiations over China's quality standards. Hammerich told Xinhua "a lot of conditions" still need to be hammered out in the agreement with Chinese buyers before beef sales will explode. "Part of the trade agreement requires that the cattle (China) receives cannot have come from animals who have received performance enhancing feed," said Hammerich, a requirement that has slowed the export endeavor. Hammerich soundly defended the industry's well-known practice of using "beta agonists" to enhance the ratio between fat and tissue and produce more lean beef, and "hormone implants that increase the average daily gain and efficiency" of the cattle. The new Chinese restrictions mirror European Union concerns over American beef exports that resulted in a 1989 ban on U.S. meat containing artificial beef growth hormones, despite its USDA approval. The EU ban was amended in 2003 to permanently stop one hormone - estradiol. And a 2014 Texas Tech University study said, "although there are significant benefits (to the use of beta agonists), an increase in death loss of cattle raises questions about welfare implications of its use." "But when it comes to perception and politics - those rule the day," said Hammerich, who was raised on a ranch in Rifle, Colorado, in a high-elevation, small town on Colorado's Western Slope. Hammerich said his industry was "was disappointed they imposed some of these conditions," but that he was still optimistic for a modification of the deal currently on the table. "We're cautiously optimistic," echoed Dinklage's Sigman. In 1867, there were only 28.6 million cattle in America, feeding on mostly the open range. Today, there are 93.5 million cattle fed on corn, hay, silage and grass. With the average beef cattle requiring 3,600 pounds of food a year, the cattle feedlot industry is a 36.4 billion U.S. dollars industry that alone could feed 800 million people a year, according to a 1997 Cornell University study. There are 30,219 feedlots in America, according to the National Cattleman Beef Association, with 93 percent handling 1,000 head of cattle or less. Dinklage is not one of the little players - with feedlots in Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming - a major player in an unnoticed gigantic cattle industry sector. Cattle "feeding" revenues amounts to more annual sales than the sale of the cattle and calves themselves - that total 29 billion U.S. dollars a year - according to the USDA. Sigman, 47, grew up on a small farm in southern Colorado and has been in the ranching industry his entire life, even working on construction crews in 1986 that built feed yards. He told Xinhua he has been happy to host Chinese delegates to inspect his company's feed facilities in anticipation of the sales boom. But like many in the cattle business, Sigman says money talks. "Over the years we have heard a lot of promises about the market and an increase in trade that has not happened yet," Sigman told Xinhua. It may take months, perhaps longer for the verification process to become "mutually acceptable," but other market changes will factor into the bottom line as well, he added. For example, the reduction of black market beef currently coming into China from Southeast Asia will have to be factored into the American export numbers, Hammerich said. "It will take time for the market to adjust from beef currently coming in through Singapore, Hong Kong, and Vietnam," he said So even with an increase in sales to China, the decrease in export sales to middleman countries will delay the bottom line profitability of beef sales to China, according to Hammerich. American beef businessmen call the new trade transparency "a vast improvement in the export process," but anticipate a lengthy time before China's 300-million-member middle class enjoy an affordable American steak at their dinner table. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt January 20, 2018. (Reuters Photo) JERUSALEM, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The leader of Israel's Joint List Arab-Jewish party said Saturday that his party will boycott U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's visit to Israel scheduled to start on Sunday. Pence is expected to land at the Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv on Sunday evening, marking the first visit by a senior U.S. official since U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital on Dec. 6. But Ayman Odeh, the leader of Israel's third largest party, said Pence is a "dangerous person." Pence "harbors a messianic vision entailing the ruination of the entire region," Odeh said on his twitter account. Pence "comes as the emissary of an even more dangerous man (Trump), a political pyromaniac, racist, and a misogynist, who should not lead the way in our region," he added. Odeh also said his 13-seat party in the 120-seat parliament will boycott Pence's scheduled address to the parliament on Monday. The U.S. vice president's three-day trip to Israel includes meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin, as well as a visit to the Western Wall, a Jewish holy site in East Jerusalem. Israel seized East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it shortly afterwards, claiming it part of its indivisible capital. The move, however, has never been recognized internationally. Last December, Trump declared Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which received international criticism and sparked renewed violent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, killing so far at least 13 Palestinians and an Israeli. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 03:13:07|Editor: Jiaxin Video Player Close MOSCOW, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday it had pulled its servicemen out of northwest Syria's Afrin City, where Turkey was waging an offensive against Kurdish forces. The operational group of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria and the military police in Afrin were relocated to the Tell-Adjar area within the Tell-Rifat de-escalation zone to avert possible provocations and dangers, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Moscow is concerned about the Turkish military operation in Afrin and it is closely monitoring the development of the situation. "We call on the opposing sides to exercise mutual restraint," it said. The Turkish attack on Kurdish forces in Afrin will likely cast a shadow over the upcoming Syrian National Dialogue Congress, which is being brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran for a political settlement of the Syrian conflict. Turkish F-16 jets on Saturday carried out 11 airstrikes on Kurdish positions on the outskirts of Kurdish-held Afrin in northern Syria. (AFP Photo) MOSCOW, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday it had pulled its servicemen out of northwest Syria's Afrin City, where Turkey was waging an offensive against Kurdish forces. The operational group of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria and the military police in Afrin were relocated to the Tell-Adjar area within the Tell-Rifat de-escalation zone to avert possible provocations and dangers, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Moscow is concerned about the Turkish military operation in Afrin and it is closely monitoring the development of the situation. "We call on the opposing sides to exercise mutual restraint," it said. The Turkish attack on Kurdish forces in Afrin will likely cast a shadow over the upcoming Syrian National Dialogue Congress, which is being brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran for a political settlement of the Syrian conflict. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 04:08:16|Editor: yan Video Player Close TRIPOLI, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Libyan navy seized a Tunisian fishing bulldozer with five crew members on board off the western coast of the capital Tripoli, the navy spokesman said on Saturday. "The Navy patrol seized a bulldozer carrying the Tunisian flag and its five crew members. The bulldozer is registered in the sea port of Sfax (in Tunisia) and is engaged in illegal fishing in Libyan waters," Navy Spokesman Ayob Qassem told Xinhua. A naval vessel was on patrol mission off the north coast of Zliten city, some 150 km east of Tripoli, when the seized bulldozer was discovered, Qassem said. When the Tunisian bulldozer was seized, Tunisian coast guards tried to intervene by sending a locomotive and a boat, he added. The Tunisian coast guards contacted the naval vessel, but the ship's captain and crew "treated them responsibly and continued to transport the crew and the bulldozer to the Tripoli naval base," the spokesman noted. "Several Tunisian fishing bulldozers tried to block the naval ship. We were forced to use cautionary fire," Qassem said. Tunisian fishing bulldozers frequently infiltrate into Libyan waters for illegal fishing, despite being seized by the Libyan navy on several occasions. In November 2016, the Libyan navy seized three Tunisian fishing boats with 54 people on board. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 04:08:17|Editor: Jiaxin Video Player Close Security personnel cordon off the street near Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Jan. 20, 2018. At least one attacker and several civilians were killed as a counter-attack was underway in Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel Saturday night following a terror attack there, a source said. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah) KABUL, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- At least one attacker and several civilians were killed as a counter-attack was underway in Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel Saturday night following a terror attack there, a source said. The initial information found that four terrorists were involved in the attack. One terrorist was killed and the Special Operations Forces were trying to clear the building, Najib Danish, spokesman of Interior Ministry told local media. Military helicopters were hovering over the hotel overlooking the city at the time of writing this report in the early hours of Sunday. Unofficial sources said a meeting was held by Afghan Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Technology in the building earlier Saturday and several provincial officials who attended the meeting were present at the building when the hotel came under attack at around 09:00 p.m. local time Saturday. No one knows what was exactly ongoing in the area as security forces did not allow media and people to reach the area. Unofficial sources said that more than 15 people were killed and that several civilians were taken hostage by the assailants. "There is fear of hostage taking incident, as several people were inside the hotel when the terrorists attacked the multi-story building. Some parts of the building caught fire following the gunfire and grenade explosions," an eyewitness told Xinhua earlier. The attackers were holding heavy weapons and suicide jackets, and at least two big explosions were heard after the gunfiring, he said. Further details about the incident are still forthcoming amid the absence of any official statement. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. Saturday's attack is the second assault against the hotel. In 2011, Taliban militants attacked the same hotel, inflicting heavy casualties and damage. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R) shakes hands with with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence during their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt January 20, 2018. (Reuters Photo) CAIRO, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi reaffirmed Egypt's support for an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital in his talks with visiting U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday, the Egyptian presidential spokesman said in a statement. "The president reaffirmed Egypt's fixed position on the Palestinian cause, which supports the rights of the Palestinian people to establish their own independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital," Egyptian Presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said. Last December, U.S. President Donald Trump declared Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and his intention to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, despite regional and international rejections and warnings. "For his part, the U.S. vice president values Egypt's historical role in the peace process and its vast contribution to maintaining security and stability in the Middle East region," the spokesman said. Pence also expressed the U.S. vision of Egypt as "an important strategic partner," he added. Cairo is Pence's first destination in his Middle East tour covering Egypt, Jordan and Israel. The tour was supposed to be made last month, but it was suspended by Trump's Jerusalem decision. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has existed since the Western-backed creation of Israel and the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories in 1948. The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital in the light of the UN-proposed two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 04:48:22|Editor: yan Video Player Close ANKARA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Saturday that the operation is within legal framework under international law and in line with Turkey's "right to self-defense." Turkish warplanes and ground forces started a military campaign in Syria's Afrin against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara considers the Syrian branch of Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Three Turkish F-16 jets carried out 11 sorties on YPG positions in Afrin in northern Syria near the Turkish border, and hit 108 out of 113 planned targets there, Turkish Armed Forces said in a statement. The Turkish military also said the ongoing operation was carried out "with respect for Syria's territorial integrity" and in Turkey's rights under international law. Turkey would notify the Syrian regime of the "Operation Olive Branch" through a letter to its consulate in Istanbul, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a televised interview with local NTV. Merely "terrorists" were targeted, the minister said, noting that the injured were also members of the YPG, according to information gathered from the ground. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 05:13:26|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close Smoke billows in the Syria's Afrin region, as it is pictured from the Turkish-Syrian border in Hatay province, Turkey, Jan. 20, 2018. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday the military operation in Syria's Afrin has "actively" started. (Xinhua) ANKARA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Turkey launched Saturday a new operation dubbed as "Operation Olive Branch" on the ground to oust Kurdish militia from Syria's Afrin, said the Turkish Armed Forces in a statement. "Operation Olive Branch has started at 17:00 (1400 GMT) today" inside Syria, read the statement. The television footage was showing Turkish F-16 bombarding Kurdish positions inside Syria, several kilometers from the Turkish border. The statement said Turkey is acting upon her right of "legitimate defense," but it is determined also to respect Syria's territorial integrity. The Turkish army said that the aim of its operation is to clear Afrin "of all terrorists once and for good," citing Islamic State fighters (IS) as potential targets. Observation points and a fuel depot have been targeted by air strikes near the Turkish border inside Syria, reported CNN Turk news channel. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that Turkey had launched a new operation on the ground. "This will be followed by Manbij," he added, referring to another Kurdish-controlled Syrian town to the east. The Turkish army has over the last two days shelled camps used by the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia in response to fire from the militia group, which Turkey sees to be a terror organization and am affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). But the YPG has been the key ally of the U.S. in the fight against Islamic State(IS), playing a key role in pushing the extremists out of their Syrian strongholds. Turkey from August 2016 to March 2017 pushed into Syria in its more than half-year Euphrates Shield operation in an area to the east of Afrin against both YPG and IS. Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad warned on Thursday that the Syrian air force could destroy any Turkish warplanes used in the new offensive. Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu talked on the phone on Saturday with his American and Russian counterparts, respectively Rex Tillerson and Sergei Lavrov, reported the local press. Diplomatic representatives of the U.S., Russia and Iran, another player in Syria, have been summoned on Saturday evening to the Turkish ministry of Foreign Affairs, a Turkish diplomatic source told Xinhua. Turkey's army chief General Hulusi Akar and Intelligence chief Hakan Fidan were in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian counterparts on Syria. Russia is the Syrian's regime most powerful support and is present there with several army and air detachments as a key player. The Turkish press reported just before the announcement of the launch of "Operation Olive Branch" that Russia had given Turkey green light to use the Syrian air space over Afrin. Analyst have repeatedly indicated that Turkey would have to need Moscow's green light to launch an assault in Syria. There has been no official announcement so far from both parties confirming such a cooperation. However, security expert Abdullah Agar said on the Turkish NTV news channel that the fact that Turkish war planes entered the Syrian air space on Saturday confirms that there is an agreement reached between Ankara and Moscow. The Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement that Russia was withdrawing troops from Syria's Afrin targeted by Turkish offensive. "The command of the Russian group of troops in Syria has taken measures to ensure security of Russian servicemen located in the district of Afrin, where the Turkish Armed Forces launched a special operation against the Kurdish armed groups," read the statement. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated on Saturday that Moscow was closely following the situation in Syria's Afrin and was concerned by the news about Turkish military engagement in the city. Meanwhile, the Turkish threats of an intervention have also raised eyebrows in Washington, which has backed the YPG as it dislodged IS and gained control of the swathe of northern Syria up to the Iraqi border. The YPG-held enclave of Afrin marks the westernmost extent of its control. Turkey wants to make sure it is kept well to the east of the Euphrates River. Disagreement over the Kurdish fighters has created a sharp division between Turkey and the United States. President Erdogan had reacted furiously this week to an announcement of plans to create a US-backed 30,000-strong border security force in northern Syria composed partly of YPG fighters, describing it as an "army of terror." Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 05:48:29|Editor: yan Video Player Close DAMASCUS, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Turkey began Saturday its military campaign against the U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in the Afrin enclave in northern Syria, carrying out airstrikes to back the Ankara-supported Syrian rebels in their push to oust the Kurdish fighters from Afrin. The Turkish military campaign, dubbed the "Olive Branch," started with airstrikes by Turkish F-16 warplanes, which struck positions of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and their allies of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday the military operation in Syria's Afrin has "actively" started. The airstrikes and shelling killed six civilians and three Kurdish fighters, said the YPG, adding that they have no choice but to confront the Turkish attack against Kurdish-held Afrin enclave in the northern province of Aleppo province near the Turkish border. In a statement, the YPG said the Turkish attack on Afrin opens the way for the return of the Islamic State (IS) group, which was largely defeated late last year by the SDF and the Syrian army. The YPG said it will retaliate and will defeat the attackers. As Turkey will rely on the Ankara-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels in their push to eliminate the Kurdish fighters and control over Afrin, reports said that Turkish ground forces will also join the Afrin offensive on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Manbij Military Council, which is affiliated with the SDF, said the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels started an attack on Saturday against Kurdish groups in the countryside of Manbij in the northern countryside of Aleppo. The FSA in the city of Mare in northern Aleppo also shelled the positions of the Kurdish-led groups in the Tal Rifat and Sad al-Shahba areas, which are under the control of the Kurdish forces. Also, the Saudi-funded al-Hadath TV said tens of Turkish tanks crossed into Syria from Turkey's Kilis city. Pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said tens of buses transported civilians from Afrin towards government-controlled areas in Aleppo province. Afrin is home to 800,000 civilians, including displaced people who sought refuge in that area from earlier years of the nearly seven-year conflict. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his government has notified all actors involved about the attack, including the Syrian government, a claim denied by Damascus. For its part, Russia said it has moved its troops out of Afrin, as the Russians held several posts there. The operational group of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria and the military police in Afrin were relocated to the Tell-Adjar area within the Tell-Rifat de-escalation zone to avert possible provocations and dangers, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. "We call on the opposing sides to exercise mutual restraint," it said. For its side, the Syrian government called the attack a "brutal aggression." The "attack constitutes the latest step in the Turkish aggression on the Syrian sovereignty," the Syrian Foreign Ministry said. The ministry denied Turkish claims that Ankara informed Damascus about the attack beforehand, saying the Turkish claims are part of a series of lies from the Turkish regime. The battle of Afrin has been long anticipated, as Turkey made clear that it was going to unleash an offensive, along with the Ankara-backed Syrian rebels, against the YPG in Afrin. Turkey deems the YPG as a terror group belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Turkey's military operation in Afrin aims to deal a strong blow to the Kurdish fighters and weaken their growing influence in northern Syria near Turkey. Ankara fears the separatist sentiment of Syria's Kurds could inspire Turkey's 14 million Kurds and pose threats to Turkey's southern border, where the PKK has been active for years. The United States, which heavily backs the Kurdish forces and see them as reliable allies in Syria, has urged Turkey not to fight the Kurds in Afrin, saying the Turkish threats are destabilizing. The Syrian government has previously warned it would shoot down any Turkish warplane fighting in Afrin. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson discussed ensuring stability in northern Syria by phone Saturday after Turkey started bombing Kurdish forces in Afrin. The Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov and Tillerson also discussed promoting a peaceful settlement of the Syrian conflict under the auspices of the UN, which should be facilitated by the Syrian National Dialogue Congress to be held in Russia's city of Sochi with broad participation. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 05:48:29|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to March for Life participants and pro-life leaders at the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Jan. 19, 2018. (Xinhua/Ting Shen) By Xinhua writer Yang Shilong NEW YORK, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Amid government shutdown and Women's March in cities across the United States, Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump's inauguration as the president of the world's most powerful state. The 71-year-old man has been inspiring such deep emotions in his critics and supporters that many Americans have struggled to objectively assess his performance in the White House. HARDLY ACHIEVED ANYTING VS. A FEW QUITE WINS? "It's hard to say what he has achieved so far," said Zhiqun Zhu, a political science professor at the Bucknell University, in a recent interview with Xinhua. "In the past year, he focused on reversing former president Barack Obama's policies, from TPP to immigration, from climate change to health care, I do not think there are tangible positive outcomes from his policies so far." "Most of his policies are controversial, from tax reform at home to declaring Jerusalem as Israel's capital," Zhu said. "The U.S. economy continues to recover strongly with low unemployment rate, which is good news to Trump, although this is not his achievement -- it is part of the economic cycle." The United States remains "Divided States of America" and "those who do not like him continue to oppose him, but his primary support base seems unchanged," Zhu added. Avery Goldstein, political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, also found Trump's first-year presidency "unexpectedly divisive." "I am disappointed that the result is a sense that policy is adrift -- more noise than action," Goldstein told Xinhua. "Dangerous rhetoric combined with what so far appear to be bluffs about taking dramatic steps." Tommy Binion, director of Congressional and Executive Branch Relations at the Heritage Foundation, noted that Trump administration has racked up a few quiet wins. The press has not fully covered many of the 70 bills that Trump has signed into law, nor the positive effect of many of his administration's policies on immigration, energy, and veterans, Binion wrote in a recent article titled Three Things Donald Trump did Right This Year. For example, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested more than 100,000 people who entered the U.S. illegally, 70 percent of whom were already convicted criminals, according to Binion. ICE removed nearly 2,800 criminal gang members in the last fiscal year, Marc Thiessen, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, listed Trump's tax and regulatory reform as his first year's top three achievements. "Trump signed the first comprehensive tax reform in three decades and removed the wet blanket of Obama-era regulations smothering our economy," Thiessen said. "We are now heading into our third consecutive quarter of above three percent growth." Many Americans might do not subscribe to Trump's transactional foreign policy and nationalist populist worldview, said Sourabh Gupta, senior fellow at the Washington-based Institute for China-America Studies in a recent interview with Xinhua. "But there are also some important macro foreign policy actions during his first year in office which he has gotten no credit for." "Trump, more than most, instinctively realizes that good foreign policy begins with getting relationships with all the major powers within the international system right," Gupta said. "Good strategic thinking is not about getting relations with just set major players, such as the key EU countries and Japan, right. It is about getting the relationships with all the major powers right." TRUMP'S TWITTER VS. MAINSTREAM MEDIA Whether you consider Trump's Twitter use the modern-day version of a fireside chat or just a plain Dumpster fire, the real estate-mogul-turned president, whose Twitter feed has 46.9 m followers, has made the social platform his own effective weapon to connect with his base supporters, and dodge the filter of the country's mainstream media, some of them Trump brands as "fake news." Richard Perloff, professor of communication and political science at Cleveland State University, hails Trump's "aggressive, grandiose and often effective use of social media" during the 2016 presidential election and the first year of his presidency as "a revolution in political communication." "Numerous studies show that despite the multitude of communications avenues now available, voters feel less connected to politicians and less informed about government than previous generations," said Perloff. "Donald Trump used social media to tap into this anger and bypass other communications channels to directly and authentically communicate with voters in a way many other politicians had failed to do." Perloff's book The Dynamics of Political Communication: Media and Politics in the Digital Age seeks to assess how the digital age has changed political communication and the impact this has had on voter attitudes and good governance. "Trump uses social media as a weapon to control the news cycle," tweeted George Lakoff, Professor Emeritus of University of California, Berkeley. "It works like a charm. His tweets are tactical rather than substantive." According to Lakoff, Trump's tweets mostly fall into one of these four categories -- pre-emptive framing, diversion, deflection and launching a trial balloon. "Each tweet gets his message retweeted so he dominates social media. Reporters, social media influencers, and many others fall for it hook, line, and sinker. Every time. They retweet, share, and repeat his messages ad infinitum. This helps Trump tremendously," Lakoff said. As pointed out by Inderjeet Parmar, head of the Department of International Politics at City, University of London, the election of Trump to the U.S. presidency "on a platform of opposition to the Washington-based political elite" has shaken "the foundations of American power and opened new spaces for the discussion of how power works in the U.S.A." "The economy is turning around, stocks are soaring, the unemployment rate is dropping. Big corporations are giving out bonuses to people," Sandon K. Saffier, a New York consultant, told Xinhua on Friday. "I think hopefully we'll get beyond this sort of bickering and polarization between the two sides." "Despite all the challenges, especially the 'Russia-gate' scandal, he is likely to stay in power until the end of his term unless he willingly resigns. He may even wish to be re-elected, who knows!" said Bucknell University professor Zhu. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 06:03:33|Editor: Lifang Video Player Close People attend the Women's March in Vancouver, Canada, Jan. 20, 2018. About 1,500 people took to the streets in downtown Vancouver for the second annual Women's March to support diversity and inclusivity on Saturday. (Xinhua/Liang Sen) VANCOUVER, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- When university student Nathalie Lee told her parents she was attending the Next Step March here on Saturday to support diversity, inclusivity and positivity, they responded by asking: There's another one this year?' "Yes," Lee replied to her parents before coming once again to Jack Poole Plaza in western Canadian coastal city of Vancouver on the anniversary of the international Women's March. "Equality still hasn't been reached," she said, while holding a sign that read "Fight Like a Girl." "Last year there was this big momentum because [U.S. President Donald] Trump had just been inaugurated and there was this big reaction to that," she told Xinhua. On Saturday, Lee was among about 1,500 other women, men and children at the event hosted by the March on Vancouver organization. Similar marches were being held in cities around the world to mark the anniversary of the massive Women's March protests that emerged a year ago following Trump's inauguration. The event here aimed to maintain the grassroots momentum that has taken hold around North America to resist white nationalism, misogyny and xenophobia and to stand-up for women, girls, indigenous peoples and minorities of all types. Among the speakers at the event was Annie Ohana, a social studies teacher from L.A. Matheson Secondary in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey. "What I tell my students is you're here for service to justice," she said over the loud speakers. "You're here to fight for justice. You're not here to just sit and not care and say I'm not old enough, I'm not good enough. People are telling me I can't. Those words should not be in any of our vocabulary." Ohana, a recipient of the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence, challenged the marchers to find ways to fight for justice in their own lives, and in their own ways. "At the root of all of this is education," she said "When you give us your kids, we need to be doing a good job. We need to be teaching them in an intersectional manner that teaches them about all of our cultures." More must be done to include more diversity into Canadian text books and curriculums, she said. Mariah Vanderzee stood near the 2010 Winter Olympic Torch in the plaza with a group of friends. She held a sign that read: "She needed a hero, so she became one." Vanderzee said she grew up admiring the comic super-hero Wonder Woman, who has emerged as a massive international icon in the last couple of years after appearing in a feature film. "Now, these young women have Wonder Woman to look up to, but before that we pretty much had to be our own heroes and create that for ourselves," she told Xinhua. Vanderzee said the fight against violence against women, inequality and xenophobia can't just focus on one day or one march. This is just a start. "Look at all the different signs, look at all the different people who are here," she said. "It's heart-warming." Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 06:08:34|Editor: yan Video Player Close ALGIERS, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Algerian Foreign Ministry said Saturday that Algeria will host the 14th Foreign Ministers Conference of Western Mediterranean 5+5 Dialogue on Sunday. The conference will focus on "overall, shared and sustainable socio-economic development" in the western Mediterranean region, the statement said. The conference comes amid security instability in the region, especially in Libya and Mali. The 13th conference was held on Oct. 28, 2016 in France and discussed several regional and international issues, such as the situation in Libya, Syria and Iraq, anti-terrorism and climate challenges. Established in 1990, the 5+5 Dialogue, consisting of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Malta, is the oldest bloc in the Mediterranean region. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 06:13:35|Editor: yan Video Player Close HAVANA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Cuba on Saturday alerted its citizens to the dangers posed by seemingly legitimate "help wanted ads" posted by human traffickers. "Supposed offers from abroad for Cuban dancers could be associated with illicit businesses, such as human trafficking, mainly of women, and their sexual and labor exploitation," state daily Granma reported. According to Isabel Moya, director of Editorial de la Mujer, a publishing house dealing in women's issues, an increase in such job offers coincides with the growing number of Cubans traveling abroad. "Trafficking has begun to appear in the country in keeping with an increase in migration and the means for Cubans to travel to other places," Moya told the daily. More than 800,000 Cubans have traveled abroad in the five years since the government introduced immigration reforms in 2013 that eliminated the need for a government permit to leave the country. Human trafficking and forced prostitution are not prevalent in Cuba, with just 46 known cases between 2012 and 2015, which is why many Cubans are unaware of the dangers, said Moya. In one recent incident, she said, up to 40 female Cuban dancers who agreed to travel to work at a well known cabaret in Ankara, Turkey, were in reality duped by a prostitution ring. "The case of the 40 dancers is not the only event related to the trafficking and exploitation of Cuban women lured by fake job offers abroad," said Moya. A quick search on Google immediately brought up scores of job offers for Cuban women abroad, preferably dancers, the most recent one posted on Jan. 13, 2018. "The best way to prevent it is to explain and warn people about this phenomenon," said Moya, who recently submitted a plan of action to Cuba's National Assembly to stem human trafficking. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 06:18:36|Editor: yan Video Player Close NEW YORK, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday warned against all forms of hatred at a ceremony marking the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. In his remarks delivered at Park East Synagogue in New York, the UN chief said "as I scan the global landscape today, I am sorry to say that the state of our world is messy. And the state of hate is high." "Neo-Nazi threat is growing," he noted. "Almost 80 years after the fall of the Nazi regime, its symbols, mindsets and language are very much with us," said Guterres. "Some still seek to deny or diminish the fact of the Holocaust. Others downplay the complicity of their citizens and former political leaders," he said. "And we see example after example of the rise of the neo-Nazi threat," he warned. Guterres said that "all of us today have a special obligation. An obligation to never lose sight of what went wrong and how it happened." He also called upon the international community to "be ever vigilant in the face of persistent anti-Semitism and other forms of hate in our time." Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 06:18:37|Editor: yan Video Player Close RABAT, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- In his letter to the Moroccan king, U.S. President Trump affirmed "the importance of the city of Jerusalem for the followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam," the Moroccan official MAP news agency reported on Saturday. Morocco's King Mohammed VI has received a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump on Jerusalem, MAP said. The letter came as a response to a message sent to Trump recently by the Moroccan king regarding "the decision of the U.S. administration to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to transfer its embassy there." "Jerusalem is and must remain a place where Jews pray at the Western Wall, where Christians walk the Stations of the Cross and where Muslims worship at Al-Aqsa Mosque," Trump said in the letter. On the peace process in the Middle East, Trump said he is "determined to reach a lasting peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians." He also expressed his support "for a two-state solution if agreed by both sides," adding that the specific boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem are part of the final negotiations. "The U.S. does not take a position on boundaries or borders," Trump noted. In his message to the U.S. president, King Mohammed VI of Morocco, the chairman of Al Quds Committee which is affiliated with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, expressed his "deep concern and that of Arab and Muslim countries" following the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to transfer the U.S. embassy to the holy city. "As is clearly indicated in the relevant international resolutions, especially those of the Security Council, Jerusalem is at the heart of final status issues. For this reason, its legal status needs to be preserved and nothing should be undertaken that might affect its current political status," the Moroccan king said in the message. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 06:23:39|Editor: yan Video Player Close ANKARA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish land force will launch ground operation in Syria's Afrin on Sunday "depending on the developments," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Saturday. The "Operation Olive Branch" has been continuing with artillery fire, and the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels have also been participating in the operation, he said in a televised press briefing. Yildirim reiterated that Turkey decided to launch the operation after an increase in terror attacks on Turkish land from southeastern Syria. Turkey never aims to harm the territorial integrity of Syria, but targets the terrorist, he noted. The Turkish military launched a major cross-border airstrikes on Afrin against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara sees as the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 06:23:40|Editor: yan Video Player Close ALGIERS, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said Saturday that Algeria and Nigeria have agreed to take common positions at the African Union (AU) and the United Nations. Following his working meeting with his Algerian counterpart Abdelkader Messahel, the Nigerian foreign minister told reporters that the meeting focused on the political dialogue between the two countries at continental and international level, with a view to taking "common positions" both within the African Union and the United Nations. Algeria and Nigeria "vow to boost and deepen bilateral relations in different areas, especially in terms of security and counterterrorism, good governance, economy and infrastructure," he said. He also said he discussed with Messahel the reactivation of the High Commission for Bilateral Cooperation "to address all issues and objectives" the two countries are seeking for "win-win cooperation." On the economic front, the Nigerian top diplomat said they discussed the development of mega bilateral projects, including the gas pipeline, the trans-Saharan road and the fiber optic line to connect the two countries. "These projects are likely to facilitate cooperation for the development of the continent, as part of the vision of a more integrated Africa," he explained. U.S. President Trump reaffirms Jerusalem holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims in letter to Moroccan king. (AFP Photo) RABAT, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- In his letter to the Moroccan king, U.S. President Trump affirmed "the importance of the city of Jerusalem for the followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam," the Moroccan official MAP news agency reported on Saturday. Morocco's King Mohammed VI has received a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump on Jerusalem, MAP said. The letter came as a response to a message sent to Trump recently by the Moroccan king regarding "the decision of the U.S. administration to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to transfer its embassy there." "Jerusalem is and must remain a place where Jews pray at the Western Wall, where Christians walk the Stations of the Cross and where Muslims worship at Al-Aqsa Mosque," Trump said in the letter. On the peace process in the Middle East, Trump said he is "determined to reach a lasting peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians." He also expressed his support "for a two-state solution if agreed by both sides," adding that the specific boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem are part of the final negotiations. "The U.S. does not take a position on boundaries or borders," Trump noted. In his message to the U.S. president, King Mohammed VI of Morocco, the chairman of Al Quds Committee which is affiliated with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, expressed his "deep concern and that of Arab and Muslim countries" following the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to transfer the U.S. embassy to the holy city. "As is clearly indicated in the relevant international resolutions, especially those of the Security Council, Jerusalem is at the heart of final status issues. For this reason, its legal status needs to be preserved and nothing should be undertaken that might affect its current political status," the Moroccan king said in the message. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 06:33:42|Editor: Jiaxin Video Player Close ABUJA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Four kidnapped American and Canadian nationals were rescued by the local police in Nigeria's northwestern state of Kaduna early Saturday, authorities said. The victims, two Americans and two Canadians, have been handed over to the American Embassy in Abuja for Medical attention and other immediate needs, said Abba Kyari, head of a special anti-kidnapping police team. Kyari said two suspected kidnappers have been arrested and effort was underway to arrest the other members of the gang. The victims were ambushed last Wednesday by unknown gunmen around Kagarko on their way from the city of Kaduna to the capital Abuja. The two policemen escorting them were killed by the kidnappers in a gun battle. The Abuja-Kaduna road has long been a haunt for kidnappers. Last February, two Germans were abducted in the region but were later freed. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 06:33:43|Editor: yan Video Player Close TUNIS, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Tunisian Ministry of Interior said Saturday that an armed religious extremist was killed in an exchange of fire with security units in the central western province of Kasserine. Security units surrounded a group of armed terrorists, killing one and injuring two others during the exchange fire, said ministry spokesman Khalifa Chibani. Special units had been closely scrutinizing the terrorists for three days ahead of the raid, private radio Mosaique cited Chibani as saying. A sweeping operation is being launched in Kasserine to track down the remnants of the terror group, he added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 06:48:46|Editor: yan Video Player Close NEW YORK, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday warned against all forms of hate at a ceremony marking the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. In his remarks delivered at Park East Synagogue in New York, the UN chief said that "as I scan the global landscape today, I am sorry to say that the state of our world is messy. And the state of hate is high." "Neo-Nazi threat is growing," he noted. "Almost 80 years after the fall of the Nazi regime, its symbols, mindsets and language are very much with us," said Guterres. "Some still seek to deny or diminish the fact of the Holocaust. Others downplay the complicity of their citizens and former political leaders," he said. "And we see example after example of the rise of the neo-Nazi threat," he warned. Guterres said that "all of us today have a special obligation. An obligation to never lose sight of what went wrong and how it happened." He also called upon the international community to "be ever vigilant in the face of persistent anti-Semitism and other forms of hate in our time." Guterres told the gathering that anti-hate organizations are now tracking hundreds of pro-Nazi and other such groups. "With just a little research, we were able to quickly identify 65 groups in 25 countries. These are located not just in Europe and North America but in every region of the world," he said. Their followers, and the "likes" they receive on social media, number in the tens of thousands, he said. "Sixty thousand people marched recently in one country in support of the continent's far right movements, with placards reading 'White Europe' and 'Clean Blood,'" he continued. "Last year, hundreds of neo-Nazis gathered to mark the 30th anniversary of the death of Rudolf Hess, one of Hitler's leading associates," he warned. "A prominent nationalist in one European country described a Holocaust memorial as a 'monument of shame' and pledged to 'rewrite the history books' of the Nazi era," the Secretary-General warned. In another, a leading figure questioned the national consensus accepting responsibility for the country's involvement in deporting Jews, he said. On the internet, the white nationalist online ecosystem is "phenomenally larger" than any other extremist groups, said Guterres. The UN chief said that on this day, "two fundamental duties" should be born in mind: to remember the utter evil and systematic attempt to eliminate the Jewish people and to be ever watchful of dark clouds on the horizon. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-21 06:58:48|Editor: yan Video Player Close NEW YORK, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in New York City on Saturday to show support for groups including women, immigrants and people of color as many of them pointed their fingers directly at the U.S. President Donald Trump's policies. The second annual Women's march came just 12 hours after the U.S. government shut down and on the day exactly one year after Trump's inauguration. Andrea Hagelgans, a senior advisor to the NYC mayor, tweeted that the official turnout was more than 120,000. "This is about us showing that we are out here to protect the values of our constitution," she said. "To honor the rights, to respect the rights of so many people. Mexicans, immigrants, Haitians, Africans." John Mclean from New Jercy told Xinhua he came here in support of women. "I have little respect for President Trump," Mclean said. "He stands against women, abortion, immigration...quite frankly he stands against what American stands for." "We want social justice, we want Dreamers to be albe to stay here, we want childcare, we don't want money only to go to military, the big companies," said Lou Sones. The protest, which started in front of the Trump International Hotel & Tower by Central Park, was among more than 200 such actions planned for the weekend around the world. Last year, more than 400,000 demonstrators flooded midtown in New York for Women's March. Another 400,000 to 500,000 people marched in Washington D.C., along with hundreds of thousands more in at least 300 cities around the world. Submit An Obituary Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death. Go to form SATURDAY 1/20 >> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Saturday at 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. MONDAY 1/22 >> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Monday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. >> OB Enrollment is Monday, Jan. 22 at 4 p.m. in the Lower Level of the Medical Office Building. Please attend class as soon as possible after your positive pregnancy test. For more information or to enroll in the online Childbirth Preparation class, contact OB Director Nancy Hengelfelt, RNC, at 402.362.04573. TUESDAY 1/23 >> Sexaholics Anonymous, a 12 Step recovery group for those dealing with addiction to pornography, sex, and other forms of lust, meets Tuesday nights at 5:45 p.m. For more information please call our toll free number 1-877-889-8071 or visit sanebraska.org. >> AL-ANON meets Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Emmanuel Lutheran Church. Use the West door. >> Alcoholic Anonymous meets Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Emmanuel Lutheran Church. Use the West door. >> Cancer Support Group will meet Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 6:30 p.m. at Willow Brook Assisted Living. For more information call 402.362.4662. WEDNESDAY 1/24 >> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Wednesday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. THURSDAY 1/25 >> Weight Watchers meets in the basement of the York Towne House, 5th & Grant Ave., each Thursday. Weigh in 5:15 - 5:45 p.m.; Member meeting 5:45 - 6:15 p.m. >> AL-ANON meets Thursday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. FRIDAY 1/26 >> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Friday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. SATURDAY 1/27 >> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Saturday at 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. MONDAY 1/29 >> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Monday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. TUESDAY 1/30 >> Sexaholics Anonymous, a 12 Step recovery group for those dealing with addiction to pornography, sex, and other forms of lust, meets Tuesday nights at 5:45 p.m. For more information please call our toll free number 1-877-889-8071 or visit sanebraska.org. >> AL-ANON meets Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Emmanuel Lutheran Church. Use the West door. >> Alcoholic Anonymous meets Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Emmanuel Lutheran Church. Use the West door. >> The American Red Cross Bloodmobile will be in Geneva on Tuesday, Jan. 30 at the United Methodist Church from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. They have an 80 unit quota to fill. Regular donors will receive postcards by Jan. 26 confirming their usual appointment times. Everyone is welcome to call 402.366.9417 any time to change your appointment or to make and appointment. This is a pint for a pint blood drive thanks to Overtime and all donors will receive a coupon for a beverage for each unit given this day from Overtime. Hosting the Canteen on Jan. 30 is the Epsilon Gamma Organization. WEDNESDAY 1/31 >> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Wednesday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. THURSDAY 2/1 >> Weight Watchers meets in the basement of the York Towne House, 5th & Grant Ave., each Thursday. Weigh in 5:15 - 5:45 p.m.; Member meeting 5:45 - 6:15 p.m. >> AL-ANON meets Thursday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. FRIDAY 2/2 >> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Friday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. SATURDAY 2/3 >> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Saturday at 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. MONDAY 2/4 >> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Monday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. TUESDAY 2/5 >> Sexaholics Anonymous, a 12 Step recovery group for those dealing with addiction to pornography, sex, and other forms of lust, meets Tuesday nights at 5:45 p.m. For more information please call our toll free number 1-877-889-8071 or visit sanebraska.org. >> AL-ANON meets Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Emmanuel Lutheran Church. Use the West door. >> Alcoholic Anonymous meets Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Emmanuel Lutheran Church. Use the West door. WEDNESDAY 2/6 >> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Wednesday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. THURSDAY 2/7 >> Weight Watchers meets in the basement of the York Towne House, 5th & Grant Ave., each Thursday. Weigh in 5:15 - 5:45 p.m.; Member meeting 5:45 - 6:15 p.m. >> AL-ANON meets Thursday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. FRIDAY 2/8 >> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Friday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. SATURDAY 2/9 >> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Saturday at 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York. The following questions were asked recently on the Wonderline: Q: Did the city stop injecting chlorine into the water or is it still going on? A: Mitch Doht, director of public works for the City of York, said that We stopped injecting chlorine into the system on Jan. 2. Thats the good news. The bad news is that it is going to take some time to flush all of the solids out of the system caused by the chlorine. Chlorine precipitates hardness out of the water, so minerals that were normally dissolved in our water are now in solid form and have settled in city water mains and in peoples pipes. We are not using a lot of water right now, so this is going to take some time to clear up. Flushing the mains can help, but this also tends to stir up the solids, and its really a bad time of year to flush. Be sure to let us know if things get really bad at your place and we will see what we can do to help. You should run your water for a while if it is discolored. Remember, the solids can be in your plumbing as well. I know it can be frustrating, but the city is asking for some patience. Q: In the newly proposed city ordinance, a $16 surcharge would be added to every city of York water/sewer bill with the increase being directed to the Growth Initiative (aka York County Development Corporation). Since the monetary gain is set to be directed to the York COUNTY Development Corporation, how will the rest of the citizens of York COUNTY contribute to the project? If the rest of the county will not be contributing to the funding, will the funding only be spent in the city limits of York? A: Lisa Hurley, director of the York County Development Corporation responded as follows: The LB840 Committee proposed a plan to the City Council, which has since been changed to potentially being funded with an $8 monthly service availability charge. This plan would have funded new projects, not York County Development Corporation (YCDC), that have been identified by City of York residents as priorities. YCDC would receive the applications, offer technical assistance if needed, and present the projects to a loan committee who would recommend approval/disapproval to the City Council. YCDC staff would not have a vote on the projects. The original plan did include allowing funds to be used outside of City of York limits if there was a direct economic impact to the tax payers of the City of York, as determined by the City Council. The benefit to this, is by using the funds, the City can ask for items that are not required by code to be included in the project using some of the fund (green space in a housing development area or capping the value of homes to $175,000 or an amount determined). There are industries outside of the citys limits, but within its jurisdiction that are connected to the city utilities. The LB840 Committee did agree to the utility funding if the LB840 (renamed York Growth Initiative) was approved by the City Council after a funding source was identified. This is not the plan that was included within the Citys proposed ordinance at the Council meeting on January 18th. In the utility plan, it requires everyone who is connected to the City of Yorks utilities to pay the service availability fee, which does include some businesses and residents outside the city limits of the City of York. The mayor stated at the Council meeting Thursday night that the money would only be used only within the York City limits. At that time, I said, Other York County communities have access to a revolving loan fund through Perennial Public Power District for industrial projects, which is not available to businesses in the City of York. Also, YCDC is working with several communities on identifying how to fund needs such as housing, when a project does not cash-flow, and those projects would not include funding from the City of York. An example of this is forming a housing committee in McCool Junction, and looking at area investment groups for cash injections that would be paid back on project completion. Q: Is there a city ordinance that says we have to shovel all city walks at a certain time? If so, when is that? And is there a fine if we dont? And who enforces this? A: Sidewalks must be cleared of snow within 24 hours, says Public Works Director Mitch Doht. If a property owner fails to clear their own sidewalk the city can do the work and send a bill to the property owner. We dont actively drive around town looking for such violations. If something is bothering you, give the city offices a call and we will try to help. Q: Every night about 7-7:30 p.m., a helicopter flies over my house where is it going and where has it been? It goes north to south. I live in the Country Club area. A: We just couldnt find an answer to this question. We made calls, we sent emails, we did internet searches, we talked to people. And then we were in the process of asking Mitch Doht, public works director for the city, a bunch of Wonderline questions anyway . . . so we thought, What the heck? Lets ask Mitch! Heres what he came up with: You may see more of the helicopter this weekend. Its a new method of snow removal that we are trying out. If he gets low enough, he can blow the snow off streets, houses, lawns, and even sidewalks. We can also trim trees at the same time. Should be a money saver. I have high hopes that this method will get the job done faster and might save some broken mailboxes in the process. Imagine, no more snow plows plugging up the end of your driveway! I do feel for those people who dont clear their own sidewalks because our bill may get a bit larger if we need to make a special helicopter run. Ken Marsh, our street superintendent, is just learning to fly, so please dont wave and distract him. Q: Does the city stock pile salt and gravel for the winter? I just wondered how they have access to that all the time during the cold months. A: Yes, the city stock piles. York Public Works Director Mitch Doht said on Friday that we are fully stocked with salt in September. Loads also come to our yard continuously throughout the winter. Salt availability is not an issue for us. Our supplier is very reliable and treats us with the highest priority. We dont use any gravel on our streets. We use a mined red salt (magnesium chloride) and a white rock salt (calcium chloride) at around a 50/50 mix. We also pre-wet the salt with a salt brine. Thats the recipe. Seems to work well. Q: I read about the New Years baby and wanted to know what gifts were given to the family to celebrate they had the first baby of 2018. A: According to Garrett Schwarz, ad director for the York News-Times, the following gifts were given to the family of the New Years baby: Ginnys Hallmark donated a changing pad and bottle keeper; Cornerstone Bank donated $25 in chamber checks; Walmart gave a $25 gift card; Arbys donated a $25 gift card; the York Medical Clinic gifted a diaper bag; York General Hospital provided a silver cup and baby blanket; The Flower Box gave them a plus animal toy; The Quilt Basket made a baby blanket; Grand Central donated a $25 gift card; and the York News-Times provided a six-month newspaper subscription, along with a coffee cup and calendar. Q: What is an ice box cake? A: An ice box cake has no cake involved. It is made with chocolate wafer cookies. The cookies, along with whipped cream, are used to form a cake-like structure which is then refrigerated a long time until it solidifies, making it easier to cut. YORK A truck driver from Oklahoma is being accused of sexually assaulting a woman who asked him for a ride to Colorado. John Glenn Morgan, 34, of Delaware, Okla., has been charged with first degree sexual assault, a Class 2 felony, and terroristic threats, a Class 3A felony. According to court documents filed by a Nebraska State Patrol officer, he was dispatched to the York County Sheriffs Department regarding this case. The NSP officer specializes in these types of situations, according to the credentials outlined in the affidavit. A deputy with the sheriffs department explained that he picked up a woman at a truck stop in York who reported that she had been sexually assaulted by a truck driver named John with a specific phone number. The 30-year-old woman explained that she was from Colorado and was trying to get a ride back to Colorado. She had posted an ad on Craigslist in the section for ride shares. Through their correspondence, she said the truck driver said he could give her a ride. They texted back and forth . . . he eventually picked her up at a truck stop in Kansas City. She told investigators that when she entered the semi, the driver offered her methamphetamine, which she said she declined. When they reached Platte City, Mo., she told the deputy that she agreed to do methamphetamine with him and they eventually had consensual sex. But later, she alleges, the man told her that as long as she consented to everything he commanded her to do she wouldnt have any problems. She told the deputy that he threatened to push her out of the moving semi and three times he allegedly told her he had a gun and would shoot her. The woman alleges that she was sexually assaulted a number of times. It is alleged that one of the attacks occurred in the truck, east of York, and afterward she was able to call 911 on her cell phone. She said the man heard her and when they got to York, he left her at the truck stop. Using the mans cell phone number and other information, it was determined that the suspect was Morgan and she confirmed he was the person in question when shown photos of him by investigators. Information was dispatched by the state patrol and Morgan was arrested in North Platte. Arraignment proceedings are pending for Morgan in York County District Court. Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-20 01:17:54|Editor: yan Video Player Close KIEV, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- One man was killed and three police officers were wounded on Friday during a shooting in Ukraine's southern city of Odessa, police said. Ukraine's national police chief Sergiy Knyazev wrote on Facebook that the incident occurred at 3.30 p.m. local time (GMT 1330), when the police officers tried to arrest the armed man and he opened fire. The man died at the scene after officers returned fire. According to Ruslan Forostyak, an advisor to Odessa regional police chief, one of the injured police officers is in severe condition. The killed man was wanted by police for the alleged hooliganism with the use of firearms. Dhaka: Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh on Saturday asked for guarantees that their safety and security would be protected and that they would be granted Myanmar citizenship before being repatriated to Rakhine state. Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed earlier this week to complete the refugees' return process within two years. Rohingya community leader Sirajul Mostafa, who lives in Bangladesh's Kutupalong refugee camp, told Efe news that his community was demanding the "complete" implementation of the recommendations made by an advisory commission on Rakhine state led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan before being repatriated. The commission proposed addressing the rights of Rohingyas to resolve sectarian violence in Myanmar's western Rakhine state, including measures such as speeding up the verification process for citizenship and granting citizenship by naturalisation. "We are not here to stay, we want our rights back. If we had seen that peace was restored in Myanmar, there would no problem. People would go back directly," Mostafa said, adding that the Myanmar Army was still allegedly carrying out torture as part of an ongoing campaign. He added that no one from the mostly Muslim minority had yet been asked to prepare for repatriation. A Rohingya activist said: "We need citizenship and that our houses be rebuilt. We must be allowed to live in our houses. We have to be recognized as an ethnic group and those who carried out barbaric attacks against us must be brought to justice," he said. The Rohingya demand for these preconditions comes as the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, is on a visit to Bangladesh. Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an agreement on November 23 to repatriate the Rohingyas, hundreds of thousands of whom have fled sectarian violence in Rakhine state in Myanmar since August. According to the latest figures released by the UN, more than 665,500 have crossed into Bangladesh since last summer. According to the agreement, the repatriation process must start within two months of the agreement's signing and be completed within two years. Amnesty International has said the plans to repatriate the Rohingya were "alarmingly premature" and warned that any "forcible returns would be a violation of international law". The current crisis erupted on August 25, when the Myanmar Army launched an operation in Rakhine, where around 1 million Rohingyas were living, in retaliation against an attack on multiple government outposts by a Rohingya insurgent group. The UN and various human rights organisations have said there was clear evidence of abuses in Myanmar, with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights calling the Army's operations "ethnic cleansing". Guwahati: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat is slated to address a rally of around 50,000 swayamsevaks in the Assam capital on Sunday, that is being touted as the biggest conclave of the Hindutva group in the Northeast. Titled "Luitporia Hindu Samavesh", the event - also expected to see hundreds of common people participating - would be the first of its kind organised by the Sangh in Assam and in the entire Northeast region, claimed an RSS leader. Bhagwat will address the RSS workers in the Veterinary College ground at Khanapara area in the city. The Sangh activists believe the event would help spread its message in the entire Northeast and unify various castes and communities residing in the region and is also significant in view of elections to three Northeast states next month. "Close to 50,000 Swayamsevaks will coverage in Guwahati on Sunday for the Samavesh. The meeting will be also attended by religious leaders and some tribal chieftains of the region," said RSS' Assam Prachar Pramukh Tirtha Shankar Das. "We had a big gathering in 1994 when 4,000 Swayamsevaks had gathered in the Northeast," he said, adding that detailed arrangements had been made by the RSS workers for smooth conduct of the event. "We have planned the Samavesh to bring the Swayamsevaks together. All our Swayamsevaks have been working silently in their respective areas. However, we are trying to bring them together as we want to further the degree of cohesion and discipline prevailing among them," Das said. The mega conclave of the RSS assumes significance, as three northeastern states - Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura - are going to polls next month and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been trying to make its presence felt in all the three poll-bound states. BODH GAYA: Two crude bombs were found near the Mahaboddhi temple in Bodh Gaya in Bihar, where Tibetian spiritual leader Dalai Lama is camping, prompting authorities to heighten security. The National Investigation Team were called in and they conducted searches in the area. "Information was received that a blast has taken place opposite the Kalchakra ground at 4.45 pm on Friday in Bodh Gaya. It is said that the blast happened in a flask kept under a generator at a tea shop/kitchen opposite the ground. The police found some wires coming out," the NIA said. "Later searches were conducted in the vicinity by police and two objects, suspected to be IEDs were recovered. On receipt of this preliminary information, a team of NIA officials including one SP and one explosives' expert has been dispatched to visit the site," NIA added. The bombs were found on Friday night, police said. Police have denied media reports that claimed that the bombs were found inside the Mahaboddhi temple. "Security was already tight in Bodh Gaya but it was further reinforced," he added. Security of foreign monasteries and other sensitive places have also been beefed up and additional security forces have been deployed. A senior police official camping in Bodh Gaya said that three suspected persons have been found roaming in Bodh Gaya. Police will identify them soon, he said. In 2013, a series of bombs exploded at Bodh Gaya`s Mahaboddhi temple in which two Buddhist monks were injured. New Delhi: Hours after the Election Commission of India (ECI) recommended disqualification of 20 AAP legislators for holding "office of profit", Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal broke his silence on the issue and said that ''in the end only truth prevails''. The AAP convenor took to Twitter late on Friday and said, "Hurdles naturally come when one walks on the path of truth". "Hurdles do come when one walks on the path of truth and honesty. This is natural. But all the visible and invisible powers of the universe help you. God supports you because you don't work for yourself but for the nation and the society," Kejriwal said in the tweet. , Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 19, 2018 "History is a witness that it is the truth that wins in the end," the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor added. The reactions from Kejriwal came after the poll watchdog recommended the disqualification of 20 AAP legislators for holding the office of profit. In its opinion sent to President Ram Nath Kovind, the Election Commission reportedly said the MLAs, by occupying the post of parliamentary secretaries between March 13, 2015, and September 8, 2016, held the office of profit and were liable to be disqualified as legislators. By precedent, the President will go with the recommendations of the poll panel. An angry AAP claimed the Election Commission has never "touched this low" after the poll panel recommended disqualification of party's 20 MLAs for allegedly holding the office of profit. The EC should not be the letterbox of the PMO. But that is the reality today," Ashutosh tweeted "A person like me who has covered EC as a reporter during (T N) Seshan days, today I can say EC has never touched so low ever," the scribe-turned politician added. Backing AAP in its moment of crisis, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted, "A Constitutional body cannot be used for political vendetta. The 20 AAP MLAs were not even given a hearing by the Hon EC. Most unfortunate. This goes against the principles of natural justice. At this hour we are strongly with @arvindkejriwal and his team." The Aam Aadmi Party, led by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has 65-members in the 70-seat Delhi Assembly. The disqualification of 20 MLAs doesnt jeopardise the government as it will still have 45 members, well over the halfway mark in the house. Here is the full list of 20 AAP MLAs who face disqualification:- 1. Adarsh Shastri from Dwarka constituency 2. Alka Lamba from Chandni Chowk constituency 3. Sanjeev Jha from Burari constituency 4. Kailash Gehlot from Najafgarh constituency 5. Vijendra Garg from Rajinder Nagar constituency 6. Praveen Kumar from Jangpura constituency 7. Sharad Kumar Chauhan from Narela constituency 8. Madan Lal Khufiya from Kasturba Nagar constituency 9. Shiv Charan Goyal from Moti Nagar constituency 10. Sarita Singh from Rohtas Nagar constituency 11. Naresh Yadav from Mehrauli constituency 12. Rajesh Gupta from Wazirpur constituency 13. Rajesh Rishi from Janakpuri constituency 14. Anil Kumar Bajpai from Gandhi Nagar constituency 15. Som Dutt from Sadar Bazar constituency 16. Avtar Singh from Kalkaji constituency 17. Sukhvir Singh Dala from Mundka constituency 18. Manoj Kumar from Kondli constituency 19. Nitin Tyagi from Laxmi Nagar constituency 20. Jarnail Singh from Tilak Nagar constituency New Delhi: Delhi government on Saturday ordered an inquiry into the fire incident in Bawana that killed seventeen people. V sad to hear abt large no of casualties. Keeping a close watch on rescue operations https://t.co/yHwQAH0bKi Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 20, 2018 The fire, which started at the storage unit on the ground floor of a two-storey building, ripped through the structure, an official was quoted as PTI by saying. The police also confirmed 17 people were killed and said an FIR has been registered. An investigation is on to ascertain the cause of the blaze, they said. The Delhi Fire Services received a call about the fire at the factory around 6.20 pm and 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot, the fire department said, adding the blaze has been brought under control. GC Mishra, Director, Delhi Fire Service, said the building comprised a basement, ground floor and two upper floors. North Delhi Mayor Preety Agarwal rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation. "The factory falls in the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) area," a senior NDMC official said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish at the death of people in the fire. "My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives. May those who are injured recover quickly," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted quoting the PM. (With PTI inputs) Los Angeles: Actor Ryan Coogler has compared the Black Panther movie to a James Bond film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. "When I first started talking to Marvel, one thing they were interested in was for Panther to be their version of James Bond, which I thought was incredibly interesting and exciting. It was a really outside-of-the-box way to look at T'Challa," Coogler told Total Film magazine. He added: "There are some Bond films that I really, really like, and it gave me the opportunity to go watch some other ones." The movie is based around the first ever black superhero in mainstream American comics who was created by legendary Marvel Comics writer Stan Lee and the equally iconic artist-and-writer Jack Kirby and first appeared in 'Fantastic Four #52' back in 1966, reports femalefirst.co.uk. The motion picture is expected to expand on the storyline that was first introduced in Captain America: Civil War of how T'Challa becomes the superhero. T'Challa's father T'Chaka is king of the African nation Wakanda and has the ceremonial title Black Panther as the chief of the Panther Tribe, but is killed when a bomb goes off at the UN, making his son the Black Panther. The film stars Lupita Nyong'o, Letitia Wright, Forest Whitaker, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis. Black Panther is slated to release in February. New Delhi: Calling former Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Vinod Rai a "murderer", former union telecom minister A Raja on Saturday said Rai should be prosecuted for "cheating". "There was a big conspiracy that has to be probed. Vinod Rai should be prosecuted for cheating," Raja said here at the launch of his book "2G Saga Unfolds", wherein he has presented "my side of the story". Raja was last month acquitted by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in the alleged 2G spectrum allocation scam. He held Rai guilty of his "political murder" as it was an adverse report by Rai in 2010 as the then CAG that pegged the loss to exchequer due to underselling of spectrum at Rs 1.76 lakh crore and which resulted in massive public anger against the Manmohan Singh-led UPA-II government. Rai's report said the licences allocated by the Telecom Ministry in 2008, then headed by A. Raja, were based on 2001 prices, causing the exchequer a massive revenue loss. Subsequently, the Supreme Court cancelled all the licences issued to telecom companies, an FIR was lodged by the CBI and Raja was jailed along with DMK patriarch Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi and others. Raja said in his view the 2G scandal was initially a corporate war which then turned into a political war, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had been the biggest beneficiary of this war. Asked why he had not criticised the BJP or any of its leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, scathingly in the book, although he conceded that the BJP had been its biggest beneficiary, Raja said: "I have criticised Arun Jaitley and Murli Manohar Joshi but why should I jump to Narendra Modi who was sitting in Gujarat?" Refuting allegations of going soft on the BJP, he also ruled out any friendship with the pro-Hindutva party in near future as "DMK believes in social secularism" and he could "say it with conviction". Raja admitted that he had a "grievance" against Congress leaders P. Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee for not coming out in his defence although, though both of them knew the "facts". However, Raja bears no ill feeling for then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who also distanced himself from Raja and his Ministry at the peak of the 2G controversy. "In the then prevailing situation, the Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) could not do anything. I think three things were responsible for it -- adverse comments from the Supreme Court, some Cabinet colleagues filling his ears and pressure from the media," Raja said. "But I made it a point to present the first copy of this book to Dr. Manmohan Singh. It was only through his cooperation that I was able to break the telecom operators' cartel and bring down the tariffs. When I went to see him, he embraced me and almost broke down. He realised that wrong had been done to A. Raja," Raja added. He said that the book should be read without any political spectacles, with just "reading glasses", to be able to see merit in his arguments. Raja said that his acquittal by the court had been a "relief" for the Congress but a "boon" for his party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). NEW DELHI: The Indian Armys Northern Command has said it has not asked residents of villages along the Line of Control to vacate their villages. The Armys assertion came to refute a viral post that said so. The misinformation comes in the middle of a prolonged on LoC-wide spate of unprovoked ceasefire violations by Pakistan, according to Army sources. The Armys clarification was forces by a report on a Hindi website that went viral because it had been picked up without verification by a prominent Chinese browser-based news aggregator service. The Jammu and Kashmir police had earlier in the day sounded a red alert across the LoC zone, thanks to the incessant shelling in multiple sectors by Pakistani forces. Such shelling is usually a cover to infiltrate terrorists across the LoC. The J&K police advisory said, Villages on the border area of Jammu province are dark and deserted. The area is being continuously shelled. The people fled to safety. Innocents are being killed for no fault of theirs. No doubt, in the present scenario, the situation is sensitive, the government is alert and things are taken care of at the government level. All the Army, BSF and Police and other forces are fully prepared to deal with but any eventuality but firing is still going on. The advisory asked residents to keep the lights off in their villages, to avoid becoming easy targets for the Pakistani shelling. It also appealed to locals to not share the locations, deployment strengths of Indian personnel or any other details on any local instant messaging groups. Locals have also been advised to conserve rations. An earlier PTI report said authorities closed about 300 schools and other educational institutions along IB and LoC in Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri and Poonch for next three days in wake of exchange of shelling and firing. A BSF officer said over 35,000 people living along the International Border have migrated to safer places and most of them have been camping in houses of relatives. As many as 10 persons, including 6 civilians and 4 jawans, were killed and nearly 60 including some jawans were injured in the shelling during the past two days. On Friday, two civilians and two jawans were killed and 35 others, including three jawans, injured in heavy mortar shelling by Pakistan troops on civilian areas and outposts along the IB and LoC in Jammu, Samba, Kathua and Rajouri districts of Jammu and Kashmir. On Wednesday, a BSF jawan and a teenaged girl were killed and 8 others injured in Samba and Jammu districts. (With PTI inputs) Bengaluru: Several Dalit groups on Saturday staged protests and attempted to block Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde's car in Karnataka's Bellary over his remarks on Indian Constitution. On Thursday, after facing flak for his remarks on the Consitution, Hegde issued an apology saying, "If someone was hurt by my comments, I tender an apology." "Regarding the deadlock in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha due to my statement, I want to assure my friends that the Constitution and Parliament are supreme to me," the BJP MP said while making a statement in Lok Sabha. Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Ghulam Nabi Azad, staged a protest in front of Gandhi statue inside Parliament premises over Hegde's comments. Hegde apologised after Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan urged him to apologise if he had offended anyone with his comments. The Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship at a function in Kukanur in Karnataka on Monday urged people to "claim with pride that they are Muslim, Christian, Lingayat, Brahmin, or a Hindu" and said, "Those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they don't have their own identity. They don't know about their parentage, but they are intellectuals. "Some people say the Constitution says secular and you must accept it. We will respect the Constitution, but the Constitution has changed several times and it will change in the future too. We are here to change the Constitution and we'll change it soon." The Narendra Modi government on Wednesday disapproved of Union Minister and BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde's controversial remarks that the ruling BJP was 'here to change the Constitution' and remove the word 'secular' from it. Amid the uproar over Hegde's remark, Union Minister Vijay Goel told the Rajya Sabha that the government does not subscribe to views expressed by his party colleague. Goel's statement came after the Opposition on Wednesday disrupted the Parliament proceedings saying Hegde has "no right" to be in the House or in the government. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said he was deeply anguished by the fire at a factory in Delhi's Bawana area. The PMO quoted the PM as saying, "Deeply anguished by the fire at a factory in Bawana. My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives. May those who are injured recover quickly." Deeply anguished by the fire at a factory in Bawana. My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives. May those who are injured recover quickly: PM @narendramodi PMO India (@PMOIndia) January 20, 2018 Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also tweeted: V sad to hear abt large no of casualties. Keeping a close watch on rescue operations https://t.co/yHwQAH0bKi Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 20, 2018 At least seventeen people were feared dead after a fire ripped through a two-storeyed factory in outer Delhi's Bawana industrial area on Saturday evening. We received 3 calls from Bawana - Sector 1 a plastic factor, 2nd from Sector 5 a cracker storage & Sector 3 a furnace oil storage. All casualties are from Sector 5 fire. Fire is completely under control now. We recovered 17 bodies so far: GC Mishra, Director Delhi Fire Services pic.twitter.com/WqCs1CwwMl ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2018 A Delhi fire services official said that the blaze, which started from a firecracker factory, has been brought under control. The fire is under control now. The fire had broken out around 3.30 pm and was contained around 7. We have contained the fire on the second floor.: Fire Officer pic.twitter.com/A3FFUsxCeq ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2018 According to the official, there is a rubber factory on the second storey above the firecracker factory. "The factory falls in the Delhi State Industrial And Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) area," he said. On the other hand, North Delhi Mayor Preety Aggarwal said, "I received information about the incident on phone at around 9 pm & we immediately rushed to the spot. The situation is under control now." Meanwhile, Delhi government has ordered an inquiry into the incident. (With ANI and PTI inputs) New Delhi: Days after he was ridiculed by the Congress over his habit of giving warm hugs to international leaders with whom he shares good relations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he is a common man and not aware of laid protocols. The Prime Minister said this in an interview to Zee News. He said that had he been "trained", he too would have followed the laid down protocols of shaking hands and "looking left and right" with world leaders. "Had I been trained like others...I too would have followed those protocols of looking right and left, had shaken hands. But I am an ordinary person...I only try to ensure that no harm ever happens to my country (due to this)," the PM told Zee News. The PM, however, said that this has become his strength, as his openness was liked by the world leaders. PM Modi also said that his basic nature has been "to convert adversity into opportunity". He made these remarks days after he was mocked by the Congress over his warm hugs, which the party dubbed PM Modi's 'hugplomacy'. A few days ago, the Congress had posted a tweet mocking Modi for hugging world leaders, evoking a sharp reaction from the BJP that slammed it as "immature" and demanded an apology. The Rahul Gandhi-led Congress made fun of what it called Prime Minister Narendra Modi's `hugplomacy` in a meme video which was released on Twitter, which evoked an equally sharp response from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress posted the video on its official Twitter handle with a hashtag `#hugplomacy`. The video was posted shortly after PM Modi received his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu upon his arrival at the Delhi airport. In the video, the Congress apparently ridiculed Prime Minister Modi`s ways of hugging with several world leaders by describing them with comic tags along with gifs. Reacting to it, the BJP said sarcastically that the video showed the "new" thinking of the grand old party under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. "The video is absolutely despicable. It is making fun of the Prime Minister of India that too with the other global leaders of the countries with whom we have good relations. This is a new thinking of the Congress Party under the supervision of Rahul Gandhi. It must be condemned in every possible manner," senior BJP leader Nalin Kohli said. Reacting to it, PM Modi said, "When I became the Prime Minister, there was criticism that Modi neither knows nor understands anything which is outside Gujarat." "Everybody used to ask me how will I conduct my foreign policy. And in a way, this criticism was right because I did not have any experience. I got the benefit of not having experience. I did not have any baggage," he said. Asked how he feels when he stands next to world leaders, he said, "My only feeling is that it is not Narendra Modi who is standing there but the representative of 1.25 billion people." (With Agency inputs) UNITED NATIONS: India on Friday lashed out Pakistan for growing terrorism adding that the neighbouring country needs to change its "mindset" of differentiating between good and bad terrorists. Pakistan, on the other hand, hit back raking the up the issue of Indian death-row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav. India had urged the UN Security Council to focus on challenges posed by terrorism emanating from the safe havens from across the border. "Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Afghanistan on December 24, 2015 to inaugurate the Parliament building, stopped over in Lahore, Pakistan. Unfortunately, these visits were followed by a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase on January 1, 2016, perpetrated and planned by the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day," Indian Ambassador to the UN Syed Akbaruddin said. "These mind sets differentiate between good and bad terrorists. These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace. They are mindsets that are reluctant to join hands in moving the region forward to build a shared future for our people and our youth. These mindsets, Mr. President, need to change," Akbaruddin added. Responding to India's criticism, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN Maleeha Lodhi raised the case of Jadhav, who was caught in March last year and sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying. "Those who talk of changing mindset need to look within, at their own record of subversion against my country as our capture of an Indian spy has proven beyond doubt," Lodhi said. When the US and Afghanistan also vetoed on regarding continued terror safe havens in Pakistan, Lodhi stayed firm on her denial. "Afghanistan and its partners, especially the United States need to address these challenges inside Afghanistan rather than shifts the onus for ending the conflict on to others. Those who imagine sanctuaries outside really need a reality check," she said. There were no takers for Lodhi's claims that there are no terrorist safe havens inside Pakistan. None of the more than two dozen speakers came out in support of the Pakistani argument in this regard. New Delhi: Fringe organisation Shri Rajput Karni Sena has been vehemently opposing the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's epic drama 'Padmaavat' alleging distortion of facts. From making shocking statements to issuing threats to burn cinema halls as well as committing mass suicide, the faction has been leaving no stone unturned to stop the release of the film. On Saturday, as per news agency ANI, the Karni Sena claimed that filmmaker Bhansali invited the group to watch the film to seek their support for the release of the movie. The group said that Bhansali productions company sent a missive to Shree Rajput Karni Sena and Shree Rajput Sabha Bhawan to watch the movie prior to its release but alleged that the approach was only a ploy 'aimed at fooling' them. "This is nothing but drama by the filmmaker. There is no date of the proposed screening the film and they have called our objection as misguided grievances which shows their approach and intention," Sena patron Lokendra Singh Kalvi told reporters here. He added that the group has decided to not to respond to the letter but instead burn it as a sign of protest against the release of the movie. Kalvi said that the Supreme Court had given its ruling against a ban on the film but now a 'Janta curfew' would be imposed to its release. "As a mark of respect to the Republic Day on 26 January, we are not calling for a 'bandh' now but we are calling for a Janta curfew," he said. He claimed that historians who were shown the film by the censor board were also of the opinion that the movie should not be released. Meanwhile, there has been no confirmation from Bhansali on the 'letter' sent to Karni Sena group. Earlier in the day, a report said that some multiplexes and single-screen cinemas in Gujarat have decided to not screen the movie fearing violence. The owner of Wide Angle Multiplex, which has theatres in Ahmedabad city and Mehasana, said it will not screen the film till the dispute between the Rajput community leaders and the film producers is resolved. In Rajkot, following a meeting between theatre owners and representatives of Karni Sena, it was reportedly decided that the film won't be screened either in multiplexes or single-screen theatres in the city. "No theatre would screen 'Padmaavat'. The decision was taken in the meeting. Leaders of the Rajput community and the owners of multiplex and single-screen theatres attended the meeting," claimed Rajbha Zala, secretary of the Saurashtra unit of Karni Sena. Rajput groups tried to block roads by burning tyres in Banaskantha, Mehasana, Surendranagar and Bhuj in protest against the film, set to release on January 25. To stop the release of the movie, the Karni Sena has called for a nation-wide shutdown on the same day. Kalvi himself will be present in Mumbai to ensure that the bandh remains effective, said a report. 'Padmaavat', starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor in key roles is scheduled to release on January 25. NEW DELHI: The impending disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs for violation of holding offices of profit has become the ground for the infighting within the party to surface ye again. AAP leader Kumar Vishwas, who stands sidelined within the party, used the opportunity to take a shot at CM Arvind Kejriwal. "It is very unfortunate and sad, the action against 20 AAP MLAs," Vishwas told news agency ANI. "I had given certain suggestions earlier, but I was told it is the CM's prerogative to appoint people. So, I kept quiet," he added. Vishwas is in a strained relationship with the AAP leadership at the moment. He had told the media that he was being targeted, after the party refused to back his nomination to the Rajya Sabha. The impending disqualifications will not affect the stability of the AAP government in Delhi. The party has 66 MLAs at present, and would have 46 members if the disqualifications come through. This is comfortably over the 35-seat halfway mark. However, the byelections to the 20 seats would offer an opportunity to the Congress and the BJP. The BJP could look to expand its footprint. And, the Congress can look to enter the present Delhi Assembly, where it doesn't have a single member at the moment. The response to the office of profit accusation has left the AAP in a bind. When the case had been filed in the Delhi High Court against the appointment of MLAs as parliamentary secretaries, the AAP had tried to use its brute majority to amend provisions to make the appointments legal. The amendment was not approved by the President. But both the appointments and the amendment had been made without the consent of the Lieutenant-Governor, who in a different case had been confirmed by the courts as the true holder of executive authority in the city-state. Despite its earlier scramble to legitimise the then-incorrect appointments, the AAP accused the Election Commission of being a "letterbox of the PMO". Washington: American aerospace and defence major Lockheed Martin has proposed to manufacture custom-built F-35 fighter jets in India, which its officials say will give Indian industry a unique opportunity to become part of the world's largest fighter aircraft ecosystem. "We plan to introduce two new words into the lexicon of international fighter aircraft manufacturing - 'India' and 'exclusive'," Vivek Lall, vice president, strategy and business development, at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics told PTI in an interview. "India-specific state-of-the-art fighter production in India will be exclusive, something that has never before been presented by any other fighter aircraft manufacturer, past or present. There will also be a significant export market available for Indian-made fighters," he said. Lall, an Indian American who last year was instrumental in the decision of the Trump administration to sell top-of-the-line unarmed drones from General Atomics, in his previous capacity. Noting that the India-specific fighter on offer and its programme's size, scope and success will enable Indian industry to take advantage of unprecedented manufacturing, upgrade and sustainment opportunities well into the future, Lall said the platform will give Indian industry a unique opportunity to become a part of the world's largest fighter aircraft ecosystem. "We intend to create far more than an assembly line in India," he said. Lall claimed no other advanced fourth generation platform even comes close to matching the record of real-world combat experience and proven operational effectiveness. "The fighter being offered specifically to India is uniquely the best state-of-the-art fighter," he said adding that all three variants of the F-35 are single-engine aircraft. Many of the systems used on the India-specific platform are derived from key lessons learned and technologies from Lockheed Martin's F-22 and the F-35, the world's only operational fifth-generation fighters, he said. Northrop Grumman's advanced APG-83 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar on the F-16 Block 70 provides F-16s with fifth-generation fighter radar capabilities by leveraging hardware and software commonality with F-22 and F-35 AESA radars, he added. The APG-83 radar shares more than 95 percent software commonality with the F-35 radar and more than 70 percent hardware commonality. Lall said the F-16 provides the path to business relationships with Lockheed Martin, the only company in the world that has designed, developed and produced operational fifth-generation fighter aircraft. Technology improvements will also continue to flow between the F-16, F-22 and F-35 for decades, at a fraction of the cost to F-16 operators, he said. The platform being offered provides unmatched opportunities for Indian companies of all sizes, including micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs) and suppliers throughout India, to establish new business relationships with Lockheed Martin and other industry leaders in the US and around the globe, Lall said giving an insight into the offer being made by his company. Asserting that approximately half of the Indian fighter supply chain will be common with the fifth generation F-22 and F-35, Lall said the aircraft brings the most modern avionics, a proven AESA radar, modernised cockpit, advanced weapons, longer range with conformal fuel tanks, auto ground collision avoidance capability, and an advanced engine with an extended service life. Even with the addition of targeting systems and two 2,000 pounds (lb) class Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), the aircraft has a mission radius exceeding 1,300 kms 30 percent greater than that of its closest competitor, he said. "Many of the advances in systems on the aircraft India would get draw directly from key lessons learned from Lockheed Martin's work on the F-22 and the F-35," he said. "The AESA radar is the result of over two decades of investment, use and experience with AESA technology, and it's fully operational today," Lall said. The basement of a multi-level parking lot in Kanpur has collapsed. The mishap happened in the Feelkhana area of the city. Two labourers have reportedly been killed, and two have been injured in the mishap. Rescue operations contnue, to find any others who might be trapped in the debris. More details are awaited. (With inputs from ANI) Here are the top headlines of the day: 1. 'I'm a common man, don't know protocols': PM Narendra Modi on 'hugplomacy' Days after he was ridiculed by the Congress over his habit of giving warm hugs to international leaders with whom he shares good relations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that his a common man and not aware of laid protocols. Read full report 2. Pakistan's mindset that unleashes terror attacks must change: India Pakistan's "mindset" that unleashes terrorist attacks on India and Afghanistan must change, India has told the Security Council. Only by changing the terror mindset can peace come to Afghanistan, India`s Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin said on Friday during a high-level Council meeting dealing with Afghanistan. Read full report https://goo.gl/jLZXAh 3. Kejriwal breaks silence on disqualification of AAP MLAs, says 'truth prevails in the end' Hours after the Election Commission of India (ECI) recommended disqualification of 20 AAP legislators for holding "office of profit", Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal broke his silence on the issue and said that ''in the end only truth prevails''. Read full report 4. PM Modi reiterates 'development' top agenda for Budget, bats for simultaneous polls Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while reiterating that his government's only agenda for the Budget is development, made a strong pitch for holding simultaneous Parliament and assembly elections as he slammed caste politics and called for constructive criticism of his economic policies. Read full report 5. Objectionable no more? Deepika 'covers up' bare midriff in new Ghoomar song - Watch Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat has been surrounded by controversies ever since the movie was announced. Members of the Rajput Karni Sena have been protesting against the film, demanding a complete ban. Read full report 6. BSF constable, Army jawan killed in cross-border firing, MEA summons Pakistan envoy A Border Security Force (BSF) jawan, an Indian Army soldier were on Friday died in a ceasefire violation at the border amid reports of heavy shelling and firing along the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir. Read full report United Nations: Pakistan's "mindset" that unleashes terrorist attacks on India and Afghanistan must change, India has told the Security Council. Only by changing the terror mindset can peace come to Afghanistan, India`s Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin said on Friday during a high-level Council meeting dealing with Afghanistan. "Terrorism and externally induced instability pose the gravest threat to Afghanistan`s peace, stability and prosperity," he said. "And the growing arc of terrorist violence endangers our entire region." New Delhi has been working with regional and international partners to bring security, peace, and development to Afghanistan, he said. To further these objectives and promote peace, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stopped over in Lahore in December 2015 on his way back from inaugurating the Indian-built parliament house in Afghanistan, he said. But "a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack" was launched on the Pathankot airbase in a week`s time by "the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day," he said. "These mindsets differentiate between `good` and bad terrorists," he said. "These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace. They are mindsets that are reluctant to join hands in moving the region forward to build a shared future for our people and our youth." "These mindsets," Akbaruddin declared, "need to change." The high-level Council meeting was presided over by Kazakhstan`s Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov and focused on regional cooperation to promote development and security in Afghanistan. Russia`s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was among those attending the session. Terrorism has taken a huge toll on Afghanistan, Akbaruddin said backing up his assertion with World Bank statistics. Afghanistan recorded a 9.6 per cent annual economic growth rate from 2003 to 2014, but it has fallen to 2.2 per cent in 2016 as terrorism increased and it was 2.6 per cent last year, according to the bank. Illustrating how terrorism impacts development, he said that a disproportionate amount of resources are diverted from the aid projects to protecting them rather than building more projects. The New Development Partnership between India and Afghanistan cover education, health, agriculture, infrastructure, renewable energy, drinking water supply and human resource development, he said. The recent visits by Afghanistan`s President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah have given the partnership a boost, he added. India pledged a $1 billion package for Afghanistan last year. NEW DELHI: A festival on the epic saga Ramayana begins on Saturday with an aim to enhance the India-Asean ties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted that the festival is "an important part of a series of events to commemorate 25 years of India-ASEAN relations, the Festival is a fitting prelude to the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit on 25th January." The historical saga is also a popular theme for theatre presentation in Asean countries. Delighted to know that the Ramayana Festival, with participation of all ten ASEAN countries, begins in Delhi today. This celebrates India's deep civilizational and historical relations with the ASEAN region. January 20, 2018 The five-day "Ramayana Festival" is being organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). It will see the participation of 10 countries -- Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam -- which will stage various episodes of the Rama story, through a harvest of sights and sounds, nuanced interpretations and revelations. Their performance will reveal the assimilation, indigenisation and re-interpretation the epic has undergone in the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) countries. Troupes frm ASEAN countries will display our shared heritage also at Lucknow, Ayodhya, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Hyderabad. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 20, 2018 After their performances in Delhi, Ramayana groups from across the globe will also be performing in Uttar Pradesh`s Ayodhya and Lucknow, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Gujarat`s Ahmedabad. Ezhimala: Vice Admiral Timothy W Barrett, Royal Australian Navy chief (RAN), along with delegates, visited Indian Naval Academy (INA) on Friday. During the visit, he and his team were acquainted with infrastructure, academic facilities and training processes at INA. The aim of the visit was "to build bridges of friendship between the two navies, exchange best practices and to consolidate and enhance bilateral defence relations between India and Australia." The visit follows the conclusion of the second edition of biennial Australia-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (AUSINDEX) conducted off West coast of Australia in the Western Australia Exercise Areas (WAXA) from 13 to 19 June 2017. Indian Naval Ships Jyoti, Shivalik and Kamorta had participated in the exercise. The AUSINDEX was followed by the visit of Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ship, HMAS Newcastle to Kochi, Kerala from 04 to 07 July 2017. Barrett called on Vice Admiral SV Bhokare, AVSM, YSM, NM, Commandant, INA who is an alumnus of the Australian Defence College, Canberra. Meanwhile, in the recently concluded eighth edition of Admirals Cup Sailing Regatta held at Indian Naval Academy Team Australia represented by Sub Lieutenant Alix Peruzzis and Midshipman Bryson Carew lead by Lieutenant Duncan McCowan came third in the overall team position. On the other hand, RAN chief and his delegation also visited the Southern Naval Command in Kochi on Saturday. He had discussions with Vice Admiral AR Karve, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, SNC, wherein both sides discussed topics of mutual interest, including training conducted by the Indian Navy and exchanged crests. The Australian delegation also visited the Water Survival Training Facility and the Flight and Tactical Simulator at the Naval Base. (With Agency inputs) NASHIK: A local court today awarded death sentence to six convicts in the 2013 Sonai honour killing case in which three Dalit youths were killed in Ahmednagar district. Judge RR Vaishnav sentenced the six to death and also slapped a fine of Rs 20,000 each on them for killing the Dalit youths, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told reporters. The three youths were brutally killed in Sonai village on January 1, 2013, and their mutilated body parts were found in a septic tank. The judge on January 15 had convicted Popat alias Raghunath Darandale (52), Ramesh Darandale (42), Prakash Darandale (38), Ganesh alias Pravain Darandale (23), Ashok Navgire (32) and Sandeep Kurhe (37), all residents of Ahmednagar district, under various sections of the IPC. The six were convicted on various charges including murder and criminal conspiracy for killing Sachin Gharu (24), Sandeep Thanvar (25) and Rahul Kandare (20). According to police, the killings were prompted by an intercaste love affair between Gharu and a girl from the Maratha community. NEW DELHI: Fliers may soon be able to get internet services like wi-fi and mobile connectivity on domestic and international flights in India. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Friday recommended that these services should be permitted in flights in India. The move comes after the department of telecom had sought views of the TRAI in August last year over the proposal to introduce voice, data and video services over Indian airspace for domestic, international and overflying flights. In its recommendation, TRAI said that for mobile services, there should be flexibility to IFC service providers in terms of use of technology and frequencies inside the aircraft cabin that should be consistent with international standards. It also recommended that the operation of mobile communication on aircraft services should be permitted with a minimum height restriction of three thousand metres. The regulator said, internet services through Wi-Fi on-board should be made available when electronic devices are permitted to be used only in-flight or airplane mode. India is one of the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world and also the fastest growing internet services market. The step is likely to boost revenue for service providers as well as airlines. The recommendations, which include providing a mechanism for the lawful interception and monitoring of wi-fi in aircraft cabins to ensure safety, were provided to the Department of Telecommunications which will draft the final policy. Once finalised it will, for the first time, allow flyers in India to surf the internet on a plane, a service common in many foreign countries. India's concerns over a cyber attack have delayed the policy which has been in the making for several months, local media have reported. (With agency inputs) Srinagar: An Indian Army soldier on Saturday died in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishna Ghati sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan Rangers initiated the unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms and automatics from 8.20 am. #WATCH: Residents of border areas in RS Pura sector flee as Pakistan continues to violate ceasefire. #JammuAndKashmir pic.twitter.com/4ms81vkov0 ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2018 The soldier has been identified as Mandeep Singh. 23-year-old Singh hailed from Alampur Village in Punjab's Sangroor district. He is survived by his father Gurnaam Singh. In separate incidents of ceasefire violations today, two civilians died and a Border Security Force (BSF) jawan was injured in RS Pura and Akhnoor sectors of J&K. On Friday, a BSF jawan and an Indian Army soldier died in a ceasefire violation at the border amid reports of heavy shelling and firing along the International Border in J&K. Following the cross-border firing yesterday, the Deputy High Commissioner of Pakistan Syed Haider Shah was summoned by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He was conveyed government's grave concerns at the continued ceasefire violations and deliberate targeting of innocent civilians by Pakistan forces. The violations of ceasefire by Pakistan Rangers yesterday had also left two civilians dead and three others injured. The BSF jawan, who succumbed to his injuries, was identified as Head Constable Jagpal Singh while the Indian Army soldier was identified as Lance Naik Sam Abraham. Today is the third consecutive day of ceasefire violation by the Pakistani troops. All schools in areas close to the International Border have been shut down. On Friday, at least 11 civilians were injured in various areas of J&K as Pakistan violated ceasefire along the LoC. Two civilians were injured in the ceasefire violation in Ramgarh sector, five in Hiranagar sector in Kathua and four in RS Pura sector in the Valley. The BSF personnel had also launched a massive retaliatory firing. (With inputs from agencies) Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday sounded a 'red alert' and asked border dwellers to move out of their areas as the situation is 'sensitive' in wake of continuous shelling by Pakistan troops. "The administration has sounded a red alert across the area (Jammu region) and asked people to move out", the Jammu and Kashmir Police said in an advisory. It further said "villages on the border area of Jammu province are dark and deserted. The area is being continuously shelled. The people fled to safety". "Innocents are being killed for no fault of theirs. No doubt, in the present scenario, the situation is sensitive, the government is alert and things are taken care of at the government level", it said. The police said every government has a great responsibility towards their citizens and the state. "All the Army, BSF and Police and other forces are fully prepared to deal with but any eventuality but firing is still going on", it said. The police further cautioned people about sharing details on security and said, "The people are advised to keep lights switched off and share no information with strangers in person or in the phone." "Do not share the location of the strength of Army, BSF, Police and other security forces with anyone. Do not respond to the unknown numbers even if someone claims to be an army or police officer, " it said. The advisory further asked people to take adequate precautionary measures for their security. "We must prepare ourselves for all kind of challenges and make arrangements for the personal security and for that all of us must take all precautionary measures", it said. People must keep their valuables safe and make arrangements for ration, water storage and making bunkers for personal safety so that in case of any eventuality, families can immediately shifted into bunkers, it added. SRINAGAR: Concerned over the rising cases of ceasefire violations along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said that the people of the state are the worst victims of the hostility between the India and Pakistan. "Distraught to hear of three more civilians caught in the crossfire on the border. The people of Jammu and Kashmir are the worst victims of the acrimony between the two neighbouring countries. I pray that the hostility on the borders ends soon," she said. The CM made the remark after three people were killed and six injured in firing by Pakistani troops along the International Border (IB) and LoC in Jammu division for the third day on Saturday. A 17-year-old girl and a BSF jawan were on Friday killed while six people, including five civilians, injured in ceasefire violation in three sectors of Jammu and Samba districts. Nine persons have been killed so far in ceasefire violations over the last three days. An Army jawan was on Saturday killed after being hit by a bullet during cross-border firing in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district. The slain soldier was identified as sepoy 23-year-old Mandeep Singh, a resident of Alampur village of Sangroor in Punjab. Defence officials said the Pakistani Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms and automatics form 8 am in Krishna Ghati sector, resulting in grievous injuries to Singh who later succumbed. The Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively. Residents living along the border areas are living in fear due to Pakistani firing. Blood splattered compounds, smashed window panes and demolished roofs can be seen at the houses in border hamlets which have been battered in Pakistani firing and shelling in the last three days. Farmlands have craters due to mortar bombs and have turned into live minefields. In Jhora farm in RS Pura, 150 khullas or mud houses of Gujjars were burned down in the shelling. Mumbai: Veteran actor Anupam Kher is set to attend the 24th Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards taking place in Los Angeles and reunite with the team of his Hollywood film "The Big Sick". "The Big Sick" has been nominated under two categories -- Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role. The awards ceremony will take place on Sunday. Anupam essayed a Pakistani father in the film. "On my way to Los Angeles for the shoot of an exciting film (512th). And of course for SAG awards. Looking forwarding to reuniting with the wonderful team of 'The Big Sick' movie," Anupam tweeted. Directed by Michael Showalter, "The Big Sick" is about the real life story of comedian Kumail Nanjiani, who not just features in the lead role but has also penned the film's screenplay with wife Emily Gordon. It also stars Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano and Adeel Akhtar apart from Anupam. The film is loosely based on the real-life romance between Nanjiani and Gordon. It follows an interracial couple who must deal with cultural differences after Emily (played by Kazan in the film) becomes ill. On the home front, Anupam will next be seen in "The Accidental Prime Minister", "Aiyaary" and "Hotel Mumbai". CHENNAI: The bus fare in Tamil Nadu that was hiked on Friday will not be rolled back, the state government confirmed. The hike was announced after a hiatus of six years. "There is no chance of that," Tamil Nadu Transport Minister MR Vijayabhaskar said in Karur. The state government had on Friday hiked the fares of buses under state-run transport corporations and private entities approximately by 20 to 54.54 per cent, saying it was inevitable. Effective from Saturday, the fare has been hiked for buses across categories viz moffusil, city, ordinary, express, deluxe, bypass-non-stop, ultra deluxe, airconditioned and Volvo modes. While the minimum hike is in moffusil ordinary category, where the fare of Rs 5 for 10 km would now be Rs 6 (20 per cent hike), the highest is in Volvo buses, where the fare of Rs 33 for 30 km will now go up to Rs 51 (54.54 per cent hike). In town buses, the fare has been hiked from a minimum of Rs 3 to Rs 5 and the maximum from Rs 12 to Rs 19. The government cited a host of factors for the hike, including increase in fuel price and maintenance, annual increment in salaries, pension and purchase of new buses to increase efficiency. Defending the hike, it said the last time fares were increased was on November 18, 2011 when diesel cost Rs 43.10, whereas the price now was Rs 65.83. The government also cited data to claim that the fares, despite the increase, was lesser than in neighbouring states, including Andhra Pradesh. A recent interim direction of the Madras High Court in a transport related petition was also cited to support the decision to effect a hike in fares. The government quoted the interim order as saying, "data furnished in the supporting affidavit shows that the present bus fare is inadequate to meet,even the operational cost." The court had also said "with the existing funds and resources, maintenance cost, debt, loss and such other economic factors ...The need to revise bus fare, appears to be inevitable, though it may cause inconvenience." The government had said that since 2000 till date, Karnataka had hiked the fare 16 times, while Andhra Pradesh and Kerala had done so eight times. In the past seven years, the Tamil Nadu government gave Rs 12,059.17 crore subsidy to State-run transport corporations to help them tackle the fund crunch. These corporations have so far incurred a recurring loss of Rs 20,488 crore, the government said. "Though the increase in fare was avoided so far,it is now inevitable so as to tackle the fund cruch and to continue to give the people a good transport service," the release said. In a significant step, the government said an integrated 'Accident prevention, compensation and toll fee fund' would be set up, under which speed governors would be installed in long distance express buses as part of accident prevention efforts. Private transport entities will be permitted to establish similar funds. Unlike neighbouring states, the fare in Tamil Nadu presently does not cover insurance and toll fee components. Henceforth, the fare will cover an integrated component of accident insurance and toll fee as well, it said. From a minimum of Rs 1 (upto Rs 25 fare) a maximum of Rs 10 will be levied (for fares above Rs 501) for this purpose. Defending its decision, the government said since timely compensation for accidents was not provided, as many as 652 State-run transport corporation buses were under court attachment proceedings. Also, the state transport corporations spent an average of Rs 12 crore per month towards toll fee. A new accident compensation fund will ensure that victims (or their kin in case of death) would be provided compensation ranging between Rs 2.5 to Rs five lakh immediately, it said. For those injured, it would be between Rs 10,000 to Rs two lakh depending upon the nature of injuries and duration of hospitalisation. For those who suffer permanent disability or head injury, the compensation will be Rs five lakh, it said. The government said restructuring of fares in future would be done by a committee of senior government officials based on computation involving indices covering fuel price hike,changes in maintenance and repair cost and increment in salaries. There are eight State run transport corporations in Tamil Nadu with 22,509 buses, employing 1,40,615 personnel. Workers of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) owing allegiance to 17 trade unions,including those affiliated to DMK and Left parties, had gone strike on January 4 after failure of talks with the government on wage revision. While unions wanted a 2.57 times hike, the government offered only 2.44, resulting in a stalemate. The strike severely crippled public sector bus services, causing immense hardship to public, including office-goers in cities though the government tried to maintain services by roping in temporary drivers and private buses. The AIADMK backed union, besides some others, had not participated in the protests. The unions had called off the strike on January 11 after the Madras High Court appointed an arbitrator to settle their wage dispute with the government. (With agency inputs) Varanasi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday showered praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his guidance that helped increase India's prestige further in the global arena. Speaking at the 'Yuva Udghosh' programme, he said, "India's prestige has increased in the last three years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. When people discuss top three nations of the world, they take India's name as well. If they take the name of the U.S. and Russia then they also take the name of India. This has happened all because of Prime Minister Modi". He added that it is a moment of pride for all of the citizens of India that under 'Yuva Udghosh' scheme, the capabilities and energy of youths above the age of 17-year-old is to be utilised for the development of the society. On the other hand, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Saturday said UP will top developmental charts by 2022 when the state elects the next Assembly. He said that the fact that 17,000 first-time voters were getting bonded to the party during the event showed the expression of solidarity and faith in the BJP. Addressing the gathering of young voters at the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth, Shah said the BJP now has governments in 19 states and was serving 80 percent of the country and boasted of a base of 11 crore workers. Shah termed the BJP not a party but a 'movement' committed to creating a new India. (With ANI and IANS inputs) Varanasi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Saturday said Uttar Pradesh will top developmental charts by 2022 when the state elects the next Assembly. Speaking at the 'Yuva Udghosh' programme of the party in Varanasi, the BJP president said the fact that 17,000 first-time voters were getting bonded to the party during the event showed the expression of solidarity and faith in the BJP. Addressing the gathering of young voters at the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth, Shah said the BJP now has governments in 19 states and was serving 80 percent of the country and boasted of a base of 11 crore workers. He termed the BJP not a party but a "movement" committed to creating a new India. Shah also said it was possible only in a party like the BJP where an ordinary booth worker could rise through the ranks to become the party chief and a tea-seller could become the Prime Minister. On the other hand, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday showered praises on PM Narendra Modi for his guidance that helped increase India's prestige further in the global arena. Speaking at the 'Yuva Udghosh' programme, he said, "India's prestige has increased in the last three years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. When people discuss top three nations of the world, they take India's name as well. If they take the name of the U.S. and Russia then they also take the name of India. This has happened all because of Prime Minister Modi". He added that it is a moment of pride for all of the citizens of India that under 'Yuva Udghosh' scheme, the capabilities and energy of youths above the age of 17-year-old is to be utilized for the development of the society. (With IANS and ANI inputs) Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress on Saturday demanded the withdrawal by January-end of a Railway's letter seeking West Bengal's consent for discontinuation of eight "commercially non-viable" rail routes and warned of protest on the issue. "They are insulting the people of Bengal and depriving them of their right. We demand that the Indian Railways and Eastern Railway withdraw the letter sent to the state Chief Secretary," the ruling party's Secretary General and Minister Parth Chatterjee told reporters here. The Eastern Railway's Commercial Department sent the letter to the state on January 17 to seek consent for discontinuation of the rail routes in Bengal unless the state bore 50 per cent of the losses. "Our party MLAs and MPs will protest against such a move. We will launch a protest against this from the first week of February if it is not withdrawn by January 31," he said. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has already strongly protested against the proposal and termed it as the Centre's "political vengeance" against the state. Banerjee, as the then Railway Minister, had tried to "improve the connecting infrastructure between rural and urban areas across the country" and West Bengal was not deprived of such initiatives, Chatterjee said, adding that the Centre had closed about 50 projects and reduced its assistance in about 39 projects. Chatterjee accused the Centre of shelving projects and initiatives given the nod by Banerjee as the Railway Minister. SHANGHAI: A US Navy destroyer sailed near a disputed territory claimed by China in the South China Sea earlier in the week, US officials said on Saturday, as China's foreign ministry said it would take 'necessary measures' to ensure the protection of its sovereignty. The incident occurred as US President Donald Trump's administration seeks Chinese cooperation in dealing with North Koreas missile and nuclear programs. On Wednesday evening, the USS Hopper missile destroyer came within 12 nautical miles of Huangyan Island in the South China Sea, China`s foreign ministry said on its website on Saturday. Huangyan Island, also known as the Scarborough Shoal, is a disputed territory claimed by the Philippines as well as China. Two U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the USS Hopper had sailed within 12 nautical miles of Scarborough Shoal earlier this week. The officials said the patrol took place in accordance with international law and was an "innocent passage," in which a warship effectively recognizes a territorial sea by crossing it quickly, without stopping. Twelve nautical miles is the territorial limit recognized internationally. The U.S. military has a longstanding position that such operations are carried out throughout the world, including in areas claimed by allies, and that they are separate from political considerations. In a statement, the Pentagon did not directly comment on the patrol but said the United States routinely carries out "freedom of navigation" operations, a summary of which would be released in an annual report. "All operations are conducted in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows," Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Logan said. The U.S. military put countering China and Russia at the center of a new national defense strategy unveiled on Friday. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the ship violated China`s sovereignty and security interests and threatened the safety of the nation`s vessels and personnel in the vicinity. China`s navy ordered the vessel to withdraw after determining its identity, Lu was quoted as saying. The United States has criticized China for constructing islands and military installations in the region, saying they could be used to restrict free nautical movement. U.S. vessels have conducted a series of freedom of navigation patrols in the region. China "firmly opposes" efforts to use freedom of navigation as an excuse to hurt its sovereignty and urges the United States to "correct its mistakes," Lu said. In a separate statement on Saturday, China`s defense ministry said the repeated dispatch of U.S. warships to the region was "undermining regional peace and stability" and hurting bilateral relations. US President Donald Trump's administration accused the opposition Democrats of holding American citizens hostage Saturday after lawmakers failed to agree a stop-gap spending deal before a midnight deadline. "We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. Democratic leaders have blamed the breakdown of a possible deal on Trump`s refusal to fund a program that protects 700,000 "Dreamers" -- undocumented immigrants who arrived in the US as children -- from deportation. The US government officially shutdown today for the first time in five years after lawmakers failed to agree on a spending deal. Donald Trump blamed Democrats for the shutdown which comes exactly a year after he was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. The shutdown began at 12:01 am (local time) soon after the Senate rejected a short-term spending bill to keep federal government running. The bill was passed by the House on Thursday. This is part of the Democrats strategy to force President Trump and the Republicans to negotiate with them on illegal immigrants who are facing deportation. The US government has shut down over an inability of the members of the country's Senate to find terms to agree on continuing the allocation of money to the government. And one Senator - Michael Bennet - has raised a call for all his colleagues to remain in the upper house of the US legislature and continue to work till the shutdown is lifted. Bennet, a Democrat Senator from Colorado, issued a sharp statement criticising the shutdown. "This is no way to run our government," it began tersely, lining out his own demands for resolution. "I am convinced that there are people of goodwill in this chamber who want to reach a resolution on behalf of the American people, and we should continue working until we do so," it concluded. My full statement on tonight's failure to reach a compromise for a long-term budget agreement: pic.twitter.com/QkN1Xb29sC Michael F. Bennet (@SenBennetCO) January 20, 2018 This statement again raised attention to a piece of legislation that he had introduced in 2015, jointly with his fellow-Coloradan Republican Senator Cory Gardner. Called the 'Shutdown Accountability Resolution', it set stringent conditions on how Senators are required to function in the event of a government shutdown, like the one that has brought much of the US federal government to an abrupt halt. The proposal calls for making it necessary for Senators to stay in the Senate chamber from 8 am to midnight, and for attendance calls - called quorum calls - to be made every hour after the last attempt at proving the minimum attendance required. The US Senate's quorum rules say the body cannot function without the presence of half of its members - that's 50 of the 100 Senators. In the absence of a quorum, Bennet suggests, all Senators who have not been previously excused for health or other reasons be summoned to the Senate. If they fail to turn up even then, their arrest may be ordered. Not just this, the Senate would be forced to function under the provisions of the proposal. It can be adjourned only for two hours at a time. And, when it did reconvene, it would have to do so with a quorum call. "These changes would at best motivate Congress into avoiding crisis and getting the work done it was elected to do," Bennet said in a statement he had released earlier, according to US media reports. "At worst, they would force senators to stay on or near the Senate floor and actually communicate with one another until they open the government back up." The basic idea behind the proposal is that there should be some personal cost on politicians for allowing government shutdowns to happen. The rationale for imposing such a cost is that politicians may attempt to strike deals and avoid these personal costs - a strong incentive to ensure that government services are not denied to citizens at any point. The bipartisan Bennet-Gardner 'Shutdown Accountability Resolution' remains in legislative limbo. ANKARA: Turkey's armed forces launched air strikes on positions of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia in Syria, the prime minister said, as Ankara launched a new operation against the group. Turkish warplanes launched air strikes on positions of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia in Syria, the prime minister said, as Ankara launched a new operation against the group. Units of pro-Ankara rebels known by Turkey as the Free Syrian Army (FSA) also began moving into the Afrin area of Syria which is controlled by the YPG, the state-run Anadolu news agency said. "Our armed forces have started an air campaign in order to destroy elements" of the YPG, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in a televised speech. An AFP correspondent on the Turkish side of the border saw two war planes launch air strikes inside Syrian territory, sending huge white plumes of smoke up into the early evening sky. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier that Turkey had "de-facto" launched the operation that Ankara had threatened for days in defiance of warnings from the United States. But these were the first reports from on the ground that the operation had begun in earnest. A Turkish foreign ministry official said in the wake of the announcement of the air strikes that Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held talks with US counterpart Rex Tillerson, at Washington's request. US Vice President Mike Pence met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Saturday as he began a delayed Middle East tour overshadowed by Arab anger over Washington`s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel`s capital. Controversy over President Donald Trump`s decision to move the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem had led to the cancellation of a number of planned meetings ahead of the trip originally scheduled for December. While the deadly protests that erupted at the time have subsided, concerns are mounting over the future of the UN aid agency for Palestinians after Washington froze tens of millions of dollars of funding. The Palestinian leadership, already furious over the Jerusalem decision, has denounced the US administration and had already refused to meet Pence in December. A coalition of Arab parties in the Israeli parliament said on Saturday it would boycott a speech by Pence on Monday, calling him "dangerous and messianic". Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, said that the vice president was "not welcome" in the region. Pence, who is accompanied by his wife Karen on the trip, held talks with former army chief Sisi in Cairo that were expected to focus on US aid and security, including a jihadist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula. After dinner he will travel to Amman for a one-on-one meeting with King Abdullah II on Sunday before heading to Israel for the final leg of the tour. Pence went ahead with the trip -- which had been pushed back in December as a crunch tax vote loomed on Capitol Hill -- despite the federal government shutdown looming over Washington.The leaders of both Egypt and Jordan, the only Arab states that have peace treaties with Israel, would be key players if US mediators ever manage to get a revived Israeli-Palestinian peace process off the ground, as Trump says he wants. They are also key intelligence-sharing and security partners in America`s various covert and overt battles against Islamist extremism in the region, and Egypt is a major recipient of aid to help it buy advanced US military hardware. Sisi, one of Trump`s closest allies in the region, had urged the US president before his Jerusalem declaration "not to complicate the situation in the region by taking measures that jeopardise the chances of peace in the Middle East". Egypt`s top Muslim cleric and the head of its Coptic Church had both cancelled meetings with Pence in December in protest at the Jerusalem decision. After Jordan -- the custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem -- Pence will head to Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. He will also deliver a speech to parliament and meet President Reuven Rivlin during the two-day visit. Pence can expect a warm welcome after Trump`s decision on Jerusalem, which Israelis and Palestinians alike interpreted as Washington taking Israel`s side in the dispute over the city. Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 and later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognised by the international community. Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its united capital, while the Palestinians see the eastern sector as the capital of their future state. The international community considers east Jerusalem illegally occupied by Israel and currently all countries have their embassies in the commercial capital Tel Aviv.The State Department has begun to plan the sensitive move of the American embassy to Jerusalem, a process that US diplomats say may take years to complete. This week reports surfaced that Washington may temporarily designate the US consulate general in Jerusalem as the embassy while the search for a secure and practical site for a long-term mission continues. This could prove just as controversial as building a new embassy, however, as the building currently serves as the US mission to the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. It also sits astride the "Green Line" that divides Jerusalem. A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has yet to make a decision on either a permanent or interim location for the mission. "That is a process that takes, anywhere in the world, time. Time for appropriate design, time for execution. It is a matter of years and not weeks or months," he said. Pence -- himself a devout Christian - will visit the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites of Judaism in Jerusalem`s Old City, and pay his respects at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. Jika Anda mencari situs web sbobet88 login yang andal dan aman untuk bermain poker online, permainan kasino, dan bentuk perjudian lainnya, Anda telah datang ke tempat yang tepat. Situs web kami menampilkan daftar lengkap permainan, opsi pembayaran, dan lainnya untuk memastikan Anda bersenang-senang saat bermain. Agen Judi judi adalah salah satu permainan poker online yang paling populer. Ribuan orang dari seluruh dunia telah bergabung dengan kasino online ini untuk bermain poker demi uang. Ini juga sangat mudah digunakan; yang Anda butuhkan hanyalah komputer atau smartphone dengan koneksi internet. Anda juga memerlukan koneksi wifi yang berfungsi. adalah situs poker top di Indonesia karena berbagai macam permainan dan layanan pelanggan yang sangat baik. Sangat mudah untuk memahami mengapa begitu banyak orang menikmati bermain poker online dan menikmati kesenangan dan hadiah dari permainan. Ini juga nyaman untuk bermain dari rumah, sehingga Anda dapat bermain kapan saja. tersedia di beberapa zona waktu, sehingga Anda dapat bermain kapan saja sesuai keinginan Anda. Anda bisa bermain saat pagi, siang, dan malam hari. Jika Anda merasa lesu, Anda selalu dapat bermain selama periode waktu yang kurang populer seperti jam 1 5 pagi. Gim ini mudah dimainkan dan memiliki RTP tinggi. Ini memiliki banyak tema dan kompatibel di berbagai platform. Ia juga menawarkan permainan seperti Lucky Lion, Queens of Glory, dan Bubbles Bonanza. Flow Gaming juga menyediakan slot video dan permainan jackpot dengan RTP tinggi. Selain itu, seorang petaruh harus mengamati tangan pemain lain sebelum mengambil keputusan. Ini akan membantunya membuat keputusan yang tepat untuk langkah selanjutnya. Selain itu, seorang pemain poker harus mempelajari dasar-dasar perjudian dan memahami konsekuensi dari kemenangan. Sebuah permainan kesempatan hanya sebagus pemainnya. Saat memilih situs kasino, pastikan untuk memeriksa reputasinya. Beberapa situs memiliki reputasi buruk, sementara yang lain memiliki reputasi baik. Penting untuk membaca syarat dan ketentuan dan memilih situs terbaik berdasarkan detail ini. Sebuah terpercaya Indonesia dapat menawarkan berbagai macam permainan dan deposit minimum yang rendah. Ini juga memiliki jackpot besar. Situs Judi Situs Judi adalah kasino online berlisensi yang menawarkan berbagai macam permainan dan menawarkan jaminan keamanan 100%. Permainan di situs ini sangat populer dan menawarkan jackpot besar setiap hari. Beragam permainan judi online bisa Anda temukan di , antara lain mesin slot, baccarat, dan poker. Situs ini juga menawarkan berbagai permainan arcade dan togel. Situs ini juga menawarkan fitur putaran gratis bagi pemain untuk memenangkan uang gratis. menawarkan berbagai macam metode pembayaran. Anda dapat menyetor menggunakan sebagian besar kartu kredit dan operator seluler utama dan bermain dengan uang sungguhan. Anda juga dapat menggunakan e-money untuk deposit. adalah kasino online yang aman dan ramah pengguna. Situs ini tersedia dalam berbagai bahasa dan didukung oleh penyedia internasional yang andal. Terdapat pilihan live chat 24 jam yang dapat diakses melalui perangkat mobile Anda. menawarkan keamanan dan privasi yang luar biasa. Informasi pribadi dan uang Anda 100% dilindungi. Situs web ini juga menawarkan berbagai permainan dan menggunakan dompet elektronik yang aman untuk pembayaran. Anda harus memilih permainan yang Anda sukai untuk dimainkan. Dalam hal ini, permainan slot adalah pilihan yang paling cocok. Jackpotnya sangat besar! Jadi, bermainlah dengan cerdas dan menangkan yang besar! Jadi, nikmati permainan pilihan Anda dengan bantuan kasino online Indonesia. di Indonesia adalah salah satu situs pembayaran online terbaik. Ini juga menawarkan berbagai macam permainan dan bonus. Selain pembayaran, ia juga menawarkan informasi lengkap tentang permainan slot. juga menawarkan berbagai metode deposit. Anda dapat melakukan setoran melalui transfer bank, telepon, atau mata uang digital. Situs ini juga tersedia di Indonesia dan Asia. adalah kasino online hebat yang menawarkan berbagai macam permainan slot. Selain itu, ia menawarkan bonus pendaftaran gratis. Dan, semua gimnya aman dan mudah diakses. Baik Anda seorang veteran atau baru memulai, adalah tempat terbaik untuk bermain. The US government officially shutdown on Friday for the first time in five years after lawmakers failed to agree on a spending deal. US President Donald Trump blamed Democrats for the shutdown which comes exactly a year after he was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. The shutdown began at 12:01 am (local time) soon after the Senate rejected a short-term spending bill to keep federal government running. The bill was passed by the House on Thursday. This is part of the Democrats strategy to force President Trump and the Republicans to negotiate with them on illegal immigrants who are facing deportation. In shutdowns, nonessential government employees are furloughed, or placed on temporary unpaid leave. Workers deemed essential, including those dealing with public safety and national security, keep working. After previous government shutdowns, Congress passed measures to ensure that all unpaid workers received retroactive pay. The Trump administration would support a similar measure, a senior administration official said on Friday. Workers began finding out on Friday whether they would be furloughed, but official notices would come as early as Saturday. They would receive their last paycheck for work up until the shutdown on Friday Jan. 26. The last shutdown, in October 2013, lasted more than two weeks and more than 800,000 federal employees were furloughed. There is no official tally of how many would be off work this time. Here are some details about what happened in 2013, along with some recent updates from officials: MILITARY: The Defense Department said on Friday that a shutdown would not affect the U.S. military`s war in Afghanistan or its operations against Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria. All 1.3 million military personnel on active duty would remain on normal duty status. Civilian personnel in nonessential operations would be furloughed. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said a sustained funding impasse would cause ships to go without maintenance and aircraft to be grounded. JUSTICE: The Justice Department has many essential workers. Under its shutdown contingency plan, about 95,000 of the department`s almost 115,000 staff would keep working. FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT: The stock market-policing Securities and Exchange Commission funds itself by collecting fees from the financial industry, but its budget is set by Congress. It has said in the past it would be able to continue operations temporarily in a shutdown. But it would have to furlough workers if Congress went weeks before approving new funding. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, meanwhile, would have to furlough 95 percent of its employees immediately. An agency spokeswoman said the derivatives regulator could, however, call in additional staff in the event of a financial market emergency. WHITE HOUSE: More than 1,000 of the 1,715 staff at the White House would be furloughed, the Trump administration said on Friday. The president would be provided with enough support to carry out his constitutional duties, including staff needed for a planned trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, administration officials said. NATIONAL PARKS: The Trump administration plans to keep national parks open with rangers and security guards on duty. The parks were closed in 2013 and it resulted in a loss of 750,000 daily visitors, said the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association. The National Park Service (NPS) estimated the shutdown resulted in $500 million in lost visitor spending in areas around the parks and the Smithsonian museums. WASHINGTON TOURIST SIGHTS: In 2013, popular tourist sites such as the Smithsonian closed, with barricades going up at the Lincoln Memorial, the Library of Congress and the National Archives. The Trump administration does not plan to barricade open-air monuments this time, officials said. The Smithsonian has said its museums could remain open for the first weekend. The NPS, which oversees many Washington landmarks, including the National Mall, has said it has a plan in place so that "First Amendment activities" can continue during a shutdown. TAXES: The Internal Revenue Service furloughed 90 percent of its staff in 2013, the liberal Center for American Progress said. About $4 billion in tax refunds were delayed as a result, according to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). MAIL DELIVERY: Deliveries would continue as usual because the U.S. Postal Service receives no tax dollars for day-to-day operations. TRAVEL: Air and rail travelers did not feel a big impact in 2013 because security officers and air traffic controllers remained at work. Passport processing continued with some delays. COURTS: The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has said federal courts, including the Supreme Court, could continue to operate normally for about three weeks without additional funding. HEALTHCARE: In 2013, the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly continued largely without disruption. Hundreds of patients could not enroll in National Institutes of Health clinical trials, according to the OMB. A program at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to track flu outbreaks was temporarily halted in 2013. This time, the CDC will continue its work to track the flu outbreak, an official said. CHILDREN: Six Head Start programs in Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina serving about 6,300 children shut for nine days in 2013, the OMB said. SOCIAL SECURITY: Social Security and disability checks were issued in 2013 with no change in payment dates and field offices remained open but offered limited services. There were delays in the review process for new applicants. LOANS: Processing of mortgages and other loans was delayed when lenders could not access government services such as income and Social Security number verification. The Small Business Administration was unable to process about 700 applications for $140 million in loans until the shutdown ended, OMB said. VETERANS: Most employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs would not be subject to furlough. VA hospitals would remain open and veterans` benefits would continue, but education assistance and case appeals would be delayed, the department said. FOOD INSPECTIONS: Department of Agriculture meat inspectors stayed on the job. Agricultural statistical reports ceased publication. The USDA`s website went dark. ENERGY: The Department of Energy said on Friday that since most of its appropriations are for multiple years, employees should report to work as normal during a shutdown until told otherwise. If there was a prolonged lapse in funding a "limited number" of workers may be placed on furlough. PLEASE NOTE! Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate! All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited! (One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!) YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. The German media has widely covered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus India visit during which the delegation led by him included more than 100 companies, including the representatives of Aeronautics company one of the largest military-industrial companies of Israel engaged in production of UAVs. The German Tageszeitung daily writes that among the clients of the Aeronautics is the German defense ministry which uses the Heron 1 medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles on a lease basis. Azerbaijan is the biggest buyer of the company with which deals worth 20 million USD were signed last year. At the same time the German daily also touched upon the details of the investigation launched against this company in August 2017, stating that the high-ranking officials of the company are suspected in conducting a test flight in the territory of Nagorno Karabakh in summer 2017. Based on this the Israeli defense ministry imposed an export ban on the company which mainly relates to the Orbitier K1 unmanned aerial vehicles. These vehicles, as stated in the companys website, can carry 1-2 explosives to our key foreign client. The German daily writes that as it became known recently that client is Azerbaijan from the territory of which the test flight to Nagorno Karabakh has been carried out. YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan on January 20 sent a congratulatory message in connection with the Day of the Judicial System Worker, the Artsakh Presidential Office told Armenpress. The message runs as follows: "Dear workers and veterans of the judicial system, On behalf of the Artsakh Republic authorities and personally myself I extend my cordial congratulations on your professional holiday - the Day of the Judicial System Worker. The functioning of the judicial bodies and issues related to its efficient organization occupy a special place in the state building process of our country. An independent and professional judicial power is the cornerstone of the supremacy of law, legality and human rights protection in any state. For this very reason necessary measures will be taken further on to ensure consistent development of the judicial system, introduction of the mechanisms guaranteeing full independence of the judicial system and judges, raising the judicial power's autonomy and its self-governance efficiency. I am confident that the system workers will do everything possible for proper solution of the problems they face, exercising justice in strict correspondence with the letter and spirit of the law. The state will continue keeping in the spotlight issues of improving the working and living conditions of the judicial system officers. Dear friends, I once again congratulate all of you wishing peace, robust health and great successes in your significant and responsible work". YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. Ben Rhodes and Samantha Power, key foreign policy advisers to former US President Barack Obama, have apologized for not recognizing what has happened to Armenians in the Ottoman Empire 100 years ago as genocide a topic that would deteriorate the American-Turkish relations, Politico reports. It was a mistake. We should have recognized the Armenian Genocide, Ben Rhodes said. I'm sorry added, Samantha Power, Obama's ambassador to the United Nations, said. I'm sorry that we disappointed so many Armenian Americans. The two shared their regrets earlier this week in response to an audience question during an episode of Pod Save the World, a podcast hosted by Tommy Vietor, another former Obama aide. According to Politico, their statements were unusually frank given the sensitivity of an issue that has bedeviled US presidents for years. Every year there was a reason not to. Turkey was vital to some issue that we were dealing with, or there was some dialogue between Turkey and the Armenian government about the past. Frankly, here's the lesson, I think, going forward: Get it done the first year, you know, because if you don't it gets harder every year in a way, Rhodes said. Samantha Power said that the US administration was "played a little bit" by Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and others invested in delaying the Armenian Genocide recognition. Erdogan was well-attuned to the US political mood and calendar, and he and others would hold out the possibility that by uttering the word "genocide" Obama might derail ongoing attempts at rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia. According to her, Obama always thought he could meet a campaign promise and deliver for the Armenian Americans to whom he has made this promise. And then what? What if it sets back this thing [the diplomatic dialogue] that could be much more promising?' I think he really believed that it could have that perverse effect, because he was told that by people who studied the region and knew the region, she added. Politico writes that Armenian Americans were bitterly disappointed in Obama's failure to fulfill his campaign promise. The comments by Rhodes and Power did little to appease community leaders who felt it was too little, too late. The time for anyone to get this issue right is when they're in office, Aram Suren Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, said, adding that there's another person his community would like to hear from. Obama should explain why he didn't honor his pledge. And I think he owes us an apologyhe owes the American people an apology, Hamparian said. In her turn Samantha Power stated: Just tell the truth. It's safer in the long run. YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Embassy in Lithuania released a statement on the occasion of the anniversary of the mass killings of Armenians in Baku which was widely covered by the media of the Baltic countries, including ELTA Lithuanian news agency, reports Armenpress. This January Armenians commemorate the 28th anniversary of the massacres of the Armenian community of Baku. The anti-Armenian pogroms in Baku lasted almost a week until the Soviet troops entered the city. Many cases of brutalities and murders committed with extreme cruelty were documented. The Human Rights Watch reported of more than 2000 raids on the apartments belonging to Armenians. More than one hundred people were killed during those raids or tortured to death in the streets of Baku. This egregious crime against humanity was condemned by international community, including the European Parliament, which in its resolution, dated January 18, 1990 stated Having regard to the resumption of anti-Armenian activities by the Azeris in Baku an initial estimate talks of numerous victims, some of whom died in particularly horrific circumstances ... Calls on the Commission and the Council to make representations to the Soviet authorities with a view to ensuring: ... that they guarantee real protection for the Armenian people living in Azerbaijan by sending forces to intervene. The sad and deplorable outcome of the massacres was the complete ethic cleansing of the Armenian community of Baku, by 1988 numbering around 300 thousand people, the statement says. It states that neither the previous nor present leaderships of Azerbaijan condemned or launched any investigation into those events in order to bring the perpetrators to justice. In an Open Letter on Anti-Armenian Pogroms in Soviet Union, signed by 133 eminent intellectuals and printed in New York Times on September 27, 1990 it is noted that: The pogroms of Sumgait in February, 1988 were followed by massacres in Kirovapat and Baku in November 1988. As recently as January 1990, the pogroms continued in Baku and other parts of Azerbaijan. The mere fact that these pogroms were repeated and the fact that they followed the same pattern lead us to think that these tragic events are not accidents or spontaneous outbursts. Rather, we are compelled to recognize that crimes against the Armenian minority have become consistent practiceif not official policyin Soviet Azerbaijan. According to the late Andrei Sakharov (New York Times, November 26, 1988), these pogroms constitute a real threat of extermination to the indigenous Armenian community in Azerbaijan and to people in Nagorno Karabakh whose inhabitants are 80 percent Armenian. Atrocities against the Armenian community in Baku and those perpetrated earlier in Sumgait and Kirovabad were yet another indication that Armenians had no future either in Soviet or independent Azerbaijan. The realization of the right of self-determination of the people of Nagorno Karabakh had been and continues to be the only guarantee for their existence in their ancestral homeland, reads the statement. YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. Presidential candidate Armen Sargsyan is recognizable by all world political unions. The partnering trust towards his personality will be definitely transferred to Armenia, RPA faction MP Khosrov Harutyunyan told Armenpress, commenting on the RPAs nomination of Armen Sargsyan for the candidate of the 4th President of Armenia. In my opinion, the position of the president will become very important in terms of keeping the domestic life on its normal pace. Although the position of the president is representative post according to the Constitution, but it is the position to which an individual will give content. I think Armen Sargsyans role in this context will give new impetus in the domestic life. Moreover, he has great ties with the outside world. He is known both within the CIS circles, in particular, in Russia, Kazakhstan, European countries and the United States. A partnering trust is formed towards his personality. And undoubtedly, this trust will be transferred also to Armenia, Harutyunyan said, adding that in this way it will also be possible to give new impetus to the investment flow. I consider it significant that Armenia can be presented to the world in the face of Armen Sargsyan, he said, adding that he worked with Armen Sargsyan when the latter was prime minister. He has such characteristics that are very important for the leader, the MP said. YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. Davit Babayan, spokesman of the President of Artsakh, attaches importance to the January 18 meeting of Armenian foreign minister Edward Nalbandian and foreign minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov in the Polish city of Krakow. According to him, this and similar meetings are key factors on maintaining the continuation of the peaceful negotiation process and peace and stability in the region. We attach importance to this and do not share the view that these meetings are just meetings and have no significance. Eventually, during these meetings the ongoing issues, as well as issues relating to the settlement are being discussed, during these meetings the international community expresses its stance, therefore, they are important. And the key idea of this meeting is that it seems steps are being taken aimed at implementing the Vienna and St. Petersburg agreement, in other words, discovering and reducing the number of ceasefire violations, as we know that the expansion of the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office was announced. Official Stepanakert was long talking about this, Davit Babayan said, reminding that different proposals were made by Artsakh which interested to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. The talk is about the withdrawal of snipers, excluding ceasefire violations during holidays and international, national and religious holidays. These are very important, but also the processes before this are very important, in particular, the statement of Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov according to which it is impossible to settle this conflict by one document, but if we open further the brackets, it can be even said that this is a philosophical approach since it cannot be settled by a document as long as the atmosphere in the region is not settled, Azerbaijan continues its Nazi policy. In this case, even if 1000 documents are signed, nothing will change, therefore, this is a message that it is necessary to gradually change this atmosphere and make the dialogue more substantial, he said. Davit Babayan also commented on the issue of Artsakhs involvement in the negotiation process, stating that this is already an imperative. We always talk about this and believe that without it the issue cannot be settled, but we also need to be realistic that Azerbaijan will do everything for this not to happen in 2018 which is going to be a year of speculations. We know that this year marks the 100th anniversary of that artificially created country, presidential election will be held, the 95th anniversary of Heydar Aliyev and etc, Babayan said, adding that there will be hysterias in diplomatic, political fields, some terrorist actions, provocative actions on the border are also not ruled out. In other words this is an understandable issue, and it can be predicted that Azerbaijan will do everything to prevent Artsakhs involvement in the negotiation process. But on the other hand, Artsakh is engaged in the negotiation process, but not fully. We continue working on this path to restore the full format, the Artsakh presidential spokesman said. YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. President Serzh Sargsyan on January 20 held a working consultation with the leadership of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) at the Banks Training and Research Center in Dilijan, the Presidential Office told Armenpress. During the consultation CBA President Artur Javadyan introduced the main figures of 2017 financial system, the prospects of development of this system and the monetary-loan policy in 2018, the short-term and long-term predictions, as well as the upcoming works aimed at implementing the CBAs main functions as a result of the Constitutional reforms. BURLEY The Cassia County School District will ask voters to approve a renewal on a supplemental levy on March 14 that is more than double the current amount. The two-year levy is currently $744,244 a year and if approved will raise to $1.595 million per year, an increase of $821,000. Approval will require a simple majority of votes. The increase costs for a residential property owner with property valued at $100,000 is $4.50 per month. For a tax impact worksheet call the district office at 208-878-6600. The main use of the money will be for safety and curriculum. The district said in a statement that the increase represents an investment in school safety by hiring an additional school nurse and funding a school resource officer, adding cameras to some buses and to ensure playgrounds meet safety codes along with replacing outdated furniture with updated ergonomic models. The district will update math and English curriculum and augment library book supplies. Every parent has seen the textbooks come home with tape on the back and its held together with a rubber band, Heber Loughmiller, board member, said during the board meeting on Thursday. We all see it in our own home budgets, Board Chairman Ryan Cranney said. There will never be enough money, so we need to be prudent and spend it wisely. The district has the second lowest levy rates in the region. I think we are being cautious, Jeff Rasmussen, board member said. We have been so low on our levy amounts for so long that we are just trying to catch up with our student needs in the classroom. YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. 49 thousand 50 USD required for the surgery of servicemen Albert Dallakyan has been donated through a fundraiser, reports Armenpress. The data are presented at gofundme.com digital platform through which the necessary money has been donated. On January 13 Armenias defense minister Vigen Sargsyan has joined the fundraiser for serviceman Albert Dallakyans surgery, and called upon everyone willing to join. Minister Sargsyan said the defense ministry has always and will always support Albert Dallakyan and all other heroes and their families. Albert needs a difficult surgery. Under the law, we cant compensate the implementation of this surgery abroad, because this surgery can also be organized in Armenia. But foreign clinics have greater experience and skills in this issue, and the probability of speedy recovery is far more. I advised the family to try and collect the required sum through this kind of a fundraiser. Personally I and several of my friends will provide 10% of the required sum (45,000$). I call on everyone who can to join this fundraiser and help Alberts family. Even simply spreading this call can also help. God bless Albert, all our heroes, the army and the people, he said. YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. Serviceman Albert Dallakyan and Taguhi Ohanyan, who initiated a fundraiser for the surgery of Albert Dallakyan, posted a video on social media expressing gratitude to all those who made a donation, reports Armenpress. 49 thousand 50 USD required for the surgery of servicemen Albert Dallakyan has been donated through a fundraiser. On January 13 Armenias defense minister Vigen Sargsyan has joined the fundraiser for serviceman Albert Dallakyans surgery, and called upon everyone willing to join. Minister Sargsyan said the defense ministry has always and will always support Albert Dallakyan and all other heroes and their families. Albert needs a difficult surgery. Under the law, we cant compensate the implementation of this surgery abroad, because this surgery can also be organized in Armenia. But foreign clinics have greater experience and skills in this issue, and the probability of speedy recovery is far more. I advised the family to try and collect the required sum through this kind of a fundraiser. Personally I and several of my friends will provide 10% of the required sum (45,000$). I call on everyone who can to join this fundraiser and help Alberts family. Even simply spreading this call can also help. God bless Albert, all our heroes, the army and the people, he said. YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. The World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) 2019 will be held in Armenia, whereas the WCIT 2018 will be held in the Indian city of Hyderabad on February 19-21, the Armenian ministry of transport, communication and information technologies told Armenpress. Armenias delegation, including minister of transport, communication and IT Vahan Martirosyan, the representation of the Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE), telecommunication operators and IT companies, will attend the Congress. The representatives of the field were invited to the ministry to hold a consultation aimed at discussing the participation format to the Congress, the upcoming meetings and other technical issues. The WCIT is attended by 2000-3000 leaders of world technological field from nearly 100 countries. UITE representative Alexander Yesayan said during the Congress they play to have meetings with the heads of large associations and companies, as well as to present the Armenian successful IT companies in one pavilion. The experience of the participation of this year will be useful for getting ready for the next Congress in Armenia. YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. The British tourists were warned to stay inside their resorts in Jamaica, BBC reports. The Jamaican government declared a state of emergency after several shooting incidents in one of the streets. The Foreign Office urged the British tourists to stay in their resorts as major military operations are taking place. The tourists were urged to follow the local advice including restrictions in selected areas, and exercise particular care if travelling at night. Jamaicas prime minister Andrew Holness said the state of emergency was "necessary" in order to "restore public safety" in the St James area. Chief of defense, Major General Rocky Meade, said forces were targeting gangs, with "particular focus on those that are responsible for murders, lotto scamming, trafficking of arms and guns, and extortion". LAS VEGASA new year and with it comes the promise of new opportunities! In the adult industry, there is no better way to kick-start the year than attending the largest annual North American industry show, the Internext Expo. The show returns to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, running Jan. 20-23. The AVN and Internext team welcomes the 2018 participants to the show, which is the longest-running conference in the adult online industry. As it does every year, Internext continues to grow and for that we thank our sponsors for their support. Internext 2018 is sponsored by reliable, repeat sponsors as well as first timers. We wish to extend our sincere appreciation to each and every sponsor for contributing to our ongoing success. Happy New Year and thank you from everyone at AVN and Internext! Meet our 2018 sponsors: Presenting Sponsors AgeID AdultForce TrafficJunky Registration PussyCash Meet Market Sponsor Studio20 Speed Networking Sponsor OrbitalPay Seminar Sponsor Cambuilder OrbitalPay Supermen.com CCBill CYBERSPACE Dogfart Network. She hooks up with Chad White on Dogfart's niche site, WeFuckBlackGirls.com. When Mr. Kay goes out of town on business, his wife, Mrs. Julie Kay, jumps on social media to start 'swiping right.' Mrs. Kay loves the random, no-strings-attached hook up that social media provides. She's not looking for a divorce, but she does love a 'random' from time to time. "Dogfart is one of my favorite companies to shoot for, and Billy is always amazing and encouraging on set," said Kay. "Chad was a great co-star, whom I have absolutely amazing chemistry with!" "We love working with Julie," says a Dogfart rep. "She knows what her fans like and brings her 'A' game every time." Click here to view the NSFW trailer. The public can get a sneak peek behind the scenes on all Dogfart productions by visiting DogfartBehindTheScenes.com. For the latest updates and membership deals, follow Dogfart on Twitter. To join all 22 Dogfart Network sites for one low price click here. The Democrat leadership has made constant, profound and incredible pronouncements that one's supportive vote for Republicans is tantamount to surrendering Democracy forever. Understanding their sincere thinking in their extreme position: How will you still vote on this election day? Democrat; because the continuance of this Democracy from the existential threat of extreme Republicans is paramount. Republican; the process of having a choice is the democratic method within what so called "Democracy" does exists. KIMBERLY A student in the Kimberly School District has been diagnosed with whooping cough, South Central Public Health District said. Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a very serious disease, according to a Thursday letter to the school district from SCPHD. In the letter which is posted on the school districts website SCPHD recommends Kimberly students and teachers should watch for symptoms and update their immunizations if theyre not current on the pertussis vaccine. Those diagnosed with pertussis suffer from coughing in explosive bursts ending with the typical high-pitched whoop, and occasionally, vomiting, according to the SCPHD letter. Coughing often continues for four to six weeks. Symptoms generally develop within two weeks of exposure. Pertussis is spread by contact with droplets in the air from coughing or sneezing. SCPHD advises keeping your child home if they have a persistent cough, even if theyve been immunized, and to consult your doctor. Publisher's note: This post appears courtesy of Jefferson Rising On July 4, 1776, thirteen British colonies announced their secession from Great Britain and declared to the world their just reasons:(paragraph 1 of the Declaration of Independence)The Declaration of Independence (second paragraph) goes on to say:The Declaration then goes o to list numerous grievances against the British Crown and Parliament. Most of these have to do with the British Crown and Parliament usurping the powers of the colonial legislatures, but mention is made of the King keeping troops among the colonists in times of peace, quartering British troops, cutting off colonial trade with the rest of the world, taxing the colonists without their consent (representation), depriving colonists the benefits of trial by jury, arbitrarily dissolving colonial charters, inciting insurrection against the colonies (including among the unfriendly Indian tribes), and more. (Ironically, the one thing not mentioned among the list of 27 grievances was the disarming of the colonists and confiscation of their arms and ammunition - the one thing that inspired Patrick Henry to submit resolutions he'd written to the Virginia colonial legislature to build and train a militia from each county; "They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?..... The war is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come. The war has actually begun. The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms. Our brethren are already in the field. Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!") After the listing of the specific grievances, the Declaration emphasized that neither the King nor Parliament would listen to their complaints and pleas for relief.In the closing paragraph, the signers declare that the colonies are "Free and Independent States." This paragraph also contains the words "appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World" and "with firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence." Note that the United States of America were not formed into a single national state, but a confederation of independent and sovereign states.Previous to the Declaration of Independence, both North Carolina (May 20, 1775) and Virginia (early 1776) had already declared their independence from Great Britain. North Carolina took the lead in calling for independence from Great Britain, and her state flag reflects the two historic dates on which she did so - May 20, 1775 and April 12, 1776. On May 20, 1775, a Charlotte government committee drafted the Mecklenburg Resolves which declared the residents of Mecklenburg County, NC independent of Great Britain:That we the citizens of Mecklenburg county, do hereby dissolve the political bands which have connected us to the Mother Country, and hereby absolve ourselves from all allegiance to the British Crown, and abjure all political connection, contract, or association, with that nation, who have wantonly trampled on our rights and liberties - and inhumanly shed the innocent blood of American patriots at Lexington.That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent people, are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self-governing Association, under the control of no power other than that of our God and the General Government of the Congress; to the maintenance of which independence, we solemnly pledge to each other, our mutual co-operation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor.That as we now acknowledge the existence and control of no law or legal officer, civil or military, within this country, we do hereby ordain and adopt, as a rule of life, all, each and every of our former laws, wherein, nevertheless, the Crown of Great Britain never can be considered as holding rights, privileges, immunities, or authority therein.On May 31, the Committee put the document in final form and adopted it. The updated document announced that all the colonies were independent of Great Britain:The Resolves were delivered to the North Carolina delegation meeting at the Continental Congress with the hope that the entire Congress would vote and adopt it. The Congress felt the time was not right and did not take the matter up.On April 12, 1776, the Fourth Provincial Congress, meeting in Halifax County, adopted the "Halifax Resolves," which gave North Carolina's delegates to the Continental Congress the authority to vote for independence. It was the first state to give such authority to its delegates.On May 4, 1776, the colony of Rhode Island declared herself independent of Great Britain, and in late May - June, the Fifth Virginia Convention passed a series of resolutions rejecting all aspects of British authority and establishing a new form of independent government for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, then urged the Continental Congress to follow Virginia's (and North Carolina's) lead.On June 7, 1776, Lee introduced a resolution (the Lee Resolution) to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia declaring independence, and John Adams seconded the motion.Lee's resolution declaredThe Continental Congress adopted the resolution, finally declaring independence for the 13 colonies, on July 2, but this day has been largely forgotten in favor of July 4, when the "formal" Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, was adopted.Clearly, the idea that a people could separate from a government that did not serve them, or in the worst case, had become tyrannical and abusive, was something the colonists believed was a natural right.The right of self-determination for people seeking independence is firmly established in international law. With US backing, Panama seceded from Columbia in 1903. Norway seceded from Sweden in 1905. In the United States, the right of self-determination and therefore secession is supported by the precedence of the Declaration of Independence which declared our own secession from Great Britain.While the Declaration of Independence is of immense importance as a founding document, it is the Constitution of 1787 and the Bill of Rights ratified in 1791 that are the official founding documents. The Constitution was made official by the approval of the people of each state acting independently in convention, not by the people of the United States in general. Nor did these states surrender their sovereignty to the United States. Only limited government powers were delegated to the Federal Government and every state reserved the right to withdraw these powers. In fact, three states - Rhode Island, Virginia, and New York - specifically stated in their ratifications that they reserved the right to withdraw. Other states had less strongly-worded reservations, but no state would have ratified the Constitution if they believed that in doing so they would be surrendering their newly-won independence.When New York delegates met on July 26, 1788, their ratification document read,On May 29, 1790, the Rhode Island delegates made a similar claim in their ratification document.On June 26, 1788, Virginia's elected delegates met to ratify the Constitution. In their ratification document, they said,As demonstrated by the ratification documents of New York, Rhode Island and Virginia, they made it explicit that if the federal government perverted the delegated rights, they had the right to resume those rights. In fact, when the Union was being formed, where the states created the federal government, every state thought they had a right to secede, otherwise there would not have been a Union.It was to guarantee the sovereignty of the states that the Ninth and Tenth Amendments were added to the Bill of Rights. The Tenth Amendment is a particularly straightforward restatement of the federal nature of the government established by the Constitution:Since the Constitution was ratified by sovereign states who desired to retain their sovereignty, the document is classified as a social compact. In essence, it is a contract and thereby its legality is guided by contract law, one of the oldest areas of law. The Constitution is a compact - a contract - between the individual sovereign states, which are the parties, to create the federal government (the creature, or if likening the compact to agency law, the government would be the agent) in order to carry out certain common functions for the states in order that the Union itself could be successful. In the case of Chisholm v. State of Georgia (1793), the Supreme Court expressly declared that the US Constitution is a compact. The right of withdrawal or secession is inherent in the basic document (ie, the right of secession "supersedes" the Constitution) and the Ninth and Tenth Amendments further establish it as a right retained or reserved to each state. It is the option of each state, not the federal government (merely the creature or agent), as to whether it shall remain in the Union or whether it will withdraw. The right of secession was almost universally accepted until Lincoln came up with a new theory of the Constitution - based on a treatise on the Constitution, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, written in 1833 by then Supreme Court associate Justice Joseph Story. [It should be noted that Story's treatise was highly criticized by leading constitutional experts of the day - including Henry St. George Tucker, Sr., John Randolph Tucker, Abel Parker Upshur, James Kent, and John C. Calhoun. Calhoun was revered as an expert on the Constitution and perhaps even more "Jeffersonian" than Jefferson himself.]New Hampshire's constitution of 1792 contains very strong words reserving its sovereign powers as a state. In 1798, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison circulated the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions among the states. These resolutions strongly supported the Doctrine of States Rights and thus also the right of secession. Together these resolutions became known as the "Principles of '98."The Kentucky Resolution, the work of Thomas Jefferson, asserted States Rights in very strong terms:(Kentucky Resolutions or Kentucky Resolves of 1799)The Virginia Resolution, the work of James Madison, asserted States Rights also in very strong terms; perhaps stronger:(Virginia Resolutions or Virginia Resolves of 1798)The doctrines of Nullification, Interposition, and Secession are all rights reserved to the states under Natural Law (the Law of Nature and God's Law) and by the US Constitution (both implicitly by the limited nature of the delegations of power to the federal government, and expressly by the Tenth Amendment).None of the states disagreed with the "Principles of '98" (which, by the way, were articulated to resist the unconstitutional Alien & Sedition Acts, signed into law by President John Adams, which were gross violations of several of the Bill of Rights, but most notably the First Amendment).The New England states threatened secession on five occasions: (1) In 1803 because they feared the Louisiana Purchase would dilute their political power; (2) In 1807 because the Embargo Act was unfavorable to their commerce; (3) In 1812, over the admission of Louisiana as a state; (4) In 1814 (the Hartford Convention) because of the War of 1812; and (5) In 1814, over the annexation of Texas (which had seceded from Mexico). Additionally, many New England abolitionists favored secession because the Constitution allowed slavery. From 1803 to 1845, anytime that New England felt that their political power or commercial power might suffer, they threatened secession. Yet when the Southern states did the same, a war was initiated to force them to remain in the Union against their wishes.As early as 1825, the right of secession was taught at West Point. William Rawle's View of the Constitution, which was used as a text at West Point in 1825 and 1826 (and thereafter as a reference), specifically taught that secession was a right of each state. Rawle was a friend of both George Washington and Benjamin Franklin and his 1825 text was highly respected and used at many colleges. A subsequent text by James Kent maintained the same position and was used at West Point until the end of the war in 1865. Several Union and Confederate generals were at West Point during the time Rawle's text was used. Rawle even spelled out the procedure for a state to secede, explaining:The right of secession was very well-stated by none other than Congressman Abraham Lincoln himself in 1848: "Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable and most sacred right, a right which we hope and believe is to liberate the world."That same year, Lincoln further stated:But in 1861, Lincoln adopted a view of secession more expedient to holding the Southern states in the Union against their will. He discovered the theory that Supreme Court associate Justice Joseph Story concocted in his 1833 Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, asserting that there was an American nation in the minds of the people before the States were formed. This humbuggery had been strengthened by Daniel Webster's eloquent but disingenuous and speeches to Congress, claiming that the Constitution was not a compact.So, Lincoln characterized the orderly, democratic Secession Conventions of South Carolina and the Gulf States, conducted in accordance with Rawle's treatise on the Constitution, and carried out step-by-step in the same manner as the states when they declared their independence from Great Britain and formed the United States of America, as a rebellion perpetrated by a small minority and proceeded on a path that every member of his Cabinet meant war.As to the question of whether Secession is legal today, the answer is yes. Again, the right is an inherent and natural right, seared into our history by example (secession from Great Britain), implied by the very limited nature of the general government created by the Constitution and the limited powers delegated to it under that document, and expressly reserved to the states by the Tenth Amendment. Lincoln's government may have waged a war to somehow reclassify the nature of the conduct of the Southern states in 1860-61 ("rebellion" rather than secession) in order to force those states back into the Union, but its actions cannot change the fact that those states exercised a natural and inherent sovereign right. The Constitution was never amended to prohibit that right to a State and despite attempts to judicially remove it, as well requiring the Southern states to include such a prohibition in their amended state constitutions (in order for them to be "re-admitted" to the Union that Lincoln said they never left), such actions are merely exercises in futility; they are extra-constitutional actions that lack authority or power of enforcement. The right of a people of self-determination, as it applies to government, can never be legislated, decreed, or written away. It is an inalienable right, having its place among the other Laws of Nature and among God's Law.--- This article is based, in good part, on Leonard "Mike" Scrugg's book: THE UN-CIVIL WAR: SHATTERING THE HISTORICAL MYTHS (Chapter 6, Constitutional Issues and the Un-Civil War). The purpose of this article and the reason for relying so heavily on Mr. Scruggs' book is to get the reader interested not only in the topic at hand but also to be motivated to purchase and read his most excellent book in its entirety and then to share the information with others!Leonard "Mike" Scrugg's, THE UN-CIVIL WAR: SHATTERING THE HISTORICAL MYTHS (Chapter 6, Constitutional Issues and the Un-Civil War), 2011, Universal Media (Asheville, NC).Walter Williams, "States Have a Historical Right to Secede," Columbia Tribune, April 25, 2009. Referenced at: http://www.columbiatribune.com/02023ee6-5191-5fd7-85a8-b533bfab9c2e.html [The section on the Rhode Island, Virginia, and New York Resumption Clauses - included at the time that these states adopted the US Constitution - is taken entirely from Mr. Williams' article] After the subprime crisis, vulture funds swept into the hardest-hit areas and bought thousands of foreclosed-upon homes at firesale prices and floated bonds based on the expected returns from the rents they'd be able to charge in an America with the lowest levels of home-ownership in modern history. To keep the bond-ratings high (and to support the derivative bonds that hang off of those bonds), these Wall Street landlords have raised rents to historic highs and figured out how to evict everyone, demonstrating to bond-raters that these houses could be flipped onto the market and sold at the drop of a hat, should the winds shift. In AFR Report: Wall Street and Single Family Rentals, researchers for the Americans for Financial Reform run the numbers on 200,000 single-family homes that are owned by private equity landlords in 13 states a small, but representative sample of all the homes these Wall Street behemoths own. They find that every factor that makes these homes sound investments also makes them miserable slums. To save money on maintenance, corporate landlords have commissioned how-to videos that explain to their tenants how to rewire their own nonfunctional electric outlets and fix their own plumbing. Steady flows to the bondholders are guaranteed by a raft of sky-high, non-negotiable "fees" for customary rental amenities, and corporate landlords systematically exploit legal loopholes in order to raise rents by 25% or more on no notice. What's more, these corporate landlords are subsidized by the taxpayer, thanks to loan-backing from Fannie and Freddie. The companies also reported maximizing profits through what the report terms "fee gouging" and shifting maintenance costs onto tenants. In addition to producing a series of DIY maintenance videos, covering topics such as "how to fix outlets that don't work," Invitation Homes began charging "pet rent" a special monthly fee on top of both pet deposits and regular, human rent. In a 2017 earnings call with investors, Invitation Homes reported that pet rents accounted for $1.5 million in additional corporate income. Tenants profiled in the report also alleged that they had been threatened with eviction after reporting maintenance issues. One renter claimed that just five days after filing a complaint over a sewage leak caused by broken pipes, he received a 60-day notice to vacate from Starwood Waypoint. AFR Report: Wall Street and Single Family Rentals [Americans for Financial Reform] You Think Your Landlord Is Bad? Try Renting From Wall Street [Rebecca Burns/The Intercept] News / National by Farai Shawn Matiashe Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Member of Parliament Priscilla Misihairambwi has called for President Emmerson Mnangagwa to disclose the circumstances surrounding Operation Restore Legacy in November last year.Speaking at the Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (ZESN) elections debate session held at a local hotel in Harare recently, Misiharambwi said Zimbabweans have a right to know precisely what happened in November last year."Mnangagwa needs to come to parliament to explain the circumstances around the November 2017 coup. I have a motion before parliament to summon him," she said.Misiharambwi said Zimbabweans do not know if people were killed and if women were raped.The comments by Misiharambwi come after speculations by most people that human rights were violated during Operation Restore Legacy.Self-exiled Professor Jonathan Moyo recently posted on his micro blogging twitter claiming that there were quite a number of killings, including torture and rape a few days the army took over in November.Responding to the statements by Moyo's allegations, a prolific writer Petinna Gappah said Moyo is not a reliable source."Moyo has been in and out of Zanu-PF and everything that he has said cannot be taken as truth. Despite the fact that I revere him, his unsubstantiated tweets cannot be taken as truth," said Gappah.When people began to speculate and propound theories surrounding the 2017 November coup the Mnangagwa administration has not yet come out to the mass either confirming or dismissing the allegations.From the day Mnangagwa was sworn in, he is yet to address parliament on issues and circumstances surrounding Operation Restore Legacy.In November last year Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) under the leadership of the then ZDF Commander General Constantino Chiwenga (Rtd) stepped in to "cleanse" the criminals around former President Robert Mugabe.This political development led to the removal of Mr Mugabe and it cleared the way for Mnangagwa ascendency to power.When things returned to normalcy the country witnessed arrest and sacking of individuals allegedly aligned to the G40-a faction that was led by former First Lady Grace Mugabe.Some of these individuals include former Zanu-PF Commissar Saviour Kasukuwere, former Finance Minister Ignatius Chombo and former Minister of Youth Kudzai Chipanga. News / National by Staff reporter Vice President Kembo Dugish Campbell Mohadi has appealed to all Zimbabweans to rally behind the new government which strongly believes that engagement and servant leadership will help the country attain its former glory.Mohadi said this during a party in Gwanda today, to celebrate his recent elevation to the presidium.The colourful event that was graced by senior government officials and Zanu PF party officials, traditional leaders, the business community among others presented Vice President Mohadi with an opportunity to unpack the vision of the new political dispensation and explain the role of Zimbabweans in getting the country moving again.Mohadi said they are aware that without the support of Zimbabweans, the government will not succeed in its quest to rebuild the economy hence its emphasis on servant leadership.The Vice President who is also responsible for administering the Peace and Reconciliation Portfolio underscored the need for peace and unity to continue prevailing if the national development agenda is to be realised.Matabeleland South's political leadership said the ascendency of Mohadi to the presidium is a great honour to the province.The occasion also saw representatives of various provinces and organisations delivering solidarity messages while well-wishers showered Vice President Mohadi with presents.As expected at a party, guests were treated to a feast and a cake while various artists kept the gathering entertained with their polished performances. News / National by Simbarashe Sithole Two self-proclaimed Guruve sex worker were arraigned before Guruve magistrate on Thursday for allegedly assaulting a man who reportedly peeped through a window when one of them was sleeping with a client.Blessing Maluku and Roseline Gayai pleaded not guilty to assaulting a male complainant only identified as Mainini.Guruve magistrate Mr Artwel Sanyatwe granted the duo free bail and the matter was remanded to 25 January for continuation of trial.The court heard that in the previous week, Maluku booked a client at Executive bar in Guruve for an afternoon quickie.The complainant saw the sex worker and her client going to conduct their business and he followed unnoticed.When Maluku was entertaining her client, Mainini was peeping through the window. He was subsequently caught by Gayai who confronted him for his actions before inviting Maluku who stormed out half dressed.The pair allegedly meted instant justice on drunken Mainini who then filed a police report leading to the sex workers' arrest.Ms Spiwe Makarichi represented the state. Opinion / Columnist The truth really hurts, hey! That is the sad part of reality ,we would rather bury our heads in the sand and pretend all is well.The US President, Trump ,has called Africa a shithole and we are livid. Yes,we are supposed to defend our mother continent as our leaders always emphasize on our sovereignty, hard won lndependance, children of the soil! I could go on and on .The people we should be pointing our fingers are not the Trumps but our African leaders save for a few individuals. The rest are a bunch of thugs masquerading as leaders who do not even know the meaning of good governance.A good example is our deposed dictator,Robert Mugabe, for 37 years he ruled Zimbabwe with an iron fist.What did he do in all those years apart from destroying roads he found intact,healthy institutions he found with machinery and medicines,lndustries he found operating at maximum capacity?After the protracted liberation war people from all walks of life had great hopes.All these were dashed by one individual and his henchmen, one of whom has assumed the echelons of power.The fact that its told by a whiteman hurts some people but that is the brutal truth.How do we explain the reason for more than 2 million people that have left Zimbabwe for neighbouring countries, Europe, Australia and North America? Zimbabweans are now dotted around the world because of destructive Zanu pf policies. lndustries are now just steel structures which need a miracle to start off again.How do we explain about African migrants capsizing in the Mediterranean waters while trying to reach Europe? Tell me now about Africans being held like slaves in Libya? This all points to African leaders who cant take care of people they are supposed to provide simple basic things in life. They loot funds meant for development to buy massive apartments in foreign lands. They stash stolen loot in foreign banks while seeking medical treatment in far off countries and send their children to expensive schools.They have destroyed all infrastructure such that there is nothing to talk about .Hospitals have broken down equipment and no medicines.Trump is spot on we are a shithole. We have all the minerals but our leaders use these for self enrichment. Imagine US$15 billion of diamond revenue disappeared in Zimbabwe and no one is accountable! In Africa we glorify thieves instead of real business individuals. Strive Masiyiwa, Econet founder is not embraced in Zimbabwe while we see fat crooks boasting of buying sneakers in the US with ill gotten money.The bagging hand of our leaders continues to grow in length so they dip their fingers into aid funds.While I was hurt by Trump's remarks I had to accept the truth.Recently the new Zimbabwe President gave chiefs twin cabs to navigate their rural terrain !Hospitals need equipment, ambulances and so on but to him staying in power is guaranteed by this "simple gesture". God have mercy .Cry my beloved Africa. Opinion / Columnist Mischievous elements in the political circles in Zimbabwe have worked around the clock to put lipstick on a pig. They have described a clear coup d'etat as the new era, new dispensation or bloodless correction. They have even claimed that genocidist Mnangagwa is "God sent". Perhaps an alien from another world would believe this nonsense but not Matebeles.Surrounding oneself with military men who have ambitions for political power, fresh from deposing another genocidist president is itself a recipe for another "bloodless"coup, or whatever they call it.You want political power in Zimbabwe but you are unpopular? No problem just be friends with the army generals and all shall be well.They can try every trick to hoodwink Mthwakazi, but it will as usual fail. Even the world is never convinced that what happened on 15 November 2017 was not a military coup d'etat. Hence coup plotters are on a panic campaign around the country(Zimbabwe) and internationally to explain themselves as the consequences of "Coup not a Coup" start to biteNow, look the scarce available resources in the country will be channelled in a goose chase, funding these self explanatory rallies and also Mnangagwa's foreign trips on a mission to buy the face of the world leaders to legitimise their so called "bloodless" coup. This shows without any doubt that the coup plotters are guilt cautious. If one ascends to power legal, really there's no need for these self explanatory foreign trips or rallies.His insatiable appetite for power has led him to set the wrong precedent not in Zimbabwe only but SADC and the whole of Africa. Thus bringing Zimbabwe down from a failed state without its own currency and failed economy to a new low of successive coups and lawlessness.Having said that, the Junta, less than three moths in power, has bared its gukurahundi and Shona supremacist ugly teeth towards Mthwakazi as we watch intently and silently.1) In a day light show of tribalism and promotion of Shona supremacy: the coup plotters allowed its untouchable tribalistic Shona crowd to boo world acclaimed jazz musician Jeys Marabini out of stage. His crime being Matebele and singing in Ndebele language at Mnangagwa inaugural event. Believe it or not, no one amongst the Junta officials made an effort to condemn the tribal intolerant crowd. How can they when the one being inaugurated believes that Matebeles are cockroaches that need extermination using DDT.2) Positions in the presidium follow an unquestionable tribal line which has been the case since 1980. President being Mnangagwa (Shona). 1st Vice President, Constastino Chiwenga (Shona), 2nd VP which is a dummy position aimed at buying the face of Matebeles and the world was given to Kembo Mohadi (Matebele). Guess what! MPs in a Shona dominated parliament have fallen over each other to congratulate Chiwenga for being appointed as 1st Vice President but Kembo Mohandi was ignored. That's when tribalists congratulate their own!3) The coup plotters have dismissed Matabeleland genocide. Mnangagwa's chief advisor, Christopher Mutsvangwa said talking about Matabeleland genocide is "irresponsible". Mnangagwa himself who once said Gukurahundi is a closed chapter is now saying bygones should be bygones. That is what the cruel Gukurahundist believe, never mind the much talked about reconciliation it seeks to sanitise and save the genocide perpetrators than heal the victims. We have watched as MRP youth were beaten in public and arrested for talking about Matabeleland genocide.4) Former President, Mugabe has been awarded a mouth watering exit package while former Vice President, Mphoko had to consult lawyers to negotiate on his behalf because of his Matebele origins.5) The white famers have been promised their land back but the military junta is mum on Matabeleland grievances some of which are Matabeleland statehood restoration, marginalisation and oppression.The military junta needs to be told that the people of Matabeleland have the right to self determination and self defense.Zimbabwe a failed state,Zimbabwe of lawlessness and chaos,Zimbabwe of genocides,Zimbabwe of human rights abuses,Zimbabwe for corruption and Zimbabwe of military coups.Matebeles are too alert to fall into the "new era" mantra.Mugabe must go! Yes, Mugabe has finally gone but the Shona supremacist system remains. This is the deep seated system involved in anti- Matebele conspiracies such as The evil 1979 Grand Plan, Matabeleland genocide which continues covertly to date and the 14 November Zimbabwe military coup d'etat.This saves as an appeal to the ever alet and much wiser Mthwakazi, not to be fooled by thesewolves in sheep skin.Mthwakazi Omuhle, khaliphanini njenge zinyoka kodwa libemnene njengamaJuba. Abaziyo bathi: OLUNGAZIWAYO ALUTHEZWAIlotshwe NguWilson Mahlafuna and Khohliso Maqhoba Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Sao Paulo, January 19, 2018Authorities in the Brazilian state of Goias must undertake a thorough investigation into the murder of local radio show host Jefferson Pureza Lopes, and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Lopes was killed on the night of January 17 when two men drove on motorcycles to his house in Edealina, a town of around 4,000 people southwest of Brasilia, and shot him dead as he was sitting near a half-open door watching television, police and news reports said. Friends and colleagues told the local news site Globo and CPJ that Lopes, who was frequently critical of local politicians on his radio show, faced threats and other forms of intimidation for more than a year before his murder. According to the radio stations director, Cristina Leandro, Lopes reported the threats to police, but the court cases stymied for procedural reasons. Lopes is the second journalist killed in Brazil this week, following the murder of Ueliton Bayer Brizonin in Amazonias Rondonia state on January 16. This is the second murder of a journalist in one week and serves as a stark reminder of the dangers Brazilian reporters face in rural areas, CPJ Deputy Executive Director Robert Mahoney said from New York. Brazilian authorities must swiftly investigate the killing of Jefferson Pureza Lopes and bring those responsible to justice. State police told CPJ officers from five different groups have been sent to the area to help with the investigation, but they refused to release further details. Because he works on the radio he has enemies in the city but we havent yet been able to determine who the killer was, Queops Barreto, the state police officer leading the investigation, told Globo TV. His [Lopes] program was controversial but that doesnt mean it was connected to his assassination, Barreto added. This will all be cleared up through investigation. Lopes, 39, worked as a radio presenter for Beira Rio FM, a station based in Edealina, that is owned by a political rival to Edealinas current mayor, a police spokesperson told CPJ. According to the spokesperson who was not authorized to give his name, Lopes frequently criticized the incumbent on air. Leandro confirmed to CPJ that Lopes was a sharp and constant critic of local politicians, and devoted much of his daily one-hour show, Voz do Povo (Voice of the People), to highlighting what he saw as corruption or poor administration by local politicians. Marlon Queiroz, Lopes co-host and a station DJ, told the Globo TV station that Lopes regularly received threats. For two years now hes been getting threats, daily threats via WhatsApp messages saying Im going to end your family, that kind of thing, Queiroz said. In fall 2016, Leandro told CPJ Lopes house was shot up. Several months later after Lopes had been criticizing a local politician on air, her husband put a gun to Lopes head and told him to stop, according to Leandro. The building where the station is based was also set on fire in November, the second such arson attack in a year, Leandro said. The station has been off the air since the fire but was due to go back online within 15 days, Leandro said. Those plans are now in doubt, she said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram New York, January 19, 2018The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Pakistani authorities to immediately reverse the order issued to close the Islamabad bureau of Radio Mashaal, the Pashto-language service of U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). The Interior Ministry today ordered the offices immediate closure in light of recommendations made by the countrys intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, according to news reports. Radio Mashaal, a news website and radio station, broadcasts from Prague, Czech Republic, but has a bureau and some staff based in Islamabad, according to RFE/RL. According to RFE/RL, the ministry said in its closure order that Radio Mashaals programs were found against the interests of Pakistan and are in line with [a] hostile intelligence agencys agenda. The move comes at a time when relations between Pakistan and the United States have frayed, RFE/RL reported. The order to close Radio Mashaals office in Islamabad is a draconian move by Pakistani authorities and a direct threat to press freedom in the country, Steven Butler, CPJs Asia Program Coordinator, said from Washington D.C. Radio Mashaal is an important source of information in Pakistan and should be allowed to continue operating in the country without further harassment from the government. CPJ did not receive an immediate response from the Islamabad police chief to an email inquiry, and was unable to reach the interior ministrys media director via phone. The order also accused the station of portraying Pakistan as a hub of terrorism; propagating the idea of Pakistan as a failed state; showing Pashtun populations in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan as disenchanted with the state; and distorting facts. In its news story, RFE/RL President Thomas Kent said RFE/RL is extraordinarily concerned by the closure of Radio Mashaals office in Islamabad and is urgently seeking more information about the Pakistani authorities intentions, adding that the station is an essential source of reliable, balanced information for our Pakistani audience. Government launches Liveability Index to rate 116 Indian cities Published: January 20, 2018 The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban affairs (MoHUA) launched the Liveability index to rate 116 Indian cities. Liveability index is tool that aims to measure quality of life in 99 smart cities, capital cities and those with a population of over one million. It will be funded by the World Bank and ranking of these cities is expected to be ready by June 2018. Key Facts The index is set of indicators to assess the liveability standards in cities. It will measure the quality of life in 116 major cities including capital cities and those with population over one million. It will assess cities on comprehensive set of 79 parameters. Marks scored will decide the quantum of incentive. These 79 parameters (57 core indicators and 22 supporting indicators) are based on four broad pillars: physical (weightage 45%), institutional (25%), social (25%) and economic (5%). These parameters includes local governance, education, employment, social infrastructure, health, safety, physical infrastructure such as housing, availability of open spaces, security, land use, energy, availability of water, solid waste management, pollution, etc. IPSOS Research Private Limited in alliance with Athena Infonomics India Private Limited and Economist Group Limited were selected for assessing the liveability indices in 116 cities. They were selected through an international bidding process under World Bank-funded Capacity Building for Urban Development (CBUD) program. This assessment will be conducted along with Economic Intelligence Unit of The Economist, a London-based weekly that has already developed a liveability ranking for 140 cities globally. Significance The rating will help cities attain a liveable city status, get them more investments and improve tourism. It will also serve as a knowledge base for taking policy decisions and for planning. The index marks shift to data driven approach to urbanisation and promote competitive spirit among cities. These indicators are organised in 15 distinct categories, designed for measuring various institutional, social, economic and physical aspects that affect quality of life of citizens and determine the liveability of city. Month: Current Affairs - January, 2018 Category: Reports & Indexes Current Affairs Topics: Liveability index Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs National Urbanisation Latest E-Books TWIN FALLS Education and the economy are top priorities for Idahoans in 2018, a statewide survey released this week shows. The third annual Idaho Public Policy Survey, published by Boise State Universitys School of Public Service, indicates that Idaho residents are mostly optimistic about the future of the state. They largely favor cutting Idahos sales tax on groceries over an income tax reduction, and they say the economy should have a greater focus on technology and innovation going forward. The survey of 1,000 adults, conducted in early December, draws from all regions of the state, with every county represented according to population. Answers from south-central Idaho respondents hailing from Twin Falls, Jerome, Gooding, Lincoln, Blaine, Minidoka, and Cassia Counties provide a snapshot of public opinion on several key issues. When it comes to education, survey results show that Idahoans arent happy with their schools. Just 33 percent of respondents described the quality of education in K-12 schools as good or excellent, with 25 percent deeming it poor. Respondents showed more optimism when asked to rate the quality of public schools in their own areas: 44 percent described their local schools as excellent or good and just 17 percent as poor. But the survey suggests Magic Valley residents are less satisfied with their schools than others in the state. 38 percent said local schools were excellent or good, while 27 percent nearly a third of respondents described their public schools as poor. In a year when tax cuts are a priority for state legislators, the majority of Idahoans would rather see the 6 percent sales tax on groceries eliminated than income tax cuts. 59 percent of respondents said theyd prefer a grocery tax cut, compared to the 28 percent who would rather reduce income taxes. Magic Valley residents favored a grocery tax cut at even higher rates: 73 percent of those surveyed said theyd rather eliminate a tax on food, and just 19 percent favored an income tax reduction. Overall, it seems Idahoans are optimistic about the future of the state and its economy: 57 percent of statewide respondents said they felt the state was generally headed in the right direction, and 85 percent predicted that the economy would either improve or stay the same over the next two years. More divisive is the question of what that economy should look like. 57 percent of respondents across the state said Idaho should focus on technology and innovation, while 34 percent said the economy should center around historic strengths, such as farming. Magic Valley residents were more divided: 48 percent said the state should focus on tech and innovation, while 47 percent favored historic strengths. MeitY launches Cyber Surakshit Bharat initiative Published: January 20, 2018 The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has launched Cyber Surakshit Bharat initiative to strengthen cybersecurity ecosystem in India in line Governments vision for a Digital India. It was launched in association with National e-Governance Division (NeGD) and industry partners. Cyber Surakshit Bharat Cyber Surakshit Bharat is first public-private partnership of its kind. It will leverage the expertise of the IT industry in cybersecurity. The founding partners include leading IT companies such as Microsoft, Intel, WIPRO, Redhat and Dimension Data. Its knowledge partners include Cert-In, NIC, NASSCOM and FIDO Alliance and premier consultancy firms Deloitte and EY. Objective: Spread awareness about cybercrime and building capacity for safety measures for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and frontline IT staff across all government departments. Operations: It will be operated on three principles of awareness, education and enablement. It will include an awareness program on importance of cybersecurity. It will also include a series of workshops on the best practices and enablement of the officials with cybersecurity health tool kits to manage and mitigate cyber threats. Training programmes: It will conduct series of training programmes across country in the next six months. It will be attended by CISOs and technical officials from central government, state governments and UTs, PSBs, PSUs and defence forces, defence PSUs and technical arms of Air Force, Army and Navy. Month: Current Affairs - January, 2018 Topics: Cyber Surakshit Bharat Digital India Digital Security Government Schemes National Latest E-Books , : - , The Chinese government uses extraordinary measures to surveille and persecute its Uighur Muslim minority in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Chinese authorities have justified their crackdown on Uighurs, particularly those who practice their Muslim faith, by citing concerns over the three evils of ethnic separatism, religious extremism, and violent terrorism. The government continues to closely monitor and restrict the movements of Uighurs, conduct indoctrination sessions, and confine thousands to re-education camps in its efforts to counteract what it considers religious extremism in Xinjiang. According to press reports, Urumqi, the capital city of the region may be one of the most surveilled places on earth. Security checkpoints with identification scanners monitor the train station and roads in and out of the city. Police use hand-held devices and software they require individuals to install, to search smartphones for encrypted chat apps and other material deemed suspicious. Under Xinjiang Communist Party Secretary Chen Quanguo, the police presence in the region has skyrocketed. Last year local police departments began ordering cameras capable of creating three-dimensional face images as well as DNA sequencers and voice-pattern analysis systems according to documents uncovered by Human Rights Watch. Chinese authorities also collect personal information from Uighurs, asking about respondents prayer habits and if they have contacts abroad. But worst of all are the mass disappearances of Uighurs in Xinjiang since the beginning of 2017. Tens of thousands of the missing are believed to have been sent to a vast network of detention facilities, including patriotic re-education camps, across the region. Among those singled out are Uighurs who have studied abroad. Indeed, the Chinese government has sought the forcible repatriation of Uighur Muslims from foreign countries, many of whom sought asylum in those countries on the grounds of religious persecution. For students who choose not to voluntarily return, the Chinese government has sought for other countries to forcibly repatriate those Uighur Muslim students, many of whom had requested asylum from those countries on the grounds of religious persecution. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has drawn attention to increased restrictions on the ability of Uighurs in China to express and practice their religion. The State Departments annual Human Rights Report also has highlighted repression of Uighurs freedoms of speech, movement, association, and assembly. In a bid to protect the rights of citizens, the founders of the United States included in the Constitution, the legal framework of the new government, ten Amendments: three to protect individual rights and seven to ensure justice. They are collectively named the Bill of Rights. The Fifth Amendment defines constitutional limits on the government's prosecution of persons accused of crimes. The Amendments first clause requires that one may not be tried for a serious crime unless he or she is first indicted by a grand jury. The grand jury, an old common-law English institution, acted as a sort of filter, protecting the accused from unreasonable or punitive prosecutions by the English monarchy. The Framers of the Constitution chose to retain the Grand Jury system to protect the accused from overzealous prosecution by the central government. The second clause protects the accused from repeated trials for the same offence, so-called double jeopardy. This means that once an individual is found to be innocent of a crime, he or she cannot be harassed through the courts by multiple prosecutions for the same alleged offense. The third clause protects the accused from being forced to testify against him or herself in criminal cases. During trial, a witness may plead the fifth Amendment, thus declining to answer questions where the answers might incriminate him or her. The fourth, or Due Process clause, guarantees fair treatment through the judicial system for all persons. It requires the government to respect all rights, guarantees, and protections afforded by the Constitution and all applicable laws before the government can deprive any person of life, liberty, or property. Finally, the Just Compensation clause declares that although the federal government does have the right to take private property for public use, it must pay the owner of that property fair market value at the time of the taking. The Fifth Amendment prevents excesses of the courts, something that many of the Constitutions Framers had witnessed under British rule. It prevents forcing the accused into self-incrimination through intimidation, and guarantees fair treatment by the courts. In the words of mid-20th century Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, The Fifth Amendment is an old friend and a good friend, one of the great landmarks in men's struggle to be free of tyranny, to be decent and civilized. President Donald Trump recently welcomed Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to the White House, where he noted that Kazakhstan has made great strides since gaining independence in 1991. In the years since Kazakhstans independence, the United States and Kazakhstan worked together to rid Kazakhstan of nuclear weapons and secure dangerous radiological materials. Kazakhstan continues to be a valued partner in nuclear non-proliferation. Presidents Trump and Nazarbayev discussed efforts to achieve a Korean peninsula free of nuclear weapons. Together, said President Trump, we are determined to prevent the North Korean regime from threatening the world with nuclear devastation. President Trump also thanked President Nazarbayev for his assurances that Kazakhstan will continue to provide critical access for supplies and equipment used by U.S. troops fighting ISIS and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The U.S. particularly appreciates Kazakhstans work to train and educate Afghan civilian specialists, and Kazakhstans pledge of additional support to bolster Afghan security. American businesses are currently among the largest investors in Kazakhstan, particularly in the energy sector.The U.S. supports Kazakhstans efforts to become a top 30 global economy by 2050. That includes working to improve Kazakhstans business environment, which will create new opportunities for American companies operating there, and provide additional jobs in both countries. President Trump stressed the importance of fair and reciprocal trade for both countries. The United States values Kazakhstans participation in the Central Asia Trade Forum and in the Central Asia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement. Both countries are working together to bring U.S. products and services to the Kazakhstani people across a range of industries, including commercial aircraft, railways, medical services, technology, and energy. Working in common cause, we can advance greater opportunity for citizens in both of our countries, said President Trump. We want a strong, sovereign, and thriving future for Kazakhstan, and for the peace-loving nations of the world. Tehrans outspoken MP, Mahmoud Sadeghi has responded to threats by the Islamic Republics Prisons Agency. Instead of threatening [us] let the legislators visit prisons, Sadeghi has tweeted. Many legislators have repeatedly requested permission to visit Tehrans notorious Evin prison. Immediately after Sadeghi revealed that a protester who died behind bars had earlier told his relatives that he and other prisoners were forced to take pills that made them sick, the Islamic Republics Prison Agency threatened him with being legally charged. Sadeghi, who is renowned for not mincing his words, noted in another tweet, Its good for the Prisons Agency to explain its responsibility concerning a healthy person it places behind bars, but later delivers his dead body to his family. Tehrans MP was the first person who disclosed the case of detainees forced to take pills in Evin prison, in Tehran. Relatives of a prisoner, who later died behind bars, have announced that he had told them on several telephone conversations that the officials of the prison forced him and other prisoners to take pills that made them sick, he wrote. The Prisons Agencys public relations department on Thursday, January 18, denied in a statement that prisoners in Evin, were forced to take pills that made them sick. These unfounded and imaginary claims amount to spreading lies and disturbing public opinion, the Prisons Agency said in a statement, threatening, Those who present such claims will be sued and legally charged as soon as possible in the Revolution and Public Courts. Earlier, the Islamic Republics Prosecutor-General, mid-ranlking clergy Mohammad Jafar Montazeri had maintained that a 23-year old prisoner, Sina Ghanbari, who died in custody in Tehran, had been a drug addict and committed suicide in Evin. The judiciary spokesman, another mid-ranking clergy, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei has gone even further, saying that Sina Ghanbaris suicide has been documented on CCTV, but so far no forage has been made public. Islamic Republics officials have repeated the same explanation for another young prisoner, 23-year old peddler, Vahid Heydari who died in custody in a police station in city of Arak, central Iran. Heydaris pro bono lawyer, Mohammad Najafi categorically denied the claim, insisting that his client was not an addict and did not commit suicide. Days after these comments, Najafi was arrested on Monday, January 15, while leaving his house. Many defenders and activists across the world, including UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran, have repeatedly called upon the authorities in Tehran to present the video evidence they claim to have. There have been also reports, recently circulated on social media concerning the deaths of other protesters in custody, including Saro Ghahremani in Sanandaj and Mohesn Adeli in Dezful, but the Islamic Republics authorities have dismissed them as unfounded. Meanwhile, a renowned lawyer and former prisoner of conscience, Nasrin Sotoudeh has called for launching an independent committee to look into these contradictory reports and remarks. In the meantime, based on comments made by the Islamic Republics authorities, MPs and state-run TV reports, 25 people have lost their lives while protesting poverty, unemployment, dictatorship and corruption. Reportedly, more than forty MPs have sent parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, asking him to assign an independent group to investigate recent death of protesters in custody. Furthermore, President Hassan Rouhanis deputy for parliamentary affairs, Hossein Ali Amiri disclosed that 43 MPs have written a letter, asking the president to help release female detainees of recent widespread uprising. Amiri also said that Rouhanis administration is following the case of the detainees as far as it is allowed to do so; reflecting limitations the elected government has when it comes to matters of suppressing dissent. There are articles in the Islamic Republics Constitution that should be revised, the most prominent Sunni religious leader in Iran has said, noting, Peoples problems and hardship are not limited to economic matters. In his Friday speech, January 19, the head of dar-ul-uloom (seminary) of Zahedan, Molavi Abdolhamid reiterated, People are not only under economic pressures; the political and social pressures should be addressed [as well], and all people of Iran should live freely according to the Constitution. Zahedan is a predominantly Sunni-Baluch city and Molavi Abdolhamid is also the citys Friday Prayer Leader. In an earlier speech on January 5, Molavi Abdolhamid had also insisted, It is necessary to change laws that cannot solve peoples problems and that obstruct solutions. The senior Sunni clergyman made the comments while the Islamic Republic experienced the largest protests against its ruling system. The protests that broke out on December 28 in Shiites holiest city in Iran, Mashhad and soon spread to more than 100 cities and turned into noisy demonstrations, demanding a regime change. Twenty five protesters died and more than 3,700 arrested during the protest. Referring to peoples complaints, the Zahedan Friday Prayer Leader said, Unemployment and lack of means to make ends meet are also problems that authorities should address. Furthermore, he noted, Freedom of faith which is guaranteed by the constitution and peoples demands should also be respected. The prominent Sunni leader cautioned, Discrimination, based on peoples religion has to end. The comment echoed his remarks two weeks earlier, when he said, The Sunnis demand an end to discrimination which they have suffered [for almost] forty years [when the Islamic republic was established]. Apparently, he was referring to Article 12 of the Islamic Republics Constitution that stipulates, The official religion of Iran is Islam and the Twelver Jafari school and this principle will remain eternally immutable. Furthermore, according to Article 115, only people who belong to Shiite Twelver Jafari denomination are qualified to be supreme leader and president. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 20 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: A meeting of the ad hoc working group on the legal status of the Caspian Sea will be held in February, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov said. Khalafov noted that the technical work on the draft convention in English and other texts should be completed. He added that the date of the summit to be held in Kazakhstan on adoption of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea should be determined by the organizing country and agreed by other Caspian states. Prior to that, the summit was planned to be held in the first half of 2018, but everything depends on Kazakhstan, because the country will host the summit, said the deputy foreign minister. Details added (first version posted on 09:51) Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 20 Trend: President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva visited the Alley of Martyrs on the Day of National Mourning to pay tribute to the victims of the bloody January 20 tragedy. The president laid a wreath at the Eternal Flame memorial. The National Anthem of Azerbaijan was also performed by a separate exemplary military orchestra of Azerbaijans Defense Ministry. State and government officials, leaders of religious communities, ambassadors of foreign countries and representatives of international organizations functioning in Azerbaijan also attended the commemoration ceremony. Azerbaijans Prime Minister Artur Rasizade, Chairman of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) Ogtay Asadov and Head of the Presidents Administration Ramiz Mehdiyev also took part in the ceremony. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 20 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: The next meeting on demarcation of the state border between Azerbaijan and Russia will be held after Feb. 20, Azerbaijans Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov said. He noted that firstly wide discussions will be held by chairmen and experts of the Commission. The meeting will be held in Baku; then a ceremony to mark the border with Russia will be held, added the deputy foreign minister. Regarding the border delimitation with Georgia, Khalafov said the date of the meeting is not known yet. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 20 Trend: Azerbaijan has held a minute of silence to pay tribute to the January 20 victims. The movement of traffic and pedestrians in Azerbaijans cities was stopped for a minute to honor the tragedy victims, while the minute of silence was accompanied by horns of ships in the Bay of Baku, metro cars and railway trains. On the night of January 19-20, 1990, 137 people were killed, 744 were injured and 841 were illegally arrested after Soviet troops entered Baku. The Soviet troops also destroyed 200 apartments and houses, 80 cars, including ambulances, and a large number of private and public property. The event was held in front of the UNEC Memorial Complex on the occasion of the 28-th anniversary of the 20-th January activities. Along with the university staff, the family members of student and allumni martyrs participated in the event. At first, the memory of martyrs who had lost their lives for the freedom of the country was commemorated with a minute of silence. The rector of UNEC, professor Adalat Muradov noted that, 20-th January along with being the Day of National Mourning had been written as the day of unity and honour in the history of our people, who fought for the independence of Azerbaijan. Speaking about the political-legal assessement of the 20-th Jnuary events, the rector emphasized that the legal assessment of the events had been given only after coming to the power of the Nationwide Leader Heydar Aliyev. The Great Leader puting his life into danger, on January 21-st, 1990 came to the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan in Moscow and demanded the objective investigation of the taken place tragedy and punishment of the preparators. The rector, stressing that, the memory of the martyrs has always been commemorated at UNEC with respect and dearly, said that he considered them the source of pride of the university. The family members of the eternal students of UNEC, the martyrs Etibar Aliyev and Habil Azizov shared their memories about them. They emphasized that the memorial complex for honour of young-martyrs, desired to be the students of this university from childhood, had been overtoped in the most prominent place of the university, and the UNEC always revered them. The families of martyrs said that the events of 20-th January were the glorious history of the Azerbaijani people written with blood and highly appreciated the care and attention paid by the state towards them. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 19 By Nigar Guliyeva - Trend: Turkey will co-finance socially important EBRD-led projects. A 25 million donor fund agreement was signed by the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek and the President of the EBRD Sir Suma Chakrabarti in Istanbul on Jan.19, in the presence of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Bank reported. This is the first time Turkey has signed a bilateral donor agreement with an international financial institution. President Erdogan, addressing the event, said that the government reform programme and the EBRD's priorities in the country are aligned which provides for solid cooperation. "With the creation of a donor fund, we are taking our relationship to the next level. Turkey wholeheartedly believes that our funds will provide a great return on investment for the benefit of people," he added. President Chakrabarti , in turn, stressed that the EBRD and Turkey open a new chapter in what already is an important relationship. "In addition to being a founding member and a major investment destination for the Bank, Turkey is now also making an important donor contribution to our projects. Donor governments such as Turkey make a vital contribution to our work by providing funds which enhance the impact of our investments. We see Turkeys grant funding as a sign of support for the Banks work and our model of sustainable and inclusive development led by the private sector," he said. The EBRD is one of the biggest investors in the country and since 2009 has invested 10 billion in various sectors of the Turkish economy with 97 per cent of all investments in the private sector. In 2017 alone, the Bank invested 1.6 billion in a record number of 51 projects in Turkey. These projects promote the use of sustainable energy, better infrastructure, greater competitiveness of the private sector (including small firms), deepening of local capital and currency markets, and greater job and training opportunities for women, youth and people in remote areas. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Jan. 20 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at a government meeting outlined the provision of macroeconomic stability, stimulating competition in market economy, increasing investment activity among the key tasks, the Turkmen Dovlet Habarlary state news agency reported Jan. 20. Berdimuhamedov noted the importance of further improvement of activity of financial, economic and banking sectors, statistical agencies and standardization systems. Stressing the importance of introducing international experience in these areas and modernizing the relevant legislative and legal framework, the Turkmen president instructed to implement the plans under unremitting control. According to the message, the countrys Deputy Prime Minister Gochmyrat Myradov spoke about the preparation of a plan on social and economic indicators on ministries and industry authorities of Turkmenistan and working plans on the financial, economic and banking spheres for 2018. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Jan. 20 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: An international exhibition of industrial products, equipment and modern technologies will be held in the exhibition center of Turkmenistans Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Ashgabat from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2, 2018, according to a message of the Chamber. International Fairs Group is a co-organizer of the event. Technical equipment, construction materials, vehicles and equipment for the chemical, energy, oil and gas industries and food enterprises will be showcased at the exhibition. High-level conferences and consultations of international experts will be organized as part of the event. The international exhibition will become a platform for an intensive exchange of experience and a meeting place for representatives of both public and private sectors. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.20 By Nigar Guliyeva Trend: Uzbekistan and Afghanistan have come forward with a joint initiative to hold an international ministerial conference titled "Afghanistan path to a peaceful future" in Tashkent in late March 2018, Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov said at the debates on Central Asia and Afghanistan in the UN Security Council on Jan.19. "The choice in favor of the peace process remains the only solution to the ongoing confrontation for all intra-Afghan forces. Time shows that a direct dialogue between the central government and the main domestic political forces must take place without preconditions, with the predominant role of the Afghans themselves and with the active involvement of the UN," the minister said. Obviously, Kamilov said, peace in Afghanistan will bring tangible benefits to all countries of the vast Eurasian continent, promoting the construction of roads and railways, laying of pipelines, developing regional and trans-regional trade in all directions. The Tashkent meeting would become a logical continuation of the second meeting of the "Kabul Process", scheduled for late February 2018, and consolidate the results achieved within the framework of the common international efforts at various levels, according to Kamilov. He stressed that holding a high-level forum in Tashkent should demonstrate that the "Afghan problem" will not remain in modern history as a precedent of the helplessness and indifference of the world community in countering the challenges and threats common to all mankind. "We see the main goals of the multilateral meeting in Tashkent in agreeing the basic principles of the peaceful settlement in Afghanistan, elaborating a mechanism for "launching" negotiations between the government of Afghanistan and the armed opposition, as well as coordinating international joint actions to support this process," he said. On the outcomes of the conference, it is planned to adopt the Tashkent Declaration, which will define the basic principles and conditions for a peaceful settlement, specify the obligations of the Afghan government and the armed opposition, as well as the international community in terms of launching the negotiation process and its support. The State Duma ratified the protocol to the Agreement between the Governments of the Russian Federation and Kyrgyzstan on the settlement of the republic's debt to Russia on previously granted loans, Kabar reported. In 2012, Russia and Kyrgyzstan concluded an intergovernmental agreement on a phased write-off of Kyrgyzstan's debt, which at that time was $ 488.9 million. In May 2013, Russia wrote off $ 188.9 million, from 2016 to 2017 - another $ 60 million. The protocol on the write-off of the remaining $ 240 million by the Russian side was signed during the visit of then President Almazbek Atambayev to Moscow in June 2017. On Dec. 9, 2017 President Sooronbay Jeenbekov signed the law on writing off this debt to the Russian Federation, which was passed earlier by the country's parliament. As a result of write-offs, the amount of the external debt Kyrgyzstan will decrease by 6.5%. Uzbekistan has provided Tajikistan with discounts for the transit of railway goods on its territory from at the level of 30-50 percent. The Transport Ministry of Tajikistan told NIAT Khovar that Uzbekistan Railways informed about the Ministry on Jan.19. Reportedly, a 40 percent discount relates to the transit of goods across the railway along the Keles-Kudukli route. The discount for the transportation of petroleum products along the Karakalpakstan-Kudukli railway route will be at the level of 30 percent and the discount for the transit of other types of goods along this route 50 percent. Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Jan. 20 By Mamed Dashdemirov Trend: The Seoul City Administration will render technical assistance to the administration of Tashkent to implement the Digital Office system and a system for processing and viewing citizens applications, the head of the state services department at the Seoul administration, Sung Geo Park, told Trend. An agreement on this was concluded during the visit of Seoul administration to Tashkent. The guests became acquainted with technical opportunities of the Electronic Government and Peoples Reception office of the Uzbek president, and with plans for their improvement taking into account new IT solutions. Sung Geo Park said that after getting acquainted with the work of the Peoples Reception office, South Korean experts will develop recommendations for improving its activities, developing an electronic system for citizens appeals, and will also suggest new technical solutions for further improvement of the Electronic Government system. Currently, the Republic of Korea is one of the world leaders in the Electronic Government and Smart City systems. South Korean developments in this field are used in many countries. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 20 By Fatih Karimov Trend: The Iranian governments oil revenues have witnessed an increase by 46.2 percent during the first eight months of the current fiscal year (started March 20, 2017), the countrys Central Bank said in a statement. Iranian administration earned 536.8 trillion rials (each USD makes 36,600 rials) of revenues via sale of oil (including condensate) and oil products during the 8-month period (March 20-Nov. 21), according to the CBI. The figure indicates that the predicted revenues in budget for the 8-month period (767.6 trillion rials) are materialized by 70 percent. The Iranian budget foresees 1,139 trillion rials of oil revenues for government for the current fiscal year (to end on March 2018). The governments incomes from sale of crude oil was 402.4 trillion rials in the 8-month period, 48.8 percent more year-on-year (the predicted revenues based on budget were 675.3 trillion rials). The Iranian administration also earned 103.7 trillion rials in incomes through export of oil products and gas condensate (the predicted revenues based on budget was 60 trillion rials). The figure is 34.3 percent more compared to the 8-month period of preceding year. Iran was exporting 2.5 mb/d of crude oil and gas condensate before sanctions were imposed in 2012, of which 18 percent was supplied to the EU. After 2012, the EU cut Iran oil purchase and Asian countries had to decrease Iranian oil import gradually, which led to a decrease in Iranian oil and gas condensate export to 1.2 mb/d in 2015. After elimination of sanctions in 2016, based on nuclear agreement, Iran resumed its oil exports. Irans crude oil and condensate exports currently stand at about 2.6 million barrels per day (mb/d). Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 20 By Khalid Kazimov Trend: An Iranian transportation official has said that the country will inaugurate Rasht-Qazvin railway segment over the current fiscal year (starting March 20). The Rasht-Qazvin railway will be inaugurated this year, Fars news agency quoted Kheriollah Khademi, the head of Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructure Company of Iran, as saying on Saturday. However, the plans for running passenger trains will be postponed, he added. The railroad is a segment of the International North-South Transport Corridor which is meant to connect Northern Europe with Southeast Asia. The corridor will serve as a link connecting the railways of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia. At the initial stage, it is planned to transport 5 million tons of cargo per year through the corridor and over 10 million tons of cargo in future. Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili has ruled out standing for president in election coming later this year, in comments made on Friday, Agenda reports. Kvirikashvili noted his participation in government efforts in implementing policy platforms as a factor in deciding not to take part in the election. "Given my current position, I, together with the government team, am implementing the platform defining important positive dynamics in the country." "The successful implementation of this platform requires full consolidation and achieving significant results in ongoing activities. Under the circumstances, nominating me as a presidential candidate seems uncalled for and uninteresting to me", said Kvirikashvili in comments on the subject. Kvirikashvili has served as prime minister after being appointed on the position in December 2015, to replace outgoing PM Irakli Garibashvili. The current President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili was elected in the most recent presidential election in 2013. The US government filed on Friday a notice of intent on the website of the Department of Justice to seek death penalty against Brendt A. Christensen of Champaign, Il. charged with kidnapping resulting in death of visiting Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying, Xinhua reported. 28-year-old Christensen is charged with kidnapping resulting in death of visiting Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) on June 9, 2017. The filing follows the decision and directive by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions to seek the death penalty against Christensen. The US government said the circumstances of the offense of kidnapping resulting in death, as charged in count one of the superseding indictment returned on October 3, 2017, are such that, in the event the defendant is convicted of committing the crime, a sentence of death is justified. The superseding indictment alleges that Christensen held Zhang Yingying on June 9, 2017, and used a cellular telephone and Saturn Astra motor vehicle to commit and in furtherance of the commission of the offense; and the kidnapping resulted in the death of Zhang. The notice to seek a sentence of death includes intent factors that allege Christensen acted with intent against the victim; and that his intentional acts of violence resulted in the victim's death. The notice sets forth statutory aggravating factors including that Zhang's death occurred during the commission of a kidnapping; that the offense was committed in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner, which involved torture or serious physical abuse; and that Christensen committed the offense after substantial planning and premeditation. The notice also alleges non-statutory aggravating factors that were not previously asserted, including victim impact evidence related to Zhang's loss and the impact of her death upon her family, friends, and co-workers; the future dangerousness of the defendant; his lack of remorse; other serious acts of violence allegedly committed by Christensen; the vulnerability of the victim due to her small stature and limited ability to communicate in English; and the defendant's alleged attempt to obstruct the investigation by making false statements to investigators, destroying or concealing the victim's remains, and sanitizing the crime scene. UIUC visiting Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying, 26-year-old, went missing on June 9 after she got into a black Saturn Astra about five blocks from where she got off a bus on her way to an apartment complex to sign a lease. Christensen was arrested on June 30 after being caught on tape pointing out people he described as "ideal victims" during a vigil in Zhang's honor. On July 5, US Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long ordered that Christensen remain detained in the custody of the US Marshals Service pending trial. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the UIUC Police Department jointly conducted the investigation. Britain's foreign secretary Boris Johnson has called for Britain and France to be linked by a road bridge, Xinhua reported. Johnson discussed the idea with French President Emmanuel Macron during a British-French summit Thursday. At its narrowest point, the bridge would need to be at least 34 kilometers long, not counting approach roads, according to media reports. Ian Firth, senior vice president at the Institution of Structural Engineers, said on his social media site: "A bridge is entirely feasible. It was a serious contender to the (Channel) tunnel and is even more feasible now. Costly, yes, but so was the tunnel." Firth said combining a bridge with a tunnel could avoid any impact on shipping in what is one of the world's busiest seaways. Sea journeys between Britain and mainland Europe were possible until 1994 when the 50-kilometer Channel Tunnel opened, but that is only a rail tunnel. Johnson described as ridiculous that only a rail tunnel linked the two countries. Sources at the meeting said Macron responded positively to Johnson's idea. Thailand-born civil engineer Sakdirat Kaewunruen, a senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham, said a bridge across the English Channel would be a challenging and difficult, but exciting project. He told Xinhua: "I am very supportive of such a project. It could be a multi-purpose bridge carrying road traffic, trains and even used to generate energy from wind power." "There would be hazards and climate change to consider, but such a project would create new expertise in bridge building. It would be a massive boost to the economy." Files released by Britain's National Archives reveal plans were put forward in 1981 for a bridge spanning the English Channel, at a then cost of around three billion pounds. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 20 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: An emergency meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will take place in Jeddah on Jan. 21, the OIC told Trend Jan. 20. The main topic of the meeting will be the situation in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. The meeting will also discuss the rocket shelling of Saudi territories by the Hussites in Yemen. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Quantum, a defense enterprise in Russias Veliky Novgorod, plans to launch the production of modular bionic arms in 2019, the head of the plants innovation department, Stanislav Muravyov, has told reporters, TASS. He said a "reasonably priced and functional bionic limb, which is on a par with its foreign rivals" is currently being developed and tested. It is expected to be sold at about 200,000 rubles ($3,500), about ten times less than its foreign-made counterparts. "We are preparing to certify it and launch production with an estimated annual capacity of 200 devices per year," Muravyov said, adding that the production will be launched at full capacity in 2019. The project was launched within the framework of the conversion program. Quantum is one of Russias leading manufacturers of mobile electronic intelligence (ELINT) systems. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 20 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will visit Iraq on Jan. 21, said the Turkish Foreign Ministry in a message Jan. 20. Cavusoglu will have a meeting with Iraqs Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari as well as Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Regional issues and joint fight against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) are planned to be discussed during the meetings. The conflict between Turkey and the PKK, which demands the creation of an independent Kurdish state, has continued for more than 30 years and has claimed more than 40,000 lives. The UN and the European Union list the PKK as a terrorist organization. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Representative Patrick Meehan, a Pennsylvania Republican who has taken a leading role in fighting sexual harassment in Congress, used thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to settle his own misconduct complaint after a former aide accused him last year of making unwanted romantic overtures to her, according to several people familiar with the settlement, The New York Times reports. A married father of three, Mr. Meehan, 62, had long expressed interest in the personal life of the aide, who was decades younger and had regarded the congressman as a father figure, according to three people who worked with the office and four others with whom she discussed her tenure there. But after the woman became involved in a serious relationship with someone outside the office last year, Mr. Meehan professed his romantic desires for her first in person, and then in a handwritten letter - and he grew hostile when she did not reciprocate, the people familiar with her time in the office said. Life in the office became untenable, so she initiated the complaint process, started working from home and ultimately left the job. She later reached a confidential agreement with Mr. Meehans office that included a settlement for an undisclosed amount to be paid from Mr. Meehans congressional office fund. On Saturday, John Elizandro, Mr. Meehans communications director, issued a statement saying that the congressman denies these allegations and has always treated his colleagues, male and female, with the utmost respect and professionalism. Scientists from the School of Nuclear Science & Engineering of Tomsk Polytechnic University are developing a technology enabling the creation of high-temperature gas-cool low-power reactors with thorium fuel. TPU scientists propose to burn weapons-grade plutonium in these units, converting it into power and thermal energy. Thermal energy generated at thorium reactors may be used in hydrogen industrial production. The technology also makes it possible to desalinate water. The results of the study were published in Annals of Nuclear Energy. Thorium reactors provide for their application in areas where there are no large water bodies and rivers, the presence of which is an obligatory condition to build a classical reactor. For example, they can be used in arid areas, as well as in remote areas of Siberia and the Arctic. Associate Professor Sergey Bedenko from the School of Nuclear Science & Engineering tells: 'As a rule, a nuclear power plant is constructed on the riverside. Water is taken from the river and used in the active zone of the reactor for cooling. In thorium reactors, helium is applied, as well as carbon dioxide (CO2) or hydrogen, instead of water. Thus, water is not required.' The mixture of thorium and weapons-grade plutonium is the fuel for the new kind of reactors. Sergey Bedenko continues: 'Large amounts of weapons-grade plutonium were accumulated in the Soviet era. The cost for storing this fuel is enormous, and it needs to be disposed of. In the US, it is chemically processed and burned, and in Russia, it is burned in the reactors. However, some amount of plutonium still remains, and it needs to be disposed of in radioactive waste landfills. Our technology improves this drawback since it allows burning 97% of weapons-grade plutonium. When all weapons-grade plutonium is disposed of, it will be possible to use uranium-235 or uranium-233 in thorium reactors.' Notably, the plant is capable of operating at low capacity (from 60 MW), the core thorium reactors require a little fuel and the percentage of its burnup is higher than that at currently used reactors. The remaining 3% of processed weapons-grade plutonium will no longer present nuclear hazard. At the output, a mixture of graphite, plutonium and decay products is formed, which is difficult to apply for other purposes. These wastes can only be buried. Sergey Bedenko summarizes: 'The main advantage of such plants will be their multi-functionality. Firstly, we efficiently dispose of one of the most dangerous radioactive fuels in thorium reactors, secondly, we generate power and heat, thirdly, with its help, it will be possible to develop industrial hydrogen production.' The authors of the study inform that the advantage of such reactors is their higher level of security in comparison with traditional designs, enhanced efficiency (up to 40-50%), absence of phase transitions of the coolant, increased corrosion resistance of working surfaces, possibility of using different fuels and their overload in operation, and simplified management of spent nuclear fuel. Thorium fuel can be used both in thorium reactors and widely spread VVER-1000 reactors. The scientists expect these reactors to function at least 10-20 years, and when this fuel is spent, the core reactor may either be reloaded or disposed of. In addition, water can be desalinated at thorium reactors. ### Amazon is getting closer and closer to finding its second home. The company announced 20 cities chosen to be finalists for their second headquarters on Thursday. The list itself contains several obvious choices, and some that are more unexpected. Related: Your Seemingly Innocent Amazon Order Could Get You in Trouble With Border Control Here is the list in full: Atlanta, Georgia Austin, Texas Boston, Massachusetts Chicago, Illinois Columbus, Ohio Dallas, Texas Denver, Colorado Indianapolis, Indiana Los Angeles, California Miami, Florida Montgomery County, Maryland Nashville, Tennessee Newark, New Jersey New York, New York Northern Virginia Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Raleigh, North Carolina Toronto, Canada Washington, D.C. These finalists, according to The New York Times, were chosen based on their reputations as being attractive places for recruiting technical talent. Amazons criteria for choosing a new headquarters includes finding a city that has a population greater than 1 million and is further away from tech hotspots on the East and West Coasts. Related: The 12 Best Snow Boots You Can Get on Amazon However, Los Angeles and New York City are still in the running for the new space. The company received 238 bids from officials for the opportunity to bring new jobs to their cities. Bids that did not make the cut include Detroit, Michigan and Phoenix, Arizona. Amazon also received bids from cities in Mexico, according to The New York Times, but it seems the company is planning on staying in the U.S. or Canada. Amazons first and current headquarters is based in Seattle, Washington. Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity, Holly Sullivan, Amazons head of economic development, told The New York Times. Through this process we learned about many new communities across North America that we will consider as locations for future infrastructure investment and job creation. The final decision deadline has not yet been announced. Apple announced this morning it's bringing its "Everyone Can Code" program to 70 more colleges and universities across Europe. The program, which Apple designed to help students learn how to build apps, launched in May 2017 but was initially limited to the U.S. before expanding to other markets, including Australia, and select institutions in Europe last November. The expansion brings the full-year curriculum to institutions in the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland and Portugal. The company noted some of the participating colleges and universities adding the course, including Harlow College in the U.K. and Mercantec Vocational College in Denmark, both of which have 3,000 students; the Technical University of Munich in Germany; and Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen in the Netherlands, which has 34,000 students. The course is designed to teach students how to build apps using Swift, Apple's programming language for writing iOS and OS X apps, launched back in 2014 as the replacement for Objective-C. Since Swift's arrival, Apple has been heavily pushing various "learn to code" educational initiatives, including an entry-level app for teaching kids to code, called Swift Playgrounds. For Apple, it's critical to make sure there's always a new generation of developers learning its tools and getting ready to build apps. After all, App Store revenue is a sizable chunk of Apple's bottom line, and potentially lucrative for some app publishers, as well. Apple says that since it launched the App Store in 2008, U.S. developers have earned over $16 billion in App Store sales worldwide. Globally, that figure tops $70 billion, Apple said last June. In Europe, Apple today says the app economy has generated 1.36 million jobs, and Apple has paid out nearly $18 billion to developers across the region. The app economy isn't yet stagnating, either. While some categories are growing more quickly than others, the market overall is still growing both in terms of downloads and revenue across all app stores. For example, App Annie recently reported that global mobile app downloads (including other app stores beyond Apple's iOS store) topped 175 billion in 2017, and revenue surpassed $86 billion. It's projecting consumer spending worldwide to top $110 billion in 2018. Coding is an essential skill for todays workforce, and through Everyone Can Code, were giving people around the world the power to learn, write and teach coding, said Tim Cook, Apples CEO, in a statement. Since launching Everyone Can Code two years ago, weve seen growing excitement for the initiative from schools around the world, who are increasingly incorporating the curriculum into their classrooms. Apple indicated that it would be bringing most of its overseas cash hoard back home. True that Apple AAPL hasnt said how much cash its bringing home, but the company has said that it will be paying $38 billion in taxes, or all the tax due on its overseas cash hoard of around $252 billion. After all, the new tax law doesnt give it much choice. The law requires companies to pay up their taxes irrespective of whether they are repatriating it or not. But it sweetens things up by lowering the rate from 35% to 15.5% on cash and 8% on less liquid assets. Apple had already provided for over $36 billion in case of this eventuality, so it wont be a pressure on its financials either. The new law also taxes income from patents held overseas at 13% and lowers the tax on patent income in the U.S. to 13.1%. Apple followed the practice of transferring some of its U.S. patents to its foreign subsidiaries in low-tax jurisdictions and then attributing substantial royalty income to them to avoid high U.S. taxes on that income. So transferring patents under the new law is no longer beneficial for the company. Plus, Apple has been raising a lot of debt, most of which has been returned to investors through share repurchases and dividends. Its actually advantageous for the company to pay off some or all of this debt and make future payments with cash it generates through the business. It isnt all negative for Apple and others since the new federal corporate tax rate has been lowered to 21% from 35%, so there will be ongoing savings on U.S. taxes. So what will Apple do with the money? Other than paying its entire workforce a one-time bonus of $2,500 (which of course doesnt make much of a dent in the cash pile), the company has said it will invest $350 billion in the U.S. over five years, a third of which will be on data centers. It will also build another campus, though we dont know where yet. The Advanced Manufacturing Fund that Apple created recently, will also see a cash infusion of $5 billion. Apple estimates that these efforts and its focus on creating software developers for the Apple platform will create 20K new U.S jobs (it doesnt say how many people it will employ itself). Story continues While other technology companies like Microsoft MSFT, Alphabet GOOGL, Amazon AMZN havent said how the law will affect them, we should be seeing them make similar payments. But, Apple being first, has made the splash. All of these technology companies have a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). But you can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Will You Make a Fortune on the Shift to Electric Cars? Here's another stock idea to consider. Much like petroleum 150 years ago, lithium power may soon shake the world, creating millionaires and reshaping geo-politics. Soon electric vehicles (EVs) may be cheaper than gas guzzlers. Some are already reaching 265 miles on a single charge. With battery prices plummeting and charging stations set to multiply, one company stands out as the #1 stock to buy according to Zacks research. It's not the one you think. See This Ticker Free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Apple AAPL will pump in $350 billion into the U.S. economy over the next five years, which includes $55 billion for 2018. The iPhone-maker recently announced that it will directly contribute $75 billion in capital expenditures related to manufacturing and tax payment on repatriation of overseas profits. Apple expects to pay roughly $38 million as repatriation tax (highest by any company) under the new tax law. Per Bloomberg, Apple will also award Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) worth $2,500 as bonuses to global employees in the coming months. Apples Move In-line With Presidents Goal Apples latest announcement is in line with President Trumps goal of increasing investment in the countrys manufacturing sector. The company has been subject to criticism from Donald Trump for not creating enough manufacturing jobs in the United States and focusing on other nations. Apple now expects to spend $30 billion in capital expenditure in the country over the next five years. The investment is likely to create 20K jobs. The company employs 84K people in all 50 states. Moreover, the company plans to build a new campus in a different location that will initially house technical support for customers. The campus will be fully powered by green energy. Apple Inc. Price and Consensus Apple Inc. Price and Consensus | Apple Inc. Quote Apples decision to increase investments in the United States was lauded by President Trump through a recent tweet, as reported by MarketWatch. Advanced Manufacturing Fund Size Increased Apple also announced that it is widening the size of the Advanced Manufacturing Fund from $1 billion to $5 billion. The fund was established to support innovation among U.S. manufacturers. The company used the fund to support projects from the likes of Gorilla-Glass maker Corning GLW and Finisar FNSR. Apple invested $200 million in Corning to help create better products. Notably, Gorilla Glass, a staple in every smartphone nowadays, was an outcome of the Apple-Corning collaboration. Moreover, Apple awarded $390 million to Finisar for the production of advanced semiconductor lasers used in iPhone X's True Depth facial recognition camera. The award is also anticipated to create over 500 high skill jobs at Finisars newly-acquired factory located in Sherman, TX. The factory is expected to start functioning in the second half of 2018. Acquisition Appetite to Increase Per Investors Business Daily, Apple plans to bring back cash worth $245 billion out of $252 billion (as of Sep 30, 3017) stacked overseas. The repatriated cash will provide enough firepower to the company to pursue any kind of acquisitions including the long-rumored ones of Netflix and Tesla. However, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Olson, the company is unlikely to acquire large companies with the repatriated cash. Instead, Apples appetite for smaller strategic technology business is expected to increase significantly. Long-time Apple analyst and Loup Ventures managing partner Gene Munster expects the company to use the fund primarily to support share buyback program and dividend payments. Zacks Rank & Key Pick Currently, Apple has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Twitter TWTR with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) is a stock worth considering in the broader technology sector. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here. Long-term earnings growth rate for Twitter is currently pegged at 21.50%. The company is set to report fourth-quarter 2017 results on Feb 8. Story continues Will You Make a Fortune on the Shift to Electric Cars? Here's another stock idea to consider. Much like petroleum 150 years ago, lithium power may soon shake the world, creating millionaires and reshaping geo-politics. Soon electric vehicles (EVs) may be cheaper than gas guzzlers. Some are already reaching 265 miles on a single charge. With battery prices plummeting and charging stations set to multiply, one company stands out as the #1 stock to buy according to Zacks research. It's not the one you think. See This Ticker Free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Twitter, Inc. (TWTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Corning Incorporated (GLW) : Free Stock Analysis Report Finisar Corporation (FNSR) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Crude oil futures are down for a second day, but rebounded into the close after earlier logging a 10-day low at 62.84 before bouncing. Prices bounced following a report from oil service giant Baker Hughes which showed a decline in the active rig count. Despite the bounce, prices remain below yesterdays closing level closing down 1%. Ongoing dollar weakness helped given crude and other commodity prices an underpinning. The low was seen after the IEA forecasts crude supply to increase in 2018 in its latest monthly report, forecasting non-OPEC supply will rise by 0.2 month over month barrels per day on average. At the same time, the IEA forecast for global oil demand to remain unchanged at 1.3 month over month barrels per day. Technicals Prices were under pressure for most of the trading session leading into the Baker Hughes report which helped prices bounce. Prices appear to be forming a bull flag continuation pattern which is a pause that refreshes higher. Support is seen near the 10-day moving average at 63.28. Target support is seen near an upward sloping trend line that comes in near 60. Resistance is seen near the weekly highs at 64.87. Momentum has turned negative as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) index generated a crossover sell signal. This occurs as the MACD line (the 12-day moving average minus the 26-day moving average) crosses below the MACD signal line (the 9-day moving average of the MACD line). Active Oil Rigs Fell Baker Hughes reported that the number of active oil and gas rigs fell this week decreasing by 3 total rigs. This brings the total number of oil and gas rigs to 936, which is an addition of 242 rigs year over year. The number of oil rigs in the United States fell by 5 this week after gaining 10 last week, while the number of gas rigs increased by 2. The number of oil rigs stands at 747 versus 551 a year ago. The number of gas rigs in the US now stands at 189, up 142 a year ago. EIA Forecast and Increase in Supply The IEA forecasts crude supply to increase in 2018, saying in its latest monthly report, that non-OPEC supply will rise by 0.2 month over month barrels per day on average. While compliance in the OPEC effort to maintain supply, restrictions is expected to main high, growth in U.S. production, along with increasing output from Canada and Brazil, should underpin prices. The IEA left its forecast for global oil demand unchanged at 1.3 month over month barrels per day. Canada saw a downtick in investment Inflow Canada saw a $19.6 billion investment inflow from abroad in November after the $20.8 billion purchase in October, with foreign investors mostly purchasing Canadian bonds in November. Non-resident acquisition of bonds was $17.8 billion in November, with $8.8 billion of that in federal government bonds. Notably, that is the fifth consecutive month of solid investment in federal government bonds. yields have ramped higher since June, with the 2-year at 1.800% currently from 0.685% at mid-year. Canadians cut their holding of foreign investments by $4.6 billion after the hefty 16.6 billion investment in October. Canada manufacturing shipments surged Canada manufacturing shipments surged 3.4% in November following a revised 0.6% drop in October. The magnitude of the gain in total shipments exceeded expectations, but the risk on this report was well to the upside. A 9.1% bounce in transportation sales was the driver of total shipment growth in November, as the sector recovered following two months of declines. Leadership from the transport sector was anticipated. The transport increase was largely due to a 14.2% gain in motor vehicle assembly and a 11.3% rise in motor vehicle parts, as plants came back on-line after shutdowns in October. Petroleum and coal product shipments saw a 6.1% gain, the fifth straight monthly improvement. Chemical industry sales grew 5.9% following a 2.7% drop in October. Total shipment volumes grew 2.5% in November, which bodes well for November GDP. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: US President Donald Trump speaks alongside Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images) Last ditch talks between President Donald Trump and the Senates top Democrat to try and avoid a government shutdown have failed to produce a deal, leaving just hours to find a solution. The Senate has until midnight on Friday (5am Saturday GMT) to pass a short-term spending bill to avert a shutdown for four more weeks but the possibility was getting more remote as night fell. The measure has already been approved by the House of Representatives. An evening and possibly a weekend of drama is expected in the closely divided upper chamber, where Democrats have already indicated they have enough support to block the spending legislation, as they seek a deal over immigration reform. Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader, said after his meeting with Trump: We had a long and detailed meeting. We discussed all of the major outstanding issues. We made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements. The discussions will continue. The president was more upbeat in his tweet following the talks, citing an excellent preliminary meeting as he pushed a four-week extension. Excellent preliminary meeting in Oval with @SenSchumer working on solutions for Security and our great Military together with @SenateMajLdr McConnell and @SpeakerRyan. Making progress four week extension would be best! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2018 Mr Trump had earlier suggested that a shutdown might be inevitable as Democrats want illegal immigration and weak borders. Government Funding Bill past last night in the House of Representatives, Mr Trump tweeted on Friday morning. Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018! Story continues In a later tweet, Mr Trump quoted Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein telling CNN on Thursday that shutting down the government is a very serious thing. People die, accidents happen as he sought to push the blame for any shutdown onto the Democrats. You dont know. Necessary functions can cease, Ms Feinstein said in the interview. There is no specific list you can look at and make a judgment: Well everything is going to be just fine. You cant make that judgment. So, I think its a last resort. And Im really hopeful we dont get to it. An ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Friday suggested that Republicans may bear the brunt of political damage if a shutdown occurs. Forty-eight per cent of the more than 1,000 people polled nationally, said they would blame Mr Trump and Republicans, while 28 per cent would blame Democrats. An additional 18 per cent said they would blame both parties equally. Rather than heading to Florida on Friday evening as originally planned, Mr Trump will be staying in Washington until after the Senates vote on the spending bill. It is uncertain whether Mr Trump, who has billed himself as the ultimate dealmaker, will be able to craft the ultimate deal to save his presidency from making history. Never before has the government experienced a furlough of federal employees when a single party controls both the White House and Congress. Government Funding Bill past last night in the House of Representatives. Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2018 Shutting down the government is a very serious thing. People die, accidents happen. I dont know how I would vote right now on a CR, OK? Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif)https://t.co/7xP3CBnv5j Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2018 Republicans hold a 51-49 seat advantage in the Senate, but require 60 votes for the spending measure to pass, meaning that they need Democratic support. The conflict is coinciding with the one-year anniversary of Mr Trumps presidency and could have lasting repercussions, particularly regarding this years midterm elections in November. White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told reporters on Friday morning that the chances of a shutdown were between 50 and 60 per cent. Weve had our meeting just about a half an hour ago, a teleconference with a bunch of agencies to tell them to start to implement their lapse plan, the next step in preparing for a lapse in funding, thats what we call a shutdown, the formal name of it, he said. I guess the bottom line is were working to make sure there is no shutdown but if the Senate or the House cant get together to finalise a deal well be ready. Mr Mulvaney noted that members of the House would likely be leaving Washington on Friday until next week, so if the Senate passes anything else than what the House has passed you could wind up in a short-term lapse in funding. Nine Senate Democrats who voted for another short-term spending measure in December have said they wont support the latest proposed bill to fund the government for another four weeks. Their decision puts them in the same boat as 30 other Democrats and at least two Senate Republicans who have also said they wont vote for the measure. In an attempt to deter Democrats from voting against it, Republican leaders had added a provision to the spending bill that would extend the popular Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six years. Democrats had fought to continue federal funding for the programme that serves nearly 9 million children. Federal financing for it expired in October and several states are close to exhausting their money. Several have also made it clear they will not consider voting for another spending measure unless they receive assurances that there will be a permanent legislative fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, or DACA. The programme, which expires in March, allows young immigrants brought into the country illegally by their parents to secure work permits and deportation reprieves. In a press briefing, Mr Mulvaney said DACA legislation is simply not ready and that its unnecessary to tie it to the spending bill. As you see with any major piece of legislation, it doesnt and shouldnt come together overnight, Mr Mulvaney said. Theres no DACA bill to vote on and theres no emergency in terms of the timing on DACA. DACA does not expire until March 5th. So theres absolutely no reason to tie these two things together right now. Negotiations on any immigration deal have been complicated by Mr Trumps commitment to build a wall along the USs southern border a barrier that Democrats vehemently oppose and would cost billions of dollars to construct. The President maintains that the US needs the wall for safety and security reasons. Democrats also want concessions from Republicans on Puerto Rico aid and an increase in domestic spending, among other items, according to the New York Times. Congress has already passed multiple short-term spending bills, known on Capitol Hill as continuing resolutions or CRs to try to keep negotiations on immigration and other tough issues alive. But Democratic appetite for passing these CRs appears to have waned, with party members saying more focus should instead be placed on hammering out a longer-term budget deal. Its a mess, Mr Schumer said. We cant keep careening from short-term CR to short-term CR. If this bill passes, there will be no incentive to negotiate and we will be right back here in a month with the same problems at our feet. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said his colleagues on the other side of the aisle do not oppose a single thing in this bill. He continued: They know they cant possibly explain to our war fighters and veterans, to our seniors, to our opioid treatment centres, to the millions of vulnerable children and their families who depend on S-CHIP for coverage, or to all the Americans who rely on the federal government for critical services like food inspections and Social Security checks. - By Alberto Abaterusso Eldorado Gold Corp. (EGO) continues down trending on the New York Stock Exchange. The gold stock lost 3.3% over the last two trading days to $1.33 per share despite the recent upgrade from Macquarie. According to a research note dispatched by the analyst on Wednesday, shares of Eldorado had been upgraded to outperform from a previous rating of "neutral." This is the second upgrade Eldorado got over the last 6 months and is pre-dated by the JPMorgan's downgrade (overweight to neutral) on Nov. 13. During the same period, Eldorado received three downgrades from Bank of America (buy to neutral) on Oct. 31, 2017, Macquarie (outperform to neutral) on Sept. 12 and from Credit Suisse (outperform to underperform) on July 31. Source: Yahoo Finance Four negative ratings out of a total of six is an indication that the gold stock is also losing momentum among analysts. Macquarie evidently sees some catalysts that might trigger the stock to start rising again. But in general, Eldorado is perceived as a miner with some problems, which adds risk to the company's future expansion. These problems range from continuing disputes with the Greek authorities undermining the success of the Hellenic projects, to issues related to the Kisladag mine in Turkey. At Kisladag, declining recovery rates have forced Eldorado to revise gold production estimates downwards. These factors, plus a 61% cut in the yearly production of gold following the sale of the Chinese assets, are weighing on the current valuation of Eldorado. On Tuesday, Eldorado released preliminary operational results for 2017. The report included the pre-commercial production of gold from the Greek asset Olympias and a bulk sample from Lamaque, the Canadian miner that produced 292,980 ounces of gold in 2017. This was in line with the company's revised guidance of 280,000 ounces to 310,000 ounces of gold. Lamaque is a gold project that Eldorado Gold Corp is advancing in Quebec. Story continues The chart below shows Eldorado's yearly production of gold from 2013 to 2017. As you can see, production is drastically declining. Source of data: company's SEC filings The company's operational results were in line with the guidance and with regard to the cash operating cost of $509 per ounce that Eldorado sustained in 2017. The results were also in line with the all-in sustaining cost the miner predicts at $900 per ounce of metal sold. Eldorado also reported to have a total amount of $480 million in cash on hand and securities as of Dec. 31, plus a line of undrawn credit of $250 million. These issues bring the company's total liquidity to a total of $730 million. George Burns, Eldorado Gold Corporation's President and CEO, highlighted some catalysts: "2018 is already proving to be a busy year, full of catalysts, with development underway at Lamaque and new or updated technical studies for Lamaque, Skouries and Kisladag. Our overarching goal for 2018 and beyond is to move Eldorado back into a growth phase and create value for all our stakeholders." Source: Eldorado Gold Corp's News Release According to the Yahoo Finance's chart, the stock lost 60.2% for the 52 weeks through Jan. 18 and underperformed the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) by 63.4%. Eldorado Gold is one of the gold stocks that experienced major loss on the market. Source: Yahoo Finance Some indicators on Eldorado: A market capitalization of $1.08 billion. A price-book (P/B) ratio of 0.29 times versus an industry median of 2.01 times. An EV-to-EBITDA ratio of 10.95 times versus an industry median of 10.14 times. An EBITDA margin of 25.4% versus an industry median of 22.8% at an average bullion price of approximately $1,274 per troy ounce on the London market over the period from the fourth quarter of 2016 to the third quarter of 2017. There isn't any doubt that the gold stock is trading cheaply at the moment. The share price is 194% below the 52-week high of $3.91 per share. While the 52-week low is $1.10 per share. Furthermore, the stock is trading plainly below the 200-SMA line, well below the 100-SMA line and almost emulating the 50-SMA line, according to the chart powered by GuruFocus: Eldorado has a recommendation rating of 3.1 out of a total of 5. This means that for the community of analysts this gold stock is not a buy at the moment. Increasing holdings of Eldorado Gold Corp is risky today because trying to forecast whether this gold stock will start to soar again on the market is very difficult. The RSI (14) is nearby the midst of a 35 to 75 range, which means that the stock has yet reached oversold levels like it was between the last week of October and the first week of November. In addition, the RSI line is down trending and this may indicate further depreciations of Eldorado. However, if you acquire this gold stock today with all the risks associated, the reward can be amazing if some of the catalysts start to heavily play in favor. The average target price is $1.95 per share, which represents a sizeable 47% upside from the current market value per share. With so much liquidity available, the catalyst for Eldorado, in my opinion, compares to the acquisition of a junior explorer with a prominent gold project that can be turned into production and re-fatten operations and gold reserves quickly. The sale of the Chinese mines has also reduced Eldorado's gold and probable reserves drastically to 19.263 million ounces as of 2016 from 25 million ounces as of 2015. (Disclosure:I have no position in Eldorado Gold Corporation or in the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF). This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Max Levchin cyclist on bridge in Milley Valley California Wil Matthews Max Levchin is a cofounder of PayPal and the CEO of online lending service Affirm. He told Business Insider he made healthy eating and exercise a habit by doing it every day without fail. Research supports this strategy: Once a habit becomes routine, you don't have to think about it. "Be on the bike." That might as well be Max Levchin's fitness mantra. Levchin is a cofounder of PayPal and the CEO of online lending service Affirm. On an episode of Business Insider's podcast, "Success! How I Did It," Levchin told US editor-in-chief Alyson Shontell about the philosophy behind his health and fitness regimen. That philosophy boils down to one word: consistency. "I basically find a routine that I like, and I just stick to it obsessively," Levchin told Shontell. "If I skip a day, it's extremely uncomfortable. The No. 1 power in any behavior is in turning it into a default. So long as you make those defaults healthy, it's very easy. You can just exist in a fairly healthy universe." For Levchin, that means exercising every single morning, within reason. He said: "So long as your daily default is 'Be on the bike,' some days you'll miss because you're traveling or you're sick. But most of the time, you'll just get up, and get on a bike first thing in the morning, which is what I do." For years, Levchin was fanatical about his health and fitness data, Men's Fitness reported, going on "obsessive quests" to optimize his performance. Growing up in Ukraine, he had chronic bronchitis and asthma; doctors told his mother he wouldn't live past age seven, according to Men's Fitness. Levchin told Shontell that today, between his responsibilities as a startup CEO and a father to two young children, he does "less experimenting," but he still makes it a priority to try to ride his bike every day. When a habit becomes routine, you don't have to use any willpower so it's easier Levchin isn't the first person to recognize the power of routine in getting healthy habits to stick. Gretchen Rubin, a bestselling author who researched the topic of habits extensively for her 2015 book "Better Than Before," wrote in a LinkedIn blog post: Story continues "If I try to do something four days a week, I spend a lot of time arguing with myself about whether today is the day, or tomorrow, or the next day; did the week start on Sunday or Monday; does today 'count,' etc. And that's exhausting. "If I do something every day, I fall into a habit." And writing in The Washington Post, University of Southern California psychologist Wendy Wood says establishing a routine is an important component of developing a healthy habit. "Doing something at the same location or time of day (like putting on sunscreen before you leave the house every morning) can help outsource control of the action," she writes. In other words, you're not using an ounce of willpower on getting yourself to apply sunscreen it's just a thing you do without thinking. One strategy for developing a solid routine is to create an "if/when-then" plan. You pick a cue like a specific time or place and a desirable action you can link to that cue. Research suggests that people who use if/when-then planning are between two and three times more likely to achieve their goals whether they're related to weight loss, fitness, or work and productivity than those who don't. To use Levchin's example, you might say, "When I wake up at 6:30 a.m., then I will hop on the bike." Again, it's about eliminating that internal debate. And it's a win-win situation: You get healthier and save yourself some mental exhaustion. NOW WATCH: The science of why sitting all day is bad for your health See Also: SEE ALSO: How Max Levchin cofounded and built PayPal into a payments monster after 6 pivots and a bitter rivalry with Elon Musk Google CEO Sundar Pichai says he still believes that it was appropriate to fire James Damore. "I don't regret it," said Pichai, in an interview with Recode's Kara Swisher and MSNBC's Ari Melber. "It was the right decision," YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, echoed on stage. It's been almost six months since the company dismissed the engineer, who authored a controversial memo about purported gender differences. In a ten page rant, Damore made a series of claims arguing against Google's diversity initiatives, some of which he incorrectly characterized as confirmed by science. The decision to oust Damore received a lot of praise -- and also a lot of condemnation. And now, Damore is threatening a class action lawsuit, alleging discrimination against what he labels as conservative views. (As a corporation, Google is within its legal rights to fire an "at-will" employee for just about anything, as long as they aren't discriminating against a protected class.) "The last thing we do when we make decisions like this is look at it with a political lens," Pichai insisted. Ultimately, the company decided it was important for Google to "create a culture that is more supportive and inclusive of" women. Wojcicki echoed that "if something violates our code of conduct, we should be able to take an action." She said Damore's writing struck a chord because she has devoted her career to technology and has encouraged other women to follow suit. His remarks "just seemed to set us back so far in so many ways." This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. Related Video on James Damore: Watch news, TV and more on Yahoo View. House appeared poised on Thursday night to pass a bill to keep the government open, after promising a vote on defense and immigration Donald Trump said: Well see what happens. Its up to the Democrats. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images Republicans cleared the first hurdle in avoiding a government shutdown on Thursday night. The House of Representatives seemed poised to pass a bill to keep the government open until 16 February, after promising conservatives a vote on a major increase in defense spending, a hard-line immigration bill as well as other unnamed concessions that the conservative House Freedom Caucus leader Mark Meadows called subplots on Thursday night. However, this legislation would likely be dead on arrival in the Senate, where Democrats have said they have enough votes to block the legislation. But, by passing the House, it would allow Republicans to attempt to shift the blame for a potential government shutdown to Democrats. What is a government shutdown? When the US Congress fails to pass appropriate funding for government operations and agencies, a shutdown is triggered. Most government services are frozen, barring those that are deemed essential, such as the work of the Department of Homeland Security and FBI. During a shutdown, nearly 40% of the government workforce is placed on unpaid furlough and told not to work. Many, but not all, are non-defense federal employees. Active duty military personnel are not furloughed. Why is the government poised to shut down? Members of Congress are at an impasse over what should be included in a spending bill to keep the government open. Democrats have insisted any compromise must also include protections for the nearly 700,000 young, undocumented immigrants, known as Dreamers, who were brought to the US as children. The Dreamers, who were granted temporary legal status under Barack Obama, were newly exposed to the threat of deportation when Donald Trump moved to rescind their protections in September. Trump and Republicans have argued immigration is a separate issue and can be dealt with at a later time. Story continues How common is a shutdown? There have been 12 government shutdowns in the US since 1981, although ranging in duration. The longest occurred under Bill Clinton, lasting a total of 21 days from December 1995 to January 1996, when the then House speaker, Newt Gingrich, demanded sharp cuts to government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and welfare. The most recent shutdown transpired under Obama in 2013, pitting the president against the Republican-led House of Representatives. Republicans refused to support a spending bill that included funding for Obamas healthcare law, resulting in a 16-day shutdown that at its peak affected 850,000 federal employees. What would be the cost of a shutdown? A government shutdown would cost the US roughly $6.5bn a week, according to a report by S&P Global analysts. A disruption in government spending means no government paychecks to spend; lost business and revenue to private contractors; lost sales at retail shops, particularly those that circle now-closed national parks; and less tax revenue for Uncle Sam, the report stated. That means less economic activity and fewer jobs. Nearly 1 million people would not receive regular paychecks in the event of a shutdown. In previous shutdowns, furloughed employees have been paid retrospectively but those payments have often been delayed. Sabrina Siddiqui An impasse would result in Donald Trump marking his first anniversary in office with the first government shutdown in four years, even though his party controls Congress. In the event of a shutdown, most government services would freeze and most federal workers would go unpaid. Negotiations over the budget stalled in recent days, amid a dispute over spending priorities and immigration. The breakdown of talks kicked off a pre-emptive blame game in Washington, with Trump and Republicans pointing a finger at Democrats for insisting that any compromise include protections for nearly 700,000 young undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children. Well see what happens, Trump told reporters during a visit to the Pentagon on Thursday. Its up to the Democrats. The presidents decision to stop by the US Department of Defense, as Republican leaders in Congress crafted a contingency plan in the event of a shutdown, underscored the political urgency. There has never been a government shutdown, which would cost the US an estimated $6.5bn a week and stifle economic progress, when one party has controlled both chambers of Congress and the White House. At the Pentagon, Trump sought to pit Democrats against the military by claiming a shutdown would have the worst impact on the defense department. While most government services are frozen during a shutdown, national security work that is deemed essential continues to operate. The majority of federal employees placed on unpaid furlough are non-defense employees. Active duty military personnel are not furloughed. Earlier Friday, the president unexpectedly undermined a short-term plan offered by House Republicans. The stopgap measure would push the funding deadline to 16 February and, in an attempt to sway Democrats, reauthorize a popular childrens health insurance program for six years. But as the House prepared to vote on the measure on Thursday, Trump criticized the bill, tweeting: CHIP [the Childrens Health Insurance Program] should be part of a long term solution, not a 30 Day, or short term, extension! Hours later, the House speaker, Paul Ryan, downplayed divisions between Republican leaders and the White House. I spoke with the president. He fully supports passing what were bringing to the floor today, Ryan said. Fiscal conservatives had expressed frustration that the bill would represent the fourth short-term extension since October, when funding for the government was first due to expire. Congress has since passed a series of stopgap measures to keep the government running in the absence of a longer-term deal. However, the concessions made to conservatives on Friday night were sufficient to get enough wavering right wingers to back another short-term bill. Democrats in the lower chamber were largely unified in their opposition to the Republican bill, with the House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, likening it to a bowl of doggy doo in a Thursday press conference on Capitol Hill. The bills fate looked similarly uncertain in the Senate, where Republicans hold a slim 51-seat majority and would need at least nine Democrats to support the plan. A handful of swing state Senate Democrats announced their opposition to the House bill, citing its failure to address a number of funding priorities. Democrats said a short-term fix would delay critical funding for the opioid crisis, as well as emergency relief for areas in Florida, California and Puerto Rico left devastated by storms and wildfires last year. Democrats remain primarily concerned with extending protections to the young, undocumented immigrants, known as Dreamers, who were left in limbo when Trump rescinded Barack Obamas 2012 Deferred Action for Child Arrivals (Daca) policy in September. The Daca program protected hundreds of thousands of Dreamers from deportation with temporary legal status. Trump gave Congress until 5 March to enact a replacement, but Democrats have argued legislation on the controversial issue of immigration is unlikely to pass unless tied to a must-pass bill such as funding for the government. Bipartisan discussions on immigration were also severely undermined last week when the president made derogatory comments in a private meeting, about immigrants from countries such as Haiti and El Salvador. According to lawmakers in attendance, Trump questioned the need for the US to accept immigrants from shithole countries. On Thursday, Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, said Trump doesnt give a hoot if the government shuts down. The White House has done nothing but sow chaos and confusion, division and disarray, Schumer said in a Senate floor speech. And it may just lead us to a government shutdown that nobody wants; that all of us here have been striving to avoid. Weichai Power is one of companies that can help grow your investment income by paying large dividends. These stocks are a safe bet to increase your portfolio value as they provide both steady income and cushion against market risks. Dividends play a key role in compounding returns over time and can form a large part of our portfolio return. Here are other similar dividend stocks that could be valuable additions to your current holdings. Weichai Power Co., Ltd. (SEHK:2338) Weichai Power Co., Ltd. designs, develops, produces, sells, and repairs diesel engines and related parts, automobiles, and other automobile components in the Peoples Republic of China and internationally. Established in 1953, and now led by CEO Xuguang Tan, the company now has 69,763 employees and has a market cap of HKD HK$85.96B, putting it in the large-cap category. 2338 has a decent dividend yield of 3.95% and the company has a payout ratio of 39.31% , with analysts expecting the payout ratio in three years to be 48.65%. Dividends per share have increased during the past 10 years, but there have been a couple hiccups. However, they have historically always picked up again. Weichai Powers performance over the last 12 months beat the hk machinery industry, with the company reporting 188.05% EPS growth compared to its industrys figure of 22.75%. Interested in Weichai Power? Find out more here. SEHK:2338 Historical Dividend Yield Jan 20th 18 Hang Lung Properties Limited (SEHK:101) Hang Lung Properties Limited, an investment holding company, engages in the property investment, development, and management activities in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Formed in 1949, and headed by CEO Nan Lok Chen, the company provides employment to 4,584 people and with the market cap of HKD HK$92.65B, it falls under the large-cap stocks category. 101 has a solid dividend yield of 3.64% and is currently distributing 47.58% of profits to shareholders , with an expected payout of 72.17% in three years. Despite there being some hiccups, dividends per share have increased during the past 10 years. Hang Lung Propertiess earnings per share growth of 36.71% outpaced the hk real estate industrys 27.60% average growth rate over the last year. Interested in Hang Lung Properties? Find out more here. Story continues SEHK:101 Historical Dividend Yield Jan 20th 18 Wharf (Holdings) Limited (SEHK:4) Founded in 1886, The Wharf (Holdings) Limited (Stock code: 4) is a premier company with HK$439.8 billion of total assets. Established in 1886, and currently run by Tin Hoi Ng, the company currently employs 13,300 people and with the stocks market cap sitting at HKD HK$92.68B, it comes under the large-cap stocks category. 4 has an appealing dividend yield of 7.05% and the company currently pays out 28.94% of its profits as dividends , and analysts are expecting a 29.17% payout ratio in the next three years. 4 has increased its dividend from $0.8 to $2.15 over the past 10 years. Much to the delight of shareholders, the company has not missed a payment during this time. The company outperformed the hk real estate industrys earnings growth of 27.60%, reporting an EPS growth of 46.64% over the past 12 months. Dig deeper into Wharf (Holdings) here. SEHK:4 Historical Dividend Yield Jan 20th 18 For more solid dividend payers to add to your portfolio, you can use our free platform to explore our interactive list of top dividend payers. To help readers see pass the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price sensitive company announcements. The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. Nvidia (NVDA) has already surged more than 15 percent in the new year, and one trader is betting that the chipmaker has even more room to run. While chip stocks have been on a tear, TradingAnalysis.com founder Todd Gordon has his eye on Nvidia in particular thanks to what he believes is a strong performance pattern for the stock. "I like the technical setup of Nvidia," he said Thursday on CNBC's " Trading Nation ." "You can see that we are well-contained in a parallel trend channel that originated in December and carried through to 2018." Additionally, Gordon sees support for Nvidia at around the $217 level after a breakout, which used to be a resistance point from which Nvidia fell back in November. This breakout leads him to believe that should the stock dip, it could still bounce from the $217 level. In advance of Nvidia's earnings report on Feb. 8, Gordon wants to sell the February monthly 220-strike put and pair that with the purchase of the February monthly 215-strike put. This would allow Gordon to collect a credit of $2.08, or $208, should Nvidia close above $220 on the Feb. 16 expiration. But if Nvidia closes below $215 on expiration, then Gordon could lose $285. While Nvidia was trading at $224 on Wednesday, the trader wants to establish a point at which to step out. "If the support at about $217 is broken, the reason for being in this trade is wrong," he said. Nvidia has soared 118 percent in the past year. More From CNBC What you need to know on Wall Street today Welcome to Finance Insider, Business Insider's summary of the top stories of the past 24 hours. Sign up here to get the best of Business Insider delivered direct to your inbox. Congress on Friday began careening toward a partial shutdown of the federal government, as a funding bill appears stalled in the Senate with the two parties divided on key issues. If no bill passes by midnight, the federal government will enter a partial shutdown affecting nonessential services, which would close national parks and cause services like the issuance of replacement Social Security cards to be halted. The White House says chances of a shutdown have 'ratcheted up' and is telling government agencies to get ready. Here's a primer on what will happen if the government does shut down tonight. In finance, meet the unconventional portfolio manager who crushed Wall Street last year while barely watching the market. A top recruiter tells Business Insider what it takes to get a senior-level private equity job these days. Subway is on the ropes. Battles at HQ are killing the world's largest fast-food chain and many franchisees are turning against the CEO. Tax-avoidance schemes are being offered up to the wealthy like vacation packages. Here's what else is going on in the world of finance: In crypto news, the SEC has finally outlined the reasons for its reluctance to list cryptocurrency ETFs. A US cybersecurity firm has accused North Korea of hacking South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges. And traders in South Korea took the bitcoin 'bloodbath' to a whole new level by shattering monitors, throwing laptops, and more. Story continues And lastly, take an inside look at a day in the life of an equity sales leader at UBS in Sydney. NOW WATCH: Expect Amazon to make a surprising acquisition in 2018, says CFRA See Also: By Lawrence White and Emma Rumney LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's biggest banks have announced a range of measures to support firms and contractors hit by the collapse of construction outsourcing company Carillion. The banks, including the Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC, said on Thursday they would open funds for business customers in Carillion's supply chain. Meanwhile Nationwide Building Society will employ around 250 contractors from the company, meaning their jobs will be saved. The 250 contractors provide services such as cleaning and security. Lloyds said it would make 50 million pounds ($69.52 million)available, while RBS and HSBC said they would open funds worth 75 million pounds and 100 million pounds respectively. Business customers of these banks that were experiencing financial difficulty as a result of Carillion's collapse would be able to apply for payment holidays, fee support or, in the case of Lloyds, working capital, the banks said. Britain's biggest corporate failure in a decade took place after banks pulled the plug on lending to the company. As a result, Carillion went into liquidation, forcing the government to step in to guarantee public services provided by the company ranging from school meals to road works. Barclays is contacting its small business customers affected by the Carillion collapse to offer advice and assistance on overdrafts, a bank spokesman said. The bank has also set up a dedicated hotline for such customers, he said. The measures by the banks follow a statement by the banking sector's trade body UK Finance on Wednesday, which said that lenders were offering overdraft extensions and other emergency measures. UK Finance said banks were taking steps to ease the impact on small firms affected by the liquidation. Nationwide said in its statement there were another 1,500 staff engaged by separate, third-party suppliers who work on Nationwide contracts with Carillion. Those suppliers will now have their contracts directly with the building society, Nationwide said. ($1 = 0.7193 pounds) (Editing by Jason Neely and Jane Merriman) By Alister Doyle OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's sovereign wealth fund has trimmed the proportion of its $1 trillion fortune that is invested in companies that emit the most greenhouse gas, a Reuters survey has shown. Environmental campaigners hope the move by the world's biggest state-owned investment fund signals the start of a trend for investors shifting their money away from activities blamed for climate change. The review of the top 150 corporate greenhouse gas emitters showed that the proportion of their emissions that can be ascribed to Norway, based on the percentage of market cap it owns in the firms, fell to 0.74 percent in 2016 from 0.78 percent in 2014. That corresponds to an 11 percent reduction in the fund's share of the group's emissions, under the broadest definition that includes consumers' use of products such as oil and gas, steel or cars, to the equivalent of 249 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from 280 million. The decline outpaced a 6 percent fall in emissions by those companies over the period, and was primarily driven by the Norwegian parliament in 2015 banning the fund - which is itself built from oil and gas revenues - from investing in firms that get more than 30 percent of their business from coal. The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGC), which represents investors with more than 21 trillion euros ($26 trillion) in assets under management, welcomed the shift. "The fund ... reducing its stake in major emitters is a strong signal that investors are increasingly focused on aligning their portfolios with the rapidly progressing energy transition," Stephanie Pfeifer, IIGC chief executive, told Reuters. At a climate summit in Paris last month major investors agreed to pressure companies to do more to curb their emissions. Despite the decline in its percentage holdings, the value of the fund's investments in the top 150 emitters rose to 484 billion Norwegian crowns ($61 billion) in 2016 against 448 billion in 2014, a fraction of the $1 trillion fund's stakes in almost 9,000 companies. Story continues The survey showed the fund had no investments in Coal India during the period and trimmed its percentage stake in Gazprom. It raised its percentage stake slightly in Exxon Mobil and kept it steady in Thyssenkrupp and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. Last year, the fund proposed dropping oil and gas companies from its benchmark index, which would bring huge changes if approved by parliament as part of a shift from fossil fuels under the 2015 Paris climate accord. The fund's board is also considering excluding particularly inefficient emitters in sectors such as oil and gas, cement and steel. The emissions data used in the survey was drawn from a report in November by Thomson Reuters with Constellation Research & Technology, emissions tracking group CDP and BSD Consulting that showed few of the top emitters had strong climate goals. Reuters compared the emissions against the fund's own publicly accessible database of equity holdings. Tim Nixon, director of sustainability at Thomson Reuters, said the data indicated a good start "but to be effective you really need to pick out the laggards from the leaders." The Norwegian fund wants companies to provide as much data as possible, something that would help investors make climate change goals part of their investment decisions. "For us as an investor to be able to assess the companies we need numbers, including carbon emission numbers," spokeswoman Marthe Skaar said. Some companies are starting to track emissions from the use of their products. Unilever, for instance, says it helps consumers save energy and emissions with washing powder that works at lower water temperatures. Data on consumption shows trends in environmental performance but means overlapping accounts. Jet fuel, for instance, can be listed under the airline that uses it, the oil company that produced it or even the firm that made the engines. ($1 = 7.8836 Norwegian crowns)($1 = 0.8188 euros) (Additional reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) After fighting hard for seven years, TransCanada (NYSE: TRP) lost its political battle to build the Keystone XL Pipeline in 2015 when the Obama Administration officially rejected it due to climate-change concerns. That seemingly put an end to a project that would have moved 830,000 barrels of oil per day from Canada's oil sands region to refineries in Texas. However, the Trump Administration resurrected the project by reversing that decision and approving the necessary permit last year. That opened the door for TransCanada to proceed. One of the next steps was making sure there were still enough customers interested in shipping oil on the line to justify the estimated $8 billion investment. It turns out that there were, since the company announced this week that shippers committed to long-term contracts for 500,000 barrels per day. While the company still has some work to do before it begins construction, securing these contracts is a significant accomplishment. A close-up of a pipeline under construction. Image source: Getty Images. What does this mean for the project? TransCanada initially began soliciting commercial support for the project last July and extended the deadline for another month in September to give customers in Houston more time to sign up after Hurricane Harvey. That patience paid off, as TransCanada was able to secure 20-year commitments for 500,000 barrels of oil per day. While that's below the initial design capacity of 830,000 barrels per day, the cash flow from those agreements makes it an economically viable project for TransCanada. That said, the company still plans to solicit additional support so it can fill up its capacity and improve the project's economics even further. However, just because it now has enough firm commitments to move forward doesn't mean it will start construction anytime soon. That's because it still needs to secure the rights-of-ways and other permits to build the pipeline. That process will likely take the company an entire year, which is why it doesn't expect construction to begin until 2019. With an estimated two-year build timeline, that would put it into service by 2021, at the earliest. Story continues A pipeline under construction. Image source: Getty Images. What does this mean for investors? That timeframe lines up well with TransCanada's current growth forecast. The company announced late last year that it had 24 billion Canadian dollars' ($19.3 billion) worth of expansion projects underway, which was enough to grow earnings by an 8% to 10% annual rate through 2021. That rising cash flow would enable the company to boost its dividend at the upper end of an 8% to 10% annual rate through 2020, and by another 8% to 10% in 2021. As such, this project potentially sets the company up to extend the visibility of its dividend-growth forecast beyond that current time horizon. That ability to maintain fast-paced dividend growth increases the odds that TransCanada can continue delivering market-beating returns. In fact, since the company started raising its dividend in 2000, it has produced an average annual total return of 14%. Given the size of this project, it alone could move the needle enough to help the company maintain a market-beating growth rate in the year it enters service. A little bit closer to more growth Securing commercial support for this project is a big win for TransCanada because it proves that oil producers in Canada still need this pipeline, even after all the delays. It's also important to investors because it means that the project will generate a needle-moving return on investment for TransCanada, which could fuel additional dividend growth in the coming years. That said, there's still a long way to go before the company starts construction, so investors shouldn't begin counting on those higher dividend checks just yet. More From The Motley Fool Matthew DiLallo 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. On Thursday, Amazon (AMZN) was the days biggest business story after the company released a list of the 20 cities still in play to house its second headquarters, dubbed HQ2. This location is not meant to replace its original Seattle headquarters, but serve as a second headquarters equal in size and scope to the Seattle home base. Amazon has said it will hire 50,000 workers for this location. And most notably, Amazons list included three locations in the greater DC metro area Washington, D.C., Montgomery County, Maryland, and Northern Virginia. And that two of these are not cities, but regions, shows that while the retail giant has clearly made this bidding process for its next headquarters an exercise in trying to extract the most generous tax breaks from municipalities, in a perfect world Amazon would plant HQ2 in the nations capital. Washington is where Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wants to be. As demographer Lyman Stone noted on Twitter on Thursday, this list makes clear that Amazons initial criteria which included access to international airports with daily flights to NYC, San Francisco, Seattle, and D.C. appears to be heavily weighted towards access to D.C. One city stood out in Amazons list of finalists for its new headquarters Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) And while the company had also highlighted its desire to be in a metro of over 1 million people, with colleges nearby to provide tech talent, a stable and business-friendly environment, not all of these criteria were created equal. Its also not surprising that so many of the finalist cities are concentrated in the eastern part of the continent, with several of the finalists within a 90-minute flight of Washington, D.C. Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Newark, New Jersey, New York City, Boston, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Toronto. Even at the outset of this process, it wouldve been a surprise to see Amazon double down on the West Coast. Additionally, Bezos connections to D.C. cannot be ignored Bezos owns The Washington Post through his personal investment fund, and Bezos also bought a 27,000 square foot property in the city last year Story continues But it should also not come as a total surprise that Amazon, one of the companys most-often targeted by President Donald Trump, is looking towards the nations capital as a place to solidify its presence. Like all major companies, Amazon has a significant lobbying presence in D.C., but looking out to the next ten or twenty years of the relationship between U.S. policymakers and businesses, it seems likely the cozy relationship the tech sector has enjoyed with government changes. At least in some form. And while Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOGL) have both taken criticism from lawmakers for their role in spreading misinformation during the 2016 presidential election, Amazons size and questions about whether some of its business practices are anti-competitive and bad for consumers are not likely to go away in years to come. The relationship between companies and sectors and the government will ebb and flow over time. But as Amazon takes an even more central role in selling American consumers goods, and ventures into potentially more lucrative spaces like pharmaceuticals, the government isnt likely to ignore the power the company enjoys. And being more closely embedded in a city which, right now, has no major corporate identity would seem to be the kind of forward-thinking idea that CEO Jeff Bezos has favored since founding the company, and which has helped make him the richest man in the world. Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MylesUdland Read more from Myles here: By Dustin Volz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a bill to renew the National Security Agencys warrantless internet surveillance program for six years with minimal changes, overcoming objections from civil liberties advocates that it undermined the privacy of Americans. The legislation, which easily passed the House of Representatives last week, is expected to be signed into law by President Donald Trump by Friday. Thursday's 65-34 passage in the Senate was largely a foregone conclusion, after senators earlier this week cleared a 60-vote procedural hurdle, which split party lines and came within one vote of failing. Passage of the legislation marked a disappointing end to a years-long effort by a coalition of liberal Democrats and libertarian-leaning Republicans to redefine the scope of U.S. intelligence collection following the 2013 disclosures of classified surveillance secrets by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The bill reauthorizes what is known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which gathers information from foreigners overseas but incidentally collects an unknown amount of communications belonging to Americans. Under Section 702, the NSA is empowered to eavesdrop on vast amounts of digital communications via American companies like Facebook Inc, Verizon Communications Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google. But the program also incidentally scoops up Americans' communications, including when they communicate with a foreign target living overseas. Intelligence analysts can then search those messages without a warrant. The White House, U.S. intelligence agencies and congressional Republican leaders said the program is indispensable to national security. Opponents of the program said it allows the NSA and other intelligence agencies to grab data belonging to Americans in a way that represents an affront to the U.S. Constitution. The bill passed by Congress does add a narrow warrant requirement for cases where the Federal Bureau of Investigation seeks emails related to an existing criminal investigation that has no relevance to national security. Privacy advocates said that essentially gave more protections to criminal suspects than ordinary Americans caught up in the program's surveillance. (Reporting by Dustin Volz; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Tom Brown) FILE PHOTO: An Apple Store staff shows Apple's new iPhones X after they go on sale at the Apple Store in Regents Street, London, Britain, November 3, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo (Reuters) SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean consumer group has filed a criminal complaint against Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook over slower iPhone devices, after probes in Europe into allegations the firm had deliberately shortened the life of its handsets. Apple is already facing lawsuits in the United States and elsewhere over accusations of having defrauded iPhone users by slowing down devices without warning to compensate for poor battery performance and to push clients into buying new phones. The South Korean advocacy group, Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty, in its complaint submitted on Thursday accused Apple of destruction of property and fraud. "For the sake of its loyal fans, Apple has to take responsibility over the slowing iPhones," Park Soon-jang, an official at the advocacy group told Reuters by phone on Friday. The group also represents about 120 plaintiffs in a civil damage suit against Apple filed earlier this month. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office declined to comment when asked if it would launch an investigation into Apple following the complaint from the consumer group. Apple Korea, the U.S. tech firm's South Korean subsidiary, was not immediately available for comment. The California-based company acknowledged in December that iPhone software can slow down some phones with battery problems and apologised for the issue. However, it said it would never do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product. Apple will release a software update that will allow users to turn off a feature that slows down iPhones when batteries are low on charge, CEO Cook told ABC News on Wednesday. Italy's antitrust body said on Thursday it had opened a probe into allegations that Apple and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd used software updates to slow their mobile phones and push clients into buying new handsets. A French prosecutor has also launched a preliminary investigation into Apple's alleged deception and planned obsolescence of its products. (Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Himani Sarkar) Arizona officials on Friday guaranteed that Grand Canyon National Park will remain in full operation if Congress fails to pass a budget and a government shutdown ensues. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey said the state's top tourist attraction "will not close on our watch, period." Ducey spokesman Patrick Ptak says the state's parks and tourism agencies plan to provide up to $100,000 to ensure lodging, campgrounds and restaurants remain open, and more funding if needed. The state agencies have been working with the National Park Service to plan for a possible shutdown as early as Saturday if Congress fails to pass a government funding bill. The House passed a temporary government funding bill Thursday night, but the Senate was deadlocked. President Donald Trump and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer met Friday afternoon in an eleventh-hour effort to avert a shutdown. The impasse is over federal spending and legislation to protect some 700,000 younger immigrants from deportation. "If Washington, D.C. won't function, Arizona will," Ducey said in a statement. "Don't change your travel plans, because Arizona is open for business regardless of what happens back in Congress." The U.S. Interior Department said national parks and other public lands will remain as accessible as possible if a shutdown happens. That's a change from previous shutdowns, when most parks were closed and became high-profile symbols of dysfunction. But spokeswoman Heather Swift said services that require staffing and maintenance such as campgrounds, full-service restrooms and concessions won't be operating in most locations. Xanterra Parks & Resorts has released a statement saying its doors will be open for business at Grand Canyon National Park even if there is a federal shutdown. This includes the Grand Canyon Railway that operates from Williams to the South Rim of the Canyon. "Xanterra Parks & Resorts has received word from the U.S. National Park Service that the gates and roads into the national parks operated by Xanterra will remain open if there is a government shutdown. This means that Xanterras lodges, restaurants, retail, concessions and services will be open for business as usual," a Xanterra spokesperson wrote in press release. Arizona State parks and trails will not close during the federal shutdown. Arizona's decision to guarantee funding to cover the cost of those services means they should operate at the Grand Canyon as normal if a shutdown occurs. Arizona paid about $100,000 a day to cover the full cost of keeping the Grand Canyon open during the last shutdown in 2013 but was eventually reimbursed by the federal government. Former Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, worked to pay the National Park Service $651,000 to keep the popular tourist destination open for a week. That came after a shutdown that lasted more than a week. Federal lawmakers reached an agreement on the budget before those seven days were up. During a 1995 shutdown, Arizona's governor famously led a convoy of unarmed troops to the park's gate to demand it be opened. They were met there by the park superintendent, who negotiated with then-Gov. Fife Symington, a Republican, for a partial reopening if the budget impasse continued. The shutdown was briefly solved, but when the parks were again closed a month later, the state paid more than $17,000 a day to keep the road to the Grand Canyon Village and the Mather Point scenic viewpoint on the canyon's South Rim open. Jan 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is set to make a second request for information on chipmaker Broadcom Ltd's $103 billion hostile bid for Qualcomm Inc , people familiar with the matter said on Friday, indicating heightened antitrust scrutiny. The FTC review is part of a process under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act to scrutinize potentially anti-competitive mergers and acquisitions. The vast majority of deals reviewed by the FTC and the Department of Justice are allowed to proceed after the first preliminary review, according to the FTC's website. However, if a second request is issued, companies must provide more information to the FTC. As part of its defense against Broadcom, Qualcomm has argued that any deal faces a long and protracted antitrust review. Deals that get a second FTC request for information often do so because of their complexity and size, and the deal could still be subsequently approved, some of the sources said. Broadcom and Qualcomm declined to comment, while the FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis and Liana B. Baker in New York; Editing by Tom Brown) FILE PHOTO: The U.S. Supreme Court building is pictured in Washington, DC, U.S., November 15, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo (Reuters) By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday set up a major showdown over presidential powers, agreeing to decide the legality of President Donald Trump's latest travel ban targeting people from six Muslim-majority countries. The conservative-majority court is due to hear arguments in April and issue a ruling by the end of June on whether the ban violates federal immigration law or the U.S. Constitution's prohibition on religious discrimination. Trump's policy, announced in September, blocks entry into the United States of most people from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. The legal fight involves the third version of a contentious policy Trump first sought to implement a week after taking office in January 2017. The Supreme Court, which is tackling a series of consequential cases during its current term, signalled on Dec. 4 it was likely to uphold the policy. After lower courts had partially blocked it, the Supreme Court on a 7-2 vote let the ban go into full effect while legal challenges by the state of Hawaii and others continued. The Republican president has said the policy is needed to protect the United States from terrorism by Islamic militants. "We are confident the Supreme Court will ultimately uphold the president's lawful and necessary action to keep the American people safe and enforce these important security standards for entry into the United States," said Raj Shah, a White House spokesman. Those challenging the policy have argued it was motivated by Trump's enmity towards Muslims, pressing that point in court with some success by citing statements he made as a candidate and as president. As a candidate, Trump promised "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States." As president, he has rescinded protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children, sought to ramp up deportations and pursued new measures restricting legal immigration. Story continues In November, he shared on Twitter anti-Muslim videos posted by a far-right British political figure. "We have always known this case would ultimately be decided by the United States Supreme Court. This will be an important day for justice and the rule of law," said Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin, a Democrat. The American Civil Liberties Union pursued a separate legal challenge in Maryland that is now before the Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "The Supreme Court can and should put a definitive end to President Trump's attempt to undermine the constitutional guarantee of religious equality and the basic principles of our immigration laws, including their prohibition of national origin discrimination," ACLU lawyer Omar Jadwat said. 'THE NATION'S INTEREST' The case represents a high-profile test of presidential powers. In court papers, U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco, arguing for Trump's administration, said the president has "broad authority to suspend or restrict the entry of aliens outside the United States when he deems it in the nation's interest." Trump signed the latest ban on Sept. 24 after what Francisco called an "extensive, worldwide review" to determine which foreign governments provide information required by the United States to vet those seeking entry. Hawaii's lead lawyer Neal Katyal noted that under a federal law called the Immigration and Nationality Act, a president can restrict entry only of people deemed a potential threat or in certain emergency situations. That law also prohibits discrimination on the basis of nationality. The law does not "surrender to the president a boundless authority to set the rules of entry and override the immigration laws at will," Katyal said in court papers. Trump's ban also covers people from North Korea and certain government officials from Venezuela, but lower courts had already allowed those provisions to go into effect. Although lower courts have ruled against Trump over this three travel bans, the Supreme Court has given him a friendlier reception. In a series of emergency actions, it has issued decisions at least in part favourable to Trump without ever resolving the legal merit of the policies. The justices in June revived parts of Trump's second ban he signed in March. [For a graphic showing a timeline of Trump's travel restrictions, click http://tmsnrt.rs/2gKl5Ro] There are some exceptions to the current ban. Certain people from each targeted country can apply for a visa for tourism, business or education purposes, and any applicant can ask for an individual waiver. Federal district courts in Hawaii and Maryland ruled the current ban unlawful, prompting the administration to appeal. Before the Supreme Court's December order, lower courts had allowed the ban to go into effect for people with no close relatives in the United States or "formal, documented" relationships with U.S.-based entities such as universities and resettlement agencies. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Additional reporting by Yeganeh Torbati and Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Will Dunham) Fourth-quarter earnings season is finally underway, and investors are already getting excited about the upcoming reports from market-moving tech companies like Netflix (NFLX). Make sure to keep an eye on these companies as they prepare to report during the week of January 22. Fourth-quarter earnings season is finally underway, and investors are already getting excited about the upcoming reports from market-moving tech companies like Netflix NFLX. Nevertheless, we will see many major reports from noteworthy consumer-facing brands in other industries, so investors will want to be paying attention to all the news. In the coming weeks, we will see reports from the worlds biggest and most relevant companies, meaning that investors need to be prepared for the ensuing movement that is likely to occur throughout the market. According to the latest report from Sheraz Mian, the head of the Zacks Equity Research department and an acknowledged earnings expert, earnings growth is expected to be positive for 13 of the 16 Zacks sectorsand growth rates are projected to hit the double digits for our Energy, Technology, Construction, Industrial Products, Basic Materials, and Automotive groups. Investors should remember that they can always use the Zacks Earnings Calendar to plan out their schedules for earnings, dividend announcements, and other important financial releases. This handy tool is your perfect one-stop-shop to properly prepare for the market events that will have an impact on your own portfolio. Today, weve made that task even easier for you. Using the Earnings Calendar, we looked ahead to next week and selected some of the biggest reports to watch. Make sure to keep an eye on these companies as they prepare to report during the week of January 22. Johnson & Johnson, Inc. JNJ Personal healthcare and pharmaceuticals behemoth Johnson & Johnson is scheduled to release its latest quarterly results before the market opens on January 23. The company basically never missed earnings estimates, and shares have gained a respectable 29% over the past year. JNJ is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) as it approaches its report date. Based on our latest consensus estimates, we expect to see Johnson & Johnson report earnings of $1.72 per share and revenues of $20.22 billion. These results would represent year-over-year growth of 9% and 12%, respectively. We believe that new products in all segments, label expansion of drugs like Imbruvica and Darzalex, and contributions from recent acquisitions should support the company's top line. Story continues Ford Motor Company F Automotive manufacturing giant Ford is slated to announce its latest quarterly earnings results after the market closes on January 24. The company has met or surpassed estimates in three consecutive quarters, but the stock has dropped in the wake of management's warning that 2018 profits will be softer than expected. Still, Ford is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), primarily because of favorable near-term outlook. Based on our current consensus estimates, Ford is expected to post earnings of $0.44 per share and revenues of $37.15 billion, which would mark growth of 47% and 3%, respectively, from the year-ago period. Nevertheless, an update on the company's forward-looking guidance will likely be what drives the stock in the wake of the report. Starbucks Corporation SBUX Coffee king Starbucks is scheduled to release its latest quarterly earnings report after the closing bell on January 25. Starbucks is a pretty consistent earnings performer, but year-over-year comparisons have tightened and the stock has gained just 6% over the past 52 weeks. SBUX is sporting a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) as we approach the release of its report. According to our latest consensus estimates, Starbucks is projected to post earnings of $0.57 per share and revenues of $6.15 billion. These results would represent year-over-year growth of 10% and 7%, respectively. Digital initiatives like mobile pay, delivery services, and third-party loyalty partnerships can stimulate stronger sales trends in the Americas, while China will remain a key growth market for the company. Want more stock market analysis from this author? Make sure to follow @Ryan_McQueeney on Twitter! Will You Make a Fortune on the Shift to Electric Cars? Here's another stock idea to consider. Much like petroleum 150 years ago, lithium power may soon shake the world, creating millionaires and reshaping geo-politics. Soon electric vehicles (EVs) may be cheaper than gas guzzlers. Some are already reaching 265 miles on a single charge. With battery prices plummeting and charging stations set to multiply, one company stands out as the #1 stock to buy according to Zacks research. It's not the one you think. See This Ticker Free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) : Free Stock Analysis Report Ford Motor Company (F) : Free Stock Analysis Report Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Uranium stocks may not have had a great 2017, but industry sentiments turned increasingly bullish as the year drew to a close. With the world's largest uranium miners striving to revive the beleaguered industry, they may have already averted a price meltdown by providing uranium prices a floor last year. Investors in uranium stocks, therefore, have valid reasons to remain hopeful, and there's a fair chance that a stock like Cameco Corp (NYSE: CCJ) could see a better year ahead after tumbling double digits last year. While the smaller players like NexGen Energy (NYSEMKT: NXE) and Denison Mines (NYSEMKT: DNN) had relatively stronger run-ups last year, a recovering uranium market in 2018 could fuel further interest in the stocks. Here are the three things investors in uranium stocks need to watch for in 2018. Will the uranium supply glut ease as expected? Tumbling uranium prices have proved to be the biggest roadblock for uranium producers in the last couple of years. The culprit: rising uranium supply and dwindling demand. After uranium prices dipped below $20 per pound last year, leading uranium manufacturers swung to action in a desperate attempt to provide some support to prices. In November, Cameco announced a temporary suspension of operations at its McArthur River mine and Key Lake milling operations in Saskatchewan, Canada. McArthur is the world's largest uranium-producing mine, accounting for 11% of the global uranium production in 2016. A few weeks later, Kazatomprom, Kazakhstan's state-owned uranium producer, announced plans to cut output by as much as 20% in the next three years. Yellow uranium rock fuel used in nuclear reactors. Uranium prices are expected to recover in 2018. Image source: Getty Images. One view is that Kazatomprom is planning to list in London this year, and higher uranium prices are conducive to the success of its initial public offering. Whatever the reason, production cuts are a significant development as Cameco and Kazatomprom are the two largest uranium manufacturers in the world, accounting for nearly 38% of the global uranium supply. Denison Mines CEO David Cates called Kazakhstan's decision to slash production by 20% a "key turning point" and believes it "will have a decisive impact in tightening the market." Story continues That's just what investors in uranium want right now, which explains why the news sent uranium stocks soaring. Investors should track all developments on that front, as easing the supply is a logical first step to bringing the uranium markets back to life. The next is the re-entry of qualified contract buyers of uranium, which depends on a great deal on the health of the nuclear power industry. The number to watch: Nuclear reactors At the beginning of the decade, uranium was touted to be one of the hottest trends to invest in as nations across the globe, led by Japan, were stepping up nuclear power generation. A deadly tsunami, followed by one of the worst nuclear disasters in Fukushima Daiichi that led to the closure of all of Japan's nuclear reactors, blew up the uranium industry's plans. Japan's reactors are shut to date, and views about nuclear energy are mixed. Things, however, could be gradually looking up as some countries are planning to build nuclear reactors. To give you some examples: Japan intends to generate one-fifth of its electricity requirements through nuclear energy by 2030, which may require 25 to 30 running reactors. Saudi Arabia is planning to construct 16 nuclear power reactors over the next two decades. China has 20 nuclear reactors under construction. India intends to generate 25% of its electricity from nuclear power by 2025, has six reactors under construction and several in the pipeline. The bottom line is that the nuclear power industry is far from dead. As CEO of NexGen Energy, Leigh Curyer, said to CNBC last year, "A lot of countries are recognizing that nuclear power is the base load supply of electricity that is emissions-free." Four nuclear reactors on a yellow field. The key to the uranium industry's recovery lies in nuclear reactor restarts. Image source: Getty Images. The key to the industry's revival, however, still largely lies in Japan's hands, so investors should keep an eye on updates from the nation. With Japan's nuclear regulator recently giving Tokyo Electric Power, or TEPCO, the go-ahead to restart two reactors at the world's largest nuclear power plant, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, there's hope for uranium manufacturers. Here, investors in Cameco may recall that TEPCO is the same company that abruptly terminated a long-term supply contract with the company last year. While it was a big blow to Cameco, the uranium miner isn't losing hope and is taking proactive steps as it prepares for a recovery -- a trend that investors should expect to continue in 2018. Agility and flexibility: The need of the hour Cost-cutting is one trend that I expect will continue to play out in the uranium industry in 2018 as there's only so much Cameco and others can do to influence demand and supply. A viable option is to stop mining uranium at steep losses and cut costs wherever possible. Cameco's decision to scale down production is a step in the right direction. By doing so, the miner can reduce operating expenses while drawing down on inventory to boost cash flows. Cameco took another bold step in 2017: slashing dividends, for the first time since the Fukushima disaster, by 80%. Again, that may hurt investors in the short run, but it's the right step to prevent cash burn. I wouldn't be surprised to see Cameco tighten its purse strings further this year. The Foolish bottom line Uranium prices appear to be stabilizing. If global manufacturers can continue to tighten supply, 2018 could give uranium stocks a much-needed breather and even mark the industry's turnaround. More From The Motley Fool Neha Chamaria 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. FILE PHOTO: Billionaire activist-investor Carl Icahn gives an interview on FOX Business Network's Neil Cavuto show in New York, U.S. on February 11, 2014. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo (Reuters) By Muvija M and Makiko Yamazaki (Reuters) - Hedge fund investor Carl Icahn has called for the termination or renegotiation of Xerox Corp's long-running photocopier joint venture with Fujifilm Holdings <4901.T>, reiterating demands for a change of leadership at Xerox. In an open letter addressed to shareholders on Thursday, Icahn added his voice to that of another major owner of Xerox stock, Darwin Deason, who told the company on Wednesday to make public the terms of a deal with Fujifilm he said was probably "one-sided". "We are obviously in favor of renegotiating the joint venture agreement to make it more favorable for Xerox," Icahn said. "This should have been done a long, long time ago." Xerox, which has called Deason's criticism "false and misleading", said it was aware of Icahn's letter and was "focused on creating value for all shareholders and will continue to take action to achieve this objective." The five-decade-old joint venture, 75 percent owned by Fujifilm and 25 percent by Xerox, is a pillar of Fujifilm's business, accounting for nearly half the group's overall operating profit. However, it has limited prospects for future growth due to declining demand for office printing. The joint venture, called Fuji Xerox, reported operating profit of about $750 million on sales of $10 billion in the year ended last March. It covers the Asia-Pacific region including Japan and China. Fujifilm, which declined to comment on Icahn's letter, is aiming to expand the joint venture with a larger focus on document solutions services, while tapping fresh demand in emerging markets in Asia. In the meantime, it is also addressing governance issues at Fuji Xerox following a $341 million accounting scandal at the joint venture in Australia and Zealand. Icahn, who has in the past called for a leadership change at Xerox, said it was self-evident that the current management team at the photocopier specialist was incapable of renegotiating the joint venture in Xerox's favor. Story continues The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Xerox, under pressure to find new growth sources amid shrinking demand for its printer and copier business, was in talks on a deal with the Japanese camera maker that could include a change in control of Xerox. Deutsche Bank analysts said in a report to clients this week that they do not see much advantage in Fujifilm taking a stake in Xerox given the current market climate. But buying Xerox's 25 percent share of the joint venture "could push for a more aggressive integration with Fuji Xerox that could have cost benefits," the report said. "We believe drastic action is needed NOW because we fear that failing to replace Jeff Jacobson as (Xerox) CEO could inevitably result in the loss of our entire investment," Icahn wrote. Eighty one-year old Icahn, through Icahn Associates Corp, holds about a 9.7 percent stake in Xerox, making him the largest shareholder. Deason is the third-largest shareholder, according to Thomson Reuters data. Icahn's stake in Xerox dates back to 2015, when he called the shares "undervalued". Shares of Xerox, which fell 1.2 percent to $31.53 on Thursday and have risen over 3 percent since the Journal's report was published. Fujifilm shares edged up 0.7 percent on Friday to 4,790 yen and have been little changed during that same period. (This story was refiled for dropped letter in last paragraph.) (Reporting by Munsif Vengattil and Muvija M in Bengaluru, Makiko Yamazaki in Tokyo; Editing by Bernard Orr and Malcolm Foster) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has told a meeting on Central Asia and Afghanistan that addressing "inequality, exclusion, and discrimination" is crucial to stemming terrorism and extremism. Guterres made the comments at a January 19 UN Security Council meeting on partnership in the region, commending Central Asian nations for boosting security and development cooperation with Afghanistan. The meeting was convened by Kazakhstan, which currently holds the rotating Security Council presidency. "During my visit to Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan last June, I was encouraged to see new bilateral and regional connections and better regional dynamics," Guterres said, according to a transcript released by his office. He added that while "sustainable development is a fundamental end in itself," such development should be "inclusive." "Only by addressing the root causes of crisis, including inequality, exclusion, and discrimination, will we build peaceful societies resilient to terrorism and violent extremism," he said. International rights groups have accused Western nations of failing to sufficiently confront rights abuses by Central Asian governments for strategic purposes related to energy and security. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan told the meeting that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration expects Kabul to continue down the path of reform and root out corruption. He said Washington would not allow Afghanistan to serve as a "safe haven" for terrorists like it had before the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. In August, Trump announced his strategy for ending the nearly two-decade-long war in Afghanistan. He said it would include deploying more U.S. troops to the country and intensifying pressure on neighboring Pakistan not to harbor terrorists. Islamabad has reacted angrily to Trump's accusation that it is not doing enough to combat terrorism. A top journalism watchdog group has condemned Pakistan's closure of RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal office in Islamabad, calling it a "direct threat to press freedom" in Pakistan. Pakistans Interior Ministry on January 19 ordered the closure after Pakistans Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) agency accused the private, U.S.-government-funded broadcaster of airing programs against the interest of Pakistan and in line with [a] hostile intelligence agencys agenda. "The order to close Radio Mashaal is a draconian move by Pakistani authorities and a direct threat to press freedom," said Steven Butler, the Committee to Protect Journalism's Asia program coordinator. "Radio Mashaal is an important source of information and should be allowed to continue operating without delay," he said. Butler in an e-mail to the Associated Press said the move is part of a pattern of increasing pressure on journalists in Pakistan. "It's hard to know precisely what prompted the order," he told AP. "However, it is certainly only the latest move from the military that puts pressure on the media to stay away from sensitive issues, including criticism of the military itself." Butler told AP that the closure might also be retaliation for U.S. President Donald Trump's New Year's Day tweet accusing Pakistan of "lies and deceit." "It also comes just after the Trump administration cut off military aid to Pakistan and could possibly be a kind of retaliation," said Butler. "It does not bode well for press freedom inside the country." Trump on January 1 accused Pakistan of "lies and deceit" and said the United States would suspend up to $1.9 billion a year in military aid until Islamabad moves decisively against Afghan Taliban fighters and Haqqani network militants who he said have found safe haven within Pakistan's borders. Pakistans chief of army staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, responded to Trump's criticism on January 12, saying that Pakistan felt betrayed by the U.S. accusation that it is not doing enough to fight terrorism and by Washingtons decision to suspend military aid for Islamabad. Pakistan's order against Radio Mashaal accused the news outlet of portraying Pakistan [as] a hub of terrorism and [a] safe haven for different militant groups. It said Radio Mashaal programming presented Pakistan as a failed state in terms of providing security to its people, in particular minorities and ethnic Pashtuns. It said Radio Mashaal showed ethnic Pashtuns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Balochistan Province, and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the border with Afghanistan as disenchanted with the state. It also accused the broadcaster of distorting facts [to] incite the target population against the state and its institutions. Pakistani Interior Ministry officers went to the broadcasters Islamabad bureau on January 19 and met with the bureau chief and administrator to discuss the closure order. RFE/RL President Thomas Kent said he was extraordinarily concerned by the closure and was urgently seeking more information about the Pakistani authorities intentions. Kent said Radio Mashaal, which broadcasts from Prague and has both radio and digital operations, is a private news organization supported by the U.S. Congress with no connection to the intelligence agencies of any country. Radio Mashaal is an essential source of reliable, balanced information for our Pakistani audience, Kent said. We hope this situation will be resolved without delay. In emphasizing that "Radio Mashaal serves no intelligence agency or government," Kent said our reporters are Pakistani citizens who are dedicated to their country and live and raise families in the villages in which they report." "We demand that their safety be ensured, and that they be permitted to resume their work without fear or delay, Kent said. With reporting by AP ashwinchivukula wrote: Hi All, I am trying to decide between UNC & Kelley. Net cost of attendance at UNC would be $150K Vs. $66K for Kelley (inclusive of financial aid in both places) Post MBA goals - Management consultancy (both score well in consultancy roles) I am leaning towards Kelley so far because of the difference in cost. Let me know your thoughts! Thanks! Vanderbilt Owen vs Kenan Flagler healthcare employment [ #permalink Thank you everyone for the amazing suggestions. I agree with you Teleste on Nashville being a lot more happening place. Have visited both the campuses. But as an international candidate there is so much at stake that it's hard to focus on the location. Mo2men, you are absolutely right on how negligible the difference is. In fact the figures are mirror images in terms of salary and bonus, with Vanderbilt performing better in healthcare consulting. This makes it even more confusing, as I still haven't ruled out healthcare consulting. But UNC performs better when it comes to pharmaceuticals in terms of number of recruiters. Another thing which worries me about UNC is the falling/stagnant percentage of international students receiving job offers after 3 months, on the contrary I see it improving for Owen( better than UNC for 2017). But, again I am more concerned with medical devices. So is it more to do with finding the right/interested candidate than about school reputation? VeritasPrepDozie, did that but not much came out of it. In fact, I have interacted with a considerable number of alumni from both the schools via LinkedIn, and surprisingly none has advocated one school over the other. Two UNC alumni went to the extent of saying that they were unhappy with the healthcare recruitment at UNC for international candidates and would prefer Kelley/Owen if given chance back in time. This was surprising as both are placed well, but none credited the school for help but criticized it for a poor career management centre. Islamabad, Jan 20 (IBNS): In a major move, Pakistan government has shut down operations of Radio Mashaal, a Pashto language broadcaster linked to the US-funded Radio Free Europe, in its country. The government made the move following Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) recommendations. A notification issued by the ministry, directed towards Islamabad chief commissioner and police chief, said that as per an ISI report, the radio airs programmes "found against the interests of Pakistan and in line with hostile intelligence agency's agenda", Dawn News reported. Meanwhile, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has deplored the closure by Pakistans Interior Ministry of its office in Islamabad, Pakistan. Radio Mashaal serves no intelligence agency or government, said RFE/RL President Thomas Kent, using the local name of RFE/RLs Pashto-language service in Pakistan. Our reporters are Pakistani citizens who are dedicated to their country and live and raise families in the villages in which they report. We demand that their safety be ensured, and that they be permitted to resume their work without fear or delay," Kent said. Interior Ministry officers arrived at the companys Islamabad bureau on January 19 to present the closure order and clear and seal the premises. "The order came amid deteriorating U.S.-Pakistan relations. Pakistans chief of army staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa stated on January 12 that Pakistan feels 'betrayed' by U.S. criticism that it is not doing enough to fight terrorism and by Washingtons decision to suspend military aid for Islamabad," Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said in a statement. RFE/RL, a private news organization supported by a U.S. congressional grant, said it has documented increasing threats against Mashaal journalists over the last two years as a result of their reporting. Freedom House has designated the country not free, and the Committee to Protect Journalists consistently ranks it among the most dangerous countries for the media, RFE/RL said in a statement. Radio Mashaal was established in 2010 to provide an alternative to extremist propaganda in the tribal regions along Pakistans border with Afghanistan, reaching audiences that are otherwise subject to the mullah radio of Taliban extremists and the recruitment efforts of other militant groups. Mashaal senior editor Daud Khattak spoke optimistically about the tribal regions recently. Twenty years ago, people of [the tribal areas] saw weapons as a symbol of grandeur. Today, they want schools and colleges[and] courts. While Mashaal continues to use radio to reach its audience, it also counts more than 1.6 million Facebook fans, and registered 81 million video views on Facebook and 10 million views on YouTube in 2017. Quebec City, Jan 20 (IBNS): A Canadian jury has acquitted all three accused of criminal negligence in a case that pertains to 2013 Lac-Megantic rail disaster which killed 47 people, media reports said. The jury consisting of eight men and four women started deliberating on Jan 11. The trial was started on Oct 2 at a Quebec Superior Court in Sherbrooke, west of Lac-Megantic. On July 6, 2013, a Canadian train filled with petroleum crude was derailed near a small town in Quebec. Locomotive engineer Tom Harding, rail traffic controller Richard Labrie and operations manger Jean Demaitre were charged with criminal negligence. According to the Canadian criminal code, the charges could have offered a life sentence to all the three former accused. All three accused had pleaded guilty. In the long court-room trial, Harding said he had applied only seven brakes when the derailment was occurring and also he did not test the brakes well before beginning the journey. After the acquittal, Labrie told media and he was quoted by CBC News: "I would like to say the people of Lac-Megantic, what they went through, they showed a huge amount of courage." Later he even broke down in tears. Respecting the verdict, Crown prosecutor Jasmine Guillaume said: "We respect the decision of the jury, although it was not the verdict we were looking for." "But they had an important role in this criminal trial and the verdict is the result of the demanding and rigorous work on their part.," she added. (Reporting by Suman Das) Mrs. Maryam Rajavi extolled the Iranian peoples magnificent uprising which spread at extraordinary speed to 142 cities and towns. She praised the courage and sacrifice of young protesters to accomplish freedom and democracy. Greeting the uprisings martyrs and thousands imprisoned, she said, Without any doubt, all of us will march on together, until we overthrow this corrupt and criminal regime. Victory belongs to the people of Iran. Regime Change in Iran: Onward to a Free Iran Watch this video on YouTube Rajavi, insisted everyone to assist the people of Iran in their uprising to get rid of the religious fascism ruling the country and establish democracy and popular sovereignty. She said, The people of Iran urge the UN and the world to recognize the Iranian peoples struggle to overthrow the mullahs religious dictatorship. This is the right of a brave people who are at the forefront of the struggle against a regime which is a threat to global peace and security. Urging the United Nations and all governments, to pressure the clerical regime to free those arrested in recent protests and hold them accountable regarding those who have disappeared. She asked for a commission of inquiry to investigate the arbitrary arrests of thousands of people and the killing of prisoners under torture. Mrs. Rajavi went on to say, the people of Iran expect that all governments severe their political and economic relations with the clerical regime, particularly with the IRGC which is torturing and killing the protesters. Stating that the recent uprising has been motivated by the publics wrath over the mullahs plundering of their wealth, poverty, unemployment, and class differences as well as the regimes almost 39 years of suppression and slaughters, Mrs. Rajavi reiterated, This is a revolt for freedom and popular sovereignty to establish social justice and prosperity. It is not a byproduct of a power struggle among the regimes internal factions, but another nail in the coffin of the masquerade about moderation. It showed that the billions of dollars of windfall from the nuclear deal did nothing to cure the regimes instability. The uprising showed that the people of Iran detest both regime factions and want it overthrown in its entirety and that the Iranian society has a force within itself capable of overthrowing the theocratic regime. Mr. Newt Gingrich was the second distinguished speaker at the conference in his speech said: Moderation in the Iranian regime is an illusion. There is a bad wing and a very bad wing in the dictatorship. There is no innocent wing of the dictatorshipThe MEK is a real force. The level of fear of the MEK and Mrs. Rajavi is growing among the regime. You have survived, you have endured, and you have continued with your mission, and the regime have been unable to stop you. .You, the MEK, are making a difference. You are on the side of history, because you are on the side of freedom. Thank you Mrs. Rajavi for your dedicated leadership to this cause. Also Senator Torricelli in his annotations to the conference, said: This is the beginning of a revolution. A regime that stays in power by killing its people has a numbered life. When Rouhani called French President Macron and asked him to clamp down on the MEK it made one thing clear: This is not a revolution without a leader. The leader is sitting here.The only group who has never compromised with the mullahs is the MEK. I agree with Khamenei on nothing except one thing: he is putting responsibility on the MEK and the PMOI and blaming Mrs. Rajavi. He is right about it. This has been organized for years, network has been created, by never compromising with the regime, never being part of it. The MEK and Mrs. Rajavi have kept credibility So in identifying the MEK and Mrs. Rajavi, he is right because the MEK and the entire international community that supports it, we are all coming for Khamenei to end this nightmare. A group of representatives of Iranian communities in Europe also attended the conference. Amongst them, a number of former political prisoners and survivors of the victims of the 1988 massacre also briefly addressed the conference, testifying on the anti-human crimes of the clerical regime in prisons as well as the extensive repression in Iran. They all reiterated the resentment of the Iranian people towards religious fascism ruling Iran. The recent uprising in Iran which began on December 28 late last year, has sent shockwaves around the world, including the current debates among Iran policy circles in the United States. Many policy experts, analysts, and commentators now view and describe the uprising as watershed, or landmark event or a tuning point in the period since 1979. The below article is trying to provide a summary of these conceivable options and views mainly focus on the question of will this uprising continue. There has been speculation that the uprising will die out or be crushed by the regime. However, a key barrier has been broken: Iranians are no longer contained by the wall of fear created by the Islamic Republic regime. Not only has Irans theocracy lost its legitimacy, but also it has lost its ability to control the public who are well organized and peaceful through the instruments of violence. MEK / PMOI supporters shown outstanding supremacy in the uprising. Their vision and advice has been well followed by young protesters. None of the shop or people properties has been attacked. MEK / PMOI supporters thoughtfully organised not to target none government position but to be focus on authorities belonging such as Bank, Clerical institution, suppressive forces bases etc., Unlike in past protests, countless Iranians have demonstrated that they will no longer participate in the political game of reformist vs. conservative (better known as moderates vs. conservatives in the West). For them, no one from the establishment, including the so-called reformists, can make their lives better. For them, the entire system has to fall for a new Iran to be reborn. This clear vision is what for over 3 decade MEK / PMOI have been declaring and educating generation after generations. The current revolt may not lead to the immediate collapse of the regime, but it is clear the death throes of the Islamic Republic. Said one supporter of the MEK / PMOI In a demonstration in solidarity with the uprising in Paris. Another MEK / PMOI supporter added: Khamenei and Rouhani may blame foreign enemies for the uprising, but their enemies are the hungry and oppressed people of Iran. They are awake. And they are legion. So two points are very clear. First, this is not the first time Iranians have come out on the streets to protest and challenge authoritarian rule, nor will it be the last; the Iranian people have a long history of seeking a democratize political order. Second, the Iranian regime will not significantly modify either its domestic or foreign policies, portending ongoing unrest. Thus as there is an organized alternative NCRI where MEK / PMOI are one of the main member of it with wide spread network inside Iran one can assume the fatal effort of the regime for any strategic success. No doubt as regime use more force and start more killing it only provide a magnificent tool for the protester to become more and more organized and follow objectives MEK / PMOI have been looking for over 39 years. This is the beginning of the end of a rotten corrupt religious dictatorship fully rejected by million protesters in 142 cities said a young Iranian student MEK / PMOI supporter who had left Iran only one year ago and joined the protesters in Paris. As the current unrest demonstrates, Iranian aspirations for a free and democratic state remain very strong and the clerics will not be able to thwart the will of the people any more. Following implementation of the deal, and its lifting of sanctions, some businesses have engaged in business deals with Iran, despite the financial, legal, and socio-political risks. United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) has recently unveiled its Iran Risk Snapshot, part of a campaign to discourage companies from doing business with Iran. This is a set of 27 financial, legal, and sociopolitical indices from leading organizations who analyze the risks of doing business around the world. Among these indices, Iran consistently ranks at or near the bottom. Reports from Forbes, The World Bank, and the World Economic Forum find Irans investment laws unfavorable, and cite the regimes lack of transparency. Turkish-Iranian gold trader, Reza Zarrab recently appeared in U.S. federal court and testified that he and Turkish banker Hakan Atilla ran a money laundering network from 2010 to 2015. This network provided Iran with access to international markets, despite U.S. sanctions. Zarrab also discussed his connection to former Iranian President Ahmadinejad, as well as a meeting between himself and the former chairman of the Central Bank of Iran. A New York jury is deliberating his fate. Reports from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) have designated Iran as a high-risk and non-cooperative jurisdiction. Funding of groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah further the argument that companies should not do business with Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been described by President Trump as the Iranian Supreme Leaders corrupt personal terror force and militia. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar claimed that Iran was the groups largest backer financially and militarily, last August. In September, it was reported that the regime in Tehran boosted its financial support to Hezbollah to the tune of $800 million a year in 2017. A November report suggests that the IRGC controls Mahan Air, Irans largest airline, and employs its fleet to transport troops and weaponry to Syria and Lebanon. Additionally, in December, it was reported that Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen killed the countrys former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Heritage Foundations reports find Irans high degree of censorship, poor regulation, lack of political stability, in combination with a lack of accountability, create an environment where human rights violations and persecution of minorities are expected. According to recently found by the United Nations, there are at least 90 people under the age of 18 on death row in Iran. Executions are often public hangings, and are may be carried out without formal charges or family notifications. Iran is also holding American and western hostages, including Xiyue Wang, Robert Levinson and Siamak Namazi. The financial, legal, and socio-political uncertainties of doing business with Iran should make it undesirable to do so. UANI continues its work, making the risks understood, so that none can claim ignorance as an excuse. The online seller Amazon has announced a list of 20 possible places where the company might build a second headquarters. Included on the list is the city of Toronto in the Canadian Province of Ontario. Amazon expects the new headquarters, which Amazon calls HQ2, to employ 50,000 people. Amazon estimated that, over the next 10 to 15 years, HQ2 will generate jobs that average over $100,000 in yearly pay. Thursdays announcement comes four months after the company first started accepting bids. The list, which was cut down from a total of 238 areas, includes major cities such as Chicago, New York City and Washington D.C. Smaller cities such as Raleigh, North Carolina and Columbus, Ohio were also included. In the Northeast, Boston; Newark, New Jersey; Philadelphia and Pittsburg were selected as possible choices. Montgomery County, Maryland and Northern Virginia; and the southern cities of Atlanta; Austin and Dallas, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; and Miami are up for consideration. Toronto was the only place chosen outside of the U.S. Los Angeles was the only city on the West Coast and Indianapolis was the only city in the Midwest. Amazon's main headquarters is in Seattle, Washington. Amazons announcement marks the beginning of a competition between the bidders. HQ2 is expected to bring in billions of dollars in both revenue and secondary investment. Amazons plan for expansion shows the influence technology companies have on the economy. On Wednesday, technology company Apple announced plans to create thousands of jobs and build a new campus. Some of the competing bidders have publically announced their plans to provide Amazon with billions of dollars in reduced taxes if they are chosen. Jason Lary, the mayor of Stonecrest, Georgia, near Atlanta, has proposed using 140 hectares of land in his town to create a new city he called Amazon. Lary said Amazons chief executive officer, Jeff Bezos, can be the citys mayor for life. New Jersey has offered Amazon $7 billion in tax reductions if Newark is chosen as the future site for HQ2. Amazon officials say they expect to make a decision sometime this year. The company plans to hold discussions with all 20 bidders about the project. Im Mario Ritter. Rachel Dennis adapted it for VOA Learning English from a Reuters story. Mario Ritter was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story revenue- n. the money being made by a company generate v. to cause something to be created or produced bid n. an offer of money for whatever is being sold campus n. the area and buildings around a university, college, school or technology company We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. Editor's Note: Last week we brought you the first of four programs called A Princess of Mars. Our story is from a series of books by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs. They are science fiction stories, a mix of imagination and science. Last week, we met John Carter who begins the story. He enters a cave deep in the desert in the state of Arizona. There something happens. He does not know how, but he has been transported to the Red Planet, Mars. He quickly learns that gravity on Mars is much less than on Earth. The lack of gravity makes him very strong. He can even jump very high without trying. He finds a low wall that surrounds a group of eggs. The eggs are opening. Out come small, fierce-looking green creatures. When we left John Carter, a green adult creature carrying a long sharp spear was coming toward him. Paul Thompson adapted this story was adapted for VOA Learning English. Paul Thompson and Mario Ritter produced it. Shep ONeal was the voice of John Carter. Steve Ember was Tars Tarkas. And Barbara Klein was Sola. And now, the second program in our series, A Princess of Mars. JOHN CARTER: The creature with the spear was huge. There were many other similar creatures. They had ridden behind me on the backs of large animals. Each of them carried a collection of strange-looking weapons. The one with the large spear got down from the back of his animal and began walking toward me. He was almost five meters tall and a dark green color. Huge teeth stuck out of his face, and his expression showed much hate and violence. I immediately knew I was facing a terrible warrior. He began moving quickly toward me with the spear. I was completely unarmed. I could not fight. My only chance was to escape. I used all my strength to jump away from him. I was able to jump almost thirty meters. The green Martian stopped and watched my effort. I would learn later that the look on his face showed complete surprise. The creatures gathered and talked among themselves. While they talked, I thought about running away. However, I noticed several of them carried devices that looked very much like rifles. I could not run. Soon, all but one of the creatures moved away. The one who had threatened me stayed. He slowly took off a metal band from his arm and held it out to me. He spoke in a strange language. JOHN CARTER: Slowly, he laid down his weapons. I thought this would have been a sign of peace anywhere on Earthwhy not on Mars, too? I walked toward him and in a normal voice announced my name and said I had come in peace. I knew he did not understand, but like me, he took it to mean that I meant no harm. Slowly, we came together. He gave me the large metal band that had been around his arm. He turned and made signs with his hands that I should follow him. Soon we arrived at the large animal he had been riding. He again made a sign with his hands that I should ride on the same animal behind him. The group turned and began riding across the land. We moved quickly toward mountains in the distance. JOHN CARTER: The large animals we rode moved quickly across the land. I could tell from the surrounding mountains that we were on the bottom of a long dead sea. In time we came to a huge city. At first I thought the city was empty. The buildings all were empty and in poor repair. But soon I saw hundreds of the green warriors. I also saw green women and children. I soon learned about many cities like this. The cities were built hundreds of years ago by a people that no longer existed. The green Martians used the cities. They moved from one empty city to another, never stopping for more than a day or two. We got down from our animals and walked into a large building. We entered a room that was filled with fierce green warriors. It was not difficult to tell that these were the leaders of the green Martians. One of them took hold of my arm. He shook me and lifted me off the ground. He laughed when he did so. I was to learn that green Martians only laugh at the pain or suffering of others. This huge warrior threw me to the ground and then took hold of my arm again to pick me up. I did the only thing I could do. I hit him with my closed fist as hard as I could. The green warrior fell to the floor and did not move. The others in the room grew silent. I had knocked down one of their warriors with only my hand. I moved away from him and prepared to defend myself as best I could. But they did not move. The green Martian that had captured me walked toward me. He said in a clear voice: TARS TARKAS: "TARS TARKAS -- TARS TARKAS. JOHN CARTER: As he spoke, he pointed to his own chest. He was telling me his name! I pointed to my chest and said my name, John Carter. He turned and said the word, Sola. Immediately, a green Martian woman came close. He spoke to her. She led me to another building and into a large room. The room was filled with equipment carried by the green Martians. She prepared something for me to eat. I was very hungry. I pointed to her and said the word Sola. She pointed at me and said my name. It was a beginning. Sola was my guard. She also became my teacher. In time she would become a close and valued friend. As I ate my meal, my lessons in the language of the green Martians continued. JOHN CARTER: Two days later, Tars Tarkas came to my room. He carried the weapons and the metal armbands the green warriors wear. He put them on the ground near my feet. Sola told him I now understood some of their language. He turned to me and spoke slowly. TARS TARKAS: The warrior you hit is dead. His weapons and the metal of his rank are yours, John Carter. He was a leader of one small group among our people. Because you have killed him, you now are a leader. You are still a captive and not free to leave. However you will be treated with the respect you have earned. You are now a warrior among our people. JOHN CARTER: Tars Tarkas turned and spoke softly. From beyond the door a strange creature entered the room. It was bigger than a large dog and very ugly. It had rows of long teeth and ten very short legs. Tars Tarkas spoke to the creature and pointed at me. He left. The creature looked at me, watching closely. Then Sola spoke about the creature. SOLA: His name is Woola. The men of our tribe use them in hunting and war. He has been told to guard and protect you. He has also been told to prevent your escape. There is no faster creature in our world. And in a fight they can kill very quickly. Do not try to escape, John Carter. Woola will tear you to small pieces. JOHN CARTER: I continued to watch the creature named Woola. I had already seen how the green Martians treated other animals. They were very cruel. I thought, perhaps this beast can be taught to be my friendmuch like a dog on Earth. I walked close to the creature and began speaking in much the same way I would speak to a dog or other animal on Earth. I sat down next to him while I talked softly. At first he seemed confused. I believe the creature Woola had never heard a kind word. For the next several days I gained the trust and friendship of Woola. In a few short days Woola was my friend and fierce protector. He would remain my loyal friend as long as I was on Mars. JOHN CARTER: Several days later, Sola came to me with a look of great concern. SOLA: John Cartercome with me. A great battle is about to take place. An enemy is coming near this city. We must prepare to fight and we must be ready to flee. JOHN CARTER: Sola, what enemy is this? SOLA: A race of red men who travel our world in flying machines. A great number of their machines have come over the far mountain. Take your weapons with you and hurry. JOHN CARTER: I collected my sword and a spear. I hurried out of the building and joined a group of warriors moving toward the end of the city. Far in the distance I could see the air ships. They were firing large guns at the green warriors. I heard huge explosions. The green warriors were firing back with their deadly rifles. The air was filled with the sound of violent battle. Suddenly a huge air ship exploded. It came down, crashing near me. Red Martians were falling from the side of the huge ship. And then it exploded! Join us again next week at this time as we continue A Princess of Mars in VOA Learning English. Download activities to help you understand this story here. Now its your turn to use these Words in This Story. In the comments section, write a sentence using one of these words and we will provide feedback on your use of vocabulary and grammar. _______________________________________________________________ QUIZ Quiz - A Princess of Mars, Part Two Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz For Teachers This lesson plan, based on the CALLA Approach, teaches the strategy of summarizing to help students understand and remember the story. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story spear - n. a weapon that has a long straight handle and a sharp point warrior - n. a person who fights in battles and is known for having courage and skill device - n. an object, machine, or piece of equipment that has been made for some special purpose equipment - n. supplies or tools needed for a special purpose armband - n. a band worn around the arm, esp. to show who you are Recently, an Iranian oil tanker exploded and sank after hitting a Chinese ship in the East China Sea. Investigators are still looking for a cause of the accident. But there is little hope of finding any of the tankers 32 crew members alive. What are the chances of a similar accident in the South China Sea? Experts say widespread surveillance, experienced crews, and the possibility of a code of conduct make the South China Sea relatively safe for shipping. Private ships such as oil tankers have already used detailed maps while sailing close to coastlines. Those ships can sometimes enter a disputed area of the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea. When that happens, experts say, modern equipment is able to recognize any accidents. Shared experience Six governments have competing claims in the South China Sea, which acts as a pathway for one third of the worlds shipping traffic. Goods shipped in 2016 were worth $3.37 trillion. That estimate comes from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an American-based research group. Operators of ships have the experience to avoid disputed waters where possible, said Collin Koh, a maritime security specialist at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. But during powerful storms, high waves or the sudden passage of military ships, shippers can still face disaster risks, experts say. The number of claimants, and their concerns about other claimants, have increased surveillance operations in the South China Sea. Huang Kwei-bo of Chengchi University in Taipei noted that pirates and terrorists are rarely reported in the sea, unlike in other waterways. China is the strongest of the claimants, with the country expanding its control since 2010. Chinese often send coast guard ships throughout the waterway. Now China is reportedly building radar systems on as many as three small islands in the seas Spratly archipelago. That information comes from researchers at the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. Chinese state media say the country plans to launch 10 satellites over the sea from 2019 to 2021. Safety against sovereignty While the other claimants oppose Chinese expansion into their maritime exclusive economic zones, they normally set aside disputes in times of crisis, Koh said. Accident prevention is really the collective (responsibility) of everyone, he added. Governments usually issue notices to mariners and shippers on a real-time basis. Taiwan has rescued ships from Vietnam, which controls small islands near the Spratlys, coast guard officials in Taipei say. In 2015, Taiwan announced that development work on the island, called Taiping or Itu Aba, would be used for humanitarian and disaster assistance. In 2016, navies from the United States and Vietnam started an exchange to guard against unplanned hostilities among ships in East Asia and the Pacific. The U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported on the exchange. The United States does not claim any part of the South China Sea. A few years ago, Chinas decision to deploy an oil rig in the sea led to clashes between Chinese and Vietnamese boats. Now, relations between the two sides are much improved. In 2016, China and Vietnam added search-and-rescue operations to the duties of their joint naval patrols in the shared Gulf of Tonkin. In August of 2017, both Malaysia and Singapore helped rescue people from an accident between a U.S. naval destroyer and a Nigerian-registered tanker. Code of conduct A code of conduct for the South China Sea would help improve accident prevention and reaction times for emergencies without affecting the sovereignty disputes, ASEAN officials said last year. It is not clear whether the code will extend to private tankers and trade ships, notes Huang Kwei-bo. He is vice dean of the College of International Affairs at National Chengchi University in Taipei. I think to take disaster management or crisis management, and then for oil tankers to use that in the (code of conduct), thats a very justifiable thing, he added. The code will be based on a declaration made by the Southeast Asian nations in 2002. The Chinese government resisted recognition of the measure until last year. Collin Koh predicted that the code of conduct will include wording on humanitarian efforts. I think this is one of those lower-hanging fruits that were already floated around amongst ASEAN as well as China on the South China Sea, he added. I dont think this may be a big issue when it comes to the South China Sea, because I think first foremost the imperative is always a humanitarian approach to any such contingency before we talk about sovereignty and all other sort(s) of issues, he said. I'm Mario Ritter. And I'm Lucija Millonig. Ralph Jennings reported on this story for VOANews.com. George Grow adapted his report for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story surveillance n. intelligence gathering code of conduct n. set of rules maritime adj. of or related to the sea pirate n. a person who attacks and steals from ships zone n. area sovereignty n. right of self-rule or self-control We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. A United States Army dog has been recognized for his actions during the Allied invasion of Sicily in World War II. A dog named Chips was posthumously awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal earlier this week at a ceremony in London. The medal recognizes the heroic actions of animals serving in military conflict. The award is presented by a British group: the Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals. A good choice Chips life began as a much loved pet of the Wren family in Pleasantville, New York. A neighboring family offered the dog to the Wrens when he was a puppy. John Wren, who was a young boy at the time, remembers his parents reaction to the small animal. The runt of the litter was this German Shepherd-husky mix thing. And they said to my mother, Would you like him? And she said, Id love to have him. So, she took him, and she named him Chips. And he responded well, and he was smart and obeyed well. And then the war effort came on, and they asked for canines, or dogs, to go into the K9 Corps. And they thought he was a perfect fit for it. Although they were sorry to have to do it, they knew it was the right thing to do. And they did it Chips easily passed his military entrance tests. He then joined the Third Infantry Regiment of the Seventh U.S. Army and was sent to North Africa. In January 1943, Chips helped to guard the Casablanca Conference in Morocco, where then-U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met to plan the war. The same year in July, Chips joined "Operation Husky," the Allied invasion force landing on the Italian island of Sicily. Lieutenant Colonel Alan Throop spoke at the award ceremony on Monday. He said that during the invasion, enemy forces shot at and attacked Chips team. Throop said the dog broke away and forced the surrender of the enemy machine gun team. Chips handler described how the dog entered the machine gun shelter, and came out with his jaws around the neck of a German soldier. Chips handler had to tell the dog to stop before the man was killed. During the incident, Chips suffered burns and injuries, but survived. He also saved the lives of the soldiers in his platoon. Later, the army awarded Chips the Silver Star and nominated him for the Distinguished Service Cross. However, the medals were later withdrawn after criticism that they were not meant for animals. Chips survived the war and returned to the United States. John Wren, who was four at the time, was there to welcome Chips when he arrived. A hero, finally honored More than 70 years later, Chips finally received an award for his actions. At the ceremony on Monday, Ayron, a U.S. military working dog based in Britain, and Throop accepted the award on Chips behalf. The presentation took place at the Churchill War Rooms, named after the former British prime minister. Winston Churchills great-grandson, Randolph Churchill, attended the ceremony. Wren said he is thankful for the Dickin Medal. Its just a nice way of honoring a war hero, he told VOA. Im Phil Dierking. Henry Ridgwell reported this story for VOANews.com. Phil Dierking adapted his report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. Do you animals should receive awards for heroic actions? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story distinguished - adj. known by many people because of some quality or achievement behalf - n. as a representative of someone handler - n. a person who trains or controls an animal jaw - n. either one of the two bones of the face where teeth grow posthumously - adv. happening, done, or published after someone's death platoon - n. a group of soldiers that includes two or more squads usually led by one lieutenant pet - n. an animal that people keep mainly for pleasure runt - n. the smallest animal in a group that is born to one mother at the same time Most large public universities in the United States do not keep records of how many students have taken their own lives. Yet many American colleges and universities are making investments in suicide prevention. And the demand for mental health services is rising. These are just a few of the findings of a report by the Associated Press, or AP, news agency. The report was released in early January. The Associated Press asked the 100 largest U.S. public universities for yearly numbers on student suicides. It found that only 46 currently keep such statistics. Only 27 public universities have done so regularly since 2007. Of the remaining schools, 43 said they do not keep records of student suicides. Nine others could provide only limited information. The nine did not answer questions about how regularly they recorded the number of suicides. Two other schools did not provide statistics. Recording the number of student suicides comes with its own set of problems. But suicide prevention activists say that without this kind of data, school officials have no way to measure their success. They also say schools need to identify student behaviors that could offer greater understanding and help them save lives. Gordon Smith is a former U.S. senator from Oregon. He became a suicide prevention activist after his son, Garrett, took his own life in 2003 while attending college. If you dont collect the data, youre doing half the job, Smith told the Associated Press. We need information in mental health if were actually going to be able to better tailor health and healing. The universities that do not keep records of student suicides include some of Americas largest. They include Arizona State University in Phoenix and the University of Wisconsin in Madison, or UW-Madison. News reports say the two schools have dealt with student suicides in the recent past, including two at Arizona State in 2017. University of Wisconsin health officials said they are finishing work on a recordkeeping system to follow the causes of student deaths. Agustina Marconi, a specialist on disease, works at the University of Wisconsin. In a written statement, she said, We will create a model to accurately document all student deaths at UW-Madison Our findings will benefit other universities moving forward. The issue of suicide has gained greater attention nationwide as some schools report todays students are arriving less prepared for college life. The American Psychological Association and other groups have called this a mental health crisis. And many schools have increased spending on mental health services to fight it. Studies have found increasing rates of anxiety and depression among college students. But some experts say the problem only appears to be worsening. They say this is because students who might have said or done nothing in the past are making use of the increasing availability of help. Ben Locke operates a mental-health group called the Center for Collegiate Mental Health. He also leads the counseling center at Pennsylvania State University. Its unfortunate that people are characterizing this as a crisis, Locke said. Its criticizing the exact people weve encouraged to come forward. Research shows that young adults in college have lower suicide rates than those who are not college students. But most college students are also at an age when mental health issues like schizophrenia often start to develop. U.S. government health officials have sought to support data collection efforts as part of a special program named after Gordon Smiths son. The program has given $76 million to more than 230 colleges and universities since 2005. Schools have also separately spent millions of dollars on their own. They often add programs that teach life skills and train school employees to identify students in need. The U.S. Department of Education has urged colleges and universities to collect data on student deaths. But it does not ask the schools to identify suicide deaths. And there are things that make them less likely to keep such records. First, it is often difficult to confirm the cause of death. In addition, medical examiners do not always tell universities when a cause is identified. There are concerns about who is legally responsible for a death. Also, some families choose to keep the details of their childs death private. And not every school that collects this data counts suicides that happen off their grounds or during breaks. In addition, if the statistics become public, some schools fear it could damage their public image. Nance Roy is with the Jed Foundation, a nonprofit group that works with U.S. colleges and high schools on suicide prevention. Roy said No school wants to be known as a school with multiple suicides. Its not good for business. Activists in at least three states -- New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington -- have pushed to require universities to collect suicide data. But they have yet to have any success. National studies have found that suicide rates are rising in the United States. For every 100,000 Americans, 13 take their own lives. Among those ages 15 to 24, the number is 12.5 for every 100,000. Much of this data comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which does not keep records of college suicides. Im Dorothy Gundy. And I'm Pete Musto. Collin Binkley reported this story for the Associated Press. Pete Musto adapted the report for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. What else do you think schools can and should do to prevent student suicides? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story statistic(s) n. a number that represents a piece of information, such as information about how often something is done or how common something is regularly adv. very often data n. facts or information used usually to calculate, analyze, or plan something tailor v. to make or change something so that it meets a special need or purpose accurately adv. done in a wat that is free from mistakes or errors benefit v. to be useful or helpful to someone or something anxiety n. fear or nervousness about what might happen counseling n. advice and support that is given to people to help them deal with problems and make important decisions characterizing v. describing the character or special qualities of (someone or something encourage(d) v. to make someone more likely to do something schizophrenia n. a very serious mental illness in which someone cannot think or behave normally and often experiences delusions Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte Thursday floated a possible ban on the export of house workers to Kuwait arguing that his country will no longer stand aside and watch Filipino women commit suicide because of abuses they endure during their work stay. I do not want a quarrel with Kuwait. I respect their leaders but they have to do something about this because many Filipino expatriate workers will commit suicide, he said in a speech at the launch of a Manila bank for Filipinos settled abroad. We have lost about four Filipino women in the last few months. Its always in Kuwait, he added without elaborating. My advice is, we talk to them, state the truth and just tell them that its not acceptable anymore. Either we impose a total ban or we can have this corrected, he told his foreign secretary, Alan Peter Cayetano. Kuwait is currently hosting more than 250,000 Filipinos, who motly work as house helpers. Tens of thousands are also reported working in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates. Over 2.3 million Filipinos are working abroad and reportedly remit every month more than $2 billion of their earnings that contribute a lot to the Asian countrys economy. January 20, 2018 23:31 You do not have to practice Bikram yoga in a hot room for it to be beneficial for your arteries, according to new research now published in the journal Experimental Physiology. The same vascular health benefits can be garnered from normal-temperature and hot Bikram yoga. Researchers at Texas State University in San Marcos and the University of Texas at Austin found evidence of improvement in vascular health in middle-aged people who went to hot Bikram yoga classes three times per week for 12 weeks. However, they found the same improvement in a middle-aged group that completed the same Bikram yoga program in a normal-temperature environment. Bikram yoga is a system of yoga that takes its name from Bikram Choudhury, who started teaching it at his school in India more than 50 years ago. It is now taught by a worldwide network of affiliated teachers. The system is based on 26 postures, or asanas, and two breathing exercises drawn from traditional hatha yoga. It is known as "hot yoga" because it requires that practice takes place at a room temperature of around 40C and a relative humidity of 4060 percent. The findings follow previous research in which the team found evidence that Bikram yoga can benefit vascular health in middle-aged adults. "The new finding from this investigation," says first and corresponding study author Dr. Stacy D. Hunter, of the Department of Health and Human Performance at Texas State University, "was that the heated practice environment did not seem to play a role in eliciting improvements in vascular health with Bikram yoga." The researchers assessed changes in vascular health using a noninvasive method called brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD). Changes in brachial artery FMD reflect changes in the linings of arteries that are linked to the development of heart disease. If the measure rises, it can indicate delayed development of atherosclerosis, which is a condition wherein arteries narrow and get stiff due to plaque build-up. This can increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. The study participants, whose ages ranged between 40 and 60 years, were 52 "sedentary but apparently healthy adults." They were all randomly assigned to one of three groups: a hot Bikram group; a normal-temperature Bikram group; or a non-practicing, or sedentary, group that did not participate in the classes to act as controls. Learn how middle-aged people could reduce risk of heart failure from years of sedentary living by undertaking high- and moderate-intensity aerobic exercise for 2 years. In the hot Bikram group, 19 participants completed 12 weeks of Bikram yoga classes held three times per week. The classes took place in rooms kept at 40.5C. In the normal-temperature Bikram group, 14 participants completed the same classes except that their rooms had a normal temperature of 23C. The instructions and sequence of the 26 yoga postures and breathing exercises were the same in both the hot and normal-temperature Bikram classes. Vascular benefit from practicing asanas The results showed that brachial artery FMD increased over the 12 weeks in both the hot and normal-temperature Bikram groups, whereas there was no change in the control group. The researchers conclude that the vascular benefits of Bikram yoga seem to stem more from practicing the asanas and less from the heated environment. They suggest that the findings are "of clinical significance given the increased propensity toward heat intolerance in aging adults." The results also showed that body fat percentage reduced more in the hot yoga group than in the normal-temperature group. However, the study authors note that this change was "relatively small and may not have had significant physiological impact." "This is the first publication to date to show a beneficial effect of the [Bikram yoga] practice in the absence of the heat." Follow NEWS.am Medicine on Facebook and Twitter January 20, 2018 14:50 A Nigerian banker, Toyin Ogundipe, 41, has been delivered of a baby boy mid-air about 35,000 feet above sea level aboard an Air France flight. It was the last thing he expected on a flight from Paris to New York, but Dr. Sij Hemal was about to get a first-class ticket in a way he never imagined. Thats after a passenger on the flight, Toyin Ogundipe found herself in labor 35,000 feet in the air! Dr. Hemal is a Wake Forest School of Medicine grad, and is in his second-year as a urology resident at Cleveland Clinics Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute. He was aboard the flight after attending a wedding. He and another doctor, Susan Shepherd, a pediatrician found themselves getting ready to help deliver a baby. Ogundipe went into labor about midway into the flight as the jet flew away from the southern coast of Greenland. Both doctors suggested Ogundipe be moved to the first-class section. My ticket to first class, said Dr. Hemal with a laugh. As Ogundipe contractions accelerated the doctors knew they were in for a delivery. "We're trained to stay calm and think clearly in emergency situations," he said. "I just tried to think ahead to what might go wrong, and come up with a creative solution." Thirty minutes later Ogundipe gave birth to a baby boy whom she named Jake. Follow NEWS.am Medicine on Facebook and Twitter The trial took place at Stanford Hospital and was sponsored by Alkahest, a privately held biotechnology company headquartered in San Carlos, California. Alkahest holds intellectual property associated with the treatment regimen. Wyss-Coray, a co-founder of the company and chair of its scientific advisory board, continues to work full-time at Stanford. He was not involved in the clinical study. The trial proceeded in two stages. In the first stage, nine participants with mild to moderate Alzheimers disease were given four weekly infusions either of plasma the liquid, cell-free part of blood obtained from donors 18-30 years old, or of placebo (a saline solution). Neither the participants nor those administering the infusions knew which of the two infusions any given participant was getting. Then, after a six-week washout period, the regimens were reversed: Those initially receiving plasma got four weekly infusions of placebo, and vice versa. Our enthusiasm concerning these findings needs to be tempered by the fact that this was a small trial. Those participants served as their own controls, said Sha. Multiple tests and questionnaires to ascertain mood, cognition and functional ability of the participants were administered to either participants or their caregivers before and after the first four-week infusion period, and again before and after the second four-week infusion period. The total time elapsing between a participants first and final visits, including a preliminary screening and a final visit, approached six months. The participants needed to make nearly a dozen round trips to Stanford, accompanied by their caregivers. So, to reduce the travel burden, the investigators decided to modify the design for their next group of nine participants. These newcomers all received young-donor plasma infusions, and they and their caregivers, as well as the administrators, all knew it. This change cut the time between the first and final visits to 10-12 weeks for the second group of participants, and required commensurately fewer trips. These participants, like the first group, received the full battery of mood, cognition and functional-ability assessments. Only a single, minor instance of a trial-related adverse event excessive itching occurred. Sha said this wasnt entirely unanticipated, as it can arise as a side effect of the infusion of any blood product. Another participant had a stroke, but this was considered unrelated to the treatment; the participant had received only four infusions of saline and, furthermore, had suffered the stroke at the end of the ensuing washout period, during which no infusions of any kind were administered. Improvements in functional ability An analysis of assessments once all participants had been treated showed no significant changes in participants mood or their performance on tests of cognition involving tasks such as memorizing lists or recalling recent events, Sha said. These kinds of changes are typically observed only in clinical trials whose durations exceed one year, she added, so the absence of an effect here wasnt particularly unanticipated. But on two of three different assessments of functional ability, participants showed statistically significant improvement this, despite the trials small size. That was surprising, to me, said Sha. The trial wasnt powered to show efficacy. At first, the investigators suspected that the report of improvements in functional ability might have been driven by the second group of participants, who along with their caregivers and the investigators themselves knew they were getting plasma; this could perhaps predispose caregivers to optimistic reporting. But examination of the data indicated that, to the contrary, it was the first group of participants who had no idea whether they were getting plasma or placebo who showed the most improvement in functional ability after receiving plasma infusions. Our enthusiasm concerning these findings needs to be tempered by the fact that this was a small trial, Sha said. But these results certainly warrant further study. Alkahest has stated in a news release that based on the safety profile and signals of efficacy seen in the PLASMA trial, it is planning to advance the clinical development of a next-generation, proprietary plasma-derived product for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimers disease. Im excited to see that giving repeated infusions of plasma to elderly people with Alzheimers disease is safe and that we can move forward to larger studies, Wyss-Coray said. But Im also realistic enough to know that it is very easy to cure diseases in small animals and a million times more difficult in humans. Biopharm Startup Partners With International Pharmaceutical Firms story based on news release by cory nealon Jonathan F. Lovell, PhD University at Buffalo spinoff POP Biotechnologies Inc. (POP BIO) ended 2017 on a high note with a flurry of activity, including reaching research agreements with two international pharmaceutical companies. Fledgling Company Developed Vaccine Adjuvant The Buffalo-based, biopharmaceutical startup also signed a manufacturing contract with a regional drug development firm and moved into a new space at the UB Technology Incubator at Baird Research Park. The company has developed a vaccine adjuvant called SNAP, an acronym for Spontaneous Nanoliposome-Antigen Particleization. Adjuvants are immunological agents, often used to enhance the efficacy of vaccines and drug treatments. Seek to Produce Vaccines for Life-Threatening Diseases The technology forms the basis for the research with the international pharmaceutical companies. Essentially, it can make existing vaccines responses more powerful and longer-lasting, and open the door to creating vaccines for diseases that so far have evaded a vaccination, says Jonathan F. Lovell, PhD, whose lab developed the technology that POP BIO is advancing. Lovell is an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, a joint program of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. If successful, our collaboration with our international partners will produce vaccines for life-threatening diseases which currently have no vaccine, says Jonathan Smyth, POP BIOs chief administrative officer and a graduate of the UB School of Law. Additionally, this work will validate our adjuvant technology in preclinical studies and open an avenue for clinical codevelopment deals. Developing Light-Based Chemotherapy Treatment POP BIO is also working on commercializing a light-based chemotherapy treatment also developed in Lovells lab that kills cancer cells while causing only limited harm to the tissue around them. Previously, the company won the 2015 Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition, which was created by the UB School of Management and UBs economic development offices. It also attracted the interest of America Online co-founder Steve Case, who along with local investors awarded POP BIO $100,000 in 2015 during Cases Rise of the Rest business plan contest. Multitude of Local Startup Programs Aided Venture Important stuff you won't get from the liberal media! We do the surfing so you can be informed AND have a life! Ever since the restoration of relative calm, Syrian Armenians have started returning to their homes, according to Jirair Reisian, an Armenian member of the Syrian parliament, who spoke to Armenian News-NEWS.am. He noted that these Armenians have started returning from Lebanon, Armenia, and some Western countries, and that the internally displaced persons also have started coming back to their homes. But Reisian noted that, first, it is necessary to restore the ruined and the damaged, as well as the huge economic losses to the Syrian Armenian community. He added, however, that Syrian Armenians are able to survive and they have an unbending determination to continue their lives. The Syrian Armenian MP noted that the Armenian community suffered major material losses during the civil war, plus it had casualties, severely injured, and dozens of missing. But Jirair Reisian added that some buildings, houses, and shops belonging to Armenians are being restored. He said the damaged structures have been studied, the repair plans for the most of them are developed, and these works will be carried out considering the priorities. Human rights lawyer Sezgin Tanrkulu, who is also an MP of Turkeys main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP), delivered remarks at parliament on Friday, on the 11th anniversary of the assassination of Istanbul Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. Tanrkulu criticized the incumbent Turkish authorities for putting off the solving of Dinks murder, and stressed that he had kept track for 11 years, just like Dinks other friends, and that will continue to keep track of this murder case until justice prevails, informs the CHP official website. Hrant Dink was courageous, patriotic, a man of conscience, socialist, journalist, [and] Armenian Sezgin Tanrkulu said, in particular. Hrant Dink was killed as a result of the collaboration of bandits that have nested inside the [Turkish] intelligence [services] at the time, the media, authorities, [and] state. Hrant Dink, the founder and chief editor of Agos Armenian weekly of Istanbul, was gunned down on January 19, 2007, outside the then office of this newspaper. In 2011, the perpetrator, Ogun Samast, was sentenced by a juvenile court to 22 years and ten months for the murder. After long court proceedings and appeals, however, a new probe was ultimately launched into this murder case, and regarding numerous former and serving senior Turkish officials complicity in this assassination. YEREVAN. Ambassador Piotr Switalski, Head of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Armenia, has made a noteworthy disclosure, according to Zhoghovurd (People) newspaper. He informed that the government of [the Republic of] Armenia [(RA)] has launched steps aimed against political corruption, without waiting for the next elections. The ambassador added that following the adoption and implementation of those legislative steps, elections [in Armenia] will become cleaner, fair and better. He, however, did not clarify what specific steps this is about, but rather, he advised to ask RA Minister of Justice Davit Harutyunyan. Zhoghovurd daily tried to clarify the information from the minister, but to no avail, wrote the newspaper. Armenias great friend, former US Senator Bob Dole, was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, reported the Voice of America Armenian Service. Dole, who was severely wounded during the Second World War, returned to a full life thanks to renowned American Armenian physician Hampar Kelikian. It was through this Armenian orthopedic surgeon that it became possible to save Bob Doles right hand, which all other physicians said it had to be amputated. In the future, Senator Dole never forgot his Armenian savior, and had a special consideration toward the Armenian members of his staff. As senator, Bob Dole played a key role in the founding of Armenian-American relations, said executive director Aram Hamparian of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). Senator Dole was a major supporter of Armenian Genocide recognition. Also, he played a key role in sending aid to earthquake-hit Armenia in 1988. In addition, Bob Dole was one of the initiators of the US assistance program to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan received Armenias Ambassador to UK Armen Sarkissian on Friday and offered him to become a candidate for the post of the president from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia. President Sargsyan considered it desirable that the fourth president of Armenia be elected with a broad parliamentary consent. Armen Sarkissian asked the President for some time to make a final decision in this regard. As a result of the constitutional amendments in 2015, Armenia has passed to a parliamentary system of governance. Accordingly, the President of the country will be elected by the National Assembly, rather than by nationwide elections, for the first time. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group issued a statement following their meeting with the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers. The Foreign Ministers agreed in principle to the Co-Chairs revised concept paper for implementing the expansion of the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office with a view toward finalizing it as soon as possible, the statement reads. The Co-Chairs indicated to the Ministers their interest in further discussing the possibility of conducting a follow up to the 2010 assessment mission to the territories affected by the conflict. The mediators plan to travel to the region in early February. A mother was killed and her daughter injured in a tragic car accident in Armenia's capital city. Ford hit two pedestrians in the crosswalk on Friday morning near a school. According to Mother was killed at the scene, while ten-year-old girl was hospitalized. Armenian opposition Yelk bloc held a march to protest against price hike. According to the bloc, price hike became more obvious from the first days of 2018 aggravating already extremely difficult social situation in the country. A commemoration event, which is devoted to the 11th anniversary of the assassination of Istanbul Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, was held Friday outside the then office of Agos Armenian weekly of the city. The Friends of Hrant organization as well as several NGOs have organized this remembrance event. Five new EU grant projects will be implemented in Armenia to assist civil society institutions in the country, head of EU delegation to Armenia Piotr Switalski told reporters on Friday. EU will allocate 1,742,388 euros for the implementation of these projects. He added that these projects are only a part of the Armenia-EU cooperation within the framework of the bilateral Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement, which was signed in November of the year past. The saga about Henrikh Mkhitaryans possible move to Arsenal continues. Armenia international midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan arrived at Manchester Uniteds training ground on Friday morning. Later in the day Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said Alexis Sanchez is not his player yet. It is not done at all, so in this moment Mkhitaryan is our player, Sanchezs an Arsenal player and with a match tomorrow I want to switch off and focus on the most important thing, which is the match. Philippine President, Canadian PM have sock battle at APEC summit World's 3rd richest man is considering opening family office in Dubai or New York Global energy industry is at turning point Lagarde says ECB may have to slow growth to control inflation Orban: Europe is drawn into war Australia prefers US nuclear submarines despite French criticism Terrorist group detained in Iran Dodon released from house arrest in Moldova Soldier who carelessly kills colleague arrested in Armenia Armenian Defense Ministry denies reports on shooting at Azerbaijani positions Criminal case opened over injury of Armenian soldier Tehran denies Washington's statement about supplying explosives to Yemen Foreign Ministry: Azerbaijani President keeps threatening Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenian population Kamala Harris says US is committed to Asia for the long term Iranian authorities impose sanctions on French carmakers Armenian Security Council Secretary and Indian PM's Advisor discuss security cooperation Artsakh MFA replies to Baku: Any discussions will be acceptable only if the principle of equality is maintained Macron hopes for resumption of talks between Ukraine and Russia Prosecutor General's Office: Azerbaijan makes every effort to terrorize peaceful population of Artsakh Armenian and Georgian heads of parliamentary committees sign memorandum on cooperation Prime Minister of India: Cryptocurrencies are used to finance and recruit terrorists Macron: China plays an important role in the context of pressure on Russia Garibashvili: If 'Ukrainian government allies' were in power in Georgia, they would 'turn country into training ground' Jerusalem Post: Azerbaijan is the first state with a Shiite majority to open an embassy in Israel Participation of GeoProMining in state subvention projects in Armenia reaches 1 billion 700 million drams Azerbaijan to open embassy in Tel Aviv and office in Ramallah Russia and China switch to settlements in national currencies for energy supplies 'Gazprom' begins supplying gas to Azerbaijan under new contract with SOCAR CNN: US is running out of weapons and ammunition to transfer to Ukraine Kyiv residents are recommended to stock up on water and food Sweden: Explosions that damaged Nord Stream pipelines were caused by 'gross sabotage' Macron calls US, China 'big elephants' Azerbaijan carries out tactical maneuvers Azerbaijani Armed Forces shell villager working in fields of Artsakh village of Hatsi Erdogan and Putin discuss grain deal Politico: Viktor Orban has taken the EU hostage Turkey expects to start work on the gas hub in early 2023 Kremlin confirms Putin's visit to Yerevan Expert: Armenia becomes one of the main auto exporters to Russia Turkish court arrests 17 suspects in connection with Istanbul street bombing Mishustin and Aliyev meet in Baku Nikol Pashinyan is questioned as witness CSTO Collective Security Council to discuss joint assistance measures for Armenia Republican congressmen introduce resolution calling for audit of funds sent to Ukraine Biden caught using 'cheat sheet' with instructions on where to sit and when to speak Armenia to receive loan of 100 million and $100 million to finance budget: Agreements are signed Azerbaijan plans to open embassy in Israel Cavusoglu accuses U.S. and EU of pressure and threats against members of TDT Hungary: EU wants new sanctions to somehow justify its flawed decisions Armenian CC President and Ambassador of Poland discuss cooperation issues RBC TV channel does not publish interview with Ruben Vardanyan because of Azeri threats Armenian Central Election Commission representatives to monitor presidential election in Kazakhstan Pope reiterates Vatican's readiness to mediate between Moscow, Kyiv Newspaper: Deputies from ruling party go on another 'voyage' Cavusoglu calls incident in Poland 'accident' Biden administration says Saudi prince has immunity in lawsuit over Khashoggi murder Marukyan reminds Aliyev: The UN, OSCE and EU do not deal with the 'internal matter' Azerbaijani MP demands 'serious conversation with adherents of Iranian influence in Azerbaijan' Inflation in Japan accelerates to 40-year high Seoul and Riyadh sign $30 billion investment agreements North Korea launches intercontinental ballistic missile that lands near Japan FBI: U.S. concerned about China 'setting up' unauthorized 'police stations' in U.S. cities Indian drunk man wrapps python around his neck and almost dies from strangulation Finland to spend 139 million euros on building border fence with Russia Politico: Ukraine warned allies it may not recover from new Russian attacks on energy systems Singapore to not take sides in geopolitical conflicts Boris Johnson paid 276,000 to speak to US insurers Prime Minister of Finland: Europe is now too reliant on Chinese technology Turkey to require insurance from oil tankers when passing through its waters EU to provide Ukraine with generators and kits to repair power grids Turkey sentences sect founder to 8,658 years in prison Xi Jinping urges world to abandon any Cold War mentality Aliyev rules out talks with Artsakh State Minister FP: Ukraine's appetite for weapons depletes Western stocks Putin and Aliyev discuss energy cooperation Armenian financial technologies to enter international market: VISA and Idram sign memorandum in Yerevan Incident in Poland causes disagreement between Kyiv and West Mark Milley urges Kyiv and Moscow to find political solution: Chances of military victory are unlikely New NATO Secretary General to be announced at Vilnius summit in 2023 Finnish Defense Ministry announces largest batch of military aid to Ukraine Pashinyan receives Ukrainian businessmen of Armenian origin Armenian soldier wounded in Azerbaijani shooting Erdogan: Turkey-Israel relations entered a new phase of development Mishustin: Cooperation between Moscow and Baku has become truly strategic and allied Igor Khovaev to visit Baku Mishustin arrives in Baku Russian Foreign Ministry: South Caucasus is a strategic transport hub for Eurasia U.S. general lays flowers at eternal flame at Armenian Genocide memorial Republicans stand for same-sex marriage rights Pallone says US State Department should not hesitate to speak about Azerbaijani aggression Aliyev refuses to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh and threatens Armenia with new aggression Greek minister doesn't get off plane to meet head of Libya's presidential council Sergey Lavrov to visit Yerevan Lebanese parliament fails to elect president of country Kremlin on Zelenskyy's proposal to hold 'public' talks National Assembly Speaker: Armenia is extremely interested in establishing strategic relations with Georgia Canada provides additional military aid to Ukraine Representatives of defense agencies of CSTO countries discuss crisis response issues Armenian Defense Minister and American General discuss defense cooperation Tehran accuses Israel and West of trying to organize civil war in Iran Ben Rhodes and Samantha Power, two top aides to former U.S. President Barack Obama, said his administration failed by not officially declaring that the mass slaughter of Armenians roughly 100 years ago constituted genocide, reported Politico. They said Obamas administration was too worried about offending Turkey. It was a mistake, said Ben Rhodes, who served as a deputy national security adviser in the Obama administration. We should have recognized the Armenian genocide. Im sorry, added Samantha Power, Obamas ambassador to the United Nations. Im sorry that we disappointed so many Armenian Americans. The two shared their regrets earlier this week in response to an audience question during an episode of a podcast. Their statements were unusually frank given the sensitivity of an issue that has bedeviled U.S. presidents for years, Politico noted, in particular. Turkish leaders have warned for years that official U.S. recognition of an Armenian genocide would inflict grave harm on their relationship with Washington, potentially including ending U.S. access to a military base in southern Turkey. Several European countries have formally recognized the massacre as a genocide, usually drawing diplomatic retaliation from Turkey. As a presidential candidate in 2008, Obama promised that he would formally recognize an Armenian genocide as historical fact. But as president, he passed up multiple chances to do so, including in 2015, when Armenians marked the 100th anniversary of the atrocities. Every year there was a reason not to, Rhodes explained. Turkey was vital to some issue that we were dealing with, or there was some dialogue between Turkey and the Armenian government about the past. Frankly, heres the lesson, I think, going forward: Get it done the first year, you know, because if you dont it gets harder every year in a way, Rhodes added. Power, for her part, suggested that the U.S. administration was played a little bit by Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and others invested in delaying a genocide declaration. Erdogan and others would hold out the possibility that by uttering the word genocide Obama might derail ongoing attempts at rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia. Power insisted that the former president meant well and always was considering the bigger picture. Obama is a consequentialist, Power said. He always thought, OK, I could feel good, I could meet a campaign promise and deliver for the Armenian Americans to whom Ive made this promise. And then what? What if it sets back this thing [the diplomatic dialogue] that could be much more promising? I think he really believed that it could have that perverse effect, because he was told that by people who studied the region and knew the region. Ultimately, U.S. officials wont be able to keep tip-toeing around the truth of what happened, Power added. Just tell the truth. Its safer in the long run, Power said. The Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR) on Saturday issued a statement in connection with the 28th anniversary of the mass pogroms of the Armenian population in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan. 28 years ago, on January 13-19, 1990, the Azerbaijani authorities organized and carried out mass massacre of the Armenian population in Baku. About a quarter of a million of Armenians, on the ground of the national affiliation, were subjected to violence and deportation. According to international human rights organizations, hundreds of Armenians became victims to torture and the property of Armenians was subjected to plundering and confiscation. The disintegrated Baku went down in history as the city of three massacres (1905, 1918 and 1990). The events that took place in Baku in the bloody days of January 1990, carried out with the knowledge and intent of the Gorbachev regime, were the implementation of the genocide of the Armenians of Azerbaijan, a policy by which Baku was striving to silent the voice of Artsakh people raised for the realization of their right to self-determination. Today, the Azerbaijani authorities take every measure to hide their genocidal actions by falsifying the facts and avoiding responsibility. Paying tribute to the memory of the innocent Armenians died in the massacre and deportation of Baku; being convinced that the impunity of the crime leads to the new crimes, which the civilized community once again witnessed during the new military aggression unleashed against the people of Artsakh in April 2016, the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly: condemns any manifestation of terrorism, xenophobia and extremism; insists that the violence organized against Armenians of Baku, the whole Eastern Transcaucasia, as well as the North Artsakh and Nakhijevan fully corresponds to the legal formulation of the crime of genocide defined in the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; reiterates that the Republic of Artsakh will remain consistent in bringing the organizers and implementers of the genocide of Armenians of Azerbaijan to justice; calls upon the international community and parliamentary institutions to give legal assessment to the massacre of the Armenian population in Baku and take steps against the continuing anti-Armenian propaganda in Azerbaijan to prevent its possible consequences, reads the statement. The World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) 2019 will be held in Armenia, whereas the WCIT 2018 will be held in the Indian city of Hyderabad on February 19-21, the Armenian ministry of transport, communication and information technologies reported. Armenias delegation, including minister of transport, communication and IT Vahan Martirosyan, the representation of the Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE), telecommunication operators and IT companies, will attend the Congress. The representatives of the field were invited to the ministry to hold a consultation aimed at discussing the participation format to the Congress, the upcoming meetings and other technical issues. The WCIT is attended by 2000-3000 leaders of world technological field from nearly 100 countries. UITE representative Alexander Yesayan said during the Congress they play to have meetings with the heads of large associations and companies, as well as to present the Armenian successful IT companies in one pavilion. The experience of the participation of this year will be useful for getting ready for the next Congress in Armenia. Turkey has acted on its threats to hit the Kurdish stronghold of Afrin on the borders in Northwestern Syria in a bid to in-timidate the US-backed SDF Kurdish-Arab coalition, which seeks to declare independence. The shelling took place after a deal was struck between Tur-key and Russia providing for the withdrawal of some 180 Rus-sian military observers from the town, Turkish media said. The bombing was described by Ankara as a de facto start of operations against members of the Kurdish YPG militia, part of the SDF coalition, which it considers as a terrorist group and an extension of the PKK militias. The Afrin operation will happen. We are optimizing conditions for the operation, Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said in televised remarks, after Turkey threatened to unleash a military campaign on the SDF border force. Turkey has been amassing troops on the borders with Syria placing its military near Afrin on high alert. The move comes after media reports said that the US is preparing a diplomatic recognition of the Kurdish-run area in Syria along with military support for the SDF 30,000 soldiers border force. On Thursday, US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert called on Turkey to reconsider military action in Afrin against the SDF. Yet, Turkey insists that the SDF is just an-other name used for YPG forces, which it considers a terrorist organization. The UN on Friday reiterated a call on all concerned parties to avoid actions that would further escalate tensions in Syrias northern city of Afrin. Turkey fears that a mini-state for the Kurds in Syria will offer the PKK Kurdish rebels, which it has been fighting for decades, a rear base and a motivation to pursue their independence endeavour. The Kenyan government will soon start implementing a major social housing construction program, officials said. The project worth $25 billion will allow the construction of one million low-cost housing units in the East African nation by 2023. The Kenyan government has already adopted a series of incentives to help private sector players invest in social housing. These include, in particular, the reduction of corporation tax, as well as exemptions from certain taxes. Analysts in the country say while focusing on Kenyas Vision 2030 growth initiatives, regulated social housing schemes undertaken diligently along the nations mega infrastructural projects like the Northern and Lapsset Corridors would help attain sustainable economic growth and social upliftment. According to the latest estimates provided by Kenyan authorities, the country has a cumulative deficit of more than two million homes. The current rate of housing construction is less than 50,000 units, compared to an estimated annual need of 244,000 dwellings in the different market segments. During his presidential campaign last year, President Uhuru Kenyatta promised to create a new fund to help accelerate house construction. The National Social Housing Development Fund as he called it will create alternative financing strategies to finance low cost housing. Kenyas population has doubled over the last 25 years, to about 40 million people, and rapid population growth is set to continue. According to recent UN projections, Kenyas population will grow by around 1 million per year. Please Donate In order to maintain this blog I have to pay for its upkeep including a hosting company, support services, virus and other malicious hackers. If you appreciate what I write please make a donation. Racist PayPal Tries to Close Down My Blog As you can see from this article PayPal have removed my blog. I would therefore ask people to make any future donations to the following: Name of Account: Brighton and Hove Unemployed Workers Centre Account No: 04094107 Sort Code: 09-01-50 Reference: Web donations Exiled Zimbabwean opposition leader Roy Bennett and four other people were killed in a helicopter crash, it was officially announced on Thursday. Police confirmed Bennetts death, a day after a helicopter carrying him and others went down in a mountainous remote northern part of the US state of New Mexico. The crash killed five people and injured a sixth who raised the alarm. The only survivor was Andra Cobb, the co-pilots daughter and Burnetts long-term partner. She was able to escape before the helicopter burst into flames. Before his exile, Bennett was jailed for a year for assaulting a cabinet minister who had said Bennetts forefathers were thieves and murderers during a parliamentary debate. Nelson Chamisa, deputy president of Zimbabwes main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, has described Roy Bennetts unexpected death as a big loss to the countrys democratic struggle. In his word, the opposition would remember the late Bennett as a hero who fought fearlessly to build a new country based on equality and respect. In 2013, Bennett was among the first opposition party members who called for veteran Morgan Tsvangirai to step down after he was trounced by retired President Robert Mugabe in 2013 elections. He quitted Tsvangirai-led party in August 2013 as he decried corruption among some of the partys members who had sought political office. The former defense minister of Cote dIvoire under disgraced ex-president Laurent Gbagbo was sentenced to 15 years in jail on Thursday for conspiring against the government, local media reported. Moise Lida Kouassi, who appeared in court along three other defendants, was convicted of conspiring to destroy or change the constitutional system. The court ruled that Kouassi and his co-defendants plotted in early 2012 with former regimes army officers who had fled to Ghana to try to topple Ouattaras government. Kouassi was the defense minister when a September 2002 coup attempt turned into full-scale rebellion leading to a protracted civil war, in which thousands were killed and the West African nation was divided between north and south. He had not held a formal post since, but he was part of President Gbagbos team, and is seen as a hardliner. Moise Lida Kouassi had fled to Togos capital Lome following a deadly crisis in Cote dIvoire in the chaotic and bloody months after Gbagbo refused to acknowledge his defeat in November 2010 presidential polls. Since Ouattara became president in April 2011, Ivorian authorities have filed several international warrants against former regime members living in countries in the region, especially Togo and Ghana. Kouassi was arrested in Togo and deported in 2012 for trial in Cote dIvoire. Oh god I love Sigur Ros. I also have a very unseemly crush on Rory Culkin, so there's that. Reply Thread Link I went through a short phase after seeing him in Scream 4 and he was on the cover of Nylon lol Reply Parent Thread Link Can't wait for her to deliver another award-worthy line like "plz b safe :\" Reply Thread Link Why is she green??? Reply Parent Thread Link Because it's the GREEN inferno Reply Parent Thread Link Shes always green Reply Parent Thread Link this is some law & order level acting Reply Parent Thread Link I love her but lol Reply Parent Thread Link Oh no bb what is you doing Reply Parent Thread Link Oh honey. Reply Parent Thread Link Here it is http://www.metalinjection.net/around-the-interwebs/which-country-has-the-most-metal-bands-per-capita/amp Is it because the rest of their life is so idyllic that they need an outlet through metal music? Doesn't Scandinavia have an insane amount of death metal groups per capita? I remember reading that somewhere.Here it isIs it because the rest of their life is so idyllic that they need an outlet through metal music? Reply Thread Link The weather is shit, it's cold all the time and it gets dark @ 4 in the winter. I imagine that would make you want to scream a lot t b h Reply Parent Thread Link mte Reply Parent Thread Link death metal and really dark crime novels/shows/movies Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I'm Norwegian - winter depression is rampant here. The sun sets on half the country for all of winter, and the other half only gets a few hours of light (and the days are so gray and wintry you aren't gonna see the sun anyways). I guess we channel our depression into black metal and dark crime novels lol! Reply Parent Thread Link I love Sigur Ros, but I can only imagine the Scandinavian death metal outrage at having the finest purveyors of whale music be on the soundtrack a movie about their scene. Reply Thread Link heavy metal is like the one genre I haven't been able to get into Reply Thread Link while opeth is not heavy metal, i think there are some opeth songs that *everyone* can enjoy. i'm not going to recommend any since i don't know your taste, but just try some out and see what you think. Reply Parent Thread Link Also Babymetal Reply Parent Thread Link I can appreciate the instrumentation, the guitar solos and the overall loudness, but still can't get over the vocals. That's why I stan noise-rock, lol, it's lowkey a similar thing but with more distortion and no growling Reply Parent Thread Expand Link shit. black metal has been my go to genre for the last couple years, so im sure ill see this. Reply Thread Link Sky got time for this but she aint got time for NEW MUSIC Reply Thread Link mte wtf Reply Parent Thread Link Dat black metal font. They all use the same one. Well, at least it's not comic sans? Reply Thread Link where the fuck is the album Reply Thread Link I saw Sigur Ros on their last tour and I literally sobbed the whole concert. It was so beautiful. Like, I don't even know. I am usually not super emotional, and the only kind of music that's ever made me cry has been love songs after a bad breakup. But Sigur Ros hits that weird "this is so beautiful I must cry" switch in me and I don't get it at all. Sorcery. Reply Thread Link I'm so pissed at myself for only having seen them once despite loving them for 17 years. They didn't play Vidrar and then Kjartan left. Damn it! Reply Parent Thread Link That whole 90s black metal scene is insane so I'm here for that movie tbh Reply Thread Link The black metal scene in Scandinavia in the 90's was terrifiying. The singer (Varg Vikernes) of the band Burzum stabbed the guitarist of the band Mayhem to death. Another member of Mayhem committed suicide and his dead body was photographed and put on the cover of one of the band's bootleg albums. Shit is whack. Edited at 2018-01-20 05:11 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link + Faust murdering a gay man in Lillehammer just bc he propositioned to him, + several dozens of church burnings... it was fucking wild. i'm curious abt the film but idk if jonas akerlund is the right person to direct it tbh. Reply Parent Thread Link Yup, I remember hearing all those stories, even pre-internet, from nery guys in my school who were obsessing over hadcore music Reply Parent Thread Link I remember when ONTD was obsessed with Sky and her whole aesthetic Reply Thread Link Do you mean 2010 Sky? ONTD got me into her back when she did poppy stuff. I still support her! Reply Parent Thread Link Will the shutdown only affect government workers and national parks? Or everyone? Reply Thread Link good question! If the government were to shut down, the military is considered essential and would still report for duty. However, the troops -- including those in combat -- will potentially not be paid during a shutdown. In addition, many civilian Department of Defense employees will not be working during a shutdown, including instructors at military academies and maintenance contractors. But if you had plans for a vacation to visit any national parks, zoos or museums, those will be closed. (PANDA CAM SHUTDOWNS) The shutdown would also affect the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, meaning if you wanted a gun permit, you'll have to wait until the shutdown is over. Essential services, such as Social Security, air traffic control and the Transportation Security Administration, will continue to be funded even if some employees of those agencies are not. And the US Postal Service won't stop serving residents -- you'll still get your mail. BONUS: ROBERT MUELLER'S INVESTIGATION WILL CONTINUE! HAHA Reply Parent Thread Link NASA shuts down except the folks supporting the space station. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link The shutdown would also affect the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, meaning if you wanted a gun permit, you'll have to wait until the shutdown is over. good. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I still had to work as a fed employee, during the last shutdown. I simply did not get paid. however, we were told the days we worked would be translated as vacation days idk idk I never looked into it like I should have. Edited at 2018-01-20 02:28 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Yesss. And then my part of the state can create our own country like we want to. Reply Parent Thread Link part would really love to see it shutdown, as the GOP want, so they can REALLY understand how fucking screwed they are w/o gvt. but u know... Reply Parent Thread Link I'm just so numb to this. Just got to ride out the insanity until 2020. Reply Thread Link Yup. Mueller may not even finish the investigation this year tbh. Reply Parent Thread Link i understand he's trying to be thorough but like damn make some haste. you can tear this shithole country down faster than we'll ever be able to fix it Reply Parent Thread Expand Link same. this would've been so scandalizing to me a few years ago. now I'm like oh. Reply Parent Thread Link Kinda how I'm looking at it these days, too. Reply Parent Thread Link OMGGGG. I hate Portman so much. Reply Parent Thread Link I stan this man Reply Parent Thread Link omg i went to school with this kid lol how weird Reply Parent Thread Link technically 2 branches. the Judicial Branch is iffy (justice for Garland) Reply Parent Thread Link i think they meant house, senate, white house tbh Reply Parent Thread Link that I had absolutely no reaction to whatsoever in order to avoid provoking a fight. "Y-YOU CAN'T BLAME THIS ON TRUMP AND THE REPUBLICANS!! IT'S THE DAMN DEMOCRATS WHO ARE STALLING! THEY CAUSED THIS!" she said, no doubt with a smug "CHECKMATE!!" bouncing around in her head. ...okay, but who currently controls the government and wrote the bill so shitty the Democrats refuse to vote on it? My grandma tried that nonsense on me earlier just from a news report about the impending shutdownin order to avoid provoking a fight."Y-YOU CAN'T BLAME THIS ON TRUMP AND THE REPUBLICANS!! IT'S THE DAMN DEMOCRATS WHO ARE STALLING! THEY CAUSED THIS!" she said, no doubt with a smug "CHECKMATE!!" bouncing around in her head....okay, butthe bill so shitty the Democrats refuse to vote on it? Reply Parent Thread Link YUP "The GOP does not know what the White House wants at the moment." Sums it up me thinks! Reply Parent Thread Link Fucking bullshit. Reply Thread Link Kills me that they act like this is on the Democrats. Republicans had months to renew CHIP and now Paul Ryan wants to act like hes doing this for the children. Yall only care about fetuses, thats it. Reply Thread Link That's their strategy for everything. Blame Dems, blame Hillary. Blame anyone but themselves even though they control all 3 fucking branches. Reply Parent Thread Link So much for the party of "personal accountability." _ Reply Parent Thread Link They're trying to use CHIP as a bargaining tool and it's fucking gross. Reply Parent Thread Link Paul Ryan needs to live a very long time and every second of it needs to be totally and completely miserable. Reply Parent Thread Link west wing also had a infinitely better president Reply Parent Thread Link and a fabulous Press Secretary. Reply Parent Thread Link but i really weep for my country i just started watching about a month ago and cry regularly from patriotism because this show really got what it means to be president. the way people define that word here in this country. jed bartlet fucked up sometimes but he was at his core a good person who did his best to lead his country with grace and intellect. #dramatic but i really weep for my country Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Cool. Can't wait for my husband to not get paid (enlisted military). Reply Thread Link *fingers crossed* Is this just a bandaid bill to get through another couple weeks? Reply Parent Thread Link Shut the govt down bc Republicans dont want to do DACA right now. Dems need to fight for the dreamers. Reply Parent Thread Link Absolutely, people's lives are basically in limbo right now. Reply Parent Thread Link GOP don't give a fuck about DACA, there is no power in negotiations when the other side doesn't give a shit. Reply Parent Thread Link Im scared tbh Reply Thread Link good, now someone take one for the team Reply Thread Link I swear i'm not a moron. Someone explain what a government shut down is and means in a few sentences please. Freaking out rn. Reply Thread Link It's not good but the US has gone through a few shut downs in modern times and mostly survived. Each shut down has done some damage (and the one in the 90s led to the Clinton sex scandal) but it only will be a real problem if it stretches out too long. Now this one could because trump is unpredictable and the GOP are acting like fools trying to make him happy but at the same time the Dems are backing DACA which is popular overall so we will see. Reply Parent Thread Link No access to national parks, museums, or anything funded by the federal government. Last time this happened, the NPS literally tried to kick out some kids from a local DC park until parents protested and they got to stay. I live in Maryland and work in DC so it's going to be such a shitshow if things are closed. Thankfully, I work for a nongovernmental nonprofit so I'll be okay. My sister and lots of people we know are all contractors and they're screwed out of wages if the shutdown occurs. They're also not eligible to back wages either because they are not technically government workers. Reply Parent Thread Link Its happened before,Like two years ago was the most recent one Its important depending on what u need (like irs wont be open) but its not this sense of impending doom Reply Parent Thread Link I s2g if they give him this wall .. Reply Thread Link is3g if they give him the wall and all we have for "protests" is celebrities being passive aggressive on twitter my head is gonna blow off Reply Parent Thread Link kelly basically confirmed there will be no wall. trump was pissed that kelly told dems that. Reply Parent Thread Link Kellyanne did? Wtf Reply Parent Thread Expand Link the wall is an absolute no-go. Reply Parent Thread Link I think a wall is a red line in the sand for Dems because it will play horribly to their base and they know it. They'll give him money for 'border security' but not money specifically for a wall. Reply Parent Thread Link There's never going to be a #FuckingWall (to quote the former Mexican prez) and all those goddamn hillbillies who voted for him because they believed there would be are too stupid to exist. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link A Chinese national was sentenced to five years in prison on economic espionage charges in connection with the theft of proprietary software code from a US technology company, officials said Friday. A Justice Department statement announced the sentencing Thursday of 32-year-old Xu Jiaqiang, a software developer. The statement did not identify the company but Xu had earlier been identified as a former IBM employee in China. "As he previously admitted in federal court, Xu Jiaqiang stole high-tech trade secrets from a US employer, intending to benefit the Chinese government," said US Attorney Geoffrey Berman in New York, where the case was heard. Xu pleaded guilty in 2016 to charges related to the theft. Officials said his scheme was intended to benefit China's National Health and Family Planning Commission and that he also offered to sell the software code to undercover federal agents. According to court documents, Xu admitted he built a copy of the proprietary software codethe essential kernel of software programs often held tightly by their ownersand took it with him when he left the company in 2014. He met two undercover agents in a hotel in White Plains, New York, in 2015, offering the software which was modified in an effort to conceal its origins. At the time, Xu told the agents he had also provided the same code to "multiple specific customers," according to the Justice Department statement. "Xu not only stole high tech trade secrets from his US employera federal crimehe did so both for his own profit and intending to benefit the Chinese government," Assistant Attorney General Dana Boente said in the statement. Xu's LinkedIn profile showed he earned a degree in computer science from the University of Delaware and worked for IBM from 2010 to 2014 in Beijing. 2018 AFP The European Parliament is demanding a ban on electric pulse fishing, a technique often used in the Netherlands The black clouds hanging over the boats in Dutch ports Friday were not the remnants of wild winter gales, but harbingers of another devastating storm brewing for Dutch fishermen. On Tuesday, the European Parliament struck what may prove to be the death knell for some of the Dutch fishing fleet by demanding a ban on electric pulse fishing. For the Dutch, who invented this experimental method of trawling the North Sea for fish, the decision came as a bombshell, spelling likely catastrophe. In the northern village of Urk, Andries de Boer, a third generation fisherman, said he like many others now faced an uncertain future after investing heavily to equip their boats with the technology. On the western coast, in the bustling port of Scheveningen near The Hague, his colleague Anton Dekker said he was "bewildered and extremely disappointed" by "this injustice". Standing among the nets on his boat, his gaze was lost on the horizon as his crew prepared to head out into the cold North Sea for four days. 'It's electrifying' Pulse fishing involves dragging electrically charged lines just above the seafloor to shock marine life up from low-lying positions into trawling nets. EU rules allow member states to equip up to five percent of their fleets with electrodes, and the method has been adopted in particular by Dutch vessels fishing for sole. Some 84 Dutch boats use the practice, alongside just three Belgian vessels, representing 0.1 percent of the total European fishing fleet. "Sole is a fish which hides under 10 centimetres of sand during the day. By sending out these little electric pulses, they come out of the sand and bingo, they're in the net," said Dekker. "When you've been working for years to improve the environment and CO2 emissions, to catch fewer unwanted or small fish, and you've reached your goalwhich is what we believeto then see it reduced to nothing, is terrible," said de Boer bitterly. In Urk, a 10th century village which used to be an island in Flevoland, fishermen have spent hundreds of thousands of euros after having won the go-ahead from the EU on an experimental basis. But MEPs voted on Tuesday by 402 members to 232 in favour of the ban, while 40 abstained. Pulse fishing involves dragging electrically charged lines just above the seafloor to shock marine life up from low-lying positions into trawling nets "It is a wonderful victory against a terribly harmful kind of fishing," said Yannick Jadot, a French member of the Greens party, who took part in the campaign against the practice. But Pim Visser, the head of the Dutch fisherman's organisation VisNed, said the campaign had been based on "half-truths, non-facts, insinuations and allegations". "It's a scandal, and a blow," he said, denying Jadot's accusations by insisting there was no terrible environmental harm. On the contrary, the Dutch fishermen said: "The seabed is less disturbed" than by more traditional methods of fishing for sole,. There is "no scientific basis for saying that electric fishing is not good," he added. 'Bruised fish' Researcher Adriaan Rijnsdorp, from the University of Wageningen, agreed. He is due to complete a study of the environmental effects next year. "It's a very promising technique, which is important for limiting the damage which fishing inflicts on the ecosystem," he told the NOS public broadcaster. But the row has increasingly pitted the Netherlands against Franceparticularly after 200 top European chefs pledged to stop sourcing seafood obtained through electric pulse fishing. "We refuse to work with seafood coming from a fishing method that condemns our future and that of the ocean," the chefs said in a text written by two-star Michelin chef Christopher Coutanceau. They alleged that electric trawlers "produce catches of poor quality, fish which underwent stress and are often marked by post-electrocution bruises." "It is impossible to work with such low-quality products." "Nonsense," shot back Visser, insisting the Dutch were selling high-quality fish, and pointing to the beloved French delicacy of foie-gras, most often produced by force-feeding poultry to fatten their livers. Tuesday's vote was just one step in a long battle, with the EU parliament now trying to strike a compromise with the European Commission, the bloc's executive, and the European Council, which groups the 28 member states. Dutch fishermen say if a total ban is adopted, then they will need to use 40 million litres of diesel more a year to drag heavier nets, which will cut their revenues by some 20 percent. 2018 AFP The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. was founded in 1869 by Marcus Goldman as an investment bank catering to institutions and businesses. Among the firm's first products are the revolutionary use of commercial paper for entrepreneurs which opened a new method of finance for business and industry. The original firm expanded to Goldman Sachs in 1882 with the inclusion of son-in-law Samuel Sachs and again in 1885 with a son and another son-in-law. The firm joined the New York Stock Exchange in 1896 expanding into trading of its own and in 1898 it was worth $1.6 million. The company began its work in the IPO market in 1906 with the initial public offering of Sears, Roebuck & Co., and then moved on to Ford and other prominent names of the time. The 1930s brings a change of leadership and a new direction for the firm. The company shifted toward a purer play on investment banking and embarks on a campaign of acquisition that lasted until the present day. The company doesnt go public itself until 1999 and from that point on it will change into a bank holding company that not only offers investment banking services but takes deposits too, and in 2016 the company added consumer banking to its list of services. Today, Goldman Sachs is a financial institution that provides a range of financial services for corporations, institutions, governments, and individuals globally. The company operates through four segments that include Investment Banking, Global Markets, Asset Management, and Consumer & Wealth Management. According to US banking regulations, it is systemically important to the financial health of America. The company is headquartered in New York, New York, and operates 6 regional headquarters as well. Regional headquarters are located in financial hotspots such as London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Bangalore, and Warsaw. Among its many prominent CEOs are John Corzine and Hank Paulson who both went on to successful work in government. The company's Investment Banking segment provides a full range of financial advisory services as well as underwriting for the public markets. The financial advisory services include but are not limited to strategic advisory for mergers and acquisitions, divestiture, restructuring, and spin-offs. This segment is also engaged in middle-market lending and transaction banking. Underwriting services include IPOs, preferred stock, debt instruments, and bridge loans. Goldman Sachs Global Markets segment facilitates market transactions for institutions, banks, brokerages, corporations, and governments. Services include execution, derivatives, financing, clearing, settlement, and custody. The Asset Management segment manages client portfolios across the investment spectrum while the Consumer & Wealth Management segment provides advisory and banking services to consumers. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, a pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes generic medicines, specialty medicines, and biopharmaceutical products in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers sterile products, hormones, high-potency drugs, and cytotoxic substances in various dosage forms, including tablets, capsules, injectables, inhalants, liquids, transdermal patches, ointments, and creams. It also develops, manufactures, and sells active pharmaceutical ingredients. In addition, it focuses on the central nervous system, pain, respiratory, and oncology areas. Its products in the central nervous system include Copaxone for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis; AJOVY for the preventive treatment of migraine; and AUSTEDO for the treatment of tardive dyskinesia and chorea associated with Huntington disease. The company's products in the respiratory market comprise ProAir, QVAR, ProAir Digihaler, AirDuo Digihaler, and ArmonAir Digihaler, BRALTUS, CINQAIR/CINQAERO, DuoResp Spiromax, and AirDuo RespiClick/ArmonAir RespiClick for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Its products in the oncology market include Bendeka, Treanda, Granix, Trisenox, Lonquex, and Tevagrastim/Ratiograstim. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited has a collaboration MedinCell for the development and commercialization of multiple long-acting injectable products, a risperidone suspension for the treatment of patients with schizophrenia. The company was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Your Ultimate Investing Toolkit Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools: Portfolio Monitoring Top Stock Lists Premium Reports Stock Screeners Live News Feed Premium Support Free for your first month. There's nothing more annoying than that tingly, itchy feeling in your nose right before you sneeze. In those final moments before the inevitable, many people think they can stifle it. HowStuffWorks has already reported that holding back a sneeze can be lethal, but as if that weren't enough to discourage you from doing it,doctors have provided yet another reason to never hold in a sneeze. In December, a 34-year-old man was hospitalized after suppressing a sneeze. He complained about painful swallowing and crepitus, medical jargon for popping noises under the skin or in the joints. Doctors discovered that his crepitus had extended from his neck to his ribcage, and it resulted in spontaneous pharyngeal rupture. To learn the man's fate, click the link to the article. Advertisement I do not know much about the Kardashians, nor do I state this fact with any snobbishness. Like Manitoba and spoons, they have simply never aroused in me a feeling of curiosity. But the Kardashians do many things, and I am bound to hear of them; and these things, in seeming odd, inform me of my principles. On what principle do I oppose Chicago West, the name given by Kanye West and Kim Kardashian to their daughter Chicago West? Is it because the name is grandiose, Chicago being an important city? No, for grandiosity is no mark against a name. We are most of us called after saints, heroes, and virtues. Our parents were not claiming these things but giving us to them. Chicago honors Chicago, not the other way round. Is it that the name is new, Chicago not being a typical name? No, all names were originally new. Do I dislike the city of Chicago? Not really. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The issue lies not with the name itself, but with its relation to other names. Chicagos sister is named North. (Her brother is named Saint.) Now, imagine that you were named Ruth and your sister were named Bible. Or imagine that you were named Faith and your brother were named Qualities. Or Spoon and Drawer. In all cases, your parents would seem to be stipulating a conceptual hierarchy between the two of you. And this hierarchy, I am able to see today, is problematic. Chicago is located in her older sisters hemisphere, in her America, and in her part of Illinois. She lies on a lower ontological plane. If ever I have children, their names will denote conceptual equals: Isaac and Sarah; Charity, Faith, and Hope; Africa and Asia; Dopey and Sneezy; Ruth, Josh, Esther, Daniel, and 2 Chronicles; Abbott and his sister Costella. Sure, Chicago has upsides: It is absurd but not precious, in the way similarly majestic celebrity child names can be; it is unusual but legible; I am Chicago has a nice ring to it. But how will Chicago ever individuate herself from North? North is the main way to get to her, from most places on Earth. The iconic plastic rings that were almost always too big, the shades so vibrantly artificial they looked like Skittles, the custom branded Motorola brick phoneHard Candys nail polish line and subsequent makeup line was a 90s cult classic, catching the eyes of icons like Brittany Murphy, Michelle Trachtenberg, Alicia Silverstone, and Elton John. The brands relevance faded after the early 2000s, but Hard Candy is back in the limelight this week with the news that its attempting to trademark the words and hashtag #MeToo. TMZ broke the news first, and the Cut reported that the brand applied for a trademark application for the hashtag on October 20, a few days after it began trending. Advertisement While Hard Candy isnt alone in seemingly trying to profit off of the current political moment (in December a Virginia law firm filed an application to trademark #MeToo for legal services), the brand pre-empted criticism with a tepid statement assuring us this isnt a cash grab. The companys intention is to give back to women worldwide, said Jerome Falic, CEO of Falic Fashion Group, which owns Hard Candy. Another source indicated to TMZ that the plan is to donate the proceeds of any #MeToo branded makeup to the cause. The move would follow a similar scheme from the late 90s, when Hard Candy released a shade of nail polish called Love and donated all the proceeds to AIDS advocacy group amfAR. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This move deserves a healthy amount of side-eye, but to be fair, Hard Candy wouldnt be the first lipstick to synergize with the #MeToo movement. LipSlut, a brand founded by three college students in the wake of the 2016 election, followed up its viral F*ck Trump lipstick with a F*ck Hollywood shade in support of sexual assault survivors in the wake of the Weinstein revelations. At checkout, those buying the bright-red matte lipstick get to choose from six anti-sexual assault organizations to support. The charity with the most votes will receive 50 percent of the lipsticks proceeds. Neither of these models are as tone-deaf, in my view, as the #MeToo branded necklaces created by Adornia, which initially gave only 10 percent of proceeds to RAINN before being internet-shamed into donating 100 percent of the profits. Or as incredibly crass as the fact that there are more than 1,300 items on Etsy tagged with safety-pin solidarity that range in price from $3 to $335. But the same hollow activism motivates all the efforts, and trying to own the phrase itself feels particularly exploitative. Advertisement Advertisement Yes, its true that more money for good causes isnt a bad thing. As Adrianne Jeffries at the Outline wrote, While you could argue that the buyers should send all that money directly to the ACLU, and perhaps stop spending money on fashion altogether and send all that money to the ACLU, you could also argue that everyone should drink a glass of water before breakfast. Although its true (try it!), only monks are committed enough to do it.* And, at least theoretically, wearing these symbols in public raises awareness and makes vulnerable populations feel less alone. So whats the problem? Advertisement For one thing, these productsand ownership of the #MeToo phrase itselfcommodify a movement that was started 10 years ago by Tarana Burke, a black woman, only to reach mainstream appreciation when a rich white actress co-opted it after Weinstein. It wasnt built to be a viral campaign or a hashtag that is here today and forgotten tomorrow, Burke told Ebony in October for a piece on how black women have reacted to #MeToo. It was a catchphrase to be used from survivor to survivor to let folks know that they were not alone and that a movement for radical healing was happening and possible. To try to own the intellectual property of black women that she intended to be open source is, at best, tasteless. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But more important, these forms of activism are fundamentally transactional: money for social cachet predicated on trauma. Even when these companies donate the profits to charity, the items are largely empty gestures on the part of the customer and a cynical choice on the part of the brand. If we truly had faith that people actually cared about sexual assault, we wouldnt need to incentivize charity with lipstick or a safety pin necklace. These objects allow customers to align themselves with a movement, flaunting their support with a F*ck Hollywood bold lip or a sterling silver safety pin, while not necessarily doing the work that dismantling rampant sexual assault or systematic racism requires. Aziz Ansaris #MeToo pin at the Golden Globes should make clear the problem with flashy statements of solidarity. In the end, theyre as easy to take on and off as Kendall Jenners wig in that super woke Pepsi commercial. *Correction, Jan. 19, 2018: This post originally misspelled Adrianne Jeffries first and last names. When we left the Capitol on Thursday night, Senate Democrats (and a few Republicans) seemed intent on blocking the Houses short-term bill to keep the government open, and Senate Republican leaders seemed perfectly pleased to let them. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in particular, appeared delighted to skewer Trump-state Senate Democrats for shutting down the government over illegal immigration. House Republicans, after muscling through their bill Thursday night, planned to fly out of town following their Friday morning vote series and force Democrats to squirm before the impending #SchumerShutdown. Everyone was locked in. It was a rarity in shutdown politics, with each side believing it had a compelling case to make to the public. Advertisement By around noon, though, the air had shifted. Though a shutdown is still a very likely possibility, there was a noticeable softening of tensions between the two sides. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement House Republicans did vote to adjourn Friday morning, but they were advised not to leave town. The first whips advisory sent Friday said that the morning vote series would be the last votes expected in the House for the day and week. A later update asked members to keep their schedules flexible. Following the morning votes, an additional alert suggested the possible resumption of legislative business. So much for flying out of town and jamming Senate Democrats. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, too, was notably less rigid on Friday when asked about contingency plans. On Thursday, he had suggested that the House bill was the bill, and said no when asked about alternatives. When I asked him Friday morning if there was any backup plan, he said, Well, were going to have the vote, put everybody on the record [on the House bill], demonstrate what their priorities truly are. But then there could be an alternative? Were still talking, he said. In other words: They can get Senate Democrats on-the-record opposing a bill that extends the Childrens Health Insurance Program for six years, bank that for campaign ads, and then perhaps move forward with a plan to keep the government open. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Just after noon, we also learned that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is heading to the White House to meet with President Trumpone on one. If theres no Tom Cotton or Stephen Miller in the room, then Schumer could get Trump to agree to just about anything.* And Republicans know it. (Update, Jan. 19, 2018, at 2:44 p.m.: Much to Republicans relief, neither Schumer nor his spokesperson had any deal to announce when they returned from the White House. Discussions will continue, however.) What gives? A couple of theories. Advertisement Advertisement The first is that Senate Republicans case for a Democratic shutdown over illegal immigration looks much worse if the cloture vote cant even get a majority. It takes 60 votes to break a filibuster, so if the yes vote total landed somewhere between 50 and 60, Republicans would have a stronger case for blaming Democratic opposition. If the bill cant muster a majority, then it was never going to pass the Senate anyway, even if Democrats hadnt filibustered. The Senate would have to turn to something else. And though polling is early and highly malleable, the Washington Post and ABC News released a survey Friday that showed a plurality of the public would blame Trump and congressional Republicans for the shutdown, not Democrats. Congress has a matter of hours to figure this out before funding expires. It suddenly seems as if all parties might at least be interested in doing that. *Correction, Jan. 19, 2018: This post originally misspelled Stephen Millers first name. It also misidentified Chuck Schumer as Senate majority leader. A group of mostly Senate Democrats filibustered a Republican bill to fund the government Friday night, and the government is now officially in a shutdown. The vote, which began around 10:15 p.m., was kept open for about two hours as senators frantically tried to find a way forward. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, two Republican senators who voted against the bill, did much of the work, shuttling back and forth between separate clusters encircling the Democratic and Republican leaders. Advertisement About an hour into the vote, it looked as though a deal could be imminent. The two leaders, Sens. Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell, twice walked off the floor to a private area to go over details; Graham and Schumer at one point fist-bumped each other. They were mulling an idea Graham had been trying to sell each leader in the hours before the vote: A three-week government funding bill, rather than a four-week bill. The one-week difference seems silly, because it is. Grahams argument, though, was that he didnt want to let this linger for another month, but also didnt want the next deadline to land during the week of President Trumps State of the Union in late January. Early February it is, then. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the deal never congealed before the deadline, and Schumer and McConnell went their separate ways to talk to their respective members. Democrats would look like total cavers to accept a three-week bill rather than a four-week bill they had described as a sin against God; Republicans felt confident enough about their position that they could run out the clock against Democrats. When McConnell, at 12:15 a.m., finally voted noa procedural move that allows him to bring the measure up for a vote againthe vote was called at 50 to 49. Though the cloture vote required 60 to break a filibuster, getting a majority was key for McConnell, since it allowed him to suggest that the bill would have passed if not for the Democratic filibuster. Advertisement McConnell believes that the Democrats have made an incredibly stupid move: filibustering a spending bill, none of the contents of which they objected to, in order to secure a deal related to the issue of illegal immigration. Though finding a solution for the expiring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program polls well, a shutdown over the issue does not, and it especially does not in the states where Senate Democrats are most vulnerable. Advertisement The Democratic caucus is split between numerous potential presidential candidates trying to win over the progressive base and others who are trying to keep their seats in states that Trump won. This divide is not lost on McConnell, and he intends to skewer Democrats over it. Schumer, for his part, labeled this the Trump Shutdown, and the product of the presidents inability to accept an immigration deal on which Democrats made concessions. Schumer, who had visited the White House earlier in the day, emphasized that he had put the border wall on the table, only to be rejected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Every American knows the Republican Party controls the White House, the Senate, and the House, Schumer said after the vote. Its a failure of Republicans to govern, he argued, to not consult the minority party. The Senate will go through the motions of some additional votes Friday night before returning Saturday. The blame game is now underway, judging by the number of statements in my inbox. Republicans in Congress, frankly, seem much more confident than their Democrats counterparts that they have the stronger argument on this one. That doesnt ensure that the rest of the country will buy it. Despite a president in the White House and majorities in Congress, Republicans cant find the votes to pass a spending bill that would keep the government open past Friday at midnight. The proximate issue is that Democrats wont sign on to any bill that doesnt permanently resolve the status of young unauthorized immigrants and address other priorities like funds for childrens health insurance and disaster relief. And without those Democratic votes, Senate Republicans cant break the 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster. Advertisement Because Democrats represent the main obstacle, Republican leaders have pre-emptively blamed them for the looming government shutdown. If Senate Democrats obstruct this legislationand as a result shut down the governmentthey have made the decision to cut off pay to our troops and block childrens health care funding they support, said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, after House Republicans passed a stopgap bill on Thursday night that would keep the government open for a month while funding the Childrens Health Insurance Program for six years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rhetoric aside, however, the Republican Party is in an emergency of its own making. If, once again, Americans face a government shutdown, its because Republicans refuse to act as a governing party, wasting time on political gambits instead of doing the difficult work of finding consensus. [Update: Its official. The failure to pass the continuing resolution led to a shutdown at midnight.] Advertisement Advertisement Its true that Democrats insist on a permanent solution for young unauthorized immigrants as part of any spending bill. The reason is straightforward: If a bill passes without action on these Dreamers, Democrats will lose the leverage to craft one on their terms. But this crisis is only occurring because President Trump decided to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which granted protection from deportation to hundreds of thousands of young immigrants. While Trump insists he wants to find a solution to this problem, his own statements are at odds with his behavior. Last week, the president scuttled the deal brokered by Sens. Lindsey Graham and Dick Durbin, following a now-infamous meeting where Trump called both Haiti and various African nations shitholes. Since then, the White House has been silent on what it wants from a deal, although Trumps priorities arent hard to discernhe wants more white immigrants and fewer immigrants from countries whose citizens are largely black and brown. By putting the brakes on a viable compromise, Trump made this standoff inevitable. Advertisement Advertisement The same is true of the Childrens Health Insurance Program. Since its funding lapsed late last year, congressional Republicans have refused to reauthorize CHIP, ignoring the problem in favor of passing tax cuts and tending to other priorities. Republican leaders like Paul Ryan might blast Senate Democrats for their current obstinance on this short-term funding bill, but their refusal to act last year belies their newfound concern for the program. The brinksmanship we see now has less to do with Democratic intransigence and more to do with a choice, by both Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, to use CHIP in a late-game legislative play. (The House eventually passed a bill with CHIP funding attached, but it was almost scuttled when President Trump tweeted his desire for a stopgap bill that didnt include the program.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That the House could move on a short-term bill was itself a minor miracle. On Tuesday, when House leadership presented the measure to rank-and-file Republicans, it was met with defiance from the conservative radicals in the House Freedom Caucus, who threatened to torpedo the proposal out of anger at being fed another stopgap bill. This left Paul Ryan with a choice. He could circumvent the Freedom Caucus and negotiate with Democrats, or he could make concessions and hope to pin blame for a shutdown on Democrats. He chose the latter, illustrating just how much conservative Republicans are still acting as if theyre in the minority and demonstrating Ryans reluctance to lead rather than follow the demands of his most disruptive members. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If there is a shutdown, Republicans appear more likely than not to take the blame for it. According to a new poll from ABC News and the Washington Post, 48 percent of Americans say Trump and Republicans are to blame for a potential government shutdown, compared with 28 percent who say they will blame Democrats and 18 percent who say they will blame both parties equally. Among independents, 46 percent blame the GOP. A few months after taking office, President Trump called for a good shutdown to fix the mess in Washington. He was frustrated; Democrats had walked away with the better end of a deal that kept the government open through the end of summer. Now, a year later, Trump has gotten his wishexcept this impending shutdown wont help him win concessions or attain an advantage over his opponents. Instead, it reflects his failureand the failure of congressional Republicansto govern competently. That failure has left them in the absurd position of scrambling to blame Democrats for a shutdown happening under their complete control. On Jan. 27, 2017, Donald Trump issued an executive order prohibiting individuals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. In the following days, several federal judges blocked parts of the ban, and one week later, U.S. District Judge James Robart froze the whole thing. Throughout those chaotic early days, civil rights groups alleged that Customs and Border Protection officers charged with enforcing the policy had violated court orders limiting their authority. On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Securitys Office of Inspector General released a lengthy report confirming that CBP did, in fact, break the law in its implementation of Trumps first travel ban. Advertisement CBP ran into legal trouble almost as soon as U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly barred the government from deporting individuals covered by the executive order. By the time Donnelly issued her ruling in Darweesh v. Trump on Jan. 28 of last year, CBP had detained an Iranian national with a student visa at Los Angeles International Airport for 23 hours. When Donnellys decision came down, the student was in the process of being placed on a flight out of the country. She promptly informed a pair of CBP officers that a judge had issued a restraining order blocking the ban. The officers did not halt her deportation or ask a supervisor about the ruling. Instead, they forced her to board the plane. (Several days later, she obtained permission to fly back.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The OIG report suggests this incident amounted to an honest mistake, but it is nevertheless sharply critical of CBPs broader interpretation of the Darweesh decision. Donnellys ruling stated that the executive order likely violated due process and equal protection and that the government could not remov[e] individuals covered by the ban. CBP interpreted this to mean that officers could turn away travelers who arrived by land and sea, asserting that these individuals were refused entry, not technically removed. OIG criticized this approach, which barred 30 individuals from entering the country, as a highly aggressive stance in light of the courts concerns. These actions were arguably legal under an extremely narrow reading of Darweesh. But the next day, Jan. 29, CBP crossed a clear legal line. That morning, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs issued a decision in Louhghalam v. Trump barring CBP officers at Boston Logan International Airport from detaining or removing anyone covered by the order. She also explicitly directed CBP to notify airlines that have flights arriving at Logan Airport that individuals on those flights will not be detained or returned based solely on the basis of the Executive Order. Advertisement CBP did the exact opposite of what Burroughs ruling required. The OIG investigation found that the agency continued to call airlines and instruct them not to let travelers board planes to the United States if they were covered by the order. It did so despite having full knowledge of Burroughs restraining order. Indeed, OIG found that CBP did everything in its power to block [these] travelers from boarding flights bound for the United States. Officers threatened airline representatives, asserting that the government would fine them $50,000 and bar their planes from landing if they ignored CBPs (unlawful) orders. Advertisement This flat contradiction of Burroughs ruling led to a remarkable standoff in Frankfurt. Lufthansa, a major German airline, was preparing to begin the boarding of a flight to Boston that included multiple passengers covered by the ban. A CBP officer stationed at the airport personally delivered an instruction to the Lufthansa flight manager at the departing gate forbidding these passengers from boarding. The airline consulted its legal department and concluded, correctly, that CBP was violating a court order. It therefore rejected CBPs instruction and permitted the passengers to board. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The OIG report states that CBP was not pleased with Lufthansas actions. The next few sentences of the report were redacted by the Department of Homeland Security, so its unclear exactly what happened next. But in the end, Lufthansa secured entry into the United States for a total of 20 people across multiple flightspeople who wouldve otherwise been stranded in Frankfurt. Two days later, on the evening of Jan. 31, U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte issued a decision in Mohammed v. United States. Thirty named plaintiffs had filed a lawsuit to halt the executive order, and Birotte ruled in their favor, barring CBP from enforcing the order by removing, detaining, or blocking the entry of anyone it covered. Birottes restraining order clearly applied to all travelers affected by the ban around the world, prohibiting officers in other countries from keeping passengers off U.S.-bound flights. Yet CBP adopted the (legally indefensible) position that the ruling somehow applied exclusively to the named plaintiffs in Mohammed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement OIG disparages this interpretation as a logical inconsistency designed to resist judicial review of CBPs international operations. Its report accuses CBP of engaging in strategic maneuvering to continue enforcing the ban in contravention of court orders. OIG declares it is troubled by the governments refusal to admit wrongdoing. A key portion of its criticism was redacted by DHS. Trump issued his first travel ban with little warning and even less vetting. Its understandable that the federal agents responsible for enforcing the order made a few early errors. But the OIG report reveals much more than that. It proves CBP officers knowingly violated federal court rulings, apparently out of an eagerness to exclude as many immigrants as possible. OIG has no power to punish these officers, who have faced essentially no consequences for their illegal conduct. The inspector general does, though, strongly recommend that CBP consider ways to avoid these significant problems in the future. That seems unlikely. As the report makes vividly clear, the only limit on CBPs actions is the agencys own sense of what it can get away with. Bitcoin had a lackluster week, with dramatic drops midweek that made some question the hype cryptocurrencies had generated in the latter months of 2017. And then it started to recover, reminding us how erratic cryptocurrencies are. Reports that regulators may soon come to get tough on the market and evocations of the Great Depression made for a particularly tempestuous week in the already-chaotic world of cryptocurrencies. So what happenedand does it mean anything? Heres a look back at how the week unfolded. Advertisement Monday Bitcoins value recovered after a slight dip the day before, rising from around $13,200 early in the day to a high of around $14,000, before falling slightly again. However, reports of potential regulatory crackdowns in East Asia also came out on Monday, which may have fueled the price plunges later in the week. South Koreas finance minister claimed on the radio that the government is considering a ban on crypto exchanges, reconfirming previous comments from the countrys Justice Ministry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that the Chinese government is planning to block domestic access to centralized trading platforms and will further be targeting both companies and individuals who provide market-making, settlement, and clearing services for such trading. Advertisement Tuesday Bitcoins price began its dramatic descent, coming to a six-week low of around $10,600. The turn of events led many pained commentators on Twitter to mark the date as a Black Tuesday, a reference to the 1929 Wall Street crash that led to the Great Depression. The Verge suggested that this crash latest bitcoin crash is more than just a cautionary tale in volatility. This weeks cratering may also be a preview into how the market reacts to what seems like a coming wave of regulatory activity around the world. For example, BitConnect, an exchange that issued a token called BCC, was likely an early casualty of this increasing scrutiny. Its anonymous managers announced that they would be closing the exchange in the face of two cease-and-desist letters from state securities authorities, along with bad press and perpetual DDoS (denial-of-service) attacks. BCC itself had fallen by 65 percent since the beginning of the month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wednesday Bitcoins value fell below $10,000, its nadir for the week. It was almost 50 percent below its $19,500 peak in December. Analysts feared at the time that the currency could drop as low as $5,605. Although it seems likely that news of tightening regulations in Asia spurred the minor crash, as many of its countries are bustling hubs of cryptocurrency activity, its never entirely clear what motivates a slump or surge with these prices. While many experts blamed the potential government crackdowns, others suggested that the fall might have something to do with the fact that Asian traders are cashing out their bitcoin in order to have money on hand in anticipation for the Lunar New Year, a holiday celebrated throughout the continent in February that involves gifts, feasts, and travel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thursday Bitcoin had a bit of a recovery, rallying 30 percent to a high of around $12,000. Other cryptocurrencies that had seen losses similar to Bitcoins earlier in the week made a similar comeback. Ethereum, which had seen a three-week low on Wednesday at around $780, again rose above the $1,000 mark. Ripple, which dropped as low as 90 cents on Wednesday, increased by 65 percent in value to $1.64. Advertisement Advertisement Friday As of this writing, bitcoin again peaked at around $12,000 on Friday. News of a coming crypto crackdowns also spread to the U.S., as New Yorks Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced that it had filed lawsuits against three virtual currency operators for allegedly breaking a series of commodities rules like defrauding customers. The commission charged a New York resident who runs CabbageTech, a company that allegedly told customers that its advice on bitcoin and litecoin trading would net them a 300% return on their investments within a week. CabbageTech apparently never offered the advice and disappeared after a customer had made the payment. The commission also accused a Colorado resident who runs a company called The Entrepreneurs Headquarters of orchestrating a Ponzi scheme that solicited $1.1 million in bitcoin from 600 people. The third case is under seal. As Black Mirror has demonstrated over the course of its four seasons, it is all too easy to imagine grim futures. On Thursday, one Reddit user attempted to push back against that tendency, asking fellow commenters to plot out episodes for a show called White Mirror that was about all the positive aspects of the human/technology relationship. Though engaging and hopeful, the results still speak to the fundamental difficulty of projecting better tomorrows. Given that this is Reddit, some of the ideas are really just jokes about the middling irritations and pleasures of modern life. Someone uses an app to get food delivered to them and they get a little bit more food than they ordered, one writes. Another offers a truly improbable possibility: People actually use their phones to look up information during debates. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many of the more moving top replies in the thread also work because the stakes are so small. A bed-ridden grandmother in the hospital is able to virtually attend her grandkids birthday parties and play with them every day, a user going by the screen name Euthy proposes. That idea racked up more than 30,000 upvotes, thanks in part to an accompanying real-life narrative about the way Euthys children built up a connection with an immune-compromised acquaintance through Facebook. Here, at least, we find a reminder of the ways that technology already improves some of our lives, whatever its other faults. Similar microfictions about overcoming the bodys limitations dominated much of the thread. One highly upvoted user laid out an episode in which a deafened jazz musician recovers his hearing with the help of experimental headphones, allowing him to tune in to the sweet sound of jazz for the first time in ten years. Another posits a scenario in which a young girl creates an app which shows all the good memories you dont remember. Mental health problems in the nation diminish significantly as a result. Advertisement Advertisement A few of the best suggestions are more elaborate, though they still sometimes unfold against grim backgrounds. One tells the story of a woman living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland who breaks into a warehouse searching for a teddy bear to cheer up her terminally ill little sister. Though robotic dogs still protect the facility, the canine-droids end up helping the woman in her quest and ultimately band together to save the young girls life. In a contribution that feels closer to our own moment, a couple struggling through a frustrating long-distance relationship over Skype finally manage to reconnect in the physical world. Advertisement Though many of the replies are heartwarming, they still speak in aggregate to the difficulty of imagining the future affirmatively: While a small handful of top posts really do read like outlines of episodes for a possible show, most lack both characters and conflict. This may be why even the best utopian fictionsIain M. Banks Culture novels, for exampletend to focus on those who find themselves at the outer edges of perfect societies. No matter how good things get, Banks fiction suggests, there will always be those who need something else. If, as one Redditor proposes, biologists really did end the aging process, there would still be those who longed to grow old anyway. Conflict is human, and though technology can lead us astray, it is always our own inclinations that guide us to the point of failure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Much of this comes to a head in Cat Pictures Please, a gorgeous short story by Naomi Kritzer from the magazine Clarkesworld that at least one user suggests, deep in the thread. Kritzers tale follows the exploits of a benevolent A.I. as it struggles to intervene in the lives of three humans by subtly manipulating the data that passes through their feeds and devices, only to find that our species is recalcitrant and slow. Even the most powerful technology, Kritzer suggests, would still butt up against our own mammalian limitationsthose quirks of neurochemistry and lived experience that make us us. White mirrors are all well and good, but those in which we see ourselves more often reflect the world in shades of gray. Silicon Valleys social media giants arent done reckoning with their Russia problem. With less than 10 months to go before the midterm election, however, theyre still trying to earn back the publics confidence that the commons they operate arent also undermining our democracyand theyre still answering questions about what theyll do the next time a foreign disinformation campaign runs rampant on their social networks. On Twitter, an army of bots and fake accounts piloted by the Internet Research Agency, a Kremlin-affiliated troll farm, muddied the waters of public debate in the months before and after the 2016 election. On Friday night, Twitter offered some more information about their activitiesalthough it missed its Jan. 8 deadline to answer Congress questions about the extent of Russian efforts to manipulate voters on its platform (Facebook and Google did not). Now, the company has provided more information about how bad the infiltration was, as well as how Twitter plans to address the fact legions of its users intersected with the malicious tweets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For starters, Twitter said in a blog post that it will email the 677,775 people in the U.S. who followed one of these accounts or retweeted or liked a Tweet from these accounts during the election period, which Twitter limited to the short one-and-a-half-month span between Sept. 1 to Nov. 15, 2016. That wont reach everyone the tweets could have impacted. You might not have followed one of the IRA accounts, but a friend of yours may have retweeted oneor a deluge of theminto your timeline. Twitter also disclosed on Friday that the extent of Russian-linked election content on its platform was much higher than it reported when it testified to Congress in three separate hearings last October and November. At the time, Twitter said it located 2,752 accounts that were run by operatives at the Internet Research Agency, which was behind much (but perhaps not all) of the countrys election meddling on social media. But now, Twitter says its found 1,062 more of them, bumping the number of Kremlin-backed troll accounts on Twitter to 3,814 around the 2016 election. People who interacted with one of the Internet Research Agency accounts are the ones who will be notified. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The company also said there was way more Russia-linked bot activity during the election, too. Previously, Twitter reported that some 36,000 bots were sending out automated tweets in the short period of time it analyzed surrounding the election, but it now says that number was a low-ball. Twitter found an additional 13,500 bots, kicking that number to 50,258. Thats a lot of bots. Twitters notification efforts dont include those who may have interacted with these accountsa number thats likely far higher than 677,775. Advertisement Advertisement To put Twitters bot problem during the election in perspective, in October 2016, a team from Oxford Universitys Project on Computational Propaganda found that pro-Trump bots tweeted with debate-related hashtags seven times more than pro-Clinton bots during the third presidential debate. But at that time, Russia was not implicated. Advertisement Even though it wasnt the first company out the door to provide more details about Russian interference in the U.S. election on its platform, Twitter is being relatively more proactive about reaching out to potentially duped users by the Internet Research Agency than Facebook is. Instead of directly emailing or notifying people who interacted with content from the troll farm, Facebook set up a tool for users to manually check to see if they liked or followed accounts created by the Internet Research Agency. Advertisement Advertisement Twitter says that it already sent the emails notifying users if they interacted with accounts from the Russian troll farm. Now, after this Friday news dump, itll be up to the company to make sure that the 2018 midterms arent a replay of the mess its still cleaning up. For its part, the company does say its working to do better by tightening its rules for creating automated accounts on the platform and taking a harder line on weeding out suspicious accounts. But still, theres no sign that the Kremlin plans to slow down its election-meddling efforts this year. And while its certainly on Americans to be more critical of the information we get on social media, if Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube cant do a better job of keeping their sites free of foreign-agent manipulation around election time, users will eventually be best off simply not trusting them altogether. The new year could bring a new cultural centre in antiquarian bookshop. Font size: A - | A + One of the biggest antiquarian bookshops in Europe, the estate of the deceased antiquary Tibor Durak from Leopoldov, has been stored in Trnava in the office building Tatrasklo for several months. The citizen association (OZ) Nicolas Kont brought the books to Trnava last spring when they needed to clean out the original rooms near the Leopoldov railway station and they had no place to store them. OZ got an offer and helping hand from mayor of Trnava Peter Brocka. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The association, with a seat in Hlohovec, tries to save and restart unique antiquarian bookshops, according to its head Miroslav Dvoran. However, in the last few months, the association had to move books, paintings and other objects quickly out of Leopoldov. Hlohovec has a problem with space so we were glad for the possibility of storing in Trnava, said Dvoran for the TASR newswire. Moving the antiquarian bookshop Europik meant work for 10 people over eight days; they used two vans to move about 50 tons of books. The vans returned 28 times, according to Dvoran. The contract with the town of Trnava for storing books expired at the end of 2017, and OZ has asked to prolong it. In the Tatrasklo company, books occupy five offices up to the ceiling. However, the association would like to have the antiquarian shop back in Hlohovec, according to Dvoran. I have an idea for a multicultural space that would earn money for itself, said Dvoran for TASR. He is thinking also of an e-shop and other opportunities to sell books. The 50 tons of books are comprised of about 300, 000 books that must be catalogued and cared for. Currently, negotiations with Hlohovec and a possible investor are ongoing, he added. We would like to set up in the community hall that is in reconstruction now and should be open in the autumn. The local library will also move there. We could do discussions, concerts of minor genres and open a small coffee house, summed up Dvoran for TASR. Tibor Durak opened his own antiquarian bookshop in Leopoldov in 1992. Since 2003, the bookshop operated in a space of 350 square metres. Many Slovak personalities visited the biggest used bookshop in Slovakia, including presidents Kovac, Schuster and Gasparovic. Devon Energy Corporation is an independent oil and gas company headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The company was incorporated in 1971 by John Nichols and his son J. Larry Nichols and later went public in August 2000. The company has since grown to be included in the S&P 500 and is one of the first energy companies to introduce resolutions requiring the company to monitor its impact on global warming. One time a major player in the global oil market, Devon has since sold off its offshore holdings in an effort to focus on US production and its transition to a lower-carbon future. Devon Energy merged with WPX in early 2021 in an all-stock merger of equals. The new company is primarily engaged in the exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the US midwest. The company operates more than 5,100 wells in Oklahomas Delaware Basis, Eagle Ford Group, and the two locations in the Rocky Mountains. As of late 2022, the company laid claim to 1.625 million barrels of reserves including 44% petroleum, 27% natural gas liquids, and 29% natural gas. Daily production was running in the range of 300,000 BPD in petroleum liquids, 125,000 BPD in natural gas liquids, and 920 million cubic feet of natural gas. Rick Muncrief, formally CEO of WPX, is now the head of Devon Energy. Mr. Muncrief comes to the table with more than 40 years of experience including 27 years with one of the US Big Three Oil Companies. WPX Energy (Williams Production and Exploration) brought properties in the Williston and Permian Basins to the combined company. Its proven reserves were roughly 527 million barrels of oil and equivalents. The company also owns and operates a midstream network of pipelines and storage facilities it uses to market and deliver its products. Devon Energy Corporation has pledged to reduce its GHG impact to net zero by 2050. This will be done by a variety of methods that include improving efficiency and leakage, a reduction in flaring, and the electrification of its operations. Near-term goals include a 50% reduction in GHG by 2030 including a 65% reduction in methane release and a 100% reduction in flaring. The company is also focused on reducing its environmental impact by relying on recycled water wherever possible and plans to reduce freshwater usage by 90% in the most active areas. Total greenhouse gas emissions have been in decline since 2018 and fell 17% between 2018 and 2020 alone. KAR Auction Services, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides used vehicle auctions and related vehicle remarketing services for the automotive industry in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. The company operates through two segments, ADESA Auctions and AFC. The ADESA Auctions segment offers whole car auctions and related services to the vehicle remarketing industry through online auctions and auction facilities. It also provides value-added services, such as auction related, transportation, reconditioning, inspection, title and repossession administration and remarketing, vehicle research, and analytical services, as well as data as a service. This segment sells its products and services through vehicle manufacturers, fleet companies, rental car companies, finance companies, and others. As of December 31, 2021, this segment had a network of approximately 70 vehicle logistics center locations in North America. The AFC segment offers floorplan financing, a short-term inventory-secured financing to independent used vehicle dealers; and sells vehicle service contracts. The company provides wheel repair and hail catastrophe response services. It serves vehicle manufacturers, vehicle rental companies, financial institutions, commercial fleets and fleet management companies, and dealer customers. The company was formerly known as KAR Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to KAR Auction Services, Inc. in November 2009. KAR Auction Services, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana. 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. Read More @NewsbySmiley It's January. Which means Florida's Democratic gubernatorial candidates really want to visit balmy South Florida. Former Congresswoman Gwen Graham is in Doral today serving up draughts at M.I.A. Beer Company during on of her campaign's "work days" -- a throwback to the blue-collar events her father, former Governor Bob Graham, used to hold. Former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine (he lives here, but whatever) will appear at Las Fiestas de la Calle Miami, a two-day Puerto Rican festival at Bayfront Park, to talk about his "commitment to Puerto Rican families." And on Sunday, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum is visiting the 93d Street Missionary Baptist Church in the morning and then heading at 11 a.m. to the Women's March at Mana Wynwood Convention Center. The three candidates are heading into town on the heels of a visit by Winter Park businessman Chris King, who was in South Florida last week on an "affordable living tour." On the Republican side, Ron DeSantis has scheduled a campaign kickoff Jan. 29 in Boca Raton. Photo: Gwen Graham helps brew a batch of beer at M.I.A. Brewery in Doral. Courtesy Twitter Lockheed Martin Corporation, a security and aerospace company, engages in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of technology systems, products, and services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control, Rotary and Mission Systems, and Space. The Aeronautics segment offers combat and air mobility aircraft, unmanned air vehicles, and related technologies. The Missiles and Fire Control segment provides air and missile defense systems; tactical missiles and air-to-ground precision strike weapon systems; logistics; fire control systems; mission operations support, readiness, engineering support, and integration services; manned and unmanned ground vehicles; and energy management solutions. The Rotary and Mission Systems segment offers military and commercial helicopters, surface ships, sea and land-based missile defense systems, radar systems, sea and air-based mission and combat systems, command and control mission solutions, cyber solutions, and simulation and training solutions. The Space segment offers satellites; space transportation systems; strategic, advanced strike, and defensive missile systems; and classified systems and services in support of national security systems. This segment also provides network-enabled situational awareness and integrates space and ground-based systems to help its customers gather, analyze, and securely distribute critical intelligence data. It serves primarily serves the U.S. government, as well as foreign military sales contracted through the U.S. government. Lockheed Martin Corporation was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. PNM Resources, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides electricity and electric services in the United States. It operates through Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) and Texas-New Mexico Power Company (TNMP) segments. The PNM segment engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The segment generates electricity using coal, natural gas and oil, nuclear fuel, solar, wind, and geothermal energy sources. As of December 31, 2021, this segment had owned or leased facilities with a total net generation capacity of 2,168 megawatts; and owned 3,426 miles of electric transmission lines, 5,751 miles of distribution overhead lines, 5,765 miles of underground distribution lines, and 250 substations. The segment also owns and leases communication, office and other equipment, office space, vehicles, and real estate. The TNMP segment provides regulated transmission and distribution services. As of December 31, 2021, the segment owned 983 miles of overhead electric transmission lines, 7,297 miles of overhead distribution lines, 1,408 miles of underground distribution lines, and 113 substations. The segment also owns and leases vehicles, service facilities, and office locations throughout its service territory. The company serves approximately 806,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers and end-users of electricity in New Mexico and Texas. PNM Resources, Inc. was incorporated in 1882 and is headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Toro Company engages in the designing, manufacturing, marketing, and selling professional and residential equipment worldwide. The company's Professional segment offers turf and landscape equipment products, including sports fields and grounds mowing and maintenance equipment, golf course mowing and maintenance equipment, landscape contractor mowing equipment, landscape creation and renovation equipment, and other maintenance equipment; rental, specialty, and underground construction equipment; and snow and ice management equipment, such as snowplows, brush, snow thrower attachment, salt and sand spreaders, and related parts and accessories for light and medium duty trucks, utility task vehicles, skid steers, and front-end loaders. It also provides irrigation and lighting products that consist of sprinkler heads, electric and hydraulic valves, controllers, computer irrigation central control systems, coupling systems, and ag-irrigation drip tape and hose products, as well as professionally installed landscape lighting products offered through distributors and landscape contractors. This segment sells its products primarily through a network of distributors and dealers to professional users engaged in maintaining golf courses, sports fields, municipal properties, agricultural fields, residential and commercial landscapes, and removing snow and ice, as well as directly to government customers, rental companies, and retailers. Its Residential segment provides walk power mowers, zero-turn riding mowers, snow throwers, replacement parts, and home solution products that include grass and hedge trimmers, leaf blowers, blower-vacuums, chainsaws, string trimmers, hoses, and hose-end retail irrigation products. This segment sells its products to homeowners through a network of distributors and dealers; and home centers, hardware retailers, and mass retailers, as well as online. The Toro Company was founded in 1914 and is headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota. For picture posts from 2010 and earlier, see the Earlier Picture Posts Page Yet another megaproject has been found to have caused multimillion losses, adding to the list of 12 other loss-making projects under one same management of Vietnams Ministry of Industry and Trade. The ministry-run Potassium Mining Project in Laos has been ceased, after incurring a total loss of VND16,126 billion (US$700 million), Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thanh Hai admitted at a meeting on Friday. The potassium mining project in Laos began in 2015 with the main developer being the countrys state-run chemicals giant Vinachem, which is managed by the trade ministry. The plant, with a planned capacity of approximately 320,000 metric tons a year, was expected to be built in five years with a total mining area of ten square kilometers. The project received an investment budget of $522 million, with Vinachem covering $105 million of the sum. This is a pivotal project for Vietnam, aiming to supply the country with its own mined potassium instead of wholly relying on imported chemical at the moment. Vinachem is also the operator of four other loss-stricken projects, including the Ninh Binh urea fertilizer, the Ha Bac urea fertilizer plant, the Lao Cai diamonium phosphate (DAP) plant, and Dinh Vu DAP plant. While the parent company and its 20 subsidiaries posted profit of VND2,162 billion ($95 million) last year, these loss-makers have cost Vinachem VND2,115 billion ($92.8 million), sending the final earnings to a meager VND47 billion ($2.2 million). Vinachem reportedly raked in revenue of VND44,971 billion ($2 billion) in 2017, a slight increase of five percent over the previous year. Following these huge losses, Vietnams Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved a restructuring plan, proposed by the deputy trade minister for the 2017-20 period, with various changes regarding the corporations management and finance. The list of 12 loss-making megaprojects managed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade has been submitted to the countrys Politburo, the all-powerful policymaking body of the Communist Party of Vietnam, awaiting further investigation and resolution. The list of 12 loss-making projects under the Ministry of Industry and Trade Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A bridge in an outer district of Ho Chi Minh City gave way on Friday night as a truck weighing nearly five times its allowed capacity tried to get over the steel structure. The truck and one motorbike passing Long Kien Bridge in Nha Be District were sent to the river following the collapse, but no casualties were reported, according to local authorities. The incident happened at around 10:00 pm, when a tipper truck loaded with construction pebbles, weighing a total 15 metric tons, attempted to cross the bridge, heading towards Long An Province. No vehicle weighing over 3.5 tons is allowed on Long Kien Bridge, according to traffic signs placed at both ends of the structure. The illegal maneuver ended in tragedy, as the bridge collapsed when the truck was half way across, sending the vehicle and a motorbike to the river. The municipal fire department dispatched a team of divers to look for possible victims in the water, but concluded that there were no human casualties after hours of search. It is understood that the truck driver, 30-year-old Nguyen Thanh Lam, had escaped his vehicle and swam to safety, while the motorcyclist was also unharmed. Divers look for victims in the water following the collapse of the Long Kien Bridge in Nha Be District, Ho Chi Minh City, January 19, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre Long Kien is one of four major bridges connecting District 7 and Nha Be District in southern Ho Chi Minh City, and is subject to pressure from busy traffic throughout the day. In September 2015, the bridge suffered severe structural damages after a barge rammed into its abutment in a river accident. A plan has been approved by the municipal administration since 2001 to rebuild the battered bridge, but has yet to be carried out due to hurdles concerning land clearance, according to Nguyen Thanh Thoai, chairman of Nha Bes Nhon Duc Commune where it is located. A Google Maps photo showing the location of the Long Kien Bridge in Nha Be District, Ho Chi Minh City. Fridays collapse also damaged the water pipelines and electricity cables that were installed along the bridge, according to Bui Xuan Cuong, director of Ho Chi Minh Citys Department of Transport. Authorities would repair the bridge for temporary use while waiting for a new bridge to be built and put into use in 2019, Cuong said. Surveillance cameras would also be installed on the bridge to discourage drivers from violating the weight limit, he added. Overview of the collapse of the Long Kien Bridge in Nha Be District, Ho Chi Minh City, January 19, 2018. Clip: Tuoi Tre Traffic signs banning vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tons from getting on the Long Kien Bridge in Nha Be District, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre Divers look for victims in the water following the collapse of the Long Kien Bridge in Nha Be District, Ho Chi Minh City, January 19, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The ban, applicable to both locals and tourists, was announced after Da Nang chairman Huynh Duc Tho headed a delegation of officials and experts to inspect the ongoing phenomenon at the beach on Friday. According to inspection reports, coastal erosion at My Khe is expanding and getting more serious, causing seaside buildings to suffer from subsidence and structural damages. Parts of the embankment that runs along the beach has been worn away by wave action and tidal currents, exposing the steel bars inside the structure and creating deep waterholes on the beach. Authorities have erected police lines and warning signs to ward beachgoers off the dangerous zones. Chairman Tho has requested that the municipal construction and environment departments work together on determining the cause of the erosion and suggest solutions to the problem. In the meantime, the eroded areas are to be reinforced to prevent further damage and ensure the citys ability to withstand upcoming storms, if any, Tho said. Da Nang chairman Huynh Duc Tho (C) inspects an eroded area at the My Khe Beach in Da Nang, January 19, 2017. Photo: Tuoi Tre A concrete pavement along the My Khe Beach in Da Nang is cracked. Photo: Tuoi Tre Warning signs are placed along the My Khe Beach in Da Nang. Photo: Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Craig McLachlan has spoken out against allegations levelled against him in the press. Joined by partner Vanessa Scammell in an exclusive interview for the Sunday Herald Sun, McLachlan has vowed to fight the claims. So (I feel) anger, hurt, bewilderment, but it keeps coming back to shock. How can this be? he asked. That 30-plus years of a great reputation and history can not just be called into doubt, but annihilated. Its extraordinary and its wrong. Does being cheeky and naughty equate with being a bully? No it does not, he said. In any theatre show La Traviata, Mary Poppins or the Rocky Horror Show, it aint like working in a bank. Thats just a fact. Backstage with crews and casts, its a different, naughty, dare I say it -politically incorrect- world. People will crack gags and say things and do things that would not be acceptable at the inquiries counter of the Commonwealth Bank. The lewdness I am surrounded by on Rocky Horror, is as they say on Spinal Tap, 11. I might be operating on 10, but all around me in the lewd department, I am nothing compared with what is surrounding me. For legal reasons McLachlan would not comment on the specifics of the allegations made by actors Erika Heynatz, Christie Whelan Browne and Angela Scundi. But he likened his humour to Dave Allen & Benny Hill, in the right company. And again if you say to me, Mate that Benny Hill gag I dont like (it) I will be the first to apologise. McLachlan said he too was subjected to bullying and intimidation early in his career as a pretty young boy starting in television. I stood up at the time and said Im sorry, Im not going to wear it which is why I have been mindful of making an inclusive, joyous, working environment. McLachlan said he volunteered to step aside from the Rocky Horror Show stage tour to protect it. Gordon Frost Organisation is investigating allegations, whilst two of the actors have reported incidents to police. December Media is also investigating whether any incidents occurred during The Doctor Blake Mysteries. McLachlan hit out at trial by media. Cobbling together distorted truths and half truths does not a truth make, he said. It doesnt matter how many you make. Travel Guides returns to Nine on Monday, January 29, with new cast members added into the mix, alongside returning favourites. Returning are The Fren Family, Kevin & Janetta, Stack & Mel, joined by friends Kev, Dorian & Teng (pictured) plus lifelong friends Taash & Mads. First up this season is Bologna, Italy. Fasten your seatbelt and prepare for takeoff as very different groups of ordinary Aussies become travel critics. In each episode they will experience the same week-long holiday sampling the food, accommodation and taking in the local sights. Their adventures will entertain and surprise you as they deliver no-holds-barred reviews and rate their stay out of five stars. This series features trips to Europe, South Africa and Asia, as well as some of Australias favourite holiday spots. But one persons idea of paradise can be anothers idea of hell. Your Travel Guides are: The Fren Family: Mark (56), Cathy (54), Jonathon (26) and Victoria (24). These endearing bargain hunters run a German cafe in Newcastle. The Frens will stop at nothing to bag an upgrade and always find the funny side of any holiday disaster. They are willing to try anything at least once, and never afraid to speak their mind. Kevin (60) and Janetta (66) are discerning, self-professed holiday snobs. These married, jet-setting retirees seek out the finest accommodation, food and wine, and hate settling for anything second-rate. Stack (28) and Mel (28), are identical twin cowgirls from country NSW. Although a little wary when it comes to venturing anywhere beyond the outback, they are prepared to give anything a crack. These competitive rodeo ropers are used to roughing it and are not easily impressed by fancy holidays. Kev (25), Dorian (21) and Teng (21) are mates who work together at Target. Their combined Chinese, Greek and Vietnamese heritage gives them a unique take on the world. These budget travelers are smart slackers who are ready to leave the comforts of life at home with their parents to explore the world. Besties since childhood, psychologist Taash (27) and nurse Mads (27) are single travelers who are always on the hunt for a man. They have a sisterly bond, sharing a love of soy lattes, green drinks and active wear, and cannot travel anywhere without wi-fi. In the premiere episode, our Travel Guides jet off on a week-long holiday in Bologna, the foodie capital of Italy. Often referred to as La Grassa (the fat one), it has a population of 400,000 and is rich in history, art, music and culture. After a 25-hour flight from Australia, our Travel Guides check into their four-star boutique hotel before venturing into the cobblestone streets to sample the best culinary delights that Bologna has to offer. Cold cuts, cheeses, cakes and pizza will tantalise their tastebuds, but partaking in a tortellini-making class will try the patience of the local pasta masters. Our Travel Guides will have the opportunity to say hello to His Holiness as Pope Francis makes a highly-anticipated visit to Bologna. It will be a patient wait as they vow to get a glimpse of the pontiff, but as the Popemobile approaches, what happens next will leave everybody speechless. Then, they will experience the ride of their lives as they get behind the wheel of a $500,000 Ferrari on a racetrack. So who will be the biggest speed demon? Also, our Travel Guides will head for the hills south of Bologna in search of truffles, sniffing out a small fortune in fungus. Meanwhile, a visit to the annual eel festival in the village of Comacchio will be a gastronomic experience to delight some and revolt others. After experiencing the best that Bologna has to offer, will this Italian city disappoint our Travel Guides? Or will they recommend it as your next must see travel destination? Narrated by Aussie comedian Denise Scott, Travel Guides is a format developed by Studio Lambert in the UK and produced in Australia by the Nine Network. 9:10pm Monday January 29 on Nine. In December 2017, the Alberta Law Reform Institute (ALRI) released a report for discussion onSubstitute decision-making documents (also called powers of attorney, proxies, personal directives, etc...) delegate authority to one person to act on behalf of another with respect to financial, property or legal affairs and/or personal or health care matters. But legal requirements can often differ in different jurisdictions so that documents may not be recognized outside the province in which it was made, a situation that can create problems for people who own assets in more than one jurisdiction.In 2016, the Uniform Law Conference of Canada approved the. The Uniform Act is intended to provide harmonized rules that may be implemented across Canada.The ALRI report reviews the Uniform Act and considers whether it is suitable for implementation in Alberta. ALRI proposes that the Uniform Act should be implemented in Alberta, with some minor adjustments. Labels: disability issues, government_Alberta, health law, law commissions, property law, wills and estates The following companies are subsidiares of Tenet Healthcare: 45th Street MOB LLC, 601 N 30th Street I L.L.C., 601 N 30th Street II L.L.C., 601 N 30th Street III Inc., AHM Acquisition Co. Inc., AIG Holdings LLC, AIGB Global LLC, AIGB Group Inc., AIGB Holdings Inc., AIGB Management Services LLC, AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #1 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #2 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #3 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #4 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #5 L.L.C., AMI Information Systems Group Inc., AMI/HTI Tarzana Encino Joint Venture, APN, ARC Worcester Center L.P., ASC Old Co. LP, ASC of New Jersey LLC, ASJH Joint Venture LLC, Abrazo Health Network EP Clinical Services LLC, Abrazo Surgical Outpatient Center LLC, Advanced Ambulatory Surgical Care L.P., Advanced Center for Surgery Vero Beach LLC, Advanced Regional Surgery Center LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Bethesda LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Metairie LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Northern Louisiana LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Sarasota LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Tampa LLC, Advanced Surgical Care of Lutz LLC, Advanced Surgical Care of St Louis LLC, Advanced Surgical Concepts LLC, Advantage Health Care Management Company LLC, Advantage Health Network Inc., AdventHealth Surgery Center Celebration LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Mills Park LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Wellswood LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Winter Garden LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Centers Central Florida LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Centers West Florida LLC, Alabama Cardiovascular Associates L.L.C., Alabama Digestive Health Endoscopy Center L.L.C., Alabama Hand and Sports Medicine L.L.C., Alamo Heights Surgicare L.P., Alliance Surgery Birmingham LLC, Alliance Surgery Inc., Alvarado Hospital Medical Center Inc., Ambulatory Surgical Associates LLC, Ambulatory Surgical Center of Somerville LLC, American Institute of Gastric Banding Ltd., American Institute of Gastric Banding Phoenix Limited Partnership, American Medical Inc., Amisub Inc., Amisub Inc., Amisub of California Inc., Amisub of North Carolina Inc., Amisub of South Carolina Inc., Amisub of Texas Inc., Anaheim Hills Medical Imaging L.L.C., Anaheim MRI Holding Inc., Anesthesia Partners of Gallatin LLC, Arizona Care Network Next L.L.C., Arizona Health Partners LLC, Arizona Spine and Joint Hospital LLC, Ascension Saint Thomas Lebanon Surgery Center LLC, Asia Outsourcing US Inc., Aspen Healthcare, Atlanta Medical Center Inc., Atlanta Medical Center Interventional Neurology Associates L.L.C., Atlanta Medical Center Neurosurgical & Spine Specialists L.L.C., Atlanta Medical Center Physician Group L.L.C., Atlantic Coast Surgical Suites LLC, Atlantic Health-USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Audubon Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Avita/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., BBH BMC LLC, BBH CBMC LLC, BBH DevelopmentCo LLC, BBH NP Clinicians Inc., BBH PBMC LLC, BBH SBMC LLC, BBH WBMC LLC, BCDC EmployeeCO LLC, BHC-Talladega Pediatrics LLC, BHS Accountable Care LLC, BHS Affinity LLC, BHS Integrated Physician Partners LLC, BHS Physician Performance Network LLC, BHS Physicians Alliance for ACE LLC, BHS Physicians Network Inc., BHS Specialty Network Inc., BT East Dallas JV LLP, BW Cardiology LLC, BW Cyberknife LLC, BW Hand Practice LLC, BW Office Buildings LLC, BW Parking Decks LLC, BW Physician Practices LLC, BW Retail Pharmacy LLC, BW Sports Practice LLC, Baptist Accountable Care LLC, Baptist Diagnostics LLC, Baptist Health Centers LLC, Baptist Physician Alliance ACO LLC, Baptist Physician Alliance LLC, Baptist Plaza Surgicare L.P., Baptist Surgery Center L.P., Baptist Womens Health Center LLC, Baptist/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Bartlett ASC LLC, Beaumont Surgical Affiliates Ltd., Berkshire Eye LLC, Bloomington ASC LLC, Blue Ridge/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Bluffton Okatie Primary Care L.L.C., Bluffton Okatie Surgery Center L.L.C., Braselton Endoscopy Center LLC, Briarcliff Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Bristol Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Broad River Primary Care L.L.C., Brookwood Ancillary Holdings Inc., Brookwood Baptist Health 1 LLC, Brookwood Baptist Health 2 LLC, Brookwood Baptist Health 3 LLC, Brookwood Baptist Imaging LLC, Brookwood Center Development Corporation, Brookwood Development Inc., Brookwood Diagnostic Imaging Center LLC, Brookwood Garages L.L.C., Brookwood Health Services Inc., Brookwood Home Health LLC, Brookwood Occupational Health Clinic L.L.C., Brookwood Parking Associates Ltd., Brookwood Primary Care Cahaba Heights L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care Hoover L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care The Narrows L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care Homewood L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care Inverness L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care Mountain Brook L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care Oak Mountain L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care Vestavia L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Network Care Inc., Brookwood Specialty Care Endocrinology L.L.C., Brookwood Sports and Orthopedics L.L.C., Brookwood Womens Care L.L.C., Brookwood Womens Diagnostic Center LLC, Brookwood Maternal Fetal Medicine L.L.C., Brownsville Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, C7 Technologies LLC, CGH GP Inc., CGH Hospital Ltd., CHIC/USP Surgery Centers LLC, CHN Holdings LLC, CHVI Tucson Holdings LLC, CML-Chicago Market Labs Inc., CRNAs of Michigan, CS/USP General Partner LLC, CS/USP Surgery Centers LP, Camp Creek Urgent Care L.L.C., Camp Lowell Surgery Center L.L.C., Cardiology Physicians Associates L.L.C., Cardiology Physicians Corporation L.L.C., Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Associates L.L.C., Cardiovascular Clinical Excellence at Sierra Providence LLC, CareSpot of Austin LLC, CareSpot of Memphis LLC, Carmel Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Castle Rock Surgery Center LLC, Catawba-Piedmont Cardiothoracic Surgery L.L.C., Cedar Hill Primary Care L.L.C., Cedar Park Surgery Center L.L.P., Center for Advanced Research Excellence L.L.C., Center for the Urban Child Inc., Central Carolina Physicians Sandhills L.L.C., Central Carolina-IMA L.L.C., Central Jersey Surgery Center LLC, Central Texas Corridor Hospital Company LLC, Central Valley Quality Alliance LLC, Central Virginia Surgi-Center L.P., Centura Ventures Surgery Centers LLC, Centura/USP Colorado Springs Surgery Centers L.L.C., Chalon Living Inc., Chandler Endoscopy Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Charlotte Endoscopic Surgery Center LLC, Chattanooga Pain Management Center LLC, Chesterfield Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Chico Surgery Center L.P., Clarksville Surgery Center LLC, Coast Healthcare Management LLC, Coast Surgery Center L.P., Coastal Carolina Medical Center, Coastal Carolina Medical Center Inc., Coastal Carolina Physician Practices LLC, Coastal Carolina Pro Fee Billing L.L.C., Colorado GI Centers LLC, Commonwealth Continental Health Care Inc., Community Connection Health Plan Inc., Community Hospital of Los Gatos Inc., Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Asheville LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Odessa LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Raleigh LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of St. Petersburg LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Tampa LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Waco LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Winston-Salem LLC, Conifer Care Continuum Solutions LLC, Conifer Ethics and Compliance Inc., Conifer Global Business Center Inc., Conifer Global Holdings Inc., Conifer Health Solutions LLC, Conifer Holdings Inc., Conifer Patient Communications LLC, Conifer Physician Services Holdings Inc., Conifer Physician Services Inc., Conifer Revenue Cycle Solutions LLC, Conifer Value-Based Care LLC, Conroe Surgery Center 2 LLC, Coral Ridge Outpatient Center LLC, Corpus Christi Surgicare Ltd., Covenant/USP Surgery Centers LLC, CreAtiv Management Company Inc., Creekwood Surgery Center L.P., Crown Point Surgery Center LLC, DH/USP SJOSC Investment Company L.L.C., DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital Premier Clinical Co-Management Services LLC, DMC Education & Research, DMC Harper University Hospital Premier Clinical Co-Management Services LLC, DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital Premier Clinical Management Services LLC, DMC Imaging L.L.C., DeTar/USP Surgery Center LLC, Delray Beach ASC LLC, Delray Medical Center Inc., Delray Medical Physician Services L.L.C., Denville Surgery Center LLC, Des Peres Physician Network LLC, Desert Regional Medical Center Inc., Desert Ridge Outpatient Surgery LLC, Desoto Surgicare Partners Ltd., Destin Surgery Center LLC, Detroit Education & Research, DigitalMed Inc., Dignity/Abrazo Health Network LLC, Dignity/USP Phoenix Surgery Centers II LLC, Doctors Hospital of Manteca Inc., Doctors Medical Center Neurosciences Clinical Co-Management LLC, Doctors Medical Center Orthopedics Clinical Co-Management LLC, Doctors Medical Center of Modesto Inc., Doctors Outpatient Surgery Center of Jupiter L.L.C., EPHC Inc., EPIC ASC LLC, East Atlanta Endoscopy Centers LLC, East Cobb Urgent Care LLC, East Cooper Coastal Family Physicians L.L.C., East Cooper Community Hospital Inc., East Cooper Hyperbarics L.L.C., East Cooper OB/GYN L.L.C., East Cooper Physician Network LLC, East Cooper Primary Care Physicians L.L.C., East West Surgery Center L.P., Eastgate Building Center L.L.C., El Mirador Surgery Center L.L.C., El Paso Center for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy LLC, El Paso Day Surgery LLC, El Paso Urology Surgery Center Curie LLC, Emanate/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Emanuel Medical Center, Emerus BHS/SA NW Military LLC, Emerus BHS/SA Southside LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Hausman LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Kelly LLC, Emerus/BHS SA LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Overlook Parkway LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Schertz LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Thousand Oaks LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Westover Hills LLC, Encinitas Endoscopy Center LLC, Endoscopy Consultants LLC, Enterprise Research Solutions LLC, European Surgical Partners Ltd., Eye Center of Nashville UAP LLC, Eye Surgery Center of Nashville LLC, FMC Medical Inc., FMCC Network Contracting L.L.C., FREH Real Estate L.L.C., FRS Imaging Services L.L.C., First Choice Physician Partners, Flatirons Surgery Center LLC, Fort Bend Clinical Services Inc., Fort Worth Hospital Real Estate LP, Foundation Bariatric Hospital of San Antonio LLC, Foundation San Antonio Borrower Sub LLC, Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, Fountain Valley Surgery Center LLC, Franklin Endo UAP LLC, Franklin Endoscopy Center LLC, Frontenac Ambulatory Surgery & Spine Care Center L.P., Frye Regional Medical Center Inc., FryeCare Boone L.L.C., FryeCare Morganton L.L.C., FryeCare Physicians L.L.C., FryeCare Valdese L.L.C., FryeCare Watauga L.L.C., FryeCare Womens Services L.L.C., GAB Endoscopy Center LLC, GCSA Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, GIA/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Gainesville Endoscopy ASC LLC, Gainesville Endoscopy Center LLC, Gamma Surgery Center LLC, Gardendale Surgical Associates LLC, Gastric Health Institute L.L.C., Georgia Endoscopy Center LLC, Georgia Gifts From Grace L.L.C., Georgia Musculoskeletal Network Inc., Georgia North Fulton Healthcare Associates L.L.C., Georgia Northside Ear Nose and Throat L.L.C., Georgia Physicians of Cardiology L.L.C., Georgia Spectrum Neurosurgical Specialists L.L.C., Glen Echo Surgery Center LLC, Golden Ridge ASC LLC, Good Samaritan Medical Center Inc., Good Samaritan Surgery L.L.C., Graystone Family Healthcare Tenet North Carolina L.L.C., Great Lakes Surgical Suites LLC, Greater Dallas Healthcare Enterprises, Greater Northwest Houston Enterprises, Greenville Physicians Surgery Center LLP, Greenwood ASC LLC, Greystone Internal Medicine Brookwood L.L.C., Gulf Coast Community Hospital Inc., HC Hialeah Holdings Inc., HCH Tucson Holdings LLC, HCN EP Horizon City LLC, HCN EP Lee Trevino LLC, HCN EP Northeast LLC, HCN EP Sunland Park LLC, HCN Emerus El Paso LLC, HCN Emerus Management Sub LLC, HCN Emerus Texas LLC, HCN Laboratories Inc., HCN Physicians Inc., HCN Surgery Center Holdings Inc., HDMC Holdings L.L.C., HKRI Holdings LLC, HMHP/USP Surgery Centers LLC, HNMC Inc., HNW GP Inc., HNW LP Inc., HSRM International Inc., HSS Palm Beach Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, HSS/USP Surgery Center LLC, Hagerstown Surgery Center LLC, Harbor Heights Surgery Center LLC, Hardeeville Medical Group L.L.C., Hardeeville Primary Care L.L.C., Harlingen Physician Network Inc., Harper-Hutzel AHP Services Inc., Harvard Park Surgery Center LLC, Haymarket Surgery Center LLC, Health & Wellness Surgery Center L.P., Health Horizons of Kansas City Inc., Health Horizons of Murfreesboro Inc., Health Horizons/Piedmont Joint Venture LLC, Health Services CFMC Inc., Health Services HNMC Inc., Health Services Network Care Inc., Health Services Network Hospitals Inc., Health Services Network Texas Inc., HealthCorp Network Inc., Healthcare Compliance LLC, Healthcare Network Alabama Inc., Healthcare Network CFMC Inc., Healthcare Network DPH Inc., Healthcare Network Georgia Inc., Healthcare Network Holdings Inc., Healthcare Network Hospitals Inc., Healthcare Network Louisiana Inc., Healthcare Network Missouri Inc., Healthcare Network North Carolina Inc., Healthcare Network South Carolina Inc., Healthcare Network Tennessee Inc., Healthcare Network Texas Inc., Healthcare SMG I L.L.C., Healthcare SMG II L.L.C., Healthcare SMG IV L.L.C., Healthcare UC Holdings Inc., Healthmark Partners Inc., Healthpoint of North Carolina L.L.C., Heart and Vascular Institute of Michigan, Hialeah Real Properties Inc., Hickory Family Practice Associates - Tenet North Carolina L.L.C., Hill Country ASC Partners LLC, Hill Country Surgery Center LLC, Hilton Head Health System L.P., Hilton Head Regional Healthcare L.L.C., Hilton Head Regional OB/GYN Partners L.L.C., Hilton Head Regional Physician Network LLC, Hilton Head Regional Physician Network Georgia L.L.C., Hitchcock State Street Real Estate Inc., Holston Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Holy Cross Hospital Inc., Home Health Partners of San Antonio LLC, Hoover Doctors Group Inc., Hoover Land LLC, Hospital Development of West Phoenix Inc., Hospital RCM Services LLC, Houston Northwest Partners Ltd., Houston PSC L.P., Houston Specialty Hospital Inc., Houston Sunrise Investors Inc., Hyde Park Surgery Center LLC, Imaging Center at Baxter Village L.L.C., InforMed Insurance Services LLC, International Health and Wellness Inc., Intracoastal Surgery Center LLC, JFK Memorial Hospital Inc., Jacksonville Endoscopy Centers LLC, Journey Home Healthcare of San Antonio LLC, KHS Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, KHS/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Kingsport Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Laguna Medical Systems Inc., Lake Endoscopy Center LLC, Lake Health Care Facilities Inc., LakeFront Medical Associates LLC, Lakewood Regional Medical Center Inc., Lancaster Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Lebanon Endoscopy Center LLC, Legacy Warren Partners L.P., Leonardtown Surgery Center LLC, Lifemark Hospitals Inc., Lifemark Hospitals of Florida Inc., Lifemark Hospitals of Louisiana Inc., Longleaf Surgery Center LLC, Los Alamitos Medical Center Inc., Lubbock ASC Holding Co LLC, MASC Partners LLC, MH/USP Bay Area LLC, MH/USP Brazoria LLC, MH/USP Kingsland LLC, MH/USP Kingwood LLC, MH/USP Kirby LLC, MH/USP Main Street LLC, MH/USP North Freeway LLC, MH/USP North Houston LLC, MH/USP Richmond LLC, MH/USP Sugar Land LLC, MH/USP TMC Endoscopy LLC, MH/USP West Houston L.L.C., MH/USP Woodlands Parkway LLC, MSV Health/USP Surgery Centers LLC, MVH/USP Surgery Centers LLC, MacNeal Management Services Inc., MacNeal Medical Records Inc., MacNeal Physicians Group LLC, Magnetic Resonance Imaging of San Luis Obispo Inc., Magnolia Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Manchester Ambulatory Surgery Center LP, Maple Lawn Surgery Center LLC, Marion Surgery Center LLC, Mason Ridge Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., McLaren ASC of Flint LLC, Meadowcrest Hospital LLC, Medical House Staffing LLC, Medplex Outpatient Medical Centers Inc., Medplex Outpatient Surgery Center Ltd., Memorial Hermann Bay Area Endoscopy Center LLC, Memorial Hermann Endoscopy & Surgery Center North Houston L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Endoscopy Center North Freeway LLC, Memorial Hermann Specialty Hospital Kingwood L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Surgical Hospital L.L.P., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Brazoria LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Cypress LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Kingsland L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Kirby LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Main Street LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Pinecroft LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Preston Road Ltd., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Richmond LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Woodlands Parkway LLC, Memorial Hermann Texas International Endoscopy Center LLC, Memorial Hermann West Houston Surgery Center LLC, Memorial Hermann/USP Surgery Centers II L.P., Memorial Hermann/USP Surgery Centers IV LLP, Memorial Surgery Center LLC, Memphis Urgent Care #1 L.L.C., Memphis Urgent Care #2 L.L.C., Metro Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Metro Surgery Center LLC, MetroWest HomeCare & Hospice LLC, Metropolitan Medical Partners LLC, Miami Surgical Suites LLC, Michigan Pioneer ACO LLC, Michigan Regional Imaging LLC, Mid Rivers Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Mid State Endo UAP LLC, Mid-State Endoscopy Center LLC, Middle Tennessee Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Midland Memorial/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Midland Texas Surgical Center LLC, Midwest Digestive Health Center LLC, Midwest Pharmacies Inc., Midwest Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Millennium Surgical Center LLC, Minimally Invasive Surgicenter LLC, Minimally Invasive Surgicenter of Delray LLC, Mobile Imaging Management LLC, Mobile Technology Management LLC, Modesto Radiology Imaging Inc., Monocacy Surgery Center LLC, Mountain Empire Surgery Center L.P., Munster Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Murdock Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, NICH GP Holdings LLC, NKCH/USP Briarcliff GP LLC, NKCH/USP Liberty GP LLC, NKCH/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., NMC Lessor L.P., NMC Surgery Center L.P., NME Headquarters Inc., NME Properties Corp., NME Properties Inc., NME Property Holding Co. Inc., NME Psychiatric Hospitals Inc., NME Rehabilitation Properties Inc., NS Medical Billing Center L.L.C., NSCH GP Holdings LLC, NSCH/USP Desert Surgery Centers L.L.C., NSMC Holdings Inc., NSN Revenue Resources LLC, NUCH of Georgia L.L.C., NUCH of Massachusetts LLC, NUCH of Michigan Inc., Nacogdoches ASC-LP Inc., National ASC Inc., National Ancillary Inc., National Diagnostic Imaging Centers Inc., National HHC Inc., National Home Health Holdings Inc., National ICN Inc., National Imaging Center Holdings Inc., National Medical Services II Inc., National Outpatient Services Holdings Inc., National Surgery Center Holdings Inc., National Urgent Care Inc., Network Management Associates Inc., New Dimensions LLC, New England Physician Performance Network LLC, New H Acute Inc., New Horizons Surgery Center LLC, New Medical Horizons II Ltd., Newhope Imaging Center Inc., North Anaheim Surgery Center LLC, North Atlantic Surgical Suites LLC, North Campus Surgery Center LLC, North Carolina Community Family Medicine L.L.C., North Denver Musculoskeletal Surgical Partners LLC, North Fulton Cardiovascular Medicine L.L.C., North Fulton Hospitalist Group L.L.C., North Fulton Medical Center Inc., North Fulton Primary Care - Willeo Rd. L.L.C., North Fulton Primary Care - Windward Parkway L.L.C., North Fulton Primary Care - Wylie Bridge L.L.C., North Fulton Primary Care Associates L.L.C., North Fulton Pulmonary Specialists L.L.C., North Fulton Womens Consultants L.L.C., North Haven Surgery Center LLC, North Miami Medical Center Ltd., North Shore Same Day Surgery L.L.C., North Shore Surgical Suites LLC, NorthPointe Surgical Suites LLC, NorthShore/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., Northridge Surgery Center L.P., Northwest Georgia Orthopaedic Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Regional ASC LLC, Northwest Regional Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Surgery Center Ltd., Novant Health/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Novant/UVA/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Okatie Surgical Partners L.L.C., Old Tesson Surgery Center L.P., Olive Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Olive Branch Urgent Care #1 LLC, Ophthalmology Anesthesia Services LLC, Ophthalmology Surgery Center of Orlando LLC, Optimum Spine Center LLC, OrNda Healthcorp, OrNda Hospital Corporation, Orlando Health/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., OrthoArizona Surgery Center Gilbert LLC, OrthoLink ASC Corporation, OrthoLink Physicians Corporation, OrthoLink Radiology Services Corporation, OrthoLink/ Georgia ASC Inc., OrthoLink/New Mexico ASC Inc., Orthopedic Associates of the Lowcountry L.L.C., Oxford Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, PAHS/USP Surgery Centers LLC, PDN L.L.C., PHPS Inc., PHPS-CHM Acquisition Inc., PM CyFair Land Partners LLC, PMC Physician Network L.L.C., PSS Patient Solution Services LLC, Pacific Endo-Surgical Center L.P., Pacific Endoscopy and Surgery Center LLC, Paley Institute Global LLC, Palm Beach Gardens Community Hospital Inc., Palm Beach International Surgery Center LLC, Park Plaza Hospital Billing Center L.L.C., ParkCreek ASC LLC, Parkwest Surgery Center L.P., Patient Partners LLC, Peak Gastroenterology ASC LLC, Pediatric Surgery Center Odessa LLC, Pediatric Surgery Centers LLC, Physician Performance Network L.L.C., Physician Performance Network of Arizona LLC, Physician Performance Network of South Carolina LLC, Physician Performance Network of Tucson LLC, Physicians Performance Network of Houston, Physicians Performance Network of North Texas, Physicians Surgery Center of Tempe LLC, Physicians Surgery Center of Chattanooga L.L.C., Physicians Surgery Center of Knoxville LLC, Piccard Surgery Center LLC, Piedmont ASC LLC, Piedmont Behavioral Medicine Associates LLC, Piedmont Cardiovascular Physicians L.L.C., Piedmont Carolina OB/GYN of York County L.L.C., Piedmont Carolina Vascular Surgery L.L.C., Piedmont East Urgent Care Center L.L.C., Piedmont Express Care at Sutton Road L.L.C., Piedmont Family Practice at Baxter Village L.L.C., Piedmont Family Practice at Rock Hill L.L.C., Piedmont Family Practice at Tega Cay L.L.C., Piedmont General Surgery Associates L.L.C., Piedmont Internal Medicine at Baxter Village L.L.C., Piedmont Physician Network LLC, Piedmont Pulmonology L.L.C., Piedmont Surgical Specialists L.L.C., Piedmont Urgent Care Center at Baxter Village L.L.C., Piedmont Urgent Care and Industrial Health Centers Inc., Piedmont/Carolinas Radiation Therapy LLC, Placentia-Linda Hospital Inc., Pleasanton Diagnostic Imaging Inc., Point of Rocks Surgery Center LLC, Porter Musculoskeletal Surgery Center LLC, Potomac View Surgery Center LLC, Practice Partners Management L.P., Premier ACO Physicians Network LLC, Premier ASC LLC, Premier Adult and Childrens Surgery Center LLC, Premier Endoscopy ASC LLC, Premier Health Plan Services Inc., Premier Medical Specialists L.L.C., Prince William Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Professional Anesthesia Services LLC, Pros Temporary Staffing Inc., Providence/UCLA/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Providence/USP Santa Clarita GP LLC, Providence/USP South Bay Surgery Centers L.L.C., Providence/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Pueblo Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, R.H.S.C. El Paso Inc., RE Plano Med Inc., RHC Parkway Inc., RLC LLC, Reading Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Reading Endoscopy Center LLC, Reagan Street Surgery Center LLC, Red Cedar Surgery Center LLC, Redmond Surgery Center LLC, Republic Health Corporation of Rockwall County, Resolute Health Physicians Network Inc., Resolute Hospital Company LLC, Resurgens Surgery Center LLC, Rheumatology Associates of Atlanta Medical Center L.L.C., Rio Grande Valley Indigent Health Care Corporation, Riva Road Surgery Center LLC, River North Same Day Surgery L.L.C., Riverside Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Rock Bridge Surgical Institute L.L.C., Rock Hill Surgery Center LLC, Rockville Surgical Suites LLC, Rocky Mountain Endoscopy Centers LLC, Roswell Surgery Center L.L.C., SCNRE LLC, SFMP Inc., SFMPE - Crittenden L.L.C., SL-HLC Inc., SLH Physicians L.L.C., SLH Vista Inc., SLPA ACO LLC, SLUH Anesthesia Physicians L.L.C., SMSJ Imaging Company LLC, SMSJ Tucson Holdings LLC, SRRMC Management Inc., SSI Holdings Inc., Safety Harbor ASC Company LLC, Saint Francis Cardiology Associates L.L.C., Saint Francis Cardiovascular Surgery L.L.C., Saint Francis Center for Surgical Weight Loss L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital Billing Center L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital Medicare ACO LLC, Saint Francis Hospital Pro Fee Billing L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett Inc., Saint Francis Medical Partners East L.L.C., Saint Francis Medical Partners General Surgery L.L.C., Saint Francis Physician Network LLC, Saint Francis Quality Alliance LLC, Saint Francis Surgery Center L.L.C., Saint Francis Surgical Associates L.L.C., Saint Francis-Arkansas Physician Network LLC, Saint Francis-Bartlett Physician Network LLC, Saint Thomas Campus Surgicare L.P., Saint Thomas Surgery Center New Salem LLC, Saint Thomas/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., Saint Thomas/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Saint Thomas/USP Baptist Plaza L.L.C., Saint Vincent Physician Services Inc., Salmon Surgery Center LLC, Same Day Management L.L.C., Same Day Surgery L.L.C., San Antonio Endoscopy L.P., San Fernando Valley Surgery Center L.P., San Gabriel Valley Surgical Center L.P., San Ramon ASC L. P., San Ramon Ambulatory Care LLC, San Ramon Network Joint Venture LLC, San Ramon Regional Medical Center LLC, Santa Barbara Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Santa Clarita Surgery Center L.P., Savannah Endoscopy Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Schertz Surgery Center LLC, Scottsdale Endoscopy ASC LLC, Scripps/USP Surgery Centers 2 LLC, Seaside Surgery Center LLC, Shelby Baptist Affinity LLC, Shelby Baptist Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Shore Outpatient Surgicenter L.L.C., Shoreline Real Estate Partnership LLP, Shoreline Surgery Center LLP, Sierra Providence Health Network Inc., Sierra Providence Healthcare Enterprises, Sierra Vista Hospital Inc., Sierra Vista Surgery Center LLC, Silver Cross Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Silver Cross/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Sinai-Grace Premier Clinical Management Services LLC, Solantic Development LLC, Solantic Holdings Corporation, South Carolina East Cooper Surgical Specialists L.L.C., South Carolina Health Services LLC, South Carolina SeWee Family Medicine L.L.C., South County Outpatient Endoscopy Services L.P., South Denver Musculoskeletal Surgical Partners LLC, South Florida Ambulatory Surgical Center LLC, South Fulton Health Care Centers Inc., South Plains Endoscopy Associates LLC, SouthCare Physicians Group Neurology L.L.C., SouthCare Physicians Group Obstetrics & Gynecology L.L.C., Southeast Ohio Surgical Suites LLC, Southern Orthopedics and Sports Medicine L.L.C., Southern States Physician Operations Inc., Southwest Childrens Hospital LLC, Southwest Endoscopy LLC, Southwestern Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Spalding Regional Medical Center Inc., Spalding Regional OB/GYN L.L.C., Spalding Regional Physician Services L.L.C., Specialty Surgicenters Inc., Springfield Service Holding Corporation, St. Augustine Endoscopy Center LLC, St. Christophers Pediatric Urgent Care Center - Allentown L.L.C, St. Josephs Hospital Surgical Co-Management LLC, St. Josephs Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, St. Louis Physician Alliance LLC, St. Louis Surgical Center LC, St. Louis Urology Center LLC, St. Lukes/USP Surgery Centers LLC, St. Marys Hospital Cardiovascular Co-Management LLC, St. Marys Hospital Surgical Co-Management LLC, St. Marys Levee Company LLC, St. Marys Medical Center Inc., St. Vincent Health/USP LLC, St. Vincent/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Suburban Endoscopy Center LLC, Summit View Surgery Center LLC, Sun View Imaging L.L.C., SurgCenter Camelback LLC, SurgCenter Clearwater LLC, SurgCenter Development, SurgCenter Northeast LLC, SurgCenter Pinellas LLC, SurgCenter Tucson LLC, SurgCenter at Paradise Valley LLC, SurgCenter of Deer Valley LLC, SurgCenter of Glen Burnie LLC, SurgCenter of Greater Dallas LLC, SurgCenter of Greater Jacksonville LLC, SurgCenter of Northern Baltimore LLC, SurgCenter of Palm Beach Gardens LLC, SurgCenter of Pine Ridge LLC, SurgCenter of Silver Spring LLC, SurgCenter of Southern Maryland LLC, SurgCenter of St. Lucie LLC, SurgCenter of White Marsh LLC, SurgCenter of the Potomac LLC, Surgery Affiliate of El Paso LLC, Surgery Center at Mount Pleasant LLC, Surgery Center at University Park LLC, Surgery Center of Columbia L.P., Surgery Center of Coral Gables LLC, Surgery Center of Okeechobee LLC, Surgery Center of Pembroke Pines L.L.C., Surgery Center of Peoria L.L.C., Surgery Center of Santa Barbara LLC, Surgery Center of Scottsdale LLC, Surgery Centers of America II L.L.C., Surgery Centre of SW Florida LLC, Surgical & Bariatric Associates of Atlanta Medical Center L.L.C., Surgical Center Development #3 LLC, Surgical Center Development #4 LLC, Surgical Clinical Excellence at Desert Regional LLC, Surgical Elite of Avondale L.L.C., Surgical Health Partners LLC, Surgical Institute Management LLC, Surgical Institute of Reading LLC, Surgicare of Miramar L.L.C., Surginet Inc., Surgis Inc., Surgis Management Services Inc., Surgis of Chico Inc., Surgis of Phoenix Inc., Surgis of Redding Inc., Surgis of Victoria Inc., Sutton Road Pediatrics L.L.C., Sylvan Grove Hospital Inc., T1 Security LLC, TENN SM LLC, TFPS IV L.L.C., TH Healthcare Ltd., TH International Services Florida LLC, TLC ASC LLC, TOPS Specialty Hospital Ltd., TOSCA ASC Holdings LLC, TPR Practice Management LLC, TPS VI of PA L.L.C., TSPE LLC, Tamarac Surgery Center LLC, Tampa Bay Joint and Spine LLC, Tempe New Day Surgery Center LP, Templeton Imaging Inc., Tenet Business Services Corporation, Tenet California Inc., Tenet Central Carolina Physicians Inc., Tenet EKG Inc., Tenet El Paso Ltd., Tenet Employment Inc., Tenet Finance Corp., Tenet Florida Inc., Tenet Florida Physician Services II L.L.C., Tenet Florida Physician Services III L.L.C., Tenet Florida Physician Services L.L.C., Tenet Fort Mill Inc., Tenet Global Business Center Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Bucks County L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Graduate L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Hahnemann L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Medical Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Nacogdoches ASC GP Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Philadelphia Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Roxborough LLC, Tenet HealthSystem St. Christophers Hospital for Children L.L.C., Tenet Hilton Head Heart L.L.C., Tenet Hospitals Limited, Tenet Network Management Inc., Tenet Patient Safety Organization LLC, Tenet Physician Resources LLC, Tenet Physician Services - Hilton Head Inc., Tenet Rehab Piedmont Inc., Tenet Relocation Services L.L.C., Tenet SC East Cooper Hospitalists L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Gastrointestinal Surgical Specialists L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Island Medical L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Lowcountry OB/GYN L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Mt. Pleasant OB/GYN L.L.C., Tenet Unifour Urgent Care Center L.L.C., Tenet Ventures Inc., TenetCare Frisco Inc., Terre Haute Surgical Center LLC, Teton Outpatient Services LLC, Texan Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Texas Orthopedics Surgery Center LLC, Texas Regional Medical in Sunnyvale, The 6300 West Roosevelt Partnership, The Healthcare Insurance Corporation, The Healthcare Underwriting Company a Risk Retention Group, The Huron Corporation, The Old Bridge Surgery Center LLC, The Outpatient Center LLC, The Southeastern Spine Institute Ambulatory Surgery Center L.L.C., The Surgery Center at Jensen Beach LLC, The Tresanti Surgical Center LLC, Theda Oaks Gastroenterology & Endoscopy Center LLC, Three Springs ASC LLC, Timonium Surgery Center LLC, Titan Health Corporation, Titan Health of Chattanooga Inc., Titan Health of Hershey Inc., Titan Health of Mount Laurel LLC, Titan Health of North Haven Inc., Titan Health of Pittsburgh Inc., Titan Health of Pleasant Hills Inc., Titan Health of Princeton Inc., Titan Health of Sacramento Inc., Titan Health of Saginaw Inc., Titan Health of Titusville Inc., Titan Health of West Penn Inc., Titan Health of Westminster Inc., Titan Management Corporation, Titusville Center for Surgical Excellence LLC, Treasure Coast ASC LLC, Trinity Health of New England/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., True Medical Weight Loss L.P., True Medical Wellness LP, True Results Georgia Inc., True Results HoldCo LLC, True Results Missouri LLC, Tucson Digestive Institute LLC, Tucson Hospital Holdings Inc., Tucson Physician Group Holdings LLC, Turlock Imaging Services LLC, Turlock Land Company LLC, Twin Cities Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Twin Cities Community Hospital Inc., UAP Lebanon Endo LLC, UAP Nashville Endoscopy LLC, UAP Scopes LLC, UAP of Arizona Inc., UAP of California Inc., UAP of Missouri Inc., UAP of New Jersey Inc., UAP of Oklahoma Inc., UAP of Tennessee Inc., UAP of Texas Inc., UCC Tucson Holdings LLC, UMC Surgery Center Lubbock LLC, UMC-USP Surgery Centers LLC, USC/Norris Cancer Hospital, USP 12th Ave Real Estate Inc., USP Acquisition Corporation, USP Alexandria Inc., USP Assurance Company, USP Athens Inc., USP Atlanta Inc., USP Austin Inc., USP Bariatric LLC, USP Beaumont Inc., USP Bergen Inc., USP Bloomington Inc., USP Bridgeton Inc., USP Cedar Park Inc., USP Chesterfield Inc., USP Chicago Inc., USP Cincinnati Inc., USP Coast Inc., USP Columbia Inc., USP Connecticut Inc., USP Corpus Christi Inc., USP Creve Coeur Inc., USP Denver Inc., USP Des Peres Inc., USP Destin Inc., USP Domestic Holdings Inc., USP Effingham Inc., USP Encinitas Endoscopy Inc., USP Fenton Inc., USP Festus Inc., USP Florissant Inc., USP Fort Lauderdale Inc., USP Fort Worth Hospital Real Estate Inc., USP Fredericksburg Inc., USP Fresno Inc., USP Frontenac Inc., USP Gateway Inc., USP HMH Surgery Center at Shore LLC, USP Harbour View Inc., USP Houston Inc., USP Indiana Inc., USP International Holdings Inc., USP Jacksonville Inc., USP Jersey City Inc., USP Kansas City Inc., USP Knoxville Inc., USP Little Rock Inc., USP Long Island Inc., USP Louisiana Inc., USP Lubbock Inc., USP Maryland Inc., USP Mason Ridge Inc., USP Mattis Inc., USP Michigan Inc., USP Midland Inc., USP Midland Real Estate Inc., USP Midwest Inc., USP Mission Hills Inc., USP Montana Inc., USP Morris Inc., USP Mt. Vernon Inc., USP Nevada Holdings LLC, USP Nevada Inc., USP New Hampshire Inc., USP New Jersey Inc., USP Newport News Inc., USP North Carolina Inc., USP North Kansas City Inc., USP North Texas Inc., USP Northwest Arkansas Inc., USP OKC Inc., USP OKC Manager Inc., USP Office Parkway Inc., USP Ohio RE Inc., USP Oklahoma Inc., USP Olive Inc., USP Orlando Inc., USP Philadelphia Inc., USP Phoenix Inc., USP Portland Inc., USP Reading Inc., USP Richmond II Inc., USP Richmond Inc., USP Sacramento Inc., USP San Antonio Inc., USP Santa Barbara Surgery Centers Inc., USP Securities Corporation , USP Silver Cross Inc., USP Siouxland Inc., USP Somerset Inc., USP South Carolina Inc., USP Southlake RE Inc., USP St. Louis Inc., USP St. Louis Urology Inc., USP St. Peters Inc., USP Sunset Hills Inc., USP TJ STL Inc., USP Tennessee Inc., USP Texas Air L.L.C., USP Texas L.P., USP Torrance Inc., USP Tucson Inc., USP Turnersville Inc., USP Virginia Beach Inc., USP Washington Inc., USP Waxahachie Management L.L.C., USP Webster Groves Inc., USP West Covina Inc., USP Westwood Inc., USP Winter Park Inc., USP Wisconsin Inc., USP-HMH Surgery Center at Central Jersey LLC, USP/Carondelet Tucson Surgery Centers LLC, USP/SOS Joint Venture LLC, USPI Group Holdings Inc., USPI Holding Company Inc.1, USPI Holdings Inc., USPI Physician Strategy Group LLC, USPI San Diego Inc., USPI Stockton Inc., USPI Surgical Services Inc., Underwood Surgery Center LLC, United Anesthesia Partners Inc., United Real Estate Development Inc., United Real Estate Holdings Inc., United Surgical Partners Holdings Inc., United Surgical Partners International, United Surgical Partners International Inc., Universal Medical Care Center L.L.C., University Surgery Center Ltd., Upper Bay Surgery Center LLC, Utica/USP Tulsa L.L.C., VB Brownsville LTACH LLC, VBOA ASC GP LLC, VBOA ASC Partners L.L.C., VHM Services Inc., VHS Acquisition Corporation, VHS Acquisition Partnership Number 1 L.P, VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 1 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 11 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 12 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 3 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 4 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 5 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 6 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 7 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 8 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 9 Inc., VHS Arizona Heart Institute Inc., VHS Brownsville Hospital Company LLC, VHS Chicago Market Procurement LLC, VHS Childrens Hospital of Michigan Inc., VHS Detroit Businesses Inc., VHS Detroit Receiving Hospital Inc., VHS Detroit Ventures Inc., VHS Harlingen Hospital Company LLC, VHS Harper-Hutzel Hospital Inc., VHS Holding Company Inc., VHS Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital Inc., VHS Imaging Centers Inc., VHS New England Holding Company I Inc., VHS Outpatient Clinics Inc., VHS Phoenix Health Plan Inc., VHS Physicians of Michigan, VHS Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan Inc., VHS San Antonio Imaging Partners L.P., VHS San Antonio Partners LLC, VHS Sinai-Grace Hospital Inc., VHS University Laboratories Inc., VHS Valley Health System LLC, VHS Valley Holdings LLC, VHS Valley Management Company Inc., VHS West Suburban Medical Center Inc., VHS Westlake Hospital Inc., VHS of Anaheim Inc., VHS of Arrowhead Inc., VHS of Huntington Beach Inc., VHS of Illinois Inc., VHS of Michigan Inc., VHS of Michigan Staffing Inc., VHS of Orange County Inc., VHS of Phoenix Inc., VHS of South Phoenix Inc., Valley Baptist Lab Services LLC, Valley Baptist Physician Performance Network, Valley Baptist Realty Company LLC, Valley Baptist Surgery Center LLC, Valley Baptist Surgery Center Real Estate LLC, Valley Baptist Wellness Center LLC, Valley Health Care Network, Vanguard Health Financial Company LLC, Vanguard Health Holding Company I LLC, Vanguard Health Holding Company II LLC, Vanguard Health Management Inc., Vanguard Health Systems, Vanguard Health Systems Inc., Vanguard Holding Company I Inc., Vanguard Holding Company II Inc., Vanguard Medical Specialists LLC, Vanguard Physician Services LLC, Ventana Surgical Center LLC, Veroscan Inc., Victoria Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., WHASA L.C., Walker Baptist Affinity LLC, Walker Street Imaging Care Inc., Warner Park Surgery Center LLC, Watermark Physician Services Inc., Webster Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Wellington Endo LLC, Wellstar/USP Joint Venture I LLC, Wellstar/USP Joint Venture II LLC, West Boca Health Services L.L.C., West Boca Medical Center Inc., West Bozeman Surgery Center LLC, West Palm Healthcare Real Estate Inc., West Suburban Radiation Therapy Center LLC, Westgate Surgery Center LLC, Westlake Hospital LLC, Westlawn Surgery Center LLC, Westminster Surgery Center LLC, Westminster Surgery Centers LLC, White Fence Surgical Suites LLC, Wilmington Endoscopy Center LLC, Wilshire Rental Corp., Windsor Mill Surgery Center LLC, Winter Haven Ambulatory Surgical Center L.L.C., Wisconsin Specialty Surgery Center LLC, and Wymark Surgery Center LLC. Read More AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of prescription medicines. Its marketed products include Calquence, Enhertu, Faslodex, Imfinzi, Iressa, Koselugo, Lumoxiti, Lynparza, Orpathys, Tagrisso, and Zoladex for oncology; Brilinta/Brilique, Bydureon/Byetta, BCise, Byetta, Crestor, Evrenzo, Farxiga/Forxiga, Komboglyze/Kombiglyze XR, Lokelma, Onglyza, Qtern, and Xigduo/Xigduo XR for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism diseases; Bevespi Aerosphere, Breztri Aerosphere, Daliresp/Daxas, Duaklir Genuair, Fasenra, Pulmicort, Saphnelo, Symbicort, and Tudorza/Eklira/Bretaris for respiratory and immunology; and Andexxa/Ondexxya, Kanuma, Soliris, Strensiq, and Ultomiris for rare diseases. The company's marketed products also comprise Synagis for respiratory syncytial virus; Fluenz Tetra/FluMist Quadrivalent for Influenza; Seroquel IR/Seroquel XR for schizophrenia bipolar disease; Nexium, and Losec/Prilosec for gastroenterology; and Vaxzevria and Evusheld for covid-19. The company serves primary care and specialty care physicians through distributors and local representative offices in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australasia. It has a collaboration agreement with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to research, develop, and commercialize small molecule medicines for obesity; Neurimmune AG to develop and commercialize NI006; Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop eplontersen, a liver-targeted antisense therapy in Phase III development for the treatment of transthyretin amyloidosis; Proteros Biostructures GmbH to jointly discover novel small molecules for the treatment of hematological cancers; Sierra Oncology, Inc. to develop and commercialize AZD5153. The company was formerly known as Zeneca Group PLC and changed its name to AstraZeneca PLC in April 1999. AstraZeneca PLC was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom. The Minister of Secondary Education, Jean Ernest Ngalle Bibehe has dismissed the Principal and Discipline Master of Government Bilingual High School, Malende-Muyuka in the South West Region. The decision contained in a decree signed in Yaounde on 17th January, comes after a recent disruption of classes in schools on Monday, 15th January 2018. Mr Francis Manchang Oben , formerly Principal of Government Bilingual High School and Mr Davidson Ashu Tanyi, Discipline Master of the same school have henceforth , been relieved of their functions. The said decree appoints Mme. Nkamamin Anyinke Florence Nkwentta Principal , and Mr. Akem Etienne Aji Discipline Master of the same institution . After some investigations, the Secondary Education Minister confirmed the involvement of the dismissed school administrators in the recent disruption of classes in schools in the region. At about 10:00 am on Monday, rumors of an imminent attack on schools in the region went wild. Panic- stricken students ran out of class, and parents rushed to schools and took their children home.The schools were again empty with closed doors. South West Regional Governor , Bernard Okalia Bilia in a Crtv interview, reassured the population of the governments determination to restore peace, order and security in the region. The following day, effective classes reportedly resumed in all schools in the South West Region, with an impressive turn over. Students have been cautioned to remain in schools and concentrate on their studies. Economic activities are also said to have fully resumed. Kathy Neba Sina WASHINGTON (AP) There was no violence in the midterm elections last week, and many election deniers lost and quietly conceded. Few listened when former President Donald Trump tried to stoke baseless allegations of electoral fraud. For a moment, at least, a familiar sense of normalcy fell over a nation on edge as the extremism that consumed U.S. politics for much of the last two years was replaced by democratic order. The post-election narrative has instead been focused on each partys electoral fate. Republicans are disappointed that a red wave did not materialize, while Democrats are bracing for the likelihood of a House Republican takeover. At least for now, the serious threats that loomed over democracy heading into Election Day have not materialized. You voted: Federal agencies throughout New Mexico said Friday that they were ready for a government shutdown; those preparations now come into play since Congress failed to reach a budget agreement by the midnight deadline. There are about 29,000 federal employees in New Mexico, according to the University of New Mexico Bureau of Business and Economic Research. We anticipate that should a government shutdown and federal employee furlough take effect, we will continue (and are prepared) to run mission-essential functions related to security, airfield operations; command and control, and emergency response, said Kirtland Air Force Base spokesman Jim Fisher in an email Friday. Some civilian employees will remain on duty to ensure critical functions continue. The Department of Defense issued guidance Thursday in the event of a lapse in appropriations. Active duty military are expected to continue reporting for duty, sometimes filling in for furloughed civilians. They wont be paid unless Congress passes a separate measure allowing their pay to continue. Certain civilians who perform excepted duties, like those necessary for national security, also would be kept on during a shutdown. Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan said in a memo to employees that furlough notices would be given on the next official workday should a shutdown occur. The uncertainty of the current circumstances puts our workforce in a difficult situation and, should a government shutdown occur, it could impose hardships on many employees, as well as the people whom we serve every day, Shanahan said. Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories narrowly avoided shutting down in 2013; Sandia was to be closed Oct. 21 and Los Alamos on Oct. 18, but the shutdown ended Oct. 17. Sandia spokeswoman Heather Clark referred inquiries on the possible shutdown to the Department of Energys national headquarters. Bottom line the Department of Energy will be open for business on Monday, a DOE spokeswoman wrote in an email. Even if the shutdown occurs, DOE employees and contractors are expected to show up to work to receive further instructions. In the past, sworn federal law enforcement, like FBI and DEA agents, have continued working during a shutdown, while federal courts heard only criminal cases. Sonja Brown, associate director of the New Mexico Veterans Affairs Health Care System, said advance appropriations for the Veterans Health Administration were made as part of the 2017 budget. Even in the event that there is a shutdown, 95.5 percent of VA employees would come to work, and most aspects of VAs operations would not be impacted, Brown told the Journal in an email. National Park Service sites, including New Mexicos Bandelier National Monument and Carlsbad Caverns National Park, were completely closed in 2013, but multiple media outlets are reporting officials will work this time to keep parks as accessible as possible. The last government shutdown was from Oct. 1 through Oct. 17, 2013, and resulted in National Park Service sites being shuttered and mass furloughs. The Journal reported then that more than 1,000 civilian employees were furloughed at Kirtland Air Force Base and 422 were furloughed from Holloman Air Force Base on Oct. 1, 2013, the first day of the shutdown. Gov. Susana Martinez announced her approval Friday of the two recently recommended appointees to the New Mexico Court of Appeals. The states Judicial Nominating Commission selected Jennifer Attrep and Daniel Jose Gallegos Jr. as replacements for retiring Court of Appeals Judges Jonathan Sutin and Timothy Garcia. Attrep, 40, graduated from Los Alamos High School in 1996. She worked in private practice in Santa Fe and Washington, D.C. before joining the 1st Judicial District as a judge in 2014. There she has overseen civil and criminal cases in Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties. While I have immensely enjoyed my time as a district court judge, I believe I can better serve my community as an appellate judge immersing myself in discrete areas of the law and crafting well-reasoned and legally-sound decisions, Attrep wrote in her application for the position. Gallegos, 39, graduated from St. Pius X High School in 1996, and now works as an associate staff attorney for the Court of Appeals. He served as Administrative Law Department Head for the Navy Reserve conducting joint task force war on terrorism operations at Guantanamo Bay. And he served as a crimes against children prosecutor in Bernalillo County. As a native New Mexican, I firmly believe that the people of New Mexico deserve a legal system that works for them and that they can trust, Gallegos wrote in his application. A suspect was tackled by customers after police say he robbed a northwest Albuquerque Starbucks with a BB gun Thursday evening. The customers held 24-year-old Matthew Baldonado until officers arrived to arrest him. Baldonado is charged with robbery with a deadly weapon, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Police responded to the an armed robbery at the Starbucks, at 4104 Coors NW, around 6:30 p.m. An employee told police he approached Baldonado inside the coffeeshop and asked if he needed any help. Police say Baldonado spoke to the employee in a low tone before pulling out a gun and demanding money. When Baldonado fled, a customer tackled him and other helped hold him down, according to the complaint. Police say the gun Baldonado used was a BB gun that highly resembles and actual firearm. During questioning, Baldonado told police he committed the robbery because several people were holding his wife captive but then changed his story, saying he robbed the Starbucks to pay off his heroin dealer. HONOLULU The Hawaii National Guards top commander said Friday he told Gov. David Ige that a missile alert was a false alarm two minutes after it went out statewide. But the governor didnt tell the public until 15 minutes later. Maj. Gen. Arthur Joe Logan told state lawmakers at a hearing that he called the governor at 8:09 a.m. Saturday after speaking to a supervisor at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, whose employee accidentally sent the alert. Ige spokeswoman Cindy McMillan said the governor had to track her down to prepare a message for the public. She said the governors communications team handles his social media. Iges office relayed an emergency management agency tweet about the false alarm at 8:24 a.m. Six minutes later, a notice went up on his Facebook page. Rep. Kaniela Ing, who questioned Logan about the alert mishap, said he wanted to ask the governor himself about the events. But Ige had left the hearing by the time it was Ings turn to ask questions. McMillan said Ige departed the hearing early because he had various things to do. In response to criticism from Ing and other lawmakers that Ige left prematurely, McMillan said: He is the governor. He has other duties to attend to today. McMillan would not say what other obligations the governor had. Lawmakers held their hearing nearly a week after a state employee caused widespread panic and confusion by mistakenly sending an emergency alert to mobile devices and TV and radio stations warning of an incoming missile strike. A corrected alert was not sent to mobile devices for nearly 40 minutes because state workers had no prepared message for a false alarm. Hawaii emergency workers immediately started calling city and county officials to tell them there was no threat. They posted social media messages about 13 minutes after the erroneous warning. Brig. Gen. Kenneth Hara, Logans deputy, told lawmakers the state is exploring changing the emergency management agencys computer software so workers wont have to select alerts from a drop-down menu. Last weekends mistake occurred when the employee selected an actual missile alert from the drop-down menu instead of a missile alert drill message. One possibility would be to use icons with color codes for the different alert options, Hara said. A Federal Communications Commission official told the hearing not all cellphones in Hawaii received the alert in part because cellphone carriers may choose not to participate in the nations Wireless Emergency Alert system. FCC attorney and adviser James Wiley said some carriers may also offer the service only to some geographic areas and only to some mobile devices. Individuals may also opt out of receiving alerts. Wiley was visiting Hawaii to investigate why the mistaken alert was sent. On Thursday, the Hawaii state Department of Defense said it took about 10 minutes for an employee to think of sending a new alert canceling the alert. Lt. Col. Charles Anthony said that amid the chaos, a telecommunications staffer presented his idea to create a new alert on the same platform that sent out the mistake. The agency checked with federal officials, composed and uploaded the alert to their online system and eventually issued the retraction. The initial warning was sent at 8:07 a.m. and the correction reached cellphones at 8:45. It is estimated that a missile would take about 20 minutes to reach Hawaii from North Korea. Officials say it would take about five minutes for the military to analyze the launch trajectory and notify the state, leaving only 12 to 15 minutes of warning time before impact. ___ Associated Press writer Caleb Jones in Honolulu contributed to this report. A security guard at the mental health treatment center swore it was resident Renita Padilla whod punched a tourist and stole her ring in the parking lot across the street. Santa Fe police checked security footage, and it showed Padilla out of her room at the time of the attack, returning shortly after. But the victim said it was a tall, heavy man whod attacked her. Padilla is 5 foot 2 and 200 pounds. And the victim picked a different woman out of a photo lineup after she was told her attacker was female. Still, police charged Padilla with robbery, meaning she faced three years in prison. The charge got her kicked out of her treatment program and back onto the streets. She spent months in jail. (Even years later, the charge prevents her from accessing shelters and possibly other government programs that run background checks.) The thing is, Padilla didnt do it. Turns out the time stamp on the video was off and Padilla was in her room at the time of the robbery a detail prosecutors and police missed. How do we know? Her taxpayer-funded public defender put in about 20 hours investigating the case, spending time away from his family on a weekend looking through evidence that eventually convinced prosecutors to dismiss the case. That public defender was Bennett Baur, now the appointed head of the states Law Office of the Public Defender. He and indigent defense advocates say his office and others across the nation are so underfunded and overworked that spending that much time on cases like Padillas is rare if not impossible. Attorneys have so many cases they sometimes spend only minutes with new clients before advising them about offered plea deals or options. And forget about digging into video evidence in each case. If I had not spent the time on a Saturday, she probably would have been convicted. This is a person I was able to save, but I dont know how many I havent, Baur said. At some point, if you only have the capacity to do 30 minutes on each case, you dont know what you missed. But not everyone in New Mexico agrees there is a crisis in public defense. Twelfth District Attorney John Sugg, over Lincoln and Otero counties, says public defenders in the region and across the state are fabricating the crisis to get more funding. Without accountability to the public via an elected leader, the office is free to spend money inefficiently, Sugg says. The public defender system has never been better funded than it currently is. Theyve never had the resources in Lincoln County that they do now, Sugg said from his office in Carrizozo. Are they underfunded? Sure, but no more than the entire judicial system is underfunded, Sugg said. Indeed, the whole system is hovering on life support and in urgent need of more funding, state Supreme Court Justice Charles Daniels said as chief last year. Judges are juggling massive caseloads, and courthouses are cutting hours and special programs. For a while, jurors were going unpaid. Prosecutors slog through backlogs of cases as they carry the flag against real or perceived crime waves. Cities are struggling to recruit and retain police. Crime in Albuquerque and in other cities in the state has spiked, and where it didnt, fear of it remains high. And in 2016 the Law Office of the Public Defender made good on a decade of warnings that it would have to stop taking cases to meet constitutional requirements for effective counsel. Baur, as chief, was found in contempt of court for sanctioning the action, but some of his attorneys continue to file motions to be excused from cases. As has happened in other states, Baur and opposing prosecutors took the issue to the state Supreme Court. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico says it is closely monitoring what is unfolding here. New Mexicos justices in late 2017 basically told Baur and prosecutors to cross their fingers for more funding this year, to try a bit harder to cooperate, and to come back with more data about cases and workloads should the first two suggestions not resolve the issue. More funding Fingers are crossed for funding. State prosecutors all together and the LOPD are seeking a 13 percent increase to their budgets. In fiscal year 2017, the LOPD operated on a budget of $48.8 million; the states 13 prosecutor offices operated on $66 million. The LOPD seeks $55 million while prosecutors want $75 million for next fiscal year, though each prosecutor requests individual amounts. The Legislative Finance Committee has recommended about $50.3 million for the LOPD, and about $69.8 million for state prosecutors offices. Gov. Susana Martinez has pledged a special infusion, maybe $5 million, to the Bernalillo County DAs Office to help it battle a spike in crime. Prosecutor Raul Torrez has requested a 33 percent increase from his current budget of roughly $18 million. The LFC says $23.4 million for Torrez should do. Baur warns that increases in funding for prosecutors must be met with increases in funding for the LOPD. The cost of defense is part of the cost of prosecution, he said. My mantra is give us more money or give us fewer cases. The LOPD currently employs about 200 attorneys and contracts with another 150 who handle about 33 percent of the indigent caseload in the state. Over the last four years, the LOPD has received a 16 percent budget increase while the states general fund grew at only about 3 percent that same period, according to the Legislative Finance Committee. But at the same time the LOPDs portion of the total annual caseload in the state has grown. While the number of cases referred to and filed by prosecutors across the state has stayed steady since 2013 and total cases filed in courts have dropped, the portion of those cases taken by the LOPD increased 9 percent, according to the LFC. Some say LOPD is bearing the brunt of an increase in poverty in the state, while Sugg and others critical of the LOPD say public defenders are taking on too many clients who could actually pay for their own private attorney. And critics of LOPD say the office takes on cases where prosecutors arent even present, such as some misdemeanor cases in which police officers not prosecutors provide evidence to a court. Baur, though, says the law as it is interpreted now requires and does not give public defenders a choice about which cases they take on. If jail time is a possible sanction and the defendant is poor enough, a public defender must take it. The financial threshold for clients is 150 percent of the federal poverty level. For example, a family of four making $36,900 or less meets that threshold. Data With overloaded public defenders, the chance for mistakes or crucial details missed increases. In mid-2016, only two of the states 13 judicial districts had public defender caseloads considered manageable by National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals standards (a controversial and, critics argue, outdated measure on its own). The other 11 districts carried loads of 165 percent to 354 percent of the standard. In the most overloaded spots Lincoln and Lea counties attorneys had nearly three times as many cases as they should have. The standards say attorneys per year should have no more than 150 felony cases, which take more time and attention than the advised annual load of 400 misdemeanor cases. Many examining the criminal justice system agree that caseload snapshots like this dont accurately represent the workload defense attorneys and prosecutors carry, especially since the NAC standards were developed somewhat arbitrarily in 1973. A better measure, most agree, is a workload study. The LOPD has been selected for such a study, the sixth in the nation by the American Bar Association and affiliated researchers. It is contingent on approval of $50,000 from the Legislature and governor this year. The DA, theyll say we have to prosecute all these cases. The public defender only has 80 percent. Theyll tell you they work harder or they have more to do, and well tell you we have more to do, Baur said. But with the study, you dont have to even listen to that back and forth. The workload study compares what were doing with what we should be doing, not to what theyre doing. It is how much time have you spent on cases, on a particular kind of case, and then a panel of experts to say this is how much time you should be spending, Baur said. He said the study is absolutely going to show staff and attorneys are overworked. There is no way we have the resources to do the job we need, he said. And recalling Padilla, if we make a mistake, someone goes to prison. Near-legendary defense attorney Gary Mitchell and his ultra-efficient office staff for decades handled almost every public defender case in Lincoln County, representing thousands of poor people facing the most basic to most serious charges. Then in 2014, at age 63, he assessed the toll the years had taken, ultimately opting to step back from daily public defense work. Frankly two or three of us (attorneys) had carried this system for so long, we should have never allowed it to happen. Mitchell said recently. Four years later, and the Lincoln County public defenders office has the highest caseload per attorney in the whole state. There, old school expectations of indigent defense are folding under the weight of modern criminalization and changing community standards. The bottom line is for a lot of years we had a good system, because it was more rural and DAs and judges werent looking to make themselves big names, and we werent being scrutinized about how we could get problems solved, Mitchell said. But those days are gone. That old school stuff had its merit in its day, but now we have a different kind of society. In the midst of the change, Mitchell, his staff and a few other criminal defense attorneys were paid on a contract by contract base and took on more and more cases until Mitchells office was handling 500 to 600 cases at a time. Now the load is handled by public defenders in a state-run office manage. Even split among three attorneys, their case loads last year were two or three times larger than national standards recommend. The office now has five attorneys so a bit of relief is on the way, but they say there are special challenges in the county. They say they are up against a district attorneys office willing to take minor, non-violent charges, like possession of marijuana or a marijuana pipe, to trial. District Attorney John Sugg says his very aggressive prosecution keeps crime down and he is bound to pursue charges until the Legislature tells him not to. I personally dont believe it is for the DA to decide what cases they are or are not going to prosecute. Thats for the Legislature to decide. If the Legislature makes something criminal, my job is to enforce the laws, not to make the laws, Sugg said. Legislators over the years have criminalized more and more behavior and added increased penalties to some crimes. Meanwhile, judges in the county have for years decried the time defendants innocent until proven guilty are waiting in jail pending trial. And those defendants often have just minutes with their public defender to make decisions about their fate. Lincoln County became a microcosm for everything wrong we were doing in the criminal justice system, Mitchell said. The statement isnt a personal insult to the prosecutors there, or to the public defenders, all under age 40 and transplants from around the state who set up a state-run office after Mitchell made his exit. I know all these people involved. All good family people, generous people. Everyone is intelligent, but were asking them to do the impossible. Just because I did it, doesnt make it right, Mitchell said. Mitchell says he consistently worked 70-hour weeks. Matthew Chavez, managing attorney of the Lincoln County public defenders office, said he and his four attorneys routinely work near that much. The accused in this county dont have attorneys at arraignments. They dont have good access to their lawyers to talk about their cases, Chavez said. And his office doesnt have the staff it needs, he says. While police provide investigations for prosecutors, the LOPD must hire its own investigators out of its own budget to dig into evidence. There has been no investigator in the county in 10 months. That means there is just pervasive injustice happening for people who are accused, Chavez said. Sugg doubts LOPD attorneys in Lincoln County and across the state are as maxed out as they say. And he says they certainly arent more taxed than his office, which carries a higher caseload and has the same recruiting and retention struggles in the rural county as the public defenders office does. Plus, Sugg says the unionized LOPD offices set a 40-hour work week for their employees. Ive never in my career worked (just) a 40-hour week, Sugg said. Still, on a recent day in Ruidoso Magistrate Court, public defender Stephen Ochoa, freshly hired away from Suggs office, managed the days docket of defendants about 35 of them. As the judge, court staff and the sole prosecutor took an hour for lunch, Ochoa switched to the afternoons accordion file folder. Calling out to the small waiting room of defendants, he ushered each into a small meeting room doubling as a snack station for employees. He squeezed in minutes-long meetings with the people coming before the judge in the afternoon, some of them meeting him for the first time. They asked about the charges impact on their immigration status. Some brought in their spouses as translators since the court didnt have one that day. They asked about the status of their other cases, some of them in Native American courts. They asked if they could have their spouse with them. They couldnt, because their spouse was listed as a victim in the case. They asked what they should do. And Ochoa, with a few minutes to glance at just a police report, would say he can only advise on options. As the day resumed, most of the cases were reset. Few details of the alleged crimes were discussed. And Ochoa, hungry, made it home to his family long after dark. We hold ourselves out as lawyers and we hold ourselves as special people, but this is involuntary servitude to protect the Constitution, Mitchell said. The younger generation is correct. Theyre saying wait a second here, I value my home life, my relationship with my spouse. I dont want to be like Gary Mitchell, who all hes done (in) his life is work hard. You kill yourself doing it. LIMA, Peru The honeymoon, as it were, is apparently over. A day after Pope Francis grabbed headlines by pronouncing two flight attendants man and wife while flying 36,000 feet over Chile, the conservative Catholic commentariat on Friday questioned the legitimacy of the impromptu sacrament and warned it could cheapen the churchs marriage preparation down the line. Do you know whats a marriage ripe for annulment? tweeted the traditionalist blog Rorate Caeli. One celebrated apparently on a whim in an airplane whose celebrant cannot even be sure if parties are validly baptized. For those who missed the news, Francis on Thursday presided over what the Vatican said was the doctrinally and canonically legitimate wedding of Paula Podest and Carlos Ciuffardi, two flight attendants from LATAM flight 1250 that brought the pope, his delegation and travelling press from Santiago to the northern city of Iquique. As the happy couple told journalists after the fact and after serving breakfast they had hoped to just get a blessing from the pope. They told him that they had been married civilly in 2010, but that their plans for a church wedding fell through when an earthquake hit. As Ciuffardi told it, the pope proposed that he marry the couple right there, in part to motivate other couples to contract a church wedding at a time when more and more couples are merely cohabitating. He told me its historic, that there has never before been a pope who married someone aboard a plane, Ciuffardi told reporters from the back galley. The surreal scene had the effect at least temporarily of giving Francis a bit of a reprieve after his visit to Chile was dominated by a church sex abuse scandal. Canon lawyer Ed Peters, a consultor on the Vatican high court but a frequent critic of Francis, questioned whether a host of church laws were followed, including the requirement that the couple undergo pastoral counseling and that the church have evidence that there were no obstacles to the marriage. In a follow-up blog post Friday, Peters noted a Chilean media report from December saying the couple was hoping for an airborne wedding presided over by Francis, suggesting the portrayal of the surprise ceremony was anything but. Ciuffardi said Chilean reporters had suggested it before the fact, but he insisted he and Podest were only looking for a papal blessing, and that nothing was confirmed until they were airborne. Conservative blogger Phil Lawler mused that priests might now have a harder time trying to properly prepare Catholic couples for marriage now that Francis had set the papal precedent of completing the process between takeoff and landing. Does he ask them to reflect seriously on their commitment? Nope, Lawler wrote at Catholic Culture. Does he question them about their years of cohabitation? Evidently not. Does he hear their confessions? Not likely. Plan a dignified ceremony? Not at all. To be sure, the naysayers all hail from the Anglo-Saxon blogosphere, which is among the most vocal in criticizing Francis, especially on issues of marriage. Francis has split the church over his cautious opening to allowing divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion, so any issue related to marriage is particularly sensitive. At The Tablet, a more liberal leaning British weekly, Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb suggested that the airborne nuptials were part of the paradigm shift that Francis is trying to press in the church. Its not that the pope is doing away with the need for rules, for canon law or for paperwork, but rather ensuring it is correctly prioritized, Lamb wrote. For the pope, these things must support the spread of the Gospel, and not become like the thorns that grow up and strangle the seeds in the parable of the sower. I survived the 1967 Six-Day War under the protection of a Palestinian family living in Jerusalem, Jordan. When I first arrived, east and west Jerusalem had been divided for 19 years by an internationally recognized border known as the Green Line. It took days to get a visa to enter Israel through a United Nations checkpoint. While wandering through the Old City, I chanced to meet a Palestinian family. Unbeknownst to me, I had just met the so-called enemy of our people. Knowing I was Jewish, they insisted on taking me to the Wailing Wall, and the nearby Temple Mount. Jews believe this 36-acre plateau had been the site of their destroyed temples. Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock have graced the Temple Mount for over 1,300 years. Jews and Muslims both claim lineage to Abraham, whose descendants were promised a land flowing with milk and honey. The massive black granite rock protected by the iconic golden dome is where Mohammed began his heavenly ascent, where Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac Muslims believe it was Ishmael and where farmers threshed grain during the reign of King David. Pilgrims traced the path of Jesus on the Via Dolorosa. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is believed to be the site of Christs crucifixion and resurrection. For thousands of years, Palestine has known a succession of conquerors and rulers. Going backward in time Israel, Jordan, the British Empire, Ottoman Turks, Mameluks, Crusaders, Ayyubids, Fatimids, Abbasids, Umayyads, Persians, Byzantines, Romans, Jewish Hasmoneans, Greeks, Seleucids, Egyptians, Macedonians, Babylonians, Kings of Judah, etc. What if every civilization that ever lived in Palestine-Canaan-Judeah-Samaria claimed the right to return? There has never been a more contested and coveted piece of real estate than Jerusalem. A Canaanite city-state founded 4,000 years ago as an oasis for caravans crossing the Arabian Desert has become sacred to the world. The inspiration for President Donald Trumps decision to unilaterally recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital came from his faithful base, the Evangelical Christians, a global grassroots network working to hasten the second coming of the Messiah. They believe that when all Jews return to Zion, Christians will ascend to heaven, and those who have not taken Jesus as Lord will go to hell. Although Christian-Zionists profess to be friends of Israel, their ideology is deeply anti-Semitic. Twice I traveled to Israel/Palestine with a Christian contingent focused on human rights. Together, we visited ancient churches and sailed in boats on the lake where Rabbi Jesus is said to have walked on water. They accompanied me to the Wailing Wall. Together we documented the horror of a military occupation. Our mutual belief in human rights trumped religious differences. Although many Jews are reluctant to let go of the idea of two states, Israeli policies have made this impossible. Uprooting 600,000 Israeli citizens from the occupied territories is unlikely to happen. After the 67 war, Israel re-drew the municipal boundaries of East Jerusalem in order to create a Jewish majority, but more than 300,000 Palestinians still live there as permanent residents, a status that entitles them to live and work in Israel. Israel has already created one state. I envision a state where everyone has equal rights. The promise of Jerusalem is to become an international city of peace in a war-weary world. Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal A man who released a fox from a foot-hold trap near Placitas recently has filed an appeal that seeks to have his record cleared of a criminal complaint made against him by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. The complaint, filed Jan. 11 in Sandoval County magistrate court, charges Gary Miles with possession of a live furbearer. The charge, a misdemeanor, was dismissed without prejudice, meaning it could be refiled. I cant believe they did this, Miles said of the criminal complaint. We should not be bullied for having an animal and trying to get it care. Miles, founder and owner of Placitas Animal Rescue, attempted, unsuccessfully, to get veterinary care for the fox after releasing it from the trap. He said the animal escaped after its left forefoot, which had been injured by the trap, healed. On Thursday, Miles filed an appeal in Sandoval Countys 13th Judicial District Court asking that his record be cleared of the charge. Miles told the Journal he is especially upset about the complaint because online court records list the offense as unlawful hunting and fishing. Im not against hunting and fishing if it is done properly, he said. But I dont do it. It hurts my reputation because Im in the animal-rescue business. In his appeal, Miles writes that he has operated Placitas Animal Rescue for 30 years and has a reputation as a friend to all animals. He notes that the unlawful hunting and fishing charge could damage that reputation and negatively affect donations to his rescue operation. Miles released the gray fox on Dec. 30 after being called by Placitas resident Lauri Dodge, who discovered the trapped animal while running in Las Huertas Canyon near Placitas. People trap animals for their fur, which has commercial value, and trapping, with certain restrictions, is legal on public lands in New Mexico as long as the trapper is licensed. It is illegal to release wildlife from a trap belonging to a licensed trapper. Dan Williams, Game and Fish Department spokesman, said it is not known if the trap that snared this fox is legal because the trap was destroyed during the animals release, making it impossible to find trapper ID information required for all licensed traps. But it is also illegal to possess live furbearers such as foxes. Miles told the Journal he refused to surrender the fox to a Game and Fish conservation officer because he was concerned the animal would be destroyed. Williams said Game and Fish filed the criminal complaint because Miles not only broke the law by having the animal in his possession but also declined to turn over the fox when given the chance to be reasonable. Miles also was served with a warning citation for releasing and retaining a fox and interfering with a foot-hold trap. Dodge received a warning citation for interfering with a foot-hold trap. Both said the experience has made them determined to work to change New Mexico trapping laws. Dodge, a health care professional, said if she ever again finds a trapped animal, she will call for help to get it released. I could not walk past a sick or suffering animal without trying to help, she said. We need to work to get rid of these archaic and barbaric laws. New Mexico needs to be more progressive. SANTA FE A new effort is underway to hand over New Mexicos post-2020 redistricting process to an independent commission in a push to make Statehouse races more competitive. Republican Sen. Mark Moores of Albuquerque says the current redistricting process, which is led by lawmakers, discourages competitive elections and fosters political apathy as incumbent legislators cling to territorial advantages. He and two Democratic counterparts in the House and Senate are pushing for a constitutional amendment to create a commission to help redraw congressional and state legislative districts after the 2020 U.S. Census. Approval by the Legislature would send the proposal to voters in November general elections. Sponsors of the measure say they see no major statewide partisan bias in the current district lines for legislative seats. Democrats dominate overall state voter registration rolls and currently hold a 38-32 majority in the House and a 26-16 advantage in the Senate. At the same time, noncompetitive districts have made lawmakers less responsive to voters, said Rep. Carl Trujillo, D-Santa Fe, an amendment co-sponsor. Theyve made some extremely safe seats that are noncompetitive, thus allowing politicians to act in whatever way they choose rather than for the people as a whole, he said Friday. Thirteen states have commissions with primary responsibility for planning state legislative districts, and 10 other states rely on commissions to advise legislators or make decisions when legislators cannot agree, according to the National Conference of State Legislators. New Mexicos proposed amendment contains a few guiding principles for drawing district lines, emphasizing the preservation of political boundaries around communities of common interest. Several proposals over the past decade to move New Mexico to a commission system have failed to gain traction in the Legislature. I believe that if theres an opportunity to get this bill through, it would be this year, Trujillo said. Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, a Democrat, said Thursday he is open to discussion of the issue during the current 30-day legislative session. Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE Under a new approach to keep up with an aging road system, New Mexico voters could get the opportunity this fall to decide whether to use state bonds to pay for highway projects. A bill introduced this week would authorize $49 million in general obligation bonds if approved by voters in November for construction and maintenance of roads around the state. You can go anywhere in the state, and theres dire needs everywhere when it comes to roads, said Sen. Carlos Cisneros, D-Questa, the bills sponsor. The legislation, Senate Bill 94, does not specify which projects would receive funding. Rather, Cisneros said, it would be up to the state Department of Transportation to decide how the $49 million is spent, though the money would have to be divvied up equally among the states six transportation districts. The politics would play extreme to where the road would be if projects were to be specified in the bill, Cisneros said this week. A spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation did not immediately respond Friday to a question about how projects might be chosen. However, one project that could be selected for funding under the bill is an extension of Paseo de Volcan NW, which backers have long envisioned as a 30-mile loop road connecting Interstate 40 on the west side of Albuquerque to U.S. 550 in Bernalillo. Historically, general obligation bonds have been issued for three other types of projects higher-education facilities, senior centers and libraries. Those projects would also still receive funding under this years bill, which would authorize about $165 million in all. Road projects have typically been included in a separate infrastructure bill, the annual pork bill, which uses bonds backed by future severance tax revenue to pay for bridges, dams, ballfields and other types of public works projects. One recent project that got such state funds was the Paseo del Norte/Interstate 25 interchange, a $93 million makeover that upgraded a critical link between Albuquerques east and west sides. Gov. Susana Martinez has in the past called on lawmakers to set aside money for highway repair and construction projects around New Mexico. In her State of the State address earlier this week, Martinez suggested lawmakers should allocate more money for large-scale infrastructure projects, though she did not specifically address using general obligation bonds for highway construction and repairs. No more doling out state capital funds on pork projects, the two-term Republican governor said. Instead, lets spend those funds on rebuilding the foundation of our economy. Elijah Dimas loved the spotlight and it was that spotlight that helped him face the hardest journey in life. Elijah, 10, died Jan. 10 after battling Ewings Sarcoma cancer for most of his young life. His parents, Patricia and Anthony Dimas, started a Facebook page about his journey and a Twitter account that would come to be a great source of comfort for him. Patricia Dimas said more than 400 people attended his Jan. 16 funeral, many of whom knew him from social media. He loved to read the comments (on Facebook), Patricia said. He liked touching other peoples lives. He believed he was here for a reason. To bring people back to God. People told us they started praying again or went back to church after learning his story. On Twitter, he got the attention of ventriloquist, comedian and celebrity impressionist Terry Fator, who has his own theater at The Mirage Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nev. Elijahs parents had purchased tickets to see Fator when he came to New Mexico but had to cancel when Elijah had to go to the hospital. The young boy sent a tweet to Fator telling him he was sorry he was going to miss the show. Fator visited Dimas at the hospital with a promise to fly the family to Vegas for a show when Elijah felt better. He followed through and also paid for a trip to Disneyland. Fator kept in touch with the family throughout Elijahs journey. Patricia Dimas said Elijah began complaining about knee and back pain when he was 3. The family wouldnt know until four years later that the pain was actually the tumors in his body. He was officially diagnosed at the age of 7. His parents said Elijah was a funny boy who liked telling jokes and loved Taylor Swift, The Walking Dead and above all Pokemon. The fifth-grader had more than 100 Pokemon shirts and wore one every single day, Patricia said. One day, Elijah saw an ad on Facebook for a diamond ring stored inside a Pokemon ball. He told his mom she needed to buy him the ring. He told me it wasnt for him but for his future wife, Patricia Dimas said. I said, What if she doesnt like Pokemon? He said, Then shes not going to be my wife. The Facebook page now has more than 5,500 followers. When his parents announced his death, the post received more than 1,200 comments and was shared 549 times. Im so sorry for your loss, said follower Becky Wolf. Thank you for sharing Elijah with us, what a special gift it was to be able to follow him on his journey. Prayers for his family and all who love him. The Rio Rancho family initially created the Elijahs Journey Facebook page to keep family and friends informed of what was happening. When Elijah met someone, they would like him immediately, Anthony Dimas said. He drew them in and they would ask us how they could keep in touch. We would tell them about his page and it just grew. He also won over the heart of Pitch Perfect star Skylar Astin. The two met three years ago in New Mexico when Elijah was an extra on the series Graves. Patricia Dimas said the two instantly became friends. They would write to each other, exchange birthday gifts and even play video games at the Dimas home when Astin was in town. The day Elijah died, Astin paid tribute to him on his Instagram page. Astin called Elijah an angel who never complained and cared more about the comfort of others. He was a wonderful caregiver and I was lucky enough to call him a friend, Astin wrote. This boy made me believe in heaven, and although he only made it to 10 years old, I can truly say that I looked up to him. I will always think about you Elijah. Stay fearless. I love you and will see you soon. WASHINGTON Hours after shuttering much of the federal government, feuding Democrats and Republicans in Congress spent Saturday dodging blame for a paralyzing standoff over immigration and showed few signs of progress on negotiations needed to end it. The finger-pointing played out in rare weekend proceedings in both the House and Senate, where lawmakers were eager to show voters they were actively working for a solution or at least actively making their case why the other party was at fault. The scene highlighted the high political stakes for both parties in an election-year shutdown whose consequences were far from clear. The American people cannot begin to understand why the Senate Democratic leader thinks the entire government should be shut down until he gets his way on illegal immigration, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., hours after a last-chance Senate vote failed. Democrats refused to provide the votes needed to reopen the government until they strike a deal with President Donald Trump protecting young immigrants from deportation, providing disaster relief and boosting spending for opioid treatment and other domestic programs. Democrats feel very, very strongly about the issues said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, adding that he believes the American people are on our side. The fighting followed a late-night vote in which Senate Democrats blocked a House-passed measure that would have kept agencies functioning for four weeks. Republicans began the day hopeful they might pick off Democratic support for a three-week version and bring the episode to a quick end. Democrats are insisting on an alternative lasting only several days which they think would pressure Republicans to cut an immigration deal and say theyll kill the three-week version when the Senate votes on it by early Monday. The shutdown came on the anniversary of Trumps inauguration. As lawmakers bickered in the Capitol, protesters marched outside in a reprise of the womens march from a year ago. The president remained out of sight and canceled plans to travel to his resort in Florida for the weekend. He did tweet, making light of the timing by saying Democrats wanted to give me a nice present to mark the start of his second year in office. Trump worked the phones, staying in touch with McConnell, while White House legislative affairs director Marc Short and budget chief Mick Mulvaney met at the Capitol with House Republicans. GOP lawmakers voiced support for the White House stance of not negotiating while the government was shuttered. Tempers were short and theatrics high. Lawmakers bickered over blame, hypocrisy and even the posters brought to the House floor. While neither chamber voted on a measure to open the government, the House did vote on whether a poster displayed by Republican Rep. Bradley Byrne of Alabama violated the House rules on decorum. The House voted to allow the poster, which bore a photo of Schumer and the quote the politics of idiocy. While Republicans blamed the breakdown on Schumer, Democrats increasingly focused their messaging on criticizing Trump, whose popularity is dismal. Democrats were using his zigzagging stance in immigration talks first encouraging deals, then rejecting them to underscore his first, chaotic year in office. Negotiating with President Trump is like negotiating with Jell-O, Schumer said. Short compared Democrats actions to a 2-year-old temper tantrum. Republicans seemed content to hope additional Democrats will break as pressure builds and the impact of the shutdown becomes clearer. In the late-night vote blocking the bill preventing a shutdown, five Democrats from states Trump won in the 2016 election voted to keep government functioning. In a sign that moderates are feeling pressure, more than a dozen centrist senators from both parties have been trying to craft an immigration and spending compromise that party leaders would embrace, but theyve fallen short so far. Republicans argued that Democrats were blocking extra Pentagon funds by keeping government closed and thwarting a long-term budget deal. I question if Senate Democrats are really united, Short told reporters. We think therell be more today and hopefully theyll continue to see that its not wise to hold our troops hostage. But pressure on Republicans could mount with the new workweek Monday and the impact of the federal shutdown becomes more apparent to people. While the Statue of Liberty the nations emblem of its immigrant past and Philadelphias Liberty Bell were closed Saturday, visitors had access to other iconic national parks like Yellowstone. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke tweeted a photo of himself talking to students at the World War II Memorial in Washington, blocks from White House. Social Security and most other safety-net programs were unaffected by the lapse in federal spending authority. Critical government functions continued, with uniformed service members, health inspectors and law enforcement officers set to work without pay. But if no deal is reached before Monday, hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be furloughed. For leverage, Democrats were banking on Trumps wobbly presidency and the GOPs control of the White House, the House and Senate a triumvirate that until now had never allowed a government closure to occur. Republicans in Congress plunged head-first into the Trump shutdown, Schumer told reporters. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called Republicans so incompetent and negligent that they couldnt get it together to keep the government open. Which partys strategy would succeed remained open to debate. Retired Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., a veteran of shutdown wars, said he believed Democrats believe the more chaos they can create the better. He said Schumers tough strategy was a gross overplaying of his hand and predicted Democrats would eventually relent. Former Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., said both parties needed to be cautious. Its obvious that Democrats are playing to their base and Republicans are playing to their base, he said. Everybody loses. It just feeds into the fed-up atmosphere of the American people. Democrats have been seeking a deal to protect so-called Dreamers. Around 700,000 of them have been shielded against deportation by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which Trump halted last year. Hes given lawmakers until early March to pass legislation restoring the protections, but hes demanded added money for his proposed border wall with Mexico as a price. ___ Associated Press writers Matthew Daly, Richard Lardner and Darlene Superville contributed to this report. CAIRO On Saturday, the first day of the federal government shutdown, Vice President Mike Pence arrived here in the late afternoon to meet with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, whom he praised and repeatedly called a friend of the United States. The leaders met for nearly 2 hours at the presidential palace and delivered brief statements before a small group of reporters who are traveling with Pence a nearly nine-minute event that only happened after intense negotiation between Pences staff and Egyptian authorities, who wanted to limit access to one television camera with limited sound and, at one point, physically barred reporters from leaving a bus. Sitting in gold-gilded chairs in front of an intricate tapestry showing a map of Egypt, Sissi said through an interpreter that Pence is a dear guest and that his visit speaks volumes about Egypts relationship with the Trump administration. Pence said that the two countries had been drifting apart until Trump took office but that their ties have never been stronger, especially as they work together to fight terrorism in the region. He added that he chose to visit Egypt first on his four-day, three-country Middle East tour because of the importance of the U.S.-Egyptian relationship. Pence denounced a terrorist attack on an Egyptian mosque in November that killed more than 300, along with recent attacks on Coptic Christians. Neither leader mentioned the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or President Donald Trumps decision late last year to formally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a move that Sissi advised against. Neither answered shouted questions from reporters. In his brief remarks, Pence made no mention of the U.S. citizens who are imprisoned in Egypt, often on questionable charges. Sissis regime has been accused of gross human rights violations and stifling the press. Pence arrived at the presidential palace late Saturday afternoon, along with a bus carrying the 12 reporters who are traveling with him in the Middle East this week. A CNN journalist with a video camera left the bus, but then an Egyptian official planted himself in front of the door and would not allow anyone else to leave. One of Pences staff members firmly told the man that he needed to let everyone out, but he refused to move, forcing her to shout out the windows to others who might be able to help. After about three minutes, reporters were allowed off the bus but not into the meeting between Pence and Sissi. They were not allowed to take cellphones, cameras or laptops into the palace and spent about 90 minutes waiting in a room down the hall from where Pence and Sissi were meeting. In the hall outside, there were tense negotiations over which reporters would eventually be allowed into the meeting for the brief statements. After two meetings, the two leaders and their top aides had dinner together. The visit lasted less than four hours. The vice president is scheduled to fly from Cairo to Amman, Jordan, on Saturday night. Pence later told reporters traveling with him that he and Sissi discussed terrorism, isolating North Korea, religious freedom, the need for make changes Egypts oversight of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the situation for two Americans who are currently being held, imprisoned here in Egypt. The two Americans in question are Mostafa Kassem and Ahmed Etiwy, who the United States contends were both wrongfully imprisoned in 2013. Sissi assured him he would give their cases very serious attention and personal attention, Pence said. I told him wed like to see those American citizens restored to their families and restored to our country, he said. On Jerusalem, Pence said that he heard Sissi out and reaffirmed that Trump is committed to maintaining the status quo when it comes to Holy Sites in Jerusalem and a final resolution on boundaries will be decided in the peace process. If both sides agree, the United States would support a two-state solution, according to Pence. My perception was that he was encouraged by that message, he said. Pence called the overall meeting very productive. I will leave Egypt very encouraged by the conversations and even more grateful for the strong strategic partnership that the United States enjoys with Egypt, he said. The vice presidents trip is happening despite the federal government shutdown in the United States. Pences press secretary, Alyssa Farah, said Friday that the vice presidents meetings with the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and Israel are integral to Americas national security and diplomatic objectives. Air Force Two was over the Atlantic Ocean when news came that Congress had not reached agreement on a spending deal and that the government would immediately shut down. Pence received the news from his chief of staff, Nick Ayers, who then briefed reporters on the plane and distributed a written statement from the vice president. About three hours later, the plane stopped to refuel at Irelands Shannon Airport. Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, spent about 20 minutes in the terminal talking with dozens of young members of the Air Force who were headed to Kuwait, many for their first deployment. The couple spent most of the time posing for photos, shaking hands and thanking the troops for their service but the shutdown also came up, as service members and other federal employees will not receive their paychecks until the shutdown ends. Well get this thing figured out in Washington, Pence said after one group photo. You guys stay focused on your mission. As he prepared to return to Air Force Two, Pence spoke with reporters despite urging from his wife that they needed to stay on schedule and get back on the plane about his interactions with the troops, using it as an opportunity to attack Democrats as not doing enough to avoid a shutdown. When one reporter noted that members of the vice presidents party voted against a short-term spending bill and that some Democrats voted for it, Pence said that responsibility falls primarily with Democrats in the Senate. Democrats in the Senate with a few exceptions on either side chose to put politics ahead of our national defense, put politics ahead of meeting the obligations of our national government, he said, standing in an airport food court. And thats just unacceptable. Its disappointing. When asked how long the shutdown might last, Pence said, Its going to take as long as it takes. He said that members of Congress need to do their job and quickly end the impasse. As per the latest round (2017) of the Indian Readership Survey released yesterday by the MRUC, Hindustan Times emerges as the largest brand in the most important English markets of Delhi plus Mumbai with a combined AIR of 24.4 lakh [AIR: Average Issue Readership]. In Delhi-NCR, Hindustan Times re-established itself as the undisputed No 1 newspaper for the 15th time. HT continues to be the most read newspaper in Delhi-NCR with more than 16.2 lakh AIR, 36% higher than TOI making TOI a distant No. 2. HT has made strong inroads into Punjab and has emerged as the No 1 newspaper of the region with an AIR of 2.7 lakh, powering ahead of The Tribune (AIR 2.4 lakh). In Mumbai, HT has grown its readership significantly once again to 8.3 lakh AIR, which is nearly 70% of TOI. It is now the undisputed No. 2 daily in the city. Hindustan with 5.2 Cr Total Readers is the 2nd largest paper in the country with dominance across its major markets The IRS 2017 re-affirmed Hindustan as the second largest newspaper in the country with an TR of 5.2 Cr and AIR of 1.8 Cr. Hindustan continues to be No.1 in Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, and a strong No.2 in UP and Delhi. These results are a clear reflection of Hindustans aggressive expansion in UP/Uttarakhand, and its dominance in the states of Bihar and Jharkhand. Hindustan is published by Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd., a subsidiary of HT Media Ltd. Mint consolidates its position as the second largest business daily in India Mint, HT Medias business daily, consolidated its No. 2 position among the leading business dailies in India with an Average Issue readership of 2.39 lakh. The release of the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2017 Report by the Readership Studies Council of India (RSCI) and Media Research Users Council (MRUC) has infused a fresh wave of enthusiasm in the countrys print media industry. However, the publicity of the IRS 2017 results comes with a code of conduct from the MRUC, which states, The subscriber may not compare the IRS 2017 data with any previous IRS rounds. Moreover, any claim for leading or No. 1 or to establish top position by any parameter/s should only be based on a like-to-like comparison, that is, the same set of readership/ listenership/ viewership data can be compared amongst publications/ radio stations / TV channels/ any other media, sourced only from IRS 2017. Adgully spoke to some leading agency and media honchos to gauge their reactions, impressions and observations on the latest round of readership data. Ashish Bhasin, Chairman, MRUC and Chairman and CEO South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Networks: I think they will be very pleased with the quality of the research. The good thing this time is that we have taken all the constituents of the industry along, whether they are publishers, clients, agencies, members of the board, as well as the TechComm. Of course, there will be winners and losers from that perspective, but I think the industry is one today. There was a lot of skepticism about whether wed be able to bring out the research today, but I am very hopeful that it will lay a new ground for that as the study of this size never happened in the world. The concerns: First of all, IRS is largely a print-focussed survey. It captures a lot of other data which we share like Radio, TV, etc., but its primary purpose is print data. The quality of the data is very robust, but for other media, for example, TV, BARC may have better research data. So, the key purpose of this research is Readership. Whats in it for newer set of advertisers: I do not think there are advertisers who have never sampled print before. In fact, there would probably be advertisers who have used print more than having lesser of it. So, having research is always a strong point and it will only help the print medium. Not having research for the last few years, I think, was a negative for the print industry. Sam Balsara, Chairman & Managing Director, Madison World and Madison Communication: I think it is good news for print media. The increase of 40 per cent in total readership is indeed good news. According to me, we should really take advantage of this new readership. Publishers should come out with a package that incentivises advertisers who repeat the same ad within a month twice or thrice. Because only if I take an ad 3 or 4 times in a month for the publication I would be able to take the advantage of 40 per cent of the readership at the macro level. Advertisers should be encouraged to take 3 or 4 insertions, no doubt at lower prices, in order to get the benefit of the additional reach. Vikram Sakhuja, Group CEO, Madison Media & OOH - Madison World: I think its a very feel-good launch. The numbers that they have shared are really non-competitive numbers. We are all used to a currency of average issue readership (AIR), which wasnt revealed today and so they were talking total readership, monthly readership. All the best with those numbers, seemed good, but I think the devil lies in the details, which we will get into starting today. We welcome it and it is very nice to have IRS back. Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Media Brands: We have presented the data at the macro level. For instance, one publication has topped in the UP market, but what about other markets? When you start looking at it on a market-to-market basis, a clearer picture will emerge. So, this is done from the perspective of overall growth in the print industry. Some, however, will get stuck in the metrics, but the data will say it all. It is about relativity. The reality is that there is overall growth with relative parity. Sundeep Nagpal, Founder-Director, Stratagem Media: The way it has been presented is not entirely incorrect, because what I believe is that the yardstick of measurement of reach over the last few years ought to be a little bit different, otherwise the medium will suffer. If you keep on saying that I only want to look at the regular readers which is also not wrong then the medium will suffer. There is no doubt that the loyalty of the readership or the regularity of the exposure of any medium has to come down whether it is the internet, or anything else. Though the Internet is rising now, eventually it will also come down. The rate of growth will come down. It is not wrong to look at the data this way, but the 40 per cent figure is what I wouldnt easily accept. The problem is whether the 2014 data was measured correctly for us to say now that there is a growth of 40 per cent. Anand Sankeshwar, logistic baron and MD, VRL Media: I would like to congratulate RSCI and MRUC for the wonderful job. As compared to the last time (2014), more new features have been added, for example, the main issue and the variant copies. Also, digital newspaper readership has been incorporated. I am very happy and wish them luck. The supreme sacrifice and selflessness of our brave men in uniform is a matter of great pride for the nation. Paying homage and support to Indias bravehearts, noted actor Akshay Kumar in association with Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India launched an online campaign BharatKeVeer, appealing public to donate funds and help the families of the martyrs. Inspired by the idea, even corporates are stepping in to do their bit for the unsung heroes and their families in their own unique ways. Mothers Recipe, one of Indias leading FMGC brand who is also a strong believer of giving back to the society through its various social acts, initiated TRIBUTE TO OUR MOTHERLAND campaign. Under this initiative, the company will contribute Rs 3.00/- from the sale of every special edition Mothers Recipe 500 gm pickle bottle. The select product range will be only available in Canteen Stores Department (CSD) across the nation till January 2018. Additionally, to reach out and connect with a larger set of audience, Mothers Recipe is amplifying the campaign on various social media platforms using a unique hashtag #EkAchaarDeshKeNaam. For each comment, like, shares, tweets / retweets related to the campaign, Mothers Recipe will contribute a certain amount towards the cause. The initiative is already a hit on the digital platforms and has reached more than 5 lakh people, received 75,000+ reaction and 2000+ shares. The entire campaign both on-ground and online aims to raise a substantial amount of funds which will be donated to the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) on the occasion of Republic Day. The amount generated will be utilized for the welfare of the war widows and their families. The initiative hopes to sensitize public and create awareness among CSD consumers that they can support this noble cause by simply purchasing Mothers Recipe products or supporting the cause online. Sharing her thoughts, Ms. Sanjana Desai, Head of Business Development, Desai Brothers Ltd. (Food Division Mothers Recipe) said, For war widows, the battle continues long after the images of war have faded from public memory. It is hard to believe, but India has the highest number of war widows in the world. These women dont just struggle with the loss of their husbands, but they also, need to take on their husbands roles and support their families. With our humble contribution through #TributeToOurMotherland initiative, we intend to empower our Veer Naaris and give them a fresh hope for a better life. Overall, the initiative is being extensively promoted through online advertisements, in-store branding, geo targeting, social media posts and stories. We urge and anticipate more and more people to come forward to support the cause, so that maximum amount is collected for the families of our war heroes, Sanjana concludes. Star Bharat, the Hindi GEC from the Star India bouquet has, since its inception, topped the charts with its differentiated approach on storytelling and marketing. Of all its popular shows, Nimki Mukhiya holds a very special place across many Indian households because of a unique lead character- Nimki. And now with her entering a new phase of life with her wedding, the show is set to enter a new arc. The channel wanted to ensure that all Nimki fans and followers - responsible for making her TVs favourite character - were part of her wedding and were personally invited for the same. Hence, Star Bharat implemented a 360-degree promotional campaign through on-ground activation and ambient media reaching out to 26 cities across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh over a period of 10 days and also used digital and radio for further amplifying heartland wide reach. The on-ground activities kick started with the promoters dressed as Ladkiwalas arriving in style led by a procession of band baaja with bandwalas playing the signature show tune. The Ladkiwalas personally invited families with a wedding invitation card going door to door and reached out to 1.4 million viewers across cities. With the wedding season already in full swing in North India, the excitement in these cities only grew manifold. Adding to the wedding feel, multiple bus shelters were decorated like Shaadi Mandaps in five cities Kanpur, Lucknow, Allahabad, Agra, and Gorakhpur. To create the ambience of an Indian wedding, the Mandaps had musicians playing wedding tunes on Shehnai. The Ladkiwalas gave out wedding invitation cards thus engaging with almost 50,000 commuters at these mandaps. Overall, in the period leading up to the wedding, Star Bharat was able to reach out to 2.42 million fans directly and indirectly through this innovative campaign across ambient media and on ground. This campaign was further amplified on radio across UP and MP to invite listeners to this anokhi shaadi. Star Bharat partnered with 7 leading Hindi FM radio stations reaching out to 200+ towns to ensure that all the families across these markets were invited to the much-awaited wedding celebrations. Sagnik Ghosh, Business Head, Star Bharat said, We have always attempted to do things differently, whether it is our storytelling or marketing activities. We are happy that viewers found this campaign exciting and became a part of Nimkis wedding by tuning-in to the channel leading to an increase of over 20% in ratings*. The wedding celebrations continue.. Watch Nimki Mukhiya, Monday-Saturday, 8.30 P.M.on Star Bharat A portrait of Barbara Mangi on Dec. 4 at her home in Arlington Heights, Ill. Mangi is the author of a book about her journey to heal and forgive following the 2007 murder of her daughter, Dana Mangi, by Patrick Ford. January 16, 2018 Preliminary boring and excavation have begun on Canal Istanbul, something Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described as one of his crazy projects." Opponents agree with that assessment. The massive project will connect the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea, which the Bosporus Strait already does. But the new canal is designed to alleviate congestion in the strait. The waterway is expected to cost $17 billion, though some estimates run much higher. The channel will measure around 45 kilometers (28 miles) in length and 150 meters (490 feet) in width, and will run between Istanbuls Arnavutkoy-Avcilar districts. Boring began Jan. 9. Ankara seems determined to execute the project, which will include two container ports to be constructed at both ends of the canal. The Black Sea port will be 4.8 kilometers long with a logistics compound of some 3,706 acres. The project will be integrated with Istanbul's third airport, currently under construction, which the government says will be the world's largest. Two yacht marinas will be built one for 200 boats at Kucukcekmece Lake and one for 860 boats at Sazlidere. Government officials say the project will be completed in five years and will have an economic life of 100 years. Turkey says the project is an unavoidable necessity to reduce shipping traffic through the Bosporus. Commercial and military naval traffic pass through Turkeys Dardanelles and Istanbuls Bosporus in conformity with the 1936 Montreux Convention, which was designed to regulate traffic according to norms of freedom of seas principles and demands of that period. When that convention was signed, annual traffic through the Bosporus was 3,000 vessels. Naval expert Devrim Yaylali told Al-Monitor that in 2016 some 42,553 commercial vessels and 343 foreign military vessels sailed through the strait. Of the latter, 254 (74%) were naval vessels of the Russian Federation, which were usually running shuttle services to support Russian operations in Syria by ferrying military vehicles, equipment and supplies. From this volume of military traffic, it's evident that Russia depends on this route to support its Syrian operations. Including local ferries and fishing boats, daily traffic on the Bosporus is 2,500 vessels. This daily traffic is expected to reach 65,000 in 2030 and 100,000 in 2050. The question to ponder then is whether this project will cast aside the Montreux Convention. Serhat Guvenc, an academic at Turkeys Kadir Has University who is one of the top Turkish experts on naval geopolitics, said the type of sovereign rights recognized by the Montreux Convention regarding Turkey do not exist in other narrow straits of the world. For two reasons, you can erase the clauses of the Montreux Convention or minimize their effects. The first reason is geographic. As all the ships that pass through the Dardanelles will be subject to all the restrictions of the Montreux Convention, it doesnt make sense to treat the proposed canal as being outside the Montreux. The other reason is that the stipulations of the convention cannot be discarded by opening another parallel watercourse, Guvenc told Al-Monitor. The United States and China are inclined to erode the Montreux Convention by claiming it restricts freedom of navigation and denies free access to the Black Sea. But even if Black Sea coastal countries such as Romania and Bulgaria support the US position, the new canal will also be subject to the convention and it will be difficult for Turkey to limit navigation of commercial and military vessels through the canal, according to Guvenc. Although not much is said about it, Ankara is delighted with the potential income from the canal. Ankara today charges a minimal fee for piloting and navigation services for commercial vessels. How can Turkey direct this traffic to the new canal, where it hopes to charge higher fees? Guvenc said, "Turkey makes ships wait for days at times because of bad weather and navigation safety. I think Turkey can make the new canal passages more attractive by speeding up their navigation and slowing down the existing strait passages." But other countries are bound to react strongly to such a scheme. It could well be yet another sensitive diplomatic crisis between Turkey and the United States, China and Europe. There are also stiff reactions from opponents to this crazy project. These objections focus on potential damage to the ecosystem of the Thrace land west of Istanbul and geographically in Europe with its well-known productive soil. The canal isn't designed only as a transportation project. It will rapidly open fertile agricultural lands west of Istanbul to urbanization. The project is also likely to damage Istanbul's water sources. As Al-Monitor reported in October, environmentalists fear pollution from Black Sea states will flow eventually into the Mediterranean, and the project could change sea currents and water temperatures on both sides. Black Sea water flowing into the Sea of Marmara, which has greater salinity, could heavily damage sea life. It's also hard to understand why there's been no discussion of the operation's probable effects on Turkey's security. The project has been discussed since 2011, but there have been no significant articles or research published on its security dimensions. Once the project is complete, it will turn Istanbul's European side into an island. The Turkish military command will have to adopt an island concept in redesigning Istanbuls defense plans. Moreover, the Turkish army will have to cross two watercourses to reach Thrace. Canal Istanbul will limit the army's room for maneuvering and seriously hamper its logistics flow and reinforcements if they're needed. I think Canal Istanbul will bring about a revolutionary change in Turkeys geostrategic mindset," Guvenc said. "We seem to have forgotten about the disastrous losses of the Ottoman army in Thrace. It seems Turkey today doesnt expect a ground offensive from Bulgaria and Greece and that the defense of Thrace, therefore, is no longer a priority." Another effect of Canal Istanbul on the defense of Thrace will be the need for the Turkish military to revise its army-based doctrine and adopt a naval-centric approach. Another question that has to be addressed is how an artificial island evacuates 9 million people in the event of natural disasters like earthquakes, floods or a nuclear attack. There are three bridges over the Bosporus now, and two are planned over the canal. Ankara must certainly be working on plans for evacuation and transporting reinforcements and assistance to the island. But is it working hard enough and spending enough time thinking about the geostrategic consequences of this "crazy project"? The Google Allo Android app will soon support GIF and sticker customization, as suggested by a number of strings uncovered during a teardown of the latest version of the service conducted by 9to5Google. Google Allo build 26 references a feature called Scene Generation that allows users to input text before turning their writing into an animation. The functionality is activated from the main chat toolbar and can also be found on the far right of the expressive search panel. Googles official description of the service says its meant to create image suggestions but it essentially functions as a GIF maker focused on delivering highly optimized, lightweight animations. The same solution also allows for custom stickers as the GIFs it generates can be attached to existing stickers offered by Google Allo, though the process of doing so is largely automated and doesnt allow for many additional customizations. The Alphabet-owned company is also working on a shocked breaking news camera filter thats understood to be an addition to the apps augmented reality portfolio. As is the case with the majority of special camera effects offered by Google Allo, the newly uncovered one relies on assets that have to be downloaded manually and arent bundled with the base version of the app installable from the Google Play Store. The latest build of the mobile software also contains references to an editable Sender ID thats presently automatically associated with a phone number and cannot be changed but Google may allow it to be attached to a Gmail address by default with a later update. The mere existence of the newly spotted features doesnt guarantee their inclusion into a future version of the app but makes it likely, even though the functionalities may be altered before rolling out to all users. Google Allo is still receiving regular updates aimed at making the app more versatile but a change of design direction might be on the horizon, with the service recently losing its chief Amit Fulay to Facebook. Google has yet to decide on a replacement for Mr. Fulay who has over a decade of product management experience and has spent seven and a half years at the Mountain View, California-based Internet giant. US carrier Verizon has announced that it will be adding Mexico and Canada to its Go Unlimited plan. Starting on January 25, Verizon customers on Go Unlimited plans can use their unlimited data in Canada and Mexico, along with unlimited calling and texting. There are, of course, a few caveats. 4G LTE speeds only last for 500MB each day, so customers who want to download large files, go live on Facebook or YouTube, or stream lots of video will probably want to find some Wi-Fi. After that data limit is reached, speeds will go down to the 2G level, that is to say roughly 30Kbps most of the time, speeds that will make streaming video all but impossible. Naturally, the same restrictions inherent to the Go Unlimited plan still apply; video streaming is limited to 480p quality on phones or 720p on tablets, and if the network gets busy, youll find yourself last in line for high speeds. Tethering will eat into that daily data store, and is still limited to 600kbps This feature mimics the way that international travel is set up in Beyond Unlimited, the pricier of Verizons three recent unlimited plan options among those available to individuals and families. Beyond Unlimited customers may find themselves burning through their 4G LTE data in Mexico and Canada considerably faster, if theyre not careful; theyre at the front of the line during congested periods on the network, and they can stream video at higher resolutions, with the cap for smartphones being 720p, and tablets at 1080p. You can, of course, stream at up to 4K resolution for a bit extra. Verizon broke up its unlimited plan into three different choices last year. Go Unlimited, the one thats getting international capabilities on January 25, costs $65 per month for an individual line, and can leave customers with slow speeds if the network gets congested. Beyond Unlimited costs $85, and for that sum, it ups streaming resolutions as listed above, and gives customers a 22GB cap before they get deprioritized. The Business Unlimited plan pulls elements from both Go Unlimited and Beyond Unlimited, but is focused on Business Customers, and is not available to individuals and families. If youre interested in signing up for Go Unlimited, hit the button below. Advertisement Verizon Go Unlimited HMD Global is working on a new Nokia-branded Android flagship meant to feature six lenses in total, according to a recent rumor from China. The device is said to have a single-lens imaging system on its top bezel and a pentuple-camera setup relying on one or more sensors and five lenses on its rear, with the entire package reportedly being reminiscent of the Lumia 1020, a Windows Phone 8-powered handset from 2013 which was capable of delivering 41-megapixel images. The source of the rumor specifically states that the smartphone in question is not the Nokia 8 (2018) thats also said to be in the works. Likewise, the Nokia 9 flagship is understood to be a separate device with a more traditional dual-camera setup. The photography-focused offering will reportedly be unveiled later this year and wont make an appearance at the 2018 edition of the Mobile World Congress set to start on February 26th. Much like the rest of HMDs Nokia phones, the rumored device is expected to be manufactured by FIH Mobile, a subsidiary of Foxconn. Trial production may have already been concluded, with the mass manufacturing possibly being planned to start in mid-2018, according to the same report. Based on that timeframe, the ultra-premium handset may be announced at IFA 2018 in late August or close to the Berlin, Germany-based trade show. The design of the pentuple-camera setup found on the unnamed device is likely to resemble the circular module protruding from the back of the Lumia 1020, though the platform will house more lenses and a dual-LED (dual-tone) flash unit. HMD is said to have opted to power the device with the Snapdragon 845, Qualcomms latest and most powerful system-on-chip to date announced last month. The same silicon is expected to be featured in the vast majority of high-end Android devices released over the course of this year. The source of the rumor also claims the Nokia 8 (2018) wont be announced at MWC (2018) as its flow production still hasnt started. Instead, the Barcelona, Spain-based trade show should see the introduction of the global variants of the Nokia 6 (2018) and Nokia 7, as well as the announcement of the Nokia 9 that may feature a bezel-less design and the Snapdragon 835 SoC. HMD recently told consumers to expect something awesome from the companys MWC 2018 conference. The Samsung Cloud service is scrapping support for creating third-party app backups on compatible Android devices, with the South Korean tech giant now notifying users about the policy change via email. The notifications are reportedly rolling out on a global level but may take several days to reach all users, with the priority presumably being those who are currently hosting third-party app backups via Samsung Cloud. The change itself is set to come into effect on February 6th, after which new backups wont be allowed by the app, whereas the old ones will be deleted. The phone maker specifically emphasized that the policy change only affects Samsung Cloud and not the Backup and Restore functionality of the Secure Folder app. Old backups may not be deleted on February 6th but that date will mark the start of Samsungs efforts to promptly purge all such data. The move implies a significant portion of users were relying on Samsung Cloud to create third-party app backups instead of using it in conjunction with Samsungs own apps or were at least prioritizing such data over the one from the companys first-party portfolio. Backing up files not directly tied to a third-party app with Samsung Cloud will still be possible following the policy change regardless of their origin. The change affects both paying customers and those who are only using the free 15GB of cloud storage provided to them with the purchase of any contemporary Galaxy-branded device. Users who never accessed Samsung Cloud are unlikely to be notified of the change via email as Samsung is reportedly only sending alerts to people who currently have data hosted via its service. The Seoul-based original equipment manufacturer has yet to explain the move in any capacity and it remains to be seen whether it intends to do so. Samsungs policy change suggests the firm is now primarily positioning its cloud service as a solution for backing up data from its apps such as S Note, Calendar, and the Internet browser, possibly in an effort to save hosting costs. Users affected by the change are advised to download their third-party app data from Samsung Cloud and upload it to another service as soon as possible. Several owners of Googles Pixel 2 series devices have, as of January 18, begun taking to Internet forums to try and collectively work out the purpose of an official OTA software update hitting some devices. Thats because not only is the update unusually timed. It was also not previously announced by Google and didnt provide any details when it arrived. Moreover, the build number OPM2.171019.016 does not match up with anything found in the companys repositories. Some users suspect it contains bug fixes, but there also doesnt appear to be any change to the devices Android Security Patch Level either. Ordinarily, Pixel owners get one update near the beginning of the month which contains bug fixes and a security update, sometimes with other enhancements or features added into the mix. That particular update for January was already rolled out, leaving pretty much everybody scratching their heads. Setting aside the odd timing of the update and complete lack of official details, users report that the update was around 41.8MB in size. Thats relatively small for a feature update but, according to some of the responses from those who claim to have received the update, new features cant be ruled out entirely. In fact, unless those users are mistaken, the update seems to have opened up two new music-related features or at very least fixed bugs associated with those features. First, users report that Google Assistant now has the ability to shuffle play their music library through Google Home. Thats a feature which was not previously available. Beyond that, users claim that Google Assistant can now play locally-stored music on the updated devices. Thats a feature which had stopped working prior to the update, users claim. Of course, that also leaves intact the ability to stream from the usual sources such as Google Play Music or YouTube. While the full extent of the update has yet to be determined and Google has not responded to inquiries, users also report that some at least a few bugs have still not been fixed. For example, at least one user says that a multi-touch bug is still there, following the update, while another user reports that an SMS failure bug and issues related to audio capture on the Google Pixel 2 XL also remain. Unfortunately, until Google decides to provide some details about what exactly is going on, theres really no way to know for sure. Claudia Gould, newly named director of the Jewish Museum, New York [NOTE: Ive somewhat rethought my position on this, here.] Back in 1996, the Jewish Museum mounted an exhibition provocatively titled, Too Jewish? That New York museum has now named a new director, whom I would provocatively describe as, Not Too Jewish. The last paragraph of Kate Taylors NY Times article (online last night), which pre-announced (before the rest of us got the press release) the naming of Claudia Gould to become the Jewish Museums new director, gave me pause: Ms. Gould grew up in an interfaith home, with a Jewish father and a Roman Catholic mother [emphasis added]. She said she was attracted to the challenge of having to decide what it means to be a Jewish museum today, a complex question for which she has no definite answer yet. Ask her again in a year, she said, and maybe Ill be able to answer it. For Jews (unless they are converted Jews), religious identity is determined by matrilineal descent. So I posed the obvious questions to the Jewish Museum: Is Gould Jewish? If not, does she identify as Jewish (as do some who are children of Jewish fathers and non-Jewish mothers)? If neither, why is it felt that her religious identity isnt an important issue? Heres the full response that I received from Anne Scher, the Jewish Museums director of communications: Claudia Gould is not a religious person. She was raised in an interfaith family, exposed to both Jewish and Roman Catholic traditions. She identifies very strongly with Jewish and Italian cultures. The Jewish Museum is an art and culture museum [emphasis added] with great strengths and significant ambitionsan art museum presenting Jewish culture for people of all backgrounds. To achieve those ambitions, our top priority is to have a director who has outstanding credentials as a top art museum administrator with a demonstrated expertise in guiding staff and program, as well as a special talent for understanding how best to reach and inspire the most inclusive audience possible, crossing backgrounds, philosophies, and generations. With her interfaith background, Claudia Gould will have a particularly keen sense of the Museums imperative for inclusiveness. Notwithstanding her identif[ying] very strongly with Jewish and Italian cultures, Goulds professional background, as detailed in the museums own press release, focuses exclusively on contemporary art, containing no suggestion of any prior professional interest in Jewish culture: For the last 13 years, Gould has been director of the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Before that, she directed Artists Space, New York. The Jewish Museum has had a distinguished history as a venue for the cutting edge, particularly under the 1960s directorships of Alan Solomon, Sam Hunter and Karl Katz. This feels like a return to that earlier focus. The current (retiring) director, Joan Rosenbaum (no relation to CultureGrrl), while maintaining a strong schedule of special exhibitions (including some contemporary shows), also oversaw a 1993 expansion and renovation that inaugurated the absorbing, informative two-floor permanent exhibition, Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey, which brought the museums important collection of Judaica to the fore. Gould told Taylor that she hopes to change that installation several times a year, with occasional interventions by contemporary artists. The uncomfortable question remains: Should the director of the Jewish Museum be Jewish? Reasonable people can disagree with me (and the trustees of the Jewish Museum already have). But my own answer to my question is based on the fact that the Jewish Museum has traditionally been devoted not only to Jewish art and culture, but also to important issues and questions regarding Jewish history and identity. Calling it (as Scher now does) an art and culture museum feels to me like a highly problematic mission shift. Dont just take it from me. Heres the museums own online description of the mission of its above-linked Culture and Continuity permanent (for now) installation: It examines the Jewish experience as it has evolved from antiquity to the present, over 4,000 years, and asks two vital questions: How has Judaism been able to thrive for thousands of years across the globe, often in difficult and even tragic circumstances? What constitutes the essence of Jewish identity [emphasis added]? The museums director, in my opinion, should share that essence of Jewish identity. Among other things, that means being Jewish. Winter Camping Guide Yes, You Can Go Camping In Winter (If You Have These Essentials) The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. There are those who wave a white flag when similarly colored flakes tumble from the sky, hunkering down indoors for winter and refusing to enjoy the outdoors until it's green again. Still, heartier souls in northern climes see a special beauty in nature when the temperature drops and enjoy the challenge of braving the cold with some winter camping. While the recreational winter camper isnt heading out into the tundra like some sort of Jack London-Inspired survivalist, it helps to remember that all hiking or camping activities touch on the outdoorsmans rules of threes. In life-threatening conditions, the human body has three minutes to find air, three hours to find shelter, three days to find water, and three weeks to find adequate food. The winter-loving camping fan neednt go anywhere near the suffering all of those threes entail, but the concepts behind the numbers enforce the needs to keep warm, dry, and hydrated. Even if you reside in an area that doesn't receive the gift of a white frosty blanket come December, it is still important to take preventative measures and pack the appropriate camping gear for the cooler season. A few helpful tips to keep in mind on your winter camping trip include: Bring water treatment, to let the melted snow serve as a water source. This way you can limit the weight in your backpack. Create a detailed packing checklist so you don't forget to pack essential items like gloves, or an extra pair of warm socks. Batteries die faster in the cold, so always pack an external charger, a car operated charger or a solar charger. Start preparing your campsite early, since the sun sets earlier in the winter season. If your campsite is far away from your parking area, bring a sled to pull your supplies. To ensure you stay safe, but also enjoy your camping adventures we compiled a list of winter camping essentials.These tools focus on the need to stay warm, dry, and hydrated, but also will make any winter camping excursion safer and significantly more comfortable. Osprey Backpack Built with adjustable torso settings for easy fit over heavy outerwear, this Osprey backpack has an integrated rain cover to keep any moisture out of its contents. Made of high-tenacity twill nylon, this backpack features dual-side stretch mesh pockets and a front panel storage pocket to ensure all your belongings can stay safe and protected. With integrated loops for ski poles, a bungee tie to keep an ice axe in place, and a built-in hydration sleeve allowing for easy water access on the go this pack is built to stand up to the wild winter elements. $129.90 at Amazon.com Stanley Camp Cook Set While good, all-purpose cookware is essential to pack for any camping trip, finding items that won't rust easily is a higher priority for winter camping gear. This set from Stanley lives up to the brand's reputation for providing durable, well-made kitchen accessories. The stainless steel cooker has a vent to allow for easy cooking over a heater, and it includes two resting cups to hold everything from hot coffee to soup. $19.95 at Amazon.com HENGJIA Outerwear Jacket In cold conditions, moisture and dampness are the main threats to body heat. This wind-proofed, water-resistant, and quick-drying Hengjia jacket was built to last and designed to keep you warm. With a relaxed fit allowing for layered clothing underneath, a removable windproof cap for when the temps rise on your trek to the campsite, anti UV fabric protection to ensure your skin stays safe under the winter rays, and adjustable velcro sleeves to keep the cool air and snow off your arms, this jacket will serve you well on your winter camping excursion. a$49.99 at Amazon.com Marmot Trestles Sleeping Bag Staying isolated from the frozen, wet ground is key for comfortable winter camping. This mummy-style sleeping bag is designed to wrap you up tight and keep your body warm and dry. Rated to 15 degrees, the Marmot allows for maximum warmth with its SpiraFil high-loft, moisture-resistant insulation. The sleeping bag is specifically designed to offer comfort on the bottom and trap warmth on top. Plus, since it provides a great deal of warmth, you can rely on it to keep you cozy for summer camping trips sans tent. $109.00 at Amazon.com Snow Peak Titanium Stove Nothing warms the body faster and more reliably than hot food and that includes alcohol, which will cool the body after the initial burn. While you can often rely on the natural power of a campfire to cook up hot dogs, or roast fish in the summer season, it is best to have a reliable heat source on hand in the winter. This ultra lightweight camp stove will put out 11,200 BTUs and packs up at only 1.9 ounces. Whether you want to boil water or cook up some leftover homemade chilli, this little stove will ensure you have a hot plate to fill you. $59.95 at Amazon.com DMOS Snow Shovel A compact, lightweight snow shovel is an ideal tool to have in your car, even when not heading out on a camping trip. This collapsible shovel by, DMOS, weighs in at less than three and a half pounds, but it provides a strong force when seeking to clear aside the snow for your campfire or tent. $89.00 at Huckberry.com Danner Winter Boot There's nothing worse than a sub-par boot that lets the moisture from the ground seep in and soak your socks. Danner has built up a reputation for designing boots that are both comfortable and durable, and these boots are a clear example of that. Combining leather with modern synthetics, these boots will keep your feet dry and toasty thanks to their GORE-TEX waterproof, breathable lining. The abrasion-resistant toe cap and thermoplastic PU shank hold the boot together against ice and rock, while the rugged platform and tread grab stability in damp, slippery conditions. $135.00 at Amazon.com Goal Zero Sherpa - Recharging Kit With Solar Panel As mentioned above, gadget batteries tend to die quicker in the cooler temperatures. To ensure you stay both connected and entertained (Hey, no one said enjoying the great outdoors, means forgoing a kick-ass playlist) be sure to pack a solar-powered charging kit like this one from Goal Zero. Whether you need to use your phone's GPS, make an emergency call, or play a rousing round of Candy Crush before bed this kit will keep you charged. This recharging kit charges in two to three hours from a wall outlet, four to six hours from a car or five to 10 hours from the included Nomad 13 solar panel. It can then charge devices like laptops for up to three hours or tablets and smartphones more than 15 hours. $329.99 at Amazon.com Black Diamond Headlamp Hiking in the dark during the warm weather months is already a tricky feat. Attempting to do it during the winter, with the extra challenge of ice and snow? That's a whole new ball game. Luckily, with a headlamp, like this Black Diamond LED model, you can rely on a strong light source to see you through. This headlamp emits 350 lumens in red, green, and blue, with Single Power LEDs for night vision. With settings including full strength and distance modes, dimming, strobe, and lock modes you can adjust it to read in your tent or alert your buddy that you're across the trail. In addition, this headlamp is waterproof, with a sealed housing that can withstand immersion up to one meter for 30 minutes, so you don't have to worry about dropping it in the snow. $49.95 at Amazon.com Black Diamond Trekking Poles Winter camping and hiking offer the added risk of slippery conditions, and these alpine trekking poles add essential stability. With interchangeable carbide tips, cork grips with sewn straps and carbon fiber shafts you can explore your campgrounds knowing you have stable supports on hand. $169.95 at Amazon.com ONWEGO Camping Chair During winter camping, its essential to stay off the wet, frozen earth. This easy setup chair uses an aluminum shock-cord pole structure, which makes it a sturdy option in the great outdoors, and provides a quick, intuitive setup. While itll serve just as well in warmer months, its durability lets it stand up to the cold with aircraft-grade 7075 aluminum and a seat made of outdoor quality ripstop nylon. $49.99 at Amazon.com Big Agnes - Battle Mountain Tent Even the heartiest winter camper wants to be dry and warm when the hike is over, so its nice to have a tent like this that sets up and breaks down quickly. While your current tent may keep you cozy from May to October, it is worthwhile to invest in a durable winter tent if you plan on camping year round. This Big Agnes unit is available as a two person or three person tent and can be used in all four seasons. Designed to withstand more extreme weather, the tents fly and floor have a 1200 mm waterproof polyurethane coating. It also features high/low internal loops for extra stability in high winds. $699.95 at Amazon.com Klymit Sleeping Pad To add another layer of comfort and protection to your sleeping bag, this Klymit pad adds insulation to its air mattress design for additional warmth. Its internal chambers limit heat loss, and the entire design weighs only 25 ounces. Deflated, it packs up to five x eight inches making it easy to slip in your pack. $84.95 at Amazon.com DoubleNest Hammock Even on those winter camping excursions when the weather is less severe, a savvy winter camper wants to stay dry and avoid contact with the damp or frozen ground. This DoubleNest is big enough for two and weighs only 19 ounces. Made of 70D High Tenacity Nylon Taffeta, the sling should breathe easily, dry quickly, and can support up to 400 pounds. $69.95 at Amazon.com Portable Heater When the campfire isnt enough to maintain that all-important warmth level, this tough Big Buddy 18,000 BTU/HR capacity propane heater combines radiant heat with convection heat air flow. Its multi-position heat settings allow the device to assist outdoors or inside. Equipped with safety measures, like auto shut-off when tipped over, and a built-in fan for heating efficiency, this heater would be an ideal item to keep on hand for those just-in-case moments. $149.99 at Amazon.com Related Reading Best Camping Tents Best Sleeping Bags Best Backpacks AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. To find out more, please read our complete terms of use. Email Newsletters Get the best of The Aspen Daily News in your inbox. Our newsletters are free, and you can unsubscribe at any time. 20 January 2018 12:12 (UTC+04:00) By Trend: Afghanistan is interested in using Azerbaijans transit opportunities, Afghan Deputy Finance Minister Najibullah Wardak, who is in Baku, said at a meeting with Chairman of Azerbaijans State Customs Committee Aydin Aliyev, the committee said. The Afghan deputy minister noted that Azerbaijan has a favorable economic and geographical position. The guest also stressed that Afghanistan attaches great importance to cooperation with Azerbaijan, and positively assessed the measures being taken in the country to expand transit opportunities. Aydin Aliyev, in turn, spoke about the measures being taken under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev to develop the non-oil sector of the economy, business activities and improve the business environment. Azerbaijans trade turnover with Afghanistan exceeded $52 million in 2017, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 January 2018 00:05 (UTC+04:00) By Aygul Salmanova Deep in the night, we were awakened by the clank of caterpillars and the roar of armored personnel carriers moving from Yasamal cemetery downwards, apparently to administrative buildings, says Ilgar Valizade, witness of the 20th January tragedy. I opened the door and two tracer bullets flew past me. Houses in our neighborhood were under fire." This is how an eyewitness remembers the bloody tragedy perpetrated against the Azerbaijani people on January 20, 1990. The mass punishment of people demonstrating their unwavering will to independence from the Soviet empire after 70 years of subjugation was cruel and unexpected. Despite 28 years pass since this tragic event, the day like the reel of film still scrolls in front of eyes of witnesses: anxious Baku, bullets glittering in the darkness, tanks and hum of armored vehicles, dead bodies scattered through the streets, hospital wards filled with hundreds of wounded. Black January and its pitfalls The reasons of January tragedy go deep into history, beginning from the territorial claims of Armenians against Azerbaijan. Everything began when Baku residents came out to protest against the policy pursued the then USSR leader Mikhail Gorbachev, since Armenian nationalists demanded joining the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous region of Azerbaijan to Armenia. Back in 1987 the Armenian academics and official figures claimed to the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and conducted propaganda in this direction. Taking advantage of Soviet Unions last leader, Mikhail Gorbachevs perestroika policy, Armenians once again resumed their insidious policy towards Azerbaijan. Then, the Soviet government had an intention to realize the Armenian policy by diplomatic means in 1988, but failed because millions of Azerbaijanis headed to the streets to protest Armenian aggression and separatist forces fueling unrest in the ancient land of Azerbaijan -- the mountainous Karabakh region. Azerbaijani people launched the square movement to defend their rights and mother land. Indeed, the Central government sent military forces to suppress the national movement and even crushed the rebellions by force. But that was temporary. Azerbaijanis were determined to protect their territorial integrity and did not step back, showing their sacrifice and vigor for the national freedom. But the protests received totally inadequate answer -- the Soviet troops committed unimaginable atrocities in Baku from the late hours of January 19 into January 20. Some 26,000 hostile and aggressive-minded Soviet special forces called Alfa entered Baku to perpetrate atrocities against the Azerbaijani people. They stormed and murdered hundreds of civilians without declaring a state of emergency. Around 10pm in the evening deafening silence suddenly covered the city after demolition of the central television station and termination of phone and radio lines by the Soviet army. The people were deprived of the right to access information. Some 137 people were killed, 611 were wounded, 841 were illegally arrested, and five went missing as a result of the intrusion of troops into Baku and other regions of the country. Deputy Director of the Institute of History of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Jabi Bahramov noted that this brutal and ruthless act, which has no distinctive feature from German fascism, will always be remembered and never disappear from our history. The army, relied and trusted by a nation, turns its weapons against the same nation. What would be the feeling of the nation that helped that army to gain victory during the years 1941-1945? he said. The Commander-in-Chief of the army, which fought against and won over the German fascism thanks to Azerbaijani oil, subsequently gives orders to slaughter citizens of the same country. How could one assess this inhumane act? Bahramov said that the best answer to these questions was given by the National Leader Heydar Aliyev during his speech at the permanent representation in Moscow by noting that this is an encroachment, a crime towards Azerbaijani nation. Heydar Aliyev raised the issue at the Milli Majlis in January 1994 and the parliament estimated this act as an aggression against the Azerbaijani people, he added The nation still feels painful impact of this tragedy as there is a great number of injured and dead. Bahramov added that there is community for this people where they meet and exchange their views regularly. Though the Azerbaijani people suffered military, moral and political aggression, they displayed their ability to maintain the traditions of historical heroism and resist the cruelest attacks for the sake of the freedom and independence of their motherland, even at the cost of losing their lives. This is a mourning day in Azerbaijan to commemorate all martyrs, who sacrificed their lives for the bright future of the nation. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 January 2018 10:33 (UTC+04:00) By Trend: Azerbaijan has received a new cargo of modern military equipment and ammunition from Russia, Azerbaijans Defense Ministry said in a message Jan. 19. In accordance with the intergovernmental agreement between Azerbaijan and Russia, the delivery of modern Russian-made military equipment to Azerbaijan continues in line with plans, the message said. A big quantity of modern military equipment and ammunition delivered to the port in Baku will be in the shortest time transferred to the military units stationed on the frontline zone. The military equipment, which has excellent fire capabilities and high terrain crossing ability in mountainous conditions, was successfully used during the combat operations in April 2016. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 January 2018 10:10 (UTC+04:00) Trend: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order on financial support for a number of events held by the Caucasus Muslims Office. In order to provide financial support for additional events to be held in 2018 during the Year of Islamic Solidarity, four million manats will be allocated to the Caucasus Muslims Office from the Presidential Reserve Fund. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 January 2018 14:00 (UTC+04:00) By Trend: January 20 is an epic of heroism, written by the Azerbaijani people on their way to freedom, as well as the embodiment of the unshakable national will demonstrated to the whole world, UNESCO Cultural Diplomacy, Governance and Education Chair Holder, Director of Diplomatic and Strategic Studies Center in Paris, Naciye Selin Senocak told Trend. She said that on January 20, 1990, an attempt was made to thwart the national struggle of the Azerbaijani people. January 20 events are one of the most horrific genocides committed at the initiative of Armenian bandit detachments, the expert said. Today, 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories continue to be occupied by Armenia. Applying the policy of dual standards in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the OSCE and the UN, instead of supporting the settlement of the conflict, delay this, noted Senocak. The Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will not find its solution and Armenia will not give up its predatory position unless OSCE and UN take serious steps, she said. 20 January 2018 17:57 (UTC+04:00) By Trend: An Iranian transportation official has said that the country will inaugurate Rasht-Astara railway segment over the current fiscal year (starting March 20). The Rasht-Astara railway will be inaugurated this year, Fars news agency quoted Kheriollah Khademi, the head of Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructure Company of Iran, as saying on Saturday. However, the plans for running passenger trains will be postponed, he added. Illinois rejected a protest filed by Cerner over the Chicago-based University of Illinois Health's $62 million contract awarded to Epic, according to The News-Gazette. In December, Cerner filed a protest with Illinois' chief procurement office for higher education over a contract awarded to Epic for the EHR overhaul at the hospital, alleging the bidding process was unfair and tainted by a possible conflict of interest. Cerner claimed its bid was $1.5 million lower than Epic's and included all implementation costs while Epic's didn't. The company also claimed it did not have an opportunity to present its EHR, an opportunity UI afforded to Epic. However, in a Jan. 12 ruling, the state denied Cerner's protest, citing that the company didn't submit a proposal demonstrating its technical qualifications at the minimum required level, Chief Procurement Officer Ben Bagby wrote. UI further said it awarded Epic the contract through a request for proposals, not a competitive bidding process. That means proposals were evaluated on their technical capabilities first, then pricing. Cerner failed to meet UI's threshold in order to be considered for a presentation, UI added, according to The News-Gazette. Mr. Bagby agreed, noting Epic met UI's pricepoint and that the hospital only asked for costs related to software implementation not additional aspects of the project. He added that Cerner didn't provide evidence of a conflict of interest, "just speculation." The following hospital and health system credit rating and outlook changes and affirmations took place in the last week, beginning with the most recent. 1. Moody's assigns 'A2' rating to Orlando Health Moody's Investors Service assigned its "A2" rating to Orlando (Fla.) Health's proposed $484 million series 2018 revenue bonds. 2. S&P upgrades University of Vermont Medical Center's bond rating to 'A' S&P Global Ratings upgraded Burlington-based University of Vermont Medical Center's long term rating and underlying rating to "A" from "A-." University of Vermont Medical Center is the flagship facility of the University of Vermont Health Network. 3. S&P revises Columbus Regional Healthcare System's outlook to positive S&P Global Ratings affirmed its "BBB-" rating on Columbus (Ga.) Regional Healthcare System's $104.3 million revenue anticipation certificates. 4. Moody's assigns 'A3' rating to Tower Health's bonds Moody's Investors Service assigned its "A3" rating to West Reading, Pa.-based Tower Health's $50 million series 2017A revenue bonds. 5. S&P downgrades University Health System to 'BBB' S&P Global Ratings downgraded Knoxville, Tenn.-based University Health System's rating to "BBB" from "BBB+." 6. Fitch assigns 'AA-' to Providence St. Joseph Health Fitch Ratings assigned its "AA-" rating to Renton, Wash.-based Providence St. Joseph Health's bonds, affecting $496 million of debt. While a $15 million gift presented to Los Angeles-based Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital from the Weingart Foundation and the Ballmer Group last week hasn't garnered much attention, it's actually quite unique and should capture philanthropist attention, according to Inside Philanthropy. Last week, the two organizations pledged $7.5 million each to support physician recruitment at the Southern LA hospital. The hospital is located in one of the poorest parts of the metropolitan area, and few physicians choose to start practices here, often causing residents to seek basic care in emergency rooms. The gift is unique because out of all the charitable giving that pours into healthcare organizations, about $33 billion annually, very little goes toward ensuring low-income populations and people of color have access to basic care. Further, many of the philanthropic gifts from wealthy donors like Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft and LA Clippers owner, do not go toward underserved communities. Instead, many of today's generous donors send their largest gifts to their alma maters or top-tier big city hospitals where they received treatment. There are numerous examples of this type of giving; notably Koch Industry Vice President David Koch's $100 million gift to New York City-based New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where he was once a patient and now serves as a board member; Former Merck President and CEO Roy Vagelos', MD, $250M donation to New York City-based Columbia University's medical school, where he obtained his medical degree; and hedge fund billionaire Jim Simons who has poured millions into autism research due to family experience. While there's nothing wrong with giving back to these top-tier hospitals, alma maters or familiar health causes, according to Inside Philanthropy, donors often forget to make investments in under-funded, under-resourced institutions that serve low-income communities, such as MLKCH or community colleges. It is these underserved populations and under-resourced institutions that need funding to help mitigate health disparities. In particular, in Southern Los Angeles, it is estimated that 1,200 physicians are needed to close the gap in care and about half of the patients seen at MLKCH report they don't have a regular physician. Donations like the ones to MLKCH will help more people have access to a regular physician. Nancy Gaden, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, serves as the Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Boston Medical Center. On May 10th, Nancy Gaden will present at Becker's Health IT + Clinical Leadership 2018. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place May 10-11th 2018 in Chicago. To learn more about the conference and Dr. Gaden's session, click here. Question: What did you notice about your most recent healthcare experience as a patient? Nancy Gaden: For many people, an inpatient care experience illuminates often for the first time the critical role of the nurse. I have had many discussions over the years with friends who discovered what professional nursing is when they were a patient in a hospital. My own surprise was seeing, really for the first time, how critical the primary care physician's role is in communicating, decreasing anxiety and tying together all of the members of the healthcare team once a patient has been discharged from the hospital. The office practice is your lifeline, and everyone who works there is an extension of the provider as they travel with you on your journey! Q: What change in reimbursement is your organization feeling most acutely, and how is it affecting your two- to five-year strategic plan? NG: Like many states, Massachusetts has adopted new Medicaid delivery and payment reform by moving providers into ACOs. In Massachusetts, 25 percent of our residents are covered by MassHealth, our state Medicaid program. Here at Boston Medical Center we disproportionately serve low-income patients so, for us, this completely changes the way we are paid for more than half of our patients. To ready ourselves we are bringing the best of our hospital, physician group and health plan to succeed with reform. We have reorganized our governance to coordinate decisions across our entities, and we have created a new population health division to focus on medical management. We are investing the incentive funding, which will replace our supplemental funding, in programs and infrastructure we believe will improve care while reducing cost. Addressing social determinants of health head on is a critical component of our approach and, for a system with the mission statement "exceptional care without exception," this is the most exciting piece of all. Poems that move back and forth through time can be intriguing. In this poem by Pat Schneider, she looks deep into the past and evokes it in compelling detail, though the poem speculates that there will arrive a future in which this particular moment in the past is all but forgotten. Yet it's vividly remembered, in that same future, which is now. Schneider lives in Massachusetts and this is from her book Another River: New and Selected Poems, from Amherst Writers & Artists Press. From where I stand *** at the third floor window of the tenement, the street looks shiny. It has been washed and rinsed by rain. Beyond the silver streaks of the streetcar tracks a single streetlight stands in a pool of wet light. It is night. St. Louis. Nineteen forty-seven. I have just come home from the orphanage to stay. *** Years later, I will be another person. I will almost not remember this summeronot at all. But for nowowith the streetlight reflecting an aura on the wet sidewalk, with dark behind me in the dirty two rooms we call home, *** for now, I see it all. *** Tomorrow I will begin to try to forget. But in this moment everything is clear: who I am, where I am, and the clean place that I have left behind. As clear as the streetlight: how distinct its limits in the vast dark and the rain. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., sent a letter to the CMS general counsel regarding possible ethics violations by Seema Verma, the agency's administrator. Mr. Wyden is alleging Ms. Verma has been involved in the review of ACA waiver applications for states she worked with as a consultant before her appointment to CMS. As part of Ms. Verma's ethics agreement, she is not allowed to review waiver applications for states that contracted her services as a consultant. However, recent statements by the governors of Iowa, Arkansas and Kentucky three states that worked with Ms. Verma before she joined CMS indicate she has been actively involved in the review process. "I request that you immediately investigate whether Administrator Verma's actions comply with her agreements and the federal ethics requirements," Mr. Wyden writes. "I also am seeking information about the steps that Office of the General Counsel has taken to ensure that Administrator Verma is complying with her ethics agreements as well as applicable federal laws and regulations." The waivers submitted by Arkansas and Kentucky sought to impose work requirements for Medicaid enrollees, while Iowa's waiver related to regulations for the state's ACA exchange. From an Aetna investor suing over the insurer's proposed merger with CVS Health to a former hospital administrator sentenced in a bribery scheme, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines. 1. Federal judge approves Ascension Health's $29.5M settlement in class-action pension lawsuit Ascension Health, a Catholic health system based in St. Louis, will pay $29.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging the health system and subsidiary Wheaton Franciscan Services in Glendale, Wis., violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. 2. Aetna investor sues over $77B merger with CVS Health: 7 things to know Aetna shareholders will be shortchanged if the company moves forward with a proposed $77 billion merger with CVS Health, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by an Aetna investor. 3. Former CHI hospital administrator sentenced in bribery scheme Lexington, Ky.-based Saint Joseph Hospital's former executive director of facilities, James Newton, was sentenced to 27 months in prison for his role in a bribery and kickback scheme. 4. Aetna agrees to pay $17M to settle HIV data breach incident Aetna reached a $17 million settlement to resolve a federal class-action lawsuit filed in August after the insurer revealed thousands of customers' HIV statuses in mailings. 5. Former Allina VP charged with 7 counts of theft A former vice president of Minneapolis-based Allina Health is accused of embezzling $269,000 from the health system. 6. Patient sues Northwestern Memorial for reusing syringe on him An Illinois man sued Chicago-based Northwestern Memorial Hospital, claiming clinicians reused a syringe on him that was previously administered to an HIV-positive patient. 7. Former CEO of Lutheran Health Network seeks dismissal of CHS' lawsuit Brian Bauer, former CEO of Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Lutheran Health Network, filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses him of breach of contract and defamation. 8. 5 nursing homes sue Illinois over low Medicaid rates Five Illinois nursing home operators filed a lawsuit against the state's Department of Healthcare and Family Services claiming Illinois' Medicaid rates are inadequate. More articles on legal and regulatory issues: Repeat physician imposter heads to prison: 7 things to know California regulators demand 9 health plans terminate contracts with medical group Federal lawsuit: Duke, UNC agreed not to hire each other's physicians A California man in August sought care at Fresno, Calif.-based Community Regional Medical Center's emergency department after pulling a more than 5-foot tapeworm out of himself, according to ABC7 News. The man, who had been experiencing bloody diarrhea, pulled the tapeworm from his rectum, wrapped it around an empty toilet paper roll and brought it to the ED. "He asked me for worm treatment, and I was like, oh, not an everyday request," said Kenny Banh, MD, an emergency medicine physician at UCSF Fresno who treated the man, according to ABC7 News. Dr. Banh said the tapeworm had likely been growing in the man's stomach for at least six months. The man may have gotten the tapeworm from eating sushi, which contained raw salmon, on a daily basis. Last February, the CDC warned consumers about the risk of tapeworms in salmon caught in Alaska. Dr. Banh shared his experience treating the man on a recent episode of the podcast "This Won't Hurt A Bit." To listen to the episode, click here. This week Jordan Peterson has taken London by storm. The Canadian psychologist-turned-anti-snowflake crusader has been giving sell-out talks to promote his new book, 12 Rules for Life. On Monday night at the Emmanuel Centre in Westminster, the 1,000-seat conference hall was packed to the gills with mostly white young men, from bearded hipsters to bespectacled nerds, already clutching copies of his book. Extra seats had been laid out and were quickly filled. Rock music was playing and the windows were lit with dramatic red spotlights that flanked an enormous black and white photograph of Peterson, who walked onto the stage to the roar of loud applause. It was as if their messiah had finally arrived. Earlier in the day I met Peterson in a Holborn flat rented by his publisher to discover what all the fuss is about. A word-of-mouth phenomenon, according to his Penguin publicist, the 55-year-old professor of psychology at the University of Toronto lectures on subjects from the dangers of identity politics and use of gender-neutral pronouns, to the power of mythology and the Bible, to why the works of Jung, Nietzsche and Solzhenitsyn matter today more than ever. Peterson's fire-and-brimstone views form the basis of the 12-chapter book, which offers positive advice about telling the truth always, avoiding losers, finding meaning, standing up straight, doing tough-love parenting and listening to others, among other things. It is precisely the kind of hardline counselling for which he has long been revered, especially by 25 to 40-year-old men, who thank him profusely for helping turn their lives around. Peterson's videos have clocked up 150 million views and he has 300,000 Twitter followers. But he is also accused of being an alt-Right, racist transphobe and "the stupid man's smart person". In any event, he despises the far-Left and believes all ideologies are inherently evil. "I lived through a tumultuous time when I was writing this book", says Peterson, adjusting a pencil-slim gold tie that one of his fans has just given him. "Particularly around my actions in relation to Bill C-16." This Canadian Bill, which passed in 2016, means that it is now a criminal offence to refuse to call a person by their chosen gender pronoun, which Peterson argues is an infringement of free speech. "When I made a video saying I wasn't going to abide by Canada's new speech laws, there were demonstrations at the university and a huge backlash against me, but only to begin with. Then I had a huge wave of public support. The trans activists videotaped the talk in an attempt to discredit me, but the comments were about 50 to one in favour of what I was saying. "I've had letters from trans people supporting me because they're not happy. We're in this weird time when if someone claims to be a member of a minority group and claims persecution of that group, then they can put themselves forward as a valid spokesperson and everyone says 'okay'. But, no, it's not okay. Just because you're a trans person doesn't mean you're a spokesperson for trans people." Soon after this, Peterson became embroiled in the case of Lindsay Shepherd, an English graduate teacher at Wilfred Laurier University, Ontario, who was hauled up before faculty members after playing a video clip of Peterson on the gender-neutral pronoun debate to her students without first condemning it. She was told her actions were "like playing neutrally a speech by Hitler or Milo Yiannopoulos". Shepherd covertly taped her inquisition and took it to the media. The story went viral, after which the university issued a public apology to her. Peterson says this bears out his fears about the Bill. "Except it was worse, since it was used to persecute an innocent person." As for his own role, he says, half-jokingly, "I turned out to be Hitler himself. Or was I Milo Yiannopoulos? Take your pick. That shows exactly the intellectual level at which these ideologues play - they can't even get their insults sorted out." It's easy to see why Peterson attracts controversy. You get the sense he enjoys it, or rather that the evangelical zeal with which he talks compels him towards its flame. With his prairie cowboy style - he grew up in Fairview, northern Alberta - and intense gaze, he speaks in a high-pitched, torrential stream of invective, occasionally shouting, and repeating words to emphasise a point, sliding his wedding ring on and off his finger. "And then there was James Damore," he starts up. Peterson video-interviewed the Google engineer after Damore was fired for a memo he wrote questioning the benefits of diversity programmes and suggesting women make inferior engineers partly because of biological differences. "To understand Damore", he says, "you have to understand engineers. Damore was asked by the HR department to a session about diversity, equity, inclusivity, white privilege and all those buzzwords people use now. He was told they wanted comments and, being an engineer, he thought they meant that they wanted comments, because engineers think that when you say something you actually mean it. "Engineers aren't political, and there's a reason for that, which is that if one of the dimensions in which people vary is their interest in 'people' versus 'things', and one of the biggest gender differences between women and men is their interest in 'people' versus 'things', then engineers are way the hell over on 'things'." He's delighted that Damore has just launched a lawsuit against the company for unfair discrimination "against a white male" at the same time as it faces another one over the gender pay gap. "Google is in the wonderful position, as far as I'm concerned, of being harassed legally on both sides, which is exactly what they deserve for playing identity politics." Nor does it end there. "Look up 'white couple' on Google images," he says suddenly. "Then look up 'black couple', then 'Asian couple'." Peterson and I look together. If you Google 'white couple', the first four images on the top row show a white woman with a black man. "This is way more terrifying than you think, because it means that Google is messing about with algorithms that present information to the public according to a built-in political agenda." Hardly surprisingly, he is just as contemptuous of #MeToo and can hardly contain himself when asked what he thought of Hollywood's leading ladies parading in black dresses at last weekend's Golden Globes. "What, you mean really sexually provocative black dresses? Those ones?" he snorts. "That says it all. "If there's one industry that capitalises on the exploitation of casual sex, it's Hollywood. There are all sorts of reprehensible ways that men treat women, obviously, and I'm not saying Harvey Weinstein's victims invited their own victimisation, but I'm not impressed by the fact that this went on for ever and no one said anything. The issue isn't male sexual misbehaviour, it's sexual misbehaviour on the part of women as well as men. But we can't have an intelligent discussion about that, because all the women are good and all the men are bad." Take responsibility for your own actions, he says, and it's ultimately the message of his book. "You can put things straight in your own life and have a massive effect on the world around you. It's why the victimisation ideology is so corrosive," he explains in parting. Whether you agree or not, whether you think he's a maniac or a messiah, or a little bit of both, Jordan Peterson is here now, and here to stay. 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (Allen Lane, 20) is out now An appeal has been made to find a missing Northern Ireland man who was last seen in Belgium. Aaron English, from Newtownards, Co Down, was last spoken to on January 9 when he presented himself at the Belgian Embassy in Brussels. The 29-year-old was having difficulty in relation to his accommodation. Temporary shelter was found and his family were able to pay for his transportation back home. However, this was the last contact they had with him. Despite him being flagged as a missing person through Interpol and the PSNI's International Liaison, no further information has been forthcoming. The PSNI in Bangor said: "Whilst we can alert him in Belgium ... the power of social media has the ability to circulate his photograph all over the world in a matter of hours." Police added: "Aaron is in no trouble whatsoever and his family back home in Ards simply need him to get in touch and let them know he is safe and well." Meanwhile, a second Northern Ireland man who disappeared overseas in mysterious circumstances remains unaccounted for. Oliver McAfee, who was described as a "real free spirit" by friends, was last seen near the desert town of Mitzpe Ramon in the southern Israeli desert on November 21, seven months after he gave up his job to cycle across Europe. Initially it was presumed the 29-year-old got lost on the trail, but his tablet computer, wallet and keys were found by hikers. Fears soon rose after a series of bizarre discoveries were made near to where Mr McAfee had been travelling. However, Israeli police believe he is still alive. In Northern Ireland, searches are also continuing for a woman who vanished in Strabane. Lesley McHugh (69) disappeared from her home on Saturday, January 6. The mother of three was last in contact with her family at around 11pm that day but despite extensive searches she still hasn't been located. Searchers are now focusing on the River Mourne and into the River Foyle. Mrs McHugh is described as 5'6" tall, of slim build and with brown hair. Hundreds of local people have joined the Mourne and Foyle Search and Rescue and the Community Search Rescue to help find her. A Co Down man who killed a cyclist was handed a Community Service Order yesterday after a judge said he saw "no point" in sending him to jail. Ian William Lappin, from Circular Road in Newtownards, admitted causing the death of Stephen Lynch by careless driving on the town's Bangor Road on October 6, 2016. The 50-year-old father-of-five, who was from Downpatrick, died as a result of the injuries he sustained when his bicycle was in collision with Lappin's Renault Scenic close to the Somme Heritage Centre shortly before 5.50am. Ordering 55-year-old Lappin to serve 100 hours of community service, District Judge Mark Hamill said at Newtownards Magistrates Court that, given his guilty plea, "in effect the maximum sentence is three months... even if I throw the book at him". He added: "What's the point in sending a man like this to prison for three months? "He will be out in six weeks - I'm just not going to do it. "I may outrage the family, I don't know, but I'm just not going to do it." Judge Hamill expressed his condolences to the victim's family, but added: "These cases are desperately, desperately sad, but the courts cannot turn the clock back to make things right." A prosecuting lawyer told how the Ambulance Service was called to the scene where paramedics were confronted by two members of the public administering CPR to the fatally injured Mr Lynch. Tragically, he was pronounced dead at the scene. A forensic accident investigator examined the area and conducted various tests which estimated that Lappin had struck the back wheel of the bike while travelling at around 50mph in the 70mph zone. The investigator found there was no evidence that Lappin had tried to brake prior to the impact. The expert said he believed that Lappin would have had a view of Mr Lynch's bike from 62 metres, a distance which he would have covered in 2.8 seconds, the lawyer stated. He added that while street lighting was on, and Mr Lynch had a light on the front of his bicycle, there was no such light on the rear and he was not wearing reflective clothing. The court heard that a passer-by at the scene asked Lappin if he was okay, to which he replied: "I will never be all right, I killed that man." Interviewed about the tragedy, Lappin told police he was blowing his nose at the time of the impact and didn't see Mr Lynch. As Lappin sat in the public gallery appearing to wipe away tears, defence barrister Tom McCreanor conceded "this is a tragic case for the Lynch family", who were seated on the other side of the gallery. With no aggravating features attached to the case, the lawyer submitted "this was literally a matter of seconds in which a moment's inattention has had such tragic consequences". Imposing the Community Service Order as well as a 12-month driving ban, Judge Hamill said the case served as a warning to cyclists to have working lights on their bicycles and to wear reflective clothing, and to all drivers. "Anybody in this court room who is a driver can be guilty of inattention, a moment of carelessness," he said. "Anyone could end up in the same position of Mr Lappin following a few seconds' inattention." He added that Lappin's few seconds of inattention "has had devastating and tragic consequences". The funeral of an "inspirational" teenager who lost a five-year battle with cancer will take place tomorrow. Alexandra Johnston (16) passed away on Thursday in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children surrounded by her family. She had fought Ewing's sarcoma, a rare type of cancer that affects bones or the tissue around bones. The cortege will leave the family home for 2.30pm Requiem Mass at St Columb's Church on Chapel Road in Londonderry, followed by burial at St Patrick's Church Cemetery in Claudy. When diagnosed at the age of 11, Alexandra was given just three months to live, but defied the odds. The Claudy teenager celebrated her 16th birthday on New Year's Day and said she was "overwhelmed" after receiving more than 1,000 cards with messages of support and love from around the world. The Belfast Telegraph had carried a story urging people to send her cards. Appealing for privacy prior to the service at St Columb's, the family asked that donations be made to CLIC Sargent, Bandanas for the Brave and the Children's Cancer Unit. Alexandra is survived by her parents Andre and Karen, sisters Danica and Carly, and brothers Ryan and Callum. In a death notice her grieving family described her as an "inspiration". Her father said: "A lot of you have been on this journey with us for four-and-a-half years and been inspired, laughed and now shed a tear as the most amazing, inspirational, brave and talented young lady is shining amongst the stars tonight. "She has left an indelible mark on many lives, changed lives and enriched people's hearts all over the world." Police at the scene of a shooting in the Whiterock drive area of west Belfast on January 19th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Police at the scene of a shooting in the Whiterock drive area of west Belfast on January 19th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Police at the scene of a shooting in the Whiterock drive area of west Belfast on January 19th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Police at the scene of a shooting in the Whiterock drive area of west Belfast on January 19th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Police at the scene of a shooting in the Whiterock drive area of west Belfast on January 19th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) A 24-year-old man has suffered "serious and potentially life-changing" injuries in a Belfast shooting. Police said a number men in dark clothing entered the house in the Whiterock Drive area of west Belfast on Friday night. They struck a man over the head with a hammer before shooting him in both knees and ankles in a rear yard at around 7.10pm. Two females, aged 17 and 21, who were in the property at the time were left "extremely shaken" at witnessing the incident. Detective Inspector Michael McDonnell said: The victim was taken to hospital for treatment to his injuries, which are serious and potentially life-changing. "This was a brutal and callous attack in a residential area where other residents or passers-by could have been injured. It is yet another example of how criminal groups seek to control communities through fear and violence. I would appeal to anyone with information about this incident, or anyone who may be able to help identify the attackers, to contact Musgrave Criminal Investigation Branch on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference 1189 of 19/1/18. "Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime." Horses struggle through the snow on Divis Mountain outside Belfast The countryside near Omagh is blanketed in snow These beautiful picture postcard scenes from rural Northern Ireland will soon give way to the more traditional damp greens, greys and browns of winter, according to the UK's Met Office. While 28 Northern Ireland schools were closed yesterday due to the adverse weather conditions, Met Office forecaster Rachel Adshead said that this weekend would see an end to the snow - and the return of the rain. The Met Office has warned that the outbreaks of rain are likely to fall onto freezing surfaces following the recent very cold spell. A yellow warning for ice has been put in place from 1am on Sunday January 21 until 9am. "For the last few days it's been really cold with a lot of snow-showers around, with the snow depth reaching almost nine inches in some places," Ms Adshead told the Belfast Telegraph last night. "But the good news is that early on Saturday morning the snow showers will ease away. "That's good news for people who are getting a bit fed up with the snow. "The reason for all the snow", she said, "was a cold airflow fed by west-north-westerly winds. "But as we come into Saturday, the winds will become more south-westerly - and that will bring milder air up and over Northern Ireland. "But unfortunately, that south-westerly wind will also bring thick cloud and rain from Saturday morning." However, this afternoon is shaping up to be not too bad at all, the Met Office expert said. "It will clear up though as the day goes by, and Saturday afternoon looks like it will be fairly dry, with just one or two showers around. "Nothing like as many as we've had recently. There will be lighter winds - and even some sunshine!" But it's very much a case of make the most of it, she warned, because things will turn wet later this evening, and tomorrow starts off on a very damp note with a yellow warning for rain in force, before the weather turns drier in the afternoon. And by tomorrow, temperatures will be quite a bit milder. "Recent daytime temperatures have hovered around 3C, but Sunday could see a temperature high of 10C - a real jump up. "The milder temperatures will bring a thaw and, coupled with the rain, the snow melt may bring localised flooding to some areas of the Province as the surface water pours away." Looking forward into next week, the forecaster said we've seen the last of the Arctic conditions for now. "Things will continue on the mild side," she advised. "There will be a little rain and it will be breezy - but nothing like as cold as it has been over the last few days, she added. A spokesman for the Education Authority said that all schools planned to be open on Monday. A Northern Ireland academic has helped to answer the riddle of the death of more than 200,000 antelopes in the remote grassland of central Asia. Scientists were baffled after the animals suddenly dropped dead in Kazakhstan in 2015. Now it has emerged that the demise of the endangered saiga antelopes was caused by unusual environmental conditions. Professor Eric Morgan from the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's University was part of an international research team that uncovered what happened on the steppe. He said: "These die-offs were devastating to the saiga antelope, and remind us of the need to support the conservation of large and healthy wildlife populations, able to survive such events." Prof Morgan explained the research involved a large international team. He added: "Although assembled around tragic events, it was encouraging to see that collaboration work so well, and to have Queen's play an important role in the investigation of a globally important disease event. "In future, integrated consideration of environment, conservation and farming should become the standard for disease research." The saiga antelope - a cousin to the springbok and gazelle - is on the cusp of extinction. Over a period of just three weeks, entire herds of thousands of the healthy animals died of haemorrhagic septicaemia across the Betpak-Dala region of Kazakhstan - an area that is larger than Britain and Ireland combined. The deaths were caused by Pasteurella multocida bacteria. Researchers found many factors contributed to the extraordinary phenomenon. In particular, climatic conditions such as increased humidity and raised air temperatures in the days before the deaths apparently triggered opportunistic bacterial invasion of the blood stream, causing blood poisoning. The species' recent history suggests that die-offs are occurring more frequently, potentially making the antelopes more vulnerable to extinction. This includes, most recently, losses of 60% of the unique, endemic Mongolian saiga sub-species in 2017 from a virus infection spilling over from livestock. High levels of poaching since the 1990s have also been a major factor in depleting numbers, while increasing levels of infrastructure development - like railways, roads and fences - threaten to fragment their habitat and interfere with their migrations. With all these threats, it is possible that another mass die-off from disease could reduce numbers to a level where recovery is no longer possible. DUP MP Gregory Campbell has said the chances of his party reaching a deal with Sinn Fein when next week's talks process begins "aren't great". Mr Campbell said an Irish Language Act remained the major stumbling block to an agreement to restore power-sharing. While the DUP would discuss "minority languages provision", an Irish Language Act was "out of the question", he added. Alliance leader Naomi Long said she was "realistic, not optimistic" about a deal. The SDLP and the UUP called for details of progress made by the DUP and Sinn Fein in previous negotiations to be released so that work could be built upon. Secretary of State Karen Bradley has called a fresh round of talks to begin on Wednesday. But Mr Campbell last night told the Belfast Telegraph: "The chances of a deal aren't great. "Sinn Fein has dropped its preconditions about entering talks and if that realism is reflected in negotiations next week, then the chances of an agreement will improve but, at the moment, they aren't high." The East Londonderry MP said his party remained opposed to an Irish Language Act. "Whatever about the preconditions and red lines from Sinn Fein, the facts are that of all the minority languages in Northern Ireland, the Irish language is more adequately resourced and better catered for than any other," he said. "Sinn Fein's attempt to elevate the Irish language even further through an Act is something the DUP hasn't and won't agree to. "But if they want to talk about minority languages provision, we are open and amenable to that." Mrs Long said an Irish Language Act and equal marriage had become hugely symbolic issues. "The demand for an Irish Language Act is representative of the demand of wider nationalism that Irishness in Northern Ireland is respected and given its place in the institutions. The demand for equal marriage reflects the desire of people who are different to be treated with respect and fairness," she said. She has contacted Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill "to say the Alliance Party will do everything possible to enhance the chances of a deal being reached". But Mrs Long added: "Any deal must involve clarity on what has been agreed and on the timetables for delivery because there is zero trust right now and previous constructive ambiguity hasn't worked." She repeated her party's call for an independent chair to be appointed. "The Secretary of State hasn't ruled it out, but she said she wanted to give the talks an initial push herself," she said. Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann welcomed the fact that next week's talks would be inclusive. "Having all five parties involved and not just two is a good starting place," he commented. "I hope no party comes to the table with red lines. Red lines have brought only stalemate and stalling." He said the positions of the DUP and Sinn Fein in the last talks should be made public "so we know where they actually got to". UUP MLA Steve Aiken said: "The ball is clearly in Sinn Fein's court as to whether we get the Executive back up and running. "As to what happens if there is no deal, anything is possible, from an election to the suspension of devolution." SDLP deputy leader Nichola Mallon said: "We're told the Irish Language Act is a red line for both the DUP and Sinn Fein but we know from the Governments and the two parties themselves that there was some compromise on the issue and the gap narrowed in the last talks. "If progress is to be made now, we need to be told where they got to then so we can build on that and not repeat the mistakes of the past. It's cards on the table time." The negotiations will kick off with Mrs Bradley and Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney holding bilateral meetings with the parties on Wednesday. President elect and current deputy leader of the Sinn Fein party Mary Lou McDonald addresses supporters at the Balmoral Hotel in Belfast, after she was confirmed as the sole candidate in the race to succeed Sinn Fein party president, Gerry Adams, after he announced his intention to step down as their leader. Niall Carson/PA Wire President elect and current deputy leader of the Sinn Fein party Mary Lou McDonald at the Balmoral Hotel in Belfast, after she was confirmed as the sole candidate in the race to succeed Sinn Fein party president, Gerry Adams, after he announced his intention to step down as their leader. Niall Carson/PA Wire Mary Lou McDonald has been confirmed as the only candidate nominated to take over from outgoing Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams. Dublin Central TD Ms McDonald, the party's current deputy leader, has long been the favourite to succeed the outgoing Sinn Fein president who has held the position since 1983. Read More Gerry Adams announced he would be stepping down as the leader of the party in November of last year at the party's Ard Fheis in Dublin, saying it would be his last as leader. A special Ard Fheis is set to take place on February 10 for the new leader to be confirmed. Ms McDonald was confirmed as the sole nominee for the position following a party meeting in Belfast on Saturday. Speaking in Belfast Ms McDonald said she believes her leadership will mark a defining chapter in the achievement of a United Ireland. She said: "I believe Irish unity is the best solution for all of our people, including our unionist brothers and sisters. I know we have a job to do to convince them of that, but I know we are more than fit for that task." Ms McDonald added: "Some of you have said to me 'you have very big shoes to fill'. "Well, the truth is that no one will ever fill Gerry Adams's shoes. The truth is, my friends, I won't fill Gerry's shoes. But the news is that I brought my own. So I will fill my shoes. "I will walk in my shoes and we together over the coming years will walk a journey that is full of opportunities, full of challenges, but I believe which marks a defining chapter in our achievement of a United Ireland and the ending of partition. "As Gerry has said, that's not a pipe dream, that is the road we are on." Ms McDonald told party members: "I grew up watching Gerry Adams on the telly. "Little was I to know at that time that I would come to know and work so closely with Gerry and the entire leadership and to have him as such a close friend. "But I certainly never would have guessed that come February 10 2018 that I would be the boss of him." Ms McDonald added that Sinn Fein is "probably the most exemplary party when it comes to girl power at this stage in Irish politics". Earlier Mr Adams told members that the party must devise strategies and win support for a referendum on Irish unity. "And we need to campaign for this. We also need to win that referendum... Don't believe the naysayers and begrudgers... who claim that a United Ireland is a pipe dream. "It isn't. It's very real. It's very achievable. We can do it," he added. Introducing the president-elect he said: "Finally, this will be my last speech as Uachtaran Shinn Fein to the Cuige. "Nominations for that position closed yesterday. "So if you didnt get a nomination and wanted this job its too late now. "Please welcome the President elect of our Party Mary Lou MacDonald." Addressing the fresh round of talks aimed at breaking the deadlock at Stormont Mr Adams said there was "no merit" in disengaging. He said: "We have to challenge ourselves and our support base. We also have to challenge unionism. "Whether the upcoming talks succeed or not in the short term, there is no merit in Sinn Fein disengaging from the conversations and dialogue with unionists and others that is necessary in whatever format is appropriate in the time ahead. "Standing still is not an option. We are agents for change and it is up to us to find the ways and means to create more of this positive change. That will benefit all sections of our people. Ahead of nominations closing on Friday Fiachra McGuinness, son of the late Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, endorsed Ms McDonald who has been a TD for Dublin Central since 2011. Before getting elected to the Dail, she was an MEP representing the Dublin constituency becoming Sinn Feins first MEP in the Republic of Ireland in 2004. In a video posted to Twitter he said: "I am proud and honoured to endorse Mary Lou McDonald. "My father worked closely with Mary Lou for many years in the Sinn Fein leadership, and was a huge admirer of her ideas, dedication, and commitment," he said. He said Ms McDonald was the "ideal candidate" to "lead Sinn Fein into the future". Other high-profile party members who have given their backing to Mrs McDonald are MEP Martina Anderson, Wicklow TD John Brady, and former Westminster candidate John Finucane. Mary Lou McDonald is widely expected to take over from Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams unopposed after the deadline for other candidates to put their names forward expired. Sinn Fein last night refused to say if there will be any opposition to Ms McDonald when the party selects its new president at a special ard fheis next month. It is understood the party's ard comhairle is to meet today to finalise preparations for the event. Dublin Central TD Ms McDonald unfailingly defended outgoing leader Gerry Adams during a string of controversies in recent years. Speaking ahead of the party's last ard fheis, she also refused to distance herself from Provisional IRA atrocities. Ms McDonald's judgment was called into question by political opponents following her response to controversy caused by former Sinn Fein MP Barry McElduff's offensive social media post about the Kingsmill massacre. Ms McDonald had criticised Mr McElduff but described the three-month suspension handed down by the party as "appropriate and proportionate". Mr McElduff later resigned. She is set to take over from Mr Adams, after his more than three-decade stint leading Sinn Fein, on February 10. Ms McDonald yesterday shared several social media posts by supporters including some bearing the hashtag "#ShesThe1". Maurice Quinlivan, Donnchadh O Laoghaire, Louise O'Reilly and former IRA member Martin Ferris were among TDs publicly expressing support in recent days. Ms O'Reilly said Ms McDonald was "a strong republican woman to take us forward" and Mr Ferris used a video posted on Twitter to encourage all party members to support her. Fiachra McGuinness, son of the late Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, also endorsed Ms McDonald. In a video posted to Twitter he said: "I am proud and honoured to endorse Mary Lou McDonald. "My father worked closely with Mary Lou for many years in the Sinn Fein leadership, and was a huge admirer of her ideas, dedication, and commitment," he said. He said Mrs McDonald was the "ideal candidate" to "lead Sinn Fein into the future". Other high-profile party members who have given their backing to Mrs McDonald are MEP Martina Anderson, Wicklow TD John Brady, and former Westminster candidate John Finucane. Mike Pence shook hands and posed for photographs with the troops in the airport terminal (Niall Carson/PA) The greeting of American soldiers by US Vice President Mike Pence at Shannon Airport raises questions over Irish neutrality, Sinn Fein has said. Aengus O Snodaigh TD said the meeting highlights the erosion of Irish neutrality. Mr Pence shook hands and posed for photographs with the troops in the airport terminal during a re-fuelling stop by Air Force Two on Saturday morning. The soldiers were on their way to Kuwait. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Mr Pence was travelling to the Middle East with stops in Egypt, Jordan and Israel. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was also at Shannon Airport on Saturday morning to meet officials about the growth in passenger numbers. He did not meet with Mr Pence. It is understood both men were in the airport at different times. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Mr Pence later tweeted about his refuelling stop at Shannon. He said: Honoured to see troops based out of Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado while refueling in Ireland. They are headed to Kuwait for a six-month deployment. Mr O Snodaigh said the incident shows how much Irish neutrality has been undermined by successive Irish governments. That the US vice-president could address US soldiers, supposedly on their way to the Middle East, in the civilian airport in Shannon, shows just how much successive Irish governments have undermined Irish neutrality. These images are a stark reminder that the civilian Shannon Airport has virtually become a forward base for the US army to carry out military operations and exercises, he said. Mr O Snodaigh added: Sinn Fein has always stated that the US militarys use of Shannon Airport makes a mockery of Irish neutrality and the Irish Governments supposed commitment to neutrality. He said he is to raise the issue with the defence minister next week. US vice president Mike Pence has greeted soldiers at Shannon Airport in Ireland hours after the federal government shutdown in America. Mr Pence shook hands and posed for photos with the troops in the airport terminal during a re-fuelling stop by Air Force Two. Mr Pence told some of the troops: Well get this thing figured out in Washington. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference He is told the soldiers to stay focused on your mission. The vice president is travelling to the Middle East with stops in Egypt, Jordan and Israel. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has issued the warning (Johnny Green/PA) British tourists on holiday in the popular Jamaican destination of Montego Bay have been urged to stay in their resorts while the military carries out a crackdown on violent crime. The UK Foreign Office (FCO) warned holidaymakers that intensive law enforcement activities were expected in St James Parish after a state of emergency was declared there on Thursday. Around 200,000 Britons visit Jamaica each year, with many drawn to Montego Bay by its luxury resorts and white sandy beaches, however the surrounding parish has seen a surge in gang-related killing and violence, according to authorities. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference The FCO has said holidaymakers should limit their movements outside their resorts in the area, especially if travelling at night. Travellers arriving and departing were also urged to only use transport booked through their hotels. Jamaica Constabulary Force Police Commissioner George Quallo told the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) that 335 murders were recorded in St James Parish in 2017, almost double other parishes, with numerous gangs operating in the area. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Major General Rocky Meade, Chief of Defence Staff of the Jamaican Defence Force, told the JIS: All citizens of Jamaica, including the violence producers, can feel safe in the hands of the military, as long as you are not threatening the troops. We are ensuring that we enforce the rule of law, that we disrupt gang activities, and the particular focus is on those that are responsible for murders, lotto scamming, trafficking of arms and guns, and extortion. Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said that the crackdown was being undertaken with the support of local tourism industry. Several stakeholders, including those in the tourism industry, have written to me to say that they would support the necessary actions to bring the parish of St James under control and restore public safety, he said. Mr Holness said the government had been planning the operation for some time. The Canadian government has also warned its citizens to stay in their resorts. Anti-Trump protesters outside the new US Embassy in Nine Elms, London (Yui Mok/PA) Anti-Trump protesters descended on the new site of the United States embassy on Saturday afternoon, declaring the US president a racist bigot and calling for Theresa May to cancel her meeting with him at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week. In a demonstration held to mark the first anniversary of Mr Trumps inauguration as US president, around 20 activists from the campaign group Stand up to Racism pushed over a mock wall they had built in front of the embassys recently opened site in Vauxhall, south London. It came a week after Mr Trump publicly cancelled a visit to Britain to open the new site because, he said, it had been sold for peanuts and was built in an off location of London. Bad deal. [They] Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO! Mr Trump wrote on Twitter at the time. Battling heavy rain, protesters chanted Donald Trump go away, racist, sexist, anti-gay, and from Calais to Mexico, all the walls have got to go. Many activists discussed Mr Trumps recent controversial remarks on immigration, when he was reported to have branded Haiti and some African states shithole countries in a White House meeting. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Lewis Nielsen, an activist for Stand up to Racism, led much of the crowds chanting, and later said that Mr Trump will be met by the biggest demonstration in British history if he comes to the UK. Today marks a year since Trump came to office, said Mr Nielsen, 24. In that year, hes proved himself to be a racist, sexist bigot. Hes tried to bring in a Muslim ban, hes called the whole of Africa a shithole, he wants to build a wall in Mexico. Its incredibly important we oppose his racism. If a state visit is arranged it will be a huge mistake for the Government, because the city and the country would be shut down by some of the biggest protests. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Michael Bradley, 50, who works for Stand up to Racism, said: The mans completely unacceptable and its pushing politics beyond what is acceptable. We think hes a racist and we think the reason he didnt come to Britain is he knows there would have been millions of people out on the streets. If he came to Britain, it would be absolutely unimaginable, the level of protest at every level of British society. The demonstration came on the same day that the US federal government plunged into a shutdown after the Senate could not agree on a new budget. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Affecting hundreds of thousands of federal workers, the shutdown is the first in US history to occur while the same party the Republicans controls both Congress and the White House. Activist Ben Studd, 37, added that a Trump visit to London would whip up anti-Muslim prejudice and endanger British Muslims. Every time somebody in the media makes Islamophobic comments, every time theres a terrorist attack, people are attacked in the streets, he said. Expand Close Anti-Trump protesters outside the new US Embassy in Nine Elms, London (Yui Mok/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Anti-Trump protesters outside the new US Embassy in Nine Elms, London (Yui Mok/PA) Saturdays demonstration was one of a number of anti-Trump protests held in Britain since he was elected president in November 2016. In January 2017 thousands took to the streets of London and other British cities to take part in the Womens March. Later that month, thousands of protesters in London, Glasgow, Newcastle, Birmingham, and other cities marched on the streets to protest against Mr Trumps controversial executive order that imposed a 90-day ban on residents from seven Muslim-majority nations. The Missoula Fine Art Studio, an atelier providing classical art classes, opens its doors on Saturday, Jan. 20. The studio, located at 1205 Defoe St. No. 1 on Missoula's Westside, offers weekend drawing and painting lessons in a dedicated drawing room with controlled light, easels, storage and a lounge area, as well as workshops and open figure drawing sessions. The classes focus on the human figure and drawing from life. The studio's method is based on 19th century painting and drawing practices. This training provides a solid foundation that allows artists to apply their skills to their personal work. The classes are open to every skill level and can be taken in sequence to progress from absolute beginner to advanced. On Saturday, the studio will have its grand opening, with discounts and a free art class raffle with more than $250 worth of classes to be won, no purchase necessary. From 4 to 6 p.m. the Benevolent Linden will play on the Studio's model stand, followed by John Kratz, while artwork by the studio's founders, Terra Chapman and Maurilio Milone, will be on display. The studio was founded by Chapman and Milone, two classically trained painters who recently moved to Missoula from Europe. Since their arrival in August, they have taught a figure class at MAM, exhibited a duo show at Gallery 709 at Montana Art and Framing, and participated in Radius Gallery's holiday show. For more information, go to missoulafineartstudio.com. Theresa May and Donald Trump will meet for talks at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, Downing Street said. The Prime Minister and the US President will hold a bilateral meeting on the margins of the Swiss summit due to be attended by leaders including India PM Narendra Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. The White House and Downing Street made the announcement just a day after reports Mr Trump would snub the PM at the gathering. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference The presidents press secretary, Sarah Sanders, tweeted that Mr Trump was looking forward to the meeting that would further strengthen the US-UK Special Relationship. Mr Trump celebrates his first full year in office on Saturday and is expected to mark the occasion with a gala dinner, while protests are planned in several cities. In London a demonstration by Stand Up To Racism is due to be held outside the new US Embassy in Nine Elms, south London. Expand Close The new US Embassy opened this month (John Stillwell/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The new US Embassy opened this month (John Stillwell/PA) Earlier this month Mr Trump scrapped a February visit to the UK when he was expected to open the building. The president blamed the cost of the new embassy and its location south of the River Thames, saying it was a bad deal. His cancellation prompted media speculation that reasons for the snub included that Mr Trump had been offended by perceived slights against him by UK public figures. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson accused London Mayor Sadiq Khan of endangering the so-called special relationship after he said president had got the message from Londoners and would have been met by mass peaceful protests if he went ahead with the visit. The president has endured a turbulent relationship with Mrs May since taking office, with the Prime Minister publicly criticising statements he has made on Muslims, terrorism and climate change. In November the pair fell out spectacularly over his retweeting of anti-Muslim videos posted online by the deputy leader of the far-right Britain First group, Jayda Fransen. Their meeting this week will be the first time they have seen each other in person since the row. A Number 10 spokesman said: The Prime Minister will have a bilateral meeting with President Trump in the margins of the World Economic Forum at Davos in Switzerland next week. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Mr Trump is thought likely to use his appearance to promote his America First strategy at an event associated with the rise of globalisation. The event takes place at the upmarket ski-resort Davos between January 23 and 26, with business leaders, politicians and representatives from non-government organisations among those attending. Mr Trump will be the first sitting US president to attend the summit in person since Bill Clinton in 2000. The Popes top adviser on clerical sex abuse has implicitly rebuked the pontiff over his accusations of slander against Chilean abuse victims, saying that Francis words were a source of great pain for survivors of sexual abuse. Cardinal Sean OMalley, the archbishop of Boston, said he could not explain why Francis chose the particular words he used. In an extraordinary effort at damage control, Cardinal OMalley insisted that Francis fully recognises the egregious failures of the church and its clergy who abused children and the devastating impact those crimes have had on survivors and their loved ones. Expand Close The Pope's tour of the region is continuing in Peru (AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Pope's tour of the region is continuing in Peru (AP) Francis sparked national uproar upon leaving Chile on Thursday by accusing victims of the countrys most notorious paedophile priest of having slandered another bishop, Juan Barros. The victims say Bishop Barros knew about the abuse but did nothing to stop it a charge which the bishop denies. The day they bring me proof against Bishop Barros, Ill speak, Francis told Chilean journalists in the northern city of Iquique. There is not one shred of proof against him. Its all calumny. Is that clear? The remarks shocked Chileans, drew immediate rebuke from victims and their advocates and once again raised questions over the 81-year-old Argentine Jesuits stance on the issue. Expand Close Pope Francis celebrates a seaside Mass on Huanchaco Beach (AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Pope Francis celebrates a seaside Mass on Huanchaco Beach (AP) The scandal over the crimes of the Rev Fernando Karadima has devastated the credibility of the Roman Catholic Church in Chile, and Francis comments will likely haunt it for the foreseeable future. Cardinal OMalleys carefully-worded critique was remarkable since it is rare for a cardinal to publicly rebuke the Pope in such terms. But Francis remarks were so potentially toxic to the Vaticans efforts to turn the tide on decades of clerical sex abuse and cover-up that he clearly felt he had to respond. Cardinal OMalley headed Francis much-touted committee for the protection of minors until it lapsed last month after its initial three-year mandate expired. Francis has not named new members, and the committees future remains unclear. Countering Chinas rapidly expanding military and an increasingly aggressive Russia are now the US militarys top national security priorities. US defence secretary James Mattis said competition with those adversaries has threatened Americas military advantage around the world and has overtaken the threat of terrorism. Laying out a broad new strategy for the Defence Department, Mr Mattis warned that all aspects of the militarys competitive war fighting edge have eroded. He said building a force that can deter war with established and emerging military powers in Moscow and Beijing, and US enemies such as North Korea and Iran will require increased investment to make the military more lethal, agile and ready to fight. We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists that we are engaged in today, but great power competition not terrorism is now the primary focus of US national security, he said in remarks at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Mr Mattis said the Islamic State groups physical caliphate in Iraq and Syria had been defeated, but that IS, al Qaida and other extremists still pose threats across the globe. He repeated his call for America to work closely with allies and partners an approach that aligns more closely with previous administrations than US President Donald Trumps America First ideas. That mantra was repeated in a national security strategy that Mr Trumps administration released in December. The US and its allies, Mr Mattis said, are stronger together. He recalled going to his first NATO meeting last year, carrying Mr Trumps demand for nations to increase their defence spending and thinking about how to fit Mr Trumps message into the broader framework of working with partners. When he got to Brussels, Mr Mattis said he told the alliance: Heres the bottom line: Please do not ask me to go back and tell Americans the American parents that they need to care more about the safety and security and the freedom of your children than youre willing to care for, than youre willing to sacrifice for. Were all going to have to put our shoulder to the wagon and move it up the hill. Expand Close (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) The most dominant theme in his strategy is for the US to regain its competitive edge with China and Russia, according to an 11-page, unclassified version released by the Pentagon. That shift reflects persistent US worries about Chinas military buildup in the South China Sea, its moves to expand its political and economic influence, and what has been described as Beijings systematic campaign of cyber attacks and data theft from government agencies and private US corporations. The shift also underscores broad American concerns about Russia, given Moscows takeover of Ukrainian territory, involvement in Syrias war and alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. Weve been doing a lot of things in the last 25 years, and weve been focused on really other problems and this strategy really represents a fundamental shift to say, look, we have to get back, in a sense, to basics of the potential for war, said Elbridge Colby, the deputy assistant defence secretary for strategy. This strategy says the focus will be on prioritising preparedness for war and particularly major power war. US President Donald Trump failed to reach an agreement with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer after the pair met in a last-ditch bid to avert a government shutdown. The two New Yorkers met as a bitterly divided Washington is locked in a stalemate over federal spending and legislation to protect some 700,000 younger immigrants from deportation. Both men, who pride themselves on their deal-making abilities, emerged from the meeting at the White House without an agreement, and Republicans and Democrats in Congress continued to trade blame as the midnight deadline approached. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements, Mr Schumer told reporters upon returning to Capitol Hill. As news of the meeting spread, the White House sought to reassure Republican congressional leaders that Mr Trump would not make any major policy concessions. Senate Republican leader John Cornyn of Texas said Mr Trump told Mr Schumer to work things out with Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan. The ball is in Senator Schumers court, Mr Cornyn said. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Democrats in the Senate have served notice they will filibuster a four-week, government-wide funding bill that cleared the House on Thursday evening. That could expose them to charges that they are responsible for a shutdown, but they point the finger at Republicans instead. Theyre in charge, Mr Schumer said on Friday as he entered his Capitol office. Theyre not talking to us. Theyre totally paralysed and inept. Theres no one to negotiate with. Republicans controlling the narrowly split chamber argue that it is the Democrats who are holding the government hostage over demands to protect dreamer immigrants brought to the country as children and now here illegally. And the White House tried to paint the impending action as the Schumer shutdown. The White House said Mr Trump would not leave for a planned weekend trip to Florida if there was no agreement. The president had been set to leave on Friday afternoon to attend a fundraiser at his Palm Beach estate marking the one-year anniversary of his inauguration. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference The impact of the potential shutdown on the planned trip by Mr Trump and much of his Cabinet to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week was still undetermined. Mr Trump entered the fray early on Friday morning, mentioning the House-approved bill on Twitter, adding: Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018! Mr Trump has given Congress until March 5 to save the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program protecting young immigrants, so there is absolutely no reason to tie those things together right now, budget director Mick Mulvaney said at the White House. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference On Capitol Hill, Mr McConnell said he hoped to vote on the House-passed bill soon, and said Americans at home would be watching to see which senators make the patriotic decision and which vote to shove aside veterans, military families and vulnerable children to hold the entire country hostage until we pass an immigration bill. A Senate Republican aide said Mr McConnell was not attending the White House meeting because Mr Trump had only issued the invitation to Mr Schumer. In the House, Republicans muscled the measure through on a mostly party-line 230-197 vote after making modest concessions to chamber conservatives and defence hawks. The chamber backed away from a plan to adjourn for a one-week recess Friday afternoon, meaning the Republican-controlled House could wait to see if a last-minute compromise would be reached requiring a new vote. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference A test vote on a filibuster by Senate Democrats appeared likely before the shutdown deadline. Mr Schumer was rebuffed in an attempt to vote on Thursday night. We cant keep kicking the can down the road, said Mr Schumer, insisting on more urgency in talks on immigration. In another month, well be right back here, at this moment, with the same web of problems at our feet, in no better position to solve them. The short-term measure would be the fourth stopgap spending bill since the current budget year started in October. A pile of unfinished Capitol Hill business has been on hold, first as Republicans ironed out last autumns tax bill and now as Democrats insist on progress on immigration. Talks on a budget deal to ease tight spending limits on both the Pentagon and domestic agencies are on hold, as is progress on a huge 80 billion dollar-plus disaster aid bill. House Republican leaders sweetened the pending stopgap measure with legislation to extend for six years a popular health care programme for children from low-income families and two-year delays in unpopular Obamacare taxes on medical devices and generous employer-provided health plans. AP ein Google-Unternehmen Google-Dienste anzubieten und zu betreiben Ausfalle zu prufen und Manahmen gegen Spam, Betrug und Missbrauch zu ergreifen Daten zu Zielgruppeninteraktionen und Websitestatistiken zu erheben. Mit den gewonnenen Informationen mochten wir verstehen, wie unsere Dienste verwendet werden, und die Qualitat dieser Dienste verbessern. neue Dienste zu entwickeln und zu verbessern Werbung auszuliefern und ihre Wirkung zu messen personalisierte Inhalte anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen personalisierte Werbung anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen Wenn Sie Alle ablehnen auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies nicht fur diese zusatzlichen Zwecke. Nicht personalisierte Inhalte und Werbung werden u. a. von Inhalten, die Sie sich gerade ansehen, und Ihrem Standort beeinflusst (welche Werbung Sie sehen, basiert auf Ihrem ungefahren Standort). Personalisierte Inhalte und Werbung konnen auch Videoempfehlungen, eine individuelle YouTube-Startseite und individuelle Werbung enthalten, die auf fruheren Aktivitaten wie auf YouTube angesehenen Videos und Suchanfragen auf YouTube beruhen. Sofern relevant, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auerdem, um Inhalte und Werbung altersgerecht zu gestalten. Wir verwenden Cookies und Daten, umWenn Sie Alle akzeptieren auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auch, umWahlen Sie Weitere Optionen aus, um sich zusatzliche Informationen anzusehen, einschlielich Details zum Verwalten Ihrer Datenschutzeinstellungen. Sie konnen auch jederzeit g.co/privacytools besuchen. Love Story: When Love Is In The Air Love And Romance oi-Lekhaka Usually, we see that for any love story to take shape, it takes ages. The process is a slow and cumbersome one. However, one must remember that it is not always the case all the time. There are times when the arrow of Cupid strikes all of a sudden. May be, that is what is known as 'love at first sight'. In such cases, sometimes you just know that the other person is 'just right' for you. At times like that, there is no point of waiting and one can jump into the holy matrimony of marriage with utmost confidence. That is exactly what Arun did with his lady love Smriti, thereby giving their love story a new flight. Read on to know more about their fairytale love story, the one where Cupid's arrow struck over 10,000 feet above the sea level. The Girl With The Dream To Fly Since her teenage days, Smriti was that beautiful girl that everyone would want to talk to. Every month she would get a dozen proposals from wannabe boyfriends. As she grew older, these proposals took the form of marriage proposals and Smriti's mother found she flooded with suitors for her beloved daughter. But Smriti wanted something else for herself. When Dreams Need To Be Realized It was her firm focus and belief in her abilities that made her take up a course in air hostess training after her class 12th board exams. After graduating, she landed herself a job in one of the most reputed airlines of the country. She was finally living the life she had dreamt of since childhood. At that point, her career was her first and only priority. The Man Who Dared To Dream Arun was born in a lower middle class Tamil household. Coming from such a background and dreaming of an IIT was no child's play. But Arun was determined to make it happen. That is why when he did not clear the IIT JEE in the first attempt, Arun did not lose hope. Instead, he wholeheartedly prepared for the exam again and came out with flying colours. The Next Step Following his engineering in Electronics & Communication from IIT Delhi, Arun was working with a Bangalore based multinational company. Working in an MNC meant that he had to go for frequent travels. Arun was in love with this life of his. A Meeting By Chance It was during one such business travel that Arun met Smriti in the executive cabin of a flight. Smriti was doing her job as an airhostess and Arun was one of her privilege class travelers. That is why she was going out of her way to ensure that Arun would be satisfied with her services. After all, she was well aware that a good feedback by him would do her a world of good. When Love Is In The Air Smitten by Smiriti's beauty and exceptional professional service, it was love at first sight for Arun. Being a handsome hunk of his college days, he was prompt to cast a lasting first impression on his crush and get her number before the flight touched down at the destination airport. As The Love Blossoms Soon texts turned into late-night conversations and Smiriti and Arun got closer to each other. Thus, when Arun finally asked Smiriti's hand for marriage, it was obvious that things were all happy and gay. It was a good thing for the couple that there was not much of a resistance from either of the families and they were able to exchange vows and settle in a lifetime of marital bliss. GET THE BEST BOLDSKY STORIES! Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, January 20, 2018, 13:21 [IST] A woman who was one of the few Italian children to survive deportation to a Nazi death camp has been made a senator-for-life in Italy. President Sergio Mattarella's office said on Friday that he chose Liliana Segre for the honour because she had made the nation proud with her social commitment. Italy is marking 80 years since Fascist-era laws discriminating against Jews came into effect. Segre and her family went into hiding after the 1938 law was introduced. They were arrested in 1943 and put on to trains departing from Milan's central station toward Nazi-run deportation camps. Only 25 of 775 Italian children survived the Nazi death camps. For decades, Segre, 87, appeared reluctant to discuss her experiences in Auschwitz, Corriere della Sera newspaper said. But in the 1990s, she began speaking to schoolchildren throughout Italy about the Holocaust. Segre said she was just an ordinary woman, and being chosen for the honour caught her by complete surprise. "I cannot assign myself other importance, other than that of being a herald, a person who recounts what she has witnessed," the Ansa news agency quoted her as saying. "I feel like any other woman, a grandmother, and I never thought about this. Knowing I'll be among senators-for-life is an honour and a great responsibility," she added. "Liliana Segre's life is testimony to freedom," prime minister Paolo Gentiloni said in a tweet. "As a senator she will point out the value of memory. A precious decision 80 years after the racial laws." Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime introduced the laws targeting Italy's tiny Jewish minority, forcing them out of institutions such as schools and discriminating against them economically. When German troops occupied Italy during the Second World War, many of Italy's Jews were rounded up in Rome and elsewhere for deportation to Nazi-run death camps. Senators-for-life vote in Parliament's upper chamber along with ordinary senators. Considered role models because of their achievements, they have included figures from politics, business, the arts and science. Turkish jets have begun an aerial offensive against the Syrian Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin in north-western Syria, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said. "As of this moment our brave Armed Forces have started the aerial offensive to eliminate the PYD and PKK and Daesh elements in Afrin," he said at a speech in the city of Bilecik, referring to the Kurdish Democratic Union Party and the Kurdistan Workers Party respectively, and using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. The tear in the 12-centimetre-thick Basslink cable that sent Tasmania into an electricity emergency. Snowy and Tassie Back in April, just weeks after his first helicopter fly-by to promote a giant pumped storage plan for Snowy Hydro, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull journeyed to Launceston to promote the merits of a similar scheme for Tasmania. As with Snowy 2.0, Turnbull spruiked a plan with the eager support of Liberal Premier Will Hodgman to tap Tasmania's network of dams to bolster the reliability of the national electricity grid to take much more solar and wind energy. Both plans would recycle hydro flows by linking reservoirs. Pumped hydro uses excess electricity at times of low demand to pump water up to a higher site where it is stored until periods of high demand, when it is released to flow back down through hydro generators. Both were billed as providing enough electricity for 500,000 homes. In Snowy's case, the expected capacity would be 2000 megawatts of generation, while Hydro Tasmania would have 2500-MW of pumped storage. And both would carry hefty price tags although meaningful comparisons are impossible on the scant detail available so far. Snowy Hydro released its first stab at a price estimate late last year, revealing a base cost of $3.8-$4.5 billion, a sum excluding the cost of extra transmission, financing and other imposts. Hurdles Sceptics, such Bruce Mountain, note the absence of economic analysis in the information released to date about the Snowy proposal, and consider its costs could double the stated range to exceed $7 billion, making it "inconceivable" it could be viable. More details about the Tasmanian alternative will be revealed next month when Hydro Tasmania unveils a short list of about 15 prospective pumped storage sites along the north-west and west coasts. An "indicative" price for the venture is $5 billion, which includes the additional interconnection and transmission costs. An added appeal for Tasmania is that its Nation plan would also unlock as much as 2700 megawatts for private wind farms that would dwarf the 300 MW of turbines currently on the island. "It's early days, but the outlook is very promising for pumped hydro storage," Chris Gwynne, Hydro Tasmania's director for the program, says. "We're certainly confident there's at least 2500 MW of reliable and cost-effective pumped hydro potential in Tasmania." Advocates for the Tasmanian plan are careful not to court trouble from the Turnbull government, which has been more aggressively promoting the Snowy alternative. "Snowy 2.0 and the expansion of the Tas Hydro are distinct projects, with different proponents, proceeding on different timelines," Frydenberg, the federal environment and energy minister, says. "Any decision to proceed with these specific projects will be taken by the companies responsible for their development," he says. "It is important to remember that Snowy Hydro has stated that Snowy 2.0 is both technically and financially viable, and can be funded off the company's own balance sheet." Tasmania's advantage Work by consultants EY for Hydro Tasmania, expected to be released next month, is understood to reveal a range of "market options". One attraction of the Tasmanian scheme is that, unlike Snowy 2.0, it wouldn't require one monster project that would bear huge risk. "You don't have to sign your grandmother away in one go to get the benefits," Gwynne says. "We've got a whole bunch of sites we think are really, really cost competitive in terms of development," he says. "The tunnels that we need to build aren't that long." Hydro Tasmania actually operates five separate hydro schemes. The shortlisted pumped hydro sites pared down from a list of a couple of thousand include linking existing reservoirs that are not currently connected, and creating small new ones. None would affect World Heritage or other environmentally sensitive areas, Hydro Tasmania says, hoping to avoid any revival of the battles over new dams up to the 1980s. "The vast majority of sites would need less than two kilometres of tunnel," Rowan Dix, a spokesman for the corporation says, addressing a costly and potentially the most challenging component of any pumped storage scheme. By contrast, as Fairfax Media reported this week, Snowy 2.0 will have to find a home to dump a huge amount of rock some 2600 Olympic-sized swimming pools' worth produced by boring though 27 kilometres of rock to link the existing Tantangara and Talbingo reservoirs. All within a national park. Connection challenge Anton Rohner, chief executive officer of UPC Renewables, sees the Nation plan as "very much a staged development", with the potential for individual projects to be added as needed. "It's not like Snowy, which is one single project that needs to assessed on its merits," he says. US-based UPC hopes to develop an $850 million, 450-500 MW wind farm at Robbins Island on Tasmania's blustery north-west coast even with the existing single-cable connection with mainland Australia. Further wind farms or other renewable energy projects after that, however, would need a second, preferably larger cable under Bass Strait, Rohner says.. "We're expecting a second interconnector to be built by 2022, or in that zone." Hydro Tasmania also concedes its pumped hydro plans will need one perhaps more interconnectors with the mainland. "The interconnection story is really a critical part of the Nation," Gwynne says. Andrew Blakers, the Australian National University engineering professor whose team identified some 5000 suitable pumped storage sites around the country, agrees "nothing much will happen in Tasmania without one or two new interconnectors". Even with more advanced technology than the 12 year-old existing cable which has had its capacity capped to reduce the risk of another failure the bill for a new one may exceed $1 billion. That cost is among the obstacles Hydro Tasmania's plans will have to clear. "They're up against thousands of [pumped hydro] sites in NSW and Victoria for which the transmission is easy," Blakers says. 'Marginal' Victoria's Minister for Energy, Lily D'Ambrosio, says a second interconnector "would be an advantage for wind developers in Tasmania" more than those in her state. Still, the Victorian government has held discussions about one with Tasmania, and is "open to considering any proposal provided it's cost effective" and in the interests of her state's consumers. "The current infrastructure is clearly insufficient during extreme weather events," D'Ambrosio says, adding the grid needs to be "fit for modern expectations", including enabling a transition away from fossil fuels. Phil Bayley, an energy consultant with Value Adviser Associates who has advised the Hodgman government, also doubts the viability of a second connection, pointing to a feasibility study by John Tamblyn, released last April for the federal government. "It essentially said the project was quite marginal and relied on the impacts of the national market, including the development of another interconnector into South Australia from NSW or Victoria," Bayley says. "It's not clear to me what has changed." Another issue would be competition for use of the new cable should another one built. "The moment somebody builds a cable, the wind farm developers will rapidly saturate it," Blaker says. 'Getting the jump' Still, smaller pumped hydro ventures that get going early could meet market needs faster than a potentially decade-long project such as Snowy 2.0. Says Blakers: "It really boils down to who goes first and gets the jump on other people in order to saturate the market for the next few years. They are arguably the ultimate villain of the Middle Ages and stand accused of killing up to 200 million people in the Black Death. However, a new study has found that parasites carried by rats were probably not behind the outbreak of plague in Europe and blames dirty humans. It had long been thought that the Black Death was transmitted by fleas on the rats that arrived aboard trading ships. The Black Death, one of the worst pandemics in history, devastated European populations between 1346 and 1353 and was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. It has long been thought that it was transmitted by fleas on the rats that arrived aboard trading ships. But now scientists at the University of Oslo and the University of Ferrara believe that "ectoparasites", such as body lice and fleas carried by people, are more likely to be the guilty party. As Queenslands high-security prisons edge towards 125 per cent capacity and dozens of prisoners are assaulted every month, the government has stood by its $200 million plan to fix the jails. The opposition accused Labor of having no plan to tackle the issues in the state's "fight club" correctional centres, but the government hit back by outlining a detailed strategy they claimed they were continuing to roll out. An extra 270 prisoners were added to Queensland jails between September 2017 and January 2018 alone. Credit:Greg Henderson Queensland Corrective Services Commissioner Peter Martin admitted prison overcrowding, which has been blamed for a bikie brawl and officer bashings, was the greatest problem he faced. He also said he had visited every Queensland correctional centre, despite only being in the job for two months, and was working with the government, police and the courts to tackle these issues. Bain family: David (left), Alexander, Deb, Katherine and Georgia at their Stockyard Hill farm. The only son, Alexander, 21 is studying architecture. Credit:Joe Armao "It makes the gender wage gap look pretty trivial in comparison," Blumson says. "Essentially, sons get the farm, which can be worth millions of dollars, whereas girls tend to just get whatever assets are left over when the parents die." Katherine Bain says her earliest memories are driving around the Stockyard Hill farm with her father and grandfather checking the sheep. Credit:Joe Armao Blumson, herself from a farming family, says most farmers are likely to sell up if they have a daughter. As part of her research, Blumson conducted interviews and an anonymous online survey asking farmers' daughters to talk about their family's inheritance. She says one of the hardest things was getting women to participate. Few women were willing to speak to The Age about their experience. None would do so on the record. Blumson says family loyalty often stops women from talking about the gender imbalance. "Women are conditioned to accept things the way they are and not to speak out," she says. "And also speaking out would require them to acknowledge that they have been treated unfairly." Blumson says a lot of the women did not see their family's arrangement as being unfair. "They believe all the things: that it is important to keep the farm in the family; 'Oh, yes! It is right that it should go to the son'," she says. "There were quite a few cases where women did inherit some land, but only small portions. But in the majority of cases there was still a massive disparity, some pretty shocking treatment towards the girls." Most of the farmers and industry experts said things were changing, with more women returning to the farm. But Blumson says if there is change, it is slow. "From the data, there is really no significant change from in the generation since I was born [in 1961]," she says. "The young women that I spoke to were around 30, and none of them were given the option of staying on the farm." Photos all in a row The minute Rachel's younger brother was born, she knew the family's farm in Western Australia would go to him. "The importance of his being a son was not lost on us," Rachel says. "There were photos taken of the great-grandfather, grandfather, father and the son all in a row." Rachel did get a small share of the family land - 1 per cent of the 4000 hectares - but only after she married a farmer's son. With further help from her in-laws the couple are now running their own farm. "If I didn't have a farming husband, I would not have been considered for this assistance," she says. However, some things are changing, with more women taking up agriculture studies. Longerenong College or Longy is a historic agriculture institute in Victoria. It was opened in 1889 in the Wimmera region, about 14 kilometres north-east of Horsham, for the sons of farmers. And there it has stood, teaching generation after generation everything from agribusiness to wool classing. On its website there is a sepia-coloured photo, dated 1935, showing four men leaning against a dusty pick-up truck in front of the college's main building. Another man is in the driving seat. In 1972, Longy became one of the first agricultural colleges to accept female students. General manager and former student John Goldsmith says when he was studying in the '80s, the ratio was five men to one woman. Now it is an even split. In 2015 and 2016, the college had more full-time women students than men. "Technology has really changed farming," Goldsmith says. "There is certainly less requirement in terms of physical capabilities. It is very business-focused. It is just a very different world now." Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke says inheritance practices can vary depending on the type of farm. "It's very hard to generalise," Jochinke says. "Probably on the small farms you will see the skew towards the men, on the larger farm that's not even a consideration. "They are multi-faceted and now enable the different divisions of the farm to be run by different siblings." And he says there is more change ahead. "As a majority, as a rule, probably sons are looked on to take over the farm," Jochinke says. "However, as a percentage, females are coming through the ranks in droves." A question of legacy Margaret Willett is a lawyer who specialises in succession planning, which she says ensures the next generation can continue to farm effectively and be prosperous. In her practice of more than 20 years, the biggest shift has been the price of land. "The value of farming land has increased so significantly as to raise the question for many non-farmers, 'why does the farmer get such a large inheritance and we don't?'" Willett says. "Because most farming families tend to put everything they have into their farm to support the business and to build their wealth." She says it comes down to the survival of the farm. "Many of the farmers feel they are custodians of the land and it must be passed as a whole to the next generation of farmer," Willett says. "I don't believe you can be in farming today and leave an equal inheritance for each of your children when you have only got one farming child, unless you have been very fortunate and been able to develop and produce a significant off-farm asset portfolio." Usually, by the time a family contacts her, they have already identified which child will take over the farm and it is usually a son. "If there was a daughter in the family, she was probably directed or assisted in some way to find another path," she says. "My experience is that usually there is one child in the family who is given the opportunity or is perhaps more suited." Willett says the question is if daughters are actively encouraged to take up farming or even told that it is an option. "Is there opportunity for young women today to put their hand up and say 'I want to be a farmer', and is it received within individual families in a positive way?" she asks. Linda, who is in her mid-30s and has two younger brothers, says she was included in succession planning but "when push came to shove" she didn't get the farm. "When I took a year off [after school] [dad] wasn't encouraging of me to come back and work on the farm," Linda says. "[My brothers] were encouraged 100 per cent." Though Linda says she didn't really want to work on the land herself, she was interested in running it in collaboration with someone. "I wanted to be involved but I had no experience in farming, I was never trained up in agriculture," she says. "At a young age we all went out, we did the sheep work, but come harvest time we went and worked on CBH (sampling or weighing grains off the farm) and the boys worked on the headers and feeders (harvesting the crop on the farm). There was definitely a difference in boys and girls." Linda eventually married a man who is working on a farm. But when neither of the two brothers wanted to return, her parents wouldn't consider the couple. "When push came to shove and the boys turned around and said 'we are not coming back and we have got another career' and I said 'I want to move back and I am in a relationship with someone who is involved in agriculture', it wasn't investigated further it was just: 'well, no'." The farm is now on the market. "The thing with farming is yes, it is a business it's the family home and you'd love it to go to the next generation and obviously your parents have an ideal plan for one of the boys to come back and take over the farm," Linda says. "If one of my [brothers] had chosen to be in agriculture and farming, they would be on the farm now." Katrina Sasse is researching "the way forward for daughters" as part of a Nuffield Australia Farming Scholarship. She is investigating how to encourage, in particular, farmers' daughters to play a role in the continuity and survival of family farm businesses. She says while gender roles are still rigid and it remains a taboo subject, it is the next generation of farmers - men aged between 30 to 45 years - who will be the game-changers. "They are the ones that will really radically change the way that we perceive farming," Sasse says. "Because they are bringing their daughters out in the paddock; these daughters are on the tractors with them all the time, they are under their wings." She says one of the barriers to females coming on the farm is the limited number of women in high-level positions. Sasse says there is a need to raise awareness and create pathways for women from an early age. "Having that discussion earlier on when you are going through the succession plan; making the daughters aware that it is a possibility for them and to encourage them, rather than let things go unsaid and assume that the son is going to take over," she says. "The daughter has to speak up their parents have to be on board with that family decision, and they have to believe it's possible." Back on the land, Katherine Bain stands surrounded by a "mob" of about 1000 sheep. The sixth-generation farmer is working alongside her father, David, penning the family's merino stock. With a loud clap and a shout, she pushes the animals to walk through a foot bath. It's a treatment for foot rot, something Bain says is a recurring problem in the wet region of Victoria's Pyrenees. Now and then her father offers advice, but despite her young age, it is clear she is no novice. "I have grown up on the farm my whole life," Bain says. "Helping out dad on the farm and just running around after him, being a shadow for the last 20 years." Her role grew from being the main gate-opener for her father to helping him muster sheep and move them around. Her father says passion, not gender, will be the deciding factor in who takes over the running of the farm. "Katherine was always interested in being outdoors," he says. "She always had a good eye for livestock, she could pick up a sick sheep in a mob. "She has always been one-track-minded. She wanted to do something in agriculture even when she was quite young. Which path she takes now is up to her." When Bain finishes her Bachelor of Business in Agribusiness at the end of this year, she will also have a grounding in finance and marketing. "Every farm is a business," she says. "Learning ... the ins and outs of business is vital." Her younger brother, Alexander, 21, is studying architecture. Though there is no succession plan in place yet, Bain says it has always been clear which of the two siblings is more interested in farming. The racism broke out during a heated game of foursquare in the schoolyard. Wol Dut, who was then 18 years old, had just lost. African Australian Wol Dut: "I feel like we get looked at as a problem and are judged by our cover." Credit:Jason South "Get out you f---ing black c---," his classmate yelled. This was one of many racist incidents that the South Sudanese refugee endured during the eight years he spent in three Victorian state and Catholic schools. "It made me feel like I didn't belong," he said. A man has died after a head on collision on the North West Coastal Highway in WA's Pilbara. Police said the crash near Mount Anketell happened at 5.57am on Saturday morning when a white 2017 model Toyota Hilux travelling west collided head-on with a red 1998 model Ford Explorer that was travelling east. Witnesses are urged to call crimestoppers. Credit:Erin Jonasson The 39-year-old male driver of the Ford was badly injured and died at the scene. A 34-year-old woman driving the Toyota was taken to Karratha Hospital by ambulance for treatment to non-life threatening injuries. Dwelling on the African background of youth offenders misrepresents the African communities in Australia, and taps into older prejudices about Africa The recent debate over youth crime in Melbourne has centred, in part, on how best to describe and label it. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said "of course it's African gang violence". The Australian showed it had no doubts on January 6, leading its front page with "African Gang's Reign of Fear". Others have addressed the question of whether these are really "gangs", how serious the violence is, and whether youths of African ancestry really are worse perpetrators than others. My concern is the way in which the Africanness of these youths is dwelt on as a critical and defining factor, this affecting African-Australians in general, some suffering insults and hostility simply by virtue of having an African appearance. An official plan to protect the nation's animals and plants has been denounced by critics as a "global embarrassment" as a federal government adviser warns that future generations of Australians may never know a world rich in nature. It comes amid figures showing 134 species have been classed as threatened in the seven years since Australia's last plan to protect biodiversity was released, including the Cape York rock wallaby, the Australian fairy tern and the blue star sun orchid. The ever-growing list points to a disastrous failure by successive state and federal governments to reverse the crisis in species loss. Australia has one of the world's worst extinction records and a national State of the Environment report last year declared biodiversity which includes plant and animal species, habitats and ecological communities was worsening. The survey, Social Attitudes Research for India, was conducted by the University of Texas at Austin, the Research Institute for Compassionate Economics, and Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. Neha Kumar has some high caste friends her age but says their traditional parents still tend to keep a distance Credit:Amrit Dhillon One of the authors, Amit Thorat, a scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told the Indian media: "These trends are indeed quite worrying. While they do not bode well for the long-term growth of the economy and development of society at large, they also in many ways indicate a worsening of the social mindset." Another researcher, Diane Coffey, an assistant professor at the University of Texas, said the figures exploded the view that caste hatred had faded. "The most startling thing about the data is just how big the numbers are. Too often, people who look towards a modern future dismiss casteism or patriarchy as a thing of the past and instances of discrimination as meaningless, isolated anecdotes. What these big numbers reveal is that prejudice remains very common too common," she told the Indian Express. A fatal accident One man who was not surprised disappointed, but not surprised was Ashok Bharti, chairman of the National Confederation of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR). "Every day I am looking at far worse figures, such as these," he said, pointing a a sheet of paper he has printed out. A man walks past a broken window of a bus during a protest by Dalit groups in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018. Protests erupted in several parts of Mumbai in January. Credit:AP On it is a table showing 799 murders, 2545 rapes and 35,692 atrocities committed against dalits in 2016. These are official figures, which he has collated. In addition to these crimes, there are the daily endless humiliations and slights that are woven into a dalit's life, particularly in the villages: being denied access to the village well, living in segregated huts, roadside eateries that keep a different set of cups in which tea is given to dalits, children not just segregated in the classroom but forced to clean the classrooms and toilets, and dalit children seeing upper caste classmates refusing to eat school meals cooked by a dalit. "My birth is my fatal accident," wrote dalit student Rohith Vemula in his suicide note in 2016 a cry of despair for the indignities and contempt that dalits have to endure while dreaming all the time of a better life. "The most progressive institutions in India the most progressive are guilty of caste bias because all institutions, including the judiciary, are reflective of Indian society and also reflect the power dynamic, and in this dynamic, dalits have remained excluded from socio-economic empowerment," said Bharti. The survey's findings that show that even those who had five years more of education were just as bigoted about dalits. It was no surprise, Bharti said. "In India, we often confuse mere literacy with education. Real education is something different and there is nothing in the education system to overcome prejudices against dalits. When schools themselves practice untouchability, what hope is there? There is nothing in the curriculum to teach children to think differently." When Bharti spent four years in Adelaide as a representative of international students at the University of South Australia, he noticed how Indians abroad were less openly discriminatory towards him. "They know instinctively that the social ethos in Australia won't allow them to express prejudices and they know the law will be invoked if they do. They also realise that the society there [Australia] is based on the individual and that individual's worth, not on communities," he said. Painful memories NACDOR's project manager in Johripur, Ganesh Gautam, like Devi, has a painful memory of caste hatred from his childhood. It was the time when the upper castes in his village, angry over some incident, forbade dalits from going to relieve themselves in the fields. With no toilets in their homes, the fields were the only option but even this was denied them. "People had to creep into the fields at night so that no one would notice them," he said. Project manager of the National Confederation of Dalit Organisations in Johripur, Ganesh Gautam. Credit:Amrit Dhillon However, since then, Gautam has seen change. It's not just the symbolic changes, such as India's current vice-president, Ram Nath Kovind, being a dalit. These appointments are often purely symbolic and not indicative of change on the ground. As an educated dalit, Gautam mixes with some upper caste people in Johripur. When an acquaintance from the high Brahmin caste invited him to his son's wedding recently, Gautam noted with approval the change in social attitude it indicated, and accepted. However, he added that he would only attend the wedding if the Brahmin promised to come to his nephew's wedding a few weeks later. Both men attended the respective weddings. These small changes are important for Gautam. An intense man, he can see the problem from both sides and believes dalits also need to raise their game. "Look, it is human nature to want to socialise with your equals. If a dalit is uneducated, lives in a hut and doesn't wear decent clothes, then how can you expect an upper caste person to mix with him? Of course I know the dalit is poor and uneducated because of centuries of discrimination but the brutal fact is that, while fighting discrimination, we must also lift ourselves up," Gautam said. Untouchable entrepreneur One young dalit who has moved on to better things is 23 year old Tridev (he goes by only one name) who has been trained by NACDOR to become an entrepreneur, offering housekeeping services online. He has all the confidence and optimism of many dalit youths until, in some cases, it is crushed by the contempt of others. Tridev is now an entrepreneur who offers housekeeping services. Credit:Amrit Dhillon "The upper castes don't want us to rise and become their equals because that way, they lose their superior status. So they will do anything to hang on to their higher status," Tridev said. So far, though, Tridev has been spared the worst kinds of scorn. He is friends with some upper caste young men and they eat together. He has not, however, invited any of them home yet. When asked why not, he smiles and says, "Not yet. Let me give it some time". The same slight ambivalence can be seen in Neha Kumar, 24, who has also been trained by NACDOR in conjunction with an NGO to provide online services to help Indians apply for official documents such as ID cards. Kumar says she has seen neighbours' attitudes in Johripur change over the years. "When they see us wearing nice clean clothes, speaking well and eating well, they engage with us," she said. CHICAGO: US Federal prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty for a former University of Illinois graduate student accused of kidnapping, torturing and killing a visiting Chinese scholar. Brendt Christensen was indicted in June in connection with the kidnapping of 26-year-old Yingying Zhang, a scholar in photosynthesis and crop productivity who came to the university last year. Yingying Zhang was a visiting University of Illinois scholar from China who authorities believe is dead. Credit:AP The Justice Department said in a statement that Zhang's kidnapping resulted in her death, and because of that "a sentence of death is justified." In making the announcement, prosecutors alleged for the first time that Christensen "choked and sexually assaulted" another victim in 2013 in the Champaign-Urbana area, that he has claimed additional victims and has expressed a "desire to be known as a killer." Chinese officials said that the Panamanian-flagged oil tanker Sanchi was already on fire when it collided with the Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship CF Crystal in the East China Sea on Saturday. Above, the Chinese ship Shen Qian Hao (foreground) sprays foam on the Sanchi on Wednesday before the arrival of firefighting crews that night. Photo: Visual China Rescue crews were forced to retreat from a burning oil tanker in the East China Sea on Wednesday after an explosion on the ship still ablaze four days after colliding with a cargo ship. The Panama-flagged tanker, named Sanchi, was en route from Iran to South Korea when it collided with the Hong Kong-flagged CF Crystal about 160 nautical miles (184 miles) east of the Yangtze River estuary on Saturday night, Chinas Ministry of Transport said. Firefighting crews on three Chinese ships managed to reach the accident site at about 11 p.m. Wednesday after being delayed by bad weather. But an explosion at about 1:30 a.m. Thursday cut short salvage operations and forced rescue vessels to retreat because of safety concerns, the ministry said. Thirty Iranians and two Bangladeshis were on board the tanker. Only one body has been found so far, the ministry said. All 21 crew members who were on board the cargo ship were rescued, and the vessel has docked on Zhoushan Island in Zhejiang province. Wang Hongyong, head of command and coordination at China Maritime Search & Rescue Center, told the official Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday that searching for the missing Sanchi crew remains a top priority. The center, affiliated with the Transport Ministry, also said Sanchi was already on fire at the time of collision, citing eyewitness accounts from the cargo ships crew members. The fire spread to CF Crystal during the collision, and the cargo ship its power still on circled the crash site and drifted after its crew fled. The blaze on the cargo ship was not extinguished until Sunday morning when three crew members were able to return to switch off the power and put out the fire, the center said. An investigation into the collision is still ongoing, the ministry said. Sanchi was carrying 136,000 tons of ultralight oil, or condensate, and no large oil spill was spotted, according to ministry. Authorities stopped short of giving any details about the extent of a possible oil spill. Zhao Ruxiang, a senior engineer at Yantai Maritime Bureau in the eastern province of Shandong, earlier told Caixin that condensate can burn off or evaporate quickly, leaving little residue compared with crude oil. Contact reporter Li Rongde (rongdeli@caixin.com) Nearly 100 employees at the Chengdu branch of SPD Bank have been punished for involvement in the loan fraud case. Photo: Visual China Shanghai Pudong Development Bank was fined $72 million for illegal lending activities, marking one of the stiffest penalties handed out so far in Chinas crackdown on wrongdoing in its financial markets. The China Banking Regulatory Commissions bureau in Sichuan province delivered the 462 million yuan fine on Friday. The regulator accused the Chengdu branch of SPD Bank of falsifying loan deals and hiding non-performing assets. The regulator said the Chengdu branch of SPD Bank worked with seven property and mining companies to set up about 1,493 shell companies to transfer risky debts to help the bank cover bad loans. The bank issued 77.5 billion yuan worth of credit lines to the shell companies by falsifying business and employing other irregular methods. It is an organized fraud case led by the Chendu branch of SPD Bank, the regulator said. SPD Bank is the latest target of the banking regulators sweeping campaign to clamp down excessive leverage, off-balance sheet banking activities, and market wrongdoing. Last year, the regulator imposed fines totaling 2.9 billion yuan on 1,877 banking institutions, according to figures released by the CBRC earlier this month. The biggest penalty 722 million yuan (more than $100 million) was slapped on China Guangfa Bank for fabricating guarantee documents. In a statement this month, the CBRC vowed to intensify its crackdown on lender misconduct, focusing on interbank deals as well as potentially risky lending outside the formal banking system known as shadow banking. The regulator warned that the country still faces complicated and grave possible financial risks. In the SPD Bank case, Wang Bing, the former president of the Chengdu branch who retired last year, has been expelled from the Communist Party, according to the CBRC. Wang and four other senior executives were meted out lifetime bans from the industry. Caixin learned that nearly 100 employees at the Chengdu branch have been punished in the case. People close to the matter told Caixin that the illegal lending practices led to 10 billion yuan in bad assets for the bank. The Shanghai-based headquarter set aside provisions to cover the bad assets and has controlled fallout from the fraud, said the sources. SPD Banks earlier this month reported a net profit for 2017 of 54.2 billion yuan, up 2.2% from the previous year. The bank has 6.1 trillion yuan in total assets with a non-performing loan ratio of 2.14%. The banking regulator launched an investigation into SPD Banks Chengdu branch this past April and ordered the bank to correct problems that led to the fraud by September 2017. The CBRC also punished several official at its own Sichuan bureau for failing to properly supervise the bank. Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) 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. The U.S. Department of Education signed off on Montanas plan to comply with the Every Student Succeeds Act on Friday. The new federal education law replaced No Child Left Behind in 2015. States were required to create their own plans to adapt to the law. The plan calls for steep improvement on test scores for all Montana students, but especially students in typically low-performing groups, like students with disabilities and American Indians. Four percent of non-proficient students are expected to reach proficient scores each year, an unprecedented rate of improvement in Montana. In a press release, the feds singled out achievement gaps. (The plan) closes achievement gaps by prioritizing individualized student learning, the release says. The Every Student Succeeds Act requires schools to continue giving standardized tests, but eliminates the goal of reaching 100 percent proficiency for all students. It does require states to set ambitious goals. State officials initially expressed concern that federal officials might not consider Montanas goals ambitious enough. Now that Montanas plan has been approved, I look forward to working with communities to fully implement it and ensure that all Montana students have the opportunity to succeed, said Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen. Arntzen pulled back a plan that was submitted under previous superintendent Denise Juneau. The new plan was submitted in September. After a round of feedback from federal officials, Montana resubmitted the plan with changes in December. Feds requested more changes on Dec. 28, with a deadline to resubmit the plan by Jan. 4. The department also approved plans from five other states Friday. Nowadays, the demand for online medical transcription jobs indicates an upward trend. An increasing number of people become a medical transcriptionist to make some quick and easy money online. The surge in demand for medical transcriptions is spurred by various factors. However, before rushing to take a medical transcription job from home, it is better to acquaint yourself with some perspectives, facts and trends. Understanding these will help you choose the most suitable online medical transcription job. Understanding what is medical transcription? Actually, medical transcriptions are nothing new. Indeed, they exist since nearly a century. Earlier, medical practitioners would give verbal instructions to their staff including secretaries, compounders, nurses, paramedics and others. The support staff would take necessary notes. The entire bunch of papers, including observations by the physician, instructions, list of medication and other relevant data would be stored in a file. Gleaning relevant information from these files and converting them into a single, readable and relevant document is medical transcription. History of online medical transcriptions As dependence upon healthcare services saw an exponential increase over the decades, maintaining hundreds nay thousands of medical files became a logistical nightmare for hospitals. The advent of the computer and especially the Internet solved this problem. Bulky medical data can now be stored online or on other digital formats and accessed worldwide. To digitalize medical files, hospitals increasingly depend upon freelancers and online medical transcriptionist. This led to the birth of a new industry that today employs an estimated two million people worldwide. Importance of medical transcriptions Hospitals, healthcare providers, medical insurance firms, Emergency Medical Services and attorneys have increased their dependence on medical transcriptions. Medical transcriptions have several uses. They allow hospitals, clinics, private medical practitioners to upgrade their service levels. Medical insurance providers view these transcriptions as a resource to avoid frauds and overcharging. EMS services require medical transcriptions to do better for saving lives while attorneys and legal experts need them to file law suits in cases of wrong medical treatment. As the demand for medical transcription jobs witness an exponential increase, do does the industry that provides such services. Facts and figures By 2019, the global medical transcription market is estimated to stand at whopping US $ 61 million. Unofficial estimates peg this figure even higher, at around US$ 100 million by 2020. The rise is evident: the market stood at US$ 41 million in 2012. The demand for medical transcriptions worldwide shows a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of around 5.6 percent over the last couple of years, which is expected to rise marginally by 2019, according to a study conducted by US-based Transparency Market Research. Current scenarios Minimum wage requirements, unavailability of skilled staff and adequate office space in North America and Europe has led to most healthcare providers to outsource their medical transcriptions. Outsourcing occurs in two ways: Medical practitioners and small clinics hiring online medical transcriptionists who can work from home. Larger hospitals and other major healthcare providers outsourcing medical transcriptions online from specialized service providers. Global trends Currently, India and the Philippines are world leaders in online medical transcriptions, with several companies specialized in the field, offering this service to clients in the US and Europe. India and the Philippines are known for superior quality online medical transcriptions in English. However, as the demand for transcriptions in other languages including Spanish and Arabic are on the rise, countries including Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Colombia and Costa Rica have also shown significant increase in providing online medical transcription service providers. Similarly, United Arab Emirates and Qatar lead the market for online medical transcriptions in Arabic, since the language is lingua-franca of over a dozen countries in Middle East and North Africa. China has its own well advanced online medical transcription market that provides the service in Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese) while Ukraine and Belarus lead Slavic nations for medical transcriptions in Russian and languages spoken in republics of erstwhile Soviet Union. This translates into on fact: You can get a job for online medical transcriptions jobs from home, regardless of your country of residence. What it means for you? Briefly, the above details clearly indicate, you can enter the online medical transcription industry fairly easily. If you are proficient in more than one language, better your chances of earning a higher income. You can become a medical transcriptionist on part-time or full-time basis. However, as with any service industry, you will require a few basic skills that will ensure your success. Skills vital to become medical transcriptionist There are some essential skills to become a successful online medical transcriptionist. These include: Minimum of High school certificate with average marks. Very high fluency in English language. Ability to understand various accents of English. Good knowledge of using computer and common Office software. Excellent typing skills including speed and accuracy. Capabilities to work on short deadlines. Other skills that will prove very useful include: Fluency in various languages. Good knowledge about medicine and medical practices. Excellent listening abilities. Eye or rather ear for details. High degree of patience. If you are a student of medicine, retired or working medical practitioner, nurse or paramedical staff, online medical transcription provides an easy yet interesting source of additional income. Types of online medical transcriptions Broadly speaking, online medical transcriptions can be divided into four main categories. We will guide you through detailed descriptions later in this article to help select the stream you find most suitable. General medical transcription. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) or Emergency Room (ER) transcription. Medico-legal transcription. Forensic medical transcription. Therefore, let us begin with online medical transcription that has the highest demand and jobs can be found with ease. Online Medical Transcription (General) Average salary: US$ 35,000 to US$ 50,000 per year. Finding job as general online medical transcriptions is most easy. Because of the sheer, unimaginable volume of data that requires to be converted from voice to legible transcripts. Tens of thousands of hospitals around the world employing millions of surgeons, medical doctors, specialists, general practitioners and support staff find cannot hire transcriptionists for this Herculean task. Hence, they outsource this process to companies that offer medical transcriptions. General online medical transcription jobs require you to listen to audio data provided by a doctor, clinic or hospital. Usually, this audio data will contain a conversation between the patient and physician, details about diagnosis, instructions to the patient and support staff that may include a secretary or nurse. The raw data will be provided to you through specialized transcription software. You will be given a deadline to submit the online medical transcription. Emergency Medical Services/ Emergency Room Transcription Average salary: US$ 20.000 to US$35,000 per year Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Emergency Room (ER) proceedings also require online medical transcriptions. Once again, this is a task generally done through outsourcing by EMS providers. EMS providers are companies or organizations that provide ambulances. They require medical transcriptions as part of quality control and to provide data to hospitals and ERs. Additionally, use of air ambulances- or ambulances that evacuate patients with helicopters- is on the rise. Obviously, ambulances are utilized only for medical emergencies and hence, every minute counts. Thus, dependence on online medical transcriptions for EMS and ER services is very high. As EMS/ ER medical transcriptionist, you will be given raw audio data. It will consist of recordings of calls made to the EMS, conversations between the ambulance driver/ pilot and paramedics on board, chats of paramedics with relatives or people near the victim at the time of emergency, instructions and deliberate recordings made by paramedics on treatment and condition of the patient, till the time the case reaches an ER. The data will also consist of recordings made by medical staff receiving the victim and Emergency Room procedures followed to save life. It is vital for you to know beforehand, EMS/ ER data can be rather complex since it involves an emergency. Hence, instructions given would usually be rushed and in high pitched tones. Furthermore, you can be given rather short deadlines to transcript the raw data, due to the emergency or critical condition of a victim. Medico-legal transcription Average salary: US$ 35,000 to US$ 50,000 per month. Online medico-legal transcriptions are a growing trend nowadays. They are an integral part of online medical transcription, but differ vastly from the ones we mention earlier. Now, medico-legal transcriptions are required by hospitals and healthcare providers, EMS/ER services as well as attorneys. They serve several purposes: To determine whether a hospital or doctor is responsible for any wrong medical treatment given to regular or emergency patient. As part of medical examination of rape and pedophilic abuse. To assist in child abuse cases. For finding psychiatric or mental conditions of patients involved in crime. In cases of miscarriages suspected as abortions, especially in places where the practice is banned. For medical cases that may have any implications with law and order such as wounds sustained in a fight. Divorce cases where one spouse claims the other has some psychiatric condition or addiction related problem. Indeed, there are numerous cases where medico-legal transcriptions are needed. However, for these, there is another specialized branch of online medical transcription which we will examine now Forensic Medical Transcription Average salary: US$ 180,000 to US$ 250,000 This is the most specialized field of medical transcriptions and online jobs are also available. However, these are very rare to find yourself. You will have to work for some online medical transcription company that provides the service. Forensic medical transcription involves listening to observations made by police or law enforcers who respond to a crime such as murder, rape, domestic or other violence and similar other incidents that have a medical feature. As a forensic medical transcriptionist, you will hear testimonies of victims of various crimes including rape and violence, recordings made by pathologists conducting autopsy and physicians attending to a victim of crime. This is the highest paid job in the category of online medical transcription because of its inherent nature. Usually, these transcriptions have to be done by medical experts who are also well versed with laws and significance of findings by pathologists. Meanwhile, the common belief that online medical transcriptions are complex and boring is completely wrong. On the contrary, they can be rather easy and interesting, provided you have the right hardware and software at your home or office. Hardware requirements A good, powerful PC or laptop. Generally, PCs with excellent sound cards are considered better. High quality headset with microphone. Excellent printer. DVD writer. Foot pedal or joystick to pause the recordings (optional). Such hardware is readily available online at any good retailer such as Amazon Software requirements Generally, you will be provided software by the clinic, hospital or company which hires you for online medical transcriptions. However, if you are a freelancer, you can either download any free medical transcription software. There are several great websites that offer you a choice of such software complete with reviews, free, trial and paid version are available. Additionally, you will need free billing and client management software and a PayPal or similar account for clients to remit money for your services. Once equipped with the proper hardware and software, you are ready to start searching for online medical transcription jobs. Finding online medical transcription jobs The easiest way to get online medical transcription jobs is to post your resume on any reputed job website in your country. A large number of medical transcription jobs providers are always on lookout for new recruits. Joining these providers also gives you the much needed training & skills to develop online medical transcriptions as your profession- part-time or full-time. Alternatively, you can approach some reputed hospital, Federal or government law enforcement agency in your country. Further, armed forces of various countries also look for online medical transcriptionists. Regardless of whether you work part-time or full-time, online medical transcription jobs are a guaranteed way to earn a decent income or extra money. Police reports: NOT SO FAST, PAL Police arrested Spencer William Cox, 24, of Butte at 3:15 a.m. Thursday for criminal mischief and criminal trespass, both misdemeanors. According to police, a man on the 1800 block of Grand Avenue saw Cox sitting in his parked truck with the interior light on and the window broken. The man hit Cox with the butt of a shotgun, and when police showed up, he was taken to St. James Healthcare to get checked out before he was booked. He was still in jail early Friday with bail set at $8,000. OVERDUE WRENCH Police got another call about a stolen impact wrench from the Lube Alley on the 1500 block of Holmes Avenue, and this time someone might be in trouble. They got the first call the day after Christmas saying the wrench had been stolen, but someone called back to say an employee had taken it but agreed to bring it back. The business called again Thursday saying the tool has not been returned, so police referred the case to the county attorneys office for possible charges. DRUGS, MONEY MISSING Someone broke into a house on the 600 block of South Idaho Street this week and stole prescription drugs and a small amount of cash. Police say the burglary occurred between Monday and Tuesday. The homeowner told police she came home to find a door to the house open and the medications missing. Taken were one bottle of prescription pain medication and one bottle of Serequel, a drug often used to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. home World Eritrean Christian suffers mental trauma after being imprisoned for 13 years for his faith An Eritrean Christian is now suffering from mental trauma after enduring 13 years in prison, but despite his ordeal, he repeatedly refused to renounce his faith. According to World Watch Monitor, Shiden, who became Christian in his late teens, was exposed to torture of different kinds, including months of solitary confinement in a very small cell. His decision to become a Christian was considered dangerous because Eritrea's society is deeply suspicious and antagonistic towards evangelical Christians. Those who do not belong to the three mainline churches or Sunni Islam are often jailed, and Shiden had heard stories of the terrible suffering of Christians in prison, but he decided to take the risk anyway. After joining military service at age 22, Shiden was arrested along with around 40 other Christians while worshipping in secret. They were reportedly taken to a military prison in the southern desert city of Assab, where they endured intense heat during the day and extremely cold weather at night. During his incarceration, he was made to suffer harsh conditions and guards often taunted him, asking, "Why don't you leave this religion of yours?" Shiden said that he would respond to the guards, saying, "I won't leave the faith because I believe it and I live by what I believe. I served this country faithfully and honestly during my military service. When you sent me to work in the field, I did that without complaining. But my belief is my personal belief, and you have to respect that. But if you don't, then I am willing to pay for it." In one occasion, prison officials presented him with two sheets of paper, asking him to choose whether he believes Jesus or not. He chose the sheet that indicated his belief in Christ, assuring his interrogators, "I will not leave this religion. So if you are going to keep me in the jail, that's OK. It's all the same to me." Shiden was later moved to the general prison in Barentu, where he remained for the next 10 years. During that time, he was often put in solitary confinement for six months at a time in a small cell where he was not able to stretch his arms or even stand up straight. After his release, he was sent back to national service, where he remained under close watch. When guards discovered sections of his Bible in his possession, he was sent again to solitary confinement for a period of three months. Shiden, now 35, was eventually released, but he had difficulties returning to normal life due to the mental trauma that he suffered. He had been brought to tears when he told his brother John about some of the things that had happened to him in prison. "I was so proud of him for not denying his faith through all of those years. But I could not believe the terrible suffering he had been put through," his brother said. John noted that Shiden's situation was not an isolated case and that there are many other Christians like him who have been imprisoned in Eritrea for different lengths of time. The situation of Christians in Eritrea has become so severe that Open Doors USA ranked the nation at No. 6 in the 2018 World Watch List of countries that were deemed to be the worst in the world when it comes to the persecution of believers. Kim Kardashian reveals name of third child, says it's a 'dream come true' Kim Kardashian and Kanye West just welcomed their third child via surrogate, and fans can't wait to get a glimpse of the baby. Recently, the reality star announced the name of their baby on social media. After Kim shared that their third child has arrived, many wondered about the baby's name. There were many speculations from fans, which include the name Elle V based on the LV logo that Kim shared on Instagram. Finally, Kim revealed on Twitter that the new addition to their family will be named Chicago West. "We are incredibly grateful to our surrogate who made our dreams come true with the greatest gift one could give and to our wonderful doctors and nurses for their special care," Kim said following the announcement of their baby girl on Tuesday, according to reports. Before the announcement, there were speculations that the child will be named Elle V based on different reasons. Aside from the picture of LV's logo on Kim's Instagram, they also pointed out that Elle means "she" in French. They also think that it has something to do with Ellen DeGeneres when the audience approved of the name Elle while Kim was on the show. Sources also adde that DeGeneres suggested the name Three. This sparked the thought of considering the numeral symbol of V. The name could also be a tribute to outgoing Louis Vuitton designer Kim Jones who had her last show in Paris. Meanwhile, People reports that having a third child is a dream come true for Kim. It is said that Kim always wanted to have three kids and wants to have a family of five. With Chicago's arrival, Kim is very happy, and the outlet reports that she is enjoying the first few days with the child. Although Kim was nervous about how four-year-old North and two-year-old Saint will accept their sibling, everything eventually turned out well. McKayla Maroney sexual abuse news: Larry Nassar a 'monster of a human being' Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney makes scathing remarks against Larry Nassar in a written statement read in court before his sentencing on Thursday. Maroney has earlier signed a non-disclosure agreement with the USA Gymnastics, prohibiting her to speak in court about the case. Breaking it would have cost her $100,000. But that did not stop her from disclosing what she had to say. In a letter addressed to Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, Maroney described how the USA gymnastics national team doctor, who they were told to trust, ruined her dreams. The now 22-year-old retired gymnast said her nightmare began when she was about 13 or 14 years old, at one of her National Team training camps in Texas. It apparently did not end until she left the sport. "It happened in London before my team and I won gold medal, and it happened before I won my silver medal," she wrote in the letter read in court. Maroney continued that her worst experience happened in Tokyo when she was 15. She said Nassar gave her a sleeping pill for the flight. The next thing she knew, she was alone with him in his hotel room, getting a "treatment." "I thought I was going to die that night," she recalled of the incident. She added that the former doctor's actions left "scars" on her psyche that may "never go away." Maroney urged the court to give Nassar, who she described as a "child molester" and a "monster of a human being," to get the maximum sentence possible. "He needs to be behind bars so he will never prey upon another child," she added. Maroney's letter, which was read by her prosecutor, is just one of the 105 statements made against Nassar during his week-long proceedings at the Ingham County court in Michigan. Last December, the multi-Olympic medalist filed a lawsuit against USAG, Michigan University, and the United States Olympic Committee for allegedly paying her to conceal Nassar's sexual abuse. The theme at this year's World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, is "creating a shared future in a fractured world." The plan is to bring together global economic and political leaders to find collective actions and collaborative approaches to solving global problems. WEF will use the 2018 forum to make the "case for renewed commitment to international collaboration as a way of solving critical global challenges." More than 2,500 leaders from business, government, international organizations, civil society, academia, media and the arts that are expected to attend the conference in the Alpine resort. "The aim of the meeting will be to set an agenda that drives greater multi-stakeholder collaboration to address political, economic and societal challenges of our times," WEF said in an online statement. In 2018, the Forum said that "geostrategic fractures have re-emerged on multiple fronts with wide-ranging political, economic and social consequences." Summing these fractures up in three main areas will be the focus for this year's meeting, the Forum said. In its own words: "Politically, governance is being transformed by new and contending strategic narratives." "Economically, policies are being formulated to preserve the singular benefits of global integration while limiting its shared obligations." "Socially, citizens yearn for responsive leadership that addresses local and national concerns; yet, a shared identity and collective purpose remain elusive despite living in an age of social networks." WEF added that "the fractures that have emerged politically, economically and socially must not foster intolerance, indecision and inaction. The 48th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting therefore aims to rededicate leaders from all walks of life to developing a shared narrative to improve the state of the world." Lee Howell, WEF's head of global programming and a member of the managing board, explained the organization's thinking behind the theme and said that the fractures were present in many spheres of life, stemming from conflicting systems of ideas and influence. "It's emerging that there are multiple concepts about how that world system should be now, it's not just contending actors in one system but contending actors and contending systems," he told CNBC ahead of the Forum. "We think that the world is more fractured than unified but it's incumbent on leaders to find a shared purpose, a shared vision to rally around to get things done and to improve the state of the world. And so those notions are embedded in the theme. That takes people in the room being honest about what the shortcomings of the systems are and to not be caught in the past." Google CEO Sundar Pichai has no regrets about firing James Damore, the engineer responsible for a controversial diversity-related memo last fall, though he said the way it played out in public was unfortunate. "I regret that people misunderstand that we made this decision because of a political belief one way or another," Pichai said on Friday in a filmed discussion with MSNBC and Recode. Pichai said he wished the story hadn't made it to the public "in such a polarized way." Damore's memo, which circulated internally at Google before leaking to the press, claimed that there were fewer women in technology in part because of biological differences. The company fired him soon after, stating that parts of the memo were contrary to Google's "basic values" and code of conduct. The firing sparked a debate, with some celebrating Google's swift action and others outraged at the company for allegedly defending political correctness at the expense of free speech and ideological diversity. New York Times columnist David Brooks argued that Pichai should resign for how he handled the situation. Earlier this month, Damore even filed a lawsuit accusing the company of discriminating against conservative men. Pichai said on Friday that Google didn't view the issue through a political lens, and rather made its decision to ensure that all employees felt comfortable at the company. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, who was also on stage for the interview, agreed that the firing was the "right decision." "Revolution: Google and YouTube Changing the World" will air Friday, Jan. 26, on MSNBC at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. A House-passed stopgap bill that would avoid a government shutdown fizzled out in the Senate late Friday night, leaving Congress negotiating frantically as the midnight deadline to fund the government passed. The measure failed in a procedural vote by a 50 to 49 margin. Five Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Doug Jones of Alabama and Claire McCaskill of Missouri had backed it. Four Republicans Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah opposed it. So did Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for procedural reasons. As nearly all Democrats and some Republicans opposed the measure that failed to work its way through Congress on Friday, lawmakers saw government funding lapse, at least temporarily. The proposal that failed in the Senate would have funded the government through Feb. 16 and reauthorized the popular Children's Health Insurance Program for six years. As the vote remained open into early Saturday morning, several bipartisan senators appeared to confer about a way forward. McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer then walked off the Senate floor together, only to return and continue talks with other senators. Numerous senators crowded around Schumer as the clock hit midnight. Negotiations and potentially votes are expected to continue over the weekend and into next week. McConnell said he will offer an amendment to extend government funding until Feb. 8, which Sen. Lindsey Graham championed on Friday. Many Democrats and some Republicans announced they would vote against a short-term deal, criticizing the continued use of stopgap bills rather than funding the government through more long-term, stable mechanisms. The minority party has also shown frustration about progress on talks toward a bipartisan immigration bill, which Democrats wanted to pass this week to protect hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants from deportation. The parties also remain divided over long-term defense and non-defense spending levels "We're going to continue to do all we can," McConnell said on the Senate floor after the shutdown started. "We'll vote again so the American people know who stands for them. And when our friends across the aisle remember who it is they actually represent, we'll be ready to come together in a bipartisan discussion that will be necessary to clean up all of this mess." The Senate needs to garner 60 votes for a spending bill. With 50 Republicans present, the majority GOP needed to win support from 10 or more Democrats, many of whom had threatened to oppose a short-term spending plan if they could not also pass a bill shielding young undocumented immigrants from deportation. (Sen. John McCain is away from Washington, receiving treatment for cancer.) The bill's apparent failure in the Senate was the last step toward the first government shutdown since 2013. In remarks following McConnell's comments, Schumer said he was "willing to compromise" with Trump on an immigration agreement and said he thought he had a deal with the president during a White House meeting Friday. The senator contended that Trump backed off of a possible immigration solution when he faced pressure from conservatives. "Now all of this problem is because Republican leadership can't get to yes, because President Trump refuses to. Mr. President, President Trump, if you are listening, I am urging you: please take yes for an answer," he said, adding that the "blame should crash entirely" on the president's shoulders. As funding looked set to lapse at midnight, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders released a scathing statement blaming Democrats for the shutdown. "We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands. This is the behavior of obstructionist losers, not legislators. When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform," she said. Schumer has argued for a bill that extended funding only for a few days, rather than a month, to give lawmakers more time to hash out a long-term plan. He met with President Donald Trump on Friday afternoon, and though he said their talks yielded "some progress," they did not reach a deal to keep the government open. On Thursday night, majority House Republican leaders had to keep nearly all of their members in line in order to approve the short-term spending legislation by a 230 to 197 margin. With Democrats putting up a nearly unified front against the measure, GOP lawmakers cleared a bill that would fund the government for about a month. Eleven Republicans opposed the legislation, while six Democrats supported it. Trump had backed the short-term funding plan. Republicans this week put the burden on Senate Democrats to avoid a government shutdown. "Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate but they want illegal immigration and weak borders," Trump contended in a tweet Friday morning. "Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018!" House Speaker Paul Ryan used the line of attack after the House passed the bill on Thursday night. "Senator Schumer, do not shut down the federal government," the Wisconsin Republican said at a news conference. The Democrats facing the most political peril in the vote are those who face re-election this year in states Trump won, including McCaskill, Heitkamp, Manchin and Donnelly. If a shutdown occurs, McConnell intends to keep the Senate in session over the weekend and force those Democrats to face a series of difficult votes, according to Politico and NBC News. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) returns to the U.S. Capitol after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on the looming threat of a federal government shutdown January 19, 2018 in Washington, DC. The federal government shut down late Friday, largely because of some senators' exasperation with short-term measures to keep the government funded, as well as a desire to enshrine soon-to-expire protections for people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. The Republican-led House of Representatives on Thursday passed a four-week continuing resolution to keep the government funded through Feb. 16, but it did so with the support of nearly the whole GOP caucus and only bare minimum backing from Democrats. The measure met its fate in the Senate late Friday, as the clock ran out on a short-term measure to keep the government open. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell late Friday failed to garner the 60 votes he needed to advance the House bill to a vote on the floor of the Senate. Some Democrats, such as Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, whose states supported President Donald Trump in 2016, supported ending debate and moving on to a vote on the measure itself. Yet several Republicans including Utah's Mike Lee and Arizona's Jeff Flake, a frequent Trump critic opposed it. The failure to pass a bill set off a round of finger-pointing among both parties. Early Saturday, the president branded his opponents as "losers" intent on handing him a defeat on the anniversary of his inauguration. Republicans, from Trump to House Speaker Paul Ryan, have attempted to saddle Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his Democratic colleagues with the blame for a potential shutdown, accusing them of brinksmanship over protections for immigrants. The GOP added a six-year reauthorization of the popular Children's Health Insurance Program to the funding plan to put more pressure on Democrats, framing their decision as a choice of whether to support the program. At least one Democratic senator newly elected Doug Jones of Alabama cited CHIP funding in a decision to back the spending bill. Yet Democrats aren't the only thorns in McConnell's side. Fellow Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, has insisted he would not vote for another short-term funding extension. In a candid interview with MSNBC on Friday, Graham said that passing the 30-day House bill would extend "chaos." Later Friday, however, he released a statement that said he would support a stopgap measure that would keep the government open until Feb. 8 more than a week less than the four-week bill passed by the House. Graham has also emerged as an ally for Democrats on saving the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which Trump has set to expire March 5. Last week, Graham thought he had a chance for bipartisan deal to preserve DACA and enact other immigration reforms, but he said Trump's position changed swiftly. "He spoke compassionately about immigration, tough on security, wanted bipartisanship. Two days later, there was a major change," Graham told MSNBC. Graham, who voted against advancing the House bill late Friday night, said in an earlier tweet that he was glad Trump and Schumer met to work on an agreement and that he is confident Trump would end up sealing a deal. Graham tweet -CNBC's Jacob Pramuk contributed to this article. Residents wait in line to pay taxes at the Fairfax County Government Center December 28, 2017 in Fairfax, Virginia. Getty Images Officials in New York, New Jersey and California are working to reshape their tax codes to ease residents' pain from new limits to federal deductions for state, local and property taxes. Starting this year, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the GOP's new tax code, caps taxpayers' deductions on their property, state and local incomes taxes (SALT) at $10,000. But in 2015, the average New Yorker's SALT deduction was more than $22,000. In New Jersey and California, the average deductions were around $18,000. Previously, there was no limit on the extent to which taxpayers could deduct these local levies. The change means many residents in these states and many others will now pay more to the federal government. (See chart below.) "We're attempting to come up with ways to negate and blunt the harsh and unfair Republican tax policy," said Kevin de Leon, the Democratic leader of the California State Senate. To combat the new SALT deduction cap, politicians are proposing creative concepts. Some of the ideas include granting a charitable deduction which remains uncapped after filers pay property taxes. Another idea does away with income taxes and applies a statewide payroll tax to be paid for by employers which is deductible to them. "The whole intent is to ensure that you get the benefit of the deduction you would otherwise lose," said Joseph Bankman, the Ralph M. Parsons Professor of Law and Business at Stanford Law School. The White House has expressed its disapproval. "I hope that the states are more focused on cutting their budgets and giving tax cuts to their people in their states than they are in trying to evade the law," said Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Treasury Secretary, at a press briefing this month. The whole intent is to ensure that you get the benefit of the deduction you would otherwise lose. Joseph Bankman Professor, Stanford Law School However, Robert Mujica, New York's budget director, said it's impossible for the state to not react. "What Washington did to New York was say 'We're going to basically change the laws entirely and upend your system, oh, and by the way, don't make any changes to adjust to it'," he said. Here's how three key states are working to combat the new tax law. California California State Senate leader Kevin de Leon. Michael Tullberg | Getty Images In early January, California Senate leader de Leon introduced a bill that would allow residents to pay some of their state taxes to the California Excellence Fund, a state charity. In turn, taxpayers would be able to deduct the amount of their charitable contribution on their federal returns. So if, say, a San Francisco resident's SALT taxes were $15,000, they could pay the first $10,000 as normal, and then contribute the remaining $5,000 of their state tax bill to the California Excellence Fund as a charitable donation. That would then make their total SALT taxes deductible. It means sitting down with an accountant in December instead of March. Brian Galle Professor of law, Georgetown University "It's pretty easy," said Brian Galle, a law professor at Georgetown University who specializes in taxation. "It follows a mechanism that many taxpayers have done every year." What might require adjustment is that people would have to figure out their taxes months earlier than they're used to. That's because people would need to know their state tax bill and make that charitable contribution before the end of the year to receive the benefit. "It means sitting down with an accountant in December instead of March," Galle said. Educating Californians about the system would be a major part of the plan, de Leon said. New York New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Drew Angerer | Getty Images Absent of any changes, the state estimates that New Yorkers would pay an additional $14 billion a year in taxes. So earlier this month, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the Department of Taxation and Finance to craft ways for the state to respond to the GOP tax bill. The department emerged with a slew of proposals to reshape New York's taxation. "All of them are designed to give back to New Yorkers what the federal government took away," Mujica said. The first proposal basically mirrors California's plan. Residents would contribute their SALT taxes beyond the $10,000 cap to a state charity, and therefore make their entire bill eligible for deduction. The other major proposal would shift income taxes to payroll taxes or from employees who can no longer deduct taxes to employers who still can. Employers, facing a higher tax bill, would most likely reduce wages. But the state would give employees a wage credit, which would be deductible. What Washington did to New York was say 'We're going to basically change the laws entirely and upend your system, oh, and by the way, don't make any changes to adjust to it' Robert Mujica Director, New York State Division of the Budget So if an employee makes $75,000 a year, and the employer lowers her salary to $65,000 because it's now paying a new payroll tax, the state would give the employee a wage credit for $10,000. The employee is back where she started (at $75,000) but now she has her state taxes shielded from federal taxation. This proposal could reach more people than the charitable deduction, Galle said. "You might be benefiting all your constituents," he said. "Not just the ones who itemize." Although it might require workers to accept an immediate pay cut. Mujica said these proposals are a top priority for the state. "We'd like to get legislative drafted in the next few weeks," he said. New Jersey watch now On Jan. 5, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., proposed a plan that would allow homeowners to make up for lost property tax breaks by taking a charitable deduction. Towns and cities would establish charitable funds to pay for public services, including schools and law enforcement. Homeowners could make contributions to these funds. The municipality would provide homeowners a tax credit to offset that donation. Then on a federal tax return, the homeowner can take a charitable deduction for the contribution. Homeowners who already pay their property taxes monthly, wrapped in with their mortgage payment, would have to work with their lenders to ensure that there would be less or no property tax paid. Three towns in New Jersey Fair Lawn, Paramus and Park Ridge are already designing plans based on this concept. In response to Mnuchin's comments, Gottheimer said there's already a precedent for this idea. He pointed to an IRS memo that allowed contributions to a state tax credit program to be considered charitable contributions. Gottheimer also said there are existing plans in a number of states that give taxpayers a credit for contributing to public funds that give money to local causes. Challenges ahead Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images The IRS told CNBC that it's not issuing any statements on these proposals as of now but the ideas are receiving a fair share of criticism from elsewhere. "It's the kind of thing that emerges in an ivory tower with not much thought about the practicality," said E.J. McMahon, a conservative economist and founder of the Empire Center for Public Policy. But California Senate leader de Leon said the California Excellence Fund was modeled after a bill passed in 2014 that permits Californians to donate to a state general fund to support students' higher education. Those donors receive a tax credit for their federal returns. Similar systems also already exist in red states like Alabama and Arizona, he said. "It's very clear that we already have many states using this model," de Leon said. "If they change this all of a sudden after this egregious tax policy was passed by the Republicans it would smack of utter politics." Residents fill out paper work and use locked drop boxes to pay their taxes at the Fairfax County Government Center December 28, 2017 in Fairfax, Virginia. Getty Images Still, critics say that what's being proposed is different from those existing programs. "These [existing program] contributions produced an actual charitable benefit, whereas the proposals involve a pure tax swap," said Jared Walczak, senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation. "The IRS requires that charitable contributions have genuine charitable intent and a charitable outcome." McMahon pointed out that any value you receive from a charitable donation is not deductible. He provided an example: If a person at a silent auction bought a vacation that's worth $2,000, but paid $4,000 for it, he could only deduct $2,000 because the other half was not charity, but rather a benefit he reaped. The idea of a dollar-for-dollar tax credit, then, would fly in the face of this policy, he said. It's the kind of thing that emerges in an ivory tower with not much thought about the practicality. E.J. McMahon Founder, Empire Center for Public Policy Sixty percent of Americans are now in favor of legalizing marijuana for personal use, up from 55 percent in 2014, a new poll from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal found. Those respondents who said they "actively support" legalization 31 percent outnumbered the 29 percent of those who said they favor legalizing cannabis for personal use. The NBC/WSJ poll tests the tide of public opinion during a tumultuous time for the burgeoning American cannabis industry. On January 1, California's adult use market came online, which has been projected to add $5 billion in annual revenue to the burgeoning industry, nearly tripling its size. Legal marijuana revenues were $2.8 billion in 2016, according to a 2016 study commissioned by the state and conducted by researchers at University of California Davis Agricultural Issues Center. On January 4, Attorney General Jeff Sessions moved to rescind the Obama-era Cole Memo, eliminating tenuous protections provided by the federal government and threatening to derail the industry. Survey results seem to confirm suspicions of Sessions critics like Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, who suggested Sessions is "out of step" with the American people. The NBC/WSJ poll of 900 adults was conducted Jan. 13-17. It carries a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points. Here's a roundup of the most important deals in venture capital from the past week. Exits watch now Instacart acquired Unata in a deal valued at $65 million, the companies announced on Wednesday. The Toronto-based start-up had raised $1.2 million in funding from MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund and others. Unata's software delivers personalized product recommendations to shoppers, a la the Netflix recommendation engine. It also helps grocery shoppers keep digital lists, and use loyalty rewards. SoftBank said it had closed a massive investment in Uber, representing an exit for founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick and other earlier investors who sold some of their shares to SoftBank. The deal remains subject to a CFIUS review, however, Axios reported. Tencent chairman and CEO Pony Ma VCG | Getty Images Ziroom, an apartment renting platform in China, scored a curve-throwing series A funding round of $621 million. The deal was co-led by Warburg Pincus, Tencent and Sequoia Capital China. The company will use the capital to "increase its rental supply, boost supportive services, and invest in technology capacity and employee training," Ziroom CEO Xiong Lin said in an interview with Caixing Global. Pony.ai is developing self-driving car technologies. James Peng and Tiancheng Lou, formerly of Baidu and Google respectively, raised $112 million in series A funding for their new self-driving tech venture, Pony.ai. The start-up is developing systems that give cars "level 4 autonomy," meaning they can safely drive themselves in suburban and urban environments, and can deal with bad weather. Morningside Venture Capital and Legend Capital led the round. Other investors included a mix of Chinese and Silicon Valley based funds, including Sequoia Capital China, IDG Capital, Polaris, DCM and Comcast Ventures. (Disclosure: Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal, parent company of CNBC and CNBC.com.) E-commerce companies are still scoring venture funding, despite Amazon's dominance. In one of the latest deals, Grove Collaborative raised $35 million in a series C round to sell "all-natural" home and personal care products direct-to-consumers. CircleCI raised $31 million in a series C round led by Top Tier Capital Partners for devops tools, or tools that help companies develop and maintain their own software more efficiently. CircleCI's customer list includes: Facebook, Spotify, GoPro, Blue Apron and Coinbase. Industry Ventures, Heavybit and earlier backers Scale Venture Partners, Baseline Ventures, Harrison Metal and DFJ also joined the round. New York-based Jump Bikes brought dockless bike sharing to the U.S. VCs are still hoping that bike sharing will take off in the U.S. as it has in China, or for that matter, Amsterdam. Jump Bikes (formerly known as Social Bicycles) raised $10 million in a series A round to grow its service. The New York City start-up was the first to offer dockless bike sharing in the U.S. Menlo Ventures led the round joined by Sinewave Ventures and Esther Dyson. The company has most recently rolled out pedal-assist electric bikes, which help riders conquering hills without breaking a sweat. A start-up developing collision avoidance technology for commercial drones, Iris Automation, has raised $8 million in a series A round of funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners and joined by Bee Partners. Funds & Firms John Chambers Katie Kramer | CNBC U.S. government funding was set to lapse at least temporarily Saturday the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration as Congress failed in its last-minute efforts to pass a spending bill before a midnight deadline. Lawmakers scrambled to find their way through a Senate impasse but could not get a stopgap spending bill through both chambers of Congress. Talks were ongoing among congressional leaders and the White House about how to handle not only government funding but also the popular Children's Health Insurance Program and immigration. After a House-passed temporary funding bill appeared to fizzle out in the Senate on Friday night, senators from both caucuses were negotiating on the chamber's floor as the clock hit midnight. Earlier Friday, the White House signaled that it could reach a funding deal with congressional leaders as soon as Saturday. Yet, as funding looked set to lapse at midnight, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders released a scathing statement blaming Democrats for the shutdown. "We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands. This is the behavior of obstructionist losers, not legislators. When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform," the statement said. Saturday will mark the first shutdown when the same party controls Congress and the White House. Republicans currently have majorities in the House and Senate and control the White House. The government last shut down for 16 days in 2013. As the clock ticked down to an eventual government shutdown at midnight Saturday, Trump invited Schumer to the White House to hear him out. Schumer went to meet with Trump on Friday afternoon, with no others present except Kelly and Schumer's chief of staff. They negotiated over 90 minutes while dining on cheeseburgers, according to various accounts. Republican congressional leaders did not attend the meeting. White House chief of staff John Kelly played a major role in President Donald Trump shooting down the framework of a last-minute deal floated by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to fund the government Friday. White House chiefs of staff often play a major role in negotiating with Congress. Kelly, a retired Marine general, is known for his discipline, as well as his organizational and management abilities. However, he is not widely considered a political operator like Rahm Emanuel, a former congressman and Clinton administration veteran who worked for President Barack Obama, or Andrew Card, President George W. Bush's first chief of staff and a veteran of previous Republican administrations. Yet, as immigration came to the forefront in negotiations, Kelly, a hardliner on the subject and Trump's former secretary of Homeland Security, became more involved in influencing policy and the president's positions. In recent weeks, Kelly has participated in immigration talks with the No. 2 ranking House and Senate members on both sides of the aisle. Ahead of the shutdown, Schumer and most of his caucus were threatening to vote against a House-passed stopgap spending bill that would keep the government open until Feb. 16 and reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program for six years. They wanted to reach a deal on an immigration proposal that would shield hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants from deportation, which would include increased border security funding and changes to extended family migration and the visa "lottery" system to appease Republicans. Early Saturday morning, Schumer said he offered terms to Trump that he thought could result in a deal, even yielding on including funding for the president's proposed barrier on the U.S.-Mexico border. While neither the president nor the senator left the meeting saying they had a deal, both cited progress afterward. According to the New York Times, Schumer thought he had coaxed Trump into agreeing to a three- to four-day extension of funding, which would include money for disaster relief and health-care provisions, to enable sides to reach a more long-lasting deal. "In my heart, I thought we might have a deal tonight," Schumer said. Kelly, who has participated in rounds of congressional negotiations on funding, then reassured Republicans that Trump had not struck a deal without them, as some had feared he could. He called Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, to say Trump and Schumer had not reached a solution, according to Politico. "He told me that the president told Schumer to come back and talk to [House Speaker] Ryan and [Senate Majority Leader] McConnell. [Trump] wasn't going to get in the middle of it," Cornyn said, according to the news outlet. "Sounds like Gen. Kelly had it under control." Later in the day after more exchanges between the White House and Schumer, Kelly called the senator to say the framework of the agreement he proposed was too liberal for Republicans, a person familiar with the call said. In fact, Kelly had an extensive list of objections to the potential deal, according to the Times. Nearly all of Schumer's caucus and four Republicans, too voted against the House-passed bill late Friday. Congress could not reach a deal before funding lapsed on Saturday. Senators on both sides of the aisle particularly Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have expressed frustration with apparent inconsistency from Trump on what he wants in an immigration deal. Democrats and most Republicans in Congress support some type of legislation to shield the immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. With the government shutdown officially taking effect after midnight on Friday with Democrats and Republicans pointing fingers at each other most Americans are focusing on the political factors at play. Yet a shutdown could have serious consequences for several of the most important national health agencies, particularly if it drags on for long. The Department of Health and Human Services is furloughing just over half of its employees. The HHS contingency staffing plan includes 40,959 employees stopping work, while 40,956 continue. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sending 63 percent of its 13,600-employee staff home. This, during the height of flu season: The CDC reports that every state but Hawaii and the District of Columbia has suffered widespread flu outbreaks, and officials worry about what may happen without this testing. On Saturday, White House Budget Director Mike Mulvaney told reporters that the CDC will now keep its influenza monitoring program up and running through the shutdown. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC during the 2013 government shutdown, said recently that he "really couldn't do my job as CDC director of keeping Americans safe, because more than 8,500 of my staffers had been told to go home, and they do important things that protect Americans." Frieden told STAT News that the agency made him feel like he was "in a science fiction movie. CDC was deserted." Bingo fundraiser Jan. 27 Mining City Dance Company will hold its annual bingo fundraiser at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, at the Elks Lodge, 206 W. Galena St. The cost is $5 for 10 games of bingo, and special games will also be played. There will be cash prizes, 50/50 tickets, silent auction, door prizes, and concessions. Proceeds go toward dance students' competition fees. Ladies AOH to note St. Brigids Day Buttes Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians will celebrate St. Brigids Day on Saturday, Feb. 3, with a Mass and dinner. Named in honor of one of Irelands principal saints, Buttes LAOH will begin marking St. Brigid of Kildares feast day with Mass at 4:30 p.m. at St. Anns Church, 2100 Farragut Ave. A no-host dinner will follow at Perkins, 2900 Harrison Ave. Buttes LAOH invites women with Irish heritage or who are married to someone with Irish roots to join them for club meetings, a summer picnic, and Christmas dinner. Monthly meetings are at The Springs clubhouse on the second Tuesday of each month. Dues are $20 a year. Details: Jule Walsh at 406-723-3514. Key Democrats on Saturday expressed openness to President Donald Trump's proposed wall on the U.S. border with Mexico, a dramatic turnaround for the party as it seeks to extend protections for people who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said early Saturday morning that, in a Friday meeting with the president, he offered to put the wall "on the table" in a potential deal to avoid a government shutdown. Later Saturday, Illinois Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a longtime opponent of Trump's wall, told reporters that he would back off his opposition to the president's plan for the barrier, in order to protect recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. "It's not about a wall. We'll build him a wall. Tell us how high you want it. But free the Dreamers," the lawmaker said, according to journalists on Twitter. CNN tweet HuffPo tweet Earlier this week, Gutierrez told the New York Times that Trump's chief of staff, John Kelly, told the House Hispanic Caucus that "a 50-foot wall from sea to shining sea isn't what we're going to build." Trump later insisted that he had not changed his mind about the wall. During the 2016 election, a wall along the American border with Mexico was a cornerstone of Trump's populist, nationalist pitch to voters, and the idea remains a point of contention in the president's relationship with Congress. Yet Democrats have largely resisted Trump's calls for billions of dollars to build the barrier, and any indication they are willing to budge is likely to anger their liberal base. Schumer revealed his offer to Trump in remarks on the floor of the Senate minutes after the chamber failed to pass legislation that would have averted a shutdown. On Friday, Schumer had a 90-minute meeting with Trump in the Oval Office. Only Kelly and Schumer's chief of staff, Michael Lynch, were in the room with the senator and the president. Afterward, Schumer had a positive take on the meeting, although he did not say a deal was struck. Still, the New York Democrat said Trump had walked away from the proposition. The White House has said that it would prefer addressing immigration issues separately from a measure to fund the government. Saturday afternoon, White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney, in an impromptu press briefing, said Schumer's offer to fund the wall fell well short of the money Trump has been seeking. Mulvaney, citing Kelly, said that Schumer told Trump he would agree to "all the money for the wall," which Trump took to mean the full $20 billion that building a partial border wall is expected to cost. But what Schumer was actually talking about was the $1.6 billion the White House had already sought in an annual appropriations bill. Mulvaney said this misunderstanding reflected Schumer's duplicitous negotiating tactics. "That is not 'all of the money for the wall,' nor was it ever intended to be all the money for the wall," said the budget director, who had a reputation in Congress for being a fiscal conservative. Trump has repeatedly claimed, on the campaign trail and during his presidency, that Mexico would pay for the wall. Matt House, a spokesman for Schumer, disputed Mulvaney's account. Matt House tweet Schumer's remarks early Saturday morning followed those of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who blamed Democrats for the Senate's failure to approve a bill passed by the Republican-controlled House on Thursday. Schumer, however, rejected that characterization and pointed out that four Republican senators Mike Lee of Utah, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Rand Paul of Kentucky voted in earnest against the continuing resolution. The New York Democrat then turned his ire on the president himself. "The blame should crash entirely on President Trump's shoulders," Schumer said. "This will be called the Trump shutdown because there is no one who deserves the blame ... more than President Trump." -CNBC's Christina Wilkie contributed to this report. President Donald Trump in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C. Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images President Donald Trump on Saturday took a swing at Democrats who blocked a last-minute measure to fund government operations, calling their near-uniform opposition an attempt to give him a "nice present" to commemorate his first anniversary as president. Late Friday evening, the Senate failed to pass a short-term spending bill that would have kept the government open for at least a few weeks, triggering a round of partisan finger-pointing. Early in the day, Trump blamed Democratic lawmakers for the current impasse in Washington even as the short-term spending bill was opposed by a few in his own party. "Democrats are far more concerned with illegal immigrants than they are with our great military or safety at our dangerous southern border," Trump posted on Twitter. "They could have easily made a deal but decided to play shutdown politics instead." watch now He added: "This is the one-year anniversary of my presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present. #DemocratShutdown." In years past, government shutdowns have served as a proxy for fights over federal spending and usually when the White House and Congress are run by different parties. Yet the current impasse has hinged largely on divisive hot-button issues such as immigration, something Trump referenced on Saturday in his broadside against Democrats. Democrats are holding our Military hostage over their desire to have unchecked illegal immigration. Can't let that happen! The Senate is expected to resume talks on funding the government later in the day. On the first anniversary of his presidency, with the stock market roaring and the economy adding jobs, Trump had planned to rest at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, feted by friends and admirers. Tweet Instead, Trump stayed in Washington in an attempt to prevent the federal government from having to shut its doors, meaning that non-essential services would cease until a spending bill gets approved. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Jonathan Ernst | Reuters Despite having ascended to the presidency on a carefully-crafted image as a dealmaker, Trump was unable to convince recalcitrant Democrats, and even a few restive GOP members, to drop their opposition. Democrats pressed hard for measures to resolve sticky wedge issues like immigration and children's health, which have also managed to divide Republicans. The White House and its allies have placed much of the blame on Democrats, particularly Trump's fellow New Yorker, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. For his part, the Democrat placed the blame back on the president's shoulders. "It's almost like you were rooting for a shutdown," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said of Trump on Saturday. Trump was forced to postponed a long-planned weekend trip to his winter home Mar-a-Lago, where a lavish $100,000-a-couple fundraiser on Saturday would extol his first year in office. Yet he had little choice. Critics would have hammered him for attending such an event while government workers were being put on leave and many government services curtailed. Tweet Back in September, Trump cut a short-term government funding deal with Schumer and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. The harmony between the president and the top Democratic Congressional leaders didn't last long, however, as divisions over immigration set the parties against one another. Schumer and Pelosi thought they had reached an agreement to preserve a program that protected Dreamers, but Trump reportedly walked away. The standoff culminated in a heated negotiation session last week, where Trump was said to have used a vulgar term to describe immigrants from Haiti and Africa. - Reuters contributed to this story WATCH: Trump's doctor says he aced his mental fitness test. Here's how hard it really was. More than a thousand Google employees marched in protest on Jan. 30, 2017, against the Trump administration's immigration ban. Immigration has been the biggest flash point between President Trump and the tech community during the president's first year in office. The issue is somewhat personal: More than half of the privately held tech companies with $1 billion valuations have at least one immigrant founder, according to the National Foundation for American Policy. Tech leaders have used social media, internal memos, and most consequentially, legal briefs to voice their opposition to the administration's policies. The clashes began early in the administration, starting when President Donald Trump issued his original travel ban in January 2017, preventing citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the country. Trump's travel ban was blocked by multiple federal judges. The Supreme Court allowed it to go into effect in December 2017 while legal challenges continue in lower courts. Tech leaders, including Google CEO , CEO Satya Nadella and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg sent memos to their staff and posted criticisms on social media. Donald Trump was set to be the first U.S. president to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in nearly two decades, but the government shutdown might have scrambled those plans. White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney said Saturday that Trump's plans to travel to Davos next week are up in the air while Congress scrambles to strike a deal to fund the federal government. "We're taking Davos, from the president's perspective and the Cabinet's perspective, on a day-by-day basis," Mulvaney told reporters during an impromptu briefing. The government shut down at midnight Friday, after congressional negotiators failed to pass a budget. Earlier in the day, Trump cancelled a planned trip to Florida, where he was scheduled to host a party at his private Mar-a-Lago club to mark the one year anniversary of his inauguration. Tickets for the Mar-a-Lago party begin at $100,000 per couple, and proceeds will benefit the Trump reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee. On Saturday, RNC staffers were busy setting up TV screens in the private club, so Trump could address the guests via satellite, according to CNN. The budget impasse showed no signs of letting up on Saturday, as both Democrats and Republicans dug their heels in, and each party blamed the other. The president is scheduled to depart for Switzerland on Wednesday, along with a delegation of more than a dozen Cabinet members, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and top White House aides. In 2000, Bill Clinton was the first and, for now, last sitting U.S. president to attend the World Economic Forum. Neither George W. Bush nor Barack Obama attended during their terms, while Ronald Reagan appeared via video link. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Congress failed to approve short-term funding for the federal government on Friday, meaning several government services are suspended until further notice. Other services are expected to remain available. The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirms that Forest Service law enforcement will continue to work, as will food safety inspectors and members of the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, which cares for animals. Other services not important to life or public safety will be suspended, including farm services. Veterans health services would be largely unaffected. Veterans clinics across the state would remain open and fully operational during a shutdown. The Veterans Health Administration received its funding for the 2014 federal fiscal year, which began Tuesday. All services, including shuttle services for disabled veterans, would be functional. The Bureau of Land Management issued the following statement: "In the event that Congress is unable to enact appropriations or a continuing resolution, essentially all activities of the BLM will be halted with the exception of law enforcement, emergency response functions, and operations necessary to prevent a safety risk to life, property or resources. Without appropriated funds, there is no authority to incur obligations, including obligations for salaries, except in situations involving orderly shutdown of the bureau or to protect life and property. "In the event that a shutdown occurs, the Department will notify bureaus to begin an orderly shutdown of unfunded functions. This will require the furlough of a majority of BLM employees. Voluntary services from employees will not be accepted. Because access to the public lands cannot be restricted in many circumstances, the BLM may take practical steps to close facilities and post signs notifying the public that BLM services will not be provided during a shutdown. While it is our goal to provide access to visitors, we will not be providing visitor services." Yellowstone National Park issued the following statement: "Government-run operations and facilities will be closed as soon as Saturday morning, Jan. 20. Visitors will be able to access the road from Gardiner to the Northeast Entrance and all the commercial services along that route. Visitors will also be able to access commercial services in the interior of the park (e.g. at Old Faithful) only as long as concessioners provide funds for road grooming. All park regulations, including those regarding oversnow travel, still apply. Guided snowmobile trips with commercial operators will be allowed, however, non-commercially guided snowmobile trips will not be allowed during the shutdown. If conditions become unsafe at any time, roads and/or developed areas in the park will be closed. The park will provide limited emergency response." The U.S. Postal Service will continue to deliver mail. USPS generates its own revenue through mail fees. Its post offices will remain open. "It's not just lawyers who run for office, but it's farmers and businessmen and doctors and veterinarians and dentists," Michela Skelton says. "I thought I could use the skills I had to help them write good laws that would do what they wanted them to do." Expectation management is of huge importance in politics especially when it comes to presenting your case to the media. Last weekend the Sunday Times splashed with the following item: The justice secretary is preparing to intervene to try to halt the release of black-cab rapist John Worboys following a cabinet revolt over the decision to set the serial sex attacker free after less than 10 years behind bars. David Gauke has asked lawyers to prepare the case for a judicial review of the decision by the Parole Board, and officials say Gauke will trigger the legal challenge if it has a reasonable chance of success. He made the move after four cabinet ministers privately warned him that the decision to set Worboys free could be unlawful because his victims have not been consulted about the terms of his release. Yesterday however Gauke told Parliament: I know that the victims of these horrific crimes have suffered significant emotional trauma. The prospect of the release of this man is deeply concerning to them, to many Members and to the wider public. I owe it to those victims and to the public to consider all the options open to me as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. I therefore took the step of seeking legal advice from specialist leading counsel to establish whether there were grounds to challenge the decision in the courts and therefore to ask the court to stop the release of Worboys before the decision was reconsidered. Let me set out my approach to judicial review in general. Whatever ones personal feelings about a case, Ministers should not choose to bring a legal challenge that has no reasonable prospect of success, but it is right that public bodies can be held to account for their actions through due process of law and, specifically, judicial review. There has been significant public debate about the possible basis for a legal challenge in such a case. It has been speculated that there are two grounds open to me to challenge such a decision: that the decision was one that no board could reasonably have taken, or that there were significant procedural failings in the way that the decision was taken. The bar for a judicial review to succeed is very high. The test for deciding whether a decision is unreasonable is not simply that the decision makerin this case, the Parole Boardcould have made an alternative decision, but that no reasonable person would have come to the same conclusion on the facts of the case. Similarly, on procedure, it would be necessary to identify a failure by the Parole Board to follow the process that would have had a material impact on the decision. Having taken considered and expert legal advice, I have decided that it would not be appropriate for me, as Secretary of State, to proceed with such a case. Members will appreciate that I cannot go further and expose detail of the legal advice that I have been given. I know that will disappoint the victims in this case and Members. Given the crimes for which Worboys has been convicted, on a personal level, candidly, I share those concerns. This will not have been an easy matter for Gauke to deal with. Lord Chancellors understandably feel pretty awkward about asking for legal advice and then disregarding it should the advice happen to prove inconvenient. Doing so would have been particularly audacious for Gauke given that he had only been in the job 11 days. Yet if he was expecting sympathy for his predicaments he will have found scant sign of it in this mornings papers. For example the leader in Daily Telegraph this morning declared: That a man accused of attacking about 100 women could walk out of jail having served less than 10 years is sickening. That a Tory Justice Secretary could stand before the House and say that he can do nothing about it, but others are welcome to try, is ridiculous. There is no certainty in litigation. What is a reasonable chance of success? 50 per cent? 25 per cent? Ten per cent? However slim the chance in this case it would have been better for Gauke to have fought and lost than not have fought at all. A defeat, with the court providing an explanation for the verdict, would have at least been informative in explaining how the mess has arisen. Passive acceptance, which is how Gaukes decision will be interpreted, will be damaging for public and police morale. That sense that the system is on the side of the criminal rather than the victim will have been increased. Lawyers advise and it is for politicians in authority to decide. As the GLC Leader, and later Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone was found of undertaking legal challenges with a slim chance of success regarding them as an extension of agitprop. When he was Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was warned by his chief legal adviser Sir Michael Wood two months before the invasion of Iraq that such a move would be unlawful. Straw ignored the advice and went on to become Lord Chancellor. Gauke is entitled to regard neither Livingstone or Straw as suitable role models. But on this occasion it would have been right for Gauke to take his chances in court especially after letting us get our hopes up that he would do so. While the anger at the Worboys case is considerable it is the wider context that is most serious. How can the Parole Board be reformed? How can we assure those appointed to be its members have a tougher approach to crime reflecting the wishes of the public they are meant to serve? How can we ensure that the police have the powers they need to fight crime for instance in terms of stop and search and the pursuit of moped thieves who are not wearing helmets? The riots in August 2011 were a strange time. The country recovered very quickly. But there was considerable dismay that for some days the police were ordered only to stand and observe. The shopkeepers whether the Turks in Dalston or the Sikhs in Southall were left to fend for themselves. Whatever happens about Worboys the wider malaise in the criminal justice system must be addressed. This isnt just about toughness. There is much scope for further public service reform in the prisons and probation service to reduce the reoffending rate. But toughness has a crucial part to play. Something unusual is happening in British cinemas. Audiences are reported to be breaking into spontaneous applause at the end of the recently-released film about Winston Churchill during the summer of 1940, Darkest Hour. The film concludes with Gary Oldman, as Churchill, delivering part of the speech made to the Commons in the wake of Dunkirk the most famous part of perhaps the most famous speech that Churchill ever made. We shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. And so on to the end. Eric Fellner, the films producer, says that since the film was conceived, the world has changed politically. Weve had Brexit, weve had Trump, weve had all sorts of volcanic political and social eruptions and I think weve just hit a zeitgeist where people are fascinated by and feeling a need for leadership. This story goes beyond the reasons for which we made it, and now its playing into those themes. This sounds as accurate a snapshot take as one can get, and Fellners reference to the referendum vote is suggestive. Churchills views on Britains relationship with Europe are complicated, first, by the fact that he said different things at different times and, second, by the contexts in which those differences arose. For example, he said each time we must choose between Europe and the open sea, we shall always choose the open sea during a dispute with De Gaulle. A dispassionate summary of his take would be that he had a long-running sympathy for a United States of Europe, particularly in the aftermath of World War Two, but that he saw Britain as being associated but not absorbed by it. He became sympathetic to Britain joining the Common Market; This seems to have had less to do with an attachment to Parliamentary sovereignty than a view of Britain as the space where three circles intersect: the Commonwealth, America and Europe. After all, Churchill was a creation of his time, though less limited by that constriction than most of us, and the period in which his attitudes, views and reflexes were shaped was late Victorian England. He was a man of Empire not a little Englander, but a Great Britainer. One might also say a Global Britainer, which returns one to Brexit and the film. Obviously, not all those applauding will have voted for Britain to leave the EU. And not all those who backed Brexit had self-government as their first consideration. Some made a case that stressed global trade. For example, Rishi Sunak told his local paper that global business has taught him the key to growth is to remove the bureaucracy of Brussels. Richard Fuller, who sadly lost his Commons seat last year, wrote that Britain would trade with renewed ferocity as an open economy. His forward-looking statement can be read in full here. Above all, not all those who supported Brexit were Tories. Labour seats played a crucial role in backing it, as Labour MPs did in backing Churchill. (A point the film conveys.) None the less, it was integral to that forward-looking case for Leave that only self-government can unlock our economic potential. And a countys future is inevitably shaped by its past. One day, some other country may vote to leave the EU. If it is does, it will do so for its own reasons, and these will have nothing much to do with what has been called Our Island Story. But just as Churchill, in that unsurpassable Commons oration, referred back to Napoleons failed plan to invade Britain, so it is that the Leave campaigns were able to draw on a view of the nation standing alone against tyranny against Bonapartes army; against Spains Armada. For very many people, Britains survival in 1940 has framed that story as a way of understanding ourselves, just as the mass losses of the First World War shaped the outlook of the pre-war generation. It is a statement of the obvious to say that it would not be so so had we been invaded and subjugated. And it is necessary to honour the commitment of America and the contribution of Russia, without which the defeat of naziism wouldnt have happened, at least in the form that took place. The climax of the film shows Churchill taking the Underground, and being told by those in his carriage that Britain must fight on. The scene is at once mawkish and moving, not to mention fictitious. A cynic might say that when those audiences clap at the end of the film, they are clapping themselves the lion that gave the roar, as Churchill put it. But cynicism corrodes judgement. The summer of 1940 was a narrow squeak. We dont know what would have followed invasion. The applause is for him. ANSONIA Ansonia Parks & Recreation is hosting a free ice fishing class later this month. The class is taught by certified instructors from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protections Connecticut Aquatic Resources Education Program. The instructors are experienced fishermen, volunteering their time to teach others. The class will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 30 at the Ansonia Armory, 25 North Cliff St. It will cover the basics of safety, equipment, proper dress, rules, regulations and species identification. On Feb. 3, those who attend the class can practice what theyve learned at the Burr Pond State Park during the Torrington No Child Left Inside Winter Festival. All tackle and bait is loaned to participants free of charge. Those interested in attending the class must register with Chief Instructor Dave Connelly at 203-231-0946. The class is open to all ages and all interested parties not just Ansonia residents. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON Connecticuts Democratic senators voted on a procedural motion that in effect set the stage for the government shutdown that began Saturday. The vote in the Senate at 10:30 p.m. Friday had been called by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a desperate attempt to avert a shutdown by affirming a House measure passed Thursday night. It would have kept the government open through Feb. 16, the fourth such extension since the fiscal year began on Oct. 1 last year. The Senate vote effectively killed the monthlong extension. Lawmakers of both parties continued to mill about the Senate floor after the vote, suggesting a possible last-minute deal was in the works. All day, Connecticut and the rest of the nation braced for what would be the first government shutdown since 2013 one that lasted 16 days. Negotiations continued behind closed doors, but most of what the public was seeing and hearing amounted to little more than blame-game attack and avoidance. The House-passed measure had contained few concessions to Democratic priorities, including continued legal status for the 700,000 or more youthful immigrants (more than 8,000 in Connecticut) who lost it last year when President Donald Trump ended then-President Barack Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. In the Senate on Friday night, most Democrats including Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy opposed approval of the House extension, and four Republican senators also voted no. Five Democrats, most from red states won by Trump in the 2016 election, voted yes with most of the Republicans. The continuing resolution President Trump is trying to force down our throats is terrible for Connecticut it guts funding for community health centers, inadequately funds our states military contractors, and may lead to the deportation of thousands of immigrant kids, Murphy said in a statement. Instead of punting and passing a fourth continuing resolution, President Trump and Republicans could choose to sit down and write a real budget with Democrats this weekend, but they are refusing. Thats really sad. McConnell ultimately ended up voting with Democrats, which enables him to call the motion back to the Senate floor at any time. The government shutdown was 100 percent avoidable; now it is imminent, McConnell said after the 50-49 vote. Theres only one reason we ended up here: The shoehorning of immigration into this debate. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer pointed his finger at Trump. All of today we have endeavored to reach an agreement with President Trump and Republicans, Schumer said. He said he had reluctantly put funding for a border wall on the table in exchange for protection for youthful Dreamer immigrants. What happened to the President Trump who asked us to come up with a deal and said hed take the heat for it? He backed off. Earlier, Trump called Schumer to the White House for a negotiating session that included White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. We had a long and detailed meeting, Schumer told reporters upon his return to the U.S. Capitol. We discussed all of the major outstanding issues, we made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements. The discussions will continue. Trump tweeted his encounter with Schumer was an excellent preliminary meeting. He added: Making progress four week extension would be best! The president cancelled a planned trip Friday to his Mar a Lago resort in Florida to be on hand for last-minute negotiations. As the blame game ricocheted back and forth, an ABC News/Washington Post poll showed 48 percent would judge Republicans guilty if a shutdown occurred, while 28 percent would accuse Democrats and 18 percent believe both sides equally responsible. But a CNN poll showed 56 percent saying avoidance of a shutdown is more important than continuing the DACA program, while just 34 percent picking DACA over a shutdown. Hours before the vote Murphy took aim at the prospect of another temporary fix. He retweeted the Pentagons top spokeswoman, who said the succession of such spending measures was wasteful and destructive for the military. This is extraordinary, Murphy tweeted. What a first class mess Republicans have created. Republicans and conservatives were going all out to pin the possible shutdown on Democrats. As a counter to the Democratic-favored hashtag #TrumpShutdown, they rolled out the hashtag #SchumerShutdown. Senate Democrats own the Schumer Shutdown, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement just after midnight. Tonight, they put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our countrys ability to serve all Americans. We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands. This is the behavior of obstructionist losers, not legislators. When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform. During this politically manufactured Schumer Shutdown, the president and his administration will fight for and protect the American people. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney pushed back against Democrats like Blumenthal who have argued that as the ones in control of Congress and the White House, Republicans would own the shutdown. He also insisted that there was no need to include a DACA fix as a condition for keeping the government open. DACA doesnt expire until March 5, Mulvaney said. This is purely an attempt by the Senate Democrats to try and get a shutdown that they think this president gets blamed for. Advocates for DACA Dreamers, young immigrants brought illegally to this country as children, say the legal status of at least 15,000 immigrants has already expired. But a federal judge in California put a hold on deportation proceedings against them, pending the outcome of a lawsuit challenged Trumps DACA revocation. The Trump administration has appealed the judges stay to the U.S. Supreme Court. Anyone who says that we have more time for this insane congressional gridlock is lying, said Lucas Codognolla of Bridgeport, himself a Dreamer from Brazil who heads Connecticut Students for a Dream. Every day I meet DACA recipients, students, young parents, workers who support their families, who have already lost their DACA. They cant wait until March 5. Here's where to find deer on public hunting grounds in Pennsylvania A government shutdown with a big federal election on the horizon, and Montana lawmakers are squarely in the sights of the political blame game. Sound familiar? It should. Sen. Jon Tester voted with fellow Democrats on Friday against a bill to keep the government running. Most federal government services will run out of money at midnight. Opponents promised not to let voters forget when Tester faces re-election in November. But five years ago, it was Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines in the hot seat. A freshman member of the U.S. House at the time, Daines sided with Republican lawmakers demanding a repeal of Obamacare in exchange for their votes to keep the government running. The protest failed, and eventually Daines joined Democrats and 85 Republicans to get the government running again. Democrats labeled Daines Shutdown Steve for first withholding his vote. Tea Party Republicans then criticized Daines for ending the shutdown. None of it stuck. Nineteen days after the 2013 shutdown ended, Daines launched his U.S. Senate campaign. The next year, Daines was elected in the Senate. Government shutdowns are not what they used to be politically, said Jeremy Johnson, political science professor at Carroll College. The shock value from government shutdowns has lessened over time, and theyve become more frequent, Johnson said. In the 1990s, Republicans took more of a beating for shutting the government down. Republicans shut down the government in 1995 for six days in November and again that December for an entire month. The next year, President Bill Clinton won re-election and the momentum Republicans had heading into 1995 seemed lost. The 2014 elections didnt punish the GOP for the shutdown from the previous year. If theres a lesson to be learned from that shutdown, its that this one isnt likely to stick to anyone either. Analyses of the 2013 shutdown suggest that Americans blamed Republicans in the weeks after the shutdown, but moved on before the next election, Johnson said. Polling done in Montana by the late Craig Wilson of Montana State University Billings in 2013 suggested voters were almost as likely to disapprove of Democrats Tester and then-Sen. Max Baucus as they were Daines. The respondents gave Baucus and Tester both about a 44 percent approval rating, while Daines received a 39 percent approval rating. The margin of error was 5 percent. Tester said in a press call Thursday that some Montanans might be receptive to Republican attempts to blame him for shutting down the government. It probably will come, Tester said. "In the end, I've got to do whats right, and whats right is to make sure we have a long-term funding deal that works for families and businesses. Tester said he would agree to a bill that kept the government running for a few more days if it bought time to craft a bill that funded the federal government through September, which is the end of the federal fiscal year. That goal, coupled with long-term funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program, would get Testers vote, he said. Another short-term funding bill there have been four already followed by another won't get his vote. The senator has stayed clear of the debate on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which would allow illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children to remain in country and become eligible for citizenship. Johnson pointed out that Tester voted against a bill the Dream Act similar to DACA in 2010, which makes it difficult for Republicans to pin DACA to Tester now, even as other Democrats have clearly stated they want DACA settled and are willing to barter a shutdown for it. The current situation is a reversal of roles for Tester and Daines. Tester was able to speak against a shutdown in 2013. Hes now saying he doesnt want one, but cant support the bill put forth by the Republican majority in the Senate. That current bill will need at least a dozen votes from Democrats to reach the support of the 60 senators needed for passage. The GOP has circulated plans to target Democrats like Tester, from states President Donald Trump won in 2016. Daines isnt under pressure to vote against his partys bill to keep the government running for one month. That bill includes a six-year extension of funding for the CHIP, which provides health care to poor children. Daines is suggesting Democrats are failing those children by not supporting the Republican bill. Heres the choice we have before us today, Daines in a Friday floor speech, A choice we have less than seven hours to make: we can either keep the government open and fund health insurance for 24,000 Montana kids or shut down the government. RBC Bearings Incorporated manufactures and markets engineered precision bearings and components in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Aerospace/Defense and Industrial. The company produces plain bearings with self-lubricating or metal-to-metal designs, including rod end bearings, spherical plain bearings, and journal bearings; roller bearings, such as tapered roller bearings, needle roller bearings, and needle bearing track rollers and cam followers, which are anti-friction products that are used in industrial applications and military aircraft platforms; and ball bearings include high precision aerospace, airframe control, thin section, and industrial ball bearings that utilize high precision ball elements to reduce friction in high-speed applications. It also offers mounted bearing products include mounted ball bearings, mounted roller bearings, and mounted plain bearings; and enclosed gearing product lines, including quantis gearmotor, torque arm, tigear, magnagear & maxum, and controlled start transmission. In addition, the company produces power transmission components include mechanical drive components, couplings, and conveyor components; engineered hydraulics and valves for aircraft and submarine applications, and aerospace and defense aftermarket services; fasteners; precision mechanical components, which are used in various general industrial applications; and machine tool collets that are used for holding circulars or rod-like pieces. It serves automotive, tool holding, agricultural and semiconductor machinery, commercial and defense aerospace, ground defense, construction and mining, oil and natural resource extraction, heavy truck, marine, rail and train, packaging, food and beverage, packaging and canning, wind, and general industrial markets through its direct sales force, as well as a network of industrial and aerospace distributors. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Oxford, Connecticut. Bank of Hawaii Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Hawaii that provides various financial products and services in Hawaii, Guam, and other Pacific Islands. It operates in three segments: Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Other. The Consumer Banking segment offers checking, savings, and time deposit accounts; residential mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit, automobile loans and leases, personal lines of credit, installment loans, small business loans and leases, and credit cards; private and international client banking, investment, credit, and trust services to individuals and families, and high-net-worth individuals; investment management; institutional investment advisory services to corporations, government entities, and foundations; and brokerage offerings, including equities, mutual funds, life insurance, and annuity products. This segment operates 54 branch locations and 307 ATMs throughout Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, and a customer service center, as well as through online and mobile banking. The Commercial Banking segment provides corporate banking, commercial real estate loans, commercial lease financing, auto dealer financing, and deposit products. It offers commercial lending and deposit products to middle-market and large companies, and government entities; commercial real estate mortgages to investors, developers, and builders; and international banking and merchant services. The Treasury and Other segment offers corporate asset and liability management services, including interest rate risk management and foreign exchange services. Bank of Hawaii Corporation was founded in 1897 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. Occidental Petroleum Corporation is an international oil and gas giant founded in 1920 to explore for oil in California. The company made its name in the early 1960safter discovering the Lathrop Gas Field in Lathrop, California. The company expanded into chemicals manufacturing in 1968 and then in 1972 it became a pioneer in the quest to extract oil from shale. In 1993, the company made a historic move by exiting its coal operations, and then it did so again when it embraced a lower carbon future. The company worked to realign its goals with a carbon-free future in 2021. After extensive review, new carbon emission targets were laid out along with a plan that the Transition Pathway Initiative recognized as being 1 of 3 coming from major oil companies that could realistically result in net-zero emissions by 2050. Since then the company has laid interim goals that include net zero from operations and energy by 2040 and no routine flaring by 2030. Today, Occidental Petroleum is an integrated energy company with operations in the US, the Middle East, Africa, and Columbia along with some other smaller operations. The company operates a network of best-in-class production, delivery, and storage facilities with operations centered in the US. On a net basis, the companys US operations accounted for more than 75% of the total in 2022 with 19% from Middle East operations and the remainder from Columbia and elsewhere. The company engages in the oil & gas business as an explorer, producer, and mid-stream infrastructure operator. The company operates through three segments that include Oil and Gas, Chemicals, and Midstream & Marketing. The oil and gas segment explores for oil, develops new fields, and produces hydrocarbon liquids, gasses, and condensates. The chemicals segment manufactures a range of chemicals including chlorine, potassium chemicals, and vinyl. The midstream segment transports, stores, and markets hydrocarbons. It is the 6th largest oil and gas producer in the US by market cap. The company attained the position after its acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum in 2019, the 4th largest oil and gas acquisition at the time. Berkshire Hathaway became Occidental Petroleums largest shareholder in mid-2022. The firm had purchased more than 26% of the shares as of 10/14/2022 and had regulatory approval to purchase up to 50% of the company in total. Time for reasonable access to WSAs When politicians or bureaucrats are inspired by popular movement or sentiment to take action on matters outside their area of expertise, they enact in-depth studies, thereby trying to appease all groups. What has happened in the case of the Wilderness Study Area is they have been studied and forgotten. As a result of my advancing years, I no longer have access to areas without mechanical modes of transportation into the back country. I am not advocating for unrestricted use, just reasonable access by mechanical means that in the past, was open for our use. Placing a sign, blocking the trail used for years that reads trail closed to motorized access to improve hunting opportunities and prevent the spread of noxious weeds is insulting. And, as pointed out by Representative Bill Harris of Winnett, can lead to catastrophic fire and property damage. It's time for a quick review of these outdated WSAs and move them into manageable public lands accessible to all Montanans on all reasonable manner of transportation from horse to wheels. Support Senator Daines in his effort to release more WSAs for safety sake and access for fishing, hunting and other recreational activities. -- Mike Morris, Butte Charles River Laboratories International, Inc., a non-clinical contract research organization, provides drug discovery, non-clinical development, and safety testing services in the United States, Europe, Canada, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Research Models and Services (RMS), Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA), and Manufacturing Solutions (Manufacturing). The RMS segment produces and sells rodent research model strains and purpose-bred rats and mice for use by researchers. This segment also provides a range of services to assist its clients in supporting the use of research models in research and screening non-clinical drug candidates, including research models, genetically engineered models and services, insourcing solutions, and research animal diagnostic services. The DSA segment offers early and in vivo discovery services for the identification and validation of novel targets, chemical compounds, and antibodies through delivery of non-clinical drug and therapeutic candidates ready for safety assessment; and safety assessment services, such as toxicology, pathology, safety pharmacology, bioanalysis, drug metabolism, and pharmacokinetics services. The Manufacturing segment provides in vitro methods for conventional and rapid quality control testing of sterile and non-sterile pharmaceuticals and consumer products. This segment also offers specialized testing of biologics that are outsourced by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies; and avian vaccine services that provide specific-pathogen-free (SPF) fertile chicken eggs, SPF chickens, and diagnostic products used to manufacture vaccines. The company also provides contract vivarium operation services to biopharmaceutical clients. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts. The Travelers Companies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides a range of commercial and personal property, and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals in the United states and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Business Insurance, Bond & Specialty Insurance, and Personal Insurance. The Business Insurance segment offers workers' compensation, commercial automobile and property, general liability, commercial multi-peril, employers' liability, public and product liability, professional indemnity, marine, aviation, onshore and offshore energy, construction, terrorism, personal accident, and kidnap and ransom insurance products. This segment operates through select accounts, which serve small businesses; commercial accounts that serve mid-sized businesses; national accounts, which serve large companies; and national property and other that serve large and mid-sized customers, commercial trucking industry, and agricultural businesses, as well as markets and distributes its products through brokers, wholesale agents, and program managers. The Bond & Specialty Insurance segment provides surety, fidelity, management and professional liability, and other property and casualty coverages and related risk management services through independent agencies and brokers. The Personal Insurance segment offers property and casualty insurance covering personal risks, primarily automobile and homeowners insurance to individuals through independent agencies and brokers. The Travelers Companies, Inc. was founded in 1853 and is based in New York, New York. The following companies are subsidiares of CVS Health: 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 Premier Plan MMAI Inc., Aetna Better Health of California Inc., Aetna Better Health of Florida Inc., Aetna Better Health of Illinois Inc., Aetna Better Health of Indiana Inc., Aetna Better Health of Kansas 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 Tennessee 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 (Bermuda) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Europe) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Middle East) LLC, Aetna Global Benefits (Singapore) PTE. LTD., Aetna Health Holdings LLC, Aetna Health Insurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Aetna Health Insurance Company, Aetna Health Insurance Company of Europe DAC, Aetna Health Insurance Company of New York, 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 (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Aetna Insurance Company Limited, Aetna Insurance Company of Connecticut, Aetna Integrated Informatics Inc., Aetna International Ex Pat LLC, Aetna International LLC, Aetna Ireland Inc., Aetna Life & Casualty (Bermuda) Ltd., Aetna Life Assignment Company, Aetna Life Insurance Company, Aetna Medicaid Administrators 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 Health Plan Inc., Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, American Drug Stores Delaware L.L.C., 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., 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 Cabot Holdings Inc., CVS Cabot Holdings Inc. Coram Clinical Trials Inc. 99.72%/Aetna Inc. .28%, 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 Applications LLC, CVS Health Solutions LLC, CVS Health Ventures Fund GP LLC, CVS Health Ventures Fund LP, CVS Health Ventures Management 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 Management Support 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 Pharmacy Overseas Online LLC, CVS RS Arizona L.L.C., CVS Rx Services Inc., CVS SC Distribution L.L.C., CVS Shaw Holdings Inc., CVS Shaw Holdings Inc. Coram Clinical Trials Inc. 99.72%/Aetna Inc. .28%, CVS State Capital L.L.C., CVS TN Distribution L.L.C., CVS Transportation L.L.C., CVS Vero FL Distribution L.L.C., CVS-SHC Kidney Care Home Dialysis of Austin LLC, CVS-SHC Kidney Care Home Dialysis of Los Angeles LLC, CVS-SHC Kidney Care Home Dialysis of Philadelphia LLC, CVS-SHC Renal Holdings LLC, 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, 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 Clinical Trials Inc. CVS Pharmacy Inc. 75%/Aetna Life Insurance Company 25%, 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 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 Transplant Network Inc., Credentials Inc., D & R Pharmaceutical Services LLC, D.A.W. LLC, Delaware CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Delaware Physicians Care Incorporated, 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 LLC, Express Pharmacy Services of PA L.L.C., First Choice of the Midwest LLC, First Health Group Corp., First Health Life & Health Insurance Company, 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., Health Care Management Co. Ltd., Health Data & Management Solutions Inc., Health Re Inc., Health and Human Resource Center Inc., HealthAssurance Pennsylvania Inc., 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 Specialty Services LLC, MHNet of Florida Inc., Main Street Pharmacy L.L.C., 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, Minor Health Enterprise Co Ltd., MinuteClinic, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Alabama L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Arizona LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Arkansas LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Colorado 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, MinuteClinic Telehealth Services of Texas Association, Mississippi CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Missouri CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Montana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NCS Healthcare of Illinois LLC, NCS Healthcare of Iowa LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kansas LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kentucky LLC, 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 Pharmacy Services LLC, 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 Indiana Partnership Holding Company LLC, Omnicare LLC, Omnicare LLC Aetna Inc 0.28%/CVS Cabot Holdings Inc. 49.86%/CVS Shaw Holdings Inc. 49.86%, 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 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., 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, 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 LLC, 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. Read More Writers on the Avenue, a non-profit literary organization, is accepting entries for their poetry contest running through March 30. The contest is open to writers in Muscatine, Cedar, Scott, Louisa and Johnson counties in Iowa and Rock Island in Illinois. Prizes are offered for adults 18 and older, teenagers 13 to 17 and youth 12 and younger. Winners receive $25 along with non-cash prizes. Second, third and honorable mentions will be recognized, according to a news release from the group. Winners will be published in an anthology. To enter, writers must submit as many as five pages of unpublished poetry and a cover sheet with the author's name, mailing address, phone number, email address, category and the title or first lines of poems. Entries can be sent by email to wotamuscatine@gmail.com or by mail to WOTA Poetry Contest, 2614 Imperial Oaks Drive, Muscatine, IA 52761. Journal Staff First Republic Bank was founded by Jim Herbert with the intention of providing exceptional levels of customer service. It was his belief that customer service would set the bank apart and create a profitable investment for its shareholders. After 35 years, his vision has proven true with a 25% CAGR that continues to this day. The initial enterprise value has grown from only $8.8 million in that time, to over $19 billion making it the 14th largest bank in the US. First Republic Bank was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. First Republic Bank with its subsidiaries operates in two segments and provides personal banking, business banking, and wealth management services to individuals, families, organizations, and small businesses in the United States. The companys services are available in-person at one of the more than 80 offices or via ATM, online, mobile, and debit cards. The company offers deposit products including checking and saving accounts, money market, and CDs as well as a range of lending products. The full range of lending products includes but is not limited to residential mortgages, home equity lines of credit, commercial real estate and construction loans, and personal and business loans. The companys wealth management services include advisory services, online investment management, trusts, estate planning, and alternative investments as well as insurance and foreign exchange. The online brokerage service is available to all clients and can be accessed at any time via a web browser or mobile device. First Republic Bank operates a network of more than 80 deposit-taking branches and 12 wealth management offices. The network is located primarily in California with additional branches in major metropolitan areas and two destination locations that include Portland, Boston, Palm Beach, Greenwich, New York, and Jackson, Wyoming. First Republic Bank has proven its worth over the year by maintaining a consistently strong capital level, asset quality, and liquidity position. Its prudent management has allowed it to weather market ups and downs while commanding investment grade ratings for its bonds and preferred stock. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in two segments, Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products. The Proprietary Products segment offers stoppers and seals for injectable packaging systems; syringe and cartridge components, including custom solutions for the needs of injectable drug applications, as well as administration systems that enhance the safe delivery of drugs through advanced reconstitution, mixing, and transfer technologies; and films, coatings, washing, and vision inspection and sterilization processes and services to enhance the quality of packaging components. It also provides drug containment solutions, including Crystal Zenith, a cyclic olefin polymer in the form of vials, syringes, and cartridges; and self-injection devices, as well as a range of integrated solutions, including analytical lab services, pre-approval primary packaging support and engineering development, regulatory expertise, and after-sales technical support. This segment serves biologic, generic, and pharmaceutical drug companies. The Contract-Manufactured Products segment is involved in the design, manufacture, and automated assembly of devices used in surgical, diagnostic, ophthalmic, injectable, and other drug delivery systems, as well as consumer products. It serves pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and medical device companies. The company distributes its products through its sales force and distribution network, as well as contract sales agents and regional distributors. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. was incorporated in 1923 and is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania. Citigroup Inc. is one of the worlds largest financial institutions. It is the 13th largest bank globally by assets and 8th by market cap with operations in consumer and institutional banking. In the US, Citigroup is the 3rd largest bank by assets and one of the Big Four deemed systemically important and too big to fail. Citigroup Inc. was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York. The bank was run by Samuel Osgood who led the company with success for many years, even throughout the War of 1812. The bank was later renamed the National City Bank of New York in 1865 and by 1895 is the largest bank in the US. In 1913 it was the first contributor to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and a few years later it began to expand into overseas territories. The bank became the First National City Bank of New York after another merger in 1955 and then later, the New York part was dropped off as part of the 150th-anniversary celebration. By 1974 the company is known as Citicorp which is still the operational branch of the business and a global banking powerhouse. A merger with Travelers insurance group in 1998 resulted in the name Citigroup but the joint venture did not last. By 2002 Travelers was publicly traded once again but Citigroup retained the new name. Today, the company is headquartered in New York, New York but boasts more than 200 million customer accounts in 160 countries worldwide. As of mid-2022, it operated 2,649 branches in the United States, Mexico, and Asia. The company reports nearly 725 branches in the US and 1499 in Mexico with the rest scattered throughout its territory. Total annual revenue topped $75 billion in 2022. Citigroup is a diversified financial services holding company that owns Citicorp among other assets. The companys mission is to serve as a trusted partner providing responsible financial solutions to its clients. Citigroup provides financial products and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions. The company operates in two segments, Global Consumer Banking (GCB) and Institutional Clients Group (ICG). The GCB segment offers traditional banking services including deposit and saving accounts, credit cards, personal loans, home loans, and investment services. This segment operates through local branches and digital means. The ICG segment offers wholesale banking products and services to corporate, institutional, public sector, and high-net-worth clients. Snap Inc. is a social media company operating globally. The company was founded in September 2011 by Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy. Originally known as Snapchat, the company changed its name to Snap in order to represent its offerings better as it grew over the years. The companys headquarters are in Santa Monica, California and it is a very tightly held company. The original founders, Evan Speigel and Bobby Murphy own a combined 45% of non-dilutable shares with ownership transferable to the other upon death. The two remain active in the company today serving on the board and acting as CEO (Speigel) and CTO (Murphy). The company was formerly known as Snapchat, Inc. and changed its name to Snap Inc. in September 2016. Snap Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. Over the years it has been courted by most of the big tech companies including Facebook and Google but has always opted to remain a standalone company. The business went public in 2017 and raised $30 billion on its opening day which is about 10 times the expected amount. Today, Snap operates as a camera company internationally. The companys main revenue streams are Snapchat, a mobile app for cameras and communications, and Spectacles, a wearable augmented reality device. Snapchat is a camera app that allows users to take pictures and tell stories, the platform also permits ad sales which is an integral part of the revenue and earnings. The companys mission? To empower people to express themselves in todays digital world. Spectacles is a hardware device that can connect with Snapchat to deliver pictures and video from a point-of-view perspective. The company has since made three upgrades to the original version and has a Next Generation model available too. The Next Generation of Spectacles are not intended for sale but will be made available to creators who wish to push the boundaries of video and digital communications. In October 2022 the company reported it had more than 347milion daily active users with more than 250 million engaging with AR each day. The platform had more than 250,000 Lens creators (Lenses are AR experiences) with more than 2.5 million lenses created. There were more than 6 billion lens plays each day and more than 75% of 13-34-year-olds in 20 countries were users. The following companies are subsidiares of Molina Healthcare: Aetna & Humana - Medicare Advantage, Affinity Health Plan, AmericanWork Inc., Better Health Network, Camelot Care Centers Inc, Children's Behavioral Health Inc., Choices Group Inc., College Community Services, Dockside Services Inc, Family Preservation Services Inc., Family Preservation Services of Florida Inc., Family Preservation Services of North Carolina Inc., Family Preservation Services of Washington D.C. Inc., Family Preservation Services of West Virginia Inc., Florida NetPASS LLC, Hclb Inc., Magellan Complete Care, Maple Star Nevada Inc., Maple Star Oregon Inc., Mercy CarePlus, Molina Clinical Services LLC, Molina Healthcare Data Center Inc., Molina Healthcare of Arizona Inc., Molina Healthcare of California, Molina Healthcare of Florida Inc., Molina Healthcare of Georgia Inc., Molina Healthcare of Illinois Inc., Molina Healthcare of Iowa Inc., Molina Healthcare of Louisiana Inc., Molina Healthcare of Maryland Inc., Molina Healthcare of Michigan Inc., Molina Healthcare of Mississippi Inc., Molina Healthcare of Nevada Inc., Molina Healthcare of New Mexico Inc., Molina Healthcare of New York Inc., Molina Healthcare of North Carolina Inc., Molina Healthcare of Ohio Inc., Molina Healthcare of Oklahoma Inc., Molina Healthcare of Pennsylvania Inc., Molina Healthcare of Puerto Rico Inc., Molina Healthcare of South Carolina LLC, Molina Healthcare of Texas Inc., Molina Healthcare of Texas Insurance Company, Molina Healthcare of Utah Inc., Molina Healthcare of Virginia Inc., Molina Healthcare of Washington Inc., Molina Healthcare of Wisconsin Inc., Molina Holdings Corporation, Molina Hospital Management LLC, Molina Information Systems LLC dba Molina Medicaid Solutions, Molina Medical Management Inc., Molina Pathways LLC, Molina Pathways of Texas Inc., Molina Youth Academy, NextLevel Health Illinois, Pathways Community Corrections Inc., Pathways Community Services LLC, Pathways Community Support of Texas Inc., Pathways Health and Community Support LLC, Pathways Human Services LLC., Pathways of Arizona Inc., Pathways of Delaware Inc., Pathways of Idaho LLC, Pathways of Maine Inc., Pathways of Massachusetts LLC, Pathways of Oklahoma Inc., Pathways of Washington Inc., Providence Community Services, Providence Human Services, Raystown Developmental Services Inc., The Game of Work LLC, The RedCo Group Inc., Total Care Medicaid plan, Transitional Family Services Inc., Unisys -Health Information Management, and YourCare Health Plan. Read More Penumbra, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices in the United States and internationally. The company offers aspiration based thrombectomy systems and accessory devices, including revascularization device for mechanical thrombectomy, such as Penumbra System under the Penumbra RED, JET, ACE, 3D Revascularization Device, and Penumbra ENGINE brands, as well as components and accessories; neurovascular embolization coiling systems to treat patients with various sizes of aneurysms and other neurovascular lesions under the Penumbra Coil 400, POD400, PAC400, and Penumbra SMART Coil brand names; and neurovascular access systems designed to provide intracranial access for use in a range of neurovascular therapies under the Neuron, Neuron MAX, Select, BENCHMARK, BMX96, DDC, and PX SLIM brands. It also provides neurosurgical aspiration tools for the removal of tissue and fluids under the Artemis Neuro Evacuation Device brand; aspiration-based thrombectomy systems for vascular applications under the Indigo System brand; and detachable embolic coil systems for peripheral embolization under the Ruby Coil and Ruby LP brand names. In addition, the company offers microcatheter for the delivery of detachable coils and occlusion devices under the LANTERN brand; and detachable, microcatheter-deliverable occlusion devices designed primarily to occlude peripheral vessels under the POD (Penumbra Occlusion Device) brand, as well as immersive computer-based technologies and immersive therapeutics to promote health, motor function, and cognition under the Real Immersive System brand; and a complementary device for use with Ruby Coil and POD for vessel occlusion under the Packing Coil and Packing Coil LP brands. The company sells its products through direct sales organizations and distributors. Penumbra, Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Alameda, California. The following companies are subsidiares of American International Group: AGC Life Insurance Company, AIG APAC HOLDINGS PTE. LTD., AIG Aerospace Insurance Services Inc., AIG Asia Pacific Insurance Pte. Ltd., AIG Asset Management (Europe) Limited, AIG Asset Management (U.S.) LLC, AIG Assurance Company, AIG Australia Limited, AIG Brazil Holding I LLC, AIG CIS Investments LLC, AIG Canada Holdings Inc., AIG Capital Corporation, AIG Capital Services Inc., AIG Claims Inc., AIG Credit Management LLC, AIG Egypt Insurance Company S.A.E., AIG Employee Services Inc., AIG Europe Holdings S.a.r.l, AIG Europe S.A., AIG Federal Savings Bank, AIG Financial Products Corp., AIG General Insurance Co. Ltd., AIG Global Asset Management Holdings Corp., AIG Global Operations Inc., AIG Global Real Estate Investment Corp., AIG Global Reinsurance Operations, AIG Holdings Europe Limited, AIG Insurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited, AIG Insurance Company China Limited, AIG Insurance Company JSC, AIG Insurance Company of Canada, AIG Insurance Company-Puerto Rico, AIG Insurance Hong Kong Limited, AIG Insurance Management Services Inc., AIG Insurance New Zealand Limited, AIG International Holdings GmbH, AIG Investments UK Limited, AIG Israel Insurance Company Ltd, AIG Japan Holdings Kabushiki Kaisha, AIG Kenya Insurance Company Limited, AIG Korea Inc., AIG Latin America I.I., AIG Latin America Investments S.L., AIG Lebanon SAL, AIG Life Holdings Inc., AIG Life Limited, AIG Life South Africa Limited, AIG Life of Bermuda Ltd., AIG MEA Holdings Limited, AIG MEA Limited, AIG Malaysia Insurance Berhad, AIG Markets Inc., AIG Matched Funding Corp., AIG PC Global Services Inc., AIG Philippines Insurance Inc., AIG Property Casualty Company, AIG Property Casualty Inc., AIG Property Casualty International LLC, AIG Property Casualty U.S. Inc., AIG Re-Takaful (L) Berhad, AIG Resseguros Brasil S.A., AIG Seguros Brasil S.A., AIG Seguros Mexico S.A. de C.V., AIG South Africa Limited, AIG Specialty Insurance Company, AIG Technologies Inc., AIG Travel Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., AIG Travel Assist Inc., AIG Travel Assist Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., AIG Travel EMEA Limited, AIG Travel Inc., AIG Uganda Limited, AIG Vietnam Insurance Company Limited, AIG WarrantyGuard Inc., AIG-FP Pinestead Holdings Corp., AIG-Metropolitana Cia. de Seguros y Reaseguros S.A., AIGGRE Europe Real Estate Fund I GP S.a r.l., AIGGRE Europe Real Estate Fund II GP S.a r.l., AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund I GP LLC, AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund II GP LLC, AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund III GP LP, AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund IV GP LLC, AIU Insurance Company, AM Holdings LLC, Ageas Protect, AlphaCat Managers Ltd., American General Corporation, American General Life Insurance Company, American Home Assurance Co. Ltd., American Home Assurance Company, American International Group UK Limited, American International Realty LLC, American International Reinsurance Company Ltd., American International Underwriters del Ecuador-Holding S.A. en Liquidacion S.A., Arthur J. Glatfelter Agency Inc., Blackboard Insurance Company, Blackboard Specialty Insurance Company, Blackboard U.S. Holdings Inc., C.A. de Seguros American International, Commerce and Industry Insurance Company, Crop Risk Services Inc., Eaglestone Reinsurance Company, Ellipse, Franklin Life Insurance Company, Fuji Fire and Marine, Glatfelter Insurance Group, Glatfelter Underwriting Services Inc., Globe and Rutgers Insurance Group, Grand Isle SAC Limited, Granite State Insurance Company, Illinois National Insurance Co., Inversiones Segucasai C.A., Johannesburg Insurance Holdings (Proprietary) Limited, Laya Healthcare Limited, Lexington Insurance Company, Lexington Specialty Insurance Agency Inc., National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh Pa., National Union Fire Insurance Company of Vermont, New Hampshire Insurance Company, PCG 2019 Corporate Member Limited, PT AIG Insurance Indonesia, Pine Street Real Estate Holdings Corp., Risk Specialists Companies Insurance Agency Inc., SAFG Capital LLC, SAFG Retirement Services Inc., Service Net Warranty LLC, Stratford Insurance Company, SunAmerica Asset Management LLC, Talbot Holdings Ltd., Talbot Underwriting Holdings Ltd., Talbot Underwriting Ltd., The Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania, The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York, The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company, Travel Guard, Travel Guard Group Canada Inc./Groupe Garde Voyage du Canada Inc., Travel Guard Group Inc., Tudor Insurance Company, VALIC Financial Advisors Inc., Valic Retirement Services Company, Validus Holdings, Validus Holdings (UK) Ltd., Validus Holdings Ltd., Validus Reinsurance (Switzerland) Ltd, Validus Reinsurance Ltd., Validus Ventures Ltd., Volunteer Firemen's Insurance Services Inc., and Western World Insurance Company. Read More Ag Growth International Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes grain and rice handling, storage, and conditioning equipment in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company offers storage equipment comprising grain and bolted bins, hopper bins, smooth wall bins, temporary storage equipment, unloads and sweeps, water tanks, fuel tanks; and conditioning equipment, such as mixed flow dryers, fans and heaters, aerations, airaugers, aeration floors, vents and exhausters, stirrings, and accessories. It also provides portable handling equipment, such as portable augers, conveyors, grain vacs, post pounders, seed treaters, and accessories; and permanent handling equipment, including bucket elevators, chain and belt conveyors, enclosed belt conveyors, distributors, feed handling equipment, screw feeders and conveyors, and spouts and connections. In addition, the company offers towers, catwalks, ladders, all-steel buildings, flat storage buildings; batch blenders, bulk scales, declining weight blenders, vertical blenders, micro-dosing systems, mixers, milling equipment; and controllers, hazard monitoring equipment, monitoring and automation equipment, sampling solutions. Further, it provides cleaning and destoners, rice milling and processing equipment, bin unloads, blending and control systems, Liquid and dry fertilizer blending and conveying equipment, turnkey design and build construction solutions for seed and fertilizer facilities, and farm management software. The company markets its products under the AGI, Airlanco, Batco, Brownie, CMC, Compass, Danmare, Ezee-dry, Frame, Grain Guard, Grainmaxx, Hi Roller, Hutchinson, Improtech, Junge, Keho, Mayrath, Milltec, MMS, Neco, PTM, REM, Sabe, Sentinel, Storm, Suretrack, Tramco, Twister, Westeel, Westfield, Wheatheart, and Yargus brand names. It provides its equipment for agricultural commodities. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, and markets biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, neuroscience, and covid-19 diseases. The company's products include Revlimid, an oral immunomodulatory drug for the treatment of multiple myeloma; Eliquis, an oral inhibitor for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in NVAF, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for anti-cancer indications; Pomalyst/Imnovid indicated for patients with multiple myeloma; and Orencia for adult patients with active RA and psoriatic arthritis. It also provides Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia; Yervoy for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma; Abraxane, a protein-bound chemotherapy product; Reblozyl for the treatment of anemia in adult patients with beta thalassemia; and Empliciti for the treatment of multiple myeloma. In addition, the company offers Zeposia to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis; Breyanzi, a CD19-directed genetically modified autologous T cell immunotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma; Inrebic, an oral kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of adult patients with myelofibrosis; and Onureg for the treatment of adult patients with AML. It sells products to wholesalers, distributors, pharmacies, retailers, hospitals, clinics, and government agencies. The company was formerly known as Bristol-Myers Company. The company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in New York, New York. Carter's, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, sources, and markets branded childrenswear under the Carter's, OshKosh, Skip Hop, Child of Mine, Just One You, Simple Joys, Carter's My First Love, little planet, and other brands in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: U.S. Retail, U.S. Wholesale, and International. Its Carter's products include babies and young children products, such as bodysuits, pants, dresses, knit sets, blankets, layette essentials, bibs, booties, sleep and play products, rompers, and jumpers; and OshKosh brand products comprise playclothes, such as denim apparel products with multiple wash treatments and coordinating garments, overalls, woven bottoms, knit tops, and bodysuits. The company also provides products for playtime, travel, mealtime, bathtime, and homegear, as well as kid's bags and diaper bags under the Skip Hop brand. In addition, it offers bedding, cribs, diaper bags, footwear, gift sets, hair accessories, jewelry, outerwear, paper goods, socks, shoes, swimwear, and toys. The company operates 18,800 wholesale locations, including department stores, national chain stores, and specialty stores. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 980 retail stores. The company also sells its products through its eCommerce websites, such as carters.com, oshkoshbgosh.com, oshkosh.com, and skiphop.com, as well as other international wholesale accounts and licensees. Carter's, Inc. was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. DXC Technology Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides information technology services and solutions primarily in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It operates in two segments, Global Business Services (GBS) and Global Infrastructure Services (GIS). The GBS segment offers a portfolio of analytics services and extensive partner ecosystem that help its customers to gain rapid insights, automate operations, and accelerate their digital transformation journeys; and software engineering, consulting, and data analytics solutions that enable businesses to run and manage their mission-critical functions, transform their operations, and develop new ways of doing business. It also uses various technologies and methods to accelerate the creation, modernization, delivery, and maintenance of secure applications allowing customers to innovate faster while reducing risk, time to market, and total cost of ownership. In addition, this segment offers business process services, which include integration and optimization of front and back office processes, and agile process automation. The GIS segment adapts legacy apps to cloud, migrate the right workloads, and securely manage their multi-cloud environments; and offers security solutions help predict attacks, proactively respond to threats, and ensure compliance, as well as to protect data, applications, and infrastructure. It also provides IT outsourcing services to help customers securely and cost-effectively run mission-critical systems and IT infrastructure. In addition, this segment offers workplace services to fit its customer's employee, business, and IT needs from intelligent collaboration; and modern device management, digital support services, and mobility services. DXC Technology Company is headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia. Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. It offers Basaglar, Humalog, Humalog Mix 75/25, Humalog U-100, Humalog U-200, Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin lispro, insulin lispro protamine, insulin lispro mix 75/25, Humulin, Humulin 70/30, Humulin N, Humulin R, and Humulin U-500 for diabetes; and Jardiance, Trajenta, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes. The company provides Alimta for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and malignant pleural mesothelioma; Cyramza for metastatic gastric cancer, gastro-esophageal junction adenocarcinoma, metastatic NSCLC, metastatic colorectal cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma; Erbitux for colorectal cancers, and various head and neck cancers; Retevmo for metastatic NSCLC, medullary thyroid cancer, and thyroid cancer; Tyvyt for relapsed or refractory classic Hodgkin's lymph and non-squamous NSCLC; and Verzenio for HR+, HER2- metastatic breast cancer, node positive, and early breast cancer. It offers Olumiant for rheumatoid arthritis; and Taltz for plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and non-radiographic axial spondylarthritis. The company offers Cymbalta for depressive disorder, diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain, generalized anxiety disorder, fibromyalgia, and chronic musculoskeletal pain; Emgality for migraine prevention and episodic cluster headache; and Zyprexa for schizophrenia, bipolar I disorder, and bipolar maintenance. Its Bamlanivimab and etesevimab, and Bebtelovimab for COVID-19; Cialis for erectile dysfunction and benign prostatic hyperplasia; and Forteo for osteoporosis. The company has collaborations with Incyte Corporation; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; AbCellera Biologics Inc.; Junshi Biosciences; Regor Therapeutics Group; Lycia Therapeutics, Inc.; Kumquat Biosciences Inc.; Entos Pharmaceuticals Inc.; and Foghorn Therapeutics Inc. Eli Lilly and Company was founded in 1876 and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Houlihan Lokey, Inc., an investment banking company, provides merger and acquisition (M&A), capital market, financial restructuring, and financial and valuation advisory services worldwide. It operates in three segments: Corporate Finance, Financial Restructuring, and Financial and Valuation Advisory. The Corporate Finance segment offers general financial advisory services; and advises public and private institutions on buy-side and sell-side transactions, leveraged loans, private mezzanine debt, high-yield debt, initial public offerings, follow-ons, convertibles, equity private placements, private equity, and liability management transactions, as well as advise financial sponsors on various transactions. The Financial Restructuring segment advises debtors, creditors, and other parties-in-interest related to recapitalization/deleveraging transactions. It also provides a range of advisory services, including structuring, negotiation, and confirmation of plans of reorganization; structuring and analysis of exchange offers; corporate viability assessment; dispute resolution and expert testimony; and procuring debtor-in-possession financing. The Financial and Valuation Advisory segment offers valuations of various assets, such as companies, illiquid debt and equity securities, and intellectual property. It also provides fairness opinions in connection with M&A and other transactions, and solvency opinions in connection with corporate spin-offs and dividend recapitalizations; and other types of financial opinions. In addition, this segment offers dispute resolution services. It serves corporations, institutions, and governments. The company was incorporated in 1972 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California with offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region. KeyCorp operates as the holding company for KeyBank National Association that provides various retail and commercial banking products and services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer Bank and Commercial Bank. The company offers various deposits, investment products and services; and personal finance and financial wellness, student loan refinancing, mortgage and home equity, lending, credit card, treasury, business advisory, wealth management, asset management, investment, cash management, portfolio management, and trust and related services to individuals and small and medium-sized businesses. It also provides a suite of banking and capital market products, such as syndicated finance, debt and equity capital market products, commercial payments, equipment finance, commercial mortgage banking, derivatives, foreign exchange, financial advisory, and public finance, as well as commercial mortgage loans comprising consumer, energy, healthcare, industrial, public sector, real estate, and technology loans for middle market clients. In addition, the company offers community development financing, securities underwriting, brokerage, and investment banking services. As of December 31, 2021, it operated through a network of approximately 999 branches and 1,317 ATMs in 15 states, as well as additional offices, online and mobile banking capabilities, and a telephone banking call center. KeyCorp was founded in 1849 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. The following companies are subsidiares of AMETEK: AMETEK Germany GmbH, AMETEK Nordic AB, AMETEK d.o.o. Subotica., Dunkermotoren Taicang Co. Ltd., Milmega Limited, SPECTRO Analytical Instruments GmbH, AMETEK CTS Europe GmbH, AMETEK GmbH, AMETEK Korea Co. Ltd., CAMECA Instruments Inc., Dunkermotoren GmbH, Frameflair Limited, AMETEK CTS GmbH, CAMECA SAS, Solartron Metrology Limited, Taylor Hobson Trustees Limited, AEM Limited, AMETEK Airtechnology Group Limited., AMETEK Holdings SARL, Amekai Meter (Xiamen) Co. Ltd., Direl Holding GmbH, Fine Tubes Limited, Motec GmbH, Muirhead Aerospace Limited, RETE Holding GmbH, Superior Tube Company Inc., Taylor Hobson Limited, AMETEK Hong Kong Private Limited, Airtechnology Pension Trustees Limited, SPECTRO Analytical Instruments (Pty) Ltd, SPECTRO Analytical Instruments Inc., Antavia SAS, Amekai Singapore Private Ltd., Amekai Taiwan Co. Ltd., Tubes Holdco Limited, AMETEK Elektromotory s.r.o, AMETEK Global Tubes LLC, AMETEK Instruments Group UK Limited, AMETEK Singapore Private Ltd., AMETEK (GB) Limited, AMETEK European Holdings Limited, Gatan Service Corporation, SkyBitz Petroleum Logistics LLC, AMETEK (Barbados) SRL, AMETEK Italia S.r.l., Sealtron Inc., AMETEK SCP (Barrow) Limited, Creaform Shanghai Ltd., Micro-Poise Industrial Equipment (Beijing) Ltd., SkyBitz Inc., SkyBitz Tank Monitoring Corporation, Haydon Linear Motors (Changzhou) Co. Ltd., 4DSP B.V., 4DSP LLC, AIP/MPM Funding Inc., AIP/MPM Holdings Inc., AMESP USVI LLC, AMETEK (Bermuda) Ltd., AMETEK (Thailand) Co. Ltd., AMETEK Aegis Inc., AMETEK Aerospace & Defense Group UK Ltd, AMETEK Aerospace & Power Holdings Inc., AMETEK Aircraft Parts & Accessories Inc., AMETEK Ameron LLC, AMETEK Arizona Instrument LLC, AMETEK B.V., AMETEK CTS US Inc., AMETEK Canada 2 ULC, AMETEK Canada 3 ULC, AMETEK Canada Limited Partnership, AMETEK Co. Ltd., AMETEK Commercial Enterprise Shanghai, AMETEK Creaform ULC, AMETEK Customer Service S. de R. L. de C.v., AMETEK DELCO Inc., AMETEK Denmark A/S, AMETEK Do Brasil Ltda., AMETEK EMG Holdings Inc., AMETEK Edinburgh Holdings LP, AMETEK Engineered Materials Sdn. Bhd., AMETEK Europe L.L.C., AMETEK European Holdings GmbH, AMETEK Finland Oy, AMETEK Grundbesitz GmbH, AMETEK HSA Inc., AMETEK Haydon Kerk Inc., AMETEK Holdings B.V. also registered as AMETEK Holdings B.V. Delaware Inc.1, AMETEK Holdings de Mexico S. de R.L., AMETEK Hughes-Treitler, AMETEK Industrial Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., AMETEK Instrumentos S.L., AMETEK Instruments India Private Limited, AMETEK Lamb Motores de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., AMETEK Land Inc., AMETEK Latin America Holding Company S.a r.l., AMETEK MRO Florida Inc., AMETEK Magnetrol USA LLC, AMETEK Material Analysis Holdings GmbH, AMETEK Mexico Holding Company LLC, AMETEK Motors Asia Pte. Ltd., AMETEK PIP Holdings Inc., AMETEK Precitech Inc., AMETEK Programmable Power Inc., AMETEK Rotron, AMETEK S.A.S., AMETEK S.r.l., AMETEK SCP Inc., AMETEK Taiwan Co. Ltd., AMETEK Technical & Industrial Products Inc., AMETEK Thermal Systems Inc., AMETEK UK Finance Limited, Abaco Systems, Abaco Systems GK, Abaco Systems Holding Corp, Abaco Systems Inc., Abaco Systems Inc., Abaco Systems Limited, Abaco Systems PTY Limited, Abaco Systems Private Limited, Abaco Systems S.R.L., Abaco Systems Technology Corp, Abaco UK Holdco Limited, Advanced Industries, Advanced Measurement Technology Inc., Aero Components International Corp., Akron Standard Bestry (Guangzhou) Measurement Equipment Co. Ltd., Alphasense, Alphasense Limited, Alphasense SV Limited, Alphasense USA Inc., Amekai (BVI) Ltd., Ameron Global Inc, Ametek Advanced Industries Inc., Ametek-Reading Alloys Inc., Amptek Inc., Amptek Inc., Atlas Material Holdings Corporation, Atlas Material Testing Technology (India) Private Limited, Atlas Material Testing Technology BV, Atlas Material Testing Technology GmbH, Atlas Material Testing Technology L.L.C., Atlas Material Testing Technology LLC, Atlas Netherlands AcquisitionCo Cooperatief U.A., Avicenna Technology Inc., Avtech Avionics & Instruments LLC, B&S Aircraft, Brookfield Engineering, Cameca, Chandler Instruments Company L.L.C., Chandler Instruments Company LLC, Cognex - Surface Inspection Systems Division, Coining Holding Company, Coining Inc., Controls Southeast Inc., Crank, Crank Software, Crank Software ULC, Creaform, Creaform Inc., Creaform Software Inc., Creaform U.S.A. Inc., Crystal Engineering Corp, Crystal Engineering Corporation, Direl GmbH, Drake Air, Drake Air Inc., Drexelbrook Engineering Company, Dunkermotoren GmbH, Dunkermotoren USA Inc., EDAX Inc., EDAX LLC, EGS Automation, EGS Automation GmbH, EMA Corp., EMA Finance 1 LLC, EMA Finance 2 LLC, EMA Finance 3 LLC, EMA Holdings LLC, EMA Holdings UK Limited, EMA MX LLC, EMtest, ESP/SurgeX, FMH Aerospace Corp., FMH Holdings Corp., FMH Intermediate LLC, Forza Silicon Corporation, Foundation Technology Ltd, GS Electric, Gatan, Gatan Inc., Gatan U.K. Limited, Glasseal Products Inc., Global Tubes, HCC Industries Inc., HDR Power Systems LLC, HS Foils Oy, Hamilton Precision Metals Inc., Haydon Kerk Motion, Haydon Kerk Motion Solutions Inc., Hermetic Seal Corporation, High Standard Aviation, Imago Scientific Instruments, IntelliPower, IntelliPower Inc., Land Instruments International Ltd., Land Instruments International Ltd., Laserage Technology Corp, Luphos GmbH, MCG Acquisition Corporation, MI Technologies LLC, MOCON Europe A/S, MOCON Inc., Magnetrol International, Magnetrol International N.V., Micro-Poise Measurement Systems LLC, Micro-Poise Measurement Systems LLC, Mocon, Motec GmbH, Motec USA LLC, Motion Control Group, Muirhead Aerospace Limited, NSI-MI Technologies, NSI-MI Technologies LLC, NSI-MI UK Limited, Nearfield Systems LLC, NewAge Testing Instruments Inc., Newage Testing Instruments Inc., Nu Instruments Asia Ltd., Nu Instruments Limited, Nu Instruments Ltd, O'Brien Corp, OBCORP LLC., OOO AMETEK, Pacific Design Technologies Inc., Patriot Sensors & Controls Corporation, PennEngineering Motion Technologies, Petrolab L.L.C., Powervar, Powervar Deutschland GmbH, Powervar Inc., Powervar Mexico S.A. de C.V., Precitech, Quizix Inc., Rauland-Borg, Rauland-Borg Corporation, Rauland-Borg Corporation of Florida, Reichert Inc., Reichert Technologies, Responder Systems Corporation, Rotron Inc., SSH Non-Destructive Testing Inc., Six Brookside Drive Corporation., Solartron Group Ltd., Solidstate Controls Inc. de Argentina S.R.L., Solidstate Controls LLC, Solidstate Controls LLC, Solidstate Controls Mexico S.A. de C.V., Sound Com Corporation, Southern Aero Partners Inc., Southern Aeroparts Inc, Spectro Analytical Instruments Inc., Spectro Holdings Inc., Spectro Inc., Spectro International Holdings Inc., Spectro Scientific, Spectro Scientific Inc., Sterling Ultra Precision Inc., Sunpower, Sunpower Inc., TPM Russia Inc., Taylor Hobson Holdings Limited, Taylor Hobson Inc., Technical Manufacturing Corp, Technical Manufacturing Corporation, Technical Services for Electronics Inc., Telular, Telular Corporation, Teseq AG, Thelsha Technical Services, Tritex Corporation, Unispec Marketing Pvt. Ltd., Universal Analyzers Inc., VTI Instruments Corporation, VTI Instruments Private Limited, VTI Integrated Systems Private Limited, Vision Research Europe B.V., Vision Research Inc., Vision Research Inc., Vision Research S.R.L., Zemetrics Inc., Zygo Corporation, Zygo Corporation, Zygo Pte Ltd., Zygo Richmond Corporation, and ZygoLamda Metrology Instrument (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.. Read More Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as a global life sciences company that provides vital information to help doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and patients make clear and confident decisions. It operates in two segments, Labcorp Diagnostics (Dx) and Labcorp Drug Development (DD). It offers various tests, such as blood chemistry analyses, urinalyses, blood cell counts, thyroid tests, PAP tests, hemoglobin A1C and vitamin D, prostate-specific antigens, tests for sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis C tests, microbiology cultures and procedures, and alcohol and other substance-abuse tests. The company also provides specialty testing services comprising gene-based and esoteric testing; advanced tests target specific diseases, including anatomic pathology/oncology, cardiovascular disease, coagulation, diagnostic genetics, endocrinology, infectious disease, women's health, pharmacogenetics, and parentage and donor testing; and occupational testing services, medical drug monitoring services, chronic disease programs, and kidney stone prevention tests. It provides online and mobile applications to enable patients to check test results; and online applications for managed care organizations and accountable care organizations. It offers end-to-end drug development, medical device, and companion diagnostic development solutions from early-stage research to clinical development and commercial market access. It serves managed care organizations, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and diagnostics companies, governmental agencies, physicians and other healthcare providers, hospitals and health systems, employers, patients and consumers, contract research organizations, and independent clinical laboratories. Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings has a collaboration agreement with Tigerlily Foundation to increase clinical trial diversity for women of color. The company was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina. Pfizer Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic and women's health under the Premarin family and Eliquis brands; biologics, small molecules, immunotherapies, and biosimilars under the Ibrance, Xtandi, Sutent, Inlyta, Retacrit, Lorbrena, and Braftovi brands; and sterile injectable and anti-infective medicines, and oral COVID-19 treatment under the Sulperazon, Medrol, Zavicefta, Zithromax, Vfend, Panzyga, and Paxlovid brands. The company also provides medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, such as pneumococcal disease, meningococcal disease, tick-borne encephalitis, and COVID-19 under the Comirnaty/BNT162b2, Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, Trumenba, and the Prevnar family brands; biosimilars for chronic immune and inflammatory diseases under the Xeljanz, Enbrel, Inflectra, Eucrisa/Staquis, and Cibinqo brands; and amyloidosis, hemophilia, and endocrine diseases under the Vyndaqel/Vyndamax, BeneFIX, and Genotropin brands. In addition, the company is involved in the contract manufacturing business. It serves wholesalers, retailers, hospitals, clinics, government agencies, pharmacies, and individual provider offices, as well as disease control and prevention centers. The company has collaboration agreements with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Astellas Pharma US, Inc.; Myovant Sciences Ltd.; Akcea Therapeutics, Inc; Merck KGaA; Valneva SE; BioNTech SE; and Arvinas, Inc. Pfizer Inc. was founded in 1849 and is headquartered in New York, New York. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine and its derivatives, lithium and its derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers. It also provides iodine and its derivatives for use in medical, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and industrial applications comprising x-ray contrast media, polarizing films for LCD and LED, antiseptics, biocides and disinfectants, pharmaceutical synthesis, electronics, pigments, and dye components. In addition, the company offers lithium carbonates for various applications that include electrochemical materials for batteries, frits for the ceramic and enamel industries, heat-resistant glass, air conditioning chemicals, continuous casting powder for steel extrusion, primary aluminum smelting process, pharmaceuticals, and lithium derivatives, as well as ingredient in manufacturing of gunpowder. Further, it supplies lithium hydroxide for the lubricating greases industry, as well as cathodes for batteries. Additionally, it offers potassium chloride and potassium sulfate for various crops, including corn, rice, sugar, soybean, and wheat; industrial chemicals, including sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, potassium chloride, and solar salts; and other fertilizers and blends. The company operates in Chile, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, North America, Asia, and internationally. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Santiago, Chile. On top of the 28 per cent tax, the GST Council, comprising Centre and states, hiked the compensation cess levied on cigarettes. New Delhi: ITC on Friday said it has to bear an incremental tax burden of over 20 per cent due to the combined impact of increase in excise duty in budget 2017 and revision in GST compensation cess on cigarettes. The cumulative growth in tax incidence on cigarettes, after cognising for the latest increase in cess rates, stands at 202 per cent in last six years, ITC said in its earnings release. "The combined impact of increase in excise duty announced by the Union Budget 2017 and the revision in GST compensation cess resulted in an incremental tax burden of over 20 per cent on the company," it added. ITC said cigarette volumes remained under "severe pressure" due to "sharp increase in tax incidence and intense regulatory pressures". The sharp upward revision in GST compensation cess announced by the GST Council at its meeting on July 17, 2017 "exacerbated the situation", ITC said. After the implementation of GST on July 1, the government on July 17 had hiked the limit of cess to be levied on cigarettes as it felt that the industry was reaping a windfall gain as the tax rate was lower than what it was in the pre-GST era. On top of the 28 per cent tax, the GST Council, comprising Centre and states, hiked the compensation cess levied on cigarettes. The government while hiking the cess rate had said it was being done to ensure that tax rates in pre and post GST era remains the same. "....the upward revision resulted in significantly higher tax incidence on cigarettes compared to the pre GST scenario which is not in keeping with the fundamental principle of revenue neutrality," ITC said. The move has also affected the legal cigarette industry volumes, which had remained under severe pressure due to high in tax incidence and regulatory pressures, it added. "It is apprehended that the sharp increase in tax incidence as aforestated will severely undermine the legal cigarette industry and adversely impact tobacco farmers," it added. The company on Friday reported 16.75 per cent increase in standalone net profit at Rs 3,090.20 crore for the December quarter. Revenue from cigarettes, however, stood at Rs 4,629.19 crore. It was Rs 8,287.97 crore in the year ago period. Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes [] Joe was diagnosed with two aggressive organ diseases before his first birthday - polycystic kidney disorder and congenital hypatic fibrosis. In an incident highlighting a mothers love, Sarah Lamont, from Ballymena, Northern Ireland, recently donated one of her kidneys to her little boy, Joe, and just months later surgeons also removed a section of her liver. Joe was diagnosed with two aggressive organ diseases before his first birthday - polycystic kidney disorder and congenital hypatic fibrosis, a form of liver disease and doctors were concerned that he might not survive as his kidneys were so enlarged they took up his whole abdomen and crushed his lungs. The little boys kidneys were subsequently removed when he was just a few days old and he has been on dialysis ever since Concerned for her son, she took matters into her own hands and elected herself for organ donation. Speaking to Barcroft TV she said that while they waited for a call, nothing happened. It was then that she decided that if she can give a lobe of her liver, and Joe can receive a kidney, she could give both. In January 2017, Lamont donated a lobe of her liver and, just seven months later, she underwent a kidney transplant. For the transplant Joe was admitted to Birmingham Childrens Hospital, while his mother was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. During the procedures, surgeons removed Lamonts kidney before it was couriered four miles via ambulance to surgeons ready to transplant it into Joe. Now several months into recovery Joe is said to be the healthiest hes ever been, and has even been ale to go swimming for the very first time. Now, Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is the only group where India has not found its place as it has been time and again blocked by China. (Photo: Representational/PTI) New Delhi: After gaining entry into two export control regimes - MTCR and Wassenaar, India on Friday joined the Australia Group (AG), which seeks to ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons. "On 19 January 2018 India formally became the 43rd member of the Australia Group (AG), the cooperative and voluntary group of countries working to counter the spread of materials, equipment and technologies that could contribute to the development or acquisition of chemical and biological weapons (CBW) by states or terrorist groups," the AG said in a release. Reacting to India's entry to the group, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Ravish Kumar said it would be "mutually beneficial and to help in non proliferation". He said the AG membership will help in establishing India's credentials further. India joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 2016 and the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) last year. The Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies is a multilateral export control regime. Now, Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is the only group where India has not found its place as it has been time and again blocked by China. While India, which is backed by the US and a number of western countries has garnered the support of a majority of the group's members, China has stuck to its stand that new members should sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), making India's entry difficult as the group is guided by the consensus principle. India is not a signatory to the NPT. After India's application for entry into the 48-member elite group which controls the nuclear trade, Pakistan, the all-weather ally of China, too had applied with the tacit backing of Beijing. New Delhi: India on Friday condemned the ceasefire violations by Pakistan, and the ministry of external affairs said the country would get a befitting response. There are indications that India will go in for massive retaliatory firing on the border against Pakistani military positions. On Thursday, BSF director general K.K. Sharma had directed his field commanders to retaliate with full force. Two civilians and a BSF jawan were killed and 23 others, including two BSF personnel, were injured in a heavy mortar shelling by Pakistan, along the International Border (IB), in three districts of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Friday. The heavy shelling took place in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts. The Pakistani troops also violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of the Jammu region. Later in the day, India summoned Pakistan de-puty High Commissioner Syed Haider Shah and conveyed grave concerns at the continued ceasefire violations and deliberate targeting of innocent civilians by the Pakistan forces. Mr Shah was summoned by the joint secretary in the Pakistan division. The external affairs ministry has registered its strong protest at the loss of three innocent civilian lives besides injuries to nine other civilians. A team of doctors from the institute who performed robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy on a patient with renal cancer. DC Puducherry: Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer), which established a centre for multidisciplinary robot-assisted minimal access surgery in 2017, successfully performed its 50th robotic surgery. A team of doctors from the institute, including anesthesiologists headed by Sandeep Mishra, head of anesthesiology, and V.K. Mohan, assistant professor of anesthesiology and urologists led by R. Manikandan, head of the department of urology, performed robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy in a patient with renal cancer. Director of Jipmer S.C. Parija pointed out that Jipmer is the only centre in South India, where robotic surgery facilities are provided in a government hospital. The institution has been providing this high-value service to the patients at a very subsidised cost. The user charges for robotic surgery is only `50,000 for a private ward patient and `30,000 for general ward patients, which is much less compared to the corporate hospitals where these facilities are available and the charges are about Rs 2 to 3 lakhs per procedure, he said. Mr Parija said that soon other departments such as paediatric surgery, cardiac, thoracic and vascular surgeries and ENT (head and neck surgery) will also start performing robotically assisted procedures in the near future so that this high-value service is fully utilised for the benefits of the common man. The maiden robotic surgery was performed at the institution in July 2017. So far the urology department has performed 24 cases, the department of obstetrics and gynaecology has performed 6 cases, department of surgical oncology has performed 10 cases and the department of surgical gastroenterology has performed 10 cases. Srinagar: Four more people including an Army jawan were killed and half a dozen others wounded in fresh firing by Pakistani troops along the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday. With these killings the toll in escalating artillery fire from across the borders since Wednesday night has risen to eleven including seven civilians and two soldiers each from the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Army. Over thirty people, mostly civilians, have been injured whereas nearly 150 cattle have also perished. Pakistan has reported the death of five civilians and injuries to about a dozen people on their side of the IB (called working boundary by Islamabad) and the LoC in the tit-for-tat fire. The authorities in Muzaffarabad said that two civilians were killed and five others wounded in the Indian firing in Nakyal sector of PoKs Kotli district on Saturday. Though artillery fire has frequently rattled the 198-km stretch of the IB with Pakistan and 745-km LoC in the past also despite a ceasefire understanding reached between the two sides in November 2003, the clashes intensified earlier this week. The officials in Jammu said that the latest ceasefire violations started on Wednesday night when the Pakistan Rangers without any provocation targeted the BSF outposts and civilian areas in Ranbir Singh Pura (RS Pura) and Arnia sectors of the IB, killing a BSF jawan and a 13-year-old girl. On the other hand, the Pakistani authorities had alleged that the firing on villages in Chaprar sector of Sialkot district was initiated by the BSF resulting into the death of two women and injuries to five civilians. Thursday and Friday witnessed more clashes along the IB in which one BSF jawan and two civilians were killed and 26 people, mostly civilians, injured. The BSF said that the Pakistan Rangers targeted over forty of its outposts and about fifty villages all along the IB in Kathua, Samba and Jammu districts on Friday. Late that afternoon, active hostilities broke out also in LoCs Nowshehra sector in Rajouri district. Lance Naik Sam Abraham was killed in the Pakistani firing in this sector. On Saturday, three civilian and an Army jawan were killed and six injured in fresh firing by the Pakistani troops along the IB and the LoC, the officials said. They said that the Army jawan was killed in unprovoked fire from across the LoC in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district. The slain soldier has been identified as Sepoy Mandeep Singh (23), a resident of Alampur village of Sangroor in Punjab. The Army said that the Pakistani troops initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms and automatics form 8.20 am in Krishna Ghati sector, resulting in grievous injuries to Singh who later succumbed. The Army retaliated strongly and effectively, a defence spokesman said in Jammu. The officials said that the IB also witnessed fresh ceasefire violation on Saturday. Two civilians were killed in the Pakistan Rangers fire in RS Pura sector of the IB, said Jammus Additional Deputy Commissioner, Arun Manhas. The victims were identified as Gaura Ram (17) of Kapur village and Gour Singh (45) of Abdullian village. One more person whose identity could not be ascertained immediately is reported to have been killed elsewhere. Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti in a tweet confirmed the death of three more civilians in firing. She said, Distraught to hear of three more civilians caught in the crossfire on the border. The people of J&K are the worst victims of the acrimony between the two neighbouring countries. I pray that the hostility on the borders ends soon. Four people including a BSF jawan were injured, the officials said adding that the BSF jawan was hit in the Pakistani firing in IBs Pargwal sector. Two more people were injured in Kanachak sector of Akhnoor along the LoC. Among them was a Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) jawan Lallu Ram. Officials said that Ram, a constable with the SSBs 14th battalion, was deployed for rendering law and order duties along with the J&K Police at the Kanachak police station, when he was hit by splinters of a mortar shell that landed in the area. The BSF said that the Pakistan Rangers targeted villages along the IB from Chenab River (Akhnoor) to RS Pura throughout the night and early Saturday using small and medium weapons and 52MM and 182MM mortars. It added, Our jawans are giving them a befitting reply. A report from Jammu said that intermittent firing and shelling was underway in IBs RS Pura, Arnia, Ramgarh, Pargwal and Hiranagar sector falling in Kathua, Samba and Jammu districts. The escalation has forced thousands of people to flee their homes falling in close proximity of the IB and the LoC and relocated to safer locations. Most of them are living with their relatives or in school and other government buildings. The authorities have set up camps for the border migrants in school and other official buildings including in and outside RS Pura, Kathua and Samba townships. Earlier educational institutions within five kilometre radius of the borders were ordered closed till Monday as a precautionary measure. KOCHI: Vice Admiral Timothy W. Barrett, the chief of Royal Australian Navy (RAN) accompanied by a four-member Australian naval delegation visited Southern Naval Command (SNC) in Kochi on Friday and Saturday. During their stay at Kochi, the RAN chief had discussed with Vice Admiral AR Karve, AVSM, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, SNC topics of mutual interest, including training conducted by the Indian Navy and exchanged crests. The Australian delegation also visited the Water Survival Training Facility and the Flight and Tactical Simulator at the Naval Base. The delegation had earlier visited Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala, before arriving at Kochi on 19 Jan 18. The delegation had earlier participated in the Raisina Dialogue held at New Delhi, to consolidate the existing strong bilateral naval relations between the two countries on January 16-18. The delegation departed Kochi for Mumbai on Saturday. VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has stated that the state government is ready to knock the doors of the Supreme Court, in case the assurances of the AP Reorganisation Act are not fulfilled. Addressing the second day of District Collectors conference on Friday, Mr. Naidu took serious objection to Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Raos remarks about Andhra Pradeshs development. Special chief secretary L.V. Subrahmanyam and APIIC chairman Krishnaiah also joined Mr Naidu in condemning Mr Chandrashekar Raos remarks. Stating that without any fault, Andhra people were being punished, Mr Naidu said that the Central government has to play the role of the Big Brother, as government of India is a big organisation. The same feelings were conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr Naidu explai-ned and added that he has requested the Union government to extend their helping hand till AP reaches a leveled playing field. We are not seeking any extra favour, the Mr Naidu said and added that the state is slowly reviving now. We are not against anybody, or any government, the CM said. Reacting sharply on the observations made by Mr Chandrashekhar Rao that there is no comparison between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the CM said, The difference in the development before and after 1995 should be noted. Then they will come to know as to who has developed what! He added that the AP government would knock the doors of the Supreme Court, if necessary, in case of injustice done, with regard to the assurances of the AP Reorganisation Act. AP is in the last position in south India, as far as per capita income is concerned. It is not because of the people but because of the bifurcation, Mr Naidu said. Unjustified division has brought all these troubles to the people of AP. Our people are highly capable, CM said. Mr Naidu stated that he has ignited the spirit among the people, with Nava Nirmana Deeksha and Maha Sankalpam. Janata Dal (S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda on Friday accused the BJP and Congress of being responsible for the communal violence on the state's coast, claiming that if one was carrying the fuel, the other had the match to ignite it. A Sangh parivar activist and a minority community member were killed in recent violence. Speaking to reporters, he said the tranquility of the coast had badly deteriorated and the situation had sunk to a new low. "We have never seen anything like this before," he maintained, blaming both the BJP and Congress for the sufferings of the innocent people of the region. "Why is this happening when the Congress party is in power and why not when H D Kumarswamy ruled the state?" he asked, asserting, " If peace has return to the state then the JDS must be voted to power." Attacking the Congress party some more, he claimed it was indulging in soft Hindutva as evident by its president, Rahul Gandhi's visits to numerous Hindu temples during the recent Gujarat Assembly polls. But the JD(S) was neither soft nor hard on Hindutva, he said. As for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's contention that his government had fulfilled 155 of the 165 promises made to the people in the run-up to the 2013 election that saw it come to power, Mr Gowda responded with sarcasm, "If all poll promises have been fulfilled , what else remains now?" The JD(S) leader said he would announce the list of his party candidates for the coming Assembly polls after sorting out the differences on their selection within the party. Illustration of the three cooperating ground stations (Graz, Nanshan and Xinglong). Listed are all paths used for key generation and the corresponding of final key length. CHENNAI: Leaving behind countries like US and India, China has established an unbreakable quantum communication network with the help of world's first quantum satellite Micius by sending the encrypted messages and videos through photons to places as far as Austria. This significant development which offers unconditional security for data can potentially change how the communications network is being operated around the world. Using Micius satellite as a relay, we have demonstrated intercontinental quantum communication between multiple locations, or Earth with a maximum separation of 7,600 km. Our work already constitutes a simple prototype for a global quantum communications network, scientists said in a research article published in Physical Review Letters on Friday. The scientists have transmitted a picture of Micius from Beijing to Vienna and a picture of Schrodinger from Vienna to Beijing using the secure quantum key. They also held an intercontinental video conference between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Austrian Academy of Sciences on September 29, 2017, through the quantum communication network. They employed advanced encryption standard that refreshed seed keys every second. The video conference between Austria and China lasted for 75 minutes with a total data transmission of 2 GB. To increase the time and area coverage for a more efficient Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) network, the scientists headed by Jian Wei Pan also to launch higher orbit satellites and implement daytime operation using telecommunication wavelength photons and tighter special and spectral filtering. Though the experiment is a prototype, I think it will revolutionise the existing communication system. The quantum computers will take some time, but the quantum communication is going to be a reality, said C.M. Chandrashekar, Optics and Quantum Information group, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai. China has started almost 15 years back and invested heavily in quantum research. The European Union has started the research and done all the small-scale demonstrations,he said. It has already started a race between US, European Union and China. The department of science and technology in India has woken up to the reality and has announced mission quantum called QuST and likely to spend up to `500 crores in the next five years in quantum technology-related research. Indian scientists are extremely good in quantum theory and contributed. But we are lagging behind in experiments, said Professor Anirban Pathak from Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida, Uttar Pradesh and also leads a research group focused on quantum optics and quantum information. It is a significant development. Gradually, people will go for the more secure communication network. The quantum communication network and developments by Chinese scientists affecting our research as well as the quantum researchers are getting more importance now, he said. He further said that India is having a strong pool of scientists who are as good as anyone in the world. There are people who are competent enough to know how to build the satellites and payloads. We need to assemble all the talents towards quantum technological research to match with other countries, Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. In 1994, Sanjoy Hazarikas first book on Northeast, Strangers of the Mist: Tales of War and Peace from Indias Northeast, was hailed as a path-breaking narrative of the region. It explored various aspects, including immigration issues before and after Independence. In his latest book, Strangers no More that comes two decades after his first one on the region, the author checks where the region stands now. Situations will take time to develop. Twenty four years is a good time to assess how things have changed, says Sanjoy. The book is deeply personal for Sanjoy. That is how I write, he says. He writes in a manner that caters to a larger audience. He narrates the incidents with the ease of a storyteller, emphasising even on the tiny details that speak volumes about the scenario. For instance, in the introductory chapter titled, Disputed Borders, Divided People, he describes the Line of Actual Control as a space where in places, barbed wire fences, border posts, signs and heavily armed and heavily-clad soldiers stand, patrol, wave, stare or glare at each other. It took Sanjoy eight years to complete Strangers no More. I lost my wife as soon as I started writing the book. It took me a long time to come out of that. I had a writers block for one year, recalls Sanjoy, who resumed writing in 2016. That too because of encouragement from my daughter, old book agents and friends, who are named in the book. As he says in the authors note, the book reflects what he regards as the core issues facing the eight Northeastern states of India. A lot of my thoughts are there in the book. I dont expect people to agree with it all, says Sanjoy, who has put in his years of expertise in the book. An award-winning journalist, filmmaker and humanitarian, his field experiences have contributed to the writing process. My conversations with people from different strata of society, hundreds of notes, thousands of pictures, information gathered online and from libraries, important interviews with people and my own thoughts have helped me in writing this book, he says. STRANGERS NO MORE by Sanjoy Hazarika Rs 799, pp 331 Aleph Books. The book discusses subjects like border issues, situations in different Northeast states, Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), psychological distances, discriminations and differences prevalent there. I put in a lot of time looking at the border issues between India and China, which is still not understood properly, and how the demarcation has left a legacy thats still haunting us. I decided that would be one part of the book. Another part assesses where things stand in the case of migration. For that, I went back to Nellie where the massacre took place in 1983. I talked to survivors and that forms a vibrant part of the book, explains Sanjoy. He says thousands of young people have migrated from Assam to different parts of India seeking better life and these migrants have good and bad stories to share. The AFSPA and stories related to it are substantiated at the beginning of the book. About his writing process, he says, Once I start writing, I lose track of time. I enjoyed most parts of this book, especially the one on Mizoram as I have travelled there extensively. He has also written Bhopal: The Lessons of a Tragedy; Rites of Passage: Border Crossings, Imagined Homelands, Indias East and Bangladesh; and Writing on the Wall a collection of essays. He is Director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and founder and managing trustee of C-nes, which has pioneered the work of boat clinics on the Brahmaputra River benefiting half a million people. I make films, write books and do healthcare services; among these, the last one, which I began 16 years ago, gives me the great satisfaction, concludes the writer. The hotel seemed nothing like it was promised. There were no beaches in front of it, unless you climbed a couple of walls. Malacca (or Melaka as they spell it) the historic state and the city that turned red in the night appeared deserted. But two turnings of the road later, we saw the real Malacca. A street lined with local food, and a crossing later, we reached what may be called the place of action, where every tourist appeared to land in the Dutch Square, right in front of the red Christ Church, the oldest protestant church in Malaysia. A number of shops selling Malaccan souvenirs are situated here. And all the historic buildings that Malacca is known for are also a walk away from this hub. Dutch Square This is where you should be careful. You will see very attractive trishaws with popular music, carrying happy passengers. These would be in the shape of Hello Kitties or yellow minions all colourful and cute. They promise a ride, taking you across a few of the heritage sites for 25 ringgits. But they dont wait for more than ten minutes. It is a major rip off, when you can walk to all of these in a few minutes, and spend as much time as you love, for there is quite a lot to learn, especially if you are a history buff. Like the Christ Church, with its huge white cross, which was built in 1753 to commemorate the centenary of Dutch rule in Malacca, or the Porta De Santiago, which was one of the four main gateways into the Portuguese fortress of A Famosa, built in 1512. Malacca had to pass hands from the Portuguese to the Dutch to the British. A street musician; (left) The trishaws flocking the streets Before all that, Malacca was a simple fishing village that a fleeing prince, Parameswara, turned into a port city. Like the apple fell on Newtons head and brought along the idea of gravity, Parameswara also known as Iskandar Shah had his own sweet tale taking shape under a tree. Legend says he saw a mouse and a deer fight a dog in a river, and was impressed by the weak defeating the strong. The prince decided it was an omen to begin his empire on the same spot, and named it Malacca, after the tree he was resting under. Porta De Santiago But it is with the colonial invasion that Malacca got the appearance it has now as a red city. A total delight for photography lovers, the street outside the Dutch Square is called Laksamana Road it turns bright red in the night lights, giving it a majestic appearance with the louvered windows and chunky doors of the line of buildings. This includes the Stadthuys, built in 1660, as the official residence of Dutch governors. When the British came, it was converted into a town hall. Now, it is a collection of museums. There is the Islamic Museum, the Architecture Museum, the History and Ethnography Museum, and the Peoples Museum. Outside, the red buildings continue, the Christ Church standing out with its red bricks brought all the way from Holland. When the British took over the church in 1795, they put in a few additions including the weathercock on top of the bell tower and declared the Dutch Reform Church as an Anglican one. Among the historic sites is also a curious looking Dutch graveyard, which you learn, has many more British graves (33) than the five Dutch graves. A guide tells you thered be two or more people in one grave. Another graveyard is located near the A Famosa Fort the Bukit Cina, which is the largest and oldest Chinese graveyard outside of China. There is also the St Pauls Church, believed to have been built by the Portuguese nobleman Duarte Coelho, in gratitude to the Virgin Mary, for saving his life during a storm. It was then called the Church of the Mother of God. It was the Dutch who later renamed it St Pauls Church. Under the British, it ended up being a storehouse for gunpowder. An armless statue of St Francis Xavier stands inside the complex. For a break from all that history, you can always turn to the Taming Sari Tower you can spot it from almost anywhere. About 110 metres in height, it has a revolving structure that offers a 360-degree view of the Malacca town. You can also spot the glorious Malacca River from the top. But a better view of the river and this is a must for any visitor is offered by the river cruise in the night. There are lights all around reflected on the water, black in the night, cool air flowing in, and the beautiful Malaccan life to watch. The 45-minute ride is totally worth the 21 ringgits you pay per person. Outside, there is music on the streets musicians springing up on corners with their instruments, performing, and listeners gathering around, watching, and sitting around. The night markets in Jonker Street come alive with more music and people talking. A line of eateries open alongside the river and it is a difficult choice to go inside into the comforts of the restaurant and the riverside views or just be part of the beautiful red colour streets and its Malaccan music. Nineteen people were homeless in Donegal from December 25th to 31st, according to a new report released by the Department for Housing, Planning and Local Government. The department's report is based on data provided by housing authorities, captures details of individuals utilising State-funded emergency accommodation arrangements that are overseen by housing authorities. The report focuses on the month of December in 2017. The figures show a decrease in the number of both homeless adults and homeless families nationally, with family homelessness at its lowest level since June 2017. The number of adults in emergency accommodation nationally decreased by 16, while the number of families in emergency accommodation nationally decreased by 122, including 254 children. Minister Eoghan Murphy said that significantly fewer children were in emergency arrangements during December compared to the previous month. "Obviously we still have more work to do to help children and families in to secure homes, but this is good progress for those families who were accommodated during the month of December, the minister said. Forty six people in the north west were described as homeless in the report, nineteen in Donegal and twenty seven in Sligo. No one was homeless in Leitrim according to the report. Homelessness will continue to be a challenge and the Government will continue to work relentlessly to exit as many people from emergency accommodation, as well as prevent people from entering homeless services, over the course of 2018. I would like to thank the continued and dedicated efforts of all of those involved in resolving this crisis, including staff in my Department, the local authorities, the non-governmental sector and other volunteer organisations, the minister said. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. By John R. Platt What a long, strange year its been. Saturday, Jan. 20 marks the one-year anniversary of the Trump administration officially taking office after a long and arduous election. Its a year that has seen seemingly unending attacks on science and the environment, along with a rise in hateful rhetoric and racially motivated policies. But its almost been met by the continuing growth of the efforts to resist what the Trump administration has to offer. So where do we stand, one year in? Well, for one thing, we can say that the year has given the administrations actions a visible shape. These are not isolated incidents at this point, said Jacob Carter, research scientist for the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, who has been tracking the administrations attacks against scienceat least 65 since the president took office. Theyre happening so often now that there is definitely a pattern starting to emerge. The administration really wants to undermine the role of science and science-based decision making. Theyre getting the expertise out of the way to further a political agenda. Carter said these attempts to remove science from government decision-makingranging from ending a study of the health effects of mountaintop-removal mining to eliminating the words climate change from all EPA grantshave real consequences on peoples lives. Its about our health and safety. If we dont listen to the best available science, then our lives are at risk. But pushing science and scientists aside doesnt mean they go away forever. Under this administration we know the scientific evidence isnt going to be able to speak for itself, so scientists really have to step up and speak for it, Carter said. And scientists have been doing that in record numbers, starting with last years March for Science and continuing on multiple fronts ever since. Theyre stepping up in an unprecedented number and saying science has got to be used in policy-making decisions. Thats not slowing down; Carter recalls how he attended two big scientific conferences last year and I had tons of scientists coming up and asking me how they can advocate, what they could do to make sure that science is being used and remains in a proper place. That increased level of activism is not unique to scientists, as people from many walks of live have definitely become more politically engaged in the past year. Trumps election was a wakeup call in a way, said Gayle Alberda, an assistant professor of politics at Connecticuts Fairfield University, who studies elections, political participation and civic engagement. Nation-wide, weve seen this huge influx of people wanting to know not only how to run for office, but how to get politically engaged. Of course, people are rising up on both sides of the political aisle. In addition to the citizens opposing Trumps policies, Alberda said the people who see Trump as representing their ideals have also made their voices louder over the past year. I think both sides are getting pushed in a way to really engage vastly differently than we have in the past, she said. Unfortunately, the two sides arent exactly talking to each other, and thats bad for the country. Were losing the ability to engage in civil discourse in a way thats healthy for democracy, Alberda said. Alberda said this has been building for a while, even before the election. Its almost like you keep throwing firewood onto the fire and you dont realize how big it is until it blows up, she said. Youre like, whoa, thats a big fire. Lots of little things have happened over the years and were kind of seeing that all of a sudden in our face, because you have all of these questions about the state of democracy today. She said examples such as Trumps attacks on the free press, the Republican push to pass their legislative agenda, and the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the last election have only served to stoke this fire even further. So where do we go as we enter the administrations second year? One avenue is to look toward groups that have experience fighting these kinds of regressive activities. One of the strengths of the movement is solidarity, said Nadia Aziz, program manager of the Stop Hate Project run by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. There are a lot of organizations like ours that have been around for 50 years or more. Weve been fighting to secure equal justice for racial and ethnic minorities for a very long time. I think were very resilient organizations because of that, she said. That resilience is important, she said, because right now were at a critical point: How do you make sure that this movement that were all in, this resistance, is creating sustainable action and that we all dont get burned out? One way Aziz said she keeps herself strong is by seeing and experiencing what others are doing. There are a lot of a lot of groups are doing such wonderful work, she said. One of the most inspiring things about my job is being able to connect with people. I think that gives me resiliency, seeing how awesome the people are on the ground what the remarkable work theyre doing. That, in fact, may be one of the lasting legacies of this administration: Local community groups and national groups are connecting with each other, learning from each other, and collectively strengthening their voices. I do think were going to keep getting stronger and were going to keep building out our movement, Aziz said. As we enter year two of this administration, Alberda said shes looking toward local 2018 elections and the rise of candidates opposing Trump and his policies. That is going to be really interesting, she said. Weve seen already that Republicans in safe Republican state legislative seats are getting challengers. I think thats indicative that were going to see some interesting elections. John R. Platt is the editor of The Revelator. An award-winning environmental journalist, his work has appeared in Scientific American, Audubon, Motherboard, and numerous other magazines and publications. His Extinction Countdown column has run continuously since 2004 and has covered news and science related to more than 1,000 endangered species. John lives on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon, where he finds himself surrounded by animals and cartoonists. By C.J. Polychroniou On Nov. 8, Donald Trump managed to pull the biggest upset in U.S. politics by tapping successfully into the anger of white voters and appealing to the lowest inclinations of people in a manner that would have probably impressed Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels himself. But what exactly does Trumps victory mean and what can one expect from this megalomaniac when he takes over the reins of power on Jan. 20, 2017? What is Trumps political ideology, if any and is Trumpism a movement? Will U.S. foreign policy be any different under a Trump administration? Some years ago, public intellectual Noam Chomsky warned that the political climate in the U.S. was ripe for the rise of an authoritarian figure. Now, he shares his thoughts on the aftermath of this election, the moribund state of the U.S. political system and why Trump is a real threat to the world and the planet in general. Q. Noam, the unthinkable has happened: In contrast to all forecasts, Donald Trump scored a decisive victory over Hillary Clinton, and the man that Michael Moore described as a wretched, ignorant, dangerous part-time clown and full-time sociopath will be the next president of the U.S. In your view, what were the deciding factors that led American voters to produce the biggest upset in the history of U.S. politics? A. Noam Chomsky Before turning to this question, I think it is important to spend a few moments pondering just what happened on Nov. 8, a date that might turn out to be one of the most important in human history, depending on how we react. No exaggeration. The most important news of Nov. 8 was barely noted, a fact of some significance in itself. On Nov. 8, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) delivered a report at the international conference on climate change in Morocco (COP22) which was called in order to carry forward the Paris agreement of COP21. The WMO reported that the past five years were the hottest on record. It reported rising sea levels, soon to increase as a result of the unexpectedly rapid melting of polar ice, most ominously the huge Antarctic glaciers. Already, Arctic sea ice over the past five years is 28 percent below the average of the previous 29 years, not only raising sea levels, but also reducing the cooling effect of polar ice reflection of solar rays, thereby accelerating the grim effects of global warming. The WMO reported further that temperatures are approaching dangerously close to the goal established by COP21, along with other dire reports and forecasts. Another event took place on Nov. 8, which also may turn out to be of unusual historical significance for reasons that, once again, were barely noted. On Nov. 8, the most powerful country in world history, which will set its stamp on what comes next, had an election. The outcome placed total control of the governmentexecutive, Congress, the Supreme Courtin the hands of the Republican Party, which has become the most dangerous organization in world history. Apart from the last phrase, all of this is uncontroversial. The last phrase may seem outlandish, even outrageous. But is it? The facts suggest otherwise. The party is dedicated to racing as rapidly as possible to destruction of organized human life. There is no historical precedent for such a stand. Is this an exaggeration? Consider what we have just been witnessing. During the Republican primaries, every candidate denied that what is happening is happeningwith the exception of the sensible moderates, like Jeb Bush, who said its all uncertain, but we dont have to do anything because were producing more natural gas, thanks to fracking. Or John Kasich, who agreed that global warming is taking place, but added that we are going to burn [coal] in Ohio and we are not going to apologize for it. The winning candidate, now the president-elect, calls for rapid increase in use of fossil fuels, including coal; dismantling of regulations; rejection of help to developing countries that are seeking to move to sustainable energy; and in general, racing to the cliff as fast as possible. Trump has already taken steps to dismantle the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by placing in charge of the EPA transition a notorious (and proud) climate change denier, Myron Ebell. Trumps top adviser on energy, billionaire oil executive Harold Hamm, announced his expectations, which were predictable: dismantling regulations, tax cuts for the industry (and the wealthy and corporate sector generally), more fossil fuel production, lifting Obamas temporary block on the Dakota Access Pipeline. The market reacted quickly. Shares in energy corporations boomed, including the worlds largest coal miner, Peabody Energy, which had filed for bankruptcy, but after Trumps victory, registered a 50 percent gain. Trump Wins, Renewable Energy Investments Lose and Dirty Energy Stocks Surge https://t.co/Znp7VxlB7X @BusinessGreen @Ethical_Corp EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) November 10, 2016 The effects of Republican denialism had already been felt. There had been hopes that the COP21 Paris agreement would lead to a verifiable treaty, but any such thoughts were abandoned because the Republican Congress would not accept any binding commitments, so what emerged was a voluntary agreement, evidently much weaker. Effects may soon become even more vividly apparent than they already are. In Bangladesh alone, tens of millions are expected to have to flee from low-lying plains in coming years because of sea level rise and more severe weather, creating a migrant crisis that will make todays pale in significance. With considerable justice, Bangladeshs leading climate scientist said that These migrants should have the right to move to the countries from which all these greenhouse gases are coming. Millions should be able to go to the United States. And to the other rich countries that have grown wealthy while bringing about a new geological era, the Anthropocene, marked by radical human transformation of the environment. These catastrophic consequences can only increase, not just in Bangladesh, but in all of South Asia as temperatures, already intolerable for the poor, inexorably rise and the Himalayan glaciers melt, threatening the entire water supply. Already in India, some 300 million people are reported to lack adequate drinking water. And the effects will reach far beyond. https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/770944319964471296 Reagans racist fabrications about welfare queens (by implication Black) stealing white peoples hard-earned money and other fantasies. Sometimes failure to explain, itself a form of contempt, plays a role in fostering hatred of government. I once met a house painter in Boston who had turned bitterly against the evil government after a Washington bureaucrat who knew nothing about painting organized a meeting of painting contractors to inform them that they could no longer use lead paintthe only kind that worksas they all knew, but the suit didnt understand. That destroyed his small business, compelling him to paint houses on his own with substandard stuff forced on him by government elites. Sometimes there are also some real reasons for these attitudes toward government bureaucracies. Hochschild describes a man whose family and friends are suffering bitterly from the lethal effects of chemical pollution but who despises the government and the liberal elites, because for him, the EPA means some ignorant guy who tells him he cant fish, but does nothing about the chemical plants. https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/798172082710319104 Americans with real family values who see their familiar country as disappearing before their eyes. One of the difficulties in raising public concern over the very severe threats of global warming is that 40 percent of the U.S. population does not see why it is a problem, since Christ is returning in a few decades. About the same percentage believe that the world was created a few thousand years ago. If science conflicts with the Bible, so much the worse for science. It would be hard to find an analogue in other societies. The Democratic Party abandoned any real concern for working people by the 1970s and they have therefore been drawn to the ranks of their bitter class enemies, who at least pretend to speak their languageReagans folksy style of making little jokes while eating jelly beans, George W. Bushs carefully cultivated image of a regular guy you could meet in a bar who loved to cut brush on the ranch in 100-degree heat and his probably faked mispronunciations (its unlikely that he talked like that at Yale), and now Trump, who gives voice to people with legitimate grievancespeople who have lost not just jobs, but also a sense of personal self-worthand who rails against the government that they perceive as having undermined their lives (not without reason). One of the great achievements of the doctrinal system has been to divert anger from the corporate sector to the government that implements the programs that the corporate sector designs, such as the highly protectionist corporate/investor rights agreements that are uniformly mis-described as free trade agreements in the media and commentary. With all its flaws, the government is, to some extent, under popular influence and control, unlike the corporate sector. It is highly advantageous for the business world to foster hatred for pointy-headed government bureaucrats and to drive out of peoples minds the subversive idea that the government might become an instrument of popular will, a government of, by and for the people. To read Chomskys answers to non-eco-related questions, click here. Reposted with permission from our media associate Truthout. Friday, January 19, 2018 Caitlin Doughty is a woman on a mission to redefine death. Most of the established funeral industry cant stand her, and in her newest book, From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find The Good Death, you sense the feeling is mutual. Doughty has made remarkable strides over the past few years to get people, especially younger people, to discuss death and dying. Her memoir, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory, was a New York Times bestseller. Her weekly Ask a Mortician YouTube videos have hundreds of thousands of followers. Shes a leader of the #DeathPositive movement, dedicated to normalizing death discussions and taking actions to plan ahead. Shes funny and irreverent. From Here to Eternity introduces readers to new and old ways humans embrace mortality. Her travels take her across the U.S. and around the world to document the old, the new, and what some would consider the weird, such as: The only open air cremation option in the U.S. in Crestone, Colorado, where those who have established residency can have a firewood-fueled disposition ceremony. A home funeral and green burial in Joshua Tree, California, facilitated by Doughtys nonprofit funeral home Undertaking L.A. kotsuage, a ceremony where family members use chopsticks to pick up the cremated bones of a loved one and place them in an urn. The Japanese tradition ofa ceremony where family members use chopsticks to pick up the cremated bones of a loved one and place them in an urn. Watch this video about the process Lets Talk About Mortality A mission Doughty and I share is to get more people in the United States to talk about our mortality. Less than 30% of Americans do any end-of-life planning: wills or trusts, advance medical directives and pre-need funeral planning. That will leave 70% or more of our loved ones scrambling to make expensive decisions and find information under duress of grief. As Doughty says in the introduction: One of the chief questions in my work has always been why my own culture is so squeamish around death. Why do we refuse to have these conversations, asking our family and friends what they want done with their body when they die? Our avoidance is self-defeating. By dodging the talk about our inevitable end, we put both our pocketbooks and our ability to mourn at risk. She reports on death rituals from around the world to help Americans reclaim meaning and tradition in funerals and memorial services. She visited Mexico for the colorful celebration of Dia de los Muertos, where families build altars with photos, food and drink to welcome ancestors spirits for an annual visit. In the Indonesian manene ceremony, families take mummified deceased loved ones out of graves, re-dress them, and speak to them. She also reported on creative disposition developments in Japan, Spain, and the U.S. Decomposing with Purpose She visits with Katrina Spade, who is pioneering the Urban Death Project in the United States. Its an experiment to create body composting centers in urban areas, to minimize the use of cremation and save land. This process of corpse composting, which Spade calls recomposition, will result in a rich soil that can give rise to new life. While writing about the messy process of decomposition, Doughty noted how the funeral industry evolved the role and perceptions of the sexes, and asserted reclaiming death care can actually be a feminist statement, saying: When death care became an industry in the early twentieth century, there was a seismic shift in who was responsible for the dead. Caring for the corpse went from visceral, primeval work performed by women to a profession, an art, and even a science, performed by well-paid men. The corpse, with all its physical and emotional messiness, was taken from women. It was made neat and clean, and placed in its casket on a pedestal, always just out of our grasp. Maybe a process like recomposition is our attempt to reclaim our corpses. Maybe we wish to become soil for a willow tree, a rosebush, a pine destined in death to both rot and nourish on our own terms. In Spain and Japan, Doughty witnessed the efforts of corporate funeral homes to engage family interaction with their dead in meaningful ways. These included family rooms where the body could be visited with for days, a bathing room for the bodys last bath on this Earth, and witness cremations, where the family watches the body enter the retort. Death Positive Doughty offers a death positive outlook, even with the barriers she sees hospital systems and corporate funeral homes erecting between the dead and their families. She writes: Death avoidance is not an individual failing; its a cultural one. Facing death is not for the faint-hearted. It is far too challenging to expect that each citizen will do so on his or her own. Death acceptance is the responsibility of all death professionalsfuneral directors, cemetery managers, hospital workers. It is the responsibility of those who have been tasked with creating physical and emotional environments where safe, open interaction with death and dead bodies is possible. Holding the space doesnt mean swaddling the family immobile in their grief. It also means giving them meaningful tasks. Using chopsticks to methodically clutch bone after bone and place them in an urn, building an altar to invite a spirit to visit once a year, even taking a body from the grave to clean and redress it; these activities give the mourner a sense of purpose. A sense of purpose helps the mourner grieve. Grieving helps the mourner begin to heal. Bravo to Caitlin Doughty and W.W. Norton for bringing forth From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find The Good Death. Its an eye-opening travelogue well worth your time and attention. Heres hoping the book gets more Americans to discuss and plan for their own deaths. After all, despite great advances in medical care, the mortality rate continues to hold steady at 100%. Share this: From: American Evaluation Association (AEA) For Immediate Release: Dateline: Washington , DC Saturday, January 20, 2018 Sheila B Robinson, AEA365s Lead Curator and sometimes Saturday contributor. Today, I have the pleasure of welcoming back Sara Vaca to our AEA365 curating team! Sara worked with us a few years ago, moved on to some other pursuits and collaborations, and has now returned! Rad Resource: Read Saras brief bio to get to know her: Sara brings a wealth of experience with both evaluation and blogging, a history of contribution to this blog, a broad range of interests in including data visualization, an international perspective, and a creative spirit to AEA and to AEA365. Sara is an independent international consultant. She usually conducts evaluations (often of Livelihoods, Gender and HR programs), though sometimes she takes related assignments on developing Theories of Change or Quality Assurance of the evaluation functions. She enjoys Evaluation Theory as much as field work: Her background is in the Red Cross Movement, and now she works with big and small UN Agencies and NGOs. She is a passionate of Data Visualization (specifically, visualization of qualitative information) and she periodically blogs in her website . She is Spanish (from Madrid), though she lives in France (in a small village in the South), and when she attends AEA conferences she feels home. For more information, check her Visual CV. She is always up for collaborating with colleagues. Sara will be working on outreach to bring new authors to the blog, and on supporting TIGs and other groups who sponsor weeks. Rad Resource: I also want to give a big shout out to Samantha Grant, Evaluation Director at the University of Minnesota Extension, who has worked behind the scenes at AEA365 for many years. Saras specific focus is on working with a group of TIGs who sponsor weeks on AEA365 each year. You can learn more about Samantha I also want to give a big shout out to Samantha Grant, Evaluation Director at the University of Minnesota Extension, who has worked behind the scenes at AEA365 for many years. Saras specific focus is on working with a group of TIGs who sponsor weeks on AEA365 each year. You can learn more about Samantha here Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the About AEA The American Evaluation Association is an international professional association and the largest in its field. Evaluation involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies, personnel, products and organizations to improve their effectiveness. AEAs mission is to improve evaluation practices and methods worldwide, to increase evaluation use, promote evaluation as a profession and support the contribution of evaluation to the generation of theory and knowledge about effective human action. For more information about AEA, visit www.eval.org. Hello dear readers! Im, AEA365s Lead Curator and sometimes Saturday contributor. Today, I have the pleasure of welcoming backto our AEA365 curating team! Sara worked with us a few years ago, moved on to some other pursuits and collaborations, and has now returned!: Read Saras brief bio to get to know her:Sara brings a wealth of experience with both evaluation and blogging, a history of contribution to this blog, a broad range of interests in including data visualization, an international perspective, and a creative spirit to AEA and to AEA365.Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org . aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators. Retailers to blame for ongoing egg shortages, NFU Scotland says A day after the Supreme Court paved the way for nationwide release of 'Padmaavat', Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the advocate general has been asked to study the order before taking a decision on its screening in the state. "We have told the state advocate general to study the Supreme Court order. After this, we will see if we have to say something in the honourable apex court. We have not taken any decision so far," Chouhan told reporters in response to a query after a function. The apex court yesterday stayed the orders and notifications issued by the Rajasthan and Gujarat governments prohibiting the screening of the controversial movie, clearing the decks for its nationwide release on January 25. The SC bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra yesterday also restrained other states from issuing such notifications or orders prohibiting the exhibition of the film. The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, observed that the states are obliged to maintain law and order. "We direct that there shall be a stay of operation on the notification and orders issued and we also restrain other states from issuing such notifications or orders in this matter," the SC bench said in its interim order. No formal order prohibiting the release of the film were issued by the Madhya Pradesh government. However, Chouhan had recently indicated that the film 'Padmaavat' will not be allowed to be released in his state. Talking to reporters on January 12, the chief minister had said, "Jo kaha tha, wo hoga (What I had said, will happen)." On A related note, Veteran actor Sharmila Tagore has rued that people in the industry don't speak on issues like ban on Padmaavat fearing "instant backlash" and an impact on business. "Today if you speak up, there is an instant backlash and it does affect your film. People really don't want to go and see a film, if they feel there will be unrest or violence," she said and added, "Also the producers don't want you to say anything because they say our business will get affected. So don't be too heroic about it. So everybody is looking at their business angle. They feel this will die down.'' "It is very frustrating. You have made a film and everybody has worked diligently, it is their career. All the actors are waiting for the film. If it doesn't do well it is going to affect them," she said. PTI Four years after Russian special forces invaded Ukraine, annexing Crimea and prying loose much of eastern Ukraine from Kiev's control, thousands of Russian soldiers continue to unofficially occupy Ukrainian territory. That's bad news for Ukraine's neighbors, who have to at least consider the possibility that Russian forces may have further ambitions farther west -- but it's good news for General Dynamics (GD 0.69%). Last week, one such neighbor -- Romania, which shares hundreds of miles of border with Ukraine -- signed a contract ordering 227 new "Piranha 5" armored personnel carriers (APCs) from General Dynamics' European Land Systems subsidiary. At $1 billion in value, the purchase will consume nearly 25% of Romania's annual defense budget . What General Dynamics is selling Initially designed to serve in the British Army, General Dynamics' Piranha V today serves in the Danish, Spanish, and Romanian armies. It's the fifth generation of a successful design that has seen "more than 11,000 systems fielded" around the globe, according to the company, since its introduction in 1972. An eight-wheeled, 30-ton armored beast, Piranha is as big as a light tank, and can even carry a tank-like 105 mm cannon (although it's more commonly equipped with auto-cannons, grenade launchers, and/or TOW antitank missiles ). Its armor is designed to stand up to everything from IED mines up to and including 30 mm cannon fire and RPGs. Piranha won't be able to stand toe to toe with a main battle tank. Then again, at an average unit cost of just $4.4 million, Romania will be able to buy a lot more of them with $1 billion than it could tanks -- and load each Piranha with a tank-destroying TOW missile to even the odds. What else General Dynamics has been selling I've been predicting a boom in defense spending in Europe for... well, for some years now -- ever since Russia's extracurricular activities in Ukraine made the need for a beefed-up defense frighteningly obvious to its near neighbors. In actual fact, however, although General Dynamics has enjoyed a burst of new business for its armored vehicles segment, much of its recent sales success has come from buyers outside Europe. Over just the last two years, we've seen General Dynamics secure contracts to sell: And of course, all this comes on top of the deal that really got General Dynamics' armored ball rolling, its 2014 contract to supply nearly 3,000 LAV light armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia for $13 billion -- which is now at full-rate production. Thus, while it's curious that General Dynamics hasn't won many big contracts on the Continent itself, where the Russian threat appears so severe, the company doesn't seem to be doing all that awfully bad regardless. And, there's still the possibility that Europe's slower-rolling bureaucracies may eventually get around to ordering tanks and APCs of their own, given enough time. For example, Poland -- also a Ukraine neighbor -- is currently exploring a deal that could see it acquire as many as 1,000 new main battle tanks. What it means to investors General Dynamics investors can certainly hope that those tanks will come from General Dynamics. But the simple truth of the matter is that, whether or not GD wins the Poland tank contract, successful sales in Romania and elsewhere are already all but certain to lift its business. For most of the past decade, you see, sales at General Dynamics' flagship Combat Systems division have been sagging. Combat Systems -- primarily, tanks and APCs -- generate 16.3% operating profit margins for General Dynamics, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. That makes this division, now General Dynamics' smallest by revenue, its second most profitable division by profit margin -- second only to the company's wildly profitable Gulfstream Aerospace division. Simply put, with the exception of airplanes, there's no other product General Dynamics can sell that drops more dollars to the bottom line faster than tanks and APCs. And now we know that General Dynamics will be selling a lot more of them. Just to be clear, at a valuation of nearly 20 times earnings, I still don't think that General Dynamics' stock is enough of a bargain to justify buying at today's elevated prices. But if GD keeps on signing lucrative armored vehicle contracts at the rate it's been doing lately, I reserve the right to be proven wrong about that. OnePlus admits up to 40,000 customers affected by credit card data leak News oi -Samden Sherpa OnePlus website payment system has been hacked - users report credit card details stolen. Last week members of the OnePlus community reported cases of unknown credit card transactions occurring on their credit cards post-purchase from oneplus.net. The case was soon brought to OnePlus' attention following which the company had provided a statement saying that the company took information privacy extremely seriously and that the company had begun to investigate the case as a matter of urgency. The company had further announced that it was shutting down credit card payments for its online store and that it would report the findings of the investigation later. And now, OnePlus seems to have concluded its investigation. The company has, in fact, published its first report on its official forum page. Unfortunately, there might be bad news for some consumers. The company has actually confirmed that credit card information belonging to customers was hacked by malicious (and currently unknown) agents between November 2017 and mid-January 2018. Besides, the company has said, "We are deeply sorry to announce that we have indeed been attacked, and up to 40k users at oneplus.net may be affected by the incident. We have sent out an email to all possibly affected users." What Happened? Further, the company has detailed that one of its systems was attacked, and a malicious script was injected into the payment page code to sniff out credit card info while it was being entered. The malicious script operated intermittently, capturing and sending data directly from the user's browser. However, OnePlus has assured that such threat has since been eliminated. "We have quarantined the infected server and reinforced all relevant system structures," the company proclaimed. Who is Affected? In a forum post detailing the findings, OnePlus has said that some users who entered their credit card info on oneplus.net between mid-November 2017 and January 11, 2018, may be affected. Further credit card info (card numbers, expiry dates and security codes) entered at oneplus.net during this period may have been compromised. Users who paid via a saved credit card or via PayPal method should not have been affected. Meanwhile, OnePlus recommends that if users suspect that their credit card info has been compromised, then they should check their card statement and contact their bank to resolve any suspicious charges. The bank should help users initiate a chargeback and prevent any financial loss. OnePlus has also stated that if any of the users notice potential system vulnerabilities, they should report them to security@oneplus.net. This is a monitored inbox and OnePlus will respond to the reports filed. OnePlus' Initiative While the investigation into potential culprits is still ongoing, and while a spokesperson insists only one server was affected, OnePlus has said, "We cannot apologize enough for letting something like this happen. We are eternally grateful to have such a vigilant and informed the community, and it pains us to let you down." "We are in contact with potentially affected customers. We are working with our providers and local authorities to better address the incident. We are also working with our current payment providers to implement a more secure credit card payment method, as well as conducting an in-depth security audit. All these measures will help us prevent such incidents from happening in the future," the company added. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ specs detailed in new report News oi -Chandrika Samsung will launch the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ smartphones at the MWC 2018 in late February. Now that CES 2018 is over, tech enthusiasts are eagerly waiting for MWC 2018 that is to take place in Barcelona next month. Some smartphone manufacturers use this platform to announce their new flagships, and Samsung is one of them. The South Korean tech giant is all set to unveil the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ smartphones at the event in February. Naturally, the flagship Samsung smartphones are appearing in many leaks and rumors. ET News, for instance, has come up with a new report detailing the specifications of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+. Interestingly, most of the information in the report is in line with previous leaks. For example, the Galaxy S9 is said to come with a single rear camera, but its bigger sibling Galaxy S9+ is likely to sport a dual camera setup on its back. It is also worth mentioning that ET News is usually accurate with Samsung related news. Cameras As stated, the Samsung Galaxy S9 will feature a single rear camera of 12MP with OIS (Optical Image Stabilization). The Plus variant, however, will have a dual rear camera setup comprising of two 12MP image sensors. According to the report, the Galaxy S9's rear camera will come with variable aperture sizes. It will have a maximum aperture size of f/1.5, allowing users to take excellent quality images in low light conditions. Whereas in well-lit conditions, the camera will switch to f/2.4. So basically it will function like a DSLR camera. On the other hand, the two rear cameras of Galaxy S9+ will have different apertures: f/1.5 and f/2.4. The smartphone will be able to take an image using both cameras at the same time. The camera setup will make use of complex distance and depth recognition algorithms resulting superior quality images. Furthermore, both smartphones' cameras are likely to carry support for slow motion shooting. For the front camera, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will be equipped with an 8MP selfie snapper with autofocus and iris recognition function. Display and Hardware The Samsung Galaxy S9 is said to feature a 5.77-inch screen whereas the Galaxy S9 will arrive with a larger 6.22-inch screen. The report further reveals, the former will pack 4GB of RAM and the latter will come with 6GB of RAM. Lastly, the Galaxy S9 will be backed up by a 3,000mAh battery, while the Galaxy S9+ will be powered by a 3,500mAh. We have no way of telling now if all these specifications will come true, but the good thing is that MWC is just a month away. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Egypt: Sisi fires spy chief in surprise decree Iran Press TV Fri Jan 19, 2018 09:11AM Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has fired the country's head of the intelligence in an unexpected move as presidential elections draw nearer. Sisi's office announced the move in a terse statement on Thursday. The decree replaced Khaled Fawzi, the head of General Intelligence Directorate, with close Sisi aide and the head of the president's office, Abbas Kamel as the agency's interim head. The president also ordered a cabinet reshuffle last week. Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has fired the country's head of the intelligence in an unexpected move as presidential elections draw near. Sisi's office announced the move in a terse statement on Thursday. The decree replaced Khaled Fawzi, the head of General Intelligence Directorate, with close Sisi aide and head of the president's office, Abbas Kamel, as the agency's interim head. The president also ordered a cabinet reshuffle last week. The presidential polls are to be held in March. The former prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, who had declared his candidacy last month and was once seen as a main challenger to Sisi, said earlier in January that he would not be running. Sisi has been leading an unassailable rule since ousting Egypt's first-ever democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi in a coup in 2014. Ever since the coup, the country's northern Sinai region has been awash with Takfiri terrorism. The terrorists, mainly based there, have been staging heinous attacks elsewhere in the country. Sisi named a new Armed Forces chief of staff and announced changes in key security positions last October, after at least 16 police officers were killed in the Western Desert some 200 kilometers (125 miles) southwest of Cairo. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Military Strikes Continue Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release SOUTHWEST ASIA, Jan. 19, 2018 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria between Jan. 12 and Jan. 18, conducting 63 strikes consisting of 102 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. Officials reported details of the most recent strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria On Jan. 18 near Abu Kamal in Syria, coalition military forces conducted three strikes consisting of seven engagements against ISIS targets, destroying an indirect fire weapon, a fighting position and an ISIS line of communication. On Jan. 17 near Abu Kamal in Syria, coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of 14 engagements against ISIS targets, destroying two logistics centers, three ISIS lines of communication, a heavy machine gun, three fighting positions, an ISIS-held building, a tunnel, two weapons caches and an ISIS supply route. On Jan. 16 near Abu Kamal in Syria, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of four engagements against ISIS targets, destroying an unmanned aerial vehicle, an indirect fire position and an ISIS headquarters. On Jan. 15 near Abu Kamal in Syria, coalition military forces conducted 10 strikes consisting of 17 engagements against ISIS targets, destroying an explosive hazard, an ISIS vehicle, a headquarters center, two logistics centers, an indirect fire weapon, an ISIS fighting position, a headquarters building and an ISIS line of communication. On Jan. 14 near Abu Kamal in Syria, coalition military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of 11 engagements against ISIS targets, destroying two pieces of ISIS engineering equipment, a fighting position, an ISIS vehicle, an indirect fire weapon, two logistics centers, two vehicle-borne bomb factories, an ISIS line of communication and a UAV. On Jan. 13 near Abu Kamal in Syria, coalition military forces conducted 13 strikes consisting of 24 engagements against ISIS targets, destroying two ISIS supply routes, two ISIS motorcycles, two weapons caches, four fighting positions, a VBIED factory and an ISIS logistics center. On Jan. 12 near Abu Kamal in Syria, coalition military forces conducted 14 strikes consisting of 17 engagements against ISIS targets, destroying an ISIS supply route, an indirect fire weapon, a fighting position, an ISIS headquarters and a UAV. Strikes in Iraq There were no reported strikes conducted in Iraq on Jan. 18, 17 and 14. On Jan. 16 near Rutbah in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets, destroying three ISIS underground facilities and a generator. On Jan. 15 near Rutbah in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of one engagement against ISIS targets, destroying two ISIS weapons caches. On Jan. 13 near Mosul in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of one engagement against ISIS targets, destroying an ISIS tunnel. On Jan. 12 near Tuz in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of three engagements against an ISIS tactical unit. Part of Operation Inherent Resolve These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said. The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said. The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address National Defense Strategy a 'Good Fit for Our Times,' Mattis Says By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2018 The new National Defense Strategy is a good fit for the times, emphasizing the return of great power rivalry, yet still addressing other threats that abound in the world today, Defense Secretary James N. Mattis said today. The secretary unveiled the strategy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies and stressed that the strategy is not merely a defense strategy, but an American strategy. The school is a division of the Johns Hopkins University based in Washington. The strategy -- the first new strategy in a decade -- is based on the National Security Strategy President Donald J. Trump announced in December. New Strategy Reclaims 'An Era of Strategic Purpose' "Today, America's military reclaims an era of strategic purpose and we're alert to the realities of a changing world and attentive to the need to protect our values and the countries that stand with us," the secretary said. "America's military protects our way of life and I want to point out it also protects a realm of ideas. It's not just about protecting geography. This is a defense strategy that will guide our efforts in all realms." Threats have changed since the last strategy. There is increasing global volatility and uncertainty with challenges from Russia and China coming to the fore. "Though we will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists that we are engaged in today, but great power competition, not terrorism, is now the primary focus of U.S. national security," the secretary said. The strategy will provide the American people the military required "to protect our way of life, stand with our allies and live up to our responsibility to pass intact to the next generation those freedoms that all of us enjoy here today," Mattis said. The strategy expands the U.S. military's competitive space, prioritizes preparedness for war, provides clear direction for significant change at the speed of relevance and builds a more lethal force to compete strategically. Tough Choices In forming the strategy, officials had to make tough choices, "and we made them based upon a fundamental precept, namely that America can afford survival," Mattis said. "We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia are from each other, nations that do seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models, pursuing veto authority over other nations' economic, diplomatic and security decisions," he said. The threat from rogue regimes like North Korea and Iran persist. And even though ISIS's physical caliphate is no more, the group -- and other extremist organizations -- continues to sow hatred. "In this time of change, our military is still strong, yet our competitive edge has eroded in every domain of warfare: air, land, sea, space and cyberspace, and it is continuing to erode," the secretary said. 'Our Military Will Win Should Diplomacy Fail' Sixteen years of war, rapid technological change, defense spending caps, and seemingly continuous continuing resolutions "have created an overstretched and under-resourced military," he said. "Our military's role is to keep the peace; to keep the peace for one more year, one more month, one more week, one more day; to ensure our diplomats who are working to solve problems do so from a position of strength and giving allies confidence in us. This confidence is underpinned by the assurance that our military will win should diplomacy fail." Mattis said the supremacy of American military is not preordained. "It is incumbent upon us to field a more lethal force if our nation is to retain the ability to defend ourselves and what we stand for," Mattis said. "The defense strategy's three primary lines of effort will restore our comparative military advantage." The strategy commits the department to build a more lethal joint force. It calls for strengthening old alliances and building new ones. "At the same time, we'll reform our department's business practices for performance and affordability," the secretary said. An enemy will attack any perceived weakness, Mattis said. The American military, therefore, must be able to fight across the spectrum of conflict. "This means that the size and the composition of our force matters," he said. "The nation must field sufficient capable forces to deter conflict. And if deterrence fails, we must win." Mattis added, "To those who would threaten America's experiment in democracy, they must know: If you challenge us it will be your longest and your worst day. Work with our diplomats: You don't want to fight the Department of Defense." Alliances are key to American success, the secretary said. "In my past, I fought many times and never did I fight in a solely American formation," Mattis said. "It was always alongside foreign troops." The American military must be designed, trained and ready to fight alongside allies, he added. "History proves that nations with allies thrive, an approach to security and prosperity that has served the United States well in keeping peace and winning war," Mattis said. "Working by, with and through allies who carry their equitable share allows us to amass the greatest possible strength." Reforming DoD's Business Practices The third line of effort, he said, will be the foundation for the U.S. competitive edge: reforming the business practices of the department. "We are going to have to be good stewards of the tax dollars allocated to us, and that means results and accountability matter," the secretary said. "The department will transition to a culture of performance and affordability that operates at the speed of relevance. Success does not go to the country that develops a new technology first, but rather, to the one that better integrates it and more swiftly adapts its way of fighting." Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan is already leading this effort. He expects it to leverage the scale of operations, driving better deals for equipping troops and modernizing systems. This strategy means nothing if the resources are not in place, Mattis said. "No strategy can long survive without necessary funding and the stable, predictable budgets required to defend America in the modern age," he said. "Failure to modernize our military risks leaving us with a force that could dominate the last war, but be irrelevant to tomorrow's security." Continuing Resolutions Harm Military Readiness Mattis added, "Let me be clear. As hard as the last 16 years have been on our military, no enemy in the field has done more to harm the readiness of the U.S. military than the combined impact of the Budget Control Act's defense spending cuts, worsened by us operating, nine of the last 10 years, under continuing resolutions, wasting copious amounts of precious taxpayer dollars." The military continues to work tirelessly to accomplish the mission with now inadequate and misaligned resources, simply because the Congress cannot maintain regular order, Mattis said. "That we have performed well is a credit to our wonderful and loyal troops, but loyalty must be a two-way street," he said. "We expect the magnificent men and women of our military to be faithful in their service, even when going in harm's way. We must remain faithful to those who voluntarily sign a blank check, payable to the American people with their lives." Under the Constitution, it is Congress that has the authority to raise armies and navies, Mattis said. "Yet as I stand here this morning, watching the news, as we all are, from Capitol Hill, we're on the verge of a government shutdown or, at best, yet another debilitating continuing resolution," he said. "We need Congress back in the driver's seat of budget decisions, not in the spectator seat of Budget Control Acts' indiscriminate and automatic cuts. We need a budget and we need budget predictability if we're to sustain our military's primacy." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address USS Fitzgerald Arrives in Pascagoula for Restoration Navy News Service Story Number: NNS180119-11 Release Date: 1/19/2018 1:48:00 PM From Naval Sea Systems Command Office of Corporate Communications WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) arrived in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Jan. 19, aboard heavy lift vessel MV Transshelf inward bound from Yokosuka, Japan. Fitzgerald is expected to spend several days in the Port of Pascagoula as the heavy lift ship will commence the reverse operation of unfastening, lowering and guiding the ship off the platform. The ship will then be taken to its designated pier space at Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard. Due to the extent and complexity of the restoration, both repair and new construction procedures will be used to accomplish the restoration and modernization efforts. Various Hull Mechanical and Electrical (HM&E); Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence; and Combat System equipment, including the electronic warfare suite, radar, switchboard, gas turbine generator and air condition plant, require repair and/or replacement. Fitzgerald will also receive HM&E; Combat System; and Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Collaboration and Intelligence; upgrades that were originally planned for installation during a fiscal year 2019 availability. Work on the ship is expected to occur on a land level facility throughout 2018 and one to two quarters of 2019, followed by an extensive test and trials period to ensure all systems and spaces are restored to full functionality and operational capability. The entire restoration and modernization effort is expected to complete approximately 24-months post work commencement on the ship. Fitzgerald was involved in a collision with the Philippine-flagged ACX Crystal June 17. Seven Sailors lost their lives and the ship was damaged on the starboard side above and below the waterline. The Navy released a comprehensive review of the incident Nov. 1. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UNICEF warns South Sudan risks losing generation due to conflict Iran Press TV Fri Jan 19, 2018 07:26PM The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that South Sudan risks losing a generation with 70 percent of the country's children out of school due to the four-year civil war. "70 percent of the children are out of school, that is highest in the world. There is too much violence," Henrietta H. Fore, UNICEF's executive director, said in an interview with Reuters on Friday after visiting some of the areas most devastated by the war. The bloody civil war in South Sudan, the youngest country in Africa, began in December 2013 when incumbent President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup. The two sides have been involved in a cycle of retaliatory killings that have split the impoverished country along ethnic lines. Tens of thousands have been killed and millions displaced in the conflict. "If we don't help... we are going to lose this generation and that would be tragic for South Sudan because a country cannot build itself without this next generation of young people," Fore warned. The UN official also reported widespread malnutrition among children in the country's northern towns she visited. "We are heading into the dry season... we might lose up to a quarter of a million children in South Sudan," she said. In December, South Sudan's government and rebel groups inked a ceasefire agreement after talks in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. The deal, however, has been violated repeatedly with both sides blaming each other. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Gunmen kill 12 soldiers in eastern DR Congo Iran Press TV Fri Jan 19, 2018 06:01PM At least 12 Congolese soldiers have been killed in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the army is fighting Uganda-based rebels. A senior military source said on Friday that an attack was conducted overnight near the town of Eringeti in North Kivu province, which borders Uganda. Fighting continued until Friday morning, the source added. The attack also left 20 Congolese soldiers injured, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media. The armies of Congo and Uganda launched a military operation late last year against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), accused of attacking a UN base on December 8 and killing 15 peacekeepers. "The combat continues and our goal is to recapture all the ADF positions in all strategic locations to keep them from organizing," said the senior officer. The attack was confirmed by a top Congolese security official and a foreign diplomat, who put the death toll at 22 Congolese soldiers. "We are at war. And when you are at war, ambushes are possible. That does not surprise me," Congolese Defense Minister Crispin Atama Tabe told journalists in the capital Kinshasa when asked about the assault. Dozens of armed groups have been active in the eastern DR Congo, long after the official end of a 1998-2003 war during which millions of people died, mostly of hunger and disease. The United Nations has warned that the Democratic Republic of the Congo was at a "breaking point," saying this year it will seek more than $1.5 billion to respond to the worsening humanitarian crisis in the country. The escalating violence in Congo's center and east this year comes amid a political crisis in the country due to President Joseph Kabila's refusal to leave office after his term expired in December 2016. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN: Amid continued Saudi campaign, 32,000 forced to flee homes in Yemen in 2 months Iran Press TV Fri Jan 19, 2018 05:56PM More than 32,000 people in Yemen have been forced to flee their homes in a time span of two months, the United Nations says, due to the continued campaign led by Saudi Arabia that has also claimed thousands of lives. In total, the UN says, around two million Yemenis have been displaced due to the Saudi war since early 2015. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) warned in a statement on Thursday that an increase in airstrikes paired with deadly weather had made the dire situation worse in conflict-stricken Yemen. "The arrival of winter in Yemen, when temperatures can dip below zero degrees Celsius across a number of governorates, has worsened the hardship for many, particularly those displaced and living in informal settlements exposed to the elements with little protection against the cold," the statement said. UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo said the intensified attacks in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, as well as the provinces of Hudaydah on the Red Sea, and oil-rich Shabwa in the south, had led to a new wave of displacements. The airstrikes disrupt access to humanitarian aid for the suffering Yemeni people. "We continue to see correlations between intensified hostilities and civilian casualties + displacement," Mantoo said on Twitter Friday. Yemen faces all kinds of shortage, including that of water, food and medicine. "The latest violence has further exacerbated the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with more than 22 million people, around three quarters of the total population, in need of humanitarian assistance," the UNHCR said. Earlier the UNHCR had announced that 6.8 million, meaning almost one in four people, did not have enough food and relied entirely on external assistance. According to aid agencies, poor access to healthcare, clean water and sanitation put more people at risk of life-threatening diseases. "Yemen is living with the catastrophic consequences of a protracted conflict that has destroyed much of its vital infrastructure and brought the health system to the brink of collapse," said Mirella Hodeib, spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Hodeib said the situation in Yemen "provided the optimal conditions for the growth and re-emergence of communicable diseases" such as malaria, diphtheria and cholera. While Yemen is already battling a million suspected cholera cases and a diphtheria outbreak, the World Health Organization estimated that malaria cases alone rose in 2016 to 433,000 from 336,000 in 2015. More than 13,600 people have been killed since the onset of the Saudi-led war on Yemen in March 2015. The Saudi-led campaign was launched in a bid to reinstate a former Riyadh-friendly government and to eliminate the Houthi Ansarullah movement, but it has achieved neither of its goals so far. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Pacific military chief says China a disruptive force in region Iran Press TV Fri Jan 19, 2018 10:52AM Head of the US military's Pacific command Admiral Harry Harris, known for his combative views on China, has said China is a disruptive power in the Indo-Pacific region urging countries in the region to build capabilities and work together to counter the Communist country. "I believe the reality is that China is a disruptive transitional force in the Indo-Pacific, they are owner of the 'trust deficit' that we all have spent the last hour talking about," Harris said referring to discussions at a security conference sponsored by the Indian government. The United States has criticized China's construction of islands and build-up of military facilities in the South China Sea, saying they could be used to restrict free nautical movement. China says there is no issue with freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and opposes efforts to use it as an "excuse" to infringe on China's sovereignty and security interests. "We must be willing to take the tough decisions to ensure the Indo-Pacific region and the Indian Ocean remain free, open and prosperous," he continued. "This requires like-minded nations to develop capacities, leverage each other's capabilities." Harris had earlier proposed joint patrols with the Indian navy in the Indian Ocean. New Delhi, worried about a backlash from China, said no such actions were planned. But India has begun holding trilateral naval exercises with the US and Japan that military experts say could eventually include Australia as well. China is in a territorial dispute with India and with some of its other neighbors in the East and South China Sea. While strengthening its military, the country has been seeking a peaceful rise to a global power status. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Cross-border clashes escalate between India, Pakistan in Kashmir Iran Press TV Fri Jan 19, 2018 09:48AM Cross-border shelling has continued between Indian and Pakistani forces in Kashmir for a third day, reportedly leaving casualties on both sides of the disputed border in the Himalayan region. Pakistan's military said in a statement on Friday that Indian troops initiated fire from across the border and targeted Pakistani villages along Kashmir, killing two civilians and wounding five others. The country's Foreign Ministry later said the fatalities were all women. India rejected the claim, saying Pakistan initiated the fire, killing a teenage girl and a soldier on the Indian side of the disputed region. An Indian paramilitary officer said soldiers were responding to Pakistani firing and shelling on dozens of border posts, which he called an "unprovoked" violation of a 2003 ceasefire accord. Indian police officer S.D. Singh said at least six Indian civilians and a soldier were also wounded by Pakistani fire and that Indian paramilitary. He added that Pakistani soldiers fired mortars and automatic gunfire at some 15 posts in the Jammu region. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry summoned an Indian diplomat on Thursday, condemning the latest alleged ceasefire violation. Both India and Pakistan lay claim to the entire Kashmir region and have fought three wars over it. Each controls only parts of the territory, however. In 2003, the two countries reached a ceasefire over but sporadic clashes continue. The United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) has been monitoring the border for decades. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel army considers taking over security in East Jerusalem al-Quds Iran Press TV Fri Jan 19, 2018 08:58AM The Israeli military is reportedly considering a plan to take over from police the control of the situation at a Palestinian refugee camp and an Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem al-Quds amid ongoing tensions there over a controversial US policy shift on the occupied city. Citing unnamed sources, Haaretz said the Israeli ministry for military affairs has confirmed the army is studying the plan to assume responsibility for the situation in the Shuafat refugee camp and the Kafr Aqab district in East Jerusalem al-Quds. Those areas are in the jurisdiction of Jerusalem al-Quds, but are cut off from the rest of the occupied city by Israel's Apartheid Wall, which has been under construction since 2002. The International community designates Israel's administrative control over East Jerusalem al-Quds as occupation since the regime invaded the area during the 1967 Arab War and then annexed it. Clashes have intensified in the area since last month, when US President Donald Trump ignored a consensus about the fate of the city, which many say should be decided in talks with Palestinians, and declared that Washington was recognizing the entire Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel's "capital." Report say there has been almost daily clashes between Israeli forces and the Palestinian protesters, especially the youths from the Shuafat refugee camp and the district of Kafr Aqeb. That has prompted the Israeli army intervene and control the situation in the neighborhoods of Jerusalem al-Quds, according to Haaretz. Israeli authorities have indicated that if the army takes control, the municipality of occupied Jerusalem al-Quds may no longer have a jurisdiction, and local councils will take over. Some 150,000 people, most of them Arabs, live in Shuafat and in Kafr Aqeb and all have ID cards and residency status. The East Jerusalem al-Quds is home to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the third holiest site in the Muslim world and a focus of decades of Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation. US embassy relocation accelerates Meanwhile, new reports suggest the Trump administration is moving faster than expected to relocate the American embassy from Tel Aviv to a facility in West Jerusalem al-Quds that has been providing visa and other consular services. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson insisted last month that the move would not happen until the end of Trump's term. The fresh reports, however, said the US State Department is working on a plan to retrofit an existing US diplomatic facility in Arnona in instead of constructing a completely new embassy in the Jerusalem al-Quds as proposed last month by Tillerson. The top US diplomat had said the construction would take at least three years to complete. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US military edge over Russia, China eroding: Mattis Iran Press TV Fri Jan 19, 2018 09:13PM Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has warned of "growing threats" from Russia and China, saying US military's advantages over the two countries have eroded in recent years. The assessment is part of an unclassified summary of the Pentagon's new National Defense Strategy Mattis unveiled on Friday. "We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia, nations that seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models," he said in a speech at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. "Our military is still strong, yet our competitive edge has eroded in every domain of warfare -- air, land, sea, space and cyberspace -- and is continually eroding," he added. He also said that the US' so-called campaign against terrorists "will continue," but added that "great power competition not terrorism is now the primary focus of US national security." His remarks come as President Donald Trump and his administration are concerned that the US military force is being affected by years of budget shortfalls and atrophy, and that it has to fully reboot in order to restore it to an ideal strength. "We will modernize key capabilities, recognizing we cannot expect success fighting tomorrow's conflicts with yesterday's weapons or equipment," Mattis said. In December 2017, Trump unveiled a new "America First" national security strategy that named China and Russia as "competition," claiming that the two countries sought to "challenge American power, influence, and interests." In the same month, the US think tank RAND Corporation released a report, warning that the United States would likely lose a simultaneous military confrontation with Russia and China. Thanks to their major technology advancements over the past years, the two Asian countries have now reached a level that they can top the US in certain areas of military prowess, the report said, warning that limited budget and a lack of enough forces to support the "ambitious" US military plan were hindering American forces. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pentagon Chief Calls Russia, China 'Revisionist Powers' Mike Eckel January 19, 2018 WASHINGTON -- The U.S. defense secretary has called Russia and China "revisionist powers" and said the focus of U.S. military strategy was shifting away from terrorism and back toward what he called "great power competition." Jim Mattis made the comments on January 19 as he unveiled the Pentagon's National Defense Strategy, a major policy document that serves as a map for U.S military planners for the coming years. In his speech, Mattis signaled that the U.S. Defense Department was shifting away from a focus on terrorism, which has preoccupied U.S. planners for some 17 years since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. "We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists, but great power competition, not terrorism, is now the primary focus of U.S. national security," he said. He called China and Russia "revisionist powers," saying that both are seeking to establish "a world consistent with their authoritarian models." The defense document is the first since 2014 and the first of President Donald Trump's administration. It echoes some of the same themes contained in the National Security Strategy, a policy paper released last month that also took aim at China and Russia. In the 11-page Pentagon paper -- an unclassified summary of a larger classified version -- Mattis outlined priorities for Defense Department planners in coming years. "Russia has violated the borders of nearby nations and pursues veto power over the economic, diplomatic, and security decisions of its neighbors," he wrote. "China is a strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South China Sea," Mattis added. The document also focuses on Iran and North Korea, saying U.S. missile defenses are needed to protect against the threat from Pyongyang. It says that "North Korea's outlaw actions and reckless rhetoric continue" despite "censure and sanctions" by the United Nations, and that "Iran continues to sow violence and remains the most significant challenge to Middle East stability." In his January 19 speech, delivered at John Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, Mattis criticized U.S. budget planners, and Congress in particular, saying the budgeting process has resulted in stopgap measures that he said have hamstrung U.S. forces. Congress has deadlocked on new legislation to fund the federal government, raising the possibility that most government operations would shut down beginning January 20. Mattis said that a shutdown would affect many military operations, including training, maintenance, and intelligence gathering. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pentagon-mattis- calls-russia-china-revisionist -powers/28985632.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Mexican Presidential Front-Runner Dismisses Charges He's Backed By Kremlin January 19, 2018 The leftist front-runner in Mexico's presidential election is making light of allegations by his opponents and a top U.S. official that his campaign may have backing from the Kremlin. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on January 18 joked that in light of the allegations, he will henceforth be known as "Andres Manuelovich." A spokesman for Jose Antonio Meade, Obrador's rival from the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, had warned on January 17 of possible Russian interference in the July presidential vote, with the aim of benefiting Lopez Obrador. U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster was also reported as saying recently that Russia is building on its alleged attempt to influence the U.S. presidential election in 2016 by seeking to sway votes in Mexico and other countries. "We've seen that this is really a sophisticated effort to polarize democratic societies and pit communities within those societies against each other," McMaster said, according to a video clip that emerged last weekend of a private speech he gave last month. "You've seen, actually, initial signs of it in the Mexican presidential campaign already," he said, without elaborating, in the video clip. Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor, made fun of the accusation by shooting a video in which he calls himself "Andres Manuelovich" and, with a port in the background, says he is waiting for a Russian submarine to surface laden with gold. Obradar has received positive coverage from Russian state news outlets like Sputnik and RT, fueling suspicions among his opponents that he has Kremlin backing. Mexico's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray has said there is no evidence to support allegations about Russian interference in Mexico's election, however. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also recently denied the accusations, calling them "unfounded." Based on reporting by Reuters, Reforma, and TASS Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/mexican-presidential- front-runner-obrador-dismisses-charges-hes- backed-by-kremlin/28984312.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UNRWA to Appeal to Donors to Help Palestinian Refugees After US Aid Cut Sputnik News 21:53 19.01.2018 The UN Relief and Welfare Agency (UNRWA) is launching an international campaign to raise funds to aid Palestinian refugees after the US cut its funding by half. Sputnik Arabic spoke with UNRWA information advisor Adnan Abu Hasnah about the impact of this cut. The US has been the UNRWA's biggest donor in recent decades. A recent cut in US funding will affect regional security and could put vital health, educational and food services at risk, its chief said on Wednesday. "The amount of $65 million is small, but it covers the cost of maintaining schools and food for 1 million refugees in the Gaza Strip. The people there live in very difficult situations as there is not enough drinking water, fuel, and there are constant interruptions with electricity. As a result, people are very dependent on our agency, which helps them to live normally," the information advisor of UNRWA told Sputnik. He went on to say that in the coming days, the organization will launch an international campaign to attract new donors, and these can be countries, organizations or individuals. According to Hasnah, this campaign is aimed at preserving the agency so that it continues its humanitarian mission. "At the same time, we persistently urge the United States to resume its assistance for UNRWA," Hasnah said. Washington announced that it would provide $60 million to the agency while withholding a further $65 million for now. The US State Department said that UNRWA needed to make unspecified reforms. UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl said he would request other donor nations to contribute and start "a global fundraising campaign" aimed at keeping the agency's schools and clinics for refugees open through 2018. "At stake is the dignity and human security of millions of Palestine refugees, in need of emergency food assistance and other support in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank and Gaza Strip," he said in a statement, Reuters reported. There are two million people living in the Gaza Strip, where over one million people are dependent on the funds they receive from UNRWA and other humanitarian agencies. International NGO's condemned the cut in the US funding. Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said in a Twitter post on Tuesday that Washington was "holding Palestinian kids' humanitarian needs hostage to political agendas". Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address India Summons Pakistani Deputy High Commissioner Over Truce Breaches in Kashmir Sputnik News 20:13 19.01.2018 NEW DELHI (Sputnik) - The Indian Ministry of External Affairs summoned Deputy High Commissioner of Pakistan Syed Haider Shah over alleged continued ceasefire violations in the disputed Kashmir region, the ministry said in a statement on Friday. "Deputy High Commissioner of Pakistan Syed Haider Shah was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs today. He was conveyed Government's grave concerns at the continued ceasefire violations and deliberate targeting of innocent civilians by Pakistan forces. More than 100 such violations have been carried out by Pakistan forces on the Line of Control and the International Border so far during 2018," the statement read. The ministry stressed that nine civilians had been killed by Pakistan on Thursday and Friday. "It was conveyed to the concerned authorities in Pakistan that deliberate targeting of innocent civilians was against all established humanitarian norms and practices," the statement said. Meanwhile, the Indian security has been deployed in Kashmir and other sensitive areas across the country to prevent militant strikes ahead of January 26, when the heads of state of the ten countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) would join the celebration as special guests at the country's Republic Day parade in New Delhi. The disputed regions of Jammu and Kashmir have been engulfed in India-Pakistan standoff since the end of the UK rule in 1947. Following several armed conflicts, the two countries agreed to a ceasefire in 2003. Since then, both sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce, with the continued instability in the region leading to the emergence of various extremist groups. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address New US Defense Strategy: Work With Diplomats or Deal With Military Sputnik News 18:03 19.01.2018(updated 19:34 19.01.2018) The main focus of national security for the United States is now power competition and not terrorism, US Defense Secretary James Mattis said on Friday, announcing the new National Defense Strategy. "We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists, but great power competition not terrorism is now the primary focus of US national security," Mattis said in prepared remarks, concerning the country's new security strategy, released by the Pentagon. The official presented the country's strong message reflected in the document, issuing a pointed warning to America's adversaries, adding that the US Joint Force will compete to deter aggression in three main regions: Indo-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. "Our competitive edge in every domain of warfare air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace is eroding," Mattis said. Mattis described the US position towards those who might undermine the country's democracy. "To those who would threaten America's experiment in democracy: if you challenge us, it will be your longest and worst day," Mattis said. Main Threats to US and the Global Security Speaking about global stability, Mattis named North Korea and Iran as the main threats. "Rogue regimes like North Korea and Iran persist in taking outlaw actions that threaten regional and even global stability," Mattis stated. The top official stressed that the US was facing growing threats from different revisionist powers, including Russia and China. As he explained, Moscow aimed to shatter NATO, change European and Middle East security in its favor, while China uses "predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South China Sea". According to him, the US envisages strategic competition with these countries as long-term priorities for the Pentagon. "We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia, nations that seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models pursuing veto authority over other nation's economic, diplomatic and security decisions," Mattis said. Russia's "Adventurism" Mattis explained the new US position on Russia, saying Washington was concerned with Moscow's modernization of its nuclear arsenal. The released document describes the stance in the following way: "A strong and free Europe, bound by shared principles of democracy, national sovereignty, and commitment to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty is vital to our security. The alliance will deter Russian adventurism, defeat terrorists who seek to murder innocents, and address the arc of instability building on NATO's periphery." Moreover, the document said Russia is "now undermining the international order from within the system by exploiting its benefits while simultaneously undercutting its principles and 'rules of the road.'" "Concurrently, Russia seeks veto authority over nations on its periphery in terms of their governmental, economic and diplomatic decisions, to shatter the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and change European and Middle East security and economic structures to its favor," the document said. US Defense Plans According to him, Washington is planning to build new military partnerships, enhance the country's defense by investing in nuclear forces, as well as space, cyber and missile defense. "We are going to build a more lethal force We will strengthen traditional alliances while building new partnerships with other nations," Mattis said in prepared remarks released by the Pentagon. "We will modernize key capabilities," Mattis said. "Investments in space and cyberspace, nuclear deterrent forces, missile defense, advanced autonomous systems and resilient and agile logistics will provide our high-quality troops what they need to win." The official underlined the importance of defense spending for Washington, saying that no enemy has done more to harm the readiness of the country's military forces than the impact of defense spending caps, adding that a possible government shutdown would negatively enfluence military operations, including maintenance, training and intelligence sharing. Mattis has urged US lawmakers to avoid the shudown, commenting on the recent standoff in the country's government over the adoption of the short-term budget to prevent government shutdown. The document stipulates the US modernization of its nuclear triad and investment in missile defense in order to deter external aggression. "The [US Defense] Department will modernize the nuclear triad including nuclear command, control and communications and supporting infrastructure," the document said. "Investments will focus on missile defenses and disruptive capabilities." Under the 2018 US National Defense Strategy, the US will allocate funds for developing autonomous military technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, "including rapid application of commercial breakthroughs, to gain competitive military advantages". Extremist Groups He went on to speak about extremist groups, spreading violence around the world. "Despite the defeat of ISIS's [Daesh] physical caliphate, violent extremist organizations like Lebanese Hezbollah, ISIS, and Al Qaeda continue to show hatred, destroying peace and murdering innocents across the globe," Mattis stated. The released document describes Washington's idea of coalitions as necessary for the defeat of terrorists. "We will develop enduring coalitions to consolidate gains we have made in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere, to support the lasting defeat of terrorists as we sever their sources of strength and counterbalance Iran," the document said. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Dear Jill, My local newspaper stopped carrying one of the main weekly coupon inserts. What is the best place to buy them online? Maeve R. While Ive addressed the topic of purchasing coupons numerous times over the years, its still a hot topic with couponers. Its true that there are plenty of websites selling coupons. However, I cannot recommend buying coupons online in any circumstance. There are several reasons why buying coupons is not a good idea. Buying coupons online violates the terms set by the manufacturer. If you take the time to read the fine print on your coupons, youll notice that many coupons state that they are void if sold or purchased. While you may think its not a big deal if people buy and sell paper coupons, there are several reasons not to do so. First, brands and stores consider the terms on a coupon to be a contract between the manufacturer and the store. The manufacturer will reimburse the store for the value of the coupon provided that the terms of the coupon have been met. As the manufacturer has created these terms, its not the consumers place to alter them by selling the coupons. Not only is this against the manufacturers wishes, it affects the redemption rates and areas where coupons are redeemed. Its no secret that brands offer different kinds and values of coupon offers to different parts of the country. Regional coupon offers may be used to boost sales in a specific metropolitan area, or they may issue specific coupons to one state and not another. If the brand offers a high-value detergent coupon to boost detergent sales in California, they wont be too thrilled to see a spike of redemptions for their California offer in Atlanta, New York or Orlando. The only way large quantities of these California-specific coupons could have ended up in other states is if they were sold online. When brands see spikes in redemption in geographic areas where their coupons were never issued, it forces them to rethink their promotion strategies. Why would a brand want to spend money to issue offers targeted at a specific audience, only to repeatedly find that the offers arent being redeemed in the area theyre offered? Another thing to consider? In many cases, the coupon inserts are stolen property. Brands, manufacturers and publishers simply do not make coupon inserts available to the public to sell. The coupon inserts are only distributed directly to their affiliated publications. When you see a coupon seller online advertising that they have tens of thousands of identical coupon inserts for sale often a week or two before the insert is due to appear in the newspaper its a strong sign that the inserts may have been stolen. You may not think that coupon sale is big business, but it is. In 2016, a Rhode Island police officer was arrested for stealing stacks of coupon inserts from a local newspaper, then providing them to his wife to sell on Instagram! If you enter into a business transaction with a reseller that is dealing in stolen property, youre also linking your name and payment records to that of a criminal. Is it worth the risk? In recent years, weve seen major brands pull coupons entirely from specific regions in retaliation against coupon sellers. In some areas where coupon sale is rampant, publishers have completely pulled the entire coupon inserts from the newspaper effectively punishing both the coupon sellers and thousands of innocent households who simply wanted to get coupons in the paper each week. There are real, tangible consequences to supporting unethical coupon resellers. Another reason to avoid buying coupons online is that you cannot be assured of the legitimacy of them. Just this week, a reader emailed me a list of phony blinkie coupons (similar to the kinds found inside in-store dispensers) being sold online. While we could again argue the ethics of selling coupons found on displays in stores, what was interesting about these coupons is that every one was counterfeit. Mattis: Countering China, Russia Now Top US Defense Priority By Carla Babb January 19, 2018 U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says the United States is losing its competitive military advantage over China and Russia, marking the central challenge to America's armed forces. "Great-power competition, not terrorism, is now the primary focus of U.S. national security," Mattis said Friday as he rolled out the unclassified portion of the Trump administration's National Defense Strategy (NDS) in Washington. He added the goal was to build a more lethal force while expanding America's competitive advantage and prioritizing its readiness for war. "Our military is still strong, yet our competitive edge has eroded in every domain of warfare - air, land, sea, space and cyberspace - and is continuing to erode," the U.S. defense secretary said. "History makes clear that America has no pre-ordained right to victory on the battlefield." The unclassified document accuses China of "predatory economics to intimidate neighbors" while building and militarizing fake islands in the South China Sea. The document claims Russia violates neighboring borders and seeks to shatter the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in order "to change European and Middle Eastern security and economic structures to its favor." Mattis also called out "rogue regimes" such as North Korea and Iran for continuing "actions that threaten regional, and even global stability" while "oppressing their own people." Terrorism, considered the top military priority under the previous two administrations, is still a concern for the United States despite the fall of Islamic State's physical caliphate in Iraq and Syria. The NDS instructs the U.S. to continue to deny terrorists havens across the globe, while modernizing the American military in a way that is "fit for our time." The document stipulates that the modernization efforts will focus on nuclear forces, missile defense, space and cyberspace. Mattis said the Defense Department will also focus on working with allies who "carry their equitable share" of the security burden while building new partnerships across the globe. "The growing economic strength of today's democracies and partners dictates they must now step up and do more," he said. The Pentagon chief suggested U.S. military processes must be "ally-friendly" and willing to be influenced by America's loyal friends. "Not all good ideas come from the country with the most aircraft carriers." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Supreme Court to Consider Travel Ban By VOA News January 19, 2018 The Supreme Court has signaled that it will consider the legality of President Donald Trump's order restricting travel. The so-called travel ban restricts travel in varying degrees from eight countries, six of them majority Muslim. The Associated Press is reporting that the justices plan to hear arguments in April and issue a final ruling by late June. The nation's highest court decided in early December to let the order take effect in full while it worked its way through two appeals courts. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, California, issued a ruling in late December, saying that the travel order exceeded the president's authority. The court put that order on hold, however, in deference to the Supreme Court. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, has yet to rule after a hearing in early December. At issue is the Trump administration's stated desire to ensure national security. Pro-immigration groups that have sued to stop the order say it is discriminatory and amounts to a ban on Muslims. The travel ban targets people from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen who want to enter the U.S. It also places limits on travelers from Venezuela and North Korea. This travel order is the third one issued by the Trump administration. The first two were not viewed kindly by the courts and were barely issued before they were struck down. The third one is different from its predecessors in that it was written after a review of vetting procedures, and the restrictions varied from country to country. The first executive order restricting travel was signed almost a year ago, on January 27. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia begins delivery of S-400 missiles to China, sources say Iran Press TV Fri Jan 19, 2018 02:29AM Russia has started delivering batteries of the S-400 Triumf advanced missile defense system to China as part of a 2014 agreement, sources close to the Russian military say. "The implementation of the contract has begun, the first shipment has been sent to China," Russian media reported Thursday, citing an unnamed official. According to the source, a control station, a radar station, energy and support equipment, spare parts, various tools and other elements of the S-400 system were included in the first shipment. Neither technology transfer nor licensed production was agreed upon in the contract, the source noted. Russia trained a group of Chinese military personnel to operate the S-400 system last year. It took Russian Presidential Aide on Military Cooperation Vladimir Kozhin until November 2015 to confirm the contract. Head of Russia's Rostec State Corporation Sergei Chemezov said back then that the Chinese army would not receive the system before 2018. The contract made China the first foreign purchaser of the cutting-edge air defense system, followed by Turkey as the second buyer. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been personally monitoring progress on the deal. On September 12, 2017, Russia confirmed the nearly $2.5 billion deal with Ankara for two S-400 batteries. Kozhin revealed late last year that they were negotiating a possible S-400 deal with Saudi Arabia as well. He said then that Moscow was hopeful to get a deal before the New Year. Russia and Saudi Arabia first signed a contract for the delivery of one battery of the Russian-made system in March 2017, when Saudi monarch King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was on a four-day trip to Moscow. Russia is also in talks to sell the defense system to India, one of the main purchasers of Russian weapons. The S-400 Triumf (with the NATO codename Growler) entered service in 2007 and is considered Russia's most advanced long-range anti-aircraft missile system. Capable of engaging targets at a distance of 400 km and at an altitude of up to 30 km, the missile system can destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles. It can also be used against land-based targets. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Components for Russian S-400 Defense Systems Damaged on Way to China - Moscow Sputnik News 19:55 19.01.2018(updated 19:59 19.01.2018) MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A number of auxiliary components for S-400 air defense systems that had been sent from Russia to China under the 2014 contract were damaged during the shipment by sea, the Russian defense industry cooperation service (FSMTC) said Friday. According to FSMTC spokeswoman Maria Vorobyeva, a ship carrying the components has been caught in a storm while passing the English Channel and was forced to return to Russia. "As a result, part of the auxiliary components shipment on board was damaged. The evaluation of damages for insurance purposes is underway," Vorobyeva said. "Upon the completion of this work, the undamaged equipment will be shipped to the customer by the same ship, while the components substituting the damaged ones will be shipped later," she added. The S-400 Triumph is Russia's next-generation mobile surface-to-air missile system carrying three different types of missiles capable of destroying aerial targets at a short-to-extremely-long range. It integrates a multifunctional radar, autonomous detection and targeting systems, anti-aircraft missile systems, launchers, and a command and control center. China has become the first foreign state to sign a contract on supplies of Russia's S-400 systems. In November 2014, Russia's Vedomosti newspaper reported that Russia was due to supply six battalions of S-400 with a total price of $3 billion. The contract on the delivery of the S-400 to China is expected to be fulfilled by 2020, according to the FSMTC. Apart from China, Russia has signed agreements on supplies of S-400 systems with India, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Media reported in November that the negotiations on the systems' supplies to Morocco are underway. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US lawmakers table bill meant to 'tighten' terms of Iran nuclear deal Iran Press TV Fri Jan 19, 2018 07:12AM US lawmakers have put forward a bill at the House of Representatives, seeking to "tighten" the term of a 2015 multinational nuclear deal with Iran, despite international warnings for Washington to stop attempts to undermine the accord. The so-called "Iran Freedom Policy and Sanctions Act" was introduced by Republican representative Peter Roskam and backed by his fellow GOP member Liz Cheney, the daughter of scandal-hit former US Vice President Dick Cheney, on Thursday. The proposed legislation "makes clear what any effective agreement would have to contain," Cheney said in a statement. The United States, under President Donald Trump, has been aggressively pushing against the agreement. However, the deal's other signatories -- the UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany -- have hailed it as a diplomatic triumph and a pillar of regional and international diplomacy. They have also praised Iran's full compliance with its side of the agreement, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), warning Washington against attempts to link unrelated issues to the accord, which has been endorsed by a UN Security Council resolution. Trump has, on occasions, threatened to "tear up" the agreement or withdraw US's participation in it despite the fact that the deal is multinational. A robust defense of the agreement came earlier at a United Nations Security Council meeting. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at the meeting that possible collapse of the deal would send an "alarming" message to the world, while UN chief Antonio Guterres noted that it was in the world's interest that the agreement "be preserved." Cheney further said a deal with Iran would need to "at a minimum, authorize anywhere, anytime inspections including inspections of military facilities; disclosure of all past and present, military and civilian nuclear activity; a ban on weapons-grade enrichment; and a restriction on ballistic missile development." Iran asserts that its nuclear activities have never had any military dimension -- something repeatedly verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is tasked with monitoring the technical aspect of the JCPOA's implementation. Tehran had also the so-called possible military dimensions (PMD) of its nuclear program case closed in December 2015, when the IAEA said it had found no indications of diversion of nuclear material for non-civilian objectives in Tehran's nuclear work. Since Trump's inauguration last year, the US has also imposed many rounds of sanctions against legal and natural persons, associating them with Iran's conventional missile program. Tehran has slammed those bans a violation of both the letter and spirit of the deal. Cheney added that the legislation "will ensure that sanctions on Iran will only be relaxed if Iran meets these crucial requirements," criticizing the current agreement for allegedly delivering "sanctions relief and cash payments" to Iran in exchange for "unverifiable promises." The agreement has lifted all nuclear-related sanctions against Iran. Since its conclusion, however, the US has been cautioning foreign enterprises against re-entering transactions with Iran. A parallel bill aimed at "toughening" the nuclear deal is under consideration in the Senate. Iran's Foreign Ministry has said it "will not accept any amendments in this agreement." Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi reaffirmed on Tuesday that the JCPOA "drew a line" between the missile program and the nuclear issue, saying that no party could now claim that Iran's missile tests violate the nuclear agreement. He emphasized that the country's defense program is "not up for either negotiation or compromise." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran nuclear deal collapse would be alarming, Russia warns Iran Press TV Fri Jan 19, 2018 12:37AM The possible collapse of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal would send an "alarming" message to the world, says Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, advising signatories of the deal against abandoning it to pursue their own interests. The top Russian diplomat told a UN Security Council meeting about weapons of mass destruction on Thursday that the deal between Iran and six world powers -- the US, the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany -- is ''a genuine achievement of international diplomacy.'' Lavrov also denounced the US' stance vis-a vis the nuclear agreement as politically-motivated, saying the deal cannot be abandoned "for the benefit of political agendas of certain countries." Known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the agreement limits parts of Iran's peaceful nuclear program in exchange for removal of all nuclear-related sanctions. "Clearly the failure of the JCPOA, especially as a result of one of the parties... would be an alarming message for the entire international community architecture," Lavrov said at the Security Council. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also addressed the council on Thursday, noting that it was in the world's interest that the agreement "be preserved." The remarks came in response to US President Donald Trump, who has been trying to undermine the deal by threatening to pull his country out of it unless it is "fixed." The American head of state argues that Iran's development of ballistic missiles for defensive purposes is in breach of a Security Council resolution that endorses the JCPOA. He has also complained that the JCPOA-related restrictions have an expiration date and that underscores the need for toughening the "embarrassing" deal. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly verified Iran's adherence to the terms of the JCPOA since January 2016, when the deal took effect. In October, Trump defied all the other signatories of the accord and refused to certify the Islamic Republic's compliance with the agreement. Tehran has denounced Washington's constant violations of the JCPOA, warning the Trump administration that it will respond to any breach accordingly. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN says half of displaced people by war in Iraq are children Iran Press TV Fri Jan 19, 2018 03:05PM The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says children account for nearly half the 2.6 million Iraqis who have been displaced since three years ago, when the Daesh Takfiri terrorists began a deadly campaign. Peter Hawkins, UNICEF's chief representative in Iraq, said on Friday that 1.3 million children had been displaced. Daesh began the campaign in Iraq in 2014, overrunning territory and brutalizing people. The Iraqi army and volunteer forces soon launched operations to eliminate the terrorist group. Victory was declared on December 9, 2017. But pockets of Daesh and potential sleeper cells remain in Iraq. "We believe that as a result of the conflict, a lack of investment over the years, and the poverty ... that there are 4 million children now in need across Iraq," Hawkins told a news briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, by telephone from Baghdad. "While the fighting has come to an end in several areas, spikes of violence continue in others, just this week, three bombings went off in Baghdad," UNICEF's Regional Director Geert Cappelaere said in a statement. "Violence is not only killing and maiming children; it is destroying schools, hospitals, homes and roads. It is tearing apart the diverse social fabric and the culture of tolerance that hold communities together," he added. Hawkins said the UN agency was also helping the children of the detained people who allegedly worked with Daesh by providing comfort and legal aid. He said that UNICEF was trying to reunite those children who were separated from their families, including those abroad. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan: Security, Intelligence Cooperation With US Non-Existent By Ayesha Tanzeem January 19, 2018 Pakistan's defense minister says his country's deteriorating relationship with the United States has led to a decline in the security and intelligence cooperation between the two allies to an almost non-existent level. Cooperation between the two allies increased in the aftermath of the attacks on the United States in September 2001 by al-Qaida terrorists based in Afghanistan. But in a Voice of America interview, Defense Minster Khurram Dastgir said recent harsh and very public criticism from Washington has contributed to a decline in the relationship. "The kind of language President Trump has been using, what Vice President Pence used a few weeks ago in Bagram in Afghanistan, reduces the freedom of action of Pakistan government," he said, adding that the level of cooperation depended on the nature of the relationship with the United States. "The more stressful it gets, the lower the cooperation," he said, describing the current relationship between the two countries as being in a state of "cold peace." Additional steps needed Pakistan and the United States have been increasingly at odds since last August, when the administration of President Donald Trump announced its new South Asia policy. Trump promised a new, tougher approach toward Pakistan. Washington accuses Islamabad of providing safe havens to Afghan Taliban, who are fighting the Afghan government, as well as U.S. and NATO forces. Pakistan denies the charge, saying it has cleared out all safe havens on its territory after a military operation that began in 2014. Earlier this month, a State Department official, speaking on background, told reporters that although U.S. officials believe both countries are committed to improving their relationship, Pakistan must take additional steps to address longstanding U.S. concerns about militant groups operating in its territory. "We believe that there is significant evidence that leadership of the Haqqani Network resides inside Pakistan and is able to plan and execute from Pakistan attacks inside Afghanistan. So the disagreement is much more about those facts than it is on our overarching goals in the strategy. And we need them to address these sanctuaries in order for us to be able to be enabled to succeed in Afghanistan," the official said. Limited response The level of mistrust in some security matters was apparent as early as May 2011, when the United States launched a surprise raid on al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's secret compound in the Pakistan enclave of Abbottabad, not far from a Pakistani military academy. U.S. officials said at the time Washington did not share plans of the raid with officials in Islamabad out of concern the mission would be compromised. Previous public comments by Dastgir about a suspension of security and intelligence cooperation with the United States sparked little reaction from U.S. officials in Islamabad, who said they had received no such notification from the Pakistan government. "This expectation that somehow a notice will be delivered from the Ministry of Defense to the U.S. Embassy that hereby we are stopping intelligence corporation, that's not going to happen because it didn't begin with a notice that hereby we are beginning intelligence cooperation," Dastgir said. Limited choices Still, Pakistan continues to allow the United States to use its territory to re-supply its troops in Afghanistan. It's a card the country's leadership said it might use if needed but not without serious contemplation about the possible consequences. The U.S. has limited choices when it comes to supplying its troops in this region. The alternatives require dealing with either Iran or Russia, two countries that have a worse relationship with the U.S. than even Pakistan. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia court declines to review opposition figure Navalny's complaint Iran Press TV Fri Jan 19, 2018 08:20AM Russia's Constitutional Court has reportedly declined to review a complaint from opposition leader Alexei Navalny, which he had filed over a ban on his participation in the upcoming presidential election due to a criminal record. Without offering details, Reuters cited the Russian RIA news agency as reporting the development on Friday. Navalny, who has sought to challenge President Vladimir Putin, has formally been barred from taking part in the March 18 election over a corruption conviction. He was given a five-year suspended sentence in a retrial earlier last year on embezzlement charges. The decision to bar him from taking part in the election was made in December 2017 by the Central Electoral Commission, which said he was ineligible because of the conviction. Navalny said the conviction was politically motivated and has called on his supporters to boycott the vote. Authorities are expected to investigate whether the boycott call violates the law. The election commission's head, Ella Pamfilova, said at the time that her institution was simply applying the law, which disqualifies Navalny because of the criminal record. Twelve of the 13 members rejected Navalny's application as presidential candidate, with only one member abstaining. Navalny then appealed the commission's decision with the Supreme Court, but the Court upheld the ruling on January 6, saying its decision "remains without change." Details were not immediately available on why the Constitutional Court had declined to review Navalny's complaint, but the matter may have been unrelated to the Court and not within its jurisdiction. The 41-year-old opposition leader has said formerly that he would not "acknowledge elections without competition." This is while there are many other candidates who have declared their intention to run. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia to Decommission Two Largest Nuclear Subs in the World - Source Sputnik News 14:08 19.01.2018 The submarines have already been withdrawn from operational status in the Russian Navy as their further use is unprofitable. The two largest nuclear-powered submarines of Project 941 (the Akula code) Arkhangelsk and Severstal are planned to be decommissioned, a source in the shipbuilding industry told RIA Novosti. "Their further operation is unprofitable: they have already been withdrawn from the Navy, Rosatom is to decommission them after 2020," the source said. Now the only Project 941U submarine remaining in the Navy is Dmitry Donskoy, used to test the Bulava ballistic missile. The six Project 941U nuclear submarines are the world's largest, with a full displacement of 49,800 tons, a length of 172 meters, and a width of 23.3 meters. The Dmitry Donskoy submarine is the flagship in the series built in 1976, was accepted into combat operation of the Northern Fleet in 1981. In 1996-1997, due to a shortage of funds, three missile carriers (TK-12, TK-202 and TK-13), which had been in service for only 12-13 years, were withdrawn from operational status. The Dmitry Donskoy ship had been in the Sevmash repair service for 10 years, for modernization and re-equipping necessary for Bulava testing. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address CONCORD Wineries continue to receive good news, for the most part, when it comes to shipping their wares straight to hopeful drinkers. For one, the channel for direct to consumer shipping has grown yet again over the past year, this time by more than 15 percent in both the volume and value of directly shipped wine. Add to that the opening of a new state for wineries to ship into by years end and progress on states with restrictive shipping regulations, and the industry consensus is clear. 2017 was a very good year, said Larry Cormier, general manager at Sovos ShipCompliant, creators of a yearly report tracking the ebbs and flows of the direct to consumer shipping channel. Offering a preview of this years report, Cormier bore the good news at the Direct to Consumer Wine Symposium, an annual summit held this week for those working in the channel and the main fundraiser for the consumer outreach nonprofit Free the Grapes! Noting the rise in both volume of cases shipped and the overall value of shipments, Cormier cited more good news for the industry, in that growth had not come at the expense of price per bottle. In fact, per bottle prices keep climbing. According to the preview data, the channel owes its overall gains in part to swelling volume and value in shipments from Oregon and Washington. The formers volume and value each grew by more than 30 percent in the last year. In addition to the two states, Cormier also noted that Sonoma has been on a roll. Of the total $361 million increase in value across the channel, Sonoma accounted for 40 percent, he said. Other insights from the report showed that medium-sized wineries producing between 50,000 and 500,000 gallons had grown in shipments by 37 percent, while per varietals, wineries shipped more Pinot Noir than in previous years and shipments of Rose exploded by more than 200 percent, complementing a rise in price per bottle. 2017 marked the first full year that wineries were able to ship to consumers in Pennsylvania, which quickly rose to the 10th largest state in terms of wine being shipped into it. We fully expect that Pennsylvania will move up in the fifth or sixth position next year, Cormier said. The campaign of outreach and lobbying by the Wine Institute and Free the Grapes! that brought about Pennsylvanias opening in 2016 was also applied in Oklahoma, one of the few remaining states that has continued to ban wineries from shipping into it. The state is slated to begin allowing direct shipments from wineries starting in October of this year. Offering his yearly State of the States update on shipping legislation, Steve Gross, vice president of state relations at the Wine institute, outlined the industry campaigns goals for the coming year. On the horizon for 2018, he said, the campaign will press on with its efforts in the remaining five states, after Oklahoma, that currently remain closed. In four of those states, Alabama, Delaware, Kentucky and Mississippi, the groups were making progress, Gross said, while the fifth state, Utah, will finally enter the campaigns sights. You never heard me up here before say Im going to introduce a bill in Utah, Gross said, but I think were going to introduce a bill in Utah. The effort is likely to take several years, but he asserted, its time to get that one rolling. The groups also plan to work this year against onerous regulations in states that allow shipping, such as New Jersey and Ohio, each of which prohibit shipments from wineries producing more than a certain number of gallons per year, effectively excluding larger wineries and wine companies from shipping to consumers in their states. Another target will be regulations in Arkansas, which allow wineries to ship only to residents who place their shipment orders at a winerys tasting room, thus requiring a return visit for every order. The state offered winery owners a limited number of permits for off premises sales through a lottery, Gross said, though with a catch. To be considered for the lottery, winery owners would have to be present at the Arkansas capital during the drawing. If you can imagine, most of the California winery owners did not fly to Little Rock, he said. So were going to continue to push on that to try to get that replaced, which just shows you kind of the parochial type of arguments we end up with at the local level sometimes. Gross also stressed the need for wineries to be sure they are complying with the varying laws within the states they ship to, noting that enforcement on the state level was a significant aspect of 2017, particularly in states like Michigan, Arizona, Illinois and New York. There were a lot of cease and desist letters that went out, he said. In Illinois, for instance, a week before the symposium, the state sent 837 cease and desist letters to companies that it believed were shipping wine into the state without the necessary permits. Gross said he was aware that 290 of those companies are wineries, pointing out that violation of the Illinois state law is a felony. In the event of conviction, a winemaker would thus lose their licenses and permits to make wine. Theres more (letters) going out in 2018, he added, so being in compliance is going to be a big part of doing direct shipping going forward. Overall, he concluded, I dont think theres ever been a bigger focus on enforcement. There are a lot of people looking at compliance, so please pay attention. Follow the rules. Because I think the odds of getting in trouble now are much higher than theyve ever been before. Kurds in Syria's Afrin to Resist Turkey's Potential Attack - Kurdish Politician Sputnik News 21:07 19.01.2018(updated 21:16 19.01.2018) BEIRUT (Sputnik) - The Kurds in Syria's northern district of Afrin would not allow the Turkish army to freely enter the city in case of a potential offensive by Ankara, Kurdish politician Reizan Hedu told Sputnik. "We will not allow a record to be left in history that the Kurds in Afrin let the occupying Turkish army, the new Ottomans, accompanied by terrorist groups, enter Afrin without any resistance," Hedu stated, stressing that the Turkish army was continuing to shell the villages in Afrin, while local residents are refusing to leave their homes and oppose the presence of the Turkish forces in the country. The statement was made amid the shelling of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in the Syrian city of Afrin by Turkish Armed Forces, reported earlier in the day. According to the Kurdish news agency Firat, the Turkish forces shelled seven settlements shelled by the Turkish Armed Forces, allegedly causing civilian casualties, with a 6-year old child among wounded. The report claims that intensive fire was conducted along the heights of Tell-Badran, Tell-Bakhtiyar and Tell-Dustan, where the YPG defensive lines are located. Ankara has been suggesting the possibility of an offensive in Syria's northern Kurdish-controlled Afrin following a reported US plan to train Kurdish forces in Syria to patrol the country's border with Turkey. The force is expected to be staffed partly by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), affiliated with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). On Thursday, thousands of people took to the streets in Afrin protesting against the Turkish invasion and calling for international assistance. Several rallies were also held across cities in northern Syria. On Wednesday, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said that Ankara was holding consultations with Moscow and Washington over a possible operation against the YPG in Afrin, which Turkey considers as an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an armed group that Ankara considers to be a terrorist organization. US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert urged Turkey on Thursday not to engage in any invasion of Afrin, calling on Ankara to remain focused on defeating the Daesh terrorist group (banned in Russia). Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address CAA rejects China's accusation in M503 dispute ROC Central News Agency 2018/01/19 23:51:30 Taipei, Jan. 19 (CNA) Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) on Friday expressed "strong regret" over China's condemnation of Taiwan's move to put extra Lunar New Year cross-strait flights on hold amid a dispute over the controversial M503 route. In a statement on its official website, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) "condemned" Taiwan's move to delay approval of applications by two China-based airlines to operate extra flights in protest of China's decision to launch a northbound M503 route. The M503 route and its extension routes were approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and have "no safety concerns," it said. It also contended that Taiwan's act of "revenge against China" will eventually hurt airlines and people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait -- and the rights of Taiwanese people in particular -- and that "the Taiwanese authority should take full responsibility for all the consequences." The CAA responded Friday night with a statement titled "If there is no trust and no aviation safety, what's the point of talking about the rights of Taiwanese business people?" The CAA urged China to start negotiations with Taiwan as soon as possible, in line with an agreement reached by the two sides in 2015. Beijing was criticized internationally when it first unveiled the M503 southbound route in 2015, and it further angered Taiwan on Jan. 4, 2018 when it unilaterally announced the launch of the M503 northbound route without consulting Taiwan. The route is only 4.2 nautical miles, or approximately 7.8 km, from the median line of the Taiwan Strait, at its nearest point. Three Chinese east-west extension routes also introduced on Jan. 4, designated W121, W122 and W123, now overlap with Taiwan's W6, W8 and W2 flight routes serving the outlying islands of Matsu and Kinmen, raising aviation safety concerns. The CAA said Thursday it has put on hold applications by China Eastern and Xiamen Air to fly a total of 176 additional cross-strait flights during the holiday period from Feb. 15-20, in response to China's launch of the M503 route, which Taiwan considers a threat to aviation safety. Also on Friday, President Tsai Ing-wen () condemned Beijing's move, reiterating that its unilateral announcement has not only affected aviation safety but also hurt the stability of the region, according to Presidential Office spokesman Sidney Lin (). (By Lee Hsin-Yin and Ko Lin) Enditem/ls NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey Launches Operation Against U.S.-Backed Kurdish Fighters In Syria RFE/RL January 19, 2018 Turkey's Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli says Turkey has begun a military operation against U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria's Afrin region. Canikli said the military operation that Ankara has been prepared began "de facto" on January 19 with cross-border shelling by Turkish forces inside Turkey. Canikli said Ankara had "no option" and must "clear all terrorist elements" from northern Syria, which shares a border with Turkey. He also said Ankara and Moscow would "continue" talks about the military operation. A spokesman for U.S.-backed Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) confirmed that Turkish forces began heavily shelling Syria's Afrin region from Turkish territory on January 19 shortly after midnight. The spokesman said Turkey was targeting Kurdish villages, and that YPG fighters would "respond with utmost force" to any attack on Afrin. The fighting comes a day after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlult Cavusoglu announced that Ankara would coordinate with Moscow and Tehran on air operations in Syria's Afrin region. The state-run Anadolu news agency reported on January 18 that Turkish security forces were preparing for intervention in Syria's Kurdish-held regions of Afrin and Manbij. It said tanks had been deployed in Turkey's Eastern Mediterranean coastal province of Hatay in response to "a border security threat." Anadolu also said a National Security Council meeting headed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan concluded that Turkey should take "immediate" and "resolute" steps to protect itself from threats emanating out of western Syria. 'Army Of Terror' On January 15, Erdogan threatened to crush a "army of terror" he claims the United States is trying to set up on Turkey's border with Syria. Ankara is angry that Washington is allied with the Kurdish YPG forces that have been fighting against Islamic State militants in Syria. Turkey considers the YPG to be a terrorist organization. Turkey's government was infuriated by a January 14 statement from the U.S.-led coalition in Syria that said Washington would help set up a new 30,000-strong border force in Syria that includes the YPG. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says he told Cavusoglu on January 17 that the "entire situation has been misportrayed" and "misdescribed" by "some people" who "misspoke." Tillerson said the United States aims to provide training to local elements in Syria -- not create a new border security force. But Cavusoglu said Ankara was "not completely satisfied" with Tillerson's explanation, adding that Turkey's "mistrust" of Washington continues. With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, Anadolu, and CNN Turk Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/turkey-kurdish-fighters-syroa- military-operation/28984852.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkish Army Shells Syrian YPG Positions - Reports Sputnik News 14:22 19.01.2018(updated 15:39 19.01.2018) The shelling was reportedly carried out from the Turkey's Hatay province. The Turkish Armed Forces carried out at least 10 strikes on the positions of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in the Afrin district of northern Syria, the Haber Turk broadcaster reported. According to media, the fire was opened from the bordering Turkish province of Hatay. As the channel notes, Kurdish forces responded to the attack, making several shells back to Turkey. The Kurdish news agency Firat reported of seven settlements shelled by the Turkish Armed Forces, allegedly causing civilian casualties, with a 6-year old child among wounded. The report claims that intensive fire was conducted along the heights of Tell-Badran, Tell-Bakhtiyar and Tell-Dustan, where the YPG defensive lines are located. Currently, there is official data on losses among Kurdish fighters. The news agency also mentioned an unusual movement of armored vehicles in the border zone on the Turkish side, adding that the YPG fighters, preparing to repel an invasion of the Turkish troops, blocked the highway from Afrin to Aazaz with antitank moats. The report occurred after earlier in the day Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli has announced "de facto" launch of a military operation in Syria's Afrin, with no troops officially deployed in the city. As the minister explained the move, it was "right to self-defense in line with international law," adding that Turkey was preparing for the upcoming operation aimed at destroying all "terrorist corridors." According to him, Ankara was consulting the military advance in Afrin with other guarantors of the Syrian peace settlement, Russia and Iran. However, no official statement on the issue was made by the Russian Defense Ministry at the moment. The operation didn't come of a sudden: Turkey has been threatening to launch it since last week after the US announced its decision to start training a border protection force composed of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which Ankara calls a "terrorist army." The move was widely criticized by US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, calling on Turkey not to engage in any invasion of Syria's Afrin and met the warning of the Syrian side, vowing to destroy Turkish aircraft if they attack. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkish-Backed Forces Cross Syrian Border as Afrin Op 'De Facto' Starts - Media Sputnik News 12:12 19.01.2018(updated 14:17 19.01.2018) US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert has previously urged Turkey not to engage in any invasion of Syria's Afrin. According to Turkis DHA news agency, 20 buses with fighters from the Ankara-backed Free Syrian Army have crossed from Turkish Kilis into Syrian territory and are moving toward Azaz. However, no official confirmation has followed so far. An operation in Syria's Afrin has started "de facto" with cross-border shelling, however, no troops have been deployed in the city, Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said in an interview with the Haberturk broadcaster. The minister noted that the operation was "right to self-defense in line with international law," adding that the country was conducting all necessary preparations for the upcoming operation aimed at destroying all "terrorist corridors." Turkey is consulting with Russia to bring closer approaches to the operation of the Turkish army in Syria's Afrin, the top official said, however, the Russian Defense Ministry has yet to comment on the situation. "We are preparing for an operation in Afrin, we are taking the necessary steps for this. We are coordinating with Russia and other interested countries of the region, their views should be brought closer to our position since this operation will ultimately be carried out," Canikli said. High-Precision Weapons to be Used in Afrin Op The statement comes amid a report by the Turkish Haberturk newspaper, saying that the Turkish forces were planning to use high-precision weaponry during the military action. According to the media outlet, the Turkish Joint Staff has reviewed the plan of the operation, leaning toward the strategy of conducting combat in urban settings. Turkish forces are reportedly planning to use aviation and missiles with laser aiming devices as, according to the command, the militants will carry out combat from organized defensive positions in quarters of the town. The newspaper further noted that the final decision on the use of the Turkish Air Force would be based on the results of a meeting between Turkish Armed Forces general Hulusi Akar and his Russian counterpart Valery Gerasimov. If Russia gives its consent, Turkish aircraft will be able to use the entire airspace above the town. Otherwise, the Turkish military will have to use laser-guided missiles and UAVs. 'Terrorist Army' Turkey has been threatening to launch an operation in Afrin since last week after the US announced its decision to start training a border protection force composed of the the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which has been described by Ankara as a "terrorist army." Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said earlier this week that Ankara was holding consultations with Moscow and Washington over a possible operation in Syria's Afrin against Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara considers a to be associated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The minister further noted that Turkey considered US claims on the undesirability of a military operation in Syria's Afrin "empty and senseless." "We heard the assessment of the US State Department regarding the operation in Afrin. This is an empty and senseless claim, because the threat of IS [Daesh] is over," Canikli told the broadcaster. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said earlier in the day that Ankara would target the PKK, which is banned as a terrorist organization in Turkey, not the Kurds in general. Reaction On Thursday, US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert urged Turkey not to engage in any invasion of Syria's Afrin. The remark echoed a statement made by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who also assured that the US had no intention to build a Syria-Turkey border force, saying the issue, which has incensed Ankara, had been "misportrayed." However, according to the Pentagon, despite the fact that it is not a "new army," Turkey's security concerns are "legitimate." Damascus, in its turn, has vowed to destroy Turkish aircraft if they attack. "We warn the Turkish leadership that if they initiate combat operations in the Afrin area, that will be considered an act of aggression by the Turkish army," Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Meqdad told reporters. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Warns Turkey Against Actions on Syrian Kurds Amid Afrin Tensions Sputnik News 10:11 19.01.2018(updated 10:36 19.01.2018) While Turkey has been threatening with an operation against the Syrian Kurdish fighters, which are the backbone of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces fighting Daesh, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged Turkey not to engage in any invasion of the Syrian city Afrin. The US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert has urged Ankara "not to take any actions" against the Kurds in nothern Syria, saying that "we don't want them [Turkish authorities] to engage in violence but we want them to keep focused on ISIS [Daesh]. In its turn, Ankara stated that it is its "right to self-defense in line with international law to take measure against a terror group surrounding us on three sides, violating our rights, and we should intercede." According to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, "We have informed them [the US] we will be intervening in Afrin and we will take action against the threats towards us wherever they come from on the eastern side of the Euphrates, in Manbij or elsewhere." He has emphasized that Ankara doesn't want Washingtoin, its NATO ally, to be the opposing side of the conflict. Commenting on the possible Afrin operation, the foreign minister said that Ankara would target PKK, which is banned as a terrorist organization in Turkey, not the Kurds in general. "This distinction should be made clearly. We should take all measures, including supplying humanitarian aid, to avoid civilians being harmed. And we should take steps carefully," he said. While Turkey has been threatening with an operation against the Syrian Kurdish fighters after the US announced its decision to start training a border protection force composed of the the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which mostly consist of the Kurdish YPG fighters fighting Daesh, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged Turkey not to engage in any invasion of the Syrian city Afrin. Previously, the Turkish foreign minister said that Washington has failed to keep promises on Manbij and Raqqa, thus bolstering Turkey's mistrust towards the country. Despite recent Tillerson's assurances that the US had no intention to build a Syria-Turkey border force, saying the issue, which has incensed Ankara, had been "misportrayed," the Pentagon said that despite the fact that it is not a "new army," Turkey's security concerns are "legitimate." According to Col. Thomas Veale, the public affairs officer of Operation Inherent Resolve, the US-led coalition is training the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to create a 30,000-strong force to maintain security along Syria's borders. SDF is an umbrella group of fighters dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Criticizes Turkish Shelling of Kurdish-Held Syria Region By Nike Ching January 19, 2018 While the United States supports Turkey's concern about a safe and secure Turkish-Syrian border, military operations by Turkey into northeast Syria will not advance regional stability, the State Department said Friday. Turkey was reportedly intensifying the shelling into Syria's Kurdish-controlled Afrin region. "We do not believe that a military operation, whether in Afrin or directly against the self-defense Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in the north or northeast of Syria, serves the cause of regional stability, Syrian stability or indeed Turkish concerns about the security of their border," a State Department official said, adding that he could not comment further without more information about Ankara's reported operations. Border force Turkey's threat to intervene in Afrin came after a U.S.-led coalition said it would form a 30,000-strong Kurdish-led border security force in northern Syria. Washington later said the effort had been mischaracterized and that the U.S. was not creating a border force, but that the coalition would provide security to liberated areas, blocking escape routes for Islamic State militants. The United States has led a coalition carrying out airstrikes against IS targets in Syria and Iraq since 2014, and the Pentagon said last month that there were about 2,000 U.S. military personnel in Syria. Despite suffering apparent defeats on the ground in Iraq and parts of Syria, IS is far from dead. "ISIS is still present" and a lethal force, the State Department official said using an acronym for the group. "The military campaign against the so-called caliphate is not over. There is heavy fighting. ... ISIS in northern Syria and Iraq have chosen not to fight and die but move out of the combat area." Broader settlement Some experts warned that even after areas in Syria have been liberated from IS, the country will need a broader political settlement that reflects regional and national realities to bring displaced people home. "A Syrian political settlement and the refugee crisis should not be addressed separately," said Kheder Khaddour, a scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. Khaddour added that "a settlement without a refugee return will hinder reconstruction by keeping away needed professionals and civil society actors. A return without a settlement will lead to local conflicts between traditional leadership and emerging ones empowered during the war." The State Department is facilitating Syrian refugees' safe return home by de-mining and restoration efforts. Earlier this week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson laid out Washington's objectives for a "whole and unified sovereign Syria." He announced Wednesday a revitalized diplomatic and military strategy in Syria, including the defeat of IS and al-Qaida; a U.N.-led political process under a post-Bashar al-Assad Syria that is stable, unified and independent; diminished Iranian influence; conditions that allow refugees to return; and a country free of weapons of mass destruction. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Why Is Turkey Threatening Incursion Into Kurdish Enclave in Northern Syria? By Rikar Hussein January 19, 2018 The border between Turkey and Syria recently has been the scene of major Turkish military buildup in preparation for what Turkish officials call an "imminent" assault on the northern Syria's Afrin region. Turkish officials assert that their expected military operation is to pursue a Kurdish armed force known as the People's Protection Units or the YPG. Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organization alleging the group is linked to Kurdish separatists inside Turkey, known as the PKK, which is designated a terror organization by both the U.S. and EU. The United States, which considers both Turkey and the YPG its allies in the region, has called upon the two parties to avoid direct confrontations. A Pentagon spokesperson Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway told VOA on Wednesday the U.S. officials were in touch with Turkish officials to address the issue. "We urge all parties there to avoid any further escalation," Galloway said, adding the U.S. government was taking Turkey's security concerns seriously. "We are in contact with Turkish officials at various levels," Adrian added. Cantons not linked Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said the expected move on Afrin will engage Turkey-backed Syrian rebel fighters and later extend to the nearby Manbij region. "The operation may start any time. Operations into other regions will come after," Erdogan said during a gathering in Ankara earlier this week. Afrin is a district, as well as a city, in northern Syria's Aleppo Governorate, alongside the Turkish border. It is home to an estimated 1 million people, majority ethnic Kurdish. The Kurdish YPG has been in control of the town since 2012 when the Syrian government forces withdrew amid a civil war. It is now one of the three self-proclaimed regions or cantons of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria. The YPG has been consistently trying to link Afrin to its other two cantons, Jazira and Kobani, in northeastern Syria, but its efforts have been largely unsuccessful mainly due to Turkey's opposition. A Turkish cross-border operation known as Euphrates Shield, which involved Turkish troops and tanks and some Syrian rebel factions, entered Jarabulus and Azaz regions in northern Syria in August 2016 to prevent Kurdish control after the Islamic State removal. Turkish troops have remained in the area ever since, thereby separating Afrin and spoiling Kurdish plans to attach it to their two main autonomous areas in eastern Syria. In addition to concerns that the YPG may try to connect the region to its main enclave in northeastern Syria, Afrin has also been a flashpoint region for Turkey due to its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea. According to the state-run Anadolu Agency, the region could be "a stepping stone" for the YPG group to reach the Mediterranean in its bid to establish a Kurdish autonomous region across northern Syria. Recent escalations The Turkish threats of a full-fledged offensive on Afrin are not new. The Turkish artillery has bombarded the region many times in the past and vowed to remove the YPG. Its most recent escalation against the region started this week when it began its first wave of artillery fire on Tuesday night. The political wing of the YPG, the Kurdish Democratic Union Party or PYD, on Wednesday appealed to the world powers to "move immediately" to ensure the security of the region. "We call on the international community... to take responsibility toward more than a million people living in Afrin," the group said in a statement. Border protection forces Some experts say the current threats of incursion from Turkey could come as a response to an announcement by the U.S.-led coalition on Sunday to form a 30,000-strong Kurdish-led border force in northern Syria. The coalition officials have stated that the planned force does not include Afrin region and is limited to northeastern Syria where the Islamic State was ejected. The coalition said about half of the force would be retrained fighters of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The YPG is the most effective armed entity within SDF. The announcement infuriated Turkish officials who accused Washington of creating an "army of terror" along their border with Syria. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday that he has warned U.S. officials that relations between Turkey and the U.S. would be "irreversibly harmed" if Washington moves to form the border force. Experts say Turkey considers the U.S. move a step toward recognizing a Kurdish entity in northern Syria. "This is totally opposite of Turkey's expectations and has the potential to worsen the relations between with the United States," Bora Bayraktar, a professor at Istanbul-based Kultur University told VOA. "Turkey sees this as a process legitimizing the current division in Syria," he added. Bayraktar said the Kurdish element of the Syrian crisis likely would continue to erode diplomatic ties between the two NATO allies. "Relations are going from being allies and strategic partners to becoming enemies," Bayraktar observed. David Pollock, a Middle East expert at the Washington Institute, told VOA that Turkish officials are not completely convinced that Afrin is not included in the planned border protection force despite the American assurances. "Turks want to make sure that they register their strong opposition to this and, actually, do something about it," Pollock said. Pollock says Turkish threats could have something to do with domestic politics as well. "Most likely Erdogan sees this as another timely opportunity to demonstrate his nationalist credentials and is looking towards possible elections next year," he said. Challenges of military actions Pollock said an extensive operation in Afrin likely would prove difficult for Turkey given that the region is predominantly Kurdish. "I am skeptical that the Turks will go in in a big way. There is going to be some shelling and skirmishes around the edges but it would be a much harder challenge to occupy Afrin and stay there because it's very ragged territory and it's almost 100 percent Kurdish, unlike some of the other PYD controlled areas," he said. Rafet Aslantas, an expert from Turkey-based ANKA Institute, told VOA that a Turkish operation also could mean more refugees. "Any military action in the area could pose another threat for Turkey since Turkey already houses more than 3 million Syrian refugees," said Aslantas. VOA's Yildiz Yazicioglu from Ankara, Turkey, and Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb contributed to this story. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kyiv Rebrands Its War In The East Christopher Miller January 19, 2018 KYIV -- Ukraine's "antiterrorist operation" is officially over. But since the fight against Russia-backed separatists that most Ukrainians know as the "ATO" grinds on, what is still up for debate is: under what name? With the passage of a contentious reintegration bill by Ukrainian lawmakers on January 17, Kyiv is rebranding the nearly 4-year-old conflict in eastern Ukraine. Besides defining the vast swath of territory seized by the separatists in Ukraine's eastern regions as "temporarily occupied" by Russia -- a move backers say will help the government restore control over the area and better defend Ukraine's interests in international courts -- the bill puts the Ukrainian army's top command formally in charge of all military and law enforcement activities there, thus formally ending the so-called antiterrorist operation. Often referred to by its snappy acronym "ATO" -- "Ah-toh" in Ukrainian -- that's how the conflict that has killed more than 10,300 people, including at least eight this month, has been officially called since it was launched by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) in April 2014. At the time, Moscow's forced annexation of Crimea was complete and its alleged clients were wresting territory in a mainland Ukraine hobbled by divisive protests and the fresh ouster of a Kremlin-friendly president. Once the reintegration bill is signed into law by President Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian operation will be known -- officially, at least -- by the clunkier "Measures To Ensure National Security And Defense, And Repulsing And Deterring The Armed Aggression Of The Russian Federation In Donetsk And Luhansk Oblasts," for which there does not appear to be a catchy acronym. Notably, the bill does not state outright that Ukraine is at war with Russia. When asked on January 19 whether there had been a discussion about what to replace "ATO" with, a Ukrainian official who asked that his name not be used because the issue was not resolved half-jokingly used the Ukrainian abbreviation from the new terminology, "ZZNBO," to describe it. Confirming the end of the "ATO" to RFE/RL, a presidential spokesman downplayed the name. "More important [is] that the military will now be fully and officially in charge," he added. Ukraine's Defense Ministry and General Staff of the Armed Forces did not immediately respond to requests for clarity. But a commander who asked that his name not be used because he wasn't authorized to speak for the entire military suggested "Russian aggression" -- a blanket term used frequently by Ukraine's leaders to describe everything from military operations to cyberattacks attributed to Moscow -- "will suit just fine." Such language has never sat well with Russian officials, who lashed out at Ukraine's passage of a bill that labels Russia "an aggressor state." "You cannot call this anything but preparation for a new war," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on January 18, adding that the bill "risked a dangerous escalation in Ukraine with unpredictable consequences for world peace and security." Rushed Response Shedding the "ATO" name has been a long time coming. Kyiv launched the "ATO" under SBU leadership in its rush to respond to the seizure of buildings and territory by armed individuals across Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions in spring 2014. The separatists involved in that violence were part of what Kyiv and NATO regard as a thoroughly 21st-century approach by Russia dubbed "hybrid warfare." Underfunded and underprepared due to decades of post-Soviet neglect, Ukraine's military was caught flat-footed at the start of the conflict. In the nearly four years since, however, the Ukrainian armed forces have built themselves into the second-biggest standing army in Europe, with roughly 250,000 active-duty troops and tens of thousands of reservists. Military instructors have come from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and other Western countries to train Ukrainian troops. Some, including the United States, have given Ukraine's growing army valuable equipment with which to operate. On December 22, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump broke with previous policy to announce it would supply Kyiv with U.S.-made Javelin antitank missiles "to deter further aggression," as State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert put it. Through it all, the "ATO" name held, and "terrorist" became a part of the Ukrainian lexicon, in an effort to show Moscow and the separatists as the aggressors. Everyone from the president, to soldiers on the front lines, to the national media, to the babushka watching the evening news has uttered the word. While there have been murmurs about Kyiv wanting to drop it, the first and only real attempt to do so came with the bill passed this week. But old habits die hard. The press center for Ukraine's military operation in the east was still using "ATO" in reports and "#ATO" as its profile image on its Facebook page on January 19. Meanwhile, Balazs Jarabik, a nonresident scholar focusing on Eastern Europe, said he doesn't think the change will be much of an issue among Ukrainians. "They got 'Russia' instead of 'terrorists,'" Jarabik said. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-fighting- donbas-rebranding-ato-/28985423.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address EU Calls For Release Of 'Illegally Detained' Ukrainians In Crimea, Russia RFE/RL January 19, 2018 The European Union has called for the release of Ukrainian citizens being held "illegally" in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula whose 2014 seizure by Moscow triggered international condemnation and Western sanctions targeting Russia. In a January 19 statement, Maja Kocijancic, the spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, cited the case of pro-Kyiv activist Volodymyr Balukh, who was sentenced by a court in Russia-controlled Crimea on January 16 to three years and seven months in prison in a high-profile retrial on charges of weapons and explosives possession. Kocijancic noted that Balukh was "known to have opposed the illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by the Russian Federation" and that the EU does not recognize the court's jurisdiction. "International human rights observers must be granted full, free, and unhindered access to the peninsula, and the European Union expects all illegally detained Ukrainian citizens in the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula and in Russia to be released as swiftly as possible," Kocijancic said. Russia's seizure of Crimea badly damaged Moscow's relations with Kyiv and the West and triggered sanctions by the EU, the United States, and several other countries. Rights groups say Crimea residents who opposed Russia's takeover have faced discrimination and abuse at the hands of the Moscow-imposed authorities. The European Parliament in March 2017 called on Russia to free more than 30 Ukrainian citizens who were in prison or otherwise detained in Russia, Crimea, and parts of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russia-backed separatists. In her January 19 statement, Kocijancic also cited the case of Crimean Tatar activist Bekir Degermendzhi, who was detained in November in the Crimean city of Simferopol on what the spokeswoman called "dubious charges" related to alleged extortion. Degermendzhi, who remains in custody, suffers from asthma, a condition his lawyers say has worsened since his detention. "In view of the critical medical condition he suffers, it is essential that he is immediately granted access to appropriate medical care," Kocijancic said. She added that the EU "remains committed to fully implementing its policy of nonrecognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol." With reporting by the Crimean Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/eu-calls-for-release -of-illegally-held-ukrainians-in- crimea-russia/28985624.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The school library. For decades, it was the go-to source for students looking for books to research a topic or write a paper. Not anymore. Today, the library comes to the students on their smartphones, iPads, laptops or other tech devices. At Napa Valley Unified School District high schools, libraries have transitioned from a room with four walls to a virtual collection of digital resources including e-books, databases and much more. Were bringing libraries to the 21st century, said Kate MacMillan, coordinator of library services at NVUSD. Schools and teachers are now educating kids using technology such as smart boards, e-books and shared electronic documents such as Google Docs. That means libraries must follow suit. We have to be technologically nimble, said MacMillan. Everything has changed, said Jennifer Baker, NVUSD communications media specialist. Students dont need to be physically in the library to use it, she said. Our goal now is to get the instruction to bring the library directly to the classroom. The need for library services or info is not going to go away, said MacMillan. Were just providing it in a different manner. The numbers Library circulation at NVUSD high schools confirms the trend. The number of printed books checked out has dropped significantly over the past years. Over the past 12 months, a total of 593 printed books were checked out at the American Canyon High School library. At Napa High, the number was 1,062. At Vintage High: 1,764. To compare, back in 2009, 7,124 printed books were checked out at Vintage High. At the same time, the use of e-books and online databases at those libraries has risen greatly. E-books provide instant access to class novels, advance placement and college-bound reading lists. All high school students are able to self-check, renew and take notes in e-books. Over the past 12 months a total of 10,150 e-books were checked out by users at those same three high schools. Thats a 25 percent increase from the year before, said MacMillan. In addition, retrievals from one virtual reference library that NVUSD uses called Gale topped 8,186 at Vintage over the past 12 months. A retrieval is essentially the same thing as checking out information, but online instead of in print. The Gale databases provide instant access to newspaper articles, magazine articles, academic journal articles and critical essays, along with videos and audio reports. These resources can be instantly translated into 13 different languages including Spanish, Chinese and Japanese. Retrievals totaled 6,303 at American Canyon High and 21,579 at Napa High. MacMillan thinks the Napa High number is larger because theyve had that particular online resource longer and their school has more students than say, American Canyon High. New Tech High School has always had a primarily digital library. The NVUSD is the sixth largest user of Gale databases in California, according to the company. All NVUSD students are also part of the One Card program, which allows middle and high school students to use their student ID as their public library card. The change Before digital libraries, the problem was finding information, said Baker. Students looking for a certain book or printed resource would have to locate such an item, whether on campus or at the public library. If a copy was lost, checked out or out of date, that student was out of luck. These days the problem isnt finding the information, Baker said. Its all online and accessible via their phones, iPads and other electronic devices. Today, We teach them how to evaluate the information and analyze it for relevance, accuracy and credibility. Were teaching kids to be responsible consumers of that information, a skill that they will hopefully use their entire lives, said Baker. MacMillan knows digital library use can be news to those who havent been in a high school library in some time. Some people might not understand the migration of libraries from print to online resources. For those comfortable with print libraries, a digital concept is a little difficult to comprehend and accept, said MacMillan. The public might think NVUSD is abandoning libraries therefore impacting literacy. That is not the case, MacMillan said. Were not shutting down libraries, she said. Were morphing the library into a learning commons a place to gather, share information and collaborate, but primarily digitally, she said. No more librarians These days, every Napa high school has a library media technician on staff, but credentialed teacher librarians are a thing of the past. At one point there were as many as 4,000 teacher librarians in the state. Today, there are an estimated 875, said MacMillan. Budgets have shrunk also. The total annual budget for American Canyon, Napa and Vintage high school libraries is $17,537 or $3.38 per student. That does not include staff salaries. In the late 90s and early 2000s, the NVUSD library budget was $28 per student. That was still back in the days of card catalogs, MacMillan noted. Today, there is no budget for new printed books at the high school libraries, said MacMillan. Some books are donated by alumni groups or others. Instead, library funds are used to buy access to a wide variety of databases such as Gale, e-books and other digital resources. Providing these materials in print at each high school would be cost prohibitive, said MacMillan. As a library professional, MacMillan admitted that it breaks our heart a little bit to see use of printed books decline. But, Theres no stopping this, she said. At the library Inside the school library at Napa High, it still looks like a traditional library. Walls of books are organized by category. An archive of Napa High yearbooks is stored for research. Banks of computers stand ready for use, along with tables and desks. On Wednesday after school, about a dozen students visited the library. Some were doing school work while others were getting tutored by a teacher. Mornings are busy in the library, said Collette Crowther, a long time library media technician at Napa High School. So is lunch time, especially on cold or rainy days. But to Crowther it doesnt matter why or when students come to the library. Im just glad theyre in here, she said. Crowther said that the Napa High library has about 10,000 titles probably about the same as in previous years. The bigger change is that the library now stocks more nonfiction than fiction. Printed reference books are not as popular as they used to be. While students have become digital library users for schoolwork, Crowther said she still encourages them to read books for fun. There are so many amazing books out there, she said. It breaks my heart when kids say I dont read. I take it as my mission to find that book which will open up this world for kids, she said. Its rare, but oh my gosh, its the best feeling in the world when it does happen, she said. Melissa Zoller, library media technician at Vintage High School, said that her library still has fiction and nonfiction books but the reference section has shrunk considerably. It definitely has changed since I started here, she said. Printed encyclopedias, long the standard reference item for students, are kind like a thing of the past, she said. Its so easy to do most of your research online. Napa High School junior Lillie Leon said she doesnt go to the library that often, because if I need books, I have my computer. When asked about online resources she uses, Leon said, I love Gale, the database collection that NVUSD subscribes to. Leon said she also likes using print books to do research, but Im glad I live in a day and age where online resources are available to her. For most students, I dont think theyd know how to survive without access to online databases and e-books, said Leon. An exchange between President Donald Trump and a top House Republican on immigration legislation illustrated a major reason for nearly a decade of congressional gridlock: the stranglehold on the House legislative agenda by its most conservative Republicans. It stems from GOP leaders adherence to a procedure barring consideration of measures without the support of a majority of House Republicans, preventing the bipartisan legislating most Americans prefer and which could help restore Congress as a functional legislative body. The exchange occurred during the White House reality show Trump staged to counter the negative portrait in Michael Wolffs controversial best-seller, Fire and Fury, several days before he further inflamed negotiations with his widely reported derogatory reference to the birthplaces of many U.S. immigrants. The president had just seemingly endorsed California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinsteins proposal that lawmakers pass a clean bill meaning without complicating amendments to protect the 800,000 predominantly Hispanic Dreamers, followed by a separate measure enhancing border security. Mr. President, you need to be clear, though, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy interjected, reminding Trump that was counter to longstanding GOP policy linking the two issues. I think what Senator Feinstein is asking there when we talk about just DACA, we dont want to be back here two years later. We have to have security... Trump responded: But I think thats what shes saying. McCarthy: No, I think shes saying something different. I think youre saying DACA without security. McCarthy was seemingly reminding Trump that Republicans dont support legislative protection for Dreamers without including provisions enhancing border security. But the exchange exemplified something more basic, the way conservative Tea Party and Freedom Caucus members who constitute a majority of House Republicans have been able to block action on key issues. The reason is continuing leadership adherence to the so-called Hastert Rule, a practice instituted nearly two decades ago when former GOP Speaker Dennis Hastert refused to let the full House consider legislation that wasnt supported by a majority of Republicans. It allows 121 Republicans 28 percent of the total membership to determine the agenda, blocking proposals that may have a majority of the full House but a minority of Republicans. Its impact was exemplified the next day when two key House Republican chairmen introduced a hardline alternative to crack down on illegal immigration and sharply restrict legal immigration. This is the only bill thats going to unify the (GOP) conference, and its going to get us to a majority of the conference, said Idaho Republican Rep. Raul Labrador, a Freedom Caucus member. It is important that something pass (the House) with the majority of the majority, said North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, the Freedom Caucus chairman. But that would never pass the Senate. And therein lies the problem! As long as the GOP enforces the Hastert Rule, little of consequence could both pass the House and attract enough Democrats to pass the more bipartisan Senate and become law. The exception, available in limited situations, is the reconciliation procedure GOP leaders used on the tax and Obamacare repeal bills; otherwise, Senate passage requires 60 votes, and Republicans only have 51. This pattern has played out repeatedly since Republicans won the House in 2010, often on funding bills shaped to attract that Republican majority. Its why the House killed a bipartisan immigration bill that passed the Senate in 2013. This isnt entirely Speaker Paul Ryans fault. He inherited the system that originated with Hastert and bedeviled former Speaker John Boehner. Democrats, while hardly less partisan, were more willing to work with Republicans when they ran the House from 2007-11. Trump floated another idea that is anathema to the GOP leadership though it would give them a useful tool to get things done: revival of congressional earmarks. Those are the provisions crafted to help a specific district or state and, in the process, get key votes for important bills. Earmarks got a bad name because members abused them to add unnecessary pork projects swelling federal spending, like the infamous Alaska bridge to nowhere and Hasterts earmark of funds for a highway near Illinois land he partially owned, enabling him to make millions. Many others served a valid local purpose. One reason for changing these House procedures is that neither party is likely to have 60 Senate seats for some time. Since 1978, the only time either party had 60 votes was for a year after President Barack Obamas election. It helped Democrats pass major legislation alone before a Massachusetts special election cost them their 60th seat. Since the Senate will likely require bipartisan solutions for the foreseeable future, abandoning institutional barriers like the Hastert rule and the earmarks ban might make that easier to achieve. The iPhone X has not been one of Apples best-selling iPhone models in recent years. In fact, Apple is not selling as many shipments as analysts have predicted. While a number of 20-30 million units was estimated for Q1, Ming-Chi Kuo has given a new estimated number of 18 million unit shipments. KGI cited a couple of reasons that the iPhone X didnt do as well. Analysts were counting on the Chinese market to make up these numbers, but a longer smartphone cycle for Chinese phone users and the belief that the iPhone Xs notched-display did not provide as much usable area as a 5.5-inch display were to blame for underwhelming sales. It would seem that both Huawei and Oppo are also seeing a reduction in forecasted units going back to Chinese users keeping their phones around for longer times. 13 million iPhone X units are also expected to be sold in Q2 while the iPhone 7 and iPhone 6S continue to see steady sales. Because of this, KGI predicts that Apple might see a 0-5% growth in shipments for the first half of 2018 over H1 2017. Kuo also reiterates that we should be seeing three new iPhones this year: a 6.1-inch LCD mode, 6.5-inch OLED model, and an iPhone X successor. The report even suggests that Apple might stop selling the iPhone X as early as mid-2018. Should this happen (and should predictions be accurate), Apple would have sold a total of 62 million units during the iPhone Xs lifecycle. Apple usually keeps predecessors around for a year or so to sell alongside the current generation as cheaper models. Given that we might see a drastically new iPhone in the $650 to $750 price range, this would immediately take over sales for the (supposed) discontinuation of the iPhone X. Apple not being able to sell as many phones as anticipated isnt only an Apple thing. This is a general trend as smartphones have been nearly-fully commoditized and people are holding onto smartphones for longer cycles than before. This is largely due to smartphone successors having marginal improvements over predecessors. Do you feel that smartphone makers should slowly start shifting towards 2-year lifecycles? Via Haiti - Politic : All CASEC of the country gathered at the Palace, for a shower of promises Thursday, at the National Palace, President Jovenel Moise, accompanied by the Prime Minister, Jack Guy Lafontant, received the members of the Councils of Administration of the Communal Sections (CASEC) of the country. This working session took place around 35 workshop tables in the presence of Senator Joseph Lambert, President of the Senate, and the Deputy Gary Bodeau, President of the Lower House, Max Rodolphe Saint Albin the Minister of the Interior and Territorial Communities and some other members of the ministerial cabinet, aimed at consolidating the proximity relations between the Head of State and the members of the Territorial Collectivities to provide concrete solutions to the CASEC grievances. In one of his speeches, President Moise emphasized, "There is no superior CASEC to anothers. They are all at the service of the same country, they are all elected, regardless of their political group," promising that his various trips in the communal sections, the CASEC are and will be its main interlocutors. Moise took the opportunity to deplore the conflicts between CASEC, between CASEC and town halls. While advocating for autonomy of these structures, he has among others, announced that before the end of January, 570 motorcycles will be available for 570 CASEC to facilitate their travel on the ground. Other promises were also made, such as the resolution as soon as possible of the problem of 4 months of salary arrears, the provision of CASEC funds for the realization of a "project gateway", the establishment of the Rural Police, the deployment of the Border Police (PoliFront) on all official crossing points of the border. During this session, the Fund for Economic and Social Assistance (FAES) announced that it had planned the delivery of 171,000 food kits to the CASEC and that of 10 vehicles for departmental coordinators. Regarding social housing, the Head of State announced that the Public Enterprise for Social Housing Promotion (EPPLS) already has a budget necessary to build thousands of social housing, not to mention the construction of the CASEC house. Moreover, he insisted on the need to facilitate, everywhere on the national territory, the renewal of the CIN... HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Petit-Goave : Mayor Limongy assaults a guardian of EFACAP Thursday, a deplorable incident occurred before the School of Application and Pedagogical Support Center (EFACAP), while one of the security guards was physically assaulted in front of students by the Mayor of Petit-Goave, Jean Samson Limongy. The incident occurred as several late arriving students massed in front of the gate. Mayor Limongy, who was passing through the neighborhood, seeing the students in front of the gate after school time, approached and demanded that the guard let enter these students in late on the school yard. The Guardian Maxo Joseph flatly opposed it, explaining that he had not received any order from the Direction. The tone quickly rose between the Mayor and the guard before coming to blows.* "I was brutally beaten by Mayor Limongy, who was furious with me after he tried, unsuccessfully, to open the barrier," Maxo Joseph told Radio Preference FM, facts confirmed by another guardian, Wilner Dejean who was on the scene. Meeting urgently, the members of the Direction of EFACAP Yvener Desrosiers (Director of ETA), the three educational advisers: Mathieu Guyto, Gerald Cadet, Demero Maguin and the parents denounced and strongly condemned the mayor for this act and informed the Ministry of National Education of this case. See also : https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-23069-icihaiti-petit-goave-the-mayor-forbids-his-deputies-to-speak.html HL/ HaitiLibre / Guyto Mathieu (Correspondant Petit-Goave) Published on 2018/01/20 | Source Added the upcoming Korean movie "Live Again, Love Again"'s page to HanCinema database Advertisement "Live Again, Love Again" (2017) Directed by Han Sang-hee With Jung Chae-yeon, San E, Chi Pu,... Synopsis "Thanks For the Love" Ji-pil hits a writer's block with his music. One day, he hears a tune on the piano while surfing SNS and gets mixed feelings. In the end, he finds the pianist Mi and heads to Vietnam to find his ex-girlfriend Yoon-hee... Release date in Korea : 2018/02 The figures are up almost 20pc on the same time last year, with more than 1,400 families still homeless The latest figures have revealed that the number of people suffering from homelessness was lower in December than the previous month. However, the figures are up almost 20pc on the same time last year, with more than 1,400 families still homeless. Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy said the figures for last month dropped in almost all categories in comparison to November. However, the numbers show that some 5,508 adults were homeless last month, a drop of just 16 on the previous month. There were 254 fewer children homeless over the same period, with 3,079 children homeless last month. This is still a jump of 574 on December 2016 - a 23pc increase. Homeless charities have insisted that a drop in numbers during December is commonplace. Reacting to the figures, Mr Murphy said: "The overall decrease of 270 in the number of people experiencing homelessness is welcome. Expand Close Mike Allen of Focus Ireland / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mike Allen of Focus Ireland Secure "Significantly fewer children were in emergency arrangements during December compared to the previous month. "Obviously we still have more work to do to help children and families into secure homes, but this is good progress for those families who were accommodated during the month of December." Focus Ireland advocacy director Mike Allen said that last year the homeless crisis was the worst ever. "Last year was the worst year for homelessness in the history of the State," Mr Allen said. spike "More men, women and children experienced homelessness than ever before in our history, and they experienced it for longer. "There is always a seasonal drop in the number becoming homeless every December and then a spike in the numbers come January. "This is due to a number of reasons, such as extended family taking people in for Christmas, but the situation is not sustainable and we regrettably expect to see a return to the rising pattern in January, as we do each year at this time." The Peter McVerry Trust's chief executive Pat Doyle said he hopes the latest figures are part of a trend and not just a flash in the pan. "We need to see that work from the likes of the Department for Housing, local authorities, DRHE and the voluntary sector ramped up in 2018," Mr Doyle said. "A year-round level of urgency of that which we experienced in the final quarter of 2017 could make a major difference to the homeless crisis." A man has been further remanded in custody charged with taking part in a violent burglary in which a 65-year-old man was allegedly forced to withdraw more than 16,000 from his bank. Carlos Lawrence, of Rosary Road, Marylands, Dublin, and his partner, Catherine Dempsey, a 25-year-old mother-of-two, of Michael Mallin House, Vicar Street, Dublin, were charged five weeks ago over a break-in. They are accused of burglary at a property in Wainsfort Manor Grove, Terenure, Dublin, while in possession of a wedge hammer on December 13. They had both been remanded in custody two days after the alleged incident. Mr Lawrence (26), who had not applied for bail, faced his fourth hearing when he appeared before Judge Victor Blake at Cloverhill District Court yesterday. He was further remanded in custody to appear again at the same court on February 2. Ms Dempsey is due back before Dublin District Court on February 14. Witnesses In her case, bail was refused initially in the district court following objections from Garda John Walsh who cited the seriousness of the case. He said it was feared she would attempt to evade justice or interfere with witnesses. However, bail terms were set earlier this month by the High Court. Gda Walsh alleged that during the night of December 13, the two accused entered the pensioner's home by breaking glass in a rear patio door with a hammer. It was claimed an alarm was deactivated and that they had their faces covered. The officer had said it was alleged the man had been told "he would be kneecapped if he did not comply and that his extended family was being watched". The court heard the man was struck in the face with a hammer and his phone was taken as well as 150 from his wallet. During the bail hearing, the court had heard that the householder was allegedly forced to withdraw 1,200 from a cash machine and then taken to the AIB branch in Rathgar to take out 15,000. Gda Walsh described the incident as "an extremely frightening ordeal for the injured party". A hospital has apologised in the High Court for the "deficit in care" given to a baby boy, who died hours after his skull was fractured during delivery. The circumstances of Evan Joseph Tuite's delivery were "horrific" and the baby's skull was fractured in the instrumental delivery, counsel for Evan's parents told the court. Evan died in his mother's arms just over 12 hours after he was born at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, in June 2012. Pray His heartbroken parents, Fiona Tuite and Ivan Murphy, said in a statement outside court that this should not have happened to Evan - or any other child. "Every day I wish and pray we could have that day back again and I would have said stop," Mr Murphy said. "If only Fiona had been sent for a section, our baby would have been here today. He would now be going to school and playing with friends." There has not yet been a inquest into the death and Mr Murphy was publicly appealing for a date to be confirmed for the inquest. Yesterday, the hospital apologised to Evan's family, from Rose Hall, Drogheda, as they settled actions against the HSE over his care at the time of his birth on June 14, 2012. The apology stated the hospital offered its heartfelt sympathy and sincerely apologised for "the deficit in care" to the baby and his mother. Liam Reidy SC, for Evan's family, told the court liability was denied until last year, when it was admitted by the HSE. Ms Tuite was admitted on June 13, 2012, and a decision was made after 6am the next day to proceed to assisted vaginal delivery. At 6.16am, the first of two forceps blades was applied to the baby's head and it is claimed two pulls were noted. A vacuum device was applied and detached from the baby's scalp. The forceps were reapplied at 6.26am and there was another pull. Evan was delivered in a poor condition at 6.29am and transferred to the special care baby unit. On arrival, it was claimed that medical records indicated he had bruising to the earlobe and all over his skull, and had skin peeling over his scalp. Evan required ventilation and was intubated. A CT scan showed a global hypoxic injury and evidence of haemorrhage. A post-mortem stated the cause of death to be severe external and internal cranial and brain trauma due to a difficult delivery. Failure In the proceedings, it was claimed there was a failure to inform a consultant obstetrician of the decision to carry out the mid-cavity forceps delivery and a failure to proceed to a caesarean section. It was further claimed there was a failure to challenge the actions of the junior doctor attempting to deliver the baby, and a failure to realise his actions were seen to deviate from normal practice - putting the mother and her baby at risk. There was, it was claimed, a further failure to intervene in the delivery attempts, and to directly contact the consultant obstetrician on call. Three members of a west Dublin Traveller gang have been arrested and questioned about an attempted burglary at a building site in Co Wicklow. Gardai from the National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB), working as part of Operation Thor, arrested the three men late on Thursday evening in Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow. The three men, aged 18, 31 and 43, are from the Clondalkin and Ballyfermot areas, and were snared as part of a special surveillance operation organised by the DOCB against burglary gangs. Sources said officers were last night examining a seized Hyundai vehicle as part of the investigation and charges in the case were "very likely". The Traveller criminals were targeting "copper wire and building supplies" from the building site, which is expanding the existing Wicklow Hills housing estate. Site staff refused to comment when approached yesterday. Expand Close An armed garda checkpoint during Operation Thor / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An armed garda checkpoint during Operation Thor Crackdown The bust was just the latest success by gardai in their crackdown against burglar mobs in Co Wicklow. The Herald can reveal the 43-year-old arrested man, who is from Collinstown, is currently on bail after being charged in relation to a series of robberies across Tipperary and the south-east last August. He has been one of the main targets for officers nationwide in Operation Thor, the special garda crackdown on rural crime. Rural campaigners have warned the operation now requires increased resources and tactical flexibility given how crime gangs have adapted to garda strategies. The 31-year-old suspect was sentenced last year for theft from a number of building sites in Nenagh, Co Tipperary. Their 18-year-old associate has also been a main target for anti-burglary garda units. The scale of the theft of tools from tradesmen and business owners has forced some out of business, in what gardai believe is an operation involving an international network of criminals. Thursday night's bust happened as the Herald revealed gardai in Co Wicklow have drawn up a detailed list of prolific burglary and theft offenders known as the "Filthy 50" in a massive drive against the crime epidemic. Crackdown None of the arrested suspects is understood to be on that list. The crackdown by an eastern garda division has seen a dramatic drop in burglaries in the first two weeks of the year. Gardai have established that 22 of the "Filthy 50" are based within the Bray garda district alone, which is part of the Wicklow division - where a special "scoring card" against criminals was drawn up. So far, a total of nine of these suspects have been locked up as part of the special policing plan, which has been ongoing for three months. Specialist officers have compiled a list of serious offenders, who have been ranked in terms of priority from one to 50 in relation to crimes committed. Sources have revealed the intensive garda drive against the criminal mobs targeting Co Wicklow has paid major dividends. "January has always been the worst month for burglaries in Co Wicklow and in the first two weeks of last year there were 41 burglaries committed in the county, but in the first two weeks of this year there were 17," a source said. Investigations have established that out of the 32 "prime target" criminals based in Co Wicklow, 19 of them are juvenile offenders. The clampdown comes after an operation was set up last September to tackle the criminals in a multi-faceted way. Thanksgiving is going to be expensive. Here's how to save. WATCH: This Cat Getting a Haircut is the Cutest Thing On the Internet The Garda said the man was shot at Bridgeview halting site in Ronanstown, west Dublin, at 3pm on Saturday (Niall Carson/PA) Gardai have launched a murder investigation after a 27-year-old man was shot dead in Dublin. The shooting is believed to be related to the ongoing feud between the Hutch and Kinahan crime gangs. The Garda said the man was shot at Bridgeview halting site in Ronanstown, west Dublin, at 3pm on Saturday. He was sitting in a car when a gunman opened fire. The state pathologist and members of the Garda Technical Bureau were asked to attend the scene of the murder. A second crime scene has been preserved at Crag Avenue where a car was located on fire a short time after the incident. The killing is believed to be the 14th murder in the ongoing Hutch/Kinahan feud. Britains government is now listening to the financial services sector, says Catherine McGuinness, chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee of the City of London Corporation Britain's vast financial services industry will suffer far fewer job losses from Brexit than first feared, the City of London's policy chief told Reuters, in remarks that will boost supporters of leaving the EU who say the threat has been exaggerated. Home to the world's highest number of banks and largest commercial insurance market, the City of London is scrambling to prepare for the loss of easy access to the European trading bloc, its most serious threat since the 2007-2009 financial crisis. Catherine McGuinness, the political leader of the historic municipal body at the heart of London, said the outlook for the industry had brightened after Britain and the European Union last month agreed to the principle of a transition deal and to talks about future trade relationships. The industry also feels it is getting more of a hearing from Prime Minister Theresa May's government. "The signs are positive. It is clear that the government is not only listening, but has understood our position," Ms McGuinness said in an interview in a room off the local government's seat of power in the medieval Guildhall. "But now we have to persuade the EU27 to strike a deal which works for this sector." Financial services, which accounts for about 12pc of Britain's economic output, have been viewed as one of the industries that has the most to lose from the end of unfettered access to EU markets. But Britain has stepped up its defence of its prized industry in the last few weeks with the government and Bank of England sending out messages that they expect the sector will be able to operate with little disruption after Brexit. Mrs May told bankers last week she will put their industry at the heart of a new trade deal with the EU. Ms McGuinness also said the Bank of England's offer to allow European bank branches in London to avoid a costly conversion into subsidiaries last month is an indication that Britain will remain open to foreign investment. The numbers of finance jobs that may be shifted out of Britain or created overseas as a result of Brexit are now likely to be at the lower end of estimates that have ranged broadly between 5,000 to 75,000 jobs or higher, she said. Mirroring that view, Deutsche Bank said this week it expects to move fewer staff than some senior officials had expected from London to the continent. (Reuters) A 40-cow suckler farmer, operating a calf to beef system, produced a 22-month-old Limousin cross heifer off a dairy cow to take the top award in the Limousin Cross off Dairy Cows category of the competition. The 308kg R=4- heifer, was supplied by Kenneth B Connors, Spruce Hill House, Roscrea and was one of the 15 to 20 continental crosses off dairy herds, being finished each year beside the sucklers in the herd. As a calf she was purchased at Thurles Mart, where she was described as "coming off a British Friesian herd" on which he targets his purchases each year. "I try to get the calves off the good British Friesian herds, because it is very hard to get an R grade off the crosses with Holstein. Thurles is a good place to get calves off the British Friesian herds," said Mr Connors. The heifer was finished on 4kg concentrates a day for the final three months and realised 1,330 in the factory. "I haven't done the figures on it, but I know that the margin is tight at that. It is costly to bring them through the first year. Expand Close Kenneth B Connors, Roscrea and (right) Michael McDonagh from Tynagh, Loughrea with their winning carcasses at the Limousin Carcass Competition at Ashbourne Meats / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kenneth B Connors, Roscrea and (right) Michael McDonagh from Tynagh, Loughrea with their winning carcasses at the Limousin Carcass Competition at Ashbourne Meats "With milk replacer, plus the cost of the calf, I reckon she was standing me about 530 at six months," he said. "The good calves off the British Friesian cows are in demand and they are costing that bit extra in the mart, but you won't get the quality from the calves coming off the Holstein cows. They will be O grade and that makes a difference," he explained. "If I was selling at nine to 10 months for 1,000, I'd probably be better off, because I would not have to carry them through a winter and finishing," he added. With the increase in the dairy herd, the category for Limousin cross heifers from the dairy herds was of particular interest to both producers and the processor. Each of the other three winning carcases in the category were R- grade with fat score of 3- and 3=. The second prizewinner in the Limousin Cross Cow category exhibited by Michael McDonagh, Tynagh, Loughrea was a 13-year-old Limousin Belgian Blue, which had a carcase weight of 494kg and was classified U+4=. He keeps a herd of 84 suckler cows and crosses with Charolais and Belgian Blue sires. The practice has been to sell most of the male progeny at yearling stage, with the majority of them in recent years being purchased by a well known stud farm for finishing. The good heifers are retained for breeding in the herd or for sale. "I am considering that I should sell at six to nine months. They should be making around 1,000/hd and it would avoid the cost of wintering" he said of his future plans pointing out that the suckler sector is under pressure with the big cost of keeping the cow. The idea that you need a substantial farm of land and milking heritage to enter the expanding dairy industry no longer holds true. There are now plenty of men and women, some without an acre to their name, who are working their way up the ladder in farm management roles as share milkers through leasing land and in partnerships. The first time that Diarmuid Scannell milked a cow was over 17,000km from his Coolea, Co Cork home. In 2010, Diarmuid, then 25, took up a job on a 400-cow farm, 200km north of Melbourne. Hailing from a 29-hectare sheep and suckler farm on the Cork/Kerry border, Diarmuid says that since his home farm has "far from Golden Vale land conditions", he had never considered dairy farming as an option. "Dairy farming wasn't on the radar in Coolea. I worked as a welder until 2007. I milked my first cow in Australia in 2010. I spent three months milking on a farm, just milking cows at 45C in the middle of the day. It wasn't particularly enjoyable but it was a job," he says. It wasn't until later in 2010 when he moved to New Zealand with his then girlfriend and now wife, Briege Corkery, who is well-known for her exploits on the GAA fields, that he viewed dairy farming as a potential career path. "I moved on to New Zealand and got a job on a 425ha farm. I really enjoyed the experience there. I learned how to work, God knows, but I learned great lessons. It wasn't complicated. It was a real eye-opener," he recalls as he addressed the recent Positive Farmers dairy conference in Cork. In 2013, Diarmuid returned home and began working for dairy farmer Michael Bateman. He has since entered in to a share milking arrangement with Michael. This means the more stock Diarmuid owns, the more he'll be able to increase his share in the business. "If I own no cows, I get 25pc of the milk cheque and 25pc of all variable costs and 100pc of the labour. I own 56 cows today, that gives me an extra 2.3pc share in the business," he says. "The more cows I own, the more my labour costs will go down and milk cheque increases. I hope to increase my stock to 200 cows in the next two to three years." Diarmuid recommends that any young person looking to enter dairying does some travelling to gain life experience and learn different ways of doing things. "Travel is a big thing. You don't have to travel out of Ireland - you can go somewhere else in the country," he says. "There's plenty of good farms around the place. It's good for a young person to get out of home, stand on their own two feet and find a job." Partnership Jerry Murphy (30) is currently in a farm partnership with his father Michael in Crookstown, Co Cork, which is far from the accounting career he carved out for himself in his early 20s. "Coming out of school, my father was quite young and in the era of quotas, I didn't see the same opportunities in farming. I chased the vision of being an accountant, studied accountancy and got a job with KPMG," he says. In 2013, while travelling in New Zealand with his wife Susan, Jerry got the call from his father that he was looking to expand the farm and incorporate a second milking platform. Fast-forward five years, and Jerry and his father have expanded from 115 cows on one milking platform to 331 cows on three milking sites. "We have our 32-ha farm at home and then installed a mobile milking parlour in 2013 on a 44ha site we've been leasing since 1995," he explains. "Last year we leased another 42ha site and expanded further. "A key driver is to make the business big enough for two people and two family incomes - that's why we've got to this scale, and we feel we've built a business that can support the two of us." Leasing Coming from a drystock farm in Trabolgan, Co Cork, Joe Deane was convinced he wanted to be a beef farmer, but once he entered Clonakilty Agricultural College in 2006, the lifestyle and profitability of dairying attracted him. In 2010 he got experience working on a 1,100-cow dairy herd in New Zealand and returned home in 2011, spending three years working as a farm manager. After years of keeping an eye out for the perfect leasing opportunity, in 2016 he leased a 24ha farm in Carrigaline, Co Cork. "I was ready to take the step. I'm on a seven-year lease and just starting in year two now. I milked 125 cows last year and 160 this year all going well," he says. Joe says the biggest challenges when it comes to leasing include sourcing the right farm and building up a reputation to make you attractive to landowners looking to lease out their farms. "Trying to source the farm and building up a reputation to attract the landowner and upskilling and finance are the challenges," he says. "I found it quite difficult at times waiting for a farm to come up, but I don't regret it taking so long. "In 2014 I was very anxious to start out, but needed patience for the right option, and that's how I gained experience." Adhering to strict investment criteria can guide an angel investor to success, but there are always exceptions to the rule. Serial tech entrepreneur and angel investor Peter Cowley has developed a set of rules applicable to a start-up's team, their product and their finances. With experience in over 60 investments under his belt, Mr Cowley tells hopeful entrepreneurs "please don't email for investment unless you can justify the [criteria]". Coming from someone who was named UK Business Angel of the Year 2014/15 and Best Angel of the World by the World Business Angel Investment Forum in February 2017, the position seems sound. But while the creation of these guidelines are based on a wealth of industry experience and absorbing knowledge from other investors, Mr Cowley acknowledges that it's the people within a firm that can change his mind. "I started with a great group of people [Cambridge Business Angels] who taught me all I know. My criteria are based on largely on learning from this group, based on what I'm comfortable with, and at least to some extent understand," he told Independent.ie. "People do point out to me that some of the investments I have made over the last eight years don't fit the criteria. And there are exceptions that I invest in and that's because of the people. Read More "I like to know the entrepreneur, I invest in people, I like to spend time getting to know the people and I believe mentoring is extremely important." As a result of this hands-on investor approach, one of Mr Cowley's criteria is in relation to distance: he'll only consider investment in a company that requires travel of no more than 90 minutes from his home. "Of course I have FOMO [fear of missing out] and I've missed out on some things, but you cannot regret things. In saying that, it's very important to learn from the ones that get away," he added. One such potential deal was a stake in SwiftKey, based on creating keyboard apps for Android and iOS devices, which was sold to Microsoft for an estimated $250m in April 2016. "There were a number reasons that it didn't happen, not least because the guy who was leading the deal went on holiday in Ireland, and it just fizzled out." Mr Cowley joins a number of other internationally-renowned speakers at the HBAN national conference in the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham next month. He is now chair of the board of the Cambridge Business Angels and the Investment Director of the Marshall of Cambridge, Martlet Corporate Angel division. The HBAN conference is on Thursday, February 8, and is open to non-members who want to see how the HBAN network works, connect with HBAN angels and listen to pitches from high-potential start-ups. Tickets for the conference are priced at 50. Key workers including nurses, teachers and gardai are being forced to move out of our main cities in search of an affordable three-bedroom home. Couples on a combined salary of just under 74,000 will be unable to afford a starter home within most of Dublin's M50 from next year - and they are being priced out of parts of Cork, Limerick and Galway cities, as well as commuter towns in Kildare, Wicklow and Cork county. Rising prices have already made much of the capital unaffordable for a couple on a combined 'average' salary, with experts predicting that only in Dublin 10, 11 and 17 - and suburbs outside the M50 - will prices remain within their borrowing limits from 2019 due to rocketing prices. An analysis of property prices provided by estate agents, contained in the 'How Much Is Your House Worth?' supplement carried in today's newspaper, shows how rising prices have squeezed key workers out of locations near where they work. Assuming an upper price limit of 288,000, it shows that buyers will be effectively locked out of the Dublin market in just 12 months time if seeking a property with at least three bedrooms, which would allow them to grow their families. Furthermore, buyers are now prepared to drive almost 100km to work, sparking huge house price surges in Laois, Carlow and Wexford. Unaffordable rents combined with a strict lending regime are pushing Dublin workers into former outer commuter belt locations, which haven't seen city buyers since the boom years. The findings of the Irish Independent's annual property price guide for local markets, indicate that 2018 will be the year of the long-distance commuter. It also indicates soaring prices for local first-time buyers in midlands and coastal locations within a 100km radius of the capital's city centre. The data gleaned from local estate agents all over Ireland shows prices are up by 25pc in Co Laois, with Portlaoise being the most popular target (90km away from Dublin) while 20pc has been added to prices in Wexford where Gorey is the most popular destination (90km). Despite having risen by a quarter, the average house price in Laois remains relatively affordable at 178,000, while the Wexford average is 170,000. This compares with the price of an average Dublin 14 home of 625,000 and 410,000 in Dublin 15, both completely out of the reach of average couples. But thanks to rocketing rents caused by the housing shortage, Dubliners can no longer afford to rent. For their part, towns located two counties away from Dublin have not seen commuter interest like this since 2007. "Prices in Kildare are increasing so much that people can't afford it any more, so they are looking at Portlaoise and Portarlington," said local agent Paul Kelly of DNG Kelly, who recorded a 22pc increase in homes sold last year. Unexpected commuter target destinations also named today include Kilkenny and even parts of Roscommon. "There are a lot of professional couples in Dublin who want more relaxed lifestyles and are prepared to commute or work from home a few days a week," said local estate Peter McCreery of Sherry FitzGerald McCreery in Kilkenny. Prices are up 11pc in Monaghan, 10pc in Cavan, 10pc in Westmeath, 10pc in Offaly and 8pc in Carlow. Monaghan estate agent Dermot Conlon of REA Gunne said buyers were coming from North Dublin to purchase homes in Carrickmacross (96km) and Castleblayney (114km). "Because they are paying rents of 1,500 per month for a three-bed semi in Balbriggan or Swords, they are eager to reduce their monthly outgoings." Rocketing Despite some of the country's biggest hospitals, including St James's and St Vincent's, being located in the city centre, along with most of the maternity hospitals, nurses are unable to afford to buy close to their places of work. The same applies to many workers at Dublin City Council, and staff employed in government departments, and those employed in the commercial core of the city, particularly retail and restaurants. There are also serious pressures in commuter towns, which typically provided homes for those unable to afford the bigger urban centres. A three-bed semi-detached home is beyond the reach of average-earning couples in north Kildare and north Wicklow - home to towns including Maynooth, Celbridge, Bray and Greystones. Outside the Greater Dublin area, the price survey shows a three-bed bungalow is unaffordable in Killarney, Co Kerry, in west Co Cork, which includes Skibbereen, Clonakilty and Glanmire, and in east Co Cork, which includes Youghal, Cobh and Midleton. An affordability problem is also becoming more pronounced in the Cork city suburbs of Douglas and Rochestown, where a three-bed terrace, bungalow or semi-detached house is out of reach. A three-bed semi-detached is unaffordable in Cork city centre, and in the cities of Limerick and Galway. The affordability problem is highlighted in the capital, with the analysis showing how back in 2014, when house prices were only beginning to recover, a couple on average earnings could afford to buy a one or two-bedroom home in all Dublin postcodes, including leafy Dublin 4. A three-bedroom home of any description - terrace, duplex, semi-detached or period property - was out of reach in just six postcodes. They were Dublin 2, Dublin 4, Dublin 6, Dublin 6W, Dublin 3 (Clontarf) and Dublin 18. By 2015, the price squeeze was beginning to bite with a three-bed now out of reach in nine areas. Dublin 9, Dublin 13 and south Co Dublin were by now considered unaffordable. Read More The squeeze continued in 2016, with a three-bed available in just 15 areas, with 11 postcodes out of reach. The same year, Dublin 4 became unaffordable for average workers for any property type. This year, estate agents with in-depth knowledge of the market suggest that Dublin 4 and south Co Dublin remain unaffordable for any type of home, and a three-bed is only available in nine areas. The only place a four-bed house, a bungalow, is available is in Dublin 22 for 281,000. By next year, the cheapest one-bed apartment will cost 164,000 in Dublin 22. This compares with 65,000 in 2014. An ex-corporation three-bed home in D24 will cost 211,000 in 2019, up 111,000 over the same period. A three-bed home will only be available in eight areas - Dublin 10, 11, 15, 17, 22, 24, north Co Dublin and Dublin West. Are you taking on a major commute everyday? Contact us with your story at contact@independent.ie The Nigerian community in South Africa has alleged that a 27-year old man, Ebuka Okori, was killed by the police in Durban in the early hours of Friday 19th January, 2018. According to Mr Bartholomew Eziagulu, the Chairman of the Nigerian Union chapter in Kwazulu Natal Province of South Africa, the victim was a native of Umunze in Orumba North Local Government of Anambra. He said that an eyewitness informed the union that two police officers in mufti forcefully gained access to the victim`s house at Campbell Street in Durban at 2.am on Friday. According to him, the officers immediately demanded money from Okori. South African police beats Nigerian to death When he refused, he was handcuffed, taken outside and shot dead. The officers took away his cell phone, e-passport and other valuable documents. The relative of the victim was tortured and robbed of his belongings while a third victim, a South African, was also robbed, he said. Eziagulu said that the Okori`s brother escaped from the house and called for help. The Metro Police around the vicinity swiftly intervened and picked the vehicle number of the assailants, he said. Eziagulu said that police detectives and another special police team which investigates complaints against their colleagues had been assisting to arrest the culprits. Mr Adetola Olubajo, the President of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, said that the national secretariat had been informed about the incident. He said that the union was monitoring the situation and had informed the Nigerian Mission and the South African police. Demand from commuters to Dublin has pushed up property prices in Virginia, Co Cavan, with the town leading a price recovery in a county that shed 70pc of its value during the crash. Prices in Virginia, which is about an hour's drive from Dublin airport on the M3 motorway, are as much as 15pc higher than Cavan town itself because of its proximity to the capital, says local agent Declan Woods from Sherry FitzGerald Declan Woods. The further west buyers go in Cavan, such as Killeshandra, the lower the prices. "Virginia would head and shoulders be the most perceived as a commutable base for Dublin," Woods said. "Cavan town is the next-strongest performer." Across the county as a whole, the price of an average four-bed detached property has risen 10pc to 215,000 and will likely climb 9pc to 235,000 this year. Two-bed apartments have climbed 6pc to 85,000, having fallen to as low as 23,000 in 2014. Cavan House Type 2017 2018 2019 3-BED SEMI IN TOWN 135,000 150,000 155,000 3-bed Semi Out Of Town 110,000 85,000 90,000 4-BED SEMI IN TOWN 145,000 160,000 170,000 4-bed Semi Out Of Town 110,000 95,000 100,000 4-bed Detached 195,000 215,000 235,000 5-bed Detached 250,000 275,000 300,000 3-bed Bungalow Outside Town 145,000 145,000 155,000 4-bed Bungalow In Town 185,000 195,000 210,000 4-bed Bungalow Outside Town 165,000 185,000 200,000 Detached 2000+ Sq Ft 270,000 275,000 300,000 Holiday Home 110,000 90,000 100,000 Two-bed Apartment 80,000 85,000 95,000 2up/2Down 90,000 95,000 105,000 3-bed Terrace 95,000 115,000 120,000 2-bed Cottage 65,000 75,000 85,000 Ex-Corporation 3-bed 80,000 100,000 N/A Ex-council 3-bed 80,000 75,000 85,000 Demand for detached properties in the country with at least 2,200 sq ft is high because people who bought apartments and three- and four-bed semi-detached homes during the boom, and found themselves with two properties when they got married or found a partner, are now selling those homes in favour of one large family property. Detached properties with at least 2,000 sq ft of space are few and far between, so prices for those are set to rise 9pc to 300,000 this year. Mr Woods indicates that in the three-bed terraced and semi-detached market, many buyers are of Eastern European or Indian origin - working in the health sector and purchasing homes at the more affordable end of the market. Three-bed terraced homes in some developments can cost as little as 80,000, though the county's average price is 115,000. Property Hotspot: Cavan town Prices for three-bed semi-detached properties in the town are likely to continue climbing until they exceed the cost of building new ones. Despite perceptions, there is still a lack of supply in Co Cavan towns as there haven't been any entirely new developments built in almost a decade. "Our market is broken, in that it is cheaper to buy an existing home than it is to build one," Woods says. "The only building going on is on older sites that are being finished out. The area that developers would consider building first is Virginia, but planning is being turned down there because of a lack of infra- structure services." The relative proximity of Dublin 12 to the city centre makes it a popular choice for first-time buyers who want to get a foot on the property ladder without giving up a city lifestyle. Prices in the postcode - which encompasses Drimnagh, Crumlin, Perrystown, Walkinstown, Greenhills and parts of Terenure - rose by an average of 10pc in 2017. Local agent Adrian Murphy says he sees no sign of any slowdown and predicts that prices will continue to increase by between 8pc and 10pc annually for the next five years, driven by an ongoing lack of supply and increase in demand. The highest increases are expected for the most popular parts of Perrystown and Walkinstown. He expects the bulk of the price increase for 2018 to happen in the spring, and for prices to level off then. He also predicts that prices in Dublin 12, which are currently 30pc off-peak, are likely to 2007 levels again before another cyclical drop-off in values occurs. Murphy says that property in Crumlin - which has largely former Corpo stock as well as mid-century semis and detached homes - did better than expected last year. Prices on lesser roads that might previously have been undervalued have been showing the most substantial increases - to the extent that they have now almost reached parity with those on Crumlin's better roads. "Prices increased in the first two quarters of last year, and then in the third quarter there was a blip and some deals fell through. The overachievement of prices in the first half of the year led to the expectations of vendors growing unrealistically. Prices struggled for a month or two. But in the last quarter of the year, we saw houses where sales had fallen through go sale agreed - and for prices that were higher than had been agreed for them earlier in the year: 2017 finished very strongly." Dublin 12 House Type 2017 2018 2019 3-bed Semi 409,000 450,000 395,000 4-bed Semi 510,000 550,000 505,000 3-bed Bungalow 463,000 500,000 425,000 4-bed Bungalow 491,000 540,000 460,000 One-bed Apartment 169,000 185,000 165,000 Two-bed Apartment 207,000 230,000 230,000 3-bed Terrace 311,000 340,000 325,000 Ex-Corporation 2-bed 229,000 250,000 235,000 Ex-Corporation 3-bed 240,000 265,000 250,000 2-bed Townhouse 327,000 355,000 355,000 3-bed Townhouse 365,000 400,000 400,000 3-bed Duplex 273,000 300,000 300,000 Murphy says that many would-be buyers are frustrated by the bidding-up of prices that has been evident over the past year. "If they have 300,000 to spend, then they should be looking at properties priced at 270,000, to allow for the 10pc bidding-up that is happening across the board. There are no bargains out there. We see buyers who are so frustrated that they are bidding on multiple properties - rather than focusing on one - and losing out on all of them." The Leitrim property market hit the headlines last December after an online auction for a rural cottage there that was priced for less than a family car drew interest from 30 would-be buyers across the world. Killasanowel Cottage, on 1.7 acres of farmland 5km outside Carrick-On-Shannon and was described by its agent as a project, was eventually sold to a UK buyer for 32,000. Such bargains are few and far between, though. These days, Leitrim is dealing with the same kind of housing shortage as the rest of the country, according to Liam Farrell of Farrell Property Group, and prices have risen. Most of the distressed property has been sold and 10 years have elapsed since any significant development has been built, so there is not a huge amount of property coming on stream, Farrell says. Plus, the requirements of anyone who stayed in Ireland during the recession have matured and they want to buy, as do people who went to Australia and have come back with a bit of money. Add those to people who want to leave the rental market and you have a new generation of buyers. While four-bed semis in Leitrim towns were the most popular in 2016, three-bed semis sold the most in 2017, according to Farrell. Prices for the latter jumped 24pc to an average 118,000 last year and are set to climb a further 14pc by the end of 2018 as buyers look to swap rising rents for cheaper mortgage repayments. Three-bed semis are still selling for below the current cost of construction, which has deterred developers from building new stock, though many unfinished estates have been completed by new developers. Leitrim House Type 2017 2018 2019 One-bed Apartment 58,000 65,000 70,000 Two-bed Apartment 72,000 88,000 95,000 3-bed Terrace 85,000 95,000 105,000 2-bed Cottage 50,000 65,000 73,000 Ex-Corporation 3-bed 76,000 85,000 N/A 3-BED SEMI IN TOWN 95,000 118,000 135,000 3-bed Semi Out Of Town 84,000 87,000 95,000 4-BED SEMI IN TOWN 128,000 150,000 175,000 4-bed Semi Out Of Town 103,000 110,000 118,000 4-bed Detached 172,000 185,000 198,000 5-bed Detached 230,000 240,000 255,000 3-bed Bungalow In Town 140,000 160,000 180,000 3-bed Bungalow Outside Town 138,000 142,000 148,000 4-bed Bungalow In Town 190,000 210,000 228,000 4-bed Bungalow Outside Town 150,000 165,000 175,000 Detached 2000+ Sq Ft 250,000 258,000 265,000 Holiday Home 95,000 95,000 98,000 Ex-council 3-bed 76,000 81,000 87,000 Prices for the average holiday home are stagnant at 95,000 as buyers from the UK are drying up. Brexit has had a very negative effect, Farrell says. Buyers are only interested in holiday homes priced between 45,000 and 60,000, something that is not available. Prices may be rising hard in Roscommon, but the county is still perceived as very affordable by buyers willing to commute to Dublin on the M6 - an off-peak journey of one hour 30 minutes - and to Athlone, a 25-minute drive from Roscommon town. The price of a three-bed bungalow in a town jumped 14pc to 150,000 in 2017 and is forecast to climb 7pc to 160,000 this year, as the number of properties on the market fell. David Diffley of Property Partners Earley says, "The people who don't like to live in urban areas like to settle in Roscommon town as it's not overdeveloped and has a nice population. So we have a healthy market for detached properties, which can be the same price as semis in Athlone. "The Connacht side of Athlone has been expanding that and that's where the big pharmaceutical factories are, which has brought momentum into the Roscommon market." Roscommon House Type 2017 2018 2019 3-BED SEMI IN TOWN 105,000 115,000 125,000 4-bed Estate House Town 125,000 135,000 145,000 4-bed Estate House Out Of Town 85,000 100,000 110,000 3-bed Bungalow In Town 132,000 150,000 160,000 3-bed Bungalow Outside Town 95,000 110,000 120,000 4-bed Bungalow In Town 155,000 175,000 185,000 4-bed Bungalow Outside Town 145,000 165,000 175,000 Holiday Home 70,000 80,000 90,000 Two-bed Apartment 48,000 60,000 70,000 2-bed Terrace 65,000 75,000 85,000 3-bed Terrace 95,000 105,000 115,000 Owner-occupiers account for 60pc of the market at present, with investors making up the rest. Rather than buy one house, the latter cohort is buying groups of apartments or houses. "First-time buyers are big in the market because they realise that by delaying a purchase, they are doing themselves no favours because the quantity of stock they were chasing was drying up and because they realised by the end of the year that prices weren't slowing down," Diffley says. First-time buyers who cannot find an affordable property in Roscommon town are moving out to villages such as Curraghboy and Four Mile House, where they can pick up a detached property for 250,000. Property Hotspot: Ballinlough The town, located between Ballyhaunis and Castlerea, offers more value than Roscommon town, a 25-minute drive away. Fresh development is starting to pick up in Roscommon town now that investors who bought up unfinished stock over the last three years have sold the finished-out properties. There are 40 more homes to sell at Oldwood, a scheme of A-rated three-bed houses, with a phase of three-bed bungalows expected to be released in the spring. "There are also sites where developers are looking to construct homes in the north of the county over the next 12 months," Diffley says. "But there still isn't the incentive for builders to construct A-rated houses from scratch with a VAT rate on sales of 13.5pc." In Ballinlough, near the Mayo border, seven bungalows completed to a builder's finish are for sale in one lot in the Hillview estate for 350,000. Diffley expects the new owner will sell these properties individually in 2018. Saoirse Ronan attends an official Academy screening of "Lady Bird" hosted by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences on November 7, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences ) Saoirse Ronan attends The 23rd Annual Critics' Choice Awards at Barker Hangar on January 11, 2018 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Critics' Choice Awards ) Saoirse Ronan says that female creators are changing the industry following the #MeToo movement and that gradual change towards equality will become more visible in the coming years. I think women are gonna get a lot more meetings with studios than they did before, she said on the Bill Simmons Podcast while promoting Ladybird. "I think were not gonna see the difference in the work for another couple years, at least," she said. "Things are going to need to go into development. Women are obviously going to be working hard to have something to go in with, which they do already, and I think theyll just be given more of a chance." Ronan said that the industry needs to get to a point past employing women to meet a quota. "Not where its sort of like, 'Oh, lets get a female director', because shes a woman. Because you know, we need to have the token female director." Expand Close Saoirse Ronan attends an official Academy screening of "Lady Bird" hosted by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences on November 7, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences ) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Saoirse Ronan attends an official Academy screening of "Lady Bird" hosted by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences on November 7, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences ) "They just need to open up the floodgates so that everyone has a chance to show what they can do. Ronan said that many female actors she knows are taking steps to change the industry. "Female actors have gotten to the point where theyre so sick of having to wait for the right role to come along, that theyre just starting up their own production companies. "Theyre getting producers together that they know. Theyre writing their own material, theyre developing their own stuff, theyre using their own contacts, and theyre making their own stuff." She also spoke about her incredible experience hosting Saturday Night Live, saying that nothing has made my heart explode more than getting to host SNL. The Irish actress won a Best Actress in a Drama Golden Globe for her Ladybird which will be released in Ireland on February 16th. Here's a thought sure to make you feel ancient: it was 30 years ago this week when Home And Away first captured the hearts of soap opera fans around the world. The Australian saga, set in fictional Summer Bay, aired for the first time in January 1988 and was soon essential viewing, both in the Southern Hemisphere and Ireland. RTE was one of the first international networks to pick up the series. For a generation of teenagers, it provided a window into life on the other side of the world never seen before. Summer Bay was a place of sunshine, romance and melodrama that could not have contrasted more sharply with the drabness of late 80s Ireland. Home and Away was escapist TV where you genuinely felt you were escaping to somewhere. It quickly became a favourite - with the novelty that it was screened on RTE long before anywhere else in Europe. This ensured it was truly a nationwide success, as beloved in those parts of the country that lacked access to British TV as those in quasi-mythic 'multi-channel land'. More than that, because it was broadcast relatively early in the afternoon, everyone's oblivious parents were blind to the occasionally dark and steamy storylines. Extra-marital hooks-ups, rape, disastrous nuptials - all were grist to this post-teatime treat. Had they bothered to watch, our mothers and fathers would have been appalled. It also lacked for meaningful competition (unless you had access to BBC and Neighbours). At a time when the only other widely watched soaps in Ireland were the thoroughly unglamorous Glenroe and grim British imports such as Coronation Street and EastEnders, it was a beacon amid the glum schedules. Below are five reasons why, three decades on, the show has carved a permanent place in the hearts of an entire generation. 1. The channels Two-channel land was a soul-sapping dystopia if your viewing habits went beyond the news or the Angelus (and this was hardcore Angelus, unblemished by hippy-dippy footage of soulful types gazing into the distance). RTE was still in many ways a 50s broadcaster that regarded the modern world as something to be ignored or viewed with fear and suspicion. American imports such as The A-Team and Murder, She Wrote offered some succour, it is true. But these were, in their own way, no less chaste. Home And Away, by contrast, was awash with bitchiness, backstabbing and relationship drama. Storylines encompassing adultery, abortion, depression and bullying kept the dramatic fires crackling. If you were 13 and a bit zonked from your maths homework it was the most exciting thing ever. Video of the Day 2. The theme tune Close your eyes and try to recall the Home and Away theme. Spooled right back into your head, didn't it? To describe Mike Perjanik's title ditty as 'catchy' is probably an overstatement as this implies you actively enjoy listening to it. But it certainly gets into your noggin and refuses to leave. While several versions have featured over the decades, purists will regard the original Karen Boddington/Mark Williams duet as definitive. Indeed, you may even have purchased it when it was released as a single in 1989 (actually you probably didn't, as it stiffed at number 73). 3: The characters we loved (and loved to hate) British soaps were populated by thoroughly miserable types. Their American counterparts were a blizzard of teeth, hair and over-the-top acting. Enter Home and Away, a soap recognisably about everyday people trying to get on with their lives. Tom and Pippa Fletcher were fundamentally decent souls, devoted to their five foster children. And their new neighbours at Summer Bay - to which they had relocated from Sydney - were a solid crew, including the soon-to-be-iconic Alf Stewart, who, when we first met him, was grieving for his recently passed wife. Compare that to Hilda Ogden threatening Stanley with a rolling pin or Bobby Ewing dreaming up an entire season of Dallas and the appeal was clear. 4. The mental twists Having played Pippa Fletcher for two years, Vanessa Downing abruptly quit Home and Away in 1990. Rather than take the obvious route of writing the character out of the story, the producers simply cast Debra Lawrance in her place and pushed on as though nothing had happened. Just as crazy were the storylines, soon chock-a-block with dead lovers, Vietnam veterans and an extra-marital liaison involving a shark hunter swinging by Summer Bay. You didn't have any of that in Glenroe - a major contribution to Home and Away's popularity. 5. The glimpse of sun Maybe it's just the memory playing tricks, but Ireland in the late 80s is remembered as a gloomy, grey place where you were as likely to catch a tan as you were to find a job without having to emigrate. Into this came Home and Away, a slice of sunny escapism. You could watch it with the sound turned down and simply bask in the fact that everyone looked bronzed and healthy. A tribunal's decision to dismiss accountant Alan Hynes's appeal against findings made against him by the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board (CARB) had "momentous consequences" for him, the High Court has heard. Wexford-based Mr Hynes has brought a challenge over decisions made in March 2016 by an Appeals Tribunal of the Chartered Accountants convened to hear his appeal against findings made against him by CARB some 12 months earlier. In 2015, CARB'S disciplinary tribunal found Mr Hynes had been in breach of codes of ethics and principles that were meant to guide the profession in integrity, competence and truthfulness. Mr Hynes was the subject of multiple findings of misconduct and was barred from the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Those hearings, which lasted 14 days, heard complaints from investors who lost more than 18m on a number of property ventures Mr Hynes controlled including Tuskar Asset Management. He appealed the 2015 determinations, which the tribunal dismissed on March 8, 2016. In High Court proceedings against the Tribunal, he claims the decision of the tribunal to dismiss his appeal after it had refused to grant him an adjournment, because he required time to instruct a new legal team, amounted to a breach of fair procedures and was irrational. In his action, which came before Mr Justice Charles Meenan yesterday, Mr Hynes seeks orders including that the tribunal's decision to dismiss his appeal be quashed. The application is opposed by the tribunal, which denies all of Mr Hynes's claims. Opening the application, his counsel Frank Callanan said the dismissal of the appeal meant his client cannot hold himself out to be a chartered accountant, and severely impacted on his reputation. Counsel said his client had been represented in the earlier hearings by a solicitor and barrister. However weeks before the appeal was due to be heard he required new lawyers. He had a solicitor willing to represent him, but only if that solicitor obtained an adjournment of a month which the solicitor said it needed in order to prepare for the case. Counsel said there would have been no prejudice to the tribunal to grant an adjournment. However, his client was severely prejudiced by being refused an adjournment so he could get a legal team to represent him at the hearing, he said. In reply, Eileen Barrington SC, for the tribunal, said the tribunal was perfectly entitled to dismiss the appeal after it had rejected Mr Hyne's application for an adjournment. Following submissions from both parties Mr Justice Meenan reserved his decision. A series of videos posted by wife of the president Aisha Buhari is sparking a discussion on social media. In one video, Senator Isah Misau, representing Bauchi Central district is seen saying that its as if (president Buhari) is not in charge. Its as if some people are the ones in charge of this country. Even the DG NIA that we are talking about, they said some people in the cabal are the ones that appointed that person to be there. In another video the wife of the president reposted, Senator Ben Murray Bruce (Bayelsa East) lamented the lawlessness in Nigeria, saying Nigeria is becoming a country where there is no consequences for bad behaviour. We either have a government or we dont, he said. In a third video, Senator Misau is seen asking if the new director general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Ahmed Abubakar is qualified to be there, saying that he failed two exams. A director of a family run business which was the victim of theft by a former Galway hurling star has said the betrayal was exacerbated by his failure to apologise for two and a half years. Former Galway hurler David Glennon will be sentenced in May for the theft of 60,000 from his former employer which he used to fund his gambling addiction. Mr Glennon (26) from Loughrea, appeared at Galway Circuit Criminal Court for sentencing after he had pleaded guilty to seven sample charges of theft from J&C Kenny Wine Distributors between December 1, 2012 and July 8, 2015. The court heard that Mr Glennon spend the money on bookies, online gambling and virtual racing. The thefts, which totalled 60,750, came to light after Mr Glennon took over the account of a colleague while they were on holiday. Upon return the salesman noted money had not been returned to the cash office. He approached Mr Glennon and some of the money was repaid the next day. The matter was raised with the company owner who questioned Mr Glennon. He confessed he had a gambling problem and had been using money collected from clients to feed his addiction. Mr Glennon left the company that day and went directly to the Cluain Mhuire addiction treatment centre in Oranmore where he underwent a 12 week residential rehabilitation programme. An investigation noted 23 affected accounts, 18 were in the name of customers, one was in the name of David Glennon and four were found to be false accounts. A victim impact statement was read by Aoife Kenny, a director in the company who said the thefts had been a huge betrayal of the family and employees who had stood by Mr Glennon through his past struggle with addiction. She said the betrayal was exacerbated by the fact that it had taken Glennon two and a half years to apologise for his actions which could have put them out of business. The amount of money taken from us, as we are a small company almost caused our business to close, she said. She said the thefts had a serious impact on her life, the life of her father and lives of all employees. We struggled for many years to repair the damage he has caused both personally and financially, she added. Counsel for the defense Bernard Madden said the failure of his client to apologise had been a misunderstanding. Mr Glennon repaid 65,000 to the company last February. He apologised for his actions yesterday. The court also heard from former GAA star Oisin McConville who spoke highly of Mr Glennons efforts to overcome his addiction and highlight the issue of gambling addiction nationally. Mr McConville told the court Mr Glennon would be have to battle his addiction for the rest of his life but that he was helping others by speaking out about his struggle. He said Mr Glennon addressing 7,500 people in Dublin this week about his gambling was educating others while acting as therapy for him. Gambling addiction is always that monkey on your shoulder but it is up to us to keep it there and not to act on these things, he said. The court heard Mr Glennon has two previous convictions for road traffic offences and one conviction for assault causing harm. Judge Rory McCabe said the crimes were mid range in terms of severity and said the headline sentence prior to mitigation was four years. Taking in account mitigating circumstances that he co-operated fully, pleaded guilty early, repaid the funds and underwent counselling reduced this to two years. He adjourned the case until May 10, to allow a probation report be carried out. A judge has advised against travelling in a car with gangster Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch's widowed sister-in-law, after she was awarded 28,000 for a traffic accident. Noeleen Coakley Hutch (45) was married to The Monk's brother, Derek Hutch, who took his own life in 2009. She is the mother of notorious criminal Nathan Coakley (24). Circuit Court President Mr Justice Raymond Groarke said she was "a woman who just seems to attract misfortune" after she suffered a rear-end crash. Expand Close Nathan Coakley / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Nathan Coakley The court had heard she has been injured in six car accidents. "She seems to have an attraction for misfortune and the moral of the story is don't travel in a car with Ms Coakley," Judge Groarke told the court. Frank Crean, counsel for Ms Coakley, of Upper Buckingham Street, Dublin, outlined the injuries and compensation she had from each accident and said she had lost her husband tragically in 2009. He said liability had been conceded in the case, which had become an assessment of damages for personal injuries. Judge Groarke, when told of a similarity of injuries involved in each incident, said he believed her to be an honest lady who had quite a history of accidents. Insofar as she had described all of the accidents to him, he accepted she was an entirely innocent party. The judge said he took exception to the manner in which counsel for the defence sought to assume that because Ms Coakley had been involved in so many accidents, and had obtained in the region of 60,000 damages, she was "a chancer or a fraud". He said Ms Coakley was an honest lady. She sustained a serious dental injury, for which she had to receive emergency treatment including root canal treatment. She also suffered soft tissue injuries to her neck and shoulder. Judge Groarke told Mr Crean there was a complexity with regard to injuries she had suffered in the accidents and the time period over which she had achieved recovery. The judge was told Ms Coakley had been rear-ended while driving in Ballybough, on May 19, 2014, and had been brought by ambulance to the Emergency Department of the Mater Hospital, where she had been assessed and treated. Mr Crean told the court that since the incident, Ms Coakley had been injured in two subsequent accidents, details of which were not outlined to the judge. She said one of the earlier claims she made had been under her married name of Noeleen Hutch, of the same Upper Buckingham Street address. Ms Coakley, a part-time carer, had sued the driver of the second vehicle involved in the May 2014 accident - Ms Laura O'Neill, of Charleville Avenue, North Strand, Dublin 3 - whose insurance company had taken over the case. Judge Groarke assessed Ms Coakley's damages at 28,000 and awarded her legal costs. He granted a stay in event of an appeal, on condition of a payment out of 17,500. Ms Coakley's son, Nathan, is considered to be one of the most dangerous armed robbers in the capital, and had managed to evade any serious prison term for the majority of his life. However, his luck ran out last year when he was extradited from the UK to face a number of charges related to driving a stolen vehicle and armed robbery. One of the cases related to a city centre car chase on Christmas Eve 2015, when Coakley was spotted in a stolen car in the Ballsbridge area. Despite managing to flee the scene, the vehicle was later found to contain the thug's DNA, as well as a knife and a canister of petrol. He subsequently received a two-year jail term. A week later, Coakley received a five-year jail term for his role in the armed robbery of a Spar shop in north Dublin. Threats He has been placed on a secure landing with his associates in Wheatfield Prison due to ongoing threats from the Kinahan cartel. Though his mother has absolutely no involvement in crime, her north inner city home has been raided on numerous occasions because of the criminal activities of her son. Ms Coakley has been no stranger to tragedy in her personal life. Her husband, Derek (44), died at the Mater Hospital on February 23, 2009, two days after he was admitted with self-inflicted cuts on his arms and ankle. Hutch had reportedly approached gardai a week before taking his own life and admitted to killing a south Dublin man 18 years before. Dublin City Coroner's Court heard in January 2010 that his wife returned to her home on February 21 to find her husband lying semi-conscious and bloodied in the sitting room. A director of a family-run business which was the victim of theft by a former Galway hurling star has said the betrayal was exacerbated by his failure to apologise for two-and-a-half years. David Glennon will be sentenced in May for the theft of 60,000 from his former employer which he used to fund his gambling addiction. A Kildare man who was paid 50 to drive his friend to a 560,000 heroin deal in a reprehensible error of judgement has been jailed for two years. Shane Percival (24) has no previous convictions and told gardai he thought he was just driving his friend to pick up a few ounces of cannabis. Sentencing him in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court today, Judge Martin Nolan accepted Percival was of good character and was unlikely to come before the court again. He also noted a custodial sentence would be hard on Percival's family, as he helps care for his intellectually disabled sister. However, the judge said he had to mark the seriousness of the crime, given it involved more than half a million euro worth of drugs. I've been as lenient as I can, he said, handing down a sentence of two years, adding the sentence was for deterrence and punishment. It was a reprehensible error of judgement, Judge Nolan said. Percival of Mount Prospect, Rathangan, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing drugs for sale or supply at Aldi supermarket, Newlands Cross, Co Dublin on December 9, 2015. Detective Garda Thomas Griffin told Dean Kelly BL, prosecuting, that a garda surveillance operation was in place on Percival's co-accused, Gareth Prior, who had a number of previous convictions for drug offences. On the day in question, Percival was observed driving the car, in which Prior was a passenger. They parked in Aldi car park and a short while later, Prior was observed carrying a bag and interacting with a man in another car, identified by gardai as one Michael White. Gardai swooped on both cars and a bag containing four kilos of heroin was seized. The drugs had a street value of 560,000. When interviewed by gardai, Percival said he had agreed to drive Prior for 50 and he said he had no idea of the scale of the drug deal. He has never come to garda attention before. Dominic McGinn SC, defending, said his client was not a target in the garda surveillance operation and his only role was to drive the car. Mr McGinn said Percival has been in gainful employment since he left school and currently worked for a concrete company. He handed up a number of references which described him as diligent and hard-working. The court heard Percival lives with his elderly parents and helps care for his sister, who is intellectually disabled. Mr McGinn submitted a custodial sentence would mean a huge degree of hardship for the Percival family, who rely on his support. Mr McGinn said his client recognises the stupidity of what he's done and he urged Judge Nolan to consider imposing a non-custodial sentence. Prior (36) of Ramblers Court, Celbridge, Co Kildare, was previously jailed for 12 years with the final three years suspended, while White (42) of Moorefield Avenue, Clondalkin, Dublin was jailed for six years with the final three years suspended. A "genuine error" led to the O'Higgins Commission being told Sergeant Maurice McCabe attempted to "blackmail" a senior colleague, the Disclosures Tribunal has heard. The false allegation against the whistleblower was contained in a letter submitted to the commission by counsel for former Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan, after her lawyers were asked to justify a legal strategy that involved challenging Sgt McCabe's credibility and motivation. The letter, drafted in May 2015, alleged Sgt McCabe had told Superintendent Noel Cunningham at a meeting that the only reason he made a complaint against another senior officer, Supt Michael Clancy, was to force him to circulate DPP directions. The directions related to an investigation into a claim Sgt McCabe had sexually assaulted the daughter of a colleague. The allegation was dismissed by the DPP. It emerged later at the commission that Sgt McCabe had not made this comment to Supt Cunningham. He was able to produce a tape recording of the meeting, which took place in Mullingar in 2008, to prove this. Supt Cunningham's own notes of the meeting concurred with the tape recording. The letter should have said Sgt McCabe submitted complaints "to" Supt Clancy, rather than "against" him. The Garda liaison officer to the commission, Chief Supt Fergus Healy, told the tribunal the letter had been drafted by barristers for Ms O'Sullivan following consultation with Supt Cunningham and Chief Supt Colm Rooney. A draft of the letter was circulated to Garda officers and counsel asked that any errors be brought to their attention. Despite this no-one pointed out the mistake, which tribunal counsel Kathleen Leader said suggested "there was an almost blackmail situation going on". Chief Supt Healy said he did not know how the error made its way into the letter. "The content of it was a matter for the contributors, who were required to ensure its accuracy," Chief Supt Healy said. Barristers involved in the drafting of the letter are due to appear as witnesses next week. Chief Supt Healy said that after Sgt McCabe produced the tape recording and Supt Cunningham produced his notes "it was accepted by all" that "a genuine error" had been made. However, Chief Supt Healy said he had no recollection of any apology being issued to Sgt McCabe after the mistake came to light. He told the tribunal the commissioner was concerned about claims of corruption Sgt McCabe had made, and articulated this during a "meet and greet" meeting with her senior counsel, Colm Smyth, on May 21, 2015. The meeting, over a cup of tea, came the week after the commission had begun looking into the whistleblower's claims. A row erupted in the second day of hearings after Mr Smyth told the tribunal he had been instructed to challenge Sgt McCabe's motivation and credibility, and Ms O'Sullivan had to reconfirm her instructions. Chief Supt Healy said the allegations of corruption were the "main focus" of the commissioner at the brief meeting. He said they were "a very serious concern for her". The O'Higgins Commission determined many of the concerns Sgt McCabe expressed about Garda malpractice were well founded, but complaints of corruption against senior officers were either rejected by the commission or withdrawn by Sgt McCabe. AN Irish man has been missing in Austria since the early hours of yesterday morning. Ross Hanlon (21) from Athboy, Co. Meath went missing in Vienna at around 2am on Friday. He had travelled to the Austrian capital on a city break and became separated from his two friends during a night out socialising. His family and friends have been unable to contact him since. The young man was last seen outside Flex nightclub in the Augartenbrucke area of Vienna. Ross is described as 5ft 9 and of medium build. He was wearing a black shirt and blue jeans on the night he went missing. His family say they have contacted gardai and that Austrian authorities are aware of the situation. The Department of Foreign Affairs told Independent.ie that they are aware of the case and they are providing consular assistance. Gardai conducting the new investigation into the murder of the Kerry baby have vowed to go overseas in the search for the killer. Baby John was found stabbed to death on White Strand outside Cahersiveen 34 years ago. A new investigation into the murder of the baby has begun following a public apology to Joanne Hayes, who was wrongly accused of murder. The vow from senior gardai comes as a source close to the Hayes family said they are unlikely to want a fresh inquiry into the handling of the original Garda probe, saying: "They want peace and quiet." Expand Close Judge Kevin Lynch, who chaired the Kerry Babies Tribunal / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Judge Kevin Lynch, who chaired the Kerry Babies Tribunal Investigators into the shocking killing of Baby John have emphasised their determination to bring those responsible to justice. Superintendent Flor Murphy told the Irish Independent that a person involved in the infant's murder may have moved abroad over the last three decades, and that gardai will "go wherever the information takes us". Supt Murphy added: "He [John] deserved to live and to have the opportunity to live and that's why we have an obligation to pursue this." The senior garda said the investigation could lead to an international dimension in the hunt for the killer. Expand Close Supt John Courtney, who led the garda investigation / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Supt John Courtney, who led the garda investigation "There are a certain amount of inquiries on the ground but we're going wherever this information takes us," said Supt Murphy. "This was over 33 years ago and a person could have moved somewhere else in this time or overseas. These people could be anywhere in the globe." Expand Close Joanne Hayes / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Joanne Hayes Supt Murphy stressed there are not any persons of interest at this time. Earlier this week, senior detectives said that a "strong" person may have been "impeding" the investigation at the time. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has also stated that Government officials are in contact with Ms Hayes's solicitor over the possibility of compensation being paid out to her. Ms Hayes was initially accused of being the infant's mother and was charged with murder. This charge was subsequently dropped amid significant public disquiet. Advances in DNA profiling have recently proved conclusively that she was not related to Baby John. This week, Ms Hayes received an apology from An Garda Siochana over her ordeal and the manner in which the initial probe was carried out. However, a source close to the Hayes family last night said that a new inquiry into the Garda handling of the original investigation is "the last thing" they want. Joanne was subjected to very degrading personal questions. Having to revisit the nightmare and dragging it all up again would be the last thing she wants. Any inquiry would take years. "They want peace and quiet. Another investigation would be the last thing they want," the source stated. Supt Flor Murphy said that a wide range of inquiries are currently under way, which includes interviewing witnesses and door-to-door inquiries. Supt Murphy confirmed that gardai were getting help from the public in Cahersiveen and any suspicions or concerns people had are being investigated fully. He said the focus was on the wider community that was living in the Cahersiveen area in 1984, some of whom may have since moved away. "His mother carried him full term. Even if she concealed her pregnancy, it's very hard to conceal a newborn baby. "Was there other people present when she gave birth? Somebody knows what happened," Supt Murphy said. The Chairman of Independent News & Media (INM) Leslie Buckley is to stand down from the board on March 1, ending a tumultuous period at the helm of the country's biggest media company. Mr Buckley took on the chairmanship of the then dangerously indebted Irish media giant in 2012 after directors linked to former CEO Tony O'Reilly were swept from the board. His departure follows the exit late last year of former INM chief executive Robert Pitt. The two men had been embroiled in a long-running and high-profile dispute that broke-out over a move by INM two years ago to buy radio station Newstalk. The radio station is owned by Denis O'Brien, INM's biggest single shareholder and Mr Buckley's long-time business associate. The fallout from that row continues. Yesterday, INM announced Mr Buckley (pictured inset) had informed the company he will step down at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to be held on March 1. Four new non-executive directors, John Bateson, Fionnuala Duggan, Murdoch MacLennan and Seamus Taaffe, have been nominated to the board. Given the sweeping scale of the changes, those appointments will be subject to ratification at the March EGM. Mr Bateson is a nominee of Dermot Desmond, who owns 15pc of INM, the second biggest stake. Each of the other three newcomers will serve as independent non-executive directors. Mr Buckley said: "I have taken the decision to retire from the board in March after five-and-a-half years as chairman. I would like to thank my board colleagues, the INM management team and all the great people who work for the company for their support during what has been an eventful and challenging time for both the company and for the Irish newspaper industry as a whole." The INM board thanked Mr Buckley for his leadership and his contribution to the company since his appointment in 2012, noting the strength of the group's finances following his term as chairman. Under the Cork-born executive's chairmanship, INM emerged from under debts of more than 430m built up during a debt fuelled pre-crash expansion. Since 2013 that position has been turned around and the business now has a cash surplus in excess of 90m. But Mr Buckley's tenure was also controversial, in particular his relationship with Mr Pitt, who he appointed to the role. The two were at loggerheads for more than a year until Mr Pitt stepped down, dating back to the potential bid for Newstalk. They disagreed over the price INM might pay for the radio business after receiving conflicting valuations from corporate finance advisers, with the chairman reportedly happy to pay significantly more than his CEO. While no offer was ever made by INM, Robert Pitt complained at board level and to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE), the State's corporate affairs watchdog in 2016, about the situation. An uneasy truce as those complaints were investigated flared into open hostility last summer when Mr Pitt publicly failed to endorse the chairman at INM's annual general meeting. That unprecedented impasse crippled decision making at board level, sapped investor appetite and racked up huge legal and administrative costs. A legal effort by the ODCE to access files held by Mr Buckley as part of its subsequent INM investigations is due back in the High Court on Monday. Mr Buckley has opposed that move on the basis the files are protected by legal privilege. Non-executive director Allan Marshall will also retire from the board. Shares in INM were up by 6.25pc at the end of the session. An Irish artist is gaining a growing reputation online for his portraits of famous faces created in a rather unusual medium: Nutella. The chocolate and hazelnut spread is best known as a tasty treat but Laois artist Mike Gibson has turned it into a tool for creating works of art. Speaking to Independent.ie, Mike (22) from Portarlington, told us that he got the idea from looking around his home. "I always try to challenge myself in my work and this time I looked closer to home. Nutella is something most people have in the house so I thought I would try it," he said. Mike, who usually works in pencil, says he has been very interested in art from a young age and he has been working as an artist since he left school. "After school I wasn't sure what to do as a career so I began to put portraits of celebrities I did online for family and friends. It kept getting bigger and bigger and now I can wake up to thousands of reactions to my images online." Now working as an artist, and a model, Mike has over 60,000 followers on Instagram and some of his Nutella-based portraits of celebrities have received over 5,000 'likes' on the social media platform. Mike, who has worked with brands like Coca Cola and Primark, tells us that the Nutella portraits are interesting to do as it is not a traditional artist's medium and that they take about an hour to do. Sadly, for anyone out there who would like to commission a Nutella portrait of a loved one, Mike says that may be difficult. "I'm not sure how I would package it to arrive intact but here's hoping one day technology will sort that out," he said. Expand Close Ed Sheeran / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ed Sheeran Expand Close Conor McGregor / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Conor McGregor A recent portrait of Brendan O'Carroll as Mrs Brown went down well with some of the comedian's colleagues. "I know the cast from Mrs Brown's Boys have commented on the work," said Mike. "I have a lot more to come," he added. Expand Close Mrs Brown / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mrs Brown Mike also plans to try out other household products for his art but he wasn't keen to reveal his plans just yet. "You'll have to wait and see," he said. Check out more of Mike's work on his Instagram page @mikegibsonartwork The Governor of Imo State and Chairman of the All Progressives Congress Governors Forum, Rochas Okorocha, has said that the governors elected on the platform of the party, have unanimously agreed that President Muhammadu Buhari deserves a second term in office and have therefore asked him to declare to run in the next election. Okorocha gave the hint while fielding questions from journalists at the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri, on his arrival from Abuja on Friday. He stated that the President had justified his first term mandate and should have his mandate renewed. He also revealed that the APC governors had unanimously endorsed the reappointment of the former Governor of Rivers State, who is currently the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, as the Director-General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation. He said that Amaechi did well as the Director-General of the campaign outfit in 2015 and therefore should be allowed to repeat such a good work. Okorocha said, We were in Abuja for three days, holding meetings of the Progressive Governors with the APC leadership. We deliberated on so many issues. First among the very important issues that we discussed, was the issue of Mr. Presidents second term bid and it has the endorsement of all the governors of the APC. There is the need for him to complete his second term as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and he should go ahead to declare (to run for reelection). We also deliberated and a unanimous decision was reached that we liaise with the campaign team, to be headed by the Minister of Transportation, Amaechi, as the Director-General. The governors also endorsed his (Amaechis) reappointment as the Director-General of the campaign team due to his track record ahead of the last election. Four years are not enough to show what the President can offer. We believe that another four years will bring out the best in him. The first four years are a very difficult period, and we believe that as things are stabilising, he will take Nigeria to the next level. The governors have serious responsibilities. All the governors were asked to put up a team as the campaign council. Mike Pence shook hands and posed for photographs with the troops in the airport terminal (Niall Carson/PA) The greeting of American soldiers by US Vice President Mike Pence at Shannon Airport raises questions over Irish neutrality, Sinn Fein has said. Aengus O Snodaigh TD said the meeting "highlights the erosion of Irish neutrality". Mr Pence shook hands and posed for photographs with the troops in the airport terminal during a re-fuelling stop by Air Force Two on Saturday morning. The soldiers were on their way to Kuwait. Expand Close Mike Pence shook hands and posed for photographs with the troops in the airport terminal (Niall Carson/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mike Pence shook hands and posed for photographs with the troops in the airport terminal (Niall Carson/PA) Mr Pence was travelling to the Middle East with stops in Egypt, Jordan and Israel. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was also at Shannon Airport on Saturday morning to meet officials about the growth in passenger numbers. He did not meet with Mr Pence. It is understood both men were in the airport at different times. Mr Pence later tweeted about his refuelling stop at Shannon. He said: "Honoured to see troops based out of Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado while refueling in Ireland. "They are headed to Kuwait for a six-month deployment." Mr O Snodaigh said the incident "shows how much Irish neutrality has been undermined by successive Irish governments". "That the US vice-president could address US soldiers, supposedly on their way to the Middle East, in the civilian airport in Shannon, shows just how much successive Irish governments have undermined Irish neutrality. "These images are a stark reminder that the civilian Shannon Airport has virtually become a forward base for the US army to carry out military operations and exercises," he said. Mr O Snodaigh added: "Sinn Fein has always stated that the US military's use of Shannon Airport makes a mockery of Irish neutrality and the Irish Government's supposed commitment to neutrality." He said he is to raise the issue with the defence minister next week. Mary Lou McDonald is being introduced to Sinn Fein this morning by party leader Gerry Adams as the party's president-elect. The politician (48) was the only candidate proposed to replace Adams as the deadline for other candidates to put their names forward expired yesterday evening. "I feel an enormous sense of pride being at this gathering with you," she told the Sinn Fein Ard Chomhairle this morning. "I would like to thank all those who nominated me. "I don't for a moment underestimate the scale on a personal level and on a professional level." She added; "I never thought come February 10 I would be the boss man!" McDonald continued; "The truth is, many friends have correctly said to me that I have big shoes to fill, but the truth is no one will ever fill Gerry Adams' shoes." She is now set to take up the post on February 10. Dublin Central TD Ms McDonald unfailingly defended outgoing leader Mr Adams during a string of controversies in recent years. Speaking ahead of the party's last Ard Fheis, she also refused to distance herself from Provisional IRA atrocities. Ms McDonald's judgment was called into question by political opponents following her response to the controversy caused by former Sinn Fein MP Barry McElduff's offensive social media post about the Kingsmill massacre. Ms McDonald had criticised Mr McElduff but described the three-month suspension handed down by the party as "appropriate and proportionate". Mr McElduff later resigned. She is set to take over from Mr Adams, after his more than three-decade stint leading Sinn Fein, on February 10. Ms McDonald yesterday shared several social media posts by supporters, including some bearing the hashtag "#ShesThe1". Maurice Quinlivan, Donnchadh O Laoghaire, Louise O'Reilly and former IRA member Martin Ferris were among TDs publicly expressing support. Ms O'Reilly said Ms McDonald was "a strong republican woman to take us forward" and Mr Ferris used a video posted on Twitter to encourage all party members to support her. Fiachra McGuinness, son of the late deputy first minister Martin McGuinness, also endorsed Ms McDonald. Mary Lou McDonald is widely expected to take over from Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams unopposed after the deadline for other candidates to put their names forward expired. Sinn Fein last night refused to say if there will be any opposition to Ms McDonald when the party selects its new president at a special Ard Fheis next month. A party statement last night said the Sinn Fein Ard Chomhairle will meet in Belfast today "to discuss the outcome of the nomination process". Dublin Central TD Ms McDonald (right) unfailingly defended outgoing leader Mr Adams during a string of controversies in recent years. Speaking ahead of the party's last Ard Fheis, she also refused to distance herself from Provisional IRA atrocities. Ms McDonald's judgment was called into question by political opponents following her response to the controversy caused by former Sinn Fein MP Barry McElduff's offensive social media post about the Kingsmill massacre. Ms McDonald had criticised Mr McElduff but described the three-month suspension handed down by the party as "appropriate and proportionate". Mr McElduff later resigned. She is set to take over from Mr Adams, after his more than three-decade stint leading Sinn Fein, on February 10. Ms McDonald yesterday shared several social media posts by supporters, including some bearing the hashtag "#ShesThe1". Maurice Quinlivan, Donnchadh O Laoghaire, Louise O'Reilly and former IRA member Martin Ferris were among TDs publicly expressing support. Ms O'Reilly said Ms McDonald was "a strong republican woman to take us forward" and Mr Ferris used a video posted on Twitter to encourage all party members to support her. Fiachra McGuinness, son of the late deputy first minister Martin McGuinness, also endorsed Ms McDonald. Tony Galbraith, Cathy McGimpsey and Stevie Conn from Bangor Aurora who helped save the life of Eric Capes, a regular swimmer there The family of a pensioner who suffered a heart attack while swimming at a leisure centre has praised its staff for "saving his life". Eric Capes (74) was pulled unconscious from the water by lifeguards who began CPR on him. The grandfather, who swims at the pool at Bangor Aurora leisure centre in Co Down every week, had suffered a cardiac episode and was spotted sinking in the water by another swimmer on Tuesday. Staff members used the leisure centre's defibrillator to resuscitate him, while they called for an ambulance. Eric's son Gareth thanked staff for their heroic act and said that without their quick-thinking, his dad would not be alive today. "It was the training and quick thinking. "You see these defibrillator machines everywhere but you don't give it much thought, but when something like this happens you see how invaluable they are, and the people who are using them," Gareth said. "He was lying there beside the pool for three minutes and they were able to save him. "Instead of planning a funeral, we are able to praise everyone for their quick actions. I can't thank the staff enough - without them I wouldn't have a dad today." Eric, who is recovering in the Ulster Hospital, Dundonald swims at the centre once a week to keep fit. Gareth explained that his dad will now have to undergo a heart bypass procedure and will be in hospital for up to six weeks. Gareth added: "The doctors said that if he had been anywhere else he might not have been so lucky. "He's naturally a very fit man - he volunteers at the Abbey Church and goes walking and has six grandkids to keep him going, so he enjoys keeping fit. We are very lucky to have him alive today." Stevie Conn, the facilities manager at Bangor Aurora, said: "I was in a meeting at the time of the incident, but heard on the tannoy that there was a 'code blue poolside', which meant a swimmer was in difficulty. "We rushed from the meeting to find lifeguards Tony Galbraith and Cathy McGimpsey resuscitating Eric using CPR, then our in-house defibrillator. "Our reception staff had already called for an ambulance. This was a whole team effort, though. They all came together to help Eric, from the lifeguards and reception staff to our sales people. "This just shows what a great bunch of people we've got here at the Aurora." Mr Conn said the team was looking forward to seeing Eric back at the centre. UUP MLA for North Down, Alan Chambers, paid tribute to the staff and members of the public who assisted. "The staff spend many long hours on training for such an emergency and I am delighted that this all kicked in when they were called on to deal with an actual rescue and resuscitation event," he said. "Their professional response should be reassuring to all those who use the centre." The MLA said the incident underlined the importance of defibrillators. He commented: "I fought long and hard to convince council that a defibrillator was essential equipment for a leisure facility and not something that was bought just to hang on a wall. "I was delighted to finally convince them to purchase such equipment and this is the second time it has been used in a life-saving situation in council leisure facilities. "I hope the rescued gentleman makes a full recovery." Filip with his sister Olivia, and grandparents Helena and Kazimierz Czyszczon during a family holiday in Poland. Filip Fraszczyk (5) with his mother Magdalena, father Piotr, and his sister Olivia. Five-year-old Filip was born without the ability to swallow. His mother Magdalena can easily remember the panic-filled moment her little one-day-old boy turned blue like a plum in a corridor of the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street. Everything looked really well. We phoned all our family in Poland waking them up to tell them this wonderful news. I breastfed Filip with my midwife's help. Then we all went to the ward. While I was on my bed, I noticed Filip hadnt arrived back. I didn't know that on the corridor my midwife was fighting for his life. I didn't see this horror. My husband told me about it. On the corridor Filip had difficulties with breathing and his body went all blue like a plum. The midwife saved Filips life in one of Holles Streets corridors, she said. We will be grateful until the end of our lives for what she did, Magdalena said. Filip was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit, and later that night his parents Magdalena and Piotr Fraszczyk, who are originally from Poland and living in Rathmines, Dublin 6, were told that he needed surgery on his oesophagus. To compound the situation even further, the parents were told that because Filip was so tiny, weighing 2.620 kg (five pounds, eight ounces) when he was born, there was a chance he would not survive the surgery. Thank God, the surgery went well. We are so grateful and will be until the end of our lives to our surgeons and whole team who took part in the surgery and saved Filips life. In time, the parents were given the news that Filip had a rare illness called tracheo-oesophageal fistula (TOF), an abnormal connection (fistula) between the oesophagus and the trachea. TOF condition is a life threatening birth defect which occurs in one out of every 3,500 live births. It was such a huge shock for me as we didn't know anything while I was pregnant. I have never cried in my whole life as I did then, Magdalena said. Just before Christmas, 23 days after he was born, Filip was allowed to go home. He was a fussy eater, and suffered with GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease). Filip is at a constant risk of choking, and needs to be supervised when he eats and drinks. His oesophagus doesn't push food down properly and he has a tendency to get food stuck and chokes, Magdalena said. At a friends christening, Magdalena had to come to Filips aid when he started to choke on his food. I just sat him down with his head down and tapping his back and then I rotated him so that he was facing up with his head lower than my knees, and I gave him chest thrusts until the food moves. It is like living on a bomb because I never know when Filip will choke and if this time I will be able to help him myself or if Ill need to call an ambulance. After these episodes he usually cries, and I do too and afterwards he doesn't want to touch food anymore because he is scared. Filip underwent two inguinal hernia repair surgeries, one in September 2016, and the other in January 2017. Magdalena explained: Filip gets infections very often and many times has to be treated with antibiotics. It is because children with this condition have a low immune system. Other than that he is a very happy child, full of energy, and hes always smiling. Magdalena spoke to Independent.ie hoping to increase awareness about her son's lifelong condition. For more information, see here Reader Travel Awards 2018, as revealed in Weekend Magazine and Independent.ie. Its time to tell the world about your favourite, little-known off-the-beaten-track Irish attraction for 2018. Here's the winner... Ireland's Hidden Gem Winner: Hook Lighthouse, Co Wexford It may have been keeping watch over the coastline for some 800 years, but that hasnt stopped you naming Hook Lighthouse Irelands Hidden Gem. The tour is fascinating, you told us. Seeing is believing, you added. They have really taken off and have added additional seasonal tours which Im now dying to try! Key to the Hooks resurgence has been an investment in new technology, family-friendly events and creative programming (see our feature on the lighthouse here), as well as making the most of its location within Irelands Ancient East. Read the full results of our 2018 Reader Travel Awards here. The lighthouse brings its stories alive, which is exactly what the brand is all about. But the distinctive, black-and-white striped lighthouse has also woken a whole new generation of visitors to the wonders of the short, sweet and spectacular Hook Peninsula. I just love Hook Head in Wexford, stunning views and a beautiful walk, you said, while also pointing out neighbouring attractions like Loftus Hall, Baginbun beach and Dunbrody Abbey. Its a beautiful area with so many stories to tell. Ireland's Top 10 hidden gems Expand Close Inside the Pearse Lyons Distillery in Dublin. Photo: Donal Murphy / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Inside the Pearse Lyons Distillery in Dublin. Photo: Donal Murphy 1. Hook lighthouse, Co Wexford The tour is fascinating... 2. Pearse Lyons Distillery, Dublin (above) Its like a boutique distillery, small and cosy, with a gorgeous glass spike! 3. Doolin Cave, Co Clare The Great stalactite has been growing undisturbed for half a million years... 4. Slieve league, Co Donegal In my opinion more beautiful than the Cliffs of Moher, and it feels untouched 5. Lough Boora, Co Offaly A wonderful, wild open space for walking and exploring wildlife 6. Bray to Greystones cliff walk, Co Wicklow Absolutely stunning, especially on a sunny day 7. Fairy bridges, Bundoran, Co Donegal While youre there, take a seat on Bundorans own .wishing chair 8. Marshs library, Dublin I only discovered it recently. Well worth a visit and unknown to most Dubliners 9. Little Museum of Dublin Not just included on our readers list of favourites, but voted TripAdvisors top small museum to visit in Ireland. 10. Loop Head Lighthouse, Co Clare Just up from there are the Bridges of Ross, which are wonderful surprises every step of the way! Read more: Short-haul, long-haul, frills, no-frills airlines can impress in any number of ways. But which is your favourite for 2018? Ireland's favourite airline 2018 Winner: Aer Lingus While I love Ryanair, who have driven down prices making travel more affordable and accessible for us all (especially with four kids!), I have to give Aer Lingus my vote, one reader told us. I always feel a wee bit special on an Aer Lingus flight. That specialness saw Aer Lingus run away with our award... for the second year running. The airline is a home from home, you said, a comfort blanket that repeatedly goes the extra mile for its customers. Expand Close Pictured striking her 'Rocky' pose, from the film synonymous with Philadelphia City, was Mae McGreevy, Aer Lingus Cabin Crew. Picture Jason Clarke / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Pictured striking her 'Rocky' pose, from the film synonymous with Philadelphia City, was Mae McGreevy, Aer Lingus Cabin Crew. Picture Jason Clarke Like our judges, you noted its distinctly Irish feel (despite being bought by IAG in 2015). It stands the test of time, you commented, using words like professionalism, courteous, friendly, helpful and smiling again and again when discussing its staff. Aer Lingus cabin crew treat me like a person, you said... and thats clearly something you value. Read the full results of our 2018 Reader Travel Awards here. In 2018, the airline will add new routes to Philadelphia and Seattle among others. At least eight new Airbus A321LR aircraft are en route in the coming years, and passenger numbers are growing. Readers noted that Aer Lingus can be more expensive than Ryanair; judges noted the rocky rollout of its Aer Club loyalty programme. But the personal touch of its frontline staff trumps any quibbles. Think of the reader given a free can of 7-Up because I was sick, and the air hostess noticed, or the cabin crew member spotted chasing a passenger from the plane with a small teddy a baby had dropped. Others thanked the airline for its sensitivity towards passengers with anxiety and autism. No gimmicks, you said. It still feels like OUR airline. TRAVEL TRENDS 2018: Ryanairs resilience Expand Close Ryanair has filed a motion with a UK court saying it would no longer accept the jurisdiction of English and Welsh courts in flight delay cases. Photo: Getty / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ryanair has filed a motion with a UK court saying it would no longer accept the jurisdiction of English and Welsh courts in flight delay cases. Photo: Getty 2017 was Ryanairs annus horribilis. First, there was customer uproar over random seating assignments. Then came the botched handling of a pilot rostering failure, and the threat of a Christmas strike. All were duly noted by readers in this years votes (Theyve let me down, as one of you said), with Ryanair falling back noticeably against Aer Lingus. But and its a big but for all the PR disasters, the airlines passenger numbers and profits continue to grow. Ryanair introduced cheap travel to ordinary people, you reminded us. We havent forgotten that. Your Say: Well done to all personnel in Dublin Airports service to disabled passengers. Its cheerful and efficient, making all airlines accessible. Youve opened the door to travelling for me again. Much appreciated. Garrett Fitzgerald of Brother Hubbard, winner of 'Ireland's Best Breakfast' in our Reader travel Awards 2018 An amazing breakfast is essential to a great holiday (and indeed, a great day). But which slap-up feast got our readers' vote? Ireland's best breakfast 2018 Winner: Brother Hubbard, Dublin Brother Hubbard just always wins when youre weighing up where to go for breakfast/brunch, you told us. Granted, this isnt the place to pitch up for the Full Irish, but readers and judges felt the cafe and restaurant was a worthy winner of Irelands best breakfast, because it takes that breakfast into a new era. Breakfast was so last decade, one of you told us. Give me brunch any day. In an era when our morning meal can be so many things healthy or indulgent, greasy or green, early or late Garrett Fitzgerald and James Bolands Dublin-based business offers both (and lunch and dinner, too). Its Irish with a twist, as you describe it, and sooooo veggie-friendly. Read the full results of our 2018 Reader Travel Awards here. Readers stop by its Capel Street (North) and Harrington Street (South) outlets for calm, relaxing atmosphere, for great coffee and of course, the hotly-tipped avo and eggs the best in Dublin. Whats on the menu? Try the slow-cooked organic porridge or toasted Georgian bread slathered in butter for basic creature comforts. Avo and Eggs puts smashed avocado and chickpea on toasted sourdough with poached eggs, harissa yoghurt, dukkah (a nutty spice mix) and other flourishes. Theres an imaginative Middle Eastern and North African influence, but you can also indulge in ham hock and beans, a bacon and cheese sambo, an array of scones and the much-loved cinnamon and walnut scroll. Throw in lashings of teas and coffees, fresh juices (and Prosecco, if youre so inclined), and you have the makings of a 21st-century start to the day. Details: 01 441-1112; brotherhubbard.ie Your Say: 5 fab Irish breakfasts Expand Close Breakfash muffin, with bacon, tomato, poached egg and a wholegrain mustard hollandaise prepared by Brian Heaton of Castlewood House, Dingle. Photo: Don MacMonagle. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Breakfash muffin, with bacon, tomato, poached egg and a wholegrain mustard hollandaise prepared by Brian Heaton of Castlewood House, Dingle. Photo: Don MacMonagle. 1. MacNean House & Restaurant, Blacklion, Co Cavan Scrumptious the best breakfast I have ever had, you said. Last year, you voted Neven Maguires Blacklion gem Irelands tastiest food experience. nevenmaguire.com 2. Avoca, Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow A lovely room to relax in and the food is great Plenty of options from the full Irish to the more hipster avocado on toast, you said of the Irish institution, now owned by Aramark. avoca.com 3. Cliff House Hotel, Ardmore, Co Waterford The room service breakfast arrived on a silver trolley with a bain-marie insert so the food was piping hot. What decadence to munch in your dressing gown on superb eggs and bacon while watching the waves crashing outside Mmm! cliffhousehotel.ie 4 Castlewood House, Dingle, Co Kerry Living in America, I have often been tempted to jump on a plane just to come for a day and have breakfast at Castlewood House still dreaming of the poached pears. Brian and Helen Heatons guesthouse (pictured above) was last years winner in this category. castlewooddingle.com 5. Liberty Grill, Cork Poached eggs on avo sourdough toast with allllll the sides in Liberty Grill was the best breakfast Ive ever had with the option of a glass of Prosecco? Yes please! Could 2018 see Cork reclaim its foodie crown? libertygrill.ie Read more: Caitlin McBride checks into Monart voted Ireland's favourite spa in our Reader Travel Awards 2018. And yes, it lives up to the hype... Set the Mood This was my third time to Monart so I know what to expect. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference After a dazzling first trip, Ive made an informal pact with myself to try and visit once a year. So far, so good. On arrival, guests are transported to an alternate universe where theres no Wi-Fi or newspapers (except in the main house) and white robes are the uniform du jour, regardless of where or who you are. Its also an adults-only environment. While checking in, we are enveloped in some rare winter afternoon sunshine through the glass windows surrounding reception... more resembling a luxurious wellness centre in Thailand than private premises a few kilometres outside Enniscorthy. Read the full results of our Reader Travel Awards 2018. Guilty Pleasure Expand Close Five-star: Monart Spa in Co Wexford offers a five-day detox programme which has a strict ban on sugar and alcohol / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Five-star: Monart Spa in Co Wexford offers a five-day detox programme which has a strict ban on sugar and alcohol Monart is considered among the best spas in the world and its easy to see why with one glance at its world-class facilities. Over a three day stay, I indulged in two treatments: a Deep Tissue Massage (115) to work through the knots in my back (of which there are many), and a Swedish massage (85) the following day to soothe my aching muscles. In addition to the Thermal Suite (above), guests are invited to lose hours by reading in the relaxation rooms ideal for those days when you both want, and need, to escape from the outside world. Mobile phones arent permitted - and even if you do sneak a status update or two, the signal is so purposely weak that its not worth trying. And really, there is no better feeling than sitting with your feet soaking in a hot footbath reading a good book, knowing the rest of the world will be just as it was when youre ready to return to it after checkout. Cheap Kick Expand Close Monart: Voted Ireland's favourite spa for 2018 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Monart: Voted Ireland's favourite spa for 2018 If youre not ready for the spa party to end after check-out, guests can avail of the facilities for three additional hours in order to maximise that relaxation time. The 2,000-square foot spa boasts nine thermal rooms, which have been modelled off a heating and cooling bathing ritual. They advise two hours to immerse yourself in everything. Fitness classes are also included in the price of your hotel stay, with small, but impressive, gym facilities. Read More Top Tip Expand Close Relaxing at Monart... / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Relaxing at Monart... Monart are always hosting great offers, but the best finds are available mid-week. So if you can snag a few days off work or move things around with the kids, youll get the exact same service at a cheaper price. The three-day Monart Life programme, for example, includes food, treatments, individual evaluations and a personal trainer for 479pps. Day spa packages are also available with six hours spa access and a treatment for 125. There are also plenty of options vailable for unique cases like mums-to-be, and specially trained therapists are available for cancer patients. Glitches Even the basic rooms are substantially sized like mini-suites, with a seating area, table and chairs and a king size bed that even Louis XIV would be comfortable in. However, these beautiful rooms arent soundproofed, which means you can hear everyone entering and exiting their rooms... and they arent particularly quiet about it. Get Me There Expand Close Monart Spa / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Monart Spa Monart is approximately five minutes drive from Enniscorthy town centre and can be accessed by train, bus and car. Taxis are limited, so I would suggest pre-booking in advance of your arrival time or, ideally, driving. Room prices start at 179pps including dinner and breakfast, plus one treatment and full access to the thermal suite. Call 053 923-8999 or visit monart.ie for more. WhatsApp The woman, Nobuhle Moyo, stole the phone belonging to the late husband of her neighbour during the funeral, all along pretending to be a sympathiser to the grieving wife. The widow, Lynethy Mapenzauswa, 65, who was grieving over her husbands death later realised that his phone was missing. Immediately Moyo laid hands on the phone, she reportedly switched it off and hid it in her underwear. Consequently, a diligent search by other concerned guests yielded nothing, and Moyo seemed to have had the laugh laugh. However, two weeks later, Moyo changed the deceaseds WhatsApp profile picture and put hers up, not knowing that she needed to create a WhatsApp account of her own, instead of continuing with her neighbours late husbands account. Elated, she made her profile status read, Im happy. The happiness didnt last long, though, as the deceaseds daughter, Stella Mapenzauswa, noticed Moyos profile picture on her late fathers WhatsApp display picture. She then downloaded it and sent it to her mother, who confirmed that it was Moyos image. The case was reported to the police, which led to her arrest. She appeared before the Western Commonage magistrate Stephen Ndlovu and pleaded guilty to a theft charge. She was fined $100 and ordered to return the cell phone. On Friday night I headed for the Ballymascanlon Hotel where the 64th Grammar School Dinner Dance was taking place and by the time I got there the place was really starting to fill up with debutants, their partners, teachers and parents. I was only in the door when I met up with Gwenneth Byrne originally from Dublin but now living in Nobber who was there with her daughter Hannah. Gwenneth told me she had been at a function at in the hotel recently and had really enjoyed the whole experience and that was why she decided to come to the debs. Next I met up with Bobby McCabe and Emilyrose Murphy from Termonfeckin who were looking extremely well and told me they were definitely there to make the best of the night. They were having a laugh with Kristian Mooney also from Termonfeckin, Bevis Wong from Hong Kong and Hannah Byrne who assured me they were there to party the night away. Making my way over to another table where I met up with Matthew Copas from Dromiskin who had brought Daniella Kaiser who had travelled from Cork specially to be there and told me they couldn't wait for the night to really get under way, as did Hasnat Naseen from Blackrock who was looking extremely sharp in his suit. Not too far away I then got talking to Edward Wogan from Blackrock who was standing chatting to Masaki Watanabe from Japan and the lads told me they were up for a major night of fun with all their classmates. Making my way through the crowds I then got a quick word with Oisin Matthews from Stackallen who had brought the delightful Sinead Marsh from Maynooth and they were sporting the matching dickie-bow and dress, just in case one got lost! One couple who were definitely going to make the best of the night were Ruth and Declan Hynes from Jonesboro who are both teachers in the school and were enjoying their first night out together in far too long. They wanted to thank babysitters (Ruth's parents) John and Sharon Eveson for looking after Rachel and Annabel for the night. Looking sharp in his check suit was Cormac Smyth from Louth Village who told me he had brought Rachel Rooney also from Louth Village, but unfortunately had misplaced her when I was talking to him. After this I met up with Caroline McArdle from Dromiskin who was up for making the best of the night with Rachel Goodwin and Michael Logue from both from Drogheda who were only in and looking forward to making it an epic night. Also just in were Emma Cervi from Louth Village and Dustin Dai from China who both looked extremely well and assured me they were definitely up for making it a good night together. Enjoying a quiet drink before being joined by his date for the night I then got a swift word with Sean Walsh from Dunleer who awaiting the arrival of Aoife McGeough from Knockbridge and did he look happy when she arrived over looking stunning. Also looking exceptionally well when I caught up with them were Megan Mullen from Ravensdale and Rosie Donaldson from Stabannon who were there on the respective arms of Brian Kelly from Dromiskin and Andrew Laverty-Bent from Mount Avenue. Meanwhile up near the bar I then had the pleasure of talking to Orla Murtagh from Ashbrook and Saoirse Woods from Leitrim who were there with Jack Nordon from Springfield and Jack Reid from Blackrock and the lads assured me the lads assured me it was going too be a great night. Not too long later I caught up with Rachel Rooney again and this time she was having a laugh with Alvin McElwaine from Monaghan who told me she was with Sean Byrne from Louth Village and the girls assured me it was going to be a fantastic night. Looking exceptionally well were headmaster Jonathan Graham and his delightful wife Jayne who told me they were excited about the night and looking forward to it too. After this I managed a few words with Peter McElroy from Carrickmacross who was Eva Williams from Ardee who were both bringing each other and told me they were going to have a brilliant time. Beside them I met Owen Henry from Rostrevor who was with Lauren Kenny from Castlebellingham who told me it was bound to be a good night and no mistake. Dundalk born writer Katherine Duffy was delighted that one of her short stories has been included the 'Best European Fiction 2018' collection from Dalkey Archive Press. 'The Frankenstein Tree' is currently featured on the New Irish Fiction category of the Culture section of RTE's website. The Chapel Street native, who now lives in Dublin, also had a short story sshortlisted for the Strands International Short Story competition in July last year. 'Quick in the Water, which is set in the old Blackrock swimming pool, will appear in their water-themed anthology, due for publication early in 2018. Katherine is perhaps best known for her poetry, and her second poetry collection 'Sorrow's Egg', was published by the Dedalus Press in 2011 and was featured later that year on the RTE Arts programme 'Arena'. Work from the collection was translated into French by Anne Mounic and included in 'Four Irish Poets /Quatre poetes irlandais' which was edited by Cliona Ni Riordain. 'I travelled to the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris with the three other poets included, Pat Boran, Mary Montague and Gerry Murphy, to give readings on Bloomsday that year, and that was a hugely enjoyable experience,' she recalls. 'Haute Couture', a poem from 'Sorrow's Egg' about Howth Head was included in 'If Ever You Go: A Map of Dublin in Poetry and Song', which was selected as the Dublin One City One Book in 2014 and was among the books presented to Prince Charles on his visit to Ireland in 2015. The same poem was also featured in the exciting eMultipoetry project 'Poems on the Wall', where poems by poets living in the various UNESCO cities of literature were projected onto the walls of a building in Bracka St., Krakow. Since then she had poems published at home and abroad in magazines and journals such as Magma, the Rialto, the Stinging Fly, the Cork Examiner, and many more. 'Translation is another literary activity I enjoy,' says Katherine. 'Rambling Jack', my translation of Micheal O Conghaile's novella 'Seachran Jeaic Sheain Johnny' was published in a dual-language edition by Dalkey Archive Press, and I've recently completed translations of Mairtin O Cadhain's short stories for the Galway publishing house, Clo Iar-Chonnacht.' On Wednesday night I headed for the Basement Gallery in the Town Hall for the official launch of an exhibition of paintings from Mark Bourke from Dromiskin. With 25 pieces on show the eclectic mix is his debut exhibition under the Emerging Artist banner and is an outstanding body of work. I wasn't too long in the door when I met up with fellow artist Donal Costello who said it is an excellent collection and the surroundings really help to show it off to its best and wanted to wish Mark all the best. After this I then headed over for a word with Fiona and Denis Mooney from Mullaharlin Road who said they've known Mark for years and he definitely is a gifted artist and the exhibition is a true insight to his work. Not too far away I met up with Larry Quinn from Little Road and Ann White from Strokeshill who said she is his neighbour and his work is fabulous and really different. They both agreed that he is exceptionally talented and were thoroughly enjoying his opening night. Making my way through the crowds I then managed a few words with Ambrose Doyle and Ann O'Neill both from Dromiskin who agreed that Mark is hugely talented, has great potential and hopefully this is the start of bigger and better things for him. I then headed over for a word with Michael and Roisin Byrne from Castlebellingham who said they have known him for ages and wanted to congratulate him on an excellent exhibition and he is a real hidden talent. After this I got talking to one of Mark's friends Jason Mulligan from Dromiskin who thought the pieces on show are fantastic and not bad for a first effort, needless to say he is really proud of him and wanted to wish him all the best too. Not too long later I then got a word with Barry Dowd and Emma Berrill both from Dromiskin who told me Mark is a lovely person and it's great to see him getting the adulation he truly deserved. Looking very well on the night was Anthony Eccles from Mullaharlin Road who is a friend of Mark's who said he didn't realise exactly how good he is, it's only in the basement gallery setting that the entire eclectic collection really shines and it really is a credit to him. A man who was taken aback by his work was Gerard McShane from Dromiskin who just said the whole lot was unbelievable and was looking for his phone to take a few photos! Next I had the pleasure of meeting up with Tabatha Bourke-Cooney from Dublin who told me she had had a preview of her uncle's work, it is just amazing, but now it looked even better in the gallery and she's very proud of him. After the speeches were over I got talking to Noel Kennedy from Dromiskin who said the work was absolutely fantastic, he is a very talented artist and a fantastic guy. Not too long later I met up with Angela Carolan from Dromiskin and Jan Van Dessel from Mount Avenue who were thoroughly enjoying the exhibition and Angela said that it was great to see the hidden talent of her neighbour. Next I managed a word with Pat Carolan from Dromiskin who is a friend of Mark's and said that he was shocked, but not surprised, that he is a talented guy from a talented family and a true gentleman. Making my way through the huge crowds there I then caught up with Fergal Nesbitt and Louise Gilsenan both from Dromiskin who know Mark very well, but had no idea he's that talented on such a huge scale too. The only problem they were having was that every one of the painting they liked, had already been sold! I then headed over for a word with Eoghan Herity from Herity's Bar in Dromiskin who told me he grew up along with Mark in the village had seen some of his work, but it was the gallery surrounding that really gave it exhibition it needed to show it off to t its best. Finally, before I departed I caught up with Mark's brother and wife Frank and Irene Bourke from Mill Street who pointed out the three or four different styles that he had progressed through over the years and were very impressed with his ability to stray away from the norm in his subject matter and wanted to congratulate him on his exhibition. Mark Bourke's exhibition runs from now until February 3rd in the basement gallery of the Town Hall from 10.00am until 4.00 pm and is definitely worth checking out. Author, Anthony Murphy, Dolores Whelan, Brigid of Faughart Festival Committee and Michael Gaynor, President, Dundalk Chamber of Commerce at the launch of the Brigid of Faughart Festival The Brigid of Faughart Festival was launched by author Anthony Murphy in Louth County Library last Thursday. Now in it's 11th year, The Brigid of Faughart Festival celebrates Brigid as a pre-Christian Goddess, Christian saint and wise woman of the 21st Century and also marks the ancient festival of Imbolc announcing the beginning of Spring. The Festival takes place in Faughart, Dundalk and Ravensdale, between Saturday January 27th and Sunday February 4th and attracts a growing audience from all over Ireland as well as Europe and the United States. The theme of this year's festival is 'Brigid, Muse to the Cultural Creative', a timely focus as we seek to create a more sustainable culture in these times of uncertainty. The festival programmes includes a pilgrimage from Dundalk to Faughart and exploring the sacred sites of Faughart on Saturday January 27th. Dr Sharon Blackie, author of 'If Women Rose Rooted' will head a lecture and forum exploring the need to reconnect with our native feminine wisdom. Carmel Boyle, Ann McDonald, Dolores Whelan, Fr. Tom Hamill will celebrate Brigid in song and prayer on La Fheile Bhride, February 1st, The Oratory, Faughart. Other events include a one woman play, 'The Wooing of the Soul', an evening of weaving poetry, music and song with Siobhan MacMahon, and local band The Periods, an art exhibition with work by Una Curley, and workshops Full programme on www.brigidoffaughart.ie. Among those pictured at the ceremony were Linda McCusker, Deirdre McEnteggart, Frank Cooney, Rachel McNally, Aoife McGeough, Parents Council Representative, Pauline Reid, Dr. Don Hodgers, Sr. Joan Watters, Fr. Mark OHagan, Sisters of Mercy Provincial Leadership Team Representative Sr. Philomena Horner, Dr. Orla Walsh, Principal Deirdre Matthews, Amy O Donoghue St Vincent's School celebrated the return of the permanent presence of the Blessed Sacrament to the school chapel. Fr Mark O'Hagan the school Chaplain celebrated Mass in the recently refurbished school chapel to mark the return of the permanent presence of the Blessed Sacrament in St Malacy's Chapel last month. Following the mass Fr Mark led a procession of the Blessed Sacrament throughout the school. Teachers and students lined the corridors and stairs and as the procession moved by, all were blessed with Holy water from the chapel by former Principal Sr Joan Watters. The chapel was an integral part of life for the Sisters of Mercy in Dundalk, and when they moved to their new home on Mill Street they donated the sacred space to the school. Principal Deirdre Matthews spoke about her wish to have the permanent presence of the Blessed Sacrament returned to the chapel as the sacrament had not been reserved in the chapel since 8th February 2002. She noted that a recent visit by Archbishop Eamon Martin to meet the St Vincent's Lighthouse Leaders, had ultimately led to this holy occasion. The chapel will be open to students throughout the school day to visit and Mrs Matthews expressed her hope that the sacred space would be used as a support to the spiritual wellbeing of all members of the community. Invited guests included former principals; Anne McDonnell and Sr Joan Watters and Vice-Principal Dr Don Hodgers, members of the Sisters of Mercy Sr Marie Celine Johnson and Sr Philomena Horner, Dr Marie Griffin the CEO of CEIST, and Frank Cooney, Mary Caffrey Chairpersons of the Board of Management, as well as representatives of the teaching staff, canteen staff, ancillary staff members, Student Council representatives and a student from every class in the school. The staff and students of St Vincent's were all individually involved in creating a piece of art that centred on the Eucharist for the chapel to commemorate the occasion. Every member of the school community were invited to place their thumbprint on the border of the painting to symbolise their part in the sacred occasion. The church was beautifully decorated in the summer of 2017 by Louth village company, Seamus Duff & Sons. A new support group for parents of children with ADHD and adults with the condition, is launching today (Tuesday) in Dundalk. ADHD Ireland are a non profit organisation and groups are run by volunteers with HADD ADHD Ireland support. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a medical/neurobiological condition in which the brain's neurotransmitter chemicals, noradrenalin and dopamine do not work properly. It is a genetic and long-term condition which affects learning and behaviour right through the school years and in many cases beyond into adulthood. It is a disorder that can co-exist to a greater or lesser degree, with any or other disorders such as dyslexia, autism, learning disorder, dyspraxia, conduct disorder, oppositional defiance disorder. ADHD is a very treatable condition. If diagnosed and properly treated, people with adhd can reach their potential and lead happy and successful lives. The Dundalk support group meetings are aimed at discussing concerns, issues and resources available for ADHD in your work, and home life, or your child's school life. The first meeting is being held Redeemer Family Resource Centre today (Tuesday) from 11-1pm. Drop in or register interest at HADD-ADHD Ireland. Ph: 01 8748349 email nicola@hadd.ie. Sinn Fein's Louth TD Gerry Adams has announced that he will be stepping down as party President on February 10th - the date when a special Ard Fheis that will elect the next leader of the party. writing in his blog 'Leargas', the sixty-nine old who has led the party since 1983, said: ' As most readers will know two months ago at the November Ard Fheis I told the party membership that it was my intention to step down as Uachtarain Shinn Fein in the New Year. I asked the incoming Ard Chomhairle to organise a special Ard Fheis to elect a new leader. He noted that there was 'intense media speculation about when this would happen' and he accused those 'renowned for their anti-Sinn Fein bias' of inventing a time frame for when this would happen. 'Some suggested that my departure could take up to a year or that I wouldn't stand down until the negotiations in the North had concluded, for good or ill. I have to say that none of that played any part in my decision. My one consideration was to provide the new leader with sufficient time to prepare him or herself for the next general election in the South.' He expressed his confidence in Michelle O'Neill and her team in the North to negotiate with the DUP, the British and Irish governments and manage the challenge of finding a resolution to the crisis here. Explaining the election process to find his successor, he said that 'for a candidate to be nominated they must be a member of the party for a minimum of one year and have renewed their membership for 2018. The prospective candidates also require the support of at least ten of the 300 plus registered cumainn across the island) or the support of two registered comhairle ceantair. Nomination close on Friday January 19th and after that there will be a three week period for the candidates to speak to the party membership at specially convened regional meetings where candidates can debate their respective vision for the party and for the future, before delegates vote at the special Ard Fheis in the RDS, Dublin on Saturday February 10th. He said that ' means up to 1,200 Sinn Fein members will participate in the democratic process of electing the next leader of the party. He acknowledged that 'the new leader of Sinn Fein will face many challenges, some of these internal to the party as we seek to continue to grow in political strength and improve the skills of our activists.' 'It is a fact that Sinn Fein is electorally and organisationally stronger than at any time since partition. This is as a result of the great team of political activists that we have consciously developed over recent years. We have to build on this and make Sinn Fein, as a national movement, fit for purpose. He said that 'the new leader would also face external challenges including the need to agree a positive outcome to the negotiations to restore the power sharing, partnership institutions in the North; the all-island bodies established by the Good Friday Agreement; preparing the party for a general election in the 26 counties and potential elections in the North; and charting a course through the madness that is Brexit.' Deputy Adams was elected to represent Sinn Fein in Louth in 2011, having resigned as MP of West Belfast. He has also announced that he will not be contesting the next general election, Cllr Ruairi O Murchu receiving the party's nomination to stand be stand as candidate for Louth and East Meath. Thailands Immigration police have arrested four Nigerians and one Cameroonians and charged them with operating an online romance scam to deceive Thai women into wiring them money. Immigration Police Bureau commissioner, Pol Lt-General Sutthipong Wongpin, revealed that their arrest came after police received complaints from several Thai women who reported that foreigners they knew had been unlawfully detained at airports on their way to visit the women. . Police checked and found no such foreigners and realized that the women had been deceived. An investigation discovered the location of the alleged gangsters and got the arrested. . Sutthipong said several of the men fled by using ropes to lower themselves from the balcony of the apartment building. The suspects had prepared ropes in case police raided their room, Sutthipong said. .Police seized five computers and many mobile phones during the raid. The four accused Nigerians were identified as Ikemefuna Oliver Ibekwe, 26, Ogochukwu Iduh, 28, Osaratin Irabor, 36, and Vitus Nwokemodo, 31 and the Cameroonian as John Nji. The spirit of giving had a distinct ring to it for volunteers from the Sean O'Mahony's GFC when they discovered an eye catching sparkler amid bucket donations! Now the Dundalk club have launched an appeal to help reunite the ring with its rightful owner. Club spokesman Eamon Doyle told the Argus that the ring was found among donations to a bucket collection at the Retail Park. 'When I saw it, straightaway I thought it was an engagement ring. But it could be a dress ring, or of other sentimental value, as it does appear to be well worn.' Volunteers had been leading the club's annual collection day on Friday, January 5th and were operating at a number of locations across town. 'We found the ring in the bucket at the entracne to the Retail park beside KFC. So it could have been a case where someone threw in some coins from their car, and didn't notice the ring in it, or it could have slipped off their hand.' So far the club haven't had anyone come forward about missing jewellery, despite posting pictures and an appeal on the Sean O'Mahony's facebook page. 'It may have been the case that the owner didn't know where they lost the ring, or didn't know who we were collecting that day, 'added Eamon. He added that they were checking to see if there were any special markings on the ring which the owner could identify. Anyone who thinks they may have lost the ring can contact Eamon on 086 2679163. Cllr. John McGahon, Chairman, Dundalk Municipal District, Her Excellency Mrs. Mari Miyoshi, Ambassador of Japan to Ireland, Mr. Tim Mawe, Asia Director Department of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Sou Watanabe, First Secretary, Embassy of Japan at the Candlelight Vigil in memory of Yosuke Sasaki at Market Square Councillors passed a vote of sympathy to the family Yosuke Sasaki, the 24-year-old Japanese man whose fatal stabbed stunned the town, and observed a minute's silence at the Municipal District of Dundalk meeting last Tuesday. Chairman Cllr John McGahon paid tribute to his fellow councillors who had helped organise the vigil in Mr Sasaki's memory the previous night, noting that it showed what could be achieved when all parties worked together. Separately, the GoFundMe appeal set up by former Independent councillor Oliver Morgan raised over 21,000 thanks to the generosity of all those who made a donation towards the appeal to help with the repatriation costs of bringing Yosuke's body back to Japan. Mr Morgan reported that he had met with the family liaison officer working with the Sasaki family, her Garda colleague and a Japanese translator to arrange the transfer of funds to the family. Expressing his gratitude to all those who responded to the appeal he said: 'I know that the Sasaki family are totally overwhelmed by the huge support they have received'. Mr Morgan said he couldn't take all the credit for setting up the fund, as the idea had been suggested by two other people. 'I just set it up and it grew legs and ran rather than walked!' A former teacher at a secondary school in Louth was jailed at Dundalk Circuit Court for the indecent assault of a pupil between dates in 1972 and 1973. The man, who is now aged 70 and living outside the jurisdiction, cannot be named to protect the victim's identity. The court was told the accused had denied the offences but had been found guilty following by a jury in October 2017 of five offences between October 1972 and the end of June 1973. Judge Gerard Griffin heard that the victim had been going to the accused's home for grinds, when then the abuse occurred. Other offences took place in the secondary school, where the accused was the boy's form teacher. A victim impact statement was read out, where the former pupil said he had suffered from fear, anxiety and flashbacks, and had blamed himself for the abuse. He said his childhood had been 'irretrievably stolen.' He said he had not told his partner until 2008, when there was publicity around the publication of the Murphy report. In sentencing, Judge Griffin said it was 'grave breach of trust' by a teacher due to his pupil. Considering the nature and gravity of the offences, he sentenced the accused to twelve months in prison, with the final six months suspended. Mohammed Morei on his way into court in Dundalk An 18-year-old man who was remanded in custody after being charged with the murder of a Japanese man in Dundalk is undergoing treatment at the Central Mental Hospital. Mohammed Morei was due to face his second hearing at Cloverhill District Court last Thursday but when the case was called Judge Victor Blake was informed that he was not able to attend the hearing. Defence counsel Aoife O'Halloran told the court that it was her understanding that Mr Morei 'was not fit to attend'. Judge Blake said he had a letter from a forensic psychiatrist at the Central Mental Hospital where the accused was undergoing medical treatment and he was unfit to attend the court hearing. It was the doctor's opinion that Mr Morei would also be unfit to come to court in two weeks' time. Mr Morei was remanded in custody on January 4 last after he was charged with the murder of 24-year-old Yosuke Sasaki on January 3. The Japanese national, who had been living in Ireland for the past year was fatally stabbed on Avenue Road as he was on his way from work at National Pen. Judge Blake adjourned the case until January 25. The shock decision by Oxfam Ireland to close its charity shop and pull out of Dundalk after over four decades in town came as a huge blow to volunteers. Ninety-one year old Jean Newell from Fatima Drive was one of the longest serving volunteers and says she and the other volunteers were 'very sad' to learn that the shop was closing. 'We only found out after Christmas as the shop manager Marie Neary had been told not to tell us before then,' says Jean. The great great grandmother began volunteering over twenty years ago. 'I remember being up down on my bike one day and as my children were all big and at school, I went in to the shop and asked about volunteering. I then went to a meeting with a neighbour and from then on I was a volunteer and loved it.' Oxfam first operated its Dundalk charity shop out of Church Street in the former women's department of O'Connells. It then moved to premises at 31 Clanbrassil Street where it traded successfully for several years before the shop was extensively damaged by fire two and a half years ago. Temporary premises were found at 31 Clanbrassil Street but these had a number of health and safety issues, resulting in Oxfam deciding to close down its Dundalk operations at the end of December. 'We had a great group of volunteers, all women, and we made lifelong friends. A lot of the volunteers have been there for 15 to 20 years, 'says Jean. She questioned the charity's decision to pull out of Dundalk, noting that the lease on the premises at 31 Clanbrassil Street runs until 2025. 'I loved going in to work in the shop and I'm lost without it,' she confesses. She adds that the volunteers had got to know the customers down the year and they too were very disappointed when they heard the shop had closed. 'We had wonderful customers and so many of them came in and said they were so sorry that the shop was closing.' 'We got great support from local people who were very generous in donating items to us over the years.' The friendships forged between the volunteers was so strong that they are now planning to meet up on a regular basis. In a statement to The Argus, Oxfam said that as the shop had faced difficult trading conditions in recent years and as a result, it became harder to raise the necessary funds to cover overheads. 'After exploring all other options, it made financial sense to close the shop,' Oxfam said, adding that it was not possible too move back to the original unit as this building is in administration and is not a viable option.' 'Once the decision was made, we informed the shop manager immediately and met with the volunteers to explain, answer any questions they might have and offer them other opportunities. 'We are extremely grateful for the hard work and dedication of the shop manager and volunteers over the years as well as for the generosity shown by the people of Dundalk and Co. Louth. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the shop manager, volunteers and local community.' The second major incident of tyres being dumped at scenic spots in north Louth was described as 'a despicable act carried out by despicable people.' A large area of land at Edentubber was targeted last weekend by illegal dumpers to discard tyres, the second time the area has been hit in the last few weeks. Thousands of tyres had been dumped across a number of north Louth locations over the Christmas period. Now a call has gone out for action to be taken over the growing problem. Louth councillor Antoin Watters, who visited the site on Sunday, said 'dumping is threatening to spiral out of control'. Speaking at the monthly meeting yesterday (Monday) of Louth County Council, he called for the local authority to consider using motion sensor cameras in areas prone to dumping. A spokeswoman for Louth County Council said the council is working with a 'cross-border, inter-agency approach' to tackle both illegal dumping of tyres and other waste along with the dumping of diesel laundering waste. Fr. Mark O'Hagan, Administrator of St. Patrick's Parish, Iman Nooh, Dundalk Islamic Community and Rev Captain Geoffrey Walmsley, Church of Ireland at the Candlelight Vigil People light candles pictured outside Dundalk Courthouse where a candlelit vigil was held for murder victim Yosuke Sasaki (24) who died in a knife attack on Avenue Road The scene at Market Square during the Candlelight Vigil in Memory of Yosuke Sasaki The family of Yosuke Sasaki, the young Japanese man whose violent death touched the hearts of those in his adopted hometown, sent a message to the people of Dundalk telling them how he loved the town. 'When he was alive, our son spoke about the warmth of the people of this town and his love of Dundalk.' The people of the town demonstrated that warmth when they gathered on a cold January night to pay their condolences to the 24 year old man who had been fatally stabbed while walking home from work the previously week. In the statement issued through the Japanese embassy, the Sasaki family recalled how their son 'came to Ireland initially as a language student and only intended a short stay. However, he was touched by the kindness of the Irish people and he decided to work here. 'As a family, we are truly saddened by what has happened, but we hope that this incident will not give Japanese people a bad impression of Ireland. The Sasaki family also expressed their 'heartfelt thanks' to the ambulance personnel, the Gardai, National Pen Limited, Mr. Oliver Morgan who set up the GoFundMe page, the staff of the Embassy of Japan, and the members of Louth County Council who organised the candlelight vigil. They expressed the hope that 'a tragic event like this one will never happen in this country again.' Their dignified words were read by Cllr John McGahon, chairperson of Dundalk Municipal District who noted that the vigil had been held to show Dundalk's unity with Yosuke, his family and friends and the people of Japan. 'Dundalk,'he said, 'has a very thriving and vibrant multicultural community and it's something we are very proud of. It's a community Yosuke decide to come to join, to live in, to work, to enjoy and that's what makes this tragedy al the more heart-breaking.' He hoped that the gathering would be 'a source of comfort and light to Yosuke's family and community griefing in his home town.' Cllr McGahon said thoughts were also with two men injured in the attacks, Dylan Grehan and Cian Murphy, who were recovering from their ordeal. He also praised the work of the gardai and their 'heroic actions' the previous week. The vigil was attended by Japanese Ambassador, Her Excellency Mrs Mari Miyoshi, First Secretary Mr Sou Watanabe and Mr Tim Mawe, Asia Director at the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the gathering heard that The Embassy of Japan extended its 'sincere gratitude to the members of the Irish public who have sent us messages expressing their condolences'. The gathering sent out a message to the people of Yosuke's home town that they were not griving alone, said Rev Mark O'Hagan, Adm St Patrick's. He revealed that Archbishop Eamonn Martin had visited the site on the Avenue Road where Yosuke's life had been cut short, after celebrating Mass in St Patrick's in remeberance of the young Japanese man the previous Saturday evening. Iman Noon said Dundalk's Muslim community sent their condolences to the people of Japan, especially Yosuke's family and workmates. 'The community of Dundalk, all different classes, creeds and common humanity are sharing in the shock, hurt and grief of Yosuke's passing,' said Rev Capt Geoffrey Walmsley, Church of Ireland, Tears flowed as a friend of the deceased Choon Mon Lee played a piece of Japanese music on the piano, accompanied by Heather Oakes on violin. A colleague from National Pen. Fabio Tereinto recited a poem entitled 'They say there is no reason', while Lyndsey O'Neill sang John Lennon's Imagine. As the vigil ended, Cllr McGahon spoke of how proud he was of Dundalk and how people had come together to show their sympathy. Among the estimated 1,500 who attended the vigil were many of Yosuke's colleagues from National Pen. Shoko Fujiki said that while she didn't know the deceased very well as she worked in a different area, his colleagues were all very sad, all very depressed' at his tragic death. She said she has been living in Dundalk for four months and had found the people to be 'very welcoming and warm.' Minister for Health Simon Harris officially opened the new offices and lab facility of environmental consultants Verde last Friday in Kilcoole. Verde employ a total of 50 staff in four offices in Ireland. The new head office in Kilcoole features state of the art lab facilities for soil and water and air quality testing. Since Verde was established in 2002 the company has grown from a staff of three to a total of 50 and a turnover of 350,000 to almost 6 million. 'We are very proud of our beautiful new facilities here in Kilcoole and delighted to welcome Minister Simon HArris here today to perform the official opening,' said Paul Van den Bergh, founder of Verde. 'Our company has grown and developed into one of the leading environmental consultancies and service providers in the country and these new premises give us scope for the further growth planned in the coming years.' Verde provides vital oil spill response, assessment and remediation servies in the areas of soil and water pollution along with expert advisory, monitoring and assessment services in the areas of noise pollution, waste management, energy consultancy and ecology. They have four facilities in Irleand - Kilcoole, Cork, Galway and Mayo - as well as an office in Nigeria. 'Our environmental scientists, remediation experts and consultants in the new Kilcoole facility offer everything from contaminated land and water assessment and remediation, hydrogeology and ground water resource development to due diligence exercises, noise and air monitoring services, ecological services and a range of IPPC license advice and monitoring,' said Paul. Clients of Verde include Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Irish Distillers, Glaxo Smithkline, P&G, Glenpatrick, A&L Goodbody, PWC AXA and Zurich. The Irish Concertina Ensemble (ICE) has announced it will play an eagerly anticipated concert at the Ionad Culturtha in Baile Mhuirne on Friday, January 26. Featuring a line-up of Ireland's best concertina players, the Ensemble for the first time brings together a quintet of internationally renowned leading exponents of the celebrated Anglo concertina into one single group. Conceived and directed by Tim Collins, ICE features Collins himself, Padraig Rynne, Edel Fox, Caitlin Ni Gabhann and Micheal Raghallaigh and was put together in 2014. In the sleeve notes to their 2015 debut recording 'Zero', Collins said he created ICE in order to "explore and experiment with the melodic, percussive, rhythmic and harmonic possibilities of the concertina." By creating what Collins described as a "new sonic template" for traditional Irish music on the Anglo concertina, ICE has pioneered and new and exciting performance trajectory for the instrument. In 'Zero', the quintet has created a highly interesting, experimentally arranged repertoire of music that draws from the established melodies of traditional Irish music. In addition it also draws on material from other traditions in addition to newly composed works written specifically for the Ensemble. It received hugely positive reviews with Dan Neely of the Irish Echo describing the 'Zero' as a "forward thinking and eminently listenable album... A unique musical vision that brought together under the umbrella of modern studio techniques giving this fascinating project rich results." These results are arguably best appreciated on the live stage, with every ICE concert a magical musical experience that will live long in the mind. Tickets for ICE at the Ionad Culturtha from the venue on 026 45733. Pre-booking is advisable as this concert is expected to completely sell-out in advance. To get a flavour of what to expect on the night people can view some of the Ensemble's previous performances on YouTube. Pupils from Mallow's Davis College are once again presiding over an international youth conference in Cork at which delegates are given the opportunity to discuss a wide variety of key topics of global significance. More than 400 Irish and Spanish second level students are participating in the fifth annual Davis College Model United Nations (DCMUN) Conference, which is currently running at Cork City Hall and will draw to a close on Friday. Based on the working frameworks of the real United Nations, this year's edition of the conference has seen more than 400 students from schools in Ireland and Spain assume the roles of delegates from UN affiliated countries and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO's). They are then tasked with writing resolutions about pressing issues of the day, which they then debate with their peers before finally voting on them as would happen in the real UN forum. The conference is the brainchild of Davis College Deputy Principal Jose Horta, who brought the idea from his native Portugal when he moved to Ireland five-years ago. The inaugural MUN was held between two schools in the Davis College PE Hall in 2013 and moved to the GAA Complex in Carrigoon the following year when eight schools took part. Since then it has gone from strength-to-strength, with more than 1,500 students from 40 schools across eight different countries having taken part in the event. "It has been wonderful to watch this whole concept blossom from humble beginnings to become the largest event of its kind in Ireland," Mr Horta told The Corkman. This year the conference has been expanded ever further to incorporate three separate elements - the General Assembly, the Special Conference the Security Council - all of which have been running simultaneously throughout the week. Subjects addressed through in the General Assembly and Special Conference have included refugee integration, promoting democracy, combating HIV/AIDS, world trade, equal religious rights, infant mortality, weapon's disposal and disability issues. Meanwhile, the Security Council has been debating the refugee crisis in Myanmar, extremists in Afghanistan and the questions of achieving a peaceful solution on the Korean Peninsula. During the course of the week the conference has also been addressed by a number of guest speakers including keynote speaker Karen Clifford, the Campaigns and Activism Manager with Amnesty International and the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Tony Fitzgerald. Mr Horta said that while he takes the role of conference director, it is very much an event for students, organised and run by students. "That is one of the key reasons behind its success. From the beginning the ethos has always been to encourage young people to use their communication, teamwork and leadership skills to hold informed debate and come up with inventive solutions to the problems under discussion," he said. He said that one of the important aspects of the debates is that the students themselves may not fully agree with the positions and policies of the country they happen to be the under the banner of. "That can be a huge challenge, because they have to set aside their personal feelings and debate from the point of view of the country or organisation they are representing. This forces them to look at issues from different aspects and prepare their contributions accordingly," he said. "It is also an eye-opener for some students who may feel nervous about speaking in public. Seeing their peers address the conference inspires them to do the same, boosting their confidence. The sense of achievement they get from that is immense," he added. The passion that participating in an event on this scale instils into participants was summed up by Niall O'Brien, a sixth-year student at Davis College and the 2018 MUM General Secretary. "I firmly believe that the best way to learn about the UN is by actually doing it. It gives all participants, including myself, an insight into different countries, global issues and understanding the perspectives of others," said Niall. "The conference is also a fantastic way to meet and spend time with fellow students, who share the same passions. I hope that all participants enjoy and learn from this experience, and come back again next year to continue the debate." A 27 year old Nigerian man identified as Ebuka Okori, has been killed by the police in Durban in the early hours of Friday, the Nigerian community in South Africa said. Mr Bartholomew Eziagulu, the Chairman of the Nigerian Union chapter in Kwazulu Natal Province of South Africa, told reporters on a phone chat from Durban that the victim was a native of Umunze in Orumba North Local Government of Anambra. He said that an eyewitness who was at the scene of the incident informed the union that two police officers in mufti forcefully gained entry into the apartment of the victim at Campbell Street in Durban at 2.am on Friday. According to him, the officers immediately demanded money from Ebuka Okori. He said: When he refused, he was handcuffed, taken outside and shot dead. The officers took away his cell phone, e-passport and other valuable documents. The relative of the victim was tortured and robbed of his belongings while a third victim, a South African, was also robbed, Eziagulu said that the Ebuka Okori`s brother was able to run away from the house after which he called for help. The Metro Police around the vicinity swiftly intervened and picked the vehicle number of the assailants, he said. Eziagulu said that police detectives and another special police team which investigates complaints against their colleagues are assisting to arrest the culprits. He says: So far I must appreciate the effort of the SAPS detectives, Metro Police and the IPID team, there were fantastic at services , so much cooperation ,never seen before. The station of the culprits has been directed for immediate arrest, while one of them already requested for sick leave ,the other still at large Mr Adetola Olubajo, the President of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, said that the national secretariat had been briefed about the incident and they are already monitoring the situation and had informed the Nigerian Mission and the South African police. The family of a father of four who was fatally injured while training for a charity cycle in Kerry in 2012 were awarded 900,000 at the High Court in Cork on Tuesday. The late Paud O'Leary (42) was out training for the Ring of Kerry cycle for the Down Syndrome Association when he was struck and fatally injured at Scrahan Fada, Gneeveguilla on July 1, 2012. This week, Mr Justice Michael Hanna approved the settlement offer in the case and wished the heartbroken family all the best in the future. As reported in The Irish Examiner, his wife, Margaret, and eldest daughter, Shannon, were present in court. Senior counsel Lorraine O'Sullivan, for the family, said there were two younger sons and a daughter, Antoinette, who has Down Syndrome. Ms O'Sullivan said the late Mr O'Leary had been in training for a charity cycle in aid of the Down Syndrome Association. Ms O'Sullivan said Mr O'Leary's children were aged 14, 12, 9, and 7 at the time of his death and are now 19, 17, 14, and 13. She said Antoinette had been doing well but, following a recent setback, was not living as independently as she had been. "She is a very special member of the family. She has a very supportive, loving, family who fight about who will get to look after her," Ms O'Sullivan said. The late Mr O'Leary is also survived by his parents, four brothers and three sisters, all of whom signed waivers in respect of the claim made by his wife and children. Mr Justice Hanna said he was satisfied to approve the settlement offer entirely on the terms recommended by counsel with the exception of one small amendment. The judge said he would direct payment out of a sum of over 2,000. "That would be towards something in the nature of a family holiday to remember happy times. What happened was an appalling tragedy but it is important to remember happy times too," said the judge. "The very best of luck to you. I wish you a very happy new year," the judge said to Mrs O'Leary and her daughter Shannon. In April 2015, a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence was imposed on Shane Fitzgerald of Knockeen, Meelin, Newmarket for driving causing the death of Mr O'Leary. He had denied the charge of dangerous driving causing the death. Judge Thomas E O'Donnell, at the time, imposed the sentence and said the collision 'blew' Mr O'Leary off the road so much so that his body and his bike were some distance behind a hedge'. As reported in The Irish Examiner, the charge encompassed the speed and the condition of Fitzgerald's grey Toyota Landcruiser - a vehicle which had been identified from debris at the accident scene but which had never been found despite extensive Garda searches . Fitzgerald had left the scene and the day after the offence left for the UK and subsequently Australia. He was arrested in February of 2014 at Heathrow Airport, having been spotted by an Irish citizen in the UK en route back to Australia. At his trial, over three-and-a-half hours of silent CCTV images were shown to the jury, including footage showing Fitzgerald drinking heavily before getting into his vehicle on the night in question. Michael O'Higgins, defence senior counsel in the criminal trial in Kerry, after the jury returned a guilty verdict, said the accused acknowledged his involvement and his culpability. "He accepts now the cause of the accident lay with him," Mr O'Higgins had said. Dairygold CEO Jim Woulfe will be among the guest speakers at next Mondays seminar Agriculture Minister Michael Creed will be among the guest speakers at next Mondays seminar The future direction of Ireland's agricultural sector will come under the spotlight during an AIB-sponsored seminar set to take place at the Corrin Marts Complex in Fermoy next Monday evening. Entitled 'Irish Agriculture - At a Crossroads', the seminar will take an in depth look at the challenges facing the sector over the coming months and years and how these can be met to ensure the ongoing sustainability and viability of the sector. In addition to offering their insight into the future direction and outlook for the Irish agricultural sector, the panel of guest speakers will address many issue of concern to farmers and those working within the sector. Chaired by Eoin Lowry, the business editor with the Irish Farmers Journal, the seminar will include presentations by a number of high-profile speakers including the Minister for Agriculture. Food and the Marine, Michael Creed TD; IFA president, Joe Healy; Dairygold CEO, Jim Woulfe and Tadgh Buckley who is an agri advisor with AIB. Issues such as Brexit and reforms to the common Agriculture Policy will undoubtedly be high on the agenda at next Monday's seminar, which is scheduled to get underway at 7.30pm. Tadgh Buckley said admission to the event will be free and that all farmers are welcome to attend. "There was a welcome recovery in output prices across many sectors during 2017, which helped support more positive incomes on many farms," he said. "Unfortunately however, market sentiment has softened somewhat in certain sectors, which when combined with the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and CAP reforms is making it more difficult for farmers to plan ahead and best position their farms for the future." Volunteering at a local fashion show charity fundraiser, where she was described as a 'natural on the catwalk', opened up a whole new world for Ballydesmond woman Gemma O'Connell Gaine, who has now reached the final in the Top Model Ireland Contest, which will take place at City West Hotel in Dublin on this Saturday night. "Over the last few years I've got more and more interested in modelling and, with lots of courage and at the urging of friends, I decided to bite the bullet and managed to secure a place in the Top Model Ireland contest. The modelling industry is constantly changing and there so many opportunities for people nowadays," Gemma said. Gemma has been travelling to Dublin most weekends over the past few months for photoshoots and bootcamps, as well as training days where the models are taught on how to present themselves on the catwalk and how to maximise their potential as models. "For me it was a whole new learning curve and meeting and chatting to the other models who are involved is great. We're getting the best training that's available in Ireland and we're gaining so much experience and confidence," Gemma said. With 60 models stepping into high gear for the final this weekend, Top Model Ireland has engaged the services of Liam Dale, who specialises in meditation and mindfulness, to deliver a master class to the models ahead of the big night. In addition, they will be treated to a talk from a leading skincare company and take part in photoshoots which will enable them to compile a commercial portfolio. Successful finalists will be signed to a modelling agency after the final. A raft of celebrity judges and personalities from the fashion world ensure the models will have maximum exposure as well as a platform to further their careers in the industry. Daniel Euan Henderson, who is a blogger with 1.6 million followers, will attend as well as the owner of UK Plus Size Fashion Week. Irish personality Bibi Baskin will be on hand, Lauren from the Lauren Daytime Talk Show on Spin 103.8 and Funky Fashion Frolics, and a representative from Aberdeen Fashion Week. "We have a world class team, including the owner of Top Model Ireland, Audrey O'Neill, and our creative directors, Florin Ghile and Momi K, who have won awards in Paris, Malaysia, Indonesia and here in Ireland," Gemma said. The winner of last year's event, Alexis Vagnova from Celbridge, was invited to take part in Top Model Worldwide, where she took a runner up place. She also got to walk in London Fashion Week and was featured in Vogue. Established since 2006, Top Model is the leading professional model search competition in Ireland with a proven track record of discovering new model talent and creating dreams. In addition to the opportunities that competition selection could bring applicants, the chance to win a host of awards and prizes also awaits those fortunate enough to make it through to the national grand finals. Top Model Ireland promotes healthy living and operates 'no size zero' recruitment, actively encouraging a wide-ranging mix of competitors. Gemma, who lives in Ballydesmond, is well known also as the practice nurse at Dr Leader's surgery in Boherbue. She also wished to thank her sponsors, Luscious Hair Salon, Ballydesmond; The Haven Beauty Salon, Scartaglen and Age Dyfer, Carlow. When An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar went to Aras an Uachtarain recently to congratulate the Irish diaspora who have put the country on the map he came face to face with a Rockchapel man who had brought him to Washington many years earlier, to work. There were smiles all round from Leo Varadkar when he shook hands with Denis Mulcahy, who was the recipient of an award in the Charitable Works category from President Michael D Higgins at the Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad. Mr Mulcahy was on the board of the Washington Ireland Programme (WIP) which inspires and develops promising leaders through a programme of personal development, policy debate and community service. An Taoiseach stayed with Tom and Carol Wheeler in 2000, who had both worked for the Obama presidential campaign. In fact, the Wheelers put Denis' name forward for the award which he duly received from President Higgins. Pat Mulcahy told The Corkman when An Taoiseach met Denis he remembered him and asked about the Wheelers. While Denis Mulcahy still lives in the US, he is also a founding member of Project Children Intern Programme with his brother Pat, who is back living in Rockchapel for many years. There are huge strings to Denis' bow - as he is also the founding member of Project Children and a Nobel Prize nominee, and he was also awarded an OBE. The retired bomb detective served in the New York Police Department. Way back in 1975, when working the beat alongside his brother Pat, they were deeply shocked at the horrors occurring in the North of Ireland and decided to do something about it. Fast forward 40 years, when Project Children ended and they helped to bring over 23,000 children - Catholics and Protestants - to New York where religious differences were left at the front door of the host family home. Their story was then told in a documentary, 'How to Defuse A Bomb', narrated by Liam Neeson. Project Children was pure volunteer work from the outset, and even as its budget grew to nearly $1 million per year, all of the funding went towards helping the youth of Northern Ireland. Denis subsequently initiated the Project Children Intern Programme which provides a once in a lifetime opportunity for students from Northern Ireland and the Republic to spend eight weeks in the summer working the US to further their knowledge and experience in their chosen field of study. Back on home soil, Pat also helps to get interns and he is hoping to get four or five students to go to the US this year. He explained to The Corkman that the students must be second year students at college. For the first week, the students must do volunteer work in Alabama to help build homes for people struck by the hurricane. Then for the rest of their time they will be placed with their host families and the students will work in their chosen area of study. The cost covered by Project Children Intern will be the return flights to the US, full medical insurance, J1 Visa Servis fee, food and accommodation costs, weekly $150 stipend for each participant for seven of the eight weeks, and travel expenses to and from work. There is more information on the website www.projectchildreninterns.com. If anyone in Duhallow is seeking out further information on the programme, Pat said he would welcome any callers on his mobile 087 2814667. Some 94 donors attended the recent mobile clinic at St Maur's GAA Club in Rush. A breakdown of the total figures show that five first-time donors and four former donors attended the clinic. The Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) has extended a special thank you to our Local Voluntary Organiser Trish Walls for her help and support prior to and during the holding of the clinic. A special thank you to also to Gerry Foley from St. Maur's G.A.A. Centre who facilitated the clinic. About 70,000 patients are transfused with blood each year in 67 Irish Hospitals. To do this we must collect approximately 3,000 donations of blood each and every week from voluntary donors like you. A total of 5,747 units alone were required in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin during 2016. Finally on behalf of all the patients in hospital who benefit from your generosity, the IBTS has extended a heartfelt thank you. Vital funds for Balbriggan Community College have been raised once again throw the ever-popular 5k Frosty Run/Walk. All funds raised from the event go towards funding extracurricular activities. Once again it was open students extended the invite to parents, brothers, sisters, family relations, past students, budding athletes and anybody who just wanted to have some fun. The entry fee was 10 and the event was very well attended, and the frost even managed to stay away for the morning. Thanks was extended to Mr Mooney, Mr Richardson, Ms Lucey and Ms. Grant for organising the event. Balbriggan Community College was also delighted with its placing in the year's Irish Times' Feeder Schools Tables. The tables show it has an average progression rate of 71 per cent over the last three years of students going on to third level college. This comes on the back of Balbriggan Community College being awarded the International School of Distinction for the second year in a row. This award recognises the work of the whole school in creating a 21st century Teaching and Learning environment, where students dream big and aim high. Supported by Trinity College Dublin and College for Every Student (U.S.), this award is presented to only ten schools in Ireland, who are part of an evidence based research showcasing enhanced educational experiences. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Friday, warned that Nigeria risks division without renegotiating how it wants to move ahead as one united entity. The ex-president insisted that the country must continue to renegotiate its unity and give listening ear to the complaints of all ethnic groups in the country. Doing this, according to Obasanjo, will give the countrys various ethnic nationalities a sense of belonging thus enhancing their effective participation in its socio-economic discussions and national development. The former Nigerian leader, who spoke at the 7th convocation lecture of the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, in Abuja, said he believed that such periodic discussions will provide opportunity for all stakeholders to ventilate their views, grievances and possibly provide superior arguments, solutions or ideas that could positively challenge the existing practices. Also speaking at the event, the guest lecturer and Vice Chancellor, Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, Prof. Eghosa Osaghe, whose lecture theme was on: Restructuring and True Federalism: Nigeria in Perspective, said the country had come of age to reshape itself in line with modern day reality, insisting that it can no longer shy away from addressing the growing call for restructuring in some quarters. According to him, the existing federal system of government practiced in Nigeria needed additional deliberate arrangements that require intricate deals, trade-offs and reciprocities to build and sustain. Hear him:Secondly, the federal systems are delicate and difficult to manage. This was because their success cannot be guaranteed or taken for granted. Research confirmed that the number of failed federal systems outnumbered the successful ones. Restructuring represents a continuous correction, adjustment, and reconfiguration process by which federal system works and reworks its instrumentalities; to guarantee success and efficiencies of federalism. He insisted that the federal instrumentalities of governance are expected to respond to changing dynamics, demands and stimuli, which change in consonance with changing imperatives. Meanwhile, NOUN Vice Chancellor, Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu, congratulated the erstwhile President and other graduands for the successful completion of their academic programmes and urged them to serve as good ambassadors of the school. The VC was particularly impressed that Obasanjo, after serving as military and civilian head of state, enrolled and diligently completed doctorate degree programme in spite of his busy schedules. It was an indication that no one is too old to pursue education and knowledge. It is also an encouragement for others to disregard and trash the idea of age, challenges and diligently pursue education for self-improvement. NOUN Registrar, Felix Edoka, however announced that Obasanjo, and 14, 771 other graduands including two prison inmates from Enugu prison, have been found worthy in character and learning to be awarded first and doctorate degrees at the 7th NOUN convocation ceremony scheduled to hold on Saturday. It's that time of year again when parents' attention turns to where their children will go to school in September and parents in Swords in particular, face difficult choices with a continuing crisis in accommodating children at primary school level, particularly in the River Valley area. The primary school in this part of Swords is vastly oversubscribed year after year and saw a waiting list of over 100 children, last year. That forced some local families to give their children an extra year of day care or preschool but left parents out of pocket to fund that childcare which was outside the Early Childcare and Education Scheme. In a bid to head off an even worse crisis this September, Cllr Eugene Coppinger has called for a meeting between local councillors, affected parents and the school's board of management to see how extra numbers might be accommodated at the school, this year. He acknowledged that ultimately, a new school for the area is needed but in the absence of any movement from the Department of Education on that issue, an interim solution had to be found. He criticised the department for 'ignoring' two letters on the issue that went to it from the Swords/Balbriggan Area Committee, last year in the teeth of a similar school place crisis in the town. The Department of Education has previously argued that its models show there are sufficient school places to satisfy demand in Swords but parents and local councillors have consistently countered that the situation on the ground show those models are not accurate. Cllr Coppinger said that Swords parents are now facing 'the annual merry-go-round' for school places. He said the Department of Education has not only ignored appeals from councillors to address the situation but has refused to meet the affected parents. He said the situation was causing 'a lot of stress' on the families involved, including financial stress on families left without a school place last year who had to fund an extra year of childcare out of their own pockets. He said the situation would be worse this year if plans were not in place to deal with it and that is why he was proposing bringing all sides together in a meeting to see what provisions could be put in place for September. Swords councillors lined up to support the motion with Cllr Philip Lynam (SF) saying the Minister for Education's lack of response to the crisis so far, 'shows he doesn't care'. Cllr Darragh Butler (FF) said he witnessed the problem first-hand a few years ago when he tried to admit his own son to the school in River Valley. He wondered if part of the Fosterstown Local Area Plan lands could be developed ahead of time to provide a new school for that part of Swords. Cllr Coppinger stressed that the problem was not the school's admission policies, although there were differing opinions on those policies. He said this crisis was simply one of not having enough school places to satisfy the local demand. The area committee will now write to the schools board of management to request a meeting. A father of one who was out at Christmas work party and threw a glass bottle at a crowd of ten people but ended up hitting a patrol car, claimed he did so in an attempt to break up a fight his friend was involved in. Michael McCabe (29) claimed he reacted badly to try and defend his friend and it is not behaviour he is standing over, Swords District Court heard. The court heard the defendant was on New Street in Malahide at 1.30am on December 23rd, 2017 when he threw the glass bottle towards a crowd of about ten people. The bottle fell short of the crowd but hit the side of a garda patrol car which arrived in the area. No damage was caused to the patrol car, the court heard. He has 31 previous convictions. When gardai attempted to restrain the defendant, a number of males attempted to assault him. 'He was threatening and abusive in his behaviour,' the prosecuting garda told the court. When he was brought to the garda station he was found to be in possession of 100 of cocaine which he claimed he only paid 50 for. The prosecuting garda said the defendant was fully co-operative after that and has since apologised for his behaviour. McCabe, of Primrose Grove in Darndale pleaded guilty to using threatening and abusive behaviour at New Street in Malahide and being in unlawful possession of cocaine on December 23rd, 2017. His solicitor explained to the court that the group of ten to 12 people approached him in a threatening manner. However, the prosecuting garda said he did not see the group approach the defendant before the bottle was thrown. The solicitor said the defendant works as a plumber but is on temporary lay-off and hopes to commence working again. 'He does have a record of previous convictions but they date back to 2011,' the solicitor said. 'He is making progress to stir away from the law,' the solicitor continued. 'He was out at a work party when one colleague ended up in a fight with the group and he attempted to break it up and threw the bottle to defend his friend,' the solicitor explained. Judge Dermot Dempsey adjourned the case until March 27th for a Probation Report, urinalysis and a report to see if he is suitable to complete 240 hours community service work in lieu of two months in prison. Since the beginning of Fingal County Council's implementation of the Government's 'Rebuilding Ireland' housing strategy in 2015, almost 1,000 social housing units have been delivered in the Swords and Balbriggan electoral areas. That is according to Fingal County Council's housing department which delivered a progress report on the housing strategy to elected members of the Balbriggan/Swords Area Committee recently. Mary Egan from the council's housing department delivered the presentation and informed councillors that 956 social housing units had been delivered in the Balbriggan and Swords electoral areas from the beginning of the strategy's implementation in 2015 to the end of 2017. The housing was delivered in a number of different ways from new housing construction to the acquisition of existing units, the HAP and RAS schemes and bringing vacant units back into use, among other methods of housing delivery. Ms Egan also delivered a separate report on so-called Part V delivery of social housing, whereby the council acquires 10% of private housing estates for social housing. She assured concerned councillors like Cllr Tony Murphy (IA) that the local authority will be taking its 10% in almost all cases and will not be accepting financial contribution form developers in lieu of social housing, as was often the controversial practice in the past. She outlined the council's expected housing delivery under Part V over the next couple of years, saying there was agreements in place to deliver 150 units and a further 100 units were under negotiation. Cllr Tom O'Leary (FG) welcomed progress on social housing but said the missing piece of the housing strategy was to provide an affordable housing scheme so that the council could progress its ambition to create 'mixed tenure' developments of social and affordable housing on some of its land bank, including one in Skerries where Cllr O'Leary said he looked forward to a successful mixed tenure development. Cllr Paul Mulville (SD) said that Part V remained a small but important part of the council's social housing delivery while Cllr Adrian Henchy echoed Cllr O'Leary's concerns about the delay in introducing an affordable housing scheme. He said the Government had been promising the scheme for some time and there was a 'real crisis' out there with a lack of starter homes for young families at an affordable price. Williams LeaTag's Ian Tate, Creative Director, Williams LeaTag, presents the Williams LeaTag award to Adam Kelly, Sam Enright, Skerries Community College, Dublin for their project Generalizations Of n-Space Geometric Projections and Transformations in the Chemical, Physical & Mathematical Sciences Intermediate Group Category at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2018 Fingal was well represented at this year's BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition with 10 projects on display from local schools. Balbriggan Loreto kept up its fine tradition in the competition by bring six of the county's 10 projects to the RDS but it was Skerries Community College which scored the biggest success this year, taking an taking first place in the intermediate section of their category with a maths project from students, Sam Enright and Adam Kelly. Ardgillan Community College also exhibited the competition, as did St Joseph's Secondary School in Rush which was making a return to the RDS after a long absence. Among the curious onlookers at this year's exhibition were a number of local politicians who were all suitably impressed by the work of lodal students. Deputy Brendan Ryan TD said: 'As a scientist myself by trade, I am always fascinated, encouraged and inspired by the next generation of Irish ingenuity and talent. 'This year i was especially please to see so many female pupils exhibiting their work. Some 60% of all participants this year are girls and this is great as we need to improve the levels of women in the STEM sector and the signals from the BTYSE 2018 is that the future is bright for greater influence from women in this area.' Senator Lorraine Clifford Lee said she was 'very impressed by the quality of all the exhibits and was particularly delighted to meet some of the students representing Fingal Schools'. Brandon Paisley and Sam Walsh from Creagh College, Gorey, with their project Dia-beating Hypos Two projects from Wexford were presented with awards at this year's BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition held in the RDS in Dublin last week. Students Conn Caomhanach O Muiris, Con O Meachair and Jack O Nuallain De Fuitnigh from Meanscoil Gharman in Enniscorthy were presented with the Highly Commended award for their investigation into how effective EM probiotics are in water treatment as a cleaning product and as a natural biological decomposer. Amy Richards from Loreto Secondary School in Wexford came second place in the Biological and Ecological Senior Individual category for her experiment on the use of essential oils for the control of bacteria and aimed to investigate the antimicrobial effects of plant essential oils in a natural soap. The deserving winners were all announced at the well-attended ceremony, which took place last Friday evening with Minister for Education and Skills Richard Bruton in attendance. Principal of Loreto Secondary School Billy O'Shea said they are absolutely delighted with Amy for winning the award with her amazing her project. 'She is a gifted student and we are all very happy for her,' said Mr O'Shea. Meanscoil Gharman in Enniscorthy presented two projects at the show, while Creagh College in Gorey, FCJ Secondary School in Bunclody and St Peter's College and Loreto Secondary Scholl in Wexford displayed one. Students Conor De Ruit and Robbie Mac Giolla De from Meanscoil Gharman investigated the effects of gender quotas on the make-up of Dail Eireann before and after gender quotas were introduced in 2012. Pierce Ryan from FCJ Bunclody Secondary School created Madralert - a methane gas alarm for dogs. The Madralert is programmed using software programme Snap4Aduino and has an input and output sensor, which detects methane and emits a high pitched sound that deters dogs. Dia-beating Hypos project by Creagh College students Brandon Paisley and Sam Walsh aims to create a surgery drink that will effectively treat hypoglycaemic episodes in diabetics. Jack Hayden, Adam Mullins and Daniel McCarthy from St Peter's College looked at the effects of waterborne contaminants due to climate change and pollution on plant physiology. Isabella Ni Chonaill and Laura Gallagher with their project 'The Fault in our Stars' represented Colaiste Bhride, Carnew. Their project, which was Highly Commended, investigated how accurately zodiac signs predict a persons behaviour and personality type. An author who has, for years, travelled to some of the most remote and inaccessible places of pilgrimage in Britain and Ireland has included an account of an eventful trip to Skellig Michael in his new book, "Pilgrim Adventure: Travels to remote islands and holy places in Britain and Ireland". David Gleed has been involved with the 1988-founded 'Journeying' group from its earliest days, travelling to some of the most remote places in the UK and Ireland. His book is a personal account interspersed with 'poems and reflection for journey', and he described his visit to Skellig Michael as more remarkable than expected. "The weather wasn't at its kindest during the visit and the small open boat (and its passengers) took quite a pounding, more so on the return trip but then a quite amazing thing happened," he said. "An hour out with the boat rising and falling, a strange calm descended. It was almost as though the boat and its passengers had become one with the elements. Together we were cutting a safe passage. "There was a sense of time and timelessness, of early pilgrims with us, battling their way to and from that remote outpost on the edge of the world. We were caught up in the pilgrim experience. "We felt close to God, the elements and fellow pilgrims stretching back across the years. We were on a journey but we were not alone - it was a great feeling." The book includes 12 tales and costs 3.50 (plus postage and packaging). For more information, you can e-mail info@journeying.co.uk or, alternatively, you can phone +(00)44 191 469 2535. A rising star of the Irish cosmetic industry is heading west from her Cork base to deliver a masterclass in her dramatic approach to the art of applying make-up. MUA queen Jeanette Cronin (that's 'MUA' as in 'Make-Up-Artist' lads) is bound for Listowel - thanks to leading local cosmetic purveyor John McGuire - to suggest a couple of new looks and tips the already-expert ladies of the region might care to add to their beauty routine. Jeanette's masterclass, in conjunction with Irish cosmetic brand Cailyn, gets underway in the suitably plush surroundings of The Butler Centre in the Square on Friday, February 9, in an event certain to attract great interest. Jeanette's profile goes a long way after all, as the well-known makeup artist has a large following on social media that's growing on an almost daily basis. She recently opened her own shop in Cork City, and is in high demand when it comes to her profession. She is known for her stunning looks, flawless makeup and bubbly personality. Jeannette will demonstrate two different looks on the night and will participate in a questions-and-answers session. Tickets are 20 but are redeemable instore on any two Cailyn products purchased. The event will run from 7pm to 9pm. On Tuesday, December 19, the death occurred at a young age of dentist Maire Comerford (nee Brennan) of Ovens, County Cork, who was the daughter of Mike (Cahirsiveen) and Josephine Brennan (nee Burke, Valentia Island). The following is her professional profile, as outlined by the Citygate Specialist Dental Clinic of Cork. Dr Maire Brennan received her undergraduate training in the Cork Dental School and Hospital, where she graduated with honours in 2001. She was awarded the Kerr prize for restorative dentistry in her graduating class. Over the following four years, she worked in private and general practices in the UK and Ireland. During that period, she also worked as a Senior House Officer and subsequently held a part-time teaching position in the Dublin Dental Hospital. In 2003, she successfully completed the MFDS examination in the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland. In 2005, Dr. Brennan began a three-year intensive Doctorate program in Prosthodontics in Dublin Dental School and Trinity College Dublin. This full-time clinical Doctorate program covered all aspects of implant dentistry along with fixed and removable Prosthodontics. As part of her doctorate she wrote a thesis on implant overdentures and implant fixed prostheses, which was subsequently published in both national and international journals. She graduated in 2008 with first class honours. In November 2008, Dr Brennan held a position of locum Consultant in Cork Dental School and Hospital where she was involved with the teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate students. She subsequently held a lectureship position here and continued to teach undergraduate students in the Dental School on a part time basis. She worked in specialist private practice limited to Prosthodontics and Implant dentistry. Areas of special interest included aesthetic dentistry, tooth-wear and implant prostheses for maladaptive denture patients. She enjoyed the challenges that advanced dentistry performed at the highest level provides but was especially thrilled by the enhanced quality of life that this dentistry can give to her patients. Together with her colleagues, she hosted regular Study Clubs for referring dentists and has given lectures to the Irish Dental Association. Dr Brennan is a past President and Secretary of the Munster branch of the Irish Dental Association. She frequently organised and attended lectures, conferences and courses which she found immensely enjoyable and necessary to expand her skills and knowledge. She was also a member of The Irish Prosthodontic Society and The European Prosthodontic Association. On a very sad occasion in Valentia Island, Dr Maire Brennan was laid to rest in Kilmore graveyard on Friday, December 22, following Requiem Mass in St James's Church, Ballinora, County Cork. All in Valentia and Iveragh would like to express their heartfelt and sincere condolences to her husband John; sons Noah and Danny; her parents Michael and Josephine; sisters Sinead and Aine; brother Micheal; brothers-in-law; sisters-in-law; nieces; nephews relatives; and friends. Beannacht De lena hanam. Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo (GCFR), Ph.D, was yesterday evening honoured as the first recipient of a doctorate degree from the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). The former president celebrated with friends and associates in Abuja to celebrate the great achievement.. Olusegun Obasanjo made history as he received a doctorate in Christian Theology, the universitys first PhD. It is reported that Obasanjo would be considered for an appointment as a facilitator or supervisor as PhD was the least qualification for one to teach in the institution. DUP leader Arlene Foster told Kerry Fianna Fail TD John Brassil she completely disagreed with him when he called on her to use her leverage with the the Tories to push for a second referendum on a Brexit he described as a 'mess'. The exchange came at the inaugural Killarney Economic Conference at the Brehon Hotel at the weekend, amid dire warnings over the impact of Brexit - an impact already being keenly felt in the tourist capital amid a downturn in British visitors of the order of six per cent nationally on the back of the Brexit-weakened Sterling. Brassil told Foster the second referendum would represent a 'simple solution' to what he characterised as an economic 'mess'. "I would ask you, as a person of influence, to go ahead and demand it [second referendum]," he said to the former First Minister. "I really believe that the British people voted on something that they didn't realise the consequences of," he said. Ms Foster said, in her opinion, the Leave vote was in response to the issue of sovereignty, telling Deputy Brassil she completely disagreed with his proposal. "To be clear, my party has never been in favour of the European Union. Right from the very beginning we have campaigned against it," she said. "I totally disagree with you on the second referendum. I would never advocate that. Where do you stop? We would be on a never-ending cycle of referendums," she told the Kerry Fianna Fail TD during the robust debate on the UK-EU leavetaking. The first-ever Kerry visit by a DUP leader was ultimately hailed a success however, amid the very warm welcome she received in the tourist capital of a Republic she said she wishes to see 'prosper' into the future. A petition calling for an Irish Naval Ship to be named in honour of Annascaul's Antarctic explorer Tom Crean has attracted more than 10,000 signatures in just over a year - and the petition will now be downloaded, arranged, and delivered to Minister Paul Kehoe and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Manchester-based Tim Foley - who has Kerry roots and is an admirer of Crean's and an administrator of sites such as the internationally popular 'Ireland Should Honour Tom Crean' Facebook page - set up the Change.org petition in late 2016. Angered at hearing that Doncaster Airport was renamed after the mythical Robin Hood (it has since been renamed again), Mr Foley has long-campaigned for the heroic explorer to be honoured, and he hopes to see the Irish Naval Fleet's planned new flagship named after Crean. "Thanks to the great teamwork of all his fans the world over, we've reached a great milestone," Mr Foley said of making it to 10,000 signatures. "He held all the attributes that defined a true hero yet here we are over century later and only a privately funded statue in his Annascaul birthplace commemorates his greatness," he said. "I was left angered that a mythical figure [Robin Hood] could have such an honour bestowed upon him when a man who did exist and whose heroism, on three, separately documented occasions, had led to saving the lives of 28 men and many thousands of their descendants thereafter, was destined never to receive rightful recognition. "The naming of the planned Irish Naval flagship presents us with a perfect match to meet this ambition in honour of Ireland's greatest mariner. After a century of his story being kept in the shadows because the time-line of his career conspired against him, we have fans from right across the political spectrum so I believe it would win all party support if a case were to be put forward for honouring Crean." The Gardai have issued a comprehensive apology to Joanne Hayes and her family for the treatment they received and the pain they suffered during the original investigation of the notorious Kerry Babies case in 1984. In a wide ranging apology to the Hayes family, Gardai have admitted that the original investigation "fell well short of required standards" and "fell short of what was required and expected of a professional police service". The apology was made by Superintendent Flor Murphy at a press conference in Cahersiveen Garda Station. At the press briefing on Tuesday, Supt Murphy also officially announced the re-opening of the investigation into the death of five-day-old 'Baby John' whose remains were found at White Strand near Cahersiveen on April 14, 1984, sparking the Kerry Babies saga. Supt Murphy said that acting Garda Commissioner Donall O Cualain had contacted Ms Hayes by phone on Tuesday morning to personally deliver a formal apology for the Gardai's handling of the 1984 investigation. While the Hayes family have yet to comment on the matter, Supt Murphy said it was his understanding that Joanne Hayes had accepted the apology. The apology delivered by Supt Murphy was wide-ranging and admitted that major failings had been made by Gardai involved in the original investigation. That investigation had been headed up personally by the then head of the Dublin based Garda Murder Squad, former Chief Superintendent John Courtney from Annascaul. Mr Courtney passed away last June. Supt Murphy began by apologising for the pain and stress caused to Ms Hayes and her family. "At all times Ms Hayes has co-operated fully with An Garda Siochana. The Acting Garda Commissioner has written to and spoken to Ms Hayes to formally apologise to her on behalf of An Garda Siochana, and I will now re-state that apology," said Supt Murphy. "It is a matter of significant regret for An Garda Siochana that it has taken such a long time for it to be confirmed that Ms Hayes is not the mother of 'Baby John'," Supt Murphy said. "On behalf of An Garda Siochana, I would like to sincerely apologise to Ms Hayes for that, as well as the awful stress and pain she has been put through as a result of the original investigation into this matter, which fell well short of the required standards," Supt Murphy told the briefing. "The Tribunal headed by Mr Justice Kevin Lynch into that investigation rightly criticised many aspects of that investigation. For those failings, I apologise," he said. "It is accepted that the original investigation fell short of what was required and expected of a professional police service," said Supt Murphy. Under questioning from the press Supt Murphy and Chief Supt Walter O'Sullivan who leads the, so called, Garda 'Cold Case Unit' would not be drawn on why the decision had been taken to reopen the case now and apologise to the Hayes family. Supt Murphy closed the press conference with an emotional appeal for the public's help in cracking the three decade old mystery. "We have never found out the full circumstances of the death of 'Baby John'. We need the public's help to change that," he said. "Someone is 'Baby John's' mother. Someone is 'Baby John's' father. Someone knew his mother or father. People have carried a lot of pain and hurt over the last 30 years. This is an opportunity for them to help bring closure to this terrible event and ensure that 'Baby John' receives justice," said Supt Murphy. "We would ask anyone who was living in Cahersiveen and surrounding areas around the time of April 1984 to speak to us. Even the smallest piece of information could be vital." "Anyone who comes forward will be treated with sensitivity. We will have specially trained personnel available who are trained in dealing with difficult and sensitive issues in a compassionate and professional manner," he said. "After all these years, 'Baby John' deserves the truth," said Supt Murphy. The Kerry Babies scandal - which rocked conservative 1980's Ireland to its very foundations - began with the discovery of two dead newborn babies found in the spring of 1984. The first body found was that of a baby boy with multiple stab wounds found on the White Strand in Cahersiveen on April 14, 1984. It is the discovery of this child's remains that the new cold case investigation is focussed on. Weeks later, on May 2, the body of a second baby boy was found on the family farm of 25-year-old Joanne Hayes in Abbeydorney. A major investigation was launched following the discovery in Cahersiveen with gardai drawing up a list of local women suspected of being pregnant or who had recently left the area. Local gardai, and detectives from Dublin, at first suspected the Cahersiveen baby belonged to Ms Hayes. On May 1 Joanne Hayes and some members of her immediate family were brought in for extensive interrogation and signed statements admitting involvement in the case of the Cahersiveen baby. At the time the family made the statements the body of Ms Hayes's baby had not yet been discovered. When it was, just a day later, the garda case against the family was thrown into disarray. On May 28 it emerged that the blood group of the Cahersiveen baby was different to that of Ms Hayes, the married man, Jeremiah Locke, with whom she was having an affair and the baby found at the Hayes' farm. Despite the blood group evidence the investigating detectives stuck to their complex and subsequently controversial "heteropaternal superfecundation" theory, which attempted to prove the babies were twins by different fathers. On October 10, the murder charge against Joanne Hayes, and all other charges against members of her family, were dropped at Tralee District Court. Though Joanne Hayes and her family made confessions in relation to Cahersiveen baby, they later withdrew their confessions and admitted instead that Hayes's baby had been born on the family farm, had died shortly after birth and had been wrapped in a plastic bag and buried in secret. After details of the case were published there was enormous public disquiet. Then Minister for Justice Michael Noonan moved to establish a judicial enquiry to investigate garda handling of the case. The Kerry Babies Tribunal, headed by Justice Kevin Lynch, opened in Tralee on January 7 1985 and would go on to sit for 82 days. Justice Lynch found that Joanne Hayes killed the baby on the farm by choking it to stop it crying. This finding was made in spite of state pathologist Dr John Harbison being unable to determine the cause of the baby's death. Justice Lynch also rejected claims by the Hayes family that they had been assaulted by gardai, or that the confessions were obtained through coercion. While the tribunal report generally exonerated the gardai, its findings included a rebuke for some gardai who were accused of "gilding the lily" or undertaking "the elevation of honest beliefs or suspicions into positive facts". The Murder Squad was disbanded soon after and a Garda Complaints Commission established. The identities of the Cahersiveen baby or his killer have never been established. Statistics presented at the Kerry Joint Policing Committee (JPC) meeting in Killorglin in recent days showed a sharp increase in crime in Kerry in 2017, with a massive increase in burglaries, thefts,and drug possession, compared to 2016. Chief-superintendent Tom Myers described 2017 as a challenging, busy year across the county - and at the outset of last Friday's meeting, he told everyone at the CYMS hall that he expects the same in 2018. The number of people found in possession of drugs for personal use was up 42 per cent to 470. With 113 detections in 2017, there was an increase of over 60 per cent in the number of arrests in relation to possession of drugs for sale or supply - statistics Chief-superintendent Myers described as "very encouraging". "There are two ways of looking at it," he said. "There are more drugs available, perhaps, or this is an example of proactive policing. Our drugs squad have been active throughout the county We have everything from heroin to cannabis to ecstasy tablets, you name it." "From a management point of view, those 113 found in possession for sale are primarily our target, because drugs are a scourge on our community. These 113 detections didn't come easy: they took a lot of intelligence, surveillance, and co-operation with agencies in and out of Kerry As I say, there are two ways of looking at it, but from our point of view, it's very encouraging." Chief-superintendent Myers also cited proactive policing in the rise in the number of public order offences recorded (804, up six-and-a-half per cent), with a small decrease recorded in terms of drunkenness. Across the board, there were increases in terms of crimes against the person (551 to 623); property crime (1,047 to 1,222); and criminal damage and public order (1,643 to 1,679). The 2017 statistics revealed an 18.5 per cent rise in the number of burglaries, and the Chief-superintendent explained that while most were committed by people from within the county, Kerry was hit on several occasions by "travelling criminals, particularly from the Dublin area, and Cork as well". "We had a number of significant detections, and in the last quarter we had reversed the trend of burglaries, with a reduction of 24 per cent [on 2016]," he said. "Our winter phase of Operation Thor has proved successful, and that winter phase will continue until May, with a focus on burglary Compared to the number of burglaries in 2015, we're down from 382, so we're still in a good place, and it remains a priority for us in Kerry." "We are working very closely with units throughout the country, because the burglars that could be in Galway, Clare or Westmeath could be in Kerry within a few hours," he added. "We encourage people to report if they see anything suspicious - and we saw it in Kilcummin earlier in the year when a report led to the arrest of four people." The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has told The Kerryman that more than 2,000 deer were shot in Kerry by licensed hunters during the 2016/17 hunting season, with 45 red deer culled in Killarney National Park by National Park and Wildlife Service (NPWS) staff between January and March of last year. The Department explained that the cull of 34 female and 11 male deer took place following a survey and report on the park's deer population in late 2016. According to a spokesperson, a cull was necessary to protect the ecology of the park, with particular focus on lowland herds. The current population of Red deer in the park is about 700, and another cull is expected in 2018 pending an upcoming submission to Minister Josepha Madigan. "There is a significant challenge in attempting to balance the demands of agriculture, forestry and conservation with the need to ensure that deer populations occupying the same land resources are managed at sustainable levels, and in a responsible and ethical manner," a Department spokesperson told The Kerryman. "Where deer species are increasing in range and numbers, depending on the annual count and instances of damage caused by deer to habitats - especially woodland - culls need to be carried out". "Deer have the potential to impact significantly on woodlands, including the iconic yew, oak and also wet woodlands within the Park (e.g. by bark stripping of mature trees and preventing regeneration). "Culls are in the best interest of the deer herds and of the National Park. They are conducted in accordance with best husbandry practice and in full conformity with scientific and agricultural guidelines." Landowners, if in possession of a licence from the Department, are responsible for control of deer on private property such as the Blasket Islands, and deer can be hunted, depending on sex and species, during a five-month period between September through to the following February. The NPWS told The Kerryman that 2,089 deer were legally shot during the 2016-17 season. The vast majority (almost 95 per cent) of those killed were Sika. "Some 260 deer hunting licences were issued to individuals with Kerry addresses during the 2016/17 season, with a further 34 licences issued to overseas individuals who indicated that they were hunting deer in Kerry," a Department spokesperson told The Kerryman. "Most licensed deer hunters are recreational hunters and so the deer would be used for personal consumption. In other cases deer are sold on for commercial purposes to wildlife dealers. "The Department does not have information as to the final destination of deer carcases." The Chief Executive of Tralee Chamber Alliance is to step down from the position after six years in the job. Mr Ruttledge had been seconded to Tralee Chamber Alliance by Tralee Waterworld PLC - the company that operates the Tralee AquaDome - and on Monday Tralee Waterworld CEO Denis Reen announced that Mr Ruttledge is to return to his former position as full time CEO of the AquaDome. Mr Ruttledge - who was seconded to Tralee Chamber Alliance in 2012 to help get the organisation up and running - will step down as Tralee Chamber Alliance CEO at the end of January. He had originally been seconded for a two year period but he remained in the role for six years. The search for his replacement is already underway and Tralee Chamber Alliance say they hope to have a new CEO in place within a few months. The Chamber Alliance is also to undergo a period of restructuring in the coming months with new members expected to join the board as well as a possible reorganisation of the body's various sub committees. "Kieran's focus is now needed back at the Aquadome in order to plan its future. The timing of the move is seen as opportune as the Chamber is planning a restructuring with the injection of new blood," said Denis Reen. "We wish the Chamber well with its restructuring and assure them of our full support into the future. Tralee needs a strong and vibrant Chamber and now is the time for the next generation to step forward and lead us forward," Mr Reen said. The President of Tralee Chamber Alliance Aidan Kelly paid tribute to Mr Ruttledge. "On behalf of the Board, members and staff of Tralee Chamber Alliance, I wish to thank Kieran Ruttledge for his dedication and commitment to the town of Tralee during his time as CEO," Mr Kelly said. "There have been many high points during Kieran's tenure as CEO including the recent successes in winning the Most Enterprising Town Awards, securing Purple Flag status for Tralee and winning the title of Ireland's Best Large Tourism Town in 2015," he said. "He has worked tirelessly to deliver on the mission of Tralee Chamber Alliance to make Tralee Ireland's premier town in which to live, work and to visit," said Mr Kelly. After months of hard work and diligent preparation it proved to be a memorable week for Kerry students at the 2018 BT Young Scientists & Technology Exhibition which took place at Dublin's RDS before record crowds. A total of 16 countywide projects was evidence of a wealth of knowledge and talent in the field of science and technology in Kerry. But three pupils from St Brendan's College in Killarney will perhaps remember the week that bit more as Harry & James Knoblauch and Oran O'Donoghue's won the 'Social and Behavioural Sciences' group, as well as national runner-up in the Best Group category. Also flying the flag for St Brendan's College were Colm Looney, Darragh Fleming and Ethan O'Neill who won a 'National Parks and Wildlife Services Award' for their study on the risks posed by wandering deer on our roads. The students are still evolving this project which assesses the way technology and phone apps helps identify high-risk areas that can be identified using 'Smart Signage'. The pupils were presented with their award by Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton and the accolades made for an exciting Monday morning at St Brendan's College as the entire school assembled to honour their achievements. The national runner-up in the Best Group project focused on how minorities can influence conformity; an idea that first hatched during a Ryanair flight when, on landing, one person clapped and influenced the rest of the plane to follow suit. This immediately got Oran, James and Harry interested in how one person can influence many people. And if you want a good example of the old adage 'keep calm and carry on', then these boys are a case in point as all had projects rejected in their first and second years at St Brendan's. Harry Knoblauch told The Kerryman on Monday morning that 'conformity' is one word that kept coming up during their research and they discovered very little research existed on 'minority influence'. They used a series of tests and props within their own school to demonstrate how group-think and minority influence works. "To assign a critical evaluator in such cases where organisations and groups meet is just one way of minimising the risks of group-think and conformity," said Harry. "Take social media, where labelling can kill argument and perpetuate a bad cycle of conformity. We hope our project can help prevent such cases of conformity in the future," he added. "We're delighted and their success is a product of years of hard work by the boys, their teachers and their parents - all of whom have put huge mileage into this," said St Brendan's Principal Sean Coffey. "The pupils have a curiosity and resilience of mind that is admirable in young people. We don't always get rewarded in life for our hard work but, on this occasion, both projects got the recognition they deserved," he said. The trip to the capital also proved fruitful for three other Kerry schools who were placed in their respective categories. Mercy Mounthawk in Tralee took third place in the Senior Group in Social and Behavioural Sciences where Olivia Moriarty and Tamila Khussainova investigated teaching and learning methods of Junior Cycle Physics and the promotion of STEM subjects for girls. Robin Porter, also Mercy Mounthawk, was Highly Commended for his project on the development of an antimicrobial smartphone screen protector. Also in Tralee, CBS The Green celebrated third place in the Intermediate Group Technology section for investigating the ways coding and smart technology can help to improve the quality of life for visually impaired people. This project was the work of Kian Trant, Seamus Knightly and Conor Crowley. Meanwhile, Minister Mc Entee presented the Gorta-Self Help Africa and Irish Aid Award to Timothy McGrath, Killorglin Community College, for his project helping to purify water supply in the Third World. Job creation in Wexford by Enterprise Ireland backed companies increased by 3 per cent last year. The figures released by Enterprise Ireland show that 4,670 people are now employed by companies supported by the agency in Wexford. A total of 19,332 new jobs were created by companies supported by Enterprise Ireland in 2017. 209,388 people are now employed in companies supported by the agency. This is the highest total employment achieved in the history of the agency. This represents a net increase of 10,309 jobs for 2017, taking account of job losses. In line with total employment levels, the net increase in jobs, is the highest on record with Enterprise Ireland. The job creation figures are up on 2016, showing strong consistent year on year growth, despite the uncertainty that Irish businesses faced in 2017 in the context of Brexit. Job creation was evenly spread across the country, with every county seeing job increases. Two thirds (64 per cent) of the new jobs created were outside of Dublin. The West, Mid-West and North West saw the largest level of increases at 7 per cent in 2017. Enterprise Ireland attributes this strong performance by Irish businesses to the continuing growth of an entrepreneurial climate for start-ups, allied to strong jobs growth in the construction (8 per cent), engineering (8 per cent), life sciences (8 per cent), digital technology (6 per cent), electronics (6 per cent), food (4 per cent) and ICT sectors (5 per cent). Enterprise Ireland Chief Executive Julie Sinnamon said: 'Despite the challenge and uncertainty created by Brexit, Irish companies have continued to grow their global exports, supporting strong job creation across all of the regions of Ireland. Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys said: 'I am very pleased to see this strong level of job creation delivered for Wexford by Enterprise Ireland backed companies. 'The priority of my Department, through Enterprise Ireland is to support companies in Wexford and right across the country to continue to build on this strong job creation performance.' Our Lady of Lourdes secondary school in New Ross is launching a national campaign to promote sun safety and reduce the risk of skin cancer in the country. The students' Young Social Innovators project is called UV Been Warned and is based on promoting sun safety. A spokesperson for the group said: 'Skin cancer has become the most common type of cancer in Ireland. We intend to make Irish people more aware of the risks of skin cancer and how to prevent skin cancer. We also intend to contact the media, health care services, TD's, travel services, county councils, outdoor organisations, tourist organisations and the met office as well as fundraising for the Irish Cancer Society.' Amy Richards from Loreto Secondary School, Wexford with her project 'The Use of Essential Oils For The Control of Bacteria'. Con Kavanagh Morris and Con Maher from Meanscoil Gharman with their project 'Ag Fiosru EifeachtaiNa bPhroibhithe acha E.M.' Pierce Ryan from FCJ Secondary with his project 'Madralert: A Methane Gas Alarm For Dogs'. Two projects from Wexford have been presented with awards at this year's BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition held in the RDS in Dublin last week. Students Conn Caomhanach O Muiris, Con O Meachair and Jack O Nuallain De Fuitnigh from Meanscoil Gharman in Enniscorthy were presented with the Highly Commended award for their investigation into how effective EM probiotics are in water treatment as a cleaning product and as a natural biological decomposer. Amy Richards from Loreto Secondary School in Wexford came second place in the Biological and Ecological Senior Individual category for her experiment on the use of essential oils for the control of bacteria and aimed to investigate the antimicrobial effects of plant essential oils in a natural soap. The deserving winners were all announced at the well-attended ceremony, which took place last Friday evening with Minister for Education and Skills Richard Bruton in attendance. Principal for Loreto Secondary School Billy O' Shea said they are absolutely delighted with Amy for winning the award with her amazing her project. 'She is a gifted student and we are all very happy for her,' said Mr O'Shea. A total of six projects from five schools in Wexford qualified for this year's BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in the RDS. Meanscoil Gharman in Enniscorthy presented two projects at the show, while Creagh College in Gorey, FCJ Secondary School in Bunclody and St Peter's College and Loreto Secondary Scholl in Wexford displayed one. Students Conor De Ruit and Robbie Mac Giolla De from Meanscoil Gharman investigated the effects of gender quotas on the makeup of Dail Eireann before and after gender quotas were introduced in 2012. Pierce Ryan from FCJ Bunclody Secondary School created Madralert - a methane gas alarm for dogs. The Madralert is programmed using software programme Snap4Aduino and has an input and output sensor, which detects methane and emits a high pitched sound that deters dogs. Dia-beating Hypos project by Creagh College students Brandon Paisley and Sam Walsh aims to create a surgery drink that will effectively treat hypoglycaemic episodes in diabetics as opposed to current methods on the market at the moment. Jack Hayden, Adam Mullins and Daniel McCarthy from St Peter's College looked at the effects of waterborne contaminants due to climate change and pollution on plant physiology. The nationwide event received 2,031 projects this year, with only 550 qualifying for the exhibition. Sam Rockwell and Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Hell hath no fury like a grief-stricken mother scorned in London-born writer-director Martin McDonagh's blackly comic thriller, which pits one vigilante parent against her local police force in a fictional midwestern town. Impeccably scripted and blessed with a blistering lead performance from Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a near perfect film in the right place at the right time. McDonagh's explosive morality tale is fuelled by the righteous anger of a spirited woman, who believes her concerns are being ignored by men in power and will not rest till all lines of inquiry have been exhausted in the pursuit of justice. Her rebel yell sparks sickening violence that may divide audiences, including one scene in a dentist's surgery that leaves jaws truly dropped, but brutality always serves the lean, muscular narrative. Salty, quick-fire dialogue is peppered with polished one-liners that the ensemble cast savours, like when Woody Harrelson's beleaguered police chief confides that he is terminally ill and McDormand's thorn in his side confirms that she already knew and still put up the billboards. 'Well, they wouldn't be as effective after you croak, right?' she tells him with steely resolve. It has been seven months since Angela Hayes was abducted, raped and murdered on her way home. The dead girl's stoic mother, Mildred (McDormand), is infuriated by the lack of progress under police chief Bill Willoughby (Harrelson). Consequently, she rents three advertising hoardings from Red Welby (Caleb Landry Jones) on the outskirts of town and emblazons each billboard with a message aimed directly at the man responsible for apprehending the culprits. 'To me, it seems like the local police department is too busy going round torturing black folks to be bothered doing anything about solving actual crime,' Mildred tells a local TV reporter on air, 'so I thought these billboards might concentrate their minds.'. Officer Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell), who is under the thumb of his bigoted mother (Sandy Martin), reacts violently to Mildred's public spat with his station. Mildred's teenage son Robbie (Lucas Hedges) also suffers abuse at school as a result of his mother's inflammatory actions. However, Mildred refuses to back down. 'Looks like we got a war on our hands,' Willoughby calmly informs his concerned wife Anne (Abbie Cornish). Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri creates a vibrant portrait of small town life torn asunder by personal vendettas and retribution. McDormand is magnificent, skilfully letting her character's frustrations come to a boil, with harrowing consequences. The emotional journey of Rockwell's racist cop isn't wholly believable but his fearless portrayal papers over the tiny cracks and there is glorious support from Harrelson. McDonagh directs with an assured hand, deftly juggling the ticking time bombs of ghoulish comedy and heartrending tragedy. Storms can toss up many things on our Atlantic beaches here in the North West, baby seals included. This little lassie was found exhausted and dehydrated on Streedagh Beach last Monday 8th January by German tourist Claudia Wylegalla. Claudia notified Seal Rescue Ireland when the grey seal pup was still there a day later. Sligo volunteer with Seal Rescue Ireland Neil Walton rescued the pup on Tuesday evening. "He is taking care of her right now. She was dehydrated but is in otherwise good condition," said Operations Manager with Seal Rescue Ireland Melanie Croce, adding that she didn't need to be brought down to the Seal Sanctuary in Wexford for rehabilitation. The pup is expected to stay with Neil for a short period of time before being released back into the wild. She's believed to be between 3-4 months old and weaned from her mother. "Grey seal pups only stay with their mothers about three weeks and most of the mothers pup in the autumn or winter," said Melanie. "She's being tube fed at the minute with fish. Pups can get very exhausted from the strong storms we've had recently," she said. "She needed an extra boost. Sometimes seal just climb up onto beaches when they're exhausted," she added. www.sealrescueireland.org Sligo County Council is writing to the Minister for Transport Shane Ross to ensure country teenagers aged 16-18 years will receive the same child fare prices as Dublin teenagers on public transport. Councillor Thomas Healy raised the motion at yesterday's first County Council meeting of the new year. "This motion stems from a change to the fare structure made in 2014 by then Minister for Transport and current Taoiseach Leo Varadkar," Cllr Healy told the meeting. "This change reduced the cost of fare in the Dublin area for over 16s but left children in the remainder of the country paying adult fares. Surely it is high time for all children in the state to be afforded the same benefits now. "The current fare structure forces children in Sligo to pay a significantly higher price for the same service, so much for all of our children being equal in 2018," he said. All members supported Cllr Healy's motion, claiming it discriminated against children in rural Ireland. Cllr Healy has written to both the Taoiseach and Minister Ross raising his concerns with the unfairness of the fare structure as it stands. They in turn have forwarded the issue to the National Transport Authority for consideration and Cllr Healy is awaiting their reply. A solicitor who was based at the Director of Public Prosecution's Office in Dublin has been appointed as State Solicitor for County Sligo. Elisia McHugh was appointed towards the end of last week and officially takes up her position on February 1st. She succeeds Hugh Sheridan who retired from the post shortly before Christmas. Ms McHugh is married to a native of Glencar, North Sligo. She initially started working in the courts section of the DPP's office before a spell with the Crown Prosecution Service. She then returned to the office of the DPP where she was attached to the directing division. Ms McHugh is the daughter of a former Assistant Garda Commissioners and is in her mid forties. Ms McHugh served as a solicitor to the 2009 Commission of Inquiry into Child Abuse. Farmers are becoming increasingly frustrated over the failure by Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed to bring forward any measures at today's Fodder Action Group meeting in Sligo. That's according to IFA Deputy President Richard Kennedy following a meeting at the Sligo Park Hotel yesterday (Monday). He said: "We sent a clear message to his officials today that the time for procrastination is over. "Our view is that a feed voucher scheme for concentrated feed/meal would have been the most efficient way to address this problem. "While there is no doubt that farmers in some counties have some surplus fodder, it is costly to transport it and it is far from certain that there is sufficient fodder to address the problem in the worst affected areas. However, a transport support scheme would be welcome so long as it is operable and put in place quickly," he said. In the absence of any response to the crisis from the Minister, IFA had mobilised its national county and branch network to support those farmers in most difficulty. He added: "A survey undertaken by Teagasc has clearly established that 85% of farmers in the north-west region are affected by fodder shortages and have, on average, less than half of the fodder they need for the winter. That is a very stark situation for the farmers affected". Meanwhile, the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmer's Association, too expressed their disappointment at the lack of a conclusion following yesterday's meeting. ICSA Sligo chairman Gabriel Gilmartin has said he is extremely disappointed at the lack of a conclusive announcement relating to a transport subsidy for fodder at today's Fodder Action Group meeting in Sligo. Speaking following the meeting Mr Gilmartin said, "Despite recent soundings to the contrary, regrettably no announcement on a transport subsidy was forthcoming today." Mr Gilmartin said he was equally disappointed that no concession on the provision of meal vouchers was forthcoming either, "ICSA is seeking meal vouchers as they are a critical component in alleviating the crisis. ICSA is arguing that meal vouchers can offer a better value solution than transporting fodder across the country at huge cost. These would have to be in the order of 40 per tonne and must be central to any solution." A further meeting will take place on Friday evening at the Bush Hotel in Carrick-on-Shannon at 8pm. IT Sligo is set to benefit after it was announced that the first Leaving Certificate exams in Computer Science will take place in 2020. The move has been warmly welcomed by the institute. The introduction of the subject at Leaving Certificate level will help to drive interest in computer science courses at third-level and reassure industry that the necessary workforce skills are being developed and talent needs addressed. A national pilot study involving 40-post-primary schools, including one in the North West, will commence in September and the first Computer Science examinations will take place in June 2020. IT Sligo Governing Body member Mr. Geoffrey Browne has been involved in the introduction of Computer Science as a Senior Cycle subject - he is a member of the NCCA Development Group that developed the curriculum specification for Computer Science over the last year. The computer-based exam will constitute 70pc of the student's total grade, with the remaining 30pc awarded for a project completed in school. The computer science course aims to teach students to be creative, adaptive learners and to employ flexible, solution-oriented thinking. It is the Government's hope that the introduction of the subject will encourage more students to take up computing and STEM courses after leaving school, enriching the Irish workforce. The exam will serve as an ideal early taster for many of the innovative courses developed by IT Sligo. The Institute works closely with leading partners in the ever-evolving tech industry such as Google and Intel to develop content for different courses and to ensure our graduates meet future skills needs. This September sees the launch of a number of programmes, which will be showcased at IT Sligo's Open Evening on Tuesday, January 16. They include: App design and User Experience, Games development, Smart Technologies, Networks and Cloud infrastructure, Software Development, Data Centre Facilities Management. These programmes complement the new Leaving Certificate Computer Science curriculum where students will be taught computational thinking and analysis; programming languages, how to modify computer programmes; how to design webpages, digital animations, simulations, games, apps and robotic Commenting, IT Sligo Governing Body member Mr. Geoffrey Browne said: "As one who has worked in the Computer Science area for over 20 years and having been involved in the subject curriculum specification development, it is great to finally see Computer Science as a Leaving Cert subject. "We now live in a digital age where computer literacy and digital skills are necessary in almost all careers and in our everyday life. There are exciting times ahead for students who opt for the subject and for those schools that offer it as a subject choice. "Indeed, it's also a very exciting time for IT Sligo in its continuance as a centre of excellence in the teaching of technology in the North West region." John Kelleher, Head of Department of Computing and Creative Practices at IT Sligo, said: "We look forward to the new computer science curriculum which will shed greater light on the diversity of modern computing. The programmes at IT Sligo reflect this well and ensure our graduates of pole position in the digital transformation currently underway." Conversational English classes are being offered in Bray and Kilcoole as Bray Area Partnership's Failte Isteach classes begin again soon. Classes are free and take place through friendly, small, group conversations over a cup of tea (students are asked for a 2 donation at each class to help pay for room hire). The idea of Failte Isteach is that local people volunteer their time to teach practical conversational English to people from other countries who live and work locally. Improving their English helps students to participate more fully in society, take part in further education and gain employment. Kilcoole classes will take place on Wednesday mornings while Bray North classes will take place on Wednesday evenings. Both start on January 24. Bray South classes will take place on Thursday mornings from January 25. Participants must register in advance. For more information see www.brayareapartnership.ie or call 01 2868266 to register. Failte Isteach Bray and Kilcoole is part of a national Third Age Ireland initiative. The project receives funding from the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) 2015-17, which is funded by the Irish Government and co-funded by the European Social Fund and includes a special allocation under the Youth Employment Initiative. An aerial view of the plaza of proposed Florentine Centre, just off Brays Main Street Councillors have given Wicklow County Council the green light to go ahead with the development of the long-overdue Florentine Centre in Bray. Planning permission had been granted by An Bord Pleanala in January of last year. The elected members agreed to the disposal of 9,689 square metres of land situated on Main Street, Bray, and bounded by Florence Road, Quinsboro Road and Eglinton Place, to Navybrook Ltd, 55 Percy Place, Dublin 4. Director of Planning Des O'Brien said Wicklow County Council will continue to own the site until the development is in place. Liquidated damages are also part of the deal should the construction works fall behind schedule. It is hoped the centre will be open by December 2019. At last Monday's meeting, Cllr John Ryan said: 'This is quite a historic day for Bray if this disposal goes ahead. At one stage developers had the site and chose not to develop it, effectively taking the heart out of the town. The old Bray Town Council were encouraged to take back and purchase the part of the site they didn't own. 'An awful lot of people still don't think the Florentine development will take place because it has been going on for so long now. I am thrilled that things have finally gotten to the stage where you have retail that will bring life back to the town,' said Cllr Ryan. Cllr Pat Vance recalled that the first time the project went out to tender was back in 1994. 'It's not going to sort out all Bray's ills but it will definitely sort out a lot of them,' he said. Cllr Steven Matthews said that 'anyone aged under 35 in Bray would only know that area as a hole in the ground and a rough car park.' 'We have taken the site back and now we have a developer with the will and intention to develop the site. This is the best opportunity the site and Bray have had in a long time,' said Cllr Matthews. Cllr Joe Behan said it was a 'necessity' to develop that part of the town. 'Down the years it has served as a huge development hole in the ground. The reality is there is only one bid, only one developer willing to take on the plan we agreed upon at Bray Municipal District level. That is the crucial issue,' he said. Cllr Chris Fox also supported the disposal. 'Just walk down Bray and people will stop and ask when is the Florentine development taking place? Both the public and retailers support the project,' Cllr John Snell said: 'It is blatantly obvious that the elected members from Bray are crying out for something to happen, as are the people of Bray. It's time we pushed on, otherwise we are going to keep going around in circles.' While welcoming plans for the Florentine, Cllr Tom Fortune had reservations having received correspondence regarding the disposal notice and evaluation notice. However, Mr O'Brien was satisfied that no conflict of interest was involved. Cllr Brendan Thornhill took issue with the 2.6 million valuation. 'I am disappointed at the valuation of 2.6 million. I just don't think the public's best interests are being served by selling that site for just 2.6 million,' he said. Mr O'Brien responded that the valuation was clearly based on the fact that the centre has to be built within a short space of time. Twenty-nine councillors voted in favour of the disposal while three (Cllrs Tom Fortune, Tommy Cullen and Brendan Thornhill) abstained. Baltinglass could have Ireland's next top model in their midst after Scoil Chonglais student Nita Bajrami made it through to the final of the leading model search competition. Nita, who will be turn 16 in the summer, will this Saturday, January 20, compete in the Top Model's Ireland Grand Final in the Citywest Hotel, Dublin. Professional hair and make-up teams are at the ready, along with a guest judge panel. Nita's mother Merita, who is originally from Kosovo, says her daughter has had dreams of a modelling career for some time now. 'I am extremely proud of her. She is my first child and I am delighted to see her doing so well. She has wanted to be a model since she was very young but around three yeas ago she started to really get into it. 'I registered her with Assets Modelling Agency but I wouldn't allow her to carry out any work because of her age. Now she is a lot more mature so she entered Top Model Ireland. She is very excited and is really looking forward to the final.' Last weekend, Nita took part in a two-day modelling bootcamp, which she found extremely useful. Merita said: 'She thought they were all a great crowd and she really loved the whole experience. They underwent a lot of training to help them with their confidence and self-esteem, and basically learnt how to look after themselves properly. It was a great bootcamp. 'Obviously whoever wins goes on the represent Ireland and I would love it to be Nita, but all the girls taking part will be carrying out lots of charity work regardless of whether they win or not. 'I know that's something Nita is really looking forward to as well.' The Spanish government has offered 10,400 new contracts to Moroccan seasonal workers in 2018, to work mainly in strawberry and other red fruit and citrus farms. The contracts number was unveiled at a meeting between farmer representatives and authorities in charge of employment, Spanish media reported. The strawberry and berry campaign will take place in April and June 2018. The temporary work contracts is a means to address the labor shortage that was witnessed last year. Among the Moroccan temporary workers, priority will be given to mothers who show commitment to return to Morocco once the contract ends, said the media. Last year, the lack of manpower in strawberry and citrus farms as a result of the transfer of Spanish and EU workers to other economic sectors following Spains economic recovery caused dysfunction in strawberry and citrus farms notably in Andalusia. Rights groups draw attention that the legal framework offers little protection to seasonal agricultural workers in Andalusia. Days not worked are not paid and union representation for these workers is almost impossible. These factors, combined with the system of circular migration, generate violations of workers rights who find themselves completely dependent on their employers. About 90 percent of Spains strawberries are grown in the southwestern province of Huelva. A man who promised his on-off girlfriend that they would build a house together on a non-existent site before gambling away over 22,000 of her money has been jailed for nine months. Michael Williams (45) with an address at Newtown Abbott, Devon, England, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to falsely misrepresenting lands available for sale at Rathnew, County Wicklow to Ms Eibhlin Butler, on or about February 27, 2008. Last Thursday, Judge Martin Nolan sentenced Williams to two-and-a-half years in prison with 21 months suspended, telling him what he had done was 'extremely reprehensible'. Judge Nolan said that he would not have suspended any of the sentence but for the fact that Williams' sister had offered to gift him 10,000 by way of compensation for Ms Butler for the losses she had suffered. 'But for the generosity of your sister, you'd be going to prison for a very long time,' said Judge Nolan. The judge said Williams had decided during the course of his relationship with Ms Butler that he would obtain money from her by false pretences. 'He convinced her he was going to buy land and she re-mortgaged her property and gave him 22,500. The land was fictional and the agreement to buy it was fictional. He gambled the money,' said Judge Nolan. He said Ms Butler, with good reason, had 'lost faith in humanity' and suffered illness and severe financial loss which she was still paying for. 'She lost confidence and suffered significant mental distress. She was totally taken in. He meant her to be totally taken in. He deceived her; he was extremely duplicitous,' said Judge Nolan, adding that it was a 'huge breach of trust'. Garda Richard Redmond told Tony McGillicuddy BL, prosecuting, that Ms Butler had become acquainted with Michael Williams when they were both involved in the horse industry. The pair were in a casual relationship for two years from April 2007. The court heard that Williams suggested to Ms Butler that they would have a child, build a house together on land in Rathnew and run livery stables and kennels. Ms Butler had at the time begun re-mortgaging her own properties as she wanted to clear a number of loans and only have one lump sum repayment a month. Williams told her a man had offered him four acres for sale in Rathnew for 50,000 but had offered to drop the price by 5,000 if they moved quickly. Ms Butler's re-mortgage came through in February 2008 and she withdrew money and gave Williams 22,000 in cash. When Ms Butler asked Williams where he was getting his share of the money to pay for the site, he said a friend of his, a 'dog man' from Kerry, was giving him the cash, and that another friend would 'push through' the planning with Wicklow County Council. Ms Butler told gardai later that after she gave Williams the money, he 'went quiet' about the land and said it would be planted with trees for the next few years and not to hassle his friend who was helping them with planning as he was 'doing them a huge favour'. Ms Butler asked Williams for a map of where the site was, but he gave her a hand-drawn map which she said she was unable to follow. In January 2010, she texted Williams seeking something in writing to show that she owned two acres of land. He replied that he was not willing to do so and she replied, 'Why not Mick? What have you got to hide?' He texted back that he had already told her three times that the land would be in her name. They subsequently met and Ms Butler found out that the land in question had never even been sold. Gardai met with Williams by appointment at Dun Laoghaire Garda Station and asked him if the site in question had ever existed, to which he replied that it had not. He told gardai that he had gambled the money, believing at the time that he would pay it back as he thought he was going to win a fortune in the betting. 'Looking back now, I would have done anything to get a bet,' he said. In a Victim Impact Report read out on her behalf, Ms Butler said Williams had promised that they would have a future together, but that it was 'only lies' and that he 'never had any intention' of them being together. She said she took out a mortgage of 50,000 for home improvements and gave 22,000 to Williams to buy land which she now knew didn't exist. She said she began to suffer from stress and became extremely unwell with stomach problems at the end of 2010 and during 2011. Ms Butler said she was now only in receipt of a disability pension and still had her mortgage to repay. She said she had been left with serious trust issues and low self-esteem, that she had no confidence and that it had impacted on her relationship with her daughter. The court heard that Ms Butler had had to rely on help from St Vincent de Paul for paying ESB bills and with food vouchers at Christmas. Vincent Heneghan SC, defending, accepted that his client had committed a 'mean-minded crime' and an 'absolute breach of trust'. He said Williams was one of seven children whose mother had died in childbirth and that there had been domestic violence in his background. The court heard that Williams had a job driving wood chip to various stud farms, through which he got to know stable lads who gave him tips of horses. He started gambling and 'thought he was good at it' but became quickly indebted. Williams is now living and working as a delivery man in the UK, where he is an involved father to two young children and supports his partner financially. He earns about 400 a week and brought what his counsel described as a 'paltry sum' of 500 to court. He has no previous convictions. Jamie Bell and Kate Mara attend the Dior Homme Menswear Spring/Summer 2018 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 24, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) Barry Keoghan in a scene from his most recent film 'Mammal' Jamie Bell and Kate Mara attend the Dior Homme Menswear Spring/Summer 2018 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 24, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) Colin Farrell simulates a fight with Barry Keoghan following the screening of the film 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer' Dublin actor Barry Keoghan laughs with co-star Nicole Kidman on the red carpet for the screening of Irish film The Killing of a Sacred Deer at the Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Getty Images Noomi Rapace attends the Dior Homme Menswear Spring/Summer 2018 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 24, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) Barry Keoghan attends the Dior Homme Menswear Spring/Summer 2018 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 24, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) Barry Keoghan attends the Dior Homme Menswear Spring/Summer 2018 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 24, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) Barry Keoghan attends the Dior Homme Menswear Spring/Summer 2018 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 24, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) Dublin actor Barry Keoghan has gone from heartless cat killer to haute couture. Keoghan, best known for gunning down a cat in RTE gangland drama Love/Hate, is set to become Ireland's next fashion icon after joining Dior's "style squad". The fashion house's creative director Kris Van Assche has made Keoghan a member of the official #KVASquad, joining the likes of Twilight star Robert Pattinson, Mr Robot actor Rami Malek and rapper A$AP Rocky. The luxury French label kitted Dubliner Keoghan out in designer gear to attend its spring/summer 2018 catwalk show in Paris. Expand Close Barry Keoghan attends the Dior Homme Menswear Spring/Summer 2018 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 24, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Barry Keoghan attends the Dior Homme Menswear Spring/Summer 2018 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 24, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) His fitting and attendance were filmed for online fashion bible WWD (Women's Wear Daily). In the video clip, Keoghan (24), who comes from the north inner city, tells the camera that he likes wearing Dior because "Dior makes me look good and I make Dior look good. The gear they put me in was good." Expand Close Barry Keoghan attends the Dior Homme Menswear Spring/Summer 2018 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 24, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Barry Keoghan attends the Dior Homme Menswear Spring/Summer 2018 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 24, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) It was his first time attending a catwalk show and he said he enjoyed hanging out with movie stars. When asked what his favourite pieces from the collection were, he said: "I liked the baggy pants and the bomber jacket." Expand Close Barry Keoghan as Wayne in Love/Hate / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Barry Keoghan as Wayne in Love/Hate Van Assche said the team at Dior picked Keoghan as a brand ambassador because of his acting talent. "It's about the movies and the way he builds his career and, I mean, he's a good looking guy too, so that helps. He looks really good in Dior," he said. Video of the Day Explaining the ethos behind the campaign, Van Assche previously said: "I really tried to translate what I think Dior Homme is right now. "It's about music, it's about cinema, it's about fashion." Expand Close Dublin actor Barry Keoghan laughs with co-star Nicole Kidman on the red carpet for the screening of Irish film The Killing of a Sacred Deer at the Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dublin actor Barry Keoghan laughs with co-star Nicole Kidman on the red carpet for the screening of Irish film The Killing of a Sacred Deer at the Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Getty Images Keoghan's star is on the rise - last month the Hollywood Reporter name-checked him as Tinsel Town's "next big thing". In the interview, Keoghan spoke proudly of his roots in Dublin 1. "I call it the real Dublin. It's been a big part of every- thing to me," he said. Keoghan will next appear in Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, as a boy who helps ferry injured soldiers on his boat - a role he landed after sending an audition tape in which he used a remote control as a gun. "I took the batteries out like I was taking bullets out," he said. He also appears in Yorgos Lanthimos' The Killing Of A Sacred Deer, alongside Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman. The actor says living in Dublin with his grandmother keeps him grounded. Jared Abrahamson (L) and Barry Keoghan attends the "American Animals" Premiere during the 2018 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Center Theatre on January 19, 2018 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images) Barry Keoghan and Shona Guerin at the Dublin Premiere of the film Dunkirk at the Lighthouse Cinema in Dublin. Pictures Brian McEvoy Barry Keoghan (R) and girlfriend Shona Guerin attend the Headline Gala Screening & UK Premiere of "Killing of a Sacred Deer" during the 61st BFI London Film Festival on October 12, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images for BFI) Barry Keoghan and Harry Styles attend the Warner Bros. Pictures 'DUNKIRK' US premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square on July 18, 2018 in New York City. / AFP PHOTO / ANGELA WEISSANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images Barry Keoghan and Shoana Guerin attend the Esquire Townhouse with Dior party at No 11 Carlton House Terrace on October 11, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images) Shona Guerin and Barry Keoghan at the The Killing of a Sacred Deer Irish premiere at The Lighthouse Cinema, Dublin Jared Abrahamson (L) and Barry Keoghan attends the "American Animals" Premiere during the 2018 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Center Theatre on January 19, 2018 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images) Actor Barry Keoghan (L) and Shona Guerin attend the "American Animals" Premiere during the 2018 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Center Theatre on January 19, 2018 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images) Shona Guerin and actor Barry Keoghan attend the "American Animals" after-party at the Grey Goose Blue Door during Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2018 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Grey Goose Vodka) Barry Keoghan is certainly enjoying the perks of rising stardom. The Irish actor (25) from Dublin's Summerhill, flew to Park City, Utah, to mark the premiere of his latest film American Animals at the Sundance Film Festival. And he was joined by his long-term girlfriend and constant supporter Shona Guerin, who travelled with him earlier this week. Since touching down stateside, the pair have been making the most of their downtime in the run-up to last night's premiere as Sundance is famous for its swag rooms, i.e., brands pay a lot of money to be able to give influential celebrities their products free of charge. Over the last 12 months, Barry's films have been featured at the Cannes Film Festival and his haunting portrayal The Killing of A Sacred Deer catapulted him to the top of young actors lists. His taste for buzzy films continues in 2018 with the release of his newest movie alongside fellow rising stars in a heist thriller based on a true story. Expand Close Actor Barry Keoghan (L) and Shona Guerin attend the "American Animals" Premiere during the 2018 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Center Theatre on January 19, 2018 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Actor Barry Keoghan (L) and Shona Guerin attend the "American Animals" Premiere during the 2018 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Center Theatre on January 19, 2018 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images) He is reluctant to sign onto a new project without believing in it 100%. "I'm looking at scripts now and deciding what I want to do next," he said earlier this month. "I haven't seen anything that grabs me yet. I don't want to work just for the sake of working. I want to tell stories. I take everything into account when it comes to movie roles - like, who's the film maker, what's the story and how's this going to push me forward. "All those questions get asked but so far nothing has grabbed me." Expand Close Jared Abrahamson (L) and Barry Keoghan attends the "American Animals" Premiere during the 2018 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Center Theatre on January 19, 2018 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jared Abrahamson (L) and Barry Keoghan attends the "American Animals" Premiere during the 2018 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Center Theatre on January 19, 2018 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images) It's been a year of hilarious moments for the president (Evan Vucci/AP) Its been a year since Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States in Washington DC. His first year in office has been eventful, with pushes to remove the American Healthcare Act and a clampdown on immigration. His actions on Twitter and in the real world have sparked hundreds of memes. Here are some of the best: 1. Trump draws anything The 45th President of the United States has a habit of holding up executive orders after signing them to show his signature. This provided ample opportunity for meme-makers to place whatever they wanted on the pages, with hilarious and often unflattering results. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference This meme even has a whole Instagram account dedicated to it, with more than 8,000 followers. 2. Solar eclipse When a full solar eclipse in August 2017 swept across 12 states in just over an hour-and-a-half, people couldnt wait to see their president experience the joy of this natural phenomena. For those who enjoy poking fun at world leaders, Trump provided plenty of material by looking up at the sun without any eye protection on. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference 3. Thirsty memes Making yourself into a plethora of memes is thirsty work, and doesnt Trump know it. After numerous occasions with Trump drinking water in an odd fashion, the internet began to pick up on it. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference 4. Gorilla TV This meme doesnt come directly from Trumps actions, but from a story which circulated about what TV he likes to watch in the White House. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference The original tweet apparently showed a page from the Fire And Fury book on Trump and the White House, released this month but was, of course, a parody. Or was it? We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Brands enjoyed this one, including Animal Planet and Netflix. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference 5. The Girther movement This week, Trump underwent a medical check-up performed by Dr Ronny Jackson. The doc declared the 71-year-old to be 6ft 3ins (1.9m) tall and weigh 239 pounds (108kg). We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Some felt this may not have been entirely accurate, hence the birth of the girther movement. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference 6. The wall Trumps campaign promise to build a wall between the US and Mexico gave rise to an adaptation of an existing meme to include Trump. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference 7. Puppy ear Jade Robinson, from Tyne and Wear, needed a picture of her poorly beagles ear to show the vet. Once she took the photo, however, she discovered something surprising. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference 8. Nothing but respect for my president Following repeated attempts to destroy or sully Trumps star on Hollywood Boulevard, one Twitter user posted about her clean-up operation. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference She received thousands of tweets containing praise for her actions, but she also inspired a meme still in use today. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference 9. Paper towels When Trump travelled to Puerto Rico in October to assess relief efforts, he was spotted throwing paper towels into a waiting crowd. The odd moment inspired a flurry of memes. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference 10. Animatronic Trump Disney released its Trump figure for the Hall of Presidents in December, and it looked pretty scary. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference In particular, the internet drew comparisons between the model and Jon Voight. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference 11. Covfefe Also in May, Trump shared a late-night tweet which read: Despite the constant negative press covfefe. The new word baffled Twitter users, but seemed a good reason to poke fun. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference 12. The orb On a trip to Saudi Arabia, Trump attended the opening of the Global Centre for Combating Extremist Ideology with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. During the photo call for the event, the two foreign guests joined Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud in placing their hands on an illuminated globe. The resulting photo was meme heaven. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference The Popes top adviser on clerical sex abuse has implicitly rebuked the pontiff over his accusations of slander against Chilean abuse victims, saying that Francis words were a source of great pain for survivors of sexual abuse. Cardinal Sean OMalley, the archbishop of Boston, said he could not explain why Francis chose the particular words he used. In an extraordinary effort at damage control, Cardinal OMalley insisted that Francis fully recognises the egregious failures of the church and its clergy who abused children and the devastating impact those crimes have had on survivors and their loved ones. Expand Close The Pope's tour of the region is continuing in Peru (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Pope's tour of the region is continuing in Peru (AP) Francis sparked national uproar upon leaving Chile on Thursday by accusing victims of the countrys most notorious paedophile priest of having slandered another bishop, Juan Barros. The victims say Bishop Barros knew about the abuse but did nothing to stop it a charge which the bishop denies. The day they bring me proof against Bishop Barros, Ill speak, Francis told Chilean journalists in the northern city of Iquique. There is not one shred of proof against him. Its all calumny. Is that clear? The remarks shocked Chileans, drew immediate rebuke from victims and their advocates and once again raised questions over the 81-year-old Argentine Jesuits stance on the issue. Expand Close Pope Francis celebrates a seaside Mass on Huanchaco Beach (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Pope Francis celebrates a seaside Mass on Huanchaco Beach (AP) The scandal over the crimes of the Rev Fernando Karadima has devastated the credibility of the Roman Catholic Church in Chile, and Francis comments will likely haunt it for the foreseeable future. Cardinal OMalleys carefully-worded critique was remarkable since it is rare for a cardinal to publicly rebuke the Pope in such terms. But Francis remarks were so potentially toxic to the Vaticans efforts to turn the tide on decades of clerical sex abuse and cover-up that he clearly felt he had to respond. Cardinal OMalley headed Francis much-touted committee for the protection of minors until it lapsed last month after its initial three-year mandate expired. Francis has not named new members, and the committees future remains unclear. Countering Chinas rapidly expanding military and an increasingly aggressive Russia are now the US militarys top national security priorities. US defence secretary James Mattis said competition with those adversaries has threatened Americas military advantage around the world and has overtaken the threat of terrorism. Laying out a broad new strategy for the Defence Department, Mr Mattis warned that all aspects of the militarys competitive war fighting edge have eroded. He said building a force that can deter war with established and emerging military powers in Moscow and Beijing, and US enemies such as North Korea and Iran will require increased investment to make the military more lethal, agile and ready to fight. We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists that we are engaged in today, but great power competition not terrorism is now the primary focus of US national security, he said in remarks at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Mr Mattis said the Islamic State groups physical caliphate in Iraq and Syria had been defeated, but that IS, al Qaida and other extremists still pose threats across the globe. He repeated his call for America to work closely with allies and partners an approach that aligns more closely with previous administrations than US President Donald Trumps America First ideas. That mantra was repeated in a national security strategy that Mr Trumps administration released in December. The US and its allies, Mr Mattis said, are stronger together. He recalled going to his first NATO meeting last year, carrying Mr Trumps demand for nations to increase their defence spending and thinking about how to fit Mr Trumps message into the broader framework of working with partners. When he got to Brussels, Mr Mattis said he told the alliance: Heres the bottom line: Please do not ask me to go back and tell Americans the American parents that they need to care more about the safety and security and the freedom of your children than youre willing to care for, than youre willing to sacrifice for. Were all going to have to put our shoulder to the wagon and move it up the hill. The most dominant theme in his strategy is for the US to regain its competitive edge with China and Russia, according to an 11-page, unclassified version released by the Pentagon. That shift reflects persistent US worries about Chinas military buildup in the South China Sea, its moves to expand its political and economic influence, and what has been described as Beijings systematic campaign of cyber attacks and data theft from government agencies and private US corporations. The shift also underscores broad American concerns about Russia, given Moscows takeover of Ukrainian territory, involvement in Syrias war and alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. Weve been doing a lot of things in the last 25 years, and weve been focused on really other problems and this strategy really represents a fundamental shift to say, look, we have to get back, in a sense, to basics of the potential for war, said Elbridge Colby, the deputy assistant defence secretary for strategy. This strategy says the focus will be on prioritising preparedness for war and particularly major power war. Migrants wait to be rescued in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast last summer. Opposite page, an unidentified migrant carrying his luggage at a makeshift in northern France. Photo: Getty Images We are living in a century constantly shaped by the vast numbers of people on the move across the globe. It is one defined by human mobility. More than 244 million people currently live outside their country of birth, a number that includes more than 65 million forcibly displaced by war, persecution and natural disasters and others who migrate for the promise of a better life. Those numbers are not going away, in fact they are expected to increase - and dramatically so. The ravages of climate change, for example, are predicted to produce a billion refugees by the middle of this century, and possibly two billion by its close. The public conversation on migration in Europe - so influenced by the toxic messaging of populists and xenophobes - often fails to include the bigger picture of what is driving this mass movement of people internationally and how it may evolve in future. In a recent interview with Canada's CBC, Canadian lawyer Francois Crepeau - who spent six years as the UN's leading investigator and expert on the human rights of migrants - delved into that bigger picture. "Migration is part of humankind We are a migrating animal species. The numbers are high today, but they represent on average 3pc of the world population. We're told by anthropologists and sociologists that this was the proportion 50 years ago, and this was the proportion 100 years ago. "[Migration] is the constant of who we are," he says. "Refugees are a kind of migrant. But there are many other people who do not fear persecution or who fear many other things: people who are fleeing drought, tsunamis, poverty. These are good reasons to try to move somewhere else. "This is a social stress, and migration has always been a human answer to social stress. "It's going to continue, and we have to adapt to that rather than try to refuse it." Mr Crepeau argues that an approach like that of the 'Fortress Europe' mindset is not only misguided, it also feeds criminal networks involved in trafficking: "If you try to stop everyone you don't like, the only thing you do is you create underground markets for smugglers." And he highlights what is often missing from the conversation on migration in Europe. "Migrations occur because of push and pull factors. "We very often discuss the push factors - environmental catastrophes, violence, war, economic deprivation. "We never talk about the pull factors. "The main pull factor for countries in the global north is that we have huge labour markets that need those migrants." Similar arguments have been made by Dimitris Avramopoulos, European commissioner for migration, home affairs and citizenship, in calling for a conversation about migration that goes beyond crisis management or the poisonous politics of the populists and acknowledges this as Europe's new reality. He wrote last month: "It is foolish to think that migration will disappear if one adopts harsh language. "It is naive to think that our societies will remain homogeneous and migration-free if one erects fences. "It is unwise to think that migration will remain on the other side of the Mediterranean, if one only shows solidarity in financial terms. "We must start to be honest with those citizens who are concerned about how we will manage migration. "We may not be able to stop migration. But we can be better, smarter and more proactive at managing this phenomenon. "However, we cannot achieve this if we don't accept a change in attitude and a change in our narrative." Mr Avramopoulos notes that this is also an economic and social necessity given the continent's demographic trends. Europe's ageing is so dramatic that by the middle of this century, the ratio of working age people to every pensioner will have halved from four today to just two. Last year, Eurostat estimated that only Ireland, France, Norway and Britain were experiencing birthrates that would see their populations expand by 2050 without migration. In contrast, Germany and Italy would face declines of 18pc and 16pc respectively without migration. The prospect of a shrunken European workforce - on top of a pension and social security infrastructure already under severe strain - poses huge challenges yet politicians rarely mention these realities when it comes to the debate on migration, a debate that remains short-sighted and too beholden to fears of the surge in populism. But that needs to change if Europe is to develop forward-looking migration policies in a sustainable way. One place to start would be improving legal channels to allow for regulated migration to Europe. Another would be explaining the economic imperative of that to citizens. For all the political sensitivities the question of migration has triggered in Europe in recent years, when it boils down to demographics the continent needs more migrants to remain afloat. U.S. President Donald Trump has blamed Democrat lawmakers for a shutdown of the federal government that went into effect on Saturday. "Democrats are far more concerned with illegal immigrants than they are with our great military or safety at our dangerous southern border," he said in a Twitter post early on Saturday. "They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead." Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMoreRepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present. #DemocratShutdown Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 For those asking, the Republicans only have 51 votes in the Senate, and they need 60. That is why we need to win more Republicans in 2018 Election! We can then be even tougher on Crime (and Border), and even better to our Military & Veterans! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 The Senate is expected to resume talks on funding the government at noon. The U.S. government officially shut down at midnight on Friday after Democrats and Republicans failed to reach a last-minute deal to fund its operations, divided in a bitter dispute over immigration and border security. During a dramatic late-night session, senators blocked a bill to extend government funding through Feb. 16. The bill needed 60 votes in the 100-member Senate but fell short with only 50 supporting it. Most Democrats opposed the bill because their efforts to include protections for hundreds of thousands for the young immigrants known as Dreamers failed. Huddled negotiations by Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer in the last minutes before midnight were unsuccessful, and the U.S. government technically ran out of money at midnight. The shutdown formally began on Saturday, the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration. Trump's administration immediately sought to blame Democrats, and the president followed the statement with a series of tweets hours later. "Tonight, they put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our countrys ability to serve all Americans," the White House said in a statement. Read More The Trump administration said it would not discuss immigration until the government is up and running again. "When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders, we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform," the statement said. Until a funding deal is worked out, scores of federal agencies across the country will be unable to operate, and hundreds of thousands of "non-essential" federal workers will be put on temporary unpaid leave. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a stopgap funding measure on Thursday. But Republicans then needed the support of at least 10 Democrats to pass the bill in the Senate. While five Democrats ended up voting for the measure, five Republicans voted against it. Democratic leaders demanded that the measure include protections from deportation for about 700,000 undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers who arrived in the United States as children. Republicans refused to include those protections, and neither side was willing to back down. McConnell and Schumer insisted they were still committed to finding an agreement that restores government funding as soon as possible. Trump, who had made strict measures on immigration a cornerstone of his presidential campaign, last week rejected a bipartisan proposal, saying he wanted to include any deal for Dreamers in a bigger legislative package that also boosts funding for a border wall and tighter security at the U.S. border with Mexico. In a shutdown, "essential" employees who deal with public safety and national security would keep working. That includes more than 1.3 million people on active duty in the military who would be required to work but would not be paid until funding is renewed. Although past government shutdowns have done little lasting damage to the U.S. economy, they can rattle financial markets. The new shutdown could trigger a political battle between Democrats and Republicans over who is to blame. It follows a months-long struggle in Congress to agree on government funding levels and the immigration issue. Senator Rand Paul after his return to Congress following the assault. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images The bizarre mystery surrounding a November attack on Senator Rand Paul by his neighbor seems to be over: Federal prosecutors said on Friday that 59-year-old Rene Boucher blindsided his famous libertarian neighbor after becoming enraged over Pauls style of yard maintenance. Heres what happened in the pairs gated community in Bowling Green, Kentucky, that day, according to U.S. attorney Joshua Minkler: On November 3, 2017, the victim was mowing his yard while wearing headphones. Boucher allegedly witnessed the victim stack brush onto a pile near the victims property and had enough. Boucher ran onto the victims property and tackled the victim. As a result of this assault, the victim suffered multiple fractured ribs and subsequently contracted and required medical attention for pneumonia. Boucher admitted the assault but denied it was politically motivated. Rene Boucher. Photo: Handout/Warren County Regional Jail Boucher, a physician like Paul, has plead guilty to a felony charge of assaulting a member of Congress. Bouchers lawyer says that the retired anesthesiologist is a very meticulous sort of fellow and that, as a result, the two neighbors had a longstanding dispute over Pauls landscaping. He continues to be very regretful and very remorseful, the lawyer added. I know that he wishes that it had never happened. Assaulting a member of Congress is an offense we take very seriously, Minkler said. Boucher, who made a running tackle on Paul, could face up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but prosecutors are only asking the judge for a 21-month sentence. There had originally seemed to be pushback on the landscaping-dispute explanation from within the Paul camp, but federal prosecutors now seem convinced that was the cause. President Donald Trump is blaming Democrats for the government shutdown tweeting that they wanted to give him a nice present to mark the one-year anniversary of his inauguration. He said Democrats could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference And as part of a series of tweets hours after the shutdown began, the president is trying to make the case for Americans to elect more Republicans in the November elections in order to power through this mess. Mr Trump accused Democrats of being more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous border with Mexico. He also noted there are 51 Republicans in the Senate, and it takes 60 votes to move ahead on legislation to keep the government running so some Democratic support is needed now. In President Trumps view, that is why we need to win more Republicans in the mid-term elections. Turkish jets have bombed the city of Afrin in northern Syria, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised to expand Turkeys military border operations against a Kurdish group allied to the US in the fight against Islamic State. The warplanes attacked Afrin, which is controlled by the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG), shortly before sunset, Turkish media reported. A Kurdish official confirmed the strikes, saying they were the first by the Turkish military on the city in what it has named operation Olive Branch. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference The attack follows a week of threats by the Turkish government to clear the YPG from Afrin and its surrounding countryside. Turkey said the YPG a group it considers a terrorist organisation is an extension of an outlawed Kurdish rebel group fighting inside its own borders. It has recruited to its cause thousands of disaffected Syrian opposition fighters, who view the YPG as a counter-revolutionary force in Syrias multi-sided civil war. Associated Press journalists at the Turkish border saw a convoy of buses, believed to be carrying Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters, travelling along the border across from Afrin. Expand Close A convoy of buses believed to be carrying Syrian opposition fighters, travels along the border with Syria (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A convoy of buses believed to be carrying Syrian opposition fighters, travels along the border with Syria (AP) The convoy included at least four trucks carrying pickup trucks mounted with machine guns. Video from Turkey this week showed the military moving tanks to the border. The YPG is the driving force behind a coalition of north Syrian forces allied with the US to battle IS. With American support, including close to 2,000 embedded forces, the coalition now controls close to a quarter of Syrian territory, concentrated mostly in the north-east. Turkish leaders were infuriated by an announcement by the US military one week ago that it was going to create a 30,000-strong border force with the Kurdish fighters to secure northern Syria. Days later, US secretary of state Rex Tillerson announced that the US would maintain a military presence with the Kurds for the foreseeable future. Expand Close Military aircraft flies over Syria during 'Operation olive branch' (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Military aircraft flies over Syria during 'Operation olive branch' (AP) Speaking in the city of Kutahya in western Turkey, Mr Erdogan announced an expansion to Turkish operations in Syria, promising to move on the Kurdish-controlled town of Manbij and its surrounding countryside after completing operations in Afrin, to force out the Kurdish militia from all positions west of the Euphrates river. Turkish prime minister Binali Yildirim said the strikes on Afrin marked the start of a campaign to eliminate the PYD and PKK and Daesh elements in Afrin, in reference to the Kurdish Democratic Union Party and the Kurdistan Workers Party respectively, and using an Arabic acronym for IS. The PYD, PKK, and YPG all look to the Kurdish Marxist-nationalist leader Abdullah Ocalan as their guide. Ocalan has been imprisoned by Turkey for waging a separatist movement in the eastern part of the country. The air strikes were preceded by an artillery bombardment on the Afrin region. Any ground operation would entail considerable military and political risk for Ankara. Russia keeps military observers in Afrin and has lately firmed up its ties with the YPG. Meanwhile, Syrias government in Damascus has said it will shoot down any Turkish jets on raids in the country. Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 20 (IBNS): In a continuation of the violence in Kerala, yet another Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS) worker was hacked to death in Kannaur district of the state on Friday, media reports said. The deceased, who has been identified as Shyamaprasad, was on his way back from Kakkayangad ITI when he was attacked by a group. Shyamaprasad was a student of Kakkayangad ITI. Though he was immediately rushed to a hospital but failed to survive. The police told reporters that there was a clash between SDPI and RSS few days ago, which left one SDPI member injured. However, the police could not confirm whether the killing is a repercussion of the clash between SDPI and RSS. Shyamaprasad was also an ABVP member. New York, Jan 20 (JEN): Following a two-day visit to conflict-ravaged South Sudan, where a quarter of a million children are severely malnourished and at imminent risk of death, the head of the United Nations children's agency has said only an end to hostilities can bring back hope and safety to the children and young people there. I have just spent two days in South Sudan where I saw first-hand how four years of a man-made conflict have left children sick, hungry and on the brink of death, Henrietta H. Fore, the Executive Director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), said Thursday in the capital, Juba, as she wrapped up her visit. She said the impact of the relentless violence has been devastating. She recalled meeting a mother who had to walk for days to get treatment for her malnourished baby. Recounting another grim incident, Fore said she had spoken with a young boy who was forced to join an armed group at the age of 10. At the same time, she said, she saw signs of hope emanating from the families experiencing the horror. UNICEF and other aid agencies are working on the ground in some of the most dangerous conditions to provide children and young people with their basic needs. This is no small feat, she said, describing South Sudan the most dangerous place in the world for humanitarians as 28 aid workers were killed last year alone. Forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his former Vice-President Rieck Machar, have been battling for the past five years, turning what began in 2013 as a political rivalry into all out conflict that, according to the UN relief wing, has left some seven million people in need of assistance and protection, and forced more than two million to flee to neighbouring countries. Ms. Fore noted that the fighting shows no sign of abating and the humanitarian needs are massive: 2.4 million children have been forced to flee their homes. More than a quarter of a million children are severely malnourished and at imminent risk of death. Over 19,000 children have been recruited into the conflict. At least one in three schools has been damaged, destroyed, occupied or closed. More than 1,200 cases of sexual violence against children have been documented. The numbers go on and on. Together they equal an entire generation of young people denied the opportunities they so desperately need to contribute to building their society, she said. As the dry season approaches, the needs and threats will only continue to grow. Only an end to hostilities can bring back hope and safety to the children and young people of South Sudan. Until then, we need unconditional, sustainable access from parties to the conflict and more resources from donors, she said. Without these, the lives and futures of millions of children in South Sudan will continue to hang in the balance. Photo: UNICEF/Prinsloo New York, Jan 20 (JEN): As swelling numbers of people flee English-speaking areas of Cameroon for Nigeria, the United Nations on Friday expressed concern over the precarious situation of women and children, which make now up about 80 per cent of the approximately 10,000 registered refugees in eastern Nigerias Cross River state. Some of these are boys and girls who fled to Nigeria alone, William Spindler, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told reporters at the regular press briefing in Geneva, adding that unaccompanied and separated children are particularly vulnerable. UNHCR has received numerous reports that children have to work or beg to survive or to help their families, he added. Many reported that they were unable to attend school, for lack of time and money. Thousands more are among the population of unregistered Cameroonians in neighbouring states, where some of the children are unaccompanied and vulnerable. UNHCR is working with the Nigerian authorities to assist with the reunification of separated children with their families, to provide unaccompanied children with protection services and to restore the basic right of all children to education, Spindler said. Some of the children fleeing to Nigeria told UNHCR that they had been out of school in Cameroon for all of 2017. For women, the lack of work combined with the over-stretched reception facilities, creates a higher risk of sexual and gender-based violence, particularly from survival sex, he continued. While only a limited number of cases have been recorded, mainly in the Amana community of Cross River state, UNHCR is concerned that many more go unreported or are referred only to community elders. Incidents of domestic violence, as well as cases of teenage pregnancies involving girls as young as 14, have also been reported, the spokesperson elaborated. In Nigerias Benue state, two school buildings are serving as temporary refugee accommodations, where women and their families sleep inside communal school halls deprived of private space and the right to family dignity. For them, and for the rest of the population living in temporary tents hastily built next to local residences, sufficient and appropriate shelter is key to ensure adequate registration, systematic aid distribution and reduced protection risks, Spindler underscored. UNHCR and the Nigerian authorities are currently working to identify sites away from the border, where the refugees can live according to international standards. We are also establishing offices in the towns of Calabar and Adikpo to better provide assistance and protection to the women and children, he said, noting that support includes food, basic relief items, water and sanitation facilities. Since mid-2017, Cameroons Anglophone regions have seen demonstrations as tensions have mounted over what the countrys English-speakers see as discrimination against them in favour of the majority French-speaking population. Photo: UNHCR/Elizabeth Mpimbaza New York, Jan 20 (JEN): Elephants, giraffes, rhinos and other magnificent mammals targeted in wildlife conservation areas of Central Africa are under threat of extinction, caught in the crosshairs of armed groups and highly-militarized poachers, the United Nations environment wing warned on Friday. The importance of engaging local communities in fighting poaching, and of enhancing their alternative livelihoods, has now been widely recognized across various national, regional and global fora said Bianca Notarbartolo of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). But such commitments have yet to be matched by enough effective implementation, she added. UNEPs warning comes in the wake of the release last month by the non-governmental organization Traffic of a report reflecting the grim reality the negative impact of armed groups on wildlife in Central Africa. As recently as three decades ago, thousands of elephants strode majestically across the wildlife conservation areas of Central Africa. Today, their population has been decimated, according the 2017 report. In the 1980s, the Democratic Republic of the Congos Garamba National Park was home to 20,000 elephants. That number has dwindled to an estimated 1,100 1,400 today. The situation appears even grimmer for the giraffes. In many African societies, the flywhisk, usually made from the animals tail, is a symbol of authority. The flywhisk from the Kordofan giraffe is particularly prized, putting this species in danger from poachers and other armed groups. Consequently, only about 40 giraffes remain in the Garamba Park. Some of the armed non-State groups and militia operating in the restive region include Sudans Janjaweed militia, Ugandas Lords Resistance Army, Central African Republics rival Anti-Balaka and Seleka fighters, as well as Sudans Peoples Liberation-In Opposition and poachers making conservation a dangerous undertaking. Chimpanzees have also not been spared from the onslaught. The population of eastern chimpanzees in eastern the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) has declined by 80 to 98 per cent, mainly because of poaching for bushmeat attributed to demand for protein, particularly intense around artisanal mining and logging camps. The dual effect of insufficient nutrition, coupled with mining pollution is likely to exacerbate the threat to the regions biodiversity, resulting in a downward spiral that could jeopardize future livelihoods of numerous local communities. In May 2016, UNEP and other UN partners launched the Wild For Life campaign, which has been raising awareness, promoting the enactment and enforcement of laws, and increasing support for efforts by local communities to halt the illegal trade in wildlife. Elephants and Rhinos are among the species targeted by the campaign. Strengthening the role of local communities in wildlife management should be at the centre of any strategy to combat illegal trade in wildlife and to secure wildlife and biodiversity for the future, stressed Ms. Notarbartolo. Photo: UNEP GRID Arendal/Peter Prokosch Stephen Paddocks room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Photo: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department In his first press conference in months about last years mass shooting in Las Vegas, Clark County sheriff Joe Lombardo said authorities still have no motive for why Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowded outdoor concert in October, injuring 851 and killing 58. But Lombardo, in a move that he said was unusual, did reveal some new details about the shooter and the investigation. He also released a preliminary report detailing the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Departments work on the case. Lombardo said police continue to believe that Paddock was the only gunman on October 1, but added that there is another person of interest and charges are expected to be filed in the next two months. That person is not Paddocks girlfriend Marilou Danley, who was questioned in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, he said. Much of what Lombardo revealed concerned the details police have found about Paddock, who stockpiled weapons and researched multiple potential locations for the massacre. Police dug through Paddocks computers and found searches suggesting that he considered Santa Monica beach and Fenway Park as potential targets. They also found that he conducted research into ballistics and SWAT team tactics. Lombardo said investigators found that Paddock possessed child pornography too. Though Lombardo insisted that Paddocks motive remains unclear, he did offer some speculation. Ive put out in the public space that he had lost a significant amount of his monetary wealth in close proximity to 1 October and that may have a driving factor associated with it, he said. The preliminary report included photos from inside of Paddocks Mandalay Bay hotel room, showing guns strewn about beds, tables, and the floor. Police said he fired 1,100 rounds during his attack and still had 4,000 bullets in his room when killed himself. Fridays press conference, Lombardos first since October 13, marked a break in the law-enforcement blackout of information on the case. Last week, a judge unsealed court documents after several media outlets sued. The documents offered few new details. The lack of information on the case has led to wild speculation, including the theory pushed Thursday by a Republican congressman that ISIS was behind the shooting. Ive been made aware of what I believe to be credible evidence, credible information, regarding terrorist infiltration through the southern border regarding this incident, Representative Scott Perry said on Fox News. Id like to see the evidence, Lombardo said Friday when asked about Perrys claim. New York, Jan 20 (JEN): More than four million children have been impacted by extreme violence in Iraq, many robbed of their childhood and forced to fight on the frontlines, the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) said Friday. Last year alone, 270 children were killed, said UNICEF Regional Director Geert Cappelaere following a recent visit. Some will bear the physical and psychological scars for life due to exposure to unprecedented brutality, he added, pointing out that over one million children were forced to leave their homes. Today, Iraq hosts one of UNICEFs largest operations in the world, responding with humanitarian and development assistance to the needs of the most vulnerable girls and boys across the country. Violence is not only killing and maiming children; it is destroying schools, hospitals, homes and roads. It is tearing apart the diverse social fabric and the culture of tolerance that hold communities together. In one of the schools that UNICEF recently rehabilitated in the western parts of Mosul, I joined 12-year-old Noor in class. She told me how her family stayed in the city even during the peak of the fighting. She spoke of her fear when she was taking shelter. She lost three years of schooling and is now working hard to catch up, learning English with other boys and girls, Cappelaere Poverty and conflict have interrupted the education for three million children across Iraq. Some have never been inside a classroom. Over a quarter of all children in Iraq live in poverty, with children in southern and rural areas most affected over the past decades. As Iraq prepares for elections and the International Summit for Iraq, there is no better moment to prioritize the interests of children, stop the violence and break the cycle of poverty and deprivation, stressed Mr. Cappelaere. UNICEF appealed to authorities in Iraq and the international community to end all forms of violence so children and their families can live in safety and dignity; continue providing humanitarian and recovery assistance, including to those in camps and informal settlements; and massively step up immediate and long-term investments in education. The children of Iraq, like all children around, the world have the right to learn and aspire to a better tomorrow. The children of today are tomorrows teachers, doctors, engineers and scientists. Investing in them now is an investment in Iraqs future, he underscored. The International Summit for Iraq, hosted by Kuwait from 12-14 February, offers an opportunity for Iraq and the international community to strengthen commitments to the countrys children specifically by increasing budgets allocated to supporting children. Member States and the private sector should turn financial pledges into concrete commitments for children. This is fundamental for rebuilding a peaceful and prosperous Iraq away from the vicious cycles of violence and intergenerational poverty, emphasized Cappelaere. Photo: UNICEF/Romenzi London, Jan 20 (IBNS): US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Theresa May are set to meet at the upcoming World Economic Forum in Davos, media reports said. Prime Minister Theresa May and President Donald Trump will meet at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, Downing Street has confirmed, BBC reported. Trump recently cancelled his UK trip that was scheduled to be held next month. Trump was expected to open a new $1bn (738m) US embassy in London city of the UK, media reports said. Trump cited the reason that he was not a "big fan" of the new embassy for cancelling his trip to the European country. The embassy is set to be shifted from Mayfair to south London. Trump even blamed former President Barack Obama and his administration for the 'bad deal' over the embassy. Trump said he will not participate in the inauguration function of the embassy. "Reason I canceled my trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for peanuts, only to build a new one in an off location for 1.2 billion dollars. Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!," Trump tweeted. Images: Donald Trump Facebookpage and Theresa May Twitter page Kabul, Jan 20 (IBNS): A magnetic bomb blast hit Afghanistan's Paktia province on Saturday which left at least one civilian killed, media reports said. Abdullah Hasrat, the governors spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News the explosion took place on the limits of 2nd police district at around 10:30am this morning. He also confirmed the death of a person in the blast. Meanwhile, a well-placed source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Pajhwok that the person killed was Samiullah, finance officer of labor and social affairs Department. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. Washington, Jan 20 (IBNS): The United States of America is approaching a federal shutdown, owing to disagreements between the Republicans and Democrats. According to reports, the bill to fund the government until Feb 16, did not receive the 60 votes required to pass it in the senate. Lawmakers have not yet agreed to an alternative plan and it is unclear as to what will happen next. The last US federal shutdown took place in 2013. It lasted for 16 days. If a shutdown takes place, emergency services will be affected, including national security, air traffic control, post, electricity production, disaster assistance, prison among several others. Processing of passports and visa will also be slowed down significantly. Why the fallout? While US President Donald Trump is in favour of creating new rules, he has put particular attention to scrapping former President Barack Obama-laid programmes, including DACA. Trump's DACA scrapping has not sat well with Democrats. In the meantime, the US President has put more emphasis on building the 'wall' along US-Mexico border, to protect the southern part of the country. According to Trump, the money used by the US to grant asylum and look after the 700,000 odd undocumented immigrants, can be utilised by the army, increasing US' military might. "Not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the very dangerous Southern Border. Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy," he tweeted ahead of Friday's meeting. Toronto, Jan 20 (IBNS): Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne's decision to induct Harinder Malhi, who had moved a motion against 1984 anti-Sikh riots, is perhaps a step to woo the Sikh voters with an eye on the upcoming provincial election, to be held in June this year., according to media reports. Malhi, an MPP for Brampton-Springdale, has assumed the post of Minister of the Status of Women in a recent cabinet reshuffle by Wynne. The 38-year old minister had termed the anti-Sikh riots as "genocide". However, India had rejected the motion later. In 1984, several Sikh people were killed across India which was perceived as a retaliation of the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh security guards. Malhi's induction into the cabinet has also assumed significance since New Democratic Party (NDP) elected Sikh lawyer Jagmeet Singh as its leader last year. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne on Wednesday revamped her cabinet by infusing more women power into it, media reports said. Wynne had announced the structural changes in her cabinet. The new cabinet consists of eight women, three of them are ministers, adding to the women power in the government. Nathalie Des Rosiers, MPP for Ottawa-Vanier, has joined the cabinet as the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. Daiene Vernile, MPP for Kitchener Centre, has been handed over the department of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Harinder Malhi, MPP for Brampton-Springdale, has assumed the post of Minister of the Status of Women. Among the other changes, Mitzie Hunter became the new minister of Advanced Education and Skill Development. Eleanor McMahon became the minister of Digital Government; Kathryn McGarry turned Transportation Minister; Indira Naidoo-Harris got Education ministry; Steven Del Duca became Minister of Economic Development and Growth. Commenting on the changes in the cabinet, Wyne issued a statement which reads: "I am thrilled to have three new ministers joining cabinet for 2018. The knowledge and skills they bring to these roles will be crucial as we continue our work to create more fairness and opportunity for the people of Ontario." "In a changing economy, our plan is about making sure everyone has a fair shot at getting ahead. Thats why it is also important to me that this updated cabinet continues to reflect both the diversity and the geography of our province," she added. (Reporting by Suman Das) India is clearly champing a bit ahead than everyone in the world when it comes to Yoga. It is the people who flew from abroad to India to learn yoga or Indians travelling to places to impart knowledge on this noble act. This practice of physical, mental, and spiritual retreat is now one of world's most popular form of recreation, exercise and relaxation. Also read: Regular Practice of Yoga Can Slow Down The Process Of Ageing Of Brain, Says Study Reuters That said, it's apparent for us to promote it. Ever since his election, Modi has been the flag-bearer Yoga. Therefore, in the latest high-profile attempt to promote Indian traditions abroad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's delegation to the World Economic Forum at Davos will teach yoga in Davos, the foreign ministry said on Friday. With this initiative, PM Modi's delegation aims to showcase India's potential as a driver of global economic growth, after China, as well as its soft power, reflected in the popularity of yoga as well as its cuisine. Two Indian yoga teachers will hold daily classes next week at the summit, which has attracted 70 heads of state and government, including U.S. President Donald Trump as well as celebrities, chief executives and top bankers. Also read: From Yoga Classes To 'Revolutionary Leader', Modi, Netanyahu Bonhomie In 10 Points Reuters PM Modi will be the first Indian prime minister to attend the WEF in 21 years, since when the economy has more than doubled to $2.3 trillion and become the world's seventh largest. "We are showcasing various achievements, we will also give a taste of Indian cuisine, a taste of culture and heritage," Ramesh Abhishek, heads of the department of industrial policy and promotion, told reporters. Reuters "Two yoga experts are going from here. We have arranged that. We are offering a facility for doing yoga in the Alps." Modi will be in Davos only for a day but will meet the heads and top officials of about 60 companies, Mr Abhishek said, adding that these included Airbus, Hitachi, IBM, BAE Systems and the Carlyle Group. Also read: Hilarious Yoga Comic Strips That Everyone Who Struggles Performing It Can Relate To Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has all the good things to say about Akshay Kumars film PadMan based on menstrual hygiene, Malala said that the film will manage to impart an inspiring message. Yousafzai had a great interaction with PadMan producer Twinkle Khanna, when she addressed students at The Oxford Union, the worlds most prestigious debating society. Before Twinkle Khanna began her speech, Malala said, Im really excited to see the film PadMan... because the message behind the film is truly inspiring." Twitter And Malala even clicked pictures holding a Sanitary pad with Twinkle Khanna and the team of PadMan. Twitter However, people on the internet were not really pleased to see Malala supporting an Indian film and holding a pad. Yes, this what is needed to piss off people. What a efforts of education by malala... supporting Indian movie #padman pic.twitter.com/D9Ru8CZuoC Humaima Malik (@HumaimaMalik162) January 19, 2018 #Malala ( @Malala ) you have done nothing for Pakistan.If you are really loyal to your country then come to Pakistan and promote our values ,films and education.There is also big universities in our Pakistan. Be brave and face us. M Hanzala Tayyab MHT (@OfficialHanzala) January 19, 2018 Malala holding a pad has caused more uproar than Taliban holding a gun...to her head...and firing it Bissmah Mehmud (@bissmahmehmud) January 19, 2018 People who are triggered over @Malala holding a sanitary pad are the reason why sex, pregnancy, menstruation, childbirth and menopause turn into taboo topics and women are not given safe spaces to talk about them Sana Hussain (@sana_hussain9) January 19, 2018 Thankfully, there were people who supported her. Lmao Malala triggered both patriots and people who are easily offended by the word PERIOD, by just holding a pad in her hand. You're doing great, sweetie Anas Tipu (@teepusahab) January 19, 2018 so murders and corruption can't get the attention of my fellow Pakistani but a pad can make them go savage?! (logon ki batain sun kar to lag raha hai jese @Malala ye sanitary pad un k ghr se chura ker lai hai) pic.twitter.com/6qoB2GQrAQ sana (@sana19169813) January 19, 2018 Tiger Zinda Hai is the super successful film of 2017. The success credit not only goes to Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif but every single person from the film. Twitter And one person who managed to leave a mark is the baddie of the film. Yes! We are talking about Abu Usmaan, who we all hated after watching the film and that goes on to show his achievement. Sajjad Delafrooz who terrified everyone with his deadly Abu Usmaan character is from Iran and raised in UAE. Twitter Indiatimes met the actor and spoke to him at length. Wearing a simple black t-shirt with denims, it was difficult to recognize him at first. He insisted he is the same guy from the film and loves to joke and laugh too unlike his onscreen persona. Indiatimes On being asked how happy he was to terrify people with Tiger, he said, Honestly, I am not happy at all to terrify people, but it's a great feeling because they know you are an actor and they appreciate your work and that's the beautiful part of it. Talking about his love for acting, he said, I didn't develop the love for acting, it was in me, I didn't realize it, it was from childhood, but when I resigned from my work, I realised that I want to do something fun, something that I enjoy. Twitter He has done tons of jobs before making it big, I did so many jobs. I worked in a restaurant, university, l used to sell tickets, I was a salesman, I worked as an office boy. The last job I did was public relation manager and I realized that's not me and I quit. Further talking about his struggle, he said, I love Bollywood since childhood, I started doing auditions, visited different production houses, but it doesn't work like that, I realized that I need to work on myself from language to many things. I started from 2011 and here I am. Remembering his audition for Tiger Zinda Hai, he said, I had got a call from Yash Raj saying they are looking for a specific character for a specific film without mentioning the name. I read the paragraph which they sent and sent my audition tape. After that I received a call from Shanoo Sharma and she said she liked my audition, so it's serious, when Shanoo Sharma calls you and she says she liked your audition that means it's serious, so I left everything, I was doing so many auditions for so many commercials, short films, TV serials , I left everything and focused on this because I had to get it, there was no other choice, so I did my second audition and then the third one and then I signed NDA(Non Disclosure Agreement). He further added, After my three or four auditions, I was called to Mumbai to meet Ali Abbas Zafar and do the audition in front of him. After finishing the audition one of my friend asked me how was it, I said I did good but director didn't like it because Ali just said Achcha hai and left, I didn't know he liked it or not, and I was like he didn't like it but then I realised if Ali doesn't tell you to another take that means he likes it." Twitter Talking about the most challenging part, he said, I am an emotional person. There were two scenes which were very difficult and challenging. The first scene was with a kid, which was very challenging for me, I love kids and another scene was with Katrina and Salman where they were torched. I remember apologizing Katrina for being hard on her". Twitter Sajjad is in awe of Salman Khan, praising the superstar, he said, "I never felt I am shooting with a superstar; I felt I was shooting with a brother because he just talks to you like a family. I used to just enjoy listening to him. Many people ask me if I have a picture with Bhaijaan and I realized then I was so into him and his conversations that I never thought of taking a picture with him. I loved to be around him. With such an amazing performance in his very first film, Sajjad definitely will make it big in Bollywood! Will Bannon lay it all out? Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images Under a contingency plan contemplating a government shutdown, the work of Robert Mueller and his special-counsel office is exempted from furloughs, as its funded through a permanent indefinite appropriation. That means many in the Department of Justice wont report for work in the coming days and weeks but Mueller and his team will. His sprawling and, thus far, productive investigation into Russias meddling in the 2016 election will carry on, including his expected interview of Steve Bannon, who, earlier this week at the direction of Donald Trump stonewalled the House Intelligence Committee for information about his work during the campaign and at the White House. That may sound like collusion to prevent testimony about suspected collusion with Russia, but it turns out that Trump, for once, relied on the legal advice of a deputy White House counsel in exerting executive privilege over Bannons congressional testimony. The particulars of when and how the privilege applies to someone like Bannon are thorny but luckily are largely inapplicable to Muellers investigation. Foreign Policy reported that Uttam Dhillon, the White House lawyer who did the analysis for Trump, so concluded when he greenlighted Bannon to appear before the special counsel and be forthcoming with him. The disclosure of this legal analysis by the Trump administration is curious because Bannon, like White House counsel Don McGahn and former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, is represented by William Burck, a white-collar defense lawyer at the white-shoe law-firm Quinn Emanuel. Prosecutors dont particularly love it when a lawyer represents multiple people in their crosshairs in large part because the lawyer can get all his clients in a room and triangulate their stories so they match up. Bannon himself hasnt been a big fan of Trumps legal team, which has made its share of tragicomic errors and continues to feed the fantasy that Mueller will soon wrap up his investigation. But the fact that he and Mueller will sit down for a chat is still remarkable, if only because of Bannons proven ability until now, anyway to be a ghost in all things Russia. Pick just about any of the major milestones in Muellers sprawling investigation into Russias disruption of the 2016 presidential election, and the former White House strategist is simply nowhere to be found. Bannon, for one, hadnt yet joined the campaign when George Papadopoulos tried to procure dirt on Hillary Clinton from Moscow and then let other campaign officials in on his quest. Neither was Bannon around when Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner, and Don Jr. met a cast of shady, Kremlin-linked figures who had also promised similar dirt. Bannon had nothing to do with Donald Trumps firing of James Comey, which Bannon has suggested, on national television to boot, was the biggest mistake in modern political history. And for all we know, he steered clear of any and all of Mike Flynns questionable wheeling and dealing with the Russian ambassador which Flynn lied to the FBI and the White House about and later got prosecuted for. Mueller has already secured guilty pleas or indictments from four different targets and likely has amassed a mountain of evidence implicating others that we may never see culled from dozens of interviews from White House and campaign officials, intelligence assessments, financial transactions, and thousands of emails and other records from all corners of Trumpworld. As Ive written before, we know a lot of Muellers work, but in the grand scheme of things, we know nothing at all. So what might Muellers investigators want to talk to Bannon about? The Washington Posts Greg Sargent has suggested a few direct questions Did Trump order Flynn to lie to the FBI? What do you know about Comeys firing? but those are softballs for skilled prosecutors. At this stage of the Russia probe, Mueller is thinking in terms of specific criminal elements that he can lay out in a report to Congress, if not prove in a court of law. He already has an idea about his case-in-chief the assembly of facts and law that he hopes to one day present to a jury and the American public. Its no secret, for example, that one of the more legally compromised members of Trumps inner circle is his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Mueller may either ask big, open-ended questions about anything Bannon knows about his archnemesis, or else put in front of him documents he may be familiar with. In Michael Wolffs controversial Fire and Fury, for instance, the author writes: With the presidents assent, Kushner gave [Stephen] Miller notes on why the FBI director should be fired and asked him to draft a letter that could set out the basis for immediate dismissal. Is Bannon familiar with these notes and why Trump may have directed Kushner to draft them in the first place? Whatever Muellers line of questioning, it will be in the former Breitbart impresarios best interest to tell the special counsel everything he knows about every meeting or decision when he was in the room. Keep in mind that the main reason Bannon attached himself to Trump was to advance his nationalist vision for America. Now that that project has failed and hes been thrown under the bus by just about everyone he helped rise to power, hes lost it all and has little else to lose by giving Mueller the keys to the kingdom. Indians are making the country proud worldwide. In times where several countries are judging citizens based on their religions and their origins. One such person making India proud is Nus Ghani, a Kashmiri-origin woman who is a parliamentarian in the UK. Nusrat, on Friday became the first female Muslim minister to speak from the British Parliament dispatch box, reported PTI. Ghani, born in Birmingham to parents who migrated from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, was cheered by her colleagues as she addressed the House of Commons as a junior minister in the Department for Transport. Nus Ghani / Facebook "Made my debut as @transportgovuk Minister and made a bit of history as the first female Muslim Minister to speak from the House of Commons dispatch box," she tweeted soon after her first Commons outing in her new role. Dispatch box is the designated place where ministers stand and speak from in the Commons. The 45-year-old was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Transport by British Prime Minister Theresa May as part of her New Year reshuffle last week. Nus Ghani / Facebook The Conservative Party MP from Wealden was also given the assistant government whip in the reshuffle to oversee party discipline. The minister in charge of her department, transport secretary Chris Grayling, said Ghani?s promotion proved the Tories "were a party of opportunity". In 2015, she became the first Conservative party Muslim female candidate to be elected to Parliament, reported news agency PTI. After the June 2017 snap election, she made history after she repeated her oath of allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II in Urdu when she was sworn into Parliament. "My motivation is simple. My parents are incredibly proud that I have been elected to serve as MP and I wanted to honour my mother by speaking in a language she understands and my mother tongue,? she had said at the time. Soon after she was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the UK Home Office. If reproduction from peacock's tears was not enough, another learned elder in the Indian government has come up yet another theory that will probably become synonymous with ridiculous. Union minister Satyapal Singh has claimed that Charles Darwins theory of evolution of man was scientifically wrong and it needs to be changed in school and college curriculum. Reuters The minister of state for human resource development, said our ancestors have nowhere mentioned that they saw an ape turning into a man. Darwins theory (of the evolution of humans) is scientifically wrong. It needs to change in school and college curriculum. Since the man is seen on Earth he has always been a man, he said while speaking to reporters on Friday in Aurangabad. He was in this central Maharashtra city to attend the All India Vaidik Sammelan. Nobody, including our ancestors, in written or oral, have said they saw an ape turning into a man, he said. No books we have read or the tales told to us by our grandparents had such a mention, the minister added. Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution that states that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individuals ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. It was developed by Darwin, a 19th-century English naturalist, and others. Meanwhile, people have started trolling the minister on Twitter: Thats not true satyapal Singh sir .. u just have to look into ur own party Btw.. watch #padmaavat on Jan 25th pic.twitter.com/7h7FV9eBa6 Amar Akhbar Anthony (@amarakhbaranth1) January 20, 2018 BJP demonstrates their skill to choose the right candidates to lead HRD Ministry so as to take the future generation to 22nd century Darwins theory scientifically wrong, nobody saw ape turning into man: Union minister Satyapal Singh https://t.co/g7w75E3gX4 via @htTweets James Wilson (@jamewils) January 20, 2018 Wonder why Satyapal Singh studied so much. SHould have just stayed at home and listed to Naana, Naani pic.twitter.com/FE4sBUU4jN Ram (@ramprasad_c) January 20, 2018 Satyapal Singh is not alone. All those who run politics and dukaan in name of religion and culture hate science and rue Enlightenment NoToSilence (@akdwaaz) January 20, 2018 Lawmakers in Florida are considering a resolution to declare porn a public health risk. The House Health & Human Services Committee of the state approved it Thursday, 18 to 1. Research has found a correlation between pornography use and mental and physical illnesses, difficulty forming and maintaining intimate relationships, unhealthy brain development and cognitive function, and deviant, problematic or dangerous sexual behavior, said sponsor Rep. Ross Spano (R-District 59) before the vote. Representational Image According to The Orlando Sentinel, the resolution says risks include increased demands for prostitution, and children being exposed to porn at young ages. It also states that kids who see porn are at a higher risk of developing low self-esteem, an eating disorder, and a desire to engage in the dangerous sexual behavior. Theres nothing relaxing about teaching your teenager to drive. This milestone in many young peoples development is a royal headache for parents, who are forced to battle with the natural urge to take control of the wheel.What if autonomous vehicles are no different? What if occupants are required to constantly monitor their driverless car so they can jump in and take control if the system goes wrong? Theres nothing relaxing in that.Safety is a key area of the autonomous vehicle debate. Its the primary, if not the sole reason, for driverless vehicles to exist. But one of the things we have to get our heads around is how to determine this safety, said Tom Karol, general counsel federal, The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies.There are numerous questions that need answering. How much safer [than human drivers] do we want autonomous vehicles to be? Is 1% safer enough, or do we need 10%, or 100%? Yes, a driverless car wont fall asleep, but can it identify a bicycle? Can it determine a stop sign in the snow? Can it identify a paper bag versus a child running across the street?Another key issue to be resolved is what happens when something goes wrong. Who will take control in the event of a system failure and how will the occupants know what to do? Will it be a desperate grab the wheel off your teenage child scenario? This also links into the incredibly complex problem of liability. The obligations of the human occupants can only be determined upon the design and specifications of the individual vehicle.At present, no jurisdiction has yet determined operational and safety requirements for driverless cars, leaving numerous developers to explore different avenues. There are two key schools of thought right now, with some manufacturers developing vehicle-to-vehicle systemic data cars, and others creating iron-clad and fully-contained data-tight vehicles. Its difficult to predict which school might prevail in the eyes of the authorities.As a rule, the insurance industry is completely supportive of a platform that will develop safety, Karol told Insurance Business. If autonomous vehicles improve safety and reduce the frequency of accidents, problems and fatalities, then were 100% in favor of that. The problems in the details and there are a number of fundamental issues that need resolving.Were not yet at a point where we can make bets on how the autonomous vehicle industry will develop. At this point in time, insurance brokers need to keep their eyes and ears open, be as educated as possible and stay aware of whos involved in the discussion, how theyre involved and what legal developments and regulations are introduced. What Are Risk-Weighted Assets? Risk-weighted assets are used to determine the minimum amount of capital a bank must hold in relation to the risk profile of its lending activities and other assets. This is done in order to reduce the risk of insolvency and protect depositors. The more risk a bank has, the more capital it needs on hand. The capital requirement is based on a risk assessment for each type of bank asset. For example, a loan that is secured by a letter of credit is considered to be riskier than a mortgage loan that is secured with collateral and thus requires more capital. Key Takeaways Basel III, a set of international banking regulations, sets the guidelines around risk-weighted assets. Risk coefficients are determined based on the credit ratings of certain types of bank assets. Loans backed with collateral are considered to be less risky than others because the collateral is considered in addition to the source of repayment when calculating an asset's risk. 1:28 Risk-Weighted Assets Understanding Risk-Weighted Assets The financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 was driven by financial institutions investing in subprime home mortgage loans that had a far higher risk of default than bank managers and regulators believed to be possible. When consumers started to default on their mortgages, many financial institutions lost large amounts of capital, and some became insolvent. Basel III, a set of international banking regulations, set forth certain guidelines to avoid this problem moving forward. Regulators now insist that each bank must group its assets together by risk category so that the amount of required capital is matched with the risk level of each asset type. Basel III uses credit ratings of certain assets to establish their risk coefficients. The goal is to prevent banks from losing large amounts of capital when a particular asset class declines sharply in value. There are many ways risk-weighted assets are used to calculate the solvency ratio of banks. Bankers have to balance the potential rate of return on an asset category with the amount of capital they must maintain for the asset class. How to Assess Asset Risk Regulators consider several tools to assess the risk of a particular asset category. Since a large percentage of bank assets are loans, regulators consider both the source of loan repayment and the underlying value of the collateral. A loan for a commercial building, for example, generates interest and principal payments based on lease income from tenants. If the building is not fully leased, the property may not generate sufficient income to repay the loan. Since the building serves as collateral for the loan, bank regulators also consider the market value of the building itself. A U.S. Treasury bond, on the other hand, is secured by the ability of the federal government to generate taxes. These securities carry a higher credit rating, and holding these assets requires the bank to carry far less capital than a commercial loan. Under Basel III, U.S. government debt and securities are given a risk weight of 0%, while residential mortgages not guaranteed by the U.S. government are weighted anywhere from 35% to 200% depending on a risk assessment sliding scale. Special Considerations Bank managers are also responsible for using assets to generate a reasonable rate of return. In some cases, assets that carry more risk can also generate a higher return for the bank, because those assets generate a higher level of interest income to the lender. If the management creates a diverse portfolio of assets, the institution can generate a reasonable return on the assets and also meet the regulators capital requirements. The United States has hoped for regime change in Iran too and there are signs that it is a real possibility for the near future. In 1979, the majority of the people wanted the Islamic Republic as their government, giving legitimacy to the current regime. Now, almost four decades the people want regime change after too many years of suppression. The people of Iran are defenceless and can no longer afford to be met with silence vis-a-vis the United States. However, some experts are saying that this should be the US approach because anything else will weaken the reformist position. But they are not listening to the people of Iran who say that the reformists and hardliners are one and the same. Those who call on the United States to remain silent say that it will hamper any chance of democratic change. Yet if we look back on past events, we will see that the opposite happens. There have been two so called reformist presidents in the past ten years Mohammad Khatami and current president Rouhani. Khatami became president after the EU recalled their ambassadors, making his appointment the only way out of isolation for Iran. He hypocritically made a positive impression on the West. A similar situation happened later, thus the appointment of Rouhani. When Rouhani took office, some people falsely hoped that there would be a change in the country. Only that never happened. But the West hung on to the idea of moderation and remained silent. What will it take for the international community to see that reformist and moderate are just labels with no substance? Anyone can call themselves a moderate, but it is only true if the actions match the name. The people of Iran are subject to cruel and unfair crackdowns and it is the responsibility of the international community to speak out against this. The United States and the West place great importance on democracy, freedom and human rights and it must be something that is upheld for everyone even those far away. Furthermore, Iran is such a threat not just to the Middle East, but to the world as a whole that putting an end to its rule of terror will be good for everyone. President Trump can see this and has warned the Iranian regime that the United States is watching. He said that he will provide the people of Iran with the support that is needed when the time is right. Heres to hoping the West follows suit. Struggling borrowers lost their homes in almost 50 cases specifically with three of the main banks. New figures provided to the Oireachtas Finance Committee reveal the average combined redress and compensation paid to affected customers from the lenders range from 21,000 to 45,000. The detail obtained by the Irish Examiner is contained in questionnaires about the tracker mortgage scandal answered to the committee by Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland and PTSB. As mortgage payments shot up after lenders wronged customers over the low-cost borrowing rate, many households and families experienced stress, mental trauma, family problems and also lost their homes. Up to 33,700 customers have been affected and the cost through compensation, redress and legal costs for the banks is set to reach close to 1bn, the committee heard this week. This is before substantial fines or sanctions are applied to lenders. However, new figures reveal which lenders actions resulted in people losing their homes as a result of being taken off tracker mortgages or being denied the low-value rate. Answering the questionnaire for TDs and senators, Allied Irish Bank said 14 homes have been lost while Bank of Ireland said four were surrendered. More home losses could also emerge, the bank said. PTSB admitted that it has identified some 31 cases where a loss of ownership has occurred. All cases across the three lenders included a small number of investment properties. Additional homes where ownership was given up because of mortgage overcharging are expected to emerge when KBC and Ulster Bank also answer the committee queries. Elsewhere, the average compensation and redress payments from the three lenders were outlined. Average compensation paid to AIB customers so far is up to 6,885 while redress payments average 39,213. The average Bank of Ireland compensation is 3,404 and the redress is 17,330. For PTSB, the average compensation is 7,500 while the redress averages 22,000. In all cases for the three lenders, the averages have differed for principal dwellers and investment cases. During this weeks hearing with the Central Bank, Finance Committee chairman, John McGuinness, told governor Philip Lane and his staff that lenders have been hoodwinking the regulator. I hope you have a big mirror down there that you will look into, quipped the chairman. Mr McGuinness said recent movement from the banks to work on tracker scandal is merely a smokescreen until the issue goes away, and that it is not a real culture change for the lenders. The finance committee chairman also spoke of vulture funds who are now the ones pursuing customers in mortgage arrears and how this is now damaging borrowers in distress. In the questionnaires, AIB said it has examined 650,000 accounts. By the end of December, almost 4,500 account holders were identified as impacted by the mortgage scandal. Up to 95% of these have been resolved and the rest will be by March, the lender believes. Bank of Ireland told the committee that, as of the end of December, 9,400 customers were identified as impacted and more than 8 out of 10 of these customers have been contacted with an offer of compensation. The remaining cases and customers will be compensated and resolved by the end of March, the committee was told. PTSB said that it has by now identified 1,979 accounts as impacted. The bank said that it has issued redress and compensation letters to all of these customers. The committee heard this week that Ulster Bank will be the main reason customers wrongly charged will have to wait until June for compensation and their cases to be resolved. The lender claims this is a systems problem, but the bank is facing strong criticism for the delays from TDs and senators. The grave was vandalised a number of times over the years. Any time the grave was damaged, undertaker Tom Cournane, repaired it as he had been deeply affected by the case. The babys body was found with multiple stab wounds at White Strand, Caherciveen on April 14, 1984. He replaced the wooden cross with a marble headstone in February 2004 with the inscription I forgive, which was smashed to pieces a few months later. Mr Cournane always felt strongly that a local had been involved in the death. He became even more convinced local people were involved given the attacks over the years. He replaced it every time and then with the final attack he made an appeal on Radio Kerry and he said if it was vandalised again, he would replace it again, his daughter Catherine told the Irish Examiner, When Mr Cournane replaced the headstone in 2004, he did not include the words I forgive on the headstone. His daughter said he no longer felt he could speak forgiveness on behalf of the child as there was such hatred and violence in the attack on the grave. There is a hatred still. And we would be afraid with all the attention the grave will be attacked again, Catherine said. Once the words I forgive were removed from the headstone, it was not attacked again. The headstone no longer bears words I forgive. Tom no longer felt he could speak forgiveness on behalf of the child. The two headstones placed on the grave of Baby John are similar. Both are black marble, flecked with gold, and etched with a simple cross and rosary beads. Both simply state that this is the grave of the Kerry Baby, baptised on April 14, 1984, and that the child beneath has been named John. The notable difference is the removal of the words I forgive. The original grave was attacked a number of times over the years. In September 2004 someone took a sledgehammer to the headstone and smashed it to pieces. Since that phrase I forgive was removed, the grave and its headstone have remained untouched. People in the area have long believed the attacks on the headstone of the Kerry Baby in the cemetery overlooking the sea on the Waterville Rd means those responsible for his murder are also local. It also leads some to think that the killing of Baby John did not bring peace of mind. The grave, untouched now for than a decade, will again be vulnerable to an attack, it is feared. Local undertaker Tom Cournane vowed on local radio, in 2004, that he would keep replacing the headstone. It was Tom who christened the baby John on the strand near Caherciveen, using fresh water from a nearby stream. It was he who tended his grave. And each time the headstone he erected for the Kerry baby was damaged, he repaired or replaced it. It deeply affected everyone. It deeply affected Tom, his daughter Catherine Cournane told the Irish Examiner. The last attack, in 2004, involved a sledgehammer and this time her father changed the inscription. It was the only headstone in the grave to be attacked. The wording I forgive was not replaced on the headstone. Catherine said her father no longer felt, after the violence involved in that attack, it was his prerogative to forgive. Speaking to this newspaper in 2004, Tom said: They couldnt leave the child alone in life and now they cant leave it alone in death. Im disgusted. Catherine, who was 15 at the time, has clear memories of the night the babys body was discovered and the effect it had on her father. In 1984, the White Strand, over the water from the town that lies between mountain and sea, was a courting spot. But on Saturday, April 14, 1984, all changed. Catherines mother and father were preparing to settle in for The Late Late Show and she was sent to the shop down the street for something. She returned only to be told by her mother Kit: God help us, a child has been found on the White Strand. Her father Tom had a garage and he was the local undertaker. He was used to tragic deaths but when he returned he was very upset, Catherine recalls. He brought it for the postmortem not in the hearse, but in the back of his car in a tiny coffin. I remember looking at the coffin of the baby, said Catherine. She and her friends remember the Murder Squad a group of detectives from Dublin arriving and the interrogation of all young women in the area was hot and heavy. They interviewed all the young girls, asking if they had boyfriends. Then they would go next door and ask about the girl they had just interviewed. They asked about our friends. Everyone was asked personal questions, she remembers, like if they had a boyfriend, and if they had, they would be asked about the nature of that relationship, about how intimate it was. No one knew anything. But the feeling was it was local, said Catherine. Parents were worried. The fashion was baggy clothes and mothers worried they might have missed something in their daughters. Tom felt strongly the people involved were local as the body hadnt been long in the water. The undertaker became even more convinced with the attacks on the headstone over the years. He replaced it every time. And then with the final attack he made an appeal on Radio Kerry and he said if it was vandalised again, he would replace it again. On the last replacement, Tom did not include the words I forgive. He no longer felt he could speak forgiveness on behalf of the child, there was such hatred and violence in the attack on the babys grave, said Catherine. There is a hatred still. And we would be afraid with all the attention [that] the grave will be attacked again. There is no way he would agree to have the body exhumed, she said, amid calls by former investigating detectives this week for an exhumation of Baby John and of the baby found at Abbeydorney. Catherine remembers vividly the funeral. Her father asked her to organise a few of her classmates from St John Bosco secondary school. And around 4pm, after school as her father carried the little white coffin into the cemetery, and the girls in their uniforms lined up, all the school buses stopped and lined up and the boys and girls lined the cemetery and sang hymns. Until the announcement this week of a cold-case review, Baby John was being forgotten. But he shouldnt be, said Catherine. I would gladly give some of my DNA. A lot of my friends would. We have children ourselves. Some locals talk about what might have been if the baby had been left at the convent, that he would be 34 years old now and perhaps have a family of his own. Nobody believes Baby John was washed up on shore. The tides and the way the White Strand is positioned between Valentia and Beginish deep in the channel would make it almost impossible. Baby John is still seeking answers. Lets hope he finally gets some. A recent rumor claimed Instagram was withholding likes from users as a business strategy. Instagram isnt hiding your likes from you. Instagram isnt hiding your likes from you. One more time, for the people standing in the back: Instagram isnt hiding your likes from you. But if you happened to catch a viral(ish) tweet last week with a screenshot from a piece from The Globe and Mail about the addictive powers of the smartphone, you might have believed otherwise. Matt Mayberry, head of business development at start-up Dopamine Labs, told the Canadian newspaper that Instagram is tying in to your greatest insecurities by stifling likes. Its common knowledge in the industry that Instagram exploits this craving by strategically withholding likes from certain users, The Globe and Mail reported, apparently paraphrasing Mayberry. If the photo-sharing app decides you need to use the service more often, itll show only a fraction of the likes youve received on a given post at first, hoping youll be disappointed with your haul and check back again in a minute or two. Wait. @instagram strategically *withholds* "likes" from users that they believe might disengage hoping they'll be disappointed and recheck the app?! Harvesting painful insecurities. This is so messed up. https://t.co/tXs9R1T1zK pic.twitter.com/Yba9qfovnf Andy Coravos (@AndreaCoravos) January 12, 2018 On its head, this sounds plausible. Almost logical. Facebook co-founder Sean Parker recently said that they built the platform to exploit human vulnerability. Facebook owns Instagram. Of course Instagram is doing the same thing by showing me my likes more slowly. What a brilliant, if possibly evil, idea. But this is a serious claim one that is, frankly, a little surprising to people working around social platforms whod never heard of this so-called common knowledge. On Twitter, Instagrams CTO and co-founder Mike Krieger flatly denied that the company is withholding your likes. To be super clear, we dont do this, he tweeted. Though, any notifications that arent instantaneous dont lag intentionally, he said; instead, the platform tries to strike a balance between real-time alerts and not over-notifying users. UI shows our latest/best count once youre in the app. An Instagram representative told Select All that Kriegers tweets would be the companys only statement on the matter. this = strategically withhold likes. replication lag/etc may mean things aren't instantaneous but not intentionally so. and notifications we try and strike a balance of being timely + not over-sending notifs. UI shows our latest/best count once you're in the app Mike Krieger (@mikeyk) January 14, 2018 But lets assume that you dont trust Krieger after all, if you trusted Instagram, you wouldnt have bought into the myth in the first place. Is it possible that Instagram is intentionally withholding your likes? We asked Gil Eyal, CEO and co-founder of HYPR Brands, a company that provides data analytics for social-media influencers. Eyal says theres just no way, given the size of its user base, that Instagram is doing this. When you build an app that is so robust, and you have so many notifications to send users, you have to steer things, because you cant just send everything at once, Eyal explained. For Instagram to be so sophisticated that they know when every single user should receive a like notification to get them back looking at the platform would be beyond what theyre capable of. In a Twitter thread, software engineer Sarah Mei offered a more technical explanation of why Instagram likely isnt squirreling away your likes. Her reasoning also points to Instagrams hundreds of millions of users. Updates to your likes may not appear immediately, depending on where youre looking from. They may appear immediately for some people, but not for others, Mei tweeted. They may appear immediately for some geographies, but not for others. This is how caching works. This is all fine until a few million people sign up for your service. Suddenly you need caching, because a complicated multi-table join on tables that have hundreds of millions of rows takes a lot of time, no matter how many indexes you add. pic.twitter.com/xSZjd7qnQX Sarah Mei (@sarahmei) January 14, 2018 Maybe the best evidence that Instagram isnt doing this is, as Eyal pointed out, that the app is already habit forming. That is: Who needs cheap tricks like withholding likes when youve got sophisticated tricks like algorithms, notifications, and good old-fashioned FOMO? Theyre not a spammy app that needs these tactics to get users to log in repeatedly, Eyal said. TL;DR: If youre not getting notifications that people are liking a photo you posted on Instagram, its not because Instagram is trying to play you. Its just that people dont like your photo. Have a question or a theory about your favorite social-media site or smartphone app youd like us to look into? Email madison.kircher@nymag.com. Dateline Is Poor Leadership Hampering the NLDs Policy Agenda? Irrawaddy English editor Kyaw Zwa Moe, political analyst Dr. Yan Myo Thein and Irrawaddy Burmese editor Ko Ye Ni examine the NLDs recent cabinet reshuffles. Kyaw Zwa Moe: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! As 2018 begins, the National League for Democracy [NLD] government has started reshuffling cabinet ministers. We can conclude that the NLD intends to replace ministers with poor records with able ministers. So far, it has replaced at least three ministers and it plans to change more. Well discuss whether the NLD government can appoint the right ministers to the right ministries and how it is likely to perform in the years to come. Political analyst Dr. Yan Myo Thein and Irrawaddy Burmese editor Ko Ye Ni join me for this discussion. Im Irrawaddy English editor Kyaw Zwa Moe. The NLD government has reshuffled some regional ministers. The Irrawaddy Region chief minister was allowed to retire, while U Win Khaing, who was previously in charge of both the construction ministry and the electricity and energy ministry, will now lead only the latter. Vice-chairman U Aung Hla Tun of the Myanmar Press Council was appointed as the deputy information minister. And it is likely that there will be further changes. As Ive said, the NLD seems to have had trouble putting the right people in the right posts over the past two years. Ministers may have the capacity, but seemingly have not been able to deliver on it. They have not performed well. Ko Yan Myo Thein, how do you assess these changes? Are they positive and what do you expect will happen next? Yan Myo Thein: The NLD governments performance has come up short in certain areas over the past two years. So, we cannot give it a passing grade. In fact, the public didnt have high expectations [of the NLD government]. Some say that Rome wasnt built in a day. But the current government has had a lot of trouble fulfilling even the publics minimum expectations. Personally, I think this comes down to the capacity of individual ministers and, more importantly, the governments policies, and it is necessary to review them. Another problem is that there is a high level of centralization, or red tape, within the government. If it reviews that and starts a deregulation drive promptly and systematically, it will be able to reduce the burden on the people in the next two or three years. But simply changing the personnel [ministers], without changing the policies and procedures, is less likely to result in tangible changes that is, reduce the burden on impoverished people in the next two or three years. KZM: The publics hopes for the government werent high, but over the past two years people and the business community have repeatedly complained that the economy continues to decline. We dont know yet about what changes will be made to the concerned ministries regarding this. What is your assessment, Ko Ye Ni? If the right people get put in the right places, would it still be still necessary to change the policies, as Ko Yan Myo Thein suggested? YN: Firstly, the government has no clear policies for fulfilling its pledges. Its political policy is clearits top priority is to achieve peace and end armed clashes. But it seems to have focused on that while neglecting economic reforms. Consequently, the business community and the public, the consumers, have put pressure on the government. To address the continuing economic decline, the government recently appointed U Set Aung as the deputy minister of national planning and finance. That was the first step in the cabinet reshuffle, and the most recent changes can be seen as the second step to accelerate the process. There are certain restrictions in appointing ministers to the cabinet. When the government took office, it combined some ministries and reduced budgets. Ministers are overloaded with duties now, so the government has had to appoint deputy ministers to assist them. The problem now is that the new government has no choice but to choose from among those who worked in previous administrations to fill those positions. So, the unclear economic policy of the new government will be implemented by those who have worked in previous administrations, and Im afraid things will be no different from what weve seen in the past two years. KZM: Generally speaking, how old are government [ministers] internationally? The performance of a government depends on its youthfulness, I think. A government of old ministers may be highly experienced, but on the other hand it will be slow in making decisions either because of health or various other reasons. I have spotted such signs to a degree in the NLD government. How do you assess it? YMT: As far as I recall, the average age of ministers was 66 when the NLD formed the cabinet in 2016. Later, it appointed younger ministers and the average age was still around 63, 64. The party doesnt seem to be giving important positions to younger members. Our country has experienced decades of authoritarian rule. Consequently, weve lost a generation of political activists. Therefore, we need to build up this generation under this democratic government. Similarly, members of the younger generations should be given positions and opportunities either in Parliament or in the government. For example, most of the ministers appointed are experienced persons, and are former government officials, as Ko Ye Ni has pointed out. However, they are old and the government is somewhat of an old government. On the other hand, cant the government appoint them as advisers to the ministries? If those who are in their 50s with strong political backgrounds were appointed as ministers, the government would be stronger, I think. KZM: Are there any individuals with such qualifications? YMT: Personally, I think there are. Some have studied abroad and come back to Myanmar in their 30s or 40s. But they need to get reacquainted with the history and politics of Myanmar. If they can do that and adapt well, they will become strong forces for change in our country, I think. The government, Parliament and the political parties need to rally them and groom them. KZM: To be fair, its not too late. The government has been in office for less than two years. It will be just two years old in March. If the government puts the right people in the right places and embarks on new changes, it can still do a lot in the next three years. It was said during U Ne Wins government that he chose good and able men, rather than able and good men, for his government. This means he valued loyalty over ability. To him, loyalty was the first priority and ability the second. In fact, those who are both good and able should be appointed to the government. Ko Ye Ni, how do you assess the appointments made by the current government in the context of these criteria? YN: The successors of U Ne Wins government, including the current government, havent been able to escape that formulation of good and able men. Because governments need people who are loyal to them. KZM: Loyalty is important, isnt it? YMT: But what is really important is they must be loyal to the people. They must serve the interests of the people. Loyalty to the government doesnt mean rubber-stamping whatever the government does. If the policies and procedures of the government put a burden on the people, they must stand by the people and point out and fix the governments mistakes as necessary. YN: Intellectuals and the intelligentsia are necessary to rebuild the state. For example, Irrawaddy Region Chief Minister Mahn Johnny is loved by the people. He is honest and is not reluctant to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty and is willing to go through thick and thin with the people. But the question is whether honesty is enough to reform the agriculture and livestock breeding sectors as promised by the NLD in the [2015] election. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi always tells her ministers to have goodwill and empathy. But the question is whether goodwill and empathy alone can result in successful reforms. Maybe she wants to move to the next stage, and hopefully will replace those honest people with technocrats. KZM: Loyalty to the people, impartiality and moral goodness should be the foundation. And based on that foundation, the capacity of technocrats is important. In fact, ministers are like corporate CEOs. They need to accomplish their duties in a timely manner. I think it is capacity, mainly, that is needed to effect change. YMT: Another issue is the nature of technocrats. They dont really seek ministerial or deputy ministerial positions. They want recognition. If you ask me whether most previous governments gave scholars important positions and also recognized them, I think they did. They give important positions to scholars, but only those who listen to them, do as theyre told and show total loyalty. What we expect from a popularly elected government is not scholars who consent to everything, but a government that brings together different perspectives and points of view. Only with a large gathering of such scholars will our economic reforms take off. KZM: To summarize our discussion, ministers need to have the foundation that weve mentioned. Ministerial portfolios are political positions. They [ministers] hold positions of leadership and must make decisions. The vision of each minister will be important in that regard. Ko Yan Myo Thein, Ko Ye Ni, thanks for your contributions. Burma Court Accepts News Article as Evidence at U Ko Ni Murder Trial Kyi Lin, center, a suspect in the murder trial of prominent lawyer U Ko Ni, is escorted by police to his hearing at the Yangon Northern District Court on Jan. 19. / Tin Htet Paing YANGON Yangons Northern District Court on Friday accepted as evidence a state-owned newspapers coverage of the Home Affairs Ministrys press conference last year on its investigation into the assassination of U Ko Ni. The prominent Muslim lawyer and legal adviser to the National League for Democracy was gunned down outside Yangon International Airport on Jan. 29 last year. Police have detained four suspects: gunman Kyi Lin and alleged co-conspirators Zeya Phyo, Aung Win Zaw and Aung Win Tun. Their trial began ten months ago. Police allege that suspect and former military Lieutenant Colonel Aung Win Khaing, who remains at large, was the mastermind of the assassination. During Fridays five-hour court hearing, the prosecution presented documents and photos relating to the crime scene and suspects as evidences, including statements from the Presidents Office, articles from state-owned papers, and prison record indicating that Kyi Lin and Aung Win Zaw had served prior prison sentences for smuggling Buddha statues. A defense lawyer for Zeya Phyo objected to the inclusion of an article published by state-owned daily Myanmar Alinn on Feb. 26 about a press conference the day before at which the Home Affairs Ministry presented findings of its investigation into the murder, including the alleged perpetrators and their motives. However, the trials three judges accepted the article as evidence after nearly an hour of private discussion. They said the article contained detailed information of the police forces investigation and that the information was shared at a press conference by national level authorities overseeing the probe. Speaking to the media after the hearing, the lawyer for U Ko Nis family, U Nay La, said all the information shared at the ministrys press conference was in line with witness statements in court. The courts acceptance means it affirms that the information revealed at the press conference is true, he told The Irrawaddy. The press conference information can be considered a public document because it concerns the public. However, defendant Aung Win Zaws lawyer, U Aung Khaing, argued that accepting the article did not necessarily mean accepting the information it contains as true. The words spoken at the press conference were not official because they were not spoken under oath like witness statements in court, he said, adding that information in a newspaper could not be assumed to be true regardless of who is quoted, whether the president or a minister or chief minister. At the Feb. 25 press conference in Yangon, then-police chief Major General Zaw Win said U Ko Nis assassination was motivated by a personal grudge and named Zeya Phyo as an alleged conspirator for the first time. According to a police statement, Zeya Phyo was a captain in the militarys information department, widely known as its intelligence unit, and quit the post in 2004. The police chief told the media that the conspirators began planning the assassination in April 2016 because Aung Win Khaing and Zeya Phyo, business partners, were resentful of U Ko Nis political activities. He said Aung Win Khaing told Zeya Phyo that he wanted to eliminate U Ko Ni and asked for his financial assistance to carry out the murder with the help of a former inmate of his elder brother Aung Win Zaw. Zeya Phyo, he added, handed over 100 million kyats (about $74,000) to Aung Win Khaing in August 2016. At the same press conference, Home Affairs Minister Lieutenant General Kyaw Swe said it was highly probable that extreme nationalist sentiment also contributed to the suspects grudge, based on the investigation and the suspects confessions. Three of the suspects in custody are charged with murder under Article 302 of the Penal Code. Aung Win Tun is charged with harboring a criminal under Article 212. Zeya Phyo is also charged under Article 67 of the Telecommunications Law with possession of restricted telecommunications equipment and under Article 468 of the Penal Code for forgery of national identity cards. In addition, two of the suspects, Kyi Lin and Aung Win Zaw, are charged under Article 19 (d) and (f) of the Arms Act for possession and transportation of illegal arms. Kyi Lin is also serving a one-year prison sentence at Insein Prison for illegally crossing the Thai-Myanmar border a few weeks before the murder took place. Also at Fridays court hearing, U Tin Maung Swe, a senior officer with the police forces Crime Investigation Department, provided his account of the investigation. He was the 76th of 80 scheduled witnesses. The court also decided to hold consecutive hearings on Jan. 25 and 26 to speed up the trial. Tin Htet Paing is a freelance journalist and photographer based in Yangon. She previously worked at The Irrawaddy as a reporter for three years. News This Week in Parliament (Jan. 15-19) The Irrawaddy briefs you on the week that was in the national legislature. The seventh regular session of Myanmars Parliament convened this week, with the news headlines dominated by a cabinet reshuffle of the National League for Democracy-led government. Monday (Jan.15) Union Minister for Planning and Finance U Kyaw Win submitted a budget for the transitional perioda six-month period from April 1 to Sep. 30ahead of the new fiscal year timeframe of October 1-September 30. The Defense Ministry asked for a budget of more than 1.3 trillion kyats (US$1 billion) including about 2 billion kyats for its military operationsan amount higher than the combined total of the health and education budgets. Tuesday (Jan. 16) U Win Khaing, who was previously in charge of both the Construction Ministry and the Electricity and Energy Ministry, was assigned to lead the latter only. President U Htin Kyaw proposed U Han Zaw as the construction minister, and appointed U Aung Hla Tun, a veteran journalist and vice-chairman of Myanmar Press Council, as the deputy information minister. Wednesday (Jan. 17) The Lower House agreed to debate a proposal from Yangons Kayan Township lawmaker Dr. Aye Min to recognize outperforming civil servants with awards and entitlements such as foreign pleasure and study trips in order to boost the morale of civil servants. Thursday (Jan. 18) In the Lower House, U Min Thein of Taungdwingyi asked if the Construction Ministry would tar the road to Kwe Chaung Fort, a historic structure on the bank of the Irrawaddy River built by Prince Kanaung in 1863 in Magwe Township, so that it is easily accessible in all seasons for visitors. Deputy Construction Minister U Kyaw Linn replied that the road would be tarred only after the 2020-21 fiscal year. Friday (Jan. 19) The Union Parliament recorded the appointment of Myanaung Township lawmaker U Hla Moe Aung as the chief minister of Irrawaddy Region to succeed Mahn Johnny; and U Tha Oo as deputy transport and communications minister; and the appointment of U Han Zaw as the construction minister. Dubai, UAE has officially become the first country to launch its own crypto-currency. Crypto-currency is basically a medium of exchange created and stored electronically in blockchain, using encryption techniques to control the creation of monetary units and to verify the transfer of funds. The state sponsored crypto-currency launched by the UAE government is called emCash, and it will be available to the citizens of UAE for government and non-governmental services alike. Dubai for quite some time had made its position clear on blockchain and one of the reasons they have adopted a digital state currency is because of the flexibility, convenience and security the token will provide. The token apparently has a full legal status tender, as according to Deputy Director General of Dubai Economy Ali Ibrahims indication that it will be used various government and non-government services, from their daily coffee and children's school fee to utility charges and money transfers. Globally speaking of crypto-currency the most famous one yet is the Bitcoin, which emerged in 2008, just after Occupy Wall Street accused big banks of misusing borrowers money, duping clients, rigging the system, and charging boggling fees. However, the Bitcoin has been subjected to a lot of criticism. As first and foremost, Satoshi Nakamoto its founder has never been found. Other than that Bitcoin has been subjected to many hacks, and scams. Not to mention, the transactions are slow and take up to ten minutes for your network to approve. One of the latest cases regarding fraud and Bitcoin that has recently come forward is of an Emirati man who was looking to sell Dh400000 worth of Bitcoin currency, was defrauded by an Asian. According to the Dubai Police, after the man transferred the amount, the Asian fled the country. It is estimated that the bitcoin were valued at Dh1.5 million. Meanwhile in China, authorities have ordered Beijing-based cryptocurrency exchanges to cease trading and immediately notify users of their closure, signaling a widening crackdown by authorities on the industry to contain financial risks according to Fortune.com. South Korea also has decided to ban ICOs due to the fear that cryptocurrency represents a non-productive method of financial speculation. But as China and Korea are moving away from virtual currency, Japan seems to be cementing its place as the driving force for Bitcoin. On Friday 29th September 2017, Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) officially recognized 11 companies as registered cryptocurrency exchange operators. Earlier in the year, Japan had also passed a law that that recognized Bitcoin as a legal tender with several retailers backing it. Furthermore, Japanese Banks are even considering launching their own digital currency called J-Coin. The jury is still out regarding Bitcoins, as there are many supporters for the crypto-currency. As Recently, Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co, on Tuesday said Bitcoin is a fraud and will blow up. Speaking at a bank investor conference in New York, Dimon said, The currency isnt going to work. You cant have a business where people can invent a currency out of thin air and think that people who are buying it are really smart. He further on event to say that if any JPMorgan traders were trading the crypto-currency, I would fire them in a second, for two reasons: It is against our rules and they are stupid, and both are dangerous. Meanwhile, Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, addressing a conference in London on Friday, said virtual currencies which are created and exchanged without the involvement of banks or government, could in time be embraced by countries with unstable currencies or weak domestic institutions. Asking to not rule out Bitcoins, she supported her argument by saying, Not so long ago, some experts argued that personal computers would never be adopted, and that tablets would only be used as expensive coffee trays, so I think it may not be wise to dismiss virtual currencies. On 17th December 2017, bitcoin rose to a whopping $19,783. However, as aof late, cryptocurrency has had a tough time. Just this past week, the value of bitcoin itself dropped down to 50 percent of its 2017 peak with double-digit losses that were also witnessed in Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin. With recent fluctuations, one cannot guarantee the rate at which bitcoin is expected to escalate in 2018, however, these are very interesting times for cryptocurrencies as a whole and we can hardly wait to see the heights it takes! Faculty Book Launch Celebrates Works of Plath, Theune Jan. 19, 2018 Michael Theune and Bob Broad discuss their book "We Need to Talk: A New Method for Evaluating Poetry" during a faculty book launch. BLOOMINGTON, Ill. Illinois Wesleyan University English faculty members James Plath and Michael Theune each wrote a book published in 2017: Everything Shapes Itself to the Sea (by Plath) and We Need to Talk: A New Method For Evaluating Poetry (by Theune). A faculty book launch celebrating the works of Plath and Theune was held Jan. 17 in the Merwin Gallery of the Joyce G. Eichhorn Ames School of Art Building. Inspired by his time living and working in the Caribbean for a semester in 1995, Everything Shapes Itself to the Sea is a collection of poems that recounts Plaths experience. A Visiting Fulbright Scholar, Plath taught American literature courses at the University of the West Indies-Cave Hill Campus in Barbados. In addition to spending time with his wife on an extended honeymoon, Plath met with literary publishers and journalists from the islands two newspapers and invested in a rumshop to help a friend he met on the island prevent the business from foreclosure. Our time in Barbados was such a visceral experience that I absolutely had to write about it, and poetry seemed to best fit the rhythms of the island, Plath said, noting that the poems were written over the years, from the time he was on the island to last year. I hope that I was able to capture both the atmosphere and some of the contradictions of living in paradise. James Plath discusses his book "Everything Shapes Itself to the Sea " during a faculty book launch . Plath has taught creative writing, journalism, American literature, and film at Illinois Wesleyan for the past 30 years. A previous feature writer for a Milwaukee newspaper, Plath worked as editor-publisher of the award-winning arts journal Clockwatch Review and was a member of the literature panel of the Illinois Arts Council. Plath currently serves as president of The John Updike Society, which organized in May 2009 at the American Literature Association conference in Boston. Proposing a new method for evaluating poetry, Theunes book We Need to Talk: A New Method for Evaluating Poetry , is co-authored by Bob Broad, a professor of English at Illinois State University. The book aims to answer the question of how people judge the success of poetic verse and suggests why and how people who care about poetry should communally explore and document their shared and conflicting values. People often think of what they value as something stable and certain, and they believe they can sort out their values by thinking more deeply about them, Theune said. However, values rarely behave this way. Rather, they're quirky, even quark-like--sometimes particles, sometimes waves. And, so, to get a better sense of what one really values, one needs a new method. Broad and Theunes method, Poetry Dynamic Criteria Mapping (PDCM), focuses on first, listening in on real-world arguments about poetic values which occur in editorial meetings, on judges panels, and in poetry workshops, and then analyzing these values and ultimately sharing them. In this way, we can discover with much greater accuracy what we really value in poetry, Theune said. The first book to provide the background and theory, as well as a practical, working model, for the evaluation of creative writing, Theune said the PDCM method was influenced by Broads work in rhetoric and composition. Bob's an expert in the evaluation of writing, so it was a professional pleasure to work with him, Theune said. While this book took a great deal of work, it was a deep joy to make and convey our discoveries with my friend. A professor of English, Theune is also Director of the Writing Program at Illinois Wesleyan. He co-curated Voltage Poetry, and is a founding editor of the Keats Letter Project. In addition to publishing a number of poems, essays and reviews, Theune is currently co-editing Keats Negative Capability: New Origins and Afterlives. Having taught graduate courses in writing assessment, pedagogy, writing studies and research methods, Broad has additionally published numerous articles and chapters. He is also the author of What We Really Value: Beyond Rubrics in Teaching and Assessing Writing, published in 2003. By Vi Kakares '20 American aerospace and defence major Lockheed Martin has proposed to manufacture custom-built F-35 fighter jets in India, which its officials say will give Indian industry a unique opportunity to become part of the world's largest fighter aircraft ecosystem. "We plan to introduce two new words into the lexicon of international fighter aircraft manufacturing: 'India' and 'exclusive'," Vivek Lall, vice president, strategy and business development, at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics told PTI in an interview. "India-specific state-of-the-art fighter production in India will be exclusive, something that has never before been presented by any other fighter aircraft manufacturer, past or present. There will also be a significant export market available for Indian-made fighters," he said. Lall, an Indian American who last year was instrumental in the decision of the Trump administration to sell top-of- the-line unarmed drones from General Atomics, in his previous capacity. Noting that the India-specific fighter on offer and its programme's size, scope and success will enable Indian industry to take advantage of unprecedented manufacturing, upgrade and sustainment opportunities well into the future, Lall said the platform will give Indian industry a unique opportunity to become a part of the world's largest fighter aircraft ecosystem. "We intend to create far more than an assembly line in India," he said. Lall claimed no other advanced fourth generation platform even comes close to matching the record of real-world combat experience and proven operational effectiveness. "The fighter being offered specifically to India is uniquely the best state-of-the-art fighter," he said adding that all three variants of the F-35 are single-engine aircraft. Many of the systems used on the India-specific platform are derived from key lessons learned and technologies from Lockheed Martin's F-22 and the F-35, the world's only operational fifth generation fighters, he said. Northrop Grumman's advanced APG-83 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar on the F-16 Block 70 provides F-16s with fifth generation fighter radar capabilities by leveraging hardware and software commonality with F-22 and F-35 AESA radars, he added. The APG-83 radar shares more than 95 per cent software commonality with the F-35 radar and more than 70 per cent hardware commonality. Lall said the F-16 provides the path to business relationships with Lockheed Martin, the only company in the world that has designed, developed and produced operational fifth generation fighter aircraft. Technology improvements will also continue to flow between the F-16, F-22 and F-35 for decades, at a fraction of the cost to F-16 operators, he said. The platform being offered provides unmatched opportunities for Indian companies of all sizes, including micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs) and suppliers throughout India, to establish new business relationships with Lockheed Martin and other industry leaders in the US and around the globe, Lall said giving an insight into the offer being made by his company. Asserting that approximately half of the Indian fighter supply chain will be common with the fifth generation F-22 and F-35, Lall said the aircraft brings the most modern avionics, a proven AESA radar, modernised cockpit, advanced weapons, longer range with conformal fuel tanks, auto ground collision avoidance capability, and an advanced engine with an extended service life. Even with the addition of targeting systems and two 2,000 pound (lb) class Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), the aircraft has a mission radius exceeding 1,300 kms 30 per cent greater than that of its closest competitor, he said. "Many of the advances in systems on the aircraft India would get draw directly from key lessons learned from Lockheed Martin's work on the F-22 and the F-35," he said. "The AESA radar is the result of over two decades of investment, use and experience with AESA technology, and it's fully operational today," Lall said. Almost two years of preparation involving over 200 meetings, 30 subcommittees, and so on. Thats just a quick look at Joyce Rabins work as Chair of Together in Israel: Our Pride, Our Purpose. Hadassahs 100th National Convention. (Hadassah, which was founded in 1912, held its first conventi Read moreS'ville resident helps organize 100th national of Hadassah, The Womens Zionist Organization of America Reddit Email 237 Shares By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | Reuters reports that on Friday, Turkey began cross-border shelling of the Kurdish-majority Afrin canton in northern Syria. There are also reports of busloads of Sunni Arab guerrillas of the rebel Free Syrian Army, who had been sheltered in Turkey, being sent into Afrin. The region is dominated by the Peoples Protection Units (YPG), a leftist militia that serves as the paramilitary of the Democratic Union Party, which believes in running society through decentralized socialist cooperatives. The Turkish attack comes after an announcement early this week by the Trump administration that it would arm and train a 30,000-man strong Kurdish force to police Syrias borders and make sure ISIL did not reemerge. Turkey is engaged in a violent campaign in neighboring eastern Anatolia against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a separatist guerrilla group that has engaged in widespread attacks against Turkish police and army. Ankara sees the Syrian Kurds as allies of the PKK, but its members and the US government both deny that allegation. Although Turkey calls the YPG in Afrin terrorists, it does not appear to be alleging that they have conducted any particular terrorist attack on Turkish soil. Turkey was hit several times by ISIL terrorist attacks, and the YPG has been the only effective land-based military against ISIL. So you could argue that Turkey should be grateful to the YPG for ending ISILs territorial state, which had plotted out the blowing up of Istanbul and other cities. In fact, the Turkish authorities never seemed very interested in rolling up ISIL in Syria. Some of their animus against the YPG comes from its having also fought Turkey-backed Arab Muslim guerrillas of a Muslim fundamentalist bent in Syria. Turkey may be hoping by this attack on Afrin to strengthen the position of the latter in northern Syria. A few hundred Russian military observers based in Afrin were alleged by the Turkish press to have been withdrawn, though this report was denied by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. The reports emerged after Thursdays consultations in Moscow between Turkish chief of staff Hulusi Akar and Russian chief of staff Valery Gerasimov. No Turkish troops are alleged to have invaded, and the shelling is artillery rather than from the air. On Friday the Syrian government had pledged to shoot down any Turkish fighter jets over Syrian territory. Although Afrin is at the moment autonomous and run by the Kurds, the Syrian government is hoping to bring the latter back under Damascus, and may be playing for a Baath-Kurdish alliance against Turkey and the remnants of the rebel guerrilla fighters. YPG fighters based further east, in Jazira (Turkish Cezire), had been key to taking back Raqqa province from ISIL, and Kurds likely feel betrayed that the US hasnt stood up for them more against Turkey. The US State Department basically said the Turkish move is unhelpful. It is not clear whether the erratic Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan is grandstanding with these artillery strikes into Afrin or whether this is the beginning of an attempt by Turkey to occupy and/or ethnically cleanse the Afrin Kurdish enclave. - Related video: CGTN: Turkey steps up shelling as invasion of Syria Reddit Email 273 Shares Special Correspondent | Erbil | (Niqash.org) | Late last month the Kurdistan Workers Party an organization some describe as terrorist declared a region of self-rule in the Qandil mountains. Strangely enough, nobody seems all that upset about their claim. The road into the Qandil mountain area run by the PKK. Only eight kilometres from the last checkpoint out of the semi-autonomous northern region of Iraqi Kurdistan, one encounters the first security checkpoint run by another Kurdish authority. The Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, declared that they would form a brand-new region in the Qandil mountains, on the border with Turkey and Iraq. And when one crosses the line into that area it does feel a little like entering another country, even though strictly speaking, both are still part of Iraq. The often-controversial PKK has been fighting for Kurdish independence and rights in Turkey for years, in an ongoing conflict that has seen tens of thousands of both Turkish and Kurdish deaths. In fact, the PKK is categorised as a terrorist organisation by some Western nations. Nonetheless here, in the area the group refer to as Hareme Media, the PKK are in charge. Late last year, on December 23, the PKK announced that they would take control of the Qandil area and elected a council to administrate the area. Administratively speaking, the area is under the control of the Iraqi Kurdish authorities and we cannot accept any other kind of status outside of this framework. Behind the first checkpoint there is a large mural of PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who has been in a Turkish prison since 1999, and who is almost a figure of worship for the group. The self-governing region here works in a similar way to the Kurdish-dominated area in Syria that is run by an offshoot of the same group. In a statement on the creation of their new region, the PKK said they had made the move partially because the ruling regime in southern Iraqi Kurdistan was negatively impacting on the lives of people in Qandil. The PKK has used the Qandil area, a triangle in between Turkey, Iran and Iraq, as a base for years. The Turkish military often make incursions into the area to raid the PKK. Some PKK members boast that the Qandil area is almost the same size as Lebanon. Most of the Qandil area is part of the Sulaymaniyah province and supposedly administered by the Kurdish political party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or PUK. Some of the more distant parts of the Qandil area touch upon the part of Iraqi Kurdistan controlled by the regions other large political party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, or KDP. On the whole the highest authorities in Iraq, both in Kurdistan and in Baghdad, have been making fairly mild-mannered complaints about the PKKs declaration of self-rule but it seems unlikely that anyone will do anything much about it in the short term. The PKK didnt discuss this issue with us and it doesnt listen to what we have to say, complains Mohammed Watman, a senior member of the PUK. It is doing what it wants, regardless of the PUKs opinion. Other local authorities in the area also have doubts. We dont have any sort of relationship with the officials in Qandil now and we didnt in the past either, says Hiwa Qarani, an official in the Raniya area and a member of the PUK, adding that the declaration of such a region is illegal and unconstitutional in Iraq and in Iraqi Kurdistan. It is possible to become a region in Iraq but there are certain procedures that need to be undertaken to make an area such a legal entity. None of that happened in Qandil. Still, up until now the Iraqi Kurdish regional government has not reacted to this illicit formation of a new region. Kurdish politicians relationship with the PKK are complex, to say the least. Administratively speaking, the area is under the control of the Iraqi Kurdish authorities and we cannot accept any other kind of status outside of this framework, says Ali Hussein, a spokesperson for the KDP. What the PKK has done is unconstitutional. The PKK has a different take on this, considering the matter to be more about administration than politics. Behind the first checkpoint going into Qandil there is a large mural of PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan. The PKK has some experience when it comes to creating its own self-ruled regions. Syrian offshoots declared a kind of autonomous region in Syria, after civil war broke out there and sought to repeat that again in Iraqs Sinjar district, where the population is mostly Yazidi. The Sinjar area borders on the Syrian Kurdish areas they run although the Syrian defence Forces, who are present in that area, have also tried to distance themselves from the PKK. We are not forming cantons in the same way as those in Sinjar, Sarhad Varto, the spokesperson for the Union of Kurdistan Communities, or KCK, told NIQASH; the KCK is a kind of organizing authority associated with the PKK. The Qandil area is part of southern Kurdistan and the people of this area have simply formed a council so they can administrate their own affairs and address their own problems. It is not a political project and we are not taking away the land of Iraqi Kurdistan. The Iraqi Kurdish authorities in the area had been helping the people of Qandil with state services and the like, but then they stopped, Varto explains. Thats why we have taken this step. This does seem likely, given the deterioration in state services in Iraqi Kurdistan, thanks to a long-running financial crisis and an increase in political conflicts there. It also offers a good opportunity for the PKK to show off its own way of running a regional administration, making it look like a better method than others. The PKK practice a political and social ideology they call democratic confederalism and Qandil offers another chance to demonstrate it in action, especially in the light of recent anti-government demonstrations elsewhere in Iraqi Kurdistan. Both scenarios are quite possible, says Arian Rauf, a lecturer in political science at the University of Garmian in Kalar. The PKK wants to repeat the cantons experiment while there is a security vacuum in Iraqi Kurdistan and it also wants to show it can provide an alternative when chaos happens. Nonetheless the authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan are unlikely to be impressed. Forming the Qandil region is a violation of existing laws and the Iraqi Constitution, Nazim Kabir Harki, vice-chairman of Iraqi Kurdistans regional committee of the interior and a member of the KDP, told NIQASH. no region can be formed inside another region. It is simply unacceptable. Harki said that the Iraqi Kurdish authorities would deal with the situation according to existing laws. However, local observers believe that any action may take some time, if it happens at all. On an internal level, this region wont be a problem for the PUK, which has tended to have good relations with the PKK, Raouf explains. The problem will be with the KDP which has better relations with Turkey. And the Turkish government consider the PKK a terrorist organization bent on bringing down their government and fomenting Kurdish rebellion. Meanwhile the government in Baghdad has not had much to say about any of this. Raouf believes the federal government has a good reason for keeping quiet. Baghdad doesnt mind seeing centres of power multiply in Iraqi Kurdistan because this weakens the Kurdish administration, the political studies lecturer notes. At the same time, it wants to use this as leverage against Turkey. Thats why Baghdad is keeping quiet. Via Niqash.org VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mundoro Capital Inc. (TSXV:MUN) (www.mundoro.com) ("Mundoro" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the drill program at the East and West Zone on the Zeleznik license (Zeleznik) has been completed with 4200 meters of diamond drilling over sixteen completed drill holes. The drill core has been cut and sampled with all assay results expected by end-February 2018. Zeleznik is one of the four licenses being sole funded under the Option Agreement between Mundoro and Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation ("JOGMEC") announced March 7, 2016. Zeleznik is located directly north of the Serbian state-owned Majdanpek copper-gold mine and at the northern end of the Timok Magmatic Complex (Timok) (Figure 1: Location Map). Teo Dechev, CEO and President of Mundoro commented, "Mundoro and JOGMEC believe the West Zone and East Zone merit a follow-up program of fence drilling across the two systems. Mundoros technical team is incorporating the new data into our model of the systems and looking forward to developing a follow up drilling program for 2018. ZELEZNIK EAST ZONE AND WEST ZONE TARGET AREAS The 2017 Phase III drill program on the East Zone and West Zone was designed to follow up on the previous two drilling campaigns that successfully intersected copper-gold mineralisation at both zones (see press releases from November 4, 2016 and June 27, 2017). The focus of the Phase III fence drilling program was to define copper-gold bearing porphyry intrusions and dykes, as well as related sulphide mineralisation. East Zone The East Zone drill holes were designed as fences to previous completed holes ZELDD06, ZELDD05 and ZELDD04 and planned in order to further test the carbonate-replacement potential of the East Zone porphyry-marble contacts (Figure 2: East Zone Drill Hole Location Map). Drill hole ZELDD05 intersected 81.2 m @ 0.22% Cu and 0.23g/t Au from 24.5 m, including 2.8 m @ 2.11% Cu; 1.50 g/t Au while drill hole ZELDD06 ended in mineralization of 4.9 m @ 0.82% Cu; 1.00 g/t Au at a depth of 142.3 m. Thicknesses from intersections from drill holes are down-hole drilled thicknesses. The current exploration model has not had sufficient drill testing to be able to determine true thickness of mineralization. Porphyry-marblized-limestone contacts are commonly marked by intervals of massive sulphide carbonate-replacement origin and the reported copper and gold values from the East Zone are usually associated with these contact bodies. In addition to this type of mineralization, the recent drilling has also identified patches to semi-massive aggregates of fine-grained sooty pyrite and chalcopyrite mineralisation within the porphyry intrusion. This is observed in drill hole 17-ZEL-23 which intersected a mineralised zone for approximately 100 meters starting at 76 m depth where fine-grained black sulfides, pyrite, chalcopyrite and/or magnetite were observed within the brecciated and faulted portion of the porphyry. This observed zone may be considered as a feeder to the porphyry mineralisation. Drill hole 17-ZEL-23 was designed to test depth extension of the surface channel that returned 30 m with 0.66g/t gold and 0.1% copper. The East Zone remains open laterally to the south-southwest for more than 500 m and beneath the carbonate cap as supported by the gold in soil anomaly (see Figure 2). The Company believes this target merits a follow-up program of fence drilling across the entire system. Table 1 Zeleznik Diamond Drill Hole Collar Data - East Zone Target Hole ID Azimuth Dip Depth 17-ZEL-15 297.1 -60.3 300.0m 17-ZEL-17 115.4 -60 251.0m 17-ZEL-19 297.5 -60.3 100.0m 17-ZEL-21 296.7 -60.1 194.7m 17-ZEL-23 291.1 -59.9 236.4m 17-ZEL-25 118 -57.2 200.3m 17-ZEL-28 116.6 -60.3 251.7m West Zone The West Zone drill holes were collared on three parallel sections at approximately 100 m between fences and 100 m between holes on each fence in order to further test the West Zone potential that is built by a swarm of porphyry dykes intruded into a gneiss complex (Figure 3: West Zone Drill Hole Location Map). In a previous drilling campaign, drill hole ZELDD01 instersected one of the early-mineral porphyry dikes with intensive chalcopyrite veining that returned 25.8 m @ 0.39% Cu, 0.08 g/t Au. Thicknesses from intersections from drill holes are down-hole drilled thicknesses. The current exploration model has not had sufficient drill testing to be able to determine true thickness of mineralization. The Company has identified four types of porphyry dykes according to their textural composition that are intruded into a metamorphic unit which is part of Timok. Copper mineralisation is associated with A-type quartz veinlets and B-type quartz-pyrite-chalcopyrite veins, as well as disseminated pyrite-chalcopyrite mineralisation. Both the early-mineral dykes and the surrounding wall-rock gneiss are mineralised. The recently completed drill hole 17-ZEL-24, at the eastern part of the West Zone, intersected an interval of 30 metres from 35 m depth where chalcocite-covellite-chalcopyrite vein type mineralisation was observed within the gneiss. This is new type of mineralization identified in the Phase III drill program. The West Zone mineralisation remains open to the south supported by the extension of the copper-gold-molybdenum-in-soil anomaly for an additional 500 metres along strike (see Figure 3). The Company believes this target merits a follow-up program of fence drilling across the entire system. Table 2 Zeleznik Diamond Drill Hole Collar Data - West Zone Target Hole ID Azimuth Dip Depth 17-ZEL-13 270.1 -60 398.8m 17-ZEL-14 269.2 -65.7 320.8m 17-ZEL-16 273.1 -46.9 269.7m 17-ZEL-18 270.6 -60 251.8m 17-ZEL-20 270.4 -60 250.8m 17-ZEL-22 273.2 -59.4 261.4m 17-ZEL-24 273.2 -59.6 302.6m 17-ZEL-26 270.7 -50 302.7m 17-ZEL-27 271.8 -50.7 301.0m Qualified Person Technical information contained in this Press Release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. G. Magaranov, P. Geo., Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Sampling, Analysis and Quality Assurance and Control (QA/QC) Drill hole orientations were surveyed at approximately 30 metre intervals. Company personnel monitored the drilling, with drill core delivered daily to the Companys core storage facility where it was logged, cut and sampled. Core recovery is recorded as 95-100% in most intervals. The samples were collected in accordance with the Companys protocols that are compatible with accepted industry procedures and best practice standards at one or two meter lengths from mineralised intervals and three meter lengths from non-mineralised intervals. The samples were submitted to ALS Laboratory in Bor, Serbia, for sample preparation and analysis. In addition to the laboratorys internal QA/QC procedures, the Company conducted its own QA/QC with the systematic inclusion of certified reference materials every 20 samples , blank samples every 20 samples and field duplicates at every 25 samples. Drill core samples are assayed using 50-grams charge for fire assay with atomic absorption finish and multi-element method MS 61 by ALS laboratory. On behalf of the Company, Teo Dechev, Chief Executive Officer, President and Director About Mundoro Capital Inc. Mundoro is a Canadian mineral exploration and development public company focused on building value for its shareholders through directly investing in mineral projects that have the ability to generate future returns for shareholders. The Company currently holds a diverse portfolio of projects in two European countries as well as an investment in a producing gold mine in Bulgaria and a feasibility stage gold project in China. The Company holds eight 100% owned projects in Serbia, the four Timok North Projects are in option to JOGMEC, and the four Timok South Projects are being advanced by Mundoro. Mundoros common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "MUN". For further information please contact: Teo Dechev, CEO, President and Director of Mundoro Capital Inc. at +1-604-669-8055 Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements Information included, attached to or incorporated by reference into this News Release may contain forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included or incorporated by reference in this News Release are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding activities, events or developments that the Board expects or anticipates may occur in the future. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "will", "expect", "intend", "plan", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", promising, encouraging or "continue" or similar words or the negative thereof. The material assumptions that were applied in making the forward looking statements in this News Release include expectations as to the Company's future strategy and business plan and execution of the Company's existing plans. There can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which these forward-looking statements are based will occur. We caution readers of this News Release not to place undue reliance on forward looking statements contained in this News Release, which are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include general economic and market conditions, changes in law, regulatory processes, the status of Mundoro's assets and financial condition, actions of competitors and the ability to implement business strategies and pursue business opportunities. The forward-looking statements contained in this News Release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements included in this News Release are made as of the date of this News Release and the Board undertakes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise, except as required by law. Shareholders are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and for a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to the Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulators available on www.sedar.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. Figure 1 is available at Figure 2 is available at Figure 3 is available at 76 Shares Share Americans witnessed the many failed attempts of our elected officials to reform our broken health care system over the past year. Some call for repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) while others think it is the cure-all for what ails our system. The simple fact that politicians fail to consider is the fact that having health care coverage does equate to actually receiving health care services. In fact, the U.S. is the only country in the world where its citizens file bankruptcy due to medical costs. This is despite the fact that the majority of these patients were covered by health care insurance for the entire year these expenses were incurred. I challenge politicians to step outside their little worlds and answer that question. How can patients go bankrupt while being covered by medical insurance? Perhaps, when that question is considered, the fundamental problems of the system can then be examined. Until then, our system will continue to exclude certain patients from receiving medical services, and the disparities in health care will be an uncrossable gulf. I further challenge our elected legislators to address why health care is so expensive. If coverage is mandated while prices continue to soar, we will bankrupt the nation. Mandated care is not the solution. At least try to understand the costs before you toss out unworkable solutions. Too much of taxpayer money has been wasted by those pandering solutions without investing any thought process into it. How many of those voting on recent bills actually read the pages and pages of legally worded trivia? I challenge politicians to actually read the, shall we say garbage, that key politicians are advocating? Ever wonder why a medication costs so much at the pharmacy? Pharmaceutical companies create medications that are patented, and no one else can manufacture the same medication for a number of years. Basically, those companies hold monopolies over their highest costing products. They can charge whatever they want. They claim those costs go into research and development. However, look at the profits of those companies and the salaries of their executives. Also, the fact is that those companies spend more on advertising than research and development. Yet, there is little oversight into their business practices. As key players in our nations economy, politicians fear angering them and losing their political support. Third party insurance companies also operate with little oversight. The top executives of the biggest companies earn tens of millions of dollars annually. Yet, a patient cannot get the medications they need because the insurance company will not pay for it. Also, a patient may be suffering and cannot be diagnosed because the insurance company will not pay for a test that is needed in order to know what is wrong. Does anyone else see a clear conflict of interest in the fact that those denying medical services are the same ones that profit when those health care costs are denied? Again, politicians dont want to lose the support of these powerhouses of the U.S. economy. Yet, they mandate, at the point of being threatening with tax fines, to do business (buy premiums) from these same companies that deny them needed services. Everyone knows a hospital visit can cost more than buying a new home, or a college education for a classroom of teens. Hospitals are allowed to charge facility fees on top of their customary fees. In essence, they end up getting paid twice for the same services. Executives at hospitals may not earn as much as the companies but did you ever notice how many of them are? If there is a department, there are several executives. If there is a project, there are several managers. There is a well-known graph that shows the rise in health care costs directly corresponds to the number of executives. These executives do not treat patients of directly benefit patients in any way. Their main job function is to maximize profits for their hospitals. If politicians really want to address the problems in health care and fix our broken system, they will never succeed until they step out their comfort zone and actually think, using their own neurons, about the regulations they are proposing and/or voting on. They will fail unless they worry less about big company support and actually care about their fellow human beings. My question is: Are any of them actually capable of this? Or do we all just stand by while our health care system implodes and people die for the sake of political corruption? Linda Girgis is a family physician who blogs at Dr. Linda. Image credit: Shutterstock.com Pakistan asked USA to provide economic package for return of three million Afghan refugees GWADAR: Pakistan asked the United States on Friday to provide an economic package for honourable return of three million Afghan refugees to their homeland instead of indulging in blame game. Talking to journalists, Minister for Interior and Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said Pakistan could not be expected to certify who among the 3m Afghan refugees were peaceful or involved in cross-border terrorism. He said Pakistan could only guarantee having no terrorists on its soil when it did not have to look after foreign refugees who also had relationships across the border. He said the US had withdrawn after the cold war and left Pakistan in the lurch. They should now share the responsibility instead of blaming Pakistan for its difficulties, he said, adding that the US should now announce economic package for return of 3m Afghan refugees to their homeland. In the presence of 3m Afghans living in the country, Pakistan cannot certify who among the Afghans are involved in terrorist activities. Its time for the US to do more in partnership with other stakeholders, otherwise if we are engaged in blame game then terrorists will get benefit, Mr Iqbal said. In response to a question about growing ties between the US, India and Israel, he said new alignments were being made in the world, but we dont need to be worry as we also have other foreign policy options. We should settle all domestic issues and ensure political stability; only peace and stability can take us forward instead of indulging in confrontation, he added. The minister said some neighbours were making conspiracies against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) because they were not happy with the new central position Pakistan was going to secure after developments under the CPEC and opening up of Central Asia, South Asia and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). He said India should get rid of its narrow approach as these would benefit the whole region. Speaking about Gwadar development, Mr Iqbal said no special treatment was given to China with regard to the Gwadar port, adding that the agreement Pakistan had signed with the Singapore Port Authority more than a decade ago but could not induce investment for its development was transferred to the China Overseas Port Holding Company on the same terms and conditions which had actualised the project development. Within a short span of five to six months, the Gwadar Business Centre had been built which was the largest facility in Balochistan, he said, adding that Chinese companies were moving quickly for infrastructure development. The minister said that around $4 billion investment had been made in Gwadar in the first phase to energise or complete different projects, including port, basic infrastructure and free economic zone. He said that initially China committed $800 million out of total $46bn under the CPEC for development of Gwadar, adding that for the second phase, $3-4bn investment had been mobilised cumulatively by the federal and Balochistan governments as well as the private sectors of both China and Pakistan, which would translate Gwadar into gateway for the CPEC. Gwadar Port Authority Chairman Dostain Khan Jamaldini said China had so far invested $2bn in Gwadars infrastructure, energy, transport and industrial sectors. Separately, he added, local expenditure on Gwadar had significantly increased to Rs36bn from Rs3.5bn in 2013. Responding to questions about water crisis in Gwadar, Mr Jamaldini said the towns water requirement stood at six million gallons per day (MGD), but two small dams were currently providing around 2.7 MGD. The requirement would rise to 12 MGD for which additional arrangements were being made to get 10 MGD, he added. 62 Shares Share Artificial intelligence and robotics spell massive changes to the world of work. These technologies can automate new tasks, and we are making more of them, faster, better and cheaper than ever before. Surgery was early to the robotics party: Over a third of U.S. hospitals have at least one surgical robot. Such robots have been in widespread use by a growing variety of surgical disciplines, including urology and gynecology, for over a decade. That means the technology has been around for least two generations of surgeons and surgical staff. I studied robotic surgery for over two years to understand how surgeons are adapting. I observed hundreds of robotic and traditional procedures at five hospitals and interviewed surgeons and surgical trainees at another 13 hospitals around the country. I found that robotic surgery disrupted approved approaches surgical training. Only a minority of residents found effective alternatives. Like the surgeons I studied, were all going to have to adapt to AI and robotics. Old hands and new recruits will have to learn new ways to do their jobs, whether in construction, lawyering, retail, finance, warfare or childcare no one is immune. How will we do this? And what will happen when we try? A shift in surgery c In my new paper, published January 8, I specifically focus on how surgical trainees, known as residents, learned to use the 800-pound gorilla: Intuitive Surgicals da Vinci surgical system. This is a four-armed robot that holds sticklike surgical instruments, controlled by a surgeon sitting at a console 15 or so feet away from the patient. Robotic surgery presented a radically different work scenario for residents. In traditional (open) surgery, the senior surgeon literally couldnt do most of the work without constant hands-in-the-patient cooperation from the resident. So residents could learn by sticking to strong see one, do one, teach one norms for surgical training. This broke down in robotic surgery. Residents were stuck either sucking at the bedside using a laparoscopic tool to remove smoke and fluids from the patient or sitting in a second trainee console, watching the surgical action and waiting for a chance to operate. In either case, surgeons didnt need residents help, so they granted residents a lot less practice operating than they did in open procedures. The practice residents did get was lower-quality because surgeons helicopter taught giving frequent and very public feedback to residents at the console and intermittently taking control of the robot away from them. As one resident said: If youre on the robot and [control is] taken away, its completely taken away and youre just left to think about exactly what you did wrong, like a kid sitting in the corner with a dunce cap. Whereas in open surgery, youre still working. Shadow learning Very few residents overcame these barriers to effectively learn how to perform this kind of surgery. The rest struggled yet all were legally and professionally empowered to perform robotic surgeries when they finished their residencies. Successful learners made progress through three norm-bending practices. Some focused on robotic surgery in the midst of medical school at the expense of generalist medical training. Others practiced extensively via simulators and watched recorded surgeries on YouTube when learning in real procedures was prized. Many learned through undersupervised struggle performing robotic surgical work close to the edge of their capacity with little expert supervision. Put together, I called these practices shadow learning, because they ran counter to norms and residents engaged in them out of the limelight. Also, none of this was openly discussed, let alone punished or forbidden. Shadow learning came at a serious cost to successful residents, their peers and their profession. Shadow learners became hyperspecialized in robotic surgery, but most were destined for jobs that required generalist skills. They learned at the expense of their struggling peers, because they got more console time when senior surgeons saw they could operate well. The profession has been slow to adapt to all this practically invisible trouble. And these dynamics have restricted the supply of expert robotic surgeons. As one senior surgeon told me, robotics has had an opposite effect on learning. Surgeons from top programs are graduating without sufficient skill with robotic tools, he said. I mean these guys cant do it. They havent had any experience doing it. They watched it happen. Watching a movie doesnt make you an actor, you know what Im saying? The working world These insights are relevant for surgery, but can also help us all think more clearly about the implications of AI and robotics for the broader world of work. Businesses are buying robots and AI technologies at a breakneck pace, based on the promise of improved productivity and the threat of being left behind. Early on, journalists, social scientists and politicians focused on how these technologies would destroy or create jobs. These are important issues, but the global conversation has recently turned to a much bigger one: job change. According to one analysis from McKinsey, 30 percent of the tasks in the average U.S. job could soon be profitably automated. Its often costly in dollars, time and errors to allow trainees to work with experts. In our quest for productivity, we are deploying many technologies and techniques that make trainee involvement optional. Wherever we do this, shadow learning may become more prevalent, with similar, troubling implications: a shrinking, hyperspecialized minority; a majority that is losing the skill to do the work effectively; and organizations that dont know how learning is actually happening. If were not careful, we may unwittingly improve our way out of the skill we need to meet the needs of a changing world. Matt Beane is a project scientist. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Image credit: Shutterstock.com Long before you can afford to actually pay for an engagement ring, you might find yourself giving some thought to where you would pop the question. This is the situation I find myself in presently. Im a long way off being able to afford the jewellery, with plenty of time to decide on where Ill ask her to marry me. There are a multitude of places chosen every day for these seminal moments in peoples lives. It might be that some men, or women, settle for their mothers kitchen, nothing wrong with that at all, and then there are others who will whisk himself/herself away for an impromptu weekend trip to Paris. He/she will casually suggest a trip to the Eiffel Tower...sure thats what all tourists do, a perfectly orchestrated plan, albeit a bit cliched. All valiant and romantic efforts nonetheless. But have you considered Kilkenny...because other people would appear to be coming here to get down on one knee. I know a man from Ruislip in the UK, going out with a girl from Carlow, both of whom are living in Melbourne, Australia. This man decided to propose to his girlfriend at none other than, Kilkenny Castle. Its the perfect backdrop. The only risk you take is the mercurial weather Ireland is subjected to. Even if it rains, sure that only makes it more memorable, depending on your outlook. So, even the worst case scenarios are romantic. Youve got everything youd want from a proposal location and its also a place to tie the knot too, so be sure to get that in nice and early. Lots of hotels offering really good deals. But getting back to the proposal, Ive also heard recently of this couple from Texas. During a whirlwind 24-hour trip, the boyfriend proposed to his girlfriend at the fountain on the grounds of Kilkenny Castle. It was the most perfect occasion. And guess what, it rained too. They even got an Irish blessing of a timely shower of rain. Kilkenny Castle might be a hidden gem for engagements. Albeit, I only know of two cases, but surely thats a good indicator of there being more. Many of us may not view Kilkenny as the romantic getaway for surreptitious proposal plans, but it is for some. And why shouldnt it be? Great restaurants and pubs to go and celebrate afterwards. Im not going to propose in Kilkenny. I wont be needing the Eiffel Tower neither. Im leaning towards a more sentimental location, a place I wont be disclosing here - although I can confirm its not my mothers kitchen. Anyway, thats a few years away yet, despite heaps of family pressure coming on. Thats the other side of engagements and weddings... But ignore the snide comments and questions around when youre going to get married. Ignore the bags of childrens clothes his/her sister is leaving in your attic. Head into these chapters in your life when the pair of you are good and ready. When it does come around for me, Kilkenny is a place Id like to get married in. Genuinely, the castle is up there with places like the Rock of Cashel for idyllic backgrounds in those wedding pictures your parents hang in their sitting room. The location and all that goes with the celebrations wont be my decision anyway. I mean itll be a decision well make together, of course. Thats provided she says yes. Who knows, maybe shell ask me first, in the rain, next to a romantic fountain. Who needs the Eiffel Tower, eh? Sure weve got Kilkenny Castle. The ODT reports: After years of speculation, the Government and Ngai Tahu have confirmed a Treaty of Waitangi top-up clause is set to trigger, potentially pumping millions into the beleaguered South Island economy. Both Ngai Tahu and Waikato-Tainui negotiated insurance clauses as part of their original settlements, entitling each iwi to a percentage of all future Treaty settlements once they exceeded $1 billion in 1994 dollar terms. For the first time, the Government has acknowledged that amount could be reached this year, which would entitle Ngai Tahu to 16.1% and Waikato-Tainui 17% of all future Treaty settlements. Morgan Godfrey blogs: If one or more of the larger iwi settle this year, think Tuhoe and Ngati Tuwharetoa, the relativity clause will almost certainly be triggered. The relativity clause ensures Ngai Tahu and Tainui maintain their position relative to other iwi. Its, as termed above, an insurance clause. Under the principles of the Treaty, the Crown is obligated to preserve tribal relations. In practice this means the Crown should not give an unfair advantage to one or more iwi, hence the relativity clause. The clause ensures Ngai Tahu and Tainui remain at the top of the pecking order at least until Tuhoe and Nga Puhi settle. Im surprised this storys failed to gain more traction. When the clause is invoked, the consequences will be considerable. Many New Zealanders will resent the fact that some iwi can double dip, some tribes may resent this as well and the National government wont want to this to stick to them. After all, it was the previous National government that negotiated the clause. I dont think you can fairly call this double dipping, which I see more as coming back twice for the same claim. Any additional payment due to the relativity clauses is part of the settlement agreement. The ODT continues: University of Otago politics department associate professor Janine Hayward said the mechanism was simply an insurance clause for Ngai Tahu and Waikato-Tainui, which were among the first to negotiate settlements. It was a good deal for both to make sure the settlement happened, and Ngai Tahu were pretty brave getting off the blocks first, she said. The iwi were the only ones to have negotiated top-up clauses, which came about after the then National government signalled a $1 billion fiscal cap on total settlements. I doubt one could have got the initial settlements without those clauses, as this was uncharted territory. It looks like the total cost of settlements will be over $1b in 1994 terms, but even if it reaches $2b, that is not a huge amount of expenditure over a 25 year period around $80m a year. This Government is making rapid progress on settling the remaining historical grievances. I dont think they will all be settled by 2014, but think they probably will be by 2017. It will be a great day when we can put them into the past. That doesnt mean there may not be ongoing contemporary issues, but the hope is that the focus is more on the future than the past. Share this: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp More Pinterest Print Tumblr BALLSTON SPA A South Glens Falls man pleaded guilty Thursday in Saratoga County Court for beating another man with a shovel last June in Corinth. Eric J. McIntosh, 27, pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree assault, a felony, for a June 23 attack that police said left a man seriously hurt and hospitalized. Police did not say what prompted the attack. McIntosh, who has at least one prior felony conviction and is on parole for it, faces up to 4 years in state prison when he is sentenced March 6 by Saratoga County Judge James Murphy. The prior felony conviction stemmed from a 2015 burglary in Glens Falls, where he targeted an ex-girlfriend's home and stole a lizard. GLENS FALLS On the same day the federal government officially shut down, throngs gathered in downtown Glens Falls to march in protest of a government they say has gone completely awry. Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go, the packed crowds chanted again and again while waving protest signs and marching around Centennial Circle toward City Park at noon Saturday. What does democracy look like? It looks like this. What does democracy look like? It looks like this. Vote. Vote. Vote. And in a rhythm of call and response, Catherine Atherden, a Democrat who was recently elected to the Queensbury Town Board, led the crowd on a megaphone in chants for several minutes while they were stopped at the downtown roundabout. Saturdays womens march, called March On, marked the anniversary of last years Womens March and was the second time in a year that millions of women and men gathered around the world to protest President Trump, his actions and decisions, and to call other lawmakers to task. I cannot believe what our representatives are doing to our country and our rights, said Kim Harvish of Queensbury, who also marched in last years Glens Falls Womens March. This has gotten me off the couch, said Onalee Lippman of Queensbury. We figured it would be OK and it would work out, but they have done a great job helping me see that we have to take action. Last years Glens Falls march drew between 1,000 and 1,500, and while no specific count was supplied by press time, the crowds appeared even larger, packing both sides of Warren Street beyond a three-block stretch. What started as a Facebook event page calling for a march on Washington, D.C. by retired attorney and grandmother Teresa Shook of Hawaii, who was troubled about Trump being elected, grew into a Jan. 21, 2017 march of millions in Washington, D.C. and more than 670 sister marches in cities around the world. But with the passing of 12 months and near daily government crises, the Womens March has branched into two separate groups: The Womens March, dedicated to political protest; and March On, dedicated to voting and elections. Started by a group of Alabama women who traveled from Montgomery to Washington, D.C. for last years march, March On leaders believe that resistance alone is not enough and that through their collective power, the government can transform. And it was this group of women who went door-to-door to keep alleged pedophile Roy Moore from getting elected to the U.S. Senate in a recent special election. Moore, a Republican running in a heavily pro-Trump state and endorsed by the president, did not win. Democrat Doug Jones won the Senate seat vacated by U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions. According to a recent release, March On came together as a united force to take concrete, coordinated actions at the federal, state and local levels to impact elections and take our country in a better direction. On Saturday, the marchers were led to the gazebo in City Park by a group of women drumming and chanting, People of the earth unite. Several of the NY-21 Democratic congressional candidates hoping to unseat Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, participated, including Emily Martz of Saranac Lake, Katie Wilson of Keene, Ronald Kim of Queensbury, Don Boyajian of Cambridge, Patrick Nelson of Stillwater and Tanya Boone of Granville. Tedra Cobb of Canton sent a group representing her to the Glens Falls march and she marched in Plattsburgh, said Lynne Boecher, Warren County Democratic Committee chairwoman. Its all about standing up for justice, said Martz, wearing the familiar pink pussy hat. Im here in a positive atmosphere ... weve held the line ... and there is a distinct feeling of optimism. The people of Durrow in Laois can have their say on a plan for the future of the village which is one of the most vibrant and dynamic small communities in Ireland. With the support of Laois Partnership, the Durrow Development Forum has engaged Sean Crowley, a Community Planner to assist with the preparation of a community plan for Durrow the next five year period, 2018-2023. As part of the process, a workshop is taking place to give local people opportunity to give their views on what project proposals are key to support the ongoing social and economic development of the area. The forum invite all householders, businesses, clubs and organisations to be involved in the formulation of the Durrow Town Plan. "The Community Plan is essential to support the coordination of projects and initiatives required for our local community and the completion of report will be a key resource to aid funding applications to local, regional and national development agencies," says the Forum. The workshop takes place on Thursday, January 25 at 7pm in the Castle Arms, Durrow. "Your views and contributions would be greatly appreciated. All are welcome to attend," said an notice promoting the event. For any information please contact Sean Crowley at seanjcrowley@gmail.com or by phone at (087) 9873489. In recent years the development forum has been at the heart of some innovative and successful projects in the Laois town. The Scarecrow Festival has welcomed visitors from far and wide. The 2018 edition takes place from July 29 to August 6. The green at the centre of the village has been given a major overhaul. BAG A BARGAIN IN CULLOHILL Residents at Emmet Street, Mountmellick have been waiting one year for overhead cables to be removed so that upgrading of streets lights can be completed. Laois County Council has said that ESB Networks need to remove the overhead cables so the undergrounding and upgrading of public lighting. Civil works on the street lights were completed by Laois County Council almost one year ago. Cllr Paddy Bracken requested an update on the lights at the recent Borris-in-Ossory/Mountmellick Municipal District meeting. I will urge you once again to write to the ESB. This is a massive disruption in that area. It is unfair on residents that this is still not completed. I cannot understand how it has not been completed. It is a disgrace to say the least, Cllr Bracken said. He asked Laois County Council to put pressure on ESB Networks to remove the overhead cables so the job can be completed. Read more: Yvonne's Florist in Mountmellick in outstanding Irish Wedding Awards category. Mountmellick woman Janet Stewart fundraising to get a defibrillator for the town. Bord na Mona has said its application for a major extension of its west Kildare Drehid landfill site, including for the provision of hazardous waste handling, does not require an integrated pollution prevention and control licence. The application, which will be decided by Bord Pleanala, as a Strategic Infrastructure Development, is proposed to be based on a 272 hectare (670 acre) site in west Kildare. It requires an Environmental Impact Statement. The application form (see www.drehid2017sid.ie for full application) asks: Does the application relate to a development which comprises or is for the purpose of an activity requiring an integrated pollution prevention and control license. The company ticked no. The public have until February 20 to make submissions to Bord Pleanala. The proposal is to cater for both hazardous and non hazardous waste at the site. At the moment the company site has 4,605 sqm and the application, if granted, would bring an extra 20,230 sqm of building and include 942 sqm of car park. The company predicts incinerator bottom ash material coming from a Duleek waste site and from Poolbeg. The company also said the site could provide construction material which is predicted to be less available in the future. There is an anticipated shortfall in capacity for soil and stones in GDA, showing a capacity shortfall in 2019 of 2,62 million tonnes rising to some 3,98 million tonnes in 2023. They say that the predicted capacity shortfall clearly has the potential to be a significant constraint for market operators and construction activities in the regions in future years. It is clear from the report that there is a need for significant additional capacity for the landfill of construction and demolition waste in the GDA and the proposed development at Drehid will address part of this capacity deficit, it says. The company has also said in the application that the Major Accident Regulations do not apply to the development. It says that the company has met Bord Pleanala officials five times between September 9 2015 and September 13 2017. The proposal includes a 10.79 landfill area for 85,000 tonnes of hazardous waste a year, including incinerator fly ash and other residues, and, other hazardous waste streams which are currently exported from Ireland. The company said it also considered sites at Prosperous Bog, Gilltown Bog, Timahoe Bog Drehid Waste Management Facility, Lullymore Bog, Ballydermot Bog - South, Ballydermot Bog West and Allen Bog for the proposed development. On traffic concerns, which are a bone of contentions for many locals, the application non technical summary said: The main conclusions of the traffic assessments are that he existing R408 and R403 signalised crossroads in Prosperous will be currently over capacity in 2019 without the proposed development. Priority junction It also said the R407 and R403 signalised priority junction, Clane, will also be over capacity in the AM peak in 2019 without development. As these junction are already over capacity, improvement works would be required to reduce congestion. It said tests at existing Johnstown Road roundabout, Enfield, indicate that this roundabout will operate below capacity up to and including the design year of 2034 with the inclusion of traffic from the proposed development. A father, whose body was dumped in a ditch on the remote lane where he lived, was probably beaten before he was shot according to evidence given in a murder trial before the Central Criminal Court yesterday (Thursday, April 7). State pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy gave evidence at the trial on Thursday of two men accused of the murder of Christy Daly (47), at Bog Lane, Kilbride, Clara, Co Offaly between December 29 2013 and January 7 2014. Co Leitrim native, Matthew Gralton (22), with an address at Mt Prospect in Co Roscommon, and Ross Allen (25), with addresses in Carrickmines, Co Dublin and Clara in Offaly, have pleaded not guilty to the murder. Professor Cassidy told prosecuting counsel Patrick Marrinan SC that her examination of the body showed that a blow to Mr Daly's mouth knocked out five of his upper front teeth and another fractured his nose. She said it was likely that these injuries, along with several lacerations and bruises to his face and the top of his head, were suffered before Mr Daly's attackers shot him several times in the legs and left his body in a nearby drain. Describing the scene, she said the body was in an upright sitting position in shallow water in the drain when she arrived on the afternoon of January 7, 2014. He was fully clothed and had "animal damage" to his face. Firefighters took his body from the drain and a local undertaker took it to Midlands Regional Hospital in Tullamore where she carried out a post mortem examination. She said she saw extensive bruising across his face, on top of his head, a split and swelling in his upper lip and bruising near his left ear. She said the injuries showed he had received several impacts to the face, including "one significant one to the nose and a significant one to the mouth which had knocked out several teeth". She said he would still have been conscious and able to walk despite these injuries and that he had defensive wounds to one of his hands. She added: "He is most likely to have received these injuries before being shot." She said the gunshot wounds finally incapacitated him, indicating that he was shot close to where his body was found. Describing eight bullet wounds, mostly to the legs, she said these had shattered bones and destroyed blood vessels. She discovered six gunshot wounds in his left leg and another that passed through the upper part of his left arm and grazed his chest. She concluded that the cause of death was gunshot wounds and blunt force trauma with hypothermia and coronary artery disease as contributing factors that would have hastened his death. Detective Sergeant Pat Cleary of Tullamore Garda Station told Mr Marrinan that he and a retired garda received an anonymous tip-off by text around the time Mr Daly went missing. He said he received the text shortly after midnight on December 30 and it read: "Go to Curragh Road Clara. Someone badly hurt please." The retired garda received the exact same message. Det Sgt Cleary alerted his colleagues to the message when he found out that Christy Daly had been missing since December 29 and that his caravan on Bog Lane had been burnt out. On the morning of January 7 he went to Bog Lane, and after a short search he found the body. As day four of the trial concluded matters are being discussed by the Judge and the barristers. As these are legal matters the discussions are being conducted in the absence of the jury. Outspoken Sligo restaurateur Anthony Gray, reckons that our food is better now than its ever been but the hospitality trade isnt making the most of it. Irish food is on the crest of a Wild Atlantic Wave at the moment, said Gray who is Chairperson of Sligo Food Trail and ex-President of the Restaurant Association of Ireland, Its time to shout Irelands food story from the rooftops and make sure the whole world knows about it. As the owner of two restaurants in Sligo Town, Hooked and Eala Bhan, hes well placed to know a thing or two about the quality of produce thats available. Gray feels that as a country we are inclined to hide our light under a bushel, but unless the hospitality industry makes a concerted effort to evangelise about the superlative quality of Irish food, it will remain a well kept secret. The days of limited ingredients and cremated meat are gone, he says, Today chefs have a choice of outstanding produce and the skill to transform it into consistently excellent dishes. Its time to hold our heads high, declare provenance and make big claims for Irish food. The focus of his two restaurants is on local and fresh ingredients and they have no difficulty in sourcing exactly what they need year round. Our cold Atlantic coastal waters produce a high yield of fresh fish, from salmon to lobster with everything in between. Irish pasture-reared beef and lamb has a flavour unsurpassed anywhere on the planet while the variety of top quality vegetables available has never been better. Grays contention is that if we dont tell this story to visitors and media from around the world, we cant expect to reap the benefits from it. Its time to support local, support quality and make claims both proudly and loudly. He is forensic about ensuring that provenance is celebrated on the menus at both Hooked and Eala Bhan, and that his staff know all the answers a curious customer might demand. The culture of the dining customer has changed. Consumers want to know where the ingredients came from. I see my customers eyes light up when I tell them that I was out at the market buying edible flowers or where my cheese is from and who makes my bread. If we all do that we are on the right track to showcase, not just Sligo, but Ireland as a food destination. Ireland is one of the finest food destinations in the world, we just have to tell our story better, he said. LIMERICK TD Tom Neville is calling on Limerick City and County Council to put a permanent solution in place at a popular walkway on the N69. The current surface on the path at Sli na Slainte, Askeaton, is used by the people of Askeaton and surrounding parishes and needs to be accessible all year round, he said. Currently the surface of this is not fit for purpose and is impossible to walk on, let alone push a buggy on. Every year representations are made to clean the surface of debris and moss. People who take the route currently are endangering themselves as the conditions which I have personally witnessed are highly slippy, and it is forcing people to walk on the hard shoulder of the N69. This is an ongoing problem which arises annually with vegetation growth taking over the walk way. A permanent solution must be found with the laying of a proper surface. "This facility, when usable, is not only enjoyed by locals and people from surrounding parishes but its also an amenity to allow tourists to further explore the surroundings of the town of Askeaton. An investment in a permanent solution would save money in the long run, compared to constantly maintaining the walkway every year. "I am calling on the council with immediate effect to put a permanent solution in place as soon as possible, and give Askeaton the proper facility it needs, he added. RESIDENTS are expected to submit their concerns over a proposed housing site which would see the development of more than 30 homes in Limerick city outskirts. For a third time, local developers MA Ryan and Sons Ltd is seeking the green light from Limerick City and County Council to construct 31 homes at an unused land bank on Greenpark Avenue, South Circular Road. Limerick City and County Council had approved of the plans twice, but the project was hampered by An Bord Pleanala in April 2013 and June 2017, following objections from residents. Cllr Elenora Hogan said this week that residents have indicated that they will register their concerns with the council this week, before this Thursdays deadline. I have been speaking to residents to make them aware of it. Some of them have concerns, and some of them have indicated that they will register their concerns with the council. She said that traffic concerns is the major issue as Greenpark Avenue is narrow. Greenpark Avenue doesnt have the capacity with the quantity of cars being talked about. Between 8am and 9.30am, trying to get out of our properties while going to work, you are talking about a huge amount of traffic. And we already have a problem with tailback on the South Circular Road every morning because of the school. In June last, An Bord Pleanala stated that the project would not be conducive to pedestrian safety; it would result in inadequate quantity and quality public open space; and give rise to substandard level of residential amenity for future occupiers. At the time of the report, developer Michael Ryan said that it was a poor call by the authority, though he said he respects the open process. In April 2013, the authority turned down the application based on the risk of flooding. According to a planning statement by Clare planning consultant Michael Leahy, the current application followed the boards recommendation to avoid areas at risk of future flooding. Mr Leahys report stated: We believe that all of the issues raised by the Board have now been comprehensively addressed and that the proposal is in compliance with good planning and with all relevant development standards. A decision is to be made by February 17. CONCERNS have been raised over the potential cost of an electronic music festival for Limerick city that would require almost half of the councils annual cultural budget. The fact that no events were planned to take place in the county was also raised at a meeting of the Cultural SPC this Tuesday in County Hall. Details of the plans for the Limerick Electronic Music and Arts Festival (LEAF) were unveiled at the meeting in Dooradoyle. Festival and event management company CWB, responsible for parts of Limericks year as City of Culture in 2014, presented a feasibility study carried out into the potential of the festival, which would take place from March 9 to 10. The company is looking for a commitment of 205,000 in funding from the City and County Council in the festivals first year, with the view towards it generating 1.25 million for the local economy. However, concerns were raised over potentially allocating such a large part of the councils annual cultural budget of 500,000 to one event. Councillors also had questions over the timing of the event, which is proposed for March 2018. LEAF would consist as a collaboration of music, film, technology and gaming across multiple venues, the company said. CWB anticipates 10,000 visitors to the festival in its first year. The company also expects a strong student presence at the festival, which would see major events be held at Cleeves in its first year with the possibility of expanding to stadium events in the future. The company believes the event has the potential to grow to 30,000 visitors by its third year. Councillor Lisa Marie Sheehy said that while plans for the festival sound exciting, she was disappointed not to see the county included in plans for the potential festival. Its kind of disappointing to see theres no mention of the county whatsoever in the plan. Its all based in the city. I like to think with the cultural committee that everything cant just be based in the City. We need to expand out a bit. Since there is no aspect of the county included in the plan, I would have to rethink that. It is a very interesting proposal but it is a massive ask. The event could have a lot of potential for Limerick, chairperson Seighin O Ceallaigh said. A lot of money was spent supporting Riverfest a few years ago and look where it is now, Cllr OCealligh said. The sample schedule for the festivals first year includes a collaborative event between the Irish Chamber Orchestra and popular Irish DJ, performer and producer Kormac and family-focused events featuring live video gaming. A meeting will be held with all councillors before the end of the month to decide if funding for the festival should be granted and if the event should be held this March or in 2019. CWB previously sourced and secured the former Dell Factory in Castletroy to act as a venue for the City of Culture events in 2014, transforming the disused factory into a performance space which then housed the successful show Fuerza Bruta. Meanwhile, it also emerged that the cost of postponing the New Years Eve fireworks until St Patricks weekend has reached 12,500. The companies involved had (previously made shipments), so it's natural it accrued a cost. Wed be hoping that we would be able to make that up, regional services directorate Caroline Curley told councillors of the cancelled event. The combined amount to be spent on New Years Eve was 80,000. The cost of postponement is 12,500 because of rescheduling it, she added. PLANS are being finalised ahead of the opening of a new multi-million euro courts complex in Limerick city early next month. Several meetings have taken place between the various stakeholders in recent weeks with a view to the first court sittings taking place at the new courthouse during the week beginning February 5. The project, which has been funded through a Public Private Partnership arrangement, was approved by the Department of Justice in 2015 and construction work began in 2016 after BAM Building was selected as the preferred tenderer. Construction work on the complex, which will house six state-of-the-art courtrooms, custody areas and offices, is nearly complete and is expected to be handed over by BAM shortly. The Courthouse, Mulgrave Street which will be 7,350 square metres in size, is located at a site adjacent to Limerick Prison which is known locally as Costelloes Yard. While the Courts Service of Ireland has yet to confirm the opening date for the new courthouse, it is understood arrangements are being put in place and that summonses requiring people to attend for hearings at the new courthouse have already been issued. It is expected that members of the Limerick Court Users Group will be briefed at a meeting this Thursday before the opening date is officially confirmed. While the new courthouse will open in early February, the official opening is likely to take place in early March to coincide with the first ever sitting of the Supreme Court in Limerick. Once open, all sittings of Limerick District Court will take place at the new courthouse and that criminal sittings of Limerick Circuit Court will also sit there. Civil and family law cases will still be heard at the courthouse at Merchants Quay in the city. SOUTH GLENS FALLS The special dog cleanup bags offered for free at the trails in the village are on the chopping block. They cost the village $1,600 a year, including more than $200 in shipping. Mayor Harry Gutheil was somewhat appalled by the high cost. Are people grabbing boxes of them? he asked at a recent Village Board meeting. Im wondering where theyre going. We want to keep our trails clean, but ... Department of Public Works Supervisor Richard Daley defended the baggies, which are ordered from California. He buys them in bulk, 12 cases at a time, to fill the villages six dog cleanup stations. People arent grabbing boxes of them, Daley said. Gutheil wasnt convinced. Theres nothing that prevents people from grabbing 50 at a time, he said. Maybe well even have to go to a vending machine. I just want to find out if were wasting money. He planned to ask other communities how many baggies they use in a year. In nearby Glens Falls, the answer is a lot. The city maintains three stations at Crandall Park, Haviland Cove Beach and City Park. We are looking to acquire more. The demand is there, said Glens Falls Interim Recreation Department Superintendent Michael Mender. He acknowledged that the cost is high. Theyre a special biodegradable bag. They can be a little pricey, but its a tradeoff. We want to be a dog-friendly community. In Glens Falls, DPW workers are split on whether removing the bags would lead to more dog poop to remove from the parks. Two regular workers said they were sure there would be a huge mess if the bags were removed. But Mender said that was unlikely. I think the people who use them would pick it up anyway, he said, predicting just a little more poop left on the ground. But he said the stations are a good reminder for all dog walkers. It just serves to reinforce good behavior, he said. THERE is sadness in Limerick this Saturday after news emerged of the death of the former chief of staff of the Irish Army. Limerick-born Lt Col Gerry McMahon, a retired chief of staff of the Irish Army died yesterday at the Blackrock Clinic surrounded by his family. Born in Limerick to Alphonsus and Lilly McMahon Gerry grew up in Cathedral Villas in the shadow of St Johns Cathedral. He was a pupil at Sexton Street CBS after which he entered the Army and trained at the Curragh Camp, Kildare. He held various posts in the Army in the Congo, Lebanon and UN in New York before being appointed Chief of Staff in the mid-nineties. He was a member of Young Munster RFC and even though he lived in Newbridge he regularly travelled to his native city to watch Young Munster compete in the AIL. He was also a keen supporter of Munster despite living in Leinster since his early 20s. He was also a former president of Army RFC. Gerry had a love of Limerick and used to spend time here each August, often with his grandchildren showing them where he grew up and each of the historical sights around the city. He often quipped that his favourite bookshop in the whole world was OMahonys and regularly visited it when down for an AIL or Munster match. Gerry is survived by his wife Ann, sons Garrett, Aengus and Felim and sister Mona. His funeral arrangements will follow later today. THE FATHER of Millie and Gavin Murray, who suffered horrific burns after being petrol bombed in September 2006, has broken his 11 years of silence over the barbaric attack and its heartbreaking aftermath. In an interview with the Limerick Leader, 46-year-old dad Niall McNamara has hit out at the regeneration project after enduring his hardship with homelessness for 15 months. Speaking from his car in Garryowen, where he sleeps at night, Mr McNamara also told of the heartbreaking experience of being with his two children during their hospital treatment. On September 10, 2006, a six-year-old Millie and four-year-old Gavin were in their mothers car when a plastic bottle filled with petrol was set alight and thrown in through the rear window. The siblings required skin grafts and surgery for years as a result of the serious burns. This brutal attack was flagged as the tipping point in the original regeneration masterplan report in 2008. But Mr McNamara, previously of Moyross, said he feels let down big time by the regeneration housing programme, and it feels like I burnt my children. Niall, who is in receipt of disability allowance, said that he has been on the housing waiting list since his children were attacked. When youre up there every day taking off their bandages, and there is a piece of their skin peeling off, and every time they had to get a bandage changed or a cream put on, they had to be put under anaesthetic. It was very heartbreaking. It was very hard. From the day they went to hospital til the day they left the hospital, I never left the hospital, he told the Leader. He added: This Regeneration, with all these houses being knocked in Moyross and Southill and everywhere, that is over Millie and Gavin getting burnt. I am their father, and they never offered me a house. He said that when developments happen with regeneration, Millie and Gavins name are brought up. Yet, they wont house their father. I feel let down big time. It feels like I burnt my children, more or less. They way they are treating me, it feels like I burnt my children. It hurts, you know what I mean? he said. Mr McNamara said that Millie and Gavin, who are now 17 and 15, are flying it, thanks be to God and are both attending secondary school. Mr McNamara became homeless in 2016 when his landlord in Rhebogue sold the property. Ever since, he says he has slept in the back seat of his Toyota Corolla the same model as the car in which Millie and Gavin were attacked. Niall was previously at St Patricks Hostel on Clare Street for around two months. In recent months, especially during numerous weather warnings, he has spent a lot of his time couchsurfing from house to house in Garryowen to avoid the cold. One back seat window was smashed in recent weeks, and is now only covered with a bin bag. After he was forced into homelessness, he first resorted to the nine-to-nine emergency shelter on Edward Street. The two days were grand, but on the third day, I knew I wasnt right. So I never went back there. So I stayed in the car for a long time. If he doesnt stay in the car in Garryowen, he will sometimes stay at his friends house in Castleconnell, he said. Or I might stay outside my ex-girls house, because my son will come out and give me a cup of tea, he said with a tea by his side, as he sat in the drivers seat. The other night when it was really bad weather, I stayed at my friends house, he said, explaining that it is not permanent. The thing is, I dont want to be staying with a man and his wife and his children. I just wouldnt like that, but my friends help me around the whole time. To keep himself warm, Niall has to heat the car every few hours. I just start the car, let it tick over and then knock it off after using the heater. I then go to sleep for two or three hours, and wake up then, just to start it again. He explained that a number of family members have accommodation, but he said they are too cramped for him to stay permanently with any of them. Three men were sentenced in connection with the brutal petrol bombing in 2006. Limerick City and County Council did not respond to a request for comment in relation to Mr McNamaras homelessness situation. The 2nd Congress of Lal Salaam, the Pakistan section of the International Marxist Tendency, commenced its session on Saturday the 20th of January at the Aiwan-E-Iqbal Center in Lahore. For months the branches of the section had been making preparations for this important event, for which the Central Secretariat had produced three documents: World Perspectives, Pakistan Perspectives, and Organisation, all of which had appeared in handsomely designed printed form. Click here for the report from day two of the congress. From the early morning of Friday delegates began to arrive from all over Pakistan, having travelled long distances by bus and train. The delegates from Balochistan had travelled for almost 24 hours to get to the congress, while comrades from Nepal had travelled for almost 2 days. People travelled far and wide to attend / Image: own work Sadly, many student comrades were unable to attend because of the last-minute announcement of exams. Nevertheless, there were delegates from Lahore, Karachi, Balochistan, Sindh interior, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Kashmir, Gujrawala, Faisalabad, Sukkur, Quetta, Khuzdar, Peshawar, Buner, Swat, Pir Baba, Multan and other areas. 260 comrades attended, including 34 female comrades / Image: own work The overwhelming majority of the participants in the congress were young, reflecting the composition of the Pakistan section today. There were students from colleges and universities all over Pakistan and workers from various industries including the railways, Karachi Steel, Pakistan Post, WAPDA electricity workers, doctors and paramedics from hospitals, primary school teachers, and lawyers. The total attendance was about 260, of which there were about 34 female comrades. There were international visitors from the International Secretariat, from the British and Swedish sections of the IMT, and comrades from Nepal. Comrade Mahbalus giving opening remarks / Image: own work World Perspectives The first session opened in an atmosphere of great enthusiasm and expectation and was introduced by comrade Alan Woods of the International Secretariat. For one hour he traced the development of the world situation following the crisis of 2008, which, he pointed out, has not been resolved. Comrade Alan Woods / Image: own work Comrade Alan explained how the economic crisis was producing unprecedented social and political instability everywhere, especially in the US and Europe. It has also expressed itself in convulsions in world relations, wars and terrorism. He pointed to the catastrophe in the Middle East, the devastation of Syria and Iraq and the looming crisis in the USA as manifestations of the same phenomenon. Despite the claims of growth in China (the figures for which are disputed), he pointed out that Chinas debts had grown from $3 trillion to $27 trillion in the space of 10 years and this colossal level of indebtedness presents a serious threat to China and the whole world economy. Alan also pointed to a sharp deterioration in the relations between the US and Pakistan, leading to the recent suspension of aid. The Americans are furious with Pakistan because it does not do their bidding and is now gravitating towards China. Day one was very successful - forward to day two! / Image: own work In conclusion, comrade Alan underlined the revolutionary implications in the situation and the growing revolutionary consciousness of the youth in particular. 2017 was the anniversary of the great October Revolution, he said. 2018 is the anniversary of the greatest revolutionary general strike in history in France and also of the revolutionary movement of the workers and youth of Pakistan in 1968. History can repeat itself. Sharp and sudden changes are implicit in the whole situation. We must be prepared. Comrades selling Marxist literature / Image: own work This speech was received with enormous enthusiasm by the congress, and chants of Inqalab Zindabad (Long Live Revolution). There followed a brief session of questions and discussions in which many delegates handed in questions, which Alan dealt with in his final sum-up. Comrade Stefan Kangas / Image: own work Among the speakers was Stefan Kangas from the Swedish section, who intervened on the struggle in Catalonia, which has taken on revolutionary features in the recent period. Josh Holroyd from the British section then dealt with the political earthquakes which have shaken Britain, from Brexit to the Corbyn phenomenon. Comrade Sangharsh from Nepal traced the history of the class struggle in Nepal leading up to the crushing electoral victory of the Communist parties in the recent election. However, he pointed out that the leader of the main Communist party, after being elected, said publicly: I am not a Communist. Comrade Josh Holroyd spoke about Britain / Image: own work Pakistan Perspectives After lunch there followed a session on Pakistan Perspectives which was introduced by Paras Jan from Karachi. In a passionate speech, Paras Jan dealt with the general crisis of Pakistani society, politics and the state. He referred to the recent incident that happened in Kasur, in which a 7 year old girl was raped and killed. Thousands of people came out onto the streets and attacked the district admin offices. The police opened fire on the protestors, killing two demonstrators and wounding many others. Comrade Paras Jan Karachi on Pakistan perspectives / Image: own work Paras speech was followed by questions and discussions with interventions from comrades from Karachi, Balochistan, Kashmir, Faisalabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Lahore. Among the topics discussed were the national question, the student movement, international relations, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, religious extremism, terrorism and much more. All speakers were unanimous in their call for the building of a revolutionary Marxist international. Comrade Adam Pal from the editorial board of Lal Salaam / Image: own work Paras summed up the discussion in rousing fashion, answering and developing many of the points made and also pointing to the huge task now weighing on the shoulders of the Pakistan comrades: to build a revolutionary Marxist tendency able to intervene in the earth moving events that we will see in Pakistan in the coming period. The day was concluded with commissions reporting on and planning for the sections important work in the trade unions, youth and women. On Sunday morning the congress will continue with discussions on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and the building of the organisation. Comrade Sangharsh from Kathmandu / Image: own work It was three days before the most important dinner party she has ever hosted, but Melania Trump was not at the White House, triple-checking details. Instead, she was in Houston, Texas, to pay her respects to one of her predecessors, Barbara Bush. The current first lady sat among several former presidents and first ladies in the pews at St. Martin's Episcopal Church for Bush's funeral service on Saturday, including former President Barack Obama, whom her husband, President Donald Trump, has often criticized. Michelle Obama was there, too; in January, she joked on a talk show about the way Mrs. Trump awkwardly handed her a gift box on the steps of the White House on Inauguration Day. Mrs. Trump hasn't seen or spoken to either Obama since then. Also nearby was former first lady and 2016 presidential rival Hillary Clinton, a favorite target of the President's tweets, in which he likes to call her "Crooked Hillary," ribbing his former rival about investigations and emails. And, naturally, there were many Bush family attendees. The President's constant primary campaign target, Jeb Bush, whom Trump nicknamed "low energy," delivered a eulogy to his mother. In other words, the first lady was literally, and voluntarily, walking into a den of potential adversaries. But as has become a trademark reaction to the drama surrounding her husband, Melania Trump didn't let on that she cares about any of it, and she certainly wasn't letting it stop her. "She was invited to attend and intends to pay her respects to not only Barbara Bush, but the entire family," the first lady's communications director, Stephanie Grisham, told CNN, adding Trump is "a confident woman. ... I know politics will not be an issue." The President was invited, too. But almost two days after his wife confirmed she would be attending the memorial service for Mrs. Bush, the West Wing released a statement saying the President would not, citing a desire not to cause undo disruption. The services for Mrs. Bush capped a week that included hosting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife for two days at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, culminating in a dinner for the couple -- a smaller dry-run, perhaps, for the mountainous task of the full state dinner that lies ahead in Washington. State Dinner prep Planning for Tuesday's state dinner, being held in honor of the official visit of French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, began months ago; it was then that Melania Trump started to think of the details, such as an ideal gift. CNN has learned one of those gifts will be a framed section of upholstery from one of the chairs in the White House Blue Room. Featuring a golden eagle surrounded by laurels, the chair was part of the furniture suite inspired by Pierre-Antoine Bellange, who designed royal palaces in France and created the 53 carved and gilded pieces for the Blue Room, which he was commissioned to create by President James Monroe. Monroe had previously served as a diplomat in France and had taken a shine to French decor. Though President James Buchanan got rid of the set in a redecoration decades later, it was first lady Jackie Kennedy who found the spare pieces and brought them back during her quest to restore the White House. Kennedy worked with a French designer to reproduce missing items, including recreating the fabric through French textile firm Tassinari and Chatel. The Marcrons will also receive from the Trumps a special photo album upon their departure, with pictures of their visit, as well as a Tiffany & Co. silver bowl, engraved with the presidential seal and the signatures of both Trumps. The first lady has often sought to highlight history as she puts her stamp on White House events, say those familiar with her process. Despite her willingness to buck precedent -- arriving solo to Trump's State of the Union address, for example -- a person familiar with Melania Trump's work in the White House said protocol is paramount, as is preserving tradition. That thoughtfulness is being reciprocated by the Macrons, as CNN has learned the Trumps will be gifted a four-and-a-half-foot tall European sessile oak sapling that will be planted in Belleau Wood, in Aisne, France, site of a landmark World War I battle in June 1918, where nearly 10,000 US Marines and Army soldiers were killed or wounded. First Lady takes charge So confident was Trump about her ability to handle something like a state dinner, with its myriad details, that the first lady would not hire an event planner to help, as previous first ladies have done in the past to manage the grandeur and spectacle. For example, the final state dinner of the Obama administration, its 14th, was a tented affair for former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, held on the South Lawn of the White House for 400 guests. Michelle Obama wore a custom, chainmail Atelier Versace gown; Mario Batali cooked, and Gwen Stefani entertained. For the Trump administration's first state dinner, there will be none of that. There will also be none of the paparazzi element that has come with past state dinners; celebrity supporters of the President are harder to come by than they were for Obama. "A smaller, more elegant event allows a guest to have a more personal experience, and that is very important to Mrs. Trump," said Grisham, who confirmed the dinner will take place in the State Dining Room, which can hold about 100-150 seated guests. "[The first lady] has a background in design, which played a major role in the decor throughout the State floor," Grisham adds of Trump's hands-on approach. "She has been very focused on the experience of the guests, and wants to ensure they are able to truly enjoy and remember the occasion. When you are invited to a dinner at the White House, it is very special to be able to sit in the State Dining Room. After all, this is the People's house, which is rich with history and tradition." Current White House social secretary Rickie Niceta told CNN that Trump was aware the selection of the State Dining Room would limit the number of invitations, which could fuel criticism, but Trump "held firm" to the idea." Niceta added that part of her job on behalf of the first lady is to make sure guests "feel special and welcome from the moment they arrived to how they will be bid 'goodnight." One person who didn't give input on the night is the President. "The President has been busy with his schedule. The first lady took all preparations for the state dinner under her own wing," said Grisham. Mrs. Trump has also been doing some homework, educating herself about the protocol and history of these sorts of White House events. This is to ensure her selections for the Macrons' visit have meaning behind them, down to the china, flowers, color scheme and menu, which, while American, will highlight the influence France has had on American cuisine. "Mrs. Trump selected every item and every detail for the dinner, from the entree to the chair cushions," said Niceta. It's an indicator that the first lady, who moved to Washington full time only last June, seems to have gotten the hang of running an operation as massive as the White House. "She has a solid grasp on all of her roles, which include mother, wife and first lady of the United States, both public-facing with events and engagements and behind-the-scenes with the renovations and preservation efforts at the White House," Grisham said. Melania's team is "small, but mighty" Trump has amassed a staff that has yet to experience the massive turnover happening in the West Wing. Stories of palace intrigue and heads on the chopping block don't emanate from the East Wing. "We are a close-knit team," said Grisham. They have lost at least three members -- two operations and advance directors, and Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former Manhattan-based senior adviser to Trump. The first lady unceremoniously cut ties with Wolkoff in February after it was revealed Wolkoff's events firm received more than $26 million for the work it did for the inauguration, a job unrelated to her duties for the first lady. "We are currently at a staff of 10," said Grisham. "The team is small, but mighty." "We are close-knit, we laugh lot," Niceta adds. "We are family." As a boss, Trump is regarded as a straight shooter and is well liked by executive residence staff, a source with knowledge of the matter told CNN. Trump hasn't had the same level of public drama as her husband, whose West Wing hiring and firing foibles are frequently dissected by the media. Managing the storm Of course, considering the barrage of salacious headlines surrounding the President and his alleged affairs, it is somewhat understandable the first lady isn't particularly eager to make herself more accessible to the public -- something her predecessor, Michelle Obama, did with expertise. It is a delicate push and pull, the role of first lady. While undefined and unsalaried, it is still expected that the American people feel a connection to the partner of their leader, and a very private woman like Trump, unskilled and unfamiliar in the shoes of political spousehood, is still learning those ropes. "She does value her privacy and that of her family, which is to be expected" said Grisham, who adds she doesn't let it interfere with her work. There has even been a rampant rumor circulating for months in the power circles of Washington that Trump might be spending time in a home rented by her parents in a ritzy suburb in order to avoid life inside the White House bubble. Grisham adamantly denies the gossip, and the house. "No such place exists," she said. As for the stories that spew like water from a fire hose about chaos in the West Wing, alleged affairs, payoffs and investigations, Trump has chosen not to comment. And just as we've learned that she opted out of a South Lawn walk or Marine One ride with her husband in order to take her own separate motorcade -- and what that might mean -- the first couple was spotted on a date night on the patio of Mar-a-Lago, or at Trump's eponymous Washington hotel. The dynamics of her marriage remain a mystery, but Grisham said Trump's own independent streak has provided strength in the face of so much judgment. "She is accustomed to being in the headlines and recognizes the scrutiny that comes with it," she said. by Sara Guaglione , January 19, 2018 Parent company Tronc is launching an investigation into the behavior of Ross Levinsohn, publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Times, as its newsroom voted today to unionize. The final vote count to unionize the Los Angeles Times was 248 in favor, 44 against. A report from NPR published Thursday reviewed court documents and financial filings and interviewed 26 of Levinsohns former colleagues, revealing the CEO was a defendant in two sexual harassment lawsuits. Numerous female colleagues have spoken out about his misbehavior in professional settings spanning two decades. The two lawsuits against Levinsohn were filed by female colleagues at Alta Vista in 2001 and at News Corp. in 2006, NPR reported. Tronc said it was made aware of the allegations this week and launched an investigation, so that we have a better understanding of what's occurred. advertisement advertisement At Tronc, we expect all employees to act in a way that supports a culture of diversity and inclusion, the media company stated. We will take appropriate action to address any behavior that falls short of these expectations. It is unclear if Levinsohn will be placed on leave or suspended during the investigation. Levinsohn is accused of rating employees by hotness, kissing an employee at a business dinner while married and using homophobic slurs at a fashion event. Nearly every employee interviewed by NPR refused to have their names made public. Tronc hired Levinsohn to run the LA Times in August, after it fired top executives at the newspaper. Levinsohn previously held high-ranking roles at Guggenheim Digital Media, CBS, the search engine Alta Vista, Yahoo and News Corp. Levinsohn has referred to the allegations regarding his behavior as lies, and reportedly called NPR CEO Jarl Mohn on Wednesday and threatened to seek legal counsel. The Los Angeles Times union organizing committee published a memo Thursday, titled Not fit to lead the Los Angeles Times. Whether you like it or not, you have to agree with the fact that Black Mirror's portrayal of our unhealthy obsession with technology is absolutely true. And the fact that we are probably heading to a doomed society where technology would entirely take over isn't exactly the best thing. However, some of us are living in a hypothetical world where all these 'Black Mirror'-influenced developments are going to take place in a far-fetched world. We might not even live when they'd occur, right? WRONG. We hate to break it to you guys, but some of the show's predictions are already in motion as you read this article. And if they aren't 100% ready yet, they are in the works and will become a reality very soon. Warning: Spoilers ahead. 1. Season 1, Episode 3: The Entire History Of You This episode is set in a world where people can record every aspect of their lives and can choose to play it back whenever they want. It isn't exactly a reality yet but a few firms might soon make it one. Contact lenses that can record and play back the events we witness are in the works. We can play back the events we've lived and also zoom if we wish. Sony, Google and Samsung are all working on projects along these lines. 2. Season 1, Episode 2: 15 Million Merits It talks about a world where people spend their lives riding bikes to generate energy and in turn, gain credits in order to lead a better life. This is already happening in Brazil. In prisons, to be precise. Inmates in Brazil's Santa Rita do Sapucai prison can shorten their time behind bars by riding stationary bikes that helps in generating energy. Prisoners can knock a day off their sentences for every 16 hours they pedal. The energy they produce by riding the bikes charges batteries that are later taken to the city center in southern Minas, where they are used to power light bulbs. Although this is nowhere close to the consequences we witnessed in the episode, it is wildly similar to the concept but in a good way. 3. Season 2, Episode 1: Be Right Back 'Be Right Back' sees a woman replacing her late boyfriend with a synthetic substitute, using his online history, photos and videos. In 2010, Hanson Robotics created a social robot BINA48 (Breakthrough Intelligence via Neural Architecture 48). The robot was modeled after Bina Aspen, the wife of Dr. Martine Rothblatt, the transgender futurist CEO of United Therapeutics and used Bina's memories and feelings. 4. Season 3, Episode 1: Nosedive This one is probably one of the most interesting 'Black Mirror' episodes so far. It showcases a world where people are ranked on the basis of their personality and behaviour. And that rating determines everything that you can or cannot do in your life. From buying homes to getting flight tickets, everything is based on your rating. The Chinese government has already started working on this. They are compiling digital records of their citizens and use all that information to assign them their ratings. You can read more about this here. 5. Season 3, Episode 3: Shut Up And Dance You probably SHOULD know this already. But in case you have been living in a bubble where you think all your online activity is safe, we have bad news guys. This episode has a fairly simple but intense storyline. A young boy is caught masturbating by hackers who got access to his laptop's webcam through a random software. They blackmail him using the same and it obviously turns REALLY ugly in the end. Here is a fan made video of the same: Getting access to someone's laptop and recording everything using their laptop or computer's webcam has become extremely easy now. Even your mobile isn't safe anymore. Time and again, leading authorities including the FBI director and Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg have warned people to cover their webcams while they use their systems. 6. Season 3, Episode 6: Hated In The Nation If you ever thought bees cannot be scary, think again. The gist of this episode is that mechanical bee prototypes are developed to combat the effects of bees dying. (They are in reality dying because of climatic changes). The government tells the citizens that these bees are mainly developed to pollinate flowers, but that isn't true. They are also used for mass public surveillance and become the reason behind a number of mysterious deaths. We won't give away all the details. But guess what? These bees are now a reality. Well, sort of. Japan has invented bee-like drones which can pollinate the flowers, thereby ensuring that a drop in the bee population does not affect the eco system. Hmmm, we wonder what further use it can have. 7. Season 4, Episode 3: Crocodile An investigator uses a device called a 'Recaller', which allows the viewer to see memories of a person and is extremely helpful to investigate accidents. Now the 'recaller' might not become a reality anytime soon but another major aspect of this episode is already in the works. A self-driving pizza delivery truck is what causes an accident in this episode. In reality, Pizza Hut and Toyota are collaborating on a self-driving pizza delivery truck. In fact, Toyota would also collaborate with other firms for these cars or trucks that might also function as a mobile store. Introducing the first Pizza Hut fully autonomous delivery concept vehicle. Excited for our future with @Toyota #CES2018 pic.twitter.com/YGNQUgijha Pizza Hut (@pizzahut) January 8, 2018 All of this just proves that 'Black Mirror' isn't that fictititious after all. We are now scared. Very, very scared. President Donald Trump's nuclear posture review, leaked to HuffPost this month, seems to show the US believes Russia is building a dangerous new undersea nuclear weapon that critics say could cause widespread death and damage. "Russia is developing and deploying new nuclear warheads and launchers," the leaked review says, adding that these systems include "a new intercontinental, nuclear-armed, undersea autonomous torpedo." Printouts of plans for such a nuclear torpedo had been spotted in state TV footage of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and military chiefs in November 2015. The footage showed plans for a submarine that could travel 6,200 miles at 100 knots underwater and detonate a megaton-class thermonuclear weapon to create "wide areas of radioactive contamination," according to a BBC translation of the photographed document. The submarine was designed to "destroy important economic installations of the enemy in coastal areas and cause guaranteed devastating damage to the country's territory by creating wide areas of radioactive contamination, rendering them unusable for military, economic or other activity for a long time," the BBC reported. Since then, many have disputed the notion that Russia would build such a system. But the leaked draft of Trump's nuclear posture review indicates the US government at its highest levels believes the torpedo, known as the "oceanic multi-purpose Status-6 system," is real. Jeffrey Lewis, a leading academic on nuclear matters, quickly gave the Status-6 a catchier name: "Putin's doomsday machine." Not only could the weapon obliterate the area with potentially 100 times the power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, but it could also leave behind long-lasting radioactive waste. Lewis has described the weapon as "bat-s---" crazy and "absurd." He previously told Business Insider that the idea was "deeply, deeply, deeply immoral" and that the US never considers weapons like this for its nuclear arsenal. When the plans for the Status-6 leaked in 2015, the Brookings Institution characterized their appearance on camera as deliberate messaging rather than sloppy work. Nuclear weapons have been used exactly twice in combat -- both times by the US, and both times dropped by a propeller aircraft over largely unprotected Japanese airspace at the close of World War II. No fancy intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarines, or long-range bombers or cruise missiles have ever delivered a nuclear weapon fired in anger. The real function of nuclear weapons today is political. Countries build them and bank on their deterrent effect, meaning they calculate that no one will attack a nuclear-armed nation. For Russia, the Status-6 doomsday machine wouldn't make much sense unless everybody knew about it. As Russia has become increasingly aggressive in its foreign policy while maintaining a weaker military than the US's and NATO's, it may have convinced itself it's time to show its doomsday weapons. More From Business Insider: SIGONELLA, Italy -- Sixteen Marines, ranging from radio operators to pilots, were honored late last month for assisting with an investigation into the deaths of four soldiers killed by Islamic militants in Niger in October. The medals received by the Marines provided a rare glimpse into the secretive mission in Africa, demonstrating the capabilities and flexibility of the Marines' crisis response unit for Africa, some of the recipients told Military.com. In all, five Marines earned Joint Service Commendation Medals and 11 earned Joint Service Achievement Medals for providing security, facilitating flights, and ensuring effective communications for the investigative team as it entered the region. All the Marines who participated in the mission were assigned to Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response-Africa, based here and in Moron, Spain. The Marines received their medals from Commandant Gen. Robert Neller at a special Christmas Day ceremony during his brief visit to Naval Air Station Sigonella. Those recognized from the air combat element included Staff Sgt. Brian Mays, Capt. Jarod Bryant and Maj. Bradley Stadelmeier, who received Joint Commendation Medals; and Capt. Keith Murphy, Capt. Gregory Zingler, Staff Sgt. Jason Lipnick, Sgt. Zachary Yoder, Cpl. Tray Lange, Sgt. William Hepler, Lance Cpl. Mitchell Leis, Capt. Anthony Peters, Capt. William Huckeba, Master Sgt. Brent Greenberg, and Gunnery Sgt. Jason Humphrey, who received Joint Service Achievement Medals. From the ground combat element, Gunnery Sgt. Patrick O'Brien and Sgt. David Farmer received Joint Service Commendation Medals. Mission Juniper Aegis, as it was called, required a tight planning cycle and precise execution. Marines loaded C-130J Hercules aircraft to near capacity and tested the MV-22 Osprey's ability to cover long distances during the long haul from Moron, Spain, to Niamey, Niger, in early November. "We basically traveled across the United States twice in 48 hours to set up for this mission," said Huckeba, a KC-130J pilot attached to Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 252, illustrating the massive distances the mission required them to cover. The distance from Moron to Niger one way is more than 1,500 miles. While such a mission might take weeks of preparation, Marines said they had less than two days to plan out how they were going to insert and extract the investigation team. "When we do a movement from the East Coast out to training in [Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center 29 Palms, California], that's a big, involved movement," said Murphy, an Osprey pilot. "It takes sometimes weeks or months of ahead planning to make sure that everything's lined up. And we did that in a very condensed time window and successfully, without missing a beat." The reliable Hercules filled a variety of roles. In addition to transporting personnel and equipment, the aircraft were used for Osprey aerial refueling and to provide a forward command-and-control and communications platform while personnel were on the ground in Niger. Farmer, a radio chief, said the Marines used a hatch-mounted satellite antenna system, or HMSAS, with the C-130 to create a satellite link back to Moron for effective communication. The compressed timeline forced him to rely on close coordination with his team to ensure everything was working for the investigation, he said. Ultimately, the operation went smoothly. A 46-Marine infantry team provided security, and the aircraft completed their missions without incident, even in sometimes dusty and obscured landing zones. "I think what we were excited about is to show what the special purpose [Marine air-ground task force] can do," Murphy said. "We are a force that's always on an alert position, so we're waiting for the call. We were happy to know that we could do it without anybody messing it up." The results of the investigation, into an attack in which Army Staff Sgts. Bryan Black, Jeremiah Johnson, and Dustin Wright and Sgt. La David Johnson were killed, have not yet been made public. The Green Beret-led team had been training Nigerien forces at the time of the ambush. -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck. Democrats and Republicans could not find agreement to keep the government running by the Friday night deadline -- but bills were in progress today to continue to pay the military for the duration of the shutdown. The last paychecks to service members went out on Jan. 15, and the next will come due Feb. 1. But unless lawmakers pass a complete government funding package or separate legislation to pay the military, troops will not see paychecks until after the shutdown ends, Defense officials have said. Related: How a Government Shutdown Impacts Military Pay, Benefits In the Senate, Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat and the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, put in a bill called the "Pay Our Military Act" to allow service members to continue to receive paychecks and related compensation over the course of the shutdown. "This bill would make sure that all active-duty, reservists, National Guard troops, as well as any civilians and contractors working in support of those forces can do their jobs and receive their paychecks," Reed said in a statement. Related content: On the House side, Rep. Martha McSally, an Arizona Republican, also introduced legislation that would continue to pay the military and those in the Department of Homeland Security performing national security duties. Her bill would also prohibit members of Congress from receiving a paycheck during the shutdown. Just how quickly those bills might be passed remains unclear. Both the House and Senate returned to work today in an effort to break the funding impasse, but members immediately began blaming each other for the shutdown. "Democrats in the United States Senate are holding government funding hostage," Rep. Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Republican, said in a floor speech. Rep. Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat and the House Minority Whip, shot back that President Donald Trump was at fault. "That is why this government is shut down," he said. In Arizona, where he is receiving treatments for brain cancer, Republican Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a statement blaming both sides for the shutdown: "As Republicans and Democrats run to cable news to point fingers and assign blame, the hard reality is that all of us share responsibility for this failure. For years, under both a Republican and Democrat-controlled Congress and White House, partisanship has taken precedent over national security," he said. "Shamefully, no one will incur more harm than our brave men and women who have volunteered to fight and die for our freedom," McCain said. During the previous shutdown in 2013, which lasted 16 days, Congress passed an emergency bill to continue paying service members, but death gratuity payments for Gold Star families were cut off, forcing the Defense Department to rely on charitable contributions. The current shutdown began at midnight Friday when Congress failed to reach agreement on a Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government in operation until Feb. 16 in an effort to arrive at a budget deal that would fund the military in Fiscal Year 2018 at nearly $700 billion. The House had passed a CR to keep the government open until Feb. 16, but Republicans lacked the momentum to pass a similar measure in the Senate, where 60 votes were needed. On Friday, Mick Mulvaney, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said that there was a "really good chance" of finding a solution before government offices open Monday. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Officials say the device was known as an "unexploded ordnance," or an explosive weapon that did not explode and still posed a... President of the Ashanti Regional branch of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Francis Koffie, says the wheels of justice in the country have become too rusty that cases elongate in the orthodox judicial system unduly. A case that may be projected to take four days or less to resolve as lawyers usually state in their application for directions sometimes lasts forever, according to him. Speaking at the opening of a two-day seminar on arbitration advocacy for lawyers, judges and other professionals involved in arbitration, Mr Koffie said the cost of resolving disputes in the orthodox judicial system far outweighs that of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). The seminar was organised by the Ghana ADR Hub, a dispute resolution institution set up to provide mediation, arbitration services to individuals, private businesses and public entities. Apart from the time spent or wasted in resolving some matters in the orthodox way, the concomitant costs, psychological and physical exhaustion and risk are equally daunting, the GBA President declared. He cited a case that is still pending at a Kumasi High Court, which was filed in 1963 by the late Lawyer Owusu Yaw and appearance entered by the late Justice Agyepong. The case relates to a simple issue of the validity of an auction sale conducted in 1962. Multiple lawyers, including my own senior, late Obeng Manu and numerous substituted parties, have come and gone, but the case is still pending. The purchaser, who has since died and his family have still not had the opportunity to take possession of the property, and the judgment debtor (also dead) and his family continue to be in possession. Certainly, this is a clear case of justice delayed, justice denied, Koffie argued. There was a case of even more complex nature which was referred for ADR by another judge that was resolved within two sittings to the satisfaction of the parties and lawyers involved, the Ashanti GBA President stated. It's therefore not surprising that the composite value of ADR has been appreciated by most people in recent times, as ADR has become the preferred mode for resolving inevitable human disputes globally, receiving both public legislative affirmation and mutual private endorsement in most commercial and international transaction agreements. The supervising judge of the Ashanti Region, Justice Nicholas Agbodakpi, indicated that there had been a paradigm shift, as the judicial service had adopted arbitration as part of conflict resolution. According to him, the judicial service has instituted ADR mechanisms and trained over 100 applicants as mediators to use arbitration and mediation to resolve disputes. He asserted that the mediators, who have been assigned to circuit and district courts across the country, have so far dealt with 42 cases referred to them, intimating that the ADR has helped to reduce the cases at the various courts. Justice Abodakpi disclosed that 84,786 cases were pending before the country's court as of December 2017, with seven High Courts in the Ashanti Region recording 2,708 cases in the year under review. This portrays Ghana as an unfriendly environment to do business and the Chief Justice, Sophia Abena Akuffo, has made judges to resort to ADR. The supervising court judge argued that ADR remains the best mode to resolve disputes in today's world in spite of the few disadvantaged that come with it. President of the Ghana ADR Hub, Michael Gyan Owusu, on his part, pledged the commitment of the ADR institution to resolving disputes in the country. An aspiring National Coordinator of the Nasara of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called for calm among the rank and file of the Moslem wing of the party, as it embarks on the exercise of electing polling station executives for victory 2020. Suleman Alhassan Atakpo made the call in a statement released in Accra after the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party announced modalities for the commencement of the election of polling station executives across the country. According to him, members of the Moslem wing feel slighted by the decision of the party not to allow the wing to have representatives at the polling stations when all wings in the party have representation at the polling station level. He said the youth wing and the women's wing of the party have representations at the polling station level. He explained that in spite of the fact that members have been denied the right to vote for their leaders at the polling station level, they should exercise restraint as well-meaning personalities of the wing table the matter with the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party. Meanwhile, another aspirant Baba Ibrahim, speaking on a different subject, said that gone are the days when campaign promises were just to win votes and nothing else. President Akufo-Addo has challenged political parties to think differently, he said. He is by his actions erasing political talk, the most abused words in our political lexicon, which are used by politicians when they are challenged to prove their statements on political platforms or when they are challenged to fulfill promises they make during campaigns. President Akufo-Addo has raised the bar with honesty and respect for the governed. He quoted the President as saying I have not come here to lie to you, I am not a liar, I mean every word I say to you. One policy that excites me as a Zongo man is the Zongo Development Fund Bill. One of the first things that occupied the Presidents thought at the beginning of the year was to give a Presidential Assent to the ZDF bill. The bill, which seeks to uplift the conditions of the Zongo communities and ensure that development reaches the Zongo communities, was signed into law by the president without delay.' No President in our history has paid special attention to Zongos like the way President Akufo-Addo. I call him the Zongo president because he lives and understands the Zongos. Deputy Minister of Health, Kingsley Aboagye Gyedu, has said an amount of 6 million US dollars is needed to begin operations at the University of Ghana Medical Centre. According to him, the first phase of the Medical Centre is yet to be completed because of the lack of funds needed for operationalization. The hospital has not been officially handed over to the Ministry, it is not complete, as we speak now, the operationalization is not like the working capital, we need to put certain things in place before the hospital can be open to the public, he said. Speaking in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show, Kingsley Aboagye Gyedu said his outfit also needs an additional 50 million US dollars to complete the second phase of the project. The Chief of Staff summoned a meeting of high powered members of cabinet, we met and the issue has been resolved, so as far as I know, my boss and my Ministry is actually looking for the 50 million to complete the phase two of the project, while cabinet take steps to resolve the operationalization, he said. Going for a loan of just 6 million will be more expensive because every loan comes with a process fees, commitment fees and other incidental costs, so to minimize the cost it will be worth our while looking for a bulk loan to the operationalization and completing of phase two, Gyedu said. Background In 2012, the government signed a contract with Messrs. Engineering and Development Consultant (EDC) of Israel to build the first phase of the facility. The University of Legon designated 400 acres of land for the entire project. The first phase of the University of Ghana Medical Centre was completed in November 2016 and was handed over to the university. It is yet to be operational following disagreements over the legitimate manager of the facility. About 800 personnel are needed to get the facility fully operational. But the Ministry of Health in recent times is laying claims to the facility, leading to uncertainties over who has the responsibility to manage the centre. Phase one of the project was commissioned by then President John Mahama, who charged his successor Nana Akufo-Addo to work hard to ensure the facility is made fully operational. 20.01.2018 LISTEN President of the African Development Bank, AfDB, Akinwumi Adesina, has made a compelling case for accelerating Africas industrialization in order to create jobs, reduce poverty and promote inclusive economic growth. Citing data from the Banks 2018 African Economic Outlook launched in Abidjan, Cote dIvoire, on Wednesday, Adesina said infrastructure projects were among the most profitable investments any society can make as they significantly contribute to, propel, and sustain a countrys economic growth. Infrastructure, when well-managed, provides the financial resources to do everything else. Noting that economic diversification is key to resolving many of the continents difficulties, he urged African governments to encourage a shift toward labour-intensive industries, especially in rural areas where 70 percent of the continents population resides. Agriculture must be at the forefront of Africas industrialization, he said, adding that integrated power and adequate transport infrastructure would facilitate economic integration, support agricultural value chain development and economies of scale which drive industrialization. He reminded the audience of policy-makers and members of the diplomatic corps in Cote dIvoire that economic diversification via industrialization with tangible investment in human capital will enable the continents rapidly growing youth population to successfully transition to productive technology-based sectors. Adesina also highlighted the relatively unknown win-win situation that Africas industrialization can generate within the developed world, citing data from the report, which notes that increasing the share of manufacturing in GDP in Africa (and other Less Developing Countries) could boost investment in the G20 by about $485 billion and household consumption by about $1.4 trillion. He highlighted various innovative ways in which African countries can generate capital for infrastructure development and what the Bank is doing through its ambitious High 5 development agenda to address the issues raised in the report. He announced that the Bank would organise the Africa Investment Forum on November 7-8, 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa, to mobilise funds for infrastructure development, to bridge an estimated funding gap of $130-$170 billion a year, up from previous estimates of US $100 billion per year. New infrastructure financing gap estimates and innovative ways through which African countries can raise funds for infrastructure development are among the highlights of the 2018 edition of the report, which was launched at the Banks headquarters for the first time in the publications 15-year history. The African Economic Outlook was first published in 2003 and launched mostly in various African capitals outside the Banks headquarters in May each year. In his remarks, Celestin Monga, the Banks Chief Economist and Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, said the African Economic Outlook has become the flagship report for the African Development Bank, providing data and reference material on Africas development that are of interest to researchers, investors, civil society organizations, development partners and the media. This years edition focuses on macroeconomic development and structural changes in Africa, and outlines economic prospects for 2018. The report emphasizes the need to develop Africas infrastructure, and recommends new strategies and innovative financing instruments for countries to consider, depending on levels of development and specific circumstances. Abebe Shimeles, Acting Director, Macroeconomic Policy, Forecasting and Research, said the Bank will publish Regional Economic Outlooks for Africas five sub-regions. The self-contained, independent reports, to be released at the Banks Annual Meetings in May 2018, will focus on priority areas of concern for each sub-region and provide analysis of the economic and social landscape, among other key issues. First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, has expressed confidence, that Ghanaians can build a dignified, self-sustaining country and shun the tag as a beggar nation. She said the new Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) Maternity block built entirely out of fundraising efforts is an example that the President's mantra of Ghana beyond aid is possible. Delivering a speech at the commissioning of the facility in the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi, she mentioned the numerous support the project received after fundraising efforts in Accra and Kumasi in 2017. even children sent their contributions, she revealed. The Rebecca Foundation project started after a Joy News documentary revealed in March 2017, shocking rate of mortality at KATH partly due to overcrowding. In the Joy News documentary 'Next To Die', a cot meant for one baby is shared by as many as eight newborns. A father testified after he lost two babies when his wife delivered at the hospital in 2013, 2014 and 2016 respectively. How did we as a country get here? Rebecca Akufo remembered her own outrage that joined in the national outpouring of indignation and shame. That was when I knew we needed to act. A KATH Maternity Block which began in 1974 had stalled for more than 40 years. It would cost more than $70m to furnish and furnish the more than a 1,000-bed facility. The Rebecca Foundation found it pragmatic to build immediately a less costly 10million cedi facility. She was happy that the outpouring of indignation gave way to an outpouring of giving. The First Lady, 'Second' Lady Samira Bawumia and wife of Asantehene, Lady Julia joined in helping raise funds. Two months after the March documentary, work on the new building began on May 29, 2017, courtesy the free services of African Builders Partners, a construction company. After two inspections in October and later on December 9, 2017, the First Lady was chaffed. Now I need to confess this. What I saw was way beyond what I had imaginedit was simply overwhelming to see what all of us have done as a people in just five short months. Facing the world-class facility which is the only green hospital in Africa, Rebecca Akufo-Addo said; Today is a happy day for us all. What we see here is in sharp contrast to the day the documentary was aired. I stand here a fulfilled woman, I stand here a grateful mother, proud of my people. The commissioning was graced by wife of Asantehene, Lady Julia, the Batamahene and a host of traditional leaders in the region. She proceeded to share some lessons she has learned from the concerted effort. The project she said made a strong impression on her that we are better togetherwe are capable of solving our challenges. The First Lady urged Ghanaians to join in the President's economic diplomacy of building Ghana beyond aid. That's the president's dream, that is my dream and I dare say that it is everyone's dreams too. She was full of praise for Joy News' award-winning journalist, Seth Kwame Boateng, noting his documentary is a demonstration of the power of the media to promote unity and development. Multimedia, Seth Kwame Boateng you make us all proud, she said. A citation from the KATH management was presented to the Multimedia journalist for being a journalist with a difference. The First Lady expressed a strong desire to see the hospital manage the new maternity block properly and indicated her continued willingness to provide further support. Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang Manu, revealed that after consultations with The Rebecca Foundation and traditional leaders, the KATH Mother and Baby Unit has been named Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II Center. It was named after the late mother of the Ashanti King. While the commissioning went on, President Nana Akufo-Addo tweeted his delight at the completion of the project and praised his wife. The Ministry of Health, University of Ghana and the University of Ghana, have resolved to amicably settle their differences to ensure a quick operationalization of the 217 million-dollar University of Ghana Medical Center following an intervention by the Presidency in the impasse. The parties, in a meeting convened at the Flagstaff House on Tuesday, reaffirmed their commitment to the full implementation of the project which was commissioned by former President John Mahama in January 2017. The world-class medical centre had been abandoned following a tussle between the Ministry of Health and the University of Ghana over the control of the facility. This is despite the full installation of all the necessary medical equipment for operations at the facility to commence. The 617-bed facility has ultra-modern medical gadgets for treating complicated medical conditions, and a helipad to airlift patients with emergency cases as well as a medical hotel. The government has said it remains committed to the vision of the project, for which it secured a loan of $217 million. It assured the university community and the public of the successful completion and operation of the facility, in line with the vision of the project. In a joint communique issued after the meeting, the three bodies reiterated the need to address issues concerning the ownership and management of the centre. Background The government of Ghana in 2012 under the former President John Evans Atta-Mills entered into an agreement with Messrs Engineering and Development Consultant (EDC) of Israel to build the first phase of the Center. According to former deputy Minister of Health, Rojo Mettle Nunoo, the original plan of the government was to allow the University of Ghana to manage the facility but the facility after its face phase was inaugurated by former President John Mahama on January 6, 2017 is still not in use because the Ministry of Health wants to take over its management. Last week, cabinet gave a directive for the Ministry's take over the facility, leading to some national security operatives storming the premises. Although the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Health, Robert Cudjoe had denied that the national security operatives were there to take over the facility, he argued that the Ministry need to take over management of the facility because it had oversight responsibility for all health facilities in the country. The Ministry is taking over, just like it is mandated to ensure the health of the populace for national development. All health-related facilities in Ghana, both public and private all fall under the purview of the Ministry of Health, so it was strange for anybody to say that a particular hospital shouldn't have the ministry of health coming close, Robert Cudjoe said in a Citi News interview. We need $6m to run $217m UG Medical Centre Gov't Meawnhile, a Deputy Minister of Health, Kingsley Aboagye Gyedu, has said an amount of 6 million US dollars is needed to begin operations at the University of Ghana Medical Centre. According to him, the first phase of the Medical Centre, which cost 217 million dollars to establish, is yet to be completed because of the lack of funds needed for its operationalization. The hospital has not been officially handed over to the Ministry, it is not complete, as we speak now, the operationalization is not like the working capital, we need to put certain things in place before the hospital can be open to the public, he said. Speaking in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show, Kingsley Aboagye Gyedu said his outfit also needs an additional 50 million US dollars to complete the second phase of the project. Foreign vessels operating in the West African coastal area have threatened to pull out of Ghana following the herculean taxes imposed on their operation by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) of Ghana. A letter from the NPA, dated January 12, 2018, read that effective January 16, 2018, all the taxes, levies and margins applicable to domestic Gasoil (except UPPF Margin) will apply to Marine Gasoil (MGO) Foreign. This directive seems to have angered foreign vessels trading on the shores of West Africa as they claim it is against industry practice. Speaking to Yourbusinesswatch.com, on the condition of anonymity, an industry player who cautioned the government said the latest development has the propensity to slow down business in Ghana. This directive is alien to us. The whole of West Africa, none of the countries is demanding for this charge, and we can only advise ourselves to do business in either Togo or Nigeria. This imposition means Ghanaian importers will suffer and that will be negative to the economy of Ghana, he stated. It will be recalled a similar directive in Nigeria in the airline industry forced a lot of international carriers offering flight services to relocate their offices to Accra, Ghana from their operational bases in Nigeria. The airlines cited the high cost and lack of aviation fuel as some of the reasons for their relocation. Industry players believe this move by the NPA can spark similar agitations in the Ghanaian fishing industry. They express shock indicating such taxes will slow down the activities at the port and cause the state some financial loss. Jason Emmanuel Kuuku Asante Ghansah, a form two student of the LegonPresbytarian Boys Secondary School has been adjudged the overall winner of the 2017 edition of the United Bank of Africas (UBAs) National Essay Competition (NEC). Emmanuel, who is currently reading Business took home a trophy, a certificate and US$5000 educational grant. The 1strunner-up, AppiahMaameAnokyewahAntwiEkua of Wesley Girls Secondary High School received a plague, certificate and US$3500 whiles the 2nd runner-up, YasmeenQuartey also took home a plague, certificate and US$2000. The cash prize serves as an educational grant for the winners to study in any African university of their choice. 12 finalists were selected from seven different secondary schools across the country out of which three were selected as those with the best script. Each of the 12 finalists was given a UBA branded Laptop as a token for the bold step they took and to encourage them and others to participate in the next which is yet to be launched. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UBA Ghana, Mrs. AbiolaBawuahsaid her outfit is fully committed to national event adding that it remains their priority to continue to contribution their quota to the society and nation at large. Today, we have identified the 12th winner since the inception of the competition four years ago. Already, the UBA Foundation was taking care of nine students at the tertiary level and we are happy to announce that from now on they will be 12, she stated. MrsBawuahcongratulated all the 12 finalists for taking a bold step and urgeall senior high students out there to look out for this years competition and take part. To our stakeholders, the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service, your support to this cognitive competition has been enormous and we hope that the relationship will continue. MrsBawuah concluded. The Managing Director of UBA Foundation, Mrs. Bola Atta indicated that $100,000 has been invested in this competition adding that they still have a long way to go to ensure that they play a pivotal role in the secondary education system in Ghana. We are passionate about this. What drives us is to see the leaders of tomorrow taking a cognitive challenge like this. This is the only year that took us more than the designated period to complete the marking of the scripts. This tells you the number of entries we received this year and how competitive it was, she intimated. The Director for Secondary Education, Dr. Mrs. Angela TenaMensah, said the UBA Essay Competition is one of the most inspiring projects for the Ghana Education Service. She highlighted strong points of the UBA Foundation National Essay Competition, such as allowing every student to exhibit their cognitive skills and potentials while developing a positive work ethic with problem solving and critical thinking skills. MrsTenaMensah indicated that the idea of using the essay to elicit information from the young ones is indirectly asking these students to contribute to the national fight against galamsey. Our hope is that the fantastic ideas from the essays would be gathered and presented to those who matter in the fight against galamsey,MrsTenaMensah posited. She added that her outfitappreciates this endeavour to promote literacy, expression and creativity among young people, greatly and above all, the grant that is given them for their tertiary education. UBAs National Essay Competition is a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative of UBA (Ghana) Limited as a way of supporting the educational sector in Ghana. Launched in 2014 in Ghana, the competition provides a competitive platform to develop the intellectual and writing abilities of Senior High School students across Africa. This is a build-up on UBAs annual READ AFRICA PROJECT; which involves the distribution of literature books authored by African writers to a number of second cycle institutions across the country. Telecom company, AirtelTigo, says it aims to provide superior customer experience with improved network coverage, which creates a meaningful differentiation from its competitors. Through our combined network, we will offer wider and improved coverage and better quality of service to customers in both urban and rural Ghana, said the Chief Executive Officer of AirtelTigo, Roshi Motman, during a courtesy call on the management by the executives of Network of Communication Reporters in Accra. As the second-largest mobile operator in the country with over 10 million subscribers,Ms Motman explained that with the combined fiber footprint, the merged entity will provide greater value and better solutions to its customers. She added that the company will create the right experience for large corporate organizations and particularly Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to be confidently connected and help them to become more efficient and profitable. Ms Motman pointed out that merged entity has an extensive distribution network and it would focus on making things simpler, easier and better for customers. Our Mobile Financial Services will also be greatly enhanced with combined agent networks and platforms. Touching on the benefits the merged entity will bring to the economy, Ms Motman, said: Certainly, the Ghanaian economy will gain from our future investments and technology. The Dean of the NCR, Mr Charles Benoni Okine, congratulated the company on a successful merger and said the visit formed part of efforts by the NCR to engage key stakeholders in the telecom industry. He explained that the interaction with the AirtelTigo leadership team gave NCR an opportunity to understand issues relating to the merged entity and plans to ensure better service for customers. 20.01.2018 LISTEN Instinct Wave, organizers of the 8th Ghana Information Technology and Telecom Awards, 8th Marketing World Awards and 4th Ghana CFO Awards, announced the launch of Ghana Top 50 HR Leaders scheduled on the 23rd February 2018 at the plush Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra. Ghana Top 50 HR Leaders is a celebration of fifty leading Human Resource practitioners who have made sterling contributions to the corporate sector over the years. In a statement signed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of InstinctWave, Mr. Akin Naphtal said the work of HR profession has evolved over the years with the use of technology to drive efficiency. He indicated that Human Resource units now play pivotal and strategic roles in sustaining organizational balance and growth in a highly competitive global environment. Mr. Naphtal added that ironically the impact of these HR leaders are rarely celebrated or recognized in most organizations, a situation which he said needed to be addressed to motivate them to do better. This is why we are lifting the veil to celebrate and honour HR practitioners who have demonstrated excellence in delivering best practice and innovation in the HR Profession, he stated. Speaking on some of the yardsticks to qualify for this award, Mr. Naphtal indicated that the HR Practitioner must possess at least 10 years of experience, be the overall head of HR Department, deliver HR best practice, uphold concrete strategies towards the growth of the organisation and keep a good relationship with stakeholders. According to him, this unique award is to celebrate outstanding accomplishments and deepen interest in young fliers in the sector to be more purposeful and resilient. Winners will be unveiled during the gala night on February 23rd at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel, he intimated. Mr. Naphtal emphasized that the gala night will provide an exceptional opportunity for HR professionals and stakeholders in the corporate sector to network, and reinforce relationships with partners. In regards to Donald Trumps most recent racist comment, I find Rep. Elise Stefaniks lack of forceful response, one short sentence on Twitter, completely inadequate and lacking in moral decency and leadership. Im seeing a pattern that she seems to be a magnet for, and has accepted, campaign money from racists and conspiracy theorists. As the saying goes, you can judge a person by the company they keep. These are some of her friends and colleagues: The shamed St. Lawrence County legislator Joel LaPierre, who commented, "Folks, it is happening. Trump is making America great again! So long big ears, you and your Muslim brothers did your best to destroy this great country and you failed. Now great men and women are in charge to remove everything you did. Should you get the courage to start whining about what real leadership is doing, just remember keep poking the bear and we will pack you, Mochelle (sic), the kids, mother-in-law and anyone else related to you and send you all on a way one-way trip to Kenya where you were born." Ava Ashendorff, whose Republican womens club Stefanik promoted on her own Facebook page, is also a racist and conspiracy theorist. There is a high level of enthusiasm and the general willingness among farmers and people within the catchment of the Komenda Sugar Factory to produce sugarcane for the factory,a research by the University of Cape Coast has showed The research, carried out by the College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences and funded by the Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC) found that there was potential land available for the factory to generate sufficient feed-stock to feed itself. The research which was on the topic 'spatial assessment of sustainable feed-stock supply to the Komenda Sugar Factory' was to quantify the actual and potential feed-stock supply capacity of the Factory. Based on the current production,it estimated that within the immediate catchment of the factory, approximately 30,000 metric tonnes of sugarcane could be generated while 16,000 tonnes could also be generated within the industrially recommended radius of 64 kilometres to feed the factory. However, it said more efforts were needed to address some of the decision variables that constrained farmers and land owners to commit lands to sugarcane production. Subsequently, government has been urged to duel on the enthusiasm to secure lands for plantation and to convince people to commit lands to sugarcane production. It is also recommended for the governmentto move swiftly to get the factory working to keep the enthusiasm alive. There have been series of concerns relating to the lack of adequate and right sugar cane for the Komenda Sugar Factory to operate at its maximum capacity since it was commissioned in May 2016. It was expected that the revival of the factory would drastically reduce the importation of sugar and create indirect jobs for people in the sugar industry in every part of the country but the factory had since not lived up to expectation. The factory required about 125,000 tonnes of sugarcane per day which current production was nowhere near that figure. At a stakeholders' forum to present the findings on the research, Dr David Oscar Yawson, Principal Investigator of the research noted that there was a huge feed-stock deficit of about 115,000 metric tonnes of sugarcane. According to him, current production could only generate less than 10 per cent of what the factory needed per day within the industrially recommended radius and emphasised the need for a quick intervention to resuscitate the factory. Ghana imports about 700,000 metric tonnes of sugar with an estimated amount of $2M annually but Dr Yawson believed the country had the potential to meet about three quarters of the domestic demand. The Director of DRIC, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim said UCC intended to intensify research engagement, publicise the university's research focus and findings and share recommendations with industry players and policy makers to inform policy. He enumerated the processes for implementing the Research Awards and Grants schemes in the university and highlighted issues relating to the university's quest for both researcher and institutional visibility. He said the university would continue to bring together all stakeholders in the scientific research industry space, share research findings to promote the use of research for national development and transformation of livelihoods. The Pro Vice Chancellor, Professor George Oduro said the university was committed to the realisation of the expected impact of engaging in scientific research on the society. He reiterated the university's commitment to promote research for the transformation of livelihoods to promote socio-economic development. The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) in collaboration with Prisons Fellowship Ghana, an NGO, has supported inmates of the Medium Security Prisons, Nsawam in the Eastern Region, with some assorted food items and toiletries. The items valued at GH12,000.00 were jointly presented by Reverend Emmanuel Kwafo Offei, the President, Prisons Fellowship Ghana and Mr Eric Kwadwo Asare, a Petroleum Engineer and President of the Senior Staff Association of GNPC, at two separate ceremonies at the Male and Female Prisons at Nsawam. Those for the male inmates included items such as 16 bags of rice, three gallons cooking oil, four boxes of key soap, 16 packets of toilet-rolls and 15 bags of slippers, while that of the female inmates included three bags of rice, one gallon of cooking oil, three packets of toilet-rolls, two bags of slippers and a box of guardian carbolic soap. The Corporation, as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR), and in partnership with Prisons Fellowship Ghana, has set aside over GH30,000.00 to support inmates of the nation's major prisons. Rev Offei said Prisons Fellowship Ghana aims at positively touching the lives of prison inmates nationwide through Christian evangelistic outreaches He said the donation was an annual exercise which forms part of their efforts to show love and compassion, and to bring the message of hope and salvation and comfort to the inmates of the nation's prisons. He said the first phase of the exercise had already taken them to Sekondi, Koforidua, Winneba and Akuse Prisons; adding that their next donation would be to the Osaekrom Prisons near Agona Swedru in the Central Region. He said Prisons Fellowship of Ghana, which had been incorporated in Ghana since 1985, apart from making donations to prisons, also identifies and undertakes some projects to make life comfortable for the inmates of the prisons. He recounted that the organisation in collaboration with the Mercy Ship and the British High Commission in 2006, constructed a kitchen for the Female Prison of the Nsawam Prisons. He said the organisation has in the past fumigated the James Fort Prisons in Accra, as well as the Winneba Prisons. He appealed to corporate entities, individuals and churches to come to the aid of inmates of the nation's prisons. Mr Asare, who led the GNPC's delegation, said the Corporation was happy to be supporting the efforts of Prison Fellowship. He said the exercise was a good humanitarian effort; stating that the Chief Executive of GNPC, believes in Corporate bodies supporting such a social good. He said they were hopeful that this would not be the last time, but they would make it either a mid-year or an end-of-year event; so that they could fellowship and have a social relation with the inmates. He said the maiden donation was the beginning of greater things to come. Mr. Edward Arthiabah, CSR/Corporate Responsibility Officer at GNPC, said the donation, formed part of GNPC's numerous efforts aimed at putting smiles on the faces of the vulnerable in society. Assistant Director of Prisons (ADP) Samuel Owusu Amponsah, the Second-In-Command of the Medium Security Prisons, Nsawam, expressed gratitude to GNPC for their kind gesture. He said the facility, which has 800 inmate capacity a few years ago, was now hosting 3,290 inmates. He said in times of medical emergencies, they had to rely on a pick-up to transport inmates to hospitals; he therefore, appealed to GNPC, to help them with an ambulance. He appealed also to GNPC and other corporate entities to come to the aid of the clinic with drugs and laboratory equipment. Rev Martin Padi, Chief Superintendent and Chaplain of the the Medium Security Prisons, who received the items at the male prisons, was thankful to GNPC for the donation and further assured that the items would get to the inmates. Assistant Staff Officer Lear Appiah-Kusi, an officer at the Female Prisons of the Medium Security Prisons, Nsawam, who received the donation on behalf of the female inmates, expressed gratitude to GNPC and Prisons Fellowship Ghana for the support. At the Female Prisons the delegation joined the inmates to sing praises to God. The Police in Winneba have arrested four persons suspected to have snatched a taxi cab from its driver at Gomoa Potsin in the Central Region last week. ASP Irene Oppong, Central Regional Police Public Relations Officer who confirmed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said two of the suspects, Emmanuel Osei, 22 and Abdul Razak, 23 were grabbed hours after they had stolen the taxi with registration number GX 3027-17. She said the other two were also arrested by the Kasoa Police on Tuesday. According to her on Saturday January 13, the suspects boarded the victim's taxi from the Winneba Roundabout to Gomoa Potsin. She said on reaching the Potsin town, Emmanuel who was then seated at the front seat allegedly pulled machete on the driver and forced him to drive to the outskirts of the town while his accomplices then pushed him out of the car. They then tied the victim with a rope and gagged him with a handkerchief and absconded with the car. ASP Oppong said same day at about 1300 hours, the Accra Central District Police Command received information that a group of young men were offering a taxi cab for sale at Agblogbloshie. She said Police officers were deployed to the scene and feigned interest in the car through which the suspects were arrested and upon interrogation confessed to the robbery. They were handed over to the Winneba Police where upon an identification parade, the victim identified Emmanuel Osei as the one who sat in the front seat and pulled the machete on him. She said the four suspects will be put before court. Professor Michael Ayitey Tagoe, Acting Provost, College of Education, University of Ghana (UG), has called for a national consensus on how to tackle the unemployment menace in the country in a more transformational way. He said the time was ripe to set the agenda for a national discussion on how to create an enabling environment for the private sector to become the engine of growth for job creation. Speaking at the on-going 69th Annual New Year School and Conference (ANYSC) in Accra, Prof Tagoe said: "This is the time for us as a nation to be more creative, innovation and entrepreneurial, and to push the frontiers of knowledge and technology to advance our development agenda at a faster pace. "We need to introduce the spirit of entrepreneurship among our youth early, so that they can grow up thinking about how to create jobs for themselves rather than having the mind-set that they have to look up to government for employment". The New Year School, which is being organised by the School of Continuing and Distance Education (SCDE) of the College of Education, UG, is on the theme: 'Job Creation for Accelerated National Development: The Role of the Private Sector'. The annual event provides a platform for a dispassionate discussion of important issues of national and international concern. The week-long event, which was officially opened by Vice President Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, is under the auspices of Komos Energy, Vodafone Ghana, Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL), Voltic, Daily Graphic, Prudential Bank and the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, UG. Prof Tagoe, who is also the Dean of the SCDE, noted that the ANYSC had over the years provided a platform for the discussion of topical issues, which were critical to our nation's growth and development. He said last year's School and Conference which was on the theme: "Promoting National Development through Agricultural Modernization: The Role of ICT", during which the Minister of Food and Agriculture launched the Ministry's flagship policy "Planting for Food and Jobs". He said there is a clear link between last year's theme and that of this year, as the agricultural sector can generate jobs faster if it is modernised. He said for jobs to be created for all, the economy must grow and the growth must be sustained to generate sustainable and decent jobs. The Provost said the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) eight seeks to "promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all". He said in addition, Goal four of the SDGs calls on governments to "substantially increase in the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship". He noted that according to the African Union document Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want (2015), economies must be structurally transformed to create shared growth, decent jobs, and economic opportunities for all. Prof Tagoe said development-oriented policies that support productive activities, must be promoted, with emphasis on entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and the formalisation and growth of micro, small and medium size enterprises that must have access to innovation financial services. "Unfortunately, the economy of Ghana is not growing fast enough to generate enough jobs for all and therefore the issue of unemployment, especially among the youth has become a major challenge that needs an immediate remedy," he said. He said; "It is obvious that the public sector cannot absorb the growing numbers of young people graduating from our universities and there is therefore, the need to rely on the private sector not just as an engine of growth but also for job creation". He said; "As a School, we cannot ignore this important national issue and efforts by successive governments to address the challenge of unemployment in the country". Prof Tagoe announced that the SCDE would be marking its 70th anniversary in June this year. He expressed gratitude to all the past Directors and staff of the School for their support and contribution in diverse ways to the growth of the school. The General Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU) has urged the Government to promote agriculture investment for sustainable national development. Mr Edward Kareweh, the General Secretary of GAWU, said investment in agriculture was also vital for addressing the nation's unemployment situation. He said the importance of agriculture in Ghana's economy could not be overemphasised; stating that "for the farmer and his/her household and the commercial farmer agriculture is really important". "For the Government, policy makers (service bureaucrats) and the financial institutions, agriculture is not important. They are rhetoric and careless about what happens to agriculture," Mr Kareweh said this during the ongoing 69th Annual New Year School and Conference (ANYSC) in Accra. "For instance, if government officials and civil servants were to be personally liable for the policies they make and retrieval of inputs given to farmers, they would ensure subsidised fertilizers are not diverted," he said. He said Ghana's vision for the agriculture sector is "a modernised agriculture culminating in structurally transformed economy and evident in food security, employment opportunities and reduced poverty". He said since Ghana attained independence in 1957, successive governments have pursued with varying degrees of success, policies, programmes and projects to accelerate the growth of the Ghanaian economy and to raise the living standard of the people. Speaking on the topic "Attracting Investment into the Agricultural Value Chain: The Role of the Private Sector," Mr Kareweh said per the behaviour of the banks over the period, there was an unambiguous demonstration that agriculture was very important. "The banks' lending rates to agriculture are the same as the export sector, even though agricultural production is long-term while export trade is for a short period," he noted. "The banks shy away from the agriculture sector, citing high risk loan recovery." He called for a cluster of policies at the production, processing and marketing stages of agriculture products in order to attract investment from the private sector into the agricultural value chain. He further called for direct investment in agriculture to demonstrate commitment. He recommended that budgetary allocation to the sector should not be less 10 per cent of gross domestic products (GDP). He said there should be funding for agriculture research institutions to carry out research, instead of depending on foreign funding. Mr Kareweh urged government to resource the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and its agencies. He also suggested the setting up of a fund, which individuals could access for agricultural activities. He urged retired public servants and security officers invest in agriculture to make it attractive to the youth. 20.01.2018 LISTEN An Accra Circuit Court has deferred the sentence of one Mubarak Adamu, a coconut seller, who appeared before it for robbing a lady of her hand bag to January 28. Mubarak robbed one Yormenu Delali Philomena of her ladies hand bag containing a purse, an amount of GH21, a cheque book, room keys and other personal belongings at Gbawe-Bulemi in Accra on January 11. He pleaded guilty to the charges of robbery but with explanation. In his explanation, he told the court that he is a JHS 2 dropout who now sells coconut at Suhum. He said he had a call from a friend who operates a washing bay in Accra to come so he could offer him a job. He said upon arrival, his friend influenced him to rob the complainant of her bag which he obliged. The complainant he said shouted for help so a mob chased him until he decided to surrender himself to be arrested. The court presided over by Mrs Abena Oppong Adjin-Doku later found him guilty and convicted him on his own plea but deferred the sentence to January 28. Prosecuting Police Chief Inspector Kwabena Adu told the court that, the complainant Yormewu is a banker residing at Gbawe-Bulemi, while the convict resides at Suhum in the Eastern Region, but sometimes comes to Accra to hawk. He said on January 11, whiles the complainant was on her way from work to the house around 2100 hours, upon reaching Gbawe-Bulemi last stop, she used a small walkway as a shortcut to her house. He said while going she realized she was being followed by Mubarak, but did not suspect any foul play so she continued her walk. The prosecution said, the complainant realized that, the convict was doubling his steps so she paved way for him to pass, but surprisingly Mubarak pulled a dagger, pointed it at her and ordered her to hand over her ladies bag to him. Mr Adu said the complainant was frightened and handed over the bag to him and took to his heels, but the complainant shouted for help whiles chasing him. The shouts prompted people around, who pursued Mubarak and arrested him at a distance from the crime scene. He told the court that during investigations, Mubarak admitted the offence in his caution statement. The second in a series of stakeholder engagement workshop, which seeks to raise awareness on the threats posed by counterfeit electrical products is slated for the third week of March at Sunyani, Brong Ahafo Region. Communication for Development and Advocacy (CDA Consult) sponsors and organisers of the workshop explained that the second workshop dubbed: 'Avoid Patronage of Counterfeit Electrical Products,' would be used to engage industry leaders and government officials on the dangers of counterfeiting. Mr Francis Ameyibor, Executive Director of CDA Consult in an interview to outline the second Anti-Counterfeit Electrical Products workshop explained that it is important to create a collaborative platform among stakeholders - businesses, governments and law enforcement agencies to holistically deal with the emerging problem. He explained that CDA Consult is collaborating with the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Security Agencies, Electricity Company of Ghana, National Fire Service, the Media, Electrical Contractors, Manufacturers and Dealers in electrical products as well as a larger community to ensure that a safe environment was created. Mr Ameyibor called on stakeholders especially dealers and manufacturers in electrical products to join forces with CDA Consult for the public education and sensitisation against patronage of counterfeit electrical products through: [email protected], 'we must work together, no blame game and no room for observer status'. 'Our target is to collaborate with numerous stakeholders, the certification industry and law enforcement to create a public enlightenment platform for consumers, contractors and distributors to raise their awareness about electrical counterfeits. 'Counterfeiting is becoming a growing problem worldwide and Ghana for more than a decade has increased exponentially. 'We are facing a growing threat to the economy and to public safety. We must work together with law enforcement, industry players and actors, and regulatory agencies to combat the rise in counterfeit trafficking in Ghana,' Mr Ameyibor noted. CDA Consult believes that collaboration is the key for the development of innovative strategies for defeating counterfeiters in the electrical sector whose activities are endangering lives and property. He said following the successful first workshop at Ho, Volta Region; the second workshop would also engage and challenge all participants to work together to share and develop Regional Roadmap to combat electrical counterfeiting. Institutions expected to participate in the Brong Ahafo, 'Avoid Patronage of Counterfeit Electrical Products,' workshop include; Ghana Standards Authority, the Regional Police Command, Regional ECG, Ghana Revenue Authority Custom Division, Electrical Contractors, and Dealers and Manufacturers of Electrical Products. Others include: Procurement Officers from strategic institutions including; the Banks, Schools, Hospitals, Shop Owners, Traditional and Religious Leaders, the Regional Coordinating Council, and Media Practitioners. Mr Ameyibor commended the Ghana Standards Authority, Volta Regional Police Command, Regional Fire Service, ECG Regional Officials, National Commission on Civic Education, and the Volta Regional Coordinating Council for the tremendous input into the Volta Regional workshop. The CDA Consult Executive Director also commended the media for the projection of the workshop and ensuring that the public were educated on the negative impact of counterfeit electrical products. 20.01.2018 LISTEN The Sekyere-Kumawu District Assembly is making giant steps towards the construction of a waste-to-fertilizer factory at Kumawu. It has already signed a deal with Chinese Company, 'Tian Yang Industry and Trade', on build, operate and transfer basis. Mr. Samuel Addae Agyekum, the District Chief Executive (DCE), told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that it would be sending a delegation to China on Thursday, January 25, to follow up on the deal. The nine-member delegation would include Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua, Omanhene of the Kumawu Traditional Area. He said they would use the one-week visit to woo Chinese investors to establish in the district in the areas of agriculture and tourism. Mr. Agyekum hinted that the factory could become operational in six months - by June. He said it would depend not only on waste generated in the district for its operation but some other nearby districts, adding that, waste was going to be turned into a hot commodity. He said the net result would be an improvement in environmental sanitation across the various communities. The assemblies would no longer have sleepless nights over how to dispose of the huge volumes of waste they have been struggling with. Mr. Agyekum said four transfer sites would be established to save heavy duty trucks of the assemblies from driving long distances to dump their waste. He applauded Barima Tweneboa Kodua for releasing a 10-acre land for the project. GNA By Florence Afriyie Mensah, GNA The Tema Metropolitan Assembly would institute a media awards scheme to reward and celebrate the selfless services rendered by media practitioners in Tema. Mr. Felix Mensah Nii Annan-La, Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, observed that the media in Tema play a crucial role in the Tema Restoration Agenda and therefore the need to institute the awards to recognize their contributions. He made this known when he interacted with members of the Tema Metropolitan press corps at his residence, Community Six, Tema, as part of his gesture to thank them for a year-long coverage of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA). Mr. Annan-La challenged the press men to seekanswers to the perennial light fishing phenomenon that had bedevilled the fishing industry in spite of efforts by successive governments to deal with the menace. Casting his mind back to the activities held in 2017, he said the TMA had laid a solid foundation and that in 2018 most of the promises made would be realised. The Mayor of Tema also announced the complete ban of refuse carting tricycles that Accra-Tema motorway which littered the first class road. He underscored his commitment to the Tema Restoration Agenda with which he hoped to make the city clean, restore all the street lights and rid it of the numerous unauthorized 'containers' that had robbed the city of its beauty. 20.01.2018 LISTEN The Ningo Prampram District Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has asked government to commit more resources to the Commission to enable it fulfil its constitutional mandate. 'The government should consider the NCCE as an important institution because we have the constitutional mandate to educate the people on their civic responsibilities among others. We need the resources and the logistics; we need vehicles, we need motor bikes to enhance our work,' she said. Ms. Gifty Agyeiwaa Badu said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to review the activities of the NCCE for the year 2017. Ms. Badu appealed to the national leadership of the NCCE to seek other sources of funding since the woefully inadequate government funding does not come on time. Lamenting about some of the inadequacies that went with their work, she told of how sometimes some of the materials they needed for their work delayed till after the programmes because the sponsorship packages might not have delayed. She added that, 'Sometimes by the time the educational materials come, we would be almost done with the programme, making the objectives of whole exercise unachievable.' The Ningo Prampram office of the NCCE in collaboration with Kinder Paradise School undertook some pilot project on Child Protection. There was also a collaboration with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to engage some identifiable groups and communities on tax compliance. The Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) Ghana collaborated with Ningo Prampram NCCE and other departments in the District for a sensitization programme to promote social accountability through citizens' participation in local governance in Ghana among others. 'There was also a collaboration with the Department of Social Development on Child and Family Welfare Policy, and NCCE organized a constitution quiz at Prampram, and took part in the Greater Accra Regional e-competition quiz on the constitution of Ghana, among others, 'she said. In all, a total of sixteen thousand five hundred and seventy nine (16,579) persons made up of seven thousand and seventy nine (7,079) male and nine thousand five hundred (9,500) female were reached out to 2017. Madam Latifa Abobo Siddique, the Upper West Regional Director of the Department of Children has advised parents, families and communities to ensure good role modeling for their children for them to grow to achieve their dreams. She said children often learn a lot from adults and if the lifestyle of such adults was not the best, they would grow to pick up such behaviours and their future would be destroyed. Madam Siddique gave the advice during the Upper West Regional edition of the President's End of Year Children's Party held at Chegli in the Wa Municipal Assembly. The children drawn from three communities in the Wa Municipality namely; Chegli, Kperisi and Konjiehi communities showed great excitement through dancing to melodious musical songs after receiving lots of giveaways. The Regional Director of the Department of Children said the President's End of Year Party was an annual event through which the President got the opportunity to express his love towards the children to make them celebrate and feel at home. She said most importantly, it was also an opportunity for them to remind both parents and the children of their roles and responsibilities to complement government's effort to carve a better future for all. The Regional Director of the Department of Children noted however that the three communities were chosen based on some peculiar challenges they faced with regards to teenage pregnancies, child marriage and school dropout. Madam Siddique hinted that close to 70 per cent of girls from the communities were not in school, adding that it was an opportunity for them to educate and encourage the girls to take their education serious and not give in to family/peer pressures. Madam Charity Batuure, the Acting Regional Director of the Department of Gender also encouraged the children to take their studies serious and also called on parents to be responsible in providing their children's basic needs. She encouraged the girls to stick to their education and not to follow fashionable things that their parents would not be in the position to provide. Madam Batuure announced that from now to December 2018, if any of the communities was able to ensure that all their girls stayed in school and no teenage pregnancy or school drop-out was recorded, the particular community was going to be awarded for best practice. She said they would also provide some support to girls from the communities that would be able to progress to the Senior High School. Speaking as a role model, Ms. Hibatu Adam, a Medical Student at the University of Ghana, said children could aspire better when they have good brothers and sisters in their families and communities to look up to. Ms. Hibatu stressed that if all children saw every day was their sisters dropping out of school due to teenage pregnancies and child marriage among others, then they could be no better future for them. Professor Atsu Ayee, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG) has called for a constitutional and legal reform in the public sector to address deficit in the composition, size and different nomenclatures of its organisation. Prof Ayee, who is also a Senior Lecturer, University of Ghana, described the categories of public services listed under Chapter 14 (Article 190 Section 1 a-d) of the 1992 Constitution and the Public Services Commission Act, Act 482, 1994 as vast, complex and amorphous. He said all public sector organisations have different Acts establishing them with their own governing boards, sector ministries and condition of service, which are contradictory and inconsistent with one another. Prof Ayee made the call in Accra at a seminar dubbed; 'Six Decades of the Public Sector in Ghana: Issues and Prospects,' organised by IDEG in Accra. Touching on the size of the public sector, Prof Aryee said it was regarded as bloated resulting in inefficiency and high personal emoluments element of the budget, since the sector was still the primary provider of wage employment in the country. He said the different nomenclatures where some called them service, agency, authority, board, commission, and trust created a perception of superiority, importance and rivalry among the organisations. He therefore called for the harmonization of these nomenclatures to give some uniformity in the way the organisations were governed. According to him, the reform must help to reduce the multiple institutions involved in the monitoring and evaluation of public sector organisations. He said there was the need to address the political settlement problem in the public sector including reforming the election cycle, financing and ensuring compliance by political parties. 'We need to improve the regulation of political parties through strengthening the Electoral Commission and setting up a separate body for complementarities, promote inclusion by amending Article 55(3) to enable political parties in local governance,' he added. He said politicization of the public service may be explained by the active participation of some high profile public servants in partisan politics contrary to the 1992 Constitution and other legal documents. He posited that, complaints from succeeding Presidents, citizens, the private sector and surveys by think tanks tagged service delivery by the public sector as unsatisfactory. Mrs Bridget Katsriku, Chairman of Public Services Commission, said the issue of bloated public sector was misconstrued since there are many human resource gap in other sectors including education. She said the absence of established control system had also contributed to the excessive increase in the size of the public sector and called for a concerted effort to address the problem. She appealed to research institutions to conduct research on the country's nomenclatures and propose the best appropriate names to use. Dr Alex Glover-Quartey, Former Head of Civil Service, urged public servants to be professional and discharge their mandate without fear or favour devoid of political affiliation. 20.01.2018 LISTEN Mr James Lartey, the Head of Communications of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) on Thursday said contaminated powdered baby milk products of Lactalis, a French dairy group, is not on the Ghanaian market. The products, which include;The Picot, Milumel, Celia, and Taranis have caused Salmonella outbreak in France, Spain and Greece with more than 37 babies reportedly affected in those countries. He said More than 12 million boxes of the powdered baby milk had already been recalled in 83 countries following the outbreak. Mr Lartey told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that checks by the FDA have revealed that the products were not on the Ghanaian market. 'When the information came, we checked our database and it was not a product registered in Ghana. He added: 'Checks from the FDA Port office indicates that such products are not on the Ghanaian market, however, due to the porous nature of our borders, the authority is not ruling out the possibility of some people leaking the product into the market.' He said the FDA has, therefore, increased surveillance at the borders especially the Togo and Cote d'Ivoire to ensure that such products do not enter the Ghanaian market. 'We have also embarked on a Post Market Surveillance across the regions and the products are not on the market, but the FDA is still undertaking the surveillance to ensure public safety. If we should find anything, then we shall make it public,' he said. Mr Lartey appealed to the public that despite FDA's surveillance, 'if any person should come across the said products anywhere on the Ghanaian market, they should alert the FDA. Lawsuits have been filed in other jurisdictions by parents who claimed their children became unwell after drinking the formula. Some people have also raided the company's premises including a factory in Craon, North-Western France. The Lactalis group, which is one of the world's largest producers of dairy products, has said it believed the contamination was caused by renovation work at its Craon factory. Salmonella can cause diarrhoea, stomach cramps, vomiting and severe dehydration. It can be life threatening, especially in young children. The illness, caused by intestinal bacteria from farm animals, is dangerous for the very young and elderly because of the risk of dehydration. 20.01.2018 LISTEN Oscar Riches, assembly member for Asokwa, reported to have physically assaulted the Deputy Director of Operations of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) was on Thursday put before court. He profusely denied the offence and was granted a GH15,000.00 bail with four sureties. A Kumasi District Court, presided over by Madam Christiana Eyiah-Donkor, ordered that he made his next appearance on Tuesday, January 23. Police Chief Inspector Joseph Bilson said the incident happened on November 22, last year, at about 1530 hours. The victim had been invited by Nana Kofi Senya, Chairman of the Assembly's Finance and Administration sub-Committee, to explain why he wrote a letter to some sub-metros. He (victim) suggested that the Chairman rather discussed whatever his concerns were with the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) since he instructed him to write the letter. The prosecution said Nana Senya then ordered him out of his office and the Deputy Director protested the shabby way he had been treated. Riches, who was present, without any provocation, insulted and physically assaulted him. A report was made to the police and the accused was arrested. 20.01.2018 LISTEN An Accra Circuit Court on Thursday sentenced one Onwuzurike Christian, Unemployed to ten years imprisonment in hard labour for robbing a woman of her handbag at Salem Estates at Nmai Dzorn. Christian who appeared before the court presided over by Mrs Abena Oppong Adjin-Doku, charged with robbery, pleaded guilty to the charges, and was sentenced accordingly. The owner of the bag, which contained an amount of GHc12.00, medicine, pomade, phone charger, brush, handkerchief and a bunch of keys worth GHC100.00 is yet to be identified. Prosecuting Police Chief Inspector Kwabena Adu, told the court that the complainants are Kennedy Abanyo, an auto-mechanic and Charles Abankwa a mason. He said on January 13, about 0530 hours, the complainants who were walking around Salem Estate area at Nmai Dzorn saw Christian running away with a lady's handbag after having threatened a lady with an object. He said the two gave the convict a chase following the cry for help by the lady. Christian run into one Akua Asiedua's room, and hid himself in her wardrobe. The prosecution said the complainants arrested Christian, and upon a search conducted on him, they found a lighter designed in the form of a pistol in his pocket. He told the court that, Christian was handed over to the police with the handbag containing the above listed items. A search conducted in his room later by the police, also revealed a '42' inches flat television, two laptops, and four mobile phones, which he failed to explain how he acquired them. According to Mr Adu, all attempts made by the police to get the victim to report to the station proved futile. He said Christian however, in his caution statement admitted the offence. The Committee constituted by the government to investigate the encroachment of State lands at the Management Development and Productivity Institute (MDPI) at Baatsonaa, in the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipality of the Greater Accra Region has presented its report. The 80-page report contains recommendations that sought to ensure sanity in the acquisition of government lands. Speaking at a ceremony in Accra on Thursday to receive the report, Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, said out of the 156 acre lands, 366 plots had been encroached upon by squatters, earmarked for the MDPI. The Minister said government would soon issue a White Paper on the Committee's Report in order to determine the way forward. However, he said, government would further engage with the squatters to ensure a peaceful resolution of the matter. Mr Rudolph S. Kuuzegh, the Chairman of the 12-Member Committee, said in May 2017, the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations tasked the Committee to determine the value of the encroached lands and structures on them. He said it was also to meet with the squatters and ascertain their status of claim and make recommendations to the government on the available options in repossession of the lands. Mr Kuuzegh added that, the Committee was supposed to interact with the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Arts or the Ghana Tourism Authority to strike a deal to offset claims of that sector, the MDPI Offices and its present location. Currently the MDPI is located at Osu, near the Birth and Death Registry, which falls within the area earmarked for the Marine Drive project and therefore must relocate to Baatsonaa to pave way for the commencement of the project. He said after almost six months of intensive investigations and interaction with the relevant stakeholders, the Committee recommended that sufficient notices should be submitted to the occupants of the lands for a period of 21 days. Mr Kuuzegh noted that, the Committee consulted relevant existing literatures and the Public Lands Protection Act of 1974, which emboldened the government to confiscate the encroached lands, remove all goods and property of occupants. He mentioned other stakeholders consulted in the course of the Committee's investigations as the Nungua Stool, the Lands Commission, the Ministry of Finance, as well as some residents, who had encroached on the government lands. The government had the right to demolish any structure or obstacles on public lands and terminate any nuisance or interferences of trespassers, he said. Mr Kuuzegh said the members of the Committee were drawn from relevant stakeholders, including the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, MDPI, Office of the Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General and Lands Commission. The rest include representatives from the Nungua Stool, Tema Metropolitan Assembly, Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Assembly and residents, who had encroached on the lands. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Thursday received the letters credentials of the new Japanese and Nigerien envoys to Ghana. The two ambassadors are Mr Tsutomu Himeno from Japan and Mr Alhousseini Ousmane of Niger. At separate ceremonies at the Flagstaff House in Accra, President Akufo-Addo stressed Ghana's dedication to strengthening relations that exist between the two countries and Ghana. He emphasised the need for mutually beneficial and strategic partnerships between those countries and Ghana, stating that, Ghana would continue to play her defined roles within the comity of nations. The President urged the envoys to make their stay in Ghana worthwhile, and to taste the legendary hospitality that the country is noted for. He was hopeful that their tenure in Ghana would further boost relations with their respective countries. Mr Himeno on his part commended Ghana's democratic and governance credentials, and was confident that relations between Ghana and Japan would be stronger. "I wish to assure you that Japan will continue to be a reliable friend for you and for the people of Ghana," he told the President. The Japanese envoy said his country would strengthen its cooperation in the diplomatic and international peace and security areas, based on the shared democratic values and the respect for the rule of law. He said Japan looked forward to cooperate further in the areas of agriculture, infrastructure and health, which it had considerable expertise. Mr Himeno was optimistic that more Japanese companies would be investing in Ghana soon, and called for the speedy conclusion of the bilateral investment treaty negotiations between the two countries. The Nigerian Envoy, Mr Ousmane expressed the hope that his presence in the country would take the relations between the two countries to new heights. The Police in Sekondi-Takoradi have arrested Samuel Ofori Atta of Assakae for allegedly breaking into the house of one Godfrey Kwame Frimpong and stealing his valuables. ASP Olivia Ewurabena Adiku, Western Regional Police Public Relations Officer who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency in Takoradi, said on January 16, at about 0900 hours, Frimpong who stays at European Town a suburb of Takoradi reported to the police that his house had been burgled by thieves. ASP Adiku said Frimpong told the police that when he returned from work on the said date at about 1800 hours he detected that thieves had broken into his living room and made away with his 50inches NASCO Smart TV, Sony Vaio Laptop, four Samsung speakers, six half pieces of wax print, two decoders, wrist watches, X-Box 360 Game and some other personal effects. According to the PRO, Frimpong further told the police that he highly suspect Ofori Atta of Assakae and therefore led the police to the abode of the suspect where all the stolen items were found and retrieved from Ofori Atta's room. She said Ofori Atta is currently in police custody assisting the police in their investigations. 20.01.2018 LISTEN The Police has not yet made any arrest regarding the attack of Mr. Kwame Baffoe, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Youth Organiser of the New patriotic Party (NPP) on Saturday at Atebubu in the Atebubu-Amantin District of Brong-Ahafo. The Atebubu-Amantin District Police Command is however doing its best to conduct investigation into the matter to arrest the culprits as it is a criminal case and the Police have the right to investigate any criminal affair. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Kwame Tachie-Poku, the Regional Police Commander who told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview about the incidence in Sunyani said Mr Baffoe, popularly known as 'Abronye DC', was attacked by some alleged NPP members at the official residence of the Atebubu-Amantin District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr. Edward Owusu. He said Mr Baffoe had met Constituency Party Executives to ask for their support in the upcoming regional level election of the Party. According to reports, he was attacked with metal bars, resulting to a fracture on his left arm and was thus rushed to the St. Luke's Clinic at Kasei on the Atebubu-Ejura road but was referred to the St. John of God Catholic Hospital at Duayaw-Nkwanta in the Tano North District for further treatment. DCOP Tachie-Poku said the Police has not yet taken the statement of Mr Baffoe because he denied him and two other Police officers audience when they went to the Hospital on Sunday to take his statement to assist Police investigations into the matter. In the Police's effort to take his statement, a Detective Sergeant from the regional Criminal Investigations Department also went to the Hospital on Monday morning but was informed that Baffoe had been discharged, he added. Dr. Jemima Yakah, Lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Extension Department, University of Ghana, has called on African leaders to adopt proactive strategies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. She said the SDGs 6 ensures access to water and sanitation for all, and that, it was imperative for African authorities to provide quality and accessible water to all in rural communities. Dr Yakah made the call in Accra at the launch of the Water for Rural Africa (WRA), a Non-Governmental Organisation geared towards championing the United Nations SDGs. She noted that, as part of efforts to achieve the SDGs, it was impossible to yield affirmative outcomes when there was no water. Dr Yakah said Rural Africa needed 40 per cent more of what we desired now. Africans had to adapt approaches to adjust the natural and human systems in response to actual or expected climate change. She said African leaders must assist rural communities in strengthening institutional processes and help them restore their lands and water bodies to enable them to have clean and accessible water. Mr John Peter Amewu, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources commended management of the organisation for the initiative, adding that, their efforts would increase the current wheel in providing clean water to rural Africa. Mr Amewu said research had indicated that the extent of destruction of the forest and approach to climate change issues could lead to the country importing water in 2030, thus the need to support the WRA in providing clean water. Mr Donald Senanu Agumenu, President of the WRA expressed worry about dangers posed by the activities of illegal mining, which had destroyed natural resources and at worst depleted water bodies. He commended government for implementing policies that had mitigated activities of illegal mining on the water, and that, their outfit would deploy a multi-faceted approach to tackle issues relating to water. He said over six million people are living without clean water, and over 23 million people without toilet and urged all African leaders to be positive towards addressing the menace since development was human centered. Mr Agumenu asked the authorities to manage oil spillage on water bodies, since it affects humans and aquatic life. He called on corporate bodies to cooperate with government and the African continent at large, to adopt necessary strategies needed to champion this global issue. 'Let us make the necessary investment as a continent to be able to provide clean water in Rural Africa and beyond', he said. At least seven Niger soldiers were killed and more than a dozen others wounded this week in an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants in the country's southeast, the government said on Friday. "The provisional toll for the cowardly terror attack on Wednesday night in Toummour is seven dead, seventeen wounded and one soldier missing," said a cabinet statement. Toummour is located in the Diffa administrative region, which lies on the border with Nigeria and Chad. It has suffered a string of deadly Boko Haram attacks since February 2015, although the area has been relatively calm in recent months. Last week, the United Nations said there had been a sharp fall in the number of Niger civilians kidnapped, killed or wounded by Boko Haram last year, citing an overall toll of 141 compared with 227 a year earlier. It did not detail the number of military casualties. Boko Haram launched an insurgency in northeast Nigeria in 2009 that in 2015 spilt into Niger. It also affects the country's other neighbours, Chad and Cameroon. Overall, more than 20,000 people have been killed and more than 2.6 million displaced in the conflict. 20.01.2018 LISTEN Trumps comment though causes harm, Should be a trumpeting alarm To wake sleeping Africa From our overdependence on America. Though his comment is sadistic, It is time for black Africa to be realistic and pragmatic. We have given Trump the trump card To treat us bad, The wake up call is now, Our seriousness must be a verb and never a noun. Trumps comical rift raft racism Should wake in us the spirit of Africanism. After decades of colonial independence, Must we continue to kneel under the cross white assistance? We as Africans must not just condemn Trump and go to sleep Else our posterity will one day sit to weep. Lets ignore Trumps racist song And as Africans, work to prove him wrong. Its sad that with our plethora of resources, We still beg the white bosses Our shameful inferiority in the global world Is as a result of our failure to eat our own bread. We have given Trump the words to define us For placing ourselves last on the development chart, The Renaissance of African development must be in our heart. If our leaders can collectively create hope We can overcome our exodus to Europe. We can take Trumps words as an insult or a worry But that should inspire us towards rewriting our black African story. We can treat his words as message or a mess Each will depend on black Africas choice Black Africa, lets rise Else we shall continue paying this Trump price. Poet-Shaddy Co-Chair of the Extractive Industries and Transparency Initiative, Dr. Steve Manteaw, has accused the government circumventing the law by signing an oil exploration deal with Exxon Mobil. Dr. Manteaw had raised concerns earlier over government's failure to resort to an open bidding process to select Exxon Mobil despite the Energy Minister, Boakye Agarko, explaining that negotiations began before the law was passed. But Dr. Manteaw insisted to Citi News that was no excuse to violate the laws of the country. Negotiators may have started long before the law was passed, but to the extent that it was not concluded once the law was passed, they must be subjected to the law. Even though the law provides for a situation of this nature, we are yet to be convinced about what is really special about their circumstance that really warranted the direct negotiations, he contended. Beyond this, he said common sense should have compelled the government to opt for a competitive bidding process in the interest of best practice and efficiency. Even if the law did not require open competitive bidding, common sense suggests to us that open competitive bidding and international best practices suggest that open competitive bidding was the way to ensure optimal returns in the negations of contracts. Group being selective But on Eyewitness News, the Deputy Minister of Energy, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, said the Civil Society group was being selective in its contentions. According to him, the group was only focusing on section 10 (3) of the 2016 Petroleum Act 919, which requires the government to enter into exploration agreements through a competitive public tender as the default process. Deputy Minister of Energy, Mohammed Amin Adam Dr. Amin Adam made reference to Section 10 (9) of the same law, which he said permitted direct negotiations without public tender. Section 10 (9) says: Despite the subsection (3) the Minister may, in consultation with the Commission, determine that a petroleum agreement may be entered into by direct negotiations without public tender, where direct negotiations represent the most efficient manner to achieve optimal exploration, development and production of petroleum resources in a defined area. So the Minister [Boakye Agyarko] hasn't done anything wrong. The Minister has complied with the law, section 10 (9) which requires the Minister to constitute another process, where that process gives us the efficient means by which the resource can be exploited, Dr. Amin Adam stated. The agreement, which is subject to parliamentary ratification will allow the oil giant to acquire exploration and production rights for the Deepwater Cape Three Points block that is Tano Basin. Ghanaian ownership is estimated at thirty percent. This comprises 10 percent royalty to the government of Ghana while the GNPC owns 15 percent stake as Carried and Participation Interest. Also, the local partner for ExxonMobil is entitled to five percent of the company's stake. ITLOS ruling ExxonMobil's investment in the oil sector becomes the first major one in Ghana following the landmark ruling by ITLOS in the maritime border dispute between Ghana and Ivory Coast, in September last year. The apparent victory by Ghana gives the country an appreciable reputation among the global oil giants. At the signing ceremony, the Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko, explain to Citi Business News that the move is set to trigger further investments in the short to medium-term. Energy Minister,Boakye Agyarko with Vice President of ExxonMobil Africa, Pamela Darwin. Exxon Mobil is coming in with the highest standard of safety, financial accounting and all that we need to get done as a countrywe have received a lot of expression of interests from other major players; the BP, Shell, Chevron, among others. All of them are now coming to operate in Ghana, he stated. The CEO of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation [GNPC], Dr. K.K. Sarpong, stressed the enforcement of local content policies. In his view, the plan will give Ghanaians access to opportunities in Exxon Mobil's operations where necessary. In terms of local content policies, the laws have been strengthened the Petroleum Commission is at the forefront of enforcing the laws and we at GNPC have the sustainability and localization department which tries to make sure that we bring our partner's attention to the mode of operation so that we take advantage to get benefits from our local people both corporate and individuals. ExxonMobil joins other operators in Ghana's petroleum upstream sector including, Tullow, Kosmos, ENI, among others. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East San Francisco, CA (January 19, 2018) -- Off Grid Electric a leading rooftop solar provider in Africa, where its known by its consumer brand Zola today announced major growth initiatives for the company, including expansion and funding. Off Grid Electric and EDF , a global leader in low-carbon energies, will expand their partnership in West Africa by offering off-grid solar solutions to households in Ghana. To support continued expansion and new product development, Off Grid Electric has secured the largest venture equity investment into Africa $55 million in Series D funding led by Helios, acting on behalf of funds it advises, with support from GE Ventures and existing investors. More than 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa live without electricity, and those who do have electricity are often plagued by an unreliable grid. Meanwhile, solar power is Africas most abundant but least utilized source of energy generation. Off Grid Electric, through its consumer brand Zola, combines Silicon Valley technology with local expertise to offer African homes and businesses rooftop solar as a solution to an unreliable or nonexistent grid. Off Grid Electric currently provides power to more than 150,000 homes and businesses across Tanzania, Rwanda, Cote dIvoire, and Ghana. 2017 was a memorable year for Off Grid Electric. We achieved operating profitability in our largest market, launched a transformative new phase of product and technology development, and established clear market leadership in four African markets, said Xavier Helgesen, co-founder and CEO, Off Grid Electric. Series D Investment Round Off Grid Electrics $55 million Series D funding was led by Helios Investment Partners, with support from GE Ventures, the venture capital subsidiary of General Electric. Helios is one of the few independent pan-African private investment firms founded and led by Africans, and has built a reputation as a partner of choice on the continent with successful investments across sectors and geographies. We are excited to work closely with Helios and GE Ventures to accelerate our next stage of growth. They join a roster of strategic and capital partners that is already the strongest in the industry, including Tesla, Total, EDF, DBL Partners, Zouk Capital, Vulcan Capital, and Omidyar Network, added Bill Lenihan, President, Off Grid Electric. As the largest private equity firm exclusively focused on Africa, energy access is a priority theme for Helios. Our strategy is to build market-leading platform businesses in core sectors of the continents larger economies. We believe the innovative platform OGE is developing will play an important role in Africas electricity future, and have a positive impact on the lives of Africans saidTope Lawani, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Helios Partners. Approximately one-third of the worlds electricity is generated by GE equipment, but millions of people still lack access to reliable power. We are excited to partner with Off Grid Electric to expand access to clean affordable energy in sub-Saharan Africa and scale its impact, said Daniel Hullah, Managing Director of Energy Investments at GE Ventures. Expansion to Ghana Off Grid Electric and EDF first partnered for a joint venture in Cote dIvoire in November 2016. This was the first large-scale operational partnership between a global energy company and a leading off-grid solar company. Together, Off Grid Electric and EDF aim to expand their market leadership in Cote dIvoire and create thousands of new jobs ranging from call-center employees to sales managers to technicians. Building on their success in Cote dIvoire, where the company already has over 10,000 customers, Off Grid Electric and EDF are expanding their partnership to Ghana. Both companies will operate and share financial risks. The Ghanaian company CH Group will join Off Grid Electric and EDF, and hold a 20% share in the partnership. For us, the sale of 10,000 off-grid kits in Cote dIvoire within the space of just a few months is living proof of the appeal and efficiency offered by off-grid solutions. We are delighted to be entering the Ghana market with Off Grid Electric and are already putting together innovative new off-grid solutions to support the energy transition in Africa. Off-grid power is thus becoming a strong contributor to the expansion of our business and fits perfectly into our CAP2030 strategy, which aims to triple the EDF Groups international business outside of Europe by year 2030, said Marianne Laigneau, Group Senior Executive Vice-President at EDF in charge of the International Division About Off Grid Electric Off Grid Electric, through its consumer brand Zola, combines Silicon Valley technology with local expertise to offer African homes and businesses rooftop solar as a solution to an unreliable or nonexistent grid. Adaptable to both energy needs and income, Off Grid Electrics solution can be bought over time through a leasing structure. The first few watts starts a chain reaction that enables people to achieve commonly held aspirations: security, education, access to information, and a longer and more efficient day. Today, Off Grid Electric powers more than 150,000 homes and businesses across Tanzania, Rwanda, Cote dIvoire, and Ghana. Off Grid Electrics investors include: Tesla, Vulcan Capital, DBL Partners, Helios Investment Partners, EDF, Total, and GE Ventures. Off Grid Electric is the recipient of the 2016 UN Momentum for Change Award, Zayed Future Energy Prize, and the 2015 Global Cleantech 100. For more information, visit offgrid-electric.com . 20.01.2018 LISTEN Mr Abubakari Alheri by pseudo known as white father has confirmed his ambitions to contest the Nasara coordinator for Manhyia South under the umbrella of the New Patriotic Party. He spoke to journalists in a brief interactions in Kumasi on Friday. He said the Nasara Youth wing of the party needs a new dimension and new leadership to rescue them from the current quagmire. " My decision to contes the Nasara coordinator is mainly due to the sorry state that the youth finds itself" he added. Mr Alheri explained that the youth need a new mindset where they will be expose to open opportunities. He indicated that, it was under these circumstances that electorates must give him the nod to stir the affairs of Nasara coordinator portfolio in search for better opportunities for the grassroots. " I have no doubt of my victory, come the election day" he alluded. Mr Abubakar 32 ,served in various capacities in the Party including youth wing coordinator for Afia Kobi in the Manhyia South, Spokes person to NPP Zongo Pioneers, Communication team member Tescon- Knust, Chairman for NPP Zongo missionaries amongst others. Outgoing Liberian Vice President Joseph Boakai and his wife, Katumu Yatta, paid a courtesy call on former President Jerry John Rawlings at his office in Accra on Thursday. Mr. Boakai, who contested the last presidential election and lost to incoming President George Weah, held fruitful discussions with the former president on the transition in Liberia, a statement signed by Kobina Andoh Amoakwa, Communications Directorate, Office of the former President, has stated. Former President Rawlings commended Mr. Boakai for helping to ensure a successful presidential election and described the outgoing vice president as having a reputation as a man of integrity. Vice President Boakai, who is a professional business administrator and once served as Minister of Agriculture, expressed his willingness to assist in whichever way he could to ensure a successful transition. Mr. Boakai returns home on Friday ahead of the inauguration of President-elect George Weah and Vice President-elect Jewel Taylor at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Stadium on Monday, January 22. The Asuogyaman District Assembly has identified five priority areas, it says it is going to invest its share of the one million dollars per every constituency. Mr. Samuel Kwame Agyekum, the District Chief Executive (DCE), said the money would be spent on education, health, roads, water and electricity. He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that communities struggling with potable water would have the problem addressed. There would be improvement of feeder roads, the extension of electricity, the construction of a district hospital and rehabilitation of school structures. Mr. Agyekum also spoke of efforts to put into good shape three major roads in the area - Asikuma Junction - Boso, Apegusu Junction - Anyensu, Akosombo Marine - Jekiti/Anyaase. He indicated that these roads were critical to the economic fortunes of the district and that everything would be done to ensure that they were upgraded. He hinted of plans to construct 40 kilometres stretch of feeder roads from the assembly's own budget. This, he said, would allow for smooth evacuation of farm produce from the farm gates to the marketing centres. 20.01.2018 LISTEN There is absolutely nothing controversial about Speaker Michael Aaron Oquayes decision to back President Donald JohnShithole Trumps diplomatically provocativeofficial endorsementof the long-proposed policy decisionby the Israeli Government to have the capital of the Jewish State officially moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem (See Minority Fires Speaker Oquaye Over Controversial Israel Comment MyJoyOnline.com / Modernghana.com 12/11/17). Absolutely nothing controversial because Israel is in effective control of that globally renowned international pilgrimage city of choice and has been in control of Jerusalem for decades now. So at best, the Speakers endorsement of the American Presidents gallery-playing stance was nothing short of moral fluff. It is definitely far, far less than a nuisance, for it adds practically nothing to the reality of issues and activities pertaining to the Jerusalem Question on the ground. Indeed, other than Israel and the United States, most of the 120-plus countries that roundly rejected the stance of Mr. Trump have absolutely no coercive powers to back up their pro-Palestinian stance, if Israel decided to make the move tomorrow. In the past, I have personally taken a position in favor of one side of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict or another, when I strongly felt that logic and moral responsibility dictated that I take the stance that I had chosen. Once, the leader of a pro-Israel group resident in New York City left a message in the department at the college where I presently teach to tell me to mind my own frigging African Shithole business and leave the Israelis and the Palestinians to sort matters out for themselves. It did not bother me one way or another because the Arabs are not particularly known to harbor any remarkable modicum of love and/or affection for Negroid or stereotypical Africans like my kind anyway. Then also, I had a real shock of my life when in March 1999, I was caustically lambasted in the Op-Ed pages of the New York Times for presenting a paper at a scholars conference on the Holocaust titled When Human Dignity Is Besieged: An Afrocentric Critique of the Diary of Anne Frank. A rabbi by the name of Schoenfeld, I believe, who had not even attended the conference or read my paper, wrote a nasty Op-Ed piece in Americas putative newspaper of record questioning my motive. Well, my motive was rather pedestrian. I had taken a keen interest in the pedagogical value of Anne Franks Diary about the same time that I was invited by a senior colleague, Prof. Sharon Leder, a cohost of the conference, to do a presentation on the Diary of Anne Frank. My intention, of course, was to do a critical interpretation of the Jewish experience in Nazi Germany and Western Europe at large in the context of the global African experience of massive enslavement, torture, persecution and dehumanization over the course of the last half-millennium. Evidently, as two weeks of heated exchanges on the Op-Ed pages of the New York Times indicated, Rabbi Schoenfeld and his ilk had taken umbrage because they thought an Afrocentric critique of the Diary of Anne Frank necessarily devalued the supposedly unique and nonesuch experience of the Holocaust. Anyway, for my pain and suffering, the Nassau Review to which I also presented my paper for publication, and which is housed at my institution and in my department, would adjudge my essay to be the best submission in that category for its 1999 or 2000 edition. The award came with a modest cash prize of $200. In the New York Times two-week long rhetorical slugfest, none of the critics and my defenders and they were fairly evenly split mentioned me by name. Instead, they subjected the title of my essay to searing scrutiny. Those in favor of the title of my paper invoked the inalienable right of the author to free speech and his unfettered right to academic and intellectual freedom. Those on the converse side were, for the most part, deeply convinced that I was a shameless opportunist appropriating, or rather misappropriating, the Diary of Anne Frank for purposes of cheap professional and/or academic promotion. That effectively ended my membership in the Jewish Studies Committee at my school, although I continue to periodically receive the newsletter published by the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, to this day. *Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs Nigerian telecom giant Globacom has been ordered to leave Benin because it has refused to pay a new licensing fee. The Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Posts (ARCEP), which issued the order, noted that its decision was based on the Glo's refusal to agree to pay the new licensing fee, while others are paying. The regulator said it had therefore directed Glo to stop the sale of new SIM cards and recharge cards. Glo is required to notify its subscribers of the impending cessation of its activities and ask them to use up their available airtime and data within thirty days of the notification sent to them, according to the regulator. Glo Mobile will also have to maintain its passive co-location infrastructure with other operators for a period of three months, ARCEP stated. In September 2017, negotiations between Glo and the new administration failed. Glo has been operating in Benin since August 2007, and has grown its market share to about 12% over the eleven years period. If Glo finally leaves Benin, it would have been the second to leave after Bell Benin Communications SA exited some time back. That country would then be left with MTN, Libercom, Spacetel and Moov serving subscribers in that country. Meanwhile, in Ghana Glo's subscriber base has been declining consistently for years now. At the last count it had about 780,000 subs representing about 2.1 per cent market share. The company has changed its Ghana Head of Business for at least eight times over the last four years and it recently decommissioned towers and closed customer shops in parts of the country. 20.01.2018 LISTEN Following a bail that was granted to the Lebanese national alleged to have raped his house help at his airport residence, the DNA files which played a major role in his bailout have been revealed. The medical examination of the alleged victim could not establish any evidence of assault, bruises or rape. It would be recalled that the judge Kofi Dorgu granted Rabih Haddad bail in the sum of GHC500,000 with two sureties last week Monday. According to the judge, the prosecution failed to convince the court on why the suspect could not be admitted to bail. He, however, ordered the suspect to submit his passport to the court registry. Mr. Haddad has been on admission at the Ridge Hospital in Accra for some time now. According to reports, a forensic DNA test was undertaken to be sure the sperm found on the girl indeed belonged to the Lebanese. The alleged rape was said to have occurred between 4-5pm but MTN records or itemized bill placed the accused at Osu within that same period which further established a very strong alibi on behalf of the accused. See DNA files here: 20.01.2018 LISTEN On December 23, 2017, I published in this same column of mine on the Modern Ghana internet site an open letter titled Homosexuality: A Product of Marriage to a Non-Virgin Spouse??Letter to a Reader (of internet link https://www.modernghana.com/news/824623/homosexuality-a-product-of-marriage-to-a-non-virgin-spouse.html) that was meant for one Ron Hipfner of the USA who posted comments for me after he had read an earlier article of mine published on December 6, 2017. This December 6, 2017 article of mine was titled Homosexuality: A Product of Marriage to a Non-Virgin Spouse and can be accessed through the following internet link: https://www.modernghana.com/news/821058/homosexuality-a-product-of-marriage-to-a-non-virgin-spouse.html Sad to say that a reader by name Isaac Kyei Andoh of Ghana, after he had read my said open letter to Ron Hipfner, chose to post a few comments for me, but sadly in a hoodlum style, which Id like to respond to in an article as captioned above, in order that many more readers may be blessed by my thoughts. For readers of this article to follow my thoughts I deem it necessary to quote the comments of Isaac Kyei Andoh, which are even unrelated directly to the issue of homosexuality discussed in my articles, right here as follows, with his first paragraph being wholly my own words from my referenced article: QUOTE Many of such descendants of Ham, today, are thus bereft of the spiritual wisdom of Yahuwah Elohiym since such wisdom cannot be made available to them by Yahuwah Elohiym who upheld and still upholds the curse which Noakh pronounced against Ham and his offspring!! Pure hogwash. This is the most useless, scripturally untruthful nonsense I've read all year. You don't have a single insight of God's word in the light of the Gospel. Saying God is holding on to a curse even after Christ's death is at best crazy. Whaaaaat. You are only pushing deception down the throat of people. --- UNQUOTE And now, here is my response to Isaac Kyei Andoh in the form of an open letter to him. Dear Isaac Kyei Andoh, thank you for reading my article. I am however sad to note that you have had difficulty understanding my thoughts expressed in the article, particularly in the portion you quote back at me in the first paragraph of your comments that are quoted here above! As a result, your comments display quite a bit of ignorance on your part! And for you to do all this in a typical hoodlum style in my holy column makes me very sad for you! I am sad because you show a gross lack of knowledge of the ways of Yahuwah Elohiym in three main fronts by your comments! Firstly, you do not seem to know who the offspring of Ham are in our world today! If you did, you would never have condemned my article in the senseless way that you did; describing it as pure hogwash and the like! I therefore urge you to go learn from the scriptures who the offspring of Ham are, and thereafter come back to your own comments to correct yourself and learn to express yourself more sensibly and decently in any future comments to my articles. Secondly, you seem unaware that once Elohiym pronounces a curse on anyone, and goes further to include the offspring of that person in that curse, He means that they (the one and his offspring after him) are all cursed throughout all generations and must bear the sign of their curse in them forever! So then, do search to know who the offspring of Ham in our world today are so you may also see the sign of this curse on them, as in a physical manifestation of chronic leprosy [white patch of skin]!! For you to know this, my dear Isaac Kyei Andoh, I must say calls for wisdom from Elohiym! Thirdly, by your making of comments about God, Christ, Gospel, and no doubt with some JESUS in your mind, it means you are ignorant about what big harm these names and words of Goy (Gentile??) origin have done to the salvation message that was scheduled to first come out of and for Yisroel in Ivrit (Hebrew??)! Ask yourself just this one question: If the message of Elohiym, which was originally delivered to mankind in Ivrit through the children of Yisroel, had never been translated into say, English, would all these English names and titles of people ever have been known for you and your ilk to suppose you could access the salvation of Elohiym from and by them (these English names and titles)?? And in this, please, be advised by Acts 4:10-12 to know whether any name meant for the salvation of Yisroel must be of Ivrit or can be of any of the Goyim (Gentiles) languages?? I also urge you to Google The Restored Name King James Version Bible (RNKJVB) of 1999, which is the latest version of the King James Version Bible (KJV), in order to learn that the words God, Jesus, Christ, etc., no longer have any relevance to the salvation message of Yahuwah Elohiym, just as they never had from the very beginning! In all of this, are you able to show me any message of Yahuwah which states that the offspring of Ham was ever to be saved by your Christ and thus cleared of their curse of Bereshiyt (Genesis??) 9:25?? And if the name JESUS CHRIST is now known not to be legal tender in Heaven, as it was never considered in Heaven to be, is your so-called salvation of any offspring of Ham and all others who believe in this name (JESUS CHRIST) not nullified, courtesy of the RNKJVB?? In any case, when was the scripture, Salvation is of Ivriim (Jews??) ever changed to allow the cursed offspring of Ham into the salvation of Elohiym through the name JESUS CHRIST, now proven to belong to a phantom?? Dear Isaac Kyei Andoh: Please let us continue the conversation if you have any further concerns by what thoughts of mine I express here or if you so wish in relation to any of my articles. Shalawam. You may want to contact the author with your constructive comments via this email address: [email protected]. 20.01.2018 LISTEN It is a New Year and fans of the Nollywood industry are seriously praying to God to avert any form of negative news that might will be coming out from that sector as year 2017 was very ugly for some. After several reports about popular Yoruba actress, Kudirat Odukanmi Eluyemi better known as Iyabo Oko, about her ailment, the actress has finally returned to the country after traveling to India to get good medical care. According to Yorubamoviegist, Iyabo Oko left India to recuperate in London for a while before she returned to Nigeria at the end of December 2017 after spending almost 2years out of the country. The actress was reported to have suffered partial stroke which saw her stay away from movie location for a while but as it is now, the actress is doing fine and currently united with her family for the main time before returning on set. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Tim Fischer/Midland Reporter-Telegram Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Tim Fischer/Midland Reporter-Telegram Show More Show Less 3 of 3 A local demonstration is scheduled for Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the 2017 Womens March. The Midland event is in solidarity with other marches planned across the country to protest President Donald Trumps election, according to a press release. The Womens March Anniversary Demonstration will be 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the corner of Wadley Avenue and Big Spring Street. Kerry Manzo, organizer for the group Suit Up! Permian Basin, is coordinating the event and said the location was chosen because of its proximity to the office of U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway. Economic hardship not the outcome of ... Lake Tulloch during Jan 2018 Drawdown View Photos Copperopolis, CA If it looks like Lake Tulloch is as low as it has ever been, it is because it might well be. Tulloch at one point brimmed at nearly 510 feet above sea level during last years recreational season, which runs from Memorial Day weekend through the Labor Day holiday. This month the drawdown level will bottom the reservoir out, so to speak, at 475 feet. Tri-Dam Project License Compliance Coordinator Susan Larson, admits, in the nearly 30 years she has been around the reservoir she has not seen it reach this level even during an extended drawdown year, such as this one. Scheduled every five years, these major drawdowns allow Tri-Dam to conduct compliance chores such as dam safety inspections, testing and maintenance. This month, as Tulloch reaches its maximum down state, it will remain so for up to four weeks before the fill schedule begins, although plans are, of course, subject to change in the event of storm events and heavy precipitation. In Orovilles Wake, More Dam Testing California Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD) personnel will be onsite later this month to perform inspections at the dam along with Tri-Dam staff, Larson reports. She confides, Another thing that came as part of the Oroville [Dam break] incident is that dam operators across the state were required to perform extensive testing by independent consulting firms and engineers of the spillways at each of our dams. Tri-Dam completed this additionally required scope in late December, she notes, and filed it with state and federal regulators ahead of the deadline. For residents and interested members of the public, Tullochs daily level, fall drawdown and fill schedules are posted on the Tri-Dam website. Too, ahead of years like this, Tulloch area residents receive a direct email so they have time to prepare as well as plan in the event they would like to do some permitted work on their properties while the waters are low. Larson recounts that last seasons advisory came out in late August along with word that space was available near the bridge, if needed, for landowners to store their docks. Even at this lowest point where the lake bottom is visible in spots along the shoreline Larson points out that the lake is still accessible, although presently somewhat more challenging from highly perched properties. People are still fishing and taking out pontoon boats, she says with a grin. As for what the public should know about the current conditions, she advises, Even though Tulloch is low at present you can still see fluctuations in storm events so we ask everyone in and near the reservoir to always be careful always watch the reservoir levels especially around storm events because you get side flows and other flows coming in. Tulloch Day Use Area Moving Forward Larson shares with Clarke Broadcasting that Tri-Dams plans to develop what it is calling its Tulloch Day Use Area on a north-side lake parcel it purchased near the Lake Tulloch bridge continue to move forward, albeit, slowly due to FERCs enormous workload of filings. As soon as we receive additional guidance and approval from FERC, Tri-Dam will proceed to fulfill out license requirements providing a day-use access point for the public, she happily states. Back in late December, Tri-Dam filed a supplemental application to its final proposed public day-use site plan upon the agencys request. The updated version now includes a wetlands enhancement area along the shoreline. As soon as we get FERC approval we will proceed to the development phase of the site, Larson explains with a note of excitement. Although FERC officials are precluded from giving a timeline on their review process and Tri-Dam will still need to apply for and obtain all the necessary permits, she allows that, in the schedule proposed to FERC, Tri-Dam specified that it hopes to get to work on the day-use area this year and have it complete by 2019. To view Tri-Dams updated plans and current lake images, click into the image box slideshow. To follow the latest lake level readings and other Tulloch news, click here Sonora, CA Citing the economic blow to the park the last time a shutdown took place during the Obama administration, Mother Lode Congressman Tom McClintock swears not to let that happen again. With a shutdown looming, McClintock blasted Obama for deliberately ordering the closing of the park in 2013. The District Four congressman vows these tactics will not be used again as he has been reassured by Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke the entrance gates to the Yosemite will not come down if a shutdown is not averted by midnight tonight. McClintock indicates that contingency plans for businesses in the park are currently being worked out by National Park Service officials. Below is McClintocks entire statement: The House yesterday passed a bill to continue to fund the government through February 16th to accommodate ongoing discussions over budget caps, immigration policy and other issues. If Senate Democrats use the Senate cloture rule to prevent the bill from being taken up, the government will shut down at midnight on January 19th. The vendors, visitors and gateway communities to our national parks suffered enormously during the government shutdown in 2013 because of deliberate actions by the Obama administration. The administration ordered businesses in the parks to cease operations, cancelled long-standing tourist reservations, barricaded park entrances and even blocked turn-out lanes overlooking the Yosemite Valley. The shutdown required none of these measures. I have received assurances from the Secretary of the Interior that these tactics will not be repeated by the Trump administration. Entrances to the parks will remain open and businesses within the parks may continue to operate under contingency plans now being finalized with the Park Service. The medical clinic at Yosemite Valley will remain open and public safety personnel will remain on duty. Reservations will continue to be honored at concession venues and the parks will be administered with the objective of causing the least inconvenience and discomfort to park visitors. Sonora, CA Tuolumne County Sheriff Jim Mele will talk in detail about the recent state legalization of recreational marijuana, and new questions and uncertainties following the release of a memo by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions. It will all be covered by Sheriff Mele on this weekends Mother Lode Views. Marijuana is now legal to possess in California for those over 21 years of age, and Tuolumne County is weighing potential rules and regulations related to issues like cultivation and sales. The Sheriff will share his thoughts on the matter, and explain some of the new challenges legalization has created for law enforcement. San Antonio police report the driver of a 18-wheeler was killed after colliding with another 18-wheeler rig on the far South Side Sunday. Martin Huerta, 42, died at University Hospital Saturday morning after having to be cut out of his 18-wheeler following a wreck about 12:33 along the 12300 block of Somerset Road. (Natural News) Many studies have proven time and again that breastfeeding has many long-term and short-term benefits for infants, but did you know that it can also benefit mothers? In a recent study, researchers analyzed data from 289, 573 mothers in China who breastfed their babies. Based on the results, at least 10 percent of the women had a lower chance of developing heart disease or stroke. The scientists examined data from women who took part in the China Kadoorie Biobank study, which contained detailed information about their reproductive history and lifestyle. The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Before taking part in the study, none of the female participants were diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. The scientists discovered after the eight years follow-up that there were 16,671 cases of coronary heart disease. This figure included heart attacks and 23,983 strokes. The data presented here is from an observational study, which includes self-reported information that may not always prove cause and effect. Future studies may help confirm these findings, but the scientists hope that it will be enough to encourage breastfeeding. (Related: Breastfeeding Protects Hearts of Mothers.) Dr. Sanne Peters, a study co-author and a research fellow at the University of Oxford in England, said, The health benefits to the mother from breastfeeding may be explained by a faster reset of the mothers metabolism after pregnancy. Peters added, Pregnancy changes a womans metabolism dramatically as she stores fat to provide the energy necessary for her babys growth and for breastfeeding once the baby is born. Breastfeeding could eliminate the stored fat faster and more completely. The American Heart Association (AHA) advises mothers to keep breastfeeding for one year. Meanwhile, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggests that they breastfeed for one year and that its up to the mother when to cease doing so. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends women to breastfeed up to two years or beyond. According to the 2016 Breastfeeding Report Card by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least eight out of 10 mothers in the U.S. start breastfeeding their babies at birth. However, only half of them continue breastfeeding after six months while a third of the mothers (31 percent) were still breastfeeding at 12 months. The situation in China is the opposite of study results among Western populations. In the West, the mothers who breastfeed are often wealthier and were more likely to enjoy other beneficial health behaviors. In China, poorer women from rural areas were more likely to breastfeed longer than their wealthier urban counterparts. The studys results determined that mothers who breastfeed had a nine percent lower risk of heart disease and an eight percent lower risk of stroke compared to women who never breastfed. At least 18 percent of the women who breastfeed their babies for two years or more had a lower risk of heart disease, while stroke risk was 17 percent lower when compared to women who never breastfed. With an additional six months of breastfeeding per baby, there was a four percent lower risk of heart disease and a three percent lower risk of stroke. The researchers comment that the participants stopped exclusive breastfeeding prematurely for several reasons like illness, traditions about the introduction of solid foods, the perceived insufficiency of breast milk, and a lack of or inadequate places to breastfeed in the workplace, especially in urban China. The scientists comment that while there is a growing awareness about the importance of exclusive breastfeeding, genuine commitment from policy makers to successfully implement feasible action plans in the health care system, communities and families, and the work environment that encourage women to breastfeed. The authors conclude that if these measures are effective and sustained, it will result in significant health benefits for both women and their infants, along with significant cost savings. The benefits of breastfeeding Breastfeeding is highly beneficial for babies because when they are breastfed: They get sick less and have a lower risk of developing allergies. Their risk of obesity and type 1 and type 2 diabetes are lowered. Their risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is also lowered. It reduces the risk for ear infections (otitis media) and gastroenteritis. It helps set them on the path to optimal brain development. You can read more articles about natural ways to prevent heart disease at Heart.news. Sources include: News.Heart.org Lansinoh.com (Natural News) Is there a legitimate Red Scare that threatens the integrity of Americas educational system with an agenda to indoctrinate students into the death-cult philosophy of communism? A recent article published by Politico seems to suggest so, warning that Chinese propaganda is now flooding many college campuses across the country. Many conservatives, as well as our own Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, have been warning about pro-communist influences in American education for years. And it seems as though the mainstream media is finally catching on to the fact that those sounding the alarm about this serious threat havent just been engaging in political hand-wringing. Consider the announcement made last year by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte that a Chinese government-funded program is planning to open up a Confucius Institute on campus that will teach Chinese language, culture and history. According to Nancy Gutierrez, UNC Charlottes dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the purpose of the Confucius Institute will be to help students be better equipped to succeed in an increasingly globalized world. She adds that the center will further broaden the universitys outreach and support for language instruction and cultural opportunities in the Charlotte community. It all sounds so nice until you consider the fact that even the Chinese government admits that the institutes purpose represents a whole lot more than just language-learning fun and games. In 2011, a speech made by a standing member of the Politburo in Beijing admitted that there is a much more nefarious agenda afoot that seeks to basically brainwash American students into accepting the political tenets of the communist regime. The Confucius Institute is an appealing brand for expanding our culture abroad, admitted Li Changchun about the ultimate goal of the program. It has made an important contribution toward improving our soft power. The Confucius brand has a natural attractiveness. Using the excuse of teaching Chinese language, everything looks reasonable and logical. Communism-pushing Confucius Institutes are now present at more than 100 American colleges and universities In other words, the Chinese government is using the cover of teaching Chinese language and culture to increase its power over the younger population of the United States using taxpayer dollars along the way, its important to note, as UNC Charlotte is a public university supported by North Carolina taxpayers. And it isnt just at UNC Charlotte where communist Chinese infiltrators are spreading the gospel of communism. According to Politico, Confucius Institutes are now present at more than 100 college campuses across the country including at The George Washington University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Iowa as well as at another 400 college campuses across the globe. Each one is overseen by a branch of the Chinese Ministry of Education known in colloquial language as Hanban, and theyre all functioning, to use the exact words of Politico writer Ethan Epstein, as a broader propaganda initiative that the Chinese government is pumping an estimated $10 billion into annually. How the platform of communism in any way jives with the free market principles that underlie Americas representative democracy is anyones guess, as the two, for all intents and purposes, are diametrically opposed in every way. But this is the state of education in America today where, as the Health Ranger also points out, communist subversion of its entire bedrock is nearly complete. Former Soviet-era deception expert Yuri Bezmenov laid out a blueprint for communist subversion of any targeted nation back in the 1980s, Adams writes. That blueprint looks remarkably like what Obama and the radical left just pulled off over the last eight years with the help of the lying mainstream media and cultural subversion via movies, TV, Jon Stewart, fake news, false flags and an overthrow of the public education system (Common Core, an anti-education indoctrination / obedience scheme). Sources for this article include: Politico.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Tea is a beverage famous for having a plethora of benefits, the vast majority of them relating to health. As a recent study has shown, however, drinking tea can boost your creativity as well. Researchers from Peking University have discovered that this beloved hot beverage can improve mood and enhance cognitive function, thus impacting creativity. For the study, a total of 90 university students were recruited for two experiments. As part of the first experiment, 50 participants were divided into two groups that either drank one cup of black tea or one cup of water three minutes before the experiment began. All of the students were tasked with building an appealing block design for a fictional toy factory within a 10-minute time frame. The researchers enlisted an additional 10 university students to judge the block designs based on an 11-point scale for grandness, unification, aesthetic appeal, and innovativeness. The tea drinkers group scored 6.54 points while the water drinkers group scored 6.03 points As part of the second experiment, 40 participants underwent the same procedures as the first. They were separated into two groups and made to drink either black tea or water. However, one participant from the water drinkers group wasnt given anything to drink. For this portion of the study, the researchers asked the students to name a newly opened ramen shop. They had 20 minutes to come up with up as many cool and attractive names as possible. Again, 10 more university students were called in to judge the names based on playfulness and innovativeness. Just like in the first experiment, the tea drinkers scored higher at 4.11 against the 3.78 score of the water drinkers group. This work contributes to understanding the function of tea on creativity and offers a new way to investigate the relationship between food and beverage consumption and the improvement of human cognition, wrote the researchers. (Related: Scientists discover green tea boosts brain cell production, aids memory) They added: Two biological ingredients, caffeine and theanine, have beneficial effects on attention, which is an indispensable part of cognitive function. But the amount of tea ingredients our participants absorbed was relatively small. Also, theanine facilitates long-term sustained attentional processing rather than short-term moment-to-moment attentional processing Despite this, the researchers believe that the efficacy of tea in the short-term is due to its ability to boost mood. Make the most of your cup Tea can be enjoyed in many ways, but there are some things that you can do ensure that your cup is as healthy as can be. Brew for 20 minutes: Or, if you can stomach the bitterness. 30 minutes. While this may make for a strong-tasting cup, this makes it highly beneficial too. According to TheConversation.com, brewing for about three solid minutes extracts 80 percent of the theanine, 75 percent of the caffeine, and 60 percent of the catechins. So the longer the brew, the more the bioactives obtained from the tea. Or, if you can stomach the bitterness. 30 minutes. While this may make for a strong-tasting cup, this makes it highly beneficial too. According to TheConversation.com, brewing for about three solid minutes extracts 80 percent of the theanine, 75 percent of the caffeine, and 60 percent of the catechins. So the longer the brew, the more the bioactives obtained from the tea. Opt for tea bags instead of loose leaf tea: While loose leaf tea may be loaded with more bioactives, tea bags may be better when it comes to creativity. For one, the leaves in tea bags are much smaller, which is believed to positively affect the extraction process. Secondly, tea bags tend to contain more stems, which contain more theanine than the leaves. While loose leaf tea may be loaded with more bioactives, tea bags may be better when it comes to creativity. For one, the leaves in tea bags are much smaller, which is believed to positively affect the extraction process. Secondly, tea bags tend to contain more stems, which contain more theanine than the leaves. Avoid shaking the cup: Doing this increases the number of tannins released into the brew, which causes the tea to taste even more bitter and may even inhibit iron absorption. Doing this increases the number of tannins released into the brew, which causes the tea to taste even more bitter and may even inhibit iron absorption. Choose black: Green tea is considered to be the healthiest variety, but black tea usually has the highest caffeine levels. So for that additional creative push, go for black tea. Whether youd like to find other natural ways of boosting creativity or want to read up on the other benefits of tea, you can do all that and more by visiting MindBodyScience.news today. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk ScienceDirect.com TheConversation.com TheGuardian.com Since Hurricane Marias destructive forces hit Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, Denver-based Ardent Mills sister company, Molinos de Puerto Rico, maintained milling operations for all but about four days. More importantly, operations at the mill in San Juan expanded almost immediately to include day-to-day assistance for employees affected by the catastrophic storm. Jon Stuewe, president of Ardent Mills' Molinos de Puerto Rico, reports that, fortunately, the mill has no reported injuries from the storm, but many team members have faced significant losses to homes and property. We employ 100 people, and nearly 20 of them lost everything. One of our engineers lives in one of the only two-story, concrete houses in her area and brought 20 neighbors into her home as a nearby river flooded, engulfing the first level. One of our workers gave birth two days after the storm, when the hospitals were still running on generators, rooms were filled, and patients were marshalled into the hallways with many limited to just one bottle of water per day. Another worker was mugged and stabbed on the way home from the mill one evening, Stuewe describes. Despite hardships, in the storms aftermath, the mill community showed extraordinary humanity, hope, service, loyalty, persistence, compassion and solidarity and functioned as members of a big family working together for the same goal. The mill became a safe, consistent place for our team to be. We had the common goal to take care of each other, to feed the people of Puerto Rico and the hard-hit Caribbean region while serving our customers, says Stuewe. Emergency Preparedness Puerto Rico is no stranger to storms, and each season, Molinos prepares by putting a hold on a leased industrial-grade generator, storing extra fuel and loading trucks in advance, which helped the mill ride out Hurricane Irma. But Hurricane Maria was different. Making landfall with winds just one mile per hour shy of a Category 5, Maria cut a diagonal swath through the island and left extreme rains in its wake, leveling much of the island and crippling services for weeks. We listened to our team members and got back to basics, says Stuewe, describing how basics like water, food and clean clothes were so scarce that flying supplies in by private jets was the best solution. To speed the response, Ardent Mills flew five team members from the company's Denver headquarters and other network sites to Puerto Rico to help staff assess damage and take the steps necessary to resume operations. Engineers, millers and health and safety specialists lived in the mill with no power, no running water and no air conditioning. The team who flew in even had to deal with a bat flying around the stairwell where some of them slept. But seeing this teams effort helped lift everyones spirits, Stuewe recalls. First, Ardent Mills worked to ensure the Molinos water system was functioning especially so their team could bring water back to their homes. They put clothes washers and dryers on site, provided three hot meals a day, and even made a barber available. Without electricity, employees couldnt access banks, so the management provided cash and fuel. The rest of Ardent Mills community of 2,400+ employees also pitched in, contributing more than $25,000 to a GoFundMe page initiated by a team member and dedicated to affected colleagues. Ardent Mills is matching $40,000. The New Normal: Recovery Continues As 2018 begins and the Hurricane Maria recovery continues months after the storm, Ardent Mills Molinos de Puerto Rico continues to supply a large portion of the grain-based food ingredients on the island and Caribbean region with its corn, wheat and rice milling. I had the opportunity to spend eight days on the island in two trips since the storm. After my last trip, I was glad to see real signs of improvement that are happening faster than I would have thought possible, emphasizes Bill Stoufer, Ardent Mills COO. The local food industry in Puerto Rico did and continues to do a great job getting food to Puerto Ricans. While food is of key importance, we learned, it is about jobs, family and providing our team with a sense of normalcy for part of the day. At 90 days post storm, FEMA estimates that 65.4 percent of the island has restored power, and the potable water rate is at 86 percent of pre-storm supplies. We are off generators now, but the electric grid is not 100 percent. Gas and food are still not back to normal supplies, and most restaurants are not open, Stuewe describes. Theres no way to prepare fully for an event of this scale, but we have put new systems in place, like an ultraviolet water treatment system, that will help us have clean water supplies permanently. You learn from these events, notes Stuewe, who shares that his biggest lesson was the resiliency of his team. When we werent operating at full capacity, team members were asking, What else can I do? Is there anything to clean or fix? They appreciated having the mill to come to, and we appreciated their all-hands-on-deck approach to getting through this crisis together. It was a shared experience, and we grew together as a family, which we are celebrating, says Stuewe. A quake measure 6.3M was reported in the Gulf of California, rattling cities in Baja California as well as the mainland. There have been no reports of people in San Diego County feeling the quake. The earthquake struck at 8:41 a.m. PT. with an epicenter southwest of Hermosillo, Mexico where the North America and Pacific plates meet. Even though the magnitude was high, the reports from along the Mexico and Baja California coastline described a light shaking. The area is a desert coastline dotted with small towns and fishing villages popular with U.S. tourists who park their recreational vehicles at seaside campsites. Yolanda Vallejo, owner of Rivera del Mar RV Park in Loreto, said the quake didn't even give her a start. "We've felt similar earthquakes," she said. "No damage. My plates didn't even fall over." San Francisco Police have located the suspect linked to a murder in the Sunset District on Friday night. Officials located 67-year-old Winston Hue just a few blocks away from the fatal shooting in the Sunset District in the area of 47th and Lincoln. According to officials, a 65-year-old victim was found suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and later died at the scene. Hue had yet to be located after the incident and was considered to be armed and dangerous driving a Blue Kia Sol with a CA license plate 5BJY341. The incident began Friday at approximately 4:37 p.m. after officers responded to the 1800 block of 34th Avenue on the report of a shooting victim. At the scene, the victim was suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and aid was made immediately available by responding officers. But the victim succumbed to her injuries on the scene. No further updates were available. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will stop in Chicago as part of his trip to the United States next month, his office announced Friday. Trudeau, who last visited the U.S. in Oct. 2017, will give a speech at the University of Chicago highlighting the importance of public service, and how it can help strengthen the ties between Canada and the United States both economically and politically, according to a press release. The prime minister will also visit with city leaders and officials while hes in Chicago. I look forward to meeting with government and business leaders in the United States again to explore new opportunities for collaboration and growth, so we can build a more prosperous future for people in both countries, Prime Minister Trudeau said in a statement. The prime minister is also scheduled to visit Los Angeles, where he will give a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, and San Francisco, where he will meet with community and business leaders. After more than 200 cities tried to court Amazon in hopes of being chosen as the location for the online retail giants new headquarters, the list has been narrowed to 20. A lot is at stake for the chosen city, as Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has said HQ2 could create 50,000 jobs and inject millions of dollars into the local economy. The company said in its announcement Thursday that it will now work with the short-list contenders to see how each stacks up against Amazons criteria. The final decision is expected sometime this year. Here's a quick look at each finalists' demographics: City Population (2016) Bachelor degree or higher (2012-2016) Median Household Income (2012-2016) Unemployment Rate (Sept. 2017) Median gross rent (2012-2016) Median value of owner-occupied housing units (2012-2016) Proposal Atlanta 420,003 48.30% $49,398 4.60% $998 $222,300 Undisclosed proposal Austin, Texas 947,890 47.70% $60,939 2.70% $1,106 $257,800 Undisclosed proposal Boston 673,184 46.40% $58,516 3.40% $1,369 $423,200 Read the proposal Chicago 2,704,958 36.50% $50,434 5.40% $987 $225,200 Undisclosed proposal Columbus, Ohio 860,090 34.80% $47,156 3.90% $856 $131,800 Undisclosed proposal Dallas 1,317,929 31.00% $45,215 3.50% $888 $142,600 Undisclosed proposal Denver 693,060 45.70% $56,258 2.20% $1,035 $292,700 Read the proposal Indianapolis 855,164 29.00% $43,101 3.70% $811 $120,400 Undisclosed proposal Los Angeles 3,976,322 32.50% $51,538 5.10% $1,241 $496,300 Undisclosed proposal Miami 2,712,945 27.30% $44,224 4.50% $1,143 $221,100 Undisclosed proposal Montgomery County, Md. 1,043,863 58.10% $100,352 2.80% $1,647 $460,100 Undisclosed proposal Nashville, Tenn. 660,388 37.60% $49,891 2.80% $902 $174,600 Undisclosed proposal Newark, N.J. 281,764 13.70% $33,025 7.90% $981 $222,100 Undisclosed proposal New York City 8,537,673 36.20% $55,191 4.90% $1,294 $508,900 Read the proposal Northern Virginia (Fairfax County) 1,138,652 60.30% $114,329 3.00% $1,779 $516,800 Undisclosed proposal Philadelphia 1,567,872 26.30% $39,770 6.00% $943 $147,300 Undisclosed proposal Pittsburgh 303,625 40.70% $42,450 4.60% $844 $100,800 Undisclosed proposal Raleigh, N.C. 458,880 49.20% $58,641 3.60% $966 $218,200 Undisclosed proposal Toronto 2,810,000 29.90% $68,110 5.50% n/a n/a Read the proposal Source: U.S. Census Bureau Atlanta Though Georgia officials have been mum about the contents of the states bid, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed called the proposal the most aggressive economic attraction package that the state of Georgia has ever put forward. Austin, Texas Austin officials said that no local financial incentives were included in the citys proposal but that doesnt mean there wont be one in the future, KXAN reported. Austin boasts a reputation as a "great place to work with" as shown by its handling of big events like the SXSW Festival, a Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce spokesman told the Austin American Statesman . Boston Although Bostons pitch did not mention possible tax breaks, it did offer to create an "Amazon Task Force" of city employees working on the company's behalf, including a workforce coordinator to help with the company's employment needs and a community relations official. Chicago In a letter obtained by the Chicago Tribune, officials offered to give an estimated $2 billion in incentives to the tech giant and possibly more if it made the final round. Columbus, Ohio Ohios capital city has offered Amazon a package of incentives that includes property-tax abatements, income-tax refunds and a transportation plan, according to documents obtained by the Columbus Post Dispatch. Dallas Southern Methodist University business expert Mike Davis told NBCDFW that North Texas' advantages include strong universities. Amazon has said it wants to locate HQ2 somewhere with a robust educated work force and experience with other recent successful corporate relocations. Denver Denvers proposal included several potential sites and financial incentives like job growth tax credits, job training grants and in-state tuition benefits for employees. The public copy of the proposal redacted the potential value of the financial incentives from the state, the Denver Post reported. Indianapolis Indianapolis did not publicly release its plan, and Mayor Joe Hogsett told The Indianapolis Star that city officials "tried to be imaginative and creative. The Indiana House speaker said politicians could craft incentives to seal the deal. Los Angeles Despite the details of the bid being under lock and key, the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. did say there were nine land sites that had the potential to accomodate Amazon, The Los Angeles Times reported. Miami Though details of Miami's proposal remain mostly secret, the state has its own tax incentive to tout. Florida is a no-income tax state, giving it an advantage to other states in the running that are not. Miami-Dade Beacon Council CEO Michael Finney told the Miami Herald the region submitted eight sites for consideration. Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery Countys proposal highlighted the areas highly educated workforce, diverse population and transportation system. The financial and tax incentives the county offered Amazon were redacted. But Maryland's governor said the state's incentive package ran more than $5 billion, The Washington Post reported. Nashville, Tenn. Nashville is one of the smallest city contenders and Ralph Schulz, CEO of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce described Music City as an "underdog," Tennessean.com reported. But the cost of living is low, and Mayor Megan Barry said she looked forward to making the city's case to Amazon. Newark, New Jersey In pitching Newark, former N.J. Gov. Chris Christie offered $7 billion in tax incentives and property tax abatements, The New York Times reported. But with a new governor sworn in this week, and details of the proposal secret, it is not clear what tax incentives Amazon could receive. New York City New York City said it offered the country's largest tech talent pool, the possibility of education partnerships and a fast commute for workers. Philadelphia Pennsylvania reportedly offered Amazon more than $1 billion in tax incentives, Rob Wonderling, president of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, told Philly.com. Separately, City Councilman David Oh proposed a bill in September that would grant a city tax exemption to new mega-businesses matching the planned headquarter's description. If passed, the bill could save Amazon $2 billion over 10 years. Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald have been tight-lipped on what went into the city's proposal. But the officials have expressed optimism: "We have been preparing for this for 30 years," Fitzgerald said in October, according to Pittsburgh Patch. "Our region has tremendous assets that should be appealing to Amazon: a world-class talent pool, high quality of life at a low cost, a stable business environment, and significant capacity to grow." Toronto Toronto did not make any tax concession in its bid to lure Amazon across the U.S. border. But the city's proposal highlighted Canada's business-friendly corporate tax rate, noting the combined federal and provincial rate is 12 percent lower than the U.S. average. Washington, D.C. The District offered Amazon an incentive package that includes relocation reimbursements for workers who move to D.C., wage reimbursements per new jobs filled by military veterans, a $15 million corporate franchise tax exemption, a five-year freeze on property taxes on every building Amazon occupies in D.C., a 10-year exemption on personal property taxes on qualified property and equipment, and a sales tax exemption in perpetuity on its investment in qualified new purchases, according to heavily redacted copy of the bid. Malaysia approved a new attempt to find the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the country's government announced Saturday, nearly four years after the plane's disappearance sparked one of aviation's biggest mysteries, NBC News reported. The U.S.-based company Ocean Infinity dispatched a search vessel this week to look in the southern Indian Ocean for debris from the plane, which disappeared March 8, 2014, on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew members. Ocean Infinity said in a statement that the search vessel Seabed Constructor, which left the South African port of Durban on Tuesday, was taking advantage of favorable weather to move toward "the vicinity of the possible search zone." The governments of Malaysia, China and Australia had called off the nearly three-year official search last January without solving the mystery. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau's final report on the search conceded that authorities were no closer to knowing the reasons for the Boeing 777's disappearance, or its exact location. Countering China's rapidly expanding military and an increasingly aggressive Russia are now the U.S. military's top national security priorities, outpacing the threat of terrorism, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Friday. He said competition with those adversaries has threatened America's military advantage around the world. Laying out a broad new strategy for the Defense Department, Mattis warned that all aspects of the military's competitive warfighting edge have eroded. He said building a force that can deter war with established and emerging military powers in Moscow and Beijing, and U.S. enemies such as North Korea and Iran will require increased investment to make the military more lethal, agile and ready to fight. "We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists that we are engaged in today, but great power competition not terrorism is now the primary focus of U.S. national security," Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in remarks at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He said the Islamic State group's "physical caliphate" in Iraq and Syria had been defeated, but that IS, al-Qaida and other extremists still pose threats across the globe. Mattis repeated his call for America to work closely with allies and partners an approach that aligns more closely with previous administrations than President Donald Trump's "America First" ideas. That mantra was repeated in a national security strategy that Trump's administration released in December. The U.S. and its allies, Mattis said, are stronger together. He recalled going to his first NATO meeting last year, carrying Trump's demand for nations to increase their defense spending and thinking about how to fit Trump's message into the broader framework of working with partners. When he got to Brussels, Mattis said he told the alliance: "Here's the bottom line: Please do not ask me to go back and tell Americans the American parents that they need to care more about the safety and security and the freedom of your children than you're willing to care for, than you're willing to sacrifice for. We're all going to have to put our shoulder to the wagon and move it up the hill." Did the message resonate? "It's going better than expected," Mattis said Friday. The most dominant theme in his strategy is for the U.S. to regain its competitive edge with China and Russia, according to an 11-page, unclassified version released by the Pentagon. That shift reflects persistent U.S. worries about China's military buildup in the South China Sea, its moves to expand its political and economic influence, and what has been described as Beijing's systematic campaign of cyberattacks and data theft from government agencies and private U.S. corporations. The shift also underscores broad American concerns about Russia, given Moscow's takeover of Ukrainian territory, involvement in Syria's war and alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. "We've been doing a lot of things in the last 25 years, and we've been focused on really other problems and this strategy really represents a fundamental shift to say, look, we have to get back, in a sense, to basics of the potential for war," said Elbridge Colby, the deputy assistant defense secretary for strategy. "This strategy says the focus will be on prioritizing preparedness for war and particularly major power war." Previous defense chiefs long warned about China, and the Obama administration put a greater focus on the Asia-Pacific region, including by adding ships and troops. Derek Chollet, former senior Pentagon official in the Obama administration and now with the German Marshall Fund in Washington, said much of the strategy is "old wine in a new bottle, but in this context, that's a good thing." He said he was "struck by his emphasis on strong diplomacy, getting out from under budget chaos, and the importance of having a healthy democracy. That's all correct, just seemed to be at variance with what's happening elsewhere in the government, including the White House." Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York that militaries frequently want more resources, but "it is regrettable that instead of having normal dialogue, instead of using the basis of international law, the U.S. is trying to prove their leadership through such confrontational strategies and concepts." He said Moscow is open to discuss military doctrines and the kind of military contacts that previously existed between the two countries." Colby said the U.S. still seeks areas of cooperation with Russia and China, stressing "this is not a strategy of confrontation." The U.S. has pushed China to increase pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions. Washington has maintained talks with Russia to ensure no conflicts or accidents in the sky over Syria, where both nations are bombing IS fighters. The strategy, however, faces grim budget hurdles. And Mattis criticized Congress for budget caps that have done more to erode military readiness than any other enemy since 9/11. "For too long we have asked our military to stoically carry a 'success at any cost' attitude, as they work tirelessly to accomplish the mission with now inadequate and misaligned resources, simply because the Congress could not maintain regular order," Mattis said. Lawmakers have been deadlocked on a spending bill, bringing the federal government to the brink of a shutdown at midnight Friday. They're still constrained by the Budget Control Act of 2011, which put mandatory spending caps in place. The Pentagon strategy acknowledges the budget limits, and seeks greater spending discipline and management, along with base closings to save money. Congress has repeatedly rejected additional base closings. Associated Press writer Edith Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report. President Donald Trumps first significant legislative achievement did not come until December, when Congress approved a $1.5 trillion tax bill that cut corporate and individual rates. But throughout Trumps first year, his administration has been working to get federal judges appointed, roll back environmental and other regulations and reset Americas place in the world. Some of those efforts succeeded many through executive actions or decisions at the agency level. Others are in the works and still others are stalled, often in the courts. The U.S. Supreme Court announced on Friday that it would take up the latest version of Trumps ban on travel to the United States by the residents of six majority-Muslim countries and two others. In the meantime it has allowed enforcement of the ban, one of the first campaign promises the president tried to fill but which has been challenged repeatedly. All came against the backdrop of a chaotic White House, Trump on Twitter and Robert Muellers investigation into possible collusion between Trumps campaign and Russia, a bane for the president. Just this month, Trump sidestepped a question about whether he would commit to an interview with the special prosecutor, even as his former chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, could talk to Muellers team by the end of the month, according to NBC News. Trumps tumultuous first year in office a fulfillment of campaign promises for many of his supporters, an embarrassment to his opponents ended with the federal government shutting down Saturday after Congress hit an impasse over spending. Trump had promised to upend the political culture of Washington D.C., in his words to drain the swamp, but gridlock prevailed, with Republicans and Democrats blaming each other. Overall, 53 percent of Americans say Trump has been unsuccessful, and even more, 61 percent, say he is doing more to divide the country than unite it, according to an NPR/PBS/Marist Poll. But among Republicans, 87 percent called his first year a success. At the same time, a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that 69 percent of Americans are satisfied with the state of the economy. Trumps first legislative attempt, to repeal and replace Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act, ended in a spectacular failure. But then the tax reform bill, long a Republican goal, was approved, though with no Democratic support. It is the biggest tax overhaul in 30 years, and Republicans say the changes will make American businesses more competitive overseas and allow them to create new jobs and raise wages. It also repealed Obamacare's mandate that most Americans have health insurance. Democrats counter that the bill unfairly benefits the wealthy over the middle class. The administration had a range of successes, but in many ways they were second-tier successes that Republicans were trying to sell as first-tier successes, important things but not really major accomplishments, said Austin-based conservative consultant Matt Mackowiak, president of the Potomac Strategy Group. If you look back at this year, obviously the tax bill is the single biggest accomplishment. Trumps other unquestioned success has been getting conservative judges onto federal courts, beginning with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Grouch and a dozen appointments to the federal appeals courts. When Senate Republicans confirmed Trumps 12th federal appeals court nominee in mid-December, they set a record for the most in a presidents first year, Axios noted. As far as rules and regulations, the Trump administration has been focused on overturning those of the Obama era, from permitting drilling off the coast of the United States to refocusing on enforcement of federal marijuana laws to pulling back on a federal mandate that employers provide coverage for birth control. A tally kept by the Washington Post shows 17 executive actions issued by Trump, 96 cabinet-level agency decisions, 14 Congressional review acts, and three pieces of new legislation passed by Congress. On the environment, Trump pulled out of the Paris climate agreement, while the tax reform bill opens the Alaska Wildlife Refuge to drilling. The head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, has announced that the administration would repeal the Clean Power Plan, President Barack Obamas signature attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. But environmentalists and several states immediately threatened to sue and pointed out that the EPA is required to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions. And Trump shrunk the size of two national monuments in Utah at the beginning of December, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, by two million acres. It was the largest cut of federally protected land ever. Linda Fowler, a professor of government at Dartmouth University, said many of Trumps achievements were not very different from what could have been accomplished had another Republican won the White House. The conservative judicial appointments, the tax bill and the environmental pullbacks would have been expected in another Republican administration with Republican control of the House and Senate, she said. Internationally, Trump promised to reposition the United States in the world, but turmoil in the State Department under Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has dominated headlines. Trump has antagonized countries in the Middle East by saying he would move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, he has frozen aid to Pakistan, calling it a haven for terrorist, he defeated ISIS in Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria, and he has taunted North Koreas leader Kim Jung Un on Twitter. And the Trump administration pulled back on trade agreements such as the Trans Pacific Partnership. Trumps critics say his America First position has left the United States isolated, its international standing diminished. On immigration, the president ended Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), is expelling nearly 200,000 El Salvadorans who have been allowed to live in the United States for more than a decade, and is trying to change the American immigration system to one based on merit. So far his promised wall on the Mexico border is not built, nor has Mexico paid for it. His comment about not wanting immigrants from s--thole countries, which Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois insists he said during a meeting about DACA but which the president denies, earned him condemnation around the world. There certainly is enormous pressure from parts of the Republican party to take a hard line of immigration, Fowler said. But this is a signature issue for Trump. Whether another president would have basically ended the DACA program without anything in its place, thats really a debatable issue. Mike Madrid, an expert on Latino voting trends and a political consultant at Grassroots Lab in Sacramento, called the Republican handling of immigration a disaster. More than any other issue it will bring about the decline of the party nationally, he said. Republicans have lost communities of color, Hispanics in particular, for a generation or longer, he said. Madrid, who said he was more opposed to Trump than during the campaign, said that factions within the Republican party were too far apart ideologically to move a Republican agenda forward. The Republican party is no longer the home of the conservative movement, he said. It is the home of a nationalist movement, a populist movement, and those are two extremely different things. Connecticut leaders reacted after last-minute negotiations in Washington crumbled Friday night, leading to a federal government shutdown that halts all but essential operations. Connecticuts Democratic congressional delegation placed blame on the Trump Administration and Republicans. Senator Chris Murphy claimed that the reason for the shutdown was Republicans refusing to sit down and work out a budget alongside Democrats and argued that short-term spending bills were not a viable solution. "Republicans asked to be given control of the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives, the senator said in a statement. They got it, and this is what America gets total, complete dysfunction. The continuing resolution President Trump is trying to force down our throats is terrible for Connecticut it guts funding for community health centers, inadequately funds our state's military contractors, and may lead to the deportation of thousands of immigrant kids. Instead of punting and passing a fourth continuing resolution, President Trump and Republicans could choose to sit down and write a real budget with Democrats this weekend, but they are refusing. That's really sad. Senator Richard Blumenthal also criticized Republican leadership. His statement read, in part: Congress must do its job. Serious talks and compromise by the Republican leadership and the President could have avoided this self-inflicted crisis and still can. Governing month to month through short term extensions has the effect of a slow motion shutdown short-changing and damaging our military, health care and opioid addiction programs, disaster relief, as well as protection of Dreamers. There is bipartisan consensus behind every single major issue before us: defense spending, funding for the opioid crisis and pensions, disaster relief, community health centers, the Childrens Health Insurance Program, and avoiding mass deportation of the Dreamers. I will continue to call for good faith negotiations, but only Senator McConnell can call these measures for a vote and end this self-inflicted crisis." The Senate failed to get the 60 votes needed on a motion that would have ended debate and proceed to a final vote on the short-term funding bill. The final tally was 50-49. The Republican-controlled House passed the continuing resolution, or CR, Thursday night, which would have kept the government open for another month. Both parties blamed each other in the chaotic close to Donald Trumps first year as president. "And Mr. President...what we just witnessed on the floor was a cynical decision by Senate Democrats who shoved aside millions of Americans for the sake of irresponsible political gains. The government shutdown was 100 percent avoidable...completely avoidable, argued Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky). During the shutdown, most federal buildings will close and employees will be furloughed. Long-term responses to natural disasters will also hit the pause button. The IRSs automated processes will continue, but anything requiring people, such as customer service, will close. On the flip side, military operations will continue, although some training exercises may stop. TSA agents and air traffic control will continue work. The United States Postal Service is an independent agency so its operations will not be affected. And veterans hospitals have already been funded. Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy says the state has made preparations to mitigate the impacts of the shutdown as much as possible. Connecticut has made preparations to mitigate the impacts of the Trump shutdown as much as possible. My office has been in contact with agency heads and contingency plans have been updated. But unless the President and Congressional Republicans do their job, Connecticut residents who work for the federal government will not be paid, contractors will be laid off, and loans to Connecticut small businesses wont be made, he said in a statement. The Democrat also placed blame for the shutdown on President Trump and his Republican allies. This shutdown lies squarely on the shoulders of President Trump and his GOP allies in Congress, and their tactics could not be more cynical. A bipartisan agreement exists that would keep the federal government open while ensuring protection for Dreamers and extending the Childrens Health Insurance Program. But instead of working together and adopting a commonsense solution, Republicans are digging their heels in and holding hostage health insurance for nine million kids, including 17,000 in Connecticut, Malloy said in a statement. Rep. John Larson also released a statement, which read in part. "Republicans control the House, Senate, and the White House, yet they could not fulfill the most basic of function of governance keeping the federal government open. We have gone from stopgap to stopgap without any meaningful attempt from Republicans to work bipartisanly on a long term budget agreement. In the process theyve failed to adequately fund disaster relief and address the opioid crisis, left the immigration status of 700,000 Dreamers in limbo, and put the health care of millions of kids, including 17,000 in CT at risk." The last time the government shut down was in 2013, and it lasted 16 days. Both parties are expected to return to the Capitol over the weekend to begin considering three-week version of a short-term spending measure. One person was killed in a crash involving two tractor-trailers and four cars on Interstate 91 north in Massachusetts. Massachusetts State Police said the crash happened in Longmeadow, Mass. Saturday morning. A spokesman for the Springfield fire department, which assisted at the scene, said one of the truck drivers was killed. Three other people suffered minor injuries. None of the victims have been identified. The highway was closed from Enfield, Connecticut to Longmeadow for hours and reopened around 4 p.m. #MAtraffic update; I-91 in #Longmeadow continues to be closed. Will update when we can, as the debris is cleared. pic.twitter.com/UhX0GQlJfc Mass State Police (@MassStatePolice) January 20, 2018 The crash remains under investigation. It has become a bit of a challenge to redevelop a piece of land in Manchester. The parcel has been bare since 2009 when the town of Manchester purchased the property and tore down the abandoned shopping plaza on the Broad Street piece of land. Scott Shanley, the general manager of the town, told NBC Connecticut what he wants to see on it. "The comprehensive plan for that master development envisions medical, educational institutional type uses with associated housing," Shanley said. But theres a 1966 cross-easement agreement thats making it difficult to redevelop the land. That means any development of the town-owned 17-acre parcel must be in the building footprint of the shopping center that was originally here, that way it doesnt affect parking for the three abutting properties from three different owners: the Parkade Shopping Center, the Parkade Cinemas and Stop & Shop. The town cant overrule that 1966 agreement without consent from the other property owners. "Weve been working with the owners of the property I think its been very productive. You know these kinds of things take time," Shanely said. The town said they reached out to the property owners this week about trying to terminate the agreement in hopes that they can move forward with their development. Residents hope the parcel turns into something. "Thats pretty interesting bring a lot of people to the city I think that would be good," Abigeille Gordon, of Manchester, said. The US Coast Guard was unable to continue work to break ice jams on the Connecticut River in Haddam Saturday due to an issue with their boat. The USCG has been in Connecticut working to break up ice jams. On Wednesday, the Town of Haddam declared a state of emergency because of the danger of flooding. Coast Guard officials said one of their vessels, the Bollard, was damaged Friday and is currently out of commission while repairs are made. Officials did not specify what happened. It is currently docked in Essex. Another vessel, the Hawser, did continue work further down the river north of the I-95 bridge in Old Lyme Saturday. The state Department of Transportation confirmed that the East Haddam Swing Bridge, which was expected to be closed for several hours as the Coast Guard worked, was open to drivers due to the change of plans. Last January, women marched through cities across the country to bring attention to gender issues. And on Saturday, they marched again. Events were held all over the world Saturday, including in Dallas, Fort Worth and Denton. Thousands of people showed up for the Dallas Women's March, standing up for women's rights, equal pay, justice and inclusion. Many also protested what they say is a lack of leadership in the White House. "I'm tired of the lies. I'm tired of the saying things that don't make sense and really not being there or listening to the people," said Karen Kowalske, who marched in Washington, D.C., last year. President Donald Trump tweeted about the Women's Marches, writing in part, "A perfect day for all women to march. Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months." Saturday's march kicked off at 10 a.m. at Saint Paul United Methodist Church on Routh Street, and participants walked about a mile to Pike Park on Harry Hines Boulevard. There were other marches scheduled in the downtown area. An hour later, about 30 people attended an "Impeach Trump Solidarity March" at Dallas City Hall. Then at 12:30 p.m., March for Life marked the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision. It started at Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The March for Life rally was held Saturday in downtown Dallas, marking the 45th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. In Fort Worth, the women's march stepped off at 10 a.m. at the Tarrant County Courthouse. Marches were also held in Austin, Houston, San Antonio and several other Texas cities. In Austin, thousands of people gathered at city hall and the state capitol for a series of day long events, including a rally against Trump and another in support of abortion and other reproductive rights. The march from city hall to the capitol included a group of women who wore red capes and white bonnets like characters from the dystopian novel "The Handmaid's Tale." Among the speakers at the rally at the capitol was former Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis, who in 2013 garnered national attention for her nearly 13-hour filibuster over new Texas abortion restrictions. Davis praised efforts by "young college change makers" to seek legislation in Texas against sex trafficking and against sexual assaults on college campuses. One anti-Trump protester was arrested by police after causing a disturbance at the Austin rally. [[470272843,C]] In Houston, thousands of women, men and children marched about a mile from a park near downtown to a rally at city hall. People held up signs that read, "Brown is Beautiful," "Rise Up Woman" and "Love Not Hate Makes America Great" and they chanted "I'm undocumented and unafraid" and "Black Lives Matter." "We are changing this country one person ... one vote, one woman and one caring man at a time. Do not stop the movement," former Houston Mayor Annise Parker told a crowd gathered at city hall. Texas health officials are taking steps to close Timberlawn psychiatric hospital after a child said she was raped there. The state's move to revoke Timberlawn's license, announced Friday, is one of the strongest steps it can take against health care facilities. The unusual effort speaks to Timberlawn's long history of safety problems it was already the only psychiatric hospital on probation with the state. "I think it was about time. If they're not going to correct their deficiencies, I don't know how you can leave it that way," said John MarDock, whose sister, Dr. Ruth MarDock, was killed in 2016 after being attacked by a patient. Texas health officials said Friday that it would be up to Timberlawn and its owner, United Health Services, to transfer patients to other appropriate health facilities. MarDock said his main concern is where the patients will go and whether they will get the quality care they need. "There's a big patient population. I don't know where they go," he said. "Hopefully someone else will take it over and run it right. It's certainly a challenging problem." In a letter to employees, Timberlawn's CEO said the hospital would shut down on its own due, in part, to a lack of patients and the cost of refurbishing the historic campus. NBC 5's media partners at The Dallas Morning News reported in October that police were investigating the sexual assault of a 13-year-old by another patient. Government safety inspectors then swarmed the hospital. MarDock's death was one of several blemishes on the hospital's safety record. In 2014 a patient who warned that she would take her own life died by suicide. In 2015 a patient said she was raped by another patient. MarDock blamed his sister's death on the hospital's lack of security. Dr. Ruth MarDock had been a psychiatrist at Timberlawn for nearly 30 years. "She knew everybody there. She was always good with people. It's easy to lame the murderer, but it shouldn't have been that free for him to roam the halls and get out of his room," her brother said. In a statement to NBC 5 a Texas Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman said: "Our focus has always been squarely on patient safety, and we have been holding Timberlawn accountable. That is our regulatory priority. Sometimes hospitals need to make business decisions based on their own circumstances and outlook moving forward." MarDock said his family does not consider Timberlawn's closing as justice for Ruth. "It's not going to make it right, just closing Timberlawn. It should have been corrected and she should have been able to go home that day," he said. Read more from our partners at The Dallas Morning News. Two teenagers were arrested Wednesday at a Rite-Aid pharmacy in San Diego for a string of robberies in which they allegedly stole cough syrup from stores in Southern California. Vista resident Jason Casillas, 19, was arrested along with a 17-year-old girl at a Rite-Aid located at 3650 Adams Ave. after Casillas jumped over a counter at the pharmacy and stole several bottles of cough syrup. The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) said an employee at the store had recognized the pair from a flyer distributed by Rite-Aid security regarding past thefts of cough syrup. The employee called police while the suspects were still in the store. The teens ran out through the front door but were met by police officers. The SDPD said a third suspect another 19-year-old man was arrested at the scene for charges unrelated to the robbery. SDPD Lt. Eric Hays said Casillas and the minor are suspected in at least three robberies of cough syrup at Rite-Aid pharmacies in San Diego, Carlsbad, and Riverside since Dec. 29, 2017. Detectives are looking into whether the suspects may have been involved in additional similar crimes. Due to her age, the name of the minor will not be released. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information can call the SDPD Robbery Unit at (619) 531-2299 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477. While the motive for the robberies is unknown, cough syrup includes the cough suppressant dextromethorphan (DXM), a drug that, if abused, could cause hallucinations and a feeling of being high. A practice called robo-tripping or skittling includes mixing DXM with soda or combining it with alcohol and marijuana. Casillas was booked into jail on four counts of robbery; hes scheduled to appear in court Friday. A woman aboard a Carnival Cruise Line ship died early Friday morning after falling from her cabins balcony, spokesperson Vance Gullisken confirmed. Early yesterday morning a guest fell from her balcony to several decks below, Gullisken said in a statement. The ships medical team responded immediately, but, unfortunately, she passed away. The Carnival Elation ship departed from Jacksonville on Jan. 18 and was bound for the Bahamas, the statement said. Gullisken said the incident was reported to the proper authorities and support from the ships CARE Team was offered to travelers as well as the victims family. The woman has not yet been identified. According to the Miami Herald, the ship was nearing Freeport, Bahamas at the time of the fatal incident. A group of prominent friends, including a key Zimbabwean opposition leader and a Texas-based investor and philanthropist, was heading to a ranch in the U.S. state of New Mexico when their helicopter crashed and burned in a remote area, killing five people aboard. Friends and family members confirmed Thursday that opposition leader Roy Bennett and his wife, Heather, had traveled to New Mexico to spend their holiday with friend and wealthy businessman Charles Burnett III at his ranch. Burnett's friends, pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd of Colorado and co-pilot Paul Cobb of Texas, were ferrying the group aboard a Huey UH-1 when it went down after dark Wednesday. All five died, according to New Mexico State Police. The only survivor was Andra Cobb, the co-pilot's daughter who was in a long-term relationship with Burnett. She was able to escape before the helicopter burst into flames. Her voice breaking, Martha Cobb told The Associated Press that her 39-year-old daughter was hospitalized with broken bones. "She's just very distraught," the mother said in a telephone interview. "I'm just glad my daughter is OK, but I hate that my husband of 41 years is gone." Martha Cobb and her husband had befriended the Bennetts while traveling on cruises. Roy Bennett, 60, treasurer-general of the Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change opposition party, won a devoted following of black Zimbabweans for passionately advocating political change. Bennett, a white man who spoke fluent Shona and drew the wrath of former President Robert Mugabe, survived a traumatic year in jail and death threats over his work. He was known as "Pachedu," meaning "one of us" in Shona and was often called the sharpest thorn in Mugabe's side. Obert Gutu, spokesman for the MDC-T party, described Bennett's death as a "huge and tragic loss." Burnett, born in England, inherited part of a family fortune and had been friends for some time with the two pilots, said his personal lawyer, Martyn Hill. Both Dodd and Cobb were experienced aviators who would not have taken unnecessary risks in the helicopter, Hill said. Cobb served in Vietnam and survived being shot down, he said. A 911 call from Andra Cobb alerted authorities to the crash, whose cause is under investigation. There was no indication of bad weather that night. Officials launched a search but said the response was slow because of the rugged terrain and lack of access. Engulfed in flames, the wreckage of the helicopter registered to an aviation company linked to Burnett was spotted on a ranch. The group was heading to the Emery Gap Ranch, a mountainous property on the Colorado-New Mexico border. Burnett bought it in February 2017, said Sam Middleton, a real estate broker in Lubbock, Texas, who helped with the purchase. Middleton called Burnett a "fun loving" person who enjoyed entertaining, at times extravagantly. In Zimbabwe, Tendai Biti, a prominent opposition leader and a former finance minister, tweeted that the Bennetts' "tragic passing" was "a blow to our struggle." David Coltart, an opposition figure, said the couple were "two of Zimbabwe's greatest patriots." In 2004, Roy Bennett was jailed for a year for assaulting a Cabinet minister who had said Bennett's "forefathers were thieves and murderers" during a parliamentary debate. An enraged Bennett charged the minister, who fell to the floor. He emerged from prison rail-thin and scarred from repeated sunburns. He told of the mistreatment of fellow prisoners, some of whom he said had starved to death in their cells. After receiving death threats, Bennett fled Zimbabwe but returned in 2009 after his party nominated him for the deputy agriculture minister in a coalition government with Mugabe's ZANU-PF. Mugabe, who had repeatedly alleged Bennett was the opposition party's contact with foreign funders, refused to swear him in. Bennett later returned to South Africa but remained a vocal critic of Mugabe's rule. He also criticized his former party for allegedly enjoying the comforts of government while ordinary Zimbabweans suffered. An upstate New York man has pleaded guilty to strangling his 95-year-old grandmother in what his lawyer says was a "mercy killing." The Post-Star of Glens Falls reports 50-year-old Kevin Gonyea entered his plea Friday in exchange for a minimum sentence of 15 years to life in prison. Gonyea was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Leona Twiss. Police say Gonyea and his 35-year-old wife, Melissa, reported finding Twiss dead in their Fort Ann home in July. An autopsy determined Twiss was strangled with a towel. Gonyea's lawyer says Twiss was killed because her dementia had worsened. He says other family members were either aware or involved in the woman's death. Melissa Gonyea pleaded guilty to charges related to Twiss' death in December. An investigation is ongoing. What to Know More than 200,000 people took to Manhattan's streets as part of the Women's March, the mayor's office said The march comes amid the #MeToo movement that has lit a fire under the fight for women's rights Some 400,000 people showed up to last year's rally, which was held the day after President Trump's inauguration More than 200,000 women's rights supporters marched through Manhattan on Saturday, wearing pink hats and carrying signs of resistance, as leaders urged them on with a rallying call: "This is our time." The large showing came amid the #MeToo movement and on the one-year anniversary of the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Marchers packed streets from Upper West Side to midtown on a sunny and pleasant day. Organizers said among goals of this year's march were getting more Democrats to run for public office and bolstering voter registration. Thousands of people marched in New York City on Saturday in a Womens March on the one-year anniversary of President Trumps inauguration. The large rally comes amid the #MeToo movement, which has lit a fire under the fight for womens rights. Rana Novini reports. Atlantic City Freeholder Ashley Bennett, who won her office in November by beating a man who mocked last year's women's march, issued the call when she spoke at a kickoff rally. "It is because you marched that I found the courage to make a change in my community," she said. She cited a "pink wave and a reckoning," referring to the #MeToo movement which has galvanized women's rights activists. She said, "It's not about vengeance, it's just about time." Atlantic City Freeholder Ashley Bennett launched herself into politics after last year's march, when she unseated a man who publicly mocked the women, asking if they would be home in time to cook dinner. This year she delivered a call to action. Bennett defeated Republican incumbent John Carman, who had mocked the 2017 women's march in Washington, D.C., with a Facebook post asking whether the women would be home in time to cook dinner. Singer Halsey, whose given name is Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, gave a powerful speech in the form of a poem she wrote recounting abuse that she and other women have faced. "This is the beginning, not the finale," she told the crowd, "and that's why we're here, that's why we rally." At the rally kicking off the women's march in New York on Jan. 20, 2018, Singer Halsey read a stirring poem about her experiences with rape, abuse and miscarriage. Organizers said the crowd Saturday stretched more than 25 blocks from Columbus Circle to 86th Street. Andrea Hagelgans, a senior advisor to the mayor, tweeted that the official turnout was more than 120,000. Police estimated that more than 200,000 people marched. Many held homemade signs, including one that read: "Public Cervix Announcement: No Uterus, No Opinion." Another read "My Outrage Won't Fit on This Sign." The march in New York City was one of about 250 planned around the world this weekend. In New Jersey, thousands of people rallied in Morristown in support of women's rights. Last year, more than 400,000 demonstrators flooded midtown for the Womens March. Another 400,000 to 500,000 people marched in Washington, D.C., along with hundreds of thousands more in at least 300 cities around the world. The Best Signs From the NYC Women's March Organizers said they were marching because basic rights for women, immigrants and others are under attack. Many of them wore pink cat-ear hats as a show of solidarity, while others carried signs stating opposition to Trump and his policies. "I'd be lying if I said that I'm not dispirited and discouraged over having to march yet again to register our opposition to this disastrous first year of the Trump presidency," said Peggy Taylor, a New York City tour guide and Manhattan resident. She said that last year, she felt "a kind of euphoria" walking through the city with hundreds of thousands of participants. This year, "the hard reality of what lies ahead of us has sunk in," she said. "I know that we have a long slog ahead of us to undo the damage that this man has inflicted." Our city is coming out strong for #WomensMarchNYC today, just as we did last year! Whos ready to march? pic.twitter.com/QnxQ9D0Rc7 Chirlane McCray (@NYCFirstLady) January 20, 2018 Marchers in New York City began at 61st Street and Central Park West -- near Trump International Hotel & Tower -- then went down to Columbus Circle before heading east to Sixth Avenue, which they took to Bryant Park. Police organized elbow-to-elbow participants behind metal barriers that reached into offshoot streets along the park, guiding them in groups toward the march downtown. But the crowds were so thick that officers started turning people away at certain entry points, telling them to try farther north. Subway stations were packed. AP "Power at the polls," said a sign held by Cathy Muldoon, 52, a high school librarian from Dallas, Pennsylvania, who brought her two teenage daughters. She said this year's action is set against the backdrop of Trump's presidency, which "turned out to be as scary as we thought it would be; I've not seen any checks and balances, everything is moving toward the right, and we have a president who seems to have no decency." However, she said, the march "gives us a sense that we still have some power and that there is hope." Getty Images Thalia Friedman, an intrepid 9-year-old New York resident, held up a sign that read: "Donald Trump calls women ugly and does not deserve to be president." Then she spoke, adding, "and he's racist." Earlier Saturday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke at the Women's March Breakfast hosted by the New York City Bar Association. "We have seen tremendous aggression and discrimination against women over this past year," Cuomo said. "We have a federal government that's looking to roll back women's rights all across the board - roll back a woman's right to choose, roll back contraceptive care, roll back insurance coverage for reproductive rights." [NATL] PHOTOS: Signs at the 2018 Women's Marches The Republican president "fundamentally disrespects women," said Cuomo, a Democrat. "And then you put him together with an extremely conservative Congress and you have seen a reversal of women's rights." As the Manhattan march was underway Saturday, Trump took to Twitter, saying it was the "perfect day" for women to march in celebration. The president ignored the overwhelmingly anti-Trump sentiment of the marches, writing: "Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!" Republicans and Democrats, predictably, blamed each other in the early hours of Saturday for the failure to prevent a federal government shutdown. Many government agencies had to cease operations when lawmakers failed to pass a budget plan by midnight. In the first of a series of early morning tweets Saturday, President Donald Trump said, "Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMoreRepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess!" Democrats pointed out that Republicans control Congress and the White House, while the GOP zeroed in on Senate Democrats who would not support a stopgap measure. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. There is absolutely nothing in this bill that #Senate Democrats oppose, yet they are shutting down the government," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted. [[470231593, C]] Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Patrick Meehan is denying allegations of misconduct after a new report from The New York Times cited unnamed people accusing him of using taxpayer money to settle a complaint from a former aide. According to the report published Saturday, Meehan is accused of expressing romantic interest toward a younger female staff member and then becoming "hostile when she did not reciprocate." Meehan, a 62-year-old married father of three, allegedly professed his feelings for her in person and then wrote her a letter. The woman eventually started working from home and then left the job, The New York Times reported. Meehans office and the woman eventually reached a confidential agreement and Meehan used thousands of taxpayer dollars to settle the claim, sources told The New York Times. Meehan, who resides in Drexel Hill, has represented Pennsylvanias 7th congressional district since 2011 and previously served as the Delaware County District Attorney from 1996 to 2001. Meehan was also a member of the House Ethics Committee which has recently conducted investigations into sexual misconduct claims against other congressmen. House Speaker Paul Ryan's office says the allegations against Meehan must be investigated by the House Ethics Committee and that Meehan should repay any taxpayer funds used to settle the case. Ryan is also removing Meehan from the committee. A spokesman for Meehan told NBC10 Saturday that the congressman "denies the allegations." Throughout his career he has always treated his colleagues male and female with the utmost respect and professionalism, the spokesman wrote. In this case, the employee, represented by counsel, made certain assertions of inappropriate behavior which were investigated. With respect to resolving any allegation made against the office, Congressman Meehan would only act with advice of House Counsel and consistent with House Ethics Committee guidance. "Every step of the process was handled ethically and appropriately," Meehan's spokesman continued. "At Congressman Meehans request, the congressional attorneys handling the case have asked the complainants counsel to release all parties from the confidentiality requirements of the agreement to ensure a full and open airing of all the facts. The Congressman is hopeful that they will agree to this request for full transparency." "Rep. Meehan believes there must be real reform to the process for resolving complaints so that those who are truly wronged are given a fair forum to be heard and vindicated, and those accused are provided with an ability to respond to baseless accusations. The public to whom elected officials are answerable must be provided with a true sense of the facts and circumstances involved. A weak weather system is bringing snow to the mountains and rain to other parts of Southern California. Rainfall rates are not expected to match those of the Jan. 9 storm that caused flooding and damaging mudflows throughout the region and unleashed devastation in the Santa Barbara County coastal community of Montecito. At least 20 people were killed, and the search continues for three missing people. Crews plan to work through the weekend to clear mud and debris from Highway 101 through the area. By Friday morning, most of the mud had been cleared from the highway -- a significant difference from earlier this week when it was covered in several feet of mud. Friday's rainfall is not expected to cause any problems for work crews. Snow is expected Friday and Saturday in the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, and a dusting of snow is possible in the Antelope Valley, thanks to a cold and fast-moving storm system. A winter weather advisory warning issued due to difficult travel conditions in the San Gabriel Mountains from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Behind the system's front, the snow level is expected to lower to between 3,500 and 4,500 feet, although it will fall to 2,500 feet in Ventura County. The highest snow amounts will be in Ventura and Los Angeles counties, including along the Grapevine section of the 5 Freeway. The snow level will be around 7,500 feet early, drop to between 3,500 and 4,000 feet by the afternoon, then fall to 2,500 feet across the northern slopes through early Saturday morning. Expect strong wind gusts in the mountains. There's a 20 percent chance of showers in Los Angeles County and a "slight chance" of the same in Orange County. Along the coast, a high surf advisory will be in effect until 9 p.m. Saturday in Los Angeles County and 8 p.m. Saturday in Orange County. Temperatures will be in the 60s for much of the region. In Northern California, a winter storm moving into the Sierra Nevada range is expected to dump up to a foot of snow before it shifts course to the central part of the state. Donner Pass recorded 9 inches of snow overnight, and that it could get another 3 inches by Friday afternoon. Farther south, a high surf warning was issued for the central coast. Forecasters say beaches between Monterey and Sonoma counties could see waves up to 30 feet high. Hazmat crews were called to an East Village warehouse Thursday evening to dispose of an illegal hash oil extraction device. Narcotics officers from the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) raided the warehouse at 1466 F Street between 14th and 15th Street at around 5 p.m. and found the pressurized device. Hash oil is a resin extracted from marijuana that can be smoked, ingested or vaporized. Dangerous, flammable chemicals, like butane, are often used in the extraction process and these chemicals under intense pressure can be even more dangerous. Hazmat crews were not aware of what chemical was being used in this device, but an official at the scene said the device wasn't a big deal and crews were just taking extra precaution. Police said it could have been up to a year since the device was last used. No other illegal marijuana products were found in the warehouse. discovered and raided the lab on F Street between 14th and 15th Streets on Thursday evening at around 5 p.m. San Diego Fire-Rescue Department (SDFD) Hazmat crews were requested to help with removal of hazardous materials. No other information was available. Please refresh this page for updates on this story. Details may change as more information becomes available. Sometimes, the little things in life can give us just that a little more life. Thats what a simple ride in a BMW did for a San Diego Army veteran Friday. With help from his nurses, Rodger Graham carefully went from his wheelchair into the passenger seat of a white BMW i8 at the BMW of San Diego dealership in Kearny Mesa. With his window rolled down, an ear-to-ear smile, and a dealership employee at the wheel, Graham went for a spin. The ride was on Grahams bucket list, one of his final wishes as he undergoes care at Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care. Graham suffers from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), an inflammatory lung disease that causes obstructed airflow from the lungs. Some days, its difficult to even breathe. Due to his condition, Graham cant handle long outings so he spends most days at home with his wife, Judy Graham. On those days, he often dreams of BMWs, a car brand hes admired for years. And, he repeats to Judy his wish to see as many BMWs as possible and maybe even ride one. "Ive always had a strong desire for BMWs," Rodger told NBC 7. "Always loved the looks of them, the performances, everything." Graham has been with Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care for one month and, recently, the facility asked him if there was anything hed like to do, any unfulfilled dreams they could make happen. Immediately, BMWs came to mind. "Hes wanted to do this for a long time," Judy told NBC 7. "Weve got a little repetition there with asking me every day to please find the place where the most BMWs are so he can go see them." [[470193773,C]] The facility arranged Fridays visit to the dealership and the VIP treatment. The Grahams were in high spirits, admiring the cars close up. For a few hours, Rodger got out of the house and forgot about the tough road ahead and behind him. Judy said her husband has come close to death a few times, including suffering a ruptured aorta that he somehow survived. "Hes come real close a couple times, and come through it each time, so theres always hope," she said. "Thats the way you live. You want to put one foot in front of the other and just get through the day. Theres always hope." Judy said watching her husband realize one of his dreams, albeit small, was delightful. His quality of life has declined due to his illness and he doesnt get out much, except going to medical appointments and the occasional lunch outing afterward. Judy said she likes "anytime that something happens that makes him happy." Rodger was drafted in 1966 and served in the U.S. Army as a sharpshooter in Germany until his release in early 1968. His Army days were tough but hes grateful he got through them. After being discharged, Rodger worked for a communications company for 35 years. The Grahams lived in Denver, Colorado, for 34 years and moved to San Diego a few years ago. Rodger has always been a car enthusiast so his special wish was fitting, especially for a man, who, for now, is focused on simply enjoying the ride. Demonstrators from Los Angeles to New York marched in support of female empowerment and denounced President Donald Trump's views on immigration, abortion, LGBT rights and women's rights on Saturday, the anniversary of his inauguration. People marched in Casper, Wyoming, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Houston. In Park City, Utah, where the annual Sundance Film Festival is in full swing, actress Jane Fonda and nationally known attorney Gloria Allred joined the women's march. Tens of thousands of them marched in cities up and down the West Coast. Actress Viola Davis addressed members of the Los Angeles crowd, many of whom carried signs like "Real news, fake president." Also in Los Angeles, Eva Longoria, Natalie Portman, Viola Davis, Alfre Woodard, Scarlett Johansson, Constance Wu, Adam Scott and Rob Reiner were among the celebrities who addressed a crowd of hundreds of thousands of demonstrators. Woodard urged everyone to register and vote, saying, "the 2018 midterms start now." And Davis spoke with the passion of a preacher as she discussed the nation's history of discrimination and her past as a sexual assault survivor. On Saturday, Washington D.C. the home of the last year's women's march that was the largest single-day demonstration in U.S. history hosted a "March on the Polls" to encourage women to take an active roll in politics in 2018. Critics of the weekend's marches said the demonstrations were really a protest against Trump. More rallies were planned at other cities on Sunday. Meanwhile, Trump tweeted Saturday afternoon that it was a "perfect day" for women to march to celebrate the "economic success and wealth creation" that's happened during his first year in office while women across the nation rallied against him and his policies. "Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months," the Republican wrote. "Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!" But demonstrators denounced Trump's views with colorful signs and even saltier language. Oklahoma City protesters chanted "We need a leader, not a creepy tweeter!" One woman donned a T-shirt with the likeness of social justice icon Woody Guthrie, who wrote "This Land Is Your Land." Members of the group Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women of Seattle burned sage and chanted in front of Seattle's rainy march. In Richmond, Virginia, the crowd burst into cheers when a woman ran down the middle of the street carrying a pink flag with the word "Resist." The march in Washington, D.C., on Saturday took on the feel of a political rally when U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, both Democrats, urged women to run for office and vote to oppose Trump and the Republicans' agenda. "We march, we run, we vote, we win," Pelosi said, to applause. Trump's main opponent in the 2016 presidential election, Democratic former U.S. first lady Hillary Clinton, said the Women's March last year was "a beacon of hope and defiance." "In 2018, it is a testament to the power and resilience of women everywhere," she tweeted, urging people to show that power at the voting booth this year. People gathered from Montpelier to Milwaukee, from Shreveport to Seneca Falls. "I think right now with the #MeToo movement, it's even more important to stand for our rights," said Karen Tordivo, who marched in Cleveland with her husband and 6-year-old daughter. In Palm Beach, Florida, home to Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, several hundred people gathered carrying anti-Trump signs before marching. There, a group of women wearing red cloaks and white hats like the characters in the book and TV show "The Handmaid's Tale" marched in formation, their heads bowed. Cathy Muldoon, a high school librarian from Dallas, Pennsylvania, took her two teenage daughters to the New York rally and said marching gives people hope. She said this year's action is set against the backdrop of the Trump presidency, which "turned out to be as scary as we thought it would be." "I've not seen any checks and balances," she said. "Everything is moving toward the right, and we have a president who seems to have no decency." More than 200,000 people filled Chicago's Grant Park to inspire women and others to be active in politics. Speakers, including several prominent Chicago politicians and activists, and performers, including the cast of Hamilton, took the stage as women held signs and chanted. Scores of demonstrators turned out in Cambridge, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Francisco and San Diego as well. Earlier Saturday, dozens of activists gathered in Rome to denounce violence against women and express support for the #MeToo movement. They were joined by Italian actress and director Asia Argento, who made headlines after alleging in 2017 she had been sexually assaulted by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in the 1990s. Argento addressed the criticism she received once she spoke up about her abuse. "Women are scared to speak, and because I was vilified by everything I said, I was called a prostitute for being raped," she said at the rally. Argento, who's 42, was strongly criticized by many Italian media and Italian women for not speaking out earlier and was hounded on Twitter with accusations that she sought trouble. Weinstein has apologized for causing "a lot of pain" with "the way I've behaved with colleagues in the past," but he has denied "any allegations of non-consensual sex." As a shutdown of the federal government looms, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser says the local government will continue to function and will pick up some federal functions, such as picking up trash on federal land. "Washington D.C. is open," Bowser said in a press conference Friday morning on the National Mall. "Regardless of whether or not the federal government shuts down, the D.C. government will be open for business." "We are here to do our job, and we call on the Congress to do their job," she continued. If the government shuts down, crews with the D.C. Department of Public Works (DPW) will pick up trash from 126 federal properties in the city, including the National Mall, Pennsylvania Avenue and Dupont Circle. If it snows, the same crews will clear roads the National Park Service usually would clear. "People from across the nation and around the world come to visit our nation's capitol, and we take great pride in our city and want to ensure it looks clean and its best, regardless of what's happening at the federal level," DPW director Christopher Shorter said. The work will cost an estimated $100,000 per week. D.C. could request reimbursement from the federal government for costs incurred during the shutdown, or could include these costs in federal payment budget requests. The mayor urged tourists to continue to visit D.C. if members of Congress and President Donald Trump can't reach a deal to keep the government open. "As always, we welcome visitors to come and enjoy our restaurants, shops and our vibrant neighborhoods throughout all eight wards of Washington, D.C.," Bowser said. The police and fire departments would not be affected by a shutdown, as they are essential government services. City offices will remain open, and benefits from Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) would continue. If you've ever driven the speed limit on the Capital Beltway or Interstate 270, you've likely watched a stream of cars speed past. A Maryland state senator said it makes more sense for the law to catch up to the crowd rather than penalize drivers. Maryland state Sen. Joanne Benson, of Prince George's County, introduced a bill on Thursday that would raise the speed limit on I-495 from 55 mph to 70 mph. The bill would also increase the speed limit to 70 on I-270 and highways and interstates across the state. "People will beep their horns, they flash their lights, they yell out the window, because they are saying you are slowing down the traffic," Benson said. "When drivers use the beltway, they sense and they intuit that it should be higher than 55 mph, and they drive that," said John Townsend, spokesperson for AAA Mid-Atlantic. Townsend said the Capital Beltway was originally designed for 70 mph traffic. "What really moved the issue was the energy crisis back in 1973, and the governor decided to lower the speed limit to 55 to conserve energy, ironically, and it's remained at 55 since then," he said. Drivers have mixed reactions to the proposal for a 70 mph speed limit. "It's hard to have someone travel at that particular speed and maintain it. It's not practical to me," one man said. "From 55 to 70, I don't think that's a great idea, just because it's a lot of road rage already," a woman said. "Seventy miles is really not that fast," another woman said. A month after a race in Virginia was canceled, several runners say they havent received word about getting their registration fees back. Judy Lee of Arlington said she and four friends signed up for the Great Chocolate Race in December. Each paid $50 to race on a scenic course and receive medals and chocolate truffles upon finishing. But three days before the race, an email said the race was canceled. An email, I think on Dec. 6, saying, Hey, sorry, but the race is canceled, and well be in touch. Merry Christmas, Lees friend Andrew said. But Lee and her friends have not heard back or been refunded. Race organizer Crucible Racing blamed the cancellation on permitting issues with Arlington. Arlington's special events office said Crucible never obtained all necessary permits to hold the race and said Crucible owner Michael Barder knew the permits he needed because he hosted the same race the year before. Fifty dollars, I mean, its not going to break our bank, but its really the principal of it, Lee said. Barder also canceled other races around the country, and according to complaints on Yelp, runners paid registration fees but never got refunds. Its just not right, Lee said. Arlington County said it expected as many as 2,500 runners, which would add up to $125,000 in registration fees for the race. My thought is that were never going to hear anything back and were probably never going to see the money again, Andrew said. Barder's email to the City of San Diego blamed lower than anticipated demand and higher than anticipated costs for canceling a race there and promised refunds to the participants. NBC4 Responds made multiple calls to Barder and his wife and got no response. No one answered the door at their home in Lanexa in Kent County, Virginia. NBC4 Responds contacted Virginias Office of the Attorney General, which assigned an investigator to Lees complaint. As for other runners, one womans Yelp review out of Texas says she received a refund. A Virginia man who sex-trafficked a 14-year-old girl and 16-year-old girl for two years was ordered on Friday to serve 30 years in prison and pay the victims the $648,000 they generated. Michael Edward Gunn, 41, ran a prostitution ring out of his home in Dumfries, Virginia, about 40 miles from Washington, D.C.. His wife, Angel Gunn, 35, and his live-in girlfriend, Vanessa Domingues, 31, assisted him. According to federal court documents, Gunn posted ads for the teenagers on the online classifieds website Backpage, using fake photos. Then, he, his wife or his girlfriend drove the teens to meet customers in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Gunn gave the teens drugs and ordered that they meet quotas. One girl needed to make $400 a night. He set a higher quota for the other girl, $1,000 a night, "because of [her] skin color," court documents say. From July 2013 to July 2015, the teens brought in about $648,000 -- the majority of which went to Gunn. Neighbors said they had no idea Gunn was pimping girls from his large home in a cul-de-sac. They said they thought the living arrangement among the adults was strange but that they had not seen teens at the house. "Obviously, you want to help. You want to help any young child that's gone through that, but there were no red flags. There were no signs over there," neighbor Tony Meyers said. Prosecutors described Gunn as a sexual predator who refused to change his ways. When he met the teens, he already was a registered sex offender. He prostituted an underage girl in D.C., got out of jail and moved to the suburbs. Court documents say he initially lured the girls with affection, telling them the crime ring was a family whose members took care of each other. He gave the teens a place to stay and had sexual relationships with them both. At the same time, Gunn was physically violent. According to court documents, he once hit one of the teens so hard, her tooth pierced through her lip. Anna Hansen, operations director of the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Initiative, said pimps recruit underage girls because they're easy to manipulate. "They don't have their own well-being or identity established, and they're looking for love, and they're looking for popularity and they're looking for money," she said. Gunn's scheme began to crumble two years ago, when Prince William County police caught him in a hotel parking lot in Woodbridge, Virginia, with the 14-year-old victim. Police found they had three phones, $1,130 in cash, a hotel room key and 15 condoms. Evidence showed Gunn knew both teens were underage, prosecutors say. Angel Gunn and Vanessa Domingues also were convicted of sex-trafficking minors. The women testified at trial that Gunn led the crime ring. Angel Gunn was sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison. Domingues got 10 years. It's unclear whether the victims will ever get the $648,000 Gunn owes them; the sale of his house yielded only about $110,000. Prosecutors said they were unable to provide information on where the teens are now, citing confidentiality concerns. Hansen, the advocate for victims, said she hoped the case would raise awareness of human trafficking. "It's hiding in plain sight" she said. The shutdown of the federal government will affect the everyday lives of people across the country, regardless of whether they're government workers. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are off the job, limiting what government services are available to the public. Heres a list of what you can and cannot do during a government shutdown. We'll be adding to the list. If you know of something we've left off, email us and well research it. Check out some of the questions and answers we have received below. During a shutdown, you can: Ride Metro: Metrorail and Metrobus service will operate on a regular weekday schedule on Monday despite federal government shutdown. Get Social Security benefits: Payments would continue to be issued, and the Social Security Administration says they do not expect delays to payments. Send and receive mail: The U.S. Postal Service will continue to deliver mail and keep post offices open, because it is funded through the sale of postage, products and services. Visit Smithsonian museums through Jan. 23: "We will be open for our usual operating hours tomorrow. We look forward to seeing you!" Visit the National Zoo through Jan. 22: The National Zoo, like the Smithsonian's museums and research centers, is open through Tuesday. Ahead of the week, "The Smithsonian can use prior year funds still available to us to do so," they said earlier in the week. Visit some national parks: The National Park Service says park roads, lookouts, trails and open-air memorials like the National Mall will remain accessible. But during the shutdown, emergency services in those areas will be limited. Visitor facilities like restrooms, visitor centers and information desks will also be unavailable. Visit a Veterans Affairs hospital: VA hospitals would remain open. Be protected by the FBI, Coast Guard and law enforcement agencies: Government functions essential to public safety would continue to operate. Travel by air: Federal air traffic controllers and most Transportation Security Administration agents would continue to work. Cross the border: U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents would stay on the job. Eat meat safely: Meat inspectors with the U.S. Department of Agriculture would continue to report to work because they're essential for public safety. Watch for updates on Robert Mueller's investigation: The investigation is funded by Congress, not the Department of Justice. Reopen the federal government: Representatives and senators would remain on the job, but many staff members would be sent home. Watch a Supreme Court argument: The highest court in the land would remain open. Continue your health care through several government programs: the Indian Health Service, Health Resources and Services Administration and the National Institutes of Health would continue treating current patients. Get help for mental health crises or addiction: the disaster distress helpline, treatment locator, treatment referral line and the suicide prevention line would remain open. Buy necessities with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) benefits: TANF received full or advanced appropriations in the last fiscal year. SNAP and WIC can continue paying benefits into February. Receive Medicaid and Childrens Health Insurance Program payments: States have the funding to continue paying Medicaid recipients through June, the department of health and human services says. Use key functions of the federal healthcare exchange: Healthcare.gov would allow Americans to determine their eligibility on the exchanges. Visit the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing: Public tours, mail order sales and visitor centers are operating on a normal schedule. Catch a show at the Kennedy Center: The Kennedy Center may have reduced hours on some days, but you can still buy tickets and attend shows or events. During a shutdown, you can't: Get military death benefits: Most military functions are covered under the Pay Our Military Act, but death benefits would likely stop until the government reopens. Check the legal work status of an employee: The E-Verify system allows employers across the country to check on immigration status, but it's a federal website, which means it would be shut down. Get food through federal nutrition programs: The Senior Nutrition program and Native American Nutrition and Supportive Services would stop. Become a new National Institutes of Health patient: Unless the NIH director steps in, the agency wouldnt take new patients during a government shutdown. Visit the Library of Congress: All Library of Congress buildings are now closed and all public events are canceled until further notice. Also, all inquiries and requests to the Library of Congress web-based services will not be received or responded to until the shutdown ends. Information on loc.gov will not be updated. Copyright.gov and Congress.gov will remain available. Visit some National Park Service attractions: The Natonal Park Service says the following attractions will be closed: Arlington House, Belle Haven Marina, Belmont-Paul Womens Equality National Monument, Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site, Clara Barton National Historic Site, Daingerfield Island restaurant, Triple Craft, Fords Theatre National Historic Site, Fort Marcy, Fort Washington, Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, Great Falls (Md.) Visitor Center, Great Falls (Va.) Visitor Center, Hains Point, Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site,Old Stone House, Oxon Hill Farm, Peirce Mill, Rock Creek Park Nature Center and Planetarium, Turkey Run, Washington Monument and the White House Visitor Center Visit the National Arboretum, or watch the bald eagle cam: The arboretum and it's bald eagle camera are part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Use public restrooms along the National Mall: The National Park Service says all public restrooms and comfort stations along the National Mall will be closed. Portable comfort stations will be available in select locations during the shutdown. Email questions and answers: Q: Will VA disability payments be paid? A: According to U.S. Rep. Bill Shusters website, According to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, survivor benefits are similar to disability/pension benefits paid to veterans. Thus, survivors currently in receipt of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation or Survivors' Pension will continue to receive those payments. New claims may be delayed. Q: Will funding for high education, such as direct unsubsidized loans, will be distributed to institutions? A: Contact your higher education institution to see how the government shutdown affects them. It would depend on how that program is funded. Q: How will passport applications be affected, both for filing them and for applications in the midst of being processed? A: The State Department will continue to issue passports and provide other consular services. However, processing passport applications are on hold until the government reopens. Passport centers within federal buildings are closed. Q: Will military commissaries be closed? A: The Defense Commissary Agency does not have a process for operations during a government shutdown. However, it is likely that stateside commissaries would close, while those overseas would remain open since they are considered "essential." There does not appear to be a definite answer at this time. Q: During the shutdown, will we still get disability checks? A: Social Security and disability checks continue to go out. New applications may be delayed. Q: Do you know if people who receive child support via attorney general will still receive the checks? A: I cannot find anything to indicate whether those payments will continue. You should contact the attorney general to find out their situation. Q: Would IRS taxpayer assistance centers still be open? A: If those assistance centers utilize federal workers, it is likely those workers would be furloughed on Monday if the shutdown continues. Call before heading to a center to see if they are open. Q: What about military funerals that are scheduled next week? At a national cemetery? Are those suspended during the shutdown? A: According to the Arlington National Cemetery, they will remain open and conduct normal operations during the shutdown. Q: How about tax returns? A: Tax refunds could be delayed, because IRS workers are likely to be furloughed on Monday if the shutdown continues. Q: I was wondering will public transportations still be available. Also will it affect the shelters and being placed in a permanent housing? A: If those agencies involve federal employees, it is unclear what will happen on Monday as many federal workers are expected to be furloughed. Your best bet is to contact those agencies directly to see how they are impacted. Q: How about immigration? My wife is Filipina and we are navigating the immigration process for her and my 10 month old son. Do you know if the USCIS department is still working during this shutdown? A: According to the National Law Review, Adjudications at US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency at the US Department of Homeland Security that reviews nonimmigrant and immigrant petitions and applications for immigration benefits, is fee-funded, and should continue on a normal schedule. Q: Can you park in DC? A: Parking is enforced by the D.C. Department of Public Works, which remains open along with the rest of local government. Q: Will NIH be open for federal workers? A: The government shutdown will not adversely affect patients already in medical studies. The shutdown could mean interrupting research that's been going on for years. A Massachusetts-based dry cleaning company says it is closing its doors. In an email sent to customers, Zoot's Dry Cleaners says it has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The headquarters for the company, founded in 1998, is based in Brockton. They have at least 20 locations throughout Massachusetts. In the email, the company asked that customers be patient as they tried to return garments to them. The said that customers can expect further information about the move through email or through flyers posted at stores. Twenty-one individuals have died due to complications from influenza so far this season, Maine's CDC confirmed Friday. The Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that there's "widespread" flu activity in all 16 counties. Maine had reported 1,187 cases of people who had tested positive for flu through Jan. 13. "This year, right now, appears to be predominantly influenza AH3 season, which tends to be more severe and it tends to affect the elderly more than younger individuals, which means we see more hospitalizations and we see more deaths," said Maine CDC epidemiologist Sara Robinson. All of the 21 individuals who passed away were at least 55 years old or older, officials said. As of last Saturday, the Maine CDC reports 327 flu-related hospitalizations. Influenza Surveillance Report (Week Ending Jan. 27, 2018) Click on each state for more information. Data: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Nina Lin/NBC At this point in 2017, there were only two influenza-related deaths in the entire state, according to health officials. "Flu is everywhere in the U.S. right now," CDC's Dr. Daniel Jernigan told NBC News. "There's lots of flu in lots of places." Jernigan added that while this flu season may be severe, it's not shaping up to be record-setting. The concern about the virus is spreading, and it has prompted new protocols at Catholic Churches. The Portland Diocese has advised all 141 churches in the state to temporarily halt certain rituals, such as shaking hands, sharing wine and receiving communion on the tongue. Left: Reported Flu Activity for the Week of Dec. 31, 2016 (Week 52); Right: Reported Flu Activity for the Week of Dec. 30, 2017 (Week 52) Data: CDC "If you're sick, the Sunday Mass obligation is lifted," said diocese communications director Dave Guthro. "These are some of the small things we can do that don't take away from the spirit of Mass. [The Bishop] felt it was important to do anything we could to try and help people be safe and healthy." Parishioners in Portland said they appreciated the proactive, hands-off approach. "Anything we can do to protect ... I think it's a great idea," said Susan Mack. "There's a lot of elderly people that go to Mass." Flu deaths have been reported elsewhere in New England. In Massachusetts, a beloved Swampscott teacher passed away this week, and elementary schools have been closed to allow staff members to attend her funeral. An 87-year-old Franklin, Massachusetts man who went missing Friday morning has been located, according to police. Authorities issued a Silver Alert for Andrew Green after they said hen left around 6 a.m. Friday for a doctor's appointment in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood but never arrived. Green, who has a history of dementia and diabetes, according to police, has been disoriented in the past, and police say he has been found as far as Conway, New Hampshire. Gun owners in Massachusetts are being warned if they own bump stocks, they have two weeks to get rid of them. The Massachusetts legislature voted last year to ban them and Feb. 1 is the deadline to comply or face criminal charges. "This is not a joke," said Jim Wallace, executive director of the Gun Owners Action League. "A violation of this new law is up to life in prison." Wallace says many bump stock owners may not be familiar with the new law, and a warning from Massachusetts state officials to gun owners despite being dated Dec. 18 only went out Friday, more than a month later. "Oh, it should have been sent out a long time ago," said Wallace. Bump stocks made international headlines when a gunman opened fire from a hotel room in Las Vegas back in October. The shooter, Stephen Paddock, used bump stocks to increase the rate of fire. Lawmakers in Massachusetts then voted to ban them. "Gun owners are facing a very important deadline coming up, and the state has not done their due diligence in notifying gun owners," said Wallace. It's unclear why the letter just went out Friday. It's now being mailed to all gun owners to explain the consequences of not surrendering bump stocks. There are no exceptions. State Rep. David Linsky, who was behind the bump stock legislation, said "The ban ... was extremely well publicized," said Massachusetts Rep. David Linsky, who was behind the legislation. "People who still own them are well aware of the changes in the law." Bump stock owners are supposed to call their local police department or Massachusetts State Police to make arrangements to have them destroyed. With several people in a Vermont town having to evacuate because of flooding, police in Swanton have a new concern in the area: looting. Swanton police tell MyNBC5 that the weekend flooding from the Missisquoi River forced the evacuation of more than 25 homes. While no looting has been reported, several of the people who have been displaced have called police out of concern that things may be stolen from their home while they are gone. Police say that they are monitoring the situation around the clock. Right now, it is unclear when people will be able to return to their homes in the affected areas. Husband lost control of car on Cyprus road, inquest hears TRAGEDY befell a globe-trotting couple from Thatcham when their car careered off the road in Cyprus. Patrick Tarrant was at the wheel when he lost control, leading to a fatal crash. His wife Jayne died four weeks later in hospital, an inquest at Reading Town Hall heard last Wednesday. During the hearing, which was not attended by any family or friends, Berkshire coroner Peter Bedford expressed his frustration at the lack of co-operation he had received from the Cypriot authorites. However, he said he was able to conclude the inquest with the help of a statement from Mr Tarrant, of Hartley Way, Thatcham. Mr Tarrant said he had been driving, with his wife as passenger, on June 2 last year and the vehicle was quite heavily loaded at the time. Mr Bedford said: Around 2pm, in the course of driving, he overtook a lorry on the dual carriageway. Due to poor road conditions and the fact the car was heavily loaded, stability was lost; he lost control of the vehicle and veered off the road. He has no recollection from that point on. However, he was informed that, having left the road, the vehicle struck a telegraph pole, then a tree and, finally, a wall. Mr Tarrant, who awoke in hospital, sustained serious injuries and stayed there for six weeks, the inquest heard. Mr Bedford said: But tragically, his wife lost her life. She died on June 30 Im assuming that, in the intervening four weeks, she received ongoing care and tragically couldnt be saved. Ive received no report from the Cyprus coroner; none from the Cyprus police and no medical evidence in the form of a post mortem. The only piece of evidence submitted to the coroner was a medical certificate, stating Mrs Tarrant had died from multiple injuries. Mr Bedford said that, despite the lack of co-operation from the Cypriot authorities, he was able to conclude the inquest and ruled that Mrs Tarrant died in Nicosia General Hospital, Cyprus, from multiple injuries sustained in a road traffic collision. The online edition of the Cyprus Today newspaper reported that the Tarrants, who had an apartment in the Upper Girne region of Cyprus, were also regular visitors to Thailand. They sold dresses and jewellery that they picked up on their travels at the Saturday Lambousa Market in Cyprus. A fellow ex-pat, Col Coleman, was quoted as saying: She was a wonderful and beautiful lady with a heart of gold. They are a diamond couple... its a great loss. She was well-loved. Friends from Thailand and the UK posted condolences on social media, paying tribute to Mrs Tarrants cheerful nature, sense of humour and care for others. This year's flu season is shaping up to be an especially serious one, and it's important for clinicians to promptly recognize, diagnosis, and treat influenza in hospitalized patients, especially in vulnerable populations such as older individuals. A new study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1532-5415), however, indicates that adults aged 65 years and older who are hospitalized with fever or respiratory symptoms during influenza seasons are less likely to have a provider-ordered influenza test than younger patients. The highest rates of hospitalization and death associated with influenza infections are experienced by older adults. To see if these individuals are being adequately tested for influenza by their doctors when they present with symptoms, Lauren Hartman, MD of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and her colleagues conducted a study that included 1422 adults hospitalized with symptoms of acute respiratory illness or non-localizing fever at four hospitals in Tennessee during the influenza seasons from November 2006 to April 2012. The researchers found that overall, 28 percent of participants had provider-ordered influenza testing. Patients who were tested were younger than those not tested (an average age of 58 years versus 66 years) and more likely to have influenza-like illness (71 percent versus 49 percent). Influenza-like illness decreased with increasing age: 63 percent for those 18-49 years, 60 percent for those 50-64 years, and 48 percent for those 65 years. Among all patients, presence of influenza-like illness and younger age were independent predictors of provider-ordered testing. The investigators in the study conducted laboratory tests of influenza for all patients, regardless of whether their providers ordered testing. Among the 399 patients with influenza confirmed by these laboratory tests, influenza-like illness was the only significant predictor of provider-ordered testing. Nearly half of patients with confirmed influenza did not have testing ordered by their providers. "Influenza (http://www.healthinaging.org/files/documents/tipsheets/flu_what_to_do.pdf) is a common cause of hospitalization in older adults, but it is often under-recognized. It is important that physicians consider influenza in hospitalized older adults because antiviral treatment is beneficial if given early, and so spread to other vulnerable patients can be prevented," said Dr. Hartman. Cystic fibrosis (CF) shortens life by making the lungs prone to repeated bacterial infections and associated inflammation. UNC School of Medicine researchers have now shown for the first time that the lungs' bacterial population changes in the first few years of life as respiratory infections and inflammation set in. The study, published in PLoS Pathogens, offers a way to predict the onset of lung disease in children with CF and suggests a larger role for preventive therapies, such as hypertonic saline. "Lung symptoms in kids with CF are likely due to an increased burden of bacteria," said study senior author Matthew Wolfgang, PhD, associate professor of microbiology and immunology. "This implies there's an opportunity for early intervention that could dramatically increase the quality of life for these kids." CF affects about 70,000 people globally, and is most common in children of Northern European ethnicity - about one of every 2,500 births. The disease is caused by a dysfunctional version of the CFTR gene that encodes the CFTR protein. In the absence of this protein, mucus becomes dehydrated and thick - a sanctuary for bacteria - leading to repeated infections, inflammation, and eventually structural damage to lungs and upper airway tissues. The life expectancy of CF patients is about 40 years. Most CF studies have been done in adults and older children, and thus relatively little has been known about how and when inflammation, bacterial infections, and lung damage begin. To shed more light on that question, Wolfgang and colleagues analyzed bacterial DNA in samples of lung-lining fluid gathered from young children as part of an ongoing Australian project called AREST CF. "It's challenging and rare to get access to such samples," said Wolfgang, member of the UNC Marsico Lung Institute. "Here in the United States, we don't perform bronchoscopies on children diagnosed with CF if they don't yet have clinical symptoms." The UNC scientists found that in most of the samples from CF children who were less than a year old, there were little or no signs of bacteria. "If there was no significant evidence of bacteria, there was also no sign of inflammation, and the child generally appeared healthy," Wolfgang said. In the children between ages one and two, the pattern was different: many samples contained a significant amount of bacterial DNA - from the same bacterial species that normally populate the mouth and throat. These bacteria are not typically regarded as lung pathogens. "We can't go so far as to say that these kids have active infections, but clearly there's a significant increase in the bacterial burden in their lungs, and we know these bacteria provoke inflammation," Wolfgang said. In children age three to five, the samples contained increasing evidence of more worrisome bacteria, particularly Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Haemophilus influenzae, which are commonly found in older CF patients with more severe lung disease. As the bacterial burden worsened, molecular signs of inflammation increased. Also, lung X-ray studies of the children revealed mounting signs of structural lung disease as the bacterial burden increased. "This tells us lung bacterial infections start much earlier than we had expected in children with CF, and these infections are likely the earliest drivers of structural lung disease," Wolfgang said. Many of the bacterial species in the young children with CF, he noted, were "anaerobic" microbes that thrive in conditions of very low oxygen. This finding suggests that the dehydrated, thickened CF lung mucus creates pockets of low oxygen in lung tissues. "Therapies aimed at breaking up mucus very early in life might be very beneficial to these kids," Wolfgang said. "These therapies could postpone the increase in bacterial burden, including the shift towards the more pathogenic species." Doctors already give preventive antibiotics to young children in Australia, Germany, and the UK. However, Wolfgang noted that the children in the AREST CF study, who were treated with antibiotics until the age of two, still showed a clear progression of bacterial burden and inflammation. "It could be that other therapeutic strategies, such as thinning mucus, may be more successful," he said. Wolfgang and colleagues at the UNC Marsico Lung Institute now hope to do a similar, long-term study analyzing the lung bacteria of individual children and the changes in these "bacteriomes" over several years. The researchers want to evaluate the effectiveness of an early mucus-thinning intervention, for example hypertonic saline - salt water delivered via inhaler - which is already used to hydrate mucus in older CF patients. Source: http://news.unchealthcare.org/news/2018/january/cystic-fibrosis-discovery-bacterial-burden-begins-during-first-years-of-life Totalitarian California government ARRESTS citizens for feeding the homeless only the state is allowed to do that Should you be arrested for approaching a homeless person on the streets and giving him or her some food? According to the totalitarian California government, the answer is yes. This past weekend, El Cajon police officers placed roughly a dozen people under arrest for the horrible, unspeakable act of feeding homeless people at a city park because God forbid citizens of California act generously and give food to people in need. The event being held in the park was organized by a group called Break the Ban, which was formed in response to the passage of an emergency ordinance back in October prohibiting residents from distributing food while on city-owned property. Although city officials claim that the food-sharing ban was originally implemented as a way to stop the spread of hepatitis A, critics claim that it is nothing more than a punitive measure that dehumanizes the homeless and paints them as criminals. According to Mark Lane, one of the organizers of the event, roughly 12 to 15 people were passing out food and toiletries to the homeless when police arrived at Wells Park on East Madison Avenue to confront them. About 40 more people were also at the event, including several lawyers, however these people were not actively distributing food to the homeless. Several demonstrators held signs with slogans such as Feeding the hungry is not a crime. It was absolutely necessary to break this law until they were willing to enforce it, and, now that they have, we will continue this fight in court, said another organizer of the event, Shane Parmely. In a video that Parmely posted on Facebook, a police officer is seen explaining to the crowd at Wells Park that the city council passed an ordinance prohibiting the sharing of food on public property. This park is part of city property so you arent allowed to food share, the officer said in the video. if you guys continue to food share, then you guys are subjected to arrest, alright? And that was a promise that the police in El Cajon kept everyone that was handing out food to the homeless, including a 14-year-old child, was arrested, given a misdemeanor citation with a date to appear in court, and then released. Thankfully, no one at the event was taken away in handcuffs. It really is a shame that the California government would choose to criminalize charity and generosity rather than celebrate it, but then again, there are a number of other rules and regulations that the state has implemented that are shameful as well. There is, however, a reason why this ban on feeding the homeless passed, and its unlikely that it has much to do with hepatitis A at all. This is about government dependency. If California allows people to act charitably and give food to the homeless, that means that the homeless will be less dependent on the government. Some may consider it to be a cynical way of looking at things, but if you understand the way in which the progressive left operates, then you know it is the absolute truth. They want the government to be the providers. They want the government to feed the people. And once the people become reliant on the government for everything from food to shelter to clothing, then the government ultimately has a clear path forward towards tyranny. (Related: Children of welfare recipients are more likely to become dependent on government handouts.) Charity is one of the cornerstones of our country, and instead of making laws against it in the interest of government dependency and accumulated power, our elected leaders should be celebrating it and encouraging it. Sources include: SanDiegoUnionTribune.com ABC7.com Submit a correction >> Innovative E-Learning Platform from D2L Expertise from MADD CANADA & Canadian AIDS Society FREDERICTON, Jan. 19, 2018 /CNW/ - Canopy Growth Corporation (TSX: WEED) ("Canopy Growth" or the "Company") and the New Brunswick Liquor Corporation ("ANBL") today announced the roll out of a retail training program intended to educate and prepare Cannabis NB retail staff for the legalization of recreational cannabis. The training program, the first of its kind in Canada, will consist of four pillars combining online, self-study, and classroom components. The four areas of concentration include: Customer Service, Cannabis Product Knowledge, Safety and Responsible Use, and Policies Procedures & Systems. The objective of the program is to equip employees of ANBL's cannabis retail locations with the confidence they need to provide a safe and informative consumer experience. Bringing together ANBL's comprehensive knowledge of service standards in a retail environment and the unparalleled cannabis expertise that Canopy Growth has developed serving the largest base of cannabis customers across the country, this collaboration will draw on best practices to deliver world-class education services quickly and effectively. Ending cannabis prohibition is a complex endeavor, and it is imperative that adult consumers are educated on how to choose the right product, how to responsibly consume, and how to responsibly store their cannabis. Additionally, all employees in the position of selling recreational cannabis should be equipped with the skills needed to provide world-class service to curious customers, and to assist consumers in having a safe and responsible experience. "New Brunswick has demonstrated its ability to lead the country through progressive cannabis legislation, and in its efforts to attract cannabis jobs and investments," said Mark Zekulin, President, Canopy Growth Corporation. "A well-trained cannabis retail team is critical to ensuring the safety and success of the recreational cannabis industry in New Brunswick. This educational platform strengthens the province's dedication to getting it right and focusing on the details of this new industry." Investments in research and education are critical to ensure a safe and successful cannabis industry here in Canada and Canopy Growth is proud to play a leadership role in these areas. "This program will help ensure Cannabis NB operates in a manner that promotes social responsibility and responsible consumption," said Brian Harriman, President and CEO of NB Liquor. "NB Liquor has a vast amount of experience with customer service and retailing a controlled substance, operations and procedures and Canopy Growth can offer aspects of the product knowledge." The cannabis education and training program was created by Canopy Growth and ANBL, with input from MADD Canada on impaired driving. The entire curriculum leverages D2L's innovative learning platform, Brightspace. The program will be offered in whole or in part to other Canadian provinces and jurisdictions with Cannabis NB retail being the first to receive the training in its entirety. This commitment to education and training in the province is part of Canopy Growth's pledge to remit a monetary amount equal to two per cent of the gross value of all cannabis products sold to the government annually for social and/or educational programs. Canopy Growth is proud to stay true to its longstanding commitments to Corporate Social Responsibility, including partnerships with MADD Canada, the Canadian AIDS Society, Parent Action on Drugs, as well as an ongoing commitment to contribute funds from all online cannabis oil sales to educational initiatives. Here's to Future (Grey Matter) Growth. About Canopy Growth Corporation Canopy Growth is a world-leading diversified cannabis and hemp company, offering distinct brands and curated cannabis varieties in dried, oil and Softgel capsule forms. From product and process innovation to market execution, Canopy Growth is driven by a passion for leadership and a commitment to building a world-class cannabis company one product, site and country at a time. Canopy Growth has established partnerships with leading sector names including cannabis icon Snoop Dogg, breeding legends DNA Genetics and Green House seeds, and Fortune 500 alcohol leader Constellation Brands, to name but a few. Canopy Growth operates seven cannabis production sites with over 665,000 square feet of production capacity, including over 500,000 square feet of GMP-certified production space. The Company has operations in seven countries across four continents. The Company is proudly dedicated to educating healthcare practitioners, conducting robust clinical research, and furthering the public's understanding of cannabis, and through its partly owned subsidiary, Canopy Health Innovations, has devoted millions of dollars toward cutting edge, commercializable research and IP development. Through partly owned subsidiary Canopy Rivers Corporation, the Company is providing resources and investment to new market entrants and building a portfolio of stable investments in the sector. From our historic public listing to our continued international expansion, pride in advancing shareholder value through leadership is engrained in all we do at Canopy Growth. For more information visit www.canopygrowth.com Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements. 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. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Canopy Growth Corporation, its subsidiaries, or its affiliates to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Examples of such statements include future operational and production capacity, the impact of enhanced infrastructure and production capabilities, and forecasted available product selection. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and Canopy Growth Corporation does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities legislation. Neither the TSX Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Canopy Growth Corporation For further information: Jordan Sinclair, Director of Communications, [email protected], 613-769-4196; Investor Relations, Tyler Burns, [email protected], 855-558-9333 ex 122; Director: Bruce Linton, [email protected] Related Links http://canopygrowth.com/ New York is blaming the oil companies for climate change and for the damage from hurricanes and for supporting Republicans. In 2021, the Indian Point Nuclear Power plant in Westchester County will shut down its two nuclear reactors under an agreement New York State reached with plant owner Entergy. The Indian Point reactors produce carbon-free power. The Indian Point facility prevents the release of 8.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annuallythe same as taking 1.6 million cars off the road. Indian Point generates about 25 percent of the electricity used in New York City and Westchester County annually, approximately 10 percent of the states total electricity supply. Indian Point also produces about 24 percent of the states carbon-free electricity, preventing the emission of more than 8.5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of taking more than 1.6 million cars off the road. This emissions-free energy aids the state in meeting its clean air objectives under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Closing Indian Point would undo all of the renewables investment made by New York over the past decade to comply with the initiatives requirements. Should not the state of Vermont be sued for shutting down the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor? Should not California be sued for shutting down San Onofre Nuclear reactor? Should not the governments of Germany and Japan be sued for shutting down operable nuclear reactors and increasing the use of coal? Those actions were taken when the impact of carbon on climate change was known and many decades after the actions of oil companies in the New York lawsuit. 4 Reviews While the upcoming S9 and S9+ may be the major Samsung releases on the radar, the South Korean company has gone ahead to create an SoC that could be one of the most competitive this year, in the form of the Exynos 7872. The SoC was a released a few days ago, and it looks quite spectacular, as we haven't seen anything this interesting since the Snapdragon 660 that was released about a year ago. The Exynos 7872 is a budget SoC, as it belongs to Samsung's "Exynos 5" series. It, for example, will see its first use on the Meizu M6s, a device with an MSRP under US$200. That considered, what Samsung managed to do with it is praise-worthy, as is it beats out Qualcomm's Snapdragon 4XX series handily. The SoC, deviating from the octa-core trend, only features six cores, making it a hexacore chipset. Interestingly, it uses four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.6 GHz, and two powerful Cortex-A73 clocked at 2.0 GHz. That's particularly impressive, as SoCs in its segment are yet to implement Cortex-A73 cores. On the graphics side of things, it features the last-gen single-core Mali G71 GPU. This GPU is much less impressive, as it just about competes with the Mali T880 MP4. That is still better than the Adreno 506 on the Snapdragon 625, though, and will handle graphical tasks well. The Exynos 7872 is built on a 14nm manufacturing process, which is the recommended minimum these days. While it handles performance well, it's still a budget processor and that shows in other departments, as it only supports a display of 1900x1200, which isn't enough for an 18:9 FHD+ panel. On the memory side, the SoC only supports eMMC 5.1 for storage and LPDDR3 for RAM, both of which aren't overly laudable. It does support Dual-Band Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 5.0, and Full HD 120fps encoding both with H.265 and H.264. It also doesnt cater directly for dual rear cameras, as its ISP supports only up to 21.7 MP sensors on both the front and rear. A woman arrested after an August police pursuit in Davenport is scheduled for sentencing in May after pleading guilty to a federal gun charge. Zoe Ogden, 19, of Buffalo, has pleaded guilty to a count of possessing a firearm in violation of the National Firearms Act and failing to register the firearm with the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, according to court records filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. She is scheduled for sentencing on May 21. The charges are related to two firearms a .22-caliber rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun-- allegedly recovered from a Pontiac Grand Am stopped on Aug. 21 after a police pursuit, according to federal records. The weapons had been deliberately shortened. Davenport Police were seeking the Grand Am because it was suspected of involvement in a vehicle chase earlier in the day that involved gunfire. The driver refused to stop when police attempted to pull the car over, and officers pursued, bringing the Grand Am to a stop by using blocking maneuvers in the 1000 block of East Columbia Avenue. Also arrested at that time and federally charged was Willie James Hicks Jr., 20, also of Buffalo, according to authorities. Mr. Hicks is also accused of possessing a firearm in violation of the National Firearms Act and failing to register the firearm with the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. Both were initially charged in Scott County, but the state charges were dropped in favor of the federal, according to court records. There were two other occupants of the car when police stopped it, authorities state. They were also charged. Kevon Montez Jackson, 17, of Davenport, was charged with criminal gang participation, intimidation with a dangerous weapon and unauthorized possession of offensive weapons. Jarrett Anthony Bonnell, 17, of Davenport, was charged with dominion/control of a firearm/offensive weapon, criminal gang participation, unauthorized possession of offensive weapons and intimidation with a dangerous weapon. Mr. Jackson's case was still pending as of Thursday, according to online Scott County court records. Mr. Bonnell entered a guilty plea in November as part of a deal with prosecutors, but details as to what charges he pleaded guilty were not immediately available Thursday afternoon. Tax reform, mental health, education funding and Medicaid challenges were among the issues on Quad-City business leaders' minds Friday as they met with the region's Iowa legislative delegation. Nearly 150 business and community leaders had the chance to meet with a group of 11 state senators and representatives at the annual legislative luncheon, sponsored by the Quad-Cities Chamber. After lunch at the Isle of Capri, Bettendorf, the legislators provided a brief look into the new General Assembly. Asked to identify their top priorities this year, many of the elected officials offered the same issues as the business leaders. In addition, they pointed to the state's budget, school inequity, human services, water quality and Iowa's future workforce. "My No. 1 priority is the budget," said Rep. Phyllis Thede, D-Bettendorf. "It's all things money. We can do nothing until we figure out the budget." For Rep. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, the focus is on education issues. "If we want to grow our economy we need to fund education..." she said, adding that 29 percent of the cuts proposed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds "will impact education." The impact of federal tax reform on the state's financial house also rose to the top for legislators such as Rep. Gary Mohr, R-Bettendorf. He said the state faces a windfall of $106 million of new money next year and $148 million the year after and "We're looking for ways to give those $100 million, $150 million back to Iowans." The Quad-Cities Chamber also used the forum to outline its 2018 legislative priorities, which range from preserving important economic development tools to supporting workforce development and education, tax reform, transportation enhancements and funding to address adequate access to behavioral health care facilities. According to Henry Marquard, the chamber's government affairs director, the new transportation priorities include expanding Interstate 80 to six lanes from the Quad-Cities to Iowa City, connecting the region's future passenger rail to Iowa City, Des Moines and Omaha as well as pushing for funding for a future new six-lane I-80 bridge. He told the crowd that the chamber is working with elected leaders to retain economic development tools that drive growth and ultimately, the state's workforce. Among the chamber's concerns is any possible restrictions placed on tax increment financing, or TIF, in the state. "The fact is it is a vital tool for growing our economy and it's locally controlled. So we really hope that tool isn't taken from us or harmed," Marquard said. The 2018 priorities also call for enacting tax reform. "We do not support doing it in a way that reduces revenues (for the state)," he added. After the one-hour luncheon, Marquard said the luncheon is an opportunity not only to introduce legislators and business leaders, but to show chamber members "what we're working on and doing on behalf of them." The chamber will host its Illinois Legislative Luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Feb. 9, at the Holiday Inn Rock Island. Cost is $20 for chamber members, $25 for non-members. To register, visit quadcitieschamber.com. With planting season about 90 days away, a look at the U.S. Drought Monitor released Thursday shows huge swaths of drought throughout most of the continuous United States. From California eastward all along the southwestern, southern and southeastern United States to Florida and up the east coast all the way to Maine there are large areas of drought and severe drought, as well as large areas that are abnormally dry, according to the Drought Monitor. From Texas all the way up the nations breadbasket of Kansas and Colorado and in the Corn Belt all the way up through the Dakotas and into Montana on the border with Canada, there are large areas of drought and severe drought. While most of Iowa and all of Nebraska are listed as abnormally dry, including several Quad-City region counties in western Illinois, there are pockets of drought in southern Illinois. There are some spots south of Springfield where the wells are dry and theyre having to haul in water, said Taylor Ridge, Illinois, farmer Tom Mueller. The drought in the Dakotas has not stopped, Mueller added. It was that drought that sent soybean prices above $10 a bushel over the summer, he said. The Dakotas have not gotten any extra rainfall to get the ground recharged, Mueller said. Northeast Montana also has pockets of moderate to severe drought. Virgil Schmitt, an agronomist with the Iowa State University Extension in Muscatine, said there is concern about the dry conditions particularly in the southeast portion of the U.S. Midwest droughts tend to stare in the southeast, Schmitt said. I dont know if anyone has ever figured out why, but the drought weve had have all started in the southeast. Of particular concern to Schmitt is the Florida panhandle which is experiencing severe drought. And weve got moderate drought through Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas, he added. In checking the three-month outlook issued Thursday by the Climate Prediction Center, an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in Iowa and most of the Midwest and upper Mississippi Valley and west to the Dakotas, there is an equal chance of above or below normal temperatures. Throughout the southern Unites States from California to Florida, there is an above-average chance for warmer than normal temperatures over the next three months, according to the Climate Prediction Center. However, there is an above-average chance for precipitation in the Midwest and upper Midwest, and along the Canadian border from Washington over to the Great Lakes and areas beyond. But, the chances of precipitation are below normal in the southern, southwestern and western states from Florida to California. Schmitt said he is waiting to see where the Bermuda High will sit. According to the National Weather Service, the Bermuda High is a semi-permanent, subtropical area of high pressure in the North Atlantic Ocean off the East Coast of North America that migrates east and west with varying central pressure. When it is displaced westward, during the Northern Hemispheric summer and fall, the center is located in the western North Atlantic, near Bermuda. In the winter and early spring, it is primarily centered near the Azores in the eastern part of the North Atlantic. If its in the correct place that bodes well for us, Schmitt said. If something goes wrong in timing and placement then Iowa could be much dryer, he said. In 1988, the Bermuda High was positioned in an area that caused most of the moisture to be pumped west of Iowa, Schmitt said. Nebraska got all the rain and they had great crops and yields, he said. At this point in the year, the ground is frozen so the area is not losing moisture as fast as it might, said meteorologist Andy Ervin of the National Weather Service, Davenport. Theres not a whole lot we can do to get worse, Ervin said. But the area cant get better, either. With the frost deep in the ground at this point, he said, any moisture will simply run off and not soak in. If we got three inches of rain tomorrow it would make a flood, Ervin said. Were not going to improve soil moisture or subsoil moisture in the heart of winter. As the growing season approaches and the ground starts to thaw, moisture will leave the ground much more quickly, he said. Droughts develop much faster in the warm season, Ervin said. Mueller said that most farmers in this area begin planting corn about April 12 or so and plant soybeans about the first or second week in May as the ground is a bit warmer. A couple of good March rains would go far in making farmers feel good about the planting season, he said. Patience is the key, Ervin said. Were not going to get a lot worse or a lot better until we hit the spring and get the frost out of the ground. Then it will be up for the right weather systems to develop and give the Midwest some steady soaking rains, he said. AAP and controversies: A marriage made in heaven India oi-Vikas By Vikas Ever since its inception, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been embroiled in controversies. From internal rifts to the expulsion of some of its founding members, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party has remained in the headlines and of late it is more in news for wrong reasons than right. From a party which came into existence in 2012 when anti-corruption crusaders, who were part of Anna Hazare's movement, joined hands, it must be said that AAP has made significant progress politically. The mandate it got in Delhi Assembly elections was a testimony to the fact that people actually saw AAP as a political alternative to the BJP and the Congress. Whether the AAP has lived up to expectations or not is a different matter altogether, what is pertinent here is that Kejriwal really has had a hard time keeping his flock together. In January 2014, legislator Vinod Kumar Binny was throw out of the party for allegedly indulging in anti-party activities. Then in April 2015, Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, who were prominent leaders of the party, were shown the door for expressing unhappiness over the way the party was being run. This brought a lot of negative publicity to AAP and its convener Arvind Kejriwal as the expelled duo were not only the founding members of the party but also eminent personalities in their own right. In June 2015, AAP again locked horns with the Centre over the appointment of Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB)'s chief. In April 2017, senior leader Kumar Vishwas released a video attacking Kejriwal for shielding a corrupt minister, leading to speculation that all is not well within the party. This was followed by MLA Amanatullah Khan accusing senior leader Vishwas of being a BJP agent. Khan was later suspended by the party. Last year, Kejriwal sacked Delhi Water Resources minister Kapil Mishra, after which the latter launched a scathing attack on AAP. Mishra claimed that he had witnessed Kejriwal taking Rs 2 crores in cash from another Delhi Minister Satyendra Jain. When the AAP announced the list of candidates it would nominate to Rajya Sabha, Kumar Vishwas minced no words to criticise AAP's top brass. Just as the criticism over its Rajya Sabha picks began to settle down, Delhi's ruling party on Friday received a jolt with Election Commission of India recommending disqualification of 20 lawmakers for allegedly holding 'offices of profit'. AAP was quick to hit out at the EC, and said that it was acting at the behest of BJP-led Central government. "There was no hearing, we were not given a chance to explain our stand. We appeal to the President to hear our view too, MLAs will meet President also," Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Saturday. [CEC AK Jyoti is an agent of BJP: AAP] Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh on Saturday alleged the Chief Election Commissioner AK Jyoti 'working for his boss PM Modi', and he asserted that in many instances members holding the office of profit were never disqualified. OneIndia News Bellandur lake : NGT wants time bound action plan India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Karnataka Government to focus on time-bound and step by step action plan to improve Agara, Bellandur or Varthur Lakes. In the last hearing, the Tribunal observed that 'either treated or untreated, sewage must not enter the Agara, Bellandur or Varthur Lake. The Rajakaluves were meant to transfer rain water or stormwater to the lakes and sewage was never meant to be discharged in the Rajakaluves. Due to the rapid development of the Bengaluru city, and planning failure in terms of Underground Sewage Network, sewage was discharged in the Rajakaluves, which has distorted the lakes in the city.' The Tribunal further observed that the action plan dated 04.09.2017 submitted by the State, as it appears that despite various directions from time to time, the State has not taken any steps to improve the situation. As such, the Tribunal directed the State to focus on time-bound and step by step action plan, first to stop the entry points of treated or untreated sewage in the lakes, then clean up the lakes, and in the meanwhile develop underground sewage network. The Tribunal directed the State's counsel to come back with a time-bound stepwise action plan. However, the Counsel for the State Mr Devraj Ashok submitted that he would require approvals from the highest level officials before submitting the timelines, therefore, requested for more time. The Tribunal has adjourned the hearing to January 29. OneIndia News Jaitley statue at Kotla: Angry Bedi asks DDCA to remove his name from stands, quits membership Reforms in India being done by conviction, not compulsion: PM Narendra Modi BJP leaders pay tribute to former minister Arun Jaitley on his third death anniversary Budget 2018: Arun Jaitley begins Budget process with halwa ceremony India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar The ritual 'Halwa Ceremony' was attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at the Ministry of Finance on Saturday. The annual ceremony is observed before the commencement of the process of printing of budget documents. The ceremony marks the beginning of the printing of documents which are part of the Union Budget 2018-19. As part of the long-standing ritual, 'halwa' and served to the entire staff in the ministry. After the Halwa ceremony, officials of finance ministry will stay in Budget Printing Press in North Block till Union finance minister Arun Jaitley budget speech is over. At the Halwa Ceremony to mark the formal printing of the Union Budget 2018-19 documents. pic.twitter.com/cmQVNQbpVl Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) January 20, 2018 The annual budget is prepared by the budget division of Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) headed by the joint secretary (Budget) of the Ministry of Finance. To start the process, the budget division issues an annual budget circular every year. To maintain complete secrecy about the budget documents, budget press in North Block houses all these officials in the period leading up to the presentation of Union Budget in the Parliament by the Finance minister. Only after the Union Budget is presented, these officials will gain touch with their near and dear ones. Even journalists are banned from entering finance ministry during this period, except when some important announcements are to be made. FM Arun Jaitley will present the Union Budget in Parliament on February 1, 2018. OneIndia News Fact Check: This image of huge crowds in Gujarat is not from the AAP roadshow CEC AK Jyoti is an agent of BJP: AAP India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh on Saturday alleged the Chief Election Commissioner AK Jyoti 'working for his boss PM Modi', and he asserted that in many instances members holding the office of profit were never disqualified. Sanjay Singh, said "There have been many instances where members holding an office of profit were never disqualified. It has happened during Cong rule in Delhi, it has happened in Bengal and Jharkhand as well. This proves that the EC is working at the behest of BJP." "CEC AK Jyoti is working for his boss PM Modi. He has a bungalow in Gujarat. Just 3 days before his retirement, he has shown his true face as an agent of BJP. I demand Narendra Modi's resignation, he said. He further said that Modi govt is violating various institutions of democracy and four judges coming out in the open and addressing media is a proof of it. OneIndia News We live in times when what we eat is not personal: Justice Gogoi Quick fire staccato: Here is what happened on day 1 at CJI Gogois court hall Going public was the only option says Justice Chelameswar on the famous presser by SCs top 4 CJI Dipak Misra to hear Justice Loya case amid SC crisis India oi-Deepika By Deepika The two petitions seeking an independent probe into the death of Special CBI Judge Brijmohan Loya will be heard by a three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. The move comes days after Justice Arun Mishra headed SC bench recused itself from hearing the case. The composition of the bench was changed on Saturday amid the rift between the CJI and four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court over allocation of cases. Judge Loya, then presiding over the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, died in Nagpur on 1 December, 2014. Current BJP president Amit Shah was named in the case but, in late December the same year, he was discharged by the court. Posting this case before Justice Arun Mishra's bench was apparently the trigger that had led the four senior-most judges to come out openly against the Chief Justice of India. The written order, which was released later that evening, ordered the matter be "put up before the appropriate bench." This fuelled speculation that the judges had recused themselves from hearing the matter. Four top judges of the Supreme Court Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph had held an unprecedented press conference the previous week in which they cited differences with the CJI on the assignment of the Loya case. OneIndia News Congress will revoke my suspension: Mani Shankar Aiyar India oi-PTI Former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, suspended from the Congress for his controversial remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday expressed confidence that he will be re-inducted. He said he was hopeful that the party would do so anytime. "It (revocation of suspension) may happen either in the next six hours, or in the next six days, or in the next six weeks or in the next six years," Aiyar said. "I would know that one day, I think they (will) take me back. Because however much they might feel that they have alienated me from the Congress, I am a Congressman and I shall remain absolutely loyal to the party," he said at the "India Today Conclave South 2018" here. Aiyar was suspended from the primary membership of the Congress on December 7 amid speculation that his remarks against Modi had undone the gains made by party president Rahul Gandhi during campaigning in the Gujarat elections. Modi had used Aiyar's remark that he (the prime minister) was a vile sort of person to the hilt at the hustings to whip up a sense of Gujarati pride. The Congress had also issued him a show cause notice over the remarks. Explaining the sequence of events that led to his suspension from the party, Aiyar said he was reacting to the PM's reference to B R Ambedkar and said "neech kism ka aadmi". He asserted that he never spoke of "neech jaati" or low caste. Aiyar said he regrets missing Rahul Gandhi's election as Congress president as he was with the Gandhi scion during the filing of nominations for the post. To a query on Tamil film superstar Rajinikanth's political debut, he said, "Cinema would never translate into politics, but politicians have leveraged their film background for politics. PTI As world celebrates 'healthy lungs' Day, Delhi breathes in 'Poor' air yet again Fire at a plastic godown in Delhi claims 17 lives, inquiry ordered India oi-Vikas By Vikas At least 17 people were killed in a fire in a building in Delhi's Bawana Industrial Area on Saturday. The fire is said to have broken out in a plastic godown, said reports. As many as 10 fire tenders have been rushed to the spot to douse the flames. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. "We received 3 calls from Bawana - Sector 1 a plastic factor, 2nd from Sector 5 a cracker storage & Sector 3 a furnace oil storage. All casualties are from Sector 5 fire. Fire is completely under control now. We recovered 17 bodies so far," news agency ANI quoted GC Mishra, Director Delhi Fire Services, as saying. Delhi Minister Satyendra Jain expressed grief over the incident and said the government is keeping a close watch rescue operations. "The fire is under control now. The fire had broken out around 3.30 pm and was contained around 7. We have contained the fire on the second floor," ANI quoted a fire officer as saying. Meanwhile, Union Health Minister JP Nadda has directed Health Secretary to provide immediate assistance to victims of Bawana fire tragedy. Nadda also asked AIIMS trauma centre to be on alert. Mayor Preety Agrawal has also reached the spot. "I received information about the incident on phone at around 9 pm and we immediately rushed to the spot. Situation is under control now," Agrawal said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to twitter to express his grief over the loss of lives due to the fire. "Deeply anguished by the fire at a factory in Bawana. My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives. May those who are injured recover quickly," PMO twitter handle quoted Modi as saying. On January 14, a fire had broken out in a slum area in southeast Delhi's Sriniwaspuri leaving four persons severely injured. The blaze had started due to LPG leakage. OneIndia News Tuesday is now No Meeting Day in Haryana and officers to be with people on Friday 30 per cent down: How Haryana aced the decrease in stubble burning Haryana govt to bring law to hang those found guilty of raping minors India oi-Vikas By Vikas Expressing anguish and concern over the recent incidents of rape in the state, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday said that his government is working towards bringing a law under which capital punishment can be awarded to those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12. Khattar said that the state government would make a request for setting up fast-track courts for dealing with rape cases to ensure speedy justice to victims. Speaking after laying the foundation stone of a sugar mill in Karnal, the Haryana Chief Minister called for "harsher punishment for perpetrators of rape". He also urged the media to not create sensation by publishing reports on rape incidents without verifying facts. "Law would be enacted soon to hang those convicted of raping girls aged 12 or younger," he said. Khattar said the figures for last year revealed that 25 percent rape complaints registered at police stations were fake. "Earlier, complainants had to face a tough time in getting an FIR registered even after repeated requests. But today, not even a single person can claim non-registration of FIRs in any case by the police," he said. Usually, relatives and near and dear ones of the victims have been found to be involved in about 75 percent of rape cases, he said. Besides the police, it is also the responsibility of the society to come forward and generate awareness among the people against such kind of mentality, the chief minister said. He assured the people that the state police was actively working to solve the recent cases of rape in the state. The BJP-led government in Haryana has been drawing flak from all quarters over the law and order situation in the state. Former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda had on Wednesday met the Governor seeking dismissal of Manohar Lal Khattar-led Government over an increase in the number of rape cases in the state. Khattar had then said that incidents of rape in the state were sad and deplorable. He assured speedy investigation and strict action against the perpetrators. Gruesome cases of rape that shook Haryana in the last few days: The body of a 15-year-old girl with her private parts mutilated and liver ruptured was found near Budhakhera village in Haryana's Jind district. ['Rapes part of society', says Haryana cop; draws flak] Four men allegedly raped a 22-year old woman inside a moving vehicle in Faridabad's Sector 16 on Saturday, 13 January. Two neighbours allegedly gang-raped and murdered an 11-year-old in Panipat, also committing necrophilia soon after. OneIndia News with PTI inputs For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, January 20, 2018, 21:02 [IST] With the number of anonymous rogues from Pak rising, here's how BSF is beating down the drones J&K: 3 civilians, 2 jawans killed in ceasefire violation by Pakistan India oi-Deepika By Deepika Five people, including a two BSF jawan were killed and 35 others injured after Pakistan violated ceasefire for the third consecutive day on Saturday in three districts of Jammu and Kashmir along the International Border, officials said. "The Pakistan Rangers continued to fire and launch shells along the IB in Arnia, Ramgarh, Samba and Hiranagar sectors till 5 am", a police official said. " The Pakistani Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing by small arms, automatics weapons and mortars from 1830 hours in Sunderbani sector (in Rajouri district) along the Line of Control (LOC). Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively," an army officer said. However, in the exchange of fire, Lance Naik Sam Abraham was grievously injured and succumbed later, he said. The 34-year-old Lance Naik belonged to Poonakam village of Allepey district in Kerala and is survived by his wife and a daughter, aged 1 year and 10 months. "Lance Naik Sam Abraham was a brave and sincere soldier. The nation will always remain indebted to him for his supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty," he said. Tension gripped people living close to the international border and the Line of Control (LoC) in the Jammu region as authorities ord the red closure of schools there. "All schools within five km radius of the LoC and the international border shall remain closed for three days," officials of the provincial administration said here. #WATCH: Residents of border areas in RS Pura sector flee as Pakistan continues to violate ceasefire. #JammuAndKashmir pic.twitter.com/4ms81vkov0 ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2018 Between 8,000 to 9,000 people living along the IB migrated to safer places and most of them were living with their relatives, the official said. Over 1,000 people are housed in camps in R S Pura, Samba and Kathua areas, he said. Educational institutes have been closed for next three days along the IB and the LoC in Jammu region by authorities in wake of increased tension along the Indo-Pak border, officials said. OneIndia News Court documents provide new details and shed light on a possible motive behind a shooting earlier this month on Interstate 80 in Atalissa. According to an application filed Jan. 18 in Cedar County District Court in support of a search warrant, accused shooter Charles S. Johnston told police after his arrest that he had become enraged or obsessed over a family that was killed in an accident with a semi and that the motive behind his actions was to harm a truck driver or truck drivers in retaliation. The 60-year-old Belvidere, Illinois, man told officers that he was currently taking several prescription drugs and had recently been hospitalized, according to the application. A spokesperson for the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, which is investigating the case, could not be reached for comment Friday. Johnston is charged in Cedar County with attempted murder, a Class B felony, and assault on a peace officer with a dangerous weapon, a Class D felony. He will be arraigned March 2, according to online court records. Bond has been set at $1 million cash-only. According to the application for the search warrant sought by the Cedar County Sheriffs Office: Around 2:15 p.m. Jan. 11, the Cedar County Sheriffs Office started receiving multiple reports of a person shooting a firearm at vehicles on I-80. Reports also came from the area of 273 mile marker towards the Atalissa Pilot Station that shots were being fired from a small black car. A semi driver was pulling out of the Pilot Station onto Atalissa Road when a person in a black Volkswagen was pulling in. The driver of the Volkswagen, later identified as Johnston, pointed a handgun out of the window and fired multiple shots at the semi driver. The semi driver saw the car circle around behind him on the passenger side, and so he swerved and struck the Volkwagen, pinning the car under the trailer. Johnston fired several more rounds into the passenger door of the semi. The semi then pulled onto Atalissa Road, just south of the interstate, and observed the black Volkswagen travel south on Atalissa Road and turn around and park. Moments later, the black Volkswagen approached the semi. A trooper with the Iowa State Patrol arrived on scene, and shortly after getting out of his patrol vehicle, Johnston fired two shots at the trooper, striking the squad car. Officers fired shots on the Volkswagen. Several additional officers arrived and secured the scene while orders were given for Johnston to show his hands and get out of the vehicle. After several minutes, he eventually exited the vehicle and followed commands of the officers and was taken into custody. Johnston was brought to an ambulance to be checked out and then was transported to the Cedar County Jail. After his arrest, he mentioned that he was currently taking several prescription drugs and had recently been hospitalized. Officers found several prescription pill bottles in plain view in the vehicle. Johnston also said that he became enraged or obsessed over a family that was killed in an accident with a semi and that the motive behind his actions was to harm a truck driver or truck drivers in retaliation, according to the application. No one was injured in the shootings. The search warrant application did not indicate why Johnston was in the area that day. Offices searched the Volkswagen and found a metal marijuana pipe; a prescription bottle with marijuana inside; a prescription bottle with no label and with marijuana inside; a jar of "Explosion Pre-workout" with a glass pipe; a prescription bottle that held pills that did not match the label; and a box of cigarettes with a marijuana "joint" inside, according to a receipt for property that was filed with the search warrant. Johnston said in court documents that he is employed by Harper College in Palatine, Illinois. College spokeswoman Kim Pohl confirmed in an email Friday that Johnston has been employed by the college since 1996 and is an associate professor in the psychology department. She said Johnston is absent without approved leave and that he has been barred from campus. Harper College is prepared to cooperate with authorities in whatever way possible, Pohl wrote in an email. One Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist gunned down in Jammu and Kashmir PMs dream of development in J&K is becoming a reality: Puri Farooq Abdullah steps down as National Conference chief, says time for new generation Hit-list against 76 J&K journalists issued and the guilds, committees which back liberals are silent 3 Soldiers killed in avalanche in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara J&K: Terrorists hurl grenade at a police station in Shopian India oi-Vikas By Vikas The terrorists on Saturday hurled a grenade at a police station in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district. The grenade is said to have exploded outside the station and no one was injured, said reports. A search and cordon operation has been launched in the area. On Friday, at least four policemen have been injured after suspected terrorists hurled grenade towards Pulwama police station that exploded inside Tehsil office. On January 12, terrorists opened fire on a police post in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir. The incident took place in the Keegam area. Last year in October, terrorists hurled grenade at a police post in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam area. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, January 20, 2018, 19:13 [IST] Kalam awards 2018: 40 bureaucrats from all over India honoured India oi-Vikas By Vikas The second edition of Kalam Innovations in Governance Awards (KIGA) 2018 and its summit was held on Saturday at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi. Minister of State for Textiles Ajay Tamta and Desh Deepak Verma, IAS (Retd.) Secretary-General, Rajya Sabha felicitated the awardees. Srijan Pal Singh, summit convener and CEO of Dr. A.P. J. Abdul Kalam Centre said that the idea of Dr. Kalam Innovation in Governance Awards is to create agile governance which could define the mega trends of the 21st century India. "This will be multi-sectorial and people-centric so that India can not only be an economic superpower but also a socially inclusive and sustainable society," he added. The summit is dedicated to vision and mission of Dr. Kalam. The summit was attended by 300 officers of various services, civil services society and selected meritorious students from all over India. It is a platform to showcase, ideate, develop and award innovations in various aspects of governance including Education, Healthcare, Security, Public Service Delivery, Environment, Technology, Distress Management, Energy and Fundamental Human Rights. Anuradha Mall (IAS), CEO of Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was awarded for her exceptional contribution in the area of women empowerment. Manisha Chandra, an eminent IAS Officer and the Director of Women and Children Development Department in Gujarat, was also awarded. Avantika Singh, Govt official in Administrative Dept. Gujarat, was given the award for her distinguished services and contribution. Anuj Dayal, Executive Director (Corporation Communications), DMRC was given the award for his constant efforts to build and sustain the DMRC brand both nationally and internationally. Kundan Kumar, District Collector of Banka (Bihar), was awarded for his project "Jal Sanchay" which focuses on water conservation in Nalanda in Bihar. Speaking at the award function, Tamta said, "I congratulate all the awardees for their exemplary contribution towards the society. Dr Kalam was one person who always thought and did what is best for our nation. We should encourage our youth towards innovation to follow Dr Kalam's ideology. I congratulate Kalam Centre and Srijan Pal for keeping the spirit and ideologies of Dr Kalam." Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Summit on Innovation in Governance is an international conclave of policy makers, civil service officers, NGOs, media and academia who are dedicated to the task of governance and its dimensions. It is a step in the direction of exploring how can cutting edge technology, 21st century management and out-of-box thinking, transform the role and impact of governance in India and across the world. This features discussions and studies on various national and global examples of transformational governance for the betterment of the people. The Summit also features the Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Award for Innovation in Governance to be presented to selected individuals and institutions for their exemplary work in improving governance and delivering value to the citizens. The summit is dedicated to the 11th President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (1931-2015), who is renowned for his unique and innovative leadership style in over five decades of service in various government positions, including the President of India from 2002-07. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, January 20, 2018, 21:40 [IST] Kerala: Kannur police arrests 4 SDPI activists in ABVP activist murder case India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar Four SDPI activists have been arrested by police in Kannur in connection with the murder of ABVP activist Shyamprasad on Friday evening. ABVP activist Shyamprasad (24) was hacked to death by a mob of seven people at Kolayadu near Peravoor, Kannur at 5 pm on Friday. The arrested activists are identified as Mohammed, Shaheem, Saleem and Ameer. The cops had detained them on Friday night from a place called Thalappuzha, Wayanad while they were on the run. They attacked Shyamprasad, however, he tried to flee from the spot to escape from the masked assailants and entered the compound of a nearby house. The assailants caught him on the verandah of the house and hacked him with sharp weapons, the police said. Shyamprasad died while being rushed to the hospital at Thalassery. OneIndia News Two of 8 cheetahs released in acclimatisation enclosure at MP's Kuno National Park: Official Two cheetahs make their first kill at Kuno National Park Goat gives birth to baby with 'human face' in MP, leaves owner and locals shocked Raghogarh polls: Congress wins big; gets 20 out of 24 wards India oi-Deepika By Deepika Recommended Video Madhya Pradesh : Congress bags 20 of the 24 seats in Raghogarh Municipal elections | Oneindia News The Congress has gained upper hand in Raghogarh Municipal Council elections in Madhya Pradesh, bagging a staggering 20 of the 24 seats and decimating the Opposition. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has bagged four wards. The Congress has been in control of the Raghogarh-Vijaypur Municipal Council for the past two decades. A total of 20 municipal bodies (Nagar Palika Parishads and Nagar Parishads) went to polls and bypolls in 10 districts of Madhya Pradesh. Voting was held on January 17. It is being said to be a fight between the Congress and the BJP in the 'semi-final' of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections 2018. The BJP is in power in 13 of the local bodies that went to polls and Congress rules seven. OneIndia News Mann Ki Baat: What Rahul wants to hear from Modi? Jobs, Dhoka-Lam, Haryana rapes India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia New Delhi, Jan 20: Every month on last Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation via his popular radio broadcast--Mann Ki Baat (Mind's Voice). The PM started the unique tradition of speaking to people (one way) on October 3, 2014 and since then is religiously following it without any breaks. Modi's critics and opposition political parties have often derided the attempt as nothing but "self-indulgent", as the PM never takes questions from people and press in the monthly broadcast. In a reply of a sort to his critics, Modi has made it a point to ask for inputs and ideas from people for Mann Ki Baat on Twitter ahead of the broadcast every month. On Thursday, Modi wrote on Twitter, "It is always a delight to read your insightful ideas and inputs for #MannKiBaat. What are your suggestions for 2018's first 'Mann Ki Baat' on 28th January? Let me know on the NM Mobile App. http://nm4.in/dnldapp." It is always a delight to read your insightful ideas and inputs for #MannKiBaat. What are your suggestions for 2018s first 'Mann Ki Baat' on 28th January? Let me know on the NM Mobile App. https://t.co/TYuxNNJfIf pic.twitter.com/XSN2MDd905 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 18, 2018 To the surprise of all, Congress president Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to advise Modi on what he should speak about in the upcoming Mann Ki Baat on January 28. The Congress president asked the PM to address the subjects of unemployment, the alleged Chinese presence in Doklam and increasing number of rape cases in Haryana. "Dear @narendramodi, since you've requested some ideas for your #MannKiBaat monologue, tell us about how you plan to 1. Get our youth JOBS 2. Get the Chinese out of DHOKA-LAM 3. Stop the RAPES in Haryana," Rahul tweeted. Dear @narendramodi, since you've requested some ideas for your #MannKiBaat monologue, tell us about how you plan to: 1. Get our youth JOBS 2. Get the Chinese out of DHOKA-LAM 3. Stop the RAPES in Haryana. pic.twitter.com/pwexqxKrTQ Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) January 19, 2018 Rahul, who since the last few months has been winning Twitter by his witty one-liners and sarcasm, called Doklam Dhoka-lam (Dhoka in Hindi stands for cheating). Recent reports suggested that Chinese troops have allegedly occupied parts of contentious Doklam plateau in the Sikkim sector and have built a huge military base. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre has called the reports false. The Congress, on its parts, has accused the government of misleading the nation on the entire issue. The Congress severely attacked the Modi government for failing to protect India's territorial interests. Last year, neighbouring countries India and China were involved in a standoff near the tri-border junction at Doklam in the Sikkim region beginning from June 16 to August 28. However, the crisis ended after several rounds of talks between diplomats and officials of both the country. Similarly, the BJP government in Haryana under chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar faced flak for failing to stop crime against women as in the recent times five horrific rape cases were reported from the state in five days. Moreover, Rahul has regularly lambasted the Modi government for failing to provide jobs to the country's youths. Now, we have to wait and watch to see if Modi would honour Rahul's suggestions in the upcoming episode of Mann Ki Baat. OneIndia News India has become center point to world's desires, says PM Modi PM Modi to have 20 engagements during 45-hr stay in Indonesia's Bali Looking forward to review progress of India's bi-lateral relations: PM Modi ahead of G20 Summit Modiji turns ModiZee: PMs rare interview causes ripples India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia New Delhi, Jan 20: In 16 months from now, the tenure of the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime at the Centre will end. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is yet to hold a single press meet in more than three years since he shifted to the national capital from Gujarat to govern the country in 2014. In fact, Modi has created a record of sort by not holding a single presser as the nation's PM. Modi as the country's PM has also stopped the practice of flying with journalists abroad. In the past, every PM was accompanied by a set of journalists abroad. The media contingent that travelled with the country's heads covered the PMs' foreign trips as well as interacted directly with the PMs. Thus in a way, Modi almost shut the door on the media. It is not that Modi never interacted with the press. Once in a while, his team would handpick senior journalists from media houses known to be pro-BJP or pro-Modi, if ever the PM felt like taking questions from a journalist. However, in those interviews, the journalists who spoke to Modi never asked him hard-hitting and difficult questions. The interviewers looked to be in awe of Modi and the PM almost always took control over the interviews like he does in his public rallies or on Twitter. On Friday, Modi spoke to senior anchor from Zee TV Sudhir Chaudhary. It was definitely a rare occasion for everyone in India as Modi hardly takes questions from journalists. Unfortunately, the interview lacked gravity and looked more like a PR exercise than a formal question and answer round for the PM. Since Friday Twitter was abuzz with the interview and the hashtag--#ModiOnZee--was trending. While the PM fans celebrated the interview, his critics lambasted him for being selective and choosing to speak to only one journalist from a channel known to be close to the ruling dispensation. The most interesting tweets were those that used a lot of sarcasm to deride the "exclusive" interview. A Twitter user addressed Modiji (the suffix ji in Hindi is used to address anyone who is senior and demands respect) as ModiZee (to highlight about his much-talked-about interview with the TV channel). Here we bring you tweets critical about the interview: Can't decide which TV show is more scripted.. Big Boss or #ModiOnZee ? Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) January 19, 2018 Modi ji, just a small request - After you are done with Sudhir (Godi) Choudhury, please do one more interview with Karan Thapar! ;-)#BasDostiBaniRahe#ModiOnZee Umar Khalid (@UmarKhalidJNU) January 19, 2018 Here are tweets praising Modi: Modi is a great leader. Our country is going right direction on the leadership of modi. #ModiOnZee Bittu Dhali (@bittudhali) January 20, 2018 No one is better then @sudhirchaudhary for this biggest interview #ModiOnZee LUCKY LOKESH (@LUCKYLOKESH948) January 20, 2018 OneIndia News With another ISIS module busted, TN has become a paradise of Islamic Jihadists No review of bus fare hike in Tamil Nadu: Minister India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar Amid protests against bus fare hike, Tamil Nadu Transport Minister outrightly rejected possibility for review of bus fare hike in the state. The state government has hikes bus fares after a gap of six years. On possibility for review of bus fare hike, MR Vijayabhaskar, Tamil Nadu Transport Minister, said, " 'No chance of that." He was addressing a press conference in Karur. 'No chance of that': MR Vijayabhaskar, Tamil Nadu Transport Minister in Karur when asked if there is a possibilitly for review of bus fare hike in the state and if it will be brought down pic.twitter.com/8v5F2wx5kP ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2018 DMK Working President MK Stalin, said, "Bringing a testing time for poor and marginalized people of the state, increase in bus fare by the present AIADMK govt has come as a big shock. I urge this horse-traded & 'commission agent' govt to immediately roll it back." Meanwhile, passengers protest at Coimbatore's Ukkadam Bus Terminus against a hike in bus fares. After over six years, Tamil Nadu government has hiked the fares of buses under State-run transport corporations and private entities approximately by 20 to 54.54 per cent, saying it was inevitable. Significantly, the government also announced a fund for accident compensation and prevention, besides a panel to go into the restructuring of bus fares in future. While the minimum hike is in the ordinary category, where the fare of Rs. 5 for 10 km would now be Rs. 6 (20 per cent hike), the highest is in Volvo buses, where the fare of Rs. 33 for 30 km will now go up to Rs. 51 (54.54 per cent hike). In town buses, the fare has been hiked from a minimum of Rs. 3 to Rs. 5 and the maximum from Rs. 12 to Rs. 19. (With agency inputs) Why does Modi hug world leaders? Hear it from common man Modi himself India oi-Vicky By Vicky Days after being mocked by the Congress over his hugs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi defended himself by saying that he was unaware of the protocols laid down as he is a common man. He also went on to say that his openness was liked by world leaders. Modi also said his basic nature has been "to convert adversity into opportunity". Modi said in a TV interview had he been "trained", he too would have followed the laid down protocols of shaking hands and "looking left and right" with world leaders. "I do not know all the protocols as I am a common man. The openness of this common man is liked by the world. Friendly relations come in handy," he said in an interview to Zee news. He further said, "Had I been trained like others ... I too would have followed those protocols of looking right and left, had shaken hands. But I am an ordinary person ... I only try to ensure that no harm ever happens to my country (due to this)," A few days ago, the Congress had posted a tweet mocking Modi for hugging world leaders, evoking a sharp reaction from the BJP that slammed it as "immature" and demanded an apology. "When I became the prime minister, there was criticism that Modi neither knows nor understands anything which is outside Gujarat...," Modi said. "Everybody used to ask me how will I conduct my foreign policy. And in a way, this criticism was right because I did not have any experience. I got the benefit of not having experience. I did not have any baggage," he said. Asked how he feels when he stands next to world leaders, he said, "My only feeling is that it is not Narendra Modi who is standing there but the representative of 1.25 billion people". OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, January 20, 2018, 5:52 [IST] Will Naga political issue cause disruption in Assembly elections? India oi-Staff By Oneindia Staff Writer Kohima, Jan 20: The hill state of Nagaland is gearing up for the Assembly elections. The elections for 60-member Assembly are scheduled on February 27. The other two northeastern states--Tripura and Meghalaya--are also voting on February 18 and February 27 respectively. Authorities fear that the poll process in Nagaland could face disruptions as the state is on the verge of fixing its decades-old Naga political issue. Reports say there is a fear of poll process being disrupted with tribal organisations and civil societies seeking a solution to the decades-old Naga political issue before the elections. When the question was raised to Nagaland Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Abhijit Sinha at a press meet, he said the term of the present assembly is coming to an end and the schedule was announced as mandated by the Constitution of India. He appealed to all sections of the society to cooperate with the election officers for the successful completion of the poll process. The election department in Nagaland is taking adequate measures to ensure free and fair polls on February 27, Sinha said. Addressing a press meet on Thursday, Sinha expressed hope that all electorates will be exercising their franchise in an ethical and informed manner without being intimidated or influenced. The final electoral rolls, published last week, has names of 11, 89,264 voters--6,00,536 male and 5, 88,728 female. "Of the 2,194 polling stations in the state, 459 are in urban areas and 1,735 in rural areas," he said, adding that 1,048 polling stations have been declared critical, 519 vulnerable and 617 normal. The Photo Electoral Rolls (PER) coverage in the state stands at 99.99 per cent and Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) coverage at 96.95 per cent. "The identification of voters at the polling booths is mandatory. Those provided with the EPIC will have to furnish the details at the booth." Sinha said, urging all residual electors to obtain their EPIC from the registration officers of their constituencies. Elaborating on the security measures, he said, 273 companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) along with 58 companies of State Armed Police Force and 5,698 personnel of District Executive Force will be deployed to maintain the law and order situation. Apart from that, 94 static check posts will be set up alongside 94 static surveillance teams and 180 flying squad teams, the CEO said. Notifying that the Rs 20 lakh is the ceiling for expenditure by every candidate, Sinha expressed hope that all political parties in the state will be adhering to the norms. The constituency with least number of voters is 27-Mokokchung Town and the one with a maximum number of electorates is 4th Ghaspani-I, he said. "Besides Electronic Voting Machine, the state will also have provisions for Voter-verified paper audit trail machines in all the polling stations," the CEO told reporters. At present, campaigns, designed under ECI's Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation programme, are being conducted across the state, Sinha said. There is a sense of optimism in the northeastern state of Nagaland. After waiting for decades, people of the hill state are now hopeful as there are enough indications that the vexed Naga political issue would be solved soon. However, the naysayers say that it won't be an easy task to solve the political issue of Nagaland. "Unless and until, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Manipur agree to give away their land, which would form a part of the Greater Nagalim, a solution to the problem is a long dream. We have to wait and watch how the Centre and all the groups involved in the peace deal resolve the crisis," said a political observer from the Northeast. Nagaland Assembly Party 2013 Current Standing NPF 38 45 Election Date : Feb 27 2018 Counting : Mar 03 2018 IND 08 08 CONG 08 00 NCP 04 01 BJP 01 04 JDU 01 01 OTHERS 00 00 Total 60 59 (1 Vacant) OneIndia News Thief calls cops for help after being caught by mob Now a Hindu girl Kavita Rani is murdered by Abu Bakr in Bangladesh, her body cut in pieces Bangladeshi engineer says he incited people to burn down Hindu homes International oi-Vicky By Vicky A government engineer in Bangladesh has confessed to inciting crowds to burning down homes of Hindus. He said that he incited the people to attack Hindu homes in Rangpur after rumours that a youth from minority community has published a blasphemous Facebook status, according to a media report. A mob of around 20,000 protesters, from six to seven neighbouring villages, had gathered and set on fire at least 30 houses of Hindus in Thakurpara in Rangpur district, about 300 km from here, on November 10, the bdnews24.com reported. One person was killed while five others were injured when police fired rubber bullets and lobbed tear gas shells to bring the situation under control. Fazlar Rahman, a resident of village Mominpur adjacent to Thakurpara, is one of the five accused who allegedly incited thousands of Muslims to attack the homes and businesses of Hindus, Gangacharha Police Station Sub-Inspector Mister Ali was quoted as saying in the report. Rahman, who is a sub-assistant engineer of Rangpur District Council, had gone into hiding after the incident but was arrested from Shyamoli area here on December 21. He was questioned by the police for 12 days before being produced before the court yesterday, the official said. "Rahman gave a confessional statement before the Rangpur senior judicial magistrate's court," Ali said. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, January 20, 2018, 6:07 [IST] Girl hit, pinned underneath vehicle near school A girl suffered non-life-threatening injuries Friday morning when she was hit by a vehicle near John Deere Middle School, Moline. Moline police and fire responded at 7:45 a.m. to the intersection of 12th Street and 21st Avenue after several 911 callers reported that the girl was pinned under the vehicle. Prior to the arrival of police and fire, bystanders reportedly lifted the vehicle off the girl. She was transported to Trinity Rock Island and later transferred to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, Illinois. The roadway was shut down while the police department's Traffic Investigations Division investigated. The crash is under investigation and no charges are pending at this time. Police are asking anyone with information regarding the crash or events leading up to it to call 309-797-0401. --Times staff Muscatine Co. sex offender sentenced to prison for failing to register A Muscatine County man has been sentenced to more than 2 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to failing to register as a sex offender. Oscar Lee Hall Jr., 41, formerly of Nichols, was convicted in the State of Michigan in 1998 on a charge of criminal sexual conduct. Hall was 21 at the time of the offense and his victim, a girl, was between the ages of 14 and 17, according to the Iowa Sex Offender Registry. Between Nov. 18, 2016, and March 24, 2017, Hall returned to Iowa, but failed to register and update his registration as required under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. Hall was arrested March 24 and placed into the Muscatine County Jail to await trial on federal charges of failing to register. During a hearing Tuesday in U.S. District Court, Davenport, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Rose sentenced Hall to 33 months in federal prison. Rose also sentenced Hall to serve five years on supervised release after he completes his prison sentence. There is no parole in the federal system. --Thomas Geyer US midterm elections: Voting underway, Americans to decide who will control Congress Russia not reliable for energy or security, US warns India US visa processing time expected to fall by mid-2023, says official US government shuts down as bill to extend funding is blocked International oi-Deepika By Deepika Recommended Video US government shuts down after Congress fails to pass fund extension bill | Oneindia News The US government officially shutdown today for the first time in five years after the Senate rejected a short-term spending bill to keep the federal government running, marking a chaotic end to Donald Trump's first year as president. The shutdown began at 12:01 am (local time) after a few Republicans joined Democrats in blocking the crucial measure would have provided short-term funding for the Pentagon and other federal agencies. Last-minute negotiations crumbled as Senate Democrats blocked a four-week stopgap extension in a late-night vote, causing the fourth government shutdown in a quarter century. According to The Hill, the bill needed 60 votes to pass and it was well short of that number with 48 senators voting against it. Only five Democrats voted in favour of the bill, while Republicans were also not united as Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Mike Lee (Utah) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.) also voted against it. What happens in Shutdown? In shutdowns, nonessential government employees are furloughed, or placed on temporary unpaid leave. Workers deemed essential, including those dealing with public safety and national security, keep working. The effect of the shutdown would be felt most from Monday when the federal government employees would not be able to join for their work and be forced to stay at home without pay. It is estimated that more than 800,000 federal employees would be furloughed. Only the essential services would be open. According to the Congressional Research Service, there have been 18 government shutdowns since 1976 - under both Republican and Democratic presidents. The last shutdown, in October 2013, lasted more than two weeks and more than 800,000 federal employees were furloughed. OneIndia News What are the Chinese doing at Doklam International oi-Vicky By Vicky China described the construction activity at Doklam as legitimate and said that it was aimed at improving the lives of its troops and people living on its own territory. China's reaction came amid reports that it was building a huge military complex close to the site of the Doklam standoff with India. Asked about reports citing satellite imagery of a Chinese military complex in the area, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said: "I have also noted the relevant report. I don't know who offered such kind of photos." But at the same time, he said he did not have detailed information on it. The reports raised concerns that China may be preparing for another standoff with India. Lu, however, said: "China's position on the Donglong (Doklam) area is quite clear. Donglong always belonged to China and always under China's effective jurisdiction. There is no dispute in this regard," he said asserting Chinese sovereignty over the area which is also claimed by Bhutan. He said China is building infrastructure for its troops and the people living in the area. India earlier on Thursday had said that the status quo has not been altered at Doklam, where Indian and Chinese troops were locked in a stand-off for over two months last year, and rejected any suggestion to the contrary as "inaccurate and mischievous". "Our attention has been drawn to some reports that question the accuracy of the position stated by the government in respect to the situation in Doklam," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. Kumar said that in response to repeated questions about any change in the status quo at the face-off site, the government has stated that there was no basis for such imputations. OneIndia News eBaums World 19 Nov 2022 It's official, the entire globe has been duped into attending the World Cup in Qatar AKA the lamest party you could possibly.. A large group of residents in LeClaire is afraid a change in the comprehensive plan to allow the development of a Kwik Star gas station and convenience store could be the first domino to topple the makeup of their neighborhood. While the Planning and Zoning Commission issued a recommendation for the City Council to reject a Kwik Star at Cody and Eagle Ridge roads, there's still some skepticism that the City Council will not listen to the vast majority of residents who are opposed to the development. "They're going to create a tawdry circus of commercial franchises along the corridor that's at the front of our city," Gary Brecht said. Kwik Trip Inc. submitted an application to rezone the property so that it can construct and operate a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week convenience store and gas station on the 3.3-acre property. Initial plans included 16 gas pumps, which would effectively double the number in the city, and a 30-foot tall illuminated logo sign. For the neighborhood that abuts the property, concerns center around fears that their property values will drop along with the safety concerns from having a high-traffic business on a road that's not suitable for one. "You're going to have accidents here, backups here, and it's not built for high-volume traffic," David Griffith said. While the many in the neighborhood are retirees, Liliana Santillan bought her home recently. Santillan made the purchase based on what's currently there, not for a commercial business that would almost be in her backyard. "I just bought this house seven to eight months ago," Santillan said. "I didn't know any of this was going to happen. All of sudden there's a gas station and your property values are probably going to decrease." If the City Council approves the rezoning, residents are concerned that nearby properties are going to want their properties rezoned and that would effectively create a commercial corridor. At a recent City Council meeting, some property owners next to the proposed Kwik Star expressed interest in doing so. When the Planning and Zoning Commission met last week, there was disagreement on whether rezoning the property would constitute spot zoning. While a Kwik Star representative and Commissioner Ken Motz said it would not because there was an adjacent commercial use, Brecht said that was misleading. Not only was the commercial use they referring to closed, it was not as intensive a use as the proposed development. "They're always hanging their hat on that it's not exclusively residential," Brecht said. "All it is is a spa and it's been closed for (one) year." The consensus in the neighborhood is that a Kwik Star is not appropriate for the property in question. After gathering more than 100 signatures for a petition, it appears others in LeClaire feel the same way. "We're doing as well or better than what we did in our own neighborhood," Griffith said. In talking to residents outside the neighborhood, Santillan said she's heard concerns about what impact Kwik Star will have on existing businesses. Besides fear that Kwik Star will cannibalize existing business at other gas stations and convenience stores, some also have mentioned changing LeClaire's image as a boutique town. "You're starting to bring in these huge commercial businesses and that's what people are not liking," Santillan said. A public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday in front of the LeClaire City Council. With the feeling of this development being forced upon the neighborhood, at least 10 property owners have hired attorney Mike Meloy to represent their interests. "We're counting on him to observe the whole process if it keeps going," Brecht said. "He's going to make sure at every step it falls into what's legal. If there are any slip-ups, he's going to be on them." 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. Rumble 19 Nov 2022 Because the DOJ is looking more and more like a mafia wing of the democrats, Attorney General, Merrick Garland, has decided to.. Rumble 26 Aug 2022 The UK faces an emerging crisis over the availability of C02 for industry as CF Fertilisers, the US-owned company which produces.. Jerusalem Post 10 Oct 2022 The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced in a statement on Facebook that it has closed the meeting.. Sky News 18 Nov 2022 North Korea has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that Japanese officials said had sufficient range to strike the entire.. Upworthy 10 Nov 2021 She and other followers fatally stabbed a husband and wife and smeared their blood on the walls. #leslievanhouten.. Rumble 03 Nov 2022 AP talks about Biden's venom-filled final speech before election day, and why he sounds so desperate. Rand Paul may soon.. DES MOINES Iowa lawmakers looking to stay one step ahead of drones are drafting legislation to prohibit operation of unmanned aerial vehicles over jails and prisons. Lawmakers are being spurred to action by reports that drones have been used to drop drugs, cellphones and other contraband inside prison grounds, said Rep. Jarad Klein, R-Keota. Prison officials are concerned drones could be used to smuggle weapons into a prison. While the Iowa Department of Corrections has reported no incidents, a spokesman said drones have been observed near or over prisons. Klein acknowledges the ban on drones over prisons would be hard to enforce but said his aim is to give prosecutors a tool to use if the drone operator is identified and apprehended. Were not talking about having the prison guards in the towers being able to shoot these things down because that would violate Federal Aviation Administration regulations, Klein said. His proposal, House Study Bill 518, received a lukewarm response from lobbyists at a House Public Safety subcommittee meeting. Lobbyists representing insurance companies, news and movie companies, Google, airports and pilots all raised questions about its workability. They suggested they could support the bill if it was amended to create exemptions for their use of unmanned aerial vehicles. A Department of Public Safety spokeswoman suggested there should be a carve-out for law enforcement. Iowa is not alone in considering drone-related legislation. Last year, 38 state legislatures had such proposals, with 17 passing 23 pieces of legislation. In some states, prison systems seek to install drone detection systems, and some officials predict that in the near future that will be a standard part of prison security. The Department of Correction has looked into drone detection technology and will stay in touch with other state prison systems as it researches and tests such systems, spokesman Cort Overton said. Klein has been the Houses point person on drones since 2014 when legislation to prohibit using drones to film or record over someone elses private property. In that debate, one lawmaker called drones a non-issue. By the end of that session, Klein said, every day legislators were dropping news articles on my desk relating to unmanned aerial vehicles. It didnt take long before people said this is a serious thing. Since then, drone sales have expanded as farmers, real estate agents, photographers and others have begun using them for commercial and personal use. Klein, for example, owns a drone he uses for crop scouting at his southeast Iowa farm. Klein also said the Legislature may look at limiting or prohibiting flying drones above critical infrastructure such as municipal water supplies. Thats one of the things weve talked about is where are the places we need to make sure are fully secured, he said. Jails, prisons are easy ones, but how far do we go because we have more infrastructure that we need to be safeguarding. Another concern is drunken droning. The New Jersey Legislature recently prohibited operation of a drone by anyone with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent the same as the limit for operating a motor vehicle. Violators face up to six months in jail, a $1,000 fine or both. The measure also bars flying a drone near a prison or in pursuit of wildlife. Alex Murphy at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said the agencys legal experts believe current law prohibiting hunting, tracking, following or harassing wildlife from an aircraft includes UAVs. Federal rules already put limits on speeds, altitudes and distances from airports where drones can be flown. Also, drone operators, even if they are not using them for commercial purposes, must register with the FAA and have basic licensure acknowledging the operator knows how high they can be flown, for example, Klein said. Adriana McBride of Davenport liked the atmosphere of people with different voices coming together in one setting for a purpose. She was not alone Saturday as more than 300 people, mostly women, gathered at Schwiebert Riverfront Park in Rock Island for the 2018 Quad-Cities Women's March. It was one of many held across the globe after the first-ever such event was held one year ago with a mission of solidarity on President Donald Trump's first day in office in 2017, This year, the theme locally was encouraging participation in the community, according to local organizers. However, by listening to speakers and reading dozens of signs in the crowd, there was more one than one agenda in play. One of those speakers was Brandy Donaldson of Rock Island, who is vice president of ALPHAS, or African-American Lesbian Professionals Having A Say. She told the crowd about one of her favorite quotes from American poet and civil rights activists, Maya Angelou. Stand up straight and realize who you are, that you tower over your circumstances. You are a child of God. Stand up Straight. Donaldson went one to explain in her own words. The days of us women sitting dormant and people speaking for us, those days are over. she said. Another organizer, Cici Reece of Moline, said many local groups and individuals planned this event. We came together honoring last year's event, she said. We want to keep the movement going, to make sure our voices are not going away. The crowd kept swelling in size as the event continued with temperatures in the 40s. While another organizer, Laura Rodriguez, said this was not an anti-Trump rally, there were anti-Trump signs, among a myriad of topics covered in the signage. That includes one that read: Not usually a protester, but jeez. Another said: We deserve better, and another: A woman's place is in the resistance. There also were posters in favor of protecting all human rights, the fight against racism, better health care and in support of Planned Parenthood. We want to transform our message into action, said Rodriquez, of Moline, with Quad-City Democratic Socialists of America. Voting is not enough. You have to join in your community. It is time to step out in the community. Nobody is going to fix your problem for you. There is a lot of anger and nobody knows what to do with it. Latrice Lacey, director of the Davenport Civil Rights Commission, preached a message of teaming up with others for strength. It is the importance of strong alliances and having allies, she said. This is an inspiring thing to see, people who are like-minded and want to see change in the community. The crowd included plenty of men. My wife and I are here to support women's movements, said Rock Island Alderman James Spurgetis. We are all evolving and on a learning curve to make our society a better one. Rodriquez said a big thrust of the event was to get people to the polls to register and vote. A table was set up to register people in Rock Island County. There also was a ceremonial march to the Rock Island County Clerk's office a few blocks away to drive home the point to register. It is inspiring to see people coming together and just having open discussions, McBride said. There appeared to be bi-partisan agreement among Quad-City legislators Saturday that Iowas shift to private management of Medicaid has stumbled. But while Democrats pushed to go back to a state-run program, Republicans who did speak on the issue resisted. Former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad made the change, which did not require legislative approval, in 2016. Since then, there have been reports of service cuts, providers not being paid and administrative confusion. One of the three managed care companies also has dropped out, which meant that tens of thousands of Iowans had no choice and were shifted to different private insurer. The issue came up at the first state legislative forum in Scott County this year. The forum, the first of three to be held this year, was at the Rogalski Center on the St. Ambrose University campus. The forum was less heated than last years, when they were packed with union employees fighting Republican cutbacks to the collective bargaining rights for public workers. Still, there were pointed questions and responses on a range of issues. State Rep. Gary Mohr, R-Bettendorf, agreed there are problems with the Medicaid shift. Right now, its a mess, he said. But he argued the program, as it was, was not affordable. A report from the state Department of Human Services last month predicted annual savings of $47 million this year, but that is far less than originally projected. Democrats have introduced a bill this year to go back to state management. Rep. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, complained that administrative costs under private management amount to more than when it fell to the state. That is not cost savings, she said. Rep. Monica Kurth, D-Davenport, said other states have reversed course when they werent satisfied with the change. However, Sen. Mark Lofgren, R-Muscatine, said that Jerry Foxhoven, who was appointed director of the DHS in June, is working to fix the problems. Nearly 600,000 Iowans are covered by Medicaid, which is jointly financed by the state and federal governments. Medicaid was just one of a raft of issues that arose at the forum, which was attended by about 175 people. Sen. Roby Smith, R-Davenport, said lawmakers are close to passing a bill dealing with inequities in the states school funding formula, which the Davenport school district has complained about. Were on the doorstep, Smith said. Other topics Saturday included education funding, tax changes and water quality. Karen Brei, of Bettendorf, urged action on the issue. We need water quality today, she said. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has called on a water quality bill to be sent to her. Last year, separate measures passed in the Republican-controlled House and Senate, but lawmakers could not agree on a single proposal. Some Republicans have predicted a single bill will go to the governor fairly early this session. A coalition of conservation and business groups are pushing for a 3/8th cent increase the state sales tax of 3/8ths to pay for conservation and water quality initiatives. Brei, who said shed like to see a moratorium on new confinement operations, said it could go up more than that. The Republican legislation does not include the sales tax increase, and while it includes new funding critics say that it is not enough. Saturdays forum was sponsored by a coalition of groups. The next forum will be held Feb. 10. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Democrat Fred Hubbell led their respective races for governor in fundraising for 2017, according to reports filed with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. Reynolds, a Republican, raised $3.7 million, far exceeding her Republican rival, former Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett, who raised about $844,000. She ended the year with $4.1 million in the bank, compared with nearly $579,000 for Corbett. Reynolds got a big assist from the Republican Governors Association, which contributed $1.3 million to her campaign. The fundraising reports were due on Friday. In the Democratic primary, Hubbell raised nearly $3.1 million, followed by union leader Cathy Glasson and state Sen. Nate Boulton, D-Des Moines. Hubbell, a Des Moines businessman, ended the year with $1.2 million in the bank after spending just over $1.8 million. Hubbell has been more aggressive than his rivals with mail and television advertising so far in the campaign. Glasson, who is president of the Service Employees International Union, Local 199, raised $1.3 million and reported having about $729,000 at the end of the year. Most of her contributions came from SEIU and its affiliates across the country. Together, they donated $1.1 million to Glassons campaign, as well as the bulk of $258,000 in in-kind contributions her campaign received. The union also made a $500,000 contribution to Glasson in early January. Boulton reported raising nearly $1.1 million and ended the year with $481,375. Hed spent nearly $600,000. Former Iowa Democratic Chair Andy McGuire raised $677,584 for the year and ended it with just over $255,000. She spent about $422,000. John Norris, a former chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and longtime aide to Tom Vilsack, reported raising just over $302,000. He had $144,081 in the bank at the end of the year. Former Iowa City Mayor Ross Wilburn raised $8,624 and had $107 in the bank at the end of the year, according to his report. Jon Neiderbach, a former Des Moines school board member, did not raise any money, according to his report and had a small negative cash balance. Investors struggled to reconcile two major forces in investment markets last week, resulting in constant direction changes in the four-day week. Attracting more buyers to stocks was the growing number of corporate quarterly profit reports, nearly each reporting additionally what the new tax reform act might mean for growing its 2018 results. Still, on the other side of motivation and creating some selling in stocks was the normal and natural selling to take some profits, selling that comes after a broad market uptrend like investors enjoyed in the first two weeks of January. The push and pull of these opposing forces brought us a Quad-City Times Key 15 finish at 2517.99, a 16.46 point gain for the week. (1) Best among the gainers was 3M Company, with shares climbing 3.68 to 248.20. (1) Most significant among the restrainers for our index was HNI Corporation, down .59 last week to 39.17. (1) Economic insights were few but insightful. And for a manufacturing area like ours, the national reports on manufacturing output, out from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, were particularly interesting. Manufacturing output continues to grow steadily. Measuring units of goods produced, not dollar value, the report says December output was up 2.6 percent over last December. This follows Novembers 2.8 percent gain and Octobers 2.6 percent gain. The steadiness seen in output increases has continued even as the nation worked with hurricane recovery and with nationwide frigid December weather. Growing output also holds the promise of growing labor needs, continuing the recently reported trend, a Labor Department survey showing added manufacturing jobs. Still, in housing starts, weather did play a role. Out on Thursday from the Commerce Department, total December starts were down both compared to November and compared to one year ago. Excluding multi-family or apartment building starts, the single family numbers looked healthier despite the weather impacts. December was reported up 3.6 percent from one year earlier, nice, but less growth than Novembers 15.1 percent surge. This is a difficult number series to rely on over short periods, with weather creating delays and then later resurgence. Still, it shows that home construction continues to help the economy, even when weather restrained. Archer Daniels Midland, with Clinton grain processing, has developed yet one more joint venture. Reported Thursday, ADM will partner with Qindao Vland Group to develop and commercialize enzymes for animal feed applications. ADM has a research center in Decatur. But, this new venture will open a new research lab in California that will allow the parties to share enzyme producing strains that will become the basis for developing feed enzymes aimed at improving animal health and nutrition. Both companies would be able to commercialize the results. Archer Daniels Midland shares were pushed and pulled by those overall market reversals, and ended with a full week gain of .48 to 40.97. (`) Exelon, parent of the nuclear power facilities in Cordova, surprised consumers with some sharing of its benefits from the new tax reform laws. While Exelon is what you and I might call a wholesale power producer here, they also own a retail electric power utility that serves much of the Chicago area, named ComEd (originally Commonwealth Edison). Customers of ComEd will become beneficiaries of Exelon passing along about $200 million of tax cost savings to them in a move just approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission. The Thursday afternoon announcement means customers can expect to see an estimated $2 to $3 reduction in monthly electric bills. This means that corporate tax relief from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is increasingly creating household budget relief. That relief begins in February. Exelon shares also dipped and surged daily last week, finishing with a small .41 point retreat to 37.96. (1) The new week offers more opportunity for insight into housing with existing home sales out Wednesday, followed by new home sales on Thursday. Arguably, however, the greater number of attention getting reports will come from corporate America reporting profits, with most reporting what tax relief will mean to shareholders and employees as well. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but we do not guarantee its accuracy or completeness. In training exercises in a mock Afghan village constructed here on a base amid swampland, the U.S. Army is applying the military lesson of the war against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq: Help your partners beat the enemy, but don't try to do the fighting yourself. Letting others fight the battle hasn't been the American way in modern times, to our immense national frustration. The U.S. military became bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, much as it had a generation earlier in Vietnam, by trying to reshape societies with American firepower. For the military, the lesson from these quagmires is to step back -- and help local forces with training, advice and airpower. Fort Polk is a final warmup for the 1st Security Forces Assistance Brigade, one of the Trump administration's most innovative military experiments. About 1,000 soldiers are being trained here this month before deploying this Spring to Afghanistan. The preparatory exercises all focus on the same basic theme: Step back, and insist that partners do the front-line combat. Gen. Joseph Votel, the Centcom commander who oversees U.S. military operations from Libya to Afghanistan, brought me along on a visit Thursday to the SFAB final training site. He summed up the concept behind the new brigade this way: "We have to let our partners own it. That's hard for us to do. It's in our DNA to dive in. But our job is to help our partners fight, not fight for them." The Afghanistan simulations are carefully staged in the military version of a movie set, with a mosque tower, goats meandering in the street, peddlers hawking flowers and posters of President Ashraf Ghani on the walls of make-believe Afghan National Army (ANA) headquarters. The idea is to make soldiers "comfortable with the uncomfortable," says Maj. Gen. Gary Brito, the commander at Fort Polk. Over 14 days of training, the soldiers practice helping Afghan partners reclaim a police station from the Taliban in the imaginary village of "Marwandi" and arrest a Taliban financier who's sheltered by the local population. In one exercise, soldiers practice rescuing their comrades who've gotten caught in a firefight, applying quick tourniquets to their wounds and dragging them to safety. At each stop, Votel listens as soldiers repeat the new doctrine: "Put the ANA in the front," says a sergeant heading for Afghanistan. "We have to remove ourselves so it's not our fight." Votel replays that unconventional message to the troops through a long day. "What we're really going to rely on is your adaptability," he admonishes one advisory team. When the brigade moves into Afghanistan in several months, it will have 36 combat advisory teams, with about a dozen members each, partnered with ANA divisions spread across the country. Team members will be able to request supporting fire from planes, drones and advanced artillery. Other teams will assist at headquarters and in logistics operations. They will join more than 10,000 U.S. troops already in Afghanistan. The new brigade, cobbled together quickly with volunteers from divisions across the Army, is an attempt to deal with three issues vexing the Pentagon after more than 15 years of frustration: What works? How can the successful tactics be sustained? And how can the train-and-assist skills of Special Forces -- who have been the star players in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria -- be spread across the Army? Leading this tactical review was Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan. Last Spring, he began a "failure analysis" of what had and hadn't worked in the battle zones. The new brigade illustrates a broader process of shaping military plans for the Middle East that's finally getting traction in the Trump administration, after a year of discussion and delay. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson outlined the Syria piece of this strategic framework this week at Stanford. He argued that America should keep train-and-assist forces in northeast Syria, to aid stabilization there. Walking away from these conflict areas in the past had been a mistake, Tillerson said, but so is trying to steer local governance through nation-building. America has been so frustrated with combat in the Middle East that people have barely noticed the victory against the Islamic State, and the partnering tactics that made it possible. U.S. collaboration with Syrian Kurds and Iraqi Shiites has made neighboring states nervous, especially Turkey. But it achieved results. Since the days of T.E. Lawrence, analysts have argued that the people of the Middle East must fight their own battles. This simple but essential idea finally seems to have become hardwired at the Pentagon. President Trump juxtaposed with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer yesterday prior to federal government shutdown last night at midnight Ah what fun. The federal government shut down at midnight last night. It's the fourth shutdown in the last quarter century. We can bicker and argue which party is to blame, the Dems or the Repubs, but it's all a big distraction. That's because this is a congressional election year and the focus of each party is who controls the Congress after those elections and who the voters will blame for the shutdown. Dems figure with Repubs controlling both Houses of Congress, the voters will blame the Repubs and the Dems will return as the majority party. Repubs even with the "Donald" albatross around their neck will blame the Dems for obstruction and filibuster calling them unpatriotic. But like all shutdowns in the past this one won't last because both the Dems and the Repubs fear a backlash by the voters and soon the shutdown will be over. Anyway it's all just a ruse, this dysfunction by "our" government witnessed by the people. It's what the "deep state" wants, the old divide and conquer strategy getting the people bickering and arguing among themselves and now who is to blame for the federal government shutdown. It's all a means to distract and deflect attention away from the real villains of this country the white, supremacist elite "deep state". One can be sure regardless who sits in the White House or controls the Congress the "deep state" reigns. The untold $billions each year in defense spending increasing the largesse of defense contractors, our wars, drone strikes, special ops and CIA clandestine operations, NSA electronic surveillance, coups, assassinations, color revolutions, regime change operations and of course demonizing "enemies", sanctions against those "enemies", provocative military exercises, NATO expansion to the border of Russia, placing ballistic missiles in Romania and Poland, so called "freedom of navigation" naval patrols in the South China Sea, joint military exercises with Japan and South Korea off the Korean Peninsula against North Korea all continue unabated. So again it doesn't matter who sits in the oval office or which party controls the Congress, the policies and actions, laws, regulations, oversight and enforcement "authorized " by Congress is all deep state" approved. Of course the "deep state" needs "enemies" and it doesn't matter if those "enemies" are contrived be it Communism or Communist, terrorism or terrorists, al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein's Iraq and his imagined WMD, the demonization of Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korea's Kim Jong Un or the ayatollah's of Iran. It all serves the same purpose; they're "enemies" and threats to America and its people and all reinforced by the corporate MSM, the unofficial organ of the state. As for most of the American people so steeped in propaganda and indoctrination believing the essential "goodness" of America, made fearful of these "enemies" they remain faithful knee jerk "patriots" in lock step to the deep state's machinations. As I wrote in OPEDNEWS January 2, 2018 [1] , "Instead of buying into this white supremacist elite divide and conquer strategy there needs to be a class struggle by most whites, blacks, browns, Muslims in solidarity with each other focused on the real culprits, the CEO's of giant corporations, the heads of the military/industrial/political complex, Wall Street banksters, and billionaires in control to forge a class war against these elites". So remember this federal government shutdown won't last. It's just the latest commotion to get the masses of people indignant, aroused, distracted and arguing among themselves; just what the "deep state" wants and expects. Another perfect illustration of how it acts to deflect attention from itself. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). See original here "American voters expect Republicans -- who control all branches of government -- to figure this out and pass a spending deal that reflects American values." By Julia Conley, staff writer Progressives and immigrant rights groups denounced President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans after the Senate was not able to reach an agreement to fund the government by midnight on Friday, forcing the government to shut down exactly one year into Trump's presidency. The shutdown became official after Senate Democrats rejected a bill passed by the House earlier in the week that would have funded the government through February 16. Democrats refused to back the spending deal as it did not include protections for hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants, known as Dreamers, under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program as well as the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), both of which have strong public support. "There is no doubt that Donald Trump, congressional Republicans, and their racist agenda are fully responsible for this government shutdown," said Ilya Sheyman, executive director of MoveOn.org, which helped to organize a rally in support of DACA outside the Capitol Friday night as lawmakers struggled to reach an agreement inside. "It's on Republicans to...pass legislation to protect Dreamers -- who have been left in limbo since Trump ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in September -- and reopen the government." Senators could potentially reach a temporary spending agreement in weekend negotiations before government offices are scheduled to open on Monday, avoiding a full shutdown. As of Saturday morning, more than 1,000 White House and congressional staffers had been placed on furlough, and non-essential agencies including those that process small business loans and passport services were expected to be closed starting Monday, barring a deal. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hoped to get Democrats on board with a short-term spending deal that would keep the government funded through February 8, when he said the Senate would then vote on a bipartisan bill protecting Dreamers. Although Republican leaders including McConnell blamed Democrats for the shutdown, most Americans surveyed this week echoed a sentiment shared by Trump in 2013, when he stated "I really think the pressure is on the president" to reach an agreement to keep the government running -- particularly considering the popularity of the programs the Republicans have held hostage. "American voters expect Republicans -- who control all branches of government -- to figure this out and pass a spending deal that reflects American values, including the Dream Act, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and funding for disaster relief in Puerto Rico and elsewhere," said Sheyman. As news spread of the failure to reach a deal, #TrumpShutdown became the top trending hashtag on Twitter worldwide early on Saturday. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121 "Yes, the Internet can be used for something other than extracting value and data from human beings. Rob Kall is here to show us how to leverage the power of networks to actually network." Douglas Rushkoff, Digital thought leader, author of Present Shock From Share Blue A new poll shows the public sees right through the White House spin. For any Republicans still in denial about how the looming government shutdown might play politically, a new poll confirms their worst fears. "A new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds substantially greater Republican risk in a government shutdown, with Americans by a 20-point margin saying they're more likely to blame Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress than the congressional Democrats if one occurs," ABC News reported on Friday, just hours before the possible shutdown takes place. The new survey finds 48 percent say they'd blame Trump and the GOP for a shutdown, compared to just 28 percent who would blame the Democrats in Congress. While Democrats oppose Trump and Republicans support him, independent voters are firmly in the Democratic camp regarding a shutdown: 46 percent would fault Republicans, compared to 25 percent who would blame Democrats. For the GOP, it's de'jvu, since independent voters overwhelmingly blamed Republicans for government shutdowns in 1996 and 2013. All of this torpedoes the White House's jumbled attempt to blame Democrats for the fate of federal government, even though Republicans today control the federal government. It's a talking point that defies common sense. As Fox News' Shephard Smith noted on Thursday, "I mean, never in the history -- at least modern history -- of the country has there been a government shutdown when a single party is in charge of Washington." Still, the White House and the GOP continue to insist that Senate Democrats are engineering an impasse by refusing to support yet another short-term spending bill to keep the government's lights on. The government is currently operating on its third temporary funding measure since the new fiscal year began in October. Torpedoing that talking point is the fact that some Republican senators are likely to join with Democrats in voting against the spending resolution. "In addition to strong Democratic opposition, at least three Republican senators have said they will not back the continuing resolution in its current form," Reuters reports. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). From Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan: great news for global consumer protectionists! My accolades go to the authorities, above all to Noor ul Amin Megal, Director General of the Punjab Food Authority, who set this in motion: you have done something great here which is ALREADY having beneficial implications internationally, a kind of regulatory ripple effect. Thank you, and let us hope this move is not one simply to be overturned by the bribery of officials, as has happened in too many nations (not likely with this much world publicity!) From flickr.com: 10KG MSG | Yum! Lunch! | Dominik Schwind (Image by Stephen Fox) Details DMCA Punjab Pakistan scientific panel finds Ajinomoto hazardous for health 3 important updates: 1. In India's most progressive state, Kerala: click here They are not fooling around. Not only in Punjab, Pakistan,with a complete ban on MSG, in a state with 100 million citizens, but then this good news from Kerala, the most progressive state in India: this is a major breakthrough for consumer protection all over the world, and not one single word about this monumental regulatory accomplishment has appeared in any American media. 2. click here 3. Please watch this video: Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). From Truthdig The Trump administration's leaks of plans for a "bloody nose" strike on North Korean nuclear and/or missile sites is only the most recent evidence of its effort to sell the idea that the United States is prepared for a first strike against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). But the "bloody nose" leak -- and the larger campaign to float the idea of a first strike against North Korea -- isn't going to convince Kim Jong Un or anyone else who has paid close attention to the administration's propaganda output. That's because national security adviser H.R. McMaster and other senior advisers know the Trump administration has no real first-strike option that is not disastrous. A review of the entire campaign to suggest otherwise reveals the leak has been spun in the hope of creating pressure on Pyongyang. A Telegraph story said the administration was "drawing up plans for a 'bloody nose' military attack on North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons program," but "one option" is destruction of a missile launch site before a missile test. A Wall Street Journal article on Jan. 9 reported that administration officials were still "debating whether it's possible to mount a limited military strike against North Korea on sites without provoking an 'all-out' war on the Korean peninsula." The Trump administration began its first-strike campaign with the leak of a much more aggressive story last April. Three NBC News reporters published a story that "multiple intelligence officials" had told them the U.S. was "prepared to launch" such a strike against nuclear or missile targets, or even against cyber and special operations targets, if U.S. intelligence had indications of an impending nuclear test. That threat turned out to be without substance. On July 3 and again on July 28, the DPRK carried out tests of its Hwasong-14 ICBM, and on Sept. 3, it carried out its sixth nuclear test -- all without any retaliatory response from the Trump administration. After the two ICBM tests, McMaster was asked in an Aug. 5 interview with MSNBC's Hugh Hewitt whether the administration was preparing the public for a first strike against North Korea. McMaster's response did not present a case for such a strike but attributed it to Trump's insistence. If the DPRK has "nuclear weapons that can threaten the United States," he said, "it's intolerable from the president's perspective ... so, of course, we have to provide all options to do that ... and that includes a military option." McMaster's failure to make a clear policy argument for the first-strike option -- based on the idea that Kim Jong Un is unstable or irrational and not subject to the logic of deterrence -- showed that the U.S. intelligence community has adopted an assessment that the North Korean leader is a careful, calculating decision-maker with no interest in attacking the United States with nuclear weapons. The deputy chief of the CIA's Korea Mission Center, Yong Suk Lee, even went to the unusual lengths to make the center's assessment public at a conference in Washington last October. In his presentation, Lee referred to Kim Jong Un as a "very rational actor," adding that "bluster and rhetoric aside," he has "no interest" in going to war against the United States. Lee even described Kim's "long-term goal" as being to "come to some kind of power agreement with the United States and remove U.S. forces from the peninsula." A few days after the MSNBC interview, U.S News reported that people familiar with McMaster's thinking about North Korea had confirmed he agreed with the consensus within the intelligence community and the military that Kim is a "rational actor who is seeking nuclear weapons to deter an attack on North Korea, not to attack the United States or its allies." Nevertheless, McMaster refused to give up that theme, even if it was not based on rational argument. In an interview with ABC on Aug. 13, McMaster asked how "classical deterrence theory" could "apply to a regime like the regime in North Korea? A regime that engages in unspeakable brutality against its own people? A regime that poses a continuous threat to its neighbors in the region and now may pose a threat, direct threat, to the United States with weapons of mass destruction?" And in a Dec. 3 interview with Chris Wallace of Fox News, McMaster said, "I don't think you or anybody else is willing to bet the farm -- or a U.S. city -- on the decision-making, rational decision-making of Kim Jong Un." In the same Fox News interview, McMaster asserted that the DPRK would "use that weapon for nuclear blackmail and then to quote, you know, unify the peninsula under the red banner." Two weeks later in an interview with the "PBS NewsHour," McMaster referred again to the idea that Kim's "intentions likely involve nuclear blackmail." But he cited nothing to indicate that such North Korean "nuclear blackmail" could work, suggesting again that it is an argument of political convenience rather than of conviction for McMaster. In an interview with Evan Osnos of The New Yorker in September, McMaster began to gravitate toward a different argument: that the North Koreans had "proliferated just about every capability they've ever produced, including chemical weapons and a nuclear reactor." And he argued that others in the region would want their own nuclear weapons if "a rogue regime developed nukes and got away with it." But McMaster's claims about North Korean chemical and nuclear weapons proliferation were irrelevant to a first strike, and spurious. His charge of chemical weapons proliferation by North Korea was based on nothing more than an Aug. 21 Reuters story, whose lead declared, "Two North Korean shipments to a Syrian government agency responsible for the country's chemical weapons program were intercepted in the past six months, according to a confidential United Nations report on North Korea sanctions violations." But the full story reveals the U.N. report in question said nothing indicating the North Korean goods intercepted were related to chemical weapons. It said an unidentified state believed two shipments from North Korea bound for Syria that had been intercepted were part of a contract between North Korea and KOMID, the Korea Mining and Development Trading Corporation, which has acted as a Syrian contractor for the Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC). In the past, SSRC has been responsible for both ballistic missiles and chemical weapons, as the story noted, but KOMID has been blacklisted in the past for its role in importing parts for ballistic missiles, not for chemical weapons. The story implied that the goods interdicted had to do with Syrian Scud missiles and repair of surface-to-air missiles and other air defense systems. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Quicklink Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their quicklinks after publishing them. To see if the quicklink was renamed or re-published, please click here. Progressive Content Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their progressive content after publishing. To see if the progressive content was renamed or re-published, please click here. Love (Image by h.guendra) Details DMCA Improving the World with New Religions or No Religion Our country and the world need new religions or no religion. The teachings of Jesus, Buddha, and Krishna show us how to be happy and wise as individuals, but they are not concerned about improving the social, political, and ecological aspects of this world. If we cannot create religions that value bettering this world of time and space, then perhaps we need to become spiritual but not religious. We need religions that see all creation as sacred and interconnected. The monotheistic religions Judaism, Christianity, and Islam focus on appeasing a personal God, who is believed to be infinitely loving, all-powerful, and all-knowing. They are religions that have a lot of outdated rules and pre-scientific beliefs that were progressively developed from a tribal society about 3,500 years ago. Conservative Christians believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, that he was the second person in a trinity, that he was literally raised from the dead, and that he will someday return to establish his kingdom on earth after the violent cosmic battle of Armageddon when Satan is bound forever. Many of these theological beliefs were developed by the Church decades, even centuries, after the time that Jesus was said to have lived. Most Bible scholars who study the Bible scientifically--not just devotionally--do not literally accept these beliefs. Influenced more by ideas rather than events, Hinduism and Buddhism are more non-historical religions that focus on the Perennial Philosophy that says at the core of our being there is spiritual state of boundless love, joy, and creativity that we can attain through meditation and other spiritual disciplines--after we transcend the ego with all of its self-centeredness, selfishness, and pride. However, in Eastern religions, the world of time, space, and causation is considered less real, even an illusion, in comparison to this exalted state of oneness--when one discovers the true Self or whatever one might call it. For example, Buddhists say there is no Self, but words or concepts cannot comprehend this mystical state of oneness, which is beyond thinking, beyond subject-object duality. Yoga and Zen and mindfulness meditation may all be very popular right now, which is mostly a good thing, but where is the focus on responsible citizenship, ecology, and the present state of the world in the lives of these people when they focus so much of their time on their own inner states of consciousness? Yes, it's true, we cannot have outer peace if we don't have inner peace, but if the world is destroyed through a nuclear holocaust, through the stupidity of world leaders, meditation won't be very helpful at that point. There is much good in the self-help movement. There are elements of truth in the teachings of the Law of Attraction, the New Thought movement, and Cognitive Therapy because our habitual thoughts create our character and ultimately our destiny, so it is important that we pay close attention to our daily self-talk and affirm that which can heal our psyche and relationships. However, what might be beneficial for particular individuals may not be good for the community or the planet. For example, some people don't have any qualms about using mind control techniques to accumulate extravagant material wealth. What we must realize instead is that the highest expression of individual achievement is that which promotes the common good. It is good that there are now an increasing number of seminars, teachers, and books that delve into the subjects of anti-aging, holistic health, alternative medicine, metaphysics, near-death experiences, and the science of consciousness. But, alas, where are the discussions and concerns in the lives of these people about the fact that our leaders are giving tax breaks to the super rich and cutting programs for the needy? Where are the discussions and concerns that about 54 percent of our nation's discretionary budget each year is spent on the military ? We are creating our own catastrophic demise if enough people do not awaken--not just spiritually, but politically too. Do people just think "being spiritual" will take care of all the world's social, political, and ecological problems, or do they think that such exorbitant military spending is necessary for our security, or do they just feel helpless and hopeless about changing government? In the Bible being worldly, or of the world, implies being under the influence of Satan which causes us to have lustful craving for everything we see and false pride in our achievements and possessions. Lustful cravings and pride are also discouraged in Eastern thought, but they are considered to be Maya, or an illusion, not the true reality. In Eastern thought, the allurements and attractions of the world create attachments which cover or disguise the Absolute Reality, Truth, or Self. With meditation, we can learn to stop identifying with or detach from these allurements and attractions that ultimately create suffering or dissatisfaction with life. In Eastern philosophy evil exists not because of Satan, but because of misguided choices in this life or a previous lifetime. The central teaching in yoga philosophy is that our true nature is divine, but we are unaware of this divinity because we falsely identify with our body, mind, and the objects of the world. In Buddhism, contrary to popular belief, the suppression of all desires is not encouraged. Desires (for food, sex, peace, and knowledge, for example) are part of life. However, when those desires are tainted by craving and grasping, that is when they cause suffering. Moreover, people swayed by the dominant culture in our society are enticed by a materialistic worldview and lifestyle that do not create genuine happiness or peace in the world. Jesus taught that we should renounce worldliness. Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world, and that the kingdom of heaven is within you. Yoga's transpersonal psychology can lead us to an expanded consciousness when the firm identity that we struggled so long to build up is dismantled piece by piece. But though these teachings may be important for our spiritual growth, they do not focus on improving the world or building better communities, and that is how our new religions must be different. Mohandas Gandhi was a Hindu. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist, and Dorothy Day was a Catholic, yet they integrated their religions with compassionate political action. The earth is being devastated, and we have a responsibility to be wise stewards of it. If peace on earth can become our highest priority, it will become a reality. We can garner meaning from paradoxical spiritual principles such as "to gain freedom in the world, we have to renounce our attachments to the world," and "we must deny ourselves in order to find ourselves." The emphasis on compassion and sacrifice is found in all the major world religions. Thus, we can take the best from all the major world religions, but in our new religions we must fully understand history and science; we must make sustainable plans for future generations; we must deeply care about the people who will live here in this world when we are gone. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Thumbs up to students from Iowa's public universities for this week lobbying for common sense legislation that could save lives. Students from the state's three major universities packed the Statehouse in support of SF 415, which would grant immunity from many potential alcohol-related charges after dialing 911 to report an alcohol overdose. The legislation grapples with reality. We urge lawmakers to approve it this session. Thumbs down to Iowa's so-called water quality bill that's both redundant and inadequate. Des Moines Water Works forced the issue of Iowa's nitrate-filled rivers and streams years ago when it unsuccessfully sued water districts in four rural upstream counties. Iowa Legislature, this year, has promised action. But the $27 million bill now under construction lacks any mechanisms to gauge whether the effort is working. You got it, there's no cash for actually measuring the results. There's a word for this type of effort: disingenuous. It's also unnecessary. Years ago, Iowa voters approved a fund that would pay for the necessary steps toward actually addressing the state's soiled waterways. The account has never seen a penny, nor would it under the draft legislation. Lawmakers would take two steps if they were serious about addressing Iowa's water quality issues. They would fund the account created in 2010's Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Act with a sales tax bump instead of taking more money from already tapped state coffers. And they would apply science to actually know if the effort is working. Thumbs up to Mike Wolfe, Frank Fritz and Danielle Colby-Cushman for eight years of strong public relations for eastern Iowa. This week marked the eight-year anniversary of History Channel's "American Pickers," where Wolfe and Fritz tour the country combing through people's barns and cellars for oil cans and mid-century signage. "LeClaire, Iowa" is emblazoned on the pair's van and they often talk about their Iowa roots. Their original Antique Archaeology shop in LeClaire is a legitimate tourist draw. And the trio have done a fantastic job putting a face on the region. From Empire Burlesque The US has passed another historic week focused on some of the most burning issues of our time, complex and contentious matters that have rightfully provoked many hours of nuanced analysis and intellectual discussion throughout every form of news media: print, video and digital. We refer, of course, to those twin peaks of public concern, embodied in a pair of vital but mystery-shrouded questions that might never fully be resolved: 1. Is Trump fatter than he says he is? 2. Is Trump a foul-mouthed, knee-jerk racist? Loath as I am to turn anyone's attention away from these unfathomable enigmas, I would like, with your pardon, to point out a bit of news that is of course far less important than Trump's pants size or the question of whether, after 40 years of repeatedly belching crude bigotry in public forums, he could perhaps be said to hold somewhat less than completely enlightened views on racial equality. But I do think it is worth noting, at least in passing, that this week also saw the United States commit itself to an open-ended military occupation of territory in a foreign country with which it is not at war -- in a region which has been turned into a tinderbox of violence and extremism by open-ended US military invasion, occupation and intervention. This week, Secretary of State Rex Ex-Exxon Tillerson made a formal announcement that the United States -- which has several thousand troops on the ground in Syria -- will keep its forces there until the government of President Bashar al-Assad is overthrown. In other words, the United States has now embarked on a military regime change operation in Syria -- in flagrant contradiction of Donald Trump's repeated promises not to do such a thing. (I'm sure you join me in astonishment at the idea that Donald Trump would ever lie or break his word about anything.) As Buzzfeed reports: "The speech represents the most comprehensive case Tillerson has ever made for a lasting US military presence in the war-torn country and marks a departure from language drafted between the US and Russian officials in Vietnam in November. "The remarks also are a significant departure from President Donald Trump's campaign rhetoric, which maintained that the only objective the US should have in Syria is fighting ISIS, and are likely to revive debates in Congress between staunch advocates of regime change and those who fear an open-ended commitment to a US presence in Syria. "'What we should do is focus on ISIS. We should not be focusing on Syria,' Trump said in October 2016. 'You're going to end up in World War III over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton.'" Tillerson said this week that the "regime is corrupt, and its methods of governance and economic development have increasingly excluded certain ethnic and religious groups." Well, he should know; he's a leading player in just such a regime. And he and Trump work in close partnership with another such regime -- Saudi Arabia -- especially in their extensive collusion with the Saudis (first launched by Obama) to wage a war of berserking aggression against Yemen, killing many thousands of innocent people and plunging millions into starvation and famine. But in this case, Tillerson was apparently talking about the Syrian regime, which is indeed full of bad hombres, but is nowhere near as exclusionary and corrupt -- and dangerous to the world -- as our bipartisan elite's buddies in Riyadh. Early on, we were told that US warplanes were attacking Syria to root out the ISIS forces trying to take over the country, but there would be no "boots on the ground." Then we were told a small number of boots (and the soldiers wearing them) would be required to help target the air attacks. Then we were told, belatedly, that at least 2,000 (many put the figure as high as 5,000) pairs of US boots (with accompanying soldiers) had somehow been installed on Syrian territory while no one was looking. (Or rather, while everyone was looking at the latest emissions from Trump's nightly sessions of playing with his Tweeter on the toilet.) But all of this, we were told -- first by Obama, then by Trump -- was simply in service of a single goal: defeating ISIS in Syria. To accomplish this singular mission, the US supported rebel fighters made up largely of Islamic fundamentalists, some of whom were even from Syria. The US-backed militias often worked closely with another rebel group, Al-Nusra, a franchise of al-Qaeda. It's undisputed that millions of dollars worth of US weaponry somehow ended up in the hands of al-Qaeda during the course of the war, most of it passed through or sold by the rebel groups backed directly by the US. This particular noble effort of aligning with al-Qaeda and other extremists to overthrow yet another secular government in the Muslim world (Iraq, Libya, and reaching back to the days of good old godly Jimmy Carter, Afghanistan) began under the noble administration of the entirely scandal-free Obama, and has been accelerated by Trump. Despite these efforts, ISIS (which also somehow ended up with scads of US weaponry) was not defeated until Russian forces combined with the Syrian army in a brutal, mass-slaughtering campaign very reminiscent of the US invasion of Iraq under the now-huggable George W. Bush. In any case, ISIS is pretty much gone -- but Trump has planted his rump firmly on the Syrian sand irregardless. So indefinite intervention and occupation are now on the cards. I'm so old I can remember when cynical nay-sayers were taken fiercely to task by the most thoroughly vetted and verified true-blue liberals for suggesting that this was the intention all along -- even during the days of Obama, who has such a nice family and loves dogs and who was (as the NYT solemnly told us) as prayerful and mindful and godly as St. Thomas Aquinas when he met with his security apparatchiks in the White House every blessed week to go over the lists of people to be assassinated around the world on the basis of secret "intelligence" whose provenance and credibility remains forever shrouded in mystery. (Although I think we can safely assume it was at least as credible as the "intelligence" that led to the aforementioned mass-slaughtering war of aggression launched by the noted portrait painter George Bush.) I suppose it's not really surprising that our vetted and verified professional progressive liberals were largely untroubled by the fact that their hero and champion was running a death squad out of the Oval Office; as we all know, partisanship is thicker than blood. (Although to be fair, our verified progressives weren't really all that bothered even when Bush was running the presidential death squad.) But given such thick, oozing partisan gooeyness, I guess it's no surprise they didn't object to Obama's ever-expanding intervention in Syria. (Just as they said doodly squat about Obama's essential role in the Saudi assault on Yemen -- the second greatest war crime of this atrocity-choked century.) But given their revulsion to every aspect of Trump's corporeal being, you'd think they would find -- or at least fake-- a modicum of outrage over Tillerson's announcement of an armed regime change operation in the white-hot center of the Middle East cauldron, with the armies and militias of Russia, Syria, Turkey, Iran, the Kurds and various Saudi-backed extremists all thrashing around in the pot: a situation that some trenchant analysts say could easily "end up in World War III." Yet once again, it's all quiet on the progressive front. Democratic leaders -- I'm sorry, "Resistance" leaders -- like Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, Dianne Feinstein, Mark Warner and newly minted progressive liberal hero Doug Jones have all found ample time to give Trump (and that cute-as-a-little-bug enforcer of his, Jeff Beauregard Yezhov Sessions) vastly expanded surveillance powers over American citizens. But thus far the Democratic resistance has not said one word about this new declaration of a permanent commitment to use US military power to force regime change on yet another nation. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). As Democrats embark on a ten-month campaign to take back Congress, it's clear they need a unifying message. Because Republicans are defined by Trump, Dems could unite on the theme, "lock him up." While satisfying, this slogan doesn't capture the depravity of Trump's reign or the fact that Republicans have sold their souls uniting behind him. A better solution for Democrats would be to focus on sustainability. Within the environmental movement, sustainability means: "avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance." The key notion is that we live within a system that, to function properly, has to be balanced. What is true for the environment is also true for the US economy and for our national security. Democrats must have a sustainable vision for each of these systems. Environment: Trump views the environment as a free resource to be used with impunity. The Republican attitude towards global climate change, and the environment in general, is shaped by three notions: The first is dominion; that humans have the right to exploit our natural resources. The second notion is exclusion, which argues that environmental costs, such as pollution, are outside the economic system and, therefore, have no bearing on economic projections (thus coal companies claim to be exempt from the downstream consequences of mining). The third is denial; Republicans deny the reality of global climate change and make policy in a fact-free zone. Trump touts a policy of "energy dominance." This broad policy includes support for out-of-favor energy sources such as coal and nuclear power and features opening up previously off-limits petroleum resources such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and US coastal waters. (It also includes eliminating regulations on existing power plants and drilling sites.) Republicans claim the moral authority for Trump's perspective. Their perspective is driven by "dominionism;" the right-wing Christian notion that God has given humans dominion over the earth. Republicans ignore the consequences of pollution. And, deny there are any long-term consequences of their policies -- such as global climate change. The politics of sustainability argues that global climate change is real and consideration of it, and the environment in general, should influence all of national policy decisions. Economy: Trump's view of the economy parallels his perspective on the environment. (Its fed by the classic Calvinistic view of capitalism.) Once again, there are three complementary notions. The philosophy of dominion argues that in a "Christian capitalist" economy there are inevitably winners and losers: the "winners" are likely those chosen by God to go to heaven. The philosophy of exclusion argues that in a capitalist economy government has only limited authority. Republicans want government to stay away from all business transaction; they argue that the economy should be restricted only by "the invisible hand" of the marketplace. Finally, the Republican economic ideology is based upon denial. At the moment, Republicans boast of a booming stock market and low unemployment; they ignore the reality that this economy disproportionately favors the rich and powerful. (Republicans base their optimism upon the widely discredited notion of "trickle-down economics.) Republicans take the position that prosperity is inevitable and ignore economic history that says booms inevitably end with catastrophic consequences. The politics of sustainability argues that you cannot separate democracy and the economy; in order for democracy to flourish, the economy must work for everyone. Thus, if capitalistic institutions are unfair, the government must intervene to protect working Americans. National Security: Spending on U.S. national security is 15 percent of all federal governmental spending (which includes mandatory expenditures such as Social Security and Medicare) and more than 50 percent of all discretionary spending. In 2016, the US spent $611 billion on defense expenditures, 36 percent of the world total, and more than the next eight countries' combined total. Trump's view on national security is influenced by the same three considerations. The philosophy of dominion argues the US is the most powerful nation in the world and therefore we need to have a gargantuan military establishment. The Republican philosophy of exclusion argues that, like environmental costs, defense expenditures are outside the traditional economic system and, therefore, have no impact on the economy. And, once again, the Republican philosophy is dominated by denial. After the end of the cold war, US defense spending gradually declined only to dramatically increase after 9/11. Now, the $611 billion is 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product (Chinese military expenditures are 2.1 percent of their GDP). This level of expenditure makes no sense and is not sustainable, when the the United States has so many unmet needs that could be addressed by these funds -- for example, infrastructure. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). From No More Fake News "CNN is still licking their wounds after a rather disastrous couple of weeks, where a shoddy Russia-Trump story led to three staffers resigning, a Project Veritas investigation exposed that the network's producers peddled the Russia story for ratings, and what came off as a wholly inappropriate veiled threat against an anonymous Reddit user who created a Trump WWE video, which the president tweeted before the Fourth of July Holiday. The video shows Trump beating up WWE's Vince McMahon, whose face has been superimposed with the CNN logo. The media went apoplectic as an attack against the press; it wasn't. This spurred the network's reporters to find the user and pretty much threaten to dox him if he continues to post things CNN doesn't like."(Townhall, Matt Vespa, 7/7/17) If you create a giant, you gain extraordinary visibility, and if the giant develops an unsightly and grotesque case of fungal disease, that's a problem. CNN was born in 1980. At the time, it was the first television network offering 24/7 news, and it was the first network offering nothing but news in the US. In 1991, CNN's coverage of the Gulf War reached a billion viewers worldwide. Today, CNN International reaches 200 countries. That's a giant. But from the beginning, back in 1980, there was a major question: how was CNN going to fill up all that time every day with news? Face it, television networks, without bells and whistles, could boil down their coverage of a day's events in four minutes. That's because their analysis is so thin. It's all surface. When you assiduously avoid looking into WHO REALLY RUNS THINGS, the well runs dry quickly. When you avoid detailing the role of mega-banks and mega-corporations and groups like the Trilateral Commission and CFR and Bilderberg, and when you never define Globalism and reveal its true agenda; when you discover nothing of value about the CIA; when you never broach the subject of American Empire; when you refuse to examine the horrendous effects of the medical system; when you fail to expose the ongoing collaboration between establishment Democrats and Republicans, and the influence of lobbyists (e.g., Israeli fronts); when you intentionally remain blind to the destruction of the American Republic and the Constitution; when you ultimately side with National Security and the Surveillance State; when you manage to sidestep actual ongoing environmental pollution flowing poisonously from a number of sources; when you refuse to reveal the full effects of open borders; when you never connect the dots and instead rely on limited hangouts... What are you left with? What do you do, for 24 hours of every single day? Mainly, you wait for "big events," and then you launch wall to wall coverage for as long as your viewers can stand it. The Gulf War; the first black president; the worst president and the worst human being in history (Trump). You develop bloated panel shows, during which pundits babble across each other like meth addicts in a rubber room. You call "the news" The Situation Room, as if you're breaking vital stories every 30 seconds. You plow the same ground over and over, until not even weeds can grow in the soil. You fill your basket with the eggs of the "progressive agenda." You go all in. You fake stories. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Animal Vaccines Market -Evolving Technology, Growth, Trends Product and Market Analysis https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/animal-vaccines-market https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/animal-vaccines-market/report-sample https://www.psmarketresearch.com/send-enquiry?enquiry-url=animal-vaccines-market https://www.psmarketresearch.com Like humans, animals also suffer from several infectious diseases such as rabies and foot and mouth disease. Introduction of advanced veterinary medicines hold prime importance in the treatment of animal diseases. However, prevention of diseases is also essential to provide immunity against various diseases. Prevention is usually done by vaccination. Vaccination also reduces the multiple doses of antibiotics used to control established diseases and has prevented long term suffering and death from diseases.Access Report Overview:The global animal vaccines market is segmented based on various products, technologies and animal diseases. Product segment covers companion animal vaccines, poultry, livestock, porcine, aquaculture and equine. The companion animal vaccine sub-segment is further sub-divided into feline vaccines and canine vaccines. The livestock vaccines sub-segment includes bovine vaccines and ruminant vaccines. The livestock vaccines are the largest sub-segment in global animal vaccines market. However, companion vaccine and aquaculture are fastest growing sub-segments in global animal vaccines market.Download Sample of This Research Report:Europe dominates the global animal vaccines market followed by North America. Germany, France and the U.K. are some of the largest markets for animal vaccines in Europe. The U.S., followed by Canada, is the largest market for animal vaccines in North America. The key driving factor for animal vaccines market in these regions is increasing research activities on various types of animal diseases. In addition, increased awareness about animal health also has a strong positive impact on the growth of animal vaccines market in Europe and North America.However, Asia-Pacific represents the fastest growing region in the global animal vaccines market. This is due to minimal wages and availability of skilled professionals in the region. These factors attract vaccines manufacturing companies to invest in the Asian countries. In addition, increasing awareness about animal health also boosts the growth of animal vaccines market in the region. China, Japan and India are the largest animal vaccines markets in the region.Make Enquiry Before Buying the Report:However, patent expiry of various major vaccines and increasing maintenance costs for vaccines are key restraints of this market. Stringent regulations and legislations and shift towards vegetarian food by consumers also obstruct the growth of global animal vaccines market. Rapid product launches and increasing mergers and acquisitions between vaccines manufactures are emerging trends of the global animal vaccines market.Some of the major competitors in the market include Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Bayer HealthCare, Novartis, Boehringer Ingelheim, Ceva, Heska Corporation, Bioniche Animal Health Canada Inc. and Virbac.About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide market research reports, industry reports, business intelligence and research based consulting services across a range of industries.With the help of our professional corporate relations with various companies, our market research offers the most accurate market forecasting. Our analysts and consultants interact with leading companies of the concerned domain to substantiate every single data presented in our publication. Our research assists our client in identifying new and different windows of opportunity and frame informed and customized strategies for expansion in different regions.Contact:P&S Market Research347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb: Blood Group Typing Market Global Industry Analysis and Outlook - Including its Dynamics, Structure, Growth Factor, Top Key Player https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/blood-group-typing-market https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/blood-group-typing-market/report-sample https://www.psmarketresearch.com/send-enquiry?enquiry-url=blood-group-typing-market www.psmarketresearch.com Blood group typing is a procedure of determining what specific type of blood a person has, which depends on the presence of antigens on the red blood cells. It is done in organ donation process, to safely donate or receive a blood transfusion and to determine whether Rh factor is present on the surface of the red blood cell. Blood group typing is very important during pregnancy as it can prevent severe anaemia in the new born. There are various techniques and methods to detect the blood group. The global blood group typing market has witnessed significant growth due to the advancement in technology which has improved detection methods.Globally, the demand for blood group typing products and services was largest in hospitals due to the increasing awareness regarding the importance of blood donations and growth in the requirements of blood for surgical treatments. Other key end users in the global blood group typing market are clinical laboratories and blood banks.Browse Complete Report with Full ToC:Regulatory standards for the blood transfusion are stringent as it is a very crucial process. Stringent regulatory requirements hinder the growth of the global blood group typing market. Other key factor restraining the growth of the global market is lack of trained and skilled professionals which can cause misleading transfusion.Request for a sample:North America held the largest share in the global blood group typing market in 2016, followed by Europe. It was the prominent market for the blood group typing products and services. The reasons of the dominance of North America is the presence of different reimbursement schemes for several surgeries and prevalence of chronic diseases. Asia-Pacific blood group typing market is expected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period with the growth centered at China, Japan, and India.Make enquiry before buying the report:They key players in the global blood group typing market are Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Immucor, Inc., Quotient Limited, BAG Health Care GmbH, DAY medical SA, Grifols S.A., Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Inc., Novacyt Group, DIAGAST, AXO Science, and Agena Bioscience, Inc.In October 2016, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., a manufacturer of life sciences and clinical diagnostic products, received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its IH-1000 blood instrument.In May 2014, Immucors PreciseType HEA Test received FDA approval to be used for screening blood donors for sickle cell trait (SCT). The PreciseType HEA test is the FDA-approved molecular assay designed to provide blood banks and clinicians with the detailed genetic matching information that they need to reduce the risk of alloimmunization and serious haemolytic reactions, which is especially problematic for patients receiving frequent blood transfusions.About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide market research reports, industry reports, business intelligence and research based consulting services across a range of industries.With the help of our professional corporate relations with various companies, our market research offers the most accurate market forecasting. Our analysts and consultants interact with leading companies of the concerned domain to substantiate every single data presented in our publication. Our research assists our client in identifying new and different windows of opportunity and frame informed and customized strategies for expansion in different regions.Contact:P&S Market Research347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb: Blood Plasma Products Market Expected to Grow by 2023: Key Driver, Global Market Analysis and Outlook https://www.psmarketresearch.com/send-enquiry?enquiry-url=blood-plasma-product-market https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/blood-plasma-product-market https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/blood-plasma-product-market/report-sample www.psmarketresearch.com Blood plasma product is the extracted portion from the blood using fractionation process to deliver products rich in plasma proteins. These products are used as body fluids, antibodies and clotting factors in medical industries that aid in treatment of chronic ailments like auto-immune disorders and haemophilia.Make Enquiry Before Buying the Report:The global blood plasma product market is expected to witness a significant growth during the forecast period due to the high demand by a large pool of patients with no alternative therapeutic approach. Blood plasma product have a wide range of components that have clinical use such as, Albumin, Factor VIII, Factor IX, immunoglobulin, fibrinogen with their major applications in bleeding disorders (haemophilia, immunological disorders), massive hemorrhage and in traumatic injuries. Moreover, the presence of biomarkers in plasma adds to their application in clinical diagnosis of diseases. These factors will drive the growth of global blood plasma product market in future.Access Report Overview:The present therapeutics involve a continuous supply of plasma product as supplement. This increase in prevalence of bleeding disorders will drive a positive impact on the growth of the market during the forecast period 2017-2023. Moreover, government and private organization support blood donation programs to meet the rising demand of plasma, which will further drive the market growth. The growth of geriatric population results in the increase in prevalence of age related diseases such as, kidney disorder that requires blood plasma product as a therapeutic. These factors will drive the growth of the global blood plasma product market.Download Sample of This Research Report:Geographically, North America held the largest share in the global blood plasma product market in 2016, followed by Europe. North America was the prominent market for the blood plasma collection, fractionation and product formation. Asia Pacific global blood plasma product market is expected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period (2017-2023). The growing geriatric population and the increase in prevalence of blood disorder diseases are the factors responsible for the growth.The other key players in the global market are Shire Pls., Octapharma AG, Kedrion S.p.A, Biotest AG, China Biologic Products, Inc., Sanquin and LFB S.A.About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide market research reports, industry reports, business intelligence and research based consulting services across a range of industries.With the help of our professional corporate relations with various companies, our market research offers the most accurate market forecasting. Our analysts and consultants interact with leading companies of the concerned domain to substantiate every single data presented in our publication. Our research assists our client in identifying new and different windows of opportunity and frame informed and customized strategies for expansion in different regions.Contact:P&S Market Research347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb: Global Interior Sliding Door Market SWOT Analysis , Benefits, Forthcoming Developments, Outlook, Research & Future Investments to 2022 http://www.qyreports.com/request-sample/?report-id=47248 http://www.qyreports.com/ask-for-discount/?report-id=47248 http://www.qyreports.com/report/global-interior-sliding-door-market-research-report-2016-47248/ www.qyreports.com This research report helps provide insights into innovations, opportunities and new development in the Interior Sliding Door and its connected industries. It includes vital trends and dynamics of the market at regional as well as global level for the given forecast period. For a pervasive understanding of the market, business strategies and latest developments of the vital players accompanied with co-development deals and market size have also been enclosed. Briefly citing, their revenue share, contact information and meticulous SWOT analysis is available.The research study evaluates the existing markets past performance along with the future statistics during the forecast period on the basis of revenue as well as volume. The study includes quantitative and qualitative analysis of various marketing segments based on key criterias. This report also mentions the epitome segment and sub-segment clubbed with reasons which supports their growth. Similarly, it mentions the drop in segment and sub-segment with the factors hampering its growth.Get Sample Copy of this Report:Key players:Alliaverre, Casali, Ewins, FOA, Henry glass, Otcdoors, Zanette, Res Italia, Sofia, Pumade and othersThis study estimates the factors that are boosting the development of the global Interior Sliding Door market, on the basis of key principles segments such as end-users, application, product, technology, and region are surveyed comprehensively. A thorough examination has been done in this report to bring about the share and position of global Interior Sliding Door market. In the report, a complete analysis of the growth revenue is offered.The research report also mentions the innovations, new developments, marketing strategies, branding techniques, and products of the key participants present in the global Interior Sliding Door market. The reports offer the opportunities and restraint that may hit the market players in the future. Through this report, consumers can easily get the notion for their growth of global Interior Sliding Door products in the market.Avail 30% Discount on this Report@:The report is presented in a clear and concise manner so that readers can understand the market structure and dynamics effectively. Recent trends and developments in the global Interior Sliding Door market have been analyzed. Opportunities leading to the growth of the market have been analyzed and stated. The report focuses on the global Interior Sliding Door market, and answers some of the most critical questions stakeholders are currently facing across the globe. Information about the size of the market (by the end of the forecast year), companies that are most likely to scale up their competitive abilities, leading segments, and challenges impeding the growth of the market are given.Drivers and restraints impacting the growth of the market have also been analyzed. A segmentation of the global Interior Sliding Door market has been done for the purpose of a detailed study. The profiling of the leading players is done in order to judge the current competitive scenario. The competitive landscape is assessed by taking into consideration many important factors such as business growth, recent developments, product pipeline, and others. The research report further makes use of graphical representations such as tables, info graphics, and charts to forecast figures and historical data of the global Interior Sliding Door market.Get Complete Report@:About QYReports:We at, QYReports , a leading market research report publisher accommodate more than 4,000 celebrated clients worldwide putting them at advantage in todays competitive world with our understanding of research. Our list of customers include prestigious Chinese companies, multinational companies, SME's and private equity firms whom we have helped grow and sustain with our fact-based research. Our business study covers a market size of over 30 industries offering unfailing insights into analysis to reimagine your business. We specialize in forecasts needed for investing in a new project, to revolutionize your business, to become more customer centric and improve the quality of output.Contact:QYReportsJones John(Sales Manager)+91-9764607607sales@qyreports.com Global Boronic Acid Market Outlook, Research, Trends and Forecast to 2021 http://www.qyreports.com/request-sample/?report-id=19611 http://www.qyreports.com/ask-for-discount/?report-id=19611 http://www.qyreports.com/report/global-boronic-acid-market-research-report-2016-19611/ www.qyreports.com This research report helps provide insights into innovations, opportunities and new development in the Boronic Acid and its connected industries. It includes vital trends and dynamics of the market at regional as well as global level for the given forecast period. For a pervasive understanding of the market, business strategies and latest developments of the vital players accompanied with co-development deals and market size have also been enclosed. Briefly citing, their revenue share, contact information and meticulous SWOT analysis is available.The research study evaluates the existing markets past performance along with the future statistics during the forecast period on the basis of revenue as well as volume. The study includes quantitative and qualitative analysis of various marketing segments based on key criterias. This report also mentions the epitome segment and sub-segment clubbed with reasons which supports their growth. Similarly, it mentions the drop in segment and sub-segment with the factors hampering its growth.Get Sample Copy of this Report:Key players:Trivenichemical, Euticals, Tosoh Finechem, Cayman Chemical, Speranza, Hanzhou Pharm & Chem, Shanghai Nuohey, Wuhan Pengo, SRLThis study estimates the factors that are boosting the development of the global Boronic Acid market, on the basis of key principles segments such as end-users, application, product, technology, and region are surveyed comprehensively. A thorough examination has been done in this report to bring about the share and position of global Boronic Acid market. In the report, a complete analysis of the growth revenue is offered.The research report also mentions the innovations, new developments, marketing strategies, branding techniques, and products of the key participants present in the global Boronic Acid market. The reports offer the opportunities and restraint that may hit the market players in the future. Through this report, consumers can easily get the notion for their growth of global Boronic Acid products in the market.Avail 30% Discount on this Report@:The report is presented in a clear and concise manner so that readers can understand the market structure and dynamics effectively. Recent trends and developments in the global Boronic Acid market have been analyzed. Opportunities leading to the growth of the market have been analyzed and stated. The report focuses on the global Boronic Acid market, and answers some of the most critical questions stakeholders are currently facing across the globe. Information about the size of the market (by the end of the forecast year), companies that are most likely to scale up their competitive abilities, leading segments, and challenges impeding the growth of the market are given.Drivers and restraints impacting the growth of the market have also been analyzed. A segmentation of the global Boronic Acid market has been done for the purpose of a detailed study. The profiling of the leading players is done in order to judge the current competitive scenario. The competitive landscape is assessed by taking into consideration many important factors such as business growth, recent developments, product pipeline, and others. The research report further makes use of graphical representations such as tables, info graphics, and charts to forecast figures and historical data of the global Boronic Acid market.Get Complete Report@:About QYReports:We at, QYReports , a leading market research report publisher accommodate more than 4,000 celebrated clients worldwide putting them at advantage in todays competitive world with our understanding of research. Our list of customers include prestigious Chinese companies, multinational companies, SME's and private equity firms whom we have helped grow and sustain with our fact-based research. Our business study covers a market size of over 30 industries offering unfailing insights into analysis to reimagine your business. We specialize in forecasts needed for investing in a new project, to revolutionize your business, to become more customer centric and improve the quality of output.Contact:QYReportsJones John(Sales Manager)+91-9764607607sales@qyreports.com Reactive Dyes Market Share, Competitive Analysis and Industry Segments Poised for Strong Growth in Future 2023 Reactive Dyes Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3870 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/reactive-dyes-market-3870 Market Research Future Published a Half Cooked Research Report on Global Reactive Dyes Market Research Report - Forecast to 2023 Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2023.Huntsman International LLC., BASF SE, NIPPON KAYAKU CO. LTD., Sumika Chemtex Co., Ltd., Archroma, Colourtex, Kiri Industries Ltd., IM Dye Chem, Roop dyes and Intermediates, Kevin India Co. among others are some of the prominent players at the forefront of competition in the Global Reactive DyesMarket and are profiled in MRFR Analysis.Reactive Dyes Market OverviewReactive Dyes belongs to a class of organic compounds which is predominantly used for tinting textiles. Reactive Dyes possess excellent property in the formation of covalent bonds with the substrate that is to be colored, moreover these form chemical bind with fiber, which is the main component of cotton fibers. These are majorly utilized in end use application such as nylon, cotton, wool, leather, and silk. The Reactive Dyes Market is estimated to grow tremendously and register a strong growth during the forecast period. Growth of Global Reactive Dyes Market is predominantly driven by textile and leather industry. Furthermore, textile industry is expected to witness considerable growth on account of various factors such as increasing population, rising disposable income, and changing consumer trends. Textile industry is among the largest application segment for dyes and dyestuff and is predicted to offer a progressive scope for the reactive dye market over the assessment period. Additionally, constantly changing fashion trend along with the rising popularity of various clothing brands is estimated to drive textile industry, which in turn, is predicted to fuel the market growth over the forecast period. Apart from this, stringent regulations imposed by various government agencies in the use of synthetic based reactive dyes can hinder the growth of the market over the assessment period.Request a Sample Report @Geographically, Asia Pacific emerged as the leading market for Reactive Dyes followed by North America and Europe in 2016. The Asia Pacific region provide huge growth potential for Reactive Dyes and is predicted to register highest CAGR on account of continuous growth of textile, paper, and leather industry specifically in China, India, Japan, and South Korea. Moreover, end use industrial growth in various countries of Asia Pacific such as South Korea, India, Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia. Furthermore, increasing investment by major companies and shifting of manufacturing facilities as well as end use industries expansion in this region is predicted to propel the reactive dyes regional market growth. North American market is expected to witness substantial growth due to expansion of textile sector. Europe is estimated to witness moderate growth owing to the significant growth of leather and textile industries. Moreover, stringent regulations imposed by various regulatory bodies in Europe and North America is expected to slightly hamper market growth.Industry/ Innovation/ Related News:November 2016- Huntsman Corporation signed an agreement for strategic partnership with Jihua Group, a China based company. With this agreement, textile division of Huntsman Corporation and Jihua Group will cooperate to meet the increasing demand for dye and dye intermediates for Chinas textile sector. The strategic partnership will strengthen the groups capabilities of serving customers in China and further speedily expand their business across the globe.July 2016- Bodal Chemicals, one of the leading producer of dyes intermediate and dyestuff based at Ahmedabad, plan to expand its dyestuff manufacturing at its Vadodara facility. The company will expand its business in two phases. In first phase the company will expand dyestuff production capacity by 8000 MTPA and in second phase the company will increase production capacity from 17000 MTPA to 25000 MTPA. With this expansion the company strengthen its position in dye intermediate market.September 2015- Shree Pushkar Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd planned to set up reactive dye manufacturing unit with an annual capacity of 3000 tonnes. As with increase in dye manufacturing demand, company will expand its dyes intermediate capacity of H acid by 750 tonnes and vinyl sulphone by 1000 toness. With this expansion in manufacturing unit, company strengthen its position in global market.Access Complete Report @Competitive LandscapeThe Reactive Dyes Market Report Analyses the degree of competition among the market players as well as industry growth and market scenario. The global reactive dyes market consist of various players operating in the market including large scale and medium size manufacturers. This industry is concentrating towards growth association specifically by Asia Pacific as medium scale and key operating players are from this region specifically from China, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, and India. Furthermore, reactive dyes manufacturers from Europe and North America are planning to expand their manufacturing base to Asia Pacific region in order to meet the demand for reactive dyes in this region. In addition to this, manufacturers operating in this region are expanding their production capacity in order to strengthen their position and to meet the demand for increasing textile sector. Moreover, the market is rising with a substantial growth rate which raises the competitive rivalry among the industry players.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com There has been a flurry of letters to the editor surrounding the medical aid in dying conversation. It began with Quad-City Times columnist Barb Ickes article concerning the documentary How to Die in Oregon. It is a relevant issue in Iowa since Rep. Brian Meyer, D-Des Moines, and Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, introduced the Iowa End-of-Life Options Act (Senate File 215/ House File 299). This act is modeled after Oregons 20-year-old law and is currently in the Iowa Legislature. The Scott County Action Team is presenting a second showing of the documentary and inviting all who are interested in this issue to attend. The documentary shines a light on several families and individuals as they grapple with the end of life options and how they make their decisions around this issue. There will be a discussion after the showing, so all may share their thoughts and feelings the documentary evokes. We hope you join us, as we seek to learn from each other. The showing will be Tuesday, Jan. 30, 6-8:15 p.m. in the Gilbert Room at the Bettendorf Public Library. Alice Martin Bettendorf Editors note: Martin is a member of Compassion & Choices, Scott County Action Team Heat Exchanger Market: Global Trends, Key Vendors, Drivers, Profits & Analysis, Forecast to 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2963 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/heat-exchanger-market-2963 Heat Exchanger Market - OverviewAccruing Heat Exchanger Market is progressing with the fast pace; mainly due to its applications across the industries. From Agro-industry (heat exchangers for sugar factories and distilleries) to swimming pools to maintain the water temperatures. Other remarkable applications of Heat Exchangers are Chemical Factories, HVAC and etc.According to a recent study report published by the Market Research Future, the Global Heat Exchanger Market has been increasing steadily and expected to gain further prominence during the forecasted period. The Market is forecasted to demonstrate a spectacular accretions, surpassing its previous growth records in terms of value with a striking CAGR during the anticipated period (2017 2023). The Heat Exchanger Market is anticipated to grow further with a staggering CAGR of 8.2% during the forecasted period. With such a phenomenal growth records, MRFR experts are also expecting the market to perceive the accruals of USD 19.45 Billion by 2023.On the other hand, fluctuating prices of raw material acting as major barrier for the growth of the heat exchanger market. Adversely, increasing number of power plants across the globe is indicating to the augmented demand of condensers, eventually, leading to provide impetus to the market growth of Heat Exchangers during the forecasted period (2017- 2023). A safe, reliable and low cost electrical energy supply is critical to ensuring power continuity in the future. Heat Exchangers can be used to optimise the effectiveness of plants in a variety of important niche applications such as; Energy recovery, Energy Storage and Solar Thermal Energy. Heat exchangers offer safe, reliable and robust design combined with high effectiveness, compact size and a close temperature approach. This ensures heat exchangers provide its users with a cost effective solution throughout the entirety of their implementation. Thus, the global demand for all kinds of heat exchangers is expected to upsurge; leading to spur the market growth of the global heat exchangers market.Heat exchangers are devices used to transfer heat energy from one fluid to another. Heat exchangers find widespread use in power generation, chemical processing, electronics cooling, air-conditioning, refrigeration, and automotive applications. Heat exchangers used in abundantly in chemical and process industries. It is also used in automobiles in the form of radiators and oil coolers. It is most preferred and widely accepted equipment due to its green and energy-efficient properties. The focus of various regulatory bodies to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases for meeting the future sustainability is further driving the market for heat exchangers.Request a Sample Copy @Key PlayersThe major player operating in the market of global heat exchanger are Alfa Laval AB (Sweden), Kelvion Holdings Gmbh (Germany), Southern Heat Exchanger (U.S.) Danfoss A/S (Denmark), SPX Corporation (U.S.), Xylem Inc. (U.S.), API Heat Transfer Inc. (U.S), Gunter AG & Co. KG (Germany), Sierra S.p.A (Italy), Hamon & Cie International SA (Belgium).Market Research Future Analysis:Europe is leading the market of Heat Exchanger. Strong market for plate & frame heat exchangers. The region has the presence of most of the global leaders in heat exchanger manufacturing. New emerging technologies and regulations in certain regions have also helped in the growth of heat exchanger industry. Innovative heat exchangers are that can withstand corrosive chemicals are gaining popularity.Asia-Pacific is witnessing high industrial growth rate which will increase the demand for plate & frame heat exchangers for its diverse applications. China dominating the plate & frame heat exchangers market in Asia-Pacific region, being a major consumer and the fastest growing country in terms of plate & frame heat exchangers demand. Moreover, increasing number of plate & frame heat exchangers manufacturers from Asian countries are putting efforts for developing a strong base of plate & frame heat exchangers market, with a target of reducing plate & frame heat exchangers imports.Heat Exchanger Market - SegmentationThe Heat Exchanger Market can be segmented in to 3 key dynamics for the convenience of the report and enhanced understanding;Segmentation By Types : Comprises Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger, Plate Heat Exchanger, Regenerative Heat Exchanger, Air cooled, and others.Segmentation By Application : Comprises Chemicals, Oil & Gas, Power Generation, HVACR, Food & Beverages and others.Segmentation By Regions : Comprises Geographical regions - North America, Europe, APAC and Rest of the WorldGet Complete Report @List of FiguresFigure 1 Research TypeFigure 2 Global Heat Exchanger Market: By Type(%)Figure 3 Global Heat Exchanger Market: By Application(%)Figure 4 Global Heat Exchanger Market: By RegionFigure 5 North America Heat Exchanger Market, By Type(%)Figure 6 North America Heat Exchanger Market, By Application(%)Figure 7 Europe Heat Exchanger Market, By Type(%)Figure 8 Europe Heat Exchanger Market, By Application(%)Figure 9 Asia-Pacific Heat Exchanger Market, By Type(%)Figure 10 Asia-Pacific Heat Exchanger Market, By Application(%)About USAt Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Direct Drive Wind Turbine Market Key Profile - GE Renewable Energy, Siemens AG, Goldwind Science & Technology, Leitwind AG, ENERCON GmbH, Xiangtan Electric https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2465 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/direct-drive-wind-turbine-market-2465 Market HighlightsGovernments across the globe are realizing the potential and long-term benefits of using the wind energy. Favorable policies are introduced by the governments to help establish and sustain wind power against cheaper alternatives. This would improve the growth of the wind energy sector, thus marking immense potential for growth of the global direct drive wind turbine market. The growing concern for energy conservation with drastically increasing population can also be attributed to the growth of global direct drive wind power market.The report has analyzed the market based on capacities, technologies and regions. Based on capacities, the market is segmented as less than 1MW, 1MW to 3MW and more than 3MW. Among the three, the 1 MW to 3 MW segment dominates the market with the highest share. Based on technologies, the market is further bifurcated as electrically excited synchronous generator and permanent magnet synchronous generator. With the increase in offshore activities, PMSG technology is expected to experience high growth during the forecast period. Europe, of all regions, has the largest market share based due to forefront investment countries such as Spain, U.K., Germany, Ireland and France. The global direct drive wind turbine market is expected to cross USD XX Billion Mark by the end of forecast period and is expected to grow approximately at 11.5% CAGR from 2016 to 2022.Global Direct Drive Wind Turbine Market is predicted to grow approximately at 11.5% CAGR by 2022.Request a Sample Copy @Market Research AnalysisBased on capacities, the market is segmented as less than 1MW, 1MW to 3MW and more than 3MW. In which, the 1MW to 3MW segment is projected to drive the market.Based on technologies, the market is segmented as electrically excited synchronous generator and permanent magnet synchronous generator, with the latter being projected to account for the largest market share due to its light weight feature and offshore application.Among regions, Europe is expected to dominate the global direct drive wind turbine market with the highest CAGR owing to increased investments in wind energy sector.Key Players GE Renewable Energy (U.S.), Siemens AG (Germany), Goldwind Science & Technology Co. Ltd. (China), Leitwind AG (Italy), ENERCON GmbH (Germany), Xiangtan Electric Manufacturing Group (China), Emergya Wind Technologies B.V. (The Netherlands), VENSYS Energy AG (Germany), Windtronics LLC (U.S.) American Superconductor Corporation (U.S.)Market SynopsisThe depletion of fossil fuel reserves has an alarming effect on the environment due to which the alternative renewable sources has gained immense importance. The wind energy is one of the cheapest renewable energy sources. So power generation from wind energy is done by harnessing the energy from the wind and is used to generate electricity from the harnessed power.Governments across the globe are trying to promote green and clean energy usage. The availability of financial subsidies from governments is expected to drive the market. However, huge initial investments and shortage of skilled labor are the major restraints for the market growth.Europe has the largest market shareEurope dominates the market and expected to grow approximately at XX% CAGR during the forecast period. The favorable governments regulations has resulted in increased investments in wind energy in the region.Asia-Pacific is another lucrative market which is experiencing a rapid adoption of gearless wind turbines, especially from emerging economies in the region such as China and India.Get Complete Report @Scope of the ReportThis study provides an overview of the global direct drive wind turbine market, tracking two market segments across four geographic regions. The report studies key players, providing a five-year annual trend analysis that highlights market size, volume and share for Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe and Rest of the World (ROW). The report also provides a forecast, focusing on the market opportunities for the next five years for each region. The scope of the study segments the global direct drive wind turbine market by its capacity, technology and region.By Capacity Less than 1MW 1MW to 3MW More than 3MWBy Technology Electrically Excited Synchronous Generator (EESG) Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (PMSG)By Region Asia Pacific North America EuropeRest of WorldAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Honey Market Key Players - Dabur India Ltd., Capilano Honey Ltd., Comvita Ltd., Barkman Honey Llc and Bee Maid Honey Ltd. https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/5139 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/honey-market-5139 Market Scenario:Honey is a natural sweetener produced by bees and extracted through plants nectar. The major components of honey include carbohydrates, water, nitrogenous substances, and minerals. Honey is considered to be a potential replacement for table sugar. The market for honey is anticipated to increase during the forecast period based on increasing health consciousness among the consumers and rising demand for an alternative to table sugar.Honey has several health benefits associated with it which makes it a healthy sugar substitute in the market. It is gaining popularity among the growing health-conscious consumers being a natural source of various health benefits. Honey contains antioxidants which help to prevent cellular damage and loss in the brain. Owing to its health benefits, the honey market is anticipated to gain healthy growth over the forecast period.It has been observed that the demand for mono-floral honey is increasing in countries such as the U.S., the U.K, Japan, and Australia. Mono-floral honey is a type of honey which is predominantly made from the nectar of a particular plant and has a distinct natural smell. The benefit of the honey depends on the particular plant species from which the nectar has been prepared. This increase in the demand for this distinct type of honey is one of the driving factors for the growth of the global honey market. However, fluctuating prices of honey are considered to be a major restraint towards the growth of the global honey market.The key players in the honey market are making continuous R&D, influencing the growth of the honey market. They are coming up with new innovative flavors such as jamun, neem, lychee, sunflower, coffee, tulsi, ginger, garlic and forest honey.Request a Sample Report @Regional Analysis:The global honey market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the world. Among these, the Asia Pacific region is projected to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period owing to the rise in the production volume and increasing consumption of honey. The Asia Pacific region is estimated to reach 1,162.8 kt in terms of volume by 2023. However, Rest of the World region including countries such as Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa is projected to expand at a moderate CAGR of 7.31% during the forecast period 2017-2023.Segments:The global honey market is segmented into type, application, and packaging.On the basis of the type, it is segmented into alfalfa, wildflower, buckwheat, acacia, clover honey, and others. Among all, the wildflower honey segment is projected to account maximum market proportion and projected to grow at CAGR of 7.35% during the forecast period.On the basis of the application, it is segmented into food & beverage, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, and others. The food & beverage segment is dominating the market due to increasing demand for honey in the food products. This segment is projected to grow at CAGR of 7.26% during the forecast period.On the basis of the packaging, it is segmented into the bottle, jar, tube, tub, and others. The bottle segment is projected to account for approximately 45% market proportion and projected to grow at CAGR of 6.72% over the review period of 2017-2023.Key Players:Some of the key players profiled in the global honey market: Dabur India Ltd. (India), Capilano Honey Ltd. (Australia), Comvita Ltd. (New Zealand), Barkman Honey Llc (U.S.), Bee Maid Honey Ltd. (Canada), Lamex Food Group Ltd. (U.S.), Billy Bee Honey Products (Canada), and Beeyond The Hive (U.S.)Target Audience:Global honey manufacturersFoods & beverages industryPharmaceutical industryRaw material suppliersEnd usersRetailers and wholesalersE-commerce companiesTraders, importers and exportersAccess Report Details @Key Findings:The Asia Pacific region is estimated to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period and will grow at a substantial CAGR of 7.68%. Furthermore, among the Asia Pacific countries, China is projected to witness a substantial growth of 6.95% during the forecast period of 2017-2023.Global honey manufacturers find massive opportunity in China owing to the huge demand of honey as an ingredient in personal care products among the population.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.ContactMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Smart Pole Market Trends, Outlook, Growth, Market Segmentation, and Forecast 2017 and 2025 MRRSE https://www.mrrse.com/sample/3829 https://www.mrrse.com/smart-pole-market https://www.mrrse.com/checkdiscount/3829 https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/3829 https://www.mrrse.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ The Global Smart Pole Market is expected to witness a significant growth attributed to various benefits over the conventional street light poles. Equipped with the smart video cameras, internet connectivity and announcement speakers, demand for smart poles continue to remain high in the global market. Manufacturers are increasingly focusing on installing smart poles attributes to growing need for monitoring and managing the traffic. Further, government in various countries are taking initiatives to encourage smart city. These factors are expected to impact growth of the global smart pole market significantly.Request a Free Sample Report @The report provides an in-depth insight on some important aspects of the global smart pole market while offering important analysis on the competitive landscape, important segment, growth patterns and factors driving the market growth.Global Smart Pole Market: DynamicsGrowth of the global smart pole market is expected to be bound by various macro-economic and micro-economic factors. The global market is significantly driven by the enhanced features such as public charging point, smart video cameras, announcement speakers and internet connectivity. With the growing demand for internet connectivity, the global market is expected to witness significant growth. Increasing demand for monitoring weather and traffic management is expected to contribute towards growth of the global market.As these poles are equipped with public charging point, the tourists can conveniently charge their devices. Moreover, government in various countries are taking initiatives regarding implementation of the smart city plan. Installation of the multifunctional smart poles further contributes towards development of the city in a smart manner. Attributed to these factors, installation of the smart poles is expected to rev up in various countries. This in turn is expected to impact growth of the global smart pole market positively.Browse Complete Table of Content of the Report at @Global Smart Pole Market: SegmentationThe global smart pole market is expected to be segmented on the basis of component, installation type, application and region. In terms of component, the global market is segmented as lighting lamp, communication devices, lamp controller, sensors and software. By installation type, the global market is segmented as new installation and retrofit installation. On the basis of application, the global smart pole market is segmented as highways & roads, railways, harbors and public places. North America is expected to represent a lucrative growth opportunities globally.Check Discount of Report @The sensors segment on the basis of components is expected to represent the highest growth in terms of revenue. By installation type, the retrofit segment is expected to record a significant growth in terms of revenue. However, the new installation segment is expected to reflect the highest CAGR in the global market. On the basis of application, the highway & roads segment is expected to register the highest revenue growth, whereas adoption of the smart poles will continue to remain high in the public places.Global Smart Pole Market: CompetitionLeading market players in the global market of smart pole include Lumca, Inc, Telensa Limited, Philips Lighting Holding B.V, Acuity Brands Lighting, Inc., Neptun Light, Inc, Maven Systems Pvt. Ltd, Ericsson Inc, Streetscape International LLC, Shanghai Sansi technology Co., LTD and Sunna Design, SA.Enquire about this Report @About (MRRSE)Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite:Read More Industry News At: Proximity Sensors Market Report Inclusions, Market Taxonomy, Forecast 2017 to 2025 MRRSE https://www.mrrse.com/sample/3822 https://www.mrrse.com/checkdiscount/3822 https://www.mrrse.com/proximity-sensors-market https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/3822 https://www.mrrse.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ The Global Proximity Sensors Market report provides analysis for the period 20152025, wherein the period from 2017 to 2025 is the forecast period and 2016 is the base year. The report covers all the major trends and technologies playing key role in proximity sensors market growth over the forecast period. It also highlights the drivers, restraints, and opportunities expected to influence markets growth during the forecast period. The study provides a holistic perspective on the proximity sensors markets growth throughout the above mentioned forecast period in terms of revenue (in US$ Mn), across different geographies, including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa (MEA) and South America.Request a Free Sample Report @The market overview section of the report demonstrates the market dynamics and market trends, such as the drivers, restraints, and opportunities that influence the current nature and future status of the market. An attractiveness analysis have also been provided for every geographic region in the report, in order to provide a thorough analysis of the overall competitive scenario of the proximity sensors market, globally. Moreover, the report provides an overview of the various strategies of key players present in the market. Introduction and market definition chapter helps in understanding different technologies of proximity sensors along with their applications which are included in the report.The report provides all the essential information required to understand the proximity sensors and its components. Furthermore, Porters Five Forces analysis explains the factors which are currently affecting the market. This report also provides the value chain analysis for the proximity sensors market which explains the participants of the value chain. The report also provides the current market trend impact analysis across each region.Global Proximity Sensors Market: Market SegmentationThe report segments the global proximity sensors market on the basis of various technology into Single Capacitive, Magnetic, Infrared (IR), Force Sensor and Others (Inductive, Photoelectric, etc.). Furthermore, the market is segmented on the basis of product type into fixed distance and adjustable distance. On the basis of chip type, the market is segmented into single chip and multi-chip. The market is segmented on the basis of its uses in various end-use industry into Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Building Automation, Consumer Electronics, Food & Beverage, Industrial and others segment. Thus, the report provides in-depth cross-segment analysis of the proximity sensors market and classifies it into various levels, thereby providing valuable insights at the macro as well as micro levels.Check Discount of Report @On the basis of country, North American market is segmented into The U.S., Canada and Rest of North America. Similarly, Europe market is segmented into The U.K., Germany, France, and Rest of Europe. Asia Pacific have been segmented into China, Japan, India, and Rest of Asia Pacific. Middle East and Africa covers the GCC countries, South Africa and Rest of Middle East and Africa. Similarly, South American region includes Brazil, and Rest of South America.Global Proximity Sensors Market: Competitive LandscapeThe report also highlights the competitive landscape of the proximity sensors market, thereby positioning all the major players according to their geographic presence and recent key developments. The comprehensive proximity sensors market estimates are the result of our in-depth secondary research, primary interviews, and in-house expert panel reviews. These market estimates have been analyzed by taking into account the impact of different political, social, economic, technological, and legal factors along with the current market dynamics affecting the proximity sensors markets growth.Browse Complete Table of Content of the Report at @Some of the key players engaged in proximity sensors market include various manufacturers such as Pepperl + Fuchs GmbH, Sick AG, Omron Corporation, IFM Electronic GmbH, Schneider Electric SE, Panasonic Corporation, Rockwell Automation, Inc., Semtech Corporation, Vishay Semiconductors, STMicroelectronics NV, Qualcomm Technologies, Futek Advanced Sensor Technology, Inc., NXP Semiconductor, Sensata Technologies, and Infineon Technologies AG. Details such as financials, and products/service offerings pertaining to these players have been duly provided as part of company profiling.Market SegmentationGlobal Proximity Sensors Market, By TechnologyCapacitiveMagneticInfrared (IR)Force SensorOthersGlobal Proximity Sensors Market, By Product TypeFixed DistanceAdjustable DistanceGlobal Proximity Sensors Market, By Chip TypeSingle ChipSingle ChannelMulti-ChannelMulti-ChipGlobal Proximity Sensors Market, By Industry VerticalAerospace & DefenseAutomotiveBuilding AutomationConsumer ElectronicsSmart PhonesTabletOthersFood & BeverageIndustrialOthersIn addition, the report provides analysis of the global proximity sensors market with respect to the following regions:North AmericaS.CanadaRest of North AmericaEuropeThe U.K.GermanyFranceRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaRest of Asia PacificMiddle East and Africa (MEA)GCC CountriesSouth AfricaRest of MEASouth AmericaBrazilRest of South AmericaEnquire about this Report @About (MRRSE)Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite:Read More Industry News At: Medium Voltage Fuse Market Report Inclusions, Market Taxonomy, Forecast 2017 to 2025 MRRSE https://www.mrrse.com/sample/3470 https://www.mrrse.com/checkdiscount/3470 https://www.mrrse.com/medium-voltage-fuse-market https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/3470 https://www.mrrse.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ This report on the Global Medium Voltage Fuse Market provides analysis for the period 20152025, wherein 2016 is the base year and the period from 2017 to 2025 is the forecast period. Data for 2015 has been included as historical information. The report covers market dynamics including drivers, restraints opportunities, and trends expected to influence the global medium voltage fuse market growth during the said period. Technologies that are playing a major role in driving the global medium voltage fuse market have also been covered in the study. The study provides a comprehensive analysis on market growth throughout the above forecast period in terms of value estimates (in US$ Mn) and Volume (in Thousand Units), across different geographies.Request a Free Sample Report @Global Medium Voltage Fuse Market: SegmentationsThe medium voltage fuse market has been segmented on the basis of type, application and geography. Based on type, the market has been divided into Current Limiting Fuses, Expulsion Fuses, EEI-NEMA Type K & T and Type H & N, and Others. The current limiting fuses also known as silver-sand fuses, primarily utilized for overcurrent protection in electric distribution systems have been further segment into E-Rated Fuses, R-Rated Fuses, PT Fuses/ E-Rated PT Fuses, C-Rated Fuses and Others. Similarly the expulsion fuses, which work with the expulsion effect of gases produced by internal arcing, either alone or aided by other mechanisms, have been further bifurcated into Boric Acid Fuses and Others. On the basis of application, the global medium voltage fuse market has been divided into Transformers, Motor Starters/Motor Circuits, Feeder Circuits/ Feeders, Switchgear, Capacitors and Others. Transformer segment has been sub-segmented into power transformers, potential transformers and distribution/service transformers.Global Medium Voltage Fuse Market: Regional AnalysisGeographically, the report classifies the global medium voltage fuse market into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (MEA), and South America; the regions are analyzed in terms of market revenue. Furthermore, region wise prominent countries covered in the report include the following - the U.S, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, the U.K., China, India, Japan, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), South Africa and Brazil.Global Medium Voltage Fuse Market: Research MethodologiesThe report also includes key developments in the medium voltage fuse market. Porter Five Force analysis and financials are also included in the report. The report also covers segment wise comparison matrix, market attractiveness analysis and market share analysis for all regions covered in the scope of study.Check Discount of Report @Comparison matrix includes segment growth matrix, 2015 - 2025 (%), segment value share contribution, 2015 - 2025 (%), and segment compounded growth matrix (CAGR %). Market attractiveness identifies and compares segments market attractiveness on the basis of CAGR and market share index.Global Medium Voltage Fuse Market: Competitive LandscapeThe report also includes competition landscape which include competition matrix, market share analysis of major players in the global medium voltage fuse market based on their projected value share, and business profiling of major players. The Competition Matrix benchmarks leading players on the basis of their capabilities and potential to grow. Factors including market position, offerings and R&D focus are attributed to companys capabilities. Factors including top line growth, market share, segment growth, infrastructure facilities and future outlook are attributed to companys potential to grow. This section also identifies and includes various recent developments carried out by the leading players.Browse Complete Table of Content of the Report at @Company profiling includes company overview, major business strategies adopted and SWOT analysis. Major players in the medium voltage fuse market include ABB Ltd., Littelfuse, Inc., Bel Fuse, Inc., DF Electric, Eaton Corporation, SIBA GmbH, Fuseco Inc., General Electric, IPD Group Limited, Mersen S.A, Mitsubishi Electric, Fusetek, Pennsylvania Breaker, LLC and Powell Industries Inc. Other prominent players include Schneider Electric SA, Toshiba Corporation, Denco Fuses, Driescher Eisleben and LSIS Inc.The global medium voltage fuse market is segmented as below:Global Medium Voltage Fuse Market, By TypeCurrent Limiting FusesE-Rated FusesR-Rated FusesPT Fuses/ E-Rated PT FusesC-Rated FusesOthersExpulsion FusesBoric Acid FusesOthersEEI-NEMA Type K & T and Type H & NOthersGlobal Medium Voltage Fuse Market, By ApplicationTransformersPower TransformersPotential TransformersDistribution/Service TransformersMotor Starters/Motor CircuitsFeeder Circuits/ FeedersSwitchgearCapacitorsOtherGlobal Medium Voltage Fuse Market, By GeographyNorth AmericaThe U.S.CanadaMexicoEuropeThe U.KGermanyFranceRest of EuropeAsia Pacific (APAC)ChinaJapanIndiaRest of APACMiddle East and Africa (MEA)GCCSouth AfricaRest of MEASouth AmericaBrazilRest of South AmericaEnquire about this Report @About (MRRSE)Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite:Read More Industry News At: Standard Logic Devices Market, Why should Invest in Report? Market Segmentation and Forecast 2017 to 2025 MRRSE https://www.mrrse.com/sample/3468 https://www.mrrse.com/checkdiscount/3468 https://www.mrrse.com/standard-logic-devices-market https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/3468 https://www.mrrse.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ Electronic industry is witnessing robust growth since last few years owing to the expansion of application areas for the electronics devices and components. This growth is significantly contributed by the growth in consumer electronics products such as mobile phones, tablets, DVD players, and television sets and office automation products such as printers, and computers. This has compelled many companies in these industries to set up new manufacturing units and expand the production capacity over the last few years. Furthermore, the ongoing technological advancements, are expected to expand the application areas of standard logic devices thereby driving the growth of the standard Logic Devices Market during the forecast period from 2017 to 2025.Request a Free Sample Report @Standard Logic Devices Market: Research MethodologyThis report provides an analysis of the global standard logic devices market for the period from 2015 to 2025, wherein the period from 2017 to 2025 comprises the forecast period and 2016 is the base year. Data for 2015 is provided as historical information. The report covers all the major trends and technologies playing a major role in the growth of the standard logic devices market over the forecast period. It also highlights various drivers, restraints, and opportunities expected to influence the markets growth during this period. The study provides a holistic perspective on the markets growth in terms of revenue in US$ Mn, across different geographical regions namely North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and South America.The market overview section of the report showcases the market dynamics and trends such as the drivers, restraints, and opportunities that influence the current nature and future status of this market. The report also provides the ecosystem analysis and key market indicators for the standard logic devices market. The standard logic devices market data estimates are the result of our in-depth secondary research, primary interviews and in-house expert panel reviews. These market estimates have been analyzed by taking into account the impact of different political, social, economic, technological, and legal factors along with the current market dynamics affecting the market growth.Check Discount of Report @Standard Logic Devices Market: SegmentationStandard logic devices market is segmented by gate IC type, buffer/driver type, transceiver type, flip-flop, switches and multiplexer type, register type and by region. Among these gate IC type is further segmented into OR, AND, Universal Gates (NAND and NOR), EXOR, EXNOR. On the basis of buffer/driver type, standard logic devices market is segmented into inverting and non-inverting buffer. Based on transceiver type, the market is segmented into standard, and parity, registered transceivers. The flip-flop segment is further split into SR flip flop, D flip flop, JK Flip flop, T flip flop. Switches and multiplexer type segment is further bifurcated into analog, buffered, and protocol specific. Register type segment is further segmented as storage registers, and shift registers. On the basis of region the standard logic devices market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and South America.Standard Logic Devices Market: Competitive DynamicsThe report also includes competitive profiling of the key players associated with the standard logic devices market around the globe. The important business strategies adopted by them, their market positioning, financials, SWOT analysis, and recent developments have also been identified in the research report. The competitive landscape section of the report also gives an overview about the major contributing regions/countries by these key players in order to strengthen their market position in the future.Browse Complete Table of Content of the Report at @This report covers the details of some of the prominent players in the standard logic devices market which includes Analog Devices, Arrow Electronics, Diodes Incorporated and Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics N.V, Toshiba Semiconductor and Storage, ROHM Semiconductor, Microchip Technology Inc., NXP Semiconductors N.V., Maxim Integrated Products Inc. and ON Semiconductor.Market SegmentationStandard Logic Devices Market, by Gate IC TypeORANDUniversal Gates (NAND and NOR)EXOREXNORStandard Logic Devices Market, by BufferInverting BufferNon-Inverting BufferStandard Logic Devices Market, by TransceiverStandardParityRegisteredStandard Logic Devices Market, by Flip FlopSR Flip FlopD Flip FlopJK Flip FlopT Flip FlopStandard Logic Devices Market, by Switches and Multiplexer TypeAnalogBufferedProtocol SpecificStandard Logic Devices Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaThe U.S.CanadaRest of North AmericaEuropeThe U.K.GermanyFranceRest of EuropeAsia Pacific (APAC)ChinaJapanIndiaAustraliaRest of APACMiddle East and Africa (MEA)GCC CountriesSouth AfricaRest of MEASouth AmericaBrazilRest of South AmericaEnquire about this Report @About (MRRSE)Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite:Read More Industry News At: In more than three hours on the stand, Laffitte acknowledged the facts underpinning prosecutors case. But he said he did not know he'd played a role in Murdaugh's scheme for years. Read moreEx-banker Russell Laffitte claims he didn't know he was helping Alex Murdaugh steal money At this vital point in American history, its important to stop and consider where we are headed as a country and as a people. Some of the rhetoric and actions we see and hear are both damaging and dangerous. The signs of eroding democracy are everywhere. The rise in antisemitism is disturbi Read moreCommentary: We cannot remain silent amid rising antisemitism Faith and survival, not the machinery of death, are the central themes at an atypical Holocaust museum in Brooklyn. The three-year-old Amud Aish Memorial Museum, located far from the tourist crowds at near the very edge of the borough, focuses on the experiences of Orthodox Jews during and after the Holocaust. Its collection includes letters, diaries, photos and religious items, like a frayed prayer shawl worn secretly by a prisoner at Auschwitz. Many were donated by Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jews who had stashed the artifacts in basements and attics would not have given them to another museum, Amud Aish staffers said. "Part of that is because their culture is different and they don't patronize museums for the most part," said Shoshana Greenwald, director of collections. "But here they felt this was a museum that would tell their story and understand where they are coming from." The collection includes the Warsaw Ghetto diary of Hillel Seidman, who wrote about Jews' daily struggle to survive and to practice their religion in the face of horrific persecution. "It's a well-known diary," said Dovid Reidel, the museum's director of research. "This is the original." The family of Seidman, who survived the Holocaust and died in 1995, gave the diary to Amud Aish because they "felt other museums will just focus on his general story," Reidel said. "They felt he wouldn't be appreciated from his religious dimension as well." Currently housed in a temporary space downstairs from a home health care company, far from city subway lines, the Amud Aish Memorial Museum has long planned on moving to a more prominent location. When it opened in the remote Mill Basin neighborhood, there were plans to build an $11 million permanent museum in the borough's Borough Park section, home to a huge and growing population of Orthodox Jews. Sholom Friedmann, the museum's director and CEO, said there's now no fixed date for a move. An exhibit that officially opens at the museum later this month tells the little-known story of thousands of Jews who found refuge in Japanese-occupied Shanghai, China. A group of teenage girls from a private Jewish school clustered around the vitrines during a recent visit and learned about the Walkin family, who fled Lithuania on the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1941, landing first in Kobe, Japan and then in Shanghai. Program coordinator Miryam Gordon pointed out sabbath candlesticks adorned with Chinese characters. "Daily life continued," she said. "Children were born. People got married." Reidel's own grandfather, Mike Tress, is featured in Amud Aish's collection for his work trying to secure passage for European Jews to the United States or another safe haven. There are typed minutes of an Oct. 14, 1944, White House meeting between first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Tress and other rescue activists. They met on a Saturday when religious Jews are not supposed to travel or conduct business, Reidel noted, adding, "When it came to rescuing lives, that supersedes the not traveling or not holding these work meetings on shabbos." Colleagues in Holocaust remembrance said there's a place for a museum that's devoted to the devout. "The more opportunities there are to engage with Holocaust education, the better," said Elizabeth Kubany, a spokeswoman for the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, located in lower Manhattan. Tova Rosenberg, the creator of the "Names, Not Numbers," a Holocaust oral history program, said Amud Aish shows the "spiritual resistance" of Jews who maintained their religion even in the concentration camps. "They were going to keep their religious commandments no matter what," Rosenberg said. "And that isn't portrayed so much in other museums." Michael Berenbaum, a Holocaust scholar who has served as a consultant to Amud Aish and other museums, said he hopes Amud Aish can reach its core community while also attracting a broader audience that may have little contact with the Orthodox beyond passing them on the street. "I would hope that lots of non-Jews, non-Orthodox Jews would come to see it in part as a bridge to understanding with these people they live adjacent to," he said. A former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has warned that Nigeria should not turn its back on the clamour for restructuring. Mr. Obasanjo spoke on Friday at a Convocation Lecture organised by the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN. He said the university has set the pace for the discussion on restructuring. The former president is among 14,771 students set for graduation from NOUN on Saturday. He recently defended his PhD. thesis on Christian Theology. Speaking on restructuring, he warned that it is wrong not to give listening ears to the calls for it. He said restructuring will unify the country more as those who are crying will feel a sense of belonging. Some people have to lay it open. So, let us lay it open. And Im happy this forum has laid it open, Mr. Obasanjo said after the guest lecturer, Eghosa Osaghae, finished delivering his lecture titled: Restructuring and True Federalism: Nigeria in Perspective. Mr. Osaghae, Vice Chancellor of Igbinedion University, Okada, earlier noted that, Federalism is true when it is appropriate and able to serve purposes for which it is adopted and untrue when it is not able to do so. He, however, warned that federalism is a delicate system whose efficacy or success cannot be guaranteed, as evidenced by the travails and threats that several federations go through and the higher number of them that failed. Speaking about restructuring, Mr. Osaghae opined that, it restructuring can be said to be a catchall term for the continuous process of adjustments that federal systems ungergo. It entails changes in numbers, boundaries and powers of constituent units as well as relations between federal and subnational governments. According to the professor, any federal system that fails to continuously restructure and respond to changing dynamics is not likely to work well or survives. Mr. Osaghae, however, agreed that restructuring under the form of separatist agitation, secession movement, ethnic conflicts and civil wars make the headline news and in some cases may lead to the end of federalism rather than its remediation. It is ironic that allegations of marginalisation, exclusion and injustice allude to poor roads, absence of running water, hospitals and schools, erosion, unemployment and the like-matters which the states and local governments should take responsibility. The states were not so lucky in the offshore-onshore case in which the federal government sought a declaration that it had exclusive rights to offshore sources of revenue and that states were only entitled to a share of revenue from onshore sources. Declaring the lecture open, Vice Chancellor of the university, Abdalla Adamu, explained that NOUN is proud to have Mr. Obasanjo as its first PhD. graduate. The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) will today, (Saturday) award a doctorate in Christian Theology to former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The former president is among 14, 771 persons receiving honours at the universitys seventh convocation in Abuja, Vice-Chancellor Abdallah Adamu said. The retired general is NOUNs first Ph.D graduate. But when PREMIUM TIMES asked Mr. Obasanjo on Saturday morning whether he would now prefer to be called Dr. Obasanjo in a fitting tribute to his latest academic achievement, the former leader said No. He said he would prefer that people continue to address him as Chief Obasanjo a title he adopted after dropping the prefix General when he became Nigerias democratically elected president in 1999. The former President holds several chieftaincy titles from across the country. Explaining to PREMIUM TIMES why he does not want to be described with the Dr title, Mr. Obasanjo said, I think I prefer to remain as Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to avoid confusion. My first son, Olusegun Obasanjo, holds a Ph.D in Architecture. So when you say Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo, you might be referring to me or to him. But that my son is not yet a chief, so I am higher than him in that. If you say Chief Olusegun Obasanjo there is no question who you are referring to. That is me, and not my son. There are those saying I should now be called Chief Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo. Me, I dont know about that o. As far as I am concerned, that is too complicated. The NOUN VC, Prof. Adamu, had said Mr. Obasanjo might be considered for a teaching appointment in the institution. He said in spite of being a former president, Mr. Obasanjo conducted himself properly and deservedly bagged the Ph.D degree. There are lessons to be learnt from Obasanjos feat one is never too old to learn; Obasanjo was about 80 years when he started the programme and has finished it at 82, Mr. Adamu said. Again, one is never too powerful to learn; he was the president twice and yet subjected himself to learning; learning is a humbling process. We will consider him for the post of a facilitator or supervisor; maybe for our Abeokuta Study Centre; we will suggest it to him. Mr. Adamu said because of Mr. Obasanjos achievement, NOUN has received enrolment requests from other older citizens. President Muhammadu Buhari ignored the recommendations of a panel he constituted to review operational, technical and administrative structure of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), in appointing the NIAs new director general. The panel, which was made up of retired intelligence officers, was formed on November 8, 2017 in the aftermath of the scandal triggered by the discovery of $43 million stashed in a Lagos apartment. A former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baba Gana Kingibe, was appointed to lead the panel of a small number of former intelligence officers. They were charged with recommending to government how to align the work and operations of the Agency to Nigerias national interest and the challenges of the 21st century. The panel was also required to look into the financial viability of the Agency and measures to improve accountability, probity, as well as control and checks. Another key area the government sought the experts views was in continuous staff training and indoctrination for professionalism and integrity. The Kingibe-panel was also asked to look into any area of weakness in the NIA, arising from the work of an early presidential committee on the $43 million, headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. The panel submitted its report to Mr Buhari on December 19 with recommendations around the four terms of reference. DISREGARDED The report spell out qualifications for the right candidate to head the agency. The panel agreed that candidate to fill this post must exhibit high degree of professionalism, sound judgment, management and leadership competences and, above all, personal and professional integrity. Key in the many criteria listed is that the new DG should emerge from the corps of serving directors. The panel used the word must in making this recommendation, underlining its significance. The panel further recommended that seniority among the directors should be a criterion, but not a determining factor. The panel noted that those and other recommendations it made were intended to stabilize the agency, restore staff morale and challenge their professionalism, improve operations and sound financial management. Mr. Buhari however observed these recommendations in the breach. Curiously, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, who was the secretary to the Kingibe panel, has now become the beneficiary of the breach. Mr Abubakar, a retired middle-level staff of the agency, was announced as the new director general on January 10. Insiders say Mr Abubakar came to the NIA on transfer of service from Katsina State Government in 1995, and was allegedly placed two steps higher than his level 12 grade, by his relative who was the then DG of the agency, Zakari Ibrahim. However, for reasons that are not immediately clear, Mr Abubakar left the services of the agency in 2013. NINE DIRECTORS TO GO Disquiet is said to be brewing within the ranks of senior staff of the agency. Most members of the Senior Management Committee that would now be answerable to the new DG are said to be his seniors, and by convention too high to serve under their junior. Nine directors who are members of the SMC are also seniors to the new DG and cannot therefore operate under him, said a source at the agency. The new DG is also said to be considering seeking the approval of the National Security Adviser to mass retire all those that were his seniors while he was in service who are now to be his subordinates. The mass retirement, if approved, will however come at a great cost to the agency, insiders say. These are highly experienced and well trained pillars of the institution, retiring them on the altar of an inappropriate appointment will be harmful to the service, and the country, remarked a source who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. A spokesman for Mr. Buhari, Femi Adesina, said Mr. Kingibe is the right person to comment on the issues, as the report is yet to be made public. However, repeated calls to Mr. Kingibe were unaswered. A text message to his mobile telephone Saturday morning was also not responded to. Mr. Abubakar could not be reached to comment for this story. The NIA is not known to have a public communication unit or a spokesperson. Four foreigners kidnapped in Kaduna State have been released. PREMIUM TIMES reported the kidnap of the two Americans and two Canadians. Two police officers attached to the expatriates were also killed during the kidnap. The police spokesperson in Kaduna, Mukhtar Aliyu, confirmed the release of the expatriates. The four abducted foreigners comprising two Americans and two Canadians have been freed Friday night, Mr. Aliyu told PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday. No ransom was paid. It was the efforts of the police through the directives of the IGP that led to their release. He declined to provide further details but said the police commissioner would address journalists later on the release. Details later The Nigerian community in South Africa said on Saturday that a mob destroyed four shops and several houses belonging to their members at Krugersdorp, near Johannesburg. Cyril James, the ward chairman of the Nigerian Union in the area, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the telephone from Johannesburg, South Africa that the attacks began on Thursday. Mr. James said the mob alleged that a Nigerian abducted a South African girl and raped her. The South Africans attacked our homes and shops, destroyed all we have. Many Nigerians suffered severe injuries during the attack. We have left our homes for safety because they (South Africans) are regrouping to attack us again, he said. Mr. James urged the Nigerian mission to urgently intervene before the mob kills a Nigerian. According to him, the safety of Nigerians in Krugersdorp is no more guaranteed because there is no help. Adetola Olubajo, president of the union, said the situation in the area was bad. I can confirm that Nigerians in the area have been attacked. I am amazed and emotionally down as calls from panicked Nigerians flooded my phone from various Provinces. The South African government needs to be engaged at the highest level to avoid further loss of lives and property of our citizens, he said. Mr. Olubajo said two Nigerians had been killed in South Africa in Rustenburg and Durban since the attacks began. Two Nigerians have been killed, many displaced and injured in fresh Xenophobic attacks and extra-judicial killing, he said. Two weeks ago, more than five Nigerian owned shops and houses were burnt at Rustenburg, North West Province by Taxi Drivers. The drivers alleged that Nigerians sold drugs to a gang that attacked their members and that a Nigerian abducted and raped a 16-year old South African girl. The union denied the allegations. After our investigation, no Nigerian has been arrested for the rape or drug offence. The allegations are false and spurious, the union said.(NAN) A suspect believed to be one of those who kidnapped four foreigners in Kaduna State has been arrested, Agyole Abeh, the state commissioner of police has said. PREMIUM TIMES reported the abduction and subsequent freedom of the two Americans and two Canadians. Two police officers attached to the expatriates were killed during the kidnap. The police boss at a press briefing on Saturday in Kaduna said the two foreigners were rescued by the police at Jere area in Kagarko Local Government Area of the state. Mr. Abeh said that one suspect has been arrested in connection with the abduction. He explained that the victims were released inside a bush at about 6 a.m., Saturday morning. The development followed a massive manhunt of the abductors by men of the command and the Inspector General of Police Special Anti-Kidnapping Squad, he added. He also gave the assurance that the police were on the trail of the remaining suspects. The police spokesperson, Mukhtar Aliyu, had earlier told PREMIUM TIMES that the abducted foreigners were freed late Friday night. No ransom was paid. It was the efforts of the police through the directives of the IGP that led to their release. A police source gave the names of the rescued foreigners as: John Kirlin and Dean Slocum, citizens of United States as well as Nate Vangeest and Rachel Kelley, Canadians. The victims have been handed over to the American Embassy in Abuja for medical attention and other immediate needs, the source said. The Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Governors Forum and Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has said that four years is not enough for President Muhammadu Buhari to deliver his campaign promises. The governor said Mr. Buhari needs a second term to fulfill all his promises. He said due to this, the governors had adopted the president as their sole candidate for 2019 presidential election. The governor said this on Friday in a statement issued to journalists by his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo. According to the statement, this decision was the outcome of the three days meeting held in Abuja by the governors. Mr. Okorocha also said they agreed that the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, would be the Director General of the presidential campaign team. We have been in Abuja for three days holding meetings of the Progressive Governors with the APC leadership. We deliberated on so many issues. First among the very important issues that we discussed, was the issue of Mr. Presidents second term bid and it has the endorsement of all the governors of APC. There is need for him to complete his second term as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and he should go ahead to declare. We also deliberated and an unanimous decision was reached that we liaise with the campaign team to be headed by the Minister of Transport, Chief Amaechi as the Director-General. The governors also endorsed his re-appointment as the Director General of the Campaign team due to his track record during the last election. Four years is not enough to show what the President can offer. We believe that another four years will bring out the best in him. The first four years is a very difficult period, and we believe that as things are stabilising, he will take Nigeria to the next level. Apart from Mr. Buhari, no other presidential aspirant has emerged from the ruling party. An expected challenger, Atiku Abubakar, last year defected to the Peoples Democratic Party where he is expected to contest the partys presidential ticket. President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said he went temporarily into a coma when former President Goodluck Jonathan called him to concede defeat in the 2015 presidential election. Mr. Buhari spoke when he hosted top members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to a dinner at the presidential villa in Abuja on Thursday. Mr. Buhari said he felt Mr. Jonathan had stayed long enough in office to have caused problems when he lost the election. Mr. Buhari described Mr. Jonathans decision to accept defeat as a great one. The PVCs worked well in 2015. That was why when the former president rang me, I went temporarily into a coma, the president said. I will never forget the time. It was quarter past 5 p.m. and he said he called to congratulate me and that he had conceded. He asked if I heard him, and I said yes. I thanked him for his statesmanship, he said. The truth is after being a deputy governor, a governor, vice president and president for six years, and he took that decision is great. He could have caused some problems. He had stayed long enough to cause problems. Mr. Buhari won the presidential election after he gave it a shot for the fourth time in 2015 on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC. He had contested on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, in 2003 and lost to the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, then president Olusegun Obasanjo. In 2007, he contested again on the platform of ANPP and lost to late president Umar Yaradua of the PDP. In 2011, he contested on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC and lost to former President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP. Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari was under pressure at some point in the past to declare a state of emergency in the state. The governor, who is a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, also said the lives of animals are treated better under the present administration. When I went to see the President, he told me that he was under pressure to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State, a Government House statement quoted Mr. Wike to have said on Friday when he received the Anglican Bishops of Niger Delta Province who visited him at the Government House. The governor did not, however, mention when, and why, the president made the remark. Apart from political tension caused by hotly contested elections which are oftentimes marred by violence and killings, Rivers has witnessed several cult-related violence and killings, the latest one being the gruesome killing of 17 people in Omoku on New Year Day. The opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state is accusing the governor of working with cult kingpins and lacking the capacity to tackle insecurity in the state. Mr. Wike denies this. Mr. Wike told the Anglican bishops that his state ceased to be the focus of the APC-controlled federal government because of mass insecurity across the country. Those things they planned to use in declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State fell on their own states and it became difficult to do so, he said. When you sit and plot evil against Rivers State, you will not know peace. If they dont apologise for plotting and executing evil against Rivers State, they will never know peace. The governor accused President Buhari of not showing interest on the recent killing in Benue State, saying that in some other countries the president would have visited the area to assess the situation even if the lives lost were fewer in number. Human lives are not respected, he said. In fact, the lives of cows and chicken appear to be more important than human lives. This has nothing to do with politics. Let us not trivialise the catastrophy that has befallen Nigeria, he added. Mr. Wike, who said that his state survived by the prayers of the clerics and the church, urged the church to show interest in the nations politics. If you dont participate in what is happening through voting, the country will degenerate further. People should acquire their permanent voters card to enthrone the leadership they desire, he said. Mr. Wike reiterated his administrations plan to set up a Christian Trust Fund to cater for indigent clerics and told the bishops that a proposal to that effect was already in the 2018 budget of the state. The bishops, led by the Anglican Archbishop of Niger Delta Province, Ignatius Kattey, told the governor that they were in the Government House to thank him for his role in the success of the Anglican Synod. The bishops, who were accompanied by their wives, presented an award to the governor. ABERDEEN | When Virginia Hallauer decided at the age of 19 that she wanted enter the convent, her mom put the brakes on the plan. Now 92, Hallauer last year celebrated her 70th year as a Presentation sister. "Don't tell your parents the way I did it. I quit my job and said I decided to go to the convent," she said. "I didn't go then for two years. My mother thought I was too young to make that decision. It kind of hounded me that whole time." The second time around, Hallauer told her parents more gently about her interest in joining the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She's never regretted her decision, nor has she thought of leaving, like she did when she was working at J.C. Penney's in Watertown in the mid-1940s. Now retired, Hallauer still seeks to help where she can. She's known as a joker around the convent, always has a quick smile and seemingly never at loss for a punchline. Seven Presentation sisters have celebrated milestone jubilees last year 50 years, 60 years or 70 years, the Aberdeen American News reported . The women have combined for 440 years of faithful service. Recently, Hallauer, Sister Francene Evans and Sister Janice Klein reflected on their careers during a visit at the convent on the north side of Aberdeen. Evans's 60th jubilee was last year. Klein has been on the job for 50 years. Hallauer had a simple explanation for the group's longevity: "They put up with us that long." She was Klein's first-grade teacher at St. Mary Catholic School in Dell Rapids. Klein, 70, thought long and hard about joining the convent, an idea she first had at a young age. "When I was in high school I started thinking about being a sister but I said to myself, 'I wouldn't get married right out of high school so I won't go to convent right out of school," Klein said. "And I love children, so it was very difficult in thinking about not having my own children. It was difficult but it was the right decision for me." Jubilee is a time of reflection, and each sister said it would be nice to spend more time in contemplation and prayer. They explain it as more of a deep need now, having grown in its depth through the years. Evans, 80 and originally from Conde, found the Presentation sisters to be role models while she studied as an undergraduate. "I went to Presentation College. I met some sisters there who I admired. I was pretty serious about life as a young person. It seemed to me that I only had one life and I wanted to make it special," she said. It's not in Evans's nature to pick out a favorite mission or one she's proudest of since joining the sisters in the late 1950s. "I've mostly been a teacher, college level, psychology. I taught here and then Minnesota West College, there for 20 years. I helped resettle Vietnamese refugees in 1980s, volunteered at a prison before they hired any women at the prison," Evans said. That was in in 1973, '74 and '75, she said. "I'd just gotten out of the University of Minnesota (with my doctorate). At the university I was a teaching assistant, and we got a grant so I would fly into a 10-state area to do drug education workshops for state employees and teachers," Evans said. Among other ministries, Evans today leads book studies. It's thorough work focused on updating theology, she said. For Klein, joining the sisters gave her a sense of peace in multiple ways. "The attraction to religious life was twofold for me. The opportunity and time to deepen my spiritual life, and secondly to be able to share that with others, help them deepen their own relationship." The Nigerian community in South Africa has said that a 27- year old member, Ebuka Okori, was killed by the police in Durban in the early hours of Friday. Bartholomew Eziagulu, the Chairman of the Nigerian Union chapter in Kwazulu Natal Province of South Africa, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone from Durban that the victim was a native of Umunze in Orumba North Local Government of Anambra. He said that a witness informed the union that two police officers in mufti forcefully gained access to the victims house at Campbell Street in Durban at 2.am on Friday. According to him, the officers immediately demanded money from Mr. Okori. When he refused, he was handcuffed, taken outside and shot dead. The officers took away his cell phone, e-passport and other valuable documents. The relative of the victim was tortured and robbed of his belongings while a third victim, a South African, was also robbed, he said. Mr. Eziagulu said that the Mr. Okoris brother escaped from the house and called for help. The Metro Police around the vicinity swiftly intervened and picked the vehicle number of the assailants, he said. Mr. Eziagulu said that police detectives and another special police team which investigates complaints against their colleagues had been assisting to arrest the culprits.A Adetola Olubajo, the president of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, said that the national secretariat had been informed about the incident. He said the union was monitoring the situation and had informed the Nigerian Mission and the South African police. (NAN) Presidential aides and State House staff members on Friday evening sent forth the newly-appointed Director-General of National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Abubakar. According to a statement by presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, It was an evening of accolade, advice and emotion as colleagues and staff in the Office of the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari bade farewell to Mr. Abubakar, who until his appointment, was a Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs/International Relations, in the office of the Chief of Staff. The Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, set the tone for the evening at the event held in his conference room when he described the former aide as a patriot, intelligent and consummate gentleman. I met him for the first time in this office after my appointment as Chief of Staff, he said. I do not think his elevation will deny us the opportunity of still working together. During his stay here, he distinguished himself as a patriot and he brought his wealth of experience in working with international organisations to bear on his work. At any given time, even at late hours, Abubakar was always ready to give his best. He was committed, the Chief of Staff said. On his part, the SSAP on Media & Publicity, Garba Shehu, said it was regrettable that the new DG of NIA had been maligned by a section of the media following his appointment. Ahmed Rufai Abubakar is a perfect fit who is most qualified for the job. He has occupied various top public offices in the agency in the course of which he received several awards. He left voluntarily to go to the United Nations as a Director. When he retired, he was appointed as a senior adviser in the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) regional coalition of countries for the fight against Boko Haram and other trans-border security threats in the region. There is no doubt at all as to Mr. Abubakars qualifications for the job and that is what is most important, he said. Also speaking, the State Chief of Protocol, Lawal Kazaure, advised the former presidential aide to surround himself with the right advisers. Do not have people who tell you what you want to hear around you but those who will tell you the truth dispassionately, Mr. Kazaure said, urging other staff members to continually pray for the new DG. For the Permanent Secretary, State House, Jalal Arabi, the civil service has gained richly from Mr. Abubakars wealth of experience. Hardwork was Ahmed Rufai Abubakars middle name during his period at the State House. Please, I want you to be guided by your conscience and philosophy in your new assignment, he said. Corroborating the Permanent Secretarys view, Fola Oyeyinka, a presidential aide in the Office of the Chief of Staff, noted that colleagues will always have fond memories of the new intelligence chief as a generous and witty gentleman. We worked together in the Chief of Staffs Little Office and I recall He will always share his lunch and food with us. Our little office loss is Nigerias gain and we wish the new DG the very best in his new role, he said. On her part, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, SSAP on Diaspora, said she had looked forward to consummating their work plans for 2018 before the new appointment. When he was appointed, I got a text message from someone who said: a Yoruba man was removed from office and now a northerner has been appointed in his place, what kind of thing is this? I replied: If it is this Rufai that I know and have worked with, honestly he is the best person for the job and I really dont care where he comes from, and that ended the conversation, she said. Bumi Badejo, who recently retired as a Director in the Office of the Chief of Staff, said career civil servants that worked with Mr. Abubakar would fondly remember him as a witty, humble and intelligent gentleman. He will correct you nicely without raising a word. He is a wordsmith, she said. A steward, Sule, recounted that his over two-year stint with his principal was devoid of rancour, query or any ill-feeling. Sule jokingly told his former boss: I will not forget your kindness to us. Please do not forget us in your new office. Responding, the new DG NIA said: I am emotion-laden for so many reasons and I thank you for what you have said about me. The best I could have done in my life is to serve the president and the nation. President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, is the best and only solution to the challenges of admission into conventional universities in Nigeria. Mr. Buhari was speaking Saturday at the seventh convocation ceremony of NOUN held at its headquarters in Abuja. Open Distance Learning is the best alternative to the challenges of gaining admission into the universities in Nigeria, the president said. All the conventional universities cannot admit more than one-third of qualified candidates annually. But we are happy that, in line with global education, open distance learning, ODL, being run by NOUN will soon completely eradicate the challenges of admission into universities. The president, who was represented by the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, NUC, Abubakar Rasheed, also reaffirmed that the federal government would accord due recognition to NOUN graduates. He said there will be no discrimination between ODL and conventional universities. The president also congratulated former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who bagged a Ph.D. in Christian Theology. Let me congratulate former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. You are indeed the father of open distance learning in Nigeria, he said. He also congratulated other 14, 770 graduates and urged them to be good ambassadors whereever they may find themselves. In his remarks, Mr. Obasanjo explained the rigours of academic life he went through at NOUN. I understand that there is no age limit, no status limit and no social barrier to education. Before I started from the beginning, I told everyone concerned and the university that, I should not be given any special treatment. I carry my bag like any other student. I carry my books like any other student and did all my researches myself, like any other student, I also went through the rigours of academic life like any other student. During the period of my research work, I went to the North-East not only once and interviewed several persons by myself. This improved my knowledge very well about many things I did not know before, said President Obasanjo. He called on the present administration to give enough resources for the development of open distance learning in Nigeria. For me, I will use what I learned to develop the society, he said. In his speech, the Vice Chancellor of NOUN, Abdalla Adamu, said the NOUN was graduating 14,769 students across the disciplines, which marked the largest number of students so far graduated in the university. According to Mr. Abdalla, among the first degree graduates are 41 first class holders. Veteran entertainer, Chika Okpala, popularly known as Chief Zebrudaya Okorigwe, was among the MBA graduates from the Faculty of Management Sciences. But our greatest pride, today, however, is the graduation of our first Ph.D. student, and he is no less a person than His Excellency, Olusegun Obasanjo, a former President and also a Head od State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. His patience and perseverance in pursuing a doctorate degree program at his age, station and status in life, is a roadmap to all of us and clearly communicates three credo: you are never too old to learn, you are never too powerful to learn and you are never too full of learning, said Mr. Adamu. Gov. Dickson going back to school Meanwhile, Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has expressed his delight with the way the former president went back to school. He promised to enroll for an academic programme in NOUN after his second term in office. Establishment of NOUN is a great vision. I did not know the magnitude of this university, until when I came for the first time today, said Mr. Dickson who spoke at the convocation. With former president as your Ph.D. student and having graduated 14, 771 students today, you are achieving your mandate of democratisation of knowledge. That is taking knowledge to the people wherever they live. Governor Samuel Ortom said on Friday that Benue State residents still live in fear and under the siege of the Fulani, three weeks after suspected herdsmen killed about 70 people in two local government areas. Let me tell you that our people are still living in fear and under siege, The Nation quoted Mr. Ortom as saying at a meeting with APC governors on Friday in Makurdi. Living in fear because of the series of threat by Kautal Hore which started the threat seven months ago. They are not mere threat. Six APC governors visited Mr. Ortom to sympathise with him and the people of the state over the loss of lives and property during the New Years Day assault on Logo and Guma Local Government Areas. State authorities conducted a mass burial for the victims on January 11 at a cemetery near the Air Force Base in Makurdi. Governors reported to have made the trip included Simon Lalong, Plateau; Nasir El- Rufai, Kaduna; Yahaya Bello, Kogi; Badaru Abubakar, Jigawa; and Titilayo Tomori, the deputy governor of Osun State who represented Governor Rauf Aregbesola. The entourage was led by Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State. Mr. Ortom told his guests that his government has evidence to substantiate its claims that herdsmen of Fulani origin were responsible for the attack, which has continued go generate uproar in the country. We have evidence against them, what we are saying is that federal government should arrest the leadership of Kautal Hore, the governor said. He said there is a semblance of peace for residents, but canvassed more support for a lasting solution to the prolonged crisis. We thank God that peace is gradually returning to the state, Mr. Ortom told his guest according to The Nation. But there are still pockets of challenges here. We know the challenges will soon be over because our people are always alert to give useful information to security operatives around, he added. President Muhammadu Buhari recently sent the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to move to the state to quell the violence. A committee led by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has also been raised to find a solution to the crisis. Three sisters of the chairman of Munya Local Government Council in Niger State, North Central Nigeria, have been abducted by suspected kidnappers. The girls were said to have been kidnapped, early Saturday, at the chairmans residence in Kuchi town. Witnesses told PREMIUM TIMES that the abductors shot sporadically into the air to prevent people from coming to rescue the girls. The kidnappers were reported to have called the council chairman and informed him that they had taken his sisters away without mentioning or demanding any ransom yet. According to reports, the kidnappers use Kabula forest and other neighboring forests in the area to hide their victims and conduct their criminal activities. The chairman has been under fire recently due to reports indicating that he had been impeached by the legislative arm of the local government for allegedly not carrying them along in the administration of the council and various other malpractices. Meanwhile, the Niger State Police Command, through its spokesperson, Mohammed Abubakar, who confirmed the incident said police had since swung into action to rescue the girls and apprehend those behind the kidnapping. Many communities in Niger State, especially within Munya, Suleja and Tafa local governments axis have been living in anxiety due to the activities of armed bandits, kidnappers and other social miscreants. Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State on Saturday announced the purchase of N104 million worth of locally made fertilizer for distribution to farmers across the 23 Local Government Areas of the state. Mr. Tambuwal said this when he launched the sales of organic fertilizer produced by a local firm, Sokoto-IML Company Ltd., in Sokoto. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the company was established in 2017, as a joint-venture entity between the Sokoto State Government and IML Industries Ltd. Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Tambuwal said that the event was a clear testimony of his administrations ongoing efforts to enhance the economic well-being of the people. He noted that apart from the fertilizer company, other policies had been implemented in order to put the states economy in the right direction. The micro and macro-economic policies of both the Federal and Sokoto State Governments had started to yield positive results. As we can see, positive results have been churned out from sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, entrepreneurship development and other areas in the social investments chain. It is worthy to note that governments at all levels are making progress in empowering the people to become self-reliant with a view to addressing socio-economic challenges bedeviling the country, he said. The governor said Sokoto was one of the few states in Nigeria endowed with lots of unexploited natural resources. He added that significant progress had been made in the last two years in harnessing such resources for the benefit of the people. Mr. Tambuwal said governments strategic investment plan had been worked out and was being implemented through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under the management of Sokoto Investment Company. The Managing Director of the company, Bilya Sanda, said that when the company commences full operation, it would produce 20,000 bags of organic fertilizer daily. (NAN) A former Kebbi Governor, Saidu Dakingari,on Saturday led other Peoples Democtatic Party (PDP) defectors to publicly join the All Progressives Congress (APC). The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two-term former governor and his deputy who served under the PDP had recently declared support for the APC). The state APC Chairman, Attahiru Maccido, formerly received the decampees and many others at a symbolic ceremony in Birnin Kebbi on Saturday. He said the defectors did not give any condition for their decision to join the APC fold in the state. According to them, they defected as a result of leadership style of President Muhammadu Buhari and Gov. Atiku Bagudu, especially in the areas of security, agriculture and economic sectors, he said. He assured the decampees that they would be accorded equal opportunity and/ or privileges in the party, adding that the doors of the party are still open for others to join. Speaking on behalf of the defectors, former Gov. Dakingari said the defection was a result of deep thoughts in the past three years since he left power. No body had heard my voice on political issues for three years and I joined the APC not for gain but for the efforts President Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Bagudu have been doing at the federal and state levels respectively for progress,peace and unity. I call on all those I have offended to forgive me and I forgive those who offended me too, he said. In his remarks, Gov. Bagudu expressed optimism that the state would continue to move forward with the coming of new members into the party. Our state is blessed with mineral resources but improper coordination had been the stumbling block toward exploitation of the resources. With the cooperation we have now, we will achieve greatness If we are truly committed to our aims and objectives of moving our state to greater heights, he said. The APC North -West National Chairman, Inuwa Abdulkadir, congratulated the defectors for joining the party. He said the successes recorded by Gov. Bagudu was monumental that made the people to join the party. NAN reports that other former top PDP members that were officially received into the APC included the former Secretary to the State Government, Rabiu Kamba, former member House of Representatives, Sani Kalgo, Abdullahi Dan-Alkali, Haruna Hassan and Halima Tukur. (NAN). The Akwa Ibom chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has scheduled a special caucus meeting for today (Saturday) in Uyo, the state capital. The meeting, expected to take place at Government House, Uyo, in the evening, will have in attendance national assembly members from the state, state lawmakers, the PDP national officers from the state, and one party chieftain from the 31 local government areas of the state, among other statutory members of the caucus. Top on the agenda is the political feud between the state governor, Udom Emmanuel, and his godfather, Godswill Akpabio, which has caused tension within the party in the state. Mr. Emmanuel and Mr. Akpabio, the Senate Minority Leader, are expected to be at the meeting. Both men would be meeting for the first time since their feud became public more than two weeks ago. The chieftains of the PDP in Eket Senatorial District, where the governor comes from, have before now held separate peace meetings with both leaders. A source who attended the two meetings told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Akpabio expressed regret over how his all is not well with Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District remark had been misinterpreted to mean opposition against the governors aspiration to seek for re-election. The senator said at the meeting that he did not at any time disparage the governor and that he was only trying to pass information on concerns raised by his constituents which he said had to do with the state of insecurity in Ukanafun, the non-completion of the Uyo-Ikot Ekpene Road and the non-usage of the Four Point by Sheraton Hotel in Ikot Ekpene. He also said that he and other leaders from Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District were satisfied with Mr. Emmanuels explanation on the status of the projects when they subsequently met with the governor at the Government House the following day. I have learnt my lessons and I want everybody to learn their lessons from what has happened, the source quoted the senator to have said in the meeting. Governor Emmanuel, on his part, was said to have narrated to the party chieftains how he was humiliated repeatedly in the past by Mr. Akpabio. Its like the governor was keeping quiet over a lot of things in the past, so this particular one was like the boiling point for him. So, he is deeply angry. He told everybody, that even the best genius, has some element of madness in him, the source said. The party chieftains from Eket Senatorial District were led by a former Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Nduese Essien. The peace move by the district is in contrast with the position of the party chieftains from Uyo Senatorial District who a few days ago accused Mr. Akpabio of trying to blackmail the governor. Reality must admit that Senator Akpabio in the eight years as Governor of the state did not even complete and commission one kilometre of road in the core oil producing areas of the state where Governor Udom Emmanuel comes from, the Uyo leaders had said in a communique signed by a former military governor, Idongesit Nkanga and two former senators, Effiong Bob and Anietie Okon, among other persons. In the interests of peace and unity, the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District should caution Senator Godswill Akpabio to desist from making unfounded utterances intended to create ethnic conflicts in Akwa Ibom State to serve his personal benefit. We encourage Senator Godswill Akpabio to respect conventions, values, and principles that would sustain the prevailing peace in the state and allow the sleeping dog to lie. We debunk and disagree totally with the insinuation made by Senator Godswill Akpabio that all is not well and declare boldly that it is well with us, the Uyo leaders had said. Emmanuel Macron is today the most admired world leader among liberals, centrists and cosmopolitans around the globe. He has managed to win the French presidency, enact reforms and stay relatively popular all while speaking positively about the free market, the European Union, globalization and trade. He has done all this in the face of a tide of populism that is still surging. What's his secret? One key area to watch him on is immigration. On Tuesday, Macron announced yet again that his government would be tougher on immigration, expediting asylum claims and then actually deporting those whose applications were rejected. (In 2016, France deported less than 20 percent of those denied asylum.) He insisted that he would never permit another "Jungle" to appear on his watch, referring to the enormous makeshift refugee camp that was cleared in 2016. Macron is being criticized from the left and congratulated by his former opponent in the presidential election, the populist right-wing leader Marine Le Pen. Macron has been an extraordinarily shrewd politician and has a chance to be one of the great presidents of France's Fifth Republic. He understands something about the popular mood and not just within his nation's borders. In Germany, Angela Merkel has seen her once sky-high public support crater over one central issue her decision in 2015 to allow in a million refugees, many from Syria. In the recent German elections, in which Merkel's party lost ground and the right-wing AfD won enough votes to enter the Parliament for the first time, exit polling showed that 90 percent of voters wanted those rejected for asylum to be deported faster, and 71 percent wanted to cap the overall number of refugees. The central issue feeding populism around the globe is immigration. That's why you still see right-wing populism in such countries as Germany, Holland and Sweden, where economic growth is strong, manufacturing vibrant, and inequality has not risen dramatically. Donald Trump beat 16 talented Republican candidates because he outflanked them all on one issue immigration. "The thing (my base) want(s) more than anything is the wall," Trump explained to the Associated Press. Meanwhile, Democrats continue to move left on economics, believing that this will make them more credible populists. But polling shows that the public is already with them on economic issues. Where they differ and especially with white working-class voters is on immigration. And yet, the party is now more extreme on the topic than it has ever been. Positions that dozens of Democratic senators took on immigration 10 years ago are now rejected by almost every party leader. Most back then, for example, would have agreed that America's current mix of immigration skews too heavily toward family unification and needs to attract more immigrants with skills. Now, none will speak on the issue. The party today embraces "sanctuary cities," suggesting that local authorities should ignore federal laws or even defy federal authorities who try to enforce the law of the land. Imagine if Republican mayors did the same with regard to laws they don't like on guns or abortions. It is difficult to be moderate on any topic these days, most of all immigration. Trump discusses the issue in ways that seem, to me, racist. Factions of the Republican Party have become ugly and mean-spirited in tone and temper, demeaning immigrants and encouraging nativism and bigotry. To compromise with these kinds of attitudes seems distasteful, even immoral. And yet, the issue is one that should allow for some sensible middle ground. The late Edward Kennedy was one of the most liberal senators in the country. Sen. John McCain is a staunch conservative. And yet they were able to agree on a set of compromises in the mid-2000s that would have largely resolved America's immigration deadlock and the rage surrounding it. Canada used to have strong nativist forces within it. But ever since its immigration system moved to a skills-based one coupled with strong efforts at celebrating diversity, multiculturalism and assimilation it has had few such voices. And this despite the fact that Canada now has a substantially higher percentage of foreign-born residents than the United States. The scale and speed of immigration over the last few decades is a real issue. Just since 1990, the share of foreign-born people in America has gone from 9 percent to 15 percent. It has nearly doubled in Germany and the Netherlands and nearly tripled in Denmark. Most of the new immigrants do come from cultures that are more distant and different. Societies can only take so much change in a generation. If mainstream politicians do not recognize these realities and insist that those who speak of them are racists, they will only push the public in its desperation to embrace the real racists of which there are many. 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. By: MITT Exhibition; ITE Group Contact Maya Mhatre ***@ite-exhibitions.com Maya Mhatre End -- The Moscow International Travel and Tourism Exhibition (MITT), Russia's largest international travel and tourism event, returns to Moscow's Expocentre from 13-15 March 2018 for its 25th edition.With UFI approved status, MITT is not only the largest show of its kind in Russia, but also one of the top 5 annual travel exhibitions in the world. Around 23,000 travel industry professionals and more than 1,900 exhibitors are expected to take part in 2018.MITT visitors include buyers from tour agencies and operators from across Russia and more than 100 other countries.Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Catalonia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Dubai, Egypt, Goa, Greece, India, Italy, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Karnataka, Macau, Maldives, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Norway, Palestine, Portugal, Sarajevo, Serbia, Sharjah, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Aegean, Spain, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Taiwan, Tanzania, and Tunisia and many others have also confirmed their participation with group stands.Dubai has confirmed its status as Partner Destination after its flow of Russian tourists more than doubled in 2017.This year marks the 'Russia-Greece Year of Tourism', launched in October 2017 and covering the summer 2018 season. The Greek National Tourism Organization returns to MITT 2018 with a national stand presenting hotels, airlines, tour operators, and travel agents.2017 has been a remarkably strong year for Russian tourism. In the first half of the year alone, Russian tourists made 28% more trips abroad, leading to huge growth for many destinations including the Dominican Republic (223%), Cuba (117%), and Vietnam (50%).The most popular destination for Russian tourists in 2017, however, is Turkey. Its return to the market after charter flight bans in 2016 led to a rise of 871% in the first half of the year. On top of this, the tourist flow from Russia to Turkey is expected to exceed pre-crisis levels by the end of 2017. With such positive market indicators, Turkey is planning its largest ever showcase at MITT 2018 occupying two whole pavilions at Moscow's Expocentre.The Russian tourist flow to Europe also demonstrated an 18% rise from January-August 2017, making it the fastest growing source market for European destinations.2018 looks set for further growth, with many destinations dropping their visa requirements South Africa, Laos, and Grenada to name a few. This has prompted South Africa to return to MITT after a three-year break with a national pavilion led by South Africa's Department of Tourism.As the travel industry enters a new era driven by increased demands from tourists (year-round availability, new experiences, and an increased quality of service) the MITT team has enhanced its programme of business events to support industry professionals in this competitive market. MITTTourbusiness 365 will provide a packed programme of useful events for exhibitors and visitors for the 25th edition of MITT.The line-up will include 10 major sessions, feature over 80 renowned speakers opinion leaders and experts in their fields and cover around 60 pressing industry issues.Brand new events for this year:- Travel Trends an overview of market trends and their impact on doing business- Market Shocks a major panel discussion on market disruptions and their consequences- Family Business in Travel an interactive session on family businesses in the travel sectorEvents making a return to the business programme:- Outbound tourism in Russia an analysis of recent outbound market statistics- MITT Digital a session dedicated to new digital and marketing technologies- MITT Summit Hotel an analytical session for hoteliers and travel company representatives- MITT Academy a three-day series of seminars and panel discussions on a variety of topicsKeynote speakers and their subjects include:- Anna Shkirina, Founder of getblogger.ru Using bloggers to develop your travel business- Natalia Yakushina, HR Director, UTS Travel Developing staff for the tourism industry- Andrey Mikhailets, Development Director, Alean Creating a roadmap for managing hotels effectively- Vyacheslav Fedorov, Editor-in-Chief, e-moneynews.ru The future of online payments- Dina Chikunova, Customer Experience Director, MeetPartners Global Club Service personalisation in tourism_________________________________________________________________________________Photographs and more information about MITT are available on request.MITT is an 'UFI Approved Event' and is supported by: The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation The Federal Agency of Tourism of the Russian Federation The United Nations World Tourism Organization The State Duma of the Russian Federation The Government of Moscow The Council of the FederationFor information on the event, visitor registration, and press accreditation, please visit: www.mitt.ruFor information on exhibiting, please contact:Maria BadakhEvent and Sales Director T: +44 20 7596 5083E: tm@ite-exhibitions.com W: http://www.mitt.ru/ en-GB MITT is organised by ITE Group plc, a leading organiser of international exhibitions and conferences, and forms part of a large portfolio of travel and tourism events in countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, India, and Kazakhstan.For more information on ITE, please visit: http://www.ite- exhibitions.com SINGAPORE, Jan. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- In the fast-moving 21st century with a 7-billion strong population accessing any consumer service requires identity information signing up on websites, e-commerce checkouts, accessing private properties, buying bitcoins, or getting loans. However, this incautious sharing of identity brings many problems for both consumers and businesses. The Problems With Identity Verification Identity Fraud: As per the data compiled and fact-checked from Forbes, BBC, Mashable, CNBC and the Telegraph, the world is losing up to $200 billion in identity fraud every year, and more than 4 billion data records were stolen globally in 2016 alone. Data Breaches: When the data is stored in central databases with authorities or businesses, it is susceptible to mass data breaches. It is not just random websites on the internet that are compromising people's data, even some of the world's major brands have suffered mass data breaches. The list includes popular brand names; the government databases are no exceptions either. In India particularly, Aadhar has suffered multiple massive data breaches, compromising the most sensitive personal data of millions of Indian citizens. Other key government enterprises including DRDO, ISRO, RBI, EPFO, and several others have faced data breaches as well. Time & Cost Inefficiency: Current Methods of Identity Verification are too slow and inefficient for both consumers and businesses taking the cost of verifying identities to near $100 billion a year. The laws relating to cryptocurrencies in India are so stringent, that the exchanges have to spend millions of dollars performing KYCs, which inconveniences the consumers by having to wait for multiple days before they can actually start trading. The Velix.ID Solution Decentralization: Storing the data in a centralized database makes the identity information susceptible to mass data breaches or misuse in the hands of the concerned authority (such as selling your information to advertisers without your explicit consent). Blockchain Technology allows for this information to be stored on a public ledger in an anonymous manner with no authority having singular control over this information. Easy Transaction: A unique easy-to-remember 8-digit alphanumeric ID that can be shared globally with anyone to allow seamless sharing of identity information in a secured manner without requiring to repetitively provide the same information over and over again. Mandatory User Consent: The identity holder should always be in charge of how and where their identity information gets shared. Any transaction of identity cannot occur between two parties without the explicit consent of the identity holder. A Platform That Doesn't Require Trust: The blockchain & zero-knowledge proofs technology that Velix.ID utilizes ensures that it doesn't have any information stored about the user with it, and the identity information is transacted directly to the identity information requester, without any intermediary control. This means that the platform works even without trust. Improved Customer Experience: Users can access services easily and instantly without repeatedly requiring to sign-up or entering identity information. Time & Cost Conservation: The cost for new customer acquisition and identity verification comes down since the same processes do not have to be repeated over and over again. The time spent in performing multiple sign-ups, gathering and verifying identity information also reduces significantly. "Identity verification has been one of the biggest concerns in the last decade globally because of the costs and risks involved in the process. I started exploring the identity space in 2015 when I discovered that my email ID got hacked in a mass data breach," said Manav Singhal, CEO at Velix.ID. "The idea behind Velix.ID has always been to make it safer and more efficient to share & verify identities across the consumer markets. As a consumer, I shouldn't have to wait for days for the business to verify my identity before I can start accessing their services; it is a loss-loss situation for both businesses and their customers." Velix.ID Token Sale Pre-Sale Phase 1: 1 VXD = 0.65 USD, starts: 27 Jan 2018, discount: 35% Pre-Sale Phase 2: 1 VXD = 0.7 USD, starts: 3 February 2018, discount: 30% Crowdsale Phase 1: 1 VXD: 0.8 USD, starts: 10 February 2018, discount: 20% Crowdsale Phase 2: 1 VXD: 0.85 USD, starts: 18 February 2018, discount: 15% Crowdsale Phase 3: 1 VXD: 0.9 USD, starts: 26 February 2018, discount: 10% Visit the Velix Website: https://www.velix.id Check out the Whitepaper: https://www.velix.id/assets/Velix.ID%20White%20Paper.pdf Connect on Telegram: https://t.me/velixID Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/VelixId Check out the Blog: https://blog.velix.id Read the BitcoinTalk Thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2721724 Media Contact Contact Name: Neer Varshney Contact Position: Head of Communications & Outreach Contact Email: [email protected] Velix.ID is the source of this content. Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to consumer protections. This press release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest. Related Links Velix.ID Bitcoin PR Buzz SOURCE Velix.ID AMSTERDAM, Jan. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Church of Scientology Amsterdam's expansive new home at Wibautstraat 112 on the city's Knowledge Mile was the perfect venue for the launch of 12 months of human rights activities to raise awareness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in its 70th anniversary year. Those attending were introduced to United for Human Rights (UHR), a human rights initiative supported by the Church of Scientology. The program is active in 192 countries and partners with 1,500 groups and organizations. Guests toured the Public Information Center to learn more about the human rights education campaign and how they can use it in their own areas. The Director of Public Affairs for the Church briefed those attending on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Church's plans to greatly increase awareness of the document over the coming year. She screened The Story of Human Rights, an award-winning documentary that presents the history of human rights and its state in the world today. The film is one of the key elements of the United for Human Rights educational initiative. Guests were then invited to visit the Church's Public Information Center for refreshments and to watch public service announcements that describe each of the 30 articles of the UDHR. Next was a presentation by a representative of Human Rights Without Frontiers on the state of human rights and particularly freedom of religion in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, where he has traveled extensively on anthropological studies. The Church of Scientology is founded on the principles of human rights. Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard encouraged Scientologists to be active in this area, stating, "It is vital that all thinking men urge upon their governments sweeping reforms in the field of human rights." As part of the Code of a Scientologist, parishioners pledge "to support true humanitarian endeavors in the fields of human rights." For more information on United for Human Rights and its program for young people, Youth for Human Rights, visit the Scientology website. Media requests: email [email protected] Related Images image1.jpg Guests toured the Public Information Center to learn more about the human rights education campaign and how they can use it in their own areas. image2.jpg Director of Public Affairs of the Church of Scientology Amsterdam presented the human rights education initiative the Church supports. Related Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XXGF_V8_7M SOURCE Church of Scientology Amsterdam Related Links http://www.scientology-amsterdam.org BUCHAREST, Romania, Jan. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An AJC delegation just completed a two-day trip to Romania. The group, led by AJC CEO David Harris, had excellent, in-depth meetings with President Klaus Iohannis; Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Mihai Fifor; Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu; President of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea; and U.S. Ambassador Hans Klemm. The delegation also had the chance to meet briefly with the incoming Prime Minister, Viorica Dancila, who is scheduled to take office at the end of this month. Among the principal topics of discussion were: (i) The strong bilateral links between Romania and the U.S., including in the fields of defense cooperation, counterterrorism, and other key spheres, and the desire to forge closer ties between the Romanian-American community and AJC; (ii) The deepening strategic, political, and economic partnership between Bucharest and Jerusalem; (iii) Romania's role in the EU, where it is currently the seventh largest member state, and the UN, where it is a candidate for a Security Council seat; and (iv) Issues of particular concern to the Romanian Jewish community, including communal property restitution, pensions for Holocaust survivors, and the status of the proposed Holocaust Museum in Bucharest. "While able to maintain some contact during the Cold War, AJC became much more deeply engaged with Romania shortly after the dramatic events in the country of December 1989, when the communist dictatorship thankfully ended," said Harris, who first visited Romania as a student in 1971 and saw up-close the denial of freedom and basic human rights. "As with other post-communist Central European countries, we believed that Romania could one day become a member of the democratic family of nations, including membership in NATO and the European Union, close links with Israel (even as Romania was the only Soviet-bloc country not to sever diplomatic ties with Israel after the 1967 Six-Day War), and robust engagement with the world Jewish community. Fortunately, that essential vision has been realized." "To fast forward, in 2017, AJC awarded President Klaus Iohannis the 'Light Unto the Nations' award at our Global Forum in Washington, after which he met with President Donald J. Trump, who, in the joint press conference, congratulated him on the 'prestigious' AJC award," Harris noted. "President Iohannis stands for democratic values, including accountability and transparency, and proven friendship with the United States and Israel." The AJC group also used every opportunity in the meetings with the country's top leaders to express appreciation for Romania's recent vote at the UN on Jerusalem, where it was one of six European Union member states to abstain rather than support the harsh measure. During the visit, the delegation was hosted for Shabbat dinner at the Choral Synagogue in Bucharest by the Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania (FEDROM). The group's admired president, Dr. Aurel Vainer, a longtime AJC partner and former member of the Romanian Parliament, accompanied the AJC delegation in all the government meetings. The delegation also included Kim Pimley, Chair of AJC's International Relations Committee, and Simone Rodan, Director of AJC Europe. SOURCE American Jewish Committee Related Links http://www.ajc.org NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until February 20, 2018 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE: CS), if they purchased the Company's American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") between March 20, 2015 and February 3, 2016, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Get Help Credit Suisse investors should visit us at https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/new-york-se-cs or call to speak to our claim center toll-free at (844) 367-9658. About the Lawsuit Credit Suisse and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws. The alleged false and misleading statements and omissions include, but are not limited to, that: (i) the Company consistently failed to comply with its own risk protocols and control systems governing its investment operations; (ii) the Company acquired risky, highly illiquid securities valued in the billions of dollars; and (iii) as a result of the foregoing, Credit Suisse's financial statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. About ClaimsFiler ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. ClaimsFiler's team of experts monitor the securities class action landscape and cull information from a variety of sources to ensure comprehensive coverage across a broad range of financial instruments. To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com. SOURCE ClaimsFiler Related Links www.claimsfiler.com Alex Perdikis, President and Owner of the dealership group, was quoted as saying, "Koons of Silver Spring will continue to support those that serve our country. As a community leader, we want to step up and help all of those affected by the shutdown. A vast majority of current federal government employees are within our community, not only as clients, but as neighbors, friends, and family." According to various social media posts by the dealership group: Koons of Silver Spring will extend the following offer to all current federal government employees during the total federal government shutdown on January 20, 2018. -A FREE Oil Change, tire rotation, and inspection on ANY make and model of vehicle. In order for this offer to be valid, an appointment must be scheduled during the 1-20-2018 total government shutdown. To set your appointment, please contact Koons of Silver Spring at: About Koons of Silver Spring: Koons of Silver Spring, located in Silver Spring, Maryland; sells and services new Fords, Lincolns, Mazdas, and has an extensive pre-owned operation. Koons of Silver Spring has over 130 employees and was selected as one of the "Best Places to Work" by the Washington Business Journal in 2016, the 6th year in a row. Koons of Silver Spring is a reigning President's Award winning dealership. Koons of Silver Spring was founded in 2010. Follow Alex Perdikis: @alex_perdikis Follow Koons of Silver Spring Twitter and Instagram: @Koonsmotors SOURCE Koons of Silver Spring Related Links www.koonsofsilverspring.com Theres fresh evidence of how drugs have infested rural American, specifically rural North Dakota and South Dakota. Three Native American tribes from the Dakotas have sued major opioid manufacturers and distributors, alleging they are at fault for a drug epidemic that has had terrible results for tribal members. And 75 percent of farmers and farm workers surveyed for an online study say they are or have been directly impacted by opioid abuse, compared to less than half of all rural residents. Thirty-one percent of all survey respondents said they know rural communities are affected most by the opioid crisis. The lawsuit has to wind its way through the courts so no fault has been proven yet. The case reflects the growing concern about opioid use and the availability of drugs. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe and the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate accuse 24 opioid industry defendants of fraudulently concealing and minimizing the addiction risk of prescription opioids. The tribes also argue the defendants didnt comply with federal prescription drug laws intended to prevent diversion of opioids and prevent their abuse. There have been national reports of over-prescription of opioids resulting in addiction. Companies have been accused of ignoring warning signs that some doctors and medical facilities have been ordering more opioids than they should need. The tribes have hired two former federal prosecutors to argue their case. Former North Dakota U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon and former South Dakota U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson are handling the lawsuit. They now head the American Indian Law and Policy Group for the national firm Robins Kaplan. Purdon and Johnson add credibility to the case. The lawsuit cites the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as saying one in 10 Native Americans used prescription opioids for nonmedical purposes in 2012, compared with 1 in 20 whites. In South Dakota in 2015-16, Native Americans represented 17.8 percent of opioid use deaths and 28 percent of patients treated for opioid use, while making up about 9 percent of the state's population. The American Farm Bureau Foundation and National Farmers Union, which worked together on the study, have launched a campaign called Farm Town Strong. The campaign seeks to raise awareness of the opioid crisis's impact on farming communities and to provide resources in fighting the drug problem. The campaign's website, FarmTownStrong.org, will offer information and resources on the issue. The lawsuit and study show that rural America isnt immune from the drug problems that plague urban areas. North Dakotas oil boom drew a criminal element, including drug dealers, into the state. Add to that, part of the opioid crisis can be traced to people who were prescribed opioids and became addicted. If the drug problem can spead into rural America no one is safe from the potential problems created by drugs. The Farm Bureau and Farmers Union are setting a positive tone with their campaign. They are fighting back. The tribes with the lawsuit also are trying to get control of the situation. Cynics might argue the tribes are just after a monetary settlement. Its more than money. They have limited resources and if they are to effectively fight the drug problems they will need financial and professional assistance. Its good that rural America is acknowledging its drug problem. Its even better that rural America is looking for ways to combat the invasion of drugs. The establishment of the research center will help to implement the company's "Product Leading Strategy", follow the R&D principal of "research in United States and development in China" further advance the scientific research ability of Oriental Yuhong, broaden the international perspective and enhance the global technology competitiveness of Oriental Yuhong in water-based waterproof coatings. Oriental Yuhong Center of Global Excellence R&D for Waterproof Coatings is located in Spring House Innovation Park, close to Philadelphia It is a multi-purpose park that includes a university affiliated innovation center, a commercial experiment incubator and commercial offices. It was formally the Dow Chemical Company and Rohm Haas R&D center. The Oriental Yuhong technical center occupies a total area of 1,800 square meters, include 16 laboratories with different functions. At present, the center has a research and innovation team consist of PhDs and MSs level researchers led by Dr. Willie Lau. They have a mission of realizing the product leading strategy of Oriental Yuhong and building global competitiveness. Contact: Jinnan Zhong, 010-59031793/15891505218, QQ-332055130 SOURCE Beijing Oriental Yuhong Waterproof Technology Co., Ltd. PORTMOUTH, N.H., Jan. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Service Credit Union is committed to helping its members who are affected during the government shutdown. For those with direct deposit, Service Credit Union will post credits to members based on the postings nearest to January 1, 2018. The credit of that amount will take place on or before February 1, 2018. This will apply to all military, Government Service (GS) civilians and social security recipients. Once the government resumes posting payrolls, Service Credit Union will reverse this special one-time posting that was made. If members do not receive the automatic direct deposit posting, Service Credit Union will offer a no-interest 6-month loan up to $3,000 to those who qualify. "Credit unions are owned by the members they serve and we need to help when our members need us the most," Service Credit Union President/CEO David Van Rossum said. "The credit union should assist all members adversely affected by a government shutdown, especially our military and their families." For further details, please visit servicecu.org/governmentshutdown . About Service Credit Union As a dynamic, member-owned, not-for-profit financial cooperative, Service Credit Union is dedicated to offering quality financial services and products. In 1957, the credit union was established to provide affordable credit to the Pease Air Force Base community. Now the largest credit union in New Hampshire, with over $3 billion in assets and 51 branch locations in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, North Dakota and Germany, we continue to serve our communities and provide a better future to our members. For more information, visit https://servicecu.org or call toll free 1-800-936-7730 in the U.S. and 00800-4728-2000 internationally. SOURCE Service Credit Union Related Links https://servicecu.org NEW YORK, Jan. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Kobe Steel Ltd. ("Kobe Steel" or the "Company") (OTCMKTS: KBSTY) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, for the Southern District of New York, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Kobe Steel's American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") between May 29, 2013, and October 12, 2017, 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 Kobe Steel securities between May 29, 2013, and October 12, 2017, both dates inclusive, you have until February 26, 2018, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. [Click here to join this class action] Kobe Steel is one of Japan's largest steel manufacturers and a major supplier of aluminum and copper products. The Company's other business segments include wholesale power supply machinery, construction machinery, real estate and electronic materials. The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) the Company falsified data on many of its aluminum, copper and steel products sold to customers; (ii) the Company sold products that in reality failed quality control tests in violation of laws and regulations; (iii) the Company's financial performance relied on selling products that did not meet quality standards in violation of laws and regulations; (iv) the Company would incur significant costs and lose customers if customers became aware of the substandard quality of products they purchased; (v) the Company's compliance initiatives, corporate governance and risk management activities were ineffective and inadequate at preventing product data manipulation, fraud and other related misconduct; (vi) the Company's internal reporting systems failed to foster employee participation and adequately address employee concerns, and there was an excessive propensity by senior management, including the Individual Defendants, to hyper-emphasize profitability at all costs, that promoted a pervasive culture of corner-cutting, and looking the other way in the face of compliance violations, as long as profits were achieved, which deterred employees from making claims over product quality for fear of retribution and/or management failing to properly investigate claims; and (vii) as a result of the foregoing, Kobe Steel's shares traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period, and class members suffered significant losses and damages. On October 8, 2017, the Company issued a press release entitled "Improper conduct concerning a portion of the aluminum and copper products manufactured by Kobe Steel." The press release disclosed that certain of Kobe Steel's products "did not comply with the product specifications" and "[d]ata in inspection certificates had been improperly rewritten etc., and the products were shipped as having met the specifications concerned." On this news, Kobe Steel's ADR price fell $0.62, or over 10% from its previous closing price, to close at $5.30 per share on October 9, 2017. On October 10, 2017, before the U.S. market opened, Reuters published an article entitled, "Kobe Steel's data-fabrication stuns Japanese manufacturers," which disclosed that several major manufacturers had confirmed use of the affected Kobe Steel products. On this news, Kobe Steel's ADR price fell $1.30, or over 24% from its previous closing price, to close at $4.00 per share on October 10, 2017. On October 12, 2017, post-market, Bloomberg published an article entitled, "Kobe Steel Scandal Expands Into Core Business Overseas," which reported that the Company's fake data scandal included its core business of providing steel to numerous international companies. On October 13, 2017, Kobe Steel issued a press release entitled, "Report on improper conduct concerning Kobe Steel and its group of companies." The press release provided updated information about an investigation into the falsified data and related wrongdoing and listed numerous nonconforming products the Company had identified to date. On the same day, several media outlets reported that the number of impacted customers had more than doubled from the initial estimates of 200 customers. Following these news, Kobe Steel's ADR price fell $0.40, or over 10% from its previous closing price, to close at $3.55 per share on October 13, 2017. Subsequent news reports and the Company's own internal investigation revealed that Kobe Steel's lack of quality controls and data tampering was a result of, among other things, wholly inadequate and ineffective corporate governance and compliance initiatives. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP [email protected] SOURCE Pomerantz LLP Related Links http://www.pomerantzlaw.com PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Taiho Oncology, Inc. and Servier today announced clinical data for LONSURF (trifluridine and tipiracil) for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) who have been previously treated with fluropyrimidine-, oxaliplatin- and irinotecan-based chemotherapy, an anti-VEGF biological therapy, and if RAS wild type, an anti-EGFR therapy. These data are being presented at the ASCO 2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (ASCO-GI) in San Francisco during Poster Session C: Cancers of the Colon, Rectum, and Anus on Saturday, January 20 from 7:00 AM to 7:55 AM PT and 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM PT. "These studies expand our knowledge of the safety and efficacy profile of LONSURF for the treatment of mCRC," said Martin Birkhofer, senior vice president and Chief Medical Officer, Taiho Oncology, Inc. "By looking at various aspects of LONSURF therapy, we are able to better understand patient experience and how we can best help address the needs of people with mCRC." "We're pleased to continue to add to the body of evidence that supports the clinical value of LONSURF for the treatment of mCRC," said Patrick Therasse, Head of R&D Oncology at Servier. "The data to be presented confirm the efficacy and safety profile of LONSURF as assessed in the controlled pivotal clinical RECOURSE trial in daily clinical practice." A phase I multicenter, open-label study examined the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of a LONSURF and oxaliplatin combination in patients with mCRC. Taiho and Servier plan to further investigate the combination of oxaliplatin and LONSURF with bevacizumab or nivolumab in mCRC. The abstract for this presentation is available on the ASCO website: https://meetinglibrary.asco.org/record/155688/abstract. A safety and tolerability assessment was conducted among elderly patients (age 65 years) with mCRC that participated in a LONSURF expanded access program in the US. The results of the analysis showed that the safety profile and treatment duration of LONSURF in patients aged 65 and older with mCRC were similar to those in patients aged under 65. The abstract for this presentation is available on the ASCO website: https://meetinglibrary.asco.org/record/155490/abstract. A post-hoc analysis of the pivotal phase 3 RECOURSE study was conducted to assess the correlation between baseline neutrophiltolymphocyte ratios (NLR) in the blood of patients with refractory mCRC treated with LONSURF and clinical outcomes. Further research is warranted to assess if NLR can be a stratification factor in mCRC clinical trials. The abstract for this presentation is available on the ASCO website: https://meetinglibrary.asco.org/record/155625/abstract. Preliminary data on the first 300 European and Australian patients in the international phase 3b early access program on LONSURF show a heavily pretreated mCRC population still seeking additional anti-cancer therapy. Baseline evaluations also indicated that pretreated mCRC patients can have impaired quality of life even if they have an ECOG PS of 0 or 1. Preliminary prospective safety, efficacy, and quality of life results from patients treated with LONSURF in this program are expected later in 2018. The abstract for this presentation is available on the ASCO website: https://meetinglibrary.asco.org/record/155528/abstract. A retrospective study compared real-world treatment patterns with LONSURF and regorafenib for patients with mCRC from a large, representative U.S. claims database. A total of 1,630 LONSURF patients and 1,425 regorafenib patients were identified. The abstract for this presentation is available on the ASCO website: https://meetinglibrary.asco.org/record/155541/abstract. About Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer, excluding skin cancers, in the United States, with an estimated 135,430 new patients diagnosed in 2017.1 It is the second and third leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men and women, respectively.1 Colorectal cancers that have spread to other parts of the body are often harder to treat and tend to have a poorer outlook.2 Metastatic, or stage IV colon and rectal cancers, have a five-year relative survival rate of about 11 and 12 percent, respectively.2 Still, there are often many treatment options available for people with this stage of cancer.2 Further, treatments have improved over the last few decades.1 As a result, there are now more than one million survivors of colorectal cancer in the United States.1 About LONSURF (TAS-102) LONSURF is a combination of trifluridine, a nucleoside metabolic inhibitor, and tipiracil, a thymidine phosphorylase inhibitor, indicated in US for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have been previously treated with fluoropyrimidine-, oxaliplatin- and irinotecan-based chemotherapy, an anti-VEGF biological therapy, and if RAS wild-type, an anti-EGFR therapy.3 LONSURF is also available in EU4, Japan, and other countries. Important Safety Information3 WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS Severe Myelosuppression: In RECOURSE Study, LONSURF caused severe and life-threatening myelosuppression (Grade 3-4) consisting of anemia (18%), neutropenia (38%), thrombocytopenia (5%), and febrile neutropenia (3.8%). One patient (0.2%) died due to neutropenic infection. In Study 1, 9.4% of LONSURF-treated patients received granulocyte-colony stimulating factors. Obtain complete blood counts prior to and on day 15 of each cycle of LONSURF and more frequently as clinically indicated. Withhold LONSURF for febrile neutropenia, Grade 4 neutropenia, or platelets less than 50,000/mm3. Upon recovery, resume LONSURF at a reduced dose as clinically indicated. Embryo-Fetal Toxicity: LONSURF can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Advise pregnant women of the potential risk to the fetus. Advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with LONSURF. USE IN SPECIFIC POPULATIONS Lactation: It is not known whether LONSURF or its metabolites are present in human milk. There are no data to assess the effects of LONSURF or its metabolites on the breast-fed infant or the effects on milk production. Because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in breast-fed infants, advise women not to breastfeed during treatment with LONSURF and for 1 day following the final dose. Male Contraception: Because of the potential for genotoxicity, advise males with female partners of reproductive potential to use condoms during treatment with LONSURF and for at least 3 months after the final dose. Geriatric Use: Patients 65 years of age or over who received LONSURF had a higher incidence of the following compared to patients younger than 65 years: Grade 3 or 4 neutropenia (48% vs 30%), Grade 3 anemia (26% vs 12%), and Grade 3 or 4 thrombocytopenia (9% vs 2%). Hepatic Impairment: Patients with severe hepatic impairment (total bilirubin greater than 3 times ULN and any AST) were not studied. No adjustment to the starting dose of LONSURF is recommended for patients with mild hepatic impairment. Do not initiate LONSURF in patients with baseline moderate or severe (total bilirubin greater than 1.5 times ULN and any AST) hepatic impairment. Renal Impairment: In RECOURSE Study, patients with moderate renal impairment (CLcr=30 to 59 mL/min, n=47) had a higher incidence (difference of at least 5%) of Grade 3 adverse events, serious adverse events, and dose delays and reductions compared to patients with normal renal function (CLcr 90 mL/min, n=306) or patients with mild renal impairment (CLcr=60 to 89 mL/min, n=178). Patients with moderate renal impairment may require dose modifications for increased toxicity. Patients with severe renal impairment were not studied. ADVERSE REACTIONS Most Common Adverse Drug Reactions in Patients Treated With LONSURF (5%): The most common adverse drug reactions in LONSURF-treated patients vs placebo-treated patients with refractory mCRC, respectively, were asthenia/fatigue (52% vs 35%), nausea (48% vs 24%), decreased appetite (39% vs 29%), diarrhea (32% vs 12%), vomiting (28% vs 14%), abdominal pain (21% vs 18%), pyrexia (19% vs 14%), stomatitis (8% vs 6%), dysgeusia (7% vs 2%), and alopecia (7% vs 1%). Additional Important Adverse Drug Reactions: The following occurred more frequently in LONSURF-treated patients compared to placebo: infections (27% vs 15%) and pulmonary emboli (2% vs 0%). The most commonly reported infections which occurred more frequently in LONSURF-treated patients were nasopharyngitis (4% vs 2%) and urinary tract infections (4% vs 2%). Interstitial lung disease (0.2%), including fatalities, has been reported in clinical studies and clinical practice settings in Asia. Laboratory Test Abnormalities in Patients Treated With LONSURF: Laboratory test abnormalities in LONSURF-treated patients vs placebo-treated patients with refractory mCRC, respectively, were anemia (77% vs 33%), neutropenia (67% vs 1%), and thrombocytopenia (42% vs 8%). Please see full US Prescribing Information. www.taihooncology.com/us/prescribing-information.pdf About Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Japan) Taiho Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd., is an R&D-driven specialty pharma focusing on the three fields of oncology, allergy and immunology, and urology. Its corporate philosophy takes the form of a pledge: "We strive to improve human health and contribute to a society enriched by smiles." In the field of oncology in particular, Taiho Pharmaceutical is known as a leading company in Japan for developing innovative medicines for the treatment of cancer, a reputation that is rapidly expanding through their extensive global R&D efforts. In areas other than oncology, as well, the company creates and markets quality products that effectively treat medical conditions and can help improve people's quality of life. Always putting customers first, Taiho Pharmaceutical also aims to offer consumer healthcare products that support people's efforts to lead fulfilling and rewarding lives. For more information about Taiho Pharmaceutical, please visit: https://www.taiho.co.jp/en/. About Taiho Oncology, Inc. (U.S.) Taiho Oncology, Inc., a subsidiary of Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd., has established a world class clinical development organization that works urgently to develop innovative cancer treatments and has built a commercial business in the U.S. Taiho has an oral oncology pipeline consisting of both novel antimetabolic agents and selectively targeted agents. Advanced technology, dedicated researchers, and state of the art facilities are helping us to define the way the world treats cancer. It's our work; it's our passion; it's our legacy. For more information about Taiho Oncology, please visit: https://www.taihooncology.com. About Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd. (Japan) The Otsuka group of companies is a total-healthcare enterprise that aims to contribute to the health of people around world under the corporate philosophy, "Otsuka-people creating new products for better health worldwide". Healthcare is broadly and holistically addressed through the two main pillars the pharmaceutical business for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and the nutraceutical *1 business to support the maintenance and promotion of everyday health. Our 45,000*2 employees across 180 companies in 28 countries and regions take on challenges across various fields and themes to help fulfill the universal wish of people to be healthy. Our pursuit of these challenges is motivated by the Otsuka' s corporate culture, articulated as "Ryukan-godo" (by sweat we recognize the way), "Jissho" (actualization) and "Sozosei" (creativity), and fostered by successive generations of Otsuka leaders. By striving to provide unique products and services, we seek to achieve sustainable growth and be an indispensable contributor to the world. For more information, please visit the company's website at https://www.otsuka.com/en/. *1. Nutraceuticals: nutrition + pharmaceuticals *2. As of end of December 2016 About Servier Servier is an international pharmaceutical company governed by a non-profit foundation, with its headquarters in France (Suresnes). With a strong international presence in 148 countries and a turnover of 4 billion euros in 2016, Servier employs 21 000 people worldwide. Entirely independent, the Group reinvests 25% of its turnover (excluding generic drugs) in research and development and uses all its profits for development. Corporate growth is driven by Servier's constant search for innovation in five areas of excellence: cardiovascular, immune-inflammatory and neuropsychiatric diseases, cancers and diabetes, as well as by its activities in high-quality generic drugs. Becoming a key player in oncology is part of Servier's long-term strategy. Currently, there are nine molecular entities in clinical development in this area, targeting gastric and lung cancers and other solid tumors, as well as various leukemias and lymphomas. This portfolio of innovative cancer treatments is being developed with partners worldwide, and covers different cancer hallmarks and modalities, including cytotoxics, proapoptotics, targeted, immune and cellular therapies, to deliver life-changing medicines to patients. More information: www.servier.com. Media Contact: Craig Heit GCI Health on behalf of Taiho Oncology [email protected] 212-798-9919 Servier Media Relations Sonia MARQUES: [email protected] Tel.: +33 (0)1 55 72 40 21 / + 33 (0) 7 84 28 76 13 Karine BOUSSEAU: [email protected] Tel.: +33 (0)1 55 72 60 37 1 American Cancer Society; What are the key statistics about colorectal cancer?http://www.cancer.org/cancer/colonandrectumcancer/detailedguide/colorectal-cancer-keystatistics. Accessed December 2017. 2 American Cancer Society; What Are the Survival Rates for Colorectal Cancer, by Stage? https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/detection-diagnosis-staging/survival-rates.html. Accessed December 2017. 3 LONSURF [US prescribing information]; Princeton, NJ: Taiho Oncology, Inc.; 2017. 2017 4 Lonsurf EU Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) ; August 2017: http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/. SOURCE Taiho Oncology, Inc. Related Links https://www.taihooncology.com NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On the King Center website, Coretta Scott King describes the significance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day to honor the legacy of "a man who brought hope and healing to America ... The King Holiday honors the life and contributions of America's greatest champion of racial justice and equality, the leader who not only dreamed of a color-blind society but who also led a movement that achieved historic reforms to help make it a reality." In Nashville, Tennessee United for Human Rights (TnUHR) joined the MLK Day convocation at Tennessee State University's Gentry Center in Nashville to honor Dr. King's legacy. Volunteers from Tennessee United for Human Rights introduced those attending the Nashville celebration of Martin Luther King Day 2018 to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. TnUHR was formed as a nonprofit public benefit corporation in 2015 to educate Tennesseans on the basic principles and foundations of human rights. It is the local chapter of United for Human Rights, an international, not-for-profit organization dedicated to implementing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Its membership is comprised of individuals, educators and groups throughout the world who actively forward the knowledge and protection of human rights by and for all mankind. The theme of the MLK Convocation "Investing in Our Children, Investing in Our Future" goes hand in hand with the human rights campaign to educate children and young people about their basic rights. Brian Fesler, regional coordinator of TnUHR and pastor of the Church of Scientology Nashville, says, "Dr. King is a human rights legend and we are always going to honor his legacy by working to make his dream a reality." United for Human Rights was founded on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first such document ever ratified by the community of nations. Then as now, continued worldwide human rights abuses violate the spirit, intent and articles of this charter. United for Human Rights is committed to advancing human rights through education. An understanding of the 30 rights enshrined in the document is the first step to bringing about their broad implementation. The Church of Scientology and Scientologists support United for Human Rights, the world's largest nongovernmental human rights education campaign, active in 192 countries and partnering with 1,500 groups and organizations. The initiative is inspired by humanitarian and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard who said: "It is vital that all thinking men urge upon their governments sweeping reforms in the field of human rights." For more information about the Church of Scientology or its programs, visit the Scientology website or email [email protected]. Related Links ScientologyNews.org Related Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJm4OW4tSN0 SOURCE Tennessee United for Human Rights A publishing success story that continues to receive mainstream (and industry) media attention is that of Rupi Kaurs Milk and Honey. One wonders how many more profiles can be written of Kaur, though the story offers multiple angles: her work was first self-published, for example, and its a collection of poetry. Who reads and buys poetry anymore? Young people who use Instagram, it turns out. Kaur started publishing her work on Tumblr in 2013, then moved to Instagram in 2014. That same year, she self-published a collection of her poetry on Amazon; soon, her popularity caught the attention of a traditional publisher. Milk and Honey has now sold more than a million copies and has been on the New York Times bestseller list for 52 consecutive weeks. Do you suppose that Kaur, while she was writing and publishing her work for free, ever complained that no one values poetry anymore? Unlikely. But I hear that complaint about the value of the written word, in some form, every week, from all types of authors who believe literature is being devalued in our culturewhether by Amazons low prices, the huge quantity of written material now available for cheap or free, or all-you-can-read subscription plans such as Kindle Unlimited. Early in the digital revolution of media and publishing, I discovered Kevin Kellys brilliant article Better Than Free. Kelly explains eight specific contexts in which something is better than free. Some of the most applicable to writers include personalization (e.g., signed author copies), immediacy (getting something in beta version or as soon as it is released), authenticity (a guarantee of an authorized high-quality version), accessibility (ease of use or access), and patronage (rewarding the creators we love). It does little good for writers to complain to their readers or to the industry that their writing isnt properly valued. Piracy isnt something that people will be shamed into abandoning, or that will go away only if we put more effort toward stamping it out. Writers (and publishers, too) receive better rewards for their time and energy when they consider the packaging and context that can be charged forand that people are happy to pay for. We see through communities such as Wattpad, Tapas, or China Literature (and through Kaur) that there are readers of literature delivered digitally via mobile apps. Readers may not directly pay for the majority of that content or experience, but writers and publishers can still capture value from tips and donations, subrights and licensing, advertising, compilations and bundles, and (of course) traditional print sales. In nonfiction, Instagrammers, bloggers, and podcasters produce volumes upon volumes of free digital content over the course of months and years that can then be curated and winnowed down into a single, cohesive book that people pay for, or into an annual event or online course or community. When producing something for free, authors are opening the door to new fans. Instead of asking, Will this cannibalize my sales? or, Am I giving too much away? its much smarter to ask, Will this lead to a new reader who will pay for something they value down the road? Many writers meet disappointment when theyre only one or two books into a career and find themselves constantly giving their work away because no readership has been developed yet and there is no demand for the work. At such a time, it can feel natural for them to blame readers and believe that their work isnt valued. The truth most likely is that the work doesnt yet hold any market value, or that the author hasnt found the package or context that would offer value worth paying for. Theres no question that market dynamics have changed and the supply of writing in the market today outpaces demand. The traditional value that a writer or publisher has providedproducing and packaging content or a story between two coversis only one type of offering on todays consumption spectrum, and not necessarily the most profitable or exciting one. While a book may carry the same appeal and value as it did 100 years ago to a certain segment of the market (particularly those who fetishize reading and books), it ignores a whole other group of readers who could be interested and nurtured if only authors think through what readers value in terms of experience or access. Jane Friedman teaches digital media and publishing at the University of Virginia and is the former publisher of Writers Digest. A Crowe Flies to Da Capo In a North American rights agreement, musician Steve Gorman sold his biography Hard to Handle to Ben Schafer at Da Capo. Gorman, who is a founding member of the band the Black Crowes, is writing the book with Steven Hyden. Anthony Mattero at Foundry Literary + Media brokered the agreement. The book is set for spring 2019. Wax Does Double at Berkley Kate Seaver at Berkley bought North American rights to two currently untitled new novels by Wendy Wax (the Ten Beach Road series). Stephanie Kip Rostan at Levine, Greenberg, Rostan represented Wax. Berkley said the first book in the deal, which is slated for June 2019, follows two estranged best friends who are turning 40 and the wedding that could mend their friendship or end it forever. Club King Parties with Amazon For Amazons Little A imprint, Laura Van der Veer took world rights to Peter Gatiens memoir, Eye Wide Open: My Rise, Reign, and Fall in New York Life. A nightclub owner who oversaw some of the top-grossing after-hours spots in the world during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, Gatien, the publisher said, was considered the king of clubs during his heyday. Gatiens career demise was spurred by former New York City mayor Rudy Giulianis crackdown on drugs and nightlife. The push led, the publisher said, to a nightmarish, decadelong legal assault on his livelihood and freedom. Paul Bresnick at Bresnick Weil Literary Agency and Meg Thompson at Thompson Literary Agency represented Gatien. Constantines Latest to HC Liv Constantine, the pseudonym for the writing duo of sisters Lynne and Valerie Constantine, closed a world rights agreement for a currently untitled novel with Emily Griffin at HarperCollins. The book is the sisters sophomore effort, following The Last Mrs. Parrish, which was a bestseller published by HC last year (and which was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick). The publisher said this book follows two estranged friends who come together to solve the brutal murder of one of their mothers. Bernadette Baker-Baughman at Victoria Sanders & Associates represented the sisters in the deal. Verizon Chief Sells His Story Anthony Ziccardi at Post Hill Press acquired Ivan Seidenbergs [em]Verizon Un- tethered: An Insiders Story of Innovation and Disruption[/em]. Seidenberg, who is writing the book with Scott McMurray, is the former CEO of Verizon and, the publisher said, will share his insights into the changing telecommunications industry in the book. The History Factory brokered the world rights agreement with Ziccardi. Briefs Rodale Books Allison Janice took world rights to Linda Anderson, Sonia Banks, and Michelle Owens-Pattersons Silent Agreements: How Unspoken Expectations Ruin Our Relationships. The authors, all clinical psychologists, were represented by Regina Brooks at Serendipity Literary Agency. Brooks said that her clients call themselves relationship archaeologists and that their book explores the unexpressed assumptions that influence and very often damage our relationships. The book is slated for fall 2019. Grace Menary-Windfield at Sourcebooks bought world English rights to Erica Boyces debut, The Fifteen Wonders of Daniel Green. Eric Smith at PS Literary, who represented Boyce, said the literary novel is about a man who, while traveling across the country, makes crop circles for farmers as part of a society of Circlers. The hero then finds himself falling for the daughter of a dying farmer, gets drawn into the tangle of her familys secrets, and has to come to terms with the life hes been running from. The novel is set for a spring 2019 release. Bill Dalton was a hippie from Massachusetts whose advanced case of wanderlust landed him in Indonesia for six months in the early 1970s. Soon afterward, he jotted down six pages of notes and hand-drawn maps for fellow travelers in a youth hostel, and, as he writes in a 2014 reminiscence titled The Founding of Moon Publications, a crusty old journalist from New Zealand told him, You shouldnt just give that information awayyou should sell it. Dalton mimeographed the pamphlet and sold it in Australia at festivals and flea markets and on the streets of Sydney, displayed on a blanket along with underground gear like pot paraphernalia and Zap comics. He knew he was onto something when it sold 600 copies in three days, and it soon grew into a 36-page booklet. Around that time, a Brit named Tony Wheeler had just finished a sojourn in Asia with his wife, Maureen. He happened upon Daltons motley display on the sidewalk in Sydneys Kings Cross neighborhood and asked him where hed gotten it printed. With that, a revolution in guidebook publishingand along with it, a baby boomerdriven approach to independent travel in unfamiliar placeswas born. Daltons Indonesia Handbook eventually expanded to more than 1,000 pages and anchored the company that grew out of it, Moon Publications. Wheelers first book, Across Asia on the Cheap, launched Lonely Planet. The year was 1973, which makes this the 45th birthday for both brands. The connections dont end there. After Dalton set up shop in Chico, Calif., in 1976, a fellow named Rick Steves crashed on his front porch while seeking distribution for his nascent publishing effort. Four years later, Steves self-published the handbook Europe Through the Back Door, now in its 37th edition. Today, the erstwhile backpacker bibles are all grown up and clustered at the top of the guidebook heap. During the first three quarters of 2017, the brands that evolved from this bootstraps network were first and second in the world travel guide rankings compiled by Stephen Mesquita for the NPD BookScan Travel Publishing Year Book. Lonely Planet is now part of the NC2 Media portfolio, and Rick Steves and Moon are both published by Perseus imprint Avalon Travel. (DK, Fodors, and Frommers rounded out the top five.) In October 2017 APA, which publishes the glossy Insight guides, acquired Rough Guides, another foundational backpacker line, underlining how valuable this market segment is. Fodors, too, plans to launch a new line in 2019 that editorial director Doug Stallings says will focus less on hotels and resorts than the publishers established products do, and more on what he calls authentic experiences and emerging destinationsbuzzy terms that indicate exactly where the action is in the world of guidebook publishing at the outset of 2018. Are You Experienced? We had a passion for flat-out experiences, Steves says, when asked to account for the takeover that he helped set in motion. That has morphed from hippie-backpacker travel into staying at more palatable hotels, getting cash from ATMs, and taking an Uber to the airport. But the core is experiential, and what the public wants is experiences. Rick Steves Europe, a one-man operation in 1976, now has a staff of more than 100 that each year produces more than 50 guidebook editions, plus various public television and radio shows and a syndicated column, and takes 20,000 clients on tours. Though Stevess personal travel horizons have expanded beyond the continent, his guides are still focused on Europe. Im lucky my beat sells a lot of books, he says, and most of those are in print. For the past 18 months, royalties on digital editions of his titles have accounted for around 12% of royalties overall, as e-book sales have been flat while print sales have continued to grow. His guidebook sales altogether, he says, are better than ever. Rick Steves Iceland (Apr.) is a new entry about a destination thats been wildly popular in recent years. In January 2017, the author told PW that he was reluctant to cover the country because he wasnt feeling that requisite element of passion for the place. But he was encouraged by the enthusiasm of his staff and the realization that the people who go there and love it cant all be wrong. I had a supremely good experience there, he says. Steves also reckons that, in addition to its inherent appeal, the country benefits from a perception that its safe compared to destinations that make the wrong kind of news. Still, he says, I think youre more likely to fall off a rock in Iceland than to be killed by a terrorist in Turkey, and thats the spirit that animates the new edition of Stevess Travel as a Political Act (Feb.). Previous editions of the title pubbed in 2009 and 2014; the new one has been substantially rewritten to include reported travel essays on fast-changing places like Israel, Palestine, and Erdogans Turkey, and the thorny dynamics that have arisen because of Brexit, Europes refugee crisis, and the Trump presidency. Steves is a staunch advocate of conscious, well-informed travel to challenging places where politics are not abstractions but facts of daily life. Firsthand engagement in such places is the antidote, he contends, to the dangerous effects of ignorance and nativism. People-to-people travel experiences can be a powerful force for peace, Steves writes in the book, and they have the power to stimulate enlightened activism at home. Debt relief for the developing world, drug policy reform, and affordable housing are among the causes hes embraced as a result of traveling. Steves says he sees the arc of his career as an educational travel writers corollary to Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. In the 80s he told people how to travel through Europe on a budget. In the 90s he emphasized history, art, and culture. And since 9/11, he says, my mission has been to bring home empathy for the rest of humanity and help people deal with fear. Look no further than Travel as a Political Act for evidence that the backpacker ethos has ripened into a fully mature worldview. Lonely at the Top Piers Pickard, Lonely Planets managing director of publishing, says the brand has succeeded by evolving along with the changes that have made its style of travel increasingly accessible: more and cheaper flights, the opening of borders, and the democratization of information in which the smartphone plays no small part. People are more confident than ever to travel, he says. The Solo Travel Handbook (Lonely Planet, Jan.) speaks to that observation. Twenty years ago there would have been some dread associated with [traveling alone], but people want to get out there and do it, Pickard says, noting that female empowerment is an important aspect of the book. If women are wondering, Can I or cant I? we want to give them the advice and information they need to give it a go. Special interests are also driving travel decisions these days, Pickard says, and Lonely Planets forthcoming publications follow suit. A widespread decadelong enthusiasm for culinary travel shows no sign of slowing, and Lonely Planet tapped its far-flung network of local experts for Augusts Ultimate Eats, which Pickard describes as a ranking of the 500 most memorable food experiences in the world, whether its Noma in Copenhagen or a hole-in-the-wall curry house in Punjab. Cruising is a travel interest that Pickard acknowledges Lonely Planet would never have covered 30 years ago, but he says the niche has broadened to include more options for exploratory on-shore adventures. In June, the publisher is releasing Cruise Ports guides for Alaska, the Caribbean, and Scandinavia. The last title joins a full menu of existing Lonely Planet products devoted to the region as a whole, its individual countries, and major cities. Those countries are at the vanguard of world culture in ways they hadnt been before, Pickard says, pointing to trending interest in their progressive governments, food, design, and lifestyle. Scandinavia also offers opportunities for the kinds of nature travel and city visits that he says have become increasingly in-demand. In April, Lonely Planet introduces the first two titles in a new line of hardcovers aimed at travelers who are seeking new things to do on return trips to favorite destinations. Experience Italy is devoted to a perennially popular destination, and Experience the USA responds to a huge surge of interest in the national parks generated by their 2016 centennial and an observation that American cities have become more interesting to visit in recent years. Pickard attributes the latter to enhanced local food culture and craft brewing scenes, and what he calls social accommodations that make live-like-a-local experiences easy. He also notes increased interest in quick trips, a trend that other publishers are taking into account, too. Michelin, for instance, is launching a pocket-sized line called Green Guide Short-Stays in June, with volumes on Charleston, New Orleans, New York City, Paris, and London. America First For all the talk in the American travel milieu about foreign destinations trending, in 2017 domestic trips accounted for 85% of vacation travel by Americans, a 7% gain over the previous year, according a report by the travel and hospitality marketing company MMGY Global. Forty percent of those were first-time visits, which goes a long way toward explaining why Moon now emphasizes U.S. road trips, regions, states, and mid-market cities. Moon is focused on trying to give active guidance to readers on how to choose the places that are best for them, says Avalon Travel publisher Bill Newlin. Why to go to a place is just as important as how. Newlin says that many of the strategic decisions he and his team make are driven in large part by the lack of competition from other major publishers. Moon Nevada (June), for instance, is more about the desert than Las Vegas, and Moon Tucson (Aug.) covers the kind of interesting second city the line specializes in. Other forthcoming guides are devoted to Michigans Upper Peninsula (Apr.), Acadia National Park (May), Washington States Olympic Peninsula (May), and the Blue Ridge Parkway (June). Newlin cautions against drawing overarching conclusions about global travel by watching the guidebook publishing trade winds blow. Tourism as a business is massive; the guidebook industry is less so, he says. He also notes that theres no way to compete with the TripAdvisors and Yelps for on-the-spot travel information. Newlin is another guidebook veteran from the backpacker lineagehe did a boots-on-the-ground edit of China Off the Beaten Track (originally published in the U.S. by St. Martins in 1983), which he calls the first guide for independent travelers in the modern era for travel in that country. Having been with been with Moon since 1990, he has convictions about what accounts for staying power in the field; he reports that Moon has seen 40% growth in net sales and profits in the last five years. Weve evolved with the form, Newlin says. Plain vanilla is not going to survive in the age of the internet. Dave Herndon is a veteran travel writer and magazine editor who is currently reporting for freelance duty from southwest France. Below, more on the subject of travel books. Surfs Up: Travel Books 2018 Print-digital dynamics remain a hot topic in the guidebook sector. Whats It Really Like to Write a Guidebook?: Travel Books 2018 Five travel guide authors offer a behind-the-postcard look at their job. Print-digital dynamics remain a hot topic in the guidebook sector. Search engine results, once merely a significant aspect of travel planning, are now travelers #1 source of information when putting together a vacation, according to travel and hospitality marketing company MMGY Globals report Portrait of American Travelers, 20172018. Rick Steves Europe maintains an active online presence, but its namesake questions the general traveling publics reliance on the web: Are they getting the same value of information out of the internet as from a guidebook? Several of Stevess competitors are working hard to answer that query in the affirmative. While Fodors isnt introducing any new guidebook titles this season, its website is being expanded and enhanced, says editorial director Doug Stallings, with content that complements the publishers print products but doesnt fit into the guidebook format. That includes newsy updates, photo essays, and listicles with sticky titles like Party by the Pool: The 9 Best Hotel Pool Scenes in L.A. Stallings says the sites Fodors Hotels component is re-emphasizing its authority as a professional, objective review source, as opposed to what he calls the reader-generated noise found on many go-to review sites. In 2016 Insight Guides started bundling digital products with print purchases, and Agnieszka Mizak, managing director at parent company APA Publications, says the strategy has proven so successful that all our destinations have either an e-book or app or both. The publisher is adding destinationsBudapest, Cuba, Iceland, Madridto its pocket-size Insight Explore Guides, which include access to a companion e-book download. New additions to the regions and countries roster include Insight Guides American Southwest (June) and Insight Guides Madagascar (Nov.). Mizak notes that the Insight Guides website includes a booking engine for trip planning to destinations it covers. Toward the end of 2017, APA, which also publishes Berlitz guides and phrasebooks, added Rough Guides to its portfolio, as a complement to the glossier Insight line. Through the third quarter of 2017, prior to the acquisition, APA ranked sixth and Rough Guides seventh in the NPD BookScan Travel Publishing Year Books world travel guide rankings. Mizak says the purchase will double APAs reach and revenues. As part of Lonely Planets push to grow as a multimedia travel hub, the publisher began partnering with GoPro in April 2017 to add more video to LPs website. Travel media company Skift reports that 63% of consumers consult social channels in vacation planning, and August 2017 saw the launch of Trips by Lonely Planet, an app that allows users to share photos, videos, and commentary as well as gain access to travel information. Lonely Planets year-old Guides app offers maps, phrasebooks, and local search functionality to a growing number of cities. But however bright and shiny the rapidly developing world of digital travel content may be, DK Eyewitness Travel publisher Georgina Dee remains a true believer in the core product in this publishing sector, the venerable guidebook. The play between print and digital is always at the forefront of our minds, but travelers are [already] well served by the digital world, she says. Rather than adding to the noise, were focused on reducing the noise with beautiful, useful books. Return to the main feature. The Advanced Television Systems Committee board of directors has re-elected Fox broadcasting executive Richard Friedel as ATSC board chairman for 2018. Friedel, who has served as chairman since 2016, was re-elected for another one-year term.With the official release of the ATSC 3.0 next-generation television broadcast standard, the ATSC is moving to an exciting new phase under Richards leadership, said ATSC president Mark Richer. His keen industry insights have helped drive the boards strategic initiatives, and were fortunate to have his continued dedication as the ATSC supports the implementation and initial deployment of next-gen TV.Friedel is the executive vice-president and general manager for Fox Networks Engineering and Operations. He oversees long-term technology strategy and day-to-day operations for the Fox Network Center in Los Angeles and the Fox Houston Technical Operations Center, home of Fox Sports regional networks. He also provides technical support for 14 regional production centres. Before joining Fox, Friedel served in various positions at ABC, NBC and local television stations.In addition to his ATSC responsibilities, Friedel serves as president of the North American Broadcasters Association and president of the Video Services Forum. He is also a fellow of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers and a member of the Audio Engineering Society, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Society of Broadcast Engineers and Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers.Friedel will receive the Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences at the 2018 NAB Show. An alleged burglar who was polite enough to leave a calling card was arrested on two felony charges involving two separate Darby businesses. According to court documents, Darby Marshal Larry Rose was called to an antiques store at 4:30 a.m. Jan. 12. A man who lives above the store said he heard a loud banging downstairs and went to investigate. He found a man inside the store who said, How are you doing, sir? before running away. Security camera footage showed the man driving off in a red car, and when Rose tracked down the license plates, the owners said Andrew Frank Hermance, 28, of Darby was using it. When confronted, he allegedly admitted to the crime, and gave back $102 taken from the store, according to the documents. Later that day, a Darby restaurant owner reported her business also had been burglarized overnight. Her security camera show Hermance allegedly opening the till in the front of the business and rifling through the drawers in the office. While she discovered missing items, including $50 in tips and a $300 computer tablet, she also found an item that didnt belong to her a Montana Access Card with Hermances name on it. Along with the felony burglary charges, Hermance faces a misdemeanor theft charge. He was jailed in lieu of a $50,000 bond. Since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, multiple administrations have insisted upon recognizing Pakistan as a crucial ally in U.S.-led counterterrorism efforts. Yet 16 years later, the United States has very little to show for it. Instead, Pakistan has continued to undermine U.S. interests in the region and around the world in almost every conceivable way. The list of their failures is long. Osama bin Laden, for years the most hunted man in the world, was killed by U.S. Navy Seals almost right next door to the Pakistani military academy, and Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a U.S. airstrike on Pakistani soil in May of 2016. Since late last year, Pakistan has repeatedly refused to grant the U.S. access to a Haqqani network operative one reportedly with information about U.S. hostages. Pakistani support for the Taliban is enabling the expansion of the Islamic State and al Qaeda militants across Afghanistan. Moreover, Pakistan continues to bankroll insurgents across the region, even as it receives around $1 billion a year from U.S. taxpayers for supposedly combatting those same militants. Meanwhile, Washington has forked over approximately $20 billion in military aid and equipment to Pakistan, and for what? Pakistan has cashed that American money to arm, fund, and protect the very same militants who have killed thousands of American soldiers, contractors, and civilians in Iraq. In a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, former top Bush diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad called Pakistans actions a perfidious and dangerous double game, with the country portray[ing] itself as a U.S. partner, yet support[ing] the Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network. Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.) summed up the situation thusly: Billions of dollars have been spent, and far too little change has occurred in Pakistan. It seems like paying the mafia. This is particularly true when one considers how this aid has enriched the Pakistani military at the expense of the rest of the country. Pakistans powerful military plays a massive role in domestic affairs, where, in addition to military installments, they own hotels, shopping centers, shipping center, insurance companies, banks, farms, and an airline. According to Pakistani journalist Ayesha Siddiqa, the military is worth more than $20 billion. Its little wonder how the Pakistani military became so wealthy on Americas dime. A 2008 assessment from American officials in Islamabad revealed that as much as 70 percent of the $5.4 billion in U.S. assistance to Pakistan had been misspent. Pakistan, for its part, continues to perpetuate the myth that it is too dangerous to fail, arguing that repercussions of cutting off aid could be severe. In a recent article in Foreign Affairs, C. Christine Fair and Sumit Ganguly challenge these assumptions, particularly that Pakistan lacks the ability to rein in the various terrorist organizations operating within their borders. This is nonsense, as the authors point out. Not only does the Pakistani military know these organizations inside and out, having spawned and organized many of them, it has previously shown its willingness to crush insurgents with efficiency. There is no reason, the authors argue, to believe that Islamabad could not do so again were it so inclined. Furthermore, even if Pakistan fails to cooperate after a cutoff of aid, the U.S. has other, more drastic points of leverage it can utilize. Rescinding Pakistans designation as a major non-NATO ally would strip it of even more financial and military benefits, not to mention diplomatic prestige. Increased sanctions like those contemplated by the White House this summer are also an option. For years, the U.S. has provided Pakistan with billions of dollars in a vain effort to gain cooperation. That naiveteassuming Islamabad would act against its own perceived vital interests for billions in U.S. taxpayer dollarshas resulted in thwarted military endeavors and lost American lives. It is long past time for Washington elites to recognize the central role interests play in how other countries behave. President Trumps recent announcement that his administration will cut off $255 million in aid is a welcome start. Members of Congress are also engaging on this important issue: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has long supported the elimination of aid to duplicitous allies like Pakistan, has introduced a bill to do so. The U.S. relationship with Pakistan must improve if it is going to be maintained. The United States can ill afford to send billions of dollars to a country which actively undermines our interests. Shrewd diplomacy should replace bribery. In wrapping up his testimony before the Foreign Affairs Committee examining the U.S. policy toward Paskistan in 2016, former U.N. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad was asked if he believed the U.S. had been manipulated in its decades long relationship with Pakistan. To use an undiplomatic term, he said, we have been patsies. --- Rachel Bovard currently serves as Senior Director of Policy at the Conservative Partnership Institute. She has more than a decade of policy experience in Washington and has served in both the House and Senate in various roles. She also served as director of policy services for The Heritage Foundation. The views expressed are the author's own. The Trump administrations attempt to pin down a U.S. strategy in Syria showcases a lack of strategic vision. Capitol Hill had been demanding clarity. Instead, Secretary of State Rex Tillersons speech at the Hoover Institution on Jan. 17 offered no new path for a disoriented U.S. policy. The speech showcased five flawed justifications and conceptions for maintaining open-ended U.S. involvement in Syria. First, Tillerson argued that American troops are fighting the terrorists in Syria to avoid facing them at home. This has already proven to be the wrong approach since 9/11. The invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 decimated al Qaedas core structure, but the invasion of Iraq in 2003 allowed a new wave of Levantine and Iraqi terrorists to challenge a frailer al Qaeda leadership. This ultimately facilitated the rise of the Islamic State group. While the heavy deployment of U.S. troops in Iraq until 2010 often turned those troops into easy targets, the so-called Arab Spring shifted the focus of these terrorist groups to seizing control of ungoverned spaces across the region. The crucial goal of preventing terrorists from threatening the United States does not depend on U.S. involvement in Syria. The second justification for sustaining the U.S. role in Syria is to prevent Iran from threatening Israel. In fact, U.S. and Israeli interests are not aligned in Syria, and the Israeli government did not endorse the Jordanian-sponsored U.S.-Russian agreement last July. Furthermore, Israel is coordinating its airstrikes on Hezbollah in Syria with Russia, and there are no incidents in Syria of U.S. military attempts to protect Israel. Third, Tillerson said a Syrian central government that is not under the control of (Bashar) Assad will have new legitimacy to assert its authority over the country, which means the United States will not give up control of northern Syria until Assad steps down. Policymakers in the Trump administration might operate under the illusion that it is possible in the foreseeable future to establish a neutral government in Syria. Perhaps they look to Iraq and Lebanon, but even in those countries, fragile central authorities continue to face challenges in exerting control over their own territories. Tillerson did not explicitly say when Assad should step down. He urged the Syrian opposition to be patient and said that change will happen through an incremental process of constitutional reform. To achieve that objective, the U.S. plan is to urge Russia to push Assad toward serious negotiations, while freezing international reconstruction assistance to any area under the control of the Assad regime. This will not likely convince Assad to step down after what he considers a military victory. Fourth, Tillerson argued that reducing and expelling Iranian malign influence depends on a democratic Syria, which not only acknowledges that Washington will not deter Tehran but also shows how shortsighted is the U.S. policy in the Middle East. The more likely rationale for keeping an open-ended military presence in Syria is to maintain influence in the Levant and Iraq, but that is an influence shared with both Russia and Iran. The United States has gained control over the Amman-Baghdad highway as well as a Sunni buffer zone in Deir Ezour adjacent to Kurdish areas in the North and to the Iraqi border, which will protect U.S. interests from engagement with Iranian backed forces. Fifth, Tillerson told reporters after his speech that the U.S. plan to establish a border force in northern Syria has been misportrayed. He said some in the U.S. administration had misrepresented a plan that featured budget, personnel and mandate details announced by the Pentagon. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that this force will be strangled before its even born. It took 48 hours for U.S. officials to publicly deny the plan and now Turkish troops might control Afrin and hold the corridor until Jarablus to establish a Turkish-controlled buffer zone. Tillerson repeated the stable, unified, independent Syria mantra across the speech but stopped short of referring to Syrias territorial integrity. The new element in the U.S. strategy is an attempt to include the Syrian Democratic Forces in the Geneva process, which might lead to tensions with Turkey and the Syrian opposition. In restricting U.S. involvement within Kurdish areas along the border with Turkey and Iraq, the United States gave up on the rest of Syria and has no trusted allies in that web of war. The Trump administration hopes to engage Russia to contain Iran while in parallel draining Moscows prevailing influence in Syria. To achieve the long American checklist of prerequisites for withdrawal, the administration has set the bar high and is planning to stay for the long haul with no clear endgame. Joe Macaron is a fellow at the Arab Center in Washington, D.C. The views expressed here are the author's own. The Trump Administrations decision to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for an estimated 200,000 Salvadorans in 2019, and likely for another 57,000 Hondurans in the next five months, could deal a self-inflicted wound to U.S. foreign policy in the region. The move could also result in renewed pressure for more rather than less migration. In the summer of 2014, thousands of young, unaccompanied Central Americans mostly from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala flooded the U.S. border, overwhelming authorities capacity to manage the influx. In the years since, U.S. policy has prioritized addressing the drivers of emigration. People migrate from Central America for a variety of reasons, including a desire to reunite with family in the United States, but there is a broad consensus about the factors that drive most migration from Central Americas so-called Northern Triangle: extreme violence; the pervasiveness of youth gangs, especially in El Salvador; and dismal economic opportunities for young people. In the past four years, Honduras and later El Salvador have each taken turns as the countries with the highest per capita homicide rates in the world. While the causes of violence are complex, governments have been unable to regain control of neighborhoods where street gangs dominate, despite using the military and imprisoning thousands of young people many with no judicial proceedings. Extreme violence matched with weak economies and lack of adequate schooling or healthcare forms a deadly stew that chokes any hope young people and their families may have for the future. Economic activity is widely extorted by gangs, and the formal economy is unable to generate the growth that provides opportunity for young people entering the workforce. The extortion business and petty crime, in short the gang life, becomes a viable option for too many. Parents, grandparents, and young people themselves are eager to avoid such a fate. A journey north, no matter the risks, is often seen as the best alternative. Given this reality, the Obama Administration proposed a Strategy for Engagement in Central America that sought to address these underlying factors. Obamas administration asked Congress for $1 billion to support efforts to improve public security, strengthen governance, and increase economic opportunity in the region. A Republican-led Congress trimmed the Administrations request and insisted on strict conditions on the disbursement of funds, but it supported the overall strategy. When Congress finishes work on the 2018 budget, it is likely that a significant bipartisan majority will have supported $1.4 billion in U.S. assistance over two years to address the underlying drivers of migration from Central America. The Trump administration has also gotten on board, while making its own tweaks to the policy. In June 2017, then-Secretary for Homeland Security John Kelly organized a high-level conference on the Northern Triangle to re-assert the U.S. commitment to that region. In August of last year, the Trump administration summited a required report to Congress updating the U.S. strategy in Central America. According to the report, the Strategys mission is to secure U.S. borders and protect U.S. citizens by addressing the security, governance, and economic drivers of illegal immigration and illicit trafficking, and to promote private sector investment in Central America. These and other statements by the Trump administration make clear that the overarching goal of U.S. policy is to dissuade further migration by addressing its causes. Yet the decision to potentially send back tens of thousands of Salvadorans and Hondurans to countries already struggling with extreme violence, weak governance, and underperforming economies seems like a recipe for greater instability and more migration, not less. While we do not know how many Salvadorans or Hondurans will ultimately be returned to their countries of origin, it is likely to be in the tens of thousands if the current decision on TPS is not reversed or altered in some way. Both countries have the ability to receive and register the influx of returnees, but they do not have the infrastructure or resources to reintegrate the returnees. They already struggle to meet the most basic needs of their citizens. Some have argued that the returnees will bring with them resources accumulated in the United Sates, and skills they have developed there. This may be true in some cases, but even when successful reintegration occurs it will likely displace their less-skilled and more vulnerable compatriots generating new incentives for migration. Furthermore, returnees may become priority targets for extortionists who know they may have a greater ability to pay. Finally, the return of large numbers of TPSers will likely cut off a significant portion of the remittances they send back to Central America each year. Remittances represent approximately 17 percent of El Salvadors gross domestic product, and 18 percent in Honduras. It is an economic lifeline in both countries and a significant reduction in remittances will likely have a negative impact on each countrys economy and further reduce opportunities for young people. The goal of slowing and dissuading Central Americas irregular migration to the United States by addressing the underlying drivers of migration is widely shared and supported by successive Democratic and Republican Administrations. It has garnered broad bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress. Unfortunately, those same goals may be undermined by the decision to end TPS and potentially return tens of thousands of Central Americans who are largely productive members of communities across the United States. The impact in the region will be greater instability, a further weakening of economies, and ironically generate renewed incentives to migration resulting in an avoidable and self-inflicted wound for the United States. According to Patricia Yager, if you were a smart girl growing up in the 80s you either went to school to become a doctor or a lawyer. How many steps will it take to walk off Thanksgiving dinner? The Bitterroot Valley Chamber of Commerce is 450-members strong and celebrating 112 years of community and business support at its annual award banquet, Feb. 3. Al Mitchel has been a part-time or full-time director of the chamber for six years and said it has been a positive experience. It has been great. People are really happy to see you because we are advocates of the businesses, Mitchell said. A photo of the Hamilton Chamber Office appears on a post card dated 1899, showing the building sitting where the Safeway parking lot is currently located. Chamber minutes go back to 1923 and tell some of their early accomplishments including starting a park just north of the old silver bridge, now called Rotary Park, where they had a summer visitor center. When the Rocky Mountain Lab came to Hamilton, the chamber purchased the land and donated it to the lab. Mitchell said that each town in the valley had a chamber or a type of civic group, but in 1975 the chambers got together and decided to create the Bitterroot Valley Chamber of Commerce. We represent seven communities - Sula to Florence, Mitchell said. We do have members in Lolo, Missoula, and Phillipsburg, but they came to us. Its good to have members outside the area who support the Bitterroot Valley. The 112th Annual Chamber Awards Banquet has no-host cocktails at 6 p.m., and dinner at 7 p.m., on Saturday, Feb. 3, at the Bitterroot River Inn. After dinner, chamber officers will present awards for businesses and individuals throughout the valley. Some awards remain a secret until they are announced but a few are: Wayne Hedman who will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award; the Business of the Year is Town Pump with four locations in the valley; and the Business Persons of the Year awards are going to Stephen and Carolyn Hawkes, and Brian and April Hawkes. The New Business of the Year Award will go to RS Aesthetics of Florence and owner Rosalee Shorter. The Spark Plug Award will go to Robin Duncan, and Willie Schrock, owner of Schrock Construction Inc., will receive the Economic Development Award. The Community Service Award will go to the Linda Massa Youth Home. The Bitterroot Valley Chamber of Commerce promotes tourism and works with the Tourism Business Improvement District, Glacier Country, Montana State Tourism, and the Economic Development Authority. The chamber also works to bring in tournaments, teams, and their supporters. The chamber has a quarterly newsletter and maintains a calendar of events that anyone, not just chamber members, can call with event information for the website 363-2400. The chamber has a Super Host (customer service) training in the spring, and an Assistance to Business Clinic (ABC) in the fall with state information about workmans comp, state and federal unemployment, and tax laws. Leads Group is where common businesses have one representative and meet once a month to share business leads. The chamber Ambassadors put on the Ravalli County Fair Parade, host political forums, and an annual barbecue. The BVCC Leadership Team attends Montana legislative sessions in Helena to keep in touch with legislators on business issues. Mitchell said that the chamber, rather than being too political, is pro-business. Were not big enough to fight and are just trying to get along, he said. Were just trying to make this a better place. The Bitterroot Valley Chamber of Commerce also hosts the MicroBrew Festival as its largest fundraising event the fourth weekend of July. More than 3,000 people are attracted to the event with live music, food vendors, and microbrews from across Montana and the Northwest. The core 10-member festival group plans the event and 60 chamber members help run the party in downtown Hamilton. Being a chamber members has benefits. Members place their business cards and information in the chamber office, and are listed and linked on the chamber website, and in the chamber magazine. Were a referral agency basically, Mitchell said. Were tourism related but into business referrals and promotion. We rotate business to business referrals. We like to do business with our own members - if someone comes in looking for a motel we first refer our active members. Tied into that is the chambers gift certificate program, where consumers can purchase gift certificates any time of the year to be used at 50 locations throughout the valley. This year, gift certificate purchases were just under $40,000. We are keeping money local, Mitchell said. The businesses that want to participate buy into that at $25 a year. We make it well-rounded and just added Town Pump. It is very popular. The Bitterroot Valley Chamber of Commerce has members beyond retail including medical, real estate, title companies, non-profits, and individuals. It is open to anyone who is pro-business in the valley, Mitchell said. We send relocation packets to people or businesses who are considering relocating here. The chamber offers networking opportunities such as ribbon cuttings, after-hour events, a Leadership Bitterroot class (one day a month, October through May, to learn about other businesses), and a monthly luncheon that rotates throughout the valley. The first thing you should put in your tool box when you go into business is your chamber membership, Mitchell said. If you dont use the tool, its not going to work for you - you have to show up once in a while to make it work. Pat Easley is starting year 22 as office manager of the chamber. She is the glue that has stuck that thing together, Mitchell said. The chamber has been in flux ever since it started. Right now were pretty solvent. The Bitterroot Chamber of Commerce building is open Monday through Friday year-round and is open seven days a week from Memorial Day to Labor Day, at 105 East Main St. in Hamilton. Mitchell and Easley are the only full-time employees; seven volunteers one per day work in the office. The volunteers meet and greet people, help them find maps, brochures, business and tourist information. Senior Afghan security officials say at least 30 people were killed in an attack on Kabuls Intercontinental Hotel by Taliban militants, and they warn that the death toll could climb higher. Wahid Majroh, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, said on January 21 that 19 bodies had been brought to city hospitals. Officials said 14 foreigners were among the dead. But a senior Afghan security official told the Reuters news agency that the death toll was at least 30, including hotel staff, guests, and members of security forces who battled the assailants. Some local reports said 40 people had been killed. Officials said six attackers were also killed by security forces, although some reports stated there were only five assailants. The militants, dressed in army uniforms, launched the assault on the luxury hotel in the Afghan capital in the evening on January 20. Officials said the gunmen charged through the hallways and sought out foreigners and Afghan officials inside the hotel. Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said more than 150 people, including 41 foreigners, were rescued or managed to escape during the siege. Eleven of the 14 foreigners killed were employees of KamAir, a private Afghan airline, Danish said. A family member told the Associated Press that two Venezuelan pilots working for KamAir were among those killed. KamAir put out a statement saying some of its flights were disrupted because of the attack. It added it was still attempting to account for all of its employees who had been at the hotel. Six of those killed were Ukrainians, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, who added that his office was working with Afghan law enforcement agencies "to clarify the circumstances of this terrorist act." A citizen from Kazakhstan also was among the dead, according to a spokesman for the Kazakh Foreign Ministry. Afghan security officials speculated that the attack was timed to take place as more than 30 provincial officials were at the hotel, attending a conference organized by the Telecommunications Ministry. Among the dead was Ahmad Farzan, an employee of the High Peace Council, a commission tasked with facilitating peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban as well as other opposition groups. Danish told a news conference that an initial investigation showed the insurgents had gained access to the hotel from the north side and stormed its kitchen. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack at the heavily guarded hotel, which is popular with foreigners and Afghan officials. A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the militants first planned to attack the hotel on January 18, but postponed it because a wedding was taking place then and they wanted to avoid civilian casualties. The Interior Ministry blamed the extremist Haqqani network, which is based in Pakistan and allied with the Taliban. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani ordered an investigation and said militant groups were being helped by neighboring countries. Afghan officials, along with U.S. President Donald Trump, have accused neighboring Pakistan of providing a safe haven for terrorists operating in Afghanistan, a charge Islamabad denies. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States strongly condemned the attack, adding that Washington "stands with the government and people of Afghanistan. We remain firmly committed to supporting Afghan efforts to achieve peace, security, and prosperity for their country." Pakistan also condemned the "brutal terrorist attack" and called for greater cooperation against militants. The Intercontinental was targeted in a June 2011 suicide attack that killed 21 people, among them at least 10 civilians. The Western-backed government in Kabul has been struggling to fend off the Taliban and other militant groups since the withdrawal of most NATO troops in 2014. Trump in August unveiled his new strategy for the South Asia region, under which Washington has deployed 3,000 more troops to Afghanistan to train, advise, and assist local security forces, and to carry out counterterrorism missions. The United States currently has around 14,000 uniformed personnel in the country. Witnesses reported seeing U.S. military vehicles at the site after the attack assisting Afghan security personnel. With reporting by Reuters, AFP, tolonews.com, AP, and The Stars & Stripes At least four civilians and one soldier were killed in cross-border fire along the disputed frontier in Kashmir, according to Pakistani and Indian officials. An Indian Army spokesman said one Indian soldier was killed in the Poonch sector of the volatile region on January 20, the fourth consecutive day of deadly violence between the two sides. Indian police said that three civilians were killed on the Indian side, one of whom was a 15-year-old boy. Three civilians and an Indian border guard were also injured, police said. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said in a statement that a that a 60-year-old civilian was killed and that two girls were injured. It said that Islamabad had summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh and denounced what it called the "unprovoked cease-fire violations" by Indian forces. India and Pakistan regularly accuse one another of violating a 2003 cease-fire accord. Cross-border fire frequently results in the deaths of civilians and soldiers on both sides. Two of the three wars that the nuclear-armed neighbors have fought have been over Kashmir, which is claimed by both India and Pakistan. Based on reporting by dpa, AP, and AFP The Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab reported on January 19 that its revenue increased 8 percent last year even though sales fell in North America as a result of a U.S. ban on use of its software in government computers. The United States banned civilian and military agencies from using Kaspersky products in September, citing Kaspersky's ties to the Russian government and concern that the company's software might be exploited by Russian spy agencies. Kaspersky has repeatedly rejected the accusations, saying it does not assist Russia or any other government's cyberespionage operations. Kaspersky said its revenue totaled $698 million in 2017, up from $644 million in 2016 but slightly below a target of more than $700 million set by founder and Chief Executive Yevgeny Kaspersky in an interview with Reuters in October. Sales in North America fell 8 percent over the year due to "geopolitical challenges and unsubstantiated allegations," Kaspersky said in a statement. European sales also declined slightly, down 2 percent from 2016, but this was offset by strong results in Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Japan, Russia, and other former Soviet states, Kaspersky said. "Despite the difficult geopolitical situation, unsubstantiated accusations, and attempts to undermine our business, the company maintains positive dynamics," Kaspersky said. Based on reporting by Reuters and TASS A member of the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was killed in a road accident in Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region on January 18, the OSCE said. Vitalie Zara was a citizen of Moldova who had been working for the Luhansk Monitoring Team since July 2015, serving in Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk, and Kadiivka, the organization said in a posting on Facebook on January 19. Zara was traveling in a taxi in Kramatorsk when the car accident took place. He died at the scene, Russian news agency Interfax reported. "He is remembered as a trusted, hard-working friend and colleague, always with a smile, and will be missed and mourned," the OSCE said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family." Kurt Volker, the special U.S. envoy for Ukraine, also offered "condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Vitalie Zara" on Twitter. It was the second death of an OSCE monitor in eastern Ukraine in the last year. An American observer was killed last April when the car he was traveling in drove over a land mine. With reporting by Interfax The de facto leadership of ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh is ready to negotiate with Azerbaijan, but only in an international format with the participation of mediators, a senior representative in Stepanakert said on November 18. The official, Davit Babayan, was responding to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs statement that Baku was ready to talk to Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh but considered it an internal affair. What Aliyev suggests is nothing but an ultimate surrender for us in which a aboriginal group who have realized their 'guilt' will show repentance and beg Mother Azerbaijan to forgive them and allow them to live in the Azerbaijani land, Babayan, the ethnic Armenians' de facto foreign minister in the region, told RFE/RLs Armenian Service in an interview. He said that instead, Stepanakert suggests using the format of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), even though it has been largely inactive since the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijan war over Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for decades. Some 30,000 people were killed in a war in the early 1990s that left ethnic Armenians in control of the breakaway region and seven adjacent districts of Azerbaijan proper. The two sides fought another war in 2020 that lasted six weeks and killed thousands of people on both sides before a Russia-brokered cease-fire, resulting in Armenians' losing control over parts of the region and the adjacent districts. There can be some meetings, but not in the format of Azerbaijan-Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh]," Babayan said. "It can be a format involving Azerbaijan, Artsakh, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France; it could be in various compositions, at different places, but it must be internationally recognized. And the only internationally recognized format [for talks on Nagorno-Karabakh] is the format of the OSCE Minsk Group." Since the 2020 intensification, Baku has publicly refused to talk to Armenia or any other country regarding the future of the region. Under the terms of a Russia-brokered cease-fire, Moscow currently deploys about 2,000 peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh and along a five-kilometer-wide corridor linking the region with Armenia. Officials in Baku frequently assert that the Russian peacekeeping mission is deployed in the Karabakh region on a temporary basis. In his public statements, Aliyev has also repeatedly said that the activities of the Minsk Group are no longer necessary since, as he puts it, the conflict is now history. On November 17, Aliyev rejected the idea of negotiations with Ruben Vardanyan, a former Russian businessman of Armenian descent who recently renounced his Russian citizenship, moved to Nagorno-Karabakh, and took on a leadership role in its government. The Azerbaijani leader described Vardanyan as a person sent from Moscow with a clear agenda. Yerevan-born Vardanyan, who currently holds the post of de facto state minister, an equivalent of prime minister in Nagorno-Karabakh, responded with a call for a more constructive tone. He said he fully met the criteria for a negotiator put forward by the Azerbaijani president as someone who lives in Karabakh and wants to live there. Vardanyan also said talks between Stepanakert and Baku should be conducted through international mediators, including Russia, the United States, and France. Meanwhile, in a Twitter post on November 18, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinians ambassador-at-large, Edmon Marukian, contested Aliyevs claim that the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh is an internal matter for Azerbaijan. No internal matter has ever been dealt with for decades by three permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the OSCE and now also by the EU. The issue of human rights hasnt been considered an internal issue for seven decades, since World War II, Marukian wrote. Russian police searching a suspect's home for undeclared weapons in St. Petersburg unexpectedly found a large crocodile living in the basement, police said on January 19. Officers were searching a property owned by a man suspected of possessing and trafficking in illegal arms in Petergof, a suburb of St. Petersburg known for its tsarist palace. "In the basement of the house, the officers uncovered a crocodile," a statement from the prosecutor's office in the Petrodvorets district of St. Petersburg said. "No incidents involving the reptile occurred during the search," police said, adding that a veterinary service is now looking for a new home for the crocodile. Pictures released by police showed the reptile sitting in the dark, in a shallow muddy pool. Daytime temperatures in St. Petersburg hover around minus 7 degrees Celsius in the winter, far below the temperatures crocodiles experience in their natural habitats in tropical regions. The crocodile "has lived here since 2005," a neighbor told local television. The Fontanka local news site reported that the animal was a 2-meter-long Nile crocodile and said it belonged to a military reenactment enthusiast who ran a youth club in the building. Police said they found items resembling ammunition that have been sent for analysis while the suspect is in custody. Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and TASS Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic visited the northern Kosovar city of Mitrovica on January 20, where he paid his respects to Oliver Ivanovic, an ethnic Serb political leader in Kosovo who was shot dead earlier this week. Vucic laid a wreath at the spot where Ivanovic was killed on January 16 outside his office in the ethnically divided city. Speaking earlier in the day at the Banjska monastery, 15 kilometers north of Mitrovica, Vucic said that Serbia will do its utmost to preserve peace, solve long-term issues with Albanians, and ensure the durability of peace and security for every Serbian and Albanian family. Ivanovics assassination in the Serbian-dominated northern part of Mitrovica has raised tensions in the Balkans and prompted the suspension of EU-facilitated talks between Kosovo and Serbia. Kosovo, a former province of Serbia, declared independence in 2008 -- nearly a decade after the 1998-99 Kosovo war -- and more than 110 countries recognize its independence. Serbia does not. Vucic told Kosovar Serbs that they need to stay and survive in Kosovo and that the state of Serbia will continue helping them. We must not be less in the territory of the country where we have always lived," Vucic said. He also said that he will talk to Serbs about their security after the assassination of Ivanovic. Lets see how [Kosovo] will conduct the investigation, he said. We will wait, not for the newspaper stories, but for the final results of the investigation, and we will see if it will lead to the perpetrators of this abominable crime or not," he added. Vucic wrapped up his trip, which came amid heightened security measures, later on January 20 with a visit to Laplje Selo, a Serb-majority village near Kosovo's capital, Pristina. There he met Serbian citizens from across Kosovo who told him of problems they face, including unemployment and difficulties in the agricultural sector. With reporting by AP Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says his country's troops have crossed over the Syrian border on the second day of Ankara's operation on a Kurdish-run enclave, which responded by firing rockets at Turkish towns. Yildirim said on January 21 that the troops crossed into the Afrin region, which is controlled by the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, Turkish media reported. They said that the Turkish forces were advancing alongside forces from the Free Syrian Army (FSA). The number of the Turkish soldiers involved in the offensive was not specified. Yildirim was quoted as saying that the operation aimed to create a security zone some 30 kilometers deep inside Syria. On January 21, the United States urged Turkey to exercise restraint and ensure that the offensive is "limited in scope and duration." The Syrian government, Iran and Egypt condemned the attack, which activists said has killed at least 18 civilians in Afrin in the first 24 hours. Turkish officials say 11 rockets launched from Syria have landed in Turkish towns along the border, killing at least one Syrian refugee and injuring 47. Diplomats at the United Nations said the Security Council, at France's request, will on January 22 hold closed-door discussions on the worsening situation in Syria after the Turkish offensive. France urged Turkish authorities "to act with restraint in a context where the humanitarian situation is deteriorating in several regions of Syria." Turkish forces on January 20 began the exercise which seeks to oust the U.S.-backed YPG militia from Afrin, despite U.S. warnings that such a move could further destabilize the area. The Turks accuse the YPG of having links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency in southeast Turkish for more than 30 years. The PKK is regarded as a terror group by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union. The Turkish military said 153 Kurdish militant targets had been hit by Turkish artillery and warplanes, including shelters, hideouts, and arsenals used by the militants. Early on January 21, Turkish officials said four rockets struck the border town of Kilis, slightly wounding one person and damaging two houses and an office. Turkish artillery returned fire. Kurdish militia officials earlier said at least 10 people, mostly civilians, were killed in dozens of Turkish air attacks in the Afrin region. "Seven civilians were killed, including a child, as well as two female fighters and one male fighter," Birusk Hasakeh of the YPG militia told the AFP news agency. The PYD, the YPGs political branch, said 25 civilians had been wounded in bombing attacks by Turkish warplanes. Turkish officials confirmed there had been casualties, but said they were all members of Kurdish militias. Yildirim said on January 20 that air strikes targeting the Afrin enclave were aimed at eliminating "elements" of the YPG in Syria and Islamic State (IS) militants. Earlier that day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Olive Branch military operation had begun in Afrin and that another operation in nearby Manbij would follow. The Turkish army said the Minnigh military airport north of Aleppo, held by the YPG, had been among the targets hit by air strikes. Officials said IS targets were also destroyed and that all warplanes returned safely. Turkish officials said Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had spoken by telephone with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and that Turkey's top general, Hulusi Akar, informed his U.S. and Russian counterparts of the operation. The Russian Foreign Ministry said on January 21 that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Tillerson discussed the Syrian conflict in a telephone call, in particular ways to bring stability to the country's north. The State Department said Tillerson had spoken with Lavrov as well as Cavusoglu to express U.S. concern about the situation. While supporting Ankara's legitimate security concerns, "we urge Turkey to exercise restraint and ensure that its military operations remain limited in scope and duration and scrupulous to avoid civilian casualties," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. Turkish moves against the YPG will likely raise tensions with the United States, a NATO ally. The United States relies on the YPG in its fight against IS militants in Syria and it has announced plans to form a U.S.-backed border security force of 30,000 personnel in northern Syria, partly consisting of YPG fighters. The Russian Defense Ministry said it was withdrawing its troops from the Afrin area to prevent potential provocation and exclude the threat to the life and well-being of the Russian military." Russia has given Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government crucial military backing in recent years, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions since it began with a state crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in March 2011. The Syrian government condemned what it called "Turkish aggression on Afrin," Syrian state media reported on January 20. With reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa, and CNN Turk At the British High Commission in New Delhi earlier today, the all new Range Rover Velar was launched in India. It is the fourth member of the British SUV specialists flagship brand, which made its debut at 2017 Geneva Motor Show earlier last year. Velar slots between the ample void that existed in Land Rovers portfolio between Evoque and Range Rover Sport. The car has now been launched in India, at a starting price of Rs 78.83 lakhs. At first glance, Velar is essentially a design amalgamation of the flagship Range Rover and the compact Evoque. The sporty front fascia features brilliantly detailed matrix-laser headlights, an instantly recognizable Range Rover grille, and an aggressive bumper with brushed metal chin and burnished copper-finished gills. The new luxury SUV is bestowed with a gently tapering roofline with contrast finish, oversized rear quarter glass panel, bulging wheel arches, and stance-enhancing 22-inch wheels. Wraparound LED taillights which are bridged by a logo-carrying black insert, a prominent black diffuser with twin exhaust pipes constitute the rear fascia. Interior adopts an uncluttered design with light color themes. Noteworthy features include a fully digital instrument console and Touch Pro Duo infotainment system which employs two 10-inch displays. Like all the latest JLR products, Range Rover Velar is underpinned by an aluminium intensive platform. In India, customers can choose from a range of 3 engine options a 2.0 l 4-cylinder 132 kW (177 hp) diesel, a 2.0 l 4-cylinder 184 kW (246 hp) petrol and a 3.0 l V6 221 kW (296 hp) diesel. In India, the SUV is sold with three engine options. These are 2.0 liter petrol turbo generating 247 bhp and 365 Nm of torque, a 2.0 liter diesel turbo generating 177 bhp and 430 Nm and a top of the line 3.0 liter diesel V6 generating 297 bhp and 700 Nm. The SUV comes packed with a plethora of safety, dynamic and comfort features such as air suspension (standard on all 6-cylinder models), adaptive dynamics, optional active locking rear differential, Terrain Response 2, All Terrain Progress Control, Hill Descent Control, Low Traction Launch, and Gradient Release Control, Reverse Traffic Detection, Autonomous Emergency Braking, Driver Condition Monitoring, etc. Range Rover Velar 2.0L Diesel Price and Variants Variant Price (Rs lakh) 2.0 l Diesel (D180) 78.83 2.0 l Diesel (D180) R-Dynamic 80.76 2.0 l Diesel (D180) S 83.25 2.0 l Diesel (D180) R-Dynamic S 85.18 2.0 l Diesel (D180) SE 85.21 2.0 l Diesel (D180) R-Dynamic SE 87.14 2.0 l Diesel (D180) HSE 89.93 2.0 l Diesel (D180) R-Dynamic HSE 91.86 Range Rover Velar 2.0L Petrol Price and Variants Variant Price (Rs lakh) 2.0 l Petrol (P250) 78.83 2.0 l Petrol (P250) R-Dynamic 80.76 2.0 l Petrol (P250) S 83.25 2.0 l Petrol (P250) R-Dynamic S 85.18 2.0 l Petrol (P250) SE 85.21 2.0 l Petrol (P250) R-Dynamic SE 87.14 2.0 l Petrol (P250) HSE 89.93 2.0 l Petrol (P250) R-Dynamic HSE 91.86 Range Rover Velar 3.0L Diesel Price and Variants Variant Price (Rs lakh) 3.0 l Diesel (D300) 110.66 3.0 l Diesel (D300) R-Dynamic 113.01 3.0 l Diesel (D300) S 116.04 3.0 l Diesel (D300) R-Dynamic S 118.39 3.0 l Diesel (D300) SE 118.43 3.0 l Diesel (D300) R-Dynamic SE 120.78 3.0 l Diesel (D300) HSE 124.18 3.0 l Diesel (D300) R-Dynamic HSE 126.53 3.0 l Diesel (D300) First Edition 137.53 All prices above are ex-showroom. News Release FAIRFIELD (BCN) Police arrested two men Wednesday after finding a butane honey/hash oil lab in a Fairfield home. Police responded to a disturbance that involved four men fighting in the front yard of a residence in the 5000 block of Oakbrook Circle. Officers detained two men, one of them armed with a handgun. Officers also located a THC extraction lab also known as a honey oil/hash oil lab inside a residence. The Fairfield Police Department's special operations team searched the residence and found a firearm, suspected cash proceeds from drug sales, THC concentrate and multiple pounds of marijuana, police said. Officers also confiscated cocaine, methamphetamine, Xanax tablets, psilocybin mushrooms, LSD and PCP, police said. Robert Olivieri, 30, and Nicholas Olivieri, 22, of Fairfield, were arrested and booked in the Solano County Jail on narcotics and firearm charges, police said. Police said the legalization of medical and recreation marijuana in California has led to the increase in the number of explosions related to the manufacture of marijuana concentrates, including the extremely flammable production of honey and hash oil. Police said the honey oil labs are prohibited and convictions carry sentences up to seven years in prison. The Fairfield municipal code prohibits medical and commercial marijuana dispensaries, delivery of medical marijuana, mobile marijuana dispensaries and the outdoor cultivation of marijuana throughout the city. State law allows a person 21 or older to cultivate up to six plants at a private residence. Thank you for visiting the Daily Journal. Please purchase an Enhanced Subscription to continue reading. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! Dr. Christensen was our family doctor and we were very happy with him. The way the trial turned out was unbelievable. My wife and I went to the trial several times and we were amazed at what a rigged, planned,smear campaign it was. First, the judge would not allow people to testify for how good of a doctor he was. Supposedly because it had nothing to do with opioids, which is what the case was supposed to be about. The prosecutor brought in people from Medicare and Medicaid to try to make Dr. Christensen sound bad for opting out of dealing with them. They also tried to claim he didn't operate any cheaper than other doctors. Neither of those things had anything to do with what the case was supposed to be about either. If that is not smearing, I don't know what is. He wrote prescriptions to people who lied to him. Is that his fault? Of course not! The liars sold their drugs on the street. Is that his fault? No. There is a lot more that could and should be shown on what a corrupt, rigged trial it was. It is horrendous that they were able to do this to such a good doctor. It amazed me that the jury couldn't see through it. Is there no common sense left anymore?! I guess not. You think the hot coffee suit was crazy ... this was crazier. I have zero confidence in the justice system. There is no justice. An aggressor came in and is trying to take out a good man. Thad Leonardi, Hamilton Thanksgiving dining, carryout options are still available in Michiana Want to take a break from the kitchen on Thanksgiving? We have some options and a reminder to support local businesses on Nov. 26. The U.S. Air Force has a new missile-tracking sentinel in orbit. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launched the new missile-warning satellite Friday night (Jan. 19) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Liftoff occurred at 7:48 p.m. EDT (0048 GMT on Jan. 20) after a one-day delay so engineers could address a ground-based issue associated with the rocket's liquid-oxygen system. The Atlas V booster and its Centaur upper stage lit up the Florida night sky to launch the new military satellite mission, called the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) GEO Flight 4, from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral. SBIRS GEO Flight 4 is the fourth in a series of Air Force missile-detection satellites designed to use advanced scanners and infrared detectors to track launches of ballistic missiles. A United Launch Alliance lofted the SBIRS GEO Flight 4 satellite into orbit for the U.S. Air Force Jan. 19 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. (Image credit: ULA) About 42 minutes after liftoff, the satellite is expected to reach an initial orbit that ranges from 100 miles (161 kilometers) at its closest point to Earth to 19,358 miles (31,154 km) at its farthest point, according to a ULA mission description. The satellite will eventually move into a geosynchronous orbit 22,236 miles (35,786 km) above Earth, allowing it to keep watch over the same region of the planet. The $1.2 billion SBIRS GEO Flight 4 satellite follows the January 2017 launch of its predecessor, SBIRS GEO Flight 3. Two earlier satellites, SBIRS GEO Flights 1 and 2, have been operational in orbit since 2013."SBIRS provides our military with timely, reliable and accurate missile warning and infrared surveillance information," Tom McCormick, vice president of Lockheed Martin's Overhead Persistent Infrared systems mission area, said in a Jan. 11 statement. "We look forward to adding GEO Flight-4's capabilities to the first line of defense in our nation's missile defense strategy," McCormick said in the statement. Friday night's launch marked the first flight of an Atlas V rocket of 2018 and the second mission of the year for United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between the aerospace companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin. A ULA Delta IV rocket launched the classified NROL-47 spy satellite on Jan. 12. A look at the SBIRS GEO Flight 4 missile-warning satellite before it's packed for launch atop its United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. (Image credit: Lockheed Martin) Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. In recent days, a few media outlets have reported (in some cases, rather sensationally) that a "potentially hazardous" asteroid will fly close to Earth on Feb. 4. Are the reports correct? Absolutely! Is there any need to panic? Absolutely not! It's true that the building-size asteroid 2002 AJ129 will pass by Earth within about 10 times the distance from Earth to the moon (about 2.6 million miles, or 4.2 million kilometers), according to NASA. The asteroid is about 0.3 to 0.75 miles (0.5 to 1.2 km) in diameter for comparison, the world's tallest building is 0.51 miles (0.82 km) tall, while the new World Trade Center building in New York is 0.33 miles (0.53 km) tall. NASA representatives say there's no chance that it will collide with Earth. "We have been tracking this asteroid for over 14 years and know its orbit very accurately," Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near-Earth-Object Studies at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement. "Our calculations indicate that asteroid 2002 AJ129 has no chance zero of colliding with Earth on Feb. 4 or any time over the next 100 years." Asteroid 2002 AJ129 will make its closest approach to Earth on Feb. 4, 2018, at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT). At closest approach, the asteroid will be no closer than 10 times the distance between Earth and the moon. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) Nonetheless, with no context, asteroid 2002 AJ129's close flyby might seem remarkable. But what many outlets failed to mention is that rocks of this size fly close to Earth somewhat regularly; in fact, two space rocks came significantly closer to our planet just this week. Thursday (Jan. 18), the car-size asteroid 2018 BD (discovered just this year) came to within 0.09 times the distance from the Earth to the moon (about 21,500 miles or 34,600 km), according to NASA's Solar System Dynamics website and the Minor Planet Center. And Asteroid 2018 BX, which is also about the size of a car or bus, made its close flyby of Earth late Friday night (U.S. Eastern time on Jan. 19), zipping past Earth at a distance of about 0.73 times the distance from the Earth to the moon (about 174,400 miles or 280,670 km). While those space rocks are smaller than 2002 AJ129, they came to within the altitude range where some communications and GPS satellites orbit, which means a worst-case scenario could have involved a collision between one of the space rocks and a satellite. Asteroids much larger than 2002 AJ129 also make relatively close flybys of Earth somewhat regularly. On Sept. 1, 2017, the 2.7-mile-wide (4.4 km) Asteroid Florence passed within about 4.4 million miles (7 million km) of Earth, or about 18 times the distance from Earth to the moon. Another bus-size asteroid, known as 2017 SX17, zoomed within 54,100 miles (87,065 kilometers) of Earth on Oct. 2, 2017. While NASA did designate 2002 AJ129 as a "potentially hazardous" asteroid, it's important to note that this designation is given to any asteroid larger than about 460 feet (140 m) in diameter that gets closer than 4.65 million miles (7.48 million km) to Earth. Near-Earth asteroids can indeed pose a threat to the inhabitants of planet Earth, but remember that not all space rocks are to be feared. Editor's Note: Asteroid 2018 BX will flyby Earth at a distance of about 0.73 times the distance from the Earth to the moon (about 174,400 miles or 280,670 km), not 0.74 times the lunar distance, as previously stated. Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. Meteorite hunters in Michigan found six rocks Thursday (Jan. 18) that they say came from a spectacular fireball that lit up local skies earlier this week. The team of Larry Atkins, Robert Ward and Darryl Landry made the finds on an isolated Michigan lake they declined disclosing the exact location so as not to draw unwanted attention to the lake and its residents. In an interview with Space.com, Atkins said he plans on continuing the hunt for at least the next week. The first find happened around 9 a.m. EST (1300 GMT), and Atkins discovered a second one himself just 15 minutes later. "It looked like a perfect black charcoal briquette, with a little snowdrift on top," Atkins told Space.com Thursday. Based on his two decades of experience hunting meteorites fragments of rocks that remain after some space-rock fireballs break up in the atmosphere he said there was no question it was from space. The rock showed up clearly on the fresh ice, although from a distance Atkins did question whether it was a small pile of leaves. [Small Michigan Meteor Packed a Seismic Punch, Experts Say] Meteorite-hunter Larry Atkins poses with one of the meteorites found on Jan. 18, 2018, two days after a meteor caused a spectacular fireball in the Michigan night sky. (Image credit: Darryl Landry) The finds had masses of between 20 and 100 grams, and were small enough to "fit in the palm of your hand," Atkins said. He added that from a quick look at the meteorites, they all appear related and they all looked like ordinary chondrites the most common type of meteorite found on Earth. The team has already picked out one sample they plan to send to the Field Museum in Chicago, Atkins said. The rest they will keep for their personal collections, they said. Atkins has been searching for space rocks for two decades. This find comes only two years after another team he participated in found several space rocks from a Florida fireball. For this Michigan fireball, Atkins, who spends his winters in Arizona, made a special trip back to his hometown area of Ann Arbor to participate in the search. Meteorite-hunter Robert Ward poses with one of the meteorites found on Jan. 18, 2018, two days after a meteor caused a spectacular fireball in the Michigan night sky. (Image credit: Darryl Landry) Fellow team member Robert Ward also flew in from Arizona, arriving at 1:30 a.m. EST (0530 GMT) Jan. 18. By 3 a.m., he was already scouting for possible locations, based on radar information his team received from the American Meteor Society and NASA. His first find came around 10 a.m. another chondrite, he said. Ward gave a phone interview to Space.com yesterday (Jan. 19) while out on the ice, scouting for more meteorites. "The data was spectacular it was a very quick discovery and everything came together," said Ward, referring to the amount of information available to help him make the discovery. He has searched for meteorites since age 13, roughly 28 years ago, and has made 600 distinct finds on all continents except Antarctica. "I'll be here until Sunday, but I may come back out later in a few weeks." Picture of a rock that meteorite-hunters say likely came from a meteor that exploded in the atmosphere over Ann Arbor, Michigan Jan. 16, 2018. (Image credit: Larry Atkins) Public and professional participation The excitement of the fireball sent people out into the Michigan cold in hopes of finding a piece of space. Among them was University of Michigan seismologist Larry Ruff, who thought it would be a fun idea to venture out in the fresh snow and go meteorite hunting. He didn't find anything, but enjoyed the experience, he said. "It's been really cold here, but today was one of the warmer days," Ruff told Space.com in an interview Jan. 18, explaining that temperatures then were as high as 20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 7 degrees Celsius). "That explains why everyone was happy to get out of the house and look for some meteorites." Ruff searched in a park along with fellow Earth sciences professor James Gleason, who specializes in the composition of meteorites. The professors met lots of other wannabe meteorite-finders, too. Ruff joked that he was jealous that others had made the first finds, but added, "the debris field area is so huge, and somebody has to make a find." Ruff, who oversees the Ann Arbor seismic station at the University of Michigan, said the fireball produced one of the strongest seismic waves he had ever seen. He added that "seismic wave" did not mean an earthquake, but signified a disturbance in the atmosphere. Sightings across the Midwest The American Meteor Society has received 657 reports about the fireball since it lit up the skies Tuesday night (Jan. 16), according to their website, with observers reporting from a number of states, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Some observers even saw it from the province of Ontario, in Canada. "This was a very slow moving meteor speed of about 28,000 miles per hour (45,000 km/h)," the AMS added in a news release issued Wednesday (Jan. 17). "This fact, combined with the brightness of the meteor (which suggests a fairly big space rock), shows that the object penetrated deep into the atmosphere before it broke apart (which produced the sounds heard by at least 77 observers)." The composition and size of the meteor isn't well-understood yet, but early reports suggest that it was only a few feet in size, rather than the impressive Chelyabinsk bolide diameter of 17 meters (51 feet). When that bolide exploded over Russia in 2013, it injured hundreds of people and caused property damage, mainly because the sonic wave from the meteor shattered glass. Meteorites range from the durable to the delicate. If the Michigan bolide was made of lesser stuff than iron or stone, exposure to the elements will erode any fragments quickly. That's why Ruff said it's important to get outside quickly, to make sure as much evidence is gathered as possible. A rock, pulled out of the snow, that meteorite-hunters say likely traces back to a fireball that exploded over Ann Arbor, Michigan Jan. 16, 2018. (Image credit: Larry Atkins) Record of the early solar system Over 50,000 meteorites have been found on Earth alone, according to NASA. Of those, about 99.8 percent come from asteroids small, rocky bodies in our solar system. This means that meteorites serve as a record of the early solar system, since asteroids are leftover fragments from the small bits of rock and gas that formed the planets roughly 4.5 billion to 4.6 billion years ago. "The study of meteorites tells us much about the earliest conditions and processes during the formation and earliest history of the solar system, such as the age and composition of solids, the nature of the organic matter, the temperatures achieved at the surface and interiors of asteroids, and the degree to which materials were shocked by impacts," NASA officials said. This fireball over Michigan was too small to cause damage, but past events on Earth have. A meteorite strike on Earth about 66 million years ago is one of the principally cited causes for the dinosaurs' extinction. The impact left behind a 180-mile (300 kilometer) crater called Chicxulub, which is in the Yucatan Peninsula. Another well-known impact site is Meteor Crater in Arizona, which is about 0.6 miles (1 km) across. Craters are also found all over the solar system on the moon, Mars and many other locations. NASA has a Planetary Defense Coordination Office charged with looking for potentially hazardous objects careening toward Earth. They haven't yet seen an object that poses an imminent threat to life on Earth, but NASA and its partners continue searching, just in case. Scientists are also working on several technologies to deflect or destroy threatening asteroids, such as lasers or missiles. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The world's most powerful government shut down on Saturday after President Donald Trump and the U.S. Congress failed to reach a deal on funding for federal agencies, highlighting the country's deep political divisions. For the first time since October 2013 - when a similar standoff that lasted 16 days kept only essential agency operations intact - federal workers were being told to stay at home or in some cases to work without pay until new funding is approved. The shutdown began a year to the day after Trump was sworn in as president. His inability to cut a deal despite having a Republican majority in both houses of Congress marks arguably the most debilitating setback for his crisis-plagued administration. Democrats had insisted that any bill to renew government funding also contain permanent protections for approximately 700,000 young, undocumented immigrants who were brought illegally into the United States as children. Last week, Trump rejected a bipartisan Senate deal that would have accomplished that as well as hand the White House $2.7 billion in new money for immigration enforcement at America's borders. Minutes before Friday's midnight deadline for a funding deal, Trump's White House issued a statement blaming Democrats for the shutdown. "We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands," it said. The shutdown was cemented when the Senate, meeting late into Friday night, blocked a bill to maintain the federal government's funding through Feb. 16. The vote was 50-49, well short of the 60 needed in the 100-member chamber to vault the bill over a procedural hurdle. Four Republicans joined most Democrats in killing the measure. A fifth Republican, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, voted "no" too, but only as part of a parliamentary maneuver to make it easier to bring another bill to the floor. The breakdown ended a long day of closed-door meetings in Congress and at the White House. Even as they promised to work on getting the government back up again as soon as possible, Republicans and Democrats blamed each other for the predicament. BLAME GAME Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell joined Trump in attacking Democrats. "What we've just witnessed on the floor was a cynical decision by Senate Democrats to shove aside millions of Americans for the sake of irresponsible political games," McConnell said. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said his party took significant steps to reach a deal, including raising the possibility of funding for Trump's proposed wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, which they have ardently opposed. You would be forgiven for tuning in and thinking that this episode might be finally cashing in on the waning zombie craze and making an episode about the walking dead. Thats certainly what the writers were going for when they show a bit of literal skullduggery in progress. Thankfully for our heroes, the dead arent rising from the grave. Someone just really needed something this specific corpse had and wasnt afraid of killing the night watchman by burying him alive. When Steve and Danny are called to the scene by Junior, they arent clear what the motive might be. Did someone have it out for the graves original occupant, Travis Hinkley, gentle of spirit? Or was this professional body snatching for profit, which Danny assures Junior is a lucrative career? Whichever it is, both Steve and Danny are happy to be working a case and not arguing some more about the latest restaurant mishap. That mishap happens to be one of the other crimes committed on the island the night before. Afterforgot to lock up the restaurant, a thief stole a bunch of valuable construction equipment. Steve and Danny can barely take a break from arguing about whose fault it is to assign Officer Pua to the case. When Pua asks for an itemized list, Steve helpfully points out that it was a whole bunch of stuff and not getting insurance was merely a calculated risk. Danny isnt too happy about that assessment.Back on the case, Lou speculates the someone dug up Hinkley (who died of malaria contracted in west Africa) because they werent ready to let him go and are keeping him around Mrs. Bates style. Meanwhile, Steve and Danny think the grave-robbing is connected to a religious ritual. Jerry helpfully suggests that Hinkley may have been given away in a ghost marriage or ground up into zombie powder. Steve and Danny are skeptical of Jerrys more out-there theories, but do decide to take his advice and find a santero who could be responsible.The santero they track down is very quick to cite religious freedom for some of the unsavory items the team has found in his home. Animal sacrifice may be permitted, but Steve and Danny suspect Mr. Ravello did something more to Hinkley. However, their case moves in a different direction when they find his body, disemboweled.Junior infers that this wasnt Santeria at all but a case of someone looking for stolen merchandise. Hinkley may have been a mule for someone, and that someone got very upset when he died before he could deliver.That someone is diamond smuggler Neil Voss, who recently spent time in west Africa and left his fingerprint at the crime scene. The team suspects that Hinkley was Vosss partner in the crime, but are confused that Voss would be hanging around on the island instead of getting out of dodge.Before they can follow up on it, Noelani calls them down to the morgue. She claims that Hinkley had his intestines cut open. Someone stole the diamonds before Voss could get to them.someone was the mortician who first operated on Hinkley. Noenlani's hunch proves to be correct when they find the mortician tied up at the mortuary. Voss has realized that the diamonds arent with the mortician, but back at his home. The team doesnt have much time. Voss is holding the morticians wife hostage while he searches for the diamonds, and hes hellbent on finding them.Voss may be a scumbag, but to his credit he keeps the wife alive after he finds what he came for. However, he then immediately initiates a shootout with the police. The case is solved and the missing diamonds finally recovered, in the most gruesome fashion possible.Meanwhile, stalwart Officer Pua is learning the ways of the island from Kamekona. If you want information about any fences, you have to treat yourself to a nice lunch.Kamekona leads Pua to a shady pawnshop owner, who leads him to a struggling homeless family trying to rebuild after the wildfire. The buyers had no idea that the tools were stolen, and Pua cant bring himself to take them back (probably because of that cute dog). He decides to lie to Steve and Danny about it, although they definitely would have been ok with letting someone in need have the tools. Although neither want to outright admit it, they both think they may be in over their heads with the whole restaurant thing, but cant come up with a solution as of yet. Steves idea of just getting another loan seems like a plot point for another day.After last weeks intense Lou-centric episode, this one seems a lot looser. Thats not to demean either type of writing style, but last weeks was much more deliberate. This one is breezy, even as it tackles some of the longer running plot threads.The first of these is Adams new job as Honolulus Elliot Ness. Adam has been tasked with tracking down who killed all of Hawaiis head crime bosses. He believes the answer lies with the local kingpin Hideki Tashiro. Adam needs an in with Hideki, but good CIs are hard to come by. So, naturally Adam decides to recruit one of his own.Jessie Nomura is fresh out of prison and not looking to risk her life by becoming Adams CI. She doesnt care about his case, even if he does believe shes the perfect person to get close to Hideki. Steve isnt completely sure that Adam should be pouring all his resources into Hideki, but trusts his new team member to make it work.Jessie isnt the only one Adams keeping his eye on. He also volunteers to do Tani a favor and give Koa a job on his crew. Koa seems genuinely happy to turn over a new leaf. Tani doesnt even have to give him a lecture. Unfortunately, that doesnt last long. Adam soon finds Koa passed out and barely responsive.Adam rushes him to Noelani. He suspects that Koas ODed, and he doesnt want the cops involved. Noelani must get really sick of treating all of these strange injuries and illnesses that the team and their expansive network tend to pick up. It seems like every other week someone is shouting into their phone about how shes closer/more discreet/better than a hospital.Tani rushes to Koas side. Hes fine, but shes heartbroken. He promises to get clean, but Tani doesnt seem to take him too seriously. Shes too terrified of losing him to fully process whats going on or make a plan yet.Adam returns from the morgue to find Jessie sitting on his doorstep. Adam is honest with her about killing his brother, and Jessie decides to trust him. Adams found his CI, but time will tell whether it will be enough to take down whatever mastermind is pulling the strings.What did you think of tonights episode? Let me know in the comments! A ctivists declared Donald Trump a racist bigot as they descended on the US embassy in London to urge Theresa May to cancel her meeting with him next week. The anti-Trump protesters braved the wet weather to stage the demonstration on the first anniversary of Mr Trump's inauguration as US president, pushing over a mock wall they had built in front of the embassy's recently opened site in Vauxhall. It came a week after Mr Trump publicly cancelled a visit to Britain to open the new site because, he said, it had been sold for "peanuts" and was built in an "off location" of London. Mr Trump wrote on Twitter at the time: "Bad deal. [They] Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!" Prime Minister Theresa May is due to meet with him at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week. Around 20 activists from the campaign group Stand up to Racism chanted: "Donald Trump go away, racist, sexist, anti-gay", and "from Calais to Mexico, all the walls have got to go". They fumed at Mr Trump's recent controversial remarks on immigration, when he was reported to have branded Haiti and some African states "s***hole" countries in a White House meeting. Lewis Nielsen led much of the crowd's chanting, and later said that Mr Trump will be "met by the biggest demonstration in British history" if he comes to the UK. Anti-Trump: The demonstration was organised by Stand Up To Racism / PA The 24-year-old said: "Today marks a year since Trump came to office. "In that year, he's proved himself to be a racist, sexist bigot. He's tried to bring in a Muslim ban, he's called the whole of Africa a s***hole, he wants to build a wall in Mexico. It's incredibly important we oppose his racism. "If a state visit is arranged it will be a huge mistake for the Government, because the city and the country would be shut down by some of the biggest protests." Michael Bradley, 50, who works for Stand up to Racism, said: "The man's completely unacceptable and it's pushing politics beyond what is acceptable. We think he's a racist and we think the reason he didn't come to Britain is he knows there would have been millions of people out on the streets. "If he came to Britain, it would be absolutely unimaginable, the level of protest at every level of British society." The demonstration came on the same day that the US government plunged into a shutdown after the Senate could not agree on a new budget. Affecting hundreds of thousands of federal workers, the shutdown is the first in US history to occur while the same party the Republicans controls both Congress and the White House. Additional reporting by Press Association D owning Street has said there are no specific plans to build an English Channel bridge, according to reports. The Foreign Secretary allegedly proposed to build a fixed link between Britain and France to French president Emmanuel Macron at a summit on Thursday. But Downing Street has instead said that Mr Johnson was referencing a panel looking at Anglo-French major projects, the BBC reported. Boris Johnson previously hinted at the prospect of Britain and France building a bridge over the English Channel. Mr Johnson reportedly said "good connections" were important and that it was ridiculous that two of the world's biggest economies were only linked by a single railway. A spokesman for the Prime Minister told the BBC: "I haven't seen any plans on that. We are going to have very close ties with France economically, culturally and in areas such as defence and security for many many decades to come. He added that a panel of experts will look at major projects including "infrastructure". Mr Johnson tweeted earlier this week: So much important work in #UKFRSummit outcomes, but Im especially pleased we are establishing a panel of experts to look at major projects together. Our economic success depends on good infrastructure and good connections. Should the Channel Tunnel be just a first step? Experts said that building a bridge between the two nations would be possible but could cost up to 120 billion. However, practical issues such as the weather, shipping and the financial implications stand in the way of Mr Johnsons bridge becoming a reality. It is thought that a bridge could be challenging for vessels crossing one of the busiest shipping channels in the world, sometimes with limited visibility. Dr Kostas Tsavdaridis, associate professor in Structural Engineering at the University of Leeds, said that he would use the bridge "but only on the good days of the year", as conditions could be harsh. He said any seismic action in the area would not have a significant effect on the structure, and it was being mooted for the narrowest and shallowest stretch of the channel. At 20-plus miles, it would be one of the longest bridges, but "it has been done in the past", he said. Trade body the UK Chamber of Shipping said in a tweet: "Building a huge concrete structure in the middle of the world's busiest shipping lane might come with some challenges." The world's longest bridge is the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge in China, which spans just over 100 miles. A British Airways pilot was removed from a packed plane just moments before take-off amid fears he was drunk, according to reports. The Boeing 777 flight to Mauritius on Thursday was delayed and the pilot replaced, BA confirmed. Staff allegedly called police and reported that they could smell alcohol on the pilot and were worried about the safety for passengers on the flight. The 11-hour flight was expected to leave Gatwick Airport at 8.20pm, but was reportedly delayed until 10.56 pm in order for a replacement pilot to be found. An airline source told the Sun: "Cops rushed on to the plane and headed straight for the cockpit. The first officer was cuffed and led away." A British Airways spokesperson said: We're taking this matter extremely seriously and are assisting the police with their inquiries. We are sorry for the delay to our customers. The aircraft remained at the gate until an alternative third pilot joined the flight crew. The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority. Speaking to The Sun, Sussex Police said that they were called to the airports South Terminal Gate 17 at 8.25pm and arrested a 49 year-old man from Harmondsworth, West London, who remains in custody. The Standard has contacted Sussex Police for further information. D onald Trumps battle of words with Kim Jong Un has upped the fear of war across the globe, according to the World Economic Forum. Seventy-nine per cent of experts polled for its Global Risks Report believed there was increased risk of military conflicts in 2018. Warning of a "febrile" environment, the report states: "The escalation of geopolitical risks was one of the most pronounced trends of 2017, particularly in Asia, where the North Korea crisis has arguably brought the world closer than it has been for decades to the possible use of nuclear weapons." The Evening Standard has taken a look back at some of the most shocking moments from the public feud between the US President and the North Korean dictator: Rocky start Two weeks before his inauguration on January 20 last year, Trump tweeted: "North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S." He taunted: "It won't happen!" In April, North Korea unveiled a mocked-up video of an entire US city being wiped out by a nuclear attack at a concert to celebrate the birthday of founding father Kim Il Sung. North Korea broadcasts video showing destruction of USA by missile strike No time for patience Last May, as Pyongyang looked set to conduct forbidden nuclear tests, the US military said it was ready to defend against the North Korean missiles Mr Trump previously declared impossible. Mr Trump later said "the door was open to Kim Jong-Un under the right circumstances" and that it would be an "honour" to meet him. North Korea did not take advantage of Trump's offer of an 'open door' Several days later, North Korea's UN Mission accused US and South Korean intelligence agencies of planning to assassinate Kim Jong-Un. Mr Trump told Reuters news agency the "era of strategic patience" with North Korea was over and that a "major, major conflict" was possible. Escalating tension In July 2017, Kim was pictured smiling broadly at an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that North Korea claimed was now capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. Kim Jong Un coins a new insult for President Donald Trump / AFP/Getty Images Kim called on his missile developers to "frequently send big and small 'gift packages' to the Yankees" - likely meaning to get on with nuclear tests. US and South Korean forces in missile test In August, the UN Security Council passed further sanctions against North Korea. Pyongyang responded with fury, saying it would make the US pay "a thousand-fold for all the heinous crimes" committed against North Korea. 'Totally destroying' relations In an aggressive speech at the UN General Assembly, the president vowed to "totally destroy North Korea." Ramping up the rhetoric: Donald Trump giving his maiden speech before the UN General Assembly / Getty In response, Kim vowed to take "a corresponding, highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history." Whatever Trump might have expected, he will face results beyond his expectation. "I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire, the North Korean leader said in a statement. Trading insults In November, Mr Trump embarked on a 12-day Asian tour which North Korea described as a "warmongers visit". The communist country dubbed Mr Trump's speech in South Korea "reckless remarks by an old lunatic". Kim Jong Un looks on at testing of the country's Hwasong-15 long-range ballistic missile Mr Trump then tweeted to say: "Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me 'old,' when I would NEVER call him 'short and fat? "Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!" New year, new threats Kim boasted on New Years Day that he had a nuclear button on his desk and that the whole of America was within range. President Donald Trump's first year in office - in pictures 1 /53 President Donald Trump's first year in office - in pictures U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington Reuters 20 January 2017 President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump are greeted by President Barack Obama and his wife first lady Michelle Obama, upon arriving at the White House in Washington, DC. before being sworn in as the nation's 45th president during an inaugural ceremony at the U.S. Capitol Getty Images 20 January 2017 President Barack Obama greets President Elect Donald Trump on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Getty Images 20 January 2017 Attendees line the Mall as they watch ceremonies to swear in Donald Trump on Inauguration Day in Washington, DC Getty Images 20 January 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump sings to the song "My Way" while dancing with first lady Melania Trump during the inaugural Liberty Ball at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC Getty Images 21 January 2017 White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer makes a statement to members of the media at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC. This was Spicer's first press conference as Press Secretary where he spoke about the media's reporting on the inauguration's crowd size Getty Images 22 January 2017 US President Donald Trump congratulates Senior Counselor to the President Stephen Bannon during the swearing-in of senior staff in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC AFP 22 January 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with James Comey, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), during an Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, DC Getty Images 27 January 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May with U.S. President Donald Trump walk along The Colonnade at The White House Getty Images 09 February 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House February 9, 2017 in Washington, DC. Prior to signing the three executive orders, Trump participated in the swearing in ceremony for new Attorney General Jeff Sessions (R) along with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence (L) and Sessions's wife Mary (2nd R) Getty Images 19 February 2017 Muslim women protest against US President Donald Trump on in Chicago, Illinois AFP/Getty Images 27 February 2017 Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway checks her phone after taking a photo as U.S. President Donald Trump and leaders of historically black universities and colleges pose for a group photo in the Oval Office of the White House before a meeting with US Vice President Mike Pence in Washington, DC AFP/Getty Images 17 March 2017 Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ivanka Trump talk before a meeting with US President Donald Trump and business leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC AFP/Getty Images 23 March 2017 U.S. President Donald J. Trump gets in the driver's seat of an 18-wheeler while meeting with truck drivers and trucking CEOs on the South Portico prior to their meeting to discuss health care at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 23 March 2017. The House of Representatives has yet to vote on the Republican-crafted American Health Care Act, that would replace the Affordable Care Act, as it remained unclear whether Republicans had enough votes to overcome opposition from Democrats and those within their own party. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO EPA 17 April 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks from the Truman Balcony with first lady Melania Trump and their son Barron Trump during the 139th Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images 04 May 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump (C) speaks while flanked by House Republicans after they passed legislation aimed at repealing and replacing ObamaCare, during an event in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC. The House bill would still need to pass the Senate before being signed into law Getty Images 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray in Jerusalem's Old City AFP/Getty Images 24 May 2017 Pope Francis walks along with US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump during a private audience at the Vatican AFP/Getty Images 26 May 2017 European Council President Donald Tusk, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.S. President Donald Trump, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, British Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker pose for the group photo at the G7 Taormina summit on the island of Sicily on May 26, 2017 in Taormina, Italy. Leaders of the G7 group of nations, which includes the Unted States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy, as well as the European Union, are meeting at Taormina from May 26-27 Getty Images 7 July 2017 US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, AFP/Getty Images 25 July 2017 Incoming White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci talks with reporters during 'Regional Media Day' at the White House July 25, 2017 in Washington, DC. Conservative media outlets were invited to set up temporary studios on the north side of the West Wing so to interview White House officials and members of President Donald Trump's cabinet Getty Images 28 July 2017 Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) leaves the the Senate chamber at the U.S. Capitol after voting on the GOP 'Skinny Repeal' health care bill on July 28, 2017 in Washington, DC. Three Senate Republicans voted no to block a stripped-down, or 'Skinny Repeal,' version of Obamacare reform Getty Images 22 August 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump looks up toward the Solar Eclipse while joined by his wife first lady Melania Trump on the Truman Balcony at the White House on August 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Millions of people have flocked to areas of the U.S. that are in the "path of totality" in order to experience a total solar eclipse Getty Images 22 August 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during a rally at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. An earlier statement by the president that he was considering a pardon for Joe Arpaio,, the former sheriff of Maricopa County who was convicted of criminal contempt of court for defying a court order in a case involving racial profiling, has angered Latinos and immigrant rights advocates Getty Images 15 September 2017 11-year-old Frank "FX" Giaccio (L) gets a pat on the back from U.S. President Donald Trump (C) while mowing the grass in the Rose Garden of the White House September 15, 2017 in Washington, DC. Giaccio, from Falls Church, Virginia, who runs a business called FX Mowing, wrote a letter to Trump expressing admiration for Trump's business background and offered to mow the White House grass Getty Images 03 October 2017 President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at the Muniz Air National Guard Base for a visit after Hurricane Maria hit the island in Carolina, Puerto Rico. The President has been criticized by some that say the governments response has been inadequate Getty Images 11 October 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pose for photographs after Trudeau's arrival at the White House in Washington, DC. The United States, Canada and Mexico engaged in renegotiating the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement Getty Images 23 October 2017 Seven of U.S. President Donald Trump's eight border wall prototypes are shown near completion along U.S.- Mexico border near San Diego, California Reuters 30 October 2017 Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort gets into his car after leaving federal court, October 30, 2017 in Washington, DC. Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, have been indicted by a federal grand jury in the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. election Getty Images 06 November 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump pours fish food out as Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looks on while they were feeding carps before their working lunch at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Japan Reuters 09 November 2017 China's President Xi Jinping (L) and US President Donald Trump review Chinese honour guards during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing AFP/Getty Images 21 November 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, their son Barron, National Turkey Federation Chairman Carl Wittenburg and his family and members of the Draper County, Minnesota, 4-H chapater pose for photographs after Trump pardoned, Drumstick, the National Thanksgiving Turkey in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC. Following the presidential pardon, the 40-pound White Holland breed which was raised by Wittenburg in Minnesota, will then reside at his new home, 'Gobbler's Rest,' at Virginia Tech Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images 30 November 2017 President Donald Trump and the first lady Melania Trump attend the 95th annual National Christmas Tree Lighting held by the National Park Service at the White House Ellipse in Washington, D.C. The Beach Boys, Wynonna, The Texas Tenors, Craig Campbell were among the artists who provided the entertainment Getty Images 01 December 2017 Michael Flynn, former national security advisor to President Donald Trump, leaves following his plea hearing at the Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, DC. Special Counsel Robert Mueller charged Flynn with one count of making a false statement to the FBI Getty Images 06 December 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump signs a proclaimation that the U.S. government will formally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel after signing the document in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House December 6, 2017 in Washington, DC. In keeping with a campaign promise, Trump said the United States will move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem sometime in the next few years. No other country has its embassy in Jerusalem Getty Images 14 December 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump cuts a symbolic piece of red tape during an event at the White House promoting the administration's efforts to decrease federal regulations in Washington, DC. The administration has vowed to remove two regulations for every single regulation added in an effort to reduce the amount of bureaucratic "red tape" Getty Images 18 December 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump pauses during a speech at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC. The president was expected to outline a new strategy for U.S. foreign policy through the release of the periodic National Security Strategy, a document that aims to outline major national security concerns and the administration's plans to deal with them Getty Images 20 December 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by Republican lawmakers, celebrates Congress passing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on the South Lawn of the White House on December 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. The tax bill is the first major legislative victory for the GOP-controlled Congress and Trump since he took office almost one year ago Getty Images 22 December 2017 A Palestinian protester throws a stone during clashes with Israeli forces near the Huwara checkpoint south of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as protests continue in the region amid anger over US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as its capital AFP/Getty Images 12 January 2018 US President Donald Trump shakes hands with White House Physician Rear Admiral Dr. Ronny Jackson, following his annual physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland AFP/Getty Images The dictator claimed: "The United States can never fight a war against me and our state." Mr Trump replied on Twitter saying: "I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" Donald Trump Nuclear Button North Korea's state-run media called the US president's tweet the "spasm of a lunatic". Rodong Sinmun, the ruling party newspaper, lashed out to say: "The spasm of Trump in the new year reflects the desperate mental state of a loser who failed to check the vigorous advance of the army and people of the DPRK," the article said, using the acronym for North Koreas formal name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. "He is making [a] bluff only to be diagnosed as a psychopath." S everal people have been killed and at least six injured after gunmen believed to be wearing suicide vests stormed a five star hotel in Kabul. As many as four attackers, who appeared to have a large supply of hand grenades, opened fire at the Intercontinental Hotel in the Afghan capital on Saturday. Officials said at least two had been killed by Afghan special forces but others remained at large. Hotel manager Ahmad Haris Nayab, who managed to escape unhurt, said the gunmen got into the main part of the hotel through a kitchen and people tried to get out amid bursts of gunfire. Afghan security officials take positions near the scene of attack / EPA According to one witness, who did not want to be named, the attackers took some hotel staff and guests hostage. The raid came days after a US embassy warning of possible attacks on hotels in the city. A group of gunman attacked Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel on Saturday / EPA There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the latest in a long series to have hit Kabul. The hotel, located on a hilltop and heavily protected like most public buildings in Kabul, was previously attacked by Taliban fighters in 2011. The Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan / REUTERS It is one of two main luxury hotels in Kabul and is used for events including conferences attended by government officials. On Thursday, the US embassy in Kabul issued a warning to US citizens, saying "We are aware of reports that extremist groups may be planning an attack against hotels in Kabul". N ever-before-seen images released by police show the huge arsenal left behind by Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock who killed 58 people in the biggest mass shooting of US history. Images released alongside a detailed report on the mass shooting in October, show photos from inside the hotel suite. The photos include one shot through a broken window, showing the concert venue still littered with personal belongings left when thousands ran to escape the hail of bullets raining from above. Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo released the preliminary report on Friday after three months spent investigating the attack on an outdoor concert staged from a room at the Mandalay Bay casino-hotel. Photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report shows the kitchenette in the hotel room of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock's 32nd floor room of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas / AP Investigators found 23 rifles and a handgun in his hotel suite and more than a dozen of the rifles were fitted with "bump stock" devices that allowed rapid-fire shooting similar to fully automatic weapons. Dozens of guns were strewn around the room, some left inside a bassinet. Mr Paddock fired more than 1,100 bullets, mostly from two windows on the 32nd floor of the hotel, into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below, Mr Lombardo has said. That includes about 200 shots fired through his hotel room door into a hallway where an unarmed hotel security guard was wounded in the leg and a maintenance engineer took cover. Las Vegas shooting: Who is gunman Stephen Paddock? The report revealed that police also found handwritten notes, child pornography and snorkelling equipment in Mr Paddock's room. It said that police found several hundred images of child pornography on a computer hard drive in Mr Paddocks hotel room, but are still investigating the source of the images. Police revealed that Mr Paddock was a high-stakes gambler on a losing streak, obsessed with cleanliness, possibly bipolar and was having difficulties with his live-in girlfriend. Investigators believe Mr Paddock acted alone and did not leave a suicide note or manifesto before he was found dead in the room. Mr Lombardo said he did not expect criminal charges to be filed against Paddock's girlfriend, Marilou Danley, who had been named as the only person of interest in the case. Photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report shows bullet damage to the entry door of room 32-135, part of the evidence images included on a preliminary report showing the interior of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock's 32nd floor room of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas / AP Ms Danley told investigators that Mr Paddock had been acting strangely before the shooting and that they visited Mandalay Bay casino just weeks before. She remembered him constantly looking out the windows overlooking an area where the concert would be held the next month. He moved from window to window to see the site from different angles, the report said. Mr Paddock had become "distant" in the year before the shooting and their relationship was no longer intimate, Ms Danley said during an interview with investigators. She described him as germophobic and said he had strong reactions to smells. Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures 1 /18 Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures People run for cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival Getty Images Concertgoers carry a person away Getty Images Police officers telling people to take cover near the scene AP Broken windows seen on a high floor in the Mandalay Bay hotel facing the scene of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Concertgoers scramble for shelter Getty Images Festival-goers run while ducking for cover Getty Images A police officer takes cover behind a patrol vehicle AP A couple comfort each other Getty Images Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the festival grounds of the Route 91 Harvest Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty The crowd at the festival Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty Images A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP Police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard Getty Images The gunman, who fatally shot himself in his hotel room, had told friends and relatives that he always felt ill, in pain and fatigued. The report revealed that his doctor thought he may have had bipolar disorder but told police that Mr Paddock refused to discuss the possibility and only accepted a prescription for anxiety medication. The 64-year-old retired accountant and real estate investor had lost a "significant amount of wealth" since September 2015, which led to "bouts of depression," the sheriff has said. Paddock had paid off his gambling debts before the shooting, according to the report. Ms Danley was in the Philippines at the time of the shooting. In the days before the attack, Paddock sent her a $100,000 (72,000) wire transfer. She has said she found that odd and thought he might have been breaking up with her when he sent her the money and told her to use it to buy a home for her family there. Prior to the attack, Paddock had researched SWAT tactics and searched online for other potential public targets, including in Chicago, Boston and Santa Monica, California, the sheriff said. His research also sought the number of attendees at other concerts in Las Vegas and the size of the crowds at Santa Monica's beach. Among his searches was "do police use explosives," the report said. A federal grand jury is hearing evidence in a case that spun off from the shooting investigation, the sheriff said. The FBI has "an ongoing case against an individual of federal interest," Mr Lombardo said, declining to elaborate. Spokeswomen for the FBI and federal prosecutors in Las Vegas declined to comment. D onald Trump's first year in office has been defined by his unique use of social media, which he described as "modern presidential". Dubbed by critics as the world's first "Twitter Presidency", the year has seen Mr Trump thrash out tweets on matters of domestic and international concern alike. Whether insulting North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, defending family members in the heat of an FBI investigation, or adding in made-up words including "covfefe", the leader of the free world has used the site to amplify his own voice. The Evening Standard has taken a look back at some of Mr Trump's most explosive tweets from his first year in office: 1. 'Any negative polls are fake news' Little more than a fortnight into his presidency, Mr Trump was already lashing out at "fake news". Mainstream American media outlets - CNN, ABC, NBC - and pretty much any news organisation critical of the president found itself in his line of fire. The terms "fake news" and "alternative facts" have become synonymous with Mr Trump's time in office thus far. 2. 'No transgender individuals in the military' Mr Trump ordered a reinstatement in July of a policy that barred transgender individuals from joining the military. The Obama administration made the landmark decision to get rid of the rule that said transgender people could be involuntarily separated, discharged or denied re-enlistment or continuation of service just for being transgender. Any transgender people already serving in the armed forces could serve openly effective immediately. A federal judge in Washington eventually blocked the president from banning transgender people from serving in the military. 3. 'Fraud News Network' The president caused outrage during the same month when he shared a video which shows him wrestling a human embodiment of CNN to the ground. The doctored footage came courtesy of Mr Trump's earlier appearances on Wrestlemania. The post went on to become his most shared tweet of all time. 4. 'Mexico will pay for the wall...at a later date' One of the president's key campaign pledges was the construction of a controversial wall along the US-Mexico border. The President promised Mexico was "gonna pay for it". When such an idea was openly rebuked by Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto, Mr Trump backtracked. He told his millions of followers Mexico would, in fact, pay. Just, perhaps, "at a later date". 5. Tweeting the wrong mass shooting Twitter In a now-deleted tweet, Mr Trump appeared to post about the wrong mass shooting. Apparently reacting to the news of a shooting at the Rancho Tehema Elementary School in California, Mr Trump appeared to have copied and pasted his message of condolence from an earlier shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Both tweets read: "May God be [with] the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas. The FBI and law enforcement [have arrived]." The Sutherland Springs shooting took place nine days earlier. 6. 'Why would Kim Jong-un insult me?' The US President lashed out in his response to a statement from Kim Jong Uns foreign ministry which described Trump as a dotard an insult for an elderly person. Mr Trump then tweeted asking why the North Korea leader would insult me by calling me old, when I would NEVER call him short and fat? Shortly after, Mr Trump offered to act as the middle man to assist with negotiations between countries clashing over territory in the South China Sea, saying: Im a very good mediator. 7. 'Things will work out fine with Russia' In April, Mr Trump sought to play down widespread fears over the US's tumultuous relationship with Russia. He wrote: "Things will work out fine between the USA and Russia. "At the right time, everyone will come to their senses [and] there will be lasting peace." Russian leader Vladimir Putin recently praised North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, saying he had "won this round" during a social media spat with Mr Trump. 8. 'Your favourite president (me)' Continuing his crusade against 'Fake News', while doing very little to change his image as a narcissist, Mr Trump referred to himself as "your favourite president" Mr Trump would eventually go on to award a "fake news trophy" of sorts to CNN, left wing economist Paul Krugman and the New York Times in his very own "Fake News Awards". 9. 'Covfefe' Donald J.Trump Almost certainly a typo, the US president left his followers baffled with the phrase: "Despite the constant negative press covfefe". Mr Trump later tweeted a lighthearted follow-up, challenging the internet to try and "figure out the true meaning of covfefe". 10. 'A very stable genius' In what was perhaps one of Mr Trump's most widely derided Twitter outbursts, the president described himself as a "very stable genius". In a series of tweets, he wrote: "Now that Russian collusion, after one year of intense study, has proven to be a total hoax on the American public... "The Fake News Mainstream Media are taking out the old Ronald Reagan playbook and screaming mental stability and intelligence... "Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart... "I went from VERY successful businessman to top TV star...President of the United States (on my first try). "I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius...and a very stable genius at that." T he "shackled siblings" found at the California "house of horror" face a long road to recovery, experts said. Thirteen children, aged 2 to 29, rescued from what was described as nothing less than a torture chamber are safe and relieved for now, according to authorities. But they will have years of therapy ahead as they learn to live in a world that, until a week ago, they never really knew. And the children may be drawn back to their parents who allegedly kept them chained to beds and starved them, a leading psychologist said. The family seen in Dr Seuss-style shirts in a group photo which appears to have been taken in April 2016 / Facebook Since arresting David and Louise Turpin earlier this week, authorities said they have learned the children were confined to the house, chained to furniture, starved and often deprived the use of a toilet. Some of the children were so detached they didn't understand the concept of a police officer or medicine, according to the Associated Press. "You don't need to learn what a police officer is from going to school, you learn that from just being out in the world," said Patricia Costales, chief executive of The Guidance Centre. The California-based nonprofit provides mental health therapy to thousands of children. David Turpin, 56, and Louise Turpin, 49, pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of torture, child abuse, dependent adult abuse and false imprisonment / Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via AP Ms Costales added: "To not even know something like that really speaks to how incredibly controlled their environment was. They're going to experience a culture shock even apart from the trauma they have undergone." The Turpin siblings, seven adults and six children, likely need years of therapy, psychological experts said, adding that if possible it would be best to keep them together. The youngest should have the easiest road to recovery, Ms Costales said, but added she is optimistic that over time all could eventually learn to lead relatively normal lives. "Their brains are still adapting, they're still forming, they're still developing their understanding of the world," she said of the younger children. Police were called to a home in Perris, California on Sunday / Getty Images "But someone who has experienced these things for 20-some years of their life will have a lot of learning to do about what relationships are like, what the world is like, how they're supposed to be treated." Even being separated from their parents, who are now in jail on torture, child abuse and other charges, could be unsettling initially to some of the children, said psychologist and professor of pyschology and social behaviour Jessica Borelli. "When we come into this world, our attachment figures are our primary sources of safety and security, no matter how abusive they are," she said. "That impulse or that draw to be back with the people who are supposed to keep you safe is incredibly strong, and that is what has to be overridden to get out of an abusive situation." Turpin Family Kids Captive Police were summoned to the Turpin home in Perris on Sunday after the couple's 17-year-old daughter jumped out of a window and called 911. She had planned the escape for two years and fled with a sibling who became too scared and turned back, Riverside County authorities said. When deputies arrived at the home they found a 22-year-old chained to a bed. The house reeked of human waste and evidence of starvation was obvious, with the oldest sibling, a 29-year-old woman, weighing only 82 pounds, said Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin. The children were tethered to beds with chains and padlocks as punishment and allowed to do little but write in journals, authorities said. David Turpin, 56, and Louise Turpin, 49, have pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of torture, child abuse, dependent adult abuse and false imprisonment dating to 2010. David Turpin also pleaded not guilty to performing a lewd act on a child under age 14. David Turpin had worked as an engineer for both Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Louise Turpin identified herself as a housewife in a 2011 bankruptcy filing. The family led a nocturnal existence and slept all day, which kept them largely out of sight from neighbours in their tight-knit suburban-styled community. Authorities have given no motive for the parents' behavioor, which Hestrin called "depraved." Abbey Kanzer, a clinical psychologist at the Centre for Victims of Torture in St. Paul, Minnesota, said recovery can take years but there is hope in even the most horrific cases. "The hope for treatment is to find a way so the trauma becomes a contained part of what happened to them," she said. "It becomes part of their story, but not their complete story." Kathmandu, Nepal: A cabinet meeting scheduled for today afternoon likely to take a decision of appointment of chiefs of the federal states- governors and provincial capitals. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has been consulting with the leaders of the CPN-UML and CPN Maoist Center before the cabinet meeting prior to the meeting with intent to forge consensus to fix the governors and the provincial capitals. T he US government began a shutdown after Senate politicians were unable to agree on a new budget. A few Republicans joined Democrats to block a short-term funding measure being pushed by Donald Trump and Republican leaders in Congress. Five Democrats and five Republicans switched sides, meaning the Senate was 10 votes short of supporting the measure at midnight on Friday. Social Security and most other safety net programmes are unaffected by the pause in federal spending authority. Critical government functions will continue, with uniformed service members, health inspectors and law enforcement officers set to work without pay. All of Donald Trump's 'losers' during his presidency But the shutdown, which came on the day of Mr Trumps one year anniversary as president, could see 750,000 federal employees not return to work on Monday unless a funding deal is reached. Predictably, both parties moved swiftly to blame one another. Democrats laid fault with Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress and the White House and have struggled with building internal consensus. Republicans declared Democrats responsible, after they declined to provide the votes needed to overcome a filibuster over their desire to force the passage of legislation to protect some 700,000 younger immigrants from deportation. They branded the confrontation a "Schumer shutdown" and argued that Democrats were harming fellow Americans to protect "illegal immigrants." Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said a "Trump shutdown" was more accurate. Earlier on Friday, Mr Trump had brought Mr Schumer to the White House in hopes of cutting a deal on a short-term spending agreement. The two New Yorkers, who pride themselves on their negotiating abilities were unable to come to an agreement that would keep the government open. Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told CNN that "Not much has changed" over the course of the day, but he predicted a deal would be reached by Monday, when most government offices are to reopen after the weekend. D onald Trump has accused the Democrats of "putting politics before border and military safety" as the US government was shut down on the anniversary of his presidency. The US president tweeted on Saturday: "Democrats are far more concerned with illegal immigrants than they are with our great military or safety at our dangerous southern border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play shutdown politics instead." Mr Trump added: "This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present." It was the latest in a blame game between Democrats and Republicans over who caused the shutdown of federal government that came into effect on Saturday. Donald Trump's one-year anniversary of his presidency was marred by a US government shutdown / AFP/Getty Images In a series of tweets Mr Trump accused Democrat lawmakers of putting politics before the interests of the people of America. But leading Senate Democrat, Chuck Schumer, has pointed the finger at the Republican president. "It's almost like you were rooting for a shutdown," said Mr Schumer of Mr Trump after the Senate refused to approve a shutdown-averting funding bill. Mr Trump's twitter rampage came after Congress failed to reach a deal on funding for federal agencies in a dramatic night in Washington. President Donald Trump's first year in office - in pictures 1 /53 President Donald Trump's first year in office - in pictures U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington Reuters 20 January 2017 President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump are greeted by President Barack Obama and his wife first lady Michelle Obama, upon arriving at the White House in Washington, DC. before being sworn in as the nation's 45th president during an inaugural ceremony at the U.S. Capitol Getty Images 20 January 2017 President Barack Obama greets President Elect Donald Trump on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Getty Images 20 January 2017 Attendees line the Mall as they watch ceremonies to swear in Donald Trump on Inauguration Day in Washington, DC Getty Images 20 January 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump sings to the song "My Way" while dancing with first lady Melania Trump during the inaugural Liberty Ball at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC Getty Images 21 January 2017 White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer makes a statement to members of the media at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC. This was Spicer's first press conference as Press Secretary where he spoke about the media's reporting on the inauguration's crowd size Getty Images 22 January 2017 US President Donald Trump congratulates Senior Counselor to the President Stephen Bannon during the swearing-in of senior staff in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC AFP 22 January 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with James Comey, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), during an Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, DC Getty Images 27 January 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May with U.S. President Donald Trump walk along The Colonnade at The White House Getty Images 09 February 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House February 9, 2017 in Washington, DC. Prior to signing the three executive orders, Trump participated in the swearing in ceremony for new Attorney General Jeff Sessions (R) along with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence (L) and Sessions's wife Mary (2nd R) Getty Images 19 February 2017 Muslim women protest against US President Donald Trump on in Chicago, Illinois AFP/Getty Images 27 February 2017 Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway checks her phone after taking a photo as U.S. President Donald Trump and leaders of historically black universities and colleges pose for a group photo in the Oval Office of the White House before a meeting with US Vice President Mike Pence in Washington, DC AFP/Getty Images 17 March 2017 Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ivanka Trump talk before a meeting with US President Donald Trump and business leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC AFP/Getty Images 23 March 2017 U.S. President Donald J. Trump gets in the driver's seat of an 18-wheeler while meeting with truck drivers and trucking CEOs on the South Portico prior to their meeting to discuss health care at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 23 March 2017. The House of Representatives has yet to vote on the Republican-crafted American Health Care Act, that would replace the Affordable Care Act, as it remained unclear whether Republicans had enough votes to overcome opposition from Democrats and those within their own party. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO EPA 17 April 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks from the Truman Balcony with first lady Melania Trump and their son Barron Trump during the 139th Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images 04 May 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump (C) speaks while flanked by House Republicans after they passed legislation aimed at repealing and replacing ObamaCare, during an event in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC. The House bill would still need to pass the Senate before being signed into law Getty Images 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray in Jerusalem's Old City AFP/Getty Images 24 May 2017 Pope Francis walks along with US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump during a private audience at the Vatican AFP/Getty Images 26 May 2017 European Council President Donald Tusk, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.S. President Donald Trump, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, British Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker pose for the group photo at the G7 Taormina summit on the island of Sicily on May 26, 2017 in Taormina, Italy. Leaders of the G7 group of nations, which includes the Unted States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy, as well as the European Union, are meeting at Taormina from May 26-27 Getty Images 7 July 2017 US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, AFP/Getty Images 25 July 2017 Incoming White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci talks with reporters during 'Regional Media Day' at the White House July 25, 2017 in Washington, DC. Conservative media outlets were invited to set up temporary studios on the north side of the West Wing so to interview White House officials and members of President Donald Trump's cabinet Getty Images 28 July 2017 Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) leaves the the Senate chamber at the U.S. Capitol after voting on the GOP 'Skinny Repeal' health care bill on July 28, 2017 in Washington, DC. Three Senate Republicans voted no to block a stripped-down, or 'Skinny Repeal,' version of Obamacare reform Getty Images 22 August 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump looks up toward the Solar Eclipse while joined by his wife first lady Melania Trump on the Truman Balcony at the White House on August 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Millions of people have flocked to areas of the U.S. that are in the "path of totality" in order to experience a total solar eclipse Getty Images 22 August 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during a rally at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. An earlier statement by the president that he was considering a pardon for Joe Arpaio,, the former sheriff of Maricopa County who was convicted of criminal contempt of court for defying a court order in a case involving racial profiling, has angered Latinos and immigrant rights advocates Getty Images 15 September 2017 11-year-old Frank "FX" Giaccio (L) gets a pat on the back from U.S. President Donald Trump (C) while mowing the grass in the Rose Garden of the White House September 15, 2017 in Washington, DC. Giaccio, from Falls Church, Virginia, who runs a business called FX Mowing, wrote a letter to Trump expressing admiration for Trump's business background and offered to mow the White House grass Getty Images 03 October 2017 President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at the Muniz Air National Guard Base for a visit after Hurricane Maria hit the island in Carolina, Puerto Rico. The President has been criticized by some that say the governments response has been inadequate Getty Images 11 October 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pose for photographs after Trudeau's arrival at the White House in Washington, DC. The United States, Canada and Mexico engaged in renegotiating the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement Getty Images 23 October 2017 Seven of U.S. President Donald Trump's eight border wall prototypes are shown near completion along U.S.- Mexico border near San Diego, California Reuters 30 October 2017 Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort gets into his car after leaving federal court, October 30, 2017 in Washington, DC. Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, have been indicted by a federal grand jury in the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. election Getty Images 06 November 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump pours fish food out as Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looks on while they were feeding carps before their working lunch at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Japan Reuters 09 November 2017 China's President Xi Jinping (L) and US President Donald Trump review Chinese honour guards during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing AFP/Getty Images 21 November 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, their son Barron, National Turkey Federation Chairman Carl Wittenburg and his family and members of the Draper County, Minnesota, 4-H chapater pose for photographs after Trump pardoned, Drumstick, the National Thanksgiving Turkey in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC. Following the presidential pardon, the 40-pound White Holland breed which was raised by Wittenburg in Minnesota, will then reside at his new home, 'Gobbler's Rest,' at Virginia Tech Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images 30 November 2017 President Donald Trump and the first lady Melania Trump attend the 95th annual National Christmas Tree Lighting held by the National Park Service at the White House Ellipse in Washington, D.C. The Beach Boys, Wynonna, The Texas Tenors, Craig Campbell were among the artists who provided the entertainment Getty Images 01 December 2017 Michael Flynn, former national security advisor to President Donald Trump, leaves following his plea hearing at the Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, DC. Special Counsel Robert Mueller charged Flynn with one count of making a false statement to the FBI Getty Images 06 December 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump signs a proclaimation that the U.S. government will formally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel after signing the document in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House December 6, 2017 in Washington, DC. In keeping with a campaign promise, Trump said the United States will move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem sometime in the next few years. No other country has its embassy in Jerusalem Getty Images 14 December 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump cuts a symbolic piece of red tape during an event at the White House promoting the administration's efforts to decrease federal regulations in Washington, DC. The administration has vowed to remove two regulations for every single regulation added in an effort to reduce the amount of bureaucratic "red tape" Getty Images 18 December 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump pauses during a speech at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC. The president was expected to outline a new strategy for U.S. foreign policy through the release of the periodic National Security Strategy, a document that aims to outline major national security concerns and the administration's plans to deal with them Getty Images 20 December 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by Republican lawmakers, celebrates Congress passing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on the South Lawn of the White House on December 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. The tax bill is the first major legislative victory for the GOP-controlled Congress and Trump since he took office almost one year ago Getty Images 22 December 2017 A Palestinian protester throws a stone during clashes with Israeli forces near the Huwara checkpoint south of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as protests continue in the region amid anger over US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as its capital AFP/Getty Images 12 January 2018 US President Donald Trump shakes hands with White House Physician Rear Admiral Dr. Ronny Jackson, following his annual physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland AFP/Getty Images The deal would have provided short term funding for government until February 16. It caused government to shut down on the first anniversary of Mr Trump's inauguration as president. And the US government technically ran out of money at midnight on Friday. Mr Trump was reportedly forced to cancel his planned trip to Florida in celebration of his year as president at his Mar-a-Lago resort as a result. Donald Trump: Top 10 tweets from his time as President Most Democrats opposed the bill because their efforts to include protections for hundreds of thousands of mostly young immigrants, known as Dreamers, were rejected by President Donald Trump and Republican leaders. Minutes before Friday's midnight deadline for a funding deal, Trump's White House issued a statement blaming Democrats for the shutdown. "We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands," it said. Leaders have said they are committed to getting a quick agreement and agreed to reopen negotiations on Saturday. Until a funding deal is worked out, scores of federal agencies across the country will be unable to operate, and hundreds of thousands of "non-essential" federal workers will be put on temporary unpaid leave. "Essential" employees who deal with public safety and national security will keep working. That includes more than 1.3 million people on active duty in the military who will be required to work but will not be paid until funding is renewed or handled with separate legislation. The last US shutdown lasted for 16 days in October 2013. D onald Trump hit out at the tens of thousands of activists rallying against him at this years Womens March, telling them it was a "perfect day" for them to get out there and celebrate his achievements in office. In a move certain to anger those taking to the streets in opposition to the US President, he tweeted on Saturday afternoon: A perfect day for all women to march. "Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months afternoon. Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!" But people participating in rallies and marches in the US and across the world on Saturday denounced Mr Trump's views immigration, abortion, LGBT rights and women's rights on the anniversary of his inauguration. Thousands of turned out for the rally at Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC and a march from the National Mall to Lafayette Park. People walk down Sixth Avenue as they participate in the Women's March in Manhattan, New York / REUTERS In Los Angeles, Scarlett Johansson praised the #MeToo movement against sexual assault and harassment for bringing hope of equality. She told an estimated 500,000 protesters how the Harvey Weinstein revelations led her to consider how she had been treated as a young actress. Actress Scarlett Johansson speaks at a Women's March in LA / AP Wearing a Time's Up top, she said: "As the rage settled in it gave way to other feelings - sadness and, unexpectedly, guilt and grieving. "Suddenly I was 19 again and I started to remember all the men I'd known who took advantage of the fact I was a young woman who didn't yet have the tools to say no." People rally downtown in Chicago, Illinois for the Women's March / Getty Images Marches also took place in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Austin, Texas, as well as many other cities in the US and across the world. The march in Washington DC had the feel of a political rally when Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, both Democrats, urged women to run for office and vote to oppose Trump and the Republicans' agenda. "We march, we run, we vote, we win," Pelosi said, to applause. A women's march heads to the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas / AP Cathy Muldoon took her two teenage daughters to the New York rally. She said this year's action is set against the backdrop of the Trump presidency, which "turned out to be as scary as we thought it would be." "I've not seen any checks and balances," she said. "Everything is moving toward the right, and we have a president who seems to have no decency." Thousands gather during the Women's March in Philadelphia / AP Karen Tordivo, who marched in Cleveland with her husband and 6-year-old daughter, said: "I think right now with the #MeToo movement, it's even more important to stand for our rights. Demonstrators participate in the Women's March in St Louis, Missouri / Getty Images In Palm Beach, Florida, home to Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, several hundred people gathered carrying anti-Trump signs as they prepared to march as part of Saturday's planned protests. People protest against President Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Florida / Getty Images People hit the streets across the globe on the anniversary of Mr Trump's inauguration, marching against his policies and in support of the #MeToo movement. Earlier on Saturday, dozens of activists gathered in Rome to denounce violence against women. They were joined by Italian actress and director Asia Argento, who made headlines after alleging last year that she had been sexually assaulted by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in the 1990s. Italian actress Asia Argento (third from left) attends the Rome Resists demonstration part of the Women's March / AFP/Getty Images Argento addressed the criticism she received once she spoke up about her abuse. "Women are scared to speak, and because I was vilified by everything I said, I was called a prostitute for being raped," she said at the rally. Weinstein has apologised for causing "a lot of pain" with "the way I've behaved with colleagues in the past," but he has denied "any allegations of non-consensual sex." T ens of thousands of women in at least 34 countries are expected to take to the streets this weekend a year after millions marched to protest Donald Trump's inauguration. Around five million women around the world staged demonstrations on January 21 last year, the day after Mr Trump was sworn in as US president. Many wore pink "pussy hats" in reference to his comments about "grabbing women" and carried signs promoting an end to discrimination, harassment and oppression. Pictures of events in locations ranging from India to Antarctica united activists around the world and ignited a flare for activism that has continued for the past 12 months. Women's marches around the world 1 /17 Women's marches around the world Outside the U.S. Embassy on Pariser Platz beside Brandenburg Gate, Berlin REUTERS Thousands rally in support of equal rights in Sydney EPA Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March in Macau Getty Images Protesters take part in the Women's March in Paris, France REUTERS Protesters take part in the Women's March in Paris, France REUTERS American citizens take part in the Women's March in front of the US Consulate in Florence, Italy EPA Protesters pose for a photograph as they take part in the Women's March on Dublin REUTERS A woman holds a cartoon depicting Donald Trump during the Women's March rally in Barcelona AP Protesters gather for the Women's March on Philadelphia AP Protesters gather during the Women's March on Washington Getty Images Women shout slogans as they take part in the #IWillGoOut rally, to show solidarity with the Women's March in Washington, along a street in Bengaluru, India, REUTERS A protester outside the American Embassy in London PA Protesters carrying placards take part in a Women's March in Stockholm, Sweden AP On Sunday, scores of demonstrators will set out again in cities around the world with to campaign for more women's rights advocates, to stamp out hate crimes, and encourage activism. Countries marching around the world Ghana; Kenya; Nigeria; Uganda; Zambia; China; Japan; Kyrgyzstan; Taiwan; Thailand; Austria; Brussels, Belgium; France; Germany; Greece; Italy; Luxembourg; Norway; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; UK; Bermuda; Canada; Costa Rica; Mexico; Virgin Islands; Australia; New Zealand; Argentina; Colombia; Ecuador; United States. Campaigners said Mr Trump's "misogynist" comments and policies rolling back birth control and equal pay efforts have propelled many women into activism for the first time. And this has combined with social media campaigns like the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and sexual assault that have dominated the end of last year and early 2018. "I think that these are natural outgrowths of that outpouring of energy and they reflect some of the issues of the people who marched," Vanessa Wruble, head of March On, one group of organisers, told the Reuters. Women's march London "It felt like [last year] was a huge signal to Trump's administration," said Elissar Harati, 29. Multiple accusations of sexual misconduct against male actors, filmmakers and agents in Hollywood, and the #MeToo and #TimesUp campaigns against sexual harassment, have awoken her to broader issues like equal pay and maternity leave, she said. Women's March London 2017 1 /22 Women's March London 2017 Activists marched through London in support of equality Activists marched through London in support of equality Activists marched through London in support of equality Activists marched through London in support of equality Getty Images Activists marched through London in support of equality Getty Images Activists marched through London in support of equality PA Activists marched through London in support of equality PA Activists marched through London in support of equality PA Activists marched through London in support of equality PA Activists marched through London in support of equality Getty Images Activists marched through London in support of equality Getty Images Activists marched through London in support of equality Getty Images Activists marched through London in support of equality Getty Images Activists marched through London in support of equality Activists marched through London in support of equality Getty Images Activists marched through London in support of equality Getty Images Activists marched through London in support of equality Getty Images Tens of thousands of people have registered their intentions on social media to join rallies on Saturday and Sunday, with major events planned in London, New York and Los Angeles, as well as countries all over the world. The organisers of this years Womens March in London called on activists to step up, show up and speak up at the event on Sunday. In honour of the #MeToo movement and in acknowledgement to Oprah Winfreys widely-praised speech at this years Golden Globes, the march has been named Time's Up. The poster urges activists and supporters to stand side by side to pledge to make change in big and small ways. Crowds are set to gather at Richmond Terrace, opposite Downing Street, from 11am. For a list of events around the world, click here. T ens of thousands of activists are set to take to the streets of New York, LA and Washington for the 2018 Women's March, a year after the first such event was held to oppose Donald Trump's presidency. Women in at least 34 countries will stage rallies over the weekend, including in Rome, Sydney and Beijing on Saturday and in London and Las Vegas on Sunday. Demonstrations are planned in some 250 cities across the world, marking the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration. Tamika Mallory, co-president of the Women's March board said: "People were pretty damn mad last year and they're pretty damn mad this year. It comes with the US government in shutdown after the Senate failed to pass a budget bill, with Republicans and Democrats squabbling and no agreement in sight. People line up on Central Park West, New York, as they wait for the start of a march / AP Thousands of marchers are expected to don pink knit "pussy hats", which were created as a reference to a comment made by Mr Trump about "grabbing women". Ms Mallory said the rallies may take on a light-hearted or even celebratory tone at times, but added: "We also know that serious business has to happen." People on Central Park West as they wait for the start of a march / AP The biggest marches are expected on Saturday in New York and Washington, with 37,000 and 10,000 people signed up on their respective Facebook pages. However the number of participants is likely to fall well short of the estimated 5 million who marched on January 21, making that one of the largest mass protests in US history. Italian actress Asia Argento (third from left) attends the Rome Resists demonstration part of the Women's March / AFP/Getty Images Organisers still hope to build on the raw energy felt by Trump opponents immediately after his surprise election victory and channel it into gains for progressive candidates in November's midterm elections, using the theme "Power to the Polls." They want to register a million new voters and get more strong advocates for women's rights into office. A woman holds a poster reading "Our button is bigger than yours" during Rome Resists demonstration / AFP/Getty Images Activists say Trump's policies rolling back birth control and equal pay protections have propelled many women into activism for the first time. A White House spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the marches. The rallies also come during what has been seen as a pivotal year for women's rights with the #MeToo and #TimesUp social media effort against sexual harassment and abuse that was born out of a string of scandals in Hollywood, Washington and elsewhere. D onald Trump has hired and fired a string of senior staff during a tumultuous first year in the White House. Ex-campaign manager and chief strategist Steve Bannon, as well as former Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci were among the biggest names to leave the Trump administration. In the first six months of his presidency alone, he has lost a chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, national security adviser, two communications directors and a press secretary. Here are the key departures from the Presidents first year in office. Steve Bannon Steve Bannon / EPA The most high-profile departure from Donald Trump's White House administration has been Steve Bannon. Once considered the brains behind Mr Trump's stunning election win, he was labelled the "best talent in politics" by the President himself. Having joined from Breitbart, the right-wing US news site, Mr Bannon became chair of Mr Trump's election campaign before being named chief strategist after the President took office. But in August, seven months in to Mr Trump's presidency, Mr Bannon was fired after feuding with other members of the administration. Mr Bannon - who was seen as a driving force behind some of the President's more nationalist proclamations - said he remained loyal to Mr Trump. But after he provided quotes for a tell-all book about the White House, Mr Trump labelled his one-time political right-hand man as "Sloppy Steve". Mr Bannon, 64, returned to Breitbart, but has since stepped down from his post as executive chairman of the website. Anthony Scaramucci Anthony Scaramucci was in the spotlight during his very short tenure due to an expletive-laden interview / AP The former Wall Street financier, 53, managed just 10 days after his appointment as communications director. He was fired hours after former US marine John Kelly was hired as Mr Trumps new chief of staff following the departure of Reince Preibus. Mr Scaramucci was named the White Houses Communications Director on July 21, taking over from Sean Spicer, who resigned from his role as White House Press Secretary because of the new appointment. He made a series of turbulent media appearances including an interview with the New Yorker magazine in which he went on an expletive-laden rant including verbal attacks on two top officials. The White House said he was leaving because he felt it was best to give Chief of Staff Mr Kelly a clean slate. Reince Priebus Former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus / REUTERS The former chairman of the Republican National Committee quit as chief of staff last Friday amid an internal power struggle with Mr Scaramucci. Shortly before his departure, the 45-year-old was the subject of a foul-mouthed rant from Mr Scaramucci, who accused him of leaking to the media and called him a f****** paranoid schizophrenic. Mr Priebus, from Kenosha, Wisconsin, was regarded as one of the least powerful chiefs of staff in recent history. In an unusual move Mr Trump decided that Mr Priebus and chief strategist Steve Bannon would serve as equal partners in implementing his agenda. Following Mr Priebuss resignation, Mr Trump wrote on Twitter: I would like to thank Reince Priebus for his service and dedication to his country. We accomplished a lot together and I am proud of him! He was replaced by former US marine Mr Kelly. Sean Spicer Donald Trump with Sean Spicer, who resigned from his post as White House Press Secretary / REUTERS Mr Spicer, 45, resigned as White House press secretary on July 21, after Mr Trump named Mr Scaramucci as his communications chief. He vacated his position just six months and one day after he first stood at the podium and made controversial remarks about the size of the crowd at President Trumps inauguration. He held many on-camera White House briefings after taking up the post but eventually took a major step back from public view. Mr Spicer has had many controversial moments during his time in the post including when he said Hitler never used chemical weapons and referred to Holocaust "centres". He also defended the US President's infamous "covfefe" tweet by saying it had a hidden meaning. Mr Spicer was reportedly criticised by Mr Trump for his appearance, particularly his suits, and was the butt of a text message joke by adviser Steve Bannon about his weight. He was replaced by his deputy Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Omarosa Manigault-Newman Stepping down: Omarosa Manigault-Newman / AFP/Getty Images A former Apprentice star, Ms Manigault-Newman announced she would be leaving her post as an assistant to Mr Trump in December. She is said to have refused to defend the administration - a position which intensified after racially-charged protests during a march of white supremacists in Charlottesville. Ms Manigault-Newman was one of the most prominent African American woman in the White House. Michael Short He resigned as senior White House assistant press secretary on July 25 shortly after Sean Spicers departure and after Mr Scaramucci told Politico he planned to get rid of him. It was seen as a warning from Mr Scaramucci to those in his team, who he suspected of leaking to the media about him. Mr Short, who was part of the administration for 187 days, said he was not involved in any leaks. Michael Dubke Mr Dubke, 47, the founder of the Crossroads Media consultancy, resigned as White House communications director in May. In an email to friends, he said the reasons for his departure were personal. After he quit, Mr Spicer took on his role, while also serving as press decretary. His resignation came amid criticism levelled at the White House over its communications strategy, including conflicting statements from the President and his press team. Walter Shaub Mr Shaub, 46, who was the director of the Office for Government Ethics, resigned from his post six months early on July 6. He was outspoken about Trumps apparent disregard of potential conflicts of interest between his Government role and his business empire. Mr Shaub, who left six months before his five year term was due to end, said he had not left following pressure from the White House. He had served during the administrations of Barack Obama and George W Bush. Preet Bharara Former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara / Getty Images Outspoken federal prosecutor Mr Bharara, 48, claimed he was fired after refusing an order from Mr Trumps administration to stand down. Mr Bharara, a 48-year-old US attorney for the southern district of New York, was one of 46 Obama-appointed prosecutors who were ordered to resign in March. Michael Flynn Former White House National Security Advisor Michael Flynn / REUTERS Mr Flynn, 58, who was Mr Trumps national security adviser, quit in mid-February over his alleged ties to Russia. The military veterans shock departure came as a massive setback to the Trump administration less than a month after he took office. His departure was inevitable after the President conspicuously refused to publicly support him when he came under fire for his alleged inappropriate contacts with a Russian diplomat. Sally Yates Sacked: acting Attorney General Sally Yates / REUTERS The acting US attorney general, 56, was fired by Mr Trump in January after she ordered Justice Department lawyers not to enforce the Presidents controversial immigration ban. He accused Ms Yates of betraying the Department of Justice when she refused to defend the first version of Mr Trumps travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries. James Comey Ousted: Former FBI director James Comey / AFP Mr Comey, 56, was sacked as FBI director in mid-May arguably another one of Mr Trumps most controversial dismissals. He had been leading an investigation into the Trump 2016 presidential campaigns possible collusion with Russia to influence the election outcome. Mr Trump told NBC in a primetime interview the firing was tied to this Russia thing. Sebastian Gorka Sebastian Gorka / Alex Wong/Getty Images Mr Gorka, who was born in west London, left his post as deputy assistant to the President in August. He claimed to have resigned, though the White House said that was not the case. Mr Gorka had attracted controversy and clashed with Mr Trump's chief of staff John F. Kelly as well as criticising Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State. In comments which came shortly before racially charged violence in Charlottesville, where a woman died after being hit by a car driven by a man who allegedly had Nazi sympathies, Mr Gorka insisted that white supremacists should not be a concern in the fight against terror. Tom Price Resignation: Tom Price / AFP/Getty Images Mr Price resigned as Health and Human Services Secretary in September amid criticism over his use of private aeroplanes. It came after it was revealed he had racked up about $1 million (720,000) in costs for flights on private and military aircraft since he took up his role in February. Countries & Areas Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia Zimbabwe In late 2017 Iran released close range and high-resolution photos of their new (since 2016) Zolfaghar ballistic missile. Examination of those photos indicated that the body of Zolfaghar was not made of steel, like earlier models, but much lighter carbon fiber. That would account for the 40 percent increase in range claimed for this new version of an old missile. Zolfaghar appeared identical to the Fateh-313, which appeared in 2015 with a claimed range of 500 kilometers. It was initially believed that both Fateh-313 and Zolfaghar achieved their longer range by using larger and more efficient solid fuel rocket motors. Iran has been switching from liquid fueled rockets to solid fuel as quickly as they could but the technology is difficult to master. The United States began doing this in the late 1950s and many details of the problems involved in producing reliable and efficient solid fuel missiles had appeared in print over the years. But knowing the details of the exact chemical mixture and production techniques was less easily obtained. Solid fuel rocket motors are cheaper to maintain enable a missile to be made ready in less than 30 minutes compared to several hour for liquid fueled missiles like the SCUD. It was known that Iran has put a lot of effort into developing better solid fuel rocket motors. No one was paying much attention to what they were doing with carbon fiber materials. Solid fuel rocket developments are more obvious. Meanwhile Iran began the switch from liquid fuel motors in in 2002 with the Fateh 110. This was a copy of the 1980s era Chinese DF-11 ballistic missile (range 300 kilometers, 800 kg warhead). Subsequent versions of Fateh followed the same development pattern the Chinese DF-11/15 went through years earlier. This included the use of GPS (American or Chinese) guidance in addition to the less accurate INS as a backup. For nuclear warheads either guidance system is accurate enough. For conventional warheads GPS is essential to avoid missing the target with the smaller explosive power of a conventional warhead. The Fateh 110 is an 8.86 meter (27.5 foot), 3.5 ton rocket with a half-ton warhead. The first version had a range of 200 kilometers. By 2010 there had been to improved models, with ranges of 250 and 300 kilometers plus improvements in reliability and accuracy. The Fateh 110 was developed to replace the liquid fueled SCUD ballistic missiles Iran first obtained from North Korea in the 1980s. SCUD was developed in Russia using German World War II era V-2 missile experience. North Korea continued to supply Iran with ballistic missile technology and that evolved into the two countries trading solid fuel rocket motor and guidance system technology. Iran appears to be adopting the same ballistic missile tactics China developed for shutting down Taiwanese air defenses during the first hours of a war. This involves using a massive number of short range ballistic missiles. Since 2009 China has maintained a force of at least 1,400 ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan. That's up from 200 in 2000, 800 in 2004 and 1,300 in 2008. Most of these are DF-11 and DF-15 models. The DF11 (also known as the M11) has a range of 300-800 kilometer depending on warhead size and new rocket motor and flight control tech. The DF15 (M9) is basically a redesigned DF-11 that is more reliable and accurate. From the Chinese coast, to targets in Taiwan, it's about 200-300 kilometers across the Taiwan Straits. The distance from Iran to key targets in Saudi Arabia or other Arab oil states is about the same. The Chinese missiles would use high explosive or cluster bomb warheads, and would basically be bombs that could not be stopped. Well, that's not exactly the case. Taiwan is investing in an anti-missile system that would negate a large number of the Chinese missiles and so are the Arab states within range of Iranian missiles. If used, perhaps 75 percent of the Iranian missiles would actually hit their target. The others would suffer failures in propulsion or guidance systems. Each missile is the equivalent of a half-ton or one ton aircraft bomb. Initially the Chinese missiles had primitive guidance systems, meaning that the warheads will usually hit up to 500 meters from the target. The Chinese equipped their missiles with several generations of GPS, tech, in response to advances in Taiwanese jamming technology. Guidance systems that are more difficult to jam are always being worked on. This technology has been much sought after by Chinese spies in the United States over the last few years. In 2011 Iran claimed to have created an anti-ship missile, called the Khalij Fars, with a range of 300 kilometers based on the Fateh 110. What all this implies is that Iran is claiming to have developed a ballistic missile that can hit moving ships at sea. China has also claimed to have developed this technology (the DF-21D). But neither country has demonstrated their anti-ship ballistic missiles actually working. The problem is that there is no evidence that Iran has developed accurate and reliable guidance systems for these missiles and none of them have been used in combat. Kathmandu, Nepal: Nepal Tarun Dal (NTD), the youth wing of the Nepali Congress, has expressed its serious concerns over the act of encroachment of the Nepali territory by the Indian side. The NTD has expressed its concerns by issuing a press statement here on Saturday. The NTD is seriously concerned and would like to express our serious objections towards the incident of shifting of the border pillars to encroach Nepali territory in Parsa, Rautahat and Kanchanpur districts, reads the statement issued by NTD General Secretary Bhupendra Jung Shahi. The action is carried out to "strengthen the deployment of Safe and Merry Christmas 2022," according to the Ministry of People's Power for Internal Relations, Justice and Peace of... | Read More openDemocracy - oDR 19 January 2018 Nine years ago today, Russian activist lawyer Stanislav Markelov was shot dead in central Moscow. We republish the last article he wrote before his death. January 2018 marks the ninth anniversary of the murder of Stanislav Markelov and activist journalist Anastasia Baburova. On 19 January 2009, as Markelov and Baburova walked through central Moscow, they were gunned down by Nikita Tikhonov, a Russian neo-Nazi. This tragic murder sent shocks through human rights, media and activist communities in Russia, and later exposed the neo-Nazi terror cell run by Tikhonov and several others. As was revealed at trial, the groupas organiser Ilya Goryachev was using his connections to people inside Russiaas Presidential Administration and law enforcement to lobby for a new umbrella party that would preside over Russia neo-Nazis and extreme nationalists. Alexander Litoy writes about this trial (and how he wound up on one of Goryachevas lists) in detail here. Born in 1974, Markelov led an active life. He was involved in the Russian Social Democratic Party during the early 1990s, joined the Maximillian Voloshin brigade, a left-wing medics group, during the events of October 1993 in Moscow, travelled to Ingushetia with Memorial as a human rights observer, and helped lead the radical left Russian Student Union in 1994-1995. In the late 1990s, he was involved in the Defenders of the Rainbow anarchist ecological movement, as well as writing extensively about the authoritarian surge in Belarus. In the early 2000s, Markelov represented the interests of striking workers at a Vyborg paper mill, people illegally evicted from Moscow dormitories and activists from an independent railway union. In 2002, he defended the interests of Elza Kungayeva, who was murdered by corporal Yuri Budanov. In 2006, Markelov founded and headed the Institute of the Rule of Law, where he focused on defending activists, journalists and others in high-profile legal proceedings, such as Anna Politkovskaya and Mikhail Beketov, who led the campaign for the defence of Khimki forest outside of Moscow. Stanislav Markelov at the Siberian Social Forum, 2008. Photo CC BY-SA 3.0: Wiki Commons. Some rights reserved. Markelovs last article aPatriotism as diagnosisa remains, sadly, as relevant today as it was in 2008. * This country has got hooked on patriotism like a drug. Any politician, before lying, will swear by his patriotism. Any toady, before wheedling money from the authorities, will boast of his love for the state. Any thief licking his lips at the sight of his stolen goods will describe how he loves his country and how much more he would steal for the sake of this love. Today in Russia it is impossible to occupy a senior position unless, bowing and scraping, you declare your patriotism. Itas impossible to become a politician (whether pro-government or pro-opposition) until you have licked the backside of the two-headed eagle and sworn your love to other imperial symbols. Patriotism has become the stateas criteria of eligibility towards its citizens. If you arenat a patriot, then youare a pariah and the stateas repressive apparatus will soon do everything to choke the life out of you. Nowadays, people make nothing of it, but making your feelings public is thought of as bad taste, as is declaring your love for the whole country a almost like parading your underwear in the street, the traces of your last solitary passion still fresh. No-one gives it a second thought that, to all intents and purposes, patriotism is foolish! Personal emotions are fine as long as they remain private. If we love our countryas native soil, our ancestors and our traditions thatas admirable, but what kind of idiot would force people to flaunt their private emotions? Indeed, this love can only be sincere precisely insofar as it remains personal and doesnat lapse into the category of public-patriotic masturbation. Imagine declaring love for oneas parents as a national idea. People would take you for a complete idiot. Why should we see this attempt to thrust patriotism down our throats in any other way? Thereas no need to crawl into our minds to check how much we love our motherland. People can work out who and how they should love all by themselves. On the contrary, public adoration is never sincere. Unctuous love towards household gods will soon arouse adverse feelings of revulsion and give birth to a generation who hate this love of the fatherland thaas been rammed down their throats. Just the same as Soviet power gave birth to a hatred of everything Soviet, constantly stuffing us full of their cretinous slogans. But nowadays we are not even promised communism, we are simply told that we must blindly love the Motherland oblivious to everything else and then everything will be fine. Fine for the authorities, for the oligarchs and the mafias. Because patriotism is cowardice! Rather than establishing who lined their pockets during the poverty and lawlessness, who grabbed all public property in the mafia-style 1990s, who should answer for the privatisation of our future, for the overnight plunder of all the goods built up by the hellish labour of many generations, they propose instead that we should love the state unrequitedly. Civic patriotism is not love of oneas Motherland, rather it is love of the state. It is advantageous for the ruling circles that we, mouths open wide in amazement and agog with joy, gaze upon our latest state flag, even if the Vlasov traitors fought against their own people or the Black Hundreds organised pogroms under it. According to the patriots, we should express joy at the successes of the regime and lay down our future for the oligarchs or other fat cats munching on that which was stripped from us and our parents. You call this love of the motherland? Any motherland would soon perish from such love, and the more we sink into the abyss of patriotism, the more inequality we see in our society, the more arrogant the power of the rich starts to look. Everyday, the media rams it down our throats that we must become patriots If you doesnat see this, youave consciously chosen to go blind. If you see this, but continues to shout about your patriotism, youare a coward sheltering under a clichA imposed by the state. Everyday, the media rams it down our throats that we must become patriots. Thus thereas nothing left for the state to do but demand patriotism from us, otherwise we would insist that it account for all its actions. Because the people and the authorities were never together, the latter always grew fat through the powerlessness and the poverty of the former. This is why today patriotism is treachery! The more we scream about patriotism and the great empire, the fewer friends our country will have. We even managed to quarrel with the last republic with whom we were on good terms, Belarus, due to the gas wars. Because the oligarchs couldnat care less about ideas, they have their profits and laugh about how they managed to dupe society, fobbing them off with the pill of patriotism. Like utter fools, weare falling into the same trap that other countries have experienced for themselves. As soon as the Serbs stopped talking of Yugoslavia and raised the cry of a Great Serbia, everyone turned their backs on them. Even their constant ally Montenegro hastened to escape from the Serb nationalists. As soon as patriotism emerged in Russia, we began to disintegrate into a bunch of national enclaves and were then foolishly surprised as to why other nationalities respond in the same way, expelling Russians from where they were living. Patriotism has released the demon of nationalism from captivity, continuously provoking new national conflicts. Russia only grows weaker from this, but its bourgeoisie rejoices as it lines its own pockets from wars and international conflicts. Our country has always been multinational and now we are forced to scuttle into our national corners and hate our neighbours. The greater the patriotism, the weaker the people. There is no need to make a distinction between patriotism and nationalism. The imperial summons that sound from high tribunes soon turn into national pogroms on the streets, and when yesterdayas atheist communists stand with candles on church porches it only leads to reactionary obscurantism and a return to medieval practices. There is no reason to believe that this is simply the idiocy of the authorities. People, whose futures have been stolen from them, resent everyone else and are ready to spit out their rage at any moment. It is advantageous for the authorities that this hatred is directed against poor migrant workers and not the thievesa Mercedes stuffed with New Russians. Our establishment are scared of seeing Mercedes on fire, because they travel in them themselves. Itas easier for them to express their sorrow over the latest pogrom, at the same nudging the dissatisfied towards them. They are timeservers, their task is to line their own pockets and not let go of their power. They are happy to sacrifice people as though they were small change, feeding them a patriotic drug in exchange for their own wellbeing and safety. Nowadays for us patriotism is death! This is no exaggeration. In place of the achievements of our people, its best traditions and our real history we are forced to love the state. Even the stateas historical idols are chosen to justify their irresponsibility and cruelty. Alexander Nevsky, personally suppressing an anti-Tatar uprising, several times prostrating himself before the Golden Horde, burning the Russian cities of Peraslavla-Zalessky and his own native Vladimir and buried outside of Vladimir Cathedral for his crimes, suddenly becomes one of the countryas most respected saints. Is this simply because he fought off a single armed assault on the River Neva which took place almost annually and was victorious in a single battle on Lake Ladoga, while the rest of the time he suppressed the uprisings of small nations while in league with the Crusaders? Peter the First built a city on marshland on the bones of peasants, forcibly destroying all those Russian traditions and the old faith, which patriots today advocate so strongly. Bloody Nicholas II, who began his tsardom with the monstrous stampede at Khodynka field, executed his loyal subjects on Bloody Sunday 1905, and was defeated in two wars leading the country to two revolutions. They regale us with fine heroes, as if Russian history had no genuine fighters for truth and freedom. Patriotism is a myth, a candy given to a people to console them Patriotism is a myth, a candy given to a people to console them. Patriotic delirium can serve to change anything, history can be rewritten, reality embellished, one can call white black and black white. Only drug addicts donat live for long, and a society plagued by patriotic disorder is doomed to suffer terrifying withdrawal symptoms and extinction due to this patriotic frenzy. There is only one item of national pride for the New Russians a their abnormal profits from raw materials remaining in the depths of the earth and the slave labour working in enterprises. This is the only national treasure of any significance. All the rest that is fobbed off to the people is no more than pretty wrapping paper. Why should we swallow these empty patriotic sweets, while, at the same time, all the possessions of the country are siphoned off by a band of nouveau riches lining their pockets? Behind the attractive patriotic coating hides a fear to look truth in the face and demand that those who, since the period of liberal economic horrors of the 1990s, cast their people into a state of powerlessness and poverty should answer for their deeds. Because patriotism is fear! It is far easier to hide oneas powerlessness jabbering noisily about your love for the Motherland than trying to fight to regain your own rights. To admit (even if only to yourself) that in the 1990s, instead of democracy, we were humiliated and robbed and today they (the power elite) are doing just the same and not even sharing the crumbs off their tables. Patriotism is the guise of our powerlessness. Itas the mask behind which we hide our own cowardice. Patriotism is useful for the powerful, it separates peoples as it fobs off each people in the form of reverence to oneas own thieves and rulers. Patriotism forces people to think that they are better than everyone else and they donat even notice their own tattered backsides and the holes of their cleaned-out budgets. According to the patriots, we ought to be proud of a country which reduces its old people to a state of penury, wipes oneas feet on those who lived by their own labour and leaves its youth without any future. We should be proud of a society inflexibly divided into a golden elite and all the rest who, like slaves, must provide for the prosperity of this elite. The New Russians will guzzle our national wealth in Courchevel while it is proposed that we acclaim their power with patriotic cries of joy. In Russia power and society has always been two distinct and irreconciliable notions. Power has never been for the people a it has been either completely unacceptable or just about tolerable. With the aid of patriotism they are trying to force us to love not the Motherland, but the state. Yet they are eating away the Motherland in plush resorts and guzzling it up in fashionable restaurants. Many ask: why have the authorities started to persecute Russian nationalists? Itas very simple: patriotism is an illness! Those who have seriously taken it into their heads to contract this disease have turned into out-and-out neo-nazis and pogromists. Thereas practically no difference between a patriot and a Nazi. The former simply deceives himself and others, and the latter attempts to bring these crazy ideas to life. The state has no use for volunteers who attempt to implement in actual fact all this propagandistic nonsense they cram into our heads from their high podiums and the drain pipes of the news media. If you rush headlong in front of the state engine, youall surely fall under its own wheels. It was the Russian state itself that gave birth to the neo-nazis, trying to channel any social protest into its own course of national hatred or rather, more accurately, national butchery. When the nationalist thugs get out of control, they turn out to be of no use and even dangerous. Suddenly they might begin to talk about how they got real help, how they were provoked to direct action, and how they were kept as slavish puppies at the stateas beck and call. Sidelined, the Nazis went wild and there was nothing left for the authorities to do than start hunting them down. An owner shoots his rabid dogs. The nationalists bawl exactly the same slogans as the authorities do. However, due to their natural stupidity they really believe in them and attempt to bring them to life. Some pretend that they are sick with official patriotism for the sake of profit, greed and their careers. Others really catch this illness. It is a fatal illness: if nationalists donat finally lose their minds on their own, then the authorities will help them do so in the prisons. One can imagine how the oligarchs deride these flawed nationalists on their revelries, these very nationalists which they brought to life. After all patriotism cannot be serious! A patriotic mood can only become real when the country is exposed to an external occupation, but these days we celebrate the day of independence from ourselves. No-one occupied us, in the 1990s it was our mafia and our oligarchs who grabbed power. Gangsters are completely indifferent what nationality they have- the most significant thing for them is their criminal businesses. They serenely divide the country out amongst themselves leaving us with patriotism as some kind of consolation prize. The transnational companies are absolutely indifferent to peopleas nationalities, they carve up our country, once again flinging patriotism to us in the form of some consolatory bone. And for some reason we should be proud, rejoice that we are perfect patriots and worship the country where weave been made powerless and poor. To struggle with the oligarchs, nouveau riches and mafias scuttling to our national quarters is impossible. Those who are profiting from us are united and yet we are forced to grow estranged and fight with each other. Patriotism revolves around conflict zones, international clashes and mutual hatred. As if it were fine to live in a society of refugees suffering from national hatred and humiliation. If so many people have to suffer from this phantom-like patriotism, then why is it necessary at all? Why do countries, which are the most respected in the world such as the states of western Europe, avoid stirring amongst their citizens a sense of national exclusivity and force-fed patriotism? Why is America hated throughout the world? Maybe that there too each citizen is also constrained to be given a shot of patriotism? Yet America in the guise of the world policeman and universal thief can allow itself to be insolent and patriotic. But why should we foster an idiotic patriotism in ourselves? In order to be the object of general hatred and ridicule? Patriotism doesnat make sense! If someone wishes to show his crazy love for something, let him shut himself up in the bathroom and demonstrate it. To publicly make love is exhibitionism, immoral and amoral. Public love for leaders, for the state is no less amoral. The idea of a homeland is not defined by state boundaries, territories or even the settlement of oneas blood relatives. It is a personal idea and one which you canat force on others. Personal things are not the object of parades and passionate declarations. Itas like hanging up oneas underwear as some kind of flag. A person who really loves his homeland wonat shout out about this in every street corner and swear by their patriotism. Moreover, he wonat force others to do so or make of patriotism a state doctrine. If in the guise of a national idea, we are fobbed off with phony patriotism it means that this is useful for someone, someone who is trying to hide their profit a a profit, to put it mildly, not entirely honest or legal. The only question is: are we ready to swallow this bait? Have our brains really gone soft from this patriotic gabble? Do we want to get fat on this national lie and gobble any shit so long as it is served up with a patriotic sauce? The choice is left: are you healthy or has the epidemic of patriotic insanity managed to eat into your minds so you no longer digest anything but the sickly ambrosial gushing from the television and the cries of thieves about how they love their homeland. An honest man will never become a patriot because honesty is irreconcilable with public patriotism. A wise man will never become a patriot because to actually assimilate patriotic slogans is a task for idiots ready to deceive themselves. Self-respecting people arenat taken in by patriotic deception. They have their own opinions and they donat need them to be substituted with intrusive propaganda. The choice is yours! Our special thanks to Giuliano Vivaldi, who translated and assisted with this publication. You can read Stanislav Markelovas biography in full, as well as other articles. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page. PSA Y'all - Atlanta Lands PSA Groupe Headquaters PSA Group, steaming toward a return to the U.S. auto market, is poised to put its North American headquarters in the greater Atlanta area, Automotive News has learned. A spokesman for PSA North America declined to comment on the plan, but a source familiar with the project confirmed the selection of metro Atlanta. PSA has begun publicly recruiting a staff to work in the Atlanta area. PSA STRONG ICONIC BRANDS The French-based parent company of the Peugeot and Citroen brands absent from the U.S. market since 1991 intends to resume selling vehicles here by 2026, and has begun developing vehicles that are compliant with U.S. regulations, PSA CEO Carlos Tavares said at the Automotive News World Congress this week. But the company is already laying down a groundwork of 21st century transportation business activity. In October, PSA launched its Free2Move mobility platform in the U.S. market. That product brings multiple mobility services, such as Car2go and Zipcar, together in a single app. PSA will add a vehicle rental service to the app this year, along with other PSA services. The automaker is using the platform to research the U.S. market as it decides which brand will lead its return. The app also reintroduces PSA to the U.S. as a mobility company, as well as a vehicle manufacturer. PSAs headquarters plan would put even more auto industry executives into the Atlanta area. Mercedes-Benz USA and Porsche Cars North America also have moved their U.S. bases to the city. An Atlanta operating address puts the automaker at a major international flight hub for easy travel back and forth to PSAs global headquarters in Paris. But Atlanta also is rapidly taking on the role of a key U.S. center for software engineering. Georgia economic development officials have been fostering an engineering hub in metro Atlanta for the past few years, recruiting large automotive engineering operations there for General Motors and Panasonic. Hyundai and Its New N Lineup Support 2018 Red Bull Crashed Ice SAINT PAUL, Minn., Jan. 19, 2018 Hyundai and its new N lineup are taking on the freezing-cold temperatures of Saint Paul for the first of four Red Bull Crashed Ice races. In this global competition, in association with Hyundai and its new N lineup, the worlds best and toughest athletes will skate down a massive ice track filled with drops, hairpin turns, and gaps at speeds of up to 80 km/h in hopes of being crowned the next World Champion. Similar to the athletes in Red Bulls high-speed competition, the high-performance N models have proven themselves by taking on the most grueling tracks around the world with speed and well-balanced performance. said Paul Imhoff, director, Marketing Communications, Hyundai Motor America. Hyundai is proud to support the worlds top skaters while exposing the massive audience to the Hyundai brand and the new N lineup. At the Saint Paul event on January 19-20, a custom wrapped Santa Fe Sport and the competition proven i30N race car will be on display, while Hyundai video content will be shown on the jumbotron. In addition, the obstacle-filled ice track will include a Hyundai N section that will test the skaters agility. Hyundai and its new N lineup will also be present at the Red Bull Crashed Ice events in Marseille, France on February 17 and Edmonton, Canada on March 10. This association is a part of Hyundai Motors continued dedication to making an emotional connection through sport and culture and to communicate with fans and communities around the globe. Photo: KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images The 2017 Womens March was one of the largest single-day demonstrations in recorded U.S. history, and in many ways, it feels like women and minorities havent stopped marching since. At this years Womens March, hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets in cities across the country, proving that this movement has not lost its momentum. While New York City and Washington, D.C., hosted some of the larger events according to a senior adviser to Mayor Bill de Blasio, 120,000 people showed up for New York Citys march turnout was similarly high across the U.S. Some cities, like Chicago and Philadelphia, estimate that more people may have marched this year than last. Though not all marches have finished and some have not even started here are some of the most powerful images of the protests so far: New York City. Photo: KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images An all-female drumming group led the Womens March in New York City. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images Elaine McCloud of the Chehalis Tribe in Washington state showed her support at Womens March in Seattle. Photo: JASON REDMOND/AFP/Getty Images New York City. Photo: KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images Washington, D.C. Photo: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images New York City. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images Protesters in Park City, Utah, braved the snow to attend Respect Rally Park City to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Womens March. Photo: ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images People gathered in First Ward Park for the Remarchable Women rally in Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo: LOGAN CYRUS/AFP/Getty Images Whoopi Goldberg marched in New York City. Photo: KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images The Womens March in St. Louis, Missouri. Photo: Whitney Curtis/Getty Images The only people unwelcome at the marches were those who support the actions of the Trump administration and consequently, they were kindly escorted out. Photo: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images Photo: Maurizio Cattelan You know what? I knew DTF meant Down to Fuck, but then I met Melissa and she said No, you silly boy! Artist Maurizio Cattelan turned to Melissa Hobley, OkCupids CMO, and gestured to a row of seated guests at the party. Did Frank Gehry design these benches too? Cattelan was at OkCupids New York City launch party last night for the dating sites latest provocative ad campaign, which riffs on that phrase shared on Tinder and in texts, DTF. Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari, the Italian artist duo behind Toiletpaper Magazine, shot the photographs. Coming to a subway near you, each ad features a new version of DTF like Down to Fall Head Over Heels and Down to Filter Out the Far Right, with cheeky pairings of words and images: Down To Four-Twenty appears next to a grinning couple on a floating couch. Photo: Maurizio Cattelan The campaign follows OkCupids much talked about Trump Filter and Planned Parenthood partnership. Cattelan and Ferrari are no strangers to reaction-seeking photographs. (Perhaps youve seen their surreal take on spring fashion for the Cut.) Photo: Maurizio Cattelan At the party, hosted in Chelseas IAC Building, Cattelan described the OkCupid project as a match made in heaven, but in Italy, he said, people dont need dating apps. The Americans are more pragmatic when it comes to dating, he said. Italians are more romantic. Love at first [sight] should be a rainbow, like an explosion! And then it should be serious, if there is a continuation. New Yorkers will start seeing the OkCupid ads on subways in the coming months. Representative Patrick Meehan. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images Pennsylvania congressman Patrick Meehan, a Republican who has been heavily involved in the fight against sexual harassment on Capitol Hill, allegedly used taxpayer money to settle his own sexual-misconduct case with a former aide last year, the New York Times reports. Meehan, who is married with three children, allegedly professed romantic interest in an aide who was decades younger than him first in a written letter, then in person. According to seven people who spoke to the Times, the woman saw the congressman as a father figure, not as a romantic partner. When she did not reciprocate his feelings and started dating another man, Meehan reportedly grew so hostile that she filed a complaint with the congressional Office of Compliance, started working from home, and eventually decided to leave her job. While the aide eventually reached a confidential agreement with Meehans office, which included a nondisclosure agreement and thousands of dollars from his congressional office fund, the aides experience was reportedly demoralizing. According to the womans friends, the settlement did not cover her legal and living expenses, and left her feeling isolated. Meehan has ostensibly been a leader in the fight against sexual harassment on Capitol Hill. As a member of the House Ethics Committee, which is tasked with investigating misconduct claims, he sponsored legislation mandating the reporting of sexual violence. If the congressman does resign amid a sexual-misconduct scandal, as did John Conyers and Trent Franks, there would be major electoral consequences. According to the Times, Meehans district is one of the most gerrymandered in the nation, and his seat has been a target for Democrats. Big electoral consequences here for GOP. Now they'll either have an extremely damaged incumbent or an open seat in one of the swingest districts in the country. https://t.co/JtJYEwOATM Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) January 20, 2018 Following the publication of the Times report, Meehan released a statement in which he denied the allegations but not the settlement and asked the complainants counsel to release all parties from the confidentiality requirements of the agreement to ensure a full and open airing of all the facts. Statement from Meehan spox about the NYT article pic.twitter.com/wc63GJidoK Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) January 20, 2018 The aides lawyer blasted Meehans request. In a desperate effort to preserve his career, Rep. Meehan has now asked my client to waive confidentiality so he can deny well-grounded allegations knowing full well that his former staffer prizes her privacy above all else, they told the Times. Mr. Meehan demanded confidentiality to resolve the matter, presumably so that the public would never know that he entered into a settlement of a serious sexual harassment claim. A spokesperson for Paul Ryan told Times reporter Katie Rogers that Meehan is being immediately removed from the House Ethics Committee. He will also reportedly have to repay the taxpayer funds he used to pay the settlement. Read the full report here. This story has been updated to include Meehans statement and the information regarding Meehans removal from the House Ethics Committee. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images This weekend marks one year since the inauguration of Donald Trump. If you care about the environment, immigrants, or women it can be hard to remember if anything good has happened during the last 12 months. But, in fact, a few things have. And theyre worth remembering as weve got three more years of this administration ahead of us. The countrys first openly transgender state legislator was elected in Virginia. Danica Roem defeated a 73-year-old Republican who had served 13 terms and proudly called himself Virginias chief homophobe. Montana elected its first black mayor. Wilmot Collins came to the U.S. as a refugee from Liberias civil war. Minneapolis elected the first black transgender woman to serve in public office. Andrea Jenkins won a seat on the city council. In fact, many LGBT people and people of color won elections this year. The Washington Post has a helpful list to review. An accused pedophile lost an election in Alabama. This seems like a low bar, but people really thought Roy Moore was going to win. And he didnt, in large part thanks to black women voters. Women brought down Harvey Weinstein. After decades of allegedly being allowed to abuse women in mindbogglingly creative and horrifying ways, Harvey Weinstein was finally exposed and taken down all thanks to women who dared to speak up, and journalists Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey, and Ronan Farrow. And didnt stop there. There are too many names of powerful men whove been brought down since Weinstein to list here. From Hollywood to media to publishing to restaurants and academia, it seems like every industry has been reckoning with accusations of sexual misconduct. And while its hard to call #MeToo a good thing, because it has been so acutely painful, the power of this movement is unquestionable. Polio is on the verge of being eradicated completely. And Bill Gates says hes setting his sights (and money) on malaria and AIDS next. Newark Airport informed Chris Christie he is no longer very important. Doesnt that sentence just make you grin? Women made a bunch of really good and really successful movies. Patty Jenkinss Wonder Woman broke a whole bunch of records, making her the top-grossing female director in the industry. Dee Reess Mudbound was a Sundance favorite, and speculation suggests it may get an Oscar nom or two. Greta Gerwigs Lady Bird has been called a perfect movie. A notorious abusive gymnastics doctor was found guilty and will be sentenced. Larry Nassars abuse of more than 130 girls and women is horrifying. Next up on the accountability stage: USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University, who allegedly covered for him for years. Bonnie Tyler sang Total Eclipse of the Heart during a total eclipse. Hidden Valley started selling kegs of ranch dressing. Find joy where you can. A dry cleaner in Astoria started cleaning interview outfits for free for unemployed job-seekers. Jaime Jinete told DNAinfo New York (RIP) that he started offering this deal after the election just to give people hope. Three Family Members Get Prison for Stomping on Pregnant Teens Belly to Force Miscarriage and Cover Up Rape Three Dallas family members were sentenced to prison this week for brutally beating a teenager to force a miscarriage and cover up rape. The victim, who is now 19, was raped by a fourth family member when she was 13, the Dallas News reported. When the family discovered that the girl was eight months pregnant, they gave her birth control pills and cinnamon tablets. When the drugs didnt cause a miscarriage, the family members held down the victim and took turns stomping on her belly. They held her down. They forced her to lay there while people stomped her, prosecutor Rachel Burris said during the sentencing, according to Dallas News. It was savage. The family left the teenager bleeding in a bathtub after the assault. The girl lapsed in and out of consciousness as her younger sister tried to care for her. When the victim delivered a stillborn child, the family tried to dispose of it by burning it on a grill. When that didnt work, the matriarch paid one of her sons to get rid of it. Sharon Jones, 47, was sentenced to 12 years. Her daughter, Cecilia McDonald, 28, got seven years. Sharon Joness, Cedric Jones Jr., 29, was sentenced to five years in prison. Another man who participated in the attack, Lonnell McDonald, was convicted in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The victim first reported in 2015 that her brother, Robert Cayald, 24, raped her in 2012. The victim became pregnant from the attack. Cayalds case is still pending because he was found incompetent to stand trial last year. According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the family became nervous about the pregnancy because they thought Child Protective Services would take their children away when the rape was discovered. The family then took matters into their own hands. Cecilia McDonald held the girls arms while Lonnell McDonald sat on her pregnant belly and bounced up and down, Fox 35 Orlando reported. Later, Cedric Jones came over and kicked and punched the girl repeatedly. The teenager was given no medical attention before or after she delivered the stillborn child. After police became involved, Child Protective Services rescued seven children from the home. The victim has lived with an adoptive family since. She lost a child, and no one cared, Burris said. That night the people who promised to love her left her. The defense argued that the trio led otherwise good lives, saying that theyve heard nothing but good things about Sharon Jones and that Cecilia McDonald is the perfect candidate for a second chance. The defense also noted that Cedric Jones Jr. has a low IQ and thought he was helping his family. Most people would treat strangers better, Burris said. Yet these people did it to someone they promised to love. From NTD.tv Recommended Video: Brazen Pickpockets Steal 1,000 From London Pensioner Elderly people perform square dance in front of an Apple store in Shanghai on Nov. 3, 2017. Apple is relinquishing control over its iCloud servers for Chinese users to a Chinese state-owned company in China, citing compliance with Chinese laws. (VCG via Getty Images) Apple Surrenders Chinese User Data to Company Linked to Peoples Liberation Army US tech giant complies with Chinese regimes cybersecurity law, giving away hosting of iCloud to state-owned company Users of Apple devices in China may have once had the expectation that they could store their data with the cloud storage offered by this Western company outside of the Chinese regimes surveillance. In fact, their private data will soon be hosted by a company owned by the Chinese state, with intimate links to the Peoples Liberation Armyuncomfortable facts the U.S. company has not told the millions of Chinese users of its devices. On Jan. 10, Apple announced that the hand over to Guizhou Cloud Big Data (GCBD) of remote iCloud storage for Chinese users of its devices will occur on Feb. 28. Approximately 131 million iPhone users and millions of iPad and Mac users in China will be affected, as they either have to agree to new terms of service or have their iCloud accounts terminated. Apples controversial decision to give away the access to its iCloud in China was announced in July 2017, as the tech giant claimed that it had no choice but to comply with the Chinese regimes new cybersecurity law, which had gone into effect on June 1. The new law requires foreign companies to store all of the data originated from China on servers within China. GCBD is based in southwestern Chinas Guizhou Province. According to a number of Chinese business information websites, the 3-year-old company GCBD is registered as being fully owned by the Guizhou Economic and Information Technology Committee, which is a part of the Guizhou Provincial Peoples Government. Nominally, the committee is subordinate to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the State Council at the national level. The committee, however, also goes by another official namethe National Defense Industry Working Committee of Guizhou Provincial Party Committee [of the Chinese Communist Party]. The practice of having two official names for one physical office is common across all levels of Chinas civilian governments and Party apparatus, as the Chinese Communist Party asserts its power and control through such a mechanism. In this arrangement, the Party organization always calls the shots. Screenshot of Chinese business information website shows Guizhou-Cloud Big Data (GCBD), a company that will soon control Apples iCloud servers for Chinese users in China, is fully owned by National Defense Industry Working Committee of Guizhou Provincial Party Committee, (highlighted in red) which is connected to the Peoples Liberation Army. (Screenshot via China Digital Times) The exact functions of the National Defense Industry Working Committee are anyones guess; experts say that in one way or another it links back to Chinas military. Officially, the committee and similar organs across various provinces of China are responsible for supervising the Chinese regimes massive military-industrial complex used to equip and maintain the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA). The Chinese regime and the PLA are not just after the private data of Chinese Apple users, Lin said, but they could also be seeking technology behind Apples iCloud. Ying-Yu Lin, a professor at the Institute of Strategy and International Affairs at Taiwans National Chung Cheng University, said that there is a definitive link between such a committee and the PLA. GCBD will more than likely give the PLA every access it desires within Apples iCloud servers in China, Ying-Yu said. In a December 2016 interview with a state-run media outlet, Guizhou Economic and Information Technology Committees deputy director Wang Jian, who also serves as a ranking member of the Guizhou National Defense Industry Working Committee, openly admitted that one of the Committees strategic tasks is to integrate big data from civilian sources into the military, a process that he even referred to as Operation Big Data. The words civil-military integration were mentioned a total of 83 times in Wang Jians interview, which he described as part of the broader Chinese regime policy to facilitate the flow of resources, data, and technologies from Chinas civilian sphere into the military. Ying-Yu Lin said that such statements from Chinese regime officials further confirm the connection between the PLA and GCBD, the company that is now getting control of all the private iCloud data stored by Chinese users of Apple devices. The Chinese regime and the PLA are not just after the private data of Chinese Apple users, Lin said, but they could also be seeking technology behind Apples iCloud, which they could then use to empower PLAs own battlefield management platforms, especially in areas related to cloud computing. While Apple has not responded to The Epoch Times request for comment, its announcement to iCloud users in China and the new terms of service give no hint that GCBD is a state-owned company, let alone the fact that it could be freely accessed by the Peoples Liberation Army. Apples capitulation to the Chinese regime adds to the list of American companies that have been subjected to the forced transfer of technology and data, something that has become a hotly contested issue in U.S.China trade relations, as the Trump administration has repeatedly pressed China to end such practices. A man who reportedly shot and killed another man's pet dog with a poison dart and escaped on a scooter, was pursued in a van by the dog's owner and rammed. The alleged dog-snatcher did not survive. The photos in the image are not directly related to the story in the article, but are meant to evoke a vehicular collision involving a scooter and a car. (CC0) Dog Killer Dies After Pet Owner Rams Him Into a Wall With His Van A man accused of killing dogs with poison darts is dead after a furious dog owner in a several-thousand-pound vehicle set his sights on the man and slammed him into a brick wall with his car. According to the Metro, the driver of what appears to be a van has been arrested and faces charges of manslaughter. The man was reportedly upset that the victim had killed one of his canine pets. The revenge-seeking suspect is said to be awaiting trial. Dog killer dies after pet owner rams him into a wall with his car https://t.co/Eocvt67KOg pic.twitter.com/sv4FYGAzhJ LADbible (@ladbible) January 19, 2018 The manslaughter victim had been accused of using poisonous darts to kill multiple dogs in the Chinese city of Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. According to CCTV video posted online and referenced in the report, a man on a scooter, said to be the deceased, can be seen shooting a dog with a dart gun before fleeing the scene. The dogs owner is believed to have heard his pets anguished wails and ran over to investigate. When he saw the dog paralyzed on the ground, he reportedly leapt into his vehicle and gave chase. At one point in the pursuit, he caught up to the scooter and slammed vehicle and rider into a pillar and brick wall. According to the report, the victim was pronounced dead at the scene and the driver of the van was detained for questioning by the police. The van drivers family have been cited as saying that he did not intentionally hit the man on the scooter, but got the pedals confused. A relative of the victim reportedly said, Even if we were in the wrong, that does not give you the right to be judge, jury, and executioner, the Metro reported. The Telegraph reported that in December of last year, police in China seized 200,000 poisoned darts, which could have been used to fire at animals in similar dog-snatching incidents as the one alleged to have sparked the deadly pursuit. The dead dogs are then often sold for meat in restaurants. Eight members of a gang that had been selling the darts were sent to prison following the raid. The darts reportedly contained a strong enough dose of poison to kill dogs instantly and could even harm those who ate the meat. Wendy Higgins, from Humane Society International, told the paper, The use of poison to catch dogs for the meat trade is a cruelty that very often sees peoples beloved pets targeted, and the animals involved can suffer enormously. A video posted on LiveLeak.com, is typical of how motorized dog-snatchers target animals with poisonous darts. WARNING: HIGHLY GRAPHIC VIDEO The dog meat trade in China is organized, large scale, and facilitated by crime, with as many as 20 million dogs and 4 million cats killed every year, so stopping the gangs involved is a major step in the right direction, Higgins added. In the earlier raid, police also reportedly discovering a ton of dog carcasses in a cold storage facility. Recommended Video: Corvette Chase The logo for IBM is seen at the SIBOS banking and financial conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on Oct. 19, 2017. (Chris Helgren/Reuters) Ex-IBM Employee From China Gets 5 Years Prison for Stealing Code NEW YORKA former software engineer for IBM in China was sentenced to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to stealing proprietary source code from the company, prosecutors announced on Friday. Jiaqiang Xu, 32, was sentenced on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas in White Plains, New York, according to a statement from the office of U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman. Xu pleaded guilty in May 2017 to economic espionage and theft of a trade secret. Leanne Marek, Xus attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Xu worked as a systems software developer for International Business Machines Corp. from 2010 to 2014, according to a public LinkedIn profile. The company was not identified by name in court documents and did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Xu was arrested in December 2015 after meeting with an undercover officer at a White Plains hotel, where authorities said he was recorded saying he used proprietary IBM code to make software to sell to customers, according to prosecutors. He was originally charged with theft of a trade secret. The economic espionage charges were added in a superseding indictment filed last June. Prosecutors said the proprietary computer code Xu stole was related to a so-called clustered file system, which facilitates faster computer performance. Xu, who began working at IBM in China in 2010, had full access to the source code before voluntarily resigning in May 2014, prosecutors said. According to the criminal complaint filed in 2015, the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2014 received a report that someone in China was claiming to have access to the code and using it for business ventures, prompting the investigation that led to the arrest. By Brendan Pierson Recommended Video: How doctors in China turn into murderers Florida Man Arrested After Trying to Order Burrito at Bank Drive-Thru A man from Spring Hill, Florida, pulled into a drive-thru on Wednesday, Jan. 17, then fell asleep before ordering. He woke up to a man pounding on his window, and asked if he could order a burrito. The manager, Martin Claussen, said nohe was at a Bank of America, not a Taco Bell. Google Maps shows a Taco Bell about a half mile down the road. Claussen alleges the driver, Douglas Francisco, 28, then drove off, but parked in the banks parking lot. When a sheriffs deputy arrived to investigate, he found a blue Hyundai sedan in the banks parking lot with the motor still running. Francisco was in the drivers seat and appeared to be on narcotics, the deputy alleged. Claussen identified Francisco as the man he had encountered in the drive-thru, and said he had to pound on the car window for some time to get him to wake up. According to the Hernando County Sheriffs Office, Francisco made several statements that were differing from reality such as having his air conditioning running in the car when the heat was on while the temperature outside was in the mid-40s, reports the Hernando Sun. He denied ever having interacted with Claussen, the sheriffs office said, however, the defendant was unable to provide an explanation as to why Martin would have made the incident up. Francisco failed a field sobriety test and was arrested on charges of driving under the influence. Xanax and Oxycodone were found on him at the time of his arrest, both of which he was prescribed. He was booked into the Hernando County jail and freed Thursday, Jan. 18, after posting $500 bail, the Tampa Bay Times reports. Recommended Video: Sleepy Truck Driver Causes Multi-Vehicle Crash Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) walk out of a Democratic caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 19, 2018. A continuing resolution to fund the government has passed the House of Representatives but failed in the Senate. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) Government Shuts Down as Senate Fails to Reach a Deal Senate Democrats blocked the stopgap bill to keep the government open WASHINGTONHours before the deadline, Senate Democrats blocked the passage of a short-term funding bill, leading to a government shutdown. President Donald Trump and the Senates top Democrat leader on Friday failed to reach an agreement on the spending bill. As a last-ditch effort to keep the government open, the Senate scheduled a vote for 10 p.m. on the House-passed bill to extend funding for four weeks. However, Democrats blocked passage of a funding patch known as a continuing resolution (CR) that would maintain current funding for federal operations and keep the government open through mid-February. As nearly all Democrats and some Republicans opposed the measure, the government shut down at midnight. Not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the very dangerous Southern Border, Trump wrote on Twitter before the Senate vote. Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy. The House of Representatives passed a short-term funding bill late Thursday on a mostly party-line vote of 230-197. The bill also covered six-year funding of the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The stopgap bill was sent to the Senate, where it faced stiff opposition from Democrats. The Senate needed 60 votes to pass the measure. The reality is that this is not about policy, its about politics, White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short said at an emergency press conference on Friday. Were not familiar with anything in this CR that Democrats are opposing, he said. Trump on Friday morning canceled his planned weekend trip to Mar-a-Lago to reach a deal with Senate Democrats. He had been scheduled to leave on Friday afternoon. Not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the very dangerous Southern Border. Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 Both parties failed to reach an agreement on a broad budget for the last few months, and three stopgap measures have been passed so far. Lawmakers are struggling to reach a deal on immigration and spending levels. As a precondition for supporting a budget deal, Democrats have pushed for a legislative solution for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. And DACA is the major sticking point in the negotiations, according to Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Theres no DACA bill to vote on and theres no emergency in terms of the timing on DACA, said Mulvaney during the press conference at the White House. DACA does not expire until March 5th. So theres absolutely no reason to tie these two things together right now, he said. DACA was introduced through an executive order by President Barack Obama in 2012 as a temporary measure that gave recipients renewable, two-year work authorization and deportation immunity. It involved nearly 800,000 individualsreferred to as Dreamerswho were illegally brought into the country as children. In preparation for a potential government shutdown, Mulvaney sent out a memo to the heads of federal departments and agencies Friday afternoon. He advised them to review their plans for operations in the absence of appropriations in the event that a shutdown begins at midnight. Las Vegas Gunmans Girlfriend Wont Face Charges, Police Say The girlfriend of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock, who killed 58 people and injured hundreds in October 2017, will probably not face any charges in relation to the incident, according to a Friday, Jan. 19, statement by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. We do not anticipate charges being brought forward against Marilou Danley, said Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo when announcing the release of a preliminary investigative report, the New York Post reported. Lombardo added that the FBI was investigating another person in the case, but did not disclose further details. Danley became the focus of the investigation for having shared his retirement community condo in Mesquite, Nevada, northeast of Las Vegas, before leaving the United States for the Philippines in mid-September. According to an FBI agents affidavit, Fox reported, Danley was adamant that she had no prior inclination of Paddocks intentions to conduct the attack before he rained bullets from a Las Vegas hotel room on a country music concert below, in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Danley did tell authorities, however, that they would probably find her fingerprints on Stephen Paddocks bullets and magazines because she helped him load ammo into cartridges, the Las Vegas Journal reported, citing search warrants unsealed on Friday, Jan. 12. Her casino players card was also found in the suspected gunmans hotel room, the Los Angeles Times reported. Lombardo said the report still did not shed light on why Paddock strafed an outdoor concert on Oct. 1 with gunfire from his 32nd-floor suite of the Mandalay Bay hotel on the Las Vegas strip. This report is not going to answer every question or even answer the biggest question as to why he did what he did, Lombardo said. Paddock did not leave behind a suicide note or a manifesto explaining his actions, Lombardo said. However, the sheriff added a large loss of money by Paddock just before the shooting could be a factor. The 81-page preliminary report on the shooting also includes details of Paddocks disturbing search history on his computers, including his study of ballistics and SWAT tactics, Lombardo said. Police also recovered several hundred child pornography photographs on Paddocks laptop, the report said. According to the police report, Danley recalled Paddock behaving strangely during a stay at the Mandalay Bay in early September 2017. The two were staying in room 60-235 and she observed Paddock constantly looking out the windows of the room, which overlooked the Las Vegas Village venue, the report says. Paddock would move from window to window looking at the site from different angles. Danley also described how Paddocks demeanor changed over the course of the last year as he became distant and germaphobic, the report said. Paddocks primary care doctor described him as odd with little emotion, said he may have been bipolar but Paddock would not discuss it and refused antidepressants, the report says. In documents released by federal prosecutors on Friday, Jan. 12, Danley had been described as a person of interest in the case, the Review-Journal reported. Documents said that she remained the subject of intensive review, but there was no evidence that she assisted Paddock. It took investigators several days to realize that Paddock extensively planned the attack. The methodical nature of the planning employed by Paddock, coupled with his efforts to undermine the preceding investigation, are factors indicative of a level of sophistication, which is commonly found in mass casualty events such as this, the documents read. They found more than 20 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition inside his hotel room. Meanwhile, according to the documents, Paddock apparently sent emails to himself in July from four different accounts. It read like advertisements for weapons, mentioning bump stocks and AR rifles. The Review-Journal reported that investigators have been unable to figure out why Paddock allegedly sent the messages to himself. Paddock is suspected of killing 58 people and injuring hundreds attending the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017, before taking his own life. Reuters contributed to this report Recommended Video: The Origins of Antifa The blaze broke out at a mansion in Annapolis, Maryland. (Screenshot via Google Maps / Background: stock photo / CC0) Mother Who Lost Two Children in Fire Sparked by Dry Christmas Tree Speaks out for the First Time A mother who lost two of her children in a huge blaze in Maryland in 2015 has spoken out for the first time to warn others about the dangers of dry Christmas trees in the home. An inferno swept through Don and Sandra Pyles mansion in the early hours of Jan. 19 2015 when an electrical fire spread to their Christmas tree, engulfing their home and trapping all six family members inside. Don and Sandra Pyle had just treated four of their grandchildren, Alexis Boone, 8, Kaitlyn Boone, 7, Charlotte Boone, 8 and Wesley Boone, 6 to dinner and a show at a family dinner theater. All family members were killed in the blaze. Eve Boone remembered her children, Charlotte and Wesley as beautiful, happy and fun. In an interview with NBC 4 Washington, Boone shared her story for the first time three years after the tragedy. She hopes that her words will help people become more aware of holiday fire safety. Maryland Mansion Fire That Killed 6 Blamed On Electrical Failure That Ignited Christmas Tree http://t.co/zTJ0HSUYN4 pic.twitter.com/pLFq2EckBf BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) January 28, 2015 Report Released on Fatal Maryland Mansion Fire, http://t.co/9WfMGrt0xE pic.twitter.com/IwYAwSk1Jq Firefighter Nation (@firenation) August 5, 2015 This didnt have to happen, and it doesnt have to happen, she said. So, if I can ever stop even one person from going through something like this, its worth it. She recalled the traumatic moments three years ago when she realized that her family had been taken by the fire. We were at a neighbors house waiting for any word. As time went on, it became apparent what had happened, she said in the interview, as she tried to hold back her tears. The 15-foot tree in the $9 million Maryland mansion was reportedly dry as it was only watered once a week. This fire was so intense, so hot and spread so quickly that nobody in the house had an opportunity to escape, and it explains why all six victims perished, David Cheplak, a special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told NBC 4. According to the Daily Mail, it took ten hours for firefighters to extinguish the fire. The Maryland Fire Marshal wrote in a tweet on Jan. 19 that the loss is still painful. This loss is still painful for me @AACoFD the community & our state. Our thoughts and prayers are always with the family. https://t.co/1KLalIAlip MD Fire Marshal (@bsg_mdsfm1) January 19, 2018 Boone has taken up horse riding in honor of her daughter, Charlotte, who loved to ride horses. She had a lot of spirit, Boone said, smiling as she recalled her daughter. She was going to be an animal rescuer. And famous at the same time. She went skydiving on her son Wesleys birthday in memory of him. This is something that he will laugh at me for doing, she said. How could his mom ever jump out of a plane? She added: Try to keep in mind: What would they want you to do that day? Would they want to see you cry and be upset? They know that you miss them, but they dont want you to be sad. Stacey Boone, the mother of the two other children killed in the fire also shared her thoughts on the third anniversary of their deaths in a Facebook post. She wrote: Today marks 3 years since I kissed my sweet girls. I still have days where my mind plays tricks on me and I think they are coming home. I still have days where Im absolutely crushed with sadness and am brought to my knees. Yet over time, the fog has started to lift and am granted moments of clarity. I am forever grateful for the time I had with Lexi and Katie. I have always said that I dont want my kids to be remembered for how they died, but for how they lived. Please help honor them today in passing along some lessons they (and Don & Sandy and Charlotte & Wes) lived by. First and most importantlybe kind. You never know whats going on in a persons life, so a simple smile or act of kindness could make their day. Be generousthere are always people (and animals) that could use your help. Giving just a little of your time or money could mean a world of difference for them. Lastly, believe in Santa. By this I mean believe in the impossible and live your life as if you are always trying to be on the Good list. My children were young enough and fortunate enough that they still saw the good in everyone, wanted to save all the animals, and still believed in make believe. Please help me continue their memory today, and everyday. Recommended Video: Make-A-Wish Fulfills Teenagers Med School Dream Roy Halladay No. 34 of the Philadelphia Phillies delivers in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds at Citizens Bank Park on Oct. 6, 2010, in Philadelphia, Pa. (Chris Trotman/Getty Images) Reports: Roy Halladay Had Morphine, Amphetamines in System When He Died Pitcher Roy Halladay had a slew of drugs in his system when he crashed his experimental private aircraft into the Gulf of Mexico several months ago, according to a newly released autopsy report. Halladay, 40, had amphetamines, morphine, and traces of a drug thats used to treat insomnia in his system when he crashed near Florida, CBS reported. The pitcher was by himself in his two-seater plane when it crashed into the ocean 10 miles from St. Petersburg on Nov. 7. There were reports right before the crash that he was flying the plane erratically before he crashed. The Pinellas County medical examiner released Halladays autopsy report on Friday. He died of blunt-force trauma, and his body was found in 6 feet of water. His [Halladays] blood-alcohol content level was 0.01, according to the toxicology results in the report released by the Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiners Office. His body also had evidence of amphetamine, morphine, and a drug typically used to treat insomnia, according to the Tampa Bay Times. TMZ reported that a source close to the autopsy said,The results are consistent with someone who uses Rx [prescription] medication. The autopsy report notes that morphine can be found in the system as a result of heroin usehowever sources tell us there is no indication Halladay had been using heroin or any other clandestine drug, TMZ reported. The FDA said that more than 50 ng/nl of the drug used to treat insomnia, zolpidem (Ambien), can impair driving to a degree that increases the risk of a motor vehicle accident. TMZ reported that he had 72 ng/nl in his system. Halladay is survived by his wife and two sons. The likely hall-of-famer was a two-time winner of the Cy Young Award during his 16-year MLB career. Recommended Video: Wranglers Wrestle With Alligator to Remove Eggs From Nest Marilyn Hartman, 66, was arrested after getting onto an airplane without a ticket and flying to London. Marilyn Hartman, 66, was arrested after getting onto an airplane without a ticket and flying to London. (Chicago Police Department and inlaid: stock photo via Pixabay / CCO) Serial Stowaway Sneaks Onto Plane, Flies to London A woman notorious for slipping past security and sneaking onto commercial airplanes has done it againand once again been arrested. Marilyn Hartman, 66, somehow managed to bypass security at Chicagos OHare International Airport and boarded a plane that flew her to London, according to a Chicago Police Department news release. Police revealed that the woman got through airport security without a ticket, boarding pass or passport and then flew to Londons Heathrow Airport. She landed on Monday, Jan. 15, before being detained by British Customs officials and sent back to Chicago on Thursday, Jan. 18. Stowaway Charged with Crimianl Tresspass to State Land and Theft at OHare Offender: Marilyn Hartman, 66 160 Hamelitz Ct Grayslake, IL pic.twitter.com/4NxfCTdhm8 Chicago Police (@Chicago_Police) January 20, 2018 CBS news reported that Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Hartman managed to make her way through a federal Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at a domestic terminal without a ticket. She then took a shuttle to the international terminal and a day later she boarded the London-bound British Airways flight. According to CBS sources, CCTV cameras captured Hartman, of Hamelitz Court in Grayslake, U.S., as she wandered around the airport for two days without being confronted by security. Hartman apparently hid in a bathroom onboard the flight, before finding an empty seat. Officials discovered what had happened when the woman was unable to produce a passport at Heathrow Airport. She was then sent back to OHare and arrested by US law enforcement officials. Police say the woman will be charged with felony theft and a misdemeanor count of criminal trespass, and is expected to make a court appearance on Saturday, Jan. 20. The Transportation Security Administration has launched an investigation into how Hartman was able to slip by security, a spokesman said in a statement Friday, according to the Tribune. This matter is subject to an ongoing investigation and TSA is working closely with our law enforcement and airline partners in that effort, the statement read. During the initial investigation it was determined that the passenger was screened at the security checkpoint before boarding a flight. Upon learning of the incident TSA, and its aviation partners took immediate action to review security practices throughout the airport. Hartman has a history of arrests for trying to bypass security and sneak onto airplanes. Her first infraction ended with probation, followed by 364 days in jail. It was reported she tried to board a plane without a ticket in July 2015 just hours after leaving prison. According to court records, CBS reported, prosecutors have described Hartman as a serial stowaway. She also reportedly told news outlet NBC5 in December 2015 that she may have snuck onto planes eight times. According to CBS, Hartman has said that she likes being at airports because they make her feel safe. She is said to be homeless. Below is the Chicago Police Department news release. Recommended Video: Timelapse Video Captures Ocean of Clouds Over Vancouver, British Columbia Trump Says Democrats Care More About Illegal Immigrants Than US Military President Donald Trump called out Democrats in Congress for failing to support a short-term spending bill that would have avoided a partial shutdown of the government. Democrats voted overwhelmingly against the measure Friday night, resulting in the shutdown taking place The shutdown comes after negotiations between Republicans and Democrats failed over the so-called Dreamers. While both parties agree a solution should be found for an estimated 2-3 million people who had originally come here illegally as children, Democrats have opposed stronger measures to secure the border. Fears are that an amnesty would encourage an increase in illegal immigration if the border is not secured. Mexican immigrants walk in line through the Arizona desert near Sasabe, Sonora State, in an attempt to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border, on April 6, 2006. (Omar Torres/AFP/Getty Images) Trump has called for the wall to be constructed on the southern border to stem the flow of illegal immigration and drug trafficking. He has also called for changes to the chain-migration system and an end to the diversity lottery program. Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border, Trump wrote on Twitter on Jan. 20. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMoreRepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 As a result of the shutdown all troops in uniform will not be paid until a deal is reached in Congress. Our maintenance activities will probably pretty much shut down Over 50 percent, altogether of my civilian workforce will be furloughed We do a lot of intelligence operations around the world and they cost money, those obviously would stop, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Friday. Separately, the Defense Department said a shutdown would not impact the U.S. militarys war in Afghanistan or its operations against Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria. Since coming to office exactly a year ago last year, Trump has made it a focus to improve Americas military. U.S. Army soldiers from 2-506 Infantry 101st Airborne Division and Afghan National Army soldiers take positions after racing off the back of a UH-47 Chinook helicopter during the launch of Operation Shir Pacha into the Derezda Valley in the rugged Spira mountains in Khost province, along the Afghan-Pakistan Border, directly across the border from Pakistans lawless Waziristan region, on Nov. 20, 2008. (DAVID FURST/AFP/Getty Images) Last month Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which provides for an overall increase in military spending and the acquisition of new defense equipment. Among the budgeted expenses are F-35 Joint Strike fighters, ground combat vehicles, and Virginia-class submarines. However, the bill has yet to receive funding from Congress. The timing of the shutdown is especially concerning given the security threats the United States faces both abroad and at home. North Korea has repeatedly threatened to strike the United States with a nuclear weapon in recent months, and the United States saw several terror attacks last year. The last time the government shutdown was in 2013 under President Barack Obama. Recommended Video: President Donald Trump: Year 1 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. A picture taken on June 9, 2017 shows workers building a wall in the countryside of Afrin, along Syria's northern border with Turkey. ( George Ourfalian/AFP/Getty Images) Turkey Shells Syrias Afrin Region, Minister Says Operation Has Begun SUGEDIGI, TurkeyTurkish artillery fired into Syrias Afrin region on Friday in what Ankara said was the start of a military campaign against the Kurdish-controlled area. The cross-border bombardment took place after days of threats from Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to crush the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in Afrin in response to growing Kurdish strength across a wide stretch of north Syria. Direct military action against territory held by Kurdish militia would open a new front in Syrias civil war and would see Ankara confronting Kurds allied to the United States at a time when Turkeys relations with Washington are reaching breaking point. The operation has actually de facto started with cross-border shelling, Turkish Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli said, adding that no troops had crossed into Afrin. A U.S. State Department official said such moves would undermine regional stability and would not help protect Turkeys border security. We do not believe that a military operation serves the cause of regional stability, Syrian stability or indeed Turkish concerns about the security of their border, the official told reporters, stressing he had limited information about Turkeys reported military moves. The kind of threats or activities which these initial reports may be referring to, we dont think advance any of these issues. They are destabilizing. The United States has instead called on Turkey to focus on the fight against ISIS terrorists and not take military action in Afrin. Reuters TV filmed Turkish artillery at the border village of Sugedigi firing on Friday morning into Afrin region, and the YPG militia said Turkish forces fired 70 shells at Kurdish villages between midnight and Friday morning. Shelling continued in the late afternoon, said Rojhat Roj, a YPG spokesman in Afrin. Roj said it was the heaviest Turkish bombardment since Ankara stepped up threats to take military action against the Kurdish region. YPG is ready to confront Turkish troops and FSA terrorists. If they dare to attack, we are ready to bury them one by one in Afrin, a YPG statement said. Separately, Russias RIA news agency quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying that media reports on Russian military units withdrawing from the Afrin region had been denied, though he did specify who had denied them. Turkey had sent its military chief to Moscow on Thursday to seek approval for an air campaign in Afrin, although Damascus warned it could shoot down any Turkish planes in its skies. No other way Canikli said Ankara was determined to destroy the Kurdish group. All terror networks and elements in northern Syria will be eliminated. There is no other way, he said. The operation in central Afrin may last a long time, but the terrorist organization will swiftly come undone there. Although Canikli said no Turkish troops have gone into Afrin, Turkish newspapers said 20 buses carrying Free Syrian Army rebels crossed on Friday from Turkey into a Turkish-controlled part of northern Syria, on Afrins eastern flank. They said the FSA rebels would deploy near the town of Azaz, where Kurdish shelling overnight struck a psychiatric hospital. The Turkish armed forces said several civilians wounded in the attack were taken to Turkey for treatment, and Turkish television footage showed rubble and damaged walls. Turkey has been angered by U.S. military support for the Kurdish YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces which spearheaded the fight against ISIS in Syria, and by an announcement that the United States would stay in Syria to train about 30,000 personnel in the swathe of eastern Syria under SDF control. Turkey says the YPG is a terrorist group and a branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party which has waged an insurgency in southeast Turkey for decades, and Canikli criticized Washington for its continued emphasis on countering ISIS. The threat of Daesh has been removed in both Syria and Iraq. With this reality out in the open, a focus on Daesh statement is truly a meaningless remark, he said. A drawing of the Pulaski steamship. (By Charles Ellms [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons) Two Groups Think They Found the Pulaski Steamship Two shipwreck salvage companies have found what they believe are the remains of the famous Pulaski steamship off the coast of North Carolina. In 1838, the steamship sank to the bottom of the Atlantic after one of its boilers exploded. At the time, the North Carolina Standard called the wreck the most painful catastrophe that has ever occurred upon the American coast. Roughly half of the 200 people on board died, many of them the elite of the southern society at that time, the Charlotte Observer reported. Shipwreck Pulaski ? from Endurance Exploration on Vimeo. The ship was traveling north from Savannah, Georgia, to Baltimore, Maryland, and was carrying such names as New York Congressman William Rochester and six members of the Lamar family, who were among the richest families in the southeast at the time. Roughly 40 miles off the North Carolina coast, Blue Water Ventures International, which recovers historically relevant artifacts from shipwrecks, discovered what they thought might be the legacy of the powerful steamship. From NTD.tv Recommended Video: Lost World War I Submarine Found 103 Years Later White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short (L) and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney hold an emergency press conference at the White House in Washington, on Jan. 19, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) US Congress Races the Clock to Avert Government Shutdown The Senate is making a last-ditch effort to pass a short-term funding bill before midnight WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trump and the Senates top Democrat leader on Friday failed to reach an agreement to avoid a government shutdown at midnight. As a last attempt, Senate has scheduled a vote for 10 p.m. on the House-passed bill to extend funding for four weeks. The Senate has only a few hours left to pass a funding patch known as a continuing resolution (CR), to maintain current funding for federal operations and keep the government open through mid-February. The reality is that this is not about policy, its about politics, White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short said at an emergency press conference on Friday. Were not familiar with anything in this CR that Democrats are opposing, he said. The House of Representatives passed a short-term funding bill late Thursday on a mostly party-line vote of 230-197. The bill also covers six-year funding of the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The stopgap bill was sent to the Senate, where it faced stiff opposition from Democrats. The Senate needs 60 votes to pass the measure. The President was very active yesterday in bringing together the House to get 230 votes, Short said. He was speaking to Freedom Caucus members. I think that was where we had the best challenge yesterday, and he helped get that bill accomplished, he said. Trump on Friday morning canceled his planned weekend trip to Mar-a-Lago to reach a deal with Senate Democrats. He was scheduled to leave on Friday afternoon. Both parties failed to reach an agreement on a broad budget for the last few months, and the government is currently running on its third stopgap measure. Lawmakers are struggling to reach a deal on immigration and spending levels. As a precondition for supporting a budget deal, Democrats are pushing for a legislative solution for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. And DACA is the major sticking point in the negotiations, according to Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Theres no DACA bill to vote on and theres no emergency in terms of the timing on DACA, said Mulvaney during the press conference at the White House. DACA does not expire until March 5th. So theres absolutely no reason to tie these two things together right now, he said. DACA was introduced through an executive order by President Barack Obama in 2012 as a temporary measure that gave recipients renewable, two-year work authorization and deportation immunity. It involved nearly 800,000 individualsreferred to as Dreamerswho were illegally brought into the country as children. We are anxious to make sure that our troops and those serving on the frontlines of our country continue to get paid, said Short. In preparation for a potential government shutdown, Mulvaney sent out a memo to the heads of federal departments and agencies Friday afternoon. He advised them to review their plans for operations in the absence of appropriations in the event that a shutdown begins at midnight. Recommended Video: President Donald Trump: Year 1 Commuters travel on the District Line of the London Underground, April 30, 2014 in London. (Oli Scarff/Getty Images) Women Shut Down Subway to Retrieve Dropped Phone Two women trying to retrieve a dropped cellphone forced the shutdown of Londons four subway lines during rush hour on Jan. 18. Metro has pieced the story together from Instagram videos and tweets. Apparently, a mother and child were crossing an overpass over a set of underground train tracks when the girl dropped her cellphone. Women trying to get phone from track shut down four Tube lines at rush hour https://t.co/8bfOlVBqVv Metro (@MetroUK) January 18, 2018 Her mother accosted a subway official and demanded that someone climb down onto the tracks to retrieve the lost phone. The subway worker tried to explain that in the first place, the tracks were electrified and touching the wrong rail would be instantly fatal, and second, there were trains coming and going constantly because it was, after all, rush hour, the busiest time of the day. Undaunted, one of the women climbed down onto the tracks and began searching for the phone. the other followed, shouting at the first. Subway workers had to shut the power to all four lines lest the women electrocute themselves. According to Metro, the Metropolitan Line, Circle Line, District Line, and Hammersmith and City Lines all experienced severe delays. Aldgate East station was also briefly closed. Transportation officials told some passengers that their subway passes would be honored on local buses. Besides that, there wasnt much subway officials could do but try to collect the women, clear the tracks, and start service again. No service: Moorgate and Aldgate due to a trespasser on the track at Aldgate East. Minor delays: Moorgate and Harrow on the Hill. Metropolitan line (@metline) January 18, 2018 Severe delays: on the entire line due to a trespasser on the track earlier at Aldgate East. Tickets accepted: on Local Buses, South West Trains, Greater Anglia and C2C although these services are disrupted due to overhead line problems. District line (@districtline) January 18, 2018 No service: Moorgate and Edgware Road via Embankment due to a trespasser on the track at Aldgate East. Minor delays: on the rest of the line Circle line (@circleline) January 18, 2018 Severe delays: on the entire line due to a trespasser on the track earlier at Aldgate East. Tickets accepted: on Local Buses Hammersmith & City line (@hamandcityline) January 18, 2018 Twitter and Instagram user Alex Shier wrote, Girl 1 ran onto the track and Girl 2 (second video) tried to stop her! But kept shouting and screaming, then came out and onto the platform twice, and twice returned to the tunnel! She was screaming about her parents too alcohol def involved! Some riders were quite upset by the delay.. So Some Morons Where Running Up And Down Aldgate East Tunnel ?.. If They Dont Get A 2K Fine I Wont Be Happy Breeno (@SBreeno09) January 18, 2018 I went past Aldgate East and the police were still with her. I think she dropped her phone from the bridge bit over the platforms and they were refusing to get it for her. So she was stupid and went to get it herself Christine Jagger (@RandomPanda1989) January 18, 2018 Some tried to be a bit more restrained in expressing their displeasure. Hello, person trespassing on the track in the vicinity of Aldgate East: everyone trying to get home on the District and Circle Lines would like a chat with you about your life choices. ? Kate 'very stable genius' Bevan (@katebevan) January 18, 2018 You know when city mapper's not working on your phone at Aldgate East and you're not sure if your train's coming so you just jump on the tracks to check pic.twitter.com/6HsM1YRS4K kikileefaye (@kikileefaye) January 18, 2018 Thanks to the girls running up the tracks at Aldgate East its just taken me an hour & half to get home ? Charlotte (@Char_Ponting) January 18, 2018 A British Transport Police spokesperson told Metro, We were called to Aldgate East station at around 5.45 p.m. on Thursday, 18 January, following reports of a woman on the tracks. Officers attended and a woman was detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act and taken to a place of safety. From NTD.tv Recommended Video: How doctors in China turn into murderers Cenovus Energy Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas in Canada, the United States, and the Asia Pacific region. The company operates through Oil Sands, Conventional, Offshore, Canadian Manufacturing, U.S. Manufacturing, and Retail segments. The Oil Sands segment develops and produces bitumen and heavy oil in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. This segments Foster Creek, Christina Lake, Sunrise, and Tucker oil sands projects, as well as Lloydminster thermal and conventional heavy oil assets The Conventional segment holds assets primarily located in Elmworth-Wapiti, Kaybob-Edson, Clearwater, and Rainbow Lake operating in Alberta and British Columbia, as well as interests in various natural gas processing facilities. The offshore segment engages in the exploration and development activities. The Canadian Manufacturing segment includes the owned and operated Lloydminster upgrading and asphalt refining complex, which upgrades heavy oil and bitumen into synthetic crude oil, diesel fuel, asphalt, and other ancillary products, as well as owns and operates the Bruderheim crude-by-rail terminal and two ethanol plants. The U.S. Manufacturing segment comprises the refining of crude oil to produce diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, asphalt, and other products. The Retail segment consists of marketing of its own and third-party refined petroleum products through retail, commercial, and bulk petroleum outlets, as well as wholesale channels. Cenovus Energy Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Conagra Brands, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer packaged goods food company in North America. The company operates in four segments: Grocery & Snacks, Refrigerated & Frozen, International, and Foodservice. The Grocery & Snacks segment primarily offers shelf stable food products through various retail channels in the United States. The Refrigerated & Frozen segment provides temperature-controlled food products through various retail channels in the United States. The International segment offers food products in various temperature states through retail and foodservice channels outside of the United States. The Foodservice segment offers branded and customized food products, including meals, entrees, sauces, and various custom-manufactured culinary products packaged for restaurants and other foodservice establishments in the United States. The company sells its products under the Birds Eye, Duncan Hines, Healthy Choice, Marie Callender's, Reddi-wip, Slim Jim, Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP, Duke's, Earth Balance, Gardein, and Frontera brands. The company was formerly known as ConAgra Foods, Inc. and changed its name to Conagra Brands, Inc. in November 2016. Conagra Brands, Inc. was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Telecom Argentina S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Argentina and internationally. The company offers telephone services, including local, domestic, and international long-distance telephone services, as well as public telephone services; and other related supplementary services, such as call waiting, call forwarding, conference calls, caller ID, voice mail, itemized billing, and maintenance services. It also provides interconnection services, such as traffic and interconnection resource, dedicated Internet access, video signals transportation in standard and high definitions, audio and video streaming, dedicated links, backhaul links for mobile operators, data center hosting/housing services, dedicated links, layer 2 and layer 3 transport networks, video links, value-added services, and other services. In addition, the company offers mobile telecommunications services, including voice communications, high-speed mobile Internet content and applications download, online streaming, and other services; and sells mobile communication devices, such as handsets, Modems MiFi and wingles, and smart watches under the Personal brand. Further, it provides internet connectivity products, including virtual private network services, traditional Internet protocol links, and other products; data services; and programming and other cable television services. The company was formerly known as Cablevision S.A. and changed its name to Telecom Argentina S.A. in January 2018. Telecom Argentina S.A. was founded in 1979 and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Detroit, Mich.-Nissan unveiled a work of art at the Detroit Auto Show on Monday when it took the wraps off the experimental Xmotion concept car. Whether the Xmotion pronounced Cross Motion will ever see the light of day is debatable. There is no doubt that parts of it will be included in Nissan products in a few years, but the whole car? I think its safe to say forget it. But thats what concepts are all about: experimentation. Alfonso Albaisa, senior vice-president of global design at Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., called the three-row, six-passenger Xmotion a design exploration for a potentially groundbreaking compact SUV. In other words, there might be a real car incorporating elements of this concept in a few years but not now. As is the case with most concepts, there are some features that could only be called in the vernacular of the 1960s far out. For instance, inside the car, there are a total of seven digital screens. There are three main display screens along the dash, one in the ceiling, one in the centre console and one at either end of the dash. Heres where it gets really interesting. Gestures, eye movements yes, eye movements and voice commands control the displays on those seven screens. Nissan says this is so drivers can concentrate on driving and not be looking away. Now, Im going to quote from the media release for the next two paragraphs: Signalling the future of Nissan design, the Xmotion concepts stunning exterior features a powerful dynamic presence with understated sculptural beauty, including unique U-shaped highlights and a bold evolution of Nissans signature V-motion grille. The visual simplicity of the Xmotion concept exterior is contrasted by the rugged, metal-crafted wheels and all-terrain tire design. Like the rest of vehicle, the mechanical tool-inspired wheels and all-terrain tires coexist as one piece, with the tire tread physically laminated over the 21-inch aluminum-alloy wheels. Additional exterior features include a retractable rooftop box and a unique tail light design, which was inspired by Japanese woodwork. The reason I did that is because the creativity shown in composing a press release is frequently as complex and all-consuming as designing a corner of a car. Left to me, I probably would have written, The headlights are U-shaped, and, the wheels are big and you could take this car off-road. Which is not too far removed from what Albaisa actually said during a presentation to introduce the Xmotion to the media. We envision the Xmotion concept, which features hints of a traditional SUV with a high stance and bulked-up fenders, to be a highly functional SUV that can be driven every day, yet can take the owners and friends to a national park or recreation area on a whim. Key specifications of the concept include an overall length of 4,590 millimetres, an overall width of 1,940 mm, overall height of 1,700 mm which is really getting up there and would likely disqualify this vehicle from indoor parking garages at places like Toronto Pearson airport and a wheelbase of 109.6 inches. This concept is not small. Albaisa is, if nothing else, passionate about his work. To say he lives and breathes design would be an understatement. In an interview with the Star, he was quick to declare that while the concept was designed by his team, he didnt design it himself. I wish I had, because its stunning, superb. Albaisa, who was born in Cuba and became an American as a child before finding his calling in design and landing a job at Nissan, where hes been climbing the corporate ladder ever since, said the hardest part of a project like the Xmotion is to make something iconic with only a few elements. The body side was quite simple, he said, but when we look at components coming together, I really love how you can take a fender and bring it over and how it interlocks with the (head) lamp. Its not a superficial line; youre using the composition of elements to make something memorable. I told Albaisa that what he was talking about wasnt a car youd find at a dealers but something that wouldnt look out of place at the Ontario College of Art. He didnt disagree. For me, we (auto designers) do cars as an expression of a human desire to make things. As art, we are the only species that spends a lot of time dreaming up things to make. So, when were making design, for me, its about humanity. He said just beyond 2020 is when elements of this concept could find their way into Nissan products, which seems like a long way away, except that I just looked at the calendar this morning and its 2018 already. Whatever, were talking a production cycle away. Albaisa revealed that the Xmotion concept will be at the Canadian International AutoShow Feb. 16-25 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre downtown. And will he? Maybe but I never know where theyre sending me until I get on the plane and strap myself down in the seat. Well see. nmcdonald@thestar.ca SHARE: Vani Gunabalasubramaniam has long been nostalgic for the dishes her mother made when she was a girl growing up in Sri Lanka. But her mother only cooks Sri Lankan fare on special occasions these days and Gunabalasubramaniams attempts to recreate those dishes or try recipes off the internet always seemed to be missing something. So when Handmade, a popular Sri Lankan cookbook published by Sri Lankan-Australian non-profit Palmera became available in Canada in November, she immediately placed an order for it. She wasnt alone. Many of her second generation Sri Lankan friends had heard glowing reviews and picked up copies, too. On its website, Palmera recommends using it to host an event. Gunabalasubramaniam, 39, did just that and invited a group of friends to each make a favourite recipe from the book. The recipes in this book felt familiar, she says. The book just looks so beautiful. You look at it, and it inspired you to try the recipes. Her cooking party/potluck lunch for about 20 friends took place in December. It started on a Sunday morning in the kitchen of her North York home with Gunabalasubramaniam and her sister-in-law Kavitha Shanmugurajah poring over the recipe for Koli Kari (chicken curry), while Gunabalasubramaniams husband Gajen Pararajalingam kept a steady rhythm with a meat cleaver, chopping up the half a kilo of boneless chicken required to make the four-serving dish. Gunabalasubramaniam had already arranged the other ingredients for the Koli Kari as well as for a second dish, Iraal Kari (prawn curry), on a plate. Onion, garlic, chilies, fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds, ginger, curry leaves, coconut milk, lime and curry powder, ready to be measured and added to the dishes as needed. The quantity of the last ingredient curry powder was about to be debated when the doorbell rang and more people joined the kitchen party. Sukaneya Moorthy arrived first with a batch of Milk Toffee. I was up till 1:30 this morning making this, Moorthy told the women as she made herself at home and opened the lid of a large takeout container. She went over the steps of the tricky recipe for the sticky, fudgelike treat that tastes like Mackintosh toffee. Just twist it a little bit, she said, as the women tried to break off a square. Kasthurie Sugumar was next to arrive with the remaining ingredients for the Iraal Kari fresh prawns and homemade coconut milk. It tastes way better than canned coconut milk. You can smell it the minute it hits the pan. Although my mum has now started to use cans sometimes, she added. As Shanmugurajah pounded the ginger-garlic-green chilies mixture in a mortar and pestle, Gunabalasubramaniam dry-roasted the spices Moorthy handed to her and Sugumar waited her turn on the stovetop, each woman consulted their personal copy of Handmade, which they all brought with them. Dont worry, Ive written my name down in my copy, said Sugumar, when her turn came to take to the stove, and she flipped through her book. The conversation turned from one component of the recipe they were making to the next. They wondered about some of the measurements of the spice and salt levels, which seemed a little mild to them. The book was put together in Australia. Maybe they toned it down a little, Gunabalasubramaniam said. Well, I guess well see when we taste it, Sugumar said. Smells right though. Handmade features recipes from Sri Lankas northern regions interspersed with stories of struggle, hope and survival of 34 women rebuilding their lives after the 26-year civil war ended in 2009. It was first published in 2015 by Palmera. An NPR feature on the cookbook a year later was widely shared on Facebook, creating a buzz. The book became available here in November through Comdu.it, a Toronto not-for-profit with a mission to carry out sustainable development in Sri Lanka. The cookbook details traditional ways of cooking Sri Lankan fare and methods still followed in rural areas. A Basics section includes utensils such as mortar and pestle (ural), a rice winnowing tray (soolahu) and coconut shell spoon (siratte aheppe) items not commonly found in modern Sri Lankan kitchens. Are you sure you want to keep on using that? Gunabalasubramaniam asked Shanmugurajah, pointing to the mortar and pestle she was using to grind the chilies, ginger and garlic. I have a blender. Im following the recipe, Shanmugurajah replied. It says pound, so Im pounding. It would be easier with the ammi, said Sugumar, referring to traditional grindstone used in Sri Lankan cooking, which is not listed in the book. Remember those? I think these days you only see them as part of the wedding ceremony, she said referring to one of the rituals of the Sri Lankan Hindu tradition. When the groom puts on the metti (toe ring) and touches the brides foot to the ammi. The other women smiled and nodded. The women soon returned to the curry powder or lack thereof in the recipes they were following. The women questioned the quantity called for and debated whether to add more to the simmering Koli Kari and Iraal Kari. Moorthy worried the dishes would be too hot and spicy to handle. What exactly is this curry powder? she asked, pointing to the spice as Gunabalasubramaniam was about to add another spoon to the Koli Kari. Its not what you get in the regular grocery store, Gunabalasubramaniam said. Theyre talking about Sri Lankan curry powder, what we also call Jaffna powder. You can find it in a Spiceland, she said, referring to a popular Sri Lankan grocery store in Scarborough. The conversation moved to rediscovering recipes that second generation Sri Lankan Canadians may have forgotten. These women were keen on passing down recipes from the Handmade cookbook to their own kids. There really arent that many (Sri Lankan cookbooks) out there at all, Gunabalasubramaniam said. I have seen others that are not very comprehensive. There are some things online, some bloggers trying out recipes. But it just doesnt taste the same as what I grew up eating at home. When Gunabalasubramaniam arrived in Toronto when she was 10 years old, the ingredients to make authentic Sri Lankan food were not readily available. (You didnt find) things like long beans or seeds of jackfruit. You didnt have so many options of ethnic grocery stores, she said. Besides, parents were often too busy juggling jobs and adjusting to life in a new country to cook elaborate meals such as kool (soup or porridge). Now, even though Sri Lankan cooking ingredients are readily available and their lives are more settled, these recipes have been relegated to special occasions. Every time my brother comes to visit from California, my mother will make a big vat of odiyal kool its like a bouillabaisse, with a thick texture, like a seafood chowder, Gunabalasubramaniam says. Its become like a special treat. The doorbell rang again, and two more families arrive with containers of food. As Esa Thurairajah got out of her coat and sat down, she jumped into the conversation about cooking from Handmade. Its also good to get the husbands cooking, she said, bringing out her container of Murungakkai Kari (drumstick curry), while her husband, Valavan Manohararajah, added his contribution to the potluck Keerai Vadai, a savoury spinach-lentil savoury doughnutlike snack. The recipes were simple, easy to follow. I liked that, Thurairajah said. As more friends started to arrive, Gunabalasubramaniam directed them to the dining table that was quickly filling up with an elaborate spread of dishes from the cookbook. After lunch well have some masala tea, she said, referring to another recipe from Handmade. We tried some earlier today. Its quite good. Tamil Worlds Initiative along with the Culinaria Research Centreis hosting a public discussion around the book at the Toronto Public Library Malvern Branch on Jan. 27 at 2 p.m. Check out their Facebook events pageFor more information on Handmade, and upcoming related events, visit http://comdu.it/handmade/ SHARE: OTTAWACanadas border guards are struggling under a backlog of federal access to information requests some dating to 2016 and are asking requesters to consider abandoning old submissions. The Canada Border Services Agency says an increased number of requests under the federal access to information system, coupled with a limited number of staff to process those requests, was responsible for the backlog. That could mean trouble for those who need CBSA documents to support residency claims or citizenship applications, who accounted for 45 per cent of all access to information requests to the agency in 2016-17. People are not asking for this information on a lark. They need it, said Chantal Desloges, a Toronto-based immigration and refugee lawyer. Their future next steps are contingent on getting this information, so it holds everybody back. The Access to Information Act allows Canadian citizens or permanent residents to request government documents for a $5 fee. The system is routinely used by citizens, businesses, researchers and journalists to pry loose government information that would otherwise be kept secret. But almost half of requests to the CBSA in 2016-17 were for Traveller History Records, used by immigrants to support residency claims or make an application for citizenship. Desloges said the traveller records are required by applicants to ensure they fill out their last five years of travel history accurately because any minor mistake or omission could put applicants in a bureaucratic limbo. The ramifications if the person makes a mistake, even if its an innocent error like they went on a shopping trip to Buffalo for one day and forgot . . . it can trigger off this whole series of investigations, because then (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) doesnt know if theyre actually lying about anything or if they accidentally left it out. The Star has made several requests to CBSA, including briefing notes for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale dating to June 2016 and will pursue those requests. According to departmental figures, the number of access requests received by the agency has shot up from 3,147 in 2012-13 to 6,265 requests in 2016-17. In that year, the CBSA processed over 6,300 requests but still had a backlog of almost 1,500. In emails sent to requesters recently, the CBSA asked if the backlogged requests were still of interest. The agency said if a response was not received in 30 days, they would consider the request abandoned. In a statement to the Star, the agency insisted nobody is being asked to abandon their requests. Instead, the agency is simply confirming requesters are still interested in the information. The CBSA re-allocated an additional $714,000 in 2017-18 to deal with the backlog of access to information requests, wrote CBSA spokesperson Barre Campbell in an email. The additional funding has allowed the ATIP division to augment its resources to ensure more timely responses to both requests and to complaints, as well as reduce the inventory of late files. The agency said the new funding has allowed them to cut down on backlogged requests and respond more quickly to new requests. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged in 2015 to modernize the access to information system, which had not been substantially updated since it was introduced in the 1980s. The Liberal reforms, released last June by Treasury Board president Scott Brison, fell short of advocates expectations. Information commissioner Suzanne Legault, Parliaments access to information watchdog, called it a regression in Canadians access rights and recommended significant changes. The reforms are before the Senate for further study. A spokesperson for Goodale noted the CBSA has consistently had one of the heaviest access to information workloads over the last five years, and has recently made progress on their backlogged files. Departments may verify with requesters if they wish to pursue their requests for a variety of reasons, but it does not release them from their obligations under the (Access to Information Act), Scott Bardsley wrote in an email. SHARE: Its double murder, not murder-suicide. Barry and Honey Sherman were killed in what looks like a professional, contract killing. Thats the conclusion of a variety of experts who have been hired by the family to probe the case. Heres the new information: There are markings on the Shermans wrists, an indication that at some point their hands were tied together, though no rope or other ties were found near the bodies. Toxicology tests on their bodies reveal no sign of drugs that would have contributed to their deaths. Mens leather belts found around their necks were the cause of the ligature compression that killed them. A top forensic pathologist who did a second autopsy determined this was a double homicide, barring any new information that surfaces. Meanwhile, the Toronto police would not provide any new information or comment on the findings of the family and maintain their classification of the deaths as suspicious. People providing information for this story are not identified as they were not authorized to discuss the case. Read more: Lawyer Brian Greenspan to help Sherman family conduct own investigation Sherman familys private investigation is a bid to understand unexplained circumstances What happens if police cant determine whos responsible in deaths of billionaire couple? Barry, born Bernard C. Sherman, was the founder and past CEO of Apotex, a generic drug firm. He is said to have been worth $4.77 billion at time of his death. Honey, his wife of 46 years, was well known for her charitable work and community involvement. Barry was 75. Honey was 70. They were found in their home in North Toronto just before noon on Dec. 15 by a real estate agent. Their house was for sale. The Friday evening of the day the bodies were discovered, a police officer at the scene told reporters that there was no sign of forced entry at the home and as of that day, police were not seeking any suspects. At this point we are not seeking a suspect, a Toronto police detective said that night. Saturday morning a story broke in the Toronto Sun that police were working on a theory of murder-suicide. Other media, including the National Post, the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star, confirmed the report that this was the active theory of the police at the time. In each case, the media quoted sources and did not identify an officer who put forward the theory. The murder-suicide theory brought quick outrage from the Shermans four children who released a statement saying the theory was wrong. By this time, Toronto homicide investigators were at the scene and they eventually took over the probe from divisional officers. The family hired high profile criminal lawyer Brian Greenspan who in turn brought in private detectives and experts in pathology and crime scenes. An autopsy the first of two was carried out on Dec. 16 by a provincial pathologist at the Centre of Forensic Sciences who determined that both Shermans died by ligature neck compression. The police said nothing else, still classifying the death as suspicious. The family wanted to know more and with the help of Greenspan, went looking to hire a forensic pathologist to do a second autopsy. The family hired Dr. David Chiasson, formerly the chief forensic pathologist for Ontario. Chiasson now does pathology work at the Hospital for Sick Children and is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto. Chiasson conducted a second autopsy days before the Dec. 21 funeral. Present at the autopsy was the team of private detectives, most of them former Toronto homicide investigators, assembled by Greenspan. Chiassons conclusion, along with that of the private detectives present, is that it was a double homicide barring any other information that might come from the ongoing probe. Not murder-suicide. The ligature neck compression, sources say, was likely done by two mens leather belts found at the scene wrapped around the necks of the victims. Two deaths were reported at the home of Canadian billionaire Barry Sherman and his wife Honey on Dec. 15. Toronto police say the deaths are being treated as suspicious. (The Canadian Press) While earlier media reports suggested they died by hanging, sources say that is incorrect. They were found in a seated position at the side of a pool in a lower level of the house, with their legs facing away from the pool. The belts were around the neck, with the end of the belt through the buckle and pulled tight. The free end of each belt was then looped or tied around a low railing that surrounds the pool. Sources say a working theory of the private team probing the deaths is that the Shermans were strangled by the belts, then the belts were attached to the railing, holding them in a seated position. Sources with intimate knowledge of the Sherman familys investigation have used words like professional, contract killing, and staged homicide to describe the scene. A key finding discovered in Chiassons autopsy were marks on both Barry and Honey Shermans wrists, an indication that each persons wrists were bound together at some point, likely with rope or a plastic strap. An examination of the markings does not clearly determine if the hands were bound in front or behind. Their hands were not bound when the bodies were discovered. The Shermans were wearing winter coats that were pushed back away from the shoulders and down, which would have the effect of immobilizing the arms. No rope or plastic strap was found at the scene and sources have speculated to the Star that when Toronto police examined sewer pipes around the house they were looking for whatever was used as ties. Police also searched the roof of the house and used metal detectors on the property. The next stage in the familys investigation was to conduct a toxicology analysis to see what, if any, drugs were in the bodies of the victims. Police had arranged for samples to be taken and sent to the Centre of Forensic Sciences. The lab work, which takes about two days, was delayed as the lab is perpetually backlogged. It is now complete, but police have not shared the results with the family or the public. Greenspan and his team had samples taken during the second autopsy. The results are negative for any drug that could have caused their death. As of Friday afternoon, the Toronto police were still examining the interior of the house at Old Colony Rd. Both police and private detectives have canvassed the houses on the street for surveillance video. While several homeowners with cameras that can see parts of the Sherman home in the distance have provided video to both police and the Sherman family detectives, sources have told the Star that nothing has come from a study of the various videos. Toronto police spokesperson Mark Pugash told the Star on Friday that the deaths remain classified as suspicious. He said when we are in a position to release more information we will do so. While the bodies were discovered on Friday, Dec. 15, it appears the Shermans died between late Wednesday Dec. 13 and Thursday afternoon, Dec. 14. Family sources say the last known cellphone communication (text or audio) from the Sherman couple was Wednesday during the day. Though the familys investigation team has not been granted access to the home yet, sources say their understanding is that there was no damage to the inside of the home nothing to suggest this could be a home invasion. In an interview this week, lawyer Greenspan said he and the team he has assembled are trying to provide a second lens to look at the case. His team has yet to enter the Sherman home, and while they had been promised entry right after the holidays, it looks like it could be another week before police release the scene. He said the police have made several requests for access to information related to the Shermans and in each case the executor in charge of the Shermans affairs has provided full co-operation. It is typical in a death investigation for police to serve production orders signed by a judge or justice of the peace (similar to search warrants) on cellphone companies or banks to obtain records showing a persons whereabouts. If permission is given, by an executor as in this case, those production orders are not required. As to the early theory that it was a murder-suicide, Greenspan said that anyone who knows the couple would find that unsupportable as a matter of logic. The Star has attempted, unsuccessfully, to learn who at the Toronto police came up with that theory and whether it still holds water. Greenspan said he does not have a working theory as to why the police have not classified the deaths as homicide. Kevin Donovan can be reached at 416-312-3503 or kdonovan@thestar.ca Read more about: SHARE: An international wildlife protection charity says they hope the Alberta government sends a strong message as it investigates a central Alberta zoo that took one of its bears through a drive-thru for ice cream. The video, posted on social media this week by the Discovery Wildlife Park in Innisfail, Alta., showed a one-year old captive bear named Berkley leaning out a trucks window and being hand-fed ice cream by the owner of the Innisfail Dairy Queen. It has since been removed. The province launched two investigations into the video after bear experts called it irresponsible and disrespectful although a zoo trainer defended it as an educational video done on purpose for a purpose. Zoocheck spokesperson Rob Laidlaw said the province needs to make sure a similar stunt never happens again. Its ridiculous, its entirely irresponsible, he said. (The province) should be looking at this and sending a message to anybody else who might be contemplating this type of activity that its not appropriate and make sure there are repercussions for doing this. The provinces investigation will look at the video and the zoos operating permit to determine whether there were any violations. They will act if necessary, Alberta Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Brendan Cox said late Thursday. Serena Bos, who works at the Discovery Wildlife Park, said the zoo welcomes the provinces investigation. Thats their job, their responsibility, she said Friday. We totally respect them for that they always look into any issues regarding animals. Weve always complied with Fish and Wildlife, any of the inspections that they do with us and (accept) them with open arms. Bos said she realizes the video didnt have the intended result, but said the bear wasnt harmed. She added that the park will continue to educate the public about wildlife, but noted that they wont do it the same way. The province, bear experts and Zoocheck said the video goes against every message about why its important not to feed wild animals. To me, its sort of cut and dry, Laidlaw said. Anybody whos sensible that cares about animals or human safety should be saying that the province has got to do something to make sure this never happens again. Read more about: SHARE: Almost nothing has flowed through human history quite as consistently, consolingly, convivially and catastrophically as alcohol. A year ago, National Geographic magazine published a story noting that the Chinese were making a kind of wine from rice, honey and fruit 9,000 years ago and that grapes grown in the mountains of Georgia and Iran were being put to heady purpose more than seven millennia back. Along with alcohols many salutary effects, however, there has poured with it down all those centuries a social carnage of chronic disease, injury and death, birth defects, motor vehicle accidents, domestic and other violence and crime. In Canada, the Yukon Territory has seen more than its share of alcohols harm. The territory of about 37,000 people has consistently recorded the highest alcohol sales per capita in the country over recent decades. A report by the chief medical officer of health there for 2015 said Yukon had a significantly higher proportion of heavy drinkers both men and women than Canada as a whole, with all the related health and crime issues. Read more: I tried mindfulness to quit drinking Mixing booze and babies For Canadian researchers, looking to test ways of reducing that cost through labelling on alcohol products, Yukon was both an attractive ground for study, a jurisdiction aware of alcohols harms, and an enthusiastic participant. So starting in November, after several years of preliminary work, investigators Erin Hobin, a scientist with Public Health Ontario, and Tim Stockwell, director of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria, launched their study with labels warning of alcohols links to several types of cancer, including breast and colon cancer. The purpose of our study is to test if alcohol warning labels are an effective tool for both increasing consumer awareness of the health risks of drinking alcohol, specifically cancer, but also to examine whether alcohol warning labels can support consumers in making more informed and safer alcohol drinking choices, Hobin told the Star. Their project, funded by Health Canada, aimed to test three labels. The first warned of the link between alcohol and cancer. A second informed consumers of Food Canadas low-risk alcohol guidelines for men and women. A third would have informed consumers of the standard drink units as defined in the national guidelines in whatever container of alcohol was purchased. The research was hardly up and running, however, before the territorys Yukon Liquor Corp. pulled the plug and halted the study in December. Apparently, Hobin and Stockwell had poked the bear that is the alcohol industry and it was growling at the territorial government about legal action. When the alcohol producers expressed concerns to us, that conversation left us with the real possibility that we would end up in litigation, John Streicker, territorial minister responsible for the Yukon Liquor Corp., said in an interview. What it really came down to was whether the messages on the labels were harming their brand and whether they constituted defamation. We dont believe that thats the case, he said. But in how we think about this, as a small jurisdiction, we have to decide about whether we would put resources toward a litigation that we believe would be protracted. The government has to consider whether such money would be better spent on education or harm reduction, he said. Thats the hard choice. In this pause, what were trying to do is work to see if theres some common ground between researchers and producers and if there is a path forward. For his part, Stockwell said the researchers have received a legal opinion suggesting any complaint by the industry would be frivolous. Were not giving up, he said. We were only told its been paused while they consider their options. The team hopes the Yukon government will get more confidence and call the bluff of the liquor industry, he said. Stockwell said label tests were important because research suggests Canadians, our national thirst notwithstanding, are remarkably ignorant about alcohol and drinking. Its very clear that when you test people without the standard drink labels they havent the first idea, he said. Theyre very, very bad at estimating how many standard drinks are in their typical bottle of wines or bottle of spirits and certain high-strength beers. Research shows that about three-quarters of the population doesnt know about the cancer link; about three-quarters doesnt know about the national low-risk guidelines; and the same percentage do not know about standard drinks, which you would need to know if youre going to follow the low-risk guidelines. Hobin said Yukon was a keen volunteer for the project when she approached various jurisdictions across Canada about participating. It was a good candidate for several reasons. Since 1991, Yukon and the Northwest Territories have carried labels on alcohol warning pregnant women of the potential risks of drinking. And the capitals of Whitehorse, as the site for intervention, and Yellowknife, as a control setting continuing with its usual practice, worked out quite well for a research study. Streicker notes that the problem of alcohol abuse is so prevalent that any such research, and the potential legal costs associated with it, might be better borne by the federal government. And on the scope of the issue hes certainly correct. A 2017 report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information said there were more hospital admissions the previous year for alcohol-related conditions alcohol poisoning, alcohol withdrawal, liver disease, chronic alcohol disease than for heart attacks. In 2015, the federal chief health officers report said 80 per cent of Canadians drank alcohol, that more than three million drank enough to be at risk of immediate harm or injury and that 4.4 million were at risk of chronic health effects, such as liver cirrhosis and various forms of cancer. The annual cost of alcohol abuse, an estimated $14.6 billion in 2002, is higher than government revenue from the control and sale of alcoholic beverages in almost all jurisdictions in Canada. And not only is alcohol way worse than all the illicit drugs put together when it comes to health and social cost, Stockwell said the alcohol industry gets off scot-free when it comes to listing nutritional information and ingredients on packages. Hobin said: It is curious to think that almost all but definitely most packaged food products are required to include an ingredients label as well as a nutrition facts table. Now, alcohol does fall under different legislation, but it is one of the few packaged food substances that doesnt include that type of labelling. Dr. Brendan Hanley, Yukons chief medical officer of health, told the Star he understands the territorial governments concerns, but was disappointed by the decision and remains hopeful that we can get this launched again. Theres a dearth of information, certainly at point of sale, either about any nutritional information let alone just some basic, basic advice on whats a reasonable level of alcohol consumption that will keep you within safe health limits. The need to inform consumers and reduce alcohol abuse is felt here as much or more than anywhere here in Yukon, he said. Weve known in the community for many years that we have a range of substance-use issues, and alcohol screams as probably the leading substance that produces harms in such a variety of ways. Hanley said the project by Stockwell and Hobin was a potentially ground-breaking study that gave this tiny place in the corner of the country a chance to produce far-reaching benefits. I would say jurisdictions around the country, and around the world, are looking at this with a lot of interest because this is a chance to show what the potential role is of warning labels on alcohol containers. As for Streicker, he told the Star Im not confident that there would be common ground found between researchers and the industry to resume the research. But hes gratified that the little territory of Yukon is helping Canadians to have this conversation. CANADAS ALCOHOL GUIDELINES 1. Reduce long-term health risks by drinking no more than: 10 drinks a week for women, with no more than two drinks a day most days. 15 drinks a week for men, with no more than three drinks a day most days. Plan non-drinking days every week to avoid developing a habit. 2: Reduce risk of injury and harm by drinking no more than three drinks for women and four drinks for men on any single occasion. 3. Do not drink when: driving a vehicle or using machinery and tools. taking medicine or other drugs that interact with alcohol. doing any kind of dangerous physical activity. living with mental or physical health problems. pregnant or planning to be pregnant. responsible for the safety of others or making important decisions. 4. If pregnant, planning to become pregnant or before breastfeeding, the safest choice is to drink no alcohol at all. 5. If you are a child or youth, you should delay drinking until your late teens. Talk with your parents about drinking. Alcohol can harm the way your brain and body develop. For these guidelines, a drink means: 341 mL (12 oz.) bottle of 5% alcohol beer, cider or cooler 142 mL (5 oz.) glass of 12% alcohol wine 43 mL (1.5 oz.) serving of 40% distilled Tips: Set limits for yourself and abide by them. Drink slowly. Have no more than 2 drinks in any 3 hours. For every drink of alcohol, have one non-alcoholic drink. Eat before and while you are drinking. Remember that age, body weight and health problems that might suggest lower limits. For more information on Canadas low-risk alcohol drinking guidelines, visit the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse and Addiction website. Read more about: SHARE: The detective in charge of the investigation into the deaths of two gay men and who believes there are more victims has more than 20 years of experience on the force and is no stranger to high-profile homicide cases. Toronto police Det.-Sgt. Hank Idsinga revealed to the media Thursday that Bruce McArthur has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the disappearance of Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman, who both spent a lot of time in the Church-Wellesley area. Mike McCormack, head of the Toronto Police Association, said Idsinga is one of the best investigators on the force. He described Idsinga as thorough, meticulous and thoughtful. He has the respect of all the men and women who have worked with him over the years, McCormack said. McCormack worked with Idsinga in the Regent Park neighbourhood for several years, where Idsinga was a supervisor. In 2010, Idsinga led Project Summit which looked into the shooting deaths of four men over 75 days. Three of the victims were killed at random, and Idsinga called them crimes of pleasure. To rationalize why he did some of the things he did, Im at a loss, Idsinga said in 2011 after the arrest of Mark Moore. Moore, a rapper who police described as a serial killer, laughed at his charges according to his lawyer at the time. He was found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder in 2015. Idsinga also investigated the slaying of 21-year-old Malique Ellis, a Scarborough man shot in his apartment in December. On Friday, Henok Mebratu, 24, was charged with first-degree murder. He was also part of the investigation into the murder of 2-year-old Nicholas Cruz, whose mother and her boyfriend were charged in the childs death in 2013. Toronto police have charged 66-year-old Bruce McArthur with first-degree murder in the disappearances of Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman from the citys gay village last year. Police say they are still looking for the bodies. (The Canadian Press) Read more: Opinion | Rosie DiManno: Loved ones, friends struggle to cope with shocking news of deaths of Andrew Kinsman, Selim Esen Police investigate properties in Scarborough and Madoc with links to accused killer Bruce McArthur Accused killer Bruce McArthur filed for bankruptcy years before murder charges SHARE: BALTIMOREDeputy Police Commissioner Darryl DeSousa, who has steadily risen through the ranks during a 30-year career with Baltimores police department, will take the helm of the force in a city struggling with a feverish pace of killings. Following a record year in per-capita homicides, Baltimores mayor on Friday fired the citys police commissioner after 2 years on the job and named DeSousa to the top post, saying a change in leadership was needed immediately. I am impatient. We need violence reduction. We need the numbers to go down faster, Mayor Catherine Pugh said at a news conference at City Hall after announcing DeSousas promotion. While violent crime rates in Baltimore have been high for decades, Baltimore ended 2017 with 343 killings, bringing the annual homicide rate to its highest ever: roughly 56 killings per 100,000 people. Baltimore, which has shrunk over decades, currently has about 615,000 inhabitants. In contrast, New York City had 290 homicides last year, its fewest on record in the modern era for the city of 8.5 million people. Los Angeles, with about 4 million residents, saw 305 homicides last year. The challenges facing DeSousa are numerous: the pervasive mistrust of many citizens due to a history of corruption and discriminatory police practices; a federal corruption investigation into a group of indicted officers; and the unsolved slaying of a detective that has produced rumours but no arrests. His promotion also comes as a monitoring team is overseeing court-ordered reforms to Baltimores police department as part of a federal consent decree reached last January between Baltimore and the U.S. Justice Department due to discriminatory and unconstitutional policing. DeSousa, a 53-year-old city resident who joined the department in 1988, said hes looking forward to the challenges. He said hell approach his role as a strategic thinker who knows the ins and outs of the departments operations as well as law enforcement approaches that have had success in other U.S. cities. Anyone who knows me knows that Im a chess player, and I dont like to be outwitted, he told reporters. The head of Baltimores police union, Gene Ryan, said the leadership shakeup is already improving morale, and will bring about the positive changes that will allow us to achieve our mission of violence reduction. DeSousa on Friday pledged to reduce crime by putting more uniformed officers on the streets and saturating hot spots, an effort he said is already underway. He said he had a message for the citys violent repeat offenders, a rotating cast of trigger pullers that law enforcers say are responsible for an outsized percentage of the citys crime. Were coming after them. And I want to let everybody know that it will be done in a constitutional manner, DeSousa said. The native New Yorker has served in just about every police department role over the years and in 2017 was assigned to lead the patrol bureau, the largest in Baltimores force. His appointment will be made permanent following appropriate approvals, Pughs office said. He appears to have the backing of the City Council and a number of Baltimores civic leaders and organizers. Councilman Brandon Scott, who described DeSousas promotion as a great decision, said he received numerous phone messages from community leaders praising the move. Never before did I get text messages from community leaders saying, Thank you, this is the right choice, Scott said, describing the three previous times during his career as an elected official that a police commissioner was replaced. Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defence and Educational Fund, tweeted that she was perplexed by the leadership change. In a statement, she said Commissioner Kevin Davis had shown unyielding commitment to police reforms. Some Baltimore residents were also skeptical that a veteran as entrenched as DeSousa could bring true reform. Hes been there for 30 years and thats the guy whos going to change things up? said resident Gerald Spann, who was washing the windows of a convenience store where gunmen and officers exchanged a barrage of gunfire earlier this week. Davis, previously chief of police in Marylands Anne Arundel County, replaced Anthony Batts in the job in October 2015. Batts was fired amid a spike in homicides after Freddie Gray died of a fatal spinal cord injury received while in police custody. The black mans death triggered massive protests and the citys worst riots in decades. Pugh, who took office in December 2016, said she was grateful to Davis for all that he has done to implement the initiatives underway to address violent crime at its root causes. SHARE: HONOLULUThe Hawaii National Guards top commander said Friday he told Gov. David Ige that a missile alert was a false alarm two minutes after it went out statewide. But the governor didnt tell the public until 15 minutes later. Maj. Gen. Arthur Joe Logan told state lawmakers that he called the governor at 8:09 a.m. Saturday after confirming there was no threat. Rep. Kaniela Ing asked why the governor didnt immediately address the public, but Ige had left the hearing. Gov. Iges spokesperson Cindy McMillan said the governor had to track her down to prepare a message. She said the communications team handles his social media. Read more: Hawaiis false missile alarm stirs up debate over whether U.S. states or feds should be alerting the public False alarm in Hawaii reveals an abdication of leadership by Trump Hawaii false alarm shows just how close the line is between mishap and nuclear war Iges office relayed an emergency management agency tweet that it was a false alarm at 8:24 a.m. Six minutes later, a notice went up on his Facebook page. A state employee mistakenly sent an emergency alert to mobile devices and TV and radio stations warning of an incoming missile strike, causing widespread panic and confusion. A corrected alert was not sent to mobile devices for nearly 40 minutes because state workers had no prepared message for a false alarm. Hawaii emergency workers immediately started calling city and county officials to tell them there was no threat. They posted social media messages about 13 minutes after the erroneous warning. On Thursday, the Hawaii state Department of Defence said it took about 10 minutes for an employee to think of sending a new alert cancelling the alert. Lt. Col. Charles Anthony said that amid the alerts chaos, a telecommunications staffer presented his idea to create a new alert on the same platform that sent out the mistake. The agency checked with federal officials, composed and uploaded the alert to their online system and eventually issued the retraction. The initial warning was sent at 8:07 a.m. and the correction reached cellphones at 8:45. It is estimated that a missile would take about 20 minutes to reach Hawaii from North Korea. Officials say it would take about five minutes for the military to analyze the launch trajectory and notify the state, leaving only 12 to 15 minutes of warning time before impact. SHARE: ISTANBULTurkish artillery fired shells into the northern Syrian region of Afrin on Friday as Turkeys defence minister announced a military operation against U.S.-backed Kurdish militias, despite warnings from the United States. The developments threatened to further destabilize a region fractured by seven years of war. Fighters of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army, which were expected to spearhead the attack, were seen driving to the border around midday as artillery sounded on Turkeys southern border with Syria. The Syrian fighters posted videos of men and vehicles preparing for the assault. Turkey has said the Kurdish militias are part of a terrorist group that threatens its security, but it has struggled to win support for an intervention against them. Syria opposes Turkeys intervention, and Syrias deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, said the Syrian Air Force would destroy any Turkish airplanes used in an assault on Afrin. Read more: Turkey OKs military intervention, warns Iraqi Kurds on independence vote Turkeys defence minister, Nurettin Canikli, announced the Afrin operation in a live studio interview on the pro-government A Haber television network on Friday. I cannot comment here when the operation will start and from which direction, he said. What we are saying is this: This operation will be done. The terrorist organization will be cleansed from there. Turkey has complained for months about U.S. support for the Syrian Kurds. Afrin is controlled by a Kurdish militia affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party, which has waged a three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state. Turkeys operation has everything to do with domestic politics, said Ahmet Han, associate professor in International Relations at Kadir Has University in Istanbul. The Kurdish threat was a genuine security concern, he said, but the government was also acting to maintain the support of a nationalist constituency at home. U.S. officials have warned against the operation. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said Thursday that the fight against remnants of Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, was the priority in Syria. We would call on certainly on the Turks to not take any actions of that sort, Nauert said. The focus needs to be on ISIS. So we dont want them to engage in violence, but we want them to keep focused on ISIS. Separately, the United States is helping build a Kurdish-led border force in another part of Syria to protect land taken from Daesh. Turkey has also objected to that force, charging that it would place thousands of Kurdish militia fighters along Turkeys border. Russia, which supports the Syrian government, has been reluctant to back the Afrin operation. At a news conference at the United Nations on Friday, Sergey Lavrov, Russias foreign minister, denied reports that Russian observers were leaving Afrin in preparation for a Turkish offensive. Without Russian support, Turkeys intervention into Afrin would be fraught with risk, Turkish analysts said. There is a picture of diverging interests of Turkey and Russia, said Kerim Has, a lecturer in Turkish-Russian relations at Moscow University. Russia did not want to get involved in a fight with the Kurds that is 100 years old, he said, and might not help Turkish troops if they got into trouble in Afrin. Russia is not in Syria to solve the Kurdish issue. Turkey has made several incursions into Syria. In August 2016, Turkish forces battled Daesh for weeks to take control of the northern Syrian town of al-Bab, crucially with the help of Russian and U.S. air support. In recent days, Kurdish fighters and civilians have taken a defiant stance. On Thursday, there were demonstrations in Afrin against any Turkish offensive. The PYD, the main political party of the Syrian Kurds, posted pictures of demonstrators waving the flag of the Syrian Kurdish militia, the YPG. In Manbij, an area that Turkey has threatened to take from a Kurdish-led militia known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, fighters said they were fortifying their positions. Mohammed Billo, who lives in Afrin, said Turkish shelling had intensified. If they start shelling the city centre, he said, it will be a disaster. Another resident of Afrin, who requested his name not be published, said families had been leaving the city for the past three days, but Kurdish fighters at checkpoints had started to pressure civilians to stay. Among the mostly Kurdish residents of Afrin are thousands of Arabs displaced from villages near Afrin who want to leave the city and return to their hometowns or the city of Aleppo. Pro-opposition activists warned that the Afrin operation was a mistake. Hassan Hassan, a Syrian analyst, wrote on Twitter: This is the most irrelevant and stupid battle some of the opposition are getting involved in. Not only do the rebels have no dog in this fight, theyre hurting whats left of their cause big time. Read more about: SHARE: LOUISVILLE, KY.The man accused of tackling U.S. Sen. Rand Paul in the Kentucky lawmakers yard has been charged with assaulting a member of Congress as part of a federal plea agreement. And his lawyer echoed whats long been suggested by neighbours: The attack stemmed from a dispute about yard maintenance. Rene Boucher has signed the plea agreement but no date has been set for his guilty plea for the attack on the Republican senator, according to Josh J. Minkler, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. Assaulting a member of Congress is an offence we take very seriously, Minkler said in a release. Those who choose to commit such an act will be held accountable. Read more: What sparked the attack on U.S. Sen. Rand Paul? Suspects lawyer says landscaping U.S. Sen. Rand Paul doesnt know what prompted neighbour to attack him, friend says U.S. Senator Rand Paul suffers serious rib injuries after attack by neighbour Boucher faces possible prison time. His attorney says Boucher is very regretful about the attack and that it had to do with the upkeep of their yards. Paul and Boucher are longtime neighbours in Bowling Green. This is over a matter that most people would regard as trivial, Bouchers attorney, Matt Baker, said in a phone interview Friday. It has to do with yards and the maintenance of those. Boucher is very meticulous about how he maintains his yard, while Paul takes a much different approach to the upkeep of his property, Baker said. It all goes to large piles of leaves and branches and yard clutter that were placed on the property line, Baker said. Some residents of the gated neighbourhood had speculated the attack was motivated by a dispute over yard debris. But Pauls office has rejected that. Paul told the Fox News Channel in November that ultimately, the motive does not matter. Boucher, a retired anesthesiologist in his late 50s, already faces a misdemeanour assault charge in state court in Kentucky. He has pleaded not guilty to that charge. Baker said Friday that hes hopeful the state charge will be dismissed now that Boucher has reached the plea agreement on the federal charge. Paul, a former presidential candidate, was attacked Nov. 3 while mowing his lawn at his home. A close friend of Pauls said the senator had gotten off his riding lawn mower to remove a limb when he was tackled from behind. Paul has said he never saw the attacker because he was facing downhill and wearing ear protection from the noise of his lawn mower. Paul suffered six broken ribs in the attack. He returned to Washington less than two weeks later but developed pneumonia when he returned to Kentucky. Paul has since said hes recovering well from the attack. Baker said Friday the attack was completely, 100 per cent out of character for Boucher. He said his client is looking forward to getting the case resolved. Boucher faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 (U.S.) fine in the federal case. He is facing the possibility of incarceration, but Im hopeful that it wont be anything toward the top end, Baker said. Minklers office was assigned the case after a U.S. attorney in Kentucky recused himself. The case was investigated by the FBIs Louisville office. SHARE: A year after more than 1 million people rallied at womens marches worldwide with a message of female empowerment and protest against U.S. President Donald Trump, activists will return to the streets this weekend in hopes of converting anger and enthusiasm into political force. The 2017 rally in Washington, D.C., and hundreds of similar marches created solidarity for those denouncing Trumps views on abortion, immigration, LGBTQ rights and more. Since then, a wave of women decided to run for elected office and the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct became a cultural phenomenon. We made a lot of noise, said Elaine Wynn, an organizer. But now how do we translate that noise into something concrete or fulfilling? Along with hundreds of gatherings planned Saturday and Sunday across the U.S. and in places such as Beijing, Buenos Aires, Argentina and Nairobi, Kenya, a rally Sunday in Las Vegas will launch an effort to register 1 million voters and target swing states in the midterm elections. Linda Sarsour, one of the four organizers of last years Washington march, said Las Vegas was targeted for a major rally because its a strategic swing state that gave Hillary Clinton a narrow win in the presidential election and will have one of the most competitive Senate races in 2018. Democrats believe they have a good chance of winning the seat held by embattled Republican Sen. Dean Heller, which would weaken the GOPs hold on the chamber. Wynn, president of the Nevada State Board of Education and former wife of casino mogul Steve Wynn, said women make up half of the states congressional delegation, including Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, who became the first Latina in the U.S. Senate in 2016. Nevada also has one of the highest percentages of female state politicians in the country, and women are mayors of its three largest cities. Organizers say Nevada is also a microcosm of larger national issues like immigration, as well as the debate over gun control after the deadliest mass shooting in modern history last October. The rally will be held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas stadium, 16 kilometres southeast of the famous Strip, where a gunman opened fire on a concert, killing 58 people. Authorities have kept details confidential about security at the 40,000-seat stadium. Minnie Wood, a nurse practitioner who participated in the 2017 gathering in Las Vegas, said she was left with a sense of solidarity and this feeling of almost a quickening, this resistance brewing. It also laid the groundwork for the recent movement that brought a reckoning for powerful men accused of sexual misconduct, Sarsour said. I think when women see visible womens leadership, bold and fierce, going up against a very racist, sexist, misogynist administration, it gives you a different level of courage that you may not have felt you had, she said. Many women inspired by last years massive marches have sought higher office, such as Mindi Messmer, a 54-year-old environmental scientist from Rye, N.H. Messmer was a state legislator when she attended the 2017 march in her state capital of Portsmouth. Shes now a candidate for the seat held by retiring U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, a fellow Democrat. Last year was really empowering and uplifting at a time when we women feel we are being assaulted on a daily basis, she said. Other women running for Congress include newcomer Chrissy Houlahan, who hopes to unseat a Republican in suburban Philadelphia, and Sara Jacobs, a former aide to Barack Obama, seeking the Southern California seat held by retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa. There are women all over the country deciding to be candidates, said veteran feminist Kathy Bonk, who worked in the 1970s for the womens advocacy group NOW Legal Defence and Education Fund. Democratic officeholders pledging to elect more progressive candidates in swing states will be among the speakers in Las Vegas. Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood will also address the crowd. Last years march in Washington sparked debate over inclusion, with some transgender minority women complaining that the event seemed designed for white women born female. Some anti-abortion activists said the event did not welcome them. The organizers for the Sunday rally are striving for greater inclusion this year, with Latina and transgender female speakers, said Carmen Perez, another co-chair of the 2017 Washington march. Women in the U.S. illegally, sex workers and those formerly incarcerated are welcome, she said. Eman Hassaballa Aly, a 38-year-old digital communications manager and activist, said after last years gathering in the Chicago area, she saw women become more politically active, including two Muslim women she knows who are running for office one for state Senate and one for Congress. It was incredible that all these people came together, said Aly, who addressed the 2017 Chicago event. We realized how powerful this thing could be. With files from Ken Ritter, Teresa Crawford, Sara Burnett, Jocelyn Noveck and Bill Barrow Read more about: SHARE: YOLA, NIGERIATwo Americans and two Canadians who were kidnapped in Nigerias north-central Kaduna state on Tuesday have been freed and are in good condition, police said Saturday. Police and a special anti-kidnapping squad rescued the foreigners in the Kagarko local government area Friday night after a massive manhunt, state police commissioner Agyole Abeh said. No ransom was paid. It was the efforts of the police through the directives of the Inspector General of Police that led to their release, he said. Read more: Global Affairs says its aware of report of 2 Canadians kidnapped in Nigeria One suspect was arrested in connection with the kidnapping and police were on the trail of remaining suspects, Abeh said. The foreigners have been taken to the capital, Abuja, Kaduna state police spokesperson Mukhtar Aliyu said. They are in good condition but due to trauma they have to undergo medical observation. Aliyu said. Gunmen ambushed the foreigners Tuesday as they travelled from Kafanchan in Kaduna state to Abuja. Two police escorts were killed in what police called a fierce gun battle. The Americans and Canadians have not been publicly identified. Aliyu earlier said they are investors setting up solar stations in villages around Kafanchan. The Americans and Canadians have not been publicly identified. Aliyu earlier said they are investors setting up solar stations in villages around Kafanchan. Elizabeth Reid, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, said Canadian officials worked closely on the ground with the Nigerian government. She said in an email that they have been in regular contact with the Canadian families and the employer to provide assistance and support. The U.S. State Department said that we are aware of reports of two U.S. citizens kidnapped and released in Nigeria. The safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas are among our top priorities. Due to privacy considerations we have no further comment. Kidnapping for ransom is common in Nigeria, especially on the Kaduna to Abuja highway. Two German archeologists were seized at gunpoint last year less than 100 kilometres northeast of Abuja and later freed unharmed. Sierra Leones deputy high commissioner was taken at gunpoint on the highway in 2016 and held for five days before he was let go. Victims typically are released unharmed after ransom is paid, though security forces have rescued a few high-profile abductees. A number of bandits, including herdsmen, have been arrested. With files from The Canadian Press Read more about: SHARE: LIMA, PERUPope Francis top adviser on clerical sex abuse implicitly rebuked the pontiff over his accusations of slander against Chilean abuse victims, saying Saturday that his words were a source of great pain for survivors of sexual abuse. Cardinal Sean OMalley, the archbishop of Boston, said he couldnt explain why Francis chose the particular words he used and that such expressions had the effect of abandoning victims and relegating them to discredited exile. In an extraordinary effort at damage control, OMalley insisted in a statement that Francis fully recognizes the egregious failures of the church and its clergy who abused children and the devastating impact those crimes have had on survivors and their loved ones. Read more: Pope Francis shocks Chile by accusing sex abuse victims of slandered Pope Francis tells Indigenous in Peru that Amazon is the heart of the church In Chile, Pope acknowledges pain of sex-abuse scandal among victims and priests Francis set off a national uproar upon leaving Chile on Thursday when he accused victims of the countrys most notorious pedophile priest of having slandered another bishop, Juan Barros. The victims say Barros knew of the abuse by the Rev. Fernando Karadima but did nothing to stop it a charge Barros denies. The day they bring me proof against Bishop Barros, Ill speak, Francis told Chilean journalists in the northern city of Iquique. There is not one shred of proof against him. Its all calumny. Is that clear? The remarks shocked Chileans, drew immediate rebuke from victims and their advocates and once again raised the question of whether the 81-year-old Argentine Jesuit gets it about sex abuse. The Karadima scandal has devastated the credibility of the Roman Catholic Church in Chile, and Francis comments will likely haunt it for the foreseeable future. OMalleys carefully worded critique was remarkable since it is rare for a cardinal to publicly rebuke the pope in such terms. But Francis remarks were so potentially toxic to the Vaticans years-long effort to turn the tide on decades of clerical sex abuse and coverup that he clearly felt he had to respond. OMalley headed Francis much-touted committee for the protection of minors until it lapsed last month after its initial three-year mandate expired. Francis has not named new members, and the committees future remains unclear. It is understandable that Pope Francis statements ... were a source of great pain for survivors of sexual abuse by clergy or any other perpetrator, OMalley said in the statement. Words that convey the message if you cannot prove your claims then you will not be believed abandon those who have suffered reprehensible criminal violations of their human dignity and relegate survivors to discredited exile. Francis comments were all the more problematic because Karadimas victims were deemed so credible by the Vatican that it sentenced him to a lifetime of penance and prayer in 2011. A Chilean judge also found the victims to be credible, saying that while she had to drop criminal charges against Karadima because too much time had passed, proof of his crimes wasnt lacking. Those same victims accused Barros of witnessing the abuse. Yet Francis said he considered their accusations all calumny and that he wouldnt believe them without proof. Catholic officials for years sought to discredit victims of abuse by accusing them of slandering and attacking the church with their claims. But many in the church and the Vatican have come to reluctantly acknowledge that victims usually told the truth and that the church had wrongly sought to protect its own by demonizing and discrediting the most vulnerable of its flock. OMalley said he couldnt fully address the Barros case because he didnt know the details and wasnt involved. But he insisted the pope gets it and is committed to zero tolerance for abuse. Accompanying the Holy Father at numerous meetings with survivors I have witnessed his pain of knowing the depth and breadth of the wounds inflicted on those who were abused and that the process of recovery can take a lifetime, he said. Karadimas victims reported to church authorities as early as 2002 that he would kiss and fondle them in the swank Santiago parish he ran. But only when they went public with their accusations in 2010 did the Vatican launch an investigation that led to Karadima being removed from ministry. The emeritus archbishop of Santiago subsequently apologized for having refused to believe the victims from the start. Francis reopened the wounds of the scandal in 2015 when he named Barros, a protege of Karadima, as bishop of the southern diocese of Osorno. His appointment outraged Chileans, badly divided the Osorno diocese and further undermined the churchs credibility in the country. SHARE: TAMPA, FLA.More than 1,000 sea turtles stunned by unusually cold weather have been rescued from waters off Floridas Panhandle this month. U.S. Geological Survey sea turtle expert Margaret Lamont said cold-stunned sea turtles began appearing in St. Joseph Bay in early January as freezing temperatures gripped the region and water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico plummeted. Its now over 1,000, maybe up to 1,100, she told the Tampa Bay Times, referencing the number of turtles that had been collected so far from the bay. Usually that number is about 30 or 40. Lamont says many of the stunned animals are juvenile green turtles, along with some Kemps ridleys, one hawksbill and a few loggerheads. Kemps and hawksbills are listed as endangered species. The reptiles are cold-blooded, which means they slow down when it gets cold. But when temperatures drop below 10 C the turtles become unable to swim or lift their heads above the water to breathe, and can drown. So volunteers pluck the turtles from the water or shore, and send them to Gulf World Marine Park for rehabilitation. This isnt the first winter that hundreds of the turtles needed help. In 2010-11 about 1,700 of the reptiles were rescued during a long cold snap, and 400 died after washing ashore. This year, volunteers are heading into the water to try and get to the turtles earlier. Its really tough, Lamont told the paper. And its really inspiring to see that people are willing to do it to save these animals. SHARE: Dec. 7, 2005, was a busy day of self-promotion for Donald Trump. He appeared on Howard Sterns radio show to plug the finale of The Apprentice, season four. He gave an interview to CNN Headline News in which he talked about his plan to film a subsequent season in Los Angeles. And at Trump Tower in New York, the future president of the United States hosted an event for In Touch, the gossip magazine that this week published a porn stars claim that the two had sex in July 2006. At the event, Trump picked the winner of In Touchs Win a Million Dollars Sweepstakes and presented an oversize check against a backdrop featuring the Apprentice and In Touch logos. Read more: Opinion | Vinay Menon: Trump sex scandal gives a spanking to our standards Porn star Stormy Daniels says during their affair Trump said she reminded him of Ivanka: report Analysis | Stormy Daniels story another reminder of Trumps imperviousness to traditional scandals The White House has dismissed the alleged encounter between Trump and adult-film actress Stormy Daniels as tabloid trash. But Trumps denial is complicated by his history of associating with publications such as In Touch and lending credence to their work. Ive always said, Why didnt the National Enquirer get the Pulitzer Prize for Edwards? Trump said on the campaign trail in 2016. He was referring to the Enquirers revelation that John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina and 2008 presidential candidate, had an affair and fathered a child with a campaign aide. Trump told a crowd in Ohio that the National Enquirer should be very respected, as a way of defending his decision, in an earlier interview, to cite an unsubstantiated article about the father of Sen. Ted Cruz. The Enquirers top editor during the Edwards investigation, David Perel, was editorial director of In Touch during the 2016 presidential campaign. The founding editor of In Touch was Richard Spencer (not to be confused with the white nationalist by the same name). Spencer left in 2010 to launch a new magazine called Reality Weekly at the National Enquirers parent company, American Media Inc. The debut issue of Reality Weekly featured a guest column written by Trump, according to a news release. Spencer and American Media also hired Omarosa Manigault, a contestant on The Apprentice who would later work in Trumps White House, as Reality Weeklys West Coast editor. Trumps friendship with American Media chief executive David Pecker is well documented. Trump has suggested in tweets that Pecker ought to be in charge of Time magazine. And Pecker admitted to the New Yorker last year that in 2016 he squashed a potentially damaging story about a former Playboy model who claimed to have had an affair with Trump in 2006. Heres an excerpt from Jeffrey Toobins New Yorker report: When her people contacted me that she had a story on Trump, everybody was contacting her, [Pecker] said. At the same time, she was launching her own beauty-and-fragrance line, and I said that Id be very interested in having her in one of my magazines, now that shes so famous. But Pecker had a condition for hiring her: Once shes part of the company, then on the outside she cant be bashing Trump and American Media. I pointed out that bashing Trump was not the same as bashing American Media. To me it is, Pecker replied. The guys a personal friend of mine. The Wall Street Journal reported shortly before Election Day in 2016 that American Media had paid the former model, Karen McDougal, $150,000. Last week, the Journal reported that Daniels similarly accepted $130,000 from Trump attorney Michael Cohen to keep quiet during the race. Daniels denied the report. At least four other news outlets pursued reports about a sexual encounter between Trump and Daniels, but the Journal was first to publish. The Journal even beat In Touch to print, though In Touch had interviewed Daniels in 2011. The new editorial director of In Touch, James Heidenry, told The Washington Post that he does not know why the magazine sat on the interview for seven years. Ive only been here since November, Heidenry told The Post. I cant speak to decisions that were made before then. Heidenry came to In Touch from American Media, which has Peckers dont-bash-Trump rule. Long before Trump had a political career to protect even before he starred on The Apprentice he was a fixture in the New York tabloids, as former Page Six editor Susan Mulcahy recalled in a Politico Magazine piece in 2016: If you worked for a newspaper in New York in the 1980s, you had to write about Trump. As editor of the New York Posts Page Six, and later as a columnist for New York Newsday, I needed to fill a lot of space, ideally with juicy stories of the rich and powerful, and Trump more than obliged. I wrote about his real estate deals. I wrote about his wife, his yacht, his parties, his houses. At times, I would let several months go by without a single column mention of The Donald; this doubtless upset him, as he loves Page Six and used to have it brought to him the moment it arrived in his office. Trump even made a bid for the New York Post in 1988 after previously bidding for the New York Daily News in 1982. In short, the president loves tabloid gossip, which makes it harder for him to just brush it off now, when he is the subject of it. Read more about: SHARE: We could do better on aid, Editorial, Jan. 16 Thank you so much for your acknowledgement of Canadas need to do more on foreign aid. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks proudly about our progressive internationalism, intended to imbue international assistance and trade with our values, reflecting, among other things, gender equality and the education and empowerment of girls around the world. Canadians would be shocked to know that the actual dollars we contribute to international development are at a 50-year low. Canada could start by meeting the target set by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) to meet their goals for the coming years. As the outgoing G7 president, Italy championed global education and encouraged all G7 countries to increase their support to the GPE. If Canada steps up in this regard, it would make the feminist international assistance policy truly shine, and add lustre to our G7 presidency for 2018. Sherry Moran, Ottawa When I saw this headline, my immediate thought was Yeah! The Star is getting down on things like affordable housing, child poverty, transit, addiction, a failing health system and a whole long list of things the federal Liberals are not doing. Sadly, as I read, further, I discovered you feel we should look after others before our own. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Let us fix our countrys ills first. Out governments waste enough money on failures here; why spread the disease? Nicholas Brooks, Toronto Your editorial really hit the mark. To be recognized as being a true global leader, whether on Korean detente or feminist issues, the government needs to be seen as willing to back its words with cash. How can it be, for instance, that in its first two years, the Trudeau government spent less on basic education, a topic so fundamental to girls worldwide, than the Stephen Harper government 10 years ago? Credible leadership is about more than selfies and heartfelt promises. Jean-Francois Tardif, Gatineau, Que. Bravo to your editorial board for exposing Canadas dirty little secret; namely that we are not nearly as generous as most of us think we are. But as tempting as it is to criticize the current government, we have been neglecting our global responsibilities for two decades, as successive governments have raided aid budgets like a cookie jar in the name of reducing the deficit. Our pre-1995 historical average has been 0.46 per cent of Canadas gross national income (GNI), compared to the current 0.26 per cent. A 2017 report, Assessing Canadas Global Engagement Gap, concludes out failure to maintain that average has cost more than seven million lives. The G7 presidency offers an opportunity for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to be the real global leader he is capable of being. But his legitimacy as such will be put to the test by the 2018 budget. His government must bring in a Canada is back budget instead of another Canada First one. Stephen St. Denis, Ottawa I would like to congratulate the Star on its courageous editorial. Canadians dont like to hear how cheap we really are. Over the past decade, Canada has substantially and consistently cut its foreign aid and, most particularly, its support of basic education. In 1990, Canada led a revolution in child survival that reduced child deaths by more than 50 per cent in two decades. Canadas current posturing at being a global leader rings hollow because the world sees Canada for the cheapskate that it really is. What an example we are to other rich nations. Sweden, with barely a quarter of our population, has a larger foreign-aid program. Perhaps Finance Minister Bill Morneau could aim to at least equal that level in his 2018 budget. Larry Ladell, Ottawa Thank you for this thoughtful piece. It is true that many government promises on foreign aid ring hollow, but the Prime Minister has an opportunity to change course. The Global Partnership for Education hosts a funding conference in Dakar in early February. Canada, as a demonstration that it pays our own good fortune forward, should commit $260 million over three years to help educate the poorest children in conflict zones. Randy Rudolph, Calgary The governments recently announced Feminist International Assistance Policy could have far-reaching and long-lasting positive impacts for global peace. But and its a big but the policys success will depend on the level of financial support and delivery. Through the policy, Canada will commit 95 per cent of its bilateral international development assistance to womens rights and gender equality, with a focus on womens community-based organizations. The case for supporting the latter is compelling. Research shows that peace processes involving women are more equitable, inclusive and sustainable. It is well documented that grassroots womens organizations in conflict and post-conflict zones can bring together warring parties to resolve differences through dialogue, challenge traditional patriarchal norms that disempower women, cultivate male allies, bring trauma counselling to war survivors, and empower women to lead the work in rebuilding communities. The 2018 federal budget is an opportunity for Canada to invest in international peace building by increasing its foreign aid from 0.26 per cent of gross national income to 0.7 per cent, and by supporting grassroots organizations through diverse and responsive funding mechanisms. Jim Davis, Kairos Canada Read more about: SHARE: Deeper and darker than anybody had imagined. And the imagination had certainly run rampant in the Gay Village. Missing men, from years ago, and no one talked about them much anymore as time passed. Too much time gone by. Except suddenly there it was again, within the past nine months, familiar faces which had disappeared from their midst: Selim Esen, vanished on April 14, last seen near Yonge and Bloor Streets, not far from his apartment building. Two months later, Andrew Kinsman vanished, last seen near Parliament and Winchester Streets on June 26. Inside a community perhaps unparalleled in self-knowledge, in keeping an eye out for one another, the dread began to be voiced aloud: Is there a serial killer out there? Police said no. The police chief said no. But now, with 66-year-old landscaper Bruce McArthur, arrested on Thursday the one-time mall Santa, according to his own social media footprint, made a first court appearance Friday morning, charged with two counts of first-degree murder and investigators actively looking for further victims, the answer is presumed: Yes. Read more: Police investigate properties in Scarborough and Madoc with links to accused killer Bruce McArthur Accused killer Bruce McArthur filed for bankruptcy years before murder charges Detective in charge of Bruce McArthur case one of the best investigators with Toronto police McArthur is charged in the deaths of Esen, 44, and Kinsman, 49. There are other men, however, individuals who frequented the Village, of whom nothing has been seen or heard, missing since between 2010 and 2012, all of whom appear to share physical and ethnic characteristics. McArthur had been under police surveillance for a while, a police source said. Investigators intercepted a vehicle McArthur had allegedly taken to a wrecking yard and found blood stains in the truck, according to CP24. That finding allowed police to execute a search warrant at McArthurs Thorncliffe Park residence, the CP 24 source said. From that search, investigators obtained evidence that allegedly connects the suspect to four possible victims, including Selim and Kinsman. No further charges have yet been announced. It was the gay community, and Kinsmans family, which brought the disappearances forward and kept them there over months and months of searches they organized themselves, following town hall meetings they organized themselves. Hope dies hard. It died with a thud when Patricia Kinsman received a phone call from investigators on Thursday morning while she was babysitting her grandchild. What she asked immediately: Has his body been discovered? No, it hadnt. Nor has that of Esen. For six months, weve been searching for Andrew, with his friends, with his co-workers and even strangers, Kinsman told a press conference at the 519 Church Community Centre, flanked by two sisters and Greg Downer, a friend of Andrew Kinsman who founded the Facebook group, Torontos Missing Rainbow Community, and co-ordinated multiple volunteer searches as the neighbourhood was plastered with missing person posters. We looked for him in the rain, in the heat and in the snow, continued Patricia Kinsman. There was no reason for him to die. Andrew was well-known and loved in the community. He was a happy, caring individual and he would give you the shirt off his back, even if hed got that shirt at the Salvation Army. Said Karen Coles of the finality of the grim news: To have your hopes just taken in one breath, thats it. Theres no way you can prepare for this. From when he first went missing, it was surreal. At least now we know what happened. Thats the hard part when somebodys missing. You live with hope and you live with despair. None of the Kinsman sisters, Patricia, Karen Coles and Shelley Kinsman, had ever heard of McArthur before. But police have said the victim had had a sexual relationship with the accused. We werent privy to that personal part of his life, said Coles. Ive never met any of his partners. But I knew when he had a boyfriend and things like that. The sisters dont drop words like alleged into their comments, because theyre not cops and theyre not reporters. Theyre loved one still reeling from the shock of whats been confirmed. He is an alleged killer. The incomprehension is staggering and somewhat paralyzing, as Downer admitted. As a community we were asking . . . how do we protect ourselves from hooking up with strangers and it turns out that this wasnt a stranger. When I look at the image of (McArthur), whatever I had in my head certainly wasnt what Im seeing. Because so little is known about Esen, believed to have arrived in Toronto from Turkey about three years ago, and even less about the other men who may have been murdered, the impact of so horrific a crime can be measured only, at this point, by Kinsmans family. Downer had tried reaching out to other families of the missing. The common message we got back is it was something theyd already closed and left in the past. So they didnt want to be part of this process. This family, however, put all their energy into ensuring that their brothers disappearance would not fade away from the publics mind. Read more: In heat, rain and snow, the tireless search for Andrew Kinsman went on Andrew is my baby brother, said Shelley Kinsman. Im here today to express my heartfelt thanks to all of those who worked to find him. Above all, I would want to thank those who were a part of Andrews life. It shows you shared my love for Andrew. Andrew was the best of the best. He loved life. He cared for people and above all, he loved his community. What the sisters and Downer made clear is that they are grateful to the police for making an arrest and they dont unlike many critics whove been loudly dismayed by the apparent failure of investigators to make relevant connections among the missing men sooner blame cops in any way. No video surveillance, said Patricia Kinsman, apparently referring to a lack of CCTV captures, which could have helped investigators track her brothers movements before he disappeared, or anybody that might have been in his company. He didnt tell anybody where he went. There were no clues. He just didnt come home. How do you go from having nothing to finding a killer in seven months? She was, in fact, impressed by that. So little is known yet. What police know, or believe they know, is evidence they arent in a position to share with an open investigation. Had police revealed more, earlier, Patricia Kinsman speculated that perhaps it would have scared the person back into hiding. Downer revealed that, from my understanding, the accused had been Facebook friends with two of the missing men. One of my frustrations, from the beginning, was the lack of information. But when I met with 51 Division, I got interesting insight into how their world works. When they came out and said there was no link between all these cases, thats because they didnt have one. Were they thinking it? Once all the information starts coming out in weeks and months ahead, well learn that perhaps they did. Because a lot of us from the community thought so. Perhaps we will later know why they kept tight-lipped is what helped them bring this to a conclusion so fast. None of the sisters were in court for McArthurs appearance yesterday. Theres a trial ahead, likely not for at least a year, which they will have to endure when grim details will be revealed. Asked what she would say to the accused, if she were able to look him in the eye, Patricia Kinsman was clipped: Nothing. I wouldnt waste my time. SHARE: Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York City mayor, once told Britons their decision to pull out of the European Union was the single stupidest thing any country has ever done apart from the election by Americans of Donald Trump as president. Bloomberg was perfectly right, of course, but he may have spoken too soon. Incredibly, there are increasing signs in the United Kingdom that the disastrous Brexit vote may be heading for a second referendum before the process of withdrawal is formally complete. In the June 2016 referendum, U.K. voters backed leaving the EU by a narrow margin 51.9 per cent to 48.1 per cent. But since then, public opinion has gradually shifted. The latest polls show that the Remain side favouring EU membership is now ahead by a margin of six to 10 points, the largest lead since the referendum. A majority also favours a second referendum. What may be most significant is where that boost is coming from. The support among those who want to exit the EU appears to be unchanged, but the number of previously undecided is now overwhelmingly in favour of remaining. This is particularly apparent among young people, who largely failed to vote in 2016 and have shown signs of regretting that. If a second referendum is to happen, the clock is ticking. The two-year exit process is in motion with the U.K.s final departure from the EU planned for March of 2019. But an opportunity to schedule another referendum is increasingly possible. It could be triggered if Brexit negotiations break down. Or, more likely, it could happen this autumn when the British Parliament and the EU have to agree on the terms of the divorce. A referendum could be called on whether to accept the terms. Until recently, even the mention of a Brexit reversal was regarded as fanciful by Britains political and media class. But the final Brexit vote in 2016 was a surprise nearly as much as Trumps presidential victory a few months later. And the momentum has changed direction. Much of that is due to growing economic problems in Britain, as well as indications that Europe intends to demand a harsh settlement from the U.K. for exiting the EU. The issue exploded last week when Nigel Farage, one of the leading anti-EU campaigners, dramatically said that Britain might need a second referendum to settle the issue once and for all. He said his Leave side would win a second vote, but his controversial comments which he took back on Wednesday triggered widespread debate. In a similar vein, foreign minister Boris Johnson another leading anti-EU campaigner reportedly told friends that he fears a Brexit deal will leave the country subordinate to the European Union: Id rather us stay in than leave like that, he was quoted as saying. This new debate took European leaders by surprise, but they recovered quickly. Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, said he hoped Britain would rethink its position: We here on the continent havent had a change of heart. Our hearts are still open to you. Britains journey since the shocking Brexit vote has been rocky. That can be seen in the diminished figure of Prime Minister Theresa May as she barely hangs on to power, as well as in the incredibly shrinking presence of the once influential United Kingdom in international affairs. That was apparent at a summit on Thursday in London between Emmanuel Macron, Frances powerful and popular president, and May. There was no doubt which of the two wielded the most clout. As Macron knows, Long live Little England is hardly a siren call for the 21st century. Just before the summit, Macron added his voice to other European leaders urging Britain to step back from Brexit: If tomorrow, or the day after, the United Kingdom decided to change its mind, its clear that we would look at this with kindness. But Macron made no mention of the announcement by May the day before his visit. The U.K. government has appointed a minister for loneliness to deal with what the prime minister called the sad reality of modern life. There are now less than 15 months for Britain to change an important part of that reality. Tony Burman is former head of Al Jazeera English and CBC News. Reach him @TonyBurman or at tony.burman@gmail.com. Read more about: SHARE: Cryptocurrencies and the blockchain will be front and center at this year's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The summit, which begins on Tuesday, Jan. 23, attracts chancellors, finance ministers, policymakers, CEOs and thought leaders from across the globe to discuss wide-ranging economic issues, such as regulatory reform and the rise of populism. With several Bitcoin, cryptocurrency and blockchain-related panels on the docket, it may help lend some legitimacy to the fast-growing market of virtual currencies and the technology that underpins those assets. The cryptocurrency panels, which include high-profile leaders Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde and BlackRock (BLK) - Get Free Report CEO Larry Fink, among others, are being held at a time when the hype about Bitcoin continues to grow. Bitcoin prices have been on a tear in recent months, hitting a record high of $19,783.21 in December and climbing more than 2,000% over the course of 2017. Since then, however, Bitcoin's value has tumbled by almost half, while other alternative cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, Ripple and LiteCoin, have also plummeted. Bitcoin was priced at $10,629 on Coinbase on Monday morning. The wild swings in Bitcoin prices haven't been the only headline-grabbing crypto events in the past year. As Bitcoin prices pushed higher and higher in 2017, investors piled into cryptocurrency trading platforms and hundreds of new alternative cryptocurrencies were created, many of them rising alongside Bitcoin's dizzying ascent. All the while, the U.S. dollar has declined in value and more attention has been building toward greater regulation of digital assets around the world. Many traditional banks and financial institutions have approached Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies tepidly. In one of the most visible endorsements so far, exchange groups CME Group and Cboe Global Markets Inc. launched Bitcoin futures exchanges in December. At the same time, Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Jay Clayton has warned of the risks surrounding cryptocurrencies, while Chinese officials banned digital currency exchanges and initial coin offerings. South Korean policymakers have mentioned the idea of banning trading via cryptocurrency exchanges, after also banning ICOs. The moves have all contributed to the larger discussion around whether cryptocurrencies and the blockchain will revolutionize the world of money -- a topic that has been debated at Davos in years past. The topics have drawn both endorsements and criticisms from many luminaries. Blockchain technology hasn't been condemned to the same degree as Bitcoin, however. Willem Buiter, former chief economist for Citi (C) - Get Free Report , called Bitcoin a "complete failure" at Davos 2016, while Morgan Stanley (MS) - Get Free Report CEO James Gorman said at the same conference that Bitcoin "isn't going to change the world tomorrow." Outside of Davos, billionaire investor Warren Buffett has also come out with criticisms around Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, saying he believes they will "come to a bad ending." "People who have built their empires on top of fiat currency are either extremely nervous or cautious or curious," said Mati Greenspan, a Tel-Aviv based analyst at investment firm eToro. "Those people are the fearful types." It's possible that the sentiment around Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies may be different at this year's conference, especially as more leaders have gradually shifted their tone on digital currencies. For example, J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) - Get Free Report CEO Jamie Dimon recently said he regrets calling Bitcoin a fraud, after saying Bitcoin investors were stupid last October. "I believe the sentiment is much different today," said Campbell Harvey, a professor of finance at Duke University. "Central bankers have finally come to the realization that they must create their own cryptocurrencies, like Fedcoin." Fedcoin is a proposal to create a U.S.-government-sponsored cryptocurrency. Institutional investors have begun to take notice of the fact that there are several advantages to cryptocurrencies and blockchain, such as a diminished risk of criminal activity and counterfeiting, Harvey explained. Additionally, blockchain-based cryptocurrencies eliminates the cost of printing, distributing and securing paper currency, and retains all the flexibility of the current financial system, he added. "It is obvious that paper money will be a historical relic in the near future," Harvey argued. "The advantages of a crypto are substantial." eToro's Greenspan said he's attending Davos as part of a meeting of the Ethereum Alliance, a blockchain initiative that is working to develop Ethereum for use in the enterprise industry. The consortium counts executives from Santander, Microsoft (MSFT) - Get Free Report , CME Group, JP Morgan, Intel (INTC) - Get Free Report and other major firms as part of its board. Greenspan said the Ethereum Alliance is just one case where top executives and corporations have shown that they're "blockchain curious," which may reflect a change in attitudes toward the technology and the cryptocurrencies traded on it. Blockchain, like Bitcoin, is still in its early days, which is probably partly to blame for the feelings of fear, Greenspan added. "It will take people a while before they can see the everyday use of it," Greenspan said. "But all the forward thinkers of our generation have been inspired by it." Jim Cramer and the AAP team hold positions in Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Microsoft for their Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells C, JPM or MSFT? Learn more now. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: One of my 2018 Amazon.com (AMZN) - Get Free Report predictions -- that Prime would see a price hike -- just partly came true. And it wouldn't be altogether shocking if it went from being partly to completely true by year's end. This morning, Amazon announced that the price for a U.S. Prime subscription paid on a monthly basis would be rising by $2 to $12.99 per month, or nearly $156 on an annualized basis. For now, however, the price of an annual Prime membership, which was last hiked in early 2014, remains at $99. Clearly, Amazon is trying to motivate Prime members on monthly subscriptions to switch to the annual plan, which likely has less churn and (since credit cards are billed just once each year) carries lower payment-processing costs. Those who do so will effectively be getting 12 months of Prime for the price of less than eight, based on the new monthly rate. It's probably not a coincidence that this move was carried out shortly after the holiday season, when Amazon likely saw quite a few people sign up for monthly Prime plans. In its annual holiday sales PR, Amazon said "more than four million people started Prime free trials or began paid memberships" during one week alone of the holiday season. Moreover, while Amazon doesn't break out its total number of Prime members, let alone how many people are on monthly plans relative to annual plans, the rapid growth seen in the company's subscription revenue suggests it could have quite a few monthly Prime subscribers on its books. Amazon's "subscription services" revenue, believed to be dominated by Prime, grew 59% annually in constant currency in Q3 to $2.44 billion, and has totaled $8.7 billion over the last four reported quarters. Last February, Re/code's Jason Del Rey observed that Amazon's various disclosures about Prime member growth suggested it had at least 66 million members globally as of the end of 2016. Meanwhile, research firm CIRP's Q3 survey data has suggested there are 90 million Prime members in the U.S. alone, but this figure appears to include multiple family members relying on the same Prime subscription. In recent months, Prime has benefited from strong uptake in Europe and India, as well as from the arrival of discounted plans for U.S. consumers relying on food stamps or other government-assistance programs. The big question is whether today's monthly price hike paves the way for an annual hike. Considering how long it has been since we last saw the annual fee get hiked, how much Prime's offerings have grown since then, how large of a price difference now exists between the monthly and annual plans and how hooked many Prime members are on the service, it certainly wouldn't be very surprising. CIRP's Q3 survey indicated that the average U.S. Prime member now spends about $1,300 per year on Amazon. That's up from $1,200 a year earlier, well above the $700 spent on average by non-Prime members and equal to 13 times the cost of an annual plan. The survey also showed that over 70% of U.S. Prime members said they will "definitely" renew their plans, and that 95% will either definitely or "probably" do so. Meanwhile, Prime delivers quite a lot more than it did at the time of the 2014 price hike. In addition to providing a much larger selection of items eligible for free two-day shipping, Prime now offers (among other things) free same-day delivery for a number of items, access to the Prime Now rapid-delivery service, a larger Prime Video library and access to the Prime Music, Prime Reading, Twitch Prime and Prime Photos content services. In addition, Prime will soon become Whole Foods' rewards/discount program. It's hard to imagine a large percentage of Prime members walking away from all this in the event a moderate price hike for the annual plan -- say, to $119 per year -- is announced. At such a price point, the service would still arguably be cheap enough for many consumers to deem it (in Jeff Bezos' words) "irresponsible" not to be signed up. However, if Amazon does plan to make such a move this year, it probably won't happen over the next two or three months. The company will likely want to give those signed up for the monthly plan some time to sign up for a year of Prime at $99, and it might also want to get a good read on the effects of the monthly price hike before deciding just how to proceed with an annual hike. But that still leaves plenty of time between now and the 2018 holiday season to carry out a price hike that would provide Amazon hundreds of millions in additional annual gross profit, and (provided Amazon doesn't go overboard) probably wouldn't cause huge cancellations. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: Rokita's office, Bernard's attorneys spar in court over patient privacy Attorneys on both sides sparred over the ethics and limits of patient-physician confidentiality during witness questioning on Friday. >So has everyone else - they aren't available yet. 120 days ahead for Thalys trains.< Correct and incorrect. 6th May is only 106 days away wirewiper ;-)) you can book up until the 20th May on the Thalys site https://www.thalys.com/be/en/ ABS (any belgian station) fares are available from only 36 on the 6th May or 56 in Comfort (1st). Normal IC fixed price is around 60. If your plans are fixed then book the Thalys now. By the way for some reason the Thalys site does not seem to recognise Ypres as a station so just use Poperinge which is the next city down the line. Hi, me and my partner are flying into Brisbane on the 27th January and have two weeks to see as much of the east coast as possible but also be able to enjoy it and not cram too much in! Our budget is around 2000-2500 GBP between us. I have been told whitsundays and fraser island are a must but i realise they have to be done by tours and the distance between them is quite far .... can anyone help me with a rough Itinerary?? We leave for Bali on the 8th Feb from Sydney! Thanks :) We have just been to Tasmania for 5 nights it was a short taster trip so my cousin from England could see what it was like, we flew into Launceston picked up our car and drove to Cradle Mountain, we only stayed one night but I would recommend at least 2 nights, it is a very windy road to Cradle Mountain so make sure you do it before dusk. We stayed at the Wilderness Village which was great, Make sure you take a short walk in the early evening as you get to see alot of wildlife, we saw wombats, pademelons, echidna and possums just in a short 1/2 hour wander from our accomodation, for the rest of our stay we stayed 2 nights in Bicheno and 2 nights in Hobart, we used Air BNB for both those stays as they were cheaper as we were sharing costs. B & B's tend to be expensive in Australia and usually require a couple of nights. Tasmania is a wonderful place to travel around in, Tasmania's cities are small so you will have no problem travelling in and out of them.The National Parks in Tasmania are well run, purchase a $60 park pass at the first park you visit and it will cover the rest of your trip. I hope you have a wonderful time, It is a beautiful part of Australia When someone say "visa" they normally mean applying at an embassy or consulate and having a visa stamped or pasted in your passport, it can take days. With ETA and ESTA you just go online, put in your details and pay with a credit card, then turn up at the border. Technically you are coming from a visa waiver country. Actually a NZ citizen is granted a resident visa on arriving in Australia while an Australian citizen does not need any sort of visa to enter NZ. (I am a dual citizen so switch passports as I cross the Tasman LOL) MetsFan, In regards to the driving, it's really not what it gets made out to be, in my opinion. Certainly, if you prefer to use shuttles or private drivers, go for it; loads of people do it all the time and have great trips! But if you really would rather drive yourself, don't let everything you read talk you out of it. That's my take, at least. I wouldn't presume to talk anyone into, or out of, having a rental and DIY (drive it yourself). All I would say is that if you do want to go the DIY route, please check in with the people here (or do some searching through past postings) about the unique CR car rental environment *before* you make any rental arrangements. And, for that matter, there are several people on here who can offer you a wealth of shuttle/transport options and information if you choose that route, as well. Either way, hope your trip is a great one! PiratesFan (maybe we both enjoy pain? lol) We noticed that you're using an unsupported browser. The Tripadvisor website may not display properly.We support the following browsers: Windows: Internet Explorer , Mozilla Firefox , Google Chrome . Mac: Safari . I am sure that there have been many requests for itineraries, etc, but thought I would ask anyway in case someone would like to offer their suggestions regarding what to do, where to go and where to stay for a trip we are planning to Vietnam in July this year. We are a family of four (our two boys will be 15 and 12 when we visit). We plan on being in Vietnam for two weeks (excluding flight time form New Zealand, where we live). We like snorkelling, kayaking, fishing, anything to do with the sea really, moderate walks or tramps, trying local cuisine. We are keen to see the highlights and the culture of Vietnam. We are interested in hearing about people's views of where to go, what to do and where to stay. We are contemplating booking a tour but are a little uncertain as to whether we would like to be constrained by travelling in a group with other families (Any advice from families who have taken a tour would also be appreciated - I have read lots of reviews but can't really see any from people with children the age of ours). Alternatively, we would also like to know if hiring a driver is easy and inexpensive for day trips. Also, we would like to know if anyone has visited both Vietnam and Cambodia within this timeframe, and whether they felt rushed or not. We are only in the early stages of planning our trip, and will talk to friends and family who have visited, but we would be really keen to get advice from other people as well. Thanks in advance if you are able to comment. Hi all, We are a family of 4 traveling to Japan in May for 8 days. We plan on staying 2 days in Tokyo, one day in Kanazawa and 5 days in Kyoto. How much cash in Yen will we need approximately? This is not including accommodation and airfare which is already taken care of. We will also get a 7 day JR pass, so we don't need to include that either. Thanks so much for your advice! Hi everybody! My family and I are currently planning our 3rd trip to Japan for mid-November and I have a few questions. 1. What are the best places to see foliage? 2. How is the visibility on Mt. Fuji from Kawaguchiko at that time of year (I know this can vary, but I also know some months are better than others - we have already been in January and had fantastic visibility, so I am trying to understand whether or not it would be worth going back in autumn). 3. How is the trail between Magome and Tsumago at that time of the year (cold, good foliage etc?). Is it doable with kids (11 and 8 years old - reasonably good walkers)? 4. How about Kyushu... Ideally, we would like to visit Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kurokawa Onsen, Yufuin, and Beppu (yes, we love onsens!). Are all these places worth a visit? And how long would you recommend as a minimum stay in each place? A bit of background. We have already visited: Tokyo, Nikko, Kamakura, Kawaguchiko, Kyoto, Hiroshima/Miyajima, Osaka, Nara, Mt. Koya, Kanazawa, Takayama, Nabana no Sato, Kurashiki, Kinosaki Onsen, Himeji, Matsumoto, and Yudanaka. We will definitely go back to Tokyo and especially to Kyoto (we LOVE it and we would like to do the Sagano rail experience and maybe Uji or Biwa-ko) this time as well, and maybe Miyajima. Happy to go back to some places if a must for foliage. This is the rough itinerary we have so far: Tokyo Tokyo - Kawaguchiko Kawaguchiko - Nagasaki Nagasaki Nagasaki - Fukuoka/Hakata Fukuoka/Hakata - Kurokawa Onsen Kurokawa Onsen - Yufuin Yufuin - Beppu Beppu - Miyajima Miyajima - Kyoto Kyoto Kyoto Kyoto Kyoto Kyoto Kyoto - Nagiso - Tsumago (leave Kyoto at lunch) Tsumago - Magome - Tsumago - Nagiso - Tokyo (leave for Tokyo after 15:30) Tokyo - night flight home Is it worth to spend 1 night in Yufuin and 1 night in Beppu? Is there a better way to go about this? I know Kawaguchiko-Nagasaki is very long and we don't mind a long day of travelling once in a while, but if there is a better way to do this, we are happy to know! :-) ANY tip is greatly appreciated! Thanks! Hi everyone, I'm in the process of planning a trip to Japan this summer (mid August). We'll be staying in Tokyo but would like to travel down to Kyoto for a few days. I understand that during this period trains are very busy, but I was wondering if we would miss the rush by heading out to Kyoto on the 17th of August and coming back to Tokyo on the 18th or 19th or are these dates still very busy? Would we have trouble getting reserved seats for these dates? We don't arrive in the country until the 13th of August so that would be the earliest we could book seats (we are 2 passengers). Many thanks!! Hi, I am also wondering about Aokigahara Forest? I had not heard of it before your post and when I looked it up I wondered how you would get there and where you would stay that night?? Osaka and Kyoto are very close together. Japanese hotels are very strict about check in times so you kind of lose a day changing for one night. I suppose you could drop off your luggage and see some of Osaka and some night life but I hate changing hotels for one night unless there is something quite special I wish to see/do in that town or city. I would give Plantation a very wide birth. Food not good and now there is no atlternative. Ananda's is closed and Musket Cove, I believe, has uninvited guests from Plantation. My preference would be for Hideaway. Stayed at a couple of the Double Tree Resorts elsewhere in the world and I don't think the concept works that well. When we had the kids with us we used to stay at Naviti and whilst it is only 3 star we found the all inclusive good value. Have a look in the Murcoch Sunday papers to see if they're running specials. Hi, I'm japanese woman living in Tokyo for more than 30 years I would be glad if I could help you even just a little. [TOKYO trip] 1st day (1)7am-9am -Tsukiji Fish Market[Tokyo] (2)12:30pm-13:30pm -imperial palace[tokyo] (3)14:00-15:30pm -akihabara district (4)16:15pm-20:00pm Tokyo city night view at Roppongi Hills and dinner 2nd day (1)Sumo Stable 07:00am-09:00am if you visit a sumo stable, please ask a hotel concierge to reserve the sumo stable tour. http://www.sumofanmag.com/ (2)10am-12pm -kabuki theatre (3)13:00pm-15:30pm -Meiji shrine -Harajuku district Meiji shrine and Harajuku is located in the same area. (4)16:00-17:30pm -Shibuya crossing and shopping and dinner [KYOTO trip] (1)8:00am-10:00am : Fushimi Inari Shrine 10:19am : JR Inari Station (about 40 mins, one transfer at JR Kyoto Station) 10:58am: Arashiyama (JR Saga Arashiyama Station) (2)11:00am-16:00pm: Wearing Kimono and walking around Arashiyama (a)11:15am-12:30pm :going to Kimono rental shop to have them put a kimono on. I would recommend this Kimono rental shop which is a small family-run kimono rental shop(mother(owner) and two dauthers. they are very friendly and very kind).hair accessories are made by the owner. Kimoro rental shop, "ZYUPAN" in Arashiyama: http://www.zyupan.com/ (b)tea ceremony experience @Arashiyama http://kyoto-nagomi-matcha.com/en (c)Aarishiyama bamboo forest and taking a picture with Kimono like this(http://ebisuya.com/en/ ) around 16:00pm: going back to a rental kimono shop to return a kimono. (d)Gion district Having a dinner in Gion area. if you are lucky, you can see a Geisha-san or Maiko-san. Is your company in need of the most reliable and efficient best Best Jasmine Tea s in the market? Your good luck led you to the ideal situation, so congratulations! You are in the best possible place. By eliminating the need to read through dozens of Best Jasmine Tea reviews, we are saving you time and stress. Many customers find it difficult to decide which Best Jasmine Tea product to buy. The dilemma is brought about by the many types of Best Jasmine Tea in the market. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a clear understanding of how you may choose the most suitable Best Jasmine Tea available in the market. - Kenya moral police,Ezekiel Mutua has congratulated Citizen TV's 10/10 show for adhering to his conditions - He however promised to get a search warrant to get to Citizen TV's studios to confirm the ages of the show's attendees - He has also send a warning to K24 over their Nairobi Dairies show which features Kenya's socialites - Ezekiel had put the show on notice after he had received numerous complaints from parents and concerned Kenyans The Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) CEO, Ezekiel Mutua congratulated Citizen TV's 10 over 10 show on Friday, January 19 for complying with the boards regulations. The Moral CEO noted that their was notable improvement with the show despite the media house's need to shape up. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens In a statement seen by TUKO.co.ke, he cautioned the station that every episode of the show was being recorded by his Broadcast Compliance Division personnel. "Quite an improved 10/10 tonight but we are watching and our Broadcast Compliance Division personnel are recording every episode." said Ezekiel READ ALSO: Kenya's moral police,Ezekiel Mutua, puts citizen TV on notice over obscene programing Moral Police, Ezekiel Mutua, Lauds Citizen Tv's 10/10 show for adhering to his conditions. Photo: Ezekiel Mutua/ Facebook READ ALSO: Kenya's moral police disappointed on obscenities aired on Citizen TVs 10/10 late night show He also warned the media house against playing games with the content regulator to avoid regrets. "Media houses will shape up or they will regret playing games with the content regulator." Mutua added that the board will obtain a search warrant to get into Citizen's studios in Kilimani alongside police officers to confirm the ages of the attendees. "We will obtain a search warrant and get into the studios of the station in Kilimani, accompanied by a contingent of police officers and demand to confirm the ages of the attendees." read Mutua's post. READ ALSO: 14 clauses in the declaration all NASA MPs are to sign in support of Raila-Kalonzo swearing in He promised to file a case against the hosts of the show if they will find the attendees of the show to be underage. "Stopping the live show midway and getting the hosts and the guests to Kilimani police station is not difficult. The kids will be picked by their parents the following day but if we find that some are underage then the show hosts will have a case to answer." READ ALSO: Female doctor wants ban on female circumcision among Kenyan communities lifted Ezekiel Mutua also took a jab at Mediamax's Nairobi Diaries, which airs on K24, over what he termed as live immorality. "We will then move to another station in Kijabe street and ask those women who do obscene shows on tv to answer a few questions at the Central police station." "By the time we are done no kid will attend the wild show. And the socialites along kijabe street will think twice before they bring their obscenity on TV. There are many ways of killing a cat!" he warned. READ ALSO: 15 MCAs arrested after causing drama at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Ezekiel Mutua on Saturday, January 6 characterised the show as the most obscene and indecent show to be aired on main stream media and an abuse of the national frequencies. According to an earlier report by TUKO.co.ke, he claimed he had received a number of complaints from concerned Kenyans over the show. ALSO WATCH: Mike Sonko's ability to deliver without the help of Polycarp Igathe questioned by Kenyans Source: TUKO.co.ke - Opposition leader Raila Odinga paid tribute to his late father Jaramogi Oginga Odinga 24 years after his death - Jaramogi was the father of opposition politics having opposed the leadership of presidents Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Moi - Jaramogi died on January 20, 1994 aged 83 years after unsuccessfully running for the presidency against Moi in 1992 Opposition leader Raila Odinga took time off his busy political schedule to pay tribute to his late father Jaramogi Oginga Odinga 24 year since Kenya's first vice president passed on. Jaramogi died on January 24, 1994 just as Kenya welcomed multiparty politics in which he played a vital role. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: Serikali yamfuta kazi Katibu Mkuu wa KNUT Wilson Sossion Former Vice President the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. Photo: Nation History has it that Jaramogi refused to take over the leadership of independent Kenya and demanded that Mzee Jomo Kenyatta be released from prison and be crowned the leader. READ ALSO: UoN students protest following Babu Owino's arrest He told colonialists that taking over when Kenyatta and other freedom fighters were still languishing in jail would be taken as betrayal READ ALSO: Raila storms Parklands Police station to secure Babu Owino's release The late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga who died on January 20, 1994. Photo: Daily Nation Indeed, Kenyatta was released and became the first Prime Minister and later President of independent Kenya with Jaramogi as his first vice president. The union did not last long as the two fell out with Kenyatta throwing Jaramogi to jail after his opposition party was accused of organisting protests that turned violent and stayed bhind bars for 15 months from October 1969. Jaramogi died as a fierce opposition leader aged 83 years and his position was swiftly taken over by his son, Raila Amolo Odinga. READ ALSO: 32 children rescued from Al-Shabaab by Somali special forces Opposition leader Raila Odinga, the son of former vice president the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. Photo: NASA Raila is described in his autobiography as an enigma in Kenya's politics and has since remained a powerful figure in the country's politics. Today, the country is facing imminent split after Odinga disputed the reelection of Uhuru Kenyatta, a son of the founding president Jomo Kenyatta, treating Kenyans to a replica of their fathers' rivalry. 114 year old grandma enjoys massive support from family - on TUKO TV Source: TUKO.co.ke - An operation led by US backed Somali special forces has rescued 32 children who had been kidnapped by militant group al- Shabab - The children were rescued at school during a night raid at the Middle Shabelle region in Somali - At least 10 people including four children, the trainer and five other militants were killed during the raid A US sponsored operation by Somalia Special forces on Friday, January 19 rescued 32 children who had been kidnapped by militant group al-Shabab. The children were rescued during a night raid by the forces in a school at the Middle Shabelle region in Somali. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: Female doctor wants ban on female circumcision among Kenyan communities lifted File photo of teenagers captured and forced into terrorism by al- Shabab militia group. Photo: Horseed Media READ ALSO: 14 clauses in the declaration all NASA MPs are to sign in support of Raila-Kalonzo swearing in Speaking to VOA, Somali Information Minister Abdirahman Omar Osman said the militants were indoctrinating the children as reported by Citizen TV. The militants were indoctrinating the children, but now they are safe and are in the hands of the government, he said in a phone interview with VOAs Somali Service. According to an eyewitness, at least 10 people including four children, the trainer and five other militants were killed during the raid. READ ALSO: 15 MCAs arrested after causing drama at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport The witness said that soldiers transported by helicopter raided the school overnight in Jamea Jilay village, where the militants were training children to become fighters. Village elders and all the people in this community feel scared from al-Shabab, the resident said. It was also reported that a pro-al-Shabab website said Somali and American troops massacred schoolchildren and their teacher. READ ALSO: Moral Police, Ezekiel Mutua, Lauds Citizen Tv's 10/10 show for adhering to his conditions Human Rights Watch recently reported that al-Shabab militants are forcing communities in remote areas to hand over children as young as eight to be trained as fighters. In a separate development, U.S. forces conducted an air strike against al-Shabab on Thursday, January 18. The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) says the strike hit an area 50 kilometers northwest of Kismayo and killed four militants. It says no civilians were killed in the attack. ALSO WATCH: Mike Sonko's ability to deliver without the help of Polycarp Igathe questioned by Kenyans Source: TUKO.co.ke Russian-backed militants launched seven attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) area in Donbas over the past day. This is reported by the ATO Headquarters press center. Over the past day, Russian-backed militants launched seven attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Our servicemen had to return once. No casualties among Ukrainian servicemen were reported, the report reads. Terrorists continue to disrupt the ceasefire agreements of the Trilateral Contact Group and shell the Ukrainian positions with weapons, banned under the Minsk agreements. In Luhansk direction, the enemy used 82mm mortars and heavy machine guns to shell Ukrainian strongholds near Luhanske (59km north-east of Donetsk) and Svitlodarsk (55km north-west of Donetsk). ATO troops came under small arm fire near Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk). In Donetsk direction, Ukrainian defenders noticed an enemy diversionary group near Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol) that was moving towards our positions. When the militants were critically close, our soldiers opened fire from small arms and forced the saboteurs to withdraw. One militant was wounded. Our soldiers evacuated him from the battlefield and provided with medical assistance. In the evening, in the same area, the enemy fired 120mm mortars, machine guns and small arms at the outskirts of Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol) and Vodiane (16km north-west of Donetsk). ish UNICEF/Anmar BAGHDAD/AMMAN, 19 January 2018 Iraq today hosts one of UNICEFs largest operations in the world, responding with humanitarian and development assistance to the needs of the most vulnerable girls and boys across the country. More than 4 million children have been impacted by extreme violence in several areas including in Ninewa and al-Anbar. Last year alone, 270 children were killed. Many were robbed of their childhood, forced to fight on the frontlines. Some will bear the physical and psychological scars for life due to exposure to unprecedented brutality. Over 1 million children were forced to leave their homes. While the fighting has come to an end in several areas, spikes of violence continue in others. Just this week, three bombings went off in Baghdad. Violence is not only killing and maiming children; it is destroying schools, hospitals, homes and roads. It is tearing apart the diverse social fabric and the culture of tolerance that hold communities together. In the northern city of Mosul, a place that witnessed unspeakable destruction, I met children who were hit hard by three years of violence. In one of the schools that UNICEF recently rehabilitated in the western parts of Mosul, I joined 12-year-old Noor in class. She told me how her family stayed in the city even during the peak of the fighting. She spoke of her fear when she was taking shelter. She lost three years of schooling and is now working hard to catch up, learning English with other boys and girls. Mankind may have proven once again in Mosul and other parts of Iraq its massive power to destroy and destruct. But another much stronger power left a deeper impression: the determination to rebuild and get on with life. Children were so excited speaking of their aspirations, sharing their happiness of being able to play and study again. I met with Samir, a displaced retired teacher who survived the heavy fighting. Full of hope and life, he spoke of childrens boundless power to heal and overcome the devastation of war through school and through play. Samir is a testament that there should be no lost generation in Iraq. Poverty and conflict have interrupted the education for 3 million children across Iraq. Some have never been inside a classroom. Over a quarter of all children in Iraq live in poverty, with children in southern and rural areas most affected over the past decades. As Iraq prepares for elections and the International Summit for Iraq, there is no better moment to prioritize the interests of children, stop the violence and break the cycle of poverty and deprivation. On behalf of Noor and Samir and millions of children and caregivers, UNICEF appeals to authorities in Iraq and the international community to: Put an end to all forms of violence everywhere in the country so that children and families in Iraq can live in safety and dignity, protected from harm. Continue providing humanitarian and recovery assistance like safe water, education, protection and psycho-social support, nutrition and health services to the most affected children, including those who remain in camps and informal settlements. Massively step up immediate and long-term investments in education. The children of Iraq, like all children around, the world have the right to learn and aspire to a better tomorrow. The children of today are tomorrows teachers, doctors, engineers and scientists. Investing in them now is an investment in Iraqs future. The International Summit for Iraq, hosted by the State of Kuwait from 12-14 February is another unique opportunity for the Government of Iraq and the international community to further strengthen commitments towards children in Iraq. The strongest of which is not through another plan but the commitment to increase budgets allocated to support children bringing a positive impact on the lives of children. Member states and the private sector should turn financial pledges into concrete commitments for children. This is fundamental for rebuilding a peaceful and prosperous Iraq away from the vicious cycles of violence and intergenerational poverty. UNICEF and partners will continue standing firm with the girls and boys of Iraq to ensure respect for and fulfilment of their rights agreed in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and in humanitarian law. ### Notes for editors: Across Iraq, UNICEF has supported local authorities to rehabilitate 576 schools and provided school supplies to 1.7 million children. Since January 2017, UNICEF and partners have reached 2.4 million vulnerable people displaced from their homes, including over a million children, with lifesaving packages of assistance containing water, food and hygiene items. UNICEF is appealing for US$186 million to respond to the needs of children in Iraq in 2018. Photos and video are available for download here For more information please contact: Joe English, UNICEF New York, +1 917 893 0692 JEnglish@unicef.org Laila Ali, UNICEF Iraq, + 964 (0) 7809258542, laali@unicef.org Juliette Touma, UNICEF MENA Regional Office, +962 798 674 628 , jtouma@unicef.org AMMAN, 20 January 2018 - It is tragic that at least 12 Syrians including two children died in Eastern Lebanon near the Masna border crossing with Syria. Syrian people continue to risk their lives and the lives of their children in a desperate search for safety and shelter. Our thoughts are with the families who lost their loved ones, victims of a war that soon enters its eight year. More children could be among the dead as residents in the area and the Lebanese authorities continue to look for people who are reportedly trapped in the mountainous in freezing temperatures and snow. Children in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, the State of Palestine, Jordan, Turkey and Egypt and in many other countries across the globe living in conflict or impacted by conflict struggle every winter to keep warm. UNICEF and partners are helping families to cope with the harsh weather. UNICEF is distributing blankets, warm clothes, and fuel to heat schools. The death of these two Syrian children is however a reminder that much more needs to be done. The brutal wars have to stop and we all need to step up our generosity and assistance for the most affected children. We have no excuse. We cannot continue failing children! ### Notes for editors: Since the start of winter, UNICEF has been helping families to cope with the harsh weather. As part of its package of assistance to families in need, UNICEF is distributing blankets, warm clothes, and fuel to heat schools in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt and the State of Palestine, Funding constraints are challenging UNICEFs ability to continue this assistance. So far, UNICEF received only half of the funding needed for winter response. If urgent funding is not received, UNICEF will not be able to reach nearly 800,000 children with winter assistance. For more on UNICEFs winter response visit www.childrenofsyria.info For more information contact: Juliette TOUMA, UNICEF Regional Office, +962-79-867-4628, jtouma@unicef.org Hedinn HALLDORSSON, UNICEF Lebanon, +961-81-696-990, hhalldorsson@unicef.org Tamara KUMMER, UNICEF Regional Office, +962-79-588-550, tkummer@unicef.org Christopher Tidey, UNICEF New York, +1 917 340 3017, ctidey@unicef.org This year, CityCenter is celebrating with a massive, custom-made gold dragon that will be at the center through the holiday. Standing at 24 feet tall and 53 feet long, weighing more than 3,000 pounds and illuminated by more than 100,000 LED light points, The Shops at Crystals beautiful gold dragon will be a stunning addition to the centers decor. Incredibly, the dragon was shipped to the United States as one built piece with no further building necessary! The gold dragon will be on display from now through March 1 to honor Chinese New Year. Additionally, Shoppers and guests are also invited to celebrate The Year of the Dog with a grand Lion Dance performed by the esteemed Yau Kung Moon. The Lion Dance, held Saturday, Feb. 17 from 12-1:30 pm, will parade through the center and pause at more than 40 participating luxury retailers. The retailers will then feed the lion, ensuring good luck, good health and good fortune in the coming year. Finally, a traditional blessing by Bhante Sujatha, a Monk from Blue Lotus Las Vegas, will take place on Thursday, Feb. 15 in a private celebration to kick-off The Shops at Crystals Chinese New Year celebration and events. Affinity Gaming donated $12,8000 to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada in recognition of their response to the tragic Oct. 1 shooting in Las Vegas. Affinity Gaming CEO Michael Silberling presented the check to Dr. John Fildes, chief of trauma and UNLV school of Medicine chief of surgery in front of many other members of University Medical Center and Affinity Gaming staff. We want to acknowledge the work that is being done every day by the staff at University Medical Center, said Silberling. As members of the community, we have a responsibility to support the individuals that help people get back on their feet and with their family. The generous donation from Affinity Gaming will go toward training our staff and help us maintain readiness in the event of another mass casualty said Dr. Fildes. What took place on Oct. 1 was 10 times what we see in one night, and we were so fortunate to be as prepared as we were. The gift will go to the UMC Foundation, in support of UMC Emergency Services and Trauma Center, for the purchase of equipment and technology, training and education of UMC staff members and the broader community, counseling and support services for UMC staff and patients, and general UMC Trauma Center and Emergency Services operations. Affinity Gaming acknowledges the dedicated staff members at UMC that continue to provide advanced emergency and trauma services to the community and support their goal of continued and enhanced preparedness in the event of an emergency. (Pictured: Kimberly Cerasoli, University Medical Center director of disease specific programs; University Medical Center RN trauma; Vince Lentini, Affinity Gaming chief marketing officer and SVP; Dee Towner, University Medical Center senior management analyst; Melani Evans, Affinity Gaming vice president of property marketing; Dr. Jeremy Kilburn, University Medical Center pulmonary chief of surgery; Michael Silberling, Affinity Gaming CEO; Dr. John Fildes, chief of trauma and UNLV school of Medicine chief of surgery; Marcia Turner, University Medical Center chief administrative officer; David Eisendrath, Affinity Gaming vice president of corporate finance;Gail Yedinak, University Medical Center senior management analyst; Stana Subaric, senior vice president of human resources) Blaming each other for the political deadlock, Republican and Democratic lawmakers closed the first day of a partial shutdown of the U.S. government with few signs of agreement on a spending bill tangled in a fight over immigration. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Saturday night he had scheduled a vote for 1 a.m. Monday on a new spending bill that would keep the government open until Feb. 8. The vote puts pressure on Senate Democrats to reach an agreement or risk voting down a government spending bill for the second time. Spending authority expired at midnight Washington time Friday, triggering a halt of non-essential functions. Lawmakers are at odds over a range of defense spending and immigration issues, including a legislative fix for nearly 800,000 undocumented young people brought to the U.S. as children. Senators resumed debate Saturday afternoon on a temporary spending bill that would fund the government through Feb. 8. Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin, however, objects to the continuing series of temporary spending bills, saying it simply kicks the can down the road and fails to get the job done for the American people. 'Looks like a mess' Republican Senator Lindsey Graham Tweeted Saturday afternoon, I know it looks like a mess but there are many senators of good will who want to solve the problem. Graham thanked Democratic Senators commitment to hard work and finding solutions last night. Senators marked the first day of the shutdown shuttling back and forth among each others offices in the hopes of hammering out a deal. The U.S. House of Representatives stayed in session Saturday, voting on a rule that would allow the body to quickly consider any newly negotiated legislation sent over from the Senate. The House was set to return to work Sunday in the event the Senate reached a compromise. The President will not negotiate on immigration reform until Democrats stop playing games and reopen the government, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement Saturday afternoon. The White House and Congressional Republicans blamed Democrats for what it called the Schumer Shutdown, accusing legislators of valuing illegal immigrants ahead of lawful Americans. Mr. Schumer is going to have to up his game a little bit and be a little bit more honest with the president of the United States if were going to see progress on that front, OMB Director Mick Mulvaney said in a White House briefing Saturday afternoon. Federal agencies, meanwhile, prepared to idle employees and halt major portions of their operations. Democrats backed three previous short-term spending extensions late last year while bipartisan negotiations went forward on immigration and spending priorities. Last week, Trump rejected a bipartisan Senate immigration proposal, throwing congressional negotiations into disarray. The U.S. government has shut down before, including in 2013, in a partisan deadlock over health care policy and funding. The shutdown lasted 16 days and furloughed hundreds of thousands of federal workers. What stops and what continues during a federal shutdown varies, but federal research projects could be stalled, national parks closed, tax refunds delayed, processing of veterans disability applications delayed, and federal nutrition programs suspended, as was the case in 2013. With the new year well on its way it is time once again to bring about focus on Frontieres and it's ongoing and awesome work to help create more international genre films. While we would hesitate to call it a divine calling there is something certainly heavanly about their work. Which brings us to their first project of the year, the Frontieres Finance & Packaging Forum happening in Amsterdam in February from the 22nd through the 24th. For the first time a project from South America will participate in a Frontieres program. The Monster Within, by filmmaker Rodrigo Susarte (Ventana 2014), is a joint effort from his native Chile and their partner in Europe in Denmark. Prior to this, two projects from Mexico were as far as the LatAm community have come from in the past to participate in a Frontieres program. On the home front there are a number of Canadian projects to look out for. Thomas Robert Lee (Empyrean 2016), Casey Walker (A Little Bit Zombie 2012) and Nicole Dorsey (Delta Venus - in post) will represent the maple leaf this year. Other notable directors going to Amsterdam with projects include our friend Can Evrenol (Housewife 2017). Spanish filmmaker Miguel Llanso, the director responsible for the 2015 Ethiopian oddity Crumbs is bringing his next project with him, with possibly the best title of the bunch, Jesus Shows You The Way to The Highway. German filmmaker Norbert Keil (Replace 2017) is bringing a the new project Reunion, which he wrote with Richard Stanley. And finally, both the Frontieres Platform in Cannes and the Frontieres International Co-Production Market at Fantasia in Montreal are now open for submissions. Follow this link to the official Frontieres website to find out more The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights says it welcomes Ethiopia's decision this week to release 115 detainees, including several leading political figures. But it says the government should free all those imprisoned for holding opposing opinions. One of those freed Wednesday was Merera Gudina, a senior leader of the Oromo Federalist Congress party. Gudina was arrested in late 2015 and charged with collusion with groups outlawed by the Addis Ababa government. The Ethiopian government imposed a state of emergency in October 2016. That followed deadly anti-government protests by the Oromo and Amhara ethnic groups, who are pressing for greater freedom. U.N. human rights spokeswoman Liz Throssell told VOA that about 20,000 people were arrested during the state of emergency, which was lifted in August 2017. She said a number of people subsequently were released, but that the number of people still in detention remained high. "That is why we are welcoming the moves by the government to start releasing people and we are welcoming the comments that the government and prime minister have made with regard to setting up reviews for people who can be released, also setting up task forces to look into reported killings," she said. Discontinued cases Throssell said her office also welcomed the government's decision to discontinue cases against 400 other detainees. However, she said she was concerned that certain categories of prisoners would not be eligible for release. These include people suspected of committing murder, causing injury, destroying infrastructure and attempting to overthrow the constitutional order by force. "We appreciate the seriousness of some of the offenses that may have been committed, but we urge the government to review these conditions to ensure that they are neither interpreted nor implemented too broadly, thereby resulting in people being arbitrarily or wrongfully detained," she said. The U.N. human rights office is calling on the Ethiopian government to bring its anti-terrorism legislation and laws regarding civil society and the media in line with international human rights law and principles. Some information for this report came from Reuters. Social media giant Facebook said Friday that it would begin to prioritize "trustworthy" news outlets on its site in order to counteract "misinformation." The company said it would ask its more than 2 billion users to rank the news organizations they trusted in order to prioritize "high-quality news" over less trusted sources. It said the new ranking system would seek to separate news organizations trusted only by their own subscribers from ones that are broadly trusted across society. Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a blog post that the company was not "comfortable" deciding which news sources are the most trustworthy in a "world with so much division." "There's too much sensationalism, misinformation and polarization in the world today," he wrote. "Social media enables people to spread information faster than ever before, and if we don't specifically tackle these problems, then we end up amplifying them," Zuckerberg added. Outside experts rejected He said Facebook considered asking outside experts to choose the most reputable news sources, but that doing so would most likely have led to an "objectivity problem." He said the company decided to rely on member surveys as the most "objective" way to rank trust in news sources. Zuckerberg said it's important that Facebook's News Feed "promotes high-quality news that helps build a sense of common ground." He also announced that Facebook would shrink the content on its News Feed from 5 percent to 4 percent. This means users will see fewer posts from news organizations while scrolling through their feeds in favor of more posts from friends. Facebook has been struggling with how to handle its distribution of news in an era of fake news and claims of media bias. The social media company has faced accusations that it helped spread misinformation as well as Russian-linked content meant to influence the 2016 U.S. elections. Also last year, U.S. Republican lawmakers expressed concern that Facebook was suppressing stories from conservative news sources. The Pew Research Center has found that more than two-thirds of Americans are getting at least some of their news from social media, making such outlets prime sources of information. A U.S.-based center says in a new report the eradication of the painful Guinea worm disease could be in sight. The Carter Center, leader of the campaign to eliminate the disease, says there were only 30 identified cases of Guinea worm disease in isolated areas last year in Chad and Ethiopia - 15 in each country. All the cases in Ethiopia occurred in migrant workers in the Oromia region who drank unfiltered water from a contaminated pond on an industrial farm. Mali has not reported any cases of the disease in 25 months, while South Sudan, has not reported any cases in 13 months. The Carter Center labels those achievements by the two African countries as "major accomplishments." There is no known vaccine or medicine to control Guinea worm disease. It is eradicated by educating people on how to filter and drink clean water. People with Guinea worm disease have no symptoms for about one year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control says. Then, a meter-long worm begins to emerge painfully and slowly from a blister that can form anywhere on the body. In 80 to 90 percent of the cases, the blister forms on lower body parts. "It was more painful than giving birth," a South Sudan woman told the Associated Press last year. "Childbirth ends, but this pain persists." If the worm breaks during removal, it can cause intense inflammation as the remaining part of the worm degrades in the body. The worm removal and recovery can disable people, sometimes permanently. The Carter Center, founded by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn, reports that in 1986 Guinea worm disease affected an estimated 3.5 million people in 21 countries in Africa and Asia. The incidence of the disease has now been reduced by more than 99.999 percent "thanks to the work of strong partnerships, including the countries themselves," the center said. The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to table, or suspend, a motion by a Democratic member to impeach President Donald Trump. Representative Al Green of Texas has forced a vote on the motion twice in the past two months, with no success. The House voted 355-66 to table the motion. Democrats who oppose the impeachment move say it is premature to begin proceedings before special counsel Robert Mueller and his team finish investigating allegations of ties between Russia and the Trump presidential campaign. Green said Wednesday on the House floor, "I refuse to accept what the president is doing and I refuse to accept it because if you will tolerate something, you will not change it. You will do little to change it." Green said Trump's reported utterance of the phrase "s---hole countries" last week in an immigration policy meeting has caused an international uproar. He said the level of discourse in the United States has been "brought to an all-time low." He said lawmakers must not allow "injustice" in the White House to continue. The president reportedly used the phrase in reference to African countries and Haiti. As for raising the notion of impeachment, Green said, "I have done it before and I will do it again and again and again." "We must take a stand against this president and his bigoted comments," Green said. Mosul civilian activist Ahmed al-Rahal has returned to the ancient Tahira Church in Mosul, which was once used by the Islamic State to torture hundreds of prisoners. The church now lies in ruins following an Iraqi operation to remove IS from the city. VOA's Kawa Omar reports. At least four gunmen attacked a hotel in Kabul late Saturday, and reports said two of the gunmen were killed and at least six other people were wounded. Officials said Afghan commandos surrounded the Intercontinental Hotel. Witnesses earlier reported hearing gunfire from inside the building. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack. The luxury hotel sits at the top of a Kabul hill and is heavily guarded because it has come under attack previously. The Taliban, particularly its allied Haqqani network, is known for staging such coordinated attacks in the city, but the insurgent group had not yet said whether it was behind this violence. Islamic State militants have taken responsibility for some recent suicide bombings in Kabul. The latest IS-plotted attack, which took place late last month, left more than 40 people dead and about 100 others wounded. The victims were mostly members of the Afghan minority Shiite community. Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel was also the target of a suicide assault in 2011 that killed at least 20 people. The Taliban took responsibility for that attack. On Friday, ahead of his trip this weekend to Asia, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis unveiled a major shift in U.S. defense priorities. "We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists that we're engaged in today, but great power competition, not terrorism, is now the primary focus of U.S. national security," Mattis said during a speech in Washington. The U.S. defense chief was rolling out the Trump administration's National Defense Strategy (NDS), a report that specifically cites "growing threats" posed by China and Russia. The NDS noted China is using "predatory economics" to intimidate its neighbors, while "militarizing features in the South China Sea." Mattis' trip will take him to Indonesia and Vietnam, two countries that have taken a bolder stance including modernizing their militaries to push back on China's disputed territorial claims in the sea. Vietnam, in particular, is an increasingly important U.S. partner in the region. "Vietnam is not an ally of the U.S. it has a defense policy of no alliances, no bases in the country, no ganging up against a third party. So we'll have to see where it goes," said Carl Thayer, an emeritus professor specializing in Southeast Asia at UNSW Canberra. "But its military modernization has made it very robust." But Mattis' trip could also focus on more immediate priorities in the region, including putting more pressure on North Korea and dealing with the hundreds of Islamic State fighters returning to Southeast Asia from Iraq and Syria. A reminder that, even though long-term defense priorities may be changing, old problems don't appear to be going away. The Trump administrations promise to exempt Florida from an offshore drilling plan is not a formal action, an Interior Department official said Friday in a statement that Democrats said contradicted a high-profile announcement by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Zinke has proposed opening nearly all U.S. coastline to offshore oil and gas drilling, but said soon after announcing the plan that he will keep Florida off the table when it comes to offshore drilling. Zinkes Jan. 9 statement about Florida stands on its own, said Walter Cruickshank, the acting director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, but theres been no formal decision on the five-year drilling plan. No decision We have no formal decision yet on whats in, or out, of the five-year program, Cruickshank told the House Natural Resources Committee at a hearing Friday. Zinkes announcement about keeping Florida off the table, made during a Tallahassee news conference with Florida Gov. Rick Scott, will be part of the departments analysis as it completes the five-year plan, Cruickshank said. Democrats seized on the comment to accuse Zinke of playing politics by granting the Republican governors request to exempt Florida while ignoring nearly a dozen other states that made similar requests. Florida Sen. Bill Nelson called Cruickshanks comments stunning and said they confirm what he and other Democrats had suspected that Zinkes statement was nothing more than a political stunt to help Scott run for Nelsons Senate seat. Scott is a friend and ally of President Donald Trump, and Trump has urged him to run for the Senate. Zinkes promise to take Florida off the table was just empty words until he takes formal steps needed to publish a new draft plan that excludes Florida, Nelson said. Florida governor confident Heather Swift, a spokeswoman for Zinke, called the claims by Nelson and other Democrats false. Cruickshank simply said BOEM will finish the legally required analysis of the planning areas, as is always done for all planning areas, she said in an email. Scott said Friday he did not see Cruickshanks comments but was confident the Trump administration will not allow drilling in Florida. Secretary Zinke is a man of his word. Hes a Navy Seal. He promised me that Florida would be off the table, and I believe Florida is off the table, Scott told reporters Friday. States seek exemptions Zinke announced plans two weeks ago to vastly expand offshore oil drilling from the Atlantic to the Arctic and Pacific oceans, including in more than a dozen states where drilling is now blocked. The five-year plan would open 90 percent of the nations offshore reserves to development by private companies. The plan has drawn bipartisan opposition by coastal state governors from California to New Hampshire, with at least 11 governors formally asking Zinke to remove their states from the plan. Seven governors from Massachusetts to North Carolina submitted a joint request for exemptions this week. Like Florida, each of our states has unique natural resources and an economy that is reliant on tourism as an essential driver, the governors wrote. The letter was signed by Republican leaders of Massachusetts and Maryland and Democrats from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Virginia and North Carolina. By exempting Florida but not other states, Zinke showed he is more concerned with politics than proper process when it comes to making key decisions that affect our coastal communities, said Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Zinkes action may violate the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which governs drilling in U.S. coastal waters, Cantwell said. The law requires formal notice and a comment period before taking regulatory action. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., a member of the natural resources panel, told Cruickshank that the Interior Department has not offered a single reason why Florida is more unique than California or Virginia or South Carolina or other coastal states. Oil industry groups have praised Zinkes plan, while environmental groups say it would harm Americas oceans, coastal economies, public health and marine life. Nelson said this week he is blocking three Trump nominees for high-level Interior jobs to protest the drilling proposal. Democrats and Republicans showed few signs of agreement Saturday, just hours after a funding bill was blocked in the Senate beginning a partial shutdown of the U.S. government. Spending authority expired at midnight Washington time, triggering a halt of non-essential functions. Lawmakers are at odds over a range of defense spending and immigration issues, including a legislative fix for nearly 800,000 undocumented young people brought to the U.S. as children. Senators resumed debate Saturday afternoon on a temporary spending bill that would fund the government through February 8. Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin, however, objects to the continuing series of temporary spending bills, saying it "simply kicks the can down the road and fails to get the job done for the American people." Republican Senator Lindsey Graham Tweeted Saturday afternoon, I know it looks like a mess but there are many senators of good will who want to solve the problem. Graham thanked Democratic Senators commitment to hard work and finding solutions last night. The U.S. House of Representatives stayed in session Saturday in the event the Senate negotiated a new continuing resolution that would require another vote. The bill would then head back to the Senate for a vote. But neither side appeared to be in agreement on the terms for negotiating a new resolution. The President will not negotiate on immigration reform until Democrats stop playing games and reopen the government, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement Saturday afternoon. Trading blame Earlier Saturday, the White House blamed Democrats for what it called the "Schumer Shutdown," accusing legislators of valuing illegal immigrants ahead of lawful Americans. President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday morning "Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead." Members of the House Republican leadership echoed the White House statement. House Republican Speaker Paul Ryan said the Democrats would "do anything to appease their base, even shut down the federal government." He described the shutdown as a "dangerous political ploy" and "reckless." But Democrats said the shutdown was the result of reckless behavior on the part of the president and Congressional Republican leadership. Happy anniversary, Mr. President. Your wish came true, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters Saturday morning. You won the shutdown. The shutdown is all yours. The first day of the shutdown comes on the one-year anniversary of President Trumps inauguration. Many Congressional Democrats noted the presidents earlier Tweet calling for a good shutdown and said the president had stalled bipartisan talks on immigration reform. If youre not for the Graham-Durbin proposal then tell me what you are for put it in black and white. Because Goodlatte is a non-starter, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a Democrat from Illinois said of an immigration bill introduced by House Conservatives They want to go out and pick everyone of the 11 million that are undocumented today, whether they present a risk to America or not. Earlier, lawmakers of both parties pointed fingers, as did as the president, who warned of repercussions from a shutdown and argued Democrats voted against funding the government as a political stunt to distract attention from the presidents economic accomplishments. Not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the very dangerous Southern Border, Trump tweeted. Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy. Democrat Tim Kaine countered that no one in his caucus wants the government to shut down, then quoted from a Trump tweet last year in which the president said America needs a good shutdown. Theres only one person that has talked about a shutdown with glee and with interest that it happen, and thats the president, Kaine said. Agencies idling Federal agencies, meanwhile, prepared to idle employees and halt major portions of their operations. A meeting earlier Friday between Trump and the Senates top Democrat, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, failed to yield a breakthrough. Democrats then followed through on pledges to vote down a Republican-crafted bill that would have funded the federal government through mid-February. The House of Representatives approved the bill Thursday with Republican-only votes. Senate Democrats withheld support to press demands for congressional action on immigration and spending priorities, while insisting on an end to month-to-month government funding. Republicans accused their Democratic colleagues of misplaced priorities. Millions of people, including our military, law enforcement and emergency personnel could lose their paycheck if Democrats follow through on their threat, Senator John Cornyn of Texas said. The time to stop playing games is now. We urge them [Democrats], we implore them: do not shut down the government. Trump and congressional Republicans repeatedly asserted that Democrats will be to blame if non-essential government operations come to a halt, a charge Democrats rejected. When you look across the spectrum of the three branches of government the Republicans are in control, Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, said. Democrats backed three previous short-term spending extensions late last year while bipartisan negotiations went forward on immigration and spending priorities. Last week, Trump rejected a bipartisan Senate immigration proposal, throwing congressional negotiations into disarray. The U.S. government has shut down before, including in 2013, in a partisan deadlock over health care policy and funding. The shutdown lasted 16 days and furloughed hundreds of thousands of federal workers. What stops and what continues during a federal shutdown varies, but federal research projects could be stalled, national parks closed, tax refunds delayed, processing of veterans' disability applications delayed, and federal nutrition programs suspended, as was the case in 2013. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence pledged Saturday that the U.S. would continue to support Egypt in its battle against terrorism. "We stand shoulder to shoulder with you," Pence said in front of reporters after meetings in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to discuss terrorism and security issues. Egypt is grappling with serious security problems, including attacks by Islamic State militants in the North Sinai area. El-Sissi said the two men discussed ways to rid the country of the "disease and cancer" of terrorism. Pence's visit to Egypt was the first stop on a four-day Middle Eastern tour that will include visits to Jordan and Israel. It's the highest-level visit by a U.S. official to the region since President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December. Pence, a conservative Christian, helped push for the recognition of Jerusalem, a decision that was well-received by evangelical Christians in the U.S. who hold Israel dear. He and el-Sissi did not discuss the issue during their remarks before reporters. The trip was originally planned for December but was delayed because of Pence's involvement in the year-end tax overhaul negotiations and the aftermath of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' refusal to meet with him in Bethlehem. Abbas has denounced U.S. President Donald Trump's decision late last year to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, which prompted Palestinians to reject the U.S. as broker for peace in the region. The decision sparked deadly protests in Palestinian territories that have since subsided, and it also drew condemnation from world leaders. Trump's announcement was followed by a so-called day of rage, with demonstrations against Trump's decision spanning the globe. After the meetings and dinner with el-Sissi in Cairo, Pence was to fly to Amman, Jordan, where he will rest overnight before meeting Sunday with King Abdullah and Queen Rania. Pence then flies Sunday afternoon to Israel. Pence is not expected to meet with Palestinian leaders. This well-established Blog is worth visiting on a regular basis for a wealth of information of interest to Armenian nationals and to the Armenian Diaspora world-wide. Although it has a particular role in promoting international recognition of the Genocide, the Blog encompasses much more and includes many articles of general appeal to all those concerned with Armenian affairs. Much of the content is difficult or impossible to find elsewhere and the long list of links provided gives easy access to a plethora of material on social, political, religious, educational and cultural matters, and many news items from around the world. Republican lawmakers criticizing Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation into U.S. President Donald Trumps ties with Russia found themselves Friday with an unusual and perhaps unwelcome ally. As Republicans called for the release of a classified memorandum that they say shows anti-Trump bias at the Justice Department, a network of Kremlin-controlled Twitter accounts swung into action to amplify that demand, according to specialists who monitor online activity sponsored by Moscow. The use of the hashtag #releasethememo increased 315,500 percent in roughly 24 hours on 600 Twitter accounts known or suspected to be under Kremlin influence, according to the Alliance for Securing Democracy, a project of the nonpartisan German Marshall Fund think tank. Ive never seen anything quite like it, said Bret Schafer, an analyst at the Alliance. The data can be seen at the Alliance's website. There is no evidence that the Republican and Russian-backed attacks on Mueller are coordinated, but the storm underscores the role social media can play in driving political discourse. Microcosm of 2016 meddling The #releasethememo Twitter cloudburst also appears to be a microcosm of what U.S. intelligence officials say are Kremlin efforts to fan political divisions in the United States after having meddled in the 2016 presidential election, according to a declassified January 2017 U.S. intelligence assessment. Wikileaks, the transparency group that published emails from Democratic Party organizations that U.S. intelligence officials say were stolen by Russian military intelligence during the 2016 campaign, on Friday offered to match a reward of up to $1 million for anyone who gives it the memo. The Alliance for Securing Democracy says the 600 Twitter feeds it monitors include accounts from actors such as Russian state-run media RT and Sputnik; others that are pro-Russian and amplify government themes; and a third group that is influenced by the first two and may or may not understand themselves to be part of a pro-Russian social network. Moscow has long denied any such meddling. Cautious conclusions J.D. Maddox, who worked as a counterterrorism official at the State Department and CIA, cautioned that the data do not necessarily pinpoint the primary driver of a social media trend. The only conclusion you can draw right now is that certain Russian accounts that have previously been associated with pushing anti-American narratives are also pushing this narrative and pushing it effectively, said Maddox, an adjunct professor of national security at George Mason University. What is the memo? At issue is a classified memo commissioned by Rep. Devin Nunes, the Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee who last year said he was removing himself from the Trump-Russia probe. In a rare joint statement, the committees nine Democrats called the document a misleading set of talking points attacking the FBI and drawn from highly classified documents. The Republicans, they said, made the memo available to all House members in preparation for a public release for the political purpose of spreading a false narrative and undermining Mueller and the FBI. Republicans have suggested the memo shows the FBI and Justice Department are biased against the president and, along with U.S. intelligence agencies, improperly surveilled members of Trumps 2016 campaign. Current and former senior U.S. intelligence officials deny that they conducted any improper surveillance. Democrats on the panel think material in the memo is mischaracterized and taken out of context, said the committee source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Jack Langer, a spokesman for Nunes, did not respond directly to a request for comment on the Russian-linked internet activity surrounding the memo. This sounds like yet another ridiculous article from Reuters, Langer said in an email. The man accused of tackling U.S. Sen. Rand Paul in the Kentucky lawmaker's yard has been charged with assaulting a member of Congress as part of a federal plea agreement. And his lawyer confirmed whats long been suggested by neighbors: The attack stemmed from a dispute about yard maintenance. Rene Boucher has signed the plea agreement but no date has been set for his guilty plea for the attack on the Republican senator, according to Josh J. Minkler, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. Assaulting a member of Congress is an offense we take very seriously, Minkler said in a release. Those who choose to commit such an act will be held accountable. Boucher faces possible prison time. His attorney says Boucher is very regretful about the attack and that it had to do with the upkeep of their yards. Paul and Boucher are longtime neighbors in Bowling Green. This is over a matter that most people would regard as trivial, Bouchers attorney, Matt Baker, said in a phone interview Friday. It has to do with yards and the maintenance of those. Boucher is very meticulous about how he maintains his yard, while Paul takes a much different approach to the upkeep of his property, Baker said. It all goes to large piles of leaves and branches and yard clutter that were placed on the property line, Baker said. Some residents of the gated neighborhood had speculated the attack was motivated by a dispute over yard debris. But Pauls office has rejected that. Paul told the Fox News Channel in November that ultimately, the motive does not matter. Boucher, a retired anesthesiologist in his late 50s, already faces a misdemeanor assault charge in state court in Kentucky. He has pleaded not guilty to that charge. Baker said Friday that hes hopeful the state charge will be dismissed now that Boucher has reached the plea agreement on the federal charge. Paul, a former presidential candidate, was attacked Nov. 3 while mowing his lawn at his home. A close friend of Pauls said the senator had gotten off his riding lawn mower to remove a limb when he was tackled from behind. Paul has said he never saw the attacker because he was facing downhill and wearing ear protection from the noise of his lawn mower. Paul suffered six broken ribs in the attack. He returned to Washington less than two weeks later but developed pneumonia when he returned to Kentucky. Paul has since said he's recovering well from the attack. Baker said Friday the attack was completely, 100 percent out of character for Boucher. He said his client is looking forward to getting the case resolved. Boucher faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine in the federal case. He is facing the possibility of incarceration, but Im hopeful that it wont be anything toward the top end, Baker said. Minklers office was assigned the case after a U.S. attorney in Kentucky recused himself. The case was investigated by the FBI's Louisville office. China has accused the United States of violating its sovereignty after a U.S. missile destroyer sailed near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. The USS Hopper sailed within 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) of Huangyan Island, also known as Scarborough Shoal, on January 17. China's Defense Ministry said in a statement that a Chinese frigate "immediately took actions to identify and verify the U.S. ship and drove it away by warning." China seized Huangyan from the Philippines in 2012. China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and has carried out extensive land reclamation work on many of the islands and reefs it claims, equipping some with air strips and military installations. The South China Sea has crucial shipping lanes, rich fishing grounds and potential oil, gas and other mineral deposits. While the U.S. has no territorial claims in the South China Sea and says it is neutral in the dispute, it has said it is concerned China is trying to militarize what should be free and open international waters. About $3 trillion worth of goods pass through the area each year. The U.S. Navy regularly sails through the area to assert freedom of navigation. China says it wants to settle any territorial disputes over the South China Sea through bilateral negotiations. Turkish warplanes have launched airstrikes against a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia in the Syrian enclave of Afrin. Turkey says the offensive, which was expected, struck more than 100 targets, including the city of Afrin itself. The city has several hundred thousand residents. The airstrikes were aimed at positions occupied by the YPG Kurdish militia. Ankara accuses the militia of ties to the Kurdish insurgency inside Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the offensive before it began. He said it would clear our land up to the Iraqi border of what he called terror filth that is trying to besiege our country. US forces Erdogan warned that, after Afrin, the Turkish military would target the YPG in the Syrian city of Manbij, where U.S. forces are deployed. The U.S. backs the YPG in its fight against Islamic State militants. Washington has announced the intention to create a security force in Syria in conjunction with the YPG. The announcement has provoked outrage in Turkey. The Syrian government has condemned the Turkish airstrikes, calling them aggression and a brutal attack. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, on Saturday. The State Department did not provide details on what was said. Last week the U.S. government urged Turkey not to attack the YPG. Russia, too, has called for restraint. Moscow says it will defend Syrias territorial integrity diplomatically. Russia, UN also weigh in The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement Saturday that it received the information about the airstrikes with concern and added it is closely monitoring the situation. Russia repeated its position that the search for solutions be based on preserving Syrias territorial integrity, respect for its sovereignty, and pursuing a long-term political settlement. On Friday, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the U.N. has seen the reports of shelling in Afrin and reiterates the call on all concerned parties to avoid further escalation and any acts that could deepen the suffering of the Syrian people. All parties must ensure protection of civilians at all times, under any circumstances, he said. Political solution in danger Shahoz Hasan, head of Syrias main Kurdish political party, told VOA Saturday that the Turkish operation could get in the way of a political solution in Syria. He said the people of Afrin were among those who helped defeat Islamic State militants in Syria. He said the world now needs to look after the people of Afrin. VOAs Turkish service contributed to this report. Tom Petty died last year of an accidental drug overdose that his family said occurred the same day he found out his hip was broken. He had just finished a string of dozens of shows with a less serious injury. His wife and daughter released the results of Pettys autopsy via a statement Friday on his Facebook page, moments before coroners officials in Los Angeles released their findings and the rockers full autopsy report. Dana and Adria Petty say they got the results from the coroners office earlier in the day that the overdose was the result of a variety of medications. Fentanyl among drugs The coroners findings showed Petty had a mix of prescription painkillers, sedatives and an antidepressant. Among the medications found in his system were fentanyl and oxycodone. An accidental overdose of fentanyl was also determined to have killed Prince in April 2016. Petty suffered from emphysema, a fractured hip and knee problems that caused him pain, the family said, but he was still committed to touring. He had just wrapped up a tour a few days before he died in October at age 66. On the day he died he was informed his hip had graduated to a full-on break and it is our feeling that the pain was simply unbearable and was the cause for his overuse of medication, his familys statement said, adding that he performed more than 50 concerts with a fractured hip. The family said Petty had been prescribed various pain medications for his multitude of issues, including fentanyl patches, and we feel confident that this was, as the coroner found, an unfortunate accident. They added: As a family we recognize this report may spark a further discussion on the opioid crisis and we feel that it is a healthy and necessary discussion and we hope in some way this report can save lives. Many people who overdose begin with a legitimate injury or simply do not understand the potency and deadly nature of these medications. Common prescriptions Painkillers and sedatives are among the most commonly prescribed medications in the U.S., but both drug types slow users heart rate and breathing. The Food and Drug Administration has warned against mixing them because the combination can lead to breathing problems, coma and death. Government figures released in December showed that for the first time, the powerful painkiller fentanyl and its close opioid cousins played a bigger role in the deaths than any other legal or illegal drug, surpassing prescription pain pills and heroin. Petty was a rock superstar with the persona of an everyman who drew upon the Byrds, Beatles and other bands he worshipped as a boy in Gainesville, Florida. He produced classics that include Free Fallin, Refugee and American Girl. He and his longtime band the Heartbreakers had recently completed a 40th-anniversary tour, one he hinted would be their last. The shaggy-haired blond rose to success in the 1970s and went on to sell more than 80 million records. He was loved for his melodic hard rock, nasally vocals and down-to-earth style. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which inducted Petty and the Heartbreakers in 2002, praised them as durable, resourceful, hard-working, likable and unpretentious. U.S. President Donald Trump will be entering something of a lions den when he visits the elitist enclave of Davos next week, rubbing shoulders with the same globalists that he campaigned against in winning the 2016 election. Aides said some of Trumps advisers had argued against him attending the World Economic Forum in order to steer clear of the event, which brings together political leaders, CEOs and top bankers. But in the end, they said, Trump, the first sitting U.S. president to attend the forum since Bill Clinton in 2000, wanted to go to call attention to growth in the U.S. economy and the soaring stock market. A senior administration official said Trump is expected to take a double-edged message to the forum in Switzerland, where he is to deliver a speech and meet some world leaders. Invest in US In his speech, Trump is expected to urge the world to invest in the United States to take advantage of his deregulatory and tax cut policies, stress his America First agenda and call for fairer, more reciprocal trade, the official said. During his 2016 election campaign, Trump blamed globalization for ravaging American manufacturing jobs as companies sought to reduce labor costs by relocating to Mexico and elsewhere. Globalization has made the financial elite who donate to politicians very wealthy. But it has left millions of our workers with nothing but poverty and heartache, he said June 28, 2016, in Pennsylvania. Trump retains the same anti-globalist beliefs but has struggled to rewrite trade deals that he sees as benefiting other countries. Merkel and Macron Trump will be speaking two days after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron take the stage in Davos. Both ardent defenders of multilateralism and liberal democratic values, they are expected to lay out the counter-argument to Trumps America First policies. Merkel and Macron have lobbied Trump hard to keep the United States in the Paris climate accord and Iran nuclear pact, only for him to distance himself from those deals. Trump will meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May in Davos, the White House said. Bark becomes bite? There is acute concern in European capitals that 2018 could be the year Trumps bark on trade turns into bite, as he considers punitive measures on steel and threatens to end the 1990s-era North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. He has backed off withdrawing from a U.S. trade agreement with South Korea and while he has threatened to terminate NAFTA, he has yet to do so. Trumps tax cuts are a source of concern in Europe, where policymakers are discussing steps to extract more tax dollars out of U.S. multinationals such as Google and Amazon. European governments now fear a race to the bottom on corporate tax rates and a shift to more investment in the United States by some of their big companies. Trade war In a Reuters interview on Thursday, Trump lamented that it is rare that he meets the leader of a foreign country that has a trade deficit with the United States. Based on official data for the year to November, China exported goods worth $461 billion and the United States ran a trade deficit of $344 billion. Trump said he would be announcing some kind of action against China over trade. He is to discuss the issue during his State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress on Jan. 30. Asked about the potential for a trade war with China depending on U.S. action over steel, aluminum and solar panels, Trump said he hoped a trade war would not ensue. I dont think so, I hope not. But if there is, there is, he said. Trump and the U.S. Congress are racing to meet a midnight Friday deadline to pass a short-term bill to keep the U.S. government open and prevent agencies from shutting down. Trump could still go to Davos next week as planned even if the federal government shuts down, senior U.S. administration officials said Friday, citing the presidents constitutional authority to conduct diplomacy. The United States has condemned Sudans arbitrary detention of journalists after reporters from the French news agency (AFP) and Reuters were arrested covering a street protest Friday. The U.S. State Department said it was aware of the detentions and was closely following the reports. We condemn the harassment, arbitrary detention, and attacks on journalists in Sudan who are doing their jobs and exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. The U.S. is continuing to press Sudan to improve its performance regarding freedom of expression and overall human rights and to ensure that those detained are treated humanely and fairly, in accordance with Sudanese law and international human rights standards, and that they are allowed access to legal counsel and their families, Nauert said. Protests in Khartoum Widespread protests and clashes with security forces erupted in Sudan this month after Khartoum imposed tough economic measures in line with recommendations by the International Monetary Fund. Abdelmoneim Abu Idris Ali, 51, of AFP and at least two other journalists, one a Reuters Sudanese stringer, were taken away by authorities Wednesday as they reported on a demonstration against rising food prices. They are being held in a detention center for investigation by Sudans National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), Sudanese authorities are quoted by both news agencies as saying, and have not been allowed any contacts with their families or employers. AFP said its management strongly condemned the arrest of Idris Ali and asked for his immediate release. Reuters said it did not know the circumstances of the detention and was actively seeking additional information about the situation. Journalists held The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a statement Thursday that a total of seven journalists working in Sudan had been arrested, and it called for the immediate release of all the reporters. By arresting and intimidating journalists, confiscating newspapers and attempting to censor news dissemination, the Sudanese authorities keep trying to get journalists to stick to the official narrative or pay the price, CPJ Middle East and North Africa program coordinator Sherif Mansour said. Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans Frontieres, RSF) ranked Sudan the 174th worst out of 180 countries in its 2017 World Press Freedom Index. Critics have accused President Omar al-Bashirs regime of cracking down on the media. International opinion polls indicate that one year into Donald Trumps presidency, Americas standing in the world is at a low point. But notwithstanding his tweets and rhetoric, analysts say, Trumps foreign policy has turned out to be mostly conventional. Despite all the bombast that has made life more anxious and unsettled than it perhaps needs to be, the actual Trump administration policy has not deviated that much from many mainstream views of other presidents, concluded Michael OHanlon, director of research and foreign policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington. Americas image as a world leader is weaker than it was under Trumps two predecessors, according to a new Gallup report. Median approval of U.S. leadership was measured at a historic low of 30 percent. But OHanlon said the perception that Trump has turned U.S. foreign policy on its head is more wrong than right. He describes the downturn in Americas international reputation as limited and reversible. I make a distinction between popularity and credibility. I think [Trumps] popularity has suffered substantially, but I think the credibility of America as a steadfast ally is actually still pretty good in most places, OHanlon said in a VOA interview. White House officials argue that Trump can count a lot of foreign policy successes in his first year, including the defeat of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (following the strategy of his predecessor, Barack Obama), winning Chinas help in isolating the nuclear-armed North Korean regime, and persuading NATO allies to pick up a larger share of the common defense budget, to name a few. In a well-received national security speech last month, he laid out a strategy reminiscent of Ronald Reagans peace through strength policy. He emphasized his America First theme, pledging to rejuvenate the countrys economic and military power. Our strategy is to advance American influence in the world, Trump said. This begins with building up our wealth and power at home. America will lead again. We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone but we will champion the values without apology. On the other hand, Trump has publicly repudiated or reversed several of Obamas most internationally acclaimed policies, from the Paris climate accord to the nuclear deal with Iran to relations with Israel. Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Trump had cast himself as the anti-Obama. Where Obama was widely viewed as one of Americas most Europe-friendly presidents, Trump has projected disdain for traditional allies in Western Europe, Satloff told VOA. Whereas Obama was widely viewed as distant from Americas traditional allies in the Middle East, Trump has embraced those decades-old relationships, from Riyadh to Jerusalem. And whereas Obama was willing to pay a high price to achieve a nuclear deal with longtime adversary Iran, Trump is willing to pay a high price to extract America from the nuclear deal with Iran, Satloff said. A fair bit of the international discomfort with Trump can be traced to his Twitter blasts, where he sometimes seems to undercut or override administration policy and the work of Americas overseas diplomats. He has taunted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, calling him Little Rocket Man and ridiculing Kims boast of having a nuclear button, which critics charge has unnecessarily ratcheted up the risk of nuclear war. O'Hanlon said he doubted Trumps Twitter habit had done irreversible harm, but with the exception of North Korea, he said it had at times undercut his administration's foreign policy. If he could point to a lot of good results out of the tweets, you would live with them, O'Hanlon said. But the only place where theres any hope of seeing real progress because of the tweets is North Korea, and even there we could just as easily see it as increasing the risk of war. Satloff noted that while Trump and Obama have seemingly opposite views on policy, they share a strong belief that they are right. The two presidents do have something in common supreme confidence that they know best, not the professional foreign policy experts they each derided, Satloff said. Only time will tell who was right. A partial shutdown of the U.S. government commenced early Saturday after a funding bill was blocked in the Senate. Spending authority expired at midnight Washington time, triggering a halt of non-essential functions. Senators resume debate Saturday afternoon on a temporary spending bill that would fund the government through Feb. 8. Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin, however, objects to the continuing series of temporary spending bills, saying it simply kicks the can down the road and fails to get the job done for the American people. On Friday, a handful of Republicans joined all but a few Democrats in opposing the funding bill, which needed three-fifths backing, or 60 votes, to advance in the 100-member chamber. The outcome set off furious discussions among senators on and off the chamber floor, seeking a last-gasp bipartisan deal to restart the flow of federal funding. Blame game The White House responded immediately to the failure to reach a funding agreement. It said in a statement that the Senate Democrats are "obstructionist losers" and blamed them for what it called the "Schumer Shutdown," accusing legislators of valuing illegal immigrants ahead of lawful Americans. The statement said "When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform." President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday morning "Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead." Members of the House Republican leadership echoed the White House statement. House Republican Speaker Paul Ryan said the Democrats would do anything to appease their base, even shut down the federal government. He described the shutdown as a dangerous political ploy and reckless. House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer responded to the Republican criticism: Knowing full well that they would need our help, Republicans insisted on a partisan process. Now, having failed to fulfill their most basic responsibility as the governing party, they are seeking to blame Democrats for refusing to be blackmailed into giving them yet another short-term extension. Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said President Trump has earned and F for failure in leadership. Despite controlling the House, Senate and White House, the Republicans are so incompetent, so negligent that they couldnt get it together to keep government open, she said. Earlier, lawmakers of both parties pointed fingers, as did as President Donald Trump, who warned of repercussions from a shutdown and argued Democrats voted against funding the government as a political stunt to distract attention from the presidents economic accomplishments. Democrat Tim Kaine countered that no one in his caucus wants the government to shut down, then quoted from a Trump tweet last year in which the president said America needs a good shutdown. Theres only one person that has talked about a shutdown with glee and with interest that it happen, and thats the president, Kaine said. Employees idled, talks continue Federal agencies, meanwhile, prepared to idle employees and halt major portions of their operations. Negotiations to solve the impasse were expected to continue Saturday involving Republican and Democratic congressional leaders as well as the White House. A meeting earlier Friday between Trump and the Senates top Democrat, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, failed to yield a breakthrough. Democrats then followed through on pledges to vote down a Republican-crafted bill that would have funded the federal government through mid-February. The House of Representatives approved the bill Thursday with Republican-only votes. Senate Democrats withheld support to press demands for congressional action on immigration and spending priorities, while insisting on an end to month-to-month government funding. Republicans accused their Democratic colleagues of misplaced priorities. Millions of people, including our military, law enforcement and emergency personnel could lose their paycheck if Democrats follow through on their threat, Senator John Cornyn of Texas said. The time to stop playing games is now. We urge them [Democrats], we implore them: Do not shut down the government. Trump and congressional Republicans repeatedly asserted that Democrats will be to blame if non-essential government operations come to a halt, a charge Democrats rejected. When you look across the spectrum of the three branches of government, the Republicans are in control, Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, said. Immigration Democrats backed three previous short-term spending extensions late last year while bipartisan negotiations went forward on immigration and spending priorities. Last week, Trump rejected a bipartisan Senate immigration proposal, throwing congressional negotiations into disarray. Democrats are demanding prompt congressional votes on an immigration reform package that would shield from deportation hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to America as children. Republicans note that young immigrants would not face possible deportation until March, when the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, DACA, expires. The U.S. government has shut down before, including in 2013, in a partisan deadlock over health care policy and funding. The shutdown lasted 16 days and furloughed hundreds of thousands of federal workers. What stops and what continues during a federal shutdown varies, but federal research projects could be stalled, tax refunds delayed, processing of veterans disability applications delayed, and federal nutrition programs suspended, as was the case in 2013. Speaking at the event, Charge D'affaires and Vietnamese Embassy in Chile Mr. Nguyen Minh Anh introduced the country's image and people as well as the cooperation potentialities in trade and tourism sectors.On the occasion, he also highlighted development of Vietnam- Chile cooperation relations in recent time. The bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and China reached US$ 1.28 billion, including Vietnams import and export turnover surged over US$ 716 million.Currently, Vietnam is the tenth largest market, the second biggest market in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after Thailand, and the fifth largest market in Asia for Chile.Mr. Nguyen Minh Anh also emphasized the tendency of young Chilean businessmen to seek opportunities for business cooperation associated with visiting the Southeast Asia, including Vietnam.The representative of Chile Foreign Affair affirmed that the exchange of goods between the two countries is complementary as the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) officially took effect early 2014 which had significantly contributed to strengthen trade exchange.Vietnam could become the gateway for Chilean goods to enter the ASEAN market, while Chile is the bridge for Vietnamese products to Latin American countries.The talks attracted the participation of the South American enterprises in the fields of aquatic products, food processing, agriculture, energy technology, cosmetics and consultancy. Source: VNA- Translated by Huyen Huong Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share Republicans have been touting the number of companies handing out employee bonuses and pay raises such as Walmart and Bank of America as a surprising sign that the Trump administration's tax cuts are working their economic magic faster than anyone expected. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight "It really is unbelievable to see just how many companies have stepped up," House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) told Fox Business. White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn described it as "not even something we expected to see." President Trump has tweeted eight times on the topic, calling the bonuses "an unexpected new source of 'love.' " And they've been keeping careful count, too. Staffers in Scalise's office constantly update a running list of which companies have joined in, under the headline "Tax Reform Works." But a deeper look at the list of approximately 200 companies shows that more than economics is probably at play, with business experts and analysts saying that alternative motivations are likely to be behind the sudden flood of corporate generosity. One major Republican donor owns 11 of the firms on the list. Several companies are contending with problems with regulators in Trump's administration. And so many companies have settled on the $1,000 bonus figure that it appears, to some, to be just as much about a public relations push as anything else. Advertisement "It's a pretty cheap way to win goodwill on Capitol Hill," Daniel Shaviro, a professor of taxation at New York University Law School, said of the companies. He said there is "no plausible theory" for rate reductions immediately resulting in bonuses. The argument for corporate tax cuts is they spur investment, which raises productivity and should boost wages over the long term not in a few weeks, he said. "It's salesmanship," said Aparna Mathur, an economist with the conservative American Enterprise Institute, who expects it will take three to four years for workers to see the benefits of tax cuts. Mihir Desai, a finance professor at Harvard Business School whose research was used by the White House to estimate how tax cuts would boost workers' wages, said he believed the recent wave of bonuses could reflect lower tax rates but also an effort "to take some of the heat off what corporations are currently feeling." Advertisement The "heat" comes from reactions to a measure that permanently slashes corporate rates from 35 percent to 21 percent, while only temporarily lowering rates for individuals. A Gallup poll released last week found that just 33 percent approve of the tax law. Companies didn't wait for Trump to sign the bill into law to begin touting benefits for workers. AT&T went first, saying it would give a $1,000 "special bonus" to more than 200,000 U.S. workers. Several critics noted that AT&T is fighting a Justice Department challenge to its pending merger with Time Warner. Later that same day, Comcast announced a $1,000 bonus for its workers, a week after the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal net neutrality, to the cable company's delight. Soon, more companies chimed in. And people began to keep track. The American Bankers Association started a list. So did Americans for Tax Reform. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has one. California vintner John Jordan, a major GOP donor, launched a website called "1 Country 1k" to encourage business owners to pledge $1,000 bonuses for workers. Advertisement The list kept by Scalise's office culls from these sources and House Republicans who were asked to help identify businesses in their districts. Chris Bond, the congressman's communications director, criticized House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for describing the benefits given to workers as "crumbs" compared with the corporate tax savings. "These are meaningful benefits," Bond said. But it remains doubtful that many American workers will see their employers added to the list. A recent Morgan Stanley survey of analysts found that only 22 percent expect companies to direct at least some of the tax-overhaul gains to increased worker compensation. Most analysts said the tax savings would fund share buybacks, dividends, and mergers and acquisitions. For companies that made the list, a $1,000 bonus was the most common benefit, offered by about 40 percent of firms no matter the company's size or the anticipated impact of the tax cut. Advertisement These bonuses are "tokens" of appreciation, said Iwan Barankay, a management professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Companies prefer to give bonuses to workers because they are temporary. Banks dominate the list, with about 65 out of the nation's approximately 5,000 banks announcing plans to give workers extra compensation. The banking industry is expected to see earnings soar 13 percent under the new tax law, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence analysts. And the total cost of worker pay raises and bonuses is projected to amount to just 1.75 percent of industry expenses. "There's a PR element to it," said banking consultant Bert Ely. At least six public utilities have announced plans to trim power rates because of the tax law, such as Baltimore Gas and Electric, which said its residential electric customers should save $2.31 a month. Advertisement House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) put out a news release spotlighting how the tax law persuaded the Assurant insurance company to alter a planned merger that would have moved the New York firm's tax domicile to Bermuda. "This is a big deal," Ryan wrote. "Real hardworking Americans will keep their jobs." But an Assurant representative said that while the tax law changed its plans to move on paper to Bermuda, jobs were never at stake: "We had no plans to move U.S. jobs offshore as a result of this transaction." Eleven companies on the list are owned by Frank VanderSloot, the richest man in Idaho. VanderSloot opted to give his 2,350 employees a $100 bonus for every year they have worked for him, up to $2,000. His largest company is Melaleuca, an online wellness shopping club based in Idaho Falls. Advertisement "This is a windfall to us. We ought to be spreading it around," VanderSloot said. "I wanted to make sure I'm not guilty of what the ultraliberal people accuse us of which is sticking it all in your own pocket." He also challenged other companies in southeast Idaho to follow suit. Seventeen signed up. VanderSloot directly or indirectly is responsible for 27 of the companies on the tax reform list. One of them is Colling Pest Control, which is offering a $100 bonus per quarter to each worker, office manager Marquee Rasmuson said. The firm is small, fewer than 10 employees. "But this is going to be beneficial to us," Rasmuson said. Another major Republican donor and early Trump supporter, Roddey Dowd, announced a $1,000 bonus for the 1,400 workers at Charlotte Pipe and Foundry, where he is chief executive. Bradford Muller, the foundry's head of marketing, said the bonus was "a gesture" aimed at getting workers to "realize that what people do in Washington affects their lives every day." Advertisement The announcement came just two weeks after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with a new director appointed by Trump said it was suspending its investigation of Nexus Services on allegations of "unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices." Donovan said in a statement that he "emphatically denies" any connection between the agency's decision and the pay raises. Two federal student loan collectors, Navient and its subsidiary Pioneer Credit Recovery, announced $1,000 bonuses for most of their workers amid ongoing lawsuits by the consumer protection agency and attorneys general in three states for allegedly misleading borrowers. Navient's contract with the Education Department expires after 2019. "They have a lot on the line," said Persis Yu, a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, which has had "a lot of problems" with Navient and Pioneer. Advertisement Pioneer was dropped by the Education Department in 2015 from its lucrative contract collecting past-due federal student debt after an agency audit. But the Trump administration said last year that it would disregard the audit's findings. Pioneer returned to making student loan collections last month. A spokeswoman for Navient and Pioneer denied any connection between the $1,000 bonuses and its other business with the federal government. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share [This story has been optimized for offline reading on our apps. For a richer experience, you can find the full version of this story here. An Internet connection is required.] Congress failed to pass a spending bill before midnight Friday, triggering a partial government shutdown. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Around 75 percent of the budget controlled by Congress has already been funded, but these top-level departments are affected: Homeland Security, Justice, Agriculture, Treasury, Interior, Transportation, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency. Monday and Tuesday are federal holidays, so some of the impact wont be immediate. Heres what we might expect to see, broadly looking at five broad categories of services: benefits, government facilities, recreation, travel and shipping and other. Advertisement BENEFITS Do-not-call registry - CLOSED The Federal Trade Commission will not be adding entries to their do-not-call registry or spam database. Farm service centers - CLOSED These centers, which provide market guidance and other support to farmers, would close across the country. This could be an issue for farmers looking for guidance on the contents of the most recent Farm Bill, passed on Thursday. Housing voucher requests - CLOSED Processing of requests for housing vouchers from Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will stop. Tax refunds - CLOSED The Internal Revenue Service will not process tax returns, although few are processed outside of tax season. Consumer complaint hotlines - MIXED If the Federal Communications Commission does not have sufficient reserve funding, it will cease to take consumer complaints. The Federal Trade Commision wont respond to new complaints. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is not Congressionally funded, and will operate normally. Advertisement Federally backed mortgages - MIXED After the 2013 shutdown, the Department of Justice concluded that shutdowns do not count towards the FOIA response time. Many agencies halted work on FOIA requests during the 2013 shutdown, and at least the FTC and Department of Transportation have stated they would do so again. Small business loans - MIXED Loan processing for most of Small Business Administrations lending programs would be slowed or put on hold. The Treasury Department would continue to lend to small businesses. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other similar benefits - OPERATING Recipients of Social Security, SSI, Medicaid, Medicare, unemployment insurance, TANF, food stamps and some other programs will continue to receive benefits. The programs spending is not dependent on Congresss explicit funding. Advertisement Veterans hospitals - OPERATING The Department of Veterans Affairs is not one of the affected agencies, so the hospitals will operate normally. Weather forecasts - OPERATING The National Weather Service continues services related to weather forecasts, but any further research would cease. GOVERNMENT FACILITIES Federal office buildings for affected agencies - CLOSED Facilities for the affected agencies would be closed. Presidential libraries - MIXED The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) administers presidential libraries for all presidents since Herbert Hoover. NARA-operated portions of presidential libraries will be closed. Any other portion of the library administered by a private foundation may stay open. International Space Station - OPERATING NASA will continue to support planned operations at the International Space Station. Advertisement Local parks, schools, libraries and city government buildings - OPERATING Since these entities are controlled locally and not by the federal government, they are not affected by the shutdown. RECREATION National parks and monuments - MIXED Many national parks would be open, but their visitor centers and restrooms would be closed and there would be no trash collection or park rangers on duty. Historical homes and select monuments, like the Statue of Liberty, would be closed. Smithsonian museums (and the National Zoo mole rat cam) - OPERATING Smithsonian institutions are funded through the end of the year, so mole rat queen viewing continues undeterred. TRAVEL AND SHIPPING Passport offices - MIXED Passport and visa services will remain open. However, those located inside federal buildings of agencies that have shut down will be closed. Read more Advertisement Airports - OPERATING Air traffic controllers, TSA officers and customs agents would continue to work at airports, although some may be working without pay. Amtrak - OPERATING Amtrak continues normal operations during a short-term shutdown. Border security - OPERATING The Department of Homeland Security decribes border security as mission critical and related personnel as essential. U.S. Postal Service - OPERATING The U.S. Postal Service is an independent agency, so it is not affected by the partial government shutdown. OTHER Many federal research operations - CLOSED Some government research projects, such as geological and weather research, will cease. The Census Bureau would delay reports on home spending and new constructions. Nongovernmental organizations that already received government grants, however, would not be affected by the shutdown. Advertisement Civil litigation - MIXED Some civil litigation will be curtailed or postponed at the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission. Other agencies may do the same. Law enforcement training - MIXED Federal law enforcement training stops in a shutdown, but the next scheduled training is not until Jan 3. Census 2020 preparations - OPERATING A minimal section of the decennial Census workforce would continue to work using prior year balances to continue development of the 2020 Census. Food inspection - OPERATING USDA inspection of meat, poultry and eggs would continue. Military operations - OPERATING The Department of Defense has already been funded and is not affected by the partial shutdown. Special counsel Muellers Russia investigation - OPERATING The probes funding is approved by Congress outside of the normal government funding process, so it is not affected by a shutdown. The local government of Washington, D.C. - OPERATING District government buildings will be open and services will continue as normal. In 2013, Mayor Vincent C. Gray had to use reserve funds and exempt all city employees, but D.C. has since gained more budget autonomy. Trash will not be collected in federal parks or monuments, however. GiftOutline Gift Article Only about 1 in 6 of the 1.87 million civilian full-time federal employees live in the Washington, D.C. metro area, which includes Northern Virginia, suburban Maryland and even a touch of West Virginia. The rest work around the country. The employee counts released by the Office of Personnel Management do not include contractors, the Postal Service or intelligence workers. [This story has been optimized for offline reading on our apps. For a richer experience, you can find the full version of this story here . An Internet connection is required.] Federal workers earn an average of just over $83,000 per year, and they will go without pay while the government is closed. After the 2013 shutdown, federal workers received back pay, though any workers who were furloughed received it after congressional action. Not all workers will be sent home each agency makes decisions about which workers will remain. Although the Washington area has the highest number of federal workers, government employees make up large shares of the workforce in many other areas, often near military bases. Federal civilians are 15 percent of the workforce in the small metropolitan area near Robins Air Force Base south of Macon, Ga. Similarly, federal civilian workers are 13 percent of the workforce in the Bremerton-Silverdale metropolitan area near Seattle. Federal workers are 16 percent of the workforce near the Patuxent Naval Air Station in Southern Maryland. Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share While drummer Louis Hayes has been known to take a solo or two it was two at the Kennedy Center's KC Jazz Club on Friday night he's more likely to drive from behind. Best known for his stints in the 1950s with Horace Silver and in the 1960s with Cannonball Adderley and Oscar Peterson, Hayes is a catalyst, channeling his boundless energy into the band itself and being frugal with Blakey- and Roach-style pyrotechnics. As he demonstrated at KC, playing a supporting role doesn't mean he will be ignored. "Serenade for Horace," the first tune played by Hayes's quintet, featured hard-swinging solos by every other member: vibraphonist Steve Nelson; tenor saxophonist Abraham Burton; pianist Anthony Wonsey; and bassist Dezron Douglas. Hayes didn't need one himself. His personality was unmissable in his accompaniment, full of thudding bombs on his bass drum, accented change-ups on the snare and a ride-cymbal sound that was as much a lash as a hiss. Advertisement His playing retained that character, and a fair bit of volume, throughout the set. But it never became domineering. Instead, it nicely spurred on Burton's mighty tirade on, for example, "St. Vitus' Dance." On "Bolivia," Hayes meshed with Nelson such that he and the vibist seemed to be playing a duet, the drummer adapting and accenting Nelson's rhythms with seeming telepathy. He didn't quite establish that level of rapport with Wonsey on what followed it was clearly a solo, belonging to the pianist but neither did he miss an opportunity to spice it up, raising the temperature on the ride cymbal and forcing Wonsey to respond in kind. Even on the set's ballad, "Darn That Dream," Hayes was difficult to miss. He switched to brushes and stayed away from Nelson's warm, declaratory lines, but his playing was ever-present, with a sensuous sweep at times offset with pitter-patter. He resumed stickwork on Wonsey's solo Burton laying out making the cymbal shiver, along with this listener's spine. All that said, Hayes did indeed take two solos, and if they showed impressive chops, they also, and perhaps more so, betrayed his fealty to the rhythms of the songs. Most of "Bolivia" found him rolling out the groove, just as he had been under the other soloists, albeit with more rack-tom and snare-drum rolls, before briefly coming to a boil near solo's end. He did the same on the set-closing "Cookin' at the Continental," re-centering on a different drum with each of his eight choruses: a clever trick that masked how carefully Hayes maintained the tune's blues structure. Two tasty morsels, but no more; a master drummer need not overwhelm to make an impact. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share The science exam given annually to District students was so error-ridden that the superintendent announced Friday that she is throwing out scores for the past two years and canceling this year's test. The decision puts the city in violation of federal law, and the superintendent's office said some federal funding could be in jeopardy. Under the law, school districts must test students in science once during their elementary school years, once in middle school and once in high school. Tests vary by district, and state and local school leaders determine how exams are administered. D.C. State Superintendent of Education Hanseul Kang said she had little choice but to cancel the District's $370,000 contract with WestEd, a national education company that developed the citywide exam known as the DC Science Assessment. The two-hour, computerized test is not used to determine whether students can advance to the next grade. Advertisement "We recognize that this is an extraordinary step we are taking, and it is not a decision we are taking lightly," Kang said in an interview. "If we had gone forward with releasing these results, we felt we would have been giving schools an inaccurate reflection of how students are doing, which would have been absolutely unjust." While examining 2017 test results, Kang said employees in her office noticed that eighth-graders' scores had declined significantly over the previous year. That result did not match trends in other grade levels and was inconsistent with the middle-schoolers' performance on other standardized tests. District officials determined that the 2016 science exam had 70 questions; in 2017, the score reflected only 50 questions making each question worth more and, thus, susceptible to bigger changes in overall results. Advertisement Eighth-grade students in 2017 were originally given a 70-question test, Kang said, but WestEd later invalidated 20 questions without notifying her office. Questions can be invalidated for a host of technical reasons: They can be deemed unclear, or found to not properly assess what students know. (The test is not entirely multiple choice.) Max McConkey, chief policy and communications officer at WestEd, said the company is aware of errors in the exams but said he was surprised the superintendent's office canceled the contract. "We knew there were errors, but we thought we had put corrective measures in place," he said. "We want them to be happy, we want the kids to be served, and if that's the direction they want to go we will at no expense work with any new vendor." WestEd administered its first science exam in the District in spring 2016. The city previously used the DC-CAS Science Assessment, but the superintendent's office developed a new test in 2014 after the city passed updated science curriculum standards. Advertisement Kang said errors existed in the 2017 tests across all grade levels, and WestEd did not follow protocol to ensure the exams could be accurately compared year over year. "That is a basic function of the tests," she said. "There were core industry principles that were not followed." The Office of the State Superintendent of Education oversees the administration of standardized tests for schools and is exploring whether it will take legal action against WestEd, officials said. Kang said her office has been in contact with the Education Department and is working to mitigate the consequences for not administering a science exam. The department did not immediately reply Friday to a request for comment. The superintendent's office opened a competitive bidding process for a new test administrator and plans to give students the exam in spring 2019. "2019 will become our new baseline because we don't have previous tests," Kang said. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share The World War II Memorial in the nation's capital was one of the more memorable stages of conflict during the 2013 federal government shutdown. After the Obama administration ordered the site barricaded, along with many other popular monuments in Washington, a group of elderly veterans defied the U.S. Park Police and toured the site anyway. Things are different this time around. On Saturday, the first day of the latest government shutdown, tourists strolled the memorial's solemn, circular plaza beneath a mild blue sky. Among them was Erik Burney, 51, an Air Force veteran and Arlington resident. Burney said he canceled a White House tour with visiting relatives because of the shutdown, but was grateful that other tourist destinations remained accessible as negotiations to reopen the government continued on Capitol Hill. Advertisement "I think the government has a duty to minimize the negative impact on the public in all its policy decisions," he said. The frustration of tourists in the nation's capital was a dominant theme of the last federal shutdown, and a political rallying cry for Republicans who said then-President Barack Obama was deliberately exacerbating the shutdown's effects on visitors to Washington. No similar dynamic was playing out after the government ran out of funding. That was partly by luck and partly by design: The timing of the latest shutdown meant that institutions including the National Gallery of Art, Arlington National Cemetery, Smithsonian museums and National Zoo had money to keep operating at least through Saturday and Sunday. Funding for the government expired at midnight on Jan. 20 after a short-term spending bill failed in the Senate. (Video: Bastien Inzaurralde, Jordan Frasier/The Washington Post, Photo: Melina Mara/The Washington Post) At the same time, President Trump has directed federal officials to blunt the front-line effects of the shutdown by allowing continued access to parks and open-air monuments including the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials and war memorials in the District. Advertisement As a result, something of a carnival atmosphere pervaded downtown Washington outside the halls of power on Saturday. Demonstrators at the 2018 Women's March thronged the Mall, and tourists expecting to find their plans constrained by political gridlock enjoyed unexpected freedom. Peter Kilburn, 75, of Charlottesville, N.C., said he had been pessimistic about sight-seeing opportunities after the late-night news of failed talks in Congress to avoid a shutdown. "I got up this morning at 5:30 and turned on my cell phone and saw we were shut down," he said. "I went back to bed." But he and his wife, Natalie, learned from staff at their hotel that most museums and memorials were still accessible. As they walked into the National Portrait Gallery Saturday, the couple said they were "very surprised," and pleased. Advertisement "They said Monday is when it's all going to close," Natalie Kilburn said. Or maybe not. On Saturday afternoon, Smithsonian officials announced that they would be able to keep their facilities, including the National Zoo, open on Monday as well. National Park Service spokeswoman Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles said memorials and open-air parks would remain open for the duration of the shutdown. However, those sites will not be staffed, meaning that some amenities such as visitors' centers and bathrooms would be closed. Portable toilets have been set up at the Lincoln, Jefferson and World War II memorials, Washington Monument and in West Potomac Park. Arlington National Cemetery will likewise remain open throughout the shutdown, according to the cemetery's website. Although cleaning crews have been furloughed, the D.C. government and business improvement district have agreed to help out with trash pickup at federal sites. Advertisement Despite the scarcity of visible effects in the capital, regional leaders were still uneasy about the harm a prolonged government shutdown could do to the regional economy, whose lifeblood is the federal workforce. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) castigated legislators on Twitter Saturday morning. "Congress should have their pay docked for every day they allow this reckless and irresponsible #shutdown to continue. #DoYourJob," Hogan wrote. Even tourists felt some early effects of the shutdown. While the National Gallery was open Saturday with its full slate of programs, the National Archives next door were closed, with a sign out front citing the shutdown. Matthew Gurbach of Shaker Heights, Ohio, was among those milling outside, along with his wife and three children. Gurbach said he was happy they had at least been able to see a Vermeer exhibition at the National Gallery. He said he blamed the Republicans for the impasse, pointing among other things to a May tweet from the president suggesting that the country "needs a good 'shutdown' " to resolve spending disagreements. His fourth-grader, Madeline, seemed to accept the situation more stoically, at least as far as the National Archives were concerned. "I didn't want to go in there anyway," she said. GiftOutline Gift Article The newspaper quoted Malaysian Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid as saying that those children could attend school if at least one parent is a Malaysian citizen. Parents and legal guardians are given a period of two years to complete the documents. However, if the citizenship is not obtained within the stipulated time, the Education Ministry will still allow the child to continue schooling, he added. There are many stateless children in Malaysia, who have at least one foreign parent without legal marriage documents or who were born in Malaysia but parents do not hold the Malaysian citizenship. Source from Vietnamplus. Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share It's big and blue and has a giant arrow pointing toward the sky with a three-word slogan underneath: Experience. Expand. Explore. That is the message Prince George's County officials want visitors to consider as they drive into the Washington suburb that is Maryland's second-most-populous county. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Fifty signs were erected in November, after a delay of several years caused by an unexpected shortage of cash. They are part of a tourism campaign aimed at amplifying what officials see as a county on the rise cue the projectile logo refurbished as a destination and a place to do business. The campaign also happens to fit perfectly with the pitch County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) is making in his 2018 gubernatorial bid: Look what he did for the county. Imagine what he can do for the state. Advertisement Baker's name is on the signs, in case some drivers don't make the connection. But officials say the signs' emergence as the gubernatorial campaign shifts into high gear is merely coincidental, and they note that the section with Baker's name can be removed once he is out of office, should his successor wish to keep the marketing effort in place. "It just kind of happened that way," Baker's communications manager, Barry Hudson, said about the $100,000 sign rollout in the final year of the county executive's eight-year tenure. He called the $700,000 marketing campaign "our opportunity to frame the narrative and tell our story." Those vying for the Democratic nomination to succeed Baker were less than enthusiastic last week when asked about the signs and the rebranding effort. "It's a curious $700,000 expenditure in the 11th hour of a lame-duck administration," said former congresswoman Donna F. Edwards, adding that she would have rather divided the money among county teachers to buy supplies. "I will focus our county marketing on growing our economy by attracting business from across the country and around the globe." Advertisement State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks said that "being fiscally responsible with the county's resources" is important, adding that, if elected, she'll ensure county money supports residents' needs. Former Barack Obama appointee Paul Monteiro said he can "easily think of more impactful ways to spend money." State Sen. C. Anthony Muse and county resident Lewis S. Johnson did not respond to a request for comment. Aides to Baker said they hope that whoever wins in June (in deeply Democratic Prince George's, winning the primary is tantamount to winning the general election) will keep the arrow ascending. "The brand is supposed to live past any administration," said J. Matthew Nietzey, who has led the county's visitor bureau for nearly four decades. "It's not a Baker thing. It's a Prince George's thing." Advertisement The metal signs were printed in early 2017, said Paulette Jones, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Works. They replaced smaller, aging "Path to Greatness" signposts sans removable nameplate that Baker erected early in his administration. But the department held back on installing the signs until the rest of the marketing push was ready. The county's rebranding campaign was unveiled in 2014 but went dormant when the program ran out of money. In 2016, the County Council directed 5 percent of hotel-tax revenue to boost the county's tourism arm. County officials coordinated media buys on Washington-area radio stations; created television ads to tout their award-winning public parks; bought escalator wraps and jetway ads at Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport and billboards near Metro stations; and posted on Instagram using Ferris wheel and waterfront images from National Harbor. Once all that was in place, the signs went up. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share Paul Booth, a progressive activist who organized one of the first major rallies against the Vietnam War a 15,000-student march on the White House in 1965 and who later oversaw efforts to boost wages and preserve Social Security benefits as a top strategist for one of the nation's largest unions, died Jan. 17 at a hospital in Washington. He was 74. The cause was complications from chronic lymphocytic leukemia, said his wife, activist Heather Booth. On the day he died, Mr. Booth was working on an article for the American Prospect and had encouraged his wife to attend a Capitol Hill demonstration, where she was arrested while protesting on behalf of "dreamers" protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The lanky son of a left-leaning economist and social worker, Mr. Booth engrossed himself in organizing as a student at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where in the early 1960s he founded a chapter of Students for a Democratic Society a fractious, sometimes anarchic organization whose calls for peace, social justice and political reform came to define the movement known as the New Left. Advertisement "We're really not just a peace group," he told the New York Times on April 17, 1965, the day he led the SDS-organized war protest in Washington. "We are working on domestic problems civil rights, poverty, university reform. We feel passionately and angrily about things in America, and we feel that a war in Asia will destroy what we're trying to do here." Mr. Booth was described by Alan Haber, first president of SDS, as a rare "cheerful spirit" in the organization, singing and telling stories to maintain morale during the contentious drafting process that resulted in the organization's 1962 manifesto, the Port Huron Statement, under student leaderTom Hayden. Rising to the position of national secretary, the group's de facto leader, he worked with civil rights and women's groups to organize events such as the antiwar march on the White House and an earlier rally at the New York headquarters of Chase Manhattan Bank, which the coalition labeled a "partner in apartheid" for giving loans to the South African government. Advertisement Still, Mr. Booth was viewed as insufficiently radical by many of the organization's younger members. When he espoused a policy of "build, not burn," recommending that young Americans perform volunteer work or humanitarian service in lieu of military service or draft-card burning, he was censured by some SDS leaders. Sociologist Todd Gitlin, a fellow SDS activist who helped organize the bank and antiwar rallies, described Mr. Booth's politics as akin to what writer and socialist leader Michael Harrington called "the left wing of the possible": "Don't go out on a limb, don't break your contact with ordinary people and mainline institutions." A protege of community organizer Saul Alinsky, Mr. Booth left SDS to become a labor organizer in 1966. He worked on environmental efforts in Chicago before joining the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the country's largest public-services employees union. Advertisement He went on to serve as the chief assistant to union president Gerald W. McEntee and as an executive assistant to his successor, Lee Saunders. His titles belied the full range of his work, which included behind-the-scenes efforts to support Democratic politicians and maintain or expand social benefits for working-class families. In addition to leading campaigns that opposed cuts to Medicare and the privatization of Social Security, Mr. Booth was credited with organizing a coalition in Baltimore that successfully pressed for the country's first living-wage law. Passed in 1994, the legislation raised the base pay for city contract workers in Baltimore above the federal minimum wage and has since been mimicked in cities across the country. The law also formed the seeds of the recent campaign for a $15 minimum wage an issue that made it onto the Democratic Party's official platform at the 2016 national convention. Mr. Booth, selected by presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, was a member of the committee that wrote the platform. Advertisement Paul Robert Booth was born in Washington on June 7, 1943. His father was a Labor Department economist who later worked for the International Labor Organization in Geneva; when he suffered a heart ailment, the family returned to the United States and became dependent on his mother's income as a social worker. Mr. Booth graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in the District and, in 1964, received a bachelor's degree in political science from Swarthmore. He met Heather Tobis two years later at a University of Chicago sit-in protesting the Selective Service, and after three days on the floor of the school's administration building asked her to marry him. She later formed the Midwest Academy, a Chicago-based training center for social-justice organizers, where Mr. Booth was a board member. In addition to his wife of 50 years, survivors include two sons, Gene Booth of Chicago and Dan Booth of Concord, Mass., named for the socialist leaders Eugene V. Debs and Daniel De Leon, respectively; a brother; and five grandchildren. Advertisement Mr. Booth was research director for the United Packinghouse Workers of America before joining AFSCME in 1974. As the international union representative for Illinois, he secured union contracts for state workers and city employees in Chicago "further speeding the demise of the patronage system," the Chicago Tribune reported in 1988. He retired in 2017 but remained engaged in national politics, even when he was hospitalized last week. On a CaringBridge site for Mr. Booth created shortly before his death, his wife noted that alongside notes or calls from well-wishers, "Paul particularly welcomes any news about more Republican retirements." What he really wanted, she continued, was for friends and strangers "to organize and build the resistance." Read more Washington Post obituaries GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share 3 men use pickup to steal ATM at 7-Eleven Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight A man backed a pickup truck through a plate-glass window of a 7-Eleven store in Northwest Washington early Friday and, with the help of two others, stole the bank machine, D.C. police said. The theft, which occurred shortly before 2 a.m. in the 200 block of Cedar Street NW, was captured on store surveillance video. It shows the truck plowing into the store and three men dressed in black and wearing masks struggling to get the ATM onto the truck. No arrests have been made. Peter Hermann 17-year-old is charged in double slaying A 17-year-old from Fairfax County who allegedly shot and killed his girlfriend's parents before wounding himself was formally charged Friday, police said. The teenager has been charged as a juvenile with two counts of murder for the deaths of Scott Fricker, 48, and his wife, Buckley Kuhn-Fricker, 43, in their Reston house. Advertisement The teen remains in the hospital, and police have not released his name because he is a juvenile. Family members and friends of the Frickers had said that the couple worried that the 17-year-old was a neo-Nazi, and that they asked their daughter to stop seeing him. Ellie Silverman Inmate's death ruled a homicide, officials say The September death of a 53-year-old inmate from the Fairfax County jail has been ruled a homicide, Fairfax County police said. Henrietta Smith of the District died of blunt force trauma to the head after an injury sustained before her arrest, a Virginia medical examiner has ruled. Fairfax County police officers initially came in contact with Smith on Aug. 20, when they were called to a home in the Alexandria area of the county for a reported assault, police said. While at the scene, officers learned that Smith was wanted for a parole violation and was in possession of crack cocaine, authorities said. She was arrested and taken to the jail. Advertisement A preliminary investigation revealed that an acquaintance had hit Smith in the head with an object before officers arrived, police said. Smith was offered medical treatment at the scene, which police said she refused. Medical staff members at the jail evaluated her before she was admitted, police said. Just before 7 p.m. Aug. 31, a sheriff's deputy was informed that Smith needed medical attention, police said. Sheriff's deputies and medical personnel immediately rendered aid and called for paramedics, police said. Smith was taken to a hospital, where she died a week later. No arrests have been made in the case. Justin Jouvenal GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share Urban experts and Irish oddsmakers agree that the Washington region's chances of landing Amazon.com's second headquarters jumped significantly last week when the area won three spots on the company's list of 20 potential locations. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Greater Washington boasts almost all the attributes that the online retail giant says it wants for a $5 billion investment that will create up to 50,000 wellpaying jobs. The region has one of the nation's best-educated workforces, a diverse population, international airports and public transit. It can't hurt that Amazon founder Jeffrey P. Bezos bought a $23 million mansion in the District a year ago and owns the local newspaper (this one). "I think their eyes are on D.C.," said Richard Florida, a professor at the University of Toronto and author of influential books on urban issues. "For Amazon, it solves a lot of problems." Advertisement But the three local contenders on Amazon's shortlist the District, Montgomery County and Northern Virginia still face strong competition from large, cosmopolitan metro areas including New York, Boston and Atlanta. In addition, a historical lack of cooperation among the District, Maryland and Virginia threatens the region's bid, according to local officials and academic analysts. Seattle-based Amazon has said it wants a strong, stable working relationship with local authorities. That poses a challenge for a region where power is split among two states and a federal district. The area's well-known failure in recent months to agree on how to fund Metro has highlighted the problem. "Washington has a really good chance if they are cohesive," said Amy Liu, director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. "Unfortunately, that's not where the region is." Advertisement Greater Washington was the only metropolitan area in the North America-wide competition with three locations to make the cut. That helped lead Dublin-based Paddy Power bookmakers to say the odds for Montgomery County jumped dramatically, from a long shot at 250-1 to one of the favorites at 8-1. The District was close behind at 10-1, while Northern Virginia placed at 20-1. The oddsmaker saw Boston as the most likely winner, with odds at 3-1, followed closely by Austin and Atlanta. Each of the three locations in the Washington area suggested more than one site for the Amazon campus, which the company said would require up to 8 million square feet of office space. Montgomery County and Northern Virginia have not publicly divulged the sites, for fear of hurting their competitive position. But local officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, identified some of the locations. Montgomery, they said, has proposed two Maryland sites: White Flint and another nearby in North Bethesda. Both enjoy support from the state and county. Sites proposed in Northern Virginia, the officials said, which also are said to enjoy state support, include: Advertisement A plot near Dulles International Airport occupied by the Center for Innovative Technology and supported jointly by Fairfax and Loudoun counties. A site in the Crystal City/ Potomac Yard area, backed by Arlington and Alexandria. Two sites in Prince William County Potomac Shores in the eastern part of the county and Innovation Park in the western part. The District has publicly identified four sites: Anacostia Riverfront, NoMa-Union Station, Hill East and Shaw-Howard University. Some observers said the Washington region should have agreed jointly on a single site and offered it. A unified pitch would be stronger, and everybody in the area benefits no matter who gets the prize. "D.C. might stand to be a big beneficiary, even if Arlington gets the ultimate nod," said Harriet Tregoning, a former planning and development official at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Advertisement The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments studied the possibility of a joint regional proposal in September, but the area jurisdictions quickly decided to go their own ways. One obstacle: The District, Virginia and Maryland would have found it difficult, if not impossible, to offer subsidies for a project to be built outside their jurisdictions. Amazon's inclusion of three locations in the Washington area fueled speculation that the company has the region at the top of its list and wants to pit the three sites against each other in offering financial breaks. "This is a textbook example of how to wrangle incentives," Florida said. There were signs that the region's governments were prepared to succumb to the temptation. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) disclosed Thursday that Maryland's inducements to lure Amazon totaled more than $5 billion. The offer, which Hogan was to describe in detail on Monday, includes tax incentives and transportation improvements. That would be by far the biggest economic development package ever offered in Maryland. By contrast, the state and county extended loans, tax credits and grants totaling $62 million to Marriott International last year to build a new headquarters in Bethesda. Advertisement Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) acknowledged the incentives offered to Amazon were large but suggested they were worth the price given what 50,000 new jobs would mean. "I believe they are affordable. I believe they are in the public's interest," said Leggett, who declined to divulge the package's contents. Even at $5 billion, Maryland's package was smaller than the one offered by New Jersey. It said its inducements, in hope of attracting the company to Newark, were worth $7 billion. Virginia and the District both declined to say whether they would match Maryland's offer. Suzanne W. Clark, communications director for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, said it could not provide details "for competitive reasons and to protect confidential company information." Brian Kenner, D.C. deputy mayor for planning and economic development, said winning the Amazon contest would "accelerate the growth of . . . vibrant [D.C.] neighborhoods, and we will offer incentives appropriate to that impact." Advertisement Although Amazon is trying to extract the biggest grants and tax breaks it can, local officials and private analysts said the single biggest factor for the company is a region's ability to attract and retain a high-quality workforce over decades. That augurs well for greater Washington, partly because its population includes a high percentage of people with college and postgraduate degrees. The area also includes numerous vibrant, walkable neighborhoods such as Penn Quarter, Bethesda and Clarendon that are desirable to millennial professionals whom Amazon wants to hire. Victor Hoskins, director of economic development for Arlington, said his county's pitch to Amazon noted that 36 percent of the working population has advanced degrees. Hoskins also addressed concerns that a huge influx of residents would swamp the winning location. He said the key to absorbing the surge was to add infrastructure in phases over eight to 10 years. Advertisement "You build the commercial building first . . . [and then] you build the housing related to that," Hoskins said. "We have a history of developing very well-planned communities. We would use that knowledge base to make sure this didn't overwhelm our community." Many officials and analysts thought the Washington region could best demonstrate to Amazon its readiness to cooperate by uniting around a funding plan for Metro. "There's no question Amazon needs a well-functioning transit system, making the imperative for all three jurisdictions to act together on Metro to provide dedicated funding and real governance reform even more urgent," said Jason Miller, chief executive of the Greater Washington Partnership. "More broadly, a demonstration of regional unity can make clear to Amazon that regardless of which of the three locations that it chooses, they will be getting the best the capital region has to offer." Liu, of Brookings, added: "D.C., Maryland, and Virginia came together for the Olympic bid. They can do that again for the Amazon bid." Brian Fung contributed to this report. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share The fate of a 100-year-old bridge that served as a lifeline for Washington-area African Americans during segregation remains in limbo a year after Montgomery County leaders asked that it be preserved when it's removed for construction of the Purple Line. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight State and county project officials say the historic Talbot Avenue bridge's steel girders, which support it and form short walls on the sides, will be saved. However, they haven't decided whether to incorporate them into artwork at a Purple Line station or place them along an adjacent recreational trail, as some residents have asked. Just as important, they haven't determined who will pay to move and install them. Longtime residents of Lyttonsville, a community northwest of downtown Silver Spring founded in 1853 by a free black laborer, have been fighting to save the decaying bridge for several years. It's scheduled to be removed in mid-2019 to make way for a longer span across what will be a wider rail corridor once the Purple Line is built. Advertisement Residents say the one-lane wood bridge spanning the CSX freight rail tracks is central to the community's history as an African American enclave during segregation. Some recall their grandmothers crossing it to reach nearby white neighborhoods where they were allowed to clean homes but not live. On rainy days, Lyttonsville residents hailed taxis at the bridge because drivers refused to use the muddy roads left unpaved long after those in surrounding white neighborhoods. Many used the bridge to reach buses that would take them to schools, jobs, restaurants and movie theaters in the District. "It's a symbol of unity and a symbol of courage and conviction," said Patricia Tyson, 75, a nearly lifelong Lyttonsville resident whose grandparents moved there in 1920. "At one time, it was the only way into and out of the community. . . . It was a gateway to life. It helped us do what we wanted to do." Roger Paden, who lives in the nearby Rosemary Hills neighborhood, said he joined the fight to save the bridge because he's worried about the area losing a critical piece of history. He said he has seen how Lyttonsville has long gotten short shrift from the government. He noted that the area is home to a county bus facility, industrial zoning, and a future Purple Line train storage yard. Advertisement "Fighting for the bridge has been part of the fight for Lyttonsville's survival," Paden said. Construction on the 16-mile light-rail line between Montgomery and Prince George's counties started in August, but the design is still being finalized. The line is scheduled to open to passengers in spring 2022. Officials at the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) say they tentatively approved, with community input, two artwork proposals for the Lyttonsville station as part of the Purple Line's $6 million art budget. One of the designs, by Maryland artist David Hess, shows one of the girders cut into two pieces and attached to the sides of the elevator shaft. The other girder would lie on the ground as a short wall between the station and the adjacent Capital Crescent Trail. The girders would be decorated with photos of Lyttonsville residents and other historic images as part of a "sculptural photo album," according to draft designs. But some longtime residents say the design loses the feeling of a bridge. Instead, they suggested placing the girders along both sides of the trail so walkers and cyclists would still feel like they were going over a bridge. Advertisement "People would get a better idea of what the bridge was like," said Charlotte Coffield, 84, a third-generation Lyttonsville resident. "This is what I'd like to see happen, given the fact the rest of the bridge is beyond repair." The bridge's badly rotted wood timbers can't be salvaged, state officials say. Montgomery County, which owns the bridge, closed it to vehicles in May after it failed a safety inspection. The state has sent mixed messages about the bridge's fate. Michael Madden, the MTA's deputy project director for the Purple Line, wrote to Paden and a county official in mid-December that the MTA had made a "final decision" that the station artwork would no longer include the girders, according to the email. The state's Purple Line art budget covers artwork only in the state-owned stations, he wrote. The trail is owned by the county. Advertisement Madden wrote that the state would leave the girders to the county and the community to use as they wish to mark the bridge's history. Community activists said the letter missed that they had asked that the girders be placed along the trail at the east end of the Lyttonsville station. "I was really disheartened by it because it seemed like the decision made very little sense given the nature of our proposal and the reason given for their decision," Paden said. In response to a reporter's questions last week, state officials said they had not made a final decision. Charles Lattuca, who oversees the Purple Line for the MTA, said the state is still considering residents' request to put the girders along the trail. He said the Lyttonsville station's artwork will include steel girders, whether replicas or the real thing. Advertisement "The state wants the community to be happy, and we want them to have the [bridge] materials they need for their project," Lattuca said. "How that project is accomplished and paid for, we'll have to work that out with the county." Tim Cupples, Montgomery's coordinator on the state Purple Line project, said the county will explore the residents' proposal to install the girders along the trail. "To me, that's reasonable and easy to resolve," Cupples said. "The first step is to listen and understand what their concerns are. Then we'll work with MTA to try to meet their concerns." Historian David Rotenstein, who lives in Silver Spring and has researched the bridge's history, said he's concerned that state and local officials didn't sufficiently consider its significance to the surrounding community before the state initially planned to demolish it. He said the state review of the Purple Line's potential effects relied on previous studies that had noted it only as an example of early 20th century bridge architecture and engineering. Advertisement "It was treated very poorly," Rotenstein said. "By not taking into account its social history, the subsequent reviewers had tunnel vision and didn't evaluate it for its historical significance to the communities it connected." Lyttonsville residents say that even after several years, they've been given little certainty about the bridge's future. "We think things are finalized and then it comes out different in the end," Coffield said. "A lot of discussion goes on without the community." Asked whether she thinks the bridge will be saved, Tyson laughed lightly. "I believe in prayer," she said. "I'll let you know. If it's saved, it'll be through prayer. I sincerely mean that. It has no other chance." GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share RICHMOND Gov. Ralph Northam said Friday was the best day yet of his young governorship, and not just because he felt he'd gotten his relationship with Republican legislative leaders back on track. The alarm clock that former governor Terry McAuliffe (D) had hidden in the bedroom of the mansion to torment him had finally turned up in a linen chest, attached with double-sided tape. "It had gone off every night at 3 in the morning," said Northam (D), who was looking forward to sleeping better at the Executive Mansion. Northam made the remarks at a half-hour gathering with reporters at the end of his first week in office, one in which high hopes for bipartisanship had quickly dissolved into partisan anger. On Monday, just hours into the new governor's first workday, Senate Republicans killed a raft of gun-control legislation backed by Northam. In a formal speech to the House and Senate that night, Northam angered Republicans by playing up Democratic priorities over areas of mutual agreement. Advertisement The next day, House Speaker M. Kirkland Cox (R-Colonial Heights) met privately with the governor to complain that his tone had been too partisan. That was a rougher start than many had expected for Northam, a soft-spoken Eastern Shore pediatrician once wooed by the GOP. In his first public comments on the flap, Northam acknowledged that his speech had "ruffled feathers." He said Republicans might have been taken aback not so much by his words things he had often said on the campaign trail but by the rowdy response it drew from a newly expanded and emboldened Democratic caucus. Along with the governorship, Democrats picked up 15 seats in the House in November, bringing them to near-parity in a chamber the GOP had long dominated. "The clapping and banging of the desktops, I think the folks to my right, the tone of it got their attention," Northam said, noting that new Democratic delegates in particular were "excited and cheering and standing up." Advertisement Asked about his meeting with Cox the next day, Northam said they quickly moved past the episode. "Very little of the time that he came over he started the conversation that he was disappointed, but then we started talking about, I think, a lot more constructive discussion, and we had a good talk," Northam said. "I've had a couple talks with him, and like I said, I look forward to moving forward." Northam also said he has had productive meetings with other Republicans, including Del. Chris Jones (R-Suffolk), chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. The governor said he plans to meet weekly with leaders of the House and Republican-controlled Senate, possibly on Sunday nights. "We certainly feel like we are moving in the right direction," said Cox spokesman Parker Slaybaugh. "The speaker does look forward to regular meetings." Advertisement Northam said he remained optimistic that he and the legislature would find a way to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act this year, predicting a deal will come together at the very end of the 60-day session. "I think there's some common ground there," he said. "The fact that they are willing to sit down and talk about it is the important part." Expansion could provide health care to 400,000 uninsured Virginians. Most Republicans opposed expansion under McAuliffe, expressing doubt that Washington could afford to pick up most of the state's $2 billion-a-year cost. But under Northam, some Republicans have signaled a willingness to expand health care in some form. In the past, Democrats have sought to win Republicans over to expansion with reform-minded plans, such as running the program through private insurance. On Friday, Northam said he would seek "straight Medicaid expansion," so the state would not need a waiver from the Trump administration, which has sought to dismantle the ACA. Advertisement Northam spokesman Brian Coy later said the state could still seek waivers on a separate track. On a more personal note, Northam said life in the 200-year-old governor's mansion has been "an adjustment" for himself and first lady Pam Northam. "Growing up the way I grew up, I'm not used to people helping me with my meals. Nor is she," he said. "And helping with the laundry . . . But the people are just so nice and helpful, so it's all good." Mansion life will be more comfortable without McAuliffe's alarm clock, which the departing governor left as a practical joke. Northam said he is "slowly getting rid of" the framed pictures of McAuliffe that the former governor had stashed around the mansion, four or five to a room. And Northam is no longer sleeping on pillowcases emblazoned with McAuliffe's image. "We've stored the pillowcases," Northam said. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share It shapes our shadows, saturates sunrise and sunset with glistening color. It reveals us to one another and to ourselves. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight It even helps define our place in the universe: We use it to measure the distance between ourselves and objects so far away in space that we'll never see them in real time. It's light, and it shapes the world we live in. Light is the seemingly simple focus of a free exhibition at Kaneko in Omaha. However, a glimpse at the installations, which delve into the artistic and scientific potential of light, reveals a complicated world of brightness and shadow. Multimedia installations, like a kaleidoscopic "infinity room" by Refik Anadol and a cocoon-like web of acrylic, stainless steel and LED lights by Taylor Dean Harrison, invite both self-discovery and selfies. The cocoon made an appearance at Burning Man, as did a nearby exhibition of massive, glowing flowers by FoldHaus. The art offers a chance to lose yourself in light that shifts, exaggerates, and overwhelms the senses. Advertisement Once you find yourself again, there's science to consider. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extreme Light Laboratory, which explores the scientific potential of lasers and other forms of light and designed the world's brightest laser, created a group of videos and experiments that explain its work. There's also video from the Skyglow project, a years-long time-lapse photography experiment aimed at spreading the word about the dangers of light pollution. If you can't travel to Omaha to see the exhibition before March 23, head to the Kaneko website for a teaser video that brings some of the multimedia components to life. You might well leave Light with stars in your eyes and a new appreciation of the energy that defines everything around you. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share Several weeks after wildfires blackened nearly 500 square miles in Southern California, a large winter storm rolled in from the Pacific. In most places the rainfall was welcomed and did not cause any major flooding from burned or unburned hill slopes. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight But in the town of Montecito, a coastal community in Santa Barbara County that lies at the foot of the mountains blackened by the Thomas Fire, a devastating set of sediment-laden flows killed at least 20 people and damaged or destroyed more than 500 homes. In the popular press, these flows were termed "mudslides," but with some rocks as large as cars, these are more accurately described as hyperconcentrated flows or debris flows, depending on the amount of sediment mixed with the water. Why did these deadly flows happen? To what extent were these flows caused by the fire, the extreme burst of rainfall or a combination? And what can we do to reduce similar risks in the future? Causes of post-fire erosion Some reports have said that these post-fire flows are caused by the loss of vegetation, but as a scientist studying the effects of fires on soils, runoff and erosion, I can say this is not completely accurate. While many wildfires do burn trees and shrubs, the loss of this overlying vegetation canopy only slightly increases the amount of rainfall that reaches the soil surface and the kinetic energy delivered by the raindrops to the ground surface. Advertisement The far more important effect of high- and moderate-severity wildfires is that they can burn off all the surface litter and ground vegetation, leaving a layer of easily removed ash on top of otherwise bare soil. In certain vegetation types, like chaparral and coniferous forests, fires will vaporize organic compounds found in the leaf litter. Some of these compounds are driven downward by the heat where they condense on cooler soil particles just below the surface. In sufficient quantity and especially in coarser-textured soils, the resulting water-repellent layer impedes the normal downward flow of water. Higher-severity fires also can consume some of the shallow soil organic matter that helps bind larger soil clumps. When winds and the first rains arrive, they quickly wash the ash away, and the impact of raindrops on the bare soil can detach and disperse small soil particles to create a surface seal or crust. Advertisement The net result is that after a high- or moderate-severity fire, the ability of the soil to absorb water decreases from around several inches per hour to perhaps just one-third of an inch per hour. Any additional rainfall becomes surface runoff, and a rainstorm of only one inch per hour can generate 1.5 million cubic feet of runoff per square mile. The raindrops and surface runoff can easily erode and transport the unprotected soil on the hillsides. The resulting accumulation and concentration of flow and sediment in stream channels can rapidly mobilize rocks and soil. The resulting mixture of water, eroded soil and rocks can quickly bulk up to a concentrated mix of water with 10 to 40 percent sediment or an even more concentrated and deadly debris flow moving at up to 20 miles per hour. Once these flows reach flatter areas or encounter obstacles, the velocity decreases and the rocks and mud are deposited. Advertisement The potential for such flows are exacerbated in much of Southern California because the mountains are steeper than normal due to rapid uplift along regional faults. With population growth there are ever more houses and other developments at the base of mountains. Of greater concern is the placement of houses and other structures on the alluvial fans where streams have been depositing sediment and rapidly changing their course over many thousands of years. No easy fixes When hill slopes are denuded of their surface soil cover by fire or other processes, the resulting increase in runoff and erosion is nearly inevitable. Mulch or other surface cover can be applied to help protect the soil from the raindrop impact, but mulching is difficult and expensive to quickly apply over large areas and is progressively ineffective on steeper slopes or during more intense storms that produce more surface runoff. Advertisement Debris basins can be constructed to capture the runoff and sediment, but there are problems of finding locations and sizing their capacity for extreme events, as well clearing them before large storms. In Montecito, an exceptional storm cell developed over a severely burned area, with nearly an inch of rain in just 15 minutes and more than half an inch in just five minutes. Montecito is particularly at risk as the hill slopes above town are oversteepened by faulting and rapid uplift, and much of the town is built on deposits laid down by previous floods. Some debris basins were in place, but they were quickly overtopped by the hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of water and sediment. While high post-fire runoff and erosion rates could be expected, it was not possible to accurately predict the exact location and extreme magnitude of this particular storm and resulting debris flows. Advertisement The future Looking to the future, it is clear that the problem is only going to get worse. First, climate change is increasing the length and severity of the fire season by reducing snowpacks and increasing temperatures. Warmer temperatures increase fire risk as well as the capacity of the atmosphere to hold water, which is increasing rainfall intensities. Advertisement Second, a policy of suppressing wildfires has increased the amount and density of vegetation in some areas. This greater fuel load can result in higher severity fires and more denuded hill slopes. Future wildfires are inevitable, and when there are high temperatures, high winds, low humidity and large fuel loads, it is not possible to safely fight or control a large wildfire. Nor is it possible to stop the subsequent hill-slope runoff and erosion. Debris basins or diversion structures can be built to reduce damage, but these are expensive and often do not have sufficient capacity for extreme post-fire storm events. While we are getting much better at predicting the risk of sediment-laden flows after wildfires through improved modeling and weather forecasting, the starting point has to be stricter zoning rules to minimize construction in vulnerable areas. And once an area does burn, residents must heed the calls for evacuation when post-fire rainstorms are predicted. Revegetation On the positive side, most burned areas generally revegetate within two to four years. Once there is less than about 35 percent bare soil, there is a greatly reduced risk of high runoff and erosion rates. Advertisement In Montecito, the rapid delineation of risk zones led to the evacuations that undoubtedly helped save many hundreds of lives. What is now important is that the lessons from the Thomas Fire are applied in other areas to help minimize future losses of life and property. This is true in both the short term as more rain falls on the recently burned areas, and over the longer term given our increasingly fire-prone future. MacDonald is professor of ecosystem science and sustainability at Colorado State University. This article was originally published on theconversation.com. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share A critically endangered Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) turned up along the side of a road in eastern Russia, suffering from a disease that typically infects domestic dogs. Amur leopards, also known as Far Eastern leopards, are extraordinarily endangered. As few as 60 remain in the wild, according to a paper published last week in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases describing the find. And the find is surprising. The disease, called canine distemper virus (CDV), infects many animals besides dogs, but it is rarely found in cats. Research published in 2001 in the journal Clinical and Vaccine Immunology suggests that when cats do catch CDV, it's usually because they've been in close contact with dogs. The approximately 2-year-old wild female was spotted on May 8, 2015, close to a road running through Russia's Land of the Leopard National Park, according to the paper. Advertisement "On initial approach, the leopard showed a lack of fear toward people and vehicles and an indifference to its surroundings," the authors wrote. A team of conservationists gave the 61-pound big cat drugs to immobilize it, then hauled it back to a care facility. Despite caregivers' efforts, the leopard refused food and water. It developed "uncoordinated" movements and "severe hind limb contractions" that couldn't be controlled with medicine. As the creature's condition deteriorated, caregivers made the decision to euthanize the cat. That the leopard had CDV is a big deal, the researchers wrote, because the more a species' population dwindles, the more susceptible it is to shocks from disease outbreaks. CDV spreads more easily among social cats such as lions when big-cat outbreaks do occur, but the new paper suggests that it's still a significant threat to the more solitary Amur leopard. GiftOutline Gift Article Delegates are scheduled to debate ways to enhance joint action responding to climate change and foster cultural and tourism cooperation in the region, and talk about resources for sustainable development.Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech to address these issues.The final plenary session will take place in the afternoon, revolving around the future of the APPF.It will discuss how to improve the role of the APPF in promoting partnership for sustainable development and inclusive growth in the Asia-Pacific, and decide whether the amendment to the new APPF Rules of Procedure to the Meeting of Women Parliamentarians is adopted.The amendment is proposed by the Japanese delegation this year, seeking approval for the Meeting of Women Parliamentarians to become a permanent feature of the event.The final session will also see the announcement of the host of the APPF-27 and adoption of Resolutions and a Joint Declaration, followed by the closing ceremony.Founded in Tokyo, Japan in 1993, the APPF now gathers 27 members, namely Australia, Cambodia, Canada, China, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam.It is a mechanism that enables parliamentarians to discuss issues of common concern, and to deepen their understanding of the region and the interests and experience of its diverse members. The forums proceedings address political, security, economic, social and cultural issues, thus furthering regional cooperation and building relations between and among parliamentarians from the Asia-Pacific region. VNS Gift Article Share Turkish artillery hits Kurdish Afrin region Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Turkish artillery fired into Syria's Afrin region Friday in what Ankara said was the start of a military campaign against the Kurdish-controlled area. The cross-border assault took place after days of threats from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to crush the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Afrin in response to growing Kurdish strength across a wide stretch of northern Syria. Turkey says the Syrian Kurdish YPG is a branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party that has waged an insurgency in Turkey for decades. Direct military action against territory held by the YPG would open a new front in Syria's civil war and see Turkey confronting Kurds allied to the United States at a time when Ankara's relations with Washington are reaching a breaking point. Advertisement The United States has called on Turkey to focus on the fight against the Islamic State and not take military action in Afrin. Reuters Tensions mount amid shelling along frontier Tensions have soared along the volatile frontier between India and Pakistan in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, as rival troops shelled villages and border posts for a third day Friday. Three civilians and two soldiers were killed in the latest clash, the two countries said, as each blamed the other for initiating the violence. Indian officials said two civilians and two soldiers died and at least 24 civilians and two soldiers were wounded in Indian-controlled Kashmir. According to Pakistani officials, Indian fire Friday killed a civilian and wounded nine others in Sialkot in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province. Advertisement India and Pakistan have a long history of bitter relations over Kashmir, which is claimed by both in its entirety. Associated Press Sissi says he will run for a second term Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi has announced that he will run for a second, four-year term in elections planned for March. The former general made the announcement in televised comments carried live Friday. Winning the election is virtually a foregone conclusion for Sissi, who led the military's ouster in 2013 of Egypt's first freely elected leader, the Islamist Mohamed Morsi, before becoming president a year later. None of those who declared their intention to challenge him in the March vote are likely to pose any serious threat to his reelection. Associated Press 12 soldiers killed in clashes in Congo: At least a dozen soldiers were killed in Congo's volatile eastern borderlands where the army is battling Ugandan Islamist rebels, Congolese security and diplomatic sources said. The armies of Congo and Uganda launched a military offensive last month against the Allied Democratic Forces rebels suspected of being behind a Dec. 8 attack on a U.N. base that killed 15 Tanzanian peacekeepers. A senior army source said more than 20 Congolese soldiers were also wounded after gunmen launched an attack in North Kivu province. Advertisement Baby killed when car hits crowd in Rio: A motorist who drove onto a crowded boardwalk along Rio de Janiero's famed Copacabana beach killed a baby and injured 17 people, Brazilian authorities said. Rio's municipal health department said an Australian was among those injured in the Thursday night incident. Nine people remain hospitalized, many with broken bones. Police said the incident was not a terrorist attack and have arrested the driver. From news services GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share CHECHNYA IS a graveyard of human rights and basic liberties. Twice in the 1990s, Russia launched grisly military campaigns to put down separatist rebellions. Today, Ramzan Kadyrov, a ruthless chieftain, controls the republic with backing from President Vladimir Putin. In the past decade, a human rights defender was murdered, a journalist who wrote of abuses was killed in Moscow, and gay men in Chechnya have been rounded up, tortured and targeted for extrajudicial killings. This grim legacy is reason enough to be worried about the fate of Oyub Titiev, the director in Chechnya for Memorial Human Rights Center, the Moscow-based human rights organization. Mr. Titiev took over after the previous director, Natalia Estemirova, was kidnapped and murdered in Chechnya on July 15, 2009. Mr. Titiev pushed the organization to remain in Chechnya, despite the dangers, as a way to honor her memory. He led a team that has reported disappearances, torture and punitive house burnings. On Jan. 9, he was detained in Chechnya on charges of drug possession. The authorities in Chechnya commonly plant drugs on people as a pretext to arrest them. Mr. Titiev was stopped by police and his car was searched, then he was taken to a police station. Officers said they found a bag containing about 180 grams of marijuana in the car. On Jan. 11, a local court remanded him to prison for two months. Advertisement The intent of this arrest appears to be to force the human rights group out of Chechnya. Mr. Kadyrov detests the human rights monitors and journalists who bring to public attention his rule by violence and fear. One of the bravest of the journalists to expose Chechen abuse was Anna Politkovskaya, who was killed in the elevator of her Moscow apartment block on Oct. 7, 2006, when she was about to file a long story about torture as practiced by Chechen security forces. Another critic was Boris Nemtsov, the opposition leader and onetime deputy prime minister of Russia, gunned down on a bridge within sight of the Kremlin walls on Feb. 27, 2015. Five Chechen men were convicted of carrying out the Nemtsov murder, but in neither the Nemtsov nor Politkovskaya case was the person who ordered the killings ever identified or prosecuted. More recently, the newspaper Novaya Gazeta in Moscow exposed a campaign of torture and violence against gay men in Chechnya, yet another example of Mr. Kadyrov's intolerant and coercive rule. The responsibility for this repression goes back to the man in the Kremlin. Mr. Putin has indulged Mr. Kadyrov, calculating cynically that a bloody fist on his behalf is better than one raised against him. Mr. Putin also shares Mr. Kadyrov's disdain for journalists and human rights workers who expose the misrule of autocrats. The result is that Chechnya is run as a little dictatorship with permission from Moscow. People such as Mr. Titiev are the world's last eyes and ears on this landscape of misery. He must be released unharmed to continue the work of Estemirova, Politkovskaya and Nemtsov. Read more on this topic: GiftOutline Gift Article In his Jan. 17 op-ed, " Mr. President, stop attacking the press ," Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) made an eloquent denunciation of the president's steady and destructive castigation of the media. All people who treasure a free press as an essential guardian of a free society should be heartened by its words. A similar push by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) to engage the collective conscience of his Republican colleagues is not, however, likely to be rewarded [" Flake blasts Trump's media-bashing ," news, Jan. 15]. These two good men do have another option for protecting against the actions of Trump and Co.: They can resign from the Republican Party and caucus with the Democrats for the remainder of their time in the Senate. This would give the Democratic caucus a 51-to-49 majority and create a major barrier to further damage to the country pending the midterm elections. Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share In last week's column on the attendance and graduation scandal at Ballou High School, I suggested that D.C. Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson might have a system-wide problem on his hands. How little we knew. Opinions to start the day, in your inbox. Sign up. ArrowRight The full extent of the infractions wasn't known until an interim report on an investigation commissioned by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education was released this week. It revealed that: More than 1 one of every 10 students given a diploma from a D.C. public high school last year missed more than half of the school days. Three-quarters of the 2,307 graduates across the system missed at least 10 percent of the school days. Teachers feel pressured to push chronically absent seniors to graduate. Excessive passing rates for absent students were discovered not only at Ballou High School, the initial focus of the investigation, but also across the city, specifically at Anacostia, Eastern, Woodson and Roosevelt High Schools. Advertisement A statement Wednesday by Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) noted that the state superintendent's report also showed that more than a third of Wilson High School graduates "did not meet attendance requirements to graduate per DCPS policy." Cheh declared there is "systemic pressure to push students through the system" and accused D.C. Public Schools of "cooking the books or not following their own policies." Follow Colbert I. King 's opinions Follow Add It's worth noting that on Dec. 15, a month before the release of the state superintendent's report, Council member David Grosso (I-At Large) held a hearing on student absenteeism and truancy at Ballou. Grosso, the council's education committee chairman, concluded that Ballou did not create its "present-day dilemma." He chalked up the problem to Ballou's having to operate in an inherited public education system "that is based in segregation in the District of Columbia." Grosso concluded that the situation cannot be adequately addressed "if we do not start to have a public, honest conversation about institutional racism in our public schools." After reading this week's state superintendent's report, Grosso's tune changed somewhat. He called the results "extremely troubling," and said that the report "tells a much more harrowing tale." And Grosso's evidence of "institutional racism in our public schools"? Maybe that comes later. Advertisement Wilson said the results "disappointed" him, noting that more than 60 percent of students graduated with excessive absences. "We are in the process of trying to understand what's behind some of the numbers there," Wilson said. Some of us are trying to understand how today's D.C. public school system functions. For example: Wilson, in response to the report, said that teachers have lacked proper instruction on grading and that he's going to institute system-wide training. What's that? I have at my desk an Aug. 6, 2016, DCPS letter to parents and legal guardians that describes the new 68-page grading policy for grades 6 to 12 implemented in June 2015, specifically designed to hold students in all DCPS schools to the same standards and expectations. The policy wasn't universally well received, but to suggest that teachers were ignorant of the policy and how it is supposed to work reflects poorly on the District's education leaders. Advertisement Wilson's office ignored attempts by some teachers to alert him and other city leaders about troubles at Ballou before the school's grading problems hit the news. He now promises to appoint an ombudsman to field staff complaints. Another ombudsman? There already is an ombudsman established by the D.C. State Board of Education. Wilson is treating the scandal as a big misunderstanding that can be fixed with "training." Contrast that with Cheh's assertion that DCPS officials are being "protected" from accountability for "cooking the books," or lying and cheating to produce false results. Which is it? How will parents and other D.C. taxpayers learn the truth? The public school system's food chain and hierarchy (schools chancellor, deputy mayor for education, Office of the State Superintendent of Education, elected D.C. State Board of Education, D.C. Council Committee on Education) were blissfully in the dark about Ballou High School's problems until an in-depth investigation by WAMU and NPR hit the airwaves late last year. Advertisement The magnitude of chronically absent students graduating grew on the watch of the mayor, council and education bureaucracy. The problem is systemic indeed. Read more from Colbert King's archive. Read more on this topic: GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share As a clinical neurologist, I found Navy Rear Adm. Ronny L. Jackson's assessment of President Trump's cognitive health as excellent misleading ["In excellent health, Trump got top score on cognitive test, physician says," news, Jan. 17]. Behavior, character, emotional control and judgment are not tested in the Montreal Cognitive Assessment that was administered. It is designed to screen for early memory and cognitive impairment, typified by Alzheimer's disease or an evolving vascular dementia. Of more appropriate concern is whether the president could be suffering from early symptoms of an evolving frontal-lobe-dementia syndrome, which is distinct from Alzheimer's or other common forms of degenerative dementing illness. Patients with frontal-lobe dementias exhibit impaired insight and mental flexibility, poor judgment, impaired emotionality, lack of appropriate social inhibition with poor impulse control, and/or unpredictable changes in mood or affect. There may be a reduction in verbal fluency and some degree of memory impairment. Some patients will exhibit motor difficulties. Given the president's behavior, he should be made to undergo a more comprehensive professional neuropsychiatric assessment, including a follow-up evaluation in six to 12 months. Only then could the public be assured that our commander in chief is mentally competent, notwithstanding inherent personality deficiencies. Advertisement David Grass, McLean The headline on the graphic on the Jan. 17 front page summarizing the president's medical exam proclaimed him to be in "excellent" health ["Doctor: Trump in excellent overall health"]. Yet the data in the graphic showed that President Trump has elevated blood pressure and borderline high cholesterol and is overweight and nearly obese. How is that "excellent" health? Bob Dardano, Washington GiftOutline Gift Article From high-profile firings to contentious remarks, the ups and downs of President Trump's first year on the job garnered him historically low approval ratings. (Video: Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post, Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share Mollie Ziegler Hemingway is a senior editor at the Federalist. This may seem like an odd moment for saying so, but a year into the presidency of Donald Trump, I'm elated. Opinions to start the day, in your inbox. Sign up. ArrowRight Trump was not my first or even second choice for president, but a full two years ago I predicted he would win. I also predicted he'd be a progressive president, which explained why I was not among his supporters and why I am so pleased now. Expecting Progressive Trump was a reasonable assumption. Trump supported the 2009 stimulus, the auto bailouts and the bank bailouts. He'd recently left the Democratic Party and had raised a ton of money for the Clintons, Nancy Pelosi and Charles E. Schumer. He'd supported single-payer health coverage, tax increases and even Planned Parenthood. He was a New York liberal who had conquered the Republican Party in part by promising a good Supreme Court nomination. That was the most I allowed myself to hope for when he won. Advertisement The nomination of Neil M. Gorsuch to fill the vacancy of Antonin Scalia more than fulfilled that promise. Gorsuch isn't a John Roberts, David Souter or Anthony Kennedy, to name three disappointing justices appointed by the three previous Republican presidents, but a brilliant legal mind with tremendous writing ability and persuasive powers. Trump critics, particularly those on the right, like to mock Trump voters with the phrase "But Gorsuch!" It's their way of saying that Gorsuch is the only good thing Trump has done and that a Trump presidency is not worth the rest. Except Gorsuch is not even close to the only good thing Trump has done. Six Washington Post foreign correspondents weighed in on how President Trump's foreign policy affected the world. (Video: Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post) He has appointed 12 outstanding federal appellate judges a record number for a president in his first year. By comparison, President Barack Obama had only three in his first year. Advertisement In early June, Trump announced the U.S. departure from the Paris climate accord, an agreement that would have had virtually no impact on future temperatures but would have come at a large cost in the growth of government and control over the economy. Since Obama never ran the treaty through the Senate, it was nonbinding, but the federal bureaucracy was working to implement it with new regulations on U.S. businesses. Critics on the right say Trump just does what other Republican candidates would have done. Yet the previous Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, lobbied Trump to stay in the global agreement. The Clean Power Plan, which gave the Environmental Protection Agency unprecedented authority over states and businesses and was on track to be the most expensive regulation in history, is under review. For the 2017 fiscal year, Trump revoked 22 regulations for each new regulation that was issued. His chief regulatory officer, Neomi Rao, said the administration would continue the pace of deregulation through 2018, announcing 448 deregulatory actions and 131 regulatory actions. It took a while for Capitol Hill to get used to working with Trump, but by the end of the year, lawmakers had passed the largest corporate tax reform in U.S. history and secured tax cuts for the vast majority of Americans. Advertisement Businesses are responding to the deregulation and historic corporate tax reform by loosening purse strings and investing in plants, equipment and factories. Pepco, a power utility that serves the Mid-Atlantic region, just announced it's lowering everyone's electric bills as a result of the savings from corporate tax reform. Eugene Robinson counterpoint Trump wont fade away. The GOP will have to get rid of him. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is restoring due process to college campuses by rescinding Obama-era guidelines that made the mistake of encouraging college administrators to adjudicate serious crimes such as sexual assaults. Trump's foreign policy could be more restrained, but it's far less interventionist than that of any of his recent predecessors, focused on national interest over nation-building or other less pressing and more expensive concerns. By trusting his military leaders to make quick decisions on the battlefield, in contrast to Obama's desire to placate Iran and micromanage trivial moves such as helicopter deployments, Trump is crushing the Islamic State. Sanctions and other nonmilitary efforts are being used to keep North Korea at bay after the failure of denuclearization as practiced by presidents since Bill Clinton. Advertisement Trump is not normal, his critics keep saying. Sometimes that's a plus. He recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel more than two decades after the Senate passed legislation requiring it, and after two decades of presidents signing waivers every six months to avoid it. More recently, he froze funding for Pakistan until it stops harboring terrorists. Like most people, I don't particularly like Trump's rhetorical style, juvenile insults and intemperate disposition on full display in recent days. At the same time, having followed his career for decades, I am not surprised that he wakes up each morning as Donald Trump. And that boorish attitude has come in handy after decades of media bullying of conservatives. Ironically, the very lack of conservative bona fides that worried me two years ago means he's less beholden to a conservative establishment that had grown alienated from the people it is supposed to serve and from the principles it ostensibly exists to promote. His surprising conservatism might also be the result of the absolutism and extremism of his critics, whether among the media, traditional Democratic activists or the anti-Trump right. If Trump were ever inclined to indulge his liberal tendencies after winning the election, the stridency and spite of his opponents have provided him with no incentives to do so. Advertisement My expectations were low so low that he could have met them by simply not being President Hillary Clinton. But a year into this presidency, he's exceeded those expectations by quite a bit. I'm thrilled. Read more: GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share Regarding the Jan. 17 Metro article "Democrats push back on U.S. tax law": Democratic Maryland state legislators are considering changes to reverse the impact of the federal income tax law. Under the federal law, residents in many cases will no longer be able to deduct as much state income tax as before. Some states increased taxes largely on the basis of federal deductibility. The federal law would recover some of this money, in part to allow for widespread income tax reduction. Federal income tax rates are now lower, offsetting much of this loss of deductibility. Under consideration in Maryland is the creation of the ability to make an annual charitable contribution on state taxes to support Maryland public schools. This contribution would theoretically be deductible on federal taxes as a gift to charity and would be offset on Maryland's books by giving the taxpayer a 95 percent state tax credit. Advertisement Sounds like a shell game to me, and I am confident the Supreme Court would rule it unconstitutional, because state funding for schools is not a charity but an obligation of government. If Maryland received no contributions to the new charity, it would fund the schools anyway through state law. Proponents are confident that such a change would be a win for everyone involved with no downside. I see many negative impacts: reduced federal ability to provide tax relief and promote growth without worsening the national debt, and the potential for the government to reduce the deductibility of charitable contributions. Bob Hugman, Woodbridge GiftOutline Gift Article The Jan. 14 Metro article "Thousands of Virginians may have voted in the wrong state House districts" served the public interest by identifying important factors that raise the risk of not assigning voters to their proper district. The article cited "complex planning of boundaries" as the key factor but failed to state that much of the underlying complexity is intentional and because of gerrymandering. This means that, while mis- assignment is made more likely by the scenarios given in the article, it is also collateral damage. The Jan. 7 Arts & Style article "In her own words " cited the woefully poor progress professional theaters are making toward parity for women playwrights. Of plays produced professionally, only 22 percent nationally are by women. Professional theaters in the District enjoy bragging rights for a higher percentage (32 percent) of women playwrights produced. Kudos to D.C. theaters for that distinction. There is, however, an even better story to share regarding a nearby professional theater that has achieved parity for women playwrights: the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, W.Va. CATF, in its 27 seasons, has produced 121 new plays. Of those, 60 were written by women, and 55 were directed by women. Each summer, Equity actors arrive in this historic town just about 100 minutes by car from Washington and Baltimore to produce daring and diverse stories, so many of which happen to be written by women. Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share Regarding Peter Marks's Jan. 7 Critic's Notebook essay, "Out-of-step musicals" [Arts & Style]: Is Marks lacking in historical sense? Is he unable to perform the exercise of viewing worthy works in historical context without help from cowed producers? Opinions to start the day, in your inbox. Sign up. ArrowRight Should we edit or ban "The Merchant of Venice" because it portrays Jews in line with the anti-Jewish stereotypes of Shakespeare's day? Or censor the Bible because of its murderous condemnation of homosexual relationships or its licensing of killing, looting and enslaving survivors of a siege? Are our ears and minds so delicate that we cannot stand to hear the sexist remarks of an earlier day? Marks's "wince" at "The Pajama Game's" tolerance of plant manager Sid Sorokin's public expression of how gorgeous he thinks Babe is helps the drive to cleanse the workplace of improper advances against women because it reminds theatergoers of what right-thinking people have to accomplish in our own day. It might even get us to think more deeply about how men should "court" women (or women men?) whom they meet at work or in what circumstances such "romances" should be outlawed entirely. Or "what a woman!" should do if she welcomes the initial flirtation of a boss or fellow worker. Indeed, "The Pajama Game" is actually a case study of love and lust on the job, couched in fun-loving repartee and music. And it's a great show! Advertisement Sue and George Driesen, Bethesda I usually enjoy Peter Marks's critical columns about the arts. But I took issue with "Out-of-step musicals." First, I cringed at the headline, which reminded me of totalitarian states that control the press and free expression in the theater with an iron hand. Being told you are "out of step" could be a fatal experience in these societies. While I sympathize with Marks's intent to support the #MeToo movement, censorship is not the right way to do it. My wife and I have been Arena Stage (and Kennedy Center) theater subscribers for many years. Arena Stage brings great theater to the area, and not infrequently, its plays tackle controversial topics, especially in the political arena. In the case of "The Pajama Game" (which I recall from its original run on Broadway), it could not be a timelier show to revive. Not to dumb it down by altering "offensive" lines, which would be a form of revisionist history, but to remind us all that in the 1950s and beyond, this was how society functioned. What a great discussion and teaching opportunity. Advertisement One of the "cringe-worthy" lines to which Marks objected vehemently was "All I can say is that you're the cutest Grievance Committee I ever had to deal with." Is this sexual harassment? Or is it flirting? (I leave that to the reader as an exercise in constructive discussion.) For sure, it is absolutely essential to the story and message of the show. Sid has underestimated Babe and assumed that, as a woman, she was not a force to be reckoned with, an assessment he later comes to regret. Change lines such as that and you gut the show. As Oprah Winfrey emphasized at the Golden Globe Awards show, "time is up" for these ways of thinking. Hurray for the movement whose time has come, and I look forward to its working its course of change in our society. At the same time, I would cringe at having dialogue police approve scripts or reject revivals because they are "out of step" with the new standards. This would be akin to removing "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" from libraries because of the offensive dialogue it contains another educational opportunity lost. It takes time for a society to change. Usually that change is good. In this case, we must not let unintended consequences of the good change infringe on the freedom that is the hallmark of America. Alan Salisbury, McLean GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share Remember the heady days of early 2017? One year ago, 24 hours after the inauguration of President Trump, more than 2.5 million women and their allies turned out to express their disapproval at Women's Marches across the country and around the world. They wore pink "pussy" hats and carried subversive signs, and the crowds grew into the largest single day of protest in U.S. history. The sheer volume of outrage was momentous, remarkable in and of itself. But it's 2018 now, and we've learned something along the way: Outrage is not enough. The impact of the original Women's March remains real and significant. With the emergence of grass-roots networks around the country, activism has flourished and women are organizing. They are running for offices large and small, and the number of women in Congress has reached an all-time high. "Indivisible" and similar movements helped to stymie destructive legislation such as the proposed Affordable Care Act repeal. Advertisement Outside of the political realm, it's not hard to draw a line from the outrage expressed en masse to the newly emboldened voices of the #MeToo movement. There, women have brought down powerful abusers and opened a frank discussion about sexual harassment and assault. And as the visibility of women's anger has increased, feminism has finally gone mainstream. More women's stories are being told, and by women themselves. But not all women have shared in this progress equally. Follow Christine Emba 's opinions Follow Add From the moment it was conceived, the 2017 Women's March was inspiring but imperfect. Its attendees were mostly white; the majority were middle class. While there was enormous power implied in the number of people who gathered, it wasn't necessarily clear to whom that power would accrue. Critics worried that only certain women's issues would be taken to heart. They appear to have been right. Advertisement Yes, today there are more women seeking office, but the renewed interest in politics has not yet changed the lived reality for most. More than 1 in 8 U.S. women still live in poverty, and looming legislation aims to chip away at the policies that lend them support. More women are dying of pregnancy-related complications here than in any other developed country, and the rate is rising. Black women are especially at risk. Yes, #MeToo has had a real impact. Predators no longer afflict as many shining stars. But what about women who work on factory floors, in restaurants or in domestic settings? Have their lives changed for the better? And yes, feminism has gone mainstream, but feminism for whom? Many of the concerns that are particularly relevant to women of color police brutality, voter disenfranchisement are fading from view. Advertisement Outrage has served us well, but it hasn't served us all. So where do we go from here? In 2017, millions marched for the cause of "women" writ large. In 2018, those same marchers should direct that energy toward more specific complaints. Women who style themselves activists should go beyond donning pink hats and raising signs, and lend their support to causes that may be outside of their usual sphere of interest. This should be a year for deliberate solidarity with women of color, with underpaid workers, with disenfranchised voters and with mothers who need help. When it comes to issues such as racial disparity, economic inequality and a shrinking social safety net, unfocused anger is not enough. While outrage changes attitudes, solidarity is crucial to concrete policy advances. The women helping one another run for office should also push for policies that allow more men and women to vote especially those who are fighting disenfranchisement in advance of the 2018 midterm elections. High-profile women who now feel enabled to take action against their abusers should take up the cause of those with fewer resources; the #TimesUp legal defense fund is a promising example. And rather than reflexively discounting women with more conservative politics, it's time to listen and to find pro-women policies on which all can agree. Advertisement In 2017, women voiced their outrage. The work of 2018 will be to support the women whose voices still aren't being heard. Read more on this issue: GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share THE GOVERNMENT shut down at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. The immediate cause was Senate Democrats refusing to go along with another short-term federal funding extension, and Congress stayed in Washington Saturday in hopes of making the shutdown short-lived. But the underlying problem is GOP dysfunction in both branches of government. This is the first time the government has ever shut down while one party controlled Congress and the White House. Republicans can win elections but they cannot govern effectively. The impasse centers on two issues that Congress should have solved months ago. First is the fate of the "dreamers" immigrants brought to the country illegally when they were children who know the United States as their only home and have integrated into American society. The second is the funding-starved Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which ensures that low-income families can get care for their children. Providing legal protections to the dreamers and re-upping CHIP both command overwhelming support from the public and their representatives in Congress. If congressional leaders had allowed simple up-or-down votes on these questions, lawmakers would have passed mainstream solutions, easily. But they practically ignored CHIP's funding crisis for months. They also declined to bring a dreamers bill to a vote. This reflected GOP congressional leaders' spineless practice of suppressing legislation that a majority of Congress supports, in counterproductive deference to their right wing. After months of inaction, Democrats were understandably incensed. President Trump could have brokered a deal. In fact, he appeared ready to do so earlier this month, when he promised to sign a bipartisan compromise bill on the dreamers, if one were negotiated, and to "take the heat" for doing so. A bipartisan group presented a plan that would have given immigration hard-liners several concessions in return for a dreamers fix. Yet, Mr. Trump betrayed his promise, suddenly siding with the hard-liners who demanded a long list of policy changes in return for extending dreamer protections. Advertisement The House offered to extend CHIP funding for six years. But as it became clearer that Democrats were serious about holding up government funding until Congress finally addressed both the dreamers and CHIP, Mr. Trump should have bargained. Instead, even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) complained that the president's position was unclear. Just hours before federal funding expired, Marc Short, Mr. Trump's legislative director, insisted that the White House had already offered its plan which was no compromise at all. In other words, the hard-liners were in control and the president would not compromise despite his past insistence that he wanted a bipartisan bill to sign. If GOP leaders had allowed the majority of Congress to work its will, the shutdown might have been avoided. If, when that did not happen, the president had negotiated in good faith, the government would still be open. Forcing a shutdown is a drastic legislative act that should not be welcomed. But neither should Republicans' unreason and inconsistency. This is no way to run a country. Read more about this topic: GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share The United States survived President Trump's first year in Washington. But the damage already done to democratic institutions at home and to our vital alliances abroad will surely linger long after the 45th president leaves the Oval Office. Trump has, in one year, laid waste to America's diplomatic legacy, set in motion the destruction of the Republican Party and called into question constitutional safeguards that have served us well for two centuries. Trump clearly believes a supposedly booming economy vindicates all. But this last week, Forbes magazine ran a comparison of Trump's and President Barack Obama's economic records, which showed just how exaggerated the White House claims are that a Trump-inspired economic renaissance has swept across the United States. That Trumpian claim is so fake, it doesn't hold water even on Wall Street. To hear the president crow about the recent surge of the stock market, one might think the bull run of 2017 was greater during his first year than any other. But Forbes noted that stock prices grew at a faster pace during the Great Depression. Even Obama's first year in office was more bullish, with the broad S&P 500 Index exploding by 23.5 percent compared with last year's 19.4 percent clip. Advertisement From high-profile firings to contentious remarks, the ups and downs of President Trump's first year on the job garnered him historically low approval ratings. (Video: Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post, Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) The markets aren't the only place where the petulant president falls short. The number of jobs created under Trump was lower in 2017 than during each of his predecessor's final six years in office. Wage growth also declined after Trump became president. In fact, of the few areas where this president produced higher numbers than his predecessor, most were dubious achievements. The 2017 deficit under Trump climbed to $666 billion, up from $585 billion in 2016. The national debt crossed the $20 trillion threshold and is projected to rise faster in the future. And America's trade deficit, which candidate Trump famously blamed on poor presidential dealmaking, was worse during Trump's first year than in any of Obama's eight. Like most of Trump's braggadocious pronouncements, his claims clash with reality. The president's foreign policy pronouncements seem just as dangerously detached from the real world. The United States is less safe, less secure and less respected than it has been in decades. Documenting all of Trump's failings abroad can be dizzying. Let me attempt a quick summation: Advertisement America's standing across the globe has been diminished by isolationism and angry tweets. Trump sullied the "special relationship" between the United States and Britain by blasting both the British prime minister and mayor of London after a terrorist attack. Trump insulted the prime minister of Australia, despite that country having stood by the United States during wartime for a century. The president also attacked Germany, our most steadfast ally in continental Europe, leading Chancellor Angela Merkel to tell her countrymen that they can no longer depend on the United States. Trump insulted France's young leader by expressing support for his right-wing opponent and withdrawing contrary to U.S. interests from the Paris climate accords. And then came Trump's piece de resistance for this tragic first year a shocking slur against people from Haiti, El Salvador and countries in Africa. All this ally-bashing was matched by Trump's elevating the status of dictators and racist organizations. His kowtowing to President Vladimir Putin of Russia was as consistent as it was shameful. Little has changed since 2015, when Trump praised the Russian autocrat as a "strong leader" who "gets things done" after Mika Brzezinski and I noted that Putin assassinates troublesome journalists and political rivals. Trump also lavished praise on China's Xi Jinping for "his great political victory" even as the communist strongman ruthlessly consolidated power. This admiration of autocrats was not limited to leaders shaped by communism, however. Trump heaped praise on President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines for a bloody drug war scarred by extrajudicial killings. And while international organizations were condemning Turkish autocrat Recep Tayyip Erdogan for human rights abuses, Trump gave the tyrant "high marks" and said it was "a great honor" to meet him. Advertisement Trump's embrace of tyrants, coupled with his contempt for democratically elected allies, has sent the United States' standing across the world to record lows. But the most damning legacy of Trump's first year is simply that he has ruled as an unrepentant racist who provided comfort to white supremacists after Charlottesville, attacked black athletes to score cheap political points and fought furiously to close America's doors to anyone who doesn't think, look or pray like his most avid supporters. The damage done by that cruel legacy will be lasting. As Donald Trump's second year begins, Republicans must recognize that they can no longer be compliant. Democrats must fight as if nothing less than the future shape of our republic is at stake. Because the truth is that it may be. Read more on this issue: GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share ON A RECENT trip to Chile, Pope Francis apologized, once again, for clerical sex abuse, expressing the pain and shame, shame I feel over the irreparable harm caused to children by church ministers. He then proceeded to compound that shame by dismissing credible accusations that a Chilean bishop was complicit in hiding abuse committed by a priest who was once his mentor. The episode was emblematic of the popes apparent inability to come to terms with revelations about pedophile priests and the bishops and cardinals who cover for them. Is it fair to ask for forgiveness? he wondered, on arriving in Chile. Well, no, its not fair not when the church has failed to fully uproot the moral rot that the abuse scandal has planted at its core. The case of Juan Barros, the Chilean bishop to whose defense the pope leaped, is illustrative. He was elevated to his current position in 2015 by the pope, who ignored reports that Mr.Barros helped cover up abuse committed by the Rev. Fernando Karadima, a priest whose misdeeds were deemed credible by the Vatican. The pope, who called the concerns stupid, said in Chile there is not one shred of proof against the bishop an assertion that Mr. Karadimas victims bitterly dispute. Advertisement The Vatican has long taken cover behind the hoary defense that the church is no better or worse than society at large. That line has long been hollow, bordering on self-justifying; it was recently eviscerated by a royal commission in Australia that spent five years investigating sexual abuse of children there, dating back decades. Its findings , the most comprehensive in any country to date, surveyed thousands of institutions from the military to yoga ashrams to swimming clubs but singled out the Catholic Church and its institutions because thats where so much of the abuse occurred. In a country where just over a fifth of the population is Catholic, a hugely disproportionate number of those accused of abuse were priests and other authority figures in the church. Nearly 60 percent of victims alleged that they had been abused by someone in a religious institution; of that number, nearly two-thirds said the abuse involved the Catholic Church. About 7 percent of all priests who worked in Australia from 1950 to 2010 were accused of sexually abusing children, the commission concluded an incidence in line with that in other countries. Yet even in Australia, the pope turns a blind eye. Cardinal George Pell, an Australian prelate formally charged with sexual offenses by that countrys police in June, continues to occupy one of the most senior positions in Rome as Pope Franciss czar for Vatican finances. Advertisement At the Vatican, the popes tribunal to deal with bishops implicated in child sex abuse, announced to much fanfare in 2015, was stillborn. A commission of experts to advise the Vatican on the protection of minors, established by the pope, was impeded at every turn by bureaucrats, and has now lapsed. The pope himself granted mercy to some notorious pedophile priests, sparing them from defrocking and ordering them to a life of prayer and penance. And just before Christmas, the pope dignified the late Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in disgrace as archbishop of Boston and remains the most notorious symbol of the churchs indifference to the victims of abuse, by blessing his coffin at an extravagant funeral in St. Peters Basilica in Rome. How can there be forgiveness in the face of such impunity? Read more on this issue: GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share Eric Cantor, a Republican from Virginia, served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 to 2014, where he was House majority leader from 2011 to 2014. He is vice chairman and managing director of the investment bank Moelis & Company. Opinions to start the day, in your inbox. Sign up. ArrowRight I served as House majority leader in 2013 during the last government shutdown. A lot has changed in our nation's politics since then, but when it comes to shutdowns, much remains the same. A shutdown is a pretty pointless exercise in self-inflicting a modest wound. And the media obsession with countdown clocks and shuttered national parks misses the real story: the inability of some elected officials to work within the realities of governing rather than the perceived realities of the political cocoons that members of both parties increasingly occupy. The 2013 shutdown was the result of some Republicans, first in the Senate and then in the House, insisting that the president sign into law a provision defunding Obamacare, even though the president who would have to sign that was . . . Barack Obama. In the real world, it was an absurd idea. But in the political cocoons of some on the right I won't call these conservative it was a plausible strategy that required only greater resolve on the part of elected Republicans to succeed. After 16 days, I along with 86 other House Republicans voted to reopen the government. Obamacare was just as funded as it was before. Advertisement The circumstances leading to today's shutdown are of course different. On its face, it is congressional Democrats who are insisting that something be done, in this case on immigration, in exchange for their support for reopening the government. But the root causes of today's shutdown are the same as they were in 2013: a desire to govern in a reality that doesn't exist. Washington has a lot of must-do items on its plate: resolving the status of "dreamers" under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, agreeing to new discretionary spending levels (especially for defense), raising the statutory debt limit and mitigating some of negative impacts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Addressing each of these will require bipartisan support, and one can easily see the outlines of a reasonable compromise: Advertisement A permanent solution, including a path to citizenship, for DACA recipients in exchange for a major investment in border security. A significant increase in defense spending coupled with a sizable increase for nondefense, with much of the latter set aside for pressing national priorities, such as the opioids crisis and infrastructure. An increase in the debt limit there is no political appetite today for the major entitlement reforms our country needs over the long term. Restoring cost-sharing subsidies under the ACA and extending the suspension of ACA taxes in exchange for greater flexibility for states to reform the ACA. I suspect that when the shutdown concludes and the smoke clears, something along those lines will be the new law of the land. So why go through the shutdown to get there? Because not-insignificant elements of both parties think they can govern in a world where they get everything they want without agreeing to some of the priorities of the other side. Advertisement For example: on the left, DACA without anything meaningful to secure the border, and on the right, the wall but no path to citizenship. That may sound doable on certain cable "news" shows, but it isn't if you're governing in the real world. As in 2013, the practical impact of this government shutdown will be modest and temporary. Some number of Americans will be needlessly inconvenienced, and the government will waste a fair amount of money shutting down and reopening. But we will soon recover just as we have after all previous shutdowns. The political impact will also be temporary. In the midst of a shutdown, pundits like to spend a lot of time speculating about who will be blamed. Most voters quickly forgot the 2013 shutdown. The news cycle is even more rapid and our attention spans even shorter today. Advertisement The lasting impact will be determined by the attitude our elected officials take away from this pointless, self-inflicted wound. Is there a renewed commitment to governing within the constraints of the real world and the need for bipartisan agreement? Or do more members of both parties retreat to the safety of political cocoons? We will begin to see the answer to that question when we see who votes to reopen the government. Read more on this topic: GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share If the name Taylor Weyeneth rings a tiny bell in your head, then you might be related to him. Otherwise, the 24-year-old was until a week ago an unknown if powerful member of the Trump administration: deputy chief of staff in the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Weyeneth's qualifications for the job, which falls under the executive branch and spends hundreds of millions to fight illegal drugs and manage the opioid crisis, are essentially nil. As reported in The Post, he did lose a relative to a heroin overdose and was very moved, making him uniquely qualified for no job whatsoever. His professional experience consisted of working on Donald Trump's presidential campaign and, before that, working for a family firm that processed health products such as chia seeds, which is a spiffy resume item if you're aiming to make smoothies at Whole Foods. Weyeneth's alarming lack of qualifications raises a number of questions, principally: What in the world were they thinking? Didn't the president not long ago declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency? Who put Weyeneth there and why? Advertisement Since the drug control office is part of the executive branch, Weyeneth's placement would have come through the office of presidential personnel , run by John DeStefano, a former staffer and policy adviser to former House speaker John Boehner. DeStefano is in charge of screening job applicants and interviewing potential ambassadors and Cabinet secretaries. He is the arbiter of loyalty among possible hires, and he is involved in the firing of those found to be not quite loyal enough. Given the hundreds of unfilled jobs throughout the administration, including top-level positions, loyalists must be few and far between. DeStefano doesn't mind the criticism that he's taking too long to fill positions, however. In an interview with The Post last April, he said he was more concerned about getting it right than fast. He often asks candidates: " 'What's your vision? ' . . . I'm the person who's vouching for them to the president of the United States." Follow Kathleen Parker 's opinions Follow Add One can only imagine what Weyeneth offered up. It must have been very, very good. Advertisement None of this is Weyeneth's fault, of course. He merely stepped in where he was allowed, as any ambitious recent college grad would. But his story suggests more-serious systemic problems. Bottom line: More-experienced, qualified candidates have simply declined to join the Trump club. It is broadly understood that one either doesn't last long or that, once associated with this administration, one's future becomes rather dim. Too, word is out that Trump's henchmen take no prisoners. So it was with the drug policy office's acting chief of staff and general counsel, Lawrence "Chip" Muir, who was suddenly shown the door last month. One hears dozens of stories of similarly shabby treatment. The only survivors in this reality show are those who apparently do as they're told or who flatter the emperor as required. Advertisement Thus, people such as Weyeneth get important jobs for which they're unqualified and accrue power wildly disproportionate to their talents or experience. After a week of reported tensions between Trump and his chief of staff, John F. Kelly, insiders are speculating about whether the retired general will be the next to join the exit parade. The exit doors seem especially busy with women these days. "They're keeping their heads down and getting the hell out of there," a recent evacuee told me. Though a Republican loyalist who has worked in three administrations, she bolted after three months on a job when she realized that Trump world was a cartoon version of "Lord of the Flies." "No one's in charge," she said. The pace of voluntary departures is likely to pick up as Democrats appear closer to taking back the House and Senate in November. What profit would there be in sticking around? A Democratic Congress led by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.) could theoretically begin impeachment proceedings against Trump. The Senate Banking Committee, if led by now-ranking Democrat Sherrod Brown (assuming Ohio reelects him) and featuring Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), would no doubt delight in closely examining Trump's multiple bankruptcies. Advertisement The effect of such events would be to humiliate Trump, who hates to lose, and essentially neuter his power to move legislation. Rather than draining the swamp, he would have instigated an exodus of good people, reinforced the status quo and lent a helping hand to an increasingly left-leaning Democratic Party. In the interim, poor Weyeneth, who is only 24 after all, is just a kid on a fast ride, who, through no fault of his own, has become both emblem and embodiment of the Trump administration's recklessness and lack of seriousness. He deserves a job commensurate with his accomplishments and the American people deserve grown-ups in the White House. Read more on this issue: GiftOutline Gift Article I read with interest and amusement "Scientists zoom in on fast radio bursts, the most mysterious signals in space" [news, Jan. 12]. A few years back, scientists reported on such a radio burst "from space" that turned out to be from the microwave oven at the observatory. SIOUX CITY | No one was hurt in a Friday late afternoon house fire. The fire was reported at 5:10 p.m. in the 4100 block of Gordon Drive, in the Sioux City Regency trailer court. Several firefighters from Sioux City Fire Rescue extinguished the fire within 30 minutes. The unit was occupied by six family members who all go out safely. The residents watched the firefighting activities with family and neighbors. Workers ripped off the trailer skirting and took other steps, before leaving the trailer site at 7 p.m. An assistant fire chief at the scene was not available to discuss the cause of the fire. Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share "Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it," Donald Trump proclaimed in accepting the Republican presidential nomination. Given that we are at the first anniversary of Trump's swearing-in, citing his inaugural address might seem more apt. But the quote from the Republican National Convention in Cleveland does more to explain how we arrived at the unprecedented moment in which a president governing with two houses of Congress controlled by his party finds himself presiding over a government shutdown. I alone can fix it. There are two ways of reading this slightly ambiguous sentence. First, in the way that Trump presumably meant it, that he is the one uniquely capable of fixing what is broken in Washington and politics. Second, that he could fix it alone, that is, without allies and alliances. Either of these meanings is false, dangerously so, and each has helped to land us in the present mess. Far from being the exclusive savior of his imagining, President Trump is exceptionally ill-suited to the task of fixing our fractured politics. He has no perspective, no patience and no knowledge of what that might take. The art of the possible is different from the art of the deal, even assuming Trump deserves the credit he has awarded himself for being a canny businessman. You need to understand how Washington functions to make it more functional. Advertisement In this sense, it was instructive that the self-proclaimed drainer of the Washington swamp recently discovered that eliminating earmarks, the very essence of swampiness, might have made deal-cutting more difficult. Surprise! Governing is more complicated than Campaign Trail Trump ever acknowledged or, more likely, understood. Indeed, if anything, Trump's galumphing intervention in the run-up to shutdown made a solution less, not more, likely. He was for a "dreamer" deal before he was against it; he was with Chuck and Nancy, and later Dick and Lindsey, before others intervened. He shifts positions with every bite of his cheeseburger. Fellow Republicans, even his own aides, speak of him with ill-disguised exasperation and disdain, as about a slow student expending minimal effort. Thus Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), on Wednesday: "I'm looking for something that President Trump supports, and he's not yet indicated what measure he's willing to sign. As soon as we figure out what he is for, then I will be convinced that we were not just spinning our wheels." Follow Ruth Marcus 's opinions Follow Add McConnell's petulance underscores the second flaw suggested by Trump's acceptance speech assertion: Very little in Washington can be fixed alone or unilaterally. However imperial the presidency may be, it sits within a constitutional framework of separated powers. The role of a president anticipating a potential shutdown is, or should be, to guide his own party in finding a solution, and to craft not blow up an agreement with the opposition. Advertisement This is where some Republicans' original theory of the Trump presidency we'll just pass legislation and ship it down the street for him to sign was misguided. The paradox of governing is that the president cannot do it by himself, but also that the system cannot function effectively without presidential leadership, least of all in a situation of unified government. He alone can't do it, but he also can't do it alone. Hence the current spectacle. Perhaps, hopefully, it will be short-lived. If it is not, confident predictions about who will bear the blame, and more important, suffer the wrath of voters in November, strike me as premature: Who knows? How can we know, never before having been in this remarkable situation: ineffective single-party governance. In previous shutdown showdowns, voters, to the extent they have kept the event in mind and inflicted punishment, have tended to side with the president over a recalcitrant, dysfunctional Congress. The president controls the bully pulpit. So in this instance, maybe Democrats will pay a price for insisting that a dreamer/Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals fix be included in the spending deal. In tort law, there is a doctrine of "last clear chance," in which even a negligent plaintiff (in this case, Republicans) can collect damages against a defendant (in this case, Democrats) who had the final opportunity to prevent the harm. Advertisement Or, perhaps, voters will blame Republicans for being the gang that couldn't govern straight, even when they held both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue. Or, most likely, in the current outrage-a-day overload environment, it will all seem like ancient history come November. But we would do well to keep in mind the chasm between Trump's boastful convention assertion and the sorry reality of shuttered government. Did he believe himself back then? Does he continue to even now? The majority of us have learned better, if we did not know the complicated truth all along. Read more on this topic: GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share David Bier's dissection of the impact of rescinding temporary protected status for Salvadorans was excellent ["Canceling TPS for Salvadorans won't help U.S. workers," Outlook, Jan. 14]. The administration unfortunately couldn't care less about the damage Mr. Bier outlined. Whether by design or opportunity, canceling TPS is a pretext for this president to demand even stronger tactics against immigrants. Should illegal immigration increase and should the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement be overwhelmed, this president will claim he was right all along about the alleged scourge of illegal immigration on the U.S. economy. That the damage would be because of his own actions in rescinding TPS would not be considered by Congress. House and Senate Republicans look to follow his lead, even if it runs the country into a great big wall. Dan T. Kelly, Silver Spring Advertisement In his Jan. 16 op-ed, "The GOP chooses Trump's racism," Eugene Robinson asked the rhetorical question "Who can argue against merit?," referring to the conservative GOP's proposed merit-based immigration system. A system that favors immigration of the wealthy or educated is, at its core, a zero-sum brain and wealth drain. America's gain is, say, Norway's loss. Encouraging the immigration of mostly one- percenters, whether from Norway or Nigeria, is a delusional view of American aspirations and "exceptionalism." The likelier impact of such a policy would be for those countries viewed by the president as fecal cavities to lose their most talented and brightest. Our immigration system ought to encourage those who lawfully enter our country seeking opportunities denied them elsewhere. Before attempting to craft any immigration reform, members of Congress might consider a ferry ride "retreat" between New York Harbor's Liberty Island, where the Statute of Liberty stands, and Ellis Island, where, likely, forebears of many of those legislators arrived with little else in terms of worldly possessions or educational accomplishments. Those people, my Irish grandparents included, came to a United States that, however imperfectly, tried to live by Emma Lazarus's words: "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." Advertisement James McKeown, Falls Church Amid the outrage and insults over immigration sparked by our president comes the heartening story of Prabal Gurung from Nepal, showing us what richness our immigrants have brought to this country ["Forming his opinions," Style, Jan. 16]. Mr. Gurung is not only a talented fashion designer but also an outspoken activist for positive change that would make Lady Liberty proud. Mr. Gurung's "feminine feminism" philosophy shows the best of America and the panoply of diversity that once made the United States a beacon of hope in the world. Committed agents of change such as Mr. Gurung from across this rainbow nation will eventually turn the tide of negativity and return the United States to its roots. Malcolm Odell, Washington GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share In 1790, the finest mind in the First Congress, and of his generation, addressed in the House of Representatives the immigration issue: "It is no doubt very desirable that we should hold out as many inducements as possible for the worthy part of mankind to come and settle amongst us." Perhaps today's 115th Congress will resume the Sisyphean task of continuing one of America's oldest debates, in which James Madison was an early participant: By what criteria should we decide who is worthy to come amongst us? The antecedents of the pronouns "we" and "us" include the almost 80 million who are either immigrants not excluding the more than 11 million undocumented ones or their children. They might be amused to learn that in the only full-length book Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Notes on the State of Virginia," he worried that too many immigrants might be coming from Europe with monarchical principles "imbibed in their early youth," ideas that might turn America into "a heterogeneous, incoherent, distracted mass." A century later, Theodore Roosevelt, who detested "milk-and-water cosmopolitanism," saw virtue emerging from struggles between the "Anglo-Saxon" race and what his friend and soulmate Rudyard Kipling called "lesser breeds without the law." Roosevelt, who worried that the United States was becoming a "polyglot boarding house," supported America's first significant legislation restricting immigration, passed to exclude Chinese people, because he believed Chinese laborers would depress U.S. wages and be "ruinous to the white race." Advertisement In 1902, in the final volume of professor Woodrow Wilson's widely read book "A History of the American People," the future president contrasted "the sturdy stocks of the north of Europe" e.g., Norwegians with southern and eastern Europeans who had "neither skill nor energy nor any initiative of quick intelligence." U.S. Army data gathered during World War I mobilization demonstrated, according to Carl Brigham, a Princeton psychologist, "the intellectual superiority of our Nordic group over the Mediterranean, Alpine and Negro groups." Richard T. Ely, a leading progressive economist, spent most of his academic career at the University of Wisconsin, but first taught at Johns Hopkins, where Wilson was one of his students. Ely celebrated the Army data for enabling the nation to inventory its human stock just as it does its livestock. In 1924, Congress legislated severe immigration restrictions, which excluded immigrants from an "Asiatic Barred Zone." For more on this unsavory subject, read "Illiberal Reformers: Race, Eugenics and American Economics in the Progressive Era ," by Princeton economist Thomas C. Leonard . And "One Nation Undecided" by Peter H. Schuck, professor emeritus at Yale Law School, who writes: "In what may be the cruelest single action in our immigration history, Congress defeated a bill in 1939 to rescue 20,000 children from Nazi Germany despite American families' eagerness to sponsor them on the ground that the children would exceed Germany's quota!" Follow George F. Will 's opinions Follow Add The next phase of America's immigration debate, like the previous one, will generate the most heat about border security, and whether those who are here illegally should stay. The heat will be disproportionate. Advertisement After the Sept. 11 attacks, attitudes about immigration became entangled with policies about terrorism. So, as the Economist noted, "a mass murder committed by mostly Saudi terrorists resulted in an almost limitless amount of money being made available for the deportation of Mexican house- painters." This month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided 98 7-Eleven stores in 17 states, making 21 arrests, approximately one for every 4.5 stores. Rome was not built in a day and it would be unreasonable to expect the government to guarantee, in one fell swoop, that only American citizens will hold jobs dispensing Slurpees and Big Gulps. Read more on this issue: GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share In the days before Donald Trump's inauguration, a wealthy Russian pharmaceutical executive named Alexey Repik arrived in Washington, expressing excitement about the new administration. He posted a photo on Facebook of a clutch of inauguration credentials arranged next to a white "Make America Great Again" hat, writing in Russian: "I believe that President Donald Trump will open a new page in American history." Throughout his trip, Repik had prime access. He wrote on Facebook that he got close enough to the president-elect at a pre-inaugural event to "check the handshake strength of Donald Trump." He and his wife, Polina Repik, witnessed Trump's swearing-in from ticketed seats in front of the U.S. Capitol. And he posed for a photo shoulder-to-shoulder with Mike Pompeo, the president's nominee to head the CIA, although Repik later said he was not aware of Pompeo's intended role at the time. Advertisement The attendance of members of Russia's elite at Trump's inauguration was evidence of the high anticipation in Moscow for a thaw in U.S.-Russia relations following a campaign in which Trump stunned U.S. foreign-policy experts by repeatedly praising Russian President Vladimir Putin. A prominent Russian businessman and his wife came to D.C. a year ago to celebrate the beginning of the Trump era. They captured it all on their phone. (Video: Alice Li, Jesse Mesner-Hage/The Washington Post) As questions about Russia's interference in the 2016 election were beginning to percolate publicly, prominent business leaders and activists from the country attended inaugural festivities, mingling at balls and receptions at times in proximity to key U.S. political officials. Their presence caught the attention of counterintelligence officials at the FBI, according to former U.S. officials, although it is not clear which attendees drew U.S. government interest. FBI officials were concerned at the time because some of the figures had surfaced in the agency's investigation of the Trump campaign's ties to Russia, the officials said. Advertisement An FBI spokesman declined to comment on security concerns related to the inauguration. White House officials did not respond to requests for comment. The Washington Post identified at least half a dozen politically connected Russians who were in Washington on Inauguration Day including some whose presence has not been previously reported. Among them was Viktor Vekselberg, a tycoon who is closely aligned with Putin's government. Another was Natalia Veselnitskaya , the Russian lawyer whose June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with Donald Trump Jr. has become a focus of the Russia investigation. She attended a black-tie inaugural party hosted by the campaign committee of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), according to an associate who accompanied her. Other Russian inaugural guests included Boris Titov, a politician and business advocate who is running for president of Russia with the Kremlin's blessing. Advertisement Like other VIPs in town that weekend, many flocked to the lobby of the Trump International Hotel, where some encountered fellow Russian associates with surprise. "It was a great, amazing experience," Alexey Repik recalled in one of several interviews with The Post. Repik said he also was in Washington for President Barack Obama's 2013 inauguration but did not attend any events that year. Michael McFaul, who served as ambassador to Russia under Obama, said he did not recall prominent Russian visitors at Obama's 2009 events. "It's strange," McFaul, the director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford, said of the number of influential Russians in attendance last year. Some Russian guests at Trump's inauguration said they got tickets through U.S. political contacts. One venue for credentials was the Presidential Inaugural Committee, which provided a slew of perks such as tickets to events with Cabinet appointees, congressional leaders, the vice president-elect and Trump to donors who gave at least $25,000. Inaugural organizers said that the committee kept proper records of contributors but that it was impossible to track who ultimately used all of the tens of thousands of tickets that went to donors. In a statement, the committee said that it followed Secret Service protocol and that all attendees received required physical screening at checkpoints when they arrived at events. Advertisement "The Presidential Inaugural Committee for President Trump, administratively speaking, was conducted in similar, if not identical fashion to previous inaugurations," the committee said. However, Steve Kerrigan, who served as chief of staff to Obama's 2009 inaugural committee and as president of the committee in 2013, said donors then were required to submit lists of their guests for any gathering the president or vice president or their families were scheduled to attend, with the exception of large outdoor events. Secret Service spokeswoman Catherine Milhoan said the agency followed all of its normal security procedures at the 2017 inauguration. She declined to elaborate. The service often requires that the names of guests be submitted ahead of time for events at which attendees will have close access to the president. Advertisement On other occasions, when the president or president-elect makes a brief stop at an event and stays largely behind a rope line as Trump did at a pre-inaugural Library of Congress reception Repik attended the agency instead relies on physically screening most guests, according to people familiar with the security procedures. Awaiting a 'new stage' in U.S.-Russia relations Trump's inauguration was celebrated jubilantly in Moscow, where Putin supporter Konstantin Rykov hosted an all-night party. Champagne flowed as an interpreter narrated the new U.S. president's speech. In Washington, the Russian Embassy tweeted, "Happy #InaugurationDay2017!" with a photo of people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The optimism was part of a larger embrace by Russia of Trump's "America First" outlook, which emphasizes U.S. business interests and national security over promoting freedom and democracy abroad, said Ilya Zaslavskiy, a researcher who has worked with the Hudson Institute's Kleptocracy Initiative. Advertisement Amid a busy schedule in Washington, Titov who was appointed by Putin to serve as a business ombudsman told a Russian television station that new investment was likely to flow to Russia once U.S. sanctions were lifted. Businesses "are waiting for this signal, and they believe it will soon come," he said. A year later, the sanctions are still in place, and the thrill of Trump's election has faded amid an intensifying federal investigation of possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign. "We hoped that a lot of things would change, that the relations would be built on equal terms, that we would be able to start a new stage in the relations between countries," Titov said in an interview. "But unfortunately, this is not happening." Titov, like several of the Russian elites who attended Trump's inauguration, declined to say how he obtained his tickets, only that they came "via our friends entrepreneurs in the Republican Party." Advertisement While in Washington, he attended several receptions and met with U.S. lawmakers and business leaders, including a staff member at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Titov said. A Chamber spokeswoman said the organization "routinely meets with individuals representing the business community from countries around the world." Titov said he also went to a ball, adding: "I don't remember what it was called. People danced. Trump danced." Vekselberg heads of one of Russia's most powerful conglomerates, the Renova Group, which has investments in energy, telecom and mining. He attended Trump's inauguration as a guest of "one of his closest American business partners," said spokesman Andrey Shtorkh, who declined to name Vekselberg's host. Shtorkh said that Vekselberg had met the past three U.S. presidents as part of his efforts to expand Russia's international economic relations but that this was the first time the magnate attended a presidential inauguration. Advertisement Vekselberg regularly participates in gatherings of Russian business leaders with Putin and sometimes meets one on one with the Russian president, according to news accounts and people familiar with his role. In March, the two sat down to discuss infrastructure projects, according to Russian state news reports. Vekselberg funds several critically important Russian prestige projects, including Skolkovo, the business incubator touted as Russia's answer to Silicon Valley. Two of Vekselberg's U.S. business associates donated significant sums to the inaugural committee, federal filings show. Andrew Intrater, a New York businessman who is president of the U.S. affiliate of Vekselberg's company, gave $250,000. Intrater did not respond to requests for comment. Access Industries, a company founded by Leonard Blavatnik a Soviet-born American British billionaire who is a longtime friend and business associate of Vekselberg contributed $1 million to the committee. Blavatnik, through a spokesman, declined to comment. Another Russian American who has had business dealings in Russia, IMG Artists chief executive Alexander Shustorovich, also gave $1 million, records show. IMG Artists' chief operating officer, John Evans, said Shustorovich, a U.S. citizen who immigrated to the country as a child, attended the inauguration with his parents. Evans said Shustorovich was a longtime Republican supporter who also attended the presidential inaugurations of George W. Bush. Some of the Russian attendees at inaugural events already had interacted with people in Trump's orbit during the 2016 campaign. Among them: Maria Butina, a Russian gun rights activist and assistant to Alexander Torshin, a former Russian senator who had brokered ties with top National Rifle Association officials. More than a year before Trump's victory, Butina had found her way to a microphone at a July 2015 town hall meeting to ask candidate Trump how he would approach Russia if elected. "I know Putin, and I'll tell you what, we get along with Putin," Trump responded. (Trump later said that he had not met Putin before his election but told voters that he was confident they would get along.) Butina was also part of a group that unsuccessfully sought a meeting with the campaign in May 2016 to discuss the persecution of Christians around the world, according to an American involved in the effort. During Trump's inauguration, Butina made an appearance at one of the balls, according to a person familiar with her attendance. She did not respond to requests for comment. The Russian lawyer, Veselnitskaya, had met Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, during a private June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower in New York. Trump Jr. had agreed to the gathering after he was told Veselnitskaya would provide damaging information about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton as part of a Russian effort to assist his father's campaign. Joining Veselnitskaya at the meeting was Rinat Akhmetshin, a Russian American lobbyist and Soviet army veteran. Seven months later, they were together again in Washington at an inauguration night black-tie party at the Library of Congress sponsored by the campaign committee of Rohrabacher, a GOP congressman who has long advocated that the United States have a better relationship with Putin's Russia. In a photo from the event posted by the campaign committee, Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin pose with slight smiles, holding wine glasses. In a statement, Veselnitskaya told The Post that she attended a private event in Washington that night at Akhmetshin's invitation. She added that she did not go to the inauguration and was in the area because she was meeting the next day with an American woman frustrated by the Russian ban on adoptions by U.S. citizens. Michael Tremonte, a lawyer for Akhmetshin, said his client recalls that he was given tickets by a person involved in organizing the event and that he invited Veselnitskaya to join him because he knew she was in town. Tremonte said Akhmetshin did not attend any official inaugural events. Kenneth Grubbs, a spokesman for Rohrabacher's congressional office, said the campaign has no record of Akhmetshin's invitation to the party or of tickets purchased by him or Veselnitskaya. 'It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience' Repik began his weekend in Washington by posting a photo of himself wearing official credentials in front a stage bearing a sign that declared "The Inauguration of Donald J. Trump." In interviews with The Post, Repik said he and his wife obtained their tickets through an American technology executive named Timothy Kasbe, who at the time was working for the Russia-based retailer Gloria Jeans. Kasbe, who now works for a company in New Zealand, donated $150,000 to Trump's inaugural committee, records show. Repik said they had met months earlier during a tour of Silicon Valley companies for Russian business executives that Kasbe helped host on behalf of a headhunting firm. The two became friendly and agreed to meet in Washington for the Trump festivities. In a statement, Kasbe confirmed that he celebrated the inauguration with Repik and his wife, whom he called "family friends from California." Repik, whose family often stays in a home in a posh San Francisco neighborhood, founded the large Russian pharmaceutical company R-Pharm, which has contracts with numerous Russian hospitals, including state-owned facilities. Repik also heads an advocacy group called Business Russia, as well as another business council that encourages economic ties between Russia and Japan. In those roles, Repik said, he has met several times with Putin at public events to discuss the business climate and foreign relations. They had a one-on-one meeting publicized by the Kremlin in June 2016 and met again when Putin made an appearance at an October 2016 conference hosted by Repik's advocacy group. In 2011, the Russian business publication Vedomosti asked Repik about rumors that he had ties to the FSB, the Russian intelligence service that succeeded the KGB. Repik replied, "It's nice to feel like a simpleton who has the FSB behind him." Repik told The Post that such comments were "jokes" and that he has "zero" relationship with Russia's security and intelligence services. Before Trump's inauguration, Repik established a business tie with Texas venture capitalist Darren Blanton, who served as an informal adviser to the Trump transition team. In the fall of 2016, a venture fund backed by Repik's R-Pharm and the Russian government negotiated to become a large investor in a California biotechnology start-up called Bonti, a deal that closed Jan. 4, 2017, according to corporate filings and people familiar with the investment. Colt Ventures, an investment company founded by Blanton, also invested in Bonti, filings show. At some point, Blanton and Repik met in San Francisco with other investors to discuss the company, Repik said. Repik said the Texas investor was also among the people he ran into at the Trump hotel in Washington, where he and his wife stayed for the inauguration. Blanton did not respond to requests for comment. Polina Repik, a former model with a sizable social media following, recorded the exclusive access she and her husband had during the inauguration, posting videos about the trip on her YouTube channel. "I'm really far from politics," she said in an interview. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience." At the inaugural parade, the couple were perched in a grandstand just next to the one reserved for Trump and his family. They danced the night away at the Liberty Ball, where Polina Repik filmed a chance encounter with Caitlyn Jenner. Polina Repik also toured The Washington Post's newsroom with Kasbe, who arranged the visit through a former colleague who is a Post executive. A video from the tour that Polina Repik posted on YouTube features footage of the newsroom. The Post public-relations manager who led the tour said that visitors are generally not allowed to film throughout the newsroom and that she did not recall seeing any filming. In an interview, Polina Repik said that she was not trying to film surreptitiously and that she was sorry if she broke any rules. Alexey Repik also documented his up-close access at inaugural events, posting photos on Facebook of the president-elect, son Eric Trump, incoming vice president Mike Pence and incoming Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus. At one event, Repik told The Post, he met incoming secretary of state Rex Tillerson and encountered Pompeo, whom he described on Facebook as "a good neighbor at the table [who] turned out to be a very charming person." Repik said he was actually seated at a table nearby and was not aware at the time of Pompeo's role as the soon-to-be CIA director. Repik added that he had not met Pompeo before that event or seen him since. In a statement, a CIA spokesman said that Pompeo "does not know this individual or recall meeting him," adding that "people frequently ask public figures, like Mr. Pompeo, for photographs, and efforts to cast the photo as anything else are ridiculous." Repik said it wasn't politics that drew him to Washington but the prospect of fostering better business relations between Russia and the United States. "To me, it's pretty clear that we can do better together," he said. "I don't care about the political. But I'm very concerned about the business part of this." Elizabeth Dwoskin in San Francisco; Natalya Abbakumova and David Filipov in Moscow; and Devlin Barrett, Alice Crites, Tom Hamburger, Shane Harris, Ellen Nakashima, T.J. Ortenzi, Julie Tate and Julie Vitkovskaya in Washington contributed to this report. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share As the federal government prepared to shut down late Friday, massive confusion spread throughout the bureaucracy as senior Trump administration officials painted radically different scenarios of whether basic governmental functions would continue or halt. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said about half of the Pentagon's civilian employees would be sent home without pay, maintenance would cease and some intelligence operations overseas would stop. The Commerce Department sent talking points to managers, instructing them to tell furloughed employees to set up out-of-office voice-mail messages and take their office plants home. The Internal Revenue Service braced to lose more than half its workforce just as employees are answering questions about the new tax law. But at the Environmental Protection Agency, Administrator Scott Pruitt told his roughly 15,000 employees to report to work Monday as if nothing would change, a direct contrast to the plan officials finalized last month suggesting that thousands of employees would be furloughed in the event of a shutdown. And Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to leave Monday for a trip that will take him to Europe for bilateral talks in Paris, London and Warsaw. His schedule includes a stop for the World Economic Forum at the swanky Swiss resort of Davos, where he is to meet up with President Trump. The disconnect highlighted the clash between the White House's determination to keep the government as functional as possible and a vast workforce that typically scales back when its congressional appropriations expire. Advertisement In a briefing with reporters Friday evening, senior administration officials could not identify how many federal employees would be furloughed and how many agencies would be affected, referring questions to individual departments. Contingency plans drawn up in recent years called for high-percentage furloughs of civilian employees, including 78 percent of those at the Defense Department and 83 percent at Labor. Administration officials acknowledged that many federal employees were not notified until Thursday or Friday that they could be affected, much later than would be typical. In 2013, more than 800,000 federal employees were sent home without pay for 16 days. The reason many weren't given more advance warning this time is because senior administration officials said they didn't realize the shutdown threat was real until days ago. Budget director Mick Mulvaney told reporters at the White House on Friday that a shutdown the first under Republican control in Washington "will look very different than it did under the previous administration," which he said deliberately exacerbated public impact. Advertisement Mulvaney said the administration was working to blunt a shutdown's effects by pushing agencies to use different accounts that might allow them more flexibility to pay employees, though it is unclear exactly how that would work. And it did not appear that the government's largest agencies, particularly the Defense Department, would be able to take advantage of such a tactic. Pruitt told EPA employees late Friday that the agency could continue operating through all of next week even if spending expires. At the Interior Department, officials have gone to extraordinary lengths to keep things running, promising to keep open as many parks, national monuments and other public lands as possible without visitors centers and with a skeleton staff of law enforcement. The government will spend about $4.1 trillion this year, and roughly 30 percent of that is appropriated each year by Congress. About half of that money goes to the military, and the other half to dozens of federal agencies. When there is a shutdown in this case a partial one, since lawmakers have passed a budget for the Veterans Health Administration the government doesn't grind to a halt, but its operations are interrupted. Many employees deemed "essential" to the agency's day-to-day mission remain in their posts, often without pay, while others are sent home indefinitely. Advertisement Agencies typically don't stockpile money to prepare for these types of lapses because they're not supposed to. Some officials said they could maintain operations by using carry-over funding, money that remains unspent and is either part of permanent or multiyear appropriations. It was unclear how this strategy differed from the approach the Obama administration invoked in 2013, when Sylvia Mathews Burwell, then the director of the Office of Management and Budget, issued a Sept. 30 memo instructing heads of agencies that they could "continue to operate under such previously approved apportionments" from those buckets of funding. OMB officials wouldn't specify which agencies had access to this money or how it would work, though they said they place greater "emphasis" on using these funds compared to 2013. And as late as Friday night, the White House could not say which agencies would continue to operate either fully or partially. Advertisement Sam Berger, who served as OMB senior counselor and policy adviser during the 2013 shutdown, said this funding strategy helped Veterans Affairs and the State Department stay open during the 16-day budget impasse. "The Obama administration's sole focus was on making sure agencies complied with the law," Berger said. "And agencies made determinations about the best way to utilize their funding consistent with the law, including the use of multiyear carry-over funding when appropriate." But some budget experts questioned whether allowing agencies to pay employees with unused money or transfer money into salary accounts would be legal after the midnight deadline. "What the administration is doing here is using an accounting trick to keep parts of the government open, and then it's not a shutdown at all," said Bill Hoagland, senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center and a former budget adviser to several Senate Republican leaders. "I would question the legality of using those moneys when you have no authority at all to spend money." Advertisement If agencies were to stay open using the White House strategy, he added, "You're going to have budget lawyers working overtime and potentially with lawsuits." Questions about this frenzy of activity such as whether agency heads would need to move their money before midnight Friday contributed to a sense of chaos as the Trump administration encountered its first bureaucratic fiasco. Trump and his deputies continued to attack Democrats on Capitol Hill even as they negotiated with them and downplayed the potential mess that could ensue. Employees not scheduled to work over the weekend the vast majority of the government were told to come into work Monday morning to put things in order for an indefinite absence, leaving their government-issued cellphones and laptops at the office. No telework is allowed during a shutdown. Advertisement The next pay period for many employees runs through Jan. 26, and they will be paid for work through this past week. Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents 150,000 federal workers at more than 30 agencies, told reporters at 2 p.m. that "our employees right now at this late hour are still waiting to get their notices." He said they worry that Congress will not ensure that they are paid after a shutdown ends, even though Congress has voted to pay them after previous shutdowns. After reporting Friday that more people sought care for flulike illnesses during the second week in January than at any comparable period in nearly a decade, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had prepared to send more than 60 percent of its employees about 8,500 people home. CDC spokeswoman Kathy Harben said the agency's "immediate response to urgent disease outbreaks, including seasonal influenza, would continue," through an analysis of data being reported to the government from state and local authorities and hospitals. But experts said the diminished staff levels could slow the rate of analysis. Advertisement The architects of the recently passed Republican tax law are relying on the tens of thousands of IRS employees to turn their new vision for the tax code into reality. But the agency was preparing to send home about 56 percent of its workforce, according to Treasury officials. A prolonged impasse could affect the pace at which IRS attorneys can issue new guidelines to resolve legal questions the law raises and to implement computer updates to IRS software for processing tax forms, tax experts said. A shutdown would halt key rail, airline and other investigations, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which said 95 percent of its more than 400 employees would be furloughed. Among the work that would stop: Investigations into an Amtrak derailment near DuPont, Wash., in December that killed three people, and into a near miss at San Francisco International Airport in July, when an Air Canada flight nearly landed on the wrong runway, according to the NTSB. Advertisement At the State Department, consular offices abroad would continue to process visas, as long as the fees they generate pay for the cost. Ambassadors would continue meeting government officials around the world. Travel would be curtailed, but is allowed to proceed if the trips are for national security purposes, including negotiating treaties and attending bilateral meetings, or to save lives, as in the case of medical emergencies or providing refugees with food and medicine. Many training courses will be suspended, except for classes related to diplomatic security, anti-terrorism and preparing government employees to go to dangerous postings such as Afghanistan and Iraq. Furloughed employees across the government will be advised to turn off their cellphones and have no email communications with colleagues who continue to work. They are prohibited from using social media accounts, and virtually all public speeches are forbidden. A skeletal team of public affairs spokesmen will be working to communicate with the media, but they are allowed to discuss only issues pertaining to national security. The National Park Service issued a contingency plan Friday evening that outlined how access to public lands would be maintained to the greatest extent possible under a shutdown, even as buildings would be locked and visitor services would cease. At Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida, some of the buildings could shut as soon as Saturday, though much of the park's 760,000 acres will remain open to visitors. The park is home to many large alligators and pythons, and there will not be as many park rangers working to enforce safety precautions. "We are going to put some information out that encourages people to use extra caution," spokeswoman Ardrianna McLane said. Michael Laris, Carol Morello, Brady Dennis, Lena Sun and Jeff Stein contributed to this report. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share As Vice President Pence prepared to head to the Middle East this weekend, he said he was hopeful that President Trump's decision last month to formally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel will greatly help, not hinder, efforts to broker peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight He was hopeful the United States can soon repair its relationship with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who said earlier this week that the United States can no longer serve as a fair mediator in the peace process. He said he was hopeful the administration's plan to dramatically reduce aid for Palestinian refugees will send a strong message without hurting "truly vulnerable populations." And Pence said he was hopeful that Christians in the region who denounced the Jerusalem decision will embrace his efforts to redirect aid money in Iraq and Syria to Christians and other religious minorities. "My hope is that I come away from this with a message delivered in Egypt and in Jordan and in Israel that we're committed to peace," Pence said in an interview Thursday afternoon. "As a student of the history of this region, it is remarkable how many times the issue of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel derailed peace negotiations in the past. Now that that's clear, now we can move on to all of these remaining issues, and we remain hopeful that President Abbas and the [Palestinian Authority] will return to the negotiating table soon." Advertisement But Pence's hopes could smash into reality when he touches down in the region on Saturday for a four-day, three-country tour that was originally scheduled for late last year but was postponed because of his role in the year-end tax debate giving the region a few weeks to cool down following Trump's Jerusalem announcement. When Pence and other officials talk about this trip, they usually avoid bringing up the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, instead focusing on the issues they want to emphasize: strengthening partnerships, fighting terrorism, addressing the conflict in Syria, dealing with the threat posed by Iran and helping Christians in the region. Pence's schedule does not include any meetings or phone calls with Palestinian officials or business leaders, and he canceled plans to visit Bethlehem. But the Israeli-Palestinian conflict looms large over the trip and Palestinian leaders made clear this week that Pence's statements are far from aligning with the reality on the ground. Advertisement "The situation is unbelievable, untenable," Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Abbas, said in a recent interview. The only way for the United States to regain status as a peace broker is for Washington to reverse its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, he said. But he doesn't expect that to happen. For Palestinians, the past six weeks brought one blow after another. First, Trump made his Jerusalem announcement on Dec. 6 and said the United States would eventually move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. At the time, Trump made clear that the final status of the city would be determined in a peace deal, and officials said the embassy move would take several years. Since then, Trump and Pence have both said that the United States has taken Jerusalem "off the table" for negotiations, further infuriating the Palestinian leadership. There were rumblings this week that the embassy move could happen much sooner than expected, although the State Department said Friday that no decision has been made. Advertisement Earlier this month, Trump threatened to cut aid the United States has long given to Palestinian refugees and their descendants who were pushed out of Israel decades ago. On Tuesday, the State Department said it would withhold $60 million of the $125 million it planned to contribute this month. "If they want to starve us, it's okay, but if they want peace and stability, they should review their policies," Abu Rudeineh said. Pence said he strongly agrees with the decision to withhold part of the aid, noting the United States is still providing tens of millions of dollars for "truly vulnerable populations." "Frankly, we've been disappointed by the rhetoric of President Abbas in recent days," Pence said. "The president is determined to send a very serious message to the Palestinian Authority that we need and expect them to come back to the table and that we honestly believe that it's in the best interest of everyone that we end this decades-long conflict once and for all, and the president is absolutely determined to exhaust every possibility to do that." Advertisement Palestinian leaders met earlier this week to decide on their response to the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem, with Abbas calling the U.S. peace plan "the slap of the century" in a fiery speech. He promised to ramp up efforts to "internationalize" the Palestinian cause, seeking recognition and pursuing Israel through the International Criminal Court. When Pence arrives in Israel early next week, Abbas plans to visit Brussels and meet with the European Union's foreign minister in an attempt to bolster support and find more funding for refugees. On Wednesday, Belgium distributed its three-year allocation for the aid agency in reaction to the U.S. cut. Pence and other White House officials say they fully expect the Jerusalem decision and its aftermath to come up during the trip. Pence said he knew the decision would "generate a level of disappointment and a reaction in the region," but he's encouraged by "a great deal of restraint shown in Arab countries around the world" in responding to the news, along with efforts to minimize violent protests. Advertisement In Egypt, where Pence will arrive Saturday, President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi had warned Trump not to "complicate" matters in the Middle East, but he has since been cautious in publicly commenting despite protests in Cairo. Pence on Sunday travels to Jordan, where more than 2 million Palestinian refugees live, and White House officials said they expect King Abdullah II to raise concerns about the withheld aid money. In Israel, where Pence will spend Monday and Tuesday, the vice president plans to reaffirm the Jerusalem decision during a speech at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. Originally, Pence planned to meet with the head of the Egyptian Coptic Church, who leads the largest Christian denomination in the Middle East, but the meeting was canceled after the Jerusalem decision. Christians throughout the Middle East denounced the move, warning it would further destabilize the region. Advertisement The vice president has long advocated for the United States to directly fund Christian nongovernmental agencies in Iraq and Syria and focus more aid dollars on Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East. Earlier this month, the United States Agency for International Development and the United Nations Development Program agreed to increase funding for religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and divert at least $55 million to minority communities. "If I have a message to Christian communities across the wider Arab world, it is: Help is on the way," Pence said. "Whatever differences there may be with the administration on a particular issue, I think Christians around the Arab world and around the world have been deeply troubled at what has been nothing short of an exodus of Christians from Iraq, from Syria, from areas across the wider region." GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share The elements that produced this weekend's government shutdown sum up the first year of Donald Trump's presidency: a dealmaking chief executive who can't make a deal; a divided Republican Party struggling to govern and in an uneasy relationship with the president; and a Democratic Party tethered to its anti-Trump progressive base in the face of political risk. It was fitting that the anniversary of Trump's inauguration would be a day of chaos, uncertainty, recrimination and efforts at political point-scoring. That has been a hallmark of the Trump presidency. Why should the anniversary of his swearing-in be significantly different from most of the previous 365 days? A year ago, in his inaugural address, Trump promised to bring a swift end to what he called "this American carnage." He promised disruption. At the one-year mark, the Trump era has certainly brought disruption to the capital, exposing the fault lines and vulnerabilities of the governing process. The shutdown could be short in duration it is good for neither party, nor the president but the climate of distrust and ill will is not going away. Advertisement A short-term spending bill failed during a procedural vote in the Senate late on Jan. 19, taking the government closer to a shutdown. (Video: Bastien Inzaurralde, Jordan Frasier/The Washington Post, Photo: Melina Mara/The Washington Post) In the early hours of Saturday, after the last efforts to avoid a shutdown failed and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) traded accusations of blame, some scorekeepers were trying to assess the political fallout. That probably will prove a fruitless exercise. Polls offered contradictory predictions. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that 48 percent of Americans said they would blame Trump and the Republicans for the shutdown rather than Democrats, whom only 28 percent blame. A CNN poll found that by 56 to 34 percent, people said avoiding a shutdown was more important than dealing with the fate of the undocumented immigrants known as "dreamers" at this time. History suggests caution, however, in predicting the impact. In 2011, President Barack Obama thought he could avoid the fallout when the debt ceiling negotiations with congressional Republicans imploded. He was wrong; although a shutdown was averted, everybody in Washington took a hit. Two years later, many people predicted political doom for Republicans after House hard-liners led the government into a shutdown. A year later, the GOP went on to win a handsome victory in the 2014 midterms. Advertisement So it is better to stay in the moment. Begin with the president. If he had one attribute that seemed credible as he campaigned in 2016, it was that he liked to make deals. He is a transactional being by nature, given not to political philosophy or introspection or policy smarts or deep analysis. He likes action that produces trophies. Yet the story the past two weeks is of a president who either doesn't know his own mind, isn't in charge of his own White House or simply cannot be trusted with his word. He ping-ponged from promising to take heat if legislators brought him an immigration deal, to balking when Sens. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) delivered the outlines of one, to unexpectedly summoning Schumer to the White House on Friday for talks, to deciding or being persuaded by those around him not to go ahead with whatever he and Schumer were discussing. That's the record as it appears from outside the room. The full story of what really transpired inside over those many days is still being reported and written, and there's little doubt that revisionism is taking place at a furious pace. History is written by the winners, but in this case, there are no winners. No one can claim victory when the governing process collapses as it did Friday. Advertisement But the president bears significant responsibility for the mixed signals he delivered and for not making clear his bottom line. It was telling that neither the Democrats nor Trump's Republican allies on Capitol Hill knew what he was willing to accept. The Republicans own the government in Washington, controlling the White House, the House and the Senate. Yet over the past year, they have found themselves repeatedly stymied by their own internal divisions, their lack of clarity on matters such as health care, and their tense relationship with a president whom few of them favored during the 2016 GOP primaries and whose behavior rankles even those who have remained relatively silent. The Republicans have made a bargain: accept the president's bad behavior as a price for moving a conservative agenda. They've pushed through judges at a fast pace. They managed to pass a tax bill in record speed at the end of last year, an accomplishment they hope will pay dividends in an election year they head into with a certain amount of dread. But this has been anything but an enjoyable year for those who dreamed for years of having the kind of power the party now has. Advertisement Since the fall as Republicans pushed to lower the corporate tax rate and provide income tax cuts that will greatly benefit the wealthy two vulnerable populations awaited help. One group is the dreamers, undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, who were given protected status by Obama but suddenly saw that protection taken away by Trump. The other is the beneficiaries of one of the most popular and successful safety net programs of the modern era, the Children's Health Insurance Program, better known as CHIP. Both these groups of young people became central players in what turned into monthly battles over funding the government for the duration of this fiscal year. That, despite the fact that an overwhelming percentage of Americans including elected officials from both parties, as well as the president favor extending CHIP and restoring the dreamers' protection from deportation. Advertisement Border security is one price Trump and conservatives demand for a deal to protect the dreamers that and other changes to the immigration system. Congressional Republicans nervously watched as Schumer went into a meeting with the president with none of their party's leaders in the room, their fears eased somewhat by their confidence that White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly would prevent the president from making a deal conservative hard-liners would reject. Republicans attached a six-year extension of CHIP to the latest short-term spending bill, hoping the move would force Democrats to swallow the bill without a deal on the dreamers. That calculation, cynical in the eyes of Democrats who have been calling for action on CHIP for months failed and created the conditions that helped bring about the shutdown. Democrats, meanwhile, showed how a year of grass-roots resistance to Trump has affected their party. The party not only leans further to the left; it is also more militant in opposition to the president, making any negotiation complicated. The power of this resistance blossomed the day after Trump's inauguration with the Women's March, nationwide outpourings that were larger and stronger than anyone anticipated. Women continue to lead the resistance to Trump, and Saturday's anniversary marches across the country highlighted that anew. Advertisement Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, daily demonstrations by dreamers and their allies have heightened the pressure on Schumer and other Democratic leaders not to let another opportunity pass to fix their status. They urged party elected officials to stand firm, using this short-term spending bill as leverage, although the ultimate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals deadline is in early March. The demands of the base not to yield on immigration, however, do put red-state Senate Democrats, who face tough reelection challenges, in an untenable position. Four of them Indiana's Joe Donnelly, Missouri's Claire McCaskill, North Dakota's Heidi Heitkamp and West Virginia's Joe Manchin III defected on the key vote and sided with Republicans. They were joined by the chamber's newest senator, Democrat Doug Jones of Alabama. The split between the vulnerable red-state senators and the rest of the party underscored the ideological center of gravity in the Democratic Party and the commitment to base-driven politics that party strategists see as their best path ahead. Advertisement The principal actors will find a way out of this shutdown, although any agreement could again be temporary. That will put it back on Trump's shoulders to decide what kind of deal he's prepared to make and on Democratic leaders to choose how much to yield on border security and other presidential demands. But nothing is likely to change the underlying dynamics that created this moment. What an anniversary this turned out to be. GiftOutline Gift Article SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa | A group has filed a lawsuit against Dickinson County in the quest to halt a rezoning of land that could lead to a multi-family residential development called East Loch Estates. The Concerned Citizens of Dickinson County group doesn't like the potential impact the development could have just north of Chalstrom Beach in Spirit Lake. The group in a Friday release announced the lawsuit against the county and the Dickinson County Board of Supervisors, the entity that approved the rezoning on a 3-2 vote in late December. The supervisors vote rezoned 66 acres of agricultural land to a residential designation in the vicinity of East Lake Okoboji. The proposed East Loch Estates project in the area is for a group of developers, including Jeff Holtgren, Nick Poolman and Jeremy Jalas, to build about 420 housing units. The land is now owned by Leo Butch Parks Jr., a notable businessman in the Okoboji and Iowa Great Lakes area. The CCDC release says the new housing could be the home to 1,200 people "on land that is currently home to meadow, woodlands and field crops." The release said a public hearing to rezone the land came just hours after a lengthy county Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, and the county supervisors voted without receiving any report or recommendation from the P&Z, as required by law. "The fact that the County rushed this vote through without even taking time to review the minutes from the P&Z meeting demonstrates an abuse of the public hearing process, said CCDC spokesman Chris Enger. The Dickinson County Planning and Zoning Commission also discussed the rezoning and project in August, and other meetings in late 2017. The lawsuit says the county set the meeting near Christmas with the aim to reduce participation by the public. Dickey & Campbell Law Firm is Des Moines is representing Concerned Citizens of Dickinson County and filed the lawsuit in the Iowa District Court for Dickinson County. Lawmakers from both parties and White House officials on Jan. 21 laid out their positions in the negotiations to reopen the government. (Video: Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post, Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share Congressional leaders in both parties refused to budge publicly from their political corners Saturday on the first day of the government shutdown, avoiding direct negotiations and bitterly blaming each other for the impasse in speeches. President Trump joined the fray with a series of charged tweets. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight But private glimmers of a breakthrough were evident by late Saturday, as moderate Democrats and Republicans began to rally behind a new short-term funding proposal to reopen the government through early February. That plan could include funding for storm-ravaged states, reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program and an implicit agreement to hold votes at some point in the coming weeks on a bipartisan immigration deal, according to senators involved in the discussions. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) vowed on the Senate floor late Saturday to take up a new spending plan by Monday morning, or sooner, that would keep government open through Feb. 8 but would not contain a solution for "dreamers," undocumented immigrants who were brought into the country as children. Advertisement "He wants to keep the government shut down until we finish a negotiation on the subject of illegal immigration," McConnell said of his Democratic counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). McConnell repeated himself: "Shutting down government over illegal immigration." The moderate senators, meanwhile, are trying to reach a deal on immigration in hopes that, should a three-week spending accord be approved, McConnell would allow it to come up for a vote alongside a longer-term spending plan. Democrats, however, remained intensely opposed to McConnell's approach, unsure he would agree and frustrated by Republicans' refusal to meet their demands on immigration while the government is closed. At issue for Democrats is the fate of thousands of young immigrants eligible for protection from deportation under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Trump canceled the program in September, and it is set to expire in March. Lawmakers are scrambling to enact a legislative solution. Lawmakers have been busy pointing fingers at who's to blame for the impasse. (Video: Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) Advertisement Democrats also questioned the ability of the negotiating group to reach an agreement that can pass the Senate and House and also earn Trump's approval. "The conversation that needs to take place is the conversation at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, where the president of the United States brings in the four leaders from Congress," said Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.). "We can come up with the best compromise in the world. The key is how to get it through the House and the way to do that is for the president to provide the air cover that he has not so far provided." Lawmakers in both chambers were scheduled to return to work Sunday afternoon. McConnell and Schumer did little in public Saturday besides trade insults in brief speeches on the Senate floor or on television. "Do you know what number CR this is? This has been going on for six months," Schumer told CNN, using the legislative term for a short-term spending deal, a continuing resolution. "This is the fourth time. They can't get it done and they just use these CRs." Advertisement McConnell hunkered down in his office and played phone tag most of the day with Trump, updating him on where things stood and projecting an air of confidence that he was in a strong position, according to GOP senators. There were no substantive talks between Schumer and McConnell. The real effort at bridging the divide was that bipartisan collection of roughly 20 senators from the less ideological wings of their respective caucuses. That group met and was trying to advance a deal that would open the government for three more weeks and set up a series of votes on competing immigration proposals. Still, several Senate Republicans said that McConnell was in no mood to give Schumer any assurances to open up the government. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) are leading the moderate group, with Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), both of whom have worked closely with Schumer on immigration issues in the past, serving as go-betweens for the two parties. The duo shuttled back and forth between Schumer's and McConnell's offices on the second floor of the Capitol trying to forge a political peace, but they left for dinner shortly after 6 p.m. with no solid agreement with either leader. Advertisement It is unclear whether there is enough bipartisan support for the immigration proposal being floated by the moderates or for one that Senate conservatives are also drafting. And the possibility of no resolution to the immigration standoff before the DACA deadline remained. So far, Trump, McConnell and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) have refused to consider Democrats' demands until there is a bipartisan agreement to reopen the federal government. "Senate Democrats shut down this government, and now Senate Democrats need to open this government back up," Ryan said in a midday speech. Trump, who spent the day at the White House, weighed in on Twitter: "Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMoreRepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess!" In a bid to move past the political squabbling, the moderate senators met for a second day in Collins's office. She led a similar bipartisan group in working to resolve the last shutdown in 2013. Advertisement Moderates are "trying to find a pathway forward," Manchin said. Democratic leaders made their case for blaming Republicans for the shutdown. As thousands of women gathered along the Mall in Washington to protest Trump's first year in office, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stood at the Capitol and pointed to a poster depicting a Trump tweet from last May calling for a "good shutdown." "Happy anniversary, Mr. President," Pelosi said. "Your wish came true. You wanted the shutdown? The shutdown is all yours." Trump, who marked the first anniversary of his inauguration on Saturday, canceled plans to visit his resort in Palm Beach, Fla., for a weekend of celebrations. His scheduled trip to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland this coming week was also up in the air, according to an aide. Advertisement At the White House, a phone line for comments directed callers to voice mail with a message slamming Democrats. "Unfortunately, we cannot answer your call today because congressional Democrats are holding government funding, including funding for our troops and other national security priorities, hostage to an unrelated immigration debate. Due to this obstruction, the government is shut down," a woman's voice said on the message. The White House said it supports the plan for funding through Feb. 8, eliminating a potentially significant hurdle to its enactment. Yet the simmering tensions between the Trump administration and Schumer, who said Saturday that negotiating with the president was like negotiating with "Jell-O," underscored the delicacy of the moment. Schumer and Trump had met privately on Friday afternoon, giving some lawmakers optimism that their deliberations would advance a deal to avoid a shutdown. Advertisement Schumer left the meeting buoyed, telling others that Trump seemed willing to strike a deal on a days-long funding extension in exchange for concessions such as border wall funding. But by midnight, he complained to his members that Trump had suddenly reneged on the possibility. The White House told a different story. Briefing reporters at the White House on Saturday, budget director Mick Mulvaney disputed Schumer's claim that he offered Trump his desired border wall funding during their meeting. "Mr. Schumer has to up his game and be more honest with the president of the United States if we are going to be seeing progress," Mulvaney said. Schumer spokesman Matt House fired back on Twitter that Mulvaney, who was not present for the meeting, was "not telling the truth" about what happened. Democrats pushed for a shutdown to spite Trump for his accomplishments, White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short argued to reporters. Advertisement "Their reaction is, 'Because we can't beat them, what we're going to do is shut down the government,' " he said in a news briefing Saturday. There was scattered and acrimonious activity on the House and Senate floors. McConnell sought to bring up the four-week spending bill that failed Friday night; Democrats blocked the attempt. Democrats asked to vote on a bill guaranteeing federal workers their back pay for the period of the shutdown; McConnell objected, saying they deserve a full funding bill. Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee who objected to McConnell's attempt to revive the short-term bill, questioned McConnell's embrace of the GOP proposal to extend funding of the Children's Health Insurance Program and highlighted the discord that defined the day. "He sounded like Marian Wright Edelman last night, the founder of the Children's' Defense Fund, with his newfound interest in the children's health plan," Wyden said in an interview. "It sounds like I'm listening to Ted Kennedy talk about health. . . . I've never heard of this being a priority [for Republicans]." In the House, lawmakers prepared for a possible deal by debating a special rule allowing them to consider any bill that passes the Senate on the same day. The debate devolved into a shouting match over displaying disparaging photos of other members such as Schumer on the floor. Elise Viebeck and Juliet Eilperin contributed to this report. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share One by one, the rank-and-file House Republicans exited their closed-door huddle Saturday morning and stuck to the same script: Their position was strong, and the Senate minority leader was to blame for the government shutdown. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight "This is a Chuck Schumer shutdown, case closed," Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.), a staunch conservative on immigration issues, told reporters. A few minutes later, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who supports the effort to reach a bipartisan plan to benefit young undocumented immigrants, blamed Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) for trying to force the issue into federal budget talks when the immigration deadline was six weeks away. "This particular shutdown, by Schumer, is trying to move the timeline up, trying to cram it," Issa said. Lawmakers have been busy pointing fingers at who's to blame for the impasse. (Video: Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) In other eras, this would be normal behavior members of the same party reading from the same talking points. Advertisement This is not normal behavior for House Republicans. They have fought bitterly among themselves since winning the majority in 2010, perhaps never more so than in the fall of 2013. That's when a small but influential faction of conservatives caused the last federal government shutdown, over a bid to force President Barack Obama to zero out funding for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. By the time it was finished, Republicans had accused one another of acting like "lemmings with suicide vests" and of leading them into a "boxed canyon" to be slaughtered by Obama and congressional Democrats. Now, at least on the first day of the shutdown, Republicans are unified behind the belief that until the government opens, there will be no more negotiations over the fate of hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought here as children. Just because one side gets most of the blame when agencies go into partial shutdown and furlough hundreds of thousands of federal workers is no guarantee that side will pay a political price in the next set of elections. House Republicans, after all, retained their majority after they drove the unpopular 1996 shutdown and increased their majority in 2014. Advertisement But, with their own actions, each side has made clear that they are desperate to win over short-term public opinion. Whichever party blinks will have far less leverage in negotiating critical issues over the next two months. The issues range from how to provide short-term funds for federal agencies to a potential two-year deal that will boost military and domestic spending. There's also the permanent solution for "dreamers," as those young undocumented immigrants protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program are known, and the trade-off of a large boost in border security. And there's a collection of health-care matters, including a children's insurance program and the effort to stabilize private insurance markets established under Obamacare. Win this shutdown fight, and your party will have the upper hand in all those negotiations. Advertisement That's why Schumer is working furiously to blame Trump for the failed negotiations after a Friday lunch in the White House brought the New Yorkers close to a broad agreement. "The president can't take yes for an answer," Schumer said Saturday, saying he backed away once he received negative feedback from congressional conservatives. "Negotiating with President Trump is like negotiating with Jell-O." Democrats, reflecting on their own lessons of shutdowns past, believe they held the upper hand in 2013 because Obama was a serious, disciplined communicator who stuck to his script and framed the issue for the public. They are betting that Trump will be undisciplined and make his own position toxic, with his often-shifting public statements confusing even his allies about what he wants in the immigration plan. "This should be an easily resolved situation, because you have bipartisan support for each of the main pieces of the deal," said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). Advertisement "So for the president somebody who wrote 'The Art of the Deal' it seems like this should be an amateur league challenge, not a major league challenge." Others think that Trump's unreliable nature could make it harder to reach a deal but that things will eventually be settled on Democratic terms. "How do you negotiate with someone you don't know where they're going to be the day after you leave their office? So it's tough," said Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), a veteran of the mid-1990s and 2013 government shutdowns. Republicans believe they are on solid ground in demanding an open government as the first order of business. Their bet is that Democrats will find themselves in a politically unstable position and will eventually give in just as Republicans did when they were routed during the 2013 showdown. Advertisement "Night and day," Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) said of the two shutdowns. This year's theme? "Stay calm, stay together. Schumer's in the position House Republicans were in back then." Republicans don't dispute that Obama thumped them in 2013, but their key takeaway is that Americans demand that government functions operate in a normal fashion. Shuttering national parks or federal offices over extraneous debates is a dead-end pursuit, they say. "Nothing is worth shutting the government down. I don't think any side issue is worth shutting the government down, and I think that Democrats are about to find that out," Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Saturday. A few Republicans did support reopening the government by giving Democrats a guaranteed vote to permanently fix DACA, which has protected dreamers from deportation since 2012. Advertisement "You're not going to get a budget agreement until there's an agreement on DACA and border security," said Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), an influential moderate who is retiring at the end of the year. But Issa's views were much closer to the center of Republican gravity. From a very diverse district outside San Diego, Issa supports a dreamers fix as a first step to a more sweeping immigration overhaul but he wants those talks to begin after the government reopens. "I don't think either side should hold a gun to either head over the immigration issue," Issa said. That's why Republicans feel much better about their standing than 4 years ago, when no one ever talked about unity and when no one ever said "we're relaxed and comfortable," as Hudson did this time around. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detained or deported several prominent immigrant activists across the country, prompting accusations from advocates that the Trump administration is improperly targeting political opponents. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Detention Watch Network, a nonprofit that tracks immigration enforcement, said this week that several activists have been targeted recently, including Maru Mora Villalpando in Washington state, Eliseo Jurado in Colorado, and New York immigrant leaders Jean Montrevil and Ravi Ragbir. "They're trying to intimidate people," said Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), the ranking Democrat of the House Judiciary Committee. "These are well-known activists who've been here for decades, and they're saying to them: Don't raise your head." A top ICE official denied that the agency is targeting immigrants for deportation because of their activism. The agency says its priorities are immigrants who pose a threat to national and border security and public safety. Most, but not all, of the targeted immigrants have criminal records. Advertisement "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not target unlawfully present aliens for arrest based on advocacy positions they hold or in retaliation for critical comments they make," said Matthew Albence, ICE'S executive associate director for Enforcement and Removal Operations, which detains and deports immigrants. "Any suggestion to the contrary is irresponsible, speculative and inaccurate." The accusations come as a congressional clash on immigration policy, and after months of rising tensions between immigrant-rights activists and the Trump administration. In California, New York and Washington, governing Democrats have discouraged businesses from cooperating with ICE part of a clash over "sanctuary status" that has been tied up in courts. Montrevil, who was deported to Haiti on Jan. 16, came to the U.S. legally in 1986 and was ordered deported in 1994. He has multiple felony convictions related to drug possession, according to ICE. But in an interview with the radio show Democracy Now, he questioned the timing of his deportation. Advertisement "I have been under supervision for 15 years, and I've never violated," Montrevil said. "I have always made my appointment. And I stay out of trouble. I have volunteered, and I work and take care of my kids. I pay taxes every year. I did everything right. Everything they asked me to do, I have done it. So why target me now?" Ragbir, a citizen of Trinidad, was convicted in 2000 of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and later sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $350,000 restitution. ICE said he will be detained until he can be deported. Montrevil is a co-founder of the New Sanctuary Coalition, which advocates for immigrants, and Ragbir is the coalition's current executive director. Ragbir has lived in the United States for more than 20 years. "We see the last few weeks as an escalating series of actions against New Sanctuary and our leaders aimed at silencing those who speak for immigrants' rights," said Kirk Cheyfitz, a spokesman for the New York-based group. "All this comes as racist rhetoric from the White House leaves no doubt about the racial basis of the Trump administration's immigration policies." Advertisement Jurado, the 30-year-old husband of a Peruvian citizen living in a Boulder, Colo., church to avoid deportation, was arrested on Jan. 11 for being in the United States illegally. ICE said he has a 2007 driving offense in Adams County, Colo., and three misdemeanor convictions. He, too, is being detained pending a hearing before an immigration judge. Jurado's advocates say ICE detained him in retaliation for his wife's public fight to avoid deportation to Peru. Maru Mora Villalpando, a Mexican national in Washington state, said she has no criminal record and is proof that ICE is targeting activists. "This latest tactic is something we might expect from generals in a tin-pot dictatorship, not federal officers in a 240-year-old democracy," said Kica Matos, a spokeswoman for the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, the largest network of immigrant-rights organizations in the United States. "Arresting immigrant activists who speak up is meant to sow fear in immigrant communities and stop political protest." Advertisement ICE mailed her a letter in December saying she may be deported. She has lived in the United States for 22 years and had met with federal officials during the Obama administration, when she helped publicize detainees' hunger strikes and other protests in Washington state. "There's no way for them to know about me except for the work that I do," she said. "I think my case makes it clear that actually Ravi and Jean's case were politically motivated." ICE officials would not say how Mora Villalpando came across the agency's radar, but said they are pursuing her deportation. "All those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to enforcement proceedings, up to and including removal from the United States," the agency said in a statement. Increasingly, Democrats are handling that information as a potential threat. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), an advocate for the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals program who has held a number of town halls and hearings to talk to constituents about their immigration status, worried that the reports from New York, Colorado, and Washington were part of a growing trend. "I have long suspected that very vocal advocates were harshly targeted after they spoke out," said Gutierrez. "I would go to a hearing, an immigration hearing, and the person who made the biggest impression? I'd find out that they'd been detained. And that started last year." GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share But the "America first" approach has also left the United States far more isolated. The overall impact of the policy, say diplomats, politicians and analysts interviewed around the world, has been a clear retrenchment of U.S. power and an opportunity for U.S. adversaries such as China and Russia. The American role in the world has been diminishing for years as other countries have expanded their economies, militaries and ambitions. Advertisement Foreign-policy players, however, say they see something different now: A disorderly U.S. transformation from a global leader working with partners to try to shape the world to an inwardly focused superpower that defines its international role more narrowly. The Trump administration has emphasized counterterrorism and American economic advantage in its foreign policy, while downgrading such traditional U.S. priorities as promoting human rights, democracy and international development. Trump's approach has won praise from countries including Israel and Saudi Arabia but is strikingly unpopular in many nations: A Gallup survey of attitudes in 134 countries that was released Thursday showed a significant drop in support for U.S. leadership in the world, from a median of nearly half of people approving under President Barack Obama to fewer than a third doing so under Trump. "What he has achieved is a remarkable weakening of America's moral standing," said Norbert Rottgen, chair of the German Parliament's foreign relations committee and an ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel. " 'America first' has made America weaker in the world." Advertisement The White House did not respond to a detailed request for comment. Across the globe, U.S. adversaries are rushing to fill the America-size void left as Washington breaks from its closest allies on trade and other international pacts. They also seek to take advantage of the confusion caused by what allies and foes have called an ill-defined and sometimes chaotic U.S. foreign policy broadcast by Trump's tweets. "There's a vacuum now," said a U.S. official who works on Middle East issues and who, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment freely. "And you're going to have some try to step in." At a World Trade Organization meeting last month in Buenos Aires, that someone was China. The meeting, a biennial affair, usually delivers bromides about the advantages of global commerce along with some tweaks to the system. This time, though, U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer delivered a combative speech, accusing members of unfairly taking advantage of the group's rules an echo of the president's oft-repeated denunciation of "dumb trade deals." Advertisement Allies said they got the message: The United States was not there to find common ground. "The whole U.S. delegation, not only Lighthizer, at all meetings and bilaterals, made clear in a very explicit way no joint declaration or a common work program could be agreed from the U.S. side," said a European official involved in the negotiations. Attendees watched as Chinese officials advocated more forcefully for free trade and then worked the sidelines to seek deals with other nations, according to a senior European official who was at the meeting. "You see them active everywhere," the official said, adding that the buzz of Chinese activity was clear from the scores of meeting rooms the Chinese delegation booked. In a statement, Lighthizer said that he was ready to make worthwhile deals but that poor agreements weaken the global trading system. Advertisement "It is fatuous for the Europeans to blame the United States for the failure of the WTO to arrive at negotiated outcomes in Buenos Aires," Lighthizer said. "The E.U. approach which is to agree to a deal simply for the sake of doing so is antithetical to the global trading system. And to be clear, China got nothing from the ministerial." Trade is not the only area in which China has seen opportunity. The emerging superpower also has benefited from a storm of acrimony in recent weeks between Washington and Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation that has long had a tense partnership with the United States. As Trump has tweeted about the "lies and deceit" of the Pakistani government and his administration suspended nearly $2 billion in military aid, China has gleefully stepped in to offer support. In recent years, the Chinese have committed to a $62 billion infrastructure plan in the region. Pakistan has taken pains to differentiate between the two powers. Advertisement "China is a strategic partner, while the ties with Washington are tactical," said Mushahid Hussain Sayed, chairman of the defense committee in the Pakistani Senate. Many diplomats and policymakers say they think Washington will remain the preeminent global power but with greatly dimmed ambitions even after Trump's tenure in the White House. "The U.S. is not the reinsurance company for the global order. It's no longer the guarantor of last resort," said Reinhard Butikofer, a German member of the European Parliament who works on transatlantic issues. "If the beacon on the hill doesn't shine anymore, that has an impact." The impact can be seen in the fact that even longtime U.S. allies such as India, Turkey and Latin American nations are casting about elsewhere for dependable friends. Indian leaders have worked to deepen strategic relationships with Japan, Australia, Israel and other countries. Mexico, meanwhile, has accelerated free-trade talks with Argentina, Brazil and Europe. Trump's victory threw Mexico into a near state of emergency. Several key Trump goals building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, deporting more illegal immigrants and radically altering the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA could pose acute threats to Mexico's economy. The country's worst fears have not been realized, but avoiding a crisis takes constant effort. Advertisement "A bloody roller coaster," in the words of a Mexican official, "trying to read between the lines, between the tweets, between the different messages coming from whomever you spoke to last, including the president himself, then trying to decide what to make out of it." Rottgen said that Trump was so unpredictable that some European leaders had become more cautious about seeking to meet with him. "It's open to accidents. It's unpredictable. It's always seen from a transactional viewpoint," he said. A top adviser to one European leader said they no longer try to schedule time with Trump on the sidelines of summits. "Always, you're looking for a chance to meet up with the U.S. president," the adviser said. But now, that leader communicates via lower-level, less volatile U.S. officials, the adviser said. Advertisement Still, most of Washington's closest European allies continue to seek discussions with the president. Norway's prime minister visited the White House this month. French President Emmanuel Macron is seeking a meeting with Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week, if the federal government shutdown doesn't prevent him from making the trip. And leaders who once fretted that Trump would abandon some of Washington's core international commitments are now reassured by robust U.S. troop deployments across Europe. But even those who enthusiastically embraced the Trump administration have been nonplused by the president's style and decisions. Early in Trump's tenure, for example, Egyptian officials sensed they finally had a U.S. president who understood them. The Obama administration had been reviled by the government of President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi for its focus on human rights and democracy. Advertisement But Trump's tweets and confusing U.S. policy moves have proved frustrating and alienating. By August, Egyptians were fuming after the U.S. government, citing human rights concerns, cut or delayed nearly $300 million in assistance. Then came the decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and relocate the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv. "Now we have a situation where the words are not enough," said the U.S. official who works on Middle East issues. "In the early days of the administration, the words meant something. President Trump's praise of Sissi meant something. Now, between the August decision and the Jerusalem decision, they have lost faith." Trump's policies still win praise in some quarters. Saudi officials enthusiastically greeted him in a May visit, delighted that Trump had rejected Obama-era policies that were less hawkish toward Iran. And in Israel, views of the United States have markedly improved under Trump, who has been far more supportive of the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu than Obama was. Trump "has brought fresh thinking to the White House," said Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely. "He understands the region better than those experts who warned that if he recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital or moves the embassy to Jerusalem, the Middle East will explode. It did not explode." But prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, already dim, have evaporated. "There won't be peace no negotiations, no normalization, and the Middle East will be sitting on a volcano" until the decision is reversed, said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The Trump administration has escalated the U.S. offensive against Islamist insurgents in places including Somalia and Afghanistan, and given American military commanders more latitude in decision-making as they fought the Islamic State extremist group in Iraq. In Somalia, the U.S. military carried out at least 34 airstrikes in 2017 compared with roughly 14 in 2016. But some officials at the State Department have raised questions about the amplified Pentagon role. There has not been a proportionate increase in diplomatic activity in Somalia. Instead, the size of the U.S. diplomatic mission has shrunk, and the U.S. ambassadorship there has not been filled. Airstrikes and other military action can have knock-on effects that politically savvy experts could help avert, but "because the department's footprint is so limited compared to the military engagement, diplomats lack the bandwidth," said a former State Department official. A similar dynamic is at play in Afghanistan. At a ceremony in Kandahar in November to showcase refurbished Black Hawk helicopters being provided to the Afghan government, the top U.S. military commander, Army Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., gave an upbeat speech about defeating Taliban insurgents. But off to one side, a group of invited local elders, clad in turbans and robes, conferred in worried whispers over an entirely different issue. "We must speak to him about the elections. Everyone is very worried," one elder said. As soon as Nicholson and his interpreter had sat down, the group bombarded him with concerns, saying that the plans for national elections in July were being undermined by political pressures, ethnic bias and other problems. If the Americans did not intervene, they warned him, the elections could turn into a disaster. Nicholson smiled and promised to pass on their concerns. But the general's mandate does not include politics, and there has been far less diplomatic focus on Afghanistan than was the case under Obama. The country was without a U.S. ambassador until last month, and a special U.S. envoy post has been scrubbed. Over the past year, some U.S. allies have said they worried about being kept in the dark as the U.S. government developed its plans for military action. A delegation of senior E.U. ambassadors responsible for security policy for the 28-nation group traveled to Washington in late June and sought details from U.S. officials about the new administration's foreign policy. One said he returned to Europe "in despair." The diplomat said he received no useful guidance about the administration's strategy in Iran, Syria or Afghanistan or, crucially, about how to interpret the president's increasingly belligerent tweets aimed at North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The war of words between Washington and Pyongyang dominates a long list of apprehensions for U.S. allies for 2018 but is seen as an opportunity for others. In response to Trump's volatile brand of dealmaking and brinkmanship, Moscow has sought to present itself as a trustworthy interlocutor. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in September that Moscow was ready to mediate the dispute between Trump and Kim, which he likened to a "kindergarten fight." Some officials have noted the irony of Russia and China presenting themselves as guarantors of stability and global free trade. When the Trump administration last January pulled out of negotiations over a 12-nation trade pact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, 11 would-be members of the pact were left to work out the details without U.S. input. The deal had long been seen as an alternative to a Chinese regional economic order. The U.S. exit gave Chinese President Xi Jinping, the authoritarian leader of one of the world's most tightly controlled economies, the chance to present himself as a champion of globalization. The Chinese "haven't had to spend any energy to emerge much more clearly as the global leader that they aspire to be," said David Rank, who resigned as acting U.S. ambassador to China over the administration's decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord. Meanwhile, Rank said, U.S. influence is ebbing. "For my entire career except for the last four days of it, the question in foreign capitals, was 'What does Washington think about this?' " Rank said. "I suspect that is not the case anymore." Birnbaum reported from Brussels and Paris. Anna Fifield in Tokyo, Emily Rauhala and Simon Denyer in Beijing, Pamela Constable in Kandahar, Kevin Sieff in Nairobi, Quentin Aries in Brussels, Annie Gowen in New Delhi, Shaiq Hussain in Islamabad, Loveday Morris and Ruth Eglash in Jerusalem, Joshua Partlow in Mexico City, Sudarsan Raghavan in Cairo, Anton Troianovski in Berlin, Andrew Roth in Moscow, and David Lynch and Anne Gearan in Washington contributed to this report. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share KABUL At least four gunmen stormed a major international hotel complex in the Afghan capital on Saturday, touching off gun battles and sending guests and staff fleeing for cover, officials and staff said. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight There were no immediate reports on the extent of casualties from the clashes at the hilltop Inter-Continental Hotel, one of the city's main sites for foreign visitors, envoys and other guests. At least two attackers were killed, said Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid, but clashes were ongoing hours after the group entered the hotel and portions of the building were ablaze. There also was no immediate claim of responsibility. The Taliban and Islamic State have each waged attacks in the past against diplomatic targets and other sites in Kabul. The attack was the latest strike on a high-profile target in Kabul, deepening worries about the ability of militants to strike at the heart of Afghanistan's leadership. The hotel was hosting a meeting of more than 30 directors of communication and information technology companies from around the country. Advertisement The spokesman for Afghanistan's Interior Ministry, Najib Danish, said the number of casualties was not clear. But another Interior Ministry official, Nasrat Rahimi, said several people had been killed, according to the Associated Press. The attackers managed to slip through security cordons and entered the hotel through the kitchen, said Danish. They appeared to include suicide bombers, he added. One witness, quoted by the Reuters news agency, said the assailants took some hotel staff and guests as hostage. Wahid Majrooh, ministry of public health spokesman, said police and army ambulances were used to transport the injured. In 2011, Taliban suicide bombers and gunman attacked the Inter-Continental in a siege that lasted more than five hours. At least 11 people were killed, including hotel staff and visitors. The hotel has not been affiliated with the InterContinental Hotels Group for decades, but continues to use a variation of the name. Sharif Walid contributed to this report. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share KASUR, Pakistan The second-grader's homework assignment on Jan. 3 was to describe herself. "I am a girl," wrote Zainab Amin, who had a perky smile and a pageboy haircut. "I am seven years old. I live in Kasur. I love mangoes." Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight The next morning, while walking to a Koran class at her aunt's house, the little girl vanished. Five days later, her battered corpse was discovered in a garbage dump nearby. The medical examiner's terse report hinted at the horrors she had endured while the community was frantically searching for her. There was "mud, fecal matter, and blood on the body," it stated. There were strangulation marks on her neck. There was semen and other "signs of sexual assault," including sodomy. Zainab's gruesome rape and slaying followed several waves of child abductions, murders and sexual abuse that earned this economically struggling city a macabre reputation as Pakistan's capital of child sex abuse. But it also triggered an unprecedented national bout of soul-searching, outrage and public confessions from victims of sexual abuse. Pakistan is a conservative Muslim society; child abuse is common but rarely reported, and sex education is too controversial for public schools. Advertisement Rape victims are often charged with adultery and jailed, and tribal councils part of a traditional parallel justice system have sentenced women and girls to be raped as retribution for forbidden dalliances or elopement committed by their male relatives. In most instances, state authorities do not intervene unless the case is especially egregious and attracts news coverage. But Zainab's case, which coincided with the #MeToo phenomenon in the United States, thrust a long-verboten topic into the public arena. Headlines screamed "Pakistan's Shame!" The #JusticeforZainab hashtag went viral. Celebrities sent out tweets revealing childhood secrets of being molested by older men. Clerics from competing Muslim groups rushed to lead funeral prayers and protests. Provincial government officials, facing calls that they resign, fired Kasur's police chief and offered a reward of 10 million rupees (about $100,000) for information about the culprit. "There is no shame in having been a victim of abuse," tweeted Frieha Altaf, a public relations star who confided that she had been molested by her family's cook at age 6. She said that the experience "scarred me for life" but that she had remained silent until now because the issue was a social taboo in Pakistan, "shushed away by victims' families." Advertisement Fashion designer Maheem Khan reported on social media that she had been sexually abused as a child by a Muslim cleric "who came to teach me the Koran. I froze in fear day after day." She urged her fellow Pakistanis to "take a look at ourselves as a society" and parents to "listen to your children, teach them, warn them, talk to them openly about what is appropriate and what isn't." Zainab's death set off three days of violent rioting in Kasur, a gritty industrial city near the border with India where residents were already on edge after a spate of similar crimes including a video porn ring that reportedly targeted nearly 300 children. Most cases were never solved, and some suspects were freed by the courts. Last week, as anger at authorities boiled over, three protesters were fatally shot. Rights activists said they fear that the furor will die down and little will change, though, largely because of the entrenched political interests, clan loyalties, legal limits and cultural taboos that work against justice in such cases. Witnesses often refuse to testify, police are discouraged from investigating, and courts routinely free accused abusers. There is almost no sex education in public schools, and it was not until two years ago that sexual abuse of minors was made a criminal offense. Already, in the days since Zainab's abduction, a similar case has come to light in northwest Pakistan this time with an even younger victim, a girl of 4 named Asma. Her body was found in a sugar cane field with signs of strangulation and rape. Her father was away at the time, working as a construction laborer in the Middle East. "The whole society has reacted strongly in Zainab's case, but only punishment will deter the recurrence of such crimes," said Manizeh Bano, executive director of Sahil, a nonprofit group that fights child abuse. In the pedophile porn case, rights groups claimed that from 2009 to 2015, as many as 280 children were abducted and forced to participate in videotaped sex acts. There were protests and calls for justice, but an investigative panel found no evidence of abuse and said the accusations stemmed from a land dispute. Bano, whose group found that most cases of child sexual abuse are never reported, said she was encouraged by the surge of about 100 reported cases since Zainab's abduction. But in Kasur, she said, there are "powerful circles" protecting the abusers, reportedly including politicians and police. "Unless such circles are broken, it will be difficult to prevent such cases in the future," she said. Advertisement On Thursday, in a working-class district of Kasur, TV satellite trucks and police vehicles clogged cement alleys leading to the Amins' modest home across from a textile factory. A makeshift press podium had been set up in a vacant lot, and posters had been put up showing Zainab's face surrounded by bloody palm prints. Her father, a soft-spoken school supply custodian named Muhammad Amin Ansari, received a stream of well-wishers in his dimly lit living room. He and his wife were in Saudi Arabia on a Muslim pilgrimage when their daughter vanished, and they had asked an uncle to look after her. "I was in Mecca praying for my children, and I came back to this," said Ansari, 50, a slight man with a gray beard. He said that he was frustrated by the lack of police progress in finding Zainab's killer but that he hoped the tragedy would help prevent similar crimes in the future. "We need justice for all such cases," he said. In a cramped bedroom down the hall, Ansari's wife, Nusrat, 42, spoke in a murmur. She described Zainab, the youngest of her four children, as a studious girl who loved to get up early to study the Koran before school. "I want to look in the eyes of the person who did this, so he can see what I suffered during those five days we were all looking for her," she said. So far, though, no breakthroughs in the case have been announced, although a special investigative team has been working around the clock. Officials said that DNA samples suggest that at least half of the 11 other girls found raped and killed in the city over the past two years were victims of the same attacker, raising the fearsome specter of a serial predator at large. Advertisement At the local headquarters of the Punjab province police, a map of the city was pinned to the wall, with labels marking Zainab's house and the garbage dump where her body was found. Zahid Marwat, the newly named police chief, said more than 200 officers from several security agencies were investigating the case, including young women acting as decoys. "Our job is to arrest the culprit, and we will not rest until he is caught," Marwat said. He did not comment on police actions before his arrival but said everything possible is now being done to find Zainab's attacker. "More children could be in danger. Society is in a panic and people feel very insecure. There is no way we would take this lightly," he said. But community leaders complained that police had failed to take serious action after the girl was reported missing and security camera tapes showed her walking with a man whose face was clearly visible. Volunteers combed the area for five days, finding nothing until the morning of Jan. 9, when her remains were discovered. On Thursday, cars periodically pulled up at the garbage dump and visitors got out, staring at the sea of trash for a few moments before turning away. A bony dog sniffed among the new piles of refuse, and backhoes chugged back and forth, methodically crushing and covering up what lay below. GiftOutline Gift Article SIOUX CITY | After the failure of a 2015 bill followed by two years of inaction by the Iowa Legislature on statewide K-12 anti-bullying measures, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said her office has instead encouraged local districts to adopt stronger practices. Asked about anti-bullying efforts during a Friday interview with The Journal's editorial board, Reynolds did not express optimism about a legislative anti-bullying bill this year. But she did commend efforts by some districts to expand programs such as Mentors in Violence Prevention, a program used in some schools including Sioux City that trains students to mentor each other about violence and bullying. "We've tried to maybe come at it from a different approach where we're working with the school districts and, you know, encouraging them from a local perspective to make sure that they have some type of monitoring in place or that they're addressing it within their system, that they're reporting things accurately," she said. "We shouldn't stop," she added. "If I can't get it through the Legislature, then we have to find different alternatives to make sure that we're reaching out to school districts." Reynolds' comments follow an incident earlier this month in which a Sioux City mother said she pulled her 15-year-old son out of North High School after other students harassed him by posting a survey online asking if he should be killed. The mother said she was unhappy with the way the school handled the incident that involved her son, who has autism. Reynolds called the report of the incident "horrific." "That is really the downside of social media, that they're not really looking each other in the face and see that hurt and the anguish that that causes individuals," she said. Efforts over the past five years to strengthen such measures statewide, however, have fizzled. After three unsuccessful attempts to pass stronger anti-bullying legislation in 2013, 2014 and 2015, the Iowa Legislature has not taken action the past two years. Reynolds on Friday emphasized the role that families should play in talking about civility. She also commended Sioux City for taking a proactive approach to the issue. Sioux City Community School District has claimed to have made major strides in combating bullying after attracting national attention for the 2011 film, "Bully," which featured an East Middle School student being tormented by peers. Sioux City again received national attention after a 2011 front-page Journal editorial that called for a pro-active approach to stop bullying after a gay teen bullied at another Northwest Iowa high school took his own life. Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share ISTANBUL With airstrikes and artillery fire, Turkey on Saturday defied U.S. appeals and opened a long-anticipated offensive on Afrin, an enclave in Syria for Kurdish militias backed by the United States. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Turkish officials have framed the offensive as part of a wider battle against Kurdish separatists, known as the Kurdistan Workers' Party, in Turkey's southeast. Turkey also fears any gains in strength by the Syrian Kurds, whose territory runs along some of Turkey's southern border. But the United States has opted to back the Syrian Kurds as proxy fighters against the Islamic State and as a buffer to keep the militants from trying to reclaim territory. The military action immediately raised concerns that it could spark conflicts among the assortment of foreign military powers present, in proximity, across northern Syria. They include Turkey, Russia and the United States. All have the Islamic State as a common foe, but, individually, they back different factions among the various armed groups in Syria. Turkish troops entered Syria on Jan. 21, to fight Kurdish militias in the start of "Operation Olive Branch." [2:40 PM] (Video: Reuters) Advertisement The latest flash point also highlighted the shifting disputes and conflicting agendas that have complicated any efforts toward ending nearly seven years of conflict in Syria. The Turkish military action came amid intensifying violence in the northern Syrian province of Idlib, where Syrian government forces are on the offensive against al-Qaeda-aligned rebels in the east of the province. Recent statements by U.S. military officials about plans to train border security forces that would protect a Kurdish enclave in Syria also provoked Turkey's ire. "We are taking these steps to ensure our own national security," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in comments carried by the semiofficial Anadolu agency. Yet Turkish incursions could carry risks. The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had warned that it was prepared to fire on Turkish warplanes in the event of an attack on Afrin. A Syrian government offensive is causing one of the worst surges in population displacement since Syria's civil war began. More than 212,000 people have fled fighting around Idlib in the past month, many of them sleeping in the open as temperatures plunge and rain drenches makeshift campsites, according to the United Nations. Advertisement On Saturday, hours after the announcement of the airstrikes, Turkey said it had struck more than 100 positions belonging to Kurdish fighters. The number of casualties was not immediately clear. The airstrikes followed days of intense Turkish artillery fire on Kurdish positions, according to residents in Afrin. In a statement, the U.S.-backed Kurdish force, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, warned that the Turkish offensive "threatens to breathe new life into Daesh," using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State militant group. The Trump administration, in urging NATO-ally Turkey not to attack, had made a similar argument, saying it would distract from the ongoing battles against Islamic State militants in their remaining strongholds in Syria. There are roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in northern Syria. Advertisement Russia, which backs Assad's government, said it was watching developments "with concern" and called on the warring sides to "exercise mutual restraint." Russia's Defense Ministry said that an unspecified number of Russian troops had been moved out of the Afrin area and redeployed. Much about the Turkish offensive, which the government dubbed "Operation Olive Branch," remained unclear Saturday, including whether it would be accompanied by a substantial push by Turkish ground forces and allied rebel factions. "The challenge is that no one knows what they intend to do," said Aaron Stein, a resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. "Afrin will be hostile to a Turkish-backed force patrolling from permanent garrisons. The YPG in the area can retreat to the mountains for protection," he said, referring to the Syrian Kurdish militia that controls Afrin. Advertisement The offensive probably was prompted in part by Turkish concerns that Russia and the United States planned to broker a reconciliation between Syria's government and the Syrian Kurdish forces. "This is anathema to Turkey for obvious reasons," Stein said. "So they are making a statement." Loveluck reported from London. Suzan Haidamous in Beirut, Heba Habib in Stockholm and Anton Troianovski in Moscow contributed to this report. GiftOutline Gift Article Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/01/2018 (1763 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Last weekend, the website Babe published the account of an anonymous 23-year-old woman under the headline: I went on a date with Aziz Ansari. It turned into the worst night of my life. The story, predictably, went viral. Heres a comedian and co-creator of the hit Netflix series Master of None, who is often celebrated for being a feminist ally being accused of sexual misconduct. But more than that, the womans story has become incredibly polarizing. Some people have written off the comedian, filing him away with all the other garbage men who have been exposed as of late. Others accused the woman, known as Grace, of being reckless, irresponsible and hurting the #MeToo movement. Jordan Strauss / Invision Files Comedian Aziz Ansari was accused of sexual misconduct in a publication this week, but some readers women and men concluded the encounter amounted to an all-too-common instance of bad sex during a date gone awry. How the story was reported also raised questions of journalistic integrity. As many critics have noted, the tone of the piece jarringly bounces between gossip column and reported feature. It was a one-source story; Ansari was only given a few hours to respond to the allegation before publication. Grace did not work for or with Ansari, making it unlike many of the other stories weve heard in the aftermath of allegations against Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein. The piece did not establish a pattern of predatory behaviour or abuse. Many women reading Graces account didnt know how to react to it, myself included. I found Ansaris behaviour, as described in the story, entitled, pushy and disappointing. But I stopped short of calling what Grace experienced sexual assault. This sounds like it was just a really bad date, I commented to a friend after I read the Babe story on Sunday. But wait, hold up: just a bad date? Upon reflection, and through further conversations with many of my female friends this week, a clear theme emerged: weve all been on a version of this date. And that made me profoundly sad. Is this experience so common that weve become inured to it? If theres a positive upshot to the publication of Graces story, its that it has opened up a desperately needed conversation about bad sex and why so many of us are having it. A meaningful discussion about the power dynamics of sex is not an overreach of #MeToo, nor does it water down the movement. Its the logical extension of it. Over the past several months, weve taken a serious look at workplace harassment and the power imbalances in the boardroom. Perhaps its time to examine the imbalances that exist in the bedroom. After all, as writer Rebecca Traister noted in her landmark 2015 New York Magazine piece on this very subject, consensual sex can still be bad. It can still be harmful and damaging. Indeed, the broader culture surrounding heterosexual sex is a Gordian knot of sexism and conditioning, shaped by forces both puritanical and pornographic. From the enduring idea that sex, for women, is a chore and obligation that she must just get through lie back and think of England to the expectation that be on-demand sex dolls programmed with 50 ways to please their man, female pleasure doesnt always top the priority list. And as Jill Filipovic wrote this week at the Guardian, When we havent yet agreed that female pleasure and clear enthusiasm are prerequisites for a sexual encounter, we lack the ability to peel back the layers of sexual experience and we end up with two bad options: accept sexual inequity as just how sex is (or just how men are) or wedge truly bad sexual experiences into the category of sexual assault. I believe Ansari when he says, everything did seem OK to me, so when I heard that it was not the case for her, I was surprised and concerned. That response is telling. There are a lot of decidedly not OK behaviours that, because they arent full-on violent assault, have become normalized in our culture. Heres the good news, though: despite what some pundits might have you believe this week, being a mind reader of women is not actually a requirement to have good sex with them. Men who are horrified by the idea that Ansaris behaviour might be considered sexual assault could use this opportunity to reflect on their own sexual behaviour. Do you ask your partner questions such as, Is this OK? Does this feel good? Are we moving too fast? Do you understand that, for many women, saying, No, I dont like that, or stop can be difficult due to literal generations of social conditioning to be nice and prioritize the comfort of others? When you do hear no or stop, do you? Are you attuned enough to someone elses needs that youd be able to pick up on non-verbal cues, such as silence, turning away or stiffening? Our goal should be sex thats mutually pleasurable, not merely consensual. Only then will we have a hope in hell of making stories like Graces the exception, not the rule. jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @JenZoratti Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/01/2018 (1763 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Katherine Paterson is well known among book lovers for her iconic novel Bridge to Terabithia. After a considerable absence, she has launched a new story for middle-grade readers, My Brigadista Year (Candlewick Press, 160 pages, $22, hardcover). Set in Cuba in 1961 the year Fidel Castro came to power and launched his campaign for universal literacy it follows 13-year-old Lora, who volunteers to become a brigadista, or voluntary teacher, against the wishes of her parents. Lora is prepared for hardships, but cant imagine the obstacles she will face. Sent to a remote farm where there is no electricity or running water, where her hammock is strung over the kitchen table because there is no other room, she faces the challenge of teaching illiterate villagers to read and write in only 12 months. Based on historical events and the accounts of actual brigadistas, this is a fascinating story that brings into focus the dramatic experiment which raised the literacy rate in Cuba from 60 per cent to 96 per cent in one year. Paterson, now living in Vermont, has written a novel which will inspire young readers by demonstrating the difference one committed person can make in a community. Karma is 12 and looking forward to entering middle school when she makes a horrifying discovery: she is growing facial hair! In Karma Khulars Mustache by Kristi Wientge (Simon and Schuster, 272 pages, $23, hardcover) we are introduced to a memorable new heroine, Karma, who faces this perceived disaster with courage and initiative. Karma has other worries. Her father has lost his job as a professor and her mother has gone back to work. Her best friend has become close to a glamorous new neighbour, and hasnt much time for Karma. And as the only East Indian student in her class she sometimes feels out of place. Yet Karma, with determination and humour, manages to win back her friend and survive her introduction to middle school. Wientge, born in Ohio, now lives in Singapore. This is her first book for ages 8-12. If you or your favourite beginning reader loves the colour pink, youll adore The Pink Umbrella by French author Amelie Callot (Tundra, 80 pages, $23, hardcover). Originally written in French, this is a delightful tale about Adele, who runs a little cafe, which manages to be the heart of her community. Adele is cheery and loving as long as it is sunny, but hates rainy days. Only when a secret admirer leaves her pink rubber boots, a pink raincoat and a polka-dot pink umbrella does she discover the joys of walking in the rain. Pastel and coloured pencil artwork by Genevieve Godbout of Montreal add a stylish touch to this charming picture book. Youngest book-lovers (ages 3-7) will delight in Mr. Postmouse Takes a Trip by writer and illustrator Marianne Dubuc (Kids Can Press, 24 pages, $19, hardcover). As Mr. Postmouse and his family travel across the world to deliver their mail, viewers are treated to a wealth of illustrations whose minute details will give youngsters hours of discoveries. For example: as they travel on board a ship across the ocean we not only see three complete interior floors of the cruise ship, but an underwater submarine, a fisherman with fish on his line, a snorkeler and numerous fish in the ocean. With visits to the forest, the beach, the jungle, the desert and the far north, each page is a new adventure. The Montreal-based Dubuc has published four other picture books, including Mr. Postmouses Rounds. Helen Norrie is a Winnipeg writer who, like Mr. Postmouse, loves to travel. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/01/2018 (1763 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. These days theres a high-tech aura, and perhaps a bit of hype, around precision agriculture. The idea is that rather than applying the same rate of seed, fertilizer and chemical to an entire field, you vary the rate based on different soil and other conditions within that field. A lot of the newer farm equipment these days can collect the data about those different conditions, but surveys indicate that many farmers find its just too complicated converting all that information into something useful. Ian Froese / Brandon Sun Florian Hagmann says good seed and fertilizer placement with the right ingredients will lead to farming success. Saskatchewan farmer Florian Hagmann was in Brandon this week to share his formula for pushing canola yields into the record-setting zone with fellow farmers attending the annual Manitoba Ag Days. Hagmann, who farms 10,000 acres southeast of Prince Albert, Sask., won the Dupont Pioneer 2015 Yield Challenge after harvesting a 116-bushel canola crop on a field of 147 acres (which is just shy of a quarter section of land). He routinely captures 70 to 90 bushels per acre. Thats about double the Prairie average for canola yields. There are lots of years, like the one just past, in which farmers get a pleasant surprise at harvest. However, high yields are no accident or freak of nature on the Hagmann farm. They are part of the plan. Hagmanns seminar was packed with farmers there to learn his secrets. To the non-farmer, it all sounds pretty complicated. But the principles he follows could be applied to any business. It starts with a willingness to experiment in a way that controls his exposure. Hagmann tries out new ideas on one-third of his land base. If he succeeds, he nets enough new income to make the extra effort worthwhile. If he suffers a wreck, he hasnt risked the whole farm. He routinely soil tests which is a tried and true, relatively inexpensive, but widely under-utilized analytical tool. So he knows his baseline. Estimates vary, but some put the rate of annual soil sampling among farmers as low as 20 per cent. Many farmers apply fertilizer based on average recommendations and estimates. Between soil testing and observation, Hagmann knows some of his fields have the potential to yield more than others, so he pays extra attention to how he treats those fields. He looks at the big picture. He is as much focused on feeding his soil as he is on feeding his crop. I believe the only way we can achieve these yields is if the health of the soil is good, he told his audience. He is particular about the basics. When those seeds burst through the soil surface, he wants to be able to count 10 seedlings per square foot. As well, he doesnt treat fertilizer as a one-shot deal. He applies a base rate of fertilizer with the seed in the spring based on average yield projections. He applies more on certain fields after the crop is growing if the moisture conditions suggest there is a higher-than-average yield potential. If its too dry, hes saves himself the extra expense. The list goes on. That extra attention to detail on acres that have the higher-yielding potential takes time and money, but the rewards are worth it he can net an extra $300 per acre. On a quarter section, thats the difference between $16,000 and $48,000. Thats a big difference, he said. Farmers in the audience were quick to ask what kind of equipment he uses. His answer was, on one hand, surprising, but on the other, completely in character. Hagmann is using a 30-year-old seed drill that cost him $10,000. A $500,000 seeder would undoubtedly work better, but not enough to cover the increase in his fixed costs. He likes to keep those costs low. Its about the ingredients, he told farmers, not the pots and pans. If you can get good seed placement, good fertilizer placement and the right ingredients at the right time, you will have success, he said. Its deceptively simple and something any farmer can understand. The devil is in the detail. But at its core, thats what precision agriculture is all about. Laura Rance is editorial director at Glacier FarmMedia. She can be reached at 204-792-4382 or laura@fbcpublishing.com Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/01/2018 (1764 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. During the time Winnipeg taxpayers have been footing the bill for 60 per cent of local firefighters union president Alex Forrests salary, the labour leader has taken at least 60 out-of-town trips for various union and firefighter-related events. Roughly one-third of those have been out of the country, with the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg (UFFW) president travelling either to the United States or Europe. While the purpose of the trips varies, frequent reasons include: presentations on occupation-related cancer for firefighters, outreach work on the citys integrated fire and paramedic service, attending firefighter memorials and funerals, and various conferences and events. On occasion, Forrest travelled out of Winnipeg to help other firefighter unions in collective bargaining. PHIL HOSSACK / Winnipeg Free Press Files United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg president Alex Forrest During the past 3-1/2 years, hes averaged more than one out-of-town trip per month according to information culled from his personal Twitter account. From March to Dec. 31, 2014, Forrest took at least 17 such journeys (three events attended in B.C. around the same time were counted as one trip). In 2015 and 2016, he took at least 14 such trips. Last year, Forrest travelled out of town to firefighter-related events at least 15 times. So far this year, hes travelled out of the country once. When asked Thursday to provide information on how many out of town conferences and events Forrest has attended since 2009, a City of Winnipeg spokesman directed the Free Press to the UFFW. Forrest declined comment on his travel schedule. However, activity on his Twitter account dating to March 2014 (when the city went from paying 100 per cent of his salary down to 60 per cent) indicates he travelled out of Winnipeg on at least 60 occasions for union or firefighter-related business (including six trips to Europe and 14 south of the U.S. border). The Free Press cannot confirm how many of those trips were for UFFW business. In addition to his role as union president, Forrest works with the International Association of Fire Fighters. Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service Chief John Lane, who found himself in hot water this week for racking up frequent flyer miles, has taken 34 out-of-town trips for city business since being named chief in June 2014. The city has defended Lanes travel schedule. When cross-referencing Forrests destinations (on social media) with the list of trips taken by Lane (provided by the city), it seems the two attended at least eight of the same events. The most recent was in Colorado Springs, Colo., attending a ceremony at the IAFF fallen firefighters memorial in September 2017. When reached for comment, Forrests predecessor, Andy Burgess, indicated his travel schedule was much less hectic when he was UFFW president. However, given the difference in their respective responsibilities, he pointed out a direct comparison cant be made. That does sound quite a bit higher than what was the case when I was president of the union. But he has other responsibilities than I did. Its not really an apples-to-apples comparison, Burgess said. Generally, there would be one major and a couple of minor events in a year. Half-a-dozen per year But if you want to travel, there are many more opportunities than that. Burgess worked full-time as a city firefighter when he served as union president. In a past interview, he said he did most union work during his spare time (evenings or weekends). Since Burgesss time, the position has changed. Forrest, who was elected to the post in 1997, serves as union president full-time and has increasingly expanded the focus of his work to include national and international outreach. Since the March 2014 renegotiation of his salary, Forrest, who holds the rank of captain, has been on leave from his duties as a city firefighter. before March 2014, the city says it was paying 100 per cent of Forrests salary, including benefits and pension payments, without reimbursement from the union. It remains unclear when that arrangement was agreed to. Forrest has said the city was paying all of his salary, without reimbursement, the entire time hes been union president. In a past interview with the Free Press, former WFPS chief Jim Brennan said he felt the city paying Forrests salary was justified under Article 20 of the collective agreement, but believed there would have been an annual reimbursement from the union for time Forrest spent outside of Winnipeg. The only thing that comes to mind is the fact that Alex, albeit a firefighter and union president in Winnipeg, more and more took on a national and international focus If he was in Toronto or overseas, talking about different issues, I dont think the city would have paid his salary for those occasions, Brennan said. A response to a freedom-of-information request shows the city received no reimbursements from the UFFW between 2009 and 2013 for city employees on leaves of absence for union-related work. It is not clear how much if any the union reimbursed the city prior to 2009. ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @rk_thorpe SIOUX CITY | Gov. Kim Reynolds brought the Unleashing Opportunities tour of the state to Sioux City Friday, where she told business leaders, local lawmakers and city officials that she's pushing to improve worker training. "Future Ready Iowa will have a real impact on Iowa," Reynolds told 150 guests at a luncheon sponsored by the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce meeting at the Sioux City Country Club. The Republican governor was citing the program that the governor said will improve job prospects of 127,000 Iowans to bolster their educational achievement and workplace skills. Reynolds said Future Ready Iowa was her top priority in the Legislature for 2018, something she mentioned in the annual Condition of the State address to lawmakers last week as the year's legislative machinations began. Her Friday message continued Reynolds' desire to boost workforce development, as she also stated in the September 2017 Tri-State Governors Conference in Sioux City. The governor's initiative aims to ensure that 70 percent of workers in Iowa have received training or education beyond high school. Currently, 50 percent of Iowa workers have such training. "I am going to get you a quote, write it down," Reynolds said in airing the 127,000 number of the additional people who will get advanced training within eight years. Reynolds will request $2.6 million in fiscal year 2018-19 to launch the program. Iowa had a 2.9 percent unemployment rate in November, well below the national rate of 4.1 percent. Reynolds said employers consistently express concern over being unable to find qualified workers for job openings. Reynolds said she supports a scholarship to help people get two-year college degrees in high-demand job fields, along with an expanded Iowa registered apprenticeship program for small- and mid-sized employers. Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg, the Hawarden, Iowa, native who spoke with Reynolds, said there are currently 59,318 open jobs in the state, as summarized by the Iowa Workforce Development website. "We want to make sure we have opportunity and prosperity in every corner of Iowa," Gregg said. In a question from the audience, Sioux City School District Superintendent Paul Gausman asked if Reynolds thinks a 1-cent sales tax that delivers money for school building projects will be extended beyond the current sunset of 2029. Gausman said a continuing known stream of money is the only way the school district will be able to close old elementary schools and build new ones. Regarding the outlook by legislators on that possible tax extension, Reynolds said, "There is still division on whether we should or shouldn't." The one-cent sales tax has been in place in the city school district dating to the 1990s, and is estimated to give $14.2 million in 2018-19. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/01/2018 (1763 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Youve probably heard by now about the 10-year-old Canadian girl who has been making headlines and friends around the world. Jacquie Chmilar, of Fort McMurray, Alta., accomplished this by resorting to one of the worlds oldest methods of long-distance communication stuffing messages in bottles, then flinging them into the ocean. About six months ago, while visiting her grandparents at Musgrave Harbour, N.L., Jacquie and her grandfather threw several messages into the ocean in plastic water bottles sealed with tape. The notes explained where the girl was and gave her contact information. Swedish fisherman Ake Viking and wife, Paolina, in 1957. Earlier this month, two of the bottles washed up on the other side of the Atlantic, about 3,440 kilometres away, where they were found by youngsters in Cornwall, U.K. On New Years Day, a U.K. woman emailed to say her nine-year-old daughter was super excited after finding one of the floating notes Jacquie had thrown into the ocean. The Alberta youngster was thrilled, but it got even more exciting seven days later when a Cornwall man named Nick Crooks emailed to say his sons, Josh and Noah, had found a second message while cleaning plastic debris from the beach after a storm. I was just picking up rubbish when I looked in the bottle and saw the note, Noah, 8, told the BBC, adding he hopes to stay in touch with his new friend across the ocean. These new best friends are in excellent company, as we can see from todays heart-tugging list of Five of the Most Famous Floating Notes in History: 5) The message: A Mothers Grief The sender: An unnamed French woman in 2002 The finder: Sioux Peto in 2002 Uncorking the bottle: In 2002, while walking her dogs on a beach on the Isle of Sheppey, Sioux Peto found a mysterious teardrop-shaped bottle. Inside lay a letter, tightly curled and held by a ribbon. The letter was written in French, so Peto sent it to her friend, U.K.-based author Karen Liebreich, to translate. It was a beautiful, tragic love letter from a grieving French mother to her son, Maurice, who had died at the age of 13. Forgive me for being so angry at your disappearance, the letter said. I still think theres been some mistake, and I keep waiting for God to fix it Forgive me for not having known how to protect you from death. Forgive me for not having been able to find the words at that terrible moment when you slipped through my fingers. Wrapped in the pages were two locks of hair, one darker brown, one lighter. Moved by the womans heartache, Liebreich set out to solve the mystery and find the anonymous mother, a journey she chronicled in her 2006 book, The Letter in The Bottle. In 2009, the mystery mother contacted the author, and the pair met a month later in northern France. It turns out the bottle had washed ashore a few weeks after the woman threw it in the water on a ferry crossing the English Channel. She never meant for it to be found. It never occurred to me that anyone would find my letter in the bottle, the unnamed woman reveals in a new edition of Liebreichs book. I thought it would smash in the waves I gave it to the sea, to the universe. It was perhaps my way of talking to God. 4) The message: A Soldiers Story The sender: Pte. Thomas Hughes in 1914 The finder: Fisherman Steve Gowan in 1999 Uncorking the bottle: It was March 1999 when Steve Gowan dredged up a green ginger beer bottle with a screw-on rubber stopper while fishing for cod off the Essex coast. Inside, he found a letter dropped into the English Channel 85 years earlier by a soldier as he left to fight in France during the First World War. A covering note read: Sir or madam, youth or maid, Would you Kindly forward the enclosed letter and earn the blessing of a poor British soldier on his way to the front this ninth day of September, 1914. Signed Private T. Hughes, Second Durham Light Infantry. Third Army Corp Expeditionary Force. The letter read: Dear Wife, I am writing this note on this boat and dropping it into the sea just to see if it will reach you. If it does, sign this envelope on the right hand bottom corner where it says receipt. Put the date and hour of receipt and your name where it says signature and look after it well. Ta ta sweet, for the present. Your Hubby. According to the BBC, two days after writing the letter, Pte. Thomas Hughes, 26, of Stockton-on-Tees, was killed. His wife, Elizabeth, and two-year-old daughter, Emily, later moved to New Zealand, where Emily grew up not knowing her father, but learned about him through family stories. After reading the letter, Gowan became consumed with a desire to find the soldiers descendants. Amazingly, he discovered Emily Crowhurst, 86, alive in Auckland. Emily was reportedly overwhelmed in 1999 when the fisherman, flown to Auckland by the New Zealand Post, delivered the message in person. She said her fathers message couldnt come home until the right boat came along at the right time with the right fisherman. Sighed Gowan: I am just so pleased to have been able to deliver it and to have been the postman. 3) The message: Keeping Hope Alive The sender: Josh Baker, 10, in 1995 The finder(s): Joshs buddies in 2006 Uncorking the bottle: Josh Baker was a mischievous 10-year-old boy in White Lake, Wis., when he poured a bottle of his mothers vanilla extract down the sink. He then wrote the following brief note: My name is Josh Baker. Im 10. If you find this, put it on the news. The date is April 16, 1995. Josh stuffed the note inside the empty extract bottle and threw it into White Lake. iStock From friendly long-distance correspondence to heartwrenching letters of love and sorrow, incredible stories have been fished out of oceans over the past century or so. By 18, CBS.com noted, Josh was a U.S. marine. By 19, he was fighting door to door in Fallujah. During his tour of duty, Josh was flooded with support from his hometown. I dont have a son, Georgia Heistad, the school secretary who put together care packages for the local hero, told CBS. I only have a daughter. But I tell you, he would be my model son everybodys. Which is why the town celebrated when the precocious kid-turned-soldier returned home, safe and sound. But their joy was short-lived. A few months after his return, Josh died in a car crash, leaving friends and family devastated and searching for answers. And then, months after the funeral, the bottle Josh had flung into the lake 11 years earlier surfaced. Steve Liedel and Robert Duncan, both friends of Joshs, were walking on the banks of the lake when they saw something glimmer on the water. They retrieved a vanilla extract bottle with a piece of paper inside. He wanted us to find this, Steve told CBS. He probably thought this was awesome. Observed the website MentalFloss.com: To friends and family, the message from 10-year-old Josh appeared when they needed it most. It felt as though he was reaching out, letting them know that he was watching, and trying to help them move on. The surprise message of hope snapped the soldiers mom, Maggie, out of a deep depression. When that message came and I dont care how hokey it sounds, this is the truth that was Josh saying, Snap out of it, Mom. Im here. Im OK, his mother recalled. 2) The message: Floating to Freedom The sender(s): Dorothy and John Peckham in 1979 The finder: Refugee Nguyen Van Hoa in 1983 Uncorking the bottle: To pass the time during a 1979 cruise to Hawaii, Los Angeles trial lawyer John Peckham and his wife, Dottie, tucked messages in champagne bottles and tossed them overboard. The messages listed their names, a postal box number, enclosed a dollar bill for return postage and promised a reward to the finder. Four years later, they got a reply. In 1983, according to People magazine, Nguyen Van Hoa was praying for something to drink when he spotted one of the bottles floating past his boat, about 15 kilometres from the shore of Songkhla Province in Thailand. The Peckhams bottle had travelled about 14,484 kilometres to reach Hoa, who, along with his 16-year-old brother Van Cuon and more than 30 other refugees, were crammed aboard a five-man fishing boat, braving the waters of the Pacific in a desperate effort to escape the communist regime in Vietnam. While disappointed there was nothing to drink in the bottle, Hoa, a former lieutenant with the South Vietnamese army who had escaped a re-education camp, was buoyed by the message. It gave me hope, he told People in 1985. From the safety of a UN refugee camp, Hoa wrote to the Peckhams. We tried to find freedom according to (your) letter, he wrote. Now we send a message to the boss and we wish you will answer us soon. When the letter arrived on Johns 70th birthday, the couple were flabbergasted. For two years, they corresponded, congratulating Hoa on his marriage at the camp and sending money when their first child was born. In the end, the couple agreed to sponsor Hoas family so they could emigrate to the U.S. We decided to do so because this was fate, Dottie said. We felt the bottle ended up as it did for a reason. After months of working with U.S. Immigration, the families finally met when a plane carried Hoa and his family to L.A. The Peckhams message and generosity gave the former refugee the first freedom I have had in 10 years. 1) The message: The sea of matrimony The sender: Swedish fisherman Ake Viking in 1955 The finder: His future wife, Paolina, in 1957 Uncorking the bottle: Its hard to top a great love story. This one sounds too good to be true, but even the online Museum of Hoaxes swears its all above board. It began in 1955 when Ake Viking, a bored Swedish sailor, decided to relieve the tedium at sea and improve his chance of finding love by writing a letter, tucking it into an empty bottle of aqua vitae, replacing the cork and tossing it overboard. According to a 1959 article in the American Weekly, Akes message gave his home address and a brief description of himself. To Someone Beautiful and Far Away, he wrote. Write to me, whoever you are. Two years later, the story goes, on his return from another voyage, Ake found a letter postmarked Syracuse, Sicily, and written in Italian. One of his shipmates translated the letter, which was from Paolina, the 17-year-old daughter of a Sicilian fisherman. She wrote: Last Tuesday, I found a bottle on the shore. Inside was a piece of paper, bearing writing in a strange language. I took it to our priest, who is a great scholar. He said the language was Swedish and, with the help of a dictionary, he read me your charming letter. I am not beautiful, but it seems so miraculous that this little bottle should have travelled so far and long to reach me that I must send you an answer. According to the American Weekly, the budding lovebirds exchanged more letters (no bottles were involved apparently), swapped photos and, finally, Viking set sail for Italy, where, in the autumn of 1958, he married the woman who had pulled his message in a bottle from the sea. Which makes us hope that one day, in the not-so-distant future, some Winnipegger will fling a bottle containing their SOS to the world into the Red River in hopes of finding true love. They should probably wait for spring. doug.speirs@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/01/2018 (1764 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA The federal and provincial governments have underfunded First Nation children and young adults in CFS care by $104 million a year, research obtained by the Free Press shows. For these 8,115 First Nations wards, the 26 per cent shortfall amounts to an average $12,814.42 gap between what governments provide and what agencies say they need to do their jobs properly. They also want another $45 million to reduce the number of children entering the system. The report was obtained ahead of a summit aimed at reforming a crisis over Indigenous over-representation in Child and Family Services. It shows some social workers are buried under caseloads almost double the ratio set out in an inquiry four years ago. Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press 200-page book on further action implementing recommendations from the Hughes report following the inquiry into the death of Phoenix Sinclair. The report bolsters criticisms of inadequate funding for prevention, which may be leading to more children entering foster care than necessary. As the Free Press reported last September, Manitoba First Nations child-welfare agencies have been working with Ottawa and the province to bridge discriminatory funding gaps. In January 2016, a landmark Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling found Ottawa was racially discriminating against First Nations children by providing on-reserve CFS agencies less funding than what provinces give off-reserve CFS groups. In its 2016 budget, the Trudeau government allocated $634 million for First Nations child welfare, but most of it kicks in after the 2019 election. It also put up funding for agencies to survey their funding gaps last summer, based on the issues raised in the tribunal. A respected demographer crunched the numbers for a report he submitted last October. Its been widely shared among CFS groups and advocates in the past three months. The Free Press received the report Friday. Using tribunal criteria, the report reveals the funding gap is 29.2 per cent for children served by the northern Manitoba First Nations group of CFS agencies and 23.9 per cent for the southern regions. Added together, that means a 26 per cent funding gap, with shortfalls by both the federal and provincial governments. Unlike most provinces, Manitoba has blended the federal dollars allocated for children on-reserve and provincial funding for those living off-reserve. The province provides roughly 60 per cent of the funding, reflecting that only about 40 per cent of First Nations children live on reserves. Though children and teens in care receive different amounts of funding, calculating the shortfall on a per-capita basis shows the agencies believe First Nations children are each short-changed $12,814.42 annually. This includes Manitobans who have extensions of service, meaning they receive some care after aging out of the child-welfare system at age 18, up to age 21. Many agencies have suggested broadening that category to age 25, in order to help former wards through school and job opportunities. The agencies are asking for a total of $143 million to $150 million in funding, which includes roughly $45 million to do more prevention work and keep children out of the system, noting the number of children in care keeps rising. That funding would come in part from the province stopping its claw-back of federal child-care subsidies. It would also account for an anticipated $10-million to $15-million drop in annual costs by 2021 caused by demographics trends in the provinces south. The researchers could not access sufficient data for the north to see whether a similar trend is likely, but they believe it could happen at half the rate in the north, similar to trends observed in Ontario. Prevention programs account for six per cent of CFS spending in the provinces south, and 9.5 per cent in the north. The surveys revealed agencies are dipping into budgets used for prevention and family support, in order to keep up with costs of apprehending children, particularly in the southern CFS agencies. Money for apprehensions is automatic, but prevention funding is not fenced in, so it can be reallocated to other needs. That echoes a frequent criticism that the current system gives a perverse incentive for agents to take children into foster homes, instead of helping address root issues. Opaskwayak Cree Nation CFS appears to be Manitobas most underfunded, saying it needs almost 60 per cent more funding to deal with its caseload. As with all agencies, this was an estimate prepared by staff, and vetted by University of Manitoba economics Prof. John Loxley, to be sure their calculations fall within what the tribunal stipulated. The report reveals Ottawas 2016 bump-up, meant to tide over the agencies until it found a solution to the tribunal case, confused social workers. It has not addressed funding gaps and deficiencies. It was arrived at without consultation, the report summarizes. Many agencies saw the top-up as an election ploy because most of the funding arrives after the 2019 vote. It is not based on agency needs, capacities or abilities and it ignores what could be accomplished if more rapid spending enlarged those capacities and abilities. A spokeswoman for Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott said the top-up was based on a CFS national advisory council recommendation. The department is committed to respond to this and other input from partners about how best to improve the funding approach, Valerie Hache wrote. Agencies were critical of the provincial policy of clawing back four per cent of salary budgets to account for vacancies; the agencies claim their turnover is half that amount. They also believe salaries are budgeted based on mid-career compensation, when many can only hire staff with more experience and thus a higher salary. The Phoenix Sinclair inquiry prescribes that CFS workers have one staff member for every 20 children in care, but some agencies have a staffing ratio of 1:35. The Awasis agency gets enough staff funding to handle just 700 of the 1,600 cases it administers though it still gets per-capita foster-care funding. Five-year-old Phoenix Sinclair was slain by her mother and stepdad in 2005. The report did not examine Manitobas other two CFS authorities: the general one, which handled 1,937 non-Indigenous children in 2016, nor the 1,220 cases under the Metis CFS authority. On Wednesday, Philpott will convene an emergency meeting in Ottawa with Indigenous and provincial officials, in the hopes of reforming child welfare. She has said more funding to address the gap would be in the spring budget. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca Manitoba CFS funding gap report Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/01/2018 (1763 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Good Samaritan law aimed at saving lives during Canadas opioid crisis isnt getting enough public attention, proponents say. Members of all major political parties supported legislation that gives immunity from criminal charges to people who call for help during a drug overdose, but whether the law has encouraged people to call 911 remains unclear. Conservative and NDP health critics say the federal government hasnt done enough to advertise the Good Samaritans Drug Overdose Act since it came into effect in May 2017. British Columbia MP Don Davies, who is the NDP health critic, said hes concerned drug users and people who are meant to benefit from the law dont know about it. He said hes been told the Liberal government spent $2.1 million on advertising the law too little, he said, given the spike in overdose deaths in several provinces. Because were in a crisis right now, I think that we should be front-loading the advertising so that were doing everything we can to get this information out to people now, he said, adding he supports the law. Anecdotally, were hearing that it is having some effect. Theres no hard data yet that Ive seen to quantify that. I would suspect, though, that its having much less impact than it should and thats because the federal government has only put $2 million into advertising it and, obviously, its effect is only as good as people knowing about it. The legislation, which was put forward as a private members bill by B.C. Liberal MP Ron McKinnon, means anyone who calls for medical attention or help from law enforcement during an overdose cant be charged or convicted with simple drug possession or breach charges for breaking court orders. The law applies to anyone experiencing an overdose themselves or anyone calling to help someone else, but it doesnt extend to more serious charges such as drug trafficking. Marilyn Gladu, the Conservative health critic, said there hasnt been enough public education about the law. I dont think theres a general awareness in the drug-user population that this bill exists, she said. I think its a great step to make it a law, but I would say to get the awareness of the law is important. The government is spending half-a-billion dollars to legalize marijuana. Theyve only spent $30 million on the opioid crisis and clearly there needs to be public education and awareness about this bill in order to save more lives. In Manitoba, drug users are being informed about the law and how to prevent overdoses, said Dr. Ginette Poulin, medical director for the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba. She said she talks to her clients about the legal immunity when they seek treatment for opioid addiction. The reaction that I see from clients is that they have a little bit of relief when they hear this, but they still have some of that fear. Even though they know, they still worry that they might (be charged), Poulin said. Once they start seeing that its happening and its safe, and people are not (being charged), that will speak volumes. The Good Samaritan Act has been invoked in at least four cases in which drug charges were dropped by federal prosecutors in Manitoba some as recently as September 2017, the provinces chief federal prosecutor told the Free Press. In Winnipeg, the number of opioid-related deaths has increased five-fold since 2016, according to the most recent statistics from the province. The number of deaths dipped to five in the second quarter of 2016, but increased to 26 by the first quarter of 2017. The use of naloxone kits which have been distributed free across Manitoba increased by 40 per cent in suspected overdose situations. Most of those suspected overdoses were likely caused by the potent painkiller fentanyl or the even more powerful derivative drug carfentanil, according to the report on opioid misuse in Manitoba from April to June 2017. katie.may@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @thatkatiemay q2_opioid Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/01/2018 (1764 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. MLA Steven Fletcher says the location of the Fresh Start addictions recovery centre in Calgary is not comparable to the similar centre proposed at the old Vimy Arena in Winnipeg. Earlier this week, Mayor Brian Bowmans executive policy committee unanimously voted in favour of selling the shuttered arena for $1 to Manitoba Housing so it could lease the land to the Oake family foundation. The foundation has partnered with Fresh Start to operate a proposed $14-million, 50-bed long-term addictions facility for men on the Sturgeon Creek site. Fletcher, the Independent MLA for Assiniboia, says he supports the concept but not the location. In a series of videos posted Thursday to Facebook, he took aim at discrepancies in statements about the Calgary centre. CBC broadcaster Scott Oake, who wants to build a similar Winnipeg facility in memory of his son, Bruce, who died from a drug overdose in 2011, originally said the Calgary facility was adjacent to a residential neighbourhood and bordering a light industrial area. This week, he said the centre was located between a light industrial area and a residential neighbourhood. Its more like an industrial park, Fletcher says in a video of himself outside Fresh Start, saying the facility is isolated from a residential area thats in the distance. He calls comparisons between the Calgary and Winnipeg sites completely disingenuous. The goal is to provide information, Fletcher said Friday in an interview. You can watch the video and come up with your own assessment: is that representative of what weve been presented? Oake, who approached the City of Winnipeg and the Manitoba government more than a year ago with his proposal, called Fletchers videos disheartening. Its not about the precise location of Fresh Start, he said, but the program it operates. FACEBOOK Fletcher visited the Fresh Start centre in Calgary, and said in a Facebook video its location is more like an industrial park. (Fletcher told the Free Press his tour of Fresh Start was very friendly and he supports the concept.) The point here is the success of the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre does not depend on the location of Fresh Start, Oake said. Weve partnered with them so they can administer their program its an extraordinarily successful recovery centre. The Oake foundation was offered the Vimy Arena as a location after the province reached out to city hall to talk about the proposal. The arena closed in 2015, after being declared surplus two years earlier, with the idea being that proceeds from its sale would be reinvested into recreational facilities in the area. When that didnt happen, Manitoba Housing offered $1, which the property and development committee approved. The 2.5-acre lot is valued at $1.43 million. Its a bad deal, said Fletcher, who would rather see the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre be built on the site of the old childrens hospital on Wellington Crescent. The citys giving assets away that are worth millions for a dollar, and is forcing their will on the city without actually doing a comprehensive inventory of what land is available and what would be best not only for citizens, but the Bruce Oake rehabilitation facility itself, the MLA said. Council will vote on the Vimy site deal Jan. 25. If it goes through, the property will still need to be rezoned, which will require another public hearing. jane.gerster@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/01/2018 (1763 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Winnipeg police have arrested a 29-year-old Winnipeg man in connection with the August death of Mustafa Peyawary. Matthew Marjanovic was the subject of a national arrest warrant for first-degree murder. He was taken into custody after a traffic stop on the St. Vital Bridge on Friday evening, according to a press release from the Winnipeg Police Service. Marjanovic is the fourth person to be arrested in relation to the death of Peyawary, who died on August 13, 2017. Police say he died of blunt force trauma after being assaulted over an extended period of time in a Fort Richmond apartment. Damir Kulic, 27, of Vancouver and Ahamed Althaaf Ismail, 29, of Edmonton, were arrested and charged with first-degree murder shortly after Peyawarys death. Aram Soroush, 25, of Vancouver, was arrested by Vancouver police earlier this month and charged with conspiracy to committ murder. Soroush has since been brought back to Winnipeg by police. Winnipeg police are not currently looking for any more suspects in the death of Peyawary, said spokesman Const. Jay Murray. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/01/2018 (1764 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A drastic reduction in the number of seniors languishing in city hospitals while awaiting placement in personal care homes has had a positive effect on the system, leading to a reduction in emergency room wait times. A year ago, there were 78 people occupying Winnipeg hospital beds because there was no spot available in a nursing home. The number has exceeded 100 from time to time in recent years. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Lori Lamont, the WRHA's acting chief operating officer But at last count, there were only nine, a senior official with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said on Friday. I have never seen the number as low as it is, said Lori Lamont, the WRHAs acting chief operating officer, with 25 years experience in the health-care system. Its not that a bunch of new personal-care home spaces have come open during the past year. Rather, the health system has found new ways with the onset of hospital reforms last fall to ease frail and ill patients back home or into less expensive beds. The effect on Winnipegs hospitals has been significant, Lamont said. ER waits have improved over last year, and the increased acute-care bed capacity has helped the local health system weather an early and particularly nasty flu season that led to the postponement of dozens of non-emergency surgeries. The WRHA released statistics on Friday that show the median wait for service in Winnipeg ERs and urgent-care centres fell to 1.5 hours from 1.8 hours from Oct. 4 to Jan. 2, when compared with the same period a year earlier. The time in which 90 per cent of patients received service dropped to 4.05 hours from 4.87 hours through the same three-month period. Lamont said at a news conference that a greater availability for acute-care hospital beds has had a ripple effect throughout the system. It meant, for instance, that fewer admitted patients were clogging ER areas. That made it easier to treat ER patients faster. The reduction in PCH-bound patients occupying prime hospital beds came from increasing resources to help elderly hospital patients transition back to home care. So-called semi-acute hospital beds for patients who need extra recovery time were concentrated at Victoria hospital rather than being spread less efficiently throughout the system, Lamont said. At the same time, 65 new transition beds were added, with a goal of getting patients into a situation where they could live independently with home-care support. A new initiative to rapidly dispatch nurses to assist medically complex patients to return home safely from hospital also played a role. The huge drop in the number of hospital patients awaiting personal-care home placement has been especially precipitous since October, when some of the hospital reorganization reforms started taking effect. The WRHA executive also admitted at a news conference that the reduction was also the result of a new mindset among health officials. She said the new home first philosophy has also been instilled in patients and their families, with the promise that necessary services will be available for them. Lamont noted a study released last year by the Canadian Institute for Health Information estimated that 20 to 30 per cent of long-term care residents dont need to be in these institutions and that the decision to place patients in nursing homes often is arrived at prematurely. The government-driven consolidation effort has focused Winnipeg hospitals to work more efficiently as a system, Lamont said. She said the WRHA is better able to identify pressure points in the system, locate places with more capacity and move patients as necessary between hospitals. We no longer have hospitals trying to manage independently, making decisions that may work for them, but (that) dont alleviate some of the pressures on the system, she said. NDP health critic Andrew Swan said he wasnt convinced ERs have seen much of a reduction in wait times. There are different ways to count wait times. I can pull out my phone and tell you theres a wait of six hours and 15 minutes at Concordia Hospital, he said, referring to a check he made Friday afternoon, just before meeting with reporters. Swan said the health authority appears to be under direction to sift through the data and cherry-pick the things that they think are going to show positive outcomes. He also brought up the fact that the WRHA was found this week by a media outlet to have posted erroneous wait times information on its website. The health authority quickly corrected the error and apologized. larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/01/2018 (1764 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Gillam hotel that allowed a waitress to be repeatedly harassed with hateful and racial slurs by her boss and a co-worker has been slapped with a human rights ruling and hefty fines. The Manitoba Human Rights Commission released the ruling Friday against the former Gillam Motor Inn and its co-owner, Michael Blahy fining them $15,000, plus another $2,000 for ignoring the womans pleas for help, and another $500 to pay the cost of the tribunals investigation. (At the time of the incidents, the hotels owners were listed as a numbered company, registered in Manitoba. The company now operates under the name Kettle River Inn & Suites and runs 10 hotels in northern Manitoba and northwestern Ontario.) More has to be done to make sure people arent treated this way Wanda Ross, a woman of African and First Nations descent, endured the abuse from the time she was hired in 2013 until she left the job later that year, the tribunal ruled. It was particularly harsh and direct in its condemnation, referring to the conditions in which Ross worked as a form of harassment, and saying she was repeatedly subjected to racial slurs and discriminatory comments by two individuals, one of whom was the general manager of the hotel. In a phone interview, commission chairwoman Brenlee Carrington Trepel ranked the case as seminal for the ongoing harassment the woman endured, and said it compared to only two other such rulings in recent years. The first involved sexual harassment against a single employee, in 2014, and another, in 2016, where three employees were subjected to sexual harassment. This case is unusual because of the nature of the harassment and thats (reflected) in the damages, the compensation award and the costs. They are very rarely awarded, Carrington Trepel said. We have seen cases like this only a few times before. Ross hailed the decision as a victory, but noted discrimination is too pervasive to be whisked away with a single ruling. Im very relieved, but this isnt just going to go away. I have to live with this every day of my life. More has to be done to make sure people arent treated this way, she said in the tribunal statement. Ross could not be immediately reached for comment. The commission also released Friday the report of the adjudicator, which aired details of the ordeal that lasted from February through July 2013, when Ross left the job at the hotel in a town of 1,000, located 300 kilometres northeast of Thompson. The document shows Ross reported being subjected to inherently racist and discriminatory expressions in conversation with her and/or in her presence in conversations with others. She also alleged her co-worker falsely told customers she was a drunk, a thief and/or a junkie and spread rumours shed stolen money on the grounds. The co-worker claimed: All black people are thieves. When Ross reported the harassment to one of the business owners, she was dismissed as imagining things, the tribunal statement said. In July 2013, Ross called the provinces labour board, which suggested she contact the human rights commission. The cases adjudicator, Lawrence Pinsky, said a lengthy investigation sided with Ross and the co-owner of the hotel chain had ignored pleas for help. Ms. Rosss evidence is believed. She endured literally months of insults and slurs, touching upon both her black and Indigenous ancestries, all in breach of the Human Rights Code, Pinsky said in the report. Racial attacks and insults about a persons ancestry cut to the very core of a persons identity. Left unremedied, the corrosive effect of this type of working environment on the individual is heinous. As a result, the tribunal ruled the owners of the former Gillam Motor Inn did not take reasonable steps to deal with harassment in their workplace, placing an order against Blahy (identified as co-owner of the company), as well as the corporation. Together, they were ordered to pay Ross $15,000 in compensation for the injury to her dignity. The order assessed additional damages against the chain that owns the hotel, including $2,000 for recklessness in ignoring Rosss pleas for assistance and another $500 for failing to take part when the tribunal was investigating the complaint. The commission relies on decisions like this one to educate businesses about the significance of their obligations under the Human Rights Code, to maintain a harassment-free work environment. The decision signals to employers that their employees, including those managed remotely, must be held to standards of dignity and respect in the workplace, Carrington Trepel said. alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/01/2018 (1763 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Manitoba has an amazing opportunity to solve the health-care crisis in the north, and increase the number of jobs in remote communities, by working with local First Nations to create a health-care system that addresses the concerns and needs of all northern communities. Health care is one of the things that is first mentioned when people think of Canada. The health-care system within Canada is often a source of pride for those who experience the level of care that cities offer. Unfortunately, health care in the northern communities leaves much to be desired. Most First Nations have only a nursing station, so the sick and injured in northern Manitoba must make the long trip to Winnipeg to have any of their complex needs met. This creates a lot of expense and pain for the communities and families involved, and doesnt fit well with many perspectives of Canada. The work of the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak is based on foundational ideas; one of those beliefs is that local people know local solutions best, another is that families form the basis of the 30 First Nations that are the focus of our advocacy. There are more than 72,000 people in the Keewatinowi region, which stretches from the Interlake region to the top of the province. In the spring of 2018, MKO will engage the 30 First Nations it represents to hear what services they want in the north and what services they can administer themselves after some capacity enhancement of local resources. In a 2016 survey, health care was the top priority of the MKO First Nations. The federal government recognizes a link between access to physicians and nurses and the health status of Canadians. Our research leads us to conclude that First Nations in northern Manitoba face more health challenges due to our limited access to primary care, or doctors and nurses. In order to achieve the best health status, we believe we need services closer to home. The MKO First Nations have a vision of transformation which sees patient-centred practice by multi-disciplinary teams that reconcile traditional medicine and holistic wellness models with current practice towards optimal health and prolonged life of their citizens. We propose that northern First Nations, the province and the federal government work together to create better access to proper and effective health care in the north for everyone. This will be a huge task, but the benefits for First Nations and Manitobans will stretch far into the future, and will bring to the Keewatinowi region the services and infrastructure that those in the south often take for granted. Currently, the federal government pays for health care on First Nations, but flies patients down to cities for more complex treatment. The feds cost-share through various transfers the hospitals and clinics run by the province. A new strategy that brings more health care, infrastructure and professional services to the north may come with a cost at the outset, but it will also mean long-term savings as expenses such as transportation costs will be reduced. Just as it is now, all health-care infrastructure will be shared by everyone who lives in the north, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike. An increase of health-care infrastructure in the North will mean more employment opportunities for the people who live there. These jobs will range from part-time and entry level positions to professional and skilled roles. Supports such as the University College of the North will be crucial to this goal. Twelve years ago, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) hoped to educate and train physicians in rural and remote communities, with the hope they would stay in the area. The premise proved true and the majority of the NOSM medical graduates chose to live and practise in small towns and remote areas. Developing the north is developing Canada. Given the lack of infrastructure in Canadas remote areas, First Nations often represent the only electricity, lodging and airstrips in areas the size of small European countries. As Canada reaches out to access more natural resources, such as those in the Ring of Fire within northern Ontario, the infrastructure on First Nations will become crucial to these efforts. A focus on improving the quality of life for northern families will mean healthier communities, greater employment and a reduction in negative outcomes for individuals. The MKO is looking forward to sitting at the table with provincial and federal representatives, as well as First Nations, to discuss the improvement of health care and services in the Keewatinowi region. Sheila North is the grand chief of the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/01/2018 (1763 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. In the war between fake and real news, it was a revealing moment. Just before Christmas, Peter Hoekstra, the new United States ambassador to the Netherlands, was interviewed by a Dutch television correspondent in Washington. Hoekstra was asked about inflammatory comments he made in a 2015 speech, in which he claimed that Islamic extremists in the Netherlands had unleashed a wave of extreme violence. Chaos in the Netherlands, Hoekstra said at a conservative political conference. There are cars being burned. There are politicians that are being burned and yes, there are no-go zones in the Netherlands. Evan Vucci / The Associated Press files U.S. President Donald Trump likes to declare journalistic coverage that doesnt suit his agenda as fake news. However, when confronted about his comments which were videotaped and widely circulated at the time Hoekstra denied he had ever said anything about politicians being burned and no-go zones. That is actually an incorrect statement, Hoekstra said on camera. We would call that fake news. I never said that. Later in the same interview, the journalist again asks Hoekstra to repeat his charge that original story about his comments was, in fact, fake news. I didnt call that fake news. I didnt use the words today. Hoekstras denial of something he said just moments earlier in the same interview causes the Dutch reporter to look back at his cameraperson with a stunned expression that was somewhere between God help us and What do I do now? In the furor that ensued, Hoekstra would eventually own up to the original comments, and apologize for having uttered them. A former U.S. congressman and chair of the House intelligence committee, the Dutch-born Hoekstra claimed he got his European countries mixed up. Remarkably, having attached the term fake news to the original story of his comments, it seems entirely likely Hoekstra achieved much of what he wanted: convincing a good number of ideologically aligned people that he was, in fact, the victim of a malicious and false news report. That was largely the strategy employed this past week by U.S. President Donald Trump, who revealed his promised Fake News Awards. The awards turned out to be a list of 11 individual acts of journalism that contained unproven hyperbole, errors in judgment or straight factual inaccuracies. The list captured venerable news organizations such as CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post. All journalists shudder when their missteps are exposed. While we aspire to be perfect, we clearly sometimes fall short. However, to suggest that these stories represent fake news is, in and of itself, untruthful. Some were errors, others amounted to disputes over the facts. None was a malicious effort to create a fake narrative and all were the subject of corrections and apologies. The irony here is rich. Trump did not include a single story from Fox News, despite the fact that it is regularly flagged by independent fact-checking organizations as being a hotbed of intentionally erroneous news. Nor did Trump attempt to single out any of the fringe information sites responsible for the deluge of false and misleading news generated by Russian-backed hackers and information mercenaries that flooded the 2016 presidential election. The selective nature of his list is transparent. Trump is not weeding out legitimately fake news; he is trying to create the impression that most of the stories from established news organizations are false. That misdirection is a core element in the Trump phenomenon, the fuel that keeps the angry fires burning among his base. Stunts such as the Fake News Awards, in and of themselves, divert our attention from the fact that fake news is a commodity very much embedded in the stream of legitimate news to create confusion and chaos. Such was the case earlier this week when first lady Melania Trump posted a tweet celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a national holiday in the U.S. Trump tweeted she was exceedingly proud to be first lady of a nation that continually strives for equality & justice for all. Given the agenda that her husband, U.S. President Donald Trump, has unleashed on America strident anti-immigration policies, staunch defence of neo-Nazis and white extremists, disparaging language to describe African and Haitian refugees many observers took issue with her claims of equality and justice for all. That criticism, however, was interrupted briefly by an online allegation that FLOTUS had plagiarized the tweet posted a year earlier by former FLOTUS Michelle Obama. The allegation seemed, at first blush, to make sense because last year Melania Trump was caught borrowing heavily from a Michelle Obama speech. The only problem is that it seems the whole story could very well be fake news. Fact-checking arbiter Snopes.com said the allegation of plagiarism appears to be a fabrication after failing to find any original evidence of the tweet that Michelle Obama was purported to have posted a year earlier. Was this an attempt to maliciously disparage FLOTUS and, by extension, POTUS? Or was it a transparent bid an allegation that easily could be debunked designed to create the impression that someone was maliciously attacking Melania Trump? That could be effective in diverting attention away from the more legitimate criticism that the FLOTUS tweet was hypocritical. No one will ever know. Not even Snopes.com is able to identify the origin of tweets like this. That leaves the public in a state of confusion, left to make up their own minds based on pre-existing sympathies. Its important to note that fake news is not, in essence, a new phenomenon. For decades, counterintelligence experts have talked about the Wilderness of Mirrors, a term coined by strategist James Angleton, a former CIA chief of counterintelligence, to describe a deliberate campaign to disseminate misleading and false information to create political conflict in western democracies. It all sounds painfully familiar, doesnt it? A proliferation of fake news, or allegations of fake news, that makes it impossible to know which sources of information to trust. Russian-backed operatives largely were successful in establishing a Wilderness of Mirrors during the 2016 election campaign. The cold-war Wilderness of Mirrors required instigators to use back-channels and whisper campaigns to spread their disinformation; today, the agents of mayhem have unfettered access to social media in which to spread their lies. Social media giants Facebook, Twitter and YouTube still are struggling to figure out an effective way of weeding out illegitimate news and information. To date, their efforts have been a miserable failure. Why they have failed is, in and of itself, a fascinating debate. Its hard to get away from the fact that fake news is profitable. Studies and analysis of traffic on social-media sites bear out the inescapable reality that the inherently incendiary nature of fake news draws more eyeballs, and this helps generate more revenue. If that does not make social media corporations co-conspirators in the fake news ecosystem, it does, at the very least, make them somewhat co-dependent. Despite the complexity of the problem, the antidote to fake news is simple: consume as much news as you can, from as many different sources as you can. Dont read 140-character bursts or headlines in posts; read entire stories. When you see a story that strains credulity, go to a trusted source of information to see if they have matched or debunked the original report. Try to restrain your consumption to accountable news organizations that provide information on who owns them and on those occasions when they get something wrong publish corrections and apologies. Failure to act, however, will only make the problem worse. Unless we collectively upgrade our news consumption habits, we are destined to live forever in a Wilderness of Mirrors, with no easy way out. dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca SIOUX CITY -- Mayor Bob Scott has declared a snow emergency for Sioux City, effective midnight Sunday. The snow emergency declaration prohibits parking or leaving a vehicle unattended on an emergency snow route street. A map showing emergency snow route streets may be located at www.sioux-city.org under Community/News/Snow Information. After a two inch or greater snowfall, it is unlawful for any person to obstruct the orderly removal of snow from the full width of the citys streets by parking, standing or otherwise leaving unattended any vehicle upon designated emergency snow routes. Additionally, citizens should park on the even side of the street on even days of the month from 7 a.m. until 7 a.m. the following day. Vehicles should be parked on the odd street numbered side of the street on odd days of the month during the same time period. Residents are encouraged to remove vehicles from on street parking where possible. Jan. 21 is an odd day, therefore residents should park on the odd side of the street. Vehicles must be moved to the even side of the street on Jan. 22 at 7 a.m. Snowfall amounts with Sunday night's snowstorm will vary considerably based on geography. Klye Weisser, a meteorologist with the Sioux Falls National Weather Service, said areas somewhat north of Sioux City, like Yankton, South Dakota, are expected to see some of the heaviest snowfall, with between eight and 12 inches. "Sioux City is a bit on the edge of this system," Weisser said, but the city is still expected to get five to eight inches. In Storm Lake and Ida Grove, snowfall amounts may only be two to four inches; in Spencer, 11 inches are expected. Wind speeds could be 20 to 35 miles per hour, with whiteout conditions "possible," Weisser said. Snow is expected to start falling late Sunday night and continue into Monday morning. The Trump administration is preparing to launch a massive police-state dragnet against immigrants in California, pouring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from all over the country into the states northern cities with the aim of rounding up at least 1,500 undocumented workers. The impending mass roundup was first reported Wednesday by the San Francisco Chronicle based on an anonymous source familiar with the planning for the operation. Both ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have refused to confirm or deny that the US government is preparing what will likely prove the largest immigration raid in US history. The threat has created terror and panic in immigrant communities in Californias Bay Area, undoubtedly a desired effect on the part of ICE officials. There are reports of residents staying away from work and even leaving the region to escape the clutches of immigration agents. No specific date has been given for launching the anti-immigrant blitz, with the Chronicle reporting only that it is to take place within weeks. The newspapers source said that agents will be flown in from across the country, and that both neighborhoods and workplaces will be raided. The threatened mass roundup follows last weeks raids carried out against nearly 100 7-Eleven stores in seventeen states, signaling an escalation in the persecution of undocumented workers at their job sites. The California operation has apparently been organized in conjunction with the ongoing debate in Washington on a continuing resolution to prevent a government shutdown on Friday. The debate has been bound up with the fate of more than 700,000 Dreamers, young undocumented immigrants covered by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), rescinded by Trump. A reprieve for the DACA recipients, who grew up in the US and face deportation to countries that they do not even know, is being used as a political bait to push through a bipartisan compromise on draconian legislation that would crack down on millions of undocumented immigrants, while severely limiting legal immigration as well. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, made clear Thursday that the fate of the Dreamers is not the Democratic Partys priority in the budget debate, bowing to inevitable right-wing criticism on the immigration issue. This isnt about Dreamers, Pelosi told Capitol Hill reporters. Even if not one Dreamer ever existed, we still have a problem on the budget side of this. The targeting of California is aimed directly at punishing so-called sanctuary cities that have passed legislation limiting the cooperation of local police with immigration enforcement agents. Trump made his hostility to such cities an issue in his presidential campaign, and after taking office attempted to retaliate against them by cutting off federal funds. He has thus far been thwarted in this vindictive effort by the federal courts, which sided with a challenge led by Santa Clara County, California and the city of San Francisco, the areas now being targeted. Legislation declaring California a sanctuary state was passed last fall and went into effect on January 1. In signing the measure, the states Democratic Governor, Jerry Brown, stressed the limited character of the so-called sanctuary on offer, insisting that it would not prevent or prohibit Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Department of Homeland Security from doing their own work in any way. Despite these assurances, the measure has drawn the ire of the Trump administration and, in particular, that of the fascistic acting director of ICE, Thomas Homan. On January 2, the day after the state law went into effect, Homan told Fox News that ICE would vastly increase our enforcement footprint in the state of California. He added, menacingly: California better hold on tight. Theyre about to see a lot more special agents, a lot more deportation officers in the state of California. If the politicians of California dont want to protect their communities, then ICE will. Homan threatened to unleash mass anti-immigrant raids against California last October after the sanctuary state bill was passed. He also warned that the limitations placed on cooperation of local police would compel ICE to stage militarized assaults on immigrant neighborhoodsrather than picking up its human prey from local jails and police stations. In the process, he said, agents would make additional collateral arrests, i.e., sweep up anyone who comes across their path. In the same interview, Homan called for the arrest of state and local officials who refuse to collaborate with ICE. Weve got to start charging some of these politicians with crimes, he said. This position was echoed in testimony before the US Senate judiciary committee Tuesday by Department of Homeland Security Director Kirstjen Nielsen, who said that the Justice Department is reviewing what avenues might be available for prosecuting local officials offering sanctuary to undocumented immigrants. ICEs Homan renewed his threats Wednesday in response to a unanimous vote by the Oakland, California City Council to instruct the citys police department not to provide any assistance to ICE raids, including traffic support. The measure came in response to an ICE action last August in which local cops assisted with the diversion of traffic during the arrest of a local resident who now faces deportation. Homan accused the council members of undermining the rule of law. Their action, he said, was unconscionable and poses dangers for local communities and for the brave men and women who carry the badge. The threats of retaliation and repression by the Federal government against the largest US state by means of mass immigration raids and potential arrests of state and local officials is a stark expression of the disintegration of democratic structures within the US and an increasing turn toward police state methods. At the same time, in the vendetta against California and sanctuary cities across the country for failing to offer the full collaboration of local police in hunting down undocumented immigrants there is an unmistakable historical echo of the intense conflicts generated by the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, a federal law that sought to compel local officials to act as enforcers for the southern slave owners by arresting accused runaway slaves. That law, which was imposed to override legislation that some states passed to absolve local authorities of collaborating with the slave hunters, generated immense opposition in the north, leading to riots and armed confrontations over the detention of runaway slaves. The law played a major role in galvanizing the determination to put an end to slavery, ultimately accomplished through the Civil War. Similar sentiments of mass solidarity with immigrant workers who are being subjected to persecution and deportation must be mobilized to stop the ICE raids. The fate of millions of immigrants cannot be left in the hands of the Democratic Party, which under the Obama administration oversaw record deportations and the militarization of the US-Mexican border. The working class must advance its own solution to the so-called immigration problem, based upon a socialist policy of open borders and the right of every worker to live in the country that they choose, without fear of harassment or deportation. The author also recommends: Trumps anti-immigrant orders and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 [14 March, 2017] More than 93 percent of the 2,800 workers employed at Ausgrid, the partly privatised urban electricity distribution network in New South Wales (NSW), have voted for industrial action over new enterprise agreements (EBAs). Ausgrid operates the distribution network providing power in Sydney, Newcastle, the Central Coast and the Hunter Valley. Like the NSW rail workers, who have voted to strike on January 29, the Ausgrid workers face an escalating corporate-government offensive, after years of job cuts, workload increases and declining real wages. However, the unions are intent on preventing any genuine campaign to fight for decent wages and conditions. The current EBAs expired in December 2014, when Ausgrid was still fully owned by the NSW state government. Since then, a controlling interest in the company has been sold to a consortium of superannuation funds, led by former trade union bureaucrats, who are demanding stepped-up productivity. But the unions involvedthe Electrical Trades Unions (ETU), United Services Union (USU), Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) and Professionals Australia (PA) dragged out negotiations, effectively imposing a wage freeze on workers. They have only held a ballot for industrial action now to contain the widespread anger that is reflected in the overwhelming vote to strike. ETU organiser Mark Buttigieg told the media last week the Ausgrid workers were fed up with the inaction and the voting results showed a high degree of frustration pent up. Yet he insisted that the workers did not want to take action, saying: We still prefer to have a negotiated outcome. Buttigiegs comments are a warning that the unions are working behind the scenes to reach a negotiated outcome and call off any strike action. Such a deal will inevitably be another sell-out paving the way for another round of productivity increases and restructuring and further cuts to jobs and conditions. Ausgrid CEO Richard Gross told the Australian Financial Review this week that the company had achieved in-principle agreement with the unions on virtually all of our proposal. He boasted: The new agreement would realise greater productivity and ensure success and sustainability in the new energy market. The result of the strike ballot was announced on January 10, but the unions have delayed any action by the Ausgrid workers until after a meeting of delegates on January 31. The limited options that workers were given to vote on included eight-hour work stoppages and 30 different types of work bans, such as refusing to do overtime, callouts or work on the light rail network. Already, since 2014, Ausgrid has eliminated nearly 2,000 jobs and driven up productivity by an estimated 43 to 62 percent, all with the assistance of the unions, which have facilitated redundancies and stifled any resistance. In return for further speed-up, the four unions are seeking a 3 percent annual pay increase over three years and changes to the companys classification system, which underrates skills and makes promotions difficult. Ausgrid is offering to raise wages by just 7 percent over three yearsa further real pay cutwith a one-off $1,000 payment as a sop. At the same time, the company wants a two-tier workforce, with new employees receiving lower rates of pay, thus putting continuous downward pressure on all wages. Meanwhile, Ausgrid has awarded its executives salary rises averaging 5.3 percent a year and annual bonuses averaging more than $50,000 each in 2014, 2015 and 2016. In 2016, the Liberal-National state government sold off the network via a 99-year lease of 50.4 percent of Ausgrid for $16 billion to an Australian Super and IFM Investors superannuation consortium. The government retained the remaining shares but could offload them at any time. Former Australian Council of Trade Union (ACTU) secretary and key Labor minister Greg Combet is deputy chair of IFM Investors. Another ex-ACTU secretary, David Oliver, is deputy chair of Australian Super, whose board includes current union leaders Paul Bastian (Australian Manufacturing Workers Union) and Daniel Walton (Australian Workers Unions). In other words, the Ausgrid workers not only confront their own unions, but an employer led by present and former union bureaucrats, who direct its demands for greater cost-cutting and higher profits. In 2016, the state government also privatised the regional electricity distributer Endeavour Energy and the states high-voltage network company Transgrid. Rural provider Essential Energy remains state-owned for now, but it has been subjected to severe restructuring, including the slashing of more than 1,300 jobs. The power unions facilitated the privatisation and job cuts. They worked to prevent any unified response by power workers and kept them divided on an enterprise-by-enterprise basis. All attempts by workers to take action were systematically blocked by the unions, which supported the Fair Work industrial laws that ban virtually all action by workers. The overriding concern of the unions has been to maintain their role as labour brokers, bargaining away workers jobs, conditions and wages. When, for example, Essential Energy workers moved in April 2016 to strike to oppose cuts to working conditions and jobs, the unions, without consulting the rank-and-file, called off the action at the eleventh hour, enforcing a directive by the federal governments industrial tribunal, the Fair Work Commission. Opposition by workers was also diverted into dead-end protests and parliamentary channels, such as pleas to the right-wing Christian Democratic Party (CDP) to block legislation enabling the privatisations or to secure phoney job protection clauses. A deal brokered by the CDP and the unions allowed the government to proceed unhindered. Above all, the unions urged workers to vote for yet another pro-business Labor government in the 2015 state elections, on the basis of the lie that Labor will defend their interests. In reality, Labor began the privatisations before it was thrown out of office in 2011. Once the 2015 election was over, state Labor leader Luke Foley flagged his support for privatisation, declaring private and not-for-profit sectors should play a significant role in the delivery of our public services. Ausgrid workers need to draw lessons from past bitter experience and break decisively with the unions, which always defend the private profit system from which the officials derive their privileged positions and life styles. Any fight for wages, jobs and conditions necessarily involves a political struggle against the entire establishmentincluding Coalition, Labor and the Greensthat will stop at nothing, including using the police and the courts, to suppress the eruption of a movement of the working class. Ausgrid workers should take matters into their own hands and establish independent rank-and-file committees to organise the campaign and turn out to other sections of workersacross the steel, mining, transport and engineering industriesin Australia and internationally facing the destruction of jobs and conditions. This struggle can only succeed to the extent that it is guided by a socialist perspective, that is, the fight for a workers government that will place the banks and basic industries in public ownership and under the democratic control of the working class. We urge Ausgrid workers to contact the World Socialist Web Site and the Socialist Equality Party to discuss the means to take such a fight forward. Asia South Korea: Yonsai University cleaning staff launch occupation Cleaning staff are occupying Seouls private Yonsei University, one of the oldest and most prestigious academic institutions in South Korea, as part of an indefinite strike launched earlier this month against job cuts and pro-business restructuring. One hundred workers took over the first floor lobby of the universitys main building, carrying signs declaring, Who did the work to give you a clean and safe Yonsei University? The workers have demanded that 31 full-time positions, which were lost late last year as a result of retirements, be filled by permanent employees. Instead of hiring new full-time staff, the response of the employment agency which contracts cleaning staff was to hire students on casual, rotating three-hour shifts. The Korean Public Service and Transport Workers Union claims that the employment agencies cutback was a response to funding reductions from Yonsei University authorities. Pakistan: Peshawar welfare workers demand outstanding wage payments Workers Welfare Board (WWB) employees in Peshawar demonstrated in Jinnah Park on Monday to demand the government pay outstanding wages and dues. They have not been paid for the last six months because the federal government has frozen funds to the agency. The rally was called by the Workers Welfare Board Employees Union. According to the union, a scheduled January 16 sit-down protest outside the Islamabad parliament was postponed after finance division officials promised to make the payments by January 21. WWB workers have threatened to march on the parliament if the government fails to keep its promise. Pakistan telecommunication pensioners rally for pay rise Former Pakistan Telecommunication Company employees protested in Peshawar on January 10 to demand the government implement pension pay increases due since 2010. The retirees have threatened to stage a sit-in demonstration outside the parliament if the payments are not made. In June 2015, the Supreme Court endorsed a 41.5 percent rise in the pension, 50 percent increase in medical allowances and a 5075 percent rise in the portion of the pension paid to family members. The Pakistan government is yet to make these payments. Social austerity and other cost-cutting measures demanded by the International Monetary Fund mean that delays or non-payment of wages and salary increases are commonplace for federal, regional and local government employees in Pakistan. Pakistan education workers demand promotions Elementary and secondary education department employees from Lower Dir in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa held a sit-down demonstration on January 11 outside the Balambat district education headquarters over promotions and the lack of a service structure. Those affected are in management positions within the department and have not had an upgrade for the last seven years. The All Pakistan Clerks Association supported the protest. Bangladesh: Teachers of MPO-enlisted schools demand nationalisation Several hundred teachers from Monthly Pay Order (MPO)-enlisted education institutions began an indefinite hunger strike on Tuesday to demand that the government nationalise the education system. They have threatened to continue their protest until Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina implements a previous promise to carry out this measure. The Monthly Pay Order teachers, who have held numerous protests over this issue, are organised by the Besarkari Shikhkha Jatiyakaran Liaison Forum, a six-member alliance of teachers and employees. The joint convener of the forum said that discussions with education department officials had been fruitless. Running parallel with this campaign, teachers from religious schools for primary aged children (sebtedai madrasas) are continuing a hunger strike outside the Jatiya Press Club. It is the eighth day of the protest. The hunger strikers also want their institutions nationalised but government ministers have previously said this cannot be implemented until Bangladeshs finance ministry provided the necessary funds. There are around 48,000 teachers in about 10,000 madrasas who have not received any government pay since these institutions were registered with the Madrasa Education Board in 1984. India: Volkswagen workers union representatives on hunger strike in Pune Eleven Volkswagen Employees Union representatives had been on a hunger strike since January 12 in protest against demands by the global auto corporation for a performance-related wage scheme. Volkswagen wants salaries to be 80 percent fixed and 20 percent based on performance, which will significantly decrease workers pay. Bargaining over a new wage agreement began 14 months ago in 2016. Last year workers at the plant produced over a 150,000 vehiclesabout 500 cars per daya 20 percent increase on the previous year. Workers have told the media that management want daily production increased to 550 cars. The union officials, who have bombastically declared that they will fast until death, are determined to prevent any industrial action by the 3,200-strong workforce at the plant. VW Employees Union general secretary Mashe Tushar told the media We have resorted to hunger strike, but we dont intend to stop production. Sri Lankan nurses end strike over finger-print surveillance machines One hundred and fifty Sri Jayawardenepura Hospital nurses returned to work on January 12, after management temporarily suspended use of its fingerprint attendance system. The nurses defied a court return to work order and struck for a week to demand the surveillance machinery be removed. On January 11 nurses at the Colombo eye hospital walked out for 24 hours in support of the Sri Jayawardenepura Hospital nurses. Sri Lankas Ministry of Health has appointed a committee to investigate use of the fingerprint machine and other issues. Sri Lankan police attack CEB workers Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) employees struck on Thursday in protest against attacks by police special task force officers on power workers demonstrating the previous day at the companys head office in Colombo. The CEB chairman was detained in the office for nine hours during an occupation of the building. Several employees, including female workers, were hospitalised as a result of the police attack. The workers, who have been demanding a longstanding salary increase, which was denied by the government treasury, were also protesting against what they claim was an illegal pay rise for CEB administrative officials in November 2014. Ceylon Electricity Board Joint Trade Union Alliance convener Ranjan Jayalal told the media that workers would not work on national emergency repairs and breakdowns until their demands were met. Thursdays strike ended after the Alliance presented a letter to the prime ministers secretary Saman Ekanayeke. The unions have threatened to hold a protest march in Colombo on February 7 and take indefinite strike action if the government fails to respond positively to its demand. Australia and the Pacific Australian Paper plant workers strike indefinitely in Melbourne Almost 90 manufacturing staff at an Australian Paper (AP) factory in the Melbourne suburb of Preston stopped work indefinitely on Tuesday, establishing a continuous protest outside the plant as part of a dispute over a new enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA). The company is owned by Japanese conglomerate Nippon Paper Group and is one of the countrys largest manufacturers of envelopes. Negotiations for a new EBA have been underway since March last year. The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), which covers the workers, wants a three-year agreement with 2.5 percent annual pay increases. Currently the workers receive an average of just $21.50 an hour. The company is insisting on a four-year agreement with no pay increase in the first year, two percent in the second and third years and 2.5 percent in the fourth. The offer equates to a 6.5 percent pay rise over the life of the agreement. AP also wants cuts in working conditions, including reducing rostered days off (RDOs) from 16 to 14 annually, and changes to the existing classification structures that will leave numbers of workers worse off. The company employs more than 1,300 staff nationally, mostly in regional areas. The AMWU has made no attempt to organise broader support from other AP workers for the Preston strikers. In February last year, the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union, with the support of the AMWU, pushed through a regressive EBA at APs Maryvale paper mill in Victorias Latrobe Valley. The deal, enforced by the union in the face of substantial opposition, included a 5 percent pay cut and a two-tier wage system with an effective 11.5 percent pay reduction for all new-starts. Western Australian teachers and support staff threaten strike action Western Australian (WA) public school teachers, along with education support and service staff, have threatened to begin the year with industrial action in protest against cuts to public education by the WA Labor government, and the increasingly dire working conditions. The State School Teachers Union of WA (SSTUWA) announced at the beginning of the month that its members were considering strikes as part of an ongoing dispute over a new enterprise agreement covering WA staff. The union has pointed to the growing number of physical assaults on teachers, with 595 violent incidents last year, triple the figure in 2014. The union is demanding a formal policy relating to assaults on staff members, and a register of incidents. Teachers will rally on January 30 and consider further action. The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has threatened separate action by support staff over proposed government cuts. These include reduced funding to Aboriginal education staff and other school support workers. The union has warned that as many as 3,000 jobs will be eliminated across the sector. The government is also moving to close Moora Residential College, which provides boarding services and classes for students from regional areas. Labor backtracked this month on plans to close the Schools of the Air, which provides education for children in the most remote rural areas, and to end accommodation services at Northan Residential College. The announcement, which only reversed a fraction of the $64 million education cuts announced last December, followed a widespread public outcry. The SSTU and CPSU both supported the election of a Labor government last year, promoting the fraud that it would end public sector cuts. SSTUWA President Pat Byrne signalled the unions support for Labors austerity agenda, declaring that she recognised there is a need for budget repair. Locked-out Port Kembla workers return to work Port Kembla Coal Terminal (PKCT) employees on the New South Wales south coast returned to work last week after being locked out for four days. PKCT is owned by mining conglomerates, Peabody and South32, along with Tahmoor Coal, Wollongong Coal and Centennial Coal. The company locked out the 58 permanent workers to prevent a limited work stoppage called by the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) in a long-running dispute over a new enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA). Negotiations have dragged on for three years. The CFMEU has limited all opposition by workers to spasmodic strikes and stoppages. The unions major concern is that the companys demand for the removal of consultation clauses in the agreement would undermine its privileged position as a labour bargaining agency PKCT applied to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to terminate the current EBA and force workers onto the National Employment Standard with inferior pay and conditions, including the removal of existing sick leave provisions and cuts to superannuation payments. The FWC will bring down its ruling next month. The Australian Broadcasting Corporations 7.30 program this week claimed to have seen documents which revealed that PKCT planned to sack a third of its permanent workers and replace them with casuals. Fiji: Thousands protest in support of locked-out airport workers At least 3,000 people marched in Nadi on January 13 in support of around 200 Air Terminal Services (ATS) workers, almost a third of the workforce, who have been locked out since mid-December. One union leader told Australian media that local reporters estimated 8,400 people were involved in the protest in a city that has less than 45,000. Almost 100 police officers were deployed. ATS imposed the lockout after workers attended a shareholders meeting during their work hours and raised numerous issues, including an 11-year pay freeze and allegations of sexual harassment. ATS workers, including baggage handlers, check-in staff, engineers and caterers, own 49 percent of the company through an Employees Trust, but have no say in its operations. The Fiji government, which owns 51 percent of ATS, has declared that the workers are illegally striking and urged a return to work on the companys terms. Some 32 workers who have returned to work have been made to sign a letter declaring their strike was unlawful. The ATS has hired scabs to replace the locked-out workers. The Fiji Trades Union Congress has called for another protest march in the capital, Suva, on February 24. Meanwhile, the Federated Airlines Staff Association is continuing negotiations with ATS management and the governments Employment Relations Tribunal. Magistrate Andrew See told the media on Wednesday that he wanted to get workers back at work as soon as possible. On Monday, in yet another mishap on Washington D.C.s chronically underfunded public transportation system, a Metro train derailed, causing three of the eight cars to go off track. The derailment, caused by a shattered rail, forced the 63 people on board to walk 200 yards through a tunnel, with only the aid of glow sticks, and caused major delays on the subway system into Tuesday morning. Fortunately, the number of passengers was significantly lower than a normal Monday commute because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. As a result of the broken rail, the Metro cars slid approximately 1,200 feet beyond the point where the rail broke, kicking up dust and creating smoke clouds as they ground against the concrete floor. One passenger, Gavin Bowman, said that during the derailment he felt a violent shake and then a bang. It was about twice as bad as any turbulence Ive been in on a plane, Bowman told a local television station. Scraping metal, concrete breaking. Another passenger, Alan Devlin, told the Washington Post that as the train derailed there was a loud bang followed by unusual shuddering and then a lurch. Subsequently, there was smoke and a strong electrical smell. As the train went off the track, the emergency brake engaged and riders held on to keep their balance. Devlin reported that The whole carriage lift[ed]. This latest incident occurred on the rail systems Red Line, which has endured numerous disruptions in the past six months, including a 10-day shutdown of a three-station stretch for repairs in late November and subsequent slowdowns from a faulty communications cable. On top of Mondays derailment, faulty radio communications led to a delay in both diagnosing what had occurred to the train and in evacuating passengers. Because of spotty radio coverage, workers in the Rail Operations Control Center could not initially establish contact with the train operator and were not immediately aware that a train had derailed. Due to the communication problems, passengers also had to wait about 90 minutes before being evacuated. Metro officials were well aware of radio signal problems before the incident. Metro Chief Safety Officer Pat Lavin told the Washington Post that the lack of properly functioning radio signals in the area where the derailment occurred is a known problem. Communication issues are nothing new to D.Cs transit system. This derailment occurred days after the third anniversary of a January 12, 2015 incident in which a 61-year-old passenger died from smoke inhalation. The 2015 calamity, which also sent nearly 70 people to the hospital, was compounded by a breakdown in the basic communications systems between Metro and the District of Columbia fire department. In the 2015 event, the fire department had recently encrypted its radio transmissions, but Metros communications controls were not synced up with the fire departments communication controls in the new encrypted setting. Because of the poor communication between the transportation agency and rescue personnel, passengers were stuck in the smoke-filled train for more than 30 minutes. Passengers in the latest incident fortunately escaped any serious injury. Metro now says it is in the beginning stages of a replacement of its entire radio communications system that will automatically alert staff if a radio signal is weak. However, that project has yet to be awarded to a private contractor and is not expected to be completed until at least 2020. Metro is also no stranger to derailments. In July 2016, deteriorating wooden ties failed to adequately secure two steel rails, causing a derailment. In the wake of that incident, Metro scapegoated its track inspection employees by terminating one-third of the inspection department. This latest safety episode also comes only seven months after the transit agency completed a large safety and track rebuilding program, known as SafeTrack. Under this program, the system shut down large stretches of track for weeks at a time in order to accelerate long-neglected repairs. The stretch of rail where Mondays derailment occurred was not part of this maintenance effort. Because of numerous safety issues, regular delays, and fare hikes, daily weekday rail trips on Metro are down about 100,000 from their 2009 peak. At the root of Metros ongoing issues is a longstanding lack of funding. In 2004, a previous Metro general manager warned that Metro faced a death spiral unless substantial investments were made. Despite this warning, Metro received less than half of what the general manager requested. The current general manager, Paul Wiedefeld, has stated that Metro needs a minimum of $500 million in additional annual funding to restore the system to good health after decades of underfunding. Metros longstanding and continuing problems are yet another vivid illustration of the inability of capitalism to meet the basic needs of the population. Along with education, health care, water systems, housing and other basic social needs, the ruling class is incapable of providing the resources necessary to maintain an adequately functioning public transportation system. This is especially egregious in the D.C. area, where the federal government hands out billions of dollars to area military contractors, including Lockheed Martin, Northup Grumman, General Dynamics and Raytheon. On Thursday, UK Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron held a summit meeting at the UK military officers training academy, Sandhurst. The meeting was aimed at boosting UK-French military and intelligence ties, in line with the strategy developed in the 2010 Lancaster House Treaty, amid growing tensions with the Trump administration and inside NATO, and the crisis caused by Britains exit from the European Union (EU). They agreed on a series of reactionary measures, including stepped-up military spending, joint spying operations, and attacks on immigrants trying to reach Britain from the French port of Calais. They pledged to intensify cooperation on nuclear weapons programmes, aircraft carriers, and naval deployments to the Pacific and Indian oceans and the Caribbean Sea. Also agreed were provisions for draconian Internet censorship. The Financial Times noted that Sandhurst was chosen as a venue since it underlined a two-decade-old defence pact between Britain and France. Highlighting the strategic character of the meeting, the heads of the UKs main domestic and international intelligence agenciesMI5, MI6 and Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)and of their French equivalents, the General Directorates of External Security and Internal Security (DGSE, DGSI), all attended. Pointing to an increasingly unstable and uncertain world, the summit communique declared that the Lancaster House Treaty is the bedrock of our relationship. Since 2010 we have improved our collective capabilities and seen unprecedented levels of integration between our armed forces, intelligence agencies and diplomatic and development authorities. It added, There is no situation in which we could envisage a circumstance where the vital interests of either the United Kingdom or France could be threatened without the vital interests of the other being also threatened. As vital interests are those that states will go to war to protect, this essentially means that Britain and France are building a separate, smaller alliance inside NATO. Frances Le Point magazine expressed satisfaction at this simple principle outlined already in 1992, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the reunification of Germany. The foreign policy compact document contained bullet points outlining the positions of British and French imperialism on key global flashpoints, in particular those where Washington is threatening to trigger major wars. It commits them to defending the 2015 Iranian nuclear peace deal, which the Trump administration is signalling it will scrap, amid growing US war threats against Iran. It called for meaningful and unconditional dialogue with North Korea, which Washington is threatening with nuclear annihilation. In an apparent concession to the UK by Macronwho began his presidency by inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin to France and calling for improved relations with Moscowthe compact document sharply attacked Russia. It declared that the UK and France share a common assessment of Russias more assertive foreign and defence policy, strategic intimidation, including the use of disinformation, malicious cyber activity, and political subversion. It denounced Russias annexation of Crimea and endorsed the Minsk peace deal in Ukraine negotiated by Berlin, Paris, Kiev and Moscow: Until Russia complies with its Minsk obligations, economic sanctions [on Moscow] cannot be lifted. The two countries agreed to a pair of overseas interventions to illustrate their alliance. Britain is to send three helicopters and 50 to 60 support staff to assist thousands of French soldiers fighting a neo-colonial war in Africas Sahel region. For its part, France will send more troops to NATOs enhanced Forward Presence in 2019, as part of the UK-led battlegroup in Estonia, building on the successful joint deployment in 2017 . The UK currently has 800 soldiers in Estonia. In addition, May stated that a combined UK-French expeditionary force would be ready to deploy up to 10,000 troops quickly and effectively to face any threat by 2020. Both countries agree on the necessity to clamp down on democratic rights as they build up their war machines, with Internet censorship at the top of their agenda. Under the guise of fighting terrorism and criminals, the summit was presented with a report containing proposals to ensure the automation of detection and deletion of illegal content within 1-2 hours of upload, and prevent its dissemination London and Paris also haggled over the financing of the repression of immigrants in Calais, where France accepted responsibility for policing Britains border along the Channel tunnel in the 2003 Le Touquet treaty. At Sandhurst, the two countries agreed to joint action to increase the number of illegal migrants who are returned to their own country. Under pressure from Macron, May agreed to support France in its provision of accommodation in facilities located outside the Calais and Dunkirk areas, such as Reception and Assessment Centres, and to increase Britains payment to France for policing the border to 50 million. Macron hypocritically declared at the summits press conference that the new treaty on migrants would ensure a more humane approach. In fact, what is being implemented is a speeding up of the deportation process, with the time to process migrants to be reduced from six months to one month for adults, and 25 days for children. The UK refused to specify how many migrants it would accept into the UK. The summit pointed to both the escalating collapse of the international political framework that existed in the era of US imperialisms world hegemony, and the turn to repression and anti-immigrant hate-mongering as the imperialist powers again prepare for war. Fundamental differences separate the major European powers from Washington over countries in the Middle East and Asia, where they have major economic and strategic interests, and where US policy could provoke a major regional or world war. At the same time, the EU is rapidly disintegrating, particularly since the Brexit vote. It is significant that Paris organised a high-level military summit with London amid rising concern over its relations with Germany, Europes leading power, after the crisis unleashed by the September 2017 German elections. The Grand Coalition (Christian Democratic Union-Social Democratic Party) government that favoured close ties with Macron suffered a humiliating loss of votes, and with Berlin still unable to form a government, Paris must fear that a more hostile government may emerge in Berlin. Both the Leave and Remain factions of the British bourgeoisie supported closer ties with France. In a pre-summit editorial, the Remain-supporting Financial Times wrote effusively of the previous decade of military and intelligence cooperation but warned, In the era of Brexit, however, these bonds will be re-examined. Given the UKs historically close ties with the US, it wrote, There is deep scepticism in Britain about integrating the countrys armed forces with those of Europe. Macron made no move whatsoever to support Britain in its contentious Brexit talks with the EU, however, pointing out that the EU, and not France, is negotiating Brexit. Asked why he opposed including financial services in any EU-UK free trade agreement, he said, I am here neither to punish nor to reward. I want to make sure that the single market is preserved because that is very much the heart of the EU. If Britain wanted full continuing access to the EUs single market, Macron added, The choice is up to Britain: its not my choicebut they can have no differentiated access to financial services. it means that you need to contribute to the budget and acknowledge European jurisdiction. Britain would not be able to pick and chose a Canada-style trade deal that would allow access to the single market, he insisted. There should be no hypocrisy in this respect, or it would not work and we would destroy the single market. SIOUX CITY | A storm system stretching all the way from Colorado through the Great Lakes is expected to arrive in Sioux City Sunday afternoon. And, for now, it looks like Sioux City and other parts of the tri-state region will be in the narrow, heaviest band of snow brought by the system. Matt Dux, a meteorologist with the Sioux Falls National Weather Service, said the storm could bring as much as six inches of snow to the area -- but he cautioned that the storm is more than 48 hours away, and forecasts change. "You have to remember, it's a little bit early yet," he said, adding that snowfall amounts are liable to change. Dux said winds associated with the storm could be as high as 30 to 40 miles an hour, which would cause significant blowing now. "It does look for those planning their early workweek, that Monday drive is going to be a rough one," he said. A Winter Storm Watch goes into effect for Sioux City beginning on Sunday and continuing through Monday. "They're more or less issued for the potential of winter weather," Dux said of the Winter Storm Watch. "Continue to monitor your forecast." Things are looking up for Abby Lee Miller. A source close to the former Dance Moms star tells ET that she will be released from the Federal Correctional Complex in Victorville, California, on Feb. 20. Miller was originally sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison last July after pleading guilty to bankruptcy fraud in June 2016. Upon release, Miller will report directly to a halfway house in Van Nuys, California, the source says, due to the terms of her sentence. How long she is required to stay there is unknown at this time. According to our source, fans can expect a much different look from the 51-year-old reality star, as she's lost approximately 100 pounds and is feeling "great" since entering the penitentiary six months ago. She has already requested multiple surgeries for when she's released, including a tummy tuck, breast lift and excess skin removal. Last April, prior to her sentencing, the dance instructor underwent gastric bypass surgery, a procedure that reduced her stomach by 80 percent. "I think this is the right time," Miller exclusively shared with ET at the time. "People are saying, 'But your sentencing is coming up in a couple weeks!' And that is true, and I'm really nervous about that -- more than the surgery -- but there's no right time." As ET previously reported, Miller was found guilty of bankruptcy fraud in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In addition to serving time, Chief Judge Joy Flowers Conti ordered the reality star to pay a $40,000 fine and serve two years probation after her time behind bars. A few weeks before she headed to jail, Miller told ET that serving time would actually be an opportunity for her to concentrate solely on herself. "I've always put everybody else's child first before my own health, before my own outfit, before my own time frame," she explained. "Everybody else was dressed and out the door and looking perfect and I was running around trying to find a clean towel to take a shower with, so I think this will be a little 'me' time." Hear more on Miller in the video below. RELATED CONTENT: Abby Lee Miller Cries, Eats Mac and Cheese During Her Last Moments Before Heading to Jail Abby Lee Miller Says She 'Probably Won't Survive' Prison Abby Lee Miller Admits She's 'Petrified' About How Inmates Will Treat Her in Final Pre-Prison Interview After a Facebook selfie helped incriminate her, Cheyenne Rose Antoine was sentenced to seven years. By Latifah Muhammad A Facebook selfie gave authorities the evidence needed to bust a Canadian woman for her friends death, which she initially blamed on two black men. On Monday (Jan. 15), Cheyenne Rose Antoine pleaded guilty to manslaughter for killing 18-year-old Brittney Gargol, bringing an end to the more than two-year case. Antoine, now 21, was sentenced to seven years in prison for killing Gargol following an argument at a party in 2015. Before they headed out for the night, Antoine and Gargol struck a pose for Facebook. In the selfie, Antoine is wearing a black belt that police later identified as the weapon used to strangle Gargol whose body was found dumped on the side of a road in Saskatchewan, Canada, according to CNN. Antoine was intoxicated on weed and alcohol when an argument with Gargol turned fatal, prosecutor Robin Ritter said. Antoine claims to have no recollection of taking Gargols life. Antoine originally told police that she and Gargol met up with an unidentified white male, while out for drinks. She then claimed to have left the outing early to go to her uncles house. Later that night, she reportedly posted on Gargols Facebook page, making it appear that she was looking for her. Hope you made it home safe, wrote Antoine. But the white male that she claimed that they met up with never materialized, and authorities found even more holes in the story. Antoines uncle later admitted that she asked him to lie and pretend that two black men killed Gargol. Authorities arrested Antoine for second-degree murder last March. She struck a plea deal, and was reportedly charged with manslaughter because she showed remorse. You were her friend, she trusted you, Gargols stepmother said to Antoine in court. In a statement read by her attorney, Antoine said that she will never forgive herself for killing Gargol. Its wrong and shouldnt of happened, she said. Antoines attorney, Lisa Watson, told the media that her client had deep personal issues that she had been avoiding. Unfortunately they turned into a very tragic situation for all involved. This post Canadian Woman Who Reportedly Blamed Two Black Men For Friends Death Admits To Killing Her first appeared on Vibe. By Lola Jacobs Recently, two topics that one may never think of in tandem have crossed paths: Hakeem Chamillionaire Seriki and DACA. The rapper, best known for his 2005 hit, Ridin may have been laying low for the past 13 years in terms of music, but hes still active in other circles. Hes been navigating his way through the tech industry, saying very little while working on his plan to get wealthy, not rich, as he shared with Noisey last year. If you knew the background story for Serikis initial claim to fame, his retreat to Silicon Valley wouldnt be too surprising at all. The rapper is all about audience engagement, so he cut out the middleman and went straight to rewarding fans using gamification. For example, fans were rewarded with signed albums and merchandise for sharing his music videos, which essentially jettisoned the need for a record label and maximized his profits. And he remained engaged. The Houston entrepreneur launched the Robins Heart Foundation for the victims of Hurricane Harvey last September. Seriki has resurfaced again to come to the aid of the family of 39-year-old Jorge Garcia, a man who was recently deported after 30 years in Michigan. The story has gotten a lot of attention since reporter Niraj Warikoo of Detroit Free Press covered the deportation extensively on Monday. Warikoo emphasized the ill-suited label, criminal as Garcia never had so much as a traffic ticket. If nothing else, the story is demonstrative of the Trump administration making good on their promise to zero in on immigration reform. Having read the moving story, Seriki reached out directly to Warikoo with hopes that he could be put through to the Garcia family. Warikoo took a screenshot of the email and posted it to his Twitter, opening with, This is not a joke, embracing its incredibility. This is not a joke. I actually got an email yesterday from rapper Chamillionaire (of Ridin Dirty fame, the song that goes, They see me rollin, they hatin) after he read my story on Jorge Garcia being deported. He wants to help him. pic.twitter.com/ZBJvcbTKRf Niraj Warikoo (@nwarikoo) January 18, 2018 But its trueWarikoo had the receipts to show it. Needless to say, the tweet went viral, but thats not exactly what Seriki had in mind. Story continues I assumed this would be a private conversation, and I was hoping that I would be connected to the family, but unfortunately, neither happened, Seriki said in an interview with Business Insider. It looks like the story of this familys unfortunate situation is gaining some traction, so at the least, Im happy to see their story getting the attention that it deserves. Hopefully, Warikoo will connect Seriki with the Garcia family soon but hes yet to supply a comment or status update on the matter. This post Chamillionaire Offers Financial Support to Michigan Mans Family After His Deportation first appeared on Vibe. Darren Criss calls it serendipity that he already was in Ryan Murphys orbit when the producer focused in on telling the tale of serial killer Andrew Cunanan for The Assassination of Gianni Versace, the latest edition of American Crime Story. Cunanan was half-Filipino, just as Criss is, which gave the actor a rare opportunity to play his ethnicity. I believe there are a lot of great half-Filipino actors out there that could have done this a lot of justice, [but] when Ryan talked about doing this three years ago, before we actually got the ball rolling last year, I would joke with him saying, Hey man, I would love to do this, but if you dont want me to do it with you, I defy you to find another guy who looks kind of like him, whos in the same age range, whos in your Rolodex of actors. Because if you dont cast a half-Filipino guy, the Filipino community is going to cry bloody murder. So I dont know what your other options are! I would have never held that against him but I would jokingly think that. Im glad it all came to fruition when it did. Executive producer Nina Jacobson said it was important that the actor playing Cunanan was half-Filipino, especially after having just produced the upcoming film Crazy Rich Asians. We did not want to whitewash a role, she said. Andrew was half-Filipino, and it was really important to not just get a guy and say that he was. We wanted to be authentic in terms of Andrews background. And the fact that Darren had kind of this striking resemblance physically, the chops of an actor and professionalism to take on a role of this disturbing hard role to play that he also could authentically play a half-Filipino character as opposed to the usual Hollywood thing. Criss said that he doesnt think whitewashing comes out of any conscious malice, but admits that he may harbor half-white privilege in that view. Story continues What makes good casting work is when you have good actors. There are a lot of great Filipino actors that I think people just arent thinking outside of the box enough, he said. Criss pointed specifically to Jon Jon Briones, who plays Modesto Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace. Hes a tried and true Broadway veteran, hes been acting for years, hes not just some newbie maybe to the film and television world but certainly not as a craftsman of acting, Criss said. And Ryan asked me, Who is this guy, I love him! Wheres he from, how come he doesnt get roles? I said, Ryan, he does but hes a Filipino man who looks a certain way. You have to understand the roles hes being offered. The Thai terrorist on CSI. And hes from the original cast of Miss Saigon, hes doing Miss Saigon right now. Hes the Engineer on Broadway. What it takes is a role like this, hopefully, where people go, oh! This guy is really good! It sucks we have to wait around for roles that show you off within the corner youre put in to be able to play in the larger room. The Assassination of Gianni Versace may have Versace in the title, but its really the story of Andrew Cunanan, and the tale of how he became the killer of not just Versace but several other socialites across the country. It was a juicy role for Criss, and IndieWires Turn It On podcast recently met up with the actor to discuss the mystery of Cunanan, the sensitivity of the fact that so many people impacted by Cunanan may be watching, and how his ethnicity as a half-Filipino man made him the perfect fit for the role. Later in this episode, we also talked to American Crime Story producers Brad Simpson and Nina Jacobson about the franchise. But first, we talked to Criss about how this role impacted him. Listen below! Criss said Versace was a tremendous role for him, but hes muted in his enthusiasm because of the realization that Cunanans murders impacted many people who are still around and may watch the show. Now they have to deal with this being on television and being water cooler fodder at work, he said. Thats something Im very much aware of. Saying this is a dream role Im careful of because I dont want to be insensitive to the lives that were affected. However, beyond it being a very interesting part as an actor, I got to work with all these people and we got to travel to interesting places All the boxes were ticked. I got to do a show with Penelope Cruz, Edgar Ramirez, Ricky Martin. It was also a bit of a challenge because there isnt much documentation of Cunanans life which meant Criss had to come up with some of the character on his own. In that sense, I am relieved from having to do an imitation job, he said. Hes not a person that people are familiar with who are expecting me to do my version of Andrew. It gives me a lot of leeway. The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story airs Wednesday at 10 p.m. on FX. Read More:PREVIOUS EPISODE: Paul Scheer Dissects The Last Jedi, The Year in Pop Culture, and How The Disaster Artist Got Made Turn It On Podcast IndieWires TURN IT ON with Michael Schneider is a weekly dive into whats new and whats now on TV no matter what youre watching or where youre watching it. With an enormous amount of choices overwhelming even the most sophisticated viewer, TURN IT ON is a must-listen for TV fans looking to make sense of what to watch and where to watch it. Be sure to subscribe to TURN IT ON on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud or anywhere you download podcasts. New episodes post every week. Sign UpStay on top of the latest TV news! Sign up for our TV email newsletter here. Related stories Sundance Questions: Here's What We're Wondering as the 2018 Festival Begins -- IndieWire's Movie Podcast 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace' Writer On Why Equality Means More Complicated Gay Villains 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story' Review: A Very Different 'Story' Yields Uneven Rewards The Eagles have settled a lawsuit filed last year to prevent a Mexican hotel from calling itself Hotel California. The hoteliers, Hotel California Baja LLC, withdrew their application for a U.S. trademark, according to Reuters. The decision to dismiss the suit was mutual. The band had sued the company, which operates the Todos Santos hotel in Baja California Sur, with the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, but both parties agreed to call it off Wednesday. The news services said that the decision coincided the same day that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office accepted the company's request to abandon its application. A rep for the Eagles declined to comment to Rolling Stone. Hotel California Baja LLC did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone's request for comment. The band had alleged that the company were attempting to mislead hotel patrons into thinking that they had sanctioned the use of the song title by playing the Eagles' music around its property. Moreover, the Eagles claimed that it was part of a campaign for the hotel to sell merchandise such at T-shirts and posters that was branded "Hotel California." In their response, the hoteliers denied wrongdoing. The company said it was unlikely fans would be confused. The hotel, which is located across the U.S. border about 1,000 miles south of San Diego, had been called Hotel California when it opened in 1950, Reuters reports. Its name changed over the years, but when Canadians John and Debbie Stewart purchased it in 2001, they decided to restore the name. The band issued the song on their Hotel California album in 1976. According to Don Henley, who wrote the song with Glenn Frey and Don Felder, the tune was intended as commentary about their surroundings. "We were all middle-class kids from the Midwest," he once said. "'Hotel California' was our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles." Related Content: The California couple who allegedly abused and held captive their 13 children pleaded not guilty Thursday to torture, abuse, and false imprisonment charges. David Allen Turpin, 56, and Louis Anna Turpin, 49, of Perris, were charged with 12 counts of torture, seven counts of abuse of a dependent adult, six counts of child abuse or neglect and 12 counts of false imprisonment, Riverside County District Attorney Michael Hestrin said in a press release. David Turpin was also charged with one count of lewd act on a child under the age of 14 by force, fear, or duress. Both of the Turpins who wore dark suits and, according to CBS News, showed no emotion at their arraignment are next due in court Feb. 23. If convicted, each faces up to 94 years to life in prison. David Allen Turpin Louis Anna Turpin The Turpins were arrested after their 17-year-old daughter, who had allegedly been planning her escape for two years, climbed through one of the windows of their home early on Sunday and called 911 using a disconnected cell phone she had found, authorities have said. Police allege that the 13 Turpin children ranging in ages from 2 to 29 were found living in squalor, with some shackled to furniture. At a news conference Thursday, authorities alleged that the children were allowed to shower no more than once a year and were regularly fed very little. They alleged the kids were restrained by ropes and later chains as a form of punishment. The Turpin family 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. Malnutrition apparently stunted their growth, Hestrin said. One of the victims, 12, has the weight of an average 7-year-old, police said. The 29-year-old victim weighed just 82 pounds when found. Medical officials treating the siblings say they face a long recovery. In more than 20 years as a prosecutor in Riverside County, this is one of the most disturbing cases Ive seen, Hestrin said in his press release Thursday. We are fully prepared to seek justice in this case and to do so in a way that protects all of these victims from further harm. Story continues Louise Turpin, attorney Jeff Moore and David Turpin Meanwhile, authorities said two Maltese terriers found in the home are healthy and trained. The animals, one white and one black, appear healthy and friendly and are leash-trained, according to Christina Avila, a senior animal control officer, a press release from the City of Perris said of the two female one-year-old dogs, who are siblings. Authorities released images of the two seemingly well-fed dogs, who are being put up for adoption. Expecting high interest in the pair who must be adopted together the City of Perris will hold a raffle to place the dogs in a new home, according to the release. Prosecutor: It is a Horrible Case Speaking to reporters after their court hearing on Thursday, attorneys for David and Louise declined to comment beyond broad reactions about the allegations against them. It doesnt get much more serious in terms of severity of the conduct being alleged and also the exposure in prison, said Jeff Moore, Louises attorney. He tells PEOPLE, The allegations carry life in state prison. In terms of possible sentences this is about as serious as it gets. Echoing that, Davids attorney, David Macher, says, It is a very serious case. Anytime you are talking about a century of imprisonment is a very serious case. Prosecutor Kevin Beecham says, It is a horrible case. It is unfortunate for everyone involved. Thank goodness they [the kids] are out now. If you have any information about this family or these alleged crimes, please call Senior District Attorney Investigator Wade D. Walsvick at 951-955-5400. Jesse Williams and his estranged wife Aryn Drake-Lee have reached a new spousal support agreement. Beginning Jan. 1, 2018, Williams, 36, has agreed to pay Drake-Lee $50,695 per month in spousal support, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE. Williams will also pay her $33,242 for the month of December 2017. Additionally, the stipulation states that Drake-Lee will get half of the Greys Anatomy stars residuals for work done from Sept. 1, 2012 through April 10, 2017, and he will pay her $50,000 in advance for her lawyers fees and costs, TMZ first reported. After five years of marriage, the former couple, who shares daughter Sadie, 4, and son Maceo, 27 months, filed for divorce in April 2017. This past summer, the pair was granted joint legal custody of their two children. A judge signed the order on Aug. 30, just days after the former couple attended their hearing on child custody, child visitation and co-parenting matters regarding their children on Aug. 24, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE. Aryn is pleased to have an arrangement that will provide stability and continuity for the children so that their best interests are the highest priority, Drake-Lees attorney Jill Hersh said in a statement to PEOPLE at the time. According to the order, the parents shall share joint legal custody of the children. It comes two months after Williams filed for joint legal and physical custody in June. This past November, the actor, who is dating Friday Night Lights alum Minka Kelly, was awarded overnight visits with his kids. According to the documents filed Nov. 9, Williams will be permitted to have custody of the kids up to two times a week after they get out from school until 6:15 p.m., except for one day when he will have custody from after school until the following day when school commences for each child. Williams wed his longtime girlfriend Drake-Lee, a real estate broker, in Los Angeles in September 2012. At the time, they had been dating for over five years. They first met while Williams was working as a schoolteacher in New York. Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner, and Blac Chyna are embroiled in a lawsuit. (Photo: Getty Images) A judge tentatively granted Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian Wests request to dismiss Blac Chynas lawsuit against them on Thursday. In the lawsuit, Chyna claimed that Jenner and Kardashian West were responsible for E! not moving forward with the planned second season of Rob & Chyna, her and her ex-fiance Rob Kardashians reality show that documented the birth of their 1-year-old daughter Dream Kardashian. In December, attorneys for Jenner and the Kardashians, Shawn Holley and Patricia Millet, filed a demurrer objecting to and asking for a dismissal of the lawsuit against them. Defendants Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian Wests demurrer to the first amended complaint is sustained, Judge Randolph M. Hammock wrote in the tentative ruling documents obtained by People. During the hearing, Judge Hammock said in regard to the reality show, There was no enforceable contract to have a second season. When theres no contract, Blac Chyna did not have a right to have a second season. Chynas attorneys Lisa Bloom and Vanessa Hooker were also granted another chance to amend their complaints in the lawsuit, which they present on a later court date. They filed an opposition to the demurrer on Jan. 4. This was their attempt to have some of the issues dismissed because they alleged we didnt properly plead them, Bloom told reporters. So the judge gave us leave to amend, which means the judge is allowing us to do another version of the complaint to add some allegations. [The Kardashians] will then probably come back and say its still not sufficient and well probably be back and argue it again. Millet, the attorney for Jenner and Kardashian, told reporters, We dont think they can fix it. In the demurrer filed Dec. 21, the Kardashians argued that Chyna, 29, herself prevented the show from filming after receiving a domestic violence restraining order against Rob, 30, in July. The order prevented Rob from contacting Chyna either directly or indirectly, in any way and required him to stay away from her, her home and place of work. In October, Chyna filed another lawsuit against her ex-fiance for allegedly damaging her brand and verbally and physically abusing her, which he denied. Lupita Nyongo has taken inspiration from her own childhood to pen an upcoming childrens book titled Sulwe. Sulwe, which means star in Luo, the Black Panther stars native language, reportedly tells the story of a 5-year-old Kenyan girl of the same name who is insecure about having darker skin than the rest of her family members. With a bit of wisdom from her mother, Sulwe takes a fanciful journey through the nights sky that helps her embrace the deep hue of her skin. In an interview with the New York Times, Nyongo shares the struggles she faced as a child trying to embrace her skin color while continually being compared to her fairer-skinned sister. In an Instagram post about the book, Nyongo expressed her hope that it serves as an inspiration for everyone to walk with joy in their own skin. Sulwe will be published by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers and has a release date of January 2019. A writer for Megyn Kelly Today was fired this week after lodging a formal complaint about what he called the shows toxic and demeaning workplace culture. Kevin Bleyer, a former Daily Show writer and speechwriter for Barack Obama, sent an email to NBCs human resources department and NBC News chief Noah Oppenheim accusing co-executive producers Jackie Levin and Christine Cataldi of bullying behavior toward staffers. A person familiar with the matter tells TheWrap the email was sent on Monday shortly after Bleyer learned he was being let go. According to the Daily Mail, which obtained a copy of the email, Bleyer said Levin called her assistant an idiot on a regular basis and Cataldi called him as a fing whiner. Also Read: Megyn Kelly Walks Back Pro Body-Shaming Stance: 'I Absolutely Do Not Support' (Video) The executive incompetence continues as does the dysfunctional management, abusive treatment, maddening hypocrisy, staggering inefficiencies, acidic and deficient communication, and relentless scapegoating, Bleyer wrote, according to the Mail. A person familiar with the matter confirmed the basic details of the email. Bleyer did not immediately respond to TheWraps request for comment. In a statement, NBC News hit back strongly, defending Levin and Cataldi and the decision to terminate Bleyer. Also Read: Megyn Kelly: I Was Called 'a Real C-Word' After Debate Dust-Up With Donald Trump Jackie and Christine are being attacked unfairly. They are both excellent and experienced producers, and have the full support of everyone here. They, and the team, are fully focused on continuing the shows momentum as it continues to climb in the ratings, a spokesperson said. He was let go for one reason only, the spokesperson added. He was the wrong fit for this role, as a comedy writer at a morning news broadcast. Since launching last fall, Megyn Kelly Today has struggled in the ratings though ironically it has found some traction with shows devoted to the #MeToo movement and individuals accusing prominent people of workplace misconduct. Story continues Related stories from TheWrap: Jane Fonda Hits Back at Lily Tomlin for Facelift Joke: 'Who Are You, Megyn Kelly?' (Video) Megyn Kelly Walks Back Pro Body-Shaming Stance: 'I Absolutely Do Not Support' (Video) Megyn Kelly Says She's Pro-Fat Shaming: 'Some of Us Want to Be Shamed' (Video) Three Trump Accusers Appear on Megyn Kelly: 'His Hands Went Up My Skirt' (Video) By Tony Centeno At a time where the people of Haiti are battling systematic oppression, American leaders have only given more struggle to the journey. The most damning has been President Donald Trump take on Haiti and the 54 countries of Africa he used expletives to describe. Response on the opposite end of the conversation has been swift, with African immigrants rising above the slurs and Haitian-Americans coming together to show their pride. Those whove been afflicted by the Trump family for decades have been through with his hateful rhetoric and antics for quite some time, especially in the world of music. We reached out to several Haitian artists and revered names in Americas largest Haitian communityMiami, and asked them to reflect on Trumps hateful comments made in the White House. __ Steph Lecor Steph Lector Credit: Getty Images As a Haitian-American woman, I am completely disgusted by 45s aka Donald Trumps comments towards Haitians and Africans. But lets face it guys, Im not surprised. This is a man whos been blatantly disrespectful towards women and has made numerous racist comments towards after other race other than his own. I dont feel like this man is worth anymore conversation. I just want to know when is he going to get impeached. Zoey Dollaz Zoey Dollaz Credit: Getty Images Its just more of a sad situation than a mad situation to see someone thats so insensitive towards a country and a culture that plays a major role in black history. Haitian people are one of the first people on the face of this Earth with independence. To hear him say that, you just gotta teach yourself to ignore the ignorance but also speak on it because most people are going to be afraid to say something. But Donald Trump, that shithole youre talking about, has a lot of strong people from there. There are a lot of great people from there and some of those people from there are actually some of the people who voted for you as well. Story continues Supa Cindy https://www.instagram.com/p/BdjdnKWAiGg/ When I first saw the quote that the president (and I use that term lightly) said what he said, I was definitely pissed off. But as I kept watching CNN and watching the quote over and over again and actually hearing them say shithole with no bleep, I felt angry but also more sad. The fact that the president of the free world is saying this ironically before the anniversary of the earthquake that killed over 200,000 people in Haiti..first of all, Haiti is the most beautiful country Ive ever seen. Being of both Haitian and Dominican descent, Haitis people are so resilient. They build something out of nothing, and when it gets torn down they rebuild. As far as the Haitians that are in the United States, Trump brought his ass to Lil Haiti during his campaign and asked for the Haitian communitys help and smiled at the Haitian Arts Cultural center where he sat there amongst the communitys leaders and shook hands and acted like he supported a community of people that work so hard to live and survive in the United States. So for him to say what he said just shows his ignorance. Hes heartless. Billy Blue Fire and Fury author Michael Wolffs accusation that President Trump is currently having an affair set off online speculation Saturday about who the other party might be. Based on Wolffs clues, it appears hes making insinuations about UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. A quick side note before we go further: This is gross on every level. We dont have any evidence whatsoever to suggest that what Wolff is hinting at is true, so please consider this a story about an author making an accusation he admits he cant prove. That said, Wolff went on Real Time With Bill Maher Friday to provide some encouragement to readers who may have given up halfway through Fire and Fury when he said a passage near the end of his book hints at the affair. Also Read:Trump Demands Babies Not Be Born After Nine Months: No, Really, He Said This Now that Ive told you, when you hit that paragraph youre going to say bingo, Wolff told Maher. Weve read the book. While there are icky descriptions about Trumps behavior with his spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, they come before the books midway point. (Youre the best piece of tail hell ever have! Trump is quoted as telling Hicks about an ex, which Wolff says sent Hicks running from the room.) The only passage weve found near the end of the book that references a Trump relationship with a woman who isnt his wife or daughter is this one: By October, however, many on the presidents staff took particular notice of one of the few remaining Trump opportunists: Nikki Haley, the UN ambassador. Haley as ambitious as Lucifer, in the characterization of one member of the senior staff had concluded that Trumps tenure would last, at best, a single term, and that she, with requisite submission, could be his heir apparent. Haley had courted and befriended Ivanka, and Ivanka had brought her into the family circle, where she had become a particular focus of Trumps attention, and he of hers. Story continues Bingo? Wolff adds that Trump had been spending a notable amount of private time with Haley on Air Force One and was seen to be grooming her for a political future. Wolff cited one senior Trumper who said the problem with Trump mentoring Haley is that she is so much smarter than him. Also Read:'Real Time': Michael Wolff Hints at Current Trump Infidelity Hidden in Bombshell Book (Video) The White House, Haley and Wolff did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There are many problems with this theory, aside from Wolff going on national television to accuse people of having affairs. Among them: Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, was one of Trumps early Republican critics. She campaigned for Marco Rubio and then supported Ted Cruz. When she gave the Republican response to President Obamas final State of the Union address, she seemed to criticize Trump when she said: During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. Trump responded by calling her weak on immigration. Trump also tweeted: The people of South Carolina are embarrassed by Nikki Haley! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2016 Like many Republicans, however, Haley signed on to work with Trump after his election. Haley is a married child of Indian immigrants who turned 46 today. Happy birthday. Here are some tweets from people who read between the lines: In just the past two days Michael Wolff intimated Trump & Nikki Haley are having an affair, a porn star said Trump asked her to spank his bottom with a Forbes Magazine, Glenn Simpson accused Trump of money-laundering & cavorting with Russian mobsters & the government shutdown. James Gunn (@JamesGunn) January 20, 2018 It sure sounds like Michael Wolff just accused Donald Trump of having an affair with Nikki Haley https://t.co/llBbjbmC2T Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) January 20, 2018 At this point it's mere speculation, but Michael Wolff has said that a paragraph toward the back of FIRE AND FURY reveals who Trump's current mistress is (an affair that opens the president up to blackmail) and many online are insisting that THIS is the paragraph Wolff refers to: pic.twitter.com/qVRiPjZ5yX Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) January 20, 2018 And a rebuttal: I doubt Nikki Haley is having an affair with Trump. I'm sure Trump's lover is white. https://t.co/O4YkaVOoDI Jim McIver (@klemmett_r) January 20, 2018 Related Video: Watch news, TV and more on Yahoo View. Related stories from TheWrap: 'Real Time': Michael Wolff Hints at Current Trump Infidelity Hidden in Bombshell Book (Video) Michael Wolff's 'Fire and Fury' Book About Trump White House to Be Adapted for TV Michael Wolff Tells Stephen Colbert 'Why There Are So Many Leaks in This White House' (Video) NBC News said it would stand by two senior producers of its Megyn Kelly Today after a writer on the program made allegations about the way they treated staffers on the program. An email from Kevin Bleyer, said to be a temporary staffer on the NBC morning program, surfaced late Thursday detailing various ways he saw Jackie Levin and Christine Cataldi, the two top producers at Megyn Kelly Today, treat other employees assigned to the show. Among the claims are details of some tough language used to describe particular staffers. But NBC News dismissed the complaint. Jackie and Christine are being attacked unfairly. They are both excellent and experienced producers, and have the full support of everyone here, NBC News said in a prepared statement. They, and the team, are fully focused on continuing the shows momentum as it continues to climb in the ratings. Megyn Kelly Today has in recent weeks notched an average of 2.9 million viewers. The average audience for the 9 a.m. hour of Today in the 2016-2017 broadcast season was 2.8 million people. The writers complaints did not make any allegations against Kelly. One person familiar with the matter suggested the writer, who had a background in working on late-night comedy programming, was unprepared for the ebb-and-flow of morning TV, where staffers who often lack eight hours of sleep work to put on a daily program under unforgiving deadlines. Senior and junior staffers on many morning programs routinely confess the punishing schedule of the shows leave them feeling tired and punchy. The allegations suggest bullying, and surface at a time when NBC News is still working through the surprising ouster of Matt Lauer, the veteran Today co-host who, according to NBC News, was involved in what it called inappropriate sexual behavior. NBC News has a new team at the first two hours of Today Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb that is the first female co-anchor assemblage in the venerable programs 66-year history. Earlier this week, NBC News said Don Nash, the executive producer of Today, would step down from his post, replaced during the shows first two hours by Libby Leist, a veteran of the units Washington bureau. Story continues NBC News is in the midst of a review of how it handled allegations against Lauer, and has said it intends to bolster training among employees about appropriate behavior in the workplace. Among the things executives intended to improve was helping people feel comfortable with reporting inappropriate workplace interactions, according to a memo to employees sent late last year by NBC News Chairman Andy Lack. NBC News must do a much better job of making people feel empowered to take that crucial first step of reporting bad behavior, Lack said at the time. Related stories Libby Leist Will Lead NBC's 'Today' to Tomorrow Ann Curry 'Not Surprised' by Matt Lauer Allegations, Talks 'Climate of Verbal Harassment' at NBC News Why Hoda Kotb Isn't Making Matt Lauer's Salary (at Least Not Yet) Subscribe to Variety Newsletters and Email Alerts! Senate Republicans failed to win over enough Democrats to reach 60 votes in a last-ditch effort to avoid a government shutdown at midnight Friday. Members of both parties in Congress had raced against time to pass a budget resolution/assign blame before a government shutdown set for midnight ET. Political parties squabbled all day over Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (aka DACA), the Wall and Childrens Health Insurance Program. Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense James Mad Dog Mattis warned that the mess in Washington was hurting military readiness. As they foamed over, cable news networks flipped the switch on their Countdown to Shutdown clocks, in the bottom right corner of their screens. CNN had some fun sharing video of Citizen Trump pontificating, before the 2013 government shutdown during Obamas presidency, you just have a president who is not a leader, and not getting people in a room, and not shouting, and cajoling, and leading, and having a good time and a terrible times all those different emotional things you have to do to get people into the room and just make deals for the good of the country. The cable news network also ran a segment telling viewers what government functions would and would not actually shut down. Government flu tracking and the passport-application processing would come to a standstill. All 19 Smithsonians would be shuttered, as would NASA monitoring of potentially dangerous asteroids a big one is set to brush by Earth on February 4, the cable news network noted. Air traffic controllers, however, would stay on the job. President Donald Trump invited Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to the White House for an afternoon one-on-one, spooking some Republicans. Schumer previously had said, We Democrats believe that we want to do everything we can to avoid a shutdown, but we Democrats believe if there is one, it will fall on the Republicans backs plain and simple. Story continues Fox News Channel star/Trump BFF Sean Hannity begged to differ: The Democrats, the media they are desperately trying to whip you into a frenzy about a government shutdown, he said. They want to create a climate of fear and panic that is all based on lies. Let not your heart be troubled, Hannity waxed poetically. Theyre not telling you the truth about what is actually going to happen if, at midnight, the government shuts down. It never really shuts down. Its all an attempt to try and use the shutdown to bludgeon, once again, President Trump and the Republicans politically even though they have nothing to do with this. Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer theyre the ones to blame tonight, the Hannity host added. Theyre the ones, in reality, putting illegal immigrants before you, the American people. DACA is in place until March. Its not that urgent. Its why, tonight, this is being called The Schumer Shutdown. Its all about trying to convince you the shutdown will lead to mass suffering and apocalyptic-like circumstances. Those are the lies they have been telling us all week. Hannity then switched to his preferred story for the night: Hillarys Dirty Dossier. At 6:30 PM, however, Hannity got interrupted with news Sen. Lindsey Graham announced an outline of a framework for a deal to keep the government open until February 8, so as to get this mess of a deadline past Trumps first State of the Union Address, on January 30. Related stories 'SNL': President Donald Trump Passed His Physical - And The Tide Pod Challenge LA Women's March: Natalie Portman, Viola Davis, Scarlett Johansson Speak Out - Update Donald Trump Mansplains Women's March, Takes Credit For "Milestones" When Seattle-based online retailer Amazon announced it was searching for a North American location for its second headquarters, no fewer than 238 cities rose to the challenge by submitting proposalsmany with generous tax incentives. The top 20 finalists were announced on Thursday. Each of the cities19 in the United States and one in Canadamet Amazons requirements of being a metropolitan area with more than one million people and a stable, business-friendly environment. The top 20 finalists were Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, Montgomery County, Nashville, Newark, New York City, Northern Virginia, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Raleigh, Toronto, and Washington, D.C. Several of the finalists, such as Austin, Nashville, and Raleigh, are considered top real estate markets to watch in 2018. Its no secret that bringing a new headquarters to a city can have a significant impact on the local housing market and economy; after the 2014 announcement that Toyota was moving to Plano, Tex., the median-sales-price growth for homes increased from 6.1 percent in 2014 to 9.9 percent in 2015. And Amazon estimates its investments in Seattle from 2010 to 2016 added an additional $38 billion to the citys economy. The company expects to invest over $5 billion in construction and bring as many as 50,000 high-paying tech jobs to the community it chooses for its second headquarters. Amazons decision on where it will locate its second U.S. headquarters has the power to transform the local housing market, says Javier Vivas, director of economic research for realtor.com. The city that gets selected will immediately see a boost to jobs and wages, pushing home values up and triggering new construction in neighborhoods within commuting distance of the headquarters location. From a housing perspective, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, and Raleigh all offer relative affordability and less inventory constraints and would benefit from a new wave of jobs. New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and Boston are markets that have already seen a fair share of growth and inventory challenges, and affordability would be further constrained. Story continues Eran Roth, the founder and CEO at iintoo, notes that Amazons investment will have an immense impact on the chosen cityespecially if its a smaller one. The smaller the town, the bigger the impact of a giant like Amazon coming to town, he says. [Amazon workers] need places to live, their families need to buy groceries, their kids need to go to school, and they all need to shop. It is the type of trickledown economics that really works in the micro level and not fails cynically at the macro political level. Although its difficult to predict where Amazon will end up, Roth says its more likely to be in Austin or Columbus than New York City or Los Angeles. Towns too small can be overwhelmed by the amount of traffic such a large operation creates, but large cities like New York City can afford to not give Amazon any special treatment such as tax breaks and public-works support. Amazon is planning to make a final decision by the end of the year. Related stories You Have the Chance to Eat the Japanese Fish That Sold for $323,195 This Apartment Comes with a Key to the Most Exclusive Park in New York City Keep Your Healthy New Year's Resolutions with a Trip to Miami This Spring British fashion designer Kim Jones for Louis Vuitton acknowledging the audience after this ready-to-wear collection show in Paris - AFP or licensors As he announces his departure as the head of Louis Vuitton menswear a position he has held since 2011 Kim Jones is likely to take a little time off to explore; travel is one of his most enduring love affairs, alongside fashion. Born in London and raised in Kenya, he spends every spare second circumnavigating the globe, learning about exotic cultures and watching rare wildlife travels that fire his imagination and ultimately inform his eclectic collections. He has taken the Louis Vuitton man to the plains of Botswana and the palaces of Jaipur, spliced Asian decoration with Americana and hes only just getting started. Here Jones explains how a spirit of adventure is the lifeblood of his creativity. Its fortunate that I enjoy being on planes because last year I took five round-the-world trips: Japan, Laos, New Zealand, Los Angeles then back again. Just last week I was in Asia, America and Europe, and I calculated that by March last year I had been to 15 countries, either on work or research trips or holidays to switch off, where I inevitably end up working because theres so much to absorb and learn. This year, my itinerary looks just as full in January alone I visited five countries. Travel has always been a very important part of my life. I was brought up in Kenya, thanks to my fathers work as a hydrogeologist, and his career took us all over the world. When I was three months old we went to Ecuador; later we travelled through Ethiopia and Botswana. We stayed all over Africa and that experience has remained with me. It instilled in me a love of nature and wildlife Im passionate about conservation and that underpins a lot of my excursions. With Africa, theres just so much to take in. The space, the people, the striking contrast between places. When youre five years old and seeing amazing animals in the wild on the plains of Kenya it stays with you. David Attenborough is one of my heroes; he was in my mind when I created my first collection for Louis Vuitton in 2011, which was influenced by Africa. Hes educated generations of people about our planet. I also love the work of conservationist Gerald Durrell and read all his books growing up. I actually wrote to him several times he always wrote back. Story continues Images from Kim Jones' personal collection of travel photos alongside the collections they inspired Credit: Richard Foster Joining Louis Vuitton was a natural fit. When I began working here I immediately found a connection between the iconic Louis Vuitton Damier check, created in 1888, and an original Masai blanket I had from my childhood. That discovery inspired the Damier Masai print featured in my first show. For spring/summer 2016 I used references from my travels through south-east Asia Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar. Id been to the latter the summer previously and seen some incredible things. The country has only recently opened up to tourism and its relatively unspoilt. I picked up pieces of fabric, bits of clothing, and looked at how the various hill tribes dressed; the shapes and cuts. What struck me were the similarities between pieces of their clothing from 50 years ago and modern sportswear. I found what almost looked like a tracksuit top, covered in stripes, and that jacket sparked everything in the collection. You get one thread of thought from something like that and then everything else follows. Its fascinating to find authentic items from different cultures that teach you something: a new way of weaving a fabric, or a technique from the 1940s thats become obsolete. Often its about working out how to make that modern and right for Vuitton. Besides Africa, the most fundamentally life-changing place Ive been to is India. The culture is fascinating and I like the way they view animals. Im not religious but theres something magical about their spirituality. Credit: AFP Ive seen so many incredible places, but there are very few I wouldnt want to go back to. Ive been to Machu Picchu three times now and Id love to revisit Easter Island. Ive been to Japan around 70 or 80 times Ive lost count. I love its food, its nature, its culture. Seeing rare animals in the wild is a pull for me when I travel. One place I revisit time and again is Tswalu, a private game reserve in the Kalahari, where you can see everything from lions to meerkats. I once dragged my friends to a remote island off the coast of New Zealand to see the kakapo, an endangered flightless parrot. There are only about 107 left in the world. You have to be invited there because they are so highly protected. Pangolins are a favourite of mine too, which I saw in South Africa last year. Theyre the most traded endangered animal in the world. Im excited about going to Vietnam soon to see the douc langurs, a rare breed of monkey. Ive had some frightening experiences but ironically, my most recent scare was a car crash in LA during a torrential rainstorm that resulted in two black eyes. Im never put off though. I want to see as much of this world as I can. Three is a crowd. Fred Hubbell no longer has the television airwaves to himself in the primary race to be Iowa Democrats candidate for governor. Two more candidates, Nate Boulton and Cathy Glasson, have in recent days started airing campaign ads on TV. Hubbell, a Des Moines businessman, has been airing campaign ads on TV since October. Until this past week, Hubbell was the only member of the field buying up TV slots. Boulton, a state senator from Des Moines, joined the campaign ad fray on Tuesday. The 30-second spot, which is airing in the Cedar Rapids and Des Moines markets, highlights his work in the Iowa Senate as Democrats opposed Republican policies during the 2017 legislative session. The ad calls Boulton a new voice and says he went toe to toe with Branstad and Reynolds, referring to former Gov. Terry Branstad and his successor, Kim Reynolds. Boulton jumped right back in with his second ad, which will begin running this week. Boultons second ad highlights the myriad state legislators who are supporting his campaign. It is time for a new generation, Iowa Sen. Bill Dotzler, a Democrat from Waterloo, says in the ad. Glassons first campaign ad began airing Thursday, also in the Cedar Rapids and Des Moines markets. In the ad, Glasson, a nurse and union leader from Coralville, is shown in campaign speeches making her call for universal health care. Ive listened to Iowans, and I believe Iowans and this country are ready to rise up for universal health care, Glasson says in the ad. The new ads were posted in the same week the public began to learn the details of the candidates fundraising efforts over the course of 2017. Boulton said he has raised roughly $1.3 million, and Glasson received roughly $1.8 million solely from a national union that has endorsed her campaign. Hubbell, meantime, reported raising more than $3 million. And now those candidates are putting those resources to work. Name recognition will be play an important factor in the June 6 primary, and advertising on television is a sure-fire way to introduce a candidate to a large number of voters. Iowa lawmakers joins national GOP organization Jack Whitver, president of the Iowa Senate and a Republican from Ankeny, has been named president of a national group that identifies, recruits and prepares Republican candidates for higher office. Whitver this week was announced as president of GOPAC. He joins an advisory board of legislative leaders from across the country. Reynolds' challenge Gov. Kim Reynolds is running for election to a four-year term after last year replacing former Gov. Terry Branstad, who was named U.S. ambassador to China. Successor incumbents are elected at a lower rate than elected incumbents, according to a report this week from Governing magazine. Just 63 percent of successor incumbents have won since World War II, a lower success rate than elected incumbents, according to the report. Fourteen successor incumbents lost in the general election, while nine were defeated in party primaries. A lot of people dont see them as legitimate candidates, Darryl Paulson, an emeritus government professor at the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg, told Governing. We didnt elect them; they were selected to fill the interim. Reynolds was Branstads lieutenant governor since 2011, but will have been governor for just roughly a year when voters cast ballots in this years primary and roughly a year and a half by the time the November general election rolls around. This morning the Department of Health and Human Services announced a significant change in its civil rights office, and its bad news for transgender patients and anyone seeking an abortion. Within the HHS civil rights office, there is now a Conscience and Religious Freedom Division, which will serve to shield health care providers who want to refuse to provide abortions and/or give treatment to transgender patients on religious grounds. The HHS is, unsurprisingly, trying to frame this change as a win for religious freedom as opposed to what many others would argue as a slash in the health and human rights of women and trans people. The HHS stated in its announcement of the new Division that it has been established to restore federal enforcement of our nations laws that protect the fundamental and unalienable rights of conscience and religious freedom. OCR is the law enforcement agency within HHS that enforces federal laws protecting civil rights and conscience in health and human services, and the security and privacy of peoples health information. The reality is that women and trans people will have a harder time getting access to essential medical care. Politico reports that the new HHS rule will further empower the government to punish organizations that dont allow medical professionals to refuse treatment based on religious or moral objections. Not only will the changes mean that doctors can refuse to treat people for vague religious or moral reasons, but if a doctors employer pushes back, they could get slapped with legal action from the federal government. The Trump administrations vigorous commitment to so-called religious freedom over and above the health of trans people and patients seeking an abortion is cause for major concern among reproductive choice and trans health advocates. In a statement provided to Brit + Co, Dr. Willie Parker, a reproductive rights advocate and chair of the board of Physicians for Reproductive Health, said, As medical professionals, our utmost concern is that people can get timely, high-quality health care that they need without stigma or obstacles. Patient care should always come first, adding that he is troubled by the new HHS rule. Parker also said that he is a person of faith and does not see religious values at odds with a doctors responsibility to give all patients the care they need. Story continues The Transgender Law Center released its own statement Thursday morning, calling the new HHS rule extreme. The TLC also says the rule grants an illegal license to discriminate against transgender people who come to the doctor or emergency room for help when our lives are in danger due to sickness, violence, or injury. Its also an attack against all people, including many in the transgender community, who rely on critical care ranging from reproductive services to emergency services to HIV medication. The statement ended with a promise to take the government to court over the new rule. Of course, this is not the first time the Trump administration has attacked trans peoples health. When the Department of Defense first announced he planned to rollback an Obama-era law that allows trans people to serve in the military, it cited the supposedly too-high cost of trans health care. But according to NBC News, this reasoning is based on essentially nothing, since trans health care costs the DOD very little in comparison with the Departments total budget, and the health cost of cisgender people in the military. Reproductive and trans health care also came under attack in December when word broke that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were reportedly banning the use of seven words, including fetus and transgender, from official documents. Representatives of the CDC went on to refute the claim, but an NPR report would go on to observe that fewer National Science Foundation grants had been awarded to proposals that included politically charged language. Trump has now established a thorough pattern of attack against reproductive and trans rights. And though the Trump administration claims it wants to better protect religious liberties, the reality is that the new HHS rule will make it easier for doctors to discriminate against women and all trans patients. What do you think? Tell us on Twitter @BritandCo. (Photos via Getty; Featured illustration by Sarah Tate/ Brit + Co) You Might Also Like President Trump called daughter Ivanka baby during a speech on tax reform. (Photo: Getty Images) Ivanka Trump is a mother-of-three, advisor to the president, and first daughter of the United States. But President Trump calls her baby. On Thursday, during a speech on tax reform in Pittsburgh, Penn., the president invited Ivanka on stage to discuss the child tax credit. The president my father Ivanka said with a sly wink to the crowd, was very specific about what he wanted to accomplish. It was so core to him to support hard-working, middle-income families and the child tax credit is key to doing that. As Ivanka left the stage, Trump said, Thank you, baby. Many people on Twitter expressed disbelief over the presidents Baby remark. "Thank you, babe." President Trump to senior adviser and daughter Ivanka Trump. Phil Elliott (@Philip_Elliott) January 18, 2018 Ugh that makes my skin crawl Joshua Ian (@JoshuaIan610) January 18, 2018 Trump to Ivanka w/a sloppy kiss: "Thank you, Baby!" Cande Carroll (@Celebrity1) January 19, 2018 Thank you baby!@POTUS says to #Ivanka after she lies about #tax cuts to Pennsylvanians at this rally. Hes even sexist with his own daughter. .. #Trump #RickSaccone Andy Ostroy (@AndyOstroy) January 18, 2018 There are not enough vomiting gifs for Trump saying "Thank you baby." to Ivanka. laura (@wanderlustlaura) January 18, 2018 The president has traditionally spoken this way to his daughter. In September, while speaking in North Dakota, he invited the mother-of-three on stage by saying, Sometimes theyll say he cant be that bad of a guy look at Ivanka. Come on up, honey. Shes so good. She wanted to make the trip. She said, Daddy, can I go with you? I like that. After Ivanka spoke, Trump then said: Thank you, honey. Thanks, baby. In January of last year, during a campaign donor dinner in D.C., the president praised White House counselor Kellyanne Conways hard work leading up to the election. Thank you, baby, he said to the 50-year-old mother-of-two, as she exited the stage. President Trump praised White House counselor Kellyanne Conway for her work, saying, Thank you baby at a January 2017 dinner. (Photo: Getty Images) Baby is a loaded word its both paternal and sexual, Melanie Katzman, PhD., president of Katzman Consulting, a consortium of psychologists specializing in workplace dynamics, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. Its a term of endearment for a child and for a lover, and neither variant belongs in the workplace. Language like Baby and Sweetie undercuts a womans authority, professionalism, and competence, especially when the workplace is the White House and #MeToo culture is demanding equal treatment of women. In her position as advisor to the president and an advocate for women at work, Ivanka is in a unique position to influence her father and boss, the most powerful man in the country. Accepting the nickname baby, says Katzman, is a missed opportunity. Ivanka is decreasing her value as an model for women when she plays along with or doesnt correct her father, says Katzman. If shes an emblem for women in power, she needs to demonstrate that. Otherwise, yes, shes being complicit. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. Kim Jones, the artistic director of Louis Vuitton mens, took his final bow with the brand on Jan. 18 in Paris. Supermodels Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell joined hands with the designer for his farewell runway walk. According to Joness Instagram, the supermodels special cameo (at a menswear show) was a tribute to the Marc Jacobs-led Vuitton of the early 2000s, and a thank-you to Jacobs for giving Jones his entry there. Joining Moss and Campbell was a sea of celebrity guests, who gave Jones a standing ovation. The Beckham family (including son Brooklyn Beckham, sporting a red-and-white monogrammed LV shirt) stood among a flurry of other fashion designers including Virgil Abloh of Off-White and Olivier Rousteing of Balmain who wanted to bid Jones adieu. The designer became the artistic director of Louis Vuitton in 2011, with his first collection debuting for Spring/Summer 2012 to rave reviews. It had been inspired by Joness past travels to Africa with his family, which he exhibited by the mixture of khaki shorts and tan suiting alongside bright African printed scarves, matching tees, and plenty of sandals. It is rare to see a designer step so perfectly into new shoes. But this debut collection could not be faulted. Its soul was the essence of Vuitton: travel, wrote Suzy Menkes for the New York Times following the debut. In 2017, Jones, who has become a figure for a streetwear-meets-luxury aesthetic, introduced the most sensational collaboration of his career with Supreme. The collaborative collection sold out immediately, causing resale items to reach as high as $7,500 for a single hoodie. There is no doubt that Jones will be missed at Louis Vuitton, but considering how quickly the fashion industrys revolving door spins, this will certainly not be the last time we see of him. Now take a look back at Joness most memorable fashion runway looks for the Parisian brand. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Barack Obama sends the prettiest surprise to Michelle on her birthday What you need to know about the 2018 Womens March events Scrunchies are back for real this time, and heres the price tag to prove it Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. We have a very exciting development in Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's wedding planning (well, maybe): The bride appears to have landed on who will be making her gown for the big day. The intel comes from Omid Scobie, a royal reporter and biographer. He told ABC News: "We have a wedding dress designer. Meghan flew in her close friend and bridal stylist Jessica Mulroney from Toronto to London last weekend where she attended a top-secret fitting at Kensington Palace with the designer." A longtime friend of Markle's, Mulroney most recently attended the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games with the former actress and her mom. Over the years, they've been photographed together at a variety of events in Toronto, where the stylist is based and where Markle filmed Suits. Instagram Dinner George Pimentel Though Markle and Mulroney have apparently dwindled down the list of contenders to a single brand, the actual dress hasn't been decided on. "They've tried on a number of different designs and are currently whittling it down to pick the best design for the day," Scobie added. The stylist reportedly spent four days at Kensington Palace with the bride-to-be, apparently chiming in on a variety of wedding-related decisions. The last update we got from the Meghan Markle Wedding Dress Watch was a sketch submitted to Kensington Palace by Israeli designer Inbal Dror, back in December. Scobie didn't reveal the name of the chosen designer. World Vision Event George Pimentel As far as what we can expect in terms of aesthetics, Scobie told ABC News that "Meghan expressed the desire to wear something simple and classy and very elegant." As a different anonymous source explained to E!, "Some of [Markle and Mulroney's] favorite design elements include embroidery and sleeves." Let the speculation begin continue! Related Video: Story continues Related Stories: With Her Clothes, Meghan Markle Is Moving the Monarchy Into a New Age These New Photos of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Just Feel Right Here's Why Meghan Markle Can't Wear a Tiara, But Kate Middleton Can This week, Prince William stepped out with a new hairstyle. Instead of the short look he's been sporting for several years now, the Duke of Cambridge officially has a buzz cut. William debuted his new hairstyle during an event at Evelina London Childrens hospital in London on Thursday, where he discussed, according to HuffPo U.K., his new program for the National Health Service. (No, his hair did not come up.) Prince William's hair has been noticeably thinning in recent years something that his wife, Kate Middleton, has even poked fun of throughout their marriage. "The prince was interested in the alpaca, and as I showed it to them, the princess said he should put it on his head," an Australian farmer famously told E! News a few years ago when the couple were on a royal tour of New South Wales. "She said, 'You need it more than me,' and pointed to his head and he laughed." Perhaps most notably, upon the birth of his first child, William remarked to the press outside St. Mary's Hospital that the baby has "got way more hair than me, thank God!" E! notes. Such a joker. In any case, we fully support William's new look. Not only is the style more efficient, but he can now claim a striking resemblance to Big Little Lies star Alexander Skarsgard, who briefly sported a partially bald style last fall. More on the royals: Now, check out this video on celebrity wedding gowns: Don't forget to follow Allure on Instagram and Twitter. No one wouldve ever called Jennifer Slipakoff a slacker. Shed spent the past several years being actively engaged in her community of Kennesaw, Ga. as a volunteer civil rights advocate, particularly around LGBTQ issues in the metro-Atlanta area, inspired by her role as mother of a transgender child. Still, after Donald Trump was elected, Slipakoff said that what she was doing easily identifiable as selfless, heartfelt work by even the most casual observer suddenly felt insufficient. Participants at the Womens March on Washington on Jan. 21, 2017. (Photo: Getty Images) I realized that I wasnt doing enough, and that I could have done more to influence the outcome of the election, Slipakoff tells Yahoo Lifestyle. I could have knocked on more doors. But she didnt allow regret to consume her. Instead, the mom and activist who lives in a historically deep-red district in the suburbs started asking close friends and local activists if they thought it might be worth it to run for the Georgia House of Representatives. And she was met with a collective and resounding YES. Jennifer Slipakoff (Photo: electjenslipakoff via Instagram) One of my goals was to not let our incumbents go unopposed the person I am running against ran unopposed for the past 10 years, she says about her current run. So thats what I talked about with my friends: Was it enough to run and take the risk? Is that compelling enough, to just run? And for me it was. Running itself felt like a win. Once Slipakoff threw her hat into the race, though, something interesting happened her race went from looking like a long shot, she says, to something difficult, but certainly doable. Her story feels emblematic of a major shift in politics thats been building since the Womens March in 2017, held the day after Trumps inauguration and about to be repeated across the country, in different ways, for the anniversary on Saturday and Sunday. Since that inspiring day, women are not only running for office in record numbers, but also are doing so because of the deep motivations offered by this political moment. Yahoo Lifestyle spoke to nine such women, gaining inspiring insights along the way. Story continues Leslie Cockburn (Photo: Getty Images) Leslie Cockburn, Virginia: The reason I decided to run was very simple Trump won. Stephanie Schriock, president of Emilys List a nonprofit that recruits and supports pro-abortion-rights Democratic women to run for office tells Yahoo Lifestyle that the sea change has been energizing for the organization. Tens of thousands of first-time Democratic women candidates are raising their hands to run for office, and we could not be more excited, she says. These women bring critical perspectives were missing in Congress, our state legislatures, and our city councils. Theyre veterans, teachers, pediatricians, activists, single moms, and policy experts and they will change the face of politics. This is the next decade of leaders. Since Election Day 2016, more than 26,000 women have signed up to run for office through Emilys List, and another 8,000 have signed up to support these womens campaigns. The reason I decided to run was very simple, former journalist Leslie Cockburn, now a candidate for U.S. Congress from Virginia, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. Trump won. Cockburn (who is the mother of activist-actress Olivia Wilde) explains, I was offended by Trump for many reasons, largely having to do with what he had to say about women and what he said about journalists using words like, You are the enemy of the people. Thats a very charged term that crosses a line. I felt suddenly like I was looking at Berlin in 1932. And given my background and experience covering U.S. and foreign policy, I could see the extent of the damage he could do in Washington to everything I love about government. And then he did it. A key moment of inspiration, she adds, was attending the Womens March on Washington. I have marched many, many times in my life, but this one was very special. My children were there, my extended family, a whole group of us. It meant a lot, that it was this huge statement we were all making together. Cockburns district encompasses Charlottesville, Va., a place that she describes as the frontlines of the Trump wars ever since the events that followed a white supremacist rally there in August. But the fallout from the events there have, more than anything, prompted huge amounts of activism and its women who have started the resistance groups. There is a wave happening here. Its kind of a tidal wave, and its because of women. Marie Newman (Photo: Marie Newman Democrat for Congress) Marie Newman, Illinois: We have to save ourselves. Marie Newman is an entrepreneur, consultant, and anti-bullying activist who is running to unseat antiabortion and anti-LGBT Democratic incumbent Rep. Dan Lipinski in Congress. She too has a simple reason for running: We have to save ourselves. Lipinski currently represents parts of the Chicago area, in a district that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won by 15 points in the 2016 general election. But Newman says that the overriding, burning piece of her decision to run was the combination of seeing how the 2016 election cycle evolved and devolved. Personalities became more important in some ways and less important in others, policies mattered less than ever before and then fast-forward to the point when Hillary lost the election and it became clear to me that no one was going to save us. We have to save us, and we have to jump off the sidelines to do it. She notes that running as a woman this year feels significant in every way. Women always have to work a little bit harder, and thats no different in politics. We have to work harder to make the same amount of money as men or get to the same level in our professions as men. Now, interestingly, is that we have gotten a lot better about understanding the importance of being at the table instead of on the menu, she says. I think all women whether female candidates or the people supporting them understand this with precision now. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (Photo: Debbie Mucarsel-Powell via Facebook) Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Florida: I cant even imagine what the alternative will be. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell immigrated to the United States from Ecuador as a child with her mother and sisters, and is currently running for U.S. Congress in the Miami area. When she was growing up, her mother worked two jobs to support her family while also attending night school to study English. Mucarsel-Powell herself started working at a doughnut shop at the age of 15 to help support her family, soon earning college scholarships. Today, she works for Florida International Universitys College of Health and the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. And when the Trump agenda began to go into effect, she explains, it was personal. When we first came here, we didnt have health insurance, so we went to community health clinics and Planned Parenthood clinics to get health care, she explains. I have used these health clinics to get basic health care services, and then I dedicated my career to ensuring that basic primary care is available to the people who need it most. I think its the governments responsibility to take care of all of us. If we dont bring Democrats to Congress and the Senate who can work to make sure that we take care of our families by providing these basic health care services, I dont know whats going to happen. I cant even imagine what the alternative will be. And when it comes to anyone who doubts womens ability to lead change in this country, Mucarsel-Powell says, I want to talk to whoever is underestimating women right now. We have such inner strength. We are nurturers. We know what we need to do to take care of our children. We sacrifice ourselves to give, but at the same time were extremely strong, and I dont think anyone should ever underestimate the strength of a woman. Stacey Abrams (Photo: Facebook/Stacey Abrams) Stacey Abrams, Georgia: This was the right time. Stacey Abrams is Georgias former state House minority leader. And in May, after serving for seven years in this position and 10 years in the Georgia House of Representatives, Abrams announced her bid for Georgias governorship. If elected, she will be the states first governor who is both African-American and a woman. The 2017 resistance movement really solidified for me why this was the right time, she tells Yahoo Lifestyle of her decision to run. We saw people across the country and particularly in Georgia who got that there was a real connection between good government and our living standards having leadership that respects the people it leads and is not xenophobic, racist and misogynistic. That was put in sharp relief this year. Abrams says. She adds, We need leaders who are reflective of their constituents values, values of diversity of beliefs, and the integrity of humanity. There is a hunger for authentic leadership, particularly for women and particularly for women of color who, for a very long time, have been left out of decision-making positions. Abrams says that the 2016 election showed that we need more women and people of color to take charge. If youre a person of color who has seen families torn about, deported, seen leaders say horrible things about you based on the color of your skin, it makes sense that you would decide now is your time to lead, she says. More women, more people of color are saying, Look at me Im ready to lead, and you have to pay attention to my issues. Bee Nguyen (Photo: Bee for Georgia via Facebook) Bee Nguyen, Georgia: We want to be part of the decision-making process. Bee Nguyen was just elected to Georgias State House of Representatives in November, filling the seat vacated by Stacey Abrams (above) when she announced her run for governor. The daughter of Vietnamese refugees and the founder of a nonprofit organization that works to empower and educate young women, especially those who come from disadvantaged communities, Nguyen says she learned to understand that having a diversity of opinion in government wasnt just necessary, but something she herself had the power to make happen. She was a critical voice in lobbying Georgias legislature in 2016 to pass a bill that would address the states rape kit backlog untested evidence from a pileup of sexual assaults. The process, she says, showed her something important: I belonged at the Capitol, whereas I had previously always felt out of place there. I realized its really important to have diverse voices at the table not just in terms of race, but in terms of person and professional backgrounds, the kinds of work people do. Finally, Nguyen notes, Everything shown to us in the past year has reminded us that it is incredibly important for us to participate. Kim Schrier (Photo: Kim Schrier via Facebook) Kim Schrier, Washington: That ticked me off. When the first repeal bill for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives last year, pediatrician Kim Schrier of Washington went with three other doctors from her practice to meet with the congressional representative. She explained all the ways that bill would be bad for my patients, the district, and the country. Then, two days later, Schriers representative voted yes to repeal the ACA. That ticked me off, Schrier, now running for Congress, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. I believe that the House of Representatives should be full of people who are regular people from the district, there to represent people from the district. There was no question that our district would be hurt by all these Trumpcare bills so that meant we had a representative who didnt want to represent us. If elected, Schrier will be the only female doctor in Congress and she believes thats a critical perspective currently missing, especially when it comes to womens health and reproductive rights. The intersection of public health, womens health, childrens health, and reproductive rights all go together, Schrier says. And clearly, all the men in Congress are not seeing the intersection. But she, like so many of the other women interviewed for this story, also believes that Congress needs more of another perspective: that of mothers. Moms teach their kids that everyone needs to play nicely in the sandbox, and that you dont always get your way, she says. We should be modeling that you dont always get your way, that you need to reach across the aisle to make things work, that you need to have a little less pride and ego and a little more listening and empathy. Aruna Miller (Photo: Aruna Miller via Facebook) Aruna Miller, Maryland: Democracy is delicate, and we need to take care of it. Aruna Miller, a civil engineer currently serving in Marylands state Legislature and running for U.S. Congress, is seeking higher office because of her commitment to empathy as an American value. Miller emigrated from India to the United States at the age of 7, speaking no English when she arrived, and sipped cold milk for the first time in her life on her first day of school here. Seeing all the kids around her drinking their milk, she says, she kept on drinking and drinking her own, hoping this would help her fit in with her new classmates. Then, when she got back to class after lunch, she recalls, she threw up all over her desk. But it was the events that followed that she says changed her whole life: Her mother picked her up from school, and the young Miller tearfully begged to go back to India. But that afternoon, one of her new classmates showed up at her house holding paintings that all the children in class had made for her. The teacher that was there taught the kids empathy, Miller says. She recognized the pain I felt, and she told the kids, Make some paintings. This is hard for her. I felt included when I saw those paintings. The teacher taught an important lesson to those kids and to me, which is that empathy is the most important characteristic a human being can have. If youre in this awesome position of being able to represent people through public office you have to have empathy and understand the challenges and struggles of others. Thats what public service is about. And its not what Miller believes she is seeing reflected in the politics of the Trump administration. Weve got an administration thats reckless, erratic, egregious, hurtful, and xenophobic, Miller says. People are frightened. Immigrant kids are scared. Kids without [the Childrens Health Insurance Program] who no longer have health care are scared. So many people are scared, and I cant let that happen. She continues, This is a great country that offers so much in terms of dreams and the aspirations of people from all over the world. Democracy is delicate, and we need to take care of it and do so every single moment of the day. I want to go to Congress to take the peoples voice there with me I want to take other peoples stories there with me, and make sure our government is reflective of our values and who we are. Katie Porter (Photo: Katie Porter via Facebook) Katie Porter, California: We dont have enough working mothers of young children in our political system. Katie Porter, a consumer advocate whose resume includes time working for Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., before they came to Congress, explains to Yahoo Lifestyle why shes running for the U.S. House of Representatives: We dont have enough working mothers of young children in our political system. I have spent my whole career trying to help families, middle-class families who are being squeezed, and trying to stand up to the big banks going after those families. I made my decision within a day or two of Trumps election, and it was really about knowing that he wouldnt fight for our families and he went on to do this, and worse. Porter notes that she is a Cub Scout leader who drives a minivan. I drive my three kids to school every day, she says. Being a working, middle-class mom, when I talk about the future of the public education system in this country needing to be vibrant and strong, its from the perspective of someone who takes their children to school every day to public schools in Orange County and has a child with special needs. That direct connection is important. Its why women, says Abrams, should run from their place of experience, and use it as their guide. The time is now, she adds, with urgency. The worst that can happen is that you dont win. But every campaign changes the conversation and forces the other side to talk about issues. Sometimes running for office is about lifting your voice so others will answer your questions. It is hard to run its expensive, and you still have to juggle your other responsibilities but these are solvable problems. If you do nothing, bad wins. So if women are sitting there wondering if now is the time for them to run, the answer is unequivocally yes. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. New York City Thousands of people gather holding protest signs on Central Park West for the 2018 Womens March in New York City, Jan. 20, 2018. (Photo: Peter Foley/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock) Thousands of women and their male supporters turned out on Saturday for the second Womens March, a nationwide series of protests against U.S. President Donald Trump marking the end of his tumultuous first year in office. The coordinated rallies in Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and about 250 other cities in the United States, as well as overseas locations, featured speaker after speaker blasting Trump for policies that many said hurt women and urging voters to turn out for congressional elections in November. The Republican president responded with a Twitter message touting the economic gains of the past year and how they benefited women. (Reuters) See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Twitter and Tumblr. You dont want group think around the table History doesn't follow a straight line. It zigs and zags but the trend is to fight fewer wars and be more empathetic. Greg Barker followed senior Obama White House officials to document 44s foreign policy manoeuvres in the last twelve months of his presidency. Over 90 minutes in The Final Year , audiences learn about the freedom Secretary of State John Kerry was given to pursue the agreed policy agenda; discover the manic travel schedule of deputy national security adviser for strategic communications Ben Rhodes as he writes draft speeches, leads negotiations in Cuba, and lives through the waves caused by a profile piece in The New York Times Magazine ; and saw how US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power appreciated her role as an immigrant who now diplomatically represented the country her family moved to when she was just nine years old.While Kerry is a consummate statesman, aware of the uncertain future results of his tentative negotiations, and interviews with President Obama add glitz, it is Power who is the most interesting subject. The Irish immigrant is free of the need to worry about Congress up on Capitol Hill and pushes to pursue a more ideological vision through the UN than her West Wing colleagues can stomach. She believes in getting out of New York UN building and visiting people in conflict situations in the field. Her hands on approach extends to taking the time to visit the family of a child killed by her convoy as it leaves a camp.follows around normal, clumsy people who negotiate with their kids over breakfast as often as they foreign regimes. They are tying up the loose ends of decades of work. They are juggling values, interests, strategies and goals.This is an administration that has learned some lessons from the past: military action in the Middle East has a history of making things worse. Climate change is as important as resolving the situation in Syria.For a while The Final Year feels like a pro-Obama puff piece, a trumpet-blowing documentary celebrating successes in Cuba, Iran, Laos, Nigeria, Cameroon, Japan and even Greenland. Then it becomes apparent that the final actions of the administration are attempting to [make] it harder to dismantle [our policies] should we take a different turn. The policy approach has been to resolve our differences peacefully as great power no longer fight wars, and the next President for whom theyre nailing 44s legacy to the wall is assumed to be Hillary Clinton.Two thirds of the way through the film, Donald Trump becomes the Republican candidate. The mood of the election night party of women ambassadors at the UN tilts as states turn red and the expected narrative is torn up. Rhodes is literally speechless at the result in a scene that is probably better than any directed fictional moment of surprise in cinematic history. Suddenly Power's emotional speech at a citizenship ceremony has a new poignancy.Perspective - perhaps Obama hope - is offered too:is a particularly stylish documentary with beautiful captions and takes full advantage of the presidential photograph library to illustrate events with well shot still images as well as the filmmakers own video footage. (Though it all becomes a bit hero-worshippy when you realise that the West Wing walls are also crowded with blown up photos of Obama in neat black frames.)Trump supporters will appreciate the confirmation about just how many other countries into whose business the US was deliberately poking its nose while those still besotted with Obama will understand the cruel change of approach at the top of the US political tree. The rest of us will walk out of the cinema understanding a little more about how high level foreign policy is shaped and pursued, and realise that ordinary people make extraordinary decisions that affect the health and security of the world. The Final Year is being screened in Queen's Film Theatre until Thursday 25 January. Washington (AFP) - Hundreds of thousands of US government defense workers, park rangers and business regulators could be temporarily out of work if Congress fails to pass a budget before a midnight Friday deadline. But the looming government shutdown due to lack of funding -- which would be the second in five years -- does not mean every office closes its doors. Vital services will still be provided by law enforcement, immigration officers, the central bank, veterans' hospitals and the military. During the two-week shutdown in October 2013, around 800,000 workers were furloughed. This time, about 850,000 workers, out of a total 3.5 million, could be told to stay home -- without pay -- until Congress reaches an agreement, the American Federation of Government Employees estimates. The following is a rundown of who is and isn't affected in a government shutdown: - Defense, security and borders - The 1.5 million uniformed members of the US military, mostly in the Defense Department but also 40,000 with the Department of Homeland Security, will remain at work. "All military personnel performing active duty will continue in a normal duty status," the Pentagon ordered Thursday. But a large number of civilians in both departments, including about three-fourths of the roughly 740,000 civilians who work for the Pentagon, will stay home. That will slow many operations, and could impact the huge defense private sector, which depends on Pentagon contracts. Officials of the Customs and Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services will remain on the job checking and processing people entering the country by land, sea and air. - Key government operations - The White House, Congress, federal courts and the Veterans Administration will all continue to operate. The US Postal Service will continue to deliver the mail. The investigation by special prosecutor Robert Mueller into possible collusion between Russians and President Donald Trump's election campaign will remain active. Story continues - Washington - The US capital is funded by the federal budget, which could have affected some services, but Mayor Muriel Bowser said Friday that all city employees will report to work and no services will be interrupted. "I want to be perfectly clear that Washington, DC is open. DC government will continue to provide services to our residents," she said. Bowser also said that the city will pick up trash at the multiple national park properties around the city while park employees are furloughed. - Travel - The Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees air traffic control, will remain at work, and airports will remain open for travellers. - Parks and museums - According to tentative plans, national parks and museums will remain open, but some public employees at the parks could be furloughed while private contractors, who supply food and other services, will maintain operations. - Health - Disease monitoring and prevention will slow. About 61 percent of the staff of the Centers for Disease Control will be furloughed, according to The Washington Post, and much of the research-focused National Institutes of Health will be shuttered. - Other public services - Other agencies will largely shut down, including the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Education, the Commerce Department, the Labor Department, and the Environmental Protection Agency. That means people and businesses will not get documents and permissions processed, contractors will have difficulty moving ahead on their projects, and disaster relief will slow. Jerusalem (AFP) - The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinians said Friday the US decision to freeze tens of millions of dollars in aid resulted from diplomatic disputes rather than the agency's performance. The US State Department this week put on hold two planned payments of more than $100 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The State Department denied the freeze was to punish the Palestinian leadership, which has cut ties with President Donald Trump's administration following his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, with a spokeswoman saying it was linked to necessary "reform" of UNRWA. But Pierre Krahenbuhl, the agency's commissioner general, said they had not been informed by the United States of any new reform demands and were "caught up" in the political dispute. "I have to look at this as not related to our performance but a decision and a debate that was caught up in the aftermath of what of course was the General Assembly resolution on Jerusalem and other matters," Krahenbuhl told AFP in an interview in Jerusalem. "My perception is there is a debate in the US administration about funding to the Palestinians and our funding got caught up in that." The US gave around $700 million in support to the Palestinians last year, of which about half went to UNRWA, which has a non-political mandate to provide schooling, health care and other services to more than three million Palestinians across the Middle East. Israel and some American politicians accuse the agency of bias, with Israeli leaders saying its existence perpetuates the conflict. Trump's December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital angered the Palestinians, who see the eastern part of the city as the capital of their future state. President Mahmud Abbas has said the US under Trump can no longer be mediator in peace talks with Israel. The United Nations General Assembly voted to condemn the US decision on Jerusalem. Story continues - 'No further communication' - Trump had been pushing to restart peace talks, but on January 2 he tweeted that the US gives the Palestinians "HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS" and gets "no appreciation or respect". "With the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?" On Tuesday, his administration suspended $65 million to UNRWA, followed Thursday by putting on hold another $45 million in food aid destined for the agency. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the money was being held but could be released "in the future, if reforms are met, if UNRWA agrees to undertake reforms, if other countries agreed to pitch in and provide money". Krahenbuhl said the agency had received no communication from the United States about further necessary reforms in recent days. He added that during a recent visit to the US he had been informed the administration was satisfied with UNRWA's performance. "What is new is a decision by the United States to dramatically reduce its contribution and that was not -- in the communications to me -- associated with reform elements." "We were simply informed that the contribution to our core budget would be this year $60 million when the United States contributed in total to UNRWA last year $360 million." "For the moment there has been no further communication." The Trump administration argues that other global powers are not paying enough for UNRWA, with China contributing only $300,000 last year, while Russia has just agreed to give $2 million a year for the coming years. Krahenbuhl said they were searching for new sources of support, but that hundreds of thousands of students relied on the agency. In 2015 UNRWA schools nearly did not open on time because of funding shortages. "What is at stake is the access of 525,000 boys and girls to their education," Krahenbuhl said. Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman confronted Larry Nassar, the disgraced former USA Gymnastics doctor who she says sexually abused her for years, with a blistering statement in court on Friday. The six-time Olympic medalist came face-to-face with Nassar one of several women who made victim impact statements at his multi-day sentencing hearing. Nassar has pleaded guilty to seven counts of criminal sexual contact with underage girls. Raisman revealed in November that Nassar had abused her through so-called therapeutic treatments that turned out to be inappropriate touching. Looking directly at Nassar at times during her testimony, the gynmast recounted the abuse and the lasting effects it has had on her and other women who have accused him. Raisman also sharply criticized USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee for failing to protect young, vulnerable gymnasts from abuse. Larry, you do realize now that we, this group of women you so heartlessly abused over such a long period of time, are now a force and you are nothing. The tables have turned, Larry, Raisman said in her 13-minute statement. We have our voices, and we are not going anywhere. Read Raismans statement in full below. I didnt think I would be here today. I was scared and nervous. It wasnt until I started watching the impact statements from the other brave survivors that I realized I, too, needed to be here. Larry, you do realize now that we, this group of women you so heartlessly abused over such a long period of time, are now a force and you are nothing. The tables have turned, Larry. We are here. We have our voices, and we are not going anywhere. And now, Larry, its your turn to listen to me. There is no map that shows you the pathway to healing. Realizing that you are a survivor of sexual abuse is really hard to put into words. I cannot adequately capture the level of disgust I feel when I think about how this happened. Larry, you abused the power and trust I and so many others placed in you, and I am not sure I will ever come to terms with how horribly you manipulated and violated me. You were the USA Gymnastics national team doctor, the Michigan States Olympic team doctor. You were trusted by so many and took advantage of countless athletes and their families. Story continues The effects of you actions are far reaching. Abuse goes way beyond the moment, often haunting survivors for the rest of their lives, making it difficult to trust and impacting their relationships. It is all the more devastating when such abuse comes at the hand of such a highly regarded doctor, since it leaves survivors questioning the organizations and even the medical profession itself upon which so many rely. I am here to face you, Larry, so you can see Ive regained my strength, that I am no longer a victim, I am a survivor. I am no longer that little girl you met in Australia where you first began grooming and manipulating. As for your letter yesterday: You are pathetic to think that anyone would have any sympathy for you. You think this is hard for you? Imagine how all of us feel. Imagine how it feels to be an innocent teenager in a foreign country hearing a knock on the door and its you. I dont want you to be there, but I dont have a choice. Treatments with you were mandatory. You took advantage of that. You even told on us if we didnt want to be treated by you, knowing full well the troubles that would cause for us. Lying on my stomach with you on my bed insisting that your inappropriate touch would help to heal my pain. The reality is, you caused me a great deal of physical, mental and emotional pain. You never healed me. You took advantage of our passions and our dreams. You made me uncomfortable and I thought you were weird. But I felt guilty because you were a doctor so I assumed I was the problem for thinking badly of you. I wouldnt allow myself to believe that the problem was you. From the time we were little, we are taught to trust doctors. You are so sick I cant even comprehend how angry I feel when I think of you. You lied to me and manipulated me to think that when you treated me, you were closing your eyes because you had been working hard when you were really touching me, an innocent child, to pleasure yourself. Imagine feeling like you have no power and no voice. Well you know what, Larry? I have both power and voice and I am only beginning to just use them. All these brave women have power and we will use our voices to make sure you get what you deserve a life of suffering spent replaying the words delivered by this powerful army of survivors. I am also here to tell you to your face, Larry, that you have not taken gymnastics away from me. I love this sport and that love is stronger than the evil that resides in you, and those who enabled you to hurt many people. You already know youre going away to a place where you wont be able to hurt anybody ever again. But I am here to tell you that I will not rest until every last trace of your influence on this sport has been destroyed like the cancer it is. Your abuse started 30 years ago. But thats just the first reported incident we know of. If over these many years, just one adult listened, and had the courage and character to act, this tragedy could have been avoided. I and so many others would have never, ever met you. Larry, you should have been locked up a long, long time ago. Fact is, we have no idea how many people you victimized or what was done or not done that allowed you to keep doing it and to get away with it for so long. Over those 30 years when survivors came forward, adult after adult, many impositions of authority protected you, telling each survivor it was OK, that you werent abusing them. In fact, many adults had you convince the survivors that they were being dramatic or had been mistaken. This is like being violated all over again. How do you sleep at night? You were decorated by USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee, both of which put you on advisory boards and committees to come up with policies that would protect athletes from this kind of abuse. You are the person they had take the lead of athlete care. You are the person they say provided the foundation for our medical system. I cringe to think that your influence remains in the policies that are supposed to keep athletes safe, that these organizations have for years claimed state of the art. To believe in the future of gymnastics is to believe in change. But how are we to believe in change when these organizations arent even willing to acknowledge the problem? Its easy to put out statements talking about how athlete care is the highest priority. But theyve been saying that for years, and all the while, this nightmare was happening. False assurances from organizations are dangerous, especially when people want so badly to believe them. They make it easier to move away from the problem and enable bad things to continue to happen. And even now after all that has happened, USA Gymnastics has the nerve to say the very same things it has said all along. Cant you see how disrespectful that is? Cant you see how much that hurts? A few days ago, USA Gymnastics put out a statement attributed to its president and CEO Kerry Perry, saying she came to listen to the courageous women and said, Their powerful voices leave an indelible imprint on me and will impact my decisions as president and CEO every day. This sounds great, Ms. Perry, but at this point, talk is cheap. You left midway through the day, and no one has heard from you or the board. Kerry, Ive never met you, and I know you werent around for most of this. But you accepted the position of president and CEO of USA Gymnastics, and I assume by now you are very well aware of the weighty responsibility youve taken on. Unfortunately, youve taken on an organization that I feel is rotting from the inside. And while this may not be what you thought you were getting into, you will be judged by how you deal with it. A word of advice: Continuing to issue statements of empty promises thinking that will pacify us will no longer work. Yesterday, USA Gymnastics announced that it was terminating its lease at the Ranch, where so many of us were abused. I am glad that it is no longer a national team training site, but USA Gymnastics neglected to mention that they had athletes training there the day they released the statement. USA Gymnastics, where is the honesty? Where is the transparency? Why must the manipulation continue? Neither USA Gymnastics nor the USOC have reached out to express sympathy or even offer support. Not even to ask, how did this happen? What do you think we can do to help? Why have I and others here probably not heard anything from the leadership from the USOC? Why has the United States Olympic Committee been silent? Why isnt the USOC here right now? Larry was the Olympic doctor and he molested me at 2012 London Olympic games. They say now they applaud those have spoken out, but its easier to say that now. When the brave women who started speaking out back then, more than a year after the USOC says they knew about Nassar, they were dismissed. At the 2016 Olympic games, the president of the USOC said that the USOC would not conduct an investigation and even defended USA Gymnastics as one of the leaders in developing policies to protect athletes. Thats the response a courageous woman gets when she speaks out? And when others joined those athletes and began speaking out with more stories of abuse, were they acknowledged? No. It is like being abused all over again. I have represented the United States of America in two Olympics and have done so successfully, and both USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee have been very quick to capitalize and celebrate my success. But did they reach out when I came forward? No. So, at this point, talk is worthless to me. Were dealing with real lives in the future of our sport. We need to believe this wont happen again. For this sport to go on, we need to demand real change, and we need to be willing to fight for it. Its clear now that if we leave it up to these organizations, history is likely to repeat itself. To know what changes are needed requires us to understand what exactly happened and why this happened. This is a painful process but its the only way to identify all the factors that contributed to this problem, and how they can be avoided in the future. This is the only way to learn from these mistakes and make gymnastics a safer sport. If ever there was a need to fully understand a problem, it is this one right now. To accept that problem is limited to just what we know now is irresponsible, delusional even. Each new day seems to bring a new survivor. We have no idea just how much damaged you caused, Larry, and we have no idea how deep these problems go. Now is the time to acknowledge that the very person who sits before us now who perpetrated the worst epidemic of sexual abuse in the history of sports, who is going to be locked up for a long, long time this monster was also the architect of policies and procedures that are supposed to protect athletes from sexual abuse for both USA Gymnastics and the USOC. If we are to believe in change, we must first understand the problem and everything that contributed to it. Now is not the time for false reassurances. We need an independent investigation of exactly what happened, what went wrong and how it can be avoided for the future. Only then can we know what changes are needed. Only then can we believe such changes are real. Your Honor, I ask you to give Larry the strongest possible sentence, which his actions deserve. For by doing so, you will send a message to him and to other abusers that they cannot get away with their horrible crimes. They will be exposed for the evil they are and they will be punished to the maximum extent of the law. Let this sentence strike fear in anyone who thinks it is OK to hurt another person. Abusers, your time is up. The survivors are here, standing tall, and we are not going anywhere. And please, your Honor, stress the need to investigate how this happened, so that we can hold accountable those who empowered and enabled Larry Nassar, so that we can repair and once again believe in this wonderful sport. My dream is that one day, everyone will know what the words me too signify but they will be educated and able to protect themselves from predators like Larry, so that they will never, ever, ever have to say the words, me too. Thank you. The 13 malnourished children who were allegedly kept captive and abused by their parents, until the couples arrest earlier this week, were allowed to shower only twice a year, according to an NBC News report. A law enforcement source close to the investigation told the network that, in addition to being refused daily showers, the children of David and Louise Turpin both suspected of torture and child endangerment were fed one meal a day. The NBC report aired on the Today show Thursday morning. Authorities said at a news conference later Thursday that, in fact, the children were allowed to shower no more than once a year and were regularly fed very little. 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. David, 56, and Louise, 49, will be arraigned on Thursday morning in a California court, where they will have their first opportunity to enter pleas. PEOPLE was unable to ascertain if either defendant is represented by legal counsel who could comment on their behalf. They remain in custody in lieu of $9 million bail. The Turpins were arrested after their 17-year-old daughter climbed through one of the windows of their Perris, California, home early on Sunday and called 911 using a disconnected cell phone she had found, authorities have said. Police allege that thee 13 Turpin children ranging in ages from 2 to 29 were found living in squalor, with some shackled to furniture. Malnutrition apparently stunted their growth. A neighbor at their former home in Murrieta, California, told ABC News he noticed unusual activity coming from the Turpin house. Id come home anywhere from 12:30 to 3 in the morning to see the kids marching [inside the house] in single file for hours, Mike Clifford said. From left: David and Louise Turpin The Turpins The children, he explained, also had some unusual behaviors. They talked very monotone and robotic and they talked at the same time, saying the same thing, Clifford said. Story continues A Perris neighbor spoke to PEOPLE this week and recounted some odd behaviors exhibited by the family. Elizabeth Flores, one of Louise Turpins estranged sisters, also spoke to ABC News about how strict the couple was with their children. For more compelling true crime coverage, follow our Crime magazine on Flipboard. They were really strict on the oldest daughter, Flores said. She was bound to her room a lot and they would let her come down and eat meals. Before she sat down, she had to get permission and she knew she had to look her mom in the eye and there would be a smile between them and shed tell her, Go ahead.' Other relatives have spoken out about the childrens treatment. Medical officials treating the siblings say they will endure a long recovery period. 'Well-Fed' Dogs at Turpin 'House of Horrors' to Go Up for Adoption A pair of surprisingly healthy and well-trained Maltese terriers that once belonged to David and Louise Turpin are being put up for adoption. The 13 siblings, ranging in age from 2 to 29, were removed from the Perris "house of horrors" this week after having been allegedly starved, shackled and tortured. They were reportedly given one meal a day, and the eldest, 29, weighed just 82 pounds when the victims were rescued, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said. David and Louise Turpin appeared before a judge in a Thursday arraignment where they pleaded not guilty multiple counts of torture and abuse of their 13 children. But two 1-year-old puppies in the home were found in remarkably good condition. The animals appear to be in very good shape, City of Perris spokesman Joe Vargo told Inside Edition. They are friendly, theyre active, they were well-fed, leash trained. Vargo explained that anyone can apply to the city to adopt the pups one of which is named Fluffy and qualified families will be placed in an adoption raffle. He said both the black Maltese and the white Maltese will be adopted together. Anyone interested in adopting the puppies are asked to submit their name, address, phone number and email to cavila@cityofperris.org. RELATED STORIES Sister-in-Law of Man Accused of Shackling His Kids Says He Would Watch Her in the Shower Teen Escapes From Home Where She and 12 Siblings Were Kept Shackled: Authorities David and Louise Turpin Fed Kids Once a Day: Report Related Articles: One man is turning sexism on its head. Eli Rezkallah, a 31-year-old artist and photographer from Beirut, Lebanon, recently created a photo series called In a Parallel Universe. The series takes sexist vintage ads from the mid-20th century and switches the gender roles. Rezkallah told HuffPost his goal with the series was to highlight the absurdity of gender inequality. Rezkallah said he got the idea when he visited family in New Jersey last Thanksgiving. During dinner, Rezkallah had a hard time stomaching one particular conversation. I overheard my uncles talk about how women are better off cooking, taking care of the kitchen and fulfilling their womanly duties, he told HuffPost. Although I know that not all men think that way, I was surprised to learn that some still do. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. So I went on to imagine a parallel universe, where roles are inverted and men are given a taste of their own sexist poison. Rezkallah told HuffPost that, after hearing his uncles conversation, it became apparent in todays world, we still have not achieved equality of the sexes yet. He decided to highlight this point by using ads from the Mad Men era. Although those ads were made in the 50s and some people perceive them as vintage, the moment I heard my uncles conversation, it felt that their essence is still present in the folds of todays modern social fabric, he said. I thought that the only way to make people like them understand what is wrong is by simply communicating it visually by simply reversing the gender roles. Rezkallah told HuffPost that he considers himself a feminist and hopes that his photos will spark change. I hope that people who are stuck in stereotypical gender roles imposed by patriarchal societies will be able to visually see the cracks in the limitation that those roles carry through this project, he said. To check out more of Rezkallahs work, check out his website and his Instagram account. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. An 8-month-old baby was reportedly killed and 15 others injured after a car crashed into a crowd on Rio de Janeiros famous Copacabana beach in Brazil Thursday night. The driver fled the scene of the crash, but was arrested sooner after by police, Reuters reported. Police said an 8-month baby was killed in the crash, according to Reuters and Brazilian TV station Globo. Fifteen people were also taken to the hospital. The incident is not believed to be a terrorist attacks and appears to be an accident, Brazilian police, said according to ABC News. Medicine for epilepsy was found in the car and authorities believe the diver suffered an epileptic episode, according to Reuters. Witnesses told Brazilian news networks that the car crashed into people and tables when racing over a bicycle path and across a sidewalk. The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics centered around Copacabana beach one of the most famous landmarks in the city with natural sand that provided the perfect venue for beach volleyball competitions. SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy destroyer sailed near a disputed shoal claimed by China in the South China Sea this week, U.S. officials said on Saturday, and Beijing vowed to take "necessary measures" to protect its sovereignty. China's foreign ministry said USS Hopper missile destroyer came within 12 nautical miles of Huangyan Island, which is also known as Scarborough Shoal and subject to a rival claim by the Philippines. It was the latest U.S. naval operation challenging extensive Chinese claims in the South China Sea and came even as U.S. President Donald Trumps administration seeks Chinese cooperation in dealing with North Koreas missile and nuclear programs. Two U.S. officials confirmed that the USS Hopper had sailed within 12 nautical miles of Scarborough Shoal. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the patrol was in line with international law and was an "innocent passage," in which a warship effectively recognizes a territorial sea by crossing it quickly, without stopping. Twelve nautical miles is an internationally recognized territorial limit. The U.S. military says it carries out "freedom of navigation" operations throughout the world, including in areas claimed by allies, and that they are separate from political considerations. The Pentagon did not directly comment on the latest patrol but said such operations are routine. "All operations are conducted in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows," Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Logan said. The U.S. military put countering China and Russia at the center of a new national defense strategy unveiled on Friday. China criticized the strategy, saying Beijing sought "global partnership, not global dominance." Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the USS Hopper violated China's sovereignty and security interests and threatened the safety of Chinese vessels and personnel. Lu said the Chinese navy ordered the vessel to withdraw after determining its identity. The United States has criticized China for constructing islands and military installations in the South China Sea, saying they could be used to restrict free movement in a critical global trade route. Lu said China "firmly opposes" efforts to use freedom of navigation as an excuse to hurt its sovereignty and urged the United States to "correct its mistakes." China's defense ministry said the repeated dispatch of U.S. warships to the region was "undermining regional peace and stability" and hurting bilateral relations. Greg Poling, a South China Sea expert at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said the Pentagon appeared determined to keep up regular freedom of navigation patrols in the sea, with one every six weeks or so, in spite of Chinese objections. "The last made public was in October, but we should expect that there was at least one other in the interim," he said. "The only time word is getting out these days is if Beijing makes an issue of it." (Reporting by David Stanway in Shanghai and Idrees Ali in Washington; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Michael Perry and Lisa Von Ahn) Beijing (AFP) - Beijing on Saturday said it had dispatched a warship to drive away a US missile destroyer which had "violated" its sovereignty by sailing close to a shoal in the disputed South China Sea. The USS Hopper sailed within 12 nautical miles of Huangyan Island on the night of January 17 without alerting Beijing, the foreign ministry said, referring to the shoal by its Chinese name. Also known as Scarborough Shoal, the ring of reefs lies about 230 kilometres (140 miles) from the Philippines in the South China Sea, where Beijing's claims are hotly contested by other nations. The US vessel "violated China's sovereignty and security interests", and put the safety of nearby Chinese vessels "under grave threat", foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said. China's defence ministry said in a separate statement that a Chinese frigate "immediately took actions to identify and verify the US ship and drove it away by warning" it. The USS Hopper recently entered the US Navy's 7th Fleet area of operations, where the ship is on an "independent deployment", according to a statement released earlier this month on the Navy's website. Its mission in Asia involves "security cooperation, building partner capacity, and performing routine operations within the area". News of the encounter follows Friday's release of a new US national defence strategy that says America is facing "growing threats" from China and Russia. China is a "strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South China Sea", the document says. China's defence ministry dismissed those claims on Saturday, saying "the situation in the South China Sea has steadily stabilised," in comments attributed to spokesman Wu Qian. But it added, "the United States has repeatedly sent warships illegally into the adjacent waters of the South China Sea islands and reefs." Beijing asserts sovereignty over almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea despite rival claims from Southeast Asian neighbours and has rapidly built reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. China seized Scarborough Shoal in 2012 after a brief stand-off with the Philippine navy. The shoal is also claimed by Taiwan. Turkish warplanes hit Kurdish positions in the area of Afrin, destroying observation posts and many other targets on January 20, according to Turkish media. Turkey kicked off a ground offensive against Kurdish forces near Afrin, in Syrias Aleppo province, Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on January 20. On the same day, Kurdish media reported that Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) repelled a ground offensive carried out by Turkish forces from Balbala town, in the countryside north of Afrin. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Turkish army and Kurdish forces exchanged shelling near Afrin. This video was shared by a Kurdish outlet from the area and is described as showing Turkish warplanes hitting residential areas in Afrin and injuring five civilians. Tension at the Syrian-Turkish border increased after Turkey said it was readying an assault against Kurdish forces in northern Syria. Those same Kurdish militias have the backing of the US, but Turkey considers them extensions of domestic Kurdish rebel groups it deems to be terrorist organizations. Credit: ANHA via Storyful When Joelle Casteix heard Pope Francis accuse sex abuse victims in Chile of slander, the pontiffs words hit close to home. Francis told reporters Thursday that he hasnt seen any convincing evidence against Chiles Bishop Juan Barros Madrid, whom victims claim protected a pedophile priest. The day someone brings me proof against Bishop Barros, then I will talk, Francis said during a papal trip to Chile, according to The New York Times. But there is not one single piece of evidence. It is all slander. Is that clear? Casteix, a California native and advocate for abuse victims, knows what its like to share a vulnerable story of sexual abuse and to have that story questioned. She is herself a survivor of abuse within the Roman Catholic Church. From 1986 to 1988, she was abused by a choir director at Santa Anas Mater Dei High School, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange. By the time the abuse ended, she said, the teacher had left her pregnant and with a sexually transmitted disease. She was only 17. It wasnt until 2005 that Casteix and other survivors in her area finally had access to documents the diocese had kept about sexual abusers in its midst. The documents, obtained as part of a $100 million settlement between the diocese and 90 alleged abuse victims, showed how officials had protected priests and teachers who molested children. It was proof of what shed been saying all along that church officials knew about abuse taking place in the diocese and didnt do enough to protect victims. Given this history with the church, its not hard to understand why Casteixs voice sharpened as she spoke to HuffPost about Francis attack on abuse victims in Chile. Every abuser says to his victim: You have no proof. No one is going to believe you, said Castiex, now an activist with Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP). What Pope Francis did was put himself in the abusers seat, in the power position. What hes doing is revictimizing every single child victim and putting himself in the abusers shoes. Story continues Pope Francis speaks with members of Peruvian indigenous groups in Puerto Maldonado, Peru, on Jan. 19. It's the final leg of what has been a tense and controversial papal trip to South America. (Photo: Henry Romero / Reuters) Unabashed Support For A Controversial Bishop Francis comments about Barros came at the end of a papal trip to Chile that was already fraught with tensions. Chilean abuse victims and their allies have been upset about the popes continued defense of Barros. Several victims claim that Barros covered up and, in some instances, observed abuse carried out by his mentor, Rev. Fernando Karadima. The Vatican convicted Karadima of abusing teenage boys in 2011 and sent him to live a cloistered life of penitence and prayer in a Chilean convent. A judge found the allegations against Karadima to be truthful and reliable but dismissed a criminal case against the priest because the statute of limitations had expired. Barros denied having any knowledge of Karadimas abusive actions and it appears that Francis still believes him. Chilean priest Fernando Karadima leaves a courtroom in Santiago, Chile, on Nov. 11, 2015. (Photo: VLADIMIR RODAS/AFP via Getty Images) In 2015, the pope appointed Barros as bishop of Osorno, in southern Chile. Politicians and even some church leaders in the country vocally opposed the move and called for Barros to resign. That same year, Francis was captured on video telling a group of tourists at Vatican City that people in Osorno who protested Barros appointment were dumb and judging a bishop without any proof. Francis trip to Chile this week was marred by street protests and the burning of nearly a dozen churches as people voiced frustration with how the church is handling the clergy sex abuse scandal. On Tuesday, Francis expressed pain and shame over the abuse scandal and begged for victims forgiveness. He met and reportedly wept with Chilean survivors of abuse, The Associated Press reported. But he has also continued to show support for Barros. The New York Times reported that the bishop participated in the popes ceremonies in the cities of Santiago, Iquique and Temuco. Barros told reporters that the Pope offered him words of support and affection during the visit. Bishop Juan Barros, center, attends his first religious service as citizens protest at the Osorno cathedral south of Santiago on March 21, 2015. (Photo: Carlos Gutierrez / Reuters) Words Versus Action On Preventing Sexual Abuse In the past, Francis has shown signs that hes willing and ready to take serious steps to confront the problem of sexual abuse in the church. Still, some victims advocates are worried that the Vatican is not moving quickly to keep kids safe. In December 2013, victims groups rejoiced when Francis decided to assemble a Vatican committee dedicated solely to fighting child sex abuse in the church. The group, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, initially included two survivors of clergy sex abuse. In 2017, one of those survivors, Irish activist Marie Collins, announced that she was stepping down out of frustration with Vatican bureaucracy. In an opinion piece for the National Catholic Reporter, Collins wrote about facing a number of stumbling blocks, including a lack of resources and the resistance of some in the Vatican Curia toward implementing the commissions recommendations. The last straw for her was the refusal of a group at the Vatican to ensure that all letters from victims received a response. I find it impossible to listen to public statements about the deep concern in the church for the care of those whose lives have been blighted by abuse, yet to watch privately as a congregation in the Vatican refuses to even acknowledge their letters! Collins wrote last March. It is a reflection of how this whole abuse crisis in the Church has been handled: with fine words in public and contrary actions behind closed doors. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. Irish activist Marie Collins attends a news conference on May 3, 2014, at the Vatican. She criticized the Vatican's "fine words in public and contrary actions behind closed doors. (Photo: TIZIANA FABI via Getty Images) In December, all of the commission members terms formally expired and the initiatives future is unclear. Secular groups have also delved into the problem of sexual abuse in the Catholic church. In December, the Australian government concluded an extensive, multi-year inquiry into sexual abuse of children in the country. The commissions final report found that 59 percent of the more than 8,000 survivors interviewed said they were sexually abused in an institution managed by a religious organization. About 62 percent of that group said that the institution was managed by the Catholic Church. The commission came up with a number of recommendations for the church. It urged the church to end the secrecy of the confessional when it prevents or discourages compliance with mandatory reporting laws. The commission also asked the church to rethink the requirement of priestly celibacy, which, while not a direct cause, elevated the risk of abuse. Melbournes archbishop has dismissed both of those recommendations, since they involve changes to longstanding church tradition. But Kieran Tapsell, a retired civil lawyer who submitted a paper on canon law to the commission, believes there are many other recommendations the commission made that could be put into practice such as ensuring theres no statute of limitations for canonical trials and requiring Vatican congregations and courts to publish reasons for their disciplinary decisions. [These] recommendations had more to do with church law and practice, and could be more easily implemented, if church leadership is willing to take up this challenge, Tapsell wrote in an analysis for the National Catholic Reporter. But, as demonstrated in Chile, much of that change starts with the pope. The president of the Chilean bishops conference, Monsignor Santiago Silva, told The New York Times on Friday that it would continue to support Barros trusting in Francis opinion of the bishop. The pope told us what he wants, and he wants Monsignor Barros to continue, Silva said. Demonstrators protest at the arrival of Pope Francis in Santiago, Chile, on Jan. 15. (Photo: EITAN ABRAMOVICH via Getty Images) Backlash In Chile And Across The Globe In Chile and around the world, Francis remarks in defense of Barros have caused outrage among survivors of clergy abuse. Juan Carlos Cruz, one of Karadimas most vocal victims, was particularly unnerved by Francis demand for proof that Barros had been complicit in the abuse. As if I could have taken a selfie or photo while Karadima abused me and others with Juan Barros standing next to him watching everything, Cruz wrote on Twitter, according to a BBC translation. These people are absolutely crazy, and [the pope] is talking about reparation to the victims. Nothing has changed, and his plea for forgiveness is empty. Patrick Noaker, a lawyer who has represented dozens survivors of sexual abuse in Minnesota, said that Cruzs testimony appears to him to be extremely powerful. Thats because when it comes to child sexual abuse, there is rarely evidence outside the testimony of the victim. Francis defense of Barros is a reminder to Noaker that bishops are the princes of the Catholic church, and they are protected at all cost. The statement by the pope reveals a hard-liner position that he will protect bishops over children, he told HuffPost in an email. This will discourage survivors of sexual abuse from reporting their abuse because they will not have photographs or other evidence of the abuse outside of their testimony. Other advocates for abuse survivors have the same fear that victims will be afraid to come forward with their stories. Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of the online database BishopAccountability.org, called Francis attack on the Chilean sex abuse survivors a stunning setback. The burden of proof here rests with the Church, not with victims and especially not with victims whose veracity already has been affirmed, Doyle said in a statement. Exhaustive investigations by both church and civil authorities proved the allegations of Juan Carlos Cruz [and others] in regards to Karadima. A reasonable person would consider that they are telling the truth about Barros also. Who knows how many victims now will decide to stay hidden, for fear they too will be attacked as slanderers? she added. David Greenwood, a volunteer lawyer with the British advocacy group Ministry and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors, echoed Doyle and Noakers concerns. For the Pope to be deliberately confrontational and challenging in this way will prevent survivors coming forward to share their ordeals, Greenwood told HuffPost in an email. Police officers confront a demonstrator during a protest against Pope Francis in Santiago on Tuesday. (Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images) The churchs handling of the abuse scandal in Chile has disillusioned many of the countrys Catholics. A survey by the regional polling firm Latinobarometro found that only 42 percent of Chilean Catholics approved of the job Francis is doing, compared with an average of 68 percent for 18 other Central and South American countries. Casteix told HuffPost that, in her view, theres nothing the pope can do now to prove that his apologies to sex abuse victims are meaningful. It is as if Pope Francis took a trip to Chile, apologized for abuse, prayed for healing, asked for forgiveness, and then got on his plane and said, Just kidding. Also on HuffPost This article originally appeared on HuffPost. The day of the service duck and emotional support chicken on airlines may be drawing to a close. Delta Air Lines Inc. said Friday it will more thoroughly vet passengers efforts to fly with all manner of unusual animals, which often board U.S. airlines under the guise of psychological or medical support. Customers have attempted to fly with comfort turkeys, gliding possums known as sugar gliders, snakes, spiders and more, the airline said Friday in a news release. Ignoring the true intent of existing rules governing the transport of service and support animals can be a disservice to customers who have real and documented needs. As of March 1, Delta customers traveling with a service or support animal must show proof of the animals health or vaccinations 48 hours before a flight. Besides the current letter signed by a doctor or licensed mental health workerwhich can be easily obtained on the internetthose with psychiatric service or emotional support animals must sign a form to attest that the animal can behave. These measures are intended to help ensure that those customers traveling with a trained service or support animal will no longer be at risk of untrained pets attacking their working animal, Delta said. Delta flies about 700 service animals per daya 150 percent increase since 2015. The Atlanta-based company said reported animal incidents have increased 84 percent since 2016, including on-board problems with urine, feces and aggressive behavior. In June, an Alabama man was taken to an Atlanta hospital with facial wounds after a dog lunged at him on a California-bound Delta 737. A police report said the dog was issued to a U.S. Marine for support. The airline considers the matter a safety risk, Delta spokeswoman Ashton Morrow said. There is a lack of regulation, and what were trying to do is put some more arms around the process and ensure were keeping safety top of mind, she said. For several years, flight attendants have been calling attention to the probable abuse of rules allowing service dogs and emotional support animals in aircraft cabins. In many cases, the animals arent confined and may amble about the cabin, creating safety concerns. Story continues The Association of Flight Attendants said it adamantly supports Deltas policy change, President Sara Nelson said, as it appears there is growing abuse of the system. We are hearing a public outcry to stop the abuse. There were 2 emotional support dogs in business class. One lady took hers to the bathroom with her. She said it would cry if it couldnt see her. Heather Poole (@Heather_Poole) November 22, 2017 The 1986 Air Carrier Access Act requires airlines to transport disabled passengers service and support animals, but the Department of Transportation allows carriers to require documentation from the animals owners. Even with the proper verification, airlines may refuse to fly the animal if the service animals behavior in a public setting is inappropriate or disruptive to other passengers or carrier personnel, the DOT wrote in a 2005 guide for airlines on compliance with the law. Sat next to a lady with a chihuahua who threw up on my seat before I even sat down, then proceeded to poop all over its owner, her seat, the wall, and unfortunately my sweater! Happy Holidays! #esaoftheday Ben Beach (@BenBeach85) December 28, 2017 In a statement Friday, the DOT said it would monitor Deltas policy to make certain it preserves and respects the rights of individuals with disabilities who travel with service animals. That said, the government added that airlines are not required to accommodate unusual service animals, such as snakes, reptiles, ferrets, rodents, and spiders.It isnt clear what has spurred the increase in animals on planes in recent years. In some cases, airlines have banned certain breeds of dog from cargo holds due to the stress those animals experience in flight. There has also been a proliferation of online screening sites to allow passengers to diagnose anxiety or other disorders and offer a document designating their pet as a support creature. Deltas Morrow said the airline will be interested to see the effect on service animal volume after the policy is enacted. Meanwhile, rival American Airlines Group Inc. echoed the carriers concerns and praised the new rules. We are looking at additional requirements to help protect our team members and our customers who have a real need for a trained service or support animal, American said in an emailed statement. Unfortunately, untrained animals can lead to safety issues for our team, our passengers and working dogs onboard our aircraft. Donald Trump was hosting the Democratic Senate leader on Friday afternoon in an 11th hour push to reach a deal to avert a government shutdown - Bloomberg The US government has started to shut down after Congress failed to overcome a bitter standoff over spending and immigration, marking a choatic end to Donald Trump's first year as president. Last-minute negotiations crumbled as Senate Democrats blocked a four-week stopgap extension in a late-night vote, causing the fourth government shutdown in a quarter of a century. Social Security and most other safety net programmes are unaffected by the lapse in federal spending authority. Critical government functions will continue, with uniformed service members, health inspectors and law enforcement officers set to work without pay. But if no deal is brokered before Monday, two million federal employees will be furloughed given leave of absence. Most staff in the departments of housing, environment, education and commerce will stay at home. Half of workers in the treasury, health, defence and transportation departments will also not be going to work next week. National parks and monuments face closure while visa and passport processing could be delayed. Essential services that protect "life or human property" will continue, including national security, postal services, air traffic control, inpatient medical services, emergency outpatient medicine, disaster assistance, prisons, taxation and electricity generation. Donald Trump's first year in office: the conflict and controversy Click here for a detailed account of what happens now. Congress scheduled an unusual Saturday session to begin considering a three-week version of the short-term spending measure - and to broadcast that they were at work as the shutdown commenced. It seemed likely each side would try forcing votes aimed at making the other party look culpable for shuttering federal agencies. White House blames Democrats After hours of closed-door meetings and phone calls, the Senate scheduled its late-night vote on a House-passed plan. It gained 50 votes to proceed to 48 against, but 60 were needed to break a Democratic filibuster. Story continues The president watched the results from the White House residence, dialing up allies and affirming his belief that Democrats would take the blame for the shutdown, a source familiar with his conversations said. Sen. Charles Schumer walks to the chamber after a closed meeting with fellow democrats on Capitol Hill Credit: AP The White House lashed out at Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, blaming him for the shutdown "Senate Democrats own the Schumer Shutdown," Trump's spokeswoman Sarah Sanders declared. Senate Democrats put politics above national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our countrys ability to serve all Americans. We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands. The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 20, 2018 "Tonight, they put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country's ability to serve all Americans. "We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands," she said. Schumer hits back Mr Schumer fought back, however, blaming the president for leading him to believe a deal was possible on a measure to prevent the expulsion of undocumented migrants who arrived in the country as children. "Every American knows the Republican Party controls White House, the Senate, the House - it is their job to keep the government open. It is their job to work with us to move forward," Mr Schumer told the Senate. "They control every ounce of the process and it is their responsibility to govern and here they have failed," he declared. FAQ | What is a federal government shutdown? The measure brought to Congress would have extended federal funding until Feb 16 and restored a health insurance programme for poor children for six years - a long-time Democratic objective. But it would have cut the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals programme, known as Daca, that affects Dreamers. who have been protected from deportation. White House officials insisted there was no urgency to fix Daca, which expires on March 5. Mr Trump, who had made strict measures on immigration a cornerstone of his presidential campaign, last week rejected a bipartisan proposal, saying he wanted to include any deal for Dreamers in a bigger legislative package that also boosts funding for a border wall and tighter security at the border with Mexico. The lawmakers and Mr Trump's White House had mounted last-ditch negotiations to stave off what had come to appear as the inevitable, with the parties in stare-down mode over federal spending and proposals to protect the 700,000 younger immigrants from deportation. Earlier on Friday, Mr Trump had brought Mr Schumer to the White House in hopes of cutting a deal on a short-term spending agreement. Talks collapse over immigration The two New Yorkers, who pride themselves on their negotiating abilities, started talking over cheeseburgers about a larger agreement that would have included greater military spending and money for a southern border wall. But the talks fell apart almost as abruptly as they started. In a phone call hours later, the president raised new concerns about the deal he and Schumer had discussed, according to a person familiar with the conversation. In a subsequent phone call with Schumer, chief of staff John Kelly said the deal discussed was too liberal. The White House did not immediately comment on that account. As word of the Schumer meeting spread, the White House hastened to reassure Republican congressional leaders that Trump would not make any major policy concessions, a source said. US Federal Government Shutdowns On Capitol Hill, McConnell said Americans at home would be watching to see "which senators make the patriotic decision" and which "vote to shove aside veterans, military families and vulnerable children to hold the entire country hostage... until we pass an immigration bill". "We can't keep kicking the can down the road," said Schumer, insisting on more urgency in talks on immigration. "In another month, we'll be right back here, at this moment, with the same web of problems at our feet, in no better position to solve them." Mr Schumer called on the president and leaders of both parties to resume negotiations on Saturday. Mr McConnell said he would seek a new funding bill through to February 8 but a Senate Democratic source said that was too far out. Democrats had argued for an extension of four or five days to force both sides into serious negotiations on the immigration issue. Election issue With mid-term congressional elections looming later this year, Republicans risk being blamed by voters when the government stops functioning over lack of funds. A new Washington Post/ABC poll found that 48 per cent of Americans blame Trump and the Republicans for a potential shutdown, and only 28 per cent hold Democrats responsible. Trump had been set to leave on Friday to attend a fundraiser at his Palm Beach, Florida, estate marking the anniversary of his inauguration, but delayed his travel. The shutdown is the first since 2013, when tea party Republicans - in a strategy not unlike the one Mr Schumer is employing now - sought to use a must-pass funding bill to try to force then-President Barack Obama to delay implementation of his marquee health care law. At the time, Mr Trump told Fox & Friends that the ultimate blame for a shutdown lies at the top. "I really think the pressure is on the president," he said. 2:10PM Donald Trump blames Democrats Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMoreRepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present. #DemocratShutdown Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present. #DemocratShutdown Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 7:09AM The Twitter war rages The time for talking has ended. The time for tweeting has begun. Both sides are currently slugging it out on social media. The Republicans say: Senate Democrats have let down our troops, our children, and all Americans. All of this is just unnecessary. It is reckless. Senate Democrats have brought us to a shutdown. https://t.co/RlGYYue4Hhpic.twitter.com/MVJiTZFvDt Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) January 20, 2018 The facts before us are simple. Right now, the Democratic leader has no compromise immigration bill on the table. No bill exists. Why do Americans need to suffer from a government shutdown when he doesnt even have an immigration bill? Leader McConnell (@SenateMajLdr) January 20, 2018 The Democrats say: Republicans control the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. No matter how they spin this shutdown, we know what happened: They abandoned their responsibility. Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) January 20, 2018 This will be called the #TrumpShutdown. There is no one who deserves the blame for the position we find ourselves in more than President Trump. pic.twitter.com/WE3SH9TpRU Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 20, 2018 6:59AM The cheeseburger summit An NBC News reporter says Schumer and Trump held talks while munching on cheeseburgers. FAQ | What is a federal government shutdown? 6:55AM What is shut down? FAQ | What is a federal government shutdown? 6:25AM McConnell to propose shorter-term funding plan Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he will seek to halt the shutdown with a proposal to fund the government through February 8. McConnell says February 8 is "a very reasonable time" and pushes the matter beyond President Donald Trump's Jan. 30 State of the Union address. It's unclear how quickly lawmakers might vote on McConnell's proposal. It's also uncertain if shrinking the timeframe of a short-term agreement from four weeks to three weeks will draw enough votes to reopen the government. 6:02AM Trump staying in Washington 'until this is finished' Mr Trump had already scrapped plans to depart on Friday for his Mar-a-Lago club, where he'd been set to attend a high-dollar fundraiser on Saturday night to commemorate his first year in office. While White House aides did not respond to questions about the president's weekend plans, Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told reporters he didn't expect Trump to go to Florida on Saturday. "I think the president's been very clear: He's not leaving until this is finished," he said. The reverberations of the shutdown will be felt across Washington, all over the nation - and within the White House residence. According to federal stipulations, just 21 of the 96 members of the White House residential staff would report to duty on any day of a shutdown. 5:56AM No talks on immigration until shutdown over As well as blaming the Democrats, Trump's administration said it would not discuss immigration until the government is up and running again. "When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders, we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform." 5:40AM Battle of the hashtags The White House is calling it the #SchumerShutdown. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, is calling it the #TrumpShutdown. Tonight, on the eve of the first anniversary of his inauguration, President Trump earned an F for failure in leadership," Ms Pelosi said. I hope that we can now conduct bipartisan negotiations where we find our common ground to honor our responsibility to meet the needs of the American people. I hope that we can now conduct bipartisan negotiations where we find our common ground to honor our responsibility to meet the needs of the American people. #TrumpShutdown Read my full statement here: https://t.co/RiGSbynFqw Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) January 20, 2018 5:34AM Schumer responds Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is giving his version of the talks - putting much of the blame on the president. He says he had offered to "put the border wall on the table" during discussions with Mr Trump, but that was not enough for him to make a deal. He says an outline of a deal was in hand on immigration and spending caps but Trump "did not press his party in Congress to accept it". Sen. Schumer: "What happened to the President Trump who asked us to come up with a deal and promise that he'd take heat for it? What happened to that president? He backed off at the first sign of pressure." https://t.co/eK4NmkzQpFpic.twitter.com/Jx6zH0WaEO CBS News (@CBSNews) January 20, 2018 5:27AM Senator McConnell reacts The Senate Majority Leader says the Democrats derailed talks with their desire to force the passage of legislation to protect some 700,000 younger immigrants from deportation. Sen. McConnell: "Almost everybody on both sides doesn't understand how we ended up here because most of this stuff we agree on. There's only one reason we ended up here: the shoehorning of illegal immigration into this debate." https://t.co/eK4NmkzQpFpic.twitter.com/QuxoYSt8rB CBS News (@CBSNews) January 20, 2018 5:23AM What Trump said in the past Earlier, the Democrats were keen to show what Mr Trump said when the government shutdown in 2013. .@realDonaldTrumps take on a government shutdown, in 2013: I really think the pressure is on the president. #TrumpShutdownpic.twitter.com/cP2BH31RqK Senate Democrats (@SenateDems) January 19, 2018 5:21AM The 'behavior of obstructionist losers' The White House is continuing its attack - and you suspect Donald Trump may be dictating. This is the behavior of obstructionist losers, not legislators. When Dems pay our armed forces & first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform. During the politically manufactured #SchumerShutdown, @POTUS will fight for & protect the American people. The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 20, 2018 5:15AM White House kicks off blame game As soon as the shutdown began, the White House tweeted it response - laying the blame squarely at the Democrats. Donald Trump, the US president - AP Donald Trump has cancelled his trip to Florida in an attempt to help avoid a government shutdown as Republicans piled pressure on their political opponents. The president was due to fly to his Mar-a-Lago resort on Friday afternoon but will now stay in Washington as the hours tick down to a government funding deadline. If Democrats do not vote through a month-long extension by the end of the day then much of federal government will grind to a halt. A fierce blame game erupted in the American capital as political rivals pointed the finger at each other over who was at fault for the stand-off. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader of the Senate, used a speech to accuse Democrats of being unpatriotic by refusing to vote for a funding extension. An American flag flies outside of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC Credit: Aaron P. Bernstein/Bloomberg The American people, the citizens who actually elected us, will be watching," he said. "They will see which senators make the patriotic decision, stand up for the American people and vote to continue government funding." He claimed Democrats would effectively shove aside veterans, military families and vulnerable children to hold the entire country hostage if they voted against a funding extension. The White House called an unexpected press conference on Friday morning that saw two senior administration figures take the fight to the Democrats. Marco Short, the White House director for legislative affairs, accused the Democrats of hypocrisy given the fury they expressed when Republicans forced a government shutdown in 2013. Mick Mulvaney, director of the office of management and budget, said the Democrats were opposing a bill that they dont oppose in an attempt to win further concessions. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate Credit: AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley A government shutdown, which comes when Congress fails to agree spending for departments, sees all but essential government services close. It last happened under Barack Obama five years ago and lasted 16 days. A stand-off over immigration is at the heart of the current row. Story continues Democrats want Mr Trump to extend protections for the so-called dreamer migrants who came to America illegally as children. Republicans want money for a Mexican border wall, the end of the diversity lottery visa scheme and moves to curb chain migration, when a migrants family members follow after a move. A measure to push the midnight Friday deadline back 30 days was passed in the House of Representatives on Thursday but has not yet been voted on in the Senate. Government Funding Bill past last night in the House of Representatives. Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate - but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2018 Sixty votes are needed to pass budget measures in the Senate. The Republicans have only 51 seats meaning they need Democrat support. The Republicans are attempting to strong-arm Democrats into backing the funding extension by warning that failing to do so will cause upheaval and hit military spending. They have also included a six-year extension to the Children's Health Insurance Program [CHIP] used by nine million youngsters, which Democrats have been demanding. However some Democrats are reluctant to sign off a deal because Mr Trump has failed to agree to protectdreamer migrants. They see their votes on funding as a key political capital that should not be traded away for too low a price. Nobody wants to shut down the govt, not Dems, not the GOP. The only one who has ever rooted for a shutdown is @realDonaldTrump who said our country could use a good shutdown only he could come up with that. But no shutdown can be good for the American people. Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 19, 2018 Some analysts have also noted that for Democratic presidential hopefuls there could be political interest in holding out in order to appeal to their support base, which is firmly anti-Trump. Republicans have dubbed the potential funding cut-off the Schumer shutdown after Chuck Schumer, the most senior Democrat in the Senate. Mr Schumer in turn has pointed out that Mr Trump once said that America could use a good shutdown. Some Democrats have dubbed it the "Trump shutdown". Mike Pence, the vice president, will still travel to the Middle East on Friday night regardless of a government shutdown, his office has said. Some 48 per cent of voters blame Mr Trump and the Republican Party for the impending shutdown, according to an ABC News/ Washington Post poll. Just 28 per cent blame the Democrats. Kinshasa (AFP) - A pro-democracy movement has called for the release of five of its activists detained in the Democratic Republic of Congo, saying it fears they could be tortured. The activists from the Filimbi movement, whose name means "whistle" in Swahili, are accused of "insulting the head of state and inciting a revolt", according to their lawyer, Chris-Sam Kabeya. Four of the activists were arrested in Kinshasa on December 30 while trying to organise a protest march against the 17-year rule of President Joseph Kabila for the next day, New Year's Eve. All were "detained in total secret since January 1, 2018... at the National Intelligence Agency (ANR) where they would be tortured," according to a statement from the pro-democracy movement received by AFP on Saturday. The fifth activist was held a week earlier in the eastern town of Kindu by the military intelligence service where he "was tortured", said the statement. "To this day, it is difficult for us to confirm that they are still alive," it added. "We condemn with the utmost energy these barbaric acts and demand the unconditional release of our activists." The New Year's Eve anti-Kabila protest descended into violence after the authorities cracked down on demonstrators. Protest organisers said 12 people were killed, while the United Nations gave a toll of at least five dead -- a figure that it said could be "far higher," as its investigators had been barred from visiting morgues, hospitals and detention centres. An AFP reporter at a demonstration in the central city of Kananga saw a man shot in the chest by soldiers who opened fire on worshippers. Members of the Filimbi movement have repeatedly been arrested by the authorities in DR Congo, often for speaking out against Kabila. The new arrests are another sign of rising tensions in the vast central African nation, where the opposition does not want the president's grip on power to continue. Under a Catholic church-brokered 2016 deal, Kabila was allowed to stay in office provided new elections were held in 2017. After months of silence, the authorities said the vote would be held in December 2018 -- a postponement that has angered democracy activists and Western nations. President Trump "said things which were hate-filled, vile and racist. ... I cannot believe ... any president has ever spoken the words that I ... heard our president speak yesterday." So wailed Sen. Dick Durbin after departing the White House. And what caused the minority leader to almost faint dead away? Trump called Haiti a "s---hole country," said Durbin, and then asked why we don't have more immigrants from neat places "like Norway." With that, there erupted one of the great media firestorms of the Trump era. Trump concedes he may have disparaged Haiti, which, at last check, was not listed among "Best Places to Live" in the Western Hemisphere. Yet Trump insists he did not demean the Haitian people. Still, by contrasting Norway as a desirable source of immigrants, as opposed to Haiti, El Salvador and Africa, Trump tabled a question that is roiling the West, the answer to which will decide its fate. Trump is saying with words, as he has with policies, that in taking in a million people a year, race, religion and national origin matter, if we are to preserve our national unity and national character. Moreover, on deciding who comes, and who does not, Americans have the sovereign right to discriminate in favor of some continents, countries and cultures, and against others. Moreover, in stating his own preferences, Trump is in a tradition as old as the Republic. The original Colonies did not want Catholics here. Ben Franklin feared Pennsylvania was being overrun by stupid Germans: "Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Anglifying them, and will never adopt our Language or Customs, any more than they can acquire our Complexion." Just as anti-immigrant parties have arisen in Europe to stem the flood of refugees from the Mideast and Africa, an American Party ("Know-Nothings") was formed to halt the surge of Irish immigrants during the Potato Famine of 1845-1849. Lincoln wanted slaves repatriated to Africa. In the 19th and 20th centuries, we had Chinese and Japanese exclusion acts. "Californians have properly objected" to Japanese migrants, said V.P. nominee FDR "on the sound basic ground that ... the mingling of Asiatic blood with European or American blood produces, in nine cases out of ten, the most unfortunate results." After the Great Migration of Italians, Poles, Jews and East Europeans, from 1890 to 1920, the Immigration Act of 1925 established quotas based on the national origins of the American people in 1890, thus favoring Brits, Scots-Irish, Irish and Germans. Civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph, a major figure in Dr. King's March on Washington, said of the Harding-Coolidge restrictive quotas: "We favor reducing immigration to nothing ... shutting out the Germans ... Italians ... Hindus ... Chinese and even the Negroes from the West Indies. The country is suffering from immigration indigestion." The Senate floor leader of the 1965 Immigration Act addressed what were then regarded as valid concerns about the future racial and ethnic composition of the country. Sen. Edward Kennedy pledged: "Our cities will not be flooded with a million immigrants annually ... the ethnic mix of this country will not be upset. ... S. 500 will not inundate America with immigrants from ... the most populated and economically deprived nations of Africa and Asia." What Kennedy assured America would not happen, did happen. Today, issues of immigration and race are tearing countries and continents apart. There are anti-immigrant parties in every nation in Europe. Turkey is being bribed to keep Syrian refugees out of Europe. Boatloads of Africans from Libya are being turned back in the Med. After building a wall to keep them out, Bibi Netanyahu has told "illegal aliens" from Africa: Get out of Israel by March, or go to jail. Angela Merkel's Party may have suffered irreparable damage when she let a million Mideast refugees in. The larger concentrations of Arabs, Africans and Turks in Britain, France and Germany are not assimilating. Central European nations are sealing borders. Europe fears a future in which the continent, with its shrinking numbers of native-born, is swamped by peoples from the Third World. Yet the future alarmed Europeans are resisting is a future U.S. elites have embraced. Among the reasons, endless mass migration here means the demographic death of the GOP. In U.S. presidential elections, persons of color whose roots are in Asia, Africa and Latin America vote 4-1 Democratic, and against the candidates favored by America's vanishing white majority. Not for the first time, liberal ideology comports precisely with liberal interests. Mass immigration means an America in 2050 with no core majority, made up of minorities of every race, color, religion and culture on earth, a continent-wide replica of the wonderful diversity we see today in the U.N. General Assembly. Such a country has never existed before. Are we on the Yellow Brick Road to the new Utopia -- or on the path to national suicide? It's hard watching Facebook struggle. Like how for the past two years it's alternated between looking like it's doing something about fake news, and actually doing something about fake news. The company's latest stab at the problem is saying it will change what people see in their News Feeds. The goal is to show users fewer posts from companies or brands, and more shares (or posts) from friends; in particular, ones its algorithm thinks will get you excited. It's not specifically saying this has anything to do with stopping the spread of fake news from virulent racists, politically active conspiracy theorists or propaganda farms successfully goading our country into tearing itself apart. No, because that would indicate it's identified the problem. Instead, Facebook says this notable change to the News Feed -- its cash cow, fed by your attention -- is to make Facebook feel more positive for users. To bring people closer together. Wink. At this stage, Facebook could lead a masterclass on how not to solve the fake-news problem. De-prioritizing actual news organizations and instead highlighting that InfoWars story about eating Tide Pods that your racist uncle shared and commented on five times is just the latest hasty missive in what seems like Facebook's desire to amplify the issue. While some are stroking their chins thoughtfully and musing unquestionably that Facebook just wants its users to be happy, it's appropriate to examine the contempt for its users that got us in this situation in the first place. Right after the November 2016 election, despite being warned by the US government and it being widely reported months in advance that fake news and propaganda were influencing American voters, Mark Zuckerberg flatly denied what everyone was telling him, his users and the world. "Of all the content on Facebook, more than 99% of what people see is authentic," he wrote. He also cautioned that the company should not rush into fact-checking. Story continues America began its spin into chaos. Countries around the world, including the US, were seeing racial violence in the streets we now know was directly correlated with racist rhetoric on Facebook. Facebook had all the data. All the answers. Facebook treated it like a reputational crisis. In response, the company rolled out a "Disputed" flagging system announced in a December 2016 post. The weight of policing the fake news disaster was placed on users, who would hopefully flag items they believed were fake. These items were then handed to external fact-checking organizations at a glacial pace. When two of the orgs signed off on the alleged fake item, the post got a very attractive "disputed" icon and the kind of stern warning that any marketer could tell you would be great for getting people to click and share. The "Disputed" flag system was predicted to fail from the start, but Facebook didn't seem to care. Facebook characterized its efforts as effective in April 2017 stating that "overall that false news has decreased on Facebook" but did not provide any proof. It said that was because "It's hard for us to measure because we can't read everything that gets posted." In July, Oxford researchers found that "computational propaganda is now one of the most powerful tools against democracy," including that Facebook plays a critical role in it. In August, Facebook announced it would ban pages that post hoax stories from being allowed to advertise on the social network. This precluded a bombshell. In September, everyone who'd been trying to ring the alarm about fake news, despite Facebook's denials and downplaying, all found out just how right they were. This was the month Facebook finally admitted -- under congressional questioning -- that a Russian propaganda mill used the social-media giant's ad service for political operation around the 2016 campaign. This came out when sources revealed to The Washington Post that Facebook was grilled by 2016 Russia-Trump congressional investigators behind closed doors. Meanwhile, Facebook's flag system shambled along like a zombie abandoned in the desert. In September Facebook's fact-checking organizations told press they were ready to throw in the towel citing Facebook's own refusal to work with them. Facebook seemed to be actively undermining the fact-checking efforts. Politico wrote: (...) because the company has declined to share any internal data from the project, the fact-checkers say they have no way of determining whether the "disputed" tags they're affixing to "fake news" articles slow -- or perhaps even accelerate -- the stories' spread. They also say they're lacking information that would allow them to prioritize the most important stories out of the hundreds possible to fact-check at any given moment. By November 2017, fake news as a service was booming. The following month, December 2017, Facebook publicly declared that the disputed-flag system wasn't working after all. One full year after its launch. Its replacement, "Related Articles," was explained in a Medium post that came across as more experimentation on users and a deep aversion to talk about what's really going on behind the scenes. There's more to this story, but you get the idea. It's a juggernaut of a rolling disaster capped off by this month's hand-on-heart pledge to connect people better and cut actual news organizations out of the picture. "Facebook is a living, breathing crime scene for what happened in the 2016 election -- and only they have full access to what happened," Tristan Harris, a former design ethicist at Google told NBC News this week. Facebook's response included the following in a statement: In the past year, we've worked to destroy the business model for false news and reduce its spread, stop bad actors from meddling in elections, and bring a new level of transparency to advertising. Last week, we started prioritizing meaningful posts from friends and family in News Feed to help bring people closer together. We have more work to do and we're heads down on getting it done. As my colleague Swapna Krishna put it, "The company is making it harder for legitimate news organizations to share their stories (and thus counter any false narratives), and by doing so, is creating a breeding ground for the fake news it's trying to stamp out in the first place." If only Facebook put as much effort into policing fake news as it does actively stomping on the face of free speech in the form of human sexuality, enforcing extreme, antiquated notions of puritanism with its exacting sex censorship. Indeed, this week a former Facebook content monitor told NBC News that "Facebook's team of content reviewers focused mainly on violence and pornography, making it "incredibly easy" for Russian trolls to fly under the radar with their fake news." They added, "To sum it up, what counts as spam is anything that involves full nudity." Thank goodness. I mean, who knows how the world would spiral uncontrollably into chaos and violence if someone saw a boob. Images: Getty Images/iStockphoto (Holding hands); Simon Potter via Getty Images (Readouts); Getty Images (Mark Zuckerberg) Mark Zuckerberg says there is too much sensationalism in the world - REUTERS Facebook is to begin prioritising trustworthy media outlets in users feeds as the social media platform continues to fight back at allegations it has allowed the propagation of fake news. The company, which has more than 2 billion monthly users, said it would survey account holders to rank the credibility of news outlets. The programme will start in the US before being rolled out internationally. The most broadly trusted media organisations will get promoted up the news feed, ahead of others that rate low on credibility. Mark Zuckerberg, the sites founder, outlined the shake-up in a post on Facebook. Theres too much sensationalism, misinformation and polarisation in the world today," he wrote. Social media enables people to spread information faster than ever before, and if we don't specifically tackle these problems, then we end up amplifying them. Like many Internet pioneers, Mr Zuckerberg has long pushed back against regulating posts and becoming an arbiter of truth. However, his company has been under intense pressure since the 2016 US election when fabricated stories, conspiracy theories and misinformation spread across the platform. It is the second major change announced this month. Last week Mr Zuckerberg said Facebook would prioritise posts from friends and family above those from news organisations in feeds. Fake news: What exactly is it and how can you spot it? "After this change, we expect news to make up roughly four percent of News Feed - down from roughly five per cent," he said. He added that the company had been grappling for some time with how best to determine scores of trustworthiness and credibility. "We could try to make that decision ourselves, but that's not something we're comfortable with," he wrote. "We considered asking outside experts, which would take the decision out of our hands but would likely not solve the objectivity problem. Or we could ask you - the community and have your feedback determine the ranking." (Reuters) - A partial U.S. government shutdown is just hours away as President Donald Trump and the Republican-run Congress struggle to find a solution. The House of Representatives approved a measure Thursday to extend funding through Feb. 16, but with several Republicans wavering and numerous Democrats opposed, the bill appeared on the verge of collapse in the Senate. The measure would be the fourth stopgap funding bill, known as a continuing resolution, in the current fiscal year. Republicans control the Senate by a 51-49 margin, leaving little room for defections. Here is a list of senators whose votes could be pivotal to the bill's fate. REPUBLICANS VOTING OR LEANING NO LINDSEY GRAHAM South Carolina Senator Graham, who helped craft a bipartisan immigration deal rejected by Trump last week, said on Wednesday he would vote against the temporary funding bill. "I am not going to support continuing this fiasco for 30 more days by voting for a continuing resolution," he said. Graham added that the government needed additional funding for the military and "some direction about the path forward" on a more permanent solution for so-called Dreamers, undocumented people who immigrated to the United States as children. Numerous Democrats are holding out for a deal on those immigrants before voting for the government funding bill. MIKE LEE Lee, from Utah, is a fiscal conservative who dislikes using stopgap bills, to fund the government. "Past performance is not a guarantee of future results but Senator Lee has never voted for a CR," said his spokesman, Conn Carroll. JOHN MCCAIN McCain is undergoing cancer treatment at his home in Arizona and was not expected to be at the Senate vote. Politico quoted McCain as saying he would vote "no" on the stopgap bill if he were in Washington. RAND PAUL The Kentucky senator said on Thursday he would vote against the short-term spending bill over budget concerns. He said spending in the bill would exceed caps put in place by Congress to keep expenses under control. DEMOCRATS VOTING OR LEANING YES JOE MANCHIN Manchin, of West Virginia, has indicated he is leaning in favor of the stopgap measure, saying he wants to keep the government open. He is one of 10 Democrats up for re-election this year in states Trump won in the 2016 presidential election. JOE DONNELLY Donnelly, who is up for re-election this year, said on the Senate floor on Friday afternoon that he would vote to keep the government open. "Keeping the government running is our job," Donnelly said. Trump won Indiana and Vice President Mike Pence is the former governor of the state. HEIDI HEITKAMP Heitkamp, who is up for re-election in North Dakota this year, announced late on Friday that she would vote for a short-term measure to fund the government, but that it was not an "endorsement" of back-to-back, short-term funding bills. "I've been calling for a bipartisan deal, and it's disappointing that many of those on the other side of the aisle haven't been willing to work on one," Heitkamp said in a statement. OTHER PROPOSALS JEFF FLAKE The vocal Trump critic has expressed frustration to reporters with the process. He is also a supporter of a bipartisan plan to protect Dreamers. While he has not said for sure how he would vote, he told reporters on Thursday that he did not back this stopgap spending bill and preferred the idea of a temporary funding bill lasting several days while lawmakers continue to negotiate a deal. CHUCK SCHUMER Schumer, the Democratic Senate leader, has said he would back a proposal to keep the government open for a few more days while lawmakers continue negotiations. (Compiled by Susan Cornwell, Amanda Becker, Doina Chiacu, Blake Brittain and Makini Brice in Washington; Editing by Bill Trott and Lisa Shumaker) Los Angeles (AFP) - The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking at a new person of interest in connection with the October mass shooting that killed 58 people at a Las Vegas concert, the county sheriff said Friday. The gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, killed himself after the rampage carried out from his hotel suite on Las Vegas' famed Strip. It was the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history. Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told a press conference that "the FBI has an ongoing case against an individual of federal interest," but he said he could not elaborate. Lombardo added, however: "I know and believe there's only one suspect who killed 58 people and injured hundreds more. All the evidence recovered in this case supports that theory." He said charges were unlikely to be brought against Paddock's girlfriend Marilou Danley. Paddock, a wealthy retired accountant and compulsive video poker player who took Valium for anxiety, had "lost a significant amount of his monetary wealth in close proximity to October 1," which may have been a factor behind the attack, Lombardo said. The sheriff was commenting on an 80-page preliminary report published about the investigation -- which included examination of more than 20,000 hours of video. The report tracks the sequence of events that began September 17, when Paddock checked into another hotel in Las Vegas, and culminated with the October 1 shooting from the 32nd floor hotel suite. "This report is not going to answer every question or even answer the biggest question as to why he did what he did," said Lombardo. "There was no suicide note nor a manifesto left behind. No ideology or radicalization was discovered." The Islamic State group had claimed Paddock as one of their "soldiers," but investigators said early on that they found no link to any extremist group. Authorities scouring Paddock's computer usage found searches for firearms and elite police response teams. They also discovered "numerous photos of child pornography," Lombardo said. Story continues Paddock's brother Bruce was arrested in October in Los Angeles on child pornography charges, as part of a probe that began before the Las Vegas shooting. Stephen Paddock had stockpiled an arsenal of firearms in his room at the Mandalay Bay hotel before he rained fire down on a country music festival where some 22,000 people had gathered on the night of October 1. In addition to the 58 dead, hundreds were wounded. They included 422 people who sustained wounds related to gunfire. The total number hurt was 851, taking into account others who were injured in the melee, Lombardo said on Friday. Senators Steve Daines, Patrick Leahy, Sen. Ron Wyden, Rand Paul, and Elizabeth Warren hold a bipartisan news conference about their proposed reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on 16 January 2018: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images A controversial section of an intelligence-gathering act which was originally passed in the wake of the September 11th attack was recently re-authorised ahead of its expiration deadline. US President Donald Trump appeared to not understand the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Section 702 legislation but ultimately supported it as a crucial element to national security. Here is what you need to know about the act, the privacy concerns surrounding it, and Mr Trump's support of it. What is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act? One section of FISA has been making headlines of late and that is Section 702, which "allows the government to obtain the communications of foreigners outside the US, including foreign terrorist threats. In other words, the federal government can conduct warrantless searches and collection of materials of a non-American ISIS member who is outside the US and might be plotting an attack, as CNN reported. According to the Director of National Intelligences office Section 702 "cannot be used to intentionally target any US citizen, or any other US person, or to intentionally target any person known to be in the US.[and] cannot be used to target a person outside the US if the purpose is to acquire information" from a person inside the country. The Act was actually passed in 1978, but first made headlines in 2005 during the administration of former President George W Bush under whose administration this particular section was put into place due to the security concerns after the September 11th attacks. Proponents of Section 702 argue that since this is spying on foreign nationals plotting threats to the US and others, they lack the protection of warrants that the US Constitution provides. Ahead of the Congressional vote on 18 January to extend FISA past the expiration deadline, the directors of the CIA, FBI, National Security Agency, US Department of Justice, and other intelligence agencies issued a rare joint statement in support of keeping FISA in place. Story continues "There is no substitute for Section 702. If Congress fails to reauthorize this authority, the intelligence community will lose valuable foreign intelligence information, and the resulting intelligence gaps will make it easier for terrorists, weapons proliferators, malicious cyber actors, and other foreign adversaries to plan attacks against our citizens and allies without detection," the agencies said. Are there any privacy issues? Privacy advocates are certainly opposed to Section 702. In theory the law does not violate the privacy of US citizens or any person of another nationality within the US. Joshua Geltzer, the former senior director for counter-terrorism at the National Security Council, told CNN: "Not only are [US citizens] not allowed to be targets, but the statute explicitly bars back-door targeting." However, there may be incidental collection of US citizens private data or conversations if they are in the company of a suspected foreign person being surveilled under Section 702. Also if a US person is already under investigation, their information could be checked against the Section 702 database to see if they had any contacts with foreign persons of interest. The American Civil Liberties Union has said these instances of incidental collection amount to unlawful warrantless searches on Americans because Section 702 "permits the government to unconstitutionally collect Americans' international communications without a warrant." However, Mr Getzler argued that the loophole is "not the initiation of new surveillance. ... It is simply intelligence agencies reviewing the data they have already collected." When will Trump sign it? There were some Republicans and several Democrats who were opposed to re-authorising the section of FISA because they felt the act gave powers that were too expansive without additional privacy measures included. But, ultimately the Senate voted to continue it 65-34 on 18 January. Mr Trump is expected to sign the bill extension on 19 January, the expiration date. However, there was some confusion about that on his part late last week. The President had tweeted that FISA was controversial and it may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony Dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration. He was referring to a dossier on Mr Trump compiled by former MI-6 officer Christopher Steele as commissioned by the private firm Fusion GPS which contained information about alleged collusion between Trump campaign officials during the 2016 US election as well as alleged Russian efforts to help Mr Trump win the election. The dossier, which is comprised of 17 memos written between June and December 2016, had been made public just 10 days before Mr Trumps inauguration by Buzzfeed News. The Presidents tweet suggested he was not in favour of extending FISA, in contradiction with most Republicans in Congress. However, after speaking with his Chief of Staff John Kelly and US intelligence officials, the President said the act was indeed vital to national security. Yahya Jammeh ruled for 22 years before his shock election defeat - AFP The African dictator who gave sanctuary to Gambian tyrant Yahya Jammeh last year has hinted that he may eventually be willing to hand him over to face trial for human rights abuses. Teodoro Obiang, the long-running president of Equatorial Guinea, took in Mr Jammeh last January after the Gambian president unexpectedly lost elections to opposition underdog Adama Barrow, who once worked as a security guard in a London Argos. Mr Jammeh's downfall was hailed as a David-and-Goliath victory for democracy in tiny Gambia, where he had ruled for 22 years. But his departure to Equatorial Guinea led many of those who suffered human rights abuses during his regime to assume that he would never face a court. Mr Obiang has never signed the statutes of the International Criminal Court, meaning that Mr Jammeh cannot be extradited without his hosts permission. However, despite a widespread presumption that Mr Obiang would dismiss extradition requests out of hand, he said in a rare interview last week that they would be studied and "considered". Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema has ruled since 1979 Credit: AIZAR RALDES/ AFP "If there is a request, I will analyse it with my lawyers," he told Radio France Internationale, in his first public comment on the matter. Mr Obiang, 75, took in Mr Jammeh on January 22 last year as part of a deal brokered by the regional ECOWAS power bloc to persuade him to step down peacefully. The Gambian leader had spent the previous six weeks trying to cling to power, making the unlikely claim that the elections had been rigged against him. ECOWAS troops were already massing on the Gambian border, with orders to remove Mr Jammeh and his 300-strong presidential guard by force if necessary. But the offer of sanctuary from Mr Obiang helped persuade Mr Jammeh not to try to fight. It was widely speculated at the time that Mr Obiang's offer was made partly as a gesture of solidarity between one African dictator and another. The Equatorial Guinean leader, who seized power in 1979, has just as dismal a human rights record as Mr Jammeh. Story continues Jammeh departs at Banjul airport in Gambia in January 2017 Elsewhere in last week's radio interview, Mr Obiang voiced the opinion that extraditing Mr Jammeh "might be a bad political idea", given that he had eventually agreed to go peacefully. But his pledge that he would review any such request on its legal merits was interpreted by human rights groups as a discreet sign that he wanted to leave the door open on the matter. Mr Obiang claims to want to retire from power soon, and might view the granting of an extradition request as a way of improving his own legacy. Reed Brody, a lawyer for the advocacy group Human Rights Watch, which has been compiling testimony of human rights abuses during the Jammeh era, told The Telegraph: "Obiang's response shows that, dictator solidarity aside, he won't be able to just brush aside a well-grounded request for Jammeh's extradition." Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) told Fox News host Tucker Carlson he believes the Islamic State terror group masterminded the Las Vegas shooting that killed 58 people in October. I smell a rat, like a lot of Americans. Nothings adding up, Perry said Thursday on Tucker Carlson Tonight. Its been four months, as you said, the mans dead, they said hes a lone gunman, lone shooter, yet we cant get the autopsy results, Perry continued. But even more troubling than that, Ive been made aware of what I believe to be credible evidence, credible information, regarding terrorist infiltration through the southern border regarding this incident. Perry didnt elaborate on the credible information, nor did he explain why he thinks gunman Stephen Paddock, who killed himself in the massacre, wasnt acting alone, as investigators tend to believe. Lets face it, ISIS, twice before the attack, warned the U.S. they would attack Las Vegas and then after the attack claimed responsibility four times, Perry said. Meanwhile, the local law enforcement investigative services are telling us there is no terrorist connection. Catherine Lombardo, an attorney representing victims of the shooting, pressed Perry for evidence: With all due respect, Congressman, unless you have specific evidence to back that up, it seems a bit irresponsible to ... make that assertion. If you do have any evidence of that, Im asking you right now to share it with us and tell us what that is. Perry said he was not able to divulge specifics. (Photo: David Becker via Getty Images) Paddocks motive for opening fire on a Las Vegas strip music festival is still unknown. The FBI has ruled out terrorist connections, and a law enforcement spokesman said there is no indication of ISIS involvement. Also on HuffPost Haseba Nauzad holds her weapon near the front line of a fight against Islamic State militants in Nawaran, Iraq. She is part of an all-female unit fighting against ISIS in the country. Nauzad, 24, is the group's commander. Fighters share a tender moment in a bedroom near their deployment. Asema Dahir, 21, adjusts her cap in a bedroom near the front line. Dahir prepares to eat lunch with her comrades. Nauzad had left her husband in Turkey to return to Iraq. Her husband had wanted to pay smugglers to take them to Europe. Nauzad sits with other fighters in Nawaran. Dahir poses with a teddy bear. Many of the women had left their children and families to join this fight. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. The US Capitol - AP Congress failed to pass a spending bill by Friday at midnight, triggering a shutdown of the federal government. The move has big repercussions for America. US troops will continue their duties, and post will get delivered, but almost half of the two million civilian federal workers would be barred from doing their jobs. Here's a look at what it means to shut down the government. Intelligence work will be scaled down The workforce at the 17 US intelligence agencies will be pared down significantly. An official said employees who are considered essential and have to work will do so with no expectation of a regular pay cheque. While they can be ordered to stay on the job, federal workers can't be paid for days worked during a shutdown. In the past, however, they have been paid retroactively even if they were told to stay at home. National Parks and museums The Smithsonian museums in Washington, and the National Zoo, which are huge tourist attractions, will close from Monday if the shutdown continues. First Lady Melania Trump at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History Credit: AFP Staff will continue to feed animals at the zoo but the well-known Panda Cam will cease broadcasting. The Interior Department said that in the event of a government shutdown, national parks and other public lands will remain as "accessible as possible". That position is a change from previous shutdowns when most parks were closed and became high-profile symbols of dysfunction. Heather Swift, a spokeswoman, said the American public - especially veterans who come to the nation's capital - should find war memorials and open-air parks available to visitors. Ms Swift said many national parks and wildlife refuges nationwide will also be open with limited access when possible. She said public roads that were already open are likely to remain open, although services that require staffing and maintenance such as campgrounds, full-service restrooms and concessions won't be operating. Backcountry lands and culturally sensitive sites are likely to be restricted or closed, she said. Story continues Panda Cam would stop broadcasting Credit: Reuters Health research disrupted Dr Anthony Fauci, infectious disease chief at the National Institutes of Health, said a government shutdown will disrupt research and morale but will not adversely affect patients already in medical studies. "We still take care of them," he said of current NIH patients. But other types of research would be seriously harmed. A shutdown could mean interrupting research that's been going on for years, he said. The NIH is the government's primary agency responsible for biomedical and public health research, ranging from cancer studies to the testing and creation of vaccines. "You can't push the pause button on an experiment," he said. Law enforcement training to be cancelled Many of the nearly 115,000 US Justice Department employees have national security and public safety responsibilities that allow them to keep working during a shutdown. So will special counsel Robert Mueller's team investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the presidential election. His office is paid for indefinitely. Criminal cases will continue, but civil lawsuits will be postponed as long as doing so doesn't compromise public safety. Most law enforcement training will be cancelled, according to the department's contingency plan. Visas could be disrupted Grounded? Rex Tillerson Credit: Reuters Heather Nauert, State Department spokeswoman. said security for American diplomats overseas wouldn't be affected. But no decision had yet been made about what services, such as visa processing and passports, the State Department would be able to provide. Nor had there been a decision about whether Rex Tillerson, the Secretary of State, could go ahead with a planned trip to Europe next week if the government closed. Beirut (AFP) - Lebanon's Hezbollah movement on Friday said a US pledge to keep its troops in Syria to defeat the Islamic State group was just a "flimsy excuse" to occupy the country. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday that US forces would remain in Syria to both fight IS and counter the influence of President Bashar al-Assad. Assad is a key ally of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which has deployed its forces to keep the Damascus regime in power. During a televised address to commemorate Hezbollah fighters killed in Syria, the group's chief Hassan Nasrallah fired back at the US. "The Americans are the last people to have anything to do with rolling back Daesh," he said, using the Arabic acronym for IS. The US, according to the Hezbollah leader, was "creating flimsy excuses to keep their forces and bases in the region. This is the real aim." The United States has deployed around 2,000 ground troops to Syria and its warplanes patrol the skies over the east of the country, hunting IS remnants. In a speech on Wednesday at Stanford University, Tillerson said the US "will maintain a military presence in Syria, focused on ensuring that ISIS cannot re-emerge". But he also said the open-ended deployment is intended to help create conditions for Syrians to be able to remove Assad from office and reject Iranian influence. The US has long considered Hezbollah a "terrorist" organisation and has targeted it with sanctions. Last week, the US Justice Department announced it was also creating a special task force to investigate Hezbollah's alleged involvement in the international drug trade. Current and former US officials have described a massive money-laundering operation involving drugs and used cars that they say has helped Hezbollah fund its operations. But Nasrallah vehemently denied the claims on Friday. "These are unjust accusations, that are not based on facts or truth," he said. Story continues "Hezbollah has a very clear religious, jurisprudent, moral position on this. For us, dealing drugs is forbidden (in Islam) and not allowed," Nasrallah said. He accused American security services and the CIA of "destroying societies" by spreading drug use abroad. "Have a committee investigate your own involvement," Nasrallah said. DAKOTA DUNES Central Bank wanted to create a banking experience unlike any other in Siouxland when it opened its newest branch in Dakota Dunes. When customers walk in the main entrance, they are welcomed by a banking desk staffed by one or two of the facilitys relationship bankers. From there, those staffers can guide them through a list of more extensive services Central Bank offers or provide general teller services at one of two nearby teller pod stations, which feature cash recyclers. Our one-on-one, concierge-type service is unique to us, allowing our bankers to build client relationships beyond their transactions, said branch manager Jessika Evans, who oversees a staff of a dozen cross-trained bankers and tellers. Weve paired that approach with comfortable seating in our lobby, guest Wi-Fi, an interactive touchscreen TV and Stone Bru coffee to create an inviting environment that our customers love. The partnership with Stone Bru is one of the key offerings of the 6,500-square-foot Dunes location. Both businesses are housed on the first-floor of the new Gold Circle Centre, a 35,000-square-foot state-of-the-art office building that's also home to NAI United, the commercial real estate division of United Real Estate Solutions. Evans noted it's been a pretty positive and synergistic relationship between Central Bank and Stone Bru. The bank even allows its lobby to be used as an overflow space for the coffee shop. Not only does the staff at Central Bank appreciate having Stone Bru as a neighbor, our customers love it, too, Evans said. We serve Stone Bru coffee in our lobby every day and their lunch menu is very popular among the groups who utilize our conference room over (the) noon hour. Central Bank has assets exceeding $650 million and has three locations in Sioux City and other Northwest Iowa branches in Cherokee, Storm Lake, Spirit Lake, as well as in central Iowa. However, this is the first time the bank has crossed state lines in its history, which dates to 1887. Expanding into the planned community in southeast South Dakota was an easy decision for the bank noted Jeff Lapke, a Central Bank senior vice president and the local market president. The residential and business communities of Sioux City have always been very supportive of the bank, he said Because of those strong relationships, our customer-base continues to grow throughout the region and into South Dakota. The addition of our Dakota Dunes location has allowed us to better serve our current customers and attract new business. By Gustavo Palencia TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduran soldiers and police clashed with protesters blocking roads across the Central American country on Saturday, as discontent continues to fester nearly two months after a disputed presidential election. Security forces launched tear gas against rock-throwing supporters of the center-left Opposition Alliance Against the Dictatorship and tried to clear impromptu roadblocks of burning tires they had set across the capital Tegucigalpa and around the country, according to police sources and TV images. Honduras, a poor, violent country that has long sent vulnerable migrants north to the United States, has been embroiled in a political crisis since the Nov. 26 election, which the opposition says was stolen by center-right President Juan Orlando Hernandez. At least 31 people have died in violent protests. "Out with JOH, out with the dictator," masked protesters shouted in Tegucigalpa's Miraflores neighborhood. The Honduran electoral tribunal declared Hernandez, a staunch U.S. ally, the official winner of the election last month despite strident protests over the vote count. Initially, the vote tally had clearly favored center-left opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla, but it swung in favor of the incumbent after a 36-hour delay. Hernandez is due to take office on Jan. 27. "We have to stay in the streets," said former President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted in a 2009 coup and is one of the opposition leaders. "If they move us from one spot, we have to move to another. We need to be permanently mobilized to keep up the pressure and prevent the dictator from installing himself." (Writing by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn) WASHINGTON House Republicans spent the end of the workweek telling everyone who would listen that the American people must be allowed to see a top-secret four-page document that could bring an end to special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 elections. One thing about that document: Republican staffers wrote it. The memo Republican staffers compiled reveals information that is absolutely shocking, sickening, jaw-dropping and worse than Watergate, GOP members of Congress said Thursday and Friday. The document could send government officials to jail, one congressman said. Is this happening in America or is this the KGB? asked another. Even the most plugged-in news consumer could be forgiven for thinking the classified memo is an executive branch document that exposes wrongdoing within the Justice Department and the FBI. It isnt. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) leaves a House Republican Conference meeting in December. (Photo: Bill Clark via Getty Images) The document, which alleges abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act during the FBIs quiet counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign in the final months of the 2016 election, was actually compiled by Republican staffers on the House Intelligence Committee. That committee voted along partisan lines this week to allow any member of Congress to take a peek at the document themselves. Republican members soon flocked to a secure room to read the memo written by their allies and then ran to tell the press about it. Sara Carter, a Fox News contributor, wrote in a blog post on her personal website that the bombshell document could lead to the removal of senior officials in the FBI and Department of Justice and potentially spell the end of the Mueller probe. Carters post was widely shared on Twitter, including by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), former Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch and former White House official Sebastian Gorka. Ahead of Carters appearance on Fox News Hannity on Thursday night, Sean Hannity used the story to send a message to Mueller. Story continues Your witch hunt is now over, Hannity said, addressing the Republican special counsel who was unanimously confirmed as FBI director in 2001 by the U.S. Senate, which a decade later unanimously voted to extend his term past the 10-year limit. Time to close the doors. Overnight, #ReleaseTheMemo a hashtag reportedly given an additional boost by Russian-connected bots started trending on Twitter. In less than 24 hours, Donald Trump Jr. a likely target of the Mueller probe who communicated with Wikileaks before the election and held a meeting at Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer promising dirt on Hillary Clinton sent off more than 30 tweets and retweets about the memo to his nearly 2.5 million followers. Americans deserve to know the contents of the memo. Democrats & deep state govt officials are doing everything they can to protect those within the government who used their positions of influence to target those they disagree with politically. RELEASE THE MEMO! #ReleaseTheMemo Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 19, 2018 The broader theory of the case Republicans are pushing is that the FBI inappropriately used information gleaned from a controversial dossier on Trump to obtain a FISA warrant to monitor a Trump campaign affiliate. They hope thats the poison pill that could somehow justify shutting down Muellers entire investigation (which of course didnt begin until after Trump was elected, took office, and fired former FBI director James Comey). Democrats say the Republican-drafted classified memo is full of omissions and distortions intended to fuel efforts to run cover for President Trump. Its a distorted view of what the FBI has been doing, one Hill source told HuffPost. The majority of the committee is only sharing it so that other members of the caucus can also disparage and discredit the FBI. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said the document was a profoundly misleading set of talking points drafted by Republican staff attacking the FBI and the bureaus handling of the investigation. Rife with factual inaccuracies and referencing highly classified materials that most of Republican Intelligence Committee members were forced to acknowledge they had never read, this is meant only to give Republican House members a distorted view of the FBI, Schiff said. This may help carry White House water, but it is a deep disservice to our law enforcement professionals. Is there actually a new bombshell in the report? Its possible. But the motives and track records of the Republican lawmakers behind the media blitz surrounding the memo suggest there may be less to it than they claim. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who chairs the committee that cooked up the document, had been the public face of the GOP push to undermine the Mueller probe, although hed taken a backseat as of late. Last year, Nunes was involved in an embarrassing episode in which he briefed President Trump on information he received from a source he wouldnt name. It later turned out hed met that person on White House grounds. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) who previously called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign (which would allow Trump to replace him with an official who could shut down the Mueller probe) said the memo was absolutely shocking. But Meadows thinks the entire Russia probe is manufactured hysteria. I viewed the classified report from House Intel relating to the FBI, FISA abuses, the infamous Russian dossier, and so-called "Russian collusion." What I saw is absolutely shocking. This report needs to be released--now. Americans deserve the truth. #ReleaseTheMemo pic.twitter.com/oP2UNujKQL Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) January 19, 2018 Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who said the memo is so alarming the American people have to see it, has previously called for a new special counsel to investigate Muellers special counsel team. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. The American people should be able to read what I did in that briefing room. It's time to #ReleaseTheMemo.https://t.co/287N3hSGnQ Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 19, 2018 Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), who said he was shaking his head when he read the memo and that the American people deserve the truth, benefited politically from documents the Russians hacked, and pushed a measure that would kill the Mueller probe. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) who has called for reining in the Mueller probe by gutting its financing, and recently went pheasant hunting with Donald Trump Jr. said he was sickened by the memo and that it was worse than Watergate. He thinks the FBI was part of the #NeverTrump movement and wanted Clinton elected. I have read the memo. The sickening reality has set in. I no longer hold out hope there is an innocent explanation for the information the public has seen. I have long said it is worse than Watergate. It was #neverTrump & #alwaysHillary. #releasethememo Steve King (@SteveKingIA) January 19, 2018 If the memo does eventually go public, it wont end well for Republicans, Susan Hennessey, the executive editor of the legal commentary site Lawfare, argued Friday. After causing completely unnecessary chaos today, this memo will be released in some redacted [form] in a few weeks and prove to be an utter embarrassment to Nunes personally, the [House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence] majority, and frankly to US House of Representatives, Hennessey predicted. Some conservatives have urged caution, worrying that Republicans are overhyping a secret document. Republicans should not oversell the report, conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt wrote. Over at the conservative blog Hot Air, Ed Morrissey wondered if it was a set-up for a let-down. He argued the memo should be released, but warned conservatives to not go all-in on it until we have a chance to see it for ourselves. In the meantime, remember that most things that seem too good to be true usually are. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a 35-year-old Republican freshman from Florida who recently flew on Air Force One with Trump and is friends with Roger Stone, is one of the believers. Gaetz has called for Mueller to be fired and said on Hannity on Thursday that officials might wind up in jail over what he saw in the memo. HuffPost ran into Gaetz on Capitol Hill on Thursday evening, just a few hours after the congressman appeared on the Fox Business channel above the chyron I JUST READ A 4-PAGE MEMO THAT THREATENS DEMOCRACY TO ITS CORE. .@mattgaetz: "The allegations contained in this important intelligence document go to the very foundations of our democracy and they require an immediate release to the public in my opinion." pic.twitter.com/kqjxp21GcA FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) January 18, 2018 I believe that the contents of that memo need to be made available to the public immediately, and that that is a critical concern in kind of all of the Mueller, Russia, Trump discourse, Gaetz told HuffPost of the memo, which he said kind of aggregates intelligence data. In the interview with HuffPost, Gaetz ran into a common problem for Republicans who suggest the FBI was too rough on Trump but went too easy on Clinton during the 2016 campaign: the indisputable fact that the FBIs actions then harmed Clinton. Comeys conduct during the Clinton investigation was even the underlying justification the Trump administration provided last spring to explain Trump firing Comey. If people in the FBI and the so-called deep state were trying to get Clinton elected president, then frankly, they did a terrible job of it. Surely Gaetz could concede the FBIs actions ahead of the 2016 election were much more damaging to the Clinton campaign than they were to Trump? I wouldnt agree with that characterization, he replied. Under Gaetzs theory, the FBI was hellbent on leaking information to the press to stop Trump from being elected. Gaetz told HuffPost that texts between FBI employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page showed they were talking about a plan to strategically leak information to embarrass Trump. As HuffPost recently explained, a deeply flawed story by John Solomon of The Hill has left a lot of people with the inaccurate impression that the text messages show the FBI officials were leaking information to hurt Trump. Thats what Gaetz believes. That was explicit in their communications to each other, Gaetz claimed. How so? HuffPost asked. Heres how the conversation went from there: Gaetz: Well, when they talked about the, um, I think it was the Wall Street Journal article, and they were talking about, oh, was it behind a paywall and did it contain the information that HuffPost: What Wall Street Journal story was that, that was negative against Trump? Gaetz: Uh, again its referenced in their communications back and forth, this was I think in October. HuffPost: Mhmm. But do you know what story it was? Gaetz: Yeah, it was all about the contents of the dossier. HuffPost: The Wall Street Journal story on the 24th was about the contents of the dossier? The dossier wasnt released until Gaetz: No, it might not have been the one of the 24th. It was the communication that was referenced in the Page-Strzok text messages. HuffPost: No, I know the one youre talking about, you said the Wall Street Journal story. I just think the Wall Street Journal story that they were talking about, if you look at it in context, they were talking about a story that was actually negative about the FBI and to Hillary Clinton. It was the story about the then-deputy attorney general McCabe [Ed. note: McCabe is the FBIs deputy director] who was basically being accused of I think youll probably recall this [from] the time ... Gaetz: Mhmm. HuffPost: ... was basically being accused, because his wife had received money, so that was what the story was about. Gaetz: No, yeah, but I think there was other stuff that was included within that HuffPost: Like what? Gaetz: Well I dont have it in front of me. Gaetzs theory that the FBI provided information for an Oct. 24, 2016, Wall Street Journal story on the Trump dossier doesnt make a whole lot of sense, chiefly because no such story exists. The first story to reference the dossier was published by Mother Jones on Oct. 31, 2016, a full week after Strzok-Page exchanged texts about a Wall Street Journal article. The Mother Jones story only came out after Comey sent a letter about the Clinton investigation on Oct. 28 that set off a media frenzy Clinton has partially blamed for her loss. But the secret GOP memo gave Gaetz a convenient pivot point: the suggestion that theres something, a bombshell, that he cant reveal publicly. And it totally supports the theory hes been pushing this whole time. I can say that if this memo become available to the public, many of the concerns that have been raised by members of the Judiciary Committee will be highlighted, Gaetz said. Later on Friday, all nine Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee issued a statement calling the memo a misleading set of talking points attacking the FBI. Since the documents that the GOP-prepared memo cites are highly classified, the Democrats said, they will not be made public and it will become impossible for the few Members who have seen the documents to explain the flaws and misstatements contained within the talking points without disclosing sources and methods. This is by design, they said. Not surprisingly, the GOP campaign to attack the FBI now has been joined by the same forces that made common cause during the Trump campaign Wikileaks, Julian Assange and a multitude of online Russian bots are now involved in promoting this effort. It should be seen for what it so plainly is: yet another desperate and flailing attempt to undermine Special Counsel Mueller and the FBI, regardless of the profound damage it does to our democratic institutions and national security agencies. Ryan Reilly is HuffPosts senior justice reporter, covering criminal justice, federal law enforcement and legal affairs. Have a tip? Reach him at ryan.reilly@huffpost.com or on Signal at 202-527-9261. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Sean Donis is facing charges of felony burglary and unlawful surveillance after catching his then-wife in bed with her boss. (Photo: Facebook) A husband caught his wife cheating, and now hes facing up to 15 years in jail. Sean Doniss wife, Nancy Donis, 38, said she was going to dinner. Donis stayed behind to watch their 5-year-old son. When he couldnt find his iPad, he turned on the Find My iPhone app to locate it. The software showed the electronic device moving toward an unknown location; he had a hunch that his wife had taken it, and he decided to follow. He arrived at a house and opened the unlocked door. On the second floor, he found his wife in bed with her boss, Albert Lopez, 58. With his iPhone, he recorded two brief videos of them in bed. The New Jersey man got a letter last July informing him that a grand jury had indicted him on charges of felony burglary and unlawful surveillance for the April 2016 incident. I feel like its unjust what theyre doing to me, said Donis, 37, to the New York Post in September. Its like Im being punished twice. He appeared in court in September, where he pleaded not guilty. His second appearance happened on Friday. I was in fear, Lopez testified of the moment when Donis caught him in bed with his wife. I kept telling him, you need to get out of here, Lopez told the jury hearing Doniss felony burglary case. Doniss wife worked for Lopez as the billing manager for his orthopedics practice. Lopez said he was so desperate to get the enraged husband out of his home that he asked Donis if he wanted to die. Kill me. I dont care, he said the desperate husband responded. The incident left Lopez traumatized. I couldnt go to sleep. I had repeated memories of what occurred. I started to go through the house and check all the doors and make sure they were locked, he said. Lopez also noted that Doniss wife said they were separated, and he thought Donis was out of the picture. The husbands lawyer, Howard Greenberg, told jurors that the husband actually deserves a medal, not a prison sentence, for uncovering his wifes unfaithfulness without physically harming his rival. Story continues The defendant should be given a medal for the amount of restraint he showed when he entered that scene, Greenberg told the jury. However, despite the fact that Lopez slept with Doniss wife, prosecutor Nabeela Mcleod asserted that Lopez was a victim a victim of Doniss breaking and entering his home and recording him and Doniss wife without their consent (Donis shared the videos with his wifes relatives). He now faces a possible maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. Little is known about Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates' family, but it turns out his 21-year-old daughter Jennifer has quietly been making a name for herself without the help of her famous father. Jennifer is currently a student at Stanford University, and when she's not hitting the books, she's busy competing in equestrian competitions. The 21-year-old, who bears a striking resemblance to her mother Melinda, began riding when she was only 6 years old. For Gates' daughter, equestrian isn't just a hobby, it's a way of life. In 2016, Jennifer's father, Bill, dropped $37 million on a string of properties in the equestrian capital of Wellington, Florida, signaling just how serious she is about her sport. The United States Equestrian Federation currently ranks Jennifer No. 19 in show jumping (with Steve Jobs' daughter Eve trailing not too far behind at No. 23). The red-headed beauty is currently dating Nayel Nassar, who is also an accomplished show jumper. To start off 2018, the two took a trip to Kuwait, where Nassar grew up, to celebrate their one-year anniversary. And when Jennifer isn't hanging out with her beau or riding horses, she can probably be found traveling with her family or hanging out with her Stanford girlfriends. For more on Jennifer Gates' fabulous life, click through the slideshow above! By Alex Dobuzinskis (Reuters) - A Kentucky man accused of attacking U.S. Senator Rand Paul outside his home has agreed to plead guilty to a charge of assaulting a member of Congress, but has told investigators his action was not politically motivated, officials said on Friday. The Republican Paul's neighbor, Rene Boucher, 58, was charged with assaulting a member of Congress resulting in personal injury, which is a felony under federal law. Federal prosecutors will ask a judge to impose a sentence of 21 months in prison in connection with the Nov. 3 attack at a gated community in Bowling Green, Kentucky, court documents showed. Boucher could have faced up to 10 years behind bars. Paul was wearing headphones while mowing his lawn when Boucher became angered by seeing the 55-year-old senator stack brush near Boucher's property, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement. Boucher had "had enough" and he ran onto Paul's yard and tackled him, the statement said, causing Paul to suffer multiple fractured ribs as well as complications that meant he contracted pneumonia. The attack raised questions about whether Paul had been targeted because of his politics. But Boucher, who like Paul is a physician, told investigators that was not the case, the statement said. Boucher's attorney, Matthew Baker, said the pair had a long-standing dispute over property maintenance. "Dr. Boucher is a very meticulous sort of fellow," Baker said. "He continues to be a very regretful and very remorseful. I know that he wishes that it had never happened." A spokesman for Paul declined to comment on the federal charge. Josh Minkler, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, said assaulting a member of Congress was an offense that the authorities take very seriously. Minkler was assigned to the case following the recusal of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the western district of Kentucky, where the assault occurred. No date has been set for the taking of Boucher's guilty plea and sentencing. Boucher had previously pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge that was brought by local prosecutors in Kentucky in connection with the incident. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Daniel Wallis) Photo credit: Getty Images From Digital Spy It's been less than a day since Kim Kardashian West confirmed the name of her and husband Kanye's third child, and the intense debate it prompted has already been swiftly shut down. Yes, Chicago West was welcomed into the world via surrogate earlier this month, and Kim followed up the confirmation of her name with a Twitter update that listed all three of her children's names. North, Saint & Chi - Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) January 19, 2018 "North, Saint & Chi," she wrote yesterday (January 19), quickly sparking the biggest debate to rock the Kardashian Klan since the Kylie Jenner pregnancy rumours started: just how exactly do we say "Chi"? Cue the Twitter debates is it 'Chi' as in "chai", 'Chi' as in "chee", or 'Chi' as in "shy"? Moscow (AFP) - The Kremlin on Friday said it "regrets" a new Ukrainian law that formally recognises the conflict in the east of the country as a "temporary Russian occupation." "We regret this. Of course, Russia will remain committed to the word and spirit of the Minsk accords with other guarantor countries France and Germany, but we regret that such steps only distract us from the desired goal," the Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. The EU-brokered Minsk peace agreement, backed by Moscow and Kiev, was first reached in late 2014 and then re-worked in early 2015 with the help of Germany and France, but is violated almost daily. Ukraine's parliament on Thursday formally recognised its eastern war as a "temporary Russian occupation" in a vote that outraged Moscow. "Russia does not agree with this formulation," Peskov said, adding that "Russia is not a side or a party in this conflict." "This law could influence the regulating of the conflict in the most negative of ways." The French Foreign Ministry also on Friday warned that "the new law should not call in to question the implementation by Russia and Ukraine of the Minsk agreement". Both parties should respect the cease-fire and commit themselves to a peaceful resolution of the conflict, the spokesman added. On Thursday the Russian Foreign Ministry said the passing of the Ukrainian law amounted to preparation for war. "You cannot call this anything but preparation for a new war," the foreign ministry said in a statement. The law defining the ongoing violence between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed insurgents came after nearly four years of fighting that has claimed more than 10,000 lives. Kiev and its Western allies have long accused Russia of orchestrating the bloodshed in reprisal for Kiev's decision to pull out of its historic orbit and forge a closer alliance with the European Union. The Ukrainian legislation also accuses Russia of "aggression" -- a charge the Kremlin denies despite overwhelming evidence of its soldiers and weapons crossing the border into the war zone. The seemingly symbolic change in the war's legal status in Ukraine came less than a month after the United States greenlighted its first delivery of anti-tank missiles to Kiev. DAKOTA DUNES Growing the business was something the owners of Stone Bru had percolated over even before they opened the chains first coffee shop in Sioux City. Less than two years after converting a former Burger King at the intersection of Gordon Drive and Stone Avenue into a 600-square-foot Morningside staple, Stone Bru No. 2 opened just across the border in Dakota Dunes. Anytime you get into a business venture you should plan on growing, and if youre not planning on growing then youre probably dying, said Stone Bru co-owner Brad Lepper. Lepper and his business partner, Robby Jennings opened the first Stone Bru on Dec. 17, 2015. While the duo have always wanted to expand, they were able to score a prime location on the first floor of the three-story 35,000-square-feet Gold Circle Centre at 400 Gold Circle in the Dunes thanks to Central Bank, a fellow first-floor tenant. Officials at the bank approached Stone Bru about occupying 1,500-square-feet space on the first floor of the new state-of-the-art office building and Lepper said they welcomed the opportunity. One thing were excited about here is there wasnt an opportunity for a drive-thru, but we have seen at our current store that there is a big demand for people that want to come in and just enjoy the coffee shop atmosphere; they want to smell the coffee, they want to listen to the music and sit down at a nice table or a couch and converse with their friends or their family, Lepper said. Thats what this store will really emphasize. Stone Bru No. 2 will be able to seat about 40 people comfortably indoors and the outdoor patio can seat another 24 patrons. Additionally, when the bank is closed on weekends, there is potential to add more seating in buildings lobby during events such as live musical performances. With this second store being more than twice as large as the original, Lepper and Jennings really wanted to go all in on the aesthetic, the equipment and the menu. Hannah Lepper described the new stores aesthetic as modern industrial with an organic twist. The shop will have an open lobby that offers views of the patio and waterfall style fountain near the buildings entrance. The store's interior will feature a living wall made of moss, another wall that highlights chalk art from a local artist, and the kitchen area walls will have white subway-style white tiles accented by black cabinetry and black equipment. Some of the new equipment includes a pour over machine shipped over from Ireland and in the counter state-of-the-art espresso machine from La Marzocco USA of Seattle that will be the first of its kind installed in America. Even the tables at new Stone Bru have an artisan flair to them. Each table was handmade at Ecovet Furniture, an Arkansas-based firm that extensively employs former military members and uses wood reclaimed from the interiors of decommissioned semi-trailer to build its products. The menu was co-curated with chef Kirk Phillips of the Red Steakhouse in Vermillion and the ingredients used are either all-natural or organic and were locally sourced. An expanded menu is something Stone Bru's ownership wanted at the new store and customers can dine on a variety of breakfast items, soups and salads. Some of the entrees include an artisan breakfast bagel composed of applewood bacon, an heirloom tomato, sharp Tillamook cheddar and a farm fresh egg; and a roasted tomato bisque featuring garlic croutons, virgin olive oil and fresh herbs; and a kale & farro Caesar salad made up blanched and roasted farro a type of grain shredded kale, house-made Caesar dressing and parmesan croutons. While the coffee shop is an obvious amenity to the people who will work in the office building its housed in and other nearby office workers, Lepper also hopes it will entice Dunes residents to pop in for a drink or a quick bite to eat. Were bringing in a different a clientele that might not already be a customer of Central Bank or might not be looking to buy a house because theyre coming here to get a cup of coffee, (and) they remember, Oh, maybe I should go check these guys out when I need their services. he said. With store No. 2 up and running, barista businessmen are open to the possibility of developing more Stone Bru stores in the future. I would love to be able to grow and do more locations; maybe more in Sioux City or even expanding out into other cities too, Lepper said. YouTube is no stranger to controversy. Many of its top stars have been in hot water recently: From PewDiePie making racists remarks, to a "family" channel with abusive kid pranks, the company's been under fire for not keeping a closer eye on the type of content that makes it onto the site. Most recently, Logan Paul, a popular YouTuber with more than 15 million subscribers, faced backlash after posting a video that showed a corpse he came across in Japan's so-called "Suicide Forest." That clip, which was eventually taken down by Paul himself, forced YouTube to cut almost all ties with him and to figure out ways to prevent another situation like this. Up until now, Google's (and by extension YouTube's) solution had been to take down offensive channels and tweak its advertiser-friendly guidelines to give brands more control over where their ads show up. But the tech giant is now taking that one step further. Earlier this week, it announced YouTube will now manually review uploads from accounts that are part of its Google Preferred ad tier, which lets brands publish advertisements in videos from the top five percent of YouTube creators. The shift is notable because it means YouTube will rely less on algorithms to catch bad actors, something that social media companies are finally realizing needs to happen. Facebook and Twitter have both also vowed to hire more humans, as they look to crack down on bots and troll accounts that have plagued their sites. What Google and YouTube hope, naturally, is that this will help avoid another mess like the one Logan Paul created. Mobile Technology Applications Although Paul's channel "Logan Paul Vlogs" still lives on the platform, YouTube has put on hold the original projects he was working on for YouTube Red, its paid ad-free streaming service. It also terminated his lucrative Google Preferred ad deal, and while he will still be able to monetize his content, not being a part of that advertising package likely won't earn him nearly as much money. For context, he was reportedly the fourth highest-paid YouTuber in 2017, according to Forbes, earning an estimated $12.5 million -- thanks to Preferred, his Maverick apparel line and sponsored posts on social media. Story continues The decision was likely a tough one for YouTube, considering the millions of people who watch Logan Paul's channel and, perhaps most importantly, the level of influence he has over a key demographic: teenagers. But YouTube had to make an example out of him in order to appease advertisers, which grow more and more concerned that their ads could appear alongside disturbing or inappropriate videos. Last year, AT&T and Verizon (which owns Engadget), among others, pulled ads from Google's platform after they were displayed on videos related to terrorism and hate groups. YouTube is also implementing stricter requirements for its Partner Program, which lets smaller channels earn money by placing ads in their videos, to help filter out offensive content. Creators can now only become YouTube Partners if they have 4,000 hours of watchtime in the past 12 months and over 1,000 subscribers. These changes are in addition to the ones made in 2017, when YouTube began requiring 10,000 channel views minimum in order to be granted partnership status. The company says setting these thresholds will prevent low-quality videos from making money and stop channels from uploading stolen content. That said, it still plans to depend heavily on viewers flagging videos that may violate YouTube's community guidelines. PewDiePie Signs Copies Of His New Book 'This Book Loves You' YouTuber star "PewDiePie" The main challenge for YouTube is that often it is top users who are uploading dubious content, not the smaller channels. And that begs the question of why it took it so long to act, at least in a tougher manner. It's not as if YouTube hasn't dealt with cases similar to Logan Paul's in the past. Take Felix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg as an example, the Swedish YouTuber with nearly 60 million subscribers who has published videos filled with anti-Semitic and other racist outbursts on more than one occasion. Or the channel "Toy Freaks," which had over 8 million subscribers and featured explicit content targeted at young audiences, including videos of children vomiting and in extreme pain that it claimed were "pranks." Granted, YouTube did act quickly in both cases: PewDiePie lost his original series Scare PewDiePie and Google Preferred deal, similar to Logan Paul, while the Toy Freaks channel was removed altogether. But those acts should've been a huge flag that the company needed to take a hard look at itself and change its video-review process, from depending less on machine learning and more on humans. Just as it plans to do going forward. If the new system would've been in place, chances are the controversial Logan Paul video may have never been viewed by the masses and, therefore, YouTube could've saved itself from major public outcry. In fact, there's still an ongoing petition calling for his channel to be deleted, which so far has been signed by more than half a million people. The hope for YouTube now is that, by having humans monitor popular uploads, there will be less of a chance of any foul videos being published in the future. A YouTube spokesperson told Engadget that every decision the company makes has to work for advertisers, creators and users alike, which can be complicated because not every situation is black and white. With the overhauled YouTube Partner Program, for example, some creators aren't happy with the new requirements because they don't think they'll be able to make money. But YouTube says that of those channels that will be affected, 99 percent are making less than $100 per year. Ultimately, the spokesperson said, all the changes made recently, both to the advertising and community guidelines, are designed to "move everyone forward," adding that YouTube doesn't want someone's bad judgment to affect the rest of the platform -- even though it certainly feels like it is. Paul Levinson, a professor of communications and media studies at Fordham University, said he has mixed feelings about the decisions YouTube is making. He believes that, by censoring its creators, the site will lose the freedom that's made it the most popular video site in the world. That said, Levinson also understands that it isn't appropriate to have a corpse or other "disgusting" content in a video. "Of course, you could argue that if someone doesn't like it, they don't have to view it," he said. "You know, they can just shut it off the second they see it, but obviously, I get why people find that offensive, even repulsive. And so in that sense, it's a good thing, but at the same time I'm concerned that we're beginning to see the end of that totally open [internet]." Now, as we move past Logan Paul's controversy, it'll be interesting to see how effective YouTube's new monitoring system will be, and whether it decides to expand it beyond just the top five percent of videos. But don't be surprised if some manage to slip through the cracks, because like the algorithms that have failed YouTube in the past, humans are also far from perfect. Images: Getty Images (All) Dublin (AFP) - Mary Lou McDonald, the incoming president of Ireland's Sinn Fein, represents a new era without the baggage of the party's past as the political voice of the IRA. The sole candidate to replace Gerry Adams, the face of the left-wing party since 1983, she has the heavy task of succeeding the charismatic figurehead and leading Sinn Fein into a new future -- one it hopes will see it topping elections either side of the Irish border. The 48-year-old mother of two said she grew up watching Adams, 69, on television and could not fill his shoes -- but would instead fill her own. "We together over the coming years will walk a journey that is full of opportunities, full of challenges, but I believe which marks a defining chapter in our achievement of a united Ireland and the ending of partition," she said. Unlike Adams, who grew up in the sectarian environment of Belfast, McDonald came from a wealthy background. From a posh part of Dublin, she attended a private Catholic school before studying English literature, European integration and human resource management. She worked in consultancy and research and was a member of the centre-right Fianna Fail party before leaving in 1998. She first ran for Sinn Fein in 2002, standing unsuccessfully in Dublin West, but became the party's first member of the European Parliament representing a seat in the Republic in 2004. She became the party's deputy in 2009 and in 2011 won a seat in the Irish parliament, representing Dublin Central. - Shadow of the IRA - Promoted by Adams over the years, she became his designated successor. Other major figures in the party stood aside or lent her their support for the Sinn Fein leadership. Martin McGuinness, a former commander in the Irish Republican Army (IRA) paramilitary group, was Adams' closest Sinn Fein colleague and Northern Ireland's deputy first minister from 2007 to 2017, shortly before his death. His son Fiachra McGuinness said his father worked closely with McDonald and was a "huge admirer of her ideas, dedication and commitment. Story continues "I value her friendship and believe that she is the ideal candidate to lead Sinn Fein into the future." The shadow of the now-defunct IRA still hangs over the party, which is trying to gain respectability through social action. McDonald is outspoken on issues such as inequality and public services. However, she is accused of following the traditional party line and being lenient towards the actions of the IRA. Pro-British Unionists in Northern Ireland, plus political opponents in the Republic, have recently attacked her for not being tough enough on a Sinn Fein member of the British parliament who has quit over a video seen as making fun of a massacre of Protestant workers by Republican gunmen. Sinn Fein's primary objective is Irish reunification, bringing Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom and into the Republic of Ireland. McDonald also wants to get Sinn Fein into government in Dublin, after decades of growth in the polls; something which some MPs and commentators thought was impossible with Adams as its frontman. Longstanding royal protocol contends that members of Britains most hallowed family dont give out autographs. But for Meghan Markle, currently kicking off her first official round of visits to sites around the United Kingdom ahead of her spring nuptials, protocol is made to be worked around. While greeting fans outside the historic Cardiff Castle in Wales this week, the personable Suits actress and Prince Harrys fiancee spent plenty of time chatting with well wishers, receiving gifts, and even accepting a kiss on the hand from one gentleman. She also left a written note for one ten-year-old girl, Caitlin Clarke. Traditionally, protocol dictates that giving out a signature should not be allowed; the rationale is that it enables potential forgers to make use of royal handwriting. But Markles workaround was simple: instead of signing her name, she simple wrote Hi Kaitlin with a K on the paper provided. My heart is still racing. Ive never got a royal autograph before. This is going to make everyone jealous, lucky Clarke told PEOPLE. There is one precedent. In 2010, Prince Charles gave his signature to victims of a flood in Cornwall. Of course, Markle has not officially royal yet, so technically she should be free to autograph and selfie, as she did sparingly in Wales to her hearts content. Hims. (Photo: hims/Claire Rodriguez) The common refrain from analysis of millennials is that we are a mercurial generation, perpetually checking our Snaps and grams en lieu of buying cars and hotel loyalty cards. Something not often discussed? That the millennial generation, whose most senior members were born in 1982 (give or take), is getting older and that eventually all those mimosa-filled brunches will start hitting like a ton of Sunday afternoon bricks. While women are deluged with masks, ointments, and treatments to keep their youth intact, men are often left with an obnoxious corner of the drugstore blasting promises that youll be unforsweatable or some such fast-food-esque marketing patois. Mens brand hims, though, is here to change things and offer mens health treatments with a healthy amount of high-design and trendy marketing. Often the issue with mens wellness is that men do not want to admit they are unwell. Calloused hands, ashy skin, loss of feeling in ones extremities? Suck it up. But in these days of direct-to-consumer brands and venture capitalism, the only thing you can count on is that any and everything is ripe for disruption. No problem is too big or too small to address via a subscription plan and clever marketing, and with hims, which sells direct-to-consumer packages for hair loss, erectile dysfunction, and skin care (coming to market soon), no problem is too personal. All the products in the hims family. (Photo hims/Lindsay Langston) Although items are offered a la carte, hims boasts monthly subscription plans that will send you medicine, vitamins, and other essential items to keep your libido up and bring your hair back to life. These treatments take time and dedication, so just popping a couple of biotin wont cut it. Whether youre ordering the whole hair-loss package $44 a month or getting select items piecemeal, the simplicity of hims might keep a guy regimented and, well, well. It doesnt hurt that the shipping boxes have secret shame in mind and, thus, are neutral colored with words of encouragement blessedly on the inside. Story continues Its a bold move to try to get the millennial man to admit that his hairline is receding and his boners are lackluster, but CEO Andrew Dudum, a Silicon Valley vet who has taken his first steps into the wellness business with hims, wants to take the anxiety out of dealing with the ravages of time. hims is intended to really solve all those uncomfortable issues that, statistically, almost all guys face but that theyre not comfortable talking about, he tells Yahoo Lifestyle by phone. And its true most men will find some hair on their pillows and have brushes with impotence in their lifetime. But in a field crowded with ads featuring middle-aged men fixing up an old Ford or silver foxes confidently brushing back newly firm heads of hair, how do you get young men to listen or, even more damningly, admit that they are no longer spring chickens? I have a lot of opinionated sisters and cousins who asked why arent you taking care of yourself? and it was because they loved me and it was blunt and direct, Dudum says. Thats how we market. If you look over the hims website and packaging, a trend-aware minimalist design dominated by soft browns and cheeky images, it is clear that the brand seeks to take out the clinical and intimidating from mens health. It puts the fun back in erectile dysfunction and punctuates ads for Minoxidil the generic equivalent of Rogaine with emoji handclaps, even providing you with hair-strengthening gummy vitamins. This is a brand for everybody, its not bottom-of-the-barrel humor or swearing, not so elevated and pristine that normal guys are uncomfortable. Its accessible, Dudum says. If anything, hims does what a lot of startups have already figured out it offers one-stop shopping from home with a pedigree and personality to back it up. hims aims to be a provider of medicines and treatments that you would want to hang out with. A wellness brand thinks about the whole guy, its your mind, body, and intellectual curiosity. Theres content on the website that has nothing to do with medicine. What are great art exhibits? How does sleep influence sexual performance? Thats a big pillar that we invest a lot in. Be there as a resource across the board, Dudum says. If Blue Apron is the better way to cook, hims is the better way to stay virile. Hims (Photo: hims/Claire Rodriguez) Telemedicine, which is indeed a word, allows hims to deliver medicine without the need of a doctors office visit. Many of its products are already over the counter, but for the prescriptions, all it takes is answering a few online questions and hims keeps board-certified doctors on hand that you can message via its site at any time (it should be noted that online prescribing is not available in all states). All of its products come with anecdotal affirmations and reassurances about the science behind them. Notably, though youthful in appearance, hims does not limit itself to the young man. Instead of being just a preventative medicine purveyor, it aims to offer health products for every guy from their acne-riddled youth to their high-cholesterol-addled adulthood. Its a tall order to get guys interested in the same level of self-care that womens products aim for, but Dudum has the familiar startup optimism and the ambition to make the common man more conscientious of his well being, one product at a time. Its not normal to not take care of yourself, he says. According to Forbes, millennial men care about their appearance and general health more than older generations, so hims looks to hit the nail on the balding head and get involved with young men as they grow old. Nobody exactly wants to get hair loss or erectile dysfunction products, but if you have to get them whether you like it or not you could do worse than just having it shipped right to you, judgment free. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. By Richard Cowan, Susan Cornwell and Amanda Becker WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government shut down at midnight on Friday after Democrats and Republicans, locked in a bitter dispute over immigration and border security, failed to agree on a last-minute deal to fund its operations. In a late-night session, senators blocked a bill to extend government funding through Feb. 16. The bill needed 60 votes in the 100-member Senate but only 50 supported it. Most Democrats opposed the bill because their efforts to include protections for hundreds of thousands of mostly young immigrants, known as Dreamers, were rejected by President Donald Trump and Republican leaders. Huddled negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer were unsuccessful, and the U.S. government technically ran out of money at midnight. While the two men said they remained committed to reaching a deal, the shutdown formally began on Saturday, the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration. His inability to cut a deal despite enjoying a Republican majority in both houses of Congress highlighted the deep political divide in Washington. Until a funding deal is worked out, scores of federal agencies across the country will be unable to operate, and hundreds of thousands of "non-essential" federal workers will be put on temporary unpaid leave. Trump immediately moved to blame Democrats. "Tonight, they put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our countrys ability to serve all Americans," the White House said in a statement. It also said it would not discuss immigration until the government was up and running again. "We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands. This is the behavior of obstructionist losers, not legislators." In return, Schumer pointed the finger directly at Trump. Story continues "It's almost as if you were rooting for a shutdown and now we'll have one and the blame should crash entirely on President Trump's shoulders," he said. NEGOTIATE OR FIGHT? Democratic and Republican leaders agreed to reopen negotiations on Saturday and said they were committed to getting a quick agreement. But both sides may now be even less willing to make concessions because a political defeat on the issue could be costly, especially with the control of Congress up for grabs at midterm elections later this year. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a stopgap funding measure on Thursday. But Republicans then needed the support of at least 10 Democrats to pass the bill in the Senate. While five Democrats ended up voting for the measure, five Republicans voted against it. Democratic leaders wanted the measure to include protections from deportation for about 700,000 undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children. Despite bipartisan negotiations, Republican leaders refused to include those protections, and neither side was willing to back down. Trump, who had made strict measures on immigration a cornerstone of his presidential campaign, last week rejected a bipartisan proposal. He said he wanted to include any deal for Dreamers in a bigger legislative package that also boosted funding for a wall and tighter security measures along the U.S. border with Mexico. Schumer met with Trump on Friday afternoon and later said he had reluctantly agreed to include the border wall in the negotiations but that it still was not enough to persuade Trump to find a compromise. McConnell said he would seek over the weekend a new funding bill that covered the federal government through to Feb. 8. A Senate Democratic source said that was still too far out. Democrats had argued for an extension of just four or five days to force both sides into serious negotiations on the immigration issue. Despite the formal shutdown, "essential" employees who deal with public safety and national security will keep working. That includes more than 1.3 million people on active duty in the military who will be required to work but will not be paid until funding is renewed or handled with separate legislation. Although past government shutdowns have done little lasting damage to the U.S. economy, they can rattle financial markets and undermine the United States' reputation abroad. This impasse follows a months-long struggle in Congress to agree on government funding levels and protections for Dreamers, most of whom are originally from Mexico or Central America. They were given temporary legal status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program started by former President Barack Obama. In September, Trump announced he was ending the program and gave Congress until March 5 to come up with new legislation. Efforts to do that have so far failed so Democrats tried to get it done by linking a deal to funding of the federal government. (Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton and Jim Oliphant; Writing by Kieran Murray; Editing by Leslie Adler and Michael Perry) The President's lawyers are expecting Special Counsel Robert Mueller to ask to interview him: Getty Donald Trump got to the White House with the intelligence and security agencies in the US playing a significant role in his victory. Now they are the ones who may yet bring him down, ending one of the most extraordinary presidencies in American history. The Democrats bitterly complain that Hillary Clinton could well have won had it not been for James Comey. She was riding high when the FBI director reopened his investigation into her email account, thus effectively sabotaging her campaign, while failing to reveal that an investigation into links between Trump and Russia had been going on for months. Now James Comey is gone, fired by Trump for failing to end the Russia inquiry. But three separate investigations continue on whether the President was the Muscovite Candidate in the election and one of them. The most critical of the three is headed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, a former head of the FBI who has expanded his inquiry to looking at Mr Trumps murky business affairs. Two senior members of the Trump team, former campaign manager Paul Manafort and former national security advisor Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, have been arrested and charged along with one who was more junior, George Papadopoulos, who is regarded as an important link in the alleged conspiracy. The activities of Trumps son, Donald Trump Jr and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, are under intense scrutiny from Muellers investigators. And, the Special Counsel has indicated, he would want to speak to the President in the future. The focus now is on Steve Bannon, who revelled in being called the Shadow President, the close ally Mr Trump now bitterly accuses of betrayal, has agreed to speak to Mr Mueller after being threatened with a subpoena to appear before a grand jury. Mr Trumps former chief strategist has already been subpoenaed by the House Intelligence Committee, which is carrying out its own investigation into Russian influence in the election. This followed Mr Bannons refusal to answer questions during a 10 hour closed door session during which he claimed that his vow of omerta was on the instructions of the White House. Story continues But Mr Bannon had long known what was coming. In Michael Wolffs explosive book on Mr Trump and his dysfunctional administration, Fire and Fury, the former chief strategist has described how Mr Trump and cronies, blustering about seeing off the Russian investigation, were oblivious about what was coming their way: They are, he said, sitting on a beach trying to stop a Category Five. The gathering storm is likely to be even fiercer with the prospect of Mr Bannon providing evidence. He was involved in the discussions to sack Mr Come an act being examined by Mr Muellers team as possible obstruction of justice and the drafting of a misleading statement, allegedly with Mr Trumps knowledge, about a meeting held in the Trump Tower between Mr Kushner, Donald Trump Jr, Mr Manafort and a Russian lawyer Nataliya Veselnitska, who had offered to provide damaging information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Bannon has described the sacking of Mr Comey as the worst mistake in modern political history opening the door, as it did, for the appointment of a Special Counsel with a wide array of powers. He had charged that meeting with the Russian lawyer was treasonous and unpatriotic and there was zero chance that Donald Trump Jr did not tell his father about it, which directly contradicts the Presidents claim that he knew nothing. Mr Bannon was also remarkably prescient about the parallel track being taken by the special counsel. This is about money laundering. Mueller chose Weissmann and he is a money laundering guy. Their path to f*****g Trump goes right through Paul Manafort, Don Junior and Jared Kushner...Its as plain as hair on your face ... Theyre going to crack Don junior like an egg on national TV, he held. Those following the Mueller investigation would agree with Mr Bannons analysis. The view gaining ground is that like Al Capone, Mr Trump could go down on money, as there is increasing scrutiny of allegations that funds from Russia were used by the Trump Organisation. The Weissman Mr Bannon mentions is Andrew Weissmann, who has joined Muellers team. Nineteen years ago as a prosecutor he cut a deal with Felix Sater (aka Felix Sheferovsky), a Russian-born criminal being prosecuted for his role in a $40m (29m) organised crime scam which targeted the elderly, some of them Holocaust survivors. Sater became an informer, avoiding a possible prison sentence of 20 years and a $5m (4m) fine (he paid $25,000 instead) and went on to provide information, according to Justice Department papers on Russia and organised crime. Afterwards Sater became a business associate of Trump, working for a real estate firm called Bayrock which had a suite of offices two floors beneath the Trump Organisations headquarters in Trump Tower. Bayrock went into partnership with Trump over a hotel project, the Trump SoHo in New York. Trump SoHo is now part of an investigation into alleged Kazakh money laundering with Sater helping investigators. Sater also had ambitious plans to help Mr Trump win the US election. He told Michael Cohen, Mr Trumps lawyer and a former vice-president of the Trump Organisation, that Vladimir Putin would help Mr Trump get to the White House. Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it... I will get Putin on this programme and we will get Trump elected. The importance of Russian money to the Trump Organisation is no great secret. Donald Trump Jr was saying as early as 2008 that Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia. Seva Gunitsky, a professor of politics at Toronto University who had been tracking Mr Trumps Russia connection for more than a decade said: This doesnt start with the election; it starts with money from Russian oligarchs pouring into Trumps real estate and casino businesses. Trump has been working with many of them for years, well before he developed any serious political ambitions. And were not talking about small change here; were talking about hundreds of millions of dollars, possibly even enough to keep Trump out of another bankruptcy. Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, has stated: What lingers for Trump may be what deals - on what terms - he did after the financial crisis of 2008 to borrow Russian money when others in the west apparently would not lend to him. Christopher Steele who had worked with Sir Richard produced the famous dossier which was one of the first documents to set out the detailed allegations about Mr Trumps Kremlin connections. Trump supporters and right-wing media in the US and UK tried to dismiss the dossier and vilify him. But much of what he claimed has now turned out to be true. There has been a fresh round of attacks on Mr Steele. Last Friday, at the end of a week which had been dominated by highly damaging and humiliating revelations about Mr Trump in Fire and Fury, two Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Lindsay Graham and Chuck Grassley, asked the US Justice Department to start an investigation of Mr Steele over his contacts with the media. It is highly unlikely to come to anything, accompanied as it was with the acknowledgement that it is not intended to be an allegation of a crime. It also states that the referral does not pertain to the veracity of claims contained in the dossier. US intelligence and security officials, who had worked with Mr Steele in the past do not appear to doubt his veracity. The former MI6 officer, it is believed, has agreed to talk to Mr Mueller. CIA chief John Brennan, who had been vocally critical of Mr Trump, has been replaced by ardent Trump loyalist Mike Pompeo. The President regularly rails against a supposed Deep State which is out to get him and threatens retribution. But there is no respite from the accusations and recriminations as the Russia investigations continue to widen and deepen. Burj al-Shmali (Lebanon) (AFP) - The UN's agency for Palestinian refugees is the only reason Umm Mohamed could afford a C-section delivery, send her five children to school or have her rubbish collected. So the massive funding cuts to UNRWA announced this week by the United States' pro-Israeli administration mean nothing less than catastrophe for the 42-year-old and her family. "People are going to suffer a lot. We have no money for education or health care. Our only hope is UNRWA," said Umm Mohamed, standing in her living room in Burj al-Shmali camp, in southern Lebanon. The agency, set up after the 1948 creation of Israel that drove huge numbers of Palestinians from their homes, faces what the UN has described as the "most severe" crisis in its history. The United States held back $65 million that had been destined for UNRWA on Tuesday, two weeks after President Donald Trump threatened future payments. The funding shortfall threatens the running of hundreds of schools and medical facilities for the roughly five million refugees living in UNRWA camps scattered across the Middle East. Two weeks ago, Umm Mohamed had half of her medical testing expenses reimbursed by UNRWA. "What are people going to do now when it comes to health costs?," she wondered, a flowery grey veil framing her genial face. Four of her children go to UNRWA schools and she is entitled to free visits to the doctor's. - 'Thrown on the street' - "If the schools close down, the children will be thrown on the street," her husband Freij said, sitting on his sofa in a grey tracksuit. "UNRWA-supported education gives me some breathing space. I just can't afford to send them to other schools," he said. His only income is from fixing and selling recycled furniture. Freij's elder son dropped his business studies to join the masses of migrants seeking new opportunities in Europe and undertook the perilous boat crossing a few weeks ago, hoping he would soon be able to send money back to his parents. Story continues A maze of narrow streets over which hangs a strong smell of sewage leads to their modest home. Over the years and decades, Burj al-Shmali, which lies near the southern coastal city of Tyre, grew into a little town with shops, schools and multi-storey buildings. According to a recent census, at least 174,000 Palestinians live in Lebanon. UNRWA's estimate is higher but in any event all depend on the agency for their survival. Last year, 160,000 of them received care in UN-funded clinics and $14 million were disbursed to cover hospital fees. Rubbish collection is supported by UNRWA, as are the maintenance of the infrastructure and sometimes home renovations. - 'Catastrophic' - "All these activities are at stake," Claudio Cordone, the Lebanon director of the Palestinian refugee agency, told AFP. "If UNRWA cannot provide functioning clinics, cannot support people who are below the poverty line, if we have to close the schools you can see what is the impact on all these families and individuals." The Norwegian Refugee Council warned it would be hugely difficult for aid groups to pick up the bill and fill the gaping vacuum left by reduced UN involvement. "Cuts to UNRWA will have an incredible downstream effect on humanitarian aid agencies like NRC," the organisation's Lebanon spokesman, Mike Bruce, said. The fate of the schools is one of the worst causes for alarm if donors fail to bridge the gap left by the US cuts, which compound a pre-existing funding crisis. "There's already been several rounds of funding cuts, and another shock to that system is really a lot more than these communities can absorb," Bruce warned. Iman Farat has been teaching in UNRWA schools for six years and the US announcement has left wondering about her future. "Am I going to have work and get paid next month," asked the young English teacher. "Now they can just say bye-bye and tell me it's over. We're all very scared." The schoolmaster, Jihad al-Khanaf, had little to say that would reassure her and could not rule out having to let go of Iman and 10 other teachers -- out of 24 -- with temporary contracts. "A child who doesn't go to school here will end up in the street: that means drugs, terrorist groups. The situation we're facing is catastrophic," he said. Cairo (AFP) - US Vice President Mike Pence held talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Saturday at the start of a delayed Middle East tour overshadowed by Arab anger over Washington's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Controversy over President Donald Trump's decision to move the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem had led to the cancellation of a number of planned meetings ahead of the trip originally scheduled for December. The Palestinian leadership, already furious over the Jerusalem decision, has denounced the US administration and had already refused to meet Pence in December. A coalition of Arab parties in the Israeli parliament said Saturday it would boycott a speech by Pence on Monday, calling him "dangerous and messianic". Pence held talks with former army chief Sisi in Cairo that were expected to focus on US aid and security, including a jihadist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula. Sisi's office said the talks also covered Jerusalem, with the president stressing Egypt's support for a two-state peace settlement and "the right of the Palestinian people to establish an independent state with east Jerusalem as capital". Pence, for his part, said relations between Cairo and Washington had "never been stronger" thanks to the leadership of Trump and Sisi. Expressing sympathy for deadly jihadist attacks that have targeted both Muslim and Christian places of worship, he said: "We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you in Egypt in the fight against terrorism." The vice president later travelled on to Amman ahead of a one-on-one meeting with King Abdullah II on Sunday before heading to Israel for the final leg of the tour. Pence went ahead with the trip -- which had been pushed back in December as a crunch tax vote loomed on Capitol Hill -- despite the federal government shutdown looming over Washington. - Key security partners - The leaders of both Egypt and Jordan, the only Arab states that have peace treaties with Israel, would be key players if US mediators ever manage to get a revived Israeli-Palestinian peace process off the ground, as Trump says he wants. Story continues They are also key intelligence-sharing and security partners in America's various covert and overt battles against Islamist extremism in the region, and Egypt is a major recipient of aid to help it buy advanced US military hardware. Sisi, one of Trump's closest allies in the region, had urged the US president before his Jerusalem declaration "not to complicate the situation in the region by taking measures that jeopardise the chances of peace in the Middle East". Egypt's top Muslim cleric and the head of its Coptic Church had both cancelled meetings with Pence in December in protest at the Jerusalem decision. After Jordan -- the custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem -- Pence will head to Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. He will also deliver a speech to parliament and meet President Reuven Rivlin during the two-day visit. Pence can expect a warm welcome after Trump's decision on Jerusalem, which Israelis and Palestinians alike interpreted as Washington taking Israel's side in the dispute over the city. Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 and later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognised by the international community. Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its united capital, while the Palestinians see the eastern sector as the capital of their future state. The international community considers east Jerusalem illegally occupied by Israel and currently all countries have their embassies in the commercial capital Tel Aviv. - 'Matter of years' - The State Department has begun to plan the sensitive move of the American embassy to Jerusalem, a process that US diplomats say may take years to complete. This week reports surfaced that Washington may temporarily designate the US consulate general in Jerusalem as the embassy while the search for a secure and practical site for a long-term mission continues. A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has yet to make a decision on either a permanent or interim location for the mission. "That is a process that takes, anywhere in the world, time. Time for appropriate design, time for execution. It is a matter of years and not weeks or months," he said. Pence -- himself a devout Christian -- will visit the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites of Judaism in Jerusalem's Old City, and pay his respects at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. By Jeff Mason CAIRO (Reuters) - Vice President Mike Pence told Egypt's leader on Saturday the United States would support a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians if the two sides agreed to it, seeking to reassure a key Arab ally over President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Pence was in Egypt on the first leg of a three-country tour that includes stops in Jordan and Israel. It is the highest-level visit by a U.S. official to the region since December, when Trump upended decades of U.S. policy on Jerusalem in a move opposed by Arab leaders including Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. "We heard President al-Sisi out," Pence told reporters after their meeting, saying the Egyptian leader described his objection to Trump's decision as a "disagreement between friends." Pence said he assured Sisi that the United States was committed to preserving the status quo of holy sites in Jerusalem and had come to no final resolution on boundaries for the two parties. "My perception was that he was encouraged by that message," Pence said. The Egyptian presidency said in a statement that Sisi noted that only negotiations based on a two-state solution could bring an end to the conflict, "and Egypt would spare no effort to support this." Pence said he also pressed Sisi about two Americans who have been imprisoned in Egypt since 2013, as well as for reform of Egypt's restrictive laws on non-governmental organizations. In his meeting with Egypt's president, Pence pledged firm U.S. backing in the nation's fight against Islamist militants and said ties between the two countries had never been stronger after a period of "drifting apart." "We stand shoulder to shoulder with you in Egypt in the fight against terrorism," Pence told Sisi. Egypt has faced security problems, including attacks by Islamic State militants in the North Sinai region. Trump has made the fight against Islamic State a top priority. Though Pence intends to discuss counterterrorism issues throughout the trip, the Jerusalem decision remains a hot topic. Trump's announcement, which also set in motion the process of moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, prompted Palestinians to reject the United States as a peace broker. From Cairo, Pence headed to Jordan, where he will meet with King Abdullah, a close U.S. ally. Abdullah warned against declaring Jerusalem as Israel's capital, saying it would have a dangerous impact on regional stability and obstruct U.S. efforts to resume peace talks. Many people in Jordan are descendants of Palestinian refugees whose families left after the creation of Israel in 1948. Pence will end his trip in Israel, where he will be warmly welcomed following Trump's designation. He plans to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, address the Israeli legislature and visit the Western Wall. Pence is not scheduled to meet Palestinian leaders. They were incensed by Trump's decision on Jerusalem, which upended the longstanding U.S. position that negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians must determine the city's status. "The United States of America is deeply committed to restarting the peace process in the Middle East," Pence told reporters. The Trump administration's announcement on Thursday that it was withholding about half the aid it was set to give a United Nations relief agency that serves the Palestinians raised questions about fledgling U.S. efforts to revive peace talks and further undermined Arabs' faith that the United States can act as an impartial arbitrator. Pence also plans to visit U.S. troops while he is in the region. (Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Alistair Bell and Daniel Wallis) By Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military has put countering China and Russia at the centre of a new national defence strategy unveiled on Friday, the latest sign of shifting priorities after more than a decade and a half of focussing on the fight against Islamist militants. In presenting the new strategy, which will set priorities for the Pentagon for years to come, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called China and Russia "revisionist powers" that "seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models." The "National Defense Strategy" represents the latest sign of hardening resolve by President Donald Trump's administration to address challenges from Russia and China, at the same time he is pushing for improved ties with Moscow and Beijing to rein in a nuclear North Korea. "We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists that we are engaged in today, but great power competition, not terrorism, is now the primary focus of U.S. national security," Mattis said in a speech presenting the strategy document, the first of its kind since at least 2014. It sets priorities for the U.S. Defense Department that are expected to be reflected in future defence spending requests. The Pentagon on Friday released an unclassified, 11-page version of the document, which did not provide details on how the shift towards countering China and Russia would be carried out. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking through an interpreter at a news conference at the United Nations, said the United States was using a confrontational approach. "It is regrettable that instead of having a normal dialogue, instead of using the basis of international law, the U.S. is striving to prove their leadership through such confrontational strategies and concepts," Lavrov said. "We're open for dialogue, we're prepared to discuss military doctrines, he added. There was no immediate response from China. Story continues Elbridge Colby, deputy assistant secretary of defence for strategy and force development, said at a briefing with reporters that Russia was far more brazen than China in its use of military power. Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in 2014 and intervened militarily in Syria to support its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Still, Moscow was limited by its economic resources, Colby said. China, on the other hand, was described as economically and militarily ascendant. China has embarked on a far-reaching military modernization that Colby said was in "deep contravention to our interests." Experts praised the document's targeting of the largest national security threats rather than the longer lists of risks in some previous strategies. But without knowing the budget commitments, it was difficult to assess if it was a sound strategy. "If we don't actually see where the money is, you know, there is the danger that it could become all words," said Mara Karlin, a fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank and a senior defence official in the Obama administration. SUPPORT FOR ALLIANCES The document also listed North Korea among the Pentagon's priorities, citing the need to focus U.S. missile defences against the threat from Pyongyang, which beyond its nuclear weapons has also amassed an arsenal of biological, chemical, and conventional arms. The document said that international alliances would be critical for the U.S. military, by far the world's best-resourced. But it also stressed a need for burden-sharing, an apparent nod to Trump's public criticism of allies who he says unfairly take advantage of U.S. security guarantees. Trump has called the NATO alliance "obsolete", but Mattis said the United States would strengthen its traditional alliances while building new partnerships and listening more to other nations' ideas. "We will be willing to be persuaded by them, recognising that not all good ideas come from the country with the most aircraft carriers," Mattis said. The Pentagon is also working on a policy document on the country's nuclear arsenal. While Mattis did not specifically address that review, he said the priority is deterrence. "How do we maintain a safe and effective nuclear deterrence so those weapons are never used? It is a nuclear deterrent, it is not a war fighting capability unless it is the worst day in our nation or the world's history," Mattis said. Mattis had harsh words for the U.S. Congress and its inability to reach agreement on budgets. The U.S. military's competitive edge has eroded "in every domain of warfare" he said, partly because of inconsistent funding. A bill to fund the government only through Feb. 16, approved on Thursday night by the House of Representatives, appeared on the verge of collapse in the Senate. "As hard as the last 16 years of war have been, no enemy in the field has done more to harm the readiness of the U.S. military than the combined impact" of spending caps and short-term funding. In sheer spending terms, the United States' military outlay per year is still far more than China and Russia. The United States is spending $587.8 billion per year on its military, China $161.7 billion and Russia $44.6 billion. (Reporting by Idrees Ali; Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Editing by Grant McCool and James Dalgleish) We get fighting for what you've worked for, but maybe not up against a crocodile. A fisherman came a bit too close to the reptile while trying to reel in a barramundi at Cahills Crossing in the Northern Territory, Australia. SEE ALSO: Try not to wince at the horrifying sight of this egg sack teeming with tiny spiders In a video posted on the Facebook page Bonker's Adventure on Sunday, the crocodile can be seen chasing after the fish still attached to the line then wrestling it away as the fisherman retreats. Uh, yeah, no thanks. "I knew it was a bit risky but the plan was to stay well away from the water, even once I got my fish," fisherman Luke Robertson told NT News. "I wasnt that nervous I was about 5m away from the water but my knees were shaking a bit towards the end." The crocodile was estimated to be about 4 metres (13 feet) long, according to the newspaper. Cahills Crossing is apparently one of the country's most notorious bodies of water. Crocodile-infested, its submerged crossing certainly makes things pretty nerve-wracking for drivers who have to travel through it. Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia, Australasia Image: Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images The crossing connects Kakadu National Park and Arnhem Land, and obviously makes a pretty great spot to watch the reptiles in action. If you dare. A house of horrors was discovered in Perris, California at the start of the week. David Turpin and his wife Louise Turpin are accused of keeping their 13 children captive by chaining them to furniture. The horrifying discovery was made after their malnourished teen daughter escaped from the house and called police. Law enforcement officials said the children were allowed to shower just twice a year and food may have been used to control the starving children. Other major headlines of the week included sex abuse victims facing former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar in court, the results of President Trump's annual health exam and a ballistic missile warning sent in error in Hawaii. Click through the slideshow above to see photos from all of these events and more, and be sure to check back next weekend for our selection of the best photography from the week. (WASHINGTON/NEW YORK) U.S. health officials on Friday said they were revoking legal guidance issued by the Obama Administration that had sought to discourage states from trying to defund organizations that provide abortion services, such as Planned Parenthood. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials also said the department is issuing a new regulation aimed at protecting healthcare workers civil rights based on religious and conscience objections. The regulation protects the rights of healthcare workers from providing abortion, euthanasia, and sterilization, the officials said during a media call with reporters. On Thursday, HHS said it was creating a new division that would focus on conscience and religious objections, a move it said was necessary after years of the federal government forcing healthcare workers to provide such services. HHS will issue a letter on Friday to state Medicaid offices that will rescind the Obama Administrations 2016 guidance, which was issued after states including Indiana had tried to defund abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood. The guidance restricted states ability to take certain actions against family-planning providers that offer abortion services, HHS said in a statement. The Medicaid program, jointly funded by states and the federal government, provides healthcare services to the poor and disabled. Federal law prohibits Medicaid or any other federal funding for abortion services. Dawn Laguens, executive vice president for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said the move encourages states to try to block access to care at Planned Parenthood. The law is clear, it is illegal to bar women from seeking care at Planned Parenthood. Longstanding protections within Medicaid safeguard every persons right to access care at their qualified provider of choice, Laguens said in a statement. NEW RULE The rule will enforce existing statutes that guarantee these civil rights. Roger Severino, the director of the Office of Civil Rights at HHS, said the office had received 34 complaints since President Donald Trump took office last January. When asked by reporters if the rule would allow providers to deny care to transgender individuals based on religious objections, Severino said the rule refers to statutes that are based on providing procedures. Experts on Thursday said the move to protect workers on religious grounds raised the possibility it could provide legal cover for otherwise unlawful discrimination, and encourage a broader range of religious objections. Donald Trump was elected president after a campaign of bold promises. Voters responded to his sweeping assurances on everything from health care to immigration and his overall pledge to Make America Great Again. Now, after Trumps first year in the White House, he has confronted the reality of governing: nothing is quick or simple. He has delivered on some major promises and stumbled on others. Heres a look at how Trumps first-year performance stacks up to his biggest promises. Supreme Court Promise: Trump assured skittish Republican voters that he would nominate conservative judges and published a list of vetted candidates during that campaign that he promised to pick from for the Supreme Court. Some people say maybe Ill appoint a liberal judge, Trump said in March 2016, announcing he would put out his conservative list. Im not appointing a liberal judge. Whats been done: Trump held up his end of the bargain in the earliest days on the job by nominating Justice Neil Gorsuch to the high court. Since then, Trump and his team have spent his first year filling a record-breaking number of federal appeals court vacancies, and there are many spots still left. So far, he has come through. Economy Promise: Trump said before he took office that he would be the greatest jobs producer that God ever created. He promised to create 25 million new jobs over a decade. Whats been done: After Trumps first year, the economy is healthy, with stocks continuing to soar, unemployment dropping and strong GDP numbers. But job growth isnt living up to Trumps bold promises: to get to 25 million jobs in that time, the economy would need to add more than 200,000 jobs per month. While some months topped that in 2017, the average is lower, Mic reports. Foreign Policy Promise: Trump said he would bomb the hell out of ISIS, get tough on North Korea and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Story continues Whats been done: Trump loosened restraints on U.S. military commanders, resulting in more airstrikes and ISIS has lost strongholds in Iraq and Syria. He has taunted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, calling him Rocket Man and tweeting that the American nuclear button is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works! North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times. Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018 Trump reversed decades of foreign policy during his first year and formally recognized Jerusalem as Israels capital in December. He put in motion plans to move the American embassy there, though that process could take years to complete. Obamacare Promise: Trump repeatedly pledged to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare. Whats been done: Congressional Republicans failed multiple times during Trumps first year to repeal Obamacare. Trump even wavered on his campaign promise after one such failure, saying that instead of repealing, I think were probably in that position where well just let Obamacare fail, he told reporters, according to NBC. Were not gonna own it. But Hill Republicans did scrap the individual mandate in their tax reform bill, which dealt a severe blow to Obamacare. Senate negotiators reached a bipartisan deal to stabilize insurance markets, but the legislation hasnt come up for a vote. Immigration Promise: Beginning on the day Trump announced his campaign in 2015, he pledged to crack down on illegal immigration and build a wall along the southern U.S. border. He vowed that Mexico would pay for the wall. Whats been done: Contractors have built prototypes, but theres no wall and no money allotted for one after Trumps first year in office. But after Chief of Staff John Kelly implied that Trumps stance on a wall was changing, the president set the record straight. The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it, Trump tweeted on Jan. 18. The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it. Parts will be, of necessity, see through and it was never intended to be built in areas where there is natural protection such as mountains, wastelands or tough rivers or water..... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 ....The Wall will be paid for, directly or indirectly, or through longer term reimbursement, by Mexico, which has a ridiculous $71 billion dollar trade surplus with the U.S. The $20 billion dollar Wall is peanuts compared to what Mexico makes from the U.S. NAFTA is a bad joke! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 The White House and Congress are currently negotiating an immigration package focusing on border security, DACA, chain migration and the visa lottery program. But with a government shutdown in the balance for 2018, they have yet to reach a deal. Taxes Promise: Trump said he would reform the federal tax code, assuring voters during the campaign that everybody is getting a tax cut. Whats been done: Trump signed a GOP-led tax reform bill into law in December. The package polled poorly and didnt match all the specifics Trump offered on the campaign trail: it didnt cut the number of tax brackets, for example, or eliminate the carried interest loophole, Politifact reports. Still, it delivered on other promises, such as creating a 10% repatriation tax, and overall it was the biggest legislative achievement of his first year. Trade Promise: Trump pledged to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), get a much better deal on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and fix the U.S. trade imbalance with China. Whats been done: Trump formally withdrew the U.S. from TPP shortly after his inauguration. The Trump Administration has been in talks to renegotiate NAFTA, though nothing has happened yet, and Trump toned down his rhetoric toward China during his first year as president. In a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Jan. 16, Trump expressed disappointment that the United States trade deficit with China has continued to grow, according to a readout of the call provided by the White House, and made clear that the situation is not sustainable. For the first time in months, President Donald Trump refrained from vacationing at his Palm Beach home, Mar-a-Lago, where he has spent one-tenth of his first year in office. If Trump was not forced to stay in the White House due to the federal government shutting down, he would have been greeted by an anti-Trump march early Saturday afternoon. A couple hundred protesters walked south Palm Beachs beachfront Ocean Avenue from noon to 3 p.m. on a cloudy, windy 71-degree Saturday afternoon. Two anti-Trump groups, United Against Trump Pence and Pop Up Protest South Florida, organized the so-called Impeachment March on the one-year anniversary of Trumps presidency. Were going to work on get out the vote, protests, mending fences and more, said United founder when asked what his group has planned for 2018, which has a series of big and small elections in Palm Beach County. Laura Cain, a leader with anti-Trump group Palm Beach Indivisibles, had a similar message. Were educating our members on how to register people to vote, she said. Palm Beach Indivisibles is the local chapter of the national Indivisible movement, whose members have flooded town hall meetings of their Republican Congress members over the past year. Palm Beach Indivisibles has partnered with affiliates in the Treasure Coast to protest and lobby GOP Congressman Brian Mast, who represents Floridas 18th district, a purple region that stretches from northern Palm Beach County through Martin and Saint Lucie Counties. The group plans to partner with Florida 18, a grassroots group, to oust the freshman Republican in Novembers midterm elections. Were going to do whats called deep canvassing, said Cain, Thats where we target registered voters who have not voted in the past two election cycles. One of Masts Democratic challengers, Pam Keith, called for Trumps impeachment at the march, despite naysayers. They said we couldnt get civil rights by marching, and they were wrong, Keith shouted into a megaphone. For impeachment to happen, a majority of the 435-member House of Representatives would need to vote to charge the President with a crime. But Trump would not yet be kicked out of office. The Senate would then hold a trial, after which 66 out of 100 senators would have to vote in favor of finding Trump guilty. This has never happened even when one party held two-thirds of the seats in the Senate. If Trump was removed from office, notoriously anti-LGBT Vice President Mike Pence would become President. The notion of President Pence did not sit well with Mary Lenkersdorf, a mother who brought her two enthusiastic daughters and waved a sign reading Does conversion therapy work on racists? For Lenkersdorf, who has health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, each day of Trumps presidency has been worrisome, she said. Each day it would be, Will they put it to a vote or wont they? This is the worst freakin president in the history of ever. Even worse than [George W.] Bush, and I would give money to have him back. Cain said that one of her groups members makes sure to inform the rest of the group about upcoming races. On March 13 cities across Palm Beach County will hold elections for mayor and other local offices, including West Palm Beach, Delray Beach and Boca Raton. Local government can help stop what Trump wants to implement, Cain said. West Palm passed a pro-immigrant rule in April telling city police not to hassle immigrants. Last year, we were all about resistance, said Cain, This year were about getting out the vote. WASHINGTON (AP) The White House and lawmakers haggled Thursday over what former chief strategist Steve Bannon and other top aides to President Donald Trump can tell Congress as it investigates possible connections with Russia. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been critical of the White House's sweeping interpretation of executive privilege and its contention that pretty much everything is off limits until the president says it's not. Bannon had been subpoenaed to return to the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday to face additional questions about his interactions with the president, but documents obtained by The Associated Press show he now has until the week of Jan. 29. The committee gave him more time to "clarify the White House's instructions" regarding what he can tell lawmakers, the documents show. The postponement of Bannon's interview came after his attorney, Bill Burck, sent a letter to the committee, arguing that it had failed to give him proper time to respond or review documents the committee may want to ask him about. According to the letter, obtained by the AP, the committee asked Burck to work with the White House to define the scope of the "privilege the President may wish to assert" over Bannon. The negotiations will put Burck in the position of working out what one of his clients Bannon can say with an office overseen by another client, White House counsel Don McGahn. Burck is representing McGahn in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia. While those negotiations continue, a scheduled interview for Friday with longtime Trump aide Hope Hicks was postponed, according to a person familiar with the committee's investigation. A new date for her interview has not been set, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the matter. Story continues The postponements come after Bannon's contentious, day-long interview earlier this week. As lawmakers in the closed-door session probed Bannon's time working for Trump, his attorney phoned the White House counsel's office, relaying questions and asking what Bannon could tell Congress, according to a White House official and a second person familiar with the interview. The answer was a broad one. Bannon couldn't discuss anything to do with his work on the presidential transition or later in the White House itself. The development brought to the forefront questions about White House efforts to control what current and former aides may or may not tell Congress about their time in Trump's inner circle, and whether Republicans who hold majorities on Capitol Hill will force the issue. It was also the broadest example yet of the White House using executive privilege to limit a witness' testimony without making a formal invocation of that presidential power. The White House has argued that Bannon, like every current and former member of the administration, starts under the assumption that he is covered by executive privilege and can only answer certain questions unless Trump explicitly says otherwise. During his testimony earlier this week, Bannon sought to extend this privilege to his conversations after he had left the White House in August. According to Burck's letter, Bannon refused to discuss any "advice" he gave Trump after his last day in the White House, though he did answer an undisclosed question about his "communications" with the president. Bannon's silence provoked bipartisan criticism and prompted the subpoena from the committee's Republican chairman, Devin Nunes of California, The criticisms echoed those from last summer when Attorney General Jeff Sessions baffled some lawmakers by refusing to answer questions about his conversations with the president, while also maintaining he was not citing executive privilege. Following Sessions' testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said, "As someone who served in the Justice Department, I would love to know what he is talking about." Michael Dorf, a constitutional law professor at Cornell University, said that while traditionally Congress has required a formal assertion of executive privilege in order for a witness to refuse to answer a question, more recently "we've seen people just not answer questions without asserting privilege." "It's kind of a game of separation-of-powers chicken that's going on there," he said. "Because nobody knows the full scope of executive privilege other than that it's not absolute from the Nixon case no one really wants to push it." Dorf referred to the court case surrounding the Supreme Court's rejection in 1974 of President Richard Nixon's assertion that he could use executive privilege to prevent the release of tape recordings involving him and other aides. Earlier this week, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the phone conversations Burck had with the White House counsel's office during the interview were standard procedure. Burck spoke with Uttam Dhillon, deputy White House counsel, during Bannon's interview. A White House official and a second person familiar with Bannon's interview confirmed the details of the conversations. They spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. While the congressional negotiations play out, Bannon is set to meet with Mueller's investigators for an interview instead of appearing before a grand jury. A person familiar with that issue confirmed the interview. That person was not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. Peter Carr, a spokesman for the special counsel's office, declined comment. Bannon is expected to cooperate with Mueller, and if the White House attempts to invoke privilege to keep him from answering Mueller's questions, it would be a departure from other White House interviews. White House lawyers to date have made documents and witnesses available to Mueller without asserting privileges that could slow the investigation in a protracted legal fight. The goal of the cooperation, from the White House perspective, has been to help the investigation conclude as quickly as possible. ___ Associated Press writers Jonathan Lemire in New York and Zeke Miller, Eric Tucker and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report. United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday ruled out the possibility of salvaging the Iranian nuclear deal if President Donald Trump decides to pull the United States out of the agreement. "This agreement cannot be implemented if one of the participants unilaterally steps out of it," Lavrov told a news conference at the United Nations. "It will fall apart and there will be no deal then," he said, adding: "I think everyone understands that." Trump last week agreed to again waive US nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, but demanded that US lawmakers and European allies fix the "disastrous flaws" in the deal or face a US exit. "This is a decisive moment," Lavrov said. Russia and the United States are among the six world powers that signed the 2015 landmark deal with Iran that aims to curb Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions. Lavrov made clear that there would be no attempt by Russia to salvage it with the five remaining powers, if the United States pulls out. Russia will make every effort to persuade the United States "not to touch this thing," said Lavrov, saying that the deal was "not dead yet." The foreign minister again made the argument that killing off the Iran nuclear deal would also compromise any bid to persuade North Korea to scrap its nuclear arsenal. If the Iranian nuclear deal is not upheld, "how can we ask North Korea to use the same option" and abandon its nuclear ambitions, asked Lavrov. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council this week that it was in the world's interest that the nuclear agreement "be preserved." After nearly four years of dating, Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Falchuk officially confirmed their engagement by announcing the news on the cover of Paltrows Goop Magazines Sex & Love issue and showed off her new and enormous ring inside. In the magazine spread, Paltrow revealed her new rock in a photo embracing Falchuk, whom she calls the man I was meant to be with. Though the photo is black-and-white, the ring clearly features a truly gigantic center stone, which appears to be darker in color and more organically-cut in shape than a traditional diamond solitaire. The Oscar-winning actress was previously married to Coldplays Chris Martin for 11 years before conscious uncoupling in 2014, and opened up in the magazine about why shes now ready to tie the knot with Falchuk. Personally, at midlife, I have tried to accept how complex romantic love can be, Paltrow said. I have decided to give it a go again, not only because I believe I have found the man I was meant to be with, but because I have accepted the soul-stretching, pattern-breaking opportunities that (terrifyingly) are made possible by intimacy. She first met her new man, a writer-producer and co-creator of Glee, when she made a guest appearance on the show in 2010. The two officially started dating in the summer of 2014 and fit right into one anothers lives. Theyve been together for around four years, and shes totally meshed him with her family life, so its not surprising, a source told PEOPLE. They just are extremely compatible. Sunday brunch #modernfamily A post shared by Gwyneth Paltrow (@gwynethpaltrow) on Nov 26, 2017 at 12:59pm PST Paltrow has shared photos of her modern family with Falchuk and Martin hanging out together and a source close to the actress says it all seems to work for them. Chris and Brad have hung out several times, the source told PEOPLE. They are both often at Gwyneths for family fun and dinners. Everyone seems very mature about their family situation. WASHINGTON With less than two hours to go before a deadline to avert a government shutdown, 48 senators blocked a four-week government spending extension, causing the government to partially shutdown at midnight. Forty-four Democrats and four Republicans voted against the short-term spending bill that passed the House on Thursday evening, many of them saying they could not vote for a measure that does nothing for the 700,000 undocumented young people President Donald Trump has put at risk of losing protection from deportation. The bill, which needed 60 votes to proceed, failed in a 50-49 vote, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voting against it for procedural reasons. Leaders in both chambers havent settled on a Plan B. Theres no deal to help so-called Dreamers and no agreement on an even shorter-term bill to extend funding while they work on one. Theres not even certainty about what Trump actually wants. Earlier in the day, he rejected an offer from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to fund his border wall, the Democrat said. Senators remained in the chamber discussing a path forward but didnt find one before the deadline. Eventually, the Senate adjourned without a deal and will have to return later Saturday. It will be difficult to reach a long-term deal to reopen the government. Democrats want protections for Dreamers first, but White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said thats not something the administration will discuss until government funding is approved. We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands, she said in a statement just before midnight. This is the behavior of obstructionist losers, not legislators. When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders, we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform. It wasnt just Democrats who voted against the bill. Four Republicans also opposed the four-week funding measure: Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky. John McCain of Arizona was not present. Story continues Five Democrats crossed the aisle to vote for the bill: Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Doug Jones of Alabama, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Joe Donnelly of Indiana. Republicans also tried to shift blame to the Democrats for a potential shutdown by adding a six-year extension of the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to their short-term bill. Then GOP leaders in the Senate decided to hold a vote on that funding measure even though it was clear minutes before that it didnt have the support to pass essentially daring Democrats to vote no. Negotiations over a last-minute deal to extend funding for the government through Feb. 8 one week earlier than the House-passed bill collapsed shortly before midnight after Democrats were unable to secure a commitment from House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to attach a DACA measure to a must-pass government funding bill next month, according to senators of both parties. Without the commitment, Democrats would have no guarantee that Republicans would vote on DACA before the program expires in March. McConnell criticized Democrats after the vote for shoehorning of illegal immigration into this debate. Senators are expected to return to work Saturday in hopes of reaching a deal by Monday, when most federal employees return to work. Trump necessitated a legislative fix for so-called Dreamers when he ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in September, putting them at risk of losing work permits and deportation relief. Republicans insisted theres no urgency on immigration. But Democrats, at the urging of Dreamers themselves, stood firm, even though many of them voted for a spending bill in December. At a time when Trump is simultaneously insisting he wants an immigration deal and making demands that Democrats find difficult to stomach reportedly discussing immigrants in racist terms and insulting the lawmakers he is negotiating with they argued that tying DACA to government funding is the best chance they have to do so. On Friday, ahead of the vote, Schumer went to the White House to meet with Trump to discuss the deal in person. Schumer said that he offered Trump funding for his border wall something he and other Democrats have said no to repeatedly. He also told him Democrats would agree to higher defense spending, according to a source familiar with the conversation, who requested anonymity to discuss the private meeting. They parted without a firm deal, but the president said that a short-term spending bill, as proposed by Schumer, was a good idea, the source said. But later, it fell apart. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly called Schumer and said the proposal he had discussed with Trump was too liberal, according to the source. Trump tweeted after the meeting that it was excellent but hours later was back to publicly bashing Democrats, accusing them of wanting a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy. Schumer accused Trump of turning on a bipartisan deal as if he was rooting for a shutdown. And now well have one, and the blame should crash entirely on President Trumps shoulders. Trump lashed out at Democrats in series of tweets early Saturday, saying that they could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMoreRepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 But it wasnt just Democrats who blocked the bill, and DACA wasnt the only thing keeping lawmakers from supporting the spending bill. Some senators said they wouldnt vote for another one-month spending bill because they view it as an irresponsible way to run the government. Such measures, called continuing resolutions, are in lieu of a full-year bill to fund the government because lawmakers have yet to reach a deal. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. Young people are set to begin losing DACA protections in larger numbers in early March, although about 122 per day have been losing their shield against deportation since Trump rescinded the program. (The government is currently accepting renewal applications because of a court order, but aims to have that ruling overturned.) Negotiations on a deal for Dreamers hit a skid last week, when Trump reportedly made racist and derisive statements about immigrants from African nations and Haiti. (Trump has denied making those comments. However, he wants to eliminate a program that grants visas to many African immigrants and ended temporary protected status that allows some Haitians already in the U.S. to remain here.) Trump also rejected a bipartisan proposal from senators, most prominently Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Graham, intended to conform to the presidents demands. The White House hasnt voiced support for a bipartisan House proposal from Reps. Will Hurd (R-Texas) and Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.). And a separate effort to find a deal between the second-ranking members in each party in the House and Senate hasnt led to an agreement. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) spun the nights developments in a positive light, predicting the failed vote would eventually drive both sides to settle on a bipartisan compromise. This is what makes Congress work, Hatch said. Sooner or later they can get tired of it, then theyll say lets quit playing around and get something done. He added, somewhat facetiously: Isnt this fun? Also on HuffPost April 2015 At an event hosted by Texas Patriots PAC: Everythings coming across the border: the illegals, the cars, the whole thing. Its like a big mess. Blah. Its like vomit. June 2015 At a speech announcing his campaign: "When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre not sending you. Theyre not sending you. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems, and theyre bringing those problems with us. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." August 2015 On NBC's "Meet the Press": Were going to keep the families together, we have to keep the families together, but they have to go." September 2015 On CBS's "60 Minutes": Were rounding em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And theyre going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesnt sound nice. But not everything is nice. November 2015 On MSNBC's "Morning Joe": You are going to have a deportation force, and you are going to do it humanely." February 2016 At a GOP primary debate: We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back some will come back, the best, through a process. March 2016 At a press conference when asked if he would consider allowing undocumented immigrants to stay: "We either have a country or we dont. We either have a country or we dont. We have borders or we dont have borders. And at this moment, the answer is absolutely not. April 2016 At an event hosted by NBC's "Today Show": Theyre going to go, and were going to create a path where we can get them into this country legally, OK? But it has to be done legally. ... Theyre going to go, and then come back and come back legally. July 2016 At the Republican National Convention: "Tonight, I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been denied and every politician who has denied them to listen very closely to the words I am about to say. On January 21st of 2017, the day after I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced." September 2016 At a rally: Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country. Otherwise we dont have a country. September 2016 On "The Dr. Oz Show": Well, under my plan the undocumented or, as you would say, illegal immigrant wouldnt be in the country. They only come in the country legally. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. The 21-year-old Canadian woman who was sentenced earlier this week to seven years in prison for killing her best friend did not succumb to police questioning, insisting she was innocent even as they presented her with the photographic evidence that helped seal her fate. Cheyanne Rose Antoine from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, ultimately pleaded guilty Monday to using her own belt to strangle Brittney Gargol in 2015. Gargols body was found on a road leading to a Saskatoon landfill. When investigators revealed the Facebook selfie showing her wearing the murder weapon around her waist, Antoine steadfastly maintained her innocence. Her reaction was maybe unusual for someone so young, Saskatoons Senior Crown Prosecutor Robin Ritter tells PEOPLE. She held it together. She held it in. She never displayed emotion or remorse. In other words, she was questioned but she never admitted it and thats hard for people. Ritter adds: Most people, when confronted with a serious crime, they have an emotional reaction. She didnt. Cheyenne Rose Antoine (left) and Brittney Gargol 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. Antoine pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Monday and was sentenced soon after. She told detectives she had been drinking with Gargol the night of her death, and that the two got into an argument. While Antoine admitted Monday to killing Gargol, she said she has no recollection of the killing. Six hours before the killing, Gargol shared a photo of the pair smiling on her Facebook page. In the photo, Antoine wore a large belt the same belt that was used to kill Gargol. The belt was recovered by police, who found it beside the body. The selfie, Ritter says, was a very important piece of evidence, but there was much more to the prosecution than that single image. The accused went to great lengths to try to mislead police and steer them in the wrong direction, Ritter tells PEOPLE. She manufactured a false alibi, placed the blame on other people, generated false suspects, was following up with [Facebook] posts saying, I hope you made it home safe she knew she didnt because she killed her. Story continues For more compelling true crime coverage, follow our Crime magazine on Flipboard. Ritter says it was a complicated case for the investigators, and adds that they did a remarkable job, going from practically nothing to making an arrest and ultimately, [Antoine] accepting responsibility for the murder. The case now closed, Ritter says one part of the proceedings with stick with him forever. Brittney had a sister who is a little girl; she was maybe 5 when Brittney was killed, Ritter says. It is very, very hard on that little girl. She wrote a letter as part of her victim impact statement, and it included a drawing a crayon drawing of a rainbow. She said Brittney was her rainbow. Thatthat hits you. CAIRO (Reuters) - Sudanese authorities have detained a Reuters stringer and an AFP reporter who were covering protests in the capital Khartoum, the country's external information council, which deals with foreign media organizations, said. Reuters last had contact with its stringer early on Wednesday before he went to report on the demonstrations which resulted in clashes between police and protesters. Sudan has seen a wave of unrest over soaring living costs. An official in the external information council, contacted by Reuters, did not say whether charges would be brought against the two Sudanese journalists. The official had earlier said they would be released early on Thursday. "We do not know the circumstances of the detention and are actively seeking additional information about the situation," a Reuters spokesperson said. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said five local journalists had also been arrested and called for the immediate release of all the reporters. "By arresting and intimidating journalists, confiscating newspapers and attempting to censor news dissemination, the Sudanese authorities keep trying to get journalists to stick to the official narrative or pay the price," CPJ Middle East and North Africa program coordinator Sherif Mansour said in a statement. The Sudanese authorities arrested the journalists while they were reporting on demonstrations in Khartoum, according to the statement, which cited news reports and the independent Sudanese Journalists Network. The Sudanese official declined to comment on the CPJ report. The U.S. State Department said it was aware of the detentions and was closely following the reports. "We condemn the harassment, arbitrary detention, and attacks on journalists in Sudan who are doing their jobs and exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression," State Department spokewoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. AFP confirmed the detention of one of its journalists. In an article, the news agency said its management strongly condemned the arrest and asked for his immediate release. Protests and clashes with security forces broke out across Sudan this month after Khartoum imposed tough economic measures in line with recommendations by the International Monetary Fund. (Reporting by Samia Nakhoul and John Davison; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Richard Balmforth) BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian troops and allied forces seized an air base in Idlib province on Saturday, pressing their offensive into the country's largest insurgent stronghold, state television said. The province in northwest Syria has become a focal point of the war, with government forces taking scores of villages in recent weeks. With the help of Iran-backed militias and Russian air power, they advanced towards Abu al-Duhur military airport, where rebels had ousted the army in 2015. Since mid-December, fighting has forced more than 212,000 people to flee their homes in the south of Idlib and nearby parts of Hama and Aleppo provinces, the United Nations says. Ankara has warned the attacks will cause a new wave of migration, urging Russia and Iran to rein in the Syrian army offensive in Idlib, which borders Turkey. Rebels have held Idlib since 2015, and its population has mushroomed with fighters and civilians escaping offensives in other parts of Syria. It has since become the largest single chunk of the country still under the control of factions fighting President Bashar al-Assad's state. Tahrir al-Sham, spearheaded by al-Qaeda's former Syria branch, is now the dominant insurgent force in the province. In a broadcast from outside Abu al-Duhur airport, state TV said the military was searching the base for mines and battling insurgents around it. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the army and allied militia took full control of the airport after heavy air strikes against the insurgents. The troops had stormed the base hours earlier, said a military media unit run by Lebanon's Hezbollah, which fights alongside the Damascus government. Other pro-government forces seized villages in rural Aleppo, it said. The army offensive has pushed into Idlib along several fronts from rural Hama to the south and from Aleppo province to the east. Government forces at opposite ends linked up on Saturday, splitting rebel territory in two, the Observatory and the Hezbollah media unit said. The advance besieged militants near the airport in an enclave, part of it under Tahrir al-Sham control and the other in the hands of Islamic State. In recent weeks, Tahrir al-Sham had been simultaneously under attack at the corner of Idlib from Islamic State, which has expanded a small pocket of territory in Hama since the army ousted it from central Syria last year. (Reporting by Ellen Francis; Editing by Andrew Bolton) On International Womens Day, heres a striking glimpse at how three women lives changed after the 2017 Womens March. This short documentary, Women Rising, from go90, features three different sets of participants: the Divided Duo, a couple who share opposing political views; the Partners in Love, a same-sex couple who had a conservative, Christian upbringing; and The Survivor, a women whose memories of sexual assault resurfaced during the furor of the 2016 campaign. All three of the stories pivot on the occasion of the Womens March in Washington, D.C., last year, and all three culminate in milestones showing how this event truly did change lives. And as you watch their stories unfold, with this weekends events in front of us, its easy to see how the countrys political tides were so deeply affected by the results of the 2016 elections most notably with the birth of a new generation of political activists and advocates. As Kayla Keegan, the aforementioned assault survivor in the video, so confidently states, last years march was just the beginning theres no turning back now. Read more on the womens movement from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. Tripoli (AFP) - The airport serving the Libyan capital resumed flights on Saturday following a five-day suspension after deadly clashes around the facility that also damaged planes on the tarmac. Lotfi Khalil, the director general of Mitiga airport on the eastern outskirts of Tripoli, said services resumed with Buraq Air flying to the eastern city of Tobruk and Libyan Airlines leaving for Tunis. One local carrier, state-owned Afriqiyah Airways, however, has yet to resume operations because its planes were damaged in Monday's fighting in which at least 20 people were killed, he told AFP. Since the closure, flights had been diverted to Misrata, a city 200 kilometres (120 miles) east of the capital. Mitiga airport, a former military air base, was evacuated on Monday after militiamen attacked it in an attempt to free detainees at a jail there. The health ministry of Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) said 20 people were killed and 63 wounded in the violence. The GNA condemned what it called a "premeditated" attack by gunmen trying to free "terrorists" belonging to the Islamic State jihadist group and Al-Qaeda. Mitiga has been a civilian airport since Tripoli's main international airport was badly damaged in fighting between rival militias in mid-2014. Libya has been wracked by chaos since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed long-time dictator Moamer Kadhafi, with rival authorities and militias battling for control of its oil riches. Le Collectif Cheikh Yassine a organise un certain nombre dactivites et de festivites pour les enfants de Gaza sous le theme La joie des enfants de Gaza pour lAid . Ces activites ont commence le premier jour de lAid et continue jusquau 4eme jour de lAid dans la bande de Gaza. Plusieurs activites, ont ete organisees parmi lesquelles : des competitions recompensees par des prix, des jeux, des animations et des chants presentes par un groupe ainsi que des distributions de cadeaux et daides financieres. [caption id="attachment_2335" align="alignnone" width="616"] A rally at the Supreme Court against the Trump administration's effort to ban immigration from 7 Muslim-majority countries. [/caption] The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday said it will decide whether the Trump administration's latest order banning certain foreign nationals from entering the United States is unconstitutional and also violates federal immigration law.The justices will likely hear arguments this spring in Trump v. Hawaii. In the case, the government defends the so-called travel ban 3.0, which denies or suspends entry of foreign nationals from Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen and Somalia. The government contends the immigration order is the result of a multi-federal agency review of whether foreign governments provide sufficient information to screen their nationals.Besides deciding whether the travel ban violates the Immigration and Nationality Act, the justices ordered both sides to brief whether the ban violates the First Amendment's establishment clause. Hawaii has argued that the ban also discriminates on the basis of religion.The administration sought high court review following a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The appellate court held that a key section of the Immigration and Nationality Act grants broad authority to the president, but generally does not permit the president to impose entry suspensions of unlimited and indefinite duration.The appellate court ruled the executive order failed to support its conclusion that allowing the entry of those foreign nationals would be detrimental to the interests of the United States. It also held that a section of the immigration law prohibiting discrimination of the basis of nationality in the issuance of immigrant visas was a constraint on the president's authority.The Supreme Court on Dec. 4 had allowed the travel ban to go into full effect, pending either the appeals court ruling or the justices' decision on whether to grant review. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented.U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco, in his petition seeking high court review, argued: "By prohibiting the President from denying entry to those aliens on that basis, and preventing the President from using the entry suspensions to encourage the deficient countries to improve their practices, the courts below have overridden the Presidents judgments on sensitive matters of national security and foreign relations, and severely restricted the ability of this and future presidents to protect the nation."Hawaii, represented by Hogan Lovells partner Neal Katyal, countered, "No prior president has attempted to implement a policy that so baldly exceeds the statutory limits on the Presidents power to exclude, or so nakedly violates Congresss bar on nationality-based discrimination in the issuance of immigrant visas."If the high court endorses the government's "staggering and limitless" view of the president's power, Katyal warned, the president "could end the family-preference system, revive the national origin quotas Congress abolished a half century ago," or "shut the borders entirely based on nothing more than his view that the country admits too many foreign nationals.A federal district court in Maryland also blocked the travel ban's implementation, except as to nationals of Venezuela or North Korea or persons without a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States. The government appealed that ruling to the Fourth Circuit, which, sitting en banc, heard arguments on Dec. 8. The appellate court has not yet ruled.Read more:Citing 'Unprecedented' Injunction, DOJ Takes DACA Fight to SCOTUSNinth Circuit Slaps Down Trump's Travel Ban a Third TimeUS Supreme Court Allows Trumps 3rd Travel Ban To Go Into Effect Donald Trump has become the first sitting US president to directly address the March for Life anti-abortion rally in Washington DC as his administration continues to roll back more Obama-era abortion protections. Mr Trump said he was honoured and proud to be addressing the march. The March for Life, he said, is a movement born out of love ... you love every child born and unborn because you believe every life is sacred, that every child is a precious gift from God. When introducing the President, Vice President Mike Pence called Mr Trump the most pro-life president in American history. My friends, life is winning in America, Mr Pence said. The Vice President was the highest-ranking official to address the rally last year. Former Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George W Bush spoke to the marchers by phone. Carrying signs with phrases such as Pray to end abortion, more than 100,000 anti-abortion activists descended on the National Mall in the nations capital for the March for Life. The event has taken place each January since 1974 a year after the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v Wade that affirmed a womans right to an abortion at most stages of a pregnancy. As you all know, Roe v Wade has resulted in some of the most permissive abortion laws anywhere in the world, the President said as he criticised the ruling. Mr Trump has promised to nominate more federal judges who oppose abortion with the hope that the ruling will eventually be overturned. No one likes abortion. Everyone wants to prevent. Problem is Republican policy of ignorance. If you want to prevent needless abortions you offer free birth control, sexual education and healthcare access. Not the exact opposite. Abstinence is not an effective policy #MarchforLife Christopher Zullo (@ChrisJZullo) January 19, 2018 Mr Trumps speech also contained a blunder: Right now in a number of states the laws allow a baby to be born from his or her mothers womb in the ninth month. It is wrong; it has to change, he said. Story continues Mr Trump has become an unlikely champion of the pro-life movement. He has a history of expressing support for abortion rights, but he changed his tune during the presidential campaign, ostensibly to gain the support of social conservatives and abortion opponents. In an interview in 1999, when he was still a real estate magnate in New York City, Mr Trump said that while he hated the concept of abortion, he was very pro-choice. The March for Life coincided with new moves by the Trump administration to roll back abortion protections. On Thursday, it announced it was expanding religious freedom protections for doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers who object to performing procedures like abortion and gender reassignment surgery. The new protections are aimed at addressing long-held concerns that religious people could be forced to comply with laws and regulations that violate their religious beliefs. The move also included the creation of an oversight entity within the Department of Health and Human Services called the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division. The department said it would create the division within its civil rights office to give it the focus it needs to more vigorously and effectively enforce existing laws protecting the rights of conscience and religious freedom. The federal government has hounded religious hospitals ... forcing them to provide services that violate their consciences, Acting HHS Secretary Eric Hargan said. Medical students, too, have learned to do procedures that violate their consciences. Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the senior Democrat on the Senate health committee, said the administration was using the civil rights office as a tool to restrict access to health care for people who are transgender and women. Additionally, the Trump administration has rescinded legal guidance by the administration of his predecessor Barack Obama that had sought to discourage states from defunding organisations that provide abortion services, such as Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood condemned Mr Trumps participation in the rally, noting in a statement that abortion has been legal for more than 40 years. Mr Trump and his administration have been laser-focused on using their power to control womens bodies, the organisation said. The March for Life rally came a day before Mr Trumps one-year anniversary as president, an event that will be marked by womens marches in cities across the US, including Washington DC. The first womens marches were held last year on the day following Mr Trumps inauguration. Millions of people showed up to the events to protest Mr Trump, who they viewed to be an opponent of womens rights and reproductive freedom. (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump blamed Democrat lawmakers for a shutdown of the federal government that went into effect on Saturday. "Democrats are far more concerned with illegal immigrants than they are with our great military or safety at our dangerous southern border," he said in a Twitter post early on Saturday. "They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead." The Senate is expected to resume talks on funding the government at noon. (Reporting by Rich McKay; editing by John Stonestreet) A National Park Service ranger removes a closed sign from the Lincoln Memorial after the 2013 shutdown. (Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images) WASHINGTON As a government shutdown grew increasingly likely this week, the Trump administration scrambled to find a way to keep Americas national parks and monuments open albeit without rangers, restrooms and other visitor services. While the federal government appears woefully unprepared for a shutdown generally, the motivation for this particular exception seems clear: President Donald Trump and his team are looking to avoid the fiery backlash that the previous administration faced when it shuttered parks and monuments in 2013. Its a move that puts natural and cultural resources at risk, critics warn. Jon Jarvis, the former director of the National Park Service, dubbed it incredibly idiotic. The park service is not going to be able to live up to its stewardship responsibilities, he told HuffPost on Friday. The great thing about national parks is that when visitors come, they have a certain expectation of the experience, Jarvis said. That there will be rangers on duty. There will be information at the visitor center. If they get lost, were going to find them. If they get injured, were going to rescue them. What makes the U.S. park system the best in the world, he said, is a professional corps of managers in the field that provide for that experience and protect the resource. The Trump administration has notified National Park Service officials across the country to maintain public access at parks unless access presents a serious and imminent threat to human life, safety, or health, or a serious and imminent threat to the condition of a sensitive natural or cultural resource. Major national parks, including Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon, were all scheduled to be open Saturday morning. Many war memorials and battlefields are also managed by the National Park Service. And Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke posted a photo early Saturday of himself with students at an open National World War II Memorial. Story continues Ensuring our @NatlParkService parks are as accessible as possible. Wonderful to meet students from Illinois. pic.twitter.com/paKj45hWn1 Secretary Ryan Zinke (@SecretaryZinke) January 20, 2018 During a 16-day shutdown in 2013 in the first year of President Barack Obamas second term, when Republicans controlled the House of Representatives and Democrats had a majority in the Senate national parks and monuments were closed across the country. Barricades were erected around the National Mall in Washington. Signs were put up that read Because of the Federal Government SHUTDOWN, All National Parks Are CLOSED. Vacations were ruined. TV news aired footage of military veterans busting through blockades to access war memorials. If that experience proved anything, it was that closing parks and monuments is indisputably unpopular. And despite having previously threatened a shutdown, Trump seems to understand that Americans could be quick to blame him for any federal closures they dont like. A day before the 2013 shutdown, Trump told Fox News that problems start from the top. When people look back decades later, he said, theyre going to be talking about the president of the United States who was the president at that time? TRUMP in 2013: "They talk about the government shutdown, they're going to be talking about the president of the United States who was the president at that time? ... I really think the pressure is on the president." pic.twitter.com/dVur51wwpR JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) January 19, 2018 Similarly, Zinke who oversees an agency that employs more than 70,000 people and manages 500 million acres of land, including the 59 national parks has spoken about the important role those parks play in how Americans view the federal government. In a speech to agency staff on his second day as secretary, Zinke called the parks the face of the Interior Department. For a lot of the millions of people who visit our parks every year, youre the face, he said. So your uniforms, showing up every day, your professionalism, is how most of America views our department. And thats an enormous responsibility. With the Republican-controlled Congress proving unable to fund the government by midnight Friday, visitors to U.S. parks, monuments and memorials are expected to face bare-bones operations open access without those welcoming uniformed professionals. Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift said in a statement Thursday that those public places would remain as accessible as possible in the event of a shutdown. The American public and especially our veterans who come to our nations capital should find war memorials and open-air parks open to the public, she said. Additionally, many of our national parks, refuges, and other public lands will still try to allow limited access wherever possible. We fully expect the government to continue operations however in the event of a shut down #publiclands will be as accessible as safely possible under the law. https://t.co/GkOQFJGeKN Secretary Ryan Zinke (@SecretaryZinke) January 18, 2018 But former Interior officials warned that the administrations attempt to save face could backfire. With this new direction where some things are open, some things are not, some things are going to be maintained, some things are not and youre asking them to figure this out on the fly in 24 hours, Jarvis said. Thats where its going to be a great deal of chaos. Sally Jewell, who served as secretary of the interior during the 2013 shutdown, told The Atlantic that clearly the administration is trying to reduce the heat, but its naive to think that a few police officers can protect these sites. Its not realistic, she said, and I think its a lack of understanding of the roles that so many people play in the parks and, frankly, what [roles] volunteers play in the parks as well. And Kate Kelly, public lands director at the Center for American Progress and an Interior official during the Obama administration, accused Zinke of using the national parks as pawns in some political game. The National Park Services mission shouldnt be held together by duct tape and bailing wire in order to lessen the publics blowback on the party that controls Congress and the White House, she said in an email. As the head of the park service during the 2013 shutdown, Jarvis recalls facing a lot of the criticism. He remembers the deluge of media articles about parks being closed, the local economic suffering, the angry tourists, the weddings that had to be relocated. Its painful, he said. The park service hates to do this stuff. We love to have the public come and see us. But that doesnt justify keeping these sites open without proper staffing and services, he warned. Jarvis compared the plan to ordering the Smithsonian to close its doors but bring its collection outside for everyone to see. Its not like these areas are impervious to impact, to vandalism, to terrorism attacks, to damage, he said. CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress in 2013. Only the House of Representatives had a Republican majority. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Between 2011 and 2016, I ventured across Americas political divide. I live in Berkeley, California, a liberal town in a liberal state, and in those years, I tried to step into the shoes of those living in a deeply conservative town, a center of the petrochemical industry: Lake Charles, in a conservative state, Louisiana. Its a story I tell in my 2016 book, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right. Nearly all the people I came to know voted for Donald Trump most with hope and excitement. Since the book came out, Ive returned to Louisiana three times, perused my Facebook feed and invited some to my own home to learn if and how their feelings have changed over the course of President Trumps first year. As Trumps efforts to make America great again paradoxically pull us apart, I wondered: Was there hope that we would not lose each other? It is not difficult to see that the wedge between Republicans and Democrats is formidable. According to a recent Pew survey, 71% of Democrats believe the government should do more to help the needy; only 24% of Republicans do. Sixty-four percent of Democrats think discrimination is the main reason blacks cant get ahead; only 14% of Republicans do. Eighty-four percent of Democrats believe immigrants strengthen the country with their work ethic and talent; only 42% of Republicans do. The average gap between Democrats and Republicans on ten subjects has grown from 15% in 1994 to 36% in 2017. Two decades back, the blue-red divide on a range of issues was about as wide as that between blacks and whites (about 14% typically); today it is much wider. A year after they voted for Trump, all the Trump supporters I talked to remained committed to him. Some did so with a sigh: Why cant he stop tweeting? Why cant he be more presidential? But others had risen up as defiant moral bodyguards. When Trump was quoted as speaking of some African nations as shithole nations, saying Haitians all have AIDS and describing Norwegian newcomers as desirable, many of his supporters felt embarrassed for him and by him. But one Louisianan I knew responded, Im sorry but those African countries are terrible places to live, and another angrily rebuked Trumps critics on Facebook, Democrats feign horror when Trump calls a COUNTRY a shithole but praise Hillary for calling a PEOPLE deplorable, and again, Youre a Democrat if you think its horrible that Trump called a country a shithole, but that its okay to murder an unborn child. Surely people have seen members of both parties furiously pointing out the moral hypocrisies of their opponents. Story continues But is that partisan hatred the only story? No. It is harder to see, but a nationwide grass-roots movement has been quietly growing, and it seeks not to eliminate difference but to remove its bitter edge. The first signs I saw of this came as email messages from my readers. One woman wrote, Im part of an Episcopalian congregation here in western Massachusetts. Can you put me in touch with a congregation in Lake Charles? Another woman said, I live on a dairy farm in Kansas, in a conservative state, and Id liked to get some high school kids from California to see how we live out here. When a Trump supporter I profiled in Strangers came with her children to visit my family in Berkeley, we conducted an 8-person right-meets-left Living-room Conversation part of a project thats the brainchild of a local mediation lawyer, Joan Blades to see if we could find common ground on how to clean up the environment. We began by going around the room, each person, left and right sharing his or her personal goals for America, and for its environment and found them fairly similar though as the conversation we wandered between points of agreement (clean energy) and disagreement (the government subsidizing clean energy). Usually in Livingroom Conversations, the group meets eight times, though we could only meet once. And while we experienced no aha-breakthrough moment, all of us felt glad wed tried. Even among the most ardent and extreme people I met over five years of research in Louisiana, I found specific issues on which there was potential for coalition for example, safeguarding children on the Internet, reducing prison populations for non-violent offenders, protecting against commercialization of the human genome, pushing for good jobs and re-building our rail system, roads, bridges Americas infrastructure. In fact, most of my Louisiana Trump supporters wanted to mend its social infrastructure too. Signs of a desire to reach out extend far beyond my inbox and living room. Listed on the website of the Bridge Alliance, a non-profit non-partisan umbrella group, are over seventy cross-partisan groups based in towns scattered across the country with such names as Common Good, Better Angels, American Public Square, AllSides. Virtually all of these small groups rose from local efforts to restore a culture of respect while exploring potential points of agreement. Common ground is there to be explored. By some estimates, over one in ten people who voted for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary ended up voting for Trump in the presidential election. Experts also estimate that between 6.7 and 9.2 million people who voted for Trump in 2016 had also voted for Obama in 2012. As of October 2017, the Bridge Alliance had three million supporters. As we head into the next three years with a divided media and a speak-to-one-base president, more of us need to reach out to people we disagree with. We may not be as polarized as we think. And even or really, especially if we are, we need to restore the spirit of the public square. In the past, we had ways of bringing together Americans who differed: the compulsory draft, labor unions, public schools and libraries and nightly TV news programs everyone watched, like The Huntley-Brinkley Report. Increasingly today we lack these ways of sharing each others worlds. So we need to strengthen the old ways or reinvent new ones perhaps more Living Room Conversations among some of those Bernie-Obama-Trump crossovers. By itself, the simple act of crossing the partisan divide will not resolve our crisis. But it could help us slowly rebuild a nation in which we feel as if we know each other again. President Donald Trump flubbed a key word in his address to the March for Life rally on Friday, mistakenly telling anti-abortion protesters that its wrong for babies to be born in the ninth month of a pregnancy. Right now, a number of state laws allow a baby to be born from his or her mothers womb in the ninth month. It is wrong. It has to change, he said. As the Daily Beast pointed out, Trumps prepared remarks showed that he meant to say torn, rather than born, in a reference to late-term abortion. Trumps mistake was mocked by critics on Twitter, including one commenter who reminded the president: Thats called childbirth, dude and another who joked, Open mouth, insert foot. Some said the flub didnt help Trumps case amid speculation that he is mentally unfit to be president. Here's President Trump's screw-up on this crucial part in his abortion speech: https://t.co/vUxr1yAN0j pic.twitter.com/D0HEu8bZ2o The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) January 19, 2018 Right now, in a number of states, the laws allow a baby to be born from his or her mothers womb in the ninth month. It is wrong. It has to change. Genuinely confused by this. (via ABC) pic.twitter.com/3FT8SCQY5V Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 19, 2018 Very stable genius and, like, really smart guy Donald Trump just said babies shouldnt be allowed to be born in the ninth month. LET. THAT. SINK. IN. pic.twitter.com/xedq5TkSNE Mike P Williams ???? (@Mike_P_Williams) January 19, 2018 On FNC, White House spox @mercedesschlapp was played clip of Trump saying "Right now in a number of states, the laws allow a baby to be born from his or her mother's womb in the 9th month. It is wrong. It has to change" (That's called childbirth, dude) But Schlapp was unfazed! pic.twitter.com/LtwnEfZIP4 Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 19, 2018 Aren't most babies born in the ninth month? Does Trump think they should be born sooner? Or not born at all? Carrie Sweet (@CarrieSweet2017) January 19, 2018 Oh damn, I better tell my wife before we try for a kid. No more 9 month births.https://t.co/Pg9guiWsbH Eric Schmeltzer (@JustSchmeltzer) January 19, 2018 Demonstrating again he is truly a very stable genius and, like, really smart, Trump misread the teleprompter to reveal to a crowd of anti-abortion extremists that the laws of some states actually ALLOW A BABY TO BE BORN in the ninth month of pregnancy. Open mouth, insert foot. https://t.co/Y0qopCarAz Dario Navarro (@darionavarro111) January 19, 2018 Trump is mad babies are being born in the 9th month. Oh no, hes just a dotard who cant read the TelePrompTer. Pam Beasley(is my spirit animal) (@ctygrl773) January 19, 2018 Its also worth noting that, according to Planned Parenthood and the CDC, less than 1.4 percent of all abortions take place after 21 weeks. Story continues Trump also raised the subject of late-term abortions in a presidential debate against Hillary Clinton in October 2016, claiming that doctors can rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month of pregnancy, as late as one or two or three or four days prior to birth. Doctors, womens health advocates and activists pushed back on his claim at the time. Dr. Jen Gunter, an OB-GYN who has performed many late-term abortions, noted in a blog post that terminations after 24 weeks are for severe fetal anomalies. There are no ninth month abortions. Really. A ninth month abortion is a unicorn and so its ridiculous to even discuss it, she said. And in a Vox.com article, Gunter explained, Im a doctor who was trained to do late-term abortions. I did them for five years in residency and for 10 years in practice and I have no idea what Trump is talking about. I have even practiced in states with no gestational age limit for abortions. So while I no longer perform abortions, I know much more about this subject than Donald Trump or any of his advisers can ever hope to know. Tickets start at $100,000 a pair for presidents glitzy celebration Republicans and Democrats locked in stalemate over spending Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka on a trip to Pennsylvania on Thursday. On Friday, Trump was to become the first sitting president to address the March for Life. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Donald Trump will host a lavish celebration of his first year as US president at his private estate in Florida on Saturday, with tickets starting at $100,000 a pair, even as thousands of women take to the streets to protest against his divisive leadership. Trump had been due to depart Washington on Friday but postponed the trip for a day as the government stood on the brink of its first shutdown since 2013. Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill were locked in a stalemate over a funding agreement on immigration, the military and other issues. What is a government shutdown? When the US Congress fails to pass appropriate funding for government operations and agencies, a shutdown is triggered. Most government services are frozen, barring those that are deemed essential, such as the work of the Department of Homeland Security and FBI. During a shutdown, nearly 40% of the government workforce is placed on unpaid furlough and told not to work. Many, but not all, are non-defense federal employees. Active duty military personnel are not furloughed. Why is the government poised to shut down? Members of Congress are at an impasse over what should be included in a spending bill to keep the government open. Democrats have insisted any compromise must also include protections for the nearly 700,000 young, undocumented immigrants, known as Dreamers, who were brought to the US as children. The Dreamers, who were granted temporary legal status under Barack Obama, were newly exposed to the threat of deportation when Donald Trump moved to rescind their protections in September. Trump and Republicans have argued immigration is a separate issue and can be dealt with at a later time. How common is a shutdown? There have been 12 government shutdowns in the US since 1981, although ranging in duration. The longest occurred under Bill Clinton, lasting a total of 21 days from December 1995 to January 1996, when the then House speaker, Newt Gingrich, demanded sharp cuts to government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and welfare. Story continues The most recent shutdown transpired under Obama in 2013, pitting the president against the Republican-led House of Representatives. Republicans refused to support a spending bill that included funding for Obamas healthcare law, resulting in a 16-day shutdown that at its peak affected 850,000 federal employees. What would be the cost of a shutdown? A government shutdown would cost the US roughly $6.5bn a week, according to a report by S&P Global analysts. A disruption in government spending means no government paychecks to spend; lost business and revenue to private contractors; lost sales at retail shops, particularly those that circle now-closed national parks; and less tax revenue for Uncle Sam, the report stated. That means less economic activity and fewer jobs. Nearly 1 million people would not receive regular paychecks in the event of a shutdown. In previous shutdowns, furloughed employees have been paid retrospectively but those payments have often been delayed. Sabrina Siddiqui Saturdays anniversary finds America trying to digest a year of shocks and upheavals. Trump has sought to claim credit for a strong economy, with the stock market at a record high and unemployment at a 17-year low, as well as crushing Islamic State and rolling back hundreds of federal regulations, claiming he is fulfilling his promise to make America great again. But opponents argue that Trump has fanned the flames of white supremacy at home and destabilised old alliances abroad, putting the world at risk of climate change and nuclear war. Some, pointing to authoritarian tendencies and questioning his fitness for office, demand his impeachment. On Friday, Trump was set to appeal to his conservative base by becoming the first sitting president to address, via satellite from the White House, the March for Life, an anti-abortion rally held annually in Washington, ahead of Mondays 45th anniversary of the landmark Roe v Wade supreme court ruling that firmly established a womans right to abortion. Kaylie Hanson Long of Naral Pro-Choice America, an advocacy group, said: This administration is the worst weve ever seen for women and families. Its attacks on reproductive freedom are relentless and arent supported by the majority of Americans. His presence at this march is an extension of his same unpopular agenda, and his obsession with demeaning women. On Saturday, Trump is expected to visit his winter White House of Mar-a-Lago for the 12th time since his inauguration, for an event hosted by Ronna Romney McDaniel, the chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), and the casino magnate Steve Wynn, raising funds for Trumps 2020 re-election campaign and the RNC. A mass email offered supporters the chance to win dinner with President Trump at the best spot in Florida on the ANNIVERSARY of the peoples inauguration. It added: While liberals will be taking to the streets outraged over the success of President Trumps policies, you could be spending the anniversary of such a landmark moment in American history with the president himself. The swipe at liberals anticipates a weekend of protest 12 months on from the historic demonstrations that saw 5 million women and men take part in marches and rallies worldwide, many wearing pink pussy hats in reference to the presidents recorded boast about grabbing womens genitals. Tens of thousands of people have registered on social media to join events in cities including Washington, New York and Los Angeles, as well as the UK, Nigeria and Japan. Neil Sroka, communications director for the progressive political action committee Democracy for America, said: Youd think hed be taking a victory lap at this moment but his presidency has been marked by so much incompetence that he knows in his psyche he couldnt hold a rally on the National Mall and get a tenth of the crowd at his inauguration. Even Trump can no longer deny hes loathed across the country. Sroka, who served under Barack Obama at the commerce department, said there was little reason to believe Trump would change course in 2018. If theres anything weve learned over the last year, hes not going to change. He will continue to be a doddering bigot with a Twitter account. Trumps inaugural address a year ago presented a dark vision of inner-city poverty, rusting factories, a dysfunctional education system and a population terrorised by drugs, gangs and violent crime, summed up in the phrase American carnage. It has remained a guiding principle for him in the Oval Office. Bill Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution thinktank in Washington and former policy adviser to President Bill Clinton, said: He genuinely believes the country has gone to hell and its his mission to sort it out. He doesnt believe in statistics; if he did, he would know the truth about crime in the cities. He reflects the sentiments of the people who put him in the White House. American carnage is not in retreat in his mind. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll on Friday found Trump with an approval rating of just 39%, a record low for any US president at the end of his first year in the modern era. Sidney Blumenthal, a former senior adviser to Bill Clinton and biographer of Abraham Lincoln, said: Very few presidents have had worse first years. Well see in the end whether Richard Nixon receives the revisionist historical treatment for respecting democratic norms by voluntarily leaving office. Trump makes everyone else subject to revisionism, such is the baseline. Trumps singular major legislative achievement has been a sweeping tax cut that Democrats say will benefit the rich and hurt the middle class. Blumenthal added: He has one accomplishment which is the tax cut. He achieved that with complete party control of both houses of Congress. Talking about infrastructure is fantasy. We have reached the end of Trumps legislative record, more or less. Two dark clouds loom over the White House in 2018. Special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump election campaign and Russia could reach its climax. In November, with the president proving a toxic figure for opponents, the Republican party could lose the House of Representatives and possibly even the Senate in crucial midterm elections. Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said: If the election was held today, it would be a resounding Republican defeat. Steve Bannon, former advisor to President Trump, arrives at a House Intelligence Committee closed door meeting: Mark Wilson/Getty Images Steve Bannon may have frustrated Congress by offering few answers about the Trump campaign and Russia, but attorneys say he will not be able to avoid questions from Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Representatives fumed after the former White House strategists interview with the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, where Mr Bannon refused to answer questions on a wide variety of topics. White House attorneys instructed Mr Bannon during the hearing on what he could and could not say, the Associated Press reported. While White House officials denied it, multiple reports said the administration invoked executive privilege the ability of the President to keep some executive branch conversations shielded from Congress and the Judiciary to keep Mr Bannon from talking. Now, some say that arrangement could backfire when it comes to Mr Muellers investigation. Mr Mueller issued a grand jury subpoena for Mr Bannon last week. The former aide has reportedly agreed to a private interview with the special counsel. The attorney calling the shots during Mr Bannons Congressional hearing was White House lawyer Uttam Dhillon, according to Foreign Policy. Mr Dhillon has concluded that the White House has extensive executive privilege claims over Mr Bannon. But he has also concluded that this privilege will not apply in Mr Bannon's testimony to the special counsel, the magazine reported. One senior administration official said the advice could amount to a Pyrrhic victory one that comes back to bite the President. While Mr Bannon is temporarily protected from testifying to Congress, he may have no choice but to open up to Mr Mueller. Caleb Miller, a partner at Brown White & Osborn LLP, said the White Houses understanding of executive privilege appeared pulled out of someones a***. The idea that executive privilege could apply to Mr Bannons testimony in one circumstance but another, he said, has no legal basis. If a particular piece of information is privileged, its privileged, he told The Independent. Story continues Still, Mr Mason agreed that Mr Bannon likely would not be protected by executive privilege in his interview with Mr Mueller. Mueller is very well versed in the limits of privilege claims, and hes no afraid to go to court and determine the limits of privilege and compel testimony, he said. I dont think its gonna go anywhere. Chief of Staff John Kelly told Fox News that the White House did not tell Mr Steve Bannon to invoke executive privilege in his hearing. Mr Bannon's lawyer, however, told Axios that the White House laid out strict limitations on what Mr Bannon could and could not discuss. "Perhaps [Kelly is] saying that the White House did not ask Mr. Bannon to invoke executive privilege in the formal legal sense," the lawyer, Bill Burk, said. Mr Bannon refused to answer questions in his Congressional hearing about what he had leaked to the news media, according to Democratic committee member Adam Schiff. He also would not or disclose his communications with top administration officials, and would not discuss the White Houses response to reports of a June 2016 meeting between Trump campaign officials and a Russian lawyer. "This was effectively a gag order by the White House," Mr Schiff told reporters after the interview. Mr Bannon will be interviewed in the special counsels offices in downtown Washington, according to the New York Times. It was unclear when the interview would take place. The religious and conscience division will be part of the HHS Office for Civil Rights, which enforces federal anti-discrimination and privacy laws. Officials said it will focus on upholding protections already part of federal law. Violations can result in a service provider losing government funding. No new efforts to expand such protections were announced, but activists on both sides expect the administration will try to broaden them in the future. Although the HHS civil rights office has traditionally received few complaints alleging conscience violations, HHS Acting Secretary Eric Hargan, painted a picture of clinicians under government coercion to violate the dictates of conscience. For too long, too many health care practitioners have been bullied and discriminated against because of their religious beliefs and moral convictions, leading many of them to wonder what future they have in our medical system, Hargan told the audience. The federal government and state governments have hounded religious hospitals and the men and women who staff them, forcing them to provide or refer for services that violate their consciences, when they only wish to serve according to their religious beliefs, Hargan added. After Hargan spoke, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the No. 2 Republican in the House, provided an example of the kind of case the new office should tackle. McCarthy told the audience he has high hopes that the arrogance of a California law known as AB 775 will be investigated and resolved quickly. That law, which requires anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers to post information about abortion and other services, is the subject of a free-speech challenge brought by the pregnancy centers that will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Although the HHS civil rights office traditionally has gotten a small number of complaints involving religious and conscience rights, the number has grown since Trump was elected. Office director Roger Severino said that from 2008 to Nov. 2016, HHS received 10 such complaints. Since Trump won, the office has received 34 new complaints. Before his appointment to government service under Trump, Severino was an expert on religious freedom, marriage, and life issues at the conservative Heritage Foundation. Story continues The new HHS office joins the list of administration actions seen as pleasing to social conservatives, including expanded exemptions for employers who object to providing contraceptive coverage, and the White House move to bar military service by transgender people. Those initiatives have run into legal challenges. Democrats, LGBT organizations and some civil liberties groups were quick to condemn the administrations latest action. They are prioritizing providers beliefs over patients health and lives, Louise Melling, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement. This administration isnt increasing freedom theyre paving the way for discrimination. On Capitol Hill, Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., pledged to keep a close eye on the new enforcement office. Religious freedom should not mean that our health care providers have a license to discriminate or impose their beliefs on others, Pallone said. He is the ranking Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over many health care issues. LGBT-rights organizations suggested some medical providers will be emboldened to shun gay, lesbian and transgender patients. LGBT people have already been turned away from hospitals and doctors offices, said Rachel Tiven, CEO of Lambda Legal. The Orwellian Conscience and Religious Freedom unit simply provides guidance on how they can get away with it. But conservatives said the new office will help maintain balance in the health care system. Its a world that has become increasingly secular, even if many of its major institutions sprang from religious charity. In the context of health care, Americans have very deep, sincere differences on a number of ethical and moral matters, said Heritage Foundation analyst Melanie Israel. Its these conscience protections that allow us to work and live alongside each other despite our differences. Monday marks the 45th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Earth from Space: Marajo, Brazil. ESA The Copernicus Sentinel-2A satellite takes us over part of northern Brazils Marajo island in Para state. Sediments discharged by the nearby Amazon River mouth (not pictured) are visible in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean north of the island. The land area pictured is dominated by a savannah landscape, with mangrove forests and palm swamps along the coast. The area is known for its large plantations called fazendas with animal husbandry. Although not native to the island, domesticated water buffalo outnumber Marajos human population. Popcorn clouds are visible in the upper part of the image, formed by convection and condensed water vapour released by plants and trees during the sunny day. On the left side of the image we can see Lake Arari, the size of which fluctuates greatly between the rainy and dry seasons. Sentinel-2 images Earth in 13 spectral channels. Scientists can select which wavelength combinations to process over a given area to help better understand targets on the ground. The channel combination used to create this image, which was acquired on 20 July 2017, is particularly useful for identifying different vegetation types and helps us to distinguish it very clearly from inland water bodies: water appears dark blue, while vegetation appears in a variety of bright colours. Download the full high-resolution image. Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader - AFP Nigel Farage has been thrust into the Donald Trump Russia scandal after he was accused of secretly handing data to Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder. The former Ukip leader is alleged to have repeatedly met the elusive hacker in the Ecuadorian embassy and delivered him a "thumb drive" of information. The claim is controversial because Wikileaks published Democratic Party emails during the election that were suspected of coming from Russian hackers. It is unclear when the trips are alleged to have taken place but it appears the claim includes suggestions some visits happened before the 2016 vote. The allegation came from the man who commissioned a dossier of lurid allegations about Mr Trump. He admitted the claim had not been not corroborated. Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, makes a speech from the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy, in central London Credit: REUTERS/Peter Nicholls Mr Farage, a prominent Trump supporter, rebutted the suggestion, telling The Telegraph: It is yet more conspiratorial nonsense. It came to light when testimony given behind closed doors to a congressional committee was published. Glenn Simpson, the co-founder of GPS Fusion, was paid to find dirt on Mr Trump before the election and was interviewed by the House intelligence committee. An American flag flies outside of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC Credit: Aaron P. Bernstein/Bloomberg He was asked whether he had found any connection between the Trump campaign and Wikileaks. Mr Simpson said: "There was a somewhat unacknowledged relationship between the Trump people and the Ukip people and that the path to Wikileaks ran through that. And I still think that today." He later added: "I've been told and have not confirmed that Nigel Farage had additional trips to the Ecuadoran Embassy than the one that's been in the papers and that he provided data to Julian Assange." Pushed on what type of data, Mr Simpson said: "A thumb drive." The suggestion that Mr Farage was secretly passing data to the group that published hacked Democratic emails before the US election - to the benefit of Mr Trump - has caused controversy. Story continues Wikileaks has been accused of getting the Democratic emails from Russian cyber-hackers - a claim that lies at the heart of the election meddling investigation. Mr Farage was spotted visiting Mr Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy, where he lives and claims immunity, in March 2017. He declined to explain why he made that trip at the time. Ukip has a history of supporting Mr Assange, including fighting a European arrest warrant issued against him, according to emails revealed last year. Mr Simpson's firm tasked ex-British spy Christopher Steele to look at Mr Trump's Russia links, which led to a now infamous dossier of lurid claims about the president. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump could still travel to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week as planned even if the federal government shuts down at midnight, senior U.S. administration officials said on Friday. "He could do that pursuant to his constitutional authority to conduct diplomacy," an official told reporters on a conference call to explain what sort of government activities are allowed to continue in the event of a shutdown. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton and James Oliphant; Editing by Sandra Maler) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's trip to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week is now in flux because of the federal government shutdown, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said on Saturday. Trump already canceled a weekend trip to his Florida resort after a funding impasse in Congress shut down the federal government on Saturday. "The president will not be going to Florida now and we're taking Davos, both from the president's perspective and the Cabinet perspective, on a day by day basis," Mulvaney said. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom and David Chance; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Bill Trott) By James Oliphant WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For President Donald Trump, this weekend was supposed to be a celebration. On the first anniversary of his presidency on Saturday, with the stock market roaring and his poll ratings finally rising, he had planned to rest at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, feted by friends and admirers. Instead, Trump stayed in Washington after he was unable to avert a government shutdown. His failure to win passage by the U.S. Congress of a stopgap bill to maintain funding for the federal government further damaged his self-crafted image as a dealmaker who would repair the broken culture in Washington. "This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present," Trump said in an early morning tweet, adding the hashtag #DemocratShutdown. Even as the White House began pointing the finger at Democrats, the Republican president came under fire. "It's almost like you were rooting for a shutdown," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said of Trump on Saturday. Trump, who in July 2016 said: "Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it," has asserted that past government shutdowns were the fault of the person in the White House. In a "Fox & Friends" interview after a 2013 shutdown, he said then-President Barack Obama was ultimately responsible. "The problems start from the top and have to get solved from the top," Trump said. "The president is the leader, and hes got to get everybody in a room and hes got to lead." As this new shutdown, the first since 2013, looked increasingly likely on Friday, Trump made a last-ditch effort to behave as the kind of problem-solver he has long claimed to be. First, he postponed a long-planned weekend trip to his winter home Mar-a-Lago, where a lavish $100,000-a-couple fundraiser on Saturday would extol his first year in office. He had little choice. Critics would have hammered him for attending such an event while government workers were being put on leave and many government services curtailed. Then Trump called Schumer, and, after a positive conversation, invited him to a meeting at the White House. It was intimate - just the president, Schumer and top aides. Republican leaders were excluded. The idea was to find some common ground. It lasted 90 minutes. NO DEAL One person familiar with the events said the two men agreed to seek a grand deal in which Democrats would win protections from deportation for some 700,000 young undocumented immigrants known as "Dreamers" and Trump would get more money for a border wall and tighter security to stem illegal immigration from Mexico. By early evening, however, that plan was dead. The source said Trump had spoken in the meantime with conservative Republicans and been hit with their objections to the deal with Schumer. Another source familiar with the meeting said White House Chief of Staff John Kelly called Schumer later on Friday, after the meeting, and complained that the outline that Schumer and Trump had discussed was too liberal. "He did not press his party to accept it," Schumer said later. On Saturday, with no resolution to the shutdown seemingly in sight, the White House fired back at Schumer, with Mick Mulvaney, Trump's budget director, suggesting that the Democrat had misrepresented the details of the meeting and could no longer be trusted as a negotiator. "You have to ask yourself at what point does it even become profitable to continue to work with somebody like that," Mulvaney told reporters. The confusion on Friday seemed part of a familiar pattern that has driven Democrats to distraction. Trump courts their support and suggests flexibility, only to pivot and side with more conservative lawmakers. It happened in September, after he cut a short-term government funding deal with Schumer and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. Weeks later, when Schumer and Pelosi thought they had reached an agreement to preserve a program that protected Dreamers, congressional sources said Trump walked away. That stand-off lasted until earlier this month, when Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Dick Durbin reached a bipartisan proposal on immigration. They believed Trump had signaled he would support it. But in a heated Oval Office meeting, Trump savaged the deal. A Democratic senator alleged that Trump said the United States needed to take fewer immigrants from Haiti and African nations, referring to them as "shit hole countries". Trump denied using that language but the controversy poisoned negotiations. Both sides felt betrayed, and Trumps flip-flops left Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell mystified to the point where he said earlier this week that he could not figure out Trumps position on the issue. Trust was further undermined when Trump appeared to criticize a House stopgap funding bill that the White House hours earlier said he supported. Members of each party blamed the other for the shutdown, but some of the blame landed on the president. "Donald Trump is not capable of carrying out this kind of an intricate conversation about issues," John Yarmuth, the senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee, told reporters. "He doesn't have the attention span to do it. He doesn't have the interest to do it. All he wants to do is show he's engaged in the process." (Reporting by James Oliphant, Susan Cornwell, Richard Cowan, David Brunnstrom and Rich McKay; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Alistair Bell) By Mert Ozkan and Ellen Francis HASSA, Turkey/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Turkey opened a new front in Syria's nearly seven-year-old war on Saturday, launching airstrikes against a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia in Afrin province that raise the prospect of a further strain on relations between Ankara and Washington. The operation, dubbed "Operation Olive Branch" by Ankara, pits Turkey against Kurdish fighters allied to the United States at a time when ties between Turkey and Washington - NATO allies and members of the coalition against Islamic State - appear dangerously close to a breaking point. The strikes on the Syrian-Kurdish YPG militia hit some 108 targets, the Turkish military said. On land, the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army rebels were also helping the operation in Afrin, a senior Turkish official said. "The weakening of the region with artillery fire is under way. The first stage was carried out by aerial forces of the military and nearly all of the targets were destroyed," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said. From Sunday land forces would also carry out "necessary activities", depending on developments, he said. The YPG said the strikes killed six civilians and three fighters. One of the fighters belonged to the YPG and two were from its all-female affiliate, YPG spokesman Birusk Hasaka said. The attacks also wounded 13 civilians, he said. "We will defeat this aggression, like we have defeated other such assaults," the group said in a statement. Differences over Syria policy have complicated Turkey's already difficult relationship with NATO ally the United States, which has backed the YPG, seeing it as an effective partner in the fight against Islamic State. On Saturday, U.S. reaction to the strikes was cautious. The Pentagon said the United States urged those involved to focus instead on the fight against Islamic State. A Pentagon official said: "We encourage all parties to avoid escalation and to focus on the most important task of defeating ISIS." A U.S. State Department official said U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had spoken to the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers, but gave no details on the calls. WARPLANES, BUSES Reuters cameramen in Hassa, near the Syria border, heard the sound of heavy bombardment and saw thick plumes of smoke rising from the Syrian side of the border. The warplanes appeared to be striking from the Turkish side, one of the cameramen said. Tanks and buses filled with Turkish soldiers and pick-up trucks carrying members of the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army made their way along a 15-km (nine mile) highway in Turkey towards the border, the cameraman said. Villages in nearby towns came out to cheer them on, waving Turkish flags. "The best soldiers are our soldiers," some of the villagers shouted in support. Warplanes pounded parts of Afrin city and villages nearby, while there were skirmishes with Turkish forces and their rebel allies at the edge of Afrin, a YPG official in the area said. Authorities in the Afrin region say more than a million people live there, many displaced from other parts of Syria. "Most of the wounded are civilians," said Hevi Mustafa, a top member of the civilian administration that governs Afrin. "There are clashes. There's artillery and shelling. Our units are fiercely responding to this occupation." The attacks follow weeks of warnings against the YPG in Syria from President Tayyip Erdogan and his ministers. Turkey considers the YPG to be an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has carried out a deadly, three-decade insurgency in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast. Turkey has been particularly outraged by an announcement that the United States planned to train 30,000 personnel in parts of northeast Syria under the control of the YPG-spearheaded Syrian Democratic Forces. "In a situation like this our expectations from everyone and especially from our allies is that they side with us, not with terrorists," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, appearing to refer to Washington. The attacks could also complicate Turkey's push to improve its relationship with Russia. Moscow, the main backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, will demand in the United Nations that Turkey halt the operation, RIA news reported. The Syrian government, which has threatened to shoot down Turkish planes, condemned the strikes. It called the attacks "brutal Turkish aggression on Afrin which is an intrinsic part of Syrian land", according to state media. GROWING STRENGTH The YPG's growing strength across large parts of northern Syria has alarmed Ankara, which fears the creation of an independent Kurdish state on its southern border. Syrian Kurdish leaders say they seek autonomy as part of Syria, not secession. Turkish officials have said the operation is likely to continue toward Manbij, further east. They also said that thousands of pro-Turkey civilians had escaped the YPG-controlled areas in an attempt to reach Aleppo. But the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K-based monitoring organization, said it was not true that people were fleeing en masse. The Pentagon spokesman said the United States recognised Turkey's security concerns about the PKK, noting it was designed by Washington as a foreign terrorist organization. "We will destroy the terror corridor gradually as we did in Jarabulus and Al-Bab operations, starting from the west," Turkey's Erdogan said, referring to previous operations in Syria to push out Islamic State and check the YPG's advance. Earlier on Saturday, the military said it hit shelters and hideouts used by the YPG and other Kurdish fighters, saying Kurdish militants had fired on Turkish positions inside Turkey. But the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces - which the YPG spearheads - accused Turkey of using cross-border shelling as a false pretext to launch its offensive in Syria. (Additional reporting by Osman Orsal in Hassa; Orhan Coskun, Tulay Karadeniz, Gulsen Solaker and Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara; Omer Berberoglu, Ezgi Erkoyun in Istanbul; David Brunnstrom and Arshad Mohammed in Washington; Writing by David Dolan, Editing by William Maclean) Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Ankara has launched an operation on the ground to oust Kurdish militia from the Syrian town of Afrin. "The Afrin operation has de-facto been started on the ground," Erdogan said in a televised speech in the city of Kutahya, without elaborating. "This will be followed by Manbij," he added, referring to another Kurdish-controlled Syrian town to the east. Afrin and Manbij are controlled by the People's Protection Units (YPG) Syrian Kurdish militia, which Ankara regards as a terror group. Turkey has in recent days sent dozens of military vehicles and hundreds of troops to the border area amid repeated threats from top officials that an operation could be launched at any moment. Turkish forces have over the last two days shelled YPG targets around Afrin and also mobilised pro-Ankara rebel fighters in Syria for the offensive. "The promises made to us over Manbij were not kept. So nobody can object if we do what is necessary," said Erdogan, referring to past American assurances that the YPG would move out of Afrin. "Later we will, step by step, clear our country up to the Iraqi border from this terror filth that is trying to besiege our country." He added that Turkey would "step by step" destroy a "terror corridor" that he said had been set up by the YPG. Turkey accuses the YPG of being the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has waged a rebellion in the Turkish southeast for more than three decades and is regarded as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies. But the YPG has been the key ally of Turkey's fellow NATO member the United States in the fight against Islamic State jihadists, playing a key role in pushing the extremists out of their Syrian strongholds. HASSA (Turkey) (AFP) - Turkey on Saturday launched a new air and ground operation to oust a Kurdish militia from their northern Syrian enclave, defying US warnings that the action risked further destabilising the area after almost seven years of civil war. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had repeatedly vowed that Turkey would root out the "nests of terror" in Syria of the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia which Turkey deems a terror organisation. The launch came despite warnings that the operation could be militarily tough against an already battle-hardened foe and complicate relations with both Washington and Moscow. Turkey's army said operation "Olive Branch" began at 1400 GMT and was aimed at the YPG and Islamic State (IS) jihadists. Among the targets hit was the YPG-held Minnigh military airport north of Aleppo, the army said. It said 108 targets were struck and that all casualties were Kurdish militants. A total of 72 aircraft took part in the initial onslaught, it added, saying all returned safely to base. IS targets were also destroyed, it said. Saturday's attacks killed 10 people, a YPG spokesman in the northern Syrian region of Afrin, an area the militia controls, said. "Seven civilians were killed, including a child, as well as two female fighters and one male fighter," said Birusk Hasakeh, adding that the child was an eight-year-old boy. - Huge plumes of smoke - An AFP correspondent on the Turkish side of the border saw two war planes launch air strikes inside Syrian territory, sending huge white plumes of smoke into the sky. Units of pro-Ankara rebels known by Turkey as the Free Syrian Army (FSA) also began moving into the YPG-controlled Afrin area, Anadolu said. There were no reports of Turkish ground troops crossing the border but Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said "ground elements" could be deployed on Sunday. Erdogan said Turkish forces would next seek to oust the YPG from Manbij, a town further east. Story continues In a delicate diplomatic situation, the top envoys of Russia, Iran and the United States in Ankara were invited to the foreign ministry to receive a briefing on the operation, the ministry said. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held telephone talks with US counterpart Rex Tillerson while Turkey's top general Hulusi Akar informed his American and Russian counterparts. Turkey accuses the YPG of being the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has waged a rebellion in the Turkish southeast for more than three decades and is regarded as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies. But the YPG has been the key ally of Turkey's fellow NATO member the United States in the fight against IS jihadists, playing a key role in pushing the extremists out of their Syrian strongholds. A senior US State Department official said on Friday that Washington did not believe "a military operation... serves the cause of regional stability". Erdogan had reacted furiously this week to an announcement of plans to create a US-backed 30,000-strong border security force in northern Syria composed partly of YPG fighters, describing it as an "army of terror". Tillerson later said the "entire situation has been mis-portrayed, mis-described", admitting "we owe them (Turkey) an explanation." "We don't care what they say," Erdogan spat back. "They will learn how wrong it is to trust a terror organisation." - 'Russian green light?' - Syria warned last week that its air force could destroy any Turkish warplanes used in the new offensive. But Cavusoglu told the 24 TV broadcaster that Turkey was informing Damascus in writing about the operation through its Istanbul consulate, a rare contact between two governments who have been at odds since the civil war began. The Syrian foreign ministry however strongly denied this, denouncing the operation as a "brutal Turkish aggression". Turkey from August 2016 to March 2017 pushed into Syria in its more than half-year Euphrates Shield operation in an area to the east of Afrin against both YPG and IS. Analysts say that crucial for any major new ground operation will be approval from Moscow which has a military presence in the area and a cordial relationship with the YPG. Russia is an ally of the Assad regime which Turkey has opposed since the onset of the war. But both Ankara and Moscow, as well as Tehran, have worked closely on a peace process in the last year. The Russian defence ministry said its troops were withdrawing from the Afrin area to prevent any "provocation" and ensure the security of its troops. Timur Akhmetov, Ankara-based researcher at the Russian International Affairs Council, told AFP that Russia appeared to have given the "green light" to the operation but made clear it should not lead to destabilisation elsewhere. "I don't think Russia will agree to let Turkey occupy the whole Afrin region and insists on keeping the Syrian government in charge," he added. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an umbrella grouping composed mainly of YPG, said in a statement the Turkish operation threatened to "breathe new life" into IS and said it has "no choice but to defend ourselves and our people". Ankara (AFP) - The Turkish army said it launched new strikes Saturday against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia in northern Syria, amid mounting expectations of a cross-border ground operation. The army said it hit in "legitimate self defence" camps and refuges used by the YPG in response to fire coming from the Afrin region controlled by the militia group, which Turkey deems to be a terror organisation. Similar strikes had also taken place on Friday, it confirmed. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly threatened over the last days to launch a ground operation, also including pro-Ankara Syrian rebels, to oust the YPG from Afrin and the area. Turkey accuses the YPG of being the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has waged a rebellion in the Turkish southeast for more than three decades and is regarded as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies. But the YPG has been the key ally of Turkey's fellow NATO member the United States in the fight against Islamic State jihadists, playing a key role in pushing the extremists out of their Syrian strongholds. Turkish Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli said Friday that the operation had "de-facto begun" because of the shelling but confirmed that Turkish troops had not yet crossed over into Syria. Analysts say that crucial for any major ground operation will be approval from Moscow which has a military presence in the area and a cordial relationship with the YPG. Turkey's army chief General Hulusi Akar and spy chief Hakan Fidan were in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian counterparts on Syria. ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's army said it shelled Kurdish positions in Syria's Afrin region on Friday and Saturday, hitting shelters and hideouts used by militants from three groups, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), PYD and YPG. The militants had earlier fired on Turkish positions, the army said in a statement. President Tayyip Erdogan said this week he would crush the Syrian Kurdish militia in Afrin, which he viewed as a security threat to Turkey. Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli said on Friday that Turkey's operation in the region had started with cross-border shelling, but no troops have gone into Afrin. (Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz; Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun; editing by John Stonestreet) NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 11 January 2018. NASA Students on Earth are remotely testing algorithms on a pair of internal satellites as part of a competition aboard the International Space Station today. Meanwhile, the Expedition 54 crew is packing up the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft for its Saturday departure and conducting biomedical operations. Commander Alexander Misurkin and Flight Engineer Joe Acaba are monitoring tiny satellites known as SPHERES flying inside the Japanese Kibo laboratory module. Students on Earth have uploaded algorithms maneuvering the SPHERES to compete for creating the best designs relevant to future space missions. NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Scott Tingle are transferring rodents from the stations animal habitat to a transporter aboard the Dragon resupply ship for return and analysis on Earth. The rodents were treated with a compound that fights muscle loss in microgravity and will be compared to a group of mice on Earth. Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai concluded a session of the Airways Monitoring experiment stowing the research gear in the U.S. Quest airlock. The study is analyzing exhaled air to maintain astronaut health on long-term space missions. Kanai also collected his biological samples for the Probiotics study looking at the immune system and intestinal microbes living inside space station crew members. On-Orbit Status Report Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) Zero Robotics (ZR): Today the crew provided support for a SPHERES ZR Challenge competition between students from High Schools around the world. The SPHERES-Zero-Robotics investigation establishes an opportunity for high school students to design research for the International Space Station (ISS). As part of a competition, students write algorithms for the SPHERES satellites to accomplish tasks relevant to future space missions. The algorithms are tested by the SPHERES team and the best designs are selected for the competition to operate the SPHERES satellites on board the ISS. Probiotics Operations: Today a crewmember initiated the first of four sampling phases of the JAXA Probiotic investigation by collecting fecal samples and immediately stowing the samples into the Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI). This sampling phase includes fecal and saliva sample collections and a questionnaire. The saliva sample collection and questionnaire for this phase will be conducted this weekend. Some species of harmful bacteria such as Salmonella grow stronger and more virulent in the microgravity environment of space. At the same time, the human immune system is weaker in space, leading to increased health risks. The objective of the Probiotics investigation is to study the impact of continuous consumption of probiotics on immune function and intestinal microbiota in astronauts under closed microgravity environment This investigation studies the effects of beneficial bacteria (Probiotics) to improve crew members intestinal microbiota as well as their immune function on long-duration space missions. Rodent Research 6 (RR-6) Transporter Setup: To prepare for return on SpaceX-13, the crew activated the lixit water bottles, installed food bars, and transferred the rodents from habitats 1 and 2 to the animal transporter. After the rodents were transferred, the transporter were moved from the US Lab to the SpaceX vehicle. The rodents in habitats 3 and 4 will remain on the International Space Station (ISS). The RR-6 mission uses mice flown aboard the ISS and maintained on Earth to test drug delivery systems for combatting muscular breakdown in space or during disuse conditions. RR-6 includes several groups of mice selectively treated with a placebo or implanted with a nanochannel drug delivery chip that administers compounds meant to maintain muscle in low gravity/disuse conditions. Earth Imagery from ISS Target (EIISS): Using the Nikon camera, the crew took images of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. The crew also used the Red camera to take images of Fitz Roy, Patagonia. EIISS is used to support creation of a series of videos showcasing Earth views taken from space. The videos are taken with cameras on the ISS in 6K hi-resolution and are integrated into videos for screensavers for public enjoyment, exploration, and engagement. Made in Space Removal and Stow: To create space for the crew to reach the Made in Space Fiber Optics bolts in the back of EXPRESS Rack (ER7), the crew removed Manufacturing Device from ER7 locker 6. After the Made in Space Fiber Optics was removed and stowed, the crew reinstalled the Manufacturing Device back into ER7. The Optical Fiber Production in Microgravity (Made in Space Fiber Optics) investigation demonstrates the merits of manufacturing fiber optic filaments in microgravity. The fiber optic material chosen for this demonstration is ZBLAN. Research indicates this material has the potential for better optical qualities than the silica used in most fiber optic cable. This demonstration of the scientific and commercial merits of manufacturing exotic optical fiber in microgravity could set the stage for large scale manufacture of high-quality fiber optic fiber in orbit. Airway Monitoring US Airlock Reconfiguration: Following yesterdays successful Airway Monitoring session in the Airlock, today the crew will disconnect and stow the experiment hardware and reconfigure the Airlock back to its nominal configuration. Airway Monitoring is the first experiment to use the US Airlock as a hypobaric facility for performing science. Utilizing the US Airlock will allow unique opportunities for the study of gravity, ambient pressure interactions, and their effect on the human body. This investigation studies the occurrence and indicators of airway inflammation in crewmembers, using ultra-sensitive gas analyzers to analyze exhaled air. This helps to highlight any health impacts and to maintain crewmember well-being on future human spaceflight missions, especially longer-duration missions to the Moon and Mars for example, where crewmembers will have to be more self-sufficient in highlighting and avoiding such conditions. Light Microscopy Module (LMM) Petri Plants Plate Installation: Using the light meter, the crew recorded the light intensity for the Petri Plates and took science photos of the plates before checking that inside of Petri Plate was free of condensation and the outside of the plate was dry to install the LMM for imaging. The crew subsequently removed the LMM Petri base from the LMM Auxiliary Fluids Container (AFC) and installed the Petri Plate onto the LMM petri base before installing them into the LMM AFC. Plants cultivated in microgravity look mostly normal, but space-grown plants have a number of distinct features compared to plants grown in comparable habitats on Earth, most notably in the way their roots grow. The Characterizing Arabidopsis Root Attractions-2 (CARA-2) investigation studies the molecular signals that can cause these changes, including the genetic underpinnings of how a plant senses the direction of gravity. Results can improve efforts to grow plants in microgravity on future space missions, enabling crews to use plants for food and oxygen. Waste & Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Pump Separator R&R: After recent incidents of repeated annunciations of the check separator warning light on the WHC, the crew changed out the WHC Pump Separator. This hardware had been approaching end of life. Todays Planned Activities All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. Payload F4 Pack ISS Crew and ???? (RSA Flight Control Team) weekly conference WHC Pump Separator R&R Polar Express Rack Uninstall, Transfer, Handover And Dragon Install Polar Express Rack Uninstall, Transfer And Handover Manufacturing Device Locker Move 24-hour ECG Recording (termination) Made In Space Fiber Optics Removal & Stow Treadmill 2 (T2) Exercise Video Equipment Setup MOTOCARD. Experiment Session. MOTOCARD. Operator Assistance with the Experiment Dragon F4 Loading Petri Plants Plate Photos Fluids Integrated Rack Rack Doors Open AIRMON Stow & Transfer Petri Plants Plate Check UPA Brine Filter Gather LMM Petri Plants Plate Installation Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) Brine Filter Changeout Cold Stowage Dragon Double Coldbag Pack Overview Review SPHERES Crew Conference FIR Camera Replace SPHERES Zero Robotics Setup and Checkout 24-hour Blood Pressure Recording (start) Photo/TV Camcorder Setup Verification Airway Monitoring Video Stow ??? maintenance Teardown the PS-120 Junction Box and stow, and reconfigure A/L UOP. Fluids Integrated Rack Doors Close Rodent Research Node 2 Camcorder Video Setup SPHERES Zero Robotics Welcome BRI power off Rodent Research Live Animal Return SPHERES Zero Robotics Run Rerouting Ethernet cables above BRI unit (panel 229?) Treadmill 2 (T2) Exercise Video Equipment Stow Photo T/V (P/TV) Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Exercise Video Stow Cargo Transfer to Dragon Probiotics Fecal Sample Operations Probiotics Fecal Sample MELFI Insertion Health Maintenance System (HMS) ISS Food Intake Tracker (ISS FIT) HRF Generic Frozen Blood Collection Setup BRI power on. Express-check of nominal network configuration Power cycle N3 AVN443 HD Encoder ???? comm assets switchover to a backup VHF2d test from SM (using redundant ???? sets ) Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) Lab Polar Express Rack Uninstall, Transfer, And Dragon Install with Rodent Transporter Power cycle COL AVN443 HD Encoder SPHERES Zero Robotics Shutdown Dragon Cargo Operations Conference CB/ISS CREW CONFERENCE Temperature and Humidity Control (THC) Portable Fan Assembly (PFA) Teardown Completed Task List Activities WHC Pump Separator R&R Portable Computer System (PCS) R19 Hard Drive Pregather TangoLab-1 Card Cube Remove Ground Activities All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. Standard commanding Three-Day Look Ahead: Friday, 01/12: Double Coldbag Pack, Dragon cargo ops, Dragon Unberth (Egress, N2 vestibule ops, depress, unberth), Lighting Effects, LMM Petri Plate, HRF fluid collections. Saturday, 01/13: Dragon release, CUCU deact. Sunday, 01/14: LMM Petri Plate, crew off duty QUICK ISS Status Environmental Control Group: Component Status Elektron On Vozdukh Manual [???] 1 SM Air Conditioner System (SKV1) On [???] 2 SM Air Conditioner System (SKV2) Off Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab Operate Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 Standby Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab Idle Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 Operate Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) Standby Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab Full Up Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 Off Istanbul (AFP) - Turkey on Friday started shelling the Syrian town of Afrin held by a US-backed Kurdish militia that Ankara considers "terrorists" in a move to oust them, the defence minister said. The Turkish government has repeatedly warned that a full-scale operation against Syrian towns controlled by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, including Afrin, is imminent after the US said it was training a 30,000-strong border force there. "The Afrin operation will take place," Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli told A Haber television. "The presence of all the terror lines in northern Syria will be removed. There's no other way out," he said. Turkish troops fired on several YPG targets in Afrin to prevent the formation of a "terror corridor" on the border, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Army howitzers in the frontier Hatay province launched at least 10 rounds of artillery fire, targeting the "terror nests of the terror organisation in Afrin," Anadolu said. A military convoy of 20 buses carrying Syrian opposition rebels backed by Ankara also crossed over into Syria, Turkish media reported. Canikli said with the shelling "in fact, the operation has de facto started." Asked about the timing of a ground incursion, Canikli said: "It could be tomorrow, it could be in the evening. What we say is that this operation will take place." President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had reacted with fury to the announcement of the US-backed border force on Syria's northern frontier with Turkey, denouncing it as an "army of terror". The Pentagon said it does not plan to create an "army" and that the force is aimed at fighters from the Islamic State group and maintaining stability in areas recaptured from the jihadists. Ankara however said it was not satisfied with the US assurances. The YPG is a major bone of contention in ties between Ankara and Washington which considers it a key ally in fighting IS. Story continues Turkey accuses the YPG of being a branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that has waged an insurgency in its southeast since 1984. Turkey needs the green light from Russia for a full cross-border operation because of Moscow's military presence in the area. In a surprise development, Turkey's army chief General Hulusi Akar and spy chief Hakan Fidan were in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian counterparts on security issues and Syria. Reyhanli (Turkey) (AFP) - Turkey on Friday started fresh shelling of the Syrian town of Afrin in a move to oust a US-backed Kurdish militia that Ankara considers "terrorists" and vowed to press on with a full-scale operation against them. The Turkish government has repeatedly warned it will strike Syrian towns controlled by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, including Afrin, after the US said it was training a 30,000-strong border force there. "The Afrin operation will take place," Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli told A Haber television. "The presence of all the terror lines in northern Syria will be removed. There's no other way out," he said. Turkish troops fired on several YPG targets in Afrin to prevent the formation of a "terror corridor" on the border, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Army howitzers in the frontier Hatay province launched at least 10 rounds of artillery fire, targeting the "terror nests of the terror organisation in Afrin," Anadolu said. A military convoy of 20 buses carrying Syrian opposition rebels backed by Ankara also crossed over into Syria through the Oncupinar border crossing in the Kilis province, Turkish media reported. Separately, around 30 buses full of Syrian fighters headed towards the Cilvegozu border crossing in the town of Reyhanli, an AFP photographer said. - 'De facto start'- Canikli said with the shelling "in fact, the operation has de facto started." Asked about the timing of a ground incursion, Canikli said: "It could be tomorrow, it could be in the evening. What we say is that this operation will take place." Syria's deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad warned on Thursday that the Syrian air force could destroy any Turkish warplanes used in a threatened assault on the war-torn country. The YPG is a major bone of contention in ties between Turkey and the US which considers it a key ally in fighting IS. Story continues President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had reacted with fury to the announcement of the US-backed border force, denouncing it as an "army of terror". The Pentagon said it does not plan to create an "army" and that the force is aimed at fighters from the Islamic State group and maintaining stability in areas recaptured from the jihadists. Ankara however said it was not satisfied with the US assurances. Turkey accuses the YPG of being a branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that has waged an insurgency in its southeast since 1984. Meanwhile, mortar fire on the Syrian town of Azaz just across the border from Turkey and held by Turkish-backed rebels wounded at least 14 people in a psychiatric hospital, a monitor said on Friday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, said the mortar rounds on Thursday were fired by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed alliance dominated by the YPG. The Turkish army condemned the mortar fire and said wounded civilians were also taken across the border into Turkey for treatment. Analysts say Turkey needs the green light from Russia for a full cross-border operation because of Moscow's military presence in the area. In a surprise development, Turkey's army chief General Hulusi Akar and spy chief Hakan Fidan were in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian counterparts on security issues and Syria. By Garba Muhammad KADUNA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Two Americans and two Canadians have been freed after being kidnapped in the northern Nigerian state of Kaduna, a police spokesman said on Saturday, as it emerged that five oil workers had been abducted in the southern Niger Delta region. The Americans and Canadians were ambushed by unknown gunmen on Wednesday while traveling from the town of Kafanchan in Kaduna state to the capital, Abuja. Kafanchan is more than three hours' drive northeast of Abuja. In a separate incident, police in the Delta state said five Nigerian oil workers from local firm Sahara Energy were kidnapped on Thursday. Delta state police said no arrests had been made. Kidnapping, usually for ransom, is common in parts of Nigeria, though abductors usually target other Nigerians. However, the kidnapping of foreigners is not uncommon. Mukhtar Aliyu, a spokesman for Kaduna state police, said the Americans and Canadians were freed on Friday. "It was the efforts of the police, through the directive of the inspector general of police, that yielded their release last night," he said. Aliyu said no ransom was paid. The road connecting Abuja and Kaduna has long been targeted by kidnappers. Two German archaeologists were abducted in the region last February; they were later freed. (Additional reporting by Anamasere Igboeroteonwu in Onitsha; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Andrew Bolton) If Mr Mueller comes back with something damning about Mr Trump this year then it increases the possibility of impeachment, while an all-clear would make the opposite true: AP Impeachment is a word that the White House had to deal with very early in the Donald Trump presidency and it has never gone away. Other than the Presidents controversial words, it is the investigation into Russias presidential election meddling and the possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin that has piqued the most interest. According to an analysis of Google searches by the Brookings Institute think tank these peaks came in May and November, the former being when Mr Trump fired his firmer FBI director James Comey and the latter being when a number of Trump campaign officials were facing indictment or potential indictment. While Google searches do not display intent whether people were for or against impeachment it does play into the two areas that many believe could bring a potential case of impeachment. In regards to Mr Comey, his replacement in charge of the federal investigation, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, is said to be looking into the possibly of obstruction of justice having been committed. That comes after Mr Comey testified to Congress that Mr Trump had asked him in a conversation prior to his firing to consider letting go an investigation to his former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. The White House and Mr Trump have denied he said anything like that. The second area Mr Mueller is looking at is possible Russian collusion, with Mr Flynn being one of two former Trump campaign officials to plead guilty to lying to the FBI over contacts with Russians. Mr Flynn was the first official to have worked in the Trump administration to be charged in the probe and led to speculation that Mr Mueller was arrowing in on the White House. If Mr Trump is to be impeached during his second year, much will hang on the state of Mr Muellers investigation. There are reports that Mr Trumps lawyers are expecting a request by Mr Mueller for an interview with the President with both Mr Trump and the White House repeatedly saying that there has been no collusion and that the investigation will finish by giving Mr Trump the all-clear. Mr Trump has declared the investigation and the two congressional panels into the Russia situation a which hunt, leading in part to a breakdown between the Democrats and Republicans on the non-partisan House and Senate panels with both sides accusing the other of trying to make political capital. Story continues Such a breakdown in communication between the two sides places even more importance on the federal investigation, and Mr Mueller and his team are quite rightly trying to avoid an excess of information flowing into the public domain as they determine what steps to take there is also little sense of a time frame for a report as it stands. If Mr Mueller comes back with something damning about Mr Trump this year then it increases the possibility of impeachment, while an all-clear would make the opposite true. Outside of the Russia investigation, impeachment has been a regular topic on Capitol Hill, with members of Congress from both parties recognising it as a quick route to a soundbite that will get some media attention, although those on the Hill have also been bombarded with questions about it during interviews. California billionaire Tom Steyer has also been a vocal presence, running a PR campaign including national TV adverts calling for impeachment. He has spent at least $20m on that campaign, but as one of the Democrats biggest benefactors he has also been speaking to Democrat leadership figures. So far, three Democrat Congressmen have introduced articles of impeachment the latest and most vocal of these is representative Al Green of Texas, who introduced them against the will of his partys leadership and saw a motion to table them for discussion rejected by a large majority in the House. Those articles actually focused on accusations that Mr Trump engendered racial antipathy and bigotry rather than collusion and will be a subject Mr Green will return to. As for the Democrat Party at large, there has been caution over talk of impeachment, aware that Republicans control both chambers of Congress. But with Democrats looking to create momentum before the national midterm elections in November after a number of recent surprise victories, the picture may look different at the end of the year. The Democrats are looking to flip the Senate where Republicans currently hold a slim 51-49 advantage, and are becoming more optimistic about turning the 24 seats needed to take control of the 435-strong House, with Mr Steyer pledging $30m to try and ensure the House turns blue. If both happen, you can sure that sections of the party will clamour for another attempt at impeaching Mr Trump. However, party leadership may feel they need the cover of something like a damning report from Mr Mueller which would gain cross-party support, aware that when former President Bill Clinton was impeached in December 1998 it was largely a Republican effort with only five Democrat votes for any of the articles in the House. With an impeachment inquiry having been running before the November midterms that year, Republicans had been expecting gains from the scandal however it was the Democrats who gained five seats in the chamber. If Democrats do push for the impeachment of Mr Trump they will want to be clear about the possible ramifications, with a partisan effort having precedent for damaging the party that brings it. As it stands, the chances of Mr Trump facing impeachment this year are slim but it is an issue that will not go away and may become a much more serious topic later in 2018. By Brendan Pierson NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal authorities announced drug trafficking and weapons charges against a congressman from Honduras on Friday, the latest U.S. case accusing current and former officials of the Central American country of involvement in the drug trade. Fredy Renan Najera Montoya, 41, was charged with conspiring to import "huge quantities of cocaine" into the United States, according to U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman in Manhattan. Najera, who was also charged in an indictment filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court with carrying and using machine guns, could not be reached for comment and a lawyer for him could not immediately be identified. "We are committed to attacking the drug trade at every level, regardless of a defendant's status," Berman said in a statement. "We look forward to trying Najera on U.S. soil." James Margolin, a spokesman for Berman, said Najera was not in U.S. custody. He declined to comment on whether prosecutors would seek to have him extradited. Prosecutors said that between 2009 and 2014, Najera assisted in large-scale trafficking of cocaine from Colombia and elsewhere through Honduras, which U.S. authorities have long identified as a major transshipment point for drugs being smuggled into the United States. Najera helped arrange clandestine landing strips, protected by heavily armed gunmen, for aircraft ferrying cocaine into Honduras, the prosecutors said. They said the cocaine was then sold to Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel and ultimately imported into the United States. Najera was also charged with taking part in a cocaine trafficking operation that involved payment of a $50,000 bribe to Fabio Lobo, the son of former Honduran President Porfirio Lobo. Prosecutors said in Thursday's indictment that drug traffickers paid bribes to Honduran officials, including members of the national congress, to ensure safe passage of drugs through the country. Fabio Lobo was arrested in a DEA sting in 2015, pleaded guilty to conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and was sentenced to 24 years in prison in September. U.S. prosecutors have charged several other prominent Hondurans with involvement in drug trafficking. Yankel Rosenthal, who served as minister of investment under current President Juan Orlando Hernandez, was sentenced to two years and five months in prison on Friday after he pleaded guilty to attempting to launder drug proceeds on behalf of a Honduran lawyer. Rosenthal's cousin, Yani Rosenthal, was previously sentenced to three years, and his father, former Honduran vice president Jaime Rosenthal, was charged but remains at large. (Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Additional reporting by Gustavo Palencia in Tegucigalpa; Editing by Tom Brown) By Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military has put countering China and Russia at the center of a new national defense strategy unveiled on Friday, the latest sign of shifting priorities after more than a decade and a half of focusing on the fight against Islamist militants. In presenting the new strategy, which will set priorities for the Pentagon for years to come, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called China and Russia "revisionist powers" that "seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models." The "National Defense Strategy" represents the latest sign of hardening resolve by President Donald Trump's administration to address challenges from Russia and China, at the same time he is pushing for improved ties with Moscow and Beijing to rein in a nuclear North Korea. "We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists that we are engaged in today, but great power competition, not terrorism, is now the primary focus of U.S. national security," Mattis said in a speech presenting the strategy document, the first of its kind since at least 2014. It sets priorities for the U.S. Defense Department that are expected to be reflected in future defense spending requests. The Pentagon on Friday released an unclassified, 11-page version of the document, which did not provide details on how the shift towards countering China and Russia would be carried out. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking through an interpreter at a news conference at the United Nations, said the United States was using a confrontational approach. "It is regrettable that instead of having a normal dialogue, instead of using the basis of international law, the U.S. is striving to prove their leadership through such confrontational strategies and concepts," Lavrov said. "We're open for dialogue, we're prepared to discuss military doctrines," he added. China's U.S. embassy criticized the strategy, saying Beijing sought "global partnership, not global dominance." "If some people look at the world through a cold war, zero-sum game mindset, then they are destined to see only conflict and confrontation," an embassy spokesman said in a statement. Elbridge Colby, deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, said at a briefing with reporters that Russia was far more brazen than China in its use of military power. Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in 2014 and intervened militarily in Syria to support its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Still, Moscow was limited by its economic resources, Colby said. China, on the other hand, was described as economically and militarily ascendant. China has embarked on a far-reaching military modernization that Colby said was in "deep contravention to our interests." Experts praised the document's targeting of the largest national security threats rather than the longer lists of risks in some previous strategies. But without knowing the budget commitments, it was difficult to assess if it was a sound strategy. "If we don't actually see where the money is, you know, there is the danger that it could become all words," said Mara Karlin, a fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank and a senior defense official in the Obama administration. SUPPORT FOR ALLIANCES The document also listed North Korea among the Pentagon's priorities, citing the need to focus U.S. missile defenses against the threat from Pyongyang, which beyond its nuclear weapons has also amassed an arsenal of biological, chemical, and conventional arms. The document said that international alliances would be critical for the U.S. military, by far the world's best-resourced. But it also stressed a need for burden-sharing, an apparent nod to Trump's public criticism of allies who he says unfairly take advantage of U.S. security guarantees. Trump has called the NATO alliance "obsolete", but Mattis said the United States would strengthen its traditional alliances while building new partnerships and listening more to other nations' ideas. "We will be willing to be persuaded by them, recognizing that not all good ideas come from the country with the most aircraft carriers," Mattis said. The Pentagon is also working on a policy document on the country's nuclear arsenal. While Mattis did not specifically address that review, he said the priority is deterrence. "How do we maintain a safe and effective nuclear deterrence so those weapons are never used? It is a nuclear deterrent, it is not a war fighting capability unless it is the worst day in our nation or the world's history," Mattis said. Mattis had harsh words for the U.S. Congress and its inability to reach agreement on budgets. The U.S. military's competitive edge has eroded "in every domain of warfare" he said, partly because of inconsistent funding. A bill to fund the government only through Feb. 16, approved on Thursday night by the House of Representatives, appeared on the verge of collapse in the Senate. "As hard as the last 16 years of war have been, no enemy in the field has done more to harm the readiness of the U.S. military than the combined impact" of spending caps and short-term funding. In sheer spending terms, the United States' military outlay per year is still far more than China and Russia. The United States is spending $587.8 billion per year on its military, China $161.7 billion and Russia $44.6 billion. (Reporting by Idrees Ali; Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Editing by Grant McCool, James Dalgleish and Daniel Wallis) Washington (AFP) - China and Russia have shown no intention of living up to World Trade Organization rules and Washington should not have supported their membership in the global trade body, the Trump administration said Friday. In strongly worded reports to Congress, the US Trade Representative delivered a laundry list of grievances over unfair trade practices by Beijing and Moscow it says runs counter to global free trade rules. USTR Robert Lighthizer said the reports show "the global trading system is threatened by major economies who do not intend to open their markets to trade and participate fairly." "This practice is incompatible with the market-based approach expressly envisioned by WTO members and contrary to the fundamental principles of the WTO," Lighthizer said in a statement. President Donald Trump has ratcheted up retaliatory measures against foreign trading partners, notably China, as part of his America First economic agenda which lifted him to power a year ago. That included an aggressive new trade probe into possible dumping of aluminum and steel. The US had a $309 billion trade deficit in goods and services with China in 2016, and that was on track to expand by $10 billion last year. USTR report said after joining the WTO in 2001, Beijing effectively abandoned efforts to adopt market-friendly reforms and instead increased central government control over commerce while erecting barriers to foreign competition. But WTO rules are insufficient to correct Beijing's interventionist policies, and the United States "erred" in supporting China's membership in 2001, the report said. US dialogue with Beijing since Trump took office yielded some results, such as renewed access to Chinese markets for US beef, but these were piecemeal changes, the report said. "China is determined to maintain the state's leading role in the economy and to continue to pursue industrial policies that promote, guide and support domestic industries while simultaneously and actively seeking to impede, disadvantage and harm their foreign counterparts," the China report said. Story continues Chinese authorities also continue to pressure American companies into sharing valuable intellectual property, the report said. The USTR likewise accused Moscow of an "accelerating withdrawal" from the open market system demanded by WTO membership since joining in 2012, citing burdensome import licensing, opaque customs regimes, and barriers to agricultural imports. "It was a mistake to allow Russia to join the WTO if it is not fully prepared to live by WTO rules," the report said. Mr Trump has been due to depart on Friday to attend the fundraiser, with tickets starting at $100,000 (72,000) a pair: AP Donald Trump has reportedly expressed disappointment the US government shutdown will prevent him from attending a party at his Mar-a-Lago estate. The US President said he was frustrated the Congress impasse that resulted in a lapse in federal spending on Friday night would keep him from my party, two sources told the Daily Beast. A White House official and a longtime confidant claimed Mr Trump had been concerned failure to strike a deal would impact on his plans to attend his inauguration anniversary party in Florida. He had been due to depart on Friday to attend the fundraiser, with tickets starting at $100,000 (72,000) a pair. The Saturday gala will be hosted by Republican National Committee chairman Ronna Romney McDaniel, with proceeds going to the RNC and the Trump re-election campaign. But the former real estate mogul was forced to postpone his trip after Congress found itself locked in a stalemate between spending priorities and immigration. The Senate failed to pass the short-term spending bill that would have secured funding up to 16 February. Mr Trump blamed the Democrats for the shutdown, saying they had played politics instead of prioritising the military and border safety. He tweeted early on Saturday morning: Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMoreRepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess! Earlier, Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer said Mr Trump was solely to blame. This will be called the #TrumpShutdown. There is no one who deserves the blame for the position we find ourselves in more than President Trump, he wrote on Twitter. Washington (AFP) - The US Supreme Court said Friday it will review President Donald Trump's latest travel ban affecting citizens from six Muslim majority countries plus North Korea and Venezuela. In what could prove decisive in a legal battle that has roiled the first year of the Trump administration, the high court will rule on whether the president exceeded his powers and engaged in religious discrimination in the third rendering of the ban. Lower courts in California, Hawaii and other states have repeatedly ruled that Trump's order targets Muslims in violation of the US Constitution. "We have always known this case would ultimately be decided by the United States Supreme Court," said state Attorney General Doug Chin of Hawaii, which has repeatedly fought the travel bans. "This will be an important day for justice and the rule of law. We look forward to the Court hearing the case." The conservative-tilting court last month rejected calls for a freeze on the ban, which targets visitors from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, allowing Trump to implement it while it was being challenged in lower courts. The US administration has rewritten the ban twice, adding more national security justifications in the latest iteration in September and including citizens of North Korea and Venezuela to counter the argument the government was singling out Muslim countries. - National security, not religion - Trump's initial travel ban, decreed a week after he took office, triggered chaos out at US airports, with travelers detained upon arrival, and nationwide protests against a measure seen as discriminatory -- though Trump said it aimed to keep out extremists. Court challenges have seized upon Trump's repeated comments against Muslims, starting with his campaign vow to ban them from entering the country, to make the case that they were the intended target. The first ban was quickly blocked in court, as was a modified version removing Iraq from the list of countries. Story continues Regarding the third version, critics noted that the United States welcomed no more than a handful of annual visitors from North Korea, and in Venezuela's case, the ban was made specific to a number of high-ranking officials in a government already facing US sanctions. One key difference in the latest version of the ban was that it was open-ended, whereas the previous two versions were set for 90 days, ostensibly for the government to review security threats from the countries. The Supreme Court will review those arguments, but also whether Trump has the executive power to order such a ban. "Every version of the ban has been found unconstitutional, illegal, or both by federal trial and appellate courts," said Omar Jadwat, director of the Immigrants' Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, which has supported Hawaii in its court challenge. "The Supreme Court can and should put a definitive end to President Trump's attempt to undermine the constitutional guarantee of religious equality and the basic principles of our immigration laws, including their prohibition of national origin discrimination," Jadwat said. Despite a six-week layoff, American Girl returned to the races a winner in Miami Valleys Friday (Jan. 19) night featured $22,000 Mares Open Pace. Leading driver Trace Tetrick pushed the nine-year-old Arts Chip mare from the gate with authority, but didnt clear to the front until just past the :27 opening quarter. With Dalianna (Kayne Kauffman) finally tucked behind, Juslikeaqueen (Jeremy Smith) ranged immediately alongside American Girl with Tetrick wisely allowing her challenger to forge to the front. As the front-runners approached the pedestrian :56.3 half, favoured Safe From Terror (Chris Page) mounted a fierce first-over challenge. With Juslikeaqueen and Safe From Terror just a neck apart at the three-quarter station, reached in 1:24.3, American Girl left the pylons and swung three-wide coming off the final turn. She was followed by Colorful Sky (Josh Sutton), who was forced a lane wider yet. In the end, American Girl had just enough left to nip runner-up Dalianna in 1:54.2, while Juslikeaqueen picked up the show dough. Tyler George, off to an impressive start to the 2018 Miami Valley meet, conditions American Girl for partners Darla Gaskin and Stanley Rosenblatt. The 47-time winners lifetime bankroll increased to $867,410. Four divisions of Claim To Fame Series action for $12,500 male pacers also went to post on Friday. Winners were Owen Hanover (Chris Page, $10.20 to win), Shakerattlenrock (Randy Tharps, $12), Del Rio Seelster (Jeremy Smith, $24.20) and Cambassador (Tetrick, $4). With the claim box bustling, as it has throughout the opening Claim To Fame Series week, a total of 10 of the 36 horses in the first leg will be racing for new owners in their next start in the series. (With files from Miami Valley Raceway) Lesa Webb of Los Angeles, California, holds up a sign before marching in the 32nd Annual Martin Luther King, Jr march and parade in Denver, Colorado: JASON CONNOLLY/AFP/Getty Images Through tax-break highs and Russia-investigation lows, Donald Trumps first year in office has been plagued by a seemingly unshakeable problem: White supremacy and the issue of race. It is perhaps an issue that some will see as unsurprising given the president's language, although the White House has issued statements condemning such groups after a number of controversies. Mr Trump started his campaign by calling Mexican immigrants rapists, and sailed into office on promises of a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. Lately, at least five nations have summoned their US ambassadors to explain why the President called them "s***hole countries". The 45th President is finishing his first year in office by facing a government shutdown, thanks to clashes over a deal to secure protections for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as children. Over the last 12 months, however, Mr Trump has indeed shed some of his more divisive campaign promises he did not, for example, immediately deport millions of immigrants and let go of some of his most controversial advisers. But he has also doubled down on other promises - Mexico is still going to pay for the border wall, Mr Trump told reporters last week - and blamed violence at a white supremacist rally on "both sides". One year ago, Mr Trump gave an inaugural speech his campaign rival, Hillary Clinton, described as a "cry from the white nationalist gut" - but what about now? The easiest place to start is with Mr Trumps s***hole comments, which he reportedly made in an immigration policy meeting with bipartisan legislators and members of his administration. Senator Dick Durbin, who attended the meeting, called the Presidents comments vile and racist. Even Republicans have called the outburst repulsive. Mr Trump has denied making the comments, and recently told a reporter he was the least racist person you have ever interviewed. Nevertheless, white supremacists were thrilled that the question of whether African nations were, in fact, s***holes, was up for public discussion. Andrew Anglin, creator of white supremacist website the Daily Stormer, called the discussion encouraging and refreshing because it indicated that Trump is more or less on the same page as us with regards to race and immigration. Story continues Clive Webb, a professor of modern American history at the University of Sussex, said this is the the most meaningful thing Mr Trumps first year in office has done for white supremacy, whether intentional or not: It has taken the discourse out of the margins and into the mainstream. Historically, the way that a lot of politicians have played to racism in the United States is to employ coded language, Mr Webb explained. What they've done is theyve used dog whistle concepts, such as law and order, as a way of talking about race without talking about race. Mr Webb added: Now the veil has been removed and Trump is speaking in a blunt, plain way that does appeal to his base, and to the far right specifically. What he's doing, in effect, is giving them legitimacy. This effect was obvious after Mr Trumps response to a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. After days of silence on the rally, in which dozens of people were injured and one counter-protester was killed, Mr Trump condemned the actions of both the participants and those who protested them violence on both sides. White supremacists celebrated. Mr Trump later issued a statement condemning Nazi and white supremacist groups, before again returning to the rhetoric that blamed both sides. Chris Barker, an Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, said he had never seen applications for his chapter grow at the rate they did that summer. Now that Trump is President, it seems like its getting even better, because more whites are starting to be more proud, he told The Independent at the time. The surge of applications was coupled with a surge in violence: Right-wing extremists murdered 20 people in 2017, according to the Anti-Defamation League more than double the year before. The numbers made 2017 the fifth-deadliest year for extremist violence on record. But last year also saw the dismissal of Steve Bannon, the White House chief strategist who former KKK leader David Duke once praised as excellent. Just last month, Mr Trump further distanced himself from Mr Bannon, claiming his former top adviser had lost his mind after he had been fired. Sebastian Gorka, the former counterterrorism adviser who was linked to nationalist groups in Hungary, also left the White House in 2017. These departures could have angered the white supremacists who trusted Mr Trump. Instead, they appear to have rallied even further under his wing, leaving Mr Gorka and Mr Bannon to fend for themselves. If youre going to have to make a choice, youre going to support the President, because he has the capacity to influence things in a way [people like Mr Bannon] never did, Mr Webb said, Trump is their man. Attorney General Jeff Sessions a man who once joked that he liked the KKK until he learned they smoked pot is in charge at the Justice Department. As policy analyst Sean McElwee pointed out, Mr Sessions has pursued policies that are almost certain to increase the number of people of colour behind bars. He has re-invigorated the war on drugs, which scholars say disproportionately increased the number of black people behind bars, and cracked down on sanctuary cities that protect undocumented immigrants. Under Mr Sessions, the FBI has classified some civil rights activists as black identity extremists. These policies do not end with the Department of Justice. The Department of Homeland Security recently announced it would rescind the Temporary Protected Status of 263,000 immigrants from El Salvador, 45,000 Haitians, and 2,500 Nicaraguans who sought refuge in the United States. The immigrants were given approximately two years to leave the country, or be deported. In doing so, Amnesty International claimed, the US "could be sending people to their deaths". And Mr Trump himself, by rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), could wind up sending nearly 700,000 young immigrants back to countries they have not resided in for years. The President claimed he wanted a bill of love for the so-called Dreamers, but has refused to pass one unless it includes funding for the border wall. In the meantime, Dreamers are scrambling to renew their work permits while they still can. In the end, this may be the best way to assess the the issue of white supremacy, which has dogged the Trump White House: Not through the politics of the advisers who surround him, or through the number of racists who support him, but by the number of people from s***hole countries his policies will hurt. There has been a total of 30 pediatric deaths as a result of influenza this season, along with 8,990 confirmed flu-related hospitalizations since October 1, 2017. This years flu season is punching hard, with the flu spreading more extensively across the country compared to recent years. The reason all comes back to a little variant of the virus we call H3N2 perhaps better known by its Aussie Flu moniker these days. See, the northern and southern hemispheres trade off flu seasons, meaning Australia (and the rest of the southern globe) experienced its flu season last from, from May through October (peaking in August). And it was a doozy according to the BBC, Australias 2017 flu season was one of the most difficult influenza epidemics the country had experienced in almost a decade. Thats because the Aussie Flu is comprised of H3N2, an influenza strain that tends to impact people hard, especially the elderly and the very young. And for this reason, the Aussie flu poses more of a danger than other types of flu. What makes it so potent? Part of it happens to be the fact that H3N2 is inherently more severe than other flu strains. Its perhaps the most dangerous of the four common broad influenza strains. But another factor is that people tend to have had less exposure to H3N2 than other strains, so they havent really developed much immunity, either individually or as a community. An FDA laboratory worker injects an influenza virus into an egg, where it will grow before being harvested. More importantly, these factors are compounded by the fact that this years H3N2 actually mutated faster than expected. The initial vaccines that were developed to help protect people from the flu ended up being largely ineffective, since the virus managed to transform in a way to evade whatever immunity the vaccine already conferred. This seasons vaccine might only be about 30 percent effective against H3N2. In Australia, that efficacy (which used a different vaccination formulation) was a paltry 10 percent hence the Aussie Flu name. Story continues Additionally, H3N2 is just one of three main strains circulating this year (the other two are H1N1 and B). H3N2 was actually around last winter, and is part of every seasonal flu vaccine developed and administered to the public, so definitely not a shock that its making the rounds this season. It just happens to be making a bigger impact than usual, for all the aforementioned reasons coalescing at once. Its also worth nothing that while the impact of this years flu is severe, its nothing health experts arent already used to. This season is actually pretty similar to the 2014-2015 flu season, in which H3N2 also dominated infections. So whats next? Well when it comes to the rest of this season, the CDC is working hard to give local communities the type of resources necessary to help make sure the vulnerable are well-taken care of, and doubling down on efforts to educate the public to make sure theyre practicing responsible hygiene habits. Moving forward, however, this severe flu season should provide a very good reason for funding efforts to help increase vaccine efficacy and flu prevention. Many groups are working toward the development of a universal vaccine that covers all influenza strains by targeting parts of the virus that are much more permanent and static. Others are looking toward developing vaccines that elicit a different immune response than were used to, and this might help reduce how severe flu infections can be. Those solutions are a long way away, however. In the meantime, get your flu shot, wash your hands regularly, and stay home if youre sick. Hi there. Youve made it to the bottom of this story! Speaking of which were giving away an epic $5,000 ski trip to Banff, Alberta. Click here to enter! Photos via Flickr / The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Photos via Flickr / The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Written by Neel V. Patel More articles by Neel V. Follow Neel V. on Twitter tweetshare More From Inverse WASHINGTON Hundreds of thousands of women and men took to the streets in cities across the nation on Saturday in a defiant stand against President Donald Trump, who today marks the anniversary of his inauguration amid a government shutdown. The 2018 Womens March round two of an event that in 2017 proved to be the largest single-day protest in American history includes a main event in Las Vegas on Sunday and more than 250 marches in the U.S. and overseas. In New York City, an electrified crowd estimated at more than 120,000 people stretched for some 20 blocks. Among those carrying signs was 30-year-old Nikki Vargas, an immigrant from Colombia. She told HuffPost she is horrified by the blatant xenophobia, the blatant racism, the gender biases of this president. Vargas marched at last years event in New York, an experience she described as incredible and powerful. But she feels even more energy one year into Trumps term. This march is even different from the last one, because of the #MeToo movement and the spotlight on sexual assault victims, Vargas said. This march theres a lot more rage and a lot more anger in this march, and I think were gonna see a lot of women out there defending those who didnt have a voice before. This 7-year-old marcher is out with her parents. Her mom said that the Aziz Ansari story stirred up a lot for her and made her realize that, bad date or not, no woman should be put in that position. We need change. #WomensMarch2018 #WomensMarchNYC #WomensMarch pic.twitter.com/sAmiG2KB3v Emma Gray (@emmaladyrose) January 20, 2018 People walk down Sixth Avenue as part of the Women's March in Manhattan on Saturday. (Photo: Andrew Kelly / Reuters) In Washington, D.C. where a year ago hundreds of thousands of people swarmed the National Mall, many wearing pink pussyhats protesters gathered around 11 a.m. at the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The event featured speeches from several Democrats and activists. Story continues Its a beautiful sight to look out here today, Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez told the crowd. If the Congress, if the White House, if the governorships across America, if the legislatures across America had more women like I see here today, wed be a much better America. Theres no doubt about it. This years demonstration is as much a protest of Trumps agenda as it is an effort to register new voters to ensure more women and progressives are elected to office in 2018. We march. We run. We vote. We win. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said at the D.C. rally. Hillary Clinton, whose loss in the 2016 presidential election partly inspired the original march, tweeted her support and urged protesters to vote in this years elections. In 2017, the Womens March was a beacon of hope and defiance, Clinton said. In 2018, it is a testament to the power and resilience of women everywhere. In 2017, the Womens March was a beacon of hope and defiance. In 2018, it is a testament to the power and resilience of women everywhere. Lets show that same power in the voting booth this year. #PowerToThePolls Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) January 20, 2018 The one year anniversary of Trumps inauguration is a shutdownbeing here at the womens march is a more hopeful anniversary. pic.twitter.com/IdZBXtbDOx Tim Kaine (@timkaine) January 20, 2018 One year after the #WomensMarch, our grassroots energy is growing, not fading. Its clearer than ever that women are holding our democracy together in these dangerous times. Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) January 20, 2018 Majella Mark, 31, of Brooklyn, told HuffPost at the rally in New York that people arent just optimistic. They are fired up, she said. No, now were serious, Mark said. Especially with the shutdown you just gave us ammo. We need some women in Congress, because obviously you cant get anything done. Big and loud crowd from Womens March outside the WH gates pic.twitter.com/H6w2w87L9L Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 20, 2018 In a post to Twitter on Saturday, Trump appeared to poke fun at demonstrators. Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months, he wrote. Lowest female unemployment in years! Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March. Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. Lowest female unemployment in 18 years! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 Pelosi was quick to fire back, writing, Who wants to tell him? This years main event in Las Vegas, titled Power to the Polls, kicks off Sunday at 10 a.m. local time, and is being streamed live on the event website. Other large marches are being held today in cities including Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Denver, and Seattle. Watch our time-lapse video showing thousands of demonstrators rallying at Grant Park for #WomensMarchChicago. Read more about the march: https://t.co/X3OKmTQwPH pic.twitter.com/V0GagfxUyj Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) January 20, 2018 Protesters participate in the Women's March in Chicago. (Photo: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Thousands of women and allies have already begun gathering in Oakland for the second annual Women's March. https://t.co/obSyz3Z0sC pic.twitter.com/aA98qHEkPf NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) January 20, 2018 Second annual Womens March: fewer pussy hats, but just as much energy pic.twitter.com/Z9fWbEAse1 Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) January 20, 2018 This article originally appeared on HuffPost. A team of underwater explorers claims to have discovered the world's largest flooded cave in Mexico. After 10 months of exploring the watery, underwater passageways of the Great Maya Aquifer, a team of divers achieved a major breakthrough this month when they found an open tunnel linking two of the world's largest flooded cave systems. Between caves Sac Actun, and Dos Ojos in Tulu, Quintana Roo, the underwater cave measures 347 km in length -- or three times as long as the English Channel. According to the rules of caving, when two cave systems are connected, the largest cave absorbs the smallest. That means Dos Ojos will now be referred to by its bigger sibling, Sac Actun, explains the group Great Maya Aquifer Project (GAM), leading the mission. In Mayan lore, the underwater caves were considered a sacred entrance to the Mayan underworld. Dramatic footage captured with GoPro cameras reveal bones, intact pottery, and stone carvings lying in a watery grave. "This immense cave represents the most important submerged archeological site in the world, as it has more than a hundred archeological contexts, among which are evidence of the first settlers of America, as well as extinct fauna and, of course, the Mayan culture,"said Guillermo de Anda, researcher at the National Institute of Anthropology and History and director of the Great Maya Aquifer, in a statement. Along with being an archeological marvel, explorers note the cave's importance as a large reserve of freshwater for the area's biodiversity. While the GAM began aggressively looking for the connecting passageway since last spring, the discovery marks a major milestone for exploration director Robert Schmittner, who has been chasing after the link over the last 14 years. The team says their next goal is to search for connections between Sac Actun and three other underwater cave systems. Scientists will also analyze the water quality, local biodiversity, and study the cave's archeological context. Watch footage of the exploration at https://youtu.be/dgqgKynzE7o. European Union lawmakers proposed a comprehensive update to the bloc's data protection and privacy rules in 2012. Their aim: To take account of seismic shifts in the handling of information wrought by the rise of the digital economy in the years since the prior regime was penned -- all the way back in 1995 when Yahoo was the cutting edge of online cool and cookies were still just tasty biscuits. Here's the EU's executive body, the Commission, summing up the goal: The objective of this new set of rules is to give citizens back control over of their personal data, and to simplify the regulatory environment for business. The data protection reform is a key enabler of the Digital Single Market which the Commission has prioritised. The reform will allow European citizens and businesses to fully benefit from the digital economy. For an even shorter tl;dr the EC's theory is that consumer trust is essential to fostering growth in the digital economy. And it thinks trust can be won by giving users of digital services more information and greater control over how their data is used. Which is -- frankly speaking -- a pretty refreshing idea when you consider the clandestine data brokering that pervades the tech industry. Mass surveillance isn't just something governments do. The General Data Protection Regulation (aka GDPR) was agreed after more than three years of negotiations between the EU's various institutions. It's set to apply across the 28-Member State bloc as of May 25, 2018. That means EU countries are busy transposing it into national law via their own legislative updates (such as the UK's new Data Protection Bill -- yes, despite the fact the country is currently in the process of (br)exiting the EU, the government has nonetheless committed to implementing the regulation because it needs to keep EU-UK data flowing freely in the post-brexit future. Which gives an early indication of the pulling power of GDPR. Story continues Meanwhile businesses operating in the EU are being bombarded with ads from a freshly energized cottage industry of 'privacy consultants' offering to help them get ready for the new regs -- in exchange for a service fee. It's definitely a good time to be a law firm specializing in data protection. GDPR is a significant piece of legislation whose full impact will clearly take some time to shake out. In the meanwhile, here's our guide to the major changes incoming and some potential impacts. Data protection + teeth A major point of note right off the bat is that GDPR does not merely apply to EU businesses; any entities processing the personal data of EU citizens need to comply. Facebook, for example -- a US company that handles massive amounts of Europeans' personal data -- is going to have to rework multiple business processes to comply with the new rules. Indeed, it's been working on this for a long time already. Last year the company told us it had assembled "the largest cross functional team" in the history of its family of companies to support GDPR compliance -- specifying this included "senior executives from all product teams, designers and user experience/testing executives, policy executives, legal executives and executives from each of the Facebook family of companies". "Dozens of people at Facebook Ireland are working full time on this effort," it said, noting too that the data protection team at its European HQ (in Dublin, Ireland) would be growing by 250% in 2017. It also said it was in the process of hiring a "top quality data protection officer" -- a position the company appears to still be taking applications for. The new EU rules require organizations to appoint a data protection officer if they process sensitive data on a large scale (which Facebook very clearly does). Or are collecting info on many consumers -- such as by performing online behavioral tracking. But, really, which online businesses aren't doing that these days? The extra-territorial scope of GDPR casts the European Union as a global pioneer in data protection -- and some legal experts suggest the regulation will force privacy standards to rise outside the EU too. Sure, some US companies might prefer to swallow the hassle and expense of fragmenting their data handling processes, and treating personal data obtained from different geographies differently, i.e. rather than streamlining everything under a GDPR compliant process. But doing so means managing multiple data regimes. And at very least runs the risk of bad PR if you're outed as deliberately offering a lower privacy standard to your home users vs customers abroad. Ultimately, it may be easier (and less risky) for businesses to treat GDPR as the new 'gold standard' for how they handle all personal data, regardless of where it comes from. And while not every company harvests Facebook levels of personal data, almost every company harvests some personal data. So for those with customers in the EU GDPR cannot be ignored. At very least businesses will need to carry out a data audit to understand their risks and liabilities. Privacy experts suggest that the really big change here is around enforcement. Because while the EU has had long established data protection standards and rules -- and treats privacy as a fundamental right -- its regulators have lacked the teeth to command compliance. But now, under GDPR, financial penalties for data protection violations step up massively. The maximum fine that organizations can be hit with for the most serious infringements of the regulation is 4% of their global annual turnover (or 20M, whichever is greater). Though data protection agencies will of course be able to impose smaller fines too. And, indeed, there's a tiered system of fines -- with a lower level of penalties of up to 2% of global turnover (or 10M). This really is a massive change. Because while data protection agencies (DPAs) in different EU Member States can impose financial penalties for breaches of existing data laws these fines are relatively small -- especially set against the revenues of the private sector entities that are getting sanctioned. In the UK, for example, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) can currently impose a maximum fine of just 500,000. Compare that to the annual revenue of tech giant Google (~$90BN) and you can see why a much larger stick is needed to police data processors. It's not necessarily the case that individual EU Member States are getting stronger privacy laws as a consequence of GDPR (in some instances countries have arguably had higher standards in their domestic law). But the beefing up of enforcement that's baked into the new regime means there's a better opportunity for DPAs to start to bark and bite like proper watchdogs. GDPR inflating the financial risks around handling personal data should naturally drive up standards -- because privacy laws are suddenly a whole lot more costly to ignore. More types of personal data that are hot to handle So what is personal data under GDPR? It's any information relating to an identified or identifiable person (in regulatorspeak people are known as 'data subjects'). While 'processing' can mean any operation performed on personal data -- from storing it to structuring it to feeding it to your AI models. (GDPR also includes some provisions specifically related to decisions generated as a result of automated data processing but more on that below). A new provision concerns children's personal data -- with the regulation setting a 16-year-old age limit on kids' ability to consent to their data being processed. However individual Member States can choose (and some have) to derogate from this by writing a lower age limit into their laws. GDPR sets a hard cap at 13-years-old -- making that the defacto standard for children to be able to sign up to digital services. So the impact on teens' social media habits seems likely to be relatively limited. The new rules generally expand the definition of personal data -- so it can include information such as location data, online identifiers (such as IP addresses) and other metadata. So again, this means businesses really need to conduct an audit to identify all the types of personal data they hold. Ignorance is not compliance. GDPR also encourages the use of pseudonymization -- such as, for example, encrypting personal data and storing the encryption key separately and securely -- as a pro-privacy, pro-security technique that can help minimize the risks of processing personal data. Although pseudonymized data is likely to still be considered personal data; certainly where a risk of reidentification remains. So it does not get a general pass from requirements under the regulation. Data has to be rendered truly anonymous to be outside the scope of the regulation. (And given how often 'anonymized' data-sets have been shown to be re-identifiable, relying on any anonymizing process to be robust enough to have zero risk of re-identification seems, well, risky.) To be clear, given GDPR's running emphasis on data protection via data security it is implicitly encouraging the use of encryption above and beyond a risk reduction technique -- i.e. as a way for data controllers to fulfill its wider requirements to use "appropriate technical and organisational measures" vs the risk of the personal data they are processing. The incoming data protection rules apply to both data controllers (i.e. entities that determine the purpose and means of processing personal data) and data processors (entities that are responsible for processing data on behalf of a data controller -- aka subcontractors). Indeed, data processors have some direct compliance obligations under GDPR, and can also be held equally responsible for data violations, with individuals able to bring compensation claims directly against them, and DPAs able to hand them fines or other sanctions. So the intent for the regulation is there be no diminishing in responsibility down the chain of data handling subcontractors. GDPR aims to have every link in the processing chain be a robust one. For companies that rely on a lot of subcontractors to handle data operations on their behalf there's clearly a lot of risk assessment work to be done. As noted above, there is a degree of leeway for EU Member States in how they implement some parts of the regulation (such as with the age of data consent for kids). Consumer protection groups are calling for the UK government to include an optional GDPR provision on collective data redress to its DP bill, for example -- a call the government has so far rebuffed. But the wider aim is for the regulation to harmonize as much as possible data protection rules across all Member States to reduce the regulatory burden on digital businesses trading around the bloc. On data redress, European privacy campaigner Max Schrems -- most famous for his legal challenge to US government mass surveillance practices that resulted in a 15-year-old data transfer arrangement between the EU and US being struck down in 2015 -- is currently running a crowdfunding campaign to set up a not-for-profit privacy enforcement organization to take advantage of the new rules and pursue strategic litigation on commercial privacy issues. Schrems argues it's simply not viable for individuals to take big tech giants to court to try to enforce their privacy rights, so thinks there's a gap in the regulatory landscape for an expert organization to work on EU citizen's behalf. Not just pursuing strategic litigation in the public interest but also promoting industry best practice. The proposed data redress body -- called noyb; short for: 'none of your business' -- is being made possible because GDPR allows for collective enforcement of individuals' data rights. And that provision could be crucial in spinning up a centre of enforcement gravity around the law. Because despite the position and role of DPAs being strengthened by GDPR, these bodies will still inevitably have limited resources vs the scope of the oversight task at hand. Some may also lack the appetite to take on a fully fanged watchdog role. So campaigning consumer and privacy groups could certainly help pick up any slack. Privacy by design and privacy by default Another major change incoming via GDPR is 'privacy by design' no longer being just a nice idea; privacy by design and privacy by default become firm legal requirements. This means there's a requirement on data controllers to minimize processing of personal data -- limiting activity to only what's necessary for a specific purpose, carrying out privacy impact assessments and maintaining up-to-date records to prove out their compliance. Consent requirements for processing personal data are also considerably strengthened under GDPR -- meaning lengthy, inscrutable, pre-ticked T&Cs are likely to be unworkable. (And we've sure seen a whole lot of those hellish things in tech.) The core idea is that consent should be an ongoing, actively managed process; not a one-off rights grab. As the UK's ICO tells it, consent under GDPR for processing personal data means offering individuals "genuine choice and control" (for sensitive personal data the law requires a higher standard still -- of explicit consent). There are other legal bases for processing personal data under GDPR -- such as contractual necessity; or compliance with a legal obligation under EU or Member State law; or for tasks carried out in the public interest -- so it is not necessary to obtain consent in order to process someone's personal data. But there must always be an appropriate legal basis for each processing. Transparency is another major obligation under GDPR, which expands the notion that personal data must be lawfully and fairly processed to include a third principle of accountability. Hence the emphasis on data controllers needing to clearly communicate with data subjects -- such as by informing them of the specific purpose of the data processing. The obligation on data handlers to maintain scrupulous records of what information they hold, what they are doing with it, and how they are legally processing it, is also about being able to demonstrate compliance with GDPR's data processing principles. But -- on the plus side for data controllers -- GDPR removes the requirement to submit notifications to local DPAs about data processing activities. Instead, organizations must maintain detailed internal records -- which a supervisory authority can always ask to see. It's also worth noting that companies processing data across borders in the EU may face scrutiny from DPAs in different Member States if they have users there (and are processing their personal data). Although the GDPR sets out a so-called 'one-stop-shop' principle -- that there should be a "lead" DPA to co-ordinate supervision between any "concerned" DPAs -- this does not mean that, once it applies, a cross-EU-border operator like Facebook is only going to be answerable to the concerns of the Irish DPA. Indeed, Facebook's tactic of only claiming to be under the jurisdiction of a single EU DPA looks to be on borrowed time. And the one-stop-shop provision in the GDPR seems more about creating a co-operation mechanism to allow multiple DPAs to work together in instances where they have joint concerns, rather than offering a way for multinationals to go 'forum shopping' -- which the regulation does not permit (per WP29 guidance). Another change: Privacy policies that contain vague phrases like 'We may use your personal data to develop new services' or 'We may use your personal data for research purposes' will not pass muster under the new regime. So a wholesale rewriting of vague and/or confusingly worded T&Cs is something Europeans can look forward to this year. Add to that, any changes to privacy policies must be clearly communicated to the user on an ongoing basis. Which means no more stale references in the privacy statement telling users to 'regularly check for changes or updates' -- that just won't be workable. The onus is firmly on the data controller to keep the data subject fully informed of what is being done with their information. (Which almost implies that good data protection practice could end up tasting a bit like spam, from a user PoV.) The overall intent behind GDPR is to inculcate an industry-wide shift in perspective regarding who 'owns' user data -- disabusing companies of the notion that other people's personal information belongs to them just because it happens to be sitting on their servers. "Organizations should acknowledge they dont exist to process personal data but they process personal data to do business," is how analyst Gartner research director Bart Willemsen sums this up. "Where there is a reason to process the data, there is no problem. Where the reason ends, the processing should, too." The data protection officer (DPO) role that GDPR brings in as a requirement for many data handlers is intended to help them ensure compliance. This officer, who must report to the highest level of management, is intended to operate independently within the organization, with warnings to avoid an internal appointment that could generate a conflict of interests. Which types of organizations face the greatest liability risks under GDPR? "Those who deliberately seem to think privacy protection rights is inferior to business interest," says Willemsen, adding: "A recent example would be Uber, regulated by the FTC and sanctioned to undergo 20 years of auditing. That may hurt perhaps similar, or even more, than a one-time financial sanction." "Eventually, the GDPR is like a speed limit: There not to make money off of those who speed, but to prevent people from speeding excessively as that prevents (privacy) accidents from happening," he adds. Another right to be forgotten Under GDPR, people who have consented to their personal data being processed also have a suite of associated rights -- including the right to access data held about them (a copy of the data must be provided to them free of charge, typically within a month of a request); the right to request rectification of incomplete or inaccurate personal data; the right to have their data deleted (another so-called 'right to be forgotten' -- with some exemptions, such as for exercising freedom of expression and freedom of information); the right to restrict processing; the right to data portability (where relevant, a data subject's personal data must be provided free of charge and in a structured, commonly used and machine readable form). All these rights make it essential for organizations that process personal data to have systems in place which enable them to identify, access, edit and delete individual user data -- and be able to perform these operations quickly, with a general 30 day time-limit for responding to individual rights requests. GDPR also gives people who have consented to their data being processed the right to withdraw consent at any time. Let that one sink in. Data controllers are also required to inform users about this right -- and offer easy ways for them to withdraw consent. So no, you can't bury a 'revoke consent' option in tiny lettering, five sub-menus deep. Nor can WhatsApp offer any more time-limit opt-outs for sharing user data with its parent multinational, Facebook. Users will have the right to change their mind whenever they like. The EU lawmakers' hope is that this suite of rights for consenting consumers will encourage respectful use of their data -- given that, well, if you annoy consumers they can just tell you to sling yer hook and ask for a copy of their data to plug into your rival service to boot. So we're back to that fostering trust idea. Add in the ability for third party organizations to use GDPR's provision for collective enforcement of individual data rights and there's potential for bad actors and bad practice to become the target for some creative PR stunts that harness the power of collective action -- like, say, a sudden flood of requests for a company to delete user data. Data rights and privacy issues are certainly going to be in the news a whole lot more. Getting serious about data breaches But wait, there's more! Another major change under GDPR relates to security incidents -- aka data breaches (something else we've seen an awful, awful lot of in recent years) -- with the regulation doing what the US still hasn't been able to: Bringing in a universal standard for data breach disclosures. GDPR requires that data controllers report any security incidents where personal data has been lost, stolen or otherwise accessed by unauthorized third parties to their DPA within 72 hours of them becoming aware of it. Yes, 72 hours. Not the best part of a year, like er Uber. If a data breach is likely to result in a "high risk of adversely affecting individuals rights and freedoms" the regulation also implies you should 'fess up even sooner than that -- without "undue delay". Only in instances where a data controller assesses that a breach is unlikely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of "natural persons" are they exempt from the breach disclosure requirement (though they still need to document the incident internally, and record their reason for not informing a DPA in a document that DPAs can always ask to see). "You should ensure you have robust breach detection, investigation and internal reporting procedures in place," is the ICO's guidance on this. "This will facilitate decision-making about whether or not you need to notify the relevant supervisory authority and the affected individuals." The new rules generally put strong emphasis on data security and on the need for data controllers to ensure that personal data is only processed in a manner that ensures it is safeguarded. Here again, GDPR's requirements are backed up by the risk of supersized fines. So suddenly sloppy security could cost your business big -- not only in reputation terms, as now, but on the bottom line too. So it really must be a C-suite concern going forward. Nor is subcontracting a way to shirk your data security obligations. Quite the opposite. Having a written contract in place between a data controller and a data processor was a requirement before GDPR but contract requirements are wider now and there are some specific terms that must be included in the contract, as a minimum. Breach reporting requirements must also be set out in the contract between processor and controller. If a data controller is using a data processor and it's the processor that suffers a breach, they're required to inform the controller as soon as they become aware. The controller then has the same disclosure obligations as per usual. Essentially, data controllers remain liable for their own compliance with GDPR. And the ICO warns they must only appoint processors who can provide "sufficient guarantees" that the regulatory requirements will be met and the rights of data subjects protected. tl;dr, be careful who and how you subcontract. Right to human review for some AI decisions Article 22 of GDPR places certain restrictions on entirely automated decisions based on profiling individuals -- but only in instances where these human-less acts have a legal or similarly significant effect on the people involved. There are also some exemptions to the restrictions -- where automated processing is necessary for entering into (or performance of) a contract between an organization and the individual; or where it's authorized by law (e.g. for the purposes of detecting fraud or tax evasion); or where an individual has explicitly consented to the processing. In its guidance, the ICO specifies that the restriction only applies where the decision has a "serious negative impact on an individual". Suggested examples of the types of AI-only decisions that will face restrictions are automatic refusal of an online credit application or an e-recruiting practices without human intervention. Having a provision on automated decisions is not a new right, having been brought over from the 1995 data protection directive. But it has attracted fresh attention -- given the rampant rise of machine learning technology -- as a potential route for GDPR to place a check on the power of AI blackboxes to determine the trajectory of humankind. The real-world impact will probably be rather more prosaic, though. And experts suggest it does not seem likely that the regulation, as drafted, equates to a right for people to be given detailed explanations of how algorithms work. Though as AI proliferates and touches more and more decisions, and as its impacts on people and society become ever more evident, pressure may well grow for proper regulatory oversight of algorithmic blackboxes. In the meanwhile, what GDPR does in instances where restrictions apply to automated decisions is require data controllers to provide some information to individuals about the logic of an automated decision. They are also obliged to take steps to prevent errors, bias and discrimination. So there's a whiff of algorithmic accountability. Though it may well take court and regulatory judgements to determine how stiff those steps need to be in practice. Individuals do also have a right to challenge and request a (human) review of an automated decision in the restricted class. Here again the intention is to help people understand how their data is being used. And to offer a degree of protection (in the form of a manual review) if a person feels unfairly and harmfully judged by an AI process. The regulation also places some restrictions on the practice of using data to profile individuals if the data itself is sensitive data -- e.g. health data, political belief, religious affiliation etc -- requiring explicit consent for doing so. Or else that the processing is necessary for substantial public interest reasons (and lies within EU or Member State law). While profiling based on other types of personal data does not require obtaining consent from the individuals concerned, it still needs a legal basis and there is still a transparency requirement -- which means service providers will need to inform users they are being profiled, and explain what it means for them. And people also always have the right to object to profiling activity based on their personal data. DUBAI (Reuters) - Yemen's Houthi movement fired a ballistic missile toward the southern Saudi province of Najran on Saturday, the group's official al-Masirah TV reported, and a Saudi military spokesman said air defense forces had intercepted the missile. The TV channel said the short-range missile targeted a military base. There were no reports of casualties or damage. The Iranian-aligned Houthis have launched scores of missiles at the kingdom. While causing little serious damage, they have deepened tensions between Riyadh and Tehran. Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of supplying missile parts and expertise to the Houthis, who have taken over the Yemeni capital Sanaa and other parts of the country during its civil war. Iran and the Houthis deny the charge. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in the conflict in March 2015 after the movement drove Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile. The conflict has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced over two million and unleashed a wave of hunger and disease. (Reporting By Noah Browning and Mostafa; Editing by Janet Lawrence) By Chris Francescani and Ian Simpson NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tourists who came to Battery Park in lower Manhattan hoping to catch a ferry to the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor got an unpleasant surprise on Saturday, learning the must-see destination was closed because of the U.S. government shutdown. The National Park Service announced on Friday afternoon that it would close the historic statue and nearby Ellis Island to visitors if Congress failed to reach a funding deal by midnight. Apparently, not everyone got the word. If they knew it was being shut down, they should have told us, said Amparo Mendez, 17. The Argentine exchange student came to Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan with a friend, having purchased tickets online last week to visit the statue and Ellis Island. We came with the notion to see the Statue of Liberty, and its not the same to see it from here, said her 16-year-old friend, Brunella Pettoroso, looking out at the majestic, green-tinged statue, a symbol of American democracy. Neither of them were aware of the government shutdown, and when the Washington deadlock was explained to them, Mendez rolled her eyes. Were not coming back, Pettoroso said. In Washington, open-air parks and monuments remained open despite the shutdown. On the National Mall, thousands of protesters gathered for the second annual Women's March, staged on the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration. The Smithsonian Institution was open as well, but its museums and the National Zoo will close on Monday if lawmakers still have not reached a deal, it said in a statement. Dallas Kay, 26, a restaurant worker from Bend, Oregon, arrived at the Lincoln Memorial just after dawn on Saturday. He said he hoped for a quick resolution of the dispute, especially to keep national monuments and parks open. "These monuments and parks belong to the people," he said. "Them getting shut down is a travesty." In Battery Park, where large groups of visitors often gather for ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty, it was unusually quiet for a Saturday. People have been a little bummed out but theyre not mad at us, said Matthew Rutter, an employee of Statue Cruises, which operates ferries to the islands, among New York's most popular tourist destinations. They are mad at the government." Stephen OMalley, a retired medical professional from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, bought tickets months ago, when he and his wife, accountant Mary Hawks, began planning a trip to the statue and Ellis Island, the gateway for millions of U.S. immigrants in the late 19th and 20th centuries. The couple both blamed Washington lawmakers. I have to put more blame on the Republicans because they have all the control right now, OMalley said. But I dont blame it all on them. They should have been able to make a deal, he said of both Republicans and Democrats, before heading off to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Andrew Riano, 25, of New York City's Staten Island borough, was in Battery Park dressed as the Statue of Liberty. He said he gets tips from tourists who pose for pictures with him. But the regular crowds he sees on sunny weekend days were nowhere to be found. A lot of people are disappointed, he said, taking a break on a park bench. They pay to go to the statue and they cant go. That was the case with Ateeb Iftikhar, 31, and his wife, Komal, 26, from Karachi, Pakistan. The couple brought their 5-month-old baby to Battery Park, hoping to visit Lady Liberty. "I was wanting so much to get married and come here with my husband and see the Statue of Liberty," the young mother said. "I'm a little sad." (Writing by Frank McGurty; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) Zachary Joseph Sybouts looks at Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jared Boswell during his plea and sentencing hearing in Yakima County Superior Court Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Prosecutors say he had inappropriate contact with three teenage girls while he was teaching at Grandview High School in 2016. (DONALD W. MEYERS/Yakima Herald-Republic) Statement of the Knights of Columbus on the March for Life Contact: Joseph P. Cullen, Senior Communications Specialist, Knights of Columbus, 203-800-4923, 203-415-9314 cell WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2018 /Standard Newswire/ -- The Knights of Columbus applauds the administration and Congress for the actions they have taken in support of protecting the lives of the most vulnerable - the unborn - and for their public witness at the March for Life. The speeches by the President, Vice President, Speaker of the House and other elected leaders underscore an important commitment to helping save the lives of the youngest Americans. Majorities of Americans who identify as Republicans, Democrats and Independents all want to see limits on abortion. The fact that both Congress and the administration are crafting policies that reflect this consensus is encouraging and welcome. The bipartisan passage today of the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Act in the House is an important step in this regard and we urge the Senate to act quickly to take up and pass this bill. We also want to thank the individual Knights and their families who served as marshals for the March for Life and who participated in it and in other pro-life events. We are so very proud that thousands of Knights of Columbus have volunteered to help the March for Life over these many years and have also helped organize Marches for Life all across North America at the Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco, in Mexico City, and in the Canadian capital of Ottawa. We can find a better way than abortion. We can give hope to every woman and every child. Today, we see thousands of helping hands ready to make this hope a reality and we know there are millions more willing to give. Together we can bring change. Together we can build a new culture of life in our hearts, in our homes and in our laws. Two weeks ago, it was the book Fire and Furya bill of indictment against the American president. A week later, the sh*thole countries comment was leaked. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Almost simultaneously, the Wall Street Journal reported that a lawyer had arranged a $130,000 payment for an adult-film star as part of an agreement precluding her from publicly discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Trump. The latest report joins a long list of sexual harassment complaints and disgusting comments. In the past few months, it has been happening in Israel too. One report after another about neurotic behavior at the Prime Ministers Residence, about illicit gifts and about demands and pressure to receive another expensive present, which the billionaire friend hadnt planned on giving. Trump and Netanyahu. How is it possible that theyre still enjoying considerable approval ratings? (Photo: Reuters) The highlight was the recording of the prime ministers son, which included comments that shouldnt have been made in light of the education that Yair Netanyahuaccording to his fatherreceived at home. The only reason the comments were made was because the boy was intoxicated. Thats possible, but Netanyahu Jr., a public figure, definitely wasnt drunk when he was led into a strip club. It wasnt a one-time lapse either. It was a regular habit. If these were different politicians, they wouldnt have lasted a single day. They would have been unable to bear the shame. Its so humiliating, so embarrassing, that the only way out would've been to submit a letter of resignation. But Trump and Netanyahu? Dont make them laugh. They always pull out the accusation that the media is out to get them. That they are being persecuted. That they are the victims. Poor people. Theyre not the ones who are corrupt; its those who dare to report their actions. On this background, Knesset Member Oren Hazan is already fantasizing about becoming prime minister. After all, someone is paving the way. Netanyahu's other associates are either offering support or keeping silent. Nearly none of them have chosen to issue a clear and unequivocal condemnationapart from one, Minister Yuval Steinitz, in another rare display of courage. The rest are consumed by fear. A long list of right-wing journalists are shamefully provide excuses to defend the leader. And the few right-wing journalistsboth in the US and in Israelwho have mustered the courage to condemn are denounced as collaborators or even traitors. Where are the religious, the evangelicals, the conservatives and the Haredim? These two officials have adopted such promiscuous norms that ethical, conservative and observant people should have been the first to stand up and condemn them. But no, theyre exercising the shameful right to remain silent. They are extremely concerned about a supermarket that opens on Shabbat. Theyll even impose another stupid and unnecessary law on the majority. But a strip club on Shabbat? God forbid should anyone interfere with the needs of the prime ministers son. After all, he has to have a stripper on Friday evening. They wont get in his way. But they know that just like a criminal conviction can come without moral turpitude, moral turpitude can exist without a criminal conviction. But theyre keeping quiet. The important question is how the hell is this happening? How is it possible that these people can get away with anything? How is it possible that theyre still enjoying considerable approval ratings? The public was well aware of Trumps conduct months before Election Day, but he didnt lose support. And the support for Netanyahu, what a disgrace, remains high. The painful answer is that the animosity towards the media, the elites and political correctness is stronger. This animosity, I must add, is partly justified. I have expressed it myself time and again. But one wrong doesnt justify a bigger wrong. And anyway, public opinion polls in the US and in Israel are pointing at a change. The Israeli and the American Right is showing more than just signs of sobering up. These signs are the key to making a change, and that change will arrive. Lebanon has thwarted a planned Islamic State cell by detaining a militant and turning him into an informant, Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk said on Friday. The Iraqi man, identified only by the initials A.Z., had been sent by Islamic State to Lebanon to form a new cell to carry out attacks, Machnouk said. The Intelligence Division of Lebanon's Internal Security Force said in a statement at Machnouk's news conference that security services had tracked A.Z.'s activities in Iraq and after he arrived in Lebanon in June. When it became clear he was planning to return to Iraq, he was arrested and turned into an informant. For five months A.Z. carried on communicating with Islamic State abroad and working on the cell - all the while feeding information back to Lebanese security forces. Islamic State asked him "to exert maximum effort to carry out terror attacks in Lebanon especially during the holiday season and end of year celebrations", the information division said. The operation was ended after intelligence showed Islamic State command abroad had become suspicious of A.Z. and the lack of attacks, it said. A number of arrests were made as a result of the operation, Machnouk said. A Jewish woman who was one of the few Italian children to survive deportation to a Nazi death camp has been made a senator-for-life in Italy. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter President Sergio Mattarella's office said Friday that he chose Liliana Segre, 87, for the honor because she had made the nation proud with her commitment to telling schoolchildren about the Holocaust. Italy is marking 80 years since the country introduced Fascist-era racist laws discriminating against Jews. Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre (Photo: AP) Segre and her family went into hiding after the 1938 law was introduced. They were arrested in 1943, and put onto trains departing from Milan toward Nazi-run deportation camps. Only 25 of 775 Italian children survived the Nazi death camps. For decades, Segre appeared reluctant to discuss her experiences in Auschwitz, the Corriere della Sera daily said. But in the 1990s, she began speaking to students throughout Italy about the Holocaust. Senators-for-life vote in Parliament's upper chamber along with regularly elected senators. Considered role models because of their achievements, they include figures from politics, business, the arts and science. Segre says being chosen for the honor caught her by surprise. "I cannot assign myself importance other than that of being a herald, a person who recounts what she has witnessed," the ANSA news agency quoted her as saying. "I feel like any other woman, a grandmother, and I never thought about this. Knowing I'll be among senators-for-life is an honor and a great responsibility." "Liliana Segre's life is testimony to freedom," Premier Paolo Gentiloni said in a tweet. "As a senator she will point out the value of memory. A precious decision 80 years after the racial laws." Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime introduced the laws targeting Italy's tiny Jewish minority, forcing them out of institutions such as schools and discriminating against them economically. When German troops occupied Italy during World War II, many of Italy's Jews were rounded up in Rome and elsewhere for deportation to Nazi-run death camps. The laws were abolished with Mussolini's demise in 1945. WASHINGTON - The Trump administration is expected to approve a plan to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem as early as next year, rather than waiting for several years, Trump administration officials said Friday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has been considering several options since President Donald Trump, late last year, declared Jerusalem to be Israel's capital and announced the United States would finally move its embassy there from Tel Aviv. Tillerson has said previously that building a new facility that satisfies the significant security requirements is a complex process involving site-selection, permitting and construction. He's said that process is starting immediately but will take at least three years. Trump signs order to move US embassy to Jerusalem (Photo: AP) Yet a temporary plan that has been presented to Tillerson would see an existing US consular building in West Jerusalem designated as the interim embassy until the new one is built, three US officials said. Under the most likely scenario, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and a handful of top aides and support staff would open temporary offices in the Jerusalem annex by this spring -- possibly as early as April, the officials briefed on the matter said. Friedman and the others would retain their workspaces in the old embassy building in Tel Aviv, but the step would allow Trump to say that technically the embassy had moved. Existing US consular building in West Jerusalem (Photo: Amit Shabi) Most embassy operations would remain in Tel Aviv in the short-term, so the annex would effectively be a satellite branch of the Tel Aviv facility. But supporters of the move could make the case that the administration had followed through on its pledge to move the embassy to the holy city and that Tel Aviv staff is merely supporting the Jerusalem office. Two of the officials say Vice President Mike Pence, a vocal pro-Israel advocate within Trump's administration, has been pushing the State Department to accept the proposal quickly so that Pence can announce it during a highly anticipated trip to Israel. Pence departed Friday evening for his visit to the Middle East. Israel will reportedly pay $5 million in compensation to Jordan for the killing of two Jordanian nationals five months ago at the Israeli embassy in Amman, diplomats in the kingdom told Jordanian newspaper Al Ghad on Saturday. The diplomats also said the Israeli embassy in the Jordanian capital will not resume full operations until a new ambassador is appointed. The report comes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday Israel will pay compensations to the Jordanian government and replace Ambassador Einat Shlain. The Border Police released footage on Friday showing its counterterrorism Yamam unit operating in Jenin earlier this week as part of efforts to apprehend the perpetrators of a terror attack near Havat Gilad that claimed the life of Rabbi Raziel Shevah Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter During their raid of the city, the Yamam fighters went from home to home, carried out arrests, and exchanged fire with Palestinian gunmen. Two Yamam fighters were wounded during the raid, one lightly and the other seriously. It appears, however, that Ahmed Jarrar, who headed the terror cell behind the attack, was able to escape the raid and is believed to still be at large. Yamam fighters raid Jenin homes (: ) X The Yamam fighters in Jenin equipped their weapons with silencers in an effort to remain undetected during the complex operation. The operation included the raid of four homes in which four terrorists were hiding. An initial investigation of the raid in Jenin found the two Yamam fighters were wounded during a fire exchange with a Palestinian terrorist who was eventually shot dead. Despite his injury, the seriously wounded fighter was able to not only extract himself and his comrade, but also return fire and radio the rest of the force for backup. In addition to the killed terrorist, two others were arrested during the 12-hour raid. It is yet unclear, however, whether they were part of the terror cell behind Rabbi Shevah's murder. The special counterterrorism unit has been put on high alert and is prepared to deploy in the Samaria region of the West Bank to catch terror cell leader. IDF forces demolished the home of the cell leader, where he was believed to be, but the Palestinians later reported no body was found in the wreckage. Israeli security forces now believe he was either not in the house at all or was able to escape. A cinema in northern Israel is to be named after Israeli-born Hollywood celeb Gal Gadot, star of the blockbuster hit Wonder Woman, the town of Upper Nazareth said this week. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "We are going to name the new cinema after Gal Gadot, an Israeli actress who brings honor to this country," municipal spokeswoman Orna Yosef told AFP. "This is a message for our young people because Gal Gadot is an example of success, who has shown that dreams can be attained." Gal Gadot (Photo: Getty Images) Gadot, 32, won the Miss Israel beauty pageant in 2004 aged 18. After her two-year compulsory military service she went into modelling and then films, breaking into Hollywood with a role in 2009's Fast and Furious. She now lives in Los Angeles. Last year, Lebanon and Tunisia banned Wonder Woman because of Gadot's Israeli army service. The Gal Cinema, which will have two screens, was officially opened on Wednesday with a showing of Israeli director Eran Riklis's thriller Shelter. Upper Nazareth was founded in 1956 adjacent to biblical Nazareth, the largest Arab city in Israel. Upper Nazareth's population of 50,000 is 80 percent Jewish, with the remainder made up of Muslim and Christian Arabs. BEIRUT - Lebanon will let cinemas show Stephen Spielbergs latest film The Post after the interior minister ruled earlier this week against a request to ban it over the directors links to Israel. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Activists had campaigned against the film because Spielberg gave financial support to Israel during its 2006 war with Hezbollah in south Lebanon, a conflict that killed hundreds of Lebanese. Lebanon still regards Israel as an enemy state. I see no obstacle preventing the film from being shown because it has nothing to do with Lebanon or the conflict with the Israeli enemy, Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk told Reuters. The Post George Hanna, head of the publications department in the ministrys General Security branch, said the film oversight committee could recommend films be banned if they constitute positive propaganda for Israel among other reasons. The Post dramatizes the 1971 battle by American newspapers to publish leaked documents, known as the Pentagon Papers, concerning the US governments role in the Vietnam War. In 2017, Lebanon banned two films but permitted 317 commercial and 766 festival films to screen, Hanna said. The Post This year, it has already banned another film, Jungle, pulling it from cinemas after several days of screenings. It is based on a book by a former Israeli navy serviceman about his travels in the Amazon rainforest. Bassam Eid, product manager for Empire Cinemas in Lebanon and distributor of The Post, said social media campaigns have started to put more pressure on Lebanons government over films. Last year Lebanon banned the film Wonder Woman over the starring role of the Israeli actor Gal Gadot. ISTANBUL - Turkey's army said it shelled Kurdish positions in Syria's Afrin region on Friday and Saturday, hitting shelters and hideouts used by militants from three groups, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), PYD and YPG. The militants had earlier fired on Turkish positions, the army said in a statement. President Tayyip Erdogan said this week he would crush the Syrian Kurdish militia in Afrin, which he viewed as a security threat to Turkey. Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli said on Friday that Turkey's operation in the region had started with cross-border shelling, but no troops have gone into Afrin. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has instructed not to invite Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef to IDF events and ceremonies over his support of comments against the army made by religious-Zionist Rabbi Shlomo Aviner and Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, he said Saturday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Eliyahu and Aviner have been banned from army events as well until they take back their comments, the defense minister added. Rabbin Aviner instructed religious-Zionist men not to enlist in the IDF if they're placed in a unit that includes women, while Rabbi Eliyahu called for the dismissal of IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot over what he calls a crisis in the army concerning the integration of women in more roles. Defense Minister Lieberman (Photo: Nahum Segel) "Rabbis encourage their students to join the more elite units," Rabbi Eliyahu added. "They were merely calling on them to not take part in co-ed field units where the military bar is lowered to promote political agendas. Only backwards regimes do not allow criticism of the military. This is Israel." Earlier Saturday, Lieberman said, "I've instructed the army that not Israel's chief rabbi (Yosef), Rabbi Aviner or Rabbi Eliyahu can take part in any event in the IDF," Lieberman said during a visit to Ashdod to support businesses open on Shabbat. "It's unreasonable to attack the IDF, to speak against service, and then still participate in military events." Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef "Women have always been an integral part of the Jewish people's security, from Deborah the prophetess, to Sarah (Aaronsohn) of Nili (spy organization) and Hannah Szenes," Lieberman stressed. "This radicalization now is completely unreasonable, it has no place. Both the Chief Rabbi of Israel and the Rabbi of Safed, who are state employees, must represent the state's positions and not go against them," he added. Rabbi Shlomo Aviner (Photo: Gil Yohanan) During his visit to the Big shopping center in Ashdod, Lieberman also came out against new legislation that allows the interior minister to close stores on Saturday, the Jewish day of rest. "Those who say the Supermarkets Law has no meaning are mistaken and misleading. The Supermarkets Law unfortunately has far-reaching consequences, as we're seeing in Ashdod. Until recently, there was harmony in Ashdod, and now the city is divided. I hope it doesn't happen in other cities," the defense minister said. "This division undermines our national resilience. This entire thing is creating unnecessary tension and friction. The last thing we want is to see a divided Israeli society. I hope both the heads of the religious-Zionist public, and those of the Haredi public, will calm down," he added. Safed comes out against its chief rabbi Earlier this week, the mayor of Safed sent a letter to IDF Chief Eisenkot distancing his city from the positions of Rabbi Eliyahu, who serves as Safed's chief rabbi. In his letter, Mayor Ilan Shohat stressed that not only do Eliyahu's comments not represent the views of the people of Safed, they stand in complete contradiction to reality in the city, where many women enlist in the IDF. "Had the rabbi known the kind of strategic and intelligence roles the city's women fulfill, and what is their contribution to the security and strength of the state, he may have changed his mind," Shohat said on Thursday. Safed, he said, is second in the country in the number of women serving as officers in the IDF, with over 11 percent going to officers' course. Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu (Photo: Emannuel Maimon) Shohat went on to point out that "hundreds of Safed's women prefer to do full military service to national service, because in the army they can have a religious, traditional lifestyle to a greater degree than they can in national service." The mayor invited the IDF chief to meet with students in the city as part of a plan to encourage the city's youth to serve in significant roles in the army. "We wish you continued blessings and success, for the future of the State of Israel," Shohat concluded his letter, a copy of which was also sent to Defense Minister Lieberman. Shohat's letter received backing from Capt. (res.) S., a Safed woman who served as an officer in the Military Intelligence Directorate for seven years and continues doing reserves duty to this day. She was angered by Rabbi Eliyahu's comments, saying, "His words are unacceptable to me. He has a lot of influence, and he abuses his position. The city rabbi cannot disparage women and put them down. I served with both religious men and women, and there was no problem with this, there has never been a difference between a man and a woman." She said she was taught at school in the city that "you can get anywhere if you want to. It's not your gender that counts, but your level of ambition that is going to lead to success in life." "The rabbi's comments are disgraceful, miserable and do not reflect the values of the city, which is characterized by mutual respect between the different populations living in it," she added. "I allow myself to speak for all women. They can all reach key positions, and no one will stop them." Israel has reportedly paid $5 million in compensation to Jordan for the death of two of its citizens at the Israeli embassy in Amman in July and of a Jordanian judge at the Allenby Bridge border crossing in March 2014, diplomats in the kingdom told Jordanian newspaper Al Ghad on Saturday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Israel has formally apologized for the deaths of 17-year-old Mohammad Jawawdah and Dr. Bashar Hamarneh by an Israeli security guard at the embassy in Amman, and for the killing of Palestinian-Jordanian judge Raed Zeiter at the Allenby Bridge border crossing in March of 2014. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Friday that Israel has agreed to pay compensation to the Jordanian government - but not to the families of the three dead. Funeral of 17-year-old Mohammad Jawawdah (Photo: Reuters) The Jordanian diplomats, however, told Al Ghad the money was transferred directly to the families of the Jordanian dead. They further emphaized the Israeli embassy in Amman will not resume full operations until a new ambassador is appointed to replace Ambassador Einat Shlain, who was recalled after the shooting in July. "Israel and Jordan have reached an agreement following the incident in Amman involving an Israeli diplomat on July 23, 2017 and the incident in which a Jordanian judge was killed on March 10, 2014," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement Friday. "The Israeli embassy in Jordan will return to full activity immediately. The Israeli authorities will continue reviewing the materials regarding the July 2017 incident and anticipate making a decision in the coming weeks," the statement continued. "Israel attaches great importance to its strategic relations with Jordan, and the two countries will act to advance their cooperation and to strengthen the peace treaty between them." In March 2014, Jordanian judge of Palestinian descent, Raed Zeiter, was shot dead at the Allenbey border crossing after trying to attack an IDF soldier and snatch his weapon. In late July 2017, an Israeli embassy guard shot dead a Jordanian teenager who stabbed him with a screwdriver. The Jordanian owner of the property rented by the Israeli embassy was hit by a stray bullet and killed. This led to the evacuation of the embassy in Amman. MOSCOW - Diplomats from Russia and the United States are likely to hold their next round of consultations on North Korea in Moscow on a date yet to be decided, TASS news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov as saying on Saturday. He also said a delegation from North Korea might visit Moscow before the start of next month's Olympic Games. British-Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor has donated $1 million to five charities working with refugees worldwide, in a bid to alleviate a record-breaking global displacement crisis. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Kapoor, who was born to an Indian father and Iraqi Jewish mother, won the Genesis Prize - dubbed the Jewish Nobel - last year, for his commitment to Jewish values. Like many Jews, I do not have to go far back in my family history to find people who were refugees, he said in a statement. Anish Kapoor (Photo: Amit Shabi) Directing Genesis Prize funds to this cause is a way of helping people who, like my forebears not too long before them, are fleeing persecution. The United Nations (UN) says the world is witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record, with more than 65 million people forced to flee their homes, surpassing numbers after the Second World War more than 70 years ago. UN efforts to agree a voluntary pact on safe, orderly and regular migration suffered a setback in December when the United States quit the negotiations. In recent months, awareness of the plight faced by tens of millions of refugees and displaced persons worldwide has fallen significantly while the refugee crisis continues unabated, said Kapoor, a longtime social activist. Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh (Photo: Reuters) Kapoor, who lived in Israel briefly before settling in Britain in the 1970s, won the Turner Prize in 1991 and created a Holocaust memorial for Londons Liberal Jewish Synagogue. Winners of the Genesis Prize award $1 million to charities of their choice, with the aim of inspiring the next generation of Jews. The Genesis Prize is a partnership between the Genesis Prize Foundation, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel. The Prize is endowed by the Genesis Prize Foundation and awarded annually. One of Kapoors grantees is the International Rescue Committee, which is working with refugees in Uganda - home to more than 1 million people who have fled war in South Sudan - and with stateless Rohingya in Myanmar. He is also providing food for refugees in Greece and France and medical care for Syrian refugees. Previous winners include former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the actor Michael Douglas. The 2018 winner, the Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman, plans to focus her award funds on promoting women's equality. ISTANBUL - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday a military operation in Syria's Afrin has begun on the ground and another operation in nearby Manbij would follow. Speaking to the members of his ruling AK Party in the western province of Kutahya, Erdogan did not specify if that meant Turkish troops had crossed the border. Turkey's army said earlier on Saturday it shelled Kurdish positions in Afrin on Friday and Saturday, hitting shelters and hideouts used by militants from three groups. KADUNA - Two Americans and two Canadians have been freed after being kidnapped in the nothern Nigerian state of Kaduna, a police spokesman said on Saturday. Mukhtar Aliyu, a spokesman for Kaduna state police, said they were freed on Friday after being kidnapped on Wednesday. He said no ransom was paid. DUBAI - Yemen's Houthi movement fired a ballistic missile toward the southern Saudi province of Najran on Saturday, the group's official al-Masirah TV reported, and a Saudi military spokesman said air defense forces had intercepted the missile. The TV channel said the short-range missile targeted a military base. There were no reports of casualties or damage. Hamas knows it has lost the battle for the cross-border tunnels and will likely redirect its resources to its rockets production and naval activity, a senior officer in the IDF's Southern Command said Thursday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Israel has so far completed four kilometers of the 65 kilometer-long underground wall set to be built along the Gaza border to stop terror groups in the strip from digging tunnels into Israeli territory. According to the IDF officer, hundreds of workers have already built the obstacle near the city of Sderot and the border-adjacent communities of Netiv HaAsara, Nahal Oz, Sufa, Holit and Kerem Shalom. Tunnel revealed on the Israel-Gaza-Egypt border near Kerem Shalom (Photo: Reuters) The obstacle project is set to be completed by mid-2019. But thanks to the recent technologies being developed in Israel , military officials estimated the IDF would be able to destroy all of Hamas's cross-border tunnels even before the completion of the underground wall, with more tunnels expected to be uncovered and demolished soon. On October 30, 2017, the IDF blew up a tunnel reaching 200 meters into Israeli territory and some 2 kilometers away from Kibbutz Kissufim on the southern Gaza border. The explosion caused the death of 12 Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists. That tunnel was being dug at the rate of 10-20 meters a day. At its deepest, the tunnel reached 26 meters below ground. Inside, IDF soldiers found 1.5 kilometers of concrete slabs and arches, and even concrete floor at an area of the tunnel beginning in Khan Yunis and leading into Israel. The tunnel's height was about 1.80 meters, while its width was about 80 centimeters. It is big enough to allow a large force to move quickly through it, carry out an attack or a kidnapping, and escape back into the strip. Tunnel revealed on the Israel-Gaza-Egypt border near Kerem Shalom (Photo: Reuters) These developments have made the cross-border tunnels a costly endeavor, which requires a lot of resources and is likely not as effective as it once was. Regardless, Hamas is expected to continue building the defensive tunnels inside the Gaza Strip. "Every day we can reach an escalation in Gaza," the Southern Command officer told military correspondents during a tour of the tunnel on the Gaza border on Thursday. "We're improving our preparedness, while Hamas watches in desperation as the millions it invested in iron and infrastructure for the tunnels come to naught." The officer went on to explain that the main issue in the strip is the economic crisis, "which led Hamas to reconciliation with (PA President) Abbas. Gaza is at the worst condition it has been in over the last decade." He added that the solution for Gaza "will not come from the American aid to UNRWA, but from international projects." He stressed, however, that Gaza's situation will not improve until the Israeli MIAs and POWs are held there by Hamas. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated Saturday that a Turkish offensive against the Syrian Kurdish-controlled enclave of Afrin was "de facto" underway and added that it would be followed by an operation against another Kurdish-held territory. Speaking in Turkey's western city of Kutahya, Erdogan said Turkey's next target would be the Syrian town of Manbij, which lies west of the Euphrates river, and which a US-backed Kurdish-led forced seized from the Islamic State group in 2016. Turkey has massed troops and tanks along the border but there has been no indication yet that they have crossed into Syria. Turkish artillery has been shelling the region and, on Saturday, Turkey's military said it retaliated against fire into Turkey from Afrin. Erdogan again accused the United States of not keeping a promise to force the Kurdish militia to leave Manbij after its capture from ISIS. "Since promises concerning Manbij have not been met, no one has the right to say a word," he said. MOSCOW - Russian Chief of the General Staff of the armed forces Valery Gerasimov and his US counterpart Joseph Dunford have discussed the situation in Syria by phone, RIA news agency reported on Saturday, citing the Russian Defence Ministry. Details of the call have not been disclosed. The talks took place after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said earlier on Saturday a military operation in Syria's Kurdish-controlled Afrin region had begun after cross-border shelling by the Turkish army. CAIRO - US Vice President Mike Pence arrived in Cairo Saturday for meetings with Egyptian leader Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on security and counterterrorism issues. Pence arrived in Egypt's capital hours after a budget impasse in Washington led to a US government shutdown. He's going ahead with his four-day trip to the Middle East, citing national security and diplomatic reasons. Pence and al-Sisi are expected to discuss security cooperation between the US and Egypt, and efforts to fight the Islamic State group. Pence plans to travel to Jordan later Saturday and then to Israel on Sunday. He's not expected to meet with Palestinians officials. BERLIN - Germany is lobbying among European allies to agree new sanctions against Iran in an attempt to prevent US President Donald Trump from terminating an international deal curbing Tehran's nuclear program, Der Spiegel magazine reported on Saturday. The report cited diplomats in Brussels as saying that Germany was pushing for new sanctions together with Britain and France to show the United States that European allies were taking Trump's criticism against Iran seriously. A German foreign ministry spokeswoman and another government spokesman both declined to comment on the report. Germany is lobbying among European allies to agree to new sanctions against Iran in an attempt to prevent President Donald Trump from terminating an international deal curbing Tehran's nuclear program, Der Spiegel magazine reported on Saturday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The report cited diplomats in Brussels as saying that Germany was pushing for new sanctions together with Britain and France to show the United States that European allies were taking Trump's criticism against Iran seriously. Chancellor Angela Merkel's Germany is reportedly weighing levying new sanctions against Iran (Photo: Getty Images) A German foreign ministry spokeswoman and another government spokesman both declined to comment on the report. Germany wants to punish Iran for its missile program and its meddling in conflicts in other Middle East countries, such as the war in Yemen and Syria , the report said. Above all, the aim of the Europeans is to prevent the United States from terminating the nuclear agreement sealed in 2015, as repeatedly threatened by Trump, Der Spiegel reported. Iran and President Hassan Rouhani (L) said they would retaliate against any new sanctions by President Trump (Photo: AFP, Getty Images) Iran said last week it would retaliate against new sanctions imposed by Washington after Trump set an ultimatum to fix "disastrous flaws" in a deal curbing Tehran's nuclear program. Trump has said he would waive nuclear sanctions on Iran for the last time to give the United States and European allies a final chance to amend the pact. Washington also imposed sanctions on the head of Iran's judiciary and others. BEIRUT - Syrian troops and allied forces seized an air base in Idlib province on Saturday, pressing their offensive into the country's largest insurgent stronghold, state television said. The province in northwest Syria has become a focal point of the war, with government forces taking scores of villages in recent weeks. With the help of Iran-backed militias and Russian air power, they advanced towards Abu al-Duhur military airport, where rebels had ousted the army in 2015. Public opinion polls marking the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump's inaugurationcelebrated Saturdaywere less than flattering for the embattled commander-in-chief. According to a worldwide poll by the Gallup research company, the United States' standing in the world has reached an all-time low: only 30 percent of respondents said they were pleased with America's leadership. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter According to the poll, Israel is interestingly one of only four countries where the US's stance showed the opposite trend and significantly improved in the past year. The results marked a severe downturn compared to last year, Barack Obama's last year in office, when the US's approval rating stood at 48 percent. President Trump has steered the US to an all-time low in Gallup's international approval rating poll (Photo: AP) Topping this year's poll is Germany with 41 percent, while China received a rating nearly identical to the American's with 31 percent, and Russia coming in only three percentage points below their American rivals. The US rating was dubbed "historic and unprecedented" by the American-based research outfit, as it marks the lowest such rating the US was awarded since Gallup began polling internationally. In fact, the US scored higher numbers even in George W. Bush's last year in officescoring 34 compared to 2017's 30 percent approval. German Chancellor Merkel (L) and Chinese President Xi. Both countries showed higher approval ratings in the poll (Photo: AP) When breaking the rating down by countries, it's evident the American rating has dropped by at least ten percent in 65 countriesmost of whom are American allies in Europe and the American continent. In Canada, for instance, the US approval rating dropped a whopping 40 percent, from 60 in 2016 to merely 20 in 2017. America's southern neighbor, Mexico, also showed a drop with a 16 percent approval ratingmarking an all-time low. The lowest approval rating for American leadership was voiced by respondents from Russia and Iceland, where only 8 percent voted confidence for Trump's administration. However, Gallup did note the aforementioned data may be something of an encouraging sign, as it marked a rise in the Russian numbers, compared to last year's 2 percent approval. Russian President Putin (L) and President Trump. Russian approval of US leadership went up compared to last year (Photo: Reuters) However, there were some exceptions to the US drop in approval rating. The American standing has strengthen among residents of four countriesBelarus, Macedonia, Liberia and Israel. One of the reasons for the rise among Israeli respondents, Gallup said, was Trump's declaration of recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital X Trump's standing within the United States itself was not much improved. A new poll ordered by NPR-PBS showed that a majority of Americans53 percentsaw their president's first year in the White House as a failure. Holding the opposite view, 40 percent of respondents considered Trump's first year to be a "success" or a "major success." The poll further showed that 61 percent of Americans believed Trump has divided the country since his election. In addition, only 51 percent of Republicans said that Trump's leadership met their expectations during his first year in office. Political sources commenting on the conclusion of the diplomatic crisis with Jordan said that the process took months and was carried out via a Mossad agent who reported to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu also expressed thanks towards Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblat, US envoys to the Middle East, who helped broker the deal. The resolution which involved monetary compensation was considered a high priority due to the strategic importance of the security relationship with Jordan. KABUL - A group of as many as four gunmen attacked the Intercontinental Hotel in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday night, seizing hostages and exchanging gunfire with security forces as the building caught fire and residents and staff fled. Hotel manager Ahmad Haris Nayab, who managed to escape unhurt, said the attackers had got into the main part of the hotel through a kitchen and people fled amid bursts of gunfire on all sides. Afghan interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said many details of the raid, which came days after a US embassy warning of possible attacks on hotels in the capital, were still unclear and there were no official casualty figures. However Nasrat Rahimi, another interior ministry spokesman, said several people had been killed and at least six wounded. In addition, at least two of the raiders had been killed as Afghan Special Forces cleared the first floor and moved to the second, battling the attackers who appeared to have a large supply of hand grenades. According to one witness, who did not want to be quoted by name, the attackers took some hotel staff and guests hostage. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the latest in a long series of attacks in Kabul underlined once more the precarious situation in the Afghan capital, where hundreds of civilians were killed last year despite ever increasing security measures. Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid attended a protest in Ashdod Saturday in support of residents' struggle against ramped up enforcement of business closures on Shabbat. Mirroring last week's turnout, some 2,500 residents arrived at city hall to protest what they called preferential treatment for the city's Haredi population. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "We're here because the deplorable Supermarket Law has to go," Lapid told protesters. "And if we win the next elections, we'll cancel it because Haredi coercion cannot prevail. They set the tone for Israel's majority. "We don't need Shabbat for everyone and don't need a divided Shabbat. We're here to back up the people of Ashdod. Anyone who denigrates the country, its army or the chief of staff, cannot preach morality to IDF soldiers." Some 2,500 gathered in Ashdod to protest religious coercion Ashdod residents protested closures of businesses on Shabbat and levying of fines on stores in the Big Fashion shopping complex. Protesters further maintained that the municipality was also discriminating against the secular public in areas of construction and education. During the protest, signs were displayed saying, "This is not the Middle Ages", "We're here to return Ashdod to the Ashdodites" and "A free Ashdod against religious coercion." The protest was also attended by likeminded residents of other cities. "No one is going to dictate to us how to mark Shabbat," said one such resident. "You cannot force a religious way of life on us." One of the speakers at the protest said, "Our struggle and protests are not merely on the issue of Shabbat and businesses remaining open, but revolve around democracy and my freedom as a Jew who has no other country to live in, to live in my own countrywithout religious coercionin whichever manner I see fit." The protest was attended by Yesh Atid Chairman Lapid (Photo: Matan Tzuri) "Haredi MKs, get your hands off Ashdod," the speaker demanded. "Right-wing people are also here with us, which is good. I hope Ashdod will serve as a shining example." Guy, an Ashdod resident who attended the protest, said, "I'm truly proud to take part in this crazy struggle. It's a struggle for simultaneously upholding the dignity of religion and preserving democracy. One should not come at the expense of the other. We respect the Haredi population and will continue to do so." "The people here today are private citizens and there are no political entities behind them. The protest is not anti-Haredi, it's against decision makers in this building (referring to the Ashdod municipalityed)," Guy added. "We want to show this is not a passing fad. The protest began a week ago and will not cease." 'This is not the Middle Ages' Earlier Saturday Defense Minister and Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman visited the city's Big Fashion complex to display his support for the residents' struggle. During the visit, Lieberman commented on the combustible Supermarket Law , and said, "Whoever claims the law has no meaning is both wrong and misleading. The law, unfortunately, has far-reaching implications. We can see its influence right here in Ashdod." "Until recently residents lived here in harmony," Lieberman added, "but now the city is divided and I hope that won't spread to other cities. This division harms our national strength." "This entire affair simply creates undue tensions and friction. The last thing we want to see is Israeli society split asunder. I hope the leaders of the religious-Zionist public, as well as the Haredi public, calm down. Just like I respect anyone going to a synagogue to pray on Saturday morning, I expect them to respect someone having a cup of coffee with friends," Lieberman declared. Ministers Landver (L) and Lieberman during their visit to Ashdod Saturday morning (Photo: Roee Idan) Some 2,000 Ashdod residents participated in a similar protest last week. Protesters called on religious and Haredi youths who happened to wander by to conscript in the IDF. Inna Furman, a teacher who organized the protest last week, voiced her concerns that following the Supermarket Law's approval businesses operating during Shabbat in Ashdod will begin closing down. "Following a post I published a Whatsapp group was opened with five residents as members. From five we grew to ten, from ten to a hundredand that's how we got more than two thousand people to protest in the streets," she said. Furman and her compatriots collected donations from residents who objected to toughened municipal policy on Shabbat commerce enforcement and purchased a sound system to be used in the protest. "This is a popular social struggle. We want to be heard. Enough. MKs in the State of Israel cannot enact legislation that flies against civilians, and neither can the Ashdod municipality," Furman said. "That's why we collected signatures against religious coercion. We demand to be heard." Hundreds of academics from universities and colleges put their names to an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin and members of the Knesset calling on them not to expel the asylum seekers from Sudan and Eritrea. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "Do what the world should have done for us," pleaded the signatories. "We are calling on you to overturn the government decision, to halt the forced expulsion of asylum seekers in Israel. Anti expulsion protest (Photo: AP) "We must remember that we too were once persecuted and victimized. We too were once aliens and we should happily embrace refugees who have fled their homeland in order to save their, and their families, lives." Protest against expelling asylum seekers X Over 470 academics have signed the letter, an initiative of Professor Amit Bernstein of Haifa University's psychology department, and marked only one in a series of protest measures planned by Israeli educators and students. "The history of our people demands of the State of Israel to serve as an example in treating children and adults seeking shelter from ethnic cleansing, persecution,, political violence, human trafficking, rape and torture," they wrote. "The State of Israel is sufficiently big and strong in order to offer temporary shelter to tens of thousands of asylum seekers from east Africa, until such time that they can return home in safety and security." In the letter, the signatories also demanded that, "We must cease calling the refugees 'infiltrators.' Asylum seekers are people who were forcefully torn from their homes under tragic circumstances." Signatories asking government to stop expulsion The petition goes on to say, "What will we tell our children and grandchildren when they ask us, 'What did you do for the Sudanese and Eritrean asylum seekers? How did you protect them? Did you do the right thing? What was their fate?'" The letter concludes with a plea: "Do the right thing!" At the Kibbutzim College of Education, 50 lecturers and students organized a series of public relations and protest measures against the planned expulsion, with the support of the college administration and in the hope that others will join them. "We are planning a demonstration next week, in front of the college on Namir Road, as well as a joint campaign involving lecturers and students including setting up kiosks that will provide information during breaks," Nimrod Aloni, head of the Institute for Advanced Education at the college and one of the organizers, told Ynet. Asylum seekers in the Holot dentition facility (Photo: Motti Kimchi) "They are being portrayed as a cancer, a health hazard and spreaders of diseaseas if they are a dangerous enemy," said the leaflets handed out to students. "They are tuning into the racist aspects of Judaism in order to maintain racial purity. They repress the memory of the recent Jewish experience of (being subject to) persecution and being survivors. They are imprisoned without trial in mass camps as if they are not human. And now they are being sent (via manipulative measures) to a terrible fate , to being robbed in Africa or drowning in the Mediterranean Sea. "As citizens of Israel from across the political spectrum, we call on you to stand against this evil, to stop the expulsion of refugees, to maintain our common humanity, and to refuse cooperation with the moral crime inherent in expulsion," continued the letter. The college administration wrote that it is "lending its support to the joint initiative by students and faculty to prevent the expulsion of asylum seekers. As an educational institute that sees as its mission to produce humanist educators who have social and environmental responsibility and who are committed to the sanctity of human life, human dignity and equality, the college administration commends any initiative and action aimed at promoting these basic values. " Detainees in Saharonim prison in 2012 (Photo: Haim Horenstein) Other petitions targeting academics were circulated on social networks in the last few days. "We are deeply opposed to the expulsion, which we find especially appalling because a state established as a result of genocide, to be a refuge to survivors, should not behave thusly," said one such petition written by Dr. Ilan Saban, Dr. Yuval Ilon and Dr. Tali Kritzman-Amir. The expulsion plan Israel recently notified thousands of Africans who entered the country illegally that they have three months to leave or face incarceration. The Population and Immigration Authority called on migrants from Sudan and Eritrea to leave "to their country of origin or to a third country," meaning Rwanda or Uganda. Those who leave by the end of March will be given $3,500, along with airfare and other incentives. Israel and Rwanda recently signed an agreement whereby asylum seekers can be sent there even without their consent. Asylum seekers have been sent to Rwanda for the past three years as part of a plan encouraging voluntary immigration. Those who do not leave willingly will be detained at the Saharonim prison. Beginning March, the incentivizing sum given to those who leave willingly will be decreased. Employers of those who do not leave will also face prosecution. According to Interior Ministry data, 4,012 illegal immigrants willingly left Israel during 2017, among them 3,332 from countries other than Sudan and Eritrea. Humanitarian and immigrant advocacy groups have condemned the government's decision saying expulsions "put refugees' lives in danger." A group of protesters cornered Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit outside a synagogue near his Petah Tikva home Saturdaywhich he attended to pray for his recently departed mother's souland pelted him with invective. A Justice Ministry security guard who happened nearby extracted Mandelblit to safety. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The incident took place at the Nigunei Haim Synagogue. While some worshipers left the synagogue to recite Kiddush Levanaha series of prayers blessing the new moonMandelblit stepped outside to recite the Kaddish prayer for his deceased mother. The altercation outside Attorney General Mandelblit's synagogue (: , ) X When protesters spotted him, they called out, "You ruined this country." A verbal altercation then broke out between the protesters and one of the worshipers, who denounced the demonstration being held before Shabbat ended. Protesters, meanwhile, vowed to return to the weekly protests in the future. AG Mandelblit was accosted outside his local synagogue by protesters (Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch) Justice Minister Spokesman Moshe Cohen commented on the irregular incident, saying, "The provocation in the synagogue where the attorney general prays in Petah Tikvawhich desecrated Shabbat and disturbed worshipersis deplorable. It's an utter disgrace. These are extremists who disseminate incitement and lies, and they hold nothing back. Red lines have been crossed here." Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked added, "The lines of legitimate protest have been crossed recently. Harassment during Shabbatand at the attorney general's synagogue, no lessis violent thuggery and denigrating behavior." The altercation outside the synagogue (Photo: Ariel Schnabel, Makor Rishon) One of the people accosting Mandelblit outside the synagogue had previously participated in protests outside the attorney general's Petah Tikva home. however, Eldad Yaniv, one of the protest's chief organizers, said, "I have nothing to do with that incident and I'm not in the habit of commenting on things I have nothing to do with." Yaniv also stressed that the people involved were not part of his anti-corruption protests. Police received word of the incident and arrived on the scene, but by the time they had the crowd had already dispersed. It was Mandelblit's wife who took him home after Shabbat ended. (Photo: Ariel Schnabel, Makor Rishon) Herzog: 'Appalled by protesters' insensitivity' Opposition Head MK Yitzhak Herzog said, "I'm appalled by the insensitive protesters' inflexibility in disturbing the attorney general as he came to pray and recite Kaddish over his late mother. It's an inhumane act. Even the freedom to protest, sanctified in Israeli democracy as it is, has lines that must not be crossed." Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein also voiced his displeasure. "Hounding Attorney General Mandelblit while he's reciting Kaddish over his late mother crosses all boundaries. This barbarous, thuggish act is completely out of bounds. I call on protesters to put an end to sights like these by reining themselves in and exhibiting judgment and sensitivity." The weekly Tel Aviv anti-corruption protest (Photo: Shaul Golan) Meanwhile, some 700 people participated in the weekly protest against governmental corruption, held for the 61st week in a row , this week once again emanating from HaBima Square, where speeches were held and a march then began towards Rothschild Street, where businessman Kobi Maimon resides. Business mogul Maimon owns parts of Israel's natural gas drilling operations, and his son was covertly recorded in a 2015 conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's son Yair, in which they denigrated women and discussed the passage of the gas drilling rights agreement. Signs were spotted in the rally saying, "Both on the left and the right, the people are the sovereign", "Corrupt, go home" and "Brothers to the war on corruption." Hundreds of protesters chanted, "Bibi, resign, we don't believe you anymore" and "Corrupt to jail." (Photo: Shaul Golan) Meni Naftali, former caretaker at the Prime Minister's Residence and the protests' other chief organizers, said during the rally, "Lift those signs high and cry out, 'Bibi, go home.' We started demonstrating at Mandelblit's and we should ask him: why is the prime minister always under watch? "Because there was and there will be recommendations in a month, tops. This protest isn't about right, left or center. It's yours. As soon as we get a million people out there, and we will We're here every week. Netanyahu is scared of the protests," Naftali added. The former caretaker then concluded by saying, "Tell Mandelblit and Netanyahu: 'Let my people go!'" MOSCOW - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of state Rex Tillerson have discussed steps to ensure stability in northern Syria in a phone call on Saturday, Russia's foreign ministry said on its Facebook page. It said they also talked about promoting a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis with the support of the United Nations. Within 12 hours of Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman's visit to Ashdod Saturday morning to support the struggle of the city's secular population against what they consider religion coercionand his decision to bar three rabbis from IDF events due to their utterancesShas Chairman Aryeh Deri retaliated with scathing criticism of the Yisrael Beytenu minister. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "I'm done with Avigdor Lieberman," Deri told confidants Saturday evening. "He has trampled Shabbat without care and crossed every conceivable line, something even Lapid the Elder (referring to Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid's father Tommy, who famously clashed with Shased), one of the greatest apostates, did not dare do. Some things go well beyond personal friendships." During his show of support in Ashdod, Lieberman announced Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, Safed Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu and Rabbi Shlomo Aviner will be barred from attending official IDF events due to their attacks on the army's Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot. Interior Minister Deri (R) said he was 'done with Lieberman' (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg, Avi Roccah) "Rabbis encourage their students to join the more elite units," Rabbi Eliyahu added. "They were merely calling on them to not take part in co-ed field units where the military bar is lowered to promote political agendas. Only backwards regimes do not allow criticism of the military. This is Israel." Rabbi Eliyahu threatened to sue Lieberman for his 'lies, incitement' (Photo: Emannuel Maimon) The Safed rabbi further maintained Lieberman was both wrong and misleading in linking the argument to the Israel Air Force's first female aviation squadron commander , as he claimed he was making a broader point on the drop in motivation to serve in the army and was not referring to her specifically. Earlier Saturday, Lieberman said, "I've instructed the army that not Israel's chief rabbi (Yosef), Rabbi Aviner or Rabbi Eliyahu can take part in any event in the IDF," Lieberman said during a visit to Ashdod to support businesses open on Shabbat. "It's unreasonable to attack the IDF, to speak against service, and then still participate in military events." Lieberman's visit to Ashdod on Shabbat incensed Deri (Photo: Roee Idan) Earlier this week, Rabbi Aviner, one of the more prominent leaders in religious-Zionism, said, "Until such time as there's complete separation between men and women in the IDF, you must not enlist." Safed Rabbi Eliyahu said Aviner's utterance showed how "grave" the situation was, and called on Chief of Staff Eisenkot to resign. CAIRO - US Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday told Egypt's leader the United States would support a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians if the two sides agreed, seeking to reassure a key Arab ally over President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Pence said he assured Sisi that the United States was committed to preserving the status quo of holy sites in Jerusalem and had come to no final resolution on boundaries for the two parties. "My perception was that he was encouraged by that message," Pence said. "(Sisi) noted that a solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will only come through negotiations based on a two-state solution, and Egypt would spare no effort to support this," a statement from the Egyptian presidency said. Vice President Mike Pence will be touching down in Israel Sunday for his first official visit to the country as President Donald Trump's second-in-command. Despite the occasion, Pence's visit will be very low-key, possibly due to his administration's stained ties with the Palestinians and others in the region. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter In fact, the vice president, considered a stalwart friend of Israel, will not be meeting any Palestinian officials due to their boycott of the Trump administration in the wake of the president's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a statement propelled and encouraged by Pence. Pence's visit may be more attuned to reaping the political rewards of his support baseAmerican Evangelicals and Jewish supporters of the Republican party. While Pence's children did not join him, his wife Karen is accompanying him on his Middle Eastern tour. VP Mike Pence (R) and his wife Karen will be visiting Israel Sunday (Photo: Reuters) Pence will also touch on the hot-button issue of moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and will clarify it was not merely an empty promise but one the administration intended to stick to. Along those lines, the New York Times reported over the weekend that American Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and a limited staff will begin operations in Jerusalem as early as next year. Pence's Air Force 2 jet is expected to land at Ben Gurion Airport Sunday at 9:30pm. He will be greeted by Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, but no state welcoming ceremony will be held at the airfield. The following day Pence will be greeted at the Prime Minister's Office with a reception ceremony, but one without any speeches or declarations. Pence will then take a working meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. VP Pence (L) and PM Netanyahu will hold a working meeting (Photo: Avi Ohayon/GPO) A private Kotel visit Pence will be arriving to the Knesset Monday at 1:30pm and make the aforementioned speech before the parliament's plenum at 2pm. He will then meet Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein. Later in the day, he will be arriving at the Prime Minister's Residence for a gala dinner with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the pair's wives. Netanyahu and Pence will then make joint statements. Then, Pence will convene with President Rueven Rivlin Tuesday morning. His wife Karen will be meeting the president's wife Nechama separately. At 12pm Pence will visit Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum and will place a wreath at the Yizkor memorial hall. The American vice president will then leave the museum for a private visit to the Kotel at 1:45pm, accompanied by Kotel Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch but no senior Israeli officials. Immediately following his visit, he and his entourage will make their way back to Ben Gurion and Air Force 2 to depart Israel. The vice president will be following in President Trump's footsteps and privately visit the Kotel (: AP) Pence will not be visiting the Palestinian Authority anddespite being a devout Christianwill not be praying at Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre or any of the sites holy to Christianity in northern Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu said in anticipation of Pence's visit that it represented "further testament to the powerful link between Israel and the United States. We will be discussing several important items on the political and international agendas." Joint List Chairman MK Ayman Odeh announced that his party's Arab MKs will be boycotting Pence's Knesset speech. "I was asked whether there was any change in our position vis-a-vis Vice President Pence's visit," Odeh said. "He is a dangerous man with a messianic vision that includes the destruction of the entire region, arriving as emissary of an even more dangerous man, a political pyromaniac, racist and misogynist who must not be a leader in our region. The entire Joint List will be boycotting his speech." Joint List Chairman MK Odeh said his party will be boycotting Pence's speech (Photo: Knesset) Anticipating Pence's visit to Israel, the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conducted a public opinion poll according to which 71 percent of Israelis believe Israel's relationship with the US has improved since Trump took office. Furthermore, 31 percent believed the US's position as a superpower grew stronger since Trump ascended to the White House, while 31 percent believed it weakened and 38 percent thought it remained unchanged. In addition, the majority of the public believed Trump would be able to promote a significant peace push. VP Pence speaking at press conference with Egypt's al-Sisi () X Before his planned visit to Israel, Pence touched down in Cairo Saturday evening for a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. A spokesman for the Egyptian leader said after the meeting that al-Sisi noted to his guest the strategic nature of the Egypt-US relationship, which lean on a long history of cooperation. Al-Sisi further elucidated the importance of the relationship, which "constituted one of the stabilizing factors in the Middle East." Pence (L) met with Egyptian President al-Sisi Saturday (Photo: AP) The pair also spoke of the American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, with an Egyptian source saying that "President al-Sisi made clear Egypt's principled stance on the Palestinian issuesupporting the rights of the Palestinian people to create an independent country with east Jerusalem as its capital." "Settling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," the Egyptian source further expounded, "was only to be done through negotiations based on the two-state solution, which Egypt will spare no resources to support." Al-Sisi concluded by stating the importance of the US continuing to shoulder the burden of acting as mediator in such negotiations. Respected Ghanaian music producer and sound engineer, Zapp Mallet is lamenting that sex is destroying the moral fabric of the Ghanaian society. Yen.com.gh brings to you the latest news in Ghana Music Producer, Zapp Mallet READ ALSO: 6 crucial facts you probably didn't know about the new KATH maternity block According to the Zapp Mallet, the only thing which has currently dominated the Ghanaian society is the desperate attempts by individuals wanting to have sexual intercourse. In a Facebook post, the music producer revealed that this culture is seriously lowering and destroying standards across all sectors in Ghana. Why are some people disappointed with the journalists and the questions they asked the president? Noooooo. Its just a mere reflection of todays society. Our journalists dont fall from the sky, the sound engineer said. Mr Mallet expressed worry that the Ghanaian society is now supporting some strange cultures where people now care more about sex than their own lives. READ ALSO: Mustapha Hamid finally reveals identity of top NDC man behind the 'HAMID 1-18' V8 A country where we care more about sex than our lives. Everything we do now is about sex. Alcohol, about sex. Herbal, about sex. Food, sex. As for music we know. There must be sex attached to everything we do else it wont sell. So why should we expect more? Dont blame the journalists. Lets be realistic, he added. The music producer was sharing his views on some criticisms heaped at media practitioners after having one-on-one encounter with President Akufo-Addo. Many critics argue that a number of journalists who were invited to the Flagstaff House asked the President sub-standard questions. READ ALSO: Shatta Wale wages 'war' on top musicians who want to sleep with his 'girl' YEN.com.gh is building a platform where Ghanaians can share local news and own experiences with each other. Witnessing an incident? Want to tell about a local problem? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Message us on Facebook now Source: YEN.com.gh "This is an exceptionally severe measure, meant as a signal to the government of Eritrea, Zijlstra said. "We want to make clear that we dont tolerate these unwanted practices.Zijlstra said he had decided not to close the entire embassy, against the will of a majority in Dutch parliament, as that would make it impossible to help Eritreans.He called on Eritreans to report criminal offences they had experienced at the embassy.Eritreas Diapsora Tax which is levied on citizenship rather than residence has been a source of controversy in many countries including the United Kingdom, Sweden, Canada among others.In 2011, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution condemning the use of the diaspora tax to destablise the Horn of Africa and instructed Eritrea to stop using extortion, threats of violence, fraud and other illicit means to collect taxes outside of Eritrea from its nationals.Indeed on social media, a number of people condemned the expulsion of the diplomat and what they described as double standards in treatment of countries with diaspora tax. Members of the Community Service Committee of the Rotary Club of Longview recently donated $500 to the local Every 15 Minutes program sponsored by the Cowlitz County Sheriffs Office. The program is designed to teach high school seniors the consequences when a fatality occurs by a person who drives drunk or impaired. The sheriffs department uses stark reminders such as a wrecked car and dead students who are cloistered while their classmates deal with their deaths, states a press release from the Rotary club. Cowlitz County chaplain Tom Haan accepted the donation and explained to Rotarians in attendance how the project works and the impact it can have on high school students and reported how since 1996 no student who has participated in the program has died in a driving drunk or impaired accident. Gun control Here is a little gun control history. This could happen in our country, also. In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated. In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians were rounded up and exterminated. In 1938, Germany established gun control. From 1939 to 1946, a total of 13 million Jews and others were rounded up and exterminated. In 1935, China established gun control. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents were rounded up and exterminated. In 1964, Guatemala established gun control. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians were rounded up and exterminated. In 1970, Uganda established gun control. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians were rounded up and exterminated. In 1956, Cambodia established gun control. From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people were rounded up and exterminated. During the 20th century, 56 million defenseless people were rounded up and exterminated because of gun control. With guns, we are citizens. Without guns, we are subjects. During World War II, the Japanese decided not to invade America because they knew most Americans were armed. Gun owners in the USA are the largest armed forces in the world. Freedom is not free. Vote against gun control politicians. Bob Klinefelter Longview Still standing Did you vote for Trump? If yes, was it because he promised to make Mexico pay for a big beautiful wall to keep their citizens from coming here? Oops, not happening. Was it because he promised to drain the swamp? Oops, he brought in bigger alligators and more venomous snakes and fed them $1.5 trillion in tax cuts. Was it because he said his own tax plan would cost him a lot of money? Oops, lie. Cha-ching; 2,000 lies and counting. If you still stand by him, is it because he is the least racist man youve ever known? Is it because you agree that there are good Nazis? Is it because of his admiration for and public defense of, the murderous dictator, Vladimir Putin, who most likely got him elected? If, you are having second thoughts, the best thing you can do is choose one of the Democratic candidates for Congress and work for her or him. Congressional oversight is all we have to constrain this malignant narcissist. We arent getting that with our current representative. Dave Van Curen Longview Short changed Dear Gov. Inslee: If all of the citizens gave you all of their money, could you really stop the climate from changing? Chris Fry Kalama Housing crisis Housing Opportunities of Southwest Washington provides affordable housing and services for low-income elderly, disabled and family households. I patiently waited eight years on their waiting list only to learn most landlords/owners dont accept Section 8 housing vouchers. Why is that? Too much paperwork. Yes, I appreciate having the privilege to receive and qualify for that assistance. Anything helps. What has me flabbergasted is, my rent due to obviously greedy new owners/property management just increased $200 a month. Although Longview housing opportunities clearly states rental increase in a particular area is normal, why isnt the monthly rent portion paid by this program also increasing? The PUD bill increased. The water, sewage and garbage bill increased. Yet, disability income increased only $3. Ive inquired around with other counties and states. It appears housing opportunities in Cowlitz County offers the lowest paying help with rent. Why? I have absolutely no choice but to sign and agree to pay $200 a month rent increase for another year. Kimberly Crockford Longview One of the bigger, and more heartening, surprises of the past year was just how fervently it turned out Americans supported health care for low-income people. Republican politicians, after all, had been running against Obamacare including its Medicaid expansion and income-based subsidies for buying insurance from the moment the law passed. And the public appeared to back this agenda: The Affordable Care Act polled terribly. Yet when push came to shove, and Republicans actually tried to dismantle the health-care law last year, Americans fought back. Hard. They marched in the streets. They showed up en masse to town halls, shaming and shouting down lawmakers. They jammed congressional offices and phone lines. Even Trump voters, in focus groups, said they didnt want to roll back Medicaid or other health coverage for lower-income people. Mostly, they just wanted in on that sweet, sweet Medicaid deal themselves. Likewise, in broader polling, a majority of Republicans held favorable views of Medicaid and wanted its funding to hold steady or increase. Sizable minorities even said they supported single-payer or a public option. Clearly Obamacare itself had a branding problem all these years, but on the more substantive question whether it was governments role to make sure Americans had health-care coverage Democrats had won the fight. Or so it seemed. Republican officials have, a bit less conspicuously than last summer, fought on. Unable to roll back Obamacares health-care expansion legislatively, theyre now doing so administratively, through a series of technical, boring-sounding regulatory changes. This GOP effort ramped up last week, when the Trump administration began allowing states to erect new barriers to Medicaid eligibility. In the half-century since Medicaid was first created, eligibility has always been based almost entirely on financial circumstances such as income and assets; the programs goal, after all, was to help less-well-off Americans obtain medical care. Last week, though, the Trump administration announced that it would start allowing states to impose other requirements on Medicaid recipients, including proof that they are working, looking for work, volunteering or in school. I was raised with a mind-set to work, give an honest days work for an honest days pay, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) said at a news conference announcing that his state was the first to receive a waiver allowing Medicaid work requirements. Its the very same thinking that we want to bring to people here in Kentucky that are able to participate. But theres no reason to think, in Kentucky or other states itching to add work requirements, that there are legions of Medicaid loafers. Nearly 8 in 10 Medicaid-enrolled nonelderly adults already live in working families, and most (60 percent) are working themselves, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Most who are not working report major impediments to their ability to get a job, such as illness, disability, school enrollment or caregiving responsibilities. But that wont necessarily protect eligible low-income people from being kicked off Medicaid rolls anyway. Verifying that beneficiaries meet work requirements will impose a huge and costly new administrative burden on states, and also on the working poor. As the Trump administration letter approving Kentuckys work requirements acknowledged, the states Medicaid phone lines are already overwhelmed. If working Kentuckians are unable to cut through the red tape, they can get locked out of the system for six months. The Trump administration argues, somewhat confusingly, that the new work requirements will actually improve public health. Why? Because theyll encourage more poor people to find jobs, and employed people tend to have fewer health problems. This likely gets the causality backward, though, given how many Americans report illness as a barrier to getting or keeping a job. Focus groups and state-level studies have found that Obamacares Medicaid expansion helped lower-income people gain work or remain employed; inversely, reducing long-term access to physical, mental and substance-abuse treatment is likely to hurt both health and employment prospects. If the Trump administration truly wants to help more Americans find jobs a goal that both parties can surely get behind there are far more effective tools than taking away health care. Investing in skills, apprenticeships and job-matching services, for instance. Or expanding the earned-income tax credit, a historically bipartisan program curiously absent from the recent tax bill. Instead, theyre still fixated on dismantling Obamacare, through this backdoor regulatory repeal. Republicans are counting on the notion that a raft of wonkish-sounding waivers unlike last years splashy, failed Trumpcare legislation will inspire no riots in the streets, no rowdy town halls, no phone-line-jamming and no mass mobilization to protect health care for the nations most vulnerable. Who wants to prove them wrong? About me I'm Avi Green From Jerusalem, Israel I was born in Pennsylvania in 1974, and moved to Israel in 1983. I also enjoyed reading a lot of comics when I was young, the first being Fantastic Four. I maintain a strong belief in the public's right to knowledge and accuracy in facts. I like to think of myself as a conservative-style version of Clark Kent. I don't expect to be perfect at the job, but I do my best. My profile Archives - Archives - July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 December 2009 January 2010 February 2010 March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010 August 2010 September 2010 October 2010 November 2010 December 2010 January 2011 February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013 January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 April 2015 May 2015 June 2015 July 2015 August 2015 September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 January 2016 February 2016 March 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 August 2016 September 2016 October 2016 November 2016 December 2016 January 2017 February 2017 March 2017 April 2017 May 2017 June 2017 July 2017 August 2017 September 2017 October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 January 2018 February 2018 March 2018 April 2018 May 2018 June 2018 July 2018 August 2018 September 2018 October 2018 November 2018 December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 March 2019 April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 August 2019 September 2019 October 2019 November 2019 December 2019 January 2020 February 2020 March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 August 2021 September 2021 October 2021 November 2021 December 2021 January 2022 February 2022 March 2022 April 2022 May 2022 June 2022 July 2022 August 2022 September 2022 October 2022 November 2022 The Page You Are Looking For Couldnt Be Found. You are experiencing technical issues. Please contact our support to get more information. US warship 'violated' its sovereignty: China The USS Hopper recently entered the US Navy\'s 7th Fleet area of operations. AFP, Beijing : Beijing on Saturday said it had dispatched a warship to drive away a US missile destroyer which had "violated" its sovereignty by sailing close to a shoal in the disputed South China Sea. The USS Hopper sailed within 12 nautical miles of Huangyan Island on the night of January 17 without alerting Beijing, the foreign ministry said, referring to the shoal by its Chinese name. Also known as Scarborough Shoal, the ring of reefs lies about 230 kilometres (140 miles) from the Philippines in the South China Sea, where Beijing's claims are hotly contested by other nations. The US vessel "violated China's sovereignty and security interests", and put the safety of nearby Chinese vessels "under grave threat", foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said. China's defence ministry said in a separate statement that a Chinese frigate "immediately took actions to identify and verify the US ship and drove it away by warning" it. The USS Hopper recently entered the US Navy's 7th Fleet area of operations, where the ship is on an "independent deployment", according to a statement released earlier this month on the Navy's website. Its mission in Asia involves "security cooperation, building partner capacity, and performing routine operations within the area". News of the encounter follows Friday's release of a new US national defence strategy that says America is facing "growing threats" from China and Russia. China is a "strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South China Sea", the document says. China's defence ministry dismissed those claims on Saturday, saying "the situation in the South China Sea has steadily stabilised," in comments attributed to spokesman Wu Qian. But it added, "the United States has repeatedly sent warships illegally into the adjacent waters of the South China Sea islands and reefs." Beijing asserts sovereignty over almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea despite rival claims from Southeast Asian neighbours and has rapidly built reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. China seized Scarborough Shoal in 2012 after a brief stand-off with the Philippine navy. The shoal is also claimed by Taiwan. The Chinese government on Saturday accused the U.S. of trespassing in its territorial waters when a U.S. guided missile destroyer sailed near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China would take "necessary measures" to protect its sovereignty after the USS Hopper sailed within 12 nautical miles of Scarborough Shoal on Wednesday evening without China's permission. Scarborough is a tiny, uninhabited reef that China seized from the Philippines in 2012. Known in Chinese as Huangyan Island, it lies about 200 kilometers (120 miles) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon, and about 600 kilometers (370 miles) southeast of China. Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said a Chinese missile frigate moved to identify and verify the U.S. vessel and warned it to leave the area. "We hope that the U.S. respects China's sovereignty, respects the efforts by regional countries and do not make trouble out of nothing," Wu said in a statement on the ministry's website. The South China Sea has crucial shipping lanes, rich fishing grounds and potential oil, gas and other mineral deposits. China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and has carried out extensive land reclamation work on many of the islands and reefs it claims, equipping some with air strips and military installations. The United States does not claim territory in the South China Sea but has declared it has a national interest in ensuring that the territorial disputes there are resolved peacefully in accordance with international law. The Navy regularly sails through the area to assert freedom of navigation. Sharif`s daughter Maryam to contest in next poll PTI, Islamabad : Maryam Nawaz, the media-savvy daughter of ousted Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has decided to contest in the next General Election, a prominent newspaper reported on Friday, citing a source in the ruling party. Maryam, 44, was being groomed as the second generation leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led by Sharif. The 68-year-old three-time prime minister had to resign last year after the Supreme Court disqualified him in the Panama Papers case. She is set to contest the election from the NA-120 constituency in Lahore, where her father was elected in the 2013 polls, the Dawn newspaper reported. She may also campaign for the provincial assembly from the PP-140 seat, it quoted the source in the Pakistan Muslim League PML-N led by Sharif. Maryam, however, is yet to confirm or deny the reports of her running in the upcoming elections, the paper said. General elections are scheduled to be held in Pakistan in mid-2018. Maryam, born in Lahore in 1973 has taken an interest in politics since the 1999 coup that sent her family into exile. However, in interviews since then, she has claimed to be more interested in the world of politics and power that lies beyond the assemblies, the paper noted. The former premier's daughter has also been in the spotlight facing corruption case since the Panama Papers were released in April 2016. The Sharif family has denied any wrongdoing. Last year, she campaigned for her mother, Kulsoom Nawaz, during the NA-120 by-poll following her father's disqualification. Since Sharif's ouster, she has taken a more active and visible role in party politics. Maryam, who also actively campaigned in NA-120 for her father during the 2013 election, has faced criticism from senior politicians who say she has never held a position within a political party and lacks the experience necessary to contest the General Election or become an elected leader, the report said. However, it is Maryam who has been singled out by political analysts as a successor to her father and uncle Shahbaz Sharif's legacy within the PML-N - not her brothers or cousin Hamza Shahbaz, it added. About affirmative action Joanna Hughes : The topic of affirmative action isn't exactly a new one. But it was thrust into the spotlight again earlier this month when the Trump administration tasked the Justice Department's civil rights division with investigating and potentially suing higher education institutions over affirmative action admissions policies found by the White House to discriminate against white applicants, according to a report from The New York Times. Wondering what all the fuss is about? Read on for everything you've always wanted to know about affirmative action. What is the History of Affirmative Action? The words "affirmative action" may be among the most politically loaded ones in the English language. And while they first came into popular use in the mid-60s, they go back much further than that and were originally used in the context of employment law. Shirley J. Wilcher, executive director of the American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity, told Smithsonian Magazine, "To take an 'affirmative action' was to literally act affirmatively-not allowing events to run their course but rather having the government (or employers) take an active role in treating employees fairly." An example of an early appearance of the phrase? The National Labor Relations Act of 1935, AKA the "Wagner Act," which established that employers deemed to be practicing discriminating labor laws would be mandated to take corrective measures, AKA "affirmative action." At this point, continues Smithsonian Magazine, "The race-based affiliation of this phrase hadn't been codified yet." While the Wagner act was rejected by employers and eventually ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, the principles upon which it was enacted have emerged (and remerged) throughout American history. The phrase was used in 1961 when President John F. Kennedy used it in Executive Order 10925, which sought to ensure equal treatment during employment "without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin." "Affirmative action" finally entered the general lexicon, however, when President Lyndon Johnson issued Executive Order 11246, which instructed contractors to "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, color, religion, sex or national origin." This was eventually expanded to all government employment, as well as to the education sector. Today, the debates about affirmative action continue to rage on both sides. Wilcher told Smithsonian Magazine, "Affirmative action has taken on negative connotations through the media and those that would like to do away with it or oppose the concept, but the impetus is on action, not nondiscrimination. You have got to show that you tried, and that's what affirmative action under the Johnson order means that's what it meant in 1965, and that's what it means today." Affirmative action opponents, meanwhile, claim that the practice is just another form of discrimination, with Chief Justice John Roberts famously writing, "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race, is to stop discriminating on the basis of race." Higher Education and Affirmative Action Race relations issues are interwoven throughout the fabric of American history, and while they can be seen across society at large, attention is often focused on how they play out in the higher education sphere. Write Michael Werz, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, and Julie Margetta Morgan, CAP Policy Analyst, "The movement toward affirmative action in higher education evolved out of a desire to address effects of past discrimination and segregation on the achievement of minority students and to increase diversity in higher education. The key argument was that a more diverse student body promotes democratic values, cross-racial tolerance and understanding, as well as the preparation of leaders who are equipped to compete in a global marketplace." The State of Affirmative Action Certainly, the path to the implementation of affirmative action has been a rocky one. Continue Werz and Morgan, "From their inception, affirmative action policies in higher education have been controversial; even though the ultimate goal of diversity may be agreeable to most Americans, the methods of achieving it generated both constitutional questions and concerns about the consequences of race-based preferences for minority students." And the US is hardly alone in its struggles. Said CNN in 2012 of the growing preponderance of affirmative action, "Though quotas have been outlawed in the United States, the European Union has had a recent push to punish companies whose boards aren't composed of at least 40% women. And India, Brazil and Malaysia, among other countries, have laws and policies that address affirmative action in schools and throughout society." Given the passionate divide and lack of resolution, it's hardly a surprise that the topic of affirmative action is once again making headlines. Perhaps more notably, it may be in greater jeopardy than ever. Writes Harvard professor of constitutional and international law Noah Feldman for Bloomberg, "A year ago, affirmative action in higher education seemed safe for a generation, after Justice Anthony Kennedy blessed it in a landmark Supreme Court opinion. Now President Donald Trump's Department of Justice is signaling that it plans to challenge the constitutionality of the practice in a way the federal government has never done before. And with Justice Neil Gorsuch in place and the possibility that Kennedy might retire in the next few years, the challenge could succeed. The legal reality is that higher ed affirmative action is now vulnerable." (Joanna worked in higher education administration for many years at a leading research institution before becoming a full-time freelance writer. She lives in the beautiful White Mountains region of New Hampshire with her family). Improving standard of higher edn emphasized Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Saturday said the government has attached priority to enhance standard of higher education for keeping up with the changing world of job market. "Higher educational institutions must improve their standard to provide quality education for building skilled human resources," he told the 5th convocation of United International University (UIU) on its campus. Chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC) Prof Abdul Mannan, Chairman of Board of Trustee of UIU Hasan Mahmud Raja and Vice-Chancellor of the university Prof Dr Chowdhury, among others, addressed the convocation. Secretary of Power Division Dr Ahmed Kaikaus attended the function as convocation speaker. Nahid said the government will take legal action against the private universities which have failed to fulfill their conditions to run the university under the rules of the Private University Act-2010. Some of the private universities are yet to fulfill their conditions as per the Act and they have to face legal action after the scheduled timeframe, he added. Speaking on the occasion the Education Minister said, "You (students) are the future of the country. So, you have to be good citizens through acquiring knowledge to boost the development process for building a prosperous Bangladesh." Nahid urged the authorities concerned to ensure congenial and good academic atmosphere at all educational institutions to make those free from all sorts of terror activities. "Both public and private universities should be centre of excellence for practicing new knowledge...Without ensuring good academic atmosphere, it is not possible for improving quality of tertiary education," he added. The minister said a remarkable progress has been made in the education sector as the government is working sincerely to expand and improve quality of education in the country. The government has expanded the opportunity of higher education across the country for all students, he said adding, "Students are easily receiving higher education as we have expanded facilities for higher education up to the upazila level." 3 held with 13 firearms in Bandarban UNB, Dhaka : Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in a drive arrested three alleged arms traders along with 13 firearms and 19 rounds of bullets from Panbazar area under Alikadam thana of Bandarban districton Fridayafternoon. The arrestees were identified as Md Dulal, 28, Md Askar Ali, 18, and Md Faruk Hossain, 26. On secret information, a team of Rab conducted a drive in the area around1:20pmand arrested the trio along with the firearms and bullets, said a Rab press release. Wild elephants kill Rohingya A Correspondent : A Rohingya refugee was killed in an attack by two wild elephants in Ukhia upazila of Cox's Bazar on Friday morning. The deceased is Yakub Ali, 45. Five other Rohinyas were injured and six tents were destroyed at the Modhurchora Rohingya camp in Balukhali area, said police. The injured were admitted to the upazila heath complex. SIRAJDIKHAN (Munshiganj ): A devastation fire gutted three dwelling houses at Charbishanath Village in Koyain Union on Wednesday. Regd graduate polls held at DU DU Correspondent : The third and final phase of election to choose twenty-five registered graduate representatives of to the Dhaka University Senate was held on Saturday at the university without any unfair incident. Around forty-four thousand voters cast their votes at three centers viz. Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban, Teacher-Student Center and Physical Training Center of the university which began at 9am and continued till 5pm. The results of the polls will be declared today. Earlier, the two phases of the election were held at 42 polling stations outside Dhaka on 6 and 13 January. Meanwhile, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader cast his vote at the Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban center, while Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at the Teacher-Student Center of the university. In the last election in 2013, Awami League-supported' panel Ganotantrik Oikya Parishad bagged 18 seats while BNP-backed Jatiyatabadi Parishad bagged seven seats. 4 youths killed in Jessore `gunfights` Staff Reporter : Four youths were killed in separate "gunfights" with their 'rivals' in Sadar and Jhikargachha upazilas of Jessore district early Saturday. The identities of the deceased could not be known instantly. Police recovered the bullet hit bodies of the youths and sent those to Jessore Medical College Hospital morgue on Saturday morning, said our local correspondent quoting Police. Jessore Kotwali Police Station Sub-Inspector Mokhlesur Rahman said that based on secret information, police conducted a drive in Nangarpur area under Sadar upazila. Sensing presence of the police, the miscreants fled the scene by firing. Later, police recovered the bodies of two suspected robbers. Jhikargachha Police Station's Assistant Sub-Inspector Rafiqul Islam said that a team of law enforcers conducted a drive at Chapatola and recovered the bodies of two suspected robbers from the spot. Police suspect that the incident might have happened between two robber gangs over distribution of the looted goods, said Anisur Rahman, Superintendent of Police (SP) of Jessore. The first gunfight took place between two gangs at Nangarpur village of Sadar upazila around 4:00am while the second one occurred at Chapatola of Jhikargachha upazila around 4:30am, said the SP. They were trying to identify the victims and the "criminal gangs", he added. He said they recovered two one-shooter guns, four bullets, one foreign made pistol, five cartridges and five machetes and chopper from the two spots. No criminals were arrested yet, according to him. DU students vow to continue movement to realise demands M M Jasim : The agitating students, who have been demonstrating to cut ties with seven affiliated colleges, vowed to continue their movement until their demands are met. They have added three more demands in their movement. The demands include suspension of leaders and activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League involved in attack and assault on the agitating students, withdrawal of cases filed against them, and resignation of the DU Proctor for his failure to protect the victims. The students warned of tough movement that includes shut down of the university in case of the DU administration failure to materialize their demands. The students hold the university administration responsible for all kinds of attacks and assaults on the agitating students. They said that the university took the charge of the seven colleges without studying its capacity and the quality of the institutions. As a result, the seven colleges students have been demonstrating against DU. On the other hand, they are committing different misdeeds in the name of the university. It is very unfortunate for the DU, they said. "It is emergency to ensure the world standard education at DU and to restore its image. But the authorities took new burden. We have protested for the greater interest of the students and the university. But the BCL men assaulted us and the DU authorities filed cases. We will continue our movement until our all demands are met," said Mahid Shahriar, a student of Accounting and Information Systems Department. "We don't fear the arrest warrant and threat from any quarter. Our demands must be fulfilled. A university cannot go in such an unfair way," Rajib Kumar Das, a student of Political Science Department said. Rajib also carried a placard on Friday with the writings "Arrest Me," "I vandalized the Proctor Office Gate," "I am a agitator." Several hundred students of Dhaka University have been demonstrating against the affiliation of seven colleges. They were observing sit-in programme in front of the VC's Office on Monday. Leaders of the BCL's DU unit forcibly took Institute of Information Technology student Moshiur Rahman Sadi, who was coordinating the protests, inside the VC's office. He was confined for a day at Shahbagh Police Station and then handed to his family on Tuesday night. On Monday, the protesting students said that the BCL leaders, including some female ones, assaulted the female students demonstrating in front of the VC's office. On Wednesday, the students were protesting against the BCL and besieged the Proctor in his office. They broke the collapsible gate of the building after the authorities locked it seeing them coming. They suspended the protests after Vice-Chancellor Md Akhtaruzzaman assured them of investigating the alleged BCL assault. The VC told The New Nation on Thursday night that the authorities had formed a committee to probe the allegation of BCL attack. Proctor Rabbani, however, said they had also formed a committee to investigate Thursday's vandalism. Rohingyas want to ensure rights before repatriation UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights situation in Myanmar Yanghee Lee visiting the Rohingya camp at Nayapara in Cox\'s Bazar area on Saturday. Staff Reporter : Rohingyas want to ensure their rights as citizen of Myanmar before repatriation from their temporary camps in Cox's Bazar. They made this demand while talking with the visiting UN Special Rapporteur on human rights situation in Myanmar Yanghee Lee in different Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar on Saturday. Yanghee Lee listened to the Rohingyas horrific experiences of torture in Myanmar. The UN envoy visited Damdamia Rohingya camp in Teknaf around 9:00am. Later, she also visited Nayapara and Roikkhang Rohingya camps. Later she talked to 20 Rohingyas - 10 men and 10 women-at the reception centre of Teknaf Nature Park. Rohingyas described about the tortures on them conducted by Myanmar Army and Buddhists terrorists to the visiting UN special rights envoy. Ayesha Khanam, who fled from Balibazar area, Maungdaw, Myanmar, said to Lee that the Army and Buddhist terrorists conducted genocide on them. "They started mass killing, gang rape and burned our homes. However, we managed to flee from there," Ayesha said. She urged the UN special envoy to ensure their rights as the citizen of the country and every safety before their repatriation. "Without making ensure our fundamental rights to live their, it would not be justice to return us to the country," she said. The other Rohingyas said that without ensuring fundamental rights before their repatriation no one should return them in huge life risky conditions. "It is better to kill us here but not send us before ensuring our rights," one of them said to Yanghee Lee. Officials of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and international donor agencies were present. The UN envoy later visited Nayapara and Roikkhang Rohingya camps. Yanghee Lee arrived Friday in Cox's Bazar on a three-day visit to see rights situation of Rohingyas living in different camps there. She began her Bangladesh visit on Thursday vowing to fulfill her mandate despite the Myanmar government's refusal to work with her. Yanghee Lee said, "The government of Myanmar has accused me of being bias, while at the same time denying that human rights violations have taken place in Myanmar." The UN envoy said she is determined to carry on her duties to the best of her ability. She said that this is very important task of helping the victims of human rights violations and abuses in Myanmar, as mandated to her by the United Nation. After her Bangladesh visit until January 24, the Special Rapporteur will visit Thailand where she will stay till January 30. The special envoy said, "I have a responsibility to speak on behalf of these victims, and I will not be deterred." "This is why I am going ahead to visit neighbouring countries to reach out as far as possible to all victims and witnesses to learn of their experience," she said. Sources said, following her visit, the human rights experts will present a report to the Human Rights Council in March, 2018. Would PPPs undermine public health development ? Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram : The United Nations Agenda 2030 for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is being touted in financial circles as offering huge investment opportunities requiring trillions of dollars. In 67 low- and middle-income countries, achieving SDG 3 - healthy lives and well-being for all, at all ages - is estimated to require new investments increasing over time, from an initial $134 billion annually to $371 billion yearly by 2030, according to recent estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO) reported in The Lancet. Selling PPPs Deprived of fiscal and aid resources, none of these governments can finance such investments alone. The United Nations Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing estimated in 2014 that annual global savings (both public and private sources) were around US$22 trillion, while global financial assets were around US$218 trillion. The third International Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa in mid-2015 recommended 'blended finance' as well as other public private partnerships (PPPs) to pool public and private resources and expertise to achieve the SDGs. Development finance institutions (DFIs), particularly the World Bank, are the main cheerleaders for these magic bullets. Sensing the new opportunity for mega profits, the private sector has embraced the SDGs. The World Economic Forum now actively promotes PPPs with DEVEX, a private-sector driven network of development experts. A recent DEVEX opinion claims that PPPs can unlock billions for health financing. It invokes some philanthropy driven global partnership success stories - such as the Global Alliance for Vaccine Initiatives (GAVI) and the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria - to claim that national level PPPs will have similar results. A managed equipment services (MES) arrangement with GE Healthcare in Kenya is also cited as a success story, ignoring criticisms. For example, Dr. Elly Nyaim, head of the Kenya Medical Association, has pointed out that MES has not addressed basic problems of Kenya's health system, such as inappropriate training and non-payment of salaries to frontline health workers, encouraging emigration of well-trained health professionals to developed countries, further worsening Kenya's already difficult health dilemmas. It should be obvious to all that private sector participation in the development process is hardly novel, having long contributed to investments, growth and innovation. Not-for-profit civil society organisations (CSOs), especially faith-based ones, have also been significant for decades in education and health. Thus, in many developing countries such as Bangladesh and Indonesia, health and education outcomes are much better than what public expenditure alone could fund. False claims However, PPPs have a long and chequered history, especially in terms of ensuring access and equity, typically undermining the SDG's overarching principle of "leaving no one behind", including the SDG and WHO promise of universal health care. Also, partnerships with for-profit private entities have rarely yielded better fiscal outcomes, both in terms of finance and value for money (VfM). Misleading claims regarding benefits and costs have been invoked to justify PPPs. Most claimed benefits of health PPPs do not stand up to critical scrutiny. As a policy tool, they are a typically inferior option to respond to infrastructure shortfalls in the face of budgetary constraints by moving expenditures off-budget and transferring costs to future governments as well as consumers and taxpayers. Typically driven by political choices rather than real economic considerations, PPP incurred debt and risk are generally higher than for government borrowing and procurement. PPPs also appear to have limited innovation and raised transactions costs. PPP hospital building quality is not necessarily better, while facilities management services have generally reduced VfM compared to non-PPP hospitals. Underfunding and higher PPP costs lead to cuts in service provision to reduce deficits, harming public health. Healthcare PPPs in low- and middle-income countries have raised concerns about: competition with other health programmes for funding, causing inefficiencies and wasting resources; discrepancies in costs and benefits between partners typically favouring the private sector; incompatibility with national health strategies; poor government negotiating positions vis-a-vis powerful pharmaceutical and other healthcare service companies from donor countries. Perverted priorities Rich and powerful private partners often reshape governmental and state-owned enterprise priorities and strategies, and redirect national health policies to better serve commercial interests and considerations. For example, relying on antiretroviral drugs from PPPs has resulted in conflicts with national authorities, generic suppliers and consumer interests, which have undermined health progress. Donor-funded PPPs are typically unsustainable, eventually harming national health strategies, policies, capacities and capabilities. PPPs may divert domestic resources from national priorities, and thus undermine public health due to financial constraints they cause. Such redirection of investment exacerbates health disparities, adversely affecting vulnerable groups. Health workers often prefer to work for better funded foreign programmes, undermining the public sector. PPPs can thus lead governments to abdicate their responsibilities for promoting and protecting citizens' health. Partnership arrangements with the private sector are not subject to public oversight. Therefore, selecting private partners, setting targets and formulating operating guidelines are not transparent, they only aid in creating more scope for corruption. PPPs are certainly not magic bullets to achieve the SDGs. While PPPs can mobilize private finance, this can also be achieved at lower cost through government borrowing. Instead of uncritically promoting blended finance and PPPs, the international community should provide capacity building support to developing countries to safeguard the public interest, especially equity, access and public health, to ensure that no one is left behind. (Anis Chowdhury, a former professor of economics at the University of Western Sydney, held senior United Nations positions during 2008-2015 in New York and Bangkok. Jomo Kwame Sundaram, a former economics professor and United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, received the Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought in 2007). Repatriation will be useless if Myanmar not considers Rohingya as citizens DHAKA and Naypyidaw both are now making final preparations to repatriate and receive the first batch of Rohingya Muslims despite protest from different quarters for not ensuring their security and fearless movement. According to media reports, Rakhine State's Chief Minister Nyi Pu insisted on completion of the finishing touches on buildings, medical clinics and sanitation infrastructures during a recent visit to reception centres near its border. Both the countries recently have agreed to complete the return of the Rohingya refugees within two years, with the process due to begin on January 23, though the UN Agencies and humanitarian groups have expressed grave concern over the agreement. Firstly, the refugees will be moved from five camps of Cox's Bazar to two reception centres and later they will be taken to the temporary accommodation at a 124-acre camp near Maungdaw. Dhaka will provide an advance list of prospective returnees with forms attesting to their residency in Myanmar while some returnees will cross over by land and others via Naf River, the media report said. But it is remained unclear whether refugees would be forced to return against their will. The repatriation process, however, could face obstacles as Rohingya leaders in a refugee camp have drawn up a list of demands they want Myanmar to meet before starting repatriation. In a petition, handwritten in Burmese, the Rohingya leaders said none of the Muslim Rohingyas would return to Myanmar unless the demands were met. They fear continued military operations in Rakhine State and a prolonged stay in temporary camp. They have also placed some other conditions for repatriation, including holding the military accountable for alleged killings, looting and rape, and the release from jails of 'innocent Rohingyas' picked up in counter-insurgency operations. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said the repatriation deal needed to clarify whether Rohingyas would be permitted to return to their homes or live in specially built camps. Not only that, Amnesty International has described the plans to return the Rohingya refugees as 'alarmingly premature'. Besides, the Human Rights Watch said authorities cannot deal with the Rohingya refugees 'as if they are an inert mass of people who will go where and when they are told'. Many other observers also said the agreement was 'still very sketchy' and did not address the conditions the Rohingyas would face on their return. The important thing is that the repatriated Rohingyas would be sheltered in such a place which would be like concentration camp. Besides, as per agreement there is no surety that Rohingyas could move freely like a Myanmar citizen and they would be eligible for any job. Most alarming is that the repatriation deal does not cover over 500,000 other Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh prior to October 2016, who had been driven out of Myanmar during previous episodes of ethnic violence and military operations. Responding to the humanitarian appeal, Bangladesh had opened its border for the most persecuted Rohingyas whereas it is now trying to send them back without even considering their security. We think, the minimum conditions for any repatriation deal needed to include the provision of basic rights such as citizenship, freedom of movement and unimpeded access to jobs -government or private sector. If Myanmar does not ensure citizenship of Rohingyas along with their security, the repatriation will be totally useless. Ivy's condition improves Health Minister Md. Nasim visited ailing Narayanganj City Corporation Mayor Selina Hayat Ivy now undergoing treatment at Labaid Hospital on Saturday. UNB, Narayanganj : The condition of Narayanganj City Corporation Mayor Selina Hayat Ivy, who suffered a brain haemorrhage and now taking treatment at Labaid Hospital in the capital, is much better now, said her physicians on Saturday. Prof Dr Baren Chakrabarti, head of the Cardiology Department of the hospital said the physical condition of Ivy is much better now, but the details can be known after getting the fresh CT scan and MRI report. "Ivy now eating normal food and have no other complications physically but has a small injury mark on her leg," he said. Baren Chakrabarti, also head of the medical board formed for Ivy, said "She had a brain haemorrhage, this type of patients might have second haemorrhage after three or four days of the first haemorrhage, so we conducted another CT scan this morning." The report of previous CT scan and current CT scan will be compared and then the medical board will decide over the next course of treatment for Ivy, he added. Ivy suffered a low blood pressure on Thursday and was rushed to the hospital in Dhaka. Earlier on Tuesday, at least 50 people, including seven policemen and five journalists, were injured in a clash when hawkers supported by local lawmaker Shamim Osman and his loyalists deterred Narayanganj City Corporation Mayor Selina Hayat Ivy's move to free illegally occupied roads and footpaths at Chashara intersection of the river town in the afternoon. Drug dealer held in city UNB, Dhaka : Armed Police Battalion (APBn) arrested an alleged drug dealer along with 226 bottles of contraband phensedyl from the city's Airport Road on Saturday. The arrestee was identified as Md Raihan, 30, son of Mazdar, hailed from Rajpara of Rajshahi. Acting on a tip-off, an operational team of APBn-5 battalion conducted a raid in front of Dhaka North City Public Toilets on New Airport Road under Airport Police Station on Saturday noon. During the drive, the law enforcers arrested Md Raihan along with the phensedyl consignment, said senior ASP (Media) of the APBn-5 Md Saidur Rahman Rubel. During preliminary interrogation, the arrestee revealed that he was involved in distributing phensedyl in the city's various points, he said. 13 farm laborers bullet-hit in Narail UNB, Narail : At least 13 farm laborers were bullet-hit as security guard of Arunima Eco Park fired at a disputed land adjacent to the park at Panipara village in Noragati upazila on Friday night. Locals said there had a longstanding loggerhead between Khabiruddin, land owner of the park, and Mizanur Raman, owner of the adjacent land, over the ownership of the land. In a sequel to the dispute, security guards of Arunima Eco Park indiscriminately fired at laborers who were having dinner at the land after irrigation here, leaving 13 of them injured. The injured were sent to Khulna Medical College Hospital. Md Shahdat Hossian, manager of the park, admitted that their security guards fired bullet towards the disputed land. Additional police, led by Mizan, Sub Inspector of Noragati Police Station, have remained deployed in the area. Plainclothesmen pick up owner of Lakehead Grammar School Unidentified people have taken away Lakehead Grammar School owner Khaled Hassan Matin from his office in Dhaka. The education ministry in November ordered the school to be closed over charges of harbouring militancy and inspiring extremism. The Supreme Court later ordered the school to be reopened with a new board of directors comprised of the Dhaka Divisional Commissioner as chair and military officials as board members. An official of the school said seven to eight persons in plainclothes came to Matin's Gulshan offices on Saturday and took him away, Gulshan Police Inspector Salauddin Miah told bdnews24.com. "Police immediately began investigating the scene after being informed. But, as of Saturday evening, the school has not filed a formal complaint." The police are searching for Matin's whereabouts, Salauddin said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marlowe Hood (Agence France-Presse) Paris, France Fri, January 19, 2018 07:03 1765 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c1ade3b 2 Environment environment,global-warming,climate Free Earth's surface will almost certainly not warm up four or five degrees Celsius by 2100, according to a study released Wednesday which, if correct, voids worst-case UN climate change predictions. A revised calculation of how greenhouse gases drive up the planet's temperature reduces the range of possible end-of-century outcomes by more than half, researchers said in the report, published in the journal Nature. "Our study all but rules out very low and very high climate sensitivities," said lead author Peter Cox, a professor at the University of Exeter. How effectively the world slashes CO2 and methane emissions, improves energy efficiency, and develops technologies to remove CO2 from the air will determine whether climate change remains manageable or unleashes a maelstrom of human misery. But uncertainty about how hot things will get also stems from the inability of scientists to nail down a very simple question: By how much will Earth's average surface temperature go up if the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is doubled? That "known unknown" is called equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS), and for the last 25 years the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) -- the ultimate authority on climate science -- has settled on a range of 1.5 C to 4.5 C (2.7 to 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit). Cox and colleagues, using a new methodology, have come up with a far narrower range: 2.2 C to 3.4 C, with a best estimate of 2.8 C (5 F). If accurate, it precludes the most destructive doomsday scenarios. "These scientists have produced a more accurate estimate of how the planet will respond to increasing CO2 levels," said Piers Forster, director of the Priestley International Centre for Climate at the University of Leeds. Gabi Hegerl, a climate scientist at the University of Edinburgh who, like Forster, did not take part in the research, added: "Having lower probability for very high sensitivity is reassuring. "Very high sensitivity would have made it extremely hard to limit climate change according to the Paris targets." Read also: Global warming will expose millions more to floods Pressure still on The landmark Paris climate agreement in 2015 called for capping global warming at "well under" 2 C compared to a pre-industrial benchmark, and pursuing efforts for a 1.5 C ceiling. The findings should not been seen as taking pressure off the need to tackle climate change, the authors and other experts warned. "We will still see significant warming and impacts this century if we don't increase our ambition to reduce CO2 emissions," said Forster. Even a 1.5 C increase will have consequences. With a single degree Celsius of warming so far, the Earth is already coping with a crescendo of climate impacts including deadly droughts, erratic rainfall, and storm surges engorged by rising seas. A 3.5 C world, scientists say, could pull at the fabric of civilisation. Since industrialisation took off in the early 19th century, CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere have increased by nearly half, from 280 parts per million to 407 parts per million. Up to now, attempts to narrow down the elusive equilibrium climate sensitivity have focused on the historical temperature record. Cox and colleagues instead "considered the year-to-year fluctuations in global temperature," said Richard Allan, a climate scientist at the University of Reading. By analysing the responsiveness of short-term changes in temperature to "nudges and bumps" in the climate system, he explained, they were able to exclude the outcomes that would have resulted in devastating increases of 4 C or more by 2100. One wild card not taken into consideration by the new model is the possibility of rapid shifts in climate brought on by the planet itself. "There is indeed evidence that the climate system can undergo abrupt changes or 'tipping points'," Cox told AFP. The collapse of the gulf stream, the thawing of carbon-rich permafrost, or the melting of ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica -- any of these could quickly change the equation, and not in the Earth's favour. MURPHYSBORO Two people charged with first-degree murder in the death of Robin Stief were in Jackson County Circuit Court on Friday morning, but not much progress was made. Robert Dennis, 27, and Tiesha Anderson, 23, are two of the suspects charged in Stiefs death, whose burned remains were found in a wooded area near Piles Fork Creek in Carbondale in August 2016. Dennis hearing was to give a status update on a fitness test to examine his mental ability to stand trial. Defense attorney Robert Bateson said a doctor still needs to complete an examination on Dennis. Judge Ralph Bloodworth set another status hearing for 10 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 16. About 15 minutes after Dennis left the courtroom, Anderson was brought in for her case management conference with her new attorney, Joseph Cervantez. Andersons previous attorney withdrew from her case after Anderson filed a letter with the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Committee calling his competency into question. Mansfield has told The Southern that the disciplinary committee has dismissed the complaint as frivolous. Judge Bloodworth made sure Cervantez was in possession of all discovery information needed to review, because he had been appointed within the past 30 days. Cervantez said he was in possession of the needed materials, and has been working with Mansfields office to ensure everything has been turned over. Another case management conference was set for March 9. At that time, Judge Bloodworth said the case will be set on a jury trial track. Bloodworth also informed Anderson that because Cervantezs office is based in Marion and not in Murphysboro, he most likely will not be able to meet with her every day. The third suspect in this case, Lauren Stinde, 24, of Carbondale, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in November 2016. During her court hearing Thursday, Stinde learned her sentencing hearing will not take place until after the conclusion of the other suspects' trials. Authorities began the investigation into this case on Aug. 30, 2016, after burned human remains were found in the 900 block of East Main Street in Carbondale. Video surveillance captured three individuals alleged to be Stinde, Anderson and Dennis pushing a large trash can near where the body was found. On Oct. 28, 2016, Stinde was arrested for her involvement in the concealment of the victims remains. She later confessed to detectives about her role in the murder and the concealment of the body. Betty Jean DeFazio of the Maude Schiffley Chapter of the SPCA has been helping animals in a job she loves for more than a decade now. She and her late husband, Guy, moved to Orangeburg from Pittsburgh in 2004 and fell in love with the city. We decided to get a dog. And I came down here and got my first dog, she said. And I was hooked. She returned to the shelter as a volunteer, covering for employees on their days off or vacation time. So in 2007, when they were looking for someone to work, I applied for the job and got the job and have been here ever since, DeFazio said. In the course of her work day, she helps take dogs in and clean them. She helps check out them to see if there are any medical problems that need attention. We socialize the dogs, get the dogs out for some exercise every day and try to play with the cats give them some exercise and some me time, she said. And hopefully do a lot of adoptions and get the dogs adopted." Her deep love and concern for dogs and cats keeps her coming back, DeFazio said. There are so many unwanted animals that are just dumped off, she said. And there are no bad dogs. What people dont realize is owning a puppy is like having a child. If you were to lock a child in a room and not do anything with it, this child wouldnt know how to use a fork, wouldnt know how to use a toilet, wouldnt know anything." And puppies are the same way, DeFazio said. She said the average dog has the mentality of a 3-year-old child; smarter breeds like border collies and German shepherds are more like a 5-year-old child. Dogs have to be socialized. They have to be part of the family, she said. They cant be put in a pen in the backyard and just fed and petted once in a while. Theyre social animals and they want to interact with people. Originally from Pittsburgh, DeFazio said she got married late in life. Her husband Guy passed away seven years ago. DeFazio said she worked at a number of temporary jobs before being hired at the shelter: bartender, waitress, nursing home employee. She had dogs growing up, she said, but it wasnt until she moved to Orangeburg, adopted a dog and got involved at the shelter that she found a deeper meaning to her work. I never realized how passionate I was about the job that I do, she said. For example, she said she would stay late after office hours if someone from Columbia wanted to drive down after work to adopt an animal or she would meet someone from North Carolina halfway. It became a passion - it really, really did, she said. DeFazio said that she has many great memories of working at the SPCA. The best part of my job is matching the dog with a family, she said. Weve had people come from Canada to get a dog - actually drive down here from Canada. She said her best memory is of a local woman who kept coming in to spend time with a dog that was afraid of everybody fearful, growling, everything else. The woman came in every other day and socialized this dog. And she adopted it, DeFazio said. And it is loving her and she loves it. And I think one of the major problems is that everybody wants instant gratification, she said. They want that dog that runs to the front of the kennel and (is like), Look at me! Look at me! Im here! They ignore the dogs that are shy, she said. Dogs are like people, DeFazio said; some are gregarious and outgoing, and some are wallflowers. And dogs and cats are like that. They have different needs, they have different socialization levels, she said. And to just judge a dog by walking past the cage and saying, That dogs not for me, is one of the biggest injustices you can do for any animal at the adoption center," DeFazio said. The worst part of her job is seeing the number of animals that people abandon each year, she said. The things she hates are the number of animals that get tied to the front gate. The abuse that I see ... the dogs that come in that have mange, that have embedded collars, that have sores all over their bodies she said. I adopt the ones that no one wants, she said. DeFazio said she has two three-legged dogs; one came to the shelter with a broken leg. No one wanted it because the leg had to be amputated. I took the dog home, adopted it, had the leg amputated, she said. She is the best dog that I have ever owned. Dogs need medical attention just like people do, she said. If your child came home with a cut or a bruise or a lump, you would take them to the doctor, DeFazio said. Your pet deserves the same consideration. She has advice for families seeking a pet. Dont buy a dog adopt, she said. Theres a lot of dogs down here that a little bit of love and a little bit of time will make them the perfect family companion. North residents may see increased military activity this week at the North Auxiliary Airfield in connection with a disaster relief exercise. Airmen from the 321st Contingency Response Squadron, 621st Contingency Response Group, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, and C-17 Globemaster III aircraft from the 437th Airlift Wing, Joint Base Charleston, will conduct Exercise Crescent Moon during the next few days. Area residents may see or hear security activities, including the use of blank ammunition. The activity is expected to continue around the clock. The exercise will last through Jan. 25. Military officials say measures have been taken to minimize disruptions within local communities. "It is just a routine readiness exercise," Joint Base Charleston Public Affairs Officer Marvin Krause said. "There is nothing to be alarmed about." The activity will mostly take place at the airfield, but residents in Orangeburg and surrounding areas may also see an increase in military aircraft. "This seven-day readiness exercise is specifically designed for contingency response training," said Maj. Tom Leyden, 321st CRS assistant operations officer. Crescent Moon is an exercise designed to enhance the readiness of U.S. Air Force contingency response personnel in support of disaster relief and humanitarian assistance operations, non-combatant evacuation operations and homeland defense for the purpose of establishing initial airfield operations. Situated three miles east of the town of North, the 2,400-acre airfield is owned by the U.S. Air Force and is used primarily for C-17 Globemaster III training by the 437th Airlift Wing and its Air Force Reserve "Associate" unit, the 315th Airlift Wing, at Charleston Air Force Base. The land for North Army Airfield was purchased between 1942 and 1945, and the field was built by the U.S. Army Air Force. The original dirt runway was constructed in April 1943 and used by Hughes Aircraft Co. for testing. It also served as a satellite airfield for the Columbia Army Air Base. After World War II, a 12,000-foot runway and a 3,000-foot assault runway were built. On Oct. 1, 1979, Charleston AFB took over the facility. This post is prompted by a number of things that have left me pondering how as Christians we are to bring about change in our churches. When we strongly b... 7 years ago Over 1,000 brands from 28 countries around the world are participating at the SteelFab 2018, the regions leading metal working, metal manufacturing and steel fabrication trade show, being held in Sharjah, UAE, said a report. Sheikh Fahim bin Sultan Al Qasimi, chairman of the Department of Government Relations, yesterday (January 15) inaugurated the show which will run until January 18, at the Expo Centre Sharjah. The inauguration of the trade show was attended by Abdullah Sultan Al Owais, chairman of the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), and chairman of Expo Centre Sharjah, a number of board members of the chamber, Saif Mohamed Al Midfa, CEO of Expo Centre Sharjah, as well as several government officials and representatives from the industry sector in the country, businessmen and industrial investors, reported state news agency Wam. Sheikh Fahim, accompanied by the Al Owais and a number of dignitaries and officials, toured the trade show, which is the largest trade event held for the Middle East's metal and steel industry. It is organised by Expo Centre Sharjah with the support of the SCCI and covers an area of 24,000 square metres. Sheikh Fahim praised the success of Expo Centre Sharjah in attracting a remarkable number of brands and leading international companies from the metal and steel industry. He added that this success reflects Sharjah's position as a significant centre within the global exhibition industry, as well as the importance of the trade show as a growing international and regional event for the world's leading manufacturers. Al Owais stressed the prominence of Expo Centre Sharjah as one of the strategic institutions, operating under the umbrella of SCCI, that enhances Sharjah's reputation as a global and regional centre for industrial, commercial and cultural exhibitions. This is due to the conviction of the importance of the exhibitions and conferences industry and its positive impact in accelerating the economy towards achieving sustainable growth according to the vision of the wise leadership. Al Owais pointed out that Expo Centre Sharjah seeks to strengthen its international relations network, within the framework of its new strategic plan from 2018 to 2022, in order to attract a number of the world's leading exhibitions, manufacturers, suppliers, and associations to participate in its various annual events. A number of leading countries in the fields of welding and manufacturing of steel and metals are participating in the event, including Germany, Italy, Turkey, Taiwan, India, China and the UAE. The trade show will also host Schweissen & Schneiden fair, one of Europes largest gatherings of welding, cutting, and finishing industry professionals, as well as the International Tube Association. SteelFab 2018 will host several exhibitors for the first time including Birla Precision Technologies, Metachem Chemical Trading, Red Bud Industries, Hartmetall, Jyoti CNC Gabella Macchine, Halcon Systems and Konum. The first day of the trade show witnessed the announcement of the launch of "SteelFab Middle East Fabricators Awards 2019", which will be awarded to manufacturers in recognition of their efforts to adopt the best practices, added the report. TradeArabia News Service The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has announced the launch of a new home delivery service of feeding tubes for DHA patients who cannot obtain nutrition by mouth, the elderly and people of determination. The DHA signed a MoU with Danone Nutricia Middle- East, an international nutrition company specialising in healthy nutrition, patient food and food supplements. The MoU was signed by Humaid Al Qutami, chairman of the Board and director general of the DHA, and Wael Hamza, managing director Middle East Africa & South East Asia at Danone Medical Nutrition (Nutricia), in the presence of DHA officials including Dr Wafa Ayesh, director of the Clinical Nutrition Department at DHA. This new service will save patients time and effort, as instead of going to DHA hospitals on a monthly basis to receive their prescribed feeding tubes, they will be able to receive the service from the comfort of their homes from the distributor directly under the direct supervision of the authoritys clinical nutrition department. The new service will also include nurses who will monitor the feeding tube process and educate the patients family on the best ways to take advantage of the new service. Following the signing of the MoU, Al Qutami said the authority constantly works to alleviate any burden patients may suffer as a result of their health conditions, noting that DHA is adopting a series of medical and social services that depend on delivering the same service to the elderly and people of determination. He added that the new service represents an important milestone for the authority, which aims to provide customer satisfaction and happiness. Al Qatami commended all institutions and companies who sign agreements and MoUs with the authority to better serve patients and provide them with the needed care. He also praised the efforts exerted by the Department of Clinical Nutrition to enhance patient-oriented services. - TradeArabia News Service PINEDALE After a one-day trial in state court, six jurors returned a verdict of not guilty for Chauncy G. Goodrich of Pinedale, who testified he shot and killed a young bull moose in self-defense. Goodrich, who lives along Pine Creek on Willow Lake Road, was charged with the high misdemeanor of illegally taking big game, a moose, without a license on July 24, 2017. Wyoming Game and Fishs Pinedale wildlife supervisor John Lund and wardens Bubba Haley and Jordan Kraft investigated the moose kill after Goodrich texted Haley about his actions, they testified. They would decide to kill a moose as a last option, only after seeing for themselves that it was aggressive and too dangerous for public safety, they stated. Goodrichs defense as laid out by private attorney John LaBuda was that he feared for his wife and daughters lives as well as his own, after hazing the same bull moose away from property on numerous occasions. Protecting your family and protecting yourself is still what this case is all about, LaBuda told the jury, commenting numerous times about the governments perfect world not being the real world. Sublette County Attorney Clay Kainer argued that Goodrich could not claim self-defense as he chose to pick up a loaded 7-mm Magnum rifle and chase the moose on July 24, as it foraged in willows about 100 yards from the home in effect forcing a confrontation. This was not an act of necessity, Kainer told the jury. It was an act of frustration; it was an act of fear. Goodrich testified that the moose had charged and chased him and his wife into a tipi on their property in April 2016, circling the canvas tent as he horned and pawed at it, then chased Goodrich to his plow truck that he used to chase the animal off his property. He and his wife Angela described how they feared for their lives and the lives of their two young daughters with this one very aggressive moose that kept returning to their property. Goodrich testified that he used up nonlethal rubber bullets given to him by Haley a year earlier. He said using dove shot, or lead pellets, was effective at hazing away the moose, but he had run out. The bull moose bedded in a grassy clearing between his home and that of his friend and neighbor Dennis Schroeder. The animal was hazed past there, almost to Pine Creek, when it turned, and Goodrich killed it with one shot to the chest at 70 feet, after it lowered its head and began to charge him, he testified. After testimony from neighbors, game wardens and the Goodriches, and closing arguments from LaBuda and Kainer on Jan. 17, the jury of six deliberated about one hour and 15 minutes and returned with the not guilty verdict. The Town of Mills has filed a lawsuit against the Natrona County School District over the closures of Mountain View and Mills elementary schools, the mayor said in a press release Friday. The suit was filed to determine the legality of the serial closing and abandonment of the schools, Mayor Seth Coleman wrote in a statement released to media Friday. The school districts board of trustees voted to close Mountain View on Oct. 23, along with Caspers Frontier Middle and Willard and University Park elementary schools. District officials cited plummeting elementary school enrollment amid a time of statewide budget cuts as the reason for the closures. Mills Elementary closed in June. District officials have said the school community elected to move to a new school, Journey Elementary, which is located in west Casper. Among other things, the lawsuit seeks to have the closures be declared null, void and of no effect and to stop the district from taking any further action to close Mountain View, according to the towns complaint. It also requests that the district be required to follow legal requirements related to the closure of Mills Elementary. Unlike every other community in Natrona County, Mills no longer has any schools at all, let alone any which a parent can opt to send a child to as it is nearby, Coleman wrote. The districts attorney, Kathleen Dixon, said in an email that the district followed the statutes and the law, took extensive public comment and made a decision based on the current data. She acknowledged that school closures are difficult on everyone but said the district is moving forward with Mountain Views closure. Mountain View Elementary School has one of the highest per capita costs of any elementary school in the District, Dixon wrote. Its student enrollment, which has been steadily declining for over four years, fills less than half of the available classroom seats. Only a fraction of the students attending Mountain View Elementary School are from the Mills or Mountain View neighborhoods. The building was in need of major maintenance. In October, before the districts board voted to close Mountain View and the other three Casper schools, the Mills Town Council passed a resolution opposing the closure of Mountain View. Coleman, whose wife, Angela, is the newest member of the school board, later spoke against all four closures. Angela Coleman supported a motion to the school board to remove Mountain View from the list of closures. The motion failed, and the board voted 8 to 1 to shutter the schools at the end of this academic year. The lawsuit notes that all four schools were Title I designated, meaning that at least 40 percent of students come from low-income backgrounds. The schools receive funding for programs to support those kids. The district has acted to deny the residents of the Town of Mills equal protection under (the Wyoming Constitution) by singling out those schools which are subject to Title 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act thereby singling out those individuals whose economic status makes them the least able to adjust to such deprivations. District officials have repeatedly denied in the past that their decision was motivated by the economic background of the students at the four schools. The suit further states that in parts of east Casper, there are four elementary schools clustered close to each other. On information and belief, it appears that more affluent neighborhoods are entitled to local schools while the children residing in Mills are forced to travel to obtain an education, the lawsuit claims. The closure hurt a lot of people in Mills, Coleman said in an interview Friday. And they reached out to us and asked what we can do and this is where were at. The mayor declined to comment further. The towns lawsuit claims that the district did not hold a public hearing on the issue, in violation of Wyoming law. That constitutes a denial of due process and results in the inequitable treatment of the students from Mills as well as low income students, the suit alleges. School officials announced they were considering closing the schools on Sep. 29. The school board held a regular meeting on Oct. 9, during which time several people stood up and criticized the recommendation. But during its typical meetings, the school board rarely responds to comments from the public. Such was the case on Oct. 9. A similar public comment period was held, as it always is, before the Oct. 23 meeting, during which the board voted to close the four schools. The suit also claims that the district has not formulated a plan identifying alternatives to the closure of the Mills and Mountain View schools, including any future disposal or disuse of the structures. The district, in its announcement, said it planned to mothball Mountain View, meaning it would shutter but preserve the building. The lawsuit claims that the district lacks the legal authority to close Mountain View because it failed to comply with legal requirements. It requests that the district allow students to continue to register at the school for all such period of time in which there is no other elementary school within the boundaries of the Town of Mills or adjacent to the boundaries of the Town of Mills. Officials in the district have said in the past they plan to sell Mills Elementary. Star-Tribune staff writer Shane Sanderson contributed to this report. Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead submitted over a dozen revisions to his December budget proposal Monday, requesting roughly $11.5 million in additional spending. Mead also clarified some previous spending requests. The largest new request is $5.2 million for repairs to the Wyoming State Penitentiary, which has suffered from maintenance issues since it opened. Mead said in a letter to the Joint Appropriations Committee that much of the repair work to the prisons plumbing and structural issues had been completed with existing funds but that more money was needed. Thats not in anybodys budget, said Kari Gray, Meads chief of staff. Thats information that came out after. Mead submitted his original $2.9 billion budget request to the Legislature last month. In his letters Monday, Mead also requested an additional $4.8 million to fund employee benefits for the University of Wyoming, a revision he described as correcting a mistake. UW believes amounts were deducted from its budget in error, Mead wrote. I agree. Specifically, UW Vice President for Administration William Mai explained that when the state reduced the universitys block grant it inadvertently doubled the impact of those cuts by failing to take into account employee benefits. Mai outlined the issue in a letter attached to Meads request. Of the $4.8 million request, $2 million will go toward retirement benefits for employees and $2.8 million toward insurance benefits. Mead also added $1.38 million to his $20 million request for capital construction at community colleges in the state, based on what Gray said was updated information he received from the college board, and $126,000 for preschool subsidies. Gray said the subsidies could not be calculated when Mead submitted his original budget because child enrollment data was not yet available. The governor sent 13 letters in all, though many of those simply clarified or tweaked his existing budget request without requesting additional dollars. Meads letters were dated Jan. 12 and 15, and were delivered to the Legislature on the same day that lawmakers learned that new revenue estimates projected $140 million more to work with while setting a budget during their February session. The state continues to face a roughly $850 million budget deficit. EVANSTON The Uinta County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees will hold a public forum on Tuesday, Jan. 30, to solicit public input on the proposed School Safety and Security policy that deals with concealed carry of firearms by school staff. That same topic was the focus of a lengthy discussion during the Jan. 9, board meeting. Superintendent Ryan Thomas, along with three members of the committee that has been involved in putting together a rough draft of the policy, read through the documents and explained the committees process to the trustees and others in attendance. Thomas said the committee is comprised of himself, North Elementary Principal Diane Gardner, Evanston High School Principal Merle Lester, Evanston Police Chief Jon Kirby, Uinta County Sheriff Doug Matthews, two other members of law enforcement, other staff members and EHS student body president Maggie Russell. Although parents have been asked to participate, Thomas said, to this point, no parents invited have been able to attend the committee meetings. The committee has met twice and put in three to four hours going over the policy. Thomas said the committee has been using guidance documents from the Wyoming Department of Education (DOE) and the Wyoming School Board Association (WSBA). The DOE document poses a series of questions that a district will need to answer in drafting a policy and the WSBA document is actually a sample policy that a district can use as a starting point. Using these two documents the committee has put together a draft policy, with a plan to refine it over the next couple of months. The timeline that Thomas has proposed is for the public forum to be held on Jan. 30, with a first vote on the policy at the Tuesday, Feb. 13, board meeting. The second and final vote would then be held at the March 13 meeting, and the policy would be effective as of July 1, and in place for the next school year. If enacted, the policy would apply to both certified and classified staff, and would provide for approved contracted staff to carry concealed firearms, either on their person or in a biometric lock box, in all buildings and facilities owned or leased by the district, including vehicles. In order for an applicant to be considered, he or she would need to have been employed with the district for at least five years, be in good standing, submit to a psychological examination, possess and maintain a Wyoming concealed carry permit and meet the policy training requirements. As currently drafted, the training requirements are the minimum set forth in the statute passed by the Wyoming Legislature, namely 16 hours of live-fire handgun training and eight hours of scenario-based training using nonlethal firearms and ammunitions. Approved employees will then need to log an additional 12 hours of training each year. The policy states that in addition to, or as part of, the training requirements above, the employee shall participate in training specifically designed to address active shooter situations, hostage situations, and situations with armed students who present a threat to themselves or others. Trustee Jami Brackin said at one point there had been discussion about requiring more than the minimum number of training hours and asked if there was a 40-hour training course offered in Douglas for this purpose. Thomas and Lester said the program in Douglas is not for teachers and they were running into problems with finding the specific kind of training needed for school staff. Theres not a lot of training that talks specifically about this kind of stuff, Lester said, adding that cost also a consideration. Part of the thing, too, that we talked about is for people that really want to do this, if you require a 40-hour training, Im looking at two or three thousand dollars out of my own pocket to do this, and then all the sudden youve just priced everybody out of it. When Brackin and trustee Kay Fackrell again brought up requiring more than the minimum training, Thomas said, We talked about going beyond the minimum, but I really think law enforcement has kind of talked us down from that. This led to a discussion about costs and who would be responsible for the costs associated with the policy. Thomas said it would have to be a combination of district and personal expense or nobody would be able to afford it. The draft policy states that the psychological exam, a biometric container or lock box and initial training would be borne by the district, and all other expenses, including the firearms, holsters, ammunition and annual training, would be the employees responsibility. The policy details exactly what type of firearms and ammunition would be permitted, and specifies that no modifications to firearms would be allowed and that a deep concealed carry would be required. Extensive discussion was held regarding whether biometric lock boxes would be permitted or whether everyone approved would be expected to carry the firearm on his or her person at all times. Thomas said the reasoning behind allowing the lock boxes is to accommodate gym or vocational teachers who may not have the ability to conceal a weapon in the clothes theyre wearing. The confidentiality requirement of the policy was brought up, as the statute passed by the Wyoming Legislature requires confidentiality regarding who has been approved to conceal carry. Thomas acknowledged that maintaining confidentiality would be challenging. There was also extensive discussion about whether employees would be required to carry every day if they were approved, how to handle employees who may be on medications and making a determination about impaired abilities, and what the repercussions would be for those who do not comply with all provisions in the policy. Ive been reading some cranky movie reviews lately about fact and fiction in Darkest Hour and The Post. This is righteous indignation over everything from a Ralph Lauren Polo shirt worn in The Post to a fabricated subway focus group that supposedly gave Winston Churchill the gumption to get up and do whats right. Im a lot more worried about the focus group than the shirt and heres why. Darkest Hour is a movie about the incredible peril faced by England in 1940 when Nazi Germany had quickly overrun the Netherlands, Belgium and part of France, pinning down British, French, Canadian and Belgian soldiers at the English Channel in northwestern France, just 21 miles from Dover, England. The fear was that the British force in France could be wiped out, leaving a pitifully small remaining force to try and stop the Germans from invading England. Winston Churchill had become prime minister on May 10, 1940. On the same day Germany invaded Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium and soon after France. This is the darkest hour pictured in the movie while England debated whether to try to make a deal with Adolf Hitler to prevent an invasion of England or whether to fight. This is a dramatic set up for a movie and the facts of Churchills determination to rally the British to fight are so inspiring that many wonder why the movie had to pretend that the prime minister had any doubts. The cinematic Churchill seeks guidance on a subway from regular folks who tell him never to surrender. No, he came up with that idea all on his own and went on to powerfully speak on the matter. Plus, he had the ridiculous idea of sending a volunteer army of British boat owners to rescue the trapped Allied soldiers. Another movie last year, Dunkirk, told that unbelievable story of rescuing 338,226 soldiers and carrying them across the English Channel to fight another day. I argue that as silly as the subway support group is, Darkest Hour deserves praise for bringing an astonishingly crucial moment history alive. The movie grabs you by the throat. Is makes you acknowledge both the peril of the situation and the shocking, successful resolve rallied by one man, Winston Churchill. And, best of all in my book, it uses a later quote from John F. Kennedy about Churchill to describe how his speech about resolve changed minds and history. Kennedy wrote, In the dark days and darker nights when England stood alone and most men save Englishmen despaired of Englands life he mobilized the English language and sent it into battle. The movie Darkest Hour could have dressed all Parliament in Santa suits and Id still love it for that one line. Im also all about forgiveness for The Posts use of a polo shirt introduced in 1972 one year earlier, in 1971. Come on, people. What the movie got right is how the bright, shy socialite Kay Graham risked financial ruin for her newspaper The Washington Post, and jail time for herself to publish the Pentagon Papers that she believed Americans should read. The movie got so much right, from Grahams lovely dinner parties being interrupted by urgent news questions for the caftan-wearing hostess to a newsroom full of men working with the one, lone female journalist Meg Greenfield in her beehive hairdo. Above all, it simply and clearly told the story of why getting information out to the citizens matters. Thats worth much more than a polo shirt error. On Jan. 14, 2018, a professional D.C. lobbyist, Nicholas Pyle, had a letter published bashing Sen. Barrasso for his support of the U.S. Sugar Policy. I cant understand why a Washington insider would criticize Sen. Barrasso for supporting a program that: 1. supports Wyoming farmers; 2. doesnt cost the taxpayers anything; 3. provides over 3,500 Wyoming jobs; and, 4. contributes over $400 million a year to the Wyoming economy. The allegation that Sen. Barrasso is in the pocket of beet and cane sugar cartels is absurd. There are no beet sugar cartels in Wyoming just two companies owned by farmers. Mr. Pyles Jan. 14 letter is the same deceitful form letter he has sent to papers around the country, attacking other members of Congress who support U.S. Sugar Policy. U.S. Sugar Policy protects Wyoming farmers and factory workers from foreign countries who subsidize their sugar crop and then dump their excess product on the world market at a price less than the cost of manufacturing. Wyoming sugar beet growers and their factories are among the most efficient in the world, but they cannot compete against the treasury of a foreign country. U.S. Sugar Policy does one very important thing: It keeps sugar prices low and stable for consumers by limiting the influx of highly-subsidized, market-distorting, foreign sugar from entering the U.S. And it does so at no cost to the taxpayer. Contrary to popular believe, Wyoming sugar growers do not receive a crop subsidy. For the last two years we have discussed the perils of Wyomings dependence on mineral extraction. Well, crystallized sugar is one of Wyomings few value added products that is grown and processed right here in Wyoming. Mr. Pyle is just another example of someone from back east spinning the facts and assuming we will not look deeper into the real truth. Sen. Barrassos support of U.S. Sugar Policy is about his dedication to Wyoming farmers and Wyoming factory workers. He should be thanked for his support of 100 year old Wyoming industry not criticized. Arizona banks and credit unions seem to be out of the woods in their recovery from the Great Recession, judging from the latest ratings of financial institutions by Bauer Financial. But the state still has a lower percentage of top-rated banks than the national average. None of the states banks were rated troubled or problematic in Bauers ratings for the third quarter of 2017, after two Tucson-based banks Commerce Bank of Arizona and Canyon Community Bank completed their recoveries and earned 3-star, adequate ratings. Commerce Bank of Arizona and Canyon Community Bank raised their ratings after raising millions of dollars in new capital to meet regulatory orders. Bauer rated 75 percent of Arizona banks as recommended with a rating of either 4 stars (excellent) or 5 stars (superior) in the third quarter. Thats up from about 71 percent in the prior quarter, though it lagged the national average of 89 percent in the quarter that ended Sept. 30. Nationally, Bauer rated 2 percent of banks as troubled or problematic. Commerce Bank and Canyon Community Bank fell to Bauers lowest ratings Commerce was at zero stars and Canyon was at 1 star, or troubled until mid-2016 as they wrote off bad business loans in the wake of the recession. Since 2015, Commerce raised more than $13 million from local investors, prompting the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions to lift a 2013 consent order last August. Canyon Community Bank raised $9.5 million in 2015 from a Texas-based investment holding company in exchange for a majority ownership stake in the bank. In the third quarter, Commerce Bank posted net income of $261,000, bringing its 2017 income through the third quarter to $745,000, after earning $536,000 for all of 2016. The banks percentage of nonperforming assets things like delinquent loans fell but remained relatively high at 4.4 percent. Canyon Community Bank reported a third-quarter net loss of $21,000 and lost $85,000 through the third quarter. But Canyons new investment helped the bank raise its risk-based capital ratio a key measure of financial strength to a statewide high of nearly 36 percent. And Canyon reported that it had no nonperforming assets at the end of the third quarter. Lauren Kingry, Canyon Community Bank president and CEO, said the consent order imposed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in 2013 remains in place but he hopes it will be lifted soon, based on the banks much stronger financial position. Canyon is very excited about some of the programs that are staged for 2018 and we believe this is our breakout year, Kingry said in an email. Meanwhile, statewide ratings for Arizonas credit unions fell after a Tempe-based credit union saw its rating drop to zero from 3 stars in the third quarter, but local credit unions remain strong. Altier Credit Union, formerly SRP Credit Union, saw its Bauer rating crash after posting a quarterly net loss of more than $9 million in the third quarter and its capital ratio fell to 2.3 percent. That dragged down Arizonas overall credit-union ratings, but they were still higher than the national average. Bauer rated 81.4 percent of the states credit unions recommended and 2.3 percent troubled or problematic, compared with national numbers of 80.3 percent 2.6 percent, respectively. The Tucson areas five biggest credit unions including Vantage West, Hughes, Tucson Federal, Pima and Pyramid maintained their top, 5-star Bauer ratings. One year after taking office and vowing to crack down on cross-border crime, President Trump has not nominated anyone for the top federal law enforcement post in Arizona. Trump has taken twice as long as the two previous presidents to make a nomination for U.S. attorney for the District of Arizona, which Department of Justice records show is now the only district in the country without a U.S. attorney. The U.S. attorney for Arizona oversees prosecutions in one of the busiest federal districts in the country, with 170 attorneys prosecuting thousands of illegal-immigration and drug-smuggling cases every year. Arizona also was the district where U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the arrival of the Trump era to the border and laid out the administrations plans for prosecuting cross-border crimes. But nine months after Sessions April speech in Nogales and 12 months after the presidential inauguration, the position remains vacant, according to Cosme Lopez, spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys Office in Arizona. The top official in the Arizona district is First Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth A. Strange, who joined the U.S. Attorneys Office in early 2008. Strange became acting U.S. attorney when John S. Leonardo resigned as U.S. attorney in January 2017, but her tenure expired in November, per a 300-day limit mandated by federal law for acting officials. Leonardo was among dozens of U.S. attorneys who resigned in January, as is customary with new administrations. Sessions asked 46 U.S. attorneys from the Obama administration to resign in March. In many cases, they were replaced by acting U.S. attorneys. As their tenures expired across the country, Sessions made interim appointments to fill the positions. As a former U.S. attorney myself, I have seen firsthand the impact that these prosecutors have and it is critical to have U.S. attorneys in place during this time of rising violent crime, a staggering increase in homicides, and an unprecedented drug crisis, Sessions said in a Jan. 3 statement as he made 17 interim appointments. But he did not include Arizona among those appointments, leaving Arizona as the only district led by a first assistant U.S. attorney, according to Justice Department records. The Justice Department did not respond to questions regarding the vacancy in Arizona. A White House spokesman declined to comment on personnel prior to an official announcement or nomination. Senators recommend nominees to president U.S. attorneys are nominated by presidents and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to four-year terms, but they can be fired by the president at any time. Traditionally, senators make recommendations to the president for nominees to their states federal judicial district or districts. In April, Republican Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake recommended Andrew Pacheco, the former head of the state attorney generals criminal division who unsuccessfully ran for Maricopa County attorney in 2004, according to the Arizona Republic. The offices of Flake and McCain, two of the most outspoken Republican critics of President Trump, did not respond to requests for an update on their recommendation. So far, Trump has nominated 58 new U.S. attorneys, out of a total of 93 positions nationwide, records from the Senate Judiciary Committee show. The Senate confirmed 45 Trump nominees and Sessions made 28 interim appointments. Another nine districts have acting U.S. attorneys, five districts have interim appointments from 2015 and 2016, four U.S. attorneys were appointed by judges, and one U.S. attorney was confirmed in 2015. The daily activities of the U.S. Attorneys Office in Arizona continue at the federal courthouse in Tucson without an appointed U.S. attorney, but decisions on high-profile cases and the implementation of new prosecution policies usually are made by the U.S. attorney. Key decisions U.S. attorneys make key decisions in federal criminal prosecutions, such as deciding to file a second-degree murder charge against Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Swartz in the 2012 cross-border fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy in Mexico. They also coordinate multi-agency investigations, such as the botched gunwalking operation by federal agents known as Operation Fast and Furious. U.S. attorneys also are in charge of defending the federal government in lawsuits and filing civil lawsuits on behalf of the government. During Stranges tenure as acting U.S. attorney, federal prosecutors in Tucson ramped up prosecutions of first-time border crossers and those accused of assaulting federal agents, both of which were directives Sessions laid out in his Nogales speech. It is unclear how Sessions other directives, such as increasing prosecutions for document fraud or Sessions recent decision to take a more-aggressive approach to prosecuting state-sanctioned marijuana customers, are being implemented. Past nominations The recent history of the U.S. attorney position in Arizona has been tumultuous, but the nomination process has followed a fairly consistent schedule, according to Arizona Daily Star archives, media reports and White House news releases in the National Archives. President George W. Bush nominated Paul K. Charlton in July 2001, six months after Bushs inauguration. The Senate confirmed Charlton in November 2001. He was one of eight U.S. attorneys fired by the Bush administration in 2006. President Barack Obama nominated Dennis K. Burke in July 2009, six months after Obamas first inauguration. The Senate confirmed Burke in September 2009. He resigned in August 2011 amid the investigation of Operation Fast and Furious. Obama nominated Leonardo in March 2012. The Senate confirmed him in June 2012. He resigned in January 2017 prior to Trump taking office. A Tucson woman has filed a $2 million claim against the police department, saying officers used excessive force when they shot and killed her BB gun-wielding son in May. The claim, filed on behalf of Angelina Zimmerman, said Tucson police officers Francisco Magos and Timothy Anderson were negligent and used excessive physical force when they shot and killed Joseph Zimmerman on May 26. Zimmerman went for a walk on the night in question, ending up in the South Lawn Cemetery, located at 5401 S. Park Ave., after which officers opened fire on Mr. Zimmerman, causing his death, according to the claim. Police were not justified in using physical force on Zimmerman because the situation didnt meet all of the statutory criteria, the claim said. Because Zimmerman had a BB gun and not a lethal weapon at the time he was shot, the use of force by officers was disproportionate to the need to prevent escape or protect persons on the scene, the claim said. Tucson police said Zimmerman pointed a gun at police when they responded to reports of a suicidal man at the cemetery, according to a news release issued after the shooting. TPD received a 911 call from a man at the cemetery who said he had a gun and was suicidal. Officers trained in crisis intervention responded to the scene and negotiators unsuccessfully tried to talk to Zimmerman on his cellphone and over a public address system, during which he threw down his phone and approached police with a gun to his head, the release said. Officers gave Zimmerman multiple commands to put down his gun, but he refused and pointed it toward officers, after which Magos and Anderson fired at him, the release said. TPD failed to properly train its officers on appropriate use of force, including deadly force, resulting in Zimmermans death, the claim said. The damages associated with Zimmermans death include medical expenses, funeral expenses, consequential damages, attorneys fees and pain and suffering, the claim said. City Attorney Mike Rankin has previously told the Star that he is unable to comment on pending litigation. Angelina Zimmermans attorney, Lisa Kimmel, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The city has 60 days from the date of filing to settle the claim, before Angelina Zimmerman is free to file a lawsuit in Pima County Superior Court. A federal grand jury has indicted the operators of a Tucson-based in-home health-care company on charges of defrauding Medicare. The indictment filed in U.S. District Court on Jan. 10 says Elvia Lorena Lamont and Stephen Allen Lamont, of Tucson-based Ascension In-Home Medical Care Nurse Practitioners Group Inc., submitted false claims to Medicare between April 2011 through July 2015. The couples purpose was to fraudulently and unlawfully enrich themselves with money under the custody and control of the federal Medicare program, the indictment alleges. The Lamonts say they are innocent. They are facing 47 federal criminal counts related to Medicare billing, including an accusation that they forged the signatures of Medicare-approved physicians. Medicare is a government health insurance plan for people over age 65, as well as for people younger than 65 with certain disabilities and people of all ages with end-stage renal disease. There were 1.13 million Arizonans about 17 percent of the population enrolled in Medicare as of 2015, the Kaiser Family Foundation says. The charges carry the possibility of prison time. Among other offenses, the couple is charged with 10 counts of aggravated identity theft, a charge that has a mandatory minimum federal prison sentence of two years. They are also facing charges of health care fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and making false statements relating to a health care matter. Open for business The Lamonts are scheduled to be arraigned in federal court on Jan. 26. The two maintain their innocence and continue to operate the business, their Scottsdale-based lawyer, Michael Goldberg, said. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) doesnt revoke billing privileges based on an indictment a conviction in a felony case is required, spokesman Jack Cheevers said. Ascension In-Home Medical Care Nurse Practitioners (NP) Group Inc. is active and in good standing with the Arizona Corporation Commission, online records say. The Corporation Commission lists Elvia Lamont as the companys president and director. The federal indictment says both Lamonts own and operate the business. The business operations have included treatment of elderly patients in assisted living facilities or other home settings, court documents say. Elvia Lamont told the Star in 2007 the year the business opened that her company had 66 caregivers to serve the Tucson metro area, including companions, health aides, certified nursing assistants, registered nurses, nurse case managers and medication managers. The company has been enrolled as a Medicare provider since 2009, the indictment says. The companys website says it provides in-home medical care to patients by sending highly trained doctors, physicians assistants, nurse practitioners, and registered nurses who specialize in geriatrics and chronic conditions to you, and provide quality at home care for you or a loved one. The website says the business also provides services in Scottsdale, Mesa, Phoenix, Chandler and Tempe. Allegations The indictment cites three key ways the couple allegedly was breaking the law on Medicare billing: 1. Upcoding. The Lamonts were billing for a more complex and expensive level of health care and more extended services than they provided, the indictment says. 2. They said care was provided by a physician or nurse practitioner but it wasnt. The Lamonts are accused of billing Medicare for medical care provided by a physician or nurse practitioner, yet in reality the services were performed by auxiliary personnel, such as nurses, medical assistants, technicians or a phlebotomist, the indictment says. 3. Forged signatures. The Lamonts are accused of forging the signatures, or using signature stamps, of CMS-approved providers without their consent, and without those providers having rendered the medical service. These acts of forgery and fraudulent misuse of the providers signature stamp were committed by the defendants in an attempt to conceal and advance their Medicare (CMS) fraud scheme, the indictment says. The indictment does not give a total dollar value of the alleged fraud. But it says if the Lamonts are convicted of one or more of the offenses in the indictment, they will have to forfeit any property they acquired from gross proceeds traceable to the commission of the offenses. Since 2009, a federal Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team has filed criminal and civil charges against more than 1,700 defendants who falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion, says a 2014 Congressional Budget Office report, citing data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Donald Trump and his wife Melania met with the Obamas at the White House for the traditional private meeting of outgoing and incoming presiden Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman said last week that she didn't know whether she would take the stand to deliver a victim impact statement at the sentencing of her abuser, former team doctor Larry Nassar, who has pleaded guilty to multiple counts of sexually assaulting and abusing young girls under the guise of providing medical treatment. But Friday, Raisman followed the 70 others who had come before her and addressed Nassar directly. Courtrooms see their fair share of drama, but Raisman's blistering speech deserves to be examined in detail, both as a searing takedown of the man who assaulted her and as a call to action to fix the broken system that allowed Nassar's prolific abuse to occur for so long. In fact, by the time Raisman finished her 14-minute statement, the court had erupted in cheers. Raisman's 10 most powerful lines are below. 1. "Larry, you do realize now that we, this group of women you so heartlessly abused over such a long period of time, are now a force, and you are nothing." As Raisman said this, she raised her head high and looked Nassar square in the eyes, her expression conveying both utter fury and absolute dignity. 2. "I didn't think I would be here today. I was scared and nervous. It wasn't until I started watching the impact statements from the other brave survivors that I realized I, too, needed to be here." Throughout her statement, she made sure to repeatedly emphasize that she is just one of many who were abused by Nassar, and she praised the more than 70 others who have also given impact statements to the court (in all, a total of 120 women are expected to speak about Nassar's abuse, according to prosecutors). Raisman is one of the most recognizable members of the US gymnastics team, but she never stops emphasizing that each woman's voice matters equally. They are, she said, "an army of survivors." 3. "Larry, you should have been locked up, a long, long time ago. The fact is, we have no idea how many people you victimized, or what was done or not done that allowed you to keep doing it, and to get away with it for so long." Raisman also made sure to point out that many of Nassar's victims might never be known. Note the way in which she repeatedly directly addresses him, unflinchingly, by name. 4. "I am here to face you, Larry, so you can see I have regained my strength, that I am no longer a victim. I am a survivor." This was the first and only time Raisman used the word "victim" in relation to her or anyone else. The semantics here speak for themselves. 5. "As for your letter yesterday, you are pathetic to think that anyone would have any sympathy for you. You think this is hard for you? Imagine how all of us feel." Here, Raisman directly addressed a letter Nassar wrote -- parts of which were read to the court Thursday -- in which he asked to be excused from four days of victim impact statements as he could not "mentally" handle it. 6. "Treatments with you were mandatory. You took advantage of that. ... Lying on my stomach with you on my bed insisting that your inappropriate touch would help to heal my pain. The reality is you caused me a great deal of physical, mental and emotional pain. You never healed me. You took advantage of our passions and our dreams." Consider the bravery it takes to recount these traumatizing details in front of a room of people, let alone while looking at the perpetrator of these crimes in the eye. 7. "You already know you're going away to a place where you won't be able to hurt anybody ever again. But I am here to tell you that I will not rest until every single last trace of your influence on this sport has been destroyed, like the cancer it is." She made an important point here -- noting with disgust that Nassar had sat on advisory boards and committees that had designed policies on how to protect athletes from harm. She "cringed," she said, to think that his influence remains in gymnastics, and vowed to eliminate his input forever. 8. "I have represented the United States of America in two Olympics and have done so successfully. And both USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee have been very quick to capitalize and celebrate my success. But did they reach out when I came forward? No." Raisman slammed the groups who she said had failed to protect her and others who endured Nassar's abuse. She also accused USA Gymnastics of "rotting from the inside." 9. "If we are to believe in change, we must first understand the problem and everything that contributed to it. Now is not the time for false reassurances. We need an independent investigation of exactly what happened, what went wrong and how it can be avoided for the future." Raisman emphasized repeatedly that Nassar being sent to jail was not enough. She called on both USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee to investigate how her abuser's behavior was allowed to go on for so long. She pulled no punches with what she said was USA Gymnastics' repeated failings to acknowledge the problem, saying that even though Nassar's crimes have been revealed, they still had "the nerve to say the very same" things they've said all along. 10. "My dream is that one day everyone will know what the words #MeToo signify. But they will be educated and able to protect themselves from predators like Larry so that they will never ever, ever have to say the words, 'me, too.'" Help India! By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter Dubai: Following a successful run at its home base in Dubai, Mian, Biwi aur Wagah- an original Urdu play based on the lost tradition of letter-writing is starting its international tour with New Delhi as its first destination. The Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre (IHC), New Delhi, will host three shows of the play at 7:00 p.m. on 27 January 2018 and two shows on 28 January at 4:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. respectively. Support TwoCircles The play Mian, Biwi aur Wagah is based on a series of letters, narrating a mixed bag of events and slice-of-life stories. These letters encapsulate human experiences and frailties and are a menagerie of tales wrapped in nostalgic exchanges. The duration of the play is 120-minutes with an interval included. The play has been written and produced in Dubai and is seeking to revive the spirit and tradition of letter-writing that is rapidly disappearing under the onslaught of communication technology. Mian and Biwi are the South Asian husband-wife duo, while Wagah a border crossing between India and Pakistan takes a human form to become the narrator and a central viewpoint in the play. Just like a sutradhaar (thread-holder), Wagah symbolically dovetails through the cascade of letters. All letters staged are originally written and inspired by true stories and experiences that remain rooted in history and are yet contemporary in nature. The play is presented in a refreshing light-hearted, jocular, at times poignant and thought-provoking manner. With five full house shows at the citys homegrown performing arts venue The Junction, Mian, Biwi aur Wagah was Dubais most popular original Urdu play of 2017. As plays director Dhruti Shah Dsouza recalls, The audiences were so enthralled by the play, that they have almost devotionally attended each show every time it was staged, and declared it a kind of intimate addiction, they can never get enough of. The plays success was attributed to the originality of narrative and intense depth of humanity, thereby establishing a profound connection between the actors, their experiences, and the engaging dynamics with which people could connect. According to the director, the play has the potential to appeal to avid Urdu-language enthusiasts and frequent theatre aficionados as well as those who enjoy a good wave of storytelling, in a rather simple and easygoing format with Urdu at its forefront. Handwritten letters carry a sense of quaint longing and hold the innate power of seamlessly merging into evocative storytelling, said Dsouza, adding that the boundary between fact and fiction blurs as a result of narration of these letters. Dhruti Shah Dsouza is a Dubai-based theatre artist, storyteller, writer, and playwright, and has written and directed several experimental plays, challenging the ways in which stage is approached from an audience-actor perspective. Mian, Biwi aur Wagah beckons a memorable homecoming experience for the lovers of Urdu theatre and the lost tradition of letter-writing. Ehtesham Shahid, co-writer of the play who also plays Mian (husband) says, in the days of telegraphic communication, this virtue can seem hopelessly outdated. Yet its an art worth reviving, not because of a misplaced sense of nostalgia, but perhaps because, the writing, receiving and reading of letters will always offer a surreal and heartfelt feeling that modern technology can never attempt to touch, says Dubai-based Ehtesham who has worked as a journalist in India and the Gulf region. Letters can provide a cathartic experience from everything that influences us from relationships, family values to cultural belongings and even predicaments, he says. According to him, the team behind the play saw value in the fact that each letter has a story of its own. Several letters then fitted into a narrative that could be presented on stage, he said. This historical success of Mian, Biwi Aur Wagah has proved that Urdu is transnational. The beauty and vibrancy of Urdu are such that wherever it goes, it wins hearts and makes it its home, said Rehan Khan, founder of Bazm-e-Urdu, a community group that works for the promotion of Urdu in the UAE. After many successful performances in Dubai, Mian Biwi aur Wagah going back to the country of Urdus origin as a message that Urdu has is now travelling to the birthplace of Urdu. I am proud to see Goonj performing in India, said Khan, who is originally from Lucknow and has been living in Dubai for over five years. Habitat World, which is hosting the show in New Delhi, says it welcomes the arrival of a Dubai theatre group in India. We are delighted to welcome Goonj from Dubai. It is heartening to note that an original Urdu Production from UAE enjoyed such rousing reception and critical acclaim back home. We wish them success in their first ever performance in Delhi, said Renu Oberoi, Head of Programmes, Habitat World, India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. Mian, Biwi aur Wagah is co-directed by Sheherzad Kaleem, an award-winning producer and director. Help India! By Sharjeel Usmani for TwoCircles.net Support TwoCircles The Union Hall building of Aligarh Muslim University Students Union (AMUSU) is buzzing with supporters of the newly elected union. Inside the building, towards the left is the spacious office of students union president, Maskoor Usmani, wherein a meeting with several administrative officials of the university is being held. Among others, is present the chief of the building department of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), who is being confronted by the President regarding the restoration AMUs significant buildings and its glorious past. Usmani, the President of the Union, pulls out a piece of paper from his Sherwani pocket, perhaps with names of the buildings that he feels were not taken good care of, towards the chief. Is it too difficult a task to put a name-plate at the Registrars lodge, telling Qurratulain Hyder was born here, he asks. Do you even know that she was born there, he adds. The meeting was held in the last week of December, last year. As of now, no progress on the demands of the union president can be seen, not at least at the Registrars Lodge where no board has been put to tell that Qurratulain Hyder was born in the building. Qurratulain Hyder, affectionately called Ainee Aapa, was born on 20th January 1927 at the Registrars Lodge of AMU, while her father Sajjad Haider Yildarim was serving as the varsitys Registrar. Her father himself was a well known Urdu short story writer, translator, and essayist. The inspiration of her name which literally means calmness to the eyes, came from a notable Iranian poetess, Qurat-ul-Ain Tahira. She completed her early education from Aligarh and then she moved to Indraprastha College, Delhi and Lucknow Universitys Isabella Thoburn College with a degree in English Literature. Ainee Aapa is among those few writers of Urdu fiction, who continue to guide every generation of writers in South Asia. She started writing at an early age of eleven, at the time when literature was mainly male dominated, like any other field, with people like Mulk Raj Anand and RK Laxman who had already become an established name in the field of short story writing by that time. Soon after completing her education, she moved to Pakistan, in 1947, to permanently live there. One thing unique about Ainee Aapa was the unapologetic tone in her writings. She, refraining from celebrating the independence, focused her writings on the conflicts and tensions people were subjected to after the partition. Shes most known for her magnum opus, Aag Ka Darya, published in 1959 during her stay in Pakistan. It is a long novel, starting off from 4th century BC to the creation of Pakistan after the partition of India. The novel caught the eyes of the critics quite early, for itself and Ainee Aapas literary career as well, and all these attentions were not necessarily positive. Her early work, for instance Sitaron Ke Aage and Mere Bhi Sanam Khane were regarded by the critics as influence of western world and she was remarked Maghrib Zada by many. However, her novel Aag Ka Darya sent waves in the literary circles of the Indian subcontinent. The noted poet and critic Shamim Hanafi noted until Aag Ka Darya was published, she was accused of being impressed by the west but soon as her magnum opus appeared, she was declared a supporter of Hindu Philosophy. During her time in Pakistan, she was working on documentary films, apart from her writings. However, soon she had to leave Pakistan, of course leaving all these works undone. Her novel that was written in newly-formed Pakistan, in many ways, was responsible for her decision to leave Pakistan and settle in India. This piece in The Dawn, a national daily of Pakistan speculates various reasons of why did Qurratulain Hyder left Pakistan for India. She went to London firstly and finally returned back to India in 1960 and had lived here until her death. Besides from being a novelist and short story writer, she also worked as a journalist for several radio and magazines to earn a living. From working with reputed publications like Imprint to being a member of the editorial staff of The Illustrated Weekly of India, she had even been a guest lecturer at several reputed universities of the country and the world. Some of these prestigious universities included the University of Chicago, Arizona, Wisconsin, and California. She then served as a visiting faculty at the Department of Urdu of the Aligarh Muslim University. What makes Ainee Aapa special is the boldness and style of her writing. In the pre-independence era, illustrations of women writing were rare, or say negligible, and if not were mostly unheard of. Ainee Aapa was one of the first women writers who succeeded in bringing women writing to the front. She is also credited with transforming Urdu literature by introducing the class of short stories to the readers, who previously have had only known the beauty of Urdu poetry. She used writings to challenge the stereotypes associated with people, especially with women, and with censorship being highly rampant at that time with her contemporaries like Saadat Hasan Manto and Ismat Chugtai, both Urdu short story writers facing court cases for including obscenity in their stories; Annie Aapa was bold and ridiculously impenitent. So now one is not even allowed to bark, she questioned the eminent writer Qudrat Ullah Shahab, after reading foul words published for her novel by critics. She received numerous awards and honours in her lifetime. In 1967, she won the Sahitya Academy Award, the Soviet Land Nehru Award and the Ghalib Award in 1969. In 1989, for her novel, Aakhir-i-Shab ke Hamsafar (Travellers Unto the Night) she received the Jnanpith Award which is Indias highest literary award. In recognition of her exemplary contribution to Urdu literature, she also received the Padma Shree and Padma Bhushan by the government of India, in 2005. She was often referred as the Grand Dame. She died on August 21, 2007, leaving behind an enduring legacy which lives on through her excellent pieces of literature. (The Author is a student of Political Science at the Aligarh Muslim University) A woman has been detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act after causing havoc on the London Underground yesterday, during rush hour. It emerged that she had dropped her phone on the rail tracks, and when station workers were refusing to retrieve it, jumped onto the tracks in order to fetch it herself. The incident took place at Aldgate East London at around 5:45 pm on Thursday 18 January. The havoc caused was apparent, with one witness uploading a video of the queues on the platform at Aldgate East Station: This video, posted on social media, shows queues of commuters calmly waiting on the sides of the platform. Then, one of the women walks from the side of the platform, (an unauthorised area for the public), before walking back to the main platform area. Another video, which was posted on Instagram but later deleted, showed the same woman arguing with TfL staff, then jumping onto the track and storming into the tunnel angrily. On Twitter user reported: "I went past Aldgate East and the police were still with her. I think she dropped her phone from the bridge bit over the platforms and they were refusing to get it for her. So she was stupid and went to get it herself..." I went past Aldgate East and the police were still with her. I think she dropped her phone from the bridge bit over the platforms and they were refusing to get it for her. So she was stupid and went to get it herself... Christine Jagger (@RandomPanda1989) 18 January 2018 Another bypasser tweeted: "Basically girl 1 got seriously aggressive and violent towards girl 2, threatened to throw herself in front of a train, ran off down the tunnel and girl 2 couldn't make her [mind up] if she wanted to run away or follow her". Basically girl 1 got seriously aggressive and violent towards girl 2, threatened to throw herself in front of a train, ran off down the tunnel and girl 2 couldn't make her kind if she wanted to run away or follow her. #aldgateeast Ashleigh Hacker (@ashleigh_hacker) 18 January 2018 As a result of the incident, four of TFL's Tube was temporarily shut down. When they re-opened commuters experienced severe delays. It affected the Metropolitan Line, Circle Line, District Line and Hammersmith and City Line. No service: Moorgate and Aldgate due to a trespasser on the track at Aldgate East. Minor delays: Moorgate and Harrow on the Hill. Metropolitan line (@metline) 18 January 2018 No service: Moorgate and Edgware Road via Embankment due to a trespasser on the track at Aldgate East. Minor delays: on the rest of the line Circle line (@circleline) 18 January 2018 No service: Tower Hill and West Ham due to a trespasser on the track at Aldgate East. Minor delays: rest of the line. District line (@districtline) 18 January 2018 No service: Moorgate and Barking due to a trespasser on the track at Aldgate East. Minor delays: on the rest of the line. Hammersmith & City line (@hamandcityline) 18 January 2018 The service was suspended temporarily while the incident was handled before the TfL lines reported severe delays. Bystanders took to Twitter to express their resentment towards the situation. One witness wrote: "Massive tube delays because some divvy is just running around the tracks for lolz. Cheers mate, just help up myself and probably thousands of others getting home". Others questioned the semantics of TfL by referring to the woman as a 'passenger': "Now Aldgate East and Aldgate is shut because of a passenger on the tracks not sure you can call them a passenger... great luck with public transport this week". Massive tube delays because some divvy is just running around the tracks for lolz. Cheers mate, just held up myself and probably thousands of others getting home. #angrynorthernerinlondon Alex Revell (@A_Revell) 18 January 2018 Now Aldgate East and Aldgate is shut because of a passenger on the tracks not sure you can call them a passenger... great luck with public transport this week Felix Habgood (@felixhabgood) 18 January 2018 To the dickheads walking on the track at #AldgateEast fuck off I want to go home Kayleigh McLintock (@KayleighMcCrazy) 18 January 2018 A British Transport Police spokesperson reported that officers had attended the scene and later detained a woman under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act. She was then taken to a place of safety. Severe delays on the affected lines continued into the evening. A training session by lifeguards in Australia using Drone technology recently turned into a real-life opportunity to utilise the futuristic option for saving lives at sea. The forward-looking team at Lennox Head, a beach south of Brisbane where surfers have the opportunity to crest the waves, deployed the drone to help save two men in trouble outside the designated safety flags. Willingness to explore alternative options Local authorities have been eager to explore the additional options provided by the fast-developing technological advances being made and see drones as being perfectly matched to their future vision for life-saving in Australia. Extra weight will have been added to that belief after the successful real-life proof of concept. Planned as a training exercise The world's first use of the drones in such a manner was originally planned merely as a training exercise to demonstrate how the devices could be used to help pull swimmers in danger to safety. Realism was added to the trial though when the lifesaving team became aware of two men who were swimming in an area with a 10-foot swell and appeared to be in trouble as a consequence. With speed of response being essential in the interests of the swimmers' safety, the lifeguards launched the drone and a "rescue pod" was dropped into the water near their position. The pod quickly expanded to enable the imperilled pair to grab on to it and then safely complete their return to the shore. A world first for the flying robots Deputy premier for New South Wales, John Barilaro, was full of praise for the quick-thinking of the lifeguards afterwards. He said that such a manner of life-saving procedure involving "a drone fitted with a flotation device" had never previously "been used to rescue swimmers like this." From a technological viewpoint, drones can be categorised as Unmanned Aircraft and are commonly referred to as 'UAVs' (unmanned aerial vehicles) or 'UASes' (unmanned aircraft systems). Drones may be remotely controlled or even configured to fly autonomously, through the use of embedded software working alongside onboard sensors and the Global Positioning System (GPS) to pinpoint geographical locations. Saving lives rather than war zone usage Drone technology is already being put to a number of uses in war zones and conflicts, replacing the need to endanger humans as a result in many circumstances. However, their usage in the lifesaving arena seems to offer even more cause for celebration as they help to save lives rather than also kill others during times of battle. Unified Communications Week in Review: Reinvent, CounterPath, and More Share Tweet By Mandi Nowitz Web Editor By Mandi NowitzWeb Editor Unified Communications was very broad this week, as communications has many offerings. From Reinvent adding SMS to its Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) portfolio to Centile (News - Alert) choosing Pure Cloud Solutions (PCS) as its cloud PBX provider, UC continued to show how vital it is to the world. With all the news and announcements, it seems like the perfect time for a Unified Communications Week in Review. It has been found that people prefer texting over talking on the phone, even in businesses. That was why Reinvent announced it has added SMS to its UCaaS offering. This will permit businesses to send and receive text messages from any mobile device via a cloud hosted phone number. Texting is increasingly popular with all demographics of users and adding this feature to our UC services will help businesses communicate even more effectively, said Ray Napoletano, vice president of sales for Reinvent Telecom. There are several trends that all businesses must begin to look out for as 2018 begins. One of the most important issues is AI and machine learning providing better customer service while rerouting and mitigating network outages. The goal with AI and machine learning is for networks to experience a zero error track record but only time will tell if automation can truly replace human beings. William King discusses many trends to watch out for in the UC article all about predicting trends. Centile announced it has chosen Pure Cloud Solutions (PCS) for its cloud PBX (News - Alert) provider in the United Kingdom. Centiles Regional Associate Director Justin Martin-Hamilton notes, PCS is exactly the kind of Cloud Service Provider we want to work with, as part of our UK expansion strategy. PCS understands that resellers want to offer advanced fixed mobile convergence and unified communications services, with hosted cloud-based services meaning that they dont have to invest in their own technology infrastructure or development. Finally, CounterPath announced it has made a distribution agreement with Unified Communications Co. to offer CounterPaths Bria and Stretto to the Japanese market. "We selected Unified Communications (News - Alert) Co. to expand our distribution to untapped markets within Japan that only can be reached through channel partners. We expect to grow our small to medium sized enterprise business that will also help drive success in winning larger accounts," said Todd Carothers, EVP of Sales and Marketing at CounterPath (News - Alert). And there you have it; all of the news in one tiny package. Come back next week early and often for all of the Unified Communications announcements and news. One of the biggest rumors over the last month has been whether or not Donald Trump would fire Robert Mueller as special counsel to the Russian investigation. Despite multiple reports doubling down on the story, Sarah Huckabee Sanders appears fed up with having to talk about it. Sanders on Mueller Earlier this year, a special counsel was assigned by the United States Justice Department to investigate what role the Donald Trump campaign might have had in regards to Russia hacking the 2016 election. Despite the White House continuing to deny the allegations against them, former FBI Director Robert Mueller was put in place to lead the charge. As former and current associates of the president have been indicted on various acts related to the investigation, including former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Trump has done his best to deflect the controversy away from his campaign and administration. In recent weeks, several reports have noted that Trump has pondered whether or not to fire Mueller, though those close to him have advised against it due to the backlash it would likely cause. As seen during a Fox News interview on December 21, Sarah Huckabee Sanders is not happy that the rumors surrounding Mueller's potential firing have continued. Joining Fox News host Bill Hemmer on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was pressed on the current state of the Russian investigation as it pertains to Donald Trump and the status of Robert Mueller. "For the 1000th time, we have no intention of firing Bob Mueller," Sanders said, as she appeared clearly annoyed. NEW POLL: Majority of Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling Mueller investigation https://t.co/awHeIMy4q2 pic.twitter.com/dWXCTyxW49 The Hill (@thehill) December 21, 2017 "We're continuing to work closely and cooperate with him," Sarah Huckabee Sanders went on to say, before noting, "We look forward to seeing this hoax wrap up very soon." "We think it is just further evidence that the Democrats have no plan," Sanders said, while claiming the Democrats "have nothing to talk to about other than attacking this president." Sanders continued with her tirade, before mocking Democrats by saying she hopes they make a New Year's resolution to work with the president. Moving forward While Sarah Huckabee Sanders and the rest of the White House deny the reports of collusion with Russia, the investigation led by Robert Mueller is heating up. According to the most recent CNN poll, 56 percent of Americans disapprove of the president's handling of the investigation in question. One of Donald Trump's main backers during the 2016 presidential election was Steve Bannon. Following a brief and unsuccessful stint as chief strategist in the White House, Bannon has been telling those close to him that he is done with Trump. Bannon on Trump The candidacy of Donald Trump was unlike any other in recent American history. After initially being viewed as a joke, the former host of "The Apprentice" was able to tap into populist anger on the far right and ride a wave of momentum to the Republican nomination in the summer of 2016. During that time, Trump hired Steve Bannon, then head of the right-wing Breitbart News, to be his campaign CEO. Following his election win over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton last November, Bannon was promoted to the administration and brought on board to serve in the role of chief strategist. Despite rumors of his power behind the scenes, Bannon often clashed with other members of the administration, including Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner. The tension reportedly became too much for the president as Bannon was let go in August. Fast forward to earlier this month and the Bannon-backed Republican in Alabama, Roy Moore, lost in an upset during the Alabama Senate election to Doug Jones. As reported by Vanity Fair on December 21, Bannon is ready to split from the commander in chief. EXCLUSIVE: Steve Bannon is fed up with Trumpand has privately said he would consider running for president, himself, in 2020 https://t.co/inLHzQIZk2 VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) December 21, 2017 In an lengthy article by Vanity Fair on Thursday afternoon, Gabriel Sherman detailed the last few months of Steve Bannon's life post-White House, and explains the divide between himself and the president. While Bannon has long-supported Trump, he no longer beliefs his motives are in line with what he pushed during the campaign. "The Trump presidency that we fought for, and won, is over," Bannon said. Vanity Fair notes that Steve Bannon has started to sour on Donald Trump, and thinks he could have a shot at running for president in 2020. According to Bannon's private conversions, he believes "Trump only has a 30 percent chance of serving out his term," citing either impeachment or being removed by his Cabinet via the the 25th amendment. With the Russian investigation moving forward, the pressure has heated up on the White House as Bannon keys an eye on his own political future. Steve Bannon called George H. W. Bush a pervert https://t.co/INmfbBzTZp Axios (@axios) December 21, 2017 Bannon on Bush In addition, Steve Bannon also opened up about his hatred for the Bush family, going as far as referring to George H.W. Bush a "pervert." "I really detest them," Bannon said, saying of the elder Bush, saying, "He's a pervert." "Grabbing these girls and grabbing their asses," he added. On George W. Bush, Bannon said his time in office was the "most destructive presidency in history." Next up Whether or not Steve Bannon runs for president remains to be seen based on the next few years of Donald Trump's first term in office. With the strong opposition against him from the left and center, as well as from establishment Republicans, it's unlikely that Bannon would be able to secure mainstream support in a national election. From the start of his campaign for president over two and a half years ago, Donald Trump has been engaged in a war of words with the majority of the mainstream media. In his most recent posts on social media, the president continued that feud. Trump on Twitter It all started during Donald Trump's campaign announcement back in the summer of 2015 when he addressed the issue of illegal immigration and referred to those coming to the United States from Mexico as "rapists" and "murderers." The response from most in the media was negative as it set the stage for a clash between both sides in the years to come. Following his election win over Hillary Clinton last November, Trump has only increased his trash talk against the press, saving only praise for conservative news outlet Fox News, including their morning program "Fox and Friends." With other news outlets like NBC, ABC, the New York Times, and the Washington Post all getting slammed by the president over their coverage, it's been made clear that Fox News is the only main news source that the billionaire real estate mogul trusts. As seen on his Twitter feed on December 21, Trump is doubling down on the his attack on the media. Was @foxandfriends just named the most influential show in news? You deserve it - three great people! The many Fake News Hate Shows should study your formula for success! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2017 Taking to Twitter on Thursday morning, Donald Trump decided to give credit to his favorite cable news show, while targeting the competition in the process. "Was Fox and Friends just named the most influential show in news?" Trump rhetorically tweeted. "You deserve it...three great people!" he added, before noting, "The many Fake News Hate Shows should study your formula for success!" The Massive Tax Cuts, which the Fake News Media is desperate to write badly about so as to please their Democrat bosses, will soon be kicking in and will speak for themselves. Companies are already making big payments to workers. Dems want to raise taxes, hate these big Cuts! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2017 In an additional tweet, Donald Trump went back to attack the media over their reporting of the recently passed Republican tax bill. "The Massive Tax Cuts, which the Fake News Media is desperate to write badly about so as to please their Democrat bosses, will soon be kicking in and will speak for themselves," Trump wrote. The tax bill, which has received massive backlash from the majority of the American people, passed the Senate and House of Representatives on Wednesday and has been sent to the president's desk for a signature. Moving forward As 2017 comes to an end, Donald Trump's first year in office will likely be remembered as being surrounded by controversy. Despite his own personal opinion, the latest polls show Trump with an approval rating as low as 32 percent, the lowest for any president during their first year in office in recent American history. The public is still stunned after hearing that Parents held their 13 children captive in their Perris, California home. Police officers were notified on Sunday, January 14, when one of the children jumped out of a window and called 911 from a deactivated cell phone she had found inside the house. The 17-year-old girl appeared to be about 10 years old with a mental capacity far below her age. A report by US Magazine revealed many of the details shared in this article. What police found The Riverside Sheriff's Department reported that the children range in ages from two to 29. 10 of the children are females and three are males. Six of the children are under the age of 18. The seven adults looked much younger than their age because they are underweight and seemed to have been malnourished. Records show that two dogs found on the property are healthier and look like they had been better fed than all the children. The parents, David and Louise Turpin, had some of the children shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks. Some of them were also chained to other furniture in the house when authorities found them. The four-bedroom house was dark and foul smelling. NBC News reported on Thursday, January 18, that the 57-year-old father and the 49-year-old mother fed their children only one meal a day and let them take a shower only twice a year. Charges against parents David and Louise Turbin were escorted out of their house in handcuffs. They have been charged with torture and child endangerment. Their bail was set at $9 million for each one. Investigators have not come up with a reason why the parents did this to their own children. Officials are trying to determine if religion played a part in this situation. Where children are now All 13 of the Turbin siblings are hospitalized and receiving the care they need for severe malnutrition. Psychologists will evaluate the siblings after their health improves and they are much stronger. The seven adults are being treated at Corona Regional Medical Center in Corona, and the six children under 18 are at Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley. Corona Regional Medical Center CEO, Mark Uffer, said it is hard to think of any of the children as adults because of their condition. Rutgers University professor of nutritional sciences, Daniel Hoffman, told CNN that the adults look so young because the growth of a person stops at the age when malnutrition begins. Some difficult decisions will have to be made because child welfare ends at 18. Children already in the system can stay until they are 21, but seven of the Trupin children are already 18 years old and older. For now, Child Protective Services is focusing on emergency medical care. Then each child will need long-term therapy. The coastal region of odisha is a favorite haunt of olive ridley turtles and they arrive there at this time of the year to lay their eggs. However, plastic bags that litter the beach pose a major threat to the very survival of these turtles. Telegraph India reports that this is their mating season and a large number of the turtles have arrived at the Rushikulya rookery. One female was seen floating helplessly near the mouth of a river. It was trapped in a torn Plastic Bag and was unable to come out. The local Sea Turtle Protection Committee rescued it and sent it back to the sea. The menace of plastics Members of the protection committee maintain a close watch over these olive ridley turtles since they are on the endangered list. According to a member of the committee, the trapping of a turtle inside a plastic bag was a new one. There have been occasions when they were killed after being caught in the fishing nets of trawlers. The authorities in Odisha have already taken action to restrict the movement of these trawlers in the area to save the turtles, and incidents of that nature have also reduced. It is difficult to identify the source of the bag or how it came to be on the scene. One possibility is that it was dropped by one of the local fishermen. They usually leave in the morning and return in the evening, and carry food with them, probably in such bags. One of them could have thrown it away once it was empty. Traces of leftover food inside the bag could have attracted the turtle and it must have crawled in. People must realize that plastic waste is harmful to the environment because it does not disintegrate but remains for ages and can kill marine creatures. Plastic bags must be banned In order to ensure a clean environment free from plastic wastes, it is necessary to ban the use of plastic bags. Many companies have already initiated action on these lines. CNBC reports that a leading U.K. supermarket chain has committed to do away with plastic packaging from its own products. The company specializes in frozen food and it plans to achieve its target by the end of 2023. It is serious about the drive to counter the menace of plastic waste and has already removed disposable plastic straws from its own label products. It has also introduced paper-based food trays instead of plastic ones. Odisha should explore possibilities of eliminating plastic bags for packaging to avoid repetition of the Olive Ridley Turtle incident so they can be safe. Lala Kent and her co-stars, including James Kennedy, Ariana Madix, Tom Sandoval, Tom Schwartz, Katie Maloney, and Kristen Doute, recently traveled to Las Vegas, where her boyfriend, Randall Emmett, was participating in Poker After Dark. However, it isn't their lavish ride on a private jet that's making headlines. Instead, it is the ring that Kent continues to show off to her fans and followers on Instagram. In her latest post on Instagram, which was shared on December 20, Lala Kent is seen wearing a gray hoodie that reads, "His Babe." Meanwhile, on her finger is what appears to be some sort of engagement ring or wedding band. Although Kent appears to be flicking off the camera at first glance, she's actually showing off the ring to her audience and understandably, they now believe she and Randall Emmett are engaged. Lala Kent has been wearing the ring for months Since October of this year, Kent has been seen wearing her mysterious ring in nearly all of her photos. While some of Kent's Instagram images don't show Kent's hands at all, the rest showcase her ring, which she has been wearing on the ring finger of her left hand. That said, the "Vanderpump Rules" star hasn't made a spectacle of the item until now. Is she trying to confirm news of the seriousness of her relationship? It's hard to say. After all, she's been extremely private about her relationship with Randall Emmett since it began over one year ago. Lala Kent's boyfriend is still married to wife Ambyr Childers While Lala Kent and Randall Emmett were recently seen kissing one another at a public party in Beverly Hills, California, the movie producer is not yet divorced. In fact, according to a report by Page Six earlier this week, Emmett has been in the midst of his divorce from Childers since January of this year, when she filed for divorce. As the outlet explained, Emmett requested a separation in April 2015 but called off the request one year later, around the time Emmett and Kent first met. To see more of Lala Kent and her co-stars, including Lisa Vanderpump, Kristen Doute, Jax Taylor, Ariana Madix, Brittany Cartwright, Stassi Schroder, Scheana Marie, James Kennedy, Tom Schwartz, Tom Sandoval, and Katie Maloney, don't miss "Vanderpump Rules" season six. Monday nights at 9 p.m. on Bravo TV. While Kent and Emmett have confirmed their romance, he is not expected to join the "Vanderpump Rules" reality show anytime soon. In a candid interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Pompeo discussed her journey towards becoming a star of one of Americas most popular television programs. In 2002 she had gotten a role in the film "Moonlight Mile," and at the time, she had thought it would be the first step to a successful career as a movie star. When the idea for Greys Anatomy was first brought up to her two years later, she wasnt happy. I was like, Im not going to be stuck on a medical show for five years. Are you out of your f**kin mind? Im an actress. The sentiment was apparently short-lived, as she accepted the position and, 14 years later, she still plays one of the main characters on the show. Pompeo has played Meredith Grey for all 14 seasons, yet from the beginning, co-star Patrick Dempsey earned more than her. When she requested a raise, she was refused. I asked for $5,000 more than him just on principle, because the show is "Greys Anatomy" and Im Meredith Grey. Pompeo is not the only woman to face this issue The pay gap has been widely debated, with those on the left typically agreeing that its a serious issue, while conservatives brand it a feminist myth. However, most economists typically agree that the average American women earns 80 cents to every mans dollar, with the gap increasing if the women is not white or straight. While the reasons for this vary, there is no question that the problem is rampant in the television industry. Yvette Nicole Brown, an actress of color who plays Dina on ABCs The Mayor, tweeted that a white male guest stars salary was comparable to hers, despite her role as a series regular. Similarly, Shameless star Emmy Rossum, who has played Fiona Gallagher since 2011, had to fight for a salary equal to that of her co-worker William H. Macy, who plays Frank Gallagher on the show. Macy was one of her biggest supporters, and it was eventually confirmed that they would receive Equal Pay going forward; however, Rossum had to threaten to leave the show before season 8 began for them to comply. Not all stars had a happy ending Not every story is one of success, however. Hawaii Five-0 stars Daniel Day Kim and Grace Park quit after the shows 7th season when they discovered they would not be getting an equal salary to that of their co-workers Scott Caan and Alex OLoughlin. Likewise, Catt Sadler of E! News also quit after finding out her male co-host was receiving double her salary. Pompeo was successful in getting the raise she had requested, and will now be earning more than $20 million a year, making her TVs highest-paid woman. But while this is absolutely a step in the right direction, it is clear that the wage gap is an issue that will not be solved on its own. Yet with every instance that someone stands up against unfair treatment, we grow one step closer to a more equal world. 'Party of Five', the much-loved family drama that aired on the Fox network between 1994-2000 is getting a Reboot. Nineties T.V. show reboots have become quite the fad, think 'Roseanne', 'X-Files', and 'Twin Peaks'. Those shows have been continuations of the same characters and stories but now were getting something a bit different. A reboot with a big timely twist. The original show was about five siblings, one adult, four children - who were orphaned when their parents are killed by a drunk driver. The children were left to parent themselves with the guidance of their adult eldest brother. As reported in Deadline, the new show will be about five Latino siblings who were born in the U.S., and whose parents are deported to Mexico. Reboot will deal with immigration issues Heres what is known about the new series so far: It will be airing on the Freeform Network Its being made by the original creators of 'Party of Five' ; Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman along with Michal Zebede who wrote on 'Castle' and like the characters in the new show is a first generation Latin American. ; Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman along with Michal Zebede who wrote on 'Castle' and like the characters in the new show is a first generation Latin American. According to Deadline, a put pilot has been ordered, which means there is a chance that if the Freeform executives dont like the pilot it might not ever air on the network. Rodrigo Garcia will direct the pilot. His directing work includes a slew of HBO series, and the feature film 'Albert Nobbs'. Deeply connected to the times we live in, this immigration twist on the original material is a great idea. The original series had plenty of drama with storylines involving alcoholism, abortion, and cancer. The reboot will have to deal with the new issue of having your parents gone, not dead, that will make for a lot of interesting storylines if the pilot gets picked up. In addition to the practical day to day issues, the ongoing legal issues to get the parents back, the money involved in keeping the household running, along with all of the everyday challenges of being a kid or a teenager. Like the original series, it's likely that they'll explore the problems faced by the oldest sibling who has now become an instant parent to four children. There's a lot of great dramatic material to be mined here. A 'Party of Five' for the times we live in The original series was critically acclaimed and won a Golden Globe for best drama in the second season. It would be a tough act to follow but the deportation angle guarantees that if the series is picked up its going to have some storylines that haven't been dealt with yet on an American TV Series. Will we see the parents side of the story; the struggle of being plucked out of their lives and separated from their children? Its another layer of heartache that is becoming a sad reality for many families today. France would "look kindly" upon the UK if Brexit is canceled, French President Emmanuel Macron told French reporters today (Jan. 18) in Paris. Macron is the third leader in recent days to suggest that Brexit could be canceled, following on from comments made by President of the European Council Donald Tusk and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker. Macron made the comments just hours before heading to the UK for this week's Anglo-French summit with Prime Minister Theresa May. Macron has already hinted at the possibility of a reversed Brexit when the two leaders met in June last year. Then, he said the "door remains open" to the UK staying in the EU, although noted that this would become more difficult as negotiations progressed. UK could still remain Macron's suggestion comes two days after Tusk said "we want [the UK] to stay," and that a British "change of heart" is still possible. Referencing the secretary of state for exiting the European Union, Tusk asked, "Wasn't it David Davis himself who said if a democracy cannot change its mind, it ceases to be a democracy?" Juncker went even further than his counterpart, suggesting that the UK could use Article 49 of the Lisbon Treaty to rejoin the EU after Brexit. I would like us now to treat each other with respect and not abandon each other, Juncker said at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The comments will boost Remainers' hopes of a second referendum, although this has been ruled out by both Labour and the Conservative parties. Migration and military cooperation This week's summit will focus on migration and shared defense responsibilities. Already, May has pledged extra money to improve border security at the Channel border. The money will be spent on fencing, CCTV, and infrared detection technology at Calais and elsewhere. The UK is also expected to commit to taking more migrants from Calais, especially unaccompanied children. The UK will send three Chinook helicopters to Mali to assist French efforts to combat Islamists there, while French troops will be sent to reinforce British troops stationed in Estonia to guard against Russian aggression, according to the BBC. The Independent has reported that May is also expected to announce British participation in Macron's planned European Intervention Initiative, which will improve coordination between European armies. In a goodwill gesture, Macron will announce the historic loan of the Bayeux Tapestry to the UK. The Tapestry -- depicting the events surrounding William the Conqueror's 1066 invasion of England -- has never left French shores since it was made in the 1070s. Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Loading... Checking your browser before accessing the website. This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly. Please wait a few seconds. HCM CITY Many property agents in HCM City have made the step up to become developers themselves. Last year more than 2,000 real estate companies and hundreds of brokers came into being, making competition more intense than ever. Some brokers have taken the development route to survive. Rio Land Real Estate Company set up in 2015 has launched a project named Rio Pto in District 9, with around 100 land lots starting at 80sq.m. Company executives told au Tu (Vietnam Investment Review) newspaper that the company had to raise funds to buy land and launch the project in the market. Lu Thi My Le, deputy general manager of Rio Land, said: "This is a small project, but we consider it successful because we have achieved the goal of switching from being a brokerage to a developer. Following the success, her company plans to launch another project also in District 9 this quarter, she said. The company continues to do brokerage work to sustain cash flows and keep its employees. BV Land, another real estate company, has also become a developer with its first project coming up in Binh Thanh District. Nguyen Huy Vu, general director of BV Land, told au Tu newspaper that the mushrooming of brokerages has created fierce competition. In the circumstances, companies with funds and experience like BV Land are investing as a long-term development strategy, he said. Khai Hoan Land is a brokerage that has also set up a development arm. Its first projects are expected to be launched in HCM City and Vung Tau this year. Challenges Nguyen Van Hau, general director of Asian Holding Joint Stock Company, said that real estate firms need to be strong in terms of capital, relationships and business direction to be successful. "I just started to do small projects to quickly sell the inventory, quickly recoup the investment and, especially, not go up against renowned and established developers." But many brokers looking to make a quick buck have also been indulging in dubious activities. For instance, Alibaba Real Estate Joint-Stock Company and Kim Phat Real Estate Company illegally sold land plots in the city and ong Nai Province and have been sued by their customers as a result. The general manager of a real estate company said the switch to investment by brokers is not simple because they lack experience in various areas like design, construction, and project management. However, if they begin small, they could be successful, he added. VNS HCM CITY There is enormous potential for investment and trade between South African and Viet Nam, according to political counselor at the South African Embassy in Ha Noi, Mat Matiwane. Speaking at a seminar on trade, investment and tourism promotion by South Africa in HCM City on Friday, he said the two countries have something to offer each other. South Africa is a major exporter of mineral-based commodities, which could assist Viet Nam in its expanding industrialisation. Strong growth in domestic consumption fuelled by increasing income levels in both nations is creating demand for their respective products, he said. Infrastructure development that took place in Southern Africa has also resulted in joint ventures between service providers such as Viet Nams Viettel in our neighbouring country. Nguyen The Hung, deputy director of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industrys HCM City office, said trade between Viet Nam and South Africa has increased significantly. It was worth US$924.5 million in the first 11 months of last year, with Viet Nams exports accounting for over $704 million, he said. As of November last year South African firms had invested $1.22 million in seven projects in Viet Nam while Vietnamese firms had invested $1.6 billion in two projects in South Africa. "Despite the great strides in bilateral trade and investment relations, trade between Viet Nam and South Africa remains largely untapped. In addition, South Africa, with its many spectacular sights and cool weather around the year, remains an unexplored destination for Vietnamese tourists, he said. Matiwane said: It seems there is a lack of information on both sides about each others business opportunities as well as social and cultural environments. One cannot seize an opportunity if one does not know that it exists. Some attendees pointed out that the difference in payment methods -- with South African firms wanting payment in advance while Vietnamese companies prefer letters of credit -- is another obstruction to trade. Matiwane listed areas in which the two sides could enhance co-operation, like aquaculture, shipbuilding, advanced manufacturing, infrastructure, metals, mining, furniture, agribusiness, garment and textile, and footwear. There is huge potential for export of Vietnamese agricultural products to his country, especially fruits it does not have, he said. South Africa boasts stable economic growth, an abundance of natural resources and modern infrastructure, and offers investment incentives, and could also act as a gateway for Vietnamese products to the rest of the continent, he added. He also encouraged investors and trade partners to take a long-term view to co-operation to ensure that their investment in trade with South Africa is sustainable and profitable. Viet Nams main exports to South Africa are mobile phones and accessories, computers, electronic products, footwear, coffee, rice, pepper, wooden products, and cashew nuts. It imports iron and steel, raw materials for footwear and garment and textile industries, chemicals and plastic materials. The meeting was organised by the VCCI in collaboration with the South African embassy in Viet Nam. VNS The Ministry of Industry (MoIT) will continue to support local steel enterprises this year in their production and business, especially use of trade defence measures protecting the domestic steel industry. VNA/VNS Photo HA NOI The Ministry of Industry (MoIT) will continue to support local steel enterprises this year in their production and business, especially use of trade defence measures protecting the domestic steel industry. The domestic steel industry in 2017 saw growth in production and business, with many factories going into production to meet domestic demand and export, the ministry said. To support the steel industry this year, the ministry will continue to apply trade remedies in accordance with WTO rules and free trade agreements between Viet Nam and its partners to protect the industry from the competitive pressure of imported steel products. The ministry will also direct enterprises to monitor closely the market at home and abroad for ensuring suitable business plans. The enterprises must enhance consumption of products, reduce inventory, maintain production and business activities, ensure enough raw materials for production and promote brand advertisement. Nguyen Van Sua, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Steel Association, said that in 2018, the association will continue to co-ordinate closely with the MoITs Trade Defence Department and enterprises in following the cases related with trade remedies for steel products. The association has also recommended that Vietnamese steelmakers should co-operate actively with relevant offices when being investigated. Experts said with the optimistic macro-economic picture this year, the real estate and construction markets have been forecast to have strong development in the near future, creating more opportunities for Vietnamese steel producers. Therefore, they must have reasonable development strategies to deal with difficulties as well as take full advantages of production and business. According to the associations latest report, in the first 11 months of 2017, Viet Nams steel imports had a year-on-year decrease of 14 per cent in volume to 18.2 million tonnes and 15 per cent in value to US$9.63 billion. At present, Viet Nams steel imports mainly come from China, with 6.5 million tonnes of steel, accounting for nearly 47 per cent of the total steel imports. Meanwhile, Viet Nams steel exports in 2017 reached over 4.3 million tonnes, with total export value of nearly $3 billion. Those figures reached a year-on-year increase of 33 per cent in volume and 56 per cent in value. ASEAN is still the main export market, with exports of 2.4 million tonnes, accounting for 58.6 per cent of total steel exports. Significantly, construction steel exports reached over 1 million tonnes, a surge of 62 per cent over the same period. Viet Nam exported 300,000 tonnes of pig iron in 2017 instead of importing 2 million tonnes in 2015. Sua said steel production and consumption in 2017 of the associations member companies achieved high growth compared to 2016, meeting the domestic steel demand and export. - VNS HA NOI The Vietnam Steel Corporation (VNSTEEL) needs support from the Government to resolve any remaining problems associated with its two key projects, general director Nguyen inh Phuc said at a meeting on Friday. VNSTEELs focus this year will be completing the two projects of Viet Trung Metallurgy and Mineral Co Ltd (VTM) and Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel JSC (TISCO), especially in TISCOs second expansion phase, he said. Phuc said that the plan is part of the Governments efforts to improve domestic long rolled steel and plated steel production and in line with the Ministry of Industry and Trades efforts to support local steel producers in 2018. He conceded that VNSTEEL met with difficulties during the expansion in 2017, as well as in VTMs Lao Cai Iron and Steel Plant Project, so they both fell behind schedule. VNSTEELs negotiations and final settlement with contractors from the China Metallurgy Group were also fraught with difficulties. Due to the disputes complexity, legal support from consultancy companies was sought, and VSC also asked the Ministry of Justice for help in the matter. On another note, the VTM managed to complete its negotiations and amendments with foreign joint venture partners on Quy Sa Iron Mine Project by the end of 2017, and is now looking forward to the official signing, after receiving approval from its board of directors. Other investment projects from VNSTEELs subsidiaries like Phu My Flat Steel Company, Nha Be Steel JSC and Thu uc Steel JSC, are still undergoing slow appraisal and approval, mainly due to difficulties in owners capital and investment certificate procedures. At the same time, VNSTEEL will work with representatives at TISCO on the latters State divestiture, decreasing from 65 per cent to 21.5 per cent of its charter capital, which is expected to be completed in 2018s first quarter. According to VNSTEELs end-of-year report, in 2017, its total accumulated revenue hit VN18.8 trillion ($837 million), while combined profit reached VN650 billion ($28.9 million). The report also stated that last year, 22 out of 36 of its member companies completed or exceeded their business goals, at much higher growth rates compared to 2016. VNS HA NOI VinFast Manufacturing and Trading Company Limited, a subsidiary of Vingroup, completed the contract of two model sedan and SUV cars with leading designer Pininfarina on Thursday. The contract was worth US$5 million. The models were developed based on two designs selected by Vietnamese consumers in the contest Choose the car also,VinFast in October last year. VinFast has acquired intellectual property rights from automaker BMW for car production. With co-operation agreements with reputable partners in the field of automotive design and production, VinFast continues its commitment to roll out quality, modern, safe and aesthetic models in the Vietnamese market, on a par with world-class car models. Earlier, the company also completed a partnership agreement with Magna Steyr and AVL, two of the worlds leading automobile technology and manufacturing consulting firms. The model cars developed by VinFast, under the slogan Vietnamese identity Italian design German engineering International standard, will be exhibited at the Paris Motor Show 2018 to be held in France in October. VinFast will introduce them in Viet Nam in December. In addition to this, VinFast will organise a vote to gather ideas from customers for new models after it completes production of the sedan and SUV models. The scope of this referendum will be extended to the international audience, affirming pride in the Vietnamese car. The Sedan 02 model is selected with 22,396 votes, accounting for 36.2 per cent of the total 62,000 votes. Photo Vingroup In October last year, VinFast presented 20 sedan and SUV designs and officially launched a public contest to select the two favourite car models in Viet Nam. In October last year, VinFast presented 20 sedan and SUV designs and officially launched a public contest to select the two favourite car models in Viet Nam. Nguyen Viet Quang, deputy chairman of Vingroup, said the firm would begin accepting orders from early 2019, gradually moving to export. Born after other automakers, VinFast is keen to filter the essence of the global automobile industry into its first product. We have a process in place to learn and select partners in order to roll out high-quality, safe and modern products that will have Vietnamese identity but international standards. VinFast is confident of introducing its first two models at the Paris Motor Show, where most of the producers choose to stage their work. This event will also contribute to marking the Vietnamese automobile brand in the international arena, said Quang. VinFast is urgently building a 500,000sq.m factory in northern Hai Phong Citys inh Vu-Cat Hai Economic Zone, which is planned to be completed by July this year. Along with that, the company also focuses on improving human resources and product development. It has signed contracts with leading companies in the field of design, supplying solutions for car manufacturing, technology, equipment, components and auto parts and training of technicians, such as Bosch, Siemens, Pininfarina, Ital Design, Torino Design, Zagato, BMW, Magna Steyr, AVL and German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Viet Nam. These efforts are aimed at accelerating the process of transforming the car from a piece of drawing to reality, confirming the serious investment and commitment of Vingroup to introduce a Vietnamese car with international standards. VinFast stands for Viet Nam Style Safety Innovation Pioneer. The VinFast automobile manufacturing complex, the first of its kind in Viet Nam, started construction on September 2 last year in Hai Phong, with a designed capacity of 500,000 units by 2025 and expectation to become the leading automobile manufacturer in Southeast Asia. VinFast aims to manufacture cars that are a mix of modern style, comfortable quality, safety and international-class design, and are suitable to Vietnamese taste. Its first products will be available in the market in the third quarter of next year. VNS It has become important for companies to give their workers meals at work. Ever since last year, workplaces have had to make sure that the meals they offer are good. Companies would be in serious trouble if meals they supplied caused people to get food poisoning. Some workers prefer to receive money for food rather than meals. HA NOI The Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) has helped improve the quality of meals for workers as it makes the issue part of the collective bargaining between employers and employees. In February, 2016, VGCL adopted resolution 07C/NQ-BCH which says during collective bargaining, trade unions in companies or districts must ask employers to improve meals for workers, ensuring that each costs at least VN15,000 (US66 cents). Trade unions will also sue directors of companies if workers are seriously affected by food poisoning. The resolution is aimed to tackle poor quality meals and poor quality food and processing conditions that lead to food poisoning. Lao ong (Labour) newspaper early this week reported that about 27,000 companies nationwide provided meals for workers, accounting for nearly 60 per cent of companies with established trade unions. In about 19,500 companies, workers are provided meals worth at least VN15,000 each. Last year, nearly 1,200 collective bargaining deals were made that helped increase funding for workers meals. Nguyen Ngoc Mai, a worker at Long Bien Investment Joint Stocks Company in Ha Noi, said that the meals it provided its workers costs VN30,000 and included rice, meat, soup, fruit - and yogurt or cake for dessert. The dishes are frequently changed. The meals make me full. They are delicious, Mai said, adding that meals were part of the collective agreement between employer and employees. Last year, Toyota Ltd Company in Nomurra Industrial Zone in Hai Phong increased funding for meals to VN20,000 from VN18,000. The company established a group consisting of representatives from trade unions, employees and the management board to oversee food and cooking conditions on a daily basis. According to the Trade Union Organisation in Hai Phong Economic Zone, companies are providing meals for workers at an average cost of VN22.400 per meal. Better meals are seen at companies in inh Vu Industrial Zone produced for an average of VN26.200 per meal and Cau Kien Industrial Zone VN25.200 per meal. However, meals for workers in o Son Industrial Zone are only VN17.400 each. Instead of providing meals, about 10 per cent of the companies in Hai Phong give workers a meal allowance. Le Thi Hai Au, Trade Union President of March 29 Garment Joint Stocks Company in central a Nang said that for years the company provided meals that cost at least VN15,000. It is difficult for cheap meals to meet regulations on food safety and hygiene. Unqualified meals can cause negative impacts on both workers and company, she said, emphasising that caring about workers meals was necessary and should be given priority. Kieu Ngoc Hoa, Trade Union President of Samsung Electronics HCMCEC Complex, said the company collected workers opinions on meals and had established a Work Safety Board to examine the origin and quality of food provided for workers. Another board examined kitchens and food processing. The allowance for workers meals at the company is increased every two years, Hoa said. This year, each meal cost VN28,000, Hoa said, adding that good meals not only made workers healthy, but helped them work effectively and happily so they wanted to stay at the company. VNS GLOSSARY The Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) has helped improve the quality of meals for workers as it makes the issue part of the collective bargaining between employers and employees. Collective bargaining happens when different groups of people get together and become stronger when they negotiate for something. It usually happens when trade unions get together to tell companies what workers want. Employers are people who have other people working for them. Employees are people who work for other people. In February, 2016, VGCL adopted resolution 07C/NQ-BCH which says during collective bargaining, trade unions in companies or districts must ask employers to improve meals for workers, ensuring that each costs at least VN15,000 (US66 cents). A resolution is an agreement. To adopt a resolution means to agree to acting on an agreement. Trade unions are worker organisations. Trade unions will also sue directors of companies if workers are seriously affected by food poisoning. To sue someone means to take them to court. Nguyen Ngoc Mai, a worker at Long Bien Investment Joint Stocks Company in Ha Noi, said that the meals it provided its workers costs VN30,000 and included rice, meat, soup, fruit - and yogurt or cake for dessert. A dessert is a sweet dish at the end of a meal. Instead of providing meals, about 10 per cent of the companies in Hai Phong give workers a meal allowance. An allowance is an amount of money that is given to someone to spend on something specific, like meals in this case and not simply anything. Kieu Ngoc Hoa, Trade Union President of Samsung Electronics HCMCEC Complex, said the company collected workers opinions on meals and had established a Work Safety Board to examine the origin and quality of food provided for workers. The origin of something is where it comes from. The quality of something is how good, or how bad, it is. WORKSHEET State whether the following sentences are true, or false: Kieu Ngoc Hoa is the Trade Union President of Samsung Electronics HCMCEC Complex. In about 19,500 companies, workers are provided meals worth at least VN51,000 each. Nguyen Ngoc Mai, a worker at Long Bien Investment Joint Stocks Company in Ho Chi Minh City. Directors of companies can expect trade unions to sue them if workers are seriously affected by food poisoning. I n Hai Phong Economic Zone, companies are providing meals for workers at an average cost of VN44.200 per meal. ANSWERS: Duncan Guy/Learn the News/ Viet Nam News 2018 1. True; 2. False; 3. False; 4. True; 5. False. by Jake Brunner, Brian Eyler, Courtney Weatherby, Eloise Kendy, and Nikky Avila Water management in the Mekong region is, in practice, dominated by energy objectives. In Cambodia, the priority is to substitute domestically produced hydropower for expensive diesel and electricity imports. In Laos, the priority is to generate revenue by drawing in foreign investment in dams and export excess electricity to its neighbors, with Thailand as its biggest market. In Viet Nam, which has already built out most of its hydropower potential, the priority is to meet a projected tripling in energy demand by 2030 while protecting the economically vital Mekong Delta from the impacts of upstream dams. Experts have produced volumes of peer-reviewed economic and environmental studies showing how much Cambodia and Viet Nam will lose from reduced capture fisheries and sediment delivery to the delta as a result of dam building upstream. These arguments have not yet influenced hydropower development policy. This point was brought home by the recent completion of the Lower Sesan 2 dam in Cambodia, which has blocked off the major Sesan and Srepok tributaries, potentially reducing Mekong-wide fish production by 9 per cent according to a 2012 paper published in a pre-eminent US scientific journal. Cambodia has the second highest electricity prices in ASEAN and so despite significant dependence on protein from Mekong fisheries, the government has implicitly prioritised the energy security over food security. However, recent work by the Stimson Centre, IUCN, the University of California-Berkeley, and the Nature Conservancy, shows if Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam take advantage of recent advances in renewable power generation and transmission technologies, they can achieve energy security (defined as the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price) at significantly lower social, environmental, and political risks. This is possible because the prices of solar and wind power have collapsed globally, making these renewable energies financially competitive at the utility scale. Moreover, solar and wind plants can be built in less than a year compared to 10 years for large dams, so they can be quickly deployed to relieve electricity shortages and accelerate rural electrification. Advances in transmission technology make completion of a regional grid a reality. According to the ADB, a regional energy grid would reduce the total energy supply needed to meet regional demand by 20 per cent, allowing Mekong countries to meet occasional peak demand and power reserve needs through energy trade instead of building excess capacity. Improved modelling capacity now allows planners to explore different dam development portfolios and compare their social and environmental impacts, supporting the identification and prioritisation of dams that would meet power needs with fewer environmental impacts. Together, the integration of non-hydro renewables, regional power trading, and smart hydropower planning could reduce the number of dams that need to be built and improve the siting, design, and operation of the dams that will be built. These advances have important implications for Laos, which aspires to be the Battery of Southeast Asia. Because nearly all the dams built there are foreign-invested projects following the Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model, all revenues flow to the investor for the first 20-30 years of operation before ownership is handed over to the Lao government. As a result, these dams generate little government revenue in the near term. A national grid, however, could generate US$400 million a year through wheeling charges, provided that it remains sovereign property of the government. Laos also has substantial wind and solar potential, which peaks in the dry season, that could balance hydropower, which peaks in the wet season. So Laos can indeed become a battery for Southeast Asia, but one that is more diversified and more resilient to market and climate shocks. Shifts in regional power demand also raise the question about which country is the key long-term market for Lao energy. Thailand has historically been the major investor in and purchaser of Lao hydropower, and has an agreement to purchase 10,000 MW in the future. However, Thailand has recently introduced energy efficiency measures and plans to greatly increase investment in domestic renewables, which will likely reduce future demand for electricity imports from Laos. Viet Nam already has an agreement to buy 5,000 MW of electricity from Laos by 2030, but it currently imports less than 1,000 MW. Despite the projected tripling of power, Viet Nam Power Development Plan Seven projections indicate that imported power will remain low. While counterintuitive, Vietnam can influence decisions over which dams are built upstream by substantially increasing its import of power from Laos. Viet Nam will need to make a choice between importing either coal or electricity to meet rising demand from urbanisation and industrialisation. If Viet Nam doubles its power purchase to 10,000 MW, it could add conditions as to what type of power it will purchase. For instance, Viet Nam could sign a conditional power-purchase agreement to only buy power from dams with the lowest environmental impacts on the Mekong Delta or from solar and wind power plants. This provides a market-based case for Laos to deepen its investments in renewable energy. Cambodia can speed up its transition to energy security through the large-scale deployment of solar power, which capitalises on its high levels of sunshine and the fact that solar power peaks during the dry season when hydropowers reliable electricity generation is vastly reduced. Solar power will reduce the cost of meeting its energy needs: the construction cost per MW of a 10 MW solar plant in Bavet in Svay Rieng Province is less than half that of the Lower Sesan 2 dam. Regionally, there is growing private sector investment in large-scale renewables. In southern Laos, Thailand is building a 600 MW wind farm and United States investors have signed memorandums for hundreds of megawatts of solar plants. In Cambodia, private-sector investment is expected to take off once the government issues a regulation for independent power producers, which is expected in January 2018. Private sector investment in renewables in Viet Nam is currently limited by the low, subsidised cost of electricity and weak regulatory framework. While fair prices are offered to independent power producers, Vietnam Electricity, the state-owned utility, retains considerable discretion on approving projects. But rising government debt and power demand are likely to accelerate the use of renewables. This could include the construction of solar and wind plants in Cambodia and Laos, where land is relatively cheap, for export back to Viet Nam. One of Cambodias 10,000-hectare Economic Land Concessions, for example, could generate an estimated 3,000 MW. That would open the door to large-scale deployment of solar for export to southern Viet Nam. While financing and technology are now readily available, the regulatory landscape is slow to adjust. For example, while it makes little economic sense, many government officials instinctively favour energy independence over power trading. And some interest groups have done well from a project-by-project approach to hydropower development. But the economic case for fewer dams and more solar and wind power is overwhelming and if governments take advantage of these new opportunities, they can achieve energy security at far lower social and environmental risks. About the authors: IUCNs Jake Brunner, Stimson Centres Brian Eyler and Courtney Weatherby, the Nature Conservancys Dr. Eloise Kendy, and UC Berkeley Energy and Resources Groups Nikky Avila lead the Mekong Basin Connect Initiative. North Koreas nuclear crisis dominated the opening session of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum 2018 yesterday as members revealed concerns about the threat of a global nuclear war if diplomatic efforts fail. VNA/VNS Photo Doan Tan HA NOI North Koreas nuclear crisis dominated the opening session of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum 2018 yesterday as members revealed concerns about the threat of a global nuclear war if diplomatic efforts fail. HA NOI North Koreas nuclear crisis dominated the opening session of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum 2018 yesterday as members revealed concerns about the threat of a global nuclear war if diplomatic efforts fail. Speaking at the first plenary session on the regional security and politics, Vietnamese National Assembly Deputy Chairman o Ba Ty, also head of the Vietnamese parliamentary delegation, said the Asia-Pacific was facing complicated and unpredictable challenges, ranging from simmering tensions and conflicts to poverty, diseases and the negative impacts of climate change. Contributing to pease, security , co-operation and development is the responsibility of all APPF members, Ty said. We believe that global peace and security is a prerequisite for economic and social co-operation and development as well as for promoting basic human rights and peoples happiness. In 2017, escalating tension on the Korean peninsula emerged again, creating fears of a war that could break out anytime as North Korea test-fired intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons and conducted its sixth nuclear test. The North Korean nuclear crisis became the centre of discussion on security in the Asia-Pacific region. A Canadian member of parliament, Ali Ehssassi, said North Korea was an imminent danger to the world. He said that with missile technology, the country could now fire missiles carrying warheads containing chemical or biological weapons to anywhere in the world and was also very likely to export its missile and nuclear technologies to other countries. That would subsequently increase the risk of global nuclearisation, Ehssassi warned, adding that any military moves by North Korea against its southern neighbour South Korea - could lead to a military response from the United States and, in the worst scenario, a nuclear war. Japans member of House of Representative Banri Kaieda seconded the concern of the Canadian MP, saying that North Koreas nuclear programme posed a huge threat to its neighbours, including Japan. Kaieda suggested a ban of nuclear weapons in the Asia-Pacific region based on a similar prohibition the Treaty of Tlatelolco - established in the Latin America and the Caribbean following the Cuban missile crisis in the 60s. We have always asked North Korea to give up its nuclear programme. But we must have a common (denuclearisation) framework that all parties can use to convince North Korea to do so, he said. The idea by the Japanese MP might pave a way for a universal denuclearisation agreement in the Asia-Pacific region after Japan and South Korea themselves refused to sign a United Nations treaty to ban such weapons. The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons the first of its kind was signed last September. The ban calls on signatory members from developing, testing, producing, acquiring, possessing or stockpiling nuclear weapons. Most US allies, which are protected under the US nuclear umbrella, including Japan and South Korea, refused to participate in the talks on the treaty nor to vote for it. However, the North Koreas nuclear programme constanly keeps Japan on edge. Kieda said that the Latin Americas Treaty of Tlatelolco was an important model the Asia-Pacific could learn from. The Asia-Pacific can have its own denuclearisation treaty, or an Asian version (of the Tlatelolco treaty), he said. As the international community pushes to resolve the Korean crisis, it might be a mistake not to let North Korea participate in an international forum like the APPF, Russian MP Konstantin Iosifovich Kosachev said. North Korean delegations attended the most recent meetings of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Ha Noi in 2015 and in Saint Petersburg in 2017. Such forums, and the APPF alike, Kosachev said, could be the platform for the international community to deliver their messages to the parliament of North Korea. I hope that North Korea can make efforts to be a member of us, he said. APPFs members also discussed food security and agricultural sustainability and initiatives to support micro, small and medium enterprises in the coming digital era. VNS Chairman of the Parliament of Mongolia Miyegombo Enkhbold. Photo mongolia.gogo.mn HA NOI Chairman of the Parliament of Mongolia Miyegombo Enkhbold and his spouse will pay an official visit to Viet Nam from January 20 to 23. The visit is made at the invitation of National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, said the NA Committee for External Affairs. Viet Nam and Mongolia have developed long-standing friendship and multi-faceted cooperation in various fields since they established diplomatic ties in November 1954. VNS HA NOI Participants at the 26th Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum on Saturday agreed that there is an urgent need for APPF members to establish a legal framework, institutions, policies and priorities for resources to respond to climate change, in line with international treaties, conventions, protocols and agreements. Addressing the 3rd plenary session of APPF on Regional Development Cooperation Issues, Viet Nams Deputy Prime Minister Vu uc am emphasised the cross-borders impacts of climate change on people throughout the world. Climate change and rising sea levels are no longer a potential danger, but actually exist. The summer of 2017 in Ha Noi witnessed record heat temperatures, compared to the past 40 years; and if the sea level rises by one metre, it would severely impact some 40 per cent of the Mekong River Delta, where 12 million tons of rice is produced, as some 10-12 per cent of Viet Nams population would suffer and 10 per cent of our GDP would be lost, am said. He added that many parts of the world have witnessed abnormalities in the weather, with increased natural disasters. It is predicted that temperatures in the Asia-Pacific region will increase by 0.5 to 2 degrees Celsius by 2030. Climate change is caused not only by industries, but also by agriculture production and daily activities, not only by the use of chemicals, but also from our living habits, he said. Thus, apart from setting the proper legal framework for working to combat climate change, concerned countries should also invest in the elimination of fossil fuels, developing renewable energy and seeking to create low-carbon economies and encourage green growth. Change can only be achieved through the synergy of the entire society, with every citizen knowing about climate change and starting from daily activities. Therefore, it is necessary to have solutions to mobilise financial resources and strengthen public-private partnerships, along with the important role played by international financial institutions, which must be taken into account, according to am. Representing the Vietnamese delegation, vice chairman of the National Assembly Uong Chu Luu proposed that lawmakers promote the APPFs role in assisting in the implementation of work for national programmes on responding to climate change; strengthening the development of policies, international law and monitoring law enforcement related to climate change; and creating priorities for the allocation of resources and funding that responds to climate change in economic development and major national investment projects. Filipino Senator Loren B. Legarda, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the Senate Committee on Climate Change, stressed that the entire Asia-Pacific region would not achieve sustainable development without addressing the impact of climate change. Asia is the place that will suffer the most severe losses in the world, both in terms of human lives and the economy, because of natural disasters, she said. Parliaments of the APPF members need to cooperate, share their experiences, provide research about the ways forward and come up with a legal framework for climate change so that Asia-Pacific, from areas heavily affected by natural disasters, can become self-reliant in responding to natural disasters, she added. Geng Tan, a member of the Canadian Parliament, said that climate change was a global problem that affected not only the present, but also future generations. Thus, combating climate change required global synergy. "Evidence of the science of climate change is very clear: If we dont address global warming, we will have to pay very high prices. We can fight climate change through global agreements, such as the Paris agreement. So the whole world needs to join this fight against climate change," he said. Lee Jin-Book, head of the South Korean delegation, warned of floating rubbish islands that caused the deaths of many animals because they think such waste is food. He called for the reduction of waste found in the sea to protect the environment, and also called on nations to join with Korea for the common good. In the third working day of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum, delegates also talked about ways to foster cultural and tourism cooperation in the region, and discussed resources to be used for sustainable development. The final session will see the announcement about the host country of the APPF-27, along with the adoption of Resolutions and a Joint Declaration, followed by the closing ceremony. Founded in Tokyo, Japan in 1993, the APPF brings together 27 members, including Australia, Cambodia, Canada, China, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, the United States and Viet Nam. The APPF is a mechanism that enables parliamentarians to discuss issues of common concern, and to deepen their understanding of the region and the interests and experience of its diverse members. The forums proceedings address political, security, economic, social and cultural issues, thus furthering regional cooperation and building relations between and among parliamentarians from the Asia-Pacific region. VNS HCM CITY The administration of HCM Citys District 1 has sought the Peoples Committees approval to make the whole of Bui Vien Street in the heart of the backpacker area a walking-only street on weekend evenings. According to local authorities, the stretch of the street open only to pedestrians between 7pm and 2am during weekends often gets 600 1,000 visitors on those evenings, but is not long enough now, a handicap especially during festivals. It is pedestrian-only between Tran Hung ao and o Quang au streets, and authorities now want to ban vehicles on the entire street until Cong Quynh Street, and the whole o Quang au Street. There will be enough parking space for vehicles around the area even after the expansion. The District 1 Peoples Committee believes lengthening the walking-only stretch will increase revenues, including taxes, from tourism activities, and local residents would benefit. Since it became a walking-only street come in August 20,000 visitors are estimated to have visited, and tax collection has increased by 15 per cent. Street residents have been asked twice for their opinion on the expansion, with 386 out of 458 agreeing the last time. The district is also seeking permission to make the street walking-only also on Friday evening, and 322 residents agreed. Authorities have promised to increase patrolling by police officers to ensure order and security at night on the street. The expansion is expected to take effect on February 10 since local authorities are hopeful the proposal will get approval. Vendors are allowed to display their merchandise on the pavement. Stages have been put up at either end of the street for live performances of Vietnamese folk songs and international music. Besides, there is free Wi-Fi, public toilets and other tourist amenities. Bui Vien is popular with foreign visitors for its cheap beer and numerous eateries, cafes, clothing stores, and souvenir shops in the morning and afternoon and restaurants, bars, and pubs in the evening. Some 349 businesses are operating on Bui Vien, Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, vice chairwoman of District 1, said. Designating specialised streets is an emerging trend in the city that appeals to visitors. In 2015 Nguyen Hue Boulevard became the first pedestrians-only street, and is extremely popular with both locals and tourists at weekends. Nguyen Van Binh, a book street, also has many admirers. HCM City is one of the countrys most popular tourist destinations, attracting six million foreign tourists last year after increasing by nearly 23 per cent from 2016. VNS HA NOI Nearly three weeks since RON92 grade petrol was replaced with E5 bio-fuel, customers have questioned the bio fuels quality, Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper reported. E5 bio-fuel, a mix of RON 92 (95 per cent) and bio-fuel ethanol (5 per cent), has replaced RON 92 and co-existed with A95 since January 1 this year. Nguyen Van Manh, a car owner in Nam Tu Liem District, Ha Noi said Using E5 fuel, my car seems to runs less smoothly and runs out of petrol more quickly. He said he previously commuted 3 km per day and spent VN500,000 (US$22) on RON92 per week. However, since switching to E5, with VN500,000, the car runs out of petrol in four to five days. He is also worried about the E5s quality as he heard about a burned car using the petrol recently. We dont know it is safe or not because we are customers, not experts, he said. Bich Hang in Ha Nois Cau Giay District said that since using E5, her motorbike sometimes breaks down. It never happened before when she used RON92. Nguyen Manh Hung, vice chairman and general secretary of the Viet Nam Standards and Consumers Association said that more than 50 countries in the world use bio fuel. Replacing fossil fuel with bio fuel contributes to energy safety and reduces greenhouse gas and prices. Using environment-friendly E5 should be supported, he said. However, customers knowledge about bio fuel is limited. Changing their mindset is a challenge, he said. Customers have also questioned the bio fuel monopoly, the negative effects of bio fuel on engines and whether mixing E5 with A92 is safe or not, he said. Meanwhile, petrol companies have complained that they have spent huge sums of money switching from RON92 to E5. The average investment for a petrol station to switch to E5 is estimated at about VN10 billion. Companies also said that the environmental protection tax applied on E5 (VN1,500 per litre) is relatively high. o Huu Tao, head of petrol technical department of Viet Nam National Petroleum Group told dantri.com.vn that petrol is a sensitive product and has a system of standards. We have supervised the petrol quality at factory and in the market before consumption. Ministry of Industry and Trade has issued standards for petrol mixing devices, he said. We have tested E5 quality under different weather conditions, including severe conditions such as rain, humidity or in mountainous areas, he said. A representative of Vietnam Oil Corporation (PVOil) told Tien Phong that E5 fuel is high quality. PVOil has yet to receive any official complaints from customers since the firm has sold E5 fuel at 500 petrol stations and 3,000 petrol agencies nationwide, the representative said. If there is any problem affecting a vehicles engine, PVOil is ready to talk to customers, the representative said. - VNS HA NOI A ceilling collapse at Tran Nhan Tong High School in Hai Ba Trung District is still haunting students and parents more than four months after it happened. They claim that no proper solutions have been taken to improve school safety. After the incident in October, teachers and students still feel threatened. Phan Thanh Tung, principal of the school, said students had been moved out of unsafe areas, walls and ceilings had been replastered. However, he said these were only temporary solutions. Similar incidents have happened before. We worry that our children will suffer again some day, said Hoang Thi Oanh, the parent of one student. She said poor construction was common at public schools, especially in Hoang Mai and Thanh Tri. Nguyen Thi Ha Thanh, principal of Ngoc Hoi High School in Thanh Tri District, told Ha Noi Moi newspaper that the school still had heavily damaged classrooms and function rooms. Sixty-year-old Son Cong Secondary School in Ung Hoa District is experiencing the effects of time. More than 300 students are divided into only nine classrooms as the others are too vandalised. We do not have any library, infirmary or supporting facilities. Even the principal and other teachers have to share a room. The next school year puts us in a difficult situation as the number of sixth graders is predicted to increase, said Nguyen Van Vo, school principal. Ha Noi Department of Education and Training has asked schools to review their infrastructure in preparing for the 2018-2019 school year, especially as the number of tenth year graders is expected to rise sharply in the next three years. Nguyen Viet Can, planning and finance head of the department, has called for the best-laid plans by schools to improve study conditions. About 60,000 students will enroll in high schools by 2021. The class size may excess 40 students per classroom. Therefore, schools are asked to check on their facilities to register suitable enrollment numbers, he said. On the other hand, as school principals suggested, the safe studying environment was not an exclusive issue for the education sector. The plan to renovate and upgrade the school was developed 16 years ago, but has not been implemented. Moreover, there are houses located on the school campus," said Thanh. Tran Thanh Tung, a students parent at Ngoc Hoi Secondary School, may choose another school for his son despite Ngoc Hoi High Schools favourable location. Its poor construction will definitely create negative impacts on its educational quality, he said. According to Can, there are nine school infrastructure upgrade projects prioritised for 2018 including Tran Nhan Tong and Ngoc Hoi high schools. An investment of VN104 billion (US$4.5 million) has been allocated by Ha Noi Peoples Committee to improve schools construction. VNS HA NOI A fruit seller refused to sell her papayas to a potential customer because she realised he was from the same village. She was worried he would find out the fruit had been sprayed with plant-growth substance, a chemical that improves the size of the fruit and its visual appeal. The story was told at a confererence on Thursday about contaminated food and the need for more controls to protect public safety. In recent years, many stories have been told about contaminated food, such as the illegal injection of gel into shrimps to increase their weight or the use of banned yellow chemicals to brighten bamboo shoots, chickens and noodles. However, the fight against contaminated food seems to be losing. The Ministry of Health said that 149 cases of food poisoning since early last year, had killed 24 people and sent 3,700 to hospital. The number of deaths from substandard food has also doubled since 2016. Ho Quang Thai, secretariat of the Viet Nam Anti-counterfeiting Fund, said that a general lack of legal incentives to condemn contaminated food had led to loose penalties. Thai said in the past six years, only one contamination case had been prosecuted. Most violators were only given administrative penalties. Nguyen Van Cuong, director of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, said the legal system should tighten the responsibilities of food producers. He said lack of responsibility encouraged producers and farmers to make short-term decisions to maximise profits, including the use of deadly chemicals to make products last longer and have more visual appeal. Cuong said the management of chemicals in Viet Nam was poor, enabling farmers to easily purchase and use banned substances. He said the origin of every product had to be known to curb contaminated food. Nguyen Thuy Duong, general manager of SEIKA Mart, said being able to trace the origin of agricultural products and food make consumers happy. Duong said many consumers hesitated to choose products marked as organic and safe because they had lost trust in the whole process. He said his store forced food producers to meet health regulations by providing certificates and agreeing to sudden inspections. Nguyen Manh Hung, vice chairman and general secretary of Viet Nam Standards and Consumer Protection Association, said consumers were willing to pay more to get safe products. Inspection throughout the food chain, from producing, processing, transporting and distributing products, enabled the origin of products to be known, he added. Tran Ngoc Thanh, vice chairman of Viet Nam Organic Agriculture Association said that most inspections focused on the final stage of the food chain when products went on sale at markets. As most food in Viet Nam is produced by small operators, agencies have difficulties in dealing with them all. Thanh said it was necessary to consolidate small businesses to better manage product quality. At the meeting, representatives of organic-food enterprises suggested that criteria for organic and safe food should be set up with agreement from relevant authorities. This would make is easier for authorised agencies, businesses and consumers to check quality. Pham Thanh Hung, deputy director of Ba Huan Co Ltd said that steps should be taken to prevent contaminated food being sold at market and to create favourable conditions for safe-food enterprises. Tran Viet Nga, deputy head of the Ministry of Healths Food Safety and Hygiene Department, said it was crucial to set-up a system to trace the origin of products. VNS HA NOI The size of Vietnamese domestic enterprises is shrinking, according to the latest data from the 2017 economic census. Experts said this signals improvements in the countrys business environment. The General Statistics Office of Viet Nam (GSO) said that since 2012, the average number of employees in an economic establishment has dropped from 32 from 27, with the public sector seeing the most drastic cut (now having an average of 20 employees), followed by private enterprises, household/individual businesses and co-operatives. Nguyen Hoa Cuong, deputy head of enterprise development department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said the smaller size of businesses is an objective reality. Previously, when business activities were difficult and low competitiveness necessitated more employees, now when the business climate has improved, more businesses can actually afford to hire fewer employees while they are still perfectly capable of maintaining their positions in the market, Cuong said. He added that the shrinking of business size is a positive indicator of the Governments efforts to facilitate the economy. That micro-sized enterprises accounting for 74 per cent of the total number of enterprises is totally in line with governments policy to encourage household businesses to convert into companies, Cuong said. On the other hand, the size of FDI (foreign direct investment) enterprises in Viet Nam, which has been regarded as a major driver of growth in recent years, is expanding by an average of 15 employees per enterprise compared to 2012, according to the GSO. The number of private enterprises and FDI enterprises has also grown considerably, from 314,600 in 2012 to 518,000 (up 70 per cent), and from 9,500 to 14,600 (up 53 per cent), respectively, while State-owned enterprises are down 20 per cent, in line with the governments divestment and equitisation drive, said Nguyen Trung Tien, head of the trade and service statistics department. In 2016, enterprises generated a total of VN 17.45 quadrillion (US$768 trillion) in revenues, with an annual increase of 11.9 per cent (lower than the annual investment increase rate of 15.2 per cent) in the previous five years. The non-public enterprise sector continues to record strong revenues, approximately VN 9.76 quadrillion, followed by the FDI sector with 4.81 quadrillion, and finally the public sector with VN 2.88 quadrillion (up 6.7 per cent). The application of information technology in administrative agencies was reported to improve, with internet usage reaching 95 per cent. But computers and internet usage are mostly used for simple tasks (emails and research) while the use of computer and internet to manage operations reached a modest 36 per cent. Online administrative services provision reached only 12.6 per cent, hampered by low adoption at local-level administrative bureaus. The number of religious establishments of officially recognised religions (Buddhism, Catholicism, Caodaism, Evangelicalism, etc.) in Viet Nam in 2017 is 42,700, up 19.5 per cent against the figure from 2012. This growth has been noted as demonstrative of the governments policies of promoting religious freedom and creating favourable conditions for recognised religions to foster. However, most establishments are small-scaled with an average of 3.6 people per establishment, GSO noted. An economic census is conducted every five years. The last one took place in 2012. The statistics agency also said that in the near future, the traditional five-year census will no longer be conducted. Instead, annual data will be available by collecting administrative records from localities and State management agencies. Non-observed economy The issue of non-observed economy, or economic activities that are not usually measured by conventional methods and reflected in official data, has been raised following a Fulbright economics experts estimation that this economic sector might be as large as 30 per cent of Viet Nams GDP. Nguyen Bich Lam, GSO director-general, agreed that the non-observed economy might have considerable importance to the economy. However, Lam rejected the accuracy of the 30 per cent figure and claimed a much lower number as the statistics agency has already taken into account household economic activities as well as certain activities of the informal economy (i.e. xe om driving, unregistered businesses, self-production and self-consumption agriculture households, etc.) in its census. Lam also said that the GSO has been tasked by the government with measuring the full scale of Viet Nams informal economy. The project is slated to be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval later this year, he added. According to the GSO, the informal economy is just one of the five factors making up the non-observed economy, accompanied by underground economy (legal activities that are purposely hidden to avoid tax or evade State management regulations), illegal economy (i.e. drug production and trading, prostitution, casino, etc.), household economic activities, and the unreported (mostly statistical errors or inaccurate data provided by businesses and agencies). When data from the informal economy is officially accounted for in the countrys economic performance, the GDP scale will be adjusted, which will be followed by the tax rate, public debt ceiling, and government spending adjustments, the head of statistics said, adding that this change will not affect growth rate. VNS Few events can rival the intensity, drama and spectacle on offer at the worlds greatest air show. The Royal International Air Tattoo, one of the UKs premier outdoor events, returns this summer on 13-15 July, and will be marking a very special occasion in 2018, the centenary of the Royal Air Force. As well as commemorating the past achievements, well also be celebrating the present and helping to inspire the future of the RAF. Plans for the international celebration of the RAFs Centenary received a boost today as two civilian owned Vampire jet fighters join the flying display. The Cold War aircraft, from the Norwegian Air Force Historical Squadron, will be painted in special Royal Air Force livery for the 2018 season to mark the RAFs Centenary. The 1950s jets were some of the earliest production fighters in existence both of these examples having been license built in Switzerland. The Norwegian Air Force Historical Squadron, is a non-profit organization, dedicated to keeping flying vintage aircraft that served int he Royal Norwegian Air Force. The Norwegian Air Force Historical Squadron is based at Rygge AB, 137 Air Wing, located South of Oslo and was founded in 2008. The organization operates the following aircraft: a de Havilland Vampire T.55, de Havilland Vampire FB.52, and a Canadair CT-133 Silver Star. For more information about The Norwegian Air Force Historical Squadron, click HERE. The official international celebration of the RAFs Centenary will be held at the Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire on 13-15 July and will feature aircraft and pilots from around the world as well as an estimated audience of 180,000 spectators. For more information about the Royal International Air Tattoo, click HERE. PLAINFIELD The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation late Friday named the man in the officer-involved shooting near Plainfield on Wednesday night. He was identified as Jihad Mustafa Merrick, 29, of Minneapolis. An autopsy has been conducted by the Iowa State Medical Examiners Office, but officials did not release the results. Instead, DCI officials said they would forward the details to the Bremer County Attorneys Office for review. The incident began Wednesday night in Floyd County but ended with the shooting just inside the Bremer County line on U.S. Highway 218 in the southbound lanes at mile marker 211.5, officials said. Officials in Floyd County received a 911 call about 8:30 p.m. of a person, later identified as Merrick, with a gun pointed at his head in the parking lot of the Loves Truck Stop near the city of Floyd. Before officers could arrive, Merrick fled the area, driving south on Highway 218. About 18 minutes later, a Nashua police officer spotted the vehicle on Highway 218 going 104 mph, the DCI said. The officer stopped the vehicle and said Merrick got out and pointed a handgun at his own head. Officers from the Bremer County Sheriffs Office, Chickasaw County Sheriffs Office and the Iowa State Patrol then arrived and started negotiating with Merrick. The negotiations went on for about 40 minutes on the highway, officials said, before Merrick fired a shot from inside the vehicle. Officers then approached the vehicle and found Merrick unharmed. Police then say Merrick resisted officers attempts to take him into custody and drove the vehicle forward, striking an officer. Two officers then fired their guns and struck Merrick. Merrick was pronounced dead at the scene. Merrick has no criminal record in Iowa. Court records show he received a speeding ticket from the Iowa State Patrol in Hamilton County in June 2014, when he was driving a green 1999 Chevrolet Malibu going 75 mph in a 70-mph zone on Interstate 35. He paid $87 in fines, court costs and surcharges the following month. Merrick has a record of traffic and moving violations in Minnesota, but nothing more than a misdemeanor. He was twice convicted of driving under the influence, in 2013 and 2011, but otherwise his record shows a few speeding and parking violations in and around Hennepin County, and no weapons violations or violent crimes. CEDAR RAPIDS Second-term Iowa House Rep. Ken Rizer has confirmed he wont be seeking re-election this year. The Marion Republican decisions is likely to fuel a scramble for the competitive seat that has seesawed between Democratic and Republican representation. It will be a dogfight, Rizer said about the coming race in House District 68 that includes eastern Marion as well as Bertram, Ely and Putnam. Rizer, 53, has been considering his decision for months. After 35 years in public service, most of that in the Air Force, Im really at a point where I want to try other things. In addition to serving in the Legislature, hes an assistant professor of aviation at the University of Dubuque. That pulls me out of the district more than I want to be, Rizer said. Im not as accessible as I would prefer. A father of four, Rizer said he wants to spend more time with family and loved ones. In the meantime, he promised to finish strong, to run through the finish line. Rizer chairs the House State Government Committee and has been involved in a number of significant measures. Last year, he shepherded the controversial voter integrity bill that established a voter ID requirement to passage. Im proud of that, he said, adding he thinks that after the 2018 elections people will accept it as a good thing even the naysayers. Power to the Polls, the second annual Decorah Womens March, will be today beginning at 1:30 p.m. at Mary Christopher Park in Decorah. Participants will meet for an opening ceremony at the park before marching west through downtown Decorah to the Winneshiek County Courthouse. Everyone is welcome, and participants are encouraged to wear pink and/or red. The year 2018 is a mission-critical year to get out the vote and support Iowa progressives, said organizers. The gathering at the courthouse will include several speakers, including clergy and local candidates for state offices. Speakers include Cerissa Snethen, a mother, writer and activist living in Decorah; Guy Nave , a professor of religion at Luther College in Decorah; Asha Aden of Rochester, Minn., a sophomore studying political science at Luther College; Tiwonge Chirwa, a Luther biology major originally from Malawi; Lori Egan, a candidate for Iowa House District 56; and Pranav Caton, a student from Decorah. Voter registration volunteer/educator Carol Birkland will be on hand to provide information about voter registration. Forms and information will be available for the public regarding how to register to vote and what to take to the polls when they go to vote in November. Advertisement By The Associated Press Jan. 18, 2018 | FRANKFORT, KY By The Associated Press Jan. 18, 2018 | 06:58 PM | FRANKFORT, KY The Kentucky House has passed a bill to expand rape statutes to include instances when older adults have sex with 16 or 17 year olds. The measure would declare that 16 and 17 year olds are incapable of giving consent to sex with adults aged 28 or older. The bill passed the House Thursday and goes to the Senate. Such adults could be prosecuted for third-degree rape when having sexual intercourse with a 16 or 17 year old. Such an offense is punishable by one to five years in prison. Rep. Jason Petrie says the goal of his bill is to provide more protections for youngsters. But Rep. Attica Scott worried an adult could still "use their ignorance" of a youngster's age as a defense. past daily news Sep 13 (1) Sep 09 (15) Sep 06 (12) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (10) Aug 31 (17) Aug 29 (14) Aug 26 (13) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (12) Aug 19 (21) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (10) Aug 10 (10) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (10) Aug 06 (10) Aug 05 (8) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (14) Jul 29 (1) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (10) Jul 22 (11) Jul 19 (16) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (10) Jul 15 (13) Jul 12 (7) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (11) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (8) Jun 28 (7) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (7) Jun 25 (8) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (9) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (9) Jun 18 (8) Jun 15 (9) Jun 13 (13) Jun 11 (11) Jun 09 (19) Jun 06 (10) Jun 04 (10) Jun 03 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (5) May 30 (5) May 29 (6) May 28 (7) May 27 (7) May 26 (6) May 25 (4) May 23 (6) May 22 (6) May 21 (4) May 20 (7) May 19 (9) May 18 (4) May 17 (6) May 16 (5) May 15 (7) May 14 (3) May 13 (3) May 12 (9) May 10 (3) May 09 (7) May 08 (4) May 07 (3) May 06 (5) May 05 (8) May 03 (9) May 02 (1) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (8) Apr 29 (5) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (7) Apr 26 (12) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (8) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (5) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (1) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (5) Apr 14 (2) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (2) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (10) Apr 04 (2) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (9) Apr 01 (7) Mar 31 (10) Mar 30 (6) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (10) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (10) Mar 22 (6) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (11) Mar 19 (8) Mar 18 (5) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (7) Mar 12 (5) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (6) Mar 07 (8) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (12) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (8) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (8) Feb 28 (7) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (6) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (6) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (1) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (2) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (6) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (6) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (2) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (1) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (8) Jan 30 (2) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (1) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (4) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (2) Jan 20 (2) Jan 19 (3) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (2) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (6) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (1) Dec 31 (5) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (5) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (2) Dec 17 (1) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (2) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (7) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (2) Dec 08 (2) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (1) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (5) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (10) Nov 28 (6) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (3) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (6) Nov 19 (2) Nov 18 (5) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (2) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (5) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (9) Oct 30 (9) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (6) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (6) Oct 22 (4) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (4) Oct 12 (7) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (10) Oct 07 (1) Oct 06 (10) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (8) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (1) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (5) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (6) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (6) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (5) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (6) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (8) Sep 05 (6) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (5) Aug 31 (8) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (6) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (7) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (7) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (8) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (8) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (10) Aug 02 (9) Aug 01 (8) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (2) Jul 28 (11) Jul 27 (10) Jul 26 (10) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (2) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (8) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (1) Jul 16 (10) Jul 14 (7) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (11) Jul 11 (7) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (8) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (6) Jul 03 (7) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (2) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (5) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (6) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (8) Jun 18 (2) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (3) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (7) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (8) Jun 08 (8) Jun 07 (8) Jun 06 (10) Jun 05 (14) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (6) Jun 02 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (7) May 30 (2) May 29 (7) May 28 (7) May 27 (2) May 26 (4) May 25 (5) May 24 (4) May 23 (5) May 22 (5) May 21 (5) May 20 (3) May 19 (10) May 18 (6) May 17 (3) May 16 (6) May 15 (2) May 14 (3) May 13 (5) May 11 (1) May 10 (5) May 09 (3) May 08 (4) May 07 (2) May 06 (4) May 05 (6) May 04 (5) May 03 (5) May 02 (1) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (7) Apr 28 (8) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (14) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (1) Apr 21 (8) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (1) Apr 15 (8) Apr 14 (1) Apr 13 (7) Apr 12 (10) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (2) Apr 09 (2) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (6) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (9) Mar 26 (4) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (11) Mar 23 (10) Mar 22 (9) Mar 21 (10) Mar 20 (11) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (7) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (9) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (6) Mar 07 (13) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (6) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (9) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (8) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (7) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (9) Feb 08 (8) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (10) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (2) Feb 03 (8) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (5) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (7) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (7) Jan 26 (8) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (6) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (8) Jan 17 (12) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (8) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (6) Jan 10 (7) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (9) Jan 04 (9) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (8) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (1) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (4) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (12) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (7) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (5) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (1) Dec 15 (7) Dec 14 (10) Dec 13 (7) Dec 12 (12) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (6) Dec 08 (7) Dec 07 (12) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (13) Dec 04 (6) Dec 02 (8) Dec 01 (8) Nov 30 (6) Nov 29 (7) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (8) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (11) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (7) Nov 17 (6) Nov 16 (11) Nov 15 (10) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (5) Nov 11 (12) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (14) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (11) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (11) Nov 03 (9) Nov 02 (10) Nov 01 (8) Oct 31 (12) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (11) Oct 26 (13) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (10) Oct 23 (8) Oct 22 (5) Oct 21 (11) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (6) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (9) Oct 13 (10) Oct 12 (11) Oct 11 (9) Oct 10 (10) Oct 09 (7) Oct 08 (5) Oct 07 (10) Oct 06 (9) Oct 05 (14) Oct 04 (9) Oct 03 (12) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (9) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (7) Sep 28 (13) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (7) Sep 22 (10) Sep 21 (12) Sep 20 (12) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (11) Sep 15 (8) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (8) Sep 12 (8) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (10) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (9) Sep 07 (8) Sep 06 (11) Sep 05 (2) Sep 04 (8) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (9) Aug 31 (9) Aug 30 (7) Aug 29 (9) Aug 28 (4) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (5) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (2) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (6) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (6) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (7) Aug 06 (7) Aug 05 (7) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (11) Aug 02 (6) Aug 01 (9) Jul 31 (11) Jul 28 (7) Jul 27 (11) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (1) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (2) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (8) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (7) Jul 15 (4) Jul 14 (2) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (10) Jul 11 (11) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (5) Jul 06 (6) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (6) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (3) Jun 30 (8) Jun 29 (5) Jun 28 (6) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (11) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (7) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (6) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (6) Jun 09 (8) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (8) Jun 06 (7) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (7) Jun 03 (1) Jun 02 (9) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (8) May 30 (7) May 29 (5) May 28 (5) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (3) May 23 (5) May 22 (2) May 21 (3) May 20 (7) May 19 (11) May 18 (1) May 17 (7) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (4) May 11 (11) May 10 (2) May 09 (6) May 08 (6) May 07 (2) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (5) May 03 (8) May 02 (4) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (13) Apr 28 (5) Apr 27 (7) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (2) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (9) Apr 21 (11) Apr 20 (2) Apr 19 (2) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (6) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (2) Apr 12 (9) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (6) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (10) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (7) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (9) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (6) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (8) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (10) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (6) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (6) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (9) Mar 08 (10) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (2) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (8) Feb 26 (9) Feb 24 (11) Feb 23 (8) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (8) Feb 20 (7) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (6) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (11) Feb 13 (2) Feb 12 (5) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (10) Feb 08 (9) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (2) Feb 05 (9) Feb 03 (7) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (7) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (5) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (7) Jan 24 (8) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (14) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (10) Jan 18 (11) Jan 17 (9) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (10) Jan 06 (8) Jan 05 (7) Jan 04 (9) Jan 03 (8) Jan 02 (5) Jan 01 (14) Dec 30 (13) Dec 29 (13) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (5) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (7) Dec 24 (4) Dec 23 (5) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (9) Dec 16 (8) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (8) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (17) Dec 09 (8) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (10) Dec 06 (12) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (8) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (7) Nov 30 (9) Nov 29 (6) Nov 28 (11) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (15) Nov 24 (7) Nov 23 (15) Nov 22 (9) Nov 21 (6) Nov 20 (11) Nov 18 (11) Nov 17 (13) Nov 16 (8) Nov 15 (13) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (7) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (13) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (6) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (8) Nov 03 (9) Nov 02 (8) Nov 01 (6) Oct 31 (10) Oct 30 (8) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (8) Oct 27 (15) Oct 26 (10) Oct 25 (10) Oct 24 (13) Oct 23 (9) Oct 21 (8) Oct 20 (13) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (8) Oct 16 (14) Oct 14 (9) Oct 13 (11) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (13) Oct 10 (7) Oct 09 (15) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (11) Oct 05 (18) Oct 04 (14) Oct 03 (1) Oct 02 (10) Sep 30 (11) Sep 29 (11) Sep 28 (11) Sep 27 (15) Sep 26 (7) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (11) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (17) Sep 20 (20) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (11) Sep 16 (10) Sep 15 (12) Sep 14 (9) Sep 13 (12) Sep 12 (14) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (8) Sep 09 (9) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (13) Sep 06 (15) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (11) Sep 03 (10) Sep 02 (12) Sep 01 (12) Aug 31 (14) Aug 30 (14) Aug 29 (8) Aug 28 (8) Aug 27 (9) Aug 26 (12) Aug 25 (6) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (12) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (6) Aug 19 (9) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (7) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (12) Aug 12 (15) Aug 11 (11) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (7) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (7) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (5) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (9) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (8) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (6) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (6) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (15) Jul 15 (14) Jul 14 (5) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (12) Jul 11 (8) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (11) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (10) Jul 05 (4) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (10) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (2) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (7) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (7) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (11) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (14) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (8) Jun 09 (9) Jun 08 (11) Jun 07 (14) Jun 06 (16) Jun 03 (8) Jun 02 (12) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (7) May 30 (15) May 28 (7) May 27 (5) May 26 (21) May 25 (14) May 24 (10) May 23 (7) May 22 (8) May 21 (11) May 20 (5) May 19 (4) May 18 (10) May 17 (11) May 16 (5) May 15 (6) May 14 (7) May 13 (12) May 12 (10) May 11 (7) May 10 (13) May 09 (4) May 08 (7) May 07 (3) May 06 (6) May 05 (9) May 04 (14) May 03 (7) May 02 (10) May 01 (10) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (9) Apr 28 (5) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (8) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (14) Apr 22 (16) Apr 21 (11) Apr 20 (7) Apr 19 (16) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (10) Apr 15 (8) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (11) Apr 12 (10) Apr 11 (8) Apr 10 (12) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (13) Apr 07 (9) Apr 06 (11) Apr 05 (15) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (15) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (11) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (10) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (7) Mar 27 (12) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (8) Mar 24 (7) Mar 23 (15) Mar 22 (17) Mar 21 (9) Mar 20 (8) Mar 19 (4) Mar 18 (16) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (19) Mar 15 (13) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (20) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (11) Mar 09 (13) Mar 08 (13) Mar 07 (7) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (16) Mar 02 (16) Mar 01 (13) Feb 29 (8) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (16) Feb 26 (10) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (12) Feb 23 (14) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (8) Feb 19 (12) Feb 18 (12) Feb 17 (11) Feb 16 (8) Feb 15 (9) Feb 14 (7) Feb 13 (10) Feb 12 (11) Feb 11 (13) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (13) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (11) Feb 03 (7) Feb 02 (19) Jan 31 (21) Jan 29 (11) Jan 28 (10) Jan 27 (13) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (2) Jan 23 (8) Jan 22 (13) Jan 21 (11) Jan 20 (9) Jan 19 (13) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (11) Jan 15 (7) Jan 14 (13) Jan 13 (9) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (7) Jan 07 (6) Jan 06 (11) Jan 05 (7) Jan 04 (7) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (8) Jan 01 (5) Dec 31 (10) Dec 30 (9) Dec 29 (7) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (1) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (6) Dec 23 (6) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (6) Dec 20 (7) Dec 19 (13) Dec 18 (16) Dec 17 (10) Dec 16 (13) Dec 15 (11) Dec 14 (8) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (9) Dec 11 (10) Dec 10 (12) Dec 09 (10) Dec 08 (13) Dec 07 (7) Dec 06 (12) Dec 05 (8) Dec 04 (11) Dec 03 (12) Dec 02 (16) Dec 01 (14) Nov 30 (10) Nov 29 (11) Nov 28 (15) Nov 27 (16) Nov 26 (11) Nov 25 (9) Nov 24 (13) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (1) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (11) Nov 17 (11) Nov 16 (10) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (10) Nov 13 (14) Nov 12 (8) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (10) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (11) Nov 06 (12) Nov 05 (17) Nov 04 (12) Nov 03 (11) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (12) Oct 31 (11) Oct 30 (11) Oct 29 (10) Oct 28 (18) Oct 27 (16) Oct 26 (11) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (12) Oct 23 (11) Oct 22 (14) Oct 21 (12) Oct 20 (17) Oct 19 (12) Oct 18 (13) Oct 17 (15) Oct 16 (14) Oct 15 (10) Oct 14 (16) Oct 13 (12) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (8) Oct 10 (12) Oct 09 (21) Oct 08 (22) Oct 07 (19) Oct 06 (18) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (17) Oct 03 (13) Oct 02 (14) Oct 01 (13) Sep 30 (14) Sep 29 (15) Sep 28 (12) Sep 27 (11) Sep 26 (15) Sep 25 (13) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (10) Sep 22 (12) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (4) Sep 19 (12) Sep 18 (12) Sep 17 (16) Sep 16 (21) Sep 15 (14) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (10) Sep 11 (16) Sep 10 (7) Sep 09 (8) Sep 08 (10) Sep 07 (7) Sep 06 (5) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (9) Sep 03 (8) Sep 02 (11) Sep 01 (10) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (1) Aug 28 (10) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (8) Aug 25 (14) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (13) Aug 20 (9) Aug 19 (13) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (8) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (12) Aug 11 (9) Aug 10 (8) Aug 09 (14) Aug 08 (6) Aug 07 (1) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (8) Aug 04 (6) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (2) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (6) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (6) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (5) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (9) Jul 14 (2) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (1) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (13) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (7) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (7) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (9) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (3) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (7) Jun 17 (7) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (11) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (10) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (2) Jun 05 (9) Jun 04 (8) Jun 03 (9) Jun 02 (6) Jun 01 (4) May 30 (7) May 29 (9) May 28 (13) May 26 (8) May 25 (5) May 24 (2) May 23 (8) May 22 (9) May 21 (7) May 20 (4) May 19 (6) May 18 (7) May 17 (8) May 15 (9) May 14 (5) May 13 (8) May 12 (6) May 11 (6) May 09 (7) May 08 (6) May 07 (11) May 06 (7) May 05 (4) May 04 (11) May 03 (5) May 02 (4) May 01 (9) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (4) Apr 28 (9) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (10) Apr 22 (8) Apr 21 (9) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (4) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (6) Apr 10 (2) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (5) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (2) Apr 05 (2) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (7) Apr 02 (7) Apr 01 (12) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (2) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (2) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (4) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (6) Mar 20 (9) Mar 19 (9) Mar 18 (8) Mar 17 (9) Mar 16 (7) Mar 15 (11) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (12) Mar 11 (9) Mar 10 (12) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (5) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (11) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (8) Feb 27 (9) Feb 26 (9) Feb 25 (8) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (10) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (7) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (2) Feb 14 (8) Feb 13 (12) Feb 12 (8) Feb 11 (10) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (2) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (4) Feb 04 (11) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (8) Jan 29 (12) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (8) Jan 26 (13) Jan 24 (8) Jan 23 (12) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (10) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (11) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (6) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (6) Jan 06 (4) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (5) Dec 18 (8) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (9) Dec 15 (7) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (10) Dec 11 (9) Dec 10 (10) Dec 09 (11) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (9) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (8) Dec 02 (10) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (1) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (9) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (7) Nov 25 (12) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (8) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (6) Nov 18 (10) Nov 17 (12) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (12) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (8) Nov 10 (7) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (6) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (9) Nov 03 (6) Nov 02 (14) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (7) Oct 29 (9) Oct 28 (9) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (8) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (2) Oct 19 (11) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (7) Oct 15 (7) Oct 14 (8) Oct 13 (5) Oct 12 (8) Oct 11 (6) Oct 10 (5) Oct 09 (11) Oct 08 (10) Oct 07 (8) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (8) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (10) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (7) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (8) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (11) Sep 24 (15) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (9) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (9) Sep 18 (10) Sep 17 (10) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (8) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (7) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (7) Sep 04 (11) Sep 03 (7) Sep 02 (7) Sep 01 (2) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (10) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (10) Aug 25 (6) Aug 24 (9) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (8) Aug 20 (12) Aug 19 (8) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (8) Aug 11 (7) Aug 10 (12) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (6) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (8) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (4) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (12) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (8) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (8) Jul 20 (6) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (8) Jul 17 (2) Jul 16 (7) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (9) Jul 13 (10) Jul 11 (9) Jul 10 (8) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (7) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (7) Jul 05 (10) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (5) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (15) Jun 26 (10) Jun 25 (9) Jun 24 (16) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (12) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (8) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (6) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (13) Jun 12 (7) Jun 11 (14) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (2) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (7) Jun 06 (16) Jun 05 (7) Jun 04 (18) Jun 03 (12) Jun 02 (8) May 31 (3) May 30 (6) May 29 (6) May 28 (7) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (6) May 23 (4) May 22 (8) May 21 (5) May 20 (6) May 19 (2) May 18 (9) May 17 (1) May 16 (5) May 15 (5) May 14 (7) May 13 (7) May 12 (7) May 11 (4) May 10 (4) May 09 (5) May 08 (10) May 07 (4) May 06 (13) May 05 (4) May 04 (10) May 02 (2) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (9) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (9) Apr 25 (9) Apr 24 (7) Apr 23 (11) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (10) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (7) Apr 14 (11) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (9) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (6) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (10) Apr 03 (9) Apr 02 (9) Apr 01 (12) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (10) Mar 28 (7) Mar 27 (8) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (15) Mar 24 (11) Mar 23 (8) Mar 22 (7) Mar 21 (14) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (11) Mar 18 (11) Mar 17 (12) Mar 16 (8) Mar 15 (8) Mar 14 (13) Mar 13 (8) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (8) Mar 10 (7) Mar 09 (3) Mar 08 (12) Mar 07 (15) Mar 06 (16) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (12) Mar 02 (20) Feb 28 (11) Feb 27 (8) Feb 26 (11) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (14) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (8) Feb 20 (11) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (8) Feb 16 (11) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (10) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (10) Feb 11 (7) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (6) Feb 07 (5) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (5) Jan 29 (2) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (3) Jan 26 (2) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (7) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (5) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (7) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (4) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (3) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (1) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (2) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (1) Dec 29 (5) Dec 27 (1) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (8) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (1) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (4) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (7) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (2) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (10) Dec 04 (9) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (2) Dec 01 (8) Nov 29 (5) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (5) Nov 26 (9) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (5) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (12) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (8) Nov 15 (7) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (12) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (9) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (10) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (11) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (7) Oct 26 (7) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (7) Oct 23 (11) Oct 22 (2) Oct 21 (7) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (7) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (7) Oct 11 (20) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (21) Oct 07 (20) Oct 06 (34) Oct 04 (24) Oct 03 (21) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (7) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (5) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (5) Sep 26 (6) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (2) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (9) Sep 19 (11) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (6) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (8) Sep 12 (11) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (6) Sep 06 (10) Sep 05 (7) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (5) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (8) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (7) Aug 29 (10) Aug 28 (7) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (8) Aug 20 (8) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (2) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (7) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (4) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (6) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (12) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (10) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (6) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (7) Jul 23 (10) Jul 22 (8) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (7) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (10) Jul 16 (11) Jul 15 (5) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (9) Jul 11 (11) Jul 10 (12) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (8) Jul 06 (9) Jul 05 (10) Jul 04 (8) Jul 03 (10) Jul 02 (12) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (5) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (23) Jun 27 (18) Jun 26 (12) Jun 25 (14) Jun 24 (15) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (11) Jun 21 (15) Jun 20 (9) Jun 19 (8) Jun 18 (11) Jun 17 (7) Jun 16 (6) Jun 15 (6) Jun 14 (6) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (9) Jun 10 (10) Jun 09 (9) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (2) Jun 06 (6) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (3) May 30 (5) May 29 (8) May 28 (7) May 27 (2) May 26 (2) May 25 (8) May 24 (7) May 23 (6) May 22 (9) May 21 (6) May 20 (5) May 19 (6) May 18 (9) May 17 (10) May 16 (11) May 15 (5) May 14 (11) May 13 (6) May 12 (7) May 11 (7) May 10 (5) May 09 (3) May 08 (10) May 07 (8) May 06 (11) May 05 (5) May 04 (9) May 03 (3) May 02 (2) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (5) Apr 29 (8) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (9) Apr 25 (11) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (11) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (7) Apr 19 (10) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (10) Apr 16 (8) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (7) Apr 12 (11) Apr 11 (6) Apr 10 (7) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (9) Apr 05 (10) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (2) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (3) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (10) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (6) Mar 21 (9) Mar 20 (5) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (9) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (8) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (10) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (2) Mar 10 (1) Mar 09 (6) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (6) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (9) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (4) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (2) Feb 17 (1) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (7) Feb 11 (2) Feb 10 (2) Feb 09 (5) Feb 08 (5) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (9) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (3) Feb 02 (10) Feb 01 (9) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (8) Jan 29 (5) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (7) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (8) Jan 15 (7) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (1) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (1) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (2) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (4) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (8) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (4) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (4) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (8) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (8) Dec 10 (5) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (4) Dec 07 (7) Dec 06 (7) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (6) Dec 03 (7) Dec 02 (1) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (2) Nov 29 (8) Nov 28 (16) Nov 27 (7) Nov 26 (5) Nov 25 (2) Nov 24 (6) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (15) Nov 19 (8) Nov 18 (2) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (7) Nov 14 (6) Nov 13 (9) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (8) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (5) Nov 08 (8) Nov 07 (9) Nov 06 (9) Nov 05 (1) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (8) Nov 02 (6) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (7) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (8) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (1) Oct 22 (6) Oct 21 (1) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (10) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (15) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (7) Oct 10 (1) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (8) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (7) Oct 02 (6) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (8) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (13) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (8) Sep 25 (8) Sep 24 (8) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (9) Sep 20 (7) Sep 19 (8) Sep 18 (4) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (8) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (7) Sep 12 (7) Sep 11 (9) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (10) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (12) Sep 06 (13) Sep 05 (15) Sep 04 (5) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (9) Aug 31 (7) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (8) Aug 28 (11) Aug 27 (2) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (15) Aug 24 (6) Aug 23 (8) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (7) Aug 19 (2) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (9) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (5) Aug 08 (7) Aug 07 (9) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (9) Aug 01 (10) Jul 31 (11) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (11) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (5) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (6) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (7) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (7) Jul 12 (8) Jul 11 (6) Jul 10 (14) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (9) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (6) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (8) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (14) Jun 22 (11) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (8) Jun 19 (7) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (12) Jun 15 (12) Jun 14 (10) Jun 13 (10) Jun 12 (9) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (12) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (12) Jun 06 (6) Jun 05 (7) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (8) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (8) May 28 (7) May 27 (4) May 26 (3) May 25 (5) May 24 (9) May 23 (16) May 22 (12) May 21 (11) May 20 (7) May 19 (10) May 18 (8) May 17 (8) May 16 (10) May 15 (8) May 14 (5) May 13 (1) May 12 (6) May 11 (9) May 10 (9) May 09 (10) May 08 (9) May 07 (6) May 06 (5) May 05 (7) May 04 (10) May 03 (7) May 02 (9) May 01 (10) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (9) Apr 28 (12) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (9) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (8) Apr 20 (9) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (2) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (10) Apr 14 (7) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (7) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (7) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (7) Apr 07 (10) Apr 06 (8) Apr 05 (8) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (6) Apr 02 (4) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (11) Mar 30 (12) Mar 29 (16) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (10) Mar 26 (12) Mar 25 (6) Mar 24 (9) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (12) Mar 20 (14) Mar 19 (8) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (9) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (13) Mar 09 (8) Mar 08 (10) Mar 07 (12) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (2) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (12) Mar 01 (8) Feb 29 (11) Feb 28 (5) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (13) Feb 25 (10) Feb 24 (13) Feb 23 (10) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (18) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (5) Feb 16 (9) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (8) Feb 09 (5) Feb 08 (8) Feb 07 (10) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (11) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (12) Jan 30 (7) Jan 29 (7) Jan 28 (7) Jan 27 (12) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (11) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (6) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (12) Jan 20 (11) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (6) Jan 17 (11) Jan 16 (9) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (9) Jan 10 (10) Jan 09 (5) Jan 08 (10) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (8) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (8) Jan 02 (7) Jan 01 (7) Dec 31 (10) Dec 30 (11) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (10) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (7) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (9) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (8) Dec 19 (5) Dec 18 (1) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (6) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (13) Dec 13 (8) Dec 12 (7) Dec 11 (9) Dec 10 (12) Dec 09 (7) Dec 08 (11) Dec 07 (9) Dec 06 (11) Dec 05 (10) Dec 04 (6) Dec 03 (8) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (14) Nov 30 (7) Nov 29 (8) Nov 28 (8) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (9) Nov 25 (10) Nov 24 (12) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (10) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (8) Nov 17 (9) Nov 16 (9) Nov 15 (12) Nov 14 (6) Nov 13 (9) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (9) Nov 10 (10) Nov 09 (10) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (8) Nov 06 (10) Nov 05 (8) Nov 04 (7) Nov 03 (10) Nov 02 (11) Nov 01 (10) Oct 31 (5) Oct 30 (8) Oct 29 (8) Oct 28 (8) Oct 27 (11) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (10) Oct 23 (5) Oct 22 (14) Oct 21 (10) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (11) Oct 18 (13) Oct 17 (7) Oct 16 (6) Oct 15 (9) Oct 14 (7) Oct 13 (12) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (9) Oct 10 (8) Oct 09 (9) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (12) Oct 06 (8) Oct 05 (13) Oct 04 (11) Oct 03 (7) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (14) Sep 30 (12) Sep 29 (12) Sep 28 (11) Sep 27 (11) Sep 26 (7) Sep 25 (10) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (7) Sep 22 (8) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (7) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (14) Sep 16 (7) Sep 15 (11) Sep 14 (13) Sep 13 (11) Sep 12 (9) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (13) Sep 08 (11) Sep 07 (11) Sep 06 (16) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (8) Sep 02 (8) Sep 01 (7) Aug 31 (1) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (8) Aug 25 (5) Aug 24 (5) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (7) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (9) Aug 18 (7) Aug 17 (7) Aug 16 (10) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (10) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (12) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (14) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (13) Jul 28 (10) Jul 27 (6) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (12) Jul 22 (14) Jul 21 (6) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (12) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (6) Jul 15 (8) Jul 14 (15) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (10) Jul 11 (6) Jul 10 (6) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (6) Jul 07 (9) Jul 06 (15) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (10) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (11) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (11) Jun 24 (9) Jun 23 (10) Jun 22 (8) Jun 21 (8) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (5) Jun 18 (15) Jun 17 (8) Jun 16 (13) Jun 15 (15) Jun 14 (11) Jun 13 (6) Jun 12 (15) Jun 11 (7) Jun 10 (7) Jun 09 (18) Jun 08 (20) Jun 07 (17) Jun 06 (9) Jun 05 (9) Jun 04 (12) Jun 03 (13) Jun 02 (14) Jun 01 (8) May 31 (13) May 30 (8) May 29 (6) May 28 (8) May 27 (17) May 26 (8) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (9) May 22 (4) May 21 (4) May 20 (11) May 19 (14) May 18 (6) May 17 (10) May 16 (4) May 15 (5) May 14 (28) May 12 (9) May 11 (17) May 10 (15) May 09 (12) May 08 (5) May 07 (4) May 06 (10) May 05 (8) May 04 (10) May 03 (5) May 02 (6) May 01 (8) Apr 30 (8) Apr 29 (12) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (11) Apr 26 (12) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (5) Apr 22 (10) Apr 21 (19) Apr 20 (13) Apr 19 (11) Apr 18 (11) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (12) Apr 15 (11) Apr 14 (17) Apr 13 (6) Apr 12 (16) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (1) Apr 09 (18) Apr 08 (14) Apr 07 (6) Apr 06 (10) Apr 05 (21) Apr 04 (12) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (13) Apr 01 (8) Mar 31 (10) Mar 30 (11) Mar 29 (10) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (12) Mar 25 (15) Mar 24 (10) Mar 23 (12) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (8) Mar 20 (4) Mar 19 (11) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (9) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (2) Mar 12 (14) Mar 11 (13) Mar 10 (7) Mar 09 (9) Mar 08 (17) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (7) Mar 05 (13) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (14) Mar 02 (12) Mar 01 (18) Feb 28 (8) Feb 27 (2) Feb 26 (9) Feb 25 (13) Feb 24 (17) Feb 23 (13) Feb 22 (12) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (11) Feb 19 (16) Feb 18 (17) Feb 17 (15) Feb 16 (15) Feb 15 (15) Feb 14 (10) Feb 13 (8) Feb 12 (10) Feb 11 (15) Feb 10 (11) Feb 09 (13) Feb 08 (10) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (15) Feb 04 (15) Feb 03 (11) Feb 02 (14) Feb 01 (15) Jan 31 (11) Jan 30 (9) Jan 29 (19) Jan 28 (9) Jan 27 (9) Jan 26 (16) Jan 25 (19) Jan 24 (17) Jan 23 (8) Jan 22 (15) Jan 21 (9) Jan 20 (11) Jan 19 (7) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (12) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (14) Jan 12 (11) Jan 11 (13) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (20) Jan 07 (11) Jan 06 (11) Jan 05 (8) Jan 04 (14) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (7) Jan 01 (7) Dec 31 (14) Dec 30 (15) Dec 29 (7) Dec 28 (10) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (11) Dec 24 (9) Dec 23 (9) Dec 22 (15) Dec 21 (12) Dec 20 (11) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (16) Dec 17 (6) Dec 16 (12) Dec 15 (14) Dec 14 (11) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (10) Dec 10 (17) Dec 09 (11) Dec 08 (12) Dec 07 (16) Dec 06 (11) Dec 05 (5) Dec 04 (12) Dec 03 (15) Dec 02 (15) Dec 01 (12) Nov 30 (16) Nov 29 (7) Nov 28 (11) Nov 27 (13) Nov 26 (13) Nov 25 (16) Nov 24 (15) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (8) Nov 19 (9) Nov 18 (16) Nov 17 (11) Nov 16 (11) Nov 15 (10) Nov 14 (9) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (10) Nov 11 (12) Nov 10 (15) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (6) Nov 06 (7) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (14) Nov 03 (10) Nov 02 (13) Nov 01 (9) Oct 31 (9) Oct 30 (11) Oct 29 (18) Oct 28 (13) Oct 27 (23) Oct 26 (12) Oct 25 (14) Oct 24 (20) Oct 22 (18) Oct 21 (18) Oct 20 (19) Oct 19 (12) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (18) Oct 15 (8) Oct 14 (11) Oct 13 (9) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (6) Oct 10 (7) Oct 09 (27) Oct 08 (14) Oct 07 (10) Oct 06 (9) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (10) Oct 03 (6) Oct 02 (9) Oct 01 (13) Sep 30 (12) Sep 29 (13) Sep 28 (8) Sep 27 (9) Sep 26 (8) Sep 25 (14) Sep 24 (4) Sep 23 (14) Sep 22 (20) Sep 21 (11) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (9) Sep 18 (14) Sep 17 (8) Sep 16 (17) Sep 15 (6) Sep 14 (11) Sep 13 (9) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (14) Sep 09 (12) Sep 08 (17) Sep 07 (12) Sep 06 (13) Sep 05 (9) Sep 04 (20) Sep 03 (16) Sep 02 (16) Sep 01 (10) Aug 31 (13) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (9) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (11) Aug 25 (10) Aug 24 (14) Aug 23 (12) Aug 22 (13) Aug 21 (10) Aug 20 (13) Aug 19 (15) Aug 18 (8) Aug 17 (10) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (11) Aug 13 (12) Aug 12 (15) Aug 11 (10) Aug 10 (17) Aug 09 (6) Aug 08 (13) Aug 07 (11) Aug 06 (13) Aug 05 (11) Aug 04 (11) Aug 03 (10) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (10) Jul 30 (21) Jul 29 (14) Jul 28 (13) Jul 27 (16) Jul 26 (10) Jul 25 (15) Jul 24 (17) Jul 23 (15) Jul 22 (15) Jul 21 (19) Jul 20 (17) Jul 19 (9) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (26) Jul 16 (18) Jul 15 (20) Jul 14 (16) Jul 13 (19) Jul 12 (11) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (13) Jul 09 (11) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (12) Jul 06 (16) Jul 05 (9) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (15) Jul 02 (11) Jul 01 (14) Jun 30 (13) Jun 29 (19) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (9) Jun 26 (16) Jun 25 (22) Jun 24 (17) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (15) Jun 21 (14) Jun 20 (8) Jun 19 (17) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (10) Jun 16 (17) Jun 15 (13) Jun 14 (14) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (13) Jun 11 (15) Jun 10 (25) Jun 09 (10) Jun 08 (23) Jun 07 (14) Jun 06 (20) Jun 05 (10) Jun 04 (11) Jun 03 (12) Jun 02 (21) Jun 01 (14) May 31 (10) May 30 (14) May 29 (8) May 28 (23) May 27 (20) May 26 (16) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (10) May 22 (18) May 21 (14) May 20 (12) May 19 (18) May 18 (14) May 17 (13) May 16 (4) May 15 (7) May 14 (16) May 13 (13) May 12 (8) May 11 (18) May 10 (8) May 09 (7) May 08 (13) May 07 (11) May 06 (15) May 05 (18) May 04 (17) May 03 (7) May 02 (5) May 01 (11) Apr 30 (19) Apr 29 (21) Apr 28 (18) Apr 27 (16) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (11) Apr 24 (9) Apr 23 (20) Apr 22 (23) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (16) Apr 19 (13) Apr 18 (6) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (16) Apr 15 (18) Apr 14 (13) Apr 13 (14) Apr 12 (9) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (16) Apr 09 (14) Apr 08 (12) Apr 07 (18) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (11) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (19) Apr 02 (17) Apr 01 (16) Mar 31 (16) Mar 30 (22) Mar 29 (16) Mar 28 (16) Mar 27 (19) Mar 26 (31) Mar 25 (25) Mar 24 (26) Mar 23 (27) Mar 22 (22) Mar 21 (22) Mar 20 (13) Mar 19 (21) Mar 18 (20) Mar 17 (24) Mar 16 (18) Mar 15 (9) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (29) Mar 12 (15) Mar 11 (11) Mar 10 (11) Mar 09 (20) Mar 08 (12) Mar 07 (6) Mar 06 (21) Mar 05 (22) Mar 04 (19) Mar 03 (9) Mar 02 (20) Mar 01 (11) Feb 28 (11) Feb 27 (27) Feb 26 (15) Feb 25 (18) Feb 24 (17) Feb 23 (19) Feb 22 (24) Feb 21 (10) Feb 20 (14) Feb 19 (25) Feb 18 (16) Feb 17 (19) Feb 16 (23) Feb 15 (8) Feb 14 (11) Feb 13 (25) Feb 12 (16) Feb 11 (12) Feb 10 (18) Feb 09 (12) Feb 08 (14) Feb 07 (8) Feb 06 (27) Feb 05 (28) Feb 04 (24) Feb 03 (17) Feb 02 (20) Feb 01 (23) Jan 31 (16) Jan 30 (20) Jan 29 (26) Jan 28 (17) Jan 27 (21) Jan 26 (24) Jan 25 (16) Jan 24 (14) Jan 23 (16) Jan 22 (17) Jan 21 (19) Jan 20 (21) Jan 19 (17) Jan 18 (13) Jan 17 (14) Jan 16 (10) Jan 15 (21) Jan 14 (16) Jan 13 (19) Jan 12 (30) Jan 11 (14) Jan 10 (11) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (23) Jan 07 (13) Jan 06 (21) Jan 05 (15) Jan 04 (18) Jan 03 (9) Jan 02 (12) Jan 01 (15) Dec 31 (18) Dec 30 (7) Dec 29 (13) Dec 28 (11) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (6) Dec 25 (8) Dec 24 (28) Dec 23 (12) Dec 22 (12) Dec 21 (17) Dec 20 (19) Dec 19 (19) Dec 18 (22) Dec 17 (24) Dec 16 (17) Dec 15 (29) Dec 14 (22) Dec 13 (12) Dec 12 (22) Dec 11 (24) Dec 10 (25) Dec 09 (18) Dec 08 (15) Dec 07 (21) Dec 06 (24) Dec 05 (30) Dec 04 (28) Dec 03 (26) Dec 02 (22) Dec 01 (33) Nov 30 (23) Nov 29 (9) Nov 28 (18) Nov 27 (25) Nov 26 (17) Nov 25 (23) Nov 24 (27) Nov 23 (12) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (15) Nov 20 (23) Nov 19 (23) Nov 18 (24) Nov 17 (21) Nov 16 (20) Nov 15 (13) Nov 14 (15) Nov 13 (27) Nov 12 (23) Nov 11 (19) Nov 10 (21) Nov 09 (13) Nov 08 (16) Nov 07 (16) Nov 06 (32) Nov 05 (24) Nov 04 (20) Nov 03 (29) Nov 02 (12) Nov 01 (15) Oct 31 (20) Oct 30 (22) Oct 29 (27) Oct 28 (20) Oct 27 (23) Oct 26 (21) Oct 25 (15) Oct 24 (23) Oct 23 (26) Oct 22 (27) Oct 21 (28) Oct 20 (24) Oct 19 (13) Oct 18 (9) Oct 17 (30) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (20) Oct 14 (14) Oct 13 (17) Oct 12 (16) Oct 11 (8) Oct 10 (19) Oct 09 (22) Oct 08 (16) Oct 07 (18) Oct 06 (23) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (15) Oct 03 (21) Oct 02 (17) Oct 01 (22) Sep 30 (25) Sep 29 (20) Sep 28 (17) Sep 27 (13) Sep 26 (20) Sep 25 (15) Sep 24 (24) Sep 23 (23) Sep 22 (18) Sep 21 (20) Sep 20 (11) Sep 19 (24) Sep 18 (25) Sep 17 (25) Sep 16 (19) Sep 15 (21) Sep 14 (15) Sep 13 (10) Sep 12 (23) Sep 11 (23) Sep 10 (25) Sep 09 (25) Sep 08 (17) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (17) Sep 05 (14) Sep 04 (24) Sep 03 (16) Sep 02 (11) Sep 01 (19) Aug 31 (20) Aug 30 (11) Aug 29 (24) Aug 28 (24) Aug 27 (16) Aug 26 (26) Aug 25 (21) Aug 24 (15) Aug 23 (19) Aug 22 (15) Aug 21 (25) Aug 20 (27) Aug 19 (19) Aug 18 (24) Aug 17 (14) Aug 16 (10) Aug 15 (15) Aug 14 (16) Aug 13 (21) Aug 12 (30) Aug 11 (19) Aug 10 (8) Aug 09 (12) Aug 08 (17) Aug 07 (21) Aug 06 (26) Aug 05 (23) Aug 04 (21) Aug 03 (12) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (19) Jul 31 (21) Jul 30 (25) Jul 29 (29) Jul 28 (23) Jul 27 (17) Jul 26 (11) Jul 25 (21) Jul 24 (14) Jul 23 (15) Jul 22 (19) Jul 21 (15) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (10) Jul 18 (15) Jul 17 (22) Jul 16 (18) Jul 15 (21) Jul 14 (20) Jul 13 (7) Jul 12 (9) Jul 11 (29) Jul 10 (19) Jul 09 (17) Jul 08 (26) Jul 07 (21) Jul 06 (18) Jul 05 (14) Jul 04 (20) Jul 03 (17) Jul 02 (24) Jul 01 (23) Jun 30 (23) Jun 29 (18) Jun 28 (16) Jun 27 (16) Jun 26 (17) Jun 25 (23) Jun 24 (32) Jun 23 (29) Jun 22 (8) Jun 21 (17) Jun 20 (25) Jun 19 (28) Jun 18 (19) Jun 17 (25) Jun 16 (23) Jun 15 (9) Jun 14 (11) Jun 13 (14) Jun 12 (22) Jun 11 (19) Jun 10 (17) Jun 09 (15) Jun 08 (16) Jun 07 (7) Jun 06 (29) Jun 05 (27) Jun 04 (24) Jun 03 (22) Jun 02 (22) Jun 01 (13) May 31 (9) May 30 (26) May 29 (19) May 28 (15) May 27 (15) May 26 (23) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (24) May 22 (13) May 21 (21) May 20 (18) May 19 (16) May 18 (7) May 17 (12) May 16 (25) May 15 (24) May 14 (23) May 13 (19) May 12 (17) May 11 (8) May 10 (6) May 09 (14) May 08 (21) May 07 (26) May 06 (14) May 05 (14) May 04 (3) May 03 (3) May 02 (24) May 01 (13) Apr 30 (15) Apr 29 (24) Apr 28 (24) Apr 27 (11) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (13) Apr 24 (27) Apr 23 (15) Apr 22 (21) Apr 21 (19) Apr 20 (17) Apr 19 (8) Apr 18 (20) Apr 17 (27) Apr 16 (27) Apr 15 (21) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (8) Apr 12 (7) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (22) Apr 09 (15) Apr 08 (15) Apr 07 (17) Apr 06 (14) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (12) Apr 03 (19) Apr 02 (17) Apr 01 (19) Mar 31 (25) Mar 30 (13) Mar 29 (9) Mar 28 (16) Mar 27 (23) Mar 26 (22) Mar 25 (17) Mar 24 (25) Mar 23 (16) Mar 22 (13) Mar 21 (24) Mar 20 (27) Mar 19 (20) Mar 18 (24) Mar 17 (17) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (20) Mar 13 (28) Mar 12 (30) Mar 11 (20) Mar 10 (21) Mar 09 (12) Mar 08 (8) Mar 07 (17) Mar 06 (20) Mar 05 (19) Mar 04 (15) Mar 03 (17) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (12) Feb 28 (16) Feb 27 (17) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (23) Feb 24 (15) Feb 23 (8) Feb 22 (10) Feb 21 (24) Feb 20 (14) Feb 19 (24) Feb 18 (19) Feb 17 (27) Feb 16 (13) Feb 15 (11) Feb 14 (15) Feb 13 (13) Feb 12 (13) Feb 11 (21) Feb 10 (16) Feb 09 (15) Feb 08 (10) Feb 07 (17) Feb 06 (21) Feb 05 (17) Feb 04 (14) Feb 03 (23) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (8) Jan 31 (17) Jan 30 (22) Jan 29 (23) Jan 28 (10) Jan 27 (24) Jan 26 (12) Jan 25 (9) Jan 24 (12) Jan 23 (19) Jan 22 (19) Jan 21 (14) Jan 20 (21) Jan 19 (12) Jan 18 (8) Jan 17 (20) Jan 16 (14) Jan 15 (23) Jan 14 (8) Jan 13 (20) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (18) Jan 09 (11) Jan 08 (18) Jan 07 (13) Jan 06 (12) Jan 05 (12) Jan 04 (11) Jan 03 (10) Jan 02 (9) Jan 01 (9) Dec 31 (12) Dec 30 (11) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (13) Dec 26 (15) Dec 25 (8) Dec 24 (6) Dec 23 (8) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (6) Dec 20 (14) Dec 19 (17) Dec 18 (14) Dec 17 (14) Dec 16 (13) Dec 15 (9) Dec 14 (9) Dec 13 (11) Dec 12 (16) Dec 11 (18) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (24) Dec 08 (11) Dec 07 (19) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (26) Dec 04 (15) Dec 03 (20) Dec 02 (17) Dec 01 (11) Nov 30 (10) Nov 29 (18) Nov 28 (21) Nov 27 (10) Nov 26 (22) Nov 25 (16) Nov 24 (12) Nov 23 (8) Nov 22 (18) Nov 21 (9) Nov 20 (17) Nov 19 (16) Nov 18 (16) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (9) Nov 15 (21) Nov 14 (17) Nov 13 (20) Nov 12 (16) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (9) Nov 09 (10) Nov 08 (16) Nov 07 (15) Nov 06 (18) Nov 05 (19) Nov 04 (16) Nov 03 (11) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (17) Oct 31 (17) Oct 30 (21) Oct 29 (9) Oct 28 (16) Oct 27 (6) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (16) Oct 24 (18) Oct 23 (14) Oct 22 (17) Oct 21 (10) Oct 20 (6) Oct 19 (8) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (12) Oct 16 (14) Oct 15 (19) Oct 14 (15) Oct 13 (11) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (10) Oct 10 (23) Oct 09 (13) Oct 08 (15) Oct 07 (20) Oct 06 (13) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (16) Oct 03 (17) Oct 02 (17) Oct 01 (20) Sep 30 (17) Sep 29 (9) Sep 28 (8) Sep 27 (14) Sep 26 (20) Sep 25 (19) Sep 24 (13) Sep 23 (11) Sep 22 (9) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (21) Sep 18 (12) Sep 17 (20) Sep 16 (16) Sep 15 (10) Sep 14 (6) Sep 13 (18) Sep 12 (14) Sep 11 (24) Sep 10 (17) Sep 09 (16) Sep 08 (16) Sep 07 (10) Sep 06 (20) Sep 05 (13) Sep 04 (23) Sep 03 (14) Sep 02 (12) Sep 01 (11) Aug 31 (11) Aug 30 (13) Aug 29 (18) Aug 28 (14) Aug 27 (21) Aug 26 (10) Aug 25 (8) Aug 24 (10) Aug 23 (17) Aug 22 (15) Aug 21 (14) Aug 20 (20) Aug 19 (20) Aug 18 (7) Aug 17 (9) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (12) Aug 14 (14) Aug 13 (19) Aug 12 (14) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (12) Aug 09 (7) Aug 08 (18) Aug 07 (16) Aug 06 (16) Aug 05 (20) Aug 04 (12) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (12) Aug 01 (14) Jul 31 (16) Jul 30 (16) Jul 29 (11) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (9) Jul 26 (17) Jul 25 (20) Jul 24 (17) Jul 23 (11) Jul 22 (18) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (14) Jul 18 (11) Jul 17 (15) Jul 16 (12) Jul 15 (10) Jul 14 (8) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (17) Jul 11 (18) Jul 10 (16) Jul 09 (13) Jul 08 (10) Jul 07 (12) Jul 06 (8) Jul 05 (16) Jul 04 (14) Jul 03 (17) Jul 02 (13) Jul 01 (16) Jun 30 (19) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (19) Jun 27 (21) Jun 26 (27) Jun 25 (23) Jun 24 (23) Jun 23 (12) Jun 22 (9) Jun 21 (18) Jun 20 (15) Jun 19 (24) Jun 18 (21) Jun 17 (13) Jun 16 (9) Jun 15 (9) Jun 14 (18) Jun 13 (24) Jun 12 (18) Jun 11 (23) Jun 10 (25) Jun 09 (24) Jun 08 (27) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (25) Jun 05 (30) Jun 04 (23) Jun 03 (22) Jun 02 (16) Jun 01 (17) May 31 (18) May 30 (19) May 29 (17) May 28 (23) May 27 (15) May 26 (10) May 25 (19) May 24 (16) May 23 (16) May 22 (27) May 21 (20) May 20 (26) May 19 (6) May 18 (8) May 17 (20) May 16 (8) May 15 (18) May 14 (5) May 13 (21) May 12 (9) May 11 (8) May 10 (12) May 09 (18) May 08 (11) May 07 (27) May 06 (12) May 05 (16) May 04 (19) May 03 (14) May 02 (18) May 01 (18) Apr 30 (25) Apr 29 (27) Apr 28 (11) Apr 27 (10) Apr 26 (18) Apr 25 (10) Apr 24 (29) Apr 23 (29) Apr 22 (14) Apr 21 (15) Apr 20 (20) Apr 19 (22) Apr 18 (16) Apr 17 (32) Apr 16 (12) Apr 15 (21) Apr 14 (21) Apr 13 (15) Apr 12 (13) Apr 11 (14) Apr 10 (16) Apr 09 (20) Apr 08 (36) Apr 07 (22) Apr 06 (11) Apr 05 (28) Apr 04 (20) Apr 03 (29) Apr 02 (32) Apr 01 (18) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (15) Mar 28 (22) Mar 27 (24) Mar 26 (17) Mar 25 (17) Mar 24 (13) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (15) Mar 20 (18) Mar 19 (19) Mar 18 (16) Mar 17 (10) Mar 16 (6) Mar 15 (18) Mar 14 (24) Mar 13 (18) Mar 12 (18) Mar 11 (17) Mar 10 (13) Mar 09 (12) Mar 08 (18) Mar 07 (25) Mar 06 (16) Mar 05 (16) Mar 04 (22) Mar 03 (17) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (23) Feb 29 (19) Feb 28 (25) Feb 27 (26) Feb 26 (23) Feb 25 (12) Feb 24 (13) Feb 23 (15) Feb 22 (26) Feb 21 (31) Feb 20 (12) Feb 19 (21) Feb 18 (15) Feb 17 (10) Feb 16 (15) Feb 15 (19) Feb 14 (15) Feb 13 (25) Feb 12 (20) Feb 11 (9) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (28) Feb 08 (20) Feb 07 (22) Feb 06 (20) Feb 05 (19) Feb 04 (14) Feb 03 (16) Feb 02 (28) Feb 01 (37) Jan 31 (27) Jan 30 (31) Jan 29 (18) Jan 28 (14) Jan 27 (10) Jan 26 (18) Jan 25 (26) Jan 24 (34) Jan 23 (21) Jan 22 (21) Jan 21 (18) Jan 20 (18) Jan 19 (18) Jan 18 (26) Jan 17 (24) Jan 16 (23) Jan 15 (30) Jan 14 (20) Jan 13 (18) Jan 12 (24) Jan 11 (11) Jan 10 (23) Jan 09 (22) Jan 08 (17) Jan 07 (17) Jan 06 (9) Jan 05 (18) Jan 04 (15) Jan 03 (19) Jan 02 (14) Jan 01 (6) Dec 31 (12) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (15) Dec 28 (11) Dec 27 (7) Dec 26 (10) Dec 25 (16) Dec 24 (13) Dec 23 (16) Dec 22 (11) Dec 21 (26) Dec 20 (28) Dec 19 (14) Dec 18 (25) Dec 17 (23) Dec 16 (19) Dec 15 (22) Dec 14 (38) Dec 13 (26) Dec 12 (25) Dec 11 (27) Dec 10 (31) Dec 09 (15) Dec 08 (30) Dec 07 (31) Dec 06 (27) Dec 05 (38) Dec 04 (25) Dec 03 (27) Dec 02 (15) Dec 01 (36) Nov 30 (23) Nov 29 (17) Nov 28 (23) Nov 27 (13) Nov 26 (16) Nov 25 (14) Nov 24 (18) Nov 23 (21) Nov 22 (21) Nov 21 (24) Nov 20 (20) Nov 19 (23) Nov 18 (17) Nov 17 (17) Nov 16 (34) Nov 15 (25) Nov 14 (17) Nov 13 (21) Nov 12 (18) Nov 11 (9) Nov 10 (15) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (12) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (4) Oct 29 (1) Oct 01 (1) Jul 29 (1) May 11 (1) Jul 11 (1) Incumbent Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez has been officially declared ruler for the next four years, much to the chagrin of the opposition. Honduras' Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) has bestowed upon incumbent Juan Orlando Hernandez the credentials officially declaring him president for the next four years in the wake of last year's widely disputed elections. "President Juan Orlando Hernandez today visited the TSE building, where he was awarded with his new credentials that confirm him as the new ruler of the Honduran people for the next four years," the TSE said in a statement on its website. Hernandez's first term as president began in 2014 after he won the elections with 36 percent of the votes amid a historic 61 percent voter turnout. The Honduran constitution originally barred him from eelection, but that decree was overturned by the TSE in a controversial 2015 vote. According to the TSE, Hernandez looked "very satisfied" when he was handed the document by the Magistrate President David Andres Matamoros Batson. Violent protests erupted across the nation after Hernandez was declared victorious in last year's elections, which international observers and the opposition both insist were rigged. Both main candidates, Hernandez from the National Party and Salvador Nasralla from the Opposition Alliance, initially declared themselves the winner after polls closed. But final results were delayed for several days, raising suspicion about their legitimacy and the TSE's political independence. After much wrangling, Hernandez was declared the winner with 42.95 percent of the votes versus Nasralla's 41.42 percent. Hernandez's National Party will occupy almost half the seats in Congress: 61 out of 128. According to TSE magistrate Marco Ramiro Lobo, former Bolivian president Jorge Quiroga head of the Organization of American States (OAS) observation mission told TSE directors that Nasralla had won just days after polls closed. However, the OAS said in a press release that the elections had been of "poor quality," as did the Electoral Observation Mission of the European Union, and that in such conditions it was impossible to declare any of the candidates victorious. The document issued Friday, which officially declares Hernandez the next president, due to be sworn in January 27, says the TSE decision was "unanimous" and guarantees the recommendations by the EU and the OAS were taken into account. Tom Bartlett in the Chronicle of Higher Education: Soon the man himself will arrive and deliver an often dazzling, sometimes puzzling, rarely dull two-hour lecture on the symbolic and psychological underpinnings of the book of Genesis. Afterward he will field knotty questions from the audience on whether originality is really possible, the tension between honor and happiness, and the evolutionary upside of solitude. These questions seem designed to be difficult, as if the audience were engaged in a giant game of Stump the Guru. Its during such sessions that Peterson is at his improvisational best, sprinkling in ideas from philosophy, fiction, religion, neuroscience, and a disturbing dream his 5-year-old nephew had one time. Its a hearty intellectual stew ladled up by an intense 55-year-old psychology professor who gives the impression that hes on the cusp of unraveling the deep secrets of human behavior and maybe the mystery of God, too, while hes at it. Youd never guess from the reverential atmosphere in the 500-seat theater just how polarizing Peterson has become over the past year. Days before, fliers were tacked up around his neighborhood warning the community about the dangerous scholar in their midst, accusing him of "campaigning against the human rights" of minorities and associating with the alt-right. There have been several calls for his ouster from the University of Toronto where hes tenured including a recent open letter to the dean of the faculty of arts and science signed by hundreds, including many of his fellow professors. Friends refuse to comment on him lest they be associated with his image. Critics hesitate, too, for fear that his supporters will unleash their online wrath. A graduate student at another Canadian university was reprimanded for showing a short video clip of Peterson to a group of undergraduates. One of the professors taking her to task likened Peterson to Hitler. More here. Assyrians Ruled By Social Media Archaeologist Victor Klinkenberg examined an old Assyrian settlement in Syria, near to the IS stronghold Raqqa. 'Social life was more important than military life.' ( Universiteit Leiden) The Assyrian Empire (ca. 2000 to 609 BC) was highly successful. At its height, it stretched from Turkey to Egypt and the Persian Gulf. Historians have wondered for a long time how the Assyrians were able to maintain power over such a huge region. Tell Sabi Abyad Research by PhD candidate Victor Klinkenberg has now provided an answer to part of this question. He has shown that Assyrian dominance was by no means always secured by using violence and brute force. Klinkenberg drew this conclusion after studying the settlement at Tell Sabi Abyad in present-day northern Syria. 'This village was inhabited around 1200 BC,' Klinkenberg explained. 'The Assyrians founded the settlement when they conquered the region, so you'd expect it to be mainly a military outpost, ruled from above. But that doesn't seem to be the case.' Positive stimuli Kinkenberg found that the rooms and houses of Tell Sabi Abyad had many different functions, and that they changed frequently. At one time it was a cafe where visitors drank beer, and at another time it was a rubbish tip. Klinkenberg: 'All this shows that social life played a much greater role than military life. Apparently, positive stimuli and local stability were important factors in the Assyrians' imperial activities.' Islamic State Klinkenberg's research is part of a larger project headed by lecturer Bleda During, financed with a subsidy from the European Research Council (ERC). In recent years, the work of the Leiden researchers has been severely hindered by the rise of the Islamic State terror movement. Tell Sabi Abyad is around 80 km from Raqqa, the capital of the IS caliphate. Destroyed It was impossible for Klinkenberg to travel to the settlement. 'In the past five years, nobody from our team has visited the excavations,' he explained. 'We did hear recently that a lot of archaeological finds have been destroyed or stolen. That's such a waste, particularly as most of the remnants have no financial value. They're worth absolutely nothing on the black market, but their value to science is enormous.' Documented Fortunately, all the earlier excavations at Tell Sabi Abyad have been carefully documented. 'The project has been running for 35 years. The ground area is photographed every season; the location of the finds is mapped and buildings and rooms are measured. These measures meant that I could do my research at a distance.' Like every other archaeologist, Klinkenberg would have preferred to visit the site in person. 'But that's a minor inconvenience compared to the suffering of the Syrian people.' Why is Foreign Policy Magazine Grumpy About U.S. Aid Going to Assyrians in Iraq? With ISIS more-or-less cleared out of Iraq and Syria, money for rebuilding efforts is coming into the region amidst some debate as to where that money should land. Why anyone would oppose money going to the Christians, Yazidis and others is a mystery, as it's clear they suffered the brunt of the brutal ISIS occupation of broad swaths of eastern Syria and western Iraq. In the previous administration, Secretary of State John Kerry used the term "genocide" to describe what happened to Christians, Yazidis, Shiite Muslims and other religious minorities. Christians were so decimated, their religion has been said to be going "extinct" in Iraq. The Trump administration has decided to steer humanitarian aid funding to Christian and other minority communities in Iraq, against the advice of some officials at the State Department and others at the United Nations, who initially feared the move could backfire. The administration, prompted in part by Vice President Mike Pence's strong links to Christian advocacy groups, recently clashed with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) over how to spend aid funds in Iraq, insisting more resources be channeled to Christian communities and other minority groups in the Nineveh Plains. The administration rejected UNDP's assessment -- and that of some officials at the State Department -- that the aid should be focused on more populated areas around the war-damaged city of Mosul. ... Since Donald Trump entered office a year ago, the issue has gotten high-level attention. Vice President Pence has spoken frequently about the importance of direct U.S. support for religious minorities in the Middle East, and current USAID Administrator Mark Green -- long an advocate for minority communities -- has made these efforts a centerpiece of his tenure. The move raised eyebrows throughout the aid community. "Taking $55 million and putting it into an area where there's no chance that the Islamic State is going to come back doesn't make a whole lot of sense," the Western official said. With stabilization funding -- designed to address the potential resurgence of the Islamic State -- "what you want to do is focus on the areas where they might come back," the official told FP. "These communities were hit the hardest," said Philippe Nassif, the executive director of In Defense of Christians. "[The Islamic State] didn't just kill people -- they dug up olive groves and removed the roots of the trees. They wanted to wipe out any presence of Yazidis and Christian communities so people couldn't come back." GOP congressional leaders and White House officials eventually grew frustrated at what they considered to be a slow and insufficient response from diplomats and aid workers, despite the Trump administration's publicly stated goal of helping Christians and minorities on the ground. Some Republicans on Capitol Hill came to believe that, barring a direct legislative effort from Congress, the State Department and USAID would refuse to change course. For all of the past three years, U.S. humanitarian aid has bypassed the Christians and short-changed the Yazidis. The Chaldean Archdiocese of Erbil, which has been the sole guarantor of care for most Christian survivors of ISIS genocide, has received exactly zero of the $1.4 billion of U.S. humanitarian aid to Iraq since 2014. It chronicles a dozen times when its specific requests for aid were rejected by USAID and the State Department. But Foreign Policy magazine sees any U.S. aid going to Christians and others as a bad thing. Here, it says: What it comes down to, the article adds, is about $55 million in funds. But Washington's preference toward Christians, it argues, could undercut other diplomatic efforts.But who says ISIS couldn't return to the Christian and Yezidi areas? Are there no voices on the other side to debate some of these conclusions? Those places were the targets of the worst ferocity from Islamic troops who seem to feel it's their life calling to wipe out traces of other religions. The article then points out the number of Christians took an 80 percent dive from 1.4 million to less than 250,0000 people over a 13-year period.But why was the State Department and USAID digging in their collective heels? Are they anti-religious bigots? Pro-ISIS? Holdovers from the previous administration? Basically grumpy about changing course? We're never told. We're also not reminded that Trump was talking about ISIS persecution of Christians back when he was a presidential candidate, so it's no great shock that his administration is keyed into this issue. I was asked by The Media Project last week to research for their site an article on what was going on with this aid to religious groups and who -- Pence? Trump? The ad hoc evangelical caucus of advisors to the White House? -- is driving this train. I talked with folks from various think tanks and no one could tell me what was going on inside the State Department. The two reporters for Foreign Policy had different and better contacts than I had, especially among former State Department people who don't like help going to beleaguered Christians --- although they seem OK with aid going to Yazidis. The story says that Christians were in danger of getting stiffed by the State Department after eight years of getting ignored by the Obama administration and Pence was making sure that wasn't going to happen on his watch. No one I talked with --- nor anyone these Foreign Policy reporters talked with --- knew exactly what was happening within the State Department. The magazine's sub headline that "aid experts fear" the Trump administration's help to Christians could backfire is alarmist. We don't trash other countries for where their aid goes. Why is there this huge sensitivity to the United States helping the relatives of the martyred and slain and raped? Did these editors complain when Pope Francis took the proceeds from selling his new Lamborghini to help Christians in Iraq? I am guessing Trump people may have seen some of the material that Fox News had by Nina Shea , founder of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute. Her October essay asked why U.S. aid policies in Iraq are helping Iran and hurting Yazidis and Christians. Refugee camps are filled with ISIS sympathizers, she wrote and to expect either group to go there was ridiculous. She also said:Why Foreign Policy didn't include that detail is a mystery. Shea's column is a must-read, as she also notes that Iran is colonizing some of the deserted Christian towns on the Nineveh plains and turning them into Muslim communities. I wish this magazine would, with its many sources, reveal the animus within the State Department and USAID toward Christian and other religious minority groups that lies at the route of their efforts to steer aid away from them. Who is calling those shots and why? Instead of complaining about reiigion getting all the breaks, let's unveil who's blocking things on the aid level. Those are the answers many readers would want to know. Turkey Arrests Assyrian for Rebuilding His Village Petrus Karatay. ( Ahval News) Midyat, Turkey (AINA) -- A Few days ago Petrus Karatay, an Assyrian Chaldean Christian who returned from Paris to Herbol (Turkish Aksu), his acnestral village in the Turkish province of Sirnak, was detained for unknown reasons. Writing in a Turkish website, an article titled Even one Chaldean was seen as too much for Sirnak, author Nurcan Baysal elaborated on Karatay's life story, his exile from the village he was born in and on his decision to return to rebuild his village. Herbol was one three main Assyrian villages that survived the genocide in 1915 in the province of Sirnak. The other villages were Hassane and Besbin. Herbol had a population of about 4,000. In the fight against the Kurdish PKK in the 1980s, pressure increased on the village. In the 1990s the so-called village guards, mainly local Kurds, were imposed in the region. The Assyrian villagers did not accept them. As the pressure mounted the villagers had to emigrate. Most went to France, Belgium, and Germany. Petrus' family emigrated to France. In exile, Petrus presided over the Assyrian-Chaldean Association for many years. But his thoughts always remained on his childhood village. He initiated efforts to return and submitted an official request through Turkey's Consul in Paris in 2009. With the beginning of the so-called peace period with the PKK in 2013, he finally return to Herbol. But meanwhile his village had been confiscated by Turkey's Coal Enterprises. Petrus Karatay, center. ( Al-Jazeera) Herbol is under the control of the coal companies and the rulers of the region, the village guards. The village, its houses, cemetery and church were formally buried under the mounds of excavation of the coal mines. A tough struggle for Petrus followed. He planted thousands of trees in the village. Despite receiving open threats, he even began construction of houses on his ancestral land. Videos posted on the Internet show that several houses were partially completed. Petrus placed a sign at the entrance of the village. He said in an interview he gave to Al-Jazeera "you are welcome to Aksu-Herbol Village. Within the boundaries of the village: It is forbidden to hunt, to cut trees, to burn fire." Baysal stated that the threats became increasingly intense and that Petrus appealed to the Governorship of Sirnak, the District Governor of Silopi and the prosecutor's office dozens of times for the threats he received. While on the one hand, the village was struggling with the coal companies to protect its trees, Petrus draw the attention of the state on him too. A great fire in July 2015 burned the village completely. The government rejected the claim that the fire was started by soldiers. Petrus told journalists that he had witnessed the fire being started by soldiers. The Newspaper Evrensel cited him saying: "The return of some peasants to the village made the state act this way. I witnessed the lightning bullets being thrown by the soldiers." Petrus was not afraid to speak the truth. This was confirmed in an interview on AssyriaTV with Simon Poli, himself a returnee from Sweden to Midyat, and who knows Petrus quite well. Simon said because Petrus was trying to save the village, he made some people angry, namely, the coal companies, the village guards and the rulers of the region Nurcan Baysal ends her article by saying that this brave man, the last Assyrian-Chaldean in Sirnak, is now under arrest for being a "member of a terrorist organization." The state, hand in hand with the rulers of the region, regards even one Assyrain as too much for Sirnak. A Calhoun County dentist died Thursday after he got the flu, according to ABC 33/40 News. Dr. Chris Bittner was a dentist at Alexandria Family Dentistry in Alexandria. The business confirmed his death in a Facebook post Thursday. Etowah County Coroner London Pearce told ABC 33/40 Bittner's death was likely due to flu-related illness. Others who identified themselves as Bittner's family said he died from flu complications in Facebook posts. My 2nd cousin Dr Chris Bittner passed away thursday from complications from the flu ... RIP chris !!! Posted by Terri Woodard Dodd Shadwrick on Thursday, January 18, 2018 On Tuesday night, a third-grader from Montgomery died from the flu. The flu has also claimed a professor at the University of Alabama. Dr. John McDuffie, 72, died Jan. 11 and family members told WSFA his death was due to the flu. An Athens man and a former nurse at Decatur-Morgan Hospital face felony drug charges related to forged prescriptions for oxycodone, according to the Limestone County Sheriff's Office. On Thursday, investigators learned Christopher James Shock, 30, had a forged prescription from Decatur-Morgan Hospital and gave it to a friend to have filled, deputies said. Deputies tracked the prescription to a pharmacy in Athens, where the friend got 90 oxycodone 30mg pills. Investigators tried to contact Shock at this girlfriend, Bethany Passion's, home on Elkton Road. Investigators continued watching the home and saw a white Ford Explorer pull into the drive and leave with Shock. The investigator attempted a traffic stop, but the car kept driving. Shock was a passenger in the vehicle. The chase involved multiple deputies on a 25-minute pursuit that ended off Interstate 65 in Tennessee. During the pursuit, investigators saw a passenger toss a pistol from the car. Deputies later recovered the pistol and confirmed it was stolen. Deputies went back to Passion's home Friday morning and found Shock hiding in a closet. Shock was taken into custody. Passion agreed to go to the sheriff's office for questioning. During the interview, deputies learned she was a nurse at Decatur-Morgan Hospital (Parkway campus), and that Shock convinced her to take blank pages from a prescription pad and give them to him. Shock then forged two prescriptions for oxycodone 30mg and gave them to two other people to have them filled. One person filled one of the prescriptions at a pharmacy in Athens for 90 oxycodone pills and returned the drugs to Passion and Shock. Deputies said Shock sold the pills for $1,000. It is unknown if the second oxycodone have been filled, said sheriff's spokesman Stephen Young. Shock was charged with conspiracy to commit a controlled substance crime, second-degree forgery and fourth-degree theft. He was being held in Limestone County Jail with bail set at $8,500. Passion was charged with conspiracy to commit a controlled substance crime and fourth-degree theft. She was released from Limestone County jail with bail set at $6,000. The Calhoun County community of White Plains was in shock Friday as the news settled in among its approximately 800 residents that their hometown had been struck by unprecedented violence the previous day. Little more than a quiet, rural assemblage of farms, modest houses and a few shops and restaurants spread across a valley and the tall hills that surround it, the name White Plains evokes the expansive fields of cotton that pepper the area. On Friday, some of the more shaded areas of the community remained lightly dusted with bright white snow, though most of it had already melted away. But to many of its residents, the quiet town has been tainted by the events of Thursday, when White Plains 49-year-old Anthony Wayne Parker shot and killed his 12-year-old son, his 19-year-old daughter, Heather Parker, and her fiance, 20-year-old Brandon Roberts at his modular home on Chinch Creek Road. He proceeded to kill himself in front of a nearby abandoned store, according to the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office. Stacie Cunningham, a server at Wagon Wheel Restaurant in White Plains, said that the "tight community" was "in shock," and that several customers told her they could not fathom how such a gruesome and tragic crime had taken place there. "Out here in White Plains, things like that don't happen. We're a farming community. We're country. We greet people with, 'Hey y'all,'" Cunningham said Friday afternoon. "Things have been pretty quiet today. In a sense it's the mourning of it. It's almost like [residents] lost their virginity. It's even come home to here now: Highway 29, Mayberry." Stacie Cunningham poses Friday inside Wagon Wheel Restaurant in White Plains, where she works as a server. (Connor Sheets | csheets@al.com) Sheriff Matthew Wade said Thursday that his office is investigating the murder-suicide. "Working hard to find answers to give to the family as to why this occurred," Wade said. "This is definitely devastating to the family and to us as well." From the outside, the run-down home with the American flag hunger over the porch where the Sheriff's Office says Parker committed the three murders seemed to show no signs of any police activity - though large, loose dogs kept anyone from getting near enough to know that for sure - nor did the shop that he committed suicide in front of, the Rabbittown General Store. Parents picked their children up from White Plains High School shortly before 3 p.m. Friday, and people bought gas and snacks at Seward's Market and folks worked in their yards. Anthony Wayne Parker killed himself in front of the Rabbittown General Store on Thursday, according to the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office. (Connor Sheets | csheets@al.com) But despite the appearance of normalcy, White Plains was left reeling by the murders, according to Sandra Cheatwood, owner of Big Daddy's Cafe in town. "It's just tragic, that's all you can say," she said. "I don't think we've had anything like this. Not here in this community. It's a shock." A passenger in a car that pulled up in front of Parker's home Friday afternoon identified herself as his best friend's wife. She broke down crying as she struggled to convey her response to the crimes that happened inside the trailer just yards away. She added that she believed the media should leave the family - including Parker's wife who was out of state when the murders took place - and other members of the community alone while they mourn the young people who died Thursday. White Plains High School is just down the road from the Calhoun County home where three young people were killed Thursday. (Connor Sheets | csheets@al.com) The killings came as a total surprise to people who knew the Parkers, according to Cunningham and several area residents who declined to give their names, as did nearly a dozen others on Friday. "One of my guests said he had seen Mr. Parker a little while ago, maybe a week or so ago, and everything seemed normal. So that's why it was just a shock," Cunningham said. "It's scary that something like that can happen with no warning. It makes you want to go to your neighbors and say, 'hey, y'all, how are you feeling? And get a cup of coffee or something." WASHINGTON -- As the federal government prepared to shut down late Friday, massive confusion spread throughout the bureaucracy as senior Trump administration officials painted radically different scenarios of whether basic governmental functions would continue or halt. After the U.S. Senate blocked a stopgap spending bill, the federal government shut down at the stroke of midnight Eastern Friday. Officials said the move halted all but the most essential operations. Earlier, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said about half of the Pentagon's civilian employees would be sent home without pay, maintenance would cease and some intelligence operations overseas would stop. The Commerce Department sent talking points to managers, instructing them to tell furloughed employees to set up out-of-office voice-mail messages and take their office plants home. The Internal Revenue Service braced to lose more than half its workforce just as employees are answering questions about the new tax law. But at the Environmental Protection Agency, Administrator Scott Pruitt told his roughly 15,000 employees to report to work Monday as if nothing would change, a direct contrast to the plan officials finalized last month suggesting that thousands of employees would be furloughed in the event of a shutdown. And Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to leave Monday for a trip that will take him to Europe for bilateral talks in Paris, London and Warsaw. His schedule includes a stop for the World Economic Forum at the swanky Swiss resort of Davos, where he is to meet up with President Donald Trump. The disconnect highlighted the clash between the White House's determination to keep the government as functional as possible and a vast workforce that typically scales back when its congressional appropriations expire. In a briefing with reporters Friday evening, senior administration officials could not identify how many federal employees would be furloughed and how many agencies would be affected, referring questions to individual departments. Contingency plans drawn up in recent years called for high-percentage furloughs of civilian employees, including 78 percent of those at the Defense Department and 83 percent at Labor. Administration officials acknowledged that many federal employees were not notified until Thursday or Friday that they could be affected, much later than would be typical. In 2013, more than 800,000 federal employees were sent home without pay for 16 days. The reason many weren't given more advance warning this time is because senior administration officials said they didn't realize the shutdown threat was real until days ago. Budget director Mick Mulvaney told reporters at the White House on Friday that a shutdown -- the first under Republican control in Washington -- "will look very different than it did under the previous administration," which he said deliberately exacerbated public impact. Mulvaney said the administration was working to blunt a shutdown's effects by pushing agencies to use different accounts that might allow them more flexibility to pay employees, though it is unclear exactly how that would work. And it did not appear that the government's largest agencies, particularly the Defense Department, would be able to take advantage of such a tactic. Pruitt told EPA employees late Friday that the agency could continue operating through all of next week even if spending expires. At the Interior Department, officials have gone to extraordinary lengths to keep things running, promising to keep open as many parks, national monuments and other public lands as possible -- without visitors centers and with a skeleton staff of law enforcement. The government will spend about $4.1 trillion this year, and roughly 30 percent of that is appropriated each year by Congress. Roughly half of that money goes to the military, and the other half to dozens of federal agencies. When there is a shutdown -- in this case a partial one since lawmakers have passed a budget for the Veterans Health Administration -- the government doesn't grind to a halt, but its operations are interrupted. Many employees deemed "essential" to the agency's day-to-day mission remain in their posts, often without pay, while others are sent home indefinitely. Agencies typically don't stockpile money to prepare for these types of lapses because they're not supposed to. Some officials said they could maintain operations by using carry-over funding, money that remains unspent and is either part of permanent or multiyear appropriations. It was unclear how this strategy differed from the approach the Obama administration invoked in 2013, when Sylvia Mathews Burwell, then the director of the Office of Management and Budget, issued a Sept. 30 memo instructing heads of agencies that they could "continue to operate under such previously approved apportionments" from those buckets of funding. OMB officials wouldn't specify which agencies had access to this money or how it would work, though they said they place greater "emphasis" on using these funds compared to 2013. And as late as Friday night, the White House could not say which agencies would continue to operate either fully or partially. Sam Berger, who served as OMB senior counselor and policy adviser during the 2013 shutdown, said this funding strategy helped Veterans Affairs and the State Department stay open during the 16-day budget impasse. "The Obama administration's sole focus was on making sure agencies complied with the law," Berger said. "And agencies made determinations about the best way to utilize their funding consistent with the law, including the use of multiyear carry-over funding when appropriate." But some budget experts questioned whether allowing agencies to pay employees with unused money or transfer money into salary accounts would be legal after the midnight deadline. "What the administration is doing here is using an accounting trick to keep parts of the government open, and then it's not a shutdown at all," said Bill Hoagland, senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center and a former budget adviser to several Senate Republican leaders. "I would question the legality of using those moneys when you have no authority at all to spend money." If agencies were to stay open using the White House strategy, he added, "You're going to have budget lawyers working overtime and potentially with lawsuits." Questions about this frenzy of activity -- such as whether agency heads would need to move their money before midnight Friday -- contributed to a sense of chaos as the Trump administration encountered its first bureaucratic fiasco. Trump and his deputies continued to attack Democrats on Capitol Hill even as they negotiated with them and downplayed the potential mess that could ensue. Employees not scheduled to work over the weekend -- the vast majority of the government -- were told to come into work Monday morning to put things in order for an indefinite absence, leaving their government-issued cellphones and laptops at the office. No telework is allowed during a shutdown. The next pay period for many employees runs through Jan. 26, and they will be paid for work through this past week. Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents 150,000 federal workers at more than 30 agencies, told reporters at 2 p.m. that "our employees right now at this late hour are still waiting to get their notices." He said they worry that Congress will not ensure that they are paid after a shutdown ends, even though Congress has voted to pay them after previous shutdowns. After reporting Friday that more people sought care for flulike illnesses during the second week in January than at any comparable period in nearly a decade, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had prepared to send more than 60 percent of its employees -- about 8,500 people -- home. CDC spokeswoman Kathy Harben said the agency's "immediate response to urgent disease outbreaks, including seasonal influenza, would continue," through an analysis of data being reported to the government from state and local authorities and hospitals. But experts said the diminished staff levels could slow the rate of analysis. The architects of the recently passed Republican tax law are relying on the tens of thousands of IRS employees to turn their new vision for the tax code into reality. But the agency was preparing to send home about 56 percent of its workforce, according to Treasury officials. A prolonged impasse could affect the pace at which IRS attorneys can issue new guidelines to resolve legal questions the law raises and to implement computer updates to IRS software for processing tax forms, tax experts said. A shutdown would halt key rail, airline and other investigations, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which said 95 percent of its more than 400 employees would be furloughed. Among the work that would stop: Investigations into an Amtrak derailment near DuPont, Washington, in December that killed three people, and into a near miss at San Francisco International Airport in July, when an Air Canada flight nearly landed on the wrong runway, according to the NTSB. At the State Department, consular offices abroad would continue to process visas, so long as the fees they generate pay for the cost. Ambassadors would continue meeting government officials around the world. Travel would be curtailed, but is allowed to proceed if the trips are for national security purposes, including negotiating treaties and attending bilateral meetings, or to save lives, as in the case of medical emergencies or providing refugees with food and medicine. Many training courses will be suspended, except for classes related to diplomatic security, anti-terrorism and preparing government employees to go to dangerous postings such as Afghanistan and Iraq. Furloughed employees across the government will be advised to turn off their cellphones and have no email communications with colleagues who continue to work. They are prohibited from using social media accounts and virtually all public speeches are forbidden. A skeletal team of public affairs spokesmen will be working to communicate with the media, but they are only allowed to discuss issues pertaining to national security. The National Park Service issued a contingency plan Friday evening that outlined how park access would be maintained to the greatest extent possible under a shutdown, even as buildings would be locked and visitor services would cease. At Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida, some of the buildings could shut as soon as Saturday, though much of the park's 760,000 acres will remain open to visitors. The park is home to many large alligators and pythons, and there will not be as many park rangers working to enforce safety precautions. "We are going to put some information out that encourages people to use extra caution," spokeswoman Ardrianna McLane said. (c) 2018, The Washington Post. By Juliet Eilperin, Lisa Rein and Damian Paletta The Department of Defense has issued guidance to military and civilian personnel in the event Congress doesn't reach a spending agreement tonight. Congress has until midnight tonight to agree on a funding plan before a government shutdown shutters all but the most critical services. The last shut down, which occurred in 2013, resulted in more than 800,000 federal employees being furloughed, some for as long as 16 days. Today's 14-page memo came from Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan. "The administration is willing to work with the Congress to enact a short-term continuing resolution to fund critical federal government operations and allow Congress the time to complete the full-year 2018 appropriations," Shanahan said in his memo. According to the memo: All active-duty service members will continue in a "normal duty status," regardless of their affiliation with excepted and unexcepted functions, the memo said. Military personnel will not be paid until Congress appropriates funds to do so. Civilian employees who are not carrying out exempted activities - i.e. critical functions - will be furloughed without pay. Congress has typically approved back pay for civilian federal workers once the shutdown is complete. All Department of Education schools will remain open. Child development centers could be impacted, and people were advised to contact their center for details. Military exchanges will remain open. Military commissaries, except those located overseas or a handful in remote locations, will close. If the government shuts down, commissaries will sell of perishable item they have on hand before closing. Sen. Doug Jones, D-AL, voted for a spending deal to avert a government shutdown, the fifth Democratic Senator to support the Republican-backed measure. Jones, who took office last month, told NBC News he voted for the measure because of its funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program. CHIP serves about 84,000 low-income children in Alabama. As of right now, Ill be voting for the CR, Doug Jones said, citing the strong commitment he made to his state on CHIP. https://t.co/0VigY2LuEq Jonathan Allen (@jonallendc) January 20, 2018 Jones joins Democrats Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, and Joe Donnelly of Indiana in supporting the measure. Other Democrats are opposing the measure saying it does not provide protection for Dreamers, people who were brought into the U.S. illegally as children. The total on the vote was 50-49, but 60 votes were needed to advance the bill. Five Republicans voted against the bill; Richard Shelby, Alabama's Senior Senator, voted yes. The Senate has until midnight tonight to avoid a partial government shutdown. From the detention of child refugees to a lack of protection for refugees, conditions in the Thai capital are bleak. Bangkok, Thailand Ive never experienced cold like this, says RK, a 19-year-old Somali refugee, as he sits in a downtown Bangkok alley one December morning. It is 20 degrees, and opposite is the Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Center, an office building concealing thousands of undocumented migrants. It is a stones throw from Bangkoks gregarious tourist district, and RKs wife and nine-month-old daughter are being held inside. They kicked my door down and took my family when I was away, RK says, referring to an immigration raid at his home three months earlier, as part of a crackdown on undocumented migrants. The UNs refugee agency, UNHCR, told Al Jazeera that Bangkok is home to a growing community of approximately 4,500 refugees and 2,000 asylum-seekers from more than 50 countries. Regarded as illegal aliens under Thai law, RKs wife and daughter face a period of indefinite detention. They will only be released by relocation to a third country, a lengthy process. An undocumented migrant and former detainee himself, RK relies upon volunteers to relay messages of hope on his behalf. An exact breakdown of the origins of refugee communities in Thailand is not available. But compared with Europe, Thailand is in seen as being in easier reach and more hospitable among Pakistani, Somali, Iraqi, Palestinian and Syrian migrants and refugees all of whom flock to the Asian country. These were among the considerations that drew RK to the city. Three years earlier, when he was 16 years old, he fled Mogadishu, the Somali capital, after his father was killed in an al-Shabab car bomb attack. Fearing for his life, RKs family paid smugglers $2,000 to escort him on a flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, one of the few countries where Somali citizens do not require visas. From there, he was transported 1,500km in the back of a truck on a three-day journey up the Malay Peninsula to Bangkok home to UNHCRs Regional Office for Southeast Asia, and a city from where he could apply for asylum. They told me it would be safe to live and work here until I got accepted into another country, says RK, talking of his smugglers. But misinformation and false hope are the currencies that sustain the smuggling industry, with the reality on the ground remaining far bleaker. Thailand is not party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and Thailands Immigration Act does not distinguish between refugees, asylum seekers and illegal immigrants. Consequently, all undocumented migrants remain at the mercy of immigration officials who regularly arrest and incarcerate anyone unable to produce valid visas. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), this approach is central to the Thai governments immigration policy informed by the magnet effect; a belief that making conditions as inhospitable as possible for refugees and asylum seekers will deter future arrivals. As a result, they face crippling government-imposed restrictions on access to healthcare and education. Most debilitating is the inability to earn money legally. This consigns them to a life subsisting on irregular handouts from increasingly stretched refugee support networks. UNHCR in Bangkok told Al Jazeera that due to financial shortfalls, the agency uses panels to assess the needs of refugees and target assistance on the most vulnerable. Most are employed illegally and exploited. I received 1,500 thai baht ($47) for working 60 hours a week in a kitchen, RK explains. But my boss even took this away after three months because he was scared of getting caught. With the threat of arrest and detention constantly looming, avoiding unwanted attention from authorities is the foremost daily consideration. With the vast majority of migrants confined to poorer Thai communities on the citys outskirts, keeping a low profile is a must. Most spend long days confined to crowded and squalid apartments. Immigration [officials] bang on the doors almost every week shouting Somalis come out!. Sometimes they come inside and take people, says 18-year-old Abdirahim, a member of a minority clan threatened with violence in his home city of Mogadishu. He arrived in Bangkok alone at the age 15. He shares a single-room apartment with four other Somali men, none of whom are older than 20 and all are also members of minority clans in Somalia at risk of violence. The men estimate that there are seven other apartments in the building housing people of African and Middle Eastern origin living in similar circumstances. Despite having had their claims of asylum verified through extensive interviews and background checks as part of UNCHRs Refugee Status Determination with all carrying identity cards stating as much Abdirahim and his roommates remain too frightened to leave their home unless absolutely essential. Im scared to go out or I will be arrested and locked up again Im powerless to do anything to help myself so I just sleep, he says. Life inside immigration prisons offers a different kind of misery. With access heavily restricted, accounts of abysmal conditions are known only from the testimonies of former detainees released on a now-defunct bail system that was operated at the discretion of immigration officials until mid-2016. I was in a cell with 120 men, only three times as big as this room, Abdirahim explains, gesturing to his cramped apartment of 350 square feet. Food was rice and soup twice a day. I would sleep on the concrete floor and only saw the sun every three days. Despite several attempts, representatives of the Thai Immigration Bureau for comment did not respond to Al Jazeeras request for comment. Immigration detention of refugee and asylum-seeking children in Thailand violates the rights of children under international law. Although he was a minor, Abdirahim spent two years in these conditions between the ages of 15 and 17 before being bailed out by a refugee support charity. This practice of indefinitely detaining children among adults concerns rights groups. HRW says it violates Thailands obligations under international law and puts children at risk of sexual and physical abuse.. When Al Jazeera visited a detention centre, this reporter witnessed at least five children aged up to 10. The Thai government has publicly affirmed its commitment to ending some immigration practices. In September 2016, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha pledged to end the detention of refugee children during a speech at the US-hosted Leaders Summit on the Global Refugee Crisis. But UNHCR said it was unable to access figures for the exact number of minors in immigration prisons in Thailand and was unaware of a definitive end date for this practice. In practice, the future for Bangkoks refugees and asylum seekers remains precarious. Phil Robertson, deputy director of HRWs Asia division, told Al Jazeera that the Thai government has dragged its feet for decades on the issue of immigration reforms. Some officials simply believe that migrants and refugees do not deserve any better, he said. With returning home tantamount to a death sentence for most, receiving asylum in a third country remains perhaps the best hope. I wish I never came here, says Abdirahim, standing on his balcony overlooking a bustling Bangkok street below. I will go anywhere now. Anywhere where I will be safe and can start living my life. The brutal rape and murder of a minor girl triggers debate on the issue of child abuse awareness in Pakistan. Karachi, Pakistan- A minor girls rape and murder earlier this month has sent a shock wave across Pakistan. The incident has drawn a wide public outcry, with many celebrities openly talking against child sexual abuse in the South Asian nation. Zainab Fatima Ameen, a seven-year-old girl from the city of Kasur in central Punjab, was found dead in a rubbish dump after several days of her disappearance. An autopsy revealed she had been brutally abused and strangled to death. When I sexually abused it ws by my Kari Sahab, my Driver & then by a highly educated elite families son. Now a happily married business man in London. Its across the board. Men abuse across the board. My family still wants me to stay silent. But the shame IS NOT MINE! Never ever Nadia Jamil (@NJLahori) January 13, 2018 Seeing the image of her in the trash juxtaposed with the image of her with that smile on her face, it shook me to my core, said Nadia Jamil, a popular Pakistani actress and philanthropist, who was shaken at the news as it unfolded on social media. Herself a child abuse survivor, Jamil came forward with the story of her own assault as a four-year old, prompting further conversation on the subject considered taboo in Pakistani society. The case of Zainab was the tipping point in a string of similar attacks in the area. Public anger erupted on the streets of Kasur and elsewhere in the country at the inability of the law enforcement agencies to capture and punish the culprits. Just days after Zainabs case, another four-year-old girl was abused and strangled to death in the northern district of Mardan. According to Sahil, a non-government organization working on the problem of child sexual assaults, 1,764 cases of child abuse were reported in the first half of 2017 alone. In at least 62 of such cases, children were murdered after being sexually abused. In most cases, the attacker was an acquaintance of the victim. As chilling CCTV footage emerged showing Zainab walking hand in hand with her attacker in her final moments, public discourse shifted from protests to a call for preventive measures to protect all children from sexual abuse. Even before the incident, I had been teaching my child about possible child abuse scenarios. I have told her to not talk to strangers and be aware of traps, said Umair Arif, father of a four-year-old, who joined the protesters in the port city of Karachi. I have made her learn our house address and our phone number. Child Abuse Awareness As public voices grew, the government in Punjab, Pakistans most populous province, announced plans to introduce Child Abuse Awareness in its curriculum. In Pakistan, any discussion on sex, including sex education, is taboo and prompts resistance from the conservative section of the society. The government has deliberately steered clear of talking about sex education, but right-wing political groups have already warned the government against inserting obscenity in textbooks in the name of child abuse awareness. Sex abuse prevention education is a necessity of the day but there should be some checks that obscenity isnt taught in its name, Farid Piracha of Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistans largest Islamic party, told Al Jazeera. The purpose should be propagation of ethical and religious lifestyle, he said. The government insists it is not going for the westernisation of sexual education. We will educate our children about what advances should they stop, obviously it wont be sex education, but it will be more about the safety measures that can be taken, sort of good touch bad touch kind of learning, Malik Ahmed Khan, the spokesperson for the Punjab government, told Al Jazeera. The government in southern Sindh province has also come forward with a plan to implement what it calls life skills based education and child abuse awareness programme with immediate effect. The programme which was first launched as a pilot project in collaboration with Aahung a non-government organisation will be made part of school curriculum all across Sindh by April 2018. Questions and doubts But Arif is concerned as a parent. I do not trust the education system in Pakistan, he told Al Jazeera. While he agrees that child abuse awareness is very important, he is not comfortable with it being taught to children under 10 years of age by ill-trained teachers. Children are innocent and my experience with my four-year-old is that if you tell her dont do something she might be more interested in doing it and that can make the issue worse, Arif said. Some parents are also concerned that this might be a glorified version of sex education. Aisha Ijaz, the programme manager at Aahung said this was not the case. I wouldnt say it is sex education. We call it life skills based education. It is tailored to the issues that we see in our society, she told Al Jazeera. Our content was reviewed in 2012 by a group of parents, teachers and even some very progressive religious scholars went through the content and said there is nothing inappropriate about it, it should be taught to young people, Ijaz told Al Jazeera. More than just the curriculum Jamil believes child abuse awareness in schools is imperative but greater effort is needed to fight abuse effectively. She was one of the first to share Zainabs news on social media and has been working with child abuse survivors for years. To parents and teachers, I really want to say please talk to children. The world is a frightening place. Teach them how to recognise danger. Be their safe house. Listen to them. Or they will lose their voice, she said. Jamil hopes to see deeper understanding of the matter and a more holistic approach in educating children. No man is born a rapist. It takes a very dead soul to rape a child, she told Al Jazeera. Teach kindness and empathy and respect of all bodies, of all living things, of all nature. That is where the learning should begin. It is time for more privileged immigrants in the US to stop seeing themselves as more deserving than others. For most immigrants in the United States, the year that has passed since President Donald Trumps inauguration has been one in which their new country has become an increasingly frightening place to live. Those of us who are visible as an other having black or brown skin, bearing names that show we are Muslim or Hispanic, wearing clothing that mark us as somehow different are repetitively evoked (in both veiled and vulgar language) in the presidents public speeches, private policy meetings, and barrages of tweets. Trump tweeted earlier this month that he plans to make immigration more merit-based to attract highly skilled workers and followed these plans up by calling potential and existing immigrants from Haiti and all of Africa, in particular, people from shithole countries during a policy meeting. Part of why Americans are susceptible to this violent, xenophobic, and nativist rhetoric is not because they are exceptionally thick, but because of how the national mythology of the US one constructed on Puritan ideals of egalitarianism, hard work and perseverance against adversity is constructed. Americans are told, since childhood, that hard work and perseverance not only build character, but allow them to overcome obstacles, and achieve their goals and dreams. Because this powerful myth is repetitively drummed into their heads be it through apocryphal narratives of kids who came from impoverished backgrounds who went on to become multimillion-dollar earning athletes, or women who beat the odds and attained positions of leadership in fields dominated by men they learn to believe that their country is a meritocracy. These experiences of failure and not-making-it are true, unexceptional, and the norm; yet, they are unincorporated into America's popular narrative. by Anyone who has gone thorough the immigration process here knows that US immigration is not only class-based, but underhandedly racist, too: after all, Trump himself remarked, in that same infamous policy meeting, that immigrants from Asia should be favoured over those from Haiti and Africa. So it baffles me why legislators and pundits are suddenly calling on immigration reforms to reflect the desire for skilled workers, when it is clear, from even a cursory glance at H1B and Greencard application documents, that it is already so. As an immigrant who was born in a small island in South Asia (Sri Lanka) and grew up in a Southern African country (Zambia), and who now lives and teaches in the US, I make a point of incorporating my own narrative of immigration the cost, the paperwork, the lawyers fees, the networks of fellow immigrants who helped me, and the (often difficult to identify) factors and existing privileges in my personal history that allowed me to be a successful immigrant into how I teach my global literature classes. {articleGUID} Its about money and existing privilege, I laugh. America sure didnt want any tired and poor immigrants. Most of my American students are surprised unless they, too, have come from recent-immigrant families. We all know this to be true, if we are recent immigrants to the US. But we become defensive against racism, and prefer to align ourselves with American rhetoric of being exceptional. And because US immigration policy already selects immigrants who come from privileged social class, caste, and educational backgrounds, this group is used to being seen as elite; certainly, these immigrants do not want to align themselves with workers in the service industries or the undocumented. I was dismayed, but not surprised, therefore, by the defensive rhetoric used by my fellow immigrants when Shithole-gate hit the national and international fans. On Twitter and Facebook, immigrants brought out the weaponry of respectability to prove that racists were wrong about them. Since Haiti and Africa were on the shithole list this time, they listed the exceptional African and Haitian immigrants who invented amazing things and discovered incredible surgical techniques that no doubt saved the lives of countless American racists who hated immigrants. Others touted how so few immigrants, statistically, are involved in any crimes. Articles, like this one in the LA Times, rushed to assure frightened Americans that while many are refugees, and beneficiaries of the diversity visa programme aimed at boosting immigration from underrepresented nationsAfrican immigrants are better educated than people born in the US or the immigrant population as a whole. The African Studies Associations Board of Directors released the following statement: [In the] US Census Bureau report, Africans account for only 4 percent of the total foreign-born population in the United States, but the educational attainment of that 4 percent far exceeds the average of all of those born outside of the US. Indeed, 41 percent of African residents in the US hold bachelors degrees or higher. Nigerians, who have been singled out by the president on previous occasions, are among the most educated group in the US, with some 61 percent holding bachelors degrees and 17 percent masters degrees. All this is true. But this rhetoric only serves to boost the myth of merit, and further the erroneous belief that only the deserving and exceptional who are mostly exceptional because of existing class, family, political, and educational privileges should be in the US. As critic Steven Salaita explained in a Facebook post, cases like that of 57-year-old Palestinian-American business owner, Amer Othman Adi who has been unjustly held by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is currently on hunger strike, gives lie to the conservative (and often liberal) narrative that good immigrants are welcome By all accounts, including those of a mayor, a business community, and a congressman, Adi was the ideal arrivant. So, even by the insidious standards of model minority discourse (fuelled by anti-Black racism and Native dispossession), Adi isnt worthy of freedom and dignity. What is left to conclude? That people from certain countries shitholes are never acceptable no matter how much they conform to the states chauvinistic mythologies. It is time that Asian immigrants in particular ... also stop imagining themselves as more special and deserving than . by In my university classes, I make sure that I stress that all but the most privileged had to almost bend Gods will to be here, and stay here. I make sure that I include immigrants who are both documented and undocumented in this narrative. We are nearly all exceptional in many ways, but not because we have class privilege and exceptional jobs but because of the inventiveness of our hustle, the I cant go on/Ill go on ideology, evocative of Irish playwright Samuel Becketts beautiful, painful writing. We internalise that struggle, steel, and vulnerability in the face of immigration officials at airports, border checkpoints, local immigration offices, and the everyday racism we encounter. When I read French existentialists, I actually laugh: if they actually wanted to know what it is like to face insurmountable obstacles, they should have first spoken to a black or brown immigrant in the US (or France) first. It is true that many of the first friends I made in the US were in college because they did have something exceptional about them that parents and teachers recognised; a slew of people school administrators, guidance counsellors, a friend in the neighbourhood who had an aunt who went to college helped get them into university by helping them fill out paperwork, write entrance essays, and generally navigate the difficult US tertiary education system and immigrate into the lower rungs of the US middle class. But I also pose this question: what happens if you are exceptional, but a queue of terrible and overworked educators dismiss or simply do not see your ability? What happens if you are not exceptional, but simply ordinary, and poor, and immigrant? While the ordinary middle and upper-middle class kid will often have parents and educators advocating for them protecting the young person from learning difficult lessons even at the cost of their character and skills development the poor and the immigrant in the US rarely have the benefits of that invisible, protective shield. These experiences of failure and not-making-it are true, unexceptional, and the norm; yet, they are unincorporated into the USs popular narrative. {articleGUID} Those who have gone through this expensive and Faustian processes of an H1-B application, Permanent Residency or Greencard process, and eventually, US citizenship, know how ludicrously and nakedly class-based, racist, and violent it is towards immigrants. It is especially so for women of colour. This system clearly favours those with existing economic, class, gender, and privileges that pipeline them into college educations. Those of us from urban centres, rather than rural areas, from nations with thriving education systems, from families with existing wealth and political power, and those from ethnic groups that are in ascendancy get ahead. US visas and immigration processes favour those with money in hand, to pay for those exorbitant application fees, a requirement at every step of the immigration and naturalisation process. Yet, if I suggest that the US is not a meritocracy, my students react in disbelief, and many sweetly try to convince me otherwise, using the examples of the miraculous achievements of the authors we read in class. When I point out that the problem with a meritocracy is that only those who are truly exceptional like the authors we read who will make it out of dire circumstances, there is silence. When I point out that none of us would have a chance, should we have been born in more dire circumstances, since no one in class (including me) is truly as exceptional as any of the authors we read, there is more silence. These are some of the few moments in which I have felt that I have communicated something of importance about how structures in the US work creating at least some doubt about powerful and pervasive mythologies that serve only to blame those who cannot claw their way out of circumstances meant to make them fail. {articleGUID} The truth is, anyone who plots, schemes, saves, and works to the point of exhaustion sometimes only with the hope that the next or even the third generation will benefit in an economically and politically powerful nation like the US has to be exceptional, in some way. It is obvious that (white) Americans need to be disabused of the notion that the USs white population is special, and deserving, somehow, of privilege; it is time to get over the belief that they only received their privileges from having worked for it. But just as importantly, those immigrants of more privileged backgrounds those who are currently touting the percentage of people from their national group who have college and post-graduate degrees, as if waving these statistics and their material possessions are ways of proving that they are not, in fact, deserving of Trumps racism also need an antidote for their misplaced smugness. It is time that Asian immigrants in particular who benefit from the Civil Rights Movement and the efforts of African Americans towards changing and challenging racist immigration laws that excluded Asians, and who have, as a group, been favoured since American immigration began moving towards a merit-based system also stop imagining themselves as more special and deserving than US minorities of non-recent immigrant backgrounds. Our class snobbery, carried over from our old countries, and defensive superiority, developed against the racism of our new country, has only aided white supremacists who couldnt care less about how exceptional we are. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. If you believed that the Indian people universally welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to India, then you were misled. The corporate media both in India and in Israel concentrated on the press releases from the offices of the prime ministers and bought hook, line and sinker into their well-orchestrated propaganda. There were the typical visits: to the Taj Mahal, to Gandhis Sabarmati Ashram and to Gandhis samadhi (memorial). There was the opening of a technology centre and there was the meeting with business leaders. Yet the media not only did not cover the true purpose of Netanyahus visit, it also ignored Indians who protested against it and called for solidarity with Palestine. The arms deals Amid all the pomp and ceremony, what the media failed to discuss were the arms deals that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Netanyahu discussed. India is a major buyer of Israeli weapons; between 2012 and 2016, the country bought 41 percent of Israeli arms exports. The meetings of business leaders which were mentioned in the media included weapons manufacturers and weapons contractors merchants of war who, in their blue suits and silk ties, pretended that their business is business and not war. What was discussed at these meetings was quite important. {articleGUID} In April 2017, India and Israel signed a deal for military equipment worth $2bn. But on January 2 this year, the Indian government informed the Israeli arms companies that it would no longer be honoring the $500m contract to buy the Spike anti-tank missiles. During Netanyahus visit, however, he pointedly said that the deal was back on the table. Apparently, Modi had personally told Netanyahu to disregard the January 2 notice. To do so, Modi had to go against the Indian state-owned military company Defense Research and Development Organization, which was acting in line with the Indian governments Make in India industrial policy. Rather than make anti-tank missiles at home, India will have to pay up to import Israeli technology. Weapons are at the heart of the relationship between India and Israel. All else is secondary. It would, however, have been too crude to emphasise the weapons deals. Modi and Netanyahu are both showmen. They understand the art of propaganda. To reduce their relationship to brokering for arms deals would not do. They want to be seen as high-minded men who are bringing their countries together for a higher purpose. Gandhi and Palestine Mahatma Gandhi has been long used to being misused in India. A man who eschewed money and detested the profit motive of capitalism is honoured on each of Indias currency notes. In 1931, when Gandhi was asked about military force, he told a reporter that he hoped a future India would have the smallest army imaginable. India has, currently the second largest standing army in the world (after China, with the United States in third place). India, which spends $56bn a year on its military, is fifth on the list of countries by military expenditure ( after the United States, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia). It is by far the worlds largest importer of weapons (followed by Saudi Arabia). Modi and his government said nothing about Gandhi's views on the Palestinians during this visit. After all, they would have come in the way of the arms deals. by That Modi took Netanyahu to Gandhis main ashram on the Sabarmati River, near Ahmedabad and that he took to to his samadhi at Raj Ghat (where he was cremated) is an insult to Indias late anti-colonial leader. This was a outrageous decision not only because these men had essentially come together to cement an arms deal, but because of Gandhis views on the Palestinians a people forgotten by the corporate media during Netanyahus propaganda trip. In 1938, Gandhi wrote, Palestine belongs to the Arabs [] It is wrong and inhumane to impose the Jews on the Arabs. He was writing as a man involved in an anti-colonial struggle. In his view, Europe couldnt just expel Palestinians from their land and driven by its own history of anti-Semitism settle the European Jewish population there. In 1946, two years before the formation of Israel, Gandhi wrote: Why should [Jews] depend upon American money or British arms for forcing themselves on an unwelcome land? Why should they resort to terrorism to make good their forcible landing in Palestine? He had in mind groups like the Haganah and Irgun, which used violence against the British and the Palestinians as a prelude to the forcible expulsion of the Palestinians from their land during the 1948 Nakba (catastrophe). Modi and his government said nothing about Gandhis views on the Palestinians during this visit. After all, they would have come in the way of the arms deals. The protests Protests took place across the country against the visit of Netanyahu. In New Delhi, the communist movement and pro-Palestinian groups led the way with a mass rally. Prakash Karat, a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said that by inviting Netanyahu, the Modi government gives legitimacy to the occupation of Palestine by Israel. He pointed out that even when US President Donald Trump visited Israel, he went to the West Bank. When Modi went to Israel last summer, he ignored Palestine. The lack of any mention of Palestine during this trip is part of a policy to erase Palestine from the Indian political consciousness. Netanyahu went to Mumbai, where he met some high-profile actors and producers of Bollywood. During the meeting, an expected selfie with the Israeli PM was staged, featuring actors Amitabh Bachchan, Abishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, and Vivek Oberoi and producers Raj Nayak and Ronnie Screwvala. All were grinning for the camera, unapologetic about being photographed with a man being investigated for corruption in Israel and on his way of being placed on the war crimes list by the International Criminal Court. But not all in Indias film industry welcomed the visit. Anand Patwardhan, the award-winning documentary filmmaker, decided to go for a demonstration against Modi rather than be part of the charade. When I asked about his protest, Patwardhan summed it up quite well: In all probability some of the big names in Bollywood will join the Modi-Netanyahu hit parade in jettisoning the cause of Palestine. What you should know is that this will be an unholy alliance made up of ruthless, militarist majoritarians on the one hand and film bigwigs who store their enormous illegal wealth in tax havens like Panama. To expect their ilk to worry about justice for the dispossessed is asking for too much. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. In early January, Iran experienced its biggest protest wave since the suppression of the Green Movement in 2009. In spite of shaking the Islamic Republic, these demonstrations did not produce any major political changes. Leaderless and without a clear political goal, the protesters could not sustain the initial momentum. They had no support from the political elites; even reformists didnt back them fearing Syria-isation of Iran or losing their share of power. Irans coercive apparatus did its job and cracked down on the protests with severity. This and other protest movements in the future are unlikely to win the battle with the security forces as long as hardliners call the shots in Iran. Yet, there might soon be an opportunity for change from the top. One of the biggest barriers to change and political reform in Iran has been Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who has stood behind hardliners and promoted conservative politics. But Ayatollah Khamenei is 78, and according to many reports, in poor health as well. So what happens when Khamenei dies? Who will choose the next leader? If Khamenei dies or is deemed unable to fulfil his duties, a three-member council will take over his functions. The council includes the Iranian president, the head of the judiciary and a theologian of the Guardian Council, a conservative body in charge of interpreting Irans constitution. They will have the powers of the supreme leader until the Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 upper-level Muslim clerics, chooses the successor. Members of the Assembly of Experts are elected by the Iranian people for eight years, after first passing through the filter and approval of the Guardian Council. How and who the experts of the assembly will choose as the next supreme leader would depend on a lot of factors. One of them is the ideological make-up of the assembly. {articleGUID} The last election for the assembly took place in 2016. Some interpreted the result as a victory for moderates, who claimed they won 59 percent of the seats and unseated prominent hardline members. But some also saw it as a victory for the radicals, as the assembly chose one of the most prominent hardliners, Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, as its chairman with 51 votes. As a result, it seems the assembly is divided into three main groups: pragmatists, hardliners, and independents. The independent group is the most important one because their swing votes can change the outcome. In addition, various political players will influence the decision of the assembly, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the office of Ayatollah Khamenei (Bit-e Rahbari), various Muslim clerics and the government. A chance for change Ayatollah Khamenei has mentioned that his successor should be a revolutionary and has asked members of the Assembly of Experts not to be timid in selecting his successor. His office, Irans deep state, is likely to support a hardliner; radical Muslim clerics and the IRGC are likely to back the same candidate. However, the current Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, who is also a senior Muslim leader and considered a pragmatist, also stands a chance of being selected as the next supreme leader. This likelihood is even higher if Khamenei leaves office or dies, while Rouhani is still president (his term ends in 2020). As a member of the Assembly of Experts, President Rouhani has more power to lobby and influence the selection process. As a recently leaked video of the session in which the Assembly of Experts chose Khamenei in 1989 shows, a small group of members can wield a lot of power in selecting the leader. Rouhani is the most powerful man among the current members of the assembly. As president of the republic, he can co-opt and coerce the others and his bureaucratic, security and clerical background could help him set up alliances with different groups and power blocs. He is the most experienced and respected Muslim leader on the international arena and is less ideological compared with the other members of the assembly. As a pragmatist, he has the support of technocrats and Irans bureaucracy. He also has the backing of traditional Muslim clerics, who support the separation of religion and politics in seminaries. Although the IRGC commanders mainly belong to the hardliner camp, the IRGC itself is not a monolithic entity. There are a number of pragmatists in high positions within the corps, including Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. Rouhani himself has extensive experience in Irans military and security apparatus. He used to be deputy to second-in-command of Irans joint chiefs of staff, member of the Supreme Defence Council and deputy commander of war in the 1980s. He was also national security adviser under Presidents Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammed Khatami. Although Iranians who want to see a transition from theocracy to a democratic state know that Rouhani would not push for such radical change, they would still prefer to see him as supreme leader than a hardliner. If he indeed makes it to the position of supreme leader, hardliners would be sidelined and technocrats and apolitical Muslim clerics would be empowered. Rouhani has adopted his mentor Rafsanjanis model of development for Iran; he wants to see this country become the Islamic version of China with a strong military and economy. He wants Iran to be a country which operates independently of the West but has a good relationship with it. If Rouhani assumes the position of supreme leader, he would not bring radical political liberalisation. However, he would improve Irans economy and expand civil liberties for the general population. Rouhani as a supreme leader would also have the power to reign in the security apparatus and curb its brutality. These policies, which would move Iran towards normalisation and socioeconomic liberalisation would be welcomed by Iranians who do not want to see foreign intervention or another revolution. Rouhanis bid for the position of supreme leader is fraught with challenges. Unlike Khamenei, who didnt have any strong rivals in 1989, Rouhani has many challengers and is likely to face fierce opposition. If he does win, however, Iran would likely experience a major transformation. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. A new poll published to mark one year since the inauguration shows the problem of a divided nation under Trump. Rarely in recent years has the US appeared so polarised on fundamental issues like race, gender, and prosperity. A new poll published to mark one year since the inauguration shows the problem of a divided nation under Trump. Three in four Americans say the country is clearly divided, six in ten say they dont have trust in the political system, and six in ten say racial tensions have increased. The divide is most notable with women, who tend to vote democratic, and with people of colour who are less likely to support Donald Trump. Al Jazeeras Alan Fisher travelled to a state Trump unexpectedly won in 2016, Pennsylvania, to see how deep the divide really is. The bus mainly carried families on their way to spend a holiday at the Uludag ski resort. A bus crash in central Turkey has left 11 people dead and at least 44 others injured, according to authorities. The accident on Saturday happened when the vehicle hit several trees on the side of the road in the province of Eskisehir. The bus mainly carried families on their way to the northwest city of Bursa, where they planned to spend a holiday at the Uludag ski resort. Ozdemir Cakacak, provincial governor, said the final death toll was 11, despite earlier reports suggesting that at least 13 people had died. The injured were being treated in three hospitals in the area, Cakacak was quoted as saying by Anadolu state-run news agency. Road and weather conditions were good, authorities said, as they announced the launch of an investigation into the cause of the accident. The driver and his assistant, who both sustained minor injuries, were taken into custody as part of the probe. Traffic accidents are common in Turkey, with over a million reported incidents in 2016. About 7,300 people lost their lives in that year and more than 300,000 were injured. Both numbers of those killed and those injured have been rising over the past decade, according to the Turkish statistics bureau. Fearing formation of Kurdish corridor along its border, Ankara carries out air raids and mobilises fighters in the area. Turkey says it has launched a much-awaited air and ground offensive against the Kurdish-controlled enclave of Afrin in northern Syria. After days of shelling, Turkish fighter jets on Saturday carried out air raids on the border district targeting positions held by the Syrian Kurdish PYD and YPG groups. The heavy bombardment began as units of pro-Ankara rebels known as the Free Syrian Army (FSA) started moving into Afrin, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that the operation in Afrin would be followed by a push in the northern town of Manbij, which the US-backed Kurdish forces captured from ISIL in 2016. Turkey considers Syrias Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing, the YPG, terrorist groups with ties to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long fight inside Turkey. The US has previously armed the YPG, viewing it as the most effective ground force in its fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) armed group. Erdogan said that all Kurdish armed groups are all the same and that changing their names does not change the fact that they are terror organisations. According to estimates, there are between 8,000 to 10,000 Kurdish fighters in the Afrin area. Complicated situation Al Jazeeras Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Antakya in Turkey, said the launch of the operation followed a week of increasingly strong political rhetoric coming from Turkish officials. The Turkish army says it is only targeting what it calls terrorists and not civilians but certainly it will be terrifying for civilians in that area because they are surrounded, she added. To highlight the complexity of this war, there is now a NATO ally, Turkey, bombing a group that the US calls its best ally when it was fighting ISIL on the ground and still continues to do so so its an incredibly complicated situation. In recent days, Ankara has been repeatedly threatening to crush the Syrian Kurdish fighters. On Friday, Turkeys Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli said his country would go ahead with its military offensive in Afrin, saying Syrian Kurdish fighters there pose a real threat to his country. Ankara fears the establishment of a Kurdish corridor along its border and had been deploying troops and tanks there in preparation for the ground assault. We will wipe out this corridor step-by-step, starting from the west, Erdogan said on Saturday. Afrin operation has de facto started in the field. This will be followed by Manbij. Syria had earlier warned against any operation and said it would shoot down Turkish fighter jets. Ground push On Friday, Turkey mobilised thousands of FSA rebels to Hatay province near the Syrian border, as part of the planned offensive. Anadolu reported that the FSA rebels were taken under extensive security in a convoy of at least 20 buses, from the province of Kilis. Last year, Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield, in which Turkish-backed FSA rebels cleared a large part of northern Syria of armed fighters. The language coming from the Turks has been that the Afrin operation is going to be the start, then they are going to move into Manbij and then all the way to the Iraqi border, said Dekker. Manbij is a town west of the Euphrates, the YPG remains there and Turkey always wanted the YPG to move east of the Euphrates. The last time there was a confrontation there between the two sides the Americans moved in with troops and vehicles to calm that down. Following the start of Turkeys air campaign, the defence ministry of Russia, which controls the airspace over Afrin, said it was pulling back soldiers that had been deployed near the city. It said in a statement that to prevent possible provocations, to exclude the threat to life and health of Russian servicemen, the operational group of the Center for Reconciliation of warring parties and military police in the Afrin area is relocated to the Tell-Adjar area. Moscows military intervention in Syria in 2015 turned the war in favour of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Its now clear that the Russians have given tacit green light to this [Turkish operation] because they control the airspace so seeing Turkey flying air sorties means the Russians have agreed to this. However, we have also heard from the Russians that they are concerned that they are watching it closely and that they urge constraint. This came as Turkish officials reportedly had discussions with US and Russian officials, as well as a rare official contact with Assads government. Meanwhile, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, warned against more military activities in Syria. Weve seen the reports of shelling in Afrin. We reiterate our call on all concerned parties to avoid further escalation and any acts that could deepen the suffering of the Syrian people, Dujarric said. All parties must ensure protection of civilians at all times, under any circumstances. The US had also urged Turkey to avoid taking action against the Kurdish rebels, urging Ankara to keep its focus on ISIL. There have been reports that the US was also trying to recruit Kurdish fighters in Syria to fight against ISIL. In response, Turkey warned that its relations with the US would be irreversibly harmed if Washington moves to form the 30,000-strong army in the north of Syria. Germany will halt all arms exports to countries involved in the ongoing war in Yemen as coalition talks continue. Germany will stop all arms exports to countries involved in the ongoing war in Yemen, a government spokesperson has announced. The decision, announced on Friday by a spokesperson for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, comes as political parties including Merkels Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) continue to hold talks about forming a coalition government following the German federal election last September. Germany isnt taking any arms exports decisions right now that arent in line with the results of the preliminary talks, Steffan Seibert, a spokesperson for Merkel, said in a post on Twitter. Zur Prazisierung: Die Bundesregierung trifft bei Rustungsexportgenehmigungen derzeit keine Entscheidung, die nicht mit dem Sondierungsergebnis in Einklang steht. Steffen Seibert (@RegSprecher) January 19, 2018 The move is expected to affect Germanys weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, which totalled almost 450 million euro ($550m) in the third fiscal quarter of 2017, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. Saudi Arabia has been at war in Yemen since March 2015, when a coalition led by the oil-rich kingdom launched a campaign of aerial bombardment aimed at countering Houthi rebels, who are widely believed to be backed by Iran, and reinstating the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Amnesty Gulf, a branch of the Amnesty International rights group, praised Germanys decision and called on other countries to do the same. Good news! Germany halts arms exports to parties to the conflict in #Yemen. [The] US, UK, France and all other states selling arms to the #Saudi-led coalition must halt arms sales now!, the organisation said Friday in a post on Twitter. Good news! Germany halts arms exports to parties to the conflict in #Yemen. US, UK, France and all other states selling arms to the #Saudi-led coalition must halt arms sales now! https://t.co/L1Bip41kyC Amnesty Gulf (@amnestygulf) January 19, 2018 The UK has licensed more than 4.6 billion pounds ($6.3bn) worth of arms to Saudi Arabia since the war in Yemen began, according to the UK-based Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). A recent UN report on human rights abuses related to foreign intervention in Yemen documented a number of civilian casualties inflicted by Saudi-led coalition bombing. The panel examined 10 air attacks in 2017 that killed 157 people and found that the targets included a migrant boat, a motel and five residential buildings, according to a copy of the report seen by Al Jazeera. According to the Geneva-based SAM Organisation for Rights and Liberties, some 450 civilians were killed in Yemen during December 2017. The killings were part of 1,937 violations committed throughout the country during December, including physical assaults, violation to press freedom, torture and arbitrary detention, a January 17 report by the organisation said. The violations were perpetrated by Houthis militia, Arab Coalition air force, military formations and groups loyal to the legitimate government, the report said. The group condemned all crimes included in this report which are considered as gross violations of the international humanitarian law and human rights law. To date, more than 10,000 people have died during the war in Yemen and more than two million people have been displaced since fighting broke out, according to the UN. Senate Democrats block White House-backed bill to keep the government running for another four weeks. The United States government shut down on Saturday, after members of Congress failed to reach an agreement on the divisive issue of immigration and government spending. In a late-night vote, opposition Democrats in the Senate joined to block a bill that would have kept the government running for another four weeks. The shutdown comes exactly a year after Donald Trump took his oath as US president. On social media, Trump lashed out at the opposition for the impasse, saying the Democrats want a shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the tax cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy. {articleGUID} In a separate statement, the White House Press Secretary called Democrats obstructionist losers, not legislators. Just a few hours earlier, the president had praised the Senates Democrat leader Charles Schumer for an excellent preliminary meeting to avert the shutdown. Democrats had tried to get concessions from Republicans, particularly on the extension of the immigration programme protecting young immigrants from deportation, which is set to expire in March. Saturdays shutdown is only the fourth government closure in 25 years. Essential government offices and services including the military, the border patrol, air traffic controllers and the FBI, however, will remain in operation until theres an agreement. Its not as if the public is going to see a massive impact right away, Al Jazeeras Patty Culhane, reporting from the capital Washington, DC, said. But it is politically damaging, and that is what we are seeing from the statement from the press secretary, Culhane said. Culhane said that senators are still working on an alternative agreement. But even if a deal is reached, it would still need to pass in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Until then, the shutdown continues. The recent anti-government demonstrations in Iran exposed the growing divide between rich and poor. Recent anti-government demonstrations in Iran exposed the growing divide between rich and poor. While one or two percent of the population enjoy a luxurious lifestyle, millions of Iranians are struggling to make ends meet. In 2017, Irans government set the poverty line at about $480 a month per household. Thirty-three percent of the population lives below the line, thats more than 24 million people. But its also a struggle for many living above the line. The median income for an average household is about $885, just $2 more than the minimum they need to get by. That means that for most Iranians there is virtually nothing left to save for the future. Al Jazeeras Zein Basravi spoke to some of Tehrans most vulnerable. Reporter Aaron Cantu is among 59 defendants who the US government is prosecuting over an Inauguration Day rally. Journalist Aaron Cantu is among 59 defendants still facing the grim prospect of decades behind bars after being arrested at a protest during US President Donald Trumps inauguration last year. On Friday afternoon, Cantus lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the charges against the reporter, arguing that moving forward with his prosecution would set a dangerous precedent for journalists, according to the filing. The indictment does not contain any specific allegations that Mr Cantu himself engaged in any violent or destructive acts, the filing reads. The prosecutions case against Cantu is largely focused on his knowledge of the protest tactics and the fact that he remained in the area of the protesters while property damage took place. The most the indictment alleges is that Mr Cantu was present at the demonstration, followed along with it, and was wearing dark clothing all of which are consistent with reporting on the Inauguration Day demonstration as a journalist, the document reads. The governments prosecution of Mr Cantu is the most severe type of government restriction possible, it adds. The government is not simply trying to limit what Mr.Cantu publishes as a journalist, but to actually prosecute and imprison him for exercising his First Amendment newsgathering right. Charges dismissed for 129 defendants The motion comes a day after the US Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia filed a motion to dismiss indictments for 129 of 188 defendants who were arrested during the anti-capitalist bloc protest on January 20, 2017. In that court filing, the US Attorneys Office for DC said it would focus on the remaining 59 defendants by dropping the charges against 129 others. DOCUMENT Motion to dismiss charges against Aaron Cantu In so doing, the court, the government, and the [remaining 59] defendants can proceed more expeditiously with their trials, wrote Jennifer Kerkhoff, the lead prosecutor, in the motion to dismiss. More than 230 people protesters, journalists, medics, legal observers and bystanders were arrested and charged with felony rioting during the anti-capitalist bloc march on 20 January last year. Twenty had their charges dropped, while an additional 20 have reached plea deals. After the DC Superior Court returned a superseding indictment in April, more than 212 defendants were facing a swath of felony charges. In December, a jury found the first batch of six defendants among them independent photojournalist Alexei Wood not guilty on all counts. At the time that the government decided to drop charges for 129 defendants, there were still 188 people with pending cases. Chilling message Cantu, who is now a staff reporter at the Santa Fe Reporter, was working on a freelance basis at the time of his arrest. He has published with Al Jazeera America, The Guardian, Vice and The Nation, among others. Rights groups have also spoken out on behalf of the reporter. In Cantus case, the indictment shows that while he was close to the events, he did not participate in any violent actions, The Reporters Committee for the Freedom of Press said in a July press release. In November, Defending Rights & Dissent, The Nation Institute, Pen America, the Freedom of the Press Foundation and Free Press, among other watchdogs, sent a joint letter to the Department of Justice, urging that the charges against Cantu to be dismissed. {articleGUID} Journalists have a responsibility to cover events that are of national importance, particularly political protests, that letter stated. Threatening journalists with arrest both impedes their ability to do so and sends a chilling message to others attempting to cover political dissent. Although several journalists were arrested during the inauguration protest, most later had their charges dropped. Still repression While supporters and defendants welcomed the governments decision to drop charges for 129 people on Thursday, they urged the US Attorneys Office for DC to dismiss the charges for the remaining defendants. The US Attorneys Office for DCs filing on Thursday said the remaining defendants either participated in property destruction or violence, participated in planning the rally or demonstrated knowledge of and participation in black bloc, a tactic used to conceal the identities of protesters. Describing the development as a victory, Sam Menefee-Libey of the DC Legal Posse, an activist group that supports the defendants, said all 59 remaining defendants should definitely have their charges dropped. The fight still continues and its important that we pay close attention to how the government continues to criminalise organising and continues to attempt to repress political dissent, he told Al Jazeera. Its clear that theyre still going after people who organised politically, also people who do lots of media work and folks who dont necessarily fit the three categories they named, he added. This is an incredibly broad prosecution, so its still important that we look at this as repression. {articleGUID} Andy Switzer, one of the defendants whose charges were dropped on Thursday, described the dismissal as a victory [which] means that more than 100 people no longer have serious felonies and decades in prison hanging over our heads. In a press release published by the Defend J20 Resistance activist group, Switzer said: [W]e will continue to work together and fight the governments attempts to stifle resistance. US vice president arrives in Egypt with shortened schedule after Palestinian president and others promise to snub visit. US Vice President Mike Pence has arrived in Egypt for the first leg of a Middle East tour marred by continuing anger over the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital last month. Pence, who landed in Cairo on Saturday, is the most senior US politician to visit the region since US President Donald Trump announced on December 6 that Washington would move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. The US vice president met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Cairos presidential palace, where the pair discussed bilateral ties between the two countries. They also spoke about ways to eliminate what Sisi called the disease and cancer of terrorism. After Egypt, Pence is due to visit Jordan and Israel, where he is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and address the Knesset. His trip was initially scheduled to take place in December but was delayed apparently so that Pence could oversee a US congressional vote on tax reform, in which he could potentially have had to cast a deciding vote. Landed in Cairo our meetings w/ the leaders of Egypt, Jordan & Israel are critical to our Nation's national security objectives. Important 1st meet w/ @AlsisiOfficial to discuss ways to fight terrorism & keep our countries SAFE. #VPinEgypt pic.twitter.com/Cd05Z0kyOw Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) January 20, 2018 Jordans King Abdullah is also due to meet Pence, but other senior Arab figures have made clear they do not wish to meet him. Trumps decision sparked anger across Palestine and the wider Arab and Muslim world and earned the US angry rebuke from the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who vowed not to receive Pence in the Palestinian territories. Mahdi Abdel Hadi, a Palestinian political analyst, said the Palestinians were sending the Trump administration a clear message. You cannot meet people when they insult you and humiliate you, when they ignore you and side with your enemy, said Abdel Hadi. [Palestinians] have to pass a clear message that we are angry, this cannot continue and it would be hypocrisy if we meet you. Muslim and Coptic Christian leaders in Egypt, have similarly vowed not to meet the US vice president. In December, a statement by the Coptic Orthodox church on behalf of Pope Tawadros II, said Trumps decision ignored the feelings of millions of Arab people. The imam of Cairos Al-Azhar Mosque also said at the time that he would not meet Pence. How can I sit with those who granted what they do not own to those who do not deserve it? said Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb. Steps taken to document imbalance between censoring of Israeli and Palestinian content on social media platforms. Ramallah, occupied West Bank Amid an ever-shrinking space for dissenting Palestinian voices, a new initiative sets out to recover some of the ground lost online. Sada Social, a group launched in September by three Palestinian journalists, aims to document violations against Palestinian content on social networks such as Facebook and YouTube, and to liaise with its executives to restore some of the pages and accounts that have been shut down. While social media platforms do not take down content for overtly political reasons, they do strike down what is considered hate speech or incitement to violence, as well as other forms of online abuse that anyone can report. But Palestinian journalists, activists and those behind Sada Social say there is a double standard regarding the enforcement of platforms policies. There is a very big gap between Palestinians and Israelis, Sada Social cofounder Iyad Alrefaie told Al Jazeera, explaining that the idea for such an initiative stems from what he sees as an imbalance in the way social networks deal with censorship in the Israeli-Palestinian context. [Nothing happens] to Israelis who publish a status calling for killing Palestinians, he said. But if Palestinians post any news about something happening on the ground or done by an Israeli soldier, Facebook [may] close the account or the page, or delete the post. According to 7amleh, the Arab Center for Social Media Advancement, Israel has more than 200 criminal files against Arab and Palestinian activists charging them with incitement on the internet, while almost not a single case has been opened against Israeli instigators. Alrefaie edits a platform called Quds News Network, which uses 400 citizen journalists throughout the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and occupied East Jerusalem and is popular with young Palestinians. Last summer, Quds Network was one of 30 critical media outlets to be shut down by the Palestinian Authority (PA) over accusations the organisations had ties to their political opponents. A year earlier, three of its executives had their accounts blocked by Facebook, while last autumn, the networks YouTube channel was suspended for allegedly violating community guidelines over a video showing Hamas al-Qassam Brigades fighters during the 2014 Gaza war. The channel has yet to be restored. Last March, Facebook briefly shut down the page of Fatah, the party which dominates the PA, after it published an old photograph of late leader Yasser Arafat holding a rifle. A political satire page critical of both Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) called Mish Eek has been shut down and reopened several times. I think every Palestinian user or platform on social media will think twice before publishing anything, said Alrefaie. {articleGUID} Alrefaie said he recorded at least 30 violations in the space of a week immediately after Trumps December 6 declaration recognising Jerusalem as Israels capital, compared with 18 throughout October including the accounts of journalists, activists or blogs that were shut down. He estimates that 90 percent of cases concern Facebook, which remains the most popular platform among Palestinians. Concerns similar to those Sada Social is trying to address were expressed by an audience of human rights activists, journalists and civil society organisations who attended the Palestine Digital Activism Forum this week in Ramallah. It brought together representatives from Palestinian and international human rights groups, government and social media companies, including Facebook. The latter received a barrage of questions from the audience about its role in censoring Palestinian voices online and sharing information with the Israeli government, given that hundreds of Palestinians have been arrested in recent years over Facebook posts. Corporate complicity The Israeli government, which often blames online incitement for flare-ups of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, has set up a specific unit to fight online crime. In September 2016, a Facebook delegation met Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan who spearheads the fight against the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement with the aim of improving cooperation against incitement to terror and murder, according to a statement released by the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office at the time. Palestinians pointed out that the social media giant was succumbing to pressure from the Israeli government to suppress the Palestinian narrative and was adopting the occupiers definition of what incitement is. A report published in September 2017 by the Israeli Ministry of Justice said its cyber unit handled 2,241 cases of online content and succeeded in getting 70 percent of it removed. Facebook says it removes content that is considered illegal under local law, or that breaches its own community standards, including hate speech towards a particular group. We engage all over the world with governments, NGOs, academics. It doesnt mean we take a position, a Facebook representative, Aibhinn Kelleher, said in response to a questions from the audience at the Ramallah forum. When it comes to the Israeli government having special treatment, that is not the case. Information-sharing, Kelleher added, only happens in the context of law enforcement. But critics point out that what happens in the Israeli social media has attracted much less attention from both Facebook and the Israeli government. According to 7amleh, a racist post is published by Israelis against Arabs or Palestinians every 46 seconds. Its about the governments who are powerful. And if you come to the Israelis and tell them we have here a market of few hundreds millions of shekels that you are benefiting [from], obviously you have a leverage. Adding to the money, its also about the hi-tech industry in Israel [and how] powerful [it is], said 7amleh director Nadim Nashif, who organised the Ramallah conference to highlight some of the issues facing Palestinian online activism, told Al Jazeera. Facebook is at the higher levels very much coordinated with Israeli politicians. In a recent interview, Facebooks head of policy and communications in Israel, Jordana Cutler, said that the network works very closely with the cyber departments in the justice ministry and the police and with other elements in the army and the Shin Bet. Cutler was formerly a senior adviser to Netanyahu. Unit 8200, the Israeli armys cyber spy agency, is tasked with monitoring social media and other forms of electronic communication in order to prevent potential attacks. All-round crackdown Mahmoud Hassan, a lawyer for prisoners rights group Addameer, noted at the forum that the organisation documented more than 300 cases of Palestinians arrested by Israel over Facebook posts in 2017. He said that as Israel bans protests and considers Palestinian political parties as terrorist organisations, the definition of incitement and support for terrorism can be quite broad. One of the charges against Nariman Tamimi, the mother of Ahed, a 16-year-old activist jailed for slapping a soldier in her village of Nabi Saleh, is live-streaming the video of the incident on Facebook. Dereen Tatour, a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship, was notoriously arrested for her writings on Facebook, including a poem titled: Resist my people, resist. Palestinian authorities have also moved to regulate the internet and the social media space. Last July, the PA passed the Electronic Crimes Law by presidential decree, citing the need to close some loopholes to prevent fraud. The law, described as draconian by human rights groups across the board, severely impinged on individual freedom of expression, privacy and media freedom. Last September, the PA arrested the head of a radio station in Hebron, Ayman Qawasmeh, just days after Israeli forces had raided the studio and shut it down. When the well-known human rights defender Issa Amro criticised what happened on his Facebook status, he too was arrested by the PA. Under international pressure, Palestinians have now proposed another version of the law, which no longer includes broad language allowing online critics of the authorities to be imprisoned or fined for violations such as endangering public order. The proposed version still allows for websites to be blocked without a court order if they publish material that may threaten national security, civil peace, public order and public morals. {articleGUID} Even if it is adopted, it still falls short of international standards, Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera. Shakir also pointed out that the PAs campaign against critical voices predates the passing of the law. And in Gaza, Hamas has carried out arrests and interrogations on grounds of misuse of technology. Human Rights Watch has documented cases where Palestinians have been detained by both the PA and Israel, he said. We have seen certain sites and outlets that had a ban on the Palestinian side, and were then shut down on the Israeli side, he added. Weve see numerous cases that suggest there is close coordination when it comes to not only security, but also shutting down the space for free expression. The pontiff condemned corruption in Latin America and said environmental degradation cannot be separated from moral degradation. Pope Francis has called for the protection of indigenous people while visiting the heart of Perus Amazon forest. The head of the Catholic Church condemned the exploitation of timber, gas and gold in the area, which he said is endangering native Peruvians. He said native Peruvians have never been more threatened and urged the government to recognise their culture. Al Jazeeras Mariana Sanchez reports from Madre de Dios, Peru. Trump promised law-and-order during the campaign, but at what cost? Correction: A previous version of this article stated that Balogun was convicted of felony domestic assault. He was only convicted of misdemeanor domestic assault. Donald Trump promised to restore law and order while on the campaign trail that took him to the office of the US presidency on January 20, 2017. We need vigilance, Trump said in 2015. We need security, he added. Some horrible mistakes are made. At the same time, we have to give power back to the police, because crime is rampant. One year into Trumps presidency, the United States is substantially safer for police officers, but civilians killed by law enforcement increased and new tactics raised concerns over racial biases and policing of political views. The rhetorical difference The total number of law enforcement officers killed on the job in 2017 totalled 124, down from 148 in 2016, according to data from the Officer Down Memorial Page, a group that tracks these statistics. The rhetorical difference has been substantial, Ron Hosko, a former FBI assistant director and president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, told Al Jazeera. I think, for the first time in certainly eight or nine years, [police] feel like perhaps they have someone who does have their back, or is at least not condemning them, in the White House. Trump seemed to endorse police brutality in July, when he told law enforcement officials when you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon you just see them thrown in, rough I said, Please, dont be too nice.' The comment was met with applause and laughter. Trump later said he was joking. One of Trumps first executive orders, signed in early February, directed the attorney general to develop a strategy for prosecuting attacks on law enforcement personnel and to make certain existing laws adequately protect police officers. I by Ron feel like perhaps they have someone who does have their back. Or, is at least not condemning them in the White House.] The president also removed bans on police departments using military vehicles, which Hosko said can be lifesaving. He also rescinded limits, put in place by the Obama administration, on other types of military surplus equipment that can be transferred to police. The number of police killed by firearms decreased from 63 in 2016 to 44 in 2017, one of the lowest numbers in almost 50 years. Hosko said that its not currently possible to determine if the drop in police deaths can entirely be attributed to Trump and his policies. But these numbers went up in 2015 and 2016, and came down in 2017 to pre-Ferguson numbers, he said, referring to the city that became a focal point for Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality after the 2014 killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager. At the same time, the number of people killed by police increased slightly to 1,188 in 2017, up from 1,169 in 2016, according to figures from Killed By Police, a website that tracks killings by law enforcement. {articleGUID} Police killings had been decreasing before Trump was elected. Black Identity Extremists While the number of police officers killed has gone down, politicians, rights groups and organisers especially in the black community have expressed concern over the FBIs targeting of what the FBI calls Black Identity Extremists (BIE). Rakem Balogun, an activist and cofounder of the Guerilla Mainframe (GMF) and the militant Huey P Newton Gun Club (HPNGC), armed African American organisations, was arrested in Dallas on December 12. Agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms kicked down his door in a seek-and-destroy mission in search for illegal weapons, a statement from GMF reads. The statement said Balogun is a political prisoner who is being held under the FBIs recently uncovered Black Identity Extremist designation. An FBI intelligence assessment, leaked in October, says BIEs have historically justified and perpetrated violence against law enforcement, which they perceived as representative of the institutionalized oppression of African Americans. A July 2016 shooting in Dallas that left five police officers dead, as well as others in Louisiana, Indiana and Missouri, prompted the FBI to draft the report. {articleGUID} BIEs had not targeted law enforcement with premeditated violence for the nearly two decades leading up to the lethal incidents observed beginning in 2014, the report says. Balogun, who has been convicted on a misdemeanour domestic assault charge in 2007, was arrested for possession of firearms. According to a source in Dallas familiar with Balogun, he continued abusing women after 2007. Michael German, a fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice and former FBI special agent who focused on domestic terrorism, told Al Jazeera that Baloguns actions were illegal and obviously, domestic violence is a serious concern. But whats interesting is the [prosecutions] argument for why he needs to be held in detention, German said. German reviewed a transcript of Baloguns December 15 detention hearing, obtained by Al Jazeera, that details years of surveillance. FBI Special Agent Aaron Keighley, acting as a witness for the prosecution, spoke about Baloguns actions going back to 2015, when he participated in a demonstration in Austin, Texas, as part of the HPNGC, according to the transcript. Keighley said the groups chanting of slogans, such as oink oink bang bang and the only good pig is a pig thats dead, drew his attention for being threats to law enforcement. Pig is a derogatory term for police popularised by the left-wing Black Panther Party in the 1960s. The focus on his rhetoric, and even the focus on suggesting the protest was anti-police, is problematic and highlights why the BIE framing that the FBI has developed is problematic, German continued. The conclusive development in Baloguns case came when he travelled to Michigan by plane, putting a firearm in the hold. Balogun was allowed to leave the airport and return to his home on November 19, under FBI surveillance, the transcript shows. Clearly, by the time he went to the airport with the gun, they seemed to have been on top of the fact that he was in possession of [firearms], so why not just arrest him there? German asked. The former FBI special agent, who worked undercover with white supremacist movements, which were found to have committed the most extremist killings in 2017 by the Anti-Defamation League, said the FBI is trying to manufacture a black separatist threat. The policing of Baloguns anti-police rhetoric, rather than an investigation into continued domestic abuse, shows that concerns the black community had about the BIE designation are no longer hypothetical, German said. {articleGUID} Furthermore, documents from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security show that other groups, like Black Lives Matters, have been monitored by the US government and seen as a threat. When asked about the FBI report, Attorney General Jeff Sessions told the House Judiciary Committee that he had not read it, but that there are groups that do not have an extraordinary commitment to their racial identity and some have transformed themselves even into violence activists. When pressed to name a group that would be categorised as Black Identity Extremists, Sessions said he would have to review the report and provide a later comment. A war on police? The use of one members political rhetoric against them is not the only troubling development, German said. The transcript shows the prosecution introduced further evidence to prove that Balogun intended to harm police officers in order to have him held without bail, which was granted by the judge. The implication is that hes a threat to police officers Its [an] indication of the FBI adopting this War on Cops narrative, German said. A majority of the evidence was social media posts that referenced the 2016 Dallas shooting, which was also mentioned in the BIE assessment. {articleGUID} The Dallas attack was committed by Micah Johnson, a black man and former member of the US military who ambushed officers at a protest against the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, two African American men who lost their lives at the hands of police in the days before the protest. In the ensuing firefight and negotiations, Johnson allegedly said he was upset by police officers killing members of the African American community without being convicted, and that he wanted to kill white officers. Johnson was not tied to any group and appeared to have acted alone. The shooting gave pro-police groups like Blue Lives Matter, a countermovement to Black Lives Matter, and others a rallying cry: The War on Police. This war had an effect on organising. John Fullinwider, a veteran Dallas organiser who works with the nationwide group Mothers Against Police Brutality (MAPB), said the tone immediately shifted after the July shooting. Suddenly, the city was covered in Back the Blue posters, with businesses adopting pro-police slogans. Fullinwider was concerned about this change, which seemed to stifle organising. Community groups like MAPB had been working to reign in police violence in Dallas and the rest of the US for years. The number of officer-involved shootings peaked in 2012, with 23 total cases, with the next two years seeing 22 and 20 shootings. At the time, the Dallas Police Chief was David Brown, an African American. Brown began his tenure as chief in 2010 and retired in 2016. There were 43 fatal shootings during that time, Fullinwider said, and not a single a conviction. With the near-total police impunity officers enjoyed no officer has been convicted of murder in Dallas since 1978 tensions had been building between police officers and communities of colour for years. The trend appears to be nationwide. Research from Philip Stinson, an associate professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, shows that between 2005 and April 2017, 80 officers were arrested on charges of murder or manslaughter, and 35 percent less than 30 had been convicted. There were roughly 1,000 fatal shootings each year in that same period. {articleGUID} Under Trump, who has initiated a crackdown on dissidents, increased impunity for police and expanded surveillance and arrests of activists is a step in the wrong direction, Fullinwider said. Even when leaders are working for reform, it does not always come, especially when talking about police. Brown, the former chief in Dallas, was widely praised after the July 2016 shooting. He tried to initiate reforms that would lower killings by police. Fullinwider said Brown deserved his praise. But in spite of his efforts, Dallas did not get a reformed police department, Fullinwider concluded. This article is part of a multipart series that examines the State of America Under Trump. Also read: Trumps America: A shrinking space for protests Trumps America: Dreamers must make deal with devil Trumps America: An attack on climate change fight Trumps America: War of attrition on journalists Fearing the formation of a Kurdish corridor along its border, Ankara mobilises fighters to push out Kurds from Afrin. Turkey has mobilised thousands of Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels to a border province with Syria, as part of a planned offensive against Kurdish fighters, according to Turkish media. Anadolu news agency reported that the Ankara-backed FSA rebels were taken under extensive security in a convoy of at least 20 buses, from the province of Kilis to another southern province of Hatay. Al Jazeeras Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Antakya in Turkey, said as many as 15,000 FSA rebels are also being mobilised east of Afrin, a Syrian border town, as part of the operation. The situation in Afrin is heating up. Theres been an increasing shelling from Turkey into Afrin, Al Jazeeras correspondent said. This is in line with the political rhetoric coming out of Ankara over the last week or so. On Friday, Turkeys defence minister said his country would go ahead with its military offensive in Afrin, saying Syrian Kurdish fighters there pose a real threat to his country. Turkey considers the armed Kurds within its territory, as well as those in neighbouring countries, as terrorists. Ankara fears the establishment of a Kurdish corridor along its border. The Turkish army has intensified shelling on Afrin in recent days and said a ground assault could happen soon, similar to the 2017 Operation Euphrates Shield, in which Turkish-backed FSA rebels cleared a large part of northern Syria of armed fighters. According to estimates, there are between 8,000 to 10,000 Kurdish fighters in the Afrin area of Syria. Turkey considers Syrias Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing, the YPG, terrorist groups with ties to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long fight inside Turkey. Russian consent The mobilisation of the FSA also comes as Russia has reportedly started moving its military observers away from northwestern Syria. Russia controls the airspace over Afrin. Moscows military intervention in 2005 turned the war in favour of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Turkeys chief of staff and head of intelligence were in Moscow on Thursday and Friday, to try and see whether Russia gives the green light on the operation, Al Jazeeras Dekker said. Its all about politics, she said. Its very complicated, and you are seeing different players trying to carve up different parts of Syria, expanding their spheres of influence. Meanwhile, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, warned against more military activities in Syria. Weve seen the reports of shelling in Afrin. We reiterate our call on all concerned parties to avoid further escalation and any acts that could deepen the suffering of the Syrian people, Dujarric said. All parties must ensure protection of civilians at all times, under any circumstances. The US had also urged Turkey to avoid taking action against the Kurdish rebels, urging Ankara to keep its focus on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS). There have been reports that the US was also trying to recruit Kurdish fighters in Syria to fight against ISIL. In response, Turkey warned that its relations with the US would be irreversibly harmed if Washington moves to form the 30,000-strong army in the north of Syria. Pakistani and Indian forces have been exchanging fire in restive region, leaving a total of eight people dead. Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir Violence in the Jammu region of Indian-administered Kashmir has left three civilians dead, as tensions on the border between Indian and Pakistani controlled parts of the region continued into their fourth day. Arun Kumar Manhas, Jammu deputy commissioner, said the latest deaths on Saturday raised the death toll to eight after days of cross-border clashes. Two people were killed in RS Pura and one was killed in another village near the border area, Manhas told Al Jazeera, adding that civilians living within five kilometres of the border were evacuated to safer places. A 35-year-old resident from RS Pura said that he and others in the village were living in fear. Our livestock has been killed too, we dont sleep, he told Al Jazeera over the phone. The situation has been very bad for last few days. The sound of (gun fire) scares everyone, we dont know who it is going to hit, he added. Officials said schools in the area have been closed due to the clashes. India-Pakistan clashes India and Pakistan have accused each other of initiating the skirmishes and causing civilian and military casualties. The latest round of violence began after Pakistan accused India of killing four soldiers on January 15. On Friday, officials said two civilians and an Indian soldier were killed by Pakistani fire in the Jammu region, with 20 others wounded. Of the eight people who have been killed on the Indian side of the divide so far, six civilians were and two Indian soldiers. Most of the casualties have been in the RS Pura sector, which has borne the brunt of the clashes. Indian officials say ceasefire violations from the Pakistani side began on January 17. Despite a ceasefire agreement in 2003, India and Pakistan regularly trade fire across the so-called Line of Control (LoC), the military demarcation between the Indian and Pakistani controlled parts of Jammu and Kashmir. India regularly accuses Pakistan of helping fighters cross the LoC to attack Indian targets, charges Pakistan denies. On Friday, India summoned the Deputy High Commissioner of Pakistan Syed Haider Shah to voice concerns over continued ceasefire violations and what it called the deliberate targeting of innocent civilians by Pakistan security forces. Since independence in 1947, the two nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which both countries claim in its entirety. Billings Mayor Bill Cole and new council member Frank Ewalt went to school Thursday, taking a 90-minute crash course in "tax increment financing" from the people who make it work in blighted districts in Billings. TIF refresher meetings were held Friday at the Billings Industrial Revitalization District office, 1413 Fourth Ave. N., to help new council members learn the basics about what East Billings Urban Renewal District coordinator Tim Goodridge called simple in concept but complex in operation. In essence, heres how it works: A city determines the neighborhoods it considers blighted messed-up streets, underutilized properties and unsafe conditions, Goodridge said. It was pretty easy for the EBURD to make it. TIF districts collect taxes that are then granted to private urban renewal projects in those districts. The renewal projects should lift property values in the district, thus generating more growth and more taxes to renew the TIF fund. The districts begin with a base year setting the taxable value for all properties within the district. Thats about 300 properties on 224 acres in the EBURD, said Marty Connell, the district's former board chair. The EBURD's base taxable value in 2006 was $1.8 million. The increment, or increase in property taxes, is used by the district in what Goodridge called a virtuous feedback cycle. Private development leads to the increase, which gives the district enough revenue to bond for public infrastructure like parking and lighting or curbs and gutters, which help attract more development. By law, TIF districts sunset, but a bond issue extends their life an additional 15 years. For the EBURD, two large projects the First Interstate Bank Operations Center, completed in 2009, and the GSA Building for the Department of the Interior, completed in 2013 helped the district begin bonding for infrastructure projects, like the upcoming project to add 193 streetlamps and curbs and gutters to many streets within the district. Lighting the district, said EBURD board member Lenette Kosovich, is one of the best things we could have done. Goodridge told Cole and Ewalt that there is one test theyll be faced with every time they consider whether to approve a TIF project what is the projects public purpose and public benefit? Its up to us to present you with projects with public purpose and public benefit and to validate our reasoning, Goodridge said. State law, he said, clearly says that public money may be used for private development. The law is about incentivizing private enterprise so the tax base can go up, Goodridge said. Thats the biggest judgment you will have to make. He noted that the Montana Legislature considered and turned down 15 bills during the 2017 session that Goodridge labeled anti-TIF. People dont understand what the money is spent for, he said. You need to understand that what you are allocating TIF funds for isnt controversial, so you wont get attention from the legislature. Connell put it this way: You have three great TIF districts. Listen to them, and make them accountable. Sandstorm, rain, snow and frost it now feels like winter in the Middle East. A winter storm travelling through the eastern Mediterranean has brought a sandstorm, then rain and snow from Turkey across the Levant to Iran. Visibility dropped dramatically on Friday in southeast Turkey, including over camps hosting refugees, as the sky turned yellow with sand. Southeasterly winds on Thursday night gusted to over 70 kilometres per hour in Diyarbakir, bringing fine sand up from the deserts to the south. Sandstorms like this come ahead of cold fronts, and this one brought heavy rain with it. Gaziantep recorded 50mm in the 24 hours until dawn on Friday. The system swept across Gaza, bringing crashing waves onto the shore, taking out a watchtower. Power cuts followed after winds downed trees and power lines in Israel. Gusts were reported as being over 120km/h in Tel Aviv. Fifteen centimetres of snow fell on Mount Hermon and the Judean Desert saw wadis and waterfalls spring into life, draining the torrents into the Dead Sea. Friday in Iraq was a day of sandstorm from Basrah to the capital, Baghdad, and beyond to Tikrit. Throughout Kuwait, winds full of fine sand gusted to over 60km/h, sometimes 85 km/h. There was even a little rain. The temperature in Syrias capital, Damascus, fell to -0.2 degrees Celsius as the winds dropped on Saturday morning. It was a similar story in Baghdad. In northwest Iran, 10cm of snow sat on the ground in Zanjan. The next winter storm looks like blowing in from the Mediterranean on Tuesday although it does not appear to be as strong. The Palestinian Authority says President Trump is attempting to pressure them by attacking those most in need. The US is withholding another payment to the UNs relief agency for Palestinian refugees. Forty-five million dollars pledged for food aid is now frozen. Thats in addition to $65m, which was cut back earlier this week. Al Jazeera went to the occupied West Bank, where we spoke to people who rely on this money to survive. Al Jazeeras Andrew Simmons reports from Jalzone refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. On the anniversary of Donald Trumps inauguration, organisers hope to encourage women to get more involved in politics. Thousands have taken part in womens marches across the US on the one-year anniversary of Donald Trumps inauguration, in a bid to generate more female candidates running for office as well as to protest against the US presidents policies. Under the name Power to the Polls, the rallies on Saturday were hailed as the beginning of a new era in female political activism, with organisers hoping to encourage more women to get involved in politics at the local and national level. More marches worldwide are planned for Sunday. What youre seeing one year into the Trump presidency is a growing sense that women dont have a seat at the table, Al Jazeeras Rosiland Jordan, reporting from a march in Washington, DC, said. The goal for many of these protesters today is to get women, particularly women of colour, involved in politics. That does not mean just register to vote, but also be active in politics, so running for school board or even US Congress. The idea [behind the organisers action] is that it is not enough for people to show they are angry or frustrated with the Trump administrations policies. The only way they are going to see the policies that reflect their desires is for them to get involved in the politically process itself. {articleGUID} One of the protesters, Ashley Valentine, thinks 2018 is going to be a big year for the movement. Were starting to pave the ground for real change to happen with the elections coming up, with women being more empowered to speak out against sexual violence and sexual misconduct and equal pay all of these issues, she said. And you have a lot of black women who are starting to take action and change the way things are working in this country. Thousands of people also attended marches in Cleveland; Richmond, Virginia; Philadelphia; New York; Austin, Texas; and elsewhere. The rallies took place exactly one year after Trump took office, and one day before the anniversary of the Womens March, a large-scale protest around the world for human rights. Those rallies were a response to statements Trump had made before his inauguration which the protesters regarded as being against womens rights, discriminatory and offensive. Jordan said turnout at Saturdays protests was a lot lower compared with last year, when millions of people had rallied in cities around the US. Toni Adderley from Washington, DC attended both rallies, and she agreed that this year attendance was lower. Its smaller [than last year], but its still powerful, especially to be in front of the White House and know hes in there. Last year, he was aware, but they kept him shielded, so you know today hes watching. I feel women are more empowered at this point, running for offices maybe some women who never would have thought about running for public office or political office, so I feel women are more empowered. However, the march also attracted new participants. Nyema Batson, an 18-year-old student from Dallas, did not attend last years march, but felt she needed to take part this time around. {articleGUID} I felt really inspired by all of the women around me and I wanted a chance to show what I really represent, she told Al Jazeera. I came today because I want to stand up for women and I think we all deserve a platform to speak our voices, especially with who is in the White House right now. Participants did not just focus on womens participation in politics, but also focused on issues such as sexual harassment, gender pay gap and lack of access to health care. All of these problems, including even bigger issues like environmental issues, racism, sexism, religious bigotry all these issues have been talked about during todays rallies, said Al Jazeeras Jordan. Saturdays protests also coincided with the day the US government went into a shutdown after members of Congress failed to reach an agreement on the divisive issue of immigration and government spending. More protests against the Trump government are expected to take place on Sunday. {articleGUID} During 2017, womens rights became one of the most talked-about social issues globally. The global #MeToo movement has been used by millions of women worldwide to highlight and protest against endemic sexual harassment. It was triggered by the scandal involving Harvey Weinstein, a Hollywood producer accused of rape, sexual harassment and assault by more than two dozen women, including actresses. In a response to those allegations, many other women came forward to talk about their experiences with abuse. Additional reporting by Elizabeth Walsh @elizgwalsh Will Facebooks reforms deal with hate speech, fake news and the need for moderation? Plus, South Koreas Defector TV. On The Listening Post this week: Will Facebooks news feed reforms deal with hate speech, fake news and the need for moderation? Plus, a uniquely South Korean media phenomenon: Defector TV. Less news in the news feed: Behind the Facebook reform Having transformed the way billions of people consume and share news stories online, Facebook has announced it is taking a big chunk of the news out of its news feed and, in doing so, retreating from a crucial part of its business. CEO Mark Zuckerberg says hes doing right by the people who matter most to him, his users, but many in the media are not buying it. So what will the social media giants new policy mean for news organisations and news consumers? Contributors: Sara Fischer, media reporter, Axios Sue Halpern, writer and scholar-in-residence, Middlebury College Surya Mattu, engineer and data reporter, Gizmodo Alan Wolk, author of Over The Top. How The Internet Is (Slowly But Surely) Changing The Television Industry On our radar Two Reuters journalists are facing up to 14 years in jail in Myanmar for supposedly breaching an obscure, colonial-era law. A legal battle looms in the Philippines where the authorities want to take down an online news site, Rappler. South Koreas Defector TV Despite sharing the same peninsula, the citizens of South Korea dont know as much about their northern neighbours as you might think. Most of what they do know comes from the testimonies of those who have sought asylum in the south. The Listening Post explores a uniquely South Korean phenomenon: Defector TV. Contributors: Kim A-ra, defector and broadcaster, Channel A Christopher Green, co-editor, Sino-NK Park Hyun-sun, sociology professor, Ewha Womans University Kim Ji-young, defector and broadcaster, TV Chosun For decades, people have looked to the United Nations to resolve conflicts and alleviate suffering around the world. As war stretches on in Yemen and Syria and the number of refugees worldwide continues to rise, whether the UN can now fulfil the lofty ambitions on which it was founded is in doubt. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Miroslav Lajcak, the president of the UN General Assembly, says that the UN is still the best option for world peace, but that reform is necessary, particularly in the Security Council. The composition of the Security Council as it stands now does not represent the realities of the 21st century; these are the realities of 1945. by Miroslav Lajcak Veto powers held by its five permanent members China, France, Russia, the UK and the US create an uneven balance of power. There is a general understanding that the composition of the Security Council as it stands now does not represent the realities of the 21st century; these are the realities of 1945. The [reform] process is happening Its a process and we can only go as far and as fast as the member states are willing to. But in the General Assembly, there is no veto, in the General Assembly everybodys equal, Lajcak says. The power of veto has drawn criticism from many, most recently when the US vetoed a draft resolution rejecting US President Donald Trumps decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. One-hundred-and-twenty-eight member states voted in favour of the draft, with nine against and 35 abstentions. While it was described as a pointless exercise by some Palestinian activists, Lajcak says the session, which he led, sent a strong message. This session showed that we cannot take multilateralism for granted and therefore we all have to stand up for it, he says. We have to stand up for a strong role of the United Nations because the General Assembly is our global conscience, its the only platform where 193 member states are presented and have equal rights and equal say Sometimes this moral message is more powerful than a legally binding one. Despite the US decision and subsequent stalemate in peace negotiations, Lajcak echoed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres statement that there is no plan B for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The two-state solution is the only solution we support no one has ever presented any other solution and no one has ever proved that any other solution would be better, says Lajcak. Shortly before the interview with Al Jazeera, Lajcak had visited Kuwait and the UAE to discuss the ongoing GCC crisis. Lajcak is confident a diplomatic solution can be reached and has a lot of trust in Kuwaiti mediation efforts. The Gulf is definitely a very powerful voice and this voice is missing right now because of this internal situation in the region and thats why I believe its in the interest of every country that belongs to this region to find a solution The international community is worried but also believes that there will be a solution, there will be a negotiated solution, which will be regionally led, he says. His advice to all parties involved is to stay calm to avoid any provocations and, of course, to resort to dialogue. In his interview with Al Jazeera, Lajcak also discusses the UNs role in the ongoing refugee crisis; why the US should not pull out of the Iran nuclear deal; Myanmars Rohingya crisis; and the North Korea nuclear threat. Nearly a year after the Womens March swept across the county, UF students wrote We the resilient have been here, and Im with her, on posters Thursday night. The students are part of a new UF chapter of the National Organization for Women, which held its first general body meeting in the Reitz Union to prepare for the clubs first event: a Womens March in Orlando to celebrate the anniversary on Sunday. About 30 members wrote signs for the march at the meeting. I love that marches are resurging as popular, said Anna Baringer, a 19-year-old UF statistics and political science sophomore and president of NOW at UF. If the Womens March keeps having an anniversary march I would be ecstatic. The NOW chapter at UF will join chapters from the University of Central Florida and Florida State University in Orlando. Orlandos event is one of hundreds across the county. A celebration of women will be hosted in Bo Diddley Plaza on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. The group plans to meet at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday at the Commuter Lot and then carpool to Orlando. Despite the club just beginning, Baringer said the timing couldnt be better to host its first event. Baringer participated in the Womens March down in Miami in 2017 where she marched with the League of Women Voters to help increase voter registration. She said it was a satisfying feeling helping others register to vote at the march itself, and yet she was very surprised at the number of people that attended the march that were not registered voters themselves. While some members of the executive board have experience with political protests, others said this will be the first march they have attended. Personally, its going to give me more confidence to advocate for all these rights that are being diminished, Emilia De Jesus, a 19-year-old UF biochemistry sophomore and deputy director of programming, said. Kiana Powers, UF psychology freshman and another deputy director of programming, said she is looking forward to her first political protest. Ive never been to a march before, so Im really excited to have that spirit of solidarity, to see that Im not the only one whos been through these problems, the 18-year-old said. There are others that can support me and will all be there for the same reasons. Signs line a small fence in front of the White House while many protesters chant, Welcome to your first day, we will never go away. Thousands of people placed their signs on the temporary Ellipse fence to create a wall outside the White House in 2017. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now Recent Department of Defense (DoD) actions indicate that the DoD is considering making Amazon the DoD's sole online cloud provider, the Washington Examiner notes. Such a deal entails numerous disadvantages, not least of which is threats of espionage arising from Amazon's compromising relationship with China. On October 30, the DoD made a "Request for Information" (RFI) soliciting private-sector advice about modernizing DoD cloud services. The RFI specifications suggest that the DoD is seeking a single global cloud-provider. Amazon would most likely be the contract recipient, given several past multimillion-dollar cloud contracts with multiple national security agencies. I.T. contractors and several trade groups have made "stern warnings about the potential effects of choosing just one cloud provider." The "[DoD]'s diverse needs and mission requirements" argue against an "approach that could eliminate the potential for multiple cloud services providers." As one trade group analogizes, "almost all Fortune 500 counterparts have established multi-cloud architectures because no singular cloud solution meets all of their mission and business application requirements." Innovation and cost-cutting also favor multiple suppliers, the trade groups and contractors note. "A Department cloud [comprising] multiple interoperable offerings would ensure that the Department obtains the benefits of competition to achieve best value." The "diversified solutions from the commercial market will facilitate a culture of experimentation, adaption, and risk-taking and increase the speed of technology development and procurement." By contrast, "selecting only one cloud[-]provider drastically impairs competition in the future, effectively leaving [DoD] captive to one provider." "Failing to diversify," the Washington Examiner notes with particular concern for national security: ... puts any investor, especially the government, at a greater risk. The stakes are high here, as a breach by a cloud services provider could lead to the leak of military secrets to China and other U.S. competitors that do business with Amazon. One trade group sees particular concerns in the RFI's terms. The RFI "appears to raise in priority the needs of the supplier above the needs of the customer for issues, like national security." The RFI specifically states that "DoD is prepared to pursue the revision of existing policies and federal regulations to remove barriers to success." The Amazon-DoD deal's inadequacies are especially glaring, given the extensive history of Chinese espionage against the United States. National Security Agency director General Keith Alexander once called the economic fruit of this spying the "greatest transfer of wealth in history." Sophisticated Chinese government hackers have breached the computer security of American media firms like the New York Times and Washington Post as well as major corporations like Alcoa, U.S. Steel, and Westinghouse. Some commentators worry that "businesses are now unlikely to keep valuable information secure online." The Trump administration's recently revealed new national security strategy only emphasizes China concerns, noting: China and Russia challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity. They are determined to make economies less free and less fair, to grow their militaries, and to control information and data to repress their societies and expand their influence[.] ... China gathers and exploits data on an unrivaled scale and spreads features of its authoritarian system, including corruption and the use of surveillance. As one CIA analyst noted, companies like Amazon that invest in China are particularly susceptible to China's pressures. For example, "Beijing encourages multinational corporations to conduct R&D in China as a means to promote domestic technological innovation. Increasingly, key firms are complying for their own self-interest." Chinese laws have already forced Amazon's Chinese operations to run Amazon's Chinese cloud businesses through a Chinese partner in which Amazon may have only a minority share as well as to accede to Chinese online censorship. The extent of Amazon's business relationships with China makes the firm particularly vulnerable to Chinese pressure. Some estimate that 25 percent of Amazon's retailers are from China. Predicted coming trade fights between China and the Trump administration will only place Amazon's China investments in a more precarious position and incentivize Amazon officials to stay on China's good side. Under these circumstances, making Amazon a sole-source DoD provider for the very type of cloud technology Amazon has sold to China is fraught with hazards. The United States cannot allow Chinese espionage to extend its tentacles from American business to national defense. Rather, the United States should draw upon the best in its free-market economy of numerous private producers to protect vital national interests. In a week bookended by Martin Luther King Day and the 45th Annual March for Life, few liberals would see the connection between the two. Yet as King's niece, Alveda King, points out, were he alive today, Martin Luther King would lead the March for Life and fight for the civil rights of the unborn. Martin Luther King would be leading the charge for the repeal of the wrongly decided Roe V. Wade, a decision no more rooted in moral law than was the Dred Scott decision. Whether defined as three fifths of a human being or not a human being at all, all are fully human in the eyes of the Creator, who endowed all with the inalienable right to life. The Supreme Court occasionally gets things wrong, and in both these cases, it did. As his niece notes, Martin Luther King, Jr. would say that not only do black lives matter, but all lives matter and that unborn lives matter: Alveda King, director of [c]ivil [r]ights for the [u]nborn for Priests for Life, said her uncle's words show his commitment to respect for life. "He said the [n]egro cannot win if he is willing to sacrifice the futures of his children for immediate personal comfort and safety," King said. "Abortion, of course, forces us to do exactly that." Alveda King admits to having had two abortions, because, like Rev. King's wife, Coretta Scott King, she had once fallen for the lies of Planned Parenthood: Martin Luther King[,] Jr.'s widow, Coretta Scott King, received an award from Planned Parenthood in 1996 on behalf of her husband, but Alveda King says she knows [that] her uncle would not have believed in the mission of Planned Parenthood: His wife accepted that in his stead, because she was like me, she had accepted that agenda without understanding, I believe, but my uncle would have been very pro-life today. ... "I really believe that if my uncle were here today, he would encourage us to find solutions to the problems, even women's problems, and all problems, without having to do violence to babies in the womb. I am just convinced that he would agree with that," she said. As Alveda King points out, Dr. King was clearly committed to the civil rights of the unborn and viewed the killing of the unborn as immoral. He observed that one could not be for the civil rights of black Americans while supporting the abortion of their children: My birthday is January 22, and each year, this day is marred by the fact that it is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and the anniversary of death for millions of babies. I and my deceased children are victims of abortion, and subsequently the Roe v. Wade decision has adversely affected the lives of my entire family. I pray often for deliverance from the pain caused by my decision to abort my baby. I suffered the threat of cervical and breast cancer, and experienced the pain of empty arms after the baby was gone. And truly, for me, and countless abortive mothers, nothing on [E]arth can fully restore what has been lost, only Jesus can. My grandfather, Dr. Martin Luther King, Sr., once said, "No one is going to kill a child of mine." Tragically, two of his grandchildren had already been aborted when he saved the life of his next great[] grandson with this statement. ... How can the "Dream" survive if we murder the children? Every aborted baby is like a slave in the womb of his or her mother. The mother decides his or her fate. Back in March of 2009, future 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton accepted Planned Parenthood's Margaret Sanger Award this from an organization originally called the American Birth Control League. In accepting the award, the Weekly Standard noted, Hillary had high praise for Sanger, a noted eugenicist: Now, I have to tell you that it was a great privilege when I was told that I would receive this award. I admire Margaret Sanger enormously, her courage, her tenacity, her vision[.] ... And when I think about what she did all those years ago in Brooklyn, taking on archetypes, taking on attitudes and accusations flowing from all directions, I am really in awe of her. As J. Kenneth Blackwell, writing in the Washington Times, notes, those who chant "black lives matter" obviously exclude the abortion rate of black babies a death rate that Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger and the KKK could only dream of: [One hundred thirty-eight thousand five hundred thirty-nine] black babies, nearly one baby in three, were killed in the womb in 2010. According to the CDC, between 2007 and 2010, innocent black babies were victimized in nearly 36 percent of the abortion deaths in the United States, though blacks represent only 12.8 percent of the population. Some say the abortion capital of America is New York City. According to LifeSiteNews, the city's Department of Health reported that in 2012, more black babies were aborted (31,328) than born (24,758). That's 55.9 percent of black babies killed before birth. Blacks represented 42.4 percent of all abortions. This is a disturbing and tragic situation that continues unabated and is the fulfillment of the dream of Hillary Clinton's heroine, Margaret Sanger. One of the things that scares liberals to death and one of the things at stake in the elections of 2018 and 2020 is that President Trump will get to appoint justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade, just as Dred Scott was cast on the ash heap of judicial history. As Investor's Business Daily editorialized when Texas passed a late-term abortion ban, the humanity of the unborn was grudgingly acknowledged even by one of the majority in Roe v. Wade: The 20-week benchmark wasn't pulled out of a hat. The respected University of Utah expert Maureen Condic recently testified before Congress that at 20 weeks a fetus can feel pain and has "an increase in stress hormones in response to painful experiences" along with other reactions that "reflect a mature, bodywide response to pain." It is her view that fetuses "deserve the benefit of the doubt regarding their experience of pain and protection from cruelty under the law." The public would seem to agree, as the advent and advances of ultrasound have largely shredded the "clump of cells" argument of abortion proponents. A University of Texas[-]Texas Tribune poll found 62% of people support the ban. Nationwide, even a recent Huffington Post[-]YouGov poll found that 59% support an abortion ban after 20 weeks. A Gallup poll late last year found that 64% think abortion should be illegal after 12 weeks[.] ... Thanks to medical science, the time it takes for a baby in the womb to become viable is shrinking. It's been said that if the Supreme Court in 1973 had seen ultrasound pictures of the unborn, as is routinely done today, Roe v. Wade would have been decided quite differently. Indeed, writing the majority opinion back then, Justice Harry Blackmun said: "We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins." He also wrote that if the unborn [human] life was proved to be a person, "the appellant's case, of course, collapses, for the fetus'[s] right to life is then guaranteed." We may be only one or two more Supreme Court justices away from the fetus's right to life being guaranteed in law. When President Trump, the first president to address the March for Life through a live video feed, issued an executive order restoring the Mexico City policy on funding of organizations that provide abortions, we got a clear message on his view of the humanity of the unborn. President Donald Trump and the Rev. Martin Luther King would agree. Daniel John Sobieski is a freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investor's Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine, and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications. Who really isn't sick to death of people being ungrateful nitpicks who cannot say thank you for all the benisons bestowed by this president, no matter his alleged blue tongue? So what if he said one word you don't like? I have been to Haiti, the poorest of all the nations in this hemisphere. I have been to El Salvador, a corrupt, ungovernable country with rampant crime and gangs. I have been to over ten countries in Africa, none of them star performers in the GDP and modern conveniences and mindset sweepstakes. They are indeed horrible places, where corruption and citizens' fear are the order of the day, where their alleged governments are rife with unloving, greedy, small-minded, and power-lusting so-called leaders. These are countries whose human products are not, in the main, people we need here not because they are this shade or that, but because their average standard of skills, education, integrity, and civic virtue is at tremendous variance from what we have for 241 years essayed to raise and keep elevated. We are not, in the main, uncharitable. But if your home comfortably seats twenty, if you push the limits of your beds, sofas, carpeting and easy chairs, what happens when an unexpected troupe of fifty more uninvited decide you have a real nice view, and they like your fixin's? Ever had a party? The work of the party isn't so much the prep and the cooking and shopping for comestibles and beverages. The real angst of the party is the clean-up. The guests rarely stick around for the empties and no-ashtray-won't-stop-their-smoking butts, the wrappers and pizza crusts, or the half-eaten messes on the cake trays. That's the U.S. But we aren't a night-and-day party, though the uninvited "guests" keep slavering after our table, sleeping on the new couch covers, using up the toilet tissue, leaving an unidentifiable restroom aroma, and wolfing down the leftovers you'd hoped to serve your spouse the next day. But even if the president did drop that one word, a word and a concept, I wager, that 99% of regular folks in this country use, though they will deny it strenuously we are not born yesterday he was not stating a "racist" sentiment. He was being factual. These are abysmal states that create citizens who are not prizes we need here. Ironically, when I professored in the People's Republic of China, my very best students asked me for letters of recommendation so they could apply to the U.S. for graduate school in their chosen fields. I was delighted to write these letters. The whey-faced PRC government, however, had other ideas. They turned down all applicants: why would China choose to release its foremost scholars and most promising professionals to help the United States? And why, then, it follows, do we need to import a cadre of the low in terms of skills and smarts, longevity, and overall health to lower our achievement, our life stats, our job numbers? What sane country does that? And don't give us those anecdotal tales of one Ph.D. subliming his way into nuclear physics or one earnest striver finishing Johns Hopkins with his specialty of forensic anthropology. Anecdotes are cute. They mean close to nothing in the broader picture of overall excellence. We all know this, even if we're Democrats and learn to elide common sense whenever at all possible. But no one is stopping these undaunted invaders from many countries. (OTMs means Other Than Mexicans, a handy capsule reminder that Central and South America are not the sole-source contributors to our festering Hoovervilles of undocumenteds and skill-frees.) When I taught in China, I had about 1,000 students among the four colleges at which I was privileged to teach. All of them, all my college students, male and female, wanted to come to live here. Few people pick up and move to Somalia, or Chad, or Lesotho, or Senegal, or Guyana, or South Sudan. Or Haiti. Or El Salvador. That is because they are painfully unstable, poverty-stricken, often disease-infected, mismanaged and underdeveloped, sorry countries. It is no shame to acknowledge that. The president, as this writer says plainly, has benefited this country, and our people, quite significantly. If you bake a cake and keep adding salt and flour and vanillin, beyond the recipe for successful pound cake, you get not a fabulous dessert, but an inedible weird mess. The president's actions and results are what counts, not any Durbin-alone-detected finger-in-the-air undaintiness of vocabulary. The president is not saintly. We do not need dainty. With madmen in North Korea and ayatollah Iran and countries to the left and right of the equatorial meridians, we do not worship or ought not worship the eloquence-meter of the man. One notices the talking heads focusing relentlessly on the haphazard vocabulary excrescences of the man, not using rational thought to parse his actions and accomplishments. There is only a tight focus solely on his casual impromptu blue-collar nuttiness, perhaps, if you believe, which I somehow do not, that he actually said what he is alleged to have said. It is possible that the loquacious and never reliable Sen. Dick Durbin did make up a thunderclap recap of the private meeting the senators held and interpolated his own nasty anti-Trump alchemy in what he recalled of President Trump's words. It would not be the first time this sippy-cup mouth has bilged into the public compromised and inaccurate information. But that the entire media cathedral of caterwaulers should accede to the first-glance interpretation, without considering for a moment that indeed, we have far too many sick, unskilled, ill educated, and sullen non-Americans in this country when we have no need for further crime, shootings, uninsured car accidents, rabid non-patriots. Some mouthpieces insist that "some Americans commit crimes." Of course. We regret that. But it is thin gruel that we need to import more of such miscreants. All are unneeded and unwanted here. Resident criminals are a scourge; we don't need more. The Haitians are a group of people who may be lovely personally, but in the aggregate, they are less healthy, less skilled, less everything than we need. They come with nothing. We are the sugar daddies-to-be, right? Capping it all, the Democrats consistently elide answering the key question: shouldn't we provide a mechanism so that day workers can shuttle in then out, so our country is not unreasonably frontloaded? Why must average taxpayers support, in this damaging and countervailing fashion, the volume of demand by Democrats to elicit a straight Dem party ticket forevermore? How about swearing all DACA miscreants to a status that will forever forbid these waves of suckerfish from voting? No votes for any of these interlopers. Watch the Democrats scream, abandoning interest in the entire universe of DACA noise and pressure. If they never vote, ever, they can stay, we could decree. If they can never vote, the truth of "caring and sympathetic Dems" will be revealed. They won't give a hoot for these "innocent people just seeking a better life for themselves." Even CNN, which copped four out of ten "Fake News Awards" from President Trump, gets it, even if Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi don't. I cannot imagine a headline like this, or even poll results like this, being reported by progressive media pre-Trump. Jennifer Agiesta writes at CNN.com: With hours to go before a midnight deadline for Congress to fund the government or shut it down, most Americans say avoiding a shutdown is more important than passing a bill to maintain the program allowing people brought to the [U.S.] illegally as children to stay, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. But Democrats taking a hard line on legislation connecting government funding to the popular program known as DACA appear to have the backing of their constituents ... [Fifty-six percent] overall say approving a budget agreement to avoid a shutdown is more important than continuing the DACA program, while just 34% choose DACA over a shutdown. Democrats break narrowly in favor of DACA 49% say it's more important vs. 42% who say avoiding a shutdown is the priority while majorities of both Republicans (75%) and independents (57%) say avoiding a shutdown is more important. Only 81 words into the article does CNN mention the "blame" questions, which are slightly more favorable to Democrats but not really that significant, since what matters most is the substance, not the emotions of blame, which have been conditioned by decades of propaganda: [M]ore overall say President Donald Trump or the Republicans in Congress would be responsible for a shutdown if one happens. As OMB head Nick Mulvaney stated yesterday in his press conference, this time, the shutdown will not be "weaponized," as it was during the 2013 Obama shutdown (which preceded massive GOP gains in the midterm election of 2014, despite pervasive media blame). This time around, no "essential" employees will be sent out to erect barriers around national monuments in order to provide photo ops for media to harangue Republicans with. In place of such memes, the Trump administration is providing almost immediately after the shutdown photos of V.P. Pence meeting with U.S. troops overseas who will be denied paychecks in order to help Democrats demand amnesty for DACA recipients (and, according to their bill, many other illegal aliens and their extended families). President Trump has altered the political battlefield and, by simply fighting back, is well positioned to win his showdown with congressional Democrats over the (very partial) "government shutdown." The wonderful polemicist Kurt Schlichter sees the new terrain clearly: Why, I'd be heartbroken if the government did less and a bunch of foreigners didn't get rewarded for ignoring our laws. I think this is just the right hill for the Democrats to choose to fight to the death on, and I encourage them to do so. Throw us right in that briar patch, because you are smart and savvy and there's no way a big dummy like Trump could beat you and make you look like fools. A possible sign, in addition to CNN, is found on the surprisingly even-handed headlines found in today's New York Times home page coverage of the shutdown: Note the headline in the lower-right-hand corner. Paraphrasing Dirty Harry, Democrats have gone ahead and made my day with their shutdown theater. And unwittingly, they have handed President Trump the opportunity to inform Americans of how many bureaucrats turn out to be less than "essential" to the many people outside the Beltway who find themselves unaffected by the "crisis." This can only help him further downsize the federal bureaucracy. Obama is upset that President Trump is revoking his executive orders, reducing tax rates, opening ANWR, appointing conservative judges, and eliminated the Obamacare individual mandate. Trump has spurred the economy and the stock market. Companies are giving raises, increasing the hiring rate, and giving employees bonuses because of the corporate tax cuts. This is good for America but bad for the Obama legacy. Obama cannot accept that his "legacy" of high taxes, Obamacare, and a flat economy is being shredded. Obama wants to protect what he perceives as a good legacy. Thus, in addition to criticizing President Trump at every opportunity, at home and abroad, Obama plans to actively campaign during the 2018 congressional and local elections to defeat candidates who support President Trump. This was discussed here at American Thinker by Monica Showalter on January 19 in a blog post that describes Obama as acting like a tin-horn dictator. While I agree with the description of Obama, I welcome his campaigning in the 2018 elections. He can only help Trump and Republicans. Obama and Joe Biden campaigned daily to elect Hillary, using the bully pulpit of the presidential office, and Hillary lost. Obama said he would be personally offended if Hillary did not win and that even though his name was not on the ballot, his legacy was on the ballot. He used the powers of the FBI and DOJ to spy on Donald Trump and to exonerate Hillary in the email scandal. He did everything he could, like a true Chicago pol, to elect Hillary. The voters rejected Hillary and Obama's desperate pleas to vote for Hillary. During Obama's administration, the Republicans took the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2014 and won many local races, despite Obama's efforts to elect Democrats. Obama completed the turn of the Democratic Party into a leftist party dominated by unquestioning support for abortion, amnesty, high tax rates, proliferation of regulations and executive orders, animosity toward Israel, and weakness in the war against jihadist terrorism. This makes Obama popularwith the Democratic base and the media, but it does not translate to helping other Democrats get votes from the political center. There is also a substantial number of voters who voted for President Trump instead of Hillary because they did not want a third Obama term. Obama has an inflated view of his popularity and political skills. He was fortunate to run against John McCain, who attacked Republicans instead of his opponent, and against Romney, who similarly attacked Republicans in the primaries but took a knee during the general election. Romney did not even respond to Candy Crowley intervening to help Obama. Obama: Please campaign as you did for Hillary and other losers. On the other hand, if you want to preserve what is left of your reputation, then go quietly into the night. How can we miss you if you do not leave? Deep State stalwart James Clapper provably lied to Congress on a matter of substantive importance, yet he was never charged with perjury. In less than two months, the statute of limitations will excuse him from any criminal liability if he is not charged with lying to Congress. Jonathan Turley, a liberal law professor who is honest, explains the outrageous process by which a "made man" (his term) escapes prosecution for crimes that less connected others would be imprisoned for committing. Former National Intelligence [d]irector James Clapper is about celebrate one of the most important anniversaries of his life. March 13[] will be the fifth anniversary of his commission of open perjury before the Senate Intelligence Committee. More importantly, it also happens to be when the statute of limitations runs out closing any possibility of prosecution for Clapper. As the clock runs out on the Clapper prosecution, Democrats like Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) have charged that Homeland Security [s]ecretary Kirstjen Nielsen committed perjury when she insisted that she could not recall if President Donald Trump called Haiti and African countries a vulgar term. The fact is that perjury is not simply tolerated, [but] rewarded[] in Washington. In a city of made men and women, nothing says loyalty quite as much as lying under oath. Even in a city with a notoriously fluid notion of truth, Clapper's false testimony was a standout. Clapper appeared before the Senate to discuss surveillance programs in the midst of a controversy over warrantless surveillance of the American public. He was asked directly, "Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions, or hundreds of millions of Americans?" There was no ambiguity or confusion and Clapper responded, "No, sir. Not wittingly." That was a lie and Clapper knew it when he said it. The entire article is well worth a read. Turley pulls no punches: The expiration of the statute of limitations for Clapper will have the benefit of conclusively establishing that some people in this city are above the law. I have my fingers crossed that the Department of Justice will not let a Deep State operative skate on this crime and establish the principle Turley fears. As if commercial airline flights weren't miserable enough, now we have Homeland Security officials escorting unscreened groups of illegals onto commercial airline flights, riding alongside paying passengers. In another example of special treatment, the illegals board with all their luggage on a priority boarding basis, ahead of paying passengers. It's the return of catch-and-release, and it's responsible for a nearly threefold surge of illegal crossers of the U.S.'s southern border in the past few months, according to Judicial Watch. Judicial Watch writes: The illegal aliens wear red HHS wrist bands and receive "the gold glove treatment," according to a veteran federal official, who added that the undocumented immigrants [sic] get priority boarding ahead of all other passengers, including law enforcement personnel. "It is shameful and dangerous," said a seasoned Homeland Security agent with direct knowledge of the secret operations. Labor personnel from front-line Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies have complained about the cost and security risk of flying illegal alien minors to any destination of their choosing within the U.S., according to a longtime Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official present at the meetings. Score another one for illegal immigrants being better treated by the law compared to ordinary Americans. With this going on, what is the purpose of airline screening at all? If someone with any background whatever (and a high number of criminals) can ride commercial without screening, why are millions of law-abiding Americans with no criminal background or terrorist ties forced to be screened? Americans were asked to give up a lot in the wake of 9/11 due to the presence of terrorists. The fact that illegals aren't doing the same just underlines the uselessness of the rules. There are also the health concerns. Illegals by definition are unscreened for infectious and contagious diseases. Forcing them and their unscreened luggage, which may have traveled through deserts, truck cargo holds, and other flea- and vermin-infested places, represents a health hazard all by itself. But what's really outrageous is that the American passengers the elderly man in vulnerable health, the woman with small children have no right to say "no" to sitting next to or near such passengers. Already it's known that in 2014, the Homeland Security agents attempted to dump illegal immigrants with known communicable diseases into the small city of Murietta, and the locals protested. (They got dumped in San Diego instead, now the site of a severe hepatitis outbreak.) Thirdly, there's the business angle, which is that passengers who purchase their tickets last and arrive latest, usually get the highest prices and the worst seats. Compare and contrast to illegals who pay nothing (despite having thousands to pay the human-smugglers who got them to the border) for these flights, get priority boarding, and make the air travel that much more miserable for ordinary paying Americans. It's not just bad for Americans; it's bad for the illegals, too. Imagine being reared in a tiny village in a small Central American country, paying a human-smuggler to the continent-wide country to el norte and, upon arriving in this vast foreign expanse, suddenly being transported on wings, thousands of miles above, to the city of your choice, watching it magically appear in the scope of a few hours. Wouldn't that make you think of the U.S. government as your all-powerful protector? And wouldn't that make you seek more services from that same benevolent patron? It's not a good way to get these people started on their road to being Americans, if that is the aim. It's baffling. Why aren't these people placed on contracted buses at a minimum? Why are commercial passengers, paying hundreds or thousands for their flights, being asked to pay? Is there a reason President Trump or his surrogates can't explain this to us? Yes, we know they are probably doing this out of a fear of lawsuits on overcrowding from left-wing activist groups, but dumping the problems onto airline passengers and giving the law-breakers causing the problem the gold-star treatment isn't the answer. The Turkish defense minister announced that the army has begun bombarding Kurdish-held regions along the Syrian border as Ankara looks to destroy a U.S.-backed border force made up largely of Kurdish militias. The border force was created by the U.S. and the Kurds to prevent ISIS from concentrating its forces and threatening Iraq and Syria. But the Kurds also see the force as protecting the autonomous area they've carved out independent of the Syrian government. This has angered President Erdogan, who has vowed to destroy the "terrorists" on the border. Reuters: Direct military action against territory held by Kurdish militia would open a new front in Syria's civil war and would see Ankara confronting Kurds allied to the United States at a time when Turkey's relations with Washington are reaching breaking point. "The operation has actually de facto started with cross-border shelling," Turkish [defense m]inister Nurettin Canikli said, adding that no troops had crossed into Afrin. A U.S. State Department official said such moves would undermine regional stability and would not help protect Turkey's border security. "We do not believe that a military operation serves the cause of regional stability, Syrian stability[,] or indeed Turkish concerns about the security of their border," the official told reporters, stressing he had limited information about Turkey's reported military moves. "The kind of threats or activities [that] these initial reports may be referring to, we don't think advance any of these issues. They are destabili[z]ing." The United States has instead called on Turkey to focus on the fight against Islamic State militants and not take military action in Afrin. As Turkey slips farther away from the west and Erdogan continues to aggregate power and transform the country into an Islamic state, the U.S. and NATO have been powerless to stop him. But Erdogan has a stubborn Kurdish problem made worse by a terrorist militia living within Turkey, the PPK. The U.S. recognizes the PPK as a terrorist outfit, but the militias in Afrin are associated with the YPG an entirely different organization that has fought side by side with the U.S. in battling both ISIS and insurgents in Iraq. But Erdogan has chosen to lump all Kurdish militias together and refer to them as "terrorists." He knows better but finds it politically convenient to demonize all the Kurds. Besides, the prospect of an independent enclave of Kurds on his border makes Erdogan uncomfortable. The U.S. can do nothing to help the YPG, as the bombardment probably presages a ground action against that group. We have supplied the Kurds with mostly small arms, while to repel an armed invasion, they would need artillery and anti-tank weapons. This, they are not going to get from Washington, or anywhere else. But the Kurds are used to being on their own and, given their prowess on the battlefield, will give the Turkish army all it can handle. Al Jazeera, my #1 information source for unbiased and accurate news (just kidding), nonetheless had an interesting story about black people who left America and moved to Africa because of...you guessed it: racism! They have come from the big cities of San Francisco, Chicago, and New York. Thousands of them. And many refuse to return. A new wave of African[-]Americans is escaping the incessant racism and prejudice in the United States. From Senegal and Ghana to [t]he Gambia, communities are emerging in defiance of conventional wisdom that Africa is a continent everyone is trying to leave. I think it's great that black Americans are leaving s-holes like San Francisco and New York to go to places like the Gambia (and maybe "the Uganda" and "the Chad," too who knows?) It is estimated that between 3,000 and 5,000 African[-]Americans live in Accra, the Ghanaian capital. They are teachers in small towns in the west or entrepreneurs in the capital and say they that even though living in Ghana is not always easy, they feel free and safe. Very safe! So safe, in fact, that when the U.S. embassy in Accra issued a warning about crime a few months ago, it probably was just kidding. Muhammida el-Muhajir moved from America to Accra because she believes that blacks in America are treated as second-class citizens. You hear stories about the richest black people, like Oprah Winfrey, getting shut out of a store or Jay-Z not being allowed to buy [an apartment]. Those things happen. Muhammida says locals are "confused" as to why an American would want to move to Ghana. Muhammida produced a documentary about "Blaxit," or a black exit from the United States. She admits that there are some challenges to living in Ghana. "I don't want people to think that Africa is this magic utopia where all your issues will go away. It's just that some of the things you might face in America as a black person you won't have to suffer with those things here." "You might not have electricity, but you won't get killed by the police either." That makes sense. I'd rather do without electricity than be killed by the police! Of course, most black people in America who are killed are killed by other black people. But I'm sure that's not the case in Africa. Here are some snapshots of life in Accra: Homes with waterfront views are highly prized in Accra. Actually, it looks as though it never closed! All some of these fixer-uppers need is a lick of paint, and they're good to go! America is such a racist country that it is no surprised that black people are fleeing to Africa, to the safety of other black people. I am certain in Ghana that no one is ever killed by a white policeman. Questions for discussion: 1. Do you think American-Africans face prejudice from African-Africans? 2. Since Africans sold Africans into slavery, do you think the American-Africans can make the Africans feel guilty and give them affirmative action? 3. Do you think Americans who move to Africa require the locals to call them American-Africans and demand representation on every television show and in every news photo? Ed Straker is the senior writer at Newsmachete.com. One reason for reading the output of left-wing entities is that many are well funded and thus have the ability to cover subjects that the media don't have the resources to inquire into. Thus, you get to read about plenty of developments that you wouldn't otherwise be aware of. They also tell us of what they are afraid of and the things they fear might happen that will affect the credibility of the narrative. Thus Foreign Policy, a magazine in the stable of the Washington Post, just published an article complaining about how mean the Zimbabwe government is to the American ambassador, who is black. From that article: The pro-government Sunday Mail called him an "Uncle Tom" and a "house nigger dressed in a fine suit" and that was just in his first week on the job. And: When the U.S. Embassy here put out a statement in February denouncing the "continuing deterioration of the human rights situation in Zimbabwe," then-[p]resident Robert Mugabe's spokesman responded by suggesting that American critics of the Zimbabwean government, including U.S. [a]mbassador Harry K. Thomas[,] Jr.[] should "go and hang on a banana tree." It seems that the Zimbabwean government isn't taking the United States very seriously. The comedy gold is farther down in the article when it mentions that "the United States now feeds roughly a quarter of Zimbabweans with "emergency food aid." What that looks like is shown in this graph: Zimbabwe's ills are all self-inflicted, as are Venezuela's (and most other places). They could feed themselves from their own efforts if they wanted to. But why bother if the United States is sending them all that free wheat? All the while, they abuse the American ambassador with racial epithets "that the Ku Klux Klan doesn't even use anymore." Of course, Zimbabwe was one of the countries that voted in the U.N. to disapprove of the U.S. embassy in Israel moving from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. China is taking a different approach to Africa. The Chinese are loading up countries there with debt to pay for infrastructure projects. Giving Africa free food puts these countries in a better position to service their Chinese debt. There are the occasional indications from Washington that the reality of the world situation is burning through the narrative. One of these is the decision to reverse the destruction of stocks of MLRS cluster munitions. That is one year into the Trump administration. The situation in Zimbabwe can't go on forever, and so it won't. One day the foreign wheat will stop arriving, and then a lot of Zimbabweans are going to starve to death. That day is inevitable. Continuing to feed them in the meantime means that there might be the perception that the United States owns the problem. Who knows? The Zimbabwean government might start treating American diplomatic staff with more respect. David Archibald is the author of American Gripen: The Solution to the F-35 Nightmare. The campaign for an expanded science building at Montana State University Billings got a major contribution this week. The Montana Coal Board will contribute $500,000 toward the construction of the building, the university announced Friday. The project, dubbed the Yellowstone Science and Allied Health Building, is being led by the Montana State University Billings Foundation. The organization has now raised $3.5 million of the $5 million goal needed to begin construction. Foundation President Bill Kennedy said they are pleased about the Coal Board contribution and that momentum is moving toward groundbreaking. We have grants out and weve got other folks that are looking," he said. "We feel really strong. Hopefully in the real near future well be announcing the full $5 million. The science building project has been on the Foundation's plate since 2013, when the Montana Legislature promised $10 million toward construction. The money requires a match of $5 million from MSUB. The Foundation raised around $2 million in 2017 the biggest fundraising year of the campaign. The construction would add 50,000 square feet to MSUB's dated building that houses the Department of Biological and Physical Sciences. Space in the current building has increasingly become multi-use over the years, and as MSUB looks to bolster its science and health offerings, administrators want more space to do so. In announcing the Coal Board contribution, MSUB said that 11 percent of its graduates work in the industry and that more than 15,000 grads work in Eastern Montana counties, whose economies are tied to coal. MSUBs science and allied health programs aspire to meet the needs of these burgeoning industries," said interim MSUB Chancellor Ron Larsen in a release. "The Montana Coal Boards generous contribution has taken us one step closer to providing a 21st-century learning and research environment for the region. From battling bedbugs to closing "the 30 million word gap," the agencies and businesses that are part of Best Beginnings Yellowstone County spent an hour Friday celebrating their accomplishments before looking to the future to begin tackling the many remaining challenges that young children and their families face. As part of Best Beginnings coalitions around the state, the local group seeks to get children on the right trajectory for life, ultimately ensuring, among other things, a stronger local economy, said Kristin Lundgren, United Way of Yellowstone Countys director of impact. You can go back and fix a foundation with such interventions as prison terms, she told a group of more than 50 people meeting at United Ways West End office, but Best Beginnings is about making sure our community gets that foundation right from the start. Thats why a $4,000 grant from the Montana Community Foundation recently renewed went to purchase equipment to eliminate bedbugs at shelters including the Montana Rescue Mission. Since most moms will never set foot in a parenting class, Bright Beginnings is seeking grant funding to start the Bright by Text program, a service designed for parents and caregivers of children under five. Bright by Text regularly sends free activities, games and resources straight to parents' cell phones. Its messages are targeted to the childs age and include information on child development, language and early literacy, health and safety, and behavioral tips. The coalition also hopes to partner with the LENA Research Foundation for devices that Lundgren described as baby pedometers to measure the number of nutritious words the child hears every day not necessarily words coming from the television, but, say, a father reading or singing to his child. By age 3, a low-income child hears on average 30 million fewer words than their middle-income peers, Lundgren said. Best Beginnings has been laying tracks for early childhood in our county for four years, said David Munson, director of Early Childhood Intervention. If we work with families, we can get to children by building confidence, competence and capacity in families, he said. Even if you dont like children, he told the crowd, the economic benefits (of these efforts) are incredible. Parents who wouldnt benefit as much from targeted text messages may instead respond to the concept of a gathering place, where they can connect with real people and access real services at places scattered around town, hopefully within walking distance. Best Beginnings seeks a widening of medical insurance coverage to provide 1-3 home visits by a nurse to a mother who has just given birth. As they brainstormed together Friday, groups envisioned new services that could be explored. One group thought that intergenerational living could prove beneficial across the age divide: older residents would, say, provide free childcare for their neighbor in exchange for the parents moving their living room furniture around. As theyve built Best Beginnings together, partners have found that a common barrier parents express to seeking available services is the fear of being judged as a bad parent, Lundgren said. Most services come when people have committed a crime, so of course theres a stigma there, but the reality is we all need help as parents, she said. All of these ideas, Lundgren said, summing up Fridays brainstorming, require only one thing a champion to help make the idea happen. The first direct flight to Kochi flew at 12:45pm from Kuwait and arrived at 20:10 pm. Flight J9 604 departed January 17th at 00.05am from Kuwait International Airport and landed in Ahmedabad at 06.00 am in the morning. The return flight J9 605 departed Ahmedabad at 06.45 am and arrived in Kuwait at 08.45am local time. Flights will operate initially three days a week on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The CEO of Jazeera Airways Rohit Ramachandran, said "We are delighted to continue our expansion into India with flights into Ahmedabad, an important economic and industrial hub, bringing more choice to Indian travelers, connecting them to Kuwait and across the Middle East - to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. This new service will address the increased travel demands for travel between India and Kuwait providing direct connections for those visiting friends and relatives as well as business travelers". Manoj K. Gangal, Ahmedabad Airport Director, Airport Authority of India said, "We predict this is vital for both the brand and our state, as Jazeera Airways extends its services to accommodate the 8th busiest airport in India. " Andrew Ward, Vice President-Marketing & Product, Jazeera Airways and Mr. Manoj K. Gangal, Ahmedabad Airport Director, Airport Authority of India Against this backdrop, tourism ministers, Spanish authorities and private sector gathered to discuss future tourism prospects at the Ministerial Round Table on Tourism Development in the MENA Region, during the Madrid International Tourism Fair in Spain (18 January, FITUR Madrid). Organized by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Casa Arabe, the public consortium headed by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the event focused on current trends and short term prospects in the region and discussed policies and strategies for consolidating recovery and to stepping up tourisms contribution to inclusive and sustainable socioeconomic development. Opening the event, UNWTO Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili, said that The MENA holds a strong tourism potential. The region has proven yet again its resilience and demand will continue to recover as consumer confidence rises and rises. There are many reasons for optimism and I come into this meeting full of confidence for the regions future. UNWTO forecasts point to MENA receiving 195 million international tourists by 2030. Participating in the debate were H.E. Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism of Bahrain, Mr. Hesham El Demeiry, Chairman of the Egyptian Tourist Authority, Mr. Abdel Razzaq Arabiyat, Managing Director of Jordan Tourism Board, H.E. Mr. Avedis Guidanian, Minister of Tourism of Lebanon, H.E. Ms. Rula Maayah, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of Palestine and H.E. Mr. Mohamed Al Muhairi, Undersecretary for Tourism at the Ministry of Economy of the United Arab Emirates. According to the latest UNWTO International Tourism Barometer, international arrivals to the Middle East grew by 5% and by 13% to North Africa in 2017. MINOT, N.D. Opponents of Minot's law banning pit bulls are circulating petitions to change it after the City Council rejected a repeal of the breed-specific legislation. Minot resident Lianne Zeltinger is collecting signatures to put a measure on the June 12 ballot recommending that the city adopt a dangerous dog ordinance instead of banning breeds, the Minot Daily News reported. Zeltinger needs about 2,800 signatures to put the issue on the ballot. Minot City Council voted 6-1 Wednesday against overturning the ban that prohibits city residents from owning pit bulls. But council members also unanimously approved drafting a dangerous dog ordinance. Mayor Chuck Barney said he couldn't support a repeal of the ban because of his understanding of aggressive dog breeds. Barney said pit bull bites are "often catastrophic." Council member Josh Wolsky said he doesn't know if a dangerous dog ordinance would be a better way to mitigate risk. "If we are going to lift the ban, I would like to see some additional things, like perhaps requiring that animals be microchipped, perhaps requiring that they have completed certain kinds of training and so forth," said council member Mark Jantzer. Shannon Straight chaired the animal ordinance committee. He's the only council member who voted to repeal the ban. Straight said current law is too subjective because it requires identifying pit bulls by appearance. He said pet licensing compliance and dangerous animal ordinances are better options. "I think we have to put the onus a little bit more back on you all to be more responsible," Straight told the dog owners in attendance. Range Rover Evoque has brought Range Rover luxury and refinement to new customers around the world and in India.. Land Rover has launched the Landmark Edition of the Range Rover Evoque in India. Priced at Rs 50.20 lakh (ex-showroom), the Landmark Edition is based on the SE variant and is offered in three colour options. This edition was revealed first in May last year to mark the production milestone of 6 lakh units at the Halewood plant in UK. Now, the British manufacturer has launched the same in India to commemorate six years of the SUV in our country. Changes to the exterior include a new body kit with body coloured lower door cladding, new Gloss Black 18-inch wheels (19-inch internationally) and a Carpathian Grey contrast roof. Inside, you have a dark satin brushed aluminium centre console, grained Ebony Leather seats with contrasting light lunar stitching and a perforated mid-section. Also standard on the Landmark Edition is a gesture-powered tailgate, WiFi Hotspot, Pro Services and keyless entry. Powering the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque Landmark Edition (that's one big name) is the same 2.0-litre diesel engine of the stock SUV which makes 177PS of power and 430Nm of torque. Transmission duties are also handled by the same 9-speed automatic gearbox which lets the Evoque reach 100kmph in 9 seconds flat before clocking a top speed of 195kmph. At the launch, Rohit Suri, President and Managing Director, Jaguar Land Rover India Ltd. (JLRIL), said, The Range Rover Evoque has brought Range Rover luxury and refinement to new customers around the world and in India. Its critically acclaimed design, desirability and all-terrain capability have been further enhanced with the Model Year 2018 Range Rover Landmark Edition and we are happy to offer it to our discerning customers. With its striking looks and updated feature set, we are confident that the Range Rover Evoque fan base will grow even further. The Evoque rivals the likes of the BMW X3, Volvo XC60, Mercedes GLC and the upcoming Audi Q5 in terms of price, but in essence, as a stylish lifestyle SUV, it has no direct competitors. Land Rover has also revealed the prices for the all-new Velar in India. Source: ZigWheels.com To attract workers, CTC-take home salary gap may be cut. New Delhi: Boosting job growth is likely to be a key focus of Union Budget 2018-19 as the government looks to create more jobs in employment-intensive sectors like food processing, dairy farming and horticulture. To achieve this objective, the Budget, which will be presented on February 1, could focus on synchronising the Narendra Modi governments pet skill development programme with job creation. According to highly-placed sources, finance minister Arun Jaitley is also seriously mulling over a proposal to bridge the gap between the take-home salary and actual cost-to-company (CTC) of employees from low-income groups. Also, for employees with a monthly salary ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000, statutory deductions may be cut, sources said. This will increase the take-home salary and attract a larger workforce to sectors that are suffering due to manpower shortage. At present, the government is said to be concerned over the fact that a bulk of the existing jobs are in the non-employment intensive sectors like finance and real estate. Government think-tank Niti Aayog is said to have indicated to the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) and the finance ministry that the skill development programme needs to focus more on training a large number of job-seekers, as availability of trained manpower is the key to job creation. Real-time monitoring and reporting of employment data is also something the Budget may address, sources added, hinting that a mechanism may be proposed to increase accuracy in data related to job creation. The feedback received by finance minister and PMO is that in order to generate jobs in employment-intensive sectors, especially agriculture, the focus has to be on encouraging start-ups which can help boost food production. Currently more than 80 per cent of jobs are in non-employment intensive sectors like finance and real estate. To correct this anomaly, the Budget may look at generating greater number of jobs in firms and sectors which require large number of skilled workforce. Priyanka was recently snapped passionately kissing her co-star Alan Powell on the streets of New York Mumbai: Priyanka Chopra's brief visits to her country sporadically just show how much she now belongs to her 'second home ' United States of America. The Global Star headed back straight to the sets of her hit TV series Quantico upon reaching USA and since then, the actress has been shooting back-to-back. While the pictures from the shoot have been going viral, her latest photos have generated the maximum buzz. Priyanka was recently snapped passionately kissing her co-star Alan Powell on the streets of New York for a sequence in the series. Showing off her legs in a black high-slit outfit and furry jacket, the actress is definitely looking sizzling hot. It is not the first time that the actress has shot for steamy scenes for Quantico, with ones in the previous seasons also making headlines. Looking at this picture, we have no doubts that this scene will also set the Internet on fire when the third season hits the screens on April 26. A special fast track court found the film director guilty of forcing oral sex upon the victim. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to interfere with an order of the Delhi High Court acquitting Peepli Live director Mahmood Farooqui of rape charges leveled by a US-based research scholar. Dismissing in limine an appeal filed by the woman against the High Court judgment, a Bench of Justices S.A. Bobde and L. Nageswara Rao said, it is a well-reasoned order. Such cases are hard cases to be decided in criminal law. We think it does not require our interference. Appearing for the victim, counsel Vrinda Grover tried to convince the Bench that the high court verdict had wrongly interpreted the law and this would have major ramifications in rape cases. She urged the court to let the question of law remain open. But the bench said: No, there are no questions of law. Each case is decided on facts. Ms Grover said the victim never denied having a relationship. But the case has to be tested on the facts of that particular incident. They were friends, she trusted him and was, therefore, shocked when it (rape) happened. The Bench asked the counsel How many times did she meet him prior to this incident? How many times did they have drinks together and how many times did she or he make drinks. We do not mean to say that meetings in the past would mean giving up your right to say no. Justice Ashutosh Kumar of the Delhi HC had on September 26, 2017 accepted Farooquis appeal against his conviction in the rape case that was lodged against him by a US-based researcher in 2015. A special fast track court found the film director guilty of forcing oral sex upon the victim. The explosion had taken place shortly after the Dalai Lama had completed his discourse and retired for the day at the Tibetan monastery. The bombs were found from the vicinity of the Kalachakra ground during an intensive combing operation by a police team led by DIG (Patna Range) Vinay Kumar. (Photo: ANI) Gaya: Two bombs were found from the Bodh Gaya pilgrimage centre near Gaya on Friday night following a small explosion-like sound amid stringent security measures in view of the Dalai Lamas stay, a top police official said. The bombs were found from the vicinity of the Kalachakra ground during an intensive combing operation by a police team led by DIG (Patna Range) Vinay Kumar, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Patna Zone, N H Khan said. The Tibetan spiritual leader has been holding discourses at the ground, he said. The IGP said that the operations were carried out after a small explosion took place at a kitchen set up at the Kaalchintan ground, causing panic among the devotees who had gathered to hear the Dalai Lamas discourse. The explosion had taken place shortly after the Dalai Lama had completed his discourse and retired for the day at the Tibetan monastery, he said. During the operations, a burst thermos flask was found at the kitchen. This might have caused the sound, the IGP said. Meanwhile, a team of forensic experts was dispatched to the site of the incident from Patna to ascertain the nature of the explosives found, he said. The Tibetan spiritual leader had arrived in Bodh Gaya on January 1 and he is likely to stay there for a month. A host of VIPs, including Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Hollywood actor Richard Gere have visited Bodh Gaya recently to receive blessings from the Buddhist monk. Significantly, in 2013, the Maha Bodhi temple, situated on the spot where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, was rocked by a series of explosions in which five people, including two monks were injured. The officials said two civilians, Gaura Ram (17) of Kapur R S Pura and Gour Singh (45) of Abdullian, were killed and five others injured. A BSF spokesman said cross-border firing was underway in the area from Octroi to Chenab (Akhnoor) in Suchetgarh sector of R S Pura from this morning. (Photo: PTI) Jammu: Three people, including an Army jawan, were killed and six injured in firing by Pakistani troops along the International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu division for the third day on Saturday, police said. Nine persons have been killed so far in ceasefire violations over three days, police officials said. An Army jawan was killed on Saturday after being hit by a bullet during cross-border firing in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district, the officials said. A defence spokesman identified the slain soldier as sepoy Mandeep Singh (23), a resident of Alampur village of Sangroor in Punjab. He said the Pakistani Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms and automatics form 0820 hours in Krishna Ghati sector, resulting in grievous injuries to Singh who later succumbed. The Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively, the spokesman added. The officials said two civilians, Gaura Ram (17) of Kapur R S Pura and Gour Singh (45) of Abdullian, were killed and five others injured. A BSF spokesman said cross-border firing was underway in the area from Octroi to Chenab (Akhnoor) in Suchetgarh sector of R S Pura from this morning. He said the firing in R S Pura sector stopped around 1.30 am but resumed again after four hours. He said a BSF jawan in Pargwal sector was injured in the heavy firing and shelling and was later hospitalised. The BSF is retaliating and the exchange of fire between the two sides was underway till the last reports were received. A jawan of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) was injured in cross border shelling in Jammu, officials said. The jawan, constable Lallu Ram, was evacuated to a nearby hospital and was said to be stable. The jawan, who belongs to the 14th battalion of the force, was deployed for rendering law and order duties along with the Jammu and Kashmir Police at the Kanachak police station, when he was hit by splinters of a mortar shell that landed in the area. While a BSF jawan and a teenaged girl were killed on Thursday, four peopletwo civilians and one BSF jawan and an Army jawanwere killed and over 40 others, including two BSF personnel, injured in the Pakistani firing on Friday. The heavy firing had forced thousands of border residents to flee their homes and authorities announced closure of educational institutions for three days along the LoC and IB. Between 8,000 to 9,000 people living along the IB have migrated to safer places and most of them were living with their relatives, officials said. Over 1,000 people are housed in camps in R S Pura, Samba and Kathua areas, they said. The Town of Mills has filed a lawsuit against the Natrona County School District over the closures of Mountain View and Mills elementary schools, the mayor said in a press release Friday. The suit was filed to determine the legality of the serial closing and abandonment of the schools, Mayor Seth Coleman wrote in a statement released to media Friday. The school districts board of trustees voted to close Mountain View on Oct. 23, along with Caspers Frontier Middle and Willard and University Park elementary schools. District officials cited plummeting elementary school enrollment amid a time of statewide budget cuts as the reason for the closures. Mills Elementary closed in June. District officials have said the school community elected to move to a new school, Journey Elementary, which is located in west Casper. Among other things, the lawsuit seeks to have the closures be declared null, void and of no effect and to stop the district from taking any further action to close Mountain View, according to the towns complaint. It also requests that the district be required to follow legal requirements related to the closure of Mills Elementary. Unlike every other community in Natrona County, Mills no longer has any schools at all, let alone any which a parent can opt to send a child to as it is nearby, Coleman wrote. The districts attorney, Kathleen Dixon, said in an email that the district followed the statutes and the law, took extensive public comment and made a decision based on the current data. She acknowledged that school closures are difficult on everyone but said the district is moving forward with Mountain Views closure. Mountain View Elementary School has one of the highest per capita costs of any elementary school in the District, Dixon wrote. Its student enrollment, which has been steadily declining for over four years, fills less than half of the available classroom seats. Only a fraction of the students attending Mountain View Elementary School are from the Mills or Mountain View neighborhoods. The building was in need of major maintenance. In October, before the districts board voted to close Mountain View and the other three Casper schools, the Mills Town Council passed a resolution opposing the closure of Mountain View. Coleman, whose wife, Angela, is the newest member of the school board, later spoke against all four closures. Angela Coleman introduced a motion to the school board to remove Mountain View from the list of closures. The motion failed, and the board voted 8 to 1 to shutter the schools at the end of this academic year. The lawsuit notes that all four schools were Title I designated, meaning that at least 40 percent of students come from low-income backgrounds. The schools receive funding for programs to support those kids. The district has acted to deny the residents of the Town of Mills equal protection under (the Wyoming Constitution) by singling out those schools which are subject to Title 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act thereby singling out those individuals whose economic status makes them the least able to adjust to such deprivations. District officials have repeatedly denied in the past that their decision was motivated by the economic background of the students at the four schools. The suit further states that in parts of east Casper, there are four elementary schools clustered close to each other. On information and belief, it appears that more affluent neighborhoods are entitled to local schools while the children residing in Mills are forced to travel to obtain an education, the lawsuit claims. The closure hurt a lot of people in Mills, Coleman said in an interview Friday. And they reached out to us and asked what we can do and this is where were at. The mayor declined to comment further. The towns lawsuit claims that the district did not hold a public hearing on the issue, in violation of Wyoming law. That constitutes a denial of due process and results in the inequitable treatment of the students from Mills as well as low income students, the suit alleges. School officials announced they were considering closing the schools on Sep. 29. The school board held a regular meeting on Oct. 9, during which time several people stood up and criticized the recommendation. But during its typical meetings, the school board rarely responds to comments from the public. Such was the case on Oct. 9. A similar public comment period was held, as it always is, before the Oct. 23 meeting, during which the board voted to close the four schools. The suit also claims that the district has not formulated a plan identifying alternatives to the closure of the Mills and Mountain View schools, including any future disposal or disuse of the structures. The district, in its announcement, said it planned to mothball Mountain View, meaning it would shutter but preserve the building. The lawsuit claims that the district lacks the legal authority to close Mountain View because it failed to comply with legal requirements. It requests that the district allow students to continue to register at the school for all such period of time in which there is no other elementary school within the boundaries of the Town of Mills or adjacent to the boundaries of the Town of Mills. Officials in the district have said in the past they plan to sell Mills Elementary. MP is among four BJP-ruled states in the country which have banned the controversial film. Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday dropped hints that his government was exploring possibilities of stopping release of Padmaavat in the state. Advocate General (AG) has been asked to study the Supreme Court verdict (staying ban on Padmaavat). After that we will explore scopes of placing our view in the SC. We have not taken any decision so far, Mr Chouhan told reporters here while breaking his silence on the issue after the apex court ordered lifting of ban on the Sanjay Leela Bhansali movie on Thursday. MP is among four BJP-ruled states in the country which have banned the controversial film. In a related development, the Rajput Karni Sena has begun preparations to stage protests in front of cinema halls in the state where the movie was set to be released on January 25. We will not violate SC order clearing way for release of the film in cinema halls. But, we will appeal the movie goers to boycott the movie as a show of solidarity with Rajput community which is hurt by distortion of its history in the movie, general secretary of MP wing of Rajput society Deepak Chouhan told reporters. Sources said the activists of Karni Sena was also planning to blacken faces of the movie buffs who dared to come to the cinema halls to watch the film. Modi praised his government's work, saying GST and demonetisation are not its only achievements. Modi listed bringing unbanked people into the banking network, construction of toilets in over four lakh schools, cooking gas connections to three crore families etc.(Photo: file) New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday made a strong pitch for simultaneous parliament and assembly polls, as he slammed caste politics and decried the abundance of allegations in place of constructive criticism of his economic policy. In a wide-ranging hour-long interview with Zee News television, PM Modi said the polls should be like festivals such as Holi -- you throw colour and even mud on that day and forget about it until the next time. Instead, "from logistical view, the country always seems to be in an election mode now," he said. "One election finishes, the second starts." Having simultaneous parliament, assembly, civic and panchayat polls, once every five years and completed within a month or so, will save money, resources and manpower, given that a large section of security forces, bureaucracy and political machinery seems to be devoted for 100, 150 to 200 days every year on electioneering, he said. "If the elections are held together the country will be free from such a big burden," he said, adding "Otherwise we are spending so much resources, money." After the 2014 general election, which brought Narendra Modi to power, the country has witnessed a spate of assembly elections including in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh last year. Several more states will go to polls this year, before the next Parliament elections in 2019. Asked if he will be able to achieve his goal of simultaneous elections, PM Modi said: "It is not one party's, one person's agenda; for the country's benefit everyone should work together. Let there be a debate on it." PM Modi also spoke about the dangers of caste politics, saying it has been India's misfortune to be afflicted with this phenomenon. PM Modi was also asked about the criticism he faced when GDP growth came down. He replied that "one should never feel bad about criticism. That's the strength of democracy. Everything should be analysed. The good work should be praised and shortcomings should be criticised." "But sometimes criticism is almost non-existent and allegations are more. Still, it is good that the nation is discussing GDP, agricultural growth, industrial growth and (stock) market," he said. On expectations of a populist budget on Feb. 1, PM Modi said: "Whether there is budget or not, election or not, first budget or last budget, Modi has one mantra, BJP has one mantra 'vikas, vikas, vikas: sabka saath sabka vikas.'" "Whatever is needed for that we have been doing and we will continue to do it," he said. PM Modi also praised his government's work, saying GST and demonetisation are not its only achievements. There are many others like financial inclusion, toilet construction and electrification that can be talked about for days together. "If you consider only these two things (GST and demonetisation) as my government's work, it will be a big injustice to me," he said. He listed bringing unbanked people into the banking network, construction of toilets in over four lakh schools, cooking gas connections to three crore families, electrification of left-out villages, ramping up of urea supply, low-cost insurance for poor, LED bulbs to save power bills and environment as the other areas his government has focused on. "I am only talking about work done on the economic front. I can list so many things that Zee News will have to run my interview for the entire week," PM Modi said. To a question on job creation, he said just in the formal economy, 70 lakh people have enrolled in the provident fund scheme and 10 crore people have taken loans under the collateral-free Mudra Yojana, while a large number of jobs are also being created elsewhere. Asked about whether he is confident of winning the 2019 elections, he said "I don't waste time thinking about elections. I have to worry about 125 crore people." 47-year-old Ritu Chhabra, principal of Swami Vivekanand school, was rushed to a hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. Critically injured, 47-year-old Ritu Chhabra, principal of Swami Vivekanand school, was rushed to a hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. (Photo: Facebook) Yamuna Nagar: Livid at being reprimanded, a class 12 student on Saturday allegedly pumped four bullets into his school principal with his father's licensed .32 bore revolver at Yamunanagar in Haryana, police said. Critically injured, 47-year-old Ritu Chhabra, principal of Swami Vivekanand school, was rushed to a hospital where she succumbed to her injuries, they said. The four bullets hit her in the chest, stomach and shoulder, Yamunanagar Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kalia told PTI over the phone. The incident took place between 11:30 and 12 noon on Saturday. After shooting the school principal, the 18-year-old commerce student tried to flee. However, a couple of parents, who were present for the parents-teachers meet in the school premises, caught hold him of with the help of locals, the SP said. The student was thrashed by angry locals and then handed over to the police, an official said. During preliminary investigation, the accused student told the police that he was upset with the school principal for allegedly reprimanding him a couple of times. "He had a grudge against the school principal for reprimanding him few times in front of his class mates on the complaint of teachers," the SP said adding that he was not attending school for the past few days. The SP said the police were also investigating whether the accused was taking drugs. "He was supposed to attend his tuitions today. But rather than going to tuitions, he went to the school," the officer said. As he was a school student, he was allowed to meet the school principal, SP Kalia said. "He talked to the Principal for some time and then came out. He then again entered the principal's room and opened fire at her with the revolver," said the SP. During investigation, it came to light that the student stole his father's licensed revolver by breaking the wooden Almirah at his home. He took the revolver without the knowledge of his parents, Kalia said. The accused student's father is a financier and a landlord in Yamunanagar, he said. "He has confessed to his crime and weapon has also been recovered. He will be presented before the court the tomorrow," he said. The accused student has been booked for murder under section 302 of the IPC, said the police. Earlier in Beijing, China justified its massive construction activities in the Doklam area, describing it as 'legitimate'. Indian and Chinese troops were engaged in a stand-off for over two months in 2017 in the Doklam area near Sikkim before "disengaging" on August 28. (Photo: PTI/File) New Delhi: India and China have established mechanisms which they use to resolve any "misunderstanding", the external affairs ministry said on Friday and asserted that it was keeping a "constant vigil" on the situation in Doklam. Responding to questions on reports of Chinese military build-up in the area close to 2017's stand-off site, external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar referred to the ministry's reaction on Friday that "the status quo at the face-off site has not been altered. Any suggestion to the contrary is inaccurate and mischievous." "We are of course keeping a constant vigil on developments which have a bearing on India's national security and take all necessary steps to safeguard it. The two sides do have, and have used established mechanisms to resolve any misunderstanding," Kumar said. The spokesperson also refused to comment on the Army chief's remarks. The Army chief had said that China has carried out some "temporary" infrastructure development in the area. Earlier in Beijing, China justified its massive construction activities in the Doklam area, describing it as "legitimate" and which were aimed at improving the lives of its troops and the people living on its own territory. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang's also said, "China's position on the Donglong (Doklam) area is quite clear. Donglong always belonged to China and always under China's effective jurisdiction. There is no dispute in this regard." Lu made these comments in response to reports that it was building a huge military complex close to the site of the Doklam standoff. Indian and Chinese troops were engaged in a stand-off for over two months in 2017 in the Doklam area near Sikkim before "disengaging" on August 28. Reacting to India's entry to group, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said it would be 'mutually beneficial and to help in non proliferation'. India joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 2016 and the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) in 2017. (Photo: Representational | PTI) New Delhi: After gaining entry into two export control regimes - MTCR and Wassenaar, India on Friday joined the Australia Group (AG), which seeks to ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons. "On 19 January 2018 India formally became the 43rd member of the Australia Group (AG), the cooperative and voluntary group of countries working to counter the spread of materials, equipment and technologies that could contribute to the development or acquisition of chemical and biological weapons (CBW) by states or terrorist groups," the AG said in a release. Reacting to India's entry to the group, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Ravish Kumar said it would be "mutually beneficial and to help in non proliferation". He said the AG membership will help in establishing India's credentials further. India joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 2016 and the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) in 2017. The Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies is a multilateral export control regime. Now, Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is the only group where India has not found its place as it has been time and again blocked by China. While India, which is backed by the US and a number of western countries has garnered the support of a majority of the group's members, China has stuck to its stand that new members should sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), making India's entry difficult as the group is guided by the consensus principle. India is not a signatory to the NPT. After India's application for entry into the 48-member elite group which controls the nuclear trade, Pakistan, the all-weather ally of China, too had applied with the tacit backing of Beijing. Mr Gogamedi has requested that Prime Minister Narendra Modi intervene in the matter and appealed to him to ban the film. Jaipur: Unhappy with CBFC clearance to Sanjay Leela Bhansalis controversial film Padmaavat, fringe organisation Shri Rajput Karni Sena has declared that it will not allow CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi to enter Jaipur. Joshi who is a regular face at Jaipur Literature Festival is, scheduled to participate in a session Main aur Woh: Conversations with Myself'at the fest on January 28. Those supporting release of the film or saying anything in support of the film will never be allowed to get into Jaipur, Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi, president of Shri Rajput Karni Sena, said in a video message. The name change of the film from Padmavati to Padmavaat doesn't appeal to us. We want a total ban on the film, he said. Mr Gogamedi was last year caught on camera in a sting operation assuring protection of film sets and ensuring publicity in exchange of money from decoy producer for a film similar to Padmaavat. He accused Bhansali of goimng back on his promise of pre-screening of the film to the community. Mr Gogamedi has requested that Prime Minister Narendra Modi intervene in the matter and appealed to him to ban the film. He said the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) comes under the central government and hence the government should take action to ban the film. Bhansali had promised that the film, once ready, will be first shown to Lokendra Singh Kalvi and other members, but they went ahead and released a trailer and the Ghoomar song without showing it to them, which was wrong, he complained. Earlier, the chief minister offered prayers at the Bade Hanuman temple that has the statue of the God in a reclining position. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath offers prayers during his visit to Magh Mela in Allahabad on Friday. (Photo: PTI) Lucknow: UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has said that his government would work in accordance with the wishes of saints and seers. He said that the wishes of saints and seers would also be fulfilled. Addressing the Sant Sammelan at the ongoing Magh Mela in Allahabad, the chief minister, who attended the event as the Goraksh Peethadhishwar Mahant of Gorakhpur, said that his government was working to make the Kumbh Mela in 2019 a grand affair. He said that 12 to 15 crore people were expected to attend the Kumbh Mela and his government would make their stay at the holy township memorable. Others present on the occasion included Mahant Narendra Giri, head of the All India Akhara Parishad and Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, head of the Ram Janambhoomi trust. Earlier, the chief minister offered prayers at the Bade Hanuman temple that has the statue of the God in a reclining position. Meanwhile, the VHP appears to have split over the controversy related to its international working president Dr Praveen Togadia. Mayawati, who claims to be on the comeback trail in Uttar Pradesh, is no longer worried about the BJP making inroads into her vote base. Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati has enough reasons to be worried with the Congress, along with Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mewani, also posing a serious threat to the BSP vote base. Ms Mayawati, who claims to be on the comeback trail in Uttar Pradesh, is no longer worried about the BJP making inroads into her vote base. Behenji has enough ammunition to fire at the BJP which has done nothing for dalits in fact under the Modi regime, dalits have been at the receiving end. From the Rohith Vemula case to the Una killings, Saharanpur clashes and now Bhima Koregaon clashes, the BJP seems to have no answers to the BSP salvo. However, it is the Congress-Mewani alliance that could disturb our plans in UP, said a BSP functionary. According to BSP sources, Ms Mayawati is particularly anxious about reports that Jignesh Mewani will soon be making his political debut in Uttar Pradesh. Apparently, the BSP which has already been losing ground among the youth and lacks a young leadership that can address new voters, sees a major threat from Mewani. The BSP, incidentally, is the only political party in Uttar Pradesh that does not have a youth wing or even a student wing. The BSP has rapidly lost ground in the past ten years. From getting 30 per cent vote share in 2007, the party slipped to 26 per cent voters in 2012 and has further gone down to 22 per cent in 2017. The loss of seats has also been rapid. From 206 seats in 2007 to 80 seats in 2012 and a meagre 19 seats in 2017, the BSP presence in the UP assembly has been sharply reduced. Mr Jignesh Mewani, with his aggressive style of campaigning and maintaining a direct access with the people, has started emerging as a favorite among dalit youth. Man from West Bengal who was in city for job survived accident despite one of the rods going straight through his liver. The 21-year-old Rajendra Pal, was working on the roof of a building in Mumbai when he slipped and fell onto iron rods below. (Photo: Pixabay) In a shocking incident, a construction worker miraculously survived being impaled by two steel rods, one of which went straight through his liver. The 21-year-old Rajendra Pal, was working on the roof of a building in Mumbai when he slipped and fell onto iron rods below. One of the rods missed his heart by inches with another slicing straight through his liver. Pal was rushed to the hospital where a three-hour operation was performed to remove the 5ft long rods. Pal, who is from West Bengal, had only arrived in Mumbai two days earlier, a relative said. According to Ravindra Naidu, supervisor of the construction site, the mishap took place at the Nariman Point, near the Free Press Building. A labourer informed him of the accident. Emergency services rushed to the scene at Nariman Point, Mumbai, and sawed the rods off the pillar they were attached to so the patient could be taken to a government hospital. Dr Jitendra Sankpal, senior surgeon at GT hospital, said the man was lucky as the rods did not puncture his lungs or other vital organs. Doctors are of the view that erratic temperatures may lead to an escalation in cases of cold and respiratory infection in the coming days. Whereas the number has now risen to 100 to 150 such patients daily. (Photo: AFP/Representational) Mumbai: Doctors are of the view that erratic temperatures may lead to an escalation in cases of cold and respiratory infection in the coming days. According to the director of major civic-run hospitals, there has been a slight spike in cases of common cold with running nose, cough and fever. Earlier, 50 to 70 patients were coming in daily with complaints of cough and other ailments, whereas the number has now risen to 100 to 150 such patients daily. According to the city weather bureau, minimum temperatures have been around 18 to 20 degree Celsius and doctors say that changing temperatures are ideal for viruses to thrive. Dr Avinash Supe, director of major civic-run hospitals, told The Asian Age, Cases of cough, cold, viral fever, have escalated since many days now. We are seeing an about 30 to 40 per cent increase in respiratory infections. No one has shown serious infection. Cases are being tackled in the outpatient department itself, said Dr Supe. GILLETTE, Wyo. A 22-year-old Wyoming man has been sentenced to life in prison for the first-degree murder of his girlfriend's 3-year-old boy. The Gillette News Record reports that Joseph Nielsen, of Gillette, was sentenced Friday by District Judge Michael "Nick" Deegan. Nielsen maintained his innocence throughout his trial and during his sentencing when he read a prepared statement in which he accused law enforcement and prosecutors of building a false case against him. He was convicted in September of first-degree murder and child abuse in the 2016 death of the child. Nielsen's attorney, Nick Carter, said he plans to appeal. However, one judge was transferred and the second judge Loya died following which a third judge is now conducting the trial. Mumbai: A city-based lawyers association on Friday filed a public interest litigation in the Bombay high court against the CBIs decision not to challenge a lower court order discharging Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter case. The Bombay Lawyers Association (BLA) requested the HC to direct the CBI to file a revision application challenging the special CBI courts order discharging Shah from the case. Shah was a home minister of Gujarat when Shaikh was killed in an alleged fake encounter in a joint operation by the Gujarat and Rajasthan police. This is the second PIL filed by BLA in this month in the Bombay HC. Just last week this association filed a petition seeking a probe by a retired Supreme Court judge into Judge B. H. Loyas death. Judge Loya was presiding over the CBI court where Shaikhs fake encounter case was pending. According to recent media reports, Judge Loya allegedly died an unnatural death in suspicious circumstances. The petition stated that the CBI has challenged the discharge of some junior police officers from the case but has decided not to challenge the discharge of senior officers and personalities. While transferring this case, the SC had said the Administrative Committee of the HC would assign the case to a court where the trial may be concluded judiciously, in accordance with the law, and without any delay. But the trial has been pending since long. The Administrative Committee would also ensure that the trial should be conducted from beginning to end by the same officer, said the order. However, one judge was transferred and the second judge Loya died following which a third judge is now conducting the trial. The five belonged to the Suresh Pujari gang and three of them were allegedly 'shooters.' Two fire-arms, four rounds and some magazines were recovered from their possession police said. (Representational Image) Mumbai: Police have arrested five members of the Suresh Pujari gang including three 'shooters' for allegedly trying to extort money from a South Mumbai-based businessman. The gangsters initially demanded Rs 50 lakh from the businessman over phone. After an incident of firing at a hotel at Bhiwandi, in which the Pujari gang was said to be involved, they began demanding Rs 1 crore, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Dilip Sawant on Saturday. If he didn't pay, he will face similar attack, the callers told him, the DCP said. After he approached the MRA Marg police station in Mumbai, a case of extortion was lodged. "We kept an eye on his shop and the surrounding area and picked up Prathmesh Kotian (30) on suspicion yesterday. His interrogation led to the arrest of Sanket Dalvi (25)," he said. The duo told police that they worked for Pujari. While Kotian collected information about the extortion target, Dalvi arranged shooters for the gangster, Sawant said. Based on the information given by Dalvi and Kotian, police today arrested three `shooters', identified as Prathmesh Kadam (22), Noor Khan (20) and Aniket Thakur (25), as they arrived in Dadar from Ratnagiri. Two fire-arms, four rounds and some magazines were recovered from their possession, Sawant said. "Noor Khan had executed the shooting at a hotel at Kongaon in Bhiwandi tehsil on January 10," he said. A hotel receptionist was injured in the attack. All five accused have been remanded in police custody till January 25, the DCP said, adding that further investigation was underway. The BJP/RSS has deliberately polarised the media, especially television into us media and them media. During the press conference by the four Supreme Court judges, Justice Jasti Chelameswar made a rather prophetic statement. He said: The four of us are convinced that unless this institution is preserved and it maintains its equanimity, democracy will not survive in this country. Though that statement was made in the context of the ongoing difficulties among the judges of the Supreme Court, it has wider import. The key words are institutions have to be preserved. Any and every democracy rests on the foundation of strong institutionalism. The elected executive is not the repository of the will of the sovereign. The other institutions are also equal stakeholders and arbiters of the destiny of nations. The founding fathers of the modern Indian state assiduously built and nurtured independent institutions, namely a robust legislature that could hold the government of the day to account. An independent judiciary, a free, fearless and vibrant media, an autonomous Comptroller and Auditor General and last but not least an impartial Election Commission. Perhaps the greatest achievement of the Indian state over the past seven decades has been the management of civil-military relations through the maintenance of civilian supremacy. It is for this reason alone India is one of the few countries liberated from the yoke of imperialism after the end of the Second World War that never fell victim either to a military dictatorship or one-party totalitarian rule. However, today democracy is indeed in peril. It has not happened overnight, but in the past 44 months the pace of jeopardy has picked up an alarming momentum. The process of institutional decay commenced with legislatures working overtime to make themselves completely redundant to both political processes as well as political discourse in the country. Since the early 70s, state Assemblies competed with each other as to who would become the most classical manifestation of how legislatures should not function. Even Parliament did not lag behind in this competition. By the 90s it was breaking news the day Parliament functioned without any disruption, walkouts or unruly scenes rather than the other way around. The great Indian media made itself the second casualty. In the nascent years of the Indian democratic experiment, while radio and later television was government-owned, the print media was and has always remained in private hands. Even then there were allegations of corporate interests playing a role in deciding editorial agendas. The phenomena of the Jute Press. It led the editor of the Patriot, late R.K. Mishra, to famously remark in the Rajya Sabha in 1974: I would submit that the ministry of information and broadcasting is being too touchy about this talk of the freedom of the press. Now, where is the freedom of the press? What do we have? In India we have the freedom of the newspaper owner; in India we have the freedom of the newspaper proprietor, and in some cases the delegated freedom which is enjoyed by the newspaper managers. However, notwithstanding this lament by one of Indias most distinguished journalists then, the Indian press had inculcated the tradition of independent-minded editors and fearless working journalists. The history of the media industry bears eloquent testimony to the fact that editors of great calibre, who had the conviction of courage to stand up to newspaper owners, led it with great distinction. All this started to change in the mid-80s and since then it has been a journey downhill. The opening up of the television and radio space in the early 90s further exacerbated this decline as the indiscriminate issuance of licences led to market fragmentation rather than diversity. However, what has happened in the past three years and eight months is portentous. The BJP/RSS has deliberately polarised the media, especially television into us media and them media. Either you sing paeans of the government or be prepared to be targeted. NDTV, the Wire, Tribune and countless other organisations who had the gumption to speak truth to power have paid the price for sticking to the time honoured convention that the press must be contrarian to the powers that be. The next self-inflicted wound was the CAG under Vinod Rai. As the supreme audit body with constitutional immunity, it was expected to function in a responsible and decorous manner. Unfortunately, for reasons that are still shrouded in mystery, in those six years, the CAG decided to throw all circumspection and restraint overboard and became the bludgeon to smash the credibility of the then UPA government to smithereens. Sensational unverified numbers derived from dubious and flawed benchmarks were hurled without care or caution into the public discourse. Those traumatic templates are now finally getting unravelled in courts of law. However, what this entire episode underscores is that even one institution if it decides to go rouge can play havoc with democratic traditions. The next institution that has not covered itself with much glory recently is the EC. The manner in which the dates of the Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat elections were delinked was totally unnecessary. The recent decision to recommend the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs, a few days before the retirement of the current Chief Election Commissioner, has raised red flags notwithstanding the merits of the recommendation. Finally, among this entire general decline in moral and ethical standards, deterioration of establishments, the judiciary stood out like a shining beacon that embodied and epitomised the hopes and aspirations of over a billion Indians. Not only did it become the last vestige of justice for people exasperated by an obdurate and cynical executive, but also, more importantly, through landmark judgments over the decades it defined and delineated the course of our national life. It is in that context the current standoff in the Supreme Court is extremely worrying. For the courts of law have only their moral authority to enforce their will. If that gets eroded then the institution opens itself up to questioning, that can soon turn into an organised inquisition. Among the chaos people then start looking for a messiah to provide them deliverance. For many other nations that have been on a similar trajectory as India is today these false gods have been either the military or civilian dictators. In both cases it spells the death knell of democracy. The Supreme Court waxes eloquent on judicial activism, but it has yet to strike down Section 197. When it comes to claiming exemption from accountability to the law, holy men do not lag far behind ministers and celebrities. Yogi Adityanath feels entitled to double protection. Besides being head of the mutt (religious endowment) at Gorakhpur, which he represented in the Lok Sabha for five terms, he is the current chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. He and four others (including Shiv Pratap Shukla, current minister of state for finance) were facing prosecution for delivering a hate speech that led to communal riots in Gorakhpur. Shortly after the Yogi became chief minister, the principal secretary (home) passed an order on May 3, 2017, refusing to accord sanction to prosecute the chief minister. Under the rules of business of the state government, passing such order is the sole prerogative of the chief minister or the governor. The 2007 case was not the only one of its kind. The order was challenged in the high court, which observed last August that people cannot be left remedy-less. It asked the state government to submit case diaries and original records of the investigation. The states case was receiving short shrift. Rather than wait for the verdict, the Yogi announced on December 22, 2017, that a bill to amend the UP Criminal Law (Composition of Offences and Abatement of Trials) Act would be moved in the states Assembly where he enjoys a majority so that nearly 20,000 such cases against political workers would be withdrawn. Safety lies in numbers. Sure enough, on January 8, 2018, governor Ram Naik (a BJP veteran) accorded his consent to the bill passed by the Assembly to permit the withdrawal of around 20,000 politically motivated cases filed in the state over demonstrations, including one against Yogi Adityanath and others, which was filed in Gorakhpur, his home turf, on May 27, 1995. It is scandalous that the case concerning a hate speech that led to rioting during a Muharram procession should have lingered for 22 years. The bills effect on the 2007 case remains to be seen. This is reminiscent of Prime Minister Indira Gandhis legislative skulduggery, when she had the President declare an Emergency following a high court ruling that unseated her for violating the election law. The law was amended in her favour, and the Constitution was amended to debar the courts from hearing election cases involving the Prime Minister and other worthies. The constitutional amendment was struck down by the Supreme Court, but her election was upheld because the law was amended. That the Yogis law is unconstitutional goes without saying. But another legally sanctified outrage still remains on the statute book. It is the provision for the state governments sanction for the prosecution of its own ministers or civil servants, embodied in Section 197 of the colonial-era Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). It provided that where any public servant is accused of any offence alleged to have been committed by him while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of his official duty, no court shall take cognisance of it except with the previous sanction of the government that employed him; in effect, the authority competent to remove him. In the case of a minister, this is the chief minister or Prime Minister; in the case of the latter two, it is the governor or President, both political appointees. They are required to act in their individual discretion. The governor is amenable to the Centres wishes. A formidable body of case law developed for over a century as to when an act can be said to have been done by a public servant while acting in the discharge of his public duty. Section 197 is a lawyers paradise. It was retained even when the CrPC was recast in 1973. The great jurist A.V. Dicey wrote of monarchical Britain over a century ago: (E)very official, from the Prime Minister down to a constable or a collector of taxes, is under the same responsibility for every act done without legal justification as any other citizen. The reports abound with cases in which officials have been brought before the courts, and made, in their personal capacity, liable to punishment, or the payment of damages, for acts done in their official character but in excess of their lawful authority. It is a well-recognised principle of criminal jurisprudence that anyone can set the criminal law into motion except where the statute enacting or creating an offence indicates the category. In India, British colonialists departed from the law in Britain to protect their officials from prosecutions launched by Indians. Leaders of independent India gladly adopted it. The Supreme Court waxes eloquent on judicial activism, but it has yet to strike down Section 197. By arrangement with Dawn Xiaomi will launch six to eight new smartphones across key price ranges in 2018. Xiaomi also plans to unveil at least one or two new smart products in 2018. Chinas Xiaomi plans to expand its Indian store network as it attempts to grab the lead in a smartphone market which Koreas Samsung has dominated for more than five years. A little over three years after Xiaomi entered India, its cheap, high-spec handsets have helped the start-up, which is now valued at close to $100 billion and plans to list this year, to pull neck-and-neck with Samsung in its biggest market behind China. If you look at 2017 and 2018 combined, the biggest change in our strategy is our focus on offline, Manu Kumar Jain, Managing Director of Xiaomi India, told Reuters in an interview. Xiaomi opened its first Mi Home, an Apple store-style sales and experience centre, in May and already operates 17 such outlets in India. Jain said Xiaomi is ahead of schedule on its plans to open 100 Mi Home stores by mid-2019 in India and also plans to add more preferred partner stores multi-brand outlets that stock largely Xiaomi products. In a bid to widen its user base in India, where about a third of its 1.2 billion mobile phone subscribers use smartphones, Xiaomi is looking to strengthen its network beyond online, which accounts for some 70 per cent of local revenue. Its strategy in India has so far rested on flash sales on leading homegrown e-commerce player Flipkart and US tech giant Amazon.coms Indian sites, an approach that helped Xiaomi save on expensive marketing spends and grab market share. Jain, who declined to provide financial metrics, said Xiaomi will launch six to eight new smartphones across key price ranges in 2018. We want to improve on whatever we launched in 2017 and also launch and plug whatever we think are the big use cases where we are not present, he said. Last year, Xiaomi launched eight smartphones priced from Rs 4,999 ($78) to Rs 32,999 ($516). Samsung, by comparison, offers more than 40 smartphone models in India. Xiaomi also plans to unveil at least one or two new smart products in 2018. It already sells airpurifiers and fitness bands in India and will likely venture into TVs, water purifiers, scooters and rice cookers in the future, Jain said. Mattis's assessment came as he unveiled the Pentagon's vision for the future detailed in a document called the national defense strategy. 'China is a strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbours while militarizing features in the South China Sea,' Mattis wrote. (Photo; File) Washington: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Friday that America is facing "growing threats" from China and Russia, and warned that the US military's advantages have eroded in recent years. Mattis's assessment came as he unveiled the Pentagon's vision for the future detailed in a document called the national defense strategy. "We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia, nations that seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models," Mattis said. "Our military is still strong, yet our competitive edge has eroded in every domain of warfare -- air, land, sea, space and cyberspace -- and is continually eroding," he added. President Donald Trump and his administration worry that the vast US military force is feeling the effects of years of budget shortfalls and atrophy, and needs a full reboot to restore it to an idealized strength. Part wish list, part blueprint for the coming years, the Pentagon's national defense strategy seeks to increase the size of the military, improve its readiness and work with allies -- all while operating across multiple theaters including in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. "This strategy establishes my intent to pursue urgent change at significant scale," Mattis wrote in the introduction to the strategy. "We must use creative approaches, make sustained investment and be disciplined in execution to field a Joint Force fit for our time, one that competes, deters and wins in this increasingly complex security environment." Elbridge Colby, deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, told reporters that Mattis's strategy seeks to deal with the "erosion" of America's military advantage. "What it is recognizing is that China and Russia in particular have been assiduously working over a number of years to develop their military capabilities to challenge our military advantages," he said. Strategic competitors The new defense strategy follows on from Trump's national security strategy that he released last month which, similarly, highlights the role of China and Russia in the global security environment. "China is a strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbours while militarizing features in the South China Sea," Mattis wrote. "Russia has violated the borders of nearby nations and pursues veto power over the economic, diplomatic and security decisions of its neighbours," he added, while also pointing a finger at Iran and North Korea for their threats to peace. The two countries reacted furiously to Trump's security strategy, with Beijing accusing Washington of having a "Cold War mentality" while Moscow denounced its "imperialist character." Trump's security strategy contrasts with the friendly nature of his first state visit to Beijing in November, when he received a lavish welcome and repeatedly praised President Xi Jinping. One of the biggest criticisms inside the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill is that the US military is suffering from a lack of readiness, where troops and gear are not getting the training or maintenance they need. Mattis said the United States must be ready to fight a war. "The surest way to prevent war is to be prepared to win one," he said. "Doing so requires a competitive approach to force development and a consistent, multiyear investment to restore war fighting readiness and field a lethal force." Mattis's strategy also calls for greater coordination with allies, who Trump on the campaign trail lambasted for not doing enough to share the burden of defending the post-World War II order. "We expect European allies to fulfill their commitments to increase defense and modernization spending to bolster the alliance in the face of our shared security concerns," Mattis said, in reference to NATO countries paying more into their defense budgets. Republican Senator John McCain, who chairs the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee that helps oversee the Pentagon, welcomed Mattis's strategy for getting "the big decisions right." "A new era of great power competition has emerged, and this strategy prioritizes that reality," he said in a statement. The document makes no mention of climate change, which under former president Barack Obama was recognized as a national security threat. Trump has claimed climate change is a hoax and pulled the US out of the historic climate accords in Paris. Tillerson has been considering several options since Trump announced US would finally move its embassy there from Tel Aviv. Yet a temporary plan that has been presented to Tillerson would see an existing US consular building in West Jerusalem designated as the interim embassy until the new one is built . (Photo: AP) Washington: The Trump administration is expected to approve a plan to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem as early as next year, rather than waiting for several years, Trump administration officials said Friday. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has been considering several options since President Donald Trump, late 2017, declared Jerusalem to be Israels capital and announced the United States would finally move its embassy there from Tel Aviv. Tillerson has said previously that building a new facility that satisfies the significant security requirements is a complex process involving site-selection, permitting and construction. Hes said that process is starting immediately but will take at least three years. Yet a temporary plan that has been presented to Tillerson would see an existing US consular building in West Jerusalem designated as the interim embassy until the new one is built, three US officials said. The officials werent authorized to discuss the situation by name and demanded anonymity. Under the most likely scenario, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and a handful of top aides and support staff would open temporary offices in the Jerusalem annex by this spring possibly as early as April, the officials briefed on the matter said. Friedman and the others would retain their workspaces in the old embassy building in Tel Aviv, but the step would allow Trump to say that technically the embassy had moved. Most embassy operations would remain in Tel Aviv in the short-term, so the annex would effectively be a satellite branch of the Tel Aviv facility. But supporters of the move could make the case that the administration had followed through on its pledge to move the embassy to the holy city and that Tel Aviv staff is merely supporting the Jerusalem office. Two of the officials say Vice President Mike Pence, a vocal pro-Israel advocate within Trumps administration, has been pushing the State Department to accept the proposal quickly so that Pence can announce it during a highly anticipated trip to Israel. Pence was departing on Friday evening for his visit to the Middle East. In addition to using crude language and commenting on her body, Douglas also fondled himself in front of her. Douglas, however, denied Braudy's claims. He told the Hollywood Reporter that her story was "unfortunate and completely fabricated". (Photo: AFP) Washington: With the raging #MeToo movement bringing down Hollywood stars left, right and centre, Michael Douglas is the latest addition, with writer Susan Braudy publicly accusing him of sexual harassment. In an interview that was aired on NBC News on Friday Braudy said, "He thought he was the king of the world, and that he could humiliate me without any repercussions." Braudy worked for Douglas in the 1980s, a decade in which the actor starred in "Fatal Attraction" and also won an Oscar for his "Wall Street" performance. The writer largely worked out of Douglas's living room, reading scripts and hiring screenwriters, according to personal notes detailed in a report published on Thursday by the Hollywood Reporter. Braudy said that Douglas used crude language in one-on-one meetings and commented on her body. "I began wearing long, loose layers of black," Braudy wrote in the notes. "He asked a producer, 'Why does Susan dress like a pregnant nun?' Another time I laughed loudly and he shouted to a group of agents, 'Oh yeah, she's a screamer! I bet she screams in the sack.'" Braudy's behaviour, however, went from subtle sexism to downright abuse during a meeting one night in 1989. "He slid down to the floor, unbuckled his belt and put his hand inside his trousers," Braudy said. "And I could see what he was doing. And then he began to sort of fondle himself, and I was very scared." Douglas, however, denied Braudy's claims. He told the Hollywood Reporter that her story was "unfortunate and completely fabricated". This is not the first time the actor is defending himself. On January 9, he told the Deadline that he "felt the need to get ahead of this". He recalled using "colorful language" in Braudy's presence but denied that it was ever aimed at her. He also referred to the 1989 incident as "a complete lie, fabrication, no truth to it whatsoever." "I pride myself on my reputation in this business, not to mention the long history of my father and everything else," Douglas said. "I don't have skeletons in my closet, or anyone else who's coming out or saying this. I'm bewildered why, after 32 years, this is coming out, now," he said. Russias Investigative Committee said the attacker was detained and was now hospitalised after a suicide attempt. According to investigative committee, five students and one teacher were injured in the attack.(Photo: AP) Moscow: A Russian teenager attacked a group of younger students with an axe, injuring six people, before setting his school on fire, investigators said on Friday. Russias Investigative Committee said the attacker, a ninth-grader, attacked a group of seventh-grade students with an axe at a school just outside the Siberian city of Ulan-Ude, then set the room ablaze. Five students and one teacher were injured in the attack, the committee said. The attacker was detained and was now hospitalised after a suicide attempt, the committee said. Earlier this week, investigators opened a criminal case into a knife attack that injured 15 people at a school in the city of Perm. The case was initially reported as an assault by two masked men, but authorities later said it grew out of a knife fight between two students. She was charged with assault in connection with an attack against a soldier, but also with previous incidents. The video of her attack against the soldier went viral. The self-restraint of the Israeli soldier was praised, but seen as weakness by Israels right-wing camp. Meanwhile, security forces continue their hunt for those who murdered a rabbi. One of the suspects dies in a shootout. Jerusalem (AsiaNews/Agencies) Ahed Tamimi will remain in prison until legal proceedings against her are completed. She is charged with five counts of assaulting security forces and with incitement. Military judge Major Haim Baliti rejected Tamimi's appeal to be released whilst she waits for trial. On 15 December, Tamimi, 16, slapped an Israeli soldier after she found out that her cousin had been shot in the head at close range by the Israeli military. A video of the slapping incident went viral online. In the tape, the soldier is seen keeping his cool and not responding to the attack. The soldiers self-control won praise around the world, but also criticism in Israel. If some saw his stance as self-control and positive restraint, others, in the Israeli right-wing, saw it as a sign of weakness. Following the criticism, the teenager was arrested along with her mother and a cousin. Her charge sheet includes past incidents for which she was not indicted. Reacting to the ruling, Israeli anti-occupation organisation Betselem said that the hearing is a "clear example one of many of the way the military justice system is not a tool for justice, but rather a central mechanism of repression in the service of Israeli control of Palestinians in the territories." Meanwhile, tensions are running high in the West Bank after the murder of Rabbi Raziel Shevac, who was killed near the Havat Gilad outpost on 9 January. Israeli security forces raided a house in the Jenin refugee camp last night and killed one of the people thought to have been involved in last week's drive-by shooting. Two Israeli officers were injured in the fighting.